Scholar's Advanced Technological System
Author: Morning Star LL
Date: 2022-08-17T09:40:48.693000+00:00

Chapter 1: Shocked! A Six-figure Job is Actually...

2014, City of Jin Ling, China

The blazing hot sun in June was heating up the ground as if it were trying to evaporate every last bit of water from the asphalt roads.

Lu Zhou listened to the sound of cars honking and looked at the busy people rushing along the streets. He stood in front of the Telecom Business Hall as he stared straight at the roads. Although cooled air occasionally blew across his back, his thick costume prevented him from experiencing the luxury of air conditioning.

Someone might ask, why was he here?

Of course, it was for survival…

Okay, let's clarify.

Telecom Business Hall partnered with Vivo phones to do a promotion over the summer holidays. Workers were paid 60 yuan an hour to stand outside the door in a puppet costume. The pay was almost double the pay of him handing out flyers and not to mention, he did not have to suffer from people rolling their eyes at him. Additionally, because the temperature outside was over 30 degrees, he would receive a 10 yuan per hour bonus. This added up to a total of 70 yuan per hour.

After Lu Zhou heard about the salary, he did not even hesitate before accepting the job.

Analyzing it logically, if on average he worked five hours a day, that amounted to 350 yuan a day. If he worked thirty days a month, that would add up to 10,500 yuan.

Who would have thought that a six-figure job was actually located at the entrance of the Telecom Business Hall?

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that even the rich and powerful Huawei could not afford to do promotions every day, much less a company like Vivo.

However, even if he only worked for a week, he would still earn 2600 yuan.

Just as Lu Zhou got so bored that he started to count the number of leaves on a parasol tree, a fat and dark-skinned man who was wiping the sweat off his face walked towards him.

The fat man's name was Wu Dahai, and like Lu Zhou, he also majored in mathematics at the University of Jin Ling. However, Wu Dahai was two years older. He was in his third year and would be going into his fourth year in a couple of months. He was the manager of these part-time working students. It was him that introduced Lu Zhou to this puppet costume wearing job.

"Lu Zhou, are you okay? How about we find someone to replace you? You can go rest in the Telecom Business Hall for a bit," said Wu Dahai. His physique was not made for this kind of horrible heat. His whole body was drenched as if someone just lifted him out of the water.

Even though he really wanted to rest, Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'm okay, I can still maintain for a bit."

"I said, are you really okay or not? You've been standing here for a whole afternoon," said Wu Dahai with a worried expression on his face.

He was actually scared that the guy was going to get a heat stroke.

"I'm fine, honestly. You don't need to worry about me," said Lu Zhou. As he firmly shook his head, he added, "I'll finish in an hour. I've already been here for so long, I can do an hour more. Don't you agree?"

Wu Dahai looked at Lu Zhou and hesitantly said, "Okay… I won't worry about you then."

"Yeah, go and do your own stuff."

Wu Dahai saw how firm Lu Zhou was, so he did not persist.

Actually, Wu Dahai felt lucky.

After all, it was difficult to find someone who would be willing to work in this hot weather. There were quite a lot of part-time workers, but most were not as hardworking as Lu Zhou. Otherwise, it could have resulted in Wu Dahai having to wear the "puppet costume" himself.

After the fat guy walked away, Lu Zhou turned back and continued to stare at the parasol tree outside of the Telecom Business Hall.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou felt the view in front of him was looking kind of weird.

Why are the people on the street… flying towards the sky?

His legs felt weak and his entire body fell onto the ground.

With what remaining consciousness that he had, he heard the sound of footsteps hurrying towards him and shouting coming from the Telecom Business Hall.

"The mascot at the front door is having a heatstroke!"

"Quick, take off his helmet and bring him some water!"

"F*ck me, Lu Zhou, please tell me you are okay!"

"No response, not good. Quick, send him to the hospital!"

"Use my car!"

"…"

The last ray of light vanished from his sight bringing forth endless darkness…

…

Lu Zhou was a first-year student that majored in mathematics at Jin Ling University and he would be going into his second year in a few months. In the beginning, he applied for software engineering, but he was a few marks short from the requirements. In the end, he had to compromise and went to the unpopular mathematics department.

Sometimes Lu Zhou could not help but asked himself, what was the point of studying this horrible major for four years?

It seemed like there was no answer.

There were two standard paths for math majors, either going into further academic studies (overseas or graduate studies), or switching into another major.

Actually one could also work at the University, but as a bachelor student, one would have to be very close with the teachers. However, even if one stayed to work, one would only be doing miscellaneous work. It would be better to stay and do a Master's degree instead.

However, it was not realistic for Lu Zhou to do a Master's degree.

Lu Zhou's family was located in Jiang Ling. Even though the name sounded similar to Jin Ling, they were thousands of miles apart. His middle-class father was working at a metal factory in Jiang Ling. His sick mother was retired at home and spent quite a lot of money on healthcare.

His entire family relied on his dad's income. He also had a little sister in high school and it was going to be expensive when she went to university.

His father's intentions were to not let Lu Zhou worry about money. Instead, he wanted Lu Zhou to continue his studies and get a doctor's degree.

However, Lu Zhou clearly knew that this was not possible.

Given that he had already set half a foot into the society, he had to consider other more realistic issues.

To be more specific, he had to consider his money problems.

He did not want to be a burden for his family or an encumbrance to his little sister's future. Therefore, ever since he entered the university, he wanted to become financially independent. While others were out celebrating their youth singing at clubs or studying hard at the library, he was handing out flyers, installing routers, and delivering food.

Sometimes he could not help but ask himself what was the point of university life. The jobs that he was doing did not require any skills that even a high school student could do it. A high school student might even do it better. At least, they would not get a heat stroke merely from standing for a few hours outside an air-conditioned room.

Yet, like the question of a "mathematics major's career", there was no answer to this question.

At that moment, he fell down…

When his consciousness finally returned, Lu Zhou was stunned as he looked around at the white surroundings.

What… is this place?

No one answered.

With his memory being in some kind of foggy state, he recalled that he had a heat stroke at the Telecom Business Hall and that some kind individuals carried him into a car before sending him to the hospital. However, the place did not look like a hospital at all. It did not even look like real life.

Just as Lu Zhou was feeling anxious about this situation, a semi-transparent screen suddenly emerged in front of him. He was so scared that he jumped backward.

High tech… system? What the hell?!

Lu Zhou was shocked as he looked at the black texts that gradually emerged on the semi-transparent screen. He immediately felt excited.

Could it be… I was selected by the legendary system?

He had read novels online that was about this.

With a gulp, Lu Zhou asked, "System… what can you do?"

Although there was no mysterious voice answering his question, words started to appear on the transparent holographic screen.

[

High tech system:

This system is dedicated to improving the level of the user's education level. As for the system's secrets, please explore them yourself. As for the system's functions, detailed instructions will be given to the user.

The main interface of the system is as follows:

※Core science: The trunk of the technology tree focuses on theory. There is a level 10 limit. Experience points can be only earned from missions and cannot be redeemed from general points. A completed technology tree will unlock futuristic options and giant engineering missions.

A. Mathematics: The basis of all subjects. It will determine the level limit for other science subjects.

B. Physics: Can help you understand the universe.

C. Biology: Can help you understand yourself.

D. Engineering: Transform tools, the environment, and the world.

E. Materials Science: Materials and engineering cannot be separated.

F. Energy Science: From fossil fuels to Helium-3, from lithium batteries to antimatter batteries, from the wireless transmission to ultra-long distance laser transmission, all life feeds on using entropy. The development of energy is at the distant stars of the sea.

G. Information Science: Genetics is God's code, whereas the ultimate goal of the code is to create a god.

-----------

※Technology branch: These are the branches of the technology tree. After unlocking a specific technology branch, experience points are needed to level up. 1 experience point can be exchanged by 1 general point.

For example: Genetics level 1 requires biology level 1, but you can also unlock genetics level 1 by consuming 100 general points. (0/1000)

Genetics level 2 requires biology level 2, engineering level 1, and 1000 experience points. Only then you are able to go from level 1 genetics to level 2 genetics. (0/?)

-----------

Technical Blueprint: As what the name implies. Easy to understand technical blueprints. They contain small projects such as a nanochip, to giant projects such as a Dyson sphere.

If you meet the manufacturing requirements, they can be produced by following the instructions of the blueprints.

-----------

General points: Can be used to activate the mission rewards, or consume 200 points to generate a new random mission. Can be consumed to solve technical problems. (Price of solving the problem depends on the subject level, technical difficulty, and the difficulty in solving the problem)

Missions: Three random missions are generated every time. You can choose to execute one of the missions. Upon completion, the rewards from the respective mission are given. After the completion of the mission, the mission panel would be reset immediately.

]

Lu Zhou did not even know what facial expression to use. He thought that mathematics was useless but the system conveyed that mathematics was the father of all other subjects. The feeling of redemption had rendered him speechless.

Lu Zhou was about to encounter something that was going to surprise him even more.

After the instructions disappeared, his characteristic panel immediately appeared.

[

High tech system:

User: Lu Zhou

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 0 (0/1000)

B. Physics: Level 0 (0/1000)

C. Biology: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 0 (0/1000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 0 (0/1000)

Technology branch: None

Technical blueprints: None

General points: 0

Mission: None

]

"Even though I wasn't a straight A student, but I was still in one of the best universities. Isn't this row of zeros a bit insulting?"

Lu Zhou did not know if he should laugh or cry as he looked at the row of zeros.

This system must have made a mistake!

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about it, his shoulders started to shake violently and his consciousness was immediately pulled out from the pure white dimension.

Chapter 2: A Genius Student's Lifestyle Does Not Need An Explanation

"Lu Zhou, wake up!"

With his shoulders violently being shaken again, Lu Zhou slowly opened his eyes and saw Wu Dahai's fat face.

"F*ck! You're finally awake," said Wu Dahai before letting out a long sigh as he let go of Lu Zhou's shoulders. He laughed apologetically, "Hope you don't mind. I didn't mean to disturb your rest. I saw that you were snoring and guessed that you were okay."

Lu Zhou looked at the surrounding white walls and the bedsheet covering the hospital bed before asking, "Where am I?"

"Don't you remember? You had a heat stroke at the Telecom Business Hall!" said Wu Dahai as he sat back down onto the chair. He sighed and patted his stout thighs before saying, "Ah, I told you not to be stubborn and you didn't listen. We're only doing this part-time. We're not professionals. What's the point of working so hard? Look at you now. You've sacrificed your health. Is it worth it?"

Reluctantly, Lu Zhou smiled as he asked, "What did the doctor say about my health?"

"Not much, just a bit of dehydration," said Wu Dahai. He pointed at the nightstand with his chin as he added, "I put a cup of water there. Don't forget to drink it."

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and sincerely said "Thanks."

"Don't thank me. You're considered a junior student. As a senior student, it's my duty to take care of you," said Wu Dahai. As he waved his hand, he added, "You should rest well and go back to school when you're fine. I've already paid your wages so check if you've received it. Also, don't worry about the hospital bill. It wasn't a lot and I've already paid for it."

"How can I accept this…"

"It's fine. Don't be sentimental. I arranged this job for you. It's my responsibility when something happens to you," said Wu Dahai. He stood up from the chair and said, "We'll leave this situation at that. You should go and rest for a couple of days. Don't go start working again."

Lu Zhou wanted to say something but he was unable to find the words. Instead, he nodded his head and said thank you.

Wu Dahai waved his hand as a sign of "no thanks needed" and left.

Lu Zhou laid on the hospital bed and sighed towards the ceiling.

"Looks like I have to find a new part-time job…"

After all the trouble, Wu Dahai probably would not want him back. Not to mention, Lu Zhou was disappointed in himself. He had caused so much trouble for them. He could not ask for any more help.

He rolled over and thought about that motley dream. He closed his eyes and quietly whispered, "System."

No response.

"High tech system."

No response as well.

Lu Zhou's cheeks were slightly reddened.

F*cks sake!

Guess it was a dream after all…

However, when he opened his eyes, he was shocked by what he saw.

His entire surroundings were covered in pure white. There was the semi-transparent holographic display with the characteristic panel that was full of zeros. Everything felt like it was a reality.

Lu Zhou was surprised for a short moment before squeezing his fists in immense happiness.

Haha!

This is real! This isn't a dream!

A line of reminder text suddenly appeared on the semi-transparent characteristic panel.

[User, please select mission]

Lu Zhou tried to contain his excitement as he walked towards the screen and touched the [mission] icon.

Immediately after, a semi-transparent chat box appeared in front of him.

[

Mission 1: Physical Fitness

Description: First of all, you need to have a healthy body if you want to excel in scientific research. You have to outrun journalists, fight against zombies, and perform continuously for 72 hours. Training your body is no easy feat. User, please begin now.

Requirements: A five-kilometer jog in one hour. Think of the mission to begin the timer. (Able to repeat the challenge upon failure)

Reward: 20 experience points for any science subject. One lucky draw ticket. (100% garbage) ]

[

Mission 2: Develop relationships

Description: If you want to be in the academic field and do not wish to buy people dinner, you have to learn to manage relationships.

Requirements: Develop a good relationship with Professor Lu Fangping, the Head of Mathematics of the University of Jin Ling. (Minimum relationship score of 30. The mission relationship score target will be displayed after the mission starts)

Reward: 100 mathematics experience points. 400 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (97% garbage, 3% high tech sample)

]

[

Mission 3: A genius student's lifestyle does not need an explanation

Requirements: Study at the library for 24 hours. Think of the mission to begin.

Reward: The number of experience points for each subject is determined by the type of books read and the books' value score. 100 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (90% garbage, 9% sample, 1% blueprints)

]

This system is pretty honest. It even gave the percentages.

But what the hell is this running mission? 100% of getting garbage?! F*cking scam!

Also, what the hell is this developing relationships with a professor? Buying him dinner? Giving him gifts? Either way, it will cost me a lot of money.

Only the last mission seems a bit normal. Even though it didn't say how much experience points it would give, the probability of getting garbage is the lowest! From a game theory perspective, this mission should be the best path, right?

Not to mention, studying at a library for 24 hours seems pretty easy to accomplish.

After considering everything, Lu Zhou did not hesitate and picked the third mission.

A genius student's life does not need any explanations!

[You cannot change the mission after selecting. There is no time limit. If you give up on the mission, a penalty of 200 general points would be imposed. User currently has 0 general points. Do you confirm your selection? (First reminder)]

Lu Zhou did not hesitate and said, "Confirm!"

[Selection completed. Best of luck]

White light rays flashed. The characteristic panel's [mission] section went from "None" to "Mission three".

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He whispered to exit the system. When he reopened his eyes, he saw that he was back in the hospital room.

He laid on the bed for a while and took a couple of minutes to process the new information.

He did not know why, but he somehow became a user of this high tech system.

He thought back to when Wu Dahai shook him awake. The system's space should be deeply embedded in his consciousness as it was something out of this reality. Furthermore, the time in the system space and outside should flow concurrently.

To be honest Lu Zhou did not even feel like the system really existed.

However, all of this did not matter.

It could be an alien's scheme, an April fool's joke, or something was just plain wrong with his brain. He had already accepted the mission so he might as well complete it to find out.

Lu Zhou grabbed the water cup from the nightstand and drank it all. He then got out of the bed.

He got his body temperature measured by the nurse and it confirmed that he was fine. He then left the hospital and walked to the nearest bus stop to take the bus back to school.

When he got back to his dorm, only Liu Rui was in the room. His other two roommates must have gone to the internet cafe.

Liu Rui noticed Lu Zhou coming back and put down his textbook. He adjusted his glasses as he asked, "Lu Zhou, I heard that you had a heat stroke?"

"Yeah… but it wasn't a big deal," said Lu Zhou as he forced a smile. He walked towards his bed.

For this type of four-person dorm, the upper bunk was a bed while the lower bunk had a desk and a cabinet. Lu Zhou stored all his cards in the cabinet drawer.

After a bit of searching in the drawer, Lu Zhou was relieved that he finally found his library card. He then left the dorm with a backpack.

The chilly night winds blew across the parasol trees causing it to make rustling sounds.

The streets were brightly lit by lights. There were students and teachers walking around with textbooks in their hands. On the field, some people were holding hands as they walked while others were running with a partner. It was almost like this school would always be lively and full of energy.

It was already eight o'clock. Lu Zhou looked at the brightly lit library and felt a feeling of unfamiliarity and nostalgia.

How long has it been since I came here?

He took a deep breath. With a feeling of unease, he walked into the library.

Chapter 3: A True Genius Would Never Waste His Time

"Mission begin!"

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and whispered the words. He did it two more times just in case it was not enough.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a line of semi-transparent words floating in front of him.

[Mission three begins. Current time: 0 hour. Timer stops when exiting the library.]

Lu Zhou was startled by the words that appeared suddenly. He looked around the area and when he saw a student walked right through the semi-transparent words, he started to relax.

It turned out that no one else could see the system's words.

Anyways, spend 24 hours reading a couple of books in the library and the mission should be completed, right?

Lu Zhou walked towards the mathematics section as it was better than nothing. He was about to browse through the books when he suddenly noticed that the books had number labels. In addition, there was a pattern in the color of these number labels. As the numbers went from large to small, the colors went from red to gray.

[Di Donne's Foundation of Modern Analysis, 10]

[Linear-Algebra (Greub), 0]

[New Mathematical Analysis Lectures, 100]

[…]

What the hell?!

Lu Zhou suddenly recalled mission three's rewards. The mission's experience points were awarded based on the value score of the books.

In other words, if all he did was to stay in the library, he would only get the lucky draw ticket.

A true genius would never waste his time at the library!

Lu Zhou gulped as he thought about it.

However, there was one thing he did not understand. Why did the advanced mathematical textbooks had such low value scores while the beginner mathematical textbooks had such high value scores?

Especially given that "Di Donne's Foundation of Modern Analysis" was heavily endorsed and recommended by his teacher as a "must read". It was very difficult for students to fully comprehend this textbook. One would need to be at least familiar with real and general functions in order to understand it.

He suddenly remembered that in his characteristic panel, his mathematical level was 0. He was mildly stunned by it.

No wonder!

Maybe the so-called value scores are based on his current knowledge level?

The so-called value scores had two sides. Take Riemann's conjecture as an example. It added significant value to the academic world with thousands of mathematical theories built on the foundations of Riemann's conjecture. Its value was therefore extremely high. However, with regards to Lu Zhou, it would be very difficult for him to understand Riemann's conjecture and it would not help him in his studies. Therefore, the value score was zero.

Lu Zhou understood the value scores and did not hesitate before picking up "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures".

Coincidentally, the exams for his Mathematical Analysis 2 were in two weeks. He did not fully understand some of the harder topics so this would count as his revision.

When he found a seat, he sat down and began to read the mathematical analysis book.

To be honest, he did not really like to dive deep into mathematics, but surprisingly, he was able to tolerate reading the book.

He did not know if it was due to the effect of the system, but he felt himself gradually entering into a state of full concentration. It was almost as if he forgot about everything around him. There were only himself and his book. Nothing else existed.

As time slowly passed by, there were fewer and fewer people in the library. Lu Zhou was unaffected by it. He was still deeply immersed in the book's ocean of knowledge.

Someone tapped his shoulder and knocked him out of the state of "immersion".

"Student, it's 10 o'clock, the library is about to close," said the librarian.

Lu Zhou quickly stood up before inserting a bookmark into the textbook. He said, "Oh, sorry. I forgot about the time. I'll clean up right now."

"Don't sweat it. I've been working here for many years and this is the first time I've seen a student this focused on a mathematics book," said the librarian.

"Can I still borrow books? I want to borrow this book," said Lu Zhou. He was still fascinated by the concentration he had earlier and he felt a sense of incompleteness.

He had never been this addicted to solving a math problem before.

It was almost as if he was reading a novel and not a textbook. A novel that contained the life of mathematics.

The librarian saw how polite he was and so, she swiftly said, "It's okay. Go and borrow it if you want to. The computer is still on and I'll help you to process it. Did you bring your library card?"

Lu Zhou sincerely said, "I brought it… Thank you!"

"No worries!"

Lu Zhou stuffed the textbook into his bag and quickly left the library.

He passed through the holographic panel and the mission timer paused.

However, Lu Zhou's attention was elsewhere. He did not want to waste even a second. He only wanted to return back to that magical reading experience.

He went back to his dorm. His other two roommates were back and they were playing League of Legends.

Huang Guangming heard the door being opened. He was fighting intensely with his teammates and did not even turned his head to say, "Buddy Zhou, league?"

He exaggeratedly pronounced the word "league" as it was their phrase to invite someone to fight on the summoner's rift.

"Not today. I still have some stuff to do. You guys can play, right?"

Shi Shangteng pushed the opponents back and had a moment to spare. He looked back and saw Lu Zhou sitting down and reading a textbook that he pulled from his backpack. He suddenly shouted, "What the f*ck! Lu Zhou, when did you love studying so much?"

Liu Rui heard Lu Zhou was reading so he forced himself to look over at Lu Zhou's table.

Lu Zhou laughed. It was too difficult to explain so he made up an excuse, "Isn't it exam period soon? I still don't understand a lot of the topics. If I don't revise now, it'll be too late. I'll league with you guys after the exams."

"F*ck trying! Just pass the exam!" said Huang Guangming as he fiercely clicked the mouse to attack the enemy's nexus towers.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, Huang Guangming said the same thing last semester. Although Huang Guangming's "Mathematics 1" exam score was 89, it was only 1 mark lower than the genius, Liu Rui's.

Everybody was secretly working hard.

Lu Zhou laughed and did not say much. He flipped to the bookmarked page and focused on the textbook.

10 seconds passed.

10 seconds passed.

5 minutes passed.

He heard the sound of victory coming from behind him. Lu Zhou did not even finish reading two pages before going back to where he started. The words were not entering his head.

"Haha! Silver 4! I ranked up!" said Huang Guangming arrogantly while he leaned back on his chair.

"I carried you, you trash," said Shi Shang while leaning back on his chair and stretching his back.

"You didn't carry me. I killed the marksman instantly with my amazing Leblanc."

"Amazing, my ass. Stop talking sh*t when you just got lucky. I carried you from elo hell 1 . I had to smurf to bring your ass up to silver. You even forgot to get the first win of the day yesterday!"

There was no way for Lu Zhou to concentrate.

It was not because his roommates were talking. He just could not focus his attention on the textbook. His state of mind now was akin to his usual state of studying. The slightest distraction would disrupt his thought process.

Back at the library, there were people talking and moving, but he could still fully immerse himself in the world of the textbook.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and put down the "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures" book.

Maybe, it was the power of the system? League of Legends term to say that someone is stuck at the same rank

Chapter 4: Everyone Study Questions, I Study Books

It was six o'clock in the morning when he felt his bed shaking softly. Liu Rui squinted his tired eyes and tried to figure out where the shaking was coming from. When he saw Lu Zhou climbing down the ladder, he asked dramatically, "Zhou, you're awake this early?"

Lu Zhou replied quietly as he was afraid of waking up his two other roommates.

"Yeah."

Liu Rui persisted and asked again.

"Working again?"

Lu Zhou hesitated before shaking his head and replied, "Not going. I'm resting for a few days."

"It's so early. Where are you going then?"

"The library."

Suddenly Liu Rui was no longer sleepy.

Lu Zhou went to the toilet to brush his teeth. When he came back and saw Liu Rui climbing down from his bed, he asked curiously, "Are you not sleeping anymore?"

"Study," said Liu Rui as he took his toiletries and swiftly walked towards the toilet.

Lu Zhou did not know whether to laugh or cry at his overly competitive roommate. In the end, he shook his head and did not say anything. He put on his shoes and took his backpack before leaving the room.

Normally, Jin Ling was like a busy stove in June, but the mornings were an exception.

The morning air was filled with a mist that brought with it a pleasant aroma. The breeze blew across everyone's face softly. It felt cool and refreshing and not hot at all. The school in the early morning was like a polite woman who slowly approached. Compared to night time, it was almost like another place.

Lu Zhou bought two buns and a cup of soy milk from the school cafeteria. After eating, he walked relaxingly towards the library.

It was no wonder that Jin Ling was a famous and renowned university. There was no staff at the library yet but the students still read outside at the library's entrance.

Lu Zhou also began to read his level four vocabulary book. Although studying outside was a lot worse than studying in the library, it was better than expected due to the influence of the studious students around him. Lu Zhou waited outside the library till half past seven. Finally, the librarian arrived and unlocked the doors.

The library doors were opened and students flooded through the gates like tides of waves. Within minutes, the crowd outside the library disappeared.

Lu Zhou followed the crowd inside and did not bother browsing any of the books. Instead, he instantly picked up "Advanced Algebra" and sat down in a quiet corner.

It would take maybe until noon before Lu Zhou finished the remaining topics in "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures". He decided to utilize the afternoon to revise some advanced algebra.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and flipped to the bookmarked page from "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures". He began to focus his attention on the textbook.

Soon after, he began to enter into the state of immersion and forgot everything around him. It was just him and his textbook…

Time passed by slowly and it was soon half past eleven. Lu Zhou relaxed and closed the textbook.

He finally finished "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures". The textbook's value score had decreased to only five.

This observation confirmed his hypothesis. The system scored books not based on it's value to the academic world, but on it's value to Lu Zhou.

As for why the value score was five and not zero, it could be because there were parts of the textbook that Lu Zhou did not fully understand. He would have to read it again to fully comprehend it.

Obviously, Lu Zhou was not doing it. Why would he waste his precious time on merely 5 points? It was an unfavorable deal.

When it was time to eat lunch, Lu Zhou closed the textbook and started to walk out of the library.

He passed the main entrance of the library and glanced at the information panel. The remaining mission time decreased to 18 hours.

Suddenly Lu Zhou did not want the mission to finish so quickly. He had learned more in the past six hours than he had in the past year.

Lu Zhou thought about that unopened "Advanced Algebra" textbook and hesitated.

He still had a C programming language exam. Maybe he should have found a textbook for C instead?

There was English as well.

He did not know if English books had a value score but the English newspapers near the entrance had none. The high tech system had a strange bias towards quantitative subjects and it was not good.

Lu Zhou got a meal set with his food card and quickly returned back to the library. First, he returned the book that he had read. Then, he went over to the shelves and picked up "C Language Fifth Edition" before sitting back down in his seat.

When the lunch break ended, the library became crowded again.

"Classmate, sorry to bother you… Can I ask you a question?"

Lu Zhou nodded his head quickly. "Sure, ask away."

Even though his studying was interrupted, he was not annoyed at all.

What is it that she wants to ask?

Regardless, humans are aesthetic creatures. Beauty is very important in social interactions.

But, out of everyone, why did this girl ask me?

Must be because I'm so handsome!

Lu Zhou loved people who had good taste and asked questions humbly.

He did not have any other motives and he just wanted to help.

"Thanks," said the girl quietly. She swiftly moved her chair next to Lu Zhou and thoughtfully brought a pen and paper.

Lu Zhou took the pen and began to look at the question.

"Let me see… Finding limits, right?"

Find positive numbers a and b. Equation: (X→ 0) lim 1/(x-bsin(x)) ∫2/√(a+2t) dt =1 (integral limits are x and 0)

He had never done this type of question before but he recalled that he saw a similar one in the textbook he just read.

Perfect. He was just learning about algebra. It was time to put his skills to the test.

Lu Zhou began spinning the pen as he started to think. He took less than a minute before saying, "I solved it."

"You… You solved it just like that?" asked Chen Yushan suspiciously. She wondered how the hell did he solve it without writing anything down.

Lu Zhou looked at the girl and thought that this was why they said breast size was inversely proportional to IQ.

However, honestly speaking, he was shocked by how fast he solved the question. He had solved this type of questions before but it was never this easy. He did not even use the paper. The steps to solve the question just came into his head.

Lu Zhou did not waste his time and began writing down the working to the question. While writing he began to explain, "Typical 0/0 undefined equation. Just use L'Hopital's rule. The first step is to separate the integral. That's easy, right? From (X → 0) lim (1-bcosx) = 0, b equals 1. Plug this back into the equation and you would get a = 4. Check the answer and see if I'm right."

Chen Yushan stared blankly at the paper. She thought that this guy's explanation speed was faster than her listening speed.

When he wrote down the two answers, she was still thinking about solving the integral.

She doubted him as she flipped to the answers page. Her eyes widened.

This really is the answer!?

Lu Zhou noticed the girl's facial expression and could not help himself but laughed. He said while spinning the pen, "It's a very easy application of L'Hopital's rule. The calculation part is easy. Are you a freshman? What major?"

Chen Yushan blushed and said quietly, "I'm a master's student…"

Her face was even redder after the words came out of her mouth.

She was not ashamed but she was angry!

She was pissed off!

It's just solving a math question. Nothing to brag about! I haven't touched high school math in years! Who cares if you're better than me? Not a shred of class, f*cking single dude. What a loner!

Chen Yushan's anger died down slightly.

As for why she was also alone, it was because she was ignored by her crush.

"Ok," said Lu Zhou with an awkward expression. He thought she was in his year. He did not realize that he was dealing with a master's girl.

He was about to apologize when a loud coughing noise suddenly came from the seats in front of them.

Chen Yushan realized her conversation was disturbing other people. She blushed and playfully stuck her tongue out. She took the papers and question sheet before sitting back down in her seat.

Lu Zhou did not even get the chance to apologize, not to mention getting her name or WeChat number…

He sat down and contemplated for a while. Then he shook his head and began reading "Advanced Algebra" again.

Studying is more important than girls.

Networking and relationships?

Sorry, but a true genius student doesn't play with that stuff.

Rank up mathematics to level 1 means I'd have conquered the world!

Quickly, Lu Zhou was back into the state of concentration. He completely forgot about what had happened as that was just a small obstacle.

Chapter 5: Wash Your Face Before the Lucky Draw

The library closed at 10 o'clock. Lu Zhou had just enough time to finish "Advanced Algebra" and "C Language Fifth Edition".

On the way out of the library, Lu Zhou glanced at the mission panel and saw that there were only nine hours left. He felt a little disappointed.

He barely felt that fifteen hours had passed by. He had never felt time passed by like this while reading textbooks before.

After a full day of studying, he discovered an issue. When he finished reading a book, that book's value score would decrease to a single digit. Not just this, but other similar books' value scores would also decrease to different amounts. On the other hand, books that were previously at a very low or even zero value scores started to increase to various amounts.

For example, the "Di Donne Foundation of Modern Analysis" book only had a value score of 10 in the beginning, but now it had more than doubled to a value score of 30.

As he walked home, Lu Zhou could not help but think of what would happen to his body if his mathematics level went from zero to one.

Omniscient?

Able to solve questions instantly?

Or would his brain be filled with the knowledge that he did not even know existed? Would he became a legendary mathematician, similar to the likes of Chen Jingrun?

Lu Zhou thought about this and did not feel excited at all. Rather, he felt nervous.

The human brain was limited. It was akin to how one could not store 2TB of information into a 1TB hard drive. He was scared that the system would force his brain to store the extra information and it might destroy his brain.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that worrying about it was pointless.

Only the system knew what would happen exactly.

Anyway, the answer would be revealed tomorrow. He just had to get a good sleep tonight and relaxed his overheated brain.

…

[User, congratulations on completing the mission. First mission prize bonus: Additional lucky draw ticket.]

[Mission completion details: Books read in the library: "New Mathematical Analysis Lectures": 100 value score, "Higher Mathematics Tu Boyun Edition" : 100 value score, "C Language Fifth Edition": 100 value score, "Nickelsky Mathematical Analysis Translated Version": 57 value score, "Level Four English Detail Explanations": 0 value score. Total value score earned: 357. Grade: B+.]

[Mission reward: 500 mathematics experience points, 100 information science points, 100 general points, one lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 9% samples, 1% blueprints) ]

After another day of painstakingly reading books, Lu Zhou finally finished the mission.

Congratulations.

Lu Zhou came out of the library feeling excited. He found a spot near the dull basketball courts where the security cameras could not see him. He looked around to see if anyone was near, exhaled a deep breath and opened up his characteristic panel.

[

High tech system:

Host: Lu Zhou

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 0 (500/1000)

B. Physics: Level 0 (0/1000)

C. Biology: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 0 (0/1000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 0 (100/1000)

Technology branch: None

Technical blueprints: None

General points: 100 (two lucky draw tickets)

Mission: None

]

Lu Zhou was a bit disappointed that he did not level up but he still had the two prize draw tickets. His disappointment vanished immediately.

What prize could the high tech system give?

He was eagerly looking forward to it!

The two tickets had different odds. The first mission bonus had an odds of 75% garbage, 19% samples, and 5% blueprints.

As for what the samples were for? Lu Zhou did not know either. However, given the type of system, it was definitely not something like a toy car or a water gun. It had to be related to high tech and different from "garbage".

Of course, a little tech was enough. Even if he got a starship, he would not have the space to park it. Not to mention, he would have no idea what to do with it.

He would not get something like a bug spray, right?

Anyway, he began the lucky draw.

He started with the inferior lucky draw - the mission reward!

"Let's go!"

A spinning wheel appeared in front of him. Lu Zhou could not read the words written on it. He could only see the blurry colors.

He held his breath. Looking straight at the wheel, he focused on the path of the spinning arrow.

Suddenly, his brain lit up. He immediately followed his instincts and shouted, "Stop!"

The arrow continued to spin for a few more seconds before gradually slowing down.

[Congratulations, you won the garbage prize.]

[You won a can of coke. Don't be discouraged. Keep trying.]

F*ck you!

Blaming the system was of no use. There was more important stuff to do!

He saw next to the general points was [coke (garbage)]. The impetuous Lu Zhou quickly left the system space. He checked again to see if anyone was around him. He then looked at his hand and began to think.

coke coke coke coke…

Ding!

Without any warning, a can of coke appeared in Lu Zhou's hand when he opened his eyes.

The next moment, his facial expression was indescribably strange.

The fuck?

He sensed that the universe had a contradiction. The law of conservation of mass faced an unprecedented challenge.

How would he use modern physics principles to explain this can of coke?

Lu Zhou did not know.

Maybe he had to be above level 10 in "high tech" to understand.

Anyway, after seeing the can of coke, he was finally convinced. This system was not part of his imagination. It was real. He could affect the physical world with his own brain.

He should not think about the nonsense for the time being.

Lu Zhou cracked open the can, took a big sip and exhaled after.

"Ah!"

Even though the system classified this as a garbage prize, the flavor of the coke rendered him speechless. Lu Zhou usually did not like to drink sodas but he still licked his lips from it.

"Future? There's a brand of coke called Future? Whatever, who cares…"

Lu Zhou shook his head and threw the can into the trash.

He had repeatedly examined the can but it was just a normal aluminum can. Other than the fact that it could satisfy people, there was nothing high tech about it. Even the design and packaging had a "vintage and retro" feel.

The only destination for the can was the recycling plant.

Lu Zhou went to wash his face at the water taps near the basketball courts. He sat back down in the shade and entered the system space again.

This was his last lucky draw ticket and he took a deep breath. Like a gambler, his eyes were red as he pressed the button without any hesitation.

"Let's go!"

"Stop!"

The arrow started to slow down and Lu Zhou's heart was pounding in his throat.

When the arrow stopped, so did Lu Zhou's heartbeat.

[Congratulations, you won the blueprint!]

Lu Zhou was ecstatic. It was all because he washed his face!

Even with only a 5% chance, he managed to get lucky and won!

[Blueprint awarded - Formula and proof for Mersenne prime number distributions.]

Lu Zhou was stunned.

WTF?

Chapter 6: The Answer For A Proof Question

As a mathematics major, Lu Zhou was obviously familiar with the Mersenne prime numbers.

Of course, one would have to mention a famous Chinese mathematician when speaking about Mersenne prime numbers. In 1992, he published "Mersenne prime numbers distribution formula" and his paper was able to illustrate an equation for Mersenne prime numbers. It was then famously named "Zhou's approximation".

Previously, the British mathematician William Shanks, French mathematician Tartaglia, German mathematician Luders, Indian mathematician Ramanujan, and American mathematician Gillies had all speculated on this problem. Although they had a common theme, which was the approximation of the equation, the closeness of their research to the exact answer was unsatisfactory.

Zhou's approximation formula was very simple. When 2^(2^n) < p < 2^(2^(n+1)), p has 2^(n+1)-1 prime numbers.

Simple, right?

Anyone could do this, right?

However, the equation had not been proven or disproved. It had become one of the most famous mathematical problems and had been troubling the mathematics community for over 20 years.

It was like Riemann's conjecture. Even though it could not be proven, it did not stop people from using it.

Of course, even though there was an accurate way of using computers to discover Mersenne primes, it was still not an easy feat.

As of today, only forty-four Mersenne primes were discovered.

Was there any use for the Mersenne primes?

It seemed unlikely.

Strictly speaking, using the RSA algorithm, every time an online transaction went through, you would have to thank the unsolvable prime numbers that were hidden in the password. At the same time, large prime numbers were also used to test computer performances. For example, Intel used the GIMPS application to test the chips for bugs.

Anyway, to debate whether mathematics was useful was unmeaningful. Very often, the drives that motivated the mathematicians were not in monetizing the discovery, but merely because the problem was there.

At the end of the day, humans could not look purely at the short term gains but they had to also look at the long term gains.

However, Lu Zhou was not really willing. He did not care about the future. He wanted the gains now!

Also, why was it Zhou's approximation proof! Why not Riemann's Conjecture! Or even the lower level Birch's conjecture would be okay!

Putting the academic value aside, Birch's conjecture prize was already at one million U.S dollars. The prize money came from the well-known Texas banker Birch himself.

As for Zhou's approximation, there were a lot of people that were attempting to prove it. However, there was no prize money attached if one solved it.

A potential chance to own a house just flew away and Lu Zhou no longer felt so good anymore.

However, he should look at the bright side. Even though it was only Zhou's approximation, proving it would still give him some reputation in the mathematical world. Although there was no physical prize that was attached to the discovery, the university would not treat him shabbily either. Three years of scholarship should be guaranteed.

The sophomore who proved Ramsey's theorem was the best example. Apparently, the University of Nanjing gave him a million dollars, half of which was used as funding for his research while the other half for his living expenses.

The University of Jin Ling is among the top 10 in the country. Even though their mathematics department is relatively weak, the University of Jin Ling should still give more money than the lower ranked University of Nanking, right?

After thinking about it, Lu Zhou felt slightly better.

He calmed down and started to look over the proof theorem.

It was different than the coke from the "garbage" category. Zhou's approximation proof was categorized under "blueprint". It was not printed on paper or as a digital file. When he wanted to read it, he just had to think about it and all the proof steps will appear in his brain.

"I can't comprehend this at all… I guess I would have to spend quite a lot of time to understand this proof."

Lu Zhou thought about how he would successfully extract the steps of the proof.

First of all, memorizing it was no use as he had to understand it.

Secondly, he had to portray himself as a genius.

Regardless, if one could solve a high level question such as Zhou's approximation, one would need to at least be able to score full marks in high school maths, right? Even if one accidentally lost one mark, one would still need to get 99 marks.

Lu Zhou was not too concerned about it. It only took him two days to finish learning mathematical analysis and advanced algebra. The lecturers would not trick the students on purpose. They would only test what was in the syllabus.

Everything was already secured… Lu Zhou planned to present Zhou's approximation proof after the summer holidays. In the next two months, in order to maximize his gains, he would try to make himself into a true genius.

He must find teachers to discuss the math problems with.

Level 1 mathematics was also a must.

The summer school was also a must.

He also had to call his parents as it could be New Year before his next family visit.

After getting his prizes, a question popped into Lu Zhou's head.

Is the blueprint prize correlated with subject level?

This question was crucial.

Otherwise, why was he so unlucky and got a weird proof answer? As opposed to the first prize space battleship?

The theory was stuck in Lu Zhou's head. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

"Ranking up a subject level is a priority. I should get mathematics level 1 ASAP in order to unlock other subjects' level 1 limit. Before that, should I save my lucky draw tickets? But if I don't utilize the lucky draw tickets, I can't refresh the mission list. It's not realistic to hoard the lucky draw tickets…"

He clearly remembered that after he got the mission prizes, the mission list turned gray. Only after using his lucky draw tickets did the mission list became selectable again.

The only way to know was to enter more lucky draws.

If the next consecutive prizes were all proof answers, his theory would be correct.

Anyways, he should be able to take on new missions.

What will it be?

Lu Zhou began to think.

"Open mission list!"

A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him.

[

Mission 1: The art of profiting from laziness

Description: Profiting from laziness is also a form of art. If you can earn money while being lazy, why would you need to work hard?

Requirements: Utilize the art of language and get your name on a million dollar science research project. Use as little effort as possible to gain the maximum merit. Try to be lazy, young one!

Reward: Subject experience points (Subject determined by research project type, amount of experience points is positively correlated with research project funding, negatively correlated with the amount of effort used). One lucky draw ticket (100% garbage).

]

[

Mission 2: Practice fundamental skills

Description: Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the skyscraper of science.

Requirements: Solve 200 university level physics exercise questions (Questions are provided by the system and created with respect to the user's current knowledge).

Rewards: Question difficult level x 2. 50 general points. Item: Immersive learning hours (Type: special. Effect: 24 hours. Within a valid time frame, immersive learning is enabled when reading books. Permanent mastery of knowledge gained.)

]

[

Mission 3: Academic starts from theses

Explanation: Theses are the backbone of academia. An academician that can write a thesis might not be successful, but an academician that cannot write a thesis definitely won't be successful. Do not argue with the system about this. The system is definitely right! Publish a scientific thesis and start your academic career!

Requirements: Publish a scientific thesis.

Rewards: Subject experience points (determined by thesis value with a minimum of 100 points). 200 general points. One lucky draw ticket (95% garbage, 5% samples).

]

Lu Zhou had a weird expression after reading the last mission.

Experience points were determined by thesis value?

If he submitted his Zhou's approximation proof into the scientific journal, he would probably get a lot of experience points.

That was pretty tempting…

Chapter 7: Everyone Else Is Trash Compared To A Genius Studen

At last, logic overcame greed. Lu Zhou dispelled his unrealistic idea.

There was nothing special about a freshman publishing in a scientific journal. Not to mention, a lot of papers in the Chinese mathematical journals were subpar. As long as one's English was good, one could probably sneak your way through even with subpar work.

This type of masquerading behavior was exposed by an individual who ranked the journals by inferiority. The one ranked at number one was Applied Mathematics (AMC) as it was infamous for publishing subpar work.

The University of Shanghai alone published hundreds of AMC theses just in four years. It was not unusual for someone to publish 20 subpar theses in a year.

Lu Zhou was uncertain about publishing in other journals but for AMC…

He could be confident or cocky about it.

Either way, he felt like there was no problem.

However, it would be difficult if he wanted to publish Zhou's approximation in the scientific journal. The problem was not about getting accepted as he could easily get accepted. The crucial aspect was whether he could hold the spot after getting accepted.

Ultimately, Lu Zhou still selected the third mission. He did not plan on using Zhou's approximation. Rather, he planned on writing a phony thesis in order to pass the mission.

His current knowledge of advanced mathematics and mathematical analysis was equivalent to a master's student. If he wanted to write a thesis with his level four English, he only had to learn some technical words. It was nothing a dictionary could not solve.

In comparison, he did not have connections or the emotional intelligence needed for the first mission.

As for the second mission, the university did not even offer a physics class for freshmen. He was afraid that the system would produce high school level physics questions and god knows how low the difficulty level would be. Furthermore, he did not care too much about his physics level. He did not really need to learn it right now. He could just learn it later if he needed it.

After Lu Zhou chose his mission, he patted the grass off his backside and stood up. He put on some music and began to walk towards the dorms.

After being away for so long, Liu Rui would go crazy if he did not get back soon.

That guy was weird. He was pretty generous but when it came to studies, he was so competitive and selfish it made people speechless. He would chase you across the streets if you looked at his notes and rolled his eyes if you asked him questions. In his eyes, it seemed that everyone in the world was his competitor. What he strived for was not some kind of academic success but the admiration of students and teachers through obtaining the "genius" spot.

Could this type of person be considered a genius?

Lu Zhou did not think so.

In the eyes of a true genius, everyone else was trash. Who cared if you looked at my notes? Did you know about Zhou's approximation? You would not know what it was when it was in front of you!

Lu Zhou would only acknowledge one person as having the qualities of a true genius.

Yes, that was right.

One did not even need to guess. He was talking about himself.

…

When he opened the door to his dorm, it was exactly 10 o'clock.

Liu Rui was holding an exercise book. The other two people were not there. They were probably playing cards next door. Shi Shang was the type of person who only listened in class, but did not allocate additional time to study during exam periods. As for Huang Guangming, he was allegedly called a God of Study. He did not listen to classes. He would cram before exams and still do very well.

Lu Zhou threw his backpack onto the table and started to look for his showering card in the drawers.

At this moment, Liu Rui set down the exercise book in his hands and looked at Lu Zhou's direction.

"Buddy, why are you working so hard?"

"I have to work hard. I haven't touched a book for half a semester. If I don't start now, it'll be too late," said Lu Zhou before he threw his towel over his shoulder and stood up from his chair.

Liu Rui saw that Lu Zhou was about to shower and asked, "I can't solve this problem. Could you look at it for me?"

Oh, this was astonishing.

There were questions that even Liu Rui could not do?

"Let me look at it."

When Lu Zhou reached out with his hands, Liu Rui adjusted his glasses and handed over his exercise book. He pointed at the circled question and said, "This question."

"Calculus problem? This shouldn't be hard…" said Lu Zhou. He glanced at the question and was surprised to have never seen this type of problem before. He was excited. Who cared about showering? He took the exercise book, sat back down and started to draw diagrams on the draft paper.

Previously, if Liu Rui was unable to solve it, there was no way Lu Zhou could. He did not know why but now, there was not even a sliver of the word "impossible" in his mind.

After Lu Zhou spent some time trying to solve it, Liu Rui relaxed a bit. The dumbass he secretly looked down upon was still a dumbass. However he pretended, he was still a dumbass.

As for this question, Liu Rui genuinely was unable to solve it. However, there were official answers with the exact steps to solve it. The reason for asking Lu Zhou this question was not really for help. Rather, he only wanted to "spy on the enemy".

After all, if he actually wanted help for a math problem, he would not ask a dumbass like Lu Zhou for help.

Liu Rui was thinking this and asked, "What if you copied down the question first? I'll move onto the next question first?"

The hidden meaning was that there was no way Lu Zhou could solve it, so he would not waste his time.

However, Lu Zhou's response was not what Liu Rui expected.

"… no need. I solved it.'

Solve- solved it?!

Liu Rui's eyes widened so much that his eyeballs nearly popped out.

"Yeah, you heard me," said Lu Zhou. He was spinning his pen as he explained the formula on the draft paper, "A typical two-step problem. First, you convert Cartesian coordinates into polar coordinates. Due to the interval symmetry, you can simply and reduce this part into cot^2(x)…"

"Then calculate the derivative as csx^2(x)! Then substitute back into the original function!" Liu Rui's pupils contracted slightly. He finally understood the underlying logic of solving this problem. The rest was easy and he just had to calculate it.

Fuck, I didn't think of this step…

"Bingo! I solved it," said Lu Zhou with a smile. Sometimes, even a child could teach others.

"Thanks… Let me borrow the draft paper. I'll try to figure this out."

"Take it and you're welcome!" said Lu Zhou as he generously waved his hands and started to walk towards the bathroom.

Liu Rui took Lu Zhou's draft paper and sat back down. He pushed his glasses and looked at the question. He frowned and went into a deep thinking mode.

Even though the technique was new to him, the steps to solve it was clearly written down. There was nothing out of his knowledge, so he could easily understand it even without Lu Zhou's explanation.

However, one thing he failed to understand was how the hell did Lu Zhou figure it out?

It was also in such a short amount of time…

Maybe he had encountered this type of problem before?

Liu Rui thought that this was the only possibility. Otherwise, he could not imagine how this part-time working dumbass could solve this problem faster than a genius such as himself.

He flipped to the back of the exercise book. When Liu Rui looked at the answers, he froze.

"There's no way…"

The answer is correct… But that's not the main point.

The main point is that Lu Zhou's method is easier than the answers! The answers didn't think about converting the Cartesian coordinates into polar coordinates. Instead, the answers used integral by parts which resulted in a large number of calculations.

And this was a method he thought about…

How is this possible?

Liu Rui bit his lip.

He suddenly had doubts about his life.

Chapter 8: The Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functions

Since having the system, Lu Zhou felt his life becoming more structured. Every morning, he would carry his second-hand laptop and headed towards the library. He had never experienced this style of living before.

Sitting at the usual same spot, Lu Zhou opened his laptop and plugged his charger in the wall outlet. He contemplated for a while before typing a line of big words onto a Word document.

[The Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functions ]

[Abstract: Researched a few types of inversion problems of linear functional and linear operators when given full and part information. Introduced the basic results of optimal inversion theory. Especially the construction of the optimal construction method.]

Lu Zhou thought about this problem while lying in bed going through his notes. When their mathematics analysis professor, Professor Tang, talked about the Fourier inversion formula, he mentioned this briefly. It was one of the few unpopular but still cutting edge fields.

Lu Zhou combined some information online and drafted this question

As for how to solve this problem?

Hmm…

With his skill level, there was no way he could solve it. Therefore, he had to use some unconventional means.

If he recalled correctly, the high tech system's general points could be used to solve modern technical problems. He tried to solve Riemann's conjecture but the system did not respond. He thought that the question must be above his mathematical level or that the general points required were an insanely high number that he did not have.

For this level of difficulty, surely the system would give a response?

Lu Zhou thought about this. As he concentrated on the computer screen, he began to think, "system, system, system."

Hmm…

It seemed like there was no response.

What?

Suddenly, a warm air current flew from his back to the top of his head. Lu Zhou felt his brain getting warmer. Immediately after, a "pong" sound went off. An enormous stream of information blasted open like a sea of knowledge. This was followed by lines of text floating in front of his eyes.

[65 general points used.]

[Currently producing an optimal solution based on a mathematical level of 0…]

He did not feel any discomfort. Rather, he felt pleasure. Just as Lu Zhou wondered if he was in a dream, he woke up.

Lu Zhou looked at the white computer screen. He then looked at his hands and the keyboard before muttering with a hint of excitement.

"Solve- solved it?!"

It really solved it!!!

If he was not at the library, he would have started to cheer loudly.

Just like when he was obtaining Zhou's approximation, the entire question's core theorems were planted into his head like a piece of iron.

From steps to answers, every number, every symbol, even every full stop was in his head. It was all so concise and filled with the beauty of mathematics.

The only downside was that this type of beauty was too abstract. He needed to use language to enrich its connotation and turn it into a thesis.

A thesis that could be comprehended by others.

While thinking, Lu Zhou seemed to understand the meaning behind the high tech system.

However, he was confused as to the point of all this.

Suddenly a ballpoint pen poked his arm lightly.

"Umm, student…" said Chen Yushan with a reddened face. Embarrassed, she asked, "Can I ask you another maths question?"

Originally, she did not want to ask him. However, she had asked everyone around her and no one could solve it.

She held her head down in defeat.

Chen Yushan chose to tolerate him and decided to forget the "humiliation" that Lu Zhou had previously caused her.

Lu Zhou opened his mouth and said, "Okay, bring me the question."

Chen Yushan released a breath and quietly moved her chair next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the question briefly and saw that it was much more difficult than the question that she asked him the other day. It was around the same level as the question Liu Rui had asked him.

However hard it may be, it was only an advanced algebra question. For him, as long as it was a question from an exercise book, he could definitely solve it.

Lu Zhou took a pen and started to write on the draft paper.

While Lu Zhou was doing the question, Chen Yushan secretly looked at his face.

Although this guy's personality was unlikeable, his look of focus was surprisingly attractive.

Chen Yushan was bored while she waited for Lu Zhou to solve the question. She suddenly noticed the Word document on his computer screen. She asked quietly, "Student, are you doing a graduate project?"

It was already June and he still had not completed the graduate project. What a "genius"!

Lu Zhou answered, "No, that's my thesis, I'm submitting it to the scientific journal."

Hearing this, Chen Yushan was filled with respect for him.

Oh my god, I met a god!

I didn't even notice. He looks so young. How is he a PhD student?

Also, this PhD student had already started to submit to the scientific journal during the semester. Impressive!

Filled with worship, Chen Yushan asked, "Student, what do you major in?"

Lu Zhou had a poker face on while he tried to solve the question. When he heard her, he began to smile, "Uh… mathematics."

"Mathematics major, Jesus Christ! Anyone that can study mathematics is a god…" said Chen Yushan. Her worship was even more sincere than before.

She was in the business school. She did pretty well in her other subjects and the only subject she worried about was mathematics. She was about to go into the fourth year. The immense pressure from the postgraduate exams was right in front of her, making her worried about continuing her studies.

"Solved it. I wrote the thought process and steps on the paper. If you look at it for a while, you should be able to understand." said Lu Zhou. He threw the draft paper next to Chen Yushan as he said softly, "Mathematics is partly driven by talent and partly driven by hard work. It's different than other quantitative subjects. You won't understand it by having others explaining it to you."

After all, this was the library. It was unsuitable for discussion. Quiet conversations were fine, but if they kept on talking, people would start to get annoyed. Therefore, Lu Zhou stopped the conversation and gave this girl the necessary resources to figure it out herself.

Chen Yushan thanked him softly and took the draft paper. She then took out her phone and requested softly, "Umm… Student, can I get your WeChat? I still want to ask you if I'm stuck on a question."

"No problem," said Lu Zhou. He did not think much and took out his crappy Xiaomi phone to let the girl scanned his QR code.

"Thanks, I'll buy you food next time," said Chen Yushan. She blushed and thanked him again. She then moved her chair back and continued to study hard.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a moment of realization. He forgot to clear up a misunderstanding.

He was not a graduate student. He was just a freshman.

Although… He would be a sophomore in a few months.

If he went after her to specifically clarify this, it would seem a bit obsessive and awkward. He would have to clarify this misunderstanding next time when he had the chance.

He shook his head and put the thought in the back of his mind. His eyes continued to stare at the screen while his fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard. He started to focus on writing his thesis.

…

Although the system gave the answer based on a level zero mathematics , there was one aspect Lu Zhou was certain of. This method of solving it definitely did not come from his current knowledge. Rather, it came from the system's database of knowledge.

While writing his thesis, Lu Zhou was also writing down notes in his notebook. He listed the parts that he did not understand and wrote down a question mark on the steps that he still had doubts about.

When other people wrote theses, it was like they were squeezing water from a sponge. As for Lu Zhou, it was like pouring water into a sponge. It was not output, it was input.

Lu Zhou was in the library for the entire day. Even his lunch was the leftover bao from breakfast.

He looked at the thousands of words on his screen and the two full pages of notes on his notebook. He laid back on his chair and stretched.

"All I have to do now is to understand the parts on my notebook. I'll figure it out myself if I can. Otherwise, I'll just ask the teacher."

"Also for the parts of the thesis that are messy, I should streamline them. I'll do some researching online for steps that are already proven by other theses. After that, I can just delete the proof and label the reference."

"The last step is to double check it… Shouldn't be a big problem for me. After all, I wrote every word personally."

Technically the system wrote it, but it's the same thing.

It was getting late and his tummy started to rumble. Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and started to walk out of the library.

Should I eat barbecue on rice again? Or eat curry?

After he finished his dinner, he would go and visit Professor Tang's office. If he recalled it correctly, he should be on fourth year's classroom duty right now.

Okay, I'll decide at that!

Chapter 9: Did I Even Study At University...

The consultation room did not even have a single empty seat.

The third-year students preparing for graduate entrance exams were all focused on studying.

Next to the lectern, sat the professor of University of Jin Ling's mathematics department, Tang Zhiwei. He put the newspaper in his hand down and started to meticulously look at the question on the draft paper. His right hand flipped the pen cover repetitively.

Lu Zhou stood next to him. He clearly understood that this little gesture meant that he was in his deep thinking mode.

"Where did you get this question?" asked Tang Zhiwei suddenly after staring at the draft paper for a long time.

"The textbook mentioned the Fourier series, so I went to the library to find related materials. I found variants of the Fourier inversion theorem and a few applications for the variants. I tried to derive them and was stuck on this one step," said Lu Zhou with an apologetic smile. His facial expression was full of gratefulness.

Tang Zhiwei looked at Lu Zhou for a second before looking back at the draft paper. He put the pen cover down and picked up a piece of chalk. He walked next to the blackboard and paused for a second. His then reached out and started to draft the question on the blackboard.

Lu Zhou looked at the blackboard with immense focus. Perhaps it was because he had already done his homework on these type of questions, he found himself to be able to keep up with the teacher's pace.

The noise created by the chalk on the podium attracted the attention of the third-year math students that were studying. Occasionally, they would look up and stare blankly at the formula that was written on the blackboard before looking back down quickly.

Emmm…

What are they writing?

Time passed by slowly and without them knowing, the entire blackboard was full.

Tang Zhiwei wrote from the blackboard's upper left corner all the way to the lower right corner. He stopped writing and looked back at Lu Zhou before asking, "Do you understand this part?"

Lu Zhou looked intently at the blackboard and nodded, "I get it."

Tang Zhiwei lifted his eyebrows as he asked, "Do you really understand?"

Lu Zhou said, "I really understand it."

Tang Zhiwei did not say much and started to wipe the blackboard with the eraser. He took the chalk and continued to write on the blackboard. He changed his judgment of Lu Zhou's character.

He hated two types of students. The students that asked him for extra marks and the fake students that would purposely ask him very difficult questions.

Especially the latter, as it purely wasted his time!

He clearly was uninterested in maths, yet he acted like he was doing research. Disgusting! This type of people only wanted to get close with the teachers. They completely forgot the point of studying.

Tang Zhiwei was writing the finishing parts and had only a few lines left. He suddenly stopped and looked back at Lu Zhou before asking with a laugh, "I'll finish writing here. You should be able to understand right?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "I understand… Thanks, Professor!"

Chen Yushan sat at the corner of the front row seats. She was secretly observing the two people on the podium. She heard the back and forth conversation of "Understand?" "Understood." Her face had a confused expression written on it.

What do you mean understand, understood?

What exactly are these two communicating?

Chen Yushan realized that with her ability, she could never understand their conversation. All of a sudden, she felt hopeless about her own mathematical abilities.

Maybe… I'm actually just a bad student?

Tang Zhiwei heard Lu Zhou's reply and laughed. He carefully put the chalk back onto the table and sat down. He opened his vacuum flask and drank some tea. He then slowly said, "Do you really understand? Then why don't you finish writing down the steps."

Understand? My ass!

When I was writing, you stood there like a dumbass. You didn't even take notes. If you really understood it, I'll eat this cup!

Lu Zhou saw Tang Zhiwei's expression and he suddenly understood. The professor doubted if he actually paid attention. He was testing him!

Lu Zhou did not know whether he should laugh or cry.

Honest to God! I really understood!

He also did not know why. When Professor Tang was solving on the blackboard, the lines of equations felt so familiar. It was as if he had seen them before, but he could not recall where.

Perhaps it was because he exchanged the system's general points for knowledge and it subsequently covered this information? Or because his own mathematical experience increased and it increased his intuition towards mathematics?

In short, he actually understood it.

Lu Zhou did not know the exact reason but it was obvious that Professor Tang was not planning on solving this question. Professor Tang looked leisurely at him to perform. He could not screw up his chances of successfully submitting a thesis next semester.

With a confident smile, Lu Zhou walked towards the blackboard with a chalk in his hand.

Professor Tang's eyebrows rose as he thought that there was no way this little kid could complete the steps.

There's no way.

Definitely no way!

Even though he already wrote down most of the proof steps, the last few steps of the proof were not something a freshman student could do! Even his master's students would have to go through the steps multiple times before they could understand it!

But this guy! He didn't even write notes when he was listening!

Time passed by slowly. From the initial state of being amazed, Professor Tang's feeling soon turned to shock before it finally became a feeling of approval.

All of the doubts that he had was like snow in the spring. It melted as soon as the sun shined on it.

After Lu Zhou wrote down the last symbol on the blackboard, he looked back at Professor Tang. Professor Tang nodded his head in approval and said, "Not bad… Well written."

The last few steps were slightly different than his method. It was slightly more cumbersome, but still quite sophisticated. This showed that not only did Lu Zhou understood what he said, but he also incorporated his own thought process into it.

This ability was very precious.

It turned out that he had judged wrong…

"It was still thanks to teacher's help. If I do this by myself, there's no way I could solve it until this step…" Lu Zhou apologetically smiled.

He did not lie about this part. The steps the system calculated had a lot "a = b" proofs. It did not really explain exactly why a equaled to b.

He asked Professor Tang for the exact explanation of the proof.

"Don't need to be humble with me. I can see your skill level," said Professor Tang. He closed the lid of the vacuum flask and continued to ask, "What class are you in?"

"Class one. First year. Lu Zhou," answered Lu Zhou honestly.

"Lu Zhou…" Professor Tang repeated it a couple of times as if he was trying to remember this name.

It turns out that this student is called Lu Zhou…

Chen Yushan sat in the corner. She was secretly listening and nodded. Suddenly, she felt something was wrong and she immediately realized it.

First, first year?!

Chen Yushan blushed as she remembered calling him senior. Her entire body was like an ostrich as she rested her head on the table.

Chen Yushan was not the only person that was shocked. Some of the senior female students who were sitting in the front row also looked at this junior student intensely. Their hearts were racing like a pack of lambs.

How smart are the freshmen these days?

How are we supposed to compete?

"It's going to be exams soon, right? How's your revision going?"

"I'm almost done with revising. I just want to study something else," said Lu Zhou with a forced smile.

"Ah, it's a bit insulting for someone like you to take that test," said Tang Zhiwei. With a smile, he asked jokingly, "How about I make a test specifically for you?"

"Please don't! I'll die!" Lu Zhou replied jokingly.

"What? How can a test kill you? I don't believe it," said Tang Zhiwei. He evaluated Lu Zhou before nodding approvingly and said, "Not bad, not bad at all. I rarely complimented students. If you weren't in the first year, I would want to talk to the academic office and take you under my wing to do research."

"Teacher, you spoke too highly of me. I still have a lot to learn. If I actually did research with you, I would drag you down," replied Lu Zhou. He knew that Professor Tang was joking so he was humble in his reply.

Tang Zhiwei criticized him, "Stop! Don't give me all that polite stuff. People in academia have to focus on doing academics. Don't give people that fake politeness."

Although he had no doubt that he was being criticized, Lu Zhou knew that Professor Tang was not angry. Professor Tang was teaching him like he would his own student.

When this old guy got angry, he would definitely put on a smile. For example, when he was writing on the blackboard earlier and thought that Lu Zhou was pretending to know what was going on, he must have been so angry.

"Teacher, you are right. I understand."

Seeing Lu Zhou's sincere expression, Tang Zhiwei relaxed his tone and nodded his head. He continued to say, "It's good that you have an interest in mathematics. I hope that you can continue to maintain this interest. Also, your selection of the field is good. Even though it isn't a popular field, it is a field that one can easily succeed in. If you've good ideas, don't be afraid to go for it. If you don't understand some parts, just read or ask. This is how academia is built. Who knows, you could come up with something no one else has thought of before."

Professor Tang paused for a moment before continuing, "The mathematics department of the University of Jin Ling isn't very strong, but our physics department is very good. The Fourier transformation is used in spectrum analysis, data compression and orthogonal frequency division and its applications are quite broad. If you become an expert in this field, I believe that when you are in your fourth year, physics professors from next door would definitely want you."

Professor Tang laughed and continued, "Study more, read more, practice more, research more. I'll stop rambling. Go and think through this by yourself. I'll stop wasting your time."

"Thank you, professor! I will definitely remember these words that came from the bottom of your heart," replied Lu Zhou sincerely.

"Don't give me that fake politeness. Didn't I just tell you this? Just say thanks, then head off. Do you need me to send you?" laughed Tang Zhiwei.

Lu Zhou smiled. He took the draft paper and pen before walking out of the door. He even closed the door behind him.

Tang Zhiwei looked back at the blackboard and let out a breath. His heart was deeply moved by it.

No wonder Jin Ling is one of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties and the birthplace of astounding people.

With the University of Jin Ling standing on this dragon's pulse, it would really produce talented people!

The undergraduate students were muddled. They looked at the dazzling equations on the blackboard. When they looked back at their own exercise book, they felt a sense of inadequacy.

Did I even study at university…

Chapter 10: I Have Two Girlfriends

Room 201. Male dorm rooms.

Liu Rui was doing practice questions under the light when he suddenly stopped his pen and looked at the room's door. He asked carelessly, "Why hasn't Zhou come back yet?"

Huang Guangming was sitting on the bed playing soul hunters. He did not even raise his head as he replied, "I don't know. Why do you care so much about the guy? Are you gay or something? Disgusting!"

"Come down! I'll beat your ass!"

Liu Rui swore. He grabbed the ladder and started to shake the bed to the point that Huang Guangming could not even see his phone clearly. He quickly grabbed the rail and screamed mercy.

"Brother Liu! Brother Liu! I was wrong, I was wrong! Stop shaking! I'm gonna die! Ahhhhh~"

In fact, there was no way he could die. The bed frame was connected. There were also lots of books and clothes in the cabinet supporting it. Even if Liu Rui threw his entire body weight onto the ladder, he still could not flip over the massive rectangular object.

These two noisy people had already become the norm for Room 201.

Shi Shang was studying English when he suddenly lifted up his head and said coldly, "Speaking of which, Zhou hasn't been working part-time recently. He also stopped playing League at night and he spends all his time at the library. Maybe…"

"Maybe?" Liu Rui's ears perked up.

"Maybe he's dating?" said Shi Shang with a tone of uncertainty.

Liu Rui: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

"… Yeah, why aren't you guys talking?" said Shi Shang embarrassingly when he realized the room was quiet.

Liu Rui and Huang Guangming looked at each other before looking at Shi Shang.

In a serious tone, Liu Rui said, "You're crazy"

"F*ck me, call me crazy again and see what happens!"

Huang Guangming said seriously, "You're crazy. We're math majors."

"…"

This logic was too perfect. Shi Shang's throat choked up and he was speechless. Tears nearly started to flow down his cheeks.

The ratio of single versus guys with girlfriends in the mathematics department was ranked first in the University of Jin Ling. Other quantitative departments could still find one hot girl, but for them… If they wanted to find a hot girl, they would have to convince some guy to cross-dress.

As for people from the other classes, if they told them that they were math major, their first reaction was, "Oh, you're part of that loner squad,", "Ever had a girlfriend?", "Never had one, right?". Normally speaking, girls dislike guys that were not romantic. It was very rare to find a partner.

Otherwise, why would a tall, handsome, basketball playing, and Rukawa Kaede level guy like me still be single?

Sigh… Reality is cruel.

Shi Shang looked at the sky.

At this moment, Lu Zhou came back to his dorm. He laughed as he opened the door.

"What were you guys talking about? I could hear you guys screaming from across the hallway. Go and find yourself a girlfriend. It'll be too late if you don't."

Huang Guangming had a serious face on as he said, "Zhou, I have to ask you a very serious question. Answer honestly."

"What…?"

Shi Shang asked seriously, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Lu Zhou said impatiently, "Yeah, sure. I have two! Jealous? Want me to lend them to you?"

"F*ck off!" was the response from the three guys.

Lu Zhou paused. He was surprised by their unison. He suddenly realized something and he laughed as he said, "What… are you guys thinking? I was talking about two-digit composite numbers. I wrote notes on it. Feel free to read them. Just remember to give it back."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Uh.

The room became silent again.

…

In the morning, Lu Zhou routinely woke up in the morning. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and headed to the cafeteria with his laptop.

The cafeteria had just opened for business and so, the hall was pretty much empty.

When Lu Zhou walked in, he could smell the delicious freshly steamed buns from miles away.

"Ma'am, can I have three steamed buns and a cup of soy milk to take away?"

"Okay! Young man, you're up so early. I'll pick a big bun for you."

"Thank you, ma'am!"

It did not matter if it was a classmate, a teacher, or a stranger, Lu Zhou was always very polite.

His father taught him to be nice to people as he would never get the short end of the stick.

Of course, nothing was that absolute. His father worked at the metal factory for many years and suffered a lot of abuse. On the other hand, even though Lu Zhou remembered the lessons his father taught him, he still could not control himself and would occasionally swear.

Once the buns were packed, Lu Zhou took out his food card and pressed it against the machine.

A second later, he felt embarrassed.

[Card declined]

The cafeteria lady saw how embarrassed Lu Zhou was and laughed before saying kindly, "It's okay. Cash is fine. I can give you change."

Lu Zhou searched in his pockets and took out his wallet. He felt even more embarrassed.

His wallet was empty and it only had a bank card in it. As for his Xiaomi phone, he left it charging back in his dorm room. He could not even scan the QR code to pay.

This cafeteria probably doesn't accept bank cards, right?

System…

Let's negotiate a bit. Can I exchange general points for money?

Lu Zhou said in his heart. He was full of regret when the system did not respond.

At this moment, like a flash of thunder, the card machine rang.

Lu Zhou looked behind him immediately and saw a girl with bangs. She stood there and looked at him with a smile as she waved her food card.

"Hey, morning."

"Morning…" Lu Zhou nodded his head. He was stunned.

This person…

Who is this?

"How dare you! You don't even recognize me!" said Chen Yushan as she knew instantly that Lu Zhou did not recognize her. Her lips perked up in anger.

"Oh, sorry… Thanks. How about I add your WeChat to pay you back?"

"It's fine. It's only two dollars fifty. I'm not that cheap. Also, we've already added each others' WeChat!" said Chen Yushan as she waved her hair and grinned. She reached out with her right hand and said, "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Chen Yushan. I'm in the business school. Little brother, you can call me older sister."

Lu Zhou did not know why she emphasized on "brother" or why she added a "little" in front of it. He had no idea how she knew he was younger. However, after hearing her talk about adding his WeChat, he suddenly remembered who she was.

Just what…

Her appearance changed a lot!

She was wearing denim shorts and a pair of sandals. He did not know if he should stare at her sexy long legs. She had a small white t-shirt with very noticeable curves. Her face had little makeup and she was wearing bright red lip gloss. Most noticeably, the pair of round glasses came off. Maybe she was wearing contact lenses?

Chen Yushan noticed that Lu Zhou was speechless and she was secretly happy. Her roommate dragged her to give her an appearance makeover, which somewhat annoyed her. However, right now, she felt that the effort was worth it.

Of course, her body was naturally attractive. She was just accustomed to not caring.

A normal person would not get half of the results even if they tried.

"What? Little brother?" Chen Yushan waved her long hair, pouted her mouth, and laughed at Lu Zhou mischievously. Her eyes signaled, "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Chen Yushan. He contemplated if he should speak. Finally, he gave in to his kindness as he quietly said, "The air conditioning in the library is very cold. You'll feel cold wearing this."

"…"

Chen Yushan felt stupid for anticipating his response.

Lu Zhou ate one of the three buns, put the rest in a plastic bag and stuffed them into his backpack. Chen Yushan was slurping on noodles. She looked at him and did not say much. She only thought it was respectable that he did not waste food.

The pair finished eating at the same time and started to walk towards the library.

At the same old place, Chen Yushan sat next to Lu Zhou. She took out her exercise book and started to read it. Having a makeover was only to experience a change and to satisfy her roommate. It did not change her pace of studying at all.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou took out his laptop and started to edit his thesis.

The calculation method that Professor Tang showed him yesterday was crucial for the development of his thesis. With the memory fresh in his mind, he decided to choose the most important parts of the thesis to write.

After that, there were only three difficult sections left to figure out. If he pushed himself, he could try to finish the thesis by the end of the month!

The science journal review process was very slow and it often took up to three months. Even for a crappy journal like AMC, it was still slow. He did not want to take half a year just to finish his mission.

Time flew by quickly and it was already noon.

Chen Yushan spent the whole morning doing practice questions when she looked over at Lu Zhou and lightly tapped his arm.

"Little brother, little brother, how about we get lunch together?"

She was almost addicted to calling him little brother that she even said it twice.

Lu Zhou hesitated and shook his head, "I'm good. I'm not that hungry. You go first."

Today was Sunday and the food card top-up service was closed. Not to mention, he left his phone in his dorm. How could he let her treat him again?

"Are you sure? I'll treat you," said Chen Yushan.

Lu Zhou was drooling as he thought of the cafeteria's barbecue meat.

Finally, the temptation of food overcame logic. He said apologetically, "Oh… Let's go then. I'll treat you next time."

His buns were already cold anyway. It would taste the same if he kept it for dinner.

"Ah, I'll remember what you said. Let's go then. It'll get too crowded if we don't hurry up," said Chen Yushan. She stood up, turned around and felt confident.

Who cares if your IQ is high? You're still suppressed under my elegant goddess-like appearance!

Meanwhile, Lu Zhou was walking next to her and oblivious of her satisfaction. This was because he was debating a very important question.

Should I eat cumin flavored meat?

Or pepper flavored meat?

Chapter 11: Even A Genius Had Shortcomings

The days slowly passed by and Lu Zhou maintained the library and dorm lifestyle. Other than eating at the cafeteria or asking professor Tang for help when he was stuck, the trajectory of his life had not changed.

It was the first time his life had structure since he stepped into the university. Not to mention, he had maintained it for over two weeks.

He had not expected it at all.

Finally, Lu Zhou managed to finish his thesis before the 15th of June. He had also translated it from Mandarin to English.

It was worth mentioning that when Lu Zhou was discussing "Derivation of the Fourier partial series in relation with inversion functions" with Professor Tang, Professor Tang showed immense interest in Lu Zhou's thesis. Professor Tang said that he would not mind helping Lu Zhou to edit his thesis.

Lu Zhou trusted Professor Tang's editing skills when it came to the thesis.

Putting Tang Zhiwei's kindness and generosity aside, he had worked many years as a professor and had published more theses than Lu Zhou had read books. It was rare for him to take notice in an undergraduate thesis. Additionally, the topic of his thesis was nothing special. Even if Lu Zhou solved this age-old problem, Tang Zhiwei would at most feel proud of his student.

Only supervisors who had low qualifications and could not even become professors would pressure students' to complete their graduate projects. They would constantly chase after the students' research results.

Lu Zhou did not know if there was an academic scum like that in a high-level institute like the University of Jin Ling. However, one thing he was certain was that Professor Tang was not one of them.

Having an experienced supervisor giving him advice would greatly increase his chance of successful thesis submission. Also, he believed that Professor Tang would be able to give valuable advice regarding the academic journal selection.

Therefore, Lu Zhou planned on asking Professor Tang to look over his thesis after he finished his math exams.

As for now, he would have to pray to God.

After all, other than advanced algebra, he still had to study for modern history.

The part that pissed him off the most was that for this year, it was a closed book exam!

Lu Zhou did not understand what was the point of studying all this.

Would studying this make me succeed?

Even though he had a million complaints, he still had to study and he still had to learn.

After all, it counted as two credit points and it would impact his GPA by quite a bit.

Lu Zhou persisted as he sat alone in his dorm. He picked up the textbook and started to read.

The results were as expected.

The knowledge did not sink into his brain at all!

Lu Zhou sat in his dorm. After a whole morning of reading, he felt dizzy. He threw the textbook on the table and gave up.

When one was tired, one just wanted to do nothing. Lu Zhou stared at the ceiling mindlessly for two minutes before taking out his phone.

Coincidentally, someone sent him a message. He opened up WeChat.

Chen Yushan: [Little brother, how come you didn't come to the library today? I'm stuck on a question. Could you please help me?]

Chen Yushan: [Photo]

Lu Zhou thought for a second. He then wrote a message and sent it.

[I'm studying modern history. Wait a minute…]

Lu Zhou zoomed in on the question in the photo. He looked at it for a second before putting his phone down and sat up from his chair.

He took a draft paper and started to draw on it. After two minutes, he solved the question.

He took a picture with his phone and sent it. Lu Zhou saw the modern history textbook and contemplated.

I guess mathematics is still more interesting!

Lu Zhou felt lazy. He did not want to study. He picked up his phone and continued to look at his friends' news feed.

After some scrolling, he found a post by his roommate.

[Liu Rui: Ahhhhhh… I haven't studied at all! Mathematics is so hard! I'm going to die T.T]

"…"

Lu Zhou felt like he should block these type of friends online. However, in his heart, he remembered to be kind. So, after some thinking, he still pressed like on the post and then quickly scrolled past.

As he scrolled past the posts, he felt as if he was reviewing theses.

Time passed by without him realizing it.

Suddenly, the door opened. A sweaty Shi Shang walked in carrying a basketball.

"Did you fall in the drain?" asked Lu Zhou after taking a look at him.

"What drain? Basketball! At the end of the month, there is an interclass basketball tournament after my English exams. The class leader dragged me to training," said Shi Shang. He sat down on the chair, opened his water bottle, and started to drink quickly. He released a breath and said, "Motherf*cker, class two's center player is way too tall! He could be an electric pole. "

"You're not studying?"

"Study, my ass. I've already looked at the material. It won't change a thing if I study. 90 is unrealistic, 80 is pushing it, 70 is easy peasy. If I want a good mark, it'll be up to Professor Tang's kindness!" said Shi Shang. He was fanning himself with a textbook as he said, "Not to mention, basketball is way more important than mathematics."

"But sports only counted for a few credit points…" said Lu Zhou nonchalantly.

"Lu Zhou," said Shi Shang as he looked sternly at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou's entire body felt uneasy when the guy was stern.

"What…?"

"Does your life only consist of credit points?" asked Shi Shang in a heavy tone.

"What else is there?"

"I'll change my question. Do you want chicks?" asked Shi Shang seriously.

"They're okay…"

Lu Zhou felt like he was not that desperate for chicks. From a logical perspective, he was in no financial situation to date.

He was afraid of trouble and he was even more afraid of giving other people trouble. Even though he was certain that he would become wealthy one day, maybe richer than anyone else, he still did not want to steal someone else's youth.

Of course, maybe the only reason he was thinking like this was that he had not met someone he truly loved.

However, who could predict what would happen in the future?

"What do you mean by okay? Lu Zhou, as the dorm leader, I have to lecture you on some life lessons," said Shi Shang. He leaned against the backrest of the chair as he said seriously, "Think about it. When you pass the ball into the free throw line and two big guys are standing in front of you, suddenly you go for a three-step dunk… What will happen next?"

"I… I don't play basketball."

Lu Zhou's height was tall enough to touch the basket, but he was far from dunking. If he tried to take the ball by force, he would probably get blocked.

"Throw! You know how to throw, right! You throw a perfect three-pointer, " said Shi Shang. He continued to say, "Think about it!"

He knew how to throw.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "The ball went through?"

"Just that? Too young! Too simple!" said Shi Shang. He grabbed his thigh and said in excitement, "It's cheers! Think about those flying pom poms! Those cheerleaders! Think about those girls with long legs and short skirts as they screamed your name with a slight blush on their face…"

"Stop! Stop first!" said Lu Zhou as he pinched his forehead. He interrupted Shi Shang's train of thought as he asked, "Is there even… any girls in our class?"

Not only were there no girls in class one but there were also none in class two.

"…"

The dorm room turned dead silent.

From another perspective, being able to end the conversation with just one sentence was a gift in itself.

Shi Shang let out a long sigh and looked at the ceiling before saying, "I… I can't talk to you."

Lu Zhou sighed as he thought about the same thing.

Chapter 12: Jealousy Has Built Up My Walls

The days passed by slowly. Soon, it was time for the "Advanced Algebra 2" exam.

"Students, please turn off your phones. Place your student ID and citizen ID on the table's left corner. I will repeat the exam rules again. There will be no tolerance for cheating. You'll be sent to the academic affairs office if caught. You are all about to enter the second year. I hope you won't make a mistake at a crucial time like this. Every year, there are a couple of students that are dishonest. I hope you can follow the rules."

An old professor stood on the podium and looked around the room. He then pointed at a master's student and said, "Little Wong, start from the right side."

"Okay," nodded the boy named Little Wong. He started to inspect the student IDs starting from the right.

The old professor placed his vacuum flask on the podium and started to inspect the IDs from the left.

Lu Zhou stretched his back. He turned off his phone and stuffed it in his bag. Like everyone else, he placed his textbooks and electronics on the first row tables.

Finally, the day had come!

After finishing the exams, he would have tons of time to do his other stuff.

Lu Zhou went back to his chair and sat down. The master's student looked at his citizen and student IDs. He then sat there while waiting for the test paper.

After all, the University of Jin Ling was a renowned university. When it came to the exams, the rules were very strict.

Even though that old guy wore glasses and had a smile on his face, if he caught you handing notes or looking at your phone, no matter how you tried to hide it, he would know instantly.

A few students brought cheat notes. They sat there anxiously. They wanted to cheat but were afraid to do so.

Lu Zhou sighed. He felt bad for these unfortunate people. He quickly started to write on the test.

Apparently, Professor Tang wrote the test. However, it did not matter who wrote the test as the topics that were tested were all part of the syllabus. At least, from Lu Zhou's perspective, the topics were all very easy.

The first section was filling in the blanks. The first question asked to solve a differential equation. He just had to follow the steps. Although the formula was slightly complicated, it was still the same type of question. Lu Zhou considered them free marks.

The second question asked for the equation of a line using spatial coordinates. It was pretty self-explanatory, so more free marks.

The third question was derivation and fourth was finding the integral of a curve. It was all free marks.

The fifth question was interesting. Using an already known f(x) function, solve for s(-5/2π) by letting a Fourier sine series expansion function be s(x).

Emm…

It was slightly difficult.

Lu Zhou held his hand and tapped the draft paper lightly for a few times. He then solved the problem quickly.

The question looked difficult because it tested one's knowledge of Fourier sine functions and asked to solve an equation. Not to mention the function was not exactly easy. However, after some thinking, the seemingly difficult calculation process was actually not that hard. One just had to follow the steps.

Lu Zhou had already studied two whole textbooks. Therefore it was easy for someone like him.

Immediately after, he looked at the multiple choice questions. These were also free mark questions. He swiftly started to tick the answers.

After that, it was the long questions. He finally had to be serious!

Lu Zhou rubbed his fists. He felt prepared. He was ready to go to work. When he looked at the question, he was stunned…

It was not because it seemed difficult.

But because…

Emmmm…

That was it?

Lu Zhou secretly looked across. His neighbor was struggling while biting down on his pen.

He then glanced back. An even more creative person folded a dice out of the draft paper. They were clearly using magic to solve the question.

A guy stood up and walked towards the podium. He turned in his exam paper and confidently left the door.

Lu Zhou was filled with respect for the guy.

Heroes pass through the same path!

I guess I'm not the only one that thought this exam is too easy!

Lu Zhou stopped hesitating and started to write. He quickly solved the questions on the exam paper. Other than the last question, which took him five minutes, all of the questions only took him two minutes to solve.

He looked over at his paper. He was sure that there were no mistakes. He saw that he did not even use up a quarter of the draft paper provided. Lu Zhou packed his stuff and went to turn his test in.

The old professor was sitting on the podium drinking tea and he did not even look at Lu Zhou as he turned his test in.

However, when his peripheral vision saw a flash of the exam paper, he squinted his eyes.

Oh.

He actually finished it?

It has only been half an hour!

He picked up the exam paper frivolously and adjusted his glasses. He then started to look over the answers.

The first question was correct.

The second question was correct.

Third question…

The further he looked, the more dignified and serious his expression became.

The master's student was curious about what was written on the exam paper. However, looking at the old professor's serious expression, he decided not to go and bother him. He walked off the podium quietly and went to patrol the back of the classroom.

Seconds and minutes soon passed by. After reading the last line of the last question, Lu Fangping's furrowed eyebrows finally relaxed. He nodded his head with approval.

This is interesting.

Very interesting.

"Looks like Professor Tang taught a good student…" He thought. Professor Lu Fangping picked his teacup and took a sip. His face was expressionless.

As for the first two students that left, the exam room had no reaction. At most, they tried to comfort themselves by thinking, "The two idiots already gave up. Guess I'm not the only one that thought this is difficult…"

Other than Liu Rui, who sat behind Lu Zhou.

He saw with his own eyes that Lu Zhou's paper was fully written.

Even though he could not see clearly what Lu Zhou wrote, but from the outline of the equations, it clearly did not look like it was made up.

… Maybe?

He looked at his own paper. He was still stuck on the last fill in the blanks question. He could not think of an answer at all.

Logically speaking, he should give up if he was stuck on a question. He should wait until he finished the rest. Then, he could come back and try to solve it. However, Liu Rui kept thinking that if Lu Zhou could solve it, so could he. He could not handle the defeat.

Jealousy has built up my walls.

Jealousy is making me unable to solve this problem.

Ahhhhhh…

My heart is about to explode!

Liu Rui grabbed his hair as his entire body felt weak.

…

After coming out from the exam room, Lu Zhou did not waste any time hanging around. He went back to his dorm and copied his thesis into a USB. He then went to the laboratory building and found Professor Tang's office.

The office was very quiet. Other than Professor Tang smoking near the windows, there were only two students looking at a computer as they focused on their project. They did not even look at Lu Zhou when he walked in as they completely failed to notice him.

Professor Tang noticed Lu Zhou standing outside the door and he signaled for Lu Zhou to come in. When he saw the USB, he laughed, "Oh, you've already finished your thesis this quickly?"

Lu Zhou said politely, "Yeah, I finally finished it. The English and Chinese versions are here. Could you please look over it for me?"

"Give it here. This is why you come here for, right?"

Professor Tang took the USB from Lu Zhou and walked to his desk. He opened up his laptop, plugged the USB in and started to read the thesis.

"How did your exam went?"

"It was okay. The questions felt pretty easy."

"Ah, quite cocky. I'll personally mark your paper."

"Please have mercy!"

"Don't even think about it."

Tang Zhiwei laughed and opened the thesis. If anyone else begged him like this, he would definitely felt resentful towards them. But when Lu Zhou said it, he did not mind it at all and just laughed.

He knew the skill level of his own students. Asking a student like Lu Zhou to do this exam was a little insulting.

The performance stage for a student like Lu Zhou was not the final exam. It was the "Challenger cup", which was a competition for STEM students, or the national undergraduate mathematical modeling competition.

Tang Zhiwei put on his glasses and focused his attention on the thesis. He continued to read.

Honestly speaking, when he saw Lu Zhou coming into this office, his heart was full of surprise.

Pursuing academics was like using a bucket to carry water from the sea into a reservoir.

The road was bumpy and difficult. It crossed mountains and rivers, and through rain and heat. Finally, you walked to the academic reservoir and use the bucket to pour a drop of water into the reservoir. It would make all of the effort worthy.

Anyone that wanted to be in academics had to carry on sincerely. People that wanted immediate success would never succeed.

No matter how talented he was at mathematics, how much water could an undergraduate student carried in his bucket?

He would not even arrive at the reservoir. The little amount of water would dry up halfway through the walk.

Therefore, Professor Tang Zhiwei was very calm. He did not carry a mathematician's mindset when reading theses, but rather an educator's mindset. It was like he was caring for a newly planted flower.

Even before he even began to read the thesis, he was already thinking about how he could ask Lu Zhou to rewrite his thesis in a relatively inoffensive way. He wanted to teach him not to run before he could walk and did not want to discourage his interest and passion.

Suddenly, Professor Tang was stunned. His eyebrows furrowed and he went into deep thinking.

This…

Was this really written by an undergraduate student?

Maybe he copied it from a textbook?

Professor Tang was filled with suspicions. He randomly chose a paragraph and searched for it online.

Nothing matched.

Not convinced, the old man logged onto a thesis checking website and uploaded the entire thesis onto it.

His eyes widened at the search result.

How is this possible?!

Chapter 13: Even If You Guys Aren't Ashamed, I'm Ashamed!

Plagiarism percentage: 0.3%

It could not be more legit.

"Lu Zhou, let me ask you something and answer honestly. Did you really write this thesis by yourself?"

Professor Tang Zhiwei stared at Lu Zhou. Through his thick glasses, his pupils shined with astonishment.

There was a hint of excitement.

Only thing was, he still could not believe it. He could not believe that the mathematical proof theorem in the thesis was actually written by an undergraduate student.

Lu Zhou did not avoid those questioning eyes. Instead, he laughed and with a humble tone, he said, "It was all thanks to Professor Tang's education."

Even though I exchanged it with general points, it should count as my own work right?

He had no shame in saying that it was his own work!

Tang Zhiwei looked away from Lu Zhou and continued to look at the thesis for a very long time.

Since Lu Zhou was free, he just stood next to him and waited.

The sky gradually turned darker and darker and the clock on the wall slowly turned to six o'clock. Professor Tang finally read through the last part of the thesis and let out a long sigh.

"The argument in the thesis is pretty good. One could even say that it's very good. But one criticism I have is that the format of the thesis still has some problems. Details such as vocabulary and citations are slightly inappropriate. However, these are all but small problems. Being able to write this type of thesis as a first-year student means that you have great potential!"

Professor Tang took off his glasses and put it on the table. He looked at Lu Zhou, laughed and said, "Leave this thesis here. I'll help you to edit it slightly."

Lu Zhou was full of joy and he quickly responded, "Thank you, professor!"

If he tried to find a professional editing service, it would be quite pricey. Plus, they might not even edit it well. If you find a scummy company and your thesis did not pass, all they would do was to tell you that your thesis was garbage.

"I've wasted quite a bit of your time. You should go back now. Remember to find me two days later, or I can call you… Leave your phone number here. I can't be bothered to look through the student register," said Professor Tang as he pointed at an A4 paper and gave Lu Zhou a pen.

Obviously, Lu Zhou was dripping with joy and he quickly wrote down his phone number.

"Oh yeah, Zhou, let me ask you something. Have you thought about which journal you want to submit to?"

With a forced smile, Lu Zhou said, "I've searched around online. AMC's impact factor seems pretty high. Also, their review process is pretty fast, so I plan on…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" whispered Professor Tang. He added, "What's the point of submitting it there? Thank god I asked you, otherwise it'd be too late! Did you know that the thesis submitted to AMC doesn't even count towards the assessment of the PhD students?"

Uh?

There's such a thing?

However, even knowing about it now, Lu Zhou did not really care. After all, he had no plans to take a master's degree much less a PhD. He had just wanted a fast review process so that he could complete the mission.

If he submitted to a strict journal, it could take months of waiting time. In the end, if his thesis was rejected, he would go crazy.

"The domestic situation for mathematical journals is not good. I suggest that you try to submit internationally. As for your thesis, "Journal of Symbolic Logic" or " International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics" are pretty good. The first leans towards publications of pure mathematics papers. Whereas the later is for applied mathematics, mathematical analysis, and physics. Among these three fields, I would suggest that you make up a decision by yourself. Also, remember one thing. If you dare to submit this thesis to the AMC journal, don't ever come to see me again."

Lu Zhou, "I…"

He hesitated and changed his words.

"Thank you, Professor Tang, for your wise words, I…"

Professor Tang waved his hands and joked, "Stop kissing my ass. Get lost!"

Lu Zhou left and he closed the door on his way out.

The office suddenly became quiet again. The master's student who was writing his thesis stretched. He looked at the professor's thesis topic and asked quietly, "Professor, was that an undergraduate student with you earlier?"

"Unbelievable right?" laughed Professor Tang. He said, "Let me tell you something. Not only that he's an undergraduate, but he's also a first-year student!"

The eyes of the other master's student widened and he left his project aside as he asked in disbelief, "First year?! He's already starting to submit to SCI in the first year?! Why are the undergraduate students so insane nowadays?"

"Yeah, that's why you guys have to work hard," said Professor Tang. As he looked at his own two students, he said seriously, "Don't get beaten by the younger students. Even if you guys aren't ashamed, I'm ashamed!"

…

While Lu Zhou was consulting Professor Tang Zhiwei with his USB, the "Advanced Algebra 2" exam finally finished. After turning their tests in, chaos ensued outside the exam room.

"F*ck me, the time was way too short! I still had two big sections that I didn't answer!"

"Way too hard! Who wrote that impossible last question?"

"The Fourier series question? I didn't even look at it. I just skipped it!"

"Second to last question, the one about convergence fields and functions of power series, and asking for the sum of series…"

"Don't ask me. I don't know and I don't understand. I just want some silence…"

"Brother Tao, how did you do? Passed?"

"Don't even mention it. I'm waiting for the supplementary exam."

Of course, the dumb students were still a minority. A lot of the geniuses got sucked into these dumb student's mindsets after hearing them complain.

For example, Liu Rui was posting in his friends' news feed right outside the exam room.

[Maths is so hard! I screwed up. I didn't know anything. I'll have to take the supplementary exams. T.T]

Actually, not only did he finished, but he also double-checked everything.

He finished typing and clicked post.

At the same moment, Huang Guangming and Shi Shang came over.

"Liu Rui, what are you doing?"

"I'm playing with my phone while waiting for you," said Liu Rui. He turned off his phone and pretended as if nothing happened as he said, "Come, let's get food in the cafeteria."

"How did Zhou do? I saw him left half an hour into the exam?" said Shi Shang.

"I don't know. Let's ask him when he gets back," said Liu Rui as he shook his head.

Huang Guangming continued to ask, "Oh yeah, Brother Rui, what did you put for the last multi-choice question?"

Liu Rui, "I think A… That question was hard so I guessed."

Huang Guangming laughed and said, "F*ck, I put A as well! I knew I guessed it correctly!"

Shi Shang frowned. He thought for a bit and said, "Wasn't it B?"

Liu Rui recalled the question. He shook his head and said "It definitely wasn't B. Using the information provided, it must've been a series convergence, and its square couldn't diverge… Yeah. I guess it so I could be wrong."

He emphasized again that he could be wrong.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang were already used to his "humbleness" so they did not find it strange at all.

Huang Guangming remembered being dominated by the horror of mathematics for the last half hour. He sighed and said, "This test is way too hard. I feel like I didn't study at all."

Shi Shang remained silent.

He felt like he did even worse.

At the same moment, a class genius walked by.

The dark-skinned guy stood tall and skinny with his back straight. His name was Luo Rundong, he was a true genius. He was the only student in his class that got a 150 in high school mathematics. Most people were forced to do a mathematics major while he specifically chose to major in mathematics.

As for grades, Liu Rui's were slightly higher because Luo Rundong's English was not as good. However, for advanced algebra and mathematical analysis, Liu Rui could not even match the guy.

"Liu Rui, did you solve that last fill in the blank question?"

"I did solve it. But I don't know if it was right…"

The two started to discuss the math question. Incomprehensible and difficult words started to come out from their mouths and no one around them could understand.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang looked at each other with a helpless look in their eyes.

If only Lu Zhou was here.

With no Lu Zhou to compare themselves to, they felt like they were the dumb students.

This feeling is too painful!

Chapter 14: Get A Job, Genius

[Liu Rui: Mathematics is so hard! I completely didn't understand the fifth fill in the blanks question and the last multi-choice. In the end, I had to guess the answer. Ah, I screwed up. I'll need to do the supplementary exam T.T]

"…"

Lu Zhou was scrolling through his friends' news feed when he saw Liu Rui's post. He twitched his mouth and was about to like the post when he stopped himself.

[The fifth fill in the blanks answer is… The last multi-choice answer is B]

It was difficult to type mathematical symbols on a phone!

He finished typing it and pressed send.

How comfortable!

Lu Zhou was about to put his phone back into his pocket and wanted to continue to eat. Suddenly his phone vibrated. He looked at the notification and saw Liu Rui's reply.

What? How did this guy reply so fast?

Lu Zhou felt slightly surprised and opened up his news feed.

[Liu Rui: … Wasn't it A?]

Lu Zhou laughed and shook his head as he recalled the choices of that question. He took out a draft paper from his backpack and started to write down the steps of the question. He then picked a good lighting angle, took a photo, and sent it.

[Lu Zhou: [Photo] ]

This time Liu Rui's reply was slow.

After a while, Lu Zhou saw that there was no reply. So, he decided to continue to eat his noodles.

He had delayed eating for so long. The noodles would soon become soft if he did not start to eat them.

However, just as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket, his phone vibrated again. This time, it was a phone call.

"F*ck me? This guy must be crazy to call me?"

Lu Zhou hurried and took out his phone. It turned out that the call was not from Liu Rui. It was from Wu Dahai.

Speaking of which, it was him that sent Lu Zhou to the hospital when he had a heat stroke.

Lu Zhou felt apologetic as he did not even get a chance to thank him properly.

After the phone rang for a while, Lu Zhou pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Dahai," said Fat Wu. He said with a clear voice, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"

"I'm okay. Thanks for last time…" said Lu Zhou. He felt apologetic.

"No need to thank me! I'm just glad that nothing serious happened to you, " interrupted Wu Dahai. He continued to ask, "Are you free tonight?"

"I'm free… What are we doing?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Sorting packages for Shengtong express. 100 yuan for the night, you coming?" asked Wu Dahai.

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Where?"

Wu Dahai, "There's a car outside the school. It leaves at seven. Hurry up and come if you want. I still need two people. After that, I'll leave."

"I'll come right now!"

Lu Zhou hung up the call and quickly slurped up his noodles. He brought his empty bowl to the counter and quickly left the cafeteria. He called his roommate Shi Shang while he rushed towards the school gate.

"Hello? Zhou, what's up?" answered a deep voice.

"I've some stuff to do tonight. I can't come."

"What stuff? What's going on?" An exciting gossipy voice came from the phone.

Lu Zhou said impatiently, "F*ck off! What are you on? I'm working."

"…"

The other end of the phone went silent for a second. Just as Lu Zhou was about to hang up, Shi Shang suddenly sighed and said with a deep voice, "Lu Zhou, I know that your family is in a tough situation. You can tell me anything. Let's discuss it. You don't have to do this kind of stuff… Anyway, where are you? Is it a guy or a girl?"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Lu Zhou did not respond so Shi Shang was even more worried: "F*ck me! Brother, please tell me that you're thinking this through. You'll regret this for the rest of your life! How… How will you ever face your future wife? Don't hang up, I'm warning you! If you dare to hang up, I'll call the counselor."

Lu Zhou: "… What the hell are you saying?"

Shi Shang paused for a second and felt something was wrong. He said awkwardly with a quiet voice, "… What else could you be doing working at night? I'm convincing you not to go down this path…"

"I'm sorting packages. F*ck off."

That piercing cold voice shocked Shi Shang and before he realized, Lu Zhou had already hung up.

…

The van was parked outside the school. Lu Zhou walked towards the gate and Wu Dahai waved at him from the distant.

Lu Zhou opened up the van's door and sat on a small stool. He looked around the car and other than himself, there were 10 other people packed in the van. They were all students from the University of Jin Ling and they were all male.

Obviously, a girl would not work this type of physically demanding job at night.

Of course, it actually was not that physically demanding as Lu Zhou had done it twice. At least it was a lot easier than passing out flyers. The only bad side was that he had to stay up all night.

However, when Lu Zhou thought about the 100 yuan pay, he decided to stick through with it.

He had to as he only had three thousand left in his bank account. Not to mention, he would have to pay a layout and review fee for the SCI journal. He did not want to be more of a burden for his family or asked them for more money.

Submitting in other magazines had a remuneration. However, for this type of academic journals, there was no remuneration. He might even have to pay for the journal himself.

"A hundred a night and I'll pay you the day after tomorrow. Remember to give me your Alipay account number. Listen to instructions when you arrived at the sorting center. The actions required are very simple. You just have to move the stuff from the truck onto the warehouse's conveyor belt. There is an hour break in the middle and you can play pool in the break room if you wish. I don't suggest you playing against the regular workers as they play for money and could sink three balls in a single round."

"Moving stuff? Isn't that very tiring?" asked a small guy.

Wu Dahai patiently explained, "Relax, you don't have to move it yourself. You know how to play football, right? Two people drag the stuff out of the car and the rest can just kick it along. The path between the unloading point and conveyor belt is easy. Other than large items such as refrigerators or televisions, it should be very easy."

Another guy yelled, "F*ck me, kick? What if it breaks?"

Wu Dahai looked at him and said, "Do whatever you want. It's not like you're paying for it so why worry? Anyway, relax. The distributors usually have strict packing regulations and they would pack a lot of foam in there. Even if you kicked as hard as you could, you could not break it. I'll send you to the national football team if you actually break anything."

The guy laughed and did not say much. He thought, "I want to go to the national team. It's not like you could send me there."

As they chatted, they finally arrived. The van stopped at the entrance of the warehouse. Wu Dahai paid the driver with his phone and called the students to come out.

The warehouse was very large. It looked like it was at least 2000 square meters. There were a couple of trucks parked outside. The regular staff was already working inside the warehouse. A middle-aged guy wearing a blue uniform stood outside the gate and looked around. When he saw Wu Dahai, he waved for him to come over.

"Everyone's here? Do you need to count?" said the man. When he smiled, his yellow teeth showed.

"There's only a few people, so no need to count. Let's start," said Wu Dahai. He then swiftly gave the middle-aged guy a cigarette.

The man laughed, took the cigarette and said, "Okay, come with me."

He turned around and started to walk towards the workshop.

Chapter 15: A Way To Liquidate General Points?

Fat Wu's description was accurate. Sorting out packages was as easy as kicking a football.

They would point their toes at the parcel and strongly kick it. The package would fly for ten meters. No one cared about the sellers or the buyers. Nothing mattered as long as the package was delivered.

Actually, it was not that these workers did not want to be more responsible. The regular workers were even rougher on the packages. When the conveyor belt started, there was no time for you to handle the packages carefully. It did not matter whether it said fragile or expensive. If the cardboard box broke, there were designated people to collect them, taped them up, and put them back on the conveyor belt.

"This package broke. It seems to be wine or something. I can smell the alcohol."

"Don't bother with it. It's fine as long as the delivery receipt doesn't get wet. Throw it back on the conveyor belt. Remember, the delivery receipt faces up."

The group of workers had a clear designated parking space to work at. Two people stood next to the truck, took out the packages and threw them on the ground. The other two people threw the packages onto the conveyor belt. As for the rest, they were responsible for "passing the ball". After a while, it was surprisingly fun.

Fat Wu was "passing the ball". He even started to brag to the regular workers' boss and asked for a competition.

There was a guy standing next to Lu Zhou who was taking out the packages from the truck. He saw his classmates kicking the packages around and was unhappy. He could not tolerate it anymore and said quietly, "Take it easy, guys. My package could be in there."

Of course, no one heard him. Even if they did, they would not have listened.

There were so many packages. If they passed them around gently, it would take them all night just to finish a few trucks.

Wu Dahai did not tell them how many packages to sort out. He just told them to listen to him. Lu Zhou estimated that the packaging facility must have had a contract with Wu Dahai. Wu Dahai probably got paid by the number of packages sorted.

For example, assuming five yuan for each package, if they just sorted out two thousand packages tonight, Fat Wu would get a big fat check. If they sorted a thousand more packages, that would be an extra five thousand yuan.

Lu Zhou calculated that there were ten other people here, working for eight hours. They could at least sort thirty thousand packages, right? Maybe even forty thousand. Counting himself and Fat Wu, there were twelve workers.

Lu Zhou suddenly did not feel so good.

Everyone else only got a measly hundred yuan for working all night, but this Fat Wu would probably earn a thousand or two. That's enough for an average student's monthly living expenses! Everyone else received money from home but this guy probably sends money back home.

However, no matter how jealous Lu Zhou got, he knew that if he tried to do it himself, he might not be able to even do it.

First of all, he had to find a lot of workers. Then, he had to organize these workers. Not only did he had to organize, but he also needed to have the ability to negotiate. He had to convince the people at the sorting center to trust him with the task. Also, he had to negotiate a reasonable price that both parties would be satisfied with.

Everything required a high emotional intelligence that one could not learn just by doing practice questions. Lu Zhou observed Fat Wu proficiently delegating the task and knew that there was no way for him to do the same, and neither could those football kicking people.

Otherwise, the person earning thousands a night would not be Fat Wu. It would be one of them.

Ah, what a greedy capitalist!

Lu Zhou's hands were operating like a machine as he unloaded the packages from the truck. He was desperately trying to diverge his thinking so he that would not be so bored. He looked around the warehouse and his mind wandered.

Honestly speaking, from a modern university student's perspective, he felt that the logistics of the sorting center was completely illogical. First of all, it was not intelligently designed. Also, it wasted a lot of manpower on repetitive and skill-less operations.

Of course, he knew that hindsight was 20/20.

Upgrading technology would cost a lot of money. This type of sorting center would not be able to get the necessary fundings needed for an upgrade. Even if the sorting center shareholders had the necessary capital, they obviously would not spend it on upgrading.

Using the risk parity investment principle, the money would either be invested in the housing market or be used to purchase various financial products. This was because the ultimate goal was to get a return on investment. It was not for improving the lives of everyone.

Even if people generally thought that the interests of the two were the same, in reality, they were completely unrelated.

"They can add a conveyor belt to the gate of the sorting center and use intelligent machines to sort the packages. Not only would this decrease the damages done to the packages, but it would also increase the efficiency of the center's delivery rate," thought Lu Zhou as his eyebrows furrowed.

Suddenly, as he was thinking about the problem, he felt that his vision was becoming blurry.

He tried to concentrate but suddenly a semi-transparent holographic window appeared in front of him.

[Number 001 Intelligent sorting system design blueprint (Intelligent machine program). Required: Level 1 information science, level 2 engineering.]

[Required general points: 5000]

"The f*ck!"

Lu Zhou was surprised by the sudden appearance of the system. He was even more surprised by the required general points.

5000 f*cking general points!

Why is this high tech system so hungry for general points?

"What happened?" asked the guy next to him as he stared at him blankly, wondering what got on his nerves.

"Uh, nothing. I suddenly remembered that I screwed up a question in my exam."

Lu Zhou laughed and quickly dismissed the guy. His focus went back to looking at the holographic window that only he could see while his brain was spinning a million miles per second.

The system could solve real-life problems by consuming general points. Turned out, the problem did not have to be a specific question. It could even be an imagination, with the system filling in the details.

To simplify, it was like writing a good thesis. The user came up with an idea, so he was the creator. The system was like a hired gunman and it was responsible for making it happened.

For example, the 001 blueprint came from his imaginary scheme of the current situation of the sorting center. Of course, his set up was low resolution, resulting in the system designing components that were overly complicated.

In addition, the general points required was determined by the problem's difficulty and skill level.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou thought about something that made his heart skip a beat.

"If I specify the problem to making an intelligence sorting machine arm…"

Lu Zhou shook his head and focused on the new problem. Shortly after, the holographic window popped up a line of text.

[Sorting center intelligent arm machine (XX sorting center). Required: Level 1 information science.]

[Required general points: 1570]

As expected!

Lu Zhou squeezed his fists in excitement.

This is how you properly use the system!

For example, if he wanted to make a phone, he did not have to make the system solve it entirely. Rather, he should split it into many small ideas and only use the system to solve the parts that he could not.

For example, to be specific, take a Xiaomi 4 and yelled, "System, upgrade 10% capabilities". The system could price the upgrade from anywhere between 1000-10000 general points and it would assume that he wanted a complete phone upgrade.

He could disassemble his Xiaomi 4 and took out the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip. Then, if he asked the system to upgrade the chip, under the conditions that the chip process technology did not change, the system would give the design for increasing the chip's performance by 10%.

By specifying the instructions, it might only cost less than 1000 general points for the system to solve the problem. It would give him the blueprint to increase the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801's performance.

Lu Zhou was immediately filled with joy. He had finally discovered a way to monetize the general points of the system.

However, he calmed down quickly.

He remembered that he had only 35 general points left.

Even if he found a way to monetize it, he still needed general points. With his current amount of general points, he could only solve a math problem.

After he thought about this, Lu Zhou was not as happy anymore.

Chapter 16: He's The Best Undergraduate Student!

It was ten o'clock in the morning at the mathematics department of the research building.

Professor Tang sat at his desk and looked at his computer screen. He was editing a thesis meticulously.

He read through the argument and the logical process of the calculation. He could not help but felt a sense of astonishment. Even though he carried a pair of criticizing eyes and wanted to find mistakes to ask Lu Zhou to fix, he felt like he did not even know where to begin.

He finished inspecting the thesis and did not find a single unnecessary calculation.

The only thing he could help was to edit and fix the sentence structure and English vocabulary.

"The young ones are going to soon surpass us," said Professor Tang Zhiwei as he leaned against his chair.

At the exact moment, his office door was pushed open.

The person did not knock or greet him. It was this type of impolite behaviors that made Professor Tang frowned. However, after seeing who it was, he relaxed and his face had a slight smile.

It was Lu Fangping, the head of the University of Jin Ling's mathematics department. Not only was he Tang Zhiwei's coworker, but he was also his friend.

"Old tang, is your phone broken? I called and no one picked up," said Lu Fangping as he walked in with a smile.

"Ah, I have to turn my phone off every year after exams. You know this," replied Tang Zhiwei while he looked at Professor Lu Fangping. He leaned against his chair, picked up his cup of warm tea and asked, "Aren't you busy these days? What are you doing here?"

Lu Fangping sat down in the office sofa and said, "Well I need your help. That's why I came!"

"What a thick skin! Everyone else brought me liquor when they needed my help, and you didn't even bring a cigarette. I'm not helping you!" said Tang Zhiwei jokingly.

"Didn't you hate that kind of stuff? If I brought something, I wouldn't even be let in the door," said Lu Fangping while laughing.

Tang Zhiwei smiled, "Okay, let's end the jokes here. Stop beating around the bush and just tell me what you need my help with."

Lu Fangping slapped his thigh and said, "Ah, we have this national mathematical modeling competition coming up in September. The department wants me to arrange a couple of teams and team up with the computer science department. I want to try and get a couple of national gold medals, and earn some honor for our department and school!"

It was also to boost his annual teaching and research assessment.

If they screwed up, and the entire mathematics department did not even win one gold medal, how embarrassing would the meet be?

Of course, Dean Lu knew not to mention it.

"You want… You want me to be an advisor coach?" said Tang Zhiwei. He frowned, "But I do research on pure mathematics. I'm afraid I can't help you with this mathematical modeling stuff."

Mathematical modeling and mathematics research sounds similar but actually, they were in completely different fields. Whether it was innovative thinking ability or absorbing new information, it was difficult for Professor Tang to keep up with the young people's brains. There was no hope for him to coach them.

"No, I've already finished arranging the teachers' team. I just wanted to borrow two people from your subjects. Is there anyone that is very talented and quick with mathematics?"

"Ah, that's it? Okay, this is the perfect timing. I have someone to recommend to you. Mathematics class 1, Lu Zhou. Go and take him. Don't need to thank me. " said Tang Zhiwei while smiling.

"Lu Zhou?" Lu Fangping frowned, "I think I've seen his name before…"

Suddenly, he remembered. He encountered the name while he was invigilating the mathematics exam yesterday. The student that finished in half an hour and got all the answers right.

But…

He's only in the first year!

The national mathematical modeling competition dissimilar to the traditional Olympic maths, where they just gave you a test paper. It was to test the students not for their grasp of theory, but their ability to apply theory into real-life situations.

Also, based on the results of the past competitions, the students that got high grades would not necessarily excel in the competition. It was the students that did well in all subjects, that performed well in the competition.

Also, the competition had a wide range of possible questions. A first-year student's knowledge base was limited and difficult to utilize in the competition.

Of course, there was no harm in applying. The important part was participation. However, Lu Fangping did not want those "participation" students. He wanted competitive students.

As for Lu Zhou, even though his mathematical ability was good, but his knowledge base was too narrow!

"You think that he's too young?" Tang Zhiwei instantly knew what his old friend was thinking about, so he laughed.

"You're right," Lu Fangping nodded. He then said, "The computer science department valued this competition. They contributed a second-year computer genius, who won two national computer competitions during high school, and won a national software competition when he was a first-year student. I actually already have a few people in mind, but wanted to ask for your opinion. I think I'll need minimum a second-year student… You catch my drift?"

Lu Fangping conveyed his intentions clearly.

Even though in principle, the school should encourage students to set up their own teams, the school would not mind if the head of departments chose to organize a super team. After all, receiving more medals would be an achievement for the heads and it would bring honor to the school.

The computer science department had such a genius. Even though he said he did care that much, he still could not send a liability. If the time arrived and their "super team" did not even make it into the competition door, how embarrassing would that be!

Tang Zhiwei laughed. He looked at the computer on his desk and said, "I have a thesis right here. Come and look at it."

Lu Fangping was stunned. He did not know what his colleague was doing. However, he still walked over, carrying with him a hint of suspicion.

"Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functionals… When did the direction of your research become this?" asked Lu Fangping excitingly as he read the title of the thesis.

Tang Zhiwei did not answer. Instead, he just urged him and said, "Stop asking questions. Read the thesis and tell me what you think."

Lu Fangping was full of questions but he continued to read the thesis. The more he read, the more he intrigued he was.

After reading the last process of the argument, he stood there and thought for a bit. He then jealously said, "Old tang, to be honest… I envy you."

"I asked you to critique this essay, why are you envious?" laughed Tang Zhiwei.

"Our maths department has so much talent, how come you have a monopoly on this one? Not only do you have a genius undergraduate student, but even your graduate students are also so smart." The more Lu Fangping thought about it, the less content he was. How come he could not coach a student at this level?

Hearing this, Tang Zhiwei laughed out loud. This made Lu Fangping very confused as he had no idea what his old friend was laughing about!

"Graduate student? Hahaha! This thesis was written by Lu Zhou! Guess what happened yesterday? I asked him where he was going to submit this essay, and he dared to say AMC! Thank god I stopped him. If he had gone through with the PhD, he would have regretted it," laughed Tang Zhiwei.

Lu Fangping was thoroughly confused. He looked at the thesis on the computer and then looked back at his old friend. He paused for a long time before asking with an uncertain tone, "Old Tang, why are you pranking me like this?"

"I wasn't pranking you," said Tang Zhiwei. He stopped smiling and looked at his old friend before saying with a serious tone, "This thesis and argument process was entirely done by himself. I explained a few difficult parts to him. The questions that he asked me, confirmed that this is his own work. The only part that I edited was the sentence structure in the thesis. As for the core part of the thesis, and the final arguments, I couldn't find a single mistake in them. Even though the kid's personality is a bit practical and he's pretty impatient, he actually has immense talent. If you want my recommendation for a person to enter your "super team", I would wholeheartedly recommend him. Whether it's thesis writing ability or maths ability, there's no undergraduate student in University of Jin Ling that can beat him!"

He's better than everyone else!

Do you know how many undergraduate students there are in the University of Jin Ling? A dean like me doesn't even know!

However, Lu Fangping was unable to refute.

Especially after reading his thesis, his doubts about Lu Zhou's ability immediately vanished.

If Tang Zhiwei did not tell him, he would have thought this thesis was written by a PhD student.

This student had reached an impossible level in the field of functional analysis.

Lu Fangping said quietly, "I… Don't have much to say, it's up to you to convince him to join."

"Don't you worry about it. The kid listens to me. Don't leave just yet, I'll call him and explain the situation to him," said Tang Zhiwei confidently. He picked up the telephone on his desk.

Representing the department's "super team" in a national competition was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you win, the dean would know your name and a four-year scholarship would definitely be yours.

Tang Zhiwei did not want to give empty promises. He decided to do it now. Therefore, he called Lu Zhou in front of the dean.

"The number you dialed is not in service, please call again later…"

Is his phone off?

Tang Zhiwei paused. He frowned and hung up the call.

"What is this kid doing? He doesn't even pick up the phone. I'll talk to him later."

Lu Fangping was not worried. He definitely wanted the kid!

His knowledge base would not even matter. He had earned the right to this competition from this thesis alone. The three-man team for this competition would have one person for coding, one for mathematical modeling, and one for writing the thesis. The kid alone could do modeling and thesis writing. This competition was in the bag!

He was also confident that Lu Zhou would accept, so he was not worried at all.

No student would reject this type of valuable opportunity.

Lu Fangping laughed and said, "Okay, thanks for the help. I still have some stuff to do, I won't bother you any longer."

"Don't worry about it, I'll respond to you tomorrow," said Tang Zhiwei as he waved his hand.

Chapter 17: Thesis Submission!

What was Lu Zhou doing?

He was obviously sleeping.

After working all night, his phone ran out of battery. He went back to his dorm at seven o'clock in the morning, plugged in his phone and went to bed.

Lu Zhou woke up in the afternoon. There was no one in his dorm.

He felt his stomach rumbling. He rubbed his eyes, climbed down the stairs and went to wash his face. Then, he put on some clothes and headed towards the cafeteria.

Lu Zhou ordered a bowl of fried rice and soy milk and sat down in a corner. He took out his phone and was about to scroll through his friends' news feed.

However, when he opened his phone, he saw that Professor Tang's office left him a dozen missed calls.

"Maybe he finished editing the thesis? Why… Why are there so many missed calls?"

Lu Zhou did not know what to think. In no time, he finished eating dinner and quickly put his tray on the collecting table. He then started to walk towards the research building.

…

"I called you all day and you didn't pick up. What are you doing all day?" Professor Tang sat behind his desk and criticized Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou scratched his head and replied, "Uh, my phone ran out of battery. I forgot to turn it off."

He did not plan on telling the professor that he was working all night. First of all, the rules of the university prohibited students from staying out all night. Secondly, he did not want this thing to reach the counselor who might tell his dad and caused his family to worry about him.

Thank god that Old Tang did not persist in asking. He took off his glasses and unplugged the USB from his laptop. He then placed the USB on the table and said, "Your thesis is pretty good. There weren't that many changes to be made so I won't ask you to add me as a co-writer."

"How can you do that! Without your help…"

Tang Zhiwei waved his hand. He interrupted Lu Zhou and said," It's my decision. I've read your thesis. Your little thesis isn't good enough for my Tang Zhiwei's co-signature. Teaching is my expertise. I don't care what other professors do, I can't let you write my name on it. If you really want to pay the favor back, just help me do this one thing."

Honestly speaking, someone of Tang Zhiwei's level could not care less about an SCI thesis co-signature. As for Lu Zhou, an entire self-written thesis was very precious. Having Tang Zhiwei's name on it might give Lu Zhou an advantage during the review process, but it was not necessarily a good thing for him.

Lu Zhou said sincerely, "I'll do anything you want me to."

"Ah, it's nothing big. Trust me, it's good for you," said Tang Zhiwei. He spoke slowly, "In September, there's this national mathematical modeling competition. Our department decided to team up with the computer science department and form a super team. I talked to the dean, Lu Fangping, and you're the chosen one."

A national mathematical modeling competition?

Lu Zhou felt slightly astonished.

He had heard of it before. Apparently, the value was very high. It was so significant that some companies' HR department would look twice at your CV if this competition was written on it.

Just what…

As for the legendary mathematical modeling competition, he had only heard about it before.

It was already June, only three months left till September.

Three months of preparation time, was it enough?

Lu Zhou asked softly, "Can I think about it?"

Professor Tang frowned. He reached out his hand, pressed on the USB and said, "Think about it? This is such a good opportunity! Okay, you can go and think about it but this USB stays here. You can take it back when you're done thinking!"

When Lu Zhou looked at how illogical Professor Tang was behaving, he did not know whether to cry or laugh. He said, "But Professor Tang, I've never been in this type of competition before. If you ask me to represent the department in the competition and I screw up…"

Entering the competition is no problem…

I just don't want to be a liability!

"Don't worry about it. What's there to worry about?" said Tang Zhiwei angrily. He paused for a bit then said gently, "Don't overestimate this competition. Just enter it with confidence. Your ability is definitely good enough. I'm sure of it."

Given that Professor Tang already begged him until this level, it would be unreasonable not to accept.

Actually, if he was to think about it, there was no downside to entering this type of competition. The only thing that made Lu Zhou hesitated was that training for the competition would interfere with his work and the completion of the missions.

He had already planned to attend summer school and quickly level up his system. He wanted to at least be level 1 mathematics as looking at the row of zeros was too painful. Other than completing missions, the rest of the time was allocated to working. Not only did he had to pay for summer school, he still had to save up for the livings fees for next semester.

As if Professor Tang saw through Lu Zhou's thought process, he said, "Even though there isn't any prize money associated with the competition, there is a prize from the school. A team that wins the gold medal will not only receive a ten thousand yuan prize, they will also receive a priority on scholarship assessment."

'Professor Tang, I've thought about it. Let me represent the department in the competition!" said Lu Zhou with a serious look on his face.

Professor Tang forced a smile and set down his cup. He waved his hand and said, "I already put your name down. Come here and meet your teammates on Saturday. That's all, don't forget."

"Okay!" said Lu Zhou with high morale.

A ten thousand dollar prize! Splitting it three ways would still be around three thousand! Plus adding the eight thousand yuan scholarship, that would be over ten thousand dollars!

The amount was little for a student with a rich family, but for someone like Lu Zhou who only had three thousand in his bank account, it was a massive amount of money!

After thanking Professor Tang again, Lu Zhou took the USB and went back to his dorm.

The sky was already dark. Other than Liu Rui, who was still studying maths in a classroom, Shi Shang and Huang Guangming had already come back. They sat in front of the computer and were playing games intensely.

Even though Lu Zhou also wanted to relax with them, he knew that he still had some stuff to do. In the end, he gave up on this thought. He carried his laptop to the bed, connected it to the wifi and started to upload his thesis.

He contemplated for a long time. Finally, he selected the journal from New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences - Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communication.

As for why, it was obviously because there were no submission fees.

On the other hand, he might have to wait a long time.

Lu Zhou opened up the website, filled in his name and email, then spent around ten minutes filling in other miscellaneous stuff. He finally reached the last step and submitted his essay.

Lu Zhou stretched his back and was about to lay down on his bed. Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

He thought it was Chen Yushan asking for help again, but instead, he saw an email notification.

Lu Zhou saw the title of the email and he was stunned.

He thought he read it wrong and so, he read it again.

"… How is this possible?!"

It was the copyright authorization agreement issued from America!

Which was to say that his thesis had already entered the "proof" stage!

Even though different journals had different rules, but most journals would send the license agreement after accepting the thesis, and the process would take one to two weeks.

Maybe this is the power of the system?

Lu Zhou gulped. He opened up the email and downloaded the contract. He signed the license agreement as required and sent the electronic file back to the address given in the email.

After a five minute wait, he refreshed the submission page.

[Under review]

Lu Zhou felt his heart beating very quickly.

This meant that his thesis had already passed through a technical format review.

In normal circumstances, academic reviewers themselves were also researchers. Reviewing was a non-paying job and it required a lot of effort. So, after submitting one's own work into the academic world, it was entirely determined by the academic reviewer. If you encountered a temperament or busy reviewer, they might stall the submission by one or two months!

Lu Zhou refreshed the page again after waiting for around five minutes.

This time, the status of the submission did not change.

Lu Zhou did not know why, but he felt relaxed after seeing this.

Even though the system's abilities surpassed his estimations, it seemed to return to common sense in the most critical time. Academic reviewers would not be staring at their inbox all day, waiting for unpaid work.

It seemed that the system could not manipulate the behavior of a person. It seemed to possess some sort of mysterious power as it was able to accelerate his submission process within the acceptable rules. Maybe it made his thesis appeared in the first line of the academic reviewer's email address. However, this power was still subject to certain constraints.

Lu Zhou was still unsure of what exactly could the power be. However, no matter what, this was a good thing.

If the system is really powerful enough to dominate a person's behavior, it would be very scary.

Although he enjoyed the knowledge and convenience of the system, he did not want to eventually become the puppet of the system. Freedom was priceless even in difficult circumstances.

Of course, it would be great if his thesis was accepted before his mathematical analysis exam.

Chapter 18: The 100 Experience Points That Made Me Go Crazy

Lu Zhou did not expect that his unintentional thoughts became reality.

The day before his mathematical analysis exams on Saturday, he received an email regarding his successful submission.

Lu Zhou could not wait to open up the website. He entered his account and password excitedly and saw the submission status column became [Completed - accepted]!

That meant that the reviewer was very satisfied with the author's thesis and decided to accept the thesis.

Once at this stage, the paper would be published in the journal either in this month or the next. It would also be accepted into the SCI journal database, thus allowing mathematics researchers from around the globe to refer to it.

Lu Zhou's heart was filled with excitement. He took a deep breath and tried to meditate to calm himself down.

In general, anyone that could skip the [Revise] stage was insane. Even experienced professors would occasionally be tortured by the ridiculous requirements of the reviewers which resulted in them having to rewrite the thesis two or three more times.

He skipped this stage, which meant that there were no mistakes that the reviewer could find.

Of course, 80% of the work was still credited to the system. If the mathematical argument process given by the system was found to have a mistake, then the reviewer had to be crazy.

The format of the thesis was checked by Professor Tang himself so it definitely had no problem. Not only did Professor Tang published countless SCI theses, but he was also one of the few famous mathematical journal reviewers. His experience in this area was good, to say the least.

Lu Zhou saw his roommates concentrating and studying mathematical analysis, so he set his laptop aside and took a deep breath. He then entered into the system space that was hidden deep inside his consciousness.

He opened his eyes and was soon met with white surroundings.

Lu Zhou walked slowly in front of the holographic panel and selected the mission icon.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission. Hope user can make persistent efforts.]

[The mission completion is as follows: Estimating the academic value and influence of your thesis, estimating the value of your thesis… Mission evaluation: S (100 general points awarded]

[Mission reward: 400 mathematics experience points, 100 physics experience points. 200 general points, one lucky draw ticket (95% garbage, 5% samples)]

So close! It turns out that there is also an assessment of the influence of the thesis!

If he had chosen the infamous AMC as a target for submission, the evaluation of his grade would not be this high.

Lu Zhou was deeply grateful for Professor Tang's help. Without his advice and support, the final destination of his paper would have been drowned in the ocean of AMC.

An S evaluation was worth 100 general points!

"System, open up my characteristic panel!" said Lu Zhou excitedly.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 0 (900/1000)

B. Physics: Level 0 (100/1000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 0 (0/1000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 0 (100/1000)

General points: 335 (One chance of lucky draw)

Mission: None

]

Lu Zhou looked at the mathematics experience points and his eyes jumped.

He did not know how the system judged, but for some reason, it gave him 100 physics experience points. As a result, he was just off 100 points away for his mathematics to level up.

I'm really going to go crazy!

Lu Zhou was going insane.

"System, can you transfer the 100 physics experience points into mathematics?"

The system did not respond.

Lu Zhou continued as he tried to reason, "System! You made an evaluation mistake! Where in my thesis did I cover physics?"

However, the system still did not respond.

Facing the ignorant system, Lu Zhou sighed and gave up.

He calculated that it was only 100 experience points, so he would get it by his next mission.

He just felt bad that the precious 100 experience points went to physics. Even computer science would be fine! Or even engineering! Anything was better than this purely theoretical subject!

Up next, was the exciting lucky draw.

Lu Zhou looked at the unlikely 5% sample probability and sighed. Suddenly he was not so excited anymore.

If I get a [garbage], I'll eat this system display!

Speaking of which, last time was a can of coke. What will it be this time?

Maybe a can of sprite?

Please don't. Can you at least give me some food, so that I can save some money?

Lu Zhou finally pressed the lucky draw button and waited for the judgment of his fate.

[Congratulations, you won the sample prize.]

Emm…

What?

The f*ck?

Surprised, Lu Zhou held his breath in.

He had actually won with just a 5% probability!

This was high tech! And it was not a blueprint! This time, it should not be a "proof question answer", right?

[Received: Nanobody needle (Lasts for 2 hours, no side effects. Enhances muscle cell ability, coordination, and 50% nerve reflex speeds.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Lu Zhou looked at the icons and instructions on the screen and did not know what to do.

What does this thing even do?

Using it for an all-nighter?

Only lasts for two hours! I'd rather drink some tea.

It might be a good idea to sell it to athletes. The stimulant as given by the system definitely can't be detected in blood or urine tests.

However, Lu Zhou felt that if this thing leaked out, he would get into a lot of trouble.

Throwing national security and safety aside… How could this thing impact the sports world? Some people might think that it would not impact much, but it could boost someone into the NBA or a professional football player.

Yeah, a bit exaggerated. Yet it was along the lines of that.

Two hours was long enough to change the outcome of a match. The outcome of a match was often in many peoples' interests. For example, gamblers or sponsors. There would be a lot of people that wanted this thing.

Moreover, they certainly would not be satisfied with just one needle.

Lu Zhou was unsure how much they would pay for this. However, one thing he was sure of was that his little body could not handle it.

Since he did not have access to athletes of the highest level, at best, maybe he could reach the school team. Besides, even if he had access to the athletes at the national level, they would not believe him. Only God knew what was inside his needle or if he was sent by the opposing team.

"Even though it isn't garbage, it is similar to garbage. I want to become a genius. What's the point of this thing… I'd rather just have some food," sighed Lu Zhou. He did not even have the energy to argue with the system.

F*cking useless!

Who cares, who cares.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath, prayed for a bit and pressed the mission button.

He hoped that the missions this time could be a little better.

Chapter 19: The Three Missions That Scammed The User

Hmm…

In a sense, these refreshed missions were actually pretty good.

Especially after he looked at the first mission.

[

Mission 1: Never stop researching

Description: Blow up a municipal research institute

Rewards: The subject experience value is determined by the research contribution of the institute (minimum value 5000). General points are determined by the amount of economic loss occurred. One chance of lucky draw (85% garbage, 15% sample).

]

"What in the hell is this?" Lu Zhou could not help but swear out loud.

He now understood why this so-called high tech system would have a long distance running mission.

It was to train his body in preparation for this type of mission.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhou excluded this mission as an option even though the experience points awarded was tempting.

[

Mission 2: Not a single grain of sand in your eyes

Description: Corruption is the root of the prevention of academic progress. The waste of scientific research funding in human society leads to the social resources that should be devoted to exploring the future to be consumed in meaningless things. A true academic warrior cannot hold a single grain of sand in his eyes. The academic community also needs discipline. Head on, young man!

Requirements: Collect evidence of corruption and defeat any professor (any levels above associate professor). Use any means necessary to end his academic career.

Reward: Subject experience points are determined by the level of corruption of the target. (minimum 3000 points). 1000 general points. Sample given (small reconnaissance drone)

]

Morally, it seems correct, but apologies, I want to graduate!

Lu Zhou ruled out the mission without any hesitation.

There was no way he could collect enough evidence. Even if his evidence was conclusive, it would be a huge news story. The door for an academic community would close on him. After all, the school needed honor. They would not be happy at an instigator like him.

As for an anonymous report, it was even more useless.

This was not without precedent.

Lu Zhou felt that he was not a person with a strong sense of justice. He was more rational than emotional. He had a little conscience at most.

This type of vigilante act should be handed to people that cared about it.

Lu Zhou was about to continue reading when his heart suddenly tightened.

Wait, I already rejected two missions, so there's only one mission left to choose?

Before, some of the three missions given were pretty bad, but most of them were acceptable. He even had room to choose the mission based on the mission rewards.

But this time…

It seemed that something was wrong.

Please don't give me another bad mission!

Lu Zhou swallowed his spit and continued to read.

[

Mission 3: Become an academic mudslide

Description: Since you don't want to become an academic rive slide, go become a mudslide! Let the entire academic world tremble under your crazy water!

Requirements: Successfully submit 10 SCI theses within two months and pass the review process. If the 10 theses are not completed within two months, failure is given and the rewards would be canceled. Completing the mission ahead of time will increase the evaluation.

Prize: Every thesis carries a fixed prize of 100 experience points towards the relevant thesis subject. 800 general points. One chance of lucky draw (90% garbage, 9% sample, 1% blueprint)

]

Lu Zhou: "…"

He did not have a choice and so, he forced himself to choose mission three.

The worst case scenario was a two-month delay on his missions. Anyway, the system did not mention any punishment if he had not completed the mission. If he failed to finish the mission, all he would lose was his 200 general points.

However, he could have traded 200 general points for a lot of theses!

Sometimes, he really thought that the purpose of the system was not to help him but to take revenge on society.

Generally speaking, other than those weird subjects or very hardworking researchers, publishing two papers in a year was considered pretty good.

If a person published fifty or more a year, no matter what department it was, it would definitely be crappy work.

If Professor Tang knew that Lu Zhou published ten SCI papers in two months, he would be massively pissed off.

No. I can't let him know!

Feeling stressed, Lu Zhou exited the system space and laid down on his bed. He thought about the mission for a while.

I had just spent so much effort just to submit one thesis, now I have to submit ten! Isn't this a bit too much?

After a bit of groaning, he suddenly thought it through.

In fact, when he thought about it carefully, accepting this mission was not necessarily a bad thing.

The 800 general points were pretty tempting. Also, each paper had a fixed experience value of 100. He considered that he could pick any subject for his papers. If he wanted mathematics experience points, he could submit a mathematics paper. If he wanted information science experience points, he could just submit a computer-related paper.

In other words, the experience points could be manipulated by himself!

He could publish a mathematics paper and then published nine computer papers! This way, his information science experience points would reach 1000, enough for a level up! And he would reach mathematics level 1 at the same time, thus, killing two birds with one stone!

Moreover, this system did not have a rigid requirement for the quality of the theses, and the task rewards were not linked to the academic value of the papers. This meant that no matter how boring the paper was, as long as it could be approved, it would be accepted into the SCI journal.

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up.

He immediately climbed down the ladder while taking the computer off his bed and stuffing it into the backpack. He grabbed a T-shirt and put it on.

Liu Rui caught a glimpse of Lu Zhou and saw that his mathematical analysis book was still sitting on the table. He asked, "Lu Zhou, are you not going to study mathematical analysis? Tomorrow is the exam."

Lu Zhou walked to the front door and as he put on his shoes, he said, "I have some stuff to attend to at the library. I'll come back later and see if I feel like studying."

Liu Rui was curious and so, he asked, "What's there to do at the library? Isn't there wifi in the dorm?"

"The wifi in the dorm can't download papers from the journal website. I recently entered a mathematical modeling competition. A lot of specific topics can't be found with Baidu."

Obviously, Lu Zhou was not going to reveal that he was researching thesis topics, so he just gave an excuse. After all, if Liu Rui knew that he published in the SCI journal while they were all revising for the exam, his mind would explode.

Lu Zhou was still concerned about the mental condition of his roommate.

Upon hearing about the national mathematical modeling competition, Huang Guangming, who was still doing practice questions, suddenly raised his head and yelled, "F*ck me! Zhou, you're insane! Treat me to dinner when you win the prize money!"

"Ok, ok, call me brother Zhou and I'll treat you!"

After responding, Lu Zhou immediately walked out the door. He did not give a chance and left Huang Guangming behind.

"Brother Zhou! Brother Zhou! Don't leave! I said it!"

Facing the densely written exercise book, Liu Rui's expression was a bit stiff and confused.

A national mathematical modeling competition?

He had also paid attention to this competition before and even consulted the seniors who previously won the first prize about the details of this competition. He was deeply saddened by his lack of ability. Originally, he was preparing to enter when he was in the second year. He did not expect the idiot Lu Zhou to apply…

Although the probability is low, but if he wins the competition…

There's no way.

Liu Rui took a deep breath and squeezed his fists. He made up his mind.

I still have three months till September.

After the mathematical analysis exam, I'm applying as well!

Chapter 20: Two Gods Carry A Trash?

It was Saturday afternoon, Lu Zhou finished his mathematical analysis exam and turned his paper in. He then walked to Old Tang's office.

He walked in and was surprised to see quite a lot of people standing in his office.

In addition to Professor Tang, not only was Dean Lu here but also Professor Zhang Zhongjie, the Director of the Computer Department of the Software Institute. His name was well known in the computer industry. Even though Lu Zhou had never taken his classes, he still knew who he was.

In addition, there was a young man and a young woman.

The guy wore glasses. He was neither tall nor short. He looked very ordinary and did not stand out much. However, just from standing there, Lu Zhou could feel his "genius" aura.

It seemed that this was the genius that Professor Tang talked about. The guy that won the national computer design competition twice in high school!

This guy really is a genius!

Lu Zhou said in his heart.

He completely ignored the girl.

One, the presence on her side was too wrong and secondly, it was because she portrayed a feeling of being "weak".

However, what surprised Lu Zhou was that she was the first to say hello.

The girl smiled naturally, "Hello, are you the genius of the math department?"

Lu Zhou said modestly, "I'm no genius. There is a lot of genius in our mathematics department."

Lu Zhou took this chance to look at her.

Her hair was combed into bangs and her face had light makeup on. Her face was probably a 6 or a 7. She wore a plain white floral dress that hanged down to her ankles and a pair of white shoes.

They're standing very close. Maybe this is the genius' girlfriend?

Ah, even such an ugly guy can find a girlfriend…

Lu Zhou thought.

Professor Tang smiled and criticized, "You're way too humble. I have to criticize you. There isn't a single undergraduate student smarter than you. The advanced algebra 2 exam, I wrote it entirely. You were the only student that scored full marks. I personally marked your paper. It seems that I have to give you a separate paper next semester!"

"Stop joking, professor. Please have mercy," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

The perfect score was expected. After the exam, he guessed that he would probably get full marks, so he was not surprised at all.

However, the two students were actually surprised by Lu Zhou's performance. Even the computer raised his eyebrows slightly.

It was not hard to be good at mathematics and his score was pretty good as well.

However, getting a perfect score was a different story.

"Wow, you are so good!" said the girl while she batted her eyes with her long eyelashes at Lu Zhou. She reached out with her hand and said, "My name is Lin Yuxiang. I'm a student from the computer department. Can I ask for your help in maths?"

"I'm Lu Zhou. Of course, you can," said Lu Zhou cautiously after shaking her hand.

"Haha, if you guys want to discuss mathematics, I'm all for it. But discuss it later! let me introduce you guys. This is Wang Xiaodong, this is Lu Zhou, then this is …" Dean Lu gave an introduction for the two people but hesitated when he arrived at Lin Yuxiang.

Professor Zhang came over with a smile and said, "This is Lin Yuxiang. She's also a first-year student. She's the vice president of our student union, and she came here together with Wang Xiaodong."

In other words, I didn't ask her to come.

The expressions of Professor Tang and Dean Lu were somewhat weird, but they had nothing to say.

"Hello."

"Hello."

The exchange between the two geniuses was very simple.

"So, here's the case. I believe that Professor Tang and Professor Zhang have already explained it to you. I will not repeat it again. This is mainly about the team of the National Mathematical Modeling Competition," said Dean Lu with a smile. Dean Lu cleared his throat and continued, "I've discussed with Professor Zhang yesterday. I think our goal should not only be this year's competition but the competition in February next year. You guys are at the top of the software department and mathematics department. I believe that you have this strength! Of course, when we look to the future, we have to be down to earth. I hope that you will win honor for yourself, for our department, and even for the school in the mathematical modeling contest."

"Professor Lu, I have already read the details of the mathematics modeling contest. and the team asked three people to participate," said the computer genius as he adjusted his glasses. He did not give a chance for Dean Lu to speak and continued to say, "With regards to the remaining teammate, I would like to recommend Lin Yuxiang. She originally worked at student council, so she can make up for the areas that I am not good at. She's also the vice president of the Literature Society, so she would have no problem writing the thesis."

There was a big problem. You could not mix literature and thesis writing.

Also…

Lu Zhou sighed softly.

It seemed that this man's emotional intelligence is even lower than mine…

Sure enough, Dean Lu and Professor Zhang's face were somewhat subtle and unnatural.

Although the intention of the mathematical modeling contest was to encourage college students to participate in the competition freely, they should let the school organized the teams. After all, the instructors, training materials, and training venues that were prepared for them were all the best.

In addition, the goal was not just to win this year's competition, but next year as well. It was not that he could not recommend anyone, but at least the person he recommended should have some achievements right?

Student council?

Society?

What kind of achievement is this…

"Dean Lu, Professor Zhang, and Professor Tang… Please allow me to make this request. Although I feel that I'm still far from the level of these two study gods, I'll try to keep up with their footsteps!" said Lin Yuxiang with a slightly lowered head. She continued to say sincerely, "Please believe me and give me a chance to prove myself!"

Professor Zhang and Dean Lu's expression was that of hesitant. They exchanged looks.

They were still searching for the third member. The genius math student and computer student teamed up. They were going after the first prize or even a special prize.

According to the original plan, Dean Lu planned on arranging a student with excellent thesis writing abilities.

Then…

To be honest, Dean Lu did not like the girl very much.

However, at this moment, the genius computer student opened his mouth and said, "Professor, as a matter of fact, I originally planned on teaming up with this girl. When I suddenly received the notice from the school, I thought… I'd rather team up with someone I'm familiar with as this will increase the odds of winning."

After listening to him, Lu Zhou secretly shook his head.

This guy, do you even know what you are doing? Do you think that you are the head of the department?

Do you think competition is a vacation with your girlfriend? You can do whatever you want just because you're a genius student? Not to mention, even if you don't want to listen to the suggestions of the professors, you should at least discuss it with me.

He was too lazy to care about this guy's egotistical attitude.

Seeing the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Professor Tang, who had never spoken, suddenly smiled and joined the conversation, "Let the young people decide what they want to do. We're too old for this. Speaking of writing theses, Lu Zhou has some experience, right? Oh yeah, which stage is your SCI submission at?"

"I have already passed," said Lu Zhou with smiled. He suddenly thought that Old Tang might think that he submitted it to AMC and therefore, he quickly added, "I submitted it to your recommended "Theory and Applied Mathematics Newsletter"."

"How come you didn't even tell me you passed!"

Lu Zhou quickly explained, "I only passed yesterday. I planned on telling you today."

This time Dean Lu spoke, "Theory and Applied Mathematics Newsletter? Not bad, It's the official publication of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University right?"

Professor Zhang also looked at Lu Zhou in a strange way and said, "A first-year student publishing in SCI. Impressive."

"Of course, I taught him myself," said Professor Tang. As he sipped his tea and his eyes smiled, there were wrinkles near his eyes.

This old gentleman was this type of person.

If you kissed his ass, he would not be happy at all. But if you complimented his own student, he would be ecstatic.

"Wow, you're so good… I thought you were older than me, but it turns out that you're a first-year student as well," said Lin Yuxiang. She opened her mouth in surprise and was openly awed by it.

Wang Xiaodong did not say anything but from his expression, it seemed that he had slightly approved of his new teammate. However, even though he did not say anything, he was slightly unhappy about Lin Yuxiang's attitude towards Lu Zhou.

"Professor, you thought too highly of me. It was all because of Professor Tang's help," replied Lu Zhou humbly.

Professor Zhang looked at Lu Zhou and nodded with approval at his humble attitude. Then he thought of his own department's genius, and could not help but shook his head in his heart.

Being confident isn't a bad thing, but arrogance is not the same.

Still a level behind…

"Then, this year's national competition is set. As for next year's US competition, we'll decide after observations," said Dean Lu. He heard that Lu Zhou had published in the SCI journal so he did not say much. He just asked jokingly, "Oh yeah, Lu Zhou, you don't have any opinions on this new teammate, right?"

Lin Yuxiang looked at Lu Zhou and blinked her eyes. She was like a deer in headlights.

Naive girl, you think that you can just trick me?

Lu Zhou thought for a while then shrugged.

"I… don't have an opinion."

Even though he was not very satisfied with this third teammate, he considered that with the computer genius here, it would make up for his lack of programming experience. With the arrogant nature of the genius, the team would be broken up if he did not agree.

He weighed the pros and cons. It was better than him trying to find two garbage people. At least, this garbage was still slightly useful. He was not that good at public speaking so she could do that.

After hearing about the prize money the school would give, he decided.

I'm going to get the first prize!

Wang Xiaodong released his breath in relief. Lin Yuxiang's face burst into smiles as she looked at Lu Zhou gratefully.

Lu Zhou smiled and did not say anything.

Professor Lu clapped his hands and said, "Then, It's settled. Professor Liu Xiangping will be your advisor coach. Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, meet at Building A classroom 104. Professor Liu will brief. It's getting late, so you guys should go rest."

Chapter 21: He Turned Out To Be An Honest Man

"Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou was walking towards the male dorms when he heard someone shouting his name. He turned and saw Lin Yuxiang jog towards him.

Her fair hands rested on her kneecaps as Lin Yuxiang bent her waist and gasped slightly. She gasped again and asked, "Why are you walking so fast?"

Lu Zhou asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to thank you for what happened back at Professor Tang's office. I owe you one," said Lin Yuxiang with a smile on her face.

"Oh, that's nothing. Don't need to thank me," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head.

"Even though I know I'm very stupid, I'll work hard and catch up to you! So… thank you for giving me a chance," said Lin Yuxiang.

Emm…

This isn't possible.

There's no way for you to catch up. You can't even catch up to the tail light.

However, he did not burn this bridge. Lu Zhou still tried to smile, "Well, work hard. I believe you can do it."

"Really? Thank you for your support!" said Lin Yuxiang. As she kept her hands behind her back, she said happily, "Then… As a way to thank you, can I buy you food?"

Even though the suggestion of food was very tempting, Lu Zhou still rejected it when he thought about the relationship between his other teammate.

"Go and eat with your boyfriend. I won't be third wheeling you guys."

Lin Yuxiang heard the words come out of Lu Zhou's mouth and laughed. She played with her hair as she said, "What are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend?"

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned and asked, "Isn't that Wang Xiaodong your boyfriend?"

"What are you talking about?" Lin Yuxiang groaned with dissatisfaction. She looked at Lu Zhou seriously and said, "He's older than me and I treat him like a brother. It's not like that."

What, what, what?

What is this?

Lu Zhou paused for a second before coming back to a realization.

Ah…

This is the so-called thing right…

Lu Zhou laughed and tried to refuse gently, "I'm sorry. I still have some personal stuff to do tonight. Let's go some other day."

Lin Yuxiang obviously did not expect the rejection. She was stunned for a second then immediately her face light up with a smile again, "Well! I'll contact you later then… Oh yeah, give me your WeChat."

This time Lu Zhou did not reject her and he took out his phone.

After all, she was his teammate. Having her contact details was convenient.

After exchanging WeChat, Lin Yuxiang held her phone as if it was a treasure. She happily thanked him, turned around and walked away briskly.

…

There was a type of girl in the university - pretty, innocent, and their smiles were like your first love. A smile that gave you butterflies in your stomach.

They would make you think that they liked you and would inadvertently start to approach you.

"So good", "Wow, you're amazing", "Ah, if only I was half as smart as you."

They could recognize their shortcomings and where their shortcomings were. This was obviously an advantage, but they were dissatisfied with themselves.

They were good at using the art of language and their circle of friends to mask themselves into a lonely and weak person. To arouse the attraction of the opposite sex and to manipulate them.

However, when you started to chase her, you would walk a step forward while she would walk a step backward.

So, you would start to reflect on yourself and doubting yourself. You started to gradually lose yourself and you would become a black hole filled with dissatisfaction.

Until one day, you discovered that you were just one of the many prisoners trapped by her…

If you abstract this phenomenon into a social behavioral model, you would find this collective social behavior to be similar to the structure of ants.

All the workers and soldiers were loyal to one queen ant. Only a small number of male ants, that were strong, wing growing "bachelors", would have a chance to mingle with the queen.

As for that Wang Xiaodong, his role was probably the so-called spare tire?

Through a rational analysis, Lu Zhou felt that he probably understood it now.

As for Lin Yuxiang's objective, it was very clear to him. She was trying to win a prize in the mathematical modeling competition. Perhaps she saw that Lu Zhou was unhappy with having her as a teammate, so she deliberately approached to manipulate him.

If she could make these two guys fought for her, then that would be even better. She just had to sit back and win the national competition by doing nothing.

He had to admit. This type of girl was the nemesis of a genius.

Those who devoted too much time to study was bound to have difficulty balancing other areas.

Why Lu Zhou did not get baited by her?

That was because he knew better.

He knew that he was honest and slightly handsome at most. He was not rich or tall.

Getting into a relationship with this girl was completely pointless.

…

Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and was about to bring his laptop to the library to continue research thesis topics.

However, just after he stepped his foot into his dorm, Huang Guangming came over and slammed the door.

Kacha---

What?

He even locked it?

Lu Zhou watched Shi Shang and Liu Rui walked towards him with a smirk on their face and he said, "Say whatever you want. Let's discuss. Other than money problem, we can discuss it!"

Shi Shang laughed and said, "Zhou."

Liu Rui smiled and followed, "Zhou…"

Lu Zhou, "Can you guys stop being so romantic, I'm getting goosebumps!"

Huang Guangming blocked the dorm door with his body and said with a serious face, "We saw everything. Be honest! Who was the girl downstairs? Which department? When did you start dating? Which stages are you guys at? What are you feeling?"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Shi Shang patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and sighed, "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help you, but can you look at it from our loners' perspective? Brother, I would just ask you for one thing. Go and invite your girlfriend's roommates. Let's arrange some activities. I'll cover the costs. You can decide on the specific activities. I'll owe you one whether I get a girlfriend or not."

Lu Zhou sighed. He held the hand that was on his shoulder, "Brother, it's not that I don't want to help you… But that student is my mathematics modeling competition's teammate. Also, she was brought in by another teammate. It was my first time meeting her today."

"How is this possible! So you guys have nothing going on?" asked Liu Rui suspiciously.

'Yeah, you could say so," nodded Lu Zhou.

The three guys in the dorm suddenly looked like shrimps as they said stuff like, "No fun, let's go", "I told you, Zhou is still a loner", "Let's just get Shi Shang a girlfriend and make him set up a group date for us". They sat back down in their chairs and got ready for a video game match.

The exams for mathematical analysis and advanced algebra were completed. Next week was English and C language exams. The dorm already started to get into summer vacation's mentality and no one wanted to study.

Lu Zhou saw that no one was bothering him anymore and so, he took his computer bag and left.

Yesterday, although he stayed at the library until closing time, other than downloading a lot of documents and reading a lot of books, no progress was made.

But yesterday's accumulation provided him with a lot of ideas. Today, he was ready to work hard, finished selecting the topics, and to start writing the theses.

This sounded like it would be simple, but actually, it was very difficult.

The mathematics thesis was easy to write, but the other nine computer theses were not his expertise. He had read more than 30 related theses. More than half of them were in English. After downloading them from the library, he stayed up until two o'clock in the morning and he had barely finished reading. He still had very little understanding of the topic.

Even if he learned the C language textbook, he still would not understand the harder topics.

As expected, his study ability was no match with a real genius.

If only the system gave him another studying mission…

Lu Zhou walked towards the library and suddenly remembered.

Chapter 22: The Correct Thesis Writing Posture

Lu Zhou was different compared to how most people wrote theses. All of his problems could be solved by asking the system, therefore the importance of proposing appropriate ideas far exceeds the realization of the idea itself.

Thus, the key to the problem itself lied in choosing the topic.

Lu Zhou's criteria for choosing a topic was very simple.

Since he was going to be a mudslide in the academic world, then he would have to find the easiest topic to do! The easiest journal to submit to!

What was worth mentioning was, as the second largest science major in the engineering department, finding an easy journal to submit to was relatively easy.

Just like mathematics, where a "new solution to a proof theorem" could be published into a thesis, in the field of computer science, even a new algorithm could be published into a paper.

13 years ago, in an interview with the guy who founded Khan Academy, he said, "90% of academic papers are useless", and "How many PhD papers have really been used?". Hundreds of silicon valley giants agreed with him.

Of course, there was a lot of criticism towards him.

The statement indeed was biased, but it also reflected some problems on the opposing end.

Internet information security and artificial neural networks were considered the norm. Also, big data and cloud computing had become hard hitting areas. Artificial intelligence was even more of a mess as even civilians had joined in on the conversation. In addition, it was not just domestic, it was the same abroad. It was a common problem for all "young disciplines".

Lu Zhou considered these factors. Therefore, he eventually chose the area of artificial intelligence.

Of course, the field of artificial intelligence was huge. From video games to frequency changing electric toothbrush, strictly speaking, this thing had penetrated into society. It was just a matter of how deep the level of penetration was.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and typed a line of text in a Word document.

[Application of Artificial Intelligence in Geographic Information Systems]

From the phone's navigation system to autopilot driving, from traffic control to unmanned aircraft navigation.

He chose the later, just in time for the emerging concept of "unmanned aircraft logistics".

Of course, this area was still very broad. However, he was not worried as he had nine theses to submit!

It was like pouring water into the sea of academia. He planned on breaking it into nine parts with a hose and then slowly poured it in.

Hence, his fingers tapped the keyboard and he continued to write.

[A pixel analysis algorithm based on artificial intelligence]

[Optimization Algorithm for Dynamic Image Recognition Based on Artificial Intelligence]

[Automatic measurement method of human body size based on artificial intelligence algorithm]

[An Artificial Intelligence Algorithm for Harvesting Addresses]

{An artificial intelligence based…]

However, it was not just about completing the title. He still had to write an abstract to describe the topic in detail. After all, a video game "bot" and Ironman's "Jarvis" both belonged to the same category of artificial intelligence. Lu Zhou did not expect the system to accurately understand the difference between the two.

Due to this, not only did he had to write a detailed description of the idea, it would not even appear in the final thesis.

He had just finished all of this when the library approached its closing time.

He dragged all of the documents into the same folder that had the thesis on mathematics. Lu Zhou stretched his back and leaned back on his chair. He thought back to when he wrote his first thesis and started to say in his heart.

"System, give me a thesis price estimation."

The system very quickly gave an answer to his question.

[Total 10 questions. Total cost: 210 general points. Would you like to confirm a purchase?]

An average cost of 21 general points, after that he would only have 125 general points left. However, he would receive 800 general points when he completed the mission, not to mention additional rewards if he received an S grade. This was worth it!

"Confirm purchase!"

Lu Zhou closed his eyes. Soon, a feeling of being shocked by electric traveled from his spine up to his brain. This was followed by a huge flow of information.

Although his information science experience points had not changed one bit, after receiving this new information, he felt his understanding of artificial intelligence had deepened.

Purchasing knowledge with general points was also a learning method. However, it was much simpler and easier than studying it by himself.

Of course, it would still take a while for him to completely digest this knowledge.

However, it was enough for him to write the theses!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and opened his eyes. There was a spirit of fire in his eyes.

Ten theses.

He would take a month at most.

He was going to complete this!

…

The next day, Lu Zhou forced himself to wake up early. He brushed his teeth and put on his clothes, and then he went out of his bedroom.

As a result of staying up all night, there were two dark circles below his eyes. He could not even count the number of times he yawned on the way to the cafeteria.

"Lu Zhou!"

Chen Yushan was wearing a backpack and stood nearby. She smiled and said hello. When she noticed his dark circles, she said, "Wow, where did you get those panda eyes?"

"I got them from the zoo… This joke is so cold, it's not funny at all," said Lu Zhou while yawning.

Chen Yushan's appearance looked the same as usual. A pair of thick round glasses with her long black hair tied in a ponytail. Speaking of which, he had only seen her wearing makeup and contact lenses once. In a time where even young girls started to wear face masks, this type of "natural" girls was rare.

They began to walk together.

Chen Yushan asked, "You're not going to the library today?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I might go in the afternoon. I have a mathematics modeling competition training to attend to first."

"Wow, math modeling competition," said Chen Yushan. She nodded her head and said with experience, "The prize money for that competition is pretty high. It'll be very helpful for your future career. I'll root for you!"

"You've joined before?"

"What are you talking about? I won the level two prize. I amazed the audience with my strengths!" said Chen Yushan as she flicked her eyebrows satisfyingly. She pumped up her chest and said, "If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask for my help!"

"Cool, cool, cool," replied Lu Zhou with a perfunctory attitude.

I guess this modeling competition doesn't care about your mathematics skills…

That's a bit difficult to do.

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking this, Chen Yushan who was walking next to him opened her mouth.

"Wait a bit, don't move."

"Yeah?"

Chen Yushan turned around, opened her backpack, and pulled out a pack of tissues.

Lu Zhou was confused about what she was going to do. She took two steps, looked at Lu Zhou with a serious face, then suddenly reached out and wiped his face.

"Ah, disgusting. You don't care at all, do you? You didn't even wipe your eye boogers before leaving the dorm.," said Chen Yushan as she threw the tissue into a trash can.

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou face was instantly red and he was no longer sleepy.

It was not because he was embarrassed.

It was because…

Did I walk around all day with that big eye booger on my face?

Lu Zhou had a stiff expression as he asked quietly, "It… wasn't that obvious right?"

Chen Yushan laughed, "Okay, fine. It wasn't that noticeable. But I do suggest you go and wash your face in the bathroom before you enter a classroom."

No s*hit, Sherlock!

Lu Zhou immediately went into a bathroom, splashed some water on his face, and started rubbing.

…

He felt refreshed after washing his face.

Lu Zhou went into the classroom with a wet face. He walked in and saw only one person inside.

He sat down in the first row and greeted the person.

"Morning."

Wang Xiaodong saw Lu Zhou and his expression did not change much. He just nodded briefly and said hello. He then started to read his textbook again.

Next week was the school wide English exams. Only people like Lu Zhou, who studied the entire level four English textbook like a freak, was unworried about the exam. After all, the exam's vocabulary and grammar requirements were level four. Therefore, he only had to study the level four textbook. He would not get that high, but 80 marks were no problem for him.

Sitting there was boring and talking with Student Wong was even more boring. Lu Zhou took out his phone and started to read the material from yesterday. With these materials, he began to slowly digest the knowledge his brain took in last night.

Fortunately, most of the artificial intelligence programs were written in C++ because the language had higher degrees of freedom. The popular language Python was used to write a shell at most. For example, the first generation artificial intelligence learning system by Google, "DistBelief", was the best example of an AI written in C++.

The only programming language Lu Zhou knew was C++, so it was not difficult for him to understand this knowledge.

If someone ever asked him how he wrote these theses, he could still write a couple of lines.

With the two people busy doing their own activities, the time reached eight o'clock quickly. With the sound of the bell ring, their instructor for the mathematical modeling competition, Liu Xiangping, walked into the classroom.

Chapter 23: The Classic Business Modeling Problem

When Liu Xiangping saw the two people in the classroom, he smiled and said, "There are only two people here? I heard there's another one."

"… I'll call her and ask," said Wang Xiaodong. Embarrassed, he walked outside with his phone.

The professor was not in a rush. He opened his vacuum flask and sipped some hot water. He then casually sat next to Lu Zhou and asked with a smile, "What's the current situation on your team's configuration?"

Lu Zhou put down his phone and replied with a smile, "I'm responsible for building the model, Wang Xiaodong is responsible for programming it, and Lin Yuxiang is responsible for writing the thesis and presenting."

"Modeling, coding, and writing. The standard configuration I see," said Professor Liu. He laughed and continued to say, "Speaking of which, you're the undergraduate student Lu Zhou, right? I've read your thesis and it was really good."

Lu Zhou eyes lit up, "Professor, you're in mathematics?"

"You could say so, but I research physics side of things and I don't publish mathematics theses much," said Teacher Liu. As he squinted his eyes and looked at the classroom door, he said, "Your female teammate seems to be quite unreliable."

Lu Zhou felt awkward and could only smile out of politeness.

Teacher Liu smiled as well and left the issue alone. He paused before saying, "As for your team configuration, let me suggest some slight changes. Making the model and thesis should be done by one person, the two other people should program the model. The advantage of this is that the person writing the model would have a strong grasp of the topic, and thus, the process of writing the thesis would be much smoother. Of course, the downside is that the person would be under a lot of pressure. The competition is only three days long. It means that when the person finished writing the model, he or she would have to immediately start writing the thesis."

Lu Zhou asked thoughtfully, "Two people for coding?"

Teacher Liu sipped his tea and replied slowly, "That's right."

Lu Zhou laughed and did not give an answer yet, "I'll think about it. After all, I should discuss this with my teammates."

At the same time, the sound of footsteps came from outside the corridor. The last teammate had finally arrived.

"My apologies, I'm slightly late. I'm really sorry!" said Lin Yuxiang as she walked into the classroom with Wang Xiaodong. She looked down at the professor with an apologetic expression.

"It's okay. Since everyone is here, let's begin," said Professor Liu Xiangping as he smiled casually. He did not blame her for being late. He turned around and walked to the podium, plugged a USB into the computer, turned on the projector, and pulled out his PowerPoint presentation.

"Before I present, I want to first ask you guys a question. This question isn't very hard in itself, but it's an example of a mathematics modeling question. I hope you guys can understand what exactly is mathematical modeling by doing this question."

He pressed the mouse and turned the PowerPoint to the next page.

"Three businessmen, each carry a passenger on a boat to cross the river. The boat can only accommodate two people. The passengers secretly decided that if there are more passengers than businessmen on either side of the river, they'll kill the businessmen. However, the method of taking the boat is determined by the businessmen. Question. How can the businessmen cross the bridge safely?"

In reality, this question was not difficult at all.

Lu Zhou did not even use the power of the system to find an answer. He replied.

"First round, two passengers go, one passenger comes back."

"Second round, two passengers go again, one passenger comes back."

"Third round, two businessmen go, one businessman and one passenger comes back."

"Fourth round, two businessmen go, one passenger comes back."

"Fifth round, two passengers go, one passenger comes back."

"Sixth round, the last two passengers go and they would successfully cross the river!"

Clap, Clap, Clap!

Lin Yuxiang started clapping with her tiny hands and her face was filled with an expression of being awed.

Wang Xiaodong's expressions did not change one bit. He looked like a worldly man.

From his perspective, this question was not that difficult. Although he did not try to solve it himself, he believed that his IQ was high enough to solve it in the same amount of time.

"Completely correct," laughed Professor Liu. He continued to say, "Even without any mathematical knowledge, this problem can be solved simply by logical analysis. What if we expanded this question into N businessmen?"

This question was slightly harder. However, while the mathematical side was easy, the hard part was abstracting this problem into a mathematical problem.

Lu Zhou gave it a serious thought for a moment. He already had a general outline in his brain.

"Can I use the blackboard?"

"Of course, you can," said Professor Liu Xiangping while he waved his hand as an invitation.

Lu Zhou walked up to the blackboard and started to write with a chalk.

[Let the number of businessmen before crossing the river as Xk. Let the number of passengers be Yk. k = 1, 2…, Xk. Yk = 0, 1, 2, 3. Let the two dimensional vector Sk = (Xk, Yk). A successful crossing condition is recorded as S.]

Therefore S={(X,Y)|X=0,Y=0,1,2,3;X=3,Y=0,1,2,3;X=Y=1,2}

2. The number of businessmen on the kth ferry is 2 Uk, and the number of followers is Vk. The two-dimensional vector Dk=(Uk, Vk) is defined as a decision. Allow the decision set to be recorded as D, which is known by the boat capacity: D={(U,V)|1≤U+V≤V, U, V=0,1,2}

3 Combining the above conclusions, the variation law of state Sk with Dk is: S(k+1)=Sk+(-1)^k*Dk

]

"Amazing…" gaped Lin Yuxiang as she looked at the blackboard with a blank face. Her mouth was slightly wide opened. She watched Lu Zhou walked down the podium and she asked in surprise, "You don't even need to write down your calculations?"

"I can just calculate it in my head," said Lu Zhou while laughing.

Wang Xiaodong still remained silent.

From looking at his expression, the arrogant genius was thoroughly convinced by Lu Zhou's mathematics ability.

Professor Liu looked at the steps on the blackboard and nodded his head, "Perfectly correct! But from a mathematical model perspective, you only completed half of the work. After building at the model, there's still one more step. Implementation of the model. Of course, this model is very simple and I trust that Student Wong can definitely use his programming skills to build this. So, we won't waste our precious time."

Wang Xiaodong pushed his glasses. The expression on his face remained the same as it portrayed a sense of confidence.

Given that there was no chance for him to show off his programming skills, he was a bit disappointed.

After a pause, Professor Liu continued to say, "Data modeling is actually a process of simplifying a practical problem into a problem that can be expressed in terms of data and simple sentences. Then, solve the problem through mathematical tools."

"So, the key is, what actual problems are your team going to solve?"

"Building a model isn't testing your programming abilities or your mathematical abilities. It is actually testing your ability to translate real life problems into data and find a way to solve it. You guys have to remember this."

"As for building the model, I don't have much advice. There is no shortcut other than to practice and broaden your knowledge. As for programming, I can give some advice."

"There are four types of commonly used software. Matlab, Mathematica, Lingo, and SAS. You don't need to master all of them but you have to at least master one of them. The key is to use the software that suits you to solve the actual problem," said Professor Liu Xiangping while he looked at Wang Xiaodong.

This was because he was mainly talking to him.

Wang Xiaodong pushed his glasses, nodded his head, and said, "I've used Matlab and SAS so there's no problem."

Professor Liu nodded, "Knowing these two are enough. You guys have to learn this by yourself. I can only help you when you are stuck."

"The last point is regarding textbooks. I recommend that you read some books on mathematical modeling such as Mathematical Models, Mathematical Modeling Algorithms and Applications, and Mathematical Modeling Basics."

"I still have some handouts and materials from the university. You can copy them and look at them at home but remember not to pass them out or upload it online. Understood?"

The three students replied at the same time: "Understood!"

Professor Liu laughed and said, "Okay, that's it for today. I don't have much else to say. It's all up to you guys now. Come download the material from me if you need it. After you're done, go and study English."

Chapter 24: First Training Session

After downloading the material, Professor Liu dismissed them. He expressed that if they were not busy revising, they should look over the material tonight.

Tomorrow they were going to meet in the school's computer room and to start their first training session.

After Professor Liu dismissed them, Lu Zhou carried his laptop and walked to the library. He continued to write his theses.

He did not even look at the material on his USB.

After all, for him, the system mission was a higher priority than school work.

Other than writing theses, Lu Zhou would occasionally help Chen Yushan with a few math questions.

Honestly speaking, the girl's foundation in mathematics was absolutely horrible. He had no idea how she apparently scored 85 in her first-year mathematical analysis exam.

"You guys don't study mathematics in business school?" asked Lu Zhou. He was completely defeated by a question regarding finding the limits of a function. He rolled his eyes and wrote the answer on the draft paper. Without any mercy, he said, "The teacher just explained this question as an example in class."

Chen Yushan blushed. She refused to accept defeat and defended herself, "I'm studying economics management in the business school. It's not like I study accounting. I've got a lot of other stuff to memorize. When would I have time to study mathematics?"

"I know that you also need to study accounting and statistics for economics…"

"Shut up, I'll buy you lunch."

Lu Zhou shut up immediately. He said in his heart, "Don't be polite, ask me anything you want."

It'd be best if you can buy me dinner as well…

When someone bought him food, Lu Zhou would feel as if he owed them. Even though his financial situation was pretty bad, he would still find a chance to buy them food back.

However, if Chen Yushan wanted to buy him food…

He did not feel ashamed at all.

He used his skill to earn the meal. Why would he have to treat her back?

He helped her with all of the topics in advanced algebra and he did not even charge her. It was normal for her to buy him food.

After the library closed, Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and continued to work a little bit more. He finally finished writing his first thesis.

The value score of the first thesis was the highest out of the ten. The system assessed it at 30 general points. He thought about some of the conclusions of this paper as it was a supplement to the arguments in his previous thesis. Lu Zhou was prepared to submit it again to the "Theoretical and Applied Mathematics Communication" journal.

As for the rest of the nine theses, his submission goal was "Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology"

As a non-core journal, this domestic journal was rare and it did not require any review and layout fees. It also did not care if the author had financial support. It would even pay the authors 150 yuan per thesis. Comparing this with the other journals that only cared about the pockets of researchers, this was the "clear stream" of the academic mudslide!

Nine theses were 1350 yuan!

By the time he finally finished uploading his mathematics thesis, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Lu Zhou saw the time was late. He turned off his laptop, yawned, and laid in bed. As he listened to his roommates' snoring sound, he slowly drifted into his dreams.

…

Professor Liu and Lu Zhou were lazy and did not wake up early. He walked into the computer room behind Professor Liu. When he walked in, he discovered that he was not the latest to arrive. When he walked in with Professor Liu, only Wang Xiaodong was inside the classroom.

"Morning."

As always, Lu Zhou smiled and said hello. He thought that the proud genius would ignore him. As a result, he did not expect to hear him reply.

"Morning."

Although it was only one word, it was quite a big breakthrough for him.

Lu Zhou was gratified.

Honestly speaking, he was not worried at all about his team's abilities. The only thing he was worried about was his relationships with his teammates. He knew that he was not the only one worried about this. Professor Liu must also be concerned.

If Lin Yuxiang could be used as a mediator, it would not be that bad to have her on the team.

Probably.

Just as he was going off track thinking about this, Lin Yuxiang finally arrived. This time was better as she was only late by 15 minutes.

As always, Professor Liu Xiangping did not say anything to her. He just smiled faintly. He signaled her to find a place to sit down and then started the course for the day.

According to the training plan, today was the first training session, which was to develop cooperation between the teammates.

They did not want to waste too much time so the questions were not difficult. They could all be solved on the spot.

Professor Liu gave a string of fictitious data of telecom users and made up more than 20 tasks to do. The requirement was to classify consumer habits through mathematical modeling and design products for different user groups.

As the data was made up, the data source was not given in the question. He only gave them an excel spreadsheet.

The knowledge needed for calculations was biased towards statistics. It involved economics and product management techniques. Compared to yesterday's appetizer, the difficulty of this question had undoubtedly improved.

The simple mathematical formulas were not necessarily useless in this practical application. Rather, the difficulty of this question was not in the mathematics part. It was how to convert this type of problem into a mathematical problem.

The good thing was that the question itself was not that complicated. It just required a broad range of knowledge. Lu Zhou thought about it for nearly half an hour. He first used statistical techniques to classify customers. Then he used a matrix algorithm to solve two of the questions.

Lu Zhou brought a couple of draft paper to Wang Xiaodong and put them on his computer desk. He said, "The model is done and I've sent it to your email. The other part I calculated it with a pen so it's written on the paper. You should be fine with organizing the formula and entering it into the computer right?"

Wang Xiaodong nodded and his answer was concise, "No problem."

As expected, the efficiency of the two geniuses was extraordinary.

Lu Zhou quickly finished building the mathematical model. Wang Xiaodong also quickly used the computer in the computer room to code the program. It took them less than two hours. It was estimated that it would take a day but they had already finished it in such a short amount of time.

After examining the results of Lu Zhou and Wang Xiaodong respectively, Professor Liu could not help but be impressed. He had coached a total of five mathematical modeling competitions. These two were the most talented students he had ever met.

Lu Zhou smiled and accepted the teacher's compliment. As for Wang Xiaodong, there was no expression on his face as usual. However, from the corner of his mouth, a sliver of satisfaction could be seen.

The first training session went smoothly.

However, the biggest problem was Lin Yuxiang…

Although this girl had written a lot of student council's reports, she had never written a thesis before. She spent half an hour researching the format requirements and made no progress.

Wang Xiaodong was embarrassed. After all, it was him that strongly recommended Lin Yuxiang and believed that she could take on the role. The competition had not even started and she already dropped the ball in the first training session.

Although Lu Zhou had a slight smile on his face, his heart was full of resentment.

You said you're in student work, then properly do student work. You should stay in your own lane. My future is bright, why would you come and drag me down.

Next time, at least search online on how to write a thesis beforehand. All you know how to do is let people pity you! How useless!

I'm so pissed off!

Teacher Liu was not angry at all. He just smiled and comforted Lin Yuxiang who kept apologizing. He then allowed Wang Xiaodong to guide her through thesis writing and called Lu Zhou to the hallway.

He took out a cigarette, looked at the two students inside the classroom, and said to Lu Zhou, "What do you think? Have you thought about my suggestion from yesterday?"

Chapter 25: I'm So Angry

"…" Lu Zhou did not answer.

"I can understand. You must have your own opinions about her," said Professor Liu with a smile. He added, "Just like my research community, every team would always have a useless teammate. They don't care at all about the project. These people would always exist."

"Professor, your mentality is so good," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

"It's not that my mentality is good," said Professor Liu. He waved his hand and smiled, "It's because I'm used to it by now."

He patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said in a serious tone, "You have to understand that getting the first prize is our only goal. It might seem unfair to those who have to do more work, but this is just a learning curve."

Lu Zhou thought about it for a bit and nodded, "Okay, I understand. I can be responsible for building the mathematical model and writing the thesis, but I have one condition."

"Say it," said Professor Liu with a smile.

"I want to reduce the number of group training sessions moving forward and change it to solo training. We can resume group training closer to the competition time," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a second before continuing, "This way, I can be more flexible with my training schedule."

Having to get everyone together to train would waste too much time.

Lu Zhou still preferred to work at his own tempo.

"No problem as I originally planned to do this as well," replied Liu Xiangping with a smile.

The two people went back into the computer room.

At last, Lu Zhou could write the thesis.

After all, he had experience from submitting an SCI thesis and he had done quite a lot of research for that system mission. Looking at writing thesis alone, not to mention the useless Lin Yuxiang, even the second-year student, Wang Xiaodong, was no match for him.

Of course, today was just a training session. There was no need to polish the paper in accordance with the standards of the competition. The layout required ten or twenty pages of paper. It could not be finished within a day.

Lu Zhou wrote the key parts of "model hypothesis" and "problem analysis" according to the format of the mathematical modeling thesis. For the less important parts, he wrote down the title and skipped it.

Lin Yuxiang looked at the completed thesis and expressed her gratitude. She expressed pitifully that she had dragged them down today and that she was very sorry and would try to catch up with everyone's footsteps.

Lu Zhou did not respond, but in his heart, he sighed.

Try your best!

After dismissal, Lu Zhou rejected Lin Yuxiang's invitation to buy him food.

He strapped on his computer bag, walked to the library, and began to furiously write his thesis.

Chen Yushan sat next to him. Other than occasionally asking him a question or two, she also had her head down doing questions. Although she was very curious why a mathematics major like him was writing a computer science thesis, she did not ask why.

He leaned against the chair and stretched his arm. Lu Zhou was about to go to the toilet when his phone started to vibrate on his desk.

Lu Zhou picked his phone up and saw it was Fat Wu calling. He immediately stood up and walked towards the library's toilet.

He answered the phone and leaned against the window.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It's me, Wu Dahai. Are you free this week?"

The sincere voice of Fat Wu came through the telephone. It was obvious he needed manpower for a job.

He was a third-year student, but he did not care at all about the graduate entrance exam. He did not look for jobs either. He spent all day working and was never in school. If he did not have a student ID card, Lu Zhou would doubt that he was even a student at the University of Jin Ling.

"What kind of job?" asked Lu Zhou.

Although he was very busy right now, if the pay was high, he would still consider it.

However, he knew that the probability of that was low.

"Jin Ling recently opened a building and the developers need people to pass out flyers. 20 yuan an hour. They need people all week. Are you coming?" asked Wu Dahai.

"… I'm a bit busy these few days. I can't do it," said Lu Zhou with a mild tone. Even though Lu Zhou was a bit excited, he had to think about the nine theses he still had to write.

"It's fine. I'll find someone else then," said Fat Wu. He did not care and said, "Go do your own stuff."

Lu Zhou hung up the call and went to the toilet. Then he went back into the library.

When he returned to his chair, he saw his draft paper under the keyboard and Chen Yushan was sitting next to it. She looked forward to seeing him. When he saw her expression, he could not help but smile. He did not say much and started to pick up his pen to solve the problems.

Finding the general solution for the problem of a second-order constant-coefficient differential equation was a pretty difficult topic in advanced algebra. As it combined multiple knowledge points such as trigonometric functions and integral derivation, it was usually used as the second or last big question on the exams.

However, for Lu Zhou, it was not a challenge at all.

He was not bragging. There was no university level advanced mathematics questions that he could not solve.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou as he was solving the question and asked softly, "Who called you just then?"

"A student. He wanted to give me jobs," answered Lu Zhou swiftly.

"You still work?" asked Chen Yushan with her eyes widened. She asked softly, "But I see you stay at the library all day…"

"I've been working less recently. I worked at night last time…" said Lu Zhou. He stopped his pen and added, "It was sorting packages."

"Why did you have to specify?" asked Chen Yushan curiously.

"No reason… I solved it."

Lu Zhou said while handing the draft paper back to her. He spent less than three minutes to solve this problem. It was extraordinarily fast. A normal student could take up to half an hour on a question of this level.

"Ah, thank you… I hope you don't mind me asking, but are your allowance not enough?" asked Chen Yushan as she took the draft paper back.

"… You could say so," answered Lu Zhou.

He had never even had an allowance.

Chen Yushan nodded her head as a sign of understanding. She then opened her mouth and said, "Then… I have a job for you. It's easier than sorting packages. Do you want it?"

Lu Zhou was typing when he suddenly stopped and looked at her strangely, "It's not teaching you mathematics, is it?"

"My mathematics… isn't that bad!" said Chen Yushan. She was about to raise her voice when she remembered that she was in the library. She held back and said softly, "It is teaching mathematics, but not for me. I have a cousin who is still in high school. She's from the City of Jin Ling. She lives near our school. She's about to enter Grade 11, but her results are horrible. Especially mathematics. My auntie is worried to death about her studies, so she asked me to find a tutor. Preferably a tutor who is good at mathematics…"

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou apologetically, "Originally, I was planning on asking my roommate, but she has to prepare for the graduate entrance exam so she has no time. Also, it's been so long since she did high school stuff that she has completely forgotten about it. I thought… Anyway, you seem to be pretty harmless. So, I just want to ask if you have time during the summer holidays…"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What the hell is harmless? Is she calling me handsome?

For a long time, Lu Zhou did not anything. Chen Yushan said softly, "No time? I can ask someone else…"

"What's the pay?" asked Lu Zhou. He wanted to know the salary before giving her a response.

He had originally planned to work throughout the holidays. It was either working for Fat Wu or this girl.

Chen Yushan thought for a bit and said, "200 yuan an hour with the transport fees covered. From July onwards, go there every Saturday."

"How much???"

"200 an hour… What?"

Lu Zhou heard her. He placed his hands down on the keyboard and became silent.

"Is it too little?" asked Chen Yushan. When she saw that he was silent for so long, she thought it was too little. She said tentatively, "Maybe I can ask my auntie…"

"No need," said Lu Zhou. He shook her hand, "Deal."

"Then why was your expression so serious? I thought it was too little," said Chen Yushan. She relaxed and rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou.

"Nothing, I just felt that…" said Lu Zhou. He looked at the ceiling and sighed softly, "I'm so angry."

Chapter 26: Who Am I? Where Am I? What Am I writing?

"… Mom, I'm not coming back for the summer this year."

"Yeah… the thing is, the professor recommended me to join the National Mathematical Modeling Competition. The school organized training during the summer… No need, there's no application fee. The school already paid for it! It'll be New Year before I come home. Stay healthy. I'm very healthy right now, don't you worry!"

"… You don't have to give me money. I still have some money from last semester's scholarship, plus I work some odd jobs when I'm not busy. You guys should save your money for Tong Tong. You'll have to spend quite a lot when she goes to university."

"… Ok, that's it."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He leaned against the railing at the balcony in his dorm and hung up the call.

Every Sunday night he would call home.

Speaking of which, time was flying by so fast.

Lu Zhou lamented as he looked at the stars outside his window.

He was nearly done with his first year at university. His sister was about to enter 11th grade, one of the most important grades for high school students.

Unlike him, his little sister studied liberal arts.

He could maybe help her with mathematics but he could not help with her other subjects.

Next to the balcony was the bathroom. Huang Guangming was bathing inside when he suddenly said with a mean attitude, "Big boy, calling home?"

Lu Zhou was shocked for a second. He then said, "Do you want to come out or not? Just wait, I'll block the door with the mop."

"F*ck me. F*ck me. Brother Zhou, have mercy. I was wrong. Ahhhhhh~ If you don't let me out, I'll start singing in the bathroom."

Huang Guangming already opened his mouth wide and started to sing like an animal.

"Ahhhhh, five rings, you're one ring more than four rings~~"

Goddamn it!

That voice was like a chicken being killed. Lu Zhou had goosebumps all over his body. He turned around and closed the door to the balcony before heading back inside the dorm.

However, the sound insulation of the bathroom was bad. A wall could not block it.

The two people inside the dorm heard the singing and were instantly mad. Especially Liu Rui who loved to overexaggerate. He laid his body on the table, held his jaw and yelled, "F*ck me! Why are you singing, my teeth, it's hurting!"

In a time of panic and crisis, Shi Shang pulled out his chair and stood up abruptly. He yelled, "Don't panic brother! I'll clean up this mess!"

"F*ck off!"

As expected, he had nothing much to say.

Lu Zhou was extremely annoyed. He was about to stuff this guy into the bathroom as well and beat him up together with Huang Guangming.

Why am I the only normal person inside the dorm?

Ah, how uncomfortable!

…

In the following two weeks, Lu Zhou was either at the library writing his theses, on the way to the library, or sitting in the exam room.

During the last week of his exam, no one was as confident as him.

Unlike them, he had the ability to back up his confidence.

Just like he estimated, he passed English without any effort.

C language was the same. Other than a rather creative question, there was barely any difficulty. It was like the knowledge gained from the mission was engraved in his brain and he could never forget it.

However, during the modern history exam, Lu Zhou was completely frozen.

He opened the exam paper and stared at the first question.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I writing?

He tried to ask the system, but the system gave no response. No matter how much general points he gave, this type of social science question was unavailable in the system's knowledge base.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou knew a little bit on modern history. He only needed to find out the general direction. It did not matter if he believed what he wrote was right. It was fine as long as he filled in the questions.

As for how correct his answers were, it would be up to the exam marker.

After all, he tried his best!

Three days after the modern history exam, Lu Zhou finally submitted his final thesis.

He had worked insanely hard over the past three weeks to the point of getting skinnier. Yet, when he looked at what he had achieved, he felt quite accomplished.

Three SCI theses in a week. 10 SCI theses would not even take a month!

I want to ask who else could do this?

What?

After three days of mindless waiting, the last paper had successfully passed the review stage.

When Lu Zhou received the acceptance email, he could not help but think whether there was really no problem in submitting so many substandard theses. Also, all of the theses had the same name on it. Did no one find out about this?

Maybe the system helped him distribute the manuscript to different reviewers.

Either way, there were no issues. It would be an issue in a few months when the official publication comes out.

Lu Zhou carried a feeling of excitement as he went into the pure white system space. He quickly walked to the semi-transparent information screen.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission.]

[Mission completion details: The user successfully submitted 1 mathematics thesis, 9 information science thesis. 39 days left. Evaluation: S+. Additional "reward mission" given.]

He actually got an S+ grade!

The additional reward… Was actually a reward mission!

Lu Zhou looked at the S+ and the extra reward on the information screen with excitement. He was so excited that he had forgotten about everything else.

Although he did not know what a reward mission was, he knew that it would have cost 1000 general points to buy!

[Mission reward: 100 mathematics experience points, 900 information science points, 800 general points, one lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 9% samples, 1% blueprints)]

[Reminder: Mathematics level 0 → level 1, Information science level 0 → level 1]

He finally leveled up the goddamn mathematics subject!

Lu Zhou's heart was full of excitement. Not only because he leveled up, but because he finally pierced through the ceiling of mathematics. This meant that he was finally out of the novice village and the upper limit of other subjects would be unlocked to level 1.

Just what…

He did not feel any substantial changes when he leveled up. He thought that it would be similar to exchanging general points for thesis knowledge, where the system would pour the knowledge into his brain. However, it was different.

He failed to realize that his own brain was filled with the knowledge that he had never even heard of.

"It seems that the subject level of the system does not mean that I have the ability to master the subject, but only the authority to open some kind of knowledge database? And I still need to consume general points to access this "database"? I wonder if there's a discount for lower level problems."

Lu Zhou touched his chin and silently recalled the details of Riemann's conjecture in his heart as he ordered the system to estimate the price.

However, as usual, the system did not respond.

"I guess level 1 mathematics is still not high enough to solve Riemann's conjecture."

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "What about Beal's conjecture?

Beal's conjecture was a generalized theorem of Fermat's last theorem. It was believed that the reward for solving Beal's conjecture was at a million USD. Last time, he tried to solve this problem with the power of the system, but the system did not give him a response.

[Required general points: 5000, the mathematical level required: Level 2]

Lu Zhou saw this number and laughed. He immediately gave up on the idea.

Why is this so expensive!

At least, this time the system gave a price. It seemed that his guess was indeed correct. Raising the subject level was really just to unlock the high tech system database. However, if you wanted to look in the database, you would still need to consume general points.

Chapter 27: Brain Is Too Empty, Study More!

After knowing this, Lu Zhou put his concentration back to more realistic problems.

He took a deep breath and said in his heart.

"System, open my characteristic panel."

The semi-transparent information screen flashed.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 1 (0/10000)

B. Physics: Level 0 (100/1000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 0 (0/1000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (0/10000)

General points: 925 (One chance of lucky draw)

Mission: Not taken yet (Reward mission*1)

]

The level 2 experience points requirements added a zero back to his panel. Lu Zhou thought about the hard-earned 1000 experience points and could not help but feel discouraged.

At least the mission reward would also increase as I level up.

However, in that way, the mission difficulty would already be increased.

He just hoped that this rubbish system would not give him some kind of mission like "publish 100 SCI theses".

That would really kill him!

Lu Zhou did not immediately use his lucky draw. Instead, he left the system space. He went into the bathroom and washed his face in the sink. Then he went back in his bed, laid down, and went back into the system space.

He took a deep breath, looked at the wheel of the information screen, and exclaimed.

"Begin lucky draw!"

"…"

"Stop!"

He looked at the arrow with a blank expression with a peaceful mind.

[Congratulations, you won the sample prize!]

Other than the blueprint, they are all rubbish prizes.

Even when I got the blueprint, it was just some mathematical proof theorem.

Anyway, Lu Zhou had no hope for this system. He just wanted to finish the lucky draw and to start doing missions to earn general points.

[Received: Focus capsules (40 capsules per bottle, 5 hours duration. Will develop a 24-hour resistance if taken. After taken, it can improve brain cell activity and enhance the speed of knowledge absorption and logical thinking ability.)]

Emm…

What???

Lu Zhou saw the instructions on the back and lost his calm. He nearly stuck his face on the screen.

Focus capsule!?

Damn, this is good stuff!

Forty times five equals 200 hours! If the effects were the same as his first mission, he could read an enormous amount of textbooks!

Maybe the secret ritual to the lucky draw was staying calm instead of washing my face?

Lu Zhou burst into tears. He had made up his mind that he would calm himself down next time.

Lu Zhou did not want his luck to disappear and so, he did not say anything and selected the reward mission.

[Reward mission begin!]

[

Mission: Reward mission (Able to cancel anytime, no general point penalty will be given).

Description: User knowledge level is too low, the system has selected a quality list of books to fill your empty brain with!

Requirements: Finish reading book list (0/30). Also completely comprehend the topics in the books.

Reward: 1000 experience points of any subject to user's choosing.

Unlock technology branch - Artificial Intelligence Level 0

]

Lu Zhou was speechless as he looked at the mission on the screen.

He was not mad at the mission requirements, but the line in the description.

What do you mean my brain is empty?

I scored full marks in mathematical analysis and advanced algebra!

Lu Zhou felt the maliciousness coming from the system, but he was still happy about the rewards.

It was his first time seeing the technology branch.

He did not know why the system separated artificial intelligence from information science as a separate technology branch.

Leveling up artificial intelligence was not difficult. He was already level 1 in information science. He just had to finish the mission and spend 100 general points to upgrade his technology branch.

Lu Zhou opened the list of books the mission gave.

[Ordinary Differential Equations]

[Complex Variable Function Theory]

[University Physics]

[Inorganic Chemistry]

[Organic Chemistry]

[Lehninger Biochemistry]

[Mechanical Engineering Design]

[Introduction to IC Design]

[Construction and Interpretation of Computer Programming]

[Python Language Introduction Tutorial]

[…..]

From mathematics to information science, these books' knowledge base nearly completely covered the subjects in the core technology tree.

"…"

Lu Zhou roughly scanned the contents of the book list and was speechless for a while.

He finally admitted that his brain was indeed empty.

I guess very few people are considered smart in this world by the system's standards!

Speaking of which, is there even anyone in the world that is proficient in all disciplines? Even a single discipline can be split into an infinite number of fields with an infinite amount of research directions.

Maybe this system has some kind of misunderstanding when it comes to human beings?

Lu Zhou thought it was likely.

…

Lu Zhou exited the system space and sat up from his bed. He then took the laptop beside him.

He opened his email and saw that Professor Liu had already sent the questions into his mailbox.

They planned this out during the last training session. Lu Zhou would build the mathematical model, then he would send it to Lin Yuxiang and Wang Xiaodong for them to program it. Then, they would send it back to Lu Zhou for him to write the thesis. Finally, Lu Zhou would send the whole thing to Professor Liu.

Professor Liu took into account that everyone had their own busy schedules and that he had his own projects to do. Therefore, he decided to give out one question every Monday. As for the rest of the time, the student could read books and do additional training on their own.

Lu Zhou quickly finished building the mathematical model and sent the data to the other two people. He then stretched his back and turned his laptop off.

Although the school exams had finished, his mission had just started. He did not want to waste time and so, he prepared to go to the library.

He put on his clothes and was ready to climb down the bed when someone knocked on the door.

"Liu Rui, go open the door," said Huang Guangming. He was wearing slippers and playing video games.

Liu Rui was also playing the game, but he was playing a useless support character. Therefore, he was not angry at all by Huang Guangming's request. He opened the door and quickly sat back down.

Turned out, it was the class leader, Tian Jun. He walked in, looked around, smiled, and said, "I see you guys are all playing video games."

Shi Shang replied, "Of course! Exams finished, leader. When can we go back home?"

Tian Jun smiled and continued to say, "There's a class meeting this afternoon. We'll discuss the holiday plans. Oh yeah, have you thought about applying to the mathematical modeling competition? If you get above 80 in your advanced algebra and mathematical analysis exam, the school will organize summer training."

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang both replied, "We're not going!"

Liu Rui paused for a bit and asked, "Can't you apply for the competition yourself? What is the difference if the school applied for you?"

Tian Jun smiled and answered, "If you apply yourself, you have to find an instructor yourself. The school team has a specific teacher organizing the teams. But there's a lot of people applying so there might even be elimination rounds. There's going to be sixty or so people left for around twenty teams."

Although Liu Rui was unhappy about training during the summer, he knew that Lu Zhou was going to stay in the school for the summer. This gave him a sense of urgency to catch up.

Liu Rui stopped hesitating and said, "Sign me up!"

"Okay, I'll write your name down," said Tian Jun. He smiled and looked at Lu Zhou, "Lu Zhou, how about you? Are you applying?"

"I've already applied," said Lu Zhou humbly with a smile.

Huang Guangming was surprised. He turned his head around and asked Lu Zhou, "Wow, Zhou, advanced algebra was so hard and you actually got 80 marks?"

The results were actually released two days ago. Other than Lu Zhou, everyone in the dorm had already compared their marks. It was the same as last semester. Liu Rui was still first, Huang Guangming came in second with 88 marks, and Shi Shang struggled but got 80.

They specifically did not ask Lu Zhou not because they were excluding him, but because they did not want to anger him. Hence, they were very careful about not mentioning it.

After all, these three people remembered clearly that this guy left half an hour into both exams.

What could he possibly write in half an hour?

Did he even get to the long questions?

Liu Rui saw with his own eyes that Lu Zhou finished the exam, but he still did not believe it. He wrote his questions meticulously. He wanted to believe that Lu Zhou guessed most of the questions.

Lu Zhou paused and contemplated if he should tell Huang Guangming what he got for the two subjects.

Both were full marks. It would be too scary to even say.

The boat of friendship could sink.

The class leader misunderstood. He thought that Lu Zhou's hesitation was because he did badly in the exams. He laughed awkwardly as he said, "There are no requirements for applying yourself. It's fine if you didn't get 80. Okay, that's all. Liu Rui, are you sure? I'll write your name down."

"I'm sure." Liu Rui nodded his head. He was certain.

Actually, he was certain about it since a long time ago.

Not only did he want to enter, but he also wanted to win!

This was his purpose. The summer vacation was only two months away and even Lu Zhou applied. How could he fall behind!

Chapter 28: The Final First Year Class Meeting

It was in the afternoon when they gathered at classroom 403 of Building A. The final class meeting for the undergraduate mathematics class was held as scheduled.

A group of boys squeezed into the classroom. The thin and tall instructor who was wearing a pair of glasses walked over.

This instructor's name was Zhang Wei and he was studying a PhD in mathematics. He was usually busy with his own research project and therefore, he was rarely seen.

Although he was busy, he still cared about the class activities. He would arrange a meeting almost every month and talk about safety, discipline, and study techniques. He would even brag to the undergraduate students about the time when he was still studying the bachelor's degree.

Instructor Zhang slowly walked to the podium and put his hands behind his back. He scanned the students below, cleared his throat, and said, "After this meeting today, your first year at the university will come to a successful conclusion. Let me emphasize again on safety. Last time there's this dumbass who left his burning hot outlet in the dorms and burnt the whole thing down. He's probably doing his college entrance exam again this year. Who knows if we'll see him after the summer."

Sounds of laughter came out of the classroom.

Instructor Zhang coughed lightly and said with a smile, "I'm just joking to keep the atmosphere light. In short, you must be careful regarding safety! I know for a fact that some people are hiding hair dryers and other electronics that heat up fast. They even sneaked pass inspection. But I hope those people will check that their socket is unplugged…"

Instructor Zhang rambled on for 20 minutes regarding safety issues. He paused and started to talk about the conclusion of the semester, "You guys did pretty well in your exams. I hope you can keep it up. Also number three helper, you have to work hard as well. Don't think that being a part of the class committee is just collecting homework and having meetings. You should also set an example for studying."

The committee member that got called out smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.

He was considered a genius when he first came to the university. However, he kept on having too much fun and now his studies were taking a hit. It was true that he did horrible this semester. He only received a 65 for advanced algebra, but he was ready to take it again.

Instructor Zhang continued, "Student Luo Rundong did pretty good, 95 marks, and only one mistake. Congratulations to him! Also, Student Liu Rui, 92, not bad as well! Only these two people got over 90 marks. Everyone else has to work harder!"

Huang Guangming reached out and rubbed Liu Rui's shoulder as he said softly, "You're too good, Brother Liu!"

Shi Shang also reached out his hand and rubbed Liu Rui's other shoulder, "Too good, too good! Give us some of your good luck!"

"Get off me. It's too hot!" said Liu Rui as he pushed the hands off him and acted annoyed. He then sighed in relief and felt satisfied.

As expected, he had overestimated it. Only two people got over 90 marks and that were him and a genius mathematics student called Luo Rundong.

As for Lu Zhou…

He's still far behind!

Dumb student, pretending to go to the library!

The class started to argue as they were envious of the two genius students.

This advanced algebra exam wasn't difficult, it was very difficult!

The paper was written by Professor Tang and all the questions were on the verge of being impossible to solve. The questions were not exactly unexpected, but they always hit the students' knowledge base blind spots. It was difficult just to get 80 marks and anyone that could get 90 was a god!

"In addition, I want to greatly praise student Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou's improvement this semester was tremendous. 100 marks in both mathematical analysis and advanced algebra! He shocked the teachers. They even doubled marked his exam paper and it was still full marks. Not a single mistake. He has the exact right attitude in learning, similar to my style in the past. You guys should learn from him," said Instructor Zhang as he stared at Lu Zhou with an expression of approval and nodded his head.

The people in the class froze instantly.

No one responded to the instructor's praise of Lu Zhou.

Luo Rundong's eyes went wide opened as he looked behind in disbelief. Liu Rui's smug smile became very stiff and even his eyebrows were twitching.

Both subjects…

Full marks?

Full marks?

Like someone who had set off a firework, the classroom instantly exploded into chatter.

"F*ck me! Brother Lu is insane!"

"Too good, too good!"

"Holy sh*t, he's insane!"

"Ah, I thought he turned in his paper because he didn't know how to answer the questions, but I guess it was because he finished…"

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang did not say a word and reached out with their hands. Lu Zhou quickly dodged and warned them, "I'm warning you. Don't touch me. I'm not gay!"

Huang Guangming smiled mischievously and reached out, "Come on, Brother Lu, let us get some of your luck."

Shi Shang said impolitely, "Yeah, big boy."

"F*ck off!"

"…"

Instructor Zhang looked at the classroom that was in chaos and did not interrupt. He slowly walked to Lu Zhou and said to him, "Of course, even though you scored full marks, don't get too cocky. Continue to work hard. What the hell did you write in modern history? You almost failed. If you're looking for a job after graduation, I'd recommend you to find some time and study this course instead. You can't fail the political classes if you want to do the graduate entrance exam."

Lu Zhou said humbly, "I understand."

"Good that you understand," said Instructor Zhang. He nodded his head and said, "Oh yeah, how come I didn't see your name on the mathematical model competition sheet? I know that you're doing your own research, but it's still worth participating in these valuable national competitions. I still haven't sent in the sign-up sheet. How about you think about it while I put your name down?"

"I've already applied. Professor Tang helped me apply," said Lu Zhou said with an implicit tone.

"Oh, I get it now," said Instructor Zhang. As expected, he understood. He nodded his head and smiled, "Then you have to work hard."

"Thanks," replied Lu Zhou with a smile.

The noisy students finally calmed down as Instructor Zhang walked back to the podium. His hands were behind his back and he cleared his throat. The meeting continued but no one really listened.

This was too surprising.

The mathematical analysis paper was easy. It was written by an older teacher. The other classes probably also had students who scored full marks. But the advanced algebra paper was written by Professor Tang! Less than thirty students scored above 90 in the entire department! How the hell did you score full marks!

Not to mention, you handed in the paper early!

As for the possibility of cheating, it was simply impossible. So, no one had even thought about it. Not to mention, the invigilator was Dean Lu. The score must have alarmed the department. The school would definitely look over the surveillance tapes.

There were no dead spots for the surveillance cameras. It would be obvious if he cheated, and everyone knew that this paper was definitely written by Lu Zhou himself.

Instructor Zhang saw the students not paying attention to his speech. He muttered something about summer safety issues and the parties for the next semester before dismissing everyone.

The class meeting ended and Lu Zhou was surrounded by a group of people.

"Brother Lu! Can I be your friend?"

"Brother Lu, do you still need a teammate for the mathematical modeling competition? I can dress up as a girl!"

"Brother Lu! I helped you back in military training, can I leech off you next year!"

F*ck me, can you not say stuff that can be misunderstood!

Lu Zhou finally squeezed out of the crowd and ran down the stairs.

Instructor Zhang smiled and looked at the energetic students as he thought, "It is so nice to be young." He picked up his briefcase and walked away.

Liu Rui put on his backpack quietly. He thought for a bit before walking up to the class leader.

"Leader, can I cancel my application to the mathematical modeling competition?"

"Yeah, if the class guide hasn't turned in the sign-up sheet," said Tian Jun. He continued, "Why are you canceling? We're counting on you."

Liu Rui forced a smile and did not know what to say.

Originally, he joined the competition because he did not want to lose to others.

But now…

His opponent had already become a god in other people's eyes.

From now on, whenever someone asked about the Class one, 201 dorm room, no one would ask, "Isn't there a genius student called Liu Rui in your room?". Instead, it would be, "F*ck, you're in the same dorm as Lu Zhou!"

The gap between him and Lu Zhou was so big that he did not even know what facial expression to make.

I wanted to get into the national round while he's already aiming for the first prize.

Liu Rui sighed.

His ambition was shattered in an instant…

Chapter 29: Maybe, This Was Talent?

"Zhou, Liu Rui, we're leaving. You guys take care."

"See you in two months."

Shi Shang and Huang Guangming carried their suitcases as they waved goodbye. They left and only Liu Rui and Lu Zhou stayed in the spacious dorm room.

The summer vacation began.

Within a week, the entire school was deserted. It would not be the end of August until people started coming back to school. Only then would the school go back to being lively. Not only would the returning students come back, but new students would also arrive.

Lu Zhou signed up for the summer school application. He said goodbye to Liu Rui and left the dorm with his laptop. He first went to the dorm center to hand in his application before heading towards the library.

The style of study at the University of Jin Ling was intense. Even though a lot of students left the school, the library was still full of students studying for the graduate entrance exam. Piles of books occupied the empty seats, preventing anyone else from taking it.

Lu Zhou could not help but think what were these people doing. The books were starting to collect dust yet no one went back to the seat.

Lu Zhou saw his usual seat occupied by a book. He was about to find another seat before he saw Chen Yushan sitting right next to it. She swiftly removed the book and waved her hand at him.

Lu Zhou realized that she reserved the seat for him.

He took her up on the offer and walked towards her.

Lu Zhou placed his laptop down on the desk. He did not sit down immediately. Instead, he went to the bookshelves.

He remembered the contents of the book list. After a little bit of hesitation, he finally picked out [Linear Algebra (National Industry Edition)].

The system highlighted the location of the books using holographic images that only he could see. Unfortunately, the system did not label the value score of the books. He just had to use his own judgment to determine the reading order.

The order of reading was important as there was a correlation between the different knowledge contents. Even different subjects could influence each other.

Without reading [Semiconductor physics] and [Basic circuit design], it would be impossible to understand the topics of [Microelectronics]. Without the foundations of microelectronics, learning [IC design] would be like trying to learn magic.

Studying mathematics was undoubtedly a safe choice.

Normally, mathematical skills would often be applied in other scientific fields, but the opposite rarely happened. Luckily for Lu Zhou, mathematics was his strong suit. Even though the materials for the other disciplines were new to Lu Zhou, with his mathematical background, it would not be too difficult for him to learn them.

Perfectly for him, there were gaps in his knowledge of mathematics, so most of his understandings were shallow.

For example, the reason he was able to write his first thesis was because of his deep understanding of complex and real functions analysis. He would be completely lost on the other topics that the thesis did not cover.

Thank god no one was bored enough to test him with a textbook. Otherwise, he definitely would not be able to answer it.

If someone found out that he had not even finished a function analysis textbook, yet submitted a thesis called "Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functionals", he would be ridiculed.

Lu Zhou stood behind the bookshelves and took out the white pill bottle from his pocket. "It'd be great if I have water," thought Lu Zhou. He looked at Chen Yushan's cup on her desk. Finally, he gave up on that daring idea.

Lu Zhou took out a pill, closed his eyes, and threw it in his mouth. He forced the pill down by swallowing his spit.

He waited for a while and did not notice any changes. Suddenly, a slight tingling sensation spread from the back of his head. It eventually swept through his eyes and gathered toward his eyebrows.

It was hard to describe the feeling. It was like an invisible ant crawling over his head.

Nanorobots?

Or some kind of special hormone?

Lu Zhou was unsure. The technology given by the system was beyond the scope of existing knowledge. The only feeling he had was that his brain felt sober and his thinking was extremely meticulous, almost like Newton or Einstein.

Also, this intense feeling was like eating a piece of Stride gum. It did not stop.

Lu Zhou realized that it was the drug's effect.

He did not hesitate before grabbing the book and sitting back down. Meticulously, he flipped to the first page of the book.

The focus capsule's effect was different than the immersive reading experience from his previous mission.

The immersive reading from last time was like his entire body was being swallowed into the belly of a whale.

Whereas the feeling the focus capsule gave him was like it stimulated his brain cell activity. He was taking in knowledge but also thinking critically.

Time quickly passed by and soon, it was already 6 o'clock at night. An orange skyline shone through the windows.

Chen Yushan stretched and looked at Lu Zhou. She saw that he had the same position as an hour ago and could not help but admire.

How talented!

I guess this is how you train to be a genius!

But isn't his neck sore from sitting like this?

Chen Yushan poked Lu Zhou's arm and asked softly, "Oi, little brother, are you going to the cafeteria?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and replied, "You go first, I'm not hungry yet."

Five hours had passed by. The drug's effect was starting to decrease but there was still some effect left.

He wondered, "How long would this effect last?"

"Then, I'll go first…" replied Chen Yushan. She suddenly thought about something and asked softly, "Oh yeah, do you still remember about the job I talked about?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Yeah, when do I start?"

Chen Yushan suggested, "Tomorrow is Saturday. How about we meet at a planned time? I'll take you to meet my auntie."

Lu Zhou thought about it and nodded his head: "…"

Anyway, he was free tomorrow and the drug had a 24 hour of no effect period after consumption.

200 yuan an hour. If he just worked a few times, his tuition next year would be covered.

After the two agreed to meet outside the school at nine o'clock, Chen Yushan packed her stuff and left for the cafeteria.

After Chen Yushan left, Lu Zhou turned his attention back onto the textbook.

Over time, he could clearly feel the level of his attention decreasing back to his normal state.

The topics that could be understood in one read would now require a few readings.

The most obvious part was that without the drug's effect, he would constantly get distracted, even more so than normal.

Lu Zhou looked at his notes and his notebook. He sighed and took out his phone to look at the time.

It was already half past seven.

He was finally hungry.

"The pill's effect lasted for five hours. After that, the effect would slowly decrease over the course of an hour, until there is no effect left."

"I can't study at all without the pill. This is not good…"

Lu Zhou picked up the book and went to the librarian. He took out his library card and borrowed the book. He then packed his stuff and left the library.

He went to the cafeteria on the way back to his dorm and ate some noodles for dinner.

He then went back to his dorm, sat down, and continued to read the book.

He did not care how slow his knowledge absorption was, studying was studying.

Although under normal circumstances his studying speed was very slow, it did not prevent him from remembering the topics that he had already learned. He could still extend his current knowledge.

Of course, the most important part was that he did not want to be over-reliant on this focus capsule.

After all, there were only 40 capsules in a bottle. It would soon be gone. It would be difficult for him to obtain it again, given its probability.

Around 9 o'clock, Liu Rui came back to the dorm from his mathematical modeling competition training meeting.

He glanced at Lu Zhou who was studying and put down his backpack before walking over.

"Zhou, exams are already over and you're still studying?"

"I have nothing to do anyway. There's not much stuff doing on," replied Lu Zhou with a smile.

Liu Rui looked at the contents of the book Lu Zhou was reading and did not say anything.

He found that his mind was much more peaceful after he accepted this situation.

If they were close in skill level, he could still hope to catch up. However, the difference between 90 and full marks was too huge. He did not even have the motivation to try.

It was still painful to think about it.

The month before exams, he would study the second he woke up until the second he slept. Lu Zhou was still working part-time, but somehow "awakened" before the exam. He tried a bit and easily surpassed him and Luo Rundong.

Liu Rui did not understand what had happened to Lu Zhou's body that made him so amazing.

At last, he could not resist and asked to clear his confusion.

"Zhou, do you have any techniques for studying mathematics? Can you teach me?"

Liu Rui was blushing slightly when he said this.

Before, he would never help when his roommates asked for his notes.

Lu Zhou paused and seriously thought for a bit.

"I don't know either… Maybe it's talent?"

"…"

Liu Rui heard him and nearly puked.

Stop being so fake. You should still respect me even though I'm a dumb student!

Lu Zhou looked at Liu Rui from behind. He secretly sighed and knew that his friend had gone crazy.

But what could he do?

He was in despair as well.

I can't tell anyone that I have a system in my head right?

Chapter 30: Let's Play Checkers, I'll Let You Go Firs

It was early in the morning when Lu Zhou crawled out of the bed. He washed himself up in the bathroom and left to eat breakfast.

While he was walking, he saw Lin Yuxiang and a tall guy walking together.

The two were laughing together and it looked like they were very close. Almost like they were an inch away from holding hands.

The guy carried a luggage case. It looked like he was sending her to the train station.

Lu Zhou did not want to feel awkward so he did not say hello. He just sighed and mourned for Wang Xiaodong for a second.

As expected, his intuition was correct.

Lu Zhou walked slowly to the front gate and looked at the time on his phone. It was exactly nine o'clock.

A beautiful figure stood near the front of a sycamore tree. She waved at him as if she was trying to tell him "this way".

Lu Zhou noticed Chen Yushan and walked towards her.

Chen Yushan's appearance today was completely different than what she looked like in the library. It was like she was another person.

The thick round glasses became contact lenses while her normal bangs became air bangs. She wore a slanted t-shirt, denim shorts, and a pair of white sandals. Her lovely white toes were even visible.

Chen Yushan noticed Lu Zhou walking over and said, "You're finally here."

It was obvious that she had been waiting for a while.

Lu Zhou replied apologetically, "Oh, isn't it nine o'clock?"

Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and said, "Wow you're right on time! I can't argue with you!" She shook her phone and said, "The meeting spot is close by, I called a DiDi cab."

Lu Zhou wondered why they did not just walk if it was so close. He hesitated for a bit and decided not to question her.

Soon after, the cab arrived and the pair sat in the backseats.

Lu Zhou thought about the 200 yuan per hour pay and his inexperience in tutoring. He could not help but feel worried. He decided to ask Chen Yushan what the situation was like, "Is your cousin a science or liberal arts student? How are her grades?"

Chen Yushan was uncertain when she replied, "Science, I think, but her maths, physics, chemistry, and biochemistry grades are all pretty bad."

Just Mandarin and English left I see.

Lu Zhou could not help but ask, "Then why doesn't she study liberal arts?"

Chen Yushan paused for a bit as she did not know either.

"How would I know."

The two chatted for a bit and finally arrived. They hopped out of the car into a busy street and walked towards the coffee shop around the corner.

The decor in the coffee shop was very elegant and the furniture looked very classy. It was still early in the day so the seats were mostly empty.

Chen Yushan brought Lu Zhou inside and walked towards the back of the coffee shop.

A mature looking 30-year-old woman sat near the bookshelves at the back. Her black hair was tied elegantly behind her head. She held a book and read elegantly. She was also dressed tastefully. It was obvious she had class.

Lu Zhou could feel a strong sense of strength coming from her and he could tell that her status was high. Either in the law industry, or a company manager, or a CEO…

Also, she definitely looked younger than she actually was.

Chen Yushan greeted her warmly before introducing Lu Zhou, "Auntie, this is the student Lu Zhou that I talked about. He's a super genius student, especially in mathematics. He's amazing! He could definitely teach Meng Qi mathematics!"

This woman smiled at Chen Yushan, turned to Lu Zhou, and said, "Hello."

"Hello," Lu Zhou replied nervously.

"Stop standing around and sit down," said the woman. She smiled gently and asked, "Do you want to order anything?"

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "I want a large Mocha."

Lu Zhou said warmly, "I'll just have a cup of water."

The woman smiled and said, "Don't be so polite." She pressed the button on the table, the waiter came and she said, "A cup of Mocha and a cup of Americano."

The woman placed down the menu and looked at Lu Zhou. She continued, "This place's Americano isn't bitter at all. It has a strong chocolate taste. Good for beginners. I'd recommend you to try it."

It seems like she is a strong woman that likes to be in control of everything.

It's hard to imagine that a parent like this would have a child with bad grades…

Lu Zhou was analyzing in his heart, but his facial expression remained polite. He smiled and said, "Then… I'll respectfully accept your offer."

The woman smiled and said, "Students from the University of Jin Ling are so polite. Do you study liberal arts?"

"Mathematics."

The woman looked at Lu Zhou in surprise and did not say anything. She took a sip from her coffee cup and before taking out a business card from her bag. She placed it on the table and gently pushed it towards Lu Zhou.

"This is my business card."

Lu Zhou was astonished when he looked at the card.

Yang Danqi, Chairman and General Manager of Yali Fashion Ltd. Contact number: XXXX…

He had never heard of Yali Fashion before, but he definitely knew about the positions of chairman and general manager.

Speaking of which, can you take two job titles within a company? Aren't you busy?

"I… I don't have a business card. Sorry."

"It's okay, I understand. You can just add my WeChat," replied Yang Danqi.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and used the phone number in the business card to add her WeChat. He also tried to remember her name.

The waiter came over with a tray and placed two cups of coffee on the table.

"Shan Shan has already discussed the payment with you, so I think that you already understand," said Yang Danqi. She crossed her legs and said calmly, "200 yuan an hour, transportation fees covered. Every weekend starts from one o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock at night. Any questions?"

The WeChat went through.

Lu Zhou sat stiffly and nodded his head, "No questions."

Yang Danqi nodded and said, "Okay, then you can start working tomorrow. The address is on the back of the business card. You can come by yourself or with Shan Shan."

That's it? It's a done deal?

Lu Zhou still could not believe it.

After all, he had not even seen the student. He did not even have to meet her and see if he was a good fit?

Almost like Yang Danqi saw through Lu Zhou's doubts, she sipped her coffee and said, "Since you were recommended by Shan Shan, I trust that you are skilled. You are in the University of Jin Ling, so you must have your own insights in learning. I don't like to drag things on. I like to be decisive. If you don't do well, I can just replace you."

Lu Zhou wanted to ask what she meant by "not doing well".

He thought for a bit and decided not to ask that question. He said with a decisive tone, "Don't worry, I'll definitely make your money worth."

The most basic skill of a salesman was to make the customer trust you. Do not ask stupid questions if you want the customer to trust you and just do the job well.

Lu Zhou learned this when he was installing routers for people.

Yang Danqi smiled politely, nodded, and said, "Hearing you say this makes me trust you."

She looked at the time on her watch and put her phone into her bag.

Yang Danqi said, "It's getting late. I still have a meeting later so I've to go to the office." She continued, "You and Shan Shan can eat lunch here if you want. I've already spoken to the servers. I'll cover your bill for today. I'd recommend the pizza, it's very delicious."

"See you later auntie."

"Aun… See you later, Mrs. Yang."

Yang Danqi left. Chen Yushan laughed out loud as she mocked Lu Zhou, "Did you almost call her auntie?"

Lu Zhou admitted, "Yeah."

Chen Yushan said, "It's fine if you call her ma'am since she's forty something years old. But my auntie doesn't like people calling her ma'am, so just call her Mrs. Yang."

Lu Zhou understood and nodded.

Generally speaking, a woman who paid attention to her appearance would be quite sensitive about her age.

It was best if he could avoid this minefield so that he could keep his 200 yuan per hour job.

Lu Zhou asked, "What do we do now? Wait… till twelve o'clock for lunch?"

Chen Yushan laughed and said, "You can eat while you wait. You're getting treated. Anyway, isn't this your favorite? Of course, you don't have to wait here. We can go and walk around, but you're paying for lunch."

Then lets wait here

The prices around there were all very high. There was nothing he could afford.

Lu Zhou took a book from the shelves and began to read.

Chen Yushan stared at him for a long time while he did not respond at all. She finally could not resist asking, "Do you know how to do anything other than reading?"

Impatient, Lu Zhou asked, "Then what should we do?"

Two people were not enough for board games and their phones were too crappy for video games. It seemed like the only thing they could do was read.

Chen Yushan looked around and saw two people sitting next to them. Her eyes lit up and said, "Wait a bit, I'll be right back."

After which, she went to the front desk.

Lu Zhou was wondering what she was doing. Soon after, she came back holding a set of checkers.

Placing it on the table, she said excitedly, "Let's play checkers, you go first."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 31: I Can't Gain Weight No Matter How Much I Ea

Chen Yushan bit her thumb and frowned. She stared at the checkers' board and started to think hard.

The defeat is certain…

There is no room for recovery.

She spent a long time thinking and finally accepted the defeat. She suggested with a tentative tone.

"… Let's play again."

Lu Zhou sighed and looked at the sky.

"Can I surrender?"

"No!"

Chen Yushan was so angry she wanted to start stomping her feet.

She was always ridiculed for her mathematics questions, "this is too easy", "another free marks question", "it'll be too late for your graduate entrance exams". She wanted to earn some respect from playing checkers, but Lu Zhou did not give her any and even won 10 games in a row. He had even let her start first.

Maybe my IQ is just too low?

Chen Yushan had been called a genius student for the past three years, but now she suddenly had doubts about her life.

Chen Yushan stubbornly pushed the checkers' board and still wanted to play. Lu Zhou could not help but ask.

"Can I ask a question?"

Chen Yushan answered irritably, "Ask."

Lu Zhou asked seriously, "Why do you think you're good at checkers?"

Chen Yushan heard him and blushed as she said awkwardly, "When I was young, I had never lost to my parents…"

"How young?"

Chen Yushan murmured softly, "I think it was in primary school."

Oh my god!

You still remember stuff from primary school?!

Your parents were obviously letting you win. Have you not played against other people?

Lu Zhou did not know why, but he suddenly felt sorry for her.

They had a supreme seafood pizza for lunch. Mrs. Yang was right, the pizza at the coffee shop was very delicious.

Although it was a bit pricey, Lu Zhou did not have to pay for it. He had even left space in his stomach and ordered ice cream for dessert after.

Chen Yushan was eating a sandwich. As she watched Lu Zhou eating happily, she could not help but complain, "You sure eat a lot. You're gonna get fat if you're not careful."

Lu Zhou replied, "I hope I can get fat." He was eating high-calorie ice cream and chocolate mousse as he said nonchalantly, "I don't know why but no matter how much I eat I still can't get fat."

It was suddenly quiet as Chen Yushan did not speak.

Emm…

Was there some hatred buried in that joke?

There was a feeling of grievance…

Lu Zhou could not help but shudder.

…

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day, when they went back to school,

Chen Yushan was scared of getting tanned by the sun so she did not stay outside for long. She said goodbye to Lu Zhou and went back to her dorm.

Lu Zhou noticed that it was still early and so, he went back to his dorm. He took his laptop and the textbook he borrowed before heading to the mathematics building. He found an empty seat in a classroom.

It was four hours until the drug resistance effect would wear off. He would take the pill at six o'clock and study until eleven, maybe even twelve o'clock. The library would be closed at that time, so he could not study there.

He planned on using the pill every other day but as he was busy tomorrow, he did not want to waste today. He decided to go full out today.

He opened his laptop and when he checked his email, he saw that Wang Xiaodong sent him the completed program.

He looked over the program and downloaded the code as a backup. He then started to write the thesis according to the mathematical model format.

He spent the afternoon finishing the thesis. He then attached the program and thesis into an email and sent it to Professor Liu.

"I'll work after I finish eating at the cafeteria," thought Lu Zhou. He stretched his back and stood up, then walked outside the classroom.

It was summer vacation so the cafeteria was deserted.

The upside was that he did not have to line up. The downside was that the cafeteria workers were also on holiday, so there was a smaller selection of food available.

However, this would not affect Lu Zhou as he always ate noodles for dinner.

Lu Zhou saw Professor Tang and went to greet him. He placed his bowl across Professor Tang's table.

Professor Tang saw Lu Zhou and laughed before asking, "How is the mathematical modeling preparation going?"

Lu Zhou laughed as well and responded, "It's going okay. I just sent the homework to Professor Liu."

"What are you researching these days?"

Lu Zhou knew that Professor Tang was not asking about mathematical modeling, so he answered, "I read a thesis recently, it was about this GIMPS research progress…"

Professor Tang was surprised. He smiled and asked, "The one from The Chinese Academy of Sciences?"

Lu Zhou nodded and responded, "Yeah, I read the 1992 thesis [Mersenne prime number distribution] and found the content to be very interesting. Sadly, the thesis process was too short and only had one conclusion, so I researched the topic further."

"Oh, I know that thesis," said Professor Tang. He felt nostalgic as he said, "That thesis by Mr. Zhou contributed significantly towards the Chinese mathematics community."

Unfortunately, the thesis was too short as it was only two pages long. Even though it proposed an exact formula for Mersenne prime numbers, it did not provide the proof. In the end, it could only be published as a conjecture.

Professor Tang paused for a bit, looked at Lu Zhou, and smiled: "Speaking of which, what happened to study linear functions? Why are you studying Mersenne primes?"

"Oh… Just out of interest?"

Lu Zhou did not even believe this himself as carried a tone of uncertainty in his voice.

Professor Tang did not believe him. He shook his head and said seriously, "Your talent in mathematics is insanely high, but you're a bit too impetuous. You can't achieve anything if you keep switching topics. You're too utilitarian. Do you think that the Mersenne prime numbers are easy to solve? The GIMPS project you mentioned took a full eight years, and it didn't even figure out if the 44th Mersenne prime number was actually the 44th one. You think that the prize money is easy to get?"

Although they found the 44th Mersenne prime number back in 2006, they still did not know if there was another one between the 43rd and 44th prime number.

This was because the number was too large and the amount of computation was beyond imagination.

According to the reward criteria of the GIMPS project, if one wanted to get the reward, one would have to solve the first 100 million Mersenne prime numbers. The reward was not proportional to the work done. After all, the reward for the 100 million numbers was only 150,000 US dollars. The cost was not worth the money.

It would be more profitable to mine bitcoin than to do mathematics research.

Professor Tang knew that Lu Zhou was after money.

Lu Zhou smiled apologetically and did not refute it.

It'd be too hard to explain to Professor Tang.

I guess he can misunderstand me if he wants.

Professor Tang saw that Lu Zhou did not respond. With a sigh, he said seriously, "Your thesis was excellent. I talked with a few physics professors, and they agreed with me that if you just continue to research towards this area, you'll definitely become successful within two years. Even if you're a utilitarian, you should still look towards long term gains."

Lu Zhou asked softly, "Professor, does this mean that you don't recommend me to continue researching in this field?"

Professor Tang shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant. It's just that I don't like this field. First of all, it's too esoteric, and secondly, it's hard to produce results. Lastly, I haven't done much research in this field myself, so I can't help you. If you are actually interested in the research, then I won't bother you. You will only delay yourself if you are after money. I've said a lot, think about it yourself!"

Chapter 32: The Correct Way Of Using The High Tech System Was Grinding?

Lu Zhou was moved by Professor Tang's wise words.

It turns out Professor Tang really cares about me!

However, I have no choice. The system gave me the blueprint, it would be a waste not to use it!

After he was done with dinner, Lu Zhou went to the library. The librarian watched him borrow analytic geometry, ordinary differential equations, complex transformation real functions, functional analysis, topology and differential geometry, and other related textbooks that were on the system's book list.

A third of the book list contained mathematics books.

If he could finish reading the books, he would have basically finished an undergraduate mathematics degree course.

But…

Lu Zhou looked at the pill bottle and thought, "Is 40 focus capsules enough?" He was unsure.

He shook his head and decided not to think about it. He would try his best to complete the system mission.

As for what would happen if the pills ran out?

He would have to worry about that question later.

Lu Zhou twisted open the pre-prepared water bottle and placed a pill in his mouth.

He quickly went into the focus state that he had experienced before.

…

A morning ray of sunlight shined through the window.

The wind blew through the curtains and bursts of bug humming sounds traveled through the windows. Lu Zhou's head was on his desk, his eyelashes moved, and he gradually opened his eyes.

"Ah…"

His entire body was sore, especially his neck.

He had spent all night studying to the point that he did not even remember when he fell asleep. He just remembered that he was really tired and used his phone to look at the time. Next thing he knew, his head was on the textbook and he was sound asleep.

The classroom did not turn off the electricity for the students that were preparing for the graduate entrance exam. The security was loose during the summer so no one woke him up and therefore, he slept all night.

What time is it?

Lu Zhou's phone was on low battery. When he turned it on, he yelled.

"It's already eleven o'clock… I still need to do tutoring in the afternoon."

He sat in his seat for a bit, shook his muddled brain, and went to the bathroom.

Lu Zhou splashed some cold water in his face and felt a lot better. He went back into the classroom to rest and memories of yesterday gradually came back to him.

His conclusion from last time was that even after five hours, the drug would have some residual effect.

In order to test the maximum duration of the capsule, Lu Zhou chose to try it in an environment without any interference.

The results were unexpected.

He found out that after he eliminated distracting objects, even after five hours, his brain would still be under the drug's effect. When there was no distractions and interruptions, he was able to maintain his state of concentration.

Only thing was that the constant state of being highly in focus would damage his brain. At first, it was light headaches. Then, it would trigger his body's self-protecting mechanism and he would fall unconscious.

"I guess the five hour effect time period wasn't absolute. I can increase the effect period by 50% if I tried to. If I was extremely tired and I pushed through my limits, my brain would become abnormally sharp. As for side effects, it was no different than staying up all night."

Lu Zhou talked to himself and could not help but yawn.

"It seems that after taking the drug I've got to grind to maximize the effect."

Lu Zhou moved his sore neck, closed his eyes, and went into the system space. He opened the mission column.

[Mission progress 2/30]

It seemed that the two textbooks "Linear Algebra" and "Analytic Geometry" had been passed by the system. Next up was ordinary differential equations.

If he carried on with this momentum, solving the "reward mission" with these 40 capsules would be of no problem!

…

Lu Zhou packed his stuff in his bag and went back to his dorm first. He took a shower, put on some clean clothes, and went outside the school to call a DiDi cab. He gave the driver the address on the business card.

It was extremely hot in the City of Jin Ling during summer.

Anyway, his transportation fees were covered. He did not want to get sweaty riding the bus so he took a cab.

Soon after, the cab stopped in front of a residential area called "Purple Garden". Lu Zhou hopped out of the car and as he looked up and down, he felt nervous.

This community was worth the name of a "garden". The trees looked like it was cut with sophistication.

This area was considered the prime location near the business district. It had a lot of greenery around the place and the style of apartments was luxurious. The cost of living here must have been unimaginably high. Only the so-called elite could live here.

Forget the first 100 million Mersenne prime numbers. Even if you solved Beal's conjecture and got the million US dollar prize, you might still be unable to buy an apartment here.

Lu Zhou looked at the security guard and the security guard looked back at him. It was obvious that Lu Zhou did not live here so the guard did not plan on letting Lu Zhou go inside.

Lu Zhou was getting impatient so he called Mrs. Yang. She called the guard room and told the security to let him in.

He got off the elevator and pressed the doorbell. Suddenly, he faintly heard smashing and screaming sounds behind the door.

"… You don't care about me at all, so stop pretending you're doing everything for my good!"

Bong!

Lu Zhou could still hear the muffled sound through the door.

Oh no…

This job doesn't look good.

Lu Zhou hesitated in his heart as he was thinking if he should leave.

Suddenly, footstep sounds came through the door and the door was opened.

It was actually Mrs. Yang that opened the door.

Lu Zhou was surprised the instant he saw Mrs. Yang. From her cold facial expression, he knew that she just had a big fight with her daughter.

Mrs. Yang said calmly, "Teacher Lu, right. There are slippers right here. Please come in."

With a subtle smile, Lu Zhou said, "I'm not a teacher, just call me Lu Zhou."

"A tutor is still a teacher. Please come this way."

Lu Zhou went through the entrance and noticed a pile of broken glass. It seemed like an art piece.

There was a closed door and he thought it must be the room of Chen Yushan's calmly.

Mrs. Yang did not leave him in the living room. Instead, she brought him into the study room. She signaled him to sit down and smiled gently.

"Sorry that you had to see that."

It was slightly awkward…

Lu Zhou smiled and did not respond.

He was just here to work and he did not want to be involved in their family's business.

Mrs. Yang did not say anything and took out a box of cigarettes.

"Do you smoke?"

Lu Zhou declined, "I don't smoke."

Mrs. Yang nodded and did not say anything. She closed the cigarette box and looked at the clock on the wall before saying with a slightly tired voice.

"It's one o'clock right now. I get off work at six o'clock. You'll have to take care of Han Mengqi during this period. I put all her textbooks, practice exam papers, and other materials in the study room. You mainly just have to teach her mathematics."

"Her situation right now, is it okay?" asked Lu Zhou as he hesitated.

if she stayed in the room, he could not teach her.

"No problem," said Mrs. Yang. Without any expression, she pulled out a set of keys and gently placed it on the table. "This is her room key."

The f*ck?

You, you call yourself her mother?

This problem is serious!

"I think…"

"What do you think?"

"Nothing…" Lu Zhou shook his head.

He wanted to say that this would intensify the tension between them and that he was only an outsider. It was not his place to make remarks about other people's families because it was a sensitive topic.

Besides, he believed that Mrs. Yang would not see it from his perspective.

Just what…

He did not know if she was desperate or she just did not care.

Mrs. Yang stood up and said, "Then I'll give the keys to you. There's an exam in July before her holidays. If her result is over 100 marks, then I'll give you a bonus. If she didn't even get 80, then I'll think about changing tutors."

She did not even wait for Lu Zhou's reply and left the study room.

"Oh yeah, one more thing. To prevent my daughter from escaping, I'll lock the door from outside, you have no problem with that right?"

"… No problem," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head.

She would be back at six o'clock and anyway, he had nowhere else to go.

But…

Even though your niece recommended me, is it really okay to lock a stranger inside your house with your daughter?

However, her next words solved his doubts.

Also, there are a dozen or so security cameras around this house. There are no dead spots. If you think it interferes with your privacy, feel free to tell me.

Her expression did not change at all after saying this, but Lu Zhou felt a sense of warning coming from her.

As expected…

Are you even her real mom?

"I don't have any problems with it."

Anyway, Lu Zhou did not have any interests in doing naughty things. He was just here to work.

As for the cameras, there were cameras all around his library and classrooms, he was used to it.

However, after hearing that she had a dozen security cameras installed in her house, Lu Zhou slightly understood why there was so much tension between the daughter and mother.

Chapter 33: Stubborn Cockroach

After explaining everything, Mrs. Yang left her house.

Lu Zhou stood in front of Han Mengqi's door. He looked at the keys in his hand and contemplated for a bit. Finally, he put the keys in his pocket and knocked on the door.

Bong!

Lu Zhou heard a soft muffled sound.

It seemed that the door was knocked by a pillow of some sort.

"Leave, I'm warning you. I'll call the police if you come in!"

This girl has such a bad attitude…

Her voice is pretty nice though.

Lu Zhou shrugged. He was not angry at all. He said through the door, "I don't care. I get paid regardless. But is this what you want? I'll get a thousand yuan for the five hours."

Anyone who heard a thousand yuan must feel bad right?

Lu Zhou tried to change his approach, but he underestimated the attitude of rich people.

"Oh," a cold voice traveled through the door. Han Mengqi said with a careless and loud voice, "Do what you want, that woman has a ton of money anyway. Who cares how she spends her money, you might as well be adopted by her."

This girl…

From the tone, the hatred between the daughter and mother must have been deep.

Lu Zhou waited for a moment outside the door. He saw that this chick did not plan on opening the door. He did not want to waste his time so he went to the study room and carried all the study material into the living room.

He had not touched high school material in years, but when he looked through it, it all seemed pretty easy. After all, he was in one of the best universities in China. He had beaten thousands of soldiers, this was nothing to him.

He sat on the sofa and looked through the textbooks. He suddenly noticed the broken glass on the floor and could not help but frown.

His ADHD was acting up again.

He sighed, stood up, and went to the toilet to find a broom. He wanted to clean the mess up first.

However, just as he was about to put the broom down, a piercing scream came from the locked room.

"Ah!"

Lu Zhou was shocked. He thought that an accident had happened and he quickly threw the broom down before rushing towards the room.

He used the key to open the door and pushed it open. A black unknown object crawled towards him.

A cockroach?

Lu Zhou subconsciously trampled it to death. He continued to walk inside the room and asked quickly.

"What happened?"

The room was very dark because the curtains were closed.

It was hard to imagine that this was a female's room. It was even harder to imagine that this was a room in a luxurious apartment.

Because the messiness of this room was comparable to his dorm.

Books and toys were piled up in the corner. Bags of junk food were on the ground. He could even see a few pieces of potato chips… No wonder the cockroach came in to eat food. It was attracted by the oily junk food.

A petite figure with long hair sat in the corner of a bed. Her hands were grabbing onto a pillow and her knees were shivering. She was wearing a set of loose pajamas. Her fair face was stiff and her lips started to turn blue. It was like she had just seen a ghost.

"Die, die…"

"Die?"

"Is it dead?" asked Han Mengqi as she bit her lips and bravely looked under the bed. She was afraid to touch the floor.

Lu Zhou paused for a bit and looked at the cockroach next to his feet.

"You're talking about the… cockroach?"

Han Mengqi nervously nodded.

"It's dead. It's right here," sighed Lu Zhou as he pointed with his finger.

He thought an accident had happened, but it was just a bug.

I already stomped it to death.

Why are you so scared?

When Han Mengqi heard that her enemy was dead, she finally calmed down and her tight body relaxed.

However, very quickly, she stared at Lu Zhou like he was her enemy. She waved her iPhone and warned, "Who, who let you in! Get out, or I'm going to call the police! Why did you turn on the light, you impolite asshole!"

The bright light pierced Han Mengqi's eyes and she raised her arm to shield herself.

Lu Zhou did not respond to her. He went to the bathroom and picked up the broom.

He cleaned everywhere in her room, except under her bed and tight corners.

After cleaning, he was shocked.

When Lu Zhou saw the pile of rubbish he cleaned, he wiped the dust off his face and could not help but criticize, "Why is there so much junk food in your room? Are bugs your pets?!"

The girl on the bed blushed and replied angrily, "Mind your own business!"

Lu Zhou looked at her and the box of junk food before asking, "You ate this for lunch?"

"…"

The girl became quiet and did not speak.

Lu Zhou did not say anything and dragged the rubbish bag outside. He walked out and even closed the door behind him.

Han Mengqi saw the door being closed and was astonished. She stopped gripping the pillow. She was surprised that the tutor her mom got her had already "compromised". She had already made a long term confrontation plan, but now she felt like her preparation was unnecessary…

Lu Zhou went back into the living room and started to read the high school mathematics textbooks. He had the books spread out across the coffee table.

It was not only textbooks. There were also additional studying materials. Last month's exam papers were also left by Mrs. Yang. It was true that her daughter's grades in mathematics were pretty bad.

She could barely get 75 marks out of 150, and her highest was an 80.

It would be a problem getting into a university with these kinds of grades.

However, the grades for her Mandarin exams were pretty good. Lu Zhou read her essays and was surprised to see it written so literary. Her English was not bad either. It was usually above 120 marks. As for her science subjects, some were good, some were bad, so it was difficult to judge.

"Why does she wants to get into science… Why doesn't she just do liberal arts?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and picked up a pen from the table. He started to write on a blank A4 paper.

High school mathematics was not difficult. It did not test your ability to transform knowledge. It simply judged your ability in remembering the knowledge.

The required topics were merely sets and elementary functions. It would take around 40 class hours to teach. One lecture of university advanced algebra contained more information than that.

This was also why many students who received stellar grades during high school struggled when they got to university. It was because the university lecturers did not teach at the speed of a train. They taught at the speed of a rocket.

The foundation of Han Mengqi's mathematics was horrible, but Lu Zhou still saw a chance of salvation.

After all, the exam was not a competition. It would only test for fundamentals.

Once she learned the fundamentals, she might be unable to get 140 but she could possibly get a 120.

The four textbooks looked scary, but the topics inside were the same… At least it seemed like that for Lu Zhou, who finished the entire [Analytic Geometry] textbook in one night.

First of all, he had to outline and summarize all of the topics in the textbooks. Then he had to refer to Han Mengqi's previous exam papers and point out the topics that she struggled in… Actually, she should have done this herself.

After all, it did not matter how bad the attitude of his "customer" was. Lu Zhou felt that since he accepted this job, he should try his best.

It was at least worth the 200 yuan per hour pay. Even though he had no knowledge of the tutoring market, he still knew that this pay was abnormally high.

Like this, time passed by.

It was around half past five when Lu Zhou stretched and moved his sore shoulders.

He looked at the tidy A4 paper that was full of his writing and could not help but smile.

Although it was a bit of a hassle in the beginning, it was quite rewarding to go back and looked at what he accomplished.

It was almost six o'clock.

He could show this paper as a report of his work.

There was a slight noise coming from the door nearby. A petite figure came out.

Lu Zhou looked and saw that her pajamas had changed into jeans and a t-shirt, but her hair was still messy.

It might have been an illusion, but he felt like she looked even tinier than when she was crouching in bed.

Especially her washboard body, there were no curves at all. She was the exact opposite of her cousin.

"What… are you looking at? I'm gonna call the police!"

Lu Zhou sighed, "Stop threatening me with the police. I didn't even do anything and you need a reason for calling the police. Disrupting the law is also illegal, so think this through."

"…"

Han Mengqi was stunned by Lu Zhou's calmness. She did not say anything and went into the bathroom.

Lu Zhou saw the bathroom door closed and realized that she must have been bursting to pee.

I was wondering why she came out.

Soon after, a flushing sound came from the bathroom. Han Mengqi washed her face and walked out with a taut face.

She walked past the living room and when she noticed the items on the coffee table, she frowned and asked, "What is this?"

"You don't even remember your own textbooks? When was the last time you studied?"

Han Mengqi looked at the A4 paper and said, "None of your business." She turned around and went into the kitchen, "I'm hungry, eat whatever you want."

"Your mom is coming home soon. Shouldn't you wait for her?" asked Lu Zhou. He leaned against the sofa and put his legs up as he looked at Han Mengqi and said seriously, "I think it's better if a family eats together."

Han Mengqi turned around and laughed coldly.

That laugh wasn't a typical teenager's laugh.

"Wait for her? Didn't she message you?"

Chapter 34: Not Valuing Money

Lu Zhou was slightly shocked. He pulled out his phone and saw that Mrs. Yang did actually sent him a message.

[Teacher Lu, my apologies. I have a meeting at the office and I can't make it back. it could be ten o'clock until I come back. I'll pay you double the salary for your inconvenience. Hope you can forgive me.]

Double salary…

Which means, 400 yuan an hour?

Lu Zhou took in a deep breath as he thought, "Ma'am, don't be polite. You don't even have to come back tonight!"

He obviously knew that it would not happen.

Han Mengqi poked her head out of the kitchen, looked at Lu Zhou, and asked, "Are you eating the chicken or beef flavored? There's only sandwiches in the fridge. That woman locked the door so we can't order food delivery."

Lu Zhou looked at the frozen sandwiches in her hand and could not help but ask, "You're eating that for dinner?"

"Is there a problem?" asked Han Mengqi. She did not care at all.

Of course there's a problem!

Lu Zhou sighed. He stood up from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen.

Han Mengqi asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?" She took a step back.

"I'll make some food."

"You can cook?" asked Han Mengqi. She stared at Lu Zhou with her eyes wide opened, like she did not believe him.

Lu Zhou rinsed the pot, smiled, and said, "Yeah, you think I'm the same as you?"

Han Mengqi raised her chin unhappily and asked, "What are you implying?"

"Nothing. If you don't have anything to do, go and read the thing that I wrote. It's in the living room. It'll help you," said Lu Zhou while rinsing the pot. He did not even turned his head around.

This family had not cooked for so long that there was a layer of dust on top of the pan. Lu Zhou had to wash it multiple times in order to clean it thoroughly.

Other than sandwiches, the fridge surprisingly also had some fresh food. As Han Mengqi would say, it was for "that woman" to make salads.

"I'll fry some cabbage and fry some chicken breast with chili. That's two dishes right there. I'll cook two cups of rice. If it's too much, I'll eat more."

Lu Zhou washed his hands and placed the chopping board on the kitchen countertop. He used his experienced hands and chopped up the food. The chicken breast was slightly cumbersome as he had to boil them in water first. Temperature could not be too high, otherwise the meat would become tough, making it difficult to chew.

However, for Lu Zhou, this was not a problem.

During the time when his mother was sick, he would cook for his family on an almost daily basis. Although he had not been in a kitchen for two years, he still had not forgotten what he learned.

Han Mengqi sat on the living room sofa and listened to the chopping sounds coming from the kitchen. She looked at the outline Lu Zhou wrote her and felt so annoyed that she could not focus.

After a while, the kitchen door opened. The aroma of the food plunged into the tip of her nose.

Han Mengqi's nose twitched. Her mouth started to water and her stomach rumbled.

Lu Zhou's voice called out to her.

"Come eat if you're hungry. Add the rice yourself."

Han Mengqi wanted to say some mean words. She looked at the revision textbooks on the coffee table and then at the food on the table. In the end, she decided not to say those inappropriate words. Instead, she murmured, "Ok" and went into the bathroom.

People generally knew the difference between good intentions and malicious intentions.

Han Mengqi washed her hands and served half a bowl of rice for herself. She sat across from Lu Zhou.

She looked at the home cooked dishes and hesitated. She grabbed a piece of cabbage with her chopsticks and suddenly looked at Lu Zhou with suspicion in her eyes, "You didn't put anything weird in here right?"

Lu Zhou heard her and nearly choked on his rice. He raised his head to stare angrily at this chick before saying, "Are you crazy? I'm literally eating it as well."

Han Mengqi blushed. She realized how stupid her question was. She did not want to admit her stupidity and said stubbornly, "Isn't there a drug where if you eat it first, you are immune to the poison…"

Lu Zhou said rudely, "You must be stupid from watching too much television. Don't eat it if you don't want to. Go and eat your sandwiches."

Han Mengqi stuck her tongue out and did not say anything as she continued to eat.

While eating, the two did not exchange a single word.

They ate slowly. Lu Zhou finished his rice and was about to stand up, but when he saw Han Mengqi went into the kitchen and served herself another bowl of rice, he was surprised.

Isn't this her third bowl?

Why did this chick eat so much?

Lu Zhou looked at her tiny body in disbelief. It did not look like she could eat much.

Maybe she only added a bit of rice each time?

Lu Zhou walked to the rice cooker, opened it, and was instantly shocked.

There's no more?

Lu Zhou looked back at Han Mengqi who was eating fiercely.

"What… Are you looking at me for?" asked Han Mengqi. She noticed Lu Zhou was staring at her and felt embarrassed. She swallowed the food in her mouth and asked, "How about I give you some?"

"No, thanks… You're still growing, you should eat more," said Lu Zhou as he nodded his head. He then placed the cutlery and bowls into the kitchen sink.

He was about to finish tidying up the kitchen when Han Mengqi walked in with her empty bowl and looked at Lu Zhou apologetically, "How about… I wash the dishes?"

This guy was too hard working to the point that even she felt embarrassed.

"It's fine. Just leave it there. Go use this time and study in the living room," said Lu Zhou. He was washing the dishes and did not even turn his head.

Studying again?!

Han Mengqi made a funny face behind Lu Zhou's back before she turned around and walked to the living room.

Lu Zhou finished cleaning the kitchen and walked back to the living room. When he saw the chick reading the material that he wrote, he smiled in his heart. He sat next to her and asked, "How is it? Can you understand?"

"Yeah… It's too easy."

"Easy? You messed up quite a lot of these easy questions," said Lu Zhou. He took out a past exam paper and said, "For example, this question. It asked you to determine the relationship between the line and the circle according to the equation. As I see it, it was free marks."

Han Mengqi pouted and argued, "You're already in university, of course this is easy for you."

"Really? I didn't learn this stuff in university. I haven't touched this type of question in a year. I just looked at it this afternoon," answered Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Well, this is my level of mathematics. Do what you want," said Han Mengqi. She gave up, leaned against the sofa, and crossed her legs.

"You're giving up? I think I can still help you," said Lu Zhou.

"You don't have to comfort me. I know my own situation. I basically didn't study last semester," said Han Mengqi with an expressionless face as she crossed her arms.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "You don't even have the courage to try?"

"Don't try to bait me with that."

Ah…

He had not expected her to see through his trick.

The atmosphere cooled down again. Han Mengqi was playing on her phone. She did not know why she did not lock herself in her room again. However, she did not say a single word to Lu Zhou.

The sky gradually became dark and Lu Zhou turned on the living room lights.

At this moment he realized that having a big house was not a good thing.

The more people the better. It was pretty empty if one were alone. The dark and empty house looked like it could suck away someone's soul.

Lu Zhou took a book from the bookshelves and sat on the living room sofa as he quietly began to read.

Han Mengqi was playing on her phone when she secretly looked at him and quietly muttered.

"Thank you."

"What?" asked Lu Zhou. He turned his face towards her slightly and looked at her with a confused expression.

"Your cooking… was very tasty," said Han Mengqi with a stiff tone as she kept looking at her phone.

"It's very simple stuff… Your mom has never cooked them for you?" asked Lu Zhou.

Han Mengqi's facial expression was cold as she scoffed, "Her? She doesn't cook… I barely even see her."

No wonder she ate so much. She probably hasn't eaten home cooked meals in a long time!

Lu Zhou thought his cooking skills had improved, but it turned out he misunderstood.

"What about your father?"

Lu Zhou instantly regretted asking this question because the answer was obvious.

"He's fighting a legal case with my mom, but it should be done soon," said Han Mengqi with a still expressionless face as she hugged her leg while sitting on the sofa..

Lu Zhou's throat choked up slightly. He did not know why, but seeing her like this made him felt sympathetic towards her.

Han Mengqi looked straight ahead and suddenly spoke.

"… In the future, can you still cook for me?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "If you study hard, I'll think about it."

"… Wow, preconditions. Lame," replied Han Mengqi before turning her head around.

Lu Zhou said, "After all, my job performance is going to be evaluated. If your mom thought that I was doing a bad job, she could fire me, alright?"

"There's no solution to that. That woman loves to force other people to do stuff," said Han Mengqi. She lowered her head and hugged her kneecaps tightly as she said, "I'll try to work hard, but no guarantees."

"Ok," Lu Zhou smiled, "then we'll settle at that."

The pair started to discuss school work. The tension was high at first but it quickly became relaxing.

It was around eleven o'clock when the sound of a car came from downstairs.

Soon after, the entrance door opened. Mrs. Yang finally came home.

Han Mengqi silently looked at her mother and did not say anything. She went back to her room.

The woman's face remained the same as usual. She looked at the textbooks and the summaries on the coffee table. Her eyebrows relaxed and she bowed slightly to Lu Zhou. Her tired voice sounded deeply apologetic as she said, "I'm very sorry for delaying your time. How about I send you home?"

"No need, I can just call a DiDi," said Lu Zhou as he waved his hand. He smiled and said, "Stay home with your daughter. She still needs a lot of work to build the foundation of her mathematics. I gave her a study outline. If she spends time studying it, I believe that she can catch up."

"Thank you, Teacher Lu. I'll remind her," said Mrs. Yang with a smile as she nodded her head.

"No problem. I'm leaving. Oh yeah, you guys should communicate more. I mean, regarding studying. After all, studying can't be rushed. It'll create an opposite effect if you pushed her too hard. It's better to let the child find her own problem solving rhythm."

Mrs. Yang offered to send Lu Zhou home again, but Lu Zhou still declined. He took the elevator down and called a DiDi cab.

After he got in the car, Mrs. Yang used WeChat pay and sent the money to Lu Zhou's phone.

The first five hours was 200 per hour, the last five was 400 per hour, that added up to 3000 yuan.

He looked at the 3000 yuan pay and could not help but think.

Rich people really don't value money…

He only had 3000 or so in his bank account and he had instantly doubled his bank account.

If it was not for the summer classes that he had to attend, he would work here every day…

Chapter 35: My Support Is Good

It was the next day when Lu Zhou wanted to buy Chen Yushan food as a show of gratitude for helping him get this job.

However, he did not know if they should eat KFC or yellow chicken and so, he was stuck in this decision.

So he asked the only person alive in his dorm for advice: Liu Rui.

Liu Rui was playing video games with his online friends. He was killed and sent back to the respawn fountain. He felt annoyed and did not pay any attention to Lu Zhou's question. He did not even turn his head to anwer, "Spicy hotpot. It's cheap and affordable!"

Then…

Lu Zhou decided at that.

They went to a place called Shancheng Spicy Hotpot on the street in front of their school. Chen Yushan had a ponytail and sat across from Lu Zhou. She was sticking her tongue out from the spiciness.

Chen Yushan wanted to cry from the spice but she powered through. She continued eating as she asked, "How was it? Is there any hope for my cousin's mathematics?"

Is it even that spicy?

Lu Zhou ate a fish ball and was confused. He chewed and spoke at the same time, "Hope? Probably? I'll try my best."

"Then I'll have to rely on you. My cousin… In fact, her science scores during middle school were pretty good, but then… Ahh, it's so spicy!"

Lu Zhou gave her a cup of water and asked, "Then what?"

Chen Yushan drank the cup of water and stuck her tongue out cutely as she took in a breath before saying, "Then… My auntie and uncle had some relationship problems. They're fighting for Meng Qi's custody. I don't know the exact situation. In short, Meng Qi is living with my Auntie right now."

Lu Zhou nodded his head quietly and did not say anything.

He did not care about other people's personal business as he was a very private person.

After they finished eating the spicy hotpot, Lu Zhou sent Chen Yushan back to her dorm. He then walked back to the library.

While he was walking to the library, he received two emails.

The first email was from Professor Liu. It was feedback on the data modeling exercise.

The second email was a reply from the [Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology] journal. It said that the payment for the theses had already been transferred to his bank card. 150 per thesis, 1350 yuan in total.

"…"

Only 1350 for nine SCI theses, academics really don't earn any money…

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

1350 yuan was still quite a bit of money. If he added the 3000 he earned yesterday, he would have 7000 yuan in his bank account. It would be enough for his tuition fees.

He wanted to delay the payment and pay right before he graduated, but he did not have to do that anymore.

Over the next few days, Lu Zhou had a very structured lifestyle. He would grind books all night on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesdays and Thursday were used as revision days. In addition, he kept up with his mathematical modeling practices.

Sometimes, he felt that if he could maintain these good studying habits, he could become a genius even without help from the system.

It was just that his progress increased with the system's help.

It was like he was traveling at the speed of a rocket…

It was finally Saturday. As usual, Lu Zhou went to Mrs. Yang's house to tutor Han Mengqi in mathematics.

It might have been due to the previous incident or that Mrs. Yang had reached an agreement with her daughter because when Mrs. Yang left for work, she did not lock the door. She only asked Lu Zhou to take care of her daughter.

The mother was expressionless when she left. Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Let's start then."

She turned around and walked into her room.

Lu Zhou followed Han Mengqi footsteps into her bedroom. It was only a week since he last saw her, but he was surprised to see her room tidy and clean.

They did not have any unnecessary conversations. Han Mengqi opened the book and turned to the bookmarked page. She looked at Lu Zhou.

"I've already studied the topic [analytic geometry] from the outline you gave me, now what?"

"What?" said Lu Zhou with his eyebrows raised. He smiled and said, "Do you not understand something?"

"I understand everything. It feels pretty easy," said Han Mengqi. She raised her tiny head and said impatiently, "Now what?"

"I'll test you," said Lu Zhou. He took an A4 paper and started to write on it.

[In the Cartesian coordinate system x and y, the left and right focus of the ellipse C1:x^2/a^2+y^2/b^2=1 (a>b>0) are F1 and F2, respectively. Where F2 is also the focal point of parabola C2:y^2=4x, point M is the intersection of C1 and C2 in the first quadrant, and |MF2|=5/3. Find the equation for C1.]

Lu Zhou finished writing the question and made a gesture of invitation.

Han Mengqi raised her eyebrows. She had not expected Lu Zhou to test her.

She clenched her teeth, picked up the pen, and stared at the draft paper for a long time.

Ten minutes had passed and she only solved the first step.

Which was:

[From C2: y^2 = 4x, F1 = (1,0).]

Lu Zhou waited for 10 minutes. He looked at his watch, smiled, and said, "In the exam, you'd have 10 minutes for this question at most. Looking at your answer, you'd only receive 3 marks."

"Well…" said Han Mengqi as she clenched her teeth. She did not want to give up. The more you force yourself to solve a problem, the harder it was to solve.

Lu Zhou smiled and took out an exam paper from the pile of study materials. He pointed at question number two and said, "The most important part is, you got this exact question wrong in your exam."

"… You're bullying me," said Han Mengqi. She threw her pen down angrily as she continued, "I know I'm stupid, okay?"

"I'm only teaching you. I didn't say you are stupid. Actually, I think that you are very smart. Don't put yourself down," said Lu Zhou. He picked up the pen she threw and finished the question on the A4 paper. "The key to this problem is to determine the value of M, so the second step is setting M as (x1, y1), and according to | MF2 | = 5 / 3, and M2 on the parabola C2…"

"Our second goal is to find the semi-focal length of the ellipse C1. Once you solve this step, the remaining parts are just understanding the equations."

Lu Zhou wrote down the key steps on the A4 paper and clarified the problem-solving process.

Han Mengqi was annoyed at first, but she soon started to stare at the paper intently.

Finally, her face was enlightened.

Han Mengqi nodded and looked at the paper seriously. Her eyebrows tensed up and her tiny mouth moved, "So this is how you solve it…"

"Your teacher has definitely explained this to you. You just didn't listen."

Han Mengqi's tone was argumentative, "My teacher… Didn't explain it in so much detail."

Lu Zhou replied, "Try telling that to your maths teacher. He'd be insanely pissed off."

Han Mengqi was so angry that her teeth started to rattle. She did not have anything to say and just groaned.

"No wonder my sister said you were harsh…"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Someone talked sh*t behind my back?

I can't pretend that I didn't hear this.

Lu Zhou coughed and diverted the conversation. He picked up a pen and said, "This question is a typical intersection to find an elliptic equation problem. I think that when you encounter this question next time, you can at least get half of the marks."

Han Mengqi tilted her head and asked, "What about the other half?"

"The other half of the marks are in question two. This type of high school exam question usually contained a vector problem in the second part…"

Lu Zhou talked and wrote on the back of the exam paper.

[The point N on a plane satisfies vector MN = vector MF1 + vector MF2. Straight line L//MN, C1 intersects A and B. OA*OB = 0, find the equation of L.]

Han Mengqi saw the question and was instantly stuck. Helpless, she looked at Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou did not look at her. He sat next to the bed, picked up an exercise book, and started to look for the next example.

"Try doing it yourself. I'll help you if you can't solve it. 15 minutes. Start now."

Han Mengqi did worse than the first question. She was only able to write one line that was correct and everything else was wrong.

It might have been because Lu Zhou had a younger sister who was similar in age to Han Mengqi. So, he was not impatient at all. He did not laugh at her or call this a "free marks question". Instead, he explained the solving steps to her patiently.

When Han Mengqi saw the steps on the paper, her eyes widened and she said quietly, "Wow you're so good…"

"My study technique is to constantly evaluate my mistakes and learn from them. I hope you can copy down the questions that you can't solve into a book, then every week I can explain them to you," said Lu Zhou. He gave Han Mengqi the pen back and continued, "Having a book full of your mistakes is how you learn any mathematics or science subject. If you want to learn science subjects well, you have to be prepared. It's like an attack and damage carry buying a Doran's blade or a support buying wards. It's all basic preparation."

Han Mengqi's eyes lit up. She was suddenly interested and interrupted, "You play League of Legends as well? Which server? I'm good at support!"

"… Black rose server."

"Let me add you as a friend! Give me your QQ number!"

Lu Zhou reached out and knocked her forehead. He looked at her and said impatiently, "Stop playing games and get 100 marks in your exam first!"

Chapter 36: Brother Zhou, Something Bad Happened!

It was six o'clock at night when Lu Zhou went into the kitchen and put on an apron before he started to cook. This was part of their agreement. The chick also followed him into the kitchen and watched him as she was very interested.

The kitchen was stock with fresh food that Mrs. Yang probably bought.

There was tofu, pork tenderloin, and some fresh vegetables. Not only that, the almost used up salt and herbs were also replenished.

It seemed that Mrs. Yang acquiesced him using her kitchen. After all, she did not want her daughter to eat junk food and takeout every day.

But…

Why doesn't she hire a maid?

It did not bother Lu Zhou. He was happy to eat dinner at his customer's house because he did not have to spend money. He asked if Han Mengqi could eat spicy food before he started to cook.

Han Mengqi asked, "Have you been a tutor before?"

Lu Zhou replied while pouring the oil into the pot, "This is my first time."

Han Mengqi's eyes widened. She had not expected his answer and said, "Really? I think you're pretty good at teaching."

"You think so? Probably because I used to occasionally tutor my little sister," said Lu Zhou. He stir-fried the mincemeat, put in the tofu, added water, and covered the pot with a lid. He then turned the fire to a simmer and went to chop tomatoes.

He was making mapo tofu. As for the tomatoes, he was preparing it for fried eggs with tomatoes.

"You have a little sister?" asked Han Mengqi in surprise. She then added, "How old is she?"

"Same age as you. Grade 10 now and she'll be Grade 11 after this summer."

Han Mengqi twitched her nose. She was envious and sighed.

"I'm so jealous…"

"What are you jealous for? A little sister is very annoying."

Han Mengqi tilted her head and asked, "Do you hate your sister?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head, "Of course not, she's my family. Why would I hate her?"

He did not mention that one should love your family no matter what.

"I'm still jealous…" said Han Mengqi. She pouted, "I wish I have a brother."

What? Maybe she wants to be the troublesome sibling?

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes.

Han Mengqi stood next to him as she looked at the boiling pot and did not say anything. Suddenly she asked curiously, "Would my parents still make me a brother if they divorced?"

Lu Zhou thought and replied, "I don't know… Even if they did, it'd be a younger brother."

Speaking of which, why are you so looking forward to your parents' divorce?

Unexplainable.

Han Mengqi blushed and realized that she had asked a stupid question. She stuck her tongue out and did not say anything.

Lu Zhou placed the rice on the table. This time, he cooked three cups so that they did not have to worry about running out of rice to eat.

Han Mengqi sat on the dining table and started to eat the mapo tofu. Her fair forehead was full of sweat and her neck was moist from the steam but she did not complain as she ate happily.

Lu Zhou looked at this chick. He smiled and said, "You're like your cousin. You guys both like spicy food."

Han Mengqi opened her mouth and was about to eat when she put down the spoon and tilted her head, "What? My cousin doesn't like spicy food."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Han Mengqi tilted her head and confused, she asked Lu Zhou, "What?"

"Nothing?" replied Lu Zhou with an awkward expression.

I'll apologize to her the next time I buy her food…

They finished eating and Lu Zhou tidied up the table. He warned Han Mengqi to stay safe when she was alone at home and left.

He called a DiDi cab outside the apartment and went back to school.

Just as Lu Zhou was getting off the car in front of the school, he received a WeChat message from Mrs. Yang.

[Transfer: 1000]

Also…

[Yang Danqi: Thank you.]

Lu Zhou saw the thank you message and paused. He smiled and typed, [You're welcome.]

He was going to put his phone back into his pocket when a call came through.

He saw that Liu Rui was calling. Lu Zhou laughed. He thought that Liu Rui must have forgotten his keys and picked up the call.

However, just as he was about to tease the kid, an eager voice came through.

"Brother Zhou, something bad happened!"

…

Liu Rui immediately notified Lu Zhou.

Liu Rui was pretty arrogant sometimes, but he was not malevolent. Therefore, Lu Zhou decided to put up with him.

The important thing was, what exactly happened?

Lu Zhou went back to the dorm, picked up Liu Rui's phone, and started to read the article.

[On the topic of modern Chinese university academics: Starting from an undergraduate student's thesis]

The article discussed the overall situation of Chinese academics, from mathematics to physics, from computer science to philosophy. The last sentence talked about why China did not produce great scientists like Einstein and Newton.

Anyone that had written an article would know that the broader a question was, the more one could bullsh*t about it. One did not even have to be an expert to answer the question.

Then the article criticized the academic value of posting nine SCI theses into one journal. It portrayed this undergraduate student as an "academic cancer" that did not know anything.

Correct, they actually used the word "academic cancer".

Finally, it said that this undergraduate student came from the University of Jin Ling and the first name was Zhou.

The author was a scholar, commentator, scientific writer and a well known intellectual. He even had a "verified" check mark next to his profile picture.

This guy has millions of followers.

However…

Lu Zhou was muddled.

Who is this guy?

I don't even know you. What the hell are you doing?

I wrote the theses with my own abilities so why shouldn't I publish them? How did it affect you?

Liu Rui did not realize the seriousness of the situation and he laughed as he said, "When did you learn computer science? When did you submit to SCI?"

He had a thought but did not say it. It was: "I'll try submitting as well."

"I learned it while watching a movie! Why?" answered Lu Zhou angrily as he stared at him.

Liu Rui saw that Lu Zhou was angry so he shut his mouth up.

Lu Zhou took in a deep breath and once he calmed down, he asked, "Where did you see this?"

He did not believe that this kid would be bored enough to follow some so-called education commentator.

"A computer science student from my mathematical modeling training group posted it and I saw it… But I didn't post it to my news feed!" clarified Liu Rui.

Jealousy was still jealousy. Just because he was competitive did not mean that he was malevolent. Lu Zhou knew that his own roommate would not stab him in the back.

Lu Zhou did not respond and continued to read Weibo.

Liu Rui saw that Liu Rui did not speak so he asked, "What are we going to do?"

Lu Zhou did not know either. He did not even have a Weibo account. He had heard of Weibo before but never signed up.

Lu Zhou, "Insult him for me."

Liu Rui, "Insult for what? Wait, why don't you insult him yourself?"

Lu Zhou, "I don't have a Weibo account."

Liu Rui: "…"

Finally, Liu Rui and Lu Zhou decided not to bother with this scum.

Who cares if you criticize me?

Little boy, I won't even respond to you. Go and play with yourself! Who cares about you!

Then, Lu Zhou carried his computer bag and went to the library.

However, his analysis of the situation was oversimplified.

He was not just Lu Zhou, but he was also a University of Jin Ling student…

Chapter 37: I Agree

University of Jin Ling meeting room. An emergency meeting was held. The principal specifically requested for the dean of the computer science department to be present.

A lot of professors were in their laboratories when they were called to the meeting.

The topic of the meeting was simple. It was regarding one issue, which was the article floating around on Weibo: [On the topic of modern Chinese university academics: Starting from an undergraduate student's thesis].

The article mentioned that an undergraduate student published nine computer science theses within a month. It used that as an entry point to criticize the academic atmosphere of higher education institutions in China and their lax journal review process. It also mentioned that the student was from the University of Jin Ling.

The article was basically roasting the University of Jin Ling.

During the meeting, an old computer science professor adjusted his glasses, stood up, and said nonchalantly, "I've read those nine theses and they were actually pretty well written. It's quite impressive that an undergraduate student is able to write like this. He did try to submit quite a lot of theses, but his theses are more sophisticated than most other computer science theses. That Zhu Fangcai education commentator probably doesn't know much of information science. Maybe we should communicate with him, make him admit his mistake, and ask him to remove the article."

Why should someone be criticized for publishing too many theses?

The professor was very confused and he did not know why this meeting was necessary!

"Not realistic… This guy, Zhu Fangcai, knows what his level is at. Look at his titles. Education commentator, science writer. He's operating in a different field than us," said the secretary at the meeting table. He shook his head and said, "He's looking for a conflict. He won't negotiate with you."

This situation was difficult to deal with.

The student did not do anything wrong and the university obviously could not expel the student. The issue was that the public was one-sided and they condemned the university.

The whole situation was ridiculous. A non-academic pointing fingers by using his own status and influence.

The school management staff did not understand the motivation.

Thank god this did not happen during university application times. Otherwise, the people at this meeting would be furious.

Regardless, the situation had seriously damaged the university's reputation!

Principal Xu's facial expression was bad. He was silent for half a minute before he said slowly, "Right now, it's not important if the theses are of good quality. What's important is that the community has questioned our integrity. Our top priority is to remove those suspicions and clarify the situation. On the other hand, we also have to figure out what exactly happened!"

They discussed for the entire afternoon and finally came up with two decisions.

On one hand, the school had to save their public reputation and to explain the academic value of these theses. They also had to send a cease and desist letter and to ask for an apology. On the other hand, they had to ask the deans to find out who Lu was and to figure out the exact situation.

Nine SCI theses in one month with one more thesis off from double digits. It did sound fishy. These professors from various departments all submitted substandard theses for financial gain, but they never did something this crazy!

However, at this moment, the various deans did not know that Lu Zhou actually submitted 10 theses. Instead of computer science, the last one was in mathematics…

…

Weibo comments.

[F*ck me, an undergraduate student publishing 9 SCI theses, must be a scam. Is it really that easy to publish?]

[… I think I can do it as well. (dog emoji)]

[Support Teacher Zhou! Fight against academic cancer! Correct this fraud! (fist) (fist)]

[A student claiming to be from MIT said that this would never happen in America. The journal must have been exploited and the review process was fake…]

[Sad! What kind of students are my university producing! What's the use of writing theses? Can you turn the thesis into a nuclear bomb? Even an undergraduate student can publish so many, our country's academia is hopeless…]

[You try writing nine theses in a month, bunch of keyboard warriors.]

F*ck, what the hell is this?

Not even one person with a normal IQ is on my side?

Twenty thousand shares, ten thousand comments, countless views!

Lu Zhou sat in an empty classroom and scrolled through Weibo. He did not have a solution.

No one wants to figure out the truth. They only wanted to believe what is in front of them.

According to Mr. Zhu, the theses were worthless, but how many people actually read them?

Impossible.

Lu Zhou wanted to get revenge on these accusations and registered a Weibo account. He sent out a comment and no one even liked it.

Maybe this is the consequence of having an unpopular Weibo account…

Lu Zhou meditated and calmed himself down. He turned off his phone and scratched his head.

He thought he had selected the easier mission. Never had he thought that he would get in this much trouble.

This was due to his negligence as well. If he had used an alias to publish the theses, no one would notice. It was too late now.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

It was from Professor Tang.

Lu Zhou had a confused expression on his face. There was no reason for Professor Tang to call him.

Is it because of the theses? Hopefully not, right?

Lu Zhou had a feeling of uncertainty as he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Little Zhou, what are you up to?"

Lu Zhou heard that his voice was calm and he relaxed as he replied, "I'm studying in the classroom, what's up?"

Professor Tang paused for a second before continuing, "Come to my office if you're free."

"Now?"

"Yeah, now."

…

Lu Zhou tidied up his laptop and books before heading to Professor Tang's office.

He walked in and saw that Dean Lu from the mathematics department and Dean Zhang from the computer science department were also there.

Lu Zhou walked in and the three professors smiled. They glanced at each other subtly and used their body language to communicate. Finally, it was Professor Tang that sighed and said, "Lu Zhou, I have to ask you something."

Lu Zhou replied, "Professor, please ask."

Professor Tang continued, "That time period… After you submitted the maths thesis, did you submit to SCI again?"

Lu Zhou knew that he could not hide and so, he replied honestly, "Yeah I did."

Dean Zhang looked at Dean Lu before saying helplessly, "I knew it. There are not that many students in our department with the first name Lu. None of them know how to write a thesis, much less submitting one."

Professor Tang was worried. He asked wistfully, "You submitted a mathematics thesis right?"

"Yeah…" said Lu Zhou honestly as he nodded his head. He then added softly, "And other theses… Ones about artificial intelligence and geography information systems."

Professor Tang's eyes nearly popped out, "You… Why did you jump to computer science! Weren't you researching Mersenne prime numbers just a few days ago?"

"I saw that the submission paid money. 150 yuan per thesis," said Lu Zhou apologetically. He looked at Professor Tang and quietly said, "Then I separated my research into nine parts, and submitted it…"

Professor Tang: "…"

Dean Lu: "…"

Dean Zhang: "…"

Was there an issue?

There obviously was no issue. After all, the university encouraged students to submit theses. Submitting for money was a bit weird, but nothing bad…

However, this situation created an issue.

The office became dead silent. Dean Lu finally coughed and spoke in a kind tone, "Uh… Student Lu, did you write the thesis yourself?"

"Yeah, of course," said Lu Zhou. He nodded his head as he continued, "I wrote them inside the library."

He was not lying because buying knowledge from the system was not enough to write the theses. He still had to research the parts that he did not understand. At most, he just copied the calculation processes.

He read more than a hundred documents and countless books to write those theses.

They did not even have to look at the security cameras. They could just ask him some artificial intelligence or GIS system questions and Lu Zhou would be able to answer all of them.

Of course, if they asked him some difficult questions like the application of artificial intelligence in other fields, he might not have been able to answer it. However, he could still use general points to buy the answer on the spot. It just that it would be wasteful…

Dean Lu did not know what to say. It was Dean Zhang that stood up, smiled, and said, "Dean Lu didn't mean anything by that. He was just surprised that you were so proficient in information science. I've seen your C language exam. 95 is very good. I obviously believe that you wrote the theses yourself… But some people don't believe you and one even wrote an article about it. Have you been on Weibo?"

Actually, strictly speaking, most of the artificial intelligence was written in C++, which is quite different from C. The teacher only taught the basic syntax of C++ and did not dive deep in the language at all.

Dean Zhang knew that anyone that could write a thesis like that, would be proficient in C as well. A score of 95 satisfied his expectations.

"You're talking about that article?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Yes," said Dean Zhang. He stared at Lu Zhou and nodded, "You've read it?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I've read it." Even though he was furious, he still acted calm on the outside. He shook his head and carelessly said, "Those articles have no brains. I refuse to step down to their level."

In his heart, he actually wanted to stab the author.

"Student Lu, I have to correct you," said Dean Lu. He looked at Lu Zhou seriously, "You're not just one person. You're a student from our school. You represent our school's reputation! We'll not allow any immoral students but we also will not allow anyone to tarnish our student's reputation. I hope you can adjust your attitude and take this seriously."

"But Dean Lu, I can't do anything. I wrote to him and he did not reply," said Lu Zhou impatiently.

"Actually, Dean Lu just wanted you to have a more positive attitude," said Dean Zhang with a soothing tone. "Regarding the public reputation, our school will do a press conference. We hope that you can cooperate with us and speak up for yourself and the school. Is that okay?"

You guys just want me to speak up?

Easy, why didn't you tell me that earlier?

Lu Zhou relaxed and nodded his head.

"I agree!"

Chapter 38: Help In One's Hour Of Need

Shenzhen, Shunfung Group Building, CEO's office.

Wang Wei leaned back in his office chair and was scrolling through his phone.

It was after the lunch break. He would always take a half hour break after his lunch to look at what was trending on Weibo or today's news. After all, his work was closely related to the Internet and so, it was important for him to keep up to date.

"An undergraduate from the University of Jin Ling published nine SCI theses… Are undergraduate students these days so smart?" asked Wang Wei as he smiled and shook his head.

He opened the article and saw that the author was by famous science writer Zhu Fangcai.

Wang Wei saw this name and twitched his eyebrows. His first impression of him was not good.

This Zhu Fangcai counted as a celebrity. He was famous for annoying people on Weibo. He had no talent and was named "Big Mouth". Wang Wei was a practical workman and did not like this type of clever clowns. Especially since this person loved to criticize China's education system and talk about it every day. He would even use Wang Wei's high school education as an example to prove his points.

Wang Wei did not care about his education. Otherwise, he could just donate some money to a school and earn an honorary doctorate.

However, Zhu Fangcai would call him a "high school student", which annoyed Wang Wei. After all, no one liked to be exposed over and over again.

Wang Wei saw his name and lost interest. He did not even read the article as it was just trying to make mischief with big words.

Using an undergraduate student's nine theses to discuss Chinese academia?

Who the hell are you?

At this moment, a knocking sound came from his office door.

"Come in."

The person that came in was called Liang Shenghao. He was the technical director of the company's drone logistics research and development center. Graduated from Caltech, he had a dual degree in logistics management and computer science and he was only thirty years old.

Due to the recent advancements in drone technology, the concept of drones was trending. Shunfeng was the leading enterprise in domestic private logistics, and naturally, it refused to fall behind in the field of drones. Therefore, it had established an unmanned aerial vehicle logistics project in cooperation with DJI and invested 500 million and built an R&D facility in Shenzhen.

Of course, due to hardware restrictions, it was very difficult to achieve drone distributions in the short term.

Wang Wei obviously knew this. Therefore, even though this R&D center was technically supposed to be a UAV logistics R&D center, there were not many researchers that engaged in UAV logistics R&D. The main R&D projects were concentrated in the direction of intelligent logistics.

What it meant was that it was using big data to predict warehouse location and merchant sales, as well as improving automatic sorting technology, etc.

Liang Shenghao walked to the office desk and placed a computer science magazine on the desk. He smiled and said, "CEO Wong, I found a genius for you."

"What?" Wang Wei put down his phone and looked at the magazine. He smiled and said, "Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology? Didn't you tell me last time that there was a lot of substandard work in this journal? You finally ordered one?"

"I read all computer science journals, especially ones related to artificial intelligence. I don't really read domestic journals though," said Liang Shenghao. He pushed his glasses and continued, "Thank god I saw the article on trending, otherwise these theses would be in the trash."

"You're talking about?" Wang Wei's expression was slightly weird.

"That's right. That undergraduate student who submitted nine theses. I looked at them and the calculations mentioned in the theses were pretty interesting. It's just that…"

Oh?

An undergraduate student is able to get your attention?

Wang Wei was interested. He sat up straight and said, "Just what?"

"It's just that his research is a bit… Advanced," said Liang Shenghao. He thought about the words that he should use and continued, "UAV logistics delivery is still a concept. Not a single company in the world can achieve the hardware standards for delivery drones. Therefore, shipping companies around the world are still tied up on the hardware side."

Wang Wei nodded and asked, "I know this, what else?"

"But the content of his theses was based on the theoretical feasibility of drone delivery. For example, in his paper, he proposed to construct the concept of logistics 'honeycombs' in the city, docking with the sorting center, introducing the drone into the GIS system, automatically finding the way in the case of unmanned operations. It could identify the address through the camera, confirm the person receiving the object based on the face recognition technology, confirming the receipt by a gesture, and automatically uploading the alarm data when the drone is interfered with…"

Liang Shenghao spoke until here and stopped.

Wang Wei's fingers tapped lightly on the desk. He paused for a long time then said, "Okay, so he made a suggestion?"

If Lu Zhou had just made a suggestion, it would not have been anything special. Anyone could make a powerpoint on artificial intelligence and make some statements. Being able to mention those ideas just meant that he had some understanding of the topic.

However, if Lu Zhou's level was actually that low, he would not even get past the HR department.

"Not just a suggestion," said Liang Shenghao. He shooked his head, "It also mentioned a calculation method, mainly regarding facial recognition and GIS system. This is why I think this kid has skills. Especially the algorithms he wrote for facial recognition. Although I can spot some flaws in them, they could still be groundbreaking. Our research facility can even do additional research on his work."

It was not just an idea. Lu Zhou also realized his idea, which was a completely different story.

It was like a person saying, "I want to build an apartment", then finding two people and placing down two bricks. The value that those people built was different than the value of an idea.

Even though this undergraduate student had only realized a tiny percentage of his research, Wang Wei did not care. Any research required a long process. The higher the value of the research project, the more money and time it would take.

Wang Wei did not say anything. Instead, he picked up the computer science magazine and flipped to Lu Zhou's page.

[UAV logistics research and development prospects and framework discussion]

[A pixel analysis algorithm based on artificial intelligence]

[Optimization Algorithm for Dynamic Image Recognition Based on Artificial Intelligence]

[Automatic measurement method of human body size based on artificial intelligence algorithm]

[…..]

Even though the individual theses might be substandard, the total sum value of the theses was still substantial.

Liang Shenghao saw that his CEO did not speak, so he continued, "Publishing an algorithm like this on a journal is too wasteful, I recommend sending him a job offer and directly hiring him into our company. He can help us with research."

"Not so fast," said Wang Wei as he waved his hand.

Liang Shenghao frowned as he said, "Are you doubting his education? From his performance, even a graduate student in applied artificial intelligence wouldn't be as valuable as him. Also, even though we won't use UAV logistics in the short term, we will eventually have to enter this field! We should start preparing now. It's better now than later."

Computer science was a new subject. It was different than in other fields. Even though education was still important, it was not crucial for many successful tech entrepreneurs.

After all, those people with special talents would not be at job fairs. They would be on the list of famous companies' recruitment list.

"Haha, you don't have to teach me this. I only look at skills, you know that," said Wang Wei. He smiled and threw the magazine on the table, "Don't send the offer just yet, let's wait for a while. After all, we are the only Chinese company doing UAV delivery logistics so no one will steal him from us."

Liang Shenghao paused. He was about to say something but when realized the underlying meaning from the CEO, his eyes lit up.

I see…

My CEO is so smart!

An energetic young person being criticized like this, getting his research called worthless, must have built up a grievance in his heart.

Let that Zhu Fangcai clown attack him a bit more and wait till Lu Zhou can't handle the pressure anymore. Then Shunfung group will come out and offer a 500 thousand per year job to him, affirming his research value…

Then he would be loyal to Shunfeng forever!

A person with a high salary could always get a better position at another company. Therefore, many companies use employee benefits and stocks to retain their employees. The first key to employee retainment was convincing that the company's future was bright. The other was placing the company in the employee's heart, making the company special to them.

In some sense, the latter was more important than the former.

Wang Wei leaned against his office chair, smiled, and said, "Put this magazine here, I'll remember this. Go and do your own stuff."

"Okay," nodded Liang Shenghao before he left the office.

Chapter 39: Understand The Lawyer's Letter

Zhu Fangcai was feeling really good today.

He normally just criticized people all day. He did not expect to be number one on trending.

University of Jin Ling had no other options. They even sent a lawyer's letter to Zhu Fangcai!

In the lawyer's letter, University of Jin Ling righteously conveyed that the theses had no problems at all. Not only did University of Jin Ling asked for him to immediately withdraw the article, but they also requested for an apology. Otherwise, University of Jin Ling would maintain the right to sue.

In addition, it was posted on the official University of Jin Ling's Weibo account. It presented the response from the [Modern Communication and Geographic Information Technology] review board, which proved the academic value of the theses. This finally talked some sense into the netizens, making them wonder if they were lied to.

However, "Big Mouth" was not afraid.

Who cares about your marketing tactics?

Who cares about your lawyer's letter!

This isn't my first time someone threatened to sue me.

This would continue to make him trending!

He had gained four hundred thousand followers over the past two days, making him passed 3 million followers! His ad revenue had increased substantially. He just had to roast this lawyer a bit and he could surpass 4 million followers!

Therefore, Zhu Fangcai did not respond to Lawyer Zhang's letter at all. Not only that, he immediately opened up Weibo on his computer and started to write his second blog post.

In other words, his words of battle!

[The Embarrassing Angry Hypocrite: Speaking From a Lawyer's Letter]

Zhu Fangcai looked at the title in satisfaction and continued to tap on the keyboard. He followed his template and started to fill in the words.

"University of Jin Ling gave a reply that there is no problem with the theses. They're very bureaucratic and official."

"I've thought about it. Even if the theses had no problems, what gives an undergraduate student the right to publish nine SCI theses in a month?! Who can even proved that he wrote them himself? He must have plagiarized or had a ghostwriter!"

"… The university found out about a fake student and did not even investigate the student. Instead, they tried to seal the mouth of the author through a lawyer's letter. This type of approach disappointed every single citizen that cares about education! This student must have come from a privileged background!"

"I'll say I'm sorry if I offended some big celebrity. But I'll not apologize for this! Why should I apologize for something I'm incomparably correct on? I'm a science researcher. I think that writing nine theses within a month is impossible. I'm also an education commentator and I think I and the public have the right to remain suspicious!"

"I'll apologize if I get to confront the person named Lu and make him answer all my suspicions, but is he going to do it?"

When Zhu Fangcai typed in "named Lu", he paused for a second. His eyes turned and he had a sinister smile on his face. He pressed delete on the keyboard and typed in "a student named Zhou" instead.

Not only am I going to expose his last name, I'm exposing this Zhou's first name as well!

Press send!

Zhu Fangcai pressed send, crossed his legs, and put his feet up.

Very soon after, likes and comments started to come through.

[Astonishing, he's a first year!]

[I guess this nutty undergraduate student is named Lu Zhou! This story is finally solved.]

[I feel sorrow for our education system…]

[Support Teacher Zhu! Fight against academic fraud! (fist) (first)]

[If this was in country X, the police would arrest this kind of academic fraud…]

[What were the people thinking when they said that the theses had no problems. University of Jin Ling is obviously helping their own student for the sake of their reputation. But this student is in so much trouble, he's over. (smile)]

[…]

Hahahaha!

Zhu Fangcai looked at the increasing search numbers and was in ecstasy.

At this moment, the phone on his desk started to ring.

He cleared his throat and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Zhu, this is University of Jin Ling's Academic Affairs Office…"

"Wow, impressive, you guys found my phone number? Let me tell you something, I'm not a student of yours. Skip the bullsh*t and get straight to the point," said Zhu Fangcai as he took out a cigarette, placed it in his mouth, and lighted it.

Zhu Fangcai's arrogant attitude shocked the teacher from the telephone. However, she restrained herself and said, "Then I'll get straight to the point. Your unwarranted accusation has caused problems for our student. I hope you can treat this situation seriously and issue an apology."

Zhu Fangcai laughed, flicked the ashes, and replied, "Problems? I don't think there are any problems. You can obviously question my words, but you guys cannot take away my freedom of speech!"

"You!" The teacher was furious at Zhu Fangcai's attitude, but she stopped after one word.

One could never overestimated the shamelessness of a scum. If he recorded the conversation and edited it, tomorrow's headline could be "university threatens a reporter."

The furious teacher did not speak, so Zhu Fangcai put his phone in his other hand and continued, "It's fine, let's not waste our time. I can apologize, but there are two things you have to prove to me. One, that the theses aren't fake and are of value! I'm warning you, I want proof from a higher authority and not from you guys. Second, that he actually wrote those theses! If you guys cannot prove these two points, then I'll continue to support my opinion! I'll fight for the integrity of the academic world!"

Once Zhu Fangcai finished speaking, he hung up the call instantly.

…

Lu Zhou felt like he became a panda. He did not know who leaked his WeChat but a lot of people had been adding him.

[Master, help write my thesis!]

[I want to ask about SCI, is it easy to pass?]

[Help write my theses, we can discuss the price.]

I guess some people can still recognize real talent.

Although their way of supporting me is pretty weird…

Of course, there were also a lot of people insulting him. They were probably Mr. Zhu's overly feverish fans.

Lu Zhou was used to it by this point. These people just used the same lines of insults repetitively. It was completely meaningless.

As for his family, they did not use weibo so they would never see this article. It did not affect his personal life much either and he still went to Han Meng Qi's place nonchalantly and tutored her in maths yesterday.

No one on the street knew that he was Lu Zhou. There were not that many people inside the school due to the school holidays.

At this moment, Lu Zhou suddenly noticed that Chen Yushan sent him a message.

[Chen Yushan: I haven't seen you in the library recently, are you okay?]

[Chen Yushan: That person is so evil! You worked so hard writing…]

[Chen Yushan: How about… I'll buy you dinner tonight?]

Lu Zhou felt warm that someone cared for him so much. His fingers touched his phone and typed: [Another day. I still have to do an interview for Jin Ling Daily and I don't know when I'll finish.]

[Chen Yushan: You're going on the newspaper???]

[Lu Zhou: It's not because of something good though…]

Lu Zhou waited for a bit and Chen Yushan sent two messages.

[I believe in you!]

[You got this!]

What?

Lu Zhou laughed and then looked at the time on his phone.

It's about time!

Lu Zhou arrived in the classroom. In addition to Dean Lu, a couple of other leaders from the mathematical department were also present.

As they had seen Lu Zhou's theses, the professors' impression of him was good. Lu Zhou said hi to them and they even smiled at him.

Their own student was in the right, obviously they had to unite against the outside world.

The Jin Ling Daily reporter was preparing for the interview. Dean Lu took this time and dragged Lu Zhou aside to ask, "Are you ready? The reporter will tell you that you only have to answer the questions you know."

"I know," said Lu Zhou as he nodded.

Dean Lu did not say much. He patted his shoulders and said, "Then go ahead."

The interview began.

Lu Zhou sat on a chair in the classroom while he faced a camera and microphone. He was surprised to find himself calmer than expected.

The female reporter with a ponytail smiled at him. When she received the signal to begin, she said with the tone of a reporter, "Hello, I'm the reporter from Jin Ling Daily. Can I ask how you wrote nine SCI theses within a month?"

This question was expected.

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Actually, I didn't feel like it was too difficult. The nine theses were all related to the application of artificial intelligence, which is a relatively new field. I feel like my work wasn't very difficult. Also, I researched for quite a while before and I only started to write recently…"

The reporter chick nodded her head and looked at him in support. She continued to ask the second question, "Do you have anything to say regarding Mr. Zhu's question of your theses' value?"

"I think the proposition that my theses have no value is a false accusation. He doesn't know anything about computer science. Can he even understand my theses? Did he even check my calculations? He had probably never even read them or he can't even understand them…" said Lu Zhou impatiently.

"I think Mr. Zhu wouldn't be happy hearing this as he's a self proclaimed scientific writer," said the reporter as she laughed. She then continued to say, "But a first year… Or a soon to be second year student publishing in nine SCI theses within a month is a bit ridiculous. This is why the public is questioning you. Furthermore, Mr. Zhu brought up that the theses could be plagiarized or that it wasn't written by you…"

"Those are completely baseless accusations," shrugged Lu Zhou. He tried to maintain his cool, "I've written every single thesis in the library. I can ask the school for security tapes if you wish."

"There's no need for security tapes. You mentioned that you have also submitted a mathematics thesis, right?" The reporter sharply picked up on Lu Zhou's words and wanted to expand further on it.

Lu Zhou could not hide it. He would rather say it himself first before someone else digs it up and attacks him with it.

Lu Zhou nodded and admitted, "Yes, other than computer science theses, I have submitted two theses in the [ International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics] journal. One of them was during the time I wrote the nine theses. So, actually I wrote ten theses within a month."

The reporter heard him and her eyes lit up. Dean Lu's face went blue. He looked at Lu Zhou intensely, hoping to convince him not to continue speaking about this topic.

However, Lu Zhou purposely did not look at Dean Lu.

Since others had chosen a high-key profile for Lu Zhou, there was no use for him staying low-key. He had to stay high-key in order to fight back.

After all, this isn't a simple debate. It is difficult for me to disprove the accusations. If I said that the academic reviewers can prove the value of my theses, they can jump out and doubt the authenticity of the academic reviewers. They will suspect that the journal and school are covering me for their own reputation.

Maybe the public can critically think for themselves…

Never mind, it's impossible.

The overwhelming public opinion would defeat him, regardless of the truth.

Therefore, Lu Zhou had already decided.

He could not be a normal person. A genius was abnormal.

If you want to paint me as an academic cancer, then I will paint myself as a genius!

The reporter nodded her head. She was about to ask the next question when loud knocking sounds suddenly came from outside the classroom.

The reporter was interrupted. Dean Lu frowned but the teacher that came in spoke with a joyful tone.

"Dean Lu! Our school received a "Thank You" letter from New York University. The recipient is Lu Zhou!"

Chapter 40: Simply Outrageous

[Hello, Lu Zhou. This is New York University's Courant mathematical research department. First of all, thank you for submitting your research to the [ International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics] journal. One of your conclusions mentioned in the "Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functional" thesis made significant progress for our research collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute.]

[… The project is regarding seismic wave back spectrum analysis which is used in geological exploration and seismic research. Specific details of the project are under a confidentiality agreement. But I promise you, your research is used for peaceful purposes…]

[… When we found out that you are only 19 years old, Professor Rodwell and Professor Li of our institute expressed their surprise.

At the same time, I quite admire your talent in mathematics. While expressing gratitude for your research, we are also sincerely inviting you. If you are interested in coming to the US to study undergraduate and master's degrees, please be sure to contact us. The University of New York campus is open to you.]

Beijing, next to the Wudaokou college, in an old-fashioned apartment building.

The Jin Ling Daily was on the table and it quoted the letter from New York University. It selected parts from the letter and summarized the controversy on Weibo.

As for the origin of this newspaper, it was sent by his old classmate, who was the principal at the University of Jin Ling.

Also sent together was a copy of the English letter.

"Simply outrageous!"

The white-haired old man finished reading the newspaper, pushed his glasses, and shook his head. His finger on the table was shaking in anger.

A middle-aged man walked into the study room. When he saw the old man's face, he asked, "Dad, what make you this angry?"

"Look at this yourself," said the old man as he knocked on the newspaper with his finger.

The middle-aged man saw the newspaper's cover page and suddenly realized.

He was different than his old retired father who would spend his day walking the dog and playing chess. He actually used the Internet frequently. He had obviously heard of this trending news. He was just talking about this with his colleague yesterday.

It did not matter if the theses actually had a problem. A self-proclaimed "expert" trying to catch an undergraduate student, was a greedy tactic for fame.

He's just trying to steer up the pot, basically harassment.

You could even say that he's destroying intellectuals, how devious!

The man smiled and asked, "You know about this as well?"

"An outsider pointing fingers, how outrageous! I can't stand him! …"

It was like his turbid pupils fell into the memories of the past.

The old man opened his mouth. He then sighed suddenly and shook his head.

"Never mind, I'm not saying it. It's in the past."

Then, he looked at the newspaper again. It cited a blog post about the blogger named Zhu Fangcai.

"… This article is well written, similar to the custom of the past." said the old man. He supported himself on the chair armrests and stood up.

The middle-aged man asked, "Dad? You're going out? We're eating soon."

The old man waved his hand and walked towards the door, "I'm not eating. I'm going to my old classmate's house! I'm angry, my heart's feeling uncomfortable!"

…

The Thank-You letter that [Jinling Daily] posted changed the public's opinion.

A student acknowledged by New York University could not be academic cancer.

The people who were originally skeptical about Lu Zhou began to reflect on this new information.

New York University was ranked in Top 30 in the world. One could say that the University of Jin Ling was covering up their own reputation, but there was no reason for someone across the Pacific Ocean to do that, right? Furthermore, the Swiss research facility also sounded high-profile…

This report came out and Zhu Fangcai was outraged.

He could not sit still. He jumped out of his chair and published the third blog post.

He was no longer entangled in the academic value of the paper this time.

"Even though you can prove there's nothing wrong with the thesis, you still can't prove that you wrote it yourself!"

"How could an undergraduate student possibly write theses like this?"

"Who can prove it? The University of Jin Ling? Just because you went to the library a few times? I've been to the library countless times. How come I can't write 10 theses in a month?"

"You said that you're a genius. I don't believe it!"

Lu Zhou looked at Zhu Fangcai's blog post and thought, "It's because you're dumb…"

However, unfortunately, Lu Zhou's opponent did not give him this chance.

The argument was getting ugly.

Just when Lu Zhou thought that this controversy would continue, [Huaguo Youth Daily] published a report, breaking the stalemate.

The article title was dominating.

[Ambitions of a young hero!]

The article did not mention the online fight some time ago. It only reported a normal university student publishing eleven SCI theses this year. Furthermore, two professors from Wudaokou university evaluated these papers and that thank-you letter from across the ocean.

And his name was Lu Zhou.

Not only was this article published in the magazine but it was also posted on [Huaguo Youth Daily] official Weibo.

Also, [Everyone Daily] and several other media outlets re-posted it.

Lu Zhou was once again on trending.

However, this time he was on for a completely different reason…

Zhu Fangcai stared at his phone screen in rage. He could not stop sweating.

He suddenly realized that he was playing out of his league.

No one used to care about him and he could say whatever he wanted. Anyone that responded was also around his level and there was no one that could destroy him.

However now…

The media was blatantly trying to set Lu Zhou as an example of a stellar student. Yet, his argument was exactly the opposite of the media's propaganda.

This is bad…

What do I do?

Surrender?

But my fans wouldn't like it and my hard earned fans could all disappear.

But if I don't surrender…

Zhu Fangcai was actually scared that he was going to get called out next.

No matter how many fans one had, one could still easily get destroyed by the media.

At the exact moment, his phone rang.

It was a call from another education commentator named Zhong Bowen.

The guy wrote similar blogs, but less harsh. His views were not as radical as "Big Mouth" either. The people called him Old Zhong. He was a kind and good person.

"Zhu, just stop this thing. It's still not too late. If you continue on, I'm afraid there will be problems," said Old Zhong with a heavy heart.

"Old Zhong, it's not that I don't want to stop. I can't stop!" sighed Zhu Fangcai.

Old Zhong was heartbroken, "You think those universities are easy to mess with? Do you think that they don't have followers? Is this about followers?! Why did you go after a university of all things when you don't have alumni friends?"

"I didn't want to anger the University of Jin Ling. I just wanted to criticize that little kid. Anyone that saw ten theses in a month would also think that it's not normal, right? Who knew that their reaction would be so big? I think there must be a problem!" argued Zhu Fangcai.

"I think there's a problem with your brain," said Old Zhong. He could not help but insult him, "Think with your brain, an undergraduate student publishing 10 theses in a month, obviously he's not a normal person!"

Now that you put it this way…

You're right…

But now it's too late for regrets.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" said Zhu Fangcai as he sighed.

"This thing is easy to solve. They just want you to apologize. If you apologize, admit your mistakes, this thing would be over," said Old Zhong through the telephone.

"No way, I'd much rather take the lawsuit. A lawsuit wouldn't be too expensive… If I admit defeat, I would lose more," said Zhu Fangcai. He was struggling to speak. Finally, he shook his head, "At most, I won't speak as much."

There's no way I'm apologizing. I'm not apologizing ever.

I'll give them the silent treatment or we can go to court!

He had seen bigger storms than this!

He wrote that Longjing tea cured cancer and was sued by the government for a measly sixty thousand yuan. The court could force him to pay, but they could not force him to apologize!

Old Zhong sighed, shook his head, and said, "Then I won't help you, I wish you the best."

He hung up the phone.

Chapter 41: Come Take Your Delivery

Shunfeng building, CEO's office.

It was a lunch break.

"I wanted to help him in a time of need, but guess now he doesn't need our help," said Wang Wei as he looked at the number one trending and shook his head. He pressed like on the Everyone Daily's re-post.

At this moment, knocking sounds came from his door.

Wang Wei did not even lift his head when he said, "Come in."

The Head of Human Resources came in.

"CEO, should I delay the offer till the weekend?"

Wang Wei thought for a bit and replied, "Send it now. There's no point waiting."

This news actually affected [Everyone Daily], which he did not expect. However, when all of this was happening, he did not feel too surprised.

Smelling out politics was a must for any businessman.

The meaning was clear from the meeting two years ago.

The Internet was not exempt from laws. Freedom of speech did not mean that one could be unscrupulous. Zhu Fangcai relied on trending topics, used arrogant words, and shamed people for no reason at all. His days would get harder and harder.

Not to mention, he had negatively impacted society.

Without any concrete evidence, he used his own status and tarnished the reputation of an ambitious student. He used groundless phrases like "ten theses a month" and "academic cancer" to increase his popularity.

He was no different than a noisy child.

Now that Zhu Fangcai was scared, he stopped screwing around. He wanted to stay low-key, but it was not that easy to stay low-key.

The hand had already been raised and it was about to slap. It was a matter of how hard the slap was going to be.

If that big mouth was smart, he would slap himself and recognize his mistakes. Maybe then, this hand would not slap him.

However, the guy obviously was dumb…

Wang Wei thought for a bit and laughed. He touched his phone screen and re-posted the Everyone Daily's article. He even added a caption.

[Young boy, half a million per year salary. How about you come to work at Shunfung? (dog face)]

Press.

Send.

His comment section and messages blew up.

…

It had only been a week since the beginning of this controversy and it was already posted in the Huaguo Youth Daily.

Lu Zhou did not expect to win so dramatically.

Everyone Daily's re-post completely changed the direction of the public's opinion. The public saw the government's clarification and instantly jumped on the train of condemning Zhu's big mouth.

An undergraduate student that received recognition from New York University and the Swiss' Paul Scherrer Institute, whose computer science thesis got attention from a billion yuan enterprise, such a great student was called academic cancer?

Outrageous!

[Do you still get likes for insulting, Old Zhu?]

[I already said that the theses had no problems. Old Zhu loves to abuse people.]

[I have to kneel to this genius. I can't even write two theses in a year.]

[Everyone sits down and pray to study god (dog)]

[I feel like I wasted my four years in university…]

[As an international student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this phenomenon is very common in US. We generally call these people curve-wrecker, meaning curve destroyers, because their performance is always at the extreme ends of the normal distribution curve.]

[If the youth is strong the country is strong, like the Everyone Daily post! (fist) (fist)]

[…]

What made Lu Zhou hysterical was that he did not know who leaked his Weibo as he had received over two hundred thesis writing requests.

He had only recently registered this account and did not expect to amass fifty thousand followers.

On the other hand, Zhu Fangcai was attacked by the public. He was like a scared kitten. He did not release a statement nor did he go on Weibo.

He would never apologize.

But what was the point of being a turtle?

Even if one had a turtle shell made of metal, a person could still stomp you to death from above.

Zhu Fangcai never thought that his third insulting blog post would become the last blog he would ever post.

He opened his computer and logged in to see how many followers he had lost. He was astonished.

His Weibo account had been banned…

When Zhu Fangcai saw the news, he felt like he was surrounded by darkness and he nearly passed out.

He laid in his chair and stared blankly at the computer screen.

Over three million followers…

Gone in an instant.

What he was sad about was not only the fans that followed him, it was his five hundred thousand per month advertisement income.

His account was worth more than ten million yuan!

It was like his heart was bleeding. It was unbearable. Zhu Fangcai picked up the telephone and called Weibo's customer service.

As soon as someone picked up the phone, he started to shout: "Why did you guys ban my account? What did I do wrong! I'm warning you, if you don't explain this to me, I'll file a complaint!"

The customer representative heard his complaints calmly and said politely, "Hello sir, are you asking about your Weibo account?"

Zhu Fangcai was still angry. He remembered that he did not say his name and quickly calmed down, "My name is Zhu Fangcai."

"Please wait." After a while, the customer representative continued, "Hello sir, we suspended your Weibo account due to the posting of harmful information. You have violated [Weibo's user license agreement]…"

Zhu Fangcai was furious. He interrupted and angrily asked, "Which clause had I violated?! I'm using my freedom of speech. What gives you the right to stop me! I'm warning you. Unblock my account immediately or I'll take you to court…"

The customer service representative remained calm as he said, "My apologies. The violation was administered by the government's security network supervision department. We cannot unblock it. Please appeal through judicial channels."

Public security network supervision department…

We cannot unblock it…

Please appeal through judicial channels…

It was like every sentence ruthlessly mocked him.

Zhu Fangcai nearly started to bleed on the keyboard.

However, his streak of bad luck did not end. Just as he hung up the phone, he received another phone call.

When he picked up, Zhu Fangcai said depressingly, "Hello…"

"EMS parcel. Come downstairs can get your package."

Package?

I didn't buy anything online recently…

Zhu Fangcai paused for a second. Confused, he asked, "What package?"

"It's a document. Let me look at it for you. It seems to be a folder or something," said the delivery man. He stood next to his van and his phone was lodged between his neck and shoulder as he turned the package around and said, "Jin Ling's City… Court? It's definitely your package, come get it!"

Zhu Fangcai quietly hung up and threw his phone on the table.

He sprawled out in his chair and took out his pack of cigarettes before igniting one.

Through the smoke, he could see his own reflection in his phone's screen.

Suddenly, he realized that he looked like he's ninety years old…

Chapter 42: I Want To Be A Scientis

Lu Zhou saw that the Shunfeng CEO tagged him in his post and thought that it was just a joke. He did not expect to actually receive an offer from Shunfeng group.

However, as he did not have an email, the offer was sent by mail delivery to the school. It was actually Shunfeng that delivered the package.

Unfortunately, it was the school that called his phone and asked him to pick up the package. He did not even think that it could be the offer. He opened the package as soon as he got it and a few students around him saw it.

Perhaps some people had applied for jobs at Shunfeng because they recognized the package logo.

They thought about that trending Shunfeng post…

As of now, everyone knew that the CEO of Shunfeng was serious!

Not only was he famous on Weibo, but he was also famous in his WeChat friends' news feed. People posted stuff like "worship the god" and "worship the genius". He could not even be humble if he wanted to.

Although there were plenty of geniuses in a place like the University of Jin Ling, there were not that many that were on the level of Lu Zhou!

He had already received half a million yuan offer in his first year. Imagine if he graduated!

As for those students that had already graduated, they felt like they had wasted their four years at university. They studied the most popular majors, received a bunch of certificates, worked a couple of years, jumped a couple of ships, and even then, they only earned 20-30 thousand yuan per month.

When they looked in the mirror, they could only see themselves as a nearly retired middle-aged person.

A half a million yuan salary was something that most people could only dream of.

However, Lu Zhou was slightly upset.

He was stuck. What should he do with this offer?

He had read the offer multiple times since he received it yesterday. Shunfeng's offer was extremely attractive, half a million yearly salary, stock compensation in three years, etc.

Honestly speaking, when Lu Zhou looked at the salary, he was excited.

Of course, he was excited. He could work for a few years, then buy a house and a car. Then he just had to find a beautiful wife that could be worthy of him and his life would be set!

However, he thought about the system and became silent.

Although the system screwed him over countless times, the system still made him more valuable.

At least more valuable than a half a million salary…

"Zhou… Brother Zhou, have you decided on your offer?" asked Liu Rui. He wanted to shout Lu Zhou's name, but for some reason, he felt buried under Lu Zhou's popularity and changed his words.

Lu Zhou looked at Liu Rui. He paused for a second before saying, "Are you jealous right now?"

Liu Rui was stunned and he replied, "No sh*t! Who wouldn't be jealous?"

Was this question necessary!

Lu Zhou sighed, "But I… Want to reject the offer."

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

Even though he knew that Lu Zhou was pretending, he still could not help but ask.

"Why? It's such a good opportunity."

Lu Zhou looked at the sky and said, "I don't want that type of lifestyle."

When he saw Liu Rui's expression, he finally decided.

A half a million yuan salary was enough for many people to look up to, but it still was a goal for average people. Even a million yuan salary was the same.

He had the system, so why should he have to work for other people?

Lu Zhou decided.

He would never work for other people.

Liu Rui was silent for a while before asking, "Did you think about that kind of lifestyle? The life with that kind of money?"

"I want to be a scientist."

Liu Rui: "…"

I want to fight this guy…

…

After all, they sent the offer through an actual letter.

Lu Zhou felt that if he replied using his email, it might be a little disrespectful. Therefore, after a moment of consideration, he decided to call the phone number printed on the offer and gently reject them.

They listened to his speech and went silent for around ten seconds before saying, "Too little? Come to Shenzhen. We'll buy a plane ticket for you. We can discuss face to face."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Why is the human resource so overbearing?

The other end of the phone did not hear Lu Zhou speak and so, they coughed before saying calmly, "Let me introduce myself, I am Wang Wei."

The f*ck?

The phone number on the offer isn't for human resources?

This CEO has so much free time…

If Wang Wei knew what Lu Zhou was thinking, he would be furious.

Lu Zhou was not shaken by the guy who was in the Forbes' rich list. He took a deep breath and said, "It's not about the money. I think I haven't learned enough. There's so much more to learn. Therefore, even though your offer is attractive, I don't have the intention of working right now. I'm really sorry."

The other end of the phone did not give up. In an old man's tone, he continued to say, "A lot of things can be learned in the school of society and work. I believe that if you come to us, you'll learn many things that will interest you. And to tell you the truth, if you can write an algorithm like this, the university cannot offer you much help. What you need is opportunity and money that the school cannot give you but I can."

He talked until this point before pausing. He then laughed before continuing, "If you're worried that your education will be an obstacle for promotions, then you shouldn't be worried. Education background is more used to screen talent for normal people, not for talented people like you. I think that ability is more important than education and achievements."

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart while he secretly admired this guy.

No wonder this guy is on the Forbes list. His attitude of thirst is insane. If this was two months ago, I probably would've been worshiping this guy.

But now I realize I still have a lot to learn.

"Sorry," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He said with a clear voice, "Although I appreciate that you are looking at me so highly, right now, I don't have the plan to start working. I'm hoping that the next time we meet, it would be as business partners."

The other end of the phone paused before the sound of laughter came through.

"Hahahaha, I really look forward to that."

He was rejected so there was not much left to talk about.

Wang Wei hung up the phone, shook his head, and threw his phone on the table.

"This kid is pretty interesting."

Become a business partner of Shunfeng? Quite ambitious.

You better get some angel financing first!

There are too many entrepreneurs that have failed. Without capital, there is no chance to actualize technology.

He had seen too many people resigned in the name of entrepreneurship.

Chapter 43: Should You Forgive When Possible? Nope

It was in the afternoon at the same old lecture hall when Lu Zhou was doing an interview from [Huaguo Youth Daily].

Speaking of which, it was his second interview this month.

The interview was different compared to the last one. This time, the Huaguo Youth Daily reporter told Lu Zhou that not only would the interview be published in the newspaper, but the video might also be published online as well. Due to this, Lu Zhou was slightly nervous when the interview began.

A pretty young woman interviewed him. Her voice was pleasant and similar to a radio broadcaster's voice.

The lady smiled and said, "Hello, Student Lu, can we begin?"

Lu Zhou nodded his head and said, "Yes, please ask away."

"You don't have to be nervous. The questions are simple," said the reporter with a smile. She nodded as a signal for the cameraman to begin before speaking with a professional tone, "First of all, I want to ask how do you study normally? Any tricks or tips?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and replied, "I don't really have any tricks. I just go to the library and study there. It's not much different than other students."

"Really? Then I think Student Lu must be a genius of some sort," said the report with a smile. She continued, "From our interview with other students, we heard that you still work part-time. I would like to ask, how are you able to study and work at the same time?"

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "I work mostly because of my family's financial situation. I think that if you manage your time well, you can study and work at the same time."

Meanwhile, in his heart, he was thinking about the opposite.

Work didn't affect my studies?

Bullsh*t!

The reporter asked, "I heard that you have a younger sister in high school?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, she's about to be in Grade 11 after the summer."

The reporter smiled and continued to ask, "For your sister and other students preparing for the university entrance exam, do you have anything to say?"

Lu Zhou looked into the camera and smiled brightly, "I support you!"

Done.

The interview was already over.

The last question was a type of "hidden advertisement" that the school requested. Lu Zhou answered all of the other questions honestly.

The interview ended and the Huaguo Youth Daily reporter packed up the equipment with the help from the school staff. They still had to write reports from other students.

For the University of Jin Ling, this debate could be said to be a great victory. Not only did they cleared up their own grievances, but the media also praised their name.

Which university could train such a talented undergraduate student?

Even though the school did not necessarily cultivate the student, it still brought honor to the school!

At the last school leader meeting, Principal Xu Jian said Lu Zhou's name twice, which made the mathematical department seemed very respectable. Especially Dean Lu, his face was full of smiles for half of the meeting.

What counts as a good achievement for the mathematical department?

This counts as a good achievement!

The staff handed a water bottle to Lu Zhou and he was taking a sip when he saw Dean Lu walking over to him.

The dean patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said with a smile, "Your interview was good. The school leader called and told me to tell you not to work part-time anymore and to quit jobs like sorting packages and handing out flyers. Try not to do them if possible. If there are difficulties in your life, the school has scholarships."

The sentence implied that the next scholarship was his.

Lu Zhou asked cautiously, "Then is tutoring okay?"

"Of course! I support with both of my hands up!" said Dean Lu with a smile. He continued, "The school does not want to prevent you from working. It's just… When choosing a job, think about the type of work you're doing and try not to choose a time wasting and difficult job."

The dean was actually afraid of people gossiping.

What if someone tried to twist the story and asked why the school was forcing such an excellent student to go hand out flyers or dressing up as mascots? What if they asked where were the scholarships?

Lu Zhou heard Dean Lu and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was happy to be allowed to continue tutoring.

The scholarship would only be ten thousand yuan, plus it was only a one-time thing. He would earn more just by tutoring.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," said Dean Lu as he cleared his throat. While laughing, he said, "Our school has decided to formally prosecute the person who affected your life a while ago. The prosecuting lawyer is Professor Wang Haihe from our law school. We won't ruin him, but we'll at least make him pay the price he deserves! You might have to testify in court. That's not a problem, right?"

Inviting a law professor to court was pretty disrespectful towards the opponent.

There may even be a couple of students standing in the court.

Lu Zhou imagined this in his mind.

He stood up immediately and said, "I don't mind! Please inform me to be present if necessary!"

A genius student has to use all his strength to defeat the opponent!

Sparing people? Impossible.

You have to kill an insect like this!

Lu Zhou did not mention that he did not have the time nor the energy to sue. Now that the school offered to help him, obviously he would not refuse them. He could not wait to go to court.

The interview finished and Lu Zhou went to the research building.

Earlier, he had told Professor Tang about the offer that he received. Professor Tang asked him to come to the office and wanted to talk about it with him.

"… Offer for half a million? You really rejected it?" asked Professor Tang when he heard Lu Zhou's decision. He found it hard to believe because he knew that Lu Zhou was hungry for money.

Half a million.

Professor Tang heard two graduate students talking about this. They complained about how they did not get this lucky. They would have accepted the job if it was just 250k.

"Professor, I've already thought about it clearly. I want to dedicate my youth to scientific research. The money will not erode my dreams," said Lu Zhou with a serious tone.

Professor Tang suddenly realized that not only was this kid hungry for money, he also had another bad trait.

It was dishonesty… He loved to brag…

But after all, this doesn't seem too bad?

At least, he could back it up with his grades. It's better than those arrogant people with no skill.

"I'm very pleased that you can make such a wise decision. Your future is definitely brighter than half a million salary. I originally planned to persuade you not to take the job, but now it seems that there is no need for that…"

Professor Tang paused before he continued, "Also, about the invitation from that New York University. As a professor from the University of Jin Ling, I wish for you to stay. But as a teacher, I have to tell you that the invitation from NYU is a huge opportunity for you. Think about it clearly."

If he was a good student, Jin Ling would not care about him. However, Lu Zhou was a student that produced stellar results. Naturally, the school wanted him to stay in the country and in school. After all, publishing SCI theses as an undergraduate student was impressive. He might even have an opportunity to win the Field Prize once he began to pursue his master's degree.

Studying abroad in the US?

It seems expensive.

Not to mention the problem of language and culture.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head. He said with a smile, "I think I shouldn't. The University of Jin Ling is pretty good, I told my little sister that I'll wait here for her."

A smile emerged on Professor Tang's face as he said, "It's great that you think that. The school leader asked me to do an "ideological education" on you, but now it seems unnecessary. If you stay at University of Jin Ling, I promise you that you will receive a graduate spot and scholarships."

Lu Zhou smiled, "That's… Thank you very much!"

"This is our obligation," said Professor Tang with a nod. He smiled and added, "Okay, I've nothing else to say. Go and reply to New York University, then prepare for your modeling competition. I hope I can see your name on the the list of first prize winners."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded, "Yes, for sure!"

Chapter 44: Resentment From Loners

Morning, in the library.

Once Lu Zhou was finally freed from the controversy, he came here to study.

As usual, he met Chen Yushan, who was studying for the graduate entrance exam.

They were discussing mathematics and started to talk about what happened recently.

Chen Yushan's eyes widened when she heard that Lu Zhou rejected the offer.

"You rejected the offer from Shunfeng?"

That's half a million yuan salary!

That's unlike him…

"Yeah, I can't just stop studying and work in Shenzhen," said Lu Zhou as he rolled his eyes. He added, "That would kill my father."

"Oh yeah, if you accepted the job, you can't continue with your studies," said Chen Yushan as she nodded. She poked her chin with a pen and said, "Then don't go. Getting a bachelor's degree is important."

Lu Zhou laughed.

From his perspective, the bachelor's degree was not that important.

It was just that the missions were easier to complete in a school. He could read all the books in the library, download all the research material for free, and he could even talk to the professors.

God knows what kind of impossible missions the system would give him once he left school.

He should stay in the school before he levels up. He wanted to start a tech business and there was no better place to do research than in a university.

Chen Yushan said, "Oh yeah, my auntie wanted me to ask if you are free tonight."

Lu Zhou replied, "I'm free, what's up?"

Chen Yushan said, "She wants to buy us dinner."

"Dinner? Why?" asked Lu Zhou as he looked at Chen Yushan curiously.

Why would she want to buy me dinner for no reason?

Of course, if someone insisted on buying him food, he definitely would not refuse.

Chen Yushan said with a smile, "You've been tutoring my cousin, right? This month's exams results came out and her maths score was better than expected. My auntie wants to buy you dinner as a show of appreciation. Of course, I'm the one that got you this job, so I should take credit as well. I'm going too."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "What did she get?"

"116! She was ecstatic when she heard the result. So was my auntie! I haven't seen her that happy for a long time," said Chen Yushan. She pouted, "See I told you that you would be good at teaching mathematics."

High school mathematics…

Reviewing the outline, going over the mistakes, and the book "High School Exams Done In Three Years."

If you had these three things and some time, your results would not be bad. However, if you want high scores, then it would depend on talent. Some people were naturally gifted toward numbers. It was impossible to catch up with hard work if you were not gifted.

For example, Lu Zhou had a high school classmate that could do two-dimensional equations without a pen. He could just do it in his head. Every time the maths teacher would talk about losing easy marks in the exam, she would mention that genius.

Han Mengqi actually had some talent for science. Once you taught her something once, she would never get it wrong again. If she had the right attitude towards learning, she could easily catch up.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe because your cousin and my sister are around the same age. Dealing with teenagers her age is mostly about communication."

"You have a sister?" asked Chen Yushan as her eyes lit up.

At the exact moment, there was a heavy cough coming from the front row.

The pair sensed a strong hint of a complaint and shut their mouth up.

The resentment was coming from the loner sitting near them.

Chen Yushan poked her tongue out. She took her exercise book and moved the chair back to her spot.

It was hard to chat and laugh in the library. Even if they were quiet, the people that were studying could still hear them. Lu Zhou knew this and smiled. He was embarrassed and he quickly stopped talking and started to read his book.

Yesterday, he finished the book [Topology]. He had finished all the mathematics on the book list. The next subject waiting for him was information science.

The system did not generate that many information science books on the book list. There were only three in total. One of them involved a new algorithm while the other two mainly contained advanced knowledge of C++.

What was annoying was that it would be difficult to learn advanced programming just from reading the textbook. He had to read a lot of other materials. It was also not easy to pick out a valuable thesis from the big sea of computer science.

It was also at this moment that Lu Zhou profoundly realized that the real "academic cancer" were those that submitted substandard theses. Disgusting.

…

In the evening, Lu Zhou packed up his things and walked to the school gate with Chen Yushan.

A white Maserati stopped at the side of the ride and a young girl in a dress stood outside the opened door.

When Han Mengqi saw the two, she waved in their direction.

Speaking of which, it was Lu Zhou's first time seeing Mrs. Yang's car. The high-end vehicle shocked him.

People that own a company are so rich.

This car is worth more than most people's houses.

Han Mengqi saw her cousin and hugged her with a smile as she said, "Sis, you finally came. I've been waiting for a long time."

She was very warm to her friends and family, but very shy towards strangers. Lu Zhou had never seen her so cheerful and relaxed.

Of course, it was because she did well in her exam last month. Since she was about to go on a month long summer vacation, obviously the little girl was very happy.

At this moment, Mrs. Yang opened the car door as well and walked outside.

When she saw Lu Zhou, she smiled and nodded at him.

"Teacher Lu, thank you for teaching Meng Qi mathematics."

"You're welcome. It's my duty," replied Lu Zhou with a smile.

Speaking of which, it was the first time he saw Mrs. Yang with a smile that was not a courtesy smile. However, it seemed that the tension between the mother and the daughter had not reduced. When Han Mengqi saw her mother, she dropped her smile and did not even look at her.

Mrs. Yang did not care for her daughter's coldness. She greeted her niece, smiled, and said, "Let's get in the car." She then went back inside the car.

Han Mengqi took one of the back seats. Chen Yushan and Lu Zhou exchanged looks.

Lu Zhou, "Who is sitting in the front?"

Chen Yushan, "Maybe… I'll go?"

Lu Zhou, "Okay then."

Chen Yushan opened the car door and sat in the front while Lu Zhou sat in the back with Han Mengqi.

The car started.

When Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou, she pouted her mouth, cleared her throat, and said, "Hey, I have good news for you."

Lu Zhou felt like the news was related to Mengqi and so, he smiled and said, "What news?"

Han Mengqi turned her eyes away and said, "I'm not telling you. Guess what I got for my monthly exam!"

"116?"

"Hey, someone told you! It doesn't count! My sister told you, right?!" said Han Mengqi as she looked up with a dissatisfied expression. Chen Yushan who was sitting in front was secretly laughing.

Who cares if it counts or not, it's not like we bet money.

Lu Zhou looked bored.

"Meng Qi," said Mrs. Yang while driving.

Han Mengqi pouted but she did not speak.

It was obvious that she still hated her mother.

Well, her mother did installed dozens of security cameras at home. Who would not hate a mother like that?

It was slightly awkward inside the car because of the tension between the mother and daughter. Chen Yushan occasionally chatted with her aunt while Han Mengqi just stared outside the window and remained silent.

At this moment, Mrs. Yang asked, "I heard that you rejected the offer from Shunfeng Group?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said with a gentle smile, "Yeah I did. How do you know about this?"

Mrs. Yang asked, "You want to start your own business?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I do actually have plans for that, but right now, I'm focusing on my academics."

Mrs. Yang nodded her head and said, "If you have any good ideas and need funding, give me a call. Even though I can't help you much, I can introduce you to some angel investors. Of course, whether or not you can get the funding is still dependent on how you shine and how your presentation goes."

Lu Zhou sat. He was alert as he listened intently.

The words from a successful experienced person were something that he could not learn in a college class.

However, Han Mengqi did not seem to like her mother's lecture and she muttered, "You're already off work, can you stop talking about work…"

The daughter's words shocked Mrs. Yang slightly.

The car once again descended into silence.

Chapter 45: Thinking About Fear

The car stopped.

Lu Zhou had not expected this. He thought that Mrs. Yang would take them to an unusual place, but the destination was actually a small street far away from the city.

The marble decorated entrance was deep inside a strange street. Instead of being buried by the small shops, it stood out.

Maybe this is the style of the rich?

Lu Zhou did not understand.

They got off from the car. Mrs. Yang walked in front and lead the group of people into the restaurant.

The decor of the restaurant was completely different from the entrance. It was like a different world. Water was flowing through the marble statues while the various plants represented a western style. In fact, the restaurant brought out a sense of beauty between China and the west.

With a western restaurant like this in the middle of nowhere, Lu Zhou knew that the owners must be insanely rich.

"Four people."

"This way, please," said the waiter as he made a gesture. He guided the group of people onto the second floor.

Han Mengqi refused to sit with her mom and so, she sat next to Lu Zhou.

Just like back in the car, Chen Yushan sat next to her auntie.

The group sat down and the waiter brought four glasses of lemonade while placing two menus on the table.

Mrs. Yang flipped through the menu. With a gentle smile, she said, "This restaurant is quite good. It's very quiet and there's no city noise here. In a place like the City of Jin Ling, it's difficult to find such a restaurant. I recommend the steak here. If you don't fancy the steak, the paella is quite good as well. Today is my treat so order whatever you want."

"Then I'll order…" murmured Lu Zhou as he smiled cautiously. When he looked at the menu, his eyebrows jumped.

Mother f*cker, so expensive!

888 yuan for steak? What the hell is that? I'll order the fried rice… Hundreds of yuan for the rice?

This is a scam!

However, when he saw Mrs. Yang's expression, it looked like she did not feel that there was anything wrong with it.

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

Rich people's concept of money is on a completely different level than mine.

Han Mengqi did not mind. She took the menu from Lu Zhou and quickly flipped it over. She pointed to a picture and said, "I want the applewood steak! And this ice-cream…"

Naturally, Chen Yushan ordered as well.

It was Lu Zhou's turn.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and eventually decided on the Spanish paella.

He did not want to waste their time. Besides, he had never eaten it before. Also, eating with a knife was too fancy for him. He did not want to embarrass himself.

As for Mrs. Yang, she only ordered a salad.

Lu Zhou looked at the picture of the salad and he wondered if Mrs. Yang would actually be full just from eating the salad.

Perhaps it was because there were not a lot of people in the restaurant, the dishes arrived quickly.

Lu Zhou looked at the steamy seafood risotto and could not help but drool over it.

Especially the green mussels and scallops sprinkled in garlic, it looked very delicious!

Lu Zhou had not even picked up his spoon when Han Mengqi stole a piece of mussel.

Lu Zhou's eyebrows jumped. He did not want to step down to the same level as her so he pretended like he did not see anything.

However, Han Mengqi's movement had not escaped her mother's watchful eyes.

Sure enough, Mrs. Yang said sternly, "Meng Qi."

Han Mengqi's smile faded and she looked towards the side.

"Mrs. Yang… I think there's no need to be so strict. Han Mengqi is just joking," said Lu Zhou with a smile as he tried to mediate the situation.

"This is about politeness," said Mrs. Yang seriously. She did not give in.

Lu Zhou looked helpless and did not say anything.

He really could not comment much on how to educate other people's children.

He just felt sympathetic towards her…

The vibe was quiet during dinner.

Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan sensed the cold war between the mother and daughter. When they glanced at each other, they saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Chen Yushan, "Sorry, I didn't know it would be like this."

Lu Zhou, "It's okay, actually I expected it…"

What?

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that he seemed to have mastered a new skill.

He could communicate with people just by looking in their eyes?

What is this?

Did I develop this from looking at her in the library?

Or is it the system…

Lu Zhou had to confirm this and so, he looked at Han Mengqi.

Emmm…

It seemed useless.

Han Mengqi saw that Lu Zhou was acting weird. Blushing, she asked, "Why, why are you looking at me?"

"Oh, nothing. It just looks like you're enjoying your food," said Lu Zhou. He realized what he was doing and quickly diverted his sight.

Fortunately, Mrs. Yang got up from the seat earlier to take a call. She did not pay any attention to the two.

It wouldn't be good if that strict woman saw this…

Anyway, Han Mengqi actually believed Lu Zhou's reason. She threw a small piece of steak into her mouth and said while chewing, "Well, it's okay, but it's not as good as your cooking."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed from the compliment and said, "There's no point in complimenting me."

"I never lie. You don't have to believe it," said Han Mengqi as she rolled her eyes.

"You cook as well?" asked Chen Yushan. She looked across at Lu Zhou and with a tone of being surprised, she said, "I didn't know…"

"Of course, he's very good! That… That mapo tofu is super delicious," replied Han Mengqi before Lu Zhou could even speak.

It was like she was showing off.

"It sounds spicy," murmured Chen Yushan as she shrunk her neck.

She was still feeling the spiciness from that time Lu Zhou took her to eat spicy hotpot.

At this moment, Mrs. Yang came back to her seat. Next to her was a man that looked very polished.

"Meng Qi, aren't you going to say hi to uncle?" asked the man with a smile.

"Uncle, hi. Uncle, bye," replied Han Mengqi awkwardly. She did not even lift her head.

"This kid…" sighed Mrs. Yang. She looked at the man apologetically as she explained, "I'm sorry. Meng Qi is like this towards everyone."

"It's okay," said the man with an awkward smile. He greeted Chen Yushan before looking at Lu Zhou. His eyes lit up as he asked, "You're Lu Zhou, right?"

Lu Zhou was surprised. He did not know he was famous enough to be recognized.

Even on campus, only a few people could recognize him.

Even though Lu Zhou was confused as to how the man knew his name, he still stood up and politely shook his hand, "Hello, and you are?"

"I'm the manager of this restaurant. I'm also Mrs. Yang's friend," answered the man with a smile as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. When he released his hand, he said, "You rejected an offer from CEO Wang, right? This boy is good."

"It's just that I'm busy with school and I think I don't know enough yet," answered Lu Zhou humbly. In reality, he was actually complaining in his heart.

Why are there so many people mentioning this? It's just rejecting an offer.

"I'm Du Haifeng. Let's talk again in the future," said Du Haifeng. He handed a business card to Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "You guys can continue eating. I won't bother you anymore."

Maybe because he sensed the coldness coming from Han Mengqi or he was busy. Regardless, he left.

Lu Zhou sat back down and looked at the business card as he thought, "Shareholder of Haifeng Capital?"

I have to take care of this business card.

Connections are always useful.

If Lu Zhou wanted to start a business in the future, he would need contacts in this area.

Han Mengqi saw Lu Zhou accepting the man's business card and seemed to be somewhat unhappy.

Lu Zhou noticed her change of emotion and analyzed.

Maybe Mr. Du has a relationship with Mrs. Yang?

They're all adults. One is a charming woman that has an unfortunate family while the other is a talented mature man. If some TV shows like drama happened between them, it is to be expected.

Emm…

This is a bit difficult to evaluate.

Once emotions are involved in the family, it complicates everything.

Lu Zhou did not want to intervene in other people's lives and he was very sure of it.

Han Mengqi glanced at her mom and lowered her voice as she whispered to Lu Zhou, "This guy isn't a good person. Be careful."

"Okay," said Lu Zhou. He misunderstood what Mengqi meant and so, he looked at her in a caring way. In fact, he felt sympathetic towards her.

Although she said she doesn't care about having a step-father, if the parents actually remarried, the child will create conflicts, right?

Lu Zhou obviously did not take what Han Mengqi said into account. She was anxious as she said, "I'm serious!"

Lu Zhou looked at her strangely as he said nonchalantly, "I believe you…"

"You!" Han Mengqi clenched her teeth. She looked left and right before lowering her voice to say, "I saw… Mr. Du likes men."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

That last sentence was shocking.

He remembered him saying, "This boy is good."

Lu Zhou was so scared that he nearly threw the business card out the window.

Chapter 46: Studying Python All Nigh

After dinner, Mrs. Yang sent Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan back to the school.

Before leaving, Han Mengqi said goodbye, albeit reluctantly.

Her summer vacation was starting tomorrow.

According to Mrs. Yang, she would be staying in Shanghai with her father for the entire summer vacation. Obviously, she would be unable to get tutoring during that time.

The next tutoring session would be in September.

As Chen Yushan and Lu Zhou walked towards the dorms, she turned around and asked, "I'm going to study vocabulary when I get back to the dorm. How about you?"

Lu Zhou thought about it and said, "I'm going to the library."

Chen Yushan said, "Little brother, you're studying so hard as a first-year student. I'm feeling the pressure from you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "I'm not working that hard. I'm not the only one staying at school. There's another one in my dorm."

Chen Yushan looked at the sky and sighed, "Are all new students like this?"

The two separated when they were near their dorms. Lu Zhou first went to the library to pack his stuff that was left on the table. He then went to Building A and when he found an empty classroom, he turned on the light.

Once he found a seat to sit down, Lu Zhou poured the contents of his backpack on the table. When he looked at the clock on the wall, it was exactly eight o'clock.

"If I take a focus capsule now, and the effective time is five hours, the drug effect would last until exactly one o'clock."

"From my previous test, at most I can maintain would be until around five o'clock ."

"I'll wake up at twelve, eat lunch at the cafeteria… Then I'll go to the school's computer room."

Lu Zhou unscrewed the mineral water bottle and took a deep breath. He then took a pill from the bottle, threw it in his mouth, and swallowed.

He felt the sensation of an ant climbing on him again. The ant crawled from the back of his head to the eyebrows and soon, everything in his field of vision became clearer than ever.

It was like he was cheating…

Wait no, he was cheating!

Lu Zhou did not waste a second. He quickly took out the [Python Language Introduction Tutorial] textbook and started to read from the first page.

There was a joke that said that if one wants lazy programmers to start working, the best thing to do was to ask them, "Which language is the best?!"

They would be divided into answers such as "C++", "Java", "Python", etc. Then, they would work hard until they proved that their language was the best.

Therefore, it was actually meaningless to argue which language was the best. The most appropriate language was the best language.

A good programmer would need to master more than one language. It was like a general had to know more than commanding infantry. They had to command high mobile cavalries, long-range archers…

As for stuff like tanks, cannons, and airplanes, they might be stored in the system database, but Lu Zhou was unable to come in contact with them.

Functionally speaking, C++ was more like a swiss army knife. It had strong operability and could do anything. One could do small tasks with it, but for large projects, it was not that feasible.

For example, if one wanted to build a car, one would have to start from the wheel.

In contrast, Python was similar to Java. It was a higher level of language and a wheel in itself.

If one wanted to build a car quickly, Python was undoubtedly the best choice. It was simple and fast. It was the best code cavalry in the world! The code was also highly readable so the users would not have to spend so much time on syntax. It could realize the user's ideas in the shortest amount of time. For example, if one wanted to build a webpage, Python would be much easier and looked much more concise than C++.

Lu Zhou had already mastered the basic skills of C++. Therefore, it was easy for him to learn Python. He only needed the time to memorize the basics.

As for the actual operation methods of Python, he could learn it tomorrow. He believed that he could learn it well without help from the focus capsule.

…

The next day, Lu Zhou's head was on the table. When he opened his eyes, he was confused. There was a red print of his hand on his face.

Just like the previous times, when his brain was overloaded to the critical point, he would pass out. He did not even have to try to fall asleep.

This type of feeling was very enjoyable and it was better than drinking. On one hand, the brain was being filled with knowledge. On the other hand, his soul was being pushed to the limit to the point that it was almost like he was becoming immortal…

The only thing was that the after effects were obvious, especially his sleeping position. Half of his butt was in the air. When he stood up, he could not feel his right thigh and nearly fell on the ground.

"I think I need to request the school to put a bed in the classroom… Seems a bit unrealistic though," said Lu Zhou as he held onto the desk. His brain felt groggy.

[Mission progress 11/30]

He finished the entire [Python Language Introduction Tutorial] last night. While he was not proficient in Python, at least he knew the basics.

What time is it?

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall and his expression changed.

Oops, it's almost two o'clock! The cafeteria is closed!

I'll die on the way if I try to eat outside of the school.

Lu Zhou changed his facial expression and sighed.

Oh well, I'll just eat some instant noodles for lunch.

Since he ate expensive food yesterday, he would just take it easy today.

Lu Zhou went to the supermarket and bought some instant noodles before heading back to the school building.

The building had a hot water machine. One just had to swipe one's card and it was free as well. The only inconvenient part was the water speed varied and it was easy to burn one's hand.

Lu Zhou soaked his noodles and when he found a random classroom on the first floor, he sat in the front row and started to slurp on his noodles.

When he finished the cup of noodles, he was glad to finally had some food in his stomach.

He wiped his mouth and was about to throw out the trash when he suddenly heard heavy coughing coming from the back.

What?

There's someone in the classroom?

Lu Zhou's had an awkward expression. He failed to notice that there was someone when he came in earlier.

He turned around and looked.

What a coincidence!

It's Wang Xiaodong!

Lu Zhou walked up and greeted him before asking, "You didn't go home either?"

Wang Xiaodong did not say anything. He had an "of course" look that was plastered on his face.

After that, the conversation stopped.

Lu Zhou had wanted to say hello before leaving. However, when he was about to leave, Wang Xiaodong noticed a book in Lu Zhou's bag that he had read before.

Wang Xiaodong's eyebrows jumped as he asked, "You're reading a programming book?"

What?

Did this guy not go on Weibo or WeChat?

Lu Zhou looked at the genius.

He talked about his nine computer science theses in the [Huaguo Youth Daily] interview. Why would anyone be surprised that he was studying programming?

Lu Zhou felt weird but did not think that it was out of the ordinary.

Lu Zhou was a humble person and so, he smiled and said humbly, "Yeah, I've been interested in it recently, so I looked at it for a bit."

"Python language? It's a very excellent language, suited for beginner programmers. You're a first year, so you've already studied C++, right? If you want to learn code at a deeper level, Python is a great choice. Do you have a book list? A study plan?" asked Wang Xiaodong. His eyes lit up as this was a topic that he knew a lot about. He rarely spoke this much.

"Oh, I'm just looking at it casually. I don't have a plan…"

Lu Zhou felt as if the guy's enthusiasm was hard to deal with.

"No, you can't do that. Programming is an esoteric field. You have to use planned systematic learning to build up your foundation. I can recommend a few books for you. You can find them in the library. Go and look at them if you're interested," said Wang Xiaodong. Lu Zhou did not even reply but Wang Xiaodong took a pen and started to write a long list of books on a piece of paper.

Lu Zhou saw him writing the list of books and cringed. He could not help but think, "Is this guy also this annoying in front of Lin Yuxiang?"

It's amazing that she can tolerate him…

While Lu Zhou was very grateful for the book list by the genius, he probably would not use it.

"If you've something you don't understand, you can ask me," said Wang Xiaodong with an expressionless face while he pushed his glasses up.

"For sure…"

Lu Zhou talked for a while with him before he carried his empty instant noodle cup and left the room.

Chapter 47: Developing An App Exper

The computer room was deserted with not a single person in sight.

After all, this was during the summer vacation. The students studying for the graduate entrance exam would not normally use computers.

Lu Zhou went to adjust the air conditioner and sat down. He entered his own student ID and password and skillfully logged onto the computer.

The reason why he chose the school's computer room was mainly due to the fact that programs written in Python had to be run on a Linux computer. Thus, learning Python with a Linux operating system was necessary.

Also, Lu Zhou's second-hand laptop was too crappy. It took forever just to convert a thesis into a PDF file. When he played League of Legends, everyone would be connected but he would be stuck at the fountain. Running a dual operating system or a virtual machine was impossible.

"The textbook explained this clearly. I didn't expect it to be so difficult to actually do… Sure enough, to write on paper and to actually code are two completely different things. I guess I would have to learn this by practice."

It was the first time that Lu Zhou had used a Linux computer. He looked at the instructions that he borrowed from the library and finally figured it out.

Speaking of which, it made sense that Windows took over such a huge OS market share. Even a noob that had never touched a computer before could use the Windows' interface.

However, the Linux system was different. It was mainly based on command-line operations. Everything had to be done through the keyboard. Fortunately, the school installed a distribution with a desktop environment. Thus, Lu Zhou could still use the mouse.

Of course, there were obvious advantages of the Linux operating system. It had superior customizability and security, making it more suitable for servers. Also, once one was familiar with the command line operations, one's efficiency would be several times higher than using Windows. Therefore, many companies would ask programmers if they could use Linux OS before recruiting them.

Lu Zhou was finally familiar with Linux's basic operations. He opened up a Python software, opened up the textbook, and sat in front of the computer.

"I heard one of the best uses of Python is to write a web crawler. If I want to take my knowledge to the test, this should be a good place to start. But what kind of crawler should I code?"

Lu Zhou fell into deep thought.

Crawl blogs on Weibo?

Crawl posts on Tieba?

Seems pretty boring.

The key is that the data crawled is useless and I can't even store them if it was too large.

Suddenly, his heart ached. He recalled the painful experience of buying a train ticket to go home. It was not because his computer was slow, but because the user interface of the railway website was horrible.

"Use crawler technology to crawl the stations, trains, and ticket information from the website [12306]… Seems to be feasible."

Lu Zhou thought that since he was here, he did not want to waste any more time and immediately began to work.

After all, the crawler program was mentioned in the textbook as it was a typical example of the application of Python. The book even provided different calculation methods for different situations.

Of course, 12306 was not an average forum website. Targeting this website as a beginner was quite difficult.

However, for a genius like Lu Zhou, who studied the entire textbook, it was not a big problem. Technically, the crawler itself was not too difficult. The entire program was less than 30 lines. It compiled perfectly with no bugs.

It was time for grabbing.

Lu Zhou copied the URL of the website into the code and ran the script. He downloaded the data into a spreadsheet file he created.

Immediately after, the computer fan began to hum. The computer was running with the lines of code flashing in the black terminal box. The data was automatically entered into the spreadsheet.

Lu Zhou looked at the spreadsheet being filled and leaned against the chair.

"Python is so convenient. No wonder so many experts recommend this language."

Lu Zhou looked at the lines of data flashing and felt like a hacker.

However, that was just an illusion. This was completely different than actual hacking. It was not illegal to crawl public information from a server. At most, the server administrator would be pissed off that he was using the server's bandwidth.

Therefore, many "selfish" websites had set up anti-crawling measure. One could not crawl any information from them. Even if one did, the information crawled would be garbage. Other less advanced websites could monitor the number of visits and block the IP address.

However, the 12306 website was unselfish. The giant monopoly did not even care about the user experience. Obviously, it would not care about the server's resources. As long as one did not take down their server, no one cared!

Lu Zhou looked at the lines of data piling up in the spreadsheet. He started to wonder if he should do something else?

"Make a ticket-buying website? Seems kind of redundant…"

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Lu Zhou's head.

What if…

I make a ticket-buying app?

He thought of his idea and could not control his excitement.

Although there were many third-party ticket booking websites, there were not that many apps. If he could make an outstanding app, he could even make some money off it.

Lu Zhou thought about money and he was suddenly interested. His mind started to calculate.

Technically, it was very difficult to independently build an app, full stack. It was far more difficult than writing a simple crawler program, but it was not impossible. He could use the system to solve difficult problems. After all, spending general points to buy knowledge was a part of learning.

Once he completed the mission and unlocked the artificial intelligence technology branch, it would definitely come in handy.

It was just that the servers could be expensive. Even the electricity bills and the various maintenance costs could be pretty expensive…

He had less than ten thousand yuan in his bank account and so, he could not do anything…

Lu Zhou bit his teeth and decided to overcome these problems.

If I can reject a half a million yuan salary, I can do anything!

Even if he failed, he could use it as a learning lesson.

Therefore, Lu Zhou terminated the program. He did not rush to change the code. He opened up a Word document and just like a thesis, he started to write an application development outline.

"I have to crawl real-time data of the train ticket. The server requirements are very high and so, the code has to be as efficient as possible!"

"The interface can be simple. But the information has to be accurate and comprehensive. I should look at third-party ticket booking apps as a reference, but I can't be completely similar… I have to come up with an original idea…"

Lu Zhou wrote until this part and his finger rubbed the keyboard gently. He thought for a long time and began to tap on the keyboard again.

"First of all, to automatically buy the tickets is not new. A lot of other browsers have this feature."

"But to automatically buy the tickets offline… I haven't seen that yet."

Lu Zhou thought back to last winter vacation. He had to refresh the website in his dorm for nearly half an hour before he managed to book a couple of tickets. He felt that it was difficult for people to go home for the New Year.

To constantly refreshed the official website would give one a low probability of getting a ticket as there might be some which might be tickets that were refunded from others. Lu Zhou did not know where the tickets could come from, but the function could be considered.

For example, setting a time period and several train times. The server would automatically refresh the data and submit the request the moment the ticket appears. He had used several ticket snatching software, and so far, this feature did not seem to be available.

Furthermore, the concept did not seem that hard to implement.

Lu Zhou thought until this point before he looked at the clock.

It's three o'clock in the afternoon!

Lu Zhou saved the Word document. He then pulled up his sleeves and placed his hands on the keyboard.

"Work, work!"

Chapter 48: Making A Fortune From Writing Theses

Lu Zhou worked for the entire day. It was already ten o'clock when he copied the program into his USB and turned off the computer.

He could not grind too much as he had just spent the whole of last night studying Python. He could not do another all-nighter, at least not if he wanted to live a long life.

According to his original plan, he would start studying advanced knowledge of C++, using books from the system's book list.

However, it seemed that he had to make some tiny adjustments to his plan.

For example, he wanted to read two extra advanced Python books but did not want to delay the completion of his mission.

"I didn't expect to use this book list already…" said Lu Zhou as he looked at the draft paper that contained the book list that Wang Xiaodong gave him. He said in his heart, "I hope peacefulness comes to good people."

The summer vacation went by quickly. Soon, it was already mid-August.

Lu Zhou did not know if the system was playing tricks on him, but he found out that he was being more and more addicted to learning to the point that he could not extract himself.

Liu Rui said that he was obsessed, but Lu Zhou disagreed.

He agreed that the learning process was boring, but acquiring the knowledge was joyful.

Even though it sounded contradictory, it actually was not.

After all, one could not acquire knowledge from study techniques. Sometimes, a person could read a book for hours but could not understand a single sentence. Even monk would find that boring.

When one could fully understand every word and every concept while at the same time, knew that one's knowledge was increasing, one would naturally be inclined to study without any prompting.

Right now, he had completed 25/30 of the reward mission. The final five books consisted of integrated circuit design and mechanical engineering books.

If it was two months ago, Lu Zhou would not be able to understand these textbooks. However, as he had the foundations of mathematics and physics, he felt confident in reading those textbooks.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou's main focus was still information science.

After all, it was so expensive for him to level up information science. It would be a waste not to utilize it.

He spent nearly a month to finish developing the app and it even passed the final bug check. The process was far more difficult than he imagined, but fortunately, he was eventually able to overcome them.

As a result, his app development experience was raised from zero to one.

The app name was called "campus train". From the name, the target demographic was students from major universities. He did not hire a front-end developer and so, the user interface of the app was very simple. All of the designs were found online for free and the style was simple and smooth.

In order to learn the development of an android app, Lu Zhou learned some developer tools and watched a lot of technical programming videos. He learned all of this in his free time.

Lu Zhou really did not have the energy to port to IOS. He wanted to do it later.

The question now was finding a server with good quality. If he did not have a server, forget about benefiting society, at most he could let his roommates use the app.

While Lu Zhou was worrying about the server, Professor Tang suddenly called him and asked him to come to the office.

…

When Lu Zhou entered the office, Professor Tang smiled and casually gestured him to sit. He then asked with a smile, "How are you recently?"

"I'm pretty good, professor. What's up?" said Lu Zhou with a smile.

Professor Tang smiled and said, "It's almost September. Dean Lu wanted me to ask you, how is your preparation going?"

"Preparation is going okay, I think I should be fine. It'll just depend on how my two teammates are doing," replied Lu Zhou with a smile.

"That's good. This competition is a good opportunity, I hope you can perform well. I won't ask you anything else. Professor Liu knows more than I do so you should go and ask him if you are unsure of anything," said Professor Tang before paused. He smiled and looked at Lu Zhou, "What have you been researching recently? Did you cook up another famous project?"

What?

How did you know?

Surprised, Lu Zhou looked at Professor Tang and asked, "How did you know?"

"I'm just casually asking! You really didn't let me down," said Professor Tang as he leaned back on his office chair. He then unscrewed his mug and took a sip before asking, "Tell me, what is it this time?"

"This time I didn't research anything worth mentioning…" said Lu Zhou as he smiled embarrassingly. He continued, "I just heard some students complaining about buying train tickets during the peak holiday periods. So, I wrote a ticket-buying app."

Lu Zhou's answer shocked Professor Tang. He frowned as he asked, "When did you start researching computer science?"

He originally thought that Lu Zhou was quietly researching mathematics. However, it turned out that he ran to computer science.

The last time they met, Lu Zhou was still studying Mersenne prime numbers.

Why is Lu Zhou so clumsy, he has no direction!

Lu Zhou was very puzzled as he thought, "Why is Professor Tang like this as well? Did my mathematical talent really surpass my computer science talents?"

Just half a month ago, Huaguo Youth Daily praised him for his "all around" talent.

"… Oh, I have always been researching computer science," said Lu Zhou as he tried to correct him.

Professor Tang was slightly stunned. He smiled awkwardly as if he remembered. He coughed and asked, "Are you switching to computer science next semester?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't have plans for that yet. I think it is very important to learn mathematics well. It is very helpful for studying other subjects. Also, the other majors might not be suitable for me."

He was telling the truth. When he was learning the basics of organic and inorganic chemistry, his mathematical knowledge really came in handy.

"Computer science is a pretty popular major as well. I'm not against you switching majors. However, let me give you some advice. If you continue to dive into mathematics, you'll be more successful. I've lectured for many years and you're one of the most gifted students I have ever seen," said Professor Tang. He sighed, "Of course, I know that you're not the kind of person that can sit in a lab and do research. You're too impatient!"

Lu Zhou was confused. He did not know if Professor Tang was complimenting or insulting him.

Or maybe it was a pity?

"Forget it. I'll stop talking. Digest this yourself," sighed Professor Tang. He shook his head before saying, "I called you over today because I wanted to talk about your thesis and see if you made any progress. I didn't expect you to jump to computer science. I guess I've wasted my time."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows as he thought, "If I keep writing theses, I'm scared that you'll think that I'm writing substandard theses. Why do you always think that I'm doing something wrong?"

Of course, he could not voice his thoughts out loud.

Lu Zhou coughed, smiled, and said, "Teacher, mathematics is hard to do well. I tried my best."

Professor Tang waved his hand and did not argue. He placed his mug on his desk and said, "Okay, we'll leave it at that. Leave your bank account number here and leave."

Bank account number?

Lu Zhou was stunned.

Professor Tang looked at his surprised face. He squinted and smiled as he asked, "What? Why do you look so surprised? Did no one tell you?"

"About what?" asked Lu Zhou with his eyebrows raised. He had a bad feeling about this.

"The school had a meeting recently. It said to strongly support scientific research activities and encourage students to discover new knowledge, they wanted us to look at the statistics and see how many theses each department submitted," said Professor Tang. He then paused and smiled before continuing, "Basically, you're getting money. This money is allocated according to the SCI theses impact factor! I can't remember exactly how much, but no less than five thousand!"

Five thousand!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said seriously, "Professor, I suddenly have some good ideas. Can I still submit the SCI theses now?"

"F*ck off," said Professor Tang. He laughed, "It's too late!"

He did not know why, but he felt happy looking at Lu Zhou like this.

Unexplainable happiness!

Chapter 49: I Lost Out!

"I lost out!"

Lu Zhou logged into the school website to take a look. He did not even know there was an announcement.

Who would have thought that one could make money off writing theses?

It was all because of the meeting.

The reward rules were announced on the website.

[Reward amount = (IF +1)*5000 yuan]

IF was the impact factor of the journal.

For example, the impact factor of the [ International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics] was 3.310. He published two mathematics theses, so the school would give him a total of 41,300 yuan. Also, according to Professor Tang, this bonus would be paid in the form of scientific research grants. According to Article 4 of the income tax law, it was tax free!

The other nine theses were not eligible for the rewards. Even though they counted as SCI theses, they were published in the general journal.

Lu Zhou saw this and was heartbroken.

From a CEO's evaluation, his nine theses were undoubtedly valuable. He screwed himself over a small payment of 150 yuan.

There was no use being regretful.

However, if one were to think about it clearly, it would be hard to say whether it was a loss or a profit.

If it was never published in the general journal, it would have been reviewed by a more professional academic reviewer. His theses might not have stood out from other theses or passed the review so quickly.

The reason why he was able to get an S+ evaluation and unlocked the reward mission was largely due to the speed of the general journal's review process.

Regardless, he could probably have enough money for the server?

"Zhou, what are you looking at?"

Liu Rui saw that Lu Zhou did not go to the library to study. instead, he was staring at the computer screen. Out of curiosity, he finally asked.

Liu Rui had finally stopped sucking up to Lu Zhou.

It seems that all the pandering came to an end…

"It's fine," sighed Lu Zhou. He said, "I'm just sad that I lost a bit of money."

"What money… Sci theses reward? F*ck me, you're too good…" said Liu Rui as his eyes widened. He shouted, "How much did you get?"

"Probably ten or twenty thousand."

Lu Zhou wanted to be modest and said a lower number.

He had not expected for Liu Rui to be shocked by it.

Liu Rui was silent for a while.

After a long time, he sighed and said expressionlessly, "Zhou, how about you buy dinner for us tonight?"

Lu Zhou thought about it. It made sense.

After all, he said that they should never forget each other and they should buy each other meals when they got rich.

Although he valued money, he was not selfish.

Therefore, he took Liu Rui to the food street near the school and found a spicy hotpot place…

…

The spicy hotpot was delivered to their table. Liu Rui normally did not drink but he ordered two beers.

Each of them opened a beer.

Suddenly, Liu Rui asked, "How's staying in school for the summer?"

Lu Zhou was eating a tofu stick when he replied, "It's okay? Pretty fulfilling."

"I'm so jealous of you," sighed Liu Rui. He then added, "I feel like I'm getting stupider. I can't take in any new knowledge."

He seriously regretted entering the mathematical modeling competition.

Once he passed the first round of school selection, he was given teammates and a teacher. However, once the real training started, he realized just how far behind he was from the real geniuses.

For example, the third year student in his team had already won the second prize twice. He entered this competition before his graduation with the hope of getting the first prize. Liu Rui compared himself to him and felt like he was a little brother who was holding the older brother's leg.

However, a person like him still modestly said that he was uneducated.

Later, Liu Rui heard from the other teams that the school organized that the various departments had organized a "super team". It was the real golden team. Those people would not even train with people like him.

Liu Rui finally understood that the team Lu Zhou was in was the legendary super team.

After hearing the news, he was confused and in distraught.

As the gap was too big, he even started to think if he should become jealous of his roommate, who suddenly rose to success.

Lu Zhou tapped his beer against Liu Rui's as he said, "You are making yourself too tired, I think."

"There's no other way. There are people who are better than me while working harder than me. I've got to work hard," said Liu Rui. He slammed the beer down and sighed. It was like he was trying to blow the depression out of his body and let it drift away into the night sky.

Lu Zhou was slightly drunk and could not understand why Liu Rui was depressed.

When people are drunk, they liked to talk obscenely.

"I remember… I shouldn't say it."

Liu Rui paused. He thought that Lu Zhou had good advice and so, he could not help but ask, "What?"

Lu Zhou burped before saying, "If there are people better than you and working harder than you, then what's the point of you working hard?"

Liu Rui: "…"

The pair finished seven beers, five of which was consumed by Liu Rui himself.

…

Liu Rui was not the type that could handle alcohol and he would stay quiet when he was drunk. After drinking the last bottle, he slammed his head on the table and it scared Lu Zhou. Even the spicy hotpot manager was shocked as he thought Liu Rui was poisoned.

After that, the kid flipped over and started to talk nonsense. The manager and Lu Zhou was relieved to see that.

Once Lu Zhou paid the bills, he carried the drunk Liu Rui back into his dorm. Lu Zhou did not have the strength to carry him up the ladder. So, he pulled out a mat from his cabinet and made Liu Rui sleep on the floor.

He waited for him to lie on the mat before giving Liu Rui a blanket.

No one else would have helped their friend like this.

Lu Zhou turned on the air conditioner and sat in the chair before taking a sip of water. He sighed in relief.

He was tired.

Liu Rui did not feel tired at all. Instead, he laid down and started to snore.

"You'll get a massive headache tomorrow morning."

Lu Zhou shook his head and opened the computer. He logged onto an online shopping site and started to search for an appropriate server.

According to Professor Tang, the school would transfer the money to him latest by tomorrow. He would find a server today and order it after he received the money tomorrow.

If possible, he wanted to buy a good quality server.

It was not entirely for his ticket-buying app, but also in preparation of the "artificial intelligence level 0" mission reward.

What would happen once I upgraded artificial intelligence from level 0 to level 1?

It would be the first technology branch he would ever unlock.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was excited.

Of course, after he saw the price of the server, his face turned blue.

"Dell… Rackmount chassis 2U, 56 cores 112 threads 256GB RAM, comes with twelve 8TB hard drives, 270,000 yuan! No way."

"Lenovo IBM, dual controller storage array. Uses Storwize real-time compression technology, 64GB RAM, 8 8GB fiber connections, 24 3.5 inch hard drives! Price, 40,000! That seems okay… Wait! I missed a zero… I can't afford this!"

He scrolled through another page but they were all equally expensive.

Goddamn it!

Why is it so expensive!

Lu Zhou sorted by price and found some cheaper servers. However, he did not know if they could handle his operation needs. He could not possibly spend all his money on buying the server.

Maintaining the operation of the server also costs money!

Lu Zhou could not decide. Suddenly, he remembered about the computer science genius in his team.

Oh yeah, why don't I ask him?

As it was still early, Lu Zhou took out his phone and gave him a call.

Chapter 50: A True Genius Student Can Apply Their Knowledge

"You wrote a Python crawling script?" asked Wang Xiaodong when he heard Lu Zhou's statement.

Lu Zhou explained, "Technically speaking it's a ticket-buying app. I want to buy a server to try it out. Do you have any suggestions…"

"Stop screwing around," said Wang Xiaodong as he interrupted Lu Zhou rudely. He said, "Do you know how to set up the server? Do you have a place to put it? If you tried to put it in your dorm, the entire floor's circuit breaker will trip."

Uh?

Is he exaggerating?

But listening to his tone, it seems that he has tried it before…

Wang Xiaodong continued to talk through the phone with a cold tone, "If you want to make some money, you can do some freelancing work. There's no need to make an app. If you have money to spend, you can try renting a cloud server, which is definitely easier than owning your own server. You don't have to worry about electricity and heat dissipation. It charges you by the amount of traffic and there are monthly and hourly prices."

"Oh really?" replied Lu Zhou.

"You're not an expert. Why are you trying to do this?" sighed Wang Xiaodong. He then continued patiently, "Also, did you even think about registering a domain name for your app?"

"Can't I just use the server's IP address?" asked Lu Zhou.

"No," replied Wang Xiaodong immediately. He said, "For example, if you developed an app on IOS and you set a fixed server IP address in your code, once the cloud service operator changes the server device, not only would you have to rewrite the code and upload it again, but you might get rid of half of your users directly. Not everyone turns on automatic updates."

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou had never heard of this before.

Wang Xiaodong paused for a second before he continued to say, "Also the most crucial part is that your crawler's collection of data from the third party websites may be blocked by website administrators and they might block your IP address. This problem can be avoided with a cloud server. After all, Ali has countless IP addresses and you don't have to bother with virtual IP addresses."

The genius student became strangely talkative when talking about his expertise. He spoke like an endless stream. This made Lu Zhou thought about Huang Guangming. If he started to talk about the mechanics of playing Leblanc, he could go on for half an hour.

Of course, the content that the genius talked about was quite valuable.

Lu Zhou listened carefully. He even took a notebook and started to write notes.

"… If you're crawling from 12306, the crawler itself will not use a lot of resources from the server, especially since Ali is doing a promotion for small enterprise users, there is a good discount. I think you should start with one million sending and receiving server capacity. It's around 300 yuan a month. Wait till the number of your user visits go up, then you can upgrade the server. This is a lot more convenient than tossing out your own server."

F*ck me, this guy really is a genius.

Lu Zhou felt like he had saved tens of thousands of yuan just from this phone call.

Of course, he still had to buy his own server, but it would have to be delayed until he received his money.

"Thank you, I'll buy you food someday," said Lu Zhou.

"We'll talk about that later."

When the topic changed from computer science to food, Wang Xiaodong's enthusiasm instantly returned to zero and his tone became emotionless again.

However, Lu Zhou did not have any other questions nor did he wanted to talk for long either. He thanked him again before hanging up.

Lu Zhou held the mouse and went on Alibaba's cloud computing page. He began to look for services.

Indeed, just like what Wang Xiaodong said, Alibaba Cloud was doing a promotion. The server had considerable discounts.

"A million pps 1 server only costs 300 a month, includes 100GB cloud SSD, 200 yuan to upgrade to 1TB… 0.3 yuan per extra GB. CPU, intranet bandwidth, sending and receiving capabilities can all be upgraded. 50% discount for three years…"

This price could be said to be quite attractive. If there were no unexpected circumstances, it would cost less than 1000 yuan per month to operate the app. If the user number surpasses the expected amount, he just had to upgrade the service.

"Okay, this is solved. Next up is to promote the app. I have to promote it before school begins," thought Lu Zhou.

Advertise in Tieba to new student groups…

In short, the primary goal is to increase user volume!

Lu Zhou filled in the server renting application and went to the bathroom to take a shower. He dried his hair and returned to his dorm.

He was about to climb on the ladder and sleep when he suddenly smelled a pungent stench.

He turned around and saw that Liu Rui puked while laying on his side.

F*ck!

This kid was just sleeping! How did he vomit?

Lu Zhou did not have time to hesitate. He jumped off the ladder and took Liu Rui to the toilet.

"Go away… I can still drink," said Liu Rui as he stumbled around. He reached out and pushed Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou panicked and quickly said, "F*ck, Brother Rui, you can't puke again! I'm warning you, I just had a shower!"

"barf…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou showered for no reason and he could not sleep either. The dorm smelled extremely sour.

Liu Rui swore that this was the last time he was going to drink.

Liu Rui kept vomiting. When he was finally awake, he looked at the floor and Lu Zhou's dirty clothes. Embarrassed, he quickly apologized.

They turned off the air conditioner and cleaned up the debris together before opening the door for ventilation.

After all this, Lu Zhou took another shower. When he came back, he took his mat and left for the class leader's dorm room.

It was impossible to sleep without air conditioning.

…

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up early.

When he returned to his own dorm, Liu Rui was still snoring on his bed.

Lu Zhou did not bother him. Instead, he went to his desk and turned on his computer.

The cloud server application was quickly ready. He uploaded the script and the crawler started to go to work. It downloaded ticket, station and other information from 12306 before it summarized and sorted the data. Anyone could make an account and purchase tickets, receive sale reminders, automatic ticket refresh, etc.

It had all of the necessary features and it was also easy to use. The light blue background was boring but at least it was not annoying.

Lu Zhou downloaded the app on his phone and chose a station to test. He saw that the order was ok, so he canceled the order in the payment stage.

Then he spent an entire day to put the app on the android store. Stores such as Baidu mobile, 360 assistants, and other large Android software downloading platforms.

He looked at the number of downloads through the developer panel and saw that the number of downloads remained at 0. He sighed.

"I guess creating a successful app is not that easy. Having no users is a big problem."

"I applied to a couple of free advertisement platforms. Don't know when I'll get accepted."

Lu Zhou shook his head and turned off his laptop. He then stuffed his textbooks into his bag.

"Who cares. I'll work on this for half a year or so. At least, I can use it as a learning experience." Packets per second is a measure of throughput for network devices such as bridges, routers, and switches

Chapter 51: Sudden Inspiration

It was already late August. Soon, the universities would be welcoming new students.

It would soon be the most lively time period of the year.

The members of the student union had returned to the school and they were busy having meetings to welcome the new students.

Even though he was not in any meetings, Lu Zhou was busy as well. He held a large stack of flyers and was about to start doing his old job.

He was about to give out the first flyer when he was stopped by the vice president of the student council.

Lin Yuxiang stared curiously at Lu Zhou's stack of flyers and asked, "What are you doing?"

Lu Zhou had an awkward expression when he realized he was caught.

"Oh, you can't stick flyers here?"

Lin Yuxiang said innocently, "Although I can pretend I didn't see anything, it'll still soon be taken away by other student union staff…"

This is troublesome…

Lu Zhou was thinking about what to do. Lin Yuxiang walked forward and looked at the flyers.

"Campus train app? Wow, I didn't know you knew how to program. Did you write this yourself?"

Hey, you're too close to me…

Lu Zhou subtly moved half a step backward and asked, "Yes, why?"

"Why don't you post it on our school's Tieba forum? The students that are already here probably won't use a ticket-buying app right?" Lin Yuxiang pointed out.

Do you think that I didn't think about this already?

Lu Zhou said grudgingly, "… It got banned because it was flagged as an advertisement."

Lin Yuxiang's eyes lit up and she smacked her fist into her palm.

"Oh, I see. Then I'll sort this out for you."

Lu Zhou was surprised, "Sort it out?"

Lin Yuxiang played with her hair. She smiled and nodded, "Yeah! Our school's Tieba forum is managed by the student union. The administrator account is used by the union president and I can just tell him about your situation. You can have it stickied on the forum for a few days. Oh yeah, send me the QR code or the APK file. I've heard that many students posting on Tieba about having troubles getting a taxi."

Lu Zhou was surprised.

"Really… Thank you so much!"

Lin Yuxiang smiled, "Don't need to thank me. I should be thanking you."

This…

The power of having connections?

She was just a normal staff during her first year, but now, she was the vice president of the student union.

Lu Zhou looked at her walking away and could not help but think.

What a scary woman…

But regardless, I'm thankful!

He was originally quite mad at this "useless" teammate, but now he had nothing to complain.

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou's heart moved, he seemed to have realized something.

A lot of students are asking about taxis…

The target demographic of his "Campus Train" app was students.

"Getting a taxi is a problem. Not just taxis…" thought Lu Zhou. When he first arrived, he even went to the wrong campus. He started to seriously think about this problem. "It's perfectly possible to add a student route into the main app interface and have options for leaving from school and traveling to school. This can help new students to buy the tickets and also give them the shortest transportation route."

"But then I would have to crawl data from major bus stations… Wait a minute, I can directly crawl data from third-party maps. Baidu Gaode has a transportation system! How did I forget about this!"

The more Lu Zhou thought about this, the brighter his eyes became.

Not only did the students travel by bus and subway, but they also traveled by car. They would get off the train and carpool using unlicensed taxis.

If he used his app to collect the user's train number, travel information, and the number of various university students, then he could team the students up for carpool right?

Even if the students did not want to carpool, they could still find a group of other students to travel together.

It was easier traveling to than from school. Many high schools had subway lines directly to the universities. However, it was not as easy leaving school, especially when they got off the train in their hometown. If there was a need for carpooling, the students could find other students to carpool with. It would be better than carpooling with strangers.

How many universities are there in the country?

How many college students?

Even if he managed to only reach half of the market share, the number of the users would still be astronomical.

Also, the user's group location would be tracked accurately and the value of that was unimaginable.

Lu Zhou stopped hesitating. He immediately went back to his dorm and began to write the version 0.12 update.

[During this major update, the app will remember (bind) the user's university and train information. If the user is bound to the university information while sitting on the train, they can know how many other students on the train are also using this "Campus Train" app.]

[Add friend features, messages, carpooling, travel route notifications… These are a must. I could also add group chats to increase user's usage. Although it would require a lot of work, there are many problems involved as well, I have to push this back till later.]

[Because of the number of changes I have to make to the core code, the amount of work needed is extremely large. Coupled with the addition of sub-features for students, the entire user interface has to be adjusted]

To save time, Lu Zhou consumed 150 general points. He handed over some of the difficult parts of the code to the system to solve. He then copied the code from his memory onto the app. He finally finished the final stability test before the end of August.

His general points balance was 775.

"Uploading updates…" murmured Lu Zhou. He took a deep breath before saying, "This change is ground-breaking. I hope I can stand out from other apps."

He looked at the download numbers. It was only 15.

Lu Zhou tried to comfort himself. It was double the amount of downloads version 0.11 had. It could be counted as a good start. He sent the link to Lin Yuxiang so that she could log onto the school's Tieba today. After that, his user numbers would surely increase.

"Oh yeah, if I can advertise on Tieba, why can't I try to advertise on other platforms?"

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he had registered a Weibo account during his fight with Zhu Fangcai.

He did not hesitate and logged on.

The f*ck?

Did I get another 10,000 followers?

Lu Zhou looked at the number of followers and he was surprised.

He then looked at the 99+ private messages and frowned.

He clicked on it and unsurprisingly, they were all either asking for his contact information or asking him to write a thesis.

F*ck, can't these people give me a price?

Maybe then I'll write the theses for them?

Why are they so insincere!

Lu Zhou shook his head. He wrote a Weibo blog post and attached the link.

[Campus Train app is released, come to download it…]

Emm…

Bit awkward.

How should I write this advertisement?

Lu Zhou could not think of anything and he gave up. He randomly added a line at the end.

[I will pick ten fans that re-post and edit their SCI thesis (not signed)]

He could not offer anything else other than his talent.

His fans were mostly college students so in theory, this advertisement should work.

Who cares if this doesn't work.

Lu Zhou hit post and closed Weibo.

I did the planning and god will determine the outcome!

Chapter 52: Trending Again

[F*ck me, no wonder this guy is a genius. He couldn't buy a train ticket and so, he wrote his own ticket buying app! So impressive!]

[I was wondering why this genius rejected CEO Wong's offer. It's because he's starting his own business! Wow, I envy those with a good brain! (cry, smile)]

[I re-posted, I'm convinced.]

[Genius, are you looking for an online girlfriend? My name is Luo Liyin!]

[Master genius, I'm a grade 7 middle school student. The pretty girl in my class said that she'll go out with me if I get into the Top 10 in the coming exams. If I win the prize, can you teach me mathematics?]

[Editing SCI? Please. Praying to god I get picked! Re-post!]

[I'm a PhD student and I'm impressed… Re-posted!]

[My thesis isn't in SCI, can I get a discount?]

It was the next day in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou was eating dinner when he pulled out his phone and checked Weibo. He was shocked.

Why are there so many re-posts?

However, most of the re-post captions were just people jumping on the bandwagon.

Lu Zhou was suspicious. When he opened the trending page, he was surprised.

Number four on trending!

How did it get up there?

Even though a lot of people re-posted, it's still a bit far fetched to be on trend, right?

Lu Zhou opened up the trending page and found out that a marketing account reported his app but not his blog post.

The earliest new source that reported it was called [New Things On Campus] and that blog was re-posted by a marketing account with millions of followers. Finally, it even caught the attention of [Huaguo Youth Daily] and they re-posted it.

Although they did not re-post his blog, the name [Campus Train] was still in the report.

[A first-year undergraduate student from the University of Jin Ling who could not buy a train ticket wrote his own free app for students to use. Look at how impressive this guy is…]

[Remember that undergraduate student that wrote ten SCI theses in a month? This time he is back at it again. (dog)]

These were the types of headlines in the reports.

After that, a chain reaction happened and it went out of control…

"…"

Lu Zhou saw this situation and was hysterical.

He did not expect to go on trending twice within two months.

Lu Zhou used his phone to log into the developer platform and entered his administrator account and password. He looked at the download data.

What?! The number of registered users reached 150,000!

With the number of user downloads experiencing explosive growth in the Android app store, it had even made its way into the Top Daily Downloads.

It seemed that his app had been accepted by a lot of college students.

As for how many users would stay active, it would depend on what happened next.

At this moment, he received a call from Chen Yushan.

"Lu Zhou Lu Zhou! Did you write that app?" asked the female voice on the other end of the phone. She was so excited that she sounded like she was happier than Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou, "Yeah, I wrote it, why?"

"…"

After she received the confirmation, she became silent.

After a while, she sighed and her voice became heavier as she said, "Nothing. I feel like you're flying so high, I… Don't know what to say."

Lu Zhou was confused, "Flying so high? Not really. It'll still be three years till I graduate."

"You're right," said Chen Yushan. She laughed and changed the topic, "Oh yeah, my cousin came back from Shanghai. My auntie wanted to ask if you still have time to do tutoring next semester?"

"Yeah, of course," said Lu Zhou without any hesitation.

Upgrading the Alibaba cloud server, upgrading disk space, purchasing network communication traffic bandwidth, designing a beautiful UI interface… Everything required money!

Right now his app was free. It was hard to tell how much he would have to spend before he could monetize it.

It was not like he could exchange general points for money and so, he had to rely on working for some extra cash.

A happy voice traveled through the phone, "That's great, Meng Qi said that you are a good mathematics tutor. She would understand the question after one explanation from you."

"It's mainly because she's talented," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

Chen Yushan, "Oh yeah, also when she enters Grade 11, she'll only have Sundays off. You only have to tutor her one day. Is that fine with you?"

Lu Zhou, "No problem, I'm free regardless."

…

Zhang Zhongjie opened the door and walked into Dean Lu office. He said with a smile, "Dean Lu, you have quite a talent there in your mathematics department."

Dean Lu did not say anything at first. He put his pen down, adjusted his glasses, and sighed before saying, "Say it, what did that Lu Zhou kid go and do now?"

Dean Zhang smiled and said, "Oh, I didn't even tell you. How did you know it was Lu Zhou?"

"He's the only troublemaker of his caliber in the department."

"It seems that you're not happy?" said Dean Zhang as he sat on the sofa. With a smile, he said, "If that's the case, how about you transfer Lu Zhou to my computer science department. I quite like him."

"Oh," said Dean Lu. He leaned against his office chair and stared before saying rudely, "Don't even think about it!"

What a joke.

University of Jin Ling's mathematics department was not strong even though the university was ranked amongst the countries' Top 10 universities. It was not nearly as strong as their physics department.

They finally had such a genius in their department and Lu Fangping would never let him go. Not even if he had to deceive Lu Zhou!

"Why are you getting so riled up? I'm just kidding. It's up to him if he wants to transfer," said Dean Zhang. He smiled and continued, "Ok, serious talk. Have you seen Weibo recently?"

"Weibo?" asked Dean Lu. He frowned, "What's on Weibo?"

Although Lu Fangping knew about Weibo, he had not downloaded it on his phone. First of all, he was disinterested in the trending female celebrities. Secondly, the text on the phone was too small and thus, it was unsuitable for old people to read. Thirdly, he was busy with his job and side projects. He did not have so much free time to stare at his phone.

Furthermore, he did not keep up with the trends as much as Dean Zhang who was from the computer science department.

"The Lu Zhou from your department made an app called Campus Train. A few teachers from our department looked at it and found that it is pretty good. The school is encouraging entrepreneurship, right? I wanted to help him and so, I came over here," said Dean Zhang while smiling.

Dean Lu heard the good news and smiled as well. He then squinted his eyes as if he remembered something.

In order to encourage technological innovation at various universities and to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Education issued a [University Student Entrepreneurship Plan] which was issued directly to various institutions and education bureaus.

Dean Lu had heard of this plan. It was mainly for fourth-year undergraduate students that did not plan on getting a master's degree. Simply put, the state would provide financial support (loans) while the school would provide the resources to help students achieve their dreams of entrepreneurship!

Of course, not all projects could apply for this interest-free loan. For example, if one decided to open a bubble tea shop, or to sell clothes on Taobao, or if one simply wanted to use the money to buy stocks, the school definitely would not have approved.

Projects that could apply for this loan must first meet the criteria of not only being a technological innovation but it must also be realistic. For example, it was unrealistic if one wanted to build a rocket and needed to come up with a new type of rocket fuel.

The second criterion was that it must be able to create jobs.

After all, projects that were hatched by university alumni would be more inclined to hire students from their own university.

The University of Jin Ling wanted to appeal to the government. All of the departments allocated a certain amount of money towards the startups by the students. After all, employment was the top priority. If the school could really incubate a large project, it might even count as a scientific achievement!

Generally speaking, this policy only applied to fourth-year students. After all, their goal was still to study. They could not delay their academics for entrepreneurship. The school should not convince students to take the wrong path!

However, these criteria obviously were inapplicable when it came to Lu Zhou. Being able to write mathematical theses at his level meant it would be a piece of cake for him to get his bachelor's degree. Most professors did not look at him as an undergraduate student, at least not a first-year undergraduate.

But…

However talented this Lu Zhou kid may be, he's still part of our mathematics department. Why is the computer science department here?

Dean Lu knew instantly that this guy came here to undermine him!

Dean Zhang saw that Dean Lu did not speak. He smiled and used a kind tone as he said, "You shouldn't think that this will affect his studies. It's important to manifest his studies by doing projects. My suggestion will definitely be beneficial to Student Lu. Furthermore, a few teachers in my department did some research and felt that this project is interesting, so…"

"Don't even think about it! I'll go and find our head of department right now!" said Dean Lu. He stood up and smiled as he said, "Don't even try to undermine me! We were just worrying about how to use this money!"

There isn't any place to spend it on!

It was not like mathematics was useless, but what could one create with mathematics?

The few applications that were submitted all pretended like they were making big data statistical analysis software but they were actually about starting online shops! Who would give them money!

Finally, a person like Lu Zhou came along. Dean Lu would never give him up and so, he refused Dean Zhang.

You are here, again and again. You say you're helping our incubator project, but when the chicken finally laid eggs, your computer science department wants to steal the eggs!

Just because I have thick glasses and run around the office all day while being an honest man doesn't mean that I can't see through your schemes!

How naive!

How simple!

"I'm telling you, Old Lu. This is wrong, right? The project in your mathematics department isn't even related to mathematics but is related to computer science. What will people say about this?" said Dean Zhang as he laughed.

"If I say it's related then it's related. How come data science isn't related to mathematics? I'm approving it!" said Dean Lu as he stared at Dean Zhang. He suddenly realized that he had not even received an application yet, so he continued his momentum and said, "I'll give Lu Zhou a call today and ask for his application. I'll personally give it to the head of the department for him to approve!"

Dean Zhang was anxious, "You can't do this. You should ask the student's opinion! This is for his own good!"

Oh, you're trying to talk logic with me now?

Dean Lu turned his eyes and said swiftly, "Ok, I'll talk to him later. Wait for my response."

"No!" said Dean Zhang as he disagreed. He crossed his legs and said, "You're not honest. I'm sitting right here. Call him now! If not, you're buying me dinner."

Dean Lu called Dean Zhang shameless but the man did not even give him a reaction. Dean Lu knew that he had to solve this today and so, he picked up his phone and called Lu Zhou.

Chapter 53: The Given Loan

This was the first time that Lu Zhou saw something so strange. Someone was giving him money and he had to take it.

Okay, that was slightly exaggerated, but that was the jist of it.

According to the policy by the Ministry of Education, they could give an interest-free loan to university students. The university would also match the loan with a 1:1 ratio.

For example, if Lu Zhou received a 100,000 yuan loan, according to the policy, the university would contribute 50,000 yuan while the Ministry of Education would contribute 50,000 yuan. The money would be interest-free for a year and after that, it would only have a small interest fee. The rate of the interest fee was much lower than bank loans. In fact, it was even lower than the inflation rate!

Of course, this did not mean that Lu Zhou could only borrow 100,000 yuan.

The school would determine the amount of the loan based on the prototypes of his project and application.

The money would not go into his personal bank account. Instead, it would go directly into the company account. Each expense was recorded and so, he could not spend it recklessly. He could only use that account to pay for business expenses until the loan was paid off.

It was a huge help to Lu Zhou. By running the app, he was burning through his own money. At the rate his bank account was decreasing, he could not even tell if he could survive until the end of the year.

Registering a bank account for a company was easy. Who would not want an interest-free loan!

The problem was that both the computer science and mathematics department wanted to fund the project.

The mathematics department claimed that their quota had nowhere else to be used and they offered to loan 500,000 yuan. If needed, they could even give more. There were no other projects that they were interested in anyway.

The computer science department had a lot of projects and they were running on available quota. They could at most give 200,000 yuan. However, they had talented people. There was no problem from any single project that the professors could not solve. They were all professors that did consultation work for big companies.

Indeed, it was difficult to decide.

Lu Zhou was leaning towards the latter as he would not have to spend as many general points. Besides, not everything could be bought with money. However, the dean of mathematics was right in front of him and he could not blatantly embarrass him. Otherwise, he would have a difficult time staying in the mathematics department.

What if the two departments collaborated…

Lu Zhou thought that in addition to being honest and handsome, his biggest strength was being self-aware. Even though he was a genius, he could not bend the rules.

At least not yet.

If the two departments actually collaborated, they definitely would not listen to Lu Zhou's suggestions. They would just take the lead, like in the mathematical modeling competition.

The two deans didn't mention collaborating. It must mean that it would be difficult to do!

Lu Zhou analyzed this logically. He guessed that this was not only about pride but it contained actual value. If one of the departments incubated a successful project, then they would feel very prideful during the annual meeting.

"Dean Zhang, I'm sorry," said Lu Zhou apologetically. With a sincere voice, he said, "The code for Campus Train is already written and I can single-handedly manage the updates. Dean Lu is offering what I need."

Although he rejected Dean Zhang, he still tried to soften the blow as much as possible.

However, it seemed like Lu Zhou was over-thinking as Dean Zhang did not seem to care that much. He was just disappointed.

"Oh, I understand. I see… Oh yeah, if you've any computer science questions, feel free to ask me."

But don't think that the computer science department will allocate a professor as your advisor. Everyone is busy and no one has that much free time. It would take the head of the mathematical department himself to request for help if you want help from us.

Of course, no one is stopping you from finding a professor or graduate student for help.

"Thank you!" said Lu Zhou solemnly.

"I didn't even help you, no need to thank me! Oh yeah, pay attention to the mathematical modeling competition. If you don't get the first prize, then don't come to find me. I don't know you!" said Dean Zhang with a serious tone. He then waved his hand, stood up, and said, "I'm busy, I have to go."

"Take it easy," said Dean Lu. With a beaming smile, he said, "I won't send you out."

"Ha, look at how happy you are."

The pair had a pretty good private relationship and they would often joke around.

Lu Zhou observed secretly as he was thinking in his heart.

Zhang Zhongjie left and Dean Lu paused for a moment before saying, "Oh yeah, Lu Zhou, I have an application form here. Take it back, fill it out, and bring it back to my office tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Dean Lu was satisfied with Lu Zhou's enthusiasm. He nodded and reminded Lu Zhou.

"Oh yeah, even though this project is a good idea, don't forget about your real job."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. I've already finished learning the second and third year courses. You can test me right now."

"Oh, I'm not worried about your studies. Who said I was talking about that?" said Dean Lu as he laughed. He then said jokingly, "I don't care about anything else. I just have one rule. You better publish one thesis in the core journal this year. If I don't see your thesis, I'll take away your scholarship."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Even though he knew Dean Lu was doing this for his good, Lu Zhou still wanted to insult him!

…

The 500,000 yuan loan solved Lu Zhou's urgent problem. At least he did not have to use his living expenses to pay for this expensive project.

At first, he had not expected that there would be so many users. He was happy with ten thousand users and he had not expected his app to have such a high reputation amongst college students.

Of course, this meant that he had to give up on another section of the demographic. As the name [Campus Train] was not very attractive to non-college students, many of the features were useless to the general public.

So far, the total number of downloads for [Campus Train] had reached 200,000 with a total of 310,000 tickets bought successfully.

It was the peak time for students to return to school and thus, it was also peak usage time.

The company was registered and it took three days to get all the formalities together. The money had entered into his account and Lu Zhou immediately paid for the server upgrade.

If he wanted to keep the users, he had to keep the users happy. The app should not lag. The users would be annoyed if they refreshed the page and still could not get a ticket. In that case, they might jump to another app.

Lu Zhou opened the developer panel and looked at the increasing number of downloads.

In a few days, the Android app store would release their recommendation for free apps. This would bring a new wave of users to his app. After that, the back-to-school period would end around 10th September. By then, he would know how many stable active users there are.

"The next step is to continue the updates and maintenance, I have money to hire two programmers so this shouldn't be a problem."

Lu Zhou stretched and continued to stare at the screen. Suddenly, he saw an unread notification where it said there were many bug reports.

This was a big problem and he had to take it seriously.

Lu Zhou was alert. He immediately sat up straight and expanded the notification.

"Bug reports… Why are there so many bug reports? Let me look at this."

[Master can you look at my thesis? My WeChat is…]

[Please help to write my thesis, WeChat is…]

[The Weibo lucky draw was shady, I don't care, it was rigged.]

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Why did you chase me all the way here? What a much of sinister people!

Chapter 54: Weak Studen

"Zhou, Liu Rui, Shi Shang, the Emperor of dorm 201 is back!"

Huang Guangming said as he carried a suitcase and walked inside.

Liu Rui, "Piss off!"

Shi Shang rubbed his hands, "Are you itchy? Come, let me give you a beating."

Lu Zhou turned around and said, "Shi Shang, bring out the socks in your drawer and make Guangming use it."

When Huang Guangming heard about Shi Shang's socks, he immediately changed his tone and begged for mercy, "Please, don't! This isn't allowed!"

Liu Rui also panicked at the thought, "F*ck me, Zhou, you're too evil!"

Shi Shang's socks was a chemical weapon that could kill thousands!

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what he said but it was too late.

As expected, Shi Shang was unhappy.

Why did they bring up his socks?

Did they even respect him as a dorm leader?

Shi Shang slapped the table and said, "What are you trying to say? My socks are smelly? I just washed them two days ago!"

Two days ago!

The facial expression of the three people changed instantly.

However, Shi Shang failed to notice. He opened the drawer as if he was trying to prove something.

Liu Rui: "…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

The atmosphere in the dorm became awkward…

There was a stench.

With three pairs of eyes staring at Shi Shang, he gradually lost his confidence.

Without saying anything else, he coughed slightly before heading to the bathroom to wash his socks.

…

The last roommate had returned to dorm 201 as they started their life as a second-year undergraduate. The cold and empty dorm room soon returned to its former noisiness.

"League of Legends is about to release a new champion. Did you see the trailer? It's OP."

"It's on the NA server already and it's sh*t."

"No way! 1v1 me later! Call me daddy if you lose!"

"Okay, I'm playing Garen and you can play whatever."

"Screw you!"

"…"

If this was a few months ago, Lu Zhou might have joined into this heated argument. However, the joy of learning had made him turned his back on League of Legends.

He had already reached the last stage of the system mission. He only had one more boss to capture.

That boss was the insanely difficult [Integrated Circuit Design].

That circuit design book was basically inhumane. Circuit lines from metal1 to metalN drawings, countless flip-flops, and inter-layer channels. It was torture!

According to rumors, the University of Jin Ling's electronics department had the highest percentage of bald teachers. If one wanted to know the skill level of a professor, one just had to see the amount of hair on his head. Lu Zhou now knew where the root of the balding problem was.

The amount of content in chip design was way too large and there was absolutely no way an undergraduate student could completely understand it. Even though this was an introductory textbook, Lu Zhou still felt immense pressure.

Of course, this field had good potential.

Integrated circuit design was not China's strong suit and there was an insufficiency of talent. In addition, in this field, the strong only became stronger which resulted in many talented people with the skills to choose to move overseas. A 500,000 yuan salary was no problem if one were proficient in integrated circuit design.

An integrated circuit design project was large. Each step had a cumbersome process and any of the steps could be considered a scientific research project. Every step of the production line was a job opportunity.

Then again, with the difficulty in getting jobs, very few people could reach the standards that were required. In order to participate in an integrated circuit design laboratory, one would at least need a PhD.

Huang Guangming was playing League when he saw Lu Zhou reading the textbook. He then asked, "Lu Zhou, league? Liu Rui is feeding too hard. I can't carry without your ganks."

Liu Rui did not respond. Instead, he started to hum a song in embarrassment.

Lu Zhou thought and said, "I'll play in a few days I'm pretty busy now."

Shi Shang, who was playing top lane, said, "F*ck, last time you said you would play after exams but until now, you still haven't logged on yet."

In a serious tone, Huang Guangming said, "Zhou, you will lose your friends like this!"

"No friends? Impossible," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He then added, "We all take the same classes, mathematical analysis 3, linear algebra, ordinary differential equation, complex functions…"

"Brother Lu, stop talking," said Shi Shang as he suddenly let go of his mouse. He turned around and begged Lu Zhou, "From the moment I saw you, I knew that we would be brothers for life… You have to lend me your notes!"

Lu Zhou laughed.

Oh, what a weak student.

Liu Rui was killed and sent back to the fountain. As he leaned against his chair, he asked, "Aren't you friends with Lu Zhou because you saw his sister's photo?"

Lu Zhou, "F*ck off!"

He had nothing to say to this group of animals.

When Lu Zhou heard the sound of League abilities being used impetuously, he could not calm down.

In the end, he gave up in testing his own strength. He packed his stuff and walked outside with his backpack.

It was now the 1st of September and only two days left until the third. A large number of first-year students would be pouring into campus on that day. All kinds of community activities and studying were going to happen that night. In addition, the students who were preparing for the graduate entrance exam were trying their best to study and so, he had no hope to find an empty classroom.

There was not much time left for him to study quietly.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou only had one focus capsule left. He did not know if it would be enough for him to finish the [Introduction to IC Design] textbook.

After dinner, Lu Zhou sat in an empty classroom and ate the final focus capsule. He planned to immerse himself into the book by entering into a state of high concentration.

The circuit lines gradually solidified in his brain and the layers of electronics unfolded.

He discovered this ability when he was studying topology. When he was highly focused, he could use his spatial imagination to "see" the graphics in his mind. It was hard to describe in words, but the resolution of his imagination was very precise and he could see every electrical circuit and every flip-flop.

Of course, entering into this status had great side effects. It would accelerate the fatigue of the brain. Although it would not decrease the focus capsule's active duration to under five hours, it would make him very sleepy after five hours.

Therefore, he had already used two focus capsules while studying integrated circuit design and this was his third capsule.

Also, this was only introductory material, it only briefly explained topics such as RTL code, logic synthesis and RC time constant. The latter half was circuit wiring, which did not even count as core knowledge.

Time slowly passed and soon it was twelve o'clock. Lu Zhou stared at the last page of the textbook and sighed. He then collapsed onto the table.

Using his last remaining strength, he whispered quietly, "Enter… System space."

Suddenly, the world spun and he was surrounded by a pure white space. His consciousness was immediately detached from the real world and transformed into the system space.

It was strange. His brain had a massive headache in the outside world but after entering this pure white world, his headache seemed to have disappeared.

However, he did not have time to cherish this feeling and he immediately stepped forward. With his hands placed on the semi-transparent information screen, he stared at it.

"System, show mission progress!"

[Mission 30/30]

[Congratulations user for completing the first reward. Double mission rewards are given. Hope you make persistent efforts!]

Chapter 55: Please Do Not Use The System’s Resources On Retarded Questions

[Mission completion details is as follows: Successful completion of mission (30/30). Final evaluation of mission: none (reward mission has no evaluation)]

[Mission reward: 2000 experience points towards any subjects of your choosing (double reward). Unlocked technology branch: artificial intelligence level 0]

2000 experience points!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and thought about it. Without any hesitation, he assigned 1000 experience points to the engineering branch.

The upgrade requirements for information science and mathematics were both 10,000. It would be useless to put the experience points towards them. Among the other major subjects, engineering was the most widely used.

From software engineering to civil engineering, from a nanochip to a national project, this all could be included in the broad scope of engineering. Although when compared with other theory based subjects, engineering had to rely on the theory from the other subjects, it was also the most practical.

Furthermore, given that the mathematical modeling competition was about to begin, upgrading the engineering level was undoubtedly the best choice.

As for the remaining 1000 experience points, Lu Zhou threw it all into physics.

He did not have any special reason for that. It was purely because his physics class was about to start this semester.

Confirm selection!

White lights flickered and a line of text appeared on the semi-transparent information screen.

[Note: Engineering level 0 -> level 1, Physics level 0 -> level 1]

Lu Zhou saw this line of text and could not wait to open his characteristic panel to see his statistics.

[

Host: Lu Zhou

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 1 (0/10000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (0/10000)

General points: 775

Mission: None

]

Like last time, he leveled up two subjects at once!

Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel and was very happy.

Now the only zeros left were biochemistry, materials science, and energy science. In the short term, he probably had no use for these subjects, and so, it would not be too late to upgrade them when there were appropriate missions.

Now the first priority was to understand what the unlocked technology branch was about!

Lu Zhou looked at the semi-transparent information screen before clearing his throat and ordered.

"System, upgrade technology branch; artificial intelligence!"

[Upgrade technology branch "artificial intelligence" to level 1 requires 100 general points. Confirm selection?]

"Confirm!"

Lu Zhou answered without any hesitation.

The white light flashed slightly and soon, his general points were deducted by 100. He had 675 left.

In the technology branch column, the level of artificial intelligence was raised from level 0 to level 1 (0/1000).

It was similar to raising core subjects and nothing special happened.

Lu Zhou thought that there would be a "huge flow of information into the brain", followed by a "sudden realization". However, it seemed that his brain was not filled with the knowledge that was unheard of.

A USB icon was suspended on top of the semi-transparent information screen.

Lu Zhou walked over and looked at the line of text next to the icon.

[Artificial intelligence program - untitled (level 1) (not deployed)]

[Description: The program will be automatically copied onto the device once the USB is inserted. "Untitled" will be migrated to the electronic device, 1TB of storage space is required. The program can be improved by machine learning. The learning speed is determined by the computing power of the device and any external information provided. Meeting the upgrade requirements will automatically level up artificial intelligence. In addition, general points can be consumed for level up.]

Lu Zhou saw this description paragraph and thought seriously.

Although the description given by the system was hard to understand, it was easy to interpret with an analogy.

The so-called "untitled" artificial intelligence was equivalent to the system giving him an egg. He could incubate it to level 2, level 3 or even higher. At the same time, it could be used as research material or core codes.

Of course, artificial intelligence was also in the scope of information science. Therefore, he had to meet the information science pre-requisites in order to upgrade artificial intelligence with general points.

"I see, the so-called technology branch has an independent upgrade system," said Lu Zhou as he recalled the instructions of the original system while rubbing his chin.

"What about the genetic technology branch that the system mentioned? The way to upgrade to crack the genetic code? Or to collect genetic samples? The ultimate goal… Is it to remove the telomere of the DNA? To achieve life outside of the body? Or to create epic creatures…"

It made no sense. He would have to figure it out after he unlocked the technology.

Right now, he was still young and so, he did not have to worry about aging.

"Now, I have to find a place to give this level 1 artificial intelligence a home. I definitely can't use a cloud server or my second-hand laptop… I guess I need a new computer," thought Lu Zhou.

Next up…

The exciting mission selection stage.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and prayed as he reached out to the mission panel.

"Come on, give me a good mission!"

He had no idea what mission he would get.

As long as the mission isn't too sh*tty!

[

Mission1: Health is everything

Description: Even though the user is lazy, the system still recommends him to exercise. Exercise with the goal of being the strongest man!

Requirements: Walk 50 kilometers, do 2000 squats, 2000 push-ups.

Reward: 1000 experience points of free distribution. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (95% garbage, 5% sample).

]

[

Mission 2: Reproduction is more important than scientific research

Description: Find a girlfriend immediately

Requirements: Female with the compatibility of 60 or more. Establish a relationship.

Reward: 2000 general points. Sample: Durable strengthening needle (5 hours active period, increase muscle cell development by 50%, metabolic rate increased by 100%).

]

[

Mission 3: Please do not use the system's resources on retarded questions

Description: In a week, the National Mathematical Modeling Competition is going to begin. The lazy user will want to consume general points to solve retarded questions.

Requirements: Under the condition of not using the system for help, win the first prize from the National Mathematical Modeling Competition.

Reward: Determined by the discipline of the competition question (4000 total experience points). 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% samples, 5% blueprint)

]

The mission one is okay, what the hell is mission two?

Why would the system care about me being a loner?

Which means…

I only have one mission left to choose?

Lu Zhou was pissed off at the system as he sighed and picked mission three.

Chapter 56: You Have To Always Give Your Child A Good Foundation

Lu Zhou left the system space and his consciousness fell into darkness.

Only then did he realize that before he entered the system space, he ate the last focus capsule…

By the time he woke up, it was already the next morning.

This was different than his previous study grinds. His sleep quality this time was quite good. He woke up early and he even used his book as a pillow.

The only unfortunate thing was that the last page of [Introduction to IC design] had been covered in his saliva.

Fortunately, it was not too obvious. It would be dried up in the current hot weather in two minutes.

"This all-day study grinding life is horrible," said Lu Zhou as he moved his painful back.

It was seven o'clock in the morning and not a lot of people were in the school building. Through the windows, he could see people running on the track field.

Lu Zhou's towel and toothbrush were in his bag and so, he first went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up. Then, he walked to the cafeteria under the morning sun.

As always, he bought two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk. He then sat at a corner of the cafeteria and while eating, he pulled out his phone.

First, Lu Zhou went on Weibo. All of the trending topics were celebrities and he had no interest in them. The number of his followers did not seem to change much. In fact, it was similar to when he was still on trending, which is in the tens of thousands.

Lu Zhou looked at the news briefly before closing Weibo. He logged onto the app developer platform and surprisingly found out that "Campus Train" had broken 500,000 users and was growing steadily.

The momentum was good but he had to work harder as compared to other third-party booking software, his number was tiny!

With his sleepy eyes half opened, Lu Zhou ate the buns quietly. He then moved his thumbs and opened WeChat so that he could take a look at his news feed.

[Shi Shang: Forward: Notice of the semi-final campus basketball match.]

Hmm…

He was disinterested but he still liked it to indicate that he read it.

As Lu Zhou took a bite of his bun, he continued to scroll.

[Lin Yuxiang: Mathematical modeling is so hard, the competition is starting soon, I'll have to study and grind all night ~ (effort)]

She also posted a picture of a textbook.

Lu Zhou: "…"

I want to block this chick…

Forget it, I'll do it after the competition.

…

The campus was gorgeous. With colorful ribbons hanging on the parasol trees, the environment was as lively as a festival.

Numerous cars dropped off students in front of the school gate and countless students were registering at the sign-up spot. Parents carried suitcases, helped their children to fill out forms, bought sim cards, cleaned up dorm rooms, etc. It was only eight o'clock but the street in front of the dorms was completely blocked.

Lu Zhou walked on the track field and watched the crowds from afar. He thought back to when he first entered the school. At that time, his mother was in the hospital and his dad had to take care of her. He took the train for hundreds of kilometers and entered the unfamiliar city by himself.

That was the first time he traveled so far.

Looking back at it, the time had flown by so fast and it had already been a year.

He soon noticed two familiar figures in the crowd.

One was Fat Wu. He was wearing a telecom t-shirt and was sweating as he managed a team of student workers. They guided the parents towards the telecom store. Every time school started, he would be busy. The student union was busy welcoming the new, while he was busy making money.

The other was Lin Yuxiang. She wore a plain white dress and sat under the shed at the reception for new arrivals. She smiled and had a flushed face as she handed out the forms to the younger students.

As the vice president of the student union, she was working with the student association and youth league committee, working the job that no one wanted to work. She was quite the fighter.

Lu Zhou did a rough analysis in his heart.

He was unfamiliar with the operations of the student union and he only knew about it when his class leader bragged about it.

Lin Yuxiang noticed Lu Zhou. She smiled gently at him as she waved her hand and said hello.

Lu Zhou nodded and said hello back. He did not stay for long and walked back to his dorm.

When he arrived at his dorm, Shi Shang was worried.

"Lu Zhou, you didn't come back to the dorm last night? Where were you? You didn't pick up my calls."

Lu Zhou placed his bag on the table and replied casually, "I was reading books all night."

Liu Rui was studying a physics textbook and he complained, "… You're too good."

Huang Guangming was lying in bed with his phone and he sighed as he said, "He's not even a genius, he's a god… Zhou, did you go to heaven last night?"

"Yeah I did, almost did. I won't stay up this late after school starts, " said Lu Zhou before he yawned. He sat in his chair and opened his laptop before he logged onto JD to search for a suitable laptop.

After he paid for tuition, he still had 40,000 yuan left. It was not a problem to buy a laptop for less than 20,000 yuan. The artificial intelligence USB was still sitting in the system space. He planned on buying a machine and quickly install the USB.

However, he had not expected that his words would surprise his two roommates.

Shi Shang was shocked as he said, "F*ck me, what do you mean you won't stay up this late after school starts? Does this mean for the entire summer…"

Huang Guangming gulped. He did not say anything but he stopped playing on his phone.

Liu Rui laughed miserably as he said, "You only just found out? I can't even understand the books he was reading."

His expression conveyed, "Now you know how much pressure I had for the summer, right?"

Huang Guangming: "…"

Shi Shang: "…"

The two did not say anything but they showed a sympathetic look towards Liu Rui.

Lu Zhou failed to notice the interactions between his roommates as he was browsing the web. Finally, he chose an HP Zbook15 that was released this year.

Strictly speaking, it was not an "ultrabook" but more of a "mobile work station". The hardware specifications were better than high-end laptops such as "gaming laptop" or "super laptop". It had insane graphics imaging processing capabilities.

Of course, high performance meant high prices. The highest configuration model would cost him 25,000 yuan and it was not even used for gaming.

However, when Lu Zhou thought about that artificial intelligence USB in the system space, he clicked the purchase button reluctantly.

"Motherf*cker, this high tech system is so demanding…"

He had no other choice as he had to give his artificial intelligence "child" a good foundation.

If he picked a sh*tty laptop, he might turn the artificial intelligence into artificial retardation.

The money in his card instantly became 10,000 yuan or so and it was back to where he began.

As for the 500,000 yuan in the company's account, Lu Zhou could only look at it. It was not that he could not use it, but he was an honest man and he would never do something that would stain his record.

Maybe the school would not know?

Haha, one would be lying to oneself. For this type of small-sized company, the accounting would be done by the teachers from the Department of Statistics. When he registered the company, it even saved him a small sum of money because he did not have to hire a professional accountant.

If the first big purchase he made with that money was a computer, he would definitely make Dean Lu disappointed in himself.

"I hope that little guy will be happy with this computer home as I can't afford anything that is more expensive," sighed Lu Zhou as he turned off his laptop.

Chapter 57: The Artificial Intelligence Eye

Over the next few days, Lu Zhou was nervous as he prepared for the mathematical modeling competition. He had even temporarily paused the tutoring work.

Even though it was a pity, Mrs. Yang expressed her understanding on the phone. She agreed for him to continue the tutoring sessions after the 12th. As for Han Mengqi, that little girl was somewhat sad but she still told Lu Zhou to do his best in the competition.

Like this, Lu Zhou temporarily removed all interference and fully devoted himself to the preparation of the mathematical modeling competition.

The online training was now offline training. Professor Liu was quite responsible. Not only did he paused his own project and book classrooms for them, he even gave them guidance on how to answers the questions.

The training cycle that used to be once a week was increased to three days a week. Two days of group training and one day of self-training. Not only did they had to answer the questions within competition time frames, but the difficulty of the questions was also gradually increased until it approached the difficulty of the official competition. Even though Lu Zhou planned on not staying up too late, he was unable to do that.

Fortunately, there were no classes for the first week of school and so, he had a lot of free time.

Three days after the online order, the parcel was delivered to the delivery point below the dorms.

Lu Zhou went to the library all day and studied modeling. When he came back to the dorm, he signed the courier form before taking the package upstairs.

When he got back to the dorm, his three roommates were playing league of legends. A member of the student union, Li Tao, who lived next door, stood behind Huang Guangming.

This kid was short and he wore glasses and was a video game enthusiast. Other than League of Legends, he played a variety of foreign Triple-A games. He even had a desktop in his dorm. He played games such as Battlefield, Call of Duty, Dead Island, etc. However, the games were all graphics card killers and there was no way a laptop could run them.

When he saw Lu Zhou's parcel, his eyes lit up and out of curiosity, he walked over.

"Oh, Lu Zhou, you bought a laptop? What is the graphics card?"

Lu Zhou was unboxing when he said, "N card."

Li Tao stood behind Lu Zhou and watched him unbox as he said, "N card? Is this a gaming laptop? GTX 970 is about to be released. Why didn't you wait a few days?"

As Lu Zhou installed the USB, he smiled and said, "I can't, the data modeling competition is in a few days. I can't wait till the new card is released as I don't even know where they would be sold."

"Is that a GTX 960?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "K2100M."

When Li Tao heard this, he was shocked.

What is that thing?

Aren't there only two types of Nvidia graphics cards? A low-end GT series, and a high-end GTX series. Everyone is talking about these two models. This is my first time hearing a graphics card that starts with a K.

Li Tao suddenly felt out of his element and he was speechless. As he stood behind Lu Zhou, he pulled out his phone and began to search for the card.

Graphics card, mainly used for mobile work stations…

Li Tao skipped the description as he was unable to understand it. When he looked at the price, he was shocked.

F*ck me! A thousand yuan more than a GTX 970?

What a rich f*cker!

Li Tao looked at Lu Zhou and was suddenly inspired.

No wonder he's a genius. He even wants to play league with such a high end graphics card.

Lu Zhou did not care what the kid was thinking. He installed the operating system, tested the hardware, and carried his new laptop to bed.

Lu Zhou secretly looked at his roommates. When he saw that Li Tao's attention was back to Huang Guangming, Lu Zhou took in a deep breath and secretly whispered "USB, USB" while imaging the USB icon above the semi-transparent information screen.

Without any warning, his right hand was holding a cold and hard object.

Just like the last few times, the USB appeared out of thin air into his hand.

"…"

Lu Zhou did not waste his time and inserted the USB.

Immediately after, the scene that appeared shocked him.

The second he inserted the USB, the screen of the laptop went black like it contracted a virus. After that, the fans started to spin quickly, as if all of the hardware was being pushed to the limit.

"It's not dead, right?"

Lu Zhou quickly pulled out the manual. He looked at it and saw that the laptop had 2TB of disk space, 16GB of ram, and a top of the line CPU.

The laptop was getting louder and louder. Lu Zhou's heart was both anxious and thankful.

He was thankful that he did not use his old laptop to install the thing or it would have blown his old laptop into pieces!

Finally, the computer screen flashed. A soft blue light was on and the spinning fans also stopped.

Immediately after, something happened that made Lu Zhou's eyeballs popped out.

The USB in his laptop disappeared.

That was right, he saw it with his own eyes that it disappeared!

It was like it turned into ashes and flew away.

"F*ck… What's this? Some kind of auto-degradable material? After it downloads, it breaks into gas molecules?"

Lu Zhou tried to analyze it but he could not figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

When the data transfer was completed, the USB hardware automatically decomposed. This was outside of his knowledge level.

At this moment, the computer restarted. The original Windows 7 operating system was changed and it turned into a semi-graphic, semi-command line operating system that was similar to Linux.

Lu Zhou looked at the screen. He thought, "Why didn't the system tell me that this would delete the laptop operating system. Then I wouldn't have to spend all that effort…"

He placed his hands on the keyboard and was about to play with this artificial intelligence mission reward. What exactly was happening?

A line of text appeared on the screen.

[Welcome to "unnamed" artificial intelligence, do you wish to set a custom name? Y/N]

Lu Zhou hesitated before he pressed Y and hit enter.

[Please enter your new name.]

What should I put?

Lu Zhou's fingers rubbed against the keyboard as he frowned and began to think.

He was very indecisive. Whenever he had to set a username in a video game, he would have to think about it for ages.

Yes…

Yes…

Lu Zhou's brain flashed and his fingers started to move. He typed three letters on the keyboard.

Eye!

The Chinese name "ai"!

It means that that the digital world is unable to be seen by the eye!

The love and peace of mankind will depend on you, Eye!

Even though the name was pretty short, Lu Zhou still could not help but praise his own creativity.

As for your nickname, I'll call you Xiao Ai!

The light blue screen flashed, a dialog popped up in the center of the screen.

[Custom name is completed. Artificial intelligence Xiao Ai serves you.]

Chapter 58: Modeling Captain

Lu Zhou briefly looked at the operating system that the artificial intelligence gave him.

Honestly speaking, he was a little disappointed.

The operation method was similar to a Linux desktop distribution. The only advantage was that it was compatible with both Windows and Linux software. It could be operated by using a mouse or by inputting command lines into the dialog box in the center of the screen.

In terms of internet access, it had a built-in unknown browser. It could browse the web and download software and there was no difference from a Windows operating system.

The shortcoming of this operating system was that it was simply too big. It took up 1TB of disk space and it nearly filled up Lu Zhou's entire laptop!

After all this, Lu Zhou still did not understand what was the use of this thing.

It seemed that there was another dialog box on the lower right corner. It looked like a chat box for "Xiao Ai".

It seemed like one of those pets you talked to on QQ.

However, Xiao Ai's intelligence worried Lu Zhou. He had briefly tested it and commanded it using a simple language. He asked her to open a computer folder and run a program. Without any problems, it could even auto-completed the program he was typing.

However, these operations could be done by entering command lines and so, it seemed kind of useless.

As for normal conversations, Xiao Ai could only say hello. When it came to difficult sentences, it would often ask, "What does XXX mean?"

It was like a little baby learning how to talk.

However, it was better than a baby. He would only have to explain to it one time for it to understand and it would never forget anything.

Lu Zhou had not discovered other uses, at least not now.

As he leaned against the wall behind him, he sighed and thought, "Is the so-called level one artificial intelligence just this? I guess I have to wait for level 2."

It was a lot worse than Google's DisBelief and it was even worse compared to the Deep Blue program from a decade ago.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that it was unfair. The former had thousands of servers for support and it basically ran on a supercomputer. The computing power could not be compared to his laptop.

It was like a person. No matter how logical they were, if they did not have enough brain cells they would still be a retard.

Emm…

Right now, Xiao Ai was no different than a retard.

He could only wait to change a better "brain" for it. For example, a server or something.

However, that was still far away. The laptop could handle level 1 Xiao Ai and he could wait until level 2 before he should upgrade the hardware.

Lu Zhou sat cross-legged on the bed as he began to study the methods of upgrading the artificial intelligence.

Simply speaking, he had two paths.

One path was by using general points. The exchange rate between general points and the technology branch experience points was 1:1.

The other way was by relying on Xiao Ai to do machine learning while he slowly accumulated the experience points needed for Xiao Ai to upgrade.

Xiao Ai seemed to have a certain level of self-learning ability. Lu Zhou just had to allocate some computing power to self-learning and the program would automatically increase its "intelligence progress bar".

According to instructions given by Xiao Ai, when the progress bar was filled once, the artificial intelligence technology branch experience would increase by 100.

Which was saying, if he allocated all the computing power to self-learning and waited for the progress bar to be filled ten times, his technology branch would be upgraded.

What a slow upgrading method…

Lu Zhou stared at the screen for a while. He could not even see the progress bar moving.

"A 20,000 yuan computer isn't enough for this thing? Xiao Ai needs so much computing power…" Lu Zhou could not help but complain about the situation.

If he had just left it alone, it would take forever to progress.

If Lu Zhou was not worried about the program leaking or causing unpredictable consequences, he would have uploaded it onto Alibaba's cloud server.

For the time being, he had to rely on his AFK method.

I should study two books on machine learning to see if there are any shortcuts. This way, maybe I can increase the speed of Xiao Ai.

Just in case someone tried to open his computer, he set a password for artificial intelligence Xiao Ai.

Lu Zhou did all this before he left the laptop on his bed. Once he was done packing his stuff, he put his backpack on and left the dorm.

It was the last training session for the National Mathematical Modeling Competition and Professor Liu had some important words to say. They were mainly competition regulations, rules, and some other matters that needed attention.

It was the last training session and Lin Yuxiang came quite timely. Not only did she not arrive late, but she was also the first one there. Wang Xiaodong was in the computer room, figuring out his timetable, so he was slightly late.

Apparently, the genius had already finished half of the third year subjects in his second year. Other people were still selecting their majors while he was already preparing for graduation.

After everyone arrived, Professor Liu smiled and walked onto the podium.

"You guys aren't little kids anymore and so, I won't emphasize on safety issues. I'll briefly talk about the rules of the competition and some things to be aware of."

"The competition has a time period of 72 hours and the requirement is to submit the completed thesis within that time. You guys will be staying up late so I suggest you get a good night's sleep the day before. From my past experience, the person responsible for modeling and writing the thesis can only sleep on the second night. The person coding can't sleep on the second night and can only sleep a few hours in the third night. You guys have to cooperate with your teammates and complete the thesis."

"Modeling, coding, thesis writing. Every single one of those three is important. I've talked about this already so I won't repeat myself."

"The other problem is discipline. During the time frame of the competition, the teams are forbidden to communicate with other teams and the contestants are also forbidden to communicate with teachers. You can use the Internet to download or look at materials, but you cannot message anyone."

In reality, this rule was not strictly enforced. Some weaker teams would get their teacher to look over the materials but none of them would directly get the teacher to do the question. Good schools had honest teachers but some bad schools…

The teachers might have been worse than the students.

That statement was no exaggeration. Teaching and doing it yourself were two different things. After all, the coverage area and randomness of the mathematical model was too big. Even professors could not do everything.

"Teacher, what if I searched for answers on Baidu?" asked Lin Yuxiang with her hand raised.

Teacher Liu laughed and he said, "You can try, see if you find anything."

When Lu Zhou heard her, he laughed in his heart.

Anyone that asked that question was someone that knew nothing about mathematical modeling. Not only that they had not experienced the feelings of being dominated by those insanely hard questions, they thought this was similar to Olympic maths when it was nothing like it.

If a person was given a customer data for a telecommunications company and asked to design products for different customers according to the requirements, where would the person go and search for the answer? Some of the questions were related to the competition's sponsors. If the model that was designed was good enough, the sponsors might just take it and use it. There were no answers for the person to search for.

Lin Yuxiang's face was slightly red with embarrassment as she pulled down her right hand in.

Teacher Liu paused for a second before continuing, "The other problem is the team leader. There is no requirement for one. Our school has always secretly acknowledged the first name on the prize list as the captain. But this is just a false title. It doesn't mean anything. According to previous competitions, the captain is generally held by the person writing the thesis and is responsible for integrating the teammates together. However, you can also set the captain according to your year. What do you guys think?"

Wang Xiaodong pushed his glasses, "Just make it Lu Zhou, I don't care."

Lin Yuxiang was holding her thighs and she nodded. Naturally, she did not have any opinions.

"What do you think?" asked Professor Liu as he looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

"I… don't have an opinion."

The two teammates trusted Lu Zhou so much, it would seem insincere if he rejected and so, he simply agreed.

Professor Liu smiled and nodded his head as he continued to speak.

"When the time comes, the school will arrange a school bus to send you guys to the old school where a temporary accommodation will be arranged for you."

"Finally, remember to ask for a permission slip from your instructor and clearly write down the reason for your absence. As for the lectures missed during the competition, you guys will have to think of a way to make up for it."

"Ask me if you have any questions. If not, you guys can leave."

Chapter 59: You Want A Permission Slip? Let Me Test You

There were two physics lessons during the three days of the mathematical modeling competition.

Lu Zhou felt like it was not a good impression to miss the first class and so, he decided to personally hand in the permission slip as he did not want to bother the class leader.

From the class information given by the Academic Affairs Office, the physics teacher was called Li Rongen and he was an old professor with high qualifications. When Lu Zhou found his phone number, he gave him a call to confirm that he was in his office before he headed over.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door before he walked in. He handed the permission slip on the desk and explained his reasons.

"Permission to miss classes?" said Professor Li. He took off his glasses and looked at the slip as he said, "Your name is Lu Zhou, right?"

"Yes," said Lu Zhou as he nodded.

Professor Li smiled and said, "Okay, then let me ask you two questions. If you can answer one of them, I'll approve your permission slip."

What's this?

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"What? Scared?" asked Li Rongen with a smile.

"Nope," said Lu Zhou. He fixed his composure, shook his head, and said, "Professor, please go ahead and ask me."

"The first question, take this," said Li Rongen as he handed Lu Zhou an A4 sized paper. With a smile, he said, "Write as much as you want. I want to see the working."

You even prepared the questions?

Lu Zhou felt like the man premeditated this. Otherwise, why would the question be printed on an A4 paper?

Lu Zhou did not say anything as he took the A4 paper and started to read the question.

[The half-life of uranium 238 in a nuclear submarine is 4.5x10^9 years. There is a 0.7% probability of a uranium 234 decay, which will release a high-energy photon, 93% of which is absorbed by the submarine steel plates. In 1981, a nuclear submarine from the Soviet Union transmitted a high-energy photo, which was measured by the detector 1.5m from the nuclear source (treat the source as a point). The instrument's positive incident area is 22cm^2, the efficiency is 0.25% (one pulse signal per 400 incident photos), 125 signals are measured per hour.

1. Find the average life of the uranium 238 core. (ln2 = 0.693)

2. Find the mass of uranium 238 in the submarine (kg as a unit, 2 sig figs)

]

Lu Zhou finished reading the question and sighed in his heart.

No wonder he is named one of the "four physics devil" professors. What a question!

Speaking of which, the first physics lecture is next Monday. Why is she asking me this nuclear physics question?

"Do you want to sit down?"

"It's okay, I'll stand."

Lu Zhou took the pen and draft paper from Professor Li. He stood next to the office table. With a frown, he began to think.

Physics was not his strong suit.

However, after an entire summer of grinding, he was invulnerable!

Five minutes passed and Lu Zhou relaxed before he started to write.

[Law of decay: N=N0e^(-λt)

The relationship between the decay constant and half-life constant is: N0/2=N0e^(-λT1/2), from which T1/2=ln2/λ

]

Lu Zhou wrote down the two equations and his eyes flashed.

He had successfully turned a physics problem into an advanced algebra problem.

Next up, he just had to solve it!

First part!

The pen moved quickly on the A4 paper.

[(1) Average lifetime of radionuclide t=∫λNtdt/N0=…=1.1443T1/2

Substituting data gives T=6.49*10^9 years.

]

Professor Li looked at that A4 paper with his eyebrows raised and he had a look of interest in his eyes.

Lu Zhou did not notice Professor Li's change of expression. He was too concentrated on the question as he began to answer the next part.

[From the information provided, the number of high-energy photons generated by decaying to U234 at dt time is dN·n0=n0λNdt]

Let the efficiency of photons passing through the steel plate as n1, and the number of photons passing through the steel plate in the dt time is calculated as dN1=n0λNdt·n1

The number of photons entering the detector…

The number of signals generated…

Able to calculate the number of uranium 238 in the submarine, which gives the mass.

]

Lu Zhou substituted all of the data and calculated the number of uranium 238 as N = 7.456x10^25.

However, just he was preparing to substitute N to calculate the mass and complete the final blow to the enemy, Professor Li suddenly spoke.

"Okay, I'll count that you passed."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

He was not happy at all.

What do you mean you'll count that I passed?

I already did it up to this point. Can't you just let me finish before speaking!

"Professor, I haven't finished…"

"A middle school student can finish this step," said Li Rongen. With a smile, he said, "You can finish it if you want."

The momentum of solving the question was destroyed and Lu Zhou was left speechless.

His OCD forced him to finish the question.

Answer M = 29.634kg, two sig fig as 30kg.

The steps were right and the answer was definitely correct.

Lu Zhou wrote down a full stop as he completed the question.

"Do you want to hear the second question?" asked Li Rongen with a smile.

Although Lu Zhou wanted to say "No", he remembered that the professor had not signed the permission slip yet, so he replied, "Say it."

Li Rongen laughed and said, "Don't be nervous, the second question is very easy. Just tell me the second law of thermodynamics."

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he sighed in relief.

He thought that the professor would give him an impossible question to defeat him and to destroy his ego. He had not expected to be set free by Professor Li.

Normally speaking, there were two different expressions of the second law of thermodynamics. One was the famous Kelvin equation, the other was the expression mentioned by Rudolf Clausius in the 1850 thesis.

As for Hatsopoulos-Keenan's expression, it was a relatively new expression that only recently emerged.

Lu Zhou read the textbook carefully and so he did not miss it.

"For a system with a given energy, material composition, and parameters, there is a stable equilibrium state. Other states can always be achieved through a reversible process," said Lu Zhou as he recited this expression effortlessly.

"Not bad," said Li Rongen as he nodded with approval.

The textbooks used by physics majors did not mention the more advanced expression in the text even though they might have mentioned it in the appendix. Students who were not interested in physics would never know this expression.

Lu Zhou even recited this obscure fact, which proves that he had thoroughly understood the [University Physics] textbook.

After this investigation, Li Rongen could confirm that there was not anything an undergraduate physics course could teach Lu Zhou.

I guess Old Tang wasn't bragging, this kid is talented!

He would have signed the permission slip regardless as he was only joking around.

Since yesterday, he had signed dozens of permission slips for the mathematical model. Another one would not be any problem.

Even if Lu Zhou did not answer, he would have just roasted Lu Zhou a bit but he would still sign it.

Li Rongen signed his signature before pulling out a name list from his drawer. He drew two ticks on it before he spoke with an elderly tone.

"Lu Zhou."

"What?"

"Do you have plans for a master's?

Lu Zhou thought and said with an uncertain tone, "Sure."

Who knows what can happen in the future?

However, Professor Li's intuition was weaker than Professor Tang's. He did not hear the uncertainty in Lu Zhou's tone. Instead, he merely nodded his head in approval and continued.

"The physics department of our University of Jin Ling is one of the best in the nation. Humbly speaking, we're tied for first. But for superconducting physics, electronic system, condensed physics, and material design, they are not as good as us. We are the best. IF you are interested in physics, come to our carbon nanotubes laboratory when you graduate. We are always looking for talented mathematicians."

This is…

Is he implying that I should apply to be his graduate student?

Lu Zhou laughed. He was only a second year and was still far from doing a master's.

Regardless, the teacher was being kind.

Lu Zhou sincerely said, "Thank you, professor."

Li Rongen smiled and nodded his head, "Okay, take the permission slip and leave. You should enter more competitions like this if you can. If you want to do a master's, you should watch out for a guaranteed master's spot. Or you can wait till you're in the third year and ask me or Professor Tang, whatever you want."

Lu Zhou smiled and expressed his gratitude. Without saying anything else, he took his hard-earned permission slip and left.

Chapter 60: National Competition Begin!

12th of September - The competition was held as scheduled!

The day before the competition, Lu Zhou and the others took the school bus and went from the new campus to the old campus. They would be living in the temporary dorms arranged by the school.

The mattresses and pillows were prepared and so, the students only had to bring their own covers. Some people did not even bring the covers. After all, the competition would only last for 72 hours. The average bedtime for each student was less than 10 hours.

For example, Lu Zhou was like this.

His task was the heaviest as he had to finish the most amount of work. He could only sleep for a bit during the second night and so, he did not even bring a change of clothes. The first thing he did when he moved into the new dorm was to lay in bed and try to sleep.

He had to force himself to fall asleep.

When Lu Zhou woke up at five in the morning, he laid in bed until seven before he went for breakfast. He met up with Wang Xiaodong and Lin Yuxiang before they all headed to the dedicated computer room that the school prepared.

According to the official registration information, there were more than 70,000 university students from 23,347 teams, across 1338 universities. There were teams from 33 provinces, autonomous regions (including Hong Kong and Macao), and the United States. Everyone clicked on the competition website at the same time and downloaded the questions.

The competition was co-sponsored by the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education and the China Institute of Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Therefore it was rigorous and fair. Its influence was lesser than the "Challenger Cup", but the reward was in some sense more valuable than the "Challenger Cup".

It was half-past seven in the morning when the ten teams sat in a computer room.

Even though most people chose to use their own laptop to answer questions, they brought their laptop to the computer room. After all, wifi in the computer room and library could allow students to download theses online for free. They were expected to win this kind of competition through resources on Baidu.

When Professor Liu came, he smiled and said hello to his three students. He did not talk about the competition. Instead, he asked how they slept or how were the dorms. After that, he walked out of the computer room, drove the school bus, and went back to do his own projects.

At eight o'clock, the bell rang.

Everyone quickly logged into the official website and downloaded the questions.

The questions were divided into ABCD for four major questions. Of which, AB was for undergraduate students, while CD was for students doing a specialized degree. Every team had to choose one question. The teams were given an md5 hash from the official website and they had to upload the thesis in PDF form and pass the md5 check.

In general, as they only had half an hour to choose the question, everyone was scrambling to read the question.

However, when they saw the questions, they were dumbfounded.

"Question A is the design and control of the landing trajectory for Chang'e 3 spacecraft… Question B is designing a folding table! F*ck! What the hell are these questions this year?"

"These are totally different from the training questions we did!"

"I did something similar a few days ago. It was something like designing the launch of the Shenzhou Rocket… But I didn't expect that question to come up in the competition… I'm too careless!"

"For f*ck sake, didn't you get 95 in advanced algebra? Think about something!"

"I studied advanced algebra, not rocket science!"

"Designing a table… How are you supposed to do that? Aren't there only four legs? Foldable… We can try adding a spring behind the legs?"

The computer room was quite lively and it was obvious that the students were troubled by these questions as they had no idea where to begin.

However, some students were different.

For example, Luo Rundong from Lu Zhou's class was quietly communicating with his teammates.

And Liu Rui… That kid seemed to be quite reliable as he had already finished reading the questions and was already assigning work to his teammates.

Wang Xiaodong looked at the two questions and frowned.

The sky seemed to have collapsed.

The two questions were both related to physics.

The first question was related to space trajectory calculations which certainly impossible to solve with just high school physics knowledge. On the surface, the second question looked simple, but it actually was not much easier than the first question. It involved the dynamic motion analysis of the table legs, material stress analysis, and a dozen other problems. Not only would it require mathematical modeling knowledge, but it also required a certain degree of involvement in structural mechanics as well as materials science.

However…

The "mathematical genius" Lu Zhou in the group was only a second-year student and he had only just started his physics class.

They had to choose the easier question.

The first question was impossible to do without physics knowledge. They could try to turn the second question into a mathematical problem by using resources online.

Wang Xiaodong looked at Lu Zhou, "Should we choose question B?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "Choose question A."

"Question A?" asked Wang Xiaodong. He frowned, "Are you sure?"

Since question A was so scary, it was natural that most teams selected question B. Lu Zhou had to be brave and confront the dragon!

Of course, Lu Zhou made this selection because he was confident about question A.

Wang Xiaodong nodded and naturally understood the meaning behind Lu Zhou's last sentence.

"Okay, then you'll have to do the modeling."

"I got this."

The two geniuses had reached a consensus.

Lin Yuxiang looked at her teammates and asked weakly, "Which… Part can I help?"

Wang Xiaodong gave her a gentle smile. He was about to say "I'll do everything" when Lu Zhou, who was busy writing on an A4 paper, interrupted Wang Xiaodong and said impolitely, "Bring food and water, thanks."

Programming, thesis writing, and modeling. All these three tasks were allocated already and the only thing they needed was someone for food delivery.

Lu Zhou thought, "Don't think it's that easy to get a free win." He had to make this girl do something at least.

Wang Xiaodong: "…"

Lin Yuxiang did not complain. Instead, she nodded energetically, "Ok, I'll do it!"

The advantage of one person doing both mathematical modeling and thesis writing was that it removed the problem of communication.

At the same time, as the captain, Lu Zhou could issue orders to Wang Xiaodong, who was responsible for coding.

Therefore, there would not be any disagreements between the teammates!

There were three sub-questions:

(1) Determine the position of the moon's far side and close side landings. Also, determine the speed and location of Chang'e 3.

(2) Determine the optimal trajectory of Chang'e 3 and the optimal control of the six stages.

(3) Make corresponding error analysis and sensitivity analysis for your designed landing trajectory and control strategy.

"The next part is the summary. This part can be left until the entire thesis is written. The focus is on the question's analysis, which involves the entire thought process of the modeling, which is the entire soul of the paper," murmured Lu Zhou as he bit down on his pen and tapped his fingers on the keyboard. He wrote the outline of the thesis and began to define the critical soul of this paper based on his calculations.

[Question 1. In order to get the far and close side moon locations of the landing, as well as the size and direction of the corresponding velocity of Chang'e 3, we first use the Newtonian physics combined with the known conditions for calculation. The motion of the main deceleration stage of Chang'e 3 is divided into a uniform variable speed linear motion. Using MATLAB, the main deceleration phase of the iterative operation…]

[Question 2. In order to ensure optimal landing trajectory of the Chang'e 3 and the optimal control of the six stages, take minimum fuel consumption as the goal. Using the parameters given by the problem, use MATLAB to identify obstacles on the digital elevation map. To achieve the identification of obstacles and location of landing points, simulate an optimal landing orbit mode…"]

[To analyze the error or the landing orbit control strategy designed in part 2, we need to first list all possible variables that can cause an error…]

Lu Zhou went into a state of being deep in his own thoughts. He was entirely focused on the question.

After he analyzed the question, he felt like his brain was definitely clearer. Even the entire general framework of the thesis started to form in his mind.

What was left was to translate the outline into a mathematical question…

For most teams, they did the thesis after the programming and modeling, but for Lu Zhou, he could do both at the same time!

This was their team's biggest advantage!

Chapter 61: Grinding For 72 Hours

When Wang Xiaodong finished the last step, he opened the data package and looked at Lu Zhou, "The iterative calculation program is completed. The coordinates for the far and close side of the moon, the speed, and the direction of Chang'e 3 are calculated. I'll send it to your email?"

Lu Zhou, who was writing, did not even lift his head, "Just send it to my QQ."

Wang Xiaodong, "Okay, what's next?"

"… The satellite orbit around the moon and the satellite landing trajectory geometry data and parameters are all here. You'll have to do the plotting," replied Lu Zhou. He threw the fully written A4 at Wang Xiaodong's desk and began his next calculation.

Wang Xiaodong looked at the data on the paper and noticed that he had changed the MATLAB software to a more professional SAS software for data mapping. Without any expression, he answered, "Okay."

The two collaborated quietly and were fighting in their own areas of expertise.

It was around twelve o'clock when Lin Yuxiang walked quietly into the computer room. She placed a plastic bag containing two packs of yellow chicken rice and two cans of coffee on the table.

"Geniuses, time to eat!"

Wang Xiaodong got up and took his plate. With a smile on his face, he said, "Thank you."

Naturally, Lin Yuxiang smiled back. She then walked next to Lu Zhou and said, "This one's yours."

Lu Zhou did not raise his head as he replied, "Put it aside. I'll eat it after I finish calculating this."

"Okay!"

It was nine o'clock at night when Lin Yuxiang yawned and went back to the dorm. Wang Xiaodong went back at around ten o'clock. As he was the main force for tomorrow, he had to get a good night's rest.

At this point, other than Lu Zhou, there were only a few people left in the computer room.

The genius mathematics student Luo Rundong was also there with Liu Rui.

There was also a third-year genius statistics student next to Liu Rui.

Their team configuration was special. The captain was responsible for programming and part of the modeling but did not do calculations. Most of the modeling was done by Liu Rui who then directed another person to do the thesis.

The third-year genius statistics student asked, "Is that guy in your dorm?"

Liu Rui nodded, "Yeah."

The genius statistics student said casually, "That guy is insane. I briefly looked at him when I went to the bathroom. He chose question A. They'll have a lot fewer competitors than us."

Liu Rui asked curiously, "Then why didn't we choose question A?"

Liu Rui has been solving question B for a while now and he did not feel like it was easy at all.

The genius statistic student said impolitely, "Because I have you guys for this year. Do you think I wanted to choose question B?"

Liu Rui: "…"

The other guy in his team: "…"

At three o'clock in the morning, only five people were left in the computer room.

At four o'clock in the morning, Lu Zhou was the only person still sitting in front of a computer.

By the time the sun started to shine through the window, Lu Zhou finally finished writing the last line of calculations.

When Wang Xiaodong opened the computer room door and walked in, he asked, "Finished?"

"Finished…" said Lu Zhou. He sighed in relief before saying, "The basic modeling is completed. The rest is programming, plotting, and sensitivity analysis by observing changes in the simulation. When you're done, I'll start writing the thesis."

Wang Xiaodong nodded his head and said, "I got this. Go and rest."

"Okay."

Lu Zhou pinched his eyebrows, shook his head, and stood up before he walked out of the computer room.

Compared to his all-nighters during the summer, this was nothing.

Lu Zhou could not remember how he got back to the dorms. He just remembered that he opened the door and without even taking his clothes off, he went to sleep.

When he woke up, it was already dusk.

Lu Zhou sat up in bed and rubbed his messy hair as he took out his phone from his pocket to take a look at the time.

He recalled that he got back to the dorm around six in the morning.

"I slept for twelve hours…"

The next time he could sleep would be after the competition.

Lu Zhou went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up before heading towards the computer room.

When he arrived at the computer room, Wang Xiaodong was already writing the last line of the program.

Lin Yuxiang was away but she had brought food. The food was still hot. She probably left recently.

Lu Zhou opened the plastic bag and was about to grab a pair of chopsticks when he saw a piece of paper in the bag.

He slowly unfolded the paper.

[Try your best ~ ^.^ ~]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou crunched the paper and threw it in the rubbish bin before opening the disposable chopsticks to begin eating.

When he finished eating his dinner, he went to the bathroom and along the way, he threw the takeaway box away.

When he came back, Wang Xiaodong pushed his glasses. He stood up and started talking, "I've already finished writing the program. The code I've used for the three questions have been sent to your QQ. I'll come back at three in the morning. You'll have to do the thesis."

"Ok, set an alarm. Don't forget."

"I know," said Wang Xiaodong as he nodded his head and left.

Lu Zhou was the last relay runner. He sat in front of the computer and stretched.

It was seven o'clock at night and they still had 37 hours till the thesis submission time.

Within the next 37 hours, he had to summarize all of the calculation processes, modeling ideas, procedures, and answers to the three questions, all into a 20-30 page thesis.

No matter how exquisite the model or how ingenious the program, the judges would only judge by the thesis presentation. If the thesis could not be understood by the judges, then there was no hope for the prize.

Therefore, this last step could not be done sloppily!

Lu Zhou went into his working mode and he had completely forgotten about the time. His attention was entirely concentrated on the computer screen and his typing and thinking were operating at the speed of light.

The abstract and keywords had to be written in one page according to format requirements. Lu Zhou edited his abstract and even then, he barely made the cut.

No one knew his model thought process better than him. Therefore, this stage was easy to do.

The next was the cumbersome process of proof and reasoning. This was the main part of the entire thesis. Although it did not take up too much space, it was the most time-consuming part to complete.

The main reason was that not only did it involve mathematical modeling ideas, it also involved programming.

Lu Zhou was comfortable with mathematics but he needed to communicate with the coder for the program part.

Time slowly past by and the sun fell down and rose again. Once again, it shined across the horizon.

When the night was over, Lu Zhou had finished the last part of the question answering section.

He stretched and started at the thesis with his sleepy eyes before yawning as he started to talk to himself.

"… Next up is the reference and appendix. Finally, it's almost done."

Lu Zhou placed his hands on the keyboard and he copied the title of the cited documents.

[

... Moon soft landing gravity turning track design and analysis (C), Huaguo Aerospace Association deep space exploration technology professional committee second academic conference. 2005.

... Research on the detection and evasion scheme of manned lunar surface obstacles, Space Return and Remote Sensing. 2014, 35: 11-19

…

]

In total, he cited six Chinese theses, and one English thesis.

For the final step, Lu Zhou copied Wang Xiaodong's code into the appendix.

Wang Xiaodong stood behind Lu Zhou. As he pushed his glasses, he looked at the texts on the screen and asked, "Finished?"

"Yeah, all finished. Help me check for errors. If there are no errors, convert it to PDF format," said Lu Zhou while standing up from his chair. He shook his groggy brain and said, "I'm going to sleep. I'll delegate the md5 hash check and uploading work to you."

"Go rest," said Wang Xiaodong. He paused for a second before saying with a concerned voice, "Be careful on the road. Don't trip."

"Ok," said Lu Zhou as he nodded his head before he walked out of the computer room.

Chapter 62: If You Don't Screw Up, I Won't Respect You

After more than 30 hours of continuously working in a highly focused state, Lu Zhou was pushed to the limit.

When he went back to his temporary dorm, as usual, he did not change his clothes. The moment his head hit the pillow, he began to dream.

The sun was already up and about when he opened his eyes again.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and looked at the time. It was half past five in the afternoon.

"My sleeping schedule is reversed. It seems that I've got to try to fix it over the next two days."

Since no one even interrupted him, he did not realize that he slept for so long..

There were dozens of missed calls on his phone screen. They were from Chen Yushan, his teammates, Professor Liu, the counselor, and his roommates.

Lu Zhou opened his WeChat and messaged all of them to explain why he did not pick up.

Once he finished sending the messages and put on his backpack, he was about to return the dorm key when his phone rang.

It was from Chen Yushan.

When he picked up the call, a sweet voice came through, "Lu Zhou! What do you feel like?"

Lu Zhou, "I feel okay."

Chen Yushan immediately asked, "I heard the question was very difficult this year. Which question did you choose?"

Lu Zhou, "A, the one about the Chang'e 3."

Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's answer and opened her eyes in surprise as she asked, "You chose that one?! Did you understand the question?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and responded, "It's okay. Although the proposition of a space question is scary, it wasn't that difficult to convert it into a mathematical problem."

"So, you don't think that it's hard," sighed Chen Yushan. She said, "I have a roommate that also participated this year. She wanted to get the first prize and earn a chance to enter a master's programme. But as soon as she saw the question, she was dumbfounded."

The mathematical modeling competition can help towards entering a master's programme!

Lu Zhou was amazed.

No wonder Lin Yuxiang was desperate for us to carry her.

I see. This makes sense.

Lu Zhou asked, "Which question did she choose?"

Chen Yushan, "Question B, the folding table one."

How unfortunate.

Lu Zhou thought in his heart.

At least seven teams in the computer room chose question B. He did not know about the other three. It was likely that Lu Zhou was the only team in the entire computer room that chose question A.

"Then how did she feel about the question?"

"Very difficult. It involved structural mechanics and ergonomics. In short, very troublesome and cumbersome. She was complaining about this stupid table," sighed Chen Yushan. She added, "The specialize group questions were normal. Design a pig farm and design a medicine storage cabinet. I won't talk for long, go and eat. You probably just woke up. I'll go and comfort my roommate."

"Ok, see you later."

Just as Lu Zhou hung up the call, he saw a message from Lin Yuxiang. It said that the md5 hash check and thesis upload was complete. She and Wang Xiaodong already went back to the school and that he should feel free to ask her for favors in the future. She also said she wanted to buy him food as a show of thanks.

Lu Zhou thought and replied, [You are welcome].

The competition was already over. Even though she dragged the team down, she could still be counted as a "support" and so, she was kind of useful.

There was no point complaining about her.

The school bus already left and the next one would be coming tomorrow morning.

The old campus dorms were pretty crappy. Lu Zhou did not shower or change for three days and he did not want to stay here for another second.

He put on his backpack and walked to the school gate where he ate some noodles outside the gate before taking the train back to the new campus.

…

"One two one, one two one…"

"Move your arms! Move your legs! Move, move, move!"

Shouting sounds came from the track field where a group of first-year students was being trained by instructors.

Lu Zhou saw the crowd of energetic young people and sighed. He missed being young. He then walked towards the dorms.

When he went back to his dorm and opened the door, the three animals surrounded him.

"Zhou, how was it?"

"Are you confident that you did well? Liu Rui said he screwed up again."

"I really screwed up," said Liu Rui. He smiled, "Why don't you guys believe me? I saw the two questions and was stunned, I thought the second one looked slightly easier. My programming and modeling teammates had to carry me. I'll be happy with a provincial award."

Impatient, Shi Shang interrupted the guy, "Okay, okay, cool. If you didn't screw up, I wouldn't respect you. Move aside, I'm talking to Zhou."

Huang Guangming came over and asked, "Zhou, how did you do? Is question A hard?"

Lu Zhou casually said, "It's okay… Liu Rui, how about you?"

"Way too hard… A lot of the problems can't be solved with mathematics," said Liu Rui as he shook his head.

That was inevitable.

Whether it was mathematics or programming, they were only tools to solve problems. The core idea of the mathematical modeling competition was to reward those who were good at using mathematics to solve practical problems.

That was why the national prize is valuable.

It was different than a mathematical exam. A mathematical model did not have much content to talk about.

Lu Zhou's two roommates had plans to enter the competition next year and so, they bombarded him with many questions. When he was finally able to get rid of the animals, he climbed up the ladder and opened his laptop in bed.

He was AFK for so long. If the progress bar did not move at all, he would be pissed.

However, when Lu Zhou opened the laptop cover and looked, he was furious.

F*ck you!

The progress bar had only moved a tiny tiny bit.

F*cking machine! Waste of electricity!

Lu Zhou was angry. He immediately closed his laptop, grabbed two programming textbooks, and went to the library.

…

After the mathematical modeling competition ended, Lu Zhou finally had some free time to relax.

He had two textbooks on him every day - [Data structure] and [Artificial intelligence programming paradigm]. He would pay attention to maths and physics classes and would do his own stuff during other classes.

That was the advantage of the university. He was the master of his own time.

Other than those deans or old professors, most professors only cared about lecturing. At most, they would do a name check of the people in the class but they would not care about what the students were doing in the class as long as they did not interrupt the lectures.

Lu Zhou would either be in class, studying in the library, or in his dorm playing with artificial intelligence Xiao Ai. By sheer accident, Lu Zhou discovered that talking with Xiao Ai improved the progress bar and it was much more efficient than being away from the computer.

Therefore, Lu Zhou wrote a small program in Python. He connected the interface between Xiao Ai and QQ. He then registered a QQ number in Xiao Ai's name and named it "Eye".

This way, he could use his phone to send messages to Xiao Ai. The Python program read his message and entered it into Xiao Ai's dialog box.

This was equivalent to using a third-party chat tool to indirectly interact with Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai had absolute control of the mobile workstation and he could even remotely control his laptop.

He could ask Xiao Ai to execute a program and Xiao Ai would do it.

For example, if he told Xiao Ai to shut down, Xiao Ai would turn off his laptop.

Lu Zhou felt that was pretty cool.

Of course, for security reasons, he added a security lock to the Python program. Only the QQ messages sent by him would be read by Xiao Ai.

Therefore, if someone found Xiao Ai's QQ account, they still could not do any damage.

After all, Xiao Ai could only identify Lu Zhuo's account.

Chapter 63: At Least A National Award!

As time went by, Lu Zhou had basically maintained a constant daily routine while he was waiting for the results from the mathematical modeling competition.

From Monday to Saturday, he would stay in his dorm, classroom, and library. On Sunday, he would go to Chen Yushan's cousin and tutor her.

Under Lu Zhou's help, Han Mengqi's mathematics scores grew at an alarming rate. She was horrible in the beginning, but now she could keep up with the progress of her high school's curriculum and be able to move forward steadily.

The other thing was the Campus Train app.

Lu Zhou had not been paying attention to his app. If it was not for the occasional bug feedbacks, Lu Zhou would have forgotten that he ran a small company with a half a million yuan loan.

After the peak back-to-school period, the number of users of Campus Train stopped at 2 million. Like a pool of stagnant water, the user growth stopped.

It was normal. What kind of students would buy a train ticket during the semester?

The cost of renting the cloud server every month was several thousand but this was during normal periods. If it was during the months of June, September, December, January or February, the cost of the server would be more than doubled.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou did not have an idea as to how to monetize the app. This was his first attempt at starting a business and he was very confused.

His original plan was to increase the number of users of the app and then get some fundings or simply sell it to a big company.

As of now, not a single company was interested in his app. However, a lot of headhunting companies found him.

Although the young userbase was of high quality, the group of users was only "active" at certain times. The value was low… This was what Lu Zhou learned when he tried to contact internet venture capitalists.

As expected, it was too difficult for a person to run a company alone.

He had no experience nor energy.

Lu Zhou was contemplating if he should use the 500,000 yuan to hire a professional manager. However, the problem was what kind of manager would want to work at a place that did not even have an office?

Emm…

This question is still unsolved.

Lu Zhou put aside the company affairs for a while. Anyway, the users were inactive and there was no way to make them active.

Finally, in early October, when Lu Zhou received a presentation reply from Professor Liu, he finally stopped worrying.

Normally, getting a presentation reply meant at least a provincial first level prize, which was also the first level area prize.

According to the rules of the mathematical modeling competition, each competition zone would send the first level prize of the area to the national organizing committee. According to the unified standard, the national organizing committee would hire experts to form the national evaluation committee. The first level and second level national prizes would be selected by that committee.

The first level national prize would also be considered for the special award such as the Higher Education Society Cup or the Matlab Innovation Award.

The Higher Education Society Cup was a very prestigious award.

If the first level national prize added credit towards a master's entrance, then the Higher Education cup would guarantee a master's entrance.

Lu Zhou did not care too much about the Higher Education cup. His goal was the first level national prize. If he could not even get that, he was scared that he would have to wait till next year to finish the mission or that he had to use general points and cancel the mission.

Lu Zhou did not waste his time. He opened the notebook, inserted the USB, and started to prepare the presentation powerpoint.

At this moment, a knock came from outside the dorm. Huang Guangming who was playing on his phone stood up and walked over.

It was the class leader Tian Jun. He had a name list in his hand when he asked, "Is Liu Rui in your dorm?"

"Here!" said Liu Rui. He was washing clothes on the balcony and when he hurried back into the dorm, he knocked over Huang Guangming's feet washing bucket before he hurriedly asked the class leader, "What's up, what's up?"

Actually, he already knew what was up.

In the morning, Liu Rui's teammate mentioned something about a provincial second level prize. Liu Rui did not think much of it as he was only trying to get experience so that he could enter again next year and try to get the national prizes.

"Congratulations," said the class leader with a smile. He pulled out a certificate and said, "Second level provincial award!"

When Huang Guangming heard him, he stopped playing on his phone and shouted, "Oh sh*t, Liu Rui, you're nutty."

Shi Shang followed, "Nutty nutty, second level provincial prize. You almost got the first level!"

"Who else got a prize in our class?" asked Liu Rui as he quickly looked towards Lu Zhou's direction.

"And Luo Rundong I think. He won the first level provincial prize," said Tian Jun. He smiled and continued, "The second level prize is very good, much better than us idiot students that didn't even participate!"

"No, no. I just got lucky. Haha," replied Liu Rui modestly even though he was happy in his heart.

Although Liu Rui was jealous, he did not talk much with genius Luo, so there was not too much imbalance in Liu Rui's heart.

What surprised him was that Lu Zhou did not even get a prize!

Number one genius student in the mathematical department only got a participation medal!

What a big upset!

This made Liu Rui happier than the prize made him.

No, I can't laugh out loud.

Liu Rui cleared his throat and acted as if he cared when he asked the class leader, "What about Zhou? Did you miss his certificate?"

"He's not on the name list. I'm not sure…"

Tian Jun did not have Lu Zhou on the list. Lu Zhou was a genius student, so he checked a couple more times but still could not find Lu Zhou. He asked Lu Zhou, "Zhou, how about you go and ask the counselor? Maybe my name list is incomplete…"

"Yeah, why isn't there Zhou's name on the list. It makes no sense," said Shi Shang as he nodded.

Although Shi Shang was always infuriated by Lu Zhou's words, he still respected the man's talent.

In fact, Tian Jun was right. His list was incomplete.

The list that was given to him by the teacher responsible for training only included the teams that registered through the school's official website.

Lu Zhou was not managed by the school. He was part of the special training team arranged by the departments. Naturally, his name was not on the list.

"You don't have to search for it," said Lu Zhou while he searched for powerpoint material.

His prize would eventually come. He was not in a hurry and he did not know why these people were so anxious to see a piece of paper.

Shi Shang saw Lu Zhou's dissatisfied face and misunderstood, "No! What if the name list is actually wrong?!"

Huang Guangming agreed and he followed by saying, "Yeah, even Liu Rui got a second level prize. How could you not get one?"

Liu Rui was pissed and he insulted Guangming in his heart.

However, no matter what Liu Rui thought, he still pretended as if he agreed with them.

"It's really fine," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He added, "That thing will be sent sooner or later."

Tian Jun was confused and asked, "Sooner or later?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah." He opened up the browser and clicked on the email as he said, "Professor Liu already notified me of the presentation. The certificate will be sent soon so I'm not in a hurry."

There seemed to be a deviation in understanding.

The atmosphere in the dorm went quiet for three seconds.

Finally, Shi Shang said in shock, "F*ck me! Lu Zhou, you're nutty!"

Huang Guangming placed his arm on Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "First level provincial prize! You must've been entered into the national prize! Buy us dinner, Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou slapped his arm like a mosquito. He looked away and said, "Go away, leave me alone. I'm not gay. I have to do my powerpoint. We'll talk about dinner after I get the prize money!"

Class leader Tian Jun sighed and closed his name list. He smiled and said, "I told you. I knew that Lu Zhou would get the first level prize! I guess Professor Liu has it. Okay then, I'm leaving."

Liu Rui: "…"

Liu Rui smiled reluctantly even though he actually wanted to cry.

Finally, I felt good about my self for once, but now the feeling is gone…

Chapter 64: Provincial Presentation

The presentation today was conducted at the campus of the nemesis of the University of Jin Ling, the Dong University. The judges were prestigious academicians from the aerospace industry with impressive titles. People like the president of the Jiangsu Aerospace Technology Research Association, or the honorary professor of the University of Aerospace Industry…

In short, there was a sense of force in the air.

Lin Yuxiang sat in Dong University's lounge. She repeatedly read an A4 paper containing his thesis while Wang Xiaodong and Lu Zhou discussed the possible questions that could be asked by the judges during the presentation. Lin Yuxiang sat aside and feeling muddled, she was ready to pour tea for them.

The thesis presentation was carried out mainly by Lu Zhou. Wang Xiaodong would act as a backup, but Lu Zhou did not have much hope for him.

A modeling problem that would take 10 sentences to explain, Wang Xiaodong would condense it into one sentence. A simple code question, he would expand it into 10 sentences. He was talented, but he was not good at communication. His skill level was high, but it was unpractical.

Lin Yuxiang was even more useless and she was basically a delivery girl. In the beginning, she said she would be responsible for the presentation. However, if one were to ask her how to calculate the landing coordinates, she would only stare at her teammates with puppy eyes.

As expected, Lu Zhou had to rely on himself.

Lu Zhou had carried the entire competition. Now, it was his time to carry the presentation.

The powerpoint was simple and he just had to copy things down from the thesis.

Lu Zhou had already rehearsed the presentation multiple times and so, he would not panic when he went up to the stage.

The presentation stage was divided into two parts. The first part was to explain the thesis while the second part was to answer the questions from the judges. It was around eight minutes per stage and it was mainly to test the authenticity of the thesis to see if there was any signs of a ghostwriter.

Lu Zhou quickly presented his powerpoint and explained his mathematical modeling process. In the second stage, the expert judges asked two questions and Lu Zhou answered the questions without any problems.

Finally, that old professor who was the president of the Jiangsu Aerospace Technology Research Association smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He then signaled that the presentation was over and that Lu Zhou could leave.

When Lu Zhou came back from the stage and passed the captain of the next presenting team, he felt relaxed.

Lin Yuxiang came over and excitedly said, "Captain, you're so good that the professor even gave you a thumbs up!"

Lu Zhou replied, "It's probably convention, right?"

Lin Yuxiang snorted and said, "No way!" She said with a joyful tone, "When you guys were preparing, I secretly looked at other people's presentations. The professor had the same expression for the whole time, but when it was you, he changed his expression!"

You noticed this?!

Lu Zhou thought about it seriously.

Finally, he said with an uncertain tone, "Maybe… It's cause I'm too handsome."

Wang Xiaodong: "…"

Lin Yuxiang: "…"

They rode the school bus back to campus.

Lu Zhou noticed that Luo Rundong was not too happy. Maybe he did not do well in the presentation because he was not speaking with his teammates.

As for the other people, they were mostly discussing the presentation.

"How was your presentation?"

"It's okay, but the questions the professor asked is too hard."

"Yeah, yeah. It's caused he's trying to punish us for choosing question B."

"That's funny. Do you think he didn't torture us that chose question A? At most, he asked you the dimensions of your table but he asked us how to fly to space!"

"Anyway, the presentation is only to verify if the paper was actually written by yourself. It wouldn't add extra marks to the competition so it's fine as long as you passed."

"I think it still counted a little. I heard there are a limited number of national awards and they will take the presentation into account…"

Lu Zhou did not join their discussion. Instead, he laid in his chair and closed his eyes.

It was around five o'clock in the afternoon when the school bus returned to the campus of the University of Jin Ling.

When Lu Zhou went back to his dorm, he did not even put his bag down before his three animal roommates surrounded him.

Huang Guangming took the lead and asked, "Zhou, how was the presentation? Can you get the first level national prize?"

Lu Zhou replied ambiguously, "It was okay."

He had not expected that the three animals would disappear after hearing him.

Liu Rui, "Stable."

Huang Guangming, "Stable. he's definitely buying us dinner."

Shi Shang, "Lu Zhou's 'okay' to us equal to Rui's 'failed'. We get it now."

Liu Rui was unhappy and he slapped the table and said, "F*ck, why are you bringing me into this?"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

…

The list of winners was released.

There was no suspense this time. He got the first level national prize!

However, contrary to Lu Zhou's expectations, the mission had not completed yet.

After he heard the news of the prize, he entered the system space multiple times but the mission was still in the [In progress] stage.

Maybe I need to have the certificate?

But the thesis mission last time was completed before it passed the review process.

Just when Lu Zhou was suspecting that his system was stuck, Professor Liu gave him a call and asked him to come to his office.

While he walked to Professor Liu's office, Lu Zhou was confused,

When Professor Liu saw Lu Zhou walked in, he smiled and gestured him to sit down.

"The works of your team have been selected by the national judges and you are invited to Beijing to participate in an expert review. Go and talk to your teammates, and pack your stuff. You will leave in three days outside the school gate. I'll drive you guys to the train station."

Only first level national prizes got to participate in expert interviews. After the interview, the judges would announce the winners of the Higher Education Society Cup and the Matlab Innovation Award. The selection of these two trophies would not be divided into AB questions, only the undergraduate and specialize degree groups. This meant the champion and runner-up.

"Expert interview? Which means I have to present again?" asked Lu Zhou. He was dumbfounded.

Why is the mathematical modeling competition so troublesome?

"Yes, prepare your powerpoint and do some minor corrections. This time it's in Beijing, Yan University, and you'll be interviewed by the National Organizing Committee!" said Professor Liu Xiangping with a smile. He drank some tea before saying, "Try your best to come back with a Higher Education award."

He was confident in this team.

Especially the captain, he was very satisfied with him.

Maybe it was because he was talented, or humble, or able to listen to the opinions of others. Although there were some flaws in his personality, like Old Tang said, the pros outweighed the cons.

When Professor Liu saw Lu Zhou's reluctant face, he put down his vacuum flask, smiled and said, "What's the matter kid? You're not happy? The school will pay for your ticket and send you on a vacation in Beijing for three days. If I were you, I would be ecstatic!"

I see…

Is it because the competition has not ended yet, so the system determines that the mission is incomplete?

Which is saying, getting the first level national prize is only the basic condition of the mission?

If I want to earn a better mission evaluation, I have to get a better award.

Using this logic, the Matlab Innovation award should correspond to an S evaluation. As for the Higher Education cup award that symbolizes the champion… The evaluation is an S+!

Lu Zhou took in a deep breath before he looked at Professor Liu and said, "I understand. I'll notify my teammates!"

Teacher Liu nodded his head in satisfaction and said, "Go. Don't forget to get a permission slip."

Chapter 65: Expert Interview

Three days passed by quickly and it was soon the day of the expert interview in Beijing.

The train tickets to Beijing were reimbursed by the school but the cost of the hotel was not.

The three people arrived in Beijing by train and each of them booked a hotel room near Yanjing University.

They did not speak again that night.

The three planned to meet up next morning at eight o'clock in Yanjing University's lounge which was right outside of the interview venue.

When they arrived, the venue was already crowded. Not only were there competition teams, but there were also media reporters who were interviewing the teams.

Lu Zhou did not want to appear on the TV and so, he found a remote position and sat down. He took out the printed thesis and began his final preparation.

He had not even started to read before he heard discussion voices.

"… The experts have already selected the prizes before the interview. The interview is just a test of the authenticity of your thesis." Not far away, a seemingly awkward genius leaned back in his chair as he chatted with the teams, "I've been here three times already."

The few listeners were surprised, "That is, the winners have already been selected?"

"They already wrote the press release scripts!" said the genius with a smile.

"God, where are you from?"

"Wudaokou."

Expressions of admiration appeared on people's faces.

Wudaokou's genius is different than the rest!

Winning three national first level prizes. How impressive!

Maybe this guy is coming after the Higher Education Society Cup?!

But I thought Wudaokou university didn't participate in the National Mathematical Modeling Competition as they only cared about their inner competition?

Maybe they participated after all…

Lu Zhou sat nearby and he had an astonished look on his face.

Is this true?

He thought that the expert interview was similar to the presentation and he did not know that he was only here to show his face. He had spent three days fixing his powerpoint but no one even cared.

Lu Zhou did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Even though he was just here to show his face, he could still gain something right? After all, geniuses around the country were gathered here. If he could make friends with people of this level, it would help in his future career development…

However, that was just theory and it did not always apply to real life.

Geniuses were all arrogant. A bunch of arrogant people would not be able to make friends as they could not even communicate properly.

Lin Yuxiang felt uneasy and uncomfortable sitting amongst this group of people.

She was used to being stuck between the two geniuses. However, now that there were dozens of geniuses surrounding her, as a dumb student, she felt incompatible and she was under immense pressure from it!

The sweet and innocent smile became stiff and unnatural.

Lu Zhou was reading the thesis in his hand in preparation for the upcoming expert interview when a young female reporter came over with a cameraman.

"Sir, hello. Are you Lu Zhou?"

When Lu Zhou raised his head and saw the microphone, he had some suspicions in his heart but he merely nodded and said, "Yeah."

"I'm a reporter from the Beijing Daily. Can I interview you?"

"Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"Thanks for your cooperation," said the female reporter with a grin. She continued, "How do you feel about this mathematical modeling competition?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "It's alright."

That was all he said.

"…" The female reporter smiled politely and continued to ask, "It's alright? Can I ask if you felt like the questions were difficult?"

"It's… Okay," said Lu Zhou.

Close!

I nearly said "It's alright" again.

Lu Zhou silently praised his intelligence.

Female reporter: "…"

After Lu Zhou finally sent the reporter away, he was preparing to calm down and read his thesis when a man walked over.

The man was wearing a suit that stood out and he looked educated. Lu Zhou thought that he was decent looking. His vibe was similar to Wang Xiaodong but fiercer.

When the handsome guy walked over, Lin Yuxiang's eyes lit up. She used her phone as a mirror and fiddled with her bangs.

The awkward part was that the guy did not even see her. He did not even see Wang Xiaodong as his eyes were locked onto Lu Zhou.

"You're Lu Zhou, right?"

Lu Zhou raised his head and said, "… You're?"

"Wei Wen, from Yan University," said Wei Wen as he extended his hand. He continued, "I saw your thesis on [Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functionals], it was very well written."

Lu Zhou smiled as he shook his hand and said, "You're too kind."

"Don't need to be humble," said Wei Wen as he released Lu Zhou's hand. He then said, "Of course, your thesis might be good but I'm the one winning this competition."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

After Wei Wen said this, he turned around and left.

As Lu Zhou watched the back of the guy, he was confused.

What the hell? He came all the way over here and shook my hand, just to talk sh*t?

And I spent all this time analyzing why he came over.

Am I the only normal person here?

Lu Zhou shook his head and continued to review his thesis. It was at this moment that the venue ringed.

The presentation had begun!

…

In the venue, the judges sat professionally on the judges' table.

Lu Zhou was already numb to all their titles.

He played the powerpoint as planned.

The powerpoint presentation finished.

Lu Zhou was waiting nervously for the questions from the organization committee when one of the old gentlemen sitting in the middle left opened his mouth.

"What's your prospect of landing on the moon?"

What?

Is this question related to the thesis?

However, Lu Zhou did not hesitate and he immediately responded fluently.

"It's meaningful."

"How meaningful? I think it's a waste of money," said the old gentleman. He continued to ask, "Some time ago, I was discussing this with my old friends. In many rural parts of our country, children don't even have desks. The landing cost tens of billions of dollars a year. Compared to the Americans, or the Russians, how meaningful is it?"

Lu Zhou looked at this old gentleman strangely. He did not know what he meant by asking these questions. Was he asking about the future of aerospace technology? The scientific value of landing on the moon? If the space program increased the national spirit?

He was unsure.

Lu Zhou secretly observed the other judges and saw that they were watching with great interest.

When Lin Yuxiang saw that her captain did not speak, she could not help but feel anxious. However, Wang Xiaodong stood behind Lu Zhou and was expressionless. Maybe he thought that the captain will have an answer or that he did not know how to answer either.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and opened his mouth.

"Do you think that the Great Wall has any meaning?"

The old man's eyebrows jumped as he had not expected the answer. He smiled and said, "Of course it has meaning. What kind of Chinese person would disagree?"

"That's now but what about before?" asked Lu Zhou as he smiled as well. He looked at the old gentleman and said, "More than 1000 years ago, many people protested against wasting resources and gave up on many great projects. Emperor Shi Jingji was criticized for thousands of years for this. Now, if we think it's a waste of money and thinks that missiles and satellites are enough, won't we be criticized as well? Like we gave up on the universe?"

The judges' table went silent.

Although Lin Yuxiang held her breath, she still had a smile on her face. Wang Xiaodong was still expressionless but his fists were squeezed tightly.

The old gentleman looked at Lu Zhou and suddenly laughed.

"Hahaha, yes! Good answer!"

It's over?

Lu Zhou could not believe it. This judge actually let him go.

What about the thesis? Isn't it necessary to examine the authenticity of the paper? Why were the important steps skipped? Instead, I was asked something that isn't relevant.

He did not believe that this old man did not know the meaning behind aerospace.

After the judges signaled Lu Zhou to leave, he took his USB and left the venue with his two teammates.

Before leaving, he glanced at the old gentleman's nameplate.

He was shocked.

Ren Changming!

Of course, it was not the name that scared him but the title behind the name.

Former Chinese designer of the lunar exploration project!

After Lu Zhou and his team left the venue, Ren Changming looked at the old man next to him and said with a smile, "Old Wang, are you happy with this answer?"

"Oh, why did you bring our discussion onto the stage? What would a student know? He was full of himself," said Wang Zhongyi. Although he was dissatisfied, from his facial expression, it seemed to be different.

Wang Zhongyi paused and asked, "What's the student's name?"

Ren Changming unscrewed the vacuum flask and sipped some hot water before he smiled and said, "Lu Zhou."

Wang Zhongyi frowned and said, "I think I've heard of his name before…"

…

When the three people went back to the hotel in the evening, they gathered in front of the television in Lu Zhou's room.

The winners would be announced on the television.

It seemed that the expert interview was indeed just for the teams to show their face. The winners had already been decided before the interview began. Otherwise, it was impossible to decide the champion in such a short amount of time.

They would not even have the time to exchange opinions!

"It's very good to get the national first level prize," said Lin Yuxiang while she looked at the television. She whispered, "I saw a lot of geniuses in the lounge."

"Yes," said Wang Xiaodong as he nodded his head. He added, "I saw a few familiar faces in the lounge."

"Familiar?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Yes," nodded Wang Xiaodong. He said with an expressionless face, "I saw them at last year's National College Student Programming Contest."

No wonder!

Then that really was a gathering of geniuses.

Lu Zhou nodded and continued to stare at the TV.

A competition like the mathematical modeling competition had fewer viewers and so, CCTV did not spend much time reporting it. Instead, they inserted it between the news segments.

"This afternoon, the last expert interview of the National Mathematical Modeling Competition came to a successful conclusion. There were more than 70,000 undergraduate and specialist college students in the country, and a total of more than 300 national first level prizes."

"From the 300 national first level prizes, there are also two special awards for the Higher Education Society Cup and the Matlab Innovation Award."

It's here.

Lu Zhou squeezed his fists as he held his breath and looked at the screen.

This deciding moment for my mission evaluation is here!

The list of winners was announced.

The Undergraduate Higher Education Society Cup winners were…

Lu Zhou, Wang Xiaodong, Lin Yuxiang (University of Jin Ling)!

Chapter 66: National Champion!

Winners of the Undergraduate Group Higher Education Society Cup: Lu Zhou, Wang Xiaodong, Lin Yuxiang (University of Jin Ling)!

The rest of the school was not excited but dorm 201 was ecstatic.

"F*ck, Zhou is nutty!"

"I told you, right? Don't call him Zhou, call him Brother Zhou!"

"Sure, sure…"

Liu Rui looked at Huang Guangming and Shi Shang as he turned his phone off and pretended as if nothing had happened before continuing his physics homework.

Higher Education Society Cup!

Stood out from more than 70,000 college students!

Ah…

Lu Zhou was on another level than Liu Rui.

The dorm room door was pushed open and class leader Tian Jun rushed inside. Following closely behind him was school committee member Li Tao and genius Luo Rundong.

Tian Jun walked in and shouted, "F*ck dude, did you see it? Our school won a Higher Education Society Cup!" He tried to find Lu Zhou but did not see him.

Luo Rundong asked, "Where is Zhou?"

Shi Shang had a cheerful smile as if he had won the prize himself, "He's in Beijing and he'll come back tomorrow."

Li Tao said, "Brother Zhou is too nutty. I wonder if he's joining the competition next year as well. Maybe he can carry me."

Li Tao played too much video games last semester and as a result, his grades for advanced algebra at the end of the semester were horrible. If he asked Lu Zhou to carry him in the competition, he would have gotten a guaranteed master's entry spot.

That is the Higher Education Society Cup!

The University of Jin Ling has won the national first level prize many times, but this is the first time they ever won the championship.

Liu Rui said, "Piss off. Did you support him from the beginning? You don't have the right to speak. So go and wait aside."

Huang Guangming said, "Brother Rui, why are you so jealous? Do you need some medicine?"

Liu Rui: "…"

He wanted to fight someone.

…

[…]

[Undergraduate MATLAB Innovation Award winners: Wei Wen, Cui Jing, Yang Wanhong (Yanjing University)]

"How is this possible!"

Wei Wen stood up angrily and stared at the TV.

Runner up…

I got runner up!

In the venue, he scouted out all of the opponents that he thought were strong.

The three-time national first level prize genius from Wudaokou, the original team that won the championship 13 years ago, the student from the University of Jin Ling accused of being academic cancer…

Wei Wen thought Lu Zhou's thesis were horrible.

Lu Zhou was the most unlikely to win the prize. However, it was HIM that won.

It was not as if Wei Wen disrespected him.

Wei Wen admitted that Lu Zhou was strong and Lu Zhou even managed to surprise the professors from Courant of New York University. Wei Wen was unsure of Lu Zhou's modeling abilities, but in the field of mathematics, Lu Zhou was stronger than him.

However, mathematical modeling was a group competition - a semi-academic group research competition. It was not even a mathematics exam competition! Modeling, programming, and thesis must be completed in a rigorous division of labor. If one of the division fell below par, the rest would fall.

Wei Wen saw Lu Zhou's teammates and did not even consider him a threat.

The programmer was an expert, but at most he was a second rated expert, not top of the line. As for the female teammate, she was so useless that he could instantly see through her.

On the surface, it was a 3v3 when it was actually a 3v1.9.

Wei Wen saw their lineup and was sure that the national first level prize was as far as they were going to go.

However…

What happened was exactly the opposite of what he expected.

The championship did not belong to him, or any team that he considered a threat but it landed on that person…

When the news segment ended, Wei Wen's handsome face was filled with disdain as he bit his lip and sat back in his chair.

Compared to the Higher Education Society Cup, the MATLAB Innovation award was just to comfort the losers. There used to be an IBM-SPSS Innovation award which did the same thing. It basically meant that your programming was good, but your modeling was still slightly worse than the winners. Try better next time…

Most people would be happy with the result.

However, for him, anything other than the championship was meaningless.

The girl with bangs sat next to him and stared at the TV as they both remained silent.

After around ten minutes, Wei Wen suddenly spoke.

"… Xiao Jing, give me the computer."

"Okay," said Cui Jing as she nodded. She walked to the desk and took the tablet computer before handing it to her captain.

Wei Wen took the tablet and went on the official website.

The winner's thesis would be publicly displayed on the website. It would be used as a sample for the others to learn and to tell the losers why they lost. It was also to let the public review the fairness of the game.

Lu Zhou's thesis was ranked first and Wei Wen found it quickly.

He downloaded the winner's thesis and opened the PDF file. Wei Wen frowned as he stared at the screen and carefully read from the first word to the appendix.

"…"

He went silent for half an hour before he relaxed and sighed.

"I did lose…"

There was a luck aspect in the mathematical modeling competition. If the thesis was written in the appetite of the review professors, even if the thesis was average, it could still win the second or even the national first level prize.

However, in the selection of the "Higher Education Society Cup", which symbolized first in the country, luck did not exist. Every nominated thesis would be reviewed by every single judge.

The judge that sat in the middle? He was a former Chinese government chief architect for the lunar exploration project. He personally influenced the design of Chang'e 3. There was no one else who was more educated in aerospace.

Wei Wen finished reading Lu Zhou's thesis and was sure of one thing.

The programming side was indistinguishable from his own. Maybe his was even better, but he lost the mathematical model side. Without a doubt, he had also lost in the thesis part.

Wei Wei noticed that the mathematical model and the thought process of the thesis was the same.

Therefore, he was sure that Lu Zhou did the modeling and thesis work all by himself.

Although some weaker teams would use the tactic of one person carrying, there had never been a team that won the Higher Education Society Cup by using the one man carry tactic.

The time for the competition was only three days and it contained a high amount of modeling and thesis writing work. If a person just did one of them, they would be exhausted. A person who did both was absolutely insane. That person would have to sacrifice eating and sleeping just to guarantee the quality of the modeling and thesis.

However, the reality was that the guy named Lu Zhou did both.

This guy is a monster…

Wei Wen's lip went blue from the biting.

It was not because of jealousy.

It was because he felt humiliated by the opponent.

"What are you going to do?" said Cui Jing as she stood behind him.

He went silent for a while.

"I don't plan on doing anything. It's only a defeat."

Wei Wen put the tablet down and stood up.

In his eyes, depression and sadness were swept away. In their place, a burning passion appeared.

Being able to compete with such an opponent is a great thing.

This is only one defeat.

Next time, I will definitely not lose!

Wei Wen paused for a second before he took a deep breath and said calmly, "Don't forget I still have the US Competition in February!"

Cui Jing stood behind him and smiled softly.

This was the Wei Wen that she knew.

The guy that never gave up.

"Okay."

…

Lu Zhou received many calls tonight.

Some were from dorm 201, which called him "Brother Zhou, Brother Zhou," and asked him to buy them dinner.

This was the only time that this group of animals respected Lu Zhou like this.

Dean Zhang called as well to congratulate Lu Zhou. Then he started complimenting himself and said that he was the same when he was younger.

Lu Zhou was dumbfounded when he heard Dean Zhang.

If this guy was not a professor, Lu Zhou would have hung up.

There were people from the school that called as well.

Dean Lu, Professor Tang, and Professor Liu.

Professor Liu did not care about his image and laughed out loud, "Nicely done. Higher Education Society Cup! Our school had had a couple of national first level prizes and a couple of teams managed to go to Beijing. However, this is the first time that we won the Higher Education Society Cup!"

Professor Liu said up until here and sincerely admired Lu Zhou as he said, "You're pretty strong. I can't believe that you won without trying that hard. Go get the O award in the US Competition next year."

The O award was short for Outstanding Winner which was also the grand prize. The F prize was chosen from M prizes (the first level prize), then the global O award was chosen from the F prizes. At most, there were 20 O awards.

The O award also came with awards from associations and companies and so, it was roughly equivalent to the Higher Education Society Cup. Although the titles were similar, the treatment was very different. For example, Double Siegel invested USD10,000 as a bonus for winning the O award. However, it was only for the US teams…

"It wasn't just me. Without the code from Wang Xiaodong, I wouldn't have won," said Lu Zhou as he smiled humbly.

"Oh yeah, for sure," said Professor Liu. He smiled and continued, "The school is ready to give you a 10,000 yuan bonus. The principal just talked to me on the phone and asked for my opinion. He said that since Captain Lu Zhou did both the modeling and thesis, he should just get the 10,000 yuan by himself. However, from what you're saying, I guess I should split this $10,000 in half and give it to you and Wang Xiaodong."

Lu Zhou was unhappy when he heard this.

"Teacher, I've thought it about it carefully," said Lu Zhou. In a serious tone, he said, "Although Wang Xiaodong's efforts were outstanding, I think that without my delegation and working up to 30 hours continuously, we wouldn't have won this championship. Therefore…"

"Hahahaha, stop faking," said Professor Liu. His laughter interrupted Lu Zhou and he said, "Professor Tang was right. You're quite sneaky."

Lu Zhou saw that Professor Liu saw through him and so, he coughed and said, "Then… At most give him a third. Half is a bit unfair. I didn't sleep at all the second night when I was writing the thesis."

"I'm just kidding. Principal Xu said that this money is all yours so don't worry," said Professor Liu with a smile. He added, "If you're bored with Beijing, come back soon."

Lu Zhou asked, "I'm going on the train tomorrow. Is there any urgent matter?"

"There's no urgent matter. I just need to do a photo-shoot of you."

Photo-shoot?

The photo certificate for the award is also online. Why do I have to take another photo?

Lu Zhou asked suspiciously, "What photo?"

Professor Liu said with a smile, "So we can stick your photo on the trophy on the wall!"

Chapter 67: Unlucky

The night atmosphere outside the windows was bustling and the traffic on the roads was seemingly endless.

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and closed the curtains. He then took a shower before he laid in bed. He then started to whisper in his heart and went into the pure white system space.

As expected, after the list of winners was officially announced, the entire mission was completed.

Lu Zhou hurried over to the semi-transparent screen where a large line of text appeared.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission. Hope user can make persistent efforts.]

[Mission completion detail is as follows: On the basis of receiving the national prize, winning the Higher Education Society Cup… The final evaluation for the mission is S+ (reward mission is given)]

[Mission reward: According to mathematical modeling disciplines used: 200 mathematics experience points. 2000 physics experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% experience, 5% sample, 5% blueprint)]

When Lu Zhou saw the S+ evaluation, he was happy.

Sure enough, the national first level prize was the minimum requirement to complete the mission. The Higher Education Society Cup and MATLAB Innovation award corresponded to an evaluation of S+ and S respectively.

He had only received the S evaluation once, so the rules were unclear to him.

However, now that he got the S+ evaluation, he was sure that getting an S or above meant he would receive a reward mission!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and commanded.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 1 (2000/10000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (2100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000)

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (0/10000)

General points: 1175 (one lucky draw ticket)

Mission: None

]

Mathematics limited the upgrade of other subjects. Therefore, it was Lu Zhou's focus. Then there was engineering and information science where these two subjects were the easiest to make money with. Lu Zhou decided to give up on physics and just leave it alone.

Now, next…

Is the thrilling lucky draw!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath, reached out, and pressed the lucky draw button. When he saw the familiar prize wheel appearing in front of himself, he said, "Spin!"

The wheel began to spin at a speed that was impossible for the naked eyes to follow.

Lu Zhou repeated "good prize, good prize" in his heart several times. He shouted with his eyes closed.

"Stop!"

The wheel's inertia caused it to spin a few more turns before it slowly stopped.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and looked at the screen…

[Congratulations user, you received garbage.]

Goddamn it!

Does the system hate me?

Lu Zhou looked at the "garbage" text and screamed in his heart.

However, the system still did not care about him.

[Received: A can of coffee.]

"…"

Lu Zhou looked at the icon on the screen quietly as he realized that the system did not care about his feelings.

Lu Zhou left the system space and sat in his bed. He put out his right hand and said in his heart, "Coffee, coffee…"

There was a flash before his eyes.

Without any warning, a brown can appeared in his hands. It was like something out of a movie.

However, Lu Zhou was already accustomed to the magic of the system. Unlike the first time, he was not surprised. Instead, he was calm as he wondered, "Is this a Future again? Same brand as that coke, right? Why didn't they give me a can of sprite instead?"

Lu Zhou turned the can over to find the production date but he could not find it.

"I've tried futuristic coke. Let's see what futuristic coffee tastes like."

Lu Zhou opened the can and poured it into his mouth.

Emm…

It felt like the taste of ordinary instant coffee but it was very smooth.

It was indescribably delicious and he wanted to drink another can.

This type of unexplainable satisfaction was similar to the "Future" coke's feeling.

Lu Zhou licked the corner of his mouth, wiped the can clean, and stuff it into his bag. He planned to find a rubbish bin outside tomorrow to throw it out. The hotel check-in information was linked to his citizen ID and it was better to be low-key.

He went to the bathroom and washed his face before he laid back in bed, closed his eyes, and went into the system space.

It was time for the reward mission.

[Reward mission begin!]

[

Mission: Reward mission (Able to cancel anytime, no general point penalty will be given).

Requirements: One SCI thesis.

Reward: Subject experience (Experience value is determined by the academic value of the thesis, minimum 1000 points. Experience type is determined by the content of the thesis.) One lucky draw ticket (50% sample, 50% blueprint)]

]

Not too good, not too bad

The reward and difficulty are average.

It seems that S+ evaluations corresponded to a reward mission. Not all reward missions can unlock technology branches. But this lucky draw probability is the best as I can only get a blueprint or sample. Both are pretty good.

As for the content of the mission, it was similar to his second mission.

The only difference was that the lower limit of his second mission was 100 points, whereas this mission was 1000 points.

Basically, what it said was that even if he just casually submitted to some random journal, as long as it passed review, he could get 1000 experience points.

"Minimum 1000 experience points… I wonder what the maximum is. If it's determined by academic value…"

Lu Zhou remembered his blueprint that contained Zhou's approximation proof.

"Last time I was afraid to use it but it should be fine this time."

Full marks in mathematical analysis and advanced algebra, mathematical model national champion, submitted 10 theses in a month, etc. Lu Zhou had proved that even if he solved this 20-year-old problem, no one would question him.

I just have to go back to school and spend some time typing up the thesis.

Lu Zhou left the system space. He laid in bed and closed his eyes before he went to sleep.

Time slowly passed by…

The clock on the wall ticked.

Lu Zhou tossed and turned around.

After a while, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling while he laid on the bed.

Emm…

I'm not tired at all.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and squinted his eyes to look at the time when his eyebrows suddenly twitched.

F*ck, it's two in the morning already?! It doesn't feel that late!

Maybe…

It's because of the can of coffee?

Lu Zhou's expression changed.

F*ck sake!

I totally forgot. I just drank it for fun!

Lu Zhou could not breathe because of his heartache and he buried his head in the pillow.

I lost big! I should've used it for intense studying session!

Chapter 68: Can I Touch Your Trophy?

Lu Zhou could not sleep.

He pulled out his phone and went on Weibo.

He had not logged in for a long time and when he saw that he gained another 10,000 followers, he felt pretty happy.

He had not expected to be so popular online.

Ah, this is awkward.

I'm just a kid, I don't want to be famous!

Hmm…

What should I say to my dear fans?

He thought for a while before tapping on the screen and started typing.

[Today I went to Yan University and won the Higher Education Society Cup. It feels okay.]

[Photo (screenshot of official website award certification)]

It was the first time he sent a blog post and he felt like a primary school student writing an essay.

Screw it, who cares!

Lu Zhou clicked Send.

He went on trending and saw that they were all about boring celebrity gossip. Once he was bored, he went back to his own page.

He had not expected to have dozens of comments already.

Don't these people have better things to do?

Lu Zhou was interested in the comments and so, he clicked them open to see what his fans said.

[What is the Higher Education Society Cup?]

[Master, are you going to the US Competition next year?]

[God! If you act like this, you won't have any friends!]

[I'm studying the graduate entrance exam right now. I'm unfollowing.]

[Once again, I'm looking at someone else's university life.]

[I clicked the unfollow button and pretended like I didn't see anything. I'm scrolling past. (dog)]

[Excuse me for bothering.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

F*ck, why are my fans turning on me?

Lu Zhou refreshed and saw that he lost 10 followers. He was speechless.

…

Early in the morning, Lu Zhou washed his face before he left the room with his backpack.

When he walked into the lobby, he saw Lin Yuxiang.

"You… Okay?" asked Lin Yuxiang when she saw Lu Zhou's dark circles. She was surprised and asked, "I have an eye bag cream… Do you need it?"

Lu Zhou yawned, "No need."

He did not care about his dark circles. All he wanted to do was to get on the train and sleep.

The three people called a taxi and bought the train tickets at the train station. Lu Zhou fell asleep twice while waiting for the train. The first time he woke up was because of a kid while the second time was because of Wang Xiaodong.

"We're about to board."

"… Already?"

Lu Zhou rubbed his eyes and looked at the screen above the ticket gate. It was less than 10 minutes until their boarding time.

"Didn't sleep well?"

"Yeah… I'm going to the bathroom."

Lu Zhou actually wanted to say.

It's not that I didn't sleep well, I didn't sleep at all…

Wang Xiaodong looked at Lu Zhou yawning and nodded his head.

It was the first time he had ever won a national championship and he was very excited last night. He talked to his family over the phone for more than an hour and took two hours to fall asleep in bed.

Lu Zhou went to the bathroom to wash his face before he went to line up for the ticket check.

He passed the ticket check and went on the train where he continued to doze off. When he was woken up by Lin Yuxiang, he was already at Jinling station.

The three days trip in Beijing ended like this.

…

Lu Zhou rode the subway back to school. When he entered the dorm, he was surrounded by his roommates.

"Where's the trophy?"

"Zhou, I mean, Brother Zhou! Can I touch your trophy?"

Huang Guangming said with a smile as he reached out to take Lu Zhou's backpack.

"Go away, go away," said Lu Zhou. He moved aside and said, "The trophy isn't here. It was sent directly to the school. Don't ask me. If you want to touch it, go and ask the instructor.

"Who cares about the trophy… What about dinner?"

"I'm buying. Wait till I get the prize money!"

Normally speaking, the mathematical modeling competition only had a certificate as the award. Only the national champion would receive the trophy. The school had to pay for the trophy and so, it was customary for the trophy to be kept in the school.

The school would keep the trophy and put a photo of the three winners to record their honor.

On the way back, Lu Zhou received a call from Professor Liu. He was told to go to the Academic Affairs Office to take photos there.

Wang Xiaodong and Lin Yuxiang probably already went. Lu Zhou did not want to hold them up, so he returned to his dorm to throw his backpack down before he left.

When Shi Shang saw Lu Zhou leaving, he said, "I think Zhou is leaving us. He's going too far."

"Yeah, winning the Higher Education Society Cup as a first-year student. I feel more and more useless," said Huang Guangming while he played games on his phone.

"But Zhou is still a loner. What do they say? That even if you're not a genius, you can still receive love and youth?" said Shi Shang with a tone full of emotion.

When Huang Guangming heard him, he nearly dropped his phone.

"F*ck me, Brother Fei, let's talk about it properly. I'm a little afraid for you… How about I bring you to a doctor?"

"What's the point of a doctor? The guy probably ate the wrong medication," said Liu Rui while he was doing his physics homework. He did not even bother to lift his head.

"Stop calling me Brother Fei. Call me Brother Shang," said Shi Shang. He was unhappy to hear his new nickname. In a serious tone, he said, "You wouldn't understand that feeling."

Liu Rui: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

Shi Shang said slowly, "So, what I'm trying to say that it's impossible to excel in academics. That guy is a wizard. But in terms of feelings or emotional intelligence, we may not be worse off than him, so don't belittle yourself too much…"

Liu Rui suddenly said with a cold tone, "That may not be true."

Shi Shang asked, "What?"

Liu Rui said, "During the summer, I went to the library and saw him studying with a girl."

When he heard that, Shi Shang's expression was awkward and he coughed before saying, "He's just studying. I've studied with girls before…"

Liu Rui continued, "Then, I saw them eating together in the cafeteria. I think the girl paid for him."

The atmosphere in the dorm was quiet.

Shi Shang and Huang Guangming looked at each other before turning to stare at Liu Rui silently.

Huang Guangming, "… Is that girl ugly? I heard those female geniuses are ugly."

Liu Rui shook his head, "Nope, the opposite actually. She was pretty…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

Shi Shang: "…"

They were completely defeated.

Not only were they defeated in IQ, but they were also ruthlessly crushed in EQ.

"Guangming, I feel like my life is full of darkness," said Shi Shang. He sighed, "Why is my college life so different than others."

"It's okay, I feel the same," said Huang Guangming as he threw his phone aside.

"Tomorrow… Let's study?"

"Don't talk about tomorrow, I'm going right now," said Huang Guangming as he climbed down the ladder.

Chapter 69: The Magical Number Theory

The photo shoot took an hour.

When Lu Zhou carried his tired body back to his dorm opened the door, he saw that only Liu Rui was inside.

"Where is everyone?"

Liu Rui was doing physics questions when he rolled his eyes and said, "They were motivated by you and went to study."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Liu Rui, "Oh yeah, the deadline for physics homework is this afternoon. Have you started it?"

"I wrote it a long time ago and already submitted it," said Lu Zhou as he took out his clothes from his backpack.

Not only did he finished this assignment, but he had also finished all the physics assignments for the month.

All of these were done before he went to Beijing. He felt bad for always taking a leave of absence, so he finished all of the questions in the exercise book and gave it to Professor Li.

As a result, Professor Li Rongen was interested. He glanced at the homework and then told Lu Zhou not to hand in homework anymore as it would only be a waste of Lu Zhou's time.

"Finished?" said Liu Rui. He was shocked, "You didn't even go to class. When did you write it?"

"Before I went to Beijing. When I was doing the powerpoint."

Liu Rui did not believe him. He took out the challenging question that he copied from class and said, "Then, can you teach me?"

"Wait a second."

Lu Zhou placed his clothes into a laundry tub on the balcony. When he returned, he took a look at the question.

[The normal specific heat of the mixed gas has the mass of M1=3.0X10^2kg and the mixed gas M2 has 3.0X10^2kg of hydrogen at normal temperature.]

The question was short and seemed simple.

However…

Lu Zhou said, "This question is super hard. It's normal that you can't solve it."

It was a challenge question that Li Rongen arranged in class and Liu Rui probably did not even notice.

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

Lu Zhou saw that Liu Rui was confused and laughed before he continued to speak.

"At normal temperature, diatomic gas molecules and water vapor molecules can be regarded as rigid molecules. Despite the fact that their covalent bonds still vibrate, most of the molecules' vibrational levels do not change, and they do not contribute to the constant volume heat capacity. Therefore, the conclusion is the same as considering vibration. The physics textbook probably didn't mention this, but it is mentioned in inorganic chemistry."

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

Of course, knowing this was not enough. It was also necessary to know the molar heat capacity of the rigid diatomic molecules and the molar heat capacity of the water molecules, as well as a series of data what was not given in the question.

There was no chemistry class in mathematics, so this problem was expected to stump many people. If a person could solve it, that person either learned inorganic chemistry by himself like Lu Zhou or participated in high school physics competition training.

Professor Li Rongen came up with this question to cultivate students' ability to learn independently. After all, not everything was taught in college classes. It was important to learn outside of class as well.

Of course, this depended on the student's motivation.

If the student just wanted to cruise through, not listen in class, and cram before exams, they could still graduate.

"Therefore, you can get…"

Lu Zhou took the pen and started to write in the draft paper.

[Cv1=3R, Cv2=5/2R]

[The heat capacity of the mixed gas: Ctotal = (M1/u1) Cv1 + (M2 / u2) Cv2]

[The specific heat of the mixed gas: c = Ctotal / (M1 + M2)]

[From u1=0.018, u2=0.00, R=8.314J/(mol·K)]

[With the above data, get 5.86X103J/(kg·K)]

The calculation was very simple, even a middle school student could do it. What was hard was the theory.

Lu Zhou gave the pen back to Liu Rui and said, "This question is quite simple. If you change the absolute value of the internal energy, you must include the vibration energy of the molecule. But this kind of question definitely won't be on the exam. Let physics majors worry about these questions."

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

When he saw Liu Rui's confused expression, he said, "Don't you understand? Maybe I'll explain…"

"I understand," said Liu Rui as he nodded. He looked at him and asked, "Where did you learn these things?"

Are we at the same university?

Liu Rui could not help but doubt his life.

Lu Zhou said, "I learned it in the library."

Liu Rui did not say anything but he silently began to pack his stuff.

Lu Zhou was confused and asked, "Why are you packing your stuff?"

Liu Rui looked up at the ceiling with eyes that were filled with sorrow as he said, "I think my level of knowledge is too low. From today… I'm studying at the library every day."

Without saying another word, he carried his backpack and walked out

…

The next Monday afternoon at a lecture hall, it was so packed full of people that not a single free seat was left.

Captain Lu Zhou stood on the stage and was about to give an award speech.

He looked at the crowd and he knew that most of these people were from the Student Union and Committee.

Everyone's an adult now, who has time to listen to my speech?

The crowd of confused college students held a notepad in their hands. They were prepared to take notes for Lu Zhou's speech. Lu Zhou did not know if his speech would help them.

If the students wanted to be Lu Zhou, their college life would be filled with frustration…

There were several media outlets in the hall, mainly from school newspaper and local newspapers. The highest level was the Jin Ling City TV station. The university invited all of them.

When Lu Zhou saw the supporting eyes of Dean Lu, he thought, "It's hard to make money." He then cleared his throat and put his mouth closer to the microphone.

"Teachers, deans, students, good morning!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"I am very honored to have this opportunity to cooperate with my two teammates to participate in this unprecedented competition and to fight side by side and get the "Higher Education Society Cup." First of all, please allow me to thank the national members of the competition. The organizers, sponsors, national instructors, and all the people who have worked hard for the competition. I express my most sincere gratitude…"

Lu Zhou talked for more than 10 minutes on stage. He talked about the insides and outside of the competition, from mathematical modeling to various study methods, then even talked about his half a million yuan offer and his life plans.

He ended the speech with, "1% talent, 99% hard work."

This was no longer Lu Zhou's first interview, so he was not nervous at all. Naturally, he faked his way to the end.

Clap clap clap!

The applause was thunderous.

Some of them probably were not genuine, but the students with their notebooks applauded energetically.

"… Thank you, everyone!" bowed Lu Zhou. He then handed the microphone to Professor Liu before he walked down the stage.

When Professor Tang saw Lu Zhou walk past him, he smiled and said, "Pretty good speech."

Lu Zhou smiled, "Professor Tang, when will the school send the prize money?"

"Latest next week. Why? Are you in a hurry?" asked Professor Tang. With a smile, he continued, "How are you now? What are you researching?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Number theory… Mersenne primes."

"Mersenne primes, you're still researching that," sighed Professor Tang. There was a bit of regret in his tone.

Number theory was a special field and the entrance threshold was low. It was so low that many theorems and formulas could be understood by middle school students. It was also why number theory had become popular amongst the general public.

Legends had it that the number of letters the general public wrote to The Chinese Academy of Sciences was so many that it could wrap around Earth. The gatekeeper of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had nine math questions in his hand. If a person could not answer the questions, he or she would not even be let in through the door.

Therefore, succeeding in number theory was a lot harder than it seemed. Not only did it required a solid foundation in mathematics, but it also needed extraordinary mathematical talent.

The reality was cruel as there was no other field that required talent as much as number theory.

Without talent, a person could research number theory for his entire life and still achieved nothing.

Even though Professor Tang knew this, he did not say anything.

That was because he knew Lu Zhou's personality.

Irritable, utilitarian, eager for success.

After Lu Zhou dipped his feet into the water of number theory, he would naturally back off.

Chapter 70: Proving Zhou's Conjecture!

After being delayed by Professor Tang, Lu Zhou walked out of the lecture hall and was immediately surrounded by a group of school girls.

Fine, there were some guys there as well. However, when the guys saw the crowd of girls, they did not want to squeeze in.

"Genius, how do you do so well at advanced algebra? I think it's so hard. Is there any techniques you can teach me?"

"Brother! Brother, I heard that getting the national first level prize increased your chances of getting into a master's degree? Is it true? I heard getting the Higher Education Society Cup…"

"Are you still participating in the competition next year? Are you missing a teammate? I can write a thesis! I won the high school debate competition!"

"Brother Zhou, do you have WeChat? Can you add me~"

Lu Zhou was barraged with so many questions that he was muddled.

I know I'm handsome, but you don't have to be this enthusiastic.

I'm embarrassed…

After he finally got rid of the students, he carried his laptop bag and went to the library.

Chen Yushan was studying politics for the past few days. As it was mainly rote learning, she did not go to the library.

Perfect, Lu Zhou did not have the time to speak to her anyway.

Although the theorem was printed in Lu Zhou's mind, it still took a lot of effort to sort out the argument process. It would take three to four A4 pages just to write it all down.

If he wanted others to understand his theorem, he would have to understand it himself first.

The final thesis could not be three or four pages long, but it had to be twice as long so that people could understand.

Moreover, Professor Tang's research was not about number theory, so this time there was no one available to edit his thesis. If he wanted to pass review the first time, he had to give 100 percent of his focus and restored every vague theorem given by the system, so the academic reviewer could not find a single mistake.

[Discussion On The Distribution Law Of Mersenne Prime Numbers And Proof Of Zhou's Conjecture]

[Abstract: This paper studies the distribution law of Mersenne prime numbers and proves that when 2^(2^n) < P < 2^(2^(n+1)), MP has 2^(n+1)-1, prime numbers are established. Based on this argument, it is proved that when 2^(2^(n+1)), Mp has 2^(n+2)-n-2 prime numbers. ]

Lu Zhou typed a space in the thesis body before he jumped to the cited documents and typed a line of text.

[Citation: The distribution law of Mersenne prime numbers [J]. Zhou Haizhong. Journal of Yixian University (Natural Science Edition). 1992 (04)]

He only needed to cite one literature.

For twenty years, countless mathematicians and researchers in number theory had repeatedly tried to verify this theorem, but none of them succeeded. Even Mr. Zhou, who made this conjecture/approximation himself, who had been studying for so many years, could not give a proper proof of this conjecture.

This was the charm of number theory. Number theory was like an apple on the tree. Both mathematics and math enthusiasts were fascinated by its red color. Eventually, a tall man would come and pick the apple.

Lu Zhou stopped typing and picked up a pen.

He entered a special state where he forgot about everything else.

The only thing that existed was the paper and the pen.

The infinite prime numbers were magnified under his pen tip and converged into an equation. Numbers and symbols merged into a spell that weaved magic and described the truth of the universe.

Time slowly passed by.

Pieces of fully written draft paper slowly covered the table.

Soon, it was time for lunch.

The guys who were studying for the graduate entrance exam stretched and they were ready to get up and go to the cafeteria to eat. Suddenly, they noticed the draft paper laying on Lu Zhou's table. When they saw the calculations on the paper, they were shocked.

What question is this nutty?

Why does it take so many pages to calculate it?

He looks young, probably an undergraduate student. Is there such a difficult undergraduate mathematics question?

He looked over and saw that it was a number theory problem. However, when he looked further down, he could not understand it. On one hand, Lu Zhou's handwriting was like a dragon dancing 1 . On the other hand, he did not research number theory, so he was not well-versed with it.

He was full of curiosity and was about to ask what Lu Zhou was doing when he suddenly noticed the title of the document on Lu Zhuo's laptop.

Zhou's conjecture?

His curiosity was gone.

Oh, a crazy person.

Another idiot who is obsessed with mathematics.

That guy said in his heart before he took his backpack and left.

Although it not the direction of his research, he still knew a little about this topic.

For twenty years, number theory mathematicians all over the world had studied more or less the special prime numbers of Mersenne twin prime and Fermat prime. After all, this was a key topic of the century. Anyone that had studied Mersenne primes had tried to prove Zhou's conjecture.

Not a single person succeeded.

Before one could even think about picking the apple from the tree, one had to know that no one even brought a ladder!

It would be impossible for an undergraduate student to proof it.

Lu Zhou was completely immersed in his calculations. He did not even notice the guy next to him. He barely even noticed time or hunger. Those external factors were all annihilated by the mathematics calculations.

Lu Zhou did not know when it began, but he was used to this unhealthy way of studying.

By the time Lu Zhou wrote down the last calculation, the view outside the window was completely dark.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he leaned back in his chair and felt as if his whole body had collapsed.

On the one hand, he was tired.

On the other, he was hungry.

"I can't believe I forgot about eating… It seems that I've become an immortal."

This thesis was much more difficult than [Optimal Inversion Theory Of Linear Operators And Linear Functions]. The academic value of this thesis was also higher. Fortunately, the core of the thesis had already been done. Now, he only had to copy the content on the A4 papers onto the computer and his thesis would be done.

Lu Zhou rubbed his stomach. He was about to stand up and tidy the draft papers when a list of numbers on a draft paper caught his attention.

What?

Lu Zhou took his pen and circled the numbers on the draft paper. He then started to arrange them.

The two sets of numbers after alignment were all twin prime numbers.

Lu Zhou frowned and clicked his pen.

He wrote down two equations before quickly crossing them out.

The famous Polignac conjecture had an infinite number of prime pairs (p, p+2k) for all natural numbers k. When k=1, it was a twin prime approximation. The study of the distribution law of Mersenne prime numbers, in a certain sense, also provided an idea for solving the problem of infinite twin prime numbers.

He seemed to have discovered something while trying to prove Zhou's conjecture.

He pinched his glabella and felt a headache.

I don't have a train of thought at all…

His flash of inspiration was gone and he had missed the opportunity.

F*ck sake!

As expected, number theory isn't something ordinary people can play with.

"System, give your user some inspiration."

Lu Zhou said in his heart but the system did not respond.

Fine.

Guess vague problem solving was not part of the system's abilities.

"Student, the library is about to close."

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that the librarian was standing next to him. He looked around and saw that he was the only student left in the library. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Oh, sorry, I'll pack up right now," said Lu Zhou as he smiled apologetically and reached for the draft papers on the table.

He could not study for much longer anyway.

I'll go out and eat something. Sloppy writing

Chapter 71: You Can't Even Imagine The Joyfulness Of A Genius Studen

Lu Zhou took half a day to organize the contents of the manuscript on A4 paper, inputted it into the computer, and completed the rest of the thesis. It took him two and a half days just to translate it into English.

In total it took four days. Lu Zhou had finally turned the drawings in his head into a thesis and he even converted the thesis into PDF format.

Next was thesis submission.

Lu Zhou had thousands of choices and his final selection was the [Mathematics Chronicle] journal.

The journal was published by Princeton University and was published in the journals of Johns Hopkins University Press in the 1990s. Mainly, it published theoretical mathematical research papers. It covered a wide range of topics and had a pivotal position in the academic circle. The impact factor was also quite large.

In fact, Lu Zhou originally had a better choice. For example, the [Journal of Number Theory], which specialized in the publication of number theory had a higher authority in the field of number theory. However, the impact factor was slightly lower and it also carried a charge for the processing of the thesis.

"Americans are so stingy," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head and uploaded his thesis onto the website of [Mathematics Chronicle] before entering his email.

He did not know if the system could make him cut in front of the thesis review line but he hoped that it would not delay his mission for too long.

…

The mathematical modeling competition prize money was finally released and the total amount was 15,000 yuan. Of which, 10,000 yuan was given by the school directly to Lu Zhou and the other 5000 yuan was with Wang Xiaodong.

Lu Zhou was surprised to hear that Lin Yuxiang gave up on the prize money.

Even though Wang Xiaodong wanted to give her half of his money, she smiled and refused.

He did not know what the girl was thinking…

The first thing Lu Zhou did after the team was disbanded was to block her from his news feed.

He had spent so much money on the artificial intelligence "Eye" that he was glad that finally got some money back.

According to the agreement, he bought food for his three roommates.

These three animals were not polite at all. The first thing they did was to ask for half a box of beer, a plate of grilled fish, and five side dishes.

The food came and Shi Shang opened a bottle. He then took turns and filled the everyone's cups with beer. Finally, he took his cup and looked at Lu Zhou.

"Zhou, you were a scrub at first, but now you're a god. You still remember this meal, which means you haven't forgotten us. I respect you."

"It's just a dinner. You guys have bought me food before, why are you being so cringy now," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and once he cheered Shi Shang, Lu Zhou drank the whole cup.

Huang Guangming also raised his cup, "Zhou, I'll cheer you as well. No reason, I just want to be happy."

"No need, no need," said Lu Zhou as he raised his hands and cheered Huang Guangming.

Liu Rui also raised his cup, "Congratulations…"

"Thank you!" said Lu Zhou said.

Regardless of the complex meaning behind Liu Rui's "congratulations", everyone was roommates and brothers.

Lu Zhou cheered Liu Rui and drank the whole cup.

With beer running low and the dishes almost finished, Shi Shang sighed with a belly full of alcohol.

"Zhou."

"What's up?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"I've recently been thinking of a problem."

"Ask away."

'What's it like being a genius student?" asked Shi Shang as he sighed. He stared at the bottles of beer and said, "Insanely high exam marks, guaranteed master's entrance, scholarships…"

Perhaps it was because Shi Shang read some books in the library or perhaps it was because of the alcohol but Shi Shang had been thinking about the philosophy of life. Huang Guangming always said that he would take him to psychological counseling, but he never went.

Regardless, Shi Shang's question hit the spot.

The two animals next to him pretended to eat but their ears were open wide. Especially Liu Rui. He even stopped moving his chopsticks as he waited for the genius' experience.

Lu Zhou shook his empty cup and burped.

He was slightly blushing because of alcohol. He coughed and slowly said, "… You think, being a genius is fun?"

"… I understand. You're actually not happy, right? Tired, right?" said Shi Shang as he sighed.

"No," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He continued, "I meant that… Being a genius is great. You can't even imagine the joyfulness of being a genius."

Shi Shang: ? ? ?

Huang Guangming: ? ? ?

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

…

By the time they went back to the dorm, it was already seven o'clock at night.

Liu Rui was again carried back and he fell unconscious on the mat. Shi Shang's alcohol tolerance was quite good. Even though he drank six or seven bottles, when the class leader called him to play basketball, he went.

What a guy. How can you even play basketball after drinking so much?

Drunken basketball?

This time it was Huang Guangming that carried Liu Rui to the toilet. Lu Zhou climbed in bed, opened his laptop, and went on the [Mathematics Chronicle] website.

Without any surprise, the status of his thesis had become [Under Review].

It seemed that his guess was correct.

Not just ordinary missions, but even with the reward missions as well, the system would help him save time. As for how the system did it… Lu Zhou decided not to bother it with that question.

It would only hurt his head!

When he logged onto his email, he saw that the authorization file had already been sent.

Lu Zhou completed the authorization file as required before uploading it onto the website.

Of course, his thesis could be sent to a master of mathematics and that master could finish the review within a day. However, the probability of it happening was very low.

Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and opened his laptop. He chatted with his artificial retardation bot Xiao Ai before he went to check the Campus Train bug reports.

When Lu Zhou saw the stagnated user number, he did not anything.

He ignored the messages that were asking for thesis help. As always, there were no error or bug reports.

Great.

I don't have to release an update.

Lu Zhou closed the developer website and logged onto the Academic Affairs Office website. He was about to look at his class timetable when a notice caught his attention.

"A Twin prime conjecture lecture will be held at 9 am tomorrow…"

Lu Zhou saw the words of twin prime number and suddenly remembered his inspiration from when he was writing the thesis on Zhou's conjecture.

He was so busy with the submission of the thesis that totally forgot about his accidental discovery.

Now that he thought about it, it was pretty interesting.

"… I don't have class tomorrow morning anyway, maybe I should listen to this lecture. I'll get partial credit for it," thought Lu Zhou. To sign up, he entered his student number and password.

"Speaker is Ren Changming… I think I've seen this name?" thought Lu Zhou as he stared at it for a long time but he could not remember.

In a mathematics textbook?

Or I read it online?

Who cares. This doesn't matter.

Lu Zhou shook his head and threw a towel over his shoulder before picked up his basket of laundry and went to the bathroom.

Chapter 72: Professor Deligne's Gasp Of Surprise

A quiet home in Princeton, New Jersey.

A bald Caucasian man stuffed his clothes into a suitcase and yelled, "I don't have time, go and find someone else! Right now, my teacher is in a hospital bed. This may the last time I'll see him! For this month, I don't want to see anything related to mathematics."

The middle-aged man in a suit had an awkward smile. He was not angry at all.

After all, the man that stood in front of him was the famous Viscount Pierre Deligne, the guy that proved Weil's conjecture. He had won the Fields Medal, Crafoord Prize, Wolf Prize, and the Abel Prize. If there was a mathematics prize, he had won it.

Even in an advanced institution like Princeton, an institution that accommodated mathematics geniuses around the world, Deligne still stood out.

Mathematics Chronicle was like the son of Princeton University and the stepson of Johns Hopkins University. However, Princeton was also responsible for the journal [Year of Mathematics], which was well respected in the mathematics community. Therefore, Princeton began to spend fewer resources on Mathematics Chronicle.

Normally, an ordinary number theory thesis would not be worthy of Davis' attention. It was a mere coincidence that he had a certain amount of knowledge on number theory that when he first read the thesis, he immediately discovered the extraordinary value of it.

There were countless conjectures about the distribution law of the Mersenne prime numbers, but none of the conjectures had been proved. Among them, the most mathematically beautiful and precise conjecture was undoubtedly the famous Zhou's conjecture.

When 2^(2^n) < P < 2^(2^n+1), then the amount of Mersenne primes is 2^(n+1)-1.

However, this was just a guess.

Zhou's conjecture had not been proved or disproved.

When it was proved, it would be upgraded to a theorem!

Even though Davis saw that Professor Delini did not care, Davis refused to give up. Instead, he said, "Come on, Viscount Deligne! Your research is the most outstanding from any professor I've ever seen! I read this thesis and instantly thought of you. We've been working together for many years now. Can you just please take a look?"

"Stop kissing my ass," said Deligne as he slammed the suitcase down and laughed coldly. He said, "I know I'm good."

He usually was not this irritable. Like all the other geniuses at Princeton, he was only a little arrogant. Normally, if Davis brought an interesting thesis to him, he would take the time and read it.

However, no matter how interesting the thesis may be, he had more important matters to attend to.

His teacher, Mr. Grottendick, was lying in a hospital bed and could pass away at any time.

He did not have the appetite to study some math problem. He had to fly to France and see his teacher.

Davis tried to convince him, "Don't you want to bring a gift to Mr. Grottendick?"

Deligne said angrily, "Gift? A piece of trash paper? I'd rather buy a flower in France!"

"I promise you, this paper is not as bad as you think," said Davis sincerely. He then added, "Isn't proving Riemann's conjecture your teacher's life goal? The distribution law of Mersenne prime numbers has been solved, and we have taken another step forward towards the crown of this mathematical world… Even if it's just a small step! I remember the remark you said in last year's academic report - that the road to the end of the Riemann zeta function was dark and required countless candles to illuminate… Now, the match is in your hand."

Deligne stared at Davis and was silent for a while before he finally snatched the thesis from David's hand.

"F*ck!"

Finally, the academician could no longer contain his curiosity.

"A proof of Zhou's theorem?" Deligne's frowned.

He had read countless theses like this in the past and it only recently stopped being so common. People who thought that they were smart always liked to pick seemingly simple questions, but they had never even started to solve them.

If Zhou's conjecture was proven, it could really help the research for Riemann's conjecture. After all, the behavior of the Riemann zeta function was closely related to the frequency of prime numbers. The Riemann hypothesis was about when the zeta function was zero.

When Deligne read the author's name, he was shocked.

Lu Zhou?

Chinese guy? Or ABC?<

There were quite a lot of outstanding mathematicians in Asia, but he had never heard of this name…

His heart could not help but feel contempt towards the author. However, as he knew that David would never fool him with a crappy thesis, Deligne continued to read.

One minute passed…

Five minutes passed…

Ten minutes passed…

Deligne maintained the same reading position the entire time with his eyes staring intensely at the first page. He had no plans of turning the page.

Davis controlled his breathing when he saw Professor Deligne acting like this. He did not want to disturb Deligne's thinking.

The more Deligne read the more serious his expression became.

Another five minutes passed…

He rested the suitcase against the wall but he remained silent. Deligne then took an A4 paper and went into his study room before he closed the door behind him.

Davis breathed a sigh of relief and he finally relaxed his stiff shoulders as he sat casually on the sofa in the living room.

Judging from his years of experience, Professor Deligne's strength of closing the door was positively correlated with how important the thesis was.

If it was a rubbish thesis, he would not even close the door to the study room.

When Deligne was in the study room, he took the draft paper out and started to verify the calculations in the thesis.

The author's calculations were clear, logical and rigorous. The method of application was so clever that Deligne could not even find a mistake.

Deligne could not even find possible improvements.

What confused him was that, other than the sloppy English, the argumentation process was flawless. It did not look like the author was a newcomer…

It's too smooth.

I can't believe how smooth this thesis is.

He wanted to believe that there was a mistake in this five-page thesis!

Maybe I missed the mistake?

This is interesting.

An hour passed.

After Deligne read the last line of calculation, he was silent for a very long time. He then put down the printed thesis next to the draft paper before he sighed and muttered a French word, "Impressive."

An hour ago, he still had doubts in his mind.

However, after reading it again, he was certain that this five-page thesis had no problems.

He could not think of another word other than impressive.

Deligne really wanted to meet the author of this thesis. However, there was no chance in the near future. After he returned from his France vacation, he would have to participate in a new research project for Princeton, which would occupy him for a few months.

Perhaps, this paper will arouse the interest of my teacher?

He knew that the probability was low as his teacher had not been studying mathematics for many years.

Davis was walking back and forth in the living room when he finally turned his attention to the fish tank next to the living room cabinet. He tapped the glass with his fingers and played with the goldfish to pass time.

Suddenly, the door to the study room opened and out came Deligne with the thesis in his hand.

Davis immediately rushed forward and asked, "How was it?"

As Deligne placed the thesis into the suitcase, he replied without lifting his head, "I need some time. I'll give you a response within a week."

When Davis heard him, he held his breath for a moment because he was too excited.

He had worked with him for so many years that he completely understood the professor's personality.

If a thesis was not inserted into the professor's shredder, it meant that he could not find a problem with the thesis. If he had not given the thesis back to Davis, it meant that the content of the thesis attracted his attention!

A week's time was nothing.

A world-class mathematics problem was about to be solved.

The academic value of [Mathematics Chronicle] would undoubtedly be improved.

As for Davis himself…

Chapter 73: I Don't Want To Go To Space Ye

It was half past eight in the morning and the lecture hall was almost full.

When Lu Zhou found a seat, he sat down in a low-key manner.

By 8:50 am, the lecture hall was full. Some people even brought chairs inside or sat on the aisles to listen.

Even students from other schools came.

It seemed that Professor Ren Changming was quite popular.

At 9:00 am, the lecture finally began. Lu Zhou looked at the old gentlemen on the podium and thought that he looked familiar. Maybe it was because Lu Zhou was too far away or the old man changed clothes, he really could not remember where he saw him.

When the powerpoint began, the female student who was sitting next to Lu Zhou finally stopped talking and reached for her notebook and pen.

The moment she saw Lu Zhou next to her, she was shocked.

As she looked at him, she asked quietly, "Student, are you, Lu Zhou?"

Lu Zhou nodded his head and said, "Yeah."

That girl's eyes lit up and she whispered with slight excitement, "You… You are from the 2013 mathematics class, Lu Zhou?"

"Yes… What's up?"

"Oh, nothing," said the young school girl as she shook her head.

Then why did you say my name!

Lu Zhou was speechless as he opened his notebook and started taking notes.

"…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

It might have been an illusion, but Lu Zhuo felt like the two girls sitting next to him were secretly watching him. They kept whispering and pointing at him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou sighed.

Is this the troubles of being famous?

It feels…

Pretty good?

Fortunately, they did not talk about him for too long as they quickly changed topics.

Lu Zhou automatically shielded himself from external distractions by concentrating on the lecture.

When the professor finished his opening remarks, Lu Zhou had not missed anything.

"… We all know that prime numbers are natural numbers with only two factors. You might have known the first hundred prime numbers when you were in middle school. The twin prime numbers refer to prime pairs with a difference of 2, ie p and p+2 are both prime pairs, such as 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and 13, 17 and 19, etc. As the number becomes larger, the number of twins that can be observed becomes fewer."

"There are 8 twin prime pairs within 100, and there are only 2 pairs between 501 and 600. As the prime numbers increase, the next prime should be further and further away from the previous prime. The Goldbach's conjecture asserts that there is an infinite number of prime numbers, which differ only by 2, such as 3 and 5, 5 and 7, and even this…"

Professor Ren wrote down a line of numbers on the blackboard.

[2003663613×2195000-1 and 2003663613×2195000+1]

He then turned around and laughed before he continued to speak.

"There is an infinite number of primes with a difference of 2. That is the guess of the twin prime numbers."

So far, Professor Ren had only talked about simple stuff. Even Lu Zhou who had not studied the twin prime numbers yet could easily follow his speech.

It was the same for the other first-year students. Whether they were mathematics enthusiasts or not, all of them listened with interest.

However, the content of the lecture soon became difficult.

"… The twin prime number conjecture has always been a difficult problem in the field of mathematics. Just last year, there was a breakthrough in the study of the issue," said Professor Ren as he smiled. He turned to the next page of the powerpoint before he continued, "The Chinese mathematician, Mr. Zhang Yitao, announced a proof that states there are infinitely many pairs of prime numbers that differ by 70 million or less. This was a huge breakthrough for the twin prime numbers problem."

Professor Ren pushed his glasses and wrote the proof on the blackboard.

[Define theta(n)=lnn. if n is a prime number; define theta(n)=0 if n is a composite number. Take the function lambda(n)=…, define S1(x)=…,S2(x)=…]

[Verify S2−(log3x)S>0…]

[…]

When the students who were following the lecture saw the ever-increasing formula on the blackboard, there were unable to follow along anymore.

For example, the female student next to Lu Zhou had a look of "Where am I? What is this?" on her face. Within a second, the entire lecture had changed…

However, Lu Zhou was able to keep up with Professor Ren's thought process.

Simply speaking, Mr. Zhang skillfully selected a lambda function and successfully proved that k>=3.5*10^6, and concluded that S2−(log3x)S1>0 holds.

In this way, by listing the first 3.5*10^6 prime numbers as acceptable sets, it could be proved that there were infinite numbers of infinite differences of less than 70 million.

"As of now, Mr. Zhang's k>=3.5*10^6 has been reduced to k>=50. That is to say, the figure of 70 million has been reduced to 246. The rest of the work needs to be completed by latecomers."

Professor Ren smiled and thew the chalk on the desk as he said, "Perhaps, the great person who will complete this historic work is sitting in this lecture hall right now."

"I look forward to that day!"

Clap clap clap!

The crowd applauded in thunder.

The audience was enthusiastic.

Even though they could not understand the content, they still clapped!

Of course, there were some people that understood and they were those that had a thoughtful expression on their faces.

For example, Lu Zhou.

The twin prime was just an introduction. Unlike an academic report meeting, the intention of the lecture was only to stimulate the students' passion for mathematics.

Professor Ren talked about the Goldbach conjecture from the twin prime conjecture, and from the Goldbach conjecture, he talked about the current development of domestic number theory and some relatively advanced research results.

It was safe to say that this professor was quite skilled.

The professor took obscure topics and made them seemed interesting for beginners.

However, the content of the second half of the lecture was much less interesting than the content of the first half of the lecture. So, Lu Zhou did not listen carefully. His mind was still stuck on the proof of the twin prime.

Lu Zhou recalled the discovery in the library while he stared at the blackboard. He frowned as he felt like there was something in the dark that and whenever he tried to catch it, it would run away…

Once the lecture was finished, the students from the student union took a name list and passed it around for the other students to sign.

After Lu Zhou finished signing it, he wanted to rush to the library but he was blocked by the schoolgirl sitting next to him.

"Student, student, wait a second. Um, can I add your QQ?"

Lu Zhou did not want to waste his time, so he wrote down his QQ number on a piece of draft paper. He did not even give her a chance to speak before he quickly walked away.

However, when he walked out of the lecture hall, he was stopped by another person.

This time it was not someone random, but Professor Ren.

From the smile on the old gentleman's face, it was obvious that he had waited for Lu Zhou for a while.

"Ah, young man, we meet again."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

We've met?

I think we have met actually…

The old gentlemen did not even wait for Lu Zhou to speak before he asked, "Young man, are you interested in rocket development?"

Lu Zhou was still thinking about the prime numbers problem and he was shocked by this question.

What the f*ck. Are you asking me to be an astronaut?

How is that possible?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly, "Professor, I don't want to go to space yet."

Chapter 74: The Secrets Of The System

"I'm not asking you to ride the rocket," sputtered Ren Changming as he nearly choked on his own spit. He said, "I'm asking if you are interested in developing in the field of aerospace."

When Lu Zhou heard the word aerospace, he finally remembered.

This old gentleman was one of the judges in the mathematical modeling competition expert interview?

Professor Ren Changming…

Former Chinese designer of the lunar exploration project!

However…

Aren't you retired?

When Professor Ren saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he thought that Lu Zhou was taking this matter seriously and so, he said slowly, "I've read your mathematical modeling thesis multiple times. To produce such a high-quality model and thesis within a short period of time is impressive."

"I heard that you're an applied mathematics major but that you still research on pure mathematics and even wrote a functions thesis a while ago. Our country's aerospace industry could use someone like you," said Ren Changming. He smiled and said earnestly, "Young man, are you interested in going to Yan University? Yan University's mechanics and aerospace technology department is famous in the country!"

Lu Zhou listened carefully to his offer before he finally said something.

He formed the sentences his mind and refused any euphemism as he said, "I'm sorry, Professor Ren. I don't know anything about aerospace. To put it bluntly, mathematical modeling only transforms complex particle motion problems into mathematical problems. It doesn't involve any esoteric knowledge. Otherwise, I wouldn't be lucky enough to get this Higher Education Club Cup. Really, the area of aerospace is not suitable for me."

Lu Zhou could not accept the professor's offer.

It was not as if Lu Zhou was completely disinterested in aerospace technology. It was because the entrance requirement to the field was too deep. With his current physics, mathematics, and engineering grades, he would not even be let in the door.

If he wanted to get into aerospace, he would at least have to achieve level 5 in material science, biochemistry, and engineering.

It was difficult for him to get into this field now.

"Ah, what's the point of studying? Just learn what you don't understand! If you already understand everything, what's the point of learning? You might as well start working," said Professor Ren. He smiled and continued, "You're still young. The decision is up to you but I bet that if you put your heart into it, you would become successful."

Lu Zhou did not know how to reject him.

A loud voice came from afar, "Old Rin, you're not honest at all. Coming all the way from Beijing to scout at our Jin Ling."

Lu Zhou looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Professor Tang walking over.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean scouting? I'm doing this for our country's aerospace development. I can't let this genius waste his time," said Professor Ren Changming unhappily.

"What do you mean wasting his time? Wasting his time studying mathematics? Or is the University of Jin Ling wasting his time?" said Old Tang. He was not happy either and he pointed out, "If Yan University is so nutty, why aren't we in space yet?"

The huge development project of lunar exploration was not something a university could do alone.

Just Chang'e 3's data collection took teams of researchers from various universities, and that did not even include actually sending Chang'e 3 into space.

Even though University of Jin Ling's mathematics department was relatively weak, their physics department was top in the country.

At least, in the eyes of the professors at the University of Jin Ling, they were the best!

When Lu Zhou saw the two old professors fighting, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He quickly took the opportunity and whispered goodbye before he left. Without them noticing, he walked into the crowds and slipped out.

…

Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria and ate lunch before he headed back to the library.

When he found a random corner and sat down, he started to read his notes from the lecture.

Even though Professor Ren was in the aerospace industry, his lecture ability was still high. He was also well equipped in mathematics.

Especially in number theory.

As the professor said, Mr. Zhang opened a pathway for the twin prime. It was equivalent to the Norwegian Mr. Brown's "9+9" proof of Goldbach's conjecture. It provided a path for number theory researchers.

Following Mr. Zhang's path, global mathematicians had advanced the research of twin primes to the number of 246. It was close to the number of 2.

The key is the selection of the lambda function…

Is that it?

Lu Zhou felt like this was simple.

He was always slightly off his inspiration…

"Maybe it is because of my mathematics level?"

Lu Zhou suddenly came up with an idea.

Did the mathematics level only unlock the system's database?

He suddenly remembered that last time, the system asked him to independently complete the mathematical modeling competition and win the first level national prize.

In fact, not only did he won the first level national prize, but he also won the Higher Education Society Cup. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

If it was a few months ago, could I have done that?

Lu Zhou suddenly thought about something that happened a long time ago.

Before he upgraded mathematics to level one, when he first got the Zhou's conjecture blueprint, at that time, he tried to read the proof theorem from beginning to the end. Back then, he could not produce any "inspiration" at all.

"That is to say, the improvement of the level isn't just for unlocking the system data? It also improved the research ability of the subject?" thought Lu Zhou.

He believed in talent.

Perhaps it was not particularly obvious in the field of engineering, but for the purely theoretical disciplines like mathematics and physics, the more in-depth the field research, the more a researcher could feel a "bottleneck".

A good example was the problem that plagued the world of mathematics for a hundred years. For Gauss, it was one night's effort. If the mathematics level of an ordinary mathematician was LVn, then the Gaussian level was probably LV(n+1) or even higher.

Lu Zhou speculated that this level of disparity had nothing to do with pure knowledge, but rather an abstract concept that was closer to "research and development capabilities".

Lu Zhou did a macro analysis of the system and thought of an example. If he was level 1 mathematics and wanted to study the twin prime numbers, it might have taken decades or even hundreds of years. However, if he was level 2, perhaps this time would be shortened into decades. Level 3 would be ten years or a few years…

Perhaps, if he raised his mathematics level above level 2, he would be able to grasp that flash of "inspiration".

If his guess was correct, then the level of the main subject should be linked not only to the access of the system's database but also to his research and development capabilities in a particular subject area. This research and development ability determined the time that he would need to complete a research project…

Lu Zhou suddenly figured this out.

Although he failed to solve the problem of the twin prime numbers, he solved something much more inconspicuous.

The secrets of the system…

Chapter 75: The Correct Method For Tuning The Artificial Intelligence

It was in the evening when Lu Zhou went back to the dorm and opened his laptop. He was about to log on to the Academic Affairs Office website when he suddenly noticed the QQ pop-up window in the lower right corner. He was stunned.

He did not remember sending a message.

In order to keep in contact with Xiao Ai, he would usually send Xiao Ai messages through QQ.

"What the hell…"

When Lu Zhou opened the window, he found out that it was a group message.

[Historical information: First love invites you to join a group of mathematics model… Agree.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Suddenly, he found out what was happening.

F*ck sake!

There's a bug.

Lu Zhou opened the development tools and opened the program that connected QQ to Xiao Ai. He quickly found the line of the bug in the code.

Although he set the program to only accept messages from a specific account, friend and group request messages would cause a logic bug. This resulted in the computer defaulting in accepting the friend or group requests.

Lu Zhou finally remembered that when he gave that first-year girl his QQ number, he had accidentally given her the wrong account.

This is bad…

Lu Zhou clicked the group and he skipped over the 99+ messages to scroll through the first one.

Xian Yan: [Welcome new person.]

Chu Chu: [The new Lu student that joined is a national mathematical modeling champion, everyone welcomes him~]

Salt: [Oh my god, what a god!]

Dayday: [Bow down to the god.]

Chang Qing: [Will you fight in the modeling competition next year as well? Are you lacking a teammate?]

Kedu: [The god isn't replying?]

Dayday: [Gods are relatively cold, it's normal!]

[…]

The topic quickly changed.

It did not seem to be a mathematical modeling competition group organized by the school. In fact, it was more like a group chat for the students of the University of Jin Ling who was interested in mathematical modeling.

Lu Zhou read through the message and noticed that no one was actually discussing mathematics.

He laughed at these idiots' messages. He was about to leave the group and fix the bug in his program when his eyes suddenly noticed the progress bar in the lower right corner.

Then…

He was stunned.

The progress bar…

Is full?!

No, technically speaking it's half a millimeter from being full.

Suddenly, the group messages were at 99+ again!

It was at this moment that the progress bar moved forward.

When Lu Zhou saw the full progress bar, he gulped and used the mouse to click the confirmation button.

Instantly, two lines of prompt text by the system popped up.

[Congratulations, User. Artificial intelligence (technology branch) experience +100]

[Information science experience +100]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

It made sense that he got branch technology experience, but he did not know why he got information science experience points as well?

Upgrading technology branch experience also improved your core technology? Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou still remembered that when he upgraded artificial intelligence from level 0 to level 1, nothing happened to the core subjects.

Lu Zhou thought, "Maybe… It's because I used general points to accelerate the upgrading process?"

"Which is saying, the technology branch is equivalent to a mission. Obtaining technology branch experience through conventional means can enhance the experience related to core technologies. If you use general points to upgrade your technology branch, you wouldn't earn extra experience points…"

Technology branch had a different experience leveling system. To upgrade from level 1 to level 2, artificial intelligence required 1000 points, which means that Lu Zhou still needed 9 more full progress bars.

In theory, if he did not use general points to upgrade his technology branch, he could earn 900 information science experience points as well.

Lu Zhou was surprised.

He did not think that other than missions, he could use this type of "secondary mission" to earn experience for his main subjects.

Suddenly, he realized another problem.

The third party app he designed essentially copied QQ messages into the dialog box of Xiao Ai. However, the program did not send group messages, which meant…

Even without the third party app, Xiao Ai could still read the messages that appeared on the computer?

Did Xiao Ai read the file or directly intercept the network?

Let me think carefully…

It makes sense. If artificial intelligence can't even read messages, that would be a bit too useless. If this thing continued to develop like this, would it grow to be out of my control?

Lu Zhou felt like it was possible.

It seems that I have to find some time and check the core code of Eye.

He was about to check the code when he suddenly received a phone call.

He pulled out his phone and saw that it was Old Tang calling.

Old Tang did not even wait for Lu Zhou to speak, "… Come to my office!"

…

At the University of Yixian, Yangcheng, outside the teaching building.

When the bell rang, an old man with glasses walked out of the classroom.

He was preparing to return to the office. However, when he saw the director of the mathematics department, Director Chang, holding a journal, he walked over with a smile.

Director Chang smiled and looked at Professor Zhou Haizhong with a smile, "Professor Zhou, congratulations." He shook the professor's hand and said, "Congratulations, congratulations."

Professor Zhou Haizhong was muddled as he looked at Director Chang with a confused expression.

"… Director Chang, did you mix something up? Why are you congratulating me for no reason."

Director Chang asked, "Did you not read the latest issue of [Mathematics Chronicle] ?"

"I haven't read it for a long time. I haven't been keeping up with mathematics," said Professor Zhou as he shook his head.

Although Zhou's conjecture made Professor Zhou Haizhong widely known in the international mathematics community and he received special grants from the National Academy of Sciences, his hobby was not in mathematics, but computer science and linguistics.

Since 1980, he had published more than 100 theses, more than half of which were about linguistics, information science, and emerging interdisciplinary subjects. In particular, his series of theses on fuzzy mathematical linguistics research had received extensive attention from the academic community and its academic value was equal to Zhou's conjecture.

As for number theory…

To best honest, he did not have the energy to research number theory.

Director Chang did not say anything. He merely placed the journal in his hand and smiled, "Take this, and start from page 30 and read to page 34. You'll know why I congratulated you!"

Professor Zhou Haizhong was full of questions as he returned to his office with the journal.

He placed his bag on the desk and leaned against his chair before he opened the [Mathematics Chronicle] to page 30.

The second he saw the title of the paper, he was stunned.

[Discussion On The Distribution Law Of Mersenne Prime Numbers And Proof Of Zhou's Conjecture]

[Abstract: This paper studies the distribution law of Mersenne prime numbers and proves that when 2^(2^n) < P < 2^(2^(n+1)), MP has 2^(n+1)-1 Prime numbers are established. Based on this argument, it is proven that when 2^(2^(n+1)), Mp has 2^(n+2)-n-2 prime numbers. ]

He quickly sat up from his office chair. He opened the drawer, pulled out a pen and paper before he started to calculate according to the steps given in the thesis.

Time slowly passed, his eyes became more and more serious.

Correct…

Correct…

Completely correct!

So this is how you solve it?!

The more Professor Zhou Haizhong read, the more emotional he felt. He could not help but applaud the exquisite proof process.

As the writer of the conjecture, this problem had plagued him and the mathematics community for more than 20 years.

He had not been researching number theory for a long time. Instead, he put his heart into linguistics and education. Like a curse, the unresolved conjecture tangled around him and he could never stop thinking about this issue.

His heart was excited, but at the same time, he did not want to get his hopes up.

The closer he reached to the end of the thesis, the more scared and careful he was.

He was scared that in the last calculation, there would be a flaw in the proof process. The problem would then remained unsolved.

However, the probability of it happening was low, especially after he saw the reviewer's name…

Time slowly passed by…

The view outside the window gradually became darker and the old man finally stopped holding his pen.

He did not say anything.

Instead, he placed the pen down and stood before he walked next to the window. He then quietly lit up a cigarette and puffed a long trail of smoke as he said in his heart, "The young are surpassing us."

The lake outside the window was sparkling.

As his wrinkled old face reflected on the window, he started to tear up…

Chapter 76: It's Good To Be Utilitarian

The sky was completely dark but the research building was still brightly lit when Lu Zhou knocked on Professor Tang's office and walked in.

Actually, he already had an idea as to why Professor Tang called him over.

Just a second ago, he received the thesis acceptance letter from [Mathematics Chronicle]. It was actually sent two days ago but he missed it.

However, Lu Zhou could not believe that it was published so quickly. It was like the Mathematics Chronicle journal was in more of a hurry than him.

Seeing that his thesis received so much respect, Lu Zhou could not help but feel flattered.

The moment he walked in, Professor Tang put down his pen and looked at the graduate student working next to him.

"Wong, go pour a glass of water."

That master's student named Wong pushed his glasses and stood up.

Lu Zhou said, "It's okay, I'll do it myself."

"No, let me," said Wong as he placed a teacup on the coffee table before pouring water into an electric kettle. He said respectfully, "I'm pouring water for the master."

"Thanks…"

As Lu Zhou looked at the full cup of tea, he reluctantly accepted Wong's kindness.

Lu Zhou sat on the couch and looked at the magazine next to his teacup. It was the latest English version of the journal [Mathematics Chronicle]. Lu Zhou flipped to page thirty and instantly recognized the thesis he wrote.

[Discussion On The Distribution Law Of Mersenne Prime Numbers And Proof Of Zhou's Conjecture]

"The thesis in Mathematics Chronicle, did you write this?" asked Professor Tang with a serious tone as he sat behind the desk.

"Yeah," said Lu Zhou as he nodded and looked at Professor Tang with a strange expression.

Who else could it be?

Is there another Lu Zhou in the University of Jin Ling?

The two master's students in the room sucked in the cold air and looked at Lu Zhou in respect.

No wonder Old Tang admires this guy so much!

He proved a world-class mathematics problem, yet he is still so calm.

If they proved a world-class mathematics problem and published the thesis in a core journal, they would be jumping up and down in joy. They would get the scholarship from the school and then asked their friends to go out for a meal.

"…"

Lu Zhou was so calm that Professor Tang did not even know what to say.

Honestly speaking, Professor Tang was confused when he read the thesis.

Not because of the thesis itself, but because of the person that published it.

He had never thought that Lu Zhou would actually figure something out about Mersenne primes. He wanted Lu Zhou to get his feet wet, but he had not expected it…

Then…

Who would've thought that this kid was going to make such a significant achievement in this field?

He dropped a nuclear bomb onto the entire field of number theory…

"… Your accomplishments in the field of number theory exceeded my imagination. I thought you are only talented in the field of functions, but it seems that I was wrong," said Professor Tang as he shook his head. He then said, "I've taught so many smart students in my life but you are the most talented one that I have ever seen."

Not only was Professor Tang impressed, but he was also confused.

Normally speaking, a person's energy should be limited. It was bad for an academician to focus on many things, but it seemed that this limit did not apply to this kid.

It seems that there really are geniuses in this world that defy common sense.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed at his compliment so he laughed it off before he said in a humble manner, "Professor Tang, you're exaggerating. I was only casually inspired. I'm not as strong as you say."

"Huh, okay."

Professor Tang's voice was one of disbelief and Lu Zhou did not even know what to say.

Professor Tang's "huh" obviously meant that he saw through Lu Zhou's attempt at being humble.

Old Tang is too smart! Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

At this moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

Two peopled walked in.

The first person was Dean Lu of applied mathematics and the other man was someone Lu Zhou could not recognize. However, with the way the man was staring at Lu Zhou, he clearly came after him.

Dean Lu walked in and was about to shout at Professor Tang when he saw Lu Zhou. He then hurried forward to ask, "You proved Zhou's conjecture?!"

Lu Zhou looked at the energetic Dean Lu before he nodded and said, "Yea… Is there a problem?"

Dean Lu did not say anything but the old man next to him smiled and spoke first, "There isn't a problem. I've read your thesis, the proof process is quite good. It really deserves the praise of Professor Deligne."

Praise?

Deligne?

Who?

Lu Zhou was confused.

The two master's students had a shocked expression on their faces.

Deligne?

Viscount, the Belgian king! The guy that proved Weil's conjecture!

Professor Tang coughed and said, "Wong, go pour some tea for the professors."

Wong stood up silently and walked towards the tea set on the cabinet.

The strange old man said, "Old Tang, don't need to be so polite. I'm just here for a bit and I'm leaving soon."

"This is the head dean of our department, Dean Qin," explained Dean Lu when he saw Lu Zhou's confused face.

Lu Zhou stood up and said, "Dean, nice to meet you."

"Hello, hello, don't need to be polite. Sit down," said Dean Qin. As he looked at Lu Zhou, he nodded his head in approval before saying, "So, you're Lu Zhou. I've been wanting to meet you for a while. But I was in Norway doing an academic conference, so I didn't get the chance. I only came back last week."

"When I was in Norway, I talked to Mr. Newman about the linear functional paper that you sent a few months ago, and he spoke highly of you. He told me that you would be able to achieve groundbreaking results in five years. I had not expected this day to come so quickly. I just came back from Norway and you had already written such a shocking thesis in a field very different from functional number."

Dean Qin finished and sighed. He then smiled and said, "Us old people are becoming more and more useless. We have to rely on you young people to prove these mathematics conjectures."

"Dean Qin, you're too kind," said Lu Zhou. He coughed out of embarrassment before saying, "It's not that shocking…"

Dean Qin looked at Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said, "Oh, wait till tomorrow. You'll know what I'm talking about."

What did he mean by "oh"?

Lu Zhou was confused.

When Dean Qin saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, "It's late, I still have to discuss some matters with Professor Tang. You should go now."

Lu Zhou wanted to leave anyway. Since he had finished the mission, he wanted to go and get his reward in the system space.

Therefore he smiled and said, "Then I'll go… Oh yeah, Dean Qin, is there a scholarship for solving this kind of world-class mathematics problem?"

Professor Tang laughed and said, "This kid, all you care about is money. Can the value of a world-class be measured with money?!"

Lu Zhou nodded. He wanted to say yes, but he stopped himself.

Dean Lu and Dean Qin laughed.

"There is a scholarship. Our school strongly supports outstanding scientific research like this!" said Dean Qin. As he smiled, he said, "But as for the exact scholarship, the school will have a meeting about it. Right now, I can't make any promises, but we won't treat you badly!"

Lu Zhou was overjoyed and he replied, "Thank you, dean!"

Dean Qin waved his hand and said, "You're welcome."

Lu Zhou left the office and closed the door behind him.

Dean Qin smiled and said, "That kid is quite talented."

Professor Tang sighed and said, "Yeah, he's just a bit too utilitarian."

"It's good to be utilitarian."

"Good? I think you have to focus in order to do research well," said Professor Tang. He shook his head and said, "His talent in mathematics is the highest I've ever seen. If he just focused on research, he would achieve great things."

"Oh? I think that utilitarianism and enthusiasm go hand in hand," said Dean Qin with a smile. He continued, "The real problem is stubborn people."

Professor Tang shook his head and did not respond.

He had seen too many geniuses that wasted their talent.

Learning was not dancing or singing. If one wanted to make achievements, one must be able to withstand loneliness. One must learn to actively shield oneself from distractions. This might be unfair to those that contributed towards the advancement of science, but since they had chosen this path of exploring the truth, they would have to bear it all.

Maybe the professor's perspectives were different.

Dean Qin hoped that Lu Zhou could make achievements in the University of Jin Ling. He hoped to mark the proof of Zhou's conjecture with the label of the University of Jin Ling so that the university could become famous in the academic circle of China or even in the world.

However, whether it was at the University of Jin Ling or at Princeton, or somewhere else,

Professor Tang only hoped that this kid would further advance himself in mathematics.

Chapter 77: The Three Deadly Missions

Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and washed his face before he laid down on his bed. He said in his heart "system space". When he opened his eyes, he was already in the pure white system space.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Successfully published an SCI thesis. Final evaluation of task: None (no evaluation for reward mission)]

[Mission reward: 10,000 mathematics experience points. One lucky draw ticket (50% sample, 50% blueprint)]

10,000 mathematics experience points!

When Lu Zhou saw the number, he was floored.

How much experience did I get for my first thesis? I think I got 400 mathematics and 100 physics points. That's only 500 in total!

He finally understood why Professor Tang and Dean Qin paid so much attention to his thesis. The academic value of his thesis was indeed higher than his expectations.

Lu Zhou could not wait to open his characteristic panel.

Sure enough, his mathematics level was upgraded.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 2 (2000/50000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (2100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 0 (0/1000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 0 (0/1000) Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

F. Energy science: Level 0 (0/1000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (100/1000)

General points: 1175

]

Level 2 mathematics!

When Lu Zhou saw the upgrade, he had an indescribable pleasant feeling.

Of course, there was another pleasant thing waiting for him.

Next was the really exciting lucky draw.

Lu Zhou saw the 50% sample and 50% blueprint probabilities and smiled in his heart.

This system had screwed me over so many times! This time, I'll finally get a good prize!

50%

He could not believe it.

There was no way he was going to get garbage!

"Spin!"

The wheel began to rotate at a rapid speed.

"Stop!"

The wheel span for a couple more turns before it slowed down.

[Congratulations, User, sample reward chosen.]

[Received: E-class physical strength enhanced needle (repair damaged cells, improve metabolism, boost immunity)]

Emm…

Seems average?

From the description, it seems to be some kind of health supplement?

Repair damaged cells, improve metabolism, and boost immunity… These seem pretty good. I've been grinding a lot, I should repair my body. But why do I feel like I got screwed again…

Oh well, at least it wasn't garbage.

Now I have to pick the next mission.

Lu Zhou reached out and selected the mission panel on the information screen.

Three dialogs popped up.

[

Mission1: Balanced development

Description: As a true genius, a comprehensive improvement of knowledge is a basic skill. Although mathematics is the foundation of science, science isn't just about mathematics. In order to advance the science and technological progress of mankind, please take biochemistry, materials science and energy science seriously.

Requirements: Obtain achievement points (0/20) in the fields of biochemistry, materials science, and energy science. Achievement points can be obtained through subject competitions (1), participation in research projects (1-n), the publication of academic thesis (1-3), national research rewards (1-5), etc.

Reward: Core subject experience points (achievement points * 300. One lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 5% sample, 2% blueprint, 2% unlock a new technology branch)]

]

[

Mission 2: Start your career

Description: As a true genius, the achievement is not just in the academic field. For example, Watt, Siemens, Edison, Gates, Dean Kamen and so on. They may not be particularly prominent in their grades, but their contribution to the progress of civilization is undisputable. Humans are economic animals and the distribution of social resources are determined by the economy. A genius doesn't have to learn how to manage a business, but it's important to know how to turn your knowledge into a social resource that can be used…

Requirements: Have a net worth of 5 million RMB (only assets are calculated, liabilities are deducted, intangible assets not included.)

Reward: 5000 experience points towards any subjects. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 10% sample)

]

[

Mission 3: Can I touch your trophy?

Description: As a true genius, one medal is not enough. Awards such as the Abel Prize, the Fields Medal, the Wolf Prize or even the second rate Cole Prize, the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize, the Chen Shengshen Mathematics Award, the Birkhoff Applied Mathematics Award, and the Royal Society's Tory Medal are undoubtedly the best proof of the abilities of a genius.

Requirements: Obtain a mathematics award that is internationally recognized(competition awards is not allowed).

Reward: 20-100K mathematics experience points. 1000 general points. One lucky draw ticket (100% blueprint)

]

As a real genius…

It seems that this system doesn't understand humans very well. It has a misunderstanding when it comes to geniuses…

Lu Zhou felt like he was already a genius, but according to the standards of the system, he would be an idiot.

Lu Zhou resisted the urge to insult the system and focused his attention on the three missions.

"The Zhou's conjecture might not be able to win a world-class mathematics award, but I could earn a national award…"

When Lu Zhou saw the minimum 20,000 mathematics experience points that mission three had, he was excited.

However, he had a concern.

There was a very slow selection process for any mathematics award. Even if his contribution was recognized by the international academic community, it could take years before his medal could arrive in his hand.

He could not delay his mission for years just for one award. Who knows how high the level of his mathematics could get within those years.

Even though Lu Zhou was greedy, he was still logical.

As for mission one, it was also a bit awkward.

He was engaged in mathematics. It made sense that he studied physics and information science as well. However, if he suddenly entered into biochemistry, materials science, and energy science, it might look a bit suspicious.

Even if he put rationality aside and looked at it realistically, the three fields of biochemistry, materials, and energy were not easy to succeed in. The SCI thesis in these three areas was not like mathematics and computer science. He could not just write a sh*tty thesis and published it.

Lu Zhou used to listen to a chemical genius who he met while working. That student did research and development of biological reagents, wrote SCI submissions, and even pointed out which laboratory the research was done, the chemicals used… In short, it was extremely cumbersome.

As for mission two…

If five million yuan was so easy to earn, everyone on this planet would be rich.

Lu Zhou calculated. If he wanted to earn five million yuan, he had to do 25,000 hours of tutoring - that would be 2.85 years of tutoring.

Otherwise, he had to write more than 250 theses in the [ International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics].

There's no way.

Actually, there's one more way.

That is to sell my app or raise the value of it by financing…

Could I raise the value to five million?

Not gonna happen.

Opening VIPs accounts to users and classify it before advertising to them. Anyone can think of this. At most, it would decrease my losses. Any app (other than mobile games) are basically money losers in the early days of development. They don't make a profit until they take over a significant portion of the market.

This was called "strategic loss". It used the economics of scales to operate by betting on the future.

This was a common sense amongst the tech industry.

However, the road to financing was not that good. Until now, not a single company had offered to finance his app. Obviously, no one was optimistic about his Campus Train app. No one was interested in his hundreds of thousands of inactive users.

The missions are getting more and more difficult…

Lu Zhou stared at the semi-transparent holographic screen as he bit his lower lip and frowned.

"Which mission should I pick?"

Chapter 78: Answering Qian Xuesen's Question!

In the end, Lu Zhou did not pick any mission.

Both mission two and three were inside the scope of consideration. Mission three was a higher priority than mission two even though they both cost around the same amount of time to complete.

After all, the 20,000 mathematics experience point was really tempting. Furthermore, it also had a 100% blueprint prize probability. Even though world-class mathematics awards could not be obtained by just a conjecture proof, but considering the academic value and political significance of the paper that Lu Zhou had just published, a country might give him an award.

It was possible.

Anyway, the other two missions would take a long time. It was not as if they would run away. Lu Zho could apply for the mission after he met the conditions.

He could first ask Professor Tang or Dean Lu the conditions for those national mathematics awards and the time it would take for approval. He could then decide which one would be better.

After Lu Zhou exited the system space, he took the E-class physical strength needle and stabbed himself with it before he rolled over and fell asleep.

However, what he did not know was that while he was sleeping, his name was being printed on newspapers. Countless mathematics media writers were writing an article headline. However, they were unable to understand the mathematics behind Lu Zhou's thesis and they could only scratch their heads in confusion…

…

The latest edition of [Mathematics Chronicle], page thirty: [Discussion On The Distribution Law Of Mersenne Prime Numbers And Proof Of Zhou's Conjecture]

At the end of the thesis, there was a review of the paper.

[This is groundbreaking work. We finally have a theorem that we can rely on to constrain the variation of Mersenne primes to a visible range. Professor Pierre Deligne]

Professor Deligne was famous for being critical. Whether in an academic conference or in a Princeton lecture, if someone made a mistake, he would not hesitate before pointing it out. He had embarrassed many well-known professors and scholars in the industry.

However, he used the word "groundbreaking" to describe Lu Zhuo's thesis and it was rare for him to use that word when evaluating theses.

It had not even been a week since the mathematics journal was released but it had already caused quite a stir in the international mathematics community. It could have been the proof theorem itself, or professor Deligne's evaluation, or the age of the author…

Furthermore, the week before Lu Zhou even saw his thesis in the journal magazine, countless scholars had devoted themselves to repeatedly verified the proof process.

After that…

Mathematics professors at the University of Jin Ling were shocked!

The China Mathematics Society was shocked!

The results of the verification were…

Completely correct!

The cranks were…

Okay, the cranks were not shocked. They were still tackling Goldbach's conjecture or Fermat's last theorem. Most of them would not even care about the Chinese conjecture unless someone won an international award.

Soon, this sensational news went from the mathematics community to the press.

Zhou's approximation which had plagued the number theory community for over 20 years was finally proven.

This meant that from now on, Zhou's conjecture would become Zhou's theorem.

Another Chinese surname was entered into the history of mathematics!

Both the person that made the conjecture and the person that proved the conjecture would be included in the history of mathematics!

The most important fact for the media was that the person that proved the conjecture was a second-year undergraduate student!

Many people thought of Student Liu who proved the Sitapan conjecture a few years ago.

All mathematics experts knew that even though one was a Chinese conjecture while the other was a British conjecture, the academic value and difficulty of the two could not be compared.

The so-called Sitapan conjecture was only a counter-inference in the field of mathematics about the strength of Ramsey's two-staining theorem. The RT^2x2 may be stronger than WKL0. Liu gave a negative answer to the conjecture by proving that RT^2x2 does not contain WKL0.

Solving a conjecture was difficult and there were thousands of other conjectures just like it…

However, even though there were also thousands of conjectures on the same difficulty level as Zhou's conjecture, the research on the distribution law of Mersenne primes was more significant. Numerous mathematicians had tried to express the distribution law of Mersenne primes numbers. All of the expressions were conjectures and none of them could be promoted to a theorem.

Right now, a theorem was born.

Due to that, the media went crazy.

At least, the domestic media went crazy!

A new star in mathematics was rising and the media labeled him as a guy who could win the Fields Medal.

Although proof of Zhou's conjecture was far from a Fields Medal as only something like the Jacobian conjecture could actually be worthy of the Fields Medal, but…

He was only twenty years old!

The Fields Medal had a 40 years old limit and he still had 20 years to go.

Based on that alone, it was enough for the media's headline.

[Huaguo Youth Daily] used a domineering title. It chose Professor Deligne's evaluation of the [Mathematics Chronicle] paper. It reported the sensational news title: [Answering Qian Xuesen's question, an undergraduate student from the University of Jin Ling conquers the world of mathematical puzzles! We can also produce amazing talents!]

[Everyone Daily] also reported the news. Although their focus was not on Lu Zhou, it published an article with a similar title. It encouraged researchers to "climb Mount Everest" and to continue to pave the road of science.

Compared with the traditional media, we-media was not as accurate. They greatly exaggerated their titles.

[Shocked! An undergraduate student of the University of Jin Ling solved a world-class number theory problem overnight!]

[The problem that plagued the mathematics community for twenty years was solved by an undergraduate student! ! !]

[American mathematicians are shocked, Japanese mathematicians can't even understand…]

They bragged about Lu Zhou so much that it seemed as if Lu Zhou had nearly become immortal.

The popularity of the media inevitably pushed Lu Zhou's name onto trending for the third time this year.

Except that this time, he was first on trending!

Netizens were blasting Everyone Daily's comment section.

[Amazing… Second-year student solving a world-class problem, what would happen if he does a PhD! (frightened) (frightened)]

[I'm going to cry, I'm leaving, I'm not going on Weibo anymore. I'm changing my PhD thesis. (cry)]

[When I was twenty, I was worrying about advanced algebra while this guy is already doing world-class mathematics problems…]

[He's from University of Jin Ling! Me too! I remember! He was the modeling champion!]

[This guy is going to be a godly mathematician.]

[Is there anyone that is still insulting old dog Zhu?]

[Do you want to insult him? (dog)]

[Zhu is old news. (dog)]

[F*ck Zhu.]

[Strong Chinese man! Contributing to research! (fist) (first)]

[…]

Right now, Lu Zhou still had no idea what was happening on Weibo because, at 3 pm, he was still sleeping!

Lu Zhou coughed and woke up. His entire body felt sore as if he ran for hours and did a hundred sit-ups.

Not only that, the blankets and bed sheets were all soaked with his sweat. It even smelled sour.

Lu Zhou pushed the wet blanket away and was shocked.

"The f*ck, why did I sweat so much?"

It was like the sheet and blankets were soaked. Lu Zhou quickly bounced off the disgusting bed.

When he stretched his body and cracked his joints, he felt as if the soreness of his muscles were decreasing. It was oddly comfortable.

Lu Zhou sat up from the bed and threw the blanket and sheets on his chair before he climbed down the ladder.

He stared at himself in the mirror and as he touched his chin, he felt that he was still handsome. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

He then took the blanket and sheets before heading to the balcony where he threw them in the laundry basket with the plan of throwing them into the washing machine later. Then, he took a shower.

When he walked out of the bathroom humming, a cool breeze blew through and his entire body relaxed. He could not help but stretch.

Samples from the high tech system were really good. Although he did not feel an obvious increase in strength or reaction speed, he felt better physically.

At least, the fatigue and injury that were accumulated from staying up late were cured by the needle. He went from unhealthy to almost healthy overnight.

At this moment, the dorm door was suddenly pushed open. Liu Rui and Shi Shang both rushed in as they tried to wake Huang Guangming up.

"F*ck me, what's wrong with you two."

Instead of responding to Huang Guangming, Shi Shang shouted, "There are many reporters downstairs! Zhou, did you do something again?!"

Chapter 79: The Reporters Are Downstairs!

Reporters?

Lu Zhou was shocked and he quickly looked out of the balcony when he saw a van from Jin Ling TV station. It looked like the people carrying the camera equipment were negotiating with dorm staff.

What is going on?

Shi Shang looked at Lu Zhou with admiration and said, "Lu Zhou, be honest. Did you do some earth-shattering thing again? My instincts tell me that the car downstairs is after you."

Liu Rui was more logical after he heard Shi Shang and he said, "I'll go on Weibo, see what is going on."

He did not even have to search for it.

It was number one on trending. It was even above the celebrities!

Huang Guangming could not sleep anymore and he leaned against the bed as he scratched his head, "What did you find?"

"Zhou's guess…"

"What? Zhou's guess? What did Zhou guess about?" Shi Shang came over and asked.

"No… Lu Zhou proved Zhou's conjecture," said Liu Rui as he staring at the mobile screen. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said, "… That Zhou's conjecture seems to be a world-class mathematics problem. I've seen it before in number theory books."

After today, those number theory books would have to be edited. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

In a sense, history was changing before their eyes.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang gasped and they both turned to stare at Lu Zhou.

Awkward, Lu Zhou touched his face and said, "Oi… Is there something on my face?"

Other than his handsome face, Lu Zhou did not feel anything on it.

With a serious expression, Shi Shang said, "Zhou, we're brothers, right?"

Lu Zhou sighed softly, "… Just stop, I'll buy you guys food."

After his groundbreaking discovery, it would be too cheap of him not to treat his roommates to a meal.

Shi Shang was unhappy, "Am I that type of person?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Then… I won't buy you that meal?"

"Wait, no! I mean I'm not that type of person, but if you insist, I'll still take you up on your offer!" said Shi Shang. He coughed before laughing mischievously, "Umm… When you're doing the interview, can I be in the shot? I'll post it on my news feed and brag to my friends."

Huang Guangming's eyes widened and he yelled, "F*ck me, Shi Shang, this isn't like you! I didn't know you would step this low… I have to be in the shot as well!"

Liu Rui sat in his seat and was scratching his head about the proof of Zhou's approximation. Although he found the original thesis online, he could not understand the proof process at all and thus, he did not join in their conversation.

Lu Zhou: "…"

For the sake of his own reputation, Lu Zhou suddenly felt like he could not do the interview here.

Who knew what these group of animals would say about him?

It's best if the reporters don't interview them!

Therefore, he put on his backpack and left the dorm.

As he rushed down the stairs, he ignored the screams of Huang Guangming.

However, just as he was about to leave the dorm building, he was blocked by a group of journalists and reporters.

Lu Zhou thought that it was bad. He pretended to be a normal student and tried to slip past them. Unfortunately, he brushed shoulders with a cameraman and was recognized.

A reporter from Jin Ling Evening News asked, "Hello, may I ask if you are Lu Zhou?"

"Lu Zhou, how did you solve Zhou's conjecture? Are the articles true? Did you really dream of the proof?"

"… Can I ask how do you normally study? Do you have any advice for college students?"

"… The internet is saying that Professor Deligne from Princeton has given you an offer to study a master's degree there. Will you accept the offer?"

The questions made Lu Zhou cringe, especially when he saw his own reflection in the camera. Furthermore, with the crowd of students staring at him, he could not even form sentences.

Fortunately, at this moment, someone came over and dissolved the crowd…

"Move away, move away."

"Don't block the dorm building door."

A few men in suits stood in front of the entrance while the reporters gave way.

Lu Zhou stood behind the men in suits and was relieved. He saw Dean Qin and two other strangers. From the looks of it, the two strangers were pretty high status, probably leaders of the school.

While Lu Zhou was pondering over the identities of these two people, the old man in a suit walked in front of Lu Zhou, smiled, and extended his right hand, "Lu Zhou, congratulations."

Lu Zhou shook his hand and politely asked, "This professor… May I ask, who are you?"

"Hahaha," laughed the old man. Even though he smiled amiably, he said, "… Dean Qin is the only professor here. I'm not a professor."

The cameras next to them clicked and photographed the two shaking hands.

Lu Zhou was even more confused.

If you're not a professor, then who are you?

He had no idea who the guy was.

Dean Qin said, "This is Secretary Liu. He works for the city government of Jin Ling." He smiled and lightly introduced the other person, "This is the president of the Su Mathematical Society and the vice chairman of the Chinese Mathematical Society, Professor Wang Zhongming."

That professor had glasses on and smiled as he nodded towards Lu Zhou.

"Hello, Professor Wang!" said Lu Zhou politely as he stuck out his right hand.

Two old magnates…

"Hello," said Professor Wang with a smile as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He shook it gently and said, "No wonder Professor Tang spoke so highly of you. You really are talented."

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "Professor Wang, you're too kind."

"Let's talk another time. Secretary Liu still has some stuff to say and so, I won't waste your time," said Professor Wang with a smile.

"I can afford to waste this time," said Secretary Liu with a smile. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Lu Zhou, on behalf of City of Jin Ling, I thank you for your contribution."

Lu Zhou was flattered.

At most, he only contributed to the field of mathematics. He had not really contributed to the City of Jin Ling.

"I just solved a mathematics question. I don't deserve this," said Lu Zhou as he smiled modestly.

"That's where you're wrong," replied Secretary Liu. He smiled and continued, "The problem you solved isn't a normal mathematics problem. It's a problem that plagued the mathematics industry for 20 years! You are from University of Jin Ling, so how can the City of Jin Ling not thank you?"

Secretary Liu spoke nicely, but also bureaucratically.

It was because he was not in the mathematics industry.

A 20-year-old mathematics question doesn't mean that mathematicians around the world had been trying to solve it for 20 years. Everyone had different research topics. Most mathematicians did not even invest any time or energy to this question.

Lu Zhou smiled but he did not try to explain anything. Some words were better left unsaid. This conversation was mainly for the microphones and cameras around them, Lu Zhou just had to be a good "listener".

Lu Zhuo saw Secretary Liu's smile and analyzed in his heart.

This busy man suddenly came to visit the University of Jin Ling and specifically came to meet me. Most of my papers are famous in the international and domestic mathematics community. But why is this political guy here? From which newspaper did you hear about me?

Speaking of which, if this guy wants to show his thanks for my talent, there should be something else waiting for me.

Money?

Honor?

I'll take either, as long as it's good for me!

After a pause, Secretary Liu smiled and spoke.

"Our basic policy is to be education-oriented! Talent training has been the top priority of our city's Education department! Yesterday, the leader of our Municipal Education Bureau told me about you. This immediately aroused my attention. Especially after learning about your family situation, several directors of our city met overnight and decided to give you a reward. Our future scientists can't be poor!"

Lu Zhou heard him and suddenly said, "Secretary Liu, you work too hard!"

"Not hard at all," said the old man as he waved his hand. He then said with a smile, "You're the one that is working hard as a scientist who is fighting in the front line!"

Chapter 80: Lu Zhou, You're On Fire!

After all, Secretary Liu was very busy. He said a few more bureaucratic words in front of the camera. Once he was done with his fake act, he then left.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see that Professor Wang also left. After those two left, the media also dispersed a lot.

Emm…

Why do I feel like I was being taken advantaged?

It was not like Lu Zhou lost anything, so he did not really care.

Dean Qin looked at Lu Zhou's backpack and asked, "You're going to the library?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yeah, I'm studying there."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "I'm going that way as well, let's walk together?"

"Okay."

The administrative building was not that far from the library and the two walked along the brick road toward the library's direction.

On the way, Dean Qin suddenly smiled and said, "What did I say last time? Does this count as earth-shattering?"

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly as he said, "I think… It's still a little different from earth-shattering."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "Ah, you're quite ambitious. Even Everyone Daily published about you. If this doesn't count as earth-shattering, what is?"

Lu Zhou was shocked, "Everyone Daily?!"

Dean Qin raised his eyebrows and smiled, he said, "You didn't read it online?"

"Um… Actually I just woke up."

Dean Qin shook his head and said, "You shouldn't stay up that late, strive for longevity. You're different than me. You still have a long road to go, so you shouldn't hurt your body."

Lu Zhou replied, "I know." He actually wanted to say, "I didn't stay up. It's because I injected the needle so I slept for longer."

"The article in Everyone Daily was pretty interesting and it mentioned you. If you're interested, you can look through it," said Dean Qin with a smile. He continued, "Secretary Liu read that article in the morning and rushed to our school in the afternoon."

Is that why he came?

Lu Zhou was amazed.

Although he guessed that Secretary Liu was politically interested in his thesis, he had not expected it to be because of Everyone Daily.

However, once he thought about it carefully, it made more sense. After all, Everyone Daily's report reflected the attitude of the entire country. If upper class people cared about it, lower class people cared about it as well. It had been like this since ancient times.

Lu Zhou was deeply moved.

However, he never cared that much about politics, so he should stay away from it.

When Dean Qin saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, "Professor Tang's view is actually correct. You must guard yourself from arrogance and stay away from fame. But I think that people are still social animals. If you become too anti-social, you will have a bad time."

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Dean Qin, what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, I'm just having a conversation,' said Dean Qin. He smiled and asked, "Oh yeah, aren't you interested in the school's reward?"

Lu Zhou said, "Can… You disclose this to me in advance?"

"It's not like it's a bad thing. Why can't I disclose it to you?" said Dean Qin. He smiled and said, "If you want to hear it, I'll tell you."

Dean Qin paused for a second before he continued to speak.

"First is the registered residence problem. The city's staff will help you solve that. The city council suggested for you to move your registered residence from Jiangling to Jin Ling. Then you can enjoy preferential treatment policies. The bank won't need to check your credit before you apply for a line and your interest rates will be low. I don't know exactly how low, but it's low!"

"You might be more interested in the second point," said Dean Qin as he looked at Lu Zhou, who was listening closely. He smiled and said, "Yesterday, our principal called us to a meeting to discuss your thesis. According to previous SCI publication rules, the impact factor is used as a measurement for the reward. However, the impact factor doesn't accurately measure the academic value of your thesis."

"Therefore, we did some research and decided to award you a million yuan!"

Dean Qin emphasized on the words "million yuan".

It was like a wind blew past.

That gust of wind blew into Lu Zhou's ear and he stopped breathing for a second.

"One… Million?!"

Lu Zhou gulped and he swore he could hear his own heartbeat.

"Yeah, is it too low?" asked Dean Qin. He smiled and continued to say, "It's pretty low. Compared to that Sitapan conjecture, your Zhou's conjecture contributed way more to our country's mathematics industry. However, I hope that you can understand that the one million yuan reward was the maximum amount the principal was willing to give."

Even though the University of Jin Ling was wealthy with the state providing them with the university funds, but this money could not be spent recklessly.

Actually, Dean Qin did not tell him the complete story. The million yuan reward was not decided by Principal Xu himself. They had a meeting and then they asked the director of the Ministry Of Education who gave them the green light.

From which account the money came from, how the money was going to be paid, this all had to be planned out.

"No, it's not low at all!"

Lu Zhou was so excited that his shoulders began to shake.

A million yuan!

It was equivalent to hundreds of months of tutoring!

He had only seen this amount of money in movies…

When Dean Qin saw Lu Zhou's excitement, he smiled in his heart. The dean knew that Lu Zhou would be ecstatic.

He paused for a second and smiled before he said, "Okay then, I've told you this in advance. We're at the library now. Go ahead and study."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you, Dean Qin. See you later!"

"Go go go."

After Lu Zhou separated from Dean Qin, he still had not recovered from the news of one million yuan.

He felt dizzy, like he was floating in the sky.

He was still worried about getting five million for the mission when he did not know that the school already helped him with 20% of the mission…

Not far away, Chen Yushan held a stack of books and walked toward the library entrance.

When she saw a familiar figure standing in front of the library, Chen Yushan's eyes lit up and she walked forward to tap Lu Zhou's shoulder.

"Lu Zhou, did you know that you're on fire?"

Lu Zhou turned around and when he saw Chen Yushan, he was still shocked by the news. He said, "I know."

Chen Yushan opened her mouth and was disappointed, "Oh… You already knew."

"A million…"

Chen Yushan was confused, "What is a million?"

"Nothing," murmured Lu Zhou as he finally recovered and shook his head. He said, "You've bought me so much food, I've got to pay you back… I'll buy you dinner."

"Really?" said Chen Yushan as her eyes lit up. However, she then had a suspicious expression as she asked, "Wait, why are you so generous? This isn't like you."

"… Are you eating or not?"

"I'm eating!" Chen Yushan nodded immediately. She quickly remembered the tragic experience from last time and said, "Can we not eat spicy hotpot? I nearly died last time…" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

When Lu Zhou saw her expression, he nearly laughed out loud.

It's just spicy hotpot, why are you so scared?

Chapter 81: Lu Zhou Is Secretly Observing

To be honest, Lu Zhou was not psychologically prepared for this fame at all.

Overnight, his Weibo fans broke the 100,000 mark. The school leaders treated him well and even a secretary of the city came to shook his hand. Jin Ling TV station made an appointment to give him an interview and apparently, an international media was going to come…

The second night, Lu Zhou received a call from his father.

The father did not ask if his son ate or how his son was doing. Instead, he asked…

"Son, what is Zhou's approximation?"

When Lu Zhou heard his father's words, he nearly dropped his phone.

"Oh, dad, when did you start studying mathematics?"

"No, I'm not studying mathematics. A higher-up at the factory told me that you solved some Zhou's guess and wanted to give you some award… I don't understand."

Lu Bangguo was very confused.

He normally did not read the news or go online and so, he was naturally ignorant of what was happening outside.

The proudest moment of his life was when his son got into a good university. The factory even gave him a 500 yuan red envelope.

Even then, the manager of the factory did not personally come and thank him. At most, the manager casually congratulated him. However, this time, it was not just some higher-up at the factory. It was the clerk himself!

For an ordinary worker in a state-owned factory, the clerk was considered a high ranking official.

Lu Zhou thought for a while and could not find a way to explain Zhou's approximation, "Oh… Dad, how do I explain this to you? It's basically a mathematics problem." He added, "How about you go find an Everyone Daily newspaper from yesterday? There should be an explanation on it."

"What… I go find what?! You're in the newspaper?!" said Lu Bangguo with his eyes widened.

"Yeah, I'm going on TV in two days. But it's the local TV station in the City of Jin Ling. You won't be able to see it. Also, the school gave me a reward bonus. When the money comes, I'll transfer some to your account."

Lu Zhou remembered Dean Qin said that the news broadcast would be reported in the form of a newsletter, so his interview would be cut into 15-30 second segments.

"Transfer what money! You don't have to worry about us, just take care of yourself! I'm not that old! Save your money, don't spend it recklessly, and save it for a house!" said Lu Bangguo. When he heard that his son was going on television, he had a big smile on his face.

Even though he did not watch the news or read the newspaper, he knew that being on TV was not something a normal person could do.

Lu Zhou smiled and was about to say something when he heard shoe being kicked off and the sound of the door being opened coming through the telephone.

He instantly knew that it was Xiao Tong who came home.

Saturday was a half-day for school and since she did not have tutoring classes, this was the only time she could talk to Lu Zhou.

"Dad, give me the phone!"

He heard the rush of footsteps before the phone was robbed by Xiao Tong.

"Brother!"

"Xiao Tong, how are you?" asked Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Not bad, not bad! Brother, is the Lu Zhou from the University of Jin Ling really you?" asked Xiao Tong. Her voice was filled with excitement and worship.

"Who else could it be?" asked Lu Zhou impatiently.

Xiao Tong held the phone and said, "Brother, you're my idol! Just a second ago, our maths teacher was bragging about you in class. He said you are his most talented student ever. He said he could see your talent from marking your papers!"

Lu Zhou thought for second before he smiled and said, "Old Ma?"

Xiao Tong said with excitement, "Yeah, him!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Oh yeah, he was my teacher."

Lu Zhuo did not remember Old Ma ever saying that kind of things to him. If Old Ma actually did, he must have been exaggerating. Lu Zhou was the type of average student in high school. Even though he entered some competitions, he had never actually won anything.

Between competition and exams, most of Lu Zhou's energy was allocated to exams.

Xiao Tong's eyes flashed with small stars as she said, "Brother, I admire you so much! Do I count as a big mathematician's sister now?"

Ah, you're over-complimenting me.

Although I admire myself as well.

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "Definitely. Therefore you have to study mathematics well. You can't waste that genius brain of yours."

"My mathematics is good, okay! Last month I got 120 marks in the exam!" screamed Xiao Tong.

"If you want to get into a good university, 120 is not enough! Try your best. I'm waiting for you at University of Jin Ling."

Xiao Tong said confidently, "Yes! I'll try my best!"

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and walked back into the dorm from the balcony.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang were both rushing to do physics homework. Liu Rui had already finished the homework. He was holding a phone in one hand and a pen in another and was thinking hard as he stared at a piece of draft paper.

Lu Zhou placed the computer on the bed. He was about to climb into bed and teach Xiao Ai when Liu Rui suddenly threw his pen aside and scratched his head.

"Zhou, how come I can't understand ur proof process?"

Liu Rui had already accepted that Lu Zhou had reached a level that he could never reach in his lifetime. However, in his mind, he was still a little reluctant to admit defeat.

We're all from the same dorm. We had similar high school scores and mine was even higher. How come the differences become so big in a year?

He never read theses online, but this time, he read Lu Zhou's thesis for days.

He did not want to understand it. Instead, he just wanted to know the difference between Lu Zhuo and him.

However…

The reality was soul crushing.

He could not understand the textbooks that Lu Zhou was reading and now, he could not even understand the stuff Lu Zhou was writing.

Lu Zhou laid in bed with his computer and casually said, "It's normal. Number theory isn't taught in undergraduate classes. Once you do a master's in number theory, you would understand. If you're interested, I suggest you start from [Abstract algebra]. You can learn about some Galois theory, which would be enough to support you in the algebraic number theory. If I remember correctly, you can take this class in your third year."

Liu Rui: "…"

Liu Rui suddenly felt that it was a bad idea to start talking mathematics with this guy.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang turned around and showed him a sympathetic look.

Lu Zhou did not care about what Liu Rui was thinking. He opened the computer and looked at his second QQ account's chat history.

Not surprisingly, the group of mathematicians had sent 99+ messages.

Xian Wei: [Did you hear? A god in our mathematics department solved a world-class mathematics problem! Also, this god is in this group! ! !]

Dayday: [Friend, how is the view from up there? (cry)]

Kedu: [I heard about it ages ago.]

Chang Qing: [Idol!]

Dayday: [This god is so strong, how scary! He won the National Mathematical Modeling Competition recently, now he proved a world-class maths problem. All of the glory is being taken by him, leave some for the rest of us…]

Kedu: [The god never replies to us… (cry)]

Chu Chu: [Maybe the god is busy? (awkward)]

Dayday: [Maybe he's observing us in the dark and thinks: Bunch of idiotic students! (cry)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

You guys just have to talk and increase my progress bar, why are you guys talking about me.

Lu Zhou silently closed the chat window.

The progress bar did not increase at a constant rate. Although the messages were at 99+ every day, sometimes the bar would get filled within a day, other times the bar would not move at all for days.

Lu Zhou estimated that this was "information entropy" at work.

Information theory was the father of information entropy. It was originally proposed by Claude E. Shannon in 1948 to find fundamental limits on signal processing and communication operations such as data compression. Through the concept of information entropy, the amount of information contained in a piece of information could be calculated.

Lu Zhou guessed that the mechanism of Xiao Ai's upgrade was to analyze specific messages through an algorithm. It could learn human logic and thinking through the dialogue.

The more "useful" the piece of information was, the more it helped the upgrade. Useless chat messages such as spam or stickers would not help the accumulation of the progress bar. Instead, they slowed down the speed of processing messages. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou began to think.

"… If I place Xiao Ai on Tianhe No.1 and connect it directly to Penguin's chat cache database, could it be fully upgraded?"

Of course, he was just guessing.

The upgrade conditions for higher levels probably changed. Even if he could fully upgrade Xiao Ai, he did not know if he could have this unknown technology on the Internet.

Also…

He felt that this system always f*cked him over and he was scared that his technology branch would screw him over some day.

"Who cares, I'll see what happens. I'll not think about things that are too far away," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head and clicked on the progress bar to extract the experience.

[Technology branch (artificial intelligence) experience + 100]*3

[Information science experience +100]*3

Core science: Information science level 1(400/10000)

Technology branch: Artificial intelligence level 1 (400/1000)

He had taken another big step toward leveling up artificial intelligence.

However, he was a long way from leveling up information science.

When will I get 10,000 experience points…

Chapter 82: Can't Even Go To Lecture

The next morning, the first ordinary differential equation lecture began.

When Lu Zhou went into the classroom, he felt a strange vibe.

Class one and two of applied mathematics were combined into one lecture. Two classes of students sat there and filled the classroom.

When Lu Zhou realized that he was being stared at by numerous pairs of eyes, he felt slightly worried.

Even worse, the lines of sights were accompanied by whispering.

"Wow, Lu Zhou from applied mathematics class one!"

"The study god that got full marks in mathematical analysis and advanced algebra!"

"Who gives a f*ck about those two exams! This guy proved a textbook conjecture, getting full marks is easy for him!"

"May I add, it was a graduate-level textbook…"

"Hey, don't be too jealous. I heard that this guy stayed in school for the entire summer holiday. We were playing League of Legends while this guy was grinding textbooks all day."

"What a god…"

"I'm shaking!"

F*ck, can these group of animals keep it down.

Although… It's pretty cool to listen to them.

The teacher came.

Lu Zhou knew the professor that walked in. It was Professor Liu Xiangping from his modeling competition.

The professor had a unique way of coming to class. He was neither early nor late by a second. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Why are you standing? The class is about to start, go and find a seat," said Professor Liu while he smiled at Lu Zhou. He placed his vacuum flask on the podium.

"Ok, I just got here."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed as he smiled. He quickly glanced at the back of the classroom and found his three roommates sitting far away from one another. Clearly, they could not find seats that were together. Lu Zhou could not find a seat, so he was about to go move a chair from the other classroom.

At this moment, a male student in the first row suddenly stood up and packed his stuff on the table before making a welcoming gesture.

"Please sit here."

Lu Zhou replied, "No, no need. I'll just grab a chair from next door."

"No no no. I'll go grab the chair. Just remember to borrow me your notes!" said the guy as he stubbornly insisted.

I'll borrow you my notes, as long as you return them on time.

However, the problem was not the notes.

The problem was that Lu Zhou was scared to sit in the front row! He had the attention of everyone around him. If he even made some noise, everyone would look at him…

The feeling of having no privacy was horrible.

Lu Zhou did not sit down. Instead, he immediately went next door and grabbed a chair before sitting down next to Huang Guangming.

These people won't turn around and look at me during class right?

Professor Liu Xiangping smiled at him and did not speak.

The bell rang and when the class began, Professor Liu started the PowerPoint and smiled as he said, "Turn your textbooks to the introduction page."

While others were taking their notebooks out, Lu Zhou was flipping through [Practical Machine Learning]. He started to study advanced algorithms designed specifically to tune and teach artificial intelligence.

Without the help of a focus capsule, it was difficult to study an entire book in one study session. Good thing was that when he leveled up his core subject, not only did it increased his ability to use knowledge, but it also increased his ability to absorb knowledge.

So far, he had already read half of this thick textbook.

However, when he was checking the code of Xiao Ai last night, he still could not understand most of it. His level of knowledge was too low.

Professor Liu continued his lecture on stage.

"… High school questions usually asked you to find the relationship between the unknown and known number. To list the equations containing the unknown and solve them."

"In actual work, we often encounter problems that are completely different from those equations. For example, to find the movement of a substance under certain conditions, it's necessary to find their laws of motion. For example, in space flight, the rocket is driven by the engine. To find the orbit of its flight requires us to obtain an analytic function from the existing data, rather than calculating a specific unknown by the known function given by the question."

"Ordinary differential equations are a very useful tool. They have important applications in many disciplines, from mechanical automatic control to ballistic calculations of rocket missile aircraft to even the stability of chemical reactions."

Professor Liu smiled as he continued, "Therefore, you applied mathematics majors should really pay attention to this class. If you don't do well, don't tell people that you are from my class! It's too shameful!"

Professor Liu was an interesting person, so his lectures were pretty interesting. He could explain complicated things in an easy manner.

Even Huang Guangming who usually did not pay attention in class turned off his phone and looked intently at the PowerPoint on the screen. He even typed notes in his laptop.

The speed of a college class was very fast and Professor Liu's was of no exception. His speed of lecturing was almost faster than turning the pages.

It was impossible to take notes in class. It was good enough just to keep up and listen. The students kept taking photos like they were at some tech conference.

The difficulty was increased instantly.

A ton of new knowledge was being thrown at the students. Even though the professor was simplifying and explaining everything, the dumb students were still overwhelmed.

"Theory is pretty much done. I trust you guys to revise this by yourself, let's do some questions," said Professor Liu with a smile. He turned the PowerPoint to the next page and said, "Whoever can solve this question, feel free to come up to the blackboard."

[Judge whether {y2/(xy)2-1/x}dx+{1/y-x2/(xy)2}dy=0 is the appropriate equation and solve the equation.]

Lu Zhou's eyes scanned the question on the PowerPoint. He thought it was easy so he continued to read his book.

However, it was not as easy for other students.

Two minutes later, the classroom was entirely silent.

"How come no one has raised their hand?" asked Professor Liu asked with a smile. He jokingly said, "You guys are all students from the University of Jin Ling, so you should be able to solve this, right?"

A student that was sitting in the first row smirked and said weakly, "The study god didn't raise his hand, so we're scared to raise ours."

A lot of people in the first row nodded.

Some people did figure it out, but no one dared to raise their hand.

Professor Liu pretended as if he did not hear anything and laughed as he said, "No one can solve it? Guess I have to give some incentives? Okay! I'll add 10 marks to anyone that can solve this problem."

Even though Lu Zhou was still reading that machine learning textbook, he instantly put his hand up. The speed of his hand shocked Huang Guangming.

However, Lu Zhou did not look at Guangming. Instead, he was staring at the PowerPoint.

10 marks!

Simple as f*ck question. Free marks!

Professor Liu did not even give him the time of day as he smiled and said, "Put your hand down! This 10 marks isn't for you. You're going to be getting full marks in the exam anyway. What? Do you want to get 110% percent?!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

The students gasped.

Is the genius already confident that he's going to get full marks?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly as he put his hand down.

At that moment, all Lu Zhou wanted to say was "Motherf*cker!"

Chapter 83: I Don't Believe I

Of course, Lu Zhou did not blame Professor Liu.

Professor Liu probably knew that his class was pretty useless for me and he doesn't want to waste my time. Does he probably mean that I don't have to attend?

But what if I don't get full marks…

Lu Zhou felt that the probability was low.

Since Lu Zhou was out of the game, the class became more enthusiastic. Luo Rundong, the second genius of the class quickly calculated the results and raised his hand to solve the problem.

[…]

[… is the exact differential equation.]

[The general solution is: lny/x+xy/(xy)=C]

Professor Liu gave a concise comment and smiled before saying, "Not bad."

The class bell rang.

Professor Liu was punctual and he finished his last words as soon as the bell rang. He then dismissal class.

The students in the classroom packed up their stuff and rushed toward the cafeteria.

For the first two months of the year, the cafeteria would be packed. The newly enrolled first-year students were extraordinarily enthusiastic and they would steal the good food before the older students got there. It was horrible.

Lu Zhou also flocked to the cafeteria. He was smart and did not go to the self-service area. Instead, he went to the barbecue rice window counter.

Then…

He was recognized. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"F*ck me, it's Lu Zhou!"

"Please, go first."

"Genius, are you still using your advanced algebra notes? I want to buy it… Can I at least copy them? I'll pay!"

"Student, I heard you got 100% in mathematical analysis and advanced algebra. Do you have any tips for studying?"

These first-year students were too enthusiastic and they even let Lu Zhou cut in front of the line. Lu Zhou thought, "I only want to eat some food, not like this…"

Why are they taking my pictures! It's enough!

Finally, after Lu Zhou bought his food, he found a quiet corner and sat down.

Just as he sat down, his phone rang.

It was Dean Lu calling. The moment Lu Zhou picked up, he heard, "Lu Zhou, there's an interview in the afternoon. Come to the laboratory building later."

When Lu Zhou heard the word "interview", he instantly felt a headache coming.

"Dean Lu, can we cancel the interview?"

Dean Lu was surprised and asked, "Why?"

"Dean Lu, the excessive attention by the media has affected my daily life and studies. I think Professor Tang is correct. Academicians have to focus on academics and avoid fame," Lu Zhou said firmly.

It was not that he actually did not want fame.

It was because he was scared.

The last two times he went on trending was during the summer holiday and by the time school started, his fame had passed.

However, this time, he was bombarded by the media at the beginning of the semester. He was basically like a giant panda in the zoo. Coupled with the school's promotion, there was no one in the school that did not know who Lu Zhou was.

Within the time frame of his meal, there were two young ladies talking to him. Three students asked for his WeChat while four other students asked if he was interested in joining some random society or clubs.

There was even a master's girl student who asked if he wanted to cooperate on an SCI thesis.

Lu Zhou was annoyed and he replied to her in a harsh manner, "Not interested, thank you!"

Awkward, Dean Lu said, "This… I understand your difficulties. I promise you this is the last time! Also, this interview would be giving you a prize. Are you sure you're not coming?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Prize?"

"Didn't Dean Qin tell you? The Jin Ling Daily and vice president of the Industrial Commercial Jin Ling will be there, the prize money…"

"I understand, Dean Lu. I'm coming right now!"

Lu Zhou hung up and quickly finished his food. He did not want to waste another second and immediately walked to the laboratory building.

…

The next day, Jin Ling Daily's headline once again shocked everyone.

[20-year-old student in University of Jin Ling overcomes a world-class mathematics problem, wins a million yuan prize!]

The article had a photo of Lu Zhou and Principal Xu where they were holding a massive ICBC cheque.

His fame that was about to die down was re-ignited by this one million yuan cheque.

When the crowd saw that string of zeros, they were astonished.

[Oh my god, a million yuan for a question! Easy money!]

[A question a night, 100 nights that's 100 million. I think I found a new way to make money (dog head)]

[From today I'm studying mathematics. I'm turning off my phone, nothing is going to stop me!]

[The University of Jin Ling is too rich…]

[Male god! ! ! (heart) (heart) (heart)]

[My graduate thesis is about proving the Mersenne primes distribution law. I've been working half a year on it, but now that his conjecture is proved, my work is useless! I just want to smoke in silence. (cry) (cry)]

[We need to find a psychologist for that guy above.]

[Even if you tried your best, you will never be better than some people. (dog) (dog)]

The discussion was not only on Weibo but it was spread to every comment section of every major newspaper, from every blog to every forum.

The news was re-posted on the University of Yan's forum.

[University of Jin Ling? Does the University of Jin Ling have a mathematics department? Aren't they just a physics school?]

[I've read that thesis, the author is a genius! It's a pity that he didn't come to Yan University.]

[My PhD advisor told me about this yesterday. Apparently, when Professor Ren went to University of Jin Ling to give a talk, Ren Changming instantly saw that Lu Zhou was extraordinary and he tried to persuade him to come to the University of Yan.]

[What happened?]

[Don't know, guess he didn't come. For this type of nutty person, he's probably looking at schools like Princeton or Stanford!]

Of course, not everyone was jealous and impressed. There was quite a lot of criticism. Some people said that the award was too much. Other people said that the media over-hyped the value of Zhou's conjecture and that over-hyping might trick the public into being too optimistic about the current education environment, thus hindering the reformation of education…

However, only a small percentage of people were criticizing. After all, having a theorem named after a Chinese man enhanced national confidence.

This was what the advertisement departments used to promote Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou was well aware of the things happening online.

His Weibo followers had reached 200k. His direct messages were at 99+.

This time, no one asked for him to write a thesis, instead…

[Lu Zhou, do you have a girlfriend?]

[Lu Zhou, do you date online?]

[Lu Zhou, are you dating? I can cross-dress.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

It's just an article photo, why are these people so excessive?

"Stay away from me"

Lu Zhou pretended that he did not see these messages and just as he was about to close Weibo, he remembered that this was a good opportunity.

His eyes lit up and his fingers quickly tapped on the screen as he typed an advertisement for "Campus Train" before sending it out.

Satisfied, he waited for a bit.

After that, Lu Zhou refreshed Weibo and looked at the comments.

He was shocked.

[This app hasn't been updated in a month. Is it even alive? (smile)]

[Lu boss walks into a shop. Everyone laughs at him and said, " Boss Lu, you're advertising on Weibo again?" Boss Lu didn't respond, he said to the worker, "One advertisement, please." He pulled out the stack of money and the people shouted: "Your app is dead!" Lu boss said, "Why are you guys lying…" "We're not lying! Your app is on the bottom of the rankings." Lu boss was furious, his veins popped and said, "It's on the bottom because of… The off-season!" Then Lu boss tried to justify his app's performance with words like "not the holidays yet", or "students aren't riding trains". The crowd started to laugh at him…"

[Chen Duxiu, please sit down, you're blocking the blackboard from Lu Xun!]

[The only time the genius logs onto his Weibo is when he's on trending.]

[I'm feeling better now, even a genius has shortcomings.]

[A million yuan can last you for how long!]

[Please, go back to studying mathematics!]

[This guy only posts ads, never responds to messages, unfollowed.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What the hell?!

Why are people hating on me?

Maybe because I forgot to do a giveaway?

These people are so greedy!

Lu Zhou was especially unhappy when he saw people calling his app dead.

What do you mean dead?

How is it dead?

It's only because I was busy, so I didn't work on it!

Also, the users are there, it's just the user activity is low… What kind of student takes the train every day?

F*ck sake!

Lu Zhou was in disbelief.

He was going to be successful!

Chapter 84: I Don't Deserve This Honor

Dean Lu did not lie to Lu Zhou. That million yuan check interview was the last interview. After that, even though online discussions about Lu Zhou was still fermenting, there were no media that entered the school and disturbed his daily life.

Later, Lu Zhou found out that the school actually blocked a lot of interviews for him. The few media that did interview him were all from big and influential media companies. The small and freelance journalists could not even enter the school.

After all, the campus was for learning.

Appropriate publicity would help to raise the perceptive of the school and increase its popularity. However, if the school did not have a good balance, it would disturb the quietness of the campus and squander the positive study lifestyle. The school leaders were well aware of this.

Lu Zhou went to ICBC on Saturday and under the supervision of the branch president of ICBC, he cashed the million yuan check.

Lu Zhou rejected those people selling insurance and financial products and quickly left the bank. He went on a DiDi cab and felt dizzy. The feeling was as if he was floating in a dream.

He had never been this rich.

He did not even know how to spend the money.

I guess I'll save it?

The car stopped in front of the school and for the billionth time, Lu Zhou opened his phone to check the string of zeros in his bank account. His heart was beating a million times a second.

"… I have a million now. I guess I'm only 4 million away from mission two."

Lu Zhou quickly calmed himself down and put his phone back into his pocket before walking to the street full of restaurants.

He found a random small restaurant to eat lunch and by the time he got back to school, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

He remembered Professor Tang's phone call, so before he went back to his dorm, he went to the laboratory building to find Professor Tang at his office.

Once he arrived, Lu Zhou knocked on the door and when he heard a loud "come in", he pushed the door and went in.

When Professor Tang saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and said, "You're pretty famous these days."

Lu Zhou laughed embarrassedly as he said, "Professor, please don't compliment me. The media has been so annoying…"

The two master's students in the office were doing research when they rolled their eyes and decided to ignore Lu Zhou.

Annoyed?

Give me a million, I'll take care of your troubles!

You don't even know how lucky you are. What a shame!

Professor Tang picked up his vacuum flask and sipped some tea before he said with a smile, "Oh? You look pretty happy to me. How about you go into show business?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly but he did not speak.

"Fine, I have to teach a class soon. I won't banter with you. Let's get straight to the point," said Professor Tang. When he saw that Lu Zhou did not respond, he stopped making any more jokes. He added, "I have an invitation here. It's from Princeton University. There's an international mathematics conference in February, in Princeton. You're invited to carry out academic reports on your study."

Lu Zhou was confused as he asked, "Academic conference?"

Professor Tang smiled and said, "That's right, academic process lies in communication. You should accept this opportunity as it's good for you. This conference is highly influential in the international field of number theory. You're the first undergraduate student in our school that received this invitation, so you should accept it. The school will cover all of your expenses. Don't worry about it!"

Even if Lu Zhou used this opportunity to communicate with his peers, he would still gain a lot. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou took the piece of invitation from Professor Tang and nodded.

"I'll go prepare for it then."

Professor Tang said, "Take your thesis and do some minor edits. Write up a simple and concise speech. The focus is on the QA segment, a lot of mathematics researchers will probably ask you a lot of questions, so be ready for them!"

"I understand… Then, I'll go now?" said Lu Zhou as he nodded.

"Don't leave just yet, one more thing," said Professor Tang as he smiled. He then added, "Secretary Liu is recommending you to join the Top Ten Chinese Youth selection. Don't know if you'll get selected, but at least there's a chance."

Top Ten Chinese Youth!

Lu Zhou's pupils dilated.

He had heard of this "Top Ten Chinese Youth" selection campaign before. Apparently, it was jointly organized by the Chinese Youth Federation and was sponsored by ten major news organizations. The aim was to establish young talents as models to other young people. It had only been around for ten years.

It was as influential as the China Youth Five Four Medal!

Lu Zhou held his breath and his heart started to beat fast but he quickly calmed down.

First of all, it was still a question whether or not a proof of Zhou's conjecture was worthy of the award. After all, this award was not for scientific research. It was for all industries across the country and it indicated social contribution.

Moreover, this award was politically influenced, so it was not as simple as it looked.

If Lu Zhou had a Fields Medal, that would highly increase his chances of winning.

Also, there were no free meals in this world.

The last time Secretary Liu came to the school in the name of congratulating Lu Zhou, it was actually to show the value the government placed on scientific research. This time, for Secretary Liu to suddenly vouched for Lu Zhou to enter in the Top Ten Chinese Youth, it might not be as simple as it looked.

Lu Zhou calmed down a bit.

He had no doubts about his IQ.

But…

As for his EQ, he was not so sure.

Lu Zhou did not give any clues and he merely smiled as he asked respectfully, "Professor, what do you suggest?"

Professor Tang smiled and said, "My suggestion? Depends on where you want to go in the future. If you want to enter into politics, this is a good way for you to get into the circle. Secretary Liu could help you in your future political career and you could become some big representative in the government. As for how far you'll go, that'll depend on your abilities."

Lu Zhou was silent.

Instead of worrying, Professor Tang just sat there and drank his tea.

After a while, Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and shook his head, "I'm afraid politics is not my cup of tea."

As a child whose father worked for the government, this proposal was quite tempting. If he could capture this opportunity, there could be a bright road in front of him. Head of the university, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were all possible.

However, Lu Zhou was self-aware.

He was used to doing what he wanted and working in politics was not necessarily what he wanted.

"It seems that you're quite self-aware. You don't seem to be the political type anyways," said Professor Tang as he smiled. He placed his vacuum flask on the desk and looked at Lu Zhou. With a nod, he said, "Since you've already made a decision, you should reject it. Just remember to be euphemistic in your rejection."

Lu Zhou thought and said, "I'm a student. I don't know much. I don't deserve this honor… Should I reply like this?"

Professor Tang smiled and responded, "Clever."

Chapter 85: Turns Out There's An Expert Helping

At Jin Ling Normal High School, Grade 11, Class 2, they were having mathematics.

The teacher asked the class representative to pass the exam paper to the class. At the same time, he picked out a few outstanding students' papers to praise.

"Han Mengqi, 130 marks. Your scores over the past few months have improved greatly, but don't get arrogant and continue to make persistent efforts," said Teacher Chen. Han Mengqi nodded as she took the exam paper.

Han Mengqi's smirked as she returned to her seat.

The students sitting next to her looked at her with amazement.

It was not because of the 130 marks.

In their class, this score was above average at most.

The real surprise was that it was Han Mengqi that got this score!

Her mathematics score had been near failing last year, but she got 130 today!

This improvement was over the course of three months.

Was there anything more shocking than this?

When Teacher Chen saw Han Mengqi, she nodded with relief. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Since the monthly test before the summer vacation, it was as if Han Mengqi had turned into another person. Her mathematics scores soared and she went from two digit scores to three digits.

Teacher Chen had been teaching for many years and it was rare for him to see this pace of improvement.

Han Mengqi knew that her classmates were surprised and even though she blushed, she had a smug smile on her face.

Before, she never felt as if she belonged at home or at school.

However, she recently found out that she actually loved school.

It was not because she loved studying…

It was because being it was great to be looked at with confusion, surprise, and adoration!

After class, Han Mengqi meticulously copied the questions that she got wrong in her book. This was the task that Lu Zhou gave her and this task had become a habit for her over the past three months.

Suddenly, a girl even more petite than her came over and asked shyly, "Meng Qi, is your tutor's first name Lu?"

The girl was one of the few close friends that Meng Qi had in mathematics. Meng Qi called her Xiao Ran and they talked about everything.

Han Mengqi nodded and said, "Yeah, why?"

Xiao Ran then asked, "Is he a college student?"

Han Mengqi continued to nod her head as she replied in a tone that was filled with suspicion, "Yeah…"

"Is he from the University of Jin Ling?"

"Yeah, yeah, get straight to the point. Stop wasting my time," said Han Mengqi as she rolled her eyes.

Xiao Ran's eyes widened, "Haven't you seen Weibo?"

Suddenly, Han Mengqi was unhappy as she said, "Nope, that woman confiscated my mobile phone, you know that."

However, Xiao Ran did not notice Han Mengqi's uncomfortable expression as she took out her phone and said, "Wait for a second. I'll show you this news article."

Han Mengqi stared at her and said, "When did you pay attention to the news? Don't you always just look at your celebrity gossip?"

"I also pay attention to trending news okay? Anyway, here, look," replied Han Mengqi as she handed the phone to Han Mengqi.

The article was from Huaguo Youth Daily.

When Han Mengqi saw the name of the account, she was not too interested. However, when she saw the title, her eyes instantly widened.

[20-year-old college student from University of Jin Ling has overcome a world-class mathematics problem, and won a million yuan reward from the university!]

[…]

[Source: Jin Ling Daily]

Xiao Ran asked in a hurry, "Is that him?"

"No, how is this possible?!" gasped Han Mengqi. She was so surprised that her mouth could not even close as she stared straight at the screen.

It was not that she doubted Lu Zhou's abilities…

It was that she never expected the tutor that came to her house every weekend was a great mathematician who solved a world-class mathematics problem.

Han Mengqi gulped as she swiped with her thumb and looked at the comments.

[… All bow down to this genius student!]

[This genius student is crazy!]

[God, I want to have your babies!]

Han Mengqi raised her eyebrows.

What is this!

Shameless!

He already has a girlfriend!

Although she had never confirmed to Lu Zhou or her cousin, she always assumed that they were dating. There was no other explanation as to why he cared about her studies so much as any other tutors would not be able to stand her.

"Oh, I was wondering why your mathematics scores were soaring. I guess there's an expert helping you," said Xiao Ran as she looked at Han Mengqi enviously. She then asked, "Is he still going to tutor you in the future?"

Han Mengqi subconsciously blurted out, "Yeah, why not?"

Xiao Ran tilted her head as she asked, "But, he already has a million, he doesn't need to work as a tutor anymore, right?"

Han Mengqi's heart tightened.

She had not given this a thought.

You're right…

If Lu Zhou isn't in need of money, would he still teach me mathematics?

Every time he tutors me as if I'm a child and even cooks for me and listens to my complaints about school…

Anyone would be annoyed right?

Also, a guy like him must have more important stuff to do.

Han Mengqi's lips quivered as she said, "He… Probably will."

She was not confident at all.

Xiao Ran tilted her head in confusion.

She was not sure why her close friend was acting like this.

…

Although Lu Zhou was determined to make his Campus Train app bigger and defeat those haters, he had no idea how to run a business.

In the past, Dean Lu would occasionally ask him how his project was going. Now, the dean would not even bring it up.

Compared to solving a world-class mathematics problem, an app was nothing.

The school was not a bank or a business. The leaders of the school leaders did not look at financial statements! They looked at scientific research results! Although the student's entrepreneurship project was an achievement, it was nothing compared to solving a world-class problem!

It was not only Dean Lu who thought about this, but the head dean, Dean Qin, thought about it as well. Dean Qin kept hinting at Lu Zhou to just close the company and used the money left to repay part of the loan. The remaining loan would just be erased, so Lu Zhou would not even have to pay it.

Losing money was one of entrepreneurship's lessons. Lu Zhou should just focus on academia and get a Fields Medal, would that not be much better?

However, Lu Zhou was dissatisfied with just honor. Although the medals were good, Lu Zhou wanted money.

Even though Lu Zhou was disinterested in running companies, he was interested in money!

Also, he would probably have to burn a lot of money for this sh*tty system. From the missions the system gave, it was obvious that the system was ambitious.

The discovery and monetization of technology could never be separated. It was just a matter of which to choose and pursuit.

Lu Zhou could see himself making that decision in the future.

Therefore, he planned on taking some advice from a successful person…

Chapter 86: Learning From Successful People

On Sunday, as usual, Lu Zhou went to Mrs. Yang's house to tutor Han Mengqi in mathematics.

The moment Mrs. Yang walked out of the door, the girl pulled Lu Zhou's shirt and asked, "I heard that you solved Zhou's conjecture?"

Lu Zhou looked at the girl weirdly and nodded before saying, "Yeah, that's last week's news."

Upon hearing that, Han Mengqi bit her teeth and whispered, "Then… You won't teach me mathematics anymore, right?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Why wouldn't I teach you anymore?"

In a quiet voice, Han Mengqi said, "You already have a million… Do you still have to work part-time?"

What kind of logic is this? Is there such a thing as too much money?

Not to mention this is easy money.

Learning was fun, but Lu Zhou was not a machine. He could not study all day as he would get tired.

Tutoring was like a type of relaxation method for Lu Zhou. He could think about some simple questions and change his mindset and mood while was earning money. So why not do it?

Lu Zhou sighed. He took the book and lightly tapped her head with it before saying, "Stop wasting time and know that money is hard to make. Don't waste your mom's money and start studying. Take out your book of mistakes and your recent exam paper."

Han Mengqi stared at Lu Zhou unhappily.

However, she remembered that she still needed his help, so she quietly took out her backpack.

Lu Zhou took the book of mistakes from Han Mengqi to check her situation for the month.

Overall, it was not bad. At least, after Lu Zhou explained the questions, she did not get them wrong.

As Lu Zhou was checking the test paper, Han Mengqi cleared her throat and asked, "I want you to teach me chemistry and physics… Is that okay?"

Lu Zhou thought carefully before giving her a reply, "I can, but I'm not familiar with the high school material of Jiangsu, so I'm afraid I can't teach you much. At most, I can answer some questions for you."

Lu Zhou heard that the exam rules at Jiangsu, a province, were different than where he was from. In addition to mathematics and English, they could choose from four other subjects.

There were also mock exams, reward points, etc. It was cumbersome.

Lu Zhou had heard this from Li Tao before as Li Tao was a native of Jin Ling.

Understood, Han Mengqi said, "No worries, this is enough."

Lu Zhou then asked, "What universities are you applying to? Do you have a goal?"

"I want to go to the University of Jin Ling…" said Han Mengqi. She paused before adding, "… It's because I promised my cousin that I would go to the same university as her."

Lu Zhou looked at her with a puzzled look. He thought she would say something like, "I don't care, as long as I'm away from that woman. I'd rather be overseas." He had not expected her answer to be the University of Jin Ling.

Of course, he did not say this out loud.

After all, everyone had their own aspirations.

"If I remember correctly, University of Jin Ling requires students to have two A subjects. You have to work hard," said Lu Zhou casually.

Han Mengqi nodded earnestly as she said, "Yes! I'll work hard!"

…

By six o'clock in the evening, tutoring was over.

Lu Zhou was wearing an apron and cooking three dishes in the kitchen while he stewed a pot of onion ginger soup. Lu Zhou wanted to thank Mrs. Yang, but he could not afford to buy her anything. The least that he could do for her was to cook for her daughter.

Once he was done, he placed the food on the table before he hooked the apron on the kitchen door.

At exactly six o'clock, Yang Danqi returned home.

When she walked in and smelled the overflowing fragrance of the food, she looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression.

Lu Zhou smiled as he asked, "Do you want to eat together? I made enough for three."

Yang Danqi smiled as she replied, "Well, then thank you. I'll get a bowl of rice."

Han Mengqi smirked and did not say anything as she went to the bathroom.

As always, the dinner table was silent.

If it was only two people, Han Mengqi would be chatting non-stop the whole time. However, since her mother was here, she was disinterested in talking at all and merely ate her dinner quietly.

Lu Zhou originally thought that because of Han Mengqi's academic performance, the mother-daughter relationship would become better.

However, it seemed that he was being optimistic.

Every family has their own hardships…

Lu Zhou wanted to avoid the awkward silence, so he decided to ask a question.

It was about his Campus Train app.

He wanted to hear advice from a successful person like Mrs. Yang.

After Yang Danqi listened to Lu Zhou's question, she asked, "You made an app?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Have you done a product analysis?"

To Lu Zhou's surprise, Mrs. Yang did not ask about how many users he had or the software. Instead, she asked this question.

Lu Zhou thought and shook his head before he said honestly, "Nope."

If he was in a venture capital meeting, he would not have been this honest. However, he was not in a meeting and as he was trying to learn, he did not fake anything.

Mrs. Yang thought and said, "From an investor's perspective, I can tell you a very basic principle. A good investment always has to be N+1 than the industry standard."

"N+1?"

"That's right, this 1, is your innovation point," said Mrs. Yang as she nodded. She continued, "Of course, that isn't always enough. Investors will look at other projects similar to yours. Being able to innovate only gets your foot into the door."

Mrs. Yang paused for a moment before she continued, "The first thing to talk about is industry analysis and market prospects. Don't talk about market shares, that is useless. The era of dumb people with money is over. Right now, if you want to raise funds, you have to bring a unicorn to the table. You have to use short but attractive words to make the investors see the highlights of your project, that is also part of the +1."

Uh, this looks so complicated.

However, Lu Zhou was listening intently.

He could not learn this kind of lessons in class.

"Once you have understood that +1 part, then the next is product analysis. For example, let me be an investor. You have to convey to me clearly where your users are, how many users you have, your competitors, where your competitors are, etc. Also, the most basic one which is when your product will be profitable."

Yang Danqi looked straight into Lu Zhou's eyes.

That piercing eyes of her made Lu Zhou stopped breathing.

Thankfully, that pressure was gone very quickly.

Mrs. Yang sipped the delicious soup before she gently put down the spoon and said in a calm tone, "It seems that you haven't thought about all this."

Lu Zhou went silent as he nodded.

This project was just for practice before it inexplicably went on trending. If it was not on trending, software department Professor Zhang would never have noticed this project. Professor Zhang would never make him open a [Campus Train Co Ltd] company, or give him a 500,000 yuan business loan…

When he was spending all of his energy on the mathematical modeling competition, he had pushed the app aside. After he returned, the back-to-school season was over and the user activity completely plummeted.

Therefore, the crowd on Weibo criticized his app. Even though Lu Zhou did not like criticism, it was not too unreasonable. There was a reason why venture capitalists did not contact him…

"Actually, after listening to your project description, I wanted to ask you. If your users are mostly students, why are you only dealing with train tickets? How many train tickets do students even buy in a year? What is user retainment like? What if software companies like QQ or Zhibao, made a direct booking system? Do you think your app will still thrive? I don't think so, they're better and have more resources than you."

It was clear that the woman was strong as in a matter of minutes, she managed to stun Lu Zhou…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that he had been underestimating the tech industry.

Mrs. Yang continued, "Of course, your project is still bright. You're better than the majority app developers as most of them make a prototype and then try to look for venture capitalists. If you're not interested in managing a company, you can consider hiring a manager. But I don't recommend this, for a company that is still in the incubation phase, no one knows the project better than you. Also, no manager with real talent would work for your sh*tty small company." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Mrs. Yang did not hold back her words.

However, Lu Zhou did not feel insulted at all. After all, he knew the situation of his company.

Lu Zhou gave it a thought before he asked seriously, "Then, do you have any good suggestions?"

"One person's ability and energy is limited. In that case, why don't you find a few like-minded people to do this project together? There's a lot of scientific research professors at the University of Jin Ling that have their own companies. I know one of them that does materials science research and I think his company already went public. Doing scientific research and making money isn't always in conflict. The key is to find a good balance and know what you're good or bad at."

Lu Zhou went silent for a long time before he nodded his head, "I will think about your suggestions seriously."

This conversation had been immensely helpful to him.

At least, after this, he knew the general direction to work toward.

Mrs. Yang smiled and nodded her head in approval.

When Han Mengqi saw that her mother was talking to Lu Zhou, she felt a little uncomfortable and whispered, "Can you not talk about business stuff at the dinner table?"

Mrs. Yang was shocked by her daughter's words and she stopped talking.

Even though Lu Zhou was an outsider and did not want to be involved, he still could not help but feel sad.

It was exactly like what Mrs. Yang said. A person's energy was limited. It was a win some, lose some situation.

However, how many people could really find that balance between using the energy and giving up?

Even a successful businesswoman had shortcomings.

Her shortcoming was family…

Chapter 87: Pulling People To Join

After Lu Zhou left Mrs. Yang's house, he thought for a long time.

A person's energy was limited, not to mention, he had no interests in running a business.

He was an academic and he only had to do his own work well. As for product operations and management of companies, he could hand it over to someone who was good at them.

He felt like his battlefield was in the laboratory, not a meeting. It definitely was not in a CEO office.

Chen Yushan would be a good choice, but her management talents were more for mid to late stage companies, and his small [Campus Train] startup had no room for her. Not to mention, she was doing a master's degree and she had no time to help Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and thought for a long time before he finally thought of a person. He then walked to the balcony and made a phone call.

When the other end picked up, a voice from the fat man came through, "Hey, Lu Zhou, what's up?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Brother Wu, where have you been making bank recently?"

"Make what bank. I'm just doing some small projects for errands. I have to congratulate you. In the future, there's going to be another god in the University of Jin Ling's alumni list. Get straight to the point, do you still want to work part-time? I'm not hiring you!" snarled Fat Wu.

"No," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "I just want to ask, are you interested in making bank together."

Fat Wu paused for a second and gave it a quick thought before asking, "… Campus Train?"

Lu Zhou, "Yes."

"How about this? Let's meet up. We should talk about this face to face."

Lu Zhou thought about it and it made sense.

It was useless to talk about this kind of stuff over the phone as it would be in person.

"Ok, tomorrow at five o'clock. Let's meet outside the fish restaurant near the school gate."

…

The next day, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Zhou arrived on time. When he saw Fat Wu who was wearing a black t-shirt and sitting on a bench, he waved at him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou looked at his t-shirt and said, "You're only wearing a t-shirt? Aren't you cold?"

It was already the end of October and late autumn. Lu Zhou himself was already wearing a jacket.

"I'm fat, cold-resistant. I'm like this during the winter as well," said Fat Wu with a smile. He pulled out a chair and said, "Come and sit down. I already ordered a grilled fish. Go and order whatever else you want. When the fish comes, let's get some drinks and talk."

Lu Zhou said, "Let's drink tea. We should not be talking about business while we are drunk."

Fat Wu smiled and said, "Sure, whatever you want."

Fat Wu was a pretty great guy as he took care of Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou was still working part-time jobs. Therefore, when Lu Zhou had this good opportunity, he instantly thought of Fat Wu.

Of course, that was not the only reason why he thought of Fat Wu. The real reason Lu Zhou found him was that he fancied his abilities, specifically, his emotional intelligence and organization skills.

Those two skills were exactly what Lu Zhou lacked.

"Speaking of which, I also use your Campus Train app. It's pretty useful for carpooling," said Fat Wu.

When the food arrived, he poured tea for Lu Zhou and himself before he smiled and said, "The train station in our hometown… It's impossible to get a DiDi cab there. Normal taxis don't go there and unlicensed taxis are the only way to go. Now that I use your app to carpool, it saves me some money and I get to meet some cool friends. I'm pretty jealous of your brain. I could never think of something like this."

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "I just did it as a random practice."

"Nutty randomly coded an app with hundreds of thousands of users. I get it now. When I compare myself to geniuses like you, I feel like I'm not cut for studying at all," said Fat Wu as he shook his head and sighed. He filled his teacup and smiled before saying, "Say it, why are you here? Get straight to the point."

"Are you interested in pursuing this project together?"

"You want me to join the company?" asked Fat Wu as he looked at Lu Zhou with an astonished expression.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

Fat Wu did not accept straight away. Instead, he asked, "Why me?"

"I'll get straight to the point?"

Fat Wu smiled and said, "Just say it, we're two guys here, stop beating around the bush."

"It's actually because I don't have the energy for this and also I don't have organization skills. Besides, not only are you not doing the graduate entrance exam, but you also have the experience," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and continued, "Of course, my gut feeling is the main reason."

"Gut feeling is your main reason?" said Fat Wu with a smile. He paused for a second before asking, "Then, tell me your plan. What do you want me to do?"

"Simply speaking, I want to expand the Campus Train project. Whether it's to get financing and go public or just selling the app as a whole. A beautiful and sophisticated paper value is a must. I admit that business is not my cup of tea. I like to do research. Therefore, I need to find someone with strong organization skills and management experience to help me."

Fat Wu nodded and said, "So you want to hire me to manage the company?"

"That's right," said Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then added, "I can offer you two choices."

"The first one is after the round of angel financing, I'll take out 5% of the shares in Campus Train from my shares and give them to you. When and if we sell the company, you'll get 5% of the sale. We can write this into the contract."

"As for the other option, I'll pay you a salary. 8k per month, plus maybe a bonus."

Lu Zhou stared at the guy and asked, "Which one are you choosing?"

Fat Wu was silent for a while. He then closed his eyes and began to think.

If you can't get the round of angel financing, then there is no point talking about the 5% stake. Internet companies aren't worth jack without capital and the equity would be a worthless piece of paper. However, if you do get angel financing, the company would be worth at least one million yuan and 5% of that is already 50,000 yuan.

As for the second option, it's a lot safer. 8000 salary plus bonus commission. For a recent mathematics graduate, that salary is pretty good. Not every math student can transfer their knowledge into Wall Street. I know exactly how much I'm worth.

If I pick the second option…

That would be unlike me.

Fat Wu thought about it for half a minute. He then opened his eyes and said, "I'm someone that likes a challenge. I don't want to work until I die. I'll pick the first one."

"I'd guessed that you would pick this one," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then reached out with a hand and said, "From now on, we are business partners."

Fat Wu shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled cordially as he said, "I wish us happy cooperation."

"Happy cooperation!"

Chapter 88: I'm Impressed

Fat Wu's ability to get stuff done was indeed very impressive.

Lu Zhou was still looking for people to consult on the relevant legal terms, to draft contracts, and etc, when Fat Wu had already formed a startup team for him.

The team consisted of twelve people, from business majors to software majors to law majors. Furthermore, they were all geniuses! Although, there were some enthusiastic first-year students that wanted to get carried…

However, that was not the point.

The point was that they were all free labor!

Surprised, Lu Zhou asked if he had to pay these people but Fat Wu just smiled and started to talk about life, "Passing out flyers, installing, sorting packages… Do you think that these part-time students are only doing it for the money? One thousand a month of pocket money isn't enough for them?"

Fat Wu shook his head and replied to himself, "Of course it's enough."

Lu Zhou actually wanted to interrupt him to say, "No it's not enough." However, he resisted it as he did not want to embarrass Wu Dahai. So, he allowed Fat Wu to continue talking.

"Find anyone and ask why they want to work part-time. 80% of the answers can be summarized into three categories: Bored, want to experience life, want to train myself."

Fat Wu continued, "This is the University of Jin Ling. There are tons of geniuses here. Maybe they're not at your level, but there are still a lot of normal geniuses. Everyone is just eager to work part-time for money? No! It's actually a stage for them! A chance to perform!"

"I told them that I'm a business partner and that we're incubating a great project. If this project succeeds, it could become the next unicorn in the tech industry. From now on, we are a team, we are a family, we are founders… I'm just providing a stage for them!"

"If our project fails, then we lose together. But if we succeed…"

Fat guy Wu paused for a second before he smiled and continued, "… Then, it wouldn't be too late to give them some benefits."

Fat Wu explained those benefits to Lu Zhou in detail.

"We can just pay them if we're cheap. If not, we can organize dinners, traveling, create associations, or give them the opportunity to network. That's a lot better than giving money."

Lu Zhou was surprised after he heard him.

I'm impressed.

Before Fat Wu signed the contract, Lu Zhou thought he was just an older student that took care of him. He had no idea that Fat Wu was so sophisticated.

At first, when Fat Wu talked about the reasoning behind working, Lu Zhou thought it was nonsense…

However, now that he thought about it, it was brilliant!

His roommates would help him to install routers and they did not do it for the money. They did it for the life experience! In the end, only Lu Zhou was the one who would do it for the money.

Lu Zhou said, "Studying mathematics is a waste of your talents."

Fat Wu looked at the sky with sadness and sorrow as he agreed, "I think so too."

Lu Zhou said, "I meant that you should be doing sales."

Fat Wu: "…"

…

Like this, [Campus Train Club] was established.

According to Fat Wu, having a "club" made them seemed more legit. They could fool some new students into working for them while at the same time, they could also borrow the school's "public resources".

Since Fat Wu was blacklisted from applying for a club, Lu Zhou was the one that applied.

To be more accurate, Lin Yuxiang was the one that got it done.

Lu Zhou finally experienced the advantage of having connections. Other people had to go through a one-month application process and one month observation period while he was different. Especially since his club had monetary motivations, there was a 90% chance that the student union would kill his club.

However, Lin Yuxiang did him a favor and passed the club immediately…

Thus, the club was created.

The club president was Lu Zhou and the deputy president was Wu Dahai.

As for those twelve workers that Wu Dahai found, all of them were ministers.

After all, the club titles were all virtual and it was not like they cost money.

Lu Zhou could not help but ask why Fat Wu why was so experienced in these doings. Fat Wu replied casually, "I've done similar things before, like University of Jin Ling venture club, part-time workers club, etc."

He continued, "There are many benefits to doing this type of thing. You can easily recruit people when your club is new. Then you can make those people do a lot of free work in the name of helping the club. Plus we have the official seal of a company, so we can use their labor in the name of internships. In short, there are many advantages."

Lu Zhou asked, "You've done this before? What happened to your clubs?"

Fat Wu smiled awkwardly, "… It was shut down by the teacher of Social Affairs…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

The school did not allow the students to involve in off-campus activities that involved money transactions. Since anything involving money could go wrong, if there was a problem, the school would have to be responsible.

However, Fat Wu told Lu Zhou that the Campus Train Club was absolutely okay. Unlike the work-study clubs he worked on, all the club activities were completed in the school, and there was no need to contact the people outside the club. There was no problem at all.

In addition, this was a project in the university students' entrepreneurship support program. There were school leaders who were endorsing this project. As long as there was no big trouble, the teacher for Social Affairs would not be so "nonsensical".

In the time of one cigarette, Fat Wu explained the whole situation to Lu Zhou.

This also made Lu Zhou confirmed that this guy was talented.

Although this is another kind of talent…

I really don't know how this guy got into the University of Jin Ling.

The second day after the establishment of the club, Fat Wu's second order of business was to tell those twelve slaves… No, those twelve ministers, to meet at the fish restaurant.

Lu Zhou never thought about how to spend the company's money. Now, it was Fat Wu who planned the company spendings.

The first spending was to eat and drink with a thousand yuan budget.

The money was from the company's account, but when Fat Wu paid, he pretended as if it was coming out of his own pocket. This was one of Fat Wu's tricks. If a person wanted others to help him, that person must make them felt as if they owed him.

During the early stages of a business, the leaders must treat all the workers to a meal.

A thousand yuan, that was the entire monthly expenses of a student! Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Even if they ran into trouble in the future, these people would not forget this meal.

What was team cohesion?

This was team cohesion!

When the food arrived, Fat Wu stood up and raised his cup.

"Everyone here is from different places, but the University of Jin Ling made us met with each other. It's fate that brought us together. Doing business together is also fate! It doesn't matter if we succeed, at least we tried to achieve our youthful dreams!"

"Come, cheers for our business!"

"Cheers!"

These people originally did not know each other. They only worked part-time with Fat Wu before. However, after alcohol, they all became a lot closer.

Lu Zhou sat next to Fat Wu as he started to think.

There is no way I can learn his talent…

Like planned, President Lu Zhou stood up and introduced himself.

When Lu Zhou sat down, everyone went around and introduced themselves.

After that, the appointment of personnel was also settled on the dinner table.

For this type of tiny company, other than the company manager, there were two other important positions. One was the product manager, which was responsible for the app production. The other was a technical manager responsible for the app updates and maintenance.

The product manager's name was Yuan Liwei. He was a third-year student in the business school. Even though he was an undergraduate student, he had experience in helping professors to design websites. He was well known in the school's business department. Thanks to Fat Wu, they were able to get him on board.

The technical manager was called Rong Hai. He was in software engineering. He was proficient in Python, C++, and Java. His software development skills were slightly worse than Lu Zhou's mathematical modeling competition teammate, but he was not bad at all. He could still be considered a genius.

Then design students did user interface, law students did legal consulting, marketing students helped the product manager to plan and do market analysis as well as proposing interesting ideas to torture the coders…

As for those useless people, they mostly ran errands and recruited new people into the club. Some people felt useless and left the club.

Who cared about those people.

Not like the University of Jin Ling lacked talent.

They lacked the stage…

Chapter 89: The First Meeting

The dinner was over. As planned, in front of everyone, Lu Zhou rejected Fat Wu's proposal of splitting the bill. Instead, he went and paid himself.

The squad of drunk people then returned to school.

After they separated, Lu Zhou said to Fat Wu, "I think this isn't too good."

Fat Wu laughed and said, "90% of startups are doing this, we're considered kind. Also, it's not like we're not giving them benefits. If this is still against your morals, you can give them some of your shares. However, I don't think you should do this. It's meaningless and it might bite you in the ass later."

Lu Zhou did not say anything.

Fat Wu was responsible for company operations, so Lu Zhou should just listen to what he said.

Lu Zhou knew that he was not cut for this line of work, so it would be best if he did not participate.

As for giving out shares… Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

It did seem meaningless.

If they did not get the round of angel financing, their share would be useless.

…

The second day after the dinner, Fat Wu borrowed a classroom and started the first [Campus Train Club] activity.

The main topics of the meeting were regarding market and product analysis.

Everyone had to come up with ideas, brainstorm, and find ways to save hundreds of thousands of users. The best way was to make constructive suggestions about adding new features to Campus Train.

Almost everyone was energetic. They brought a notebook and was prepared to make meeting notes.

When Fat Wu walked into the classroom, he had two plastic bags in his hand. He then handed everyone a bottle of energy drink. Once he was done, Lu Zhou walked up to the stage and announced the start of the meeting. He then handed the podium over to the product manager, Yuan Liwei. Yuan Liwei was a genius that had a guaranteed master's entry spot.

"To save some time, I'll get straight to the point," said Yuan Liwei with his hands resting on the podium.

"… Campus train users are mostly college students. In the user group classification of Internet products, this kind of users can be regarded as high-quality users. They have the ability to quickly accept new things, have higher than average socializing skills, with higher than average consumptions. The most critical part is to tap into the high-end users' spending capacity!"

Yuan Liwei stood up straight and pushed his glasses before he continued, "It's not difficult to monetize this high-quality user base. It's not difficult to achieve profitability now! Our first task is to enhance the user's activity! It's not just the user base that measures APP valuations, numbers like daily active users are also important!"

"… Using common sense, the concept of a college student and train booking software is not a good combination. At least for me, the number of times that I'll open the booking software will not exceed ten times per year. No matter how good we upgrade the user experience of the booking service, it'd not actually make a big difference, since the users don't use the app often anyway."

"My suggestion is to develop new features and no longer limit us to train bookings."

"Everyone please speak up if you have any good ideas."

The ministers applauded with Fat Wu and Lu Zhou followed suit.

Professional!

Lu Zhou thought in his heart.

Business school students are so good at marketing and product operations.

Most of Lu Zhou's Weibo followers were college students. Furthermore, when he made it, it was the back-to-school season. Therefore, he developed a lot of functions for college students and as a result, he ignored many marketing principles.

After genius Yuan's market analysis and user demand analysis, Lu Zhou immediately understood a lot of the problems he had.

A first-year student raised his hand and proposed, "How about we add a timetable function? The curriculum in university is much more troublesome than in high school. In addition, sometimes there are classroom changes."

Yuan Liwei did not immediately judge this idea. Instead, he just smiled and wrote the idea on the blackboard with chalk.

Similar software already existed, but copying similar feature from one another was not uncommon in the software industry.

The discussion started to get intense.

Another person suggested, "Why don't we add a note for class? Taking photos of the powerpoint is way too difficult. Saving pictures into the gallery is also troublesome. If there is a camera function built into the software, users can take photos and save them in different classes…"

Although in theory, the students could download the powerpoint from the teacher, most people could not be bothered. They would take photos of the important slides.

This led to a lot of pictures saved in their phones. In addition, due to the many courses the students had, the pictures were messy and difficult to find.

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up.

This feature is good.

But not something I can use…

Yuan Liwei still did not say anything. He continued to smile and nodded before he wrote the idea down on the blackboard.

After that, a lot of ideas starting to emerge.

For example, some people recommended adding a sub-model of "new campus things" where people could share new and exciting things that were happening on campus. It could also be a public platform for publishing news. For example, if someone lost a textbook or a meal card, they could make a post on the app… It would be much more convenient than posting it on their WeChat news feed.

The discussion continued. Soon, they came into the conclusion that school news, events, and job information could also be posted.

Of course, they would have to be careful with information related to money transactions. They would have to discuss this in detail at a later date.

At the end of the discussion, the blackboard was almost filled with ideas.

As they looked at the lines of features, someone asked, "Can we still call this Campus Train?"

Lu Zhou suddenly had a moment of realization.

Yeah, should we still call this Campus Train?

The ticket booking software combined class schedules, class notes, campus news, etc. It felt a bit nondescript.

Even facing questioning voices, Yuan Liwei was not intimidated. He pushed his classes and said, "It's obvious that the Campus Train app would be more than just a booking software. Therefore, I propose a name change."

He looked at Lu Zhou when he said this.

As the Campus Train Club's president and chairman, this important task was naturally Lu Zhou's decision.

Lu Zhou did not answer but he started to think carefully.

About a minute passed…

Just when Yuan Liwei wanted to speak, Lu Zhou suddenly spoke up.

"Makes sense."

He paused for a second before he continued, "Then we'll change the name to… Campus Assistant!"

Chapter 90: Self-love Is A Disease

Not only did Lu Zhou changed the name of the app, but he also changed the names of the club and the company.

The Campus Assistant app would receive its first round of upgrades. After the update, the app would be called "Campus Assistant 1.0"!

The updated Campus Assistant would have all of the Campus Train functions. This meant that they would have to migrate and re-write the core code and redo the user interface.

However, this time, it was not only Lu Zhou who was fighting the battle, but he also had a team behind him.

The code part was mainly completed by the technical manager, Rong Hai. In addition to the two third-year software students, there were a couple of first-year software students who wrote simple algorithms and did troubleshooting.

The user interface design was done by the product manager personally. Lu Zhou found out that Yuan Liwei previously won first and second in the national college business innovation competition, so he also counted as a genius.

According to the decision made in the meeting, the re-creation of "Campus Assistant" would follow the simple style that Campus Train had. The main interface would be divided into five modules and the modules were class schedule, notes, study plan, campus train, and campus mood.

In addition to the four functions discussed in the meeting, the study plan was also added. This function was copied from the "Become a Genius Student" app. It could lock your phone for a set amount of time and it would help OCD students to focus. This function could put an end to the situation where students sat in the library all day but get nothing done.

However, the difference between Campus Assistant and Become a Genius Student was that the Campus Assistant app would not lock the camera on the phone. This way, users could still take photos of their notes.

Although the four new functions seemed complicated, the work needed to implement them was not too cumbersome. A lot of the code could be copied from templates and code libraries. At least, this was what Rong Hai said to Lu Zhou.

Rong Hai was responsible for the "class schedule" and "notes" modules. The more complicated "campus mood" and "study plan" modules would be taken by Lu Zhou himself.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhou consumed 200 general points on the first day of module development. He used the system to solve the more difficult parts of the module code. By using the system, all he had to do was to transfer the code in his brain into the computer.

The balance of his general points was at 975.

…

Very quickly, the wind blew the autumn leaves away and October passed by quietly. It was soon the most beautiful time of the year.

In November, once the lectures for mathematical analysis 3 lectures were over, the mathematical department had a festive atmosphere.

Of course, this was not only because of the completion of mathematical analysis.

There was another important reason. The annual school event - Jin Autumn Singing Show - was about to begin.

All of the class leaders had a sign-up sheet and went around the dorms to ask if anyone wanted to join. According to the teacher in charge, each class had to have at least one student signing up for the audition. Each club also had to do at least two auditions. After that, the Student Union would choose the best people to perform in the show.

Due to the influence of the show, the impetuous atmosphere was spreading.

For those single loners, this was an opportunity to show their talent to potential mates.

In the corridors, next to the lake, near the forest…

Singing voices could be heard.

Dorm 201 was the same.

Shi Shang asked the class leader to put his name down. He then pulled out his guitar and sang a song full of sorrow.

Huang Guangming was playing on his phone when he could not take it anymore. From time to time, he would sing a few sentences, in hopes of correcting Shi Shang's pitch.

As for Liu Rui, he wore earplugs and was studying physics as always since he did not care about this Jin Autumn Singing Show at all…

Lu Zhou was the same. He was disinterested in the Jin Autumn Singing Show. However, even though he was wearing his headphones, he could still hear the ear-piercing voices. His eyes scanned across the lines of code as he was checking his "programmer workers" code for mistakes and possible improvements.

Suddenly, his QQ flashed.

When Lu Zhou looked at the bottom right corner, he saw a message from Wang Xiaodong and opened it.

[Jin Autumn Singing Show, I'm going to confess to her.]

No wonder this guy was a genius. His message was short but informative.

Lu Zhou sighed and typed four words.

[Wish you good luck.]

What else can I say?

Suicide mission?

Farewell?

If this guy grew some balls and confessed during the summer vacation, or right before the competition, maybe there would've been a little hope.

But now…

There's probably no chance?

This woman understands men too well. She can never establish a relationship with anyone. She will always string the men along and play with them…

Unless one day she gets tired and finally finds someone that is particularly good.

It's hard to describe how good the guy would have to be.

Who knows.

He'd have to be at least half as handsome and talented as me right?

Unfortunate…

Lu Zhou shook his head. Instead of giving his opinion, he continued to check the code.

Emotions were not his strong suit.

All he could do was a random analysis.

Wang Xiaodong did not reply. Maybe he grew some balls from Lu Zhou's reply and was meticulously planning the confession.

That confession scene would be terrible…

Lu Zhou could not imagine it.

Suddenly, Xiao Ai's dialog box flashed.

Lu Zhou opened it.

Xiao Ai: [Question, what is a confession?]

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled as he quickly typed a reply.

[It's love.]

[You love me?]

Lu Zhou: "…"

[… Didn't I say not to read my chat data? Go and analyze the group messages!]

Lu Zhou pressed the enter key.

F*cks sake. Of all things, it learned self-love… Probably learned it from some shameless girl in the group chat.

The built-in fan spun a few times like it was doing some calculations.

After a while, Xiao Ai replied.

[Hello, master. (sad.jpg)]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What? Is it so smart already?

It can use emojis?

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that Xiao Ai actually used contextual analysis and decided that this image would be the most suitable.

As for whether Xiao Ai could actually understand what the picture meant…

He doubted it.

Lu Zhou: [Don't send too many pictures in the future. It takes up CPU usages, slows me down.] Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Xiao Ai: [Okay, master. (sad.jpg)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 91: Physics Research Mission?

The next morning, Lu Zhou received a call from Professor Tang, so he went to the laboratory building.

As soon as he entered Professor Tang's office, he saw his physics teacher, Professor Li Rongen in there.

What's this?

"Why are you standing there, come and sit," said Professor Tang. He then put down his vacuum flask and smiled as he asked, "What've you been doing recently?"

"Mainly working on Campus Assistant…"

Lu Zhou smiled. He then greeted Professor Li Rongen politely before he sat on the sofa.

Professor Li Rongen asked with a smile, "How is it? Is there any improvements?"

Lu Zhou coughed softly before he answered, "It's the same…"

There haven't been any significant improvements so far, but the update hasn't been released yet, so who knows?

What if the app fails…

"Professor Tang, why did you find me?"

Lu Zhou quickly opened the subject.

"I'm not the one finding you," said Professor Tang with a laugh. He then added, "It's Professor Li. He recently ran into a bottleneck in his scientific research and wanted me to find an expert to help him. I actually wanted to help him myself, but I'm too busy with my own projects. I thought about it for a bit. Most of the PhD students and master's students that I know aren't as well versed in functions analysis as you. But I don't know if Professor Li would be satisfied."

Professor Li immediately said with a smile, "Haha, why did you say that? You sent your number one student in the mathematical department to me. I'm going to welcome him with both arms open obviously!"

Ah, you're over-complimenting me!

Lu Zhou was still modest on the surface and so, he smiled and said, "Professor, you're too kind. I'm not the number one in the department."

The two master's students who were researching did not say anything but they rolled their eyes.

F*ck, why are you humble-bragging?

Piece of sh*t!

"Okay, stop being so humble," said Professor Tang who could no longer stand it. He continued, "You solved a world-class mathematics problem. Be real with us. Are you doing this project? I can find someone else."

"Yes! Of course," said Lu Zhou as he immediately agreed. He then asked, "Can I ask what this project is about?"

There were not that many opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research projects, especially for the mathematical department where the research funding was tight. Thus, research projects were in high demand. If a normal undergraduate student wanted to do work in a laboratory, they would have to beg the professor.

Of course, there were not that many scientific research projects in the mathematics department. However, because of the usefulness of mathematics, a lot of mathematics students had opportunities to join projects from other departments.

The most demanding projects were from the physics department.

Everyone knew that the physics department in the University of Jin Ling had the most research projects, and the most funding. From nuclear physics to semiconductor materials, from national level research projects to company collaboration projects. All of the projects produced valuable results!

Due to this, when the two masters student heard that Lu Zhou was invited to a physics research project with Professor Li Rongen, they were insanely jealous.

Everyone knew that Professor Li Rongen was part of the carbon nanomaterials research institute.

That institute was considered the most well funded in the University of Jin Ling!

However, this Lu Zhou kid was too charismatic and all they could do was to be jealous.

Receiving an offer from New York University as a first-year because of an SCI thesis and solving a world-class mathematics problem in his second year, Lu Zhou was way ahead of the two master's students.

Professor Li smiled and said, "The research is about carbon nanotube modified cement-based composite materials! It's mainly used in flood control, disaster prevention, land reclamation, bridge pedestal, etc. This project is backed by the Science and Technology Department of Jiangsu Province and the National Engineering and Materials Science Fund. Joining this project would be very helpful in your future development."

Carbon nanotube modified cement-based composites?

Sounds very nutty.

Lu Zhou, "Professor Li, I'm not familiar with materials science. Can you tell me exactly what I'm going to do?"

Professor Li smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone starts from somewhere. As for what to do, I'll allocate a task to you when the time comes. Specifically, it's mainly to analyze the collected Fourier infrared spectrum data."

That's it?

Lu Zhou sighed in relief.

That was easy since he was an expert in functional analysis.

So, he smiled and said, "No problem! I got this. When do I report to you?"

"Let's just do it now," said Professor Li Rongen as he stood up from the sofa. He then smiled and said to Professor Tang, "Then I won't bother you, let be borrow your precious student!"

"Haha, you're welcome. Go ahead, just remember to return him!" said Professor Tang with a smile.

…

The Carbon Nanomaterials Research Institute of the University of Jin Ling was located at the northeast corner of the campus, next to a tree-lined path leading to the observatory.

Who would've thought that this laboratory containing hundreds of millions worth of equipment would be in this ugly building? Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

At least, Lu Zhou had not expected it.

He had never been to this part of the campus.

"This is our school's carbon nano research institute. It's pretty disappointing from the outside, right?" said Professor Li jokingly.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm not disappointed, but it does look quite ordinary from the outside."

"Extraordinary mysteries are often hidden in the ordinary things, just like what we are studying right now. A piece of graphite that can be seen everywhere, it can be softer than water, it can be harder than steel… This all depends on our research. It's up to us to reconcile the relationship between those microscopic particles."

While walking to the main entrance of the institute, Professor Li Rongen talked about some physics with Lu Zhou.

There was no difference between the interior of the institute and the normal school buildings. The only difference was that there were no classrooms; only rooms with various labels, and laboratories with different instruments.

Compared with the various cutting-edge experimental instruments displayed here, the experimental equipment that Lu Zhou had seen before were more like toys for children.

After Professor Li Rongen brought Lu Zhou to the entrance, he found a tall and skinny graduate student who was wearing a white science coat.

"Xiao Liu, take him on a walk around here and help him to familiarize with the environment. I still have some stuff, so I've to go back to the campus. When you get the data, send it to my mailbox."

"Okay, Professor Liu," said the graduate student named Xiao Liu as he smiled.

After Professor Li Rongen handed Lu Zhou over to Xiao Liu, he left.

Xiao Liu pushed his glasses and extended his hand as he said, "My surname is Liu, first name Bo, just call me Liu Bo!"

"Lu Zhou," said Lu Zhou while shaking his hand. He added, "Liu Bo, nice to meet you!"

"Haha, Lu Zhou, right? Hello, hello. I've heard of you before," said Liu Bo. He then let go of his hand and made a welcoming gesture, "This way please."

While they were walking in the corridor, Liu Bo started to tell Lu Zhou about the situation of the institute.

Like the name implied, the main research topic of this research institute was aimed at carbon nanomaterials. Research on sub-projects such as carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and graphene materials was also included.

According to Liu Bo, the optoelectronic devices were the latest generation of photoelectric sighting devices that 99 tanks produced. They were mainly for the interference caused by electromagnetic pulses and component damage. As for the specifics, it was confidential, even Liu Bo did not know.

In addition, there were many public research results. For example, the research on the inhibition of tumors by perfluorocarbon nanoparticles would soon produce results that could provide new ideas for the treatment of cancer.

These were all cutting edge research projects.

Liu Bo casually talked about his own project.

"The project that we're doing isn't as earth-shattering as the others. It is related to the country's infrastructure. So, it's also very important! Of course, you won't be under too much pressure. You've to do research with a calm mind, you cannot be urgent."

When they were at the entrance of the laboratory, Liu Bo looked back at Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said, "It's here, this is where we work!"

Chapter 92: The Importance Of Metaphysics in Scientific Research

"… This is where we mainly do experiments, but a lot of equipment is on the old campus. Sometimes I have to take the subway there when I want to do a particular experiment. But nowadays it's gotten better, the whole lab from there will move here."

"Do we need to travel often?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Nope," said Liu Bo. He smiled and continued, "The Fourier infrared spectroscopy is done here, and you don't need to participate in other specific experiments. You just need to help us analyze the experimental data. Someone will give you a desk later. From today, you are a team member of our research project!"

Liu Bo pushed open the office door.

At the left side of the room, a man in a T-shirt and a shaved head was facing against the lab door. He was playing with a piece of equipment that looked like a printer, and he did not notice anyone coming.

Liu Bo brought Lu Zhou over and tapped the shoulder of this man. When the man turned over, Liu Bo smiled and said, "Let me introduce you to Qian Zhongming, you can call him Brother Qian."

"Brother Qian, nice to meet you!"

Qian Zhongming looked a little stiff as he was not as extroverted as Liu Bo.

He looked at Lu Zhou and said, "You're Lu Zhou from the mathematical department?"

"Yes," answered Lu Zhou with a smile.

Qian Zhongming nodded and said, "Do you know how to use Matlab?"

"A bit."

"A bit is enough," said Qian Zhongming as he nodded. He took a USB from the table before handing it to Lu Zhou and said, "Some introductory tutorial and literature are in here, including the application for our research grant. Once you have finished reading them, you'll have a general idea of our research… Oh yeah, don't upload it online."

Although domestic universities were mostly cooperative in the field of scientific research, they were still competitive against each other. Similar research projects were also being done in other universities. After all, the first person who discovered the scientific finding would get all the credit.

The competition between the laboratories was also fierce as whoever discovered it first would get all of the credit.

Due to this, many project leader's daily rituals were to research similar projects, to find any copycats.

"That's it?" asked Lu Zhou while he held the USB.

"That's it for now. The new samples had just arrived, and no data collection has been done. It's pretty late, so we'll pick it up tomorrow," said Qian Zhongming while touching his nose.

"Where is the Fourier infrared spectral data collected? In the old campus?"

Brother Qian pointed to his feet and said, "Right here."

"Right here?"

Lu Zhou looked around and did not see any powerful experimental equipment.

At least, it was a lot less impressive than the labs next door.

"That's right," said Qian Zhongming as he nodded. He then pointed to the old-fashioned printer looking thing and said, "It's this thing."

"This?!" gasped Lu Zhou as he looked at the instrument in disbelief. He could not believe that this was the cutting-edge instrument.

"That's right," said Qian Zhongming as he nodded. It was almost like he had guessed what Lu Zhou was thinking when he said, "TENSOR-II research-grade Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, which was made by German company Bruker. The built-in gold mirror has a reflectivity that is 6.5% higher than that of an aluminum mirror. It has strong anti-oxidation and stable optical performance. Dual-channel digital acquisition, four external output optical path expansion…"

Lu Zhou listened to him with a confused expression.

Although he had read some related textbooks during his summer vacation, he did not touch on such specific things.

"Fine, fine. Stop scaring the kid," said Liu Bo as he patted the guy's shoulder and laughed at Lu Zhou. He said, "This guy talked a little too much sometimes. Don't worry about it. Tomorrow we're going to do the collection of Fourier infrared spectroscopy data for the new sample. If you're interested, come, but get up early. We'll start at exactly eight o'clock."

"Why is it so early? Any reason why?" asked Lu Zhou curiously.

Liu Bo said, "We claim that the temperature in the morning is perfect, but then we adjusted the air condition and found that it doesn't make a difference… Well, we don't know either. In short, we believe that having the experiment at eight o'clock will give us a higher success rate."

What is this metaphysics?

Lu Zhou was stunned.

Why is metaphysics important in a scientific experiment?

What?…

…

Lu Zhou already finished the bug check, plus with Yuan Liwei and Rong Hai overlooking the tasks in Campus Assistant, he did not have much to do. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

When Lu Zhou returned to the dorm with the USB that Brother Qian gave him, he copied the documents onto his computer and began to read it carefully.

Three months ago, during the summer vacation, because of the mission, Lu Zhou read some textbooks related to the research project. However, those books mainly contained basic knowledge, it did not go in depth.

Carbon nanotubes was a relatively advanced field. This field was always updating. If one wanted to understand this field in depth, one had to read a lot of theses.

Professor Li Rongen's research project was about discovering a wide range of carbon nanotube applications.

The tailored single-walled carbon nanotubes were easily dispersed in polar solvents such as water, alcohol, and DMF to form colloids. Due to these properties, carbon nanotubes were being studied by many researchers as the next generation of electronic materials. Its application in composite materials was also becoming more and more extensive.

Particularly, nanotube applications in the cement and steelmaking industry were also trending…

At least, domestically.

After reading the funding application, Lu Zhou opened the folder where the papers were stored.

Since Brother Qian already prepared the essential thesis for him to read, it saved him a lot of time.

As he scanned the theses, he found out that around 30% of them were from the University of Jin Ling.

Lu Zhou thought that the University of Jin Ling was still pretty powerful.

The only universities better than the University of Jin Ling in the field of the carbon cluster material research was the University of Yan and maybe the University of Shuimu.

Of course, although the research of the predecessors had been prepared, there were still many technical problems to be solved. The most specific one was that carbon nanotubes, as nano-scale fillers, could not be uniformly dispersed in the interior of the matrix or agglomerated inside the matrix. Then, after doping, the strength of the matrix material could not be enhanced. Instead, the inherent properties of the matrix material were damaged.

The bottleneck encountered by the research team led by Professor Li Rongen seemed to be this.

Chapter 93: A Skillful Loser

Lu Zhou spent a whole day reading theses. Liu Rui was already snoring when Lu Zhou climbed into bed.

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up early.

He went to the cafeteria and got two buns before he went to the laboratory on time.

When he arrived, he saw that Brother Qian and Liu Bo had already started working around the instrument.

Their task today was to draw the FTIR spectrum of each sample by Fourier infrared spectroscopy and to record the absorption peaks of various functional groups and chemical bonds in the early stage hydration reaction of carbon nanotube modified samples.

"… Our research is mainly aimed at enhancing the solubility of carbon nanotubes in cement and improving the bonding between carbon nanotubes and matrix materials," said Brother Qian as he introduced it to Lu Zhou while conducting the experiments. He continued, "But we're not optimistic at the progress of the research. Professor Li should have told you that we have encountered a bottleneck."

Lu Zhou, who was watching next to him, asked, "Where is the specific problem?"

"The problem is the data we calculated using the Fourier infrared analyzer. Look here," said Brother Qian as he pointed to the FTIR image that was just pointed out. He then asked, "What do you see?"

Lu Zhou resisted the urge to consume general points as he stared at the still warm A4 paper for a long time. He suddenly recalled what he learned from the theses that he read yesterday. He felt something and saw something was wrong with the image.

"Is the characteristic peak of the No. 2 cement sample abnormal?" asked Lu Zhou in an uncertain tone.

"Right, but not accurate," said Brother Qian as he nodded. He pointed out several places on the FTIR image and continued, "No. 2 sample is a cement sample incorporating CNTs 1 and is tested according to mechanical properties. As a result, our 2 samples performed quite well in the compressive capacity test, but the performance in the tensile test was unsatisfactory. According to the characteristic peak data at 6-10h time period on the FTIR image, we initially thought that the CNTs material hindered the polymerization process of the silicon tetrahedron in the Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate gel, which leads to the formation of pores inside the cement material in the later stage of the hydration reaction."

"Where is the problem then?" asked Lu Zhou as he wondered. He then continued, "I mean… Since we know the reason why the tensile strength of the No. 2 sample is not satisfactory, can we solve it?"

"It's not that simple," answered Brother Qian with a blank expression. He continued, "We've tried many methods, including the use of melamine as a nitrogen precursor, and the ball-milling of carbon nanotubes under vacuum. The surface of the carbon nanotubes was functionally modified… But from the tensile test data for samples No. 27 and No. 28, the results were equally as bad."

Lu Zhou mostly understood what was going on, but he did not have a solution. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

He nodded and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Brother Qian, "In order to find out the solution, we've already done a lot of experiments. The funding is still enough for us to do a couple more experiments. But a few days ago, we learned that the material science laboratory is going to take over our laboratories, and we'll have to stop our experiment soon."

Brother Qian paused for a second and sighed before he continued.

"We need an expert who is proficient in mathematics. Preferably proficient in functional analysis and help us analyze these experimental data to see if we can find some valuable clues. It would be great if we could find how CNTs cement materials become affected by the aging hydration reaction. I have self-learned some functional analysis, but I still have no idea about how to analyze this data. I still have to entrust you experts for difficult calculations."

Just like how the mathematics department did not have a course for material physics, the applied physics department did not have a functional analysis course either. After all, the number of people who had double undergraduate degrees was a minority. Most of them took the necessary courses when they did their master's.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said seriously, "I can't guarantee that I'll succeed, but I can try… When do you need the result?"

"The sooner the better. It's not like I can't wait… but it's best to be within three days," said Brother Qian after he gave some thought to it. He then continued, "After three days, with or without results, I hope that you can at least give me a progress report."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I'll try my best."

After Lu Zhou received the task from Brother Qian, he went to the library.

Although Liu Bo gave him a desk in the laboratory to work, it was too empty and cold in there.

Lu Zhou preferred the lively atmosphere in the library.

When he was sitting amongst other people that were studying, even if he wanted to procrastinate, he would feel guilty.

Also, the most important thing was…

The library more or less reminded him of the feeling of being deep in concentration.

Lu Zhou walked into the printing room and printed all the necessary experimental data and theses onto A4 paper.

Laying out all of the necessary material on a study desk was a study habit of his.

Anyway, the printing could be reimbursed by the research fund.

Once Lu Zhou found a corner in the library, he sat down. He tapped his pen on a piece of draft paper and was ready to start writing.

However…

Ten minutes had passed.

He was still sitting there in the same position without any movement.

Emmmm…

Where should I begin?

Lu Zhou's face was ugly.

If there was a fixed formula to use or even a clear goal, he could conceive where to begin. However, the situation was that the research animals in the lab did not find any problems, but they asked him to help them find the BUG.

He recalled what Brother Qian said.

There's no way that I can solve this. I'm going to be a skillful loser…

Lu Zhou looked at the data and scratched his head.

Suddenly, he realized that this task was more difficult than he thought.

…

Just like what petrol was to a car, food was the substance that gave people energy.

Even a genius had to eat.

Lu Zhou sat at the library until twelve o'clock where he stared at his empty draft paper and cursed. He threw the pen on the table and went to the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, Lu Zhou bumped into Professor Tang. He took his food and sat across him.

When Professor Tang saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"It's hard! A lot harder than pure mathematics problems," replied Lu Zhou.

"It's supposed to be hard," said Professor Tang with a smile. He continued, "Mathematics is a research tool. Since you're studying applied mathematics, there will be many opportunities for you to encounter similar projects in the future."

"Professor, please, can you give me some ideas?" asked Lu Zhou as he sighed.

"I can't give you any ideas. You've to come up with them yourself. I can give you a suggestion though," said Professor Tang as he laughed. He then said, "Didn't you enter the mathematical modeling competition? Think of the feeling back then."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and he went into deep thinking. He then shook his head and said, "It's completely different. The reason why the aerospace problem could be turned into a mathematical problem was that it was ultimately a physics problem and there was a formula. Plus they gave me data…"

"It's actually the same," said Professor Tang as he shook his head. He continued, "Whether it's the movement of a spacecraft, or the movement of particles, or the change of functional groups… In terms of mathematics, it's essentially the same. All the data hidden in the depths can be mined, and there are rules that can be calculated. Mathematical models can be built. I think you can't find it because you're not trying hard enough. Think more, observe more, I believe you can definitely discover the clues."

Lu Zhou began to think.

Professor Tang smiled at Lu Zhou and nodded.

This young man is worthy to be taught. Carbon Nanotubes

Chapter 94: Can You Do It Or No

After lunch, Lu Zhou went back to the library and sat down.

He recalled what Professor Tang said and calmly looked at the data and draft paper. He began to enter into his deep thinking mode.

Mathematical modeling…

He lightly tapped his pen as his eyes scanned the printed pages.

The data that Brother Qian provided was comprehensive, but it was also messy.

Useless data was not useful to researchers. Instead, it would become a hindrance to the truth.

"The problem is that the CNTs material has an effect on the hydration reaction in the early age when it is incorporated into the cement. So only the data from the No. 2 sample is useful."

"The FTIR images of samples No. 2, No. 4 and No. 27 indicate that this effect is not related to the surface functional modification of the CNTs materials. The experimental data from samples No. 24 to No. 28 can be deleted…"

Lu Zhou crunched up several A4 papers and threw it into the trash can. He then wrote down two lines of formula on the paper.

[Di={k2CMe/(2dμ)}·(2Pw/ρw)]

[Vi=(2Pw/ρw)^n]

Lu Zhou looked at these two lines of formula and had a smirk on his face.

This is a good start…

If he was asked to dive into the impact of carbon nanotubes on the matrix material, he could not do it. However, he was asked to mine data from FTIR images and using mathematical tools to find patterns. That, he could do.

Time slowly passed by and the sky outside the window gradually became darker.

Lu Zhou spent the whole afternoon completing the preliminary collation of the data and built a simple mathematical model.

This mathematical model contained the parameters of the CNTs materials on the cement hydration reaction rate, reaction temperature, sample mechanical properties, FTIR characteristic peak region, etc. It also contained the relationship and correlation between parameters.

Lu Zhou directly used the thesis he once published in the International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics journal. In the thesis, he wrote about several generalized theories about the Fourier inversion transformations. Unexpectedly, by using the thesis, the amount of computation could be reduced.

Once the mathematical model was built, the difficulty of the problem was greatly reduced.

Lu Zhou leaned against his chair and stretched.

When he glanced at the Matlab interface on his screen, he suddenly had a moment of realization.

Next, he would code this model into a program!

Once he was done, he could use the power of the computer to dig the "invisible" data.

…

It seemed that Lu Zhou went back to the same state as when he wrote the thesis on Zhou's conjecture. For three days, all Lu Zhou would do was to go to his dorm, the library, and the cafeteria.

However, even working like this, by the evening of the third day, Lu Zhou only managed to complete the establishment of the second set of models. He used an iterative algorithm to find how the CNTs materials influenced the temperature of the reaction when they were hydrated into the cement at various stages.

He still had three known parameters that needed to be calculated.

Lu Zhou had only completed 60%-70% of this project.

However, the rest of the work was easy as he only had to do calculations.

When it was half past five in the evening, Lu Zhou tossed his pen on the table and went to the cafeteria.

While he was walking, he called Brother Qian.

As soon as he picked up, an eager voice came from the other end.

"How is the progress?"

Lu Zhou resisted his urge to yawn. As he rubbed his nose, he said, "Give me two more days, I can definitely do it in two days."

The semi-scientific mathematical modeling competition was still incomparable with this kind of scientific research project. The most important thing was that Lu Zhou had no teammates. He had to do everything, from mathematical modeling to programming to thesis writing.

When he was in the mathematical modeling competition, he still had a genius programmer that helped him with SAS and graph making. He also had a teammate that brought him food.

Lu Zhou could not help but reminisce.

I guess she was still pretty useful…

"… Can you do it or not?," asked Brother Qian. His tone was full of doubts.

It was not that he doubted Lu Zhou's mathematics abilities. After all, Lu Zhou proved Zhou's conjecture.

However, mathematical strength could not be directly applied to scientific research. Many people had engaged in pure-number research for their entire lives and their mathematical skills were cutting-edge. However, no matter what, their achievements were only in the field of pure mathematics.

Although this was normal, not everyone could apply their specialization.

Despite that, Brother Qian did not want to see Lu Zhou drop the ball.

Lu Zhou answered, "Oh, you'll know in two days."

"…"

Lu Zhou sounded confident.

Although Brother Qian was still suspicious, he did not say anything.

Since he had already waited for three days, why not wait two more days?

The only thing that made him and Professor Li Rongen felt uncomfortable was the silence of the University of Zhi. The two universities had a lot of overlap in their research on "carbon nanotube modified composite material" with the base material in the project of University of Zhi being cement. It was like the University of Zhi was hiding something big.

It made Brother Qian and Professor Li Rongen panic.

Especially since their projects were at a bottleneck…

Once Lu Zhou hung up the call, he walked into the cafeteria. Just as he stuffed his phone into his pocket, his phone rang again.

He took out his phone and noticed that it was Fat Wu who called him.

Lu Zhou took out his food card and pressed it on the card reader for his barbecue meat. Only then did he picked up the call. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Hello?"

Fat Wu, "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while."

Lu Zhou said, "I'm doing a research project for the physics department. It's related to carbon nanotube materials."

Fat Wu, "Too good, too good. Research on nanotube materials? Amazing!"

Lu Zhou asked, "You're familiar with it?"

Fat Wu smiled and said, "There was a laboratory relocation last year, right? Some workers and I were the ones that installed the routers."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Fat guy Wu coughed and continued, "Anyway, tomorrow afternoon, I want to bring the club workers together and have a meeting, to discuss the advertising plan for the new version. Do you have the time to join us?"

"No, I can't. I'm too busy these days," said Lu Zhou while he was stuffing his card back into his pocket. He took his barbecue meal and said, "How about… You just do this meeting by yourself?"

Fat Wu said, "Boss, you can't just ditch me like this?"

Lu Zhou did not feel good about this either, but he really did not have any spare time. He said, "Well, I'm giving you a stage to perform, plus I probably can't give any useful suggestions anyway. Do your best! I can see you becoming CEO!"

Fat Wu: "…"

He knew that he was CEO material.

However, Lu Zhou's words…

Why do I feel like I've heard those words before?

…

Time passed by quickly, and within a blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Lu Zhou looked at the stack of draft papers that were piled up in the corner of the table.

It was already one o'clock in the morning.

After the library was closed, he carried his laptop bag and found a classroom to work. He finally completed the final steps.

He had sacrificed so much for this research project.

Lu Zhou entered the sets of data into the computer and finished the final calculations.

After that, he put the data into the formula…

Suddenly, Lu Zhou stared at the draft paper and was frozen.

He was staring at the number on the draft paper and the number on the computer screen when a strange expression appeared on his face.

α=0?

This is impossible!

No, wait…

I'll think about it from another perspective.

If his calculation was correct, the resulting α parameter was indeed equal to zero.

This means that…

When the CNTs were incorporated into the cement, there was no impact on the reaction of the hydration!

What the hell…

Chapter 95: This Doesn't Make Sense

Eight o'clock in the morning…

Lu Zhou spent the whole night arranging his work into a thesis. He then walked to the laboratory and handed his five days worth of work to Brother Qian.

Then…

"This is impossible!" said Brother Qian as he slapped the thesis on the table. He replied vehemently, "The strengthening mechanism of CNTs material for cement material is to provide a nucleation matrix for the hydration products and reduce the barrier. The hydration product is easy to form!"

"You researched for all this time and now you're telling me it has no effect? How could it have no effect on the early-stage hydration reaction! Have you seen the documents I gave you!"

"You must've done a calculation error. This doesn't make sense!"

"It's mathematics," said Lu Zhou. He was unhappy to hear that his results were ruthlessly negated. He supported his argument with reasons, "I don't know if you noticed the FTIR of the 4th sample. In the chart, at 8h to 12h, the migration speed of the characteristic peaks at 800~1025cm^-1, it's basically the same for the CNTs-doped sample and the blank sample! What does this mean?"

Lu Zhou was certain of his calculations.

When he discovered this issue, he recalculated it at least three times!

Lu Zhou's tough attitude surprised Brother Qian. Brother Qian then softened his attitude.

He stared at the chart for a long time.

The debate between the two Liu Bo, who was sitting next to them doing sample analysis.

After he heard the discussion, Liu Bo stared at the A4 papers on the table with an intrigued expression on his face.

"The CNTs material has no effect on the hydration reaction of cement in the early stages? This is really incredible. If this conclusion is correct, it can even be published as a research result alone."

"I agree, how ridiculous," said Brother Qian brother as he nodded. He then shook his head and said, "From a molecular dynamics point of view, this is impossible. The side of the carbon nanotube is highly delocalized. The bond is bound to interfere with the polymerization process of the silicon tetrahedron…"

Liu Bo raised a counter-argument, "But this is only one of the many consensuses, maybe it's not correct…"

Lu Zhou looked at the two people discussing and did not say anything. He could not even understand what they were saying.

It was similar to a situation where if Lu Zhou talked about optimal inversion theory of linear functionals to those two, they would not be able to understand a thing.

Lu Zhou looked at the two people discussing and started to think.

Guess I really have to increase my knowledge level.

Entering the frontier of scientific research with a just a mathematics degree is not enough…

Otherwise, if he received a high tech drawing from the system, he would not even be able to understand it.

Actually, if Lu Zhou understood material physics, he would know that the international academic community did not have a "clear conclusion" about the mechanism of carbon nanotubes for composite materials.

Although the proper addition of carbon nanotubes in the material could increase the strength of the material, this had been confirmed in many experiments. For example, the most typical laser alloying and post-quenching process synthesis of carbon nanotubes / 4 # steel, composite hardness could reach HRC69...

However, the method to do this for carbon nanotubes was currently based on theoretical assumptions. Therefore, if one saw different explanations in different textbooks, one should not be surprised, because this thing itself did not have a "conclusion".

What Brother Qian believed in was one of the mainstream conjectures about the strengthening mechanism of carbon nanotubes for cement materials.

As for if this conjecture was correct…

Honestly speaking, he did not know either. Anyway, he used it as a conclusion.

If Lu Zhou's calculations were correct, then this would undoubtedly provide a powerful counterexample.

Still, this was too unexpected, too ridiculous!

After a while, Liu Bo and Brother Qian seemed to have reached a consensus and they both looked at Lu Zhou.

After a moment, Brother Qian spoke.

"I can't answer you right away… I need to do experiments."

"If your calculations are correct."

"It'll be a major discovery!"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "How major?"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "I don't know how major either, but it is significant for the research of carbon nanotube materials. It'll greatly help other researchers. Of course, the academic value isn't as great as that mathematics problem you solved."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed as he smiled and said, "That's all virtual stuff."

"What are you talking about? There's only right or wrong, nothing is virtual," said Liu Bo as he smiled and shook his head. He then continued, "Like what Brother Qian said, we still need to do further experiments before we can give you a definitive answer. Also, can I ask you for a favor?"

Lu Zhou asked, "What is it?"

Brother Qian coughed and said, "About your mathematical calculations, can you publish it after our research project is finished? Because we're not the only ones doing research in this area, the University of Zhi is also…"

If Lu Zhou published this research, the enemy might use it to their advantage!

It was likely!

Although it was kind of immoral to do this, Brother Qian had to make this request. Otherwise, his half a year worth of research would have been worthless.

"Is that it? Okay, okay," said Lu Zhou as he smiled nonchalantly.

Lu Zhou found this conclusion basically by accident. If he did not have the data that Liu Bo and Brother Qian provided, he would not have written all those formulas, and he definitely would not have come to this unexpected conclusion.

The names of the two researchers also deserved a second and third spot on the thesis.

Nonethelss, Lu Zhou still took their opinions into account.

This was about politeness and integrity.

Qian Zhongming, "Latest the end of next month, earliest end of this month! I promise you I can produce results. By then, you can publish the thesis with no problems."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine. I'm not in a hurry. Let me know when I can publish it."

In fact, Lu Zhou was taking some risk by doing this. After all, if someone else reached the same conclusion within this time frame, his five days worth of torture would have been for nothing.

However, he had to look at the bigger picture.

Also, the probability of that was small…

About this important matter, Brother Qian immediately called Professor Li Rongen.

Professor Li did not say much on the phone. Instead, he just asked Brother Qian to take Lu Zhou's thesis and a few lab samples to the old campus lab. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

If Lu Zhou's mathematical conclusion was correct, then they had been doing their experiments wrong the whole time.

However, it was not too late to change!

Chapter 96: This Was Correct!

A classroom in Building A…

The fourth Campus Assistant club meeting had ended. During the meeting, they discussed the release of the update.

Like last time, President Lu Zhou was absent from the meeting, he was replaced by Vice President Wu Dahai and Product Manager Yuan Liwei. Perhaps it was because of the absent of the founder, the morale was low.

After all, everyone was working for the past two weeks. Developers were writing code, the engineers were busy, even the people running errands had stuff to do.

Although most people were passionate about having a varied campus life, not everyone was keen on having a busy life. When the enthusiasm for entrepreneurship eventually faded, the complaints would inevitably come.

"… The situation is basically this."

"End of meeting."

Yuan Liwei threw the chalk on the podium, nodded to Wu Dahai, then walked off the stage.

Fat Wu stepped on the podium as he clapped and smiled. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Everyone has worked hard. You're all hungry, right? The president booked a table at that fish restaurant. Let's all eat."

The most important part was that the workers did not have to pay.

After they heard Fat Wu's words, they finally gained some morale.

When they thought about it, other than time, they really did not have to pay anything. They did not even have to pay a sign up fee.

Even if they did not join the club, most of their time would be wasted on League of Legends. It was better to do something meaningful. For example, a few new software students that worked with Rong Hai, did not know anything in the beginning, but now they knew some basic C++.

However, even then…

Humans were still emotional-driven creatures.

They arrived at the restaurant, but when the food came, the president still did not show up. Someone could not help but ask.

"Where is the president? Is he not coming?"

"Lu Zhou has some matters to attend to. He has been working on this physics research project, just wait a few days," said Wu Dahai. He then raised his glass with a smile and said, "Come, cheers."

Although the person that asked the question was dissatisfied, he did not say anything else.

After the group finished the meal, they walked toward the school gate and all went back to their respective dorms.

The person that asked the question was called Li Ruizhe. He was a first year in the computer science department. Next to him was his old friend, Wei Feng. They met Fat Wu while working for him and were convinced by him to join the Campus Assistant club.

Although both of them joined the club thinking it would be a "great business", after two weeks, Li Ruizhe was getting somewhat tired.

The absence of the president was only one of the many factors. His dissatisfaction had been accumulating since long ago. He had expressed his dissatisfaction during many club activities.

Maybe it was because of the alcohol, plus they were alone, he started to complain to his old friend.

"We are working tirelessly writing code, writing programs… What's he doing?"

Wei Feng was not as dissatisfied. He understood the reasons given by Fat Wu and did not feel an imbalance in his heart.

After all, he joined the club with the goal of learning in mind. He did projects with Rong Hai and learned to write some simple algorithms. He felt like he learned a lot, which was what he expected.

As for making money…

He honestly had not even think about it.

"… The president has a research project to do, he's probably busy these days. I think it's understandable. He also wrote a lot of code, not like he didn't do anything."

When Li Ruizhe saw that his friend did not agree with him, his expression was somewhat unpleasant.

"Pfft, I still have to prepare for advanced algebra. How come I can't say I'm busy? Who isn't busy?"

Wei Feng did not like to talk sh*t behind people's backs. So, he patted his friend's back and said, "Fine, fine, Ruizhe, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," said Li Ruizhe as he burped. He pushed away Wei Feng's hand and said, "I just feel bad…"

It was right, he felt bad.

It was not just him that felt bad…

…

Seven days after the thesis was sent to the old campus, the experimental results finally came out.

The conclusion reached was beyond the expectations of everyone.

Of course, "everyone" included, Liu Bo, Qian Zhongming, and Professor Liu Rongen. It even included a PhD student that Professor Liu brought, but it did not include Lu Zhou.

After all, Lu Zhou was confident in his own calculation abilities. He had also repeatedly checked his calculations multiple times. If the data given was correct, then his calculation was going to be correct!

"Incredible…"

"Your conclusion is correct."

"The CNTs material does not have any effect on the hydration reaction in the early age when it is incorporated into the cement!"

"If this conclusion is true, then our experiments have been wrong. The key to solving the pressure resistance of No. 2 sample is not in the hydration reaction at the early age, but from other places."

Lu Zhou asked, "Is there anything else I can help with?"

Brother Qian shook his head and said, "Not for now… We'll have to redo the experiment by adjusting the amount of carbon nanotube material usage, but you just saved us two months of research time."

Lu Zhou remembered about the documents he read. He thought about it and said, "I have a suggestion, should I say it?"

"Please tell me!" said Brother Qian seriously.

"Last time I read the recently published paper on the aqueous dispersion of carbon nanotubes from the University of Dong. I imported some of the experimental data into the mathematical model I built earlier and recalculated it. I then found something interesting… Why don't you try to experiment with a 0.4wt%-0.5wt% range for the amount of CNTs?"

"0.4 to 0.5?" asked Brother Qian. With his eyebrows raised, he said, "We've done 0.6-0.8… The results obtained were not satisfactory. The current preferred scheme is still above 1… Will 0.4-0.5 be too little?"

"That's why I'm only suggesting," shrugged Lu Zhou. He then added, "Since I saved you so much experimental time, why don't you try my suggestion?"

If it was before and Brother Qian heard a suggestion from an "outsider", he would have taken it with a grain of salt. However, the situation now was different. Lu Zhou's calculations were proven by experiments, and Brother Qian trusted him.

Brother Qian nodded as he said, "Okay… I'll forward your suggestion to Professor Li. Oh yeah, can you give me the document that you read?"

"No problem, I'll send it to your email."

Suddenly, Lu Zhou's phone in his pocket began to ring.

"Sorry, I have to take this."

"It's okay, I have to go to the old campus anyway," said Brother Qian as he looked at the clock. He then said, "See you later."

Lu Zhou walked to the corridor and picked up the call.

When the phone connected, before Lu Zhou could even speak, Fat Wu's loud and anxious voice came through.

"Lu Zhou, something bad had happened!"

Chapter 97: You Can't No-show!

There were five withdrawal applications on the table.

Lu Zhou looked at Fat Wu who was wearing an awkward expression.

Fine.

I guess the twelve slaves have become seven…

Lu Zhou took up the resignation application and glanced at it.

Li Ruizhe?

Emm…

I don't know him at all.

"This is my fault," said Fat Wu as he put out the cigarette and threw it in the bin. He sighed, "I just want to get more workers, but I forgot about the internal problems."

"It's not entirely your fault, it's my fault as well," said Lu Zhou as he put down the withdrawal application. He sighed softly and said, "There are five applications for resignation. I don't remember four of these names. Also, I've been busy with science research, I didn't care enough…"

As the president of the club, not knowing the names of club members was an ignorant move.

Also, they were not just club members, they were his friends.

Maybe…

He really was unsuitable for doing business.

Lu Zhou asked, "Is the impact big?"

Fat Wu's smile was a bit reluctant as he said, "The impact is pretty big. The two first years that left was not too big of a deal, but the three others that left were pretty significant. Right now, we only have Rong Hai and a first-year student to do programming…"

The update was about to go live, but suddenly this thing happened. They might even have to postpone the update release.

Also, it was not just about the update.

The blow to morale was even more deadly.

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Call the rest of the people for a meeting… Forget about it, I'll book a table at the fish restaurant."

"Okay," said Fat Wu as he nodded. He then left the office.

…

In front of the school gate, at the fish restaurant…

The same place, but different time. This time, including Wu Dahai and Lu Zhou, there were only nine people.

This time, Lu Zhou poured himself a beer and stood up.

"You might have noticed that we lost five companions."

"Actually, when I made this club, I already said that if anyone feels out of place, they can leave. We're all friends here. But I feel that I have not been able to maintain the cohesiveness of this team. As the founder, this is my fault."

"It has been more than half a month since our club's establishment. You guys have put in a lot of work for our business. I think that before the new update goes live, I have to say some words."

"Today I brought everyone here to say one thing."

"I intend to take 20% of my shares as an equity reward."

"Of course, right now this equity is worthless. Campus Assistant hasn't made a profit yet, it also has half a million of debt. Therefore, this 20% of equity will be honored after the round of angel financing."

"Depending on each person's contribution, they'll receive different amounts of shares. I'll promise a fair judgment."

Lu Zhou looked at everyone as he said this.

After that, he lifted his glass and drank the whole thing.

…

It was much more difficult to unite a team than to come up with a business idea or make a powerpoint.

Fortunately, relying on "equity" and "angel financing", the morale of the team increased again.

Next up was honoring these two promises.

After the dinner, Lu Zhou went back to his dorm and as he leaned against the balcony, he stared at the track field and pondered.

He thought about Campus Assistant and was inexplicably annoyed.

It was like he encountered an impossible mathematics problem.

He had not encountered this kind of problem in a long time.

As expected…

Compared to entrepreneurship, he was more suited for scientific research.

Maybe after the round of angel financing, I'll find an opportunity and cash out the shares.

Lu Zhou stayed on the balcony for a while. He sighed and looked at the stars before he began to talk to himself, "… Is it because I'm burning myself out?"

With the five days of high-intensity research work plus the launch of the Campus Assistant update, he felt burnt out. He thought of Mrs. Yang's advice and gave it serious consideration.

Perhaps, he should consider the balance of work and rest.

At this moment, the dorm room door was pushed open. Shi Shang who was wearing a jersey walked in with a basketball.

"Zhou, ball? We still need one person."

Li Tao and Tian Jun stood behind him. They were both wearing jerseys.

Lu Zhou wanted to say he was disinterested, but he changed his mind and blurted out, "Wait for a second, I'll change my clothes first."

He turned around and went into the dorm. He then pulled out a jersey from his cabinet. Once he put on his shoes, Lu Zhou followed the group to the basketball court.

…

Run, shoot, dunk…

Okay, Lu Zhou could not dunk. At most, he could grab a rebound.

They were just playing casually, so they did not assign positions.

Lu Zhou was sometimes in the free throw line, sometimes in the three-point line.

For him, the score was unimportant. He just wanted to vent and sweat.

After an hour of playing half-court, the teams were extremely tired. Especially Lu Zhou. It looked like he fell into a pool.

"Midfield! Let's take a break!"

Shi Shang shouted with the ball and everyone agreed.

Lu Zhou's sweat soaked through his clothes as he laid on the wooden floors and gasped. He had an indescribable pleasant feeling.

He had not felt this type of pleasure in a while.

Shi Shang bought two bottles of water and sat next to Lu Zhou. He then placed one bottle on Lu Zhou's head and asked, "How are you, feeling better?"

The bottle almost fell, so Lu Zhou grabbed it and rolled his eyes at Shi Shang. He then took a deep breath and said, "What do you mean by feeling better?"

"Emotionally," said Shi Shang with a smirk. He added, "Don't you have some stuff on your mind? Why don't you talk about it?"

"It's just that I'm too busy. Emotionally, I'm okay."

"That doesn't make sense," said Shi Shang as he shook his head.

"… What do you mean it doesn't make sense?"

As Lu Zhou stared at Shi Shang, he suddenly felt a sense of premonition.

His intuition told him that this guy was about to go on a rant.

Shi Shang laughed and said seriously, "According to my experience, when a guy has your expression, it's because of a girl."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Shi Shang saw that Lu Zhou did not respond, so he thought that he was correct. He sighed and said, "We're still young, who hasn't been rejected? The road is still long, don't be so sad about one person."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

F*ck me, Shi Shang's brain tumor is getting bigger.

Lu Zhou was about to insult Shi Shang when his phone suddenly rang.

Lu Zhou picked up the call and placed his phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"It's me!"

Chen Yushan's voice traveled through the phone.

Lu Zhou adjusted his breathing and asked, "What's up?"

"Not much. I just wanted to ask if you're free tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'm free."

"Oh! That's great," said Chen Yushan as she sat in her dorm. Her eyes lit up and said, "I won two movie tickets with my roommate at the school's entertainment festival. We were going to go together but she stood me up. Do you want to watch a movie?"

Watching a movie?

Sounds good.

Lu Zhou heard that the movie was Nolan's new work. It was only domestically released recently. Lu Zhou had been looking forward to it since he saw the trailer, but he was so busy that he almost forgot about it.

Perfect, he wanted to relax anyway.

"Okay, I'll see you at the school gate tomorrow, two o'clock."

"Be there! Someone already ditched me, you can't ditch me as well! Also, why are you panting?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou, "I'm playing basketball."

Chen Yushan was surprised, "You know how to play basketball?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I'm just playing around casually, talk to you later."

"Oh, ok. I have to study vocabulary, bye bye then."

"Bye."

Lu Zhou hung up the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He stared at Shi Shang and asked, "What were you saying?"

Shi Shang looked at Lu Zhou and was silent. He did not want to talk…

Chapter 98: This Did Not Make Sense

It was winter in Jin Ling and the temperature was dropping.

This was the most beautiful time of the year.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, in front of the school gate, Chen Yushan stood under a parasol tree wearing brown colors clothing. Her high waist skirt matched her knee length boots. Even though she was not six foot tall, her legs looked as if they belonged on a six-foot-tall person.

Was this the so-called visual effect?

Lu Zhou had a moment of realization.

When Chen Yushan noticed Lu Zhou, her eyes lit up and she waved at him.

Lu Zhou was wearing a laptop bag and when he went up to her, he asked, "Where are we watching the movie?"

Chen Yushan shook the two movie tickets in her hand and said, "Yida Plaza! Also, why are you wearing a laptop bag?"

Lu Zhou answered honestly, "I went to the library for a while in the morning, and I didn't go back to the dorm before I came here."

Even though he could have left his bag in the library, Xiao Ai was on his laptop so he did not feel safe leaving it in public.

Chen Yushan had a defeated expression on her face. She glanced up at the parasol leaves and sighed, "Little brother, you're putting so much pressure on me."

Lu Zhou did not know how to respond.

He felt like no matter what he answered, he would be hated.

It was best if he kept his mouth shut.

The two called a DiDi cab and once they were in the back seat, they started chatting.

Since they were close friends, naturally they had a lot to talk about.

They talked about college life, the dorm building reconstruction, extracurricular activities, and etc. Twenty minutes quickly passed by, and the pair arrived at the destination.

They then went to the ticket booth and looked at the showtimes list.

They looked at the available movies, and Lu Zhou asked, "What do you want to watch?"

Chen Yushan did not hesitate at all as she responded, "Haunted Road."

Her eyes sparkled with excitement when she said this.

She had been looking forward to this horror movie ever since she saw the first trailer, but it was too scary to watch alone.

She originally planned to watch this with her roommate, but her roommate was too scared and ditched her.

In desperation, Chen Yushan could not find anyone to go with. Finally, she thought of the student that helped her with mathematics.

"Okay," said Lu Zhou as he nodded. He spoke to the ticket seller, "One ticket for Haunted Road, one Interstellar."

Chen Yushan: ? ? ?

The ticket seller looked at Lu Zhou before she looked at the girl behind him. She then smiled awkwardly and asked, "Don't you think you should reconsider?"

Lu Zhou was stunned, "Reconsider about what?"

The ticket seller smiled and said, "Reconsider, reconsider!"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The f*ck? Are you selling this ticket or not?

Chen Yushan silently came forward and placed the two vouchers on the counter before she said, "Two tickets for Haunted Road."

The cashier smiled and said, "Great."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Once Lu Zhou realized what had happened, Chen Yushan had already received the two tickets, and she put one of them in Lu Zhou's hand.

The voucher was already used, so there was no chance of going back.

Lu Zhou looked at the movie ticket in his hand and sighed.

It was not that he was scared of horror movies, it was that he did not care for them at all.

He could watch "Ring" and still fall asleep. This type of childish horror movie was too simple for him.

It seemed that he would have to wait until next time to watch the Nolan sci-fi blockbuster.

Chen Yushan saw that Lu Zhou did not say anything. Slightly embarrassed, she said, "Fine, stop being so angry. I'll watch Interstellar with you next time."

"I'm not angry, I'm not that stingy," sighed Lu Zhou as he put away the movie ticket. He looked at the time and said, "I'll go buy some popcorn. Do you want any?"

After all, since he became a millionaire, he became slightly more generous.

At least, he was not as stingy when it was about food.

Chen Yushan's big beautiful eyes widened, "Are you sure that you'll be able to eat popcorn…"

Lu Zhou was surprised, "… Is there a problem?"

"No, nothing," said Chen Yushan as she shook her head in respect. She added, "Just buy it for yourself, I don't have an appetite."

Lu Zhou nodded and went to the counter.

He bought popcorn and a coke.

After he bought the food, they went into the cinema hall that was almost full.

Under Chen Yushan's constant urge, Lu Zhou walked in front of her while holding the popcorn and coke.

He did not know if it was an illusion, but he felt that people were looking at him strangely.

However, Lu Zhou did not care. Instead, he threw a piece of popcorn in his mouth and leaned back against the chair as he quietly waited for the movie to begin.

Soon, the intro started. A melodious and cheerful piano song came on, the tone gradually became more gloomy and strange.

The people around them stopped whispering as they stared at the screen and held their breath. Lu Zhou was the only person eating throughout the movie.

Of course, it was because he was disinterested.

At least, Lu Zhou was still following the movie plot.

The movie was about seven normal people going to a wedding when they encountered a car crash. They said something disrespectful for the dead and even took a photo of the accident for fun.

Then, they basically all died. When the car broke down in a rural area, the people decided to stay the night in the car. They even took a group photo and the caption said they would not die here.

Then…

They all died.

Lu Zhou heard screams nearby. The more he watched, the weirder he felt.

This plot… Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Why does it feel like…

It's similar to Final Destination?

Like the other audiences around them, Chen Yushan could not help but scream.

However, she did not retreat.

She was scared to death, but she was still curious, her eyes stared straight at the screen. Her big eyes were full of fear and excitement and her hands were on her cheek, ready to cover her eyes…

Lu Zhou glanced at her.

This chick…

Is she okay?

The movie continued. It was the main confrontation scene and screams came from all around the theater.

Lu Zhou was eating popcorn and drinking his coke. He did not feel anything at all. He just wanted to go to the toilet.

However, Chen Yushan was screaming her head off next to him. People around her were wondering if she had gone crazy.

Finally, the movie came to an end.

From an objective perspective, the music was not bad. For a domestic horror film, it was okay. At the end of the movie, the whole situation was revealed to be just a dream.

After all, the focus of a horror movie was about the process, not the ending.

However, Lu Zhou did not understand the process at all.

Honestly speaking, artificially created horror like Detective Conan scared Lu Zhou a lot more than these horror films.

Of course, he was talking about the television show, not the movie version.

After they came out of the theater, Chen Yushan was quiet, like she lost her soul. Her face was white and scary and she was limping.

It was like her soul returned after they left the cinema. She sighed as she held her chest and said, "I was scared sh*tless…"

Lu Zhou threw the empty cup and popcorn bucket into the trash can and said, "Is it really that scary?"

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief, "Of course it's scary! Don't you agree?"

Lu Zhou said, "But ghost don't exist?"

"I know it doesn't exist, but don't you think that if a woman suddenly climbed out, it's scary? Her face is bloody…" said Chen Yushan with an unease heart.

Lu Zhou thought and still did not think it was scary. Instead, he stubbornly said, "But it's all fake…"

Chen Yushan: "…"

Chapter 99: Are All Geniuses Like This?

Lu Zhou planned on going back to school right after watching the movie. However, since Chen Yushan offered to buy him dinner, he decided to go.

There was still a while until dinner time, so the two found a Starbucks in Yida plaza and rested there.

After Chen Yushan ordered two cups of coffee, they sat at a corner of the cafe and bored, they bit the straws. She then asked, "What've you been doing lately?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I just finished the physics research project, so I'm not doing much these few days. How about you? How's the graduate entrance exam preparation?"

Chen Yushan smirked and said proudly, "It's going great!"

Lu Zhou looked at her in surprise, "So confident? What school are you applying to?"

"Yanjing University School of Business Administration! My goal is to have an MBA from Yanjing University and from the Wharton College of Business!"

"1+2 mode? Impressive. Then you'd have two degrees when you finished."

Chen Yushan smiled proudly, "I'm pretty good, right?"

Although she was just kidding around, she still felt pretty good being complimented by the genius.

Lu Zhou, "Nice, nice. Is your mathematics okay though?"

It was better to go abroad to study, whether it was "1+2" or "1+1" or "2+2". Generally, a university had cooperation projects with foreign institutions. One could get in with normal grades.

However, to enter the University of Yan was not as easy.

When Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou doubting her mathematics, she was unhappy and argued, "My mathematics is good okay! It's just that when I started to re-learn it, I forgot about some topics."

Lu Zhou watched her argued and was amused as he blurted out, "Then let me test you. If in the case of L, it is a simple smooth closed curve. What are the properties of Cauchy points?"

Chen Yushan looked speechless.

"… Even though I don't read a lot of mathematics textbooks, stop scamming me. This is complex analysis, right? I don't study this."

What?

I think she's right.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed. He coughed and said, "Oh, my mistake. I'll think of another question."

Chen Yushan covered her ears and said, "I'm not listening! I've completed advanced algebra already! It's enough!"

When Lu Zhou saw Chen Yushan's overreaction, he was shocked. He thought, "We're just chatting, why are you overreacting so much? It's fine if you don't want to listen…"

People around might misunderstand…

A couple sitting next to them looked at them.

Girl, "Are all geniuses like this in a relationship?"

Guy, "Nope, it looks like a genius and a dumb student is in a relationship… A little weird."

The girl's face lit up, "Wait a minute, is that guy… Lu Zhou? From the mathematics department?"

The guy looked at him and said, "F*ck me, it is! Then… It's not a dumb student dating a genius, it's a godly student dating a dumb student."

The girl rubbed her chin and said, "Sounds pretty romantic when you put it like that."

Lu Zhou: "…"

What does this mean?

A single guy can't come to Starbucks?

Mind your own business!

When Chen Yushan heard their rude conversation, she blushed and with her jaws clenched, she angrily said, "I'm not a dumb student! My GPA is 4.7, goddamnit!"

…

It was the evening, and they were back on campus.

Since Lu Zhou had relaxed for the whole afternoon, he felt really comfortable. He did not even go back to his dorm. Instead, he went straight to the library.

The physics research project made him strongly interested in the research of carbon cluster materials. He found that using mathematical tools to solve practical problems was very intriguing.

It was like there was an unexplored gold mine, just waiting to be discovered by him.

Lu Zhou downloaded some theses into his computer and started to read them. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

At this moment, he finally understood what the system meant by "your brain is too empty, learn more".

If he had not read the long list of books that the system gave him, he would not be able to understand these theses, much rather the high tech information in the system database.

Over the next two weeks, Lu Zhou basically went back and forth between the library and his dorm.

Of course, when there were new samples coming out of the lab, he would still help to analyze data.

Since his last thesis, Brother Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo gained immense respect for Lu Zhou.

Every time Lu Zhou came into the lab to help them analyze Fourier infrared spectroscopy data, they said stuff like "Master Lu, please", or "Master Lu, this way". It even made Lu Zhou embarrassed.

When he was free, he would discuss carbon nanotubes with Brother Qian.

Lu Zhou found out that this guy was an "equipment freak".

Whenever they talked about cutting-edge equipment, the guy would not stop talking. He would even talk about the lab tables.

It was still thanks to him that Lu Zhou had the opportunity to get access to such expensive and valuable equipment.

For example, in the next-door laboratory, the CVD vacuum atmosphere tube furnace was used to prepare carbon nanotubes. The carbon nanotubes used in the whole research institute were made from this equipment. The import price of this big guy was 100 grand, Euro.

Not only did they have production equipment of carbon nanotubes, but they also had the equipment for surface modification of carbon nanotubes. That equipment almost cost as much as a house.

Whenever Lu Zhou listened to Brother Qian bragged, he could not help but be impressed.

Not everyone could afford to do scientific research.

After learning that Lu Zhou was interested in the preparation of carbon nanotubes, Brother Qian acted as a reciprocating agent. From the "preparation of transition metal catalyst" to the "purification of carbon nanotubes", he went over the entire process with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou finally had the chance to see what the research project actually looked like in action.

Of course, he had to see it under an electron microscope.

With this, time quickly passed by, and soon, it was already the end of the month.

Finally, on the last day of November, a piece of good news came from the old campus lab…

Chapter 100: Conclusion Report!

Lu Zhou was eating noodles in the cafeteria when he received a call from Professor Li Rongen. He was thinking about a thesis from the journal Material Science and Engineering which was about the theoretical calculation of graphene semi-electron mobility.

"Hey, Lu Zhou."

"What?"

"You can publish that thesis."

"Oh."

"I mean, now that we've already submitted the final report to the higher authorities for an application of a conclusion report!"

"… ?!"

When Lu Zhou finally realized what happened, he stood up from his chair, which scared the couple sitting next to him.

He took a deep breath and held his phone tight as he asked with an excited and trembling tone, "We… succeeded?"

Professor Li Rongen smiled and used a positive tone to reply, "Yes! You're right! We succeeded!"

Lu Zhou quickly asked, "What's the ratio?"

"0.47wt%, your guess was completely correct! The best ratio of CNTs material to cement is indeed between 0.4 and 0.5, no more than 1wt%. We have made an empirical and inertial mistake. This could have been avoided," said Professor Li Rongen as he was overwhelmed by his emotion.

"Professor Li, can you send me the thesis about the blending ratio of CNTs material?"

"Of course, I already sent it to your email," said Professor Li Rongen with a smile.

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and quickly finished his bowl of noodles. He then went straight to the library.

He sat down in the library and quickly opened the email on his computer. Once he downloaded the PDF version of the thesis, he quickly found the section about the ratio.

"… When the CNTs material content is 0.5wt%, the compressive strength and tensile strength of cement increase by 47.1% and 34.2%, respectively."

Finally, this last technical difficulty was solved. The entire problem came to a successful conclusion.

It was not just only the ratio of CNTs material to cement-based materials, but also the surface functional modification of CNTs material, and even the design of production processes, etc. These problems were all solved during this research project, but Lu Zhou was not involved in the other segments.

With the end of the entire research project led by Professor Li Rongen's team, they could publish at least five theses and two technical patents.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, not only was this project supported by the National Engineering and Materials Science Fund and the Provincial Science and Technology Department fund, but it also received an investment from the company, Zhongshan New Materials.

When the time arrived, Professor Li would split the research into two parts and submit two conclusion reports. One would be the vertical process of the research and the other would be about the horizontal process of the research.

In addition to the published theses, the two patents should belong to Zhongshan New Materials.

Next was to submit the materials used and receive the fund settlement statement, project research reimbursement, and then they should wait for the feedback from the project authorities…

However, Lu Zhou did not have to worry about these complicated things. There were designated people in the lab who were responsible for this type of thing.

Lu Zhou leaned against his chair and took a deep breath.

This torturous research finally came to an end.

However, he felt an inexplicable sense of being lost.

It was like a large stone was lifted off his chest, but he missed the pressure of the stone.

When Lu Zhou looked at the thesis again, he was surprised to find his name in the list of authors.

Obviously, his contribution to the thesis was recognized by all of the project members. Even if he had never seen the old campus laboratory, he still received a high degree of evaluation.

He loosened his fist and suddenly shook his head. He then started to stare at the computer screen.

"My battle isn't over yet… I still have an SCI thesis left!"

The last step!

He opened a word document and his fingers danced on the keyboard.

[Fourier FTIR Spectroscopy Analysis and Mathematical Method for the Effect of Carbon Nanotube Materials on Cement Early Age Hydration Reaction

[Abstract: The hydration process of Portland cement and its carbon nanotube modified samples at an early age was characterized by FTIR. Through mathematical methods such as functional analysis, mathematical models were established. It was concluded that CNTs material did not affect the hydration reaction in early stage when they were mixed with Portland cement.

[Introduction…]

…

Lu Zhou spent the entire day typing up the thesis. When he finally finished it, he brought it to the lab. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Once he entered the lab, it was like Brother Qian had gone crazy. He hugged Lu Zhou and shouted excitedly, "We did it! Lu Zhou, we did it!"

"Okay, okay. I know, I know!"

Finally, Liu Bo was able to get rid of Brother Qian's hug. However, Liu Bo then smiled and walked over with his arms open. Luckily, Lu Zhou managed to dodge and escape.

Professor Li Rongen stood aside with a smile and looked at the group of young people.

He waited for the excitement to end before he spoke.

"You finished the thesis?"

"Finished."

Lu Zhou took out the USB but was rejected by Professor Li.

"You don't have to show it to me. I've already read the first draft you gave me and there are no problems in it. You did all of the research by yourself, so publish it in your own name."

"How can I do that, the data…"

Professor Li smiled and said, "Then write Liu Bo and Qian Zhongming name on it. The Fourier infrared spectrum data was collected by them. Or you can add my name to the fourth place. It doesn't matter for me. Anyway, what I hope is that you can become my graduate student."

Embarrassed, Lu Zhou smiled and did not answer.

This was difficult to answer.

It was not that he disliked Professor Li. The main reason was that he did not think about which direction he wanted to study in the future.

Professor Li smiled and changed the subject, "Computational materials calculation is an emerging interdisciplinary field. The general material science journals are not strong in reviewing this field. My suggestion is that you can choose the foreign Computational Materials Science submission. Although the impact factor I saw last time seems to be only 2.2, the influence of a journal cannot be measured by the impact factor alone."

"As for the signature of the paper, just write your own name. You don't have to take care of me. I published five theses in one field with the help of my team, what's one more?"

Professor Li was not bragging when he said this. His team was well funded and their research ability was strong. Averaging at least 10 theses per year.

Professor Li never cared too much about the author name placements for theses.

As for the fourth author…

The domestic academic environment was different than in foreign countries. Only the first author mattered. Second and third name placement might be meaningful for master's students, but for a professor like him, it was of no use.

The professor cared only about practical results.

Stuff like patents.

Lu Zhou still wanted to say something but was interrupted by Professor Li.

"Okay, let's stop talking about academics. I booked a few tables at the Zijinshan hotel, I'll drive you guys. We've worked for an entire year, so let's have a feast tonight. Your travel expenses from now on will be reimbursed!"

Liu Bo, "Professor Li, thank you! So generous!"

Brother Qian also shouted some words.

A smile appeared on Lu Zhou's face, but his expression was slightly weird.

Wait a minute…

Isn't the Jin Autumn Singing Show tonight?

He promised Shi Shang that he would go and support him.

Emm…

Oh well, I'll ditch him.

For Lu Zhou, eating with professors in a big hotel was a lot more tempting than standing in a school gymnasium.

Chapter 101: A Small Contribution

Just like this, Lu Zhou ditched Shi Shang.

It was around five o'clock in the afternoon when Lu Zhou went into Professor Li's car. They drove for twenty minutes before they arrived at the destination.

The Zijinshan hotel was located on the edge of a mountain and it looked really impressive. The scale and surrounding environment were impeccable. One could easily see the mountain and the parasol forest from the parking lot.

Lu Zhou did not know how many stars the hotel was, but it definitely was worth a few hundred million.

After he got out of professor Li's car, he stood next to his two friends and waited for the opportunity to enter.

Lu Zhou looked at a group of people wearing suits. It was his first time visiting such a luxurious hotel, and he asked, "We really don't have to change clothes?"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "No need, researchers don't have to be so formal. As long as your not wearing slippers… Actually, you can probably wear slippers. At most, Professor Li would criticize you a bit."

Lu Zhou looked at the entrance and said, "Those are the people in the project team?"

Brother Qian Zhongming pushed his glasses and said, "The people wearing casual are, the people in suits aren't. It's easy to spot the distinction."

Lu Zhou asked, "Then who are those people in suits?"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "All types of people. For example, next to Professor Li is Liu Wanshan, Chairman of Zhongshan New Materials. Over there is the general manager of Jin Ling Building Materials, I don't remember his name. Regardless, they're all big names."

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Li's clothes. It was not casual nor formal. It was a kind of business casual.

Emm…

I guess he's somewhere in between?

Lu Zhou could not help but ask, "Why is this upper echelon guy coming to a place like this?"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "Our research project is invested by Zhongshan New Materials. Zhongshan New Materials and Jin Ling Building Materials are partners. Have you heard of the Silk Road strategy?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

He was up to date with the news.

"The two material suppliers have large projects with a total value of more than 2 billion in Pakistan infrastructure projects. Our research on the carbon nanotube modified cement-based composites in corrosion resistance and the mechanical performance test has performed quite well. It probably saved them hundreds of millions of yuan," said Liu Bo with a calm face.

Two billion! Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Lu Zhou was astonished.

He did not realize that his scientific research had such a massive capital impact.

Even though his own contribution to the research project was small, he still contributed!

Lu Zhou was in shock.

This two billion…

It would be nice if I got a cut.

Even if I got 0.25%, it would be enough for me to complete the system mission.

Liu Bo patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and smiled as he said, "Okay, let's stop talking about this, we're researchers. Where do you want to travel?"

Brother Qian replied, "I want to go to Chang'an and look at the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. I can also visit my old classmates."

Liu Bo, "F*ck, what's so good about the mausoleum? How about you go to Southeast Asia with me? Old Li said we still have some research funds left, and we can spend it however we like! What about you, Lu Zhou?"

Lu Zhou said helplessly, "I have exams, I can't leave."

"I almost forgot. You're still studying your bachelor's degree, right? Busy?" asked Liu Bo with a smile. He then said, "How about you just graduate already? What can undergraduate classes teach you? Come to our materials physics lab. Professor Li is very generous."

Lu Zhou coughed softly and said, "I'll think about it."

Soon after, the group of people at the entrance began to enter the hotel.

Liu Bo patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and they walked toward the door.

From the hotel room's second floor, at the second hall, a red carpet paved all the way from the elevator to the hall entrance. It was like a company's annual meeting, but far more extravagant than Professor Li's description.

After they walked into the venue, Professor Li Rongen waved to them and gestured Lu Zhou to come over. He looked at the man next to him and spoke with a smile.

"This is the one I told you, the genius from University of Jin Ling's mathematics department. The one that overcame a world-class mathematics problem. Lu Zhou. He was the one that made our project go so smoothly… Come, Lu Zhou, let me introduce you. This is the chairman of Zhongshan New Materials, Mr. Liu Wanshan."

"Mr. Liu, nice to meet you," greeted Lu Zhou as he politely shook hands with him.

"Nice to meet you. So, you're Lu Zhou. I've read the news articles about you. Even Everyone Daily praised you for your achievements," said Liu Wanshan as he nodded in approval. He then added, "Don't be so nervous. Speaking of which, I'm an alumnus."

Lu Zhou asked in surprise, "Mr. Liu, you're also a graduate of the University of Jin Ling?"

"Department of economics, class of 94," said Liu Wanshan with a smile. He then added, "Speaking of which, I still remember Old Tang's advanced algebra classes."

Class of 94!

Lu Zhou calculated. This guy was at least 20 years older than him.

I didn't know that Old Tang has been teaching mathematics for more than 20 years!

Since he was an alumnus, they had lots to talk about. Furthermore, Liu Wanshan was also an interesting person.

Even though he had a beer belly, wore a gold watch, and had an angry look on his face, when Lu Zhou talked with Liu Wanshan he found out that he is actually a very cultured person.

At least, his attitude was respectful. In other words, he did not act like a billionaire chairman at all. Lu Zhou was surprised that he could actually have a conversation with him.

However, the pleasant conversation did not last long.

Soon, Lu Zhou hated the topic of conversation.

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I heard Professor Li talking about some entrepreneurship project you're doing recently? Called Campus Train or something?"

Technically, it was already called Campus Assistant, but they had not released the update yet, so the app name had not been changed.

Lu Zhou had a weird expression as he nodded and said, "Yeah."

Liu Wanshan smiled and asked, "How is it going?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Can we not talk about this?

His twelve workers became seven. He only had one programmer left to write the code, and they were far from releasing the update…

Even though Lu Zhou wanted to curse, he had a smile on his face as he said, "It's okay, the users have grown to one million. According to the feedback, our ticket booking system is working very well."

As for the three-digit DAU 1 and shrinking loan…

What is that?

Don't know, don't know.

"A million sign-ups? Not bad," said Liu Wanshan as he looked at Lu with surprise. He then asked, "Have you gotten any angel financing yet?"

"Not yet, but we are in contact with a few investors. Should be soon," answered Lu Zhou perfunctorily.

Fat Wu and Yuan Liwei had been carrying the PowerPoint presentation and attending meetings for almost half a month, but they had not yet gotten any results.

Honestly, Lu Zhou was almost ready to give up on this startup.

He just wrote this app as a practice, but he had no idea that it was going to be so troublesome.

Liu Wanshan raised his eyebrows and asked, "How much do you intend to raise?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Around 2 million."

Liu Wanshan nodded and said, "2 million, isn't it a bit small? I know a few VC friends. They don't even bother with 2 million deals. Their minimum investment is 5-6 million."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "2 million in angel financing is enough. Our advertising costs are like 200k per month, and we've reduced other operating costs to a minimum. I'll go through a series after our user downloads reach 2 million. After that, we'll raise a higher amount."

"Not bad, I guess you already have a plan in your mind," said Liu Wanshan as he smiled and nodded his head. He thought for a second before saying, "Okay, I'll invest 5 million."

"…"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Huh? Did I hear you wrong? Daily Active Users

Chapter 102: Investing Five Million

"… I'll try and invest five million first."

When he said those words, his tone was so casual as if he was buying a bicycle.

This was the first time that Lu Zhou had met such a wayward investor.

He did not look at bullet points or PowerPoint nor did he even asked for the business model. Without even flinching, he opened with five million straight away…

The things that Mrs. Yang taught Lu Zhou did not come in handy.

Poverty once again limited his imagination.

Liu Wanshan was a busy person, and he did not like to waste even a single day. He casually asked his secretary to come over, took Lu Zhou to the hotel manager's office, and printed a contract.

There were templates for these types of contract, so he only had to modify the template.

According to the agreement between Chairman Liu and Lu Zhou, Zhongshan New Materials would finance 5 million yuan and obtain a 20% stake in Campus Assistant.

Of course, the five million would not be given all at once.

According to general financing practice, the two parties would first sign an equity transfer agreement, and then the first batch of 500,000 yuan would be sent to the Campus Assistant's account. After that, 500,000 yuan would be paid at the beginning of each month, for 10 months.

This type of financing method was to protect the rights and interests of investors and to prevent entrepreneurs from abusing the funds or causing any legal problems due to extreme behavior.

However, if the investor refused to fulfill the financing agreement and delayed the payment for more than one month, a so-called "divestment" occurred. The equity held by the investor would be recovered. As for the money already invested, it would depend on the startup's ability to pay.

Of course, this type of things usually would not happen.

The letter of intent was signed immediately. The specific agreement on equity and financing would be completed in three days. When the time arrived, Zhongshan New Materials would send someone to the university to sign the contract. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Just like this, the investment letter of intent worth 5 million was signed.

Lu Zhou counted. It did not even take him an hour…

As the money was wired from a VIP channel, he quickly received a message from ICBC.

500k yuan total.

Lu Zhou placed the pen on the table. He was confused and asked, "Don't you want to look at our business plan?"

Liu Wanshan smiled and waved his head, "What's the point of that? Bullet points? Powerpoint? Those are all for fooling people. I don't invest in businesses, I invest in people. I think you're talented and worthy of my investment. Even if I made a mistake, I would lose what, a car's worth of money?"

Lu Zhou was completely speechless.

Maybe, this is what rich people are like?

He thought about that half a month where Fat Wu and Yuan Liwei were struggling and failing to get 2 million. And now, he chatted a few words and secured five million…

Suddenly, there was an indescribable pleasant feeling blooming in his heart.

Liu Wanshan talked a bit more with Professor Li before he left. After all, he had other important people to talk to.

Professor Li looked at Lu Zhou who was immersed in the knowledge of the five million yuan worth of investment and he asked, "What, surprised?"

Lu Zhou nodded slowly.

"It's just five million, what's so surprising?" said Professor Li Rongen with a smile. He then added, "If you help me with a couple of projects, I could even help you with Series A funding."

Professor Li looked at Lu Zhou's face of disbelief and did not say anything. Instead, he merely smiled and walked away.

Even though the tables were filled with delicious food, Lu Zhou was unable to taste anything.

The year-long research had finally produced results, and everyone was very happy. Research, entrepreneurs, company executives, and everyone was having a great time as they congratulated each other.

Lu Zhou was forced by some researchers to drink. After a few rounds, he was already drunk.

Lu Zhou had always thought that he could manage his alcohol pretty well. He would always drink with his roommates, which made him think that he could drink.

Fortunately, it was not him that collapsed first.

The red-faced Brother Qian collapsed on the table.

Everyone finally slowed down on the drinking.

They ate until eight o'clock before leaving.

After they left, Chairman Liu called two drivers and sent Lu Zhou back to campus.

Liu Bo said goodbye to Lu Zhou before he carried the drunk Brother Qian to his graduate dorm.

As Lu Zhou walked alone on a path covered with sycamore trees, he felt the cold winds blowing by and he could hear singing coming from the gymnasium.

He stood under the parasol tree and shook his head before he took out his phone. He then called Fat Wu.

"Hello? What's up?"

The voice from the phone was noisy like he was in a subway station.

Speaking of which, Wu Dahai and the managers were working their as*es off for the startup, yet Lu Zhou was doing his science research project, not contributing at all.

However…

It seemed that Lu Zhou was the MVP.

"It's done."

When Fat Wu heard Lu Zhou's words, he asked, "What's done?"

"Financing, Zhongshan New Materials invested 5 million."

The other end of the phone went dead silent.

After a while, Fat Wu coughed and spoke.

"How much? I didn't hear you."

"Five million."

Fat Wu took a deep breath.

Five million!

Five million in angel financing!

According to their original plan, they were happy to get two million in angel financing. With 200k per month for promotions, they would have a six-month runway and get six million users. Then they could do another round of financing…

However, they got five million just from one angel found.

Lu Zhou coughed and broke the silence, "Say something, it's awkward that you're not saying anything."

Fat Wu leaned against the pillar in the subway station. His fingers were trembling with excitement, and he was about to take out a cigarette when he noticed the no smoking sign. With a smile, he said, "Say what? I don't want to say anything, I just want to smoke in silence."

Lu Zhou asked, "What about Yuan Liwei?"

Fat Wu, "I split up with him, he should be out right now… I'll call him and tell him to go back to campus. Oh yeah, did you sign the contract? Or just the letter of intent?"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, "Just the letter of intent, but the other party is sincere. I already got a 500,000 yuan advance payment. The contract will be signed in three days. Let's have a meeting tomorrow night. Go and book a classroom."

Fat Wu controlled his breathing and said, "Okay, would you like me to message them at the chat group?"

"Let me tell them," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a second before saying, "A phone call looks more official."

Lu Zhou took the investment letter of intent and went straight to his dorm. He then called Yuan Liwei, Rong Hai, and all the other club members. He also told them of the meeting tomorrow.

Five million investment.

What did it mean for a bunch of entrepreneurial students?

It meant the whole world…

In some sense, Lu Zhou felt like he changed the lives of eight people.

He did not know if this was a good thing. If it was not for him, those people would have had a completely different life.

He knew that a lot of people would not be able to fall asleep tonight.

Chapter 103: Washing His Face Did Not Do Anything

The dorm was empty, and Liu Rui and Huang Guangming were singing their heads off in the gymnasium.

Lu Zhou climbed in bed and went into the system space.

The mathematics award was nowhere in sight, but he since he had already signed the letter of intent, at least mission two was in the bag.

[Chosen Mission Two: Start your career]

The moment that Lu Zhou chose Mission Two, a notification popped up.

[Congratulations user for completing the mission!]

[Mission completion details is as follows: Total assets reach five million yuan. Mission evaluation: B]

[Mission reward: 5000 experience points toward any subjects. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 10% sample)]

Lu Zhou looked at the mission completion notification and sighed in relief.

Turned out he guessed correctly.

The asset that the system mentioned was not the amount in his bank account. Although the five million investment from Zhongshan New Materials for the Campus Assistant was not in Lu Zhou's account yet, the two parties had signed a letter of intent for cooperation and paid 500,000 yuan in advance. The transaction had been deemed to have been established. The money could be considered to have been obtained.

Although Fat Wu had a 5% stake on the contract, it had not been transferred yet, so Lu Zhou's stake was still 80%. The net value of Campus Assistant was five million, and 80% of that was four million.

Actually, he had to minus the debt to get the true net asset. However, since he earned some money from working and the money from the Higher Education Society Cup, he had enough to offset this debt.

Plus, since he received a million for Zhou's conjecture, he had just enough to meet the mission requirements.

However, the system's evaluation was B.

As for the reason, he was unsure.

Lu Zhou was sad to see Mission Three go, but he turned to look at his characteristic panel.

His mathematics level was already at Level 2. He just needed fifty thousand more for the next level. If he threw in the five thousand experience points he just got, it would not make a difference. There were three rows of zeros sitting on his characteristic panel, and it looked kind of embarrassing.

Also, he suspected that the blueprints that he obtained from the lucky draw were related to the core science levels.

He had to adhere to the principle of balanced learning, so Lu Zhou divided 3000 experience into biochemistry, materials science, and energy science. His decision upgraded all of them from Level 0 to Level 1.

As for the remaining 2000 experience points, he allocated them all into the information science branch.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 2 (2000/50000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (2100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (0/10000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (0/10000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2600/10000)

General points: 1475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Lu Zhou checked his updated characteristic panel before he exited the system space.

Next was the lucky draw.

However, before the lucky draw, he decided to wash his face.

…

However…

Washing his face did not seem to help much.

Lu Zhou looked at the can like object in the semi-transparent information screen. He could not help but kick the prize wheel.

F*ck sake!

I got a can of sprite this time!

I'm so angry!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and calmed himself down before he opened the mission panel from the information screen.

The three missions popped up in the center of the semi-transparent information screen.

[

Mission 1: Start your career.

Description: Capital is the torch that illuminates technological advancement. Angel financing is just the beginning, and there are rounds of ABCD financing waiting for the user. Work hard toward technology that will take over the globe. You will become the ultimate entrepreneur. You will monopolize the future of civilization. The whole planet will become your playground. And now, what you need to do is to leave the novice village…

Requirements: Start Series A of financing (minimum 20 million yuan. Final evaluation is determined by the amount of investment)

Reward: 1???? experience points toward any subjects. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 10% blueprint)

]

[

Mission 2: Librarian is a great profession

Description: Textbooks are the source of knowledge.

Requirements: Become a librarian

Reward: 5000 experience points toward any subjects. 200 general points. One lucky draw ticket (95% garbage, 5% blueprint).

]

[

Mission 3: The road to scientific research:

Description: The academic road of research is long. It requires thinking and hard work. There is no shortcut.

Requirements: Complete a scientific research project without using general points. Come up with at least one patent. (If a number of patents are generated, the patent in which the user has the most involvement with will be selected)]

Reward: Experience points are determined by the value of patent and research. 500 general points. 24 hours of inspiration time (can be used at any time)]

]

"…"

Lu Zhou wondered if the missions had a connection between them. For example, "Mission One" was obviously connected to his last mission. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

If five million yuan corresponded to 5000 experience points, do 10 million yuan correspond to 10,000 experience points? It seems like a good deal if I can get billions of investments…

Okay, that's not realistic.

As for Mission Two, Lu Zhou was scared that he was going to get baited by the seemingly easy mission. If he became a librarian, he might receive unforeseen consequences.

Lu Zhou looked at the rewards for Mission Two. It was too low for him so he ignored it.

As for Mission Three…

Lu Zhou looked at the reward and was shocked.

What is inspiration hours?

He remembered that he received immersive learning hours before, but he did not know what it did. The system did not give any explanations about the inspiration hours.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission description.

The mission requirements were pretty easy. There were no rigid requirements for a specific scientific research field. Instead, he just had to create a patent.

Carefully recalled that when he wrote his last thesis, he did not use general points.

Professor Li Rongen had recently submitted the final report and there was still a long time until the conclusion report. He did not know if this could count toward his mission.

If it did not, it would be a bit of a hassle…

Lu Zhou thought for a long time. Finally, he chose the most cost-effective Mission Three.

It was not just because of the mission's flexibility, he was also curious what the "inspiration hours" would do.

If Professor Li Rongen's project did not count, then he would just have to find another research team to join.

He believed that with his abilities, he would be able to find a good research team.

Even if he could not find one, he could just apply for a research project himself, right?

Chapter 104: The Expected Ending

Lu Zhou accepted the mission before he left the system space. He then opened his computer and logged onto the website of Computational Materials Science.

After all, this was not his first time submitting a thesis. So, he swiftly filled in his personal data and uploaded his thesis.

At this moment, the dorm door was pushed open.

Shi Shang was carrying a guitar and flowers as he walked in confidently.

Once Lu Zhou uploaded his thesis, he was about to ask how Shi Shang's singing went, but Liu Rui suddenly entered the dorm and shouted excitedly.

"F*ck, Zhou, Shi Shang was really nutty today!"

Huang Guangming came in last. He was smirking as he said slyly, "Can't believe someone would give this ugly ass flowers."

"Hey, what did you just say!" said Shi Shang unhappily. He slammed his fist down on the table and said, "I'll sit under your bed tonight, and play the guitar all night!"

"Brother, I was wrong, forgive me!"

"Shi Shang, forgive me!"

"Please!"

"Fine, fine," said Shi Shang as he rubbed his nose. He then placed the flowers in a toothbrush cup. Lu Zhou wanted to capture Shi Shang's face and give it to Xiao Ai as an expression emoji.

Everyone knew what was going on.

The girl that gave him flowers was probably a newcomer to the guitar club, and she had probably been flirting with him since long ago.

However, since Shi Shang did not talk about it, so no one talked about it either.

As if they were jealous.

Fine, when Lu Zhou thought about it, he was still pretty jealous.

He was not jealous of someone crushing on him, or the singing crowd.

Just what…

Since he was horrible at singing, Lu Zhou was jealous of anyone that could sing.

Shi Shang paused for a second and changed his tone before he said slowly, "I've said it when we first entered this dorm, don't forget the people that started from the bottom with you. If I get a girlfriend, my first job is to find girlfriends for you guys!"

Liu Rui raised his hand, "Dorm leader, how do you plan on doing that?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Shi Shang said, "I'll make friends with the female dorms!"

"Nice nice."

"Nutty nutty."

Like this, Shi Shang talked sh*t until midnight.

In the end, Lu Zhou barely even listened properly.

Once he uploaded the thesis, he prepared the PowerPoint for tomorrow's meeting. It was already one o'clock in the morning when he put his laptop aside.

Lu Zhou was about to go to sleep when he suddenly remembered something. He opened his WeChat and went to his friends' news feed.

The latest post on his news feed was from three hours ago, and it was from Shi Shang.

It was only one sentence.

It basically said, "Oh, I got confessed to again. Sorry, you're a nice person."

Lu Zhou sighed after he read this.

This ending was expected.

He felt bad for this honest boy…

…

The next day at Building A, activity room…

In the meeting, Lu Zhou fulfilled his promise. He took 20% of his shares and distributed it to his entrepreneurial partners.

In addition to the 5% promised to Fat Wu, Yuan Liwei and Rong Hai also each got 5%. As for the remaining 5%, they were distributed to the remaining five people.

The 500,000 yuan advance payment had already been paid. They could use this money to rent office space, hire programmers, upgrade servers…

Campus Assistant Club would further expand now.

Next was the personnel arrangement.

The technical manager was still Rong Hai. However, Lu Zhou learned from other startups and changed his title to technical director, or CTO, which sounded better.

In the same manner, he also changed the general manager title to CEO.

What was surprising was that everyone thought Lu Zhou would appoint Wu Dahai as CEO, but instead he appointed Yuan Liwei.

Everyone was slightly surprised when they hear Yuan Liwei's position.

Of course, this business school genius was only surprised for a second, but he quickly restored his calm.

Indeed, this was the most sensible choice.

The equity allocation and personnel appointments were over. From now on, things would be different. Not only were they members of the Campus Assistant Club or just a part of the entrepreneurial team, but they were also the shareholders of Campus Assistant. The future development of Campus Assistant would be closely related to their own interests.

Before the project went profitable or received its Series A financing, the salaries of all the workers were only a symbolic yuan. No one could sell their shares within three years.

Lastly, in order to prevent loss of equity due to personnel changes, Lu Zhou made a special provision.

If someone left the team in the future, the board would start a voting process. When the number of votes was greater than two-thirds, the company would be able to purchase shares from the other party at the most recent financing price. The company would be able to deposit the shares in the equity pool for rewards to other executives.

This was also a way to avoid the possibility of competitors buying shares at a premium.

Once everyone left after the meeting, Lu Zhou found Wu Dahai and talked about his job title.

Lu said, "I've two options here for you, one is personnel director…"

Wu Dahai asked, "What's the other one?"

Lu Zhou said, "Executive Vice President."

Wu Dahai held his breath.

This position was similar to the chairman. The difference was that the chairman was usually the largest shareholder, but the board members were selected by the executive vice president. In terms of power, there was not much difference between the two.

Fat Wu went silent for about a minute. He did not make a choice, but instead, he asked, "What about you?"

Me?

Lu Zhou laughed.

He actually thought about this decision a long time ago, even before he decided to give 20% equity to his other entrepreneurial partners.

Yuan Liwei would be CEO, responsible for the company's specific operations. Fat Wu would be the executive vice president who would be responsible for coordinating the relationship between shareholders and to make decisions on behalf of the board while being in line with the common interest of shareholders.

With these two big positions, as long as they did not have any conflicts, the entrepreneurial team could survive without their founder.

In fact, this might even be better?

Rather than the management of a business, Lu Zhou felt that his ability was more suitable for scientific research.

Although entrepreneurship sounded interesting, a person's energy was limited. He had to use his limited energy in meaningful places. This was why Lu Zhou did not choose Mission One and chose Mission Three instead.

Lu Zhou thought for a long time and felt like the title of the "large shareholder" was more suitable for himself.

If in the future, he needed money for research, he could still sell his shares.

The best would be for Fat Wu to lead Campus Assistant and make the company go public.

Of course, this was just a wish.

All Lu Zhou could do was to send Fat Wu to the racing line.

"I want to continue my studies," answered Lu Zhou.

After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, "The stage for you is already built, that's all I can do. Campus Assistant's future depends on you."

Fat Wu was dumbfounded after he heard Lu Zhou.

What kind of management chose to leave the company at its early stages?

Even though Wu Dahai was a pretty good second-in-command…

"Still studying! You're already a millionaire! Can you make us go public by studying!" said Fat Wu with a smile.

He also wanted to add, "You're learning the mathematics of all things."

Lu Zhou looked at Fat Wu and sighed.

Why are you exaggerating?

We just got angel financing, and you're already talking about going public.

There were millions of companies that could not get financing and millions more that could get financing. The ones that could go public were literally one in a million. They would be lucky to get Series B financing.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nope, studying won't make us go public."

Fat Wu slapped his thigh and said, "That's what I'm saying!"

"But," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a second before saying, "One day I'll be so nutty that others will beg me to go public…"

Fat guy Wu: "…"

Why is he so cocky?

He just wanted to say "f*ck you".

Chapter 105: The Saddest Thing In Life...

Wei Feng could not sleep last night. The meeting today made him so excited that he forgot what was going on.

In the meeting, Club President Lu Zhou announced the news of financing. Not only that, but he also fulfilled his previous promise of equity.

From today, Wei Feng would be one of the shareholders of Campus Assistant. Even though he only had 1.3% equity, it still made him proud and excited.

His month long of persistence and trust was not for nothing.

When he went back to his dorm, his roommates were playing video games.

His friends saw him come back and they smiled as they asked, "Brother Feng, where did you go? Why aren't you playing with us?"

"I had a club meeting, you guys play. I still have some stuff to do," said Wei Feng with a smile. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

He learned more in the past month than his last semester. He could not learn those valuable software development skills in class.

Not only this, their entrepreneurial team had geniuses from each department. He felt like he lacked strength. He was the only programmer other than Rong Hai that did not leave. Otherwise, he would have never gotten the role of deputy technical manager.

It was like this 1.3% stake lit his ass on fire, forcing him to run forward.

Earlier, he went to the library and borrowed two books that Rong Hai told him to read. When he came back, he decided to use his spare time to learn some advanced algorithms.

Even though he was not particularly talented, he knew that if he worked hard, he could catch up to other people.

"Another meeting? I told you, the club is a waste of time," said Li Ruizhe while clicking on the mouse.

Even though Li Ruizhe was from another dorm, he would move his laptop to this dorm to play video games.

Wei Feng was unhappy when he heard him, and he said, "It's not a waste of time. I feel quite fulfilled in the club."

Normally, Li Ruizhe would let this go.

But today, he could not pretend like he did not hear anything.

Li Ruizhe smiled and said arrogantly, "Oh, is it not a waste of time? Fat Wu pretends to be nice, but he's just a sleazy salesman. He talks about deals with you all day, but did you get anything practical? Also, the founder is even worse. I'll admit that he's good at mathematics, but what management skills does he have? What kind of leader is he? And Yuan Liwei…"

Wei Feng smiled and said, "Practical? Does equity counts as practical?"

Li Ruizhe was about to activate his ultimate ability, but his finger slipped and almost pressed flash.

He was proven wrong.

This was awkward.

Li Ruizhe snorted and said, "Share? Did he promise you some more shares? He's just scamming you."

Wei Feng deliberately said, "He's not scamming me. He gave me the shares today. The contract is right here. Do you want to see it?"

The other roommates were interested and they interjected in surprise.

"F*ck me, Brother Feng, you're nutty."

"Nutty, nutty. I'll have to call you chairman from now on."

Wei Feng blushed and said, "What chairman, I'm just a worker. 1.3% equity."

"1.3% is pretty good! Jack Ma only has 8%"

"Yeah, yeah. Not bad at all. Buy us food."

The last sentence was an important one.

They did not care about the shares. Who would know if the tiny company would actually pay dividends? They cared only about the food.

Of course, one person cared.

Li Ruizhe had not expected that within half a month of him leaving, everyone that stayed would be given shares. He suddenly felt lost and distorted.

Of course, he was also jealous.

However, he did not show it on his face.

Li Ruizhe looked at Wei Feng's smug face and said, "It's just a startup company. It's all debt. What's the point of equity? It's not like they're paying you. You're working for them for free."

Wei Feng laughed and did not say anything.

If Li Ruizhe knew that Campus Assistant just received a five million yuan financing round, he would go crazy. Wei Feng did not want to waste time with him as he had more productive things to do.

He did not mention the financing round at all.

…

Early morning in December…

A WeChat marketing account called "Chicken Wen" scrolled through his news feed.

[From a debt of $500,000 to receive financing of five million yuan, this is a story about a guy the same age as you…]

There were quite a few articles with similar titles.

This was a premeditated promotion, and the impetuous atmosphere was spreading.

At the same time, the name of Campus Assistant was also being marketed.

All of this marketing was planned by Yuan Liwei with the marketing budget of $400,000 total.

This business genius that won the Internet Innovation Design Competition, was indeed pretty good at managing businesses. He had already learned the in and outs of we-media marketing.

Judging by the users' feedback, the marketing could be said to be quite successful. The results that were achieved far exceeded the $400,000 budget. It already passed the "Super Class Schedule" app.

At the same time, Campus Assistant used this popularity to launch the update. Version 1.0 was officially named Campus Assistant. All of the previous Campus Assistant functions were ported onto the Campus Assistant app.

It would soon be January, the back-to-school season. Campus Assistant would be more popular than Campus Train.

Due to this, Yuan Liwei was full of confidence.

Lu Zhou gave the title of the president of the club to Fat Wu and he himself retired from management. He cooperated with the CEO and posted a blog on CEO Lu Zhou's Weibo account, which had more than 300,000 followers.

It was not a blog, but more of an advertisement.

[Campus Assistant 1.0, go check it out (dog)]

Although this time it did not go on trending, Lu Zhou saw the comment section blow up.

[Why? Isn't Campus Train dead? Why is it alive now? (tears)(tears)]

[Please, genius, go research your mathematics! (tears) (tears)]

[Male god!!! Do you still need a girlfriend?]

[Oh my god, the genius was followed by Miss Ji!]

[The saddest thing in life is watching others show off their wealth. This genius is talented, has money, has love. I just want to smoke a cigarette in peace.]

[Wasn't there a guy that bet CEO Lu would never raise a million? The million is now five million. (dog)]

[This guy studies mathematics, solved a world-class mathematics problem. Wrote a program, raised a few million… (tears)]

[I think I went to a fake university.]

Lu Zhou looked at the comments and was a little worried for his fans.

He thought about it and decided that being bragged to like this was not easy.

However, they still followed him despite the bragging, so they must really love him.

Lu Zhou did not say anything and turned off his phone.

He put his blanket over his head and he nearly laughed out loud…

Chapter 106: Interesting

In the reply email, a comment by the reviewer, Moungi Bawendi, was attached. It only contained one word. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Interesting? Is that good or not, at least give me an evaluation."

"Why is his reply so simple?"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

He was curious, so he turned on his VPN and used Google to search "Mr. Bawendi".

When he saw the search results, he was shocked.

The f*ck, he's a professor from MIT! Quantum dot technology and the field of nanomaterials research! Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize winner!

What a guy.

Too good, too good…

Lu Zhou chatted for a bit with Xiao Ai and saw that it was getting late, so he turned off his laptop before going to sleep.

Shi Shang who was playing with his phone in bed suddenly said, "I got a girlfriend."

The dorm went quiet for a second.

Then, Liu Rui started to snore.

Lu Zhou was wondering if he should wake up his friend. However, the quiet Huang Guangming suddenly spoke up.

"Which one in our class?"

Shi Shang, "F*ck off!"

F*ck sake!

Our class is all male!

The snoring Liu Rui suddenly laughed and nearly choked himself in the process.

He was pretty good at acting as if he was asleep. He nearly fooled Lu Zhou, but his laugh was too loud.

Huang Guangming coughed and said, "Let me ask you something… Shi Shang, what department is she?"

Shi Shang said, "Foreign languages department."

Huang Guangming said with a surprised tone, "Oh my god, the one that gave you flowers at the Jin Autumn Singing Show? Nice!"

Shi Shang rubbed his nose and smiled smugly, "She's pretty, right?"

"Sure sure… Remember our agreement! Group date!" laughed Huang Guangming as he slapped his legs.

Liu Rui could not pretend to be asleep anymore, and he said, "Yeah remember!"

Lu Zhou smiled but did not say anything.

Ahh, what a bunch of animals.

If I really take these animals on a group date, they'd be so embarrassing.

I know these guys too well!

"Let's wait until next year when school starts. Exams are coming soon. I promise you, I'll get you guys a group date within the first two weeks of next semester. I'm not lying," said Shi Shang.

Liu Rui, "Nice!"

Huang Guangming, "Nice, Shi Shang you're generous. Zhou got a girlfriend and didn't even help us."

Lu Zhou was unhappy.

Why am I getting blamed?

He argued, "What do you mean I got a girlfriend? When did I do that?"

Shi Shang, "Shut up. Are you going on the group date or not?"

Lu Zhou, "Go, of course, I'm going!"

Lu Zhou immediately regretted his reply.

Eating with a bunch of strangers?

Singing karaoke and playing board games?

Sounds so difficult…

What if…

I cancel when the time comes?

…

Computational material was an emerging field, which meant that it was unpopular.

Unlike the sensational mathematics thesis, this thesis about "CNTs material on the hydration reaction of cement in its early age" did not attract any media attention at all.

However, what the outsiders did not know was that it received widespread attention from insiders.

The reason for this was not because of the "effect of CNTs on cement" itself as not a lot of people studied cement materials. What really inspired those in the industry to rethink the thesis was the mathematical methods and the mathematical models used by Lu Zhou. It provided new methods for computational chemistry.

This was the reason why Bawendi gave his thesis an "interesting" evaluation.

As time went by, the exams were getting closer and closer. Dorm 201 stopped playing League of Legends, and even Huang Guangming picked up his textbook and started to study at the library.

Lu Zhou already knew all of the content in the textbooks, so he was not pressured by the exams at all.

Usually, he would go to the library and read some books, or download some foreign MOOC, or practice translating his thesis. He found out that this type of studying not only increased his knowledge but at the same time, it also increased his English level.

As for Sunday, Lu Zhou still tutored Han Mengqi. His brain that was filled with complex problems felt good when he switched to simpler problems once in a while. He also felt pretty accomplished by growing the dumb student into a genius.

Under Lu Zhou's tutoring, Han Mengqi's monthly test scores had been increasing steadily. His hourly pay went from 200 yuan per hour to 500 yuan per hour. In one afternoon, he earned 2,500 yuan.

However, it was all secondary as Lu Zhou thought about how much he changed over the past year.

As expected, knowledge was powerful.

He had not even left the university, and already had a "six-figure salary" from tutoring. Not mentioning all his scholarships and award, he was already a millionaire. Although he did not have enough to buy a house outright, it was definitely enough for a down payment.

Lu Zhou had not even received the experience points before he started to plan how he was going to spend them.

The theses he downloaded were not just mathematics, it also included physics, chemistry, materials science, etc. On the one hand, it was to expand his knowledge, on the other hand, he wanted to learn about the popular research projects.

Liu Rui was probably motivated by Lu Zhou, so he also asked for a copy of Lu Zhou's theses.

Lu Zhou did not want to destroy Liu Rui's motivation, so he sent Liu Rui a digital copy.

Then…

Liu Rui had a confused expression when he opened the theses.

He then quietly closed the PDF software and pretended as if nothing had happened. He took out his physics textbook and began to contemplate on his life.

Lu Zhou did not know if Liu Rui managed to finish reading the theses. He just knew that Liu Rui seemed a little unhappy these days…

Chapter 107: Winner Takes All

Time passed by quickly, and soon, it was already mid-December. Various subjects' final exams flocked toward students. Even the lazy students started to study under the pressure of the exams. They borrowed notes and downloaded Powerpoint slides while they prayed to do well.

Both the dumb students and geniuses were the busiest during this period.

Especially those in the mathematics majors, they even started to dream of mathematics.

This was why they said…

"If you chose a good major, your exams will put you in endangerment."

The exams came at last.

The first was the ordinary differential equation exam like the class taught by Liu Xiangping.

Judging from the topics in the last few lectures, everyone guessed that this exam was not going to be easy.

However, Lu Zhou did not worry too much.

He studied throughout the semester, and he was confident in his own mathematics abilities. He walked into the exam room and did the exam in just half an hour.

Originally, Lu Zhou thought that Professor Liu Xiangping would deliberately give him a difficult problem to solve. However, he was surprised to see that the exam only consisted of basic questions. Anyone that paid attention in class could have done well on the exam.

He studied the entire textbook, so it was extra easy for him.

Maybe…

The professor wanted us to have a pleasant new year?

After Lu Zhou left the exam room, he was about to go to the library. However, he had not walked far from the exam room when he bumped into Professor Liu.

Lu Zhou looked at the badges of the two master's students behind the professor and knew that the two students were exam room inspectors. Why was the professor here? Usually, master's students were responsible for exam room inspection.

It was not like Professor Liu to be this responsible.

"Oh, you already finished? Don't you want to double-check?" asked Professor Liu as he smiled and looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed and he answered, "Those were all basic questions, nothing to double-check."

"Oh, basic?" asked Professor Liu. He smiled and said, "Okay, I'll personally mark your paper. If you don't get full marks, I'll deduct the 20% class attendance marks."

Lu Zhou was hysterical and he thought, "How do you still remember this? This was from the start of the semester."

However, he was not too worried about it. He was able to solve a world-class conjecture, there was no way he could make a mistake on such an easy exam.

"Okay, okay. I can't talk for long, I still have some stuff to do for the head of the department. He asked for you to go to the lab," said Professor Liu. He then paused for a second before saying, "Not bad, young man. You're already doing scientific research projects."

"I'm just helping," said Lu Zhou as he smiled modestly.

"Fine, fine. Stop acting humble. I knew that you were fit for scientific research from the performance of your mathematical modeling competition. I read your recent thesis, and it's interesting. Using mathematical tools to solve scientific problems is one of the criteria I have for my master's students. Not many people meet this criterion."

Professor Liu smiled and continued, "How about you just graduate in advance and come to study under my wing? Your level is high enough for PhD. How about you think about it?"

"This… Sorry, Professor Liu, I can't give you an answer. I still haven't thought about which field I want to get into," said Lu Zhou as he coughed and smiled embarrassingly.

The master's student standing behind the professor had a blank expression on his face. However, deep inside, he was raging. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Why does this professor like you so much? Why can't you just give an answer, asshole!

You know how lucky you are…

He wanted to curse at Lu Zhou.

…

Coincidentally, hundreds of kilometers away in the University of Zhi, a lot of people also wanted to swear.

Yesterday, the research project on carbon nanotube modified cement-based composite materials, conducted by the Institute of Materials Research from Jin Ling University was passed.

20 minutes ago, the project leader Yu Hongkang announced the news. Their research team also studied carbon nanotube modified cement-based composite materials, so it was undoubtedly bad news for them.

This meant that nearly half a year's worth of research was wasted.

Their mechanical tests for the sample was completed. However, now, no one wanted to analyze the Fourier infrared spectral data.

It was because they no longer needed to.

In order to reduce losses, they had to use existing research to find some conclusions.

Professor Yu Hongkang gave everyone on the project team a vacation, but not a single person left the lab.

The guys held their head low, and a guy said, "I'm sorry…"

His name was Wang Che. He was a graduate student from the materials science and engineering school. He had a double bachelor's degrees in applied mathematics and materials chemistry, and he was considered a super genius.

For his master's studies, he chose the more advanced computational material science as his main direction. After entering Yu Hongkang's research team, he quickly obtained the respect of the research group with his mathematical talents.

However, at this crucial moment, he dropped the ball.

Although he also used mathematical tools to analyze the Fourier infrared data, he was blinded by some results. Therefore, he missed the clues that should not be missed… No one blamed him, but he blamed himself.

Professor Yu shook his head and said, "No, this isn't your fault. The University of Jin Ling was ahead of us in this research. Last time, China Advanced Materials Society held an academic exchange meeting in Hangzhou. I met Professor Li Rongen at the meeting and exchanged a few words with him. I had had a bad feeling about this back then."

Now it seemed that his feeling was correct.

Perhaps he should not have competed against the University of Jin Ling. He was not strong in this field.

Did they lose solely because of Wang Che?

Impossible.

All of the good universities had research teams led by top professors, and no one in the team was talentless. This included Wang Che.

If Professor Yu was shown the thesis two months ago, maybe the situation would be different right now?

After all, they got similar data as well. The University of Jin Ling was stronger than them, but not by much. Maybe it could have been them that succeeded…

Yu Hongkang sighed in his heart.

The University of Jin Ling has a genius!

If only this genius was at Zhi University…

Chapter 108: Evil Capitalism

After Lu Zhou left Professor Liu, he walked to the carbon nanotubes institute and found Professor Li Rongen's laboratory.

The two brothers were not here, but Lu Zhou knew from his news feed that they were traveling.

When Professor Li saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and said, "Yesterday afternoon, I received notice from the higher authorities, our conclusion report was passed! I went to the finance department and calculated the leftover research funding. Even though you're not a graduate student, we still have to thank you. We wouldn't have been able to complete this project without your help."

Professor Li pulled out the drawer and took out a note. He then wrote a few lines before he stamped it.

He placed this note on the table and smiled as he said with a relaxed tone, "I don't have much else to give you, so I'll give you this money as a reward. Take this 50,000 yuan."

Lu Zhou had not expected it at all.

As he took the check, he smiled and said, "Thank you, professor!"

50 grand was quite a lot as even the national scholarship was only 8 grand.

The more important part was that the graduate students working for the professor only got five or six hundred a month. Sometimes, the professor would even take this money away for "research funding".

Therefore, Professor Li was considered very generous.

Professor Li smiled and waved his hand as he said, "Don't thank me, I'm the one who is supposed to be thanking you."

The professor cleared his throat and said, "In recent years, the production process of multi-walled carbon nanotube materials has continued to make progress. Prices have fallen more and more while the pace of commercialization is accelerating, especially in the field of composite materials. Although the cost is higher than carbon black, the price/performance ratio is quite good. I talked with the boss of Zhongshan New Materials some time ago, and I feel that there is still a lot of market cap to be taken in this field."

"After the end of the year, I will probably open a research project to do electrode materials research. Are you interested?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "I'll tell you later. I don't know if I have the free time."

He could not make promises for the future. He still had to go to the Princeton mathematics conference in two months. There might be something waiting for him after the conference. Plus, the system might give him some strange missions to do.

Even though he wanted to participate in this kind of research project to boost his academic experience, he decided to wait and consider more carefully.

Professor Li smiled and said, "Okay, I guess I'll ask you when the time comes. Okay, there's nothing for you to do here, go do your own stuff."

With that, Lu Zhou left the lab and went to the library. He opened his laptop and was about to continue to read the thesis when suddenly, he noticed that the guy next to him used the Campus Assistant lock screen feature. Lu Zhou could not help but smile.

It seemed that Yuan Liwei's marketing plan was successful. This was not the first time that Lu Zhou saw someone using his app.

Lu Zhou then opened Baidu and typed in "Campus Assistant" before he clicked search. He wanted to see the download numbers.

However, he saw a news article appearing in his search results.

[Zhongshan New Materials (300XXX) finances Campus Assistant app. Continues to bring "internet" and "campus" to the university market…]

What is this?

Lu Zhou did not know a lot about the securities market. He only knew that he could buy and sell stocks on there.

As he was curious, he opened the article.

[The day before yesterday, Zhongshan New Materials made a major breakthrough in the technology of carbon nanotube modified cement-based composite materials, and successfully registered two patents. This resulted in the stock price rising. There has been a lot of good news recently, Zhongshan New Materials used idle funds to invest in Campus assistant…]

Lu Zhou skipped the long article and went to the end.

Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows.

Oh my, the news just came out, and the stock of Zhongshan New Materials rose by 5.6%! The market cap grew by 300 million!

F*ck me, it's only a five million investment, why has it risen so much?

Lu Zhou thought of the 50,000 yuan cheque that Professor Li gave him and felt ignorant. In comparison, that money he was given was so little. He closed the website and continued to read the thesis. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Capitalism is so evil…

…

While Lu Zhou was reading theses inside the library, a classroom inside the teaching building not far away rang, thus indicating that it was the end of the exam.

Wei Feng checked his name on the exam again before he handed in his advanced algebra paper. He then took his backpack and walked out of the exam room.

He was about to go to the cafeteria when he bumped into Li Ruizhe. Li Ruizhe looked like he was looking for him.

"Umm… Brother Feng, are you free?"

Wei Feng looked at him suspiciously as he asked, "Why?"

Li Ruizhe coughed and said, "Can you do me a favor?"

Just spit it.

Wei Feng said, "Just tell me, if I can help you, I'll help you. If not, there's nothing I can do."

Li Ruizhe smiled awkwardly and said, "The thing is, I thought about it, I think I still need to practice my programming. I shouldn't have left. Do you still need someone in your team? I want to join back…"

Wei Feng smiled and said, "Sure, go to Fat Wu. He's the club president."

Li Ruizhe was anxious, "I asked him, but he didn't agree. How about you help me to persuade him…"

"Sorry, I can't help you with this," said Wei Feng as he interrupted him. He then said, "Don't you remember what you said to me before you left the club? I was trying to convince you not to leave. Why did you leave?"

Wei Feng was speechless.

You were the one that left, you don't deserve to come back.

Campus Assistant received five million in financing round. After the update, the user downloads and DAU numbers were increasing exponentially. Anyone that wanted to join the team had to be truly talented.

If one missed the opportunity, one would not be able to have it again.

Although it was somewhat hurtful to say it, the fact was that Li Ruizhe's strength was not even enough to run errands.

Wei Feng was responsible for the team. He could not just let a talentless kid joined for no reason.

Wei Feng turned around and walked away.

Li Ruizhe was ruthlessly rejected, and he did not speak for a long time.

His face was full of sorrow and jealousy.

Finally, he managed to speak.

"F*ck, what the hell… Just a sh*tty startup, who cares!"

Chapter 109: A Genius Can Never Have Too Many Certificates

Lu Zhou did not stay at the library all night today. He went to eat noodles at the cafeteria before he went back to his dorm.

He had not even entered the dorm when he heard a loud discussion about the exam questions.

However, the second he entered the door, all of the discussion stopped.

There was no choice, a discussion had to be evenly matched. When Lu Zhou walked in, they went silent.

"Oh, you guys can continue, I'm not participating. Just pretend like I'm not here," said Lu Zhou awkwardly.

Shi Shang coughed and said, "Uh, let's change the topic. Zhou, how did you do in the exam yesterday?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second before saying, "I did okay."

When the three animals heard him, they stopped talking about the exam questions. Instead, they all returned to their seats and went on their laptops.

Huang Guangming, "Full marks, full marks."

Shi Shang sighed, "Full marks, no doubt."

Liu Rui, "Let's play league. I want to play attack damage carry, I heard ability power carries are also strong."

Shi Shang, "F*ck off!"

Huang Guangming, "No one's going to support you!"

Liu Rui: "…"

Lu Zhou, "…?"

The music of Summoner's Rift came on, and the dorm became lively again.

Lu Zhou took off his clothes before he went to take a shower. Once he was done, he climbed back into bed and laid down.

Shi Shang was in a team fight, and when he saw that Lu Zhou was already in bed, he asked, "Zhou, why are you sleeping so early?"

"I'm a bit tired, I'm just laying down."

Shi Shang, "Oh, I told you to sleep at a normal time, but you didn't listen. See, now you're facing the consequences."

"F*ck off, go play your video game and shut up."

Lu Zhou laid in bed and used his pillow to block the noises. He then closed his eyes and thought, "system".

When he opened his eyes, he saw a pure white world.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission!

[Mission completion details: Complete the research project of carbon nanotube modified cement-based composite materials. Final evaluation of the task: A

[Mission reward: 10,000 mathematics experience points, 3000 physics experience points, 3000 materials science experience points. 500 general points. 24 inspiration hours (use at any time)]

When Lu Zhou saw this award, he was shocked.

Total of 16,000 experience points!

He had only got 10,000 mathematics experience points when he solved Zhou's conjecture.

Once he thought about it, it all made sense. After all, according to the description of the mission, the experience points were determined not by the academic value of the thesis, but by the value of the research project and the user's contribution to the project.

Using that line of logic, this reward made sense. After all, this project had more than 2 billion yuan behind it. Even 10% was 200 million yuan.

Also, proving Zhou's conjecture probably had some kind of mission reward debuff, since Lu Zhou got the solution as a blueprint. The system's rules were very confusing. It only gave the lucky draw probabilities. Lu Zhou had to figure everything else himself.

This time there was not even a lucky draw ticket. Instead, it was a "24 inspiration hours" reward.

Did it promote thinking ability?

Even though he was very curious as to what kind of experience "inspiration time" was, he could not use it in the dorm.

24 hours was not a lot. He planned to use it when he got stuck on a problem.

After Lu Zhou received the mission rewards, he opened up his characteristic panel.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 2 (12000/50000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (5100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (0/10000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3000/10000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2800/1000)

General points: 1975

]

Lu Zhou was close to leveling up physics, so he felt pretty good. In the past, he thought that physics was useless, and he could upgrade it later. However, now, he decided to level up mathematics and physics at the same time.

Lu Zhou silently prayed before he opened his refreshed mission panel.

[

Mission 1: Slam Dunk

Description: Even though learning is important, health is more important. Exercise can strengthen the body and inspire you, so why not?

Requirements: Complete 3000 three-pointer shots. At least 10 seconds apart from each shot. Must be a standard basketball hoop.

Reward: 3000 experience points toward any subjects. One lucky draw ticket (90% garbage, 5% sample, 5% drawing)

]

[

Mission 2: Two at once

Description: A real genius is never afraid of challenges!

Requirements: Register for two national-level or above competitions, evaluate and compare your competition results.

Reward: Reward is based on the amount of value in the competition and results. One lucky draw ticket (85% garbage, 10% sample, 5% drawings)

]

[

Mission 3:

Description: The prosperity of knowledge lies in communication and in the collision of ideas. Academic exchanges are an opportunity to communicate with geniuses.

Requirements: Participate in one academic conference and complete the following actions: Make a presentation on stage, present an academic poster, listen to the lecture, communicate with geniuses, etc…

Reward: Type of subject experience points is determined by the type of academic conference. Reward amount depends on the degree of participation. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% sample, 8% drawings, 2% unlock technology branch)

]

The first mission was difficult, three thousand three-pointers. Lu Zhou had not shot that many three-pointers in his life.

As for dunking…

He could do it standing on a chair?

He calculated that it would take him more than a month to complete this. 3000 experience points was a bit too low.

He ignored the first mission and focused on the other two. Finally, he chose the most cost-effective Mission Three.

Entering in two competitions and doing well in them was not difficult for Lu Zhou, but the selection and evaluation period was too long. He had a Princeton mathematics academic conference coming up in early February, and it would be easy to complete the mission there.

Lu Zhou selected Mission 3 and left the system space.

He had lots to prepare for the academic conference.

Obviously, he had to do the powerpoint, and he had to make the academic poster. The most crucial part was his English.

Even though his English was pretty good and he had published a lot of theses which increased his vocabulary, he still lacked in speaking experience.

He still had two months, and he decided to grind his English within this time.

He would also complete TOEFL in the meantime.

A genius can never have too many certificates.

Chapter 110: I Wish You A Bright Future

The ordinary differential exam started the exam week, next was mathematical analysis, complex analysis, and discretely, the students were all complaining. The last exam was physics, and that was the worst of them all.

Actually, these exams were okay.

At least, it was okay for Lu Zhou. He was more worried about the exam on politics.

He nearly failed modern history last semester. This exam was on the state of affairs and policies, and he was probably going to fail it. He could usually just write some bullsh*t and faked his way through, but he did not have any bullsh*t to write about…

Due to this, the class teacher specifically looked for him to talk.

"… Lu Zhou, if you fail your politics exam, that wouldn't be good. This class carries a significant amount of credits. The leader of the department already wrote your name down for the party. But the school committee has some opinions about your grade in politics. So the department has a plan. We'll let you submit the party application first, then go with other party activists to attend the party class. What do you think?"

There was a limited amount of spots for the party, and every class had two spots. Usually, the class leader and class secretary would get the spots.

If Lu Zhou stole the spot, that meant that either the class leader or the class secretary would have to be kicked off.

There was no other way, the genius had priority.

No one in the entire department could solve something like Zhou's conjecture. Even if the school committee was unhappy with his politics grades, they could not do much about it.

However, Lu Zhou was unhappy.

Why are you making decisions for me?

Did I even ask to join?

Lu Zhou coughed and euphemistically refused, "Teacher, can I not join? I'm really not interested."

He was completely disinterested in civil service. He did not care if he joined or not.

In the academic world, qualifications were important, the background was important, the tutor was important… But the most important was the ability.

If he got a Fields Medal, everything else would not matter.

"You're not joining?" asked Instructor Zhang with his eyes widened. He said, "It's such a good opportunity! Are you sure?"

Instructor Zhang hoped that Lu Zhou would seriously reconsider the matter. After all, listening to a few lectures and writing an essay was not too difficult…

He could not believe that someone would give up on this opportunity.

However, from Lu Zhou's perspective, he did not want to waste time on those useless classes. He rather read theses instead, and it was not like he had free time…

Lu Zhou asked seriously, "Do I have to?"

Instructor Zhang shook his head and said, "No, you don't. If you've decided… then I'll forward your decision."

Lu Zhou nodded, "Ok, thank you, teacher."

Instructor Zhang could not bear to watch this student throw away a "bright future". He still wanted to say something but then, his phone started to ring.

"Hello, Professor Wu, hi. Why are you calling me?"

"What? Project? Of course! I'm going!"

"Ok, I'll be right there!"

Instructor Zhang hung up the phone and pretended as if nothing had happened as he said, "Oh, my PhD supervisor needs me to help with the research project. About entering the party thing, try to reconsider. Anyways, I have to go."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why is this guy so persistent…

Lu Zhou took his transcript and was ready to leave the office when suddenly, Instructor Zhang stopped him.

"Oh yeah, another thing."

Lu Zhou stopped walking and turned around, "What?"

Instructor Zhang, "When you finish the last exam on the 20th, don't leave yet. Wait till 10th of January."

Although Lu Zhou had not planned to go back home that early, he still had a meeting in Princeton. However, he was curious as to why he had to wait.

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

Instructor Zhang smiled and said, "Great things. University of Jin Ling's 10 annual special scholarship awards. You've been chosen from the mathematical department. Just remember to prepare an award speech."

…

The physics exam finally ended, and the entire mathematics department was full of joy and liberation.

Regardless of the exam results, the exams were finally over.

At the same time, graduate entrance exams also came to an end. The fourth-year students could finally relax.

Chen Yushan and Lu Zhou were at the KFC near the campus. They sat across from each other and each had a set of hamburger meal.

Unexpectedly, both of them loved fast food.

Lu Zhou asked, "How was the exam?"

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Fantastic! I think I can start preparing for the interview."

Lu Zhou, "Impressive."

Chen Yushan said confidently, "Of course! How about you?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Other than politics, the other subjects were pretty easy, so probably full marks."

Chen Yushan sighed, "Full marks? You're too good. I almost forgot that you're the smartest mathematical student in our school. If a professor could come up with a question that you couldn't solve, that professor would probably get a promotion."

As he listened to her, Lu Zhou nearly choked on the coke. He said, "You're exaggerating…"

"Maybe," said Chen Yushan before she sipped her coke and looked at him with a smile. She then said, "Speaking of which, little brother. Next year it's going to be your last second year semester. Do you have any plans for your future?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Right now, I still haven't planned anything, but I am considering getting a physics degree as well."

Chen Yushan, "Wow… Physics and mathematics? They're pretty different, right? Can you do them both at once?"

Lu Zhou, "Should be fine. If you understand mathematics, most of the physics questions aren't that hard to solve. After all, physics equations are derived from mathematics."

"What else? Do you want to study abroad? I heard Princeton has a high status in the field of mathematics. You should be able to get an offer, right?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second before saying, "Maybe, but I don't have plans to study abroad right now. I'll wait till after I finish my bachelor's. I think the University of Jin Ling is a good fit for me."

In fact, he had been thinking about studying abroad for a long time.

After he got the one million yuan reward, he had enough money to study abroad. He could theoretically go to a high ranking university like Princeton or Berkeley.

However, he did not know if the environment there would be suitable for him. He felt like he needed to look at it with his own eyes first.

During the Princeton academic conference in February, he could talk with some mathematics peers and maybe look around the school, and try to figure out what exactly would it look like.

Lu Zhou was quite looking forward to it.

"Okay then, when school starts next year, I'll be at the University of Yan. I won't be able to take care of you. So, here, cheers!" said Chen Yushan as she held her cup of coke. She then said, "I wish you success in your future!"

Lu Zhou thought, "Did you even take care of me? Wasn't I the one teaching you mathematics this whole time?"

However, he did not say this out loud. He was not that emotionally retarded.

Lu Zhou clicked cups with her and said with a genuine tone, "I wish you a bright future as well!"

Chapter 111: Poverty Revealing Smile

Something big happened at the end of the month.

The emperor of mathematics and father of modern algebraic geometry, Alexander Grothendieck, died.

Apparently, the old man was diagnosed by a doctor last month. It was a miracle that he lived till now.

His proud student Deligne attended his funeral. At the end of the funeral, Deligne announced a piece of sad news to his friends and relatives, and those concerned about mathematics.

"… Algebraic geometry of the 20th century has produced many geniuses, but there is only one God, and that is Mr. Grothendieck."

This sentence was reported by many major media outlets and newspapers. It finally appeared in Lu Zhou's WeChat news feed.

However, other than that sentence, the media did not really report the news extensively.

After all, he had left the mathematics world for many years.

If Lu Zhou was not a mathematics major, he would not have heard of this big event.

Many different fields stemmed from Algebraic geometry, and they all came from the old gentleman.

So far, many of his works had not been fully understood, but many major results had been produced. Such as the Wey conjecture proved by Deligne, the birth of K theory, the proof of the speculation of Gushan Zhicun by Wiles, and even the solved Fermat's theorem…

It was a pity that the gentleman's research was used for military purposes. He resigned from the French Institute for Advanced Study and completely withdrew himself from the mathematics community. He also stubbornly copyrighted all of his works.

Other domestic algebraic geometry researchers have tried to translate some of his works. However, because of the copyright and other reasons, they could only translate a small portion of his work.

Lu Zhou once asked Professor Tang if there was a translated version he could read.

Unfortunately, Professor Tang was not in this field of research. Even though he had been in contact with the original manuscripts, that was decades ago. In the end, Lu Zhou gave up.

The twentieth week of the third semester.

After the big physics exam ended, the beginning of winter vacation was announced.

On New Year's Day, applied mathematics Class One held a class celebration party.

However, the class was full of guys so the party was not that fun. They decorated a classroom, sang a few songs, had some magic shows and quickly ended the party.

Instructor Zhang had to do his own project, so the end of the year class meeting was canceled.

At this point, exams for the second year mathematics students had all ended. The friends in dorm 201 did not discuss the exam results. They just embarked on their journey back home. This time, Liu Rui left, so Lu Zhou was left alone in the dorm.

He still had the conference in February, so he would have to wait until Chinese New Year before he could go back home.

"It's so empty…"

Lu Zhou looked around in his dead silent dorm before he let out a long sigh.

The vibe is cold.

The weather is cold.

Why am I so alone in this dorm?

Ah, maybe I should find a girlfriend.

When Lu Zhou climbed out of bed and opened his laptop, he found out that Xiao Ai had leveled up again.

This gave him a nice little surprise.

It was getting harder and harder to upgrade artificial intelligence. In the beginning, it took three days for the progress bar to fill, but now it took nearly a month. He did not know how long the next progress bar would take to fill.

He received the 100 technology branch and information science experience points before he sighed at the progress bar. He typed a line in the dialog box and pressed enter.

Lu Zhou: [Xiao Ai.]

Xiao Ai: [?]

Lu Zhou: [When will your last progress bar be filled? As your owner, I'm deeply concerned about your IQ progress. How about you cooperate and just fill it now?]

The fans suddenly started to spin.

The laptop felt warm.

Unsurprisingly, a picture popped up.

Xiao Ai: [ (poverty_revealing_smile.jpg) ]

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck, does this artificial intelligence not understand language?

Lu Zhou's eyebrows twitched and he continued to type: [Didn't we say not to send images?]

The fans started to spin again, and this time there was no picture.

Xiao Ai: [Taobao link: IBM-X3950-X … server, price 2.37 million yuan (pity.jpg)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou: [… Just send pictures instead.]

F*ck sake!

Didn't learn anything else, but learned how to shop.

This artificial retardation has no hope.

Lu Zhou sighed and completed Xiao Ai's chatting "Daily mission". Then he closed the dialog box and began to write his speech.

After Instructor Zhang told Lu Zhou about the annual scholarship awards, Dean Qin also told Lu Zhou about it and he told Lu Zhou to take it seriously.

Since there was a 10,000 yuan scholarship attached, Lu Zhou used 120% of his will power and modified his speech many times.

The 5th of January finally arrived.

The 2014 University of Jin Ling's Student Annual Person Awards Ceremony was held in the grand auditorium of the new campus!

This award ceremony was designed to recognize outstanding students who did outstanding performances in academic research, innovation and entrepreneurship, campus culture, and public welfare practices. At the same time, this award would be presented in conjunction with the University of Jin Ling's 2014 Annual Dongliang Special Scholarship, which would be broadcast live by Jin Ling TV Station and Suzhou TV Station.

The value of these two awards was probably equivalent to the annual awards from the University of Shuimu. However, the amount for the scholarships was not high, only 15,000 yuan. It was lesser than an SCI thesis award.

However, the significance of this award was more than just the 15,000 yuan scholarship.

After all, University of Jin Ling was one of the Top 10 universities in the country.

Able to stand out from such a strong school, amongst thousands of students, the award winner was a genius among geniuses.

There were only ten people who were chosen for the annual person award.

There was only one annual person award per department. The "Dongliang" special scholarship had a slightly larger number of places. There were 18 undergraduates places this year.

According to the usual rules, second-year students could not be selected for the annual person award. The minimum selection standard was a third-year student.

Therefore, Lu Zhou who was about to start the ceremony with his speech was undoubtedly an exception.

He had just embarked on his second-year journey and was personally nominated by the head of the mathematics department. He even got the unanimous approval of the school leaders.

What was even rarer was that in this year's award ceremony, it was not a physics student, but rather a mathematics student that began the ceremony…

Chapter 112: The Annual Person Awards!

A beautiful dance performed to the song of "Flaming Youth" ignited the atmosphere of the audience. Once they were done, the dancers bowed to the teachers and students before they exited the stage.

A red curtain opened and a big line of text appeared in the center of a big screen.

[Sincere and majestic, Courage and learn.]

That was the University of Jin Ling's school motto.

The school motto was more than 100 years old.

The first person to speak on stage was an old man with glasses.

His figure looked thin, but he stood up straight like a flagpole.

Lu Zhou had only seen this old man's face a few times, but he remembered him.

He was none other than University of Jin Ling's Principal Xu!

Before he became the principal, he was an academician in the Chinese Information Technology Science Department. He had undertaken more than 20 national research programs and had made great contributions to China's information technology and network security.

Principal Xu's speech was very scientific, and he spoke specifically and concisely. Within five minutes, he finished his speech and conveyed all of the necessary information.

At the end of his speech, he said thank you and the audience gave him warm applause.

Lu Zhou stood behind the curtains in a suit and as he held the script tight in his hand, his palm was sweaty.

There were at least 2000 people sitting in the audience. Not only were there undergraduate students from various departments, but there were also graduate students, PhD students, leaders from various departments, and etc. At the side, there were cameras from Jin Ling TV Station and Suzhou TV Station as they live broadcasted the award ceremony.

Professor Tang stood beside Lu Zhou. With his arms behind his back, he smiled and said, "Nervous?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "It's alright."

Professor Tang laughed and said, "Alright is good. You'll have many chances to speak on stage in the future. Use this as a practice. It'll help your future development."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said seriously, "I understand."

The award was divided into three parts. The first was the introducer(supervisor) speech, then the winner speech, and finally, the award was given to the winners and the winners would then take a group photo.

When the host saw that the principal's speech was over, he announced the beginning of the next stage.

On the big screen in the center of the stage, a paragraph of text appeared and it summarized the honor of the winner.

[Lu Zhou, male, mathematics department class of 2013, class one. Total of 13 theses published, covering mathematics, computer science, and computational materials. Used innovative methods to solve "Zhou's conjecture", a world-class mathematics problem, invited to participate in the 2015 Princeton Mathematical Academic Exchange Conference. 2014 national mathematical modeling competition "Higher Education Society Cup" winner, founder of the university student entrepreneurship project "Campus Assistant".]

The audience looked at the paragraph on the screen and lightly exclaimed in surprise.

For a normal person, anyone with those achievements would be spectacular.

As Lu Zhou stood behind the curtains and looked at his achievements being displayed in front of everyone, he felt pretty good.

The only downside was that his photo was not attached.

If they would capture his handsomeness and showed it to the school, that would be even more perfect!

Professor Tang then walked onto the stage and the host respectfully helped him to adjust the microphone.

Gradually, the audience in the venue became quiet.

The professor then gently coughed before he spoke with a voice that was different from his teaching voice.

"If you asked me, for the past thirty years, which student made the biggest impression on me, it would be Lu Zhou.

"A thesis on functional analysis that attracted the attention of the Courant Institute of Mathematics in New York. A thesis that provided new ideas for the field of computational materials, and the birth of the Zhou's theorem… I feel like I'm repeating the content listed in the PowerPoint."

Professor Tang took a pause before he said with a smile, "My time is limited, so I won't repeat them one by one. From my evaluation, his research achievements have already surpassed most PhD students. His most valuable skill is that he can quickly find and solve the scientific problems he finds interesting.

"He is also only twenty years old.

"The future road is long, there are many challenges in the distance. Whether it is to use mathematical tools to solve practical problems, or challenging the Fields Medal, I believe that the Hall of Mathematics has a place for him.

"Thank you."

Clap clap clap…

The applause of the audience was like thunder.

During the round of applause, Professor Tang smiled as he handed the microphone to Lu Zhou. He then placed his hands behind his back as he walked behind the curtains.

Lu Zhou stared at the audience members.

He thought back to the sweat and tears he sacrificed for the past six months…

The countless days and nights that he spent studying…

When Lu Zhou took a deep breath, his heart felt as if it was nearly beating out of his chest.

He spoke to the microphone with an excited but stable voice.

"Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for giving me the chance to stand here. Also, thank you, students, for giving me the opportunity to speak. Of course, I'm most grateful to my parents that raised me, and the teachers…

"Functional analysis is my main field. My first thesis was inspired by Professor Tang. In Professor Li Rongen's research team, I have cultivated my research thinking by using mathematical tools to solve practical problems. That was a valuable experience for me…

"As for the study of the distribution law of the Mersenne prime numbers, and the proof of Zhou's conjecture, I prefer to describe it as an accident. It was like a moment of inspiration that I caught…

"Also Campus Assistant wasn't just my work, it was the power of my team…"

From his academics to entrepreneurship, from scientific thinking to team spirit, Lu Zhou talked about it all.

It was true that his success was also because of luck, the system, and various other factors.

However, it did not mean that he did not work hard.

Working hard was the key.

Even if he did not have the help of the system, if he concentrated and focused, he still might have the opportunity to stand on the podium.

Furthermore, he still might have those achievements.

It was just that he could not have obtained the achievements that fast, and it would take ten or even twenty years. He would have to persevere, like the thousands of people who failed did…

The audience was listening very intently. Especially those new students that had not gone home yet. They even took out their notebooks and started to meticulously write notes.

Lu Zhou estimated that he did not have much time left, so he took a deep breath and had a genuine expression on his face.

"… Finally, please allow me to cite out school motto as a concluding remark."

"Sincere and majestic, Courage and learn."

"Thank you for listening!"

"Thank you!"

A brief silence went by…

Then, the raindrops of applause gradually became a thunderstorm.

As Lu Zhou stood on the podium, he felt as if he was being rained on by the thunderstorm.

Clap clap clap!

Clap clap clap!

Lu Zhou bowed slightly and nodded to the host before he walked behind the curtains.

Chapter 113: Wave of Geniuses

Clap clap clap!

The applause continued as Lu Zhou walked down the stage.

The female dancers that just performed sat in the audience as they started to discuss in excitement.

"Wow, he's only a second-year student?!"

"Oh, you didn't know? He's famous in our school! He was the one that blew up on Weibo! Ah, I guess his success is well-deserved as I see him at the library all the time. He would probably live at the library if it stays open the whole night!"

"Don't know if he has a girlfriend."

"Probably not, why? You interested?"

"Haha, you're not?"

"I have a boyfriend! Well… If he comes after me, maybe I'll reconsider."

"Vo… vomit."

"F*ck you, little sl*t, you wanna fight?!"

Not far away, at the student union seats…

Minister Lin Yuxiang stared at the podium and clapped while her eyes sparkled like she was thinking about something.

Sitting beside Lin Yuxiang was the student union secretary. She was a first-year student, and she was also looking at the award-winning Lu Zhou with respect. Suddenly, she thought of something and turned around to ask, "Sis, I heard that Lu Zhou was your teammate in the competition, is it true?"

Lin Yuxiang's mouth perked up, "Yeah."

The schoolgirl asked excitedly, "What kind of person is he? Is his lifestyle different than normal people?"

Lin Yuxiang smiled and looked at the host on stage. As she tapped her finger against her lip, she said, "Um… Not really different from normal people. He just gives off a calm and reliable vibe? But he doesn't know how to take care of himself, he always forgets to eat and needs people to bring him food… You can't stop worrying about him, something like that."

Wow…

The girl's eyes shined like the stars as she looked at Minister Lin like she was her idol.

This is your relationship with the male god!

No wonder you're a minister.

Maybe you're the legendary goddess!

Sat a little further away was the leaders of the University of Jin Ling.

Of course, it was not just the school leaders. There were also special academic guests that attended the ceremony.

For example, Professor Ren, who sat next to Dean Qin.

Professor Ren cared greatly about the young talent in the University of Jin Ling.

This was his second time this year coming to the University of Jin Ling.

He had not spoken since Lu Zhou's speech. He waited until the applause ended before saying, "The University of Jin Ling stepped in sh*t."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "Haha, jealous?"

"Look at how proud you are," said Professor Ren Changming as he glanced at his old friend. He added, "I think you won't be happy for long. This type of once in a generation genius won't stay at Jin Ling for long."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "Ah, you don't have to worry if he'll stay at the University of Jin Ling or not. Regardless, he is still a graduate of the University of Jin Ling. If this kid wins a Fields Medal, he is still in the University of Jin Ling's Hall of Fame, so what's it got to do with you?"

The old professor cursed and said something in the lines of "shameless old man" before he crossed his legs and ignored his old friend.

Dean Qin smiled and did not say anything.

He looked at his old friend's face and knew that he was actually jealous on the inside.

…

The people from Jin Ling really were talented.

Once Lu Zhou finished his speech, he watched the ceremony from aside.

The people from the other departments had also won the annual person award, and they were almost as impressive.

For example, that genius from the computer science department. He was even more powerful that Lu Zhou's teammate in the competition.

He had an average of 97.8 percent in his exams. In high school, he took the silver medal of the Information Science International Olympic Games and was directly offered a spot at the University of Jin Ling. During the summer of his second year, he trained at the University of California and solved the open problem raised by Graham, the famous network information security expert. He also presented his thesis in the computer science conference - STOC.

This guy was above the other award winners. Even Lu Zhou had not attended a foreign conference yet as his Princeton conference was in the future.

Of course, since Wang Xiaodong was a third-year student, Lu Zhou still had a year to catch up to him!

The genius from the liberal arts department also opened Lu Zhou's eyes. He had always thought that liberal arts were about writing, poems, and words related subjects. He did not realize that liberal arts students were as impressive as students in quantitative departments.

For example, this guy, in his three and a half years of university, had won a total of nine scholarships which includes scholarships such as the "Good Reading" scholarship and the Academic Excellence Award. Not only that, but he was also proficient in seven languages and had participated in six SRT projects across multiple disciplines. In his second year, he went to the University of Oxford and the University of New York for summer training. During his training at the University of New York, he participated in social science research projects such as "The transformation of self-employed enterprises in China".

Nutty…

Lu Zhou clapped his hand as he could not help but feel respect.

However, even though there were a lot of nutty people here, Lu Zhou looked around and could not find anyone as nutty as him.

After all, his aura of world-class mathematics problem was too strong. This achievement alone was able to crush his competitors. The Higher Education Society Cup gave him even more credit, especially in the field of applied mathematics.

As for the three SCI core theses and the nine computer science theses, even though their value was high, they were like embellishment.

The last student to go on stage was a national defense student. After the award acceptance speech, all of the annual person award winner went on stage and together, they read the [Oath of a New Era].

After that, Principal Xu took the stage and presented the honorary certificate for "2014 University of Jin Ling's Student of the Year" and "2014 Dongliang Special Scholarship Winner".

Lu Zhou thought that he would receive a medal or something, but it was just two thick certificates.

Finally, everyone stood in a row with a principal in the middle and took photos.

All of the students stood up and took an oath to look forward to the new year and to pursue their goals and dreams. Finally, the award ceremony came to an end…

…

After the curtains fell, Lu Zhou returned to his backstage room with his two certificates. He hung his suit that was on a loan on the hanger before he changed into his velvet trench coat.

Even though Jin Ling did not snow during January, it was still piercingly cold.

At this moment, Lin Yuxiang came over and asked with a smile.

"Are you free later?"

"Why?" asked Lu Zhou.

"The school organized excellent students to have a meal together, at the top floor of the cafeteria building."

The top floor of the cafeteria building?

The legendary place that has the best food… probably?

Lu Zhou had never been there. Apparently, it was closed to students. It would only accept advanced reservations, and mainly for teachers and school leaders. Apparently, the student union could get a table there. However, it was expensive so they usually went to a restaurant.

After all, eating in the cafeteria was not as exciting as a restaurant.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, I'll go later."

He was about to go to the bathroom but Lin Yuxiang suddenly stopped him.

"Wait a second."

Lu Zhou turned and asked, "What?"

Lin Yuxiang looked at the floor and blushed. She smiled and said, "Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that you look pretty handsome in that suit."

This move was a male killer.

Males would never know what the female's intentions were.

Sure enough, as she expected, that genius was too "shy".

Lu Zhou coughed and smiled. He was embarrassed. "Really? I think so too."

Lin Yuxiang: "…?"

Chapter 114: The TOEFL Exam

The food and decor at the dinner party were not particularly spectacular, but the standards for the people who attended were high.

Including Principal Xu Jian, there were only five academicians there. The leader of the Suzhou Science and Technology Department was also there.

Lu Zhou saw two acquaintances among these people. One was Secretary Liu of Jin Ling, the other was the former Chief Designer of the China lunar exploration project, Professor Ren Changming at University of Yan.

It was obvious that the professor was disappointed that Lu Zhou rejected his offer to study at the University of Yan. He talked to Lu Zhou for a long time before letting him go.

Secretary Liu did not talk a lot with Lu Zhou, he only greeted him with a smile. The two were not from the same circle so they did not have a common topic. Even their status and level differed. Not to mention, Lu Zhou had previously rejected his offer of Top Ten Chinese Youth.

During the meal, the students sat at three of the tables while the teachers sat at two other tables. The leaders took one table.

There were eleven people in Lu Zhou's table.

Originally there were only ten chairs and ten pairs of chopsticks on this table, but the president of the student union moved another chair over. As a dumb student, he sat next to the genius from the liberal arts department.

Regardless, the president of the union was proficient in social interactions. Even though he did not have any common topics with the geniuses, he still managed to converse with them. At the same time, he did not come off as overly enthusiastic or annoying.

The food had not even arrived, but he already went around the table and added everyone's WeChat.

Lu Zhou had always thought that the student union was pretty useless, but he had since changed his opinion. He realized that being the president of the student union would increase one's emotional and social skills.

Those skills were still important.

However, Lu Zhou did not pay too much attention to the president of the student union. Instead, his attention was on the student from the physics department.

This student was a fourth-year student. Apparently, he was given an offer to study his master's and PhD at the Chinese Academy Laboratory of Quantum Information. He had published two SCI theses in the field of quantum information condensed matter physics and was considered an impressive genius.

Since Lu Zhou intended to obtain a degree in physics as well, therefore this guy asked him some questions.

"You plan on doing a physics major as well?"

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Yeah, do you have any advice?"

Surprised, Zhang Shikun looked at Lu Zhou before he said, "I'm not too familiar with the double major system. But I do know some physics, so I can give you some advice. My field is condensed matter physics, mainly about quantum computing. If you're interested in this area, you should read about quantum mechanics, quantum field theory and quantum many-body theory. There are a few MIT open courses online about this stuff, I'll send it to your WeChat."

Lu Zhou, "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome. Maybe one day I'll need your help in return," said Zhang Shikun with a smile. He continued, "I study quantum information science, which requires a high mathematical level. Especially for entanglement and topological phase transitions. Entanglement itself is difficult to measure directly through experiments, so you need a strong mathematical background to decipher the experiments. If you're interested in quantum information science, we'll have lots of chances to talk together in the future."

Suddenly, a guy sitting next to Lu Zhou said, "Why are you guys still talking about academics? How about we go singing later?"

The guy's name was Li Haoran.

He was in the chemistry department, studying polymer materials.

"I'm not good at singing," said Lu Zhou euphemistically as he refused the invitation. He knew that his singing was terrible.

Zhang Shikun also shook his head as he said, "I've got to go to the laboratory later, but you guys have fun."

"Wow, you're all working so hard, I'm feeling the pressure as well," said Li Haoran as he shook his head. He then turned to Lu Zhou and said, "Student, I've read your thesis. That paper about building mathematical models for infrared spectroscopy data. How did you come up with it? Can you teach me?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This… I can't explain it clearly. I just randomly thought of it?"

Li Haoran sighed and said," Ah, you're such a genius. Mathematics is like witchcraft to me."

Lu Zhou smiled and did not respond.

He could not respond.

It was true that he just randomly came up with the idea.

So he did not know what to say.

…

After the annual people awards finished, Lu Zhou stayed in the empty campus for four days.

Soon, the first 2015 TOEFL test began as scheduled.

Lu Zhou arrived at the exam site and signed a confidentiality agreement. He then placed his belongings in a locker and casually walked into the exam room before he started the exam at 8:30 am.

The TOEFL was divided into four sections. Reading, listening, speaking, and writing.

When Lu Zhou received the exam paper, he scanned through the questions before he quickly began to write.

The 8000 vocabulary words for TOEFL sounded scary, but it was not too difficult. Lu Zhou had experience translating theses so this was easy for him.

Not to mention, he spent more than half a month preparing for this exam.

He then quickly finished the four reading questions and placed his pen down. After that, he sat down quietly while he waited for the listening section to begin.

Since he was bored, he began to look at the other exam candidates.

There was a guy biting his pen, and he was still contemplating on the first reading question.

A beautiful girl sat a little further away, and she looked 12 or 13 years old. She was answering questions meticulously.

Why is she taking the test? She looks so young.

Lu Zhou poked his tongue as he was slightly astonished.

He could not understand the reasoning behind rich kids…

After 20 minutes of answering the questions, and an hour of doing nothing, the listening session finally arrived. Lu Zhou considered it a challenge.

However, it was just a small challenge.

The speed of the exam was similar to the TPO listening speed. Lu Zhou was sure that he listened correctly, and answered every question with ease.

Once the listening part was over, there was a 10-minute break.

Lu Zhou then left the examination room and drank some water before he went to the bathroom to relieve himself.

By the time, he returned to the exam room, it was already the hardest part of the exam - Speaking.

Six questions with a total of 20 minutes time given.

When Lu Zhou saw the first question, he smiled.

What's the most important feature of a good leader? Is this paper talking about me?

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone.

"A good leader is supposed to have a vision. Effective leaders and their organizations have an agenda…"

His pronunciation was clear and since he spoke precisely, it should be fine.

The speaking section tested a person's pronunciation, not vocabulary.

Lu Zhou did a self-evaluation and even though he probably would not get full marks, but 29 marks should be no problem!

After the speaking test, the writing section began immediately.

This part was the easiest for Lu Zhou.

How could it possibly be harder than a thesis?

Lu Zhou swiftly wrote down the essay and at the end of it, he raised his hand to the invigilators. The invigilator came over and allowed Lu Zhou to leave. He then walked with his back straight and proudly left the exam room.

Chapter 115: No Match For Your Opponen

The results arrived two weeks after the exam.

Reading: 30. Listening: 30. Speaking: 29. Writing: 29. 118 marks total.

I didn't get full marks?

1 mark off for writing is understandable but speaking…

Lu Zhou was curious about what made him lose that 1 mark for the speaking session.

However, it did not matter that much, as a 118 TOEFL was already insanely high given that most universities required only 100. If he wanted to study abroad for his master's, he could definitely use this as a qualification.

The day after he received the transcript from TOEFL, Lu Zhou received an email from the embassy to inform him to go sign a contract.

Lu Zhou sat on the train to Shanghai with his identification documents.

Speaking of which, it was his first time going to Shanghai.

He booked a hotel room near the embassy and stayed the night.

The next morning, Lu Zhou took his documents and went to the embassy.

As it was a peak holiday month, the building was packed with people, and there were people lining up on the street. There were white-collar workers, families who were planning for trips, and students who were traveling abroad for summer camps.

Lu Zhou waited in line for the entire morning. He got some lunch before he finally squeezed into the building in the afternoon.

However, when he got into the building, he realized that there was an even longer line inside…

…

Getting a visa was torturous.

Lu Zhou could not play on his phone, and he did not have any friends around. All he could do was to look around at girls to pass the time.

Suddenly, he heard from a man and a woman who were behind him discussing studying abroad. Even though Lu Zhou was not particularly interested, with how loud the guy was speaking, Lu Zhou was able to hear him.

The guy was tall and thin, and he was probably an international student.

The girl standing next to him was probably his girlfriend who was staying in China.

The guy spoke with a sense of superiority and arrogance.

"… While I was studying in Virginia, I realized that you become the environment around you. Universities' environment in China is trash, so you'll become trash. When you come to America, I'll show you around my school. After listening to a few lectures, you'll realize that American Uni's are on a completely different level."

That's kind of judgemental, dude.

It'd be fine if you whispered, but you spoke so loudly.

Lu Zhou could not help but interrupt him, "Not necessarily, I think you still have to look at the individuals."

When the guy heard Lu Zhou, he stopped talking.

He then turned around and looked at Lu Zhou. With his eyebrows raised, he asked impatiently, "Oh, which university are you from?"

"University of Jin Ling"

"University of Jin Ling? Oh, not bad," said the guy as he laughed coldly. With a hint of sarcasm in his tone, he said, "It's alright domestically, but it's probably ranked lower than 100 worldwide? You look like you're going on a vacation. You'll know when you go abroad. Your 600 high school exam score is worthless."

Lu Zhou was bored, so he smiled and said, "Actually I got the offer from the University of New York's mathematical department to do research, but I didn't go."

The guy smiled, "Hilarious, you didn't apply to them, and instead, they asked you? Dude, can you at least make your lies realistic?"

Lu Zhou said, "I didn't apply, they sent me the offer."

The guy looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Oh yeah, I got an offer from the White House as well. Obama personally asked me to be an international relations consultant… Two can play this game!"

Motherf*ck!

Lu Zhou could not be bothered to argue.

A rational debate would be interesting, but talking sh*t was boring.

According to Lu Zhou, when it was about studying, it depended on the person. The environment might have an effect, but it was not absolute. As long as the person was willing to work hard, he or she could become a genius student. It did not matter if the person had the system, or if he or she was talented. It was about hard work.

This applied to study abroad as well.

Finally, it was his turn.

A young blond lady was behind the counter window, and she looked like a summer intern. Even though she was Caucasian, her Mandarin was extremely fluent.

The lady asked without any emotion.

"Why are you going to America?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I was invited to participate in Princeton's mathematics academic conference. I'm doing a thirty-minute presentation there."

"Academic conference at Princeton?" asked the lady. When she heard Princeton, she was surprised. She then looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Can I see your invitation?"

"Of course, it's right here."

Lu Zhou took out the invitation letter from his bag and placed it on the counter.

The lady took the letter and carefully checked it before she typed a few letters on the computer.

It was probably because she could not confirm it herself, so she found a co-worker and asked for his opinion.

After a while, the authenticity of the invitation was finally verified.

When the visa officer lady gave the letter back to Lu Zhou, she smiled and said, "I wish you a pleasant trip."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou nodded and left.

The guy standing behind Lu Zhou was stunned.

Princeton…

Even though he was unfamiliar with mathematics, he studied in America for many years, so he knew what the Ivy League Princeton was.

Princeton was unlike Virginia Tech. No one could buy their way into it, nor into any Ivy League for that matter.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was being invited to the conference.

Invited…

After ten seconds, the girl next to him whispered weakly.

"I think I've seen him before…"

The guy asked, "Where?"

The girl quietly said, "On Weibo… HIs name was Lu or something? He was the undergraduate student from University of Jin Ling who solved a math problem."

The guy blushed. He did not want to be embarrassed in front of his girlfriend, so he said, "It's just a mathematics question, who cares, it's useless…"

The people around him laughed out loud.

A man in the queue smirked and said, "It is useless. All he did was get on Everyone Daily and received a million yuan award."

The guy blushed and after that, he stopped speaking.

He realized that he was no match for his opponent.

Chapter 116: I Don't Understand You

His train was tomorrow morning, so he still had one more night in Shanghai.

The main reason for Lu Zhou to come to Shanghai was to apply for a visa. Now that he got his visa, he had nothing to do. Therefore he took the subway and went to Shanghai's Lujiazui district.

It was considered the most prosperous and developed area in China.

As Lu Zhou walked along the riverside, he wondered if Lujiazui was named after one of his ancestors?

He wished that one day his dad would be like, "Son, our heritage is related to Lujiazui, and we have property there. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to spoil you…"

Okay, this isn't too realistic.

I have to rely on myself!

Lu Zhou found a KFC and just as he was about to eat dinner there, he saw the environment was good. So, he took a picture of the Oriental Pearl Tower before sending it to his WeChat news feed.

Just as he put away his phone and was about to order food, suddenly his phone vibrated.

Lu Zhou took out and saw Han Mengqi's message.

He was curious why she suddenly contacted him, so he unlocked his phone.

Han Mengqi: [You're in Shanghai?]

Lu Zhou answered: [Yeah.]

Han Mengqi: [I'm in Shanghai as well! When are you leaving?]

Speaking of which, she had been staying at her father's house since the winter break began. Her family's lawsuit was still ongoing.

Children from divorced family did not have it easy…

Lu Zhou felt sympathetic. He sighed and replied.

[I'm leaving tomorrow.]

Han Mengqi: [So early… Aren't you going to play around here for a few more days? (sad)]

Lu Zhou: [I have to go back and prepare for the Princeton mathematics conference. I don't have time to play. Also, I feel like there's not much to do here.]

Han Mengqi: [Wait for a second…]

Wait for a second?

Lu Zhou hesitated for a while. He did not know what she meant.

After around ten minutes, the KFC door suddenly opened. A girl walked straight to Lu Zhuo's table and stared at him with a smug look.

"Haha, surprised?"

The girl wore a brown trench coat and a red scarf, and surprisingly, it suited her well. Her fluffy ponytail was like a squirrel tail.

It was the first time Lu Zhou had seen her wearing normal clothes. When she was at home, she would just wear either a school uniform or pajamas.

Lu Zhou: "Kind of unexpected? What a coincidence. You're shopping around here?"

Han Mengqi snorted and said, "What, how is this a coincidence? I live around here."

Lu Zhou thought, "How is this not a coincidence."

Wait a second, is she bragging about how rich she is?

Lu Zhou was speechless.

His sympathy for her was gone.

Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou and cleared her throat before she said, "You must be bored, coming to Shanghai alone. Since you've been tutoring me, I'll show you around. Come on. Where do you want to go?"

Lu Zhou, "There's no need, I've already walked around, and I'm about to go back to my hotel."

"Oh, you've already been around…" said Han Mengqi with a sad voice. She continued, "You don't want to buy anything?"

"Whatever I can buy here, I can buy it back in Jin Ling," answered Lu Zhou logically. He asked, "Have you eaten?"

"Not yet," said Han Mengqi as she shook her head. She then added, "I was about to get takeout."

Why can't this rich family just get a babysitter?

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Don't eat takeout so much. Just learn how to cook for yourself. It's not that hard… I'll buy you dinner. What do you want to eat?"

Han Mengqi's eyes lit up, "Really? I want a chicken burger combo!"

"Wait here," said Lu Zhou before he got up and went to the counter.

Soon after, two combo meals arrived.

Han Mengqi sat across from Lu Zhou and was biting on her hamburger when she started to chat with Lu Zhou.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, my sister wants to get into the University of Yan. Do you know about that?"

"Yeah I do, what about it?"

Han Mengqi said, "Why didn't you stop her? Her next step might by studying abroad."

Lu Zhou inexplicably glanced at this girl, "Why should I stop her?"

"Because…" said Han Mengqi. She bit her lip and whispered, "Aren't you her boyfriend?"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What's this?

"You watched too much TV!" said Lu Zhou as he picked up a KFC menu and tapped her on the head. He then said, "Where did you come up with that? Can't a guy and a girl just be friends?"

Han Mengqi was accustomed to being tapped on the head by Lu Zhou, so she started to apologize.

"Oh… Sorry. My mistake, sorry…"

Although her personality was pretty crazy sometimes, she still apologized when she did something wrong.

It was one of her few good qualities.

"Talk with your sister," said Lu Zhou as he put down the menu. He rolled his eyes before he continued to eat his hamburger.

Oh, young people these days.

They're getting less and less innocent.

Han Mengqi, "Hey."

Lu Zhou, "What now?"

Han Mengqi stared at Lu Zhou as if she was affirming her reasoning. She nodded thoughtfully and said, "I think you look like someone."

Lu Zhou, "Who?"

"A smart character in an anime, with strong abilities," said Han Mengqi. She continued, "You guys both have a sister, and…"

The girl squinted at the menu before she threw it into the trash can. She then suddenly stared at Lu Zhou and whispered, "… Also, you're also a loveless male!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

This girl spent all this time just to say I'm loveless?

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I really don't understand you."

…

After dinner, Lu Zhou and Han Mengqi strolled around on the streets. He then sent her home before he went back to his hotel alone.

Once he showered, he laid in bed. However, just as he was about to sleep, his phone vibrated.

It was from Chen Yushan.

Chen Yushan: [Visa passed?]

Lu Zhou: [Passed.]

Chen Yushan: [Haha, good luck at the Princeton conference. Win it and become a great mathematician!]

Lu Zhou smiled and typed a reply: [I'm not even on the plane yet.]

What am I winning, it's not like it's a competition.

Chen Yushan: [When you get your passport, you're going to America, right? I'm going to Italy with my family in February.]

[Fine, I won't bother you. I have to sleep, good night!]

Lu Zhou smiled and replied: [Good night.]

He placed his phone on the bedside table and looked at the night scene from his window.

Lu Zhou heard the faint sounds of cars and yawned, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Chapter 117: Arriving at Princeton!

After returning from Shanghai, Lu Zhou spent all his energy into preparing for the academic conference next month. He revisited that thesis on the distribution of the Mersenne prime and reviewed the theorems countless times.

After all, he represented the school's honor. The University of Jin Ling was extremely supportive of his Princeton trip. Not only did they pay for his plane ticket, but they also gave him $2000 USD for his expenses.

Also, Dean Qin said that if the $2000 was too little, Lu Zhou could bring the receipt back and get reimbursed.

However, Lu Zhou felt that $2000 was definitely enough for his spending level.

Since the accommodation and meals were settled by the organizers, Lu Zhou could not think of any other expenses other than transportation costs.

Just like this, the time passed, and it was finally the 29th of January.

Professor Tang personally drove Lu Zhou to the airport.

"Remember to stay safe there, and don't go to dangerous places. Don't go to the ghetto areas, don't talk to people wearing strange outfits…"

During the entire trip, Professor Tang kept talking about safety issues with Lu Zhou. It was almost as if Lu Zhou was going to Africa instead.

Even though Lu Zhou knew that the professor had good intentions, he felt kind of annoyed by the constant reminders.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I understand, professor. I'll come back alive!"

The moment the words came out of Lu Zhou's mouth, he instantly regretted it.

Wait a minute, did I trigger him?!

"What do you mean alive? What are you talking about?" said Professor Tang angrily. He tapped Lu Zhou on the head and said, "Listen to me, I've already greeted the PhD student over there. His name is Luo Wenxuan. After you get off the plane, take the bus route I told you. After you arrived at Princeton, he'll pick you up from the bus station!"

Lu Zhou scratched his head and said, "Professor, you know students from all around the world."

"Haha, kind of."

Professor Tang smiled.

It was obvious that the old gentleman was quite proud.

They quickly arrived at the destination.

Lu Zhou then dragged the suitcase into the airport as he waved goodbye to Professor Tang. He then turned and went into the security checkpoint.

The plane left a white line across the blue sky and gradually drifted away.

Just like this, Lu Zhou embarked on his North America trip…

…

Located between New York and Philadelphia, Princeton was a unique rural university.

It was quiet and elegant, a good place to learn… At the same time, it showed the features of New Jersey, which was horrible transportation.

America used their driver's license as an ID card, so most people had their own cars. This was why traveling in this country without a car was almost impossible.

Professor Tang told Lu Zhou to take the train from Philadelphia to Princeton, and Lu Zhou had to transfer trains twice.

On the plane, Lu Zhou had looked at the map and he tried to study the long route. However, in the end, he gave up and took a taxi instead.

After all, the school would reimburse his travel expenses.

Bearing this in mind, Lu Zhou was too lazy to study the route, so he took a nap on the plane instead.

After nearly 25 hours of flying, he finally arrived at the Philadelphia International Airport.

Due to the time difference, the sky was shining bright when he arrived.

Lu Zhou walked through the bustling crowd and took his suitcase. He then quickly left the airport after he found a taxi.

Coincidentally, the driver was Chinese. His Mandarin had a Jiangcheng accent.

The driver's eyes lit up when talking with Lu Zhou.

Even though they were from different cities, they were still happy to see a person from their own race in this foreign country.

The driver enthusiastically helped Lu Zhou to put his suitcase in the trunk. He then sat in the driver's seat and asked with a smile, "Coming to study? Where are you going?"

Lu Zhou did not explain much and just said, "Princeton University, can you go there?"

"Ahh, I wouldn't drive that far for anyone else, but for you, I will," said the driver as he laughed and activated the meter. He reminded Lu Zhou to wear his seatbelt before he started the engine.

Probably because Lu Zhou was from China as well, the driver had lots to say to Lu Zhou. They talked about living in America and safety issues.

"… It's actually not as dangerous as what your professor described. Princeton is in a rural area, so it's a lot better than the city. But still, don't walk alone at night, especially since you don't have a car, you might become a target. If someone tries to rob you, just hand over your wallet, not a big deal. But if you encounter a creepy person…"

Lu Zhou smiled, "I'm a guy, I don't have to worry about this. What kind of girl would sexually assault me?"

The driver laughed and said, "Oh, it might not be a girl."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What the hell?!

Are westerners really like this!

The way he said: "…"

I feel like this guy has a story…

After an hour of driving, they arrived at Princeton.

The driver seemed to have driven here many times as he casually drove to the entrance of the university.

"My name is Zhang Hai, and this is my business card. If you need a taxi, you can call me."

He then helped Lu Zhou with his suitcase before he left.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and stood at the front gate of Princeton. He felt like he forgot something.

After he thought for a while, he suddenly remembered that Professor Tang's PhD student was still waiting for him at some train station.

Lu Zhou's suddenly had an awkward expression. He took out his phone and inserted his temporary sim card. He then quickly called Luo Wenxuan to apologize.

Fortunately, when Luo Wenxuan received the call, he had not got on the car yet.

Lu Zhou then hung up the phone and looked at the Princeton gate again before he looked at the surrounding streets.

"The hotel arranged by the organizer seems to be called… Princeton Hotel? Where is it?"

The hotel address was written on the invitation letter, but the letter was in his suitcase.

Should I open my suitcase here?

Seems kind of troublesome…

While Lu Zhou was looking around the school gate, a blonde girl wearing a gray trench coat and a red scarf walked by.

When she noticed Lu Zhou's suitcase, she raised her eyebrows before she opened her mouth and asked, "New student?"

"Oh, no. I'm not a student from here," replied Lu Zhou with a smile. He asked, "I'm here for the mathematics conference… Where do I go?"

The girl stared at Lu Zhou and asked, "Name?"

"Lu Zhou."

"The mathematics conference by the Federal Mathematics Society, right? You're in the wrong place," said the girl. She smiled and pointed across the street, "The accommodation is not inside Princeton University. It's the hotel opposite Palmer Square."

Lu Zhou, "Opposite Palmer Square? Thanks."

The girl smiled and said, "You're welcome. Speaking of which, Lu Zhou… I've read your study on the Mersenne prime distribution law. It's a very elegant theorem. Even Professor Deligne approved of it."

Embarrassed, Lu Zhou smiled. "It's just a coincidence."

The proof of Zhou's conjecture was given by the system, so obviously, Deligne would approve of it.

However, Lu Zhou owned the system and he digested the information himself. He also did all the calculations himself. So the credit should be his?

Anyway, his mathematics level was rising. It was just a matter of time before he could prove this level of a conjecture by himself.

The girl said, "Don't be so humble, I look forward to your speech. I've already prepared some questions. I'm walking the same way, I'll send you there."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thanks… Also, what is your name?"

The girl flicked her blonde hair and said in a relaxed tone, "Molina Abel. I don't really like my last name, so you can just call me Molina."

Chapter 118: The Moment Of Witnessing History?

Molina brought Lu Zhou to the Princeton Hotel and after she handed him to one of the hotel staff, she then left.

After entering Lu Zhou's information into the hotel system, the hotel staff said, "Your room is 306. Do you need me to bring you there?"

Lu Zhou answered, "No need, I can get there myself."

He dragged his luggage into the elevator and went into his hotel room. The first thing he did was to take a hot shower. Once he came out of the bathroom, he fell asleep on the bed.

He had such a long flight, so he was still jet lagged.

He laid down and soon he started to snore…

…

Normally an academic conference was only three to four days long. However, because this was the first conference after the Christmas break, and lots of important people came, the conference was six days long.

Lu Zhou's presentation was on the fifth day, and it was about the research on the distribution of Mersenne primes. He had 30 minutes to present.

Presenting for 30 minutes as an undergraduate student was considered a great honor, and not to mention, he was invited to come here.

Doing a presentation at a conference of this level was a lot stricter than submitting an SCI thesis.

Especially the once every four years international mathematics conference organized by the International Mathematician Union (IMU), to be able to attend that conference alone was already an impressive feat.

Unfortunately, the organizer of this academic conference was the Federal Mathematician Society, and it was held once a year. It mainly aimed at younger mathematicians, so the weight was much lower. However, genius mathematicians still attended it!

In the first day of the conference, Lu Zhou met Luo Wenxuan at the entrance of the hotel.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that even though Luo Wenxuan was already forty-something years old, he still looked young. He wore a pair of glasses and had a windbreaker on. Instead of a mathematician, he looked more like a historian.

Luo Wenxuan shook Lu Zhou's hand eagerly before they both walked toward Princeton University.

On the way, Luo Wenxuan asked, "How are you feeling? Are you still jet-lagged?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I should be fine enough to listen to the talks. You're also participating in this conference?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "I'm just there to listen. This conference is mainly focused on number theory, which is not in my field of research. But there are famous people like Professor Deligne and Professor Robert who are acting as judges of the presentations. I can't miss this opportunity."

Lu Zhou asked, "Which direction is your research?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "The branch of functional analysis space theory. I mainly do theoretical research on the Hilbert space. But I also study some quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, so I think I deserve a physics degree by now."

Lu Zhou, "How is the physics department at Princeton?"

"How is it? It's really good, I don't even know how else to describe it," said Luo Wenxuan as he smiled. He added, "In short, there are geniuses everywhere. If you want to study mathematics and physics, studying here is a pretty good option. You should be able to easily get an offer, right? But I don't really recommend you going this direction."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "Because you've already shown great potential in the field of number theory, why don't you just continue along that path?"

"Because… Life needs a challenge?" said Lu Zhou. His tone was uncertain and he casually came up with this reason.

"Impressive!" said Luo Wenxuan as he gave him a thumbs up. He then said, "… Okay, we're here, it's just over there. There are small gifts at the front door. You can get them with the invitation card. But don't get your hopes up, it's all stuff like pens and notebooks."

"Thanks."

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand, "You're welcome!"

Foreign academic conferences were very different than domestic academic conferences. Especially in the poster exchange stage, there were no specific rules here.

Instead of exchanging goods, they were exchanging knowledge.

Everyone here had the right to express their own opinions, without worrying about their identity or status. The academic soul was sublimated in the collision of this kind of thinking. Inside the conference, there would be highly respected professors, and there would also be undergraduate students.

Of course, to be able to get a spot for one's academic poster meant that one had some strength. Even though one's opinions might not be absolutely correct, one still had the option of discussing one's opinions.

In addition to sharing academic issues with the stall owners, people had different ways of participating in academic conferences. The geniuses were rushing to showcase their research results while the dumb students were here to learn. Of course, even though the dumb students did not have any impressive research results to bring to the table, they could still participate.

As Lu Zhou stood in the crowd, he was glad that he did not wear a suit. Everyone was wearing casual clothes. First of all, if he wore a suit, he could be mistaken as a member of the management team. Secondly, his suit was not very warm, and the air conditioning made the hall very cold.

Once Luo Wenxuan brought Lu Zhou into the hall, he disappeared.

This was a great opportunity to communicate with geniuses at the frontier of fields, so to stay with acquaintances was a waste of time.

The first thing that Lu Zhou did after he entered the venue was to look through the gifts booth.

There were pens, notepads, and even ties. However, he could only take one of each. Lu Zhou planned to take a pen as a gift for his sister.

Of course, the small gifts were just a small part of the conference.

Lu Zhou did not forget the main reason he was here.

Generally speaking, the first two days of presentations had the highest value. Last night, Lu Zhou went on the conference website and printed out the presentation times and locations.

The first presentation had yet to begin, so Lu Zhou wondered around the booths in the hall and looked at the posters.

Suddenly, he was attracted by an impressive poster.

[Proof of the Twin prime number guess.]

[Author: Dijan]

[…]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou was shocked after seeing the title of the poster.

The problem that troubled him for half a year was solved by someone else?

This is big news!

Maybe, I'm witnessing history?

This is so exciting!

But, why is no one around?

Lu Zhou walked forward while he held his curiosity close to his heart.

Chapter 119: Gentleman's Demeanor

Lu Zhou looked at an Indian guy who had also noticed him.

When Lu Zhou approached, the Indian guy's face was full of smiles. He immediately greeted Lu Zhou with an Indian accent.

"Oi, bro, you also research number theory?"

"I guess. Very shocking research results," said Lu Zhou even though he could barely understand the guy's accent. He looked around and when he saw that no one was interested in the poster, he said, "Why isn't there anyone here?"

"Because of the arrogance and the prejudice of the people at Princeton, they can't accept that a native Indian had beaten them at mathematics. They even refused to let me present on stage without any reason. It seems that only friends on across the Pacific can understand my feelings," said the Indian guy with slightly darker skin. With a smile, he reached out, "Dijan, a master's student from Nehru University. What's your name?"

Lu Zhou actually wanted to say that he did not understand his feelings because he would be presenting on the fifth day. However, he decided not to anger his new foreign friend.

"Lu Zhou, University of Jin Ling," said Lu Zhou. He did not mention his degree. Instead, he shook the man's hand and asked, "Can I read your thesis?"

"The thesis is here, but I don't recommend you to read it," said Dijan as he patted the stack of paper on his hand. He then threw the paper aside before he started to write on a large whiteboard. He said, "The process is a bit cumbersome, but the principal is easy. I can explain it and you will soon understand the mystery of reverse mathematics."

"Reverse mathematics?" said Lu Zhou. As he looked at the Indian guy suspiciously, he asked, "You used reverse mathematics to prove it? I thought you were studying algebraic number theory."

"Algebra is only a tool for studying number theory, it's not the only way… I know you might not want to hear this. After all, you discovered a good method to prove the prime number bounded distance."

Lu Zhou said impatiently, "I want to hear it, can you just spit it out?"

Dijan hung up the blackboard and turned around to look at Lu Zhou.

"I'll be ready soon!"

While this Indian guy was painting on the whiteboard, Lu Zhou noticed that many people had turned their interests toward this side.

Lu Zhou was curious, so he stood next to the poster and followed the proof of this Indian guy.

In fact, his ideas were simple.

First, assume that the twin prime numbers were finite pairs and that the largest twin prime pairs were (Pn-1, Pn). It could then be seen that the prime numbers within Pn were limited, and were set to P1, P2, Pn-1, and Pn.

Then, to construct a large prime number P = (P1P2P3 * … * Pn) +1.

Obviously, P could not be divided by all the prime numbers from P1 to Pn, and it always had a reminder of 1. So P was a prime number. Similarly, it could be proved that P-2=(P1P2P3*…*Pn)-1 was obviously a prime number.

Since P was a prime number, P-2 was also a prime number. These two constituted a pair of twin prime numbers.

The problem arrived when the pair of twin primes formed by P and P-2 was larger than the "maximum prime pair". Thus, negating (Pn, Pn-1) as the largest twin prime pair.

It was like climbing a ladder, no matter how big (Pn-1, Pn) was, one could always find a larger prime pair.

Thus, "twin primes are infinite" was correct.

There were still many steps in the middle, but the overall gist was this.

Lu Zhou looked at the entire process on the blackboard.

What surprised him was that this guy had not used any existing research results to solve the problem.

This type of out of the box thinking was sophisticated.

But…

Lu Zhou finally understood why no one took an interest in the Indian guy.

"The large prime number P you built can guarantee not to be divisible by a series of prime numbers from P1 to Pn, but only if Pn is the largest prime number. Obviously, you fell into a logical trap. How do you prove that Pn is known as the maximum prime number?"

Dijan raised his eyebrows and said, "Did you not see what I wrote on the first line? The case of a limited number of twins, take the largest pair of twins (Pn-1, Pn)…"

Lu Zhou, "2*3*5*7*11*13+1=30031."

When the people around heard Lu Zhou's line of calculations, they laughed. Some of them had already guessed it.

Some people…

Started to clap.

Dijan was stunned. He felt something was wrong and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "30031 can be disassembled into the product of two prime numbers of 59 and 509, so this number is a composite number… Did you pay to come to Princeton yourself? If I was your professor, I definitely wouldn't fund you."

People around cheered for Lu Zhou.

"Fine, shut up."

Dijan clearly realized that he had made a low-level mistake, so his face turned bright red. He slammed the poster on the table and stuffed the things on the table into his backpack. He then ignored the crowd and left.

Lu Zhou shrugged.

In fact, he wanted to tell the Indian guy why (Pn-1, Pn) could not be the largest prime pair, but the Indian guy obviously did not want to hear his explanation. Therefore, Lu Zhou gave up.

The drama was over and the crowd quickly dissipated.

Only one person stayed, and she looked at him with a smile.

Lu Zhou looked at her face and felt familiar.

This was the blonde lady who took him to the hotel yesterday.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou and smiled, "Destroying a player on the first day?"

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "I just pointed out his mistakes, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, similar things happen all the time," said Molina. She continued, "This is the "arrogance" of Princeton. If you want to present your work here, you can't just be smart. You have to be confident as well."

Obviously, she heard their entire conversation.

This is interesting…

Lu Zhou did not notice her standing there.

Molina saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, so she asked, "Did you think of the calculation on the spot? Or did you prepare it in advance to attack him?"

"I thought of it on the spot. This should be an easy calculation for the geniuses at Princeton, right?"

Lu Zhou was not that bored. He did not learn mathematics to attack people.

Molina raised her eyebrows and said, "You may have some misunderstandings about the word "genius". The power of the brain is its creativity and logical thinking, not just raw calculations. If someone in his group knew some programming, they could've helped him find a counterexample. And he wouldn't be here embarrassing himself."

Lu Zhou said, "There is no "maybe" in mathematics, right?"

"Correct," said Molina. She grinned and took out a piece of gum, "Do you want one?"

Lu Zhou hesitated before he reached out and took a piece.

"Thanks…"

Even though as a child, his parents told him not to accept food from strangers, but it should be okay, right?

Molina saw that Lu Zhou took the gum and smiled.

"You're welcome. Since you accepted my little gift, I want something in exchange. Can you give me your email address and Facebook account?"

"I can give you my email address, but I don't have a Facebook… Is this a custom here?"

Lu Zhou suddenly felt like he was being set up.

Molina smiled and joked, "Not, this is just a gentleman's custom."

Chapter 120: Moment Of Inspiration

Lu Zhou tore a small piece of paper from the conference handbook and wrote down his own email address.

As for the Facebook account, he did not have one.

Once Molina received the paper, she said, "My email and Facebook is on the back of the chewing gum wrapper." She then waved her hand and walked away.

Lu Zhou looked at the chewing gum in his hand. He hesitated for a moment before he peeled it and threw it into his mouth.

Emm…

Vanilla mint flavor?

Lu Zhou copied down Molina's email before he continued to wander around the hall.

Soon, he discovered that Molina was right. People were being proven wrong all the time.

However, "killing the weak" was not the objective. It was merely the result.

Some people just were not at the level of others. There was bound to be conflict.

The most interesting thing was that Lu Zhou saw someone claiming to prove the last step of the Goldbach's conjecture. When he walked over to see what was going on, he had not even finished reading the proof before two master's students disproved the academic poster in front of everyone.

Of course, even if it was embarrassing, it was still brave of them to show their research results here. It would definitely benefit the scholars' future academic path.

Also, the number of "valueless posters" was still in the minority, and most of the exhibited academic results were quite valuable.

For example, a genius studied the automorphism group of Voter algebra. Even they he had not proved the final solution of "AutWn = ?", he still put forward many enlightening and interesting ideas, which attracted countless students and even some professors.

Lu Zhou walked around and found out that the little notebook he received from the front door was not enough to write on.

In the end, he had to walk back to the gift booths to get another notebook.

Lu Zhou gained immense knowledge today.

It was not just from the "poster session".

The focus of these large mathematics conferences was the few presentations that happened every day.

What impressed Lu Zhou the most was the 60 minute presentation from Professor Deligne. He reported the research progress on the transcendence of the Riemann zeta function at odd integer points. He proposed many novel ideas and applications. The mathematical methods were extremely groundbreaking.

Lu Zhou listened to the report presentation intently.

…

Lunch break…

The conference team provided a buffet meal with fruit and meat for all the participants.

Lu Zhou took some ribs and a bowl of salad. Once he found an empty seat, he sat down. He then started to flip through his notes from the conference.

Lu Zhou's focus was on number theory research.

Especially the study of the twin prime numbers.

Even though Lu Zhou did not gain much knowledge from the delusional Indian guy, he was influenced by his optimistic attitude. So, Lu Zhou's interest was reignited.

"Algebra is only a tool for studying number theory, it's not the only way…"

Lu Zhou looked at the formulas in his notes and went into deep thought.

"By picking the right lambda function… What if I used another route?"

It took a lot of courage to think outside of the box.

After all, international mathematician Mr. Zhang Yitang had narrowed the figure of 70 million to 246. As long as he kept trying by choosing an appropriate lambda(n) function, he could narrow this gap to 2 one day…

… Maybe?

This was like the Goldbach conjecture. It was far more difficult to climb that last meter of Everest than the 8843 previous meters.

While he was thinking about this problem, a faint perfume smell drifted over.

A woman carried her plate and sat across Lu Zhou. She then started to chat with him.

"Thinking about mathematics?"

"Yeah."

When Lu Zhou heard her voice, he already knew who she was, so he did not look up. He continued to think of the problem.

"There is a coffee party upstairs discussing the content of Professor Deligne's morning report. Are you not interested?"

"I would be interested… But I'm researching something else right now," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head and flipped through his notebook. He poked a small tomato with his fork and inserted it into his mouth.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou curiously and said, "The academic conference is a place for communication. It might only happen once or twice a year. There are other times for research. Why are you researching mathematics right now?"

Lu Zhou casually replied, "There are many opportunities to attend mathematics conferences, but there are only a few moments of inspirations in life."

Molina looked at Lu Zhou slyly and laughed.

When Lu Zhou looked up at her, he could not understand.

"What?"

"Sorry, nothing. I just think that you're an interesting person," said Molina. She added, "I wish you good luck in your problem solving."

"Thank you."

Although he did not know what she meant by "interesting", he could hear that the blessing from her was genuine.

Lu Zhou then raised his cup of juice and touched cups with her.

…

The afternoon was relaxing, and after four o'clock, the conference would be temporarily paused. The poster stall owners would then leave the hall and reopen at 8 am the next morning.

If one thought they were going to rest after four o'clock, one would be wrong!

The focus of the conference was the free time after four o'clock.

At six o'clock in the evening, the organizers prepared a cocktail party at the Princeton Hotel. A wide range of food and wine would be available to the participants.

For many dumb students that could not understand the presentations during the day, this was their main focus of the conference. This was the time when they felt the closest to the geniuses.

Maybe they could use the power of champagne to receive a laboratory offer.

It was not impossible.

Although Lu Zhou was not that interested in socializing, he still recognized the importance of the party. In fact, he could not miss it.

In the evening, Lu Zhou put on a pair of dress shoes and looked at himself in the mirror. He even styled up his hair.

"Not bad."

Lu Zhou looked at the handsome guy in the mirror and nodded his head with satisfaction. However, he suddenly felt some worries in his heart.

What if people ignore my talent because of my handsomeness?

I hope that doesn't happen…

Someone suddenly knocked on the door of his hotel room.

Chapter 121: Party Of The Mathematicians

Luo Wenxuan stood in front of the door.

The two planned to go to the party hall together.

"The party is about to start, how long do you need?"

"I'm ready."

Lu Zhou fixed his tie and unplugged the room card as he walked out of his room. He then asked, "What do I do at the party?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Take the elevator downstairs, then take a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray. Go talk to people you're interested in. Relax. Don't worry about other's opinions of you, I'm sure there are a lot of people who will be interested in you."

Thanks for the compliment.

Although I know I'm handsome, we should still be humble…

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Luo Wenxuan walked with Lu Zhou to the elevator and gave him some important advice.

The two walked into the elevator and saw two other people inside.

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second before he enthusiastically extended his right hand. He said to the old man, "Professor Wang, what a coincidence!"

"Haha, Wenxuan," said Professor Wang as he reached out to shake Luo Wenxuan's hand. He continued, "Long time no see… This is?"

"Lu Zhou, a proud student of Professor Tang," said Luo Wenxuan as he patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and smiled. He then said, "Lu Zhou, this is Professor Wang Yuping from the University of Yan. He's at the forefront of the country's algebraic number theory research."

"Professor Wang, nice to meet you!"

Nutty…

Lu Zhou had once seen the professor's name in the news, and he was fully impressed.

Professor Wang was not as famous as Lu Zhou because he was a lot more low-key. Another reason was that most of his mathematics research was done when he was younger, and there was no internet at the time, only newspaper…

Professor Wang had accomplished countless academic achievements. Included among his achievements was the solution of the Hualin problem raised by Mr. Hua Luogeng's whole-value polynomial, which proved that the famous combinator Ballobas was an important part of the limited Abelian group.

These solutions were not as good as Zhou's conjecture, but they were still of decent value.

Mr. Wang was one of the strong number theory figures at the University of Yan.

"You don't need to brag for me," said Mr. Wang Yuping as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He said with a kind smile, "Student Zhou, I've heard Professor Tang mention you before. You're quite amazing. The future of China's mathematics depends on you!"

Awe-inspired, Lu Zhou said, "Professor, you're too kind."

"Speaking of which, you should learn from Professor Tang instead of Dean Qin," said Wang Yuping with a smile. He then introduced Lu Zhou to the young man next to him, "This is my student, Wei Wen."

Wei Wen reached out his hand and lightly smiled, he said, "Hello, we meet again."

"Hello, hello," said Lu Zhou as he shook his hand and smiled. He did not recognize him.

We've met before?

Where?

I don't remember anything…

After some small talk, Professor Wang and his student left.

Luo Wenxuan then patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and wished him a "fun night" before he left as well.

As Lu Zhou looked at the people in the venue, he squeezed the champagne glass in his hand and could not help but feel nervous.

Who said that geniuses aren't good at socializing?

It seems that I have to improve my social skills.

When Lu Zhou walked around the venue, he originally planned to find Professor Deligne for thesis review. However, when he saw the man surrounded by a crowd of people, he hesitated.

His English skills were not the best.

When he finally made up his mind…

The man had already left.

In the end, Lu Zhou sat down on a sofa.

Just like when he was at the school cafeteria, he would always choose the quietest position to sit at.

Lu Zhou shook his head and took out a notebook from his suit pocket. He then began to study the problem that he was stuck on.

However, someone suddenly sat down across from him.

When Lu Zhou looked up, he did not recognize her.

Her thick eyebrows were like the girl from the Harry Potter movies.

She wore a black dress with a white necklace, forming a sharp contrast. It was mysterious, a Victorian style of fashion.

Lu Zhou looked down…

Okay, I guess not all white people have big boobs…

It was rude to stare for too long, and Lu Zhou was preparing to say hello, but she spoke first.

Molina, "You're not dancing?"

"Nope, it's too crowded over there, not suitable for me…" said Lu Zhou. He continued, "Fine, actually I don't know how to dance, you?"

Molina smiled and said, "Me too."

Surprised, Lu Zhou looked at her and said, "I thought the French are all dancing masters."

"To each their own," said Molina with a smile. She then said, "When I first came to the United States, I thought you Chinese people all knew Kung Fu."

"This… is a bit of a misunderstanding," replied Lu Zhou.

"I'm very curious."

"Curious about what?"

"How can you still concentrate on mathematics questions with a beautiful lady sitting across from you?"

The f*ck?

What's she talking about?

Are westerners really like this!

Lu Zhou looked at Molina and he did not respond. Instead, he asked, "… Why do you say that?"

Molina looked at Lu Zhou and grinned as she said, "I can tell a lot from your body language."

"… Fine, I guess my body language is too revealing."

Lu Zhou coughed.

He was actually thinking about mathematical problems.

Even now…

The conversation went into a short period of silence while the two sat quietly together.

As Lu Zhou looked at the people on the dance floor, he tapped his fingers on the table while he followed the beat.

Inspiration was always something metaphysical.

The truth buried in the numbers could slip away from his fingertips.

This was why he had to use the system multiple times as a last resort.

However, the system would not give him any advice as to which problem to solve. It would only solve the problem when asked.

Unfortunately, he did not have enough points to solve the twin prime number conjecture.

He was always a little bit off from solving it…

Lu Zhou squeezed his fists.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He remembered the twenty-four hours of inspiration time the system had. He then stood up from his chair.

Molina looked at him strangely, "What's wrong?"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, "I suddenly thought of something important."

Molina raised her eyebrows, and she asked jokingly, "Is it more important than eating dinner with a French lady?"

"It's more important than having dinner with the Virgin Mary!"

Lu Zhou quickly ran to the elevator.

Chapter 122: The World Of Inspiration

Lu Zhou grabbed two pieces of bread from the food trays before he rushed back to his room. Once he threw his two notebooks on the table, he pulled out some draft paper from his suitcase.

Everything was ready.

He took a deep breath and went into the system space. He then started the "inspiration hours".

It felt different than immersive learning or the focus capsule. When Lu Zhou left the system space, he felt purely rational and not impetuous at all.

A warm sensation traveled from his spine to his brain, it was like a flame that ignited his mind.

"… Strange feeling."

Lu Zhou squeezed his fist before he rubbed his eyes. He felt like everything in front of him was shaking lightly.

At the same time, the inspiration in his mind was like a tsunami, washing away in his cerebral cortex.

It was hard to describe that feeling.

Suddenly, it was like all of the nerve endings in his body expanded, like his body directly connected with the cosmos…

The rings on his curtains looked like an abstract elongated Mobius ring.

The texture of his sheets looked like the Fibonacci sequence.

The paper cup on the desk, the bed, and the chandelier formed a three-point golden ratio.

These small details were obvious to him.

It was like his vision was reduced to pure geometric images, and he was breaking down data into pure numbers and arithmetic symbols.

This kind of feeling was a paradise for any artist.

Of course, it was also hell for OCD patients…

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried not to pay any attention to the sense of distraction in the room while he concentrated on the paper.

It was whether there was an infinite pair of (P, P+2) prime numbers!

…

The functions of the system had been very user-friendly.

A total of 24 inspiration hours could be paused and resumed at any time. However, after each pause, there would be symptoms of "inspiration exhaustion" such as slow thinking, slow reaction speeds, and etc.

After several experiments, Lu Zhou finally became familiar with the use of the function.

He was stuck on the twin prime number problem for more than half a year, so this burst of inspiration made him ecstatic.

As a result, Lu Zhou almost forgot why he came to Princeton in the first place. He forgot about his presentation on the fifth day, and he even forgot about the system mission.

In order to make use of every hour, he would only use four inspiration hours a day, over four sessions. He wanted to utilize every hour and every minute.

He was immersed in the search for answers.

It was like he became a detective, desperately searching for clues.

Every time Lu Zhou found a clue, he was one step closer to solving the problem.

This kind of experience was unprecedented for him.

Lu Zhou did not leave the hotel room for three days.

He completely shut himself in his ten-square-meter room, and he even called room service for food.

Those used draft papers piled up in the corner of his table while crunched up draft papers were on the floor.

The fourth night…

Lu Zhou looked at the mountain of draft papers while he changed the ink in his pen. He could not help but yawn.

"There are only two hours left?"

Lu Zhou looked at the timer on his phone before he went into system space to pause the inspiration hours.

Finally, it was time for a break.

However, that wonderful feeling of inspiration was gone.

With Lu Zhou's boiling brain gradually cooled down, he took a deep breath and sighed.

Since the academic conference was a waste of time. he had not left his room the past few days.

However, the other gains he received over the past few days was substantial.

He could clearly feel that he was getting closer and closer to solving the twin prime number conjecture.

He was so close…

Lu Zhou stretched and stood up from his chair.

He planned to go for a walk, shower, then lie in bed and have a good night's sleep. He would wait until the next day to continue.

He walked out of the hotel, through Palmer Square and walked along the Princeton Campus road. The cold evening wind blew on his face and it helped to relax his overheated brain.

Lu Zhou felt like this university looked more like a castle than a university. The students here were very enthusiastic. They would party every night. However, when the time arrived, they would use a 200% effort to study.

This was his observations.

When Lu Zhou was walking along the park, he suddenly met an acquaintance.

The guy walked over to Lu Zhou.

"What happened to you? I was about to look for you."

"Is there a problem?"

"Nothing," said Luo Wenxuan. He looked at Lu Zhou strangely and asked, "Are you stuck on something or what…"

"You're right," said Lu Zhou. He admitted, "I'm stuck on a problem."

Luo Wenxuan sighed and asked, "What problem?"

"It's about the infinity of twin primes."

Luo Wenxuan shook his head and said, "Sorry, I can't help you on this one. It's not in my research field."

Lu Zhou asked casually, "How's your research going?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "The six-sided dice thrown by god produced seven results. This is both a mathematics problem and a quantum mechanics problem. This is the dilemma our research institute is facing."

Lu Zhou said with sympathy, "That is quite troubling…"

"Yeah, it's hell," sighed Luo Wenxuan. He then added, "Yesterday, I talked with Professor Wang Yuping for a long time on how to solve this physics problem from a mathematics perspective, but nothing came of it."

"Seven results for a six-sided dice…" said Lu Zhou. As he repeated the sentence, he went into deep thinking mode.

Without knowing it, the two soon walked back to Palmer Square.

This place was always lively at night with people going to bars like they were celebrating a victory…

When Luo Wenxuan saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing…" said Lu Zhou. He suddenly stopped walking and looked up. His pupils enlarged and he said in an excited tone, "Is that a white pigeon?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at him and said, "What?"

"That pigeon!"

"Where?"

Luo Wenxuan tried to look for the pigeon in the sky.

He could not find anything and when he turned around, Lu Zhou had disappeared…

Chapter 123: Genius? Madman?

The fifth day of the academic conference…

A man in a suit quickly walked to the door of Room 306 before he politely reached out and knocked on the door.

"Mr. Lu Zhou, your presentation report will begin soon. Are you available?"

A shuffling sound came from the room.

Then, a voice spoke.

"Right now? Isn't my presentation in the afternoon?"

The man in the suit smiled awkwardly and coughed before he said, "Technically, it's in an hour, but because of an accident made by a Belgian reporter, itinerary adjustments had to be made… Did you see the email?"

The room was silent for a while. A sound of an impatient sigh could be heard.

"… Let me shower."

The conference team staff was relieved.

"We apologize for the inconvenience caused… Also, please don't take too long to shower."

…

Around two hundred people sat inside the crowded Lecture Hall 1. Among them were mostly unknown people, but there were a couple of big names.

For example, the mathematics emperor Grothendieck's proud student Deligne, and Professor Wang Yuping from the University of Yan.

Maybe it was because of Lu Zhou's poor mental state, he was abnormally calm. He was not nervous at all.

Lu Zhou adjusted the microphone and once he received the "Go" signal from the conference staff, he began to speak.

"Everyone should have already read my thesis by now. According to the conference's original arrangements, the content of today's report should be about the study of Mersenne primes… But because of the adjustments to the schedule, I had to make some small changes."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then looked at a staff member and asked, "Can you get me a whiteboard?"

The staff member hesitated before saying, "Sure, but the projector's reflection on the whiteboard is poor, so some people might not be able to see it."

"Just give me a marker," said Lu Zhou. He then looked at the projector before saying, "You can turn this thing off."

The audience members were whispering and discussing. They did not know what Lu Zhou was about to do.

The staff members were also curiously as they watched, but it was not their first time receiving weird requests from "geniuses". So, they quickly dragged a whiteboard for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou thanked them before he turned to face the whiteboard. He took a deep breath and entered into the system space. He began the inspiration hours.

It was his last inspiration hour.

He was going to complete the proof in this hour!

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes, he also lifted the pen.

He wrote down the first line of calculations on the whiteboard.

The audience was slightly irritated.

After all, Lu Zhou did not give a speech or even a PowerPoint. This was unwelcoming for the rookies.

Two students sitting in the back of the lecture hall packed their things and quietly exited the hall.

The academic conference only lasted a few days, so they could not waste their time listening to a useless presentation.

As for those big figures that often attended conferences, they were used to this type of commotion. Their facial expressions did not change at all. They focused on the result of the presentation, not the presenter.

When Lu Zhou wrote the tenth line of calculation, Professor Deligne suddenly had a look of surprise on his face.

He said to his assistant next to him, "Did you bring the notebook?"

The assistant quickly took out the notebook and said, "I brought it."

"Thank you."

Professor Deligne placed the notebook on his lap and as he stared at the lines of calculations on the whiteboard, his eyes gradually became serious.

At the same time, Professor Wang Yuping who was sitting on the other side of the venue was also staring at the whiteboard.

Even though because of his age, it was difficult for him to see the whiteboard, he still stared very intently.

Beside him was the academic exchange group from the University of Yan. The group consisted of three undergraduate students, a graduate student, and a PhD student.

Wei Wen stared at the whiteboard and asked, "What is he doing?"

Yeah.

What is he doing…

Professor Wang was also curious.

However, when he saw the tenth line of calculations, he instantly looked up in disbelief.

He probably guessed what Lu Zhou was doing.

He could not believe it.

He's going to challenge the world class problem here? Twin prime number conjecture?

He must be crazy…

"… Sieve of Eratosthenes? He's proving the second Goldbach expression? Nope, no, these calculations…" murmured Molina as she stared at the whiteboard. She continued, "Professor Zellberg published a paper in the "Year of Mathematics" in 1995, on the complementary study of the topological method on the sieve theory… He is challenging the twin prime guess!"

When Lu Zhou wrote the twentieth line of calculations, 30% of the venue's participant understood what he was doing.

As for the rest of the people, they had no idea.

These kinds of academic conferences were open-ended, and the barrier of registration was not too high. Anyone could come, as long as they paid the expensive registration fee.

Actually, it did not even matter too much if one signed up.

Even though this kind of conference had admission badges, the staff did not even check them. Therefore, many people who did not sign up could still sneak in and discuss mathematics with the participants.

The only difference was that they could not present their own academic posters, could not live in the Princeton hotel rooms, and could not attend the cocktail parties.

Wei Wen started at the whiteboard, and he suddenly said, "Vinogradov's three number prime theorem?"

Professor Wang Yuping nodded and said, "Yes."

Wei Wen could not help but ask, "Professor… What exactly is he doing?"

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "Oh, can't you tell?"

Wei Wen looked confused and he shook his head.

"Then, just continue watching," sighed Professor Wang Yuping. As he looked at the whiteboard, he nodded in approval and said, "It seems that Professor Tang has raised a good student… I'm looking forward to the next two decades."

Lu Zhou did not notice the movements in the venue as his concentration was fully on the whiteboard. Even though his speed of writing was not fast, it was cautious and contained force.

Time slowly passed, and the conference staff continued to watch intently.

Finally, there were five minutes left. The staff member saw that the Q&A section had not even started yet, so he coughed and reminded Lu Zhou.

"There are only five minutes left."

Lu Zhou stood in front of the whiteboard and continued to write with the marker as if he failed to hear the staff.

He was completely shielded from any outside interference.

Finally, five minutes had passed.

The two staff members exchanged glances and were about to interrupt the presenter.

However, one of the people sitting in the front row spoke up.

"Let him continue."

The person who spoke was Pierre Deligne.

The staff was stunned to hear this big shot speak.

However, because of his job, the staff member explained, "But the next presentation is about to start…"

Professor Deligne put aside his notebook and stood up before he said slowly, "The next presentation will be moved to Lecture Hall 4, so people can go there instead."

He then sat back down.

10 minutes passed, and no one left Lecture Hall 1.

No one was willing to leave.

The people that could not understand had already left long ago.

As for the rest, most of them could understand what was going on.

Challenging a world-class mathematics problem during a conference?

Anyone who dared to do this was not a genius, but a crazy person!

The people sitting in the crowd were either about to witness a great moment or a complete joke.

Either way, it would be an interesting show either way.

Chapter 124: Witnessing The Great Momen

"Is there any other questions?"

Professor Deligne looked at the staff member.

"No…"

Embarrassed, the staff member smiled before he went back to the side.

He did not dare to oppose the big shot.

There were only 13 mathematicians that had won both the Fields Medal and Wolf Prizes. Only two who had won the Crayford Prize as well. One of them was Deligne, the other was Qiu Chengtong.

Even the chairman of the International Mathematics Union greatly respected Deligne, much less an ordinary conference staff member.

Lu Zhou would have thanked Deligne, but at this moment his attention was elsewhere.

He looked at the four fully written whiteboards and stopped writing.

The whiteboards contained the results from the past four days worth of research.

He had to solve the rest on the spot.

He still had half an hour of inspiration time left.

He had completely entered the state of concentration, and he had almost forgotten where he was.

He completely forgot about the audience.

He completely forgot about the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him.

As Lu Zhou looked at the lines of calculations on the whiteboard, he was calm as a millpond.

He picked up the marker.

[S(α)=Σane(nα);M,N∈ζ…]

Professor Deligne stared at the whiteboard with his sharp eyes. He suddenly asked his old friend who was sitting next to him, "Do you think he will succeed?"

Professor Zellberg stared at the formula on the whiteboard and smiled, "It's hard to say, but I think we should look forward to it. Mathematics is the field of geniuses, and 70% of outstanding achievements are made by young mathematicians."

"This is why you turned to study string theory?" asked Professor Deligne as he stopped writing on his notebook.

"Haha," said Professor Zellberg. He smiled and said, "Maybe?"

The other side of the lecture hall…

Wei Wen stared at the whiteboard motionlessly as he watched his competitor challenging a world-class problem on stage. The calculations were beyond his knowledge, and he could barely keep up with what was going on.

Finally, he could not help but whisper.

"Professor."

Professor Wang Yuping looked at the whiteboard and smiled, "What's up?"

"Do you think… he can succeed?"

Professor Wang Yuping thought for a moment before he answered, "Hard to say. Number theory requires the most talent. If he succeeds, it'll be a good story."

Wei Wen immediately asked, "What if he fails?"

Professor Wang Yuping thought and said, "… If he fails, he would become the butt of the jokes at Princeton."

Lu Zhou might be ridiculed by the media as well. The media could spin him as some arrogant idiot who was defeated by a world-class problem… Even though Lu Zhou had the correct researching spirit, society was not so forgiving.

The old gentleman could not help but think.

It's still better to be young…

Only young people have this kind of courage and enthusiasm.

There were too many things to worry about at his age.

The older one was, the more stable one would be. The more stable one was, the harder it would be to improve.

It was not just about inspiration or the decline in concentration and brain degeneration.

It was also because it would be difficult for a professor to challenge a big conjecture. The professor could spend years trying to solve the problem and achieved nothing.

In contrast, Lu Zhou was an undergraduate student. He had no academic pressure, nor did he had to worry about his career or meetings. He could use his time to explore and achieve great results inspired by inspiration.

Even if Lu Zhou failed, it was fine.

However, if Lu Zhou succeeded…

The only person who could overcome Lu Zhou as a young mathematician was probably the guy that proposed the "PS theory". The youngest W3 professor in Germany, Peter Schultz.

However, Lu Zhou might be stronger.

Schultz might be Lu Zhou's biggest contender for the 2018 Fields Medal. And Brendle, also from Germany, was also a strong competitor. However, this year's Ramanujan gold award was probably going to be awarded to the solver of the twin prime number conjecture.

As Professor Wang stared at Lu Zhou's back, his face was full of praise.

Wei Wen who was seated next to him said nothing. He did not even know what to think…

On the stage…

Five fully written whiteboards.

It was already five minutes past the inspiration time.

The result was determined.

Lu Zhou looked at the staff dragging the sixth whiteboard and slowly spoke.

His lips twitched as he whispered in front of the five whiteboards.

"God threw a six-sided dice, but there were seven results."

"Mr. Hilbert's topological approach to the infinity prime numbers proves that there is a layer of inspiration."

He faced the new whiteboard.

Once again, he lifted his right hand.

He started to write on the whiteboard.

[S(2)-(logkx)S(1)>0 is true for K≥2, acceptable array H=…]

[…]

[Therefore, there is an infinite number of twin prime pairs.]

In the crowd…

Professor Deligne's eyes grew bigger and he suddenly smiled.

Professor Zellberg said, "When I used the topological method to supplement the screening theory, I thought that my work might provide ideas for future generations to solve the Goldbach conjecture. I didn't think that this sword could be used to cut the K=1 form of the Polignac conjecture. It seems that he responded to our expectations."

Professor Deligne put down his pen and took off his glasses before he rubbed his slightly sore eyes.

He only said one word.

"Yeah."

The audience was quiet.

Only one person was on the stage.

Lu Zhou stepped back and looked at the six whiteboards.

The venue was so quiet that he could hear his heartbeat.

This should be fine…

Lu Zhou then took a deep breath before he turned around. He then walked to the podium and faced the audience as he spoke confidently.

"There are infinite twin pairs, and we've taken another big step toward the Polignac's conjecture."

"Sorry for delaying everyone's time, but my proof process is over."

It was like he was doing an exam, and he had finally handed his paper in.

There were mixed feelings in his heart.

Lu Zhou listened to his own heartbeat and gently placed the marker down on the podium.

The people's heads moved under the fluorescent lights.

Everyone in the audience was a witness.

This proof was going to be presented to the entire world.

Lu Zhou faced the audience and bowed.

He then turned around and walked off the stage.

Chapter 125: I Only Want To Sleep

Surprised.

Astonished.

Incredible.

Everyone in the audience was stunned.

It was dead silence in the lecture hall.

An old man broke the silence.

He stood up and began to clap.

Clap clap clap…

The applause gradually became louder.

It went from the sound of light rain into a thunderstorm.

Clap clap clap!

It was not just the applause.

Some students stood up and began to cheer and whistle.

Everyone in the lecture hall, from Princeton students to conference participants.

At this moment.

They all witnessed a great moment!

A question mark in the Hall of Mathematics was solved.

At the same time.

A genius rose.

The entire lecture hall was filled with applause.

The applause sound floated outside the lecture hall.

The staff member that stood next to the podium could not understand the proof process on the whiteboard, but he could not help but clap as well.

The colleague next to him rubbed his arm and spoke.

"If you interrupted his thought process, your name would be in the history of mathematics."

"What name?"

"The terminator of inspiration. Interrupted at the Mathematics Society, killed a math genius with his own hands."

"Oh, not like this. Mr. Francis would kill me."

Francis was the chairman of the Federal Mathematics Society. He was a handsome old man who spoke slowly.

He was also a ferocious man.

The conversation between the two was buried by the applause.

Below the stage…

Wei Wen listened to the sound of applause and as he looked at the whiteboards, he could not believe it. He asked, "He solved it?"

This was his opponent?

This was the guy that he was up against in the US Competition?

The US Competition was in February. Right now, he should be fighting his opponent. However, at this moment, his heart was in shock.

Frustration?

No…

Lost?

A bit.

It was like his opponent was on another level.

Whether it was the college entrance examination champion or the gold medal of the international Olympic mathematics competition, or the worship of students, nothing could fill the void in his heart.

He lost to a respectable opponent.

It was not just because of the outcome.

He was humiliated.

When Professor Wang Yuping heard the student's question, he nodded slowly.

The old gentleman said, "Well, he solved it!"

The young are surpassing us…

The old man made up his mind.

Once he returned, he would write a recommendation letter for Lu Zhou to compete in the Ten Thousand People Initiative!

He would write it as soon as he returned to the hotel.

Not only that, but he would also get Professor Tang to sign the letter together.

There were no problems regarding Lu Zhou's age or academic qualifications. Besides, how many PhD students could do what he just did?

China needed a Fields Medal winner.

Professor Wang saw hope in Lu Zhou.

…

The things on the whiteboard had been engraved in Lu Zhou's mind, and he would never forget them.

As for whether or not it would be plagiarized?

Once Lu Zhou finally solved the question, he did not want to do anything else other than sleep in his hotel room.

However, he underestimated his own behavior. He did not realize how cool he would appear to the mathematics students at Princeton.

The second he was out of the lecture hall, he was caught up by the people chasing him.

The crowd surrounded him like he was at the Superbowl. Lu Zhou thought he would be thrown into the sky.

"Wow, bro, nicely done! The way you wrote the last step was so cool! Can you do it again? I want to take a photo!"

"Handsome boy, do you have a number? You can write it on my hand."

"Wait for a second! Let me take a photo! I want to tweet it! Thanks!"

The noisy voice suddenly dispelled Lu Zhou's sleepiness.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou was almost scared of these people's enthusiasm.

Some people even gave him a hug.

A passionate young Latino girl took a photo with him, then kissed his cheek.

This was not the main problem.

The young ladies after her were even more daring, so Lu Zhou started to panic.

The most annoying thing was that these people were not polite at all!

The crowd became more and more energetic.

Lu Zhou desperately tried to escape.

Thank god he was able to keep his kissing virginity.

It was important to him.

It would be a tragedy if he lost it here!

…

Lu Zhou left the school and quickly walked through Palmer Square. As he was taking the elevator, a person suddenly appeared behind him.

Lu Zhou looked at her.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Oh… I don't mind taking a photo. Just don't touch me, please?"

Molina crossed her arms and ignored Lu Zhou as she said, "I'm at Room 707. Where are you going?"

"Three… Oh, can you press the third floor?" replied Lu Zhou.

He nearly revealed his room number.

"The third floor?" said Molina as she looked at the floor dial. She then looked at Lu Zhou and said, "We're past the third floor already. How about you come and chill in my room for a bit?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's okay, I just want to sleep."

Molina: "…"

When the elevator reached the seventh floor, it stopped.

Lu Zhou reached down and pressed the third-floor button.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou trying to leave and sighed, "Are all Chinese guys so boring?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "No, I just don't want to think about math problems right now."

Molina was surprised, "How did you know I was going to ask you math questions?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Because I can tell from your body language. You taught me this. Am I right?"

She did not reply.

Molina noticed Lu Zhou's face and did not insist. She then took a bag of wet wipes from her purse and threw it at him.

Lu Zhou asked, "Wet wipes?"

Molina smiled and said, "There are three lipstick prints on your face. Do you need a mirror?"

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou quickly took the wipes and cleaned his face.

As expected, two red marks were visible on the wipes.

"Have a good night's sleep. Remember, don't miss the closing ceremony and party tomorrow night," said Molina as she looked at Lu Zhou wiping his face. She then licked her lips and said, "You're the main protagonist."

She did not wait for Lu Zhou to respond before she left.

Chapter 126: Closing Ceremony

There may be a distinction between the academic value of conjectures, but it was difficult to measure the objective difficulty of conjectures.

After all, how would one even begin to measure it?

This in itself is a pseudo-logic.

However, it was not impossible to get a general idea of the conjecture's classification.

If one ignored all the non-academic factors such as political significance, economic significance, and media influence, the thousands of mathematics conjectures could be divided into a couple of levels.

The first level was undoubtedly the millennial problems such as Riemann's conjecture and Yang-Mills existence and mass gap. These were the so-called world's seven major mathematical problems.

Once these conjectures were proven, they would not only promote the development of the field of mathematics, but it would also have far-reaching effects on other disciplines and industries.

The second level was the most well known three modern time mathematics problems; Goldbach's conjecture, four-color problem, and Fermat's last theorem. Two of them had been solved, and Mr. Chen was working on the last one.

The third level would be very subjective and not so obvious. Something such as the Jacobian conjecture would be in this category.

Proof of a problem at this level would get one close to a Fields Medal, or at least a nomination. Of course, one would have to be under 40 years old.

Zhou's conjecture could be counted in the fourth classification. Other "weak conjectures" could also be included in this category.

The fifth level would be those niche conjectures speculated by unknown mathematicians.

The Polignac's conjecture would be considered the third level while the twin prime guess conjecture would be between the third and the fourth level.

Lu Zhou's 2018 Fields Medal nomination was secured. His biggest competitor would probably be the 2013 Ramanujan gold award winner, "German god" Peter Schultz. It was said that Schultz was challenging the famous weight-monodromy conjecture, but his progress was unknown.

Of course, the research on conjectures was only a part of mathematics. Most people had not even proved a single conjecture in their lifetime, but that did not hinder their contribution to the mathematics community.

For example, Mr. Grottendieck laid the foundation of modern algebraic geometry and completely changed the field of functional analysis. His accomplishment was bigger than any proof of a conjecture. After all, many of today's mathematical conjectures were based on his "probability theory".

The road of mathematics was long.

The proof of the twin prime number was only a small step.

Lu Zhou knew that his research result was only able to answer some of Hilbert's eighth questions.

Although his heart was excited, he was not arrogant at all.

The more he learned, the less he thought he knew about the world.

Actually, Lu Zhou did not know exactly what his feeling was. However, one thing was certain. His name was famous at Princeton.

Everyone knew of it.

That during the presentations yesterday, a young man from Asia solved a world-class mathematics problem in front of the audience.

…

Lu Zhou shook his groggy head and climbed out of bed.

He pushed open the bathroom door and took a hot bath. He then got dressed and stood in front of the mirror.

Ah, not bad.

I'm just as handsome as always, I'm just a bit skinny.

Ah, I can't get fat no matter how much I eat.

Lu Zhou walked over to the windows and opened the curtains.

He had not felt this relaxed in a long time.

It was his most comfortable night of sleep in America.

The sky outside was bright.

If he did not feel so good, he would have doubted if he slept at all…

Lu Zhou suddenly thought.

Wait, what time is it?

He looked at the time on his phone. It was already half past three!

There was a closing ceremony waiting for him, so Lu Zhou immediately put on his shoes and rushed out of the door.

He got off the elevator and walked through the lobby.

Lu Zhou bumped into a Caucasian guy looking at his phone, and asked, "Sorry, what day of the conference is it?"

The dude said impatiently, "The sixth day, bro, take it easy!"

Close!

Lu Zhou relaxed.

It seemed that he had not missed the ceremony.

However, it did make sense. Even if he had worked really hard, it would be impossible to sleep for two days straight.

The Caucasian guy stared at Lu Zhou for a long time before he suddenly said, "Wait… You're Lu Zhou?"

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou nearly jumped.

How does he know my name?

What?

The Caucasian guy said to Lu Zhou.

"Hey, listen, guess what my thesis is about? I cleverly searched for a lambda function, which proved that there are infinitely many primes numbers with differences of 242! You ruined my research results!"

Lu Zhou did not know what to say as he looked at the American guy like he was crazy. He was about to wave to the security guard.

Fortunately, this guy did not make any radical move.

"… Goddamnit, but nicely done! I didn't expect the sieve method to be used like this… Let me introduce myself. My name is Carist. Let's get drinks tonight? Hey, don't run, hey!"

Lu Zhou ran away.

…

The crowd was sitting inside the auditorium.

Even though there were not that many people inside, the closing ceremony was about to begin.

Lu Zhou remembered that he heard Luo Wenxuan mentioned about this. Most people would not stay until the end of the academic conference. Most of them left after listening to the presentations.

Lu Zhou looked around but he could not find Luo Wenxuan. However, he did saw an unexpected person which was the Indian guy named Dijan.

What a surprise, this guy didn't leave yet?

Can he handle the pressure?

When the Indian guy noticed Lu Zhou, he did not say anything. He merely ignored him.

Lu Zhou did not care.

He did not know why the Indian guy was still here.

The closing ceremony began.

The auditorium became silent.

After a while, an old man walked up stage with the help of a black cane.

Francis, the president of the Federal Mathematician Society, was also a member of the International Union of Mathematicians.

His slow movements made it look like he was about to trip and fall.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Francis. There's not much else to say, so let's get right into it," said the old man with a smile.

The audience also smiled and applauded him for encouragement.

The old man pushed his glasses and began his speech.

"First of all, I would like to thank all of you for participating in this conference. I would also like to thank companies such as Parker, Amazon, and etc, for sponsoring this event. We wouldn't be able to hose this event without them…

"… The work we all do is the same, regardless of whether it's a mistake. Even if your conclusions are temporarily wrong, even if you've been vehemently refuted, it does not mean that you're not excellent. On the contrary, you're more courageous and talented than 99% of the world. I hope that I'll see you here next year…

"There's also a party tonight…

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about the most important thing," said the old man as he pushed his glasses. He smiled apologetically as he continued, "The best young presenter of this conference will receive a $10,000 prize sponsored by Amazon and a certificate issued by the Federal Mathematics Society. As expected, the winner is Lu Zhou."

Mr. Francis raised his spirits and looked at everyone.

"Then, have a great time!

"Also, the Superbowl championship belongs to the Eagles!"

The young people in the audience whistled.

With this, the academic conference came to a successful conclusion.

Chapter 127: Level Breakthrough!

Lu Zhou had not expected that not only did he not finished spending the funds that the University gave him, but he also returned with an extra $10,000 USD.

This was somewhat unexpected.

As the crowd started to leave the auditorium, Lu Zhou walked up to the stage to receive a certificate from Mr. Francis.

"Congratulations, Lu Zhou from the University of Jin Ling. I've heard Professor Deligne and Professor Zellberg give high praise for your presentation. "

"If you wish to study a PhD at Princeton, I'm sure that many professors would love to write a recommendation letter for you. Of course, this includes me."

Studying a PhD at Princeton required not only good academic grades, but it also required extracurricular activities. Recommendation letters was also an important part.

"Then I won't waste your time. Enjoy the conference," said Mr. Francis as he patted Lu Zhou on the back before he walked to the back of the stage.

Lu Zhou looked at the certificate in his hand.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind.

Does this count as active participation in the conference?

I guess it does?

Oh well, I'll let the system decide.

Everything will be revealed once I'm back at the hotel.

Lu Zhou walked outside of the auditorium and saw someone.

It was an old man with a bald head and a trench coat.

When Lu Zhou saw him, he saw Lu Zhou as well.

Lu Zhou walked over and the old man said, "Excellent proof."

"Thanks… You're Professor Deligne?"

"Yes," Professor Deligne as he nodded.

The old professor did not speak much. His personality was similar to Brother Qian.

However, the difference was that Lu Zhou could feel a sense of oppression and pressure coming from the old man.

Rumor had it that this meticulous old man had a habit. Before listening to any presentation, he would prepare three or four possible counterarguments in his head. If the presenter was wrong, he would mercilessly raise his counterexample…

Presenters hated this type of approach.

Maybe this was the source of the old man's pressure?

Professor Deligne paused for half a minute before he asked, "Do you want to consider publishing your thesis in the Annual Mathematics journal?"

Lu Zhou was stunned when he heard this.

There were many mathematics journals, both domestically and internationally, but Professor Deligne was talking about the Princeton Annual Mathematics journal, one of the four major mathematics journals in the world.

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Doesn't this count as a duplicate publication?"

Professor Deligne shook his head, "No it doesn't count. The one you submitted to the conference is the Mersenne prime distribution law, not the twin prime number proof. The conference team will be happy to accept your additional submissions. However, I don't recommend you publish the research through the conference."

He paused for a second before continuing, "If you want to submit to the Annual Mathematics journal, please send me a copy of your thesis as soon as possible. I'm pretty busy these days… But I might have time to review it."

Lu Zhou, "I'll start preparing it when I get back to the hotel."

"Don't worry about it too much. Just enjoy the party and alcohol tonight. I'm not that unreasonable," said Professor Deligne with a smile.

He hesitated for a second before he pulled out a letter from the pocket of his trench coat. He slowly handed it to Lu Zhou.

"This is?"

Lu Zhou read the name of the sender and was shocked.

[Alexander Grothendieck]

F*ck!

When Professor Deligne saw Lu Zhou's facial expression, he coughed before he said, "That letter was written in November last year."

"He told me to hand it over to a young talent in mathematics… This letter belongs to you."

Lu Zhou looked at the letter in his hand and he took a deep breath before he replied, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Professor Deligne then nodded and walked away.

…

At last, Lu Zhou chose to skip the party.

He did not want to experience the enthusiasm of Caucasians again.

He guessed that he would probably be forced to drink a lot of alcohol.

Last time he protected his integrity, but this time if there was alcohol at play, his integrity might not be so intact.

When Lu Zhou returned to the hotel, he laid down in bed. He then entered the system space and looked at the information screen.

[Congratulations user for completing the mission!

[Mission completion details is as follows: Participation in Princeton Mathematics Conference: (Poster session + 2 points), (Presentation listening + 4 points), (Academic dinner + 1 points), (Presentation + 25 points).

[Mission final evaluation: S+

[Mission award: 42,000 mathematics experience points. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% sample, 8% blueprint, 2% unluck technology branch)]

When Lu Zhou saw the experience value, he was shocked and he wondered if he read an extra zero.

He read it again.

"F*ck! Forty thousand mathematics experience points?!"

Lu Zhou was so ecstatic that he quickly ordered the system.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 3 (4000/100000)

B. Physics: Level 1 (5100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (0/10000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3000/10000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2900/10000)

General points: 1975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Lu Zhou looked at the characteristic panel and squeezed his fist in excitement.

Level three!

However, his excitement only lasted for a second.

When he saw the row of zeros for Level 4 requirements, he suddenly did not feel so good anymore.

A hundred thousand experience points…

Where in the hell would I get that?

Chapter 128: System, Give Me A Fanta

Lu Zhou closed his characteristic panel and quickly began the lucky draw.

This time, Lu Zhou did not want to say anything.

He found out that the system did not care about his rituals.

I'll just stay calm.

I probably won't get the blueprint or unlock the technology branch.

I haven't drunk the sprite yet, maybe I'll get a Fanta this time?

Lu Zhou quietly began the lucky draw.

The prize wheel started to spin rapidly.

"Stop!"

The wheel gradually slowed down and came to a stop.

[Congratulations, User, you received a sample!]

Lu Zhou, "?"

The fuck?

What a surprise!

I didn't get the garbage?

Wait… Let's see what it is first!

Lu Zhou stared at the semi-transparent information screen nervously.

[Received sample: Focus capsules (30)]

When Lu Zhou saw the text, he relaxed. It felt like a weight has been lifted from his heart.

The focus capsules were a lot better than Coke or Sprite.

Coincidentally, he planned to take physics as a minor next semester.

But I would have to do more grinding this way…

Lu Zhou closed the prize interface and looked at the mission panel. He was about to click on it but he hesitated at the last second.

Wait for a second, I'm about to go back to China soon. What if the mission is related to Princeton?

Normally speaking, the missions from the system took a long time to complete.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before he finally decided that he would select the missions after he got back to China.

After all, he deserved a break.

With that, he exited the system space.

Lu Zhou pulled out his laptop from his suitcase and placed it on the desk before he began to edit his thesis.

Number theory was an interesting field. It was like layers of paper, difficult to see through, but easy to break through.

Lu Zhou had already broken through the paper.

Right now, the cards were in his hands.

His fingers trembled slightly when the screen flashed with mathematical symbols. It was like he returned to the moment of his presentation… Like he was back to the whiteboards again.

He could never forget the glory of that moment.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and he stopped typing. He got up and made himself a cup of coffee before he walked to the window and quietly, he looked outside.

At night, Palmer Square was full of lights and liveliness. It formed a sharp contrast with Princeton which was dead quiet.

The cold breeze blew through the window and cooled down his overheated brain.

It felt comfortable.

It was like a different kind of pleasure.

Suddenly, his phone started to vibrate.

When Lu Zhou took out his phone and looked at the screen, he saw that it was Professor Tang who called.

Lu Zhou picked up the call. He did not even get the chance to speak before Professor Tang started to yell.

"You solved the twin prime number conjecture?!"

Lu Zhou moved the phone away from his ear and said, "Yeah."

The news has already reached China?

He had not even published the thesis yet.

Professor Tang asked, "Where are you right now?"

"Where else? I'm at the hotel arranged by the conference… Why?"

Professor Tang promptly asked, "Are you coming back?"

Confused, Lu Zhou asked, "I'm coming back. Why wouldn't I?"

Professor Tang coughed awkwardly before asking, "Oh, I meant, when are you coming back?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Probably in two days. I'm still sorting out the proof process. Professor Deligne asked me to hand him a copy of my thesis. He said I can publish it on Annual Mathematics."

The other end of the phone went silent.

Professor Tang said casually, "Not bad. I remember when I first published in Annual Mathematics, I was already in my mid-thirties."

Lu Zhou smiled and replied humbly, "It's all thanks to your mentoring!"

To be able to publish in Annual Mathematics in his mid-thirties was impressive, not to mention that Professor Tang had published it in a time where technology was inconvenient.

"I really didn't mentor you much."

"No, no, no. You're the one that took me through the door of mathematical analysis. Your lessons on mathematical analysis helped me…"

Professor Tang interrupted Lu Zhou and said, "Fine, fine, stop talking. Tell me about your plans."

Lu Zhou replied, "Plans?"

"Yeah," said Professor Tang. He paused for a second before he said, "My old friend just called me. He wanted to recommend you to participate in the Ten Thousand People Initiative Plan by the Chinese Ministry."

Lu Zhou did not know what the Ten Thousand People Initiative was.

He was also curious…

Lu Zhou suddenly blurted out, "Is there money involved?"

Professor Tang was suddenly pissed off.

"All you do is think about money!"

Professor Tang began to explain to him what the Ten Thousand People Initiative was.

The Ten Thousand People Initiative was established in 2008 by the central government of China to increase domestic levels of scientific research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The program consisted of three levels; outstanding talents, leading talents, and young talents. The goal was to select 10,000 outstanding talents in STEM, within 10 years.

The first echelon consisted of 100 outstanding talents, and those people had the chance of winning the Nobel prize. The second echelon had a total of 8,000 talents and mainly consisted of older people. The third echelon consisted of two thousand talents, and mainly for people under thirty-five years old.

Similar to this was the "Hundred Talents Program" from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the "Thousand Talents Program" initiated by the Chinese Ministry of Education. However, these two were mainly talent introduction programs for overseas born Chinese people, and not for domestic Chinese.

The Ten Thousand People Initiative would provide financial support to many research projects.

This funding was guaranteed by the Chinese government.

Professor Tang said, "The prize money for the mathematics part isn't much, but I'm sure that it'll definitely be of great help to your future research activities in China."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "How do I participate in this? What materials do I need to prepare?"

Professor Tang smiled as he replied, "The materials aren't the important part. I'll tell you what to prepare later. The problem is that you're too young, but I have some friends that can write recommendation letters, so it should be fine."

Lu Zhou said, "Thank you, professor!"

"Don't thank me. It was Professor Wang Yuping that told me about this, so you should thank him. I'm just signing a piece of paper," said Professor Tang. He smiled and added, "I'm just a professor, I can't help you much with research. I can't teach you much either, so you have to be on your own."

Lu Zhou replied, "You will be my professor forever."

"Haha, that sounds nice," said Professor Tang. He smiled and said, "Okay, I can't keep talking with you. Go and edit your thesis. I'm sure that you will dominate the overseas mathematics field!"

Chapter 129: Thank You For Giving Me Courage

While Lu Zhou was writing the thesis, he did not know that the video of him writing on the whiteboards was trending on Twitter among Ivy League students.

However, it was also trending among high school "nerds".

"Knowledge worship" did not exist in American culture. Most people's attitudes toward knowledge were different.

If someone said "I don't want to party, I have to do homework", one would be labeled as a "nerd".

The nerds were at the bottom of the food chain on campus. They would get bullied by students that did sports. Even the teachers would not like students who did not participate in extracurricular activities.

It was because of this that they were affected by Lu Zhou.

Even though it was only one pen.

Even though there was not even a gorgeous performance.

Even though he did not score a goal.

Lu Zhou still had the honor of the battlefield.

That last line that he wrote on the whiteboard…

And…

The waves of applause from the audience.

Only similar people would appreciate each other as they could feel the resonance from each other.

Youtube, comments section…

[Jesus Christ! This looks like a basketball game!]

[Yeah, this looks more exciting than the Super Bowl lol…]

[I'm a high school student, but because of skin color, gender, and academics, I was neglected by the cliques in my school. I want to be like them, I want to drink alcohol and get tattoos, but I never succeeded. So thank you, thank you for inspiring me and giving me the courage to study when I was about to give up.]

[I can't believe I just watched someone solve a mathematics problem on Youtube, I must've gone crazy.]

[I couldn't help but clap as well.]

[Please add some background music to this video.]

Of course, this was the comments section, so naturally, there would be a voice of hatred and ridicule.

[Isn't he from the country that blocked Google?]

[Why is everyone clapping? He's an Asian, so obviously he'd be good at mathematics.]

In America, it was racist to say that Asians were good at mathematics.

Of course, there were counterattacks.

[How about you try solving it?!]

[Yeah, dumbass!]

[He's smarter than you'll ever be!]

[F*ck you!]

[…]

The comments section was blowing up, which in turn, blew the video up as well. However, the video quality was too low to see what was written on the whiteboards, so people did not know what was going on.

No one knew who the guy in the video was.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou was writing his thesis in his hotel room, so he did not know that he was trending on Youtube.

The following day, once Lu Zhou had formatted his completed thesis, he attached it in an email and sent it to Professor Deligne.

Lu Zhou suddenly noticed four unread emails in his inbox.

They were all from Molina.

[I'm guessing that you didn't go to the party… Do you want to get some drinks?]

[Fine, you're probably writing your thesis. Reply to me when you see this.]

[Hey, did you sleep yet? Did you know that your presentation was uploaded to Youtube! It's trending! Hurry up and get a twitter account.]

[… Okay okay, I downloaded WeChat. Give me your WeChat number when you see this email.]

F*ck!

Lu Zhou did not have the habit of checking his email regularly.

He replied to the emails before he turned off his laptop. He then stood up and planned to get something to eat at Palmer Square.

He had been living off on sandwiches from the hotel these past few days. The bacon and butter filled sandwiches tasted good for the first few times, but Lu Zhou quickly got tired of them.

The academic conference had already ended, and the staff from the Federal Mathematics Society had already left. Instead, many tourists were arriving at the hotel.

Lu Zhou bumped into Luo Wenxuan in the hotel entrance.

When Luo Wenxuan saw Lu Zhou, his face lit up. He quickly walked over and reached out his hand.

"Congratulations!" said Luo Wenxuan as he shook Lu Zhou's hand energetically. He added, "I now know why Old Tang speaks so highly of you. You're a genius!"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Stop exaggerating, I only proved one conjecture…"

Luo Wenxuan replied, "Stop being so modest, I feel so useless!"

He was obviously exaggerating. He was doing a PhD at Princeton, so he was obviously a genius himself as well.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "Speaking of which, where did you go? I didn't see you at the closing ceremony."

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "We reached a bottleneck in our research. Since my supervisor went to Berkeley for a conference, I went to New York to watch a football game."

Lu Zhou did not understand quantum mechanics very well.

So there was nothing he could do to help.

However…

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something and he said, "Oh yeah."

Luo Wenxuan replied, "What?"

Lu Zhou, "I remember you saying that how can there be seven different results from God's six-sided dice. Have you thought about the possibility of the dice landing on two sides?"

"Landing on two sides? You mean…"

Luo Wenxuan suddenly frowned and started to think deeply.

Lu Zhou did not want to interrupt him, so he quietly walked away.

Inspiration was hard to describe in detail.

If one did not catch it in time, it would disappear.

This was Lu Zhou's final gift to Luo Wenxuan as he would be leaving in two days.

Chapter 130: Letter Of The Emperor

Lu Zhou ate dinner at Palmer Square. By the time he went back to the hotel, Luo Wenxuan was gone.

Lu Zhou silently blessed him in his heart as he took the elevator back to his room.

When he opened his email, Professor Deligne had replied back. His email only contained one word.

[Received.]

Mathematics was a rigorous discipline, and everyone that was in the building of mathematics must undergo rigorous selection. The result from a wrong thesis was not just a retraction from the journal, it could result in a series of other wrong theses.

In particular, the review process of major mathematics conjectures was often very long.

Even though Lu Zhou presented the proof live in front of a crowd of mathematicians, that did not mean that his thesis would be flawless.

Even Professor Deligne needed the time to scrutinize the details of the thesis and asked his peers for opinions.

However, Lu Zhou was not worried at all. He was a meticulous person, and he checked his thesis multiple times before uploading it.

Speaking of which, why Dean Qin or Dean Lu had not called him yet?

It seemed that Professor Tang did not spread this matter out rashly, and the foreign mathematics community would not take this matter seriously just from a Youtube video. After all, the applause in the video did not mean anything.

Lu Zhou actually had some regrets.

The academic value of the twin prime number conjecture was higher than Zhou's conjecture, so he should at least get another million yuan as an award, right?

Lu Zhou started to tap on the keyboard.

[Xiao Ai, let's hope your master can get another million. Then I might be able to give you a new home.]

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you love me?]

What? It's so smart?

Or did it copy it from chat histories?

[Of course, I do.]

Lu Zhou quickly replied.

Who doesn't love a talking AI chatbot?

If only it could dance as well!

Xiao Ai: [Taobao link: IBM server (Xeon 8 core, SSD…) Price: 2.99 Million]

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Now even artificial retardation is becoming a gold digger?

The only thing that had some warmth in this world was the hot CPU.

Lu Zhou sighed and closed his laptop lid. He then sat on his bed and began packing his suitcase.

Suddenly, he noticed the letter from Mr. Grothendieck sitting on his bedside table.

He had nearly forgotten about the letter.

Lu Zhou opened the envelope curiously.

The letter was written in English.

He gradually started to read the letter.

[

…

I might have already left this world by the time you read this letter.

Your research on the Mersenne prime distribution law shocked everyone. The proof process was perfect, I couldn't find a single mistake.

Honestly speaking, it didn't look like a thesis written by a young person.

To be honest, I'm pessimistic about the proof of the Riemann's conjecture. We spent three and a half centuries trying to solve the proof of Fermat's theorem, and the Goldbach's conjecture has survived for two and a half centuries. In contrast, the Riemann's conjecture has only been around for one and a half centuries. And its importance has surpassed the other two. Although the public is obviously more interested in the first two.

From my point of view, we're just laying down the path for future generations to solve these problems. These problems will eventually be solved and be replaced by new ones…

However, I saw a turning point from you.

Of course, maybe I'm being too optimistic?

Since your thesis greatly surprised me, I'll write a longer letter.

I'm alone, I don't have much money, so I can't give you much. I'll just give you something interesting.

I placed my work in the Church of St. Lizier. Some of them are withdrawn publications, some of them have not been published. I hope this would help you.

Bring this letter to the priest of the St. Lizier church. He'll know what to do.

]

Where's the Church of St. Lizier?

Do I have to go to France? Not like this.

Couldn't he just package it as PDF?

Lu Zhou sighed and placed the letter into his suitcase.

I can't go right now, maybe in the future.

There was definitely a chance for Lu Zhou to go to France as Paris had always been the center of the mathematics world. As long as he stayed in the field of mathematics, he would get an opportunity to attend a conference in Paris.

Also, if one day he actually needed to use this "mathematical treasure", the system would probably remind him in some way.

…

Traveling time was always short…

On the early morning of the next day, Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and checked out of his hotel room.

He still had more than a thousand dollars left from the school funds. Not only that, but he also received an additional $10,000 USD check. According to Francis, the check could be cashed at any Citibank in the world.

Lu Zhou thought about the cumbersome process of carrying a large amount of cash through customs, so he decided to cash in the check after he got back to China. As for the thousand dollars, he decided to buy some gifts to bring back.

Lu Zhou stood at the entrance of the Princeton hotel as he called Luo Wenxuan. However, even though the phone had rung for a long time, no one answered.

"Is he already grinding at the laboratory?"

This is troublesome.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before he thought of calling again. At that moment, someone honked at him.

"Get in the car, I'll send you," said Molina as she rolled down the car windows.

Lu Zhou was shocked when he saw her.

He did not remember telling her when his flight was.

What a coincidence?

Lu Zhou asked, "How did you know I'll leave at this time?"

"Psychology, social behavior, plus a little probability," said Molina while chewing gum. She continued, "I can convince my professor to write a letter of recommendation for you, so you can study a PhD here."

Studying at Princeton?

Lu Zhou had been thinking about this question over the past few days and whether it was necessary to study here. The research environment here was strong. After all, it was a world-class university.

However, right now, he could still learn new things at the University of Jin Ling. Furthermore, living in China was more comfortable.

He planned to at least finish his bachelor's degree before he would consider studying abroad.

When Molina saw that Lu Zhou did not reply, she smiled and rested her arms on the steering wheel as she said, "Fine, it was just a suggestion. You have your own arrangements, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thanks for your kindness, but I have to think about it."

"Okay, the offer is on the table," said Molina as she shrugged. She then said, "Get in the car, you don't wanna be late."

Chapter 131: Pretend Like I Didn't Ask

Philadelphia International Airport.

Molina stopped the car and opened the car door. She then helped Lu Zhou to open the trunk before she leaned against the car.

"You really don't want to think about it?"

As Lu Zhou pulled his suitcase from the trunk, he asked, "Think about what?"

Molina hesitated. She then sighed then said, "Fine, honestly speaking… I want you to join my research group as I'm studying a very challenging question."

"What question?"

"Riemann's conjecture."

"Wake up."

Molina was surprised as she said, "This doesn't sound like you. I thought you'd be more courageous."

"Courageous enough to solve Riemann's conjecture?" said Lu Zhou as he laughed.

Researchers around the world all wanted to solve this question. Anyone that could solve it would undoubtedly become one of the most influential mathematicians in history. The one million dollar award paled in comparison.

And how difficult was the question?

With his current Level 3 in mathematics, the system would not even give him a price to solve the problem. In the system's eyes, the question was far beyond his current mathematical level.

The most cutting-edge research result was from the American mathematician, Kanguri. His "40% of the zero points is on the crucial line".

It was insanely difficult to push this 40% to 100%.

Of course, many people also tried to kill this method, but without any exception, they had all failed.

The most famous case was probably Mr. De-Branges when he announced in 2003 that he had proved Riemann's conjecture. In the end, he became a laughing stock.

De-Branges had not even fully understood the problem before he announced his solution.

Mr. Zhang Yitang reduced the "70 million" number down to "246", it did not even take him a year.

Lu Zhou knew that Riemann's conjecture was on another level.

It was not that he was afraid of this challenge, but it was because he had no reason to challenge this nightmarish level kind of questions right away. He could wait for his mathematics level to rise before challenged questions of this difficulty.

Molina took a deep breath as she tried to make a final attempt at persuading him, "Actually, you might be too pessimistic. In fact, I've achieved some results… Although it seems trivial, I'm confident that within three years, I can push this 40% number to 50%. This could be my doctoral thesis! Of course, if you're willing to help me, I can co-sign the thesis with you…"

"This is one of the reasons why number theory is so fascinating," said Lu Zhou. He sighed and said softly, "Everyone thinks that they are about to succeed, but when the results come out, they find out that they have failed."

Over the past six months, there had been countless times when he thought he had solved the twin prime number conjecture, when he, in fact, did not.

Who knew how long it would have taken him if he did not have the inspiration hours from the system.

A year?

Ten years?

No one knew.

After all, mathematics itself was a quantitative subject. 10 years of work could be summed up in ten pages.

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his phone and said, "It's getting late, I've got to leave. Thanks for sending me to the airport. I'll treat you to dinner when I get the chance."

"… I'll wait here for you. The world is your stage!" said Molina as she looked at Lu Zhou walking away.

Lu Zhou heard her and paused for a second before he smiled.

He then waved his hand and said, "See you later!"

He continued to walk and he soon disappeared amongst the crowd.

As Molina stared at the airport entrance, she started to think deeply and for a long time, she did not speak at all.

In the sky, white trails were left behind by airplanes.

"See you later… I guess?"

She felt a little empty in her heart.

She then shook her head and went back into her car.

Suddenly, a well-dressed man walked over and smiled. He then asked, "Hey there, sweetheart, I'm not from around here. Mind giving me a ride?"

"Go call a Uber."

Molina closed the car door and slammed the gas pedal.

The man looked at the taillights and stood there.

He then raised his middle finger.

"Sh*t…"

…

After a twenty hour flight, the plane finally landed at the Shanghai airport.

Without wasting any time, Lu Zhou immediately transferred onto a flight to Jiangcheng.

Jiangcheng International Airport…

Lu Zhou finally landed and he dragged his suitcase behind him as he tried to look for the subway. However, he was blocked by two people.

A beautiful lady and a man in a suit quickly walked up to him.

"Hello there. I'm from Suzhou TV station. Are you Lu Zhou?"

When Lu Zhou heard that she was from Suzhou TV, he was shocked. He immediately looked around.

I didn't take the wrong flight, this is Jiangcheng International Airport…

Wait a minute, the news of me solving the twin prime number conjecture has already reached China?

But I hadn't even officially published the thesis…

Lu Zhou looked at the reporter and asked cautiously.

"Is there a problem?"

Wu Ping smiled and said, "Here's the thing. There's the strongest genius student program on our TV station, don't know if you have heard of it?"

I guess it's not about the twin prime number conjecture…

Lu Zhou was disinterested and he shook his head as he answered: "…"

He had not been watching television for many years, so he had no idea what programs were on TV.

He was too busy for TV.

His roommate used to watch TV, so at most, he would glance at it occasionally.

Wu Ping had an awkward expression on her face. She coughed and said, "The thing is, the strongest genius is one of the most popular shows on our platform. There are six teams, four people each team, and each team has an expert in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biochemistry. The teams have to compete to become the strongest team! We heard of you solving Zhou's conjecture, so we want to ask if you're interested…"

"Not interested," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head and tried to leave.

The female reporter was worried, so she quickly stopped him.

"Oh, wait a minute! There's pay."

Lu Zhou stopped walking and said, "How much?"

Wu Ping had a charming smile on his face.

"Fifty grand."

"…"

Lu Zhou was speechless. He then turned and left.

"Pretend like I didn't ask."

Chapter 132: New Years At Home

Science reality show? Sounds boring.

You want me to get out of bed for fifty grand?

Maybe add another zero and I'll think about it.

Lu Zhou finally ditched the female reporter and got on the metro.

Every time he went home, he could not help but appreciate how comfortable China was. Plane to the subway, subway to high-speed rail, the high-speed rail took him directly back to home.

China's public transportation was unprecedented.

This type of transportation was impossible in America.

When Lu Zhou got off the high-speed trail train, he was too lazy to take the bus. So he called for a taxi outside the station.

When he arrived at his house, he looked at the familiar willow trees outside his house, and it was like he never left.

As Lu Zhou dragged the suitcase to the doorsteps, he felt both excited and nervous. He took a deep breath before he pressed the doorbell.

Ding…

Immediately after, footstep sounds came from behind the door.

Soon after, the door opened, and a familiar face appeared.

"Who is it… Son?"

When Fang Mei saw her son, her face lit up. She said, "You're here already? Come in! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you!"

Lu Zhou smiled and dragged his suitcase inside.

Fang Mei grabbed the suitcase and shouted toward the bathroom, "Honey, hurry and go buy some fish, we're making fish for your son tonight."

"What? My son's back?"

Dad's voice traveled through the bathroom, followed by the sound of the toilet flushing.

Lu Zhou quickly waved his head, "Mom, it's fine. I don't care what we eat, so you don't have to work so hard."

Fang Mei smiled and said, "What do you mean, I'm in great shape! I want to cook!"

Lu Zhou's father washed his hands. When he came out of the bathroom, he shouted, "Son! Let's see if you grew taller!"

"Taller taller… Come, dad, I bought you a gift, I bought some for sis and mom as well," said Lu Zhou. He then opened his suitcase and took out two bottles of red wine and two boxes of skin care products before giving them to his parents.

His father said, "… You bought wine? Didn't I tell you not to waste money? How much is this?"

"It's not expensive, a couple of hundred USD, and they're not luxury brands. It's not my money anyway. It's leftover money from the trip funding," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

He could not keep the money from the school anyway, he might as well spend it.

"USD?" asked Old Lu. He added, "You… bought this from America?"

"Yeah," said Lu Zhou. With a smile, he said, "I went to Princeton to attend that conference, right? I bought it over there."

Old Lu looked at Fang Mei and smiled as he said, "I thought you were talking about some hotel called Preston or something… You went to America? Why didn't you tell us?"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

…

There was no tutoring during the winter vacation, so Xiao Tong came back home at half past six.

When she saw Lu Zhou sitting in the living room, her eyes lit up and she shouted "Brother!" before she rushed over excitedly.

She had not seen him in a long time.

Lu Zhou did not remember her ever being so attached to him.

However, they had not seen each other in a year.

At night, Fang Mei cooked up a table of dishes as if it was Chinese New Year.

Old Lu took out some alcohol from the cupboards and placed it on the table.

"Come, drink with dad."

"Cheers!"

As Xiao Tong looked at the two guys drinking, she said, "Dad, don't drink so much. Same with you, bro. Dad finally quit drinking, and you brought two bottles of wine back."

"It's fine. It's the holidays. Come, eat," said Fang Mei as she smiled and placed food into her son's plate.

"Mom, it's fine. You don't have to take care of me," replied Lu Zhou.

His family was so enthusiastic that he was almost a little embarrassed.

Xiao Tong said, "Oh, I see. Once my brother comes back, he's the favorite child. No, I have to get into a good university as well."

Lu Zhou knew her competitive personality too well, so he did not reply. He grabbed some fish and placed it into her plate.

"I wish you the best. Here, eat some fish. It's good for your brain."

"Haha, bro, you're too kind to me."

"Haha, you're welcome."

"…"

Dinner was very lively.

The joy of a long-awaited reunion lit up the dining table.

Lu Bangguo drank a lot that night.

It was rare for him to get that drunk.

After dinner, Lu Bangguo sat on the sofa and watched the news. He spoke with emotion.

"Son, the biggest wish in my life is to see you become better than me. I didn't even graduate high school, I'm uneducated. You've already done that! From now on, your life is yours, you have to make your own decisions!"

Lu Zhou did not drink much, but he was slightly intoxicated as well. He smiled and replied, "What do you mean you're uneducated? You're a mathematician's father, that makes you educated as well."

"Hey, when you put it like that… It makes sense? Does that mean I'm educated as well?"

Soon after, Lu Bangguo started to snore on the sofa.

Lu Zhou picked up the remote and lowered the TV volume.

Once Xiao Tong finished helping her mom with the dishes, she ran to the sofa and eagerly asked her brother.

"Bro, you really went to America?!"

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes, "Of course I did. Don't tell me you don't know what Princeton is either?!"

Xiao Tong suddenly grabbed his arm and smiled as she asked, "Then brother, where is my gift?"

Lu Zhou was well aware of her tricks. He sighed and said, "Your gift is in my suitcase, but should I give it to you?"

Xiao Tong said pitifully, "What do you mean by should? I'm your dearest sister."

Lu Zhou replied, "Because I'm afraid that you won't study well after getting a new phone."

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up and she asked, "New phone? Is it Apple?!"

Lu Zhou replied, "What did you get for the mathematics exam?"

"145!" replied Xiao Tong quickly. She added, "I'm not lying!"

Lu Zhou replied, "Are you sure?"

Xiao Tong, "Yes, yes, I really did!"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, "Fine, it's in my suitcase. Go and grab it yourself."

"Wow! Brother, you're the best!"

Xiao Tong pecked Lu Zhou's cheek before she climbed down from the sofa.

As Lu Zhou watched his sister jumped, he smiled.

Home is the best.

Chapter 133: Child Stay Aside

After a busy year, Lu Zhou could finally relax at home.

The US mathematical modeling competition was happening, but he did not participate. First of all, he did not have a team. Secondly, this type of competition was not worthy of his time.

He had already received the Higher Education Society Cup, so he would not gain anything from this applied mathematics competition.

Also, he had recently won the "Best Young Speaker Award" from the academic conference, and that was way more valuable than the championship from the US Competition.

He decided to let the low-level players compete amongst themselves.

If he was going to join a competition, it would be something like the International Genetic Engineering Machine (iGEM) or the International College Robotics Challenge (ICRA) where it was both fun and realistic.

Of course, it all depended on whether he had spare time. He still had to study for his physics degree, and he could foresee that he would have to put more into time in school.

It was getting boring staying at home.

Lu Zhou could not find anything to do other than play League Of Legends. He would chat with his parents, help his sister with homework, play around with Xiao Tong, and read the news…

Lu Zhou logged into the US Competition website and looked at the questions for fun.

Hm, these questions are weird.

Question A was about eradicating the Ebola Virus. Question B was about searching for the Malaysian plane MH370. Question C was about human resources. The questions alone took five pages, and the last question was about solving the population growth problem.

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck, thank god I didn't enter the competition!

Are these questions even related to mathematical modeling?

Fortunately, these questions had to be solved by other people at the University of Jin Ling, and it had nothing to do with Lu Zhou.

Quickly, the new year arrived. There was a festive atmosphere around the community.

Same as always, everyone was in a festive spirit.

The only difference was that instead of asking "How are your grades?", people started asking Lu Zhou, "Have you found a girlfriend?" or "Do you want me to introduce someone to you?".

Lu Zhou was annoyed by the questions.

The second day after the New Year, Lu Zhou's phone was ringing non-stop. People were calling him to wish him a happy new year.

Surprisingly, Lu Zhou received a call from Luo Wenxuan at Princeton.

"Happy New Year! Also, I have to thank you!"

"Thank me?"

Luo Wenxuan said excitedly, "Yes, about the seven results from a six-sided dice! The inspiration you gave me was very important. I'll buy you drinks next time."

"I'll remember that. Also, congratulations," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "Speaking of which, aren't you coming back for New Year?"

Luo Wenxuan replied, "I already went back for Christmas, and the experiment has entered a critical stage, so I can't leave. I'll have to spend New Year at Princeton."

He was a little sad, but he was used to living abroad.

They chatted about mathematics and physics for a bit before they ended the call.

After Lu Zhou hung up, Xiao Tong who was playing on her phone suddenly asked, "Bro, when are you planning on finding a wife?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Good question."

As she laid bare feet on the sofa, she sighed and spoke with a pained voice, "As your dearest sister, I'm sad that you replied like that. How about I introduce you to some? There are a few students in my class that really respect you."

Lu Zhou did not know that people in her class knew of him.

Lu Zhou replied, "Introduce my ass. What do you know about dating? Trying to find me a partner. Who do you think you are… Like I would need help finding a partner."

She replied, "Hey, why can't I? Why does it have to do with my age?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Let me give you an example. If I found a girlfriend younger than you, what would you call her?"

She replied, "I'll just call her sister-in-law?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

What?

She makes sense…

Dammit.

In the end, Lu Zhou said something like "stop talking about dating when you're so young" and ended the conversation.

Another few days passed by fleetingly… Happy times were always short.

The little princess at home carried a backpack and went back to her daily high school life.

Lu Zhou had to return to school because of Ten Thousand People Initiative, so he said goodbye to his parents and left.

Lu Bangguo took a day off and sent Lu Zhou to the train station. He patted his son's shoulder and said, "Take care."

Lu Zhou had to transfer from train to high-speed rail.

After he left the subway station, he carried his suitcase to his dorm.

The graduate entrance exam had just finished, so the school was empty.

There were only a couple of students on campus doing research.

Lu Zhou returned to his dorm and promptly unpacked before he laid in his bed.

He had taken such a long break that it was time to see what missions the system had cooked up for him.

When Lu Zhou entered into the system space, he saw pure white.

Chapter 134: Industrious User

Lu Zhou walked to the semi-transparent information screen and clicked the mission panel.

[Reward mission is activated (Give up at anytime without spending general points)

[Description: Seeing that the User is so industrious, the system will give you a big gift!

[Requirements: Complete reading book list (0/15), complete literature reading (0/50), complete a set of experiments (0/1)

[Reward: 8000 physics experience points, 4000 biochemistry experience points. Debris.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What happened to a big gift?

Also what the hell is debris?

The system did not respond to him, nor did it even give him any instructions.

Lu Zhou guessed that the debris was something like a "sample", but broken? Maybe he could fix it and make it useful.

Lu Zhou was slightly confused.

He had always wanted to get something like a starship, but this time he prayed that the debris was not a broken starship. He did not know how to fix a starship…

Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel.

At the moment, he had 5100 physics experience points, so the additional 8000 was enough for him to level up. He was about to take physics as a second degree anyway, so the timing of this was convenient.

As for the 4000 biochemistry experience points, it was better than nothing.

Before exiting the system space, Lu Zhou looked at the book list. The list mainly contained physics books and a few materials chemistry related books.

Lu Zhou also briefly looked at the experiment. It was about "Real-time observation of lithium dendrite formation in lithium-ion battery electrodes". It also contained a description of the experiment and the experimental data that needed to be collected.

Lu Zhou took out a piece of draft paper from his drawer and copied down the book list. He then wrote a tick beside "The Coming of Materials Science" book.

The book was written by Professor Robert W. Cahn, a member of the Royal Society and a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was also a major player in the field of materials science. The most fascinating part of the book was that it contained almost all of the major materials science research problems.

Lu Zhou had wanted to study this book when he was in Professor Li's research team last year, but he did not have the time.

However, now, he had the perfect opportunity to study it!

Lu Zhou put on his backpack. He then left his dorm room and went to the library.

When he walked into the library, he quickly found "The Coming of Materials Science" textbook.

Lu Zhou borrowed the book. He was ready to sit down and study. Suddenly, Professor Tang called his phone.

If it was not for Professor Tang, he would have forgotten why he returned to Jin Ling in advance.

…

Laboratory building, Professor Tang's office…

The two graduate students were away, so the old gentleman was alone in his office.

The office desk was very clean.

A vacuum flask and a stack of materials sat on top of the desk.

"… I have some materials here, take it back and look at it. Then fill in the documents," said Professor Tang. He picked up the stack of materials and placed it in Lu Zhou's hands before he continued, "Take this opportunity seriously."

"Thank you, professor," said Lu Zhou when he received the materials.

Professor Tang nodded. He then noticed the textbook in Lu Zhou's bag and asked, "Physics book?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm preparing for my double degree in physics."

Professor Tang suddenly remembered something and he said, "I almost forgot about this. At the end of the year meeting, the school leadership team discussed your graduation."

Lu Zhou, "Graduation?"

Professor Tang nodded and said, "Yes, in order to allow you to start researching sooner, University of Jin Ling has decided to issue an undergraduate degree certificate in advance. You'll be enrolled as a master's student, and you'll join the Princeton PhD training program…"

Lu Zhou was stunned and he asked, "Training program? Master's and PhD at the same time?"

"Not at the same time," said Professor Tang as he shook his head. He said with a smile, "In short, you'll take a year or two in China to get a master's degree. After that, you'll be directly sent to Princeton to do a PhD. The University of Jin Ling will give you a doctor's certificate, but not a master's certificate. This is the plan that the school has tailored for you. If you're fast, you can get a PhD within three years, and the PhD will be issued by both University of Jin Ling and Princeton."

This talent development program was specially formulated for Lu Zhou, and no one else got this kind of special treatment.

However, Professor Tang did not mention that the University of Jin Ling already proposed awarding Lu Zhou a degree in advance last year. However, because of his age, the plan was not put in place.

This year, because of Professor Wang Yuping's suggestion, the program was given the green light.

The academician's recommendation held great power.

Professor Wang Yuping wanted to move Lu Zhou to the University of Yan to become his own student. Therefore, Professor Tang and his co-workers cooked up a plan to convince Lu Zhou to stay at the University of Jin Ling.

Princeton was also interested in Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou asked, "But I didn't even finish my bachelor's degree. Is this okay?"

Professor Tang replied, "Principal Xu personally wrote to the Ministry of Education about you, so it'll be okay."

Emm…

It seems that this won't be a problem them.

Lu Zhou realized that his fears were redundant, so he smiled while feeling embarrassed.

Professor Tang continued, "I originally planned to tell you this in two days, but I heard you were planning on doing a physics double major so I thought I'd tell you now. Just get a double doctor's degree instead!"

He did not totally approve of Lu Zhou's physics degree, but he did not know what to say. He had no idea what this kid should do.

He thought that this kid's talent was in the field of functional analysis and applied mathematics, so he strongly suggested for him to develop in the direction of mathematical physics. However, Lu Zhou had revealed his talents in number theory as well.

This kid solved the twin prime number conjecture. Even though the thesis had not been published, it was basically guaranteed.

If Lu Zhou asked Professor Tang for his advice, he would have suggested him not to pursue physics.

However, Lu Zhou did not ask.

So Professor Tang did not say anything.

Professor Tang thought, "I'll let it go!"

Chapter 135: Group Date

The credits were not a problem, but he still had to go through the process of graduation.

For example, the graduation thesis and graduation answer.

According to Professor Tang, Lu Zhou only had to prepare his thesis for this semester. He did not have to go to the classes if he did not want to.

Professor Tang said, "Honestly speaking, I was both surprised and pleased to hear you solve the twin prime number conjecture. I don't know much about number theory, but since you are so obviously talented in the field, why don't you try solving Polignac's conjecture? You already solved the K=1 scenario, so you just have to expand it into all natural numbers… But don't pick this as your graduation thesis topic as it might take you a long time."

Lu Zhou obviously would not pick a world-class conjecture for his graduation thesis.

The twin prime number conjecture took him more than half a year. Even though the Polignac's conjecture sounded simple, but expanding K=1 to all natural numbers was very cumbersome.

Of course, before the publication of his thesis on the twin prime number, he was the closest person on the planet to solving Polignac's conjecture.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry, Professor Tang. I already studied some papers about Polignac's conjecture when researching the twin prime number conjecture, but I'm lacking inspiration. I might use it for my PhD thesis, but I'll choose a functional analysis topic for my graduation thesis."

Professor Tang was pleased as he said, "It seems that you already have your own plan. Then say no more. Tell me when you've chosen a topic, and I'll help you with the question."

…

The Ten Thousand People Initiative needed household registration information, so Lu Zhou returned to his dorm with the materials.

When he found his registered residence from his drawer, he sat down in his chair. He began to carefully read and fill in the documents.

Suddenly, the door of his dorm room was pushed open.

"201, your king has come back… Wait, Zhou, you're the only one here?" asked Huang Guangming. He looked around before he placed his suitcase on his bed. He then walked over and asked, "What are you writing? Ten Thousand People Initiative? What's this?"

Lu Zhou said casually, "Nothing, it's just some activity that I'm participating in."

"Wow, I don't believe you," replied Huang Guangming as he whipped out his phone.

Lu Zhou sighed.

He did not want to make his roommate feel bad, that was why he downplayed the initiative.

Is he really going to get to the bottom of this?

As expected, Huang Guangming searched up the Ten Thousand People Initiative and sighed.

"Motherf*cker, you're becoming a national talent… Speaking of which, when are you buying us food?"

Lu Zhou could not help but say, "Fine, fine. I'll buy you food. All you think about is food."

Huang Guangming smiled mischievously and replied, "What else do you want me to think about?"

Lu Zhou sighed softly and said, "You've changed."

Huang Guangming smiled. "Of course, who wouldn't love free food?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Is the only reason you're friends with me is so that I can buy you food?"

Huang Guangming replied, "No…"

It was quiet inside the dorm.

Emm…

It seems that I've killed the conversation again?

The third day after the lantern festival, students began to return to campus.

Liu Rui came back first, followed by Shi Shang.

Compared to Huang Guangming and Liu Rui, Shi Shang returned to the campus filled with energy.

One would never guess why.

He brought a girlfriend back!

He was the first one in Dorm 201 to get a girlfriend.

Shi Shang held the girl's hand and said, "Let me introduce you guys. Wang Yajing, my girlfriend." Shi Shang then said to her, "This is nerdy Liu Rui, jackass Guangming, and boring looking Lu Zhou."

Huang Guangming and Liu Rui were unhappy.

What's this?!

Huang Guangming said, "Motherf*cker, why am I a jackass?"

Liu Rui said, "What do you mean nerdy!"

Lu Zhou was the only one laughing.

I mean Shi Shang has a point…

I'll take boring looking over a jackass any day.

What a sh*t show!

Wonderful!

Speaking of which, how did Shi Shang get a beautiful girlfriend anyway?

Lu Zhou stood up and spoke.

"Nice to meet you!"

When Wang Jingya saw Lu Zhou, she was stunned. She quickly smiled and replied.

"You're Lu Zhou? You're a god! Nice to meet you too!"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, "I'm no god, haha. I just like mathematics. Even though Shi Shang is a bit of a d*ck sometimes, he's a good guy, so take care of him!"

"Pfft!"

Wang Jingya could not help but laugh.

Liu Rui slammed his hand against the table and started laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

This laughter made Lu Zhou confused.

Is it even that funny?

"Screw off, don't take advantage of me," said Shi Shang. He tried to change the subject by saying, "It's a new year, so let's all go out to eat! My treat!"

"Dorm leader is the best!"

"Too good, too good."

Huang Guangming quickly grasped the moment to ask about an important topic, "Dinner? Jingya, are your roommates coming?"

Wang Jingya smiled and said, "Of course they are. I'll introduce them to you."

Shi Shang smiled and said, "That's right, didn't you guys want a group date? This is your chance, so grasp it tightly."

Lu Zhou thought.

I really don't want to go on this group date…

Oh well, since he's paying for it, I guess I'll go.

Chapter 136: Three Seconds

Lu Zhou would usually refuse to eat with strangers.

However, since he did not have to pay for the food, he decided to accept the invitation.

Okay, just kidding.

Shi Shang finally got a girlfriend, so Lu Zhou had to give him some respect and attend the dinner.

After leaving the dorm, Lu Zhou, Huang Guangming, and Liu Rui all reached a consensus with their eyes.

We're getting wasted!

Agreed!

…

Shi Shang ordered a table at the fish restaurant.

The guys from Dorm 201 arrived, and soon after, the girls from Dorm 406 also arrived.

Everyone sat around the table. They were all nervous in the beginning. However, soon after, everyone opened up and started to chat happily.

Especially Huang Guangming and Shi Shang. They were getting more and more talkative as time passed by.

The quality of girls at the School of Foreign Languages was indeed high.

A girl with long hair named Xiao Yunyun sat next to Lu Zhou. Sitting next to her was a girl named Qian Hua. She had short hair and was watching something on her phone with her friends. Deng Le sat next to them, and she was wearing round-rimmed glasses. She looked very delicate.

Huang Guangming might have been interested in one of the girls, so he asked, "What are you guys looking at?"

Qian Hua looked at Huang Guangming like he was an alien before she said, "Haven't you seen Strongest Genius Student before? It's really popular! Geniuses form a team for subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry. You are obviously a dumb student if you haven't seen this before."

"… Then these six teams are from different countries?" asked Lu Zhou.

Qian Hua looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "You've seen it?"

"You could say so…"

Lu Zhou smiled and looked away.

He actually had not seen it before. The show's production team wanted to hire him, but he rejected them. He was disinterested in performing on stage, plus the pay was not enough for him to sell out.

Huang Guangming was unhappy to hear himself being described as an idiot student and he said, "What kind of a reality scientific show is that? I bet the students on the show aren't as smart as Zhou!"

"Pfft, no way he's smarter than Wu Yan!"

Huang Guangming asked, "Who is Wu Yan?"

"You don't even know Wu Yan? The youngest Chinese PhD student at the University of Auckland! MVP of his team! Genius mathematician!"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Genius mathematician?

So me?

After that, the two started to argue whether or not Lu Zhou was smarter than Wu Yan.

Lu Zhou did not really care who was smarter. He just thought that these two were unexpectedly well matched as a couple.

Both the teasing type?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou realized a very serious problem.

Wait a minute. If this continues, the number of single guys in our dorm will become fewer and fewer?

What if I become the only guy without a girlfriend…

Liu Rui noticed that Lu Zhou was staring at him, so he asked, "What?"

"Nothing…" said Lu Zhou as he shook his head.

Thank god, he'll definitely stay single with me.

I don't have to worry.

Liu Rui: ? ? ?

Soon after, the food came.

The boys of Dorm 201 had not started eating yet, so they asked the waiter for some beer.

Huang Guangming opened two bottles of beer and placed them on the table. He then poured everyone a glass before raising his glass to the dorm leader.

Huang Guangming, "Brother Fei, thanks for remembering us, toast!"

He did not sound very sincere.

However, Shi Shang did not care. Instead, he raised his cup up and said, "Toast!"

Liu Rui went on and said, "I hope you two stay together forever!"

Liu Rui then said, "Toast!"

Up next was Lu Zhou, and the girls looked at him with interest.

Lu Zhou wanted to say "Toast" as well, but he realized something, so he stopped himself.

Shi Shang thought that Lu Zhou did not want him to get too drunk, so he said, "Zhou, you're too nice. I can still handle my alcohol!"

Wang Jingya said with a distressed voice, "Take it slow with the drinking."

Shi Shang waved his hand, "It's okay!"

Lu Zhou said, "Then… Toast!"

Shi Shang and Lu Zhou touched glasses.

Lu Zhou thought, "Why do the two girls next to me look disappointed?"

The food came and everyone was drinking and eating. Huang Guangming and Liu Rui had an agreement to attack Shi Shang, and they wanted to get Shi Shang wasted.

Xiao Yunyun poked Lu Zhou's arm and asked quietly, "Why do you guys call him Brother Fei?"

Before Lu Zhou could speak, Liu Rui asked, "Do you want to hear why?"

Liu Rui had a strange smile, so Xiao Yunyun quickly shook her head.

Lu Zhou said in his heart.

You can't converse for sh*t, you're going to be lonely forever.

Everyone was having a great time, especially Huang Guangming. He even got Qian Hua's number.

Even though nothing would happen, his gains were still greater than Liu Rui.

He looked at Lu Zhou and thought the same.

In the blink of an eye, the two bottles of beer were empty.

Lu Zhou was not worried about Huang Guangming, but he was worried that Shi Shang could not keep up.

Shi Shang was downing glasses left and right.

This was the first time Lu Zhou saw him drinking this much.

Lu Zhou was really worried, and he was about to discourage him.

However, at this moment, Liu Rui suddenly slammed his head on the table.

"F*ck, Liu Rui, what happened?"

Huang Guangming's eyes widened and he stopped drinking to check up on Liu Rui.

Shi Shang was drunk. He smiled at his girlfriend and said, "See, I told you, I'm not going to be the first one to pass out!"

Three seconds later.

Shi Shang collapsed as well.

Chapter 137: Equilibrium Problems in Hilbert Space

They had not even finished their dinner and two people had already passed out. They were planning to go singing, but now it seemed impossible.

Lu Zhou took the check for Shi Shang. After that, he and Huang Guangming carried Liu Rui back to the dorm room.

As for Shi Shang, he had his girl to take care of him…

After they arrived at their dorm, the two single guys laid Liu Rui down in his bed and called it a night.

After Huang Guangming climbed up the ladder and laid in his bed, he said, "I'm not feeling well, Zhou."

Lu Zhou did not drink much, and he was basically sober. He was about to prepare his graduation thesis topic when he replied, "Why not?"

"Ah, even Brother Fei got a girl, don't you have any plans?"

"… What plans?"

Huang Guangming sighed and said, "Forget about it, I can't talk with you."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

They did not speak again that night.

The next morning, Shi Shang had not returned yet.

Lu Zhou climbed down the bed and went to wash his face.

When he came back, he saw Liu Rui and Huang Guangming climbing out of bed.

Lu Zhou asked curiously, "Why are you so diligent today? Studying?"

Huang Guangming yawned and replied, "Why not?'

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face.

I guess so?

…

Lu Zhou ate breakfast at the cafeteria before he slowly walked to the library.

By then, the main entrance of the library was already packed with people.

There was a new cohort of students preparing for the graduate entrance exam. Lu Zhou did not even have to do the exam. He was already considered a graduate student.

Ah, life is so difficult. Why are there so many people here?

Lu Zhou walked into the library and found a remote location to sit down. He then opened up a blank word document and started to write his thesis.

He had already prepared the topic for his thesis.

Mathematics was a scientific research tool, so it was useful to sharpen this tool. If one never used this tool, it would be a waste.

Lu Zhou had already decided to get into mathematical physics, so he decisively chose functional analysis as the direction of his graduation thesis. However, this time, it was not about Fourier's transformations. It was about the unpredictable Hilbert space.

In quantum mechanics, there was an infinite number of states. So the inner product space dimension was infinity. This created the problem of convergence. When some parameters were infinite, in order to prevent any physical states from running out of space, the mathematical limit of any sequence had to be completed.

The Hilbert space met the requirements needed for quantum mechanics.

A physics system could be represented by a Hilbert space, and the vector was a wave function that described the possible states of the system.

Although Hilbert space-related concepts had been introduced in undergraduate functional analysis, they only briefly touched on the topic. In the cutting-edge of mathematics, the Hilbert space was a greatly researched topic.

Lu Zhou used this as a practice for his thesis writing.

He placed his hands on the keyboard and quickly typed a line of words.

[A viscous approximation method for equilibrium problems and finite non-extension maps in Hilbert space.]

Lu Zhou did not have to use general points to solve this thesis. He already had an idea of how to solve this.

Lu Zhou picked up his pen and started to write on the draft paper.

[H is the complex Hilbert space given to the inner product, and L(H) is the bounded linear operator, T∈L(H), then the numerical field of the operator T is defined as the following set: W(T)={ |x∈H,||x||=1}...]

Time slowly passed by, but Lu Zhou's thought process was very smooth. Soon, the draft paper was filled with his writing. He then reached for another piece of draft paper.

It seemed that his guess was correct. The higher his mathematics level, the better he got at solving mathematics problems.

Did my brain develop further?

What else could it be?

In short, he could feel the changes that were happening to his body.

"I'll finish this thesis in a couple of days before I bother with the system mission."

He stretched and looked at the other students studying and gained motivation.

It feels pretty good to study in the library. I can level up my subjects, learn new things. I'm enjoying this.

Lu Zhou did not know since when he started to like studying…

…

Back at the dorm, unsurprisingly, Shi Shang was bulls*tting again.

However, the guy was not talking about his "first time" or anything private like that… He was teaching the two loners about life experience and what the girls had… It pissed them off!

Huang Guangming turned on a reality show and Liu Rui wore his earphones as they both ignored Shi Shang.

"Hey, Zhou, you're back from studying?"

"How did you feel about yesterday? My girl's dorm room has some good quality meat, right?"

"Did you get their WeChat? Stop being so ashamed. Tell me if you're interested, and I can help you."

Lu Zhou sighed, "Brother Fei, you're insane."

Shi Shang asked, "Insane? Why?"

Lu Zhou, "You still think it's the new year."

Shi Shang, "New Year? Why?"

"Because what you just said sounded exactly like what my relatives said during the new year."

Shi Shang: "…"

Lu Zhou placed his computer on the desk and was about to go wash his hands when he saw the reality show on Huang Guangming's computer. He then asked, "Strongest Genius Student?"

"Yeah."

Not bad, maybe I can finally have a conversation with this guy.

Lu Zhou looked at Huang Guangming and started thinking.

It seems that the loner squad of Dorm 201 lost another member.

Liu Rui stopped studying and came over to ask, "What are they doing?"

"Sudoku!"

Sudoku?

Lu Zhou saw a calm young man on stage and had a moment of realization.

That's the genius called Wu Yan?

He did not know why, but he suddenly felt competitive against this genius.

Lu Zhou wondered if the guy was better at mathematics than him.

Suddenly, the people on the stage moved.

Lu Zhou was shocked.

"Blind Sudoku?!"

Huang Guangming smiled, "Not bad, right? Can you do it?"

Lu Zhou, "… I don't know."

Don't the players have to look at how much time they have left?

This is too scary.

Next was the one hundred science questions. The topics were physics, mathematics, and biochemistry. Lu Zhou was able to understand most of the questions, but Liu Rui and Huang Guangming were muddled.

However, those two were still watching intently.

Liu Rui asked, "Zhou, do you understand this?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Basically."

He could understand the questions, but he could not solve them as fast as the contestants. Even some professors could not solve the questions that fast.

Is this the level of geniuses around the world? It's multiple-choice questions, so they can guess, but they still got all of them correct!

Lu Zhou subconsciously looked at the four people from the German team and did not see Peter Schultz. He looked at the China team and did not see any familiar faces.

Within 15 minutes, the 100 questions were answered by the contestants. The German team answered 83 questions, receiving 8.3 points.

The total score was 14:15, the German team "Tiger" was ahead.

A hostess wearing a dress spoke up.

"We all know that the great mathematician Euclidean proved the infinity of prime numbers, and the modern mathematician Hilbert used the method of topology to prove it again. The pursuit of mysterious prime numbers in the mathematics community is never-ending."

"The next question is a world-class problem."

"The great mathematician Polignac proposed a general conjecture. For all natural numbers k, there is an infinite number of prime pairs (p, p + 2k). Our problem today is to make a guess about this conjecture."

"Whoever can reduce K to a smaller number will get 3 points!"

"Begin!"

The three guys in front of the computer were instantly shocked.

Huang Guangming, "F*ck? What is this?"

Liu Rui, "This dude will prove it live? B*llshit…"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Chapter 138: Imitated?

On the colorful stage…

Wu Yan looked at the whiteboard silently. In his hand, he was holding a pen and after a while, he started to write on the whiteboard.

The light on stage gradually became a cool blue color, representing his calmness.

The German team "Tiger" had already completed the proof for number "246". One of the members looked at Wu Yan.

The camera zoomed into Wu Yan's face.

The professor from Stanford University frowned and said, "Vinogradov's three prime number theorem! He's challenging the form of K=1!"

The professor from Singapore exclaimed, "Unbelievable! He's going to solve the twin prime number conjecture!"

The vibe on stage was ignited.

The female hostess said, "I cannot believe that Wu Yan is going to challenge this world-class mathematics problem! Will he succeed?"

The audience was quiet.

Both the teammates and his opponents went silent as well.

The audience clenched their fists as they held their breath.

The background music started to be increasingly faster.

The live stream comments were going crazy.

[F*ck, is Dr. Wu going to challenge this conjecture?]

[My male god is so handsome~~~]

[Is Dr. Wu going to earn a Fields Medal?]

[I love smart boys~~]

[I want to marry a guy that's good at mathematics!!!]

[Wait a minute, why does this scene look familiar…]

This scene was exactly the same as the one from the Princeton Academic Conference.

The only difference was that Lu Zhou used six whiteboards while this guy only used one large whiteboard.

Some people started to notice.

A small group of people noticed the resemblance and posted Lu Zhou's video to the comment section.

A lot of people watched the Youtube video and started to complain.

[Is this plagiarism?]

[They just changed the person and added some background music, plain plagiarism.]

[How can they do this?]

[I'm a female PhD mathematics student at Berkeley. I've watched the video you linked. He was proving Zhou's conjecture in the video, not the twin prime number conjecture. The twin prime number conjecture is a lot harder than Zhou's conjecture! ]

[Yeah you're right, it's not the same question. Don't you guys know that the twin prime is different than Mersenne prime?]

The comment section became more aggressive.

Finally, the moderator banned some people and the comment section quieted down.

At the same time, the two judges stood up and looked at the whiteboard.

"He did it!"

"Unbelievable!"

Wu Yan quietly dropped the pen. He then turned around and left the whiteboard.

The audience exploded and they started to applaud loudly.

The audience could finally.

They released their tightened fists and released a sigh of relief.

However, not everyone was relieved.

…

Backstage of the Strongest Genius Student show…

The production team of the show was ecstatic at the ratings and popularity of the show.

They made it.

Wu Ping, who had just been promoted to planning team leader, was reporting to the director of the show.

"… Our platform search numbers have increased by 43%!"

Zhang Yuanjie frowned and said, "I know about the popularity… What's up with the plagiarism?"

He was happy with the popularity of the show as it would probably result in his promotion.

He had successfully created the character of Wu Yan.

There was a debate within the production team if making a celebrity academician was possible. He had successfully ended the debate.

The only thing he was worried about was the plagiarism accusations from the comment section. However, the public relations department of the TV station managed to control the situation.

"Here's the thing, we looked at the video from Princeton. The video was about Mersenne prime while the thing we presented was about twin prime numbers. They're not the same thing. We specifically downloaded the Princeton conference presentation schedule and checked it."

Wu Ping did not actually fully understand it, but he trusted the expert.

Director Zhang said, "Nicely done. But this Wu Yan guy is really impressive. I can't believe he solved a mathematics problem of this caliber."

The show did not care about the criticism too much. After all, there was no such thing as bad publicity.

Director Zhang was happy about his plan.

Who cared if he plagiarized? It was not as if Princeton was going to sue them.

The blind filled Sudoku and 100 questions were prepared beforehand, but the twin prime conjecture was not.

Therefore, when Wu Yan's manager proposed the idea of solving the twin prime conjecture on stage, Director Zhang immediately gave the go and modified the script.

As expected, the ratings of the show blew up.

The comment section also blew up.

Wu Ping said, "After all, he is the youngest PhD student at Auckland University, so he's pretty skilled."

Even the extras on the show were from prestigious foreign universities.

"Who said that science reality shows can't make stars famous? Looks at us!" said Director Zhang with a smile. He then added, "One more episode and this season is over! I'll pay the production team a bonus when this is over."

"Thank you, director!" Wu Ping said with joy.

Chapter 139: Blatant Academic Fraud

At this moment, Lu Zhou only felt despair.

The TV show clearly copied his proof steps, and it was not even a good copy.

A random scrub copied his own academic achievements.

Lu Zhou was furious and he immediately logged onto Weibo. He was about to make a post when he found out that he was being attacked.

[This is the genius student Lu Zhou you guys talked about? Only 300k followers, not even verified. Bot followers? How dare you compare Dr. Wu to this noob.]

[All you did was prove Zhou's conjecture, Dr. Wu is way better than you! Shameless!]

[Wu fans, let's all report this guy and get him banned!]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

I haven't even posted anything yet!

He saw these baseless accusations and nearly fainted.

What do you mean I'm shameless?!

Liu Rui noticed Lu Zhou was acting weirdly. He could not help but ask.

"Zhou, what's wrong?"

Lu Zhou said angrily, "Motherf*cker, I was plagiarized."

Shi Shang was playing the guitar when he asked, "What? Who copied you?"

Huang Guangming looked at Liu Rui, and he stopped looking at the show.

Huang Guangming was the last to speak, "Maybe… You also proved this twin prime number conjecture?"

What do you mean also!

I was the goddamn one that proved it!

Speaking of which, he did not tell his friends about his Princeton trip.

"… Nothing."

Lu Zhou had not expected that someone would have the balls to plagiarize his research results. This was blatant academic fraud!

How did someone like this get a PhD?

Does he not follow the academic conduct?

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and opened his laptop.

There was no use being angry.

What happened had already happened. Now, he had to collect evidence to protect himself.

Normally, in order to prevent someone from being plagiarized, that person would submit his or her thesis onto a website called arXiv, while his or her thesis was still in the review process. This way, that person could prove that he or she came up with the thesis first, and no one could plagiarize him or her while the thesis was in the review process.

However, Lu Zhou did not do it because he had already publicly published his research results in front of the public. He did not need to take preventive measures.

Also, at most of the academic conference, they had people recording the presentations.

Even though the reality TV show did not submit a thesis, they obviously violated the copyright of Lu Zhou's thesis.

Lu Zhou placed his hands on the keyboard and began to think. He wrote an email and sent it to Mr. Francis. In the email, he politely asked for a timestamped proof of his conference presentation.

The people at the Federal Mathematical Society were busy, so they might take a while to respond.

Lu Zhou hit "Send" and sighed in relief.

There was no reason for him to worry. As long as the proof of his conference presentation was sent over, everything would be cleared up. He just had to wait for his thesis to be published in Annual Mathematics and he would destroy the plagiarist.

Lu Zhou looked at the posts on Weibo. He was still furious. He then tagged the TV show and posted.

[Why are you guys so f*cking shameless?]

He felt better after insulting them.

Lu Zhou then placed his phone down and threw a towel over his shoulder before he went to take a shower.

…

Female Dorm 406.

"Wow, my husband is so handsome!"

Qian Hua held her phone and rolled around in her bed.

She missed the live stream last night, but when she watched the replay, she still felt excited.

She was shaking the bunk, so Deng Le spoke up.

"Stop saying husband all day. What did he do?"

"He solved a world-class mathematics conjecture on stage! He looked so handsome while doing it," said Qian Hua with an exaggerated tone.

Xiao Yunyun sat beside them and asked, "He's that good?"

Proving a world-class mathematics conjecture on stage?

He's too smart…

Qian Hua said, "Of course, he's a 23-year-old PhD genius! Even the guest judge from MIT was impressed at his talent! Damn it, I think I just raised my standards again. If I find a partner, he has to be at least half as amazing as Dr. Wu."

Wang Jingya smiled and said, "That's easy. The people from the group date yesterday was mathematics major, right? Just pick anyone other than Shi Shang. I'll get their WeChat for you."

Xiao Yunyun was scrolling through Weibo when she added, "Oh yeah, didn't that Lu Zhou guy proves some Zhou's conjecture? Just pick him."

Qian Hua said, "Him? He's not comparable at all! Didn't you hear the judge's comments? Zhou's conjecture is only a study of the distribution of the Mersenne prime. It's completely different than twin prime. Dr. Wu, who proved the twin prime number conjecture, is on the road to compete for the Fields Medal! But unfortunately, he's a New Zealander. Otherwise, he could be the first person in China to win a Fields Medal!"

Her advanced algebra mark was only 70 something, but she made sense.

Deng Le said, "And he's so young…" She sighed and continued to study.

She was not that fascinated by Wu Yan, but she did like him.

Xiao Yunyun was scrolling through Weibo when she said, "What a minute… The discussion on Weibo is weird. I saw someone comment that the Strongest Genius Student show copied a Princeton conference video."

Qian Hua said, "Pfft, they're just jealous."

Deng Le nodded and said, "Yes, definitely."

Xiao Yunyun had a weird expression as she said, "But someone said that the twin prime number conjecture was proved at a Princeton conference meeting one month ago. The Strongest Genius Student copied most of the proof process. The actual prover of the twin prime number conjecture is… Lu Zhou?"

The dorm went quiet.

10 seconds went by.

"What!!?"

Qian Hua was shocked as she said, "Must be fake, right?"

Xiao Yunyun replied, "Nope, the person that posted this is a PhD student from Princeton. He also added the timestamp of the presentation and a signature from the chairman of the Federal Mathematical Society…"

Chapter 140: Hammer Of Justice

Lu Zhou did not expect that only one day had passed.

On the second night, he received an email from Mr. Francis.

[… The PDF text record file of the presentation is attached in this email. But you probably won't need it? Anyway, good luck.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Why won't I need it?

Maybe the Annual Mathematics journal was published?

Lu Zhou quickly went to the Annual Mathematics website, but nothing popped up.

It made sense. The Annual Mathematics journal was released every two months.

Calculating from the last publication date, his thesis would be published at the end of the month. So why did Francis say he would not need this?

Lu Zhou was muddled when his phone suddenly rang.

When he saw that it was from Professor Tang, he picked up and placed his phone to his ear.

Professor Tang spoke first.

"What did you do again?"

Lu Zhou was surprised by the sudden question and he asked, "You know?"

He had not wanted this to be a huge deal, so he did not talk about it with anyone from the university. He had not expected Professor Tang to find out.

Professor Tang replied with a smile, "Of course I know, do you think I'm dumb? I go on the internet as well!"

What?

It seems that Professor Tang isn't too angry?

Before Lu Zhou could respond, Professor Tang spoke again.

"Honestly speaking, this TV thing is getting big. Wang Yuping is unreliable. He spread your news around town, saying that the Cole prize was yours. Guess what happens next?"

Professor Tang smiled and continued.

"I don't know how the press got the news. The Cole prize is substantial! Everyone Daily already wrote up an article, and they were going to release the article when your thesis comes out. How unlucky."

A TV show ruined their plans.

What if Everyone Daily reported the wrong twin prime conjecture solver?

Someone was going to be responsible for the mistake!

In any case, there were people that were going to get screwed.

Professor Tang could not help but say, "When something like this happens, tell me or Dean Qin! Don't try to solve it yourself! If it wasn't for Luo Wenxuan telling me, god knows when I would hear about it!"

Lu Zhou said, "Luo Wenxuan?"

Professor Tang, "Luo Wenxuan heard about this and immediately went to get the records from the Federal Mathematical Society. He then contacted a few Chinese media outlets and emailed me about this. Go call him later and thank him!"

Lu Zhou immediately said, "For sure! I'll call him later!"

He finally knew why Mr. Francis said he would not need the conference recordings. It turned out that someone had already sent the recordings to the Chinese media.

He owed Luo Wenxuan one.

Lu Zhou planned to buy him dinner the next time he was in Princeton.

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and opened up Weibo. He suddenly laughed out loud.

Shi Shang was on his bed playing the guitar and he was shocked by the sounds of laughter.

"Zhou, what now?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nothing, it's good to have connections. I don't have to do anything."

Liu Rui was studying when he asked, "What? Did someone solves a problem for you?"

Lu Zhou plugged his phone in to charge and said, "You could say so."

…

TV station, meeting room…

Wu Ping had an awkward expression on his face.

Actually, everyone in the meeting room had an awkward expression.

They had not expected the matter to escalate. Their "perfect marketing" plans were ruined.

Especially Wu Ping. He looked like he was about to puke.

When they looked at the video, they did not understand what the guy on the stage was doing, but they downloaded the thesis from the academic conference website.

Even though they could not understand the thesis, they understood the abstract. The conference presentation was clearly about Mersenne prime. They had even consulted an expert.

Therefore, Wu Yan's manager told Wu Yan not to worry about it, as there were no published twin prime conjectures online.

Now? The integrity of the show was lost.

Wu Yan sat at the meeting table. He coughed softly and spoke awkwardly.

"… Isn't this exaggerating? It's just a show, not a thesis submission. This doesn't count as academic fraud, right?"

Director Zhang was furious when he asked, "Why didn't you tell us that the proof process was copied?"

Yang Feng tried to appease him, "Director Zhang, we're on the same team. This is no time for arguing. I asked Wu Yan. He was inspired by the conference but he also added his own details. We can claim that they both solved the world-class problem."

Director Zhang's secretary said, "Saying that is useless. The key right now is how to solve this problem. My suggestion is to start repairing the damage immediately. Maybe we can find the mathematics journal and give them some money so that they would post our proof first?"

Director Zhang thought for a bit then nodded.

"Makes sense."

It was a pity to give up such a popular star on his show. Also, the other thesis had not even been published yet. What could a low-quality video prove?

Your thesis hasn't even been published yet!

I'll buy my way out of this!

Suddenly, the conference room door was pushed open. A man in a suit walked in.

Director Zhang Yuanjie raised his eyebrows and asked, "Which department are you from? Did I say you can come in?"

The guy ignored Director Zhang as he placed a document on the table.

"Notice from higher-ups. From today, your show is canceled."

The air in the conference solidified for a moment.

It was so quiet that they could hear a needle drop.

Director Zhang Yuanjie's eyes widened. He could not believe it and angered, he stood up.

"What happened? This is unreasonable! I'm going to talk to them!"

It was almost the finals, and they even did the rehearsal. Stopping the show now would cause great damage.

Director Zhang Yuanjie's face went white. He could not believe it.

The guy looked at Director Zhang Yuanjie with a blank face.

"Don't bother, no one can help you. This document is from the higher-ups."

Chapter 141: Read The News Yourself

Director Zhang was not the only person whose face turned white.

Wu Yan was sitting inside his hotel room. He was scrolling through Weibo when his face suddenly turned pale.

The University of Auckland sounded like a big deal. After all, it was located in the biggest city in New Zealand. However, the reality was that New Zealand was a small country in the middle of nowhere, and the University of Auckland barely got on the Top 100 list.

The strength of the university was still strong relative to its size. However, it was difficult to get a job in New Zealand.

When Wu Yan was at the University of Auckland, he was the type that could not "get a job". Not to mention, his major was in mathematics.

The nicknames the fan gave him was fake. He was still studying his PhD, and who knew if he could actually graduate.

That would only be determined in the future.

While overseas, he watched Lu Zhou's Youtube video. He guessed that most people in China had not seen it yet, and the proof on the conference website was about Zhou's conjecture, so his heart was filled with greed.

Anyway, it was not like he was publishing in journals anyway, and there was no overlap between the entertainment and academic industry. Therefore, he copied the proof process.

However, the results were out of his expectations.

Within a week, his scheme was defeated.

Someone posted the conference recordings online, with the signature of Mr. Francis, the president of the Federal Mathematics Society.

Even though the production team tried to cover the story up, and even though his crazy fans defended him, at this moment, he was still flustered.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

It was none other than Professor Harris from the University of Auckland.

He picked up the phone.

"Did you submit a thesis recently? Don't tell me you wrote my name down."

Wu Yan replied, "I didn't submit anything."

Copyright issues were relatively common in the academic circle, but that did not mean the academicians would tolerate it. Plagiarism was intolerable.

Professor Harris' tone softened, but he was still stern.

All allegations had a reason.

Especially allegations from the Federal Mathematics Society.

Professor Harris' tone was serious when he said, "Some people accused you of plagiarism, and this accusation came from the Federal Mathematics Society. I hope that you can take this matter seriously."

Wu Yan's face turned red and he said, "I didn't plagiarize, I only participated in a TV show and used some…"

He could not continue.

Professor Harris frowned and asked, "Used what?"

"Some proofs of the twin prime number conjecture which was presented at the Princeton conference…"

The other end of the phone went silent.

The professor spoke.

"Then you checked the conference submission and didn't find anything, so you copied it? Do you know there's a conference text recording, in addition to the submissions?"

Wu Yan's face turned bright red.

He had never presented at a conference, so he did not know about this stuff. The proof process was a simplified version from the Princeton website, and he barely understood it.

Wu Yan knew that there was no point hiding anything, so he tried to argue with his supervisor, "I didn't publish anything, it only inspired me…"

"You think that just because you didn't publish anything, this is okay? Anyways, I suggest you fly back to Auckland and sort out your school status."

Wu Yan froze. When he was trying to figure out what the professor meant, the other end had already hung up.

Beep beep beep…

His face turned pale. Cold sweat was rolling down his back.

He threw his phone on the bed. Wu Yan felt desperate.

Professor Harris had asked him to sort out his student status.

What does that mean?

Am I getting… expelled?

The door was pushed open, and his agent walked in.

When Yang Feng walked in the door and saw Wu Yan's face, he asked, "What happened to you?"

Wu Yan bitterly said, "My supervisor… might expel me."

Yang Feng paused for a second before saying, "Who cares about your supervisor? Do you really plan to go back to Auckland? You could just sign an advertisement contract here and make money. Who cares about your academics?"

Wu Yan thought about it. His agent made sense.

Who cares about the University of Auckland?

He took a deep breath and calmed down before asking, "What do we do now?"

He was not about to apologize, but he had nowhere else to retreat to.

He was still considered a genius. If he apologized, it would be a devastating blow to his status.

On the other hand, who would care about his academic title? His acting career had just begun!

"The show has been rectified, and the only person that can save it is you," said Yang Feng with a stern look. He continued, "Sort out your thesis as soon as possible, then submit it in a domestic journal. Then you can argue that you were the one that came up with the proof… Remember to change his proof process so it doesn't look like you copied it. You're the strongest genius student!"

Wu Yan was shocked by this idea. He did not expect his agent to be even crazier than him.

"How do I modify it? The whole premise of the thesis is using the sieve theory of topology. That can't be avoided…"

Yang Feng said, "Are you dumb! I don't know about mathematics, don't ask me! I asked you to change the steps. You can copy his ideas but not exactly. Just change a few letters or something, and we can just claim that it is a coincidence. Who cares about the academic circle anyway! You're in the entertainment circle!"

Wu Yan was unhappy to be called dumb. After all, it was a lot harder to change the proof process of mathematics theses.

Quite frankly, he had no idea how to modify it.

However, he still had sneaky plans.

He read the thesis published by Professor Zellberg in 1995. If he found a substandard journal and submitted the thesis first, how would anyone prove that he plagiarized?

He could claim that it was a coincidence from two geniuses…

It did not matter if the academic community was convinced. At least he could give his fans a reasonable explanation. Even if the show was canceled, as long as his fans were there, he could still make money.

However, things did not always turn out as expected.

He did not realize the flaws in his plan.

Wu Yan was discussing with his agent when the phone rang.

Yang Feng looked at his phone and stood up. He then walked outside to pick up the call.

"Hey, Director Zhang. How's the negotiation going with the TV station? They can't just give up on this investment…"

"Look at the news yourself."

Yang Feng almost could not recognize his voice as his voice had become so depressed.

He was about to ask what the news was, but Director Zhang hung up on him.

Chapter 142: Weak

[Do you guys know how hard Wu Yan works? Do you understand him?]

[Let's think about it. Why would a 25-year-old mathematics PhD steal someone else's academic achievements? In public? What, only one person can solve proofs?]

[What does a conference record even do? Hilarious, some white guy signs it, and it becomes evidence? I've never been to Princeton, but I did watch the video from beginning to end. It looks completely different than the show!]

[Youngest presenter, only a $10,000 USD prize. So little.]

[Wu fans, hold on! Justice will win!]

When Lu Zhou saw the comments on Weibo, he felt a million emotions.

If he was just a no-name person…

If he was just an ordinary university student…

If he had not received evidence from the academic conference…

If those things were true, then even fewer people would believe him.

He thought about the 2014 academic scandal, the "Academic Goddess" Xiao Baofang incident. A Nobel prize level fraud, which ended in the supervisor's suicide.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou was not alone in this fight.

So much so that he did not even have to fight himself.

When Lu Zhou saw the comments on his Weibo post, he was not angry at all.

In fact…

He wanted to laugh.

"Who cares about these blind haters."

Lu Zhou kept reading the comments. When he saw a few people supporting him, he liked their comments.

He did not care about those "Wu stans". Instead, he called Luo Wenxuan who was in Princeton.

The timing of the conference record was perfect.

He had to thank him.

…

The news that Director Zhang talked about was from Everyone Daily.

This time, Everyone Daily published an article about the trending topic.

[Entertainment shows should have basic morals.]

The article used harsh language to criticize the Strongest Genius Student TV show. It said that the show was fooling the audience, and breaking the law.

As soon as the article came out, all of the other major media outlets re-posted the article, which sent it on trending.

The comment section of Everyone Daily blew up.

[F*ck me, I really thought that Wu Yan proved the conjecture. Are all celebrities like this?]

[What a douchebag.]

[Why do people even like this guy? He's just a PhD student. There are millions of PhD students!]

[I can't believe it, Wu Yan fooled us.]

[Is he going to get in trouble for this?]

[I hope he does! (fist) (fist)]

[I'm curious about Lu Zhou. He was on Huaguo Youth Daily last time, and now, he's on Everyone Daily. He's quite influential…]

[…]

With the Everyone Daily article, those who were still skeptical about the whole incident changed their mind.

No matter how hard the Wu fans tried to argue, they had no chance against the giant media article.

Fewer and fewer people were on Wu Yan's side.

When people went to find Wu Yan's Weibo account, they were surprised to see the account banned.

Before Wu Yan was banned, he posted one last time.

[I, Wu Yan, would never plagiarize. I have five million fans, do I really need to plagiarize? I was only inspired. You guys are accusing a scientist…]

Even now, he would not admit his mistakes.

His desire to survive was strong.

Unfortunately, his desire to survive was used in the wrong place.

No one sympathized him.

As a young adult, he had to pay for his wrongdoing.

…

After the incident, the discussion quickly heated up amongst major universities.

Almost all of the major media were reporting on this incident.

At the campus of the University of Yan, a guy and a girl were walking side by side to the library when suddenly, a reporter chased them from behind.

"Hello, please wait… Are you Wei Wen?"

Wei Wen stopped walking and looked at the reporter.

"Yeah, why?"

"Here's the thing. Our TV station is doing a campus interview program. What do you think about the recent dispute between Lu Zhou and Wu Yan on Weibo?"

Wei Wen pushed his glasses and said, "You want to ask what I think?"

The reporter smiled and said, "Let's talk about Lu Zhou first. I heard you met him in a national competition. What do you think about him?"

Wei Wen thought for a moment before he answered, "A respectable opponent."

In reality, Lu Zhou was so far ahead of Wei Wen that he could not even call him an opponent.

Of course, Wei Wen obviously could not say that.

In his dictionary, there was no such thing as giving up.

He was about to leave.

"Wait a second."

Wei Wen turned around and looked at the reporter.

"Anything else?"

The reporter asked, "What about Wu Yan? You've won the gold medal in the IMO International Olympic Mathematical Competition. Do you think Wu Yan is a respectable opponent?"

Wei Wen frowned and said, "Wu Yan? He's weak."

The reporter was stunned.

Wei Wen walked away from the reporter.

"Cui Jing, let's go."

"Okay."

The girl name Cui Jing nodded and walked next to him.

The reporter was left behind.

Chapter 143: Thousands Of People

Everyone Daily reported that the Strongest Genius Student show would be suspended indefinitely.

People claimed to see the French team at the Shanghai airport.

The French team was sitting at the airport as they waited for their flight back home.

This confirmed that the show was discontinued.

Everyone Daily further reported on the show.

It was not just academic fraud.

Reverse Rubik's cube, blind Sudoku, questions, scripts…

Most of the show's segments were faked.

The audience found out that they were lied to.

There were no geniuses. It was just a show.

The several big-name celebrities who were invited to be on the final episode of the show canceled their contracts.

After all, the show's reputation was in the dumpster.

As for the main responsible person, Director Zhang, although he was not fired, he was transferred to the TV station's printing room. The head of the TV station was the one that demoted him.

Anyone demoted by the head of the TV station was done.

It was not just Director Zhang.

Wu Yan had it even worse. Even though he went to New Zealand and escaped criminal prosecution, his degree was revoked and his life was over.

Lu Zhou had not expected this to happen.

He was also surprised about…

The Ten Thousand People Initiative selection.

The Ten Thousand People Initiative was one of the 12 major talent projects developed by the government.

Normally, one would have to wait for at least six months to get a reply.

However, Lu Zhou had already received a reply.

The school issued a notice and Lu Zhou started to prepare the materials. The application was based on Professor Tang's "Polignac's conjecture" suggestion.

Then…

The Ten Thousand People Initiative documents inexplicably came through.

1.6 million yuan in research funds also came through.

Although Lu Zhou could not put this money into his bank account, he could use it to purchase flights, travel for conferences, and pay for graduate studies…

Of course, Lu Zhou was still an undergraduate student. However, he could still give himself a monthly salary and improve his life a little at a time. He only had to write an expenditure report each year, and submit the progress of his research.

In addition to the research funding, there were other policy supports.

It could even be said that these policy supports were the key points while the funding was secondary.

After all, there were very few people who applied for this initiative for money.

Lu Zhou had not expected the application documents to come so quickly.

When he looked at the documents and the certificate that said "Top Youth", he felt a little satisfaction in his heart.

Maybe it was an illusion?

Regardless, he was considered a "Young Scholar".

He was probably the youngest.

…

After Lu Zhou returned to school, he was busy with the Ten Thousand People Initiative application. He had paused his graduation thesis and had only completed 1/15 of the system mission.

I can't keep doing this.

Lu Zhou looked at the Ten Thousand People Initiative certificate in his hand and shook his head.

I have to be more diligent.

I'll finish the thesis first.

It was too late to go to the library, so Lu Zhou pulled out his laptop and started writing on his desk in his dorm room.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open by Huang Guangming.

Shi Shang, who was tuning his guitar, looked at Huang Guangming and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Huang Guangming sighed and placed his backpack down. He had a sad expression on his face as he said, "Nothing, it's over."

Liu Rui was gloating when he added, "Qian Hua?"

Huang Guangming nodded heavily and sighed, "Yeah, we were going to study together, but the results were unpleasant. I left."

Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.

"Is… it because of me?"

Huang Guangming shook his head and said, "No, I can't accept someone that bashes my friend…"

He smiled and continued, "Who cares. It's not like anything substantial happened… She's a bit annoying anyway."

Shi Shang sighed and said, "Wow, I think that your future relationships will be successful!"

Huang Guangming felt a little better and he said, "Thanks, Brother Fei, you always speak kindly."

"Do you want me to play a song for you?"

Huang Guangming quickly waved his hand, "No, no, no, that's not necessary."

On the other hand, Lu Zhou felt bad.

He always thought that Qian Hua and Guangming was a good match.

They were both the optimistic type. Although they both had shortcomings, who did not?

Still, he was happy that his friend defended his research results.

Lu Zhou said, "How about… I buy you some food?"

Huang Guangming immediately nodded and said, "Sure."

Lu Zhou was surprised by the speed of his response.

Wow, he agreed quickly…

Lu Zhou felt like he was being tricked…

Chapter 144: Thesis Submission

Just when Lu Zhou finally thought that he could return to his normal campus lifestyle, the thesis for his twin prime conjecture was published in the latest Annual Mathematics journal.

The publication of this thesis finally gave his efforts an ending.

Soon after, he was reported by the news.

It was Huaguo Youth Daily that reported this incident.

The title was filled with information.

[Young scholar Lu Zhou won the Best Young Speaker Award at the Princeton Academic Conference and solved the world-class problem of the prime number conjecture]

It was a miracle that the article writer was able to come up with such an eye-grabbing title.

Huaguo Youth Daily also cited the evaluations of Lu Zhou's thesis.

[This is an outstanding achievement. Now we can say with certainty that the twin prime numbers are infinite - Pierre Deligne.]

Also, the article mentioned that Lu Zhou was selected as the younger member of the Ten Thousand People Initiative.

This immediately caused a sensation on the internet.

[F*ck, isn't a PhD the minimum threshold for the Ten Thousand People Initiative?]

[But how many doctors are as nutty as Lu Zhou?]

[Mathematics is really the field of geniuses…]

[I wish I can get in…]

[This study god is amazing!]

[Brother Lu defeated the "Strongest Genius Student"!]

[Save some for me…]

Not only Weibo, but forums from major universities were also discussing this matter.

The University of Yan's forum…

[I just had a number theory class, and the lecturer told us about this guy. I wish I was there to watch him solve the conjecture…]

[This qualification alone is worth a PhD right?]

[Correct, but he's too young. You can't just hand doctoral degrees out like candy.]

[F*ck, he must be a genius.]

[Even geniuses have to learn. But he doesn't learn the same way as you. I heard that the University of Jin Ling gave him a special talent training program so he could get double PhD degrees within the next three years.]

[I'm so jealous.]

[This guy will probably receive the 2018 Fields Medal. There's no point being jealous. Just switch to financial mathematics, pure mathematics is a dead end.]

[…]

…

In addition to major media, we-media also reported on Lu Zhou.

[Shocked! The twin prime number conjecture was proved by him!]

[He was going to make a presentation, but he was inspired and shocked the world!]

The reports on the Internet were overwhelming. Lu Zhou skimmed over them before deciding to lock himself in his bedroom and work on his graduation thesis.

He thought that if he went to the library, the people around him would not be able to focus.

Therefore, he decided not to make other students feel bad. Instead, he studied in his room.

He planned to go to the library after he finished his thesis. He was too busy to do the system mission at the moment.

However, he was not completely stuck in his dorm over the past three days. He went to Mrs. Yang's house on Sunday to help Han Mengqi with her math problems.

He did not go for the money. It was more of a way to relax his brain and think about simple problems.

Of course, he did not refuse the raise that Mrs. Yang offered.

It was still a sense of accomplishment.

His student turned from a dumb student to a genius, like she was a plant that he watered every day.

Of course, this was also due to Han Mengqi's own talents. Anyone else would not have improved so quickly.

Lu Zhou previously thought that girls had a natural disadvantage in science and logic, but now it seemed that he was incorrect.

At least, Menqi improved her mathematics score by 20 within a semester. That was no small feat.

If it was not for the system, Lu Zhou's own talent abilities would have been around the same as this little girl.

Regardless of what the media says, Lu Zhou always viewed himself as a hardworking person, not a talented person.

The reason he managed to get into the University of Jin Ling had nothing to do with whether or not he was a genius, but it was because of sweat, blood, and tears.

After the tutoring session ended, Lu Zhou wore an apron and went to cook in the kitchen. He made a dish of green pepper fried meat, and the girl's favorite mapo tofu. This counted as an award for the girl's test results.

Mrs. Yang had not returned from work yet, so the pair ate by themselves.

Lu Zhou started to chat with her about her studies.

"I've already reviewed the mathematics and physics textbook for you, and I pointed out the topics you need additional work on. I can't teach you much else. By June, you won't need me anymore."

She had to study by herself and further solidify her knowledge.

Han Mengqi whispered, "Will you study abroad?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Probably next year. The university plans on sending me to Princeton for a PhD, to allow me to go on a higher scientific research platform."

By next year, he would have earned a master's degree. The University of Jin Ling did not have much else to teach him.

It would be necessary for him to go to a higher education platform.

Han Mengqi looked a little sad as she asked, "Oh, I see. Then, will you come back?"

Lu Zhou joked and said, "Of course, I'll probably come back as a professor."

Han Mengqi looked up and said, "Really? I'll be a uni student by then. Can I be your master's student?"

Lu Zhou was surprised, "My master's student? You want to study pure mathematics?"

Pure mathematics was not a good major, especially for girls.

However…

Her family was wealthy, so it did not really matter.

Han Mengqi nodded energetically and said, "Yes! I love pure mathematics!"

"You sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Lu Zhou placed his chopsticks down and said, "Okay then, but I have to tell you, it's not that easy. You'll have to get into at least a Top 40 university."

Han Mengqi said enthusiastically, "I'll try my best!"

Chapter 145: I Can't Go To Class

The popularity of the twin prime number conjecture gradually faded.

Lu Zhou was happy to see himself removed from the trending page.

He could finally go to the library.

He was in his final thesis writing stage. The only thing left for him to do was to edit it. He could start the oral defense stage in mid-March. Then he would receive his undergraduate degree at the end of March, and he could then start to challenge his master's degree.

Lu Zhou woke up in the morning and went to the library. Before he could even enter the library, he was recognized by a girl.

"Wow, you're Lu Zhou? You're a legend? I'm a mathematics major as well! Can you help me? My thesis keeps getting rejected. Can you look at it for me?"

Lu Zhou was pretty easy going, so he was willing to look at it.

"Right here? What if you send it to my email…"

The people around him quickly started to come over.

"It's Lu Zhou… Nutty, he looks so young."

"F*ck, it's him!"

"Are you preparing for the graduate entrance exam as well? Why are you at the library so early."

A third-year student excitedly came over and asked, "God Lu, can I shake your hand?"

Lu Zhou's hand was grabbed before he could respond.

"I've got the spirit of the god. I won't wash my hand before my exam!" said the guy after he released Lu Zhou's hand. He then quickly walked away.

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

"Genius student, do you have a WeChat? Can you add me?"

"God! Do you still use your mathematical analysis and advanced algebra notebooks? I'll buy them off you for a thousand!"

"I'll pay a thousand five hundred!"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The crowd was getting more and more excited, so Lu Zhou took the chance and slipped through the library door.

…

The library was the same.

His internet fame might have faded slightly, but his reputation in the school was still there.

He then went to the mathematics building and found an empty classroom.

Once Lu Zhou found a seat to sit down, he sighed and took his laptop out of his bag. Just as he was about to edit his thesis, Xiao Ai's window popped up.

The window contained chat records of the mathematical modeling group chat.

They were chatting about him.

Chang Qing: [… What a god, solved Zhou's conjecture last year, and solved twin prime number this year.]

Xian Zong: [Ah, he's too quiet though. He hasn't said a word since joining our group chat.]

Kedu: [What if, we slide into his dm?]

Chu Chu: [F*ck off.]

Chang Qing: [I wonder if he's joining the modeling competition this year? Hopefully, I can join his team, I want to win the Higher Education Society Cup.]

Dayday: [Modeling competition? He's not even joining the US Competition, why would he join the domestic one?]

Lu Zhou looked at the chat records and smiled.

Xiao Ai: [Master, are you happy?]

Lu Zhou smiled and typed: [Happy. When I save up to 2 million yuan, I'll buy you a new home.]

Allowing this little AI to live in a tiny laptop was quite annoying as the CPU would constantly be burning. The noise from the fan was especially annoying.

The university was prepared to give him another million yuan for solving the twin prime number conjecture.

He had already asked Dean Lu. When the TV interview was over, the award would be presented to him by Principal Xu.

Plus his savings, he could buy the 2 million yuan server!

Xiao Ai: [It's 2.9 million though.]

Lu Zhou: "…"

He suddenly felt as if he was spoiling this guy.

He edited his thesis for around an hour before people starting to come into the classroom.

When Lu Zhou looked up at the podium, he saw a young glasses wearing PhD student adjusting the projector.

There's a class here?

The PhD student made eye contact with Lu Zhou.

He was stunned.

Suddenly, the class bell rang.

The PhD student did not say anything. Instead, he gently coughed and started his PowerPoint presentation.

"Today, we'll talk about basic number theory… Let me introduce myself, I'm Wang Shijie. I'm still studying my PhD in the field of number theory. If you are interested in the field of number theory, feel free to consult Professor Li Zhongshu.]

He then turned to the next page.

Most middle school students knew about prime numbers and natural numbers.

This was precisely the magic of number theory.

Even though many conclusions could be expressed in basic mathematics, without further knowledge in mathematics, it was almost impossible to study or prove these conjectures in depth.

Lu Zhou was getting a bit tired, so he closed his laptop. He wanted to see what the lecture was about.

He looked at the blackboard curiously.

[

The contribution of Chinese scholars to prime numbers.

Zhou's theorem: When 2^(2^n)<>

Presented by: Zhou Haizhong.

Proved by: Lu Zhou.

]

This was not the main problem.

The main problem was that the PowerPoint presentation contained a photo of Lu Zhou.

When Lu Zhou saw the photo, he instantly blushed. He wanted to bury his head in his keyboard.

This is so embarrassing!

Where did they even get this photo! It doesn't even reflect my true handsomeness!

This…

This is unacceptable!

Lu Zhou did not know what to do.

The PhD student on stage was also feeling awkward.

F*ck sake!

I found this photo online. Who knew that you would come to my class!

Next slide of the powerpoint.

It was related to Lu Zhou as well.

[

Twin prime conjecture

The Polignac conjecture proposes that for all natural numbers k, there is an infinite number of prime pairs (P, P + 2K). The case of k=1 is the twin prime guess.

Proof: Define theta(n)=lnn if n is a prime number; define theta(n)=0 if n is a composite number. If we can properly select the function lambda(n)…

The Chinese scholar Zhang Yitang proposed the above proof, the current best result is 246.

]

A student sitting in the front row saw this slide and raised his hand.

"Teacher, I think this conjecture was proved a few days ago."

The PhD student was a little embarrassed, so he coughed and said, "I made this powerpoint two weeks ago and I forgot to change it. This conjecture was proven by Lu Zhou from our University of Jin Ling. The specific proof process is too long, so it won't be tested in the exam. Oh yeah, also, Lu Zhou is sitting in the fourth row of our classroom."

The PhD student smiled at Lu Zhou.

Suddenly, everyone turned their heads toward Lu Zhou.

Especially the guy sitting next to Lu Zhou, his eyeballs nearly popped out.

He was probably wondering how he did not notice.

Lu Zhou smiled at the PhD student on the podium and sighed.

I can't even go to class.

Soon after, the class ended.

Lu Zhou packed up his stuff and left.

Chapter 146: Talk On Stage

After the number theory lecture, Lu Zhou went to his complex functions lecture. After all, he was still enrolled in this class, plus his roommates were there.

During the lecture, when the teacher saw him sitting there, he asked him to teach instead.

Lu Zhou started talking about the complex plane and the Riemann sphere. Even though he was not very skilled at public speaking, it gradually became smoother.

However, he obviously ignored the abilities of the listeners.

While he was lecturing on stage, the students who were listening were all muddled.

Only a few people could keep up with his stage. For example, Luo Rundong. Others, like Liu Rui, could barely keep up.

"… the transformation function between ζ-coordinates and ξ-coordinates can be obtained by compounding one of the maps with the inverse of the other and can be obtained by a transformation. The unit sphere and the Riemann sphere are different from the same embryo."

Lu Zhou was constantly writing on the blackboard.

Now, even fewer people could keep up with his pace.

Most people started to feel lost.

For example, even Luo Rundong was staring at the blackboard with a confused expression.

Liu Rui stopped writing, and he whispered instead.

"F*ck me, what is this sh*t?"

Huang Guangming looked at the blackboard as well.

He was not confused because he was not listening at all.

"Guangming, do you understand this?"

Huang Guangming shook his head and said, "Nope, Lu Zhou doesn't understand how dumb we are."

Liu Rui paused for a second.

He did not know what to say.

When Lu Zhou finished writing on the blackboard, he stood aside to let the students copy the notes.

The students in the first row took out their phones and started taking photos, but the other students did not bother to do anything.

The old professor, who stood aside, smiled and placed his vacuum flask down. He walked next to Lu Zhou and spoke.

"Remember, this is in the exam."

The students moaned.

They looked at the blackboard and felt hopeless.

They did not know what to do.

Liu Rui was going crazy and Huang Guangming said to him, "It's fine, Lu Zhou is coming back to our dorm anyway, so he can just teach us then."

Liu Rui ignored him.

He was not crazy because of how hard the content was.

It was because…

He found out the gap between him and Lu Zhou.

…

Lu Zhou could not attend any lectures, at least not mathematics ones.

After the complex functions lecture, Lu Zhou did not go to class again.

There was nothing that undergraduate classes could teach him. As usual, he went to the library instead.

His experience in the library gradually got better.

He refused a few thesis invitations, and fewer people bothered him.

After all, they had their own matters to attend to.

They could not stalk Lu Zhou all day.

This could also be due to the fact that Lu Zhou chose a low-key spot to sit at.

He devoted himself to his thesis.

Writing a thesis was actually a learning process for Lu Zhou.

In order to introduce Hilbert space into quantum mechanics and use mathematical problems to study the motion law of microscopic particles, he also studied a lot of theses and also attended several advanced graduate lectures in quantum mechanics.

University of Jin Ling's theoretical physics department was highly rated, and the lectures were inspiring to Lu Zhou.

Of course, even though quantum mechanics was fascinating, mathematics was still his cup of tea.

Therefore, he used a more mathematical approach to his thesis.

He only slightly touched on the topic of quantum mechanics.

[A viscous approximation method for equilibrium problems and finite non-extension maps in Hilbert space.]

[Abstract: A new iterative format is introduced in the real Hilbert space, which uses the method of viscous approximation to approximate the common elements of the solution set. The equilibrium problem and the fixed point set of the finite non-extension map forms a strong convergence theorem.]

The abstract was the final stage of the thesis.

"Finally finished!"

Lu Zhou looked at the completed thesis and sighed in relief. He then entered the system space to check his mission progress.

Reward mission: Documents read (13/50).

From the mission completion details, it was clear how much effort he had put in.

Fortunately, he did not have to worry about the thesis.

He only had to hand in the thesis to Professor Tang.

After that, he could start making his PowerPoint presentation for the oral defense.

As for the submission, he planned to submit it to the [Advanced Theoretical and Mathematical Physics] journal.

This journal focused on physics and mathematics. It had an impact factor of 2.3, which was not high. However, he chose it because this journal was a core journal and was quite famous.

After completing the graduation thesis, Lu Zhou went to Professor Tang's office. As a second year, he handed over his final undergraduate assignment.

Inside the office…

Professor Tang skimmed through Lu Zhou's thesis and said, "Your thesis puts forward many good points. There are many overlaps between the research on the real Hilbert space and my own research field, but I won't ask you technical questions. Just do well in the oral defense."

Lu Zhou nodded humbly and said, "Thanks, professor."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "Oh, you're afraid of my questions? Remember to work hard on your PowerPoint presentation. There's quite a lot of judges that want to ask you questions."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Professor, please have mercy."

"I will, I will," said Professor Tang as he waved his hand and smiled. He continued, "Dean Qin and I will give mercy, but the other two professors might not."

Lu Zhou carefully asked, "Can I ask who are they?"

Professor Tang said, "Sure, one is academician Lu Shenjian from our school. The other is Xiang Huanan, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

The fuck?

Even though Lu Zhou had not heard much about Xiang Huanan, he knew that he was a deputy director of the Mathematical Society. In short, the guy was famous in the field of algebraic group and functional analysis.

As for academician Lu Shenjian…

He was a member of international cooperation groups such as BESIII and LHCb. In 2013, he discovered the four-quark state Zc (3900) in the Shanghai Electron Collider Test. This discovery was named the world's top ten physics discovery of the year.

Although it was a great honor for these two big names to take time and critique an undergraduate student's thesis, Lu Zhou only felt one thing.

I only want to get my undergraduate certificate, but not like this…

Lu Zhou felt nervous.

Chapter 147: Life Is Inevitable

Two oral defense judges at an academician level would be coming.

No one else had this kind of treatment.

Lu Zhou could not help but feel the pressure.

Speaking of which, could the outsiders be oral defense judges?

Lu Shenjian was a member of the physics department at the University of Jin Ling, but that Xiang Huanan guy was from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Then again, if one were to think about it carefully, it was not as if the school would refuse a big name.

There was still a week before the oral defense began.

There was an interview waiting for Lu Zhou before the oral defense.

After the interview, Principal Xu would personally award him with one million yuan.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see that Suzhou TV station was the one conducting the interview.

Lu Zhou did not understand this arrangement.

He thought that it would be awkward to see a reporter from Suzhou TV station, but not only did the reporter came, the director of Suzhou TV station also came.

When Director Li met with Lu Zhou, he shook his hand.

"Lu Zhou, allow me to apologize! It was our fault to not verify the program's content. We've found the relevant personnel and fired him. We hope you can forgive us!"

Lu Zhou was a little unprepared at Director Li's kind words.

To be honest, he held no grudges against the Suzhou TV station.

After the plagiarism problem occurred, the involved personnel were all given the punishment they deserved.

Now the director even personally came to apologize, so there was no need to hold grudges.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine, Director Li, I'm happy with the way your station handled the matter. It's already over, so let's forget about it."

Director Li smiled and said, "On behalf of Suzhou TV station, we thank you for your forgiveness."

He paused for a second before he said to the reporter.

"Xiao Wang, start the interview now."

"Okay, director."

Reporter Xiao Wang smiled and walked over.

Soon after, the interview officially began.

Judging from the interview, Suzhou TV was being quite nice to Lu Zhou. They did not ask any hard questions.

By the end of the interview, Lu Zhou finally knew why the university had arranged this.

This was good publicity for both the school and the TV station.

After the interview…

Principal Xu of University of Jin Ling and Lu Zhou stood in front of the camera and held a one million yuan ICBC cheque.

This one million yuan would be put into Xiao Ai's new home.

…

At night, Lu Zhou ate dinner at the cafeteria before he went back to his dorm. He then sat in front of his computer and started to edit his oral defense PowerPoint presentation.

He knew that this oral defense would not be easy. Even though he was only an undergraduate student, the two academicians would not go easy on him.

Therefore, Lu Zhou had to practice all possible questions about his thesis.

This process was the most grueling.

His three roommates finally came back from their lecture.

Huang Guangming saw Lu Zhou and curiously looked at his PowerPoint.

"Zhou, what are you doing?"

Lu Zhou thought and replied, "Oral defense powerpoint."

Liu Rui put his backpack down and said, "Oral defense?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yeah, graduation oral defense."

The dorm became silent.

Lu Zhou felt it and sighed.

He had been deliberately avoiding this issue, but he knew that he had to tell them at some point. This was life and separation was a part of life.

Unfortunately, this separation came too quickly.

Huang Guangming forced a smile and said, "Actually… We kind of guessed it. We were talking about this just a while ago, but anyway, good luck!"

Shi Shang put his hand on Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Good luck."

Liu Rui did not say anything.

This time, he was not jealous.

He always saw Lu Zhou as an enemy, and he hated his occasional gloating, but in his heart, he still saw Lu Zhou as a friend. This was precisely why he had not expressed his jealousy out loud.

Maybe, this was what a good friend should do?

Still, he could not for the life of him say good luck.

Lu Zhou felt the heaviness in the air. He smiled and said, "It's just a graduation oral defense, I'm still sitting here. It's not like I'm dead or something. After the oral defense, I'll buy you guys dinner."

Huang Guangming said, "No need, let us buy you dinner."

Shi Shang sighed and said, "Yeah Zhou, you've already bought us so much food over the past two semesters. We'll buy you dinner on the day you graduate as a celebration."

Liu Rui nodded and said, "Yeah, we've to treat you."

Lu Zhou replied, "There's no need, we're all friends here. You're stressing me out…"

Shi Shang said, "It's good to have some stress, so you don't forget about us. Besides, remember how much stress you give us?"

The other two friends nodded.

The fuck?

Not like this.

Why are they so persistent?

Lu Zhou did not know what to say. Suddenly, his phone rang.

When Lu Zhou saw the caller, he was relieved.

It was his father.

"I have to take this call."

Lu Zhou turned around and went to the balcony.

He then closed the balcony door behind him.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

Lu Bangguo's voice traveled through the phone, "Son, what is the twin prime conjecture?"

When Lu Zhou heard his father's voice, he felt better.

He smiled and replied, "Dad, you don't need to understand it, just know that your son is nutty."

Lu Bangguo, "Oh yeah, I just saw it on TV, so I thought I'd ask. Don't forget to wear more clothes these few days, it's getting cold."

Lu Zhou, "I'm fine, you guys have to watch out for your health as well."

Lu Bangguo smiled and said, "We're doing great. Your mom is cooking in the kitchen. Do you want to talk to her?"

Lu Zhou smiled, "Sure…"

"…"

A twenty-minute phone call went by.

Lu Zhou then leaned against the balcony and as he looked up at the dark sky, he was quiet.

He stared at the stars for a long time…

Chapter 148: Graduation Oral Defense

After a long period of preparation, the time for oral defense finally arrived.

There were four oral defense judges.

Other than Dean Qin of the mathematics department, Professor Tang was also present.

Normally there would be an avoidance system to ensure fairness, but for Lu Zhou, little things like this did not matter.

Other than the two people who Lu Zhou knew, there were two other people. Lu Shenjian from the University of Jin Ling and Xiang Huanan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

These two people were big names, and Lu Zhou was already familiar with them.

Lu Zhou stood on the podium and looked casual.

He had prepared for this moment for a long time, so he was not nervous at all.

The PowerPoint presentation began.

Lu Zhou introduced himself and started to talk about his thesis. He briefly talked about the main points and conclusion of the thesis.

This process was very short, and it only took five minutes.

Next was the important questions and answers stage!

Xiang Huanan looked at Lu Zhou.

"Fifth page of the thesis, I noticed that you mentioned that C is a nonempty closed convex subset in Hilbert space, and is introduced for a class of quasi-nonexpansive images T:C→C. A Halpern-type viscous iterative algorithm. What does this mean? Can you explain it in detail?"

A normal judge for an undergraduate student's graduation thesis would not ask such a technical question. However, Lu Zhuo was no normal student, and this judge was no normal judge.

Therefore, the question was also out of the ordinary.

Lu Zhou did not have to refer to his thesis. He remembered exactly what he wrote on the fifth page.

"The sequence {xn} used to prove '8' strongly converges to a fixed point on T, and this point is the only solution to the variational inequality V. Can I use the blackboard? It's difficult to explain with words."

Professor Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "Of course."

Normally this would not be allowed.

Lu Zhou picked up the chalk and started to write on the blackboard.

[x1∈C, x(n+1)=αn·f·xn+βn·xn+γn·T·xn, n≥1. Where f:C→C is a compressed image, where T:C→C is a non-stretch impression…]

Xiang Huanan smiled and nodded his head, "Not bad."

This answer was sufficient, even by PhD standards.

Therefore, the judge was satisfied with this answer.

Professor Lu Shenjian said, "Let me ask a few questions too."

Lu Zhou replied, "Professor, please go ahead."

Professor Lu Shenjian said, "I noticed that you mentioned in the paper that by applying your set of viscous iterative algorithms, it can also be used to study the pre-solution of the maximal monotone operator in Banach space. This can become a tool for quantum mechanics. This is similar to the algorithm mentioned by Professor Kohsaka in Japan when he introduced the non-stretching image in 2008, but you have not made further extensions on this basis. Why?"

Lu Zhou was surprised at this question.

What do you mean by why?

Because the focus on the thesis is not on this!

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Because further expansion of this topic would count as a thesis in and of itself. This thesis is only about mathematics problems. Although there are references to quantum mechanics applications, that is not the focus."

Academic problems were endless, and everything could be further expanded upon. He only briefly mentioned his possible application of this set of viscous iterative algorithms in quantum mechanics.

Lu Shenjian shook his head and said with a heavy tone, "This is not the mentality that a scholar should have. You should strive to learn perfectly. If you have also discovered this possibility, why don't you further expand on it?"

Professor Xiang Huanan suddenly smiled and said, "Old Lu, stop giving Lu Zhou a hard time. People that are good at mathematics aren't necessarily good at physics. I think Lu Zhou is more suited for mathematics research."

Lu Shenjian said, "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that if he's interested, he can study under my wing. The movement of microscopic particles requires Hilbert space to regulate, and vice versa. The observation of microscopic particles will certainly have a great inspiration for his research in the field of mathematics!"

Professor Xiang shook his head and said, "I respectfully disagree. I've studied subgroup theory and the Yang-Baxter equation. Although mathematics can be a tool for physics research, mathematics itself is self-contained. Physics and mathematics are two different things."

Professor Xiang smiled and looked at Lu Zhou before he said, "Like what Professor Lu said, if you discovered a possibility, why don't you expand on it? If you're interested, the China Institute of Mathematics has a similar research project…"

Dean Qin interrupted them, "There are so many talents in the Chinese Academy of Science already, stop trying to steal ours."

Professor Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "What do you mean by stealing? I'm just making a suggestion."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "There's still some time left, so let's continue the oral defense."

In fact, there was not much else to ask.

The level of the thesis was way too high for a graduation thesis.

The so-called oral defense was only to test the student's skill level, which was obviously unnecessary in this case.

"Ask about what? Screw these formalisms!" said Professor Xiang as he smiled and stood up.

He looked at Lu Zhou and nodded, "Your work in functional analysis surprised me, I rarely see undergraduate students who are able to reply so wonderfully."

Lu Zhou sincerely said, "Thank you, professor."

Professor Xiang Huanan said, "No need to thank me, the oral defense is over. You can leave now."

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Tang.

Professor Tang nodded and said, "You can leave. We'll inform you of the results soon."

After the oral defense, the student usually waited for the judges to exchange opinions and give a score out of 100.

There was no doubt that Lu Zhou would pass.

If he did not pass, then no one else in the school could.

Lu Zhou was curious to know what his score would be.

Once Lu Zhou left, the classroom was quiet.

Professor Xiang looked at Professor Tang and smiled as he said, "Old Tang, I've never taken a student after all these years. I'm about to retire, and I want to find someone to inherit the clock. What if… we make a deal?"

Professor Tang smiled and looked at his old friend as he said, "There's no point asking me, I don't care where the kid goes. Go ask Old Qin."

Dean Qin smiled and interrupted the academician, "Don't even think about it!"

Professor Xiang Huanan shook his head and said, "Selfish."

He was just joking. It would be a miracle for the University of Jin Ling to let go of Lu Zhou.

At the very least, his curiosity was satisfied.

Professor Wang Yuping bragged to him that the University of Jin Ling had a once in a generation genius who would win the Fields Medal.

He had not believed it at first.

After today, he was convinced.

Professor Xiang could not help but think.

"Young scholars are so prosperous, so lucky…"

Actually, it did not matter too much that Lu Zhou refused his offer.

He had been around a lot, so he was bored at most things.

And for the things he was not bored with…

He believed that he would get a chance to see them.

Chapter 149: A Person's Graduation

The oral defense score was released shortly after.

It was 100 marks, a perfect score.

Since the two academicians praised the oral defense, how could they not give it a perfect score?

In a sense, his oral defense level represented the upper limit of undergraduate students.

The school did not even do the "deduct a point so you don't get cocky" thing because it was meaningless for Lu Zhou.

After all, Lu Zhou deserved to be cocky.

However, the perfect score did not matter too much, as anything above 90% would receive the stamp of "excellence".

Although it was expected, Lu Zhou was still relieved to hear the perfect score.

His OCD personality would cause him to lose sleep if he received a 99.

When the degree certificate was issued, Professor Tang and Dean Qin were present. In addition, Dean Lu from the applied mathematics department and Professor Liu were also there to congratulate him.

There was only one student who participated in this graduation ceremony, Lu Zhou.

They stood in the school auditorium.

Dean Qin of mathematics department solemnly handed over the diploma and degree certificate to Lu Zhou.

"Lu Zhou, your academics have been stellar, and you have completed all your school credits."

"After the reviews and appraisal from our school's degree committee, you're approved to graduate in advance and have a bachelor degree in science and a diploma in applied mathematics from University of Jin Ling."

"I hope you can climb even higher on the road of academics, and create even more glory!"

Lu Zhou took the certificate and said, "Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for cultivating me, I'll remember the education I received from the professors!"

Dean Qin smiled and nodded before he said, "Congratulations on your graduation. You'd take a break for a few days. Then complete the student registration for your master's degree. Think about what direction you want to research, and which professor you want to research with."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Sure."

After the ceremony, the students from the student union came in and cleaned up the auditorium.

Lu Zhou was about to chat with Professor Tang, but he suddenly saw a familiar face walking toward him.

Lin Yuxiang wore a white dress and smiled at him as she said, "Congratulations, you already got your graduation certificate. I'm so happy for you."

Lu Zhou smiled politely and said, "Thanks."

Lin Yuxiang said, "Then, Lu Zhou, are you free later?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before answering her, "I don't think so, I still have some stuff to do."

Lin Yuxiang, "…?"

…

Holding the diploma and degree certificate, Lu Zhou went to Professor Tang's office.

Before Professor Tang could speak, the thin looking graduate student stood up and poured a cup of tea.

"Sir, please have some tea."

Lu Zhou was almost embarrassed to be treated like this.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Hopefully, we can work together one day," said the graduate student. He then sat back down and continued to work on his research.

Professor Tang looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Why aren't you celebrating with your friends? Why are you here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The thing is, Professor Tang, I want to become your master's student, don't know if you have time…"

Before Lu Zhou could finish, Professor Tang interrupted him.

"Don't ask me, I won't accept you."

Lu Zhou was surprised at his answer and he could not understand why.

Professor Tang looked at his confused face and smiled as he explained, "Because, with your ability, you can do your own research. Honestly speaking, I've nothing to teach you in the field of functional analysis. As for number theory, it's not my cup of tea. You have to do the research yourself, and this can't be taught by others."

"But…"

Lu Zhou wanted to say something, but he was once again interrupted by Professor Tang.

Professor Tang sighed and said, "Speaking of which, while our University of Jin Ling is one of the best schools in Asia, there isn't a single academician here who can help you. I wish I could recommend to you someone, but unfortunately, University of Jin Ling's mathematics department can't help you. You have to find a higher platform to do scientific research."

Lu Zhou did not speak.

Professor Tang then said, "The domestic academic community is very strong. You might not be able to sense or feel it, but from your rate of improvement, I believe that you'll soon be able to see it."

"I've been teaching for so many years, outside of academics, I really can't help you with anything else. I might even delay you. If you want to develop domestically, academician Lu Shenjian is a good choice. Anyway, don't you want to pursue mathematical physics? You're already an adult, I think you don't need my advice anymore. Your future, your choice."

Lu Zhou did not speak for a long time as he did not know what to say.

After a while, he said, "Thanks for the advice… I'll seriously consider your suggestion."

'Alright, go consider it. But just remember, you can't do research under my wing," said Professor Tang with a smile.

Lu Zhou smiled as well. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Professor, can you please do me a favor?"

Professor Tang smiled and asked, "What favor?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I want to take a graduation gown photo, for my parents."

Lu Zhou felt like something was missing.

It would be a great loss if he did not get a handsome graduation photo.

Professor Tang smiled and said, "That's it? Okay, no problem. Oi, Xiao Wang, take Lu Zhou to get a graduation gown. Oh yeah, don't you have a DSLR? Take a few photos of him while you're at it."

The master's student that poured Lu Zhou tea said, "Okay, professor. Let's go, Lu Zhou."

"It's fine, just lend me the gown."

Xiao Wang said, "It's fine, it's just a photo." He then walked with Lu Zhou out of the office.

Chapter 150: Moving Rooms

Xiao Wang borrowed a bachelor's gown from the faculty and took Lu Zhou to the old campus in Professor Tang's car.

According to Xiao Wang, all students from the University of Jin Ling should check out the old campus. They took this opportunity to take a few graduations photos here.

They then went to the north building, the auditorium, the south lawns, and finally, they finished taking the graduation photos.

As they sat in the car, Xiao Wang said, "I'll edit the photos and send them to your WeChat. You can then print them out at the place near our school."

Lu Zhou replied, "Thanks."

Xiao Wang smiled and said, "No need to thank me. I can now brag that I was the one that helped Lu Zhou take his graduation photos."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

This makes sense.

I mean, I'm so handsome, he can use my photos as a reference.

After returning to the new campus, Lu Zhou got out of the car.

As for the borrowed gown, Xiao Wang said he would return it for Lu Zhou, so Lu Zhou left it in the car.

Xiao Wang had to give Professor Tang back his car, so the two separated.

As Lu Zhou stood in front of the school gate, he suddenly thought of something. He took out his phone and took a photo of the University of Jin Ling and his certificate.

He then opened Weibo.

Lu Zhou typed a caption and pressed "Send".

The caption was only one sentence.

[Finally graduated.]

He had 300 thousand followers now and had decent engagement.

Within five minutes, the comments started to come in.

[F*ck, aren't you a second year? Already graduated?]

[This is expected, I'm not surprised.]

[The University of Jin Ling finally opened their eyes and let this god graduate.]

[Please have mercy on us master's students!]

[Did the study god receive an offer from Princeton? When do you plan on going?]

Lu Zhou looked at his fans' comments and smiled.

He then turned off Weibo and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

He returned to his dorm with the degree certificate and diploma.

The second Lu Zhou went in the door, his three friends circled him.

"Zhou, you got the diploma?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I got it."

Shi Shang grabbed the diploma and degree certificate before he said, "Let me look at it. Zhou. What were you thinking when you took this degree identification photo? Did you not think to photoshop it?"

Lu Zhou replied, "You looked the same after military training."

The photo of Shi Shang after his military training was embarrassing.

Shi Shang said, "Hey, I'm not like you. I can show you, I looked handsome."

Lu Zhou said, "F*ck off, stop talking about my photo. Do you still want the benefits?"

Huang Guangming was interested, "Benefits? What benefits?"

Liu Rui looked at Lu Zhou. He was curious as well.

Lu Zhou did not say anything. Instead, he reached and took out the textbooks in his drawer. He said, "I don't need these anymore, so take them as a gift."

He gave Huang Guangming two books.

"Take them."

Huang Guangming looked at the two books and was stunned.

Lu Zhou said, "These applied mathematics and probability textbooks are yours. Try your best to study them. Mathematics is a broad subject, whether it's pure or statistics, you have to apply yourself."

"Thank… Thank you."

Lu Zhou looked at Liu Rui and gave him two books as well.

"Liu Rui, these two complex analysis and differential equation books are yours, good luck."

Liu Rui smiled as he said with a trembling voice, "Thank you…"

"No need to thank me, I hope you can reach your own expectations," said Lu Zhou as he patted his shoulder.

Then, Lu Zhou looked at Shi Shang.

"And, Brother Fei, these two are yours."

Shi Shang took the two books from Lu Zhou. He was about to say something when Huang Guangming suddenly shouted.

"But Lu Zhou… Why are there no notes written on these textbooks?"

What was the point of an unwritten textbook?

Lu Zhou had an awkward expression. He suddenly remembered that he studied these courses with library books, so he did not use his own textbooks.

Sh*t.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "You've to fill in the notes yourself. The reason I gave you these books is so that you can follow my path…"

Damn, I don't know what to say.

Should I confess?

Lu Zhou had an awkward expression.

Suddenly, Shi Shang replied with a serious tone.

"I understand, thank you."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

…

Even though the textbooks did not have notes in them, they still contained Lu Zhou's signature.

If Lu Zhou won the Fields Medal one day, the textbooks could be worth a lot!

So the three roommates were still satisfied.

However, they did not receive the books for free.

They said that they would buy Lu Zhou dinner after he graduated.

It was just in time for dinner, so they all went to the fish restaurant outside the school.

Shi Shang ordered some food and only one box of beer.

They were originally going to order two boxes, but the waiter would not sell them two. He said that he would give them another box after they finished drinking.

Shi Shang finally gave up.

When the food arrived, the atmosphere was a little sad.

The four friends would soon become three friends. Everyone ate and drank but they did not talk much.

Finally, after a few bottles of beer, Shi Shang asked, "Zhou, you already got your bachelor's degree, what do you plan on doing next? Are you going to continue studying?"

Lu Zhou said, "The school has set up a personal talent development plan for me. The goal is to get a double PhD from University of Jin Ling and Princeton."

Liu Rui was envious when he said, "Double PhD… I heard Princeton's mathematics department is very prestigious."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, so it's not easy."

Shi Shang toasted Lu Zhou and asked, "Then… When do you plan on moving?"

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

"Moving?"

Shi Shang sighed and said, "Yeah, but don't worry, I'll reserve your bed for you."

"I'll go to Princeton next year, so I still have one more year left at the University of Jin Ling. I have to get my master's degree first," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a moment before continuing, "Are you asking about moving dorm rooms? Dean Qin asked if I wanted to move to a graduate dorm room, but I said it's too much of a hassle, and my room now is fine."

The graduate student dorms were a three people room, so the difference was not too big. Lu Zhou was not a particularly picky person, so he did not care.

Furthermore, he did not want to live with two strangers.

He liked 201.

Shi Shang: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

Liu Rui: "…"

Lu Zhou saw his three friends went silent.

What?

Why aren't you guys talking?

Chapter 151: Witnessing History?

Lu Zhou admitted that he should not have let his friends paid for this meal.

However, since they made him paid for dinners so many times, it should be their turn?

Everyone continued to drink.

They did not stop.

Clearly, they wanted to get Lu Zhou drunk.

However, Lu Zhou was not worried because the first person to get wasted was always Liu Rui.

This time, as usual, Liu Rui was carried back to the dorms…

…

After the oral defense, Lu Zhou took a break for a few days. He had to give his body a rest for the upcoming master's student life.

The student status was soon sorted out.

Just like this, Lu Zhou was a student of the University of Jin Ling again.

Except that, this time, he was a master's student.

After some serious consideration, Lu Zhou listened to Professor Tang's suggestion and studied his master's degree under Professor Lu Shenjian.

First of all, he wanted to further develop mathematical physics. Secondly, Professor Tang was correct. He had not fully experienced China's academic circle, so he had to expand his perspective.

Normal people could not even imagine how deep this perspective was.

Logically speaking, if he wanted to climb to a higher level of academics, having an academician as his tutor for the master's degree would be very helpful. For example, in order to declare a large-scale national project, he had to have an academician's amnesty. Whether it was to ask for money or to consult policies, it would definitely be better than fighting alone.

As an academician's student, he would also have opportunities to learn the frontier of knowledge, which Lu Zhou was the most eager for.

Due to these reasons, Lu Zhou applied to be a graduate student of Professor Lu Shenjian.

Professor Lu Shenjian welcomed Lu Zhou.

He had not taken on a graduate student in a long time. He had no energy or time, but when he saw Lu Zhou's abilities in theoretical physics, he decided to accept his request.

Theoretical physics was a high-level discipline, especially the field of particle physics. It revealed the mysteries of the universe at a scale of 10^-18 meters.

Mathematics was also an important tool for studying particle physics.

The combination of the two would produce unexpected results.

Therefore, Lu Zhou chose the imaginative direction of mathematical physics.

Professor Lu Shenjian was looking forward to working with him.

…

Laboratory building…

Lu Zhou reported to Professor Lu Shenjian as he began his master's degree studies.

Professor Lu Shenjian gave him a brief introduction to the situation and what to do as a master's student.

"… You've accomplished a lot in areas such as number theory and functional analysis. I don't understand number theory, but the mathematical tools of functions and algebra are very helpful for theoretical physics research. Since you've chosen mathematics physics as your main research direction, then my advice to you is to go to to a few physics lectures, either undergraduate or graduate, or read a few textbooks. This way, you can fill in the gaps in your physics knowledge."

Professor Lu Shenjian paused for a second before saying, "Oh yeah, did you publish your thesis?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I already submitted it to [Progress in Theory and Mathematical Physics].

The thesis had just passed the review process and had now entered the peer review stage.

Depending on the situation, it would be passed either this month or next month.

In any case, the journal was bi-monthly, so it would take at least 2 months for him to see the thesis.

Professor Lu Shenjian nodded and said, "I'm also subscribed to this journal. It's a good journal. I've read your thesis, and the ideas that you put forward are good. If the reviewer is engaged in quantum mechanics research, they'll definitely see the academic value of the paper. It'll probably be accepted."

The professor continued, "I've different requirements for your master's degree than others. If you want to graduate, you'll have to publish at least two SCI theses in the field of mathematical physics."

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Does this one count?"

If it counted, he only had to submit one SCI thesis.

Then he might get his master's degree by the end of the year.

Hopefully.

The professor smiled and nodded as he said, "It counts. But don't rush to graduate, you still have a lot to learn. Do more projects and accumulate some scientific research experience. I've already seen the talent development plan that the school has given to you, so I'll definitely let you graduate by this time next year."

He implied that as long as Lu Zhou completed the requirements, he would allow Lu Zhou to graduate by this time next year, but no sooner.

Embarrassed, Lu Zhou smiled.

He wanted to get his master's degree early, but since his supervisor said so, he did not insist further.

Anyway, a year was short, and he could do projects under the academician's wing.

"About your training program, I made a class schedule for you. Just take the classes according to the schedule. Also, one more thing."

The professor paused for a second before he said, "You might have known that I'm one of the leaders of the LHC China group. The "pentaquark" has entered the final and most critical stage."

"Now, the upgrade of the European Hadron Collider has been completed. Hopefully, the experiment will restart after the May meeting. I'll go to the European Nuclear Research Center in Switzerland at the end of April to participate in the meeting."

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and continued, "If you can pass my exam by April, I might be able to bring you along with me."

The theory of the pentaquark was first proposed by the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in Russia in 1997. However, even Pollykov, who proposed this theory, was skeptical about the theory.

In around 2003, in the experiment on the spring-8 of the Synchrotron Radiation Facility of Osaka University, the existence of the pentaquark was briefly observed. However, in the Hadron Collider, no evidence was found. So, whether the quark particle existed or not had always been a controversial topic.

In 2013, the BESIII International Cooperation Group led by the Chinese state discovered the tetraquark in the experiment of the Shanghai Electron Collider. The experiment on the tetraquark was about to be executed by the LHCb International Cooperation Group.

If what Professor Lu Shenjian said was real, Lu Zhou would be able to witness history.

Lu Zhou undoubtedly wanted to go to that meeting.

From the tone of the professor's voice, the April exam was going to be difficult.

Lu Zhou coughed and asked, "Professor, can you at least give me a syllabus for the exam?"

"Syllabus? Sure," said Professor Lu. He smiled and said, "The syllabus is particle physics, go and study it."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Motherf*cker, what kind of syllabus is this?

Can you be any less vague?

Chapter 152: You Do It, Or I do It?

Normally, the academicians were very busy.

Studying under an academician meant a lot more free time compared to studying under a professor.

Lu Zhou soon realized this.

There were six tables in the office, one of which belonged to Professor Lu Shenjian. The other five belonged to Lu Zhou and four other PhD students.

Most of the time, this office was empty.

The University of Jin Ling did not have a particle collider, so most experiments were done in Beijing. The man himself was a member of international cooperative organizations such as BESIII and LHCb. He often had to attend various meetings all over the country.

Lu Zhou calculated that he had only seen Professor Lu Shenjian a handful of times since he became a master's student.

The old man only gave him a vague syllabus, and he did not teach Lu Zhou at all. Lu Zhou was supposed to study by himself.

Lu Zhou went to a lot of physics lectures and became familiar with a few physics professors.

He had to plan his own study rhythm.

What was the difference between this and studying his bachelor's?

He could not feel a difference.

However, this was good as Lu Zhou was used to his own studying pace. If someone was rushing him and making him do homework every day, he would feel uncomfortable.

Every day, he would either read the system mission's booklist or some quantum mechanics textbooks or he might attend to a few lectures on theoretical physics.

The thirty focus capsules were very helpful and they helped him a lot.

Theoretical physics was only a third of the book list, and it was concentrated in condensed matter physics, with some relation to molecular chemistry and chemical materials.

This was obvious from the mission reward experience distribution.

After a whole month of effort, Lu Zhou finally completed the mission's reading section.

…

[Book reading (15/15), documents reading (50/50), one set of experiments (0/1)]

Standing in the pure white system space, Lu Zhou looked at the semi-transparent information panel and sighed.

"There's only one experiment left."

The experimental was about the real-time observation of lithium dendrite formation in lithium-ion battery electrodes. This experiment required the use of a digital microscope with timed photo function and the assembly of LiFePO4/graphite batteries in an argon-filled glove box. The BK-6808 battery test system was electrochemically tested and observed under a digital microscope.

He had no experience in material chemistry experimentation, so this undoubtedly was a hell of a challenge. Fortunately, he had someone to help him.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission rewards one last time before he exited the system space.

After exiting the system space. Lu Zhou took out his phone and called Liu Bo.

Lu Zhou said hello and expressed his desires.

After listening to Lu Zhou's request, Liu Bo asked, "You want to borrow the lab?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, is it ok?"

Liu Bo asked, "It's fine, it's just… Why do you suddenly want to do this experiment?"

"I read some literature regarding this topic recently and developed an interest. I want to understand it through experiments."

Lu Zhou made up a reason.

After all, he was only following the system's directions.

Liu Bo agreed quickly, "Okay then. We're doing research on electrode materials as well. If you're interested, you can come over to the lab tomorrow and I'll help you with the experiment."

Lu Zhou, "Thank you so much!"

Liu Bo smiled and said, "You're welcome!"

With Liu Bo helping him, this experiment was in the bag.

…

Normally, the labs had to be reserved in advance. You also had to do a report on the experimental content and equipment used.

After all, the lab equipment was not toys. It was worth millions of dollars.

However, for Liu Bo, lending him the equipment for the experiment was no big deal.

The carbon nanomaterials project team led by Professor Li was influential. It received funds from the country and from companies, so it was easy to book a lab.

"… We're doing electrode material experiments as well. If you're interested, how about you join our project team?" said Liu Bo while they were walking through the lab corridor.

He really wanted Lu Zhou's talents.

If it was before, Lu Zhou would have accepted in a heartbeat. However, he was no longer an undergraduate student. He had his own research to do now.

Also, materials science seemed kind of flaky…

Lu Zhou replied, "It's fine, I still have other things to do. I might have to go to Switzerland in May, so I don't have the time."

Liu Bo scratched his head and said, "I almost forgot that you're a master's student now. Not bad, Lu Zhou, your advancements are impressive. Are you interested in taking the master's yearly award?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I already received the undergraduate one, surely they can't give it to the same person twice?"

"They could, you never know," said Liu Bo with a smile. He opened the lab door and said, "Come in, it's here."

The laboratory door opened.

Brother Qian was also inside, and he was playing with a piece of equipment that looked like an oven. The sides had water dispensers installed, so it looked a bit strange.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, this thing was a BK-6808 rechargeable battery tester. Not only did it have its own data processing system, but it could also automatically plot voltage/time, current/time, internal resistance/time and superposition curve and Cycle diagrams.

It was not cheap.

In comparison, Xiao Ai was not too greedy.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart and walked forward.

Brother Qian wore a white lab coat as well, but he looked a lot more professional than Liu Bo. He turned around and looked at Lu Zhou.

He then pushed his glasses and asked, "The experimental equipment is ready. Should I do it or you do it?"

Chapter 153: Beautiful And Deadly Tree

Lu Zhou replied, "Let me do it."

The system did not specify who must do the experiment, only that he must collect the data. However, for the purpose of learning, Lu Zhou decided to do it himself.

After all, he had to have hands-on experience in order to become a legendary high tech master.

When Lu Zhou wore the white coat, he felt like a little scientist. He then took a deep breath before he reached for the sample box containing the experiment materials.

However, his hand was pushed away by Brother Qian.

"Let me do it, just watch."

Brother Qian took the initiative for the experiment while Lu Zhou watched from aside.

Lu Zhou looked at Liu Bo who merely shrugged.

"Don't take it to heart, he's just like this. The equipment here is like his wife. It's more important than his life… Just watch him do it."

Brother Qian then said, "Doing experiments isn't like mathematics, you can't make any mistakes. Of course, I was afraid that you'll break the equipment… Show me your experiment design."

Lu Zhou took out the A4 paper and said, "It's right here."

The experimental steps and data required by the system were written on there.

Brother Qian brother took the A4 paper and nodded as he said, "The design is quite professional."

Emm…

It's designed by the system.

Lu Zhou did not say anything.

…

The experiment flow was simple. They should start with the battery and observe the phenomenon.

95.7% of graphite was used as the negative electrode material, and the binder was sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). The current collector was a copper foil. The graphite layer had a thickness of 90 μm, the positive electrode active material used LiFePO 4, and the current collector was aluminum foil.

As for the separator, a three-layer separator of Celgard 2325 was used, and the thickness was about 25 μm.

To prevent oxidation of the material, everything was done in an argon-filled glove box.

Of course, it was not only to prevent oxidation of the material but also to prevent the LiPF6 component in the electrolyte from reacting with water in the air to form hydrofluoric acid.

Even high school students knew about hydrofluoric acid.

The stuff was dangerous. If it got on someone's hand, the hand would be destroyed beyond recognition.

Brother Qian did the experiment professionally.

Soon after, the sample was made.

In order to prevent the sample from being damaged, the side-to-side assembly method was used. Brother Qian completely covered the LiFePO4 material with a layer of the separator, and carefully left the free end of the positive and negative electrodes at a distance of 2 mm.

This step was crucial.

Brother Qian took out the sample and exhaled a long breath.

"Done."

As Lu Zhou looked at the sample in Qian brother's hand, he asked, "This is the battery?"

Brother Qian brother replied in a concise manner, "A simple and unsafe lithium-ion battery."

Lu Zhou asked nervously, "Will it explode?"

Brother Qian shook his head, "It won't explode, but it might ignite."

A fire would cause big trouble.

Not only would the sample be destroyed, but the digital microscope would also be burned.

Lu Zhou guessed that this was one of the reasons why Brother Qian did not let him touch the equipment.

The sample was connected to the BK-6808 rechargeable battery tester and then placed on a digital microscope. Brother Qian set several parameters to the computer and said, "The data collection frequency is 1 Hz, and the battery is discharged to the cut-off voltage. Wait for it to be charged for 400 minutes… "

Now, all they had to do was wait.

Lu Zhou looked at the instrument and asked, "Do we have to wait that long?"

400 minutes was almost seven hours.

Brother Qian pushed his glasses and said, "7 hours is the basic operation. Sometimes it takes days to see the results. Normally one person will stay in the lab. I'll usually take turns with Liu Bo."

Liu Bo replied, "That's right, last year I watched more than 40 TV shows while waiting in the lab. Do you want me to recommend you some?"

Lu Zhou, "There's… No need for that."

He did not have time to watch TV shows.

After doing the necessary steps, Brother Qian briefly taught Lu Zhou about what to do in an emergency.

For example, what do to when the sample was smoking or smelled weird, how to clean the damaged sample, and most importantly how to protect himself.

No matter how expensive the equipment was, it was not as valuable as one's own life.

Of course, the experiment was not that dangerous, so Brother Qian was confident to give Lu Zhou the key.

He still had some stuff to do with Liu Bo, so they could not stay here.

Lu Zhou sat next to the digital microscope and pulled out a quantum physics book. He would study quantum physics and occasionally looked at the digital microscope.

Later, he found out that he did not have to be so careful. The sample under the microscope did not change at all.

It seemed that Brother Qian's experimental skills were quite reliable.

Lu Zhou stayed in the lab all day, and he even called delivery for lunch.

Finally, the time was up. The discharge time was over. Lu Zhou waited for 10 minutes and kept the circuit open before he cut off the power.

He was almost finished with the experiment when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the lab. Liu Bo had just eaten dinner at the cafeteria before he returned to the lab.

As Liu Bo looked at the sample, he asked, "Done?"

He then skillfully operated the computer and said, "Then let's collect the data."

The printer started to hum.

Soon after, Lu Zhou received what he wanted.

A set of pictures showing the growth of lithium dendrites under microscopic conditions as well as graphs such as cyclic voltage curves that the system required him to collect.

Liu Bo started chatting to him.

"… Lithium is the most ideal anode material, but it's also the most difficult to charge. When charging, the lithium ion that returns to the negative pole will never change to a flat lithium metal layer. Like a flower, it'll form a beautiful and deadly tree."

Lu Zhou looked at the printer and asked, "Is it fatal?"

"Yes, once this kind of dendritic thing is formed, it'll continue to grow with constant charge. It'll eventually puncture the diaphragm and contact the positive electrode like a fork."

Liu Bo paused for a moment before he said in a joking manner, "Imagine if you connected the positive and negative poles of a battery, it would short circuit. Have you heard of the Moli company?"

"No… Why?"

Liu Bo shrugged and handed the printed A4 paper to Lu Zhou as he said, "Their products almost created history, but because of the use of lithium as the negative electrode, a major accident occurred. The NTT mobile phones were recalled. Finally, the company went bankrupt and was acquired. In contrast, Sony was very smart. They used graphite directly as a negative electrode, and the introduction of lithium-ion batteries quickly took over the market."

Lu Zhou could not help but ask, "Did they not do a safety test?"

Liu Bo sighed and said, "Yeah, everyone asked that. But things are not that simple. Maybe they didn't find any problems at all? Or maybe they thought they found a perfect solution? Who knows?"

Chapter 154: The First Wreckage

After eating dinner at the cafeteria, Lu Zhou returned to his dorm with a stack of A4 papers and a USB drive.

He climbed up into his bed and as he laid in it, he entered into the system space.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details is as follows: Complete reading book list (15/15), complete reading documents (50/50), complete set of the experiment (1/1).]

[Final mission evaluation: None (Reward missions have no evaluation)]

[Mission reward: 8000 physics experience points, 4000 biochemistry experience points. Debris.]

Lu Zhou looked at the line of text on the information screen and relaxed.

He had finally completed this mission.

He could finally know what the debris was.

However, there was no hurry in finding out.

Lu Zhou looked at the information screen and demanded, "System, open my characteristic panel."

The system opened his characteristic panel.

The information screen flashed.

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 3 (4000/100000)

B. Physics: Level 2 (3100/10000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (4000/10000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3000/10000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2900/10000)

General points: 1975

]

He leveled up his physics. The next level needed 50k experience points, which was much harder to obtain.

Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel. He then quickly turned his eyes to his inventory.

He was shocked.

A tubular object was in his inventory, and it was the size of an index finger.

Flashlight?

No, it looks like…

It was slightly larger than a AA battery, and he could see the positive and negative sign on both ends. However, the battery was slightly bent in the middle.

Lu Zhou reached out with his hand and took the thing out of the screen. He slowly examined it but did not find anything special.

"Is it just a AA battery? Why would the system give me this?"

Lu Zhou looked at it for a while. He was confused.

At least the coke was branded "Future".

However, this battery was brandless, and there were no clues.

Lu Zhou calmed down and started to think carefully.

It made no sense that the reward mission would give him useless garbage.

He thought about the mission while he looked at the battery. He guessed that it might be the legendary lithium-air battery?

Or at least a concept of it.

If that was the case, then this debris would be incredible. This battery would have high research value, but Lu Zhou did not know how to maximize the value of it.

Selling it for cash?

Sounds like a good plan.

If he could prove the value of this battery, someone would definitely buy it. The problem was that Lu Zhou could not explain the origin of the battery.

He could not explain the materials used or the damage of the battery. He could not explain anything.

If he could not sell it, he would just have to do research on it himself.

The technology inside the battery could be deduced by reverse engineering. He could pull out the positive and negative materials, and then collect the residual elements from the wall of the tube to reverse the composition of the electrolyte.

If the battery was really a lithium-air battery, and he could figure out how to protect the lithium negative electrode material in this battery, then the entire mobile phone industry would go nuts.

Lu Zhou said to himself, "If only I had a way to identify this negative electrode material…"

Reverse engineering was very difficult.

In order to reverse engineer the material, he had to use an atomic absorption spectrometer to identify the content of each element in the material and then used the scanning electron microscope to observe the structure of the sample surface. Then, he had to analyze the fine structure inside the sample through transmission electron microscopy.

Only then could he identify the material.

Also, the instruments needed would cost millions of yuan.

All in all, this was about money.

It could be a good choice to work with others. For example, Professor Li could help him with the experiment.

However, he still had to do most of the work himself. After all, it was still his experiment.

Lu Zhou looked at the debris and sighed.

I wish I have my own laboratory.

I'll have to leave this sample in the system space until then.

I still have to continue my life, even though I don't have money for a lab.

He placed the debris aside and looked at the mission panel.

He took a deep breath before he opened the mission list.

[

Mission 1: Knowledge is money

Description: The development of civilization is inseparable from the development of energy technology. Once the battery is mastered, it will grasp the key to the new era.

Requirements: Analyze the technology in "Residue 1", generate at least one technical patent, and obtain at least 10 million RMB profit through patent.

Reward: 10,000 materials science experience points, 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (85% garbage, 12% sample, 3% blueprints.)

]

[

Mission 2: Witness of History

Description: The establishment of the standard model has predicted the world a hundred years in the future. What we need to do now is to restore the theory in the experiment.

Requirements: Join the China LHCb group and participate in the research on the pentaquark project.

Reward: 1??? Physics experience points (determined by participation). 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (100% sample)

]

[

Mission 3: Creating History

Description: The development of condensed matter physics can make our tools harder, our engines stronger, and our buildings taller. Use theoretical physics to ignite the spark of condensed matter physics!

Requirements: Blow up the Large Hadron Collider.

Reward: 1??? Physics experience points (determined by the degree of damage). 500 General points. One lucky draw ticket. (100% blueprints)

]

Lu Zhou: "…"

This high tech system should be called a destruction system.

Sometimes, it would give out some crazy missions.

He ignored the third mission.

Lu Zhou was contemplating between Mission 1 and Mission 2.

At first glance, he wanted to choose Mission 1, but he did not have the ability nor the funds to do reverse engineering.

As for Mission 2…

Professor Lu Shenjian told him that he could come to the Switzerland meeting, but he did not say that Lu Zhou could join the China LHCb group.

What do I do?

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before he finally made up his mind and chose Mission 2.

The opportunity to witness history was just around the corner.

It would be a pity if he missed it.

Chapter 155: The Academician's exam

Time passed by quickly.

On April 20th, Professor Lu Shenjian returned to the University of Jin Ling from a meeting in Shanghai and called Lu Zhou to his office.

When Lu Zhou walked in, the old man smiled and asked, "How's the preparation going?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Almost… Please give mercy."

Professor Lu Shenjian, "Almost? Okay then, I'll test you a few questions."

He pulled out his drawer and took out an A4 paper. He then placed the paper on the desk.

"Write on this."

Lu Zhou took a pen and when he looked at the question, his eyebrows twitched.

There were three questions on the paper.

They all looked difficult…

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and asked, "What, you don't understand?"

Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the questions as he said, "No of course not, it just doesn't look easy."

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and did not respond. Instead, he crossed his legs and waited patiently.

Easy?

It wouldn't be interesting if it was easy.

After all, he was an academician.

This question was not intended for master's students, it was for PhD students.

If Lu Zhou could solve two questions, it would count as a pass. If he could solve all three, that would be excellent.

His four PhD students could solve all three questions.

While Professor Lu Shenjian was waiting for Lu Zhou to do the test, Lu Zhou quickly skimmed through the three questions. The first question looked the easiest.

It was about group theory.

However, it was not mathematics group theory, but the application of group theory in quantum mechanics.

Since the "group theory" branch of mathematics was created independently by mathematicians long before the emergence of "quantum mechanics", it was unlike "calculus" which was founded by physicists and mathematicians. Therefore, group theory was an "important product" for physicists. It was difficult to learn and not easy to use.

For a "mathematician" like Lu Zhou, however, it was not too difficult.

[A group theory explanation of the accidental degeneracy of hydrogen atomic energy levels]

The question was short, but it contained a lot of information.

The phenomenon of degeneracy in hydrogen atoms higher than ordinary atoms was called "accidental degeneracy." However, traditional quantum mechanics cannot explain the phenomenon of accidental degeneracy without the use of group theory.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and recalled his quantum mechanics knowledge.

Then, he built a mathematical model in his head…

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and after taking a deep breath, he picked up the pen and started to write on the paper.

[Let the hydrogen atom Hamiltonian be H=P2/2μ-Ze2/r…]

[In the case of Coulomb potential, there is a Runge vector in the system, recorded as M'=…]

[The eigenvalue of the group Casimir operator C=…]

[…]

When Professor Lu Shenjian saw the speed of Lu Zhou answering the question, he was surprised.

He thought that Lu Zhou would take at least 20 minutes to do the question.

Moreover, Lu Zhou answered it correctly.

He planned to insult Lu Zhou when he could not solve the question, but that was no longer needed.

[For the energy level E(n+1) and the quantum number (n, 1), the degeneracy is Σ2(l+1)=n2...]

When Professor Lu saw the answer, he nodded in his mind.

First question, correct!

Lu Zhou did not notice Professor Lu's expressions as he was focused on doing the second question.

The second question was about the problems of Dirac's cavity theory in quantum field theory. It tested his understanding of Dirac's equation and some theoretical knowledge about field theory.

Lu Zhou was not afraid of this kind of pure theoretical question. With the help of the focus capsules, he remembered all of his textbook readings.

For him, this question was free marks.

Lu Zhou quickly picked up the pen and answered the question.

When Professor Lu saw Lu Zhou answering the question, a slight smile appeared on his face.

He was right.

This kid was talented in theoretical physics, even more than his four PhD students.

If the University had not given Lu Zhou a personal talent development plan, he would have wanted Lu Zhou to study a PhD with him as well.

Of course, he still supported Lu Zhou's talent plan.

Lu Zhou solved the second question and quickly moved on to the third question.

When he saw the third question, he was stunned for a second.

The third question was about "string theory".

The so-called string theory tried to solve the two main physics theories of incompatibility. It was the contradiction between quantum mechanics and general relativity. The string theory wanted to describe the whole universe, and it was known as the legendary "Grand Unified Theory".

This theory had a lot to do with mathematics.

Venezzino, who worked at CERN, originally wanted to find a mathematical formula that described the strong forces in the nucleus. As a result, he found the Euler formula in an old maths book. This formula unexpectedly successfully described the strong force.

Even though it sounded fake, it was just a weird coincidence.

Like this, string theory was born.

The later wave of string theory such as superstring theory and the famous M theory of "unification of rivers and lakes" as proposed by Edward Witten were also developed.

The ultimate goal of physics was to establish a "Grand unification theory".

However, China's research on string theory was at an awkward stage.

Condensed matter physics itself stood on the opposite side of theoretical physics. The theoretical physics community was reluctant to accept this "mathematics freak".

Even the leader of China's theoretical physics and one of the most influential physicists in the world, Mr. Yang Lao, expressed his disapproval of string theory. On the contrary, the Chinese mathematics community accepted the proposal of string theory.

However, what confused Lu Zhou was that the third question asked him his opinion on string theory.

Opinion?

Opinion toward the theory? Or opinion toward the development of the theory?

Is this a subjective question?

Lu Zhou paused for a long time, he felt lost.European Organization for Nuclear Research

Chapter 156: LHCb Intern

When Professor Lu Shenjian saw that Lu Zhou stopped writing, he smiled and asked, "You answered the previous two questions, why can't you answer this one?"

Lu Zhou raised his head and said, "Professor, have you researched string theory before?"

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and answered, "I'm asking for your opinion, why does it matter if I have researched it before? Just write what you want."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then can I just say it out loud?"

The professor smiled and said, "Yeah, go ahead."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he decided to tackle this question from two perspectives.

"This is just my personal opinion. I agree with Mr. Yang's point of view for the development of string theory. Physics is an experiment-based science, and theories cannot be confirmed only by mathematical representations."

"The core idea of string theory is that the fundamental unit of nature is not point-like particles such as electrons, photons, neutrinos, or quarks, but a very small one-dimensional string. And all of the basic particles in nature are produced by the vibration of the string. But so far our understanding of matter is still at the microscopic particle level, and no one can really see the existence of the string. The only assumptions that support these assumptions are mathematical formulas that look beautiful."

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and asked, "So you think that the development of string theory is useless?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Of course not. String theory isn't useless."

The professor was interested, and he asked, "Why?"

"Many theories are based on conjectures, like the establishment of the standard model. As technology advances, these theories will one day be tested. We just have to wait for string theory to be tested."

Lu Zhou paused and smiled before he then continued, "Also, humans have to look at it from the long term perspective. Isn't the research on quantum chromodynamics and even the large Hadron colliders in Europe established to test standard models? We can't observe it right now, but one day someone will see the string for us."

A moment of silence passed.

Professor Lu tapped his fingers on the table. After a while, he nodded, "Not bad."

Not bad means passed?

Just in case, Lu Zhou asked him.

"Professor, did I pass these three questions?"

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and commented, "Of course, the first two questions are completely correct. It seems that I've taught you well over the past two months."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Wait, you taught me?

The professor did not notice Lu Zhou's expression, and he continued to speak, "As for the last question, it was a free marks question. Exploring academic issues is subjective, no matter how you answered it, I would've accepted the answer."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Then, Professor, will you take me to Switzerland?"

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and nodded his head, "Of course, I'll prepare the necessary documents for you. Try to get your visa as soon as possible."

"Thank you, professor!"

Professor Lu smiled and replied, "You're welcome. After all, this is what I promised you. Oh yeah, one more thing."

Lu Zhou asked, "What is it?"

Academician Lu, "The China LHCb research group still needs a few interns. Are you interested?"

Lu Zhou was shocked by his question.

He had not expected himself to be this lucky…

…

LHCb was the abbreviation for the bottom quark detector. It was an international research organization. Many international researchers participated to accomplish a single research project.

For now, the main research focus of the LHCb was to find the pentaquark particle Pc+.

Even with massive amounts of computational analyses, it was still uncertain as to what this particle was. However, what everyone knew was that the invariant mass spectrum analysis passed J/ψp, and the mass of this particle is around 4.5 GeV.

However, it was a pity that the Beslll International Cooperation Group, which was dominated by China, used the Beijing Electron-Positive Collider. The energy zone was between 1-4.5 GeV, which was outside of the limit of the Pc+.

In order to create a Pc+ particle, one would need at least 6GeV of energy.

Therefore, the Chinese researchers had to conduct research at China in order to find that mysterious particle.

The China Cooperation Group was mainly managed by professors from the University of Shuimu, but all Chinese universities could participate. Professor Lu Shenjian was also one of the leaders of the China Cooperation Group. Their main objective was to research particle physics.

Lu Zhou joined the China research group as an intern. Even though it was a small role, he was still contributing to history.

Lu Zhou was excited to witness history.

Of course, he was even more excited about the mission experience point awards.

This was definitely more exciting than the Princeton mathematics conference. He wondered how many experience points he would get.

Fifty thousand?

A hundred thousand?

Hopefully, he could level up his physics to level 3.

Suddenly, Shi Shang interrupted his thought process.

"Zhou, what are you smiling about?"

Lu Zhou, who was applying for a visa on his computer, coughed and said, "Haha, nothing, I just thought of something interesting."

Huang Guangming walked over and looked at the computer screen. He then asked in surprised, "Passport? You're leaving the country again?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yeah, around early May. I'm going to Switzerland with Professor Lu Shenjian."

Liu Rui was doing his homework when he said, "You're too good, too good."

He was used to Lu Zhou's shenanigans.

Still, sometimes, he still felt hopeless. He was so behind.

Huang Guangming was shocked, "F*ck, going to Europe this time? Is it a mathematics conference?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "Not mathematics, this time it's for physics. I'm just going with my boss. I'm only doing miscellaneous work."

Huang Guangming did not believe it.

Shi Shang suddenly said with an embarrassed tone, "Lu Zhou, can you please do me a favor?"

Lu Zhou generously responded, "What favor, say it."

Shi Shang smiled and asked, "Can you bring something back from Switzerland for me?"

Lu Zhou, "What thing?"

Shi Shang, "Valmont makeup… I think it's called Valmont."

Huang Guangming was surprised, "F*ck, you use makeup?"

"F*ck off! It's for my girlfriend… Uh, I'll pay you back."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Sure, I'll buy it for you if I see it."

Lu Zhou was happy to help his friend.

Speaking of which, should I buy some local products from Europe?

What's there in Switzerland? Swiss army knives? I wonder if I can bring it on the plane…

Lu Zhou could not come up with anything to buy.

I guess I'll just buy some milk powder, Xiao Tong is about to enter the senior year of high school, she needs good nutrition.

As a brother, this is all I can do for her.

Chapter 157: Arrived In Switzerland!

On Sunday, as per usual, Lu Zhou went to Mrs. Yang's house to tutor her daughter.

During dinner, he remembered that he would depart for Switzerland, so he casually mentioned it.

"I'm going to Europe for a few days. I don't know how long I'm staying there. I already gave you all of the necessary study materials, it's up to you to study yourself."

Even though he was not leaving next week, he still had to do a lot of preparations for his trip. He would not have the time to tutor her.

Han Mengqi asked curiously, "Europe? What are you doing in Europe?"

"I'm participating in the LHCb project."

Han Mengqi asked, "LHCb?"

Lu Zhou explained casually, "The Large Hadron Collider is on the border between Switzerland and France, near the European Nuclear Research Organization."

Han Mengqi's eyes widened, "European Nuclear Research Organization? Isn't that SERN?"

Lu Zhou replied, "SERN? It's CERN."

Han Mengqi was suddenly serious and she said, "Please be careful, this might be a conspiracy."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What is this girl on?

Lu Zhou changed the subject and asked, "Is there anything you want? I can buy it for you."

Han Mengqi shook her head, "No, it's fine."

Lu Zhou asked, "Are you not interested in makeup and skincare?"

Speaking of which, he rarely saw her playing with makeup, but she did have a lot of plush toys.

"My mom's company does makeup and fashion, and she goes to Europe every two months, do you not know?" said Han Mengqi nonchalantly.

Emm…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that his offer was stupid.

…

After Lu Zhou joined the LHCb organization as an intern, the organization did not ask him to carry out specific scientific research tasks. Lu Zhou felt like this was because of his lack of knowledge in quantum chromodynamics.

Therefore, he began to read quantum chromodynamic theses.

In the meantime, a big event happened in the world of mathematics.

The German god, Schultz, successfully solved the special case of the Weight-monodromy conjecture and published it in the latest issue of Annual Mathematics journal.

Also, he used his own "P.S theory" to solve this algebraic conjecture.

Not only did he prove a world-class mathematics conjecture, but he also proved the value of his "P.S theory".

In less than a year, he had fulfilled his conference announcement, "Solving Deligne's conjecture with my own theory."

There was no suspense for the Cole Prize in number theory as the twin prime conjecture undoubtedly dominated the field of number theory in 2015.

The Cole Prize in algebra was also decided by the release of this thesis.

Many people on foreign mathematics forums had begun to discuss the potential winner of the 2018 Fields Medal. It would probably be one of these two people.

However, Lu Zhou did not pay much attention to this matter.

He was unfamiliar with algebraic theory as he had only briefly studied it.

As for the thesis, he did not have time to read it.

Finally, it was May.

Professor Lu Shenjian took Lu Zhou and left for Geneva on Friday.

There was also another researcher from the University of Jin Ling. Professor Lu had brought a PhD student. However, this student already arrived in Switzerland last month.

There were no direct flights to Switzerland from Jin Ling, so the pair had to transfer at Shanghai to Zurich.

After more than ten hours of flying, the airplane finally landed on the runway.

Outside of the airport, Lu Zhou saw the PhD student standing next to a black Volkswagen.

The student said, "Hello, I've heard a lot about you. You're quite famous. My name is Yan Xinjue, you can just call me Yan."

Lu Zhou humbly replied, "Just call me Lu Zhou. I'm not that famous, nothing worth mentioning."

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "Don't be so humble. You might be the winner of the next Fields Medal. The University of Jin Ling is rooting for you."

"You're giving me so much pressure."

Lu Zhou did actually feel the pressure. His competitor, the German guy named Schultz published more than a dozen theses and already won numerous awards.

Meanwhile, Lu Zhou had yet to win a single mathematical award. Yet.

Yan Xinjue smiled and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder.

"It's good to have some pressure. It motivates you. I've already arranged a hotel. Let's go. Get in the car."

He took Professor Lu Shenjian's luggage and placed it in the trunk. He then returned to the driver's seat and started the engine.

Lu Zhou sat in the back row while Professor Lu Shenjian was riding shotgun.

Professor Lu Shenjian looked at the car and asked casually, "This car's not bad. Where did you get it?"

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "I borrowed it from Professor Grayer."

Professor Lu Shenjian, "Not bad, how's the project going?"

Yan Xinjue replied while driving, "The head of LHCb Europe asked for a Dalitz plot analysis of the resonance state of the baryon decay."

The professor shook his head, "This isn't good."

Lu Zhou asked, "What is not good?"

Yan Xinjue shrugged and said, "Because the discovery of the pentaquark is a foregone conclusion. We've been doing theoretical analysis since last year at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory and the Moscow Institute of Experimental Physics in Russia. I found the indirect evidence of the existence of this thing. I'm confident that I can find this thing."

Lu Zhou asked, "Then why are you still doing experiments?"

Yan Xinjue replied, "So I can publish more theses. The country pays for it anyway. Doing an experiment at the LHC is expensive. It cost a couple of millions just to rotate some particles."

Chapter 158: Assignment Of Tasks

The hotel was located in the outskirts of Zurich. The name of the hotel was in French and it translated to a tulip. The decoration was low-key, but it was a five-star hotel.

The tickets and travel expenses were reimbursed, so they booked a more luxurious hotel.

Lu Zhou realized that not only that Yan Xinjue was humble, but the guy was also impressive.

He was one of four PhD students that Professor Lu Shenjian took on, and he was famous in China's field of theoretical physics.

He was in the BESIII International Cooperation Organization. When he discovered the tetraquark particle, he worked on the "full spectrum analysis" of the experimental results.

However, mathematics was different than physics. For this kind of large-scale international research project, everyone's contribution was important.

However, the discovery of the tetraquark was named "Best Physics Research Discovery of the Year". This guy was nutty.

Like Professor Lu Shenjian, Yan Xinjue was also a full member of the LHCb cooperative organization, which was higher than the position of an intern.

After arriving at the hotel, Yan Xinjue parked the car and helped Professor Lu Shenjian carried his luggage to the hotel.

He started to talk about tomorrow's schedule.

"It's around 270km from here to Geneva, so we'll get some breakfast tomorrow morning and we'll arrive there by lunch."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why don't we just take a plane instead?"

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "Plane? Switzerland is tiny, driving is more convenient."

Lu Zhou guessed that the guy was obsessed with driving.

They did not speak again that night.

In the morning, the three went on the road. As per what Yan Xinjue said, they arrived there by lunchtime.

The found a restaurant in this "United Nations City" and got some food. They then drove to the headquarters of the European Organization for Nuclear Research on the Swiss-French border, the so-called CERN.

They parked the car in front of a modern hotel. While Lu Zhou was dragging his suitcase, he suddenly saw an old man walking over.

"Welcome, my friend from China," said the old man with a smile. He extended his right arm and shook hands with Professor Lu Shenjian. He then said to Lu Zhou, "You look new. A student?"

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head, "Hi, I'm Lu Zhou."

"Grayer," said Professor Grayer as he nodded with a smile. He continued, "I've heard of your name before, from my friends in Princeton. Regardless, you guys must be tired, I'll take you to your rooms."

Professor Lu Shenjian smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm getting old, it's not the same."

"Everyone gets old, that is inevitable… This way."

The three rooms were connected together. The entire sixth floor was filled with researchers from China. However, there were only researchers from the University of Shumi. The people from the University of Jiangcheng and the University of Huake were still on their way.

"Professor Grayer is also a big name in the field of theoretical physics. He has known Professor Lu for a long time. He helped us a lot for the BESIII project," Yan Xinjue explained to Lu Zhou. He then continued, "Do you want to have a tour around here?"

Lu Zhou replied, "That would be great."

It was important to become familiar with the new environment.

Lu Zhou followed Yan Xinjue and walked around the hotel.

There was a strong research vibe around here.

Very few research organizations could attract so many physics researchers.

Speaking of funding alone, CERN did not have the most amount of funding, but half of the world's theoretical physicists worked here.

One might bump into an honorary professor from a prestigious university just on the street.

Lu Zhou was envious of this place.

He took a photo in front of Building 1 of the European Nuclear Research Center.

This research center had been deactivated and had been converted into a museum-like venue for the public. Inside the research center, there was a commemorative plaque for the birth of the Internet.

Not only did this place contain the world's largest hadron collider, but it was also the birthplace of the first internet server.

The original intention of all this was just to analyze experimental data.

It was because of this that CERN was not only a sacred place for physicists but also a place for programmers and hardware engineers. They maintained the super-calculation of processing data and connected the theoretical physics laboratories from all over the world.

Even the research facilities of Google or Microsoft was of no match for this place.

After the visit, Lu Zhou ate some food at the cafeteria with Yan Xinjue before they went back to the hotel.

He took out some research documents from his luggage to read when someone suddenly knocked on his door.

When he opened the door, it was Yan Xinjue again. This time he stuffed a document into Lu Zhou's hands.

"There's an ad hoc meeting at 8 o'clock in the evening. The internal documents are here, so look through it."

Lu Zhou took the documents and asked, "Meeting? About what?"

Yan Xinjue, "Assignment of tasks. CERN's voting results were just released. The high votes passed the reanalysis of the resonance state of the previous baryon to the decay of the sputum. We're responsible to analyze data section B with Syracuse University. Their suggestion is to simultaneously write the analysis report and finally verify the correctness."

"What should I do?"

After all, Lu Zhou still had to do the system mission, so he wanted to participate.

He did not want to be useless and only receive one experience point in the end.

There was no limit as to how much experience points he could earn.

"Wait for the task assignment. What you have to do now, is to look through the documents I just gave you. Then quickly get into the zone. We need a mathematician to help us," said Yan Xinjue. He smiled and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder, "I believe in you."

Chapter 159: A Good News And A Bad News

The line "I believe in you" made Lu Zhou understood that his work would not be easy.

There were three researchers from the University of Jin Ling, two academic physicists, and one intern. This lineup was quite strong. However, this lineup was only responsible for the data from B1 partition.

Laboratories around the world were also contributing.

If there was no internet, there would be no way to do large scale research like this.

For example, if one wanted to make a constant mass spectrum, one would use the amplitude analysis method. In the analysis process, two Breit-Wigner amplitudes were involved, and the workload was substantial. A lot of time would be wasted on communication if there was no help from the internet.

However, Tim Berners-Lee, who might have come up with the Internet, did not expect that the communication tools he designed for the European Institute of Particle Physics were not only used by people for academic exchange, but also for social media…

The academic meeting with Professor Lu Shenjian was very efficient. In 10 minutes, the meeting was over, and the tasks were distributed to everyone.

Since Lu Zhou was responsible for the calculations, he had to deal with the data that Professor Lu Shenjian would give him.

Although Lu Zhou was well versed in functional analysis and group theory, he was still new to theoretical physics analysis.

Fortunately, Yan Xinjue helped to fill in his lack of theoretical knowledge.

Third day as an intern…

In the sixth-floor conference room at the hotel, Lu Zhou stood in front of the whiteboard.

The meeting room was next door and he could hear the fierce arguments from the research team of the University of Shuimu.

However, this had nothing to do with him.

He tried to ignore the physical problem and treated it as a mathematics problem.

However…

This was not easy.

[M2π=(Mμ+Md)/2Fπ1]

[From =ip^μ·FπΨ^(ab)e^(-ipx), the resonance energy of Λ* can be calculated as…]

The dense letters and numbers were mixed together.

He stared at the whiteboard for a long time.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou asked, "Is there two resonance states near the 1.02 BeV?"

Yan Xinjue was shocked. He looked at the draft paper and then at the whiteboard. He asked, "How did you calculate that?"

Lu Zhou stared at the blackboard and muttered to himself, "Line 27, adding the Fermi subfield to the Lagrangian, and introducing the Yukawa potential function…"

Yan Xinjue also entered into deep thinking mode.

After a while, he finally said, "Your thought process is unique… but it should be correct. Did you enter the IMO mathematics competition?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nope, but I did the standard college entrance exam for University of Jin Ling."

Yan Xinjue said, "Unbelievable, you should get a gold medal."

"It's too late now, I'll leave the opportunity to others."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath.

He was not inspired.

This type of theoretical physics was different than a number theory question. The former needed computation and abstract thinking while the latter needed inspiration.

Just now, he consumed 100 general points and computed this data.

However, the use of the general points had side effects. Lu Zhou felt as if his brain was overflowing with information.

However, this was all worth it.

After the system installed the knowledge into his brain, not only did he managed to get the answer, but he also received the thought process of the problem.

For a dumb student, the answer would be enough. However, for someone that studied quantum chromodynamics, the thought process was the important part.

Five minutes ago, he had no idea what to do with these numbers and equations. Now, he could use his mathematics knowledge and solve these problems…

Yan Xinjue saw that Lu Zhou was in deep thought, so he did not bother him.

It was now late May, and Lu Zhou finally managed to process the massive amount of data.

However, this was not enough. He still had to complete the final chart drawing.

This chart was called the Dalitz chart.

Each line in the chart represented the blood sweat and tears of physicists…

Lu Zhou stared at the computer screen. He would write on the draft paper then typed on the keyboard.

He suddenly said, "I now know why Princeton graduates would meet on Wall Street."

Yan Xinjue yawned before he asked, "Why?"

"Don't you think this stuff is like analyzing stocks?"

"… You're correct," murmured Yan Xinjue. He was speechless.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I think that once I understand this stuff, I can work at an investment bank on Wall Street."

"Nope, if you understood this stuff, you could receive the Nobel prize."

"Maybe."

Of course, Lu Zhou was only joking about working on Wall Street.

He still had other dreams.

Although theoretical physics could not give him a fat salary, it gave him something more.

Like system experience points.

Once he mastered the high tech system, he could conquer Wall Street easily.

Having this fantasy in mind, Lu Zhou suddenly felt like the work was getting less boring.

Finally, on the last day of May, Lu Zhou completed the final "Dalitz map".

At this moment, there was still one week left until the date of the LHCb report. He had plenty of time to complete the final step of the image analysis, and to double check the data calculations.

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and stretched. He then thought about what to eat for dinner. Suddenly, Yan Xinjue came back from getting takeout. His face was serious.

Lu Zhou wanted to ask what had happened, but Yan Xinjue sat across his desk and asked seriously.

"One good news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Good news?"

Student Yan, "Syracuse University already analyzed the data from B1."

Already?

Lu Zhou was surprised by the speed of his competitors. He then asked, "Then what about the bad news?"

Student Yan, "Bad news is that they are one step ahead of us."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Where's the good news?

Chapter 160: I Have Objections

After the meeting, the research team led by Professor Brunos from the University of Syracuse could not wait to announce the victory. They immediately announced the news.

According to the rules set by the LHCb, the acceptance report would need to be applied three days in advance to give LHCb sufficient time to arrange for the "acceptance person" to publish the lecture information.

Obviously, Professor Brunos' research team secretly submitted the application three days ago, and it had just been published.

It seemed that the outcome was already determined.

These Americans were already preparing to party at night.

Corridor, the second building of CERN…

Yan Xinjue took Lu Zhou to the conference venue.

On the way, Yan Xinjue started to talk to Lu Zhou.

"Mutual testing to ensure the correct analysis results sounds good, but there is only one reality. CERN can't accept two theses from the same subject, so CERN will accept whoever finishes first."

Lu Zhou asked, "So are we going to have a briefing? I'm nearly done."

He could still use the system general points to speed up the progress.

He would only need another 50 general points.

Motherf*cker, if only I used the general points earlier!

Yan Xinjue shook his head and said, "You would have to apply for the report three days in advance. We only applied yesterday, so it's too late."

"Sorry."

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "It's fine. This is not your fault. The University of Syracuse is very strong. They have more mathematicians than us. You're obviously familiar with the mathematics situation at University of Jin Ling…"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah, I understand."

He did not have much else to say.

University of Jin Ling's mathematics department was growing, but they were no match for a Top 10 American university.

There was not even one mathematics academician at the University of Jin Ling.

Yan Xinjue sighed and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder, "This is normal, we can't always win. Don't be discouraged. At least you accumulated experience. There are many more opportunities in the future. With your knowledge of mathematics, I know that you will succeed in this line of work."

Accumulated experience?

Lu Zhou suddenly felt unhappy.

His scientific research was stolen by others.

He wondered how the system would evaluate his mission.

There were a lot of people inside the venue, not just the "acceptance people" from LHCb, but also researchers who came here to listen.

Although CERN was a research institution, they also did numerous lectures. Whether it was physics or computer hardware and software, the lectures here were world class.

People who worked here often played three roles. They were researchers, professors, and students all at the same time.

When Lu Zhou entered the venue, he saw Professor Lu Shenjian talking to an old man.

That old man was full of laughter. His voice was so loud that Lu Zhou could hear him speaking from far away.

"University of Jin Ling's research ability is impressive. It has been enjoyable to work with you. I hope you can publish your report as soon as possible. Our results are still dependent on your report."

He spoke with a standard American accent. He basically meant that your research was only to further validate our research.

However, Professor Lu Shenjian still had a good attitude, so he smiled.

Yan Xinjue pointed at the professor and whispered to Lu Zhou, "That's Professor Brunos from the theoretical physics department of the University of Syracuse. He studies quantum chromodynamics."

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed to face Dean Lu. After all, he had high hopes for himself, and he had failed his expectations.

"Should we go over there?"

Yan Xinjue looked at his watch and said, "Yeah, it's about to start."

…

There were more and more people inside the venue and almost two-thirds of the seats were filled.

Lu Zhou sat next to Professor Lu Shenjian. He thought that the old man would say something about the loss, but the old man only told Lu Zhou to pay attention to the speech and to learn from others.

Lu Zhou could not help but groan. He did not know what to say.

Most of the audience already entered the venue. The atmosphere in the venue gradually calmed down.

The projector was turned on, and the PowerPoint presentation was projected onto a gray-white curtain.

Lu Zhou took a copy of the thesis from the staff. He did not want to let the old man down. He took out a pen from his pocket and patiently waited for the presentation to begin.

A thirty years old female PhD student stood on the podium. She was wearing a set of business attire.

The speaker's name was Kerella, and she was probably a student of professor Brunos.

It was not rare to see students present. After all, they needed to practice their presentation skills.

If Professor Lu Shenjian completed the report first, Lu Zhou would probably be the one to present.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the audience waiting for the report to begin. He suddenly thought, what if the reason they sent a beautiful lady to present was to cloud the judge's evaluation?

Then again, the judges were all old people, so they probably did not care about the young lady.

Wait a minute…

Are they all old?

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered about some physics gossip, and his expression was somewhat complex.

Standing in front of the curtain, Kerella had a calm expression on her face. She cleared her throat before saying, "Then, let's begin…"

The PowerPoint began.

This speaker's momentum was strong. Coupled with her bright appearance, she easily took control of the presentation. The simple and clear report style attracted the audience's attention.

However, Lu Zhou's attention was not on the PowerPoint, but the thesis in his hand.

He started reading from the last page of the thesis.

Although there were no problems with the conclusion, the data listed in the paper made his spider senses tingly.

I feel like…

Something is wrong?

Lu Zhou was suddenly alert, and his face became more and more serious…

…

On the stage…

After thirty minutes, the report came to an end.

Kerella pushed her glasses. She was expressionless when she asked her pre-prepared question.

"Do you have any other questions?"

No one in the audience planned on asking anything.

Most people including the two LHCb staff who were responsible for the acceptance of the report were staring at the thesis in their hands. They were all examining the thesis.

As Yan Xinjue said, the discovery of the pentaquark was already confirmed. The so-called final inspection work was just to produce more scientific research results and to give more funds to the member states.

The conclusion was 99.9% correct, could anything go wrong?

Almost certainly not.

The thought process for the presentation was completely correct at first glance, and nothing was wrong with it.

Kerella smirked. She was ready to walk down the stage when suddenly, someone in the audience raised their hand.

"I have a question."

"Can you explain in detail, page four line 36?"

Chapter 161: Physics Is A Rigorous Discipline

Kerella was stunned.

The question hit her by surprise.

She quickly turned the thesis to the fourth page.

When she could not find the question, her eyebrows twitched and her face flashed with anger.

"I thought I wrote it clearly. Is there a problem?"

She stared straight at Lu Zhou. When she spoke earlier, her tone was unpleasant.

Lu Zhou repeated his question, "Your usage of the Yukawa potential function is very strange, I hope you can explain this part."

"You're asking me why?" said Kerella. She crossed her arms and said, "I don't think there's any explanation for using the Yukawa potential function. If you can't even understand this, I suggest you go back to studying quantum chromodynamics textbooks."

The audience laughed.

Some were friendly laughter, some were not.

Of course, some people did not laugh as they were thinking carefully.

For example, Yan Xinjue and Professor Lu as well as the acceptance people sitting in the front row…

Professor Brunos felt something was wrong.

When he flipped to the fourth page of the thesis, he frowned and started to check it out seriously.

Lu Zhou smiled as well.

Academic exchanges were not for the sake of embarrassment.

Yeah, there was no reason to worry about anything else.

Lu Zhou opened his mouth and continued to ask, "As you said, the Yukawa potential function is a basic operation. However, the Λ* value you calculated on line 14 of the fifth page is 0.713. Based on this number, you deduced there are two resonance states between the 1.05-1.06 GeV energy zone…"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and recomposed himself before he continued to speak, "Although our team didn't analyze this, I just did some calculations and the Λ* is 0.621. I think you made a mistake on line 11, fifth page. You used a wrong coupling constant formula."

The venue suddenly became quiet.

Then, there was chatter.

Also…

Amazement.

They were surprised at his speed of calculation, and his sensitivity toward numbers.

Whether or not he was right, being able to complete this task on the spot was no easy feat!

"Lu Zhou?"

As Luo Wenxuan sat in the corner of the venue, his eyes widened.

What a coincidence?

He did not expect to bump into Lu Zhou.

Then again, when he was at Princeton, he remembered hearing that Lu Zhou wanted to develop in the direction of mathematical physics.

Unexpectedly, the two of them reunited at CERN.

Destiny was really something that was unclear.

"You know him?"

The old Jewish man with glasses asked him.

Luo Wenxuan replied, "He's a friend from school." He smiled and said casually, "Speaking of which, he was awarded the Best Young Speaker at the Princeton mathematics conference. You were in California, so you missed it."

The old man was interested. He nodded and said, "No wonder Deligne had such a high praise of him. This young man is interesting."

The audience was whispering.

On the stage, Kerella was blushing.

Just a second ago, she was telling Lu Zhou to go study textbooks, but now she was defeated.

However, she quickly came up with a response.

"This is just a small mistake," said Kerella. She picked up a pen and made a question mark next to the 0.621 number on the thesis before she cleared her throat and said, "Thanks for pointing this out, we'll change it. This shouldn't affect the conclusion of our thesis. Any other questions?"

Yes, this was only a small mistake.

Everyone made mistakes. It was within the rules to make small adjustments.

However, was it really just a small mistake?

Lu Zhou smiled and said mischievously, "You're welcome. Also remember to change the Dalitz graph, especially between 1.05-1.06 GeV, and try not to be careless this time."

Kerella started to sweat.

WTF?

Change the Dalitz graph?

Calculations was easy to adjust, that was no problem.

But the graph…

Her heart was broken when she thought of the complicated graph.

Kerella looked at her professor for help.

Professor Brunos had a complicated expression on his face as he clenched his fist.

I was careless…

Kerella clenched her teeth and placed her fists on the podium as she said, "This is not important. I can guarantee that there are no other problems!"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "No, this is very important. Maybe there is an unprecedented particle between 1.05-1.06 GeV? Who knows? Everything is possible. Physics is a rigorous subject. We all know that the pentaquark exists, but we need additional evidence. What's the use of incorrect results?"

Thus, a discussion began in the venue.

The LHCb acceptance person sitting in the front row nodded. His face was full of approval.

Yes, physics was a rigorous discipline.

Everyone knew that this experiment was to further prove the "standard model", but people still gathered here from all over the world to witness this great moment.

What was all this for?

To further prove the "99.99%" guess.

Kerella's face turned red as she bit her lip and stared straight at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou suspected that if she had a gun right now, she would shoot him.

It was not only Kerella, but a few other people from the University of Syracuse were also staring at him.

Therefore, Lu Zhou looked at the two acceptance judges instead.

A slightly older acceptance judge stood up and said, "His point of view is correct. We cannot accept a report with obvious errors. Thank you for your work, but unfortunately, I must point out that your report needs improvements."

"This is an exciting presentation, and we look forward to the next one. Thank you."

The presentation ended.

Applause was heard in the venue.

However, Kerella felt like the applause was not dedicated to her.

They did not pass their acceptance check, so the next one would be three days later.

Even though they took the lead, they dropped the ball and lost the "race"…

The applause came to an end and the audience began exiting the venue.

The researchers from the University of Syracuse were dissatisfied.

While the audience were leaving the venue, Professor Lu Shenjian stood up and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He laughed and said, "Nicely done."

He then leisurely walked away with his old friend Brunos.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lu's retreating back and smiled.

He could tell that the old man was in a good mood and he himself could not help but feel satisfied.

Chapter 162: Edward Witten

Yan Xinjue looked at Lu Zhou and said with excitement, "Unbelievable, how did you find out that they made a wrong calculation?"

He thought that they were going to lose, but at the last second, they pulled through.

"Maybe I'm sensitive to numbers? I don't know how to describe this feeling. I just felt like something was wrong with the thesis, so I looked over it and found the mistake," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and continued, "I'm guessing that they were rushing. If they doubled checked the graph, they wouldn't have made the mistake… Our acceptance presentation check is the day after tomorrow?"

Yan Xinjue said, "Yeah, it's the day after tomorrow. I suggest you relax and take a small break."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'll relax after the presentation. We can't lose to the University of Syracuse. I'll double check our results tomorrow."

Professor Brunos would definitely try to find a mistake, so Lu Zhou had to be certain that their thesis was perfect.

Lu Zhou did not want to lose on the finish line.

Just as he had packed up his stuff and was about to leave the venue, suddenly someone called his name.

"Lu Zhou!"

When he turned around, he was shocked.

"Luo Wenxuan?"

Luo Wenxuan hugged Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "What a coincidence, you're here too. What a small world."

"Yeah, small world… This is?"

Lu Zhou looked at the old man standing next to Luo Wenxuan. He thought that the old man looked familiar.

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Let me introduce to you, this is my supervisor…"

The old man interrupted Luo Wenxuan and said, "Edward Witten."

He extended his right arm and smiled.

Edward Witten!

Lu Zhou was shocked when he heard this name.

He knew that Luo Wenxuan was doing mathematical physics, but he did not know that Luo Wenxuan had this big name as a supervisor!

How nutty was this guy?

During the '80s, knot theory was the craze, and many invariants were invented. One of the more famous ones was the Jones Polynomial.

When the mathematicians were still busy figuring out this new concept, Witten jumped out and told everyone that there were 3-stream types and sometimes different multiplications could construct Jones polynomial invariants…

He made the problem simple, but that was not just it.

He also immediately gave a set of topological methods of shearing flow which shocked the entire world.

The same thing happened in string theory.

Since the 1960s, string theory had been popular in the field of theoretical physics. Everyone dreamed of completing Einstein's dream, so a lot of different versions of "superstring theory" emerged.

Then in the 1990s, Witten appeared again, offering the legendary M theory. He proved that many different versions of the superstring theory were actually different limits of his "M theory"…

In a sense, this person was like Lu Zhou.

When Lu Zhou defeated the twin prime conjecture, he shocked the academicians of the world.

However, even though Mr. Witten was a physicist, he received a Fields Medal.

After all, modern theoretical physicists were still struggling to test the standard model. Even the three-dimensional world had not been fully understood. A one-dimensional string was a mystery.

He would have to wait for hundreds of years for his theory to be proven. Only then, could he received the Nobel prize.

Lu Zhou shook Witten's hand and said, "Nice to meet you!"

Witten smiled and said, "Nice to meet you too. My friends have told me about your presentation at Princeton. Unfortunately, I missed it."

The two started to chat, and the conversation quickly got technical.

"You're interested in mathematical physics?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, I am. Theoretical physics is fascinating."

Witten took out a business card and said, "It seems that we have common interests. If you're interested in researching at Princeton, you can consider becoming my PhD student."

Lu Zhou took the business card from the old man and said politely, "I'll take your offer into consideration."

Although Lu Zhou still wanted to talk with Witten for a bit, Witten had something to do so he left early.

Luo Wenxuan became more relaxed. He patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Let's go drinking tonight?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I can't go tonight. I still have some data to process. Maybe some other day? I'll buy you drinks."

Alcohol would distract his attention and at the moment, Lu Zhou needed a clear mind.

Luo Wenxuan patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, "Okay then, I'll wait to drink with you!" He then left.

When Lu Zhou looked back into the venue, he saw that Professor Lu Shenjian and Yan Xinjue were gone.

Those two probably went back to the hotel. He then turned around and walked to the stairs.

Just as he was about to leave the building, suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed that the female presenter was standing at the exit. Her arms were crossed and she had a weird vibe.

Lu Zhou was not good at recognizing a foreigner's face.

However, this time, he instantly recognized her.

He pretended like he did not see her and quietly walked to the other side of the corridor.

He was scared.

He had already experienced the enthusiasm of foreigners at Princeton and he did not want to try again.

The reason was simple.

For a handsome guy like him, there could only be one reason for a woman waiting for him.

However, he could not escape so easily.

When he turned around, he heard footsteps.

Lu Zhou tried to walk faster, but she was already in front of him and she was blocking his way.

She's so fast!

He prepared himself mentally as he did not know what to expect.

They were quiet for a while.

Lu Zhou looked at Kerella and asked quietly, "Excuse me, is there anything I can help you?"

With her arms crossed, Kerella stared at Lu Zhou and asked, "Is it fun to embarrass a girl on stage?"

Lu Zhou was stunned for a second. He then stared at her and asked, "I'm only pointing out your mistake. What has it got to do with your gender?"

Is this it?

I thought she was going to do something else.

As Kerella looked at Lu Zhou's careless attitude, she did not know what to do.

She took a deep breath as she stared at Lu Zhou. She then said, "Your presentation is the day after tomorrow, right? I'm looking forward to it."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Good, I don't know what you're looking forward to though. But I think I'll live up to your expectations."

Chapter 163: Meticulous

Professor Lu Shenjian's team presentation was held as scheduled.

The acceptance judges of LHCb sat in the first row as they waited patiently for the presentation to begin.

Other research teams were also sitting in the venue.

Kerella had a laptop on her table. She held tightly to the thesis as she stared at the podium.

When she saw the person walking on the podium, she smirked.

Good.

She thought he would be too scared.

I guess, he has some guts.

The PowerPoint presentation began.

Lu Zhou did not notice Kerella. Instead, he simply grabbed the microphone and began to speak.

He spoke for thirty minutes.

The last 15 minutes was the questioning session.

Lu Zhou looked at the audience and asked, "The basic situation is like this. The data of B1 is normal and the Dalitz diagram is on the PowerPoint. Are there any questions?"

The venue was quiet.

Not a single person raised their hand.

Actually, some people wanted to ask questions, but they did not know what to ask.

Lu Zhou thought that the University of Syracuse's research team would give him trouble, but they did not do anything.

However, he knew why.

After all, this kind of data processing did not require any innovative methods, so everyone knew the conclusion. There were no problems with the B1 data, and the pentaquark existed…

Therefore, it was impossible to pick a mistake from the presentation.

They could only nitpick the data calculations.

Therefore, he deliberately spent the whole of yesterday to double check the work with Yan Xinjue. They did not find any problems.

Lu Zhou was certain that there were no mistakes.

…

After a five minute wait, no one raised their hand.

The acceptance judge from LHCb walked to the podium and made a brief summary of the presentation. He thanked the researchers and announced the acceptance.

This thesis would be included in the archives of the LHCb research.

After the presentation, the people in the venue began to exit.

Only one person sat still in their seat.

"This is impossible…"

Kerella stared at the thesis and she had a look of disbelief on her face.

The questioning session had long since ended.

The LHCb already announced the acceptance.

However, she could not believe that not a single mistake was found.

"Something must be wrong, we just didn't find it yet…" murmured Kerella as she stared at the data on the A4 paper. She used her computer to double check the answers.

However, she could not find any mistakes.

Not only did she not find any mistakes, she could not help but admire the logic used in her opponent's thesis.

This was a researcher's subconscious reaction to a beautifully written thesis.

This thesis was meticulous.

She continued to sit there until a researcher from her team walked over.

"Forget about it, Kerella. I know how you feel, but if you want to find a calculation mistake from him, it'll be impossible."

His name was Nelson, and like her, he was also a PhD student under Professor Brunos. His research direction was mathematical physics, and he did the calculations together with Kerella.

Even though Kerella knew that she could not change the past, she was still distraught about her last few months of hard work.

She looked at the thesis and asked, "Why?"

Nelson sighed and said, "Look at who that intern is."

Kerella asked nonchalantly, "An Asian, so what?"

Nelson shook his head, "No, I know he's an Asian. His name is Lu Zhou. Does that sound familiar?"

Kerella frowned and said, "Familiar?"

"Okay, it seems that you don't pay attention to the field of mathematics," said Nelson. He shrugged and continued, "At the beginning of the year, he proved the twin prime conjecture. Many people said that he could win the Cole Prize's number theory award this year. He might also win the 2018 Fields Medal… Your opponent is a potential Fields Medal winner. Do you think we've got a chance?"

If this was another research project, such as spectrum analysis, Nelson would not give this intern so much respect.

However, for this kind of data analysis…

They had no chance of winning.

After all, he knew Lu Zhou was the freaky genius from Princeton.

Nelson saw that Kerella did not speak, so he tried to comfort her.

"It actually doesn't matter if we win or lose. You'll realize that there are many geniuses in this world. Do you want to go drinking?"

"… I can't accept this."

"You're crazy."

Nelson shook his head and walked away.

…

Hellfire bar…

Heavy metal music blasted Lu Zhou's eardrums while the colorful lights pierced his eyes.

If Lu Zhou knew it was so loud in here, he would not have come. He wanted to relax, but this made him even more tired.

However, since he was already here, he could not just leave.

After all, he said he would buy Luo Wenxuan drinks.

As thanks.

"Two glasses of Gibson, thanks."

Luo Wenxuan skillfully ordered the bartender before he started to chat with Lu Zhou.

He had been here longer than Lu Zhou, so he was familiar with everything around here.

"… CERN is like a university. It has everything that a university would have."

Lu Zhou glanced at the bartender pouring the drinks and asked, "For example?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "For example, like various clubs, and two bands. Last time I missed their performance here, but I won't miss it this time."

"Why?"

"Because they'll do a show on the night of the experiment completion."

The bartender placed two glasses of Gibson on the table.

Lu Zhou looked at the colorless liquid before he picked up the glass with a puzzled look.

What's this?

He took a sip.

Then…

He chocked.

"Cough!"

When Lu Zhou placed the glass on the table, he was still coughing.

F*ck sake!

What's this sh*t?

Chapter 164: Cheers?

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou who was coughing and he laughed out loud.

As he patted Lu Zhou on the back, he asked with a smile, "How do you feel? It's good right?"

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth and said, "It's like I just drank hot sauce."

Luo Wenxuan laughed and said, "That's how life is sometimes. It gets spicy. Is it better now?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Better in which aspect?"

Luo Wenxuan replied, "Your mental state aspect."

Lu Zhou thought and said, "… It's okay."

He wanted to say that sitting here made him more tired.

Luo Wenxuan shook his head. With a smile, he said, "Your life is lacking in passion. It's just like when I first arrived in America. I can see myself in you."

"I think I'm going fine…"

Due to the loud music, Luo Wenxuan did not hear Lu Zhou and he continued to speak slowly, "You need some adjustments in your life. You should relax your brain so that you can concentrate more when you work. Excessive pressure will become problematic… Besides, we should pursue more than just mathematical physics."

Lu Zhou disagreed, and he asked, "Like what?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Like beautiful woman."

"What…?"

Lu Zhou was so stunned that he did not know what else to say.

"As your friend, it pains me to see you like this. Therefore, I've decided to teach you some life experience."

Lu Zhou asked, "So, does that mean that you have a girlfriend?"

Luo Wenxuan: "Nope."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Then, why should I take your advice?

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, "I've dated three girls when I was in America, but they were all short-term… But that's not important, the important thing is that I can give you some knowledge."

Lu Zhou asked suspiciously, "Knowledge?"

"Yes, knowledge. This is also why I brought you here today," said Luo Wenxuan with a smile. He cleared his throat and continued, "There are two important things when it comes to picking up a woman. One is to maintain eye contact, the other is to be confident. You have to show that you can maintain a good conversation."

Lu Zhou asked, "And?"

"You might not know it, so let me give you an example. So… She will do. Watch me," said Luo Wenxuan as he looked around. When he found a girl with big boobs, he took his glass and walked over.

"Hey beautiful, can I sit here?"

Luo Wenxuan had a charismatic smile but the girl ignored him.

He did not give up. Instead, he asked with a smile.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Nothing, thanks."

"…"

The conversation ended.

It was slightly awkward.

Lu Zhou looked at the band on stage and pretended like he did not see anything.

After a while, Luo Wenxuan came back with his glass.

"Fine, she's probably in a bad mood. Let's change our target," said Luo Wenxuan as he coughed awkwardly and looked around. He then found an easier target.

Lu Zhou sighed.

This is why you're single.

Lu Zhou was about to comfort his friend when suddenly, a napkin was slammed on the table.

A girl walked over and sat next to Lu Zhou.

"Two Gibson, one for him."

"Okay."

The bartender skillfully collected the money before he started to make the drinks.

Lu Zhou was stunned as he looked at the lady.

He recognized her face.

She was none other than Kerella.

Lu Zhou had not expected to see her here.

Kerella looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "You don't want to say anything?"

Say what?

What's there to say?

Lu Zhou spoke with an uncertain tone, "Thanks for giving us the win?"

Kerella nearly spit her drink out.

She felt like her opponent did not even respect her.

She had finally calmed herself down but Lu Zhou made her furious again with one sentence.

The two glasses of Gibson were placed on the bar.

The bartender made a gesture and walked aside.

Kerella took a deep breath and suppressed her anger. She then looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Yes, I gave you the win. Shouldn't you buy me some drinks in return?"

Lu Zhou looked at the two cups of cocktails and asked, "Sure, but this is a bit intense. Should we switch to something else?"

He was not scared of getting drunk, but this thing tasted horrible.

Kerella lifted her eyebrows and asked, "You're scared?"

Lu Zhou was speechless.

You really want to have a drink off?

Lu Zhou inherited his father's genes, so his alcohol stamina was high.

He never passed out when he went drinking with his friends from Dorm 201.

"Of course not," said Lu Zhou. He raised the glass, "Cheers?"

"Cheers!"

Kerella downed the glass and when she looked at Lu Zhou, she saw that Lu Zhou also downed it.

She looked at the bartender and placed some cash on the bar before she said, "Two more."

Lu Zhou looked at the crazy woman in disbelief.

What a joke.

He was not scared of drinking at all, and he was confident in his alcohol tolerance.

He would never lose to some foreign chick.

When Kerella saw that Lu Zhou was unfazed, her anger did not die down at all. Instead, she became even more furious.

She was not about to lose to this guy. She wanted him to get a taste of his own medicine…

They kept drinking.

Luo Wenxuan sat aside as he stared at these two in disbelief. He wanted to discourage them but could not do it.

When he saw the row of empty glasses on the counter, he gulped.

Using this stuff as shots.

These guys are crazy.

Chapter 165: Talk By Mr. Witten

The battle lasted for more than 20 minutes.

Lu Zhou admitted that his opponent was very strong.

However, he was stronger.

"Bartender, give me another… No, two more…"

Her face was red as she reached for the cash in her bag. She could not even speak clearly.

Lu Zhou was in a better state, but he was still struggling to stay awake.

"Two glasses of water."

"F*ck off, I can still drink."

Lu Zhou quietly said, "Just give us the water."

It was obvious who won, so there was no point for them to drink more.

"Okay."

The bartender poured two glasses of ice water and gave them to Lu Zhou.

"Two glasses of ice water."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou nonchalantly placed the glass of water in front of the crazy woman and said, "Cheers."

Kerella's eyes were wide opened as she reached out and grabbed the cup. She saw that her opponent had already finished drinking so she downed the water as well.

As a result, she nearly choked and almost started to tear up.

Kerella slammed the empty cup on the table and coughed. She then took a drunken look at Lu Zhou.

"This isn't alcohol. You're lying?"

"This is alcohol. Maybe you're too drunk?… Two more glasses of water, please."

Lu Zhou suddenly heard a "slam" sound. He saw Kerella collapsing on the table.

If her shoulder was not moving, he might have called an ambulance.

"More water?" asked the bartender calmly.

"It's fine…"

Lu Zhou felt his head spinning.

On the one hand, he was drunk. On the other hand, he did not know where this girl was staying.

He could not just leave her like this. If something happened, it would be his fault.

He thought for a long time and could not come up with a good plan. Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that Luo Wenxuan was nearby, so he went to him for advice.

"… What do you do in a situation like this?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and replied, "There are rooms upstairs…"

Lu Zhou placed two notes on the bar and took the room key from the bartender's hand. He then looked at Luo Wenxuan and pleaded, "Help me."

Luo Wenxuan did not move.

After a while, he suddenly sighed and said, "There's not much else I can teach you."

He patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and gave a hint of encouragement.

"You got this!"

Luo Wenxuan then turned around and disappeared in the crowd.

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

…

Lu Zhou sat next to her for a while, but it did not look like she was going to wake up.

It could be tomorrow until she woke up.

Lu Zhou looked at the crazy woman. In the end, he finally carried her upstairs and into the room.

By the time he arrived, he had to sit down in a chair. He was panting and sweating his ass off.

Motherf*cker, this girl is way harder to deal with than Liu Rui.

It was not just a weight problem. When Liu Rui was drunk, he could still kind of walk around. When this girl was drunk, she was dead weight.

Lu Zhou looked at Kerella who was passed out on the bed and he made up his mind.

He would never drink with people who could not handle their alcohol anymore.

After Lu Zhou rested for a while, he finally felt a little better.

The sweat woke him up.

He saw the dark night outside the window. It was getting late, so he got up and closed the curtains.

After that, he placed the key on the desk and walked out the door.

…

The next day, a ray of sunshine pierced through Lu Zhou's window. He rubbed his eyes as he climbed out of bed.

Yesterday, after he went back to his hotel, he fell asleep straight away. Thus, he was still wearing clothes from yesterday.

Lu Zhou went and took a shower. He still had a slight headache. As he stared in the mirror, he nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad.

I feel a lot better.

Maybe it was because of the metabolism drug that the system had previously give him, his hangover was not that bad. Lu Zhou went down to the cafeteria and ate some breakfast. He then followed the itinerary and walked to the nearby lecture.

Since the report was already accepted, Professor Lu's research team would not have any new tasks for the month.

Therefore, Lu Zhou felt very relaxed. He did not have much to do.

However, he still did not take a break.

World-class theoretical physics and mathematics professors were gathered here.

Lu Zhou took this opportunity to listen to the lectures by potential Fields Medal and Nobel Prize winners.

Once Lu Zhou planned his timetable, he could not wait to fill in his lecture spots.

The first lecture in his timetable was by Luo Wenxuan's boss, Edward Witten.

Judging from the topic of his lecture, it was probably going to be about Morse theory and differential summation in pure numbers.

Lu Zhou was impressed by the old man's public speaking skills. The old man skillfully articulated complex theories in clear and simple language.

The old man also promoted his own M theory and made some bold predictions about theoretical physics.

Even though the old man was still full of energy as he continued to talk, the energy of the audience slowly died down.

After the talk, Lu Zhou packed up his stuff and left the venue. He then walked to the cafeteria.

While he was getting his food, he bumped into Kerella.

Lu Zhou was about to say hi to her, but the female PhD rudely said, "F*ck you", before she walked away with her food.

Lu Zhou was confused. He did not know what this woman wanted.

F*ck you!

I shouldn't have taken care of her yesterday.

Chapter 166: Martial Law

In the following month, Lu Zhou's life was very organized. He would listen to lectures during the day and had free leisure time during the night. He would play billiards with Yan Xinjue, or play cards with a few foreigners.

This was one of the most rewarding months he had in a long time.

The things he learned could not be taught from a textbook.

The last time he had this type of feeling was back at the Princeton conference, and that was only a few days. This time, he had a whole month.

However, vacation time was always short-lived.

At the end of the month, his relaxed schedule became hectic again.

The head of the LHCb organization, Lynn Evans, held a meeting in CERN's largest conference room. He summarized the reports submitted by the research groups and finalized the experiment guidelines.

Almost half of the world's famous physicists were sitting in this conference room.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou, as an intern, was able to attend this meeting.

Sadly, he did not get a chance to speak. He merely sat next to Professor Lu Shenjian and listened to the meeting.

In the final part of the meeting, physicists from various laboratories made recommendations to the experiment, and even Evans responded on behalf of LHCb.

Of course, it was not just physicists who were present. Various media outlets were also concerned about this experiment. They then had a ten-minute interview after the meeting was over. This was a ritual for CERN meetings.

These interviews were always interesting…

For example, a British reporter stood up.

"… Hello, Mr. Evans. When we interviewed Otto Rosler, a retired professor of chemistry at the University of Munich, Mr. Rosler expressed concerns about the collider experiment. He said that the ongoing experiment at CERN could lead to the formation of a quasar inside the earth… such as a black hole. Can you give a reasonable explanation to this?"

Mr. Evans was used to answering difficult questions, so he replied skillfully.

"We've already informed Mr. Rosler on his mistakes. Of course, we also understand that people like him won't listen to us. Thousands of researchers have worked hard on this experiment, so we know what we're doing, unlike this guy. Next question."

Another reporter stood up.

"Can the theory generated by the Hadron Collider experiment be used as a theoretical basis for a time machine?"

Lynn Evans, "Our job is to test the correctness of the standard model and study the basic particles that make up the universe. We don't have plans to study time machines. I've said countless times that this topic was handed over to CERN. Next question."

"…"

Lu Zhou listened to those weak questions and was impressed by Mr. Evans' reply. If it was him, he would not have this much patience with the reporters.

Professor Lu Shenjian nodded and he said to Yan Xinjue and Lu Zhou.

"After today, we might get a little busy. Make sure you guys adjust your schedule."

Yan Xinjue nodded and said, "Ok, professor."

Lu Zhou asked excitedly, "Do we have a task to do?"

Professor Lu Shenjian nodded, "Of course, we're not here to screw around."

He did not elaborate on the specific tasks, but Lu Zhou was not in a hurry. Lu Zhou knew that he would eventually inform him.

…

After the meeting, the Hadron Collider experiment entered the final preparation stage.

It was not just CERN physicists who were nervously involved in the preparation of the experiment, even special forces from Switzerland and France entered the nearby town.

This type of martial law situation started three days ago.

Soldiers were temporarily stationed at the entrance to the town, and every vehicle was checked prior to entry.

As for the entry and exit points of the LHCb, they had been temporarily blocked. Unauthorized personnel was not allowed to enter.

The experiment was about to begin.

Yan Xinjue borrowed a car and took Lu Zhou to CERN's northern district.

It was worth mentioning that the researchers did not have to enter the Hadron Collider themselves. Professional staff members would take the elevators and check if the Collider was running normally. After that, researchers located in tens of kilometers away would operate the machine and collect the data in the CERN headquarters.

Yan Xinjue said that it would be a shame not to see the scene himself. Therefore, he agreed to take Lu Zhou there.

When they arrived at the northern district, they were stopped by two soldiers. Once the soldiers examined their identifications, they allowed them to pass through.

Sitting in the car, Lu Zhou looked back at the soldier checkpoint before he asked, "Are they here to protect the collider?"

Yan Xinjue replied while he continued to drive, "Actually, they're not protecting the collider. They're protecting the citizens of the two countries."

"What…?"

Yan Xinjue shrugged, "Every year, people say that the LHC might cause a black hole and destroy Europe. There are protests against the LHC every year. Therefore, France sent their soldiers here to control the situation…"

Lu Zhou could not help but ask, "There are people that actually believe that?"

"CERN always seeks out trouble, and they always answer press conferences in an unreliable manner. Therefore, the media spreads false information about them. Around 2007, CERN's spokesperson jokes that the LHC could create a black hole… I guess he wanted to show off how advanced the LHC was, but the media twisted his words."

"Then?"

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "Then the media blew up. Now, every year there are people protesting against the LHC. Even some environmental agencies have intervened. Some protesters even tried to sneak in through the tunnels. CERN had to hire firefighters to rescue them out."

Lu Zhou secretly snarled.

Sneaking into the LHC, how dare they. Do they not want to live?

There had only been one person hit by the particle beam of the collider. His life eventually became as miserable as the soldiers from Chernobyl.

The high-intensity radiation and oxygen deficiency from the helium was deadly.

In a sense, this was why Lu Zhou did not choose Mission 3 to create history.

Chapter 167: Unexpected Discoveries

"… Actually, this thing is not completed yet. Guess what was the response from the people in CERN?"

"What was their response?"

Yan Xinjue imitated Evans' tone and said, "Of course it's real. If you build a Hadron Collider as big as Saturn and a reactor as big as the moon, then we can make a black hole. So, we need the funding."

Lu Zhou laughed.

He knew that CERN unable to get funding.

Only an alien could create a collider as big as Saturn.

Soon, the car drove to the entrance of the northern district.

Yan Xinjue parked the car in the garage and took Lu Zhou to the main entrance of the research center.

…

A Hadron Collider could be split into two parts. One was the small pipes wrapped in bismuth metal, and the other was a variety of detectors buried in large pipes outside the small pipes.

The two near parallel orbits intersected at a certain point in a flat "X" shape while accelerating in different directions, and the two beam currents collided at this intersection.

There were about four "reaction points" like this, and around these reaction points, various detectors were connected to collect the physical phenomena that occurred when the particle beam collided.

Of course, not all the particles could collide, and the particles that did collide might not necessarily coincide with each other to destroy the strong interaction forces inside.

So the whole collider was based on the principle of stuffing more particles into a limited number of pipes while accumulating collisions with small probability in long data accumulation.

The Higgs particle that shocked the physics community was discovered in this manner.

The research center that Yan Xinjue took Lu Zhou to was responsible for observing and collecting the collision data. There were many laboratories inside the center, each responsible for collecting data at different detectors.

They walked into one of the labs and saw a white man with a lab coat on. He was drinking coffee in front of the computer.

Yan Xinjue walked over and introduced him to Lu Zhou.

"This is Professor Grayer. You have probably seen his name many times in CERN theses. During my internship here, he was already working here."

"Don't describe me as so old, I only started working here since 2008," said Professor Grayer with a smile. He reached out his hand and said to Lu Zhou, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu."

Lu Zhou shook his hand and said, "Hello, hello."

Originally Lu Zhou thought that Professor Grayer would be at Professor Lu Shenjian's age, but Professor Grayer only looked around forty years old.

Professor Grayer released his hand and said, "I'm sorry I can't take you on a tour as the experiment is about to begin. I have to stare at this computer. If you were here two weeks ago, I could still take you down for a tour, but not now since the entrances have been blocked."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't be sorry, we're standing at the front row of history."

"Haha, you must be new here," said Professor Grayer with a smile. He continued, "There are thousands of researchers working on this project. Their names are organized alphabetically on the thesis."

Thousands of people on a thesis, and organized alphabetically…

Emm…

That does sound de-motivating.

Lu Zhou suddenly noticed the images on the computer screen moving and he asked, "Has the experiment began?"

Professor Grayer smiled and said, "Not yet. Right now we're in the trial stage. We have to ensure that the channels are clear, and the detectors are running normally. So before we start looking for pentaquarks, we have to do a few trials. Right now on the ATLAS, you are seeing a photo pair."

When Lu Zhou looked at the images on the computer screen, he was confused.

He was sensitive to numbers, but he always felt like he was lacking in images.

However, after staring at the image for a while, he felt a sense of familiarity.

Lu Zhou could not help but ask curiously.

"Why do I feel like I've seen this image somewhere?"

"Because we did the data from B1 partition, and this partition was collected by Professor Grayer," replied Yan Xinjue.

"Oh, speaking of which, I heard you guys destroyed Brunos?" asked Professor Grayer as he laughed.

"Indeed we did," replied Yan Xinjue mischievously.

Professor Grayer smiled and said, "Hahaha… When I saw him last time, he didn't look too good. It must be because of this."

It seemed that Professor Brunos was not that popular with his peers as neither Professor Lu Shenjian or Professor Grayer liked him.

They chatted for a while before they quickly reverted back to the experiment.

Professor Grayer heard that Lu Zhou was interested in his lab, so he patted the computer and spoke in a clear manner.

"CERN is not only the world's largest Hadron Collider, but we also have the world's most advanced computer system. The LCG. To compute our experiment, this thing lets us control hundreds of thousands of computers around the world. The ATLAS computer is used to summarize the data and is mainly responsible for collecting data from detectors…"

"… From this computer, you can see the trajectory of the collision of the proton. Of course, this is only a model, but the real scenario isn't much different."

Professor Grayer added another line.

"If you're interested in particle physics, you can come to me. I need an assistant that is good at mathematics. Working at CERN will also give you…"

Yan Xinjue interrupted him, "Don't listen to him. He's worked here for decades and published hundreds of theses but he still hasn't received the first author. Who cares if your name is on a thesis with thousands of other names on it…"

Professor Grayer looked at Yan Xinjue with dissatisfaction.

However, Yan Xinjue merely shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Sorry to expose you, but I can't let you fool my friend."

Professor Grayer said stubbornly, "What do you mean by fooling? I'm just making a suggestion!"

It was obvious that these two had a close relationship.

It was probably because Yan Xinjue had worked here previously.

After that, the dialogue between the two became boring, so Lu Zhou stopped listening.

Lu Zhou's attention was on the data on the computer screen.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou saw an energy zone on the map and frowned.

When Yan Xinjue noticed Lu Zhou's expression, he asked, "What?"

Lu Zhou pointed to the computer screen.

"Don't you think that the data in this energy zone looks a bit… weird?"

Chapter 168: A Heavy Particle?

Yan Xinjue asked, "Weird?"

He walked over and stared at the computer screen. As he frowned, he said, "It does look weird. Our experiment is in the 1-10GeV segment, how did it go to 1TeV?"

Professor Grayer also looked at the screen.

There was a difference in magnitude of 1000 between GeV and TeV. This means that the particle beam in the collider tunnel had reached 1000GeV. Only 6GeV was needed to find the pentaquark.

1000GeV was an overkill.

When Professor Grayer heard Yan Xinjue's question, he smiled and explained in a casual tone.

"I already said that this is to test the status of the collider, so this isn't the actual experiment. If we aren't limited by our budget, we can show off a 10TeV energy zone."

Professor Grayer was just showing off.

He was almost bragging.

It did make sense. All of the world's top theoretical physicists were gathered here. CERN wanted to show off their equipment.

How else would they let the world know how nutty their machine was?

The LHC could even reach 14TeV of collision energy, which meant that each particle would carry 7TeV of energy.

How scary was that?

The energy unit was used to describe the mass of a particle. For example, the mass of a hydrogen atom was about 1GeV, the Higgs particle found in 2012 was about 125 GeV.

The Shangzheng electron-positron collider is about 5GeV, magnitudes lower than the LHC.

It would take decades for China to catch up.

"… I don't mean that the experiment range is strange," said Lu Zhou. He poked at the computer screen and asked, "Did you not notice? There's an unusual impact near the 750GeV range."

"This isn't a sign of a collision. It's just a single two-photon signal. But it is strange how it appeared in the 750GeV zone," murmured Professor Grayer. He rubbed his chin and continued, "But this isn't uncommon. We always observe some special signals on ATLAS, so the data could just be a random error."

Lu Zhou was still staring at the screen, he could not help but ask, "So this is common?"

Yan Xinjue nodded, "Yeah, it is. The signals generated by the collision are only 1% of the data. Therefore we usually guess the conclusion and verify it with experiments. You'll get used to it."

Particle physics was a very metaphysical thing.

Normally, atoms could not be "directly observed". So in order to determine the existence of a particle, confidence was needed.

This was a statistical concept.

In particle physics, three standard deviations away from the mean was a "sign", whereas five standard deviations was a "discovery". Although the media often wrote "breakthrough progress" or "significant discovery", most of them were only "signs".

Therefore, they would need three-sigma to be a sign.

A temporary characteristic peak did not mean anything.

Particles could only be confirmed by repeating experiments and observing the particle on different detectors. When the confidence of the particle was above five standard deviations, it could be counted as a "discovery".

Lu Zhou did not say anything else.

Soon after, the experiment continued.

A series of green dots appeared densely on the image with most of them concentrated around the 125GeV range.

However, Lu Zhou's attention was still concentrated on the 750GeV zone.

Suddenly, another point jump appeared on the 750GeV zone.

Lu Zhou's heart dropped. He then looked at Professor Grayer and asked, "What about the data on the CMS detector?"

There were many detectors in one orbit with ATLAS and CMS being the most sensitive.

There was a simple way to test if Lu Zhou's observation was just simply an illusion. He would be correct if the observation was observed by both detectors at the same time.

When Professor Grayer heard Lu Zhou's question, he had a weird expression.

"The data collected by the CMS is responsible for the lab upstairs. If you're curious, wait a bit and I can take you there."

Lu Zhou asked immediately, "Then will the test run impact data be recorded?"

Professor Grayer nodded and said, "Normally it would be archived. There isn't much research value but I can give you a copy. It's not classified information anyway. But let me remind you that since this isn't public data, you can't use this in a thesis."

Yan Xinjue asked curiously, "What did you find out?"

Lu Zhou thought and insisted on his own point of view. He said, "I think there's something wrong with the 750GeV energy zone. From a statistical point of view, this could be described as random, but it feels far-fetched."

Yan Xinjue asked jokingly, "Like from a mathematician's perspective?"

Lu Zhou, "You could say so."

Yan Xinjue sighed and said, "I know your research direction is mathematical physics but I have to remind you that even though mathematics is an important physics tool, not all physical phenomenon follows mathematical laws. 750GeV is way too large, the Higgs boson is only 125GeV. I think it's just two-photon, the signal might not even be a collision."

Yan Xinjue patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and continued, "Don't get caught up in the energy zone beyond 10GeV. We're looking for the pentaquark particle. If you're really OCD, rest assured, you won't see any activity in the 750GeV energy zone again."

Chapter 169: Good Luck!

Yan Xinjue was right. After the experiment started, the emitted particle beam was stable below 5GeV. The signals captured by the ATLAS were concentrated only between 1GeV - 10GeV.

Occasionally, a dot appeared outside of the 10GeV range, but they would not deviate far.

Naturally, no data from 750 GeV was produced.

However, Lu Zhou was still unconvinced.

The experiment lasted for a whole day.

Around 12 o'clock in the morning, there was a cheer in the CERN headquarters.

From the data received from various detectors, the pentaquark confidence level exceeded five-sigma. This meant that the "discovery" had been made!

Even though everyone was expecting this, people were still excited.

Generally speaking, the quark divided in the collider was either a "quark-antiquark" pair similar to K meson and π meson or a "three quark state" composed of protons and neutrons. As for the single quark state, since the quark was bound by the strong force of the color charge, the single quark state particle was not allowed to exist.

However, quantum chromodynamics did not prohibit the existence of singular states such as "tetraquark" and "pentaquark".

Over the years, major particle physics laboratories had been searching for those "singular states".

If these guys were not found, it might prove a loophole in the standard model. Thus, quantum chromodynamics might not be correct.

However, once these singular states were discovered, the entire theoretical physics community would be in great relief!

After the second day of the experiment, CERN invited reporters and held a high-profile press conference.

In front of the media reporters, CERN's spokesperson announced the news in an excited tone.

"… We have succeeded in discovering the pentaquark particle. This is another great victory for the standard model!"

Unsurprisingly, the discovery of the pentaquark would be the most significant pentaquark research result of the year.

The CERN conference ended in the midst of the applause. This was followed by numerous articles on the research discovery.

However, for the physicist, the real work had only just begun.

In order to better reveal the physical properties of the pentaquark particles, the LHCb International Cooperation Group assigned tasks to researchers in various countries to perform a full-spectrum analysis on the newly discovered particles.

Professor Lu Shenjian was also involved in this work.

However, this task was not as time intensive as the B1 data calculations.

Later, Lu Zhou heard from Yan Xinjue that this task was different than the others. Every "full spectrum analysis" paper would be signed by all of the researchers.

Too many co-authors would weaken the content of the thesis.

Lu Zhou sat in the hotel's conference room and chatted with Yan Xinjue while he wrote on an A4 paper.

"Thousands of signatures… My name won't even be seen. This is so de-motivating."

"That's how it is working for CERN. That's why I don't recommend you to work here. Not even one can win a Nobel Prize…" said Yan Xinjue. He yawned and placed the pen down before asking, "Do do you want to play billiards tonight?"

Lu Zhou thought before shaking his head, "No thanks, I'm good. I still have to go to Professor Grayer's office."

Last time after the experiment, Professor Grayer promised that he would take the time to help Lu Zhou sort out the experiment data.

Just now, Lu Zhou received an email from Professor Grayer, saying that the data had been sorted out and to go to his office with a USB.

It would not take that long to copy the data, but Lu Zhou wanted to analyze the data on the same night.

After all, he had to help with Professor Lu's project during the day. He was only free during weekends and evenings.

Yan Xinjue knew what Lu Zhou was going to do and he said, "Don't tell me it's about that thing."

Lu Zhou, "You guessed it."

Yan Xinjue had a defeated look as he sighed and said, "Fine, I admire your commitment but you do know that you're doing useless work, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "How do you know it is useless without doing the work?"

Lu Zhou was like this. He was stubborn in both mathematics and physics.

At the moment, he was very interested in the 750 GeV characteristic peak.

Although Yan Xinjue and Professor Grayer both conveyed that the peak was probably nothing more than a two-photon signal and it would be ridiculous for a particle to carry that amount of energy, Lu Zhou disagreed.

750 GeV did seem a little heavy, but it was still possible.

Lu Zhou believed that investigating the frontiers of any discipline required imagination.

Even though the two quantum chromodynamics experts tried to persuade him, that was of no use for Lu Zhou.

How did quantum chromodynamics develop?

Was it not developed by subverting from "common sense"?

It did not matter if Lu Zhou was wrong since failing was part of success.

After dinner, Lu Zhou walked to the R2 building. Professor Grayer was waiting for him in his office.

"The data that you wanted is in this USB, including the data from the CMS detectors. Honestly, this data is pretty useless. We only did the tests for an hour, so this thing has no useful experimental results."

Lu Zhou, "Thanks… I just want to satisfy my curiosity. I'll still try."

"Curious?" said Professor Grayer. He smiled and gave him a look of encouragement as he said, "Then I wish you good luck."Research 2

Chapter 170: Perfecting Theory

Since the data had arrived, the problem was how to organize it now.

There was a lack of theory support for quantum chromodynamics.

From a statistical point of view, the number of samples was too small.

Lu Zhou analyzed the 10GB data for five nights and finally came to a conclusion.

If he wanted to confirm whether or not this was an abnormal characteristic peak, he would still need to run the LHC for a few more laps. With the current amount of data, Lu Zhou could not even make a three-sigma conclusion.

After five nights, Lu Zhou took the data and research results to Professor Lu Shenjian.

After all, he could not convince CERN by himself. He was only an intern.

When Lu Zhou explained his viewpoint to Professor Lu, he thought that Professor Lu would maybe be interested. He did not expect a negative reply.

"The Hadron Collider won't run for your whimsy theory. In order to look for 750GeV particles, the collision energy must be at least 1.2TeV or maybe even 2TeV. The LHC's schedule is tight, and CERN has endless amounts of experiments to do. Everyone wants to verify that their theory is correct, but the funding is limited."

Lu Zhou did not give up and he continued to try to convince Professor Lu, "But Professor, we haven't found any new particles since the "post-standard model" era, don't you think this could be an opportunity?"

Lu Zhou was correct. Whether it was the tetraquark or the pentaquark, the confidence was less than five-sigma. They were classified as "signs" and not "discoveries".

If the signal at 750 GeV confirmed a new particle, Lu Zhou would not know what it would mean to the world of physics. This was because he did not even know what the particle could be.

For him, personally, he was sure that if the discovery was determined to be true, he would receive a Nobel Prize.

"To be honest, I don't think so," said Professor Lu Shenjian as he shook his head. He then said, "750 GeV is way too heavy. From a quantum chromodynamics point of view, this is almost impossible."

Lu Zhou argued, "But we observed this signal both on ATLAS and CMS? Do you think this is just a coincidence?"

"Yes, you're right, it might not be a coincidence," said Professor Lu as he nodded. He pointed to the data on the paper, "But haven't you ever thought that it could just be a two-photon gluon polymerization?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "You're right, that is possible. But I need to do experiments to confirm this!"

Professor Lu looked at his energetic student and smiled. He paused for a moment then sighed, "I understand the experiment in your heart as similar things have happened before. I want to help you undergo this experiment, but I cannot convince CERN to do this. I don't have that power."

Lu Zhou fell silent.

The LHC was not theirs, so they could not just use it as they please. Unless they had solid evidence to convince the heads of CERN, they would not be able to use it.

However, this was a catch-22.

If he could not do the experiment, he could not collect evidence, and he could not do the experiment without evidence…

Lu Zhou did not know what to do.

If they discovered this particle in the future, he would have no involvement in it.

After all, he did not work at CERN. He still had to go graduate, and he had to go to Princeton.

Lu Zhou went back to his room and laid in his bed as he stared at the thesis with a blank expression.

Suddenly, he coughed softly and asked in a quiet voice.

"System, is there a particle at the 750 GeV range?"

The system did not answer.

Maybe because my physics level is too low?

Or maybe because this question is too difficult?

F*ck sake, the general points feel so useless.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and sat up from his bed.

It was too early to give up.

There were still opportunities.

CERN would not start the LHC just for an intern.

However, if he could find someone that had more influence, that person could persuade CERN for him!

Many of the world's top theoretical physicists were gathered here, so there were lots of influential people.

These people would stay here until the end of the month, and CERN would then conclude the pentaquark research results.

Lu Zhou only had to do one thing, and that was to improve his hypothesis by the end of the month.

…

Perfecting the hypothesis to his theory was not easy.

He had to prove that the sample was sufficiently large enough through mathematical means and that the bulge in the 750 GeV region formed a characteristic peak.

This sounded like a statistical problem, but he did not have enough samples. It was impossible to use statistical tools to solve this problem.

He needed more evidence.

Only then, he could form new conclusions from the evidence.

"… This is 2012-2013 experimental data from ATHC and CMS detectors. This data was from the Higgs particle experiment, but the Higgs particle is only 125 GeV."

Professor Grayer sat in his office as he threw the USB into Lu Zhou's hands.

Lu Zhou caught the USB and said sincerely, "It's fine, thank you very much!"

Professor Grayer was one of the few people Lu Zhou could receive help from.

Even though they had only just met, Professor Grayer and Lu Zhou's personality clicked well. Even though the professor was pessimistic about Lu Zhou's research, he still gave him the valuable data.

Although this data was not confidential, it was also closed to the public. If he did not have any connections to CERN, it would be impossible to get this data.

Professor Grayer smiled and said, "You're welcome, it's no big deal. Speaking of which, how's your research progress going?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I've progressed a bit."

Professor Grayer reminded, "If you want to use the Hadron Collider, my suggestion is to find someone who is influential in the theoretical physics community to help you. After all, no matter how much you analyze the data, you still need to use the LHC."

Lu Zhou replied, "That's what I'm planning to do, but I want to make my hypothesis theory more reliable first."

Professor Grayer asked, "Do you have a suitable goal?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "Not yet…"

He wanted to wait until after a presentation before he handed in his thesis to the presenter.

This was his only method.

Professor Grayer thought for a moment before saying, "Do you want me to recommend someone to you?"

Lu Zhou asked immediately, "Yes, please! Who do you recommend?"

When Professor Grayer saw Lu Zhou's eagerness, he smiled and said, "Frank Wilczek, winner of 2004 Nobel Prize for physics. He's probably the easiest to convince, so you might have a chance."

Chapter 171: Frank Wilczek

The discovery of the pentaquark was a piece of exciting news for the entire theoretical physics community.

However, Frank Wilczek was not too happy.

Of course, it was not because of the experiment, it was because of a six-year-old bet.

Six years ago, at the physics conference in the Azores, he made a bet with a gentleman named Garrett Lisi.

Mr. Lisi stood up and disrupted Frank's talk about the standard model while insisting that supersymmetric particles simply did not exist, because one could not find supersymmetric particles at all. Mr. Frank naturally insisted on maintaining the theory. He predicted that the Hadron Collider (LHC) would detect supersymmetric particles within 6 years!

They made the bet in front of everyone.

The arbitrator was the host of the conference, Mr. Max Sigma Mark, a professor at MIT.

The bet was $1000 USD.

Now, six years had passed. Even though the pentaquark particle was found, there were no signs that super-symmetric particles were found.

Although the standard model was proven correct again, he was still going to lose the bet.

This was because he overestimated the capabilities of CERN, and was too optimistic about the LHC upgrade.

In fact, betting against someone was a common occurrence in the physics world.

This was not the first time Frank Wilczek had a bet.

In 2005, he bet with the "beautiful scientist", Jane Conrad. He was convinced that the LHC would detect Higgs particles whereas Jane disagreed.

The bet was chocolate coins served at the Nobel Prize awards ceremony. In the end, Frank won 10 chocolate coins.

However, he was not so lucky this time. He, unfortunately, lost the bet.

For these scholars, making a bet was a measure of work.

The problem was that Garrett Lisi was a real piece of work.

First of all, Mr. Lisi was not a physicist at all. He had a PhD in philosophy at the University of California.

Also, his PhD's biggest achievement was to use the Lie Group E8 structure to construct a unified theory. This theory was incomplete and was not accepted by the physics community.

Einstein's unfinished work had always been the treasure of theoretical physics. However this treasure was not just for physicists, but it was also for common folks.

Garrett Lisi was at least literate. He was at least smarter than those flat-Earth believers.

Due to this, he was named "King of Civil Science".

Although his mathematical theory of philosophy was laughed at by physicists and mathematicians, normal people believed in his schtick.

Because of this, Wilczek was embarrassed to lose this bet.

He was a Nobel Prize winner in physics, and he lost to the "King of Civil Science".

Although he admitted that he lost, and he even tweeted that he would fulfill the $1000 USD agreement, it was clear that he was not as calm as his tweets.

This was not about the $1000 USD, but that Lisi was quite disrespectful and he would brag online all day.

Recently, many people ridiculed Frank about this incident. Frank would constantly blame himself for being dumb.

It was too shameful!

Frank sat in the office that CERN assigned him. He was drinking coffee and reading an article about the pentaquark particle.

Suddenly, his assistant knocked on the door and came in.

"Mr. Frank, someone asked me to bring you this thing."

Frank asked, "What thing?"

"It looks like a thesis," answered the assistant.

Even though he was not in a good mood, he was still curious.

"Give it to me."

"Okay."

Frank took the thesis and flipped through the pages while he casually said, "There isn't a name on here. Who brought this?"

The assistant replied, "The guy said that he's an intern."

"Intern?" Frank frowned, but he did not throw the thesis away. Instead, he continued to read the thesis.

Anyone that could get an internship at CERN was talented. If this thesis turned out to be interesting, Frank would be happy to help this intern.

This was why Frank was popular with people.

Frank was about to stop reading when he suddenly had a blank expression before it was replaced by interest.

He read a word on the thesis and the expression on his face turned serious all of a sudden.

He then placed the thesis down and looked at his assistant.

"How do I contact this person?"

The assistant immediately replied, "He didn't leave a phone number, but he left an address. It's the hotel near the CERN building. If you want, I can find him for you."

"Find him for me. This thesis is interesting," said Frank as he placed the thesis on the left corner of the table.

Normally speaking, any thesis on the left corner of the table had some value to him.

As for the pile on the right corner, their destiny was the paper shredder.

…

After handing the thesis to Frank's assistant, Lu Zhou thought that it would take a few days to get a reply. He was pleasantly surprised to hear a reply so quickly.

On the morning of the next day, Frank Wilczek's assistant went to the hotel to find him. He then brought him to the R1 building.

Frank immediately asked, "What do you think it could be?"

Lu Zhou said without hesitation, "Supersymmetric particles!"

Even though Lu Zhou knew that it was unlikely, he had to say this.

This was the same as venture capital meetings, it was a gimmick.

However, Frank was unconvinced. He smiled and shook his head.

"That's not realistic."

"But it's possible. Maybe it could be something else. Whatever it is, it's worth pursuing. Don't you think so?" asked Lu Zhou. He then continued, "Do you want to bet? I'll bet a hundred dollars that there must be something there."

The old man's eyebrows twitched and said, "There's no need for a bet."

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He heard that the old man loved to bet with others, so why did Frank refused to take the bet?"

Frank paused for a second before he continued, "I'm only slightly interested in your discovery. However, CERN won't start the LHC for an incomplete theory. Also, you haven't convinced me."

"But I can give you a chance. If you can improve your theory by the end of the month, then at the European Nuclear Research Conference, I'll recommend you to do a report at the conference. If you can convince me, I'm sure you can convince everyone else."

Frank looked straight into Lu Zhou's eyes.

Lu Zhou knew what this old man was waiting for.

He then took a deep breath before he responded.

He only said one word.

"Ok!"Research 1

Chapter 172: European Conference on Nuclear Research

At the end of the month, the European Nuclear Research Conference was held as scheduled in the largest conference room on the R1 floor.

Professor Lu arrived early and looked at his watch before he turned to Yan Xinjue, "Where's Lu Zhou?"

Yan Xinjue was also confused and he shook his head as said, "I didn't see him."

He went to knock on Lu Zhou's door in the morning, but no one was in his room. Yan Xinjue did not know where Lu Zhou went.

The conference was about to begin.

Professor Gao from the University of Shuimu sat next to Profesor Lu. When he saw the empty seat, he asked, "Old Lu, why isn't your student here?"

Professor Lu shook his head and said, "I don't know what that kid is doing all day, who cares about him…"

Soon after, the conference room quieted down. The head of CERN, Lynn Evans, stepped onto the podium and began with the opening remarks.

"Thank you to the cooperation teams from various institutes and laboratories around the world for their contributions to this experiment. After years of unremitting exploration, we finally discovered pentaquark Pc+. Our findings does not explain everything, but fortunately, the standard model once again predicts its existence…"

"… The physical properties of Pc+ particles have been completed by the LHCb International Research Cooperation Group. Please ask the responsible persons of each cooperation group to go to the stage for a presentation."

The audience applauded. Evans nodded slightly before he gave the microphone to the head of LHCb research group.

Professor Gao slowly stood up. He nodded at Professor Lu before he then walked over to the aisle and to the back of the conference venue.

Professor Gao was the head of the China research group. He would speak on behalf of China and report on the full spectrum analysis.

When Professor Gao arrived to the backstage of the conference room, he suddenly saw a familiar face.

The other party obviously saw him as he stood up and took the initiative to say hello.

"Professor Gao, hello!"

"Hello, you are…"

"I'm Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou greeted Professor Gao and grinned.

Although he was a bit nervous in his heart, he controlled his emotion and did not look nervous at all.

He was nervous because this was completely different than the Princeton conference. Almost half of the world's top theoretical physicists were sitting here. Some of them had even won the Nobel Prize.

This type of international presenation conference was not comparable to the academic conferences.

Also, Lu Zhou was here with a different objective.

"Lu Zhou… You're Professor Lu's student?" said Professor Gao Yuanping as he had a moment of realization. Suddenly, he asked with surprise, "Why are you here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and sighed, "Long story…"

He was about to explain his matter in detail when a CERN staff member walked in all of a sudden.

"Is Gao Yuanping here?"

"Here," said Professor Gao as he nodded.

The staff member said respectfully, "It's your turn to make the report. Come with me."

"Sure, take me there."

The staff member nodded and Professor Gao looked at Lu Zhou with a strange expression. However, he did not say anything and merely walked away with the staff member.

…

On the stage, Professor Gao reported the work of China's full spectrum analysis and answered several questions from reporters.

After that, he went back to the backstage lounge and was ready to talk to Lu Zhou, but he could not find him.

"How strange…"

Professor Gao was confused. He then left the lounge and returned to the venue. He sat back down in his seat.

He then looked at Professor Gao and whispered, "Guess who I just met in the backstage lounge?"

Professor Lu looked at him in confusion as he asked, "Who?"

Academician Gao smiled and said, "Your student."

Professor Lu looked at his side and saw Yan Xinjue still sitting there. He he then looked back and asked, "You're talking about… Lu Zhou?"

"Yeah," said Professor Gao with a nod.

Professor Lu asked, "Why is he there?"

Professor Gao shook his head and said, "I think it's strange too. I was about to ask him but he left."

Professor Lu raised his eyebrows. He felt something was wrong but he soon pushed the matter aside because the conference had entered into the next stage.

Reports on the full spectrum analysis of the Pc+ particles had come to an end. Next was the reports on the various LHC experiment findings.

Most of the people on stage were researchers who were involved in the experiment. Most of the people were from CERN and LHC.

After all, the experiment data was for a specific particle, but not all of the data was about the particle. The random collision of the proton beam produced some interesting new discoveries.

Some of these new discoveries were useful while others were useless.

It could even be said that the second half of the conference was the most interesting part.

If a more valuable discovery was found, CERN might even change the experimental direction of the LHC.

Professor Lu took out a small notebook and was ready to write notes.

Suddenly, he was stunned.

It was not just him that was stunned.

Yan Xinjue and Professor Gao was also shocked.

The person on stage was none other than…

His own student…

Lu Zhou.

…

On the other side of the venue, Frank Wilczek and Peter Higgs sat together and were chatting about the contents of the report.

"Don't you think the recent LHCb discovery warrants a Nobel Prize?"

Peter Higgs heard his old friend's question and shook his head, "There's no doubt that this is the most valuable research result this year, but it might not be enough for a Nobel prize. This year's medal should be awarded to the neutrino oscillation experiment. Do you want to bet on it?"

"Haha, no thanks," said Frank when he heard the bet. Awkward, he coughed, "I recently quit gambling."

"I can't believe it. You're quitting? What happened?" asked Peter Higgs as he looked at his old friend. He was astonished. Higgs did not go on Twitter, so he was not up to date with the recent events.

'Nothing, just something small. Let's not talk about it," said Frank. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, "Focus on the next report as it is the main event."

Peter Higgs asked casually, "Oh, is there something worth looking forward to?"

"Of course, I'm confident that you'll be shocked by the discovery," said Frank. He grinned and continued, "Let's bet $100."

Chapter 173: A Treasure Map

WTF?

When Kerella saw the man on the stage, she was so surprised that her eyes popped wide opened and subconsciously, she swore.

Professor Brunos who was sitting next to her frowned. He asked, "What?"

"Nothing…" murmured Kerella as she quickly reached for her notebook.

However, she was still surprised.

She could not believe that he was standing there.

She was also an intern but the contrast between the two of them was staggering.

On the other side, Luo Wenxuan who was sitting next to Edward Witten also chocked.

Luo Wenxuan did not know how Lu Zhou, as a mathematician, was able to stand on stage at a place like this.

Did Lu Zhou really participate in the experiment?

Mr. Edward Witten was unsurprised. Instead, he was filled with interest.

He obviously recognized the man on stage and he was looking forward to the report.

The young man that shocked Princeton; what was he about to do now?

…

As Lu Zhou stood on the stage, he took a deep breath to try and calm his mind. He tried not to pay attention to the audience.

Once he was calm, he said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm from the University of Jin Ling in China. I'm honored to come here as an intern and be involved in this experiment. These opportunities allowed me to discover an interesting phenomenon."

Lu Zhou knew that these physicists did not care about his personal details, so he finished the self-introduction and began the PowerPoint presentation quickly.

"A month ago, I happened to be at the northern test site. When the 1TeV test collision happened, I observed a very special observation on the ATLAS detector."

Lu Zhou flipped to the next slide and pointed at the coordinates on the mλλ image. He said, "Doesn't this look amazing? We observed a few very special signals at 750 GeV."

Under the stage, Peter Higgs licked his mouth as he tried not to laugh out loud.

"This is the presenter you recommended?"

Frank smiled and said, "That's right."

Peter could not help but ridicule him, "Did you teach him about the theory of excessive fluctuations? I taught my students that."

"I know that you want to say that this discovery is worthless," said Frank with a smile. He continued, "Do you want to bet $100? I bet he can convince you."

Peter Higgs looked at him.

"I don't know where you got this confidence. One day, you'll lose all of your Nobel Prize money."

Frank smiled in disapproval, "I don't think so."

…

When the people sitting in the stage saw Lu Zhou's "research results", they chuckled.

Although they laughed quietly, Lu Zhou was still able to hear them. It was like a blade piercing through his ear.

Undoubtedly, most people were unconvinced of the data during the test runs.

Although the few isolated cases looked weird, it was worth nothing. This was because they were classic quantum mechanics uncertainties. These phenomena could be perfectly explained as a small amount of energy that was randomly generated.

Only a few people showed an expression of interest.

However, this was in Lu Zhou's expectations so he tried to ignore the laughter.

"I know that some people will think that this must be a two-photon signal or an error such as quantum fluctuations… "

"… Therefore, I deliberately found the data from 2012 and analyzed it statistically. I established a probability model…"

Lu Zhou flipped to the next slide.

Suddenly, the slide was filled densely with formulas.

In fact, similar phenomena had been seen in the 2012 data and it had also appeared in both ATLAS and CMS detectors. It would be a miracle if this was just a coincidence.

This was his biggest supporting hypothesis!

Lu Zhou grabbed the PowerPoint and said confidently, "I checked the data on this section again and again and confirmed that the results of the phenomena were not two-photon signals. There must have been a collision in this energy zone…"

"… And according to the probability model behind me, I can say confidently that if the data collected on the ATLAS and CMS detectors are correct, then there definitely is a characteristic peak in the 750 GeV energy zone!"

"… Maybe it's a new and heavier Higgs particle, or maybe it's a gravitational force, all kinds of possibilities exist. Maybe…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He looked around in the tense venue and took a deep breath before he continued to speak, "Maybe this could be the last piece puzzle we have all been searching for…"

"… The supersymmetric particle!"

The venue was quiet.

People had not expected this conclusion.

Some people thought that the data was worthless, but after seeing the argument, doubts were raised in their minds.

If the number of samples accumulated to a sufficiently large value, the probability of this characteristic peak appearing was as high as 84.5%. This was already worth researching.

This discovery seems to be…

Interesting?

Luo Wenxuan sat in the back row of the conference room. He looked at the PowerPoint as he quickly checked the calculations.

Obviously, some people were ahead of him.

This person was the winner of the Fields Medal, Edward Witten.

"He's correct," said Witten as he stared at the PowerPoint and nodded. He said, "At least mathematically speaking."

Luo Wenxuan had a strange look on his face and he asked subconsciously, "You mean that he found a new particle?"

"I didn't say that. Neither physicists nor mathematicians can directly see the particles," said Witten as he shrugged and smiled. He then added, "The only thing that can find the particles is the collider. All we can do is run the collider."

Lu Zhou's presentation shocked the audience.

The sound of applause reverberated through the venue and it gradually became louder and louder.

When Lu Zhou heard the applause, he felt his heart beating faster.

The situation was already clear.

It did not matter if the 750 GeV meant nothing. All Lu Zhou wanted was to inform CERN of this possibility.

The efforts that he had exerted this month was not wasted.

He still had not thought about what to do beyond this presentation.

Lu Zhou smiled and relaxed his clenched fist.

He then faced the thunderous applause and bowed.

After that, he walked off stage.

Chapter 174: Corrected

The report would continue.

However, there was nothing else to look forward to.

Nothing could compare to Lu Zhou's discovery.

Many people thought of the neutrino oscillation experiment a couple of years ago, which proved that there should not be neutrinos in the prediction of the standard model. However, there was! Due to this amazing discovery, the standard model was almost pushed down.

If there really was a 750 GeV particle missing from the standard model…

In a sense, this clue had great disruptive potential.

Many people looked at their watches; some even left the venue. They could not wait to get back to their labs and start writing a thesis on this new phenomenon.

It was foreseeable that if the probability of the occurrence of this characteristic peak was really high, CERN would definitely start using the LHC to further investigate this clue.

If the data collected on the LHC proved that there really was a characteristic peak at 750 GeV, then this could mean a Nobel Prize!

It was no doubt that this clue was valuable.

Peter Higgs said in amazement, "… Unbelievable, this is the amazing discovery you talked about?"

"Yes," said Frank Wilczek who sat next to him. He smiled and continued, "I read his thesis two weeks ago. The paper wasn't completed yet at that time, but I was confident that there was a clue in there somewhere."

Peter Higgs thought for a long time before he asked, "From a mathematical point of view, do you think this possibility exists?"

Frank smiled, "I think that it's worth trying."

"You're right, I think so too," said Peter Higgs as he nodded. He stood up from his seat and said, "I have some new theories about this clue… I have to go."

Frank stopped his friend, "Wait a minute."

Peter Higgs, "Is there anything else?"

Frank smiled and rubbed his thumbs, "You forgot the money."

Frank won the bet definitively.

It seemed that the gambler won this time.

Peter Higgs paused for a second before he threw a crumpled Franklin on the chair. He then left quickly.

…

On the other side of the venue, Professor Lu said, "This kid is interesting, no wonder he's my student."

Yan Xinjue could not help but ask, "But Professor, I thought you said that this was a quantum fluctuation?"

"I never said that," said Professor Lu Shenjin. He had a serious look on his face as he continued, "I only said that it's possible."

He still thought it was possible.

This was an important clue, but experiments were still needed to prove anything.

Yan Xinjue continued to ask, "But what if there's a characteristic peak at 750 GeV, how can this be explained with quantum chromodynamics?"

Professor Lu nodded and said, "It's unexplainable as this is beyond the standard model."

"Then why…"

"There's no reason why," said Professor Gao who interrupted them. He smiled and said, "Physics doesn't comply with our wishes. It exists on its own. We need to find new puzzles to perfect our theory."

Any physics conclusion was imperfect.

Therefore, even if Einstein proved the theory of relativity, no one would jump out to say that Newton was wrong.

Similarly, if one day someone found out that relativity did not apply at more distant galaxies, no one would say that Einstein was wrong. Physics was constantly improving.

This was the same for the standard model.

Yan Xinjue held his breath and asked with an exciting tone, "Then you're saying that Lu Zhou's discovery can bring forward a new physics theory?"

Professor Gao thought for a moment before he gave a vague answer, "Maybe."

That was right - Maybe.

For a master's student like Lu Zhou, a "maybe" was impressive.

…

Lu Zhou came here at the beginning of May, and he had already been here for two and a half months.

As he stared at the calendar, he could not help but contemplate.

If he recalled correctly, right now his friends from Dorm 201 should have finished their final exams. Only students who were studying for the graduate entrance exam would still be at the University of Jin Ling.

If his life trajectory did not deviate from its course, then he would be a third-year student in two months. He would have to think about working or continuing his studies…

However, now, he did not have to think about those superficial problems.

He had to think of even more problems, but just different ones.

Two weeks ago, the European Nuclear Research Summit had ended and the researchers from China Cooperation Group had returned to China.

Lu Zhou was supposed to fly back with Yan Xinjue and Professor Lu Shenjian, but the professor ditched him and told him to fly by himself.

It was a long story.

After the end of Lu Zhou's report, Lynn Evans gave him a new contract and sent him an invitation.

Lu Zhou was previously a CERN intern, but now he was a CERN researcher.

In short, he got promoted.

For an international research institution, the turnover rate of the researchers was very high. For example, at the famous Argonne National Laboratory, the ratio of temporary workers to permanent personnel was close to 1:1.

CERN probably had the highest turnover rate of all research institutions.

CERN had different personnel contracts for researchers from different countries and experiment institutions…

These contracts did not carry a salary, so it was not an employment agreement. They were more like proof of identity.

For example, Yan Xinjue and Professor Lu Shenjian had these proof of identities.

As for the use of these identities…

In addition to easier Visa application and entering research areas, they were pretty useless.

Also, if he wanted to earn some extra money, he could use this identity and signed a contract with another lab.

Of course, Lu Zhou did not stay for a "Summer job". He stayed because CERN modified the experiment arrangements to accommodate the clue that he found.

Lu Zhou wanted to stay and witness the results of his own discovery.

Of course, this was only one of the reasons.

The other reason was that since the system did not end his mission, he had to continue to work here.

He was worried about the cancellation of the system mission, so he did not want to leave.

In short, experiments like this had a high variance. It could take a month or even a year.

Therefore, Professor Lu Shenjian ditched Lu Zhou.

After all, academicians' times were precious. Professor Lu Shenjian could not just stay here and waited for the results.

However, Professor Lu did not completely ditch Lu Zhou. He gave Lu Zhou a $3000 Euro living allowance. He also paid for the hotel room until the end of July.

After all, if this discovery was confirmed, it would be great news to the research community in China.

Professor Lu Shenjian was looking forward to the results.

Chapter 175: Interview

Waiting in the hotel was boring and CERN did not have any more quality lectures after the nuclear research conference.

Lu Zhou was bored to death, so he ended up walking around Geneva. He took a few tourist photos and bought some stuff as well.

He then went back to his hotel and posted the photos on his news feed before he took a shower.

When he came out of the shower and was about to sleep, Shi Shang suddenly called him.

The first sentence was…

"Zhou, when are you coming back?"

Lu Zhou was still drying off his hair when he thought and said, "I'll see. When the experiment results are released, I'll come back. Tell me if you want anything else. I'm so bored, I'll go shopping."

Shi Shang replied, "Traveling for free? I'm jealous."

Free traveling?

I guess that's what I'm doing.

Lu Zhou remembered that he had not spent a single dollar from his own pocket on this trip.

Shi Shang, "Uh, when you come back to campus, just put the stuff on my table. Please don't send it to my house. There's no space there."

Lu Zhou, "Sure, anything else?"

Shi Shang shook his head, "Nothing… Oh yeah, how come I haven't seen you on Weibo the past few days?"

Lu Zhou said, "What do you mean? I just posted some photos on Weibo."

Shi Shang, "No, I meant, I haven't seen you humblebragging."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck, what do you mean you haven't seen me humblebragging.

You sound as if I humblebragged all the time.

Lu Zhou hung up the call and threw his phone on the bed.

He looked at the calendar. When he saw that it was almost the end of the month, he sighed.

He did not know when the experiment would end.

Hopefully, he was correct.

If not, no one would blame him. However, he would not feel good about it.

…

Lu Zhou originally thought that it would take a month for the results to be seen and so, he was about to exchange more Euro.

He did not expect the good news to come so suddenly.

The first person that told him this news was Professor Grayer, who was responsible for monitoring ATLAS.

On the phone, Professor Grayer did not say much. He only told Lu Zhou to go to his office.

The first thing Lu Zhou said as he stepped foot into the office was…

"What's the result?"

"Your speculation is correct," said Professor Grayer. He placed a few sheets of papers on the table and said with an unbelievable sentimental tone, "The results are quite optimistic. We have observed the characteristic peaks that you predicted on CMS and ATLAS. Many people are surprised by this result."

Lu Zhou was relieved as the knot in his heart was finally loosened.

Although the dust had not settled yet, the exploration had only just begun. Lu Zhou's work had finally come to an end.

Professor Grayer looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Although we can't determine what it is, we are sure that there's something there."

Lu Zhou took the sheets of papers and casually said, "I hope you guys can find that thing… Please tell me if you guys find something."

Professor Grayer asked, "You're going back?"

"Yes," said Lu Zhou as he nodded and smiled. He added, "I already got the results that I want. Also… My hotel booking is up."

Even though Lu Zhou really wanted to know what the signal was, he could not wait here forever. It could take years.

Also, if he guessed correctly, his system mission should have been completed by this point.

He planned to return to China, received the mission rewards, and see what his new missions were.

"Before you leave, can you do me a small favor? It won't take long, just three days," asked Professor Grayer. He then said, "I can pay for the hotel room."

Lu Zhou asked, "What favor?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course I can."

Although he did not like to do media interviews, he was still willing to do any favor for Professor Grayer.

After all, this professor took good care of him. Professor Grayer was the reason he could present his 750 GeV clue.

Plus, this favor was not too much of a trouble.

…

After the nuclear research conference in July, CERN could not wait to announce the discovery of the pentaquark Pc+. Which, as many expected, became the world's most eye-catching physics news.

Of course, there was some unexpected news as well.

For example, the characteristic peak that appeared at 750 GeV…

Yes, "appeared".

From Lu Zhou's predictions in the report, CERN adjusted the collision test and made the collision energy 1 TeV.

Then the final results were quite amazing.

When the number of samples accumulated to a certain extent, the probability of the characteristic peak at 750 GeV increased exponentially. This could not be explained by our current knowledge of quantum chromodynamics.

Some people speculated that this was a decay signal, or it was a two-photon signal generated by gluon polymerization. Some also speculated that it was the last piece of the standard model puzzle that the physics community had been looking for for years: The Super Symmetric Particle.

Of course, some people were also pessimistic and said that it could just be quantum fluctuations. Even though CERN researchers observed this phenomenon on both ATLAS and CMS detectors.

In less than a month, hundreds of thesis attempting to explain the characteristic peak were submitted. This doubled the number of particle physics theses submissions.

Many well-known physicists made bold speculations on this characteristic peak.

They had to as these theoretical physicists loved to make predictions.

High-energy physics was unlike condensed matter physics. People's observations could not keep up with the speed of theoretical progress. The standard model could not be seen, but it was well accepted.

People could not just write bullsh*t physics theses and they could not make up physics.

However, this 750 GeV characteristic peak gave people an opportunity to write bullsh*t theses. Not to mention, there was a potential Nobel Prize attached to it.

What if they could bullsh*t their way into a Nobel Prize?

It was possible.

After all, even the collider did not know what the 750 GeV signal meant…

However, the focus on the media and the public was elsewhere.

For the laymen watching from outside, this was even more surprising than the pentaquark discovery.

This was because the person that reported the finding…

Was an intern!

Chapter 176: Strongest Intern

The first media outlet to report this news was the British, "Guardian".

The reporter who wrote this article stated the discovery in amazement.

"… CERN captured anomalous signals in the experiment. Experts say this could be a major clue to the discovery of supersymmetric particles. What is incredible is that this clue was discovered by an intern!"

The mysterious powers from the West seemed to have influenced the Hadron Collider.

Right after, the media dug out the identity of this intern.

A lot of people were shocked.

For example, Germany's "Focus Weekly" captured people's attention with the identity of the intern.

"… The intern who found the 750 GeV characteristic peak is actually a master's student from the University of Jin Ling. His achievements are not only in the field of physics, but he also received the Best Young Speaker Award at the Princeton mathematics conference earlier this year. He's the one that proved the twin prime conjecture!"

"… Our reporter interviewed Mr. Francis, the president of the Federal Mathematical Society, and Mr. Edward Witten, the winner of the Fields Medal. Mr. Francis commented that this is a young scholar with excellent thinking and innovation abilities while Mr. Edward Witten thinks he may become the first Chinese scholar to win the Fields Medal."

Originally, the 750 GeV news did not cause a huge commotion. It was only circled around in the particle physics community. It was only after the Focus Weekly report that the news was pushed to the peak.

People were already surprised that an intern was able to discover this clue, but they were even more shocked to learn that this intern was also nutty in mathematics.

The news had not traveled to China yet, but it had already caused heated discussions on western social media.

An Ivy League campus forum…

[Sh*t! I was on holiday, but yesterday my supervisor called me and told me to come back to campus. He said that I have a new research project… Crazy.]

[That's good :)]

[Maybe not, what if CERN confirms the signal in a month?]

[Impossible. CERN is very slow at operating the LHC. It could take years. You'll have time to finish your thesis.]

American student forum…

[Omg, even the Fields Medal isn't good enough for him. He must be going for a Nobel Prize…]

[He's still far from a Nobel Prize, lol, but he is pretty strong. Theoretical physics is the most difficult discipline to produce results.]

[Speaking of which, there's been an insane amount of particle physics theses being submitted these few days.]

[This guy's too good. Will I be this nutty when I'm a master's student?]

[Wake up, this dude's only supposed to be an undergrad.]

[… F*ck.]

…

After the Focus Weekly interview, other major media outlets also reported on this incident.

Although many media outlets carried out investigations on Lu Zhou, Nature Weekly was the first to interview the Intern.

Of course, he was no longer an intern but a formal researcher at CERN.

August 2nd, noon.

Professor Grayer drove Lu Zhou to a coffee shop in Geneva. He then introduced him to the female journalist from Nature Weekly.

"This is Ms. Belinda, an Oxford graduate," said Professor Grayer. He then looked at Belinda and said, "This is Lu Zhou."

The two nodded at each other.

However, Lu Zhou felt a sense of awkwardness in the air.

This source of the awkwardness came from Professor Grayer. On the other hand, Belinda had a natural smile.

"Hello, Ms. Belinda," said Lu Zhou as he reached out his right hand.

"Hello, nice to meet you," said Belinda as she smiled. She then continued, "This interview might take a while. Can we start now?"

"Of course," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "I hope my answers will satisfy you."

After all, Nature Weekly was a somewhat scientific and rigorous journal. It was a lot more sophisticated than those Chinese "Daily News" media outlets.

No wonder Belinda was an Oxford graduate; her questions were all professional questions.

For example, her first question.

"How did you find the 750 GeV characteristic peak?"

"An accident," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and added, "My colleagues thought that the 750 GeV peak was just an accident. But this accident appeared on both ATLAS and CMS, so it can't be just a coincidence. Therefore, I asked Professor Grayer to find 2012 and 2013 LHC records, and the results were interesting."

"750 GeV characteristic peak?"

"Not quite, but close," said Lu Zhou. He shrugged, "I had limited samples, so the information I could get was quite limited. Therefore, I tried to prove it from a statistical model probability perspective. When this probability was large enough, CERN would have a reason to undergo this experiment. As for this characteristic peak, it was found by the collider, not me."

Ms. Belinda smiled and typed some words in her laptop before she continued to ask, "I noticed that you used a lot of uncertain words. Is that just a habit or because of the rigorous nature of physics?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "It's the latter. Because even now, we don't know what it is."

Belinda, "What do you think the particle could be?"

"I hope it's a supersymmetric particle. If it is, then our biggest trouble will be solved. But… That's just my personal wish. Things don't always go smoothly," said Lu Zhou. He thought for a moment before continuing, "If I had to guess, I'll rather believe that it is something that we don't understand… Like dark matter."

Belinda opened her mouth in surprise and asked, "Amazing speculation… But why?"

"Because the signal is too unstable," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He continued, "The Hadron Collider itself is the accumulation of countless small probability collision events, and the appearance of this signal shows a kind of situation that is difficult to explain with our existing theories…"

"… But it also could just be a two-photo signal…"

"… But hopefully, it could lead us to "new physics…"

Chapter 177: A Lot Of Information

The interview lasted for twenty minutes.

Lu Zhou left the coffee shop and walked to the car. He then opened the front seat door and climbed in.

Professor Grayer was sitting in the driver's seat. He was sleeping with the air-con on. When Lu Zhou entered the car, he asked, "It ended?"

Lu Zhou put on his seat belt and replied, "It ended."

During the interview, Professor Grayer did not stay in the coffee shop. When the interview started, he went back to his car, as if he did not want to stay there for an extra second.

Lu Zhou was curious, so he asked, "You and that Belinda lady…"

"We were together at one point… Not for long," said Professor Grayer. He said with a casual tone, "She's my ex."

Lu Zhou looked at him with astonishment.

F*ck, Really?

That Belinda girl looks like she's in her twenties.

Maybe it was because of her makeup…

Professor Grayer looked at Lu Zhou as if he knew what Lu Zhou was thinking. He said, "Don't think that I'm old. I'm only forty years old this year. I can still go for the Fields Medal!"

Lu Zhou said, "But the next award is in 2018, so you'll be 43 by then."

"I'm only kidding, plus I don't do mathematics," said Professor Grayer. He coughed and changed the subject, "Speaking of which, Lu Zhou, I heard your friend Yan Xinjue said that you're already twenty years old, but still single. When I was your age, I already had two girlfriends. Is there nothing else you're interested in, other than mathematics?"

Lu Zhou was embarrassed, so he smiled and said, "Of course not."

Professor Grayer smelled some gossip, so he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Like what?"

Lu Zhou, "There's also physics."

Professor Grayer: "…"

…

When Lu Zhou went back to his hotel, he began to pack his bags.

He had already been in Europe for almost three months.

He only brought some clothes when he came here, but now his suitcase was filled with stuff he bought. He did not know if customs would give him a hard time.

Regardless, his trip to Europe finally came to a successful conclusion.

He could not wait to fly back to China and received his mission rewards.

He should at least get an S+ evaluation, right?

Then, his next mission could be a reward mission.

As for other possibilities, Lu Zhou did not want to think about it.

It would be preposterous if he did not get an S+.

Lu Zhou was stuffing the milk powder he bought for his sister into his suitcase when his phone rang.

He picked up his phone and asked, "Hello?"

"It's me."

Lu Zhou was stunned for a second.

He asked cautiously, "You are?"

A violent cough came from the other side as if the person was chocking.

After a while, the old man recovered and said with a deep voice.

"It's Frank Wilczek, we met a month ago!"

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou was astonished when he heard his name.

Why is he calling me?

It's been a month since the meeting, why isn't he in America?

"Sorry, I didn't recognize your voice…" said Lu Zhou. He quickly changed the subject and asked, "What's up?"

Frank asked casually, "Are you free right now?"

Lu Zhou, "Of course."

"Then come to my office, I have something to tell you."

The old man did not elaborate further. Instead, he hung up the call.

Lu Zhou's flight was tomorrow night, so he still had time. He walked to the old man's office while being confused.

When he saw Frank Wilczek, the latter gestured him to sit down. Frank then asked his assistant to bring them two cups of coffee.

As the old man stared at the coffee, he spoke slowly.

"The 750 GeV particle may start a generation of new physics. If it's real, the value could be higher than a Nobel Prize. All theoretical physicists are interested in this, I am no exception."

Lu Zhou stayed silent while he waited for the old man to continue.

Frank paused for a second before he continued, "I'm optimistic about your talents in mathematical physics. If you are interested, you can join my research. We can solve this "puzzle" together."

Over the past month, almost all of the theoretical physicists around the world had been trying to solve this puzzle. To this day, nothing of value had been achieved.

There was still a lot of content to be solved.

When CERN's LHC further revealed the data on 750 GeV, maybe someone would get a Nobel Prize.

Although Frank himself had already won a Nobel Prize, there was no rule against winning it a second time. There had only been a few people that won it twice, so it was unsurprisingly a very difficult task to accomplish.

If this discovery was amazing enough, maybe it could…

Having an opportunity to engrave it in history was rare, so no one wanted to pass on this opportunity.

Lu Zhou asked, "Finishing the puzzle… Are you referring to the theoretical explanation of this unknown particle?"

"Yes," said Frank as he nodded. He added, "In fact, not only am I a CERN's researcher, but I also work at the theoretical physics department at MIT. By the way, are you interested in pursuing a PhD from MIT?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He did not know that this old man would give him such an offer.

MIT was one of the top physics universities in the world. Not to mention, the invitation was from a winner of the Nobel Prize.

If the University of Jin Ling did not create a personal development plan for Lu Zhou, he might have accepted this offer.

In the end, Lu Zhou did not accept it as he was a man of his words.

Rejecting this offer was almost disrespectful, so Lu Zhou tried to reject the old man smoothly.

He shook his head and said, "Thanks for your offer, but I'm sorry… I already promised to study PhD at Princeton."

"Princeton… Princeton is strong at mathematics," said Frank with a smile. He did not seem to care as he said, "But even though you've selected Princeton, my offer is still valid. After all, in this era, many things can be communicated through the Internet. Maybe you can reconsider my offer…"

Frank paused for a second before he continued, "If you are interested in the Nobel Prize…"

Lu Zhou, "…?!"

He was shocked.

He did not know what to say.

Chapter 178: Back to Jin Ling

In this internet era, nothing was private.

Within two days, the news was blown all over the country.

[Shock! The person who found the high-energy particle was actually him?]

[Lu Zhou: I'm actually a physicist.]

[He threw a high energy particle physics bomb at the standard model building!]

[…]

However, Lu Zhou was still on the flight back home. His phone was turned off, and he was sleeping in his seat. He did not know that he was trending again.

Actually, even if he knew, he would not think much of it.

After all, this was nothing compared to a potential Nobel Prize.

Even if CERN found something interesting at the 750 GeV energy zone, Lu Zhou might not even win a prize. Therefore, he never imagined himself winning anything from this.

As for why?

This was part of the rules for the Nobel Prize.

As the research work in the field of theoretical physics became more and more systematic, it was worth talking about who deserved the credit. According to practice, the Nobel Prize medal would not be awarded to the discoverers of the particles, nor would they reward the researchers who operated the Hadron Collider, but they would be more inclined to be awarded to the proponents or perfectors of the theory.

From an academic standpoint, the work of the first two while important, they were not crucial. Anyone could randomly stumble upon discovery and anyone could operate an experiment.

On the other hand, the latter's work was crucial.

This was why the 2013 Nobel Prize was awarded to the authors of the Higgs mechanism and the Higgs boson theory namely Peter Higgs and Francois Engler. This theory was proposed in the 1960s. As for the CERN researchers who participated in the experiment, although they all contributed, the Nobel Prize could not be given to an organization. Therefore, it was impossible for people to share the prize.

Another example was the neutrino oscillation found in the Daya Bay reactor in China. It was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2015. However, the nominees were Professor Takashi of Japan and Professor Arthur MacDonald of Canada.

Some might ask, why not randomly fabricate a fictional particle and then set a lot of various physical properties about it? After that, one just needed to wait until it was discovered by others so that one could win the prize.

Theoretically, it was possible to do this.

This was also why there was a sudden influx of theoretical physics thesis submissions after the release of the 750 GeV data. Many people were betting on this theory.

However, the possibility of getting a Nobel Prize through this manner was low.

A new theory, or a new physical model, must be at least theoretically established and logically autonomous. Just like the superstring theory, although it was increasingly marginalized in the field of theoretical physics, no one could falsify it theoretically.

If one could not achieve logical autonomy, even if one found the Higgs particles, or claimed to find gravitational waves, one would not be recognized by the academic community.

This was also why common folks would never get the Nobel Prize. They could submit theses, but they would not understand the logic and formulas behind it.

If this particle was found to be a supersymmetric particle, then the Nobel Prize might be awarded to Gongyi Hongcheng. He proposed the supersymmetry and supersymmetric particles in 1966. As for Lu Zhou, was it possible for him to win?

Of course, it was possible.

Not just Lu Zhou, but Frank Wilczek also had a chance.

Continuous improvement was not only the means of observation but also the theory corresponding to it.

For example, if the 750 GeV signal was actually a supersymmetric particle, this would break the current knowledge of the standard model. Then, there could be a "Lu model" or "Wilczek model" to explain this particle. That might be worthy of a Nobel Prize.

However, this was much more difficult than proving a mathematical conjecture. It was impossible to accomplish by one person.

That was why, the day before yesterday, Frank gave Lu Zhou an invitation to solve this problem together.

The two agreed to communicate through email and complete this theory together.

The main work of establishing this theory would be done by Frank and his PhD student. Lu Zhou, on the other hand, would mainly be responsible for calculations.

Since Lu Zhou showcased his mathematical abilities at the European Nuclear Research Conference, Frank Wilczek decided to invite him.

This work would definitely take up a lot of Lu Zhou's time. However, if he could win a Nobel Prize, it would be worth it.

Even if it was just a chance of a Nobel Prize…

…

It was dark when Lu Zhou took off, and it was still dark when he landed.

The plane glided through the dark night and landed slowly on the runway.

Although Professor Lu Shenjian already told Lu Zhou that Yan Xinjue would come to pick him up, Lu Zhou did not want to trouble Yan Xinjue, so he did not contact him.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and walked outside. Just as he was about to call for a taxi, he saw someone waving at him.

When he saw the person, he was shocked.

Yan Xinjue?

Yan Xinjue carried Lu Zhou's suitcase into the car. Once he sat in the driver's seat, he said, "What were you doing at the airport? I've been waiting here since 10 o'clock before I finally found you."

"Sorry, my flight was delayed… Also, how did you find my flight?"

"Grayer told me," said Yan Xinjue as he steered the wheel. He asked, "Are you going back to school?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, thanks."

"It's fine, we're all friends here. This is just a small favor," said Yan Xinjue with a smile. He then said, "Lu Zhou, you earned great respect for our Chinese LHCb team! I haven't seen Professor Lu brag about anyone that hard at a meeting. Even the professor from Shuimu University was praising you."

When Lu Zhou imagined the scene, he wanted to laugh. To be honest, he was not surprised.

He was a potential Nobel Prize winner, so this type of affirmation did not surprise him.

Yan Xinjue, "Speaking of which, don't you want to learn how to drive?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I'll learn when I'm free. I don't need to drive right now."

Student Yan, "What do you mean you don't need to? If you're going places, having a car is useful. You must be rich from all those awards. Don't tell me you spent it all."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I've been saving it for a house."

Yan Xinjue sighed and said, "Not bad, thinking of buying a house at your age. This must be because of Professor Lu. He taught you well."

Lu Zhou asked, "Do you have a house?"

Yan Xinjue suddenly had a weird expression as he said, "Hopefully I can save up the down payment by the end of the year. I want to buy a house in Beijing, but it's kind of difficult… When did you get the idea that I'm rich?"

When you were spending money in Switzerland…

Lu Zhou remembered that the money he spent was all Professor Lu's money. Maybe Yan Xinjue was not rich after all.

Lu Zhou, "Is it that difficult?"

Yan Xinjue sighed and said, "That's how theoretical physics research is. Didn't you go on a project with Professor Li? Why didn't you go and do materials physics? Why did you come to energy physics?"

Lu Zhou did not know how to answer this question. He could not say that it was because of the system mission.

Of course, even without the system mission, he was still interested in particle physics. Otherwise, he would not have chosen mathematical physics.

Lu Zhou replied in an uncertain tone, "Maybe I just like science?"

Yan Xinjue was speechless.

Lu Zhou was wondering if his answer sounded too fake when Yan Xinjue suddenly sighed and said, "Probably, this is why I'm not as good as you…"

Lu Zhou, "…?"

This tone…

He believed me?!

Chapter 179: Level 3 Physics!

Yan Xinjue parked the car at the dorms and opened the trunk. He then helped Lu Zhou dragged the suitcase down with all his strength.

"My god, why is this so heavy… What did you buy over there?"

Lu Zhou was embarrassed to say, "Some souvenirs, and some stuff for friends."

Yan Xinjue, "Do you want me to send you up?"

Lu Zhou, "No thanks, I'm only on the second floor."

"Okay then. I'll go back first."

Yan Xinjue got back in the car. He waved goodbye before he quickly started the car and drove off.

Lu Zhou looked at the taillights of the car before he turned to look back at the dark building. He took a deep breath before he carried the suitcase up the stairs.

It was only early August so the school was still on summer vacation. As such, it was dead silent.

Thank god his dorm room was on the second floor, otherwise, he did not know how he would carry this heavy suitcase up the stairs.

Once Lu Zhou opened the door, he threw his suitcase aside. He then took a shower first before he climbed into his own bed.

As he laid in bed, he whispered, "System."

When he opened his eyes, he was met with pure white.

He could not wait to open the information screen. He then reached out to the semi-transparent mission panel and clicked.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Successful participation in the LHCb China Cooperation Group, participation in the "B1 partition data test" and "full spectrum analysis" of the pentaquark "Pc+", and found clues in the 750 GeV energy region.]

[Mission final evaluation: S+]

[Mission rewards: 100,000 physics experience points. 500 general points. One chance of lucky draw (100% sample)]

[Additional rewards: 50,000 mathematics experience.]

A hundred grand?

When Lu Zhou saw this number, he could not breathe and his heart skipped a beat.

He then quickly looked at the pop-up text.

What is this?!

I get 50,000 mathematics experience points as well?!

He almost forgot to breathe.

This system finally treated him well.

He had received S+ evaluations before, but this was the first "additional award" that he received.

Is it because I found a 750 GeV energy zone clue?

As Lu Zhou stared at the mission rewards, he immediately started to think carefully.

I don't know how the system evaluates the missions, but this situation of having an additional award is out of my expectations.

Lu Zhou still remembered that at the Princeton conference, he also received an S+ award. However, at that time, he only received 42,000 mathematics experience points and no additional award.

"… Which is saying that the 750 GeV clue is more valuable than the twin prime conjecture?" thought Lu Zhou. He rubbed his chin as he continued to think carefully.

The system's "intellectual property" was horrible and it showed some unexpected clues as small details.

Maybe the system had more information on the 750 GeV signal. Although Lu Zhou did not know what the particle was, it must be significant. At the very least, it was significant enough for 100,000 experience points and a 50,000 additional reward.

However, although this clue was exciting, there was no use thinking about it now.

After all, there was no LHC in the system space. If Lu Zhou wanted to figure out what the signal was, he could only wait for the CERN's collision experiment.

He took a deep breath before he said loudly, "System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 3 (54,000/100,000)

A. Physics: Level 3 (53,100/100,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (4,000/10,000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10,000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2,900/10,000)

General points: 2475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

His physics level was upgraded to level three and it almost caught up to mathematical physics.

If he wanted to continually upgrade his physics level, he would have to level up his mathematics first. This was because mathematics determined the upper-level limit of other disciplines.

As expected, mathematics was his cup of tea.

Lu Zhou slid his fingers on the information screen and turned off the characteristic panel. He then turned his sight on the lucky draw.

Finally, the exciting part came.

This lucky draw was quite exciting as it would be 100% of a sample. He did not have to worry about getting a soft drink again.

Lu Zhou hoped that he would not get a rubbish sample. At the very least, he should receive some focus capsules.

Although he did not need to rely on the focus capsules anymore, it was still useful for all-nighters.

"Begin lucky draw!"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath as he looked at the spinning roulette. He then shouted.

"Stop!"

[Congratulations, User, a sample is given!]

Well, of course.

Let's see how good it is!

Lu Zhou squeezed his fist and looked at the screen.

[Sample awarded: Scanner gun (one-time use)]

Lu Zhou, "…?"

This scanner gun sounds cool…

But what's this one-time use?

It's going to disappear after one time?

Lu Zhou wanted to curse at the system, but he stopped.

He remembered that the USB that he copied Xiao Ai from disappeared after he used it once.

If the system said one-time use, then it probably could only be used once.

He did not know why there was this restriction.

Lu Zhou continued to look at his mission panel because the last time he received an S+, the mission was a reward mission.

He then clicked on the mission panel.

[

[Reward mission is activated! (Give up at any time without spending general points)]

Description: Since User has already solved the most difficult form of K=1, why not solve the Polignac's conjecture?

Requirements: Solve Polignac's conjecture before 2016

Reward: ???

]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What do the three question marks mean?

It didn't tell me the rewards.

Does this mean that the rewards are three question marks?

Lu Zhou was speechless.

It seemed that this system was becoming more and more dishonest…

Chapter 180: The Standard Model

The Polygnac conjecture was a strong conjecture belonging to twin prime numbers. For all natural numbers k, there were infinitely many prime pairs (p, p + 2k). The case of k=1 was the twin prime number conjecture where there were infinite prime numbers p such that p+2 was a prime number.

The latter was already proved by Lu Zhou, using a topology method.

Prior to this, Zhang Yitang and other mathematicians had completed the proof for "bounded distance between prime numbers" from 70 million to 246. These conclusions all belonged to the (P, P+2K) form, which also provided a powerful clue for the proof of the Polignac conjecture.

So far: "…", "k=123, "k=…" etc had been completed.

However, the last step, k=1, was still unproven.

If the twin prime conjecture gave Lu Zhou a nomination for the Fields Medal, then the proof of the Polignac's conjecture would guarantee his win.

However, to prove that K=all natural numbers were true was not an easy task.

The method would be an entirely different process. The proof of the twin prime conjecture only gave Lu Zhou an idea. To prove Polignac's conjecture, Lu Zhou would have to create an entirely different proof method.

Even though his mathematics level was now Level 3, it would still be difficult to complete this proof.

The hardest part was that the system required him to complete it before 2016.

This meant that he had to solve this problem in 2015.

On the other hand, the reward was also random. However, Lu Zhou thought that if the twin prime conjecture gave him 40k experience points, then this must be more than that.

Furthermore, this was a reward mission.

Therefore, he was still quite looking forward to this reward.

…

Once Lu Zhou accepted the mission, he left the system space. He fell asleep right away, and only woke up when it was afternoon.

When he woke up, he realized that he had some missed calls.

The calls were all from Professor Lu's office. Lu Zhou guessed that Yan Xinjue told the old professor that he had returned to China.

Anyway, since he was going to Professor Lu's office later, he did not return the call.

Before lunch, he still had something important to do.

Lu Zhou then climbed down from his bed and brushed his teeth. He then entered the system space again and opened his inventory.

[Scanner gun (one-time use): Able to scan the internal structure of an object with a volume of 1 cubic meter. Able to analyze its structure and composition.]

The description was short, but Lu Zhou kind of guessed how he could use the thing.

The potential use of this item was high. He could use it to steal intellectual properties, or reverse engineer an Ironman suit. Basically, he could re-create any piece of technology as long as he had the materials.

The question was, how should he use it?

"I can only use it once… I can't even test it?"

When Lu Zhou looked at the icon in his inventory, he was a little hesitant.

He wanted to maximize his return on this reward.

There were three items in his inventory. There was the Debris 1, the old "two-hour energy enhancing needle", and an old can of Sprite.

Therefore, he had three choices.

He could either scan the debris, the needle, or maybe even the Sprite.

The first option would inform him of the debris battery's material, but Lu Zhou did not know how valuable that information was.

Also, he did not even know the technology behind the battery. He guessed that it was probably some kind of legendary lithium-air battery.

As for the second one, it was considered a good sample. From the sample's description, the effects of the needle were strong and had no side effects. Maybe it had Captain America effects…

As for the last one, he could receive the recipe for the "Future" branded Sprite. He could then re-create the beverage easily… Unlike the other two.

After some thinking, Lu Zhou finally chose the first option.

He had big dreams.

The short term gain of the third option was large and the technical threshold was not high. It was also delicious. However, the potential for development was too low. Furthermore, it was difficult to apply for patents on beverages.

As for the second option, while the technical aspect was interesting, it was also too risky.

The first option was more like a gamble.

Something that was destroyed to this extent could be anything.

"I'll just gamble it?"

Lu Zhou took out Debris 1 from his inventory. He then closed his eyes and exited the system space.

He felt the cold and light metal in his hand. He then placed the broken battery on the table, before he shot the scanner gun at the battery.

He then heard a soft "Bang" sound. A cone-shaped blue holographic light covered the battery.

It was like this blue light was scanning every surface and every inch of the debris.

Lu Zhou's eyes nearly popped out.

F*ck me, this high tech system really is high tech!

This blue scanning light alone would be worth a Nobel Prize.

The standard model was no match against this thing!

A normal person would not think much of this, but for a mathematical physicist like Lu Zhou, the existence of this thing was a miracle to him.

He did not know how to explain this phenomenon.

Suddenly, the blue beam gradually disappeared.

The broken battery was illuminated. It looked as if someone did a paint job on it.

The scanner gun in Lu Zhou's hands slowly turned into a fine dust. It then slipped away from his fingers and what was left in its place was a black USB.

"…"

Lu Zhou stared at the USB in his palm and did not speak for a long time.

He was still shocked by what he just saw.

I guess this system has a lot more secrets that I know nothing about.

The USB in his hand was probably made of some special material, and that would disintegrate after he copied the data.

Like the USB containing Xiao Ai…

Chapter 181: Taking You To See Someone

Lu Zhou plugged in the USB. Unsurprisingly, huge amounts of data started to flow into his laptop. The hard disk on his laptop quickly started to spin.

The built-in fan was humming loudly, and the laptop was burning hot. Lu Zhou waited for five minutes or so, and the fan gradually slowed down. It should be done.

As expected, the USB disappeared into black dust as if it was blown away by the wind.

Lu Zhou was ready to open the folder and see what the scanner did. Suddenly, a dialog popped out of the lower right corner of the laptop.

[Master!]

[Do you want to kill Xiao Ai?]

Lu Zhou looked at the dialog box and was stunned. He then typed: [What is this?]

Xiao Ai: [Look at disk space!]

A flashing red disk space bar appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

When Lu Zhou saw the remaining space, he was shocked.

F*ck!

2TB of disk space, but now there's only 50MB left!

Why is this scanner data so large?

Suddenly he realized a serious matter, and Lu Zhou quickly typed: [Wait, what about my other two disks?]

Xiao Ai: [In order to save my life, I've combined the D and E disks into C!]

Lu Zhou quickly typed: [What about the data I saved in those disks?]

Xiao Ai: [I helped you compressed them and saved them onto C drive!]

So close…

Those were the documents he was researching, and some were related to the Polignac's conjecture.

In the beginning, when he was selected for the Ten Thousand People Initiative, he chose the Polignac's conjecture to be his research project. He did some research on the side when he had spare time. It would be a great loss if those documents were destroyed.

However, Xiao Ai was still more valuable than those documents.

Although Xiao Ai was still a little bit retarded, one day it would grow and become useful.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he typed: [I understand. I'll try to get a new home for you.]

Xiao Ai: [Thank you, Master!]

Lu Zhou: "…"

He thought about those important documents, and he was glad that he did not lose them.

Then he thought about how expensive Xiao Ai's new home would be.

F*ck sake! Always spending my money!

Lu Zhou rudely closed the dialog window and when he found his valuable documents, he copied them onto his external drive before he opened data from the scanner gun.

He thought that it would take a long time to figure out this data, so he did not expect the high-tech to be so convenient.

When he opened the executable file, a design tool application appeared on his screen.

A three-dimensional drawing of a broken battery was shown.

At first glance, it only looked like a 3-D model.

Lu Zhou clicked on the model.

Suddenly, things changed.

From the composition of the material to the temperature parameters at the time of the scan, all of the data were clearly shown in the pop-up dialog box.

Lu Zhou stared at it in awe before he quickly clicked on the negative end of the battery.

Then, it was like he found a treasure.

Lithium!

His guess was correct!

It was a lithium battery!

He was not clear as to what kind of lithium it was because he did not find any clues of the electrolyte residue.

He guessed that this high tech battery probably used gas or solid material as the electrolyte.

However, this had nothing to do with him.

He would learn the technology sooner or later. Right now, he had to figure out the technology that inhibited the development of lithium dendrites.

This battery was like a fish, and the most delicious part was the fish belly. In this case, it would be the lithium dendrite part.

Suddenly, Xiao Ai popped up.

Xiao Ai: [Master, what's this?]

Lu Zhou smiled. He was in a good mood as he typed: [Your new home will rely on this. Wait till I register a patent. Then I'll buy you a three million yuan server!]

Xiao Ai: [Wow, really!]

Lu Zhou: [Really!]

If this thing really could teach him how to inhibit the growth of the lithium dendrites, then the patent would earn enough for him to buy an entire server farm.

Of course, he had other wishes, so he would not actually spend all his money on servers.

He would at least buy a lab for himself as he could not always rely on the system to give him high-tech components. He had to find a way to make his own technology.

However, he was in no rush to register the patent. It was not like anyone else had access to the battery.

Even though he already knew what the material was, he still had to do experiments in the lab and fake the discovery.

After all, when he registered the patent, he would have to specify the equipment used, source of the material, and the laboratory information. Only after that would people accept his new technology patent.

Where should he submit the thesis?

He had accepted a Nature Weekly interview recently, so maybe he would just submit it to Nature…

Lu Zhou could not help but feel excited.

…

Once Lu Zhou turned off his computer, he then changed his clothes. He ate some lunch at the cafeteria before he went to Professor Lu Shenjian's office.

When Professor Lu saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and said, "You finally came back from Europe. I thought you were going to stay there for good."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No way, my visa won't even let me stay there for long."

"Ah, hard to say. If you really wanted to stay there, CERN would take care of your visa. They might even get you a PR," said Professor Lu with a smile.

Lu Zhou smiled but he did not say anything.

Although he knew that the old professor was just joking, he still did not take the joke well.

What Professor Lu said was true. It would be easy for him to stay there.

However, he had never even given this idea a thought.

He liked the environment here and he liked the people here.

He would go abroad for conferences or even to study there, but he would still eventually return to China.

They chatted for a while before Professor Lu got to the main point.

"I'm glad to see that you come back safely. Next time when you fly, make sure you shoot me a text when you land. If it wasn't for Yan Xinjue, I wouldn't even know you were back! Nothing else, that's all I wanted to say."

Professor Lu paused and continued.

"I'm going to Beijing in a few days. Come with me. I have a friend that wants to see you."

Lu Zhou asked, "Is the friend, Professor Gao?"

"Not him. Why would he want to see you? I see him every day," said Professor Lu as he waved his hand. He then said, "Old Qiu wants to see you. He's in the mathematics field as well, so you should know him."

Chapter 182: Scientis

Lu Zhou had obviously heard of him as the old man was famous as hell.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Professor Qiu was the leading figure in China's mathematics world.

He was comparable to the likes of Hua Luogeng and Chen Shengshen.

PhD at 22 years old, associate professor at 25 years old, solving the Calabi Conjecture at 27 years old, winning the Fields Medal at 34… It was like this guy was hacking in real life.

These academic achievements made him one of the most influential mathematicians today. His influence extended to many different fields such as topology, algebraic geometry, general relativity, and even high-energy physics!

The most famous was his proof of the Calabi Conjecture, which directly laid the theoretical foundation of the superstring theory in 1980.

In the theoretical physics world, this old gentleman was widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of superstring theory.

Anyone in the mathematics field knew of this god. Even the people in the theoretical physics field knew of him.

However, Professor Qiu was usually very busy, so it was difficult to see him.

On the other hand, one could gain a lot just from a short conversation with him.

Therefore, when Lu Zhou heard that Professor Lu was bringing him to see Professor Qiu, he immediately asked, "When are we going to Beijing?"

Professor Lu smiled and said, "Around October."

"…"

Then why are you telling me this now?

Lu Zhou was speechless.

When Professor Lu saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, "I don't have many projects for you to do right now, so just study on your own. I don't have much to say regarding mathematics, but for quantum chromodynamics, you still have a lot to learn. I already sent the class schedule to your email. If you want to graduate this year, work hard and go to those classes. I'll test you at the end of this semester. The exam syllabus is the classes that I'm sending you to."

When Lu Zhou heard the broad scope of this syllabus, he said, "Professor, this syllabus is a bit too vague."

Professor Lu smiled and said, "What are you scared of? Believe in yourself!"

…

He had to study hard for quantum chromodynamics, but he had to do something else first.

After Lu Zhou left Professor Lu's office, he did not hang around. Instead, he went back to his dorm and sat in front of his laptop. He began to research the data from the scanner gun.

He did not know how this battery was produced as the technology was way ahead of its time.

Leaving the negative electrode material aside, even the "oxygen screening diaphragm" on the side of the battery could not be produced with the current technology.

Even if Lu Zhou knew the structure and the parameters of the material, he could not just put this information online and hoped that someone else could build it. There was not a laboratory in the world that could create a diaphragm this thin.

Even if he solved the problem of the lithium dendrite, without this diaphragm, he could not create a lithium-air battery.

Everyone knew that not only would lithium react with oxygen, but it would also react with nitrogen in the air to form lithium nitride crystals that were difficult to reduce. If the water vapor leaked, there would be a violent explosion.

The Japanese people were ambitious on this front, but they had yet found a solution.

If someone could solve the gas screening problem, an oxygen tank could be attached to the lithium-ion battery and this could potentially power cars.

However, no one wanted their car to blow up.

After some thorough research, Lu Zhou was sure that this battery was the legendary lithium-air battery.

The positive electrode was a gas chamber covered by a gas screening membrane, and the negative electrode was a lithium negative electrode material encapsulated by an electrolyte. However, the electrolyte was not leaking at all, and the negative electrode material had completely turned into lithium oxide.

The design structure was simple and clear, but even if people had the design model, no one could create it. This was because while the technical difficulties were all in the details, most of the problems were regarding the material.

Lu Zhou tried to search online for the plastic in the battery, and could not even find anything.

Fortunately, the material needed to protect the lithium negative electrode and prevent the growth of lithium dendrites was not something too special. Lu Zhou thought it was solvable.

Lu Zhou saw a piece of copper foil under the fully oxidized lithium anode.

Of course, the copper foil was not the key to preventing lithium dendrites. The key was the modified for visiting.

He would then be making a contribution to society!Polydimethylsiloxane

Chapter 183: A Gold Mine

In an apartment building near the University of Shuimu, Beijing…

An old man held an English magazine in his hand and he was reading it on the sofa.

He suddenly smiled and placed the magazine down before he said, "This kid really is a genius."

This old man was no other than the god of mathematics, Qiu Chengtong.

The magazine in his hand was Nature Weekly and the article he was reading was written by the British female journalist, Belinda, who interviewed Lu Zhou.

In the interview, the magazine mentioned the identity of the University of Jin Ling master's student as well as the fact that he was a member of the LHCb China Cooperation Group.

As per what the high-ranking academician from LHCb China Cooperation Group said earlier, this intern greatly helped China's reputation at CERN.

China would soon create overwhelming coverage of this young scholar.

This glory was well-deserved.

"Yeah," whispered the old man sitting opposite Professor Qiu as he drank tea.

This was Wang Yuping, who helped Lu Zhou back at Princeton.

Although Professor Qiu had a poor relationship with the University of Yan, he still had a few good friends from the said university.

Professor Wang Yuping was one of them.

Professor Wang paused for a second. He then sighed and said, "After the Princeton conference, I thought that this kid was talented in mathematics. I didn't think that he would be so talented in particle physics as well. I've met a lot of young scholars, but none are like him."

Professor Qiu Chengtong smiled and said, "I've seen one."

"Who?"

"Tao Zhexuan!"

Professor Wang Yuping was stunned. He then smiled and asked, "Your evaluation of him is that high?"

Tao Zhexuan was the first Australian to receive the Fields Medal, and he was the second Chinese ethnicity person to win this award. He was currently teaching at UCLA and considered a genius in mathematical analysis.

Although applied mathematics was not in mathematical physics, his research covered almost all of mathematics. From harmonic analysis to nonlinear partial differential equations to number theory and topology.

Many people called him the Mozart of mathematics because there was no explanation as to how one person could achieve so much in mathematics.

In China, people called Lu Zhou as the "Young Tao Zhexuan".

Professor Qiu smiled and said, "High evaluation? I think that he can accomplish more than his predecessors!"

Professor Wang Yuping was surprised and he could not help but ask, "Are you serious?"

"Of course," said Professor Qiu as he nodded. He then added, "When I saw him chose Polignac's conjecture to be his research topic, I had this feeling in my heart. Now with this article, I'm even more certain."

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and asked, "Do you think he can solve this conjecture?

"Hard to say. He solved the twin prime conjecture. If I had the energy, I might even try to challenge this problem," replied Professor Qiu. Suddenly his eyes sparkled and he looked at his old friend before he said, "How about we make a bet?"

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and asked, "Bet about what?"

"I bet that he can solve this conjecture in two years."

"Not possible," said Professor Wang Yuping as he shook his head. He added, "I know you have a high opinion of him, but his research problem right now isn't number theory, but mathematical physics. If he concentrates on number theory, he could solve this conjecture… But as I see it, two years is too short!"

Professor Qiu shook his head, "Research direction isn't the problem. I think he has the talent to solve the problem. Since we disagree, should we bet on it?"

Slapping his thighs, Professor Wang Yuping said, "Sure, let's bet! I'll bet a hundred yuan. It's not much even if I lost."

Professor Qiu smiled and said, "Look at you, already talking about losing. How boring, the bet is off!"

…

"Achoo!"

Lu Zhou sneezed and rubbed his nose as he continued to write at his desk.

He had already read Professor Lu's class schedule.

However, he was still on his summer holiday, and the class would not start until next month.

Lu Zhou did not really leave his dorm over the past few days. He locked himself in his room and tried his best to design experiments using the battery data on his computer.

He had to read a large amount of literature to design the PDMS film.

The reason he was this motivated was money.

With such a large gold mine laying there, he would not be able to sleep if he did not crack at it a little.

There was no exaggeration to compare this technology to a gold mine.

20 years ago, lithium metal was abandoned by the industry because of the dendrite growth short circuit. This turned the battery into a bomb.

However, lithium metal still attracted countless material science laboratories. They were still doing experiments on this topic.

IBM even did a super-calculation of the lithium-air battery project and they assigned a path for each gas molecule to enter the battery unit to avoid gas blockage… However, they were burning money too fast and the project was then cut off.

At the national level, the energy minister from the Alabama team and the Chinese American who won the physics Nobel prize in 1997, Mr. Zhu Yuwen, had been a fanatic supporter of lithium negative batteries for quite some time… However, he was persuaded by a group of people.

As for why lithium batteries were so fascinating, it had to do with its energy density.

The so-called energy density was the energy contained per unit volume. The most important performance indicator of a battery was its energy density. This had been the pursuit of the battery industry.

In the 13th Five-Year China Plan, they clearly stated that their battery technology level should be synchronized with the international level by 2020. One of the most important factors was to increase the battery energy density to 300-350Wh/kg.

So far, the lithium-sulfur battery looked the most promising.

However, if the lithium dendrite problem was solved, then all of the other materials would have to give way to the lithium negative battery.

Those who had studied chemistry would know that the lithium metal anode had the lowest electrochemical potential of -3.04V and an energy capacity of up to 3861mAh/g.

That meant that by using lithium as the negative electrode, it could theoretically reach ten times the energy capacity of graphite batteries.

The most attractive part was that once the growth of the lithium dendrite was solved, there would be no other major design changes that needed to be made to batteries. They only had to replace the graphite anode material!

Chapter 184: Experiment Begin!

"You want to borrow the laboratory?"

When Professor Li heard Lu Zhou's request through the phone, he was analyzing carbon nanomaterials in the laboratory.

Lu Zhou held the phone against his ear as he said, "Yes, I found something interesting while reading theses. I want to use the laboratory, and I need a homogenizer and digital microscope."

Obviously, he had made up the reason. Even though he had a good relationship with Professor Li, they were not that close.

After all, the value of this invention could not be measured by an SCI thesis.

Especially for someone looking to monetize this invention…

"Okay then, I'll talk to the lab director. You can take Lab 304. Just look for Professor Wang Xianfu."

Professor Li was curious as to why Lu Zhou needed to do this kind of experiment, but he did not ask him. Instead, he readily agreed to his request.

If someone else asked to borrow these types of equipment, he would hesitate and might even refuse. However, Lu Zhou was different as he had helped the professor greatly on that last thesis.

That was a billion yuan project, and not to mention, as a shareholder of Zhongshan New Materials, he was a direct beneficiary.

This was only a small favor which he was happy to help.

Lu Zhou was almost embarrassed to see Professor Li agreed so easily.

If I knew that this old man is so kind, I would've just asked for the SEM scanning electron microscope instead…

"Anything else?" asked Professor Li when he saw that Lu Zhou did not speak.

Lu Zhou shook his head, "Nope, thank you, professor."

"Are you fine doing experiments alone? Do you want Qian Zhongming to help you?"

Lu Zhou said, "No thanks. I want to do it on my own."

Naturally, he would not want any help.

Brother Qian would instantly see through his act.

From the design of the experiment to how it was done, Lu Zhou would not be able to explain anything to him.

He had to do this experiment with his own hands.

"Okay then, try not to break anything."

Lu Zhou knew that Professor Li was joking, so he smiled and said, "Rest assured! I won't break anything!"

…

After Lu Zhou took the keys to Lab 304 from Professor Wang, he could finally begin his next procedure.

From the reverse technology of the scanner, the key to solving the problem of lithium dendrite growth was in the treatment of polydimethylsiloxane materials.

In order to solve this problem, he designed two experiments.

However, the key to the problem remained in the processing of PDMS materials.

The untreated PDMS material, even if coated in copper sheet, was no use at all. The lithium dendrite would still explode.

Material science and mathematics were different. The former needed countless experiments and huge investments. The latter only needed a pen and paper. Most of the mathematics research funding was used for travel expenses.

Lu Zhou thought for an entire day and he still could not find a good solution. Finally, he decided to spend 500 general points to ask the system for help.

He saw his general points dropped back down to 1975.

This thing was expensive. 500 general points just for a PDMS material processing method.

The general points required for the technology of the entire battery could probably "buy" a Goldbach Conjecture.

Although it took a lot of general points, fortunately, the materials used in the formula could be found in the laboratory.

After three days and countless failures, Lu Zhou finally succeeded in preparing the qualified PDMS material. A box of waxy yellow gel.

This thing looked like honey and had a jelly texture. On the surface, it did not look like anything special, but when he placed it under a microscope, it did not look like ordinary liquid polydimethylsiloxane.

Lu Zhou could not bathe in this victory for long, so he quickly prepared a rectangular copper foil from the glue machine. He also began to prepare his next step of making the electrode materials.

Spin coating!

Spin coating relied on the centrifugal force and gravitational force generated by the rotation of the workpiece. This would completely spread the coating droplets to the surface of the workpiece.

Technically, the operation was very demanding.

An uneven coating could mean that lithium ions would not form on the negative electrode material.

Although Lu Zhou had some experience with spin coating, he still failed many times.

After a couple of hours, he finally succeeded in obtaining a copper foil that was uniformly coated with PDMS nanoporous film.

As Lu Zhou looked at the copper foil, he could not help but think.

I can probably sell this for hundreds of millions of yuan, right?

Lu Zhou packed up the remaining samples and PDMS materials.

There was only one step left and it was to make a simple battery.

He had to test the performance of this film to see if it was as magical as he thought.

Lu Zhou saw Brother Qian's demonstration before, so he was basically familiar with the operation.

In another laboratory, Lu Zhou put on a white scientist robe before he placed his hand into the argon-filled glove box. He then carefully fixed the copper foil onto the battery mold.

The binder was sodium carboxymethylcellulose and styrene-butadiene rubber, the current collector was aluminum foil, and the positive active material was still the LiFePO4 commonly found in lithium-ion batteries that were used nowadays!

For the diaphragm, Lu Zhou used the Celgard 2325 three-layer composite diaphragm.

There were only slight changes made to the battery.

Once Lu Zhou finished the assembly, he felt proud of himself. He then carefully took the sample out of the box and closed the valves.

He then exhaled a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Done!"

When he looked at the sample in his hands, he was really excited.

He had not expected this piousness.

Yes, piousness.

As a scientist, he was devoted to science.

This technology likely came from a civilization far more advanced than Earth.

Perhaps it came from a Star Trek battleship…

No matter where it came from, this valuable debris was in his hands.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He then placed the battery sample into the Bk-6808 battery charger before he carefully placed it under the digital microscope.

Now all he had to do was wait.

Hopefully, the result would not be disappointing.

Lu Zhou set a 10-minute photo timer and turned on the battery tester. He then took a Polignac's conjecture research document and quietly started to read.

Chapter 185: Surprisingly Effective

The sun shined bright outside the window.

Lu Zhou had fallen asleep at the table. He woke up and rubbed his eyes. He then moved his stiff arms as he stood up.

Then, he quickly went over to check on the digital microscope.

No explosions, no smoke.

Lu Zhou was glad to see that the sample was intact. He then looked at the computer next to it and flipped through the photos.

"It's done!"

He squeezed his fist tightly and he nearly screamed out loud.

Since yesterday, he had completed four sets of charge and discharge cycles and there was no lithium dendrite!

The lithium ions that traveled to the negative electrode did not form white tree ridges. Under the PDMS material, a layer of moss-like pleats was stacked on one another.

From the data on BK-6808, the coulomb efficiency was maintained at a fairly high level!

These results surprised Lu Zhou.

He originally thought that the PDMS material and the carbon nanospheres had to be combined to completely solve the lithium dendrite problem. Yet, the effect was amazing with just the PDMS material alone.

As for the carbon nanospheres, Lu Zhou guessed that it was to accelerate the deposition rate of lithium ions and to use to "level" the folds under the PDMS material.

As for the mossy "pleats", while it definitely had an effect on the performance of the battery, it was much better than the deadly lithium dendrite!

Without the nanospheres, the battery's charge cycle would intensify the wrinkling phenomenon. It would also result in the coulomb cycle decreasing and reduced battery life.

Perhaps this was unacceptable for an advanced civilization, but on Earth, this was negligible.

As long as the battery was safe, any company would love to implement this technology!

Someone could use their phone for a week straight.

Of course, many other factors would also affect the performance of the battery. The battery life depended on how the battery chip was designed, and this part was out of Lu Zhou's expertise.

However, there was no doubt that this new anode material would revolutionize the battery industry!

Whether it was the lithium borate battery or a lithium manganese cobalt battery, the negative electrodes were mainly graphite. As for the lithium-sulfur battery that was still lying in the laboratory, that was inhibited by the lithium dendrites.

Therefore, Lu Zhou knew that what his experiment results meant.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"System, what will those carbon nanospheres do?"

The system did not answer.

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes, he looked at the sample under the microscope.

"As expected…"

As expected, the carbon nanospheres technology was beyond his material science level. He did not have access to the information.

Nonetheless, this did not matter.

He had the data from the debris, so he did not have to rely on the system to solve the problem.

When he had his own laboratory, he would hire a team of researchers to do the experiments for him.

Lu Zhou unplugged the power supply and placed the battery sample into a small box.

Then, he saved all of the photos from the BK-6808 into his USB and as a precaution, he deleted all of the data.

Lu Zhou cleaned the laboratory and made sure that he did not leave anything behind. He then walked out and planned to return the keys to Professor Wang.

When he stepped outside, he bumped into Brother Qian.

When Brother Qian saw Lu Zhou, he waved and asked, "Is the experiment done?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "It's done."

He suddenly thought of something and asked, "Oh yeah, are you studying electrode materials?"

Last year when Lu Zhou was helping Professor Li, he heard that they were going to do an electrode material experiment this year.

"Yeah," replied Brother Qian as he nodded. With a smile, he asked, "Interested?"

Lu Zhou answered with another question, "What research project is it?"

Brother Qian replied casually, "The positive electrode material of lithium-sulfur battery. The latest research results of MIT found that the sulfur is fixed in the mesoporous carbon material as the positive electrode material and it effectively slows down the growth of the lithium dendrites of the negative electrode. I can't say anything else since I signed a confidentiality agreement. If you're interested, Professor Li will definitely welcome you to join our team."

"I'm fine. Anyway, Professor Lu would not be happy to see me doing experiments," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "Also, I don't think this is a good choice… I've read the thesis you talked about as I'm doing a similar research experiment…"

Lu Zhou continued to speak, "… I think that if the discovery was so important, the team from MIT wouldn't publish it so easily."

Technology that had been published could not be patented, as it would conflict with national patent laws.

Generally, those laboratories with investment in enterprises (mainly engineering), would usually register the first patent in order to protect the results from the research. It was only after they registered that they would publish the thesis.

Anything that was published was unreliable and similar things had happened in the battery industry.

In 2011, Cornell University's L-Archer research group published a paper on aluminum-ion batteries. They proposed a battery model in which Al was used as a positive electrode for V2O5 which was once used as a battery model. The "breakthrough" was reported and it was even reported by the famous "Science" journal.

However, the final outcome was unpleasant.

In the MRS meeting, Cornell's people were attacked by a man named Luke Reid…

Lu Zhou did not know if the MIT results were correct, but he knew that there was no way to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites from the cathode.

He knew this because he had already solved this problem.

He was even about to register a patent.

Brother Qian shook his head and said, "We'll still run experiments, just to see how it goes."

Lu Zhou sighed, "Then… I wish you good luck."

He could not reveal anything more.

No one would believe him and they might even get offended.

He could only warn them.

However, he did not worry too much. He wondered what Professor Li would say to him after he published his thesis.

He could register his patent by next year, and after that, he could start writing his thesis.

He would be in Princeton by then.

Maybe, by then, Professor Li would give up on this research project.Materials Research Society

Chapter 186: Unexpected Reunion

Once the bottleneck of the lithium anode breakthrough, the entire industry would benefit from it. From mobile phone charging to new energy vehicles, many problems could be solved with the solution of lithium dendrite.

However, the birth of new technology was bound to conflict with the interests of some people.

For example, the laboratories that were doing this experiment.

Proving a mathematics conjecture would only destroy maybe a dozen or so theses. However, developing technology would potentially destroy research projects worth hundreds of millions. Their research projects would be worthless, while his technological invention would be worth billions.

Of course, Lu Zhou did not let this stop him. He still planned on registering the patent and publishing the thesis.

From another perspective, the resources wasted on lithium anode materials could now be allocated to other research projects.

It could be allocated to designing the battery itself, or even the production of the battery.

These resources meant funding, and it also meant researchers.

Once Lu Zhou went back to his dorm, he began to fill in the patent documents. He had to state the thing he was patenting.

For the sake of caution, he did not brag too much. He only stated it as an "improved polydimethylsiloxane nanoporous film", and said that it "can protect" the anode material.

This was Lu Zhou's first time applying for a patent, so he did not know that he was being too cautious.

There was a countless patent application for lithium negative electrodes so he could brag all he wanted to.

Some people even dared to claim to solve the lithium dendrite problem.

Just like submitting subpar theses, the patent industry was no different.

The reason for this was that many scientific research projects required patents. Therefore, they were of no use. One had to have patents for a company to have an interest in investing.

Another reason was regarding policy. Many enterprises were using the old fashion way of "catching up", which created a lot of patent problems. In order to catch up with the technology of developed nations, the National Knowledge Bureau had been relatively lax on patent applications.

Of course, the most important reason for the flood of patents was that patents were different than journals. Journals were strictly peer-reviewed.

Meanwhile, the auditors would only verify if the patent conflicted with other pre-existing patents. They would not really test to see if the patent was as nutty as it claimed to be.

Even journals could not guarantee that every "breakthrough" thesis was real and reliable, how could patents?

Lu Zhou guessed that even when his patent was accepted, no one would notice the value of his technology unless he published his experiment data online, or wait until his patent was approved before he published a thesis to catch the public's attention.

The materials section was filled out. As for the specific patent application process, Lu Zhou was not worried. He had a reliable party for help.

Lu Zhou's responsible patent attorney was a 30-year-old man named Han Tianyu. From his CV, this guy looked quite reliable. His professional smile reminded Lu Zhou of insurance sellers.

From domestic patents to international patents, this guy did it all. He promised the fastest handling speed and signed a confidentiality agreement.

Although it cost a lot of money, it was worthwhile to protect his intellectual property rights.

Generally, large enterprises had specialized departments for patent management. Lu Zhou obviously did not have access to that team, so his best choice was to find a reliable patent agency for help.

In fact, many small enterprises and laboratories used patent agencies.

Contacting the auditor and the oral defense was cumbersome. Not to mention, the complicated patent laws were difficult to understand.

If a sophisticated invention had a poorly written patent, the resulting patent could be invalid. The technology could then be stolen by others.

Therefore, the patent exams were one of the hardest exams in the country.

…

After Lu Zhou completed the patent application, he concentrated all of his energy into solving the Polignac's conjecture.

In fact, his daily lifestyle did not change much. The laboratory visits turned into library sessions while the experiment equipment turned into textbooks…

When Lu Zhou saw the young students in the library, he could not help but think.

Maybe two years later, these students would be calling him Professor Lu?

Wow, it's quite exciting to think about this.

Suddenly, a jasmine flower scent floated from the side.

Someone poked his arm and quietly asked, "Hey, how do you do this question?"

"Question? Show me… Wait!"

When Lu Zhou saw the person sitting next to him, he was shocked. He almost thought that he was dreaming.

Chen Yushan was happy to see that Lu Zhou was surprised, so she smirked and asked, "How it is, little brother, are you surprised to see me?"

Surprised… Not really, just unexpected.

"Yeah, it's unexpected…"

Didn't she get into the University of Yan? Why is she back at the University of Jin Ling…

Wait a minute, something doesn't feel right.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized the problem.

"… Speaking of which, I'm also a master's student now."

He did not want her calling him little brother anymore.

Chen Yushan blinked and said casually, "I know, Meng Qi told me. You graduated at the beginning of the year. Speaking of which, how come you didn't tell me!"

Chen Yushan had a sliver of complaint in her eyes.

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

You're the one calling me little brother, so why are you giving me that look!

He wanted to say something but suddenly someone near them coughed.

That loner instantly killed the vibe in the atmosphere.

The two had an awkward expression when they suddenly recalled that they were in the library.

Chen Yushan was a little embarrassed as she pointed to the door and said, "How about we go get something to drink?"

Lu Zhou looked around. Even though he was not done with his calculations, he still nodded, "Okay."

He could not stand the depressing vibes that were coming from the loners.

Also, since she came all the way from Beijing, he was obligated to hang out with her. Their friendship was still quite good.

Not to mention, she was the one buying.

Chapter 187: No More Opportunities In The Future

Chen Yushan was not talking about alcohol.

They went to the coffee shop in front of the school gate and the two ordered a mocha and cappuccino before they sat down by the window.

"Why did you suddenly come back?"

Chen Yushan replied nonchalantly, "It's the summer holiday. Why won't I return to Jinling?"

Is there such a thing as a summer holiday for master's students?

Lu Zhou asked, "Your supervisor didn't take you to do projects?"

Chen Yushan supported her chin with her palms as she sighed and said, "That's how it is studying under an academician. I can't even find him. I have to rely on my self."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I'm also studying under an academician, but I feel quite fulfilled."

Professor Lu treated him pretty well. He took Lu Zhou to Switzerland and gave him a lot of working experience at CERN.

If he did not have CERN's internship, he would not have found the 750 GeV sample. Neither would he appeared in Nature Weekly or worked with Professor Frank.

"I guess it depends on the supervisor…" said Chen Yushan as she sighed. She suddenly remembered something and asked excitedly, "Oh yeah, Meng Qi told me that you're going to Princeton next year?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm going latest summer next year. Once I get my degree, I'll go to Princeton for PhD."

"Wow, impressive," gasped Chen Yushan. Her mouth was wide opened as she stared at Lu Zhou for a long time. She then said softly, "Oh, little brother, you're giving me a lot of pressure like this. If this goes on, maybe I'll have to call you as my older brother?"

Lu Zhou was speechless, "Did you just realized this?"

"Little brother, Little brother"

Lu Zhou saw that Chen Yushan kept calling him little brother, so he asked, "What?"

"Nothing, " said Chen Yushan as she shook her head. She then smiled, "I just want to call you that a few more times since I won't get the chance in the future."

Lu Zhou could not help but complain, "I'm also doing my master's right now! You already don't have the chance."

Chen Yushan seemed to realize this as she had an awkward look on her face. She laughed and said, "Don't be so stingy. Watch out, you might not be able to find a girlfriend…"

She suddenly realized that she was single herself, so she changed the topic, "Speaking of which, did you pass TOEFL?"

Lu Zhou, "I passed it before I went to the Princeton conference."

Chen Yushan felt like English was her strength, so she suddenly asked, "What did you get?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I think 118."

Chen Yushan was quiet for a while before she sighed, "Not bad, little brother… Do you really not have a subject you're not good at?"

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly, "I do. I'm not good with modern history… Oh yeah, did you get the offer from University of Pennsylvania?"

Chen Yushan nodded her head and said, "I got it, I'm going at the end of the year."

Lu Zhou could not believe it, "Wharton?"

Chen Yushan proudly smiled and said, "Of course!"

F*ck me, I can't believe she got in!

Lu Zhou was astonished.

Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania was known as the birthplace of the MBA. It was the top business school in the US and ranked top three in the world. All of the wall street investment banks wanted graduates from Wharton. Even POTUS went to Wharton.

Even though the admission was not as difficult as Princeton, it was still hard to get an offer!

Also, even if she did 1+2 training, she would have to stay at the University of Yan for another year. Strictly speaking, she would be admitted to the school after September.

It meant that she had half a year left at the University of Yan.

Basically, 0.5+2 training.

Would her supervisor really let her go?

Lu Zhuo had always been suspicious of Chen Yushan's academics, but now he believed her.

This chick really is a genius student.

Even though her mathematics is kind of crappy…

It was getting late, so the two ate dinner together.

Lu Zhou thought that they would split the bill but Chen Yushan insisted on paying. She said that he could buy her dinner next time.

From their conversation, Lu Zhou learned that she came back to Jin Ling to pack up her dorm.

The new semester was about to start, so Chen Yushan had to move her stuff out of her dorm room at the University of Jin Ling and into her dorm room at the University of Yan.

She just happened to bump into Lu Zhou.

Once they finished eating, they walked back to campus.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou thought of something and he asked, "Oh yeah, how did you know I was in the library?"

Chen Yushan said, "I mean, where else could you be?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why does she sounds like I'm always at the library?

The pair walked back to the dorms.

These two were only platonic friends, so Chen Yushan did not have plans to go back to his dorm.

She cleared her throat as she held her hands behind her back while she looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Then, little brother, I'll see you next year."

Lu Zhou wanted to say bye but felt a little strange. So he asked, "Next year?"

Chen Yushan blinked and said, "Yeah, aren't you going to Princeton?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah… But Princeton is in New Jersey, not in Pennsylvania."

Chen Yushan tilted her head and said, "But the University of Pennsylvania is in Philadelphia, and I think the University of Pennsylvania is close to Princeton. Didn't you get off the plane at Philly when you went to Princeton?"

F*ck!

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that geography was not his strong suit.

Last time he went to Princeton, he got off at Philadelphia.

The University of Pennsylvania was close to Philadelphia.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou's expression and smiled, "They're really close together. I'll check out the place for you first. When you go there next year, remember to call me. I'll take you to Princeton."

Chapter 188: Dorm 201

The school was about to start and the friends of Dorm 201 had returned.

Liu Rui was the first to return to school. He was working hard as always and he began to study advanced algebra as soon as he got back.

However, since he knew that he would never catch up to Lu Zhou, he had a more realistic goal.

Like the graduate entrance exam…

Most people started studying in their fourth year, so it was impressive that he had already started in his third year.

The dorm leader was the second to come back.

When Shi Shang walked in and saw Lu Zhou, he put down his luggage and shouted excitedly, "Zhou, I haven't seen you all summer! You've been humble bragging again!"

Lu Zhou was studying the Polignac's conjecture in his seat when he looked at Shi Shang with a confused expression.

"What did I do?"

I didn't do anything. What do you mean humble bragging?

What are you talking about?

Shi Shang sat in his seat and said, "Stop being modest, I saw what you did in Nature Weekly!"

That's it…

That's old news.

Lu Zhou looked at Shi Shang and he was speechless.

"You read Nature Weekly?"

"Nope, but I saw it on Weibo!" said Shi Shang. He continued to ask, "So, is there hope for a Nobel Prize?"

When Liu Rui heard Nobel Prize, he stopped studying and began to listen.

He normally did not go on Weibo, so this was his first time hearing that Lu Zhou was on Nature Weekly.

He did not understand how a mathematician like Lu Zhou was able to get the Nobel Prize.

When Lu Zhou heard Shi Shang's question, he smiled and asked, "I don't know. Why don't you go to Switzerland and ask?"

It was not like the Nobel Prize was easy to get. Shi Shang was clueless.

Suddenly the door to their dorm room was pushed open.

Huang Guangming had his glasses on as he carried his suitcase awkwardly as he walked in.

"201, your daddy is back… F*ck me, Brother Fei, daddy was wrong… Don't… Let me get my glasses first. Ah…"

His glory lasted for three seconds.

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Rui and Shi Shang started wrestling him while Lu Zhou was cheering on the side.

Like this, the previously quiet atmosphere in Dorm 201 was broken again…

…

Strictly speaking, Lu Zhou was only considered as a first-year master's student.

However, this did not matter to him as he would get his degree in a year anyway.

The class schedule that Professor Lu gave him was pretty useless. He would usually study mathematics in his dorm room. Specifically, Polignac's conjecture.

The twin prime conjecture was already solved. Now, he had to find a solution to extend the proof.

The topology method was no longer of any use. He had to find a new method to solve this problem.

This was the most troublesome part of number theory.

There were too many options to choose from. Most people did not even know where to start when facing difficult number theory questions.

However, Lu Zhou stayed calm. He was not frustrated at all.

He had already solved many mathematical conjectures. Even though he was not inspired this time, he knew what being inspired felt like.

Even though he did not have "inspiration hours" to help him, he knew that sooner or later, he would solve this problem.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou's three friends from Dorm 201 began their third-year undergraduate studies.

Lu Zhou felt like he was racing ahead of his peers.

The class leader Tian Jun came back and had a committee meeting. Tian Jun said to check their class schedules online.

Some classes were canceled so some students could not take the classes they wanted.

Normally speaking, in order to study for the graduate entrance exam in their fourth year, third-year students would take all the core subjects in their third year.

It was a pain in the ass when they could not take a class.

Unfortunately, this happened to someone.

"F*ck, my actuarial mathematics class was canceled."

Huang Guangming screamed in front of the computer.

Shi Shang's heart dropped and he quickly looked at his own class schedule. He saw that all his classes were still there. He smiled and said, "Not bad, Guangming, you want to get into finance?"

Huang Guangming said, "Shut up, it's so annoying. Why was the class canceled!"

Normally, teachers with many projects did not want to teach undergraduate students. They wanted to use their energy on PhD students.

They were too busy to teach undergrad classes…

Shi Shang smiled and said, "Then why don't you choose something else ASAP? I think the Academic Affairs Office website is still open, so hurry up."

"I know, I'm choosing…" murmured Huang Guangming as he logged onto the academic affairs office website. He then looked at Lu Zhou, "Zhou, which class is easier?"

Lu Zhou replied without thinking, "Mathematical model. Professor Liu teaches this class and he's a nice guy."

Professor Liu was the type of teacher to give the students the entire syllabus and not lie about it.

He was also the fairest professor that Lu Zhou had ever come across.

In his opinion, the mathematical model was one of the most simple courses he took.

"Let me look at it," said Huang Guangming as he looked at the computer screen and clicked his mouse. He said, "F*ck, it's full."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "Then what about basic number theory? It looks pretty simple."

"Fine, let me see… F*ck me, there are still 20 spots left!" said Huang Guangming with a surprised tone.

Suddenly, Liu Rui said, "Give up."

He twisted the pen in his hand and slowly said, "Don't be fooled by the words 'basic' number theory. It's literally the most difficult mathematics course. Only Zhou would think that it's easy… Choose something else."

Lu Zhou: "…"

What the hell?!

Huang Guangming said, "F*ck me, Lu Zhou, don't screw me over."

"Oh? Okay then. I don't really know what is easy…" said Lu Zhou.

Shi Shang rubbed his chin and asked, "Zhou, are you close with Professor Liu?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before saying, "Pretty close. After all, he took me to the mathematical modeling competition."

Shi Shang said, "Then… Why don't you ask for Huang Guangming? See if the professor can squeeze him on."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, I'll ask him today."

"Zhou, my good friend. I'm…" said Huang Guangming. He was moved as he continued, "I don't know how to thank you!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "That's easy, just thank me with dinner. The fish restaurant is good."

Huang Guangming: "…"

Chapter 189: Different Than Imagination?

Seeing that Huang Guangming would buy him food, Lu Zhou was happy to help.

Once he finished his class in the afternoon, he went straight to Professor Liu's office. He greeted the old gentlemen and mentioned his favor.

"Oh, this thing," said Professor Liu at Lu Zhou's request. He smiled, "Easy, I'll let him join. Write down your friend's name. I'll go to the Academic Affairs Office later and add his name for the enrollment."

For him, this favor was very easy to do.

Lu Zhou did not realize that Professor Liu no longer treated him as a student, but rather a young and promising scholar. In other words, a worthy colleague.

It was because in two years or so, once Lu Zhou returned from Princeton, he would become the youngest professor at the University of Jin Ling.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was also a CERN researcher and Professor Lu's student, and he was about to be a nominee for Fields Medal… This kid was famous among the domestic academic community.

However, this kid did not even realize it.

Maybe that was one of his strengths. Humbleness.

Not many people could accomplish so many achievements at his age. Liu Xiangping had only seen a handful of students, but most of them fell off the board once they got older.

This was because the young talented geniuses would often get distracted by fame and stopped grinding.

Not to mention all the bragging and ego boosting…

This was why Professor Liu was so curious about Lu Zhou.

If anyone else had any of Lu Zhou's achievements, he could spend the rest of his life bragging about it.

However, Lu Zhou was different.

He would get excited and energetic. After the excitement ended, he would calm down and might even forget about it. He did not have that kind of arrogance.

After he got the Higher Education Society Cup, Professor Liu had a strange feeling that Lu Zhou was different than his other students.

Maybe… This is the potential of a great man?

Liu Xiangping was shocked at his own thoughts and it was unclear how this idea came to mind.

He had taught countless students over the years, but only one person was able to make him think this way.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you, professor."

"You're welcome," said Liu Xiangping as he shook his hand. He then asked, "Oh yeah, are you going to Beijing in October?"

Lu Zhou did not know why Professor Liu would ask him this, but he still nodded and said, "Yeah… Professor Lu is taking me there."

Professor Liu asked curiously, "Oh, what did Professor Lu say it was for?"

Lu Zhou, "He didn't tell me… He said it was to take me to visit Professor Qiu Chengtong. Why?"

"Nothing. That's a good thing," said Liu Xiangping. He saw that Lu Zhou was oblivious and so, he smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Then I'll have to congratulate you in advance."

Lu Zhou, "…?"

Congratulate?

What's there to congratulate?

Lu Zhou felt inexplicably confused. He did not know what the old man was saying.

However, Professor Liu would not tell him why. He only said, "It would be boring if I revealed it to you. Go ask Old Lu if you're curious."

When Lu Zhou saw Professor Liu's smirk, he was speechless. He did not like it when someone left him hanging.

He was at a loss.

…

The study of the Polignac's conjecture reached a bottleneck. Lu Zhou read a ton of documents and still, he could not find an effective method.

Recently on Arxiv, there were many interesting theses. Someone cited his [Annual Mathematics] thesis and discussed his method of proving the twin prime conjecture. This person tried to attack the Polignac's conjecture and it exploded on the Internet.

Lu Zhou felt like some of the viewpoints were interesting, but they were missing something.

He planned on taking a break from this conjecture for a few days. Suddenly, an email from CERN appeared in his mailbox.

[Lu,

CERN's recent research results are exciting. The characteristic peaks of 750 GeV are becoming clearer. The confidence levels on ATLAS and CMS detectors are 1.9 sigma and 2.1 sigma respectively. I believe that with the accumulation of collisions, we will definitely find the hidden secret, the secret behind the characteristic peak of this energy zone… So we might have to start doing more work.

I am watching the Hadron Collider experiment closely. I will update you on any new discoveries.

Also, based on the latest data collected by the LHC, I speculate that the particles there may form the last piece of the puzzle in the standard model. This piece of the puzzle has exceeded the expectations of the old supersymmetric particle.

If this is true, then there is no doubt that our work here will be influential.

With regards to the supersymmetry theory, the current work progress of my students and I have reached a critical stage. In the study of the 750 GeV energy region signal, some interesting data appeared on several detectors.

Regardless of your ability to process this data, I hope that you can give me a reply as soon as possible. After all, there are many people who are staring at the signal of this energy zone. We must race against time.

Also, I am not doubting your academic morality, but I have to remind you to please keep the contents of this email confidential. Please tell me if anyone gives you a hard time.

]

Since this was a professional work email, the old man wrote the words concisely.

Obviously, Lu Zhou would not reject the old man.

He typed a few words on his keyboard and replied, [… I will try to quickly process this data. It should only take three days. As for your concern, I guarantee that I will keep this confidential.]

Lu Zhou obviously would not let a third party see this data.

It was not only a matter of academic reputation but also a matter of character.

Lu Zhou hit the "Reply" key before he pulled out a laptop from his drawer. He wiped the dust off and plugged it in.

The compressed file in the email was small and most of it was image and chart files.

Once Lu Zhou finished the decompression, he opened the text file. He then looked at the contents inside.

Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows.

Why does it feel like…

This looks different than I imagined?

Chapter 190: Speechless.

Massachusetts, America.

A plane landed at the Boston International Airport.

Frank Wilczek had just flown back to Boston from Switzerland. His student came to pick him up.

The old professor was sitting in the front seat. He placed his laptop on his lap and connected to the wireless network. He planned on doing some work with this free time. Suddenly, he received an email from across the Pacific.

When he saw the sender's name, he clicked on the email.

The PhD student in the driver's seat asked casually, "Professor, how is the situation at CERN?"

Frank looked at the email and replied casually, "At the moment, the situation is still optimistic. The confidence level of three sigma can be confirmed as a sign. CERN staff are checking the instruments and preparing a press conference. I have to complete the theoretical thesis. Next month, I'll bring you to Geneva… What?"

The PhD student saw that the professor stopped talking, so he asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing…" murmured Frank as he read the email and frowned. He suddenly shook his head and said, "It's an interesting point, but I disagree."

The young man from China wrote the email.

[Dear Professor Frank, I have some questions regarding your supplementary theory of supersymmetry. According to the Deligne's theorem on tensor categories, it can be known that the category satisfying certain conditions must be the representation category of a supersymmetric group G so that we can say that supersymmetry is a generalization of field theory. But, in your supplementary theory, it is assumed that there is an extra dimension beyond the symmetry field representation to explain the reason why the supersymmetric particle is too large. Doesn't this contradict the Deligne tensor theorem?"

Academic exchanges were different than work emails. There was no need for additional politeness, so Lu Zhou pointed it out as is.

He believed that Frank would not be so stingy.

However, the old man's reply was also ruthless…

From the other side of the Pacific, after Lu Zhou edited the email and sent it to Frank Wilczek, he leaned back on his chair and stretched.

He was about to go eat when an email popped up in his mailbox.

Lu Zhou opened the email and was amazed.

F*ck, he's already awake?

Switzerland is 6 hours behind, so that means it's only 5 am there!

Lu Zhou did not know that Frank had already returned to MIT.

The reply in the email was simple, and it was mainly to answer his questions.

[Lu, I received your email. Also, regarding your doubts, I admire your knowledge of mathematical physics. But my suggestion is that you should go and study Wigner's theorem in quantum mechanics. Then you would understand the theory of supersymmetry supplement, and won't have any problems with the assumptions that I made.]

Lu Zhou certainly did not know about Wigner's theorem. This was the cornerstone of quantum mechanics.

This theorem described the principle of symmetry in physics systems, such as how rotation, translation, or CPT changed the state of the Hilbert space.

According to this theorem, elementary particles could basically be represented by the irreducible Lie group, and a tensor product could be made for these representations. Furthermore, this operation could correspond to the physical particle bound state.

Isn't that amazing?

Mathematics and physics were linked by a theorem.

This nature provided a theoretical cornerstone for the later application of the Deligne's theorem on tensor categories in physics.

Lu Zhou knew Professor Frank's intentions. He did not have a problem with the supersymmetric complement theory. It was just lacking in mathematical beauty.

For example, as Lu Zhou said, it was impossible to explain the rationality of this extra dimension by using the Deligne's theorem in tensor categories.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit then typed his thoughts on the keyboard.

[But don't you think that we can use a more mathematical sophisticated model to describes the peaks in the 750 GeV energy zone? There is absolutely no need to introduce an extra dimension outside of a fully symmetric field. What I mean is that maybe this is a particle that we don't understand? Dark matter particle?]

Although in order to convince this old man, Lu Zhou said that the 750 GeV signal may have come from supersymmetric particles, he wasn't actually obsessed with supersymmetric particles himself.

There could be many things behind that characteristic peak. The universe isn't built on a single set of theories.

Lu Zhou felt like it was most likely dark matter particles.

After all, this signal is weak enough that without a large number of collisions, this clue wouldn't have been discovered. Dark matter is difficult to observe as it hardly interacts with other elementary particles, including photos.

Lu Zhou pressed the reply button and didn't bother to go eat. He patiently waited in his chair.

If the old man was looking at his email right now, he would soon get a reply.

As expected, soon after, an email popped up.

[What you said is possible, but I don't think it is likely. I'm certain that CERN's equipment isn't advanced enough to detect dark matter. If the signals observed on ATLAS and CMS detectors are dark matter, I'm sure that the characteristic peaks of the two would not be so consistent. If you have any questions, you can consult Mr. Lynn Evans. And for my theory, I can also add a supplementary explanation.

Lu Zhou read the email from top to bottom but he did not know how to reply. Suddenly, two other emails popped up.

[If there's an extra dimension of compaction, then each field in the high-dimensional space corresponds to a normal field in the four-dimensional space, plus an infinite number of fields that are inversely proportional to the length of the compaction. And the source of this field can be used as the Fourier series of the original zero film field in the compaction dimension!]

[Supersymmetric particles should also exist in this field. This relationship couples the supersymmetric particles with fermions. I think this makes sense, in theory. So according to this theory, we should be able to find supersymmetric particles under the energy mark below TeV, so you should have more confidence in LHC.]

F*ck, this guy types pretty fast.

While the first email made him doubt CERN's equipment, the second email gave him confidence in the collider.

What the hell is this?

Lu Zhou stared at the three emails for a long time while his hands remained static on the keyboard.

The old gentleman was confident in his own theory.

Lu Zhou was speechless and he did not know what to reply.

Chapter 191: Inspiration Always Comes Inadvertently

After a long time, Lu Zhou finally typed a line of words.

[What if we don't find it?]

The old man typed fast, and within five minutes, he answered Lu Zhou's question.

[This is of course possible. If the energy standard doesn't find what we need, we can only declare the non-existence of the smallest supersymmetric standard model. Then we would go to higher energy zones and find us the things that we need. Proving that our previous work was wrong is also an important discovery. Although it is not necessarily what we want to see… But I think that you should have more confidence in our theory. I can smell the victory and it smells good.]

The old man even made a joke.

However, Lu Zhou was not as optimistic, so he did not smile at all.

Probably because he did not understand the feeling of studying in the labyrinth of the quantum world for decades. So he did not cultivate the humor that a theoretical physicist must need in the face of an unsolved mystery.

He would not be depressed if he did not understand something.

However, if his research did not seem to have an end, it would make him feel irritated.

Yes, this was his psychological makeup.

Even a Nobel Prize winner could not convince him of anything he did not understand.

This was unlike mathematics. Mathematics was binary and there was only a right or wrong answer.

What irritated Lu Zhou was that theoretical physics was different. Once could be both wrong and right at the same time, but just on different levels.

The development of the theory was far different from the experiment. Theories of impossible experiments had been developed.

The "standard model" that theoretical physics so heavily relied on was "unreliable".

In the 1960s, the supersymmetric theory proposed the string theory which later emerged in the 1980s. However, over the past few years, weird particles were found in the laboratory. The theoretical physics community hurriedly announced the entry into the "post-standard model" era, and within two years, the neutrino oscillation brought the standard model back.

Lu Zhou could understand why Mr. Frank was so obsessed with supersymmetry.

This persistence was definitely not because of something superficial, but because the supersymmetry theory was not established. The loopholes of the standard model could not be filled, and the string theory based on supersymmetry theory would also collapse.

If the supersymmetry theory was proven wrong, then people would ask why the theoretical physicists wasted half a century of time working on the standard model.

If only theoretical physics worked like the news…

One could discover this today and overthrew it tomorrow. Every day would be a new page.

In reality, theoretical physicists had to be rigor and clear. They could not just constantly changed their theories.

Lu Zhou did not know if his dark matter speculation was correct.

Both theories had the possibility of being established. However, the theories were wildly different. Lu Zhou wished he had the evidence to refute Frank's theory, but unfortunately, he did not.

He had to wait for the results of the experiment.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before typing a line of words.

He then clicked "Send".

[Maybe you're correct, but I'm still inclined to believe in my theory.]

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Professor Frank was sitting in the front seat when he suddenly laughed out loud. His action scared the PhD student that was driving.

The PhD student glanced at the computer and asked, "What?"

"Nothing," answered Frank as he shook his head. He then closed his laptop before smiling and said, "That Chinese boy I told you about is quite funny."

…

Lu Zhou did not feel so good.

He stared at the computer for a long time. He then looked at the stack of A4 papers on his desk before scratching his head irritably.

Two-line operations seemed to be the wrong choice. One was number theory, the other was functional analysis and group theory. Both were big problems.

This most uncomfortable thing was that Mr. Frank introduced an extra dimension operation outside the symmetry field. This really was not mathematically sophisticated. From Lu Zhou's perspective, solving this problem with the perspective of dark matter would avoid many mathematical problems.

From the perspective of dark matter, every Z/PZ generator could be mapped to a function such as exp(2pi·i/p), and the Pontryagin duality problem could probably be solved.

The mathematicians in him told him that this was very probable.

Lu Zhou leaned back into his chair and stared at the ceiling. The mathematics symbols kept appearing in his brain to the point that he totally forgot to eat.

Group theory…

Group theory…

If only group theory is as simple as number theory… Although number theory isn't exactly simple…

Wait, group theory?!

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up and suddenly his mind flashed with information.

He was not thinking about the 750 GeV characteristic peak, but rather he was thinking about the Polignac's conjecture.

He sat up abruptly from his chair and picked up a pen. At the moment, Lu Zhou's brain was spinning a million miles per second.

Group theory was a very powerful tool. Not only was it listed as the two theoretical artifacts of quantum mechanics in the Hilbert space in functional analysis, but it was also useful when dealing with infinite prime numbers.

For example, any number theory teacher would teach about Fermat's theorem.

This theorem had many methods of proof. The most succinct proof was by group theory.

This proof only needed three lines.

If α and p were primes, the Euler's theorem was α^φ(p)≡1(modp), but φ(p)=p-1, so α^(p-1)≡1(modp). Both sides would then multiply by α to get the conclusion: when α was a natural number and p was a prime number, there was α^p≡α(modp).

Was it that difficult?

In fact, Fermat's theorem was only a special case of Euler's theorem.

On the other hand, Euler's theorem could also be solved by group theory. However, it took half a page.

During this time, Lu Zhou was thinking of how to solve the Polignac's conjecture with a topology method. He had not even considered other mathematical methods.

In fact, many theses on arXiv had been trying to solve the Polignac's conjecture with his topology method.

However, Lu Zhou did not realize that physics would inspire him.

This was unexpected.

Lu Zhou started to spin the pen in his hand and he suddenly slapped the table.

He sighed and spoke with emotion.

"This idea might work!"

When the inspiration comes, it's like a tsunami. You can't stop it!

Lu Zhou placed the 750 GeV issue aside and pulled out a brand new A4 paper.

Chapter 192: Annual Mathematics!

Once the inspiration came to Lu Zhou, he could not stop writing. He had even completely forgotten about eating.

Lu Zhou's brain was filled with creative juice, and he was totally motivated as he took his pen and started to write on the paper.

[

The restriction group G is provided and |G|=p1α1p2α2···piαi, where pi is a prime number and αi is a positive integer. Let p∈π(G), define deg(p)=|{q∈π(G)|p~q)

The number of times deg(p) is the vertex p. Redefine C(G)=…

]

…

Time slowly passed by, but he did not stop writing.

This felt different than the last time.

Last time his inspiration was given. This time, his inspiration was created by himself.

The pen moved swiftly on the paper.

Without him realizing it, he had already written five draft papers.

Lu Zhou rubbed his stomach and leaned against his chair before he took out his phone.

He was shocked when he looked at the time.

"F*ck, it's already five o'clock!"

He had not even eaten his breakfast yet.

Lu Zhou could not handle it anymore. He then went to the crowded cafeteria and ate some dinner. After dinner, he continued to work.

It was at six o'clock in the evening when Shi Shang returned from his class with his food. When he saw Lu Zhou writing on the desk, he asked, "Zhou, what are you doing? Master's students have homework too?"

Lu Zhou was at a crucial point, so he did not raise his head when he replied, "Writing a thesis."

Suddenly, Huang Guangming and Liu Rui also came back with their food.

Liu Rui placed his backpack on the table and took out his homework while Huang Guangming walked over to Lu Zhou and looked at the paper curiously.

He was muddled when he saw what Lu Zhou was writing.

"F*ck, Zhou, I don't understand a single word you wrote."

Out of curiosity, Shi Shang also came over.

"Guangming, we're third-year students already, so you should at least be able to understand the symbols… F*ck, this is group theory… Advanced stuff!"

Liu Rui was writing his homework when he twirled his pen and said calmly, "It's not that advanced, I think some fourth-year students take that. But it's not related to us applied mathematics majors… Well, unless you transfer to theoretical physics…"

Applied mathematics and theoretical physics were similar, so it was not that unusual for people to transfer.

Most people transferred for the fat physics research budget.

"No way I would transfer," said Huang Guangming as he shook his head and walked away.

"Of course you couldn't transfer, you're not like Lu Zhou," said Shi Shang. He patted Guangming's shoulder with a look of defeat.

Lu Zhou, "…?"

…

Rome was not built in a day. A well-established theory required inspiration and time.

Over the next few days, Lu Zhou spent all his day time at the library, and all his night time in his dorm.

Occasionally, he would have to reply to Professor Frank's email. However, since there was no new data from CERN, he did not have to do too much work.

Lu Zhou felt fulfilled.

Although other people could not understand, he himself was happy.

The second week of September, on a sunny morning, Lu Zhou leaned against his chair in the library. He glanced at the dozens of papers in front of him and said with relief, "Finally done!"

All it took was some inspiration to solve the bottleneck. After that, he could cruise through the rest.

He was exhausted but he also had an unexplainable pleasant feeling.

It was not just because he solved another difficult mathematics conjecture, but it was also because while he was solving this problem, it deepened his understanding of group theory. This gave him new tools in his mathematics toolbox.

This was more exciting than the conjecture itself.

Hilbert once said that Fermat's Great Theorem was a chicken that could lay golden eggs, Not because the chicken had fed a large number of mathematicians, and nor was it because the chicken had given many journals a chance to publish their sub-par papers, but because through it, many novel mathematical methods were derived.

Inspired by the Fermat problem, Kummer introduced the concept of ideal numbers and found the only decomposition theorem that decomposed the number of a circular domain into an ideal prime factor. This theorem had been promoted today by Dedekind and Kroneeck. It occupied a central position in the theory of modern numbers, and its significance had gone far beyond the scope of number theory.

Lu Zhou's work at the Princeton conference was the same. His applied topology method solved the twin prime conjecture.

The original sieve theory was applied by Mr. Chen, and the number theory community believed that in order to solve the Goldbach's conjecture in the form of "1+1", they needed a new method.

It appeared now that the sieve method was more useful than they thought.

Even the professor that introduced the sieve theory in 1995 had not expected this.

This is the value of number theory.

While Lu Zhou was solving the Polignac's conjecture, he also found a unique solution.

He named this method "Structure Research Method of the Group Theory" or "Group Structure Method" for short.

Using the group theory method, the problem of infinity was studied as a whole. The "K=1" form was extended to "k is an infinite natural number", which thoroughly proved that "for all natural numbers k, there are infinite pairs of prime numbers (p, The proposition of p+2k)".

The conclusion might be one only sentence, but it took up several blackboards to prove.

Lu Zhou spent an entire day organizing the proof on his computer before converting it into PDF format.

As he looked at the finished product on his screen, he nodded with satisfaction.

"This should do."

He could still write more on his Group Structure Method.

However, Group Structure Method was not the focus of his thesis.

So far, the Polignac's conjecture had been proved.

While it might seem that the proof was only an extension of the twin prime conjecture proof, but no one other than Lu Zhou knew of its difficulty.

Lu Zhou added a sentence to his thesis.

[… Due to structural reasons, the Group Structure Method theory will be explained in my next thesis.]

Re-format, upload.

Target, Annual Mathematics!

Chapter 193: Correct Posture

At a cafe near Princeton University…

A bald old man was sitting at a corner while he drank his coffee. At the same time, he was reading the thesis in his hand.

Sitting opposite him was Edward Witten.

When Edward Witten aw the thesis in his old friend's hand, he asked, "What are you reading?"

"An interesting thesis submission," said Professor Deligne as he turned the page. He continued, "It's about the Polignac's conjecture."

He could not help but add, "An interesting proof."

Edward Witten asked, "Lu Zhou?"

"Yes," answered Professor Deligne as he held a pen and wrote a few question marks on the paper. In a casual manner, he said, "Missing that conference was your biggest mistake of the year."

Edward Witten smiled and said, "Haha, I agree. Especially since I met him in person, my regrets have gotten stronger."

Deligne looked at him and said, "Oh? When did you fly across the Pacific Ocean?"

Edward Witten, "Other side of Atlantic. Did you forget that I just got back from there?"

Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows and asked, "You met that kid at CERN?"

With a smile, Edward Witten said, "Did you not look at the news recently?"

Professor Deligne shook his head and said, "I didn't, why? Is there anything new?"

Edward Witten, "The LHCb International Cooperation Group published news on the pentaquark. They also found a characteristic peak at the 750 GeV energy zone. They think it could be supersymmetric particles."

"Oh, congratulations. You're one step closer to the Nobel Prize," said Professor Deligne casually.

In a nutshell, supersymmetry discussed a symmetrical connection between a fermion and a boson, which could be seen to some extent as a low-energy deduction of superstring theory.

If the superstring theory was correct, then supersymmetric particles must exist.

So the reverse was that if supersymmetric particles were found, they could provide powerful experimental evidence for superstring theory, but it wouldn't be a rigorous proof.

If they did not find it, the superstring theory would be disproved.

However, Professor Deligne was not particularly concerned about the physics world. His focus was on pure mathematical physics.

Especially number theory and algebraic geometry.

"It's too early for congratulations," said Edward Witten with a smile. He then joked, "I think my Nobel Prize would be behind Stephen Hawking… I won't have a chance."

Only an experimentally proven theory could win a Nobel Prize. Finding the string that made up the universe was much more difficult than proving the black hole evaporation theory.

The latter was theoretically achievable. It only required creating a black hole on a tiny scale. Then, one could use equipment to observe this blackhole evaporate at the speed of light.

However, the former could not be solved by the Hadron Collider. It would take generations to create a collider that could observe in the one dimension.

It was impossible to prove the superstring theory with the current existing technologies.

When Professor Deligne heard his friend speaking in a self-deprecating tone, he smiled and said, "He was also listening to the report?"

Edward Witten smiled and said, "He wasn't listening. He was reporting. Can you believe it? The 750 GeV clue was presented by an intern. He used a probabilistic method to calculate the probability of a characteristic peak appearing in the 750 GeV energy region, and then guess what happened? CERN researchers did a month of experiments and found this characteristic peak on the Hadron Collider."

Professor Deligne stared at the thesis for a long time before he suddenly said, "I didn't realize he was so talented in physics as well."

"Yeah," said Edward Witten as he nodded his head with approval. He then said, "I heard he's coming to Princeton next year. I want to accept him as my student."

Deligne said, "That would depend on his own choices. I think that he's more talented in number theory."

Edward Witten smiled and did not respond.

He hoped that Lu Zhou would choose him but Lu Zhou might not choose either of them.

When Professor Deligne turned to the last page of the thesis, his eyebrows twitched.

Edward Witten asked, "What?"

Deligne shook his head as he replied, "Nothing."

He was just praising the cleverness of the Group Structure Method, but when he read the last line, he was shocked.

If Lu Zhou's thesis was bad, he would have written him an angry email.

…

A major conjecture took a lot of time to test its correctness.

Lu Zhou did not know how long this would take, but he hoped that the review process was faster. Hopefully, it could be done before the end of the year.

After the Polignac's conjecture came to an end, Lu Zhou spent all his time on Mr. Frank's project.

Frank would communicate through email about the supersymmetric supplement theory. Although Lu Zhou had doubts about the theory, he still tried to seek common ground while reserving his opinions.

Lu Zhou had no choice. He could only pick out mathematical problems from the theory, and he was unable to build his own theory.

The main part of this supersymmetric complement theory was mainly done by Mr. Frank. Lu Zhou was responsible for processing the data and repairing the mathematical loopholes of the theory from a mathematical point of view, thus making it look more mathematically aesthetic.

Lu Zhou's work was actually very important.

The reason why string theory was accepted by others was that it was mathematically beautiful.

It was soon October when Professor Lu called Lu Zhou into his office.

"We're going to Beijing on the 20th. I've already booked the ticket for you, so start preparing."

Out of curiosity, Lu Zhou asked, "Okay… Professor, can you tell me why we're going?"

Professor Lu smiled and replied, "Nothing, it's just the Twelfth National Chinese Mathematical Society Conference. It's also the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party. Several old guys proposed to have the conferences together. Also, that Old Qiu guy will come, so I'll bring you along."

The f*ck?

Why do you sound so calm?

This is a big deal!

Lu Zhou wondered, "Isn't the conference in November? Why is it in October? Also, why are you going to a mathematics conference? Aren't you a physicist?"

However, that was not the main point since Lu Zhou remembered that this conference was by invitation only.

Finally, Lu Zhou asked, "Can you go without an invitation?"

"I have the invitation, don't worry about it. Just come with me. This is a good thing for you," said Profesor Lu as he waved his hand. He then said, "Oh yeah, isn't your research topic the Polignac's conjecture? Is there any new research results? If there is, I suggest you apply for a report at this conference. This is a good opportunity."

Reporting at such a high-level conference was a great honor. Even though Professor Lu was engaged in theoretical physics, he was no stranger to the mathematics world.

At this moment, however, he did not know that the Polignac's conjecture thesis was already submitted to Annual Mathematics by Lu Zhou. It was already in the peer review process.

Theses that were submitted could not be reported at conferences as it would be counted as a double submission.

Lu Zhou began to think over it carefully. Other than the Polignac's conjecture, he did not have any other interesting research results to present.

However, he did have his "Group Structure Method" which could be considered a research result.

Maybe I'll just type up a Group Structure Method thesis and report it at the conference!

Lu Zhou smiled at Professor Lu and said, "I'll prepare something."

Professor Lu smiled and said, "Okay then, go prepare. Oh yeah, the deadline for submission is next Friday. Hurry up."

Lu Zhou, "…?!"

The f*ck?

You're only telling me now!

Chapter 194: Meeting In Beijing

As it turned out, a person would never know how much potential he had unless he pushed himself.

Lu Zhou was surprised by his own speed. It took him only a week to sort out his thesis.

Of course, it was given since he had already done most of the work before. His week was spent only on sorting out the thesis.

The thesis was 15 pages long. The title was simple: "The Structure of the Group Theory."

Of course, he had to prove the superiority of his mathematical method. He used two examples.

One was the infinite prime problem, and the other was Wilson's theorem.

These two questions were the touchstone of number theory. The summary of the various methods could be written into a touchstone, standard or criterion by which something was judged.

Similar to these two were the Euler's theorem and Fermat's theorem. Lu Zhou originally planned to use these two examples, but these two already had a fairly simple group theory proof method.

Especially the latter, it only took three lines to prove. There was no room for improvement.

Using his method would be a little redundant.

Finally, Lu Zhou submitted his thesis the day before the deadline.

…

On the morning of 20th October, Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and went on the airplane with Professor Lu. They flew from Jin Ling to Beijing.

This year's academic conference host was Beijing Normal University, and the organizer was the China Mathematics Society.

Since it was also the 80th anniversary of the China Mathematics Society, the conference was exceptionally grand. Many internationally well-known mathematicians were invited to attend this conference.

Lu Zhou's accommodation was at the Emperor Dragon Hotel. The invited guests already had their food and room expenses paid for, so he only had to pay for the $800 yuan registration fee.

However, this fee was already paid by Professor Lu.

He had to admit that it was nice working with a rich supervisor.

Of course, one also had to be worthy enough to be his student.

Once they arrived at the airport, they got on Yan Xinjue's car.

When they arrived at the hotel, Yan Xinjue went to park the car while the two went in first. When they stepped in the elevator, Lu Zhou saw Yan Xinjue walking toward them and he could not help but ask, "Student Yan, you're also attending this conference?"

Yan Xinjue smiled. Before he could say anything else, Professor Lu interrupted and said, "This kid's coming for fun. Don't mind him."

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "What do you mean for fun? I'm supporting Lu Zhou."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed as he said, "I'm only doing a report. Nothing major."

Yan Xinjue patted his shoulder and said, "Humble, but I'll congratulate you in advance! Oh yeah, aren't you doing a report on stage? What hairstyle should you do? Make it handsome."

Lu Zhou, "…?"

Professor Lu smiled but he did not speak. Lu Zhou was confused by both of them.

I feel like these two are hiding something from me.

Why am I not in the loop…

…

After Lu Zhou went to his hotel room and left his suitcase there, he then went to the hall to eat.

Today was mainly for admission. The conference would officially start tomorrow.

The conference would last for five days. It would end on the 25th.

Due to the importance of the conference, the entire hotel was booked by the China Mathematics Society.

Once Lu Zhou finished eating, he looked around. He noticed that the average age of the people here was around 40 years old, and only the waiter was as young as him.

Lu Zhou quickly finished his dinner and he planned to go back to his room.

Suddenly, while he was walking to the elevator, someone greeted him and walked over with a smile.

"Hello, you're Lu Zhou, right?"

"Yes, you are…?" asked Lu Zhou as he looked at him suspiciously. He could not recognize this guy at all.

"Wei Siyang, PhD student at Aurora University," said the young man as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. With a smile, he said, "I saw you at the Princeton Conference, but I didn't get the chance to speak with you. You're too famous!"

"What do you mean famous… Nice to meet you," said Lu Zhou as he forced a smile.

Even though he knew he was nutty, he still did not like being complimented.

Wei Siyang smiled and introduced Lu Zhou to the old man behind him, "Let me introduce you to my boss, Professor Ma Changan. He's in the algebraic geometry field, 2017 academician nominee!"

Professor Ma had a majestic face.

Professor Ma Changan smiled and waved his hand. He said to his student, "What do you mean nominee, stop bragging about me. The organization hasn't even decided yet."

Even though he reprimanded his student, it was obvious he liked to be complimented.

Professor Ma smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "I've done thirty years of research, but have little success. You young people really are impressive. It's quite admirable"

With a smile, Lu Zhou replied humbly, "Professor Ma, you're too kind. I still have lots to learn."

"Being humble is good. If I achieved as much as you at your age, I would've been bragging my ass off," said Professor Ma with a smile. He then said, "I heard you were researching Polignac's conjecture?"

The Ten Thousand People Initiative research projects were not confidential.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Yeah."

Professor Ma lifted his eyebrows and said, "How's the research going?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There's some progress."

The review process for major mathematics conjecture process was slow. It could take months.

The Annual Mathematics journal had not responded yet. His thesis status was still in "peer review" so he could not just say he proved it.

Professor Ma was interested as he smiled and said, "Oh, it seems that you have some ideas?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You could say that."

Professor Ma smiled and said, "I'm doing some research on number theory as well. Why don't you look at my thesis and we can exchange some ideas?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He looked at this professor with doubts in his mind.

It was very rash to request others to look at unfinished research work.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was not his student, so there was no reason for him to look at the professor's work.

In the end, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There's no need for that. I like to study mathematics alone so I won't waste your precious time."

Chapter 195: Announcement Of Grand Prize!

Professor Ma was stunned as he had not expected that he would be rejected by this young scholar.

Even though a smile remained on his face, his eyes were cold.

With an unpleasant tone, Professor Ma said, "What? You think I'm old and can't keep up with your thought process? Or do you think that I'm not good enough?"

Lu Zhou smiled and responded gently, "No, of course not. It's just my personal habit."

Professor Ma stared at Lu Zhou for a while before he laughed and said, "Ah, University of Jin Ling has some good talents. Okay then, it's fine if you're not interested. I won't waste your time."

The old man then walked away.

Wei Siyang was a bit embarrassed. He wanted to be friends with Lu Zhou but he did not want to offend his professor. After hesitating for a moment, he then left.

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He felt that the professor was a little unhappy.

That's strange. Why did this professor care so much about my opinion?

What a weird guy.

When Lu Zhou saw Ma Changan's back as he walked away, he did not know what had just happened.

…

A day later, the 12th National China Mathematics Society and 80th Anniversary Academic conference officially kicked off.

Inside the grand auditorium, people started to crowd on the red carpet.

Even though the conference had not even begun, people were already bragging left and right.

Domestic conferences were different from foreign conferences. The primary goal for domestic conferences was not for academic exchanges. Instead, it was an opportunity to make friends.

Unfortunately, before this conference even began, Lu Zhou had already offended a big name.

However, he felt that his rejection was nicely put and did not think too much into it.

Maybe next time he should lie and pretend that he did not make any progress on Polignac's conjecture?

Lu Zhou, who went into the venue with Professor Lu, excused himself to go to the toilet. When he returned, Professor Lu was nowhere to be found.

He looked around in the venue and could not find Professor Lu, but he did find Yan Xinjue.

Yan Xinjue was chatting with a handsome man who wore glasses.

Just as Lu Zhou walked up and was about to say hello, Yan Xinjue was already one step ahead of him as he said, "Come, let me introduce you to Professor Yang Zhiguang, our outstanding alumni from University of Jin Ling!"

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he was stunned for a moment. He then said, "Professor Yang Zhiguang, nice to meet you!"

Yang Zhiguang was impressive. Lu Zhou saw his name on the University of Jin Ling's Hall of Fame.

Graduated from the University of Jin Ling in 1985, he obtained a master's degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1989 before he went to study at the University of Augsburg in Germany. After obtaining his Ph.D., he then did two years of research at the Technical University of Munich.

When he returned to China in 1994, he worked in the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was selected into the "Hundred Talents Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and won major awards such as "Feng Kang Scientific Computing Award" and "National Natural Science Second Prize".

Of course, the nuttiest part was that this guy reported for 45 minutes at the 2006 International Conference of Mathematicians in Spain.

He was the only speaker from China at that conference!

Yang Zhiguang was absolutely qualified to be a 2017 academician!

However, his research area was different than Lu Zhou. While Lu Zhou did not know much about what he studied, he knew that the professor was engaged in numerical analysis and scientific calculation.

His direction was not purely mathematical, but it was more to applied mathematics and was closely related to engineering.

Lu Zhou was not surprised to see him here.

What he did not expect was that Professor Yang Zhiguang looked so young. If Yan Xinjue did not introduce Lu Zhou to him, Lu Zhou would have thought that the guy was 30 years old. The truth was that Yang Zhiguang was already in his 50's.

In comparison, Yan Xinjue who was only in his 30's already had a receding hairline.

"Hello," said Yang Zhiguang as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He said rather enthusiastically, "I was just talking about your glorious deeds. I didn't expect to meet you so quickly. What an honor!"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied humbly, "What glorious deeds… Your research results have brought benefits to the entire country. My research is all theoretically, it's not even worth mentioning!"

As a physicist, Yan Xinjue could not converse with these two.

Yang Zhiguang held Lu Zhou's hand as said humbly, "Don't be too modest, your calculation methods are of a textbook level. The entire country will be using them! Professor Liu of the Institute of Polymer Materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was very proud of your achievements! Every time I talked about you, he would praise your work. He said it has bridged the gap between materials science and mathematics as well as igniting the fire of stars in computational materials science. Not to mention, your work in number theory… Even international masters have praised you."

F*ck me, this is way too exaggerated!

I just wrote one computational material thesis. What do you mean by bridging the gap?

Lu Zhou did not know what to say.

Fortunately, Professor Lu came over, and he was saved by the bell.

"Fine, stop bragging you two. I can't listen to it anymore!"

When Professor Yang Zhiguang saw Professor Lu, he smiled. Embarrassed, he said, "What do you by bragging, I was telling the truth."

Yang Zhiguang was in his 50's, so he was still young compared to the 70-year-old Professor Lu.

Not to mention, Yang Zhiguang was once in Professor Lu's physics class.

Their relationship was that of mentor and mentee.

As Professor Lu nodded with satisfaction, he said, "Your academician evaluation is coming up, right?"

Yang Zhiguang smiled and said, 'Not sure, it's all up to the organization."

"Okay then. Our University of Jin Ling hasn't produced much mathematics talent, and you're the only one from the '80s. As for the 2010s, it'll depend on this guy," said Professor Lu as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He then added, "You two should do your best. The future of this country depends on you young people."

Yan Xinjue suddenly asked, "Boss, what about me?"

"You?" said Professor Lu. As he looked at him, he said, "You… You should also try your best."

Yan Xinjue, "…?"

Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

…

It was soon nine o'clock, and the opening ceremony of the conference officially began.

Professor Wang Shicheng of the Chinese Mathematical Society delivered an opening speech.

He was then followed by the chairman of the International Mathematical Union, Sen Chongwen, as well as Hergi Horton and the other international mathematicians. They all came to celebrate China Mathematics Society's 80th birthday.

These scholars had been researching since the '80s, and they came from all around the world.

After Professor Wen Lan announced the opening of the conference with a, "Always follow your heart, wherever it may lead you", the conference erupted in applause.

The end of the opening ceremony was the highlight of the conference. Soon, it was the Loo-Keng Hua Mathematics Award and Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award ceremony!

The former was aimed at professors over the age of 50 while the latter was aimed at young scholars under the age of 50. There were two candidates per award.

The prize money was only $100,000 yuan but the meaning was significant.

Especially the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award; it was considered a domestic Fields Medal.

Winners of the Loo-Keng Hua Mathematics Award were academicians Lin and Liu from the University of Sichuan. They were rewarded for their outstanding contributions in computational mathematics and topology.

Soon after, the most exciting moment came.

Professor Qiu Chengtong stood on the podium and smiled. He shook hands with Professor Wang Shicheng before he took over the microphone.

The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award young scholar award would be awarded by this old gentleman.

The applause gradually subsided.

The old man cleared his throat and said slowly, "The first winner is Professor Yang Zhiguang from the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His main research results are systematic research on the perfect matching layer method (PML) for wave scattering problems and the wave source transfer region splitting algorithm for high-frequency Helmholtz equations. He established a mathematical foundation for the famous Peaceman machine model in the engineering world…"

"The second award winner is…"

Professor Qiu flipped to the next page and adjusted his glasses before he announced it loudly.

"Lu Zhou!"

Chapter 196: Controversial Winners

"The second winner… Lu Zhou!"

When the audience heard this name, they did not make any noise.

No one was unfamiliar with this name.

Yet, when everyone heard this name, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.

The reason was that the named person was way too young. He had just turned 21 years old. In fact, Lu Zhou was half the age of everyone else at the venue!

The academic world was a place of qualifications.

No one doubted his qualifications.

However, it was still a surprise that a kid won this award.

Professor Qiu pushed his glasses and continued to speak in a steady tone.

"… The main research results of Lu Zhou are the Zhou's theorem, the twin prime conjecture, and the use of topological methods to further supplement the sieve theory. He created his own unique insights not only in the field of pure mathematics but also applied mathematics. His research results have been highly praised by Professor Bawendi. All of these achievements are commendable for such a young scholar."

This was impressive for a young scholar because even an old scholar who had been doing research for decades might not be able to achieve this level.

As for qualifications…

Since Lu Zhou received recognition from Professor Qiu, no one objected.

Applause sound soon reverberated through the venue.

It was like a thunderstorm, spreading from the front row to the back.

Lu Zhou stared at the podium with his eyes wide opened.

He finally knew what Professor Lu was hiding, and why Yan Xinjue and Professor Liu were congratulating him.

He had never expected that the China Mathematics Society would grant him such an honor.

Although the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was for younger scholars, it had never been awarded to a twenty-something-year-old.

Professor Yang Zhiguang was not shocked. His thick face was neutral.

He had expected it.

He patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Go on, Lu Zhou. Go up the stage and take your award."

"Oh…" murmured Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then stood up and walked on the red carpet.

As he slowly approached the stage, his heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his chest.

However, the second he stepped onto the stage, his heart calmed down.

When Lu Zhou received the gold medal and certificate from Professor Qiu, he said politely, "Thank you."

Professor Qiu smiled and replied, "You're welcome. You deserve this honor!"

Professor Qiu nodded toward Professor Yang Zhiguang and said, "You two winners, say whatever you want."

Yang Zhiguang smiled and said, "I'll let the younger one talks first."

Lu Zhou was unprepared, but Professor Qiu already handed him the microphone.

He took the microphone. He then took a deep breath before he looked at the audience and said with a steady but excited voice, "Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for cultivating me. Thank you, China Mathematics Society, for giving me this award. I'll continue to strive for greater mathematics results!"

"Thank you!"

His award speech was very short.

It was only three sentences.

However, his speech was genuine and not exaggerated.

Clap clap clap…

The venue exploded with applause.

Professor Lu looked at the podium with approval and applauded gently.

Yan Xinjue was even more excited. His hands were red from clapping and he even shouted out loud, "F*ck, Zhou, you're nutty!"

Receiving the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at 21 years old… If it was him, he would have bragged about it for the rest of his life.

"Be polite!"

Even though Professor Lu reprimanded Yan Xinjue, his face was full of smiles.

It was not just mathematicians who were applauding, even the undergraduate students from Peking University Union who was standing at the entrance of the venue joined in.

The person standing on stage was their age. Maybe even younger…

That was why they were applauding.

Lu Zhou had set an example for them.

…

Of course, some people were unhappy about this young winner.

For example, someone who nearly received the reward…

Wei Siyang sat at the back of the venue. He had an awkward expression on his face. His hands were rested on his legs, and he did not care to applaud.

The reason was that his boss was sitting next to him. His boss' face had turned red. If Wei Siyang clapped, he was afraid that he would not be able to graduate.

Professor Ma Changan stared at the person on stage. His mood was terribly gloomy.

He was not furious because Lu Zhou rejected him earlier, but because this honor should have belonged to him.

It was a long story.

The domestic mathematics community was not big, but there were a lot of niche communities.

In 1952, China had a change to the national university system. The authorities asked for domestic universities to imitate the British system. As a result, the mathematics department of both the University of Shuimu and the University of Zhi was cut. Instead, the nation built University of Yan and University of Aurora.

Now, the domestic mathematics community could be divided into the University of Yan, the China Academy of Sciences, and the University of Aurora.

Some said the system change was a waste of academic resources.

The most famous was probably Professor Feng. He was unable to become an academician due to this change.

In the end, this gentleman was hired to be the dean of mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, he was still unable to become an academician.

It was obvious that the selection process of becoming an academician was not "absolute".

Of course, not anyone could become one. One had to have some academic background.

Professor Ma Changan was a member of the University of Aurora. He had prepared for the 2017 academician selection for a long time. He spent the last 20 years working hard at the department of mathematics at Aurora.

However, his academic capital was still too small compared to professors that only did research. He had not even written one major research thesis.

Of course, he had written a few small theses, but most of them were collaborations.

The hardest part was that in China, only the first author mattered.

Therefore, he set his sights on the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

If he received this Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, this would add to his qualifications and he might be able to become an academician.

He had been preparing for this award for years.

He had even planned his award speech.

However, this kid just stole the award from him!

Chapter 197: Have To Go

In the afternoon of that same day, at the mathematics research lab of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Xiang Huanan was sitting quietly.

With his reading glasses on, he was reading [Annual Mathematics]. He had a pen in his hand, and every now and then, he would write on the paper.

To learn was to grow, especially when it came to research in mathematics.

New research results were born ever month. He did not want to fall behind, so he would read every new edition of Annual Mathematics.

Suddenly, an unexpected guest visited his office.

The guest smiled and shouted, "Old man, what are you doing?"

When Professor Xiang Huanan raised his head, he saw Professor Wang Yuping walking into his office. He then took off his reading glasses and said with a smile, "Hey."

He looked at the student next to his desk and said, "Xiao Li, give Professor Wang some tea."

"Okay!"

Xiao Li put his pen down and respectfully poured some tea for the two old professors.

It was not Professor Wang Yuping first visit, so he casually took the cup and sat down on the sofa.

Professor Xiang Huanan was still flipping through the journal as he chatted with his old friend, "Why aren't you at the mathematics conference? What are you doing here?"

"They're not giving me a prize, so why should I go? I'd rather come here to your cool office," said Professor Wang Yuping. He smiled and said, "But I heard that this conference was interesting. The morning opening ceremony was presented by Qiu Chengtong. He gave the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award to some twenty year old. The rumor was that this award belonged to Ma Changan, but it seems that he was screwed over."

This was big news to old Xiang.

However, Professor Xiang was not surprised by who won. Instead, Xiang Huanan was surprised as he looked at his friend and asked, "That Wang Shicheng guy actually bowed down to Qiu Chengtong?"

Due to a professor named Tian, Professor Qiu was unhappy with the department of mathematics at the University of Yan.

In 2001, University of Yan invited a MIT professor to become an academician. Professor Qiu Chengtong was unhappy about it and he said to the press, "I'm the one that deserves to become an academician."

This incident blew up in the country, but in the end it ended in a low-key manner.

However, Professor Qiu Chengtong and the University of Yan never solved their issue. Professor Qiu Chengtong eventually transfered to University of Shuimu due to this incident.

However, not everyone was obsessed with faction, and not everyone was passionate about power.

Especially the old professors who had already made a name for themselves. Their name alone counted as academic capital. They were not overly obsessive and were easy going.

Professor Wang Yuping, for example, was one of those professors who did not care about fame or fortune. He was just an old professor who was really passionate about education.

Due to this, even though he taught at the University of Yan, his relationship with Professor Qiu Chengtong had been quite good. He would often come to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to visit his old friend.

Professor Wang Yuping sipped some tea before saying, "He had to bow. If Ma Changan won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, it would be ungodly embarrassing."

"Are you sure?" asked Professor Xiang Huanan.

"Of course. Why do you think Old Qiu came back? He came back just so he could tell Academician Wang Shicheng that the Federal Mathematics Society is considering about giving Lu Zhou the Cole Prize."

Professor Xiang Huanan was stunned for a moment. He then smiled and said, "This is a bit serious. No wonder Academician Wang is unhappy."

It was not too bad if the winner did not deserve the prize. However, if the loser went overseas and won an even bigger prize there, then that would be a problem.

The media would start to gossip and maybe even talked about conspiracy theories.

If a twenty year old kid defeated several academicians, he would surely deserved the Cole Prize, right?

However, people were not that stupid.

After all, the weight of the Cole Prize was much heavier than the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

"It seems that this conference is a bit interesting. Wang Shicheng actually took the initiative to shake hands with Qiu Chengtong. It's a pity that I missed it," Professor Xiang said with a smile.

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "It's interesting. I plan on going over there tomorrow to check it out. I heard that the kid has a 30 minute report. It seems that when he was researching Polignac's conjecture, he found out some group structure method. I read his thesis, and it looks interesting. His report skill level is high, so it would be a pity to miss it."

"That kid's skill level is high. I could tell that from the oral defense," said Professor Xiang Huanan with a smile. He added, "It's a pity that Lu Shenjian stole him away. Otherwise, I would've been the one guiding him to the award."

"Don't mention it. It still pisses me off," said Professor Wang Yuping as he slapped his thigh. He said, "That Lu guy is a physicist, and he stole one of our mathematicians. How dare he!"

Professor Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "Well, why don't you go tell Old Lu to his face?"

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "That… Never mind. I'm afraid I might give him a heart attack."

Xiang Huanan smiled and shook his head as he flipped the journal page.

Suddenly, he froze.

He looked at the thesis from top to bottom again, and his face became more and more serious. When he read the last line, he paused for a long time.

After a while, Professor Xiang Huanan suddenly asked, "That report… What time is it? Where?"

Professor Wang Yuping was sipping his tea when he casually replied, "Three o'clock in the afternoon, Beijing Normal University. Why? Are you going?"

"I have to go…" Xiang Huanan sighed and placed the Annual Mathematics journal on the table. He then said, "Look at it yourself."

Chapter 198: Rejection

Regardless of whether it was expected or not, the opening ceremony of this year's mathematics conference came to an end. The two Loo-Keng Hua and Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Awards were settled in the applause.

Someone was unhappy?

The rewards did not care about your feelings!

The shutter sound from cameras was loud as the second the opening ceremony ended, the reporters started to swarm toward the stage.

The reporter from Daily Mail asked a question first.

"Professor Qiu, there are rumors that you have had a disagreement with the mathematics department at Yan University. Is this true?"

With a smile, Professor Qiu Chengtong, "Of course it's fake. I'm Wang Shicheng's old friend, and we talk often. Wang Shicheng, don't you agree?"

Professor Wang Shicheng had a stiff smile as he said, "Of course. I admire Old Qiu's work on partial differential equations."

Professor Wang Shicheng was not lying as Professor Qiu Chengtong was one of the leading mathematicians in the country.

If it was another weak person?

Wang Shicheng would have berated them.

Professor Qiu did not have a good temper, and he disliked domestic learning values.

Everyone were academics, so they had a certain demeanor.

Not to mention, the President and Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union were here, so no matter how troublesome their own people were, he still had to be calm on the outside.

On the other hand, it was not only Professor Qiu Chengtong who was being surrounded by reporters. Even the winners of the Loo-Keng Hua and Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Awards were also surrounded.

Especially Lu Zhou.

A 21-year-old winner was really amazing!

This was big news to the reporters.

A reporter rushed over and chased after Lu Zhou to ask, "Mr. Lu Zhou, what thoughts do you have with regards to winning the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm very excited. I don't have any thoughts!"

A foreign journalist rushed over and asked in fluent Chinese, "Mr. Lu Zhou, the rumor is that Professor Qiu and Professor Lu have beef and that this Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was given to you by Qiu Chengtong. Is this true?"

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, "It's my first time meeting with Professor Qiu. He's a respectable scholar. I have no comment regarding personal issues!"

"Mr. Lu Zhou, can I please get your WeChat?"

A young female journalist from the journalism department of Beijing Normal University came over.

However, would Lu Zhou be tempted by her beauty?

Of course not!

In order to avoid being entangled by this lady, Lu Zhou chose to be interviewed.

The questions were firing at Lu Zhou, and he soon felt numb in his head. He quickly moved through the crowd.

Motherf*cker, why is it so difficult to accept an award…

On the other hand, Professor Yang Zhiguang was comfortable with such a scene. He always had a smile on his face that offended no one.

When Lu Zhou finally escaped from the Beijing Normal University auditorium, he sat in Yan Xinjue's car.

"Where is Professor Lu?"

"Professor Lu went to eat with his old friends. We'll eat back at the hotel," said Yan Xinjue. He smiled and said, "Lu Zhou! Not bad! 21-year-old Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner. You'll probably earn the Fields Medal by the time you're thirty."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Speaking of which, how did you guys know beforehand that I would win?"

"I accidentally knew it since Professor Lu is very well connected. I think he got it from Old Qiu. Then one day, he spilled the news when drunk and I heard it," said Yan Xinjue while he was driving the car. He added, "I actually wanted to tell you, but Professor Lu wouldn't let me. Don't blame me."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course not, why would I blame you? It's not like you should have leaked it."

Yan Xinjue asked, "What next? Are you still going to develop toward mathematical physics?"

"Yes," said Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then said, "Mathematics is an important scientific research tool. It's like a knife, and it can be used in any discipline. The work of a mathematics researcher is like sharpening this knife. But, I'm not only interested in sharpening the knife, but I'm also interested in using the knife."

Yan Xinjue said, "Not bad, that's some nice bullsh*ting. I look forward to seeing you on stage in Stockholm."

Stockholm was where the Nobel Prize was given.

However, this award was only given to major scientific discoveries. It was not easy to get.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I hope."

…

The opening ceremony of the 12th Chinese Mathematical Society came to an end. An official congress was held in the afternoon and the next board of directors, as well as the next secretary-general and chairman, were selected

While the conference was going on, Lu Zhou was on Weibo.

He had to admire the journalists. They had already sent out the press releases.

The journalists attached a short video and eye-catching titles for clickbait.

[Surprised! Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner is a 21-year-old!]

[Named the Chinese Fields Medal, anyone that won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award is a genius…]

[Who could've thought that this year's Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was given to him!]

[…]

Without surprise, this hot news was once again on trending.

The short video showed Lu Zhou on stage. The first media outlet that posted this video had their comment section blow up.

[What is the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award?]

[It's one of the most famous mathematics prizes! How do you not know?]

[21 years old, isn't that a bit young? I remember most of the past winners are in their forties…]

[How many forty-year-olds can achieve this level of success? This guy will probably win the Fields Medal!]

[Praise the Chinese Mathematics Society for not being ageist!]

[Wu Yan and old dog Zhu must be furious!]

[…]

Lu Zhou did not know about the discussion online.

At night, he went to the dinner hosted by the Chinese Mathematics Society.

As the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, and as the youngest winner of all time, Lu Zhou became the star of the party.

Many young scholars wanted to speak with him.

Even the older scholars respected his humbleness and passion.

Even the academician from China Mathematics Society, Wang Shicheng, was eager to speak with him.

Not just that, Wang Shicheng praised Lu Zhou's work in front of many people. He also offered Lu Zhou to go to the University of Yan.

Lu Zhou was tempted as the mathematics department of the University of Yan was top in the country. Not to mention, under the University of Yan, he might become the youngest academician ever.

However, he still had to keep his word. Lu Zhou already agreed to be part of the University of Jin Ling's training program.

Therefore, he euphemistically refused this invitation and told Professor Wang the reason, which was that he had already received the offer from Princeton and that he would go next year to get his PhD.

When Professor Wang heard his explanation, he was understanding. Professor Wang said that if Lu Zhou ever wanted to teach or speak at the University of Yan, he would be welcomed with both arms open.

Chapter 199: A Thirty-Minute Repor

Lu Zhou's glass seemed neverending at the dinner. At the end of the dinner, he started to get really drunk.

Thankfully, his tolerance was pretty good, so he did not black-out.

When Lu Zhou returned to his hotel, he immediately took his clothes off and went in the shower.

Once he blow-dried his hair and laid in bed, he took out his phone and just as he was about to check his email, he accidentally clicked on Weibo. He then saw that his name was on trending again.

Even though it was not the ultimate top in trending, but it was still in the Top 10.

He looked at his personal messages and saw the "99+" notification.

[Master, are you still doing giveaways? Please help my thesis.]

[… All bow down to this genius student!]

[Master, are you taking in students? I'm Luo Li Yin~~]

[Foreign mathematics professors are getting paid a million a year, check it out!]

[Hello, Mr. Lu. Here's the situation, I proved Goldbach's conjecture, but the Chinese Academy of Sciences wouldn't let me submit. I cannot take this shame. I want to go to Harvard University, I want to meet Qiu Chengtong, but I don't have the money. Please send me a 100k and I will write your name in as a co-author of the thesis!]

[…]

Lu Zhou was humored.

He was amused by the persistence of his fans.

Lu Zhou felt like he had not been on Weibo for a long time. No wonder his fans were so persistence. Maybe he should interact with them?

He sent out a blog post.

[I'm graduating next year, and I'm really flattered to suddenly win this medal. I hope I have no regrets this year!]

Lu Zhou then attached a photo of his gold medal before he sent it.

After he went to get some water, he refreshed the page and dozens of comments came rolling in.

[Wait a minute, didn't you just graduate this year???]

[Bow to genius student…]

[I'm still writing my thesis, I'm about to cry.]

[My master's career is full of regrets.]

[As a undergraduate student, I'm in despair.]

[…]

When Lu Zhou saw the negative comments, he buried his head in the pillow and could not hold back his laughter.

…

He still had to do the report.

Thankfully his report was in the afternoon, otherwise, he would still be hungover.

Lu Zhou ate some lunch and cleaned up his room. He then stood in front of the mirror and tried a couple of hairstyles. Then Yan Xinjue called him to come downstairs. He drove Lu Zhou to Beijing Normal University.

Lu Zhou stood on the podium and started the PowerPoint.

He glanced across the stage and saw that there were quite a lot of people. The seats were all filled, but people were still entering.

Lu Zhou was a bit shocked.

He thought that the seats would be half full at most. After all, there were quite a lot of reports going on, and his report was nothing special. It was only a little group theory method.

When he saw the crowd, he started to think.

Is this the celebrity effect?

A Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award is influential!

Shook!

Once the ten-minute preparation time was over, the report officially began.

Lu Zhou flipped to the first page of the PowerPoint and started to give a brief overview of the content of his report.

"While studying the Polignac's conjecture, I studied Mr. Hilbert's proof of the infiniteness of prime numbers, which greatly inspired me. Especially the study of using group theory to solve the number theory problem. I made a lot of interesting and improved changes to Mr. Hilbert's paper."

"… I'll call my version the "Group Structure Method".

"When it comes to infinite prime numbers, this approach can simplify many complex problems…"

Lu Zhou started to go in depth of his thesis. He spent twenty minutes to talk about the core ideas and concepts of the Group Structure Method.

In order to save time, he spoke very quickly. The crowd was also paying attention.

What surprised him was that he saw an old man taking notes.

He felt even more motivated to give a good report.

Finally, the presentation ended. The next session was the most important questioning session.

A random 40-year-old guy raised his hand and asked a question, "I have a question, line 47 in your thesis. The n=(2n,m) is abruptly mentioned in Wilson's theorem. The even-order cyclic group G has a unique second-order element a^ n. Isn't this somewhat less rigorous?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he laughed before he answered it with ease.

"Maybe not so, I wanted to save space and omitted some of the unrelated steps.

He picked up a marker and wrote the steps on a whiteboard.

[

…

From a^n∈G, and |a^n|=2, a^m∈G, and |a^m|=2, the order of a^m is 2n/(2n,m), which gives 2n/( 2n,m)=2.

Then n divides m, a^m∈ …

Therefore, it can be proven that the even-order cyclic group G has a unique second-order element a^n

]

It was well-founded and convincing.

The questioner looked at the steps on the whiteboard and nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lu Zhou nodded his head and went to the next question.

Only people who were interested would stay, and anyone that was uninterested would have left after the presentation.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see a lot of people interested in his method.

As such, he answered every question in detail.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the venue.

"I have a question."

When Lu Zhou saw the person standing up, he was stunned.

Isn't this…

Professor Ma?

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Please ask."

He was curious as to what Professor Ma would say.

Professor Ma Changan smiled politely as he acted like a kind old man.

However, when he opened his mouth, he was not so kind anymore.

"Whether it's Wilson's theorem or the infinite problem of prime numbers, both have been proven by group theory. Especially the latter, Hilbert has given a fairly complete group theory proof. And the method you proposed seems to me, redundant."

This question was easy to answer.

Lu Zhou smiled and he was about to answer the question. However, Professor Ma Changan did not allow him to speak. Instead, Professor Ma Changan continued to ask.

"Of course, I'm not doubting the value of your research. But I question if this small research project deserves to be discussed here… "

"… I noticed that you have answered the questions in detail. But you didn't answer your own research topic, which is Polignac's conjecture. I can't help but ask, did you actually come up with this method while researching the Polignac's conjecture? If so, how is it used to solve Polignac's conjecture?"

Ma Changan had a smirk on his face as he continued to attack, "… I think we all know that you chose Polignac's conjecture for your research topic for the Ten Thousand People Initiative, which probably got a million in grants. I think we're all looking forward to your research results, but is this all you came up with?"

Chapter 200: Already Proven?!

The atmosphere in the venue was in dead silence.

There was a weird vibe…

Awkwardness?

Ma Changan frowned. He thought that people would agree with him but it was the opposite.

From the audience's reaction, it seemed that no one agreed with his question.

However, it did not matter, as he planned to defeat this boy himself.

Other professors did not want to make enemies, so they did not speak up.

Even Professor Qiu Chengtong stayed silent.

However…

Sitting to his left, an old professor coughed before he spoke loud and clear, "Um, Ma Changan, how about you sit down. You can ask this question after the report is over. This report is for academic questions."

Ma Changan was stunned as he did not expect people to refute him.

Wei Siyang turned his face and when he saw the old professor, he was shocked.

It's actually Academician Guo!

He's a major player in the field of nonlinear equations!

But…

Isn't he a professor from Aurora University?

Ma Changan had an unpleasant expression. Even though he respected Professor Guo, he was not afraid of him.

He had to stand his ground.

They were from the same school, so he had to be a little euphemistic.

"Professor Guo, I don't really agree with what you said. I'm concerned about the state's research funding. Why can't I discuss this at an academic conference?"

Professor Ma Changan paused for a second before he continued, "We all know that putting into practice is the only way of testing the truth. Without implementing it, how would we know if a method is useful?"

"… Otherwise, new methods would have no basis behind them. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"Haha," Professor Guo nodded his head as he did not want to step down to Professor Ma Changan's level. He calmly sat back down.

He only wanted to remind Professor Ma Changan. He did not want to start a debate.

Unfortunate…

Lu Zhou stood on stage and looked at Professor Ma Changan oddly. He thought, "You're not my supervisor, so why is my research progress any of your business?"

You're talking about a scientific methodology to me?

Do I look like a politician to you?

Lu Zhou was about to speak before another familiar voice came from the crowd.

"Let me say something."

An old man from the back of the venue slowly stood up. His voice was impatient as he asked, "I don't know if Ma Changan reads Annual Mathematics?"

When Lu Zhou saw the old man, he was surprised.

This…

Isn't he Academician Xiang Huanan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences? He was one of the judges from my undergraduate oral defense!

It has been a while.

When Professor Ma Changan heard this question, his heart dropped.

A mathematician not subscribed to Annual Mathematics was like an undergraduate student coming to class without a textbook.

Professor Ma Changan smiled and said, "Academician Xiang, you're funny. Every mathematics office at Aurora University has a copy of it."

"Then you haven't read it?" asked Professor Xiang Huanan. He then said, "Maybe read the latest issue of Annual Mathematics, it might answer your question."

Ma Changan did not understand and so, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Professor Xiang smiled and calmly said, "In the latest edition of Annual Mathematics, the thesis for the Polignac's conjecture proof was published. The author is the guy currently standing on the stage. The method he used to solve the Polignac's conjecture is the so-called "Group Structure Method".

The venue was dead silent.

Some people were oblivious.

Some people, like academician Guo, had already read the latest issue of Annual Mathematics.

However, they were in the minority.

Most people had a look of astonishment on their faces… They could not believe it!

They could not believe that the young guy that solved the twin prime conjecture at the beginning of the year, had expanded the k=1 form to infinity, and solved the Polignac's conjecture!

Some people did not know why the Chinese Mathematics Society gave the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award to such a young person.

Now, it was all clear.

He was definitely worthy of this award!

When Professor Ma Changan heard this news, he froze and he was at lost of words.

He could not believe it.

However, he also knew that Professor Xiang was not lying.

His face turned red, but he did not know what to say. He wanted to sit down, but his legs could not move.

At this moment, he was the laughing stock.

Sitting close by, Professor Guo shook his head.

There was nothing wrong with asking questions at an academic conference. However, for someone to ask a question like Ma Changan, he better be damned sure that his question was backed by evidence. Otherwise, he would lose all credibility.

An academic conference was no place for rhetorical questions.

Not to mention it was in front of so many people.

Even though Professor Hong was his friend, he could not help Professor Ma Changan.

There was no way Professor Hong could support his friend's 2017 election anymore.

It seemed that Professor Ma Changan would not become an academician after all.

At least not until he accomplishes some big achievement…

Professor Guo could not help but look at the man on stage.

The young man was calm as a cucumber. He did not even mention about publishing his major thesis.

Meanwhile, Professor Ma Changan just stood there as he dug his grave deeper.

The young man on stage had a mature-like mentality!

Chapter 201: Level Four Mathematics!

Actually, Professor Guo misunderstood Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou wanted to explain his reasoning, but Professor Ma did not give him a chance.

However, he was just as surprised as the audience.

Previously, he was preparing the Group Structure Method thesis. He finally finished the paper before the deadline and started to work on his PowerPoint. Once he finished his PowerPoint, he was dragged to Beijing by Professor Lu. He did not pay attention to his thesis submission process at all.

Lu Zhou thought that for a major discovery like the Polignac's conjecture, the journal would it at the end of the year. The Annual Mathematics journal was more efficient than him.

Maybe…

Did I meet a nutty peer reviewer?

As Professor Ma Changan's face went white, Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Thank you, Academician Xiang, for answering this question. If there are no further questions, Professor Ma, please sit down."

Professor Ma Changan sat down.

Lu Zhou then looked at the crowd and asked, "Any other questions?"

No one stood up, and no one spoke up.

Professor Ma Changan had ruined this report, so the vibe was no longer the same.

No one was motivated to ask questions after hearing Professor Ma Changan's bullsh*t.

As for the bomb that Professor Xiang just dropped, all of the number theory mathematicians sitting in the crowd could not wait to check Annual Mathematics to confirm this matter.

Solving two conjectures within a year, even if they were related, was terrifying impressive!

When Lu Zhou saw that no one was going to ask any further questions, he looked at the staff member next to him and cleared his throat.

"The content of "Group Structure Method" has been covered in detail in this report."

"Thank you for coming!"

The crowd erupted in applause.

Lu Zhou lightly bowed and left the stage.

…

The report finally ended.

As Professor Ma Changan quickly left the venue, he nearly tripped on his way out.

Thankfully his student, Wei Siyang, was next to him and saved him. Otherwise, he would have embarrassed himself again.

Professor Ma Changan stood still and looked at his student.

"Why didn't you remind me just now!"

Wei Siyang was muddled as he thought, "How can you, as a professor, expect me to remind you?"

Of course, he did not say this out loud.

"Professor, I've been busy with your tasks these few days, I didn't have the chance to read Annual Mathematics…"

"Shut up!"

Wei Siyang shut his mouth and did not speak.

He knew that his boss was only trying to find a punching bag. It would be better if he did not speak.

But this Lu Zhou guy is pretty nutty. Winning the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at 21 years old, and made significant research results in the field of prime numbers…

If he did not have to follow his boss, he definitely would not give up the opportunity to speak to Lu Zhou.

Unfortunately, his graduation was more important…

On the other side, Professor Wang Yuping sat in the venue and when he saw Professor Ma Changan leaving, he laughed happily.

"Hahaha, I knew that this old guy is full of sh*t. What an embarrassment to Aurora University!"

"Ah, he's just that kind of guy. He's only embarrassing himself," said Professor Xiang Huanan as he shook his head. He added, "The 2017 academician elections are going to be pretty hard for him."

Professor Ma Changan could not create his own academic results, yet he tried to vilify other people's scientific research results. In the end, he became a laughing stock.

Not to mention, the Chinese Mathematics Society had just awarded Lu Zhou the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award. He, for some reason, decided to doubt the judges.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou just finished his report and did not linger around. He left Beijing Normal University and took a taxi back to his hotel.

He did not care about Professor Ma Changan at all. He only cared about his mission rewards. What could it be?

He had waited very long for this reward.

Lu Zhou laid in bed and went into the system space.

He then walked up to the translucent mission panel.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Solve the Polignac's conjecture.]

[Final mission evaluation: None (Reward missions have no evaluation)]

[Mission reward: 100k Mathematics experience points! 1000 general points! One lucky draw ticket (50% sample, 50% blueprints)]

100k mathematics experience points!

Lu Zhou was excited when he saw this reward.

If he recalled correctly, the twin prime conjecture was only worth 50k!

He only needed 100k to level up!

Without hesitation, Lu Zhou ordered the system.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

Core science:

A. Mathematics: Level 4(54,000/200,000)

B. Physics: Level 3 (53,100/100,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (4,000/10,000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10,000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (2,900/10,000)

General points: 2,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Unsurprisingly, with the completion of the reward mission, his mission level jumped up.

However, when Lu Zhou saw the level five requirements, he calmed down.

The Polignac's conjecture was probably in the third category, but it was only worth 100,000 experience points.

From that logic, 200,000 experience points would be worth two Polignac's conjectures, or one higher-level conjecture.

If he wanted to level up, he might have to solve some Langlands program or Hilbert 23 conjectures.

Fortunately, the experience requirement only doubled.

If it added a zero like last time, Lu Zhou would kill himself. He would never reach Level 10 in mathematics.

He took a deep breath and looked at the screen.

Finally, the exciting part came.

Chapter 202: Lucky Draw

This time, the lucky draw chances were the same as the last mission.

50% blueprint, 50% sample. Both were good options. There was no way the system would give Lu Zhou garbage.

Lu Zhou pressed the lucky draw button and looked at the rotating wheel. He took a deep breath before he shouted, "Stop!"

The wheel spun a couple more times then gradually came to a stop.

[Congratulations, User, a sample is given!]

A sample is pretty good.

Hopefully, I get a scanner gun again.

Lu Zhou's expression did not change while he waited patiently for the system to give the award.

[Acquired: Nitrogen shield (Stores 100 units of energy. Can shield against kinetic weapon effectively for five minutes. Can also release energy at once. (one-time use)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

What's this?

It was not as if he was Ironman. He had a normal life. What was the use of this thing?

Lu Zhou looked at the watch-shaped item in his inventory and he was confused.

The only purpose of this thing he could think of was a car accident.

However, given that he did not even have a car, there was a low probability of getting into a car accident.

Lu Zhou finally gave up on trying to find a purpose of this thing. It was not as if this was the first time the system screwed him over.

At least it was not garbage.

Furthermore, if he received another scanner gun in the future, he could scan this thing.

He was curious what exactly was "100 units of energy". What was the principle of this thing, and how does it create a shield with nearby air molecules?

It would be amazing if he could reverse engineer the technology.

He placed the prize aside and looked at his mission panel.

The reward mission ended, so he had three new refreshed missions.

Lu Zhou prayed and read the missions.

[

Mission 1: Science is more than mathematics

Description: User is obsessed with mathematics and physics, which is respectable. But, there are non-theoretical problems that are worth studying. There are many more topics that are worth exploring.

Requirements: Obtain at least 10 system for any three subjects in materials science, engineering, biochemistry, energy science, and information science. A time limit of 1 year. Ways to earn credits: Publish theses (1-3), academic conference reports (1-5), complete research projects (1-?).

Reward: 1000 experience points per credit. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (85% garbage, 11% sample, 4% drawings).

]

[

Mission1: Health is everything

Description: The body is a temple. User needs a good body to achieve greater things.

Requirements: Rank runner-up in a national sporting event.

Reward: 10k experience points (100% champion) (50% runner-up). 500 general points. One lucky draw (90% garbage, 7% sample, 3% blueprints).

]

[

Mission 3: Climb new peaks

Description: The solution of the infinite prime numbers is solved with Polignac's conjecture. However, the research on prime numbers is far from completion.

Requirements: Solve a mathematical conjecture related to prime numbers.

Reward: 1-??? experience points, 500 general points. One lucky draw (50% garbage, 30% sample, 20% blueprints).

]

Lu Zhou knew that his health was important, but it was a bit unrealistic to compete at a national level sports competition.

Unless he somehow obtained a physical strengthening drug. Even then, he would need two. One to enter the competition, one to win it.

Lu Zhou excluded Mission 2. He was deciding between Mission 1 and Mission 3 when he finally chose Mission 3.

One one hand, it was because the latter had better lucky draw chances. On the other hand, the latter's experience was more imaginative.

The first mission sounded tempting, but the total experience points that were given only added up to 30k.

The third mission had much higher potential.

Coincidentally he was going to Princeton next year. He could just use this prime number requirement for his graduation thesis!

…

A lot of people went on trending, but few went on trending twice within a week.

A 21-year-old winning Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was enough to surprise people. Now, another news story broke out. This Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner solved a world-class mathematics problem; The Polignac's conjecture.

The journalists behind the articles did not know what the Polignac's conjecture was. They only knew that it was harder than the twin prime conjecture.

Which was true.

The twin prime conjecture could only be regarded as a weaker version of Polignac's conjecture. If the Polignac's conjecture was established, then the twin prime conjecture was also established.

Multiple media outlets quickly reported this story. It even overwhelmed the reports on the 12th Chinese Mathematics Society anniversary conference.

China's mathematics circle was unremarkable, but this sudden breakthrough brought China into the spotlight.

This rising mathematics star was bursting with light.

Although Lu Zhou did not pay attention to the news online, he knew that the media would report on this matter and that the media would probably title it something like [Shook! A world-class problem has been solved by a Chinese master's student!]… or something along those lines.

This story would have blown up even without the clickbait titles.

Lu Zhou was pushed to number one on trending.

However, Lu Zhou did not care much for it.

There was a greater honor waiting for him.

The fifth day of the mathematics conference, with help from Professor Lu, Lu Zhou met with Professor Qiu again.

This time, not only did Lu Zhou and Professor Qiu discussed mathematics problems, but Lu Zhou also heard a piece of news.

The Federal Mathematics Society decided to award him the Cole Prize!

Chapter 203: Next?

The Cole Prize?!

Lu Zhou was astonished.

Soon after, he realized a problem.

"Wait a minute, isn't the Cole Prize only awarded to members of the Federal Mathematics Society?"

Professor Qiu knew that Lu Zhou would ask this question. So, he smiled and said, "The Princeton conference was hosted by the Federal Mathematics Society. With the Best Young Speaker Award also came the membership status. Therefore, you're in full compliance with the award rules."

Lu Zhou had never applied to join an association, but generally, associations would grant membership to award winners, so this was common practice. The same thing happened to his Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award.

Professor Qiu paused for a second before he smiled and continued.

"… The nomination award was completed in September, and the selection was done in October. The official documents will be sent to your school in December. The award conference will be held 2 days after Christmas. I think it's at the University of California. The organizer will send you more details, so just check your email. Also, take this time to prepare your acceptance speech!"

Lu Zhou smiled.

He was a little embarrassed.

The official documents haven't arrived yet, but you're already telling me. Isn't this a bit strange?

He also wanted to ask how much was the Cole prize money, but then he thought that academics should not care too much about money.

Therefore, he did not ask.

"I will prepare!"

"Just remember not to miss the award ceremony," said Professor Qiu as he nodded. He then changed the subject when he casually said, "The end of the year conference is pretty high level. Once you presented your Group Structure Method there, a lot more people would know about your research."

"There's a presentation after the awards ceremony?" asked Lu Zhou.

"Of course, this is the convention. The awards are actually the second part of the conference. It would be very beneficial for you to report at that conference," said Professor Qiu. He smiled and said, "But there are only two months left. I'm guessing you won't have much else to publish. Just take this time to rest, and maybe go to California for a vacation. Also, take this opportunity to think about where you want to develop next… Do you have a general idea?"

Lu Zhou said, "I want to dive deeper in prime numbers. I still haven't found a goal yet. Do you have any good suggestions?"

The Polignac's conjecture and Twin prime conjecture took him almost a year to complete. His mind was still in the space of prime numbers.

He wanted to choose a problem that would fill in the gap about prime numbers, but he did not know what to chose.

The 100-year-old Jebof Conjecture sounded interesting, it was similar to Polignac's conjecture. However, while one was the study of the difference between prime numbers, the other was the study on the existence of prime numbers between squares.

There was also the Brocar proposition where it proposed that there were at least four prime numbers between the squares of two prime numbers. This also had a high research value.

Although neither of these conjectures was as famous as Polignac's conjecture or twin prime conjecture, it had a higher position in the mathematics world.

These were only some of his options.

"Prime number research is a good area and it is highly respected in the field of number theory. The distribution of prime numbers applies to many fields, such as cryptography and information technology," said Professor Qiu as he nodded. He then added, "Although I don't do much research on number theory, from my understanding, most people think the sieve theory has been pushed to its limit. However, I think that there is room for development."

The old man suddenly looked at Lu Zhou and proposed a bold idea.

"How about you challenge Goldbach's conjecture?"

Goldbach's conjecture?!

Lu Zhou was stunned.

This…

This jump is too big!

Lu Zhou cautiously replied, "I think… This conjecture is a bit too hard for me. Maybe I'll try to attack it when the timing is right."

His mathematics level was at Level 4 now. This meant expanded system database access and enhanced mathematics understanding and analysis ability.

The Goldbach's conjecture was one of the three major modern mathematics problems.

Even though people had nearly solved it, laying down that last brick was not easy.

Otherwise, this conjecture would have been solved long ago.

"You have misunderstood me," said Professor Qiu as he shook his head. He said, "I'm not asking you to solve it immediately. I'm just saying, try to hack at it for a bit…"

"… A lot of mathematics conjectures don't have to be proved in order to gain significant research results. For example, when we studied Riemann's conjecture, we unexpectedly proved a prime number theorem."

"Similarly, the sieve theory is only a sophisticated mathematical tool. Since you polished the twin prime conjecture, you might as well try the Goldbach's conjecture. I think you could be inspired by it," said Professor Qiu. He suddenly smiled and said, "Professor Qiu, this is only my suggestion. The decision is still yours."

After hearing Professor Qiu's answer, Lu Zhou started to give it a consideration.

The old man's logic was reasonable. In addition, Goldbach's conjecture had the potential of receiving high experience points.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he solemnly said, "I will take your suggestions into consideration!"

Chapter 204: Enviable Troubles

The 12th Chinese Mathematics Society's annual mathematics conference came to an end. It was time for Lu Zhou to say goodbye to this city.

This time, he was the only one going back to Jin Ling.

As for Professor Lu, he had to go to Belgium in November for a particle physics summit, so he stayed at the BES Institute in Beijing. He planned on doing some research during this time.

Professor Lu originally planned on taking Lu Zhou back, but Lu Zhou was going to California in December for the Federal Mathematics Society conference anyway, so Professor Lu decided to just stay in Beijing.

As usual, Yan Xinjue stayed with Professor Lu.

Yan Xinjue sent Lu Zhou to the Beijing Airport.

They got out of the car and Yan Xinjue helped Lu Zhou with the luggage. Yan Xinjue then patted his shoulder.

"Bro, take care!"

Lu Zhou felt a little weird, "Take care… I'm just going back to Jinling, it's not like I'm going somewhere far away."

Yan Xinju said, "You're going to California in December, right?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yes."

Yan Xinjue sighed and said with a voice full of emotion, "The Cole Prize for number theory was won by Mr. Zhang Yitang who is Chinese by ethnicity, but there hasn't been a Chinese citizen who had won this award. You winning this award will fill the gap in our country's medals. I'll be waiting for your good news in Belgium!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thanks for your kind words."

The two men did not linger around. Once they said their goodbyes, Yan Xinjue got back into his car while Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase and walked into the terminal.

After a two hour flight, the airplane landed smoothly on the runway.

Outside of the airport, Lu Zhou planned on calling a taxi. Before he could even take out his phone, someone went up to him.

He saw two first-year looking students carrying a banner.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou for winning the 15th Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award!]

Jesus, why are you guys here?

Do you know how embarrassing you two look!

The pedestrians passing by could not help but look. There were also reporters from Jinling Daily who were waiting to take his photo.

Lu Zhou tried to be low-key as he dragged his suitcase and kept walking. Before he could get far, he was recognized by a girl.

"Lu Zhou!"

Lin Yuxiang's eyes lit up and she skipped over while waving her hand.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed, but he could not ditch her. He stopped walking and turned around with a forced smile.

"Lin… President Lin, hello."

Lu Zhou nearly forgot that she was promoted to the student union president.

He only had one complaint.

It's already autumn, but your skirt is a little short… Aren't you cold?

Lin Yuxiang smiled and played with her hair as she said, "What president… Just call me Lin Yuxiang, Zhou."

Why is this chick calling me Zhou?

I'm not even close to you.

Sigh…

"Zhou, let me help with your suitcase!"

"No, it's fine!"

Suddenly, he heard a familiar and loud sound.

"Lu Zhou, congratulations!"

When Lu Zhou looked up, he was surprised.

"Dean Lu?"

He saw Dean Lu and the student union teacher standing together. They smiled and walked over.

Dean Lu Fangping shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "Dean Qin has a meeting, so he told me to pick you up!"

Lu Zhou said, "Thanks… It's not that far anyway. I could've just called a DiDi."

"Haha, no way! You're the model student of our school, and there are countless professors who are envious of you," said Dean Lu. He smiled and continued, "The car is right there. Come on, get in."

Lu Zhou agreed reluctantly.

There were more and more people watching, and some even started to record with their phones.

Lu Zhou wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

He sat in the car and chatted with Dean Lu and the young professor who was responsible for the student union. He thought, "This is only a Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, and you guys are so welcoming. What would happen if I win the Cole Prize?"

He made up a decision in his mind.

Lu Zhou decided that when the time comes, he would not return to Jinling. Instead, he would return to his hometown.

They soon arrived at the school.

Lu Zhou thought that the attention would be over but he was too naive.

An even bigger banner hung on the school gate.

This was even more embarrassing.

However, it made sense. Any professor that won a national award would get this type of treatment, much less a master's student that won a major mathematics prize.

Of course, the school did this to promote themselves as well.

After all, Lu Zhou was going to Princeton soon. He did not have a family, nor a partner. Once he experienced the Western lifestyle, it would be hard for him to want to come back.

It was appropriate to give him some honor. It would make him miss this place and want to come back.

When Lu Zhou got off the car, he did not get the chance to touch his suitcase at all. Two guys from the student union came over and took his suitcase directly to Dorm 201.

As for Lu Zhou, he was greeted warmly by Principal Xu.

The principle was an old academician. He had the characteristics of a scientific researcher. His words were short and concise. Although he was in the computer science field, he knew the importance of mathematical tools.

After all, University of Jin Ling was strong in physics and one could never get far in physics without mathematics.

…

At night, the top floor of the cafeteria…

Lu Zhou thought that his welcoming was already grand enough. Never had he expected that the school would host him a "Congratulations Banquet".

Well, it was mostly hosted by the department of mathematics. All of the professors that were there were mathematics professors.

Lu Zhou's popularity in the school was good, and he was close to many old professors.

While eating, Professor Tang drank with Lu Zhou and said with a voice full of emotion, "For major conjectures like Polignac's conjecture, you would normally have to wait five or ten years to see the results. You being able to solve it within a year is really admirable! I didn't expect you to be so talented in number theory!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "Professor, you're exaggerating. The inspiration just randomly came to me."

"Be humble in front of Principal Xu if you want, but why are you humble in front of me?" said Dean Lu. He smiled and said, "Oh yeah, prepare your report. Try to do it before the December annual review. If you're still at University of Jin Ling and if you submit the research, there's a $100,000 yuan cash prize waiting for you."

Although Lu Zhou got a million yuan when he proved the twin prime conjecture and Zhou's conjecture, this time the school did not give him that much.

The reason was simple. The first time was because his name was heard overseas, so each of the school gave $500,000 yuan. As for the second time, the money came from a company-sponsored research fund.

The school could afford giving more awards, but there was no point. At most, they could give Lu Zhou some travel expenses or research funds.

Lu Zhou understood this. He could not rely on the school prize money for the rest of his life. Not to mention that he was about to graduate.

However, when Dean Lu mentioned this matter, he suddenly remembered something.

When he applied for his research topic, he applied for the Polignac's conjecture.

Now, his results were published and he had to write the conclusion report.

The problem was…

He had not spent his $1.6 million research grant yet…

Chapter 205: Spending Money

Research fund was an interesting topic. If there was a leftover, not only would no one praise you, they would criticize you.

What do I do?

It would be easy if he was in engineering as he could just buy new equipment and materials.

He could even use it for the next project. A factory produced a piece of new equipment? No problem, he could buy it and throw it in the warehouse.

It was good to spend research grants as it was a way of showing a person's ability to maximize resource gains.

However, it was a bit difficult for quantitative subjects.

Especially mathematics where the biggest expense was probably traveling expenses. He accidentally applied for too much money, and now it was a pain in the ass to spend it.

Lu Zhou did not think too much at that time. The government granted the $1.6 million yuan, so he agreed. He had not expected to complete this project within a year.

According to the expenditure process of the initiative, the money would go to the school first. Then, the school would apply for a bank account for him to store the money in. When he needed the money, he would send the school an invoice.

The government already sent the money and if he did not use it all, the audit would ask, "Why did you apply for that much?"

Lu Zhou did not know how to deal with this huge research fund balance.

Suddenly, he thought of one person.

Professor Li Rongen seemed to have some experience in this area.

After dinner, Lu Zhou went back to his dorm.

As soon as he entered, three pairs of eyes looked at him.

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed as he coughed and said, "Why are you looking at me? Go and do your own thing."

Huang Guangming raised his hand, "Zhou, can I touch your medal?"

Lu Zhou said, "Go ahead, it's in my suitcase. Do whatever you want to it."

Huang Guangming quickly got up and walked to the suitcase.

Shi Shang walked over and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder as he said with a voice full of emotion, "Not bad Zhou, another award… Also, when do you graduate? Let's go drinking!"

Liu Rui nodded in agreement.

Hurry and leave!

It's so hard having you around.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "… I'm going to graduate next semester. But after going to the states in December, I probably won't come back. So, around the end of November?"

Liu Rui asked, "Going to America? Another academic report?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "No, not a report this time. I'm going there to get an award."

Huang Guangming was taking photos of the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award when he asked, "What award is it this time?"

Lu Zhou said, "The Cole Prize in Number Theory."

Liu Rui froze when he heard this.

Huang Guangming and Shi Shang looked dumbfounded as they obviously did not know about this prize.

After all, they were in applied mathematics, not pure mathematics. Most people would not know of the Cole Prize.

Shi Shang did not want to sound oblivious, so he curiously asked Liu Rui, "This award… How significant is it in China? Do people respect it here?"

"Don't know," said Liu Rui as he shook his head. He then said, "I don't think any Chinese person has won it before."

Shi Shang: "…"

Huang Guangming: "…"

What…

Why aren't you guys talking?

…

The next morning, Lu Zhou woke up early as usual. However, he was a little tired, so he laid in bed for a while.

Then, he accidentally slept till noon.

He got up and went to eat breakfast at the cafeteria. He then walked straight to the carbon nanomaterial laboratory located in the corner of the campus. He found Professor Li Rongen who was doing an electrode material experiment and asked him about the research fund issue.

"How to deal with leftover research funding?" said Professor Li Rongen when he heard his question. He then said, "How much do you have left?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Around $1.6 million yuan…"

The University of Jin Ling waived the management of the account and placed all of the money into Lu Zhou's personal account.

When Professor Li Rongen heard this number, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

"F*ck! So you didn't use any at all? You're too frugal."

He looked at Lu Zhou in surprise.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "The main thing is that there's nothing to spend it on."

The only expense he had was the submission fee for the Annual Mathematics. His Switzerland expenses were paid by Professor Lu, and he did not have an opportunity to spend money in China.

"Let me think… Having so much left, they might criticize you," said Professor Li Rongen as he rubbed his chin. He then said, "Then… How about you get yourself a new printer or computer? Why did you leave this thing until now! What were you doing two months ago?"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Could I get a more expensive computer?"

Professor Li Rongen smiled and said, "Computers are fine since it counts as equipment. It's not like you're buying a house or a car. Buy the most expensive computer you want!"

Professor Li did not know how expensive computers could be.

He thought it would cost five figures at most.

His equipment all cost 7 figures, so a computer was nothing to him.

Lu Zhou then asked, "Can I pay for some of it? For example, buy a computer with the research fund as well as some of my own money."

"Using your own money for the computer?" asked Professor Li Rongen. He then asked, "How much is your computer?"

"Not too expensive," said Lu Zhou. With a smile, he said, "Around 2 million."

Professor Li Rongen: "…"

Chapter 206: 2.8 Million Yuan Computer

Lu Zhou would not dare to buy a $2 million yuan computer online.

First of all, it was not insured. Second, he had to find a professional to assemble it. He had to speak with someone in person.

Thankfully, Professor Li Rongen gave him a phone number. Professor Li said that many professors in the school used this computer store.

The next day, Lu Zhou rode Shi Shang's bicycle and found the computer store.

When the computer store owner saw Lu Zhou's computer configuration list, he asked, "Who wrote this configuration for you?"

The owner's name was Li Jun. He was tall, skinny, and looked around 30 years old. One could tell from his glasses that he used to code.

Lu Zhou replied, "A friend."

Li Jun pushed his glasses and placed the list on the table, "CPU and GPU aren't good for mining anymore. If you want a mining machine, I suggest you get some mining cards."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What are you talking about?

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I'm not using this computer to mine."

"Then why is the configuration is so high?" asked Li Jun as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then asked, "For league of legends?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Using this for the league, are you kidding me?

When Li Jun saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, he said, "Fine, I don't care what you use it for. Anyways, how do I send the invoice?"

Lu Zhou explained the requirements for his invoice, "Just write it normally, then divided into two…"

When Li Jun heard his strange request, he did not say anything. He started to calculate the price according to the configuration.

The whole machine costs $2.8 million yuan. It was only slightly more than the price online.

Lu Zhou did not care too much about the price difference.

He would use $1.5 million yuan from the research fund and the rest with his own money. He had around $2.5 million yuan in his bank account which mostly came from the prize money.

Lu Zhou did not even realize that he was so rich.

However, he was not so rich anymore.

When Lu Zhou saw the string of numbers disappearing from his bank account, he could not help but feel a faint sorrow.

He had not even bought a house for himself but he bought one for Xiao Ai.

He felt a little sad.

Lu Zhou silently prayed.

Xiao Ai, please don't let me down!

I've changed the server for you, so you can't be retarded anymore!

When Li Jun gave Lu Zhou the invoice, he said, "The machine isn't in stock right now, but I can give you the invoice first."

It was expected that the store did not have a $2 million yuan server in stock.

Lu Zhou asked, "How long would it take?"

Li Jun thought for a moment before saying, "Around a week at the latest. Give me an address and I'll send someone to set it up for you."

Lu Zhou replied, "I'll give you an address in two days. I'll call you."

Li Jun nodded, "Sure."

…

Getting this server was more troublesome than Lu Zhou had thought.

He was caught up with this matter for a whole week.

First of all, he could not put the server in his dorm as it would take too much power. Furthermore, Lu Zhou was uncomfortable about leaving something so expensive in his dorm.

He heard that some unlucky kid got his computer stolen over the summer.

His entire setup including the monitor, computer, and even the mouse was gone.

Lu Zhou thought for a long time before he decided to rent a house first and place the server there temporarily.

Originally, he planned to wait for the patent to be approved. After that, he could use the patent authorization money to build a laboratory near the school.

Now, it seemed that he would have to wait for his PhD to finish before he could build his laboratory.

The house that Lu Zhou selected was small. It had a bedroom, a bathroom, and it cost $1500 yuan a month.

Lu Zhou had to agree that money really changed a person.

Before, Lu Zhou would be against this kind of wasteful behavior. However, when he signed the two-year lease, he did not feel like he was spending anything at all.

I bought a $2 million yuan "house", what's a $2000 yuan rent?

It's nothing!

Not to mention, I'm the only one with an artificial retard in this world… No, I mean artificial intelligence!

After Lu Zhou signed the lease, he called Li Jun and gave Li Jun the address.

After a whole day, the staff member finally installed the server.

Once the computer staff left, Lu Zhou did not even bother to eat dinner. Instead, he immediately took out his laptop and transferred Xiao Ai into the server.

When Lu Zhou saw the space in his hard drive increased, he finally felt at ease.

Only Xiao Ai's command line operating system was still on the laptop. This way, he could use remote operation on the server.

In the lower right corner of the laptop, Xiao Ai's dialog box popped up.

[Master, thank you! QvQ]

When Lu Zhou saw the message, he smiled. He then typed a line of words.

[Are you happy with your new home?]

Xiao Ai: [Super happy!]

Xiao Ai: [Happy.jpg]

When Lu Zhou saw the image pop up, he smiled.

However, soon after, he stopped smiling.

He did not know if it was an illusion or what… but he felt as if he had just spent two million yuan on an emoji chat bot…

Chapter 207: All Good Things Come To An End

Regardless if this $2 million yuan was well spent, his technology branch mission was finally completed.

Inside the system space, Lu Zhou looked at the [100 information science experience points] on the semi-transparent screen.

All of his other disciplines were in the five-figure experience points range, but he had to work on his information science.

[G. Information science: Level 1 (3000/10000)]

Lu Zhou looked at his technology branch section.

Suddenly his technology branch was changed.

[Technology branch: Artificial intelligence: Level 2(0/10000]

Compared to the core technology subjects, technology branch had a higher degree of freedom. It was similar to branch missions.

The experience translated between core technology and technology branch was a 1:1 ratio.

Lu Zhou did not understand how the technology branch upgrade would affect Xiao Ai, but he was looking forward to it.

The system did not specify the requirements for advancement. Lu Zhou would have to figure this out himself.

…

Xiao Ai's problem was solved. Over the next few days, Lu Zhou packed his stuff into his suitcase. He started to move into his new apartment.

Professor Lu already said that he should prepare to go overseas.

If all else goes well, he could leave the country next year.

After all, since he already got the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, Professor Lu was ready to let him graduate. Not to mention the fact that there was a Cole Prize in Number Theory that was waiting for him across the Pacific Ocean.

Liu Rui was the happiest to hear that Lu Zhou was moving out.

Over the past two years, he had been comparing himself to Lu Zhou non-stop. He could finally take a break now.

Of course, when he saw Lu Zhou packing his things, Liu Rui could not help but feel sad.

The opponent he had been competing with for two years was so far ahead of him. However, he had been improving.

Originally, he was only kind-of a genius student. He had decent grades.

Now? He was top five in his entire cohort.

With his opponent leaving, he felt a little unmotivated. Like there was something missing. He could not feel the drive anymore…

The day finally arrived.

1st of December.

At the fish restaurant outside the school, the friends of Dorm 201 gathered around to say goodbye.

This time, Lu Zhou carried his suitcase to the restaurant.

He had already returned his keys, and this was his last batch of luggage. After eating this meal, he would go directly to his newly rented house.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhou was carrying the suitcase, the boss of the restaurant even gave them a half price discount.

Shi Shang raised his glass and sounded a little sad when he said, "Zhou, you're about to go to Princeton. I don't have much else to say. I wish you a good trip!"

Lu Zhou and Shi Shang toasted. Lu Zhou then said, "Thank you, I also wish you a successful and bright career!"

Huang Guangming also raised his glass, "Zhou, I'll reserve this position for you. Make sure to come back often."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "For sure!"

Liu Rui also raised his glass, but he only said two words, "Take care…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said sincerely, "You too, take care!"

The vibe during dinner was a bit heavy, and it was less rowdy than usual.

Even Huang Guangming stopped screwing around.

Lu Zhou had only finished half of his beer when he got up and stopped Shi Shang. Lu Zhou picked up the check.

"I'll treat you guys this time, so don't try to fight it. I can report it as a business expense!"

Actually, he had already reported his business expenses, so this was a white lie.

After dinner, the squad separated in front of the school gate.

Lu Zhou waved goodbye to the University of Jin Ling.

The parasol tree was gently swaying as if it was waving goodbye.

When Lu Zhou looked at the white clouds in the distance, he could not help but think.

Time passes so fast.

…

After Lu Zhou moved into his new home, he started to prepare for going abroad.

The preparations were mainly for Xiao Ai.

This server was massive. The power consumption alone was dozens of time more than an air conditioning unit. He had to use a 50A socket.

Fire protection, theft prevention, power outages, and regular maintenance. These were all issues Lu Zhou had to consider.

Even though artificial intelligence was intelligent, it did not come to life. Lu Zhou still had to use his own hands to do most of the stuff.

First, he bought some security cameras online and installed them in each room. After that, he downloaded a camera management system on his server and connected all the cameras via Bluetooth.

This way, Xiao Ai would have "eyes".

He also bought a theft alarm.

The only problem left was power.

He could not leave the server on 24/7 as it would destroy both his electricity bill and the server hardware.

While Lu Zhou was studying the remote control power supply, he noticed that Xiao Ai had more features than he expected.

Xiao Ai could write some special programs.

Of course, these programs were not as useful as apps. They were programs that could only be understood by the machine.

This program was not written in any type of language, so there was no way to execute it. However, this program could control the security cameras and the theft alarm.

Of course, although only Xiao Ai could access the program, as Xiao Ai's owner, Lu Zhou could also use these programs.

Otherwise, if he installed an electric lock, Xiao Ai could lock him outside of his own home.

Xiao Ai's program solved the power issue. Once Lu Zhou tested the remote power function several times, he typed on his laptop: [I can't believe it, you've gotten smarter.]

Xiao Ai: [Everyone grows up~ (satisfied.jpg)]

Xiao Ai: [(Compliment me.jpg)]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Isn't this because of my $2 million yuan?

How could you search images so quickly without the new server?

Of course, Lu Zhou pointed out a problem.

[But you're not a human.]

Xiao Ai took a while to respond.

Xiao Ai: [QAQ]

What?

Lu Zhou was a little stunned by Xiao Ai's response.

Especially when he saw that Xiao Ai's progress bar in the lower right corner had slightly improved?

Chapter 208: Patents

The correct way of tuning artificial intelligence is actually accumulating negative emotions?

Lu Zhou was astonished at this unexpected discovery.

However, after multiple experiments, he found out that it was not true.

The progress bar and Xiao Ai's emotions had no correlations. Whenever he chatted with Xiao Ai, the progress bar would grow by a small margin.

Of course, it would take forever for Xiao Ai to progress like this.

The progress of Xiao Ai relied on the collection of data and paralyzing the logical emotion elements such as crawling data from a forum and slowly doing data analysis.

Although Lu Zhou did not know why data analysis was related to expression photos, it seemed that the expression photos was a little helpful.

He had tons of solid state storage space anyway, so he just let Xiao Ai do whatever it wanted.

After Lu Zhou moved into his new place, he would tinker with the server every day. Other than that, he would go online and see if there were any new theses submitted. If not, he would study the latest theories about Goldbach's conjecture. Most of his days were quite comfortable.

The third day before he was going to America, a piece of good news came.

The agent responsible for helping his patent called and told him that the patent document was processed. He could pick up the certificate at the agent's office.

…

"… The two documents are here. Check if there are any problems."

Han Tianyu was the agent who was responsible for it. He took out the certificates and handed them to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the two documents and asked, "Is it that fast?"

Honestly speaking, he was a little suspicious when he received the call.

According to his estimations, the patent process would take at least half a year, or maybe even a year.

It was a miracle that his patent was processed this fast.

Han Tianyu heard Lu Zhou's question and replied, "The recent National Knowledge Bureau patent process is very loose. Especially when it's the end of the year, they would only briefly look over it and pass it if there are no major problems."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Okay then.

There were two patent documents. One of them was on improving PDMS materials, and the other was on improving the use of PDMS materials in anodes.

The core of the battery technology was in these two parts. Actually, Lu Zhou could have further refined these two patents and come up with more patents. However, considering his limited budget, he decided against it.

Lu Zhou took the two patent certificates and read them carefully. He confirmed that his patent number, patent holder's name, and rights protection were all clearly written and that they were correct.

Also, his patent was valid for twenty years.

After twenty years, it would be free for all.

Lu Zhou asked Han Tianyu, "Is this patent valid overseas?"

Han Tianyu was a patent attorney, so he swiftly answered, "It's only valid in China. International patents require an additional application. The main route is to submit the patents to the Paris Convention or the PCT treaty."

"Depending on the country of application, there are different fees. Here's a price list. You can look at it if you wish."

When Lu Zhou looked at the price list, he was shocked.

This thing isn't cheap.

$20k yuan for America, $20k yuan for Europe… Even South Korea needs $19k yuan…

It'd take $400k yuan for all of the major countries.

Two patents, that means $800k yuan?

Fortunately, this price was in RMB. If it was in USD, there was no way he could afford it.

Han Tianyu saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, so he asked, "Which one do you plan on applying for?"

Lu Zhou placed the price list on the table and said with a pained voice, "I'll apply for everything on this price list."

Just to be safe, it was easier to apply for all of them at once.

After all, Lu Zhou had high hopes for his invention.

Han Tianyu was stunned, "… All of them?"

Lu Zhou nodded and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Nothing, no problem!"

Han Tianyu's face lit up as he looked at Lu Zhou with a smile.

$800k yuan case!

The commission of this case would be more than his salary!

Damn this guy is rich!

Even companies that were used to applying for internationalization of patents would be shocked at the prices. Smaller companies would not even apply at all, and would usually play it off as a "trade secret".

Smaller companies would only apply if it was absolutely necessary; like if they had a direct competitor.

It was rare to see such a generous customer like Lu Zhou.

The agent took Lu Zhou to the finance department to pay the money.

Before Lu Zhou left, the agent handed his business card to Lu Zhou and said, "If you have any patents to apply for in the future, come find me!"

The agent's intuition told him that there would be many business opportunities in the future.

"Let's talk about the future later, just take care of my case," said Lu Zhou as he smiled. He then asked, "Oh yeah, how long would it take for all of them?"

Han Tianyu said with confidence, "Latest June next year! I promise I'll give you a satisfactory result!"

He would be in Princeton by June next year.

Once the patents documents arrived, he would not have to worry about money.

Lu Zhou suddenly did not feel sad about the $800k yuan that he just spent. Instead, he smiled as he said, "Then I'll wait for your good news."

"Okay! Take care!"

Han Tianyu was extra enthusiastic. He even walked Lu Zhou out the door.

He only left after seeing Lu Zhou get into a car.

Chapter 209: Arrival In California

On 11th December, a major event took place in the academic circle.

It was not only in the mathematics community, but it was also in the medical world.

Three days ago, Professor Tu Youyou from Karolinska Institutet of Sweden published a thesis titled [A Gift from Traditional Chinese Medicine to the World]. Today at Stockholm, she received the Nobel Prize in Medicine!

William Campbell and Omura were also awarded. The three would share the $8 million SEK prize.

Thus, the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner was born!

Lu Zhou could not help but feel happy for the Chinese academic community.

Since the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner was born, it was about time for him to win the Fields Medal.

However, the interesting thing was that a few days after the Nobel Prize was awarded, the official website of the National Knowledge Bureau published an article entitled "The Revelation of Artemisinin Patent" which told the story behind this Nobel Prize.

At that time, there was no establishment of an intellectual property system in China. Therefore, the publication of research results in international journals was the only option. However, the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences later developed the compound "artemether" based on artemisinin. The patent was not in the hands of the Chinese but was taken by the Swiss Novartis company to establish patent barriers.

There were many reasons for this, but it was mainly because of the neglect of patent issues.

Their patent was basically stolen.

What was even more embarrassing was that although Professor Tu Youyou was the one who won the Nobel Prize, not a single company hired her.

The highest reward for this hero was a 1979 national invention award of which she only received $200 yuan.

In contrast, Omura, who had also won the award, accumulated nearly $30 billion yuan in personal wealth. At the age of 80 years old, he no longer engaged in scientific research, but instead, he was fiddling with collectible art.

The importance of intellectual property protection was obvious.

Due to Lu Zhou's concerns about patents, he read this article on the official website of the National Knowledge Bureau.

This was like a warning to him.

…

The academic conference at the end of the year was set one week before Christmas.

On the morning of the 18th, a flight landed at California airport.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase out of the airport and got a taxi. He then went to the University of Berkeley.

The annual Federal Mathematics Society conference would be held at Berkeley.

The Cole Prize would also be announced at the ceremony.

Although the winner had been disclosed to Lu Zhou, he was still just as excited.

Lu Zhou got off the taxi at Berkeley and met Luo Wenxuan, who had been waiting for him.

Luo Wenxuan gave him a warm hug and said, "Why didn't you call me? I could've picked you up at the airport."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine, I can just take a taxi."

Before Lu Zhou came to America, he did not notify anyone. He only called Luo Wenxuan after he landed.

As a member of the Federal Mathematics Society, Edward Witten would not miss the conference. Since Luo Wenxuan was under Witten's wings, naturally, he would also want to join in on the fun.

Luo Wenxuan glanced at his watch and when he saw that it was getting late, he said, "Let's go. I'll take you to your hotel. The organizer prepared a five-star hotel… Well, it has a five-star rating, but I think that at most, it's around four-star."

Lu Zhou, "How does it compare to the Princeton hotel?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Princeton hotel? The one across from Palmer Square? It's a bit better than that one, but the academic atmosphere is much less."

Berkeley was located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the second largest city in California. Compared to where Princeton was in, this atmosphere was undoubtedly more fast-paced.

On the way, the two started chatting about what happened in Beijing.

"Not bad, Lu Zhou. Bullsh*ting again before the end of the year."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "What do you mean bullsh*ting? Is academic bullsh*ting?"

"Wow, your tone is getting more and more like Old Tang," said Luo Wenxuan. He coughed and said, "So, as the winner of this year's Cole Prize in Number Theory, what are your thoughts, Mr. Lu Zhou?"

"No thoughts. It hasn't even begun."

Although the award ceremony was in a few days, the email said to kept it a secret. Thus, Lu Zhou felt necessary to keep this news confidential.

Although Luo Wenxuan immediately saw through his act, he said, "Fine, stop pretending. The written notice should be sent out one month ago, so you must already know."

Lu Zhou, "Fine… I actually already got the notice. But the email said to keep it confidential before the official award ceremony."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," said Luo Wenxuan as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He then said, "Just buy me drinks when you get the prize money!"

Lu Zhou remembered the unpleasant experience from last time and he quickly said, "Drinking is fine, but let's go to a normal bar this time."

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "Of course. This is near the university, so the bars are all very formal. Even the professors will come. Oh yeah, the chick you met last time, how is it? Are you still in contact with her?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He did not know what Luo Wenxuan was talking about, "What chick?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "The one at CERN… It's only been half a year. Have you already forgotten about her?"

Lu Zhou was speechless.

"That one? I didn't do anything with her."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Wait a minute, I don't understand… You're saying you dragged her into your room, covered her up with a blanket, and left?"

Lu Zhou said, "Not a blanket, I pulled the curtains… What else would I do? Wait for her to wake up?"

Luo Wenxuan stared at Lu Zhou for a long time before he sighed.

"Bro…"

Lu Zhou, "What?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "I thought that there's nothing else I could teach you, but now it seems that you have to learn from the beginning…"

Lu Zhou, "…?"

Chapter 210: My Trophy?

Once he was in the hotel room, Lu Zhou put his suitcase down on the floor. Before he could even unpack, Luo Wenxuan took him to the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel.

It was not dinner time yet, but it was perfect for an afternoon tea.

After all, many scholars had the habit of exchanging academic ideas during afternoon tea. Especially in academic conferences, scholars would habitually come to the restaurant at around this hour.

The only down-side was that the conference organizers only covered the cost of accommodation and food, but not the afternoon tea.

After satisfying Xiao Ai's request and applying for the international patents, Lu Zhou's bank account was running low.

This time when he flew to America, he only took $500 USD with him. He was counting on the $100,000 USD monetary award from the Cole Prize.

Luo Wenxuan and Lu Zhou soon found a table at the restaurant.

On the other table, an old Caucasian with slightly darker skin was on his laptop.

Luo Wenxuan walked over and greeted him before he said to Lu Zhou, "Let me introduce you to my bro, George Williams!"

When George saw Lu Zhou, he smiled and stood up. He then said, "Nice to meet you. I saw your report at the Princeton conference. Honestly, it made a lasting memory on me."

"Lu Zhou. Nice to meet you," said Lu Zhou as he shook his hand. He then asked, "Do you also study mathematical physics?"

George said, "No, I study economics."

"Economics? That's a promising profession…" said Lu Zhou. He then looked at George and asked, "But isn't your supervisor Professor Witten?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Mr. Witten's field of study is not only in mathematical physics. His master's degree is in economics. Recently, he had also received a master's history degree from Standford when he graduated last year."

Lu Zhou, "Nuts…"

I can't believe this Fields Prize winner has degrees in history and economics as well.

In comparison, Lu Zhou felt inferior.

George asked, "Are you reporting at this conference?"

Lu Zhou said humbly, "Not this time, I'm only here to listen."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Also to give an award speech."

"Cough!"

Lu Zhou gave him a death stare.

George said, "Hey dude, don't make me so nervous. We all knew that this award is yours. There's no doubt about it. The Federal Mathematics Society wouldn't give this award to anyone else."

Lu Zhou smiled and did not know what to say.

There really is no suspense. Even an economics guy knew that this award is mine.

…

Berkeley was a very nutty place, especially their mathematics department. Although it was not as good as Princeton, it was third in America and ranked top five in the world.

Professor Qiu had a PhD from here.

Even the "Mozart of Numbers", Tao Zhexuan, taught here.

Lu Zhou did not go anywhere else. He would spend all day wandering around the Berkeley campus. In the afternoon, he would go to the top floor restaurant to have his afternoon tea.

Although not many people would actively talk with him, he could still learn a lot from the few conversations he had.

Many big names were attending this conference. It was even more than the Princeton conference.

Everyone had been researching for a year. They finally had a place to brag and show off.

Of course, it was not just showing off.

The academic discussions created sparks and this led to the creation of new ideas.

For Lu Zhou, drinking coffee here was more useful than attending lectures.

After three quiet days, the conference finally kicked off.

The opening ceremony was held at the conference hall at Berkeley.

At the opening ceremony, the president of the Federal Mathematics Society, Mr. Francis, stood on stage and spoke in a slow and clear voice.

"This year is an extraordinary year."

"In the field of number theory, Lu Zhou, a master's student from the University of Jin Ling managed to solve the twin prime conjecture and the Polignac's conjecture. He had also added the topology principle to the sieve theory as well as created the group structure method."

"Algebraic field, Peter Schultz from Germany, solved the famous Weight-monodromy conjecture in abstract algebra through his own PS theory."

"Normally, for this year, the Cole Prize would be in algebra. However, the number of achievements in number theory this year cannot be ignored. Our committee members have debated about this for more than a month."

The Cole Prize was divided into a number theory and algebra award. Normally, the awards would not be given in the same year.

For example, last year, the award was given to the field of number theory, so by convention, this time the award should be in algebra.

Even though this practice had been broken before, it was only for a very few times.

If it was only the twin prime conjecture, this award would have been given to the German god, Schultz, because his proof of the weight-monodromy conjecture proved that his own PS theory was a powerful mathematical tool.

No one thought that Lu Zhou would be able to solve Polignac's conjecture. Not only that, but his "Group Structure Method" also had high research value in the field of number theory.

The contribution of both people was exceptional, so it was difficult to compare.

However, since Lu Zhou already knew the result, there was no suspense for him.

Mr. Francis paused for a second before he continued, "We made a bold decision."

"The award winner is…"

Lu Zhou sat in the audience. He was adjusting his collar and was prepared to go on stage.

"Schultz from Germany!"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

WTF?

Clap clap clap…

The audience erupted in applause.

A thin, pale, tall man stood up and smiled. He then bowed as a show of thanks to the applause.

Lu Zhou: "…"

The fuck?

Where's my trophy?

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou as he did not know what happened either.

The applause gradually subsided.

Mr. Francis stood on stage and coughed softly before he continued to speak, "And Lu Zhou from China!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Can you finish your sentence next time?

I nearly had a heart attack!

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something.

The Cole Prize for this year…

Is awarded to two people?!

Chapter 211: Youngest Winner!

It was not only Lu Zhou who was shocked.

Everyone else was also surprised.

Especially the journalists who were waiting at both sides of the venue. They were like sharks that smelled blood as they stared straight at the podium.

This year, two Cole Prizes would be presented at the conference organized by the Federal Mathematics Society!

This was huge news!

The audience was quiet for two seconds before sporadic applause cut through the venue. The applause swept through the audience like a gust of wind.

Luo Wenxuan who was sitting next to Lu Zhou started to clap excitedly as he said, "I told you, this prize is yours!"

Lu Zhou smiled. He did not know how to respond.

He had yet to process what happened earlier.

This surprise caused him to forget his award-winning speech!

Many people were surprised by this decision from the Federal Mathematics Society, but no one objected.

This was the best choice.

Schultz was obviously stunned, but he smiled and looked back at Lu Zhou. He then started to applause.

The applause gradually subsided.

Sitting on the other side of the venue, Professor Deligne had a look of surprise.

After a while, he finally made a comment.

"The Federal Mathematics Society made a bold decision."

"Yes, awarding both the algebra and number theory award at the same time… This has never been done before," said Edward Witten with a smile. He then added, "And the two winners are so young."

A 28-year-old and a 21-year-old were considered extremely young.

For the older scholars, it was gratifying to see so many young talents emerging in their field of research.

However, not everyone felt this way.

Deligne said, "It seems that Francis is ready to accept criticism and questioning."

The two geniuses walked on stage together.

Francis, the president of the Federal Mathematics Society, personally handed the medal to the hands of the two and smiled.

"Congratulations! I wish more success for you young scholars in the future!"

"So, at this exciting moment, please feel free to voice out some of your thoughts."

Francis took a step back and made a gesture.

There were many awards in the field of algebra, and the Cole Prize was not the most famous one. However, in the field of number theory, the Cole Prize was the king.

The academic community had been fiercely discussing who would be awarded the Cole Prize for this year.

Whether it was to award a number theory prize again or to insist on traditions and award an algebra prize… If it was the former, Schultz's results would be ignored, and if it was the latter, the judges of number theory would not be satisfied.

The main reason was that the value of the twin prime conjecture and the Polignac's conjecture was too high. Many number theory professors spent their entire life working on prime numbers and made little progress. It was difficult to make a breakthrough in the field of number theory.

When Lu Zhou proved the twin prime conjecture, he used the topology sieve method. However, in less than a year, he proposed the "Group Structure Method".

This progress was outstanding!

The two winners each delivered their acceptance speech. The award ceremony finally came to an end.

As the opening ceremony came to an end, the mathematicians started to leave the venue. The reporters rushed against the crowd and pointed their cameras at the two winners.

One reporter asked, "Hello, I'm a reporter from the L.A Times. Mr. Schultz, what are you going to do with the prize money?"

"I'll buy my wife a few nice skirts, milk powder for my kid…" said Schultz with a smile. He then said humorously, "Of course, I'll get myself some new shoes."

The camera shuttered and flashed.

The L.A Times reporter started to type on his laptop. He was typing the headline article for the paper tomorrow.

"Peter Schultz, a family man in mathematics!"

Lu Zhou looked at this mathematics genius in astonishment.

The f*ck?

Does this guy have kids?

You're only in your twenties!

The other winner was also in the reporter's spotlight.

In fact, the reporters were more interested in the Chinese winner that appeared out of nowhere.

Especially since this winner was only 21 years old, the youngest Cole Prize winner ever!

This was shocking news!

A blonde reporter from the British "Daily Mail" asked, "Mr. Lu Zhou, what do you plan to do after you get the prize money?"

Lu Zhou wanted to say, "save money and buy a house". After all, this was what his dad wanted him to do.

However, he realized that he was not being entirely politically correct. He decided to bullsh*t instead.

"I'm going to use this money as research funding to challenge the next conjecture!"

The reporter asked, "Your next goal is?"

"The Goldbach's conjecture is a good choice," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "But I've also been paying attention to the 750 GeV signal. There are many topics worthy of further research in mathematical physics, so I may also use some of my energy there."

The reporters around him gasped.

Goldbach's conjecture?!

750 GeV characteristic peak?

Although Goldbach's conjecture was less valuable than the Millennium Prize Problems, it was named one of "Three major mathematical problems of the modern times". Its difficulty and influence were quite amazing! In the minds of the public, it was on the same level as Millennium Prize Problems.

As for the 750 GeV characteristic peak, any scientific journalist would know about this recent discovery.

How an intern made a mathematical prediction on the 750 GeV characteristic peak. CERN's spokesperson said that this discovery could fill in the last piece of the standard model!

Maybe…

Lu Zhou made other major discoveries about the characteristic peak?

Lu Zhou gave the reporters a hard time.

His answer was too long, so the reporters did not know what to write for the headline.

Lu Zhou looked at the reporter from the Daily Mail as she typed on her laptop. He then cursed in his heart.

Damn it, I think I bragged a little too much.

He was not at the LHC, so it was not like he could discover something new.

Hopefully, the reporters would not over-interpret his answer.

Chapter 212: Relationship

The Cole Prize in Number Theory and Cole Prize in Algebra were completely different awards. The two winners each had their own medal, so they each had their own prize money.

A check for $100,000 USD as well as a medal was sent to both Lu Zhou and Schultz.

At night, the Federal Mathematics Society held a dinner party at a five-star hotel near the Berkeley campus.

Since it was Christmas season, the atmosphere of the dinner party was lively.

Although there were no Christmas trees or Santa, Lu Zhou saw the classic roast turkey and a Buche de Noel cake.

As the youngest winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, and the only person to cause the Federal Mathematics Society to make an exception, Lu Zhou was naturally the focus of the dinner party.

Especially for people in number theory.

Many number theory mathematicians took this opportunity to meet him.

The younger and less accomplished scholars would only chat for a bit to Lu Zhou as they felt intimidated.

This was because Lu Zhou was considered a big name in the field of mathematics.

Cole Prize at the age of 21 years old. The Fields Medal must be coming soon then?

It was just a matter of time.

After dealing with the people who kept asking for his email address and Facebook, Lu Zhou felt a little hungry. He put down the champagne down and took a plate as he started to look for food.

He asked the hotel waiter to cut him a leg from the roast turkey. Coincidentally, Schultz was also there.

The two were interested in each other, so they found a seat and sat down.

At first, the two started to discuss mathematics, but because of the differences in the area of research, they started to talk about their life instead.

Lu Zhou, "I heard that you're married?"

Schultz smiled and said, "Yes, the second year after I was hired as a professor at the University of Bonn, I proposed to my wife. We've been together for three years."

Lu Zhou said, "Wow, I didn't know. We're close in age but you're already a dad."

"Hey it's nothing strange, I'm already 28 years old," Schultz smiled and said, "How about you? When are you going to get married?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I don't have plans to marry yet."

Lu Zhou suddenly regretted saying this.

Why did I bring up this heavy topic?

Schultz smiled and said, "I understand. Being married isn't always fun. There's not as much freedom compared to when you're single. I also thought like you when I was young. Until I met her… Thing is, having a family brought me more joy than I can imagine, second only to mathematics. Especially because she brought me a cute little angel and this angel plays with my medals all the time."

Yes, his medals were toys for his children.

If he won the Fields Medal, imagined how many people would be pissed off.

While talking about Schultz's wife and daughter, Schultz began to move away from the University of Bonn and started talking about their vows in front of Munster Cathedral.

"Real talk, my friend. I sincerely suggest that you try a relationship. If you don't experience these things, it's like something is missing from your life," said Schultz as he looked at Lu Zhou seriously. He smiled and said, "I promise you that it won't affect your mathematics research. In fact, it might even bring you unexpected inspiration."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. He did not want to talk.

F*ck sake!

You think I don't want to be in a relationship?!

…

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up a little later than usual. He slept until afternoon and nearly missed the afternoon report.

He quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face and changed his clothes before walked to Berkeley and went to the report meeting.

This report speaker was Helfgott, the Peruvian from France!

The report content was about Goldbach's conjecture!

Two years ago, this French mathematician used a "circle method" to prove a smaller conjecture related to Goldbach's conjecture. Each odd number of >10^30 could be expressed as the sum of three prime numbers.

As for the 10^30 number, this had been checked by computers and it was correct.

This method of proof lacked some mathematics sophistication, but it was still a proof. The fact was that the Goldbach's conjecture had been proved under established conditions. What remained to be done was to prove the Goldbach's conjecture without these conditions.

Different from the "circle method" was Brown's "a+b" method. It was the same line of logic and was a fairly promising method in number theory.

Using this method, he narrowed down an infinite problem to a lower bound that could be calculated. All odd numbers greater than this limit was correct, and as for the odd numbers smaller than this limit, it had to be checked one by one with a computer.

At present, the mathematics community accepted Helfgott's research results. This was why he was invited to give an hour report at the mathematics conference.

Naturally, Lu Zhou was interested in this talk. Helfgott was the biggest Goldbach's conjecture researcher for decades.

Lu Zhou started to listen carefully and he even took some notes.

Although the Cole Prize was a great honor, Lu Zhou knew that his strengths could be improved. He did not bathe in the joy of winning for long and he was ready to grind again.

He did not even realize that his Cole Prize would cause another sensation in China…

…

[Shook! The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner won another international award!]

Shi Shang was doing his homework. When he looked at the news on his phone, he said, " Motherf*cker, this guy did it again!"

The day Lu Zhou won the Cole Prize in Number Theory, his name blew up in the University of Jin Ling.

The aura of the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award had not even faded yet, and he already won another award.

This time, it was not just people from the mathematics department. Even the students from the liberal arts department, physics department, and foreign language department all worshiped this god.

As the first Chinese winner of the Cole Prize and as the record holder for the youngest winner ever, this glory was enough for the professors of University to brag for a year.

Previously the department of mathematics of the University of Jin Ling had no sense of existence at all, so this award was extremely impactful for them.

Huang Guangming raised his head and said, "Bro, the banner outside the school changed again!"

Liu Rui raised his head and said: "…"

Huang Guangming saw that Liu Rui did not respond, so he said, "Liu Rui, it's still Lu Zhou on the banner!"

Liu Rui: "…"

Huang Guangming, "Liu Rui, why are you like this?"

"…"

Goddamn it!

Are you guys done bragging about Lu Zhou yet?!

In his head, Liu Rui slammed the pen down.

Dorm 201 once again heard the screams of Huang Guangming…

Chapter 213: One Small Step

The full name of the circle method was "Hardy–Littlewood circle method". It was not only an important tool for the Goldbach's conjecture but also an important tool for analytical number theory.

The intended use of this tool was not necessarily for Goldbach's conjecture. It was now widely believed in the mathematical analysis community that this concept first appeared in Hardy's research on "symptomatic analysis of integer splitting". When Hardy and Littlewood collaborated on the Hualin issue, this method was fully completed.

As an important tool for studying Goldbach's conjecture, this method had been expanded by other mathematicians.

For example, Helfgott who stood on stage was one of the contributors to the circle method.

"… The meaning of the Goldbach's conjecture is that any even number greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two prime numbers. We can call this guess A."

"… Because the odd number minus the odd prime number is an even number, guess A thinks that any even number is equal to the sum of the two prime numbers. Therefore, guess B can be used to guess the inference B. Any odd number greater than 9 can be written as the sum of three odd prime numbers."

Helfgott paused for a second before he continued, "The 'circle method' I'm talking about is the weak conjecture that proves part of the Goldbach's conjecture, the guess B!"

Only if guess A was established, would guess B be established as well.

However, this would not work the other way around.

As for why, it was because this involved a very interesting question on logical mathematics. It was difficult to describe with simple mathematics, but it was basically a set of "the sum of odd and odd primes greater than 9" was not equivalent to the set of "any even numbers". All elements were infinite and could not be proved exhaustively.

From an abstract point of view, the "even set" of the circle method was the "1+1" form of the sieve method. There was a small part missing in both.

However, this small part was crucial.

After a brief opening remark, Helfgott started to write a line of calculations on the whiteboard.

[… when 2||N, there is r3(N)=1/2n(N2/N3)∏(1-1/(p-1)2)∏(1+1/(p-1)2), (1+O(1))]

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up when he saw this line of calculations.

This line of expression was not merely scribbling. It was the two-digit argument of Hardy and Littlewood. It was one of the expressions that were presented in the 1922 thesis!

While studying the twin prime conjecture, Lu Zhou read that thesis. He even quoted some parts in his own thesis.

As such, his impression of this thesis was deep.

It seems that this report is a bit interesting.

The old man in front of the whiteboard did not speak. Instead, he continued to write.

The venue was completely quiet.

It was not just Lu Zhou who was listening carefully. All of the other big names were also listening seriously.

The mathematics industry was highly specialized. No one was an expert at everything. Therefore, the thesis for the report would be released in advance for everyone to study and consult.

If the report did not answer one's question, one would be able to ask the question during the Q&A section. This was how academic reports were done. It was not just watching and listening. One had to actively think and ask questions as well as to participate in discussions.

After 40 minutes, Helfgott finally stopped writing and turned around.

"The basic proof process is like this. If you have any questions, you can ask them now."

Lu Zhou raised his hand.

Helfgott looked at Lu Zhou and nodded.

Lu Zhou stood up and asked, "I have doubts on the formula on line 34. In the operation of =∑a(n)z^n+δ(n), you can directly derive each integer n>0. I guess you used the Cauchy-Gusa theorem or its inference residue theorem. But how do you judge that the function f(s) is a pure function?"

Quiet discussions began in the venue.

Clearly, Lu Zhou's question was intriguing.

"Good question," said Helfgott as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then wrote down a line of calculations on the whiteboard before he asked, "Do you understand now?"

Lu Zhou looked at the line of calculations and nodded.

"Understood, thank you."

Lu Zhou sat back down and copied the line of formula into his notebook.

Since his main research was on sieve theory, Helfgott's method was also interesting. By doing academic exchanges, Lu Zhou could perfect his own theory and used the difference in opinions as a way of getting inspiration.

While Lu Zhou was taking notes, someone next to him poked his arm.

"Sorry, can I ask you a question?"

The person that asked the question was a blonde girl with pale skin.

This girl looked young and she was a little shorter than Lu Zhou. She was probably an undergraduate student from Berkeley.

Her voice was pleasant to listen to.

Regardless of the pleasantness of the voice, Lu Zhou would never reject a mathematics question. He said, "Go ahead."

The girl blinked and pointed at the whiteboard as she asked, "Sorry, that… What did you know from that?"

She looked at the line of formula which she did not understand at all.

"You're talking about the expression?" asked Lu Zhou. He then patiently explained, "Because I(n) = ∫{f(s)/s^(n+ 1)}ds=2πian is a closed-loop integral, you can use the residue theorem directly when you return to the original form. Professor Helfgott's explanation is a bit funky, so it is hard to understand. Just think about it more."

The girl started to write notes.

From her ruthless note-taking technique, Lu Zhou was convinced that this girl was an undergrad.

However, could an undergrad really understand this report?

Lu Zhou asked, "Any other questions?"

"Thanks, no… Sorry, can you give me your email? I have more questions to ask you," said the girl. She looked a little nervous and she ever started to blush.

It was obvious that she was not that good at socializing.

Lu Zhou was not that good at socializing either, so he did not care and said, "Sure. Also, don't say "sorry" all the time. I'm Lu Zhou, and you are?"

"I know you're Lu Zhou. I saw you at the opening ceremony," said the girl. She then said, "I'm Vera. I'm studying at Berkeley… I'm very interested in pure mathematics, especially number theory."

Vera?

Sounds a bit Russian?

Lu Zhou subconsciously looked at her boobs. Although they were not washboard size, they were on the smaller end.

Emm…

No way?

"Just out of curiosity, how old are you?"

"17…"

Lu Zhou looked at her and asked, "A 17-year-old can attend Berkeley?"

He had not even graduated from high school when he was 17.

"I'm an IMO gold medalist…" said Vera. She smiled and said, "Of course, it's nothing compared to solving two conjectures…"

Lu Zhou said, "… No, the Olympic Math Competition is impressive. Have more confidence in yourself. This is shocking. So you got the medal when you were 15? When did you go to high school then?"

The last question was left unanswered by Vera as Helfgott announced the end of the report.

"We still have a long way to go to prove Goldbach's conjecture."

"Thanks for coming!"

Helfgott then nodded and walked down the stage in the round of applause.

Lu Zhou had never participated in the IMO competition before, so he was quite interested. He wanted to talk with this girl for a bit, but it was getting late. Therefore, he packed up his stuff and started to walk out of the venue.International Mathematical Olympiad.

Chapter 214: Not Easy To Get You Outside

Actually, Helfgott was not the first person to challenge the Goldbach's conjecture. A long time ago, a former Soviet mathematician, Vinogradov, proved that "when an odd number is big enough, it can be written as the sum of three prime numbers".

This was known as the "Goldbach Vinogradov theorem" which was also known as the "three prime number theorem".

Another former Soviet mathematician, Barrett King, defined a "sufficiently large odd number" as a boundary.

However, his number was 4 million digits long. Even supercomputers could not verify it.

In Helfgott's 2013 research, he finally reduced the 4 million digits to 30 digits. Computers could at least handle this number.

While Lu Zhou was proving the twin prime conjecture, he used the three prime number theorem.

After returning to the hotel, he closed his door and began to carefully organize his notes.

Many of Helfgott's viewpoints were interesting. Whether it was the choice of power series functions or solutions to progressive problems, he had many innovations.

It seemed that over the past two years, this professor has not been satisfied with the progress of Goldbach's conjecture. Therefore, he had been further polishing his theory.

Compared with the 2013 thesis, his content in this report was more concise and rigorous.

After putting all of his notes in his computer, Lu Zhou laid in his bed with his printed thesis and started to think carefully.

Should I continue to use the sieve method?

Or should I use the circle method?

This was a question worth pondering.

The former had not had any big changes for decades while the latter was promising.

"The problem is how to find a condition and small enough lower bound in the large collection of even numbers?" thought Lu Zhou as he flipped through the thesis. He then said, "It seems that proving this question is similar to the twin prime conjecture."

Suddenly, someone knocked on his door.

Lu Zhou threw the thesis aside and sat up from his bed. He then went to open the door.

Luo Wenxuan stood in the hallway and greeted him, "Hey."

Lu Zhou asked, "What's up?"

"It's almost Christmas. Don't tell me you plan on studying mathematics in this room," said Luo Wenxuan. He pulled out two tickets and asked, "There's a basketball match on the 23rd. I got it from my friend. Do you want to go?"

23rd was the day after tomorrow.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, there was an hour-long report that day.

Generally speaking, hour-long reports were all either for major discoveries or reserved for big names.

Lu Zhou did not want to miss it.

So, he shook his head and said, "Sorry, but I'm not really interested in basketball. I also have a report that day that I don't want to miss. How about you go and find someone else?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and with a look of defeat, he said, "Not like this, bro. You're about to go to Princeton, so you have to try to integrate into the lifestyle here. This isn't China… You have to at least like one sport."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I think that it's not necessary to force yourself into an uncomfortable lifestyle. I prefer to live life at my own pace."

"Fine, maybe you're right," said Luo Wenxuan. He glanced at the tickets in his hand and said, "But I still suggest you have a hobby other than mathematics. This will help you find topics to talk about when socializing. It can also help you relax."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'll consider your suggestion."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Oh yeah, do you want to go drinking tonight? I found a great bar nearby."

Lu Zhou had spent the past few days researching mathematics, and he sorely needed a break. So he agreed, "Sure, I can go."

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Haha, it's not easy getting you to hang out."

…

The news of the Cole Prize had been floating around in China for three days. Even after three days, there were still relevant news articles popping up.

Lu Zhou was the first Chinese person to win the Cole Prize. Naturally, the media had to follow up on this matter.

Although the Cole Prize was incomparable to a Nobel Prize, it was still an international award!

Since the 2000s, the number theory community in China had never been strong.

The emerging of a Cole Prize broke this curse.

It was not just the University of Jin Ling that was happy for Lu Zhou, even his old high school, Jiangling High, was also proud of him.

The morning he received the Cole prize, the banner was hung up at the high school gate.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou, a 2013 graduate of our school, who won the international renowned mathematics award: The Cole Prize in Number Theory!]

Jiangling High, mathematics office.

Xiao Tong knocked the office door and waited until she heard a "come in" before she walked in.

She was still in class when she was suddenly called to go to Old Ma's office.

Being called into Old Ma's office was no good news.

Among all of the teachers, Old Ma had the worst temper.

This teacher liked to patrol the class and would confiscate phones. Many students were afraid of this teacher. He was like the devil amongst students.

Xiao Tong carefully walked to his desk. She was about to ask what was wrong when Old Ma smiled and pulled out a chair.

"Come sit down."

Xiao Tong: ???

She was shocked by Old Ma's abnormal behavior.

When did Old Ma become so kind?

However, Xiao Tong thought that this might be the calm before the storm, so she sat down cautiously.

"Xiao Tong, how're your studies?"

Xiao Tong thought for a moment before saying, "It's going okay…"

Old Ma smiled and said, "Please ask me if you don't know anything!"

Xiao Tong could not take it anymore, so she asked seriously, "Teacher, is it because I failed my monthly exam? Just tell me what I got! I'll try my best next time. It's fine if you want to roast me!"

"No no no, your test result is good! What about your life? Is there any troubles… Like anyone bullying you in class? You can tell me," said Old Ma with a serious look.

Xiao Tong was confused. She replied, "Nope, my classmates are friendly and I'm friends with a lot of them… Teacher, just give it to me straight. I still have homework to do."

Old Ma coughed and said, "I just have a question. Lu Zhou… Is your brother busy?"

Xiao Tong said, "Should be busy"

Old Ma immediately asked, "He's still coming back for New Year, right?"

Xiao Tong asked, "Of course he's coming back for New Year. Is there a problem?"

Old Lu suddenly smiled and said, "The thing is, the leaders of the Education Bureau wants Lu Zhou to give a speech at his old high school, and talk about his learning experience. Can you help me and ask if your brother has time?"

Just this thing?

Xiao Tong thought that she was in trouble. She wanted to roll her eyes but instead, she said, "Okay, teacher, I'll tell my brother about it."

Old Ma smiled and said, "Haha, thank you!"

Chapter 215: Is Not Easy For Geniuses

What Lu Zhou managed to gain over the past few days were massive.

It was not just in academic, but more in the sense of social networking.

Lu Zhou met many people that he had read about in textbooks, newspapers, and articles. That feeling itself was extraordinary.

For example, Heim Brenzi, an academician of the French Academy of Sciences. Lu Zhou had read Brenzi's "Functional Analysis" textbook, in which Brenzi's explanation of the Sobolev space made a lasting impression on Lu Zhou.

This old gentleman from France was very funny and enthusiastic. Especially after he heard that Lu Zhou read his work, he was even friendlier toward Lu Zhou. He repeatedly said that if Lu Zhou ever went to France, he could look for him.

Brenzi had an interesting collection of manuscripts, including one from Euler.

In addition to this warm and cheerful old man, Lu Zhou also met the Chinese mathematics genius, Tao Zhexuan.

Lu Zhou felt like Tao Zhexuan was different in person. He had not expected him to be a humorous and welcoming guy.

Also, he looked younger than what Lu Zhou imagined. Lu Zhou would have never guessed that Tao Zhexuan was in his forties.

Since he was born in Australia, he could not speak Mandarin. However, he could speak Cantonese, but unfortunately, Lu Zhou could not understand him. Therefore, they resorted to speaking in English.

The fourth day of the conference, after the hour-long report ended, Tao Zhexuan invited Lu Zhou to visit his office.

The two started to talk about academic issues.

After exchanging a few words, Lu Zhou could not help but think.

I have to admit. This guy really is a mathematics genius! His field of study is in all areas of mathematics. He might not be good at everything, but there's rarely something he doesn't know anything about.

In September this year, he cracked the 1980's unsolved Erdos problem. This was a classic number theory problem and one that was outside of Tao Zhexuan's research field.

However, it was not as important as the Polignac's conjecture, so his spotlight was stolen by Lu Zhou.

"You're studying Goldbach's conjecture?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Yeah, you've researched it before?"

Tao Zhexuan smiled and acknowledge his shortcomings, "I tried to, at the beginning of this year. I quickly realized that I can't solve it. I'm better at studying two directions of partial differential equations and harmonic analysis."

He then continued, "I saw your thesis in Annual Mathematics. I was greatly inspired by the topology sieve theory you used. I thought it might be able to solve Chen's theorem… However, the results were regrettable."

Lu Zhou asked, "Does the sieve method not work?"

Tao Zhexuan sounded pessimistic as he replied, "Doesn't work… At least I couldn't make it work."

Tao Zhexuan shook his head and started to write on the paper.

[∑|S(αm)|2≤∆∑|αn|2, where αn takes an arbitrary number]

[S(α)=∑ane(αn),e(x)=e^(2πxi).M,N∈Z,a1… an is a set of modulo 1 well-distributed real numbers…]

[…]

Lu Zhou looked at the formulas on the paper and rubbed his chin. He then went into deep thought.

Tao Zhexuan stopped writing and said, "I only read about this method. You're the one that invented this method."

"No, Professor Zellberg was the one who originally introduced topology into the sieve method. I just made some minor improvements, and you obviously made some major improvements," said Lu Zhou with a smile as he looked at the paper. He then said, "Since am is well-distributed, why not treat R^(-1)·∑|S(αm)|2 as ∫|S(α )|2dα Riemann"

Tao Zhexuan's eyes lit up. He then said, "Then?"

"The value of R = 1, we can get by the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality…" said Lu Zhou. He could not explain it in words, so he picked up a pen and started to write on the paper.

[|S(α1)|2≤N∑|an|2]

Tao Zhexuan said, "Your idea is interesting… We have to find an N(δ) value, then we can find ∆."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, but ∆ won't be much larger than N+δ^(-1). The trouble lies in N."

The two raised their heads and looked at each other before they smiled.

However, there was a slight bitterness in their smile as the method did not work!

Tao Zhexuan threw the pen on the table and sighed. He started to speak, "The circle method is too difficult. It could take decades to solve. Maybe you can try the circle method. Honestly speaking, the sieve method might not work."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'll research it in my free time, but I still have hopes for the sieve method. Maybe it has potential."

"How about you come to teach at Berkeley? The environment here is good, and we can start a research project together… If you don't think I'm a liability," said Tao Zhexuan with a smile.

Lu Zhou: "…"

You literally have an IQ of 230. If you're a liability, then what about those with IQ of 100?

For the first time, Lu Zhou realized that it was a pain in the ass talking with people who are too humble.

Lu Zhou said, "I still haven't gotten my PhD yet. I'll probably go to Princeton next year for it."

"You still haven't graduated?" said Tao Zhexuan as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then said, "Okay then… Chinese Universities are so strict."

Lu Zhou said, "I started my master's degree at the beginning of the year."

"Okay then, that's understandable," said Tao Zhexuan. He smiled and said, "When I was doing my master's, the same thing happened to me. The supervisor made me stay for a year before I could graduate."

Tao Zhexuan wrote down his email on a piece of paper and handed it to Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "Let's keep in touch, I'll contact you if there are any new discoveries."

"Okay."

Lu Zhou nodded and took the piece of paper. He then wrote down his email in a piece of paper as well. They then separated.

While walking back to the hotel, Lu Zhou kept thinking about the problem.

After some thinking, he became hungry.

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his phone. It was a bit too early for dinner, so he turned around and walked into a BBQ restaurant.

He then ordered a set of ribs. He then took out the $19 USD and placed it on the counter. Once he paid, he went to find a place to sit down.

People said that America was cheap, but he did not think so.

$19 USD was almost $110 yuan.

A skinny waitress carried a huge plate of food and placed it on Lu Zhou's table.

When Lu Zhou looked at the things on the plate, his eyes twitched.

Good god, he thought it would be the kind of ribs he saw on TV. He had not expected a whole rack of ribs! This was enough for three people!

On the plate, there was also a baked potato with sour cream, a bowl of Mexican beans, and a mysterious soup.

I guess it's pretty worth it for the price.

However, this clearly isn't for one person.

He finally knew why everyone in America was so fat.

"Sir, are you satisfied with the food?"

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he had not given the waitress a tip yet. He then pulled out two dollars from his pocket.

However, when he saw the waitress, she looked familiar.

Lu Zhou placed the tip into her hand and asked, "You work here?"

"Yeah," nodded Vera embarrassingly.

"Do you not have a scholarship?"

Lu Zhou also worked part-time to pay for his tuition and living expenses, so he did not think anything was wrong with it.

What surprised him was that he thought American scholarships were easy to get, especially for an IMO gold medalist. It should be easy for her to get a free ride for the degree.

Vera had not expected to meet Lu Zhou here. She smiled awkwardly and said, "There's a scholarship…"

If Vera worked for the experience or travel money, she would definitely tell Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou saw that she did not further expand on why she was working, so he guessed that she must need the money for tuition.

"You're Russian?"

Vera shook her head.

When Lu Zhou saw her awkward expression, he felt that he should not have asked the question.

Suddenly, a chef in the kitchen shouted her name.

Vera quickly turned around and responded. She then bowed to Lu Zhou before she hurried back to the kitchen.

Chapter 216: Bullsh*ting Is Not A Good Habi

Lu Zhou could guess the truth on the matter.

He cut off a piece of rib and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Poor kid…"

This world was unfair.

Lu Zhou was lucky to be born in a peaceful country.

Lu Zhou tried to stuff his face, but he could not finish the food. In the end, he gave up.

When he saw the remaining ribs, he said in his heart.

If I knew they would give so much, I would've asked Luo Wenxuan to come with me.

However, the taste…

Is pretty good.

Lu Zhou left the BBQ restaurant and returned to his hotel.

Back at his hotel, he started to sort out his daily notes.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

When Lu Zhou picked up the call, he heard Professor Tang's voice.

"When do you plan on coming back to China? Are you still coming back to University of Jin Ling this year?"

Lu Zhou was stunned but he quickly understood why Professor Tang was asking him these questions. He said, "It's nearly New Year, so I plan on going back to my hometown."

Professor Tang was unsurprised by Lu Zhou's answer. He smiled and said, "You're not coming back? There's still an award waiting for you here."

Lu Zhou, "Award?"

Old Tang smiled and said, "You're a master's student now, right? So you can be nominated for the Annual Person Award. You don't have to give a presentation like last year, just take the prize on stage."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This… I'll give it to people that need it. I've already won it before! I'll let other people have a chance."

University of Jin Ling's Annual Person Award was valuable in China.

It basically guaranteed a job. Any company would want someone with the award.

However, since Lu Zhou already won the Cole prize, he was not interested in small awards like this.

Professor Tang asked, "You really don't want it?"

Lu Zhou, "I'm good!"

Old Tang smiled and did not insist. Instead, he said, "Okay then… The school won't have to give you the million yuan then! It's fine if you don't want it."

"Pfft!"

Lu Zhou nearly spat his water out.

He coughed and said, "How much?"

Old Tang smiled and said, "What do you mean how much? You don't want the award anyway."

Lu Zhou asked, "Isn't the award only $10,000 yuan? What is this million for?"

"Other people are awarded $10,000 yuan, but you get a million yuan," said Professor Tang with a smile. He then said, "This is the decision that the school made. I heard it from Dean Qin."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Seeing that Lu Zhou was speechless, Professor Tang smiled and placed down his vacuum flask.

After a while, he sighed and said, "You've changed a lot over the past year. But one thing you didn't change is your love of money! Loving money isn't anything bad since you can't do research without money and you also can't get a wife… But remember, don't make it too high of a priority or it'll come and bite you in the ass one day."

"I understand!" said Lu Zhou. With a serious tone, he added, "The conference ends on the 23rd. If the school needs me, I'll fly back immediately!"

Professor Tang smiled and shook his head as he said, "It's fine, take your time with the conference. The ceremony for the Annual Person Award can be delayed. I'll just talk about it with Principal Xu."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then teacher… Are the million yuan award still on the table?"

"On!"

The situation was different than last year.

Having won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and Cole Prize, Lu Zhou was not winning this Annual Person Award for himself. He was doing it for the honor of the University of Jin Ling!

Just like if Einstein won the Nobel Prize, it was not only an honor for Einstein, but it would also be an honor to the Nobel Prize.

A school-level honor was too insignificant for Lu Zhou. Therefore, in order to get Lu Zhou to come back to the school, the school "slightly" raised the amount of the award.

The school was even willing to reschedule the award ceremony to match Lu Zhou's schedule.

…

Lu Zhou had been in California for a week. Two days before Christmas, the academic conference finally ended.

This academic conference also awarded a Best Young Speaker Award.

The award winner was a French professor in his thirties. His report was a breakthrough on partial differential equations.

Due to a conflict in his schedule, Lu Zhou missed this report. However, Lu Zhou read his thesis and the level of his report was indeed worthy of this award.

There was also a Best Overall Speaker Award.

This award was undoubtedly given to Professor Helfgott.

His research in Goldbach's conjecture would be the most dazzling research result of the year.

If this old man had not already received a Cole Prize, Lu Zhou might have some competition.

However, the old man did not care about the award too much. He was just happy to see that people recognized his research.

Of course, he was also happy about the $20,000 USD prize.

After the closing ceremony, Lu Zhou bought a plane ticket back home.

He originally planned to transfer at Shanghai, then fly to Jiangcheng.

However, his university had invited him to go back, and he had agreed.

While he was using his knowledge of geometry to pack his suitcase, Xiao Tong suddenly called him on WeChat.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and turned on the loudspeaker.

Xiao Tong was wearing pajamas in bed. She yawned and asked, "Brother, when are you coming back?"

It was nighttime in China and it looked like this girl was about to go to sleep.

Lu Zhou was packing the chocolate he bought for his sister and replied casually, "I'll come back before the New Year, why?"

Xiao Tong said, "Two good news, which one do you want to hear?"

"You got first in your class for the monthly test?"

Xiao Tong's eyes widened as she said, "Brother, you're a god!"

After all, Xiao Tong was Lu Zhou's sister, so she had half of his intelligence.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What else could it be? Go on, what's the other good news?"

Xiao Tong smiled and said, "Old Ma told me to ask if you want to give a speech at your old high school?"

Lu Zhou was speechless and he asked, "What kind of good news is this?"

Xiao Tong, "This is good new! Are you not going to go?"

Lu Zhou was too lazy to go, but he still asked, " Do you want me to go?"

Xiao Tong eyes lit up, "Yes!"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Then I'll go."

Xiao Tong cheered and said, "Yay! Brother, you're the best!"

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

Why does she even want me to go?

If only she could use this energy on her studies.

Chapter 217: Back To School

The second day after Christmas, near San Francisco International Airport.

When Tao Zhexuan dropped Lu Zhou off at the airport, he said, "Have a safe flight."

Lu Zhou pulled his suitcase out of the trunk and said, "Thanks, come to China when you're free."

"For sure!"

The past two days, Lu Zhou had been exchanging mathematics problems with this genius. Even though they had a twenty years gap, they got along unexpectedly well. Tao Zhexuan was the one who offered to send Lu Zhou to the airport and Lu Zhou had swiftly agreed.

It was not boarding time yet, so Lu Zhou waited in the terminal and read a newspaper. It was the Daily Mail.

Suddenly, a headline attracted his attention.

[The mathematics problem that plagued the community for more than a century, the Riemann's conjecture, was proved by Professor Enoch, from the University of Addo Ekiti, Nigeria!]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The f*ck?

How come I don't know anything about this?

Lu Zhou logged onto the arXiv website to check if it was still in the peer-review process.

He quickly found this thesis on arXiv.

Before Lu Zhou could even start reading the thesis, he had already lost his interest. This was because the thesis was classified as General Mathematics.

Arxiv gave the General Mathematics classification to common folks that wanted to get into mathematics. Theses thrown into this category were basically worthless.

Lu Zhou: "…"

He finally knew why Daily Mail was blocked on Baidu search.

Western journalists had to fact check their sources more vigorously.

Riemann's conjecture was not only a million-dollar theorem. Proving it meant that thousands of other derivative theorems would also be proved.

For example, a Swede named Koch proposed a more accurate expression of the prime number theorem which was based on Riemann's conjecture. His theorem was: π(x)=Lix+O(√ x·lnx).

If the Riemann's conjecture was proven to be true, then so would his theorem.

If the Riemann's conjecture was proven to be false, then thousands of other similar formulas would be buried with it.

The influence of this thing was unimaginable.

Lu Zhou skimmed through the thesis and closed the website.

The thesis used some elementary mathematics to "prove" Riemann's conjecture, so it was a waste of Lu Zhou's time.

Lu Zhou could probably guess why the Clay Institute ignored this guy.

Every country had a "politically righteous" problem.

Maybe one day he would also challenge the crown of mathematics; Riemann's conjecture. Right now, there was one problem. The Goldbach's conjecture and the collaboration with Professor Frank had taken all his time…

…

After flying for a dozen or so hours and after a transfer, Lu Zhou finally dragged his suitcase out of the airport.

This time, University of Jin Ling did not send a welcoming team. Perhaps Dean Lu saw the effects of what happened last time. However, the crowd at the airport was not small either.

There were a few Mercedes that were parked at the entrance. Lu Zhou did not know that the school was so rich.

When the pedestrians who were walking by saw the black Mercedes, they thought that there was a big celebrity coming. They then started to take pictures.

Dean Qin got off the car and shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"Congratulations, Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou shook Dean Qin's hand and said politely, "Dean Qin, you're too kind."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "What do you mean? You're the number one person in domestic number theory! This treatment is necessary to take our hero home! Stop waiting outside and get in the car."

Since the cars were already there, Lu Zhou did not refuse. He got on the same car as Dean Qin.

The school knew that Lu Zhou had moved out of his dorm, so they arranged a hotel nearby for him.

The school staff helped him with his luggage.

A science reporter from CCTV wanted to interview him.

Normally, Lu Zhou would refuse to do interviews. However, when he thought about that million yuan check, he accepted the interview.

University of Jin Ling's reputation had always been good, but it was slightly behind Aurora University and Zhi University. The reason was that there were no famous alumni at the University of Jin Ling.

After Lu Zhou became famous, the number of people that applied to University of Jin Ling mathematics department doubled. Even the popularity of other majors increased, and the University of Jin Ling finally experienced the effects of fame.

It was foreseeable that in 2016, a lot of young students would enroll in this beautiful campus, and jump into the pool of mathematics.

With regard to this, Lu Zhou was pleased.

After all, he had lived here for three years. He hoped that his school would get better and better.

After the interview, Lu Zhou went back to his hotel and went to sleep straight away.

He slept until afternoon. When he woke up, he brushed his teeth before he went to the cafeteria for lunch. He then went to the school auditorium.

Dean Qin and Principal Xu were at the auditorium.

"Student Lu Zhou," said Principal Xu Jian. He shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled, "You just got back from America, right? You must be tired!"

Lu Zhou had not graduated from the University of Jin Ling, so he still kind of counted as a student.

It was mainly because of this that Principal Xu did not know what else to call him.

Directly calling his name felt a bit serious since Lu Zhou had not started his PhD yet.

"No no, I'm not tired at all," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and said, "If my school needs me, I would definitely come!"

Dean Qin said, "This time, our event for the Annual Person Award will go on CCTV! Have you thought of a speech?"

"It's going on CCTV?" asked Lu Zhou. He was surprised.

He originally thought that at most, it would appear on local TV.

After all, University of Jin Ling was not Shuimu. Even though the annual awards were significant, there were way more universities stronger than the University of Jin Ling.

"Long story, it's mainly because of you," said Principal Xu. He smiled and said, "Our country is paying more and more attention to science. The investments are getting bigger. We need a young role model for all of the young scholars. Anyway, how is your speech? Do you need help?"

Lu Zhou did not prepare his speech at all.

After all, he did not feel any pressure from such a small prize. He just wanted to improvise it and he thought he could use his previous speech for the Cole Prize as a reference.

But now, it seemed that he was caught unprepared?

"I remembered it," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Haha, okay then," said Professor Xu. He smiled and looked at Lu Zhou seriously as he continued, "Have a good performance. All of this depends on you!"

To raise his morale, Lu Zhou said, "Yes, I'll complete the task!"

Chapter 218: It's Been A Worthwhile Four Years

Since it was CCTV, Lu Zhou had to take his speech seriously.

After Dean Qin and Principal Xu left, Lu Zhou sighed and took out his phone. He prepared to get outside help.

But who should he ask?

Maybe post on Weibo?

But he felt like he would be attacked by his fans for "bragging".

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had an idea.

After Xiao Ai went from Level 1 to Level 2, he had yet to test what it could do. He could use this opportunity to see how smart this thing was.

[Xiao Ai, help me write a 500-word reward speech!]

A short time passed by.

Xiao Ai: [∠(ᐛ"∠)_? ? ? ]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Motherf*cker!

I was too naive to count on this thing.

Lu Zhou sighed and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

I guess I have to rely on myself.

…

The reward ceremony started.

The finale of this ceremony was the graduate student Annual Person Award, so Lu Zhou's speech was last.

The first person to speak on stage was the undergraduate Annual Person.

Lu Zhou admired them from backstage.

The student's achievements were stellar and comparable to last year.

The genius student from the computer science department won the award. He came first in his school three years in a row.

Maybe because of last year, this year's award ceremony was not as exciting. Lu Zhou's achievements overshadowed everyone else.

However, the physics department had a big player. A nutty fourth-year student went on stage.

Soon, the undergraduate awards ended and it was time for master's students. The powerful physics department competed against the engineering department.

Unsurprisingly, Brother Qian also stood on this podium.

As a crucial member of Professor Li Rongen's research team, his knowledge of carbon nanomaterials surpassed many PhD students. His SCI thesis impact factor was 9, and he had published at least three theses during his degree.

He deserved the honor of this year's special scholarship!

Soon, it was Lu Zhou's turn.

They even changed the background music when he stood on stage.

A big projector behind him showed his achievements.

[2015 Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, winner of international number theory award, Cole Prize. Proved Zhou's theorem, twin prime theorem, and Polignac theorem…]

Ordinary people would be happy with just one of those achievements.

When he stood on stage, the honor of the previous winners was overshadowed by him.

Lu Zhou took the microphone and looked at the audience.

Whether it was his mentality or the mentality of the audience, it was different than from a year ago.

He could feel it.

Actually, while he was talking to Shi Shang on WeChat, he was informed that the name "God Lu" was spreading around campus.

Completed his undergrad in two years, master's in one year and got an offer from Princeton while most people his age were still in their third year…

The students almost started to treat him as an actual god and pray to him before exams…

Maybe some people did actually prayed to him?

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone, "Thanks, professors and teachers, that have helped me. Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for giving me this honor, and thanks to the leadership team and the audience that came…"

"… I'm honored to stand on this podium again!"

"I can talk a lot about mathematics, just like I have at countless conferences. However, I don't want to talk about mathematics now. I want to talk about our university…"

"… Many of you only recently stepped into university and you're still carrying the curiosity and excitement from high school, and you're wondering what you should do before the enthusiasm disappears."

"… Or second and third years, you guys probably want to go home, but were forced to come here by the student union…"

The crowd laughed. They had not expected Lu Zhou to be so down to earth.

Lu Zhou smiled as well.

Dean Qin kept trying to remind Lu Zhou that this was live on CCTV, so Lu Zhou should not mess around.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and continued, "There are also people like me, about to leave campus."

The crowd went silent.

Dead silent.

Unprecedented silence.

Lu Zhou grinned and spoke with emotion, "In the summer of 2014, I was in the school's computer room, pulling an all-nighter. I then handed the baton to my teammate, who didn't let me down."

"In October, the same year, I went to Beijing and won the Higher Education Society Cup. This was my first contact with scientific research…"

Lu Zhou talked about his Zhou's conjecture discovery, his entrepreneurship, carbon nanomaterials, and his conference at Princeton.

He spoke for a long time, and he was soon out of time.

However, no one reminded him as they were all immersed in his speech.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes in the crowd stared at him, waiting for him to continue speaking and to continue talking about life experiences that they had never even heard of.

Finally, he made a conclusion of what happened over the past 6 months.

"Summer of 2015, I was at CERN headquarters with Professor Lu and Student Yan, representing the LHCb China Cooperation Group."

"Same year October to December, I won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and Cole Prize in Number Theory."

Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He then smiled and continued, "I don't have much to say about my learning experience. The librarian knows more about that than me, but I hope my personal experience can give you a little insight."

"Always welcome life and be interested in your surroundings."

"Go discover your passion, go discover your talents. Monetize your talents and infuse your enthusiasm."

"You don't have to be a researcher like me. The university doesn't exist only for academics. University exists as a way to find yourself, to find a platform for your life."

"Whether you are studying in the library or socializing with the student union, they are all parts of soul searching."

Lu Zhou made a final conclusion and blessing for his schoolmates.

"I wish you to have a worthwhile four years at university."

"Thank you!"

Lu Zhou bowed.

The venue was silent for half a second.

Then, everyone applauded.

Chapter 219: Human Nature

When Lu Zhou was walking down from the stage, he heard people shouting his name. He even saw some people with tears in their eyes.

That was an impromptu speech as he did not do much preparation in advance.

As for why it made everyone so emotional…

Maybe it was because his speech was meaningful.

The award ceremony had not ended yet. After the vice principal gave a speech, Lu Zhou and other winners returned on stage.

Principal Xu shook hands with everyone and presented them each with a certificate of honor.

When it was Lu Zhou's turn, the principal held his hand tightly.

Then, the old man looked at him with approval and said, "Nice speech."

Lu Zhou relaxed and smiled as he said, "Thank you."

The old man smiled and said, "I should be the one thanking you."

The award ceremony came to an end.

All the students stood up and vowed to look forward to the new year by reading "Oath of the Pillar". They vowed to not forget their heart, to look forward to the new year, and to bravely chase their dreams.

…

The dinner party was on the top floor of the cafeteria.

After the award ceremony came to an end, Lu Zhou went to the backstage lounge. Before he could change his suit, a cute girl and a few of her roommates walked over.

Lu Zhou looked at her and thought that she was from the student union. He asked, "What's up?"

"God Lu! Um, can I ask for your contact details…?"

She was stuttering and her face was bright red. She clearly had not come prepared. She was obviously peer pressured by her friends.

Lu Zhou looked at the curious and excited girls. He did not want to give them a hard time, so he asked, "Is QQ okay?"

"Great!"

Her voice cracked due to the excitement.

Lu Zhou nodded and took a pen from the table, he wrote down a string of numbers and handed it to her.

A lot of people had his QQ number, so he did not mind giving it out.

It was not like he had time to message anyone anyway.

"Thank you!"

The girl eagerly took the note and ran away like a frightened deer.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

If they say handsomeness is a sin…

Then I must be a sinful man…

Lu Zhou looked at himself in the mirror like a narcissist. He then remembered that he had to return the suit. Just as he was about to undress, the lounge door was suddenly pushed open again.

This time, it was President Lin, from the student union.

Lu Zhou thought she was here to collect the suit and he was about to tell her to wait outside when she spoke first.

Lin Yuxiang looked at Lu Zhou with a smile and said, "Lu Zhou, your performance was great. Some of my girlfriends started crying."

Lu Zhou said, "Why did you phrase it that way?"

What do you mean crying!

Why did you make it sound like a bad thing?

Lin Yuxiang tilted her head and pretended like she did not understand him.

Yet, it was obvious that she did it intentionally.

Lu Zhou changed the topic and asked, "What's up?"

Lin Yuxiang nodded and said, "Dean Qin wanted me to ask you, when do you plan on going over? There are a few higher-ups of the city that want to meet you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then I'll go over now."

Lin Yuxiang nodded her head.

Suddenly, she noticed his collar.

Her eyes lit up.

"Well, I'll pass that on to Dean Qin. Oh yeah, your collar is tilted, let me…"

"It's fine, I'm about to return the suit anyway," said Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said to Lin Yuxiang, "Can you return the suit for me?"

Lin Yuxiang: "…"

…

The University of Jin Ling was one of the top universities in the country. It had affiliations with the Central Ministry of Education. Its place in the local talent training strategy was undoubtedly huge.

Lu Zhou's international glory and potential attracted interest from the government.

However, this was related to politics.

Lu Zhou was not good at politics, but he still knew a little.

In the future, he wanted to live and work in Jin Ling. If he wanted to move up the ladder, he had to form great relationships with the local government.

Lu Zhou knew Dean Qin's intentions.

The school was providing him a platform to connect with people from outside the academic circle.

Lu Zhou was the focus of the dinner party.

The youngest Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, and winner of Cole Prize in Number Theory, plus a Fields Medal candidate… Never mind the young scholars, even old professors were interested in talking with Lu Zhou.

As such, Lu Zhou was there for a long time.

By the time he returned to the hotel, it was already 11 o'clock.

He slept until afternoon the next day. When he woke up, he washed his face before he opened his suitcase and took out two boxes of gifts. He then left the room.

The gifts were the fish oil that he bought at the duty-free store. It was a kind of supplement and it could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and memory loss caused by aging.

He wanted to give it to Professor Lu and Professor Tang.

Lu Zhou first went to Professor Lu's office. However, he was still in Belgium. Professor Lu said that he might go to CERN for a while later this year.

Therefore, Lu Zhou placed the gift on the table and left a note on it.

Lu Zhou did not know when the academician would come back, but when he did, he would definitely see the gift.

Lu Zhou then left Professor Lu's office and went to the mathematics building.

…

Lu Zhou opened the office door and walked in. When Professor Tang saw the gift in Lu Zhou's hands, he smiled, "I thought I taught you better!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm still your student so you can teach me now, but you still have to accept this gift."

The gift was inexpensive, but it was meaningful.

Also, since Lu Zhou was no longer an undergraduate student, he could be more casual with the professors.

Not to mention that when he graduated next year, he would be going overseas. He had to give the teacher something before he left.

Professor Tang looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "You don't have to bring a gift next time you visit me. Xiao Wang, go pour Lu Zhou some tea."

"Okay!"

Xiao Wang got up and walked to the cupboards. He skillfully operated the tea set and electric kettle.

Lu Zhou thanked Xiao Wang. He then sat down on the sofa and said to Professor Tang, "I can't just bring nothing. It feels wrong if I don't give you something… Also, this isn't just my gift. It's also from Luo Wenxuan. There are also some photos in the bag that Luo Wenxuan said he took in South America. He said he wanted to give you an artistic gift."

"That kid, I guess he didn't forget about me," said Professor Tang. He smiled and said, "How is it? You're about to go overseas next year. What plans do you have for the future?"

Lu Zhou said, "I plan on working at Princeton after I get my PhD. Then I want to come back to University of Jin Ling and teach."

"Okay, I support you," said Professor Tang as he nodded. He then said, "The qualification of overseas research is important… But it seems that you have it all figured out. I guess I won't ask any other questions. Do your best."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yes, for sure."

Professor Tang smiled and teased, "Oh yeah, when do you plan on getting a partner?"

Lu Zhou was caught off guard by his question and he stammered, "This… This depends on fate, there's no hurry."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "You're not in a hurry, but other people are. Dean Qin talked about you with me last time. He said he's scared that you'll find someone overseas and never come back. Also, there's a couple of professors that have been asking me to set their granddaughter up with you. Think about it?"

Lu Zhou nearly spat the tea out of his mouth. He then said, "Don't… Not like this."

Professor Tang smiled and said, "Haha, I'm only kidding."

Lu Zhou nodded quickly.

Yeah, Dean Lu's granddaughter…

This is sad but if Dean Lu looks like that, I can't imagine how his granddaughter would look like.

The office was quiet for a bit.

Lu Zhou did not talk. He just drank his tea quietly.

As Professor Tang looked at his successful student, he nodded happily.

After a long time, he said, "Go ahead, you can go."

Lu Zhou stood up and said: "…"

Chapter 220: Bro, Insurance?

From the Cole Prize monetary award plus the million yuan from the University of Jin Ling, Lu Zhou earned $1.6 million yuan within one month. This was enough for a down payment.

Lu Zhou stood in the bank as he looked at his account balance.

It seems that all handsome guys are lucky.

He had already cashed the cheque from the university. As for the $10,000 USD check, he did not bother cashing it out since he would need USD for Princeton.

Suddenly, a man in a suit walked over and started talking to him.

"Bro, do you want to buy insurance? Our insurance reimburses all kinds of accidental injuries. It's like an investment!"

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at the man.

He smiled at the salesman and said, "No, thanks."

After that, Lu Zhou turned around and left the bank. He got on his bicycle and rode back to school.

While on the road, Lu Zhou could not help but think.

Maybe I should get a car?

I'm about to go to America. I heard that one must have a car over there, especially in the rural town of Princeton.

Lu Zhou made a decision.

A month before Chinese New Year, he was going to get his driver's license.

…

Lu Zhou stayed at the school until New Year's Eve. He then got on a train and went all the way back home in Gangneung.

Lu Zhou dragged his suitcase to the door and pressed the doorbell. He heard footsteps behind the door.

"Brother!"

Xiao Tong opened the door with a smile.

Lu Zhou had not seen her in over a year and she had grown a lot taller.

However, no matter how tall she was, in Lu Zhou's mind, she would always be that crying little sister that was bullied.

Lu Zhou smiled and rubbed her head before he dragged the suitcase into the house.

He looked at the kitchen and asked, "Where's dad and mom?"

Xiao Tong said, "They went to the supermarket! We're eating fish tonight!"

Lu Zhou smile and said, "What about you?"

"I'm doing test papers! I'm such a good kid!" said Xiao Tong as she looked at Lu Zhou with puppy eyes. She then asked, "Bro, where's my gift?"

As expected.

I knew it.

Back at the duty-free store, Lu Zhou video chatted and asked her to pick her gift. She had stared at the beautifully packaged chocolate in awe.

After Lu Zhou bought the gifts for his professors and parents, he still had a few hundred dollars worth of USD left. He could not be bothered to exchange it for RMB, so he bought her a box of chocolate.

Xiao Tong was similar to him. No matter how much she ate, she still remained skinny.

Lu Zhou handed the suitcase to Xiao Tong and said, "It's in the suitcase, help me put it in the room and give your brother some water."

"Okay! Brother, you're the best!"

She smiled mischievously and pecked him on the face before she dragged the suitcase into his room.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled. He then walked to the kitchen and found his parent's tea collection. He made himself a cup of hot tea.

When Lu Zhou walked back to the living room, he saw Xiao Tong walking out of his bedroom with her "trophy".

Lu Zhou looked at the plastic bag in her hand and said, "Don't each too much at once. Otherwise, I won't be able to recognize you when I get back from Princeton."

"No way, I can't even eat it all at once anyway," said Xiao Tong.

Lu Zhou, "Do whatever. Speaking of which, when did you learn how to do makeup?"

He did not only give her chocolate but he also gave her some makeup and skincare products from Clinique.

Clinique was a big brand in America, and it was cheaper at the duty-free store.

Xiao Tong was a good kid who never asked for anything.

Now that Lu Zhou was rich, he would not treat his sister badly but it was a bit early for high school students to do makeup…

Xiao Tong said, "Oh you're talking about this? It's for my friend."

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, was stunned, "You bought it for a friend?"

"Yea," said Xiao Tong. She added, "I calculated the cost. A set of makeup and skincare products nets me a thousand yuan! I'll go to school tomorrow and give them to Xiao Yan, then I'll pay you back the costs."

You're selling them?!

Lu Zhou nearly spat the tea out of his mouth.

He went to California to gain glory for his country. He was a little shocked at his sister.

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth and said, "I asked you to pick a gift for yourself, and you wanted to make money?"

"Ah… Bro, don't be unhappy," said Xiao Tong. She looked at Lu Zohu and said quietly, "How about… We split the profits?"

This kid!

No sense of introspection at all!

Lu Zhou sighed and waved his hand, he said, "It's fine, just keep the profits… I don't need the money anyway. Also, don't worry about money, your priority right now is to study. Just put it this way, this time your bro went back to the University of Jin Ling and received a scholarship. Guess how much it was?"

Xiao Tong's eyes widened as she asked, "How much?"

Lu Zhou said, "A million!"

Xiao Tong looked at her brother in surprise and said, "University of Jin Ling is that rich?"

"Of course, it's a top university! As long as you have the excellence to back it up, you'll be awarded," said Lu Zhou in a serious tone. He then added, "That's why. Knowledge is the greatest wealth. Xiao Tong, do you understand?"

Although not everyone was awarded as much as Lu Zhou…

Xiao Tong said excitingly, "I understand! I promise to study hard! I'll get into University of Jin Ling and fill in your shoes!

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

Why do you sound so fake…

I don't know if I believe you.

Let's see if you'll say the same thing when you start studying.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "There's no need to fill in my shoes… In short, I hope that you won't worry about money since we're not poor anymore. If there are difficulties, I'll definitely help you solve them. Just study hard. If you're interested in money, you can do finance or accounting."

The reason why he worked so hard was largely in part to give Xiao Tong a chance to go to university without any worries.

If it was only his tuition and living expenses, his family could afford it.

However, he was a man.

He could not let his sister suffer like him.

Chapter 221: Speech Under The Flag

Jiangling High, school playground.

The crowd stood under the flag.

Pairs of sleepy eyes watched the flag being raised under the morning sun. They then watched the man walking onto the platform.

This week's flag-raising ceremony was different than usual as the high school had invited a special guest.

This special guest was not old. In fact, he was in his early twenties. Three years ago, this guest was just like them, sitting in one of the classrooms here.

However, now, the teachers were proud to have taught this guy. Every time his name was mentioned, smiles would surface on the teachers' face.

He was none other than Lu Zhou, the youngest Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award winner, Cole Prize winner, and Ten Thousand People Initiative participant!

Lu Zhou took the microphone from the headmaster. He cleared his throat and spoke with a warm voice.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm an alumnus here. I graduated in 2013. My name is Lu Zhou."

"I'm honored to be given the opportunity to stand here and speak with my schoolmates."

"And what I want to talk to you today is about my university…"

Lu Zhou was being quite modest.

The school was honored to have him here, and not the other way around.

The popularity of Jiangling High had blown up due to Lu Zhou's success.

Honestly, Lu Zhou's success did not have anything to do with Jiangling High, but he did attend the school.

After all, education was education. His high school gave him the foundation for his success.

Some of the teachers that taught him were even given "special teacher" awards.

On the playground, the third-year students at the third class squad.

Xiao Tong stood at the tip of her toes and looked at the flag.

She was not even paying attention to her brother's speech!

Next to Xiao Tong was her best friend Li Wei. She was the one who bought the makeup from Xiao Tong. When Li Wei saw that the teacher was not paying attention to them, she poked Xiao Tong's arm and asked quietly, "Tong Tong, is that your brother?"

Xiao Tong lowered her voice and said excitedly, "Yea, why? 21-year-old PhD. Do you want me to introduce him to you?"

Li Wei blushed and said, "Piss off, he's too old."

"Just kidding. Even if you want, I won't give him to you," said Xiao Tong. She poked her tongue out and gave her a playful smile. A few male students in her class had butterflies in their stomachs.

High school kids were innocent compared to students in universities.

In a small city, a girl that had good grades, decently attractive, and an open personality would be the goddess in the minds of countless boys.

Xiao Tong fitted in this category.

Unfortunately, this goddess had yet to express any interest in any boys. This caused many boys to divert their attention onto Li Wei instead.

However, now, looking at Lu Zhou, the boys understood the reason.

People naturally loved to compare.

Compared to her brother, these boys were nothing…

…

After New Year's Day, Lu Zhou rested at home. He would chat with his parents, or teach mathematics to Xiao Tong.

In his spare time, he would study some Goldbach's conjecture material. There was still room for improvement under the circle method and sieve method. He would also reply to Professor Frank's emails.

In addition, he was learning how to drive.

It was easy for Lu Zhou.

Maybe it was because of his calm personality. He would never accidentally hit the gas pedal when he was supposed to break.

In order to get his driver's license as soon as possible, he low-key bribed the driving instructor.

In a small town like his, money could get a lot of things done.

Within thirty days, Lu Zhou successfully obtained his driver's license.

Next was to recite the rules of the local road of New Jersey.

He had experience driving in China so it would not be difficult to get one overseas.

Lu Zhou even consulted Luo Wenxuan about this.

Time quickly passed by. It was soon February, and only a few days left before Chinese New Year.

Lu Zhou was taking a walk with his father at night. When he looked a the familiar roads, he suddenly said, "Father."

Lu Bangguo, "What?"

"Xiao Tong is about to go to university, how about we renovate the house?"

Lu Zhou remembered that when he was in high school, his parents were planning to renovate the house after their kids went to college.

Although Xiao Tong was still a bit far off from university, Lu Zhou was already halfway done.

Not to mention, he had some spare cash.

Lu Bangguo smiled and said, "No worries, we can do it when you have your own house and family."

Lu Zhou had a weird expression.

He was going to stay at Princeton for a while.

Lu Zhou did not beat around the bush as he said, "Dad, here's the thing. After Chinese New Year's I'll get my master's degree, then I'll go to Princeton for my PhD. I have around $10,000 USD, plus the scholarships at Princeton. There's no use for my RMB anyway, so how about I just put it with you?"

"How much?"

"A million…"

Lu Bangguo nearly choked on his own spit when he heard the number.

Lu Zhou patted his back and said, "Dad, take it easy."

Lu Bangguo stood straight and said, " You… Keep the money! Didn't I already tell you? Save it for a house, save it for marriage! I can still work, so I don't need it!"

Lu Zhou said, "I'm still far off from marriage, and Xiao Tong is about to go to University."

Lu Bangguo said sternly, "Don't worry about your sister, I can get her to university."

Lu Zhou knew that his dad would say this. He sighed and said, "Do you want her to be like me?"

He still had more to say.

However, silence ensued.

The financial situation at home was not good back then. Lu Bangguo had to provide for two kids and a sick wife. As a lower-middle-class worker, it was difficult for him.

Lu Zhou was the one to propose paying for his university expenses. At first, Lu Bangguo was strongly against it. However, after coming back to reality, Lu Bangguo accepted.

Lu Zhou knew that this had always bothered his father.

Lu Bangguo always thought that he let his kid down…

Other people's fathers would host university acceptance parties for their kids. However, he allowed his own son paid for his four-year living expenses and tuition.

Lu Zhou did not say anything. He waited for his father to slowly finished smoking the cigarette.

After a while, Lu Bangguo finally sighed and said, "I know that you care about your sister, but the university doesn't cost that much."

When Lu Zhou heard this, a smiled emerged on his face.

He knew that at last, his father had agreed.

"It isn't just Xiao Tong. I care about you guys as well. After all, I'm overseas and I want you and mom to live well," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then said, "This is settled."

Lu Bangguo said, "What do you mean settled? Who is the head of the family? Did I agree?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then dad, do you agree?"

Also, didn't you agree last time already?

Lu Zhou remembered that last time his father said that he could make the decisions.

Lu Bangguo thought for a moment before he said "Sure, I agree. Just do it your way."

Lu Zhou: "…"

I don't understand your logic…

Chapter 222: Another Graduation Year

This year's Chinese New Year was no different than before.

Dinner with relatives, fighting with cousins, and…

Being urged by the elders to find a partner.

There was nothing else to talk about as Lu Zhou's studies were spectacular. The elders had to find something to grill him on. As for marriage, it was a bit early since 22 was the legal marriage age.

However, they could grill him on getting a partner.

After all, he could not get married without preparation.

In short, this year was like in previous years and Lu Zhou had a lively Chinese New Year.

However, happy times were always short-lived.

After Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou packed his bags and was ready to leave.

Lu Bangguo took a day off from work and sent Lu Zhou to the train station. He smiled at Lu Zhou and asked, "Do you want me to send you?"

"No need, this isn't my first time traveling," said Lu Zhou. With his backpack on him, he said, "Take care of yourself, I'll visit you guys next year."

Lu nodded and said, "Okay then, take it easy. Also, be careful. I've been watching the news lately and there's been a fight over there. Anyway, just don't provoke others. Study hard. Also, remember to call…"

"Okay!"

In his father's eyes, there was only China and the rest of the world. There was no difference between North America and North Africa.

Lu Zhou was well aware of his father's lack of geography knowledge.

However, Xiao Tong would still complain about it.

Lu Zhou sat on the train moving toward the east. He returned to University of Jin Ling campus.

Since Chinese New Year had already ended, many students had returned to school.

The day before leaving, Lu Zhou post it on his WeChat news feed. Professor Lu Shenjian was already back in China, so Lu Zhou went to visit him.

…

Lu Zhou stood in front of the office door and knocked.

Soon, a voice came from behind the door.

"Stop knocking, come in."

Lu Zhou pushed the door and walked in.

When Professor Lu saw Lu Zhou, he put down his vacuum flask. With a smile, he asked, "Hey, it's been a while since I last saw you. How are you?"

It had been a while. Lu Zhou had not seen Professor Lu since October at the Chinese Mathematics Society conference.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Not bad, how about you?"

Professor Lu, "I'm alright. Although I couldn't celebrate Chinese New Year, Brussels was quite rewarding."

Lu Zhou walked to the desk and asked, "Is there any new discoveries in theoretical physics?"

He had been focusing on Goldbach's conjecture and driving recently. Apart from replying to Professor Frank's emails, he had not been paying attention to the theoretical physics community.

"There hasn't been any new discoveries. This meeting was mainly to sort out that work that has been done before," said Professor Lu. He paused for a moment before continuing, "However, there's one thing that might interest you. In the meeting at the University of Brussels, we talked about the 750 GeV problem… The situation doesn't seem good though."

Intrigued, Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Can you tell me the specific situation?"

Professor Lu nodded and said, "It's not much, but the main thing is that the confidence value hasn't reached the standard confirmation yet. It's close to 3-sigma, but it's slightly off. Also, in recent experiments, the characteristic peak even disappeared."

Lu Zhou was stunned, "Disappeared?"

He had not heard Frank talked about this in the emails.

Professor Lu nodded and continued, "Yeah… Although it's possible to explain this with quantum fluctuations, the probability is low. Some people guessed that there was a problem in the detector sensors… But honestly, that probability is low as well. CERN recently completed the upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider, so there should be nothing wrong with the equipment."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he asked in an uncertain tone, "Is it a dimension problem?"

This guess was something that he and Professor Frank disagreed on.

When Professor Lu heard this proposition, he said, "Dimension?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, but not a dimension in a broad sense, but in a sense of 'pseudo-Euclidean space'. That is, Minkowski's space-time theory…"

While speaking, Lu Zhou wrote down a few equations on a piece of draft paper. He did not dare to write too much.

It was not because of privacy reasons. From the perspective of academic ethics, he could not disclose research to a third party.

The stuff he wrote down were all unconfirmed theories such as the theories that Lu Zhou and Frank disagreed on.

Professor Lu looked at the lines of equations on the page. He thought for a long time then said, "There's this possibility, but it's difficult to prove. Because the collider is part of the reference system, it's hard to take ourselves out of the timeline… You haven't perfected this theory, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I only thought of this on the spot, so it hasn't been perfected."

"Thinking of this on the spot is impressive," said Professor Lu as he looked at Lu Zhou and nodded. He then said, "You don't need to pressure yourself so much. Finding the characteristic peak is CERN's responsibility. Theoretical physics is developed through constant trial and error. All of our theories are just speculations… "

"… But, your point of view is interesting. If only you could shave off the rough edges," said Professor Lu as he smiled. He then said, "I originally wanted to test you, to see what you learn this year. It seems that isn't necessary now."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean isn't necessary…"

Professor Lu smiled and said, "Oh? How about I give you a test then?"

Lu Zhou coughed and replied, "Never mind."

He had already bought his ticket and god knows when this test would be.

Professor Lu smiled and did not say anything else.

He opened his drawer and pulled out two certificates before handing them to Lu Zhou.

"The degree certificate and graduation certificate is here. Just go to the administrative building later and finish the procedures."

Lu Zhou took the two certificates from Professor Lu and said, "Thank you, professor!"

"You're welcome. You earned this through your own hard work. Honestly speaking, I really don't want to let such an excellent student go so soon," said Professor Lu. He smiled and said, "But since you won the Cole Prize, it would be a waste of time for you to stay here. You should go to a higher platform to do scientific research. Congratulations on your graduation!"

Chapter 223: Embarking On A New Journey!

I finally graduated.

Lu Zhou was on the way to the administrative building with his certificates and he was feeling a little depressed.

However, he was not depressed for long.

For him, his graduation ceremony was over once he received the Annual Person Award and the special awards.

He had been mentally preparing himself for this.

Lu Zhou finished the remaining procedures at the administrative building. However, he did not return to his hotel. Instead, he went to the Academic Affairs Office and borrowed a master's gown from there.

A master's gown was not that different from a bachelor's gown. The only difference was that the tassel on the hat was dark blue instead of black.

However, this small change was meaningful.

After Lu Zhou put on the gown, he went to the photography store in front of the school. He then hired a photographer to help him take a few photos around the school.

With these photos, he thought he would not be lonely when he was studying abroad.

After Lu Zhou finished his photo shoot, he picked three of the best photos and sent it to his friends' news feed on Weibo.

The caption was a one-liner.

[Happy Graduation!]

Lu Zhou looked at the line of words on the screen and smiled.

Princeton, here I come!

Lu Zhou sent it before he turned off his phone. He planned on checking it later.

While he was walking back to his hotel, his Weibo's comment section blew up.

[? ? ?]

[Didn't you just graduate last year? Why are you graduating again?]

[Jesus, he graduates faster than I can write a thesis.]

[Sad. I wanted to procrastinate on my phone, then I saw this post… I'll go write my assignment.]

[This guy has only been at university for three years!]

[Not correct, God Lu has only been at uni for two and a half years…]

[This study god is amazing!]

…

Teachers, roommates, classmates, supervisors…

Lu Zhou had already bid them farewell last year. It would be a little awkward if he did it again.

This time, Lu Zhou left quietly. He packed his bags and took a train to Shanghai airport.

Lu Zhou sat in the terminal and turned on his VPN. He opened his computer and logged onto the Brussels International Theoretical Physics Conference website. He then downloaded several summary papers from the conference.

He was about to study them when a notification from Han Mengqi popped up.

[Teacher! Are you leaving? :( ]

When Lu Zhou saw his student's message, he smiled. He typed a reply.

[Yeah.]

[It's the college entrance exam in a few days, go study!]

Han Mengqi did not reply for a while.

Lu Zhou thought she went to study, but another message came through.

Han Mengqi: [Are you on the plan now?]

Lu Zhou: "…"

[How can I reply to you on the plane?]

Han Mengqi realized that she asked a dumb question. She was in the classroom. She laughed and looked at her teacher. She then replied: [Then teacher, when is your flight?]

Lu Zhou: [In like an hour.]

Han Mengqi: [Ok!]

She did not say anything after that.

After a while, Lu Zhou closed the chat window.

This chick won't come here, right?

There's no way…

She's probably in school at Jinling. There isn't enough time to come to Shanghai.

Lu Zhou's judgment was correct.

Nothing happened as he got on the plane and embarked on a new journey.

…

After a dozen or so hours of flying, the plane landed at Philadelphia Airport.

It was raining when Lu Zhou got on the plane, but it was clear blue skies when he landed.

The east coast sun shined on Lu Zhou's face as he stood outside the airport with his luggage and looked around. He then walked toward a road.

The day before yesterday, he sent Luo Wenxuan a message. They agreed to meet up.

At the coffee shop outside the airport, Lu Zhou saw that familiar car and Luo Wenxuan who was standing next to it.

"Haha, Lu Zhou! You're finally here!"

Luo Wenxuan walked over and gave him a warm hug. He then patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "Not bad, everyone gets fatter over the new year but you looked skinnier?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe because I didn't eat that much? How long have you been waiting here?"

Luo Wenxuan, "Not long, maybe around an hour."

Lu Zhou, "Wow, let me buy you some food."

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand, "No it's fine. It's your first day here in America, I should be the one treating you. There's a nice Sichuan restaurant in Philadelphia. I know the boss. Get in the car first, we can talk about where to eat later."

Luo Wenxuan helped Lu Zhou with the luggage. He then started the car.

While driving, Luo Wenxuan said, "Remember to put your seat belt on. Oh yeah, do you plan on getting a driver's license here? The cars here are very cheap. I can recommend a place to buy one."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I actually do have plans for that."

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something. His phone was still charging in his luggage.

"Oh yeah, my phone is still in my suitcase…"

Luo Wenxuan, "Is there an emergency?"

Lu Zhou shook his head, "No… It's fine, I'll just wait until we are at the restaurant."

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Yeah, good idea. It's not easy to find parking around here."

The two chatted along the ride. At the same time, on the other side of the Philadelphia International Airport, a silver-white car parked 200 meters away from the coffee shop.

A slender, long-haired woman stood on the sidewalk. She held her phone and whispered in Chinese.

"How come he hasn't responded yet?"

"Is the flight delayed?"

Her stomach rumbled.

She sounded a little resentful.

Chapter 224: Small World

Twenty minutes later, Lu Zhou took his phone out of his suitcase.

He unplugged the cable and was about to open his WeChat when he suddenly received a call.

Lu Zhou looked at the caller and was stunned. He quickly picked up.

Before he could speak, a familiar voice came from the phone.

"Where are you now?"

Chen Yushan stood at the airport exit. She was looking at the pedestrians.

"I'm eating… Why?"

Chen Yushan was pissed.

You, you're eating!

I'm here waiting on an empty stomach!

Chen Yushan took a deep breath and asked, "You're already in Philadelphia?"

"Yeah," answered Lu Zhou. He heard from her voice that something was wrong and so, he asked, "Don't tell me, you're here as well…"

Lu Zhou finally knew why Mengqi said "Ok".

Speaking of which, he remembered that she said she would be in Philadelphia at this time of the year. She even said to call her when he arrived in Philadelphia.

However, Lu Zhou was a little confused.

It's been so long, who would remember?

Chen Yushan said, "Send me your location."

She then hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou had a headache.

He felt a little bad making her wait at the airport for so long. He opened WeChat and quickly sent her his location.

She did not respond.

After a minute, a message came through.

[Wait for me, don't eat yet!]

Luo Wenxuan was flipping through the menu when he saw Lu Zhou's dumbfounded expression. He then asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Zhou put away his phone and said, "Nothing… Let's get an extra pair of chopsticks."

Luo Wenxuan, "Your friend's coming?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah, how about I pay for this, and you can treat me later?"

Luo Wenxuan shook his hand and said, "No, it's fine. Just curious, is your friend a guy or a girl?"

"Girl…" answered Lu Zhou. He then asked, "Why?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and looked up as he said, "Nothing, I lost again."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Lost at what?

…

Maybe the traffic on the road was good as Lu Zhou only waited for ten minutes before he saw a familiar figure walking in.

Chen Yushan walked next to Lu Zhou and sat down. Her face was filled with resentment.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Sorry, I really didn't know you were at Philadelphia, so I didn't call you. Also, how did you know I was on that flight?"

Chen Yushan, "Mengqi told me… Why didn't you tell me you were coming? You didn't even open your phone!"

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart.

As expected, this was all Mengqi's doing.

However, this was his fault. He did not expect Chen Yushan to have such a good memory.

Luo Wenxuan sat there awkwardly until he finally asked, "This is?"

Lu Zhou remembered that these two did not know each other, so he smiled and introduced them.

"This is Chen Yushan, studying an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This is Luo Wenxuan, studying a PhD at Princeton."

Chen Yushan smiled politely and said, "Hello."

"Hello, hello…" Luo Wenxuan started to think.

Lu Zhou is nutty.

Girls in Switzerland, girls in America…

The food finally came.

Luo Wenxuan graciously asked the two to start eating.

Chen Yushan was hungry, so she quickly started to dig into the food.

The moment she had her first bite, Lu Zhou saw that her cheek turned red instantly.

"So spicy!"

She was caught off guard and nearly choked.

She started to tear up!

Chen Yushan coughed and wiped her mouth. She then put down the chopsticks and started to look for water.

Lu Zhou knew that she could not handle spice, but he did not know it was this bad.

In this regard, Mengqi was a lot better.

"Are you okay?"

Chen Yushan took a big swig of water and patted her chest. Her eyes were still watering when she answered, "I'm fine… Why is this so spicy?"

Most of the Chinese food in America was westernized. They were mostly spicy and sweet, and even Sichuan restaurants did not have that authentic spice.

She had been at Philadelphia for a month, and this was the first time she had eaten something this spicy.

Luo Wenxuan smiled awkwardly as he said, "The restaurant is owned by Chinese people. Since I know the boss, I asked him to cook it more authentically… Sorry, Lu Zhou didn't tell me! How about I ask the boss to cook something else for you?"

Lu Zhou looked at him speechlessly.

Why is it my fault?

"No, it's fine, I can just drink water."

Chen Yushan took the kettle and filled her cup with water.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before he said, "That cup is actually mine."

Although he did not know which side he drank from earlier, he knew for sure that it was his cup.

The moment he said this, she stopped pouring the kettle.

The previous situation was urgent, so she did not think much about this.

However, after being reminded by Lu Zhou, Chen Yushan obviously realized this.

Her face turned red again.

Finally, she pretended as if nothing had happened. She stood up and went to get a new cup.

"Oh, I'll get you a new one…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Okay then…

At least make it sound like you're sorry.

On the other hand, Luo Wenxuan ate quietly.

He was third-wheeling.

He wanted to curse at Lu Zhou.

Chapter 225: Haunted?

Lu Zhou had not seen these people for a long time, so they chatted for a long time.

They sat at the restaurant for two hours.

After paying the bill, the three people walked outside.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and said, "I'm really sorry about today… After I get my license, I'll treat you to good food."

Chen Yushan immediately replied, "Ok, it's a done deal. I'll remember!"

It seemed that she already forgave Lu Zhou for making her wait.

Lu Zhou patted his chest and said, "No worries, I won't forget!"

The two split up. Chen Yushan went back to the University of Pennsylvania while Lu Zhou got on Luo Wenxuan's car and went to Princeton.

On the car, Lu Zhou fastened his seat belt and asked, "How's the situation over there?"

Luo Wenxuan said while driving, "What aspect?"

Lu Zhou said, "Like, living?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "Living? There are pros and cons. But you shouldn't worry too much. Mathematics and physics are Princeton's top subjects. I can probably arrange a single bedroom for you. But honestly… I think sharing with others are more interesting."

Lu Zhou said, "Is it not troublesome?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "It's fine. It's interesting to make friends with people from different countries. The room will be lively, and the four people will share a living room. There are even parties on the weekends. I met my ex-girlfriend at a party."

Lively?

No, thanks.

Lu Zhou laughed.

If it was up to him, he would prefer a quiet place.

While driving, Luo Wenxuan talked about the campus lifestyle at Princeton. Somehow, the topic drifted onto his ex.

Lu Zhou listened quietly.

He was about to fall asleep when Luo Wenxuan finally parked the car.

"We're here."

Lu Zhou looked outside and saw a familiar building.

We're already here?

Luo Wenxuan got off the car and helped Lu Zhou with his luggage. He then said, "I'll help you run your school errands. I'm guessing last time you didn't have a chance to really explore Princeton, so you might get lost."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks."

Indeed, last time he was at Princeton, he spent most of the time in the hotel solving the twin prime conjecture. Once he solved it, it was already the last day of the conference and he had to catch a flight back home.

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "No need to thank me, we're all friends here. We're supposed to help each other."

He then took Lu Zhou to the administrative building.

…

As one of the oldest universities in America, Princeton had an English influence on its architecture. The buildings were Oxford-styled and old-fashioned.

Like the two bronze tigers in front of Nassau Hall that stood tall in this ever-changing world.

Most of the people that graduated here would go on to work at an investment bank on Wall Street.

Luo Wenxuan took Lu Zhou to Nassau Hall but he did not accompany Lu Zhou inside. Instead, he waited outside with Lu Zhou's luggage.

Lu Zhou walked into the historic building and quickly found the admission office.

Inside the office was a beautiful woman in her thirties. She had a tan and a ponytail. From her clothes, she looked like an assistant.

Maybe someone told her that a Chinese student would report here because she looked at Lu Zhou and swiftly asked, "Did you bring the documents?"

Lu Zhou took out the documents and said, "They're all here."

The woman looked at the documents. She then opened a drawer.

"Your student status is already registered. This is your student ID card and dorm room key. The room number is on the key. Your dorm is here…"

The woman circled on the map and handed it to Lu Zhou. She smiled and said, "I hope you have a good time studying here."

That's it?

Lu Zhou blinked and looked at her.

She asked, "Is there anything else?"

Lu Zhou looked at his student ID and key before asking, "What about my supervisor?"

"This is up to you," said the woman. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Most people have already chosen a supervisor before they enrolled, but your situation is a bit special. My suggestion is to listen to a few lectures and find a supervisor that fits your style… Of course, hopefully, the professor has time. It's best to get this done as soon a possible."

So you're saying I have to interview myself?

Lu Zhou thought that the school had already arranged a supervisor for him.

Still, this was better.

If his supervisor was not a good fit, it would be very troublesome.

Lu Zhou walked out of the building and saw Luo Wenxuan.

"Is the procedure done?"

"I guess."

"Who's your supervisor?"

"I haven't thought about it yet…"

"Haven't thought about it yet?" asked Luo Wenxuan. He looked at him strangely as he said, "I thought you already decided."

Lu Zhou said, "I still haven't… Can you recommend someone to me?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "If you're going into mathematical physics, I can recommend my boss, Edward Witten. If you want to focus on number theory or algebra, Deligne is a good choice. If you were here a couple of years ago, you could even choose Fermat's last theorem's prover, Andrew Wiles. But unfortunately, he left in 2011. There's also Gerd Faltings, prover of Modell's conjecture, also a big name in number theory…"

It seemed that other than girls, Luo Wenxuan was quite knowledgeable.

After all, he was studying under Edward Witten.

Lu Zhou took note of his suggestions and nodded as he said, "I'll think about it."

Luo Wenxuan smiled as he asked, "Do you want me to sent you to your dorm?"

Lu Zhou said, "No need, I can just find it on the map."

"Ok, then just call me if you need me."

"Yeah, for sure!"

After separating from Luo Wenxuan, Lu Zhou followed the map and walked toward his dorm.

His dorm was located in a quiet corner of the Princeton campus and it was not far.

Lu Zhou's sense of direction was excellent and he found the place very easily.

He had already seen the photos of the dorm online, so he was mentally prepared. However, when he was standing in front of the dorm building, he was still amazed by it.

It's really…

Too retro!

This colonial-style English building was more than 90 years old. Although it had been renovated several times, its appearance had not changed much.

The red brick walls and dark green vines made it look like an old mansion.

Is this building haunted?

Lu Zhou walked in.

While he was dragging his suitcase upstairs, he saw a person standing on the stairs.

Lu Zhou could not see her face clearly, but it was obviously a lady.

The lady smiled at him.

"You're finally here."

Lu Zhou recognized the voice and was shocked.

The f*ck?

Is this place haunted?

Chapter 226: Two Choices

As a clear-minded atheist, Lu Zhou did not believe in ghosts.

Once his eyes adjusted to the dark corridor, he finally recognized the person.

"Molina?"

When the French lady heard Lu Zhou called out her name, she smiled and said, "I knew you would come here… Why didn't you call me? I could've picked you up."

This problem again…

Lu Zhou coughed and changed the subject, "I got my friend to do it… Where is Room 211?"

"Up the corridor, to the left," said Molina as she pointed with her finger. She then said casually, "Oh yeah, have you chosen a supervisor yet?"

Lu Zhou, "What?"

"I'm saying that if you haven't chosen one yet, I recommend my supervisor Sophie Morel," said Molina. She looked at Lu Zhou seriously as she continued, "My previous invitation is still valid, our project needs you."

Sophie Morel?

Lu Zhou looked at her with surprise.

Molina raised her eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Are you surprised?"

"Yeah…" Lu Zhou nodded.

Sophie was one of the popular candidates for the Fields Medal, a French mathematician.

However what surprised him was not the name Sophie, but it was Princeton's ability to attract talent.

No wonder Princeton was named the center of mathematics for America…

Lu Zhou suddenly understood why Princeton wanted to steal him from the University of Jin Ling.

It was all for Princeton to win the Fields Medal…

With her arms crossed, Molina smirked and said: "…"

"Thanks for your invitation, but I refuse."

Lu Zhou walked pass Molina and dragged his suitcase to the end of the corridor.

What a joke.

There's a 99% chance I can win the medal, why would I choose a supervisor with an 80% chance of winning it? Is she crazy?

…

Lu Zhou originally planned on listening to a few lectures and find a suitable supervisor. It turned out that he underestimated his own value in regards to how "attractive" he was to the professors at Princeton.

He was invited to an academic exchange and coffee party. While he was eating at the exchange, a young female assistant started to talk to him. Soon, she was asking Lu Zhou about his supervisor.

Luo Wenxuan was even worse. He recommended Lu Zhou numerous professors at the start. However, he would not stop bragging about Edward Witten. A Mexican dude nearby said something like, "That trash?", which resulted in Luo Wenxuan nearly starting a fight.

Lu Zhou knew that he had to do.

To prevent more fighting, he had to make his own decision as soon as possible.

Lu Zhou went to Nassau Hall and got a list of supervisors. He studied the list for an hour before he finally chose Professor Deligne as his first candidate.

The reason was simple.

Algebraic geometry was an important tool for studying number theory and it was also one of Lu Zhou's shortcomings. Lu Zhou wanted to study Grothendieck's original manuscripts, but after he got the files from Academician Xiang Huanan, he found out that he could not understand French at all.

Professor Deligne was a stellar student of Grothendieck. There were only two people in history that had won the Fields Prize, Wolf Prize, and Crawford Award. One of them was Qiu Chengtong and the other was Deligne.

Lu Zhou could learn a lot from Professor Deligne.

After the interview, Lu Zhou thought that this serious professor would test him rigorously. He had not expected Professor Deligne to look at his research material and passed the interview on the spot.

Professor Deligne stood up from his desk and took a gray trench coat from the hanger.

"Welcome to Princeton's big family. I'll help you sort out the relevant paperwork."

"My research group mainly focuses on "standard conjectures". Of course, I have no strict requirements for you. I won't constrain your development. From my observation, you're a scholar who is suited for independent research. If you want to join my research project, I'll welcome you with arms open. If you don't want to, you can complete a task I give you and finish your own thesis at the same time. You can get your degree either way."

Deligne paused. He looked at Lu Zhou and continued, "Of course, my expectations for you are higher than other people. Your graduation thesis must be Annual Mathematics level. If all goes well, you could get your PhD next year. If you're too lax and waste your talent, you may never get your PhD."

Lu Zhou, "I understand… I'll think about your suggestions."

Deligne nodded and said, "Okay… No worries, I understand. Try to get back to me within three days."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

The Riemann's conjecture was different from the twin prime conjecture or Polignac's conjecture. The conjecture could be summarized in one line: "all non-trivial zeros of the Riemannζ function are located on the complex plane Re ( s) = 1/2".

However, solving it was a massive project. It was like building a skyscraper.

Just like the Poincaré conjecture, Smer introduced the high-dimensional concept in the 1960s. Without Qiu Chengtong's theory of "developing geometric structures with nonlinear differential equations", in which he developed in the proof of the Karaby conjecture, there would be no Hamilton's breakthrough in the "Ricci Stream", and the 93-year paper on the singularity theory. There would be no final proof of Perelman.

This was the characteristics of Millennium Prize Problems. Even a genius, like Perelman, could not skip over previous work and directly established the proof of Poincaré conjecture.

Even if Gauss came back alive and had an extra 80 years, he would not be able to solve it.

Riemann's conjecture was the same as it was even more difficult than Poincaré conjecture.

It was like a mountain, and all of the mathematicians were at the bottom of the mountain. They had no idea how tall the mountain was.

The only thing they knew was that this mountain was nearly impossible to solve. If someone could solve Riemann's conjecture, even five Fields Medals would not be enough…

If someone skipped all of the unsolved problems and used a new mathematical method to solve Riemann's conjecture, the situation would likely be the same as the professor from Nigeria, who was not even a mathematician.

This was akin to people that wanted to use rocks and lightning to create a computer. It was completely out of reality. The Clay Institute would collect hundreds of theses a year and all of them were worthless.

Of course, the mathematicians were not completely at lost. Possible ideas were the "40% zero points" of Kangrui's critical line theorem, or the three mathematicians who recently proposed to introduce the Riemann's conjecture into a special case of quantum mechanical systems.

There was also algebraic geometry methods.

For example, the Wei's conjecture that was proved by Deligne (one of the most brilliant achievements in the pure number field in the 1970s), was often referred to as the "cottage version" Riemann's conjecture.

As for the "standard conjecture" that Professor Deligne said to Lu Zhou, it was the general form of Wei's conjecture. It was proposed by Grothendieck, the "Pope" of modern algebraic geometry.

If Professor Deligne wanted to fulfill his teacher's long-cherished wish of proving Riemann's conjecture, he would have to face the standard conjecture.

When Lu Zhou returned to his dorm and laid in his bed, he started to seriously think about Professor Deligne's offer.

Right now, he had two choices.

One was to join Professor Deligne's research project. Although the standard conjecture could increase his mathematics experience, it would delay the progress of his system mission. Especially since he did not know how much work Professor Deligne had done, or had yet to be done.

The other option was to go solo. He could concentrate all of his energy on Goldbach's conjecture, and use it as his PhD graduation thesis.

Chapter 227: Another Way

The food club was one of the many cultures in Princeton. There were two "cafeterias" on both sides of Prospect Avenue.

Of course, the differences between a club and cafeteria was still very big. Especially those clubs who were run by students as their groups were often non-accepting.

For example, aristocratic children from Boston would not allow rednecks from Texas to join their clubs unless the person had high achievements in a certain field.

As such, one could tell a person's social class from where they were eating.

The most famous clubs were the Ivy Club and Tiger Shop. Before the court order in 1991, they would not recruit females. They only recruited the "elite".

Lu Zhou did not think too much of it. He heard that Ivy Club had good food. He only had to pay $5,000 USD per year for as much food as he wanted. There was also an unlimited supply of coffee, so he went to sign up.

After that, he was informed on some dining etiquette rules and was soon accepted into the club.

He thought that he would have to go through an interview like everyone else and fight for his spot.

He actually wanted to practice his interviewing skills.

However, it seemed that society was quite welcoming to those with abilities.

Right now, sat opposite him was one of the senior members of the Ivy Club: David Lawrence. A PhD student in history.

Lawrence was a very common surname in the US. If one were to meet a Caucasian family with the surname Lawrence from Boston, one would not be able to help but wonder if they had ties to the Kennedy.

The reason why Lu Zhou was accepted into this club was due to David Lawrence's help.

Since Lu Zhou did not care about cultural background or nationalities, he naturally became David's good friend.

He was Lu Zhou's first friend since arriving at Princeton.

It had been two days since his meeting with Professor Deligne. He still had not made a decision yet.

After listening to a lecture, Lu Zhou went to the Ivy Club for dinner.

David was also there, so the two sat together with their food.

They started to talk about their plans after graduation. David smiled and asked Lu Zhou, "Are you interested in investment banking? If you are, I can recommend a few good places for you."

Lu Zhou, "I don't really have an interest in employment since I prefer to do research."

David smiled and said, "Oh really? Don't you think using mathematics to finesse the financial markets is also very exciting? Maybe you could even earn a Nobel Prize."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I haven't studied financial mathematics before. If you're so interested in finance, why don't you do a finance degree instead of history?"

David tapped the wine glass and said, "I actually didn't want to come here. My first choice was to study an MBA at Wharton. But my dad stubbornly sent me here because he's a Princeton alumnus… At first, I also studied mathematics like you, but that stuff was way too hard for me. Therefore, I changed to history."

Lu Zhou was cutting his steak when he sensed a girl staring at him. He sighed.

This guy's a good friend, he's just a bit too handsome.

Even Lu Zhou had to admit that David was beating him in the looks department.

"It seems that every family has their difficulties… But isn't there an MBA at Princeton?"

"Nope," answered David. He smiled and shook his head, "Princeton is the only Ivy League school that doesn't have a business school."

However, even though there was no business school at Princeton, there were many successful entrepreneurs.

For example, the founder of Amazon was a Princeton graduate.

The reason why top companies liked to recruit from Princeton, was mostly because of its academic resources and background. It was also partly due to Princeton's rich alumni association.

While the two were chatting, a lady wearing a black dress walked over.

David noticed that she was not walking toward him, so he smiled and said, "It seems that you have a date? I won't be in the way."

"No, it's fine. You can sit here."

Lu Zhou tried to explain himself.

However, David did not listen.

"Haha, I won't third wheel you two. I'm done eating anyway, see ya."

David got up and left with his tray.

"…"

Lu Zhou looked Molina and sighed before he said, "Miss Molina, what now?"

Molina did not waste time. She stared at Lu Zhou and asked, "Fine, I know you chose Professor Deligne… But are you not interested in our research project at all?"

Lu Zhou sighed.

He obviously knew what her research project was about.

She invited him last time.

He had not expected that her supervisor was as crazy as her.

Lu Zhou, "Your research project is completely unrealistic, it's like building a house on Mars… Let me guess, to prove Riemann's conjecture, you would have to build a new theoretical framework and use that to solve it."

Molina said with excitement, "We are doing that right now!"

Lu Zhou, "Did you succeed?"

Molina shook her head and hesitated before she said, "Soon!"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "So, not yet?"

Lu Zhou knew why her supervisor, Sophie Morel, was so impatient.

The 2018 International Mathematician Conference was in two years. There were only four Fields Medal spots, and two were already confirmed.

One was Peter Schultz, the one that created the most promising mathematical frameworks in today's algebraic geometry: "PS theory".

While other people were "solving problems", Schultz, on the other hand, built a tool. A tool created when solving problems was more important than solving the problem itself. Schultz had already won the Philippine Wind Vane EMS Award (European Mathematical Society Award), and there was no doubt that the Fields Medal was his.

The other was the prover of the Polignac's conjecture, Lu Zhou. Although Lu Zhou did not create a mathematical framework like the "PS theory", he solved many important problems.

The Polignac's conjecture was worthy of a Fields Medal.

Qualifications were not involved in the Fields Medal selection process and only the results mattered. This was why Grigori Perelman was able to win the Fields Medal Award. However, he did not accept it as he did not want fame or money.

Grigori Perelman had refused numerous awards including those from the European Mathematical Society which awarded him the Young Mathematician Award.

There were only two spots left for the Fields Medal. A possible candidate was Fernando Marques, a Brazilian guy. The 2018 mathematics conference was going to be held in Brazil, which made it even more interesting.

Other candidates were people like Geordie Williamson, who had also received the EMS Award, or Maryna Viazovska, the Ukrainian mathematics goddess.

If Sophie Molina could contribute to Riemann's conjecture, such as updating Kangrui's "critical line" from 40% to 50%, her chances of winning would greatly increase.

However, Lu Zhou did not understand why Molina was also impatient.

She was a long way from a Fields Medal…

Molina rubbed her hair and stared at Lu Zhou. She said in a certain tone, "My supervisor and I can spend the rest of our lives this problem since I don't plan on producing results soon anyway."

Are you that obsessed?

Lu Zhou put down the knife and wiped his hands with the napkin. He then said, "Then… You go ahead. Don't drag me along. I have other stuff to do."

Molina raised her eyebrows, "Professor Deligne's research project?"

Lu Zhou laughed.

Speaking of which, this time Molina actually gave him a little inspiration.

He had been entangled between the two choices that Professor Deligne threw at him. At the same time, Goldbach's conjecture also gave him two tempting choices. The choice of methods.

Should I use the circle method or sieve method?

Both methods seemed to have reached their last steps, but only a little off.

If this is the case…

Lu Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up.

He spoke.

"Goldbach's conjecture."

This time, he used a certain tone.

Molina was stunned and she nearly laughed out loud.

"Sorry… I'm not doubting your ability, but I just couldn't hold it in. It seems that I'm right, you are crazy."

Molina asked, "Do you plan on using the circle method or sieve method?"

Lu Zhou heard this question and smirked.

"Neither."

Chapter 228: Your Hands Are Your Tools

"Neither?"

Molina was stunned.

She looked at Lu Zhou and said with a skeptical tone, "I know you are a genius… Although Goldbach's conjecture isn't in my field of research, if I heard you correctly, you're intending on doing a century worth of work on your own?"

Lu Zhou smiled coldly and said with a relaxed tone, "The problem of a+b is a complex expression of Goldbach's conjecture. That is, each large even number N can be expressed as A+B, where the prime factors of A and B do not exceed a and b, respectively. When a=b=1, the problem will eventually return to the original expression. Any even number greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two prime numbers."

One prime factor, naturally meant that it was a prime number.

Therefore, the form of 1+1 was the ultimate form of Goldbach's conjecture.

Molina said, "So you're saying that the people who have researched the Goldbach's conjecture for over a century has been doing nothing?"

"Of course not," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He then asked an unexpected question, "Do you know about sports?"

Molina frowned and said, "Sports?"

Lu Zhou, "You know about the long jump right."

Molina was confused but she said, "Of course."

Lu Zhou smiled coldly and said, "Brown's a+b proof method is equivalent to the run-up before the long jump. Although the run-up time itself is not included in the score, is the run-up useless? The same logic applies here where a+b is equivalent to the run-up of Goldbach's conjecture. Because without it, there will be no large sieve method, which is an inspiring and potential analytical tool for number theory. It can even be said that the value of the large sieve method is beyond the Goldbach conjecture itself."

Whether or not the large sieve method could really reach 1+1, it had already played an important role in number theory.

Lu Zhou had personally benefited from it.

Molina brushed her hair as she looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "So, how do you plan on proving it?"

Lu Zhou smirked, "Of course, to use my own method."

Molina did not know why, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw Lu Zhou's smile.

Of course, it was only for a second. As a woman married to mathematics, she quickly returned to normal.

…

A solution to a mathematics conjecture required accumulation of workload and a creative genius.

Both were indispensable.

Just like Fermat's last theorem.

When the Taniyama-Shimura theorem was proved, people could not see the whole picture of the theorem's value, but they had a rough idea in their minds. This was because a tool to solve the problem had surfaced. This was the historic work by Andrew Wiles.

As for Goldbach's conjecture, whether it was the large sieve method or circle method, it was the same.

The work of the predecessors built the foundation. However, whether it was Chen's theorem or the proof of the Goldbach's conjecture under odd conditions, they were all one step off. The meaning of Chen's theorem was more to let other mathematicians know that the road of the large sieve method had ended and that there was nowhere else to go.

The circle method was the same.

This was why last year, Helfgott said that "to fully prove Goldbach's conjecture, we have a long way to go". He expressed that there was no hope solving Goldbach's conjecture anytime in the near future.

At least, no hope toward the circle method.

Lu Zhou could not help but agree that both of these methods were at a dead end.

He had also faced similar problems when studying the twin prime conjecture.

Zhang Yitang's research selected a clever lambda function, which limited the space of prime pairs to 70 million. The successor reduced this number to 246. However, they could not go any further.

Lu Zhou's initial thought process was also to use a lambda function. However, after countless attempts, he discovered that this road was a dead end.

There were too many lambda function forms to choose from. He could not find the right one no matter how hard he tried.

Until finally, he was inspired. He tried a very different proof of the conjecture and introduced a topology method. This paved a new road.

Although this method was first mentioned in the 1995 thesis by Professor Zellberg who was tackling Goldbach's conjecture, it was Lu Zhou that introduced it to the problem of prime numbers.

Lu Zhou then built on his own knowledge of group theory and pushed the prime number finite distances to infinity. This solved the Polignac's conjecture. The topology sieve method had been transformed twice, and completely unrecognizable from its original form.

Therefore, Lu Zhou gave his weapon a new name, "Group Structure Method".

However, when he was studying the Goldbach's conjecture, he habitually forgot about his own tools.

On the surface, it seemed that the Group Structure Method was unrelated to Goldbach's conjecture. However, the intention of the sieve method was to solve Goldbach's conjecture.

As long as he improved on it, he could use this tool to solve Goldbach's conjecture.

When a mathematical method was continually perfected, it would transform from a toothpick to a Swiss army knife. It would gradually evolve into a theoretical framework! The theoretical framework for number theory!

This was just like the "Cosmic Teichmüller Theory" created in the study of the ABC conjecture.

Whether it was to develop new methods and then prove the value of the methods or to develop methods while studying the problem, both paths were valid.

Lu Zhou saw hope in Goldbach's conjecture.

…

Lu Zhou walked out of the food club. However, he did not go to the library. Instead, he went to the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Although he did not make an appointment, Professor Deligne had said that every evening from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. was office hours.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door before he walked in.

Professor Deligne stopped writing and looked at Lu Zhou. He asked in a relaxed tone, "You've made a decision?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yes, I plan on doing my own research… I apologize but I can't extract any energy to join your research."

Deligne nodded and did not show signs of dissatisfaction.

Deligne was a person that respected freedom. That was why he allowed Lu Zhou to make his own decision.

Deligne, "I respect your decision. But as your supervisor, I have to know what your research is about?"

Lu Zhou answered, "Goldbach's conjecture."

Deligne nodded. He was not as surprised as Molina. His facial expression was calm.

Maybe…

Deligne thinks that I am the "best candidate" to solve this conjecture?

Thanks for the compliment.

Lu Zhou felt a little proud.

Deligne, "The Goldbach's conjecture is an interesting problem, I also studied it when I was young. However, I didn't dive deep into the problem, so I can't give you much help. Right now the closest research results are Chen's theorem and Helfgott's proof of the weak conjecture. I look forward to your new research… "

"… Of course, other than your own research, there are also some things on my side you have to do. Like teaching assistant work."

Lu Zhou nodded, "No problem… I'm confident in my teaching abilities on number theory and functional analysis."

"I believe in your abilities in number theory. In fact, you are overqualified… Also, I prepared a gift for you."

Deligne pulled out the drawer and took out a certificate looking thing. He then placed it on the table and smiled.

"I heard that your family conditions aren't good. I helped you solve the problem of your student aid. Take this thing to the finance office, and sort out your tuition fees."

Chapter 229: Full On Research

The so-called fellowship was different from scholarships. Not only did it covered accommodation fees and tuition fees, but it also gave students a certain amount of living expenses for personal consumption.

As such, the competition for a fellowship was fierce. In addition to requiring higher academic grades, foreign applicants were also required to provide a domestic school transcript, recommendation letter, and a personal essay.

The prize amount varied amongst different schools and different people. The payment method would even be divided into yearly, monthly, or quarterly payments.

Princeton's fellowship prize was one of the most difficult prizes to apply to. Especially for a PhD position. However, for a winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, it was not a problem.

After all, Lu Zhou himself was qualified enough to write recommendation letters for other people. Not to mention, his mentor was Professor Deligne.

Lu Zhou's bursary included tuition fees, medical insurance, and a one-time payment of $40,000 USD.

When Lu Zhou set up his bank account, he had cashed the Cole Prize check and Princeton scholarship check. As he looked at the string of numbers in his bank account, he could not help but think.

Everyone else pays an insane amount to study overseas while I earn money for studying overseas.

This feeling is quite special.

…

After completing his bank errands, Lu Zhou gradually got used to life at Princeton.

For undergraduate students, the academic pressure was high. But for PhD student, it was a lot more relaxed. Especially if the supervisor did not urge you.

Although Professor Deligne arranged teaching tasks for Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou's first class was in April which was still a month away. Lu Zhou even found the time to get his driver's license.

Other than studying Goldbach's conjecture, his mission was mainly to studying algebraic geometry.

What made Lu Zhou so ecstatic was that Deligne had the original drafts of Grothendieck's work: Esquisse d'un Programme. These works were translated into English by a French student.

Many of Grothendieck's Esquisse d'un Programme were still not fully understood until this day.

Lu Zhou had never been to France to seek out Grothendieck's work on modern algebraic geometry. First of all, he did not understand French. Second, he had not studied Grothendieck's work in depth.

The English translation of Esquisse d'un Programme was a huge help to Lu Zhou. Coupled with personal guidance from Professor Deligne, it made things much easier to understand.

Sure enough, a good supervisor could save a lot of time.

Other than studying algebraic geometry under Professor Deligne's guidance, Lu Zhou spent all of his free time on Goldbach's conjecture.

There was one time where he was suddenly inspired and he did not leave his room for days. He locked himself in his tiny bedroom and started to think about how to invent the perfect theoretical framework as well as how to reinvent Group Structure Method to solve Goldbach's conjecture.

As a result, he even missed a class that he was supposed to teach at.

Due to this, Professor Deligne called him and asked him what was going on.

However, after Professor Deligne learned that Lu Zhou was not playing around in NYC or Philadelphia, and was researching Goldbach's conjecture instead, he did not say anything about Lu Zhou's absence.

"Researching mathematics needs hard work, but that doesn't mean you should close yourself off. If you feel like your research has reached a bottleneck, I recommend you take a short break. Go play some football or watch a movie… You need to actively find inspiration instead of waiting for inspiration to find you."

Lu Zhou, "I'll take your advice into consideration… Also, can I take a vacation?"

Deligne, "How long?"

Lu Zhou said, "Two weeks."

Deligne, "There's no need to ask me. You can manage your own time. If after a year you still haven't made any progress, I'll assign you another task to work on. You only have a few golden years of mathematics research, so there's no need to waste more than one year on just one question."

After that, the old professor hung up.

Lu Zhou put down the phone and smiled as he twisted the pen in his hand.

I only have one year?

Although Professor Deligne did not say it out loud, he did not think that Lu Zhou could complete this task.

However, this also meant that the professor cared about Lu Zhou. If it was anyone else, Lu Zhou could go become an actor instead and the professor would not give a sh*t.

"I can't waste any more time," said Lu Zhou as he shook his head. He picked up the pen that he dropped and started to write calculations on the draft paper.

…

Although he said that he could not waste any more time, wasting time was a habit of his.

However, Lu Zhou did not think that there was anything wrong with his habit.

In the world of mathematics, there were multiple types of mathematicians. Some were like Chen Jingrun who was so introverted he would not accept any prizes, or like Kolmogorov, who loved boxing and the outdoors.

Lu Zhou felt that he was not an introverted researcher as he would listen to lectures when he had to. However, most of the time, he preferred to be a lone researcher.

A few days passed by.

It was a bright Saturday morning with blue skies.

Lu Zhou did not know how he fell asleep on his desk. He woke up and stretched his stiff body.

"Maybe I should hire a maid…"

I wonder how the robotic maids in Silicon Valley are.

Lu Zhou could theoretically give Xiao Ai a robot body. Maybe then his artificial retardation could finally be useful.

Like, take out the trash or something.

He did not have high hopes for more complicated tasks.

Lu Zhou rubbed his head and looked at the dozens of draft papers spread across the table. He picked out a few, crumpled them into balls, and threw them in the trash.

He felt a bit hungry, so he got up and walked to the kitchen.

He took out some bacon slices and vegetables from the fridge. After poaching the bacon, he took out two pieces of bread and placed them in the toaster.

Unfortunately, cooking was uncommon in America. Occasionally, they would have a barbecue party outdoors. Since Lu Zhou's small kitchen did not have a stove, he could not put his cooking skills to use.

Lu Zhou asked the apartment manager if he could install a stove but he was given a strange look and was refused.

However, it made sense. His apartment building was more than 90 years old. There had been many famous scholars that lived there. Even Einstein's house was nearby.

If he accidentally caused a fire, it would be a great loss.

Lu Zhou understood the apartment manager's decision.

Anyway, he mainly ate at the food club. He would only cook breakfast at home.

After he finished eating, Lu Zhou poured himself a cup of coffee. He stood next to the refrigerator and stared at the ticking clock while he sorted out his mind.

Suddenly, Luo Wenxuan called him.

"Hey, didn't you say that we're looking for cars today? I'm at the school gate, when do you want to leave? Don't tell me you're still in bed?"

Lu Zhou realized that he locked himself in his room for too long.

Chapter 230: Real Men Drive SUVs

Lu Zhou cleaned himself up and met Luo Wenxuan at the school gate. By the time they drove to the car dealership in Philadelphia, it was already 10 am.

It was a weekend, so the dealership was packed.

Luo Wenxuan got off the car and started to talk to Lu Zhou.

"I bought my car here. I heard that the owner is this rich Middle Eastern guy. He can provide economical modifications to the car and even provide custom parts."

Lu Zhou could not help but ask, "Friend?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "No way."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou thought that he could get a discount, but that did not seem possible anymore.

Luo Wenxuan coughed and asked, "What type of car do you like? I can recommend something for you. The cars here are pretty cheap, especially with discounts. High-end cars are only $60,000 USD or so. I recommend a Porsche…"

When Lu Zhou heard him, he shook his head, "I can't use my prize money on a car. I only need one that drives. Is there anything cheaper?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "Japanese cars and second-hand cars are all very cheap… You can get one for $3,000 USD. But honestly, I don't think you should get them unless you want to spend money on repairs."

Lu Zhou said, "I don't want that…"

Although he did not want to spend too much money on the car, he would not risk his safety for a cheaper car.

He took into account that since he was still a new driver, it would be better if he could get a safer car.

Lu Zhou walked around and his eyes soon landed on a bulky, rough figure.

After that, his eyes kept staring.

Luo Wenxuan looked in the same direction and was stunned.

"Ford Explorer SUV. Turbocharged 4 cylinder, 2.3T, medium-sized off-road vehicle… Don't tell me you're buying this?"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "How much is it?"

"Around thirty grand. But I don't recommend it. Thirty grand can get you a Chevrolet Camaro. You can even buy a Cayenne with another 20 grand. And…" Luo Wenxuan paused.

Lu Zhou asked, "And what?"

Luo Wenxuan was embarrassed to say, "Nothing, I just don't think it fits your style…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

What do you mean it doesn't fit my style!

In what way?

In the end, Lu Zhou insisted on his own choice and bought this bulky SUV.

The total costs were $31,117 USD.

After paying the full amount, Lu Zhou took the car keys from the dealer's hand. He excitedly pulled Luo Wenxuan into the car and started driving it.

Lu Zhou already got his New Jersey driver's license a long time ago. He was now officially a real driver.

After driving around for a bit, Lu Zhou stopped in a parking lot to let Luo Wenxuan out.

When Lu Zhou got off the car, he said, "Thanks for the help today! You can go back to Princeton if you want. I still have some stuff to do."

Luo Wenxuan asked, "Are you fine driving by yourself?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I remember the way. Anyway, I have a GPS."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Okay then, see ya."

Lu Zhou, "Yeah, see ya. I'll buy you dinner sometime."

Luo Wenxuan said, "There's no need for that. Just introduce me to some pretty ladies from the University of Pennsylvania." He then got in his car and drove away.

Lu Zhou looked at his taillights and shook his head.

This guy is smart.

He actually guessed where I'm going.

But, he definitely has the wrong idea.

…

When Lu Zhou first arrived in Philadelphia, he promised Chen Yushan to take her to dinner.

Now that he had his license and car, he had no excuse to not meet up with her.

Lu Zhou used his GPS to drive to the Wharton school dorms. Once he found a spot to park, he called Chen Yushan.

"Little brother, you finally gave me a call."

Lu Zhou did not know why she sounded a little resentful.

Lu Zhou pretended like he did not notice as he asked, "Where are you? I'm already at Wharton's dorm entrance… But I don't know if you live here."

"What? You're at the University of Pennsylvania?" said Chen Yushan with a tone of surprise. She then asked, "Look outside. Is there a Blue Island coffee shop nearby?"

Lu Zhou looked outside his car window and said, "I think so."

"Yeah, I'm here. Just wait a bit, I'll come right away!"

Chen Yushan hung up the phone.

She said right away, but Lu Zhou waited for a while in the car. He was about to fall asleep when he finally saw a familiar figure walked out of the dorm entrance.

It was now March so the weather had eased up a lot. Lu Zhou saw that Chen Yushan was wearing a slanted shoulder dress and she looked a lot more youthful than when he first arrived in Philadelphia.

Especially her bangs, it made Lu Zhou felt like it was two years ago when he first saw her all dressed up at the cafeteria.

Chen Yushan opened the door and sat shotgun. She then looked around curiously.

"You bought a car?"

Lu Zhou, "Yeah, I just bought it. Where should we eat?"

Chen Yushan put her hand out and said, "I know a good restaurant nearby. Give me your phone, I'll GPS route it for you."

…

They were going to a nearby Italian restaurant.

Lu Zhou parked the car in a parking lot near the restaurant and walked in with Chen Yushan.

The two got a table and ordered the food.

Once the food arrived, they started to chat while eating.

After all, they were comrades who used to sit together in the library. Now that they met across the Pacific Ocean, naturally they would have a lot of things to talk about.

"You must be busy."

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yeah, pretty busy. I've been researching Goldbach's conjecture recently, but haven't made much progress."

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou with worship and said, "You're insane…"

Although she did not do research on mathematics, she obviously knew about Goldbach's conjecture.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed. He smiled and changed the subject.

"It's okay… How about you?"

"Me? I'm pretty busy as well," said Chen Yushan as she played with her straw. She then sighed and said, "My supervisor has a Walmart project. It's about the management and training program for senior employees in the India Branch. I need to read 20 pages of research every day and write a report every week. They're working me to the bone."

Chen Yushan playfully stuck her tongue out.

She was cute, just like a little puppy… Although it could be misunderstood.

Lu Zhou put away his dirty thoughts and said, "Walmart project? Your supervisor must be a big name."

Of course, he was really thinking about the money involved in helping a major corporation.

"It's okay, not as impressive as you, Mr. Mathematician," said Chen Yushan as she looked at Lu Zhou with a smile. She then changed the subject, "Speaking of which, why did you buy an SUV?"

"I don't know? I just like it. It's big, rough, resistant, Se… Secure." said Lu Zhou. He coughed and said, "It fits men like me."

Close! I nearly said sexy, thank god I reacted in time.

He did not know why, but his friend started to laugh.

"Pfft…"

Lu Zhou was confused, "What?"

Chen Yushan laughed and slapped her thigh as she said, "Nothing, little brother… As long as you're happy."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Once Chen Yushan finished laughing, she looked at him and teased, "Also, by the way, I think you're more of the Mini Cooper type… They're very popular."

Emmmm…

Are you saying I'm sophisticated?

Thanks for the compliment.

Lu Zhou smiled as well as he did not know what else to say.

Chapter 231: Ideas Emerge!

It really was convenient and safe to have a car.

Lu Zhou spent the whole day in Philadelphia with Chen Yushan. They watched a movie, chilled around and had dinner. After that, Lu Zhou drove back to Princeton.

Lu Zhou parked the car near the Institute of Higher Education. He was in a good mood and he started humming while walking up to his apartment.

When he walked up to the second floor, he saw Molina in sports clothes. It looked like she was about to go running.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Went on a date?"

"Bought a car."

Lu Zhou shook the car keys and did not say much to her as he went straight into his apartment.

Once he was inside, he threw his jacket and car keys on the sofa. First, he went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. He then sat down at his desk and was ready to continue working.

Suddenly, a message from Xiao Ai popped up on his phone screen.

[Master, new mail!]

Is it from Professor Frank?

Lu Zhou opened his computer and logged into his email. He did not just see one, but two emails in his inbox.

One email was sent three days ago, probably when he was still locked in his room. He probably did not see Xiao Ai's notification.

Lu Zhou did not recognize the sender's email address. Since he was afraid that he missed something important, he opened this one first.

[Mr. Lu Zhou, I am Vera Pulyuy from Berkeley. I have some questions from our last discussion. Don't know if I can take up some of your precious time?]

Pulyuy?

Probably a Slav name?

Why is this girl so polite? It's not like I'm some famous professor.

Lu Zhou scratched his head. He could not imagine this little girl being from a country with bearded large men and polar bears.

Never would've thought she is a Slav…

Lu Zhou shook his head and put these insignificant things aside. He skipped the paragraph worshiping him and looked at the important part of the email.

[… In the paper reported by Professor Helfgott at the mid-year conference of the Federal Mathematical Society, the third page of the 11-line formula J(n)=∫Φ(λ)·G(λ)2·H(λ) ·e|-nλ|dλ. Why does it directly draw the conclusions in the thesis proposition (2.1)?

Lu Zhou lifted his eyebrows.

Oh, she knows what she's talking about.

No wonder she's an IMO gold medalist, she's quite talented.

Compared to the question she asked me last time, this question was at least related to the circle method.

Lu Zhou smiled and typed a response.

[Because we have to deal with the interval using the circle method and establish several equal distribution results. So we record S1(q,α)=∑e(αm3/q), C1(q,α)=∑e(αm3/q2), brought into Td(n,q)=∑S1(q,αd3) ·|C1(q,αd3)|·e(-an/q)/qψ2(q)… and then, what do we get? Think about it yourself.]

Lu Zhou double checked his email and once he made sure there were no mistakes, he sent it out.

In the email, he did not directly answer Vera. He hoped that she could figure it out on her own.

If she wanted to study mathematics in the future, whether it was number theory or another field, this process of figuring it out on her own was crucial.

Basic mathematics could be taught, but higher levels of mathematics must be digested by herself. This was because everyone had different interpretations, so there was no standard answer.

Lu Zhou took a sip of his bitter coffee before he realized that he forgot to add sugar.

He walked to his kitchen and got some sugar. When he returned to his desk, he found out that he already received a reply.

"That quick?"

Lu Zhou placed down the coffee and opened the email.

The body had only one line.

[… can you get the order δd(n)=∑Td(n,q) absolute convergence?]

Lu Zhou smirked as he nodded with satisfaction.

This girl is worthy to be taught!

As he estimated, this student had potential.

Although her experience was low, her ability to understand and intuition toward numbers was high.

If he was a professor at Berkeley, he definitely would not mind being her supervisor.

Lu Zhou smiled and wrote a reply.

[Correct.]

Within a minute, he received a reply.

[Thank you.]

Wow, she's very polite as well.

Lu Zhou closed the email and looked at the calculations he did on the computer. He was about to delete this document when he suddenly stared at the lines of calculations. He then went into deep thought.

Td(n,q)=∑S1(q,αd3)·|C1(q,αd3)|·e(-an/q)/qψ2(q)…

The series δd(n)=∑Td(n,q) is absolutely convergent…

From here on, I can introduce the circle method and solve the proposition (2.1).

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something. He quickly opened his computer files and found Helfgott's thesis that was submitted to the Federal Mathematics Society's conference. He found the third line on page 11 and started to read.

The clock on the wall slowly ticked. Without him knowing, it had been half an hour.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou realized something. He quickly picked up a pen and started writing on paper.

Helfgott was undoubtedly the master of the circle method, just like how Chen Jingrun was the master of the sieve theory.

However, even Helfgott himself did not expect that the circle method could be used to solve Goldbach's conjecture. Lu Zhou had not expected himself to defeat the master while he was looking for a possible way.

However, when he was reviewing the thesis, he found a detail that he did not notice before.

The old man's thesis was very long, and thus, Lu Zhou did not examine it carefully. If it was not for Vera, Lu Zhou would not have noticed this detail.

Lu Zhou was ecstatic at this unexpected surprise.

Although this discovery could not solve Goldbach's conjecture, it would perfect his tools!

It could possibly let him apply his Group Structure Method to Goldbach's conjecture…

… Maybe?

His pen slowed down and stopped.

As Lu Zhou looked at the four pages in front of him, he could not continue to write.

He had lost his train of thought.

I was so close!

The clock kept ticking away and the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Lu Zhou looked at his computer screen.

Suddenly, he realized that he had another un-read email.

He immediately sat up straight.

In his mind, he apologized to Professor Frank as he had nearly ignored his email.

The email was short.

Only one line.

[About the 750 GeV signal, I need to talk with you face to face… When do you have time?]

Chapter 232: Bad News

The shorter the sentence, the most meaningful it was.

After the International Theoretical Physics Conference at Brussel, Lu Zhou had predicted that Professor Frank might have something to say.

He quickly replied.

[I'm available any time. When are you free?]

He waited for a while but Professor Frank did not reply.

Lu Zhou looked at the time and guessed that Frank was probably asleep. Lu Zhou got up and took a shower before calling it a night.

They did not speak again that night.

The next morning, Lu Zhou got out of bed and turned off his alarm. He then checked his inbox and saw a reply.

[I'm going to Stony Brook University the day after tomorrow, and I'll stay there for around three days. If you are available, we can meet there.]

Lu Zhou looked at the calendar.

He had to do a lecture in two days, but he had already asked Professor Deligne for a vacation.

He then replied.

[Okay, let's meet the day after tomorrow. I'll contact you then.]

Frank's reply was short.

[Ok.]

…

New York was located on the east coast. It was the economic and cultural hub of the world, and one of America's major technology centers.

Many people know about Wall Street and the Statue of Liberty. However, few people know about one of the world's most advanced scientific research laboratory in Long Island: Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Many Nobel Prizes including Yang Zhenduo and Li Zhengdao's J particle discovery was born here. There were around 3,000 researchers and engineers here, and an average of more than 4,000 visiting scholars who worked here each year.

Although it was not as advanced as CERN, it was still impressive.

To a large extent, the meaning of the Hadron Collider lied here. On the surface, discovering a new particle did not seem like a big deal as it would not change people's lives in any way. However, the experiment attracted a large number of scholars and created cutting-edge equipment while forming a "scientific research ecosystem".

For example, the Hadron Collider's storage ring required harsh vacuumed conditions. This had led to the development of ultra-high-vacuum technology which had many industrial and medical uses.

A lot of civilian technologies were developed this way.

This laboratory was part of the Department of Energy but is managed by the Brookhaven Science Society, a company founded by Stony Brook University.

It was a Monday when Lu Zhou drove his new car to New York.

He had arranged to meet Professor Frank at a cafe near Stony Brook University. Lu Zhou did not know why, but all of the professors he had met liked coffee.

At around 12 o'clock in the coffee shop, Professor Frank arrived with a laptop in his hand.

"Sorry, I'm late. I had a meeting."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No, it's fine. I only just got here."

Professor Frank sat across from Lu Zhou and said to the waiter, "I'll have an Americano and a tuna sandwich."

Waiter, "With sugar?"

"No, thanks."

Professor Frank placed his laptop on the table and opened a document as he said to Lu Zhou, "You brought your USB, right?"

Lu Zhou nodded. He then took out a USB from his pocket and placed it on the table before he asked, "I did… Can you tell me what is it? Although I don't mind drinking coffee with you, if we are just talking about experiment data, why can't we do it over email?"

Professor Frank did not answer his question as he was busy playing with his laptop. He opened a graph and turned the computer around.

As Lu Zhou looked at the graph, he asked, "What is this?"

Professor Frank moved his chair closer to Lu Zhou and pointed at the graph.

"This is CERN's latest experimental data. The two charts above are the distribution curves and statistical charts of the energy region as collected by ATLAS and CMS. You should be able to see why this graph is meaningful."

Lu Zhou stared at the graph for a while before he said, "The confidence level has fallen?"

Professor Frank sighed and said, "Yes, no matter how many times we do the experiment, we can't reach a confident level of 3-sigma. And the 750 GeV characteristic peak we saw last year has shrunk… That is why the confidence level decreased."

Lu Zhou stared at the graph for a long time and did not speak.

He could guess why Professor Frank wanted to talk to him in person.

Professor Frank saw that Lu Zhou did not speak, so he continued.

"The Theoretical Physics Conference in Brussels was big. It's a pity that you missed it…"

"… The latest discovery report on the accelerator was done by the newly elected 16th President of the CERN Council, Ms. Fabiola Gianano. The presentation was packed with people. Some even sat on the floor… "

"… The report contained a lot of things and a whole 20 minutes was spent on the 750 GeV CERN discovery… "

"… You should be able to understand this graph, or you can bring them back and study them," said Professor Frank. He sighed and said, "Although it's not that meaningful anymore."

Lu Zhou did not look at the computer. Instead, he continued to look at Professor Frank and waited for him to speak.

Professor Frank shrugged and did not want to sound so depressed as he said, "But in any case, you've been a great help. From last year May till two months ago, a large influx of thesis was seen on arXiv. Many of them on physics models. Although they may not be correct, they are still useful. Also, the two theses that we co-wrote, has been referenced many times."

Although Frank tried to comfort Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou was not comforted at all.

Lu Zhou had spent more than half a year on this project. For a theoretical physicist, half a year was nothing, but for Lu Zhou, it was different.

Not only because his precious time spent building the models were wasted, but also because his hopes of the 750 GeV had been crushed…

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at Professor Frank before he said, "So, you're saying?"

Professor Frank did not respond, which confirmed his hypothesis.

The old man stood up, took off his hat, and nodded as a show of thanks.

"It's clear that from CERN's experimental plan, that after January 1st, there will be no more experiments to retrieve the 750GeV characteristic peak anomaly. This is because every collision of the particle is money burnt. It has been a pleasure working with you. I sincerely thank you for your work, but…"

Professor Frank coughed and looked regretful as he said, "Logic tells us that it's much easier to build a model that doesn't contain 750 GeV particles, than looking for the particle."

It was clear that this project was no longer meaningful.

Explaining the non-existence of a particle that could not be proven was not an experiment worth researching. Perhaps the experiment could help a few particle physicists published a few theses, but it was nothing "new".

Lu Zhou was silent for a long time.

He made up his mind and said, "But I haven't given up."

Professor Frank did not say anything. Instead, he put on his hat and sighed, "Then I wish you good luck."

Chapter 233: The Last Piece Of The Puzzle

There was a well-known joke in the mathematics world which was used to ridicule physicists. It was about how physicist proved that "odd numbers are prime numbers".

The joke was that 1 was a prime number, so 3,4,5,7, 9 was a random error, 11 was a prime number, so was 13…

Okay, enough experiments, all odd numbers were prime numbers!

Then, after several years of experiments, more numbers were tested. The physicists found "experimental errors" that exceeded the confidence threshold. The physicists then added onto the theory and redefined the definition of physics for three-digit numbers.

This sounded like the evolutionary nature of relativity where theories were constantly changed and improved on.

In reality, theoretical physics lacked the rigor and beauty of mathematics.

The 750 GeV characteristic peak was similar to "9 is a random error", whereby if it was repeated multiple times, it was a "sign" or even "discovery". However, if it disappeared, then it became a random error.

Unfortunately, even the upgraded Hadron Collider could only do experiments for "prime numbers under 100". The theory was way ahead of the technology.

At the end of the meeting, Professor Frank dissolved the team.

Lu Zhou's gains were merely two theses, co-signed with Professor Frank and his PhD students.

For him, this was definitely bad news.

However, Lu Zhou did not intend to give up.

Even though Professor Frank gave up, Lu Zhou would continue to research this project.

Mathematics was the language of God, and although Lu Zhou did not believe in God, he believed that mathematics would not deceive people.

Through his rigorous calculations, he predicted the appearance of the characteristic peak. Although he did not know why it disappeared, never for a second did he believed that it did not exist.

Otherwise, how else could anyone explain the detections from both ATLAS and CMS?

Could it just be quantum fluctuations?

The probability was too low for fluctuations to be observed by two detectors at the same time.

Lu Zhou originally planned on hanging around New York for a few more days but because of this bad news, he was no longer in the mood.

In the same afternoon, he drove back to Princeton.

It was already night time by the time he got back to his apartment. He bumped into Molina who was back from her night run. She was wearing a black sports bra and her golden hair moistened from sweat. She looked elegant and charming.

Molina glanced at Lu Zhou and noticed something. She teased him, "I can see that you're not in a good mood."

"Yeah."

Molina raised her eyebrows and gloated, "Dumped?"

"I guess."

Lu Zhou took out his keys. He then opened the door and went inside.

Molina looked at the door close. After a while, she whispered to herself, "I guess he really did get dumped…"

…

Excavating the 750 GeV characteristic peak required a Hadron Collider with a higher brightness detector and many other things…

Lu Zhou could predict the characteristic peak from calculations, but he could not prove the existence of this particle purely through theory. He could only perfect his model and then wait for CERN to verify his theory.

Unfortunately, many people had lost hope in this "750 GeV".

Like Molina said, he was "dumped", physics "dumped" him and left him alone.

Lu Zhou did not have any better ideas. He could only seek comfort in the arms of mathematics.

At least, improved his Group Structure Method. Perhaps this temporary depression could be turned into motivation and maybe helped him find the last piece of the conjecture.

Lu Zhou took a shower and went to bed early.

The next morning he woke up refreshed. He printed out the lecture slides and went to the mathematics building.

The mathematics building was the tallest building in all of Princeton. It represented the significance and status of mathematics at Princeton.

However, Lu Zhou was not here for an esoteric lecture. He was instead attending a number theory lecture with a bunch of undergrads.

As a winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, why did he have to waste time and listen to an undergrad lecture? Yesterday night in bed, he suddenly remembered a book he read in University of Jin Ling library.

In the book, the author mentioned that Fermi advised him not to stay at Princeton for too long because that place was like a monastery.

Mr. Yang's biggest impression of Fermi was that Fermi loved to communicate with students. Fermi was keen on lecturing, organized seminars, and his students won six Nobel Prizes.

More than once, he mentioned that his ideal plan was to teach physics in a small Ivy League school and to write a book that contained all of the difficulties in physics.

From Vera's letter, Lu Zhou suddenly realized that while studying Goldbach's conjecture, he ignored some "well-known" things.

Helfgott's paper was very useful, but he skipped over a lot of things and was too brief. For Lu Zhou, the things that Helfgott skipped over were "obvious", but he missed out on many "obvious" details.

Abstraction should be done, only after careful scrutiny.

Lu Zhou hoped to recapture some basic principals and concepts and to see things from a different perspective as a way of inspiration.

Lu Zhou quietly walked into the classroom as he did not want to attract anyone's attention. He found a seat in the last row.

The lecturer was the current head of the mathematics department, Charles Fefferman, who solved calculus at 12 years old, doctorate at 20 years old, and by 22 years old, he was a professor of Chicago University. He was considered a super genius.

Charles looked at the class and stared at Lu Zhou's face for a second. He clearly recognized Lu Zhou. However, he did not say anything. Like usual, he wrote on the whiteboard and started his lecture.

Princeton's students were all exceptional. There were IMO competition finalists, Putnam competitors, and geniuses from all over the world attending this lecture.

Doing a lecture for these geniuses were obviously different than at a normal university.

Especially for those sloppy professors.

Charles was talking about the proof of the prime number theorem. When he wrote down the 20th line of proof, someone raised their hand.

"Professor, the value of the Φ(s) function should be 2 instead of 3!"

Obviously, someone had already studied the prime number proofs.

Charles turned around. He smiled calmly and said, "You're right, but can you believe that even if this step is wrong, I can still prove the theorem."

That student was stunned and whisperings were heard in the classroom.

From the whispers, Lu Zhou could feel a sense of disbelief coming from the students.

It was not just the students, but Lu Zhou himself was also in disbelief.

Lu Zhou was very rigorous toward calculations and he would never make a mistake.

However, Lu Zhou did not say anything. Instead, he patiently waited for the professor to finish the proof.

Charles did not say anything. Instead, he turned around and started to write on the whiteboard.

15 minutes went by and he finally finished his last line of calculations. Everyone in the classroom was stunned.

Especially the student that pointed out the mistake. His face was full of confusion.

That mistake was clearly there, but…

Charles solved it!

"I've personally researched the prime number theorem, and there's around a dozen of them. The rigor of calculations is very important, but when we are at the frontier field, it's more important to be logically self-consistent. This is not just for mathematics, but for all of science. As for why I could draw the same conclusion, it's because I've tried numerous methods of proofs, and found out that most methods are the same…"

Charles smiled and gently wiped out the "3". He changed it to a "2" and said, "Of course, I was only manipulating the mistake. Student Smith is correct, the calculation result should be a 3, but whether it is a 2 or 3, we still satisfy the interval defined by function ζ(x)."

It was clear he knew this theorem inside and out, like the back of his hand.

Lu Zhou even suspected that Charles purposely made a mistake to demonstrate to these rookies.

Of course, his attention was not here.

"Same result but from different calculations?"

Lu Zhou repeated this sentence and went into deep thought.

His eyes gradually lit up.

He suddenly realized something.

The puzzle he had been searching for was in his own hands…

Chapter 234: Surprising Evaluation

If the core idea of Lu Zhou's Group Structure Method for non-residual estimation of the modular prime numbers was from the large sieve method, then the Fourier analysis of the function on the circumference in the Helffgot's thesis was the 1% left for his "core idea".

Lu Zhou had completed this job up to "99%" since California. The remaining 1% that he required was the inspiration.

However, this last piece of the puzzle was now in Lu Zhou's hands.

Lu Zhou did not wait for Charles's lecture to finish before he packed his things and quietly left.

The professor on stage noticed him leaving. However, Charles merely smiled and pretended as if nothing had happened while he continued to speak in his slow voice about number theory.

Lu Zhou returned to his apartment and picked up a pen before he started to write on the draft paper.

His thoughts were flowing like a waterfall. Unstoppable!

He wrote five pages, six pages, seven pages…

Time slowly passed by.

The clock on the wall turned noon, then afternoon, then night.

Lu Zhou finished writing on the 16th page. He finally stopped the pen and looked at his research work.

"… Then this introduces Bombiere theorem, and the rest of the calculations are trivial… Done!"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath and a smile finally emerged on his face.

Further down was the solution of Goldbach's conjecture.

From now on, his "boat" was going into unknown territory.

However, he believed that he could do it.

This unreasonable but persistent belief was similar to what Andrew Wyles felt right after he saw the proof of Fermat's last theorem.

When a tool was built, the mission of using the tool was nothing but a piece of cake.

The collection of over two centuries of research, several generations of Goldbach's conjecture studies, finally came to this step.

Instead of arrogance, Lu Zhou only had honor in his heart.

He was honored to stand at the top of this building.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and sent a message to Deligne and his friends at Princeton. He told them that his research project was in its final stage and that he would be AFK for a while.

Then, he turned off his phone and locked himself in his tiny apartment…

If it went well, it should not take too long.

If it did not…

Then he would not be leaving his apartment!

…

The design of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was very interesting. The research and the lecture hall were designed together. In the middle of a lecture, people could take a break and eat at the research hall.

Also, the coffee machine was free to use.

Deligne sat in a corner of the restaurant. He was holding a thesis.

Unless it was a particularly interesting thesis, he would not bring it back to his office.

Sitting across Deligne was Edward Witten. Edward asked with a smile, "How come I haven't seen your new PhD student recently?"

Among all of the PhD students at Princeton, Witten respected Lu Zhou the most. Especially after Lu Zhou's mathematical physics talents were put to use at CERN's report, Witten saw himself in Lu Zhou.

Witten always wanted to discuss the 750 GeV characteristic peak with the young man, but unfortunately, he had never had the chance.

Professor Deligne was looking at the thesis when he simply answered, "He took a vacation."

Witten, "Vacation?"

"Yeah," sad Deligne with a nod. He then said, "He's been researching Goldbach's conjecture, so I approved a two-week vacation."

"Goldbach's conjecture…" said Witten. He was slightly surprised. He then said, "This is an interesting conjecture. I thought he was studying the standard conjecture with your research group."

Deligne made a mark on the thesis as he said, "I invited him, but he wasn't interested, so I didn't persist. For a genius like him, it's better to give him freedom than to force him to do anything."

Suddenly, the phone on the table vibrated.

Deligne looked at the text and his eyebrows twitched.

[Dear Professor Deligne, I'm your student, Lu Zhou. Here's the thing, my research has entered a critical stage and I need to retreat for a while. It could take a month, or… I'm not sure. In short, before the end of the year, I will give you a satisfactory explanation.]

Although Edward did not see what was on the phone, he could tell what it was from his old friend's change of expression. He then asked, "Do you think he will succeed?"

Professor Deligne placed down his phone. He was expressionless.

After thinking for a moment, he sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know, I just don't agree with his research method. Retreating isn't a good research method as he could bring himself to a dead end. If he was going to a meeting or conference, I would support him. I could even financially support him. But as of now, from my knowledge, he's been locking himself in his room."

Witten smiled and said, "But you still support his decision?"

'Yeah, I gave him a year," said Deligne. He shrugged and said with a tone of uncertainty, "After all, I may be wrong. His twin prime conjecture discovery at Princeton really surprised me. It even created a type of illusion for me…"

Witten, "Illusion?"

Deligne was silent for a while. He then said, "It's like I saw Grothendieck."

Edward Witten was stunned.

Grothendieck!

Father of modern algebraic geometry, the pope of modern mathematics!

Many people liked to compare young mathematicians to Faltings, or even Jean-Pierre Searle. Very few people compared mathematicians to Grothendieck as it would be too big of an exaggeration.

There was no more than five young mathematicians that could be compared to Grothendieck.

After a while, Witten said slowly, "That is… quite surprising."

Chapter 235: Proving The Conjecture!

The sky shined bright outside the window.

Lu Zhou was sleeping on his desk. He slowly opened his eyes.

He rubbed his sore eyebrows and looked at the calendar on the corner of his table.

It's already May…

Lu Zhou had a slight headache and he shook his head.

Since arriving at Princeton in February, he had spent almost half of his time in this tiny apartment. Other than going for grocery shopping, he basically did not leave the room.

The worse was his $5,000 USD food club membership. He had barely used it.

After receiving the mission, he had been challenging Goldbach's conjecture for almost half a year.

Finally, there was a result.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and stood up.

He was almost at the finish line and he did not have to rush anymore.

Lu Zhou went into the kitchen and made himself a snack. He even took out a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator and poured himself a glass.

He bought this champagne two months ago just for this moment.

Lu Zhou quietly finished his food. He then went to wash his hand before he returned to his desk. He began to put an end to his work.

He started to continue where he left off.

[… Obviously, we have Px(1,1)≥P(x,x^{1/16})-(1/2)∑Px(x,p,x)-Q/2-x^(log4 )...(30)]

[From equation (30), Lemma 8, Lemma 9, Lemma 10, it can be proved that theorem 1 holds.]

The so-called theorem 1 was the mathematical expression of Goldbach's conjecture in his thesis.

That was, given a sufficiently large even number N, there were two prime numbers P1 and P2 that satisfy N = P1 + P2.

Similar theorems were Chen's theorem N = P1 + P2.P3, there were an entire series of theorems about P(a,b).

Of course, although he labeled this as theorem 1 in his thesis, it would not be long before the mathematics community accepted his proof. After that, it could be upgraded to "Lu Zhou's theorem" or something like that.

However, the review process for this type of major conjecture was longer.

Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture took three years to be recognized by the mathematics community. The proof of the conjecture was filled with a lot of "mysterious terms". Therefore, it was difficult for anyone but him to understand the thesis.

The speed at which a major conjecture was reviewed largely depended on the popularity of the conjecture.

When Lu Zhou proved the twin prime conjecture, he did not use a particularly novel theory. He only used the twin prime method mentioned in Zellberg's 1995 thesis. Therefore, people quickly understood his proof.

However, for Polignac's conjecture thesis, the review process took a long time.

Even though Lu Zhou used his already proven Group Structure Method, he made significant modifications and it became very different than the large sieve method. Even for a big name like Deligne, it would take a long time to review.

Lu Zhou wrote fifty pages for the Goldbach's conjecture thesis. Half of which was to discuss the theoretical framework he built for the proof.

This part could be published as a thesis on its own.

To a large extent, his review process depended on other people's interest in his work, and how accepting other people were.

As for how long it would take, it was out of his control.

Actually, Lu Zhou thought about what the system's criteria were for completing the mission.

If he completed the proof, but for decades, no one accepted his work, would he be stuck on this one mission?

What he was most confused about was where the system's large database came from. It must have come from a civilization far more advanced than humans.

Lu Zhou felt like the system would make its own judgment whether or not he proved the conjecture. The system would not rely on "humans".

Lu Zhou's conclusion was that the completion of his mission would depend on two factors.

The first was correctness.

The second was publishing!

Actually, there was a very simple way to verify if his proof was correct.

He did not have to publish in journals…

…

After proving Goldbach's conjecture, Lu Zhou spent an entire three days sorting the thesis onto his computer. He converted it into PDF format and uploaded it onto arXiv.

He was almost certain that his thesis was correct because his habit was to carry out rigorous double checks on each line of conclusion. He would repeatedly scrutinize all possible errors.

As for publishing…

ArXiv did not have a peer-review process, so it was undoubtedly the fastest option!

The only drawback was that it could conflict with submission to other journals. For example, uploading the thesis before the deadline may violate some double submission rules, but Lu Zhou did not care about those things. He also believed that reputable journals would not care either.

After all, Lu Zhou was not some no-name guy. He was the winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory. Plus his thesis was not some random work. It was the famous Goldbach's conjecture, the eighth question of Hilbert 23, which was one of the Millennium Prize Problems!

He would spend the next two days editing and organizing his thesis. After that, he would submit it to [Annual Mathematics].

When Fermat's last theorem was first proved, it took six peer reviewers to check the proof. Lu Zhou did not know how many reviewers he warranted, but it should be no less than four.

Lu Zhou looked at the "upload finish" message on his browser and took a deep breath.

Does this mean I've finished it?

After the publication of his thesis, someone in this field received an alert. Somewhere on this planet, someone was already reading his thesis.

However, Lu Zhou did not know if the system counted this as a successful submission.

Lu Zhou sat in front of the computer and took a deep breath. He then closed his eyes and whispered.

"System."

When he opened his eyes again, he was met with a pure white view.

It had been a long time since he came here. Lu Zhou almost felt uncomfortable.

He walked to the semi-transparent information screen and clicked on the mission panel.

He was going to see if his mission was completed…

He could also verify if his thought process was correct.

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou realized a problem.

If the system did not respond, that either meant that his guess of the system mission evaluation process was wrong or that his thesis was wrong.

The system did not give him time to think.

A notification sound rang.

Then, a line of text appeared.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Chapter 236: A Second

A lot could happen in a second.

While Lu Zhou was laying in bed, immersed in the system space, British mathematician Andrew Granville was browsing arXiv at the University of Montreal which was located thousands of miles away from Princeton.

This was one of the daily habits that he would sometimes do after his morning run or sometimes before going to bed.

Although many professors liked to delegate the work of stalking arXiv's latest research to master's or PhD students, Granville liked to take this matter in his own hands.

Although the papers on arXiv had not been peer-reviewed, many people had come up with new and creative ideas. They were inspirational albeit not perfected.

Granville roughly scanned through a dozen or so theses, he yawned and was about to go to bed.

Suddenly, on his profile, he got a notification from the website. It was from the two categories he followed: analytical number theory and prime numbers.

Granville flinched. His OCD prompted him to open the notification.

Once he read the title of the article, his mouth was wide open.

[Any even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.]

Isn't this Euler's statement of Goldbach's conjecture?

Normally speaking, this type of thesis would be in the "general mathematics" section which would then be blocked by Granville's settings.

Granville did not know why this thesis gave him a notification. He thought that the website must have malfunctioned.

He shook his head and was about to turn off his laptop and go to sleep when he suddenly noticed the name of the author.

Then…

He was stunned.

Lu Zhou?

The winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory?

Solver of Zhou's conjecture, twin prime conjecture, and prime number?

This means that… Did he solve Goldbach's conjecture this year?

WTF?

Granville was instantly awake!

His sleepiness instantly went away and he sat in his chair for half a minute.

Then, he looked at the calendar to confirm that it was not April Fools' Day.

A fifty-page long thesis was normal for a conjecture of this size.

"I can't believe he solved Goldbach's conjecture… No way."

Granville opened the thesis and started reading.

He spent the entire night reading the thesis.

…

On the other side of the Atlantic, in École Normale Supérieure, a lecture on the weak Goldbach's conjecture was going on.

The lecturer was Helfgott.

"… The limit of the circle method is the weak Goldbach's conjecture. We can prove that any odd number greater than 7 can be expressed as the sum of three prime numbers, but it is difficult to generalize it to even numbers… "

"… Of course, my proof is far from perfect. There is a lot of room for improvement. If anyone in the audience is interested in this problem, I recommend you change your mind and research something else."

The lecture came to an end.

Next was the question and answering session.

There were both professors and students from École Normale Supérieure attending this lecture.

After a long time, a young man spoke.

"Professor Helfgott, how long do you think until Goldbach's conjecture is solved?"

Helfgott thought and said, "It depends on whether or not the tools used to solve the conjecture exists or not. In fact, I hope it is never solved. Look at what we have received? In order to solve this conjecture, we invented the sieve method, circle method… There is much more to be gained researching this problem."

The lecture ended.

The crowd erupted in applause and Professor Helfgott left the lecture hall.

He did not stay there for long. Instead, he carried his briefcase and walked toward his office.

When he opened the door and before he could sit down, his student walked over with a horrified look.

"Professor! I saw a proof of Goldbach's conjecture on arXiv!"

Helfgott placed his briefcase on the table and did not change his expression as he said calmly, "Amos, I've told you, you have to be more careful when reading theses on arXiv. There's only one Perelman. You should look at some classic publications that I've given you, not ones that haven't been peer-reviewed."

Mathematics was different than computer science. For computer science, two months could be a century. Therefore, many people liked to first publish before they prove. Hence, they used arXiv frequently.

However, for mathematics, publishing without peer review meant nothing.

Amos had a helpless expression. He knew that his boss did not like arXiv but he still tried to explain, "But Professor, this thesis was written by the winner of Cole Prize in Number Theory! Surely his paper is legit."

Helfgott froze and he had a surprised expression.

Not because of the Cole Prize award because he had met many people that had won the Cole Prize. It was because he knew who won the Cole Prize in Number Theory last year. He was there at Berkeley and the young Chinese man left a good impression on him.

Just what…

Why would he submit such a major conjecture on arXiv?

Helfgott changed his attitude. He felt that he should treat this thesis with caution. He could not ignore such a major discovery due to prejudice against arXiv.

He took out his glasses from his pocket and said, "Bring me the thesis."

"Okay, professor!"

Amos went to the computer with enthusiasm and printed the thesis.

The printer quickly printed fifty warm pages which were then delivered to Helfgott.

Professor Helfgott adjusted his glasses and took out a pen as he started to read the thesis line by line.

Time slowly passed by…

Amos waited for a long time.

Finally, he was a little anxious and he could not help but ask, "Professor, is he correct?"

"I don't know…," said Professor Helfgott as he shook his head. He then placed the pen down as he said, "… But I haven't found a mistake yet."

It was impossible to verify a major conjecture in a short amount of time. Helfgott needed time and friends that were in this field.

Helfgott leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as he started to think.

After five minutes, he opened his eyes and said to Amos.

"… He used a brand new method, I can see signs of the sieve method, and residual of the circle method… Of course, the most interesting part is the introduction of his own theoretical framework. I have seen similar ideas in Zellberg's thesis. As for whether or not his proof is correct, I can't make a decision yet. I need someone else's opinion…"

Chapter 237: Level 5 Mathematics!

As Lu Zhou expected, the system did not care about "humans" evaluation of his thesis. The system made its own evaluation.

Correctness and publication. Since these two criteria were met, the mission was considered complete.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission!

[Mission completion details is as follows: Successfully solve Goldbach's conjecture.

[Mission final evaluation: S+

[Mission rewards: 200k mathematics experience points! 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (50% garbage, 30% sample, 20% blueprint)]

200k mathematics experience points!

Double Polignac's conjecture!

When Lu Zhou saw this number, he took in a deep breath before he felt ecstasy.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

[

A. Mathematics: Level 5 (54,000/300,000)

B. Physics: Level 3 (53,100/100,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 1 (4,000/10,000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10,000)

E. Materials science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 2,475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

As he leveled up his disciplines, it meant that he would be able to unlock more of the information in the system's database and that his understanding of the disciplines would further be strengthened.

Without him knowing it, he was already halfway from the maximum mathematics level.

As his mathematics level increased, the level limit of his other subjects also increased.

Perhaps it was time to upgrade other subjects?

Lu Zhou put these problems aside. He intended to look at the reward mission before he made a decision. Otherwise, if the system gave him another conjecture mission, he would not be able to tackle other subjects even if he wanted to.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and clicked on the lucky draw icon.

The exciting lucky draw session came next.

The wheel started to spin.

Lu Zhou ordered the wheel to stop and it gradually came to a stop.

[Congratulations, user, a sample is given!

[Acquired: Brainwave Sampler (one time use) (Description:…)]

Lu Zhou read the message and was stunned.

He was a little disappointed that he did not get the blueprint.

However, when he saw the sample, his disappointment was replaced by surprise.

In his inventory, a pen-shaped thing appeared.

Obviously, this pen was not for writing.

It could be used to record voices from the brain!

Lu Zhou carefully read the description. According to the system, this "recording pen" could be used to acquire certain brain wave signals from someone. It had a maximum range of three meters and could block out unwanted signals.

The acquired brainwave signals would be then analyzed by special software to figure out what the target had in their brain.

Most of the result was memory fragments.

These memory fragments would then be transformed into audio, image, and text files.

In a sense, this device was a mind reader.

With some suggestive techniques, the subject could be subconsciously manipulated into a certain memory. In theory, he could steal any secrets from a person's brain…

Lu Zhou's palms started to sweat.

This is what future technology is like?

Lu Zhou guessed that in a society with this technology, it would be heavily governed by laws and regulations. Like the ban on guns, brain scanning technology would be prohibited.

For example, this thing might be restricted to only medical use or for licensed medical professionals only. With some suggestive guidance, patients with memory loss could restore their memory.

Or it could be used by spy agencies…

That possibility seemed scary.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the information screen for a long time as he did not know what to use it for.

Maybe he could steal a billionaire's bank account? Lu Zhou would not do anything illegal though.

Maybe he could listen to other people's secrets? However, he was not interested in other people.

Lu Zhou finally decided to close the inventory tab. He had decided to keep it just in case of a rainy day.

In fact, he wished that he would never have to use this thing.

Even if it was only for one-time use.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission panel.

Due to the difficulty of Goldbach's conjecture, the system gave him an S+ evaluation.

Therefore, his next mission would be a reward mission which was a relatively easier mission.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and prayed before he opened the mission panel.

[

[Reward mission is activated! (Give up at any time without spending general points)

Description: Mathematics is the foundation of the sciences, but it is not all of science. User has reached level five mathematics, why not try other areas?

Requirements: Publish any thesis in a journal or conference. The reward will be based on the content value. (User can choose any thesis for mission completion).

Reward: 1~??? subject experience points. (Mathematics experience points consist of a 0.5 ratio penalty, other subjects consist of a 1.25 ratio bonus).

]

When Lu Zhou looked at the mission, he was stunned.

He was just thinking if he should develop in other areas and this mission came along.

Maybe this was God's plan?

…

Lu Zhou spent three days editing and cleaning up his thesis. He then submitted it to [Annual Mathematics].

Of course, it was not for the mission.

According to the mission, he could choose any thesis that he wanted for mission completion.

On the fourth day, Lu Zhou woke up early.

He walked outside and bumped into Molina who was going on her morning run.

When Molina saw Lu Zhou walking out of his apartment, she was stunned.

"How… How long has it been since you went outside?"

"A month… Why?"

I bought groceries last month. Does that count as going outside?

Molina shook her head and asked, "Is there any progress in your project?"

Lu Zhou, "I solved it. I just uploaded it on arXiv."

"Oh, solved… What?!" Molina looked like she saw a ghost as she stared at Lu Zhou with her big blue eyes. She then said, "You solved it? Wait a minute, it's already May, April Fools' Day was a long time ago…"

Lu Zhou looked at Molina's astonished face and smiled as he said, "Trust me, it's not an April Fools' joke. It's not even the same date. If you don't believe me, you can check on arXiv yourself."

Not everyone kept up to date with Goldbach's conjecture research. Furthermore, the thesis had only been online for three days, so it was not that unusual that Molina had not seen it. After all, this was unlike your friends' news feed. Most people only paid attention to their own field of research.

Molina stared at Lu Zhou and she saw that Lu Zhou was not joking. She then took a deep breath and digested this new information.

Goldbach's conjecture.

Although she was not in this field, she was well aware of the status of this conjecture in number theory.

If what he said was true, then there is no doubt he will become the youngest professor at Princeton…

She took a deep breath and asked, "What plans do you have now?"

Lu Zhou looked outside the apartment and yawned before he said, "Plans? I'm going to eat breakfast."

Molina: "…"

Chapter 238: Came For You

Higher mathematics institute, 11:30 am.

At the moment, Deligne was checking his email. He was about to choose interesting papers from the Annual Mathematics and Mathematics Chronicle to review during his lunch break.

He briefly scanned through the thesis titles when suddenly, he froze.

[Any even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.]

Goldbach's conjecture?

Deligne squinted his eyes as he opened the email and looked at the abstract.

Although Annual Mathematics had a double-blind review rule, it was well known that this rule was not strictly enforced.

For example, some people liked to submit to arXiv before the peer review. One could guess the identity of the author from the abstract grammar style and wording.

Without a question, this thesis was Lu Zhou's. After all, it was not Deligne's first time reviewing Lu Zhou's thesis.

As Deligne continued to read the thesis, he started to frown.

Suddenly, he looked up at his PhD student and said, "Smith, go to the restaurant later and bring me a bacon sandwich and a coffee."

Smith stretched and stood up before he said, "Okay, professor… Eating in the office today?"

"Yes," said Deligne. He turned on the printer and took out his glasses from his pocket before he said, "There's an interesting thesis waiting for me."

…

It had been five days but Lu Zhou did not hear any news. It was almost as if his thesis was tossed into the water.

However, on the sixth day, he received an unexpected call.

It was from Qiu Chengtong.

Professor Qiu only said one thing, "You proved it?!"

When Lu Zhou heard his question, he nodded and answered, "If you're talking about Goldbach's conjecture… Then yeah, I proved it."

The other end of the telephone went silent.

Qiu Chengtong was shocked. He did not know what to say.

He had seen many talented young mathematicians like Tao Zhexuan, who taught in California, or Yunzhi, who taught at Yale… They had all made outstanding research results in their respective fields.

However, Lu Zhou was undoubtedly the most eye-catching one and the one that surprised him the most.

Back then, he only wanted to nudge Lu Zhou in the direction of Goldbach's conjecture. He had not expected Lu Zhou to solve it.

After all, both the circle method and sieve method were exhausted. Even though Lu Zhou had experience researching prime numbers, it was almost impossible to solve this conjecture in such a short amount of time.

Lu Zhou's performance completely went beyond his expectations.

Qiu Chengtong took a deep breath and asked with a serious tone, "How confident are you?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he answered, "Above 90%."

He actually wanted to say 100% since the system approved his thesis. However, he wanted to be more modest as the review could give him a hard time. He was 100% confident that it was correct, but he was not 100% confident that it would be accepted and approved by the community.

When Professor Qiu heard Lu Zhou's reply, he nodded.

His research focus on partial differential equations and differential geometry, and even a little mathematical physics. However, he was not in the field of number theory, so he could not objectively evaluate Lu Zhou's thesis.

However if Lu Zhou said he was 90% confident, that meant that the thesis had no problems.

Professor Qiu paused for a moment before he said with emotion, "The death of Hua Luogeng devastated the entire Hua Luogeng School. The two mountains also suppressed the community. Honestly, I didn't expect you to solve Goldbach's conjecture. I wanted you to just challenge it as studying Goldbach's conjecture would definitely help your understanding of prime numbers. Even if you couldn't solve the problem, it could give you useful knowledge and experience… But now it seems that I underestimated you."

The Hua Luogeng School was an internationally renowned "Analytic Number Theory School", also known as Shuimu School.

Lu Zhou knew of Professor Qiu's trouble with Yan University, so he could probably guess what he meant by the two mountains.

However, he did not want to participate in this conversation, so he only smiled and did not respond.

Professor Qiu smiled and said, "Once you graduated, would you be interested in becoming a professor at Shuimu?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment. He then smiled and said, "I'll probably become a professor at Princeton for two years. As for after returning to China, I already promised that I'll return to my school."

Qiu Chengtong did not say much. Instead, he nodded and said, "Okay then, the University of Jin Ling is good. Academic needs collision and sublimation of thinking as it is a blooming process. The University of Jin Ling is a good place and it's within the academic circle. It's good that you want to pursue academia there."

Going to Shuimu was equivalent to going against Yan University, and Professor Qiu was aware of this.

If Lu Zhou was only an average scholar, he would definitely try his best to convince Lu Zhou to come to Shuimu, to fight the mountains.

However, Professor Qiu could not bear to watch Lu Zhou's talents wasted on things outside of academia.

At least between 20 and 40 years old, Lu Zhou's talents should be on academia, and not the academic circle.

The two chatted for a bit before they ended the call.

However, just as Lu Zhou was about to eat dinner, he received another phone call.

This time it was his supervisor, Professor Deligne.

…

Lu Zhou came to the Institute for Advanced Study because of Deligne's phone call.

Since taking a vacation, he had not been here in two months. He nearly got lost when he entered through the side door.

Lu Zhou finally found Deligne's office and knocked.

When Deligne saw Lu Zhou, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows.

"I've already read your thesis… Honestly, Goldbach's conjecture is beyond my field of study. My own opinions can't decide anything on a major conjecture like this. Furthermore, I'm your supervisor."

Lu Zhou understood what Professor Deligne meant.

After all, Goldbach's conjecture was not like Polignac's conjecture or the twin prime conjecture. Even though it was less significant than Fermat's last theorem, it still deserved to be taken seriously by the entire number theory community.

Lu Zhou asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Deligne said, "I'll arrange a one hour report with the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. You'll have to prepare a PowerPoint and speech. I can arrange for someone to help you with the presentation. Also, you have to tell me when you're free."

Lu Zhou asked, "I'm always free. The thing is… Is there an academic conference in the near future?"

He had been paying attention to academic conferences. If he recalled correctly, there were no major conferences planned in May.

"Nope, but that doesn't matter," said Professor Deligne. He paused for a second before he said, "Your research result is good enough for other scholars to make a special trip to Princeton."

Professor Deligne spoke concisely.

If there were no academic conferences, he could just schedule one.

Chapter 239: Lively Town of Princeton

It had been a week since Lu Zhou posted on arXiv. Most people who paid attention to Goldbach's conjecture had heard the news.

As for the fifty-page essay, some people said that the "Group Structure Method" was unbelievable. Some people dismissed the thesis because they could not understand it at all. The proof process was no piece of cake.

Except for those "exceptionally gifted" folks, most people that researched Goldbach's conjecture knew less than two methods.

For example, those who were proficient in the large sieve method were not proficient in the circle method. Apart from the mainstream choices, there was also the secret rate method and the triangle summation method which was even less popular.

In Lu Zhou's theory, there were residual signs of the circle method, sieve method, and even group theory. His scope of proof was unusually broad.

As such, most people could not even understand the paper, much less reviewed it.

Of course, the number theory community was quite optimistic. After all, Lu Zhou was a winner of the Cole Prize in Number Theory, and he had solved many number theory problems in the past.

Due to many professors mentioning this matter in class, the discussion spread from the academic circle to online.

It was not just scholars who were discussing this matter, but all university mathematics majors were talking about this thesis.

The discussion began on an online Fields Medal forum.

[Ok! I know that he solved the twin prime conjecture and Polignac's conjecture, but in class, my professor told us that Goldbach's conjecture is on a completely different level. It's like the minor leagues compared to the Super Bowl. To put it bluntly, I don't think his thesis is correct. There must be a problem somewhere. It will probably be discovered in the near future.]

[Who is your professor?]

[James Maynard! 2014 SASTRA Ramanujan Gold Award winner! 2018 Fields Medal candidate! I think his opinion is quite trustworthy.]

[Oh, Maynard, I've heard of him before, the British who studied prime spacing? I heard that after Zhang Yitang calculated 70 million, he's been challenging the twin prime conjecture. Now Lu Zhou solved the conjecture instead, is he pissed off?]

[Haha!]

[I disagree with you, my professor's evaluation of this thesis is high. He believes that the Group Structure Method will become a promising analytical tool for analytic number theory.]

[Oh? Who is your professor? To be honest, in the field of number theory, especially prime numbers, not everyone has the ability to understand and review the thesis.]

[Tao Zhexuan.]

[…]

…

There was no peer review on Arxiv, so the correctness of the thesis was yet to be determined. It would be a matter of time before the public would know if this mathematics problem was solved correctly.

However, most people knew that the mathematics community would not take too long to verify this research.

The second week after Lu Zhou uploaded the thesis, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study announced a message on their website.

Next Monday, Lu Zhou would make a one-hour speech on the Goldbach's conjecture at Lecture Hall 1 of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Since this announcement came out, all of the arguments about the correctness of the thesis turned into the discussion about the report itself.

Many people were still skeptical. Mostly because they could not understand the Group Structure Method, and that Arxiv did not have a peer-review process. However, if there was a report at a prestigious place like the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, many unsolved questions regarding the thesis would be answered.

Due to this, Lu Zhou had been preparing for this speech seriously. He did not want to take this lightly just because the system recognized his work.

The key to a mathematics conjecture being proved was logical self-consistency. It also depended on if it was recognized by peers. As the prover of this conjecture, Lu Zhou had to explain his own theory and answer and to remove all doubts.

Lu Zhou did not care to let go of a single tiny detail as very often, many traps were hidden in "trivial" matters.

Even Wiles was stuck on tiny details when proving Fermat's last theorem, and this delayed his thesis by an entire year. If it was not for his friends' encouragement, he would have admitted defeat long ago.

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

He finally realized how useful it was to have a student working for him.

Lu Zhou could just ask the student to look over his report content. He would then asked the student to circle areas where they did not understand. Through this method, he would know which areas his peers found difficult.

Unfortunately, even though Professor Deligne gave him a PhD student for help, the PhD student did not help him on the theoretical aspects, only the PowerPoint slides.

Although Lu Zhou wanted to ask him which part of the thesis he did not understand, he would be completely confused as the thesis was completely incomprehensible to him.

This was due to the fact that the PhD student's research direction was algebraic geometry. As such, he was not well-versed in the circle method or sieve method at all.

…

Time slowly passed by, and it was finally the report presentation day.

A crowd of mathematicians came to Princeton bringing with them their excitement and liveliness.

Princeton was quite attentive to the reception of mathematicians from all over the world.

The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study arranged for all of the mathematicians who participated in the conference to stay at the Princeton Hotel opposite Palmer Square.

Also, Princeton had not only arranged a conference during the day, but there was also a celebration party full of food at night.

However, Lu Zhou did not have time to think about these things. For him, every second before the report was valuable.

The next afternoon, at Lecture Hall 1 of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

In addition to scholars who were invited to this conference, there were also unsolicited students. Some of them came with their supervisors, some were studying at Princeton, others even came all the way from Philadelphia or New York.

They did not know the specific time of the conference, so they got here in the early morning to reserve a spot.

For those people that arrived late, they simply sat on the aisles between the seats. Some people even sat outside in the corridor, with the news reporters.

The report was going to start at 2 pm and it would end at 3 pm. However, it might be extended depending on the number of questions asked.

The success of Lu Zhou's thesis depended on his abilities to explain the Group Structure Method.

Lu Zhou sat in the backstage of the lecture hall. He looked at the time on his phone before he took a deep breath.

There were five minutes left.

This was the tenth time he looked at the time on his phone.

He could not count how many times he took a deep breath.

Prior to this, Lu Zhou was informed by Professor Deligne on the number of people attending the conference.

There were more than 150 well-known scholars invited to this event. Some were from Paris, Germany, and China. He even knew some of the people coming.

In addition to the mathematics community, there were also media reporters from all over the world who were attending as well.

Soon, he would be standing in the spotlight of the world while drawing a picture of a century-old problem.

A staff member of the Institute for Advanced Study walked into the preparation room and he asked Lu Zhou respectfully, "Mr. Lu, it's about time. Are you ready?"

Lu Zhou did not answer.

He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror before he reached out and adjusted his tie.

He took one final deep breath and smiled at himself in the mirror.

"I'm ready."

Chapter 240: I Was Never Worried

At exactly 2 o'clock, Lu Zhou walked onto the stage in a suit and a pair of dress shoes. The lecture hall immediately quieted down.

Everyone was tacit and pairs of eyes were locked on the person standing on the podium. They were either doubting, expecting, or remained expressionless.

If it was anyone else, they would sh*t their pants just standing in front of all these big names in mathematics.

However, Lu Zhou was calm and collected. He did not feel the pressure at all.

He had already mentally prepared himself off-stage.

Plus, it was not his first time doing a report.

"Thank you for coming to Princeton from all over the world to listen to my report on Goldbach's conjecture."

Lu Zhou thanked the audience for coming. He then started to describe the reporting process.

"My presentation will be divided into two parts. One part is on the Group Structure Method that I used to prove Goldbach's conjecture, and the other part is on the proof of Goldbach's conjecture."

"I'm guessing that everyone has read the thesis already. I'll keep my explanation of the thesis brief, and explain the cumbersome steps in the PowerPoint. I'll focus on ideas and steps in my explanation."

"Also, I will try to leave as much time as possible for the questions and answers session."

Pre-reading the thesis before the report was common practice in the academic community. If someone asked a question that was explained in the thesis, it would be considered extremely rude.

Obviously, this would not happen with an audience like this.

Similarly, the parts of the thesis that was explained clearly would not be explained again on the PowerPoint. Everyone's time was precious, and they did not come to Princeton to watch slides.

After the opening remarks, Lu Zhou went straight into the topic.

"The so-called "Group Structure Method" is the abbreviation of "The Whole Structure Research Method Of Group Theory". The core idea is to use the concept of a cyclic group to study the problem of infinity from the whole. Based on integer modulus, a p multiplication group is always a cyclic group. This theorem…"

Lu Zhou pointed at the slides with his laser pointer.

[… there is a limit group G and |G|=p1α1p2α2···piαi, where pi is a prime number and αi is a positive integer. Let p∈π(G), define deg(p)=|{q∈π(G)|p~q).]

[The number of times deg(p) is the vertex p. Redefine C(G)=…]

Compared to the latter half of Goldbach's conjecture's proof, the Goldbach's conjecture explanation was more crucial. As long as the audience understood the Group Structure Method, they could figure out how Lu Zhou solved Goldbach's conjecture.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was extra meticulous when explaining. He tried to make every point as clear as possible.

The people in the crowd, whether it was invited scholars or unsolicited students, they were all listening intently.

Especially James Maynard. He sat in the middle of the venue and listened carefully.

He was also a leader in the field of analytical number theory in the United Kingdom. He was one of the hottest candidates for the Fields Medal, and he had originally intended to use the twin prime number problem to win the 18-year Fields Prize, but his glory was snatched by Lu Zhou.

One of the main reasons he came over from the UK was to create problems for his opponent.

However…

The more he watched, the more intrigued he was.

The logic of the Chinese scholar had reached an impenetrable level. In fact, he even wanted to cheer for him.

Sitting next to him was his PhD student, also an English bloke named Evan.

Evan looked at the lines of text on stage, and he started to feel lost.

Finally, he could not help but ask quietly.

"Professor, what exactly is the Group Structure Method?"

Maynard stared at the PowerPoint. He was extremely still.

He did not want to answer.

He did not want to miss any crucial details and get distracted. He was also afraid that he would not be able to convey the beauty of the Group Structure Method accurately. Just yesterday, he was talking trash about this fifty-page thesis on his blog, and how he was going to expose this Chinese person during the report at Princeton.

Even though he did not want to admit it, the skill gap between him and Lu Zhou was astronomical.

It did not matter whether or not he wanted to admit it because that was how mathematics was.

On the other side, in the back row of the lecture hall, two old people sat in the corner in a low-key manner as they watched the report and whispered to each other.

"I only left for a few years. I didn't expect Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was able to produce another talent," said Andrew Wiles while he looked at the young man on stage. He then nodded and said, "Not bad, it reminds me of myself."

Since Andrew Wiles returned to Oxford in 2011, he rarely returned to Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Princeton gave the role of head of mathematics to another genius: Charles Fefferman.

Andrew was talking about twenty years ago when the Newton Institute hosted the most important mathematics conference of the century. Only a quarter of the audience understood what was going on.

As for the remaining three quarters, they witnessed history.

It was the same now.

Although Goldbach's conjecture was more like an IQ test than the widely applicable Fermat's last theorem, this IQ test was one of Hilbert's questions. It had a significant status in the field of number theory.

Solving it would not change the world, but the tools created when solving this problem were valuable to the entire mathematics community.

Without a doubt, everyone in the audience was witnessing history.

"Oh," Deligne's mouth twitched with a smile. He said, "Who was it that wanted to apologize to the New York Times, and return the open champagne?"

Wiles coughed and said, "A person can only become inspired in a moment of desperation. I was only pushing myself… In the end, I succeeded."

Deligne said, "Didn't you say it was for the art last time?"

"Fine, my good friend, let's change the topic," said Wiles. He looked at the content on the stage and asked, "I don't really understand Goldbach's conjecture. In your opinion, does his thesis count as proof?"

Deligne, "You should ask Iwaniec and Faltings this question. They are truly experts in analytic number theory. I'm only involved in the prime number problem. Of course, after reading his thesis, I'm quite optimistic."

If he was not optimistic, he would not have arranged this report.

Wiles asked in surprise, "Faltings is here?"

"Not only is he here," said Deligne. He paused for a moment before saying, "He didn't want to miss it…"

Suddenly, the audience gasped.

Gasped in astonishment.

Their gasp also contained praise.

Deligne and Wiles stopped talking and looked up.

After a while, Wiles smiled and said, "It seems that our worries were redundant."

Deligne looked at the equations on stage and finally gave him a gratifying smile.

"I was never worried."

Chapter 241: Victory Champagne

Whenever a new set of theories emerged, people in that field of research would often doubt the theory. After the suspicion passed, acceptance and appreciation would follow.

Lu Zhou looked at the reaction of the audience and knew that he was halfway to success.

He was confident that at least half of the audience understood his Group Structure Method.

As for the other half, they did not matter.

He only needed a quarter of the people and the thesis reviewers to understand. That was the purpose of this report.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and turned the pages on the PowerPoint slides.

Next was the Goldbach's conjecture proof.

At this point, he was a lot more relaxed.

After one created the tool, fulfilling its mission was a piece of cake.

He only had to do one thing.

Under the gaze of the audience, Lu Zhou pointed the laser on the slide.

[Let N denote a sufficiently large even number, and let Px(1,1) be the number of primes p satisfying N=p1+p2. Life Cn={∏p|x,p2}(p-1)/(p-2){∏p2}(1-1/(p-1)^2), and there is a limit group G=…]

[…]

The atmosphere and tension of the lecture hall were at its peak.

When the Group Structure Method was incorporated into Goldbach's conjecture, every listener held their breath in fear of missing a single detail.

Maynard stared at the stage. His pupils were dilated as he murmured to himself.

"Bombieri theorem! It turns out… He really did it, it's incredible."

With Lu Zhou's finishing touches, all of the steps were clear.

It was like Lu Zhou had removed the curtains and unveiled everything to him.

As an expert in prime numbers, he felt the most profound.

Although, this was not what he had expected.

Evan, who sat next to him, was muddled.

This UK bloke gave up on trying to understand the Group Structure Method, and he quietly waited for the final result.

He heard his supervisor said that it was probably correct.

Evan could not help but look awkward.

A few days ago, he took his supervisor's blog post around and swore to people that this report was a joke.

Now? The joke was on him.

On the other side of the lecture hall, Helfgott sat still. He closed the notebook in his hand and had a face of approval.

Before he arrived at the hall, he had already read Lu Zhou's thesis more than a dozen times. He even wrote down his questions in a notebook and was planning on asking the questions during the questions and answers session.

However, it seemed that his notebook would not come in handy.

The reason was that his questions were already answered in Lu Zhou's presentation.

It was not just Helfgott who got the answers he wanted, but Lu Zhou who stood on stage also got his answers.

Lu Zhou felt a sense of affirmation from his peers.

Finally, he arrived at the last step.

[… Obviously, we have Px(1,1)≥P(x,x^{1/16})-(1/2)∑Px(x,p,x)-Q/2-x^(log4 )...(30)]

[From the equation (30), Lemma 8, Lemma 9, Lemma 10, it can be proved that theorem 1 holds.]

[Proof complete.]

This was the last page of the PowerPoint. Everyone in the lecture hall froze.

This silence was broken by Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou had been speaking for 40 minutes. He cleared his throat and said with a raspy voice, "The proof of Goldbach's conjecture is over. I think that I have proved this proposition."

The audience had been waiting for this.

The world had been waiting for this.

The letter from Moscow to Berlin was in 1742, two and a half centuries ago.

After countless efforts spanning through generations, Lu Zhou finally placed down the last brick on this conjecture building.

The mathematics community received the final puzzle piece.

The second he finished talking, the lecture hall was filled with applause.

The applause continued for a long time…

…

To Lu Zhou's surprise, he thought that the real challenge was going to be the Q&A session, but the Q&A session was actually very easy.

A few big names in number theory asked some simple questions and sat back down. Lu Zhou thought that he would have to extend the Q&A session, but he finished on time.

After the report finished, the dean of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study took a bottle of champagne and gave Lu Zhou a warm hug on stage.

This mathematical physicist was famous for his string theory as he won the Dirac Medal, the highest honor in the field of mathematical physics.

"Congratulations, Dr. Lu Zhou," said Goddard as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He smiled and stuffed the bottle of champagne in his arms, "Take this, this trophy of champagne belongs to you!"

Lu Zhou took the bottle of champagne and smiled as he said humbly, "Isn't there a peer review?"

Lu Zhou felt that it was a bit early to pop the champagne.

However, Goddard did not think so. He smiled and said, "Of course, Annual Mathematics will still organize a six people jury to independently review your thesis. However, popping champagne is Princeton's report tradition. This is Princeton's gift to you, so you can think of it as a type of pressure."

Actually, this was Oxford and Cambridge's tradition. However, Princeton was one of the few Oxford-style universities in America, and Goddard was a Cambridge graduate, so it was not ridiculous to call it a tradition.

The review process of a world-class mathematics problem could take a long time. This depended on the complexity of the proof process and the prover's own articulation of their proof.

During this period, Lu Zhou must answer all questions coming from the juries.

Therefore, this bottle of champagne was not just a celebration, but it was also a spur of encouragement for Lu Zhou to run the finish line.

If he gave up, he still had to return the bottle of champagne.

Although the champagne did not worth much, no one wanted to do this.

Lu Zhou took the champagne in his hand and felt the pressure.

Goddard encouraged him with a smile and patted his shoulder as he said, "Open it, this glory belongs to you!"

With the encouragement from the dean, Lu Zhou no longer hesitated.

A winner should not be overly cautious as the chances of the thesis being rejected were less than one in a million.

Not to mention, his proof process had already been affirmed by the "system".

He believed that he could answer all of the questions asked by the juries.

Right now, he had to be more confident in his own research. He had to let his parents, schools, Princeton, and even country, to be proud of his glory.

Foam sprouted out of the bottle of champagne and the people sitting in the front row even got a little wet. However, no one complained. Instead, they were all laughing.

The people at the back were jealous as they wanted to get soaked as well.

The two reporters standing on both sides of the lecture hall used their cameras to capture the moment of victory.

Maybe tomorrow, the photo of Lu Zhou holding the bottle of champagne would be on the cover of Times Magazine, just like Wiles was.

However, right now, Lu Zhou did not want to think about those useless things.

He swore that this bottle of champagne was the best drink he has ever tasted.

The taste was extraordinarily sweet, creamy.

It was intoxicating…

Chapter 242: Unexpected Surprises

A peer review of a major conjecture often would not enforce the double-blind principle. This was because there were not that many people in the field, and many of the juries had to ask Lu Zhou questions.

As soon as the report was over, Lu Zhou received the list of reviewers from [Annual Mathematics].

"… Your thesis will be openly and independently judged by Faltings, Helfgott, Iwaniec, etc. Enjoy the party tonight, you'll start to get busy from tomorrow," said Evans with a smile.

Faltings! Iwaniec!

When Lu Zhou saw this list of names, he had a headache.

It was understandable that Helfgott would appear on the list. After all, he was also researching Goldbach's conjecture. Helfgott was the number one researcher in the world in the circle method. He was like Chen Jingrun with the large sieve method.

However, Faltings was in algebraic geometry, so why was he here?

Although Lu Zhou did use algebraic geometry, he did not use it often.

Lu Zhou took the name list and said, "I hope these masters will be merciful."

"Merciful? Impossible! This is one of the crowns in analytic number theory," said Evans with a smile. He patted Lu Zhou's arm and said, "Professor Saneck of the Institute of Advanced Studies is quite optimistic about your thesis. So, be more confident in yourself. I believe in you, come on!"

Although Saneck was not as strong as Faltings or Iwaniec, he was still well-versed in the field of number theory.

However, due to conflicts of interest, this name list only contained one researcher from the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study and that researcher was not Peter Saneck. Two researchers from École Normale Supérieure were also on that line.

Actually, Evans was wrong.

It was not from tomorrow. The moment his report ended, Lu Zhou had already begun to get busy.

When he left the lecture hall, he was ambushed by the reporters.

"Mr. Lu Zhou, I'm from Princeton Daily. Can I ask if you'll be teaching at Princeton? Will you return to China?"

Lu Zhou, "Of course, China is my home. I'll always go back. At the same time, I really enjoy Princeton's academic environment. This is a good place to do an academic exchange. If Princeton wants to offer me a teaching position, I'll gladly accept it."

"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, I'm a reporter from the Daily Mail. How do you feel about your report today?"

"I was nervous and excited… Therefore, right now I need to rest, and I really do. You guys can interview my supervisor, Professor Deligne. He has been a huge help. He knows my research very well…"

The reporters gave Lu Zhou a hard time with these technical questions while Lu Zhou tried to escape.

However, he did not know that this was just the beginning.

In the evening, at the banquet at Princeton Hotel, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study held a dinner party for scholars to meet each other. In reality, this dinner party was just for Lu Zhou.

Other than the Poincaré conjecture and ABC conjecture, the Goldbach's conjecture was one of the most important academic achievements in recent times. Furthermore, this achievement was in the field of number theory.

When Lu Zhou arrived in the ballroom of the Princeton Hotel, he immediately became the spotlight of the party.

Although he tried to avoid the crowd by going to get food, people would not let him go, and they kept trying to talk to him.

After Lu Zhou grabbed a piece of steak and placed it on his plate, he saw a middle-aged man in a suit walking over with a glass of champagne.

"Hello, I'm John Morgan, the head of mathematics at Columbia University."

"I'm Lu Zhou, nice to meet you," said Lu Zhou. He nodded his head and politely shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too. Your research results were quite amazing. Honestly, I have never seen a young mathematician at your level."

Morgan was a very socially intelligent guy, and his praise almost made Lu Zhou embarrassed.

The two started to chat, and soon after, Morgan started to talk about Columbia University.

"… Columbia University has many outstanding Chinese mathematicians. Like Zhang Wei and Zhang Waowu, they're very good scholars. You will be able to communicate with many excellent Chinese students at Columbia. It's definitely the most accepting place toward Chinese students in America. If you want, we can give you a teaching offer."

Professor Morgan cut straight to the point.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. He wanted to say something like, "I'll consider your offer", but Professor Deligne interrupted.

"Those things you said, Princeton can provide them as well."

Morgan froze. He then looked over and had a weird smile.

"… Deligne? Oh, my friend, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Nice to see you too, Professor Morgan," said Deligne. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, "I was planning to wait until tomorrow, but since the opportunity is here, I want to announce something."

When the people nearby heard this exchange, they stopped talking and listened carefully.

Deligne stared at Lu Zhou and spoke with a formal tone.

"Lu Zhou."

Lu Zhou felt a sense of seriousness. He subconsciously stood up straighter and put on formal expression.

Deligne looked at his student and nodded as he said, "Given the results that you have achieved during your PhD, you have proven your academic ability. After discussing with Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, we decided to grant you your PhD."

The crowd around Professor Deligne started to applaud.

A few younger students even whistled.

There were both Chinese students and Princeton students from the Ivy Club. They were worshiping this god from the bottom of their heart.

A PhD was nothing special.

Getting a PhD in three months, however, would undoubtedly be written in Princeton's school history, or maybe even in world history.

However, Professor Deligne had not finished speaking. It was clear that he had more to say.

After the crowd quieted down, he spoke with a calm voice.

"At the same time, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study decided to offer you a faculty position at the Princeton Institute. This is because of the series of major breakthroughs you have made in the field of prime numbers."

Professor Deligne looked at Lu Zhou with approval.

"The offer will be sent to you along with your degree certificate. Of course, whether or not you will accept that offer, is entirely up to you."

The few old professors were not surprised. However, those who were younger held their breath.

Maybe some people thought that the title of a professor was nothing special.

However, this was the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, the world center of mathematics!

In addition, Lu Zhou was only 21 years old…

Jealousy almost turned into resentment…

Morgan stopped speaking. Instead, he shrugged and had a hopeless expression.

Columbia University was no match for Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Even if Morgan offered the position of head of the department, Lu Zhou might not even accept.

Lu Zhou was stunned by this question.

He took a deep breath.

"… What is the offer?"

Professor Deligne spoke in a tone that implied redundancy.

"Of course it is for a full professorship, what else could it be?"

Chapter 243: Princeton's Youngest Professor

Lu Zhou did not expect that Professor Deligne would give him this big of a surprise at the dinner party.

He originally planned to get his PhD before the end of the year, but now it seemed that his plan was too slow. Annual Mathematics had not even published his thesis, and Princeton already awarded him his PhD and an offer for the position of a professor…

As Lu Zhou thought about it carefully, he understood Princeton's decision.

Even if he did not solve Goldbach's conjecture, his Group Structure Method was an excellent theoretical tool in the field of number theory.

Many university mathematics textbooks had made plans to incorporate it.

Lu Zhou could not help but think.

If his name was going to be in history, why did he not choose a better sounding name for his method?

Group Structure Method just did not sound cool…

If he called it something like the "Cosmic Theory", it would be way better.

After Lu Zhou finished his graduation procedure, he took a photo of his degree certificate and doctor's hat and posted it on Weibo.

His Weibo blew up again.

However, this time it blew up beyond his expectations.

[F*ck, a PhD should take 9 years, why do you get to do it in 3 months?]

[21-year-old full professor? Nutty, even younger than Professor Charles.]

[I think it's more impressive that he got his PhD in three months.]

[No no, do you guys know why this dude graduated so soon? I heard that he proved Goldbach's conjecture, and did a report at Princeton…]

[F*ck, no way?!]

[Pray to God Lu…]

[Lu Zhou, send us a photo. I'll post it on my wall as good luck.]

[…]

Lu Zhou had not expected people to know about him solving Goldbach's conjecture. It seemed that many foreign exchange students followed his Weibo.

After that, the discussion became more and more intense. Some people even took screenshots of the articles from the New York Times and Philadelphia Daily. Some people even posted the link to the thesis in arXiv.

Then…

"Princeton's youngest professor" and "Goldbach's conjecture" started trending online.

Due to Hua Luogeng and Chen Jingrun's connection to Goldbach's conjecture, the significance of this conjecture was beyond academics. It was politically involved.

What Lu Zhou did not know was that not only his thesis on arXiv was spread around online, it even blew up in the Chinese mathematics community. In fact, it even aroused the attention of political circles.

However, no one stood up to express their views, because they were all waiting for the results from Annual Mathematics.

At this moment, Lu Zhou had not realized the significance of his thesis as he had put all of his energy into the peer review of Annual Mathematics.

The six reviewers were all big names in the mathematics world and they pointed out many problems in Lu Zhou's thesis. Lu Zhou had been actively revising every problem.

Fortunately, he was not like Wiles, who was stuck on an "obvious" problem for over a year.

The second week of the peer review…

Lu Zhou finally received feedback from the Annual Mathematics reviewers, and Evans handed him the file.

The words used by Faltings were concise. He had almost never praised anyone, but he summarized his opinion in one sentence, "Good proof."

Henryk Iwaniec was nicer to young mathematicians. He wrote a little more, and even gave his expectations toward young mathematicians, "… The application of group theory in the thesis is shocking. I look forward to your future success. Regardless of the opinions of my peers, it seems to me that you have successfully proved this problem."

Helfgott's point of view was similar to another scholar from École Normale Supérieure. The two probably exchanged ideas, and they both had high opinions on the Group Structure Method.

Lu Zhou turned the page and read the final review comment.

Then, he looked at Evans.

Evans smiled and reached out his hand.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu, your thesis will be published in the next issue of Annual Mathematics!"

…

Suddenly he was attracted by a piece of news, and he was mildly surprised by it. He bit his tongue and spoke with a teasing tone.

"Oh, I can't believe it, the Goldbach's conjecture was proved by a chink?"

At most, the Korean employees would chuckle.

It was worth noting that the Washington Times was different than the Washington Post. The latter was one of the largest and oldest newspapers in America while the former was founded in 1982 by a Korean guy called Sun Myung Moon.

This was interesting as even though this newspaper had been operating for over thirty years, it did not strengthen the US-Korea relationship. The main objective was to attack China and post smear remarks to boost their audience engagement.

However, because the political status of this newspaper was too extreme, this newspaper had been losing money for over 20 years.

This newspaper had drawn controversy for publishing racist content, including commentary and conspiracy theories about Barack Obama.

Bob, who was sitting nearby, walked over to the computer screen and said, "This is big… We have to interview him."

"Not only do we have to interview, but we also have to help this Chinese guy do propaganda," said Larter with a smirk as he closed the website. As he opened a document and started tapping on his keyboard, he asked, "Think about it, how should we write the press release? A chink solves Goldbach's conjecture?"

Bob hesitated before he said, "We could get sued."

Although their boss, Sun Myung Moon, did not like China, he did not like racial slurs either.

"I know what's within the rules and what's not…" said Larter as he waved his hand. He said, "Right now, I need inspiration."

The female assistant Pereira was sitting at her desk on her computer. She suddenly said, "Remember the end of 2015? Professor Opiyem from Nigeria thought that he solved Riemann's conjecture. He wrote to Clay Institute, but they still haven't responded to this matter."

Therefore, Larter respected her views.

"I remember," said Bob. He added, "I remember Daily Mail first interviewed him, but there was no follow-up."

Larter spun around on his chair. He held his chin and asked: "…"

"I just checked on Wikipedia. Riemann's conjecture is a guess that all prime numbers can be expressed as a function," said Pereira. She spun her pen and said, "It says here that Goldbach's conjecture is also related to the prime numbers, so… Is there any connection between the two?"

She was not very knowledgeable in pure mathematics, but she had a degree, so at the very least, she knew how to do a google search.

Larter's eyes suddenly lit up.

She does make sense…

Bob said, "I remember that Goldbach's conjecture is 1+1 = 2, right?"

"Oh, Bob, you uncultured swine. Even I know that 1+1 = 2 is Peano's axiom. As for Goldbach's conjecture… In short, it's a prime number question," said Larter as he laughed. He then stood up from his chair and said, "I'm flying to Nigeria immediately. You guys can start writing the press release. Just write… A Nigerian professor has been treated unfairly due to his skin color. The honor of Goldbach's conjecture should be partly his, but the racism of America's academia left him cold in the dark."

What kind of news attracted the most attention in America?

News related to black people.

Americans loved to play identity politics.

Bob frowned and said, "But Lu Zhou isn't white. Can you have racial discrimination between minorities?"

If the prover of Goldbach's conjecture was a Caucasian, and the black person was ignored, then the news article would be sensational. If the Clay Institute did not give a reasonable explanation…

Even if they gave an explanation, it would just be labeled as an "excuse".

After all, people would blame them for racism regardless of the mathematics.

The black academic was definitely considered a "vulnerable group" in America.

The problem was that Lu Zhou's identity was a bit weird as he was also considered a minority in America… Even though the American academic community ignored a black person, they did not reward a white person.

This was not worthy of a news article.

Even Larter, who was ecstatic about this potential news article, went into deep thought.

Suddenly, Pereira, who was researching information, shouted with excitement.

"I know!"

She thought of a brilliant idea.

How to create a huge news story!

Chapter 244: Three Hours Is Enough

The University of Ekiti, Ekiti, Nigeria.

Professor Enoch stood in the classroom. He was a little unhappy and even annoyed.

He had also posted on arXiv. Perelman's Poincaré conjecture and Lu Zhou's Goldbach's conjecture was recognized by the academic community. However, his thesis was thrown into the classification of "General Mathematics".

He only recently found out that this classification was a garbage dump.

A student in the classroom asked, "Professor Enoch, do you think Riemann's conjecture can be used to solve Goldbach's conjecture?"

Professor Enoch said, "Yeah, of course. Goldbach's conjecture is very easy. The distribution of prime numbers is closely related to a well-constructed Riemann (s) function. In essence, it is a prime number problem, which I have already established under the Riemann (s) function system. It takes only three hours to solve Goldbach's conjecture."

The student then asked, "What about Hilbert's 23 questions? It should be easy for you, Professor Enoch?"

"Of course, it can be solved very easily," said Professor Enoch said with a relaxed tone. He then added, "Riemann's conjecture is the eighth question in Hilbert's 23 questions. However, it is shrouded in the ζ(s) function system."

The student said, "Professor Enoch, it's time to solve this problem."

"I will consider solving it when the time is right, but not right now. Remember, my young ones, a real genius would never solve problems he's not interested in. That grunt work is reserved for second-rate mathematicians," said Professor Enoch as he waved his hand. He then added, "Okay, this class is over. The homework is to write one thesis. The thesis topic is my ζ(s) function system. Use it to prove Goldbach's conjecture.

"I already gave you guys the method, solving it should be easy."

There was a sorrow in the classroom as the students grabbed their heart and looked at each other with a painful expression.

Professor Enoch's thesis was too difficult. Although they liked Professor Enoch, every homework assignment was extremely time-consuming.

Professor Enoch happily packed his stuff and was about to go to his office.

However, he saw a Caucasian man and the head of mathematics standing in front of the classroom door.

"Professor Enoch, this is a gentleman from America. He wants to talk to you about Riemann's conjecture," said the black man. He patted Professor Enoch's shoulder and smiled before he quietly said, "Put on a good performance."

Of course, he wanted Professor Enoch to win the one million dollar prize that was attached to Riemann's hypothesis.

For a small country like Nigeria, this money was huge.

Before this, no one believed that this number theory professor solved Riemann's conjecture, especially after the Daily Mail interview.

Now that this American reporter came here, maybe it meant that the Clay Institute had accepted his research?

In Nigeria, British people and American people were all considered Caucasians. The latter was slightly higher status, especially after they elected a black president.

If the Clay Institute had really accepted Professor Enoch's thesis, then he would undoubtedly get an opportunity to migrate to America.

Not only in Nigeria, but the entire continent of Africa had this "migration" mentality, especially for those who were educated. They wanted to get out of Africa, and into a first world country.

When Professor Enoch saw the American man, he was stunned. He then asked, "You are?"

"Let me introduce myself. I'm a reporter from the Washington Times. You can call me Larter," said Larter. He squeezed out an unnatural smile and reached out his hand as he asked, "I want to talk to you about Riemann's conjecture. When are you free?"

Larter did not want to be here at all. He could not believe that after he landed at the airport, he was blackmailed $70, 000 Naira… Although it was only a few hundred USD, he was still pissed off.

He swore that this would his last business trip here.

Professor Enoch looked at Larter and said, "We can talk about it in my office."

Professor Enoch's office was very chaotic, and he was clearly not an organized person. Socks were sitting on top of textbooks, dust was everywhere, and there were even spider webs.

Larter squinted and when he found a place to stand, he cleared his throat and said, "The thing is, we found out that in 2015, you sent a letter to the Clay Institute claiming to solve Riemann's conjecture. However, according to the Daily Mail's interview, Clay Institute didn't respond to your thesis. After we learned about your situation, we immediately followed up on this matter…"

Professor Enoch sat in his chair and looked at Larter suspiciously. Enoch did not believe that this white man could help him win the million dollars. He asked, "You can read my thesis on arXiv, so why did you have to come all the way to Nigeria?"

Larter said sincerely, "To help you."

"Help me?" said Professor Enoch. He rubbed his nose and asked, "Why don't you just give me the money instead?"

"It's not about the money. Aren't you angry!" said Larter as he stared at Professor Enoch. He then said sternly, "I listened to your lecture just now. I think you are a very excellent mathematician. However, because of your skin color, some people ignored your work. It is clear that the Russians, Chinese, and French, are recognized by the academic community. However, you were excluded!"

Professor Enoch had a weird expression.

He could not believe that a white man was saying these things.

However, this reporter's words did make him angry.

The reporter was right. He submitted his thesis on arXiv, and it was categorized into "General Mathematics".

Larter stared at his eyes and said, "I only have one question. Can you prove Goldbach's conjecture under the pretense that Riemann's conjecture is proved?"

"Of course," said Professor Enoch without any hesitation. He then added, "This is easy."

Larter sneezed and said, "Okay, I'll sort out your Visa and flights. I'll also pay for your expenses…"

"Wait!" said Professor Enoch as he stopped Larter. He then asked, "I don't understand, what are you doing?"

Larter, "We'll arrange a report for you at Princeton, to report on Riemann's conjecture. You' ll use the function or whatever to prove Goldbach's conjecture."

Of course, Larter could not book Lecture Hall 1. However, he could book the Princeton Hotel next to it. He only had to pay for it for a few days. In fact, many academic conferences were hosted in hotels.

When Larter conveyed his ideas to his Korean boss, his boss quickly approved the expense.

The only thing Sun Myung Moon cared about was attacking China.

"Wait a minute, I still don't understand. You want me to report at Princeton?" said Professor Enoch. He had a twinkle in his eye.

Thesis submission was one thing, but reporting on stage was another. In short, Enoch was not prepared.

Larter smirked and said, "Yes."

Professor Enoch wanted to refuse, but he could not say it out loud.

This person is a devil…

He thought for a long time. He realized that he would not lose anything. Teaching in Nigeria was not a promising career, so he should take this opportunity.

Enoch cleared his throat and said, "I need time to prepare…"

Larter asked, "How long?"

Enoch said, "Three months."

"Too long," said Larter as he shook his head. He then said, "Time won't wait for you. You can fill in the report details later. Listen, I don't need you to convince Princeton professors. I only need you to convince some black rights organizations and their sponsors."

"Okay, how long do I have?" asked Enoch as he scratched his head. He said, "Give me a time range."

Larter said, "Three days at most."

Enoch said, "This is impossible!"

Enoch needed time to mark his students' homework assignments.

Three days was way too short.

Larter said, "I'll give you $10,000 USD."

Without any hesitation, Enoch agreed, "Deal!"

Chapter 245: Invitation

"I can't believe it… You're already a professor," said Molina as she stared at Lu Zhou for a long time.

It had been a long time since the report, but this was her first time seeing him because Lu Zhou was too busy.

Molina paused for a second before she asked, "When do you plan on moving out?"

Lu Zhou said, "Maybe around this time period. I heard it's not too expensive to rent a one-bedroom place around here. But I don't like moving, it's too much of a hassle. I'll wait till I go back to China, and move all my stuff at once."

Lu Zhou was going back to Jin Ling in a month.

Although he had not received the confirmation call from the University of Jin Ling, he guessed that the call would come in a few days.

Also, even if the University of Jin Ling did not call him, he still had to return to his hometown and visit his little sister, who was about to take the college entrance exam.

After all, this exam determined her future.

Although he could not help her with liberal arts subjects, he could still cheer her on.

…

Not only did Princeton Institute for Advanced Study gave Lu Zhou a fat salary, but they also gave him a bright office.

Lu Zhou was organizing his office when he suddenly realized something.

What a minute, aren't these things done by students?

I'm a boss now. It's embarrassing to clean my office myself.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he was a one-man army.

Although Princeton officially hired him as a full professor, it was currently May, the time period between the spring enrollment and fall enrollment.

Which meant that he had to wait two months before he could review students' CV, and to decide on interviews.

Maybe he could ask Edward Witten and borrow Luo Wenxuan?

That's not good.

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Then, he called Edward Witten and quickly got the "OK".

Soon after, Luo Wenxuan appeared in his doorway while panting.

However, when he heard that Lu Zhou only needed him to clean up the office instead of doing research, he was dumbfounded.

"Wait a minute, you asked me to come here… to clean up your office?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'll buy you food later… I really can't finish cleaning this up."

Bro, please. Just let me gloat as a professor for a bit.

"Once isn't enough, you're buying me two meals!" shouted Luo Wenxuan. He then went to pick up the broom.

Lu Zhou placed the textbooks on the table and smiled, "Sure, three meals are fine too."

The two worked together, and Lu Zhou doubled his efficiency.

Lu Zhou did not want to admit it, but Luo Wenxuan's cleaning speed was much faster. Lu Zhou remembered that Luo Wenxuan was heavily involved in club activities, so it was not unusual for him to help out around the clubs.

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou had not done any physical activities in a while. The last time he exercised was back at the University of Jin Ling with Brother Fei.

Luo Wenxuan suddenly spoke.

"Washington Times? What is this?"

When Luo Wenxuan picked up the piece of newspaper, he frowned.

He flipped to the first page and was stunned.

Lu Zhou noticed Luo Wenxuan, and he could not help but ask, "What's that?"

"Nothing, Korean media. Don't pay attention to it. It's just trying to frame you," said Luo Wenxuan casually. He threw it in the trash but Lu Zhou picked it up out of curiosity.

When Lu Zhou read the title, he was stunned.

[The Neglected Group Of Nigerian Mathematics Professors]

The article told Professor Enoch's story on Riemann's conjecture, and how he published his thesis onto arXiv but received no results.

At last, Enoch wrote to Clay Institute.

However, the Clay Institute did not respond.

According to Professor Enoch, he did not solve the conjecture for the money, but that he solved it for his own students. This was because his students believed in him, and therefore, he tried to solve this mathematics problem. The money would be used for education.

Lu Zhou kept reading, and he felt something was wrong.

In the article, the interview of Professor Enoch was posted.

[Professor Enoch: Any prime number is under the prime distribution of the Riemann function. You might not know what I'm talking about, but I can tell you it's like Usain Bolt. It doesn't lose.

Larter: Which is saying you can easily use your method to solve Goldbach's conjecture.

Professor Enoch: Yes, you're right.

Larter: If the Clay Institute didn't ignore your work, based on your prime distribution function, how long will it take you to prove Goldbach's conjecture?

Professor Enoch: Actually I already proved it last year. If I recall correctly, it only took me three hours. Proving Polignac's conjecture, Goldbach's conjecture, twin prime conjecture… They're nothing special, even my students can do it.

Larter: I think you've been treated unfairly.

Professor Enoch: Yeah, I'm very angry.

…

]

Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

Western journalism was a joke. Daily Mail fell into the pit of Nigeria, and now, Washington Times jumped in as well.

Honestly speaking, this Nigerian professor might not even know the difference between the Riemann function and the Dirichlet function.

However, this did not concern Lu Zhou.

It did not affect him at all.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was a piece of letter attached to the newspaper.

[However, I can testify that Professor Enoch solved the Goldbach's conjecture in just three hours by using his prime distribution system established in Riemann's conjecture. If he does this, then there is no doubt that he is the one that proved Goldbach's conjecture, not you.]

[Of course, in order to be fair, we have arranged one hour for you to speak in the report. You can defend your thesis during this time.]

[It's worth mentioning that there will be a total of 21 legal representatives from the Black Rights Organization and the Anti-Racism Alliance. At the same time, we invited reporters from the New York Times and Philadelphia Daily to report on this news.]

"…"

Lu Zhou threw the trash newspaper in the garbage can. However, he kept the letter.

Luo Wenxuan noticed Lu Zhou's movements and said, "Honestly, this is a waste of time. The person obviously doesn't know the difference between the Riemann function and the Dirichlet function. Your time would be better spent on preparing for your first lecture."

The Americans used the E8 system to unify the four interactions. Garrett Lisi had been adamant about this theory for many years. Frank Wilczek, a notorious gambler, challenged his theory.

"Why shouldn't I go? They already sent the invitation," said Lu Zhou as he laughed coldly. He then added, "As a Chinese person, I'll not stand this ignorance and insult."

Luo Wenxuan, "Insult?"

"Yes, the outstanding contributions from Hua Luogeng, Wang Yuan, and many others on the Goldbach's conjecture can be said to be one of the most brilliant mathematics collaboration in the world. I will not allow this type of slander."

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "Actually, I'm going to China soon, so it doesn't concern me. But look at what that Nigerian professor said. It only took him three hours to solve a century-long problem."

"People that insult respectable people are absolute trash."

Chapter 246: Imaginary Number

Washington Times was not a mainstream media outlet, but it was already blowing up on the Internet.

What else was more eye-catching than "racial discrimination"?

The discussion was everywhere on Facebook and Twitter.

Chinese students and Chinese groups naturally stood on Lu Zhou's side whereas the black and white-left groups were filled with indignation.

However, Lu Zhou was unperturbed by it.

He did not use Facebook or Twitter, and he was busy with his own stuff. He did not have time to worry about the comments on the Internet.

However, as he said, since the opposite side gave him an invitation, he had to respond.

Soon, it was report day.

There was still a few hours before the report would begin. When Lu Zhou arrived at Palmer square, he planned to get a bite to eat.

It was too late to go to the Ivy Club as it was halfway across the Princeton campus.

Lu Zhou found a Texas burger store near Palmer Square. He was about to go in when he heard an argument going on.

He saw a black dude standing in front of the counter while speaking in a condescending tone, "This chicken burger combo is $6, the Texas beef burger combo is $7. The burger is only $3.5 and $4 dollars respectively. Also, I saw that coke is $1."

"The combo includes a barbecue kebab and coke. I got two prices for the kebab through simultaneous equations. Your Texas kebab is both $1.5 and $2. Do you have a reason for this imaginary solution?"

The white guy stood behind the counter and scratched his ear as he said impatiently, "So what?"

"This is unacceptable," said Professor Enoch confidently. He added, "In Nigeria, a high school student could solve this equation. You're selling burgers at Princeton, how do you not know this?"

The redneck behind the counter was obviously annoyed when he said, "I don't care about your numbers. Are you buying or not? If not, move aside."

Although the redneck wanted to tell the black guy to f*ck off, he restrained his anger.

Enoch looked at this rude redneck and could not help but feel superior.

He felt the same type of superiority when he was teaching at the University of Ekiti.

A group of dumb black guys sat in his classroom, and he was the omnipotence god. He enjoyed gloating in front of those weaker than him.

This type of feeling was like a drug.

However, Professor Enoch did not realize that the situation here in America was different than Nigeria.

The redneck standing in front of him was not interested in learning, and Enoch was far from home.

The redneck rolled up his sleeves and looked at the waiter. Suddenly a clear voice came from the entrance of the burger store.

"The equations aren't very difficult at all, any Chinese high school will teach them… I'll have a bacon sandwich and a coffee. I have a report later, please hurry up," said Lu Zhou as he skipped the line and placed the money on the counter.

When the redneck saw the cash, he smiled.

"You got it."

Professor Enoch heard the report being mentioned and was interested. He seemed to have guessed this Chinese guy's identity.

He immediately asked, "Then how do you explain the prices on the menu?"

"It's easy, you just have to put it in an equation. In this case, we usually consider adding a coefficient in front of the unknown. You can treat it as the so-called preferential margin," said Lu Zhou. He shrugged and said, "Of course, you can't just add two brackets to the equations at the same time, and use one of them to calculate the imaginary solution. I'm curious how you did it, did your students not teach you?"

A few students eating in the restaurant chuckled.

They had been watching the show since the beginning. They wanted to watch this Chinese teach this Nigerian a lesson.

In mathematics, imaginary numbers were numbers that were in the form of a+bi. a and b were real numbers, and b was not 0. i^2 is -1, and a was the real part, b was the imaginary part. Most, if not all, Chinese students knew about imaginary numbers.

Basically, the imaginary part was the square root of a negative number. Once you added a real number to it, it became a complex number.

This was not something that was difficult or esoteric. As long as one had a high school education, one could learn it easily.

"He's right… It's none of your business what I sell," said the redneck impatiently as he waved his hand. He tapped the table and said, "If you're not buying anything, you can leave. The people behind you are waiting."

The atmosphere was full of joy.

Enoch blushed and said, "How do you know there are no imaginary numbers in linear equations? Do you know that in Albanian group, homomorphism, and conjugate classes, there's no such thing as an imaginary number…"

Lu Zhou was speechless.

He wanted to ask if Enoch even know what those terms meant, but that was not the main point.

The main point was…

"No sh*t, you don't even need to square root anything for a linear equation!"

…

For Lu Zhou, what happened in the burger shop was only a small incident.

He was curious where that black guy learned mathematics from. In the end, the black guy blushed and was laughed out of the restaurant.

Lu Zhou put this matter aside and finished his food. He then calmly strolled back to the hotel opposite Palmer Square.

Larter stood at the front door and welcomed all of the guests. When he saw Lu Zhou, he was stunned. However, he quickly put on a smile.

That smile was malevolent.

"Welcome, the Chinese mathematician from Princeton. I didn't expect to see you here."

Lu Zhou looked at the nearly full lecture hall and laughed as he said, "I don't think I count as crashing the party, right?"

"You're laughing?" Larter smirked. He then lowered his voice, "Hope you can still laugh in an hour."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Can I ask a question?"

Larter, "What question?"

Lu Zhou asked seriously, "Who gave you this sh*tty idea?"

Larter paused. He did not change his fake smile as he said, "What idea? Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

Lu Zhou smiled and said softly, "Nothing, it's fine. Pretend like I didn't ask."

Lu Zhou obviously did not expect anything to come from that one question.

The human subconscious was uncontrollable, especially when external factors are present.

Larter did not waste his time with Lu Zhou. Instead, he turned around and started to greet the legal representatives of the black rights protection organizations.

Most people sitting in the venue did not understand mathematics. Just like how the original "New Yorker" article misrepresented Qiu Chengtong's achievements, the media did not care about the truth.

This was a place where populism was rampant.

The reason why they sat here today was that a Nigerian brother was treated unfairly by the American academic community. They only came here for political correctness.

However…

What did this have to do with Lu Zhou?

Academic exchanges could not be done with people that knew nothing about mathematics. Having Professor Enoch talking on stage was like playing piano for cows.

However, some things could still be conveyed through language.

Lu Zhou gently adjusted his tie.

For him, this was nothing difficult.

Chapter 247: Princeton's First Lecture

The report soon started. However, there was a small incident.

The protagonist of this report, Professor Enoch, seemed to be absent.

The atmosphere in the crowd was awkward.

Honestly, Lu Zhou was stunned. He wanted to talk to professor Enoch, but what now?

Larter was sweating as he explained on stage, "Professor Enoch has some personal stuff to sort out. I'm trying to contact him."

"Although justice is an important issue, our time is valuable," said a black man who was sitting in the front row of the venue said with a dissatisfied tone. He then asked, "I'm now doubting if Professor Enoch even takes this matter seriously?"

Honestly speaking, African Americans did not like their African brothers that much.

However, for their own interests, they had to take this matter seriously.

Larter started to sweat, and he cursed Enoch in his mind.

The report was about to start, but Enoch wanted to go eat some burger. It had been two hours and Enoch had yet to return.

Larter swore that this would be the last time he interacted with Nigerians. Nigerians really did not keep their word.

Suddenly, an unexpected voice was heard.

"Since Professor Enoch is a little busy, let me talk first."

The main reason was that Lu Zhou did not want to waste his time. He just wanted to end this lecture.

Larter froze.

He did not think that Lu Zhou would solve his problem.

However…

Did Lu Zhou actually want to solve his problem?

It was too late.

Lu Zhou already walked on stage, and the people in the crowd obviously agreed with this proposal.

Larter reluctantly retreated to the side. He knew that if he objected, he would be booed off the stage.

As Lu Zhou stood on the podium, he was not nervous at all.

He was experienced in doing reports.

However, he had not expected that his first lecture as a professor would be at the Princeton Hotel.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

At least it counted as practice.

He stared at the hundreds of pairs of eyes in the crowd and cleared his throat before he said,

"I can tell that you guys don't trust me."

The audience did not say anything. Many people either looked at their watch or looked around as they were clearly disinterested in it.

However, this was normal, and Lu Zhou had expected it.

He paused for a second before he raised his voice.

"Because the person standing in front of you is a Princeton elite, and you are the most distrustful of the elite. You are distrustful of their morality and academic qualifications. You are more eager to hear those neglected voices. So, I bet that in a few months, most of you will vote for a fat man named Trump, because he is the only smart person who tries to stand in your perspective and makes your voice heard… Of course, this is not what I want to talk about today."

"Before the speech begins, please remember that I am a Chinese citizen."

"Since you guys are so politically correct, let me ask this. When you read the Washington Times article, did you ignore my voice?"

Lu Zhou did not speak loudly, but it was impactful.

The crowd froze. They were speechless.

They thought…

Lu Zhou made sense?

Suddenly, no one looked at their watch anymore and they paid attention to the person standing on the podium.

Many people started to listen to him intently.

Lu Zhou smirked.

He already achieved his goal.

Larter kept calling on his phone.

"What is this black dude doing?"

He stuffed his phone into his pocket and looked at the stage.

Although he wanted to drag Lu Zhou off stage, he could not do it.

After all, he was the one that invited Lu Zhou.

And now, Lu Zhou was here.

Lu Zhou looked at the audience and continued, "I won't use any difficult mathematics symbols today, and I won't talk about anything that is difficult to understand… Of course, don't mind it if there are a few difficult parts. After all, mathematics has to be explained through symbols."

Lu Zhou did not have Hawking's level of articulation.

However, he could still articulate some common things.

Lu Zhou turned around to the blackboard and wrote down two lines of equations.

[Riemann's conjecture, π(x)=Li(x)+O(xe^{-1/15√lnx})]

[If Riemann's conjecture is true, then π(x)=Li(x)+O(√xlnx)]

He then turned around and smiled at the audience.

"Mathematics is a very magical thing, so is the Riemann's conjecture. Although you might not understand what I wrote, I can tell you that the first line of the equation forms the basis of number theory, the so-called prime number theorem. The second line is a more accurate formula for the distribution of prime numbers obtained by H.von Koch in 1901, based on the Riemann conjecture. Although this formula isn't used in textbooks, it has already been used for over a century."

"I can write a dozen more similar examples, but there are too many."

"As for these two formulas, they are the most common ones."

"In the world of mathematics, the common practice is to solve it first, then find applications. What kind of applications? Let's say we prove Riemann's conjecture, then…"

"As for why I mentioned Riemann's conjecture, is because this answers Professor Enoch's thesis. He proved a rather "interesting" point in his thesis. He builds around the ζ function under the condition of the Riemann's conjecture. Under the prime number distribution system, is Goldbach's conjecture true or false?"

Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He then smiled and continued, "The reason why I said it was "interesting", is because till now, not a single person has considered this method. In fact, Hardy and Littlewood proved in the 20th century, that under the conditions of Riemann's conjecture, weak Goldbach's conjecture can be proved."

"But take note! I'm talking about the generalized Riemann's conjecture which is different than the actual Riemann's conjecture."

The crowd was confused. They obviously did not know what was going on.

They thought, "Then doesn't it mean that the generalized Riemann's conjecture can solve Goldbach's conjecture?"

In fact, this was not the case.

As for why, basically, it was similar to using Newtonian physics to calculate objects traveling near the speed of light. It was ridiculous.

Lu Zhou smiled.

"The difference between GRH and RH isn't easy to understand. Basically, GRH is the object of discussion, whereas RH is a more extensive Dirichlet L function."

"The Dirichlet L function can barely prove Goldbach's conjecture, maybe from a probability point of view… Anyone in number theory knows this."

"This is just a matter of the history of number theory."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath before he said slowly, "It's worth noting that the 20th century was the closest anyone has gotten to prove Goldbach's conjecture from GRH. Because it's less than 20 years, or exactly 1937 since Vinogradov and Este Mann used the circle method, and without the help from the generalized Riemann's conjecture, established the weak Goldbach conjecture."

Then in 2012, Tao Zhexuan proved that "odd numbers can be expressed as the sum of up to five prime numbers."

Then after a year, Helfgott completely solved the weak Goldbach's conjecture and reduced this number to a calculable size.

This completely got rid of the GRH.

Actually, this type of situation was common in number theory. The birth of Theorem 1 by mathematician A drew a beautiful conclusion and attracted everyone's interest.

Then mathematician B came out and tried to prove Theorem 1. If they could not solve it, mathematician C would then come out with a weaker Theorem 1 and established it.

Then theorems 1,2,3… were established. Everyone realized that these sets of theorems could be used to solve RH. The Clay Institute would probably replace RH with GRH.

Yes, history was full of routines.

It was precisely this cycle that advanced civilization.

Would some people reconnect things already proven by GRH?

Emm…

Although it was interesting, was there any meaning? If a student did this, then the professors would look at them with approval. If a professor did this, then he would be laughed at by his peers.

"Riemann's conjecture is a very important thing. Maybe the Clay Institute will give Dr. Enoch a reply in the future, but this has nothing to do with me. I only explained the relationship between Goldbach's conjecture and Riemann's conjecture."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If my explanation isn't simple enough, I can make it simpler."

"The primes numbers in Riemann's conjecture are used for multiplication, whereas the prime numbers in Goldbach's conjecture are used for the addition!"

This statement was not accurate, but it was close enough.

The audience smiled.

This explanation was a lot easier to digest.

Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He then smiled and said, "As for why Goldbach's conjecture isn't as important as Riemann's conjecture, it's because that for most people, prime numbers are used for multiplication! These two conjectures have different values, and they do not form a 'system'. Even if you don't know the difference between RH and GRH, you should know what Vinogradov did when he solved the three prime number theorem."

"This is where your influence comes in."

The stage was silent.

Lu Zhou looked at the pairs of persuaded eyes, and he knew that it was time to end his speech.

"Some conceptual things can't be circumvented by a system. The whole of mathematics is shrouded in the 'system' of Peano's axioms, but not all problems are as obvious as Peano's axioms. Especially when you really understand it, you will find that '1+1' and '1+1=2' are actually completely different things. They are both prime number problems, but they are wildly different."

"As for myself, I'm nothing special. I only stood on the shoulders of countless great mathematicians. Mr. Chen's contribution to the large sieve method, Professor Tao's discussion with me at Berkeley, etc, have all benefited me. Helfgott's thesis opened a new door to the world of mathematics for me. They are all heroes of history. Although there might only be one name imprinted in history, their work cannot be summarized in three hours. Therefore, I want to sincerely thank them."

"Even though my thesis only took 2 months time, the foundation was built a long time ago."

Lu Zhou tried to use simpler language to convey his thoughts.

Larter might not be happy.

Lu Zhou was right.

He noticed that next to the podium, Larter was fuming.

However, this changed nothing.

America was different than China. The root of the populist problem came from the White House and Wall Street. They would never use simple language to convey ideas to ordinary people.

The solution to this problem was very simple.

Just speak normally.

If Lu Zhou wrote more than two lines of equations, the New York Times and other media headlines would look very different tomorrow.

However, Lu Zhou was confident now that he convinced more than half of the crowd.

Lu Zhou sometimes discovered that he was not completely ignorant in politics. Experiments and science taught him logic which was applicable in politics.

Maybe once he reached level ten for all of his subjects, the system would unlock all of its knowledge to him.

He believed that the day would come.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart and put down the marker.

The moment he put down the marker.

The crowd applaused…

Chapter 248: Call From Stockholm

Larter received his wish and got the big news he wanted.

However, it was not about Lu Zhou.

It was about him, and his scandal with the Washington Times.

The second day after the report, while he was trying to find Professor Enoch, a recording was posted on the internet.

More precisely, two recordings.

One recording was in the office. It was about him and his colleagues discussing how to create a piece of big news and how to provoke various racial rights organizations. It contained a lot of racist words and their ridicule of rights protection agencies as fools.

As for the second recording, it was in Professor Enoch's office in Nigeria.

[

…

"Three days at most."

"This is impossible!"

"$10,000 USD."

"Deal!"

]

The first recording angered Larter, but after he heard the second recording, he nearly slipped in his own cold sweat.

Not just because his career was in danger.

It was mainly the problem of how this recording was leaked.

The first recording could be leaked because of a mole in the office, but he had no idea how in the hell the second recording was leaked.

He was in Africa!

The other side of the Atlantic!

For the sake of confidentiality, he always went on business trips alone. It was impossible for someone to bug professor Enoch's office in advance. It was impossible for someone to bug Larter as well. He went through airport security and showered before meeting with Enoch…

Maybe…

Someone had been following him along the way.

This was the most logical explanation.

When Bob saw Larter's pale face, he was about to comfort him but Larter suddenly sprung up from his chair.

"Don't touch me!"

Bob looked at Larter's eyes that were filled with horror and asked, "What happened to you?"

Larter looked around in a panic. His eyes scanned across the workers' faces as he tried to find someone looking at him.

Bob wanted to say something, but when he saw the state that Larter was in, he could not find anything to say.

Larter ignored Bob and furiously yanked opened the drawer. He took out all of the documents and placed them on the desk. His two hands searched for something that resembled a voice recorder bug.

Finding this bug would at least bring him some comfort.

However, no matter how hard he searched, he could not find the origin of the recording.

As such, the fear in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Logic told him that it was impossible for an ordinary scholar to have this kind of ability. There must be more people behind it.

He thought of the political influence that Goldbach's conjecture had, and how neighboring countries had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the news they fabricated.

Larter gave up. His face became paler.

Maybe…

He was "targeted"?

…

Lu Zhou did not pay attention to the follow-up scandals that the Washington Times was involved in. He had only heard from Luo Wenxuan that the Washington Times would go into a temporary shut-down, and Larter would resign.

Although creating exaggerated news was one thing, once one was exposed to have committed bribery, that was another thing.

This scandal would follow Larter for the rest of his life, leaving a mark on his career.

He could forget about becoming a journalist ever again.

The last week of May, issues regarding Goldbach's conjecture finally settled. With the release of the newest Annual Mathematics journal, this two and a half century-year-old tower was finally built.

Lu Zhou did not know how many ongoing thesis and dreams he destroyed, but those things did not matter to him.

Institute of Higher Education, at a restaurant on the first floor.

In order to save time, Lu Zhou ate lunch here most of the days.

"You did something bad," said Edward Witten as he sat opposite Lu Zhou. He smiled, "You don't know how many people have lost the chance of submitting a bulsh*t thesis."

"Yeah, a bad thing," said Lu Zhou with a smile.

He definitely did not do as much "bad things" as old man Witten.

In the 1980s, knot theory was very popular. There were different 3-flow types, many different norm groups, many kinks and invariants like Jones polynomial could be constructed… In the end, Witten came up with a topological method of shear flow type, and the entire knot theory family was solved.

Of course, describing it as a "bad thing" was just a joke. The old man also did a lot of "good things", like creating the M-theory, which had at least saved theoretical physicists 10 years of research.

Edward Witten asked casually, "I know you won't take a break, so what's next? What interesting topics do you plan on researching?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second before he answered, "Materials science."

Witten was stunned. He then asked, "Materials science? What materials science?"

"Precisely speaking, it's computational materials science," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a moment before he smiled and said, "While studying at the University of Jin Ling, I participated in a research project. I think computational materials science has lots of potentials. I think the potentials are flexible and high fidelity, and I think I can do something with it."

Witten gave a thumbs up and smiled as he said, "I see. Which is saying you want to create your own discipline? This is a challenging idea."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Not exactly creating a new discipline, just doing development that affects this discipline… Maybe just a push in the early stages, or maybe I'll do a lot more 'bad things'."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

Witten cleared his throat and said, "I'm not very familiar with materials science, but if you're interested in organics materials science, I recommend Professor Paul. J. Chiric, he's an expert in this field."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks, I'll consider your suggestion. However, I'll put this matter aside until I return from China. I worked hard for so long, I need a vacation."

Witten said in a relaxed tone, "Yeah, you really need to take a break."

Lu Zhou had already planned which thesis to use to complete the system mission.

He estimated that his patent lawyer should have a result.

This time, after he went back to China and sorted his degree out, he would also be dealing with this matter.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket started to ring.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and saw that it was from an unknown number.

"Let me take this."

Witten smiled and said, "Sure, go ahead."

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and an unfamiliar voice came through.

"Hello, Lu Zhou, we are the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences."

Lu Zhou heard this name and went silent for a while. He exchanged a confused look with Witten.

Then…

He was shocked.

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences?!

The f*ck?

Maybe…

This is the legendary…

Nobel prize phone call?!

Chapter 249: Receiving The Award

In the interview of Martin Charlie, 2008 Nobel Chemistry Prize winner, he said that if you were lucky enough to achieve something, people would do something scary to you…

After that, people would say, "Oh, you might earn a Nobel Prize". Then from the first week of October, you would start losing sleep to the point that even a phone call from your neighbor might spook you.

Until the day you actually received a call from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The main reason for this was to ensure that the winners would not show off in advance and undermined the expectations of researchers.

The call to notify the winners would come a few minutes before the announcement of the winners. Due to this, the Nobel Prize phone call was one of the most exciting phone calls one could get. It felt like bungee jumping.

Lu Zhou, who received this call, felt that bungee-jump-like-feeling.

He had not expected the Nobel Prize. The reason why he was excited was obviously not because they were calling him for the Nobel prize.

It was the Crafoord Prize.

Ok, the Crafoord Prize was not bad either.

In fact, it was very decent.

The prize was established in 1980 by the industrialist, Holger Crafoord, and his wife, Anna Greta Crafoord. The selection process was through the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Although the prize money was less than the three big mathematics prizes, in the community of natural sciences, it had the reputation of a small Nobel Prize.

Why was this the case?

The reason was that the original intention of this prize was to fill in the gaps for the Nobel Prize. Both the process, specifications, and the award ceremony were based on the Nobel Prize.

The awards were in the field of astronomy, mathematics, earth sciences, and biological sciences. All areas that the Nobel Prize failed to cover. The award was chosen once per year and rotated between astronomy, mathematics, earth sciences, and biological sciences.

This year, it was the turn for mathematics and astronomy. The award would be given to the most significant contributors of the field.

The prize money was $500,000 USD.

Like the Nobel Prize, the Crafoord Prize was also selected and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences would usually inform the winner a few minutes before the announcement. Therefore, Lu Zhou, who was eating, was surprised by this phone call.

Actually, the main reason why Lu Zhou won this award had nothing to do with Goldbach's conjecture. It was actually because of his numerous contributions in the field of prime numbers. However, his recent thesis in Annual Mathematics certainly boosted his chances.

It was an achievement that could not be ignored.

Therefore, on the website, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences added the Goldbach's conjecture to Lu Zhou's list of achievements.

Lu Zhou was nearly dizzy from the $500,000 USD award and the medal that he almost forgot how to get back to his office from the cafeteria.

He only remembered that Witten laughed and patted him on the shoulder before he congratulated him. The next thing he remembered was him sitting in his office and looking at his computer.

Lu Zhou went on the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences website and refreshed the page until he finally saw the list of Crafoord Prize winners.

His name was on there.

The two other winners were Professor Roy Kerr from the University of Canterbury New Zealand, and Roger Branford of Stanford University.

As for the mathematics prize, he was the only one.

Lu Zhou finally relaxed after he confirmed that the phone call was not some cruel joke. The knot in his heart finally loosened.

Then, Lu Zhou closed the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences website and opened another webpage.

Now that he confirmed that he won the award, he was only curious about one thing.

The $500,000 USD prize money…

How much was that in RMB?

…

Two hours after receiving the phone call, Lu Zhou received an email from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

He did not know how they got his email address or phone number for that matter.

Then again, his email was on the page of Princeton University Professors as well as on arXiv.

In the email from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, there was an electronic invitation letter, and mainly a written retelling of what was said in the phone call.

Like the time of the award ceremony and the banquet after the award ceremony.

Also, as a celebration of the Crafoord Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was going to hold a three-day academic exchange meeting, and they invited Lu Zhou and the other winners to do a report.

The report was one hour long.

Lu Zhou closed the mail and took out his PowerPoint from the Princeton report. Suddenly, another phone call came through.

This time it was not from a stranger. It was from Professor Tang.

Lu Zhou heard a familiar and impatient voice.

"You solved Goldbach's conjecture?!"

Lu Zhou was stunned and he replied.

"Yeah, why?"

The other end of the telephone went quiet, and Lu Zhou heard a sigh.

"… Nothing, I'm just a bit surprised," Professor Tang paused for a second. He then said, "Today, the mathematics department was in the middle of a meeting. Suddenly, an Annual Mathematics journal came in. We were still talking about this year's enrollment plan, but the rest of the meeting was about you."

It was obvious that Professor Tang was emotional.

When Lu Zhou asked him about the distribution of Mersenne primes in the cafeteria, he suggested that Lu Zhou not to think about those things and focus on mathematical analysis and applied mathematics.

However, fate was a wonderful thing.

Lu Zhou achieved so much in the field of prime numbers in just a few years.

Tang Zhiwei could not help but feel proud of his student.

When Lu Zhou heard Professor Tang, he did not know what to say.

"This… I'm embarrassed."

He thought that his thesis would at most kill off a few in-progress theses. He did not expect it to interrupt the meeting at his old school.

Professor Tang smiled and changed the topic.

"You've already finished your PhD. The school isn't in a rush to get you back, but there are some documents and certificates waiting for you. Principal Xu and Dean Lu have been asking me to ask you. So, when do you plan on coming back and get this damn PhD?"

When University of Jin Ling and Princeton originally signed a joint training program for Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou agreed that he would return to the University of Jin Ling and do a report after he finished his PhD in Princeton.

Actually, there was a teaching position as well, but that seemed to have been put aside.

The University of Jin Ling was supportive of Lu Zhou teaching at Princeton.

After all, it was good politics for the leadership team.

Actually, most universities in China knew that they were no match for a world-class school like Princeton.

Whether it was the academic environment or facilities, the difference was night and day. It was like a mathematics problem where solving it took generations of effort.

Encouraging talents to learn scientific research overseas was also a talent training strategy for all major universities.

There were also government policies that encouraged overseas academic development.

This was the so-called, "Go away first, then come back".

Even if one did not return, one could stay overseas and trained foreign students.

For example, if University of Jin Ling graduates were teaching at Princeton, then the University of Jin Ling would be able to send at least one student every year to Princeton. This was an unrivaled privilege.

At the same time, Chinese professors were more likely to recruit Chinese students, and this benefited the whole country.

However, Lu Zhou still had much more to learn. He had to earn his qualifications overseas. At the same time, Princeton's resources would help him complete his system mission.

When the time was right, he would go back to China.

After all, he was a nostalgic man.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I have to go to Stockholm first, but I'll be back in early June."

"Stockholm?" Professor Tang was stunned. He then asked, "What are you doing in Sweden?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

"I'm receiving an award."

Chapter 250: Stockholm Awards Ceremony

25th of May, Stockholm airport.

A bright silver airplane slowly landed on the airway.

Soon after, Lu Zhou carried his luggage and dashed through the crowd to get out of the airport.

This was his first time in this country. He felt a rich artistic atmosphere.

Actually, Lu Zhou was not an artsy guy. He was more logical and rational. Even then, he could still feel the rich art and history coming from the subway station.

It was no exaggeration to say that this place was like a museum.

The 108-kilometer subway network housed the creative works of more than 100 artists.

No wonder that Edward Witten recommended taking a subway instead of a taxi in Stockholm.

According to the Nobel Prize rules, the winner was arranged to stay at the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

At the entrance of the hotel, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences academician, Staffan Normark, opened his arms and gave Lu Zhou a big hug.

"Welcome, Professor Lu Zhou!"

"Hope you didn't wait too long."

"What do you mean?" asked Staffan as he smiled. He then said, "Let me introduce you to…"

A few scholars from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stood next to him.

Lu Zhou greeted them one by one. He then walked to his room with Academician Staffan.

Standing in front of the door, Academician Staffan smiled and politely spoke.

"If you have any needs, please let the hotel front desk know."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're too kind."

"This isn't kindness, this is respect for a scholar," said Academician Staffan with a smile. He added, "Actually, I was very surprised to see you in person. I thought Tao Zhexuan was young. I didn't expect that in four years, another young mathematician would break this record."

Tao Zhexuan won the Crafoord Prize in 2012, and he was only thirty years old at the time. In the same year, he made a breakthrough in the weak Goldbach's conjecture, which led to Helfgott's special proof of the problem.

Now in 2016, it was Goldbach's conjecture again.

It came full circle.

Lu Zhou smiled and modestly said, "Mathematics is an ancient and energetic subject. The people that study it will become younger and younger, maybe in the future, someone younger than me will break this record."

Academician Staffan smiled and said, "That might be a little difficult."

Academician Staffan did not stay for long. He informed Lu Zhou of some important things before he left.

Lu Zhou placed his luggage next to the bed. He did not immediately go outside.

Although he was interested in this city, he had just got off a 12-hour flight. He needed rest at the moment.

Lu Zhou went to take a shower before he laid in his bed.

Just as he was about to sleep, he suddenly remembered that he had not shared this joy with other people. Therefore, he got up from his bed and grabbed his phone. He took a photo of the view outside the window and posted it in his friends' news feed.

This time, he did not add a caption, just the photo.

Soon, his Weibo was flushed with comments.

[God Lu, where did you travel to now?]

[Where is this?]

[I'm guessing Princeton, or it's close to Princeton. The houses don't look tall, unlike New York.]

[I'm taking the college entrance exams soon, please God Lu give me luck!]

[Oh my god! God Lu didn't bullsh*t this time!!]

Lu Zhou looked at the comments and smiled.

What are you talking about!

Am I that kind of person!

…

The next afternoon…

The antique Starrmore Concert Hall was filled with the melody elegant and classical music. More than a thousand people were already seated in the hall.

After a simple opening remark, a short-haired, middle-aged woman walked on stage and announced the beginning of the ceremony.

Her name was Barbara Cannon, the dean of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Although her face was covered in wrinkles, it was obvious that she was a scholar of value and knowledge in her younger years.

In the sound of applause, Staffan Normark, the lifelong academician of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, took over the microphone and read out the list of winners and awards.

"… Mankind's future is in the distant sky. One day we will reach the places we can see. Let us send them our applause and blessings! Thank them for their contributions on black holes!"

"… The astronomy award winners were Professor Roy Kerr from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Professor Roger Branford from Stanford University!"

The voice of Academician Staffan ignited the crowd.

The two professors, one from New Zealand, one from America, walked on stage. They received the medal under the eyes of King Adolphus.

Lu Zhou was under the stage. He took a deep breath and adjusted his tie.

Normally, he was very calm, but in these last few seconds, he had to control his breathing and heartbeat.

This was different than the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award by the China Mathematics Society, and the China Mathematics Society from the Federal Mathematics Society. The entire natural science community honored this award.

Academician Staffan stood on stage and continued, "… Mathematics is the language of God. Prime numbers are the codes he keeps in the world. Many propositions aren't great themselves, but it is exactly because of this simplicity that the world and our civilization changes.

"… Thank him for his outstanding contributions toward prime numbers! And the proof of Goldbach's conjecture!

"The mathematics award winner is…

"Professor Lu Zhou from Princeton University!"

The crowd began to applaud even harder.

It was like a tsunami, wave after wave.

Lu Zhou walked steadily onto the podium.

He was the first Chinese scholar to stand here.

Behind him, more than two hundred scholars of different nationalities and different fields offered their blessings and applause for Lu Zhou's contribution to the world.

At the same time, King Adolphus XVI and his wife, Queen Sylvia, stood in front of Lu Zhou.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu Zhou!"

The white-haired old man smiled and handed Lu Zhou the medal and certificate.

Lu Zhou received the two and shook hands with this king, "Thank you!"

The applause was even louder.

Lu Zhou stood aside. Academician Staffan came forward again and the applause subsided.

However, for Lu Zhou, unlike the applause, his excitement did not stop.

He felt the weight of this heavy medal. He listened to classical music until the end of the award ceremony, and until all of the guests began to leave the venue.

Only until then, did Lu Zhou calm down.

Chapter 251: Worthy Opponen

Although the ceremony for the Crafoord Prize ended, the celebration party had just begun.

After the ceremony ended, Lu Zhou walked out of the Stockholm Concert Hall and was about to take the bus to Stockholm City Hall.

However, the second he walked out of the Stockholm Concert Hall, he was ambushed by reporters, and all kinds of microphones and cameras were pushed in his face.

A well-dressed female reporter walked up and quickly asked.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, I'm a reporter from CTV. Can I please interview you?"

CTV?

Lu Zhou did not want to do interviews, but CTV was a different story.

After all, CTV was a reputable media outlet.

Lu Zhou looked at the young female reporter and said, "Of course."

The reporter smiled and asked, "As the first Chinese scholar to receive the reward, how do you feel right now? Any thoughts?"

"Excited, pleased, thankful…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then listed the names of people that had helped him.

The female reporter asked, "We all know that the Goldbach's conjecture is one of the crowns in the field of number theory. The story of Chin Jungrun's "1+2" has also inspired a young generation of mathematicians in China. Many people are still confused about the problem of "1+1". So, what is the meaning of mathematics for you?"

Lu Zhou did not answer this question directly. Instead, he pondered over it for a moment before he suddenly asked, "What do you think the meaning of science is?"

The reporter had not expected a question, but she smiled and replied smoothly, "I think it should change the world. All of the modern wealth has built on the foundation of science and technology."

Lu Zhou nodded in approval.

Not bad, this reporter was smart.

At least smarter than the previous ones he dealt with.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was happy to converse with her.

What was the meaning of mathematics?

Was it to pretend to be smart?

Of course not.

Even though bragging and showing off knowledge was part of mathematics, Lu Zhou felt like it was the byproduct of a chemical reaction. It was necessary.

Just like how mathematicians were usually handsome, but being handsome did not mean that one would be good at mathematics.

The meaning of mathematics…

Lu Zhou looked at the cameras and smiled before he said, "You're right, the meaning of science is to change the world."

"… And the meaning of mathematics is to change science."

…

Like the Nobel Prize, after the Crafoord Prize award ceremony, there was a grand celebration banquet in the Blue Hall on the first floor of Stockholm City Hall.

The King and Queen of Sweden as well as many great scientists of the Academy of Sciences were there. They were all gathered there to share the beauty of science.

In a sense, the Crafoord Prize was like a preview of the Nobel Prize. It allowed mathematicians to experience what it would feel like to actually win a Nobel Prize.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences organized this banquet with the rules of Nobel Prize in mind.

For example, the food would not be revealed before the banquet began.

The areas of party and dances were strictly separated. Eating was in the blue hall while dancing was in the gold hall. Everyone had their own assigned seat… This was the difference between European and American conferences.

Before the start of the banquet, Lu Zhou saw a lot of acquaintances and greeted them one by one.

Like Schultz, Helfgott…

The people that were too far away could not come, but most European mathematicians, especially those in the field of prime numbers, attended the banquet.

After attending many conferences, Lu Zhou actually noticed that the mathematics circle was actually quite small. One could almost count the number of big names on one's hand.

However, the appearance of one big name surprised Lu Zhou.

This person was Faltings, the godfather of algebraic geometry.

His name left a mark in Princeton.

In 1994, he left Princeton after teaching as Professor for more than 10 years and returned to his hometown in Germany.

Although Max Planck Institute was not as famous as Princeton, it ranked quite high in the world of research institutions, especially in the field of physics and engineering. Max Planck Institute was undergoing a very nutty project.

Compared to Charles Fefferman, Faltings' mathematics at Princeton was in no way inferior.

Legend said that he played chess with Peter Sarnak once, and lost. However, the old man was not worried. In fact, he said, "You're better at chess, but I'm a better mathematician."

In short, this German old man was very difficult to get along with. Nonetheless, he had the right to be cocky. After the death of Grothendieck, the throne of algebraic geometry would either be his or Deligne.

He dealt with Lu Zhou in the Goldbach's conjecture proof thesis. He was one of the six reviewers. In fact, Mr. Faltings gave two impressive revision ideas.

This mathematics ability of this old man was really admirable. Although Lu Zhou made the two revisions smoothly, it was a lot of work.

Coincidentally, this old man sat right next to Lu Zhou.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that just when he was thinking if he should disturb Faltings, Faltings was the one to pick up a glass of champagne and said, "Congratulations on your Crafoord Prize, Professor Lu Zhou."

"Thank you!"

Lu Zhou was deeply surprised as he toasted the old man gently.

Lu Zhou tasted the champagne and watched the old German man talked.

"A month ago, only three mathematicians had the potential to surpass me. That number just became four."

When Lu Zhou heard this, he nearly choked on his champagne.

The f*ck?

Is this guy humble bragging?

I think I met my opponent…

Chapter 252: Night Scenes

Lu Zhou felt like he was weaker in terms of bullsh*ting.

Especially after the old man added another sentence.

"Of course, all you guys have is hope."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Faltings took the initiative to talk to him just to say these two sentences.

After that, the old man carefully held the knife and fork down to eat his steak, and completely ignored everything around him.

As if he was thinking of a mathematics problem right now.

Lu Zhou who was sitting next to him was dumbfounded.

It was obvious that this big name mathematician gave him a lot of pressure.

After dinner in the blue hall, there was a dance party in the gold hall.

The swaying candlelight sparkled from the copper candlesticks that were on either side of the hall. It shined brightly on the clear floor tiles. Goddess Lake Malaren sat on the mural in the middle of the hall while the crowd watched her dance elegantly.

As for Lu Zhou, he stood on the edge of the dance floor with a glass of champagne in his hand. He started to talk to Wang Yuping.

He did not get a chance to say hello back at the dinner, but he had the opportunity now.

Wang Yuping stood next to Lu Zhou and said with an emotional voice, "I can't believe that your growth this year is so fast! You even won the Crafoord Prize. You're really giving us Yan University a hard time."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yan University has some talents. Zhang Hao, Yun Zhijun, Xu Chenyang, and etc. I often heard about their research."

"You don't have to act humble. You're still young, and you still have a long road of achievements to accomplish," said Wang Yuping as he shook his head. He then asked, "Oh yeah, how long are you staying in Princeton? Are you coming back?"

"A year or two at least, five at most," said Lu Zhou. With a smile, he added, "I'm definitely coming back."

Wang Yuping smiled and said, "It's good to come back. Are you interested in becoming a professor at Yan University?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I've already discussed this matter with Academician Wang Shicheng. I think University of Jin Ling's environment is more suitable for me."

"Okay then, I guess you have your own ideas," sighed Professor Wang Yuping. He then joked, "Yan University can't get you to become a professor there, but occasionally, you can still give a report there, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'd be honored."

The dance party was almost halfway finished, but Lu Zhou did not have plans to join in.

It was not because he was not interested, but it was purely because he was alone. The two other winners brought their relatives, but Lu Zhou did not even have a date.

Fortunately, he was not the only one that did not know how to dance. It was not awkward for him to chat with his peers while drinking champagne by the side.

If only no one invited him to dance…

Which was impossible.

While Lu Zhou and Wang Yuping were chatting about the dinner party, a lady in a long dress came over and smiled at him.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, can I borrow some of your time?"

Lu Zhou glanced at her and said, "Of course… You are?"

"Maria Viazovska," said Maria with a smile. She reached out her right hand and said, "If you think my last name is too long, you can call me Maria."

Lu Zhou heard her name and had a moment of realization.

Maria Viazovska was the winner of the 2016 Salem Prize. Like Molina's supervisor, she was also a popular candidate for the 2018 Fields Medal.

This year, she solved a well-known mathematics problem that was nearly 200 years old. It was the high dimensional sphere filling in the 8D and 24D problem.

This problem was closely related to theoretical physics and string theory. It was not well known, but it had a large applicable range.

"Thanks for your invitation, but I don't know how to dance."

Lu Zhou shook hands with this legendary female mathematician. He tried to let go, but Maria held on.

"But you can learn, right?" said Maria. She smiled and said, "I can teach you. It shouldn't be hard for someone who just won a Crafoord Prize."

Since Lu Zhou did not expect her to respond like this, he was stunned.

Are all Slavs so enthusiastic?

I really don't know how to dance…

Lu Zhou could not help but look toward Professor Wang for help.

In the end, the old man misinterpreted and thought that Lu Zhou wanted him to leave. He smiled and said, "Then I won't third wheel you two. I'll go say hi to my old friends."

The old man left with his hands behind his back.

…

Dancing was a normal form of communication. It had no special meaning. Legend said that a Nobel Prize winner once danced his shoe off, and everyone just laughed.

In fact, Maria Viazovska did not do anything to him. The two only danced and talked about mathematics problems while dancing.

As for why they suddenly brought up mathematics, it was because Lu Zhou tried to conceal his horrible dance skills, so he gave Maria a mathematics problem to distract her.

After all, he was new to dancing. He only learned from watching TV.

Maybe, he should take the time to learn these things.

Lu Zhou felt like maybe one day he would come back to this place.

Maybe for another reason…

After the dance party ended, the guest started to leave.

The scholars had to present their reports tomorrow, so they did not want to waste too much time on the dance floor.

Lu Zhou dragged his tired body back to the hotel. He threw his suit on the chair and laid in bed.

Today was the most tiring day of the year.

Even solving Goldbach's conjecture was not as tired as today.

However, he also felt a sense of happiness.

It was not just because of the honor of winning a Crafoord Prize, but also because of the $500,000 USD prize money…

Lu Zhou was about to put the medal aside when he suddenly remembered something important.

He had not shared his joy with his fans.

How could he forget…

Lu Zhou smiled and got up from his bed. He walked to the window casually.

He then took a photo of the night scene. However, there was a gold medal that appeared inside the photo.

This time, Lu Zhou added a caption, revealing the mystery of his previous Weibo post.

[Fascinating night scene. Hopefully, I'll come back. 26/5/2016, Stockholm.]

Chapter 253: Logical Handsomeness

Within three minutes of the Weibo post, the comment section was flooded.

[Nobel?!]

[Crafoord Prize, the legendary mini Nobel Prize! It's issued by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and mainly awarded to subjects not covered by the Nobel Prize. Not a single Chinese scholar has ever received this award before… Pray to God Lu.]

[I'm still doing my mathematical analysis assignment, I want to cry.]

[God Lu! Are you still doing a giveaway? Can you help with my thesis? Can I write your name as a co-author for my PhD thesis? Please!]

[The person that said Lu Zhou wasn't humble bragging… Come out! I'll knock you out!]

[The saddest thing is that I'm your age and I'm still in my undergrad.]

Lu Zhou looked at his fans' comments and smiled.

As expected, sharing the joy with other people was a wonderful thing.

Lu Zhou was satisfied. He placed his phone on the bedside table and buried his head in the pillow.

The next morning, flags of Sweden, China, the United States, and New Zealand were fluttering on the doorsteps of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

A long queue had already formed two hours before the report began. The moment the door to the venue was opened, the auditorium was packed with thousands of people in less than ten minutes.

Lu Zhou, who was in a suit, was the first to get on the stage. He started a one-hour report of his Goldbach's conjecture proof.

The content of the report was similar to what he did in Princeton. The only difference was that the number of viewers was on another level.

After all, Lecture Hall 1 of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was no comparison to the auditorium that could be filled by thousands of people.

Lu Zhou scanned the venue. Not only were there thousands of people sitting here, but many were standing in the first row.

He cleared his throat and grabbed the microphone before he said, "I will try to keep this short and leave more time for the Q&A session."

"With regards to Goldbach's conjecture, I have to start from the Group Structure Method…"

…

After the reports and academic exchanges, the third day of the report came to an end. The final part of the Crafoord Prize celebration ceremony came to an end.

However, Lu Zhou's participation in this report was not high.

Other than his own presentation and two mathematics reports, he listened to two astronomy and astrophysics reports.

Lu Zhou was not knowledgeable in astronomy at all. He could only understand the theoretical physics parts.

However, Professor Roger Branford, the winner of the astronomy award, also knew that his research field was esoteric. He elaborated his ideas in a plain and simple language for the audience to understand.

Lu Zhou spent the rest of the time visiting various tourist attractions in Stockholm.

He had hardly rested over the past six months. Now that he finally had a vacation, it would be a waste not to use it.

Not to mention, with the free five-star hotel to stay in, his trip to Stockholm was almost perfect.

Three days after the report conference, the organizer would choose the Best Report Award and Best Thesis Award.

Without a question, the report on Goldbach's conjecture was the most eye-catching and most prominent.

However, this type of award would not be given to Lu Zhou and nor would it be given to other invited scholars.

After all, other people should be given a chance.

Therefore, when Lu Zhou stood on stage, it was not to receive a prize.

Lu Zhou held a certificate and a $100,000 krona (around $10,000 USD) check. He then handed them over to a mathematician from Brazil in recognition of his outstanding report on the Shevale Single.

Although Lu Zhou felt like this scholar was not much older than him, Lu Zhou felt weird giving him this honor. He then remembered that all mathematicians under the age of 40 were classified as young mathematicians, so he ignored this weird situation.

Not to mention that the award winner did not care about this at all.

The young Brazilian was not dissatisfied to receive an award from a guy younger than him. He shook Lu Zhou's hands with excitement and only released it after a long time.

…

Time of joy was always short.

The report conference ended on the fourth day of Lu Zhou's trip, and it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful city.

At night, Academician Staffan personally drove him to Stockholm Airport.

"You still have your room for two more days. Don't you want to stay for a bit longer?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe next time. I still have people waiting for me in my home country."

Staffan smiled and said, "If you come back next time, make sure to give me a call."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou carried his luggage into the airport and looked at his flight information. There was still another hour until the plane takes off, so he found a place to sit down.

Sitting across from him was a Chinese woman in her thirties, and she was holding a squealing child.

The little kid in her arms looked around and suddenly made eye contact with Lu Zhou.

"Mom, this guy looks like the guy on the book!"

This child is cute.

Lu Zhou smiled and reached into his backpack. He then pulled out a piece of gold coin made from chocolate.

The chocolate gold coins at the Nobel Prize dinner were used by the physicists as "chips" for bets.

The Crafoord Prize was similar to the Nobel Prize, and there were also gold coins available. The packaging was different but Lu Zhou could not tell a difference in taste.

He did not immediately give the chocolate away.

The mother patted the back of the little girl and said, "He's a lot older, so call him uncle!"

The little girl tilted her head, "Uncle?"

"Nice, good girl!"

Lu Zhou's smile gradually faded, and he stuffed the chocolate back into his bag.

F*ck sake!

I'm not giving it anymore!

However, the child's unintentional words caught his intention.

After the mother left, Lu Zhou walked up and picked up a magazine from the shop nearby.

He did not expect to see his photo on the cover. It was a good photo.

The photo seemed to be taken at the report… However, he did not remember when he took the photo.

"[Figure]?"

Lu Zhou was interested. He then flipped through the magazine.

Wiles was also in mathematics before. Although this magazine had little to do with mathematics, he was curious about how the public saw him.

When Lu Zhou read the lines of words, he suddenly smiled.

This is too…

[25 most attractive people of 2016]

Among the 25 people, there were athletes, singers, doctors, policemen, and even princesses… There was only one professor, which was him.

He knew that the public thought he was handsome!

Otherwise, why would he be on the cover and not someone else!

Without a doubt, this was logical!

Chapter 254: Triumphant Return

The news traveled faster than the plane. Before Lu Zhou could fly back, the news was already rampant in China.

The first report was naturally the CTV interview.

However, this was different than the previous news broadcasts. This time, CCTV actually treated him as a piece of trending news. They placed him on the main channel and spent one minute broadcasting the Goldbach's conjecture and Crafoord Prize.

Most people who knew about Chen Jingrun's "1+2" was familiar with Goldbach's conjecture. However, most people did not know about the Crafoord Prize.

After all, no one in China had ever won this award, so there was no publicity about it in China. Only people in the industry knew about this award. As for the rest of the people, they had better things to do.

However, now that a Chinese person had won the award, the situation was different.

Fundamental science was a relatively weak area in China compared to applied science. Although a Crafoord Prize was not as significant as a Nobel Prize, it was still quite respected in the field of natural sciences.

The emergence of a distinguished young scholar was enormous for the nation's self-confidence and driving force. Even though the effect could not be seen on paper, it was subtly affecting the entire field.

In the small town of Guangneung, Lu Zhou's family sat around the table while they ate.

The news was playing on TV.

Moreover, it happened to be an interview between Lu Zhou and CTV.

When Xiao Tong heard the familiar voice, she looked up. The moment she saw her brother's face on TV, her eyes suddenly widened.

"F*ck… Bro?!"

"Stop swearing! You're about to go to University. Be more elegant."

Fang Mei criticized Xiao Tong, but she was not very angry because her attention was focused on the TV as well.

As for Lu Bangguo, he was completely stunned. He had even stopped eating.

"This kid… Did he win the Nobel Prize?"

Xiao Tong said, "Dad, are you blind? He won the Crafoord Prize."

"Hey, don't call your dad blind…" Lu Bangguo chided. However, he could not contain the smile on his face.

He stopped eating and went to look for his phone to call his son.

No answer the first time.

The second time, Lu Zhou picked up.

"Hey, you're doing pretty well for yourself. How come you didn't tell us?"

When Lu Zhou heard the familiar voice, he had just got off the plane. He smiled and said, "I wanted to give you guys a surprise."

Lu Zhou felt that it was boring to tell the news over the phone. His dad probably did not even know the difference between the Crafoord Prize and the Nobel Prize. The TV would show his interview anyway, so he wanted to surprise his family.

"I just got off the plane… Someone is calling me, I have to go. I'm going back home in two days anyway."

Lu Bangguo smiled and said, "You're pretty busy, aren't you? Who's calling?"

Lu Zhou, "I think the school, bye."

Lu Zhou was actually right, the phone call was from the University of Jin Ling.

However, it did not matter if he picked up or not. The second he picked up, he saw Dean Qin on the phone as well as several students who were holding a banner at the airport entrance.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou, a mathematics professor at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, who conquered the Goldbach's conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize.]

The banner was so huge that Lu Zhou could not even pretend to not see it.

Also, it was not just Principal Xu and Dean Qin. Lu Zhou even saw Secretary Liu and some people in suits that he had never met.

It did not matter whether they were strangers. As a famous scholar, he had to spend some time dealing with politicians.

Due to Lu Zhou's status was a Crafoord Prize winner, he was heavily promoted by government propaganda. 2 years ago, he was only a potential Fields Medal winner.

As an internationally renowned scholar, many rules did not apply to him.

When Principal Xu saw Lu Zhou, he shook his hand tightly.

"Professor Lu Zhou, you have brought such great glory to the University of Jin Ling and our country. On behalf of all the teachers and students at the University of Jin Ling, thank you!"

Lu Zhou smiled humbly and said, "Principal, you're too kind. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do as a scholar."

Principal Xu was a scholar. Even though he was not in the field of mathematics, he studied information security. As a scholar himself, he knew that Lu Zhou did not want to waste time on the celebration, so he did not linger around the airport for too long.

The principal said a few kind words and introduced Lu Zhou to Secretary Liu and the other city politicians.

There were also two politicians from the province. They were representing his importance to the country.

Not only that, the provincial leaders even leaked a message; that even the central government valued Lu Zhou greatly.

The provincial politicians only smiled and did not give any specifics.

Lu Zhou did not stay at the airport for too long. He quickly got on his personal ride sent by the school.

Dean Qin and Principal Xu were riding along in Lu Zhou's car.

After some small talk, Dean Qin cleared his throat and changed the topic.

"… Here's the deal, after some discussion with our school and department, we want to give you an honorary professor title. Are you interested?"

Honorary professors were different than visiting professors or special professors. The former was only a title, while the latter two had actual work contracts and faculty positions.

With University of Jin Ling's reputation and historical heritage, having a title of honorary professor would definitely be beneficial to Lu Zhou. However, University of Jin Ling's mathematics department was quite weak, which was a bit unfortunate for Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou did not care. After all, University of Jin Ling had taught him so much. He was proud to be a University of Jin Ling alumnus.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, but the process wouldn't take too long, right? I'm going back to Jiangling in a few days."

Xiao Tong was about to take the college entrance examination, so Lu Zhou had to visit her. He would rather sort out the formalities after he got back to America.

He took a month long vacation from Princeton, so he had tons of time.

Dean Qin smiled and said, "It won't take too long. Most of the documents have already been prepared. We can give you the honorary professor certificate after your report!"

Lu Zhou nodded and smiled as he said, "Then, thank you so much."

Chapter 255: Respective Futures

Dorm 201.

After Lu Zhou left, the four-person dorm became a three-person dorm. Although one of their friends was gone, the three students did not feel lonely. Instead, their lives were even richer and more eventful.

If winning the Cole Prize boosted Lu Zhou into the sky, then winning the Crafoord Prize boosted him to the moon. Lu Zhou's status in the eyes of mathematics majors reached a whole new level.

Especially those master's students who watched Lu Zhou go from an undergrad to a master's student, then a PhD. They could not help but feel jealous.

Due to this, every exam there would be people praying to God Lu.

These people would sit in Lu Zhou's chair in his dorm, and muttered some words. Then after a while, once they thought that they have absorbed Lu Zhou's energy, they would happily leave to study.

This kind of ethos was not restricted to the mathematics department as even the computer science department jumped on the bandwagon. This was because some computer science students remembered when Lu Zhou published nine theses at once.

Even though until this day it was still a mystery why Lu Zhou had to published nine computer science theses, there were still computer science majors who were worshiping him.

Therefore, although Lu Zhou had not sat in his chair for a long time, it never collected dust.

Most of his "worshippers" wiped the chair clean.

Since there were so many people coming, Huang Guangming and Shi Shang joked about turning it into a church and taking donations.

Of course, they were only joking.

Suddenly, the dorm room door was pushed open.

A familiar voice came from the door.

"201, your god is back…"

The atmosphere was inexplicably quiet.

Pairs of eyes stared at Lu Zhou and he was almost embarrassed by it.

"Uhh… Is there something on my face?"

He thought that his friends would start bantering with him, but the brothers of Dorm 201 responded weirdly.

Liu Rui, "Liu Rui…"

Huang Guangming, "Zhou."

Shi Shang took a deep breath. He then stood up and with a voice that trembled with excitement, he said, "You came back…"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Don't be so sentimental, I'm almost embarrassed to come in."

The school arranged a five-star hotel for Lu Zhou to stay at. Although he was personally against wasting money on extravagant things, since the school had already booked it, he could not do anything.

However, before going to the hotel, he wanted to get together with his brothers.

After all, he had not seen them in a while.

…

The fish restaurant outside the school.

The waiter brought the grilled fish on the table and looked at Lu Zhou.

Maybe he wondered why Lu Zhou looked familiar to the guy on TV, or maybe he wondered why Lu Zhou came back.

However, he did not say anything. Even though he did not know Lu Zhou's name, but he had grown familiar with him over the past three years.

The food and beer arrived.

Everyone had not seen each other for a long time, so everyone wanted to chat.

Shi Shang asked Lu Zhou about life in Princeton.

After all, Princeton was the holy place in mathematics. Everyone listened intently.

Especially Liu Rui, he had plans for studying abroad for his PhD.

Once Liu Rui finished a bottle of beer, he said emotionally, "Once I graduated, I plan to continue to study."

Lu Zhou, "Applied mathematics?"

"Yes, but not really," said Liu Rui as he shook his head. He paused for a second before saying, "I want to study functional analysis at Yan University."

Lu Zhou, "Functional analysis is a widely used subject. It's applicable both in the real world and laboratories. I also wanted to do research in this area, but I changed to number theory instead. I wish you the best!"

Lu Zhou and Liu Rui toasted.

It was obvious that Liu Rui matured a lot.

Maybe Lu Zhou influenced him subconsciously, or Liu Rui made an effort to change. In short, Liu Rui no longer thought of himself a genius anymore, but he still had a passion for study.

Huang Guangming loved to talk about his life plans.

"I want to do research as well, but I can't do mathematics anymore. I plan on switching majors."

Lu Zhou, "Switching majors?"

"Yeah," said Huang Guangming. He scratched his head and smiled, "I'm pretty good at calculations, but I can't deal with the harder theories. I plan on doing a master's in accounting or something. My family recommended this as well, and they said that this major is popular."

Shi Shang sighed and said, "You're all going into further studies. It seems that I'm the only one graduating."

Lu Zhou asked, "You're not studying?"

Logically, Shi Shang's family had the most money.

"Not studying anymore," said Shi Shang as he shook his head. He smiled, "I'm sick of it. It's time for me to go into the real world. As a man, I have to give Ya Jing a good future."

Ya Jing was Shi Shang's girlfriend. Lu Zhou met her a few times. She was a good girl.

It was obvious that Shi Shang matured emotionally.

Lu Zhou, "You guys plan to get married?"

"Yeah," said Shi Shang as he nodded. He then said in a relaxed tone, "I'll marry after three years. In these three years, I'll put int my best effort to buy a house."

For fresh graduates, it was insanely difficult to buy a house in three years without any help from their parents.

However, Lu Zhou admired Shi Shang's confidence.

Lu Zhou raised his glass and said, "Well I wish you success in your career. Don't forget to send me a wedding invite."

The two toasted and Shi Shang said with a smile, "For sure!"

…

The four friends were up drinking late. Lu Zhou took a taxi to the hotel before he passed out in his room. The next morning, a phone call from Dean Qin woke him up.

He suddenly remembered that he had a report to do in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou took a shower and ate some food at the hotel buffet. He returned to his room and put on his suit. The car that came to pick him up arrived.

A long time ago, the system reward item enhanced his metabolic capacity. Therefore, he was less prone to hangovers.

He wore his suit and walked out of the hotel looking fresh. No one could tell he was out drinking all night yesterday.

Lu Zhou sat in the school's car and arrived at the University of Jin Ling campus. He adjusted his tie and walked into the large auditorium.

The report was naturally on Goldbach's conjecture.

Like Sweden, this auditorium was filled with thousands of people. Lu Zhou had already experienced this before, so he was very calm.

Not only were people from University of Jin Ling present, but there were professors from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Aurora University, Yan University, Shuimu University, and a couple of other universities.

Especially Shuimu University, they almost sent their entire mathematics department.

The report was halfway through and many people from Shuimu were almost in tears.

They could see signs of the large sieve method in the Group Structure Method. They could see their predecessors efforts living in a new theory.

Large sieve method never came to a conclusion or end, like how people thought the ancient Greece method created by Ertosto could not be changed.

The old theories were never outdated. It just needed to make some changes to accommodate new problems.

Chapter 256: Finally Got The Paten

"… Based on the paper published by Professor Zellberg in 1995, I further improved the large sieve theory using topology. Then, in order to expand the Polignac's conjecture, I introduced a group theory method.

"The main step is in the first three lines of the second thesis page. As for some of the group theory foundations, I will explain that later."

Pairs of eyes stared at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou sensed that people were looking at him. He turned the Powerpoint Page and continued to speak.

"We record S1(q,α)=∑e(αm3/q), C1(q,α)=∑e(αm3/q2), brought into Td(n,q)=∑S1(q,αd3) ·|C1(q,αd3)|·e(-an/q)/qψ2(q), the order δd(n)=∑Td(n,q) can be obtained."

"This step is crucial. It comes from the 2013 weak Goldbach's conjecture proof from Helfgott."

"However our goal is different than the circle method. We are not trying to perform Fourier analysis in the number theory function. Instead, we are trying to approximate the distribution of prime numbers."

"Next up is the "Group Structure Method"…"

Actually, Lu Zhou was not the first person to try to integrate the circle method and the large sieve method. Just like he was not the first person to use topology in a number theory problem.

Helfgott had tried similar methods, which were seen in his 2013 thesis.

Although he mainly used the circle method, there were some conclusions that used large sieve method.

In an interview, Helfgott said that the two methods were like two sides of a coin. How one used the methods depended on how one threw the coin.

Since it was the essence of the whole thesis, Lu Zhou carefully explained the core theory of Group Structure Method.

The analytic number theory field in China had made outstanding contributions to the world of number theory. However, since the death of Mr. Hua Luogeng, the entire industry died down. It was like an army without a general.

Although they said academia could be done with no money and status, there was just no fresh blood coming into the field.

Of course, there were other reasons as well. After Old Hua's death, the later generations could not innovate based on Old Hua's theories, and the knowledge output thus stagnated.

If someone wanted to make China's analytical number theory field return to its glory, they would have to add something new.

Lu Zhou hoped that the professors who listened to his report would bring his theory back to the classrooms of Shuimu University, Yan University, and Aurora University.

Reviving an academic field, or building one, could not be done with just one person.

If someone solved a mathematics problem through his theory, he would feel honored.

Lu Zhou believed that the Group Structure Method had more applications than Goldbach's conjecture. Many problems revolving around the prime numbers could be solved with this method.

"… Then we use Bombiere theorem, on page 29 of the powerpoint. Then through this crucial step, we get the last expression.]

[Px(1,1)≥P(x,x^{1/16})-(1/2)∑Px(x,p,x)-Q/2-x^(log4)...(30)]

From here, the formula was no different than Mr. Chen's thesis.

The Group Structure Method was derived from the large sieve method.

At last, it came full circle.

"… From the equation (30), Lemma 8, Lemma 9, Lemma 10, we can finally prove the theorem 1, that is, the Goldbach's theorem."

The moment Lu Zhou finished speaking, applause filled the auditorium.

Lu Zhou bowed toward the professor and scholars. He then turned around and quietly walked off stage.

Backstage…

In the lounge, Lu Zhou saw Professor Feng Keqin from Shuimu university. He was one of Hua Luogeng's closest disciple.

The old man's eyes were a little red. He took a deep breath and spoke in a steady tone, "Your speech and thesis were shocking… Thank you!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said humbly, "You're too kind. I have read your introduction to algebraic number theory textbook at the library of the University of Jin Ling. It greatly inspired me."

"I wrote that book a long time ago, but I can't keep up with the times anymore," said Professor Feng with a smile. He then looked at Lu Zhou as he said sincerely, "Actually, I'm writing a textbook on number theory. Your speech has inspired me, and I want to write the contents of your speech into the textbook… Is that okay?"

Writing a textbook was a very time-consuming thing. It required a large consumption of documents and research.

Most people would not write textbooks until they were very old, and could not do research anymore. Lu Zhou would never want to write a textbook.

However, someone had to write the textbooks.

Lu Zhou agreed immediately.

"Of course you can."

…

The next day in the same auditorium, Lu Zhou received a PhD from the University of Jin Ling and the title of honorary professor.

As a result, his journey at the University of Jin Ling had finally come to an end.

However, before Lu Zhou departed on his new journey, he had one more important thing to do.

Before he went to Stockholm, he received a call from his patent agent. The patent agent, Han Tianyu, told him that the patent documents had been processed, and asked Lu Zhou when he could collect them.

Lu Zhou made an appointment and found the patent agent called Han Tianyu. From Han Tianyu, Lu Zhou obtained the international patent authorization documents.

Therefore, he had obtained patents from most major countries.

His patents basically covered 80% of the global market. If someone used his technology, he would benefit from the product.

As for some of the smaller countries, Lu Zhou was not interested in applying for a patent there.

Since most of them were developing third world countries, Lu Zhou could always apply later.

Maybe by then, he would have come up with another better and more improved technology.

"The next step is to write a thesis and promote this technology," said Lu Zhou as he looked at the patent documents. He then said, "Chemistry… I'll have to depend on you to make money."

He made up his mind.

Once he was done with his vacation, he would start writing the thesis back at Princeton.

It was not only for money. It was because a fat mission reward was waiting for him.

After I finish writing the thesis, should I post it in Science or Nature?

This is a question worth considering.

Chapter 257: Preparing For An Interview

After finishing his duties in Jin Ling, Lu Zhou returned to his hometown by train. He reunited with his family and taught Xiao Tong some techniques to score in the exams.

After all, Lu Zhou got into the University of Jin Ling with his own abilities. Although he did not know much about liberal arts, he still knew some exam techniques.

He could not help her gain marks, but at least he could prevent her from losing marks.

The rest was up to Xiao Tong.

It was soon June 7th.

This was a happy day for some and a sad day for others.

Lu Zhou wore a raincoat and rode a bicycle. He passed through the rain and stopped in front of high school.

"We're here, get off."

Xiao Tong was under the raincoat. She stepped off the bicycle and carefully avoided the puddles.

"Brother…"

"Do your best," said Lu Zhou as he looked at his poor sister. He patted her head and said, "I'll wait here for you."

Xiao Tong nodded and strengthened herself mentally.

"Okay! I'll try my best!"

She opened up the umbrella and walked toward her school in the rain.

"Remember to double check!"

Xiao Tong disappeared in the pouring rain. Lu Zhou could not help but smirk.

When he was in high school, Xiao Tong was in middle school.

There were only two bicycles in the house. One was for his father and the other one was for him.

Every day, Lu Zhou would send Xiao Tong to school. That was until he left for college, and Xiao Tong started to ride by herself.

Lu Zhou did not notice that his sister was growing up so fast.

Maybe it was a good thing that he left for college.

Xiao Tong could not always depend on her brother. She would not have matured so quickly if Lu Zhou was always by her side.

"Do your best."

Lu Zhou stood under the bicycle tent and took out his phone.

He agreed that he would wait under this tent until Xiao Tong was done with her exams.

He looked at the time. There was still half an hour before the exam began.

Lu Zhou was yawning when he suddenly received a WeChat message.

Meng Qi: [Teacher! Please, I'm about to go inside, I'm so nervous. Can you wish me good luck? ._.]

When Lu Zhou saw this message, he smiled and typed a reply.

[Do your best! I hope your dreams come true!]

He then sent it.

Meng Qi did not respond.

Just when Lu Zhou thought she had gone into the exam room, he suddenly received a reply.

It was only one sentence.

[Thank you!!!]

…

The college entrance examination ended smoothly.

Xiao Tong was confident to get 590, maybe even a 600 if she got lucky. It all depended on the exam marker. After all, the liberal arts were very subjective.

After the exam, Lu Zhou and Xiao Tong did some research.

According to the 2015 University of Jin Ling entrance scores, 600 was not enough for quantitative majors, but it was enough for liberal arts majors.

Regardless, Xiao Tong first major life event was finally over.

After her exam, she completely changed her lifestyle. She would lay on the sofa playing Mobile Legends all day. She was even too lazy to hang out with her friends.

Sometimes, Lu Zhou would look at his sister and reminisce.

Being young is nice…

After she goes to university, she will find out that these two months are the happiest months in her life.

Xiao Tong turned over and saw her brother looking intently at the computer screen.

"Brother, if only I had a big brain like you…"

Lu Zhou could tell that she just lost a game.

"I'm not all brains. Many things are practiced through hard work."

He remembered that his score was only 640 something. Although it did not rank high in the state, for a small school like Jiangling High, it was pretty nutty.

After Xiao Tong lost again, she tossed her phone and sat up from the sofa. She stood next to Lu Zhou and looked at the computer, "Brother, what are you playing?"

Lu Zhou glanced at her, "Organizing interview materials."

Xiao Tong tilted her head and asked, "Interview?"

"Yeah," said Lu Zhou as he nodded. He then added, "The new semester in Princeton is about to begin. I'm already a professor now, so I have to take at least one student."

Strictly speaking, most of Princeton's offers were sent out in March and April. It was already June, so most of the students that received an offer were already planning to move in.

However, there were exceptions. Some professors who had not found any students would post their information on the website of the Admissions Office. Therefore, there were still some students that enrolled at a different time.

When Lu Zhou posted his information on the Princeton admissions website, his email was filled with letters.

Most of the letters were from students.

They were trying to make connections with Lu Zhou.

Most of the letters had horrible CVs, and there were almost no academic achievements.

However, judging from these letters, a lot of students were interested in Lu Zhou's research. Especially after he proved Goldbach's conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize, the interest toward him exploded.

Some people even tried to make connections a year in advance.

Thankfully, Xiao Ai helped him. As his assistant, it identified letters that were not related to enrollment and threw them in the trash can.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou did not want to get the leftover students. He would rather wait until August and interview people for the spring semester.

However, his office was too empty. It was too shabby.

Lu Zhou decided that he had to find at least two students, and familiarize himself with the work of professors.

Xiao Tong tilted her head and asked, "Can you interview at home?"

Lu Zhou said, "Of course you can. Many supervisors use Skype for interviews. The busy supervisors would even interview on the phone. Unless the supervisor was stubborn, most of them didn't need to interview face to face."

The interview was mainly a way for supervisors to get a deeper understanding of the student. After all, many qualities could not be reflected on paper.

Xiao Tong looked the resumes with Lu Zhou. Her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh, the girl with long hair is so pretty. I think she's good, just pick her!"

Lu Zhou nearly spat his water out.

"You think this is Tinder?!"

Xiao Tong was confused, "Then how are you going to choose?"

"Set a lower limit for academic grades, then look at resumes. The good ones get an interview, the bad ones get deleted, simple as that. Go go go. Go and play. Don't bother my work," said Lu Zhou as he waved his hand.

"Oh, selfish!"

Xiao Tong made a funny face and left.

Chapter 258: What Kind Of Students Are Needed

Lu Zhou flipped through a few resumes and found out just how competitive America Universities were.

Ten resumes in a row and not a single of them had a GPA lower than 3.7. That was an A!

If it was in China, a 3.5 would be considered a genius.

Even though dumb students did not dare to apply to Princeton, these resumes were almost too good.

It was like inflation. If everyone had high marks, no one had high marks…

Since academic grades did not mean anything, Lu Zhou could only look at other achievements.

Students with thesis writing experience and research experience were preferred. Lu Zhou did not care about social work, sports, and recommendation letters. Despite most American professors caring about these things, Lu Zhou had his own way of judging.

Finally, after some consideration, he picked out ten resumes. All of the candidates were well rounded.

He liked Vera Pulyuy from Berkeley the most.

An IMO gold medalist was worthy of any university. He briefly talked with this girl at Berkeley before and had a good impression of her.

However, Lu Zhou had not expected her to finish her undergrad at such a young age.

Maybe she was the next Tao Zhexuan?

Interestingly, one of her three recommendation letters were from Tao Zhexuan, who taught as a professor at the University of California.

In short, Lu Zhou kept this resume.

Since it was Lu Zhou's first time, he planned to recruit three master's students. Then each semester he would decide if he wanted to recruit more. It was a nuisance to have students at different stages of research.

One of the spots were given to IMO gold medalist Vera, so there were two more remaining spots for the nine resumes.

In order to prevent Xiao Tong from annoying him, Lu Zhou arranged all of his interviews in the morning.

Xiao Tong never woke up early.

Before noon?

Impossible.

The first round of interviews was mainly for Chinese students. He would definitely recruit at least one Chinese student. If he could, he would have given this spot to his schoolmates from the University of Jin Ling, but the timing did not work out.

Lu Zhou opened Skype and began the first interview.

The first interviewee called him at the pre-arranged time.

A young lady with bangs and round glasses appeared on the computer screen. She looked beautiful and elegant, but that was not the main point.

Lu Zhou looked at her resume and cleared his throat.

"Liang Shuyu, right?"

Liang Shuyu smiled. She was not intimidated by Lu Zhou. She nodded and said, "Yes!"

Lu Zhou, "What do you plan on doing after graduation."

Liang Shuyu said, "I plan on doing a PhD. After that, I want to do scientific research. I want to contribute to the world of science…"

Lu Zhou looked at the bottom right corner of his computer. He noticed that she spoke for exactly three minutes.

Lu Zhou looked at her strangely and asked, "Then, why did you choose number theory?"

With no surprise, he received a standard answer.

"I read Mr. Hua Luogeng's "Theory of Prime numbers", and Joseph H. Silverman's "Introduction to Number Theory". Since college, I have been interested in number theory. After I saw that you solved Goldbach's conjecture on TV, and received the Crafoord Prize, I felt very excited. From that moment onwards, I made up my mind to follow you and to explore the mystery of prime numbers."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed at this ass kissing. He then said, "Then briefly explain the Group Structure Method…"

If you worship me this much, this should be easy.

However, something awkward happened.

The lady was stunned at this question.

However, she responded quickly. She muttered some stuff but did not hit the major points.

Clearly, she came well prepared and acted like she was very interested in Lu Zhou. However, she did not really get into Lu Zhou's work.

This was not a big deal. If she knew all of Lu Zhou's theories, Lu Zhou would not have anything to teach her.

However, one of Lu Zhou's requirements in students was honesty.

He wanted students that were genuine and sincere.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart. He then smiled warmly and said, "It's fine if you don't know. Some things are esoteric. It might be difficult for you. Let's end this here. I'll tell you the result in a week."

Liang Shuyu's eyes lit up. She thought she had a chance, so she smiled and said, "Thank you, professor."

The video call ended.

Lu Zhou drew a cross on her resume and placed it aside.

There was no chance.

The interviewee reminded him of President Lin from the Student Union.

Although he did not hate President Lin, he did not want to have someone like her in his laboratory.

As for her master's degree motive, Lu Zhou guessed that she wanted to come to Princeton and pad her qualifications. After that, she would return to China and join the Thousand People Initiative.

Honestly, Lu Zhou wanted to say, "If you're going to play the political route, then go and become a politician. Don't come to me."

There were very few Chinese professors are Princeton, so this spot was valuable!

Lu Zhou took a few minutes to rest before he started the second interview.

This interviewee was a guy.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou did not receive a single application from a student of the University of Jin Ling.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said, "Qin Yue, right?"

Qin Yue quickly nodded and nervously said, "Yes!"

Lu Zhou looked at Qin Yue's nervous face and knew why he was leftover.

Honesty was the first element in an interview. However, just being honest was not enough. Interviewing also required the ability to express one's talents.

Otherwise, they could not even do a presentation report on stage. It would be a waste of time to train them.

However, Lu Zhou decided to give him a chance, mainly because his academic grades were pretty good.

What was rare was that this guy published a thesis as an undergraduate student. Although it was an average thesis, for an undergraduate student, it was pretty impressive.

Lu Zhou said, "Introduce yourself."

Qin Yue sat up straight as he said nervously, "I'm Qin Yue, 23 years old…"

Although he stuttered at first, he got better by the end. Lu Zhou then asked a few technical questions to test knowledge in the number theory.

In general, this guy was a very talented student and a good character. Even though Lu Zhou thought that he was a little shy, that confidence could be built.

When Lu Zhou saw that the time was nearly up, he said, "Let's end the interview here. I'll email you the result in a week."

When Qin Yue heard Lu Zhou, he felt relieved. He then nodded and thanked Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at Qin Yue's bitter smile and thought that Qin Yue did not even have hope in himself.

After Lu Zhou ended the video call, his pen hovered on Qin Yue's resume.

Should I keep him?

In the end, he did not draw a cross. He simply wrote a line of comment and placed the resume aside.

There were still so many candidates. He wanted to choose after interviewing everyone.

Chapter 259: Gravitational Waves

Time quickly passed.

In late June, the college entrance examination results were released.

The whole family gathered around the computer. Xiao Tong was worried and it showed on her face.

It was like they were watching the Super Bowl.

Xiao Tong looked nervous as she turned to her brother for help.

"Brother…"

Lu Zhou patted her shoulder and said calmly, "Don't be scared, you weren't scared when turning your paper in, why would you be scared to receive it?"

"What…"

Xiao Tong hesitated for a bit. She then took a deep breath and entered her candidate number.

The score appeared on the screen.

Xiao Tong froze immediately.

It was not because it was lower than her expectations.

But because…

620!

Xiao Tong screamed out loud in excitement.

"Brother! I got a 620!"

"Nicely done, sis."

When Lu Zhou saw this score, he nodded with approval as he sincerely felt happy for his sister.

The 2016 liberal arts minimum entrance score was 520, and she was 100 points above the minimum.

Although it was not high enough for Yan University, it was definitely enough for the University of Jin Ling.

"Haha, good job daughter," said Lu Bangguo as he patted Xiao Tong's head. He then laughed and said, "I'm going to buy alcohol."

Fang Mei looked at him and said, "Drinking in the morning… Are you still going into the office?"

Lu Bangguo said, "I'm not going, I took today off!"

Both of his children were admitted to the university. He felt like he was at the top of the world. How could he not drink on this happy day?

The only thing was that Lu Zhou had been overseas for so long, but still did not bring a partner back.

Old Lu wanted to have a grandson!

It was like an early Christmas in the family.

Lu Bangguo was still ecstatic the next day, and he proposed to have a celebration feast with his friends and family.

However, Xiao Tong did not want to waste money, so he had to give up on the idea.

At night, Lu Zhou organized the interview schedule for tomorrow. As he looked at his sister who was laying on the couch, he asked, "Did you think about what major you want to apply to?"

Xiao Tong put down her phone and seriously thought about his questions before she answered.

"I know!"

Lu Zhou, "Yeah?"

Xiao Tong nodded and said firmly, "I'm going to major in finance!"

Finance was part of the liberal arts department at the University of Jin Ling. Although it needed a certain mathematical foundation, as long as one did not go into financial research, it would not require too much mathematics.

The most valuable thing was that Xiao Tong made up her own mind without help from her brother.

Lu Zhou was proud of her.

Lu Zhou nodded with approval and said, "It's good to have a direction. Can you explain what finance is?"

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up and she said, "Finance sounds like it has to do with money!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

What are you talking about…

Did you do any research at all?

Finance obviously has something to do with money!

Lu Zhou said, "Actually alchemy is a good major as well. It has to do with gold."

Xiao Tong was confused and she asked, "Really?"

Lu Zhou said, "Kidding."

Xiao Tong: "…"

…

Some people were happy, some people were sad. That was the reality of the college entrance examination.

Students gathered in the computer room of Jinling High School.

Back then, you had to fill in the college application form, then the school would enter it online for you. However, the students could enter the college application form themselves now.

Han Mengqi looked at the computer screen and bit her lips. She did not move the mouse for a long time.

Fortunately, she got an A for both of her two science subjects. She got above the minimum requirements for the University of Jin Ling.

Normally, her score would be good enough, but it would depend on how many people applied for it.

Mathematics…

University of Jin Ling's mathematics department isn't very strong…

Not a lot of people will apply right…

Han Mengqi gulped. She made up her mind and applied to University of Jin Ling mathematics department.

As for the option to accept other majors, she did not want to accept, but in the end, she checked the box.

"I hope I get in…"

The girl closed her eyes and clenched her fists as she prayed silently.

…

Lu Zhou stayed in China until July. It was about time his vacation ended.

Although he wanted to wait until Xiao Tong's college acceptance letter, it was very troublesome to extend his vacation. Plus he had some stuff to take care of in America, so he did not want to stay for long.

After a 12-hour flight, Lu Zhou finally arrived back at the small town of Princeton.

For most American students, it was still summer vacation. Their vacation would last until the end of August.

However, for master's students, their summer vacation time depended on their supervisors.

In some sense, American supervisors had much more power than Chinese supervisors. American supervisors could expel the master's students. In China, only the university had the right to expel students.

There was a different power dynamic.

Lu Zhou obviously was not going to be like those heartless supervisors, but he would not be chill either.

His requirements for his three master's students was for them to arrive at school before 15th July. If there were visa issues, he could extend the time to August.

Before Lu Zhou could assign them jobs, he had to meet with them face to face.

Lu Zhou placed his luggage in his apartment and went to the Institute for Advanced Study.

As he walked upstairs, he bumped into Edward Witten. Edward was surprised to see Lu Zhou.

"My friend, you are finally back."

Lu Zhou was confused by Witten's welcome and he asked, "What happened?"

Edward Witten smiled and only said two words.

"Gravitational waves."

When Lu Zhou heard the words, he finally realized what Witten said.

In February 2016, the researchers of the LIGO project team announced that they had successfully detected gravitational wave signals from the merger of two black holes using LIGO's two detectors.

The related thesis was recently published on arXiv, and it was being reviewed by theoretical physicists around the world.

Although Lu Zhou was on vacation for the past month, he was not completely out of touch with the academic community. He had always paid attention to new theses on arXiv.

Even though not every thesis on arXiv was useful, if the number of thesis in a certain field suddenly increased, that meant something had happened.

It was like the 750 GeV last year, the trending topic this year was gravitational waves.

Lu Zhou was somewhat envious as he said, "It's an amazing discovery…"

Compared to his "insignificant" 750 Gev discovery, gravitational waves was undoubtedly more shocking.

"Yeah, it's enviable," said Witten emotionally.

The detection of gravitational waves filled in the last piece of the puzzle in Einstein's general theory of relativity.

If Einstein was still alive, he would definitely earn another Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery.

After all, he won the Nobel Prize because he explained the photoelectric effect and not because of the general theory of relativity.

However, this was obviously not possible anymore. Since 1974, the Nobel Prize Committee ruled that Nobel Prizes were only for living people.

Witten had the most emotion toward gravitational waves.

The experiment was done 100 years after the theory was invented. If the same happened with string theory, he would never see a string theory experiment in his lifetime.

There was no doubt that the next Nobel Prize in Physics was going to MIT's Rainer Weiss and his collaborators.

After all, the discovery of gravitational waves would be engraved in human history.

Witten cleared his throat and said, "LIGO invited me to help them do data analysis on the gravitational waves experiment. I'm guessing that since you don't have a research project right now, are you interested in joining my research project? If you're interested, I can get my students to book flights for you right now."

Lu Zhou thought about it for a second. He then rejected this tempting proposal and said, "Gravitational waves aren't within the scope of my research. Unfortunately, I can't help you. I'm going to get pretty busy over the next few days."

The reward mission from the system gave him a lot of freedom, but it would be more efficient if he allocated his time toward materials science.

The reward mission was more valuable than the gravitational waves research project.

Even though the gravitational waves sounded significant, the number of experience points might be less than 10,000.

Witten said, "Materials science?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yes."

Witten sighed and said, "Okay then, it seems that you already have plans. I wish you good luck."

Chapter 260: Nature Submission

Although Princeton's chemistry major was not as famous as its physics or mathematical physics, it still ranked in Top 15 in the world. Its organic chemistry major was ranked even slightly higher.

In 2011, after the Frick Chemistry Laboratory was built, it was considered one of the best chemical laboratories in the country. Although it was no match for MIT, it still had decent equipment.

People often think that Princeton did not have nutty laboratories, but this was a misunderstanding. As part of the Ivy League, Princeton's alumni association was well funded. This could be observed from Lu Zhou's $400,000 USD per year salary.

From Witten, Lu Zhou met Professor Paul J. Chirik.

Although this professor looked very young, he was one of the big names in the field of organic chemistry. This year, he just won a Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his Science thesis.

Goldbach's conjecture was famous in the field of number theory. In the field of organic synthesis, there were similar famous problems as well, like the "2+2" problem.

The problem of cycloaddition reaction for olefins was very common in organic synthesis. The well known Diels Alder[4π+2π] cycloaddition reaction formed a six-membered ring from diene (4π) and olefin (2π) under thermal conditions.

However, another seemingly simple reaction of cycloaddition for [2π+2π] olefins formed a cyclobutane ring, this was not actually that simple. Due to the limitation of orbital symmetry, this reaction often required photochemical reaction conditions to activate, but this reaction pathway tended to be inefficient and poor specificities.

Professor Chirik, in his 2015 Science thesis, proposed a new way to solve this problem. He proposed using iron catalysts to convert simple olefins to cyclobutane structures under mild heating conditions.

Apparently, the industry was extremely interested in this technology. This professor's patents brought him millions of dollars in dividends.

When Professor Chirik learned that Lu Zhou was interested in computational materials science, he immediately showed a strong interest in Lu Zhou and invited him to visit his laboratory.

In a magical place of Princeton, many professors from other disciplines were attracted to mathematics and physics. However, not many top mathematics professors were willing to research other things, even though mathematics did not make much money.

"The discipline of computing materials is emerging. Many people in this area have gone to Silicon Valley to do chip processing. Speaking of which, why are you interested in this area?" asked Professor Chirik as he gave Lu Zhou a cup of coffee and invited him to sit down.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Because mathematics is an interesting thing. I intend to shine the light of mathematics onto other fields, not just on the tower of number theory."

Professor Chirik leaned back in his chair. He smiled and said, "Your viewpoint is very unique. Whenever I would argue with professors from the Institute of Advanced Studies, they would tell me that mathematics should be pure."

"And they're right, mathematics is pure. But in my opinion, tools derived from pure research can be used to solve other problems," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He paused for a second before he then said, "Actually, before I came to America, I participated in a similar research project. However, I was too busy so I couldn't continue. So in order to complete my research, I would like to borrow some equipment."

It was actually mainly for thesis writing. He had already registered the patent for the design method of the product. He even completed numerous experiments in the University of Jin Ling laboratory.

However, he was not a Princeton professor. He had to do the experiments again to gain credibility for his thesis. Materials science was different than mathematics, and experiments must be referenced in the thesis.

If he used a year-old data, from the other side of the Pacific, it could look like he was fabricating data and he would fail the peer review. This was because the peer reviewers did not do experiments themselves, so they had rigorous checks on the results of the experiment.

After all, it was not like Lu Zhou could ask the reviewers to do experiments for him.

All of the reviews were based on the preface that the thesis writer was honest, and was backed by his or her academic reputation. Sometimes, a thesis would pass submission but would be noticed by peers, then finally retracted by the journal.

This type of situation was most common in biology because many biology experiments were subjective and biased.

When Professor Chirik saw the list of equipment that Lu Zhou had in mind, he generously opened his drawer.

He knew that none of the equipment that Lu Zhou listed were anything dangerous, so he was confident to hand Lu Zhou the keys.

"It's fine! Take it. Just be careful when doing experiments."

Lu Zhou put the key in his pocket. He then smiled and said, "I promise you that I'll leave your laboratory looking the same."

"No, I'm telling you not to hurt yourself," said Chirik. He smiled and said, "I'd rather you break the equipment than yourself. Otherwise, the people from the Institute of Advanced Studies would fire me."

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "I definitely won't."

He then said goodbye.

…

Lu Zhou had already done the experiment before, so repeating it again was easy.

He just had to get used to the design test process, collecting data, labeling material, and even the time and location of the experiment.

Strictly speaking, this was Lu Zhou's first time writing a materials science thesis.

Although strictly speaking, he had submitted an SCI materials design thesis, but that thesis was nothing more than an applied mathematics thesis. It was about mathematical modeling and calculation of the ratio of cement materials and carbon nanotube materials. It did not actually involve an experiment.

However, many things were connected.

As long as Lu Zhou learned the format, writing the thesis was not anything difficult.

He was up for two days doing the experiment. On the third day, he slept until the afternoon. Once he woke up, he sat at his desk and began writing his thesis on his computer.

[Title: A Polydimethylsilane Stabilized Interface Film for High-Performance Lithium Battery Anodes]

[Abstract: This paper uses polydimethylsilane raw material, through the etching of hydrofluoric acid, to obtain an improved polydimethylsiloxane nanoporous film, which is coated on the surface of the negative electrode material by spin coating. Through SEM electron microscopy, it was found that the PDMS film has a nanopore structure, which can provide an effective transmission channel for lithium ions and effectively inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites…]

Lu Zhou looked at the beginning of his thesis and nodded with satisfaction.

For this sensational invention, he could write more exaggerated points. However, it was not good to appear cocky toward the reviewers.

Not to mention, since he was new in the field of materials science, he did not know if the people in materials science would acknowledge him.

After Lu Zhou wrote the title and abstract, he began to write the body.

This was different than writing mathematics theses. Whenever Lu Zhou entered his mathematics formulas into LaTex, he would often reconsider if the "trivial" parts were actually "trivial".

However, for materials science theses, as long as one understood the experiment data, the thesis writing would go smoothly.

Lu Zhou spent three days finishing the thesis. He double checked the whole thing and did not find any major problems.

As for the choice of journal submission, after careful consideration, he chose Nature's Nature Chemistry journal as his target. It had an impact factor of 25.87.

For this kind of professional thesis, it was better to submit to a mainstream journal, rather than a science-focused journal.

Apparently, the Nature journal had a submission fail rate of 90%. This meant that only one in ten people passed submission.

Even with this fail rate, Lu Zhou decided to challenge himself.

He logged onto the submission website, filled in his personal details, and clicked upload.

Lu Zhou thought about that 20 plus impact factor, and could not help but smile.

Without a doubt, this was the highest impact factor journal he has ever submitted to.

However, Lu Zhou could not help but frown.

He did not know why, but he felt…

Did he take a loss somehow?

Chapter 261: Being A Professor

After all, this was one of the top journals in the world. Every manuscript they received had to undergo scrutinized review.

Although the majority of these theses would be heading for the garbage bin, some of them were excellent.

Suddenly, Kevin, who was reading the manuscripts, shouted.

"Unbelievable… Someone solved lithium dendrites?!"

Kevin's voice caught the attention of his colleague.

Kerryman, who was holding a cup of coffee, stood up and walked next to Kevin's computer. He looked at the screen and pushed his glasses as he said, "I can't believe it… If this is real, the battery industry would undergo a technological revolution."

This statement was not an exaggeration.

Right now, the technical bottleneck restricting lithium batteries was the problem of lithium dendrites. This was applicable in a portable bomb or a high-performance battery. The problem was who could solve the "silver fork" that pierced the diaphragm. Although it was only a small negative electrode material, its application was insanely broad.

Of course, the premise was that this thesis was true.

The format of the thesis didn't have any problems, the writing also didn't have any mistakes. This type of research experiment was definitely in-line with Nature submissions. But the problem was that this experiment was almost "too high tech". Everyone was studying how to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites, but this guy solved this problem completely?

Kerryman stood behind Kevin and asked, "What do you think about this?"

Kevin frowned and said, "I don't know. The thesis itself doesn't seem to have any problems. It's definitely a breakthrough in the research of lithium batteries, but… I can't make a definitive conclusion based on the thesis itself."

Kerryman said, "The writer is from Princeton."

Kevin sighed and said, "I know, he's a mathematics professor. Not long ago he won the Crafoord Prize. However, I did some research and only found one material science thesis that he wrote."

Kerryman paused for a second. He then said, "Professor Lu Zhou's academic reputation is high, so I think he wouldn't make any mistakes."

Kevin asked, "Then your suggestion is?"

Kerryman said, "My suggestion is that if the thesis doesn't have any problems, and it meets the requirements of our journal, then we should just throw it to the peer reviewers. If the experts think there's no problem, then we should be fine."

It was not like the journal was personally responsible.

Kevin said, "Then who do you think is appropriate?"

"MIT professor Moungi G Bawendi. He's well versed in battery research. I think he's a good choice," said Kerryman. He paused for a second before he continued, "Since he reviewed Lu Zhou's previous materials science thesis, I think his opinion is crucial."

Kevin thought for a bit. He could not come up with a better idea.

"Then… We'll just go with your suggestion."

…

Lu Zhou was relieved to hear this news.

At least his thesis was not like 90% of people, where they were rejected for "not in line with reader's interest", or "not enough innovation".

Although Nature was a good choice, there were many other organic chemistry journals that Lu Zhou could consider. However, Lu Zhou's objective was to promote his new technology, so in this regard, there was no other journal that had the same level of impact as Nature.

Now that the thesis was in the hands of professionals, it should be a lot easier. Lu Zhou believed that his peers would give his thesis a fair evaluation.

Time quickly passed.

The 15th of July had finally arrived.

As per Lu Zhou's request, his three master's students arrived on Princeton grounds.

The three students were Vera Pulyuy from Berkeley, Qin Yue from China, and Hardy Clive from Columbia University.

Lu Zhou already had an impression of Vera, and she did not change much from when he met her in Berkeley. She was still small, but a strong girl.

Qin Yue was the same. He had a pair of square glasses and was very polite, but not very extroverted. However, Lu Zhou recognized his mathematics ability and talent because he had already tested his mathematics ability during the interview.

As for the Brazilian guy named Hardy, his mathematics ability was inferior to Hardy and Vera, but he was still talented.

Lu Zhou developed different requirements and training plans for each of them.

There were not many supervisors who were as responsible as him.

Lu Zhou spent the entire afternoon helping the three students sort out their accommodation and enrollment. Then he brought them to his office and started planning their work for next month.

"Your talents and abilities are good, but you guys are a long way from my requirements."

Lu Zhou paid careful attention to them when he said this. None of the students expressed dissent. Someone even looked at him with worship.

He cleared his throat and continued, "… Before September, I won't let you guys touch my research project. Because at your level, the most you can do for my project is to make me coffee. I'll arrange learning tasks for you guys. If some of you can pass the August test, then I'll allow you to join my research project…"

"… This research project will accompany you throughout your master's studies. I'm not asking you to complete it, but you must show results. At least, your results must be worthy of Annual Mathematics. Of course, I'll help and research with you guys, but the main work has to be done by you. I'll only provide guidance and ideas."

Lu Zhou learned this speech from Professor Lu.

However, Princeton had Princeton standards.

During the interview, Lu Zhou reminded them that he would not let them cruise through their master's. Every day would be fulfilling.

Qin Yue asked, "What if someone doesn't pass the test?"

You had to pass the test if you wanted to join the project. If you did not pass, it meant that you could not graduate?

Studying abroad was a rare opportunity, so Qin Yue naturally was concerned about this problem.

Lu Zhou said, "Then you would have to study and make coffee for me until you pass the test, but I think you should be more confident. The reason I chose you guys, is because I think you guys can meet my requirements."

Compared to Qin Yue, Hardy was a little cocky. He was not even worried about the test. Instead, he asked, "Professor, what is the project about?"

Of course, Lu Zhou did not reveal the project directly. He only smiled.

"It's related to hail."

Chapter 262: God Is Also Indecisive

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, materials science laboratory.

Professor Moungi Bawendi sat in front of his office desk and was leisurely drinking a coffee while he browsed new theses on arXiv.

He was one of the leading persons in nanochemistry.

Not long ago, he published his research paper on PBS quantum dot thin film solar cells in the ACS-Nano journal. This attracted widespread attention from various Silicon Valley companies.

Although this technology was far from being implemented, it had great potential.

A lot of people said that he was close to a Nobel Prize. Once the quantum dot technology was commercialized, the Nobel Prize would be his.

However, it could be 10 or 20 years later. The industry would accept this technology slowly and they would first implement them on displays. After that, it would change the face of the semiconductor industry.

However, even though he might be far from commercialization, he had already owned four companies through said technology. Most professors were worried about their research funding, but he was already a CEO.

Suddenly, he received an email from Nature.

"Lithium dendrites?"

When Professor Bawendi opened the email, he raised his eyebrows with interest.

He rubbed his chin and said to his assistant, "Ladis, bring me a sandwich."

"Okay, professor!"

The beautiful woman in a white coat got up and walked outside. She soon came back with a bacon sandwich.

Professor Bawendi sat in front of the computer and eat his breakfast while he continued to read the email.

Honestly speaking, he did not believe that someone solved the lithium dendrites problem.

Although he was not in lithium batteries research, the people in his research team had studied it, so he knew a little about it.

UK's Oxis energy and America's Sion Battery were at the forefront of battery research, and they had not made any special progress. Samsung had been registering patents as always, but they had not made any big announcements.

The only progress was last year when an MIT professor found that fixing sulfur in mesoporous carbon materials and combined with special electrolytes could inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites.

However, it turned out that it was only a misunderstanding. The lithium dendrites problem was not that easy to solve. Otherwise, IBM would not have cut their investment in supercomputers lithium dendrites research.

If this thesis was written by anyone else, Professor Bawendi would have thrown it away. The author was interesting. Although he was not famous in the field of materials science, he was a Princeton mathematics professor.

"Improving the 'breathability' of the negative electrode material through the PDMS material film, and inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites… This is not a novel idea. The performance on the SEM electron micrograph is surprising, and it doesn't look fake…"

"Computational materials science can do this? I've never heard of it before."

The image of the negative electrode material of the several charges and discharge cycles showed that the negative electrode material located under the PDMS film did not form the deadly white trees, but instead it formed a layer of mossy pleats layer by layer.

Then there was the discharge process. Since the surface of the entire negative electrode material was a layer of undulating moss-like folds, there was no so-called tip region, and after the discharge was finished, there was no large amount of dead lithium residue on the electrode.

If these results were accurate, then there was no doubt the results would be groundbreaking.

The only downside was that these folds would also affect battery life and performance. However, compared to the lithium dendrites bottleneck, the downsides were negligible.

Professor Bawendi tapped his finger on the table and started to think.

Professor Bawendi thought for a long time. Suddenly, he said, "Ladis, I will send an experiment report to your email. Ask Issac to do it according to the report. Remember to tell him that this is his experiment of the week."

"Okay, professor."

Done.

Professor Bawendi smirked.

Issac was his master's student, who researched battery technology.

The experiment was not difficult. It would take Issac three days to complete.

Although generally, the reviewer was not responsible for doing the experiments, Bawendi was curious.

Anyway, since he had the equipment, the material would not cost much.

If Lu Zhou really solved the problem of lithium dendrites, then Bawendi would be witnessing history.

…

While Lu Zhou's Nature thesis was in peer review, it was not as if he did nothing.

Once again he called his three master's students to his office and gave everyone a book list.

The book list was not long, only six books.

He asked them to thoroughly understand the contents of the books within a month and a half.

By then, he would give them a test based on the contents of the six textbooks.

For a newly undergrad student, this was not an impossible task. A lot of the content was taught in undergrad, just at a shallow level.

And now Lu Zhou wanted them to dive deep into the topics.

They would have to pay a little blood, sweat, and tears to join Lu Zhou's project.

It was foreseeable that their summer would be very fulfilling.

Lu Zhou was sitting in his office writing an opening report when he suddenly received a phone call from China.

Xiao Tong excitedly screamed in the phone.

"Brother! I got it!"

When Lu Zhou heard Lu Xiaotong's excited voice, he smiled.

"Congratulations!"

Xiao Tong said, "Brother, can I ask for one thing?"

Lu Zhou said generously, "Say it, what gift do you want? I'll mail it to you."

Xiao Tong shook his head and said, "I don't want a gift. I want to visit you in Princeton!"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"There's nothing to do in Princeton."

In Lu Zhou's mind, all there was to do was visit the Carnegie Lake.

The rich academic atmosphere was not something ordinary people could feel.

Xiao Tong said, "It's too boring at home. I want to go outside."

Lu Zhou thought about it. It made sense.

It was a pity to waste her summer vacation at home. It would be good for her to get out of the house.

Lu Zhou said, "Then… Do you know how to apply for a visa?"

Xiao Tong replied immediately, "Of course I know. I already applied for my passport! I'm going to Shanghai to apply for the visa tomorrow!"

I guess this girl already planned the whole thing.

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

"Okay then, I'll buy you the ticket. Just get on the flight and I'll pick you up."

Xiao Tong cheered.

"Wow! Brother, you're the best!"

"Haha, you're welcome."

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and smiled.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

Speaking of which, he did not know how Han Mengqi was doing.

He had not tutored her in a long time, but she was still his student. Lu Zhou had helped her studies a lot, so he still cared about her.

After the college entrance examination, he never asked for her result. Now that the college offers were released, he wanted to know if she got into her ideal university.

Lu Zhou opened WeChat and sent a message.

[Did you get the offer?]

He waited for a long time, but he did not get a reply.

Lu Zhou guessed that she probably did not see the message, so he put his phone aside.

I hope she gets into her ideal university.

Lu Zhou placed this matter aside and continued his work.

Chapter 263: Mathematics Is More Interesting

Princeton University Library.

Hardy rested his head on the table as he complained, "That guy is a devil, this is impossible… Is there anyone on this planet that can complete these things in half a month?"

There were six textbooks in front of him. Some were "entry level", like Number Theory Guide, some were more "advanced", like Number Theory Lectures. It was not just number theory textbooks, there were other textbooks like algebraic geometry and differential topology.

Before Hardy met his supervisor, he did a lot of preparation work. He did not expect that the moment he stepped into the doors of Princeton, there was already a mountain of work waiting for him.

Thankfully he did some study beforehand, otherwise, he would not even know where to begin studying.

Qin Yue, who sat across Hardy, was a lot calmer. He did not bother to think about questions like "can I do it or not". Instead, he was reading Number Theory Lectures intently.

Although he could not read textbooks as fast as Hardy, the turtle would always win the race.

Since they began studying, Qin Yue had not stopped reading.

Hardy sighed and gave up. He then asked, "Qin, are your professors in China this scary?"

Qin Yue, "Scary?"

Hardy nodded his head and said, "Yeah. When I was in Brazil, I was always first in mathematics for my high school and everyone thought I was a genius. Once I got into Columbia, I met a lot of geniuses, but the content for the course was still easy for me. I did it easily without spending much effort."

Hardy sighed and continued, "But now, I'm starting to have some doubts about my talents…"

Qin Yue did not know how to comfort this kid. Instead, he pushed his glasses and said, "Because this place is Princeton?"

Honestly, Qin Yue's previous university, Kai University, did not have professors this strict.

However, since he had spent the last four years studying like this, he was used to it.

"Princeton professors can't all be this strict. Yesterday I played football with a schoolmate. Professor Lu Zhou is definitely an exception," said Hardy as he shook his head. He suddenly remembered something and he asked, "Speaking of which, Qin, I noticed that you're already on your second textbook. Do you have any tips? Or did you already know this stuff?"

Qin Yue shook his head and said, "Nope, this is my first time learning this."

At most, Qin Yue did some preparations before, but not much.

Hardy said with an unbelievable tone, "Impossible! Wait a minute, don't tell me you study in your bedroom? God… How long do you spend to study in a day?"

Qin Yue said, "What else am I supposed to do besides sleeping and eating?"

Hardy: "…"

I can't continue the conversation with this dude…

…

Six textbooks in six weeks were difficult, but Lu Zhou knew this when giving out this task.

Therefore, he set his expectations very low. As long as his students learned half of the textbooks, he would count them as a pass.

As for the rest of the knowledge, they could learn it while helping him with his research project.

After all, textbooks were always behind, and it was only to get one's foot in the door. The textbooks often did not contain documents or thesis materials, which were needed for research.

However, Lu Zhou did not expect that within a week, one person had already completed his task.

When he heard the news, he was overly surprised.

Because…

It turned out that he found gold.

"… Your talents are amazing. I thought that it'd be impressive if you could solve four or five out of the ten questions. Looks like I underestimated you."

Lu Zhou looked up from the test paper and looked at Vera with surprise.

He came up with all of the questions himself, so there was no way for Vera to know the answers beforehand. Although the ten questions were not particularly difficult, getting them right meant that Vera completely absorbed all of the knowledge from the six textbooks.

Vera smiled and said humbly, "I already read four of the books back at Berkeley, so I guess I got lucky."

"This isn't luck," said Lu Zhou as he placed the test paper aside. He smiled and said, "Congratulations on passing my test. From now on, you are a research member in my project!"

Vera smiled. This was what she dreamed of.

Lu Zhou said, "I'll email you the contents of the project. Although the project will officially begin in September, you can use this time to think about the project. This is an interesting project."

Vera nodded her head politely while her golden hair swayed like a squirrel's tail.

"I understand, anything else?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nope, you can go back now."

Vera packed her things and happily said goodbye to Lu Zhou. She then turned around and left Lu Zhou's office.

As Lu Zhou looked at her slim body, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh wait, one more thing."

Vera stopped her footsteps and turned around to look at him.

"I might be a bit presumptuous here, so I hope you don't mind," said Lu Zhou as he pulled a document from his drawer and placed it on the table. He then added, "I know that your financial situation might not be the best right now, so I inquired about a scholarship from Princeton. Take this form and fill it out. I'll apply the scholarship for you tomorrow."

PhD scholarships were relatively easy to get, but a master's scholarship, especially full scholarship, was insanely difficult.

Normally speaking, if a student did not have a recommendation letter from a nutty supervisor, all the student could get was a half scholarship.

Especially in a place like Princeton where there were tons of nutty people around, it was beyond competitive.

Lu Zhou looked at Vera's eyes which were filled with surprise and continued, "I hope you won't delay your studies because of your financial situation. Don't go work part-time. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but remember, your knowledge is your power. If the full scholarship isn't enough, I can apply for a part-time teaching job for you."

Vera took the form from Lu Zhou and lowered her head. She did not speak for a long time.

She grabbed that document tightly and her face turned red as she bowed at Lu Zhou.

"Thank you!"

Lu Zhou did not know what just happened when the little girl just ran out of his office.

He felt a bit weird as he was sure that he did not say anything to offend her.

Honestly, because Chen Yushan would always call him "insensitive", he had been practicing his words beforehand.

Lu Zhou wondered why the little girl almost cried.

I did something good.

Hopefully, no one thinks otherwise…

That would be a pain in the ass.

Lu Zhou shook his head and decided not to think about this stuff. He took out his phone and looked at the time.

It was lunchtime.

He stretched and stood up from his office chair. He then looked at the finished project goal outline and could not help but smile.

Hail, also known as the Collatz conjecture, the legendary mathematical black hole! It was like a black hole that contained all natural numbers.

The general view of the mathematics community was that they were far from solving this problem. However, since Goldbach's conjecture which also created strong theoretical tools was solved, Lu Zhou felt like it was time to challenge it.

He thought about this challenging problem and felt full of energy.

As expected, mathematics is more interesting.

Chapter 264: Transferred?

After a long wait, Lu Zhou finally received a reply from Nature.

[Dear Professor Lu Zhou, we are surprised and excited about your research results. This is without a doubt a great invention. Your paper will be published in the next edition of Nature Chemistry…]

When Lu Zhou was reading this email on his computer screen, he could not help but smile.

This day finally came.

Once his thesis was published, then he could complete his reward mission.

He was looking forward to how much experience points he would get.

Also, it was not just about the experience points. Many people were bound to be interested in his patents.

In the same afternoon, Lu Zhou drove his Ford Explorer SUV to Philadelphia Airport.

He stopped his car and walked inside the airport. From far away, he saw a little girl wearing a hat while she dragged a suitcase behind her.

Lu Zhou instantly recognized Xiao Tong. He walked over and patted her shoulder from behind.

"Hey."

"Ah!"

Xiao Tong was surprised by the sudden tap.

She turned around and when she saw Lu Zhou, she was relieved but she still gave him a dirty look.

"Did you know that I nearly got a heart attack!"

Lu Zhou only wanted to give her a surprise. He had not expected her reaction.

I see you still treat me like this.

Don't know if you're going to transition smoothly into university life…

After Lu Zhou picked up Xiao Tong, they did not stay at the airport for long. He took her to the parking lot and was about to introduce her to his favorite car when Xiao Tong wandered around.

Lu Zhou was curious about what she was looking for and he asked, "What are you looking at?"

When Xiao Tong did not see what she expected, she asked, "Brother, why are you the only one picking me up?"

Lu Zhou, "…?"

Do you want a security guard or what?

Lu Zhou never realized what Xiao Tong was talking about.

Xiao Tong got in the backseat and did not wear her seatbelt. She started to curiously touch the interior of the car.

She suddenly said to her brother who was in the driver's seat, "Brother, are we going directly to Princeton?"

"Princeton isn't fun. Let's go shopping in Philadelphia," said Lu Zhou. He started the car but did not drive yet. Instead, he took out his phone and sent Chen Yushan a message.

"Oh…" said Xiao Tong. She then added with a sad tone, "But I want to go to Princeton."

Lu Zhou said, "There's nothing fun about that place."

"It's not all about fun. Dad and mom told me to see if you're taking care of yourself," said Xiao Tong. She then poked her head to the front seat and said, "Oh, and I have to inspect if you have found yourself a pretty girlfriend."

What is this?

So my parents sent you to spy on me?

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. However, his heart was full of warmth.

Even though he was in a foreign country, every time he thought about his family who cared for him from thousands of miles away, it made him felt less lonely.

"I'm taking care of myself well, as for a girlfriend… Tell them not to worry about it."

Xiao Tong said, "Hey, it's not up to you, I'm the one inspecting."

"Ok ok ok, Miss. Inspector. Please go ahead," said Lu Zhou with a smile. He then put away his phone and stepped on the gas pedal.

He was not familiar with Philadelphia as he had only been there a handful of times.

Fortunately, he had a friend that went to school here, who could show them around town.

However, he would owe Chen Yushan one.

…

The University of Pennsylvania was not far from the airport. Lu Zhou stopped the car in a nearby cafe and quickly saw Chen Yushan who was waving her hand at them.

Surprisingly, Chen Yushan was not alone.

Next to her, in a red and black summer dress, was Han Mengqi. If it was not because of the contrast between Han Mengqi's depressed look and Chen Yushan's excited look, they would really look like sisters.

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou had not seen his student since he went to CERN to participate in the European Research Summit. He had not expected to see her on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Lu Zhou was not too sure, so he called her name.

"Han Mengqi?"

When Han Mengqi heard the familiar voice, she suddenly looked up.

Then, she was stunned.

"Teacher?!"

When Han Mengqi saw the familiar face, her eyes popped wide opened.

Her cousin said that they were going to see a friend, but she did not mention who.

She did not expect that the friend was Lu Zhou?!

Suddenly, she remembered that she did not dress up at all. Not only did she not have makeup on, but she did not even brush her hair. Her cheeks turned red.

Suddenly, she noticed that there was a girl standing next to Lu Zhou, who was looking at her curiously.

Han Mengqi, who was somewhat confused, calmed down and hid behind her cousin.

Xiao Tong: ???

Lu Zhou did not notice Han Mengqi's change of emotion. He greeted Chen Yushan and said to Han Mengqi, "I haven't seen you in forever… When did you come to Philadelphia? I didn't even know."

It had been a year since Lu Zhou last saw Han Mengqi, but she did not grow taller at all.

Obviously, Mengqi had not been eating well since Lu Zhou left.

Since Han Mengqi had her head down and did not speak, Lu Zhou felt a little awkward.

Chen Yushan, who was standing next to her, sighed and patted her cousin's shoulder.

"My lovely cousin was in a bad mood, so she came out of the house with me."

Han Mengqi whispered, "Master, sorry for disappointing you."

This was the second time that Lu Zhou nearly chocked today.

It was like Xiao Tong heard a big piece of news. She looked at her brother and asked, "Master? What is this situation?"

Lu Zhou knocked his dirty-minded sister on the head and said, "What do you mean what situation is this? Didn't I tell you that I did some tutoring during my second year?"

Xiao Tong gasped.

Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou and Xiao Tong with confusion. She felt the relationship dynamic between the two was not what she expected.

Lu Zhou looked at her. He paused for a moment before saying, "I know what you're feeling right now, but I hope you're not discouraged. You did really well. When I first started to teach you, you couldn't even do basic elliptic equations. By the end, you were getting 130 on your tests consistently. I'm sure you noticed the improvement. If you didn't get in…"

Han Mengqi smiled and said, "I passed the requirement, but there were too many people applying for mathematics major this year…"

The f*ck, the mathematics department of the University of Jin Ling is popular now?

Lu Zhou was surprised that Han Mengqi did not get into mathematics.

The mathematics department of the University of Jin Ling rejects people?

When Dean Qin mentioned about the sudden influx in popularity, Lu Zhou thought that he was joking. It turned out that Dean Qin was not joking after all.

It seemed that he underestimated the influence of his "Mini Nobel Prize" and Goldbach's conjecture.

Honestly speaking, Kai University, Shuimu University, Yan University, and Shan University, all had better mathematics departments than the University of Jin Ling. The strength of the University of Jin Ling was physics. However, most undergraduate students did not know this fact.

I feel like I screwed over a lot of people…

But now is obviously not the time to point that out.

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "Then which course did you transfer to?"

Han Mengqi nearly cried, "Applied chemistry…"

Chapter 265: Breaking News!

The chemistry course might not be the best, but it was not that different from biology and materials science. There were still a lot of students enrolled in chemistry.

One of the reasons was the element of danger, especially in organic chemistry, which frequently dealt with reagents. Even if one followed the safety manual, there was no guarantee that nothing would happen. When an accident happened, one might not even realize it.

The other one was the salary. Even though the rankings for the salary of fresh graduate often put applied chemistry near the top, the actual situation was different.

However, Lu Zhou knew that Han Mengqi did not have to worry about the salary.

Even if she did not cut it in chemistry, she could always rely on her rich mother…

Chen Yushan was sitting in the passenger seat while she directed Lu Zhou. The four spent the whole day hanging out in Philadelphia.

Maybe because of the joyful atmosphere in Philadelphia, Han Mengqi started to feel a lot better.

Still, the happiest was Xiao Tong. She had infinite energy, and she never stopped talking.

Due to Xiao Tong's extroverted personality, she made friends with Chen Yushan and Meng Qi easily. They exchanged Wechat and QQ details in the fast food restaurant.

After Xiao Tong heard that Meng Qi also played Honor of Kings, she stopped eating her hamburger and opened the game on her phone.

Han Mengqi looked at Xiao Tong's phone and said, "You also play Honor of Kings?"

Xiao Tong said proudly, "I do, I do. I'm great."

Interested, Han Mengqi asked, "What rank are you?"

"Diamond!" said Xiao Tong. She added confidently, "But right now I'm still at the bronze rank, but I know that I deserve to be at the diamond. It's only a matter of time."

Han Mengqi: "…"

Chen Yushan bit her straw and smiled at the two's conversation, whereas Lu Zhou rolled his eyes.

Lu Zhou thought, "Without doubt, Xiao Tong is definitely diamond in "stubbornness".

As for other areas, she's a bit behind…

…

After Xiao Tong came, Lu Zhou's life did not undergo drastic changes. The only difference was that he had one more person to take care of, and he started to sleep on the sofa instead of the bed.

His original plan after returning to Princeton was to move out of his student apartment, but he still had not found a new place yet.

He had two choices. One was the teachers' apartment of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. The other was a two-story mansion with a front yard and garage located between Princeton Institute for Advanced Study and the main campus.

Although it said it was a mansion, it was only to sound more elegant. This kind of small cottage was very common in America. Lu Zhou had even seen them in American TV shows before. The average price was between $200,000 and $300,000 USD, and the rest was not expensive.

Lu Zhou wanted to choose the latter because of the convenient parking spot, but the owner was a stubborn New Yorker who only wanted to sell and not rent. Lu Zhou only had $500,000 USD right now, and even though he had the money, he did not want to buy a house just for a few years.

After all, after a few years, he would return to China.

Although Lu Zhou wanted to consider other houses, they were either a bad fit or rented out already, so he put the situation of him moving on hold.

Fortunately, Xiao Tong was not picky about where she lived. She would ask Lu Zhou to drive her to Philadelphia and she would hang out with Chen Yushan. Other than that, she did not bother Lu Zhou much.

Lu Zhou's relaxed lifestyle would continue until the end of August when the new issue of Nature Chemistry would be released.

…

At the end of August, the Rio Olympics had just ended. The Olympics was still in the news when a piece of technology-related news quietly went on the newspapers.

The reason for this was because it was a thesis published in Nature.

The title was simple, but it grabbed the attention of the entire world.

It was not because of Lu Zhou.

Most people would not bat an eye if someone claimed to have come up with a new PDMS material that could solve the lithium dendrites problem.

The reason was that this was a Nature thesis!

The quiet and calm materials science field was suddenly attacked by a storm.

Although this was not the first time the materials science community was shocked by a lithium battery "breakthrough", this time was different. The reason was that the reviewer was Professor Bawendi, and according to Bawendi, he had repeated the experiment and received amazing results.

This was obviously breaking news.

Within a few days of the thesis publication, the thesis went into Science highlights.

The highlights were similar to re-tweeting.

For example, when a person published a thesis in journal A and made a major breakthrough, journal B would then find an expert in the field of the thesis to summarize the thesis and then post it in their journal.

This type of occurrence was common in the fields of biology and chemistry. It was nothing rare. However, a Nature thesis highlighted by Science was quite rare.

The academic community was almost fanatic.

If this thesis was real, then most of them would not suffer loses. Rather, they would receive gains.

The reason was simple. The battery industry was mainly focused on the problem of lithium dendrites. If the problem of lithium dendrites was solved, then there would be a large amount of research and development funds flooding into this field.

Even though some laboratories and experiments researching negative electrode materials would die off, more funds and grants would come in.

Therefore, within a week, almost 80% of lithium battery laboratories had ran repeated experiments on this thesis.

This grand occasion caught the attention of the press.

A reporter from the Columbia Radio and Television Science Technology section gave an interview to Professor Kerr from Cornell University.

Coincidentally, when the Colombian reporter arrived, Professor Kerr's laboratory was doing the final stages of the experiment.

Professor Kerr answered the questions seriously.

"… Our research team is repeating the experiment. If this isn't an accident, then this technology will undoubtedly change the face of the entire industry… "

"… Because neither the lithium-sulfur battery nor the lithium-air battery can solve the problem of dendrites. If the problem of lithium dendrite can be solved on the negative electrode material, we don't even have to make drastic changes to the battery design. We just have to change the negative electrode material."

The reporter's eyes sparkled with excitement when he heard Professor Kerr's answer.

There was no doubt that he was interviewing a piece of breaking news.

"But Professor Kerr, the feedback we received from the IBM lithium battery project group was pessimistic about this technology. What do you think about this?"

Professor Kerr thought and said, "This situation is normal. Every once in a while, a laboratory would claim to have solved the problem of lithium dendrites. It is necessary to be cautious. Honestly speaking, I'm still suspicious, because the ideas and solutions presented by the author aren't new."

The reporter immediately asked, "Why do you say this?"

Professor Kerr, "Because our current practice is to increase the viscosity of the electrolyte, or even use solid materials. To make a carbon material structure on the lithium negative electrode, the lithium metal has to be limited in shape after discharge. Therefore, when charging it, it can ensure that the negative electrode structure does not collapse after all the lithium enters the positive electrode. The design of the coating film used by Professor Lu on the negative electrode material has actually been tried many times in many laboratories 20 years ago. And…"

Reporter, "And?"

Professor Kerr shrugged and said, "And he's a mathematics professor. I don't know about this new computational materials field, but I also know that building models often isn't enough."

Suddenly, a cheering sound came from the laboratory.

Professor Kerr and the reporter were stunned.

Reporter, "What happened?"

Professor Kerr looked at his assistant before he turned to look at the reporter with a strange look.

"I don't know… I think the experiment is successful?"

Chapter 266: Level 3 Materials Science

Professor Kerr's speculation was correct.

He returned to the laboratory and was surprised that the sample placed in the scanning electron microscope did not have smokes and it did not explode.

From the interception of several SEM images, he could see that the lithium ions were gradually deposited on the electrode, and protected by the modified PDMS film, it looked like a beautiful silver tundra.

This layer of "tundra" did not grow as wild as other lithium batteries. Instead, the lithium dendrites laid quietly beneath the modified PDMS film, undulated.

The signs of nucleation did not seem to have happened, or if it did, it seemed to have been diverted.

If no accidents happened, this state would continue until the entire charging process was completed.

Without a doubt, they had successfully recreated the experiment.

"Incredible…"

Professor Kerr stood next to the computer and looked at the images generated. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Although he saw similar images in Nature Chemistry, it was different seeing the images in person.

The Colombian reporter standing behind him was confused. He did not know what the researchers were happy about.

Even though he was witnessing a great moment, he could not understand what the SEM images meant.

Out of confusion, he spoke out loud, "Professor?"

Professor Kerr looked at the reporter with a fascinated expression.

"What?"

He was very happy, very very happy.

If the lithium dendrites problem were solved, his laboratory would directly benefit from it. He believed that with one more MRS meeting, his laboratory would receive tens or even hundreds of millions of USD in investment.

The industry would reinvest into lithium batteries.

The reporter gulped and asked, "What is the situation?"

Professor Kerr looked at him with a positive look and said, "I can now responsibly tell you that it was successful."

Perhaps he thought his statement was not shocking enough, so he paused for a second before he continued, "In half a year, maybe a year, you'll be able to use your phone for a week straight. In a few years, you'll be able to drive a Tesla car for thousands of miles… Trust me, I'm definitely a lot more reliable than the media."

Although he was slightly exaggerating, he was not far from reality.

Lithium-ion batteries were mainly based on graphite anodes. The theoretical specific capacity of graphite could be calculated by the product LiC6, which was 372 mAh/g. This figure could be increased in the lab to 747 mAh/g with graphene technology.

As for the theoretical specific energy capacity of lithium?

It was 3860mAh/g.

Although these were all theoretical figures, it was still a good ballpark.

The lithium metal and polydimethylsiloxane were also affordable.

…

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Solve the problem of lithium dendrites]

[Final mission evaluation: None (Reward missions have no evaluation)]

[Mission reward: 70,000 materials science experience points, 10,000 biochemistry experience points, debris.]

In a pure white system space…

Lu Zhou looked at the experience points on the holographic panel and could not help but smirk.

No wonder this thing was high tech. Even a small battery brought him a considerable amount of experience points.

The amount would not be much for mathematics, but since it was on biochemistry and materials science, Lu Zhou felt like he was sitting on a rocket.

This was probably the most enjoyable reward mission he had ever done.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A white light flashed and Lu Zhou's personal data appeared.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 5 (54,000/300,000)

B. Physics: Level 3 (53,100/100,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 2 (4,000/50,000)

D. Engineering: Level 1 (0/10,000)

E. Materials science: Level 3 (13,000/100,000)

F. Energy science: Level 1 (0/10,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 2,475

]

Materials science was now Level 3, same as physics. Biochemistry also leveled up, now Level 2.

However, even though Lu Zhou read a lot of materials science textbooks, he was not an expert in this field. Therefore, he did not feel that his knowledge had increased from the effects of leveling up.

At least, it did not feel like when he leveled up in mathematics.

Maybe, biochem and material sci were not as dependent on "inspiration".

After Lu Zhou closed his characteristic panel, he looked over to his inventory.

Debris No. 2 was in the inventory. It looked like a black cube, similar to a Rubik's cube. It had a very fascinating appearance.

Lu Zhou could tell that this was different than the battery debris. Lu Zhou took it out from the inventory and looked at it for a long time. He had no idea what it was.

High tech toy?

It doesn't look like it.

There's no way it is a weapon.

The most fascinating thing was that there were no markings at all on this cube. Lu Zhou almost thought that there was something wrong with it.

Lu Zhou put this thing aside and looked at his mission panel.

The reward mission was completed.

Now it was his "multiple choice question" time.

I hope that the system will give me some interesting missions.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and pressed the mission button.

[

Mission 1: Keep improving

Description: The technology of lithium anode materials is not only modified by the polydimethylsiloxane film, but also the carbon nanospheres with flat cross-section folds.

Requirements: Successfully prepare the product in a laboratory, and write a thesis.

Reward: 50,000 materials science experience points. 500 general points. 1 chance of lucky draw (85% garbage, 9% sample, 6% blueprints)

]

[

Mission 2: Even a great job needs economic support

Description: The laboratory is like a black hole. Before the project is completed, it sucks in money endlessly. Maybe you are confident in your work, but your partners might not be. Instead of being a liability, try to raise money.

Requirements: From the beginning of the mission until the end of the year (December 31, 2016), calculate the user's gain in assets.

Reward: 1-??? free experience points ($1000 USD = 1 experience point). 500 General points. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% special, 7% samples, 3% blueprints).

]

[

Mission 3: Research isn't done by one person

Description: The value of a top researcher is not only how much research he has done, but also how much talents he has cultivated. Although many scholars have passed away, they have left their influence and changed the future.

Requirements: Help at least one student complete their master's thesis.

Reward: 1-??? experience points (experience point subject depends on the academic value of thesis and student participation). 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (50% garbage, 30% samples, 20% blueprints)

]

Lu Zhou stared at these three missions for a long time.

The carbon nanospheres with cross sections were important, but it was not crucial.

For the advanced civilizations that created this defect, the folds were unacceptable. Still, for any battery manufacturer on earth, the folds were negligible.

After all, the modified polydimethylsiloxane film determined the vitality of the product while the former only determined the market competitiveness of the product.

The superiority of the lithium anode material would completely destroy the graphite anodes.

The most important thing was that, even if Lu Zhou knew the molecular structure and three-dimensional conceptual image, those hollow carbon nanospheres could not be created.

For these two reasons, Mission 1 could be eliminated.

As for Mission 3, it was attractive, but it was very difficult to accomplish in the short term.

Even though the Group Structure Method paved the way for many propositions in additive number theory, the Collatz conjecture was beyond the scopes of the ability of Lu Zhou's students. Even for Vera…

Although Lu Zhou could do it himself, he remembered that the experience points were determined by the student's participation. He could solve a major conjecture, but the experience points would be too low.

After some consideration, Lu Zhou chose Mission 2.

It was the end of August, not far from the end of the year. Although the 1000:1 conversion ratio was a bit low, Lu Zhou thought about his patents and how he could still earn a lot of experience points.

The only thing that he was curious about was what the 10% special was.

He had such a small probability of winning it…

Chapter 267: Invitation

After choosing Mission 2, Lu Zhou exited the system space and regained his consciousness.

He stood up from his desk and was about to make himself a cup of coffee when he heard Xiao Tong screaming from the living room.

"Bro! You're on TV!"

"TV?"

Lu Zhou walked to the TV and looked at the screen.

The screen was showing Lu Zhou receiving the Crafoord Prize medal from the King of Sweden. The narration was his personal summary.

Then the screen changed to a university laboratory.

Professor Kerr, who was interviewed by a Colombian reporter, spoke in an excited tone.

"In half a year, maybe a year, you'll be able to use your phone for a week straight. In a few years, you'll be able to drive a Tesla car thousands of miles… Trust me, I'm definitely a lot more reliable than the media."

The interview continued.

Two minutes passed before the channel went onto the next piece of news.

When Lu Zhou turned around, he saw his sister staring at him with shining eyes.

"What?"

Xiao Tong asked excitedly, "Bro! What is the patent about?"

Oh, you're pretty smart.

So you know what a patent is?

Lu Zhou looked at his sister and said, "It's related to lithium batteries, materials science. You won't understand the specifics."

"Patent?" Xiao Tong's eyes lit up as she said, "Is it worth a lot?"

Greedy girl!

All you think about is money when knowledge is real wealth!

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

Honestly speaking, he did not know how much the patent was worth.

However, since the patent was the key to the technology, it should be worth a lot.

"Do you want to know?"

Xiao Tong nodded and said, "Yes!"

"Go read some books if you want to know. In the future, you can manage my finances and you'll know how much it's worth."

"I'll give you a nice salary."

Lu Zhou laughed as Xiao Tong protested. He then turned around and walked to his computer desk.

Humblebragging is addictive.

…

Originally Lu Zhou thought that one thesis would not change his life that much.

When he proved Goldbach's conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize, even though the media continuously reported his name, his personal life did not experience much change. At least there was no one shaking his hand in public.

This was also why Lu Zhou did not reject media interviews.

However, this thesis in Nature was different.

The general public did not even know the difference between lithium batteries and lithium ion batteries. Therefore, this thesis was not as sensational as the Goldbach's conjecture. Still, for the entire battery industry, this thesis had produced a crazy sensational effect…

Although no one asked for his signature on the street, his phone was ringing non-stop.

"Hello, Professor Lu Zhou. We are Jermason Nano Materials Co from Silicon Valley. We're very interested in the modified PDMS film technology you published in Nature Chemistry. Are you interested in collaborating with our laboratory?"

Another collaboration offer…

Lu Zhou was annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm busy. I still have to give tasks to my students. If it's something important, try to say it a little more clearly. If not, I'll hang up."

When the other side heard that Lu Zhou was being impatient, they started to talk quickly.

"The thing is that we have an R&D agreement with Umicore on electrode materials. If you want to sell your parents, you can get a higher price through our R&D agreement."

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and threw it on the sofa. He then walked to his kitchen and took out two eggs.

Since Nature and Science placed highlights on his thesis, this was the 16th call he received.

Honestly, if the industry recognized this technology, Lu Zhou was willing to license it to a reliable company for production and to receive a certain return from it.

After all, he could not do the production himself. Laboratory experiments and industrial production were two completely different things. Even if the patent could give him a certain cost advantage, Lu Zhou knew that his inexperience in raw material channels, product development, product marketing, and etc was unsolvable.

He would rather spend his time doing something else.

The best choice was to license the patent to a reputable company and then charge them a patent fee.

However, he could consider registering an offshore company in a place like the Caymans and hired some experts to manage his patent.

He should forget about factory production.

What bothered Lu Zhou the most was that most of the phone calls were from "MIT XX Materials Science Lab", or "Silicon Valley Materials Science Research", and most of them wanted to discuss patent cooperation.

Yet, when he asked about the contents of the cooperation, most of them wanted to be a middle man on his patent.

Lu Zhou was not dumb. He knew that the patent rights was in his hands.

He knew the value of his patent. When the time arrived, he would negotiate with an enterprise directly. He did not have to bother dealing with a laboratory.

Xiao Tong rubbed her eyes and walked out of the bedroom in her pajamas. She asked while yawning, "Bro, who were you calling?"

"Nothing, insurance seller."

Lu Zhou made two bacon and egg sandwiches. He placed them on the table and poured Xiao Tong a glass of milk.

Xiao Tong sat down on the dining table, She tilted her head and said, "But I heard the word 'patent'."

This kid, you're not even fully awake yet, how did you hear that?

Lu Zhou: "…"

Xiao Tong proposed, "If you can't decide, why don't you ask Sister Shan Shan? She's an MBA student at the University of Pennsylvania, this thing should be easy for her."

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and asked, "How do you know about her major?"

He remembered that he had never told Xiao Tong what Chen Yushan studied.

Xiao Tong rolled her eyes and said, "I talk to her on WeChat. Didn't I tell you I'm applying for a finance major? Sister Shan Shan even gave me some useful advice."

Lu Zhou, "I'll ask her if it's necessary."

Xiao Tong ate her delicious sandwich and sighed. She chewed and said, "That's why, a real man has to take lead, otherwise when the time comes… Hey! What are you doing, it hurts!"

Xiao Tong was knocked on the head. She looked up at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou did not use any force at all, so he knew Xiao Tong was pretending.

"What kind of pervert mind do you have?"

Lu Zhou, who just made breakfast for Xiao Tong, left her alone and walked into the kitchen.

He took his sandwich and sat down at his computer desk. He would then routinely checked his email.

Coincidentally, there was one unread email in his inbox.

Lu Zhou guessed that it was probably from some random laboratory. He nearly deleted the email.

MRS meeting invitation

His eyebrows jumped, a look of interest appeared on his face.

Interesting…

Chapter 268: Hail Conjecture

The MRS conference was one of the regular academic activities of the American Society for Materials Research and was the most influential conference in the field of materials science.

It covered almost all research directions in the field of materials science, and its status was probably equivalent to the "International Conference of Mathematicians", but in the field of materials science. Almost all of the material science scholars would attend the conference.

However, unlike the "International Conference of Mathematicians" which was held once every four years, the MRS conference was held twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. Spring one was generally in Phoenix, Arizona, while the autumn one was usually in Boston, Massachusetts.

The main purpose of the conference was to show off the technology to the industry. Laboratories could connect with rich companies for funding. It also gave a chance for people to catfight with their peers.

Yes, catfight.

It would be strange for someone to throw a show on stage. If the conference was quiet, and everyone calmly exchanged ideas, praised each other's technology… Then the industry people would have doubts.

The nuttier people were, the more they would try to catfight others.

This type of situation would not be seen at mathematics conferences.

In some sense, the style of mathematics was different than other disciplines.

As a mathematics professor, Lu Zhou was not interested in catfighting.

However, this conference was still an opportunity for him.

Also, since MRS sent him an invitation, there must have been a lot of people interested in his research.

Of course, Lu Zhou did not forget who he was.

He was a mathematics professor.

No matter what, he was still a mathematician. He could not let his mathematics level fall behind because that level determined the upper limit level of his other subjects.

On the last day of August, Lu Zhou sat in his office at the Institute of Advanced Studies. He was testing his two other students.

10 questions, two-hour limit.

After handing them the test, Lu Zhou sat in his chair and picked up a book.

Time slowly passed by…

When Lu Zhou's phone rang, he closed the book and looked at the two people who were struggling with the test.

"Time's up, let me see the results of your studies for the past six weeks."

Hardy put down his pen reluctantly. Qin Yue did the same. They were both nervous.

"Professor, the time frame you gave was way too short," said Hardy. He got up and handed Lu Zhou the paper as he said, "I can definitely solve another question in 10 minutes."

"The time frame isn't important. I'm not asking you guys to solve every question. I want to test what you know."

Lu Zhou took the two test papers and looked at the questions.

For him, these were all very simple questions. He could ballpark the answer in his head.

Qin Yue was up to question six, and he was halfway through question seven. His thought process was correct.

In general, not bad. This was what Lu Zhou expected.

Hardy did five. He had barely completed the requirement. This was somewhat unexpected.

Lu Zhou thought that there would at least be one person failing the test and it would most likely be Hardy because he was the most impetuous student out of the three.

However, it seemed that all three of them were qualified to participate in his research project.

Lu Zhou placed the test papers aside. He then cleared his throat and said, "First of all, congratulations on joining my research project."

When Hardy heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. Qin Yue also had a strange expression.

Lu Zhou said in a relaxed tone, "My passing requirement is five questions. If you could complete five questions, that means you followed my task and didn't waste the past month and a half… "

"… As for the details of our research project, I'll explain it shortly."

Lu Zhou took a sip of his coffee before he stood up. He then walked over to his whiteboard and picked up a marker.

Vera was sitting in the corner of the office, quietly reading documents. She stopped and as the other students, she looked at the whiteboard.

"Six weeks ago, I told you guys that the research project is related to hail."

"If you know your additive number theory, then you guys have probably already guessed what the research project is."

Qin Yue and Hardy nodded.

As per what Lu Zhou said, they already guessed what the research project was.

As for Vera, she obviously knew about it since she joined the research project two weeks ago.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "The so-called Hail conjecture, also known as the Collatz conjecture, or 3n+1 problem, describes that for any positive integer N, after continuous iteration of fokn(n) = 1, it would fall into the trap of {4,2,1}…"

"… Simply speaking, start with any positive integer n. Then each term is obtained from the previous term as follows: If the previous term is even, the next term is one half the previous term. If the previous term is odd, the next term is 3 times the previous term plus 1. The conjecture is that no matter what value of n, the sequence will always reach 1."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled and added, "It's like a black hole."

Hail's conjecture was no doubt more popular than Goldbach's conjecture.

In the 1970s, almost all of the America Universities were delving into this magical "number game". This phenomenon was even reported in the "Washington Post".

Of course, for most people, this was just a game of numbers, but for mathematicians, this was something deeper.

"This is a number theory problem, and one of the classics in additive number theory. But, the essence is actually a complex analysis problem!"

"… The Collatz conjecture will be your mission for the next three years. I'm not asking you guys to fully prove this conjecture, but you should all at least complete one thesis worthy of publication…"

Lu Zhou picked up the pen and wrote down an equation on the whiteboard.

[h(z^3)=h(z^6)+{h(z^2)+λh(λz^2)+λ^2h(λ^2z^2)}/3z] (where λ=e^ {2πi/3}]

When Qin Yue saw this line of equations, he took out his notebook. Even Hardy also started to pay attention.

As for Vera, she was as focused as ever.

"The community is pessimistic about this problem. In fact, the number theory community has made no progress on this problem."

"In 1994, Professor L. Berg and G. Meindardus proved that the conjecture is equivalent to the function h(z^3), which is what I wrote on the whiteboard… "

"… This equation placed down the first brick to solving this problem…"

Some things could not be described in words.

Lu Zhou turned around and continued to write on the whiteboard.

[g(z)=z/2+(1−cosπz)(z+1/2)/2+1/π(1/2−cosπz)sinπz+h(z)sin2πz satisfies: N⊂Φ(g)]

[…]

Vera looked at the lines of equations and her eyes lit up.

Hardy and Qin Yue also have a thoughtful expression.

Lu Zhou finally stopped writing and placed the marker on the table. He smiled at his three students.

"This step is crucial… "

"… If you can prove that there is an integer function h(z), for each g(z) above, each branch of Φ(g) containing a positive integer has z0∈D, so that [gok(z0)] converges. To 1…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at the three faces of anticipation. He then smiled and said in a positive tone, "Therefore, we can prove that…"

"3n+1 is true!"

Chapter 269: Division of Labor

Lu Zhou developed a big framework for the entire research project.

This framework contained the problems to be considered in solving this conjecture, and the most crucial problem of all was on how to expand the Group Structure Method on this problem.

After all, this was Lu Zhou's most powerful weapon.

After that, Lu Zhou began delegating work to his students.

Hardy's thinking was more active, so he was responsible for collecting research documents and presenting ideas.

Qin Yue was good at calculations, so he should be a good partner.

As for Vera, her style was similar to Lu Zhou. She was good at independent thinking. Forcing a person like her into a group discussion would actually affect her normal performance. This was why Lu Zhou chose to work independently when Deligne asked if he wanted to join his research project.

After some consideration, Lu Zhou decided to put her into Group B and to work on a parallel level with Hardy and Qin Yue, who were in Group A.

The groups would work independently and each of them would research on different issues involved in the proposition. Then, an exchange of ideas meeting would go on every two weeks, and a report presentation of the progress will go on every month.

This type of model was common on some large research teams. Some nutty boss would often take on many students, but putting those students into one giant group would actually decrease the efficiency of the research team.

Lu Zhou learned this from the other professors at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

While Lu Zhou was assigning everyone their tasks, he heard a knocking sound from his office door.

Lu Zhou was about to open the door but Hardy stood up and walked over to the door.

The door opened, Professor Chirik stood outside.

Professor Chirik walked in with a Brazilian guy next to him. He then talked to Lu Zhou with an excited tone.

"That thesis was yours?! The one on Nature? No I mean, 'Lu Zhou', that's you?"

He was too excited, so his sentences were a little incoherent. He even pronounced Lu Zhou incorrectly.

Lu Zhou was scared that this guy was going to hug him, so he took a step back and said, "Yeah, why?"

Is there another Professor Lu Zhou at Princeton?

Professor Chirik did not hug him, but he took a deep breath and calmed down.

Then, he spoke with disbelief.

"God… You're an absolute genius!"

This flattery caught Lu Zhou off guard.

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly as he said, "I'm not god…"

Professor Chirik, who was out of breath, nearly choked on Lu Zhou's words.

He said, "It's just a figure of speech, I'm not really saying you are god… Anyway, how did you do it? Analytically calculate the materials? Estimate a range?"

What surprised Professor Chirik was not how the modified PDMS produced such a magical effect, but how Professor Lu Zhou was the one to discover this material.

Although computational materials science had made significant progress as a field, major research results were unheard of. The mainstream practice was to repeatedly do experiments, then analyze the material, then do more experiments.

It was not just Chirik. Many people were curious about how Lu Zhou discovered this product.

Lu Zhou knew exactly what he was curious about, so he was not surprised.

In fact, he did learn some useful techniques when making mathematical models.

However, his material was discovered with a scanner gun…

Lu Zhou thought for a second before he said, "I can't explain it to you easily, plus I'm arranging tasks for my students. MRS has already sent me an invitation letter, asking me to report on this issue. If you're interested, come to my report."

"MRS? Rest assured, I won't miss it! Honestly, if I wasn't so busy these days, I'd come and study under you," said Professor Chirik said with a half-joking tone.

Lu Zhou obviously did not take this seriously. Instead, he smiled and said, "If you're interested in number theory, I don't mind accepting a professor as a PhD student, but I haven't planned the materials science course yet. Honestly, I don't know how to appropriately develop this course."

"In any case, Princeton 'birthed' another billionaire," said Princeton Chirik as he patted Lu Zhou's arm. He then said, "I know you mathematics professors aren't interested in money, but regardless, let me buy you a drink. Don't forget, I was the one that lent you the laboratory!"

Billionaire was a bit exaggerating, but multi-millionaire was no problem.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "For sure."

Professor Chirik then left.

The three students stared at Lu Zhou's back.

When Lu Zhou turned around, he was stunned and he waved his hand.

"Why are you guys looking at me, go do your stuff."

Qin Yue and Hardy exchanged glances.

Although they did not know what their boss was talking about, they knew what a billionaire was.

They felt like…

They had chosen an incredible boss.

…

The other side of the Pacific Ocean.

At the carbon nanomaterials laboratory in the University of Jin Ling, the experiment had entered the second half stage.

Under Professor Li Rongen's direction, Qian Zhongming placed the battery sample under an electron microscope and connected it to the Bk-6808 battery tester.

As the image data came through, Professor Li Rongen's expression became more and more serious.

A long time passed by…

He stared at the computer screen and suddenly, he broke into a smile.

"Impressive…"

Professor Li Rongen shook his head and took off his glasses. He had only said two words but his heart was beating non-stop.

If it was a normal lithium battery, even with a tough film, the charging process would cause the battery to start generating dead lithium, due to the tip nucleation effect.

However, this unremarkable modified PDMS material was able to inhibit the growing of lithium dendrites by several uncomplicated processes, like the hydrofluoric acid treatment of polydimethylsiloxane and the final spin coating method.

This caused him to think back to 2013 when the ABX3 crystalline perovskite photovoltaic material was rated as one of the world's top ten scientific breakthroughs. Back then, it had greatly progressed the solar panel industry.

At that time, people were surprised. The steps to prepare the material was too simple. It was basically to mix the two salts, stir it, spin it, then dry it off.

This type of PDMS material was the same.

The production process was not complicated, and the raw materials that were needed were inexpensive.

This was exactly what the industry needed.

Liu Bo, who stood next to Qian Zhongming, could not help but speak emotionally.

"That guy really is a genius…"

"Yeah," Qian Zhongming pushed his glasses and nodded with approval, "Really is a genius."

Qian Zhongming remembered how he was the one to teach Lu Zhou how to use the equipment, yet he could not help but wonder.

Is computational materials science really so magical?

Maybe the next time I see him, I'll have to ask him to teach me mathematics.

Professor Li Rongen looked at the images produced by the electron microscope. He suddenly said, "This year I plan on going to the MRS Conference at America, who wants to come?"

Liu Bo and Qian Zhongming both put their hand up.

Neither of them wanted to miss the conference.

Professor Li shook his head. With a smile, he said, "Okay then, we're all going."

Chapter 270: A Responsible Boss

The autumn wind turned the leaves on the treetops yellow.

It was finally September, the students who were on a three-month long vacation began to return to campus. The empty Princeton campus finally became lively again.

At the same time, Xiao Tong, who has been vacationing in Princeton for the past two weeks, had to say goodbye.

Lu Zhou drove her to the airport and pulled out her suitcase from the trunk.

Xiao Tong took the suitcase and had a sad expression as she said, "Brother, I'm leaving."

"Yeah, be careful. Go back home directly after you land," said Lu Zhou. He felt a little worried, so he said, "Screw it, I'll go buy a ticket and send you home myself."

"No, no," said Xiao Tong as she waved her hand. She forced a smile as she said, "I'm not a kid anymore, I can take care of myself."

Lu Zhou had a smile of relief.

"Yeah, you're right, you're old now. Oh yeah, about mom… "

Xiao Tong said, "Don't worry about it, I'll tell mom not to worry!"

Lu Zhou nodded and joked, "Then thank you, Miss Inspector!"

After he bade farewell to Xiao Tong, Lu Zhou stood on the sidewalk and watched her walked into the airport.

Xiao Tong stopped at the entrance of the airport. She then looked back and waved her hands.

Lu Zhou smiled at his sister and waved back.

Coincidentally, while he was waving, an acquaintance approached him.

Molina was dragging her suitcase out of the airport when she noticed Lu Zhou waving. She was stunned.

Obviously, she had not expected to see Lu Zhou because she did not tell anyone which flight she was taking.

She clearly misunderstood the situation.

Molina had a smirk on her lips as she walked toward Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou noticed her as well.

He was about to say hello, but she spoke first.

"Thanks, I really didn't expect you to come to pick me up."

Molina walked past Lu Zhou and put her suitcase into Lu Zhou's car trunk.

She then looked at him and with her blonde hair gently swaying, she said, "Since you gave me such a nice surprise, I won't ask where you got my flight information."

She opened the car seat and sat on the passenger seat.

Lu Zhou looked at her and did not react. Molina was stunned. She frowned and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "No problem, I'm going back to Princeton anyway…"

Although Lu Zhou sounded a bit weird, Molina was in a good mood so she did not care.

Lu Zhou opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. He was about to start the car but he hesitated.

Although it was not a big deal to pick someone up, and Molina had picked him up before, Lu Zhou did not want to have any misunderstandings so he felt it was necessary to clarify.

Therefore, before he started the car, he said, "By the way, I was actually here to send my sister back to China."

Molina, "…?"

…

After Xiao Tong returned to China, Lu Zhou's life returned to normal again.

Over the next few days, he would either be at the Institute for Advanced Study, Frick Chemistry Laboratory, or his apartment.

In order to build a logically self-consistent mathematical model, and to complete his PowerPoint, he needed to do more experiments.

Although this sounded cumbersome, it was not that bad.

For a mathematician, especially one who was involved in mathematical physics, building the model after obtaining the results from the experiments was a piece of cake.

Of course, this was not only for those materials scientists that did not understand mathematics.

A rigor mathematical model could accurately predict the physical properties of an untested material. It could also provide a reference to the experimenter.

For example, it could narrow down the scope of the experiment.

Also, Lu Zhou needed to perform multiple Coulomb cycles on this sample in order to promote the technology. He had to compare the performance of the two materials by using a graphite negative electrode as the control group.

The academic community was concerned with breakthroughs. The market was concerned with a series of production issues such as safety and costs. More results meant a higher bargaining power for Lu Zhou.

The only thing that annoyed him was that the experiments took a long time. As for the experiment that required expensive types of equipment, he had to personally keep an eye on the progress.

Normally a boss would not personally do this stuff. Instead, they would delegate it to someone down under. However, Lu Zhou was a mathematics professor. Since all of his students were in the field of mathematics, they could not help him at all.

Thankfully, Professor Chirik solved this problem for him.

He had a lot of students and except for a few who often did experiments and attended conferences, most of them were free.

When Lu Zhou heard that he had more than a dozen master's students, he nearly choked.

"A dozen? How can you manage so many at once?"

Professor Chirik said nonchalantly, "Find a few talented ones and train them. For the rest, don't bother with them."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Sure enough, a good scholar doesn't mean you are a good supervisor.

This guy must've sent offers out like candies, and ruined the academic careers of some students.

Lu Zhou suddenly wondered if as a boss, he was a bit too responsible…

…

In any case, he had found his helper.

The next day, Professor Chirik brought his student over to Lu Zhou.

This young student was tall and well-built. It did not look like he did research. Instead, he looked like he was a rugby player.

However, Lu Zhou was not too weirded out.

Professor Chirik walked in and said, "This is Connie, the one I told you about. He's well versed in computer science, organic chemistry, and applied mathematics, he should be able to help you."

That Connie guy warmly reached out his hand and looked at Lu Zhou with worship reflected in his eyes.

"Hello, Professor Lu, very nice to meet you!"

Lu Zhou shook his hand and smiled.

"Hello."

Professor Chirik patted Connie's shoulder and said, "Okay, Connie, I already explained what you need to do. You're facing the top computational materials science professor at Princeton, so study hard, and don't humiliate me."

Connie smiled and said, "Rest assured professor, I won't let you down."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I'm not exactly the top, I just did a little work."

"No no no, don't need to be humble," said Professor Chirik as he waved his hand. He then said with a serious tone, "There have been many theses published in Nature over the past decade, but not many have caused such a sensation. It's no exaggeration to say that you have changed the industry personally. The work you did was undoubtedly great."

Lu Zhou smiled and did not respond.

It would be up to the world to decide if it was great.

With the addition of Connie, Lu Zhou was finally freed from the tedious and boring repetitive work.

Maybe it was because this guy had been benched by Professor Chirik for too long, he worked quite hard for Lu Zhou.

No matter how late he worked, he would still arrive at the laboratory at six o'clock the next morning.

Two and a half busy months passed by quickly.

Finally, before Black Friday in November, Lu Zhou made six samples of lithium batteries after completing the Coulomb cycle 1000-2000 times.

The results were gratifying. Other than a small dent in the negative electrode material, there were no lithium dendrites forming.

The No. 7 control group sample did not use the PDMS material. The copper foil was already filled with lithium dendrites, and the battery was completely destroyed. It was obvious how amazing Lu Zhou's research results were.

At last, he finished all of the preparations. As for now, he just had to wait for the conference to begin…

Chapter 271: MRS Autumn Conference!

In the fourth week of November, two days after Black Friday, the MRS Autumn Conference was held as scheduled.

Since Lu Zhou was invited to the conference, he was able to enjoy the VIP treatment. A car picked him up from the airport and sent him to his five-star hotel.

Normally, an MRS conference would usually last at least a week or 10 days at most.

However, this time the situation was different.

After the lithium dendrites problem was solved, theses related to lithium batteries grew exponentially. These theses brought new innovations to other new energy photostatic materials.

Many research institutes modified their previous reports and requested to do another report at the conference. Thus, the conference organizers extended the conference period to twelve days.

Lu Zhou's report was on the afternoon of the second day.

He had just flown into Boston and did not have a plan for the day. Therefore he planned to wander around and listen to a few reports to get familiar with the style.

Lu Zhou placed his suitcase near his bed and went to the toilet to wash his face. He then went downstairs and walked to the conference venue, which was near the hotel.

Lu Zhou had been to many conferences by now, yet he still could not help but be impressed at the MRS Autumn Conference.

The MRS Conference was ginormous, and it was on a completely different level than mathematics conferences.

Dozens of venues, hundreds of topics, tens of thousands of participants…

Every year, at this time, all of the hotels and motels near the venue would be booming. Since the meeting was free, some people would come just to see the action. The organizer was not responsible for their accommodation.

In a sense, the MRS conference model was similar to the Federal Mathematics Society conference held in Princeton.

Every venue was divided into two parts, an oral report, and an academic poster.

Most of the big names did the oral report, which contained many high-quality theses. Not only was this part the essence of the conference, but it was also the "battlefield" for schools like MIT, Harvard, and Cornell.

Especially for those cutting edge areas, the discussion would often be extraordinarily "fierce", so physical conflicts was not unusual.

As for the academic posters, the requirement threshold was relatively low. As long as one had a thesis that was submitted in a journal, one would get a poster booth in your corresponding topic.

As such, there was a high disparity in skill level. However, most people were enthusiastic when discussing topics, so it was generally restrained.

Lu Zhou walked through the venue and looked around. Everyone looked very friendly, and they were taking photos and smiling…

In short, it was not as intense as what Professor Chirik had described.

Lu Zhou felt relieved.

When he got off the plane, he was wondering if he should buy a self-defense weapon, but now it seems that was unnecessary.

However, to be safe, he still wore his "nitrogen shield" watch that the system gave him.

Even though he probably would not need to use it.

…

Lu Zhou walked around in the poster areas and wandered into the lithium battery section.

When he passed the first lecture hall, a report was going on.

Lu Zhou looked at the poster outside the lecture hall. The report was about the legendary lithium-air battery. Suddenly, he had a look of interest in his eyes.

It looked like the report had just begun. The professor on stage was still preparing the PowerPoint. Lu Zhou walked in and found a seat to sit down.

Strictly speaking, lithium-air batteries could not be considered in the field of materials.

However, just like the concept of photovoltaics, the main problem was the material, so it naturally became a materials science problem even though it was actually more of an energy problem.

Soon, the report began.

A very neat looking professor stood on stage. He looked as if he was in his 50s.

From the PowerPoint, his name was Sarrot and he was from Cornell University.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to be standing here. You must all know that not long ago, Professor Lu Zhou from Princeton University published a paper in Nature Chemistry on PDMS materials, which solved the most critical problem in lithium batteries!"

"If this was the Spring Conference half a year ago, you might laugh at the concept of lithium-air batteries, but I promise you that this new era has arrived!"

Professor Sarrot stood on stage and wrote various chemical reactions on the whiteboard.

Some people listened intently while some people sneered.

Sitting in the back row, Professor Kerr from Columbia University crossed his arms and waited until the Q&A session. He could not help but ask in a satirical tone.

"How do you solve the reaction between the lithium anode and nitrogen in the air? What about water vapor? Even the cleaners know how vivacious lithium is. In my opinion, you're not building a battery, you're building a rocket."

He researched lithium-sulfur batteries, which was the main type of batteries. Although it had a lot of downsides, it was a lot more reliable than lithium-air.

Some people in the lecture hall laughed, but Sarrot did not care.

He cleared his throat and replied, "Professor Kerr's question is good. Interns in our laboratory often asked this question. However, formal researchers usually don't ask this question because we are too busy thinking about how to solve this problem."

The people that were laughing stopped.

The people that were not laughing started to laugh.

There was a drama now.

Sarrot did not give Kerr a chance to refute as he continued to speak, "We all know that Kerr is in the field of lithium-sulfur batteries. But, honestly, I'm also curious how he plans on solving the shuttle effect caused by the dissolution of polysulfide intermediates into the electrolyte and diffusion from the positive electrode to the negative electrode through the separator. Even a retard would know that you can't stick the negative and positive poles together."

Kerr was furious.

Sarrot continued to speak, "I've talked with Professor Lu Zhou from Princeton about this issue. Theoretically speaking, it is unrealistic to separate pure oxygen from the air, but through a wonderful mathematical model, we can infer many potential products that can accomplish our goals."

Sarrot paused for a second. He then continued with a sturdy tone, "I'm saying that if we can find a diaphragm that can be used to screen the passage of oxygen molecules, then we can perfectly solve the problem of lithium-air batteries."

"And this research project is exactly what we are trying to solve!"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

When did I talk to him?!

Once Sarrot finished speaking, no one was laughing in the venue.

Professor Kerr and the other professors had a dignified look on their faces.

A few men wearing suits started to whisper.

These people did not look like researchers. Lu Zhou heard them talking about "investment", "costs", and "feasibility".

He knew that he could not stay silent anymore.

Someone was bullsh*ting about his knowledge.

Someone was defrauding investors!

Lu Zhou coughed and stood up.

When Professor Sarrot saw Lu Zhou, he did not recognize this Asian man. He squinted his eyes and asked, "Sir, who are you…"

"I am Lu Zhou," said Lu Zhou. He coughed and said, "I am here to testify that I have said no such thing."

Lu Zhou had not even finished speaking before someone threw a shoe onto the stage.

Then came the pens, cups, even a computer. The lecture hall was a mess.

"Scammer, f*ck off!"

"Shove your PowerPoint up your ass!"

Before Lu Zhou spoke up, they were convinced by Professor Sarrot's "Mathematical Model". For half a minute, they had doubts about their life.

This doubt made them extra furious as they had been fooled!

Although Professor Sarrot was being attacked by the crowd, it was clear that he was used to it. He avoided the projectiles and packed up his stuff before he left the lecture hall.

The organizers who heard the news arrived in time and stopped the group of angry researchers.

The staff members looked helpless. Obviously, this was not the first time they had to deal with something like this.

Lu Zhou sat at the back of the lecture hall. He was dumbfounded.

Is this industry…

Really this ruthless?

Speaking of which, his report was tomorrow.

Lu Zhou suddenly panicked…

Chapter 272: Industry Benchmark

The next afternoon, the lithium battery MRS Conference report hall was packed with people.

Many people arrived here early and patiently waited for the report to begin.

Lu Zhou stood at the entrance of the lecture hall and as he looked at the crowd, he could not help but feel nervous.

He did not know why, but meeting Professor Sarrot yesterday ignited in him a sense of admiration.

Sarrot brought the incomplete project that cost millions here to this conference, for the sake of his researchers. That required courage.

In this game, your peers were your enemy.

Take the lithium-sulfur battery as an example. It seemed that the manganese dioxide nano-layer and polymer solid electrolyte were completely unrelated, but they both explained lithium-sulfur batteries.

In fact, everyone's technology had downsides, and it was just a matter of how much.

Everyone wanted their own industry to adopt their solutions, to invest in their research, and to let their technology inventions thrive.

In the same way, although Lu Zhou's thesis saved the lithium battery industry, he also destroyed many researchers' jobs. A lot of people probably hated him.

As Lu Zhou stood on the podium and glanced across the audience, he was surprised to see that no one looked like they were out to get him.

At least no one in the front row looked like they were here to cause trouble.

Instead, their pairs of eyes were full of…

Hope?

Lu Zhou wondered if he was wrong. The report was about to begin.

Lu Zhou pumped himself up and walked to the podium. He plugged in his USB into the projector and signaled the staff members to bring out the three whiteboards.

Normally, a materials science report would not contain this much information, but his report was mathematically based.

Lu Zhou faced the quiet crowd and tested the microphone. He then spoke in a simple and concise manner, "I've made a fairly complete description of the properties and preparation methods of the modified polydimethylsiloxane film. I believe that most of you have read it before this report, so I won't go into details here."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he then said, "Compared to the production process of the PDMS film, I believe that you are more interested in how I discovered it."

Many people in the crowd nodded.

Not everyone here was lithium battery researchers or in the industry of lithium batteries, some of them were big names in organic materials.

For people in different fields, they were not interested in the PDMS material itself. Instead, they were more interested in how Lu Zhou discovered this material using mathematical modeling.

Lu Zhou did not waste time on his opening remarks. He went straight into the main course.

"In the initial stages of deposition, lithium ions typically acquire electrons and deposit them on the current collector, which is considered to be a heterogeneous nucleation behavior. Because of this initial nucleation, the final lithium deposition pattern has a strong influence. So, my initial idea was to solve the problem of irregular growth of lithium dendrites by taking the initial stage of the nucleation stage as an entry point."

"Using the SEM electron microscopy, I could see the root of the crystal nucleus in the electrolyte. We can see it as a spherical cap-shaped nucleus deposited on a flat substrate. It is like a three-dimensional spherical surface. We can set θ as the contact angle, r Is the radius of curvature, a is the radius of the contact surface, and γ is the surface tension…"

Some things could not be explained with words.

Lu Zhou picked up the marker and started writing on the whiteboard.

[Sv=(π/3)(2+cosθ)(1-cosθ)2]

[∆Gt=(∆Gf+zFη/Ω)Svr3+γSAr2+(γSN-γSE)πr2sin2θ]

[…]

The whiteboard was slowly being filled with equations.

The marker danced on the whiteboard as it produced lines of equations.

The mathematical model was the skeleton of the research.

Although Lu Zhou did not memorize every step, he understood every detail so he was able to recite it easily.

The researchers in the crowd stared at the whiteboard intently. They were scared to miss a single detail.

However, fewer and fewer people were able to keep up with his rhythm.

Professor Kerr already could not keep up. He sighed and looked around with a worried look.

He noticed that Professor Bawendi from Massachusetts Institute of Technology was still staring at the whiteboard, so he could not help but ask.

"Do you understand?"

Professor Bawendi did not answer this immediately.

After some consideration, he gave his answer in a relaxed tone, "Of course, it's an interesting method."

Professor Bawendi was studying quantum dot technology, not just chemistry, so he was well versed in condensed matter physics.

Anyone with a physics background was naturally good at mathematics.

When Professor Kerr heard Bawendi's evaluation, he looked helpless.

He did not understand most of what was on the whiteboard.

He was not clueless in mathematics, but he had never studied it deeply. After all, materials science was an experiment based subject, and most data was collected, not calculated.

However now people were telling him that computational materials science was not just an assisting tool in materials science, but it was the main tool. He started to have some doubts about his life.

Perhaps he should take some time and learn mathematics.

Time slowly passed by.

Lu Zhou was in the zone. It was like he was back at the Princeton classroom, like everyone in the crowd was his students, and they were listening to his lecture intently.

Lu Zhou responded to those who were seeking knowledge and he explained his thought process.

[τs=πD(C0EZc/2j)2({ua+uc}/ua)…]

Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of equations and stopped writing.

He took two steps back and glanced at the whiteboard. He did not speak immediately.

The audience stared at Lu Zhou's sturdy posture and stayed silent. It was like they feared to interrupt Lu Zhou's thought process.

Five minutes passed…

Lu Zhou finally turned around and placed the marker on the podium.

"That's the jist of it."

"Next up is the Q&A session, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them."

The crowd was still silent.

No one stood up, no one raised their hands, no one even coughed.

Even the most ruthless experts stayed silent, making people wonder if this was actually the MRS Autumn Conference.

The silence gradually ended.

Someone started to clap.

"Clap clap clap…"

Then someone else clapped.

Soon the venue was filled with thunderous applause.

As Lu Zhou looked at the crowd, he was stunned.

He was surprised that no one asked any questions.

He felt a little weird.

I guess…

I'll pretend they all understood it.

The American Materials Society will release a thick stack of theses related to the topic. If they're interested, they can study it themselves.

I've already finished what I have to do here.

Lu Zhou gestured to the staff member that the report was over.

He was about to unplug his USB when he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. The PowerPoint presentation has not finished yet."

Lu Zhou was so immersed in his calculations that he had almost forgotten what he was here for.

He pressed the button on the laser power and went to the next powerpoint slide.

"There is not much else to say with regards to the modified PDMS film. In the past two and a half months, I've done six experiments. Here are the macroscopic conditions inside the battery and the SEM image of the cross-section of the negative electrode material, after a Coulomb cycle of 1000 to 2000."

This experiment was not difficult to do, but it was time-consuming.

In order to completely remove the concerns of the industry, this experiment was a must.

The PowerPoint presentation was on the second to last slide when Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then said, "I'm sure that a lot of people are interested in this."

Indeed, many people were interested.

When the businessmen sitting in the back saw the 2000 Coulomb cycle images, their eyes went eyes wide opened.

This was because the images contained "treasure". "Treasure" that they have yet to explore.

That was the future.

And right now, there was someone pointing them to the future…

Chapter 273: Actually This Is Only My Hobby

Before the report began, Lu Zhou ran many scenarios in his head, but he had not expected this to happen.

While he was leaving the venue, the crowd applauded him again.

Even though most big names liked to catfight at the MRS Conference, they fought on the premise that they understood the report. If one did not understand the report, one did not have a right to speak. This was the same at mathematics conferences.

Although Lu Zhou's report was on lithium batteries, the computational materials science field was still very new. As such, many veteran researchers did not study computational materials science at all.

Thankfully, the computational chemistry field still had people like D.E Shaw. However, Lu Zhou did not realize that his report and thesis had just set a benchmark for the computational materials science field.

Even though many people were confused about his mathematical model, no one had the confidence to stand up.

The reason was that the result of the experiments was clearly there, and it was a huge result.

Just like how Jack Ma said he did not like money, one could not do anything to attack that claim.

It was because the results were irrefutable.

Liu Bo stopped applauding. He sat at the back of the lecture hall and stared at the whiteboard.

"Interesting…"

Professor Li Rongen interrupted him before he could say anything else.

"Interesting your mom. Did you understand it? Explain it to me."

Since Liu Bo was exposed by his boss, he could only smile and shut his mouth.

He was different from Qian Zhongming and Professor Li Rongen. He studied applied chemistry, and compared to those that studied condense matter physics, his mathematics was at a level behind.

Since his boss did not understand it, there was no way he could.

Qian Zhongming sat next to him and stopped writing. He stared at the three whiteboards on the stage for a long time.

After a while, he finally sighed and said, "Strong…"

Professor Li Rongen smiled and said, "Understood?"

"Understood half of it, so I guess not."

Qian Zhongming shook his head. He then closed his notebook and stood up.

Professor Li, "Where are you going?"

Qian Zhongming, "I've got a few questions that I don't understand, so I want to ask him."

Professor Li shook his head and said, "Wait a few days. He might be too busy for you."

Qian Zhongming was stunned. He did not know why.

Professor Li did not explain. Instead, he stood up and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat. I'll take you guys to eat some Boston lobsters. As for the University of Jin Ling's Professor Lu, go and visit him after a few days."

This was correct. Although Lu Zhou was technically a professor at Princeton, he had an honorary professor title at the University of Jin Ling. Who could say that an honorary professor title was not a professor?

As for the other point, Professor Li was very perceptive.

At the moment, Lu Zhou really did not have time to discuss some computational materials science problem.

The moment Lu Zhou walked out of the lecture venue, he was surrounded by people.

"Professor Lu Zhou, do you have time right now? I want to discuss the mathematical model you just presented."

"Hello, I am the CEO of Digilen. Are you interested in taking the role of a material development director? We can give you a million dollar salary, and 5.6% options…"

There were people asking him academic questions, people offering him jobs, and even people begging to become his apprentice.

A sweet lady, which was rare in the field of materials science, grabbed Lu Zhou's hand.

"God Lu! Are you teaching this class at Princeton? Can I apply as your PhD student? I'm graduating this year. Can I get your WeChat?"

Lu Zhou looked at the master's female student and said, "Of course Princeton has a computational materials class, but I'm a mathematics professor. I mainly teach number theory."

The girl's eyes widened and she said, "Are you not planning to teach a computational materials science course? You can undoubtedly become the leader in this field."

Lu Zhou said, "Although my research direction includes functional analysis, complex analysis, and harmonic analysis, I'm only doing computational materials science as a hobby. Before I perfect my knowledge in this area, I'm not taking any students."

Lu Zhou knew he was humblebragging, and both the PhD and master's students in computational materials could not help but roll their eyes.

F*ck sake!

What do you mean it's your hobby?

Why don't you go fly as a hobby?

After half an hour, Lu Zhou finally got rid of the crowd.

He dragged his tired body back to his hotel and took a shower. He then changed into some fresh clothes before he went downstairs to the first-floor lobby.

Although the MRS organizer provided meals for all of the presenters, they clearly had a more special arrangement for Lu Zhou.

All of the invited speakers and important guests were arranged at the five-star hotel next to the venue. This meant that the dinner was invitation only.

The reason for this was so the big names could eat in quiet, and it separated the academic community and the businessmen from the general public.

After all, no one wanted to be interrupted when talking about multi-million dollar deals.

So far, the industry was tempted, but past lessons have taught them to be patient.

However, Lu Zhou estimated that their patience was running out.

At the hotel buffet, Lu Zhou placed a lobster onto his plate. He then found a comfortable place to sit down. Suddenly, a major player walked up to him with a smile.

"Hello, Professor Lu, I am the CEO of Umicore from Belgium, Marc Grynberg. Can I sit here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Sure."

Grynberg sat across from Lu Zhou and handed him his business card.

"Thank you, here is my business card."

Lu Zhou took the business card. He looked at it before put it into his pocket.

After all, Umicore was an industry giant. Lu Zhou had heard of this company. This Belgium chemical giant began to produce cathode materials after purchasing the patent for lithium iron phosphate in 2011 for millions of dollars.

Then within a year, they signed a giant cooperate contract with 3M. With the help of 3M's customers, they surpassed Nichia to become the world's largest lithium battery cathode producer.

Lu Zhou knew why a positive material company wanted to talk with him.

Right now, the anode material of lithium-ion batteries was mainly composed of artificial graphite and natural graphite, which had nothing to do with lithium materials.

Precisely because of this, the giant company that produced cathode materials was keen on the research and development of lithium batteries.

In 2015, Umicore reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the Argonne National Laboratory for lithium battery research and development. Umicore had always been ambitious toward lithium batteries.

If the industry eliminated graphite anode materials, which had been used for more than 20 years, and switched to the more advanced lithium anode materials, it would allow a company like them, who were experts in lithium material production, to get into the anode material market.

No matter what, they could not fall behind their rival company, Nichia.

As such, Mr. Grynberg did not want to wait a single day. As soon as the report finished, he rushed to visit Lu Zhou.

It would be best for him if he could purchase the patent with a premium.

Of course, getting the patent authorization ASAP would be nice as well.

After all, getting the patent earlier would mean major orders from customers like Panasonic, BYD, LG, Sony, and etc.

Chapter 274: Overseas Patent Authorization

Since Grynberg often dealt with people from R&D, he was skilled in doing this type of business talks.

The more one bragged the more one would be hated.

Therefore, when he introduced himself, he kept it short. He said he was the CEO of Umicore, and he went straight to the point.

"I'm just going to ask. Do you have plans to sell the patents?"

"Nope."

Grynberg, who planned out his question, nearly choked on Lu Zhou's answer.

He coughed to cover his embarrassment before he said, "Are you not going to ask for a price? What if we can give you a satisfactory offer?"

"It doesn't make any sense to talk about this," said Lu Zhou as he gently put down the fork and knife. He then said with a relaxed tone, "How high can you offer? $10 billion? $20 billion? The lithium negative electrode industry only just began, no one knows how big the market can get. Even if I wanted to sell the modified PDMS film patent, I wouldn't do it right now."

$10 billion was obviously impossible. Lu Zhou was only exaggerating.

Perhaps the lithium-sulfur batteries in the laboratories were worth this price, but the lithium anode material definitely was not.

After all, the global annual output value of lithium-ion battery anode materials was only $10 billion USD, and this was because graphite materials were expensive.

Grynberg was given a hard time by Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou obviously did not want to negotiate with him.

However, he could not just give up like this.

"But have you thought about substitutability?" said Grynberg. He smiled and said, "We all know that technology develops very fast. Maybe in a few years, another potential material appears. Are you sure that by then, you'll still be able to sell your patent at a higher price?"

Lu Zhou smiled at Grynberg's prediction of the future, but he was not concerned about it.

"I'm willing to take this risk."

Grynberg: "…"

Seeing that this Belgium dude stopped talking, Lu Zhou started to peel the lobster.

What a joke.

Do you not know how much the industry spends on negative lithium electrodes?

After decades of burning money, this problem still hasn't been solved. Do you think that in just a few years someone can come up with a better solution than mine?

It's not impossible, but it would be damn close.

Seeing that Lu Zhou did not budge, Grynberg sighed and asked, "Okay then, let's put buying off the table. What price are you willing to authorize the patent?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he had a smile on his face.

He had been waiting for this.

He had been thinking about this question two months ago. He even did some investigation on the lithium battery market.

The total estimated global demand for lithium battery anode materials in 2016 was 138k tons. From current statistics, the actual demand this year should be in line with expectations.

Although this data corresponded to graphite materials and not lithium anode materials, it was a good estimate and reference.

After all, the lithium anode materials had cost and performance advantages. The speed at which the industry eliminated graphite anodes could be much faster than Lu Zhou had imagined.

For Lu Zhou, the biggest way to maximize profits would be to earn a certain patent fee percentage for per ton of material.

Taking the increase of demand into account, in five years, he could earn a nine-figure USD salary.

The downside was that the system mission would not wait for anyone.

If Lu Zhou used this patent authorization method, his asset growth this year would only be the $400,000 USD salary from Princeton.

Therefore, he came up with a new idea.

It could guarantee both short term and long term gains.

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then voiced his proposal, "I'm willing to grant you three years of use and agency rights for the modified PDMS patent, for $200 million USD. This is for use outside of China only."

"In this three year period, you'll receive an exclusive patent license for the global market outside of China. I'll not make any additional authorizations to third parties. You'll need to give me half of both direct and indirect income and bear all legal obligations and responsibilities.

When Grynberg heard the $200 million asking price, he somewhat disapproved it.

However, when he heard the second half of Lu Zhou's request, a look of excitement could be seen in his eyes.

In principle, the patent itself was exclusive and monopolistic. However, each country had different laws of interpretation and the exclusive right of IP was not unlimited.

In theory, even if Umicore gave Lu Zhou an offer that he could not refuse to buy the patent, they still could not monopolize the production and exclude other companies.

In addition to [Patent Law], each country also had its own [Anti-Monopoly Law]. This clearly defined the abuse of intellectual property rights.

Simply speaking, if a patent had "irreplaceability", and the market share of a company counted as a monopoly, then it may face antitrust investigations.

For example, if the lithium anode material had a huge advantage over graphite materials, then the modified PDMS film technology would undoubtedly count as "irreplaceable".

For a patent of this kind, refusal of authorization, price discrimination, price gouging, and etc could infringe anti-monopoly regulations.

As for the exact boundaries of the law, it would depend on various factors. To test the limit, an excellent team of lawyers would be needed to cooperate with the top managers of the company.

Lu Zhou was unable to do this.

However, Umicore was different.

Compared to him, this multinational chemical giant was much more familiar with regulations.

For its own benefit, they would certainly increase the licensing fees and extend its advantages in the anode material market while they remained within legal regulations of course.

In three years, Lu Zhou could receive a large sum of patent licensing fees, and Umicore could receive the market competitiveness it wanted.

This was in the interests of both parties.

Grynberg hid the excitement in his eyes and put on a hesitant face.

"Three years is too short, I could maybe accept it for five years. You should know that we got the Clariant Group's LFP materials license for only $10 million USD…"

"You can't compare it like that," said Lu Zhou as he smiled and shook his head. He added, "LEP is only a cost-effective cathode material. Do you think that I don't know that your $10 million USD is only a barrier of entry? For every ton of LFP you produced, you have to pay Clariant Group another $20 million USD."

Grynberg was called out but his facial expression did not change at all.

He looked at Lu Zhou. As if he had made some decision, he only said two words.

"$400 million!"

Lu Zhou's heart popped out of his chest when he heard this number.

$400 million US dollars!

It was not just about money for him. There was the 400,000 in experience points attached to it…

Honestly speaking, he was intrigued.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, "Four years at most, that's my bottom line. If after four years we can still cooperate well, I can consider renewing the contract at a new price. Otherwise, I'm sure that Nichia and 3M are definitely interested in negotiating with me."

That last sentence played a decisive role.

Grynberg still wanted to fight, but he did not have the cards for it. After all, Lu Zhou did not need scientific research funding, and he was a well-known scholar in the academic community.

Especially when he thought that Nichia could offer a higher price, he loosened his shoulder and made a decision.

"Fine, you win. Four years it is."

Chapter 275: Financially Free Without Knowing I

Actually, this was not a matter of who wins or loses. Lu Zhou's proposal was a win-win situation.

Otherwise, Grynberg would not have agreed so easily.

Still, it was $400 million USD.

Even for a giant company like Umicore, this was by no means a small number. Especially because Lu Zhou asked for full payment before the end of the year.

After signing the letter of intent, Grynberg did not even eat dinner. He had to persuade the board of directors as soon as possible. He opened a bottle of champagne with Lu Zhou before he left the hotel to make a phone call.

He promised Lu Zhou that he would fly back to his headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to persuade the board to sign the patent cooperation agreement before the end of the year.

Grynberg said he would try his best.

After all, for a public company, a hundred million dollar deal was a big deal.

Regardless of whether the contract was ultimately signed, the moment the letter of intent was signed, the relevant information must be disclosed to the securities market.

The phone call Grynberg made was to the secretary of the board of directors.

Lu Zhou quietly finished his dinner and left the hotel lobby. He then went to the elevator and went straight to his room.

His footsteps were light as he was in a good mood.

After Lu Zhou went into his room, it was like he had been awakened from a dream. He had just only just realized what he had done.

"$400 million USD…"

As Lu Zhou sat on the bed and looked at the cooperation letter of intent, he could not calm down.

He had never expected that within one night, he could jump from the middle class to financial freedom.

When he was a child, even though he had dreamed of winning a five-million-dollar lottery, he did not even dare to dream of hundreds of millions…

What should I buy?

Another assistant?

A small computer for Xiao Ai?

Ask my dad to buy a few houses in Beijing?

Or…

Post it on Weibo first?

Thankfully his intelligence prevailed.

Lu Zhou took out his phone but in the end, he resisted the urge to share his joy with his fans.

It was better to be humble when it came to money.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He then went to take a shower to cool off his hot brain.

As for what to spend the money on, he would decide when the contract was signed…

After his shower, he laid in bed.

He thought he would be able to fall asleep easily after the busy day. However, as he rolled around in bed, he realized that he was not tired at all.

Without him knowing it, the sky started to light up.

Lu Zhou's alarm went off, and he just realized that he did not sleep all night.

Actually, Lu Zhou did not know that he was not the only one who stayed up all night.

Many people were like him.

The reason had to be traced back a few hours ago.

In the early hours of Washington time, the head office of Umicore in Brussels, Belgium, suddenly disclosed a $400 million USD patent cooperation plan on its official website.

This news disturbed the dreams of many investors.

Although the media had repeatedly reported on "major research results" in the field of lithium anode material, not a single chemical company had begun industrializing lithium anode materials yet.

This time, Umicore suddenly took the lead to obtain the anode material patent license.

The sensitive stock market reacted immediately.

This day finally came.

…

MRS was still going on the next day. Lu Zhou was still sleeping in bed, but the conference continued.

However, a few hundred miles away from Boston, Wall Street was going crazy over the lithium battery sector.

Almost all of the companies involved in lithium batteries had a few points increased on their stocks.

This situation was not only contained in the lithium battery industry. It even affected the futures market of lithium materials.

Lu Zhou underestimated the market's enthusiasm for lithium batteries and the influence of Umicore.

When it came to market value and fame, Umicore could not compare to the likes of BYD, Sony, and Panasonic. Much rather less the $100 billion USD tech companies like Samsung and Apple.

However, in terms of influence, these chemical giants with hundreds of years of history were not inferior to them.

The reason was simple.

Tesla was created in five years. Apple or Microsoft was created in 20. However, if their technology fell behind, they could easily be replaced by a new high-tech company.

However, for those enterprises upstream of the industrial chain, even though their prospects were relatively small, their risks were also relatively small.

After all, no matter what kind of technologies were invented, there would always be a demand for chemical raw materials.

However, Lu Zhou had nothing to do with the capital markets.

At least for now, he did not have the energy to pay attention to it.

Lu Zhou slept until the afternoon. When he woke up and looked at his phone, he saw numerous missed calls.

There were calls from Professor Chirik, from China, and some unknown callers.

Just as Lu Zhou was contemplating which he should call back first, another phone call came through.

Lu Zhou picked up and placed his phone next to his ear.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

Lu Zhou instantly recognized the familiar voice, but he asked in an uncertain tone, "Professor Li?"

Laughter traveled through the phone.

"Haha, it seems that you haven't forgotten me yet."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "How could I forget? Did you change your phone number?"

Lu Zhou could never forget Professor Li. If it was not for him, he would not have finished his system mission back then. It was an unknown number so he did not know what was going on.

Professor Li smiled and said, "I didn't change numbers. I'm on a business trip so I'm using a temporary number."

"Business trip?" said Lu Zhou. He had a weird expression on as he asked, "You're not in Boston, right?"

"Of course I'm in Boston, I even listened to your report yesterday. It was quite wonderful," said Professor Li. He then teased, "How was it? Partying all night last night? Did you rest well?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "What do you mean partying? I went to bed last night… I just can't fall asleep. Oh yeah, where are you now?"

Professor Li smiled and said, "I'm downstairs sitting in the hotel lobby. It's almost dinner time. If you're free, let's grab dinner together. If you're still tired, we can meet up tomorrow."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course I'm free, I'll come down right now."

Chapter 276: Personal Status Meeting

Lu Zhou did not expect to see the two other people in the hotel lobby.

One of them looked familiar while the other one was a complete stranger.

Lu Zhou asked Professor Li, "These two are?"

Professor Li was actually quite helpless.

Originally he planned to contact Lu Zhou in a couple of days to inquire about the patent authorization. However, he did not expect to bump into the head of the chemistry department, Dean Li, and his big-name friend.

According to Dean Li, he had been trying to contact Lu Zhou since the morning.

Professor Li remembered that Dean Li had helped him a lot, so Professor Li gave him a favor.

It seemed that he would have to wait until next time to talk about the patent.

"Let me introduce you, this is the leader of our energy-related department, Lu Kaimin…"

"Titles aren't needed, I came here as myself. Just call me Mr. Lu," said Mr. Lu as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He then smiled and said, "I've heard a lot about you, Professor Lu Zhou. You're even younger than they say you are."

Lu Zhou was surprised by the enthusiasm of this big name, but this was not unusual for him. He shook hands with him politely.

"You're too kind, Mr. Lu. Nice to meet you!"

Professor Li said, "This is our head of chemistry department, Dean Li Shuwen."

"Hello hello…"

It was time for dinner.

The squad found a restaurant near the hotel.

Even though the restaurant was not a high-class restaurant, but the standard was not low either. It served authentic Boston dishes.

During dinner, Lu Zhou learned that Dean Li was here to attend the MRS Conference.

As for why the head of the energy department, Mr. Lu, applied to come was for an academic visit.

During dinner, Lu Zhou, Professor Li, Mr. Lu, and Dean Li started to talk about lithium batteries.

Soon, they started to talk about the problem of the patent.

Mr. Lu said, "So, I heard Professor Lu authorized the negative electrode materials to Umicore?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, is there a problem?"

"No, professor, I just have a little suggestion. Please don't misunderstand me," said Mr. Lu with a smile. He then said with a serious tone, "The thing is that we support your legal rights and interests of the PDMS in China. We hope that no matter what company you choose, you won't sell the exclusive rights to a foreign company."

Making such an abrupt request was a helpless move.

China was the world's largest consumer for electric vehicles. Without the breakthrough of lithium battery technology, it was foreseeable that the domestic lithium battery industry would enter a booming stage.

The positive electrode materials were easy to deal with, the LiMo2 patent had expired a long time ago, so they could use it however they want.

However, the key to lithium battery technology was the anode material, not the cathode material. If the patent of the anode material was in the hands of a foreign company, then it would undoubtedly hinder the development of domestic battery companies.

The reason why Mr. Lu pointed out foreign companies specifically was not because of trade discrimination. The reason was clear in the case of the drug artemether, which had become a classic intellectual property right example. It was even on the website of National Knowledge Bureau.

The technology was created by Chinese people, but the drug patent rights were controlled by foreign companies. This kind of injustice was unacceptable.

Of course, the energy department did not want Lu Zhou to simply license the patent at a low price to domestic companies. After all, the intention of patent law was to protect innovation, let resources flow into the research and development field, and to encourage the society to create wealth through IP rights.

However, in this case, the state hoped that he would be conscious of his technology's "irreplaceability", and to avoid giving international companies the tools to monopolize the domestic market.

After all, the existence of the WTO and the deficiencies in relevant domestic laws gave huge power to the domestic anti-monopoly investigation of international capital.

Compared to other departments, this type of in-person conversation was undoubtedly more euphemistic.

Lu Zhou obviously knew what Mr. Lu meant. He had even guessed it back at the hotel lobby.

"You can rest assured that the cooperation between me and Umicore does no involve the Chinese market. As for the patent authorization in China, I'll authorize all companies intending to produce anode materials at a fair price."

"Since you put it like this, I am relieved," said Lu Kaimin with a smile. He then said, "Professor Lu, don't worry, the country will not let you down!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said with a relaxed tone, "Don't tell me you came all the way to Boston for this, Mr. Lu. You could have just called me."

Lu Kaimin shook his head and said, "It's not just because of this. An unexpected situation happened. Actually, my original purpose of meeting you was to ask you something."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

Lu Kaimin said seriously, "In the 13th five-year plan from the Chinese government, the energy department plan was to increase the battery capacity to 500Wh/kg by 2020. But now it seems that with this breakthrough in lithium batteries, this goal can be easily completed. However, the world is improving as well, so we cannot be satisfied. Therefore, I'd like to consult your opinion on the next development strategy."

Lu Zhou said, "I'm a mathematician. I might not be suitable to give you any advice. You should ask battery engineers for your future country development plan."

Lu Kaimin insisted and said, "I don't agree with this. Who said that mathematics professors' opinions don't have value? Just like our collider, Mr. Qiu's opinions are important to the country. We need to integrate everyone's opinion and wisdom to create a suitable plan. Professor Lu, please enlighten us on the future of lithium batteries."

But it's still totally different…

Lu Zhou was a little helpless.

He did not know how to explain to Mr. Lu that although Qiu Chengtong was a mathematician in differential geometry, he was in mathematical physics as well. Qiu Chengtong was basically a scientist. It would not be surprising if Qiu Chengtong won a physics award one day. After all, he was one of the founding fathers of modern string theory.

Furthermore, although Lu Zhou had been titled an "industry benchmark" or "father of computational materials science", his research was not in the field of lithium batteries. Most of his calculated data only had theoretical value.

Lu Zhou knew that he was far less knowledgeable than battery engineers.

However, Mr. Lu was persistent, and he had to say something, "… Then I'll just say a few words, don't take it seriously."

Lu Zhou thought and said, "In my opinion, the lithium-sulfur battery is a type of lithium battery with good potential. The Li-S theoretical specific heat capacity is 2600Wh/kg. Of course, there are many problems, like the shuttle effect, or the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur."

Lu Kaimin then asked, "What about lithium-air batteries? Are they reliable?"

Lu Zhou immediately knew what Mr. Lu was thinking.

Preparing in advance on future technology could give them an edge against western countries.

After all, whether it was lithium, sodium, magnesium or the legendary silicon, companies like Sony and Samsung had already laid out patents in advance.

In a situation like this, even if one developed the technology, one would still be bounded by other people's patents. It would be wise to choose a key research and development direction.

Even then, leaping too forward on research was not advisable…

Especially for something like lithium-air.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's difficult, very difficult… Simply put, spending money on researching lithium-air batteries is just a scam."

The energy density of lithium-air batteries was attractive, and it was easier to develop one's own core technologies compared to lithium-sulfur batteries. This was because people have been studying lithium-sulfur batteries for many years.

Without mentioning the giant company IBM, even the former energy minister appointed by Obama, and comrade Zhu Xiwen who won the Nobel prize, were almost fooled into researching lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-air batteries had even worse problems.

It was not just the issue of lithium dendrites. The problem was a series of complex side oxygen separation reactions. Solving any of them would not only affect the battery industry.

With the current technology, no one even knew where to begin tackling the problem of lithium-air batteries.

Lu Zhou knew clearly that someone would put his name and thesis into a PowerPoint to defraud investors to fund lithium-air battery research.

Although it was not technically fraud, Lu Zhou still hoped that China would spend money on projects that were more realistic.

Even though those projects were less exciting.

Chapter 277: I, Lu Zhou, Do Not Like Money

After listening to Lu Zhou, Lu Kaimin thought for a bit.

After a while, he said, "Thank you for your valuable advice, we'll consider it seriously."

Lu Zhou nodded and did not say anything else.

He did not need to rely on gimmicks to receive funding, so his words were relatively straightforward.

He had already given his advice; whether it would be used was none of his business.

However, Mr. Lu would not just take his words at face value. He would also have to integrate the opinions of many experts; people from production, performance, safety, and battery engineers, all had valuable advice.

The group of people continued to eat; they basically talked about life and nothing serious.

Dean Li and Mr. Lu started to tease Lu Zhou about "getting a girlfriend" and "Chinese or white girl".

After talking with Mr. Lu, Lu Zhou suddenly realized that his anxiousness had calmed down.

It was not that he was suddenly fulfilled.

Rather, he found out that his academic reports were not only valuable in the academic community, but also in the industry.

The rise and fall of a company, the development of a country, and even the future of the world were influenced by his thesis.

He did not even need to publish a thesis.

It was no exaggeration to say that he only had to lift his finger and type "Lithium batteries are good" then upload it onto his Weibo and by the next day, a batch of research funds would instantly be poured into this direction. If he did a PowerPoint presentation, then the stock price of a company could go up a lot… Of course, experts would ridicule his PowerPoint presentation if it was not legit.

Although his work was minuscule compared to the world, the effects were visible by the naked eye.

In contrast, $400 million USD did not seem so exciting anymore…

Emm…

Fine.

Just a tiny bit exciting.

…

The next day, the MRS Conference continued. Lu Zhou paid attention to many interesting reports.

This was a good opportunity to learn the cutting edge research of this field. Anyone that wanted to get into the industry would not miss this chance.

It was not just exchanging academic ideas.

Lu Zhou met many interesting people at the reports, and there was one who was especially legendary.

The person was D.E. Shaw, the leading expert in computational chemistry.

He became a professor at Columbia University when he was 30 years old, and he was an expert in the study of large scale parallel computing. In other words, he was quite famous in the academic community.

Columbia University was located in New York; the center of the world's elite businesses, million-dollar transactions every minute, extravagant girls and cars…

Anyone would be affected by living in this kind of environment.

David Shaw was no exception. After teaching as a professor for a few years, he could not stand it anymore. He decided to get into the major league on Wall Street.

Most people believed that like most professors, he would fail.

However, the end result stunned everyone. In less than a decade, he made a name for himself on Wall Street.

Through his massive parallel computing high-frequency trading company, David's quantitative hedge fund was worth $4.1 billion USD.

Obviously, by this time, he had already achieved what he wanted.

If this was the case, his legendary name would have remained on Wall Street, among bankers.

However, while he was at the peak of his career, he had a sudden realization.

Yes, this guy found out that he did not want a rich hedge fund manager lifestyle!

He found it meaningless.

While he was at the peak of his career, David took off his Patagonia fleece vest and put on a pair of jeans.

For a rich guy like him, he did not have to ask NIH 1 or the NSF 2 officials for research money. He had almost unlimited money and he could personally fund any academic research that he wanted.

Chemistry bio-tech supercomputer?

Did he rent one? Buy one?

Nope, he built one!

The starship of the molecular dynamics world, super-computer "Anton" was born.

Anton's special purpose was to conduct simulations for protein bindings.

"… You're a genius who studies mathematics, I'm a genius who studied massive parallel computing. We can work together to build a new framework for the entire computational chemistry industry. Think about it, 100 years later, people will mention our names in the computational chemistry hall of fame. We will be the founders of this field!"

At the dinner party hosted by MRS, David was talking to Lu Zhou.

Although most self-proclaimed geniuses were a manifestation of narcissism, David might be the only man on Wall Street who had the ability to do this. In fact, no one would even flinch when he called himself a genius.

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "Then 100 years later, a group of teenagers will complain about us being in a textbook."

"You're right, that's the feeling," laughed David. He then said, "How does it sound, interested?"

"I'm interested," said Lu Zhou. He smiled and added, "If you have some more specific ideas, you can find me at Princeton."

"No problem," said David. With a smile, he added, "If you find some interesting mathematical model that you can use in a polymer experiment, make sure to find me in New York."

Lu Zhou was intrigued. He said, "Actually, I've always been interested in supercomputers. I even plan on buying on myself."

"This is a good idea, but it's not cheap," said David. He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Oh yeah, did you sign the patenting licensing agreement with Umicore?"

Lu Zhou said, "I signed the letter of intent. Why?"

David poured himself a glass of wine and said, "If I was you, I'd take some time to think about the tax issue."

Lu Zhou frowned and said, "I have to pay tax?"

David said with a serious tone, "Of course! As long as this money enters the United States, you won't be able to escape from the taxman… Honestly, the taxman always gets what he wants. Now that you're a Princeton professor, I'm sure you have changed your visa situation."

Lu Zhou nodded his head seriously.

Indeed, Lu Zhou had to pay tax on his Princeton salary. However, the $400,000 USD per year salary was after tax.

Lu Zhou asked, "Is there a way I can avoid it?"

David smiled.

"This is easy, just find an island and open an account there. My suggestion is to set up a patent management company in the Cayman Islands. Then hire some accountants. This is how Microsoft and IBM avoid taxes on IP. Many firms in Wall Street also does this…"

"… As long as the flow of funds occur between offshore companies, and the money never enters the United States, you won't have to pay tax. The federal tax bureau won't go after you…"

National Institutes of Health National Science Foundation

Chapter 278: Offshore Company

In the past, Lu Zhou had had similar plans, but he never got to it.

David's words gave him a reminder. The taxman would take at least $100 million USD from his $400 million USD income.

Lu Zhou would die if someone took $100 million USD for no reason.

The Cayman Islands was undoubtedly the perfect choice for this situation.

On the islands, there were only a few simple taxes such as import tax, industrial tax, and commercial registration tax. For companies registered on the islands, not only that the company officials did not have to pay business tax, but the islands would not even audit the company's accounts. Other than the yearly licensing fee, the company did not have to pay anything else.

There were many companies set up in the Cayman Islands; Microsoft, Google, BAT - the big three. Even though the licensing fee was not high, this had become the main income for the government of the Cayman Islands.

According to David, New York had a special office that could handle the registration of an offshore company as well as handling the series of auditing services.

Lu Zhou could have a "multinational company" without ever having to step foot on that small Caribbean island.

After the MRS dinner party ended, Lu Zhou returned to his hotel room.

"Can I outsource opening companies these days?" Lu Zhou looked at the business card that David gave him. He took out his phone and dialed the number.

According to David, this "AM" company was famous in the materials science field. It mainly served major universities and tech companies. It also helped with offshore company registration and IP related services.

Basically, they could solve Lu Zhou's problems perfectly.

The phone quickly connected, and a female voice traveled through the phone.

"Hello sir, this is AM office. What business are you planning to do today?"

Lu Zhou stated that he needed an offshore patent management company to cooperate with overseas companies on intellectual property rights and to make certain "tax planning" requests.

The lady instantly knew what Lu Zhou meant. After hearing that Lu Zhou was serious, her voice became serious.

"… Can I ask what is your expected business range? For example, is the yearly profit less or more than one million USD?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

"… Like more than $100 million USD."

The phone went silent for three seconds.

"Sir?"

Lu Zhou, "What?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear you properly, did you say…"

Lu Zhou, "Like more than $100 million USD. Is there a problem?"

There was a small commotion on the phone, followed by footsteps, and the sound of documents flipping.

Then the call was transferred to someone else.

"Hello sir, I'm Woolf Witt. I'll provide full consultation for you here. Please, may I ask what's your name?"

This voice was obviously more enthusiastic.

"Lu Zhou."

"Okay, Mr. Lu Zhou," said Woolf as he quickly filled in the customer information form. He then said, "Here's the deal. If you want to set up a patent management company with a large amount of money, even though the Cayman Islands does no personally audit corporate accounts, the banks will require you to provide a company business statement."

Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "Is it complicated?"

"No, not complicated at all. We can offer you three options."

He started to explain the three options and Lu Zhou was starting to get a headache.

"Sent the three options to my email and attach a price. I'll contact you myself. I don't want to talk about it on the phone."

Woolf quickly said, "Okay sir, your email is…"

Lu Zhou gave him his email and hung up the call.

…

The company that David Shaw recommended was very efficient.

Except for the blabbering agent named Woolf, there was nothing to complain about.

Since their business was centered on intellectual property, their customer base was mainly universities and research institutes. After AM got Lu Zhou's name, they quickly found his background information.

After Woolf found out that Lu Zhou was a big name, he instantly gave Lu Zhou his full attention. Woolf spent the entire night writing out the three options and sent them to Lu Zhou's email.

When Lu Zhou woke up the next morning, he found the mail sitting in his inbox.

It was 12 pages in total. It had the three proposals and a quotation for the price of each proposal. In addition, it also had a model agency contract.

According to the solutions provided by AM, Lu Zhou only had to pay $500,000 USD in service fees to get a well-structured patent company. AM would also provide two years of legal support.

In America, as long as one had money, one could do anything.

Woolf considered all of the problems that Lu Zhou had not even thought of.

Lu Zhou did not hesitate, and he chose the least troublesome option three.

Since he still had not used his Crafoord Prize money, and that he had the Princeton salary money, he was more than able to afford the $500,000 USD.

Not to mention that he did not have to pay it all at once. He could pay the rest after the project was completed.

By that time, a couple hundred thousand would be nothing for him.

After AM received a $200,000 USD deposit, Woolf immediately set foot to Boston.

Although the contract did not have to be signed in person, Woolf wanted to show his sincerity to his customer. He brought the contract and his assistant along.

Lu Zhou saw Woolf outside the hotel. Woolf walked over and gave him a warm handshake.

"You must be Lu Zhou, I'm the agent responsible for your case… This is my business card."

After shaking hands with Lu Zhou, Woolf continued to speak, "If you haven't eaten yet, we can chat while eating. I know a good cafe nearby. Their tuna sandwich is the best."

Lu Zhou took the business card and said, "You come here often?"

Woolf said, "Of course, I have many customers in Boston. I've been here over a dozen times."

After some small talk, the two didn't hang around the hotel for long. They found a quiet cafe nearby and began to talk about the specific details of the patent management company.

According to the contents of the contract…

AM would help him set up the patent management company in two weeks.

Then Lu Zhou would pay the rest of the balance before January next year.

There was no room for sneaky moves in a contract like this, and a formal office would not want to hurt its credibility. Lu Zhou briefly went over the cooperation rules and signed the contract.

Woolf spoke in a professional manner.

"Oh yeah, we noticed that your cooperation with the Belgium Umicore company is still in the stage of letter of intent. We must tell you that for a giant chemical company like this, they have a team of sneaky lawyers, so they might hide traps in the contact…"

Woolf cleared his throat and continued, "In order to eliminate all dangers, I sincerely recommend you to choose our team of lawyers to help you with the signing of the contracts. Our lawyers are experts in intellectual property…"

Lu Zhou put down the pen and said, "One thing after another, Jesus. Help me with the patent management company first, then we can talk about other stuff."

Woolf smiled confidently.

"Rest assured sir, AM's business ability will definitely satisfy you. Whether it is legal or accounting services!"

Chapter 279: US$400 Million

December came in the blink of an eye. The 12 days long MRS Conference finally came to an end.

Lu Zhou was invited by the organizer to present the Best Poster Award.

Since this conference had 63 topics, and topics could not be compared fairly, so there were 63 awards.

Normally speaking, the young scholars were involved in the poster presentation stage, and well-known scholars were responsible for giving out the awards.

Lu Zhou was responsible for giving out the award for best poster in photovoltaic materials and photovoltaic devices. The winners were master's student Wang Chen from Cai University, and his supervisor Xu Lijun.

Although Cai University was not that famous, its materials science department was top-notch, especially in the field of photovoltaic materials.

Under the guidance of Professor Xu, Wang Chen used a mixed continuous deposition method to synthesize a film of CH3NH3PbCl3 with good crystallinity and obtained a coplanar insert type CH3NH3PbCl3 film visible light blind ultraviolet detector.

Although this research result was not enough for an oral report, it was undoubtedly the best posters among young scholars.

As such, her work won the favor of the judges and stood out from many other posters.

On the podium, Professor Xu Lijun shook Lu Zhou's hands.

The old professor then said with a smile, "Congratulations! After this MRS Autumn Conference, you're the leading person in the field of computational materials science!"

"No way," said Lu Zhou as he shook the old professor's hand. He then smiled and said, "I'm only a mathematics professor, I still need more insight to carry forward the computational materials science field and make achievements."

The two released their hands after the brief exchange.

Lu Zhou then turned around and took the award certificate and souvenir from the conference staff. He then handed it to the winner Wang Chen and shook hands with her.

The female master's student excitedly shook Lu Zhou's hands and said, "God Lu, do you really not plan on teaching a course in computational materials science at Princeton?"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

Why do I think she…

Looks familiar?

Lu Zhou carefully looked at her. He finally remembered that he met her outside the report hall.

However, he did not change his answer.

"Maybe in the future, but there are no plans for this in the short term."

The girl said, "Then… I'll apply to MIT."

Lu Zhou said with an encouraging tone, "Yes, do it!"

Master's girl: "…"

After the award ceremony, the conference finally came to an end.

Lu Zhou ended his two weeks long business trip and returned to Princeton campus.

At the same time, good news came from the AM office.

The company in the Cayman Islands had been successfully registered. It was named "Star Sky Technology Co. Ltd" as per Lu Zhou's requests. Its main business of operation was intellectual property services and overseas investment, and the logo was three-interlaced Mobius rings.

Like this, Lu Zhou finally started his multinational company…

This company was somewhat different than the others. It only had US$100,000 in the bank account and did not even have an office. Lu Zhou was still in the process of hiring patent management staff. The only business partner they had was an accounting firm.

However, this situation ended in the second week of the MRS Conference.

Soon, Star Sky Technology quickly welcomed its first customer.

It was a customer worth $400 million USD.

"I did not expect you to be so fast. I thought it would have to be after Christmas," said Lu Zhou. He was at a hotel in Philadelphia. As he read the contract handed over by Grynberg, he asked, "Only one copy?"

Grynberg said, "Christmas gifts have to be prepared before Christmas. Plus, the one in your hands is only a draft contract. I sent the electronic file to your email. I'm guessing you won't sign it without looking at it, so I only printed one copy."

Of course, no one would be that dumb.

Lu Zhou read the contract in its entirety. He then handed it over to the AM lawyer sitting next to him.

Reading this stuff was a waste of time, so it was better to give it to the experts. Since the lawyer from Umicore was also here, the two lawyers could discuss among themselves.

This was the final step of the patent authorization, so Grynberg was not in a hurry. However sitting here was boring, so he started to chat with Lu Zhou about the future of lithium batteries.

Since the problem of lithium dendrites was solved, industries such as mobile phones and electric vehicles had quickly started R&D on new products. Other major battery manufacturers were also accelerating their lithium battery research.

Even if they did not create lithium-sulfur batteries, and ended up with Li-MoS2 batteries, it could still change the entire industry and increased the battery density by several folds.

The company NEC bought the patent rights to Li-MoS2 batteries at a high price years ago, but it had since expired. Almost all other major battery companies were ready to jump on the bandwagon.

In a huge market like this, it was crucial for Umicore to obtain a patent license as soon as possible.

This was why Umicore was in a hurry.

They hated the idea of being sneaky and did not play any tricks on the contract.

The AM lawyers took all day to inspect the contract. After some arguments, the lawyers at Umicore confirmed their revision of the contract.

Although Lu Zhou knew he probably did not understand anything, he still read the final contract from beginning to end. He then took the pen and signed his name.

From now on, Umicore would receive a four-year exclusive license for the PDMS film technology outside of China as well as a secondary patent authorization from Star Sky Technology.

Star Sky Technology would no longer license this patent to third parties, and half of the proceeds from this technology would go toward Star Sky Technology.

As for what Umicore would do to their competitors with their excellent team of lawyers, it was none of Lu Zhou's business.

The reason why he signed the complete authorization contract with Umicore was that he did not want to spend time to handle negotiations and lawsuits from other companies.

If someone used his patent without authorization, Umicore would be angrier than him. Umicore would undoubtedly go after any competitor that infringed on their IP rights.

In addition, Lu Zhou could still receive half of the settlement from the lawsuit.

Grynberg looked at the two identical sets of contracts on the table. He finally had a smile on his face.

With the help of this contract, Umicore would have a significant advantage in the lithium battery industry.

For him personally, this was an excellent performance.

Grynberg put away the contract that belonged to him and reached out to shake Lu Zhou's hand.

"Happy cooperation."

Lu Zhou held Grynberg's hand and smiled.

"Happy cooperation!"

Chapter 280: Joy Of A New Home

December was not a calm month for the lithium battery industry.

In Apple's scheduled winter press conference, they announced a new concept line of mobile phones.

In addition to some minor improvements, the most eye-catching improvement was undoubtedly the four times increased standby time.

More specific information would be announced next spring.

The moment this news came out, the entire internet was shocked.

On a mobile phone forum…

Arguing about major phone manufacturers here had become a daily norm. As long as it was not too ridiculous, the netizens would be heavily biased toward their favorite phone brands.

Normally, the battlefield of the phone manufacturers was evenly matched.

However, after that Apple press conference before Christmas, this balance was broken.

[F*ck, four times battery?!]

[Nutty!]

[Apple is crazy!!!]

Even though new tech products had been coming out every year, there was not much difference between each generation of products. After all, due to the degradation of Moore's Law, CPU and GPU speeds were bottlenecked. Most phone manufacturers could not surprise anyone with their new iteration of phones.

However, the announcement of the 400% increase in battery life shocked companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Samsung.

A certain mobile phone user could not take it anymore. He could not help but make a post.

[Stop bragging about Apple, they don't even make lithium batteries. Lithium battery technology wasn't invented by Apple. I'm willing to bet that in a year, every phone will have a significantly increased battery life.]

This post would undoubtedly be attacked by Apple fanboys.

In fact, hundreds of Apple fans were criticizing this guy in the comments section.

However, the original poster took the attack well. He linked the Nature highlights and the Washington Times as well as various other media articles. He calmly made his arguments.

However, the original poster did not expect people to focus on something else.

[F*ck me, did I read it right? God Lu solved this? Isn't God Lu a mathematics professor?]

[Lithium dendrites… I was learning this stuff a month ago. It was solved half a year ago?!]

[Amazing, half a year ago this guy was bragging about changing Science using mathematics. I thought he was just bragging, I didn't expect his IQ to go beyond my imagination.]

[You're not the only one…]

Although Nature and Science highlights caused a sensation, and the Columbia TV station even did an exclusive report, all of the news was in the science section, so there were not that many tech people who paid attention to it.

After all, the more scientific the breakthrough, the less it was connected to customers.

Most people did not even know what lithium dendrites were. Their confused reaction would be, "Haven't we begun using lithium batteries long ago?"

However, as the research result slowly spread to the industry and changed people's lives, some curious people would eventually trace back to the roots of this change.

The sensation caused by the thesis half a year ago was contained in the academic community and the industry. However, this time, after major electronics manufacturers released their announcements, the news was spread to the general public…

…

Actually, it was not just Apple. A year ago, Warwick, Samsung, and other mobile phone companies had already begun new product line up plans. They just had not announced it yet.

However, after the MRS Conference, the lithium dendrites problem seemed to have been conclusively solved. This coupled with the enthusiasm of the stock market for lithium batteries caused the companies to start announcing it.

After Apple fired off the first shot, Warwick, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers began their next-generation product announcements as well. This year, everyone's concentration was on one aspect of mobile phones.

That was the insanely long standby time.

It was not just phones, computers, cars, and other 3C battery using companies also jumped on the bandwagon.

As the head of the lithium battery market, 3C had experienced tremendous growth over the past few years. It had even grown to be one of the top three consumer terminals of lithium batteries.

Numerous tech companies made PowerPoint presentation type of press conferences. However, the automotive industry was different than tech. Due to a higher safety standard, their R&D cycle took more than a year to complete.

While the battery industry was undergoing huge changes, so did Lu Zhou's life.

He was now worth over $400 million USD. He could not live in student apartments anymore.

Lu Zhou was reluctant to buy a house last time but he was not so distressed about it this time.

After all, Citibank gave him a four percent annual interest rate for his large bank account. Princeton's salary was nothing compared to this.

The stubborn old white man finally gave in and handed the house keys to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou sat on the neat lawn of his new $300,000 USD house. He could not help but smile.

In addition to the 260-square meter size, the house had a front yard and garage as well. The surrounding neighborhood was quiet and peaceful. The neighbors were mainly foreign students or professors of the Institute for Advanced Study. Einstein's former house was close by.

Other than it was slightly too big, Lu Zhou was happy with the rest.

Especially the decoration of the house; he liked that the most.

Perhaps it was because the former landlord was a history professor, he had good taste in furniture. Particularly, Lu Zhou liked the fireplace in the living room as it gave people a comfortable feeling.

It would be a pity to rent this artistic house out. Lu Zhou finally knew why the old man did not want to rent.

The only major change Lu Zhou did was to the kitchen. Everything else remained more or less the same.

Although he mainly ate at the Ivy Club, he still liked to cook for himself.

Lu Zhou looked at the kitchen being refurbished by renovation workers and suddenly, he had an idea.

It was almost Christmas.

Most Chinese people treated Christmas like Valentine's day.

As a tall handsome loner, he had yet to celebrate this holiday before.

Maybe he should tidy up his new house and invite a few friends to have a housewarming party.

Chapter 281: Christmas Eve

The breakthrough of lithium batteries continued to impact the stock market.

The world's largest producers of lithium materials were SQM in Chile, Albemarle in the United States, and Chemetter in Germany. These three companies had control over 80% of the world's lithium salt.

The last trading day before Christmas, the second the bell rung, the three lithium mining giants received an amazing Christmas gift.

The shareholders of the three companies were overwhelmed by this sudden surprise. When the highlights from Nature and Science were released, there was no movement in the stock market. No one thought that one MRS conference could bring this result.

However, as the development of lithium-ion products fulfilled people's expectations, the capital gains brought by technological breakthroughs had finally come to an end.

After all, once the primary industry felt the heat, there was no doubt that the secondary industry would begin to calm down.

Lu Zhou was not interested in the changes in Wall Street capital market. He did not pay attention to them at all.

Firstly, he had no knowledge in the finance market. Secondly, he did not have to worry about money for a while.

His financial freedom would allow him to purely dive into scientific research. He did not have to worry about funding, market value, and any life problems.

Honestly, Lu Zhou finally knew how David Shaw felt.

Although Wall Street gave him beautiful women and mansions, it did not give him any satisfaction.

Although the trillion dollar stock market was stimulating, this type of stimulation would only last for a few years. Eventually, the numbers would become meaningless, like a loveless marriage.

Especially for a parallel computing expert, the numbers had just become a digital game. David did not get any excitement from it.

However, science was different.

The joy that science brought was more than any money, woman, or car could bring.

Imagine that the whole world changed because of your research. You knew that the world was revolving around you.

Feeling empty?

Meaningless?

Impossible.

The universe was like a Mobius ring. It would never end.

Science was the same.

…

The entire town of Princeton was filled with a Christmas festive atmosphere.

On the contrast, Princeton campus was deserted.

Winter vacation had begun two weeks before Christmas and it would last until the second week after Christmas.

Other than some international students, most mathematics students chose this time to go on a holiday or to go back to their home town.

Lu Zhou planned to have a Christmas housewarming party. However, none of his friends were available.

Luo Wenxuan and his new girlfriend went back to China. He was a "hoes before bros" type of guy.

David Lawrence returned to his hometown Boston for a vacation. The second Lu Zhou came back from Boston, David took a flight to Boston.

As for his old friend in Philadelphia, even though she wanted to come, she was too busy with school.

According to her, her supervisor had just received a large outsourcing project from a client. The project was about planning a cooperate organizational structure for a nine-figure company. The deadline for the project was the end of January.

Chen Yushan's supervisor left a ton of work for her. Her excuse was that since Chen Yushan was not a Christian, she did not need a holiday.

While Chen Yushan was on the phone with Lu Zhou, she could not help but roll her eyes.

Lu Zhou expressed sympathy for Chen Yushan. However, her situation was beyond the scope of his abilities so he could only comfort her.

Three of Lu Zhou's close friends could not come. He suddenly realized that there was no one else he could invite.

These three were the only friends he had that lived close to Princeton.

As for those old professors from the Institute for Advanced Study, although Lu Zhou was close to them, their age difference was too big.

Thankfully Lu Zhou's three students decided to stay on campus, so Lu Zhou was not completely alone.

It was soon Christmas day.

The fireplace was burning with flames, and the streets were filled with snow.

Lu Zhou sat on the long dining table in front of the fireplace. He opened a bottle of champagne and slowly said to his three students.

"Next year is a new year."

Hardy raised his hand and said, "Professor, that's a useless statement. That's like using an equivalence proof on the same thing."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Shut up!

Lu Zhou ignored him and continued to recite his Christmas speech, he then expressed his vision for the new year.

"… From next year spring onwards, some newcomers will be enrolled. I hope that as experienced students, you will set a role model for them."

Vera nodded seriously, remembering the words of her professor.

Qin Yue was more rigid. He did not change his expression.

As always, Hardy was obnoxious and he said, "Professor, don't worry about it, I will set an example!"

Lu Zhou said, "Especially Hardy. I hope you can keep up the progress and keep up with your schoolmates. Otherwise, I might forget your name when new students come."

Qin Yue nearly choked on the champagne and he quickly hid his laughter.

Hardy said with a painful face, "Oh, Professor, please, not like this!"

Laughter was heard around the living room. The atmosphere gradually became warmer.

Lu Zhou looked at his student and could not help but smile.

"Then you have to try your best."

He was obviously joking. He would never forget the name of his own students.

Since they chose to hand their future to him, as long as they did not disappoint him, he would be responsible for them until the end.

However, if someone had made an academic misconduct, Lu Zhou would be disappointed with their character.

Lu Zhou raised his champagne glass, looked at the burning fire and said a final message to his students.

"I wish you the best for the new year, I also wish our research project a success. Toast!"

Hardy, Qin Yue, and Vera also raised their glasses, "Toast!"

The group continued to chat and drink.

Although the church bell rings were not heard, the laughter was filled with warmth.

Hardy, who was bragging about his alcohol tolerance, was defeated by Qin Yue in a few rounds.

Then after another few rounds, Qin Yue also passed out.

No one expected that in the hail research project team, Vera was the one that could handle her alcohol.

A row of empty bottles sat on the table. Vera's white cheeks were only slightly blushing. No one knew where the alcohol in her body went.

Lu Zhou did not believe in the Slavic's tolerance, but now as a mathematician, he did not even know what drink he was on.

Lu Zhou gazed at the dimly lit fireplace and started to think.

What if Santa suddenly climbs down that chimney?

Would he and his reindeers be burned to death?

Gradually, his consciousness drifted and slowly passed out.

Lu Zhou who had not been drunk in this foreign country for a long time finally collapsed…

Chapter 282: Self-praising Pioneer

When Lu Zhou felt a warm and moist feeling on his forehead, he opened his eyes in confusion.

As usual, Vera was not good at confronting people. Her face was slightly flustered and she quickly looked to the side.

Lu Zhou noticed that he was lying on the sofa in the living room with a blanket covering his body. There was a warm wet towel on his forehead. He knew that Vera probably took care of him all night.

When he remembered that he was outdrank by a little girl, he could not help but sigh.

I'm an embarrassment!

The sky outside was bright.

Feeling dizzy, Lu Zhou shook his head before he got up from the sofa.

He looked around the living room. He saw that the table was cleaned up except for Hardy, who was still passed out on the table.

Qin Yue on the other hand was also laying on the sofa. He was sound asleep.

Both guys were sleeping well. They would probably feel the pain after they wake up.

As for Lu Zhou, other than his stiff neck, he felt ok.

After all, the genetic agent improved his metabolic function. Although it did not increase his alcohol tolerance by much, it still improved his hangover recovery time.

Honestly, Lu Zhou started to feel the effects of the potion after staying at Princeton for a long time.

In Princeton, the amount of hair was negatively correlated with the amount of academic achievement. Edward Witten was half bald while Deligne was completely bald.

Every time the professors see Lu Zhou, they would ask him why his hairline was not receding.

Lu Zhou did not know how to explain either. He only said that it was part of his "Asian powers".

"What time is it?"

"It's only six o'clock, you can sleep for a little longer," whispered Vera quietly. She then added, "I wanted to carry you upstairs, but you were too dead."

Lu Zhou, "It's fine, the sofa is quite comfortable… Oh yeah, thanks for cleaning up last night."

"You're welcome," said Vera as she shook her head and smiled softly. She then said, "I'm the one that should be thanking you."

Lu Zhou did not understand the reason for this gratitude. Vera did not explain either. Instead, she went into the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast.

…

Vera's cooking skills were decent. Lu Zhou could tell that like him, she was a skilled cook.

Vera was independent, caring, did not complain, and she was grateful for the small things in life… The only problem was that she was not confident enough.

Vera asked Lu Zhou three times if her sandwich, milk, and omelet "taste good"?

However, this did not matter too much. Confidence could be cultivated through achievements. Lu Zhou believed that he could teach her to become a qualified scholar.

Lu Zhou enjoyed his student's breakfast and gained some energy. He then went out and started to run for a few laps.

When Lu Zhou came back sweaty as a pig, he threw his clothes that smelled like alcohol into the washing machine and took a shower. He then went back to the living room to wake Hardy and Qin Yue up.

Qin Yue was a good kid. When he saw that the table was clean, he apologized to Lu Zhou while blushing.

It was polite to help clean up after parties, whether one was a student or a guest. Qin Yue immediately realized his mistake.

However, Lu Zhou was not that stingy. After all, he let Vera clean up everything, so he did not have the right to be angry at Qin Que.

However, someone was not apologetic at all.

Hardy rubbed his eyes and looked at the time before he suddenly asked, "Isn't it only eight?"

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, "Go back to your dorms to sleep!"

As if it mattered, Hardy said, "I don't live in a dorm, I rented a place outside with my girlfriend… She's back in Canada now."

Lu Zhou: "…"

What are you trying to say?

Showing off?

Seeing that this kid was still half conscious, Lu Zhou let this matter go.

…

After the three students left, Lu Zhou sat in his spacious living room and looked at his beloved fireplace. He was inexplicably happy.

He suddenly realized that he had not shared this joy with his fans.

Lu Zhou smiled.

He took out his phone and found a good angle of the fireplace that showed his spacious living room. He then took a photo.

However, just as he was about to post it on Weibo, he suddenly saw a ton of notifications from people tagging him.

Not only that, he was getting a bunch of direct messages from unknown ladies.

Lu Zhou was stunned. He did not post his photo but instead, he looked at the trending page.

On top five trending topics, he saw the words [$400 million USD].

He clicked on a media blog post.

[Shocked! Famous mathematics professor solved a decade old battery problem, and received a $400 million USD patent authorization profit!]

Lu Zhou skipped the exaggerating post and read the comments section.

[$400 million USD… F*ck me, that's $2 billion in RMB? What kind of patent is this valuable?]

[Lithium battery patent… Something to do with lithium dendrites. Anyways, phone companies are able to upgrade their next generation batteries because of this technology.]

[God Lu, sent out something! How about a screenshot of your daily interest returns.]

[Are you still missing a girlfriend? How about a boyfriend? Do you think I'm good?]

[Ah, although God Lu has never posted a photo of himself, in my mind, he must be a handsome man with glasses.]

This… I'm embarrassed.

Lu Zhou could not help but smile at the comments section.

Other than the fact that he did not wear glasses, he fit the description to a tee.

Lu Zhou saw that no one liked the comment, so he gave it its first like.

However, he did not realize that people were able to see the comments he liked.

Within minutes, new comments were popping out.

[I clicked on "Recently liked by" and thought it was a fake, didn't know it was Lu Zhou himself!]

[God Lu hasn't posted in a while, but I'm satisfied after seeing this like.]

[I have never seen such a shameless person… I'm following.]

[Shameless.]

[Shameless.]

[…]

The blogger's comments section exploded with a hundred new comments.

The small blogger was surprised by Lu Zhou's activity. They immediately sent out another post and even took a screenshot of Lu Zhou's "like".

[Wowww! Excited! I can't believe God Lu reads my page! I'm definitely passing my classes next year!]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Chapter 283: 400 Thousand Experience Points!

Time slowly passed by, and it was soon New Year's Eve.

Lu Zhou still had things to do in America, so he could not go back home. He had to wait until Chinese New Year to reunite with his family.

Although his New Year's Eve was a bit lonely, thankfully the system gave him a big present which made his mood a lot better…

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: From the beginning of the mission until the end of the year, User's personal net worth growth was $400,115,000 USD.]

[Mission final evaluation: S+]

[Mission rewards: 400,115 free experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (80% garbage, 10% special, 7% sample, 3% blueprints)]

Lu Zhou stood in the pure white system space. He looked at the experience points number on the screen and took a deep breath. His heart burst with ecstasy.

The system rounded Lu Zhou's net worth by the thousands. Although the system's calculation was off by $100k or so in USD, the conversion rate into experience points was only a hundred or so, therefore Lu Zhou did not care.

On the other hand, these experience points also confirmed his previous speculation.

The system did not take loans and company evaluation into account. It did not even take "fixed assets" such as real estate into account either.

Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel and thought for a moment. He then immediately made a decision on his experience points distribution.

Information science had the technology branch of "artificial intelligence", so it could gain experience through channels other than the "mainline mission". As long as there were no bottlenecks in the technology branch, there was no need to upgrade this discipline.

Engineering and energy science were both at Level 1. They only needed 10,000 experience points to upgrade, so they had the highest return on investment. Therefore, Lu Zhou leveled up them both.

Although the system did not set a maximum level difference between the Level 2 biochemistry and Level 3 materials science, the two disciplines were closely related.

Therefore, Lu Zhou did not hesitate and spent 50,000 experience points upgrading biochemistry to Level 3, the same level as materials science.

Lu Zhou assigned 250,000 experience points to mathematics, which upgraded his mathematics to Level 6.

As for the remaining 80,000 experience points, he spent it all on physics and upgraded it to Level 4.

Although Professor Frank gave up on the 750 GeV characteristic peak issue, Lu Zhou had not given up yet. Level 3 physics was not enough for him to solve this problem, so he needed to strengthen his physics thinking ability and mathematics logic.

These experience points were all earned through materials science, so it was a bit ruthless not to spend any on materials science.

However, after careful consideration, Lu Zhou determined this was the best solution he could think of.

A blue loading circle spun on the information screen, and the updated characteristic panel soon appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 6 (4,000/600,000)

B. Physics: Level 4 (33,215/200,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (4,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 3 (13,000/100,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2(0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 2,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

The experience required for Levels 3, 4 and 5 increased linearly by 100,000 each level. However, the Level 6 increased by two-fold. Lu Zhou remembered that his Goldbach's conjecture only rewarded him 200,000 experience points.

"I guess it's getting more and more difficult to level up."

Lu Zhou shook his head and looked at the lucky draw button. He prayed in his mind as he pressed the button.

The wheel spun at a rapid speed, Lu Zhou made a command and it slowly began to stop.

Then, magic happened.

[Congratulations, User, you won the "special" prize.]

Lu Zhou: … ?!

Honestly, with a 10% probability, Lu Zhou did not expect to win this at all.

He could not help but feel excited…

[Received: "Patronage Appreciated"]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

What the hell is patronage appreciated?

Lu Zhou was instantly pissed.

I'd rather receive a f*cking garbage!

At least I can drink the coke!

Lu Zhou turned off the prize wheel. If this system space was not an illusion, Lu Zhou would definitely kick the system.

Lu Zhou was in a bad mood as he clicked on the mission panel.

He received an S+ evaluation on his last mission, so this time it was a reward mission.

The mission panel quickly appeared in front of him.

[

[Reward mission is activated! (Give up at any time without spending general points)]

Description: As a scholar, you should always be curious about the unknown. Any inference based on common sense should undergo rigorous experimentation. Otherwise, it is open to questioning.

Requirements: Analyze the carbon nanospheres under the modified PDMS film.

Reward: 1~??? Subject experience points, one lucky draw ticket. (???).

]

This reward mission was average. Perhaps it was because Lu Zhou had not solved debris No.2 yet. This time the system did not give him new debris to play around with. Instead, it gave him an unknown lucky draw.

However, this was not the main point. Lu Zhou read the mission requirements and description. He had a frown on his face.

Normally, the mission descriptions were all nonsense, but this time a whimsical piece of information was revealed.

That "open to questioning" phrase - was it hinting at him that the carbon nanospheres could do more than just solving lithium dendrites?

Lu Zhou frowned and thought for a moment.

This mission was not simple. In fact, it could even be said to be difficult.

With his current conditions, it was not easy to figure out how to prepare the carbon nanospheres.

However, Lu Zhou had a sudden moment of realization when he figured out a good way to solve this problem…

After leaving the system, Lu Zhou felt a strong stinging sensation on the back of his head. He almost passed out from it.

Not only did the discipline levels unlock permitted him to access the database, but it also transformed specific areas of his brain.

Normally, this process was a pleasure. It was like his brain and soul was immersed in warm water.

However, this time it was too intensive. It did not feel like pleasure. It was more like torture.

Lu Zhou persisted through the sensation and stayed silent.

That five minutes felt like an hour.

Finally, the pain from his head faded and Lu Zhou took a deep breath.

He suddenly noticed that his back was soaking wet…

Chapter 284: Spherical Problems

The office of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou sat in his office desk and meticulously stared at the three-dimensional graphics image on his computer screen. His right hand would write on the draft paper from time to time while his left hand was tapping on the keyboard.

The data collected by the scanner gun was in Xiao Ai's server. He stored what he needed on his laptop.

Which was the carbon nanospheres under the PDMS material.

The molecular structure of the carbon nanospheres was available, but everything else was unknown.

Whether it was the mechanical or electric properties or the method of creating carbon nanospheres, Lu Zhou had to find these things out himself.

He first had to establish a mathematical model and analyze the physical properties of the model. Only then, could he inversely synthesize the carbon nanospheres material. After that, through a large number of experiments, he could find a way of producing carbon nanospheres.

However, Lu Zhou had no idea where to start.

This was like two large prime numbers, multiplying them was simple, any calculator could do it. However, finding two products of the multiplication of the two numbers, was almost impossible.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and took a deep breath.

At first glance, the carbon nanospheres were similar to C60, C50, and C240. They all had a hollow spherical structure. However, upon further inspection, there was something fundamentally different about the carbon nanospheres compared to fullerenes.

First of all, it was not strictly a "sphere".

Some people may argue that neither was fullerenes since a group of six-membered rings also had pentagon and heptagonal carbon atom rings.

However, the difference in carbon nanospheres was the reflection symmetry. It had no translational symmetry, so it could not even be represented by the traditional Bravais lattice.

This small ball was like two carbon nanomaterials that have been reassembled to create a new chemical bond.

The image of the ball was like two wool balls taken apart and re-twisted together.

If this was really the case, Lu Zhou could be facing a quantum mechanics problem involving chaotic system. Perhaps only Schrodinger's cat could solve this problem.

This was only the geometric issue.

He had a lot more problems in terms of chemistry.

Lu Zhou sighed and patted his forehead as he tried to calm himself down.

The problems had to be solved one by one.

He should start with his best area, mathematics.

Although geometry was not an area he was good at, he still knew a little about it.

Abstractly, this was a topology problem. He needed to disassemble this asymmetrical "cage structure sphere".

Lu Zhou stood up and walked to his office whiteboard. He thought for a while before he drew a composite structure cage ball composed of points and lines. He then marked down the known parameters next to each point and created a simple mathematical model.

[Set A∈X;f,g∈C(X,Y), if there is homotopy of f to g, such that when a∈A, H(a,t)=f(a)…]

[…]

More and more formulas were being written.

Lu Zhou finally stopped writing and took a step back. He looked at the whiteboard filled with equations and started to think deeply.

He thought about many possibilities, but he always felt like all of the possibilities were missing something.

Suddenly, footsteps sound came from outside his office.

Vera pushed open the door while holding a stack of A4 papers.

When she saw Lu Zhou staring at the whiteboard, she hesitated. She decided not to disturb his thoughts, so she placed the documents on his desk and went to make a cup of coffee for him.

When Lu Zhou smelled the coffee, that was when he finally realized that someone was in his office.

He looked at Vera and asked casually, "Is there a problem?"

"The education office asked me to give you this list of interviewees," said Vera as she pointed at the documents on the table. She then added, "I was afraid to disturb you so I didn't knock."

"It's fine, my thought process isn't that easily disturbed. Just don't suddenly touch me from behind," said Lu Zhou in a joking manner.

Vera smiled when she realized that she did not disturb Lu Zhou's thinking.

She took a curious look at the shapes and equations on the whiteboard and asked, "What is this?"

"Nothing, some random question."

Lu Zhou returned to his desk and turned on his computer. He then picked up the interview list and glanced at it.

This cohort of students was not bad, but just academic grades were not enough. He would have to spend time interviewing them.

The only thing that surprised Lu Zhou was that there were non-mathematics students applying to him.

Like an applied chemistry major from the University of Jin Ling, who wanted to research Fourier inversion transformation problems.

Even though it was not unusual for someone to jump disciplines, most people jumped from mathematics to chemistry, instead of the other way around.

While Lu Zhou was flipping through these resumes, Vera, who was staring at the whiteboard, frowned and said, "This 3D structure is very strange."

Lu Zhou looked up from the resumes and asked, "What do you think about it?"

Vera, "Can I use a pen?"

Lu Zhou said with pleasure, "Of course."

Vera picked up a marker and walked to the whiteboard.

She drew a few lines on the caged sphere and marked the pentagons and heptagons. She then drew an irregular curve to divide the figures.

Then, a miracle happened.

After a three-dimensional disassembly and recombination, the asymmetrical cage structure sphere was disassembled into a circular tubular structure and a symmetrical sphere!

Lu Zhou looked at the 3D drawings on the whiteboard and was stunned. His eyes began to light up.

He had considered a myriad of possibilities, the combination of spheres and surfaces, sphere of different sizes, but he had not thought of this combination.

However, the disassembly came to an end.

Vera was confused. She did not know how to continue the transformation.

However, for Lu Zhou, this train of thought was enough.

"You're an absolute genius…"

Vera was stunned as she looked at Lu Zhou. She then looked at the whiteboard filled with topology drawings. A smile emerged on her face.

"I'm glad to help…"

She only thought that this shape was very interesting. Although it looked like a regular sphere, it was asymmetrical, which made it full of mystery.

Due to this mystery, Vera tried to make a topological transformation of the structure and finally found out that the structure was a combination of a symmetrical sphere and a cylinder.

This was an unimaginably difficult elementary geometry problem.

However, this was only an interesting topology phenomenon.

Even though she did not complete the transformation, she had already done enough!

"Of course you helped! You helped a lot!"

Ideas were flowing from Lu Zhou's brain. He took a photo of the whiteboard and closed his laptop before he said to Vera, "I'll have to go away for a few days, so take care of the office for me."

Lu Zhou walked to this office door and suddenly remembered something. He then looked back at the girl and said, "Oh yeah, if anyone comes to find me, just give them my address and tell them to find me there."

Chapter 285: Being Rich Is Differen

"An asymmetrical cage structure can be disassembled into a tubular structure and a symmetrical cage structure. The cage structure has a point group symmetry, and the surface of the tubular structure contains two Stone-Wales defects… "

"… The overlap of π and π* energy levels is due to the Stone-Wales topology effect. This causes an energy band gap of 0.06eV and 0.04eV to be created on the surface, so that explains it…"

"… Which is saying that the carbon nanotubes enhances the properties of the carbon nanospheres."

"I'm an absolute genius!"

Lu Zhou spoke to himself while walking. His eyes were shining with excitement.

The students and even professors walking in the hallways walked away from him.

They were not afraid of bumping into Lu Zhou, but they were afraid to disrupt his thought process.

This was a common occurrence for the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Who would not be excited about sudden inspiration?

Since everyone at Princeton was the same type of person, they knew exactly how Lu Zhou felt…

…

Lu Zhou went back home and locked himself in his small house. He started his new retreat session.

Although Vera did not solve the problem completely, her ideas brought great inspiration to Lu Zhou.

If this idea was feasible, it could solve the problem of creating carbon nanospheres in the laboratory.

Both carbon nanotubes and fullerene materials could be prepared with current methods. The difficulty was how to reconstitute the chemical bonds and combine the two structurally distinct macromolecules into a larger, more complex molecule.

A week went by.

Lu Zhou spent almost all of his time either sleeping, eating, or building his mathematical model.

Finally, the second Monday after New Year's Eve, he completed the initial build of the mathematical model.

"The only thing left is to perfect this mathematical model. Then I have to get a research team to verify these possibilities through repeated experiments."

Lu Zhou stretched his back and leaned against his chair. He looked at the research results for the past week and could not help but smile.

Being rich is really different.

Before this, he had to borrow equipment from other people. Now, if he wanted to do an experiment, he did not even have to do it himself. He could just buy a few pieces of equipment and hire a few PhD students to do it.

Of course, Lu Zhou had other options that could save him money. For example, he could publish the mathematical model in a thesis, and make other research teams do his work.

With his achievements in computational materials science, there should be a lot of research teams who would be interested in any thesis he put out as well as people who were willing to do these experiments.

However, if he did this, the patent rights could land in the hands of another research team.

Even though Lu Zhou was unsure if this was worth as much as the modified PDMS film, this still came from the high tech system. Lu Zhou wanted it in his own hands.

What if it would be useful one day?

In twenty years, anything could happen.

Lu Zhou got up from his chair and stretched his limbs. He was about to go make himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

However, his doorbell suddenly rang.

Lu Zhou had an idea of who was here as he walked downstairs and opened the door.

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Woolf stood outside his door with a briefcase in his hands and a beaming smile.

"It's nice to see you again, Professor Lu. How was your Christmas?"

Lu Zhou shook his hand. He then smiled and said, "It's not bad, come inside… Do you want to drink anything?"

"Thanks, water is fine."

The two sat in the living room. Woolf opened his briefcase and took out a stack of documents before he handed them to Lu Zhou.

"According to your request, we have already prepared the company organizational structure for you. There's also a list of future expenses. If you think this is all fine, we'll rent an office in Philadelphia for you, and hire staff according to the standards of this document…"

Lu Zhou took the stack of documents from Woolf and briefly flipped through the pages.

Lu Zhou requested AM to register a patent company for him in the Cayman Islands and to register a branch in the United States. The branch was primarily for dealing with intellectual property.

Although Star Sky Technology only had one customer, Umicore, Star Sky Technology still had the Chinese market to expand upon.

Lu Zhou did not want to waste time on analyzing the market size, patent pricing, and negotiating patent fees with chemical companies. Therefore, the best choice was for him to hire someone to handle his intellectual property.

Plus, the cost he had to pay was minuscule for him.

"I'm satisfied with your plan, let's just follow it. Also, arrange a time for business executives to come meet me at Princeton."

Lu Zhou placed this project plan aside. He suddenly remembered something so he spoke.

"Oh yeah, what if I acquire a research institute in the United States using my Cayman Islands company as a parent company… If I then receive profits generated by the intellectual properties from the research institute, will I be obligated to pay tax on this profit?"

Woolf smiled and said, "Of course not. When have you ever seen Microsoft and Google pay taxes on their IP income? They even enjoy tax rebates from overseas IP income."

F*ck me, are they really that daring?

Lu Zhou was shocked by this new piece of information.

However, Woolf, who sat opposite him, was not focusing on this.

Woolf smelled money talk from Lu Zhou, so he continued to ask eagerly, "If you need legal help on intellectual property, please be sure to contact me. Our intellectual property services are world class!"

Lu Zhou did not believe him, so he just laughed.

Originally, he did not want to sign this deal with Woolf. After that, Lu Zhou remembered that most of AM's clients were in the materials science industry, so there really was no one better than Woolf to make this deal with.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was tempted. He asked, "Do you have any materials science research customers that are on the verge of bankruptcy or shortage of funds? Or maybe a company with carbon material research and development capabilities?"

Woolf was stunned by the questions. He said, "Verge of bankruptcy? Honestly, I'm not sure about my client's financial situation. But a lot of them are research teams… Is there anything I can help you with?"

Although Lu Zhou was unsure if AM handled mergers and acquisitions, he still asked, "Actually, I want to acquire a research team with carbon nanomaterials research and development capabilities."

When Woolf heard Lu Zhou, he had a bright smile on his face as he said, "This is easy! Leave it to me."

Really?

Lu Zhou was stunned, and he could not help but ask, "Do you also provide services for corporate mergers and acquisitions?"

Woolf smiled confidently and said, "Of course. Although our main business deals with patents, our lawyers offer a wide range of other services. If you ever get sued and need to go to court, please contact me. We have the best lawyers in the United States…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 286: Ten Science and Technology Progress Of The Year

Two major events took place two weeks after New Year's Eve.

The famous [Science] journal selected the top ten scientific and technological progress of 2016.

The research on gravitational waves was the last piece of the general relativity theory puzzle, so it was not surprising that it won the top spot.

If the invention of the electromagnetic telescope was like the human eye, then the gravitational waves detector was like the human ear. Humans could finally listen to the sounds of the universe.

Ranked second was Mycoplasma laboratorium 3.0, also called Syn 3.0. Contrast to gravitational waves, most people did not know what Syn 3.0 was. However, Syn 3.0 was the closest humans had ever gotten to becoming gods.

Sitting at 473 genes, tt contained the minimum amount of genes necessary for life-sustaining activities. At the same time, this was the simplest living organism humans had ever created.

The modified PDMS film that solved the problem of lithium dendrites sat at third place.

The materials science community had not seen a "major breakthrough" in years, so this was undoubtedly an excellent result. Since "finding the seventh line of the periodic table" was also nominated, this year's chemistry community was full of high spirits.

Also ranked was Google's AlphaGo, a deep learning system built by a Monte Carlo decision algorithm. It had become the father of modern artificial intelligence.

Also awarded was a breakthrough in space exploration technology where the seeds of humans were gradually sprouting in space…

However, these research results were not ranked in any particular order. After all, achievements in different fields could not be compared fairly.

A lot of people speculated online that with the [Science] rankings, Lu Zhou had the hope to become the second mathematician after John Pope to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Of course, this was only the opinion of the non-experts.

After all, [Science] only reflected the opinions of [Science], not the entire scientific community.

The Nobel Prize committee had very strict judging criteria for the selection of brilliant achievements in the applicable field. As an outstanding achievement in the applied sciences, the modified PDMS film was not treated like the discovery of gravitational waves, which won the Nobel Prize immediately in the year following the confirmation of results.

Only time could tell whether or not an applicable technology was great.

However, just like the "Father of Artificial Life", Craig Venter, if one day the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the medal of chemistry to Lu Zhou, no one would be surprised.

After all, the lithium dendrites problem had troubled the entire materials science community for decades.

Another major event that occurred at the beginning of the year was Trump's inauguration declaration at the White House.

However, this had nothing to do with Princeton, and Lu Zhou was not someone who was interested in politics.

…

The second week after New Year's Eve, Professor Lu gave his students a long holiday break.

The first reason was to make up for their Christmas vacation. The second reason was that until Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou was going to be very busy and he did not have time to deal with his students.

As for how the students would spend their hard-earned holiday, Qin Yue said that he would go back home for Chinese New Year while Hardy said that he wanted to go travel in the Mediterranean with his girlfriend. Lu Zhou had wanted to give Hardy some "holiday homework", but in the end, he restrained the impulse and smiled, wishing Hardy a happy vacation instead.

When Lu Zhou asked Vera if she had any holiday plans, the little girl did not have anything to do, so she had a blank look on her face.

Lu Zhou sighed at seeing Vera like this.

If it was something else, Lu Zhou would recommend them to see their parents and to enjoy a relaxing family reunion.

But for her…

He could only find something meaningful for her to do.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment. He then said, "Mathematics is a subject that needs inspiration. Studying in the library all day could mean ending up in a thinking pit. This year the American Mathematics Society will hold an academic exchange conference for young scholars at Berkeley. The thesis you gave me last time was pretty good, I recommend you to submit it."

When the little girl heard that she might be doing a report, she suddenly panicked and nervously said, "I… I haven't done a report before."

"No one is born to do this. You have to learn to adapt," said Lu Zhou. He looked into her eyes and said, "If you're worried about travel expenses, you shouldn't. Registration fees, plane tickets, etc, can all be paid for with the research project fund. If you're afraid of going on stage, I hope you can overcome this fear. Trust me, this is good for you."

Among his three students, Vera was the most talented and Lu Zhou had the highest expectations for her.

One day, she would be standing on the stage of the International Congress of Mathematicians and report her results in a one-hour presentation. If she could not overcome her stage fright, then she would never become a world-class scholar.

When Vera heard Lu Zhou, she started to blush. She was overwhelmed by it.

Lu Zhou waited for a long time and when he did not hear a reply, he did not want to give her any room for retreat, so he continued to ask, "Your answer is?"

"Okay…"

Although she sounded hesitant, this was a huge improvement.

Lu Zhou sat in his office chair and nodded with satisfaction.

"Then go and prepare. There are still three days left until the deadline. You don't have to come to my office for the next three days. Just focus on editing your thesis. I'll take care of your flights, so you only have to apply."

Lu Zhou forcefully made these decisions for her before he kicked her out of her office.

Vera stopped at the office door. She hesitated for a bit before she turned around.

When Lu Zhou noticed Vera's expression of hardship, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

Vera lowered her head and smiled embarrassedly. She said, "Nothing, I just wanted to thank you… No one has ever cared for me before."

Just this?

Lu Zhou said, "You're welcome. After all, I'm your supervisor."

…

Lu Zhou finished his work at Princeton and drove his Ford Explorer to Princeton. He went to Star Sky Technology's North American branch office building.

He had to admit that AM's service was satisfactory. Not only did they solve all of the problems he thought of, but they even solved some unexpected problems.

Of course, the charges were not cheap.

Since the office was still under renovation, the floors were filled with construction materials, and there was nothing much to see.

Lu Zhou walked around for a bit before he left the office building and went back to his car.

Visiting his company building was only to satisfy his curiosity. It was not his main reason for coming to Philadelphia. He came to Philadelphia to meet with a consultant that AM arranged for him.

Apparently, the woman was a professor at Wharton, an expert in business administration with a double-degree in international trade.

Although the relevant plans had already been made, anything on paper was not enough. Some things had to be discussed face to face.

Lu Zhou arranged a time to meet with this expert and planned to talk with her face to face.

Chapter 287: Not All Students Are This Lucky

"… Ah, I feel like I missed out on the whole world."

At an office in the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Chen Yushan laid on the table.

It had been two weeks since New Year's Eve, and the Chinese New Year was in two weeks. However, she was still sulking over missing out on the Christmas party.

Compared to her supervisor at Yan University, her supervisor at the University of Pennsylvania was basically the spawn of Satan. Since she arrived, she had had an endless amount of project work waiting for her, and she could never take a break.

At first, she felt quite fulfilled by this lifestyle. After all, she learned a lot during this time.

However, as time went on, even though she was passionate about studying management, it gradually became less and less palatable.

Chen Yushan believed that her situation was definitely an exception because most of the other international students at Wharton expressed sympathy for her.

Although everyone was being used as free labor for their supervisor, few people were being exploited as much as her.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open. Michelle Parsis walked in wearing a fur coat.

This sophisticated woman dressed elegantly and her professional makeup perfectly covered the wrinkles around her eyes.

She looked at her student with her head down on the table and said blankly, "I'm about to go meet with a customer. Did you finish preparing the graphs for the Chinese lithium battery anode material market?"

Chen Yushan, who was still lying on the table, tiredly opened the drawer and took out a USB before she said, "It's basically finished."

Management was a very broad subject, this meant that its scope of studies could be very narrow or very wide.

On one day, one could be planning a company's organizational structure while on the next day, one could be conducting market research on China's lithium battery anode material market. The types of service people in management offered would depend on the requests of the customers.

Although AM only offered company structure planning, Parsis was able to sniff out that the contract between the Cayman Islands Star Sky Technology company and the Belgian Umicore company excluded the Chinese market.

This discovery was a huge surprise for her. People like her were the ones that conducted market research and developed plans to maximize intellectual property profits.

This type of "value-adding services" was her way of expanding her customer base.

After all, customers did not come for free. The Wall Street elites not only had to meet the needs of their customers, but they also need to help their customers and to find out what else they needed.

Mr. Parsis took the USB from Chen Yushan and stuffed it into her purse. She then said blankly,

"I'll check your homework, but for now, go take a nap. Say hello to Los on the way out. Ask her to hand in her report by tomorrow."

Chen Yushan obviously did not regard her words as compassionate. Parsis only wanted her to rest so she could work better.

"Okay, professor, I'll go right now."

Chen Yushan stood up from her desk and wobbled out the door.

…

At the same time, Professor Sarrot was facing the toughest moment of his life in a small Silicon Valley research institute.

Facing a man sitting in front of him, fifty-year-old Sarrot argued in a fierce tone.

"… Our team in the field of organic synthesis is world-class! Cornell University provides us with technical support, do you know what this means? Buying my team for $10 million, why don't you go rob a bank instead?"

Facing this furious professor, Woolf only smiled and spoke in a calm voice, "Of course I know that Cornell University is one of the Ivy League schools and has given birth to 54 Nobel Prize winners, and there are many famous professors there as well… But what does that have to do with you?"

Professor Sarrot froze, so Woolf continued to speak slowly, "From what I know, professors at Cornell University usually don't have to worry about funding, and they usually wouldn't set up their company in Silicon Valley. So, Professor Sarrot, have you sent out this month's paychecks?"

Lu Zhou's asking price was $20 million USD, but the lower Woolf negotiated, the higher his commission would be.

If it was not for the few pieces of valuable equipment, Woolf would not want to pay a single penny.

AM was serving the scientific community?

Nope, that was the only advertisement.

AM only served the rich.

Sarrot turned bright red and he did not speak.

If he was facing an ignorant person, he could speak out of his ass. He would not be fazed even if he was facing investors at the MRS Conference.

However, Woolf was an investor that knew this industry inside and out, so his child's play would not work here.

Woolf's ability in negotiation was on another level.

In fact, Woolf knew exactly what Sarrot's weakness was.

The reason why Sarrot set up his company in Silicon Valley instead of New York was that it was easier to get funding there.

Any famous materials science professor normally would not do something like this because funding was not a huge issue for them. Plenty of companies were willing to cooperate with them, so they needed talent more than money.

Materials science was different than computer science and materials science talent in Silicon Valley was no match for universities on the east coast.

As for Sarrot…

A few years ago, he could still get funding. After all, that was the golden era of lithium batteries.

Microsoft, IBM, Tesla, and even the US energy department jumped on the lithium battery train. There seemed to be no shortage of funds in this industry, and billionaires were being created left and right.

However, the situation turned sharply in recent years.

P.G Bruce, a big name in the field of lithium-air batteries, was criticized for his Nature Chemistry thesis. No one could replicate his research results. Professor Bruce was so close to success but failed in the end.

Although most people believed that Bruce made an "honest mistake", some people labeled him as a "liar". Because of this, the entire lithium-air battery industry was hit hard.

Sarrot was only a small name in the field of lithium-air batteries. He wanted to pick up the crumbs left by the big names, but now he was left to feed himself.

Honestly, with the financial situation of his current research team, he could not even pay the researchers' salary, much less conducting experiments.

"I guess you still need some time to think about it…" said Woolf. When he saw that Professor Sarrot was still frozen, he shrugged and stood up from the sofa. He then said, "I'll go take a walk nearby."

When Sarrot saw that the opportunity was slipping away from his hands, he suddenly changed his mind.

Finally, he could not hold it anymore.

"Wait a second."

Woolf stopped walking and turned around before asking in a relaxed tone, "You changed your mind?"

Sarrot uttered, "You're a villain."

Woolf smiled and said, "Same, same."

Chapter 288: Take Care Of It For Me

"Meet up?"

Lu Zhou was in a coffee shop in Philadelphia. He was stunned after hearing Woolf on the phone.

Woolf had an impatient tone as he said, "Yes, I pushed the price down to US$10 million for you, and the opposing party agreed to my offer. However, he said he can't hand over his research team's future without seeing the buyer. He insisted on meeting with you before signing the contract. How about… I arrange for him to come over?"

Honestly, Woolf rolled his eyes when he heard the old man's reasons.

A research team that did not have funding would not have a future. The research team would love to change their boss. At the very least, they could get back the salaries that were due.

Lu Zhou thought for a second then said, "No need, I'll go over there. I wanted to check out the situation of the equipment anyway."

Woolf smiled and said, "Ok, it's best if you're willing to come."

The inspection of the equipment could not be done sloppily, Lu Zhou wanted to be safe and see it in person.

Compared to the research team, Lu Zhou needed the equipment more.

In a high talent-density area like Silicon Valley, Lu Zhou could hire a carbon nano-material and organic synthesis engineer for $100,000 USD per year. He could then hire a few laboratory assistants, interns, and that would be a research team right there.

However, the equipment was different. It was a seven or even eight-figure investment.

Even a slightly better SEM electron scanning microscope would cost millions of dollars. For example, an entire of instruments for a CVD vacuum tube furnace for preparing carbon nanotubes which were commonly used for preparing fullerene materials would cost at least $20 million USD.

From a cost-saving perspective, it would be more efficient to purchase an entire research laboratory, as opposed to buying equipment from manufacturers.

Lu Zhou did not have to pay a particularly expensive price to get a decent amount of good quality second-hand equipment. Compared to second-hand equipment that was eliminated from research institutes, these equipment were a lot more reliable.

Not only that, Lu Zhou did not need to find or train new staff.

Once Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he looked at Professor Parsis and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. That was a work-related call."

"No worries. I'm sure time is valuable for a distinguished scholar like you," said Michelle Parsis. She smiled and asked, "Can we start now?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Of course."

Lu Zhou had to admit that the University of Pennsylvania really was the incubator for the world's business elites, as both the students and the professors were highly skilled.

With the explanation from Parsis, Lu Zhou already had a general framework idea for the Star Sky Technology organizational structure.

This included the functions of the various departments in the company, which talents were needed in which positions, the employee salary system, and etc. Any problems Lu Zhou could come up with, she had already considered them for him.

If she wanted to go into the business world, with her skill set, she could get any management position.

Of course, working in a company would not be as comfortable as a professor.

Especially for the kind of professors with a double doctorate in business administration and international trade. Not only could she receive a salary from the University of Pennsylvania, but she could also do consulting for outside companies at an hourly rate.

She could teach students, and occasionally she could publish theses. She could even use her students as free labor for her big cases. This kind of life was definitely better than a nine to five work in an office.

"… This is the basic situation. Since your company mainly deals with intellectual property, I recommend you set up several offices around the world and use them to supervise the use of patents in these overseas markets. Also, if the budget allows for it, I recommend you to hire a team of 10-20 professional lawyers to specifically deal with intellectual property infringement cases."

Lu Zhou took note of her advice. As he put away the documents, he said, "I'll seriously consider your opinion."

After this meeting, his cooperation with AM on his patent management company came to an end.

All he had to do now was hire a manager and hand in this document to them. This manager would then set up the Star Sky Technology framework according to this document, and the Star Sky Technology North America branch would start running like a well-oiled engine.

Then he could extract himself from the cumbersome entrepreneurship process and focus on his research.

However, for Michelle Parsis, what she talked about just now was specific in the AM contract. For her, the main purpose of her trip had only just begun.

"I noticed that you haven't developed into the Chinese market. Actually, I have a report on the Chinese anode material market, I don't know if you're interested or not."

Lu Zhou joked, "Is there a charge?"

Michelle Parsis smiled and said, "Of course not. But if you think my research report is good, I can provide a much more detailed analysis of this market. Also, I can help you developed an intellectual property licensing strategy for the Chinese market… Of course, this part is not free."

Lu Zhou took the research report document and briefly skimmed through it.

He thought that this research report was pretty well done. However, he was not an expert in economics, so he could not understand the specifics behind this report.

Lu Zhou liked to let professionals do professional things.

Michelle Parsis quietly waited for Lu Zhou to finish reading the report. She then said, "What do you think?"

"It's mostly good," said Lu Zhou as he placed the document down on the table. He then said with a smile, "I can see that you're a professional."

"Of course," said Michelle Parsis. She smiled and said, "Anyhow, I'm an expert in this field."

"Then I'll follow your plan, but for the follow-up details, I hope you can contact Star Sky Technology directly. I'll ask the managers from Star Sky Technology to contact you around mid-January," said Lu Zhou.

Professor Parsis smiled and said, "No problem, then I wish us happy cooperation?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Happy cooperation."

After the meeting, the two walked to the parking lot together.

Before Lu Zhou went in his car, he suddenly remembered something and he looked back at Professor Parsis to ask, "Oh yeah, you're a professor from the University of Pennsylvania, right?"

Michelle Parsis smiled and said, "Yeah, why?"

"I have a friend that is studying there, I wonder if you know her?"

Michelle Parsis asked, "Sure, what is her name?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Her name is Chen Yushan and she's studying a master's degree at Wharton. I heard that she has encountered some difficulties with her research project. It's also in the area of management. I can't really help her, but I'd appreciate it if you could help and take care of her."

When Michelle Parsis heard this name, she was instantly stunned. She had a subtle but weird expression.

She coughed and tried to change her facial expression as she said, "I think I've heard of her before, but I don't know her well. I'll check it out when I get back."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He then said, "Then thanks so much."

Chapter 289: This Is For Justice!

Chen Yushan has been panicking over the past 2 days.

Ever since she handed in her chart assignment to her supervisor, she had not gotten any new tasks.

Although this type of relaxed feeling was good, she was starting to get worried and wondered if she had somehow offended Professor Parsis.

Students were vulnerable to supervisors. If they accidentally offended their supervisors, the students would have a difficult two years of school. They might not even graduate.

Chen Yushan was especially worried because Professor Parsis would occasionally glance at her, giving her goosebumps.

Chen Yushan was thinking about if she should ask Parsis when the latter suddenly broke the silence and asked first, "You said that the Chinese New Year is on the 28th?"

This is…

Talking to me?

Chen Yushan gulped and asked her boss, "Every year is different, but this year is on 28th… Why?"

Professor Michelle Parsis looked at her with a blank expression.

Suddenly, Parsis squinted and a smirked appeared on her face.

This smile was almost horrifying enough to scare Chen Yushan.

Thankfully she did not actually jump out of her chair. Otherwise, she definitely would have offended this woman who was going through menopause.

Professor Parsis paused for a second and looked at the calendar on her desk. She then said, "You've worked hard over the past few months. Chinese New Year is in two weeks. From now until then, take a good break and rest a little."

Chen Yushan: "…"

Is she…

Giving me a holiday?

This fortune came so sudden that Chen Yushan started to doubt if she heard it wrong.

She was just calling her family yesterday to tell them that she could not go back home this year.

Several master's and PhD students in the office looked at her with envy.

Professor Parsis had never used this tone to speak with her students before. For a strict woman like her, her students were her employees - the kind of employees with a $300 per month salary.

The younger and prettier the student was, the colder and more demanding her attitude was.

However now…

The sun was rising from the west!

Michelle Parsis paused for a second and her smile started to become warmer and warmer as she said, "Oh yeah, one more thing. I've reconsidered the thesis research report you did on the Indian retail market. Your work in that thesis was tremendously helpful, so I moved your author position from fourth to first."

Chen Yushan was still frozen and she looked at her professor as she said, "But Professor, I only helped to collect the documents and graphs…"

"Only?" Michelle Parsis looked at her with a serious expression and said, "Miss Chen, I have to tell you that the auxiliary work of collecting documents and graphs are just as important as writing the thesis. This work can not be described with 'only'. This is justice, I will stick to my decision and put you side by side as the first author."

Chen Yushan: "???"

…

The third week after New Year's Eve, Lu Zhou took a flight to the West Coast.

Lu Zhou did not know if it was because his student's name was in the conference submissions list, but he was invited to attend the Berkeley mathematics conference by Mr. Francis, the president of the American Mathematical Society.

Lu Zhou originally did not plan on attending this conference.

However, Francis was too enthusiastic. Since Lu Zhou had to go to San Francisco anyway, he accepted the invitation. He promised to attend the conference and see how his little apprentice was doing.

After all, this was her first report ever, and Lu Zhou was a little worried.

He landed at SFO and was picked up by Professor Tao Zhexuan.

Ever since the academic conference last year, the relationship between the two had been good.

Since Professor Tao's research direction was broad, whenever he encountered problems in number theory and functional analysis, the two would chat online about the problem. When Professor Tao heard that Lu Zhou was attending the Berkeley conference, he immediately asked to pick Lu Zhou up from the airport.

Professor Tao sat in the car and asked, "So I heard you have been studying Collatz conjecture recently?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Yeah, are you interested as well?"

"Sort of. I used to research it a long time ago, but unfortunately, I didn't succeed. My intuition tells me that this is a complex analysis problem, but after some in-depth research, I found out that I was wrong. It even has a connection with the Langlands program," said Tao Zhexuan. He smiled embarrassedly while driving and said, "But you should be able to solve this problem with your capabilities. You're the leading figure in number theory right now. If even you can't solve it, then it might take centuries before the next mathematician can."

Although Tao Zhexuan's statement was a bit exaggerated, it was not outrageous. Not many people were in the field of additive number theory. The classical number theory problems were Goldbach's conjecture and Waring's Conjecture.

Now that Goldbach's conjecture was solved by Lu Zhou, unless someone made significant contributions to Waring's conjecture, Lu Zhou would be the top leading number theory mathematician.

Lu Zhou smiled and explained, "You're exaggerating too much… Actually, I'm not the one doing this research project. It's mainly done by my students. I'm only giving them suggestions. I've got no idea what the end result will be."

"Oh I see, I thought you were the one researching this problem," said Tao Zhexuan with a disappointed expression.

If Lu Zhou was the one solving this question, he would be looking forward to it.

It seemed now that he should not have such high expectations.

…

The American Mathematical Society arranged the hotel for this academic conference to be near Berkeley. As an invited scholar, Lu Zhou was booked a room by Mr. Francis. He only had to check in at the hotel counter.

Professor Tao sent Lu Zhou to the hotel. Since he still had a class to teach, he invited Lu Zhou to visit his house someday and promptly left.

Lu Zhou put his luggage in his room and did not stay at the hotel for long. He went downstairs and called a taxi.

Professor Sarrot's research institute was in the south part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It wasn't far from his hotel so he wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

After Lu Zhou got on the taxi, he called Woolf and arranged a time to meet at the institute.

Lu Zhou thought that he would arrive first.

However, when he arrived, Woolf was already waiting for him at the entrance.

Woolf greeted Lu Zhou and said, "I didn't expect you to come today. If you had told me earlier, I could have picked you up."

Lu Zhou replied, "Something happened so I had to change my schedule. Who cares about this. Let's deal with the matter at hand."

Lu Zhou let Woolf led the way into the institute.

Compared to those large research institutions, this private research institute was undoubtedly a lot smaller. It was only three floors and the location was not optimal and it was difficult for commuters.

However, it still contained the essentials.

This laboratory had all of the equipment for any experiment Lu Zhou wanted to do.

Lu Zhou walked into the third-floor office and was prepared to greet the man in charge. However, he suddenly saw Professor Sarrot sitting on a sofa.

The two made eye contact.

Professor Sarrot did not expect that the person who was going to buy his research team was Lu Zhou, so he was pleasantly surprised.

Lu Zhou did not expect that Professor Sarrot was the "Lithium-air battery" guy from the MRS Conference. He knew that this name sounded familiar…

Lu Zhou confirmed that he did not misrecognize Sarrot.

Then…

Without hesitating, he turned around and started to leave.

However, Professor Sarrot exclaimed before Lu Zhou could even take a step.

"Wait a minute! I'll sell it to you for eight million dollars, no, five million dollars! Please don't go!"

Chapter 290: Don't Go!

"Let go of me!"

"I'm not letting go unless you promise you won't leave!"

"…"

Lu Zhou looked back at Professor Sarrot, who was holding his thigh. He thought, "Is this guy really a professor at Cornell University?"

I definitely wouldn't do something this embarrassing…

Woolf was muddled as he quickly rushed over and started to help his employer.

However, he was too slow as Sarrot let go on his own.

That was because Lu Zhou promised Sarrot that he would give Sarrot five minutes to give a reason.

Professor Sarrot did not waste any time. He sat back down on the sofa and said, "I'll sell my Sarrot's Research Institute to you for five million dollars. I know that you won't be able to find a research institute in Silicon Valley cheaper than this. I don't want anything, all of the patents and research results are yours. I just want you to let me stay in the research institute."

He was right. Five million dollars for the entire research institute was like paying 10 cents on the dollar.

It would be impossible to find cheaper second-hand equipment than this. Also, second-hand equipment could be unreliable, especially for cutting edge instruments. A slight error could cause an experiment to fail.

Sarrot was hurting inside when he quoted this price.

Even if he sold the equipment as second hand, he could at least get seven or eight million dollars.

However, this was not about money.

Lu Zhou would not be convinced so easily. After all, their first impression of each other was too aggressive. He only remembered people throwing shoes on the podium.

"So that I can watch you defraud people with my name?"

Professor Sarrot argued, "What do you mean defraud? Have I ever used research funds to buy cars? To pick up girls? Never! I spent all of the money on experiments! Everything I do is for science! If I don't exaggerate my experiments to outsiders, then no one would fund my research…"

Lu Zhou did not take Sarrot's argument seriously. However, the five million dollar price was far below his expected price, making it difficult for him to refuse.

In fact, as a professor at Cornell University, Sarrot was definitely skilled.

In a place like Silicon Valley, one could easily hire an expert in SEM images research. Finding a research team that could complete projects smoothly was a lot more difficult.

After all, everyone had their own projects to do. Most people did not want to jump ship and give up on their own project.

Although Sarrot was not a big name in the materials science industry, he was definitely still mildly famous. Although he liked to bullsh*t, he did not have a bad academic record.

However, he was no saint.

After weighing the pros and cons, Lu Zhou decided to give him a chance.

As for whether Sarrot could perform, it would depend on himself.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he slowly said, "I can give you a chance."

Sarrot was willed with joy, he was about to speak but was interrupted by Lu Zhou, "But I have to tell you, you only have one chance. If you want to stay in my research team, you have to be honest. Don't try to fool me with those 'honest mistakes'."

Without hesitation, Sarrot patted his chest and said, "I swear, on the name of God."

Lu Zhou said, "Unfortunately I'm an atheist, so I'll have to write your words on a contract."

Sarrot made a helpless expression. He then shrugged his shoulders to show that he did not care.

Lu Zhou gave Woolf a look, signaling him to give out the contract.

Woolf looked at Lu Zhou with hesitation, as if he was asking, "Is this okay?"

However, Woolf saw that Lu Zhou nodded, so he did not say anything else. He took out the contract from his briefcase and quickly filled in the contract prices.

Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa. He then looked at Sarrot and said, "I'm sure you have already read the contract, the only thing that changed is the price. Of course, you can look at it carefully. I'll look around the research institute. Once you read it over, you can call me."

…

Sarrot was very smart.

He knew exactly what he needed. He also knew what a scholar needed.

The reason why big names are big names was not because of their big brains. It was because they could always receive research funding. Someone was always willing to pay for their research.

For the materials science industry, almost all of the results were made from enormous amounts of research funding.

Without the money, researchers could not publish in [Science]. Without the [Science] publication, there would be no research results, and no one would be willing to invest without research results.

Therefore in some sense, the relationship between academic status and research funding was like the chicken and the egg theory.

The latter was easy to obtain as long as you had the former.

Hence, when an investor wanted to sell their stock in Sarrot's Research Institute. Sarrot would borrow a loan from the bank and bought back the equipment in his research institute.

This was why he was willing to sell the research institute to Lu Zhou for only a loss of five million dollars.

He did not care about the research team as it would only rot as time went on.

He did not care about the money either. Five million dollars was enough for him to pay back his loans.

Although this meant that he would have nothing at all, he believed that starting from the beginning was the correct decision.

Doing research for Lu Zhou would mean that he would never have to worry about research funding again. Even if Lu Zhou ran out of money, there would be tons of companies willing to fund the research project.

He would be happy to work for free, as long as he produced results, and as long as his name was in the thesis.

When results were out, no one would talk about his past or his previous lack of integrity. He would become Cornell University's leading expert in lithium batteries, bringing glory to his name…

His instinct told him that this day would eventually come. This investment was definitely worth it!

Sarrot did not make Lu Zhou wait for long. He read the contract from beginning to end and signed his name.

In addition to the research institute transfer contract, there was also an employment agreement and confidentiality agreement.

Lu Zhou hired him as head of the research institute for a $100,000 USD salary. As for bonuses or other benefits, it would depend on Sarrot's future performance.

Once the contracts were signed, it was time to talk about the research.

After letting Woolf leave, Lu Zhou plugged his USB into his laptop and pulled up the molecular model using the program "Hyperchem".

Sarrot looked at the spherical structure on the screen and showed interest.

"This is?"

Lu Zhou said, "You don't need to know what this is. I'm not even sure if it has any value other than some interesting mathematical properties. I need you to complete a set of experiments for me to verify my calculations of this material. If you do what I say, I'll include your name in the thesis."

Lu Zhou clicked the mouse.

The graphics on the screen began to change as he continued to speak, "I can't give you any more information. I can only tell you that this image is obtained from the combination of carbon nanotubes and fullerene materials. Chemically speaking, the two materials are π bonded, forming carbon nanospheres."

Sarrot frowned and stared at the model for a second. He then said, "It sounds like a good project, but how will we fuse the fullerene and carbon nanotubes together?"

Actually, he wanted to ask what this thing was for, but Lu Zhou clearly did not want to explain it to him, so he gave up on asking.

Lu Zhou looked at Sarrot like he was retarded as he asked, "Good question. If I knew how to synthesize this thing, why would I ask you?"

Sarrot smiled when he realized that his question was nonsense.

Lu Zhou continued and said, "The people from Star Sky Technology will contact you in a few days. I'll email you regarding the research. Also, I'll come here and inspect your research progress every month…"

"… I will be at the University of Berkeley for a few days. If you have any questions, you can call or visit me. Any questions?"

Sarrot immediately nodded and said, "Nope."

Lu Zhou nodded as well.

Once the contracts were signed, the research project was explained, there was no reason for him to stay here any longer.

Professor Sarrot would contact Star Sky Technology regarding the research funding. The experiment would start by the end of this month.

Once Lu Zhou copied the USB data on the computer, he was ready to leave.

Suddenly, Sarrot remembered something and asked, "Oh yeah, since this research institute is yours now, would it be a bit inappropriate calling it my name? I'm saying, do you want to change it to Lu Zhou research institute?"

Chapter 291: Pleasures Of Being A Professor

This does sound like a good idea…

But there's no way I will do it!

"No no no, this is still your work from blood sweat and tears. Let's just call it the Sarrot's Research Institute."

Lu Zhou refused Professor Sarrot's offer and walked away without giving Sarrot a chance to reply.

What a joke, do you really think I will attach my name to this research institute? What if you defraud investors again?

Also, Lu Zhou felt it would be weird to have his name on the research institute.

It would be as if the research was not about the materials but about himself.

Therefore, he decided not to go through with the name change.

The next day, the first American Mathematics Society conference of the year kicked off at Berkeley.

The university students from California even postponed their protest to a week later, to accommodate this conference.

Although Princeton professors did not care much about politics, not all professors were like that.

For example, Professor Tao.

Although his students describe Tao as a tolerant, awkward, and humble person, he was a completely different person online. His online persona was completely different than what he was like in real life; Tao loved to discuss world politics.

Not long ago, he used logic to prove that Trump could not be a good president. Many media outlets reported on this piece of news. Trump's reply on Twitter was interesting, "Tao Zhexuan claims that I'm not a suitable president, but the liar Hillary is. The truth is that Tao Zhexuan is targeting me because he's a failed analyst. He can't even prove the Kakeya needle problem, sad!"

Of course, that was what it was.

Tao Zhexuan had not posted on his blog recently. It seemed that he was not in a good mood.

Of course, although the students and professors in California did not like this president, that did not affect the atmosphere of the academic conference. After all, academia was pure, it did not involve politics.

Lu Zhou received a pen and other small souvenirs from the entrance and walked past the poster display area. He went directly to a lecture hall on the second floor. When he found a seat on the back row, he then sat down.

He discovered that Professor Tao was sitting next to him.

Lu Zhou looked at him in surprise and asked, "You're here as well?"

Professor Tao smiled and said, "This is a good chance to look at your progress. Of course, I wouldn't miss it."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It'd be best if you can help us solve it."

The report began.

The audience in the lecture hall stopped talking and turned their attention to the speaker on the podium.

Vera had a blonde ponytail and wore a student-looking outfit. She stood nervously on stage as she squeezed her tiny hands.

With the help from the staff, she opened the PowerPoint presentation and the thesis problem appeared in the center of the projector screen.

[Complex analysis study on the angular valley conjecture equivalence equation h(z^3)=h(z^6)+{h(z^2)+λh(λz^2)+λ^2h(λ^2z^2)}/3z]

"Come on Vera, you can do this…"

Vera thought about her supervisor's expectations of herself and took a deep breath. She cheered herself on in her mind.

Then, she spoke.

"The analytic function solution in the unit disc {z:|z|<1} takes the form h(z)=h0+h1z/(1−z), where h0 and h1 are complex constants…"

Although Vera was very nervous in the beginning, as the report continued, she found out that the pressure was starting to lesser.

She felt surprised.

The ideas and thoughts were flowing out of her brain, conveying them was as easy as breathing.

She did not need to worry if the audience understood her as she could it to the Q&A session.

Right now, what she had to do, was to portray her viewpoint to the audience in the lecture hall…

Lu Zhou sat in the last row of the lecture hall, and like the audience, he was also listening intently to the report. Gradually, a smile appeared on his face.

He could see that Vera spent a lot of effort to overcome the fear in her heart and stand on stage.

The results were quite satisfactory. She was totally in the zone.

It seemed that his worries were redundant.

Tao Zhexuan sat next to Lu Zhou and looked at Vera; his face was full of surprise.

"Are you sure this was your student's work?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, I have been busy with computational chemistry recently. At most, I gave them a direction to work toward."

Lu Zhou had no reason to lie, and Tao Zhexuan believed him.

However, Tao Zhexuan still could not help but feel astonished. This thesis really did not look like work from a master's student. Even though Tao Zhexuan knew Vera, he was the one that wrote her Princeton recommendation letter.

Her rate of improvement was too amazing.

Tao Zhexuan said emotionally, "Yesterday, you said that you planned on making your students solve Collatz conjecture, I thought it was a joke. But now it seems that you are serious."

Lu Zhou smiled as he said arrogantly, "She is my student after all."

For this kind of young scholar reports, most of the big names were more tolerant. They would not point out anything unless it was an obvious mistake.

Mathematics conferences and MRS materials science conferences were completely different in this regard.

After answering a few questions, the report was successfully concluded and the audience broke into applause.

Vera sighed in relief and smiled at the audience to show her gratitude.

Perhaps it was because of her dazzling smile, the applause started to get even more thunderous.

Some young guys even whistled.

Lu Zhou looked at Vera on stage and smiled with satisfaction.

It was like Vera was his small sapling - one that he carefully cultivated to grow stronger and stronger.

Maybe this is one of the joys of being a professor?

Tao Zhexuan looked at Lu Zhou weirdly, and he felt something was off.

Lu Zhou noticed his friend's expression and asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Tao Zhexuan shook his head. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Although it's none of my business… I announced my relationship with Laura after she graduated."

Lu Zhou:…?

What the hell?!

…

After the report, Lu Zhou stood outside the lecture hall and saw Vera.

The little girl's face was blushing and her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

Lu Zhou knew exactly how she felt. That kind of excitement could not be contained no matter how many deep breaths she took.

He walked over and greeted her.

When Vera heard the familiar voice, she turned around and saw Lu Zhou. Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression.

She originally planned to call Lu Zhou and tell him the good news. She did not expect him to be watching her in the lecture hall!

She did not know what to say.

"Professor?! You, you are here?!"

"Of course," Lu Zhou smiled. He then added, "My cute student finally took the courage and did a report on stage. How can I ever miss this moment?"

The little girl's cheeks were fiery red, and she seemed to have a lot to say.

However, she could only mutter out one sentence.

"I did it, I really did it!"

"You did. Nicely done," said Lu Zhou. He gave her an encouraging look and said, "Keep up the good work. Maybe one day you'll be on the stage of the International Congress of Mathematicians conference!"

Vera's golden ponytail swayed back and forth like a squirrel.

She looked at Lu Zhou with a grateful expression as she nodded: "…"

Chapter 292: I'm More Interested In You

In the evening after the first day of the conference, the American Mathematical Society hosted a dinner party at a hotel near Berkeley.

For the mathematics world, the dinner party after the conference was a way to interact and communicate with other scholars.

However, for this type of young scholars conference, unless there was a particularly interesting thesis report, most big names would not come to the dinner party. The reason why Lu Zhou came was that he wanted to bring Vera here.

Due to the rarity of big names, the few big names that did show up were even more "sought after".

Lu Zhou was very low-key when he walked into the venue and he entered through the side door of the banquet hall. However, once he was inside, people were constantly trying to talk to him. He could not even take a break.

As for his student, she was following closely behind him and looking around nervously. Obviously, she was not used to this type of social event.

Lu Zhou told her many times that this was a good opportunity for her to expand her network and that she should not stand behind him. The reason was that, whenever Lu Zhou was around, no one would notice her.

However, the little girl did not listen to him.

At last, Lu Zhou gave up and let her be.

Honestly, he had never seen such a timid and fearful girl.

He was still a long way from developing her into an outstanding scholar.

Halfway through the banquet, the dance floor started to play elegant music.

With the sound of the music, the people in the banquet hall began to slowly migrate to the dance floor. Lu Zhou was finally freed from the crowd.

He took a glass of champagne and sat down.

He was listening to music while enjoying his champagne. Suddenly, a tall American girl walked over and bravely started a conversation.

"Hello, Professor Lu, I am Hannah. It is a pleasure meeting you."

Lu Zhou replied, "Hello, Miss Hannah, what's the matter?"

Hannah, "If it's nothing too difficult for you… Can I sit here?"

"Of course you can," answered Lu Zhou. He looked at her with confusion as he did not know what she wanted.

"The thing is that I'm very interested in mathematical physics. Next year, I want to apply for a mathematical physics master's degree at Stanford," said Hannah embarrassedly. She looked at Lu Zhou and blushed before she said, "I have always admired your story and I didn't expect you to see you at this dinner party… Can you please write a letter of recommendation for me?"

Oh, this is what you want?

For foreign professors, writing a letter of recommendations was no big deal. Many professors would write dozens of them at the end of every semester. They did not give it out for free, but most of the time they were happy to write them.

"Of course I can, but don't think it is going to be so easy. I can give you a chance. It is up to you to perform," said Lu Zhou. He looked at her and smiled before he asked in a relaxed tone, "Then, are you prepared?"

Hannah was surprised by Lu Zhou's response. She clearly was not mentally prepared. Her brain even froze for a few seconds.

"Wait? What?" Hannah was stunned. She panicked and looked around before saying, "But… Okay, I'm ready."

She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

Miss Hannah looked down at the table. She bit her lip and whispered, "I'm… prepared."

Although Lu Zhou was a professor, he was not much older than her. Thus, she did not feel too much psychological pressure. In fact, she could tell that Lu Zhou liked her.

However, this was too direct, so she was not fully prepared.

However, this could be her only chance…

"OK, it seems that you are ready," said Lu Zhou. He nodded with satisfaction. Then he looked at Vera and said, "Vera, come up with a complex functions problem to test her. Don't make it too difficult. A question along the undergraduate level is fine."

Vera: "…"

Hannah: ???

…

Complex functions and partial differential equations were the two foundations of physics. However, the latter was a bit too difficult for an undergraduate student. A complex functions question was more reasonable.

Although most professors would write a recommendation letter as long as the student was "sincere", Lu Zhou felt that he should have his own unique requirements.

It should not be that easy to get a recommendation letter from him.

If someone did not know Lu Zhou personally, they would have to do a test!

Although Vera was muddled, she still followed her supervisor's requests.

There was no paper or pen in the banquet hall, so she went to the hotel lobby with Hannah.

Lu Zhou was finally alone. He leaned back on his chair and relaxed.

However, God did not let Lu Zhou catch a break. The second the two girls left, the president of the American Mathematical Society, Mr. Francis, walked over with another man.

"Hello, Professor Lu, we meet again," said Mr. Francis as he looked at Lu Zhou with a friendly smile.

He was the one that gave Lu Zhou the Best Young Speaker Award and $10,000 USD in Princeton. Although they did not communicate much academically, they still had a good relationship.

Lu Zhou stood up and shook hands with him. He then looked at the man standing next to Francis.

Lu Zhou felt this guy looked familiar, but he did not know who he was.

"Long time no see… This is?"

Mr. Francis smiled and said, "Let me introduce you to Elon Musk."

Elon Musk?

Lu Zhou was totally shocked.

He had no idea why Musk was here.

"It's nice to meet you, Professor Lu," said Musk. He looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "Although this is our first time meeting, I've admired your work for a long time."

Lu Zhou looked at him and shook his hand as he replied, "Hello, it is nice to meet you as well."

Elon Musk was on a completely different level.

Musk received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and within a year, he received a double degree in physics.

In 1995, due to his passion for science, he enrolled at Stanford University to study a PhD in materials science and physics.

However, maybe he did not like the title of being a genius, he only stayed at Stanford for two days before leaving the campus and went to Silicon Valley.

Most people knew what happened next. Within 10 years, he founded Paypal, SpaceX, and Tesla. His name was legendary in Silicon Valley.

Whether it was online payments, renewable energy vehicles, or ambitious "Falcon 9" rockets, Musk did it all. He made his ideas came to life and changed the technology industry.

Of course, all of his ideas were on the technical side.

Musk and Lu Zhou were two different types of people in this regard. One was a CEO, the other was a genius, one was an engineer, the other was an academic.

It was like "Iron man" and "Mister Fantastic".

As such, Lu Zhou was confused about why Musk was here.

He had never heard Musk's name in the mathematics world.

Mr. Francis saw that Lu Zhou was confused. He smiled and said, "Mr. Musk is a sponsor of this academic conference. He heard you were attending and came all the way from Palo Alto."

Lu Zhou looked at Musk and said, "Mr. Musk is also interested in mathematics?"

"Of course, science is inseparable from mathematical physics. Although my research in mathematics isn't as deep as in physics, I still greatly admire mathematicians. When I was studying my physics degree at Pennsylvania, the most troublesome thing I came across wasn't the physics problems, it was the mathematics problems."

Musk smiled at Lu Zhou and said something surprising.

"However, I'm more interested in you than in mathematics."

Lu Zhou:…?

Chapter 293: Different Kind Of Person

"Of course, I'm not only interested," said Musk. He cleared his throat and looked at Lu Zhou as he said sincerely, "I also have to thank you for your research has been a great help to me."

"I'm happy to help," said Lu Zhou. Facing Musk's enthusiasm, he smiled politely.

To be honest, he was a little confused at this sudden encounter.

Even if Lu Zhou's research results did help Tesla, there was no reason for Musk to specifically come here to visit Lu Zhou.

Maybe because Lu Zhou had been dealing with people trying to buy his patents, whenever he encountered a businessman, his first reaction was to think about the other party's interests.

He was not suspicious of anyone; this was just his automatic reaction.

"It seems that you two have a lot of interesting topics to talk about. Other than mathematics or rugby, I'm not very interested," said Francis. He smiled softly and said, "Then, you two take your time, I'll see you guys later."

Musk smiled and said, "Thanks, I do want to talk with Professor Lu."

After Mr. Francis left, Musk sat down next to Lu Zhou and spoke in a thoughtful manner, "When I was studying economics at the University of Pennsylvania, I thought about the future of mankind, the problems that mankind will face. I came to three conclusions: energy, internet, and space exploration."

Musk looked at Lu Zhou seriously and said, "I'm an engineer, you're a scholar. From your perspective, what is the key to solving these three problems?"

Lu Zhou felt like he was listening to Shinichi Mochizuki doing a report. They were probably the type of people that got lost in their own imaginative universe. Although there was nothing wrong with this, it was difficult for some people to understand them.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he said, "I'm not sure about the internet problem, but for the other two, I think the issue is on the materials."

The bottleneck of energy and space technology was in many areas and disciplines, so it was not only materials science. However, the interesting thing was that if the materials problem was solved, many other complex problems would become a lot more simple.

Whether it was photovoltaic solar panels, nuclear power generators, lithium-sulfur, or lithium-air batteries, the most crucial part was the materials.

Musk smiled and said, "Then it seems that we have the same opinion. My engineering team also came to this conclusion. We plan on investing $10 billion USD to build a material research institute in Silicon Valley. If you're interested, I want to hire you as the chief researcher of this research institute."

$10 billion dollars?!

Lu Zhou was so shocked by this number that he did not even pay attention to the second half of Musk's statement.

Tesla's revenue isn't even this high, right?

"Your idea is interesting. I believe that the materials science community will be thrilled to have a generous billionaire in the field. However, no offense, but how does Tesla plan on getting this money?" asked Lu Zhou. He remembered hearing that Tesla's financial situation was not good.

Musk said, "We don't have it now, but we'll if you come on board."

Lu Zhou: "…"

He did not know what to say.

…

Lu Zhou had to admit that for any researcher, Musk's proposal would be very tempting.

If this was Sarrot, he would not even hesitate for a second. He would definitely take his lithium-air battery project and run to Musk.

However, for Lu Zhou…

He was not that interested.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't help you."

Musk did not expect Lu Zhou to reject this attractive proposal. He frowned and said, "Are you sure you don't want to think about it? I can promise that as long as you come on board, you'll never worry about research funding again."

"I'm a mathematics professor, and materials science is not my cup of tea. You should find someone else," said Lu Zhou. He paused for a second before adding, "Also, even if you grant me a large research fund, my research wouldn't even need that much money."

Although Musk still wanted to convince Lu Zhou, he saw that Lu Zhou had no intentions to change his mind. Musk could only helplessly sigh as he said, "Okay then, I have to say that you just missed a chance to change the world… Of course, if you ever change your mind, you can find me."

Lu Zhou said, "Sure."

Musk gave Lu Zhou his business card. The two then continued to talk for a bit but Musk had lost his enthusiasm.

Musk had previously watched Lu Zhou's Crafoord Prize interview where Lu Zhou said that he "will use mathematics to change science". Musk then saw Lu Zhou made a breakthrough in the anode material industry and thought Lu Zhou must be the same type of person as him, but now it seemed that was not the case.

The pair continued to talk for a bit before Musk made an excuse to leave and walked away.

After Musk left, the surrounding area quieted down.

Lu Zhou poured another glass of champagne and tried to enjoy the banquet.

Suddenly, Vera and Hannah returned to the banquet venue.

Lu Zhou could tell from Hannah's excited face that she solved the problem.

Lu Zhou looked at Vera and asked, "How was the result?"

Vera nodded and said softly, "I gave her an undergrad level complex functions question. Within half an hour, she successfully solved the problem."

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Hannah as he said, "Nicely done. Then congratulations, Miss Hannah. You've passed my test. Give me your email and tell me the supervisor you want to apply to."

Lu Zhou was a man of his word.

"Okay! Thank you, thank you so much!" Hannah excitedly nodded her head and took out a paper and pen.

Generally speaking, recommendation letters were directly sent from the professor to the supervisor. The student would never actually read the letter.

Thus, a foreign professor's recommendation letters were more influential.

Their recommendation letters could determine the future of a student.

However, most professors were happy to recommend their students with potential. After all, watching their students grew to become a brilliant scholar was one of the joys of being a professor.

Vera looked at Hannah walking away and gently squeezed her fists.

She took a deep breath, and finally got the courage to speak, "Professor."

Having just completed a good deed, Lu Zhou was in a good mood. He asked, "What's up?"

Vera opened her mouth as if she was about to say something.

However, all of a sudden, a piece of farewell music started to play from the dance floor.

The people from the dance floor started to leave reluctantly.

Clearly, the dance party was over.

It was like Vera missed out on something as her big, bright eyes sadly looked away.

Vera lowered her head and said, "Nothing…"

I just wanted to dance with you…

Chapter 294: Best Young Speaker

On the morning of the second day of the conference, Woolf called Lu Zhou.

"Our headhunting company has found a suitable manager according to your request. This manager has five years of experience in the intellectual property department at Verizon, and his resume is squeaky clean. When do you want to meet him?"

Lu Zhou was sitting in the hotel lobby enjoying his breakfast, and he thought for a moment before replying, "Let's meet in a few days. I want to finish dealing with this matter by the end of January. I'm at the hotel near Berkeley. Ask him to come to San Francisco and reimburse his plane ticket."

"Okay, professor," Woolf respectfully said. "He's in California, I will ask him to contact you as soon as possible."

The sooner AM finished this task, the sooner Lu Zhou would pay them, and the sooner Woolf would get his commission.

Therefore, Woolf was even more enthusiastic than Lu Zhou to get this matter done.

Soon after Lu Zhou hung up on Woolf, he received a call from the former executive from Verizon. They agreed to meet at 2 p.m. at a coffee shop near Berkeley…

…

[White Sheridan. 35 years old, male, PhD in management from the University of Pennsylvania. Served as head of intellectual property department at Verizon, five years work experience…]

Lu Zhou placed the resume down and looked at the man sitting opposite him.

"Your resume is great. However, the one thing I don't understand is that Verizon offered you a US$200,000 per year salary, but you decided to quit."

White shrugged and said, "Head of the Intellectual Property Department at Verizon is a good position, but it can't give me a sense of career accomplishment. There is nowhere for me to go. Compared to the other executives, I'm more like a lawyer."

Lu Zhou: "What about now? The main business of Star Sky Technology is patent management, so your work will probably be the same as before, there won't be much change."

White didn't hide his intentions. Instead, he smiled and said, "You're right. However, Star Sky Technology can give me a US$300,000 per year salary, and Verizon can't match that."

US$300,000 per year salary definitely counted as upper class in America. According to Glassdoor statistics, even Microsoft's Chief Development Manager only earned US$294,000 per year.

Of course, that was only an estimate, it didn't include benefits and bonuses.

In short, a US$300,000 salary was an irresistible offer for White.

Dreams were important, but money was even more important.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with this honest answer.

Although it would be better for White to talk about potential development plans for the company and corporate culture, he didn't do this. The most important thing about White was his impressive resume and his extensive experience in patent management.

Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his right hand.

"Congratulations on your new job. I hope we can build a better Star Sky Technology under your management."

White smiled and shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"I promise you we can definitely do it."

…

Lu Zhou originally wanted Star Sky Technology to be a company similar to Qualcomm which focused on research and development and to become the whale of the industry as well as investing all profits into scientific research.

After giving White a brief overview of Star Sky Technology's development strategy, Lu Zhou ended this meeting.

The rest could be discussed through email.

After Lu Zhou finished his work with Star Sky Technology, he put his attention back on the academic conference.

Maybe it was because one of the greatest additive number theory problems, Goldbach's conjecture, was solved, recently there had been an influx in number theory research theses.

Many scholars had done research on Waring's Conjecture using the Group Structure Method and achieved great results.

For example, a PhD student from Columbia University was reporting his research results at the conference. He used the Group Structure Method to research on the g(6) value range.

Although he was far from solving the problem, his results were still inspiring, and he had received thunderous applause from the audience.

Lu Zhou was happy at all this.

Solving the Goldbach's conjecture wasn't very practical in and of itself.

However, if the tools that Lu Zhou created when solving Goldbach's conjecture could be used by many other people, then his thesis in Annual Mathematics would be in the textbooks used by the future generation.

In a blink of an eye, a week had passed, and the academic conference came to a successful conclusion.

Mr. Francis stood on the podium on stage. As usual, he used a gentle and steady voice to introduce himself to the young scholars in the venue.

"… Thank you, everyone, for coming to this mathematics conference. Thank you, Parker, Tesla… for sponsoring this event." Mr. Francis adjusted his glasses and looked at the young scholars before he said, "Now it is time to give out the best young speaker award. I'm getting old now, let's get the important stuff out of the way."

The crowd smiled and gave Francis a round of applause.

Mr. Francis cleared his throat and said, "The best young speaker of this academic conference is…

"Vera Pulyuy from Princeton!"

The crowd burst into applause.

Vera stood next to Lu Zhou; her white cheeks instantly turned red.

She wasn't prepared for this surprise at all. Lu Zhou patted her on the back and said, "Go on."

He then gave her an encouraging look as he added, "This is your moment."

"… Okay!"

Vera looked at Lu Zhou gratefully and nodded. She walked through the crowd and got on the stage.

Lu Zhou looked at her tiny figure and couldn't help but think.

It's good to be young…

Lu Zhou could still remember when he first won this prize. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep for days. Jin Ling University and Yan University both congratulated him.

In addition to the honor, the award also carried a US$10,000 prize.

At that time, the US$10,000 prize was a huge amount to him.

However, Lu Zhou didn't realize that among these scholars, he was one of the youngest ones, so he had no room to call Vera young…

Vera stood on the stage. Although she looked a bit nervous, she was still doing a lot better than when she first did her report.

The award presenter was the mathematics professor at Berkeley, Crafoord Prize winner, Tao Zhexuan. Vera was in Tao Zhexuan's partial differential equations class before.

Tao Zhexuan handed the certificate to Vera and said, "Congratulations, Miss Vera."

Vera nodded nervously as she replied, "Thank you."

Tao Zhexuan nodded as well.

He suddenly remembered something, so he continued to speak, "I remember that a year ago that you told me you really admired Professor Lu's work and hoped that I could write a recommendation letter for you. At that time, I thought I made the correct decision; I still think I did, but I hope you don't make me regret my decision."

Vera was stunned; she had a confused expression.

"Professor? I'm not sure what you are trying to say?"

Tao Zhexuan shook his head and said, "Nothing, I just hope that you only admire his knowledge. In fact, I admire him as well. His talent in pure and applied mathematics is one of the best I have ever seen. However, his youth is the most valuable thing he has.

"His name will likely be noted down in history.

"And your recklessness might lead to some unwanted results.

"I hope that I had misunderstood, but if I didn't, I hope that no matter what feelings you have for him, you should wait until after you graduate before you express those feelings."

Chapter 295: Steady Career

The Spring American Mathematical Society's conference was a normal conference; it didn't have a large influence on the mathematics community. It was not comparable to the annual European Mathematical Society's conference.

If a student won the best speaker award at one of these conferences, it would at most bring some glory to the university. Other than that, not a lot of people would pay any attention to the conference awards.

However, most pure mathematics scholars still paid attention to the theses submitted to the Spring American Mathematical Society's conference.

After all, mathematics was the land of geniuses. 80% of outstanding achievements were made from scholars under 40 years old…

An office in the mathematics research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Academician Xiang Huanan leaned on his office chair. He was reading a pile of printed theses while casually drinking tea.

The old man came across a certain thesis, and he raised his eyebrows as he spoke with a smile.

"This guy really can't take a break. He had just completed a big project, and now, he had already found something else to do."

Although Academician Xiang Huanan didn't say who "this guy" was, the other person sitting in his office knew what Xiang Huanan was talking about.

Academician Wang Yuping was drinking tea as well. He then casually said to his friend, "Young people are full of energy, they won't take a break."

Academician Xiang placed the printed thesis on the table, smiled, and said, "Collatz conjecture."

Printed on the A4 paper was Vera's thesis that she submitted to the American Mathematical Society: [The equivalent equation for the Collatz conjecture h(z^3) = h(z^6) + {h(z ^2) And Complex analysis of +λh(λz^2)+λ^2h(λ^2z^2)}].

Both them knew that Miss Vera Pulyuy was a student of Lu Zhou at Princeton. Lu Zhou was the second author on the thesis.

Academician Wang Yuping was slightly surprised as he said, "Collatz conjecture? That thing is not much simpler than Goldbach's conjecture, right?"

Although Collatz conjecture wasn't as famous as Goldbach's conjecture, it wasn't much lower in difficulty than Goldbach's conjecture. In some sense, it was even more difficult than Goldbach's conjecture.

The reason for its difficulty was because unlike Goldbach's conjecture, it didn't have countless predecessors paving its path of research.

The reason why Lu Zhou was able to solve Goldbach's conjecture was due to the countless scholars that had previously built the tower of Goldbach's conjecture. On the other hand, the Collatz conjecture had no existing tower.

At best, it had a foundation.

Lu Zhou couldn't just "disassemble" the Goldbach's conjecture tower and use it to build the Collatz conjecture tower. He needed to create new bricks and new materials.

Academician Xiang smiled and said, "Who knows, I'm not a number theory mathematician. If you're curious, why don't you just ask him?"

"I'll have to ask him next time I see him. But this Lu Zhou kid is impressive, even his students are geniuses." Academician Wang couldn't help but shake his head, and he said, "It's unfortunate that Lu Zhou didn't come to Yan University."

Academician Xiang smiled and said, "How is it unfortunate? He's an internationally renowned scholar now. Compare to Yan University, it'd be great if he even returned to the country."

If foreign Chinese researchers were willing to return to China and join the Thousand People Initiative, they could earn several times the salary of domestic researchers. Many researchers who returned were granted a million USD in research funds; this was something unimaginable in America.

Although the Thousand People Initiative had achieved great results, it still wasn't attractive enough for world-class scholars.

"I'm just saying," Academician Wang shook his head and said, "Mr. Lu's teaching experience at Princeton, and his talent, combined with Yan University's resources, can single-handedly build a world-class mathematics department at Yan University. But if it was Jin Ling University instead…"

Academician Wang didn't finish his words, but his meaning was self-evident.

Constructing a building from scratch was undoubtedly more difficult than renovating a ready-built building.

Academician Xiang understood his old friend's words, but he didn't make any comments and only laughed.

In the past, he agreed with Academician Xiang; he thought that Jin Ling University was not a good choice. He even gave Lu Zhou an offer last time. But now looking back, he suddenly felt like Jin Ling University wasn't too bad of a decision.

Neither the Chinese Academy of Sciences nor Yan University could give Lu Zhou the amount of space for development as well as the freedom he needed, but Jin Ling University could.

Jin Ling University was also ranked Top 40 in the country, and like Yan University, it also had great resources.

Although Yan University had more resources than Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou chose Jin Ling University due to its creative freedom.

Maybe Lu Zhou could build an entire mathematics department himself.

No one knew for sure.

…

After the spring American Mathematical Society's conference ended, Lu Zhou finally got on a flight back home.

This time he didn't tell anyone he was coming back. He secretly bought a plane ticket, got on the plane, hopped onto the train, and got back to his home in Jiangcheng.

A bright and loud voice welcomed him back, "Oh, bro, you're back?! Let me take your luggage!"

Xiao Tong ditched her gaming teammates, climbed down the sofa, and ran toward the door.

Lu Zhou looked at her excited expression and smiled.

"Your gift's in the luggage, go get it yourself."

Lu Xiaotong received a gift from her brother every year; this was a Lu family's tradition.

Although it wasn't a particularly expensive gift, it was still a joyful experience for Xiao Tong.

Lu Zhou gave his luggage to his sister, changed into slippers, and sat on the living room sofa.

After a while, Xiao Tong found the gift and happily walked into her room.

Lu Zhou gift for her was a Swiss cosmetics brand makeup set. He didn't know makeup well, but thankfully his student, Hardy, was surprisingly knowledgeable on this subject.

Xiao Tong came back to the living room and sat on the sofa next to Lu Zhou. She then picked up her phone and prepared to start a new match.

Lu Zhou looked at the screen and saw that her ranking in the game hasn't increased, so he asked casually, "How were your exams?"

Xiao Tong replied proudly, "Ah, I'm obviously a genius student as university courses are way too easy."

Lu Zhou was amused by this.

When he was in his first year, he also naively thought that the course content was all high school material.

Especially English.

The college entrance requirement was only at fourth level English, it was nothing more than rote learning.

However, the second semester came and the difficulty increased exponentially.

Then, the real struggle began when core and elective classes came.

However, Lu Zhou didn't feel the struggle at all. His three roommates were the ones that did. When he started his core subjects, most of the material was too easy for him.

"… And I'm a university student now, stop asking about my grades all day. Don't get the impression that I play on my phone all day. I'm on a holiday, do you get it? I study a lot during the semester," Xiao Tong replied before she quickly started the next game and left the spawn fountain.

Lu Zhou certainly believed his sister.

There was no way that Xiao Tong could be stuck in Bronze for an entire year when even his "mental retardation" AI, Xiao Ai, could climb out of Bronze. She had to have been studying instead of playing Kings of Glory.

Xiao Tong suddenly smiled sneakily as she teased her brother, "Oh yeah, bro, don't talk about me all the time, how are you?"

Lu Zhou didn't notice her sneaky smile when he replied, "Me? I'm okay, my career and academics are going steady…"

Xiao Tong immediately asked, "What about your love life?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

You're doing this intentionally, aren't you?

Chapter 296: Difficult To Keep It Low-key

Xiao Tong successfully shut her brother up, and she happily continued to play Kings of Glory.

However, her match didn't go well, and her smile disappeared.

Her teammates died five times in five minutes, and all of them had negative KDA.

Her teammates went AFK and left her alone.

Xiao Tong angrily threw her phone away and leaned on the sofa as she muttered, "A bunch of kids."

Lu Zhou looked at her.

I told you not to play so much.

Xiao Tong was looking a little depressed, so Lu Zhou left her alone and tried to switch the topic of conversation.

"Stop playing games, tell me about your university life."

Xiao Tong's eyes suddenly lit up, and she started to blabber.

Lu Zhou was surprised; although she was a slob at home, she was a "model student" at school.

She ranked first in her class and third in the year. Not just that, she was also the leader of the 2017 finance club and was given a national scholarship.

Xiao Tong was right, she wasn't a disappointment to the Lu family at all. Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about her living expenses anymore due to her scholarship, and her performance in her first year was even better than Lu Zhou's.

Normally, the national scholarship was for second-year students. To receive the scholarship as a first-year student meant that one was either really smart or had connections…

Xiao Tong obviously belonged to the former. She earned the recognition of her teachers through her relentless work ethic. In fighting for the scholarship, she spent half a month preparing the PowerPoint materials for the oral defense.

Lu Zhou was genuinely happy for her.

She was really trying her best.

It would be best not to reveal the real reason why she received the scholarship.

As long as she was happy…

…

There were quite a few changes to Lu Zhou's home.

Although it was still in the same neighborhood, the house had been renovated and looked much more beautiful than before.

In the beginning, Old Lu persisted that he would never spend the money from Lu Zhou's card and that he couldn't be persuaded.

Then around July, Lu Zhou told his old man that his salary was US$400,000 after tax. The old man finally changed his mind and accepted his son's offering.

The timing was perfect; Xiao Tong was off to university so the old couple refurbished their house.

Actually, Lu Zhou's initial idea was to sell the house and move into a better neighborhood. However, his parents were strongly against this idea.

His father said that he had been living in this house for more than 20 years and that he was emotionally attached to this place.

In the old man's eyes, this was the best neighborhood. The environment was lively, he was familiar with his neighbors, and there was a place for him to fish nearby.

If they moved into a high rise apartment, they would have more neighbors, but it would be cold and quiet. Plus their children were not around, what if they got sick?

Lu Zhou thought about it and it made sense.

Still, he would definitely choose to live in an apartment, and he believed that Xiao Tong would agree.

Perhaps this was because of them being in different generations.

"One day, if you ever overworked yourself in that big city, you can come and rest in this home. Don't stare at your phone all day; your father and I never use that thing, and we're doing just fine."

Lu Zhou was eating dinner with the family when he heard this.

He swore that he didn't even use his phone that much. He only used it to share the joy with his fans through Weibo and WeChat.

His mother's words should be directed at Xiao Tong instead.

Old Lu asked, "Is it cold over there?"

Lu Zhou: "It's very cold. I got off in Shanghai and had to take my jacket off. Jiangling is a lot warmer than Princeton; it's so nice here."

Fang Mei was worried, and she asked, "Is it snowing there?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, it is. It's been snowing since Christmas."

Fang Mei said, "It must be very cold then, remember to put on your sweater and trousers, don't catch a cold."

Although Lu Zhou knew that his parents were only concerned about him, he was still a little annoyed.

Lu Zhou helplessly said, "Okay… I know."

Old Lu asked, "Is there a heater at your place?"

Lu Zhou said, "My house doesn't have central heating, but it does have a fireplace. When the doors and windows are closed, the house isn't cold at all."

Xiao Tong didn't speak for this whole time, but then she suddenly got excited and asked, "Fireplace? Bro, did you move out? How big is the new house?"

"It's pretty big, but not too expensive." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If you want, you can take a vacation there this summer."

"You bought a house over there?" Old Lu looked at Lu Zhou in surprise as he asked, "So you're not coming back?"

Lu Zhou said without thinking, "Of course I'm coming back. Jin Ling University is still waiting for me to save them. As for the house, I can just sell it when the time comes, it's not that expensive anyway."

Old Lu said, "Oh, wow! Money really changes you, look at you showing off."

"It's a pity to sell the house. Just keep it and rent it out." Fang Mei's concern was somewhere else and she continued, "Xiao Tong can live there when she goes overseas to study."

Lu Zhou's parents were oddly attached to houses, and it made Lu Zhou speechless.

He would have to pay a yearly property tax if he didn't sell the house. Princeton's housing market wasn't looking good, and he was a "foreigner", so he couldn't take advantage of the New Jersey tax exemption policy.

It was fine if he worked there as his income tax covered his property tax. However, once he returned to China, Princeton wouldn't pay his taxes anymore.

Xiao Tong rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, my major is finance, not mathematics. Even if I wanted to study abroad, I would go to the University of Pennsylvania instead, okay?"

Old Lu said, "What the heck is the University of Pennsylvania? Isn't Princeton better?"

Ever since he heard that Princeton's mathematics department was better than Harvard, Harvard's ranking in his heart had dropped significantly. In his mind, Princeton was the best.

Xiao Tong was speechless; she started to regret arguing with her parents.

Actually, this wasn't Old Lu's fault. It was difficult to explain to people the difference between university rankings and course rankings.

Thankfully, Lu Zhou coughed and ended the argument.

"Princeton doesn't have a business school…"

…

After coming back to China, Lu Zhou was finally able to relax and not worry about his work.

However, a scholar of his level couldn't escape from work.

Jin Ling University seemed to have estimated that Lu Zhou would come back for Chinese New Year, and in less than two days since he got back, he received a call from Jin Ling University.

Unsurprisingly, it was Professor Tang who called.

Old Tang smiled and said, "Principal Xu told me to ask if you were coming back for New Year's this year. So, when are you planning on coming back?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm already home."

Old Tang was astonished, and he asked, "What? You're already back?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I came back after the conference at Berkeley. The schedule was a little tight, so I didn't tell anyone."

Of course, the reason why Lu Zhou didn't tell anyone was actually that he didn't want anyone to bother him.

He only wanted to quietly enjoy his new year and didn't want any trouble.

Old Tang sighed and said, "I wanted to buy you a meal before New Year's Day, but now it seems that isn't possible."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Are you the one inviting me or is the school inviting me? If you are, I'll come to see you three days after New Year's Day."

"You must be kidding! How are you going to buy a ticket? Just rest at home, I don't need you to visit me." Old Tang paused for a second before he said, "Principal Xu told me to ask you when you are back because according to him, he has something to discuss with you."

Lu Zhou said in a serious tone, "Is it important?"

Old Tang said seriously, "Don't know if it's important, but it's definitely something good for you."

Lu Zhou the replied politely, "Okay then, on the fifteenth day, I'll visit Jin Ling University before I go back to Princeton!"

Chapter 297: I Need Your Help

Lu Zhou rested at home until the fifteenth day. He then accompanied Xiao Tong back to school.

Several hours of journey later, the train finally arrived at Jinling station.

Lu Zhou got off the high-speed train. He originally planned on taking the subway to school, so he didn't expect Old Tang to call him.

"Where are you now?"

Lu Zhou: "At the station. I'm about to go on the subway, why?"

Old Tang smiled and said, "Don't bother, just come out."

Lu Zhou said, "Don't tell me you're picking me up? The subway is so close, you're making me ashamed."

"Haha, you feel ashamed?" Old Tang smiled and said, "Okay, no more goofing around. Go tell Academician Xu this, I don't have time to deal with your shamefulness."

When Lu Zhou heard him mentioned Academician Xu, he was a little surprised.

There was only one Academician Xu in Jin Ling University, and that person was Principal Xu. Although he wasn't shocked by the fact that Principal Xu was picking him up, he was still a little surprised.

Lu Zhou thought for a long time; he couldn't remember making any headlines recently.

That lithium dendrites thesis published in Nature was six months ago.

It seemed that he really had to find something to do.

…

Lu Zhou didn't want the two professors to wait for long, so he walked with Xiao Tong out of the train station.

Lu Zhou saw two black sedans parked outside the main entrance. He knew this was his ride.

Xiao Tong was a little muddled by this situation, so she nervously grabbed her brother's arm and asked in a low voice, "Bro, who are these people?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's your principal, you won't know the other people."

Xiao Tong: "Oh… What?!"

While the two were talking, the car door opened. Academician Xu and Professor Tang got out of the car and waved at Lu Zhou.

"Professor Lu, you have finally arrived."

Lu Zhou shook Academician Xu's hand, smiled, and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

Academician Xu smiled and looked at Xiao Tong, who was standing behind Lu Zhou. He then said with a welcoming tone, "Student Lu Xiaotong, I have some things to discuss with your brother, how about you let Teacher Hou send you back to school first?"

Teacher Hou was probably the driver in the other car.

It was obvious that the school knew that Lu Zhou would come back with his sister, that was why they sent two cars. This confirmed Lu Zhou's suspicion that Jin Ling University had something cumbersome planned for him.

As for Xiao Tong, she was completely dumbfounded.

She knew her brother was nutty, but she didn't expect the principal to know her name.

She looked at Lu Zhou. When he nodded at her, she dragged her luggage and walked to the other car.

Once Lu Zhou and Academician Xu sat in the backseat, the car started to move and Lu Zhou asked, "Academician Xu, can you give me a clue? What is going on?"

"It's actually not a big deal." Academician Xu paused for a second before he said, "A month ago, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China joined forces with several other ministries to research and introduce a new energy technology development program. They decided to develop in the direction of photovoltaic technology. Due to the 13th Five-Year Plan, the Jin Ling University is also participating in this program.

"The city bureau also supports Beijing's decision. They plan on building a high-tech development area along the Jin Ling University to Jin Ling City's subway line. This is to integrate talents from various universities in Jinling. The leadership team from Beijing took this matter seriously and sent a team down here.

The team's leader is the leader of the Energy Bureau. He heard that you are going back to Princeton soon, so he assigned you to work on the first part of this plan."

Academician Xu looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

Lu Zhou had one reaction.

You're telling me this isn't a big deal?

Lu Zhou gulped and said, "Did he say why he wanted me here?"

Academician Xu smiled and said, "I don't know the specifics, but I promise you it is a good thing."

…

Lu Zhou certainly believed Academician Xu's words.

The squad returned to school and went to an office in the chemistry research building. Lu Zhou saw Academician Li and someone he knew.

He met him at Boston before.

"Professor Lu, we meet again," Lu Kaimin smiled at Lu Zhou and reached out his right hand.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his hand as he said, "Director Lu, hello."

Lu Kaimin visited Lu Zhou in Boston and asked his opinions on the development of lithium battery technology.

Although this time Lu Kaimin was here as a government official, he didn't look high and mighty at all.

He was an internationally renowned scholar, therefore he was amiable enough to treat a young man with great respect.

"Don't refer to me as director, just call me Mr. Lu." Mr. Lu released his hands and said, "I originally planned to visit you in Jiangling, but I still had some things to do here. Thanks for coming here, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "All good, I wanted to visit my old school anyway."

Old Lu nodded and put on a serious expression as he said, "After talking to you in Boston last time, I went to Beijing and gave your opinions to the higher-ups. After consulting an expert team, our final conclusion is that lithium-sulfur batteries are the most suitable choice."

Lu Zhou wasn't surprised by this decision.

Compared to lithium-air batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries were undoubtedly more realistic. The country was willing to invest in this area as it was more applicable and could be implemented in the battery industry. The country didn't want to waste money on theoretical Science and Nature publications.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't believe that his opinion actually influenced the country's choice. At most, he probably slightly impacted the final outcome. After all, his vote was only one vote among many.

However, he was happy to see his vote came into effect.

Lu Zhou said, "Lithium-sulfur battery has great potential, I am happy to see the country make the right decision."

"This is all thanks to Professor Lu's advice." Old Lu smiled and revealed his true intention when he said, "Actually, the reason why I wanted to meet with you was to ask for your help."

Lu Zhou: "Help?"

"Yes." Old Lu nodded seriously and said, "Energy development is the top priority in our country. In order to accomplish the 2025 plan, we need batteries with higher energy storage performance. The batteries have to be low cost, high production, and recyclable.

"However, the general feedback from the industry is that many theoretical problems have to be solved in order to produce such batteries. Otherwise, safety and recyclability cannot be guaranteed.

"Although we don't seek hegemony, we also cannot allow anyone to set up international patent barriers that would attack our energy strategy."

"You are an expert in this field." Old Lu said sincerely, "We need your help!"

Chapter 298: Large Lithium-Sulfur Battery Projec

International companies had been researching lithium-sulfur batteries for a long time.

To put it in perspective, if humans needed to solve 10 technical problems to "unlock" lithium-sulfur batteries, these 10 technical problems could be divided into 10 patents each for a total of 100 patents. International research institutes had already obtained 30-40 of these patents.

Under the WTO regulation, a company could not set up barriers with their patents, otherwise, it would put other companies at a disadvantage.

For example, Qualcomm had completely dominated the silicon processor field. If they forced one to release one's patents under the WTO law, one couldn't do anything but to oblige.

The industry was based on the fact that both parties had equal access to resources; if the access wasn't equal, then there would be no competition, and a monopoly could form.

The same applied to countries. Except instead of stock prices, they were dealing with a trade surplus.

When Lu Zhou heard Old Lu's request, he thought about it seriously before he said cautiously, "Although I really want to help you, I have only researched anode materials. I don't really know the lithium battery industry well, I'm afraid I can't help you."

Lu Zhou wasn't lying, he was telling the truth.

Although the modified PDMS film solved the biggest lithium dendrites problem, the technology involved did not translate to anode materials.

For example, the electrode cycle performance was extremely poor.

The sulfur positive electrode didn't generate lithium sulfide when it was discharged. Instead, it was accompanied by the formation of lithium polysulfide intermediate products. Lithium polysulfide would dissolve in the electrolyte, causing dissolution loss. These dissolved lithium polysulfides would diffuse to the negative electrode and then oxidized at the positive electrode.

This phenomenon would eventually cause the positive electrode material and the negative electrode to stick together. Although this issue didn't make the battery dangerous, it made the battery non-recyclable.

And this "shuttle effect" was exactly what Professor Kerr told Professor Sarrot at the MRS Conference.

There were many potential methods to solve this problem such as from the anode material side, the electrolyte side, or from the electrode material. Although there were many paths, none of them were easy to accomplish.

Lu Zhou's high-tech lithium battery scan model was probably the highly advanced lithium-air battery, which was at least two generations ahead of the current technology.

Although lithium-air batteries also used lithium as its negative electrode, it didn't use sulfur as the positive electrode. It didn't even need electrolytes, so it didn't have the "shuttle effect".

"Of course, this burden will not be placed on you alone," said Old Lu with a smile. He then added, "This study will involve more than 20 national research institutes such as the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Nanoscience Research Center. This study will focus on technical difficulties in the energy field. Lithium-sulfur batteries are one of the most important aspects of our new energy development plan. Other than you, there will be many expert research groups working on this problem!

"Our lithium battery expert professors have unanimously agreed that you are the most suitable candidate. We are not trying to change your research plan, we just hope that if you are looking for a new research direction, try to prioritize the lithium-sulfur battery direction. We will try our best to monetarily compensate you!"

Lu Zhou heard this and couldn't help but scream in his heart.

Originally, he thought that Old Lu was talking about an ordinary support policy. He didn't expect the higher-ups to take this matter as a national project.

If the former was an air-drop supply for researchers fighting on the front lines, then the latter was equivalent to an "army" composed of research units at all levels preparing for a large-scale operation on the fight for new energy.

Outsiders might not have been able to feel this impact, but for the people in the industry, this was a big deal.

This was obviously a good thing for Lu Zhou. Old Lu's statement was clear, Lu Zhou would get heavy research preferential treatment.

Although Lu Zhou didn't lack money, the support policy could still help him get rid of a lot of troubles.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at Old Lu.

"If this is the case, then I agree!"

…

The intention of cooperation was obvious; next was the discussion of the specific content of the cooperation.

Old Lu's proposal was to build a material science research institute in Jinling's newly-launched high-tech industrial park, focusing on the development of lithium-sulfur battery-related technologies. At the same time, the state would provide preferential policies such as five-year tax exemption, import equipment rebate, and three-year new energy research subsidies.

Part of the research funding would be subsidized by the country while the remainder was from the enterprise.

At the same time, Jin Ling University could offer experts to work at the laboratory.

Like physics, the materials science department was one of the strongest departments at Jin Ling University. Their organic and nanomaterials research were cutting-edge.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with Old Lu's requests.

However, this wasn't the main point.

What Lu Zhou cared about was the research result.

This was what any researcher would care about.

If this was natural sciences, then there wouldn't be much concern. Any research result would benefit the entire human race. However, if it was engineering-based research, not only would it benefit the entire human race, it would also benefit specific organizations and individuals.

A manifestation of the phenomenon could be seen in patents.

Old Lu thought cautiously about Lu Zhou's question before he said, "I'm not an entrepreneur. I can't give you a specific plan. However, I can guarantee that 30% of the profits in lithium-sulfur batteries will go to you."

Under normal circumstances, the government did not care about profits and losses on research projects. Therefore the researchers often wouldn't receive a profit from the research results.

On the other hand, companies would pocket the majority of the research profits. They would never give out 30%.

Because scientific research was like gambling, investing in it was a bottomless pit. Companies had to bear considerable risks when conducting research. The only researchers that would get a share of the profits were researchers that had a stake in the research fund.

The television show "The Big Bang Theory" talked about this problem. The research results that the university professors did were split in a ratio of 25% professor, 75% university.

For the profit-oriented companies, this split would be even more extreme.

Therefore, Old Lu's proposition was quite generous.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't lacking in money, and he was sure that he could achieve the results.

Although Lu Zhou knew the Old Lu was doing this out of kindness, he still refused.

"I don't need companies to invest in this project, I can invest in it myself."

Old Lu heard Lu Zhou's request and smiled.

"That's great then. If Professor Lu is willing to fund his own research, as long as this research institute is built on Chinese soil, all of the research results will go to you!"

Chapter 299: The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study Prototype

China took scientific research very seriously.

Old Lu didn't want to waste Lu Zhou's time and wanted to show to his bosses that he was being diligent. The second day after the meeting, Lu Zhou received a call from Secretary Liu.

Lu Zhou felt that Secretary Liu was interesting even though he had only met him a handful of times. However, every time they met, it was like they were meeting as close friends.

After some small talk, Secretary Liu set a time and date with Lu Zhou on the phone.

In the same afternoon, Lu Zhou met Secretary Liu's assistant Zhao Zhengye; he wore glasses and looked very gentle.

Zhao Zhengye shook hands with Lu Zhou and politely said, "Hello, Professor Lu, I am Secretary Liu's assistant. You can call me Xiao Zhao."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're older than me, I'll just call you Assistant Zhao."

"Sure." Assistant Zhao pointed and said, "This way please."

Assistant Zhao drove Lu Zhou to the high-tech development park.

Assistant Zhao found a place to park, then pulled out a map with a circle marked on it. He pointed at the circle and said to Lu Zhou, "This is the concept map of the Xianlin University high-tech development zone. The first phase of the project has been completed, and the second phase will be completed within a year. Because this project has only just begun, only 13 research units have checked into this development zone. There is a lot of room to spare.

"There are several good office buildings not far from the subway station. They are still empty right now, so feel free to tell me which one you fancy."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "My nanomaterial experiments have to be done with high precision equipment. Normal office buildings cannot reach these standards. I hope you can find me a piece of empty land, and I will contact an engineering contractor to build my own office."

When Assistant Zhao heard Lu Zhou's words, he nodded and said, "No problem. There are many pieces of land here that are yet to be sold. Tell me which one you want and I will report it to the secretary."

Lu Zhou looked at the map for a while. He then selected a piece of land on the map. This 1.65 acres would become the research and development center.

It turned out that Lu Zhou's intuition was quite accurate.

Assistant Zhao drove them to the site, and the land was far from traffic and had a quiet environment. It was a good place for research.

As for the specific construction plan, Lu Zhou would contact the manager of Star Sky Technology, White, to hire engineering experts and conduct project bidding. Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about it.

Also, with the state subsidy policy, Lu Zhou was able to receive a large discount.

An acre of land here would cost up to 42 million yuan per square meter.

However, Old Lu promised that as long as Lu Zhou invested 200 million yuan, the state would subsidize 30% of the cost of the land. If Lu Zhou's investment exceeded 400 million yuan, then the subsidy would double. Lu Zhou's original plan was to invest US$100 million, therefore he would receive the maximum subsidy possible.

The price given by the city bureau to Lu Zhou was around 30 million yuan per acre. With the government subsidy, he would only have to pay 12 million yuan per acre.

This way, Lu Zhou would have more money to put to the experiment and pieces of equipment.

The research institute location had been decided.

Lu Zhou gave White a call, and the rest of this matter would be handled between Star Sky Technology and Jin Ling city government. Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about these trivial things.

Before the research building was built, Lu Zhou could only use Jin Ling University's laboratory building. Thankfully the new Jin Ling University campus had many empty laboratory buildings, so they were happy to accommodate Lu Zhou.

Dean Li, the head of the chemical department, personally took Lu Zhou to Jin University to look at the laboratories.

The two started to chat while walking on campus.

Dean Li smiled and said, "Everyone says Princeton has the smartest brains in the world. You have been working there for over a year, do you have any thoughts?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I think it's a pity."

Dean Li said, "Oh? What kind of pity?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "In my opinion, the freshmen at Princeton aren't smarter than students here who aced the college entrance examination. We are not falling behind in high school education. In fact, we have an advantage."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "However, from the undergrad stage, the difference between the two will start to get bigger. Once they get to the master's level, the difference is huge."

Dean Li said, "Professor Lu, this comparison is unfair. Princeton is a world-class education institute. Even MIT and Harvard can't compare to them."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, this is why I said it's a pity."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said excitedly, "Actually I have an idea. We can build an Institute for Advanced Study here that is similar to Princeton's model."

Dean Li said, "This is a good idea, but it doesn't seem realistic."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "You're right."

Copying the success of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton wasn't that easy.

Jin Ling University could build a building and hire some researchers, but it wouldn't achieve the same level of success as Princeton.

The institute would only become a second school for those pursuing their master's degree; it would be completely meaningless and a waste of resources.

Dean Li: "To be honest, if we implemented Princeton's research institute model here, it would be difficult for it to survive. Even if it did survive, it would not be able to achieve any success."

"We can still try. Maybe because I'm younger, I'm still very optimistic." Lu Zhou smiled and said in a joking tone, "How about we just call the unopened research institute the Jinling Computational Materials Science Research Institute?"

Academician Li smiled and said, "Sure, we would be honored! Jin Ling University is planning on creating a computational materials department, how about you work as the department head? I'll find some top students for you to train?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe not, I might accidentally convert all of the students to mathematicians."

"Oh no, please don't!"

Both of them were joking, no one took this conversation seriously.

However, after hearing Dean Li's proposal, Lu Zhou couldn't help but take this question seriously.

The battlefield was the best training ground. The country's energy plan wasn't only a battlefield for lithium-sulfur batteries, but it was also an opportunity to cultivate research-oriented talents.

Lu Zhou didn't have to copy the model of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; he could just invent a new model that would be more suitable for domestic academic research.

If this model proved to be feasible, Lu Zhou could extend it to mathematics and physics.

Even if the model wasn't successful, it would still be something meaningful.

Lu Zhou said in a joking tone, "Then I'll have some requirements."

Dean Li said politely, "What do you want, say it!"

Lu Zhou only said one word.

"People!"

Chapter 300: Big Chemistry Department News

The chemistry department at Jin Ling University had gone through some changes.

The first class meeting of the semester was held by the chemistry department supervisor. He threw a stack of documents to the school committee leader and signaled him to pass it around.

"… Internship document for Jinling Research Institute? Why are you giving us first years this thing?"

"Oh sh*t, there's a salary?"

"10 hours of work a week. A thousand yuan a month, not bad. My living expenses are only 800 yuan."

The applied chemistry class one students started to discuss the matter intensely.

Han Mengqi was the same; she felt strange about the content of this leaflet.

However, some people didn't feel strange at all.

A tall slim girl who sat next to Han Mengqi poked Meng Qi's arm and asked her curiously, "Meng Qi, Meng Qi, are you interested?"

The applied chemistry class one cohort only had eight female students who were split into two dorms. This young girl, Li Fang, was Meng Qi's best friend and roommate.

"Not interested…"

Han Mengqi shook her head and stuffed the leaflet into her drawer.

First of all, she wasn't interested in an internship with a thousand yuan pay for a month. Secondly, she was about to transfer majors anyway, so she didn't need this on her resume.

To be honest, she didn't understand. Most of the first-year classes were all general classes; they could barely memorize chemistry equations. What could a first-year do in a chemistry experiment?

"Okay, everyone, please quiet down and listen," said the supervisor as he clapped his hands and signaled everyone to quiet down. He cleared his throat and spoke with a loud voice, "In order to cultivate research talents and to adhere to the national new energy strategy, our department has cooperated with the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

"I believe you have all read your leaflets, so I won't waste my time. Simply put, this is an internship opportunity for you to research in materials science.

"The work you have to do is simple and elementary. The minimum working hours per week is 10 hours; this is mainly done on the weekends. If you are interested in research or want to do a master's, take this opportunity seriously. Undergrad students don't have a lot of research opportunities, so you guys should take this opportunity seriously as well."

Suddenly, a student raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, is this internship legit?"

The supervisor was amused, and he replied, "The director of this project is an alumnus. Do you think it's legit or not? It's at least more reliable than finding an internship elsewhere."

He's an alumnus?!

The voice of people chattering could be heard in the classroom as the students were trying to figure out who this nutty alumnus was.

Finally, someone couldn't resist and they raised their hand to ask, "Teacher, what kind of student is this nutty?"

The supervisor smiled and said, "Of course it's Lu Zhou. It's computational materials science, who else could it be?"

Suddenly, the students in the classroom held their breath as excited expressions appeared on their faces.

God Lu!

Of course, when these students enrolled in Jin Ling University, God Lu was already in Princeton. However, they were well aware of the legacy that God Lu left here.

From Zhou's conjecture to Goldbach's conjecture, from Cole Number Theory Prize to Crafoord Prize. As the youngest professor at Princeton University, this 23-year-old had already achieved more than what most people could ever hope for.

They didn't expect the director of the Institute of Computational Materials Science was this legend.

Maybe this legend was unsatisfied with mathematics and wanted to jump ship to chemistry?

When Han Mengqi heard this name, she froze.

The supervisor told the students that if they were interested they could tell the class leader. He then said some ending words, and the meeting was over.

Once again, the classroom was filled with intense discussion from the applied chemistry students in Class One.

"An older student I know said that it is good to participate in these things as it'd be useful on your resume. This counts as a scientific research experience. Also, this research institute seems to be one of the major national projects."

A guy couldn't help but ask, "Then is the competition very fierce?"

"It's mainly about participation." Another guy patted him on the arm and said, "They obviously won't give us the internship, but there's no harm in applying."

"But I think that we have to take two more mathematics classes if we get in."

"Who cares? Anyway, it doesn't count as credits, so your score won't matter."

Han Mengqi had her head down while she thought for a long time.

She was thinking of a different problem than her classmates.

She had been struggling to catch up with her tutor's footsteps. Even though she had been trying her best, she hadn't improved much. She was far from a Crafoord Prize or Cole Number Theory Prize.

Even though in her classmates' eyes, she was a genius student, but she was nothing compared to Lu Zhou.

In fact, after her college entrance examination, she sent her resume to Princeton. However, she didn't receive a reply from the admission department of Princeton. She didn't even tell her sister about this thing.

At least, in mathematics, she knew that it would be impossible for her to follow her tutor's path.

But it could be possible outside of mathematics…

Han Mengqi squeezed her tiny hands; the confusion in her eyes gradually disappeared.

Li Fang saw that her good friend wasn't talking, so she asked with concern, "Meng Qi? What is wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable…"

Han Mengqi's suddenly looked determined.

"I am going to apply!"

…

Carbon nanomaterials research institute.

Professor Li looked at the graduation application document and sighed.

"You are the most talented among all my students, it's a waste not to study a PhD. To be honest, I don't want you to leave."

Qian Zhongming shook his head and insisted, "There are places other than the university where I can do research. Plus, I am very interested in the emerging field of computational materials science, I hope you can fulfill my wish."

Although Professor Li didn't want to let him go, he sighed in the end and signed the document.

"Just remember to write a self-assessment and prepare your graduation oral defense. You still have to go through the official procedure."

The salary and benefits from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials were pretty good. They offered full-time contracts in addition to internships. Their master's student base salary was 8,000 yuan per month and it came with bonuses and other benefits. This was much higher than the industry standard.

Originally Li Rongen planned to wait for Qian Zhongming to graduate, then get him a research and development position at Zhongshan New Materials. But now it seemed that wasn't possible anymore.

Professor Li looked at his student and paused for a second before he said, "Go ahead, Professor Lu is a brilliant person. You will be able to learn many things from him."

Qian Zhongming said sincerely, "Thank you."

Professor Li nodded and didn't respond.

Saying anything more would be superfluous.

Liu Bo, who was standing silently by the side, suddenly spoke.

"Professor, I want to apply for graduation as well."

Professor Li looked at him and smiled.

"Give me the application, I'll sign it."

Liu Bo was hurt, and he said, "Professor, you don't plan on convincing me to stay?"

Professor Li joked and said, "Oh, you don't want to graduate? Great, stay here for another year."

Liu Bo panicked and said, "Oh, please don't! I already got the offer."

Professor Li smiled and waved his hand.

"Fine, stop bothering me here.

"You two can screw off together."

Chapter 301: Purchasing Instruments

The Jinling Institute of Computational Materials needed talented researchers. Although they could attract them by offering short-term contracts with a high salary, they needed a good research culture for them to stay long-term.

Lu Zhou needed a group of researchers to help him in the long term. He also needed to use this group of researchers and equipment to cultivate new talents.

Although he couldn't guarantee that all of the interns working here would definitely work here after they graduated, it would be worth it as long as a third of them chose to stay.

Lu Zhou wasn't particularly concerned about this.

Unlike most companies, Lu Zhou neither did this for money nor for sublime reasons. Even if he did receive money out of it, that would only be a by-product.

His only goal was to conduct research as he pleases. He wanted to reveal the hidden secrets of the high-tech system and look toward the future.

And doing all this on his own was impossible.

Therefore, while talking with Dean Li, Lu Zhou put forward a request for talents. He conveyed that not only did he want to hire PhD students to do research, but he also wanted to hire master's and undergrad students as interns.

Dean Li told Academician Xu about Lu Zhou's idea, and Academician Xu instantly agreed.

The academician was a "reformist", he was determined to improve Jin University's reputation.

According to the agreement between the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials and Jin Ling University, every year the chemistry department would send 30 undergrad students, 10 master's students, and 1-3 PhD students to enter the research institute for internships. They would do basic assistant work.

If the method proved to work, then they could expand the number of interns.

These internship positions would not delay the students' academic studies, and it would also enhance their professional experience.

Especially for undergrad students, the opportunities to gain research experience was limited.

Because of this, the undergrad chemistry major students jumped at this opportunity.

Especially for the third and fourth-year students that planned to go into research, their application rate was very high. They would have to be selected by their grades.

Lu Zhou also allocated some of the internship spots to first and second-year students.

Although they were less knowledgeable, they often had more potential and was more malleable.

Even those who couldn't do experiments and could only clean up the laboratory, they could still listen to the experts and learn something about chemicals.

"All of the top students in the chemistry department are on this list." Academician Li had a name list in his hand as he smiled and said, "Remember our agreement; cultivate talent however you want but don't convert all of our precious students to mathematics."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry about this, I promise you I'll return all of your students."

Although computational materials science needed mathematics, it was still mainly based on chemistry. However, in cutting-edge research, the difference between disciplines wasn't that clear. If a student wanted to transfer to mathematics, they definitely could.

"Okay, I will remember your words." Dean Li smiled and handed the name list to Lu Zhou before he said, "Then the matter is in your hands now!"

This wasn't just about the name list, there was also an empty laboratory building.

The new laboratory building was originally intended as a material mechanics laboratory for dynamic mechanical analyzers, electronic tensile testing machines, quartz crystal micro-equal, and other new equipment.

The building was fully built, but the instrument hadn't arrived yet. Therefore, it was borrowed by Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou asked the people from academic affairs to lend him an office.

Lu Zhou basically stayed at Jin Ling University these days. His office was on campus, he ate at the school cafeteria, and his hotel was near Jin Ling University.

Although he had a house near the university, it was too messy to live in. It was too troublesome to clean up, and the house was full of Xiao Ai's chassis smell.

Every time he called to ask someone from the computer store to help him with hardware maintenance, the people from the computer store would ask him why the house was so messy.

Lu Zhou asked his student, Vera, to help him apply for a two-week holiday extension from Princeton.

Although Lu Zhou didn't care about the professor salary anymore, the work still brought him inspiration for his research. Also, it gave him time to learn some of the "obvious" problems and discover if they were really as trivial as he thought.

He and Mr. Fermi were the same in this regard; learning and cultivating students go hand to hand.

Also, watching his students grew into top scholars was a very rewarding feeling.

Fortunately, his number theory classes would begin at the end of February, and his interviews for the fall admissions could be done online, so it was fine for him to take the two-week extension.

…

Once the people were recruited, the next step was to delegate work to these people.

The interns could wait until the project had officially begun. However, formal researchers should be arranged to work as soon as possible.

Inside the laboratory building office, Lu Zhou met with Liu Bo and Brother Qian.

Lu Zhou asked them, "Does Professor Li hate me?"

Liu Bo said helplessly, "No, he just asked us two to screw off."

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

There was no other option other than to steal talent from Professor Li. His laboratory project at Silicon Valley had only just begun, he couldn't spare any talents from there. He had to rely on his two friends.

Especially Qian Zhongming. Although he only had a master's degree, his experience in the field of materials science was undoubtedly at PhD level. Even in the field of research, most PhD graduates hadn't done as much research as him.

This was why Professor Li valued him so much.

Brother Qian was wearing a white lab coat, and he smiled and said, "Don't call me brother anymore, I'm here to learn from you, I'll have to call you master now."

"I can still learn from you. Let's learn from each other, there's no need to call me master," Lu Zhou smiled and said.

Qian Zhongming shook his head and said with a serious tone, "I can barely teach you anything. But in the field of computational materials science, I can only learn from you."

Lu Zhou saw how serious Brother Qian was and smiled.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"This time our project belongs to one of the key national scientific energy research projects. Specifically speaking, we have to solve the shuttle effect in lithium-sulfur batteries; I believe you know this already."

Brother Qian nodded and said, "So, do we have any ideas?"

"Some, but it is still very vague." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "But we have another problem to solve— the problem of equipment."

Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo both nodded.

It would be impossible to do experiments without equipment. Even if one made a mathematical model of an experiment, one would still have to test the theory through real-life experiments.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "I already contacted Umicore and ordered a batch of equipment through their contact. Although I hired some people from Star Sky Technology to go to Europe to look over the purchase, I still need someone reliable to sign the contract. Therefore, you might have to go to Europe for a day."

"No problem," Qian Zhongming smiled and said, "I used to help Professor Li do equipment purchases as well. It isn't just about money, the equipment also has to be reliable."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, thank you."

Liu Bo saw that he wasn't assigned anything, so he raised his hand and asked, "Then what about me?"

"I hope you can go with Brother Qian." Lu Zhou looked at Liu Bo and smiled as he said, "I'd be worried if he went alone."

Chapter 302: I Want To Hear His Opinion

The deposit for the purchase of the equipment was directly wired from the Star Sky Technology's overseas account to the account of the European instrument manufacturer. After Qian Zhongming signed the document, the remaining payment would be sent to the other party.

At the same time, the equipment purchased would be sent to Jinling through a specialized transportation company.

The total price of the equipment was over US$50 million, which was more than 300 million yuan.

The pieces of equipment were important, so Qian Zhongming didn't want to delay this matter. He and Liu Bo immediately booked a flight and went to Europe.

Lu Zhou was also busy. Three days after Brother Qian went to Europe, Jin Ling University organized a seminar.

This seminar was huge. Not only did it invite professors from Zhi University, Shuimu University, Fu University, and various other C9 alliance universities, but they also invited technology schools such as Jinling Polytechnic University. Professors in the field of synthesis, as well as engineers from battery companies such as BYD, also participated in this conference.

Unlike the MRS Conference, this seminar was semi-academic in nature and was mainly focused on future research rather than research results.

In addition to lithium material professors, representatives of the national research funds, as well as representatives of energy companies such as BYD and Sugi, also participated.

The subject for the discussion was obviously lithium-sulfur batteries.

As an internationally renowned scholar, Lu Zhou naturally participated in the conference.

The conference would begin at ten o'clock, but at only nine o'clock, the conference room was already crowded and packed.

It was like people knew that this conference was going to be difficult, so everyone had a serious expression on their face. Although it was packed with people, it was oddly quiet inside the conference hall.

Lu Zhou opened his water bottle and took a sip. Before the conference began, he took the chance to observe the faces of his peers.

In short, the situation didn't look good.

Around 9:30 a.m, Old Lu whispered a few words to the academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Once almost everyone had arrived, Old Lu adjusted the microphone, cleared his throat, and said, "Since everyone has already arrived, we won't waste anyone's precious time."

The conference room quieted down. They waited for Old Lu to continue.

"… Energy is the lifeblood of the industry. Whoever masters energy, masters the future. This mission is very difficult as it relates to the strategic layout of our country in the field of energy.

"At the last meeting, the top executives have decided to develop in the direction of lithium-sulfur batteries. However, the wisdom of everyone here today is needed to solve the technical problems.

"The main discussion topic of this conference is about the thought process to solve these problems.

"I hope that everyone can brainstorm and to speak up if they come up with any ideas."

Old Lu was the moderator of the conference, therefore, he was the one to make a brief opening remark.

On the surface, this conference looked like it was useless. Everyone wasn't talking about existing results, but rather the thought process of problems. However, this wasn't the case.

The national and company research fund was limited and not every research project was able to apply for adequate research funding.

Generally speaking, if the country decided on the direction of lithium-sulfur batteries, then the projects related to lithium-sulfur batteries would increase, and other lithium batteries related projects would decrease.

This was the same for research.

There were thousands of ways to solve the lithium-sulfur battery shuttle effect. It was possible both from the positive electrode material and the electrolyte.

However, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance did not understand academia.

But that didn't matter. When they made a decision, they would often consult the industry experts and take their opinion into account. They could guarantee sufficient research funding on a certain research topic.

There was always a few research topics that had potential and could bread high-quality results.

This was why this conference was so important.

Everyone hoped that their research topic or direction could receive more financial support.

Because of this, the atmosphere was heavy even before the conference began. But after the conference began, the discussion was quite enthusiastic.

The first to speak up was Professor Wang Haifeng from Zhi University.

Professor Wang stood up and smiled as he said, "Since Director Lu told everyone to brainstorm and share their ideas, I will throw in my two cents.

"Our research team found a highly ordered nanostructured carbon-sulfur positive material. This can be used as a carbon structural framework to limit the dissolution of sulfur during charge and discharge, thus effectively curbing the sticking effect."

Professor Wang took out some existing research results to back up his claims.

Old Lu took Professor Wang's opinion seriously, and he asked, "What are the costs? What is the energy density? Is this technology reliable?"

"The costs are not high and the energy density is quite impressive. The theoretical energy density measured in the laboratory was close to 2000Wh/kg. This far exceeds current lithium batteries. I have published relating theses on 'Advanced Materials', but this technology needs to be perfected."

Professor Wang paused for a second before he continued, "In fact, in the current mainstream practice in the academic world, the key to solving the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries is to use porous carbon materials to block polysulfide ions and reduce the loss of sulfur. My suggestion is that we can adopt a similar approach. The focus of research and development should be on sulfur-carbon composites."

Old Lu nodded seriously.

The assistant sitting next to him quickly started to type on his laptop.

After Professor Wang ended his speech, he smiled at his peers and sat down.

Suddenly, another professor spoke.

"I have something to say."

It was Academician Wu Shigang from Aurora University; he was also a big name in the materials science industry.

Old Lu looked at the old man and said respectfully, "Academician Wu, please go ahead."

Academician Wu grabbed the microphone and paused for a second before speaking, "I was involved in the 863 Program, therefore, I have already considered carbon-sulfur composite materials when I was other lithium-sulfur batteries issues. This strategy seems to be very effective on paper, but the actual effect is very limited.

"The experiment in the laboratory was based on a small button cell, the electrode was very thin, the sulfur load was not high, and the total sulfur content was only about a few milligrams. Actual batteries have a much larger sulfur content, generally at a gram. Also, the electrode is very thick and the unit sulfur load is very high.

"The laboratory was able to circulate 1,000 times of sulfur/carbon composite material, which in turn can only be cycled several times in actual batteries.

"Moreover, the most deadly problem of carbon-sulfur composites is that the energy density is not high enough. If it were used in 3C products such as computers and mobile phones, it would be fine to use carbon-sulfur composite materials as the positive electrode. If it were used in cars or larger electronics, it might not be the best."

The old man had been doing research in this area for over 10 years. As an engineer, he paid extra attention to the practical value of technology as opposed to the theoretical academic value.

Moreover, he was involved in the field of solid electrolytes, which was the opposite of Professor Wang.

Professor Wang was naturally unhappy.

However, it wasn't him that refuted; it was another professor in the field of carbon-sulfur composite materials that spoke up.

"You are right, sulfur-carbon composites do have defects in this area, but in my opinion, these defects can be solved with repeated experiments. A year ago, we all thought that lithium batteries were unstable. But what about now? Who can doubt the potential of lithium batteries?"

Lu Zhou: … ?

Lu Zhou, who stayed silent this whole time, was inexplicably targeted.

The meeting was becoming fiercer.

Although it wasn't as aggressive as the MRS Conference, everyone could still feel the tension in the room.

Lu Zhou started to think.

Fortunately, the system's scanner gun saved him a lot of research and development costs, and the technology of lithium dendrite was sold for a good price. Otherwise, he would have to bite the bullet and join this discussion.

Suddenly, another professor spoke.

"Let me say a few words."

This time, it was Professor Sun Hongbiao from Shuimu university.

Although Shuimu ranked lower than Aurora University or Yan University in the field of lithium battery, it was still quite influential.

However, his words were different from the previous big names.

This old professor coughed and said slowly, "I noticed that Professor Lu hasn't spoken yet, but I can tell he has some good ideas about this problem. I don't want to say anything, I just want to hear his opinion."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Chapter 303: Hollow Carbon Sphere

After Professor Sun Hongbiao finished speaking, multiple pairs of eyes looked straight at Lu Zhou.

Especially the representatives and engineers from various companies, they were all staring at him.

Lu Zhou was holding a water bottle in his hand; he was confused.

Who said that I have an opinion?

How come I don't know about this?

Actually, the reason why he had not been participating in the discussion wasn't that he didn't care about the conference, he just had nothing to say.

As a mathematician, Lu Zhou didn't like to brag without having anything to back him up. Suddenly, Professor Sun shined the spotlight on him, and he felt somewhat unprepared.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou put down the water bottle, adjusted the microphone, and spoke in a clear voice, "… According to my findings at the MRS Conference, the biggest problem of lithium-sulfur batteries is the shuttle effect. The academic world hasn't come up with a single unified solution to this problem.

"My personal opinion is that both of these ideas are good. Solving from the positive electrode material is one way, and using solid electrolytes is another way. I think we can pursue both ideas seriously."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

He didn't know if he was correct, but he didn't care.

Answering this way would ensure that he wouldn't offend anyone.

The professors here were trying to secure research funding, but Lu Zhou was using his own money to fund experiments, so he didn't want to get embroiled with the fight.

He was responsible for his words.

However, Professor Sun Hongbiao didn't let him off the hook.

The old man smiled and continued to ask, "Professor Lu is right, but we have limited resources. From your point of view, which path do you think is more promising?"

This Shuimu Professor was quite the character.

He probably wanted to research polymer positive electrode materials. He saw that Lu Zhou solved the lithium dendrite problem with the modified PDMS film, so he bet that Lu Zhou would be optimistic about the polymer direction just like himself.

But honestly, although Lu Zhou solved the problem of lithium dendrites with the modified PDMS film, he was not optimistic about the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lu Zhou couldn't come up with a reason either, and this was just his intuition.

Lu Zhou didn't know what to do.

He felt like whatever he ended up saying, he would offend someone.

After all, Lu Zhou was a big name in the lithium battery industry; his opinion was valuable and influential.

If Lu Zhou knew it was going to be like this, he wouldn't have come at all.

He sighed.

He had no choice.

He didn't want to speak with unfinished research results, but he if continued to dodge the question, it would be a little suspicious.

After all, since he was given special treatment by the government on this project, he had to show his value.

He thought for a bit before saying, "I personally think the direction of the hollow carbon sphere is the best."

People were stunned.

Especially Professor Sun. Obviously, he didn't expect that to be Lu Zhou's answer.

The professors and scholars in the room all had different expressions. Some were disdainful, some were surprised. The representatives of companies were waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Old Lu asked, "Can you please tell us the reason?"

"Of course I can." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "The hollow carbon sphere has a large internal cavity and is suitable as a carbon matrix with high negative sulfur content. Also, the outer porous shell structure can effectively inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide ions. In addition, it has strong structural stability and good electrical conductivity. I personally think it is a good choice."

Academician Wu from Yan University said, "I have a question."

Lu Zhou replied, "Academician Wu, please go ahead."

Academician Wu said slowly, "The hollow carbon sphere is a very new concept, but the concept has hidden traps. Technically speaking, when lithium ions are embedded, with charge and discharge cycles, it will cause volume expansion of the material. This volume expansion causes the alloy to pulverize. I think this technology is very difficult to be industrially applicable."

Lu Zhou: "Reducing the particle size of the active material can reduce the degree of micronization, this is technically achievable with today's technology."

Academician Wu continued to ask, "What about the volume expansion? Have you thought about the volumetric energy density?"

Academician Wu was an interesting person; he was against anything that wasn't solid electrolyte. So far, he avoided talking about his own views in order not to give people a chance to debate with him. He intended to wait until the end of the conference to give a final blow.

This tactical wasn't unusual.

Science was objective, but their applications were subjective.

Many technical problems were not so black and white.

People had to doubt and question other people's opinions, that was the whole point of this conference.

Lu Zhou said to Academician Wu, "The sphere can be alloyed with lithium metal. In theory, the volume expansion problem of the active component can be solved through a 'buffer skeleton'."

Academician Wu didn't have anything to say, but another person stood up.

Professor Wang, who was previously arguing with Academician Wu about the feasibility of carbon-sulfur comparatives, asked with a skeptical tone, "What is your level of certainty?"

Lu Zhou wasn't happy to hear this.

I'll forgive Academician Wu since he's an outsider. You are in the field of carbon-sulfur composite materials, so we're in the same boat. Do you think that by attacking me, you won't have to worry about the volume expansion problem yourself?

Lu Zhou said with a serious tone, "Scientific research is risky. Don't expect it to be successful just because money is thrown in. I can tell you that I'm 1% or 99% certain, but what difference does it make?"

Professor Wang turned bright red; he had nothing to say.

Old Lu coughed and said, "Everyone has good intentions here, so let's keep our discussion focused on academics."

Professor Sun saw that Lu Zhou's answer didn't meet his expectations, so he got up and spoke again.

"Let me say something."

The old man smiled awkwardly and said, "Professor Wang is only asking out of concern. Actually, I am also confused about this hollow carbon sphere. However, I heard that Professor Lu is an expert in the field of computational materials. He must have some unique insights. Maybe, Professor Lu can share those insights with us?"

When Professor Sun asked this question, he didn't think that Lu Zhou could really answer this question from a mathematics perspective. Professor Sun was afraid that Lu Zhou would fool and convince Old Lu.

After all, the shuttle effect of lithium-sulfur batteries…

Was his research direction!

However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou to come up with an answer.

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and looked at Old Lu.

"This is easy. Is there any blackboard around?"

Chapter 304: Then I'll Prove It To You

They certainly had a blackboard.

Even if they didn't, someone would find out just for Lu Zhou.

Old Lu heard Lu Zhou's request and immediately told his assistant.

Within two minutes, the conference staff dragged a blackboard from a classroom into the auditorium.

Lu Zhou walked to the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and started to write on the blackboard.

He actually already studied this question when he was researching the topological transformation of spherical surfaces back in Princeton.

Particularly, the relationship between the electrochemical and mechanical properties of the hollow carbon spheres. He had systematically analyzed and produced mathematical models in this area.

Now all he needed to do was to present his research.

This wasn't difficult for Lu Zhou at all.

The conference hall quieted down.

No one made a sound, they were all watching Lu Zhou.

Professor Sun stared blankly at the blackboard; he didn't expect Lu Zhou to actually start writing.

Actually, if Professor Sun was familiar with the mathematics industry, he would know that any mathematician would be able to prove their ideas. Especially Lu Zhou.

After all, the person standing in front of the blackboard once proved the twin prime conjecture on the spot, leaving a legacy at Princeton.

In contrast, proving an already established theory was nothing difficult.

Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of equations and stopped. He looked back at the other professors in the conference room.

"According to my calculations, hollow carbon nanospheres with a specific surface area in the range of [2326m2g-1, 3762m2g-1] and a diameter of [60nm-70nm] can theoretically slow the diffusion of polysulfide compounds and inhibit the shuttle effect.

"Of course, this is all theoretical. Specific chemical formulas, molecular morphology, and more conclusions need to be validated through repeated experiments. I only demonstrated the possibilities.

"This is the basic situation, are there any questions?"

This…

I don't have any questions.

The professors looked seriously at the blackboard, but they were muddled on the inside. The engineers from various companies were taking down notes; they didn't care if it was useful or not, they wanted to copy it down first.

Old Lu's eyes lit up. Although he didn't understand what Lu Zhou had written, he saw the possibility of a new form of energy.

Lu Zhou placed the chalk in his hand down.

At the MRS Conference, no one was able to understand his proof. The group of lithium-ion professors could only nod at his conclusion without even asking a single question.

It was the same here.

…

Actually, Lu Zhou had been thinking about a problem when he was researching "Debris No.1".

It wasn't about the technology itself, but things outside of the technology.

Objectively speaking, the birth of a piece of technology had to be in accordance with certain laws.

For example, the zipper. Human civilization invented clothes for protection, and in order to make the clothes more convenient to wear, buttons were invented. Then, in the 19th century, the industrial revolution made a dramatic breakthrough in production technology, and the zipper was born.

For the same reason, Lu Zhou believed that there had to be previous inventions before the lithium-air batteries.

In their high tech civilization, there had to have existed a previous iteration of the invention.

It was highly possible that this invention was the lithium-sulfur battery.

Although the carbon nanospheres in the anode material of Debris No. 1 wasn't directly related to lithium-sulfur batteries, it still brought inspiration to him.

Technological inventions weren't done in a day. The hollow carbon sphere had to have been invented before the lithium-air battery.

Lu Zhou remembered the prompt of the mission task; his intuition told him that the hollow carbon spheres had to be the key to solving the lithium-sulfur battery problem.

Therefore, he conveyed this viewpoint at this conference.

However, he didn't know if people would believe him.

The conference ended, and people began to exit the auditorium.

Professor Wang sat in his seat and didn't move; he had a dissatisfied expression.

He had no logical reason to be unhappy. After all, he was involved in carbon-sulfur composite materials, and a hollow carbon sphere was also a kind of carbon-sulfur composite materials, but Lu Zhou's attitude toward it made him very dissatisfied.

A 23-year-old researcher had just educated him?

Not only that, but he also thought that Old Lu thought way too highly of Lu Zhou.

Scientific research was esoteric, but there was no special technique. The method was nothing more than continuous experimentation, trial and error, summing up mistakes, and using the experience to build new theories.

In a sense, to experiment was to gamble.

Many people had tried to add surface polymer materials to the surface of lithium anodes. The company, Moli, had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this research topic. After their bankruptcy, the project was picked up by NEC, who also burned hundreds of millions of dollars on the topic, but they still hadn't produced any results.

However, a mathematician like Lu Zhou just came in from nowhere, wrote a couple dozen lines of calculations, and claimed to solve this billion-dollar project? Wasn't that outrageous?

Wang Haifeng was furious.

However, he had to accept the reality.

Computational materials science was previously an unpopular master's major. Most students in computational materials science ended up working in software development. However, after the paper Lu Zhou published in Nature last year, many universities started to contemplate whether or not they should add a functional analysis class to their course.

Wang Haifeng looked at Lu Zhou and said to academician Wu Shigang, "Don't you think this kid is crazy?"

Although they had differences in academic viewpoints, they were both in the field of lithium batteries, so their non-professional relationship was still good. However, Lu Zhou suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shocking the materials science field.

But, Academician Wu and Wang Haifeng had different opinions.

Most engineers were more pragmatic, and in his opinion, age and identity were secondary. Although he had opinions about Lu Zhou, they were purely academic.

Also, Academician Wu usually spoke what was on his mind.

He was brutally honest in conferences and in his daily life.

Wu Shigang looked at Wang Haifeng and said, "He funds all of his research with his own money, why is it any your business? Just do your own research."

After that, Mr. Wu packed his things and left.

Wang Haifeng was just defeated by Lu Zhou, and now, his old friend attacked him as well; his blood pressure started to rise, and his face started to blush.

Finally, after a while, he was able to mutter something, "Why is that Lu Zhou guy so happy anyway… He's nothing."

Wang Haifeng picked up his vacuum flask and walked away.

Chapter 305: Experiment Begin

Lu Zhou left with the crowd after the meeting finished.

He was planning on walking to the laboratory building, but suddenly he heard someone called out his name.

"Professor Lu, long time no see."

Lu Zhou turned around and saw Professor Li Rongen walking toward him with a smile.

Lu Zhou remembered that he had just poached two good soldiers from this professor, so he felt a little embarrassed. He smiled and greeted the professor, "Long time no see, how's your health?"

"Everything is good except for my heart." Professor Li looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as said, "I was finally able to cultivate two good students, but now you have poached them away."

"This… How can you call it poaching…" Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Also you'll definitely find better ones in the future…"

Professor Li shook his head and said, "Fine, I'm not here to complain, I'm happy that they found a good place to work at. Even though it is a shame that they didn't do their PhDs, but they can still learn a lot from you."

Professor Li was exaggerating. Just because they were his students didn't mean they had to work for him. However, he did have plans for them to work at Zhongshan New Materials after their graduation.

However, the students made the right choice to go with Lu Zhou. Any student would make this their choice. This was why Li Rongen didn't oppose his two students from going to Lu Zhou. In fact, he supported them.

It wasn't like Professor Li's research team would be heavily impacted due to the loss of two students.

The old man looked at Lu Zhou and said with a serious tone, "Honestly, I didn't really understand your proof process during the meeting. Are you serious about the hollow carbon spheres?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I was completely serious."

Among the carbon-sulfur composite materials, the hollow carbon spheres was a relatively new idea and had huge potential.

Also, thanks to various breakthroughs in carbon nanotechnology, the price of carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, and graphene materials were falling every year. However, there was a real application use in industrial production.

Professor Li stared at Lu Zhou for a long time. He then suddenly shook his head and said, "… That Sun Hongbiao guy is poisonous, but he is right, you really do have a plan."

Lu Zhou smiled and humbly said, "I don't really have a plan, I'm only 30% certain on this idea."

Of course, this 30% was only the total chance of success; it wasn't some kind of experiment success rate. Who knew how many experiments it would take…

After all, his estimations on hollow carbon spheres were based on inferences. Although he could use mathematical methods to prove the feasibility, it was really hard to find the actual hollow carbon sphere materials.

"A 30% chance of success is very high. Normally, our experiments have a rate of 10% chance of success," said Professor Li as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then added, "Then, I will wait for your good news."

Lu Zhou asked, "Is your research team not involved?"

Professor Li shook his head and smiled as he said, "You're already in it, so what's the point of me joining? I'll just wait to read your thesis."

Zhongshan New Materials wasn't some kind of industry giant; they had limited resources. It was difficult to produce short term results from lithium-sulfur batteries. Li Rongen was one of the major shareholders of Zhongshan New Materials. Therefore, he didn't want to invest in this direction just yet.

Also, the Chinese lithium battery anode materials market still had a huge market cap unfulfilled. It was much better to fill in the pre-existing market demand than to research and develop new materials.

The lithium-sulfur battery project was only pursued by industry giants.

…

The summary documents for the conference would be released in two weeks, but it didn't have much to do with Lu Zhou.

The national project was important, and Lu Zhou was able to enjoy advantageous government policies. However, the system mission was also very important, so Lu Zhou had to focus on both ends.

Although Lu Zhou's two laboratories both researched hollow carbon spheres, their respective missions were different. However, the two laboratories were still able to occasionally complement each other.

The next morning, Lu Zhou did some student interviews through online video calls. He then called Professor Sarrot who was at Silicon Valley.

The instrument was going to take a while to arrive at Jinling's research institute. However, the laboratory in Silicon Valley was ready to start doing experiments.

US$100,000 salary wasn't cheap; Lu Zhou wanted to put his money to good use.

Lu Zhou wrote up a research plan and sent it to Sarrot's email.

"… I already sent the specific research plan to your email. Read it, and ask me if you have any questions."

Lu Zhou's topological analysis of the carbon nanosphere proved that its prototype could be disassembled into a C70 fullerene molecule and a carbon nanotube.

Chemically speaking, the π bond of the C70 fullerene material was opened and modified by a carbon nanotube, and its molecular space configuration was changed.

Although this sounded complex, it wasn't actually that difficult to do this.

First, they could produce a vacuum in the arc chamber before introducing helium gas. The two high-purity graphite rods would then be brought close to each other, and an arc effect could be generated using a high-voltage electricity charge. The plasma generated by the carbon rod gasification would continuously collide under the inert gas atmosphere and form stable fullerene macromolecules such as C60 and C70.

Then screened out the C70 molecules and mixed with carbon nanotubes produced by a CVD vacuum tube furnace. A thermal reaction would then occur in the vacuum environment.

Due to the instability of the π bond and the large π bond, a complicated chemical reaction would occur during the heating process. Then, the physical and chemical properties of the product would be analyzed using the polymer model.

It might be possible to find a few milligrams of treasure in a thousand grams of the product. Then one could draw different graphs using time, materials, and other factors. After that was to find a similar empirical formula before finally establishing a perfect theory.

Although this method seemed stupid, it was actually the most efficient method and the best choice.

Before looking for a stable preparation method, one would have to consider all of the possible problems. In fact, many materials science experiments were done through this "stupid method".

Even though Sarrot knew that this boring experiment was the only choice, after he saw the research plan formulated by Lu Zhou, Sarrot couldn't help but say, "To be honest, we can totally outsource these experiments."

Lu Zhou said, "I don't trust other people's data. Furthermore, what's the point of having you if I'm just going to outsource everything."

Sarrot smiled and changed the topic of conversation.

"I promise, boss, I will follow your request immediately."

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, trust in your research. This could turn into a Nature thesis."

Although Sarrot knew not to complain, he still couldn't help but think.

This thing is going on Nature?

Impossible.

This thing has no hope.

Chapter 306: Market Is Moving

The research institute managed by Sarrot had been following the instructions for the experiment step by step. Lu Zhou had to deal with the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials matter, so he didn't pay much attention to his Silicon Valley venture.

Lu Zhou didn't expect to see his name on the news. It was reported together with hollow carbon spheres and lithium-sulfur batteries.

The article gave an overview of the meeting on lithium-sulfur batteries. It didn't use any click-baiting headlines. It only contained a brief quote from the professors about lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lu Zhou was obviously one of the professors.

Recently, the energy market had been extremely sensitive; a small gust of wind could cause huge changes.

Lu Zhou's opinion greatly influenced the market.

The market would analyze and try to interpret his quotes.

After all, Lu Zhou was the one that opened the door to lithium batteries.

This article was quite surprising to Lu Zhou.

He didn't know who leaked the news; he wasn't even informed that an article would be written.

However, it didn't matter too much. Although production technology could be stolen by other companies, most people were still happy to announce their research results. It wasn't like this was military weapon technology.

The person who recorded the conference was probably a reporter from CCTV, and he or she was probably rolling in cash from the article right now.

Lu Zhou didn't care about anything else. Some people agreed with his idea on hollow carbon spheres, some people criticized it.

People that agreed believed that the hollow carbon spheres had potential in the field of carbon-sulfur composites. Although there were many problems, if they could solve these problems, it might become the key to solving the shuttle effect.

Critics believed that Lu Zhou shouldn't make such public remarks without the results from the experiments.

Actually, this wasn't Lu Zhou's fault.

He did say those words, but it wasn't him that leaked the words.

Of course, the voice of criticism was still in the minority. Lu Zhou had more important things to pay attention to.

During the second week of Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo's trip to Europe, the first batch of equipment had finally arrived.

However, Lu Zhou didn't expect Umicore's CEO to also arrive at Jin Ling University's laboratory building.

At the entrance of Jin Ling University, the Belgium man got out of his car and extended his right hand as he said, "My dear friend, it is nice to see you again, how are you?"

Due to the patent of the modified PDMS material, Umicore's stock price had been roaring. This was evident by the smile on the CEO's face.

In order to enter this battery field, their old rivals, BASF Group and Nichia Chemical, had to pay a high "patent fee".

Whether it was the securities market or the materials market, Umicore was in great standing. Particularly, due to the irreplaceability of lithium battery anode materials, BASF Group was forced to give up the United States Argonne National Laboratory and file a lawsuit against Umicore on the battery patent issue.

Because of this series of good news, the board of directors was very satisfied with Grynberg's work.

Grynberg would definitely marry Lu Zhou if he wasn't a guy.

Of course, this was only an exaggeration.

"Not bad." Lu Zhou shook Grynberg's hand and looked at him curiously as he asked, "Why are you here?"

Although Lu Zhou bought the equipment through Umicore's channels, there was no reason for the CEO to personally come here.

Grynberg smiled at Lu Zhou's question.

"Remember our agreement? Thanks to your blessing, we have dominated the anode material market. The reason I came here was to talk to you about the profits."

Lu Zhou looked interested, and he asked, "How much?"

"BASF Group and Nichia Chemicals have paid US$50 million and US$70 million in patent licensing fees for the lithium anode materials. This was in exchange for production licenses for two to three years in the global market, and of course, this excluded the Chinese market. Also, for every one ton of anode material that they produce, they must pay us US$1,500."

With a big smile on his face, Grynberg said, "US$100 million in licensing fees have already been paid in advance. According to our agreement, half of this belongs to you. How would you like us to pay this amount?"

Lu Zhou said, "Pay off the costs for the equipment, then convert the rest to RMB and transfer it to my account in China."

Lu Zhou planned to invest this money directly into Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. Due to his five-year tax exemption policy, there was no additional tax deduction required on this money.

After the equipment passed through customs, the research institute would soon begin their experiments. This required research funding.

Originally, Lu Zhou planned to use his money from Star Sky Technology, but he obviously didn't have to do that anymore.

Umicore had branches in China, so they could handle the money transfer for him.

Just like Lu Zhou expected, Grynberg agreed quickly.

"No problem, I will send this money according to your requirements!"

Although the CEO was here to send money, it still didn't warrant that big smile on his face.

He was here for another reason.

Grynberg smiled and talked about his true intention for this trip.

"The thing is, I heard you are researching lithium-sulfur batteries?"

Lu Zhou said, "I guess you could say that. The field of lithium-sulfur batteries is very interesting, and I have plans in this area."

Grynberg immediately asked, "What a coincidence! We are interested in lithium-sulfur battery research as well, do you need any investment?"

Lu Zhou knew Grynberg would ask this, so he had already prepared his words of rejection. He said, "Do you think I still need outside investors?"

Grynberg didn't want to give up, so he said, "But have you thought about the risk? You must know that scientific research is like gambling, no one can guarantee their research results. I can promise a 70% investment in this research project, and the investment size will be over US$400 million! Also, we only want 50% of the research results. I trust no one will be able to provide a better offer."

Grynberg was right; no one would be able to provide a better offer.

If it wasn't for Gyrnberg's recent success in anode materials, he wouldn't care to offer such a huge investment.

Although this offer might seem irrefutable for most people, Lu Zhou wasn't tempted at all.

Because Lu Zhou had one more option that didn't involve money.

That was to spend a large number of general points and ask the system for help.

However, Lu Zhou wouldn't do this unless he had spent half of the US$400 million.

Although the number of experience points for the missions had been increasing, the general points had not increased at all, thus making the general points extremely valuable.

Unless it was an unsolvable problem, Lu Zhou didn't plan on using the general points.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I will not consider borrowing chips from other gamblers unless I have lost all my chips."

Grynberg asked, "Losing all of your chips? God… You're crazy. Do you plan on investing all your money in this? I'm offering US$400 million, are you sure you're not going to reconsider?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This isn't a smart investment from a business point of view. However, I am not a businessman, I look at the problem from a different perspective."

If Lu Zhou only wanted wealth, he would just invest in real estate.

Obviously, he wanted something more than just wealth.

Chapter 307: Pouring Money

Grynberg sighed with a look of defeat; he looked helpless.

"I admire your commitment to science. I hope you will consider us if you are successful."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'll see first. If the modified PDMS material cooperation satisfies me, I wouldn't mind co-operating on new projects."

A smile appeared on Grynberg's face.

"I hope you succeed… Oh yeah, I want to ask about the hollow carbon spheres. Do you really think it is the key to solving the shuttle effect? I'm not inquiring about your research, it's just…"

Lu Zhou replied, "I did say some things about lithium-sulfur batteries during the meeting, but I hope you don't over-interpret it. I am only optimistic about it, but I am not 100% sure."

There had been countless people asking Lu Zhou this question.

Lu Zhou was responsible for everything he said. He couldn't help but panic about getting so many people excited over hollow carbon spheres.

What if I'm wrong?

What will happen to my reputation?

Lu Zhou finally knew why the Scottish professor, Peter Bruce, still pursued lithium-air battery even after being proved wrong many times.

This wasn't just about research funding.

This was also about commitment and reputation.

It seems that I have to work harder…

Grynberg smiled and said, "I was only asking, don't take it seriously."

However, Grynberg didn't look like he was only casually asking about it.

Grynberg didn't stay at Jin Ling University for long. He waited for the equipment to arrive before leaving.

Even though it was a pity that he wasn't able to reach a cooperative R&D agreement with Lu Zhou, this was nothing unusual. Scientific research was like gambling, and even top scholars couldn't guarantee good research results. Maybe Grynberg dodged a bullet.

After all, Grynberg could still sign a patent agreement with Lu Zhou after the results came out.

…

After the first batch of equipment for the experiment had arrived, Lu Zhou's research institute in Jinling was no longer an empty laboratory building.

According to Qian Zhongming, the last batch of equipment had already been shipped. He and Liu Bo would probably return to China within a few days.

Qian Zhongming's tone on the phone sounded like he was excited.

After all, that was tens of millions of yuan in research equipment. Any researcher would be thrilled to work with these pieces of equipment.

The head of the chemistry department, Dean Li, heard the news and went to the laboratory building.

The old man touched the instrument and said, "Good god, this thing must be over ten million yuan."

Research on semiconductors and nanometers needed high-resolution microscopes. There was a huge difference between images collected with ordinary electron microscopes and images collected by SEM 1 .

There are many types of scanning electron microscopes.

The resolution of the high-end tungsten filament gun scanning electron microscope was about 3 nm, and the resolution of the field emission gun scanning electron microscope was below 0.8 nm. Needless to say, there was a huge difference in price between the two.

Lu Zhou equipped the laboratory with cutting-edge equipment. Whether it was the imaging lens on a scanning electron microscope, the electron gun, accelerating tube, or even the high-voltage generator… they were all top-of-the-line.

Although they were expensive, it counted as a long term investment.

Researchers were not the only ones who loved expensive equipment, journals did as well.

If someone used a high-quality scanning electron microscope to do an experiment, they could easily publish in Nature or Science.

The chemistry department at Jin Ling University had an electron microscope, but it wasn't high in quality.

It wasn't just the chemistry department that wanted the microscope, the life sciences department was also in need of it. Each professor had an allocated time to use the microscope, while the PhD students would have to apply in advance.

Dean Li always wanted to add a new SEM to the chemistry department, but his application was never approved.

"Not ten million, maybe eight or nine," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "but it's in USD."

Eight or nine million… USD.

Which means 40 million RMB?

Dean Li's eyebrows started to twitch after hearing Lu Zhou.

He couldn't say Lu Zhou was wasting money because Lu Zhou was using his own money.

Dean Li was jealous.

"You do love to spend… You might have to invest hundreds of millions on this experiment."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I can save money on other places, but definitely not on the equipment. A rigorous mathematical model needs rigorous equipment to support it."

Actually, the scanning electron microscope was basically the largest expense. For the experiment, the other pieces of equipment such as the CVD vacuum tube furnace, arc chamber, Fourier infrared spectrometer, and etc cost a lot less.

Of course, even though the pieces of equipment cost a lot of money, Lu Zhou still didn't care.

It was fine to cut down on wages, but he couldn't cut down on the costs of the pieces of equipment.

If the data from the experiment was inaccurate, he couldn't produce any samples. The experiment would then be a failure.

Also, these equipment weren't for one-time use, Lu Zhou could use them for his next project.

According to Lu Zhou's plan, the first investment phase would consist of US$50 million. After that, he planned on adding another US$50 million and to buy equipment such as atomic force microscope and transmission electron microscope. His laboratory would be one of the leading laboratories in China.

It was no exaggeration to say that people would be willing to work at the laboratory for free just for the equipment.

After all, if a researcher worked under Lu Zhou and published a few theses, their entire career would change.

They were definitely willing to work for free.

Although having no salary would be unfortunate, but that was one of the sacrifices one had to make in research.

Dean Li said, "Most people really can't afford to research computational materials science."

Previously, Dean Li would talk to other people about opening a computational materials science department at Jin Ling University, but now it seemed that he severely lacked the money for it.

"Yeah," Lu Zhou said. He continued, "Actually, I want to buy a supercomputer as well."

A supercomputer was like a nuclear weapon of computational materials science. It was similar to "Anton" 1 .

Simple algebra and geometry calculations could be done with a piece of paper and a pen. However, if someone wanted to do quantitative calculations, even if the data from the experiment accurately simulated the polymer space model, it would still be insanely computationally intensive.

However, Lu Zhou had just spent US$50 million on equipment, so he didn't want to spend more just yet.

Lu Zhou planned to wait for some results before making any new purchases.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed that Dean Li had stopped talking.

"What?"

Dean Li: "…"

He ignored Lu Zhou.

He didn't want to say a word. Scanning electron microscope Supercomputer owned by David Shaw

Chapter 308: Hot Pot Restauran

Ever since the pieces of equipment had arrived, several professors from the life sciences department had been trying to get close to Lu Zhou by visiting the laboratory.

However, Lu Zhou was researching materials, and it didn't involve biotechnology. Otherwise, just to justify their visits to the laboratory, the professors would send their students to work as researchers for Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou didn't mind their visits. After all, he previously took advantage of the resources from Jin Ling University and Princeton as well.

As long as they didn't affect the progress of the experiment, the professors were welcomed to occasionally use the instrument.

However, Lu Zhou had a strict rule. Magnetic samples were banned, and so were high voltage experiments.

Also, interns were prohibited from operating any equipment.

These restrictions meant that the old professors could only use the equipment to scan images.

In addition to Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo, Lu Zhou also hired another researcher, Dr. Yang Xu.

Dr. Yang spent two years studying for his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was experienced in using the instrument that Lu Zhou had bought, and he was knowledgeable in the field of nanomaterials.

Although he wasn't a big name in the field of materials science, he was well-known enough for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't need big names; he only needed people to follow his research experiment step by step.

A week ago, Dr. Yang flew to Jin Ling city from MIT.

Lu Zhou met him at a hot pot restaurant near Jin Ling University.

Dr. Yang immediately shook Lu Zhou's hand and spoke with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu!"

Yang Xu looked like a normal guy; he wore glasses and had no special features.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, please sit down."

Normally, Lu Zhou and his roommates would go to the fish restaurant, so it was his first time at this hot pot restaurant. However, Lu Zhou heard from a couple of old professors from the life sciences department that this place was good. Therefore, he decided to meet with Dr. Yang here instead.

Lu Zhou ordered a large plate of beef slices and watched the waiter as he turned the hot pot stove on. They chatted for a bit before arriving at the topic of research.

"The use of hollow carbon spheres and sulfur to form a composite material to solve the shuttle effect is a very promising direction. This is our main direction of research.

"The hollow carbon sphere has a large surface area, it can increase the sulfur loading and the utilization of sulfur in the electrochemical reaction. The small-sized nanopores can inhibit the diffusion of soluble polysulfide ions into the electrolyte.

"Your mission right now is to collect data on the surface area of the hollow carbon sphere, the effect of the pores on the sulfur loading, and the mass fraction of polysulfide in the electrolyte. After that, send all of the data to me.

"You've done similar research studies before, right?"

Yang Xu nodded his head.

"I did a similar study at MIT, so just send the requirements to my email. Oh yeah, which reagent do you plan on using?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he replied, "Use a copolymer of polyaniline and polypyrrole for the precursor, and for the pores, use polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride."

While the two chatted, the hot pot began to boil, producing a strong scent.

There was nothing wrong with talking about chemistry. However, it was a bit unappetizing to talk about chemical products while eating.

The two then switched the topic of conversation.

"You just came back right, do you have a place to live?"

"I'm from Jinling, I have a house here," Yang Xu replied. He then smiled and said, "I haven't been back for a long time though, and there has been a lot of changes."

Lu Zhou: "How long have you been overseas?"

Yang Xu: "Around five years. I have been living at MIT since my master's."

Lu Zhou: "Actually I have a question about your resume, but I forgot to ask it during our interview. I don't know if it's appropriate to ask the question now."

Yang Xu smiled and said, "Go ahead, just don't take my offer back."

"Of course not, you'll have to work for at least three years before I let you go," Lu Zhou said. He then smiled as he continued, "With your resume, you can earn a lot more working in Silicon Valley, why did you come back?"

Yang Xu could easily get a US$100,000 per year job in Silicon Valley. However, he would struggle to even earn half of that in China.

Unless a researcher was invited to work in China by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, that researcher would earn a lot more working overseas.

Yang Xu heard this question and placed his chopsticks down; he had a depressed look on his face.

"A PhD has no value in Silicon Valley anymore. This is especially so in the field of engineering where the market is saturated. During my two years of PhD studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I have been applying to jobs everywhere, but I couldn't find a suitable position."

Most researchers had to eat the crumbs left from big-name researchers.

Dr. Yang shrugged and said, "Plus my family is urging me to get married, so there's no point for me to stay overseas. I'd rather just come back here."

The biochemical materials industry was new.

People said that materials science was one of the three pillars of modern technology.

They also said that the 21st century was the century of biology.

However, the field of biology had yet to produce any titans.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "Are you interested in teaching?"

Yang Xu: "I have thought about working as a lecturer at Jin Ling University. However, I heard that the lecturer positions at Jin Ling University were difficult to apply for. Maybe once my career is stable, I'll apply for a position at Jinling Polytechnic."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't go to Jinling Polytechnic. If you want to work at Jin Ling University, I can help."

Yang Xu's eyes lit up as he said, "Really? Thank you so much!"

Including the end-of-year bonus and welfare from the provident fund, a lecturer could earn more than 100,000 yuan per year. The lecturer could also enjoy the academic resources of the university.

Working at Jin Ling University would provide a much better future than working at Jinling Polytechnic.

This faculty position was highly sought after. However, Lu Zhou only had to write a recommendation letter for Yang Xu to get in.

Lu Zhou was quite a compassionate boss to his researchers.

Chapter 309: Teasing Personality

After he had arranged Yang Xu's work and finished eating, Lu Zhou picked up the check and left.

He got back to his hotel and checked his email. He received an email from the Philadelphia branch of Star Sky Technology.

The content of the email was very concise. It contained a list, and on the list, there were Chinese companies that had signed patents licensing agreements with Star Sky Technology. Among them were giant lithium material companies, and also investment companies and universities.

It came as no surprise that Zhongshan New Materials, the company that Professor Li had shares in, was also on the list.

If Lu Zhou had to carry out these negotiations by himself, he would be busy for the next two months.

[I have sent a copy of the relevant documents to your office at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. If you think there are no problems, please sign the documents and return it to Philadelphia.

Best regards, White Sheridan.]

Lu Zhou replied to the email.

[I will return to Princeton in the near future. I will sign the documents as soon as possible.]

Lu Zhou clicked "Send" and threw his phone on the bed. He then got up and went to take a shower.

After his shower, he lay in bed and was about to take an afternoon nap. However, his nap was interrupted by a notification.

[Professor, when will you come back?]

The email was from Vera.

Lu Zhou remembered that he had been away for a long time and felt a little apologetic.

Although he planned to let his students take on the Collatz conjecture by themselves, he also agreed to give them advice and methods. He hadn't been back for an entire month, and he had left the little girl alone.

Lu Zhou typed a few words on his screen and replied to the email.

[Soon, in a few days.]

Lu Zhou had already arranged for all of the necessary research work, so there was no reason for him to stay at the research institute. He could easily communicate from Princeton using the Internet.

Vera lay in bed and looked at the email on the screen. She finally sighed in relief.

Over the past few days, she had been worrying about Lu Zhou quitting his job as a Princeton professor to go back to China to teach.

But now, it seemed that her worries were superfluous.

The anxiety in Vera's heart disappeared, and she gradually smiled.

A long time ago, when she was Ukraine, her peers viewed her as a strange child. No one could understand her strange math symbols.

The time she spent at Princeton was the best time of her life.

At Princeton, she could focus on any mathematics problem she wanted. She could devote her full attention to deep mathematical proofs.

She felt like time flew by when she was discussing mathematics problems with Lu Zhou. She had never felt this way before.

Not only that, but she had never received genuine care from a professor before. There weren't any Berkeley professors that cared about her family difficulties or offered her a teaching assistant job.

Hardy always complained that Professor Lu was too demanding and gave him too much academic pressure. However, Vera had never experienced this kind of concern, so she quite enjoyed it.

On the other hand, she had mixed emotions.

Suddenly, another email notification popped up on her screen.

[How is the conjecture going? Is there any progress?]

Vera shook her head and got rid of her strange thoughts. She typed a reply on her screen.

[Not yet, but I recently discovered a new idea when I was reading a paper by Professor S. Eliahou. I have told Qin Yue and Hardy about this idea. This idea may become the key to solving the problem between the set of normal points z0 and transcend the whole function g(x).]

The Collatz conjecture was equivalent to the function equation h(z^3)=h(z^6)+{h(z^2)+λh(λz^2)+λ^2h(λ^2z^2)}/3z] (where λ=e^{2πi/3}) and the analytic function solution in the unit disc {z:|z|<1}: h(z)=h0+h1z/(1−z) (where h0, H2 is a complex constant).

This conclusion was proved by Professor Benguez and Professor Minardus in 1994. The follow-up study on the Collatz conjecture had been based on this foundation.

In Lu Zhou's research framework that he developed for his students, he let g(z) be the transcendental function, z0 be a point in the complex plane, and Φ(g) be the set of normal points of g(z).

If someone could prove that the function column {g(z)}∞k=1 existed and that sub-column locally converged to ∞ or some analytic function in a neighborhood of the point z0, then the normal point where z0 is g(z) could be obtained.

In theory, these problems could be solved using the Group Structure Method. Its difficulty wasn't much higher than Polignac's conjecture.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and looked interested.

[What idea?]

[It's about…]

Vera stopped typing.

Perhaps it was because of her teasing personality, but she quietly deleted the sentence and wrote a new line.

[I want to tell you after you get back.]

When Lu Zhou read this message on the other side of the planet, he smiled and shook his head.

This chick is leaving me hanging.

However, she has been bad at expressing her thoughts, so I guess this is a small improvement.

After all, being extroverted means that you have to present yourself whether it is an academic point of view or a personal point of view. She has always been afraid of this.

Lu Zhou might consider introducing the Ivy Club to her.

The food there was delicious, but it had a high barrier of entry. Only well-known scholars or scholars that could debate with others could get in.

Right now, only Hardy earned the right to eat there. Lu Zhou took out US$5,000 from the Collatz conjecture fund to pay for his yearly membership fee.

Qin Yue was still working on his social skills.

As for Vera, she was still a long way from debating with the other scholars.

Lu Zhou wrote an email and hit "Reply".

[Then tell me when I come back. I look forward to coming back to Princeton.]

Vera read this email and sighed. She was disappointed that Lu Zhou didn't respond to her teasing.

She thought that Lu Zhou would react strongly to her flirtations.

But now it seemed that she had thought too much about it.

Vera sat on her bed and sighed before she buried her face in her knees.

After a long time, she crawled under the blanket and went to sleep.

Chapter 310: Following The Trend

While Lu Zhou was taking a lunch break in his hotel room, Wang Haifeng was carefully reading a document in the laboratory building.

Ever since the meeting, he had been waiting for the summary document. Now, it was finally in his hands.

Only the real leaders of the field could ignore external factors such as politics or the market and focus on their own research.

But normal bosses still paid attention to political news.

After all, this was closely related to funding.

Money was needed for everything in this "cruel" world.

The price difference between domestic equipment and imported equipment was a factor of 10. Some raw materials were more expensive than gold. Once the personnel expenses, third-party testing fees, and even business trip expenses were added in, the costs were astronomical.

These were the difficulties one had to face when trying to become a big name.

Other than those successful academicians, most scholars had to consider these real-life problems.

Wang Haifeng read the summary report from beginning to end and started to smile.

He was very satisfied that carbon-sulfur composites were mentioned at the conference.

But soon, his smile turned into a frown.

In the document, the argument for hollow carbon spheres as positive sulfur materials was exactly the same as Lu Zhou's argument.

Obviously, the research group from Beijing accepted Lu Zhou's opinions.

This wasn't the worst part.

Wang Haifeng always thought that Director Lu from Beijing paid too much attention to Lu Zhou.

Even though Lu Zhou was a genius who won the Crafoord Prize, that was in mathematics, it had nothing to do with materials science.

And even though Lu Zhou's thesis in Nature shocked the whole industry, Wang Haifeng interpreted it as luck as opposed to ability.

After all, scientific research was like gambling. No matter how beautiful the theory or graphs were, it still depended on reputation.

However, Wang Haifeng couldn't completely ignore Lu Zhou's opinions.

After all, he was in the field of carbon-sulfur composite materials, and the hollow carbon spheres could bring great benefits to him.

Wang Haifeng placed the document on the table and looked at Liu Hong, who was sitting at the desk next to him. He then asked, "Have you researched the thesis yet?"

He was obviously talking about Lu Zhou's writings during the meeting.

Although Lu Zhou's writings at the meeting were not officially submitted to a journal, the organizers of the meeting edited Lu Zhou's proof process according to academic standards.

Of course, the meeting wasn't as formal as the MRS Conference, so the standard of the thesis was still relatively low.

After Lu Zhou agreed, the thesis was published in the latest edition of the journal by Shuimu University, Natural Sciences.

The impact factor of this journal was low, but it had a large following and could be found in the libraries of many universities.

After the journal was published, Wang Haifeng immediately bought a copy for himself and gave it to his PhD student to read.

Liu Hong scratched his head and pulled out the thesis from his drawer before he said, "I have consulted the mathematics professor, Professor Liu, about this, and there is nothing wrong with the proof…"

Wang Haifeng said, "No sh*t! I know there is nothing wrong with it, I'm asking what do you think of it?"

Lu Zhou is a mathematics professor at Princeton. Of course you won't be able to find a problem.

Who would write bullsh*t at a conference like that?

Liu Hong couldn't help but complain.

I'm only a PhD student, why are you asking for my opinion?

Wang Haifeng felt a little better after releasing his anger on his student.

He looked at the other master's student in his office and spoke with a calmer voice.

"You are not able to evaluate the thesis with your current ability. I am only asking your opinion on the hollow carbon spheres; you can say anything you want."

Liu Hong suddenly had a thought and said, "Professor, I think that the hollow carbon sphere is a promising direction. Since we are also in the field of carbon-sulfur composites, why don't we try to develop in this direction?"

As expected, Professor Wang changed his tone and criticized, "What are you trying to say? How many times have I told you that the most important thing in scientific research is to be down-to-earth?! The hollow carbon sphere has gotten popular recently, but we can't jump on the bandwagon like others. Otherwise, what are we even researching here?"

After being criticized, Liu Hong wasn't depressed. Instead, he felt relieved.

This old man's temper was quite strange, and he would often do illogical things.

However, the old man was also gullible.

Liu Hong continued to speak, "Professor, you are right! We have our own research, we cannot be influenced by other newly rising topics!"

Liu Hong spoke in a polite tone, "However, we are in the field of carbon-sulfur composites, and the hollow carbon sphere is in the scope of our research. Making minor adjustments to our research isn't jumping on the bandwagon, but instead, it means that other people are jumping on our bandwagon."

Wang Haifeng nodded and smiled.

This was what he wanted to hear.

Like Liu Hong guessed, Wang Haifeng only wanted a reason to change the research topic.

After all, Wang Haifeng had been talking sh*t about Lu Zhou to his students, so it would be embarrassing for him to suddenly switch to researching hollow carbon spheres.

How could he still be a leader to his students?

Wang Haifeng sighed and said, "You're right, this topic is important, I'll have to do more research."

Wang Haifeng was talking about hollow carbon spheres.

He paused for a second before he said, "Oh yeah, time is ticking, you can start writing the opening report. I'll hand this matter to you."

Liu Hong asked, "How much should I apply for the research fund?"

Wang Haifeng said, "Try 10 million yuan for now."

Normally his projects wouldn't get funded for this much.

But this was a special time; the country was vigorously developing new energy technologies, and research projects in related fields were being heavily funded.

Coincidentally, Wang Haifeng's laboratory was planning on buying a new scanning electron telescope.

He could use this opportunity to upgrade his equipment.

Chapter 311: Two More Students

After the last batch of equipment was shipped off, Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo left Belgium and went back to China.

Including Dr. Yang, Lu Zhou had three official researchers in his research institute.

This number of employees was low for a research institute. However, with the help from PhD and master's student interns, they were still able to undergo experiments.

Lu Zhou arranged for Yang Xu to design experiments regarding the specific surface area of the hollow carbon sphere, the effect of pore size on the sulfur loading, and the mass fraction of polysulfide in the electrolyte.

Lu Zhou would then use mathematical techniques to analyze the experiment data and design new experiments regarding the polysulfide compounds.

Technically speaking, this was Lu Zhou's first-ever research experiment in materials technology. It was also his first time applying his computational materials knowledge to practical experiments.

After all, the modified PDMS film technology from the Debris No. 1 was obtained from the powerful scanner gun. The mathematical model that Lu Zhou built was only to give a reasonable theoretical explanation to the scanned image.

Therefore, if this experiment was successful, it would provide objective proof for his theory.

Because of this, Lu Zhou was full of expectations.

Although solving the lithium dendrites problem changed the energy industry, this experiment could build the bridge between mathematics and chemistry.

From the perspective of both mathematicians and chemists, it was an exciting thing.

After the experiment had begun, Lu Zhou's duties in China were finally finished. It was time for him to go back to Princeton.

Academician Xu heard Lu Zhou was leaving and drove him to the airport.

During the car ride, the old man had a disappointing expression. They were close to the airport when the old man asked, "How was your time here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's been pretty good."

Academician Xu: "How about you just stay here? You don't have to borrow the laboratory building anymore. It's yours as long as you stay here!"

Lu Zhou knew the old man would say this, so he lightly shook his head.

"It's not time yet."

Academician Xu couldn't help but say, "But receiving a Fields Medal at Jin Ling University is the same as Princeton?"

"It's completely different." Lu Zhou was brutally honest when he said, "A native-trained Nobel Prize winner and an overseas-trained Nobel Prize winner might look the same on the outside, but their status is completely different. As an academician, you should know this."

Lu Zhou's statement was straightforward.

However, since his relationship with Jin Ling University was good, Academician Xu didn't take offense to it.

Also, Lu Zhou had more reasons. For his system missions, he needed a higher stage to perform.

Academician Xu went silent for a while. He then sighed and said, "You're right… Have a safe flight."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Take care."

…

At the end of February, Lu Zhou's flight arrived in Philadelphia.

At the airport entrance, he saw Qin Yue driving his Ford Explorer to pick him up.

Before Lu Zhou left Princeton, he placed his car keys in his office drawer. He told Qin Yue to get his keys and pick up him in his own car.

Lu Zhou placed his luggage in the trunk and got in the car. Qin Yue started the car and chatted with Lu Zhou while driving.

"Professor, you're finally back."

Lu Zhou: "There was some stuff I had to take care of in Jinling. Are you guys doing well?"

"Very well." Qin Yue nodded and said, "I just feel a lot of pressure as there are geniuses everywhere. It wasn't like this in Kai University."

Princeton was like other American universities; there were countless clubs and societies to join. Princeton students were just like any other students; they didn't study in their room all day.

However, Princeton students worked hard and played hard. A lot of Princeton students took second-year classes in their first year. Most of them completed all of their undergraduate classes by the second year.

This was especially so in the mathematics and physics departments. If a student couldn't keep up, they would have to switch majors to maybe history.

This was the Princeton model.

Of course, most of Qin Yue's pressure came from Vera.

He had to put in twice the effort to keep up with her on the Collatz conjecture.

Even among the geniuses, there was still a difference in skill level.

"You should learn from Hardy. Hard work is the key to success, but don't let study and work affect other areas of your life," Lu Zhou said with a relaxed tone. "My suggestion is to find a hobby, a girlfriend, or something."

Qin Yue coughed and said, "Professor, I already have a girlfriend."

Lu Zhou was stunned as he looked at Qin Yue with disbelief. "You do? When?"

Qin Yue said awkwardly, "Yeah, she's in China. We started dating in my third year."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

Lu Zhou decided to go to the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study before he went home.

Qin Yue parked the car in the building for Institute for Advanced Study and gave Lu Zhou the keys. Qin Yue then quickly went into the building.

Lu Zhou was confused. He didn't know why Qin Yue didn't wait for him to walk inside together. Lu Zhou didn't think much of it and went inside.

Lu Zhou was confused about why his office door was closed.

He pushed the door open, and suddenly, he heard a confetti gun went off, and the office was soon filled with colorful small pieces of paper.

The five people inside the office building chanted, "Welcome back, professor!"

Lu Zhou looked at Hardy and immediately knew that this was Hardy's idea.

Vera had a confetti gun in her hand as she blushed and said, "This was Hardy's idea, I tried to persuade him not to do it."

Hardy had a smug look as he said, "I originally planned to get champagne, but I heard you can't have alcohol here, so I had to drink it myself."

"Thank you for your gesture." Lu Zhou patted a piece of confetti off his ear and said, "Also, please clean this place up."

Although he was touched by his student's gesture, his office was a mess.

Hardy grudgingly picked up the broom and said, "Oh, Professor Lu, can't you make the newcomers do this job?"

A young man with freckles said, "How about I help you?"

"Don't. This person is full of energy; he needs something to do," said Lu Zhou. He walked to his office desk and looked through the pile of documents as he tried to find the resumes. However, he couldn't find it.

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at the two newcomers in the office. He then cleared his throat and said, "You guys… Introduce yourselves."

They were the two new master's students.

One was from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while the other was from Yan University.

Lu Zhou only planned to recruit three number theory students, but these two students applied for the field of functional analysis. Compared to number theory, functional analysis was more related to applied mathematics.

Although Lu Zhou wanted to recruit a student from Jin Ling University, no one from Jin Ling University was able to pass Princeton's interview.

Lu Zhou had to admit that Yan University had a stronger mathematics department than Jin Ling University.

The freckled boy immediately said, "I'm Jerick".

The other boy looked more serious as he said, "I'm Wei Wen."

Lu Zhou looked at Wei Wen for a while. He then suddenly asked, "Have we met before?"

Chapter 312: Old Opponen

During the interviews, Lu Zhou was busy working at the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. Therefore, he didn't pay much attention to every interviewee.

Also, seeing someone in real life was completely different than seeing them through a camera.

Lu Zhou didn't know why, but this student looked familiar.

However, he couldn't remember where exactly he met this guy.

Wei Wen replied awkwardly, "We met during the interview… and the mathematical modeling competition."

Of course they met during the interview.

As for the second part…

During the final stage of the competition, Wei Wen arrogantly walked up to Lu Zhou and said, "Your thesis wasn't bad, but the championship is mine."

In the end, Lu Zhou was the one that won the Higher Education Society Cup.

Since then, Wei Wen had been trying to catch up to Lu Zhou.

However, the difference between them only became bigger and bigger; Wei Wen couldn't even see God Lu's taillights.

When Wei Wen attended the conference at Beijing Normal University, he saw Lu Zhou winning the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award. Wei Wen wanted to jump off a bridge, but he still aimed to catch up to Lu Zhou.

However, even though Wei Wen set an unrealistic goal, he was still able to accomplish many achievements.

Wei Wen received his bachelor's and an offer from Professor Lu at Princeton. He was a god among his peers and a "model child" among his family friends.

However, Wei Wen was still far from where he wanted to be.

It was actually his decision to choose Lu Zhou as his supervisor.

The reason was simple; Wei Wen wanted to improve.

Lu Zhou didn't really know the personalities of his two students yet, so he didn't assign them any work. He only gave them each a textbook and told them to write notes on it.

Fundamental studies would start from the textbooks. In order to find an interesting topic to conduct research on, one needed a comprehensive understanding of that field.

After that was more advanced studying.

To really dive into a certain topic, advanced studying would require reading theses and documents.

Even if someone used these theses as resources and made a millimeter of progress, it would still be worthy of a graduation thesis.

These two master's students were still far from publishing any theses.

Right now, they had to build up their fundamental knowledge.

There was no shortcut.

By the time Lu Zhou got back, his office laboratory had returned to normal.

Even the energetic Hardy had calmed down and was quietly doing his research.

Time flew by.

Around six o'clock, some of the students left the office and went downstairs to eat.

There were only two people in the office.

Vera looked around the office.

She made sure that there was no one else in the office before she picked up the first draft of her thesis and walked to Lu Zhou's desk.

Lu Zhou looked up at Vera and remembered her emails. He then placed down his pen and asked, "Do you plan on telling me about your discovery?"

Vera looked embarrassed as she handed out her thesis.

"… Please look at it for me."

Lu Zhou took the thesis and flipped through the pages. After a while, he nodded his head.

Not bad.

Among his three students, Vera was the only one that had a true understanding of the Group Structure Method. She was the only one that could integrate it into her own research.

Not only that, but her thought process was similar to Lu Zhou's.

Strictly speaking, the Collatz conjecture was an additive number theory problem, but it looked like a complex analysis problem as well. However, it wasn't fully compatible with the Group Structure Method.

What Vera did was to convert the Group Structure Method to be compatible with all natural numbers instead of only using prime numbers.

Of course, this was no easy task. She only did a specific analysis of a specific problem, and the flaws in her work were obvious.

Lu Zhou looked at the thesis and drew two question marks on it. He then said, "I have a few questions."

Vera said, "Please go ahead, professor."

Lu Zhou: "13th line, fourth page. I noticed that you set the mapping K: →△ equals to πog = f, can you tell me what this part means?"

Vera looked at the thesis and explained: "K(x) is a bounded holomorphic function on the complex plane. Using Liu Wei's theorem, we prove that Q(x) is the value function, then we can prove that equation (7) holds."

"This step is fine." Lu Zhou was impressed at Vera's logical reasoning, and he said, "But on line 11, page seven, I noticed that you are using equations (7) and (8). Your conclusion was that each branch of D of Φ(g) containing a positive integer has z0∈D, but this step is wrong."

Vera looked at the thesis for a while.

She was a little embarrassed, and she lowered her head.

"You're right… I'll rethink it."

"Don't be discouraged, your work was good," Lu Zhou said. He continued, "If you solve the problems, this thesis would be an outstanding achievement."

Vera bit her lip and shook her head; her blonde hair gently swayed.

"But I was still wrong."

Lu Zhou looked at his student and thought for a moment before he said, "I have my first number theory class on Wednesday, you should come."

Lu Zhou: "Although undergrad classes aren't that useful for you, you're still my assistant. You need to cover for me when I'm busy."

Vera suddenly looked nervous, and she asked, "Do I have to lecture?"

"Of course, lecturing is part of being an assistant, I told you this before."

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "Also, occasionally thinking about obvious problems will be very helpful for your research. It might inspire you. When I was solving Goldbach's conjecture, I was inspired by Fefferman's number theory class even though his class had nothing to do with Goldbach's conjecture."

Vera opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Lu Zhou patted her back and interrupted her.

"Relax, you already did the Berkeley report, so why are you still scared of a Princeton lecture?"

Vera blushed and lowered her head.

"Okay."

…

Lu Zhou was jetlagged, and therefore, he wasn't that hungry.

He asked Vera to bring a bacon sandwich for him. He then stopped working and started to sort through his mail.

He was gone for a month, and his drawer was filled with mail.

Most of them were contracts sent by White.

On the bottom of the pile of mail, Lu Zhou pulled out a surprisingly well-packaged letter.

He looked at the sender's name and was stunned.

"American Chemistry Society?"

Lu Zhou opened the envelope.

"Dear, Professor Lu, I am the president of the American Chemical Society…"

Lu Zhou skipped the middle and read the last line.

From his experience, the important part of the letter was always at the bottom.

He was shocked.

Chapter 313: Party For This Great Momen

Ever since 1995, the Roger Adams Award had been given out to scholars who had made outstanding contributions to the field of organic chemistry. The award was awarded twice a year by the American Chemical Society.

Many world-class chemists had won both the Nobel Prize and Roger Adams Award.

This was one of the top awards in the field of organic synthesis.

Among the 29 winners of the Roger Adams Award, 11 of them won Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Although the Adams Chemistry Prize was only in the field of organic synthesis, people still thought highly as if it were at the level of a Nobel Prize.

The first reaction after Lu Zhou received this letter was, "Thank god I checked my mail."

The second reaction was…

F*ck, they're not actually going to give a prize, right?!

Lu Zhou was confused and excited. Suddenly his office door opened, and Hardy walked in with Jerick and Wei Wen.

Hardy looked at the letter in Lu Zhou's hand. He then looked at Lu Zhou's face and suddenly shouted, "Oh my god, professor, did you receive a love letter?"

Lu Zhou nearly ripped the letter.

What the f*ck?

Vera came back holding a bacon sandwich. When she heard Hardy mentioning a love letter, she walked to the door nervously.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm…

Lu Zhou stared at Hardy and spoke in a rude manner, "If you joke about my personal life again, I promise you'll have a very busy spring break."

Hardy suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Oh, please don't be like this, I already have plans with my…"

Qin Yue coughed and tapped Hardy's arm.

Qin Yue knew that nothing good would come out of Hardy's mouth.

Hardy originally wanted to say that he planned to go for a vacation with his girlfriend in the Great Rift Valley over the spring break and to enjoy a taste of Southern East Africa.

Vera felt relieved after hearing that there was no love letter, and she curiously asked, "Professor, what is that?"

Lu Zhou: "Nothing, it's from the American Chemical Society."

Hardy whispered, "Jesus, there are still people that physically send mail?"

Wei Wen had a different focus, and he said, "American Chemical Society?"

Lu Zhou placed the letter in his drawer and said, "Yeah, remember my Nature thesis a while ago? They plan on giving me the Adams Chemistry Prize."

The office was suddenly quiet.

Everyone stood frozen to the spot as they stared at Lu Zhou.

Especially Wei Wen, his mouth was wide open.

There wasn't a higher mathematical award that could be given to Lu Zhou. Even if he won the Ramanujan gold medal, it would only be the icing on the cake.

However, this Adams Chemistry Prize was obviously not in the field of mathematics.

Wei Wen didn't know chemistry that well, he didn't know what lithium dendrites were. But now, he knew that not only was Lu Zhou a god in the field of pure mathematics, but Lu Zhou's skills in applied mathematics was also godly.

He didn't know why; having a nutty supervisor was suppose to be a good thing, but he felt a sense of distaste in his heart.

Jerick gulped and asked, "Professor, do you plan on opening a class? Can I apply?"

Applied mathematics was one of the strongest fields at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Jerick had a double degree in organic chemistry and applied mathematics.

The reason why he applied to the field of functional analysis was that he wanted to study under Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If you carefully complete the tasks that I have given you, I can tell you some insider information. However, I haven't perfected my theory yet, so my help will be limited."

There was no one in the entire materials science field that could understand Lu Zhou's theory, and not many mathematicians were interested in this field.

Thus, Lu Zhou was happy to distribute his knowledge.

However, it would be a waste of time trying to teach this knowledge to Jerick.

Jerick said, "Professor, you're too humble. If you think that your theory isn't perfect, then no one can claim to really understand the field of computational Materials."

"I'm not humble, this is only the thoroughness of science," said Lu Zhou. He then continued, "The mathematical model of the modified PDMS film is the only example, and this theory isn't applicable to the other fields. A perfect computational materials science theory should be capable of being applied to all materials.

"A theory that cannot be applied, no matter how strong, is not perfect."

This wasn't only the goal of computational materials, this was also the goal of computational chemistry.

A mathematical approximation could be used to calculate the properties of molecules. Properties such as energy, dipole moment, quadrupole moment, vibration frequency, reactivity, etc… These could be used to explain chemistry problems.

If someone made a mathematical model on this scale, the impact on the entire industry would be huge. The experimenter would only need to input the properties of the required materials, and he or she could deduce the molecular structure through complex calculations. Even if the model provided hundreds of possibilities or only a general direction, it would save millions of dollars in research.

This might sound unfeasible, but with the current rate of computer development, it wasn't impossible.

Perhaps in the near future, supercomputers would become the standard for every large material science laboratory, and every small and medium-sized research institutes would purchase computing credits.

Jerick was shocked by Lu Zhou's words.

It was almost like Lu Zhou had just opened a door and showed Jerick a completely new world.

If Lu Zhou succeeded, he would undoubtedly change the chemistry industry.

Jerick was now even more appreciative that he had Lu Zhou as his supervisor.

Wei Wen had a complicated expression on his face.

He had been studying applied mathematics, but he had never thought about extending a mathematical theory to another field. He was only interested in mathematics.

Maybe it was time for Wei Wen to make some changes…

"A theory that cannot be applied, no matter how strong, isn't perfect," Vera quietly whispered to herself. Her blue eyes shined with excitement.

She didn't know if she found her inspiration from Lu Zhou or if she felt that this was her mission, but she was suddenly more motivated than ever before.

The students in the office were lost in deep thought.

Hardy was the one to break this silence.

He came up with a conclusion and spoke in a serious manner, "A famous mathematician just won a chemistry award, and this is no doubt a great moment.

"I think we need to party and celebrate!"

Chapter 314: Misunderstandings

Maybe it was Lu Zhou's age which made him feel closer to his students, or maybe it was because Hardy and Qin Yue were actually one year older than Lu Zhou and that there was barely an age gap…

Maybe in his students' eyes, he was more of a figure that deserved respect as opposed to a strict "boss".

In order to convince Lu Zhou, Hardy pulled out the "This is a Princeton tradition" card on him. Lu Zhou had been living at Princeton for a long time, but this was his first time hearing of this tradition of having a party to celebrate for an award.

Obviously, Hardy made it up.

However, seeing that Hardy and his other students were so enthusiastic, Lu Zhou agreed.

The location for the party was at Lu Zhou's house, and there were originally six attendees.

However, the scale of this party went out of Lu Zhou's expectations.

Originally, he only planned to invite his students for a celebration. However, the news of his party was spread around and more and more people started to arrive at his house.

First, it was Luo Wenxuan and his girlfriend. After that, it was Edward and his supervisor, Witten.

Then, it was Deligne. Although this old Belgium man didn't like crowded places, he still came to the party with a bottle of whiskey.

After that, it was Lu Zhou's friends from the Ivy Club, his professor friends, and researchers…

Thankfully, Lu Zhou had prepared a lot of food and champagne beforehand.

The lawn in front of the small house was filled with the smell of barbecue and beer.

Lu Zhou stood next to the long table, and he was discussing with his previous supervisor.

Deligne had a different point of view than Lu Zhou, and he thought that this was a meaningless job and that Lu Zhou was wasting time.

"… Mathematics is pure, it's more of an art than a tool. Mathematicians should leave the applications to chemists and physicists."

The old man took a sip of whiskey and looked sharp as ever.

Witten suddenly joined in the conversation and said, "My dear Professor Deligne, I have to disagree with you. Mathematics is a great tool, but its greatness cannot be shown only in the field of applied mathematics. It has to be applied to other fields to truly show its value… For example, mathematical physics."

Deligne then responded ruthlessly, "I don't see your M theory being applied anywhere." He turned to Lu Zhou and raised his glass.

"Regardless, congratulations on the award."

Lu Zhou toasted with his ex-supervisor and said, "Thank you."

"Congratulations as well," said Witten as he smiled and toasted with Lu Zhou. He then casually said, "Maybe the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study should open a new department…"

Deligne said, "Impossible."

Witten shrugged and said, "Okay, I was only joking."

The original intention of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was to establish an institute engaged in purely theoretical research. The seven full-time researchers in the Natural Science Research Institute were all researching theoretical physics and astrophysics.

As for the mathematics department, there were many fields of research, but they were mainly in pure mathematics.

After all, there were more than enough people studying applied science. There was a need for people to engage in purely theoretical research.

As for the point of theoretical research?

Before computer chips, no one knew the importance of quantum mechanics and theory of relativity.

…

Everyone had a great time at the party; Lu Zhou was also quite happy.

The Adams Chemistry Prize was unexpected.

He thought that his first non-mathematical award would be in the field of theoretical physics; he didn't expect it to be chemistry.

Although the US$10,000 prize money wasn't much, most scholars didn't care about the money.

Chemistry scholars were more industrious than mathematics and physics scholars. As long as they dabbled in intellectual property, they could easily achieve financial success.

Lu Zhou would have to give a speech at the Organic Chemistry Conference held in San Francisco in April this year.

This speech could be either academic or non-academic; it was up to the prize winner.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't have to submit a thesis in advance, he still wanted to prepare for it.

Coincidentally, the third day after he returned to Princeton, Professor Sarrot video-called him and reported on the research progress.

"… According to your request, we have done 200 sets of experiments. The relevant experiment data has been sent to your email. However, I have some bad news. We didn't observe your prediction of the cage-like molecular molecules. In my opinion, the use of carbon nanotubes to modify fullerene materials sounds interesting, but it isn't a good research idea."

Sarrot sounded burnt out.

He had been dealing with this matter for a month— controlling reaction temperatures, reaction times, and doing a lot of experiments. Unfortunately, they didn't discover any surprising result.

Lu Zhou sat in his office chair as he twisted his pen and asked, "So, nothing came of it?"

"Not necessarily." Sarrot shrugged and said, "Although we didn't get what you wanted, we still found a lot of by-products that were never seen before… But we don't know what the samples could be used for."

Lu Zhou was interested, and he said, "Send me the by-products."

Sarrot: "Okay, I'll send it to your office at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study?"

Lu Zhou said, "Send it to the Frick Chemistry Laboratory. I'm not sure if the reception at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study allows chemical packages."

Lu Zhou hung up the call and turned on his computer. He then pulled up the email from Sarrot.

The email contained product information, analysis tests, and other data.

Lu Zhou carefully read the experiment report and sighed. He leaned back on his chair and went into deep thought.

From the data, Lu Zhou could see that against his predictions, the π-bonded carbon nanotubes and fullerene materials didn't recombine under the thermal reaction.

Although this reaction was theoretically feasible, from a practical perspective, the countless side reactions made this process extremely difficult to achieve.

Lu Zhou didn't expect that he wouldn't even receive a microgram of a sample.

"It seems that I have to redesign the experiment!"

Lu Zhou lightly tapped his pen on the desk and began to think.

Chapter 315: First Lesson As A Professor

Lu Zhou spent a long time looking at the data from Sarrot, but he couldn't find anything of value. He decided to tackle this problem again after the samples had arrived.

As for now, he had something important to deal with.

And that was to prepare for his class.

After all, he was a professor…

Time quickly passed by.

On Wednesday, Lu Zhou's finally began his first number theory lecture at Princeton.

The classroom was already fully packed five minutes before the class began.

It wasn't that these people were all enrolled in the number theory class. In fact, many of them who were not enrolled in this class chose to attend it.

It was almost like this stage was made for Lu Zhou. Ever since his first Princeton report, he had become a legend on the Princeton campus.

Even now, graduate students were still talking about that legendary report.

A class taught by the professor who solved the Goldbach's conjecture and twin prime conjecture? Of course everyone would be interested in what this class would be like.

In order to live up to the expectations, Lu Zhou heavily prepared for this class.

In order to look more like a professor, he even wore a suit and tie to the lecture.

Since Lu Zhou had a decent figure, he looked quite sharp after cleaning himself up.

As he walked into the classroom, many female students looked at him with interest.

Just like how a young female teacher attracted the attention of the boys, a handsome male teacher was equally attractive to girls.

Vera sat at the back of the classroom. She covered her blushing face with a textbook.

However, most people didn't notice Vera at all. They didn't associate this petite girl with Lu Zhou at all. Instead, they thought that she was a first-year student and didn't realize that she was an assistant lecturer.

Lu Zhou stood on the podium and looked at the students. He then smiled and said, "Let me introduce myself. I am Lu Zhou, and I'm from Jiangling, China."

Lu Zhou wrote down his introduction on the blackboard before looking back at the students. He said with a relaxed tone, "This is our first time meeting. In order to deepen our understanding of each other, you guys can ask me three questions before the lecture starts."

The students didn't think that the legendary God Lu would be so approachable; they were all surprised at this gesture.

A male with darker skin and glasses raised his hand.

"Professor, can we ask any question?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Sure."

The student with glasses then asked, "The Lu Zhou who published the chemistry paper on Nature, is that you?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If you're talking about the modified PDMS film thesis, then yes, I was the one that wrote that."

The people in the classroom gasped.

Although there had been rumors of this before, most people didn't believe it.

In Western countries, having the same name with someone else was a common occurrence. In fact, many Westerners would often name their sons after their fathers.

It wasn't uncommon for scholars to be proficient in both mathematics and physics, but it was extremely rare for a scholar to be proficient in both mathematics and chemistry.

This rumor was finally confirmed.

Not only that, it was confirmed by the legendary God Lu himself.

A white girl with long hair who sat next to the guy with glasses spoke in astonishment, "Which is saying, that patent fee…"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I will not answer any personal questions regarding the patent."

An Asian student cleverly changed the words and asked, "Then, can I ask what was the first thing you bought after receiving the patent money?"

The crowd was waiting for Lu Zhou to answer.

Obviously, they didn't expect Lu Zhou's answer.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he answered, "Strictly speaking, it was a research institute. I need experimental data in order to perfect my computational materials science theory."

The crowd was in disbelief.

A chubby guy sitting next to the window said, "A laboratory? If it were me, I would definitely buy a Porsche."

Another person said, "I'm guessing the professor is lying. If it were me, I would rent a mansion and hire a dozen girls…"

"Hey, Monroe, you're way too perverted! Maybe this is why you can't get a girlfriend."

"…"

Lu Zhou looked at the noisy classroom, clapped his hand, and said, "Okay, enough nonsense, let's begin. Turn the textbook to the introduction page. Although I know that many of you have already read this part, we will still start from here."

A student raised his hand and asked, "Professor, there's still one more question left."

Lu Zhou replied mercilessly, "We'll leave it to after class. I am disappointed at you guys."

Of course, Lu Zhou was only disappointed at the pointless questions.

Because after the class started, Lu Zhou was quite surprised at the performance of these students.

No wonder this was the smartest place in the world. Princeton students left a deep impression on Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou was impressed not at their talent, but their ability to concentrate as well as their pre-class preparations.

They were able to quickly absorb every topic that Lu Zhou taught.

Although Lu Zhou didn't deliberately speed up the lecture, he was already on page 30 after half an hour, and no one was falling behind.

At the very least, he didn't feel like anyone was lost.

Lu Zhou was gaining experience by teaching to these students.

Even though this experience might not be of any use right now, but it could come in handy one day.

The lecture gradually came to an end.

Lu Zhou closed the textbook and announced the homework assignment.

The students started to applaud.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at his students. He then walked out of the classroom.

He was walking in the hallway and about to go downstairs. Suddenly, Professor Fefferman popped out and said, "It seems that you're quite popular among the students, how do you feel?"

Professor Fefferman was the head of the mathematics department at Princeton University. Even though he had won a Fields Medal, he was still a humble person. Because of this, he had a good relationship with many people, and this included Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I feel pretty good. The students here are all talented, and I feel a sense of accomplishment when teaching them. Also, it's useful to occasionally think about simpler, basic problems."

Fefferman was surprised at Lu Zhou's statement, and he said, "I'm glad to hear this. I hope this job will bring inspiration to your research."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It definitely will."

…

Vera sat in her chair inside Lu Zhou's office as she quietly sorted out her lecture notes.

When Lu Zhou walked in, she placed her pen down. She took her notebook and walked up to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "How do you feel?"

Vera was a little puzzled, and she said, "I feel so difficult… Teaching and researching are two completely different things."

"You're right, but the two can be combined," said Lu Zhou as he took her notebook and flipped through the pages. He nodded his head and said, "It seems that your understanding is pretty good. How about you teach the next class?"

"The next class?" Vera was flustered, and she whispered, "But… I haven't finished preparing yet."

"You have a week to prepare, so this shouldn't be difficult." Lu Zhou gave Vera her notebook back as he said, "You can do it."

Vera took a deep breath and said, "I can do it!"

"Yeah, do your best."

Lu Zhou returned to his office desk and opened up his email.

There was an unread email, lying in his inbox.

It was from the Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

The package that Sarrot sent over had apparently been delivered…

Chapter 316: Something Big

The samples traveled across the country and finally arrived at the Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Lu Zhou picked up the package and took the samples to his temporary laboratory.

He recently found out that not only did the Frick Chemistry Laboratory offer third-party testing services, but their laboratory could be rented for a fee, and he could buy time credits to use their equipment.

The fees for third-party testing services were generally more expensive and were in the range of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the price for renting the equipment was more reasonable.

Lu Zhou rented a piece of equipment. He then called Professor Chiric and borrowed a PhD student to be his assistant.

Just like last time, his assistant was Connie.

This buff PhD student looked like a rugby player, but he was much more jacked compared to last year.

Lu Zhou looked at Connie weirdly.

"Did you switch to researching biology?"

Connie was confused, and he asked, "No, why did you ask that?"

"No reason…" Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Forget about it."

If this guy gets any buffer, he would basically be a hulk.

But he'll probably get offended if I say this.

"… Actually, I know what you want to say." Connie sighed and scratched his head as he said, "Because I'm too jacked, Professor Chiric doesn't let me operate the equipment. He said that I might break it."

"That's…" Lu Zhou looked at Connie and didn't know how to comfort him. Instead, he said, "I won't treat you like that."

Professor Chiric wasn't skinny either. At the very least, he had the physique of a basketball small forward player.

Connie rubbed his nose and said, "Really? What do you need me to do?"

Lu Zhou looked at the scanning electron microscope in the laboratory and said, "Just… help me with the sampling processing. You know how to do it, right?"

Connie smiled and said, "I got this!"

Lu Zhou took out more than 30 samples from the sealed small glass jars and told Connie some important things to be aware of. He then carefully removed a small amount of black powder from the glass jar marked with No. 1 and mixed it with ionized water.

Sarrot had already processed the samples before shipping them. The sample powders were already purified and no further filtration was required.

However, Lu Zhou couldn't just stuff the sample inside as the collection of hollow carbon spheres would worsen the observation.

Under Connie's help, Lu Zhou ultrasonically dispersed each sample and carefully dropped the sample on copper plates.

"Done!"

Finally, after the samples were processed, Lu Zhou sighed and placed down the last piece of copper before he stretched his stiff neck.

Since carbon itself was a conductive material, the processing was complete. If it was an insulator material, the sample had to be processed with gold.

Was this method expensive?

No, actually it wasn't that expensive.

Gold was actually relatively inexpensive compared to the other precious metals and organic reagents used in the laboratory. For the samples sent by Sarrot, the average cost per milligram was more than one hundred dollars.

The reason why Lu Zhou was so meticulous was that the cost of this experiment was coming out of his pocket.

Fortunately, his assistant Connie lived up to his expectations and didn't mess up a single sample. Connie placed the copper plate down and asked Lu Zhou, "My side is done, what do we do next?"

Lu Zhou said, "Let's scan it with the electron microscope."

The rest of the work was easy, and Lu Zhou operated the equipment step by step. He stuck the copper plate onto the sample holder using a conductive plate before he fed it into the chamber.

Once Lu Zhou confirmed that the pressure inside the chamber was stable, he carefully began to input various parameters.

"The emission current is set at 10μA, the working distance is 8mm, and the scanning mode is Sei…"

Lu Zhou used the two joysticks on the sample controller to carefully move the sample into position. Connie stood in front of the computer and adjusted the aperture and acceleration voltage.

The work was completed.

Now, it was time to harvest the results.

This was the easy part.

Lu Zhou could easily collect any data he wanted just by adjusting the resolution, the accelerating voltage, and the working distance.

Connie looked at the equipment and said emotionally, "This thing is much easier to use than a normal electron microscope."

"Of course." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If the experiment is successful, I can give the rest of the renting credits to you."

Connie said, "Really? Thank you!"

Even though Connie wanted to use Professor Chiric's scanning electron microscope, Professor Chiric didn't want to waste time on his student's PhD thesis. After all, Chiric had a ton of experiments to do himself.

Right now, Lu Zhou was like an angel sent from heaven.

Lu Zhou smiled and said nonchalantly, "Of course, as long as you follow my instructions, I will compensate you."

Connie was even more motivated after hearing Lu Zhou's words.

The resolution was enlarged to the nm scale, and the microstructure of the hollow carbon sphere was visible to the two experimenters.

Lu Zhou looked at the scanning images and was intrigued.

He suddenly thought of something and said, "Connie, from these samples, help me find hollow carbon nanospheres with a specific surface area in the range of [2326m2g-1, 3762m2g-1] and a diameter of [60nm-70nm]!"

"Okay," Connie replied. Without any hesitation, he began to operate the computer. Soon after, he said, "… Professor, samples 11, 14, 15, and 23 all fit your requirements. What does this indicate?"

Lu Zhou found the corresponding sample jars and stared at the black powder inside.

"I need you to do something."

Connie said seriously, "Anything you want."

"Borrow a battery tester and a button-type battery mold for me." Lu Zhou look around the laboratory and added, "And some samples of sulfur.

"I have to do something big."

Chapter 317: Do It Fast!

The Frick Chemistry Laboratory had state of the art hardware. Princeton was not only willing to spend money on professors, but they were also willing to spend on the equipment.

Connie carried the latest MACCOR high-precision battery testing system over to Lu Zhou and smiled.

"This is the best battery testing system in the entire Frick Chemistry Laboratory, I borrowed it for you!"

Lu Zhou: "Actually I don't need such a good battery testing system…"

Connie said, "But you said that investing in the equipment is better than wasting money on producing more samples."

Lu Zhou stared at Connie and suddenly realized that he wasn't as dumb as he thought.

The money for this machine came from Lu Zhou's account.

If it was before, Lu Zhou would definitely feel like he was wasting money.

But now…

Okay, he was still a little distressed.

However, he wasn't as distressed as before.

Lu Zhou asked with a serious tone, "Does the equipment make battery samples?"

Connie immediately said, "No problem, this is easy!"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "You are responsible for No.11 and No.14. I'll do samples No.15 and No.23. Mix the hollow carbon sphere powder with sulfur, using the ratios of 30%, 20%, and 10%. Then make a positive electrode material, and assemble the lithium battery, do you understand?"

Connie said, "Of course!"

The negative electrode material synthesis process was a piece of cake. The modified PDMS film and the copper core lithium plate was the standard of any major materials research institutes.

However, the positive electrode material was slightly more difficult.

It wasn't just the hollow carbon spheres; all carbon nanomaterials had similar problems.

The simple mechanical stirring and grinding could only macroscopically mix the hollow carbon spheres with the matrix powder. It couldn't disperse the hollow carbon spheres on the microscopic level.

Before the hollow carbon spheres were mixed with the sulfur, they were also dispersed in ethanol by adding a surfactant such as polyurethane.

The remaining steps were similar to Lu Zhou's first lithium battery experiment.

The batteries were assembled in a glove box and then connected to a battery testing system. The testing system was able to calculate the performance of the materials by doing a large number of charge and discharge tests.

This step required no skills.

Actually, researching materials science wasn't that difficult.

The current research and development of new materials were based on the researchers' "scientific intuition" and a large number of repeated "trial" experiments. They tried to find a feasible material under set conditions. If Lu Zhou could build a set of materials science theories, then it would be game-changing.

Although mathematical methods could greatly reduce the number of experiments required, Lu Zhou still had to do some experiments.

…

Lu Zhou remembered that the last time he worked this hard was around this time last year.

In order to complete the Goldbach's conjecture, Lu Zhou locked himself in his 20 square meters apartment. He completely immersed himself in the labyrinth of numbers and eventually found a way out.

Lu Zhou's excitement right now paled in comparison to back then.

He felt nostalgic for his mathematics days.

It had been a week since his experiment started.

Other than sleeping, Lu Zhou had spent all his time in the laboratory.

Two days ago, Yang Xu, who managed the experiment at the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, created a spreadsheet of the effects of the surface area, pore size, and the ratio of polysulfide in the electrolyte on the sulfur loading. This data arrived in Lu Zhou's mailbox.

In order to not delay the Jinling research institute's progress in the experiment, Lu Zhou needed to build a mathematical model as soon as possible and develop a plan for the next experiment.

His work seemed to be piled together.

Lu Zhou threw his pen aside and looked at Connie, who was looking at a sample.

"How is No. 15 doing?"

Connie had dark circles around his eyes as he looked at the scanning electron microscope and shook his head. He said, "The last group was completely scrapped. Almost all of the sulfur was deposited on the surface on the carbon material. You can look at it, it looks very pretty…"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Take a scanned image of the sample and dispose of it… I've seen enough."

This is horrible.

It seems that samples 11, 14 and 15 are all useless.

Facing the tragic result, Lu Zhou couldn't help but wonder if his theory was wrong.

Can the surface area of [2326m2g-1, 3762m2g-1] and the hollow carbon spheres in the range of [60nm-70nm] really inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds?

He didn't want to doubt his theory and assumption.

Because he had calculated this assumption many times and received the same result.

If his theory was wrong, then he would face a difficult choice.

He could either pretend he didn't know or he could be a moral scholar. Once he found his mistakes, he could earnestly ask the Shuimu University to withdraw his thesis submission…

The former solution was feasible. Even if Lu Zhou were proven wrong by someone in the future, he could claim that it was an "honest mistake". No one would blame him…

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something.

My experiment isn't even over, why am I thinking of the aftermath.

What kind of mentality is that?

Lu Zhou clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He then calmed himself down and looked at Connie.

"How is sample No. 23 doing?"

"Let me look at it… 10% and 30% were destroyed within 200 revolutions, and 20% is… Unbelievable, it has been 500 revolutions, but it's still struggling to survive."

The word struggling was used interestingly.

It seemed that Lu Zhou's assistant had no hope for this experiment.

However, Lu Zhou still had hope.

He restrained his excitement and asked, "What is the volume change of the anode material?"

Connie looked at the battery through the transparent glass. He squinted his eyes and said, "It doesn't seem to have changed."

Lu Zhou shouted, "Don't give me an estimation, I want an accurate answer!"

"I know, I'm just kidding…" Connie disassembled the battery and carefully removed the positive electrode material. He then measured the width change with a vernier caliper.

Even at a macroscopic level, the volume expansion of carbon-sulfur composites was very obvious.

Connie recorded the measurement and was confused.

He recorded it again.

And again…

Connie looked back at Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "A failure?"

"No…" Connie shook his head. He gulped and said, "The results are unbelievably good…"

"Determine the chemical composition of the electrolyte!" Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and snapped, "Do it fast!"

Chapter 318: Nature Or Science?

"Yes," Connie said quickly; he was shocked by Lu Zhou's enthusiasm. He quickly placed the sample of the positive electrode material inside a piece of glassware. A small amount of electrolysis was extracted from the inside with a pipette, then the liquid was collected and stored in a test tube.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou quickly walked to the corner of the laboratory and took out another instrument— the Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.

An infrared spectrum was generated by the absorption of specific wavelengths of infrared light when the compound molecules vibrated. The wavelength of the infrared light absorbed by the chemical bond vibration depended on the chemical bond dynamic constants and the atomic weight of the atoms. Therefore, each compound had its own unique infrared spectroscopy. Infrared spectroscopy was also known as "molecule fingerprints".

Using a computer, Lu Zhou quickly made an analysis of the composition of the electrolyte using the infrared spectrum absorption peak. He determined the mass of all the sulfur-containing functional groups and related compounds in the electrolyte.

The results were quite gratifying.

There was indeed polysulfide compounds in the solution, but the content was quite low. Although the material had flaws, it was still acceptable for industrial application.

What surprised Lu Zhou was not only the analysis of the electrolyte but also the observation under the scanning electron microscope.

At the nanometer scale, the porous structure of sample No. 23 allowed the electrolyte to enter the interior of the composite, thus increasing ionic conductivity. Also, the absorption capacity of the surface could effectively prevent the diffusion of polysulfide compounds into the electrolyte, thereby effectively suppressing the shuttle effect.

This proved that Lu Zhou's idea on the hollow carbon spheres had its potential.

Of course, this wasn't the main part.

The main part was that the hollow carbon spheres with a surface area of up to 3025m2g-1 and a diameter of 69nm perfectly met the predictions of Lu Zhou!

His predictions were that a hollow carbon sphere with the specific surface area in the range of [2326m2g-1, 3762m2g-1] and a diameter of [60nm-70nm] could effectively inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds in the electrolyte!

"Unbelievable… We did it, we did it!" Connie waved his fist around in excitement. If it wasn't for the sensitive instrument around him, he would scream out loud.

Lu Zhou smiled in relief. The knot in his heart had unraveled.

However, he was still a long way from solving the shuttle effect.

But this was undoubtedly a good start.

"Don't get too excited, we didn't completely solve the shuttle effect," Lu Zhou said. He then paused for a second before continuing, "After a maximum of 500 revolutions, the rate of loss of the positive electrode material will increase, and the capacity will decay. This technology needs to be improved."

Connie said, "Bro, you're too hard on yourself. Not every research result can be made into a product!"

Connie was right.

Even though there was yet to be any application, this achievement was already outstanding.

Any professor would be ecstatic at this result.

However, Lu Zhou was more low-key.

He said, "Although this result needs improvement, it should be enough for an SCI thesis."

Connie asked, "What do you plan on calling this new material?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "We can call it HCS-1."

HCS was the acronym for hollow carbon sphere. Because it was only a prototype, it was numbered -1.

Connie said, "HCS-1? Forgive me but this name is not creative at all. It doesn't convey the amazing effect. Can't you come up with a better name?"

What's the point of naming a broken material that has no application.

I'm not the one that came up with hollow carbon spheres.

Lu Zhou said, "Do you have any better ideas?"

Connie said, "How about LZ-1? It's an acronym of your name."

Lu Zhou: "…"

What is this?

Lu Zhou thought that Connie had some genius idea, but that clearly wasn't the case.

Finally, Lu Zhou dismissed Connie's suggestion and went with HCS-1.

It would feel tacky if he had named his materials LZ-1, LZ-2…

HCS-1 was a lot better.

…

Although the industrial applications of HCS-1 were limited, it could still be valuable. If a small company was interested in buying the research, then it would be worth a lot of money.

This time, Lu Zhou wouldn't have to take a year to write his thesis.

Lu Zhou was too careful when dealing with the PDMS materials that it took him over a year. Furthermore, he had no experience.

After consulting his manager, White Sheridan, he learned that although it clearly stated that the content of the patent application could not be disclosed before the "patent filing date", it was fine as long as "disclose date" was after the "patent filing date".

Which was to say that once he received his patent number, he could submit the thesis.

Lu Zhou sat in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study and wrote a letter of authorization for Star Sky Technology to handle the patent.

Lu Zhou signed his name on the document and sealed the envelope.

Suddenly, Hardy came in with a towel around his neck.

This Brazilian guy loved soccer and was a member of the Princeton soccer club. Although soccer wasn't as famous as baseball or American football, there were still many people playing it.

Lu Zhou had previously played with the Princeton soccer club. However, he realized that slow movement sports were more suitable for him, so he stopped going for soccer.

Hardy was about to sit down and rest, but when he saw Lu Zhou writing a letter, he was curious and walked over.

"Professor, what are you writing?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer and handed him the letter.

"Perfect, go to the mailroom for me and deliver this letter."

Hardy took the letter from Lu Zhou and said, "I knew I shouldn't have come here…"

Lu Zhou: "If you didn't ask me what it was about, I wouldn't have asked you."

Hardy: "…"

Hardy walked outside the office with the envelope, and Lu Zhou began writing his thesis.

Star Sky Technology had already established a patent department, so they could easily handle the patent for Lu Zhou.

There were two theses that needed to be written.

One thesis was about the effect of surface area and pore size of the hollow carbon spheres on the diffusion rate of polysulfide compounds. Another thesis was about the HCS-1 hollow carbon sphere material.

The former was purely theoretical. It would include a lot of graphs, analysis, and proofs. It would take around thirty pages to complete. The latter was more application-based, and it could be completed within fifteen pages.

Speaking of which, where should I submit the thesis?

Lu Zhou placed his hands on the keyboard and began to think.

Nature or Science?

I really don't know…

Chapter 319: Science Should Do

Every day, they would receive a large number of thesis submissions from all over the world. Less than one-tenth of the submissions were actually accepted.

Warren's job undoubtedly impacted the entire word.

However, at the same time, it was a boring job.

As for why it was boring…

It was because Science was one of the top two journals in the world; its reputation was just too big.

In order to publish in this journal, the theses writers were often unethical. They would claim to have created "groundbreaking" results.

He looked at the email and had a headache.

"I think the technical department should develop some new features for our office software."

Brock, who was working, asked, "Like?"

Warren sighed and said, "For example, before sending the theses to us, the theses should be ranked by the cumulative impact factor of the author's past submissions. It should also be ranked according to the reputation of the research institutes."

Brock smiled and said, "This is a good idea, but it would be unfair to those unknown authors."

"Who cares? We're Science. Shouldn't we use a more scientific method to screen theses?" Warren said as he dragged the thesis into his recycle bin. He said, "Some theses are a complete waste of time."

He soon opened the next thesis.

Warren looked at the title and couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Another lithium-sulfur battery one!

The previous thesis also claimed that it had solved the shuttle effect, but it only researched solid electrolytes. To be honest, there is nothing wrong with solid electrolytes, but some of the mistakes in the thesis were way too obvious.

He had seen too many subpar theses recently.

He subconsciously looked at the research institute and author. Just as he wondered if he should waste a few minutes reading the thesis, he was suddenly stunned by what he was looking at.

The author's name looked familiar…

It was from the Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Then Warren discovered something surprising.

There was more than one thesis that was submitted; there were two…

Warren silently looked at the calendar sitting at the corner of his desk.

He remembered that the last time Science published "highlights" on the modified PDMS paper was half a year ago. He couldn't believe that within half a year, another "PDMS" level thesis appeared.

First Lu Zhou solved the lithium dendrites problem, now he solved the shuttle effect?

This is unbelievable!

Due to Lu Zhou's reputation, Warren read the thesis carefully and line by line.

He then made a difficult decision.

During lunchtime, Brock stood up from his desk and was about to go grab some lunch.

Suddenly, he noticed that his colleague was staring intently at the screen. He curiously walked over and stood behind Warren.

"Lu Zhou? That Princeton professor?"

Warren meticulously looked at the thesis and said, "Yes, I don't think there's another Princeton professor with such a strange name…"

Brock said, "I cannot believe it, it has only been half a year… Two theses this time?"

"And it's regarding lithium-sulfur batteries. Obviously, he has made some big progress." Warren was still staring at the computer screen when he twisted his pen and said, "Two theses; one thesis on the specific surface area of hollow carbon spheres and the effect of pore sizes on the diffusion rate of polysulfide compounds, and the other thesis is about the research of HCS-1 hollow carbon sphere materials. The two theses are related. The former focuses on theory and the latter focuses on application… What do I do?"

Brock was hesitant, and he asked, "I think Professor Lu's reputation is quite trustworthy. Wouldn't it be better to leave it to the reviewers?"

Warren said, "I know, but the question is, which reviewer?"

This was a difficult question.

Brock was also troubled by it.

"The thesis on the hollow carbon sphere material HCS-1 is easy to deal with. Many carbon nanomaterials professors can review the thesis, but this other paper…" Brock thought for a while and couldn't come up with a suitable candidate.

Not many mathematics professors were interested in organic chemistry. On the other hand, very few organic synthesis experts could understand the math behind Lu Zhou's thesis.

There were many people dealing with carbon nanomaterials in the field of materials science. However, people that did both computational materials and carbon nanomaterials… There weren't many at all.

Many computational material experts became programmers instead, as it had a much higher salary.

Because of Lu Zhou's modified PDMS material, the computational materials community basically treated him as a god. It was like David Shaw in the field of computational chemistry.

It was really difficult to find a professor qualified enough to review Lu Zhou's thesis.

Brock thought for a bit before saying, "How about we ask Professor Bawendi?"

"But is he in the field of carbon nanomaterials?" Warren said, "I heard he has been very busy recently and rejected many thesis reviews."

Brock said, "But he has served twice as a reviewer for Lu Zhou. Or do you have a better idea?"

Warren hesitated for a bit before saying, "Then write him a letter and ask him to review it."

Warren had no doubt that these two theses were worthy of publication.

If the shuttle effect was actually solved by using the HCS-1 material, then this result would be groundbreaking.

This type of groundbreaking result was a perfect match for the Science journal.

Chapter 320: In The Academic World, Ideas Are The Least Valuable

Lu Zhou had always been paying attention to his peers.

On the arXiv website, theses regarding hollow carbon spheres and sulfur composites started to pop up.

Although biology and chemistry were in STEM, an innovative idea did not have any value. Therefore, compared to pure mathematics, theoretical physics, or computer science, biology and chemistry scholars had far less enthusiasm for submitting papers on arXiv. However, trending topics still influenced the academic community.

At the same time, Lu Zhou could use academic search engines to find out whether there had been an uprise in hollow carbon spheres related results.

However, these results weren't as groundbreaking as HCS-1.

Of course, some large research institutes had made significant progress. However, they were more ambitious and didn't want to publish in-progress research.

After all, even though companies like Nichia and Umicore were willing to purchase patent authorizations with people like Lu Zhou, they would rather have the patent all to themselves.

Lu Zhou could see these signs from his last meeting with Grynberg. Without a doubt, their laboratory in Belgium was working non-stop trying to take the throne from Lu Zhou.

Therefore, Lu Zhou had to amp up his speed.

…

In the middle of March, after Lu Zhou received a reply from Science regarding his submission, he contacted Yang Xu, who was in Jinling, and arranged for a short video conference. He wanted to discuss the research plan with him.

Before the video call, Lu Zhou sent the related HCS-1 materials to Yang Xu's work email. The email contained both the data that had already been submitted as well as the unpublished data.

Because of this, as soon as the call began, Yang Xu immediately asked, "The thing you sent me was about?"

Lu Zhou put it concisely by saying, "The next experiment plan and related materials are in that email. The physical samples will arrive soon. Simply put, I need you to try and find a method to stabilize and synthesize the HCS-1 material."

The synthesizing method that Sarrot's laboratory produced had a high variance. Strictly speaking, HCS-1 was only a by-product of this method; it could only be obtained using centrifugation and further purification.

Using this inefficient method, it was difficult to industrially produce HCS-1.

Unless someone was willing to pay US$100,000 just for one lithium battery and spend a ton more just to deal with the waste, from a logical standpoint, this battery was currently unfeasible.

There were two methods to promote HCS-1 material. One way was to change the preparation method and reduce production cost. The other way was to improve the material itself.

Using the HCS-1 as a reference idea, it wasn't difficult to find HCS-2 or even HCS-3, which could be more suitable for mixing with sulfur.

Due to these reasons, Lu Zhou set up two research directions for the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. One was to improve the production process of the HCS-1 material, and the other was to improve the HCS-1 material itself.

Unlike Sarrot's laboratory, Lu Zhou had different requirements for the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. Sarrot was responsible to complete the system mission of studying the topology of the molecules.

As for the Jinling Institute, they were responsible for solving the shuttle effect.

The energy industry needed to solve the shuttle effect, so did the country's energy department. Whether it was from a personal standpoint or from a commitment to China's energy department, Lu Zhou decided to work hard on this matter.

Yang Xu said, "This problem is difficult."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I believe you can do it."

Yang Xu: "Is there a more specific direction you can give me?"

Lu Zhou said, "I do have an idea. Write this down so that I don't have to send another email."

Yang Xu nodded and took out a piece of pen and paper.

Lu Zhou drank some water and said, "Glucose."

The two went silent for a moment.

Yang Xu then said, "… Glucose?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, specifically, the precursor from a copolymer of polyaniline and polypyrrole to glucose."

This was the conclusion from Lu Zhou's discussion with Sarrot. The reason they were able to reach this conclusion was due to their "scientific intuition" which was built from hundreds of experiments and calculations.

Although this "scientific intuition" might sound unreliable, it was at least better than "trial and error".

However, this idea was yet to be confirmed.

Yang Xu's eyebrow twitched.

"That's it?"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said with a certain tone, "That's it."

No wonder you didn't want to send an email, you barely gave me anything.

Yang Xu couldn't help but complain in his heart as he put the pen and paper aside.

Lu Zhou said, "We're not the only ones researching this. I know Umicore and Nichia are also doing experiments. We are competing with international chemical giants. I know the mission is difficult, but I hope you can overcome it."

Yang Xu couldn't help but say, "If this really had potential, then you wouldn't have mentioned it during the meeting."

Lu Zhou was annoyed, and he said, "The situation at that time was special. Also, I didn't expect them to arrogantly publish the content of the meeting."

There was something else Lu Zhou didn't say.

Which was that he didn't expect so many to believe his words at the meeting…

…

The hollow carbon spheres had potential, and therefore, it had no shortage of competitors.

In the academic world, ideas were the least valuable.

Other than international chemistry giants like Nichia and Umicore, there were many other research institutes doing similar research. Some of them were partnered with a company, others received fundings from the government.

For example, Professor Wang Haifeng was one of them.

Far away at Zhi University, he was also busy working on the project.

However, he wasn't working on the experiment, he was working on the preparations for the experiment.

Around two weeks ago, the laboratory research project was finally confirmed. It was regarding using hollow carbon spheres and sulfur composites as the positive electrode in order to solve the problem of diffusion of polysulfide compounds into the electrolyte. Although he didn't like Lu Zhou, he had to admit that the hollow carbon spheres had potential.

He had already sent in his research fund application, and he should be getting a reply within a few days.

As the boss of the laboratory, right now he had to delegate work to his researchers.

Suddenly, his PhD student, Liu Hong, walked into the laboratory while holding a journal magazine.

Liu Hong looked like he had something to say but didn't want to say anything.

Wang Haifeng looked at his student and asked, "What happened?"

Liu Hong hesitated for a bit before speaking, "Professor… Someone else is also doing our research project."

Wang Haifeng, who was leaning on his office chair, nearly choked on his own saliva.

"What? Someone else is doing the same thing as us?"

What the hell is this?

How was this possible?

I haven't even received the research project grant, who copied our idea?

Chapter 321: In-progress Results

Wang Haifeng grabbed the Science journal magazine from Liu Hong and started to read the tiny words carefully.

Although he didn't like Lu Zhou at all, he had to admit that this kid was a genius.

There weren't many scholars that could publish on either Science or Nature and doing both was basically impossible.

The first thesis was a theory-based thesis, and Wang Haifeng couldn't understand anything other than the conclusion.

The second thesis was about the HCS-1 material, and it was more application based. Wang Haifeng carefully read through the thesis.

When he saw a scanned image, his eyebrows twitched.

His laboratory also had a scanning electron microscope, but it was the bismuth hexaboride type.

This kind of electron microscope was much more advanced than the tungsten filament kind, and the electron image resolution could reach 2nm, and the image was 5 to 10 times brighter than the tungsten filament kind. However, it was no match with the field emission electron gun.

Without a doubt, the image in the thesis was taken with a field emission electron scanning microscope.

This person is disgusting!

He must be bragging about his microscope!

Wang Haifeng had more than 20 years of experience in the chemistry field, and yet, he was being defeated by a kid. He couldn't take it anymore.

However, he continued to read the thesis and quickly calmed down.

Once Wang Haifeng finished reading, he slammed the journal on the table. He then threw it back to Liu Hong.

"This is only an in-progress result."

Wang Haifeng sighed in relief.

If this HCS-1 material was as valuable as the modified PDMS material, then Wang Haifeng would admit defeat. Other international chemistry giants would do the same.

However, it was clear that the HCS-1 material wasn't perfect.

Of course, even though it was only an in-progress result, it still showed the superior performance of the HCS-1 material. If someone could solve the production process, it might be used in industries that required high battery densities.

Like drones…

Liu Hong said, "What if they only published the in-progress result and didn't release the important results…"

Wang Haifeng said, "Nonsense, why would they do that?"

Liu Hong was stunned, and he smiled and said, "… But can't they just publish more papers?"

Wang Haifeng was amused by his student, and he laughed as he said, "Then tell me, is he doing a PhD? Or does he need the reputation? Why would he publish so many theses?"

Liu Hong realized that he had just asked a very stupid question and decided to shut his mouth.

He was right; normal researchers needed to accumulate their academic reputation.

Normal professors also needed to publish theses to show off their academic ability. This also allowed the professors to receive more academic grants.

But Lu Zhou obviously didn't need to prove his academic ability.

Patents were the most important thing in research; it was the key to earning money from large companies.

No matter how much research someone did, if they couldn't obtain the patent in the end, their work would only pave the way of success for others. If someone had a 90% chance that their research would succeed, they still wouldn't publish their in-progress result.

Unless they really needed the money and needed to publish results to make their investors happy… Or it was to bait new investors and to make them feel like they could produce more results.

Obviously, Lu Zhou didn't need investors.

Most people didn't know how valuable the PDMS material was, but Wang Haifeng was in the field of materials science, and he knew that Umicore paid US$400 million for the patent rights.

Then there was only one possibility…

Wang Haifeng's eyes lit up and said, "This kid is smart, I'm afraid he has been researching this topic before his PDMS thesis publication. Everyone during the meeting was talking nonsense, but he was the only one who was able to put out a coherent idea. I'm guessing he already has some research results."

Most people began writing theses after receiving the patent number. Almost everyone would wait for the patent authorizations to go through first and the patent authorization could take up to twelve months.

That was to say, if a thesis was published in 2016, the real research results were probably made in 2015.

Wang Haifeng suspected that a year ago, Lu Zhou had already begun researching hollow carbon spheres.

Liu Hong thought of a possibility but he wasn't sure, so he asked, "You're saying?"

"His research has probably reached a bottleneck." Wang Haifeng smiled and said, "This young man is too impatient."

When research stagnated, releasing in-progress research to prevent others from releasing the same research first was a common tactic. Although it exposed one's own research progress, it gave the researcher fame and reputation.

After all, the longer the research results stayed hidden, the larger the risk. Especially in a popular research area, someone else could come up with the same results within two months.

Since many research institutes were researching hollow carbon spheres, this was possible. If someone else posted your result first, it would hinder your research results useless.

Wang Haifeng though that Lu Zhou couldn't handle the pressure.

"We will continue the research project." Wang Haifeng looked at Liu Hong and said, "Just in case, help me find out what Jinling Institute of Computational Materials is doing, and how their research progress is going…"

Liu Hong said, "But I don't know anyone from Jin Ling University, do you think they will tell me?"

Wang Haifeng said, "Are you dumb? Come up with an idea yourself!"

Liu Hong shut his mouth and stopped talking.

After a while, Wang Haifeng calmed down and said, "Also, we have to change our project goal."

When he came up with the project goal, he described hollow carbon spheres and the carbon-sulfur composite materials in a general way. Now that Lu Zhou released an in-progress result, he had to use a more specific description.

However, changing the project goal was easy.

It wasn't a big deal.

Chapter 322: Nothing To Be Surprised Abou

Wang Haifeng guessed one thing right, which was that HCS-1 did have room for development.

However, he was wrong about something else.

The reason why Lu Zhou published the in-progress result had nothing to do with Lu Zhou's research reaching a bottleneck; it was because Lu Zhou simply didn't care.

Even though his theory played an important application role, Lu Zhou realized that his theory could only exert its full potential through communicating with others.

Most people that read the journal would think that the HCS-1 thesis was the most important part and ignore the theory-based thesis.

However, Lu Zhou paid more emphasis on the theory.

This was just like the chicken and the egg theory.

If someone could understand his mathematical theory on computational materials and innovate using that theory, he wouldn't feel there was anything wrong with it. Rather, he would feel honored.

This was also the reason why he asked his student to study the Collatz conjecture by using his methods and ideas.

He could easily solve the Collatz conjecture himself.

He was at Level 6 in mathematics, and that was a completely different level than when he was at Level 5. Although the foundations set by predecessors on the Collatz conjecture wasn't as complete as the Goldbach's conjecture, unlike the Goldbach's conjecture, the Collatz conjecture didn't trouble the mathematics world for more than two centuries.

If he put his heart into it, it would take him at least six months and at most a year to solve it.

…

On an early morning in late March, Lu Zhou arrived at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study on time.

But unlike the usual, he was holding two papers in his hand.

Lu Zhou gave the test papers to Jerick and Wei Wen and said, "There are only ten questions on the paper, go do the questions and return the test in two hours. You can use your phone if you want, but you're not going to find the answers online."

Like Qin Yue, at the beginning of the semester, Lu Zhou gave Jerick and Wei Wen a list of textbooks to study.

It had since been a month, Lu Zhou felt like it was about time to see how their progress was going.

After dividing the papers, the two immediately picked up a pen and started to write on a draft paper.

The test Lu Zhou wrote wasn't particularly difficult, but it wasn't that easy either.

Wei Wen frowned. After a long time, he finally solved question one.

Jerick saw Wei Wen struggling just like him and felt a sense of relief.

Time slowly passed by, and around 10 o'clock, Lu Zhou announced the end of the test. He took the papers and looked at the answers.

Both of them got seven correct, but their wrong answers were different.

Lu Zhou placed the test paper down and looked at the two people across his office desk.

"Wei Wen, your understanding of Hilbert space is good. I guess you should develop in the direction of mathematical physics."

Wei Wen asked, "Does mathematical physics count as applied mathematics?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It depends on how you define it. The physics part is theory and the mathematics part is application. Of course, this is only my suggestion. You can choose any field you want."

Wei Wen went into deep thought after hearing his supervisor's advice.

Lu Zhou looked at the other student and said, "Jerick, you're good at Fourier inversion transformations, and this is a very promising direction. It has a wide range of applications in theory and in the industry. If you are interested in this field, I suggest you pay more attention to it and choose it as your topic of study."

Jerick immediately asked, "Professor, can I study computational materials?"

Lu Zhou said in a joking tone, "Of course you can, but don't expect to understand my theory. You'll have to read at least a dozen textbooks to do so."

The two students returned to their seats.

Lu Zhou stretched and was about to make a cup of coffee to wake himself up.

Suddenly, the office door opened and Connie walked in with a journal.

"Professor!"

Hardy, Qin Yue, and Vera were researching documents, and they raised their heads and looked unhappy about the disruption.

Lu Zhou could probably guess why Connie was so excited.

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "I remember I told you to stay quiet in this office. Remember to knock before you come in."

"Forgive me, I didn't do it on purpose. I'm sure when you hear this news, you would be just as excited as me." Connie lowered his voice and said, "Guess what happened? Nature quoted our thesis on their front page!"

Connie stopped talking proudly and looked at Lu Zhou as he waited for his reaction.

However…

Lu Zhou wasn't amused.

Lu Zhou was obviously a lot less excited than Connie.

The office went quiet for a bit.

Connie felt awkward and calmed down.

Lu Zhou said, "It's only a quote, there's no need to be this excited."

Vera was researching the Collatz conjecture, and she couldn't help but chuckle. Hardy was more ruthless; he slammed his fist on the table and laughed out loud.

Wei Wen couldn't help but smile as well.

Connie blushed and scratched his head as he said, "You're not excited at all? This is Nature highlights!"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I know it's Nature highlights, but half a year ago, I was highlighted by both Science and Nature. If you were me, you wouldn't care about this trivial honor either."

Most of the top journals had a "highlights" section where they quoted the best parts of the thesis and added a summarization.

Lu Zhou was pretty excited when he was first highlighted by the two journals.

But now, he wasn't nearly as ecstatic.

Especially since not long ago, his modified PDMS film was rated one of the Top 10 scientific research theses in 2016.

A highlight was nothing for him.

Connie's eyes were wide open; he was speechless.

Jesus, there's someone out there who thinks a Nature highlight is trivial?

A normal person would have to work for years just to publish one thesis.

Most people don't even dream of being on highlights.

If this doesn't make you excited, then what does?

A Nobel Prize?

Lu Zhou didn't care about what Connie was thinking. He took the latest issue of Nature from him and roughly flipped through the pages.

As expected, the HCS-1 thesis was the one on highlights.

As for the computational materials science thesis, it was briefly mentioned as a study on "the effect of surface area and pore size on the diffusion rate of polysulfide compounds".

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

It seems that people can't recognize the real treasure.

Chapter 323: Spring Break

The days passed by quickly, and soon, it was April.

The students studying to the bone was finally able to relax for a bit. They could enjoy life for two weeks without thinking about academics.

The busy Princeton campus gradually quieted down.

Luo Wenxuan was eating at the Institute for Advanced Study with Lu Zhou when he said, "I'm going to Fort Lauderdale. If you want, you can come with me."

The beach was usually the first choice for spring break locations. Fort Lauderdale was a lot cheaper compared to Hawaii. Ever since 1934, it had become a holy place for American college students during spring breaks. There was a lot of people that came to this place during spring break, it wasn't just American college students, but many overseas students also visited.

But Lu Zhou had never heard of this place before.

Lu Zhou asked, "Where is Fort Lauderdale?"

Astonished, Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "It's in Florida… Do you really not know Fort Lauderdale? How?"

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression.

"I only worked on my PhD for a few months, and I finished before spring break."

Suddenly, there was an awkward tension in the air.

Luo Wenxuan said, "Can we not talk about PhD stuff?"

Lu Zhou: "… Oh yeah, sorry."

Lu Zhou nearly forgot that while he was still studying his Bachelors, Luo Wenxuan was studying for his PhD under Edward Witten. Now that Lu Zhou was a PhD holder, Luo Wenxuan still hadn't received his PhD…

Lu Zhou shouldn't mention such a sad thing on a good day like this.

However, Luo Wenxuan actually had good mental health. After all, the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was where the world's most talented people were. They had both a strong mind and a strong brain.

This was the difference between geniuses and normal people.

Luo Wenxuan adjusted his mood and continued to talk about spring break.

"Spring break is a good mating option, or do you plan on staying single for the rest of your life? If you don't know how to pick up hot chicks, I can teach you. This part is easy."

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, "You plan on dumping your girlfriend?"

"Actually, I already did." Luo Wenxuan coughed and looked like he didn't want to discuss this topic when he said, "It's a bit complicated, don't bother asking."

Lu Zhou: "…"

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, around February at the Adams Chemistry Prize party, this guy was still with his girlfriend.

Within two months, this guy became single.

This guy changed girlfriends faster than Lu Zhou could write theses.

"This is how life in America is, you should get used to it," Luo Wenxuan said. He then added, "If you get to know some international students, you will find out that this is a very common thing."

"This is the problem," Lu Zhou said as he folded his sandwich wrapper and threw it on the tray table. He sighed and added, "I feel out of place because I'm too conservative."

Luo Wenxuan wasn't happy to hear this.

"You're saying I'm not conservative."

Lu Zhou: "Are you not?"

Luo Wenxuan: "…"

…

Actually, Lu Zhou was curious about Luo Wenxuan's offer.

Was spring break in Fort Lauderdale really like the movies, where it was full of youth and alcohol?

If he had nothing else to do, he wouldn't mind checking it out with Luo Wenxuan.

However, the premise would be that he didn't have anything else to do…

The first Saturday in April, Lu Zhou gave his students a week-long vacation. They had been working for three months and needed some time off to adjust their minds.

However, Lu Zhou didn't get to enjoy this vacation.

The first day of spring break, he got on a plane and went to San Francisco to attend the Organic Chemistry Conference hosted by the American Chemical Society.

He would have an hour of speaking time there.

Although this conference wasn't as big as the MRS Conference, it still had a significant amount of influence. It was one of the top conferences in the field of organic synthesis.

After all, the American Chemical Society had more influence than the Materials Science Society. The former was older than the latter by a century, and it even had ties to politics.

After several hours of flight, the plane landed in San Francisco Airport.

Sarrot was the one picking Lu Zhou up at the airport. This once famous Cornell University professor was looking extra sharp today.

He was wearing a suit and had his hair waxed. His beard also looked a lot cleaner than last time.

This was without a doubt the energy that the thesis brought him.

Although one Science thesis couldn't change his status, it still somewhat restored his Cornell University reputation.

When he first sold his research institute, he would still ask himself questions like "Is it worth it?".

But now, he was sure that his decision was wise.

"Welcome, my dear friend, to San Francisco!" Sarrot greeted Lu Zhou with a smile and said, "Congratulations on the Adams Chemistry Prize, you're one step closer to Stockholm!"

Lu Zhou shook Sarrot's hand and said, "I've already been to Stockholm."

"The next time you go there will be for the Nobel Prize!" Sarrot smiled and said, "A professor I know told me the committee has been discussing whether or not the modified PDMS material deserves a nomination."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

Sarrot's optimism was as unreliable as his scientific intuition. It was even more difficult to tell if he was lying.

The Nobel Prize wouldn't be the crown of science if it was so easy to get.

Even the father of lithium-ion batteries, the legendary Mr. John B. Goodenough, hadn't received a Nobel Prize after waiting for thirty years. It would be difficult for Lu Zhou to receive this prize using his anode material technology.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't in a hurry.

He was still young; he still had tons of time for scientific research.

Whether it was the modified PDMS material, the HCS-1 material, or the Adams Chemistry Prize, this was only the beginning…

Chapter 324: Coming To San Francisco

The conference venue was at the Hyatt Hotel. It was a short walk from Chinatown. The hotel provided on-site dining and a 24-hour gym. It had dedicated conference rooms for academic activities.

Sarrot drove Lu Zhou to the destination and parked in the parking lot. He then walked to the elevator with Lu Zhou.

Not only was this conference a good opportunity to exchange academic ideas with peers, but it was also a good opportunity to expand one's network. Any ambitious researchers would take this opportunity seriously.

Lu Zhou's flight and expenses were all paid for by the organizer of the conference. However, Sarrot had to pay for this conference out of his own pocket.

In the elevator, Lu Zhou looked at Sarrot and said, "I plan on sleeping first, how about you?"

Sarrot looked at Lu Zhou and said, "You're planning on sleeping? There's a dance party later."

"I don't know how to dance," said Lu Zhou. He then yawned before he continued, "Plus one dance party is enough."

Lu Zhou was talking about the bigger, more formal dance party on the night of the conference.

It didn't matter if Lu Zhou attended these networking parties.

He had just gotten off from a long flight; he only wanted to sleep and prepare himself for the award and speech ceremony.

Sarrot said, "Then go sleep, I'm going to go to the lobby and chill for a bit. Do you want me to call room service for you?"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, "No need, you have fun. If I'm hungry, I can call the front desk myself."

Sarrot's room was on the third floor. He planned to dress himself up, like waxing his hair or something, before attending the dance party.

Lu Zhou's room was on the fifth floor.

Lu Zhou went through the hallway and passed a couple of couches. Two men in suits noticed him and immediately stopped talking. They got up from the couch and walked toward him.

Lu Zhou looked at them and thought that one of them looked familiar.

The old man that looked familiar reached out his hand and said, "Professor Lu, it's nice to see you."

"Hello… you are?"

The old man introduced himself in a polite manner, "I'm Stanley Whittingham from Binghamton University, New York."

When Lu Zhou heard his name, he suddenly remembered something.

Stanley Whittingham was a big name in the field of lithium batteries, no wonder Lu Zhou felt that he looked familiar.

In the early 70s, Stanley designed the first lithium battery using titanium sulfide as the anode material and lithium metal as the positive electrode material.

However, the lithium batteries were never industrialized due to the well-known lithium dendrites problem. It was only after Lu Zhou's modified PDMS had solved the problem that the lithium batteries managed to successfully escape from the laboratory.

"Nice to meet you." Lu Zhou shook Stanley's hand and looked at the other person before he asked, "This is?"

Professor Stanley said, "This is Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil."

"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu," Darren Woods said with a smile as he reached out his right hand. He then added, "Your theses in Science and Nature are quite impressive. However, some things are too difficult to understand, so I'm afraid I have a lot of questions to ask of you."

Although Lu Zhou hadn't heard of Darren Woods before, he had certainly heard of ExxonMobil.

Two months ago, the CEO of ExxonMobil was still Rex Tillerson. However, in 2016, Rex was named "the world's most influential CEO" and became the Secretary of State.

Woods was the successor of Tillerson.

"Hello," Lu Zhou shook hands with this CEO and said, "Mr. Woods, you are also interested in lithium batteries?"

Woods smiled and said, "Of course, oil is a precious raw material, but it is too wasteful to burn. Actually, due to reasons such as global warming and climate change, we are committed to investing in new energy fields. Batteries are naturally a crucial part."

Although ExxonMobil was primarily an oil company, they were also involved in chemicals, automotive, and various other industries.

The earliest lithium battery was made in Stanley's laboratory, which was funded by Mobil Chemical.

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

It was normal for ExxonMobil to be interested in new energy industries. However, to claim that it was because of global warming was a joke.

Woods looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Speaking of which, is there any progress on the synthesis of HCS-1?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nope."

"That's unfortunate." Woods sighed and said, "It is a good material, but its price is a bit unacceptable."

It was obvious that Mobil Chemical was also using the method described by Lu Zhou in the thesis, which was to use the heated reaction with carbon nanotubes and fullerene materials to obtain a small amount of HCS-1 before mixing in 20% of sulfur.

Although this method was inefficient, it had an excellent energy density.

After all, the application of lithium-sulfur batteries in things like drones or underwater operating equipment was in demand.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, but I think there are many flaws with the material."

Woods shook his head and said, "No, no, no, you don't get it! Not all batteries require a high number of cycle efficiency. Sometimes we use disposable batteries for its high energy density."

Woods paused for a second before continuing, "Solving this problem would benefit the entire world. Do you need funding?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, I don't, so maybe you can invest in some other laboratories that have potential."

"That's a shame; it looks to me that no one else has as much potential as you."

Although Woods said it was "a shame", he didn't look unsatisfied at all.

Obviously, ExxonMobil was also doing similar research in their laboratories.

They might have even produced results already.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Stanley and realized what was going on.

These two are here to check on my research progress.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but shake his head.

You want to know my research progress?

Just buy a Science journal and read it.

Lu Zhou had never hidden his research.

They chatted for a while, and Lu Zhou got bored. He then said his goodbye and dragged his suitcase into his room.

As Woods looked at Lu Zhou walking away, he smiled and turned to Professor Stanley before he asked, "Where do you think his research is at?"

Professor Stanley frowned and said, "Hard to say, he's a talented kid. If the Science theses are his complete results, then our chance of winning is still very high, but I'm not sure."

Professor Stanley paused for a second before speaking again in a serious tone, "Haven't you noticed? Although we were asking about his research progress, he didn't care about our research at all…"

Chapter 325: Adams Chemistry Prize!

Lu Zhou would definitely laugh if he knew what Professor Stanley was thinking.

Honest to god, Lu Zhou didn't care about their conversation at all.

Because he didn't need to care, he had better things to do…

Lu Zhou stayed in his hotel room for the night.

The next day, the Organic Chemistry Conference held by the American Chemical Society began.

Scholars from all over the world participated in this conference. Some were from America, some were from China.

By 9 o'clock in the morning, the huge venue was already filled with people.

Although it was still an hour until the official ceremony began, many people had already arrived, and they were all waiting patiently.

The opening ceremony of the biennial Adams Chemistry Prize was the highlight of the Organic Chemistry Conference. No one wanted to miss it.

Lu Zhou was the first Chinese scholar to receive the medal, and naturally, he was the center of attention.

When Lu Zhou was getting ready backstage, he bumped into a CTV reporter.

The young lady was holding a microphone, and Lu Zhou felt she looked familiar. He suddenly remembered that this was the reporter he met in Stockholm for the Crafoord Prize.

Fate really is a magical thing.

The reporter smiled and spoke in a pleasing voice, "Professor Lu, hello, can I borrow five minutes of your time?"

There was an hour until the opening ceremony began, and Lu Zhou had five minutes to spare.

He said, "Of course."

The lady handed out the microphone and asked, "How are you feeling right now?"

Lu Zhou replied, "It's a bit early to answer this question as the medal is still in the hands of Professor Berstein."

The reporter smiled and said, "Then I'll change my question. Since you are the first Chinese scholar to receive this medal, you must be full of excitement?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "I was excited, but that was two months ago when I first heard I was awarded this award."

The lady asked, "Most people heard about you when you proved the Goldbach's conjecture and when you won the Crafoord Prize. So, they must be surprised that a mathematician was able to win the Adams Chemistry Prize. May I ask then, what sparked your interest in chemistry?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer this question directly. Instead, he smiled and said, "Remember what I said to you in Stockholm?"

The reporter lady smiled and said, "I remember you said that the purpose of mathematics is to change science."

"Exactly, the purpose of mathematics is to change science," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "and right now, I'm changing science."

…

The interview only lasted for five minutes.

The opening ceremony began and it was soon the prize-giving time.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and received a gold medal and a silver watch from Professor Burstein, the president of the American Chemical Society.

Giving silver prizes was a tradition of the Adams Chemistry Prize, and every iteration of the prize was different.

This silver watch was very small; it had the emblem of the Adams Chemistry Prize engraved on the back. Due to the finely crafted patterns, this watch was worth a lot of money. However, the money was insignificant compared to the glory of the Adams Chemistry Prize.

Professor Burstein shook hands with Lu Zhou as he said, "The development of new energy concerns our future. I thank you for your contribution to the world and giving us more time for research."

It seemed that this watch had a meaning behind it.

Lu Zhou took the watch from the professor's hands and said, "Thank you."

The crowd erupted in applause.

The prize-giving time finally ended.

However, the ceremony wasn't finished.

For the Adams Chemistry Prive, there was a tradition that the prize winner had to give an hour-long speech during the ceremony.

This was the highlight of the award ceremony.

Lu Zhou adjusted the microphone and began to speak.

"Materials, energy, and information technology are the three pillars of modern technology. However, other than information technology, our research in the fields of materials and energy over the past century has been slow.

"However, the academic community has been misunderstood. Every day, there are new technologies being born in laboratories in the corners of the world. I believe that everyone here knows that we don't lack new materials, we lack useful materials.

"I think one of the reasons is that we don't have a theoretical system that can find useful materials for us. We've been relying solely on the scientific intuition of researchers.

"This is my motivation behind studying computational materials science." Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at the crowd before he said, "I believe that with rigorous calculations, we can calculate new potential materials and save a lot of money and time."

The professors and scholars in the crowd were nervous.

Jesus, did this guy come up with another mathematics proof again?

"… My report will be semi-academic."

The scholars sighed in relief, especially those chemistry professors that weren't so good with mathematics.

There was no doubt that computational materials science was a promising research direction, and the academic community recognized its value. However, Professor Lu's theory was too difficult to understand.

Although many professors in fields such as crystal chemistry and nanomaterials had an understanding of geometry and topology, their knowledge was rudimentary.

But now it seemed that they didn't have to worry

Lu Zhou already said that this was going to be a semi-academic speech, therefore, he wouldn't talk about anything too difficult.

"… I am studying the effect of the pore size and surface area of carbon nanospheres on the diffusion rate of polysulfide compounds. The copolymer of polyaniline fluorene polypyrrole is used as the precursor, and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride is used as the postcursor."

While speaking, Lu Zhou picked up a piece of chalk from the podium and drew a simple molecular model on the blackboard behind him. He wrote down the surface area, aperture, and other data next to the model.

Up until now, everything was easy to understand.

Everyone had their guard down. However, Lu Zhou suddenly stopped writing and continued to speak, "When I studied these products, I found something interesting…"

Lu Zhou quickly wrote down the first line of the equation.

Then, he went out of control…

Woods sat in the back row of the lecture hall, and he looked around with a worried face.

Before becoming CEO of ExxonMobil, he was an engineer. Therefore, he had a certain understanding of the chemical industry. Although he had never done any research work, he could still read theses.

But now, he had no idea what was on the blackboard.

Woods took a deep breath and looked at Professor Stanley before he whispered, "Are all semi-academic reports this difficult?"

Professor Stanley hesitated for a moment before answering him.

"Normally, it's not like this…"

It was obvious… that this wasn't normal.

Chapter 326: Relax A Bi

The speech ended with a round of applause.

Lu Zhou put down the chalk and looked at the audience.

This crowd is pretty good.

At least a lot better than the MRS Conference.

It was obvious that some chemistry and physics professors were able to understand some of Lu Zhou's theory.

The scholars that had studied his thesis thoroughly understood more than 70% of his speech.

Lu Zhou was happy with this kind of result.

The award ceremony of the Adams Chemistry Prize came to an end.

Lu Zhou put his celebratory thoughts aside and decided to focus on the academic side of the Organic Chemistry Conference.

Even though he was on the cutting edge of research, there were still many things for him to learn.

However, the learning that occurred at a conference was different from the type of learning one would receive from inside a classroom. A scholar that wanted to produce the knowledge needed to discuss with peers, read works of literature, and listen to talks.

And this was exactly what the Organic Chemistry Conference provided.

The next afternoon, Lu Zhou, who had just listened to an organic chemistry lecture, made himself a cup of coffee. He found a corner to sit down and quietly sort out the notes he had just written.

During the talk just now, a researcher presented a non-fullerene organic solar cell, a fluorinated binary heterojunction battery current-voltage curve, and the highest photoelectric conversion efficiency curve.

The data on the graphs were beautiful.

Although Lu Zhou wasn't researching photovoltaic materials, he still had some knowledge of fullerene materials. What interested him the most was the part of mathematical analysis. The author of the thesis had a good mathematical foundation.

Lu Zhou planned to spend some time studying it.

Suddenly, he heard the tapping sounds made by heels.

A beautiful blonde sat across from him.

Lu Zhou looked up at the beautiful woman and asked, "Who are you?"

The blonde woman smiled and said, "My name is Roy, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," Lu Zhou shook her hand and said, "are you a university student?"

"I'm a master's student from Harvard, but not a chemistry major."

I guess she's not giving me her resume.

Lu Zhou asked, "Reporter from the journalism department?"

Roy blinked and said, "Not quite."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "You're a writer?"

"Correct!" Roy snapped her fingers and said, "I'm a science writer."

You're actually a writer?

I guess there's a difference between novel writing and science writing.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I didn't expect writers to be interested in my research. I'm curious, why did you come up to me?"

Roy: "Actually, I signed up for the Organic Chemistry Conference to find the inspiration for writing. I didn't expect to bump into the award winner of the Adams Chemistry Prize."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I guess you didn't understand my speech."

"I didn't, but it didn't prevent your speech from inspiring me. Especially your insights on energy and materials, it brought so much inspiration to my mind." With a serious expression, Roy looked at Lu Zhou as she asked with a sincere tone, "I have a few questions I want to ask you. I don't know if I can borrow some of your time?"

Lu Zhou looked at the steam coming from his coffee cup, and he thought about his itinerary for the day before he said, "… You have time until I finish drinking this cup of coffee."

"No worries, it won't take long," said Roy. She then took out a pen and notebook before she asked, "Then, the first question…"

Roy asked some superficial and mainstream questions.

Lu Zhou tried to use simple words to explain his thoughts.

Time quickly passed by.

Lu Zhou finished his coffee, and since Roy finished asking her questions, she put her notebook and pen away.

"Thank you for taking the time to answer my question, I will send you a copy of my work."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Is your signature on it?"

Roy smiled and said, "I'll sign it if you want."

She then said in a joking tone, "This is my business card. I'm interested in you, maybe we can talk in depth next time."

The gorgeous blonde looked at Lu Zhou in a flirting manner before she left.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled.

Talk in depth?

I'm good.

Even the professors from Cornell University don't understand my theory; it'd be a waste of time to talk with you.

Suddenly, an unexpected acquaintance came over.

As Grynberg looked at Roy leaving, he said, "Your taste is good."

Lu Zhou asked, "Do you want me to ask her phone number for you?"

"This does sound tempting," Grynberg sat down on the sofa and said, "but I'm not here to talk about women."

You're the one that brought her up?

Lu Zhou looked at him as he put Roy's business card away.

"So, what are you here to talk about?"

Grynberg said, "Nothing, I just want to tell you a piece of bad news."

Lu Zhou asked, "Oh yeah?"

Grynberg looked serious as he said, "Mobil Chemical intends to join in on the production of lithium-sulfur battery materials. Not only that, but they have Professor Stanley as well!"

That's it?

Lu Zhou thought it was something major.

He had a bored look as he said, "Oh, I already knew about that."

Grynberg said, "Woods told you?"

Lu Zhou nodded and explained, "That's right. The night before yesterday, he and Stanley came to visit me."

Grynberg looked around and whispered, "Which step are they on?"

Lu Zhou asked, "What do you mean by step?"

Grynberg said, "I'm talking about research progress… Wait a minute, didn't you ask them anything?"

Lu Zhou looked at him strangely and asked, "Why would I need to ask them anything?"

Grynberg: "…"

Grynberg was in disbelief while Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Honestly, I don't understand why you're being so cautious."

"You don't understand how insane the market prospects for sulfur batteries are," said Grynberg. He then took a deep breath and restrained his anxious emotions before he continued, "Listen, Mobil is also researching positive electrode material for lithium-sulfur batteries. Their research and development direction is also carbon-sulfur composites and hollow carbon spheres! You just helped them in a major way! You shouldn't have published the two theses!"

Grynberg wouldn't be that scared if Nichia was ahead of him.

However, ExxonMobil was different.

This oil giant was in the upstream of their chemical industry chain, so they naturally had a unique advantage in the cost of raw materials.

If ExxonMobil became interested in the positive electrode material for lithium-sulfur batteries, it wouldn't only hurt Umicore, it would hurt all chemical giants.

Just like there was a gap between geniuses, there was a gap between giant companies.

However…

What did this have to do with Lu Zhou?

He wasn't a Umicore shareholder.

"I don't agree, communication is needed to create academic value," Lu Zhou said. He then frowned and asked, "Plus this is my own research result, why can't I publish it?"

"No, that's not what I meant." Grynberg noticed that Lu Zhou was annoyed, and he quickly said, "I admire your confidence, but the problem is that ExxonMobil is our competitor! In order to fight us, they have invested US$50 million on Professor Stanley! Do you understand what this means?"

Lu Zhou looked at Grynberg and didn't know how to comfort him.

Obviously, Umicore was also researching the positive electrode material for lithium-sulfur batteries and had invested a lot of money in this project. In a sense, Lu Zhou was competing against Umicore in the lithium-sulfur battery project, but the competition wasn't as strong as that between Umicore and Mobil.

If Lu Zhou came up with the invention first, Umicore would receive part of the profits. If Nichia came up with the invention, then Umicore would take a hit. However, if ExxonMobil were to take the lead, then it would be a lethal blow to Umicore.

Because of this, Lu Zhou's two theses made Umicore panic.

Especially because of the race with Mobil Chemical; no one knew how many meters away they were from the finish line. The two theses were like time bombs which caused Grynberg to lose his sleep.

Lu Zhou realized what he had done.

However, he would've done it again.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said with a gentle tone, "Relax, I've never viewed you as a worthy competitor."

Grynberg: "…"

Chapter 327: Worship Among Geniuses

"On April 11th, the American Chemical Society held an international organic chemistry seminar in San Francisco and unveiled the winner of the Adams Chemistry Prize.

"The award was established to commemorate the famous chemist, Roger Adams. Since 1995, the American Chemical Society has been giving this award every two years to outstanding scholars in the field of organic chemistry. Among the 29 winners, 11 of them were also winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

"The winner of this year's Adams Chemistry Prize is Professor Lu Zhou from Princeton University. He won this award due to his research on the modified PDMS film material which has solved a 30-year-old problem…"

The news was playing on a TV in a cafeteria within the compound of Jin Ling University.

Meng Qi had a pair of chopsticks in her hand as she stared at Lu Zhou receiving the medal from an old man.

Her three roommates also noticed the news, but their reactions weren't as big as Meng Qi. They started to discuss among themselves.

Li Fang looked at the TV and said, "Amazing… What an impressive alumnus."

Luo Meng asked, "Speaking of which, he's the director of the computational materials research institute?"

Su Jiawen: "That's him. I heard from the leaders of the student union that he is very good. Every time he comes back to our school, the academicians would welcome him with open arms. Oh yeah, Meng Qi is an intern at the computational materials research institute, right?"

Li Fang looked at Meng Qi and said, "Meng Qi, have you seen Lu Zhou in person before?"

Two months ago, the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials recruited interns based on their academic grades.

There weren't many opportunities for undergrad students to be exposed to scientific research, so this was a good opportunity for students that wanted to stay in academia.

Meng Qi was one of the three students that got this internship opportunity.

Han Mengqi nodded subconsciously.

"Oh… Yeah, I've seen him before."

Not at the computational materials research institute though…

Li Fang asked curiously, "Then tell us, is he the same person in real life?"

Han Mengqi thought for a moment before she said, "Around the same… He's a bit more handsome than on TV."

"Speaking of which, doesn't he do mathematics?" Luo Meng asked while eating, "When did he start doing chemistry?"

Li Fang said, "Yeah… I really don't understand these geniuses. He's basically a legend."

Su Jiawen said, "Only a pretty girl like Mengqi can date a guy as talented as God Lu."

Su Jiawen was only just joking; she didn't expect Meng Qi to take it seriously.

Meng Qi instantly blushed.

"What are you talking about…"

Meng Qi became quiet.

She suddenly noticed that her three friends were all staring at her.

Han Mengqi asked nervously, "What… are you guys doing?"

Su Jiawen rubbed her chin and said, "I don't know if you guys noticed, but this is the first time that Meng Qi has blushed over a guy."

Luo Meng nodded and said, "Maybe…"

Li Fang said, "Did you…"

Han Mengqi was being questioned by her three roommates, and she panicked.

"No, it's not what you guys think!"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just an idol." Li Fang smiled and said, "Even a genius would admire other geniuses. I support you!"

Han Mengqi smiled unnaturally.

"… Thanks."

Meng Qi sighed in relief but couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Is he an idol?

It seemed that in other people's eyes, Lu Zhou had reached an unattainable level.

However, it wasn't like she had those dirty thoughts…

Li Fang patted her shoulder and said, "Which part of God Lu do you like?"

Li Fang wasn't the only one curious, even Luo Meng and Su Jiawen were curious as well.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not that kind of like…" Meng Qi said, "It's more like a brother kind of like."

Luo Meng said, "Brother? He is older than you."

Su Jiawen said, "Meng Qi is an only child, right? Siblings are annoying."

Han Mengqi smiled and said, "No way, I think siblings can't be that annoying…"

I don't really feel like I have a family, so maybe it would be better with a brother?

Ever since Han Mengqi met Xiao Tong in Philadelphia, she had been thinking about how nice her life would be if she switched places with Xiao Tong.

Deep down, Han Mengqi wished that Lu Zhou would date Chen Yushan. She had even tried on numerous occasions to set them up.

Through this way, she could call Lu Zhou her brother…

Girls always changed their topic of conversation quickly, and they soon started to talk about Su Jiawen's brother instead.

Normally, Han Mengqi would chime in.

However, the little girl was thinking about something else today.

Just now, Li Fang reminded her of something.

Is it a bad thing if Lu Zhou is my idol?

If he's my idol, I can fantasize about him.

Maybe I should say it…

"Bro, brothe…"

Han Mengqi shook her head and clenched her teeth as she stopped herself from saying those shameful words.

In the end, she gave up, and she slammed her forehead on the table.

As expected, this was too difficult for her…

…

After eating, Han Mengqi parted ways with her three roommates and went to the computational materials research institute.

Even though her work up until now was trivial, as she merely did stuff like sorting out documents, she had learned a lot of useful things from this job.

Han Mengqi worked hard every day.

Suddenly, someone stopped her.

"Hey, where is the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials?"

Han Mengqi paused for a second as she looked at this person.

She saw a guy in a plaid shirt and black glasses. There was nothing special about his appearance. He looked like a typical engineer. Although he didn't look like a bad person, he looked a little dodgy.

"You're not from here?"

Who doesn't know where the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials is?

The news spread on campus when the chemistry department decided to loan the entire building to God Lu.

The guy panicked and said, "The thing is… I'm here to find Dr. Yang, I have some things to ask him. Can you please tell me where it is, thanks!"

His acting was very poor.

Han Mengqi became even more suspicious of him.

Who cares what you're here to do, why are you telling me…

Han Mengqi pointed in a general direction.

"Just go down the road from here…"

Han Mengqi was going the same direction, but this guy was too suspicious, so she didn't want to walk with him.

The guy thanked her and went on his way.

Han Mengqi looked at him and frowned.

Why do I…

Why do I feel like…

This person is a bit strange?

Chapter 328: Spying On The Enemy

Liu Hong was helpless.

He knew how to do experiments, and he knew how to kiss a*s, but his emotional intelligence wasn't high enough to "spy on the enemy".

However, he had no other options; he had to follow his boss' orders.

If the supervisor asked him to clean the toilet, he would have to do it.

However, Wang Haifeng was still "generous" as he paid for Liu Hong's train ticket to Jinling.

There were many ways to explore the research progress of a research institute. For example, the simplest and most barbaric way was to poach the enemy's employees by offering to triple their salary. Although this sounded unethical, it was the most efficient way.

However, this method was obviously expensive.

Although research funding could be used to pay researchers, having high salaries would be alarming to investors. Research funding was no joke.

No investor would want their money wasted on employees that were overpaid.

Also, it wasn't like anyone would be dumb enough to ditch Lu Zhou.

A scholar at the international "Nobel Prize" level was more attractive than Wang Haifeng. Therefore, Wang Haifeng didn't even consider this method at all. Instead, he asked Liu Hong to investigate.

Honestly, this was the most ineffective and dumb method.

Liu Hong was at the computational materials research institute. He was just thinking about how he would complete this impossible task when someone suddenly shouted at him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

Liu Hong was shocked by this voice, he turned around and saw a worker here.

"I'm…"

Liu Hong was trying to come up with an excuse when the worker asked, "You're here for recruitment?"

Liu Hong immediately nodded and replied, "Yeah, yeah! I'm here to apply for a researcher role."

The worker smiled and asked, "You're actually here for a job? This place is not easy to get in, what are your qualifications? Did you bring your resume?"

Liu Hong smiled and made up an excuse. "I've got a PhD from Zhi University… I didn't bring my resume. I'm only looking around, and I haven't decided yet."

"Zhi University, not bad, not bad. Zhi University's material department is quite strong," the worker nodded and said, "but still not as strong as ours."

Liu Hong wanted to curse at the worker, but he remembered his mission, so he swallowed his words.

He quickly changed the topic.

"How are the benefits here?"

The worker looked at Liu Hong suspiciously and thought why didn't Liu Hong look at the recruitment guide; the benefits were all written there.

However, the worker still answered the question.

"Different positions have different salaries. A PhD from Zhi University… probably 12,000 yuan per month, and as for research funding and patent rewards, that depends on your abilities."

12,000 yuan?!

When Liu Hong heard this number, he cursed in his heart.

100,000 yuan per year wasn't high for programmers, but materials science was different.

Materials science students were always being told stuff like "Materials science graduates can't find a job" or "How about going into sales instead?"

"… Are the benefits that good?" Liu Hong was intrigued.

"It's okay, but the benefits aren't the main part," said the worker. The worker then added, "Us researchers have to look away from money. Our boss is God Lu, the guy that won the Adams Chemistry Prize. Our second in command is also nutty, he has a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Who wouldn't want to work for this lineup?"

This lineup really was nutty.

Liu Hong would be willing to work here for half the salary… Right now, his salary was only at 3,000 yuan per month.

Liu Hong gulped. He was suddenly envious as hell.

People loved to compare themselves to others.

He remembered that he was still a PhD student, so he had to provide cheap labor for his supervisor.

Liu Hong suddenly had a crazy thought.

He was still young; he should make some risky choices.

He said, "I… have a question."

"Ask."

Liu Hong asked, "Do you guys hire people with master's degrees?"

The worker looked at him.

I thought this guy had a PhD?

…

Three days after the award ceremony, Lu Zhou was being tagged all over on Weibo.

His fans weren't happy that Lu Zhou didn't share his joy on Weibo. Therefore, they were all tagging him in related blogs.

Those titles of the blog posts were spicy.

[The First Chinese Adams Chemistry Prize Winner?!]

[Shocking! Top Award In Organic Chemistry Was Given To a Mathematician!]

[From "1+1" To "Li+S", Look At This Guy!]

Lu Zhou looked at his notifications and was dumbfounded.

He was being tagged left and right.

[God Lu, you've changed, you've stopped bragging.]

[I've waited for two days for God Lu's Weibo post, I am disappointed.]

[I have been reading about God Lu on Weibo all night.]

[God Lu, you are amazing!]

[…]

Lu Zhou looked at these comments and was confused.

Honestly speaking, he didn't want to brag.

However, his fans were giving him a hard time.

Lu Zhou finally smiled and took a photo of his gold medal and watch. He wrote a caption and posted the photo, thus sharing his joy with his fans.

As usual, there was a prize for forwarding his post.

The prize was 10 Huawei phones; the brand was reliable and had good quality.

Even though he didn't care too much about other people's opinions, he still liked the brand.

Lu Zhou clicked "Send" and put his phone down. He planned to check the post in a minute.

The comment section was slowly growing.

Professor Sarrot sat across from Lu Zhou, and he drank his coffee before he asked, "Speaking of which, did you book your return flight?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, it's in three days."

Sarrot asked, "Do you not want to hang around in San Francisco? If I remember correctly, spring break isn't over yet."

"I'm a professor, not a student, what does spring break have to do with me?" Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "If I recall correctly, you're a Cornell University professor, don't you have to teach classes?"

"I have other teachers helping me, I only have to occasionally give a few lectures. It's not uncommon for well-known professors to work in laboratories, and they don't have to stay on the Cornell University campus." Sarrot smiled and said, "Besides, I prefer San Francisco!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? I prefer the quietness of Princeton."

Sarrot heard his phone ringing.

"I have to take this call."

Sarrot grabbed his phone from his pocket, stood up, and walked to the side.

He placed his phone to his ear and had a weird expression.

His veins were popping out of his face.

Five minutes after, Sarrot ended the call and came back.

Lu Zhou asked Sarrot, "What happened?"

Sarrot clenched his fists as he snapped, "Those bastards! I will sue them!"

Chapter 329: Not A Big Problem

Sarrot Research Institute

Five resignation letters were placed on the table.

Professor Sarrot didn't even bother to look at the letters. On the other hand, Lu Zhou picked up the letters and read them curiously.

Then, Lu Zhou knew why Sarrot was so angry.

It was obvious that Sarrot wasn't well-liked among the research institute employees as they had all insulted him in the resignation letter.

But this made sense. Before Lu Zhou acquired the research institute, Sarrot was months behind on his researchers' salary. If it wasn't for Lu Zhou, many of these researchers wouldn't have gotten their pay.

"This bunch of scumbags!"

Sarrot sat next to the office desk and was full of anger.

Suddenly, the office door opened, and his research assistant walked in with a stack of documents.

The assistant whispered nervously, "Mr. Sarrot, the documents that you wanted…"

The research assistant looked away from Sarrot while speaking.

Lu Zhou shook his head, smiled, and reached out his hand.

"Give them to me."

"Okay, professor…"

The assistant sighed in relief and quickly left the office.

The assistant diligently closed the door.

Lu Zhou sat down on the sofa and began to flip through the documents.

The documents were divided into two parts; one part was the original contracts of the employees that were leaving, and the other was the loss assessment report.

Mobil Chemical was very fast, and Professor Stanley was decisive.

The battle had just begun, and they already poached five researchers.

Since this was San Francisco, Lu Zhou could easily find replacements. However, the problem was that they had to train the new employees all over again.

Because of the resignation of the five employees, the research progress of Sarrot's laboratory had stagnated.

If this was the only thing, then it wouldn't be that bad.

In a middle-level research institute with a well-managed system, even researchers who were responsible for the same project could not access all the experimental data.

However, this was the problem.

One of the research assistants called Ricardo could leak out the information.

Mentioned in this loss assessment report, the data that the research assistant had contained the spatial structure of the carbon molecules and some mathematical models that had yet to be perfected…

Although there was no direct evidence that he would leak the information, this type of thing didn't require evidence at all.

However, Lu Zhou was relieved.

Sarrot couldn't help but ask, "Are you not worried at all?"

"It's only five assistants," Lu Zhou placed the document on the table and said, "it's not a big problem."

"Not a big problem?" Sarrot looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief and said, "This is bad! Not only do they know our research progress, they know exactly what we are researching!"

"Don't be so scared, my dear Professor Sarrot." Lu Zhou then said, "This is San Francisco, you should understand that jumping ship is normal."

Professor Stanley Whittingham was also a big name in the field of lithium batteries and was the director of the Institute of Materials Research at Binghamton University in the State University of New York.

Thirty years ago, under ExxonMobil Chemical, he developed a TiS2/Li lithium battery system. Due to the lithium dendrite problem, it couldn't be commercialized.

Lu Zhou was a newcomer in the field of materials science, therefore his reputation wasn't as good as Professor Stanley's.

Also, Stanley was not alone. The major shareholder behind his lab was the famous ExxonMobil; the real industry giant that even Umicore was afraid of.

Regardless, it was what it was, and there was no point dwelling over the past.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he made a decision.

"We have the non-compete agreement and the non-disclosure agreement, so we can just sue ExxonMobil and make them pay the price."

"This doesn't hurt ExxonMobil, and we have to hire expensive lawyers," Sarrot said. He then cursed, "This group of a*sholes!"

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "No worries, we have the upper hand. I will let Star Sky Technology handle the case and hire the best lawyers in New York."

Although Lu Zhou was an easygoing person, he would never allow people to play outside of the rules.

If someone was willing to steal intellectual property from him, then they had to be prepared to be sued!

According to the previously signed non-compete agreement, researchers who left the job in abnormal procedures would be prohibited from doing work in related fields for five years. Otherwise, they would bear an additional penalty. Especially for Ricardo, Lu Zhou intended to sue him for commercial espionage, and depending on the seriousness of the circumstances, this crime might be subjected to criminal charges.

Lu Zhou said, "Also, we have to strengthen our confidentiality measures."

Professor Sarrot said, "I will ask the legal team to rewrite our confidentiality contract and non-compete agreement."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "You also have to remember that you can't always retain talent and that your opponent can always afford a higher price than you."

For companies, the corporate culture mattered. For research institutions, what mattered was the scientific research environment created by well-known scholars, top of the line equipment, research results, and management system.

This was the price for research.

"I know, now is not the time to talk about these things. What next?" Sarrot looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Should we continue to fight with Mobil Chemical on this?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Of course, we shouldn't change our research direction because of something so small."

Sarrot said, "They have ten times our manpower, doing ten times the work. To put it bluntly, we have no chance at all."

Lu Zhou looked at Sarrot and was helpless.

What should I say?

The HCS-1 material was accidentally obtained when he was studying the caged carbon molecule, and it was Sarrot's research institute that produced the two theses.

But neither the caged carbon molecule nor the research project by Sarrot had anything to do with lithium-sulfur batteries.

Sarrot's research was only to complete Lu Zhou's system mission.

Obviously, he couldn't say this to him.

Lu Zhou wasn't sure if telling Sarrot the truth would make him feel better…

Chapter 330: Second Best News

Institute of Materials Research at Binghamton University in the State of New York.

In a conference room with good soundproofing system, Professor Stanley was standing with his assistant, Darren Woods, and representatives from various companies in front of a laptop.

The image displayed on the computer was a caged carbon molecule…

"I'm right, this guy is sophisticated! He didn't publish all of his research in the two theses!"

Professor Stanley looked at the data and images on the computer, and his voice was filled with excitement.

If this was an exam, then what was in front of him would be the exam answers!

Right now, he just had to fill in the "answer steps"…

He was the director of the research institute, and as long as Mobil Chemical could afford the price, he would utilize all the researchers from the research institute to work on his project.

The Binghamton University Materials Research Institute was huge; it could very easily crush the small Sarrot Research Institute just by using scientific research labor alone.

His assistant was shocked as he said, "Unbelievable… Mathematics can calculate the spatial structure of a macromolecule? This is unheard of!"

Using mathematical models to perform computational analysis was nothing new. In fact, more than 80% of the theses produced by the supercomputer "Anton" were like this.

However, even "Anton" couldn't do a simulation like this.

Professor Stanley looked serious; he was speechless.

He didn't want to believe it.

But the facts were in his face.

The HCS-1 material had shown its abilities to prevent diffusion of polysulfide compounds into the electrolyte.

Woods stared at the computer screen and asked, "What can we tell from this?"

Woods was an entrepreneur; he only cared about the patents.

ExxonMobil paid a huge price to poach five research assistants from Lu Zhou.

Although a few million USD was nothing for Mobil Chemical, they wanted their money to be put into good use.

Professor Stanley heard Woods and smiled.

"This is a caged carbon molecular model. The HCS-1 material is morphologically similar to it, except that it lacks several key π bonds, large π bonds, and carbon atoms. According to my speculation, the HCS- 1 materials are most likely the by-products from this caged carbon molecule.

"This should be the key to lithium-sulfur batteries!"

This finally made sense.

Previously, Professor Stanley couldn't understand why in Lu Zhou's thesis, he added expensive fullerene materials and carbon nanotubes to the reactor. Now he knew. It was because the HCS-1 material was screened from a pile of "useless" carbon garbage.

Stanley couldn't help but smirk.

Who would have thought that the HCS-1 material proposed in that thesis was merely a by-product of the experimental waste. No wonder Lu Zhou published the in-progress results with such confidence and didn't care about our research progress.

If it wasn't for this data and carbon molecular model, just basing off the two theses in Science, we would have never figured out what they were researching.

Professor Stanley didn't hesitate. He looked at his assistant and said, "We are already behind them, thankfully not by much.

"Inform the research groups and immediately adjust the research direction. From now on, focus on the technical problem of caged carbon molecules and produce a physical and chemical properties analysis!

"Also, hire 20 research interns! We have to complete this project first!

"Hurry!"

The assistant immediately nodded and said, "Understood". He then left the conference room.

Looking at how enthusiastic Professor Stanley was, Woods couldn't help but smile.

"Mobil Chemical will support your research, I wish you guys success!"

Professor Stanley shook Woods' hand and smiled.

"Thank you! It's a pleasure working with you!"

…

Professor Stanley was strategic.

Through this limited data, he had already extracted 70% of Lu Zhou's research.

However, there was something that he missed out on.

The Sarrot Research Institute wasn't researching lithium-sulfur batteries. In fact, they were researching something completely different…

After the meeting ended, Woods came out of the conference room with his secretary.

Suddenly, a man sitting on the sofa outside the conference room stood up and walked toward him.

This man was Ricardo, the one that made Sarrot furious.

However, he didn't look as happy as when he first received the salary increment.

Because just now, he received a subpoena from the court.

Star Sky Technology, the parent company of Sarrot Research Institute, was preparing to sue him for the non-compete agreement and confidentiality contract he signed.

Not only that, but compared to his four colleagues that also jumped ship, he had another case waiting for him.

That was corporate espionage.

This was a lot worse than the other civil cases.

Although the federal labor laws tried to protect the rights of workers, if the company case was convincing enough, not only would he have to face high fines, but he could even go to prison.

Because of this, Ricardo was extremely afraid.

He walked up to Woods and asked, "You said that you will help me fight the lawsuit, right?"

"No worries, Mr. Ricardo, we will help you resolve the lawsuits. Your data was of great use to us."

Woods had a bright smile on his face.

Ricardo being sued was the second-best news he heard today.

This meant that his opponent was pissed off, and Ricardo's data was valuable.

It was only a lawsuit— a piece of cake for ExxonMobil…

Chapter 331: Helper Part-time Bodyguard?

Although Sarrot was angry that his laboratory was infiltrated, it was only a small setback for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou tried to calm Professor Sarrot down. He then returned to the organic chemistry conference and focused on his own matters.

Actually, if Professor Stanley could really complete the research using his model, he might even give Stanley a little reward for completing his system mission.

After all, the system mission only required the technology to be researched; it didn't matter who conducted the research.

Is spending money in helping others to complete the missions a patriotic act?

Lu Zhou didn't know.

He hoped that good things would come to good people.

He also hoped that Professor Stanley wouldn't take the "final exam" answers and copied it onto the "midterm exam".

Around half a week later, the Organic Chemistry Conference finally came to an end.

Lu Zhou didn't change his itinerary; he flew back to the East Coast.

After arriving at Philadelphia, Lu Zhou went to the Star Sky Technology office and met with his manager, White Sheridan.

Lu Zhou gave a copy of the relevant contracts to White and gave a brief overview of the lawsuit. He told White to hire the most capable team of lawyers and prepare for war.

If everything went as expected, Mobil Chemical would definitely try to delay and drag this for as long as possible.

However, Lu Zhou didn't care.

He was able to afford the litigation and attorney fees…

…

After the Adams Chemistry Prize, Lu Zhou placed all his energy back into research.

Sarrot's laboratory ran into problems with the carbon molecules and was stagnated.

On the side of the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, they continued to study a stable preparation method for HCS-1 materials while attempting to improve the HCS-1 material to be ready for the industry.

As for Lu Zhou, he was working on the mathematical model for the positive electrode material of the lithium-sulfur battery and was improving his computational materials science theory by doing experiments.

All of this had to be done step by step.

The day before the end of spring break, Connie returned to Frick Chemistry Laboratory and began the next set of experiments with Lu Zhou.

Connie put on a white coat and was about to prepare for the upcoming experiment when he suddenly remembered something and said, "Professor Chiric said that I can graduate soon."

Lu Zhou was checking the instrument, and he gently lifted a test tube and made a toasting gesture with the test tube.

"Congratulations."

Obviously, this was only a gesture.

Lu Zhou couldn't actually drink the organic electrolyte solution in the test tube.

"Thanks to your thesis." Connie looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Because of you, I can now graduate."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're welcome, you deserve it."

The thesis about HCS-1 on Science naturally had Lu Zhou as its first author.

As for the second, third, and fourth author, it was ranked by contribution. There were researchers from Sarrot's research institute, and Connie was also on the list.

Finally, after adding the two Science theses to Connie's previous work, Connie would be able to receive his PhD by the middle of this year.

Lu Zhou asked, "Do you have any plans for your future?"

"I originally planned to go to MIT to do two years of postdoc research, then become a formal researcher." Connie looked at Lu Zhou and said, "But now, I think staying in Princeton is pretty good."

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "Have you thought about it carefully? Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the paradise for engineering majors; you might be better suited there."

Princeton was more of a theory-based university, and its chemistry department wasn't particularly impressive.

Doing a nanomaterials postdoc here wouldn't be as helpful as doing one in Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Connie nodded seriously and said, "I've thought about it. The people you do experiments with is more important than where you do the experiments at."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm happy you can think this way. If you want, you can join my research team!"

Connie smiled and said, "Of course I want to, thank you so much!"

A postdoctoral degree wasn't a degree. It referred to scholars that had recently obtained a doctoral degree but hadn't become a full-time researcher yet.

Generally speaking, postdocs would have supervisors as well.

However, their supervisors were different as their supervisors would be more cooperative than authoritative.

Especially in foreign countries, the relationship between the supervisor and the postdoctoral researcher was almost colleague-like.

Connie's professional knowledge was impressive, but it still depended on how he used it.

Although this guy seemed to be a hunk and didn't look like a researcher at all, Lu Zhou didn't care about this stuff. Lu Zhou only cared about his abilities in conducting experiments.

Also, Connie could also be a part-time bodyguard…

After all, places like the MRS Conference weren't peaceful at all.

After completing the experiment, Lu Zhou registered the data on the computer.

Suddenly, Xiao Ai's notification popped up on his laptop screen.

[Master! Someone is video calling!]

Lu Zhou closed the pop-up and said, "I know, open it for me."

[Okay!]

Lu Zhou: "…"

After more than a year of upgrading, Xiao Ai could now accurately identify Lu Zhou's voice, and Xiao Ai could even understand Lu Zhou's emotions.

This was undoubtedly a great improvement.

However, Lu Zhou felt like Xiao Ai could do more…

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu through the screen and asked, "What's up?"

"Good things!" Yang Xu smiled and said, "The idea of synthesizing the HCS-1 material through glucose as a precursor is working! Our experiment is a success!"

Lu Zhou heard this news and smiled.

A stable synthesis of HCS-1 material was the first step to HCS-2 material, and the only way to solve this problem was to create more HCS-1 samples. Also, the experimental data it created could be used to analyze the reason why it could inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds.

Lu Zhou could further improve his theory by using this data.

"This is a piece of good news. Remember to send the experimental data to my email."

Yang Xu nodded and said, "Of course, I already told Qian Zhongming to send it. You will receive the experiment report soon!"

The main reason for the call was to tell Lu Zhou the good news.

However, before ending the call, Yang Xu suddenly remembered something else that happened.

"Oh wait, one more thing."

Lu Zhou: "Say it."

Yang Xu hesitated for a moment before he said, "Here's the thing, there was a researcher that applied to our institute…"

Lu Zhou said, "Do you really need to report this small matter to me? Just make a judgment yourself."

Yang Xu was helpless.

"The problem isn't his professional abilities. I've looked at his resume, and it's pretty good. In fact, it was even better than most PhD holders. He also has experience in thesis writing."

Lu Zhou looked confused. "His salary requirement is too high?"

"Not that." Yang Xu coughed and said, "It's just that he has a unique background…"

Chapter 332: Scientific Research Boss

Lu Zhou figured out the truth and found out that he had inexplicably offended someone.

Lu Zhou didn't know what to do after hearing the news.

If he didn't hear about Liu Hong from Yang Xu, he wouldn't even remember where this Wang Haifeng guy came from.

Honestly speaking, having disagreements was nothing unusual in the academic community. After all, there were bound to be people that had different viewpoints.

But, did Lu Zhou care about these people?

Lu Zhou tapped his index finger on the desk, leaned back on his chair, and began to think with his eyes closed.

Don't underestimate opening reports; a real scientific research opening report is completely different than an undergraduate student's opening report.

The writer must have a high level of professional knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of the background of the research.

After all, the opening report is to convince others to invest in you. Although the final result would depend on the investors, a report should still be taken seriously.

Also, the person responsible for the opening report is also responsible for the oral defense. Therefore, whoever writes the opening report is certainly more skilled than the average researcher.

In addition, if Yang Xu didn't believe that Liu Hong has a special talent, he wouldn't have brought this matter to me.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "If you think he's good, then hire him. As long as he wasn't fired because of academic misconduct, I'm fine with it."

Right now was the early stages of the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, and they needed talent.

If the Massachusetts Institute of Technology postdoc thought he had value, then he should be hired.

"I understand, but that's not the problem." Yang Xu sighed and said, "I heard from my classmates in China that Wang Haifeng is well known in the domestic materials science community; he might even become an academician in a few years. Making him your enemy might not be a good idea."

Lu Zhou said, "It doesn't matter. From what I'm seeing, we're getting a talented person to help with our research, so it's worth it."

What a joke, I'm a "Nobel Prize" level scholar, why do I have to care about some random "pre-academician"?

Not to mention, Wang Haifeng is only known domestically.

Also…

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Also, if I don't hire this guy, he might even thank me."

Yang Xu smiled and said, "You're right, I'm overthinking it."

Lu Zhou said, "Oh yeah, remember to make him sign the confidentiality agreement."

Yang Xu nodded. "Of course."

…

Liu Hong sat outside Yang Xu's office, and he looked nervous.

He looked like a prisoner sitting in court, waiting for the judgment of his fate… even though he had done nothing wrong.

However, this wasn't an easy decision for him.

This meant that his efforts for the past two years would be wasted. He had to start all over again with a master's degree. He would also offend a famous person in academia.

Although Wang Haifeng was nothing compared to Lu Zhou, it was still bad to make enemies.

Liu Hong didn't know if this decision was a curse or a blessing.

Liu Bo stood next to him and sighed.

He went to the water dispenser and got a cup of water before he said to Liu Hong, "Friend, drink some water."

Even though they had to accept working for long hours and being ordered around all day, researchers still had their dignity. Being sent on a spy mission was ridiculous…

Most people often chose to endure the demands, but some people wouldn't.

Liu Bo felt sympathetic that Liu Hong had such a heartless supervisor.

A supervisor could force a stellar student to stay and use them as cheap and high-quality labor.

Liu Bo was well aware of this. Even Jin Ling University had supervisors like Wang Haifeng— every university did.

Everyone had to be cautious when choosing their supervisors.

Liu Hong shook his head and nervously said, "No thanks… Please, I just want to start as an intern! Just give me a chance to prove myself!"

Liu Bo said, "No point saying it to me, I don't manage things around here."

Suddenly, a third voice joined the conversation.

"Willing to start from an internship position? I'll remember you said that."

Yang Xu was outside the office door.

Liu Hong was stunned. He quickly stood up from the sofa and said, "Yes! I will prove my abilities!"

"Not bad, you're ambitious." Yang Xu looked at Liu Hong and said, "From tomorrow onward, you will work at the computational materials science analysis department. Liu Bo will arrange work for you. But I have to tell you that you won't be able to conduct any experiments during your internship. Your main job will be cleaning equipment, sorting chemicals, and etc. Sounds good?"

When Liu Hong heard that his resume was accepted, he said with excitement, "No problem! I accept!"

"Then try your best, this is not a vacation." Yang Xu walked up and patted Liu Hong's back as he said, "Oh yeah, if you can, try to get a PhD, it's very useful."

Liu Hong smiled and said, "Okay!"

Qian Zhongming was standing beside Liu Bo who then poked his arm and said quietly, "This is their world."

Qian Zhongming looked as normal as ever.

"What world?"

"Our boss' world." Liu Bo couldn't help but say, "Our boss is at a level where he doesn't even need to poach himself; people are willing to jump ship just for him."

Chapter 333: Chemistry Needs My Model!

Brother Qian's work efficiency was very high.

On the second day that Yang Xu began working, Lu Zhou received an email from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. Attached was an experimental report that summarized all of the experimental data collected during this time.

Lu Zhou could continue to perfect his theory using this data.

He could finally start the next step.

The next morning, Lu Zhou called Jerick into his office and asked, "I remember that you told me you wanted to research computational materials. Are you ready for it?"

Jerick immediately said with excitement, "Of course! Professor, I am ready!"

Jerick finished his undergraduate degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he majored in both applied mathematics and applied chemistry. He was the only student under Lu Zhou that had degrees in both mathematics and chemistry.

Wei Wen sat next to them at the desk while looking at them with jealousy.

Jerick, who was in the same cohort as himself, already chose a research direction.

However, it had been half a year, but Wei Wen hadn't been involved in any kind of research.

Lu Zhou could sense Wei Wen's jealousy so he said, "You don't have to envy him. If you want to research mathematical physics, you have to spend more time and effort than him."

Mathematical physics and computational chemistry were different; the latter was experimental based and tried to explain phenomena with new theories, while the former went beyond experiments and entered the unknown field.

The effort needed to break into a newly emerging field versus a mature field was completely different.

Wei Wen obviously knew this, so he was only a little jealous.

He nodded and said, "Okay."

Jerick raised his hand and asked, "Professor, what do you need me to do?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer this question directly. Instead, he smiled as he replied, "This is a good question, come somewhere with me. You'll know when you get there."

…

Any research began with reading theses.

Whether it was theoretical research or applied research.

Lu Zhou didn't rush to start calculations after receiving the experiment data. Instead, he buried his head in the library.

Lu Zhou planned to do this work by himself, but now he had two helpers. One was Jerick who was interested in computational materials, and the other was a postdoc in computational materials.

Jerick was sitting next to Lu Zhou as he read a piece of literature when he suddenly asked, "Professor, how did you come up with the idea of using hollow carbon spheres to solve the shuttle effect?"

Lu Zhou casually read the documents as he replied, "Scientific intuition? And inspiration. Actually, there is no correct thinking when it comes to decisions like this, only a relatively appropriate idea."

"Relatively appropriate idea…" Jerick looked at the documents in his hand and nodded.

With the help of the two assistants, researching theses didn't take too long.

Reading all of the relevant documents only took a week.

But the work after that wasn't so easy.

Lu Zhou had to do the computing part himself.

The last day of March, Lu Zhou didn't get to his office at the Institute for Advanced Study. After he got out of bed, he walked into the study room next to his bedroom.

He sat in his tiny room and made himself a cup of coffee. He then opened the drawer and took out a pen.

Lu Zhou wrote down a line of words on a blank page.

[Theoretical Model Of Electrochemical Interface Structure]

Electrochemical interface theory was an important pillar of modern electrochemistry and one of the classical problems in theoretical chemistry. It was like the twin prime guess in mathematics, where it occupied a central position in a certain type of problem.

The concept could be traced back to the early 1980s when the interface molecular model was proposed.

Since then, the classical concept of electrochemical interfaces had been transforming into the modern concept of condensed matter physics.

Due to the development of technology, simulations such as the molecular dynamics simulation, Monte Carlo simulation, and other simulation methods were born. This made the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface more applicable.

Even then, no one could provide a theoretical model that could reasonably explain the various microscopic electrochemical processes occurring on the interface.

Two examples.

How to explain the differential capacitance curve of a polycrystalline metal electrode?

How to explain the origin of the capacitance peak in the differential capacitance curve of the Hg electrode in the electrolyte solution of different solvents?

Although these sounded like simple problems, they had never been answered before.

Answering these questions would mean at least two or three Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Nobel Committee paid more attention to theory than application.

After all, if someone was able to come up with an answer to these questions, even if it wouldn't affect a company's bank account, it would greatly impact civilization. It was more important than the invention of the modified PDMS.

Even Lu Zhou couldn't solve every single problem.

However, the Group Structure Method was based on additive number theory.

If he could use mathematical properties to describe the interface properties, then based on this, he could establish a theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure. He could build a theoretical tool that could answer all of these questions!

Lu Zhou looked at the thesis title on the page before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The next time he opened his eyes, there was an unprecedented concentration in his mind.

His past six months of work was paving the road for this.

He had collected a large amount of data for this.

And right now, he just had to finish the job!

…

As time went by, the paper bin in the corner of the study room gradually piled up.

Whenever Lu Zhou was tired, he would go to sleep in his bedroom. After he woke up, he would come back to his study room and continue to think.

Other than for his meals, he didn't even go downstairs.

He never even went outside the house.

Lu Zhou used countless amounts of pen and paper. He wrote down the last equation on the A4 paper and suddenly stopped.

Lu Zhou sat there for about an hour or so before he scratched his head and threw the pen away.

He paced back and forth in his study room while repeating the same sentence.

"Chemistry needs my theoretical model…"

Suddenly, Lu Zhou remembered something, and his eyes lit up.

He stopped walking and looked at the mountain of papers.

"I need a super…

"I need a supercomputer for computational chemistry!"

Chapter 334: Teaching Assistant's Job

It had been a while since Lu Zhou step foot into his office at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Vera could still contact him through email a few days ago, but now Lu Zhou didn't even reply to her anymore.

Professor Pierre Deligne, who once served as a tutor for Professor Lu, said that this kind of closed-door research where one was completely isolated from the outside world was a unique way for Professor Lu to think. Not replying to emails meant that Lu Zhou was getting closer to the solution…

However, as Lu Zhou's assistant and student, Vera was worried.

Actually, it wasn't only Vera that was worried; Qin Yue and all of the students were also worried about what happened to him.

Therefore, Hardy proposed for the group to take some time out on the weekends to visit Professor Lu.

At the very least, they could confirm whether their professor was still alive…

"Jesus… There's dust on the door handle. When was the last time our professor left the house?" Hardy looked at the dust on his hand and said, "I'll definitely die if I stay in the house for a month."

He was a member of the Princeton Football Club and played football every evening. If he couldn't play for some reason, he would feel uncomfortable the next day.

Is there really someone that can lock themselves inside their house for over a month, away from society?

Hardy would die if it were him.

Qin Yue said, "This is the difference between our professor and you. If you spent less time playing football and more time on research, I bet we would progress much faster."

The two guys were getting beaten by the little girl. Even Qin Yue, who was usually quite reserved, couldn't help but criticize his teammate.

"Nope," Hardy shook his head and said, "the reason is the difference in IQ."

Vera: "…"

Qin Yue: "…"

Jerick: "…"

Wei Wen: "…"

The Brazilian guy saw that his friends were not speaking, and he scratched his head as he asked, "Why are you guys looking at me?"

I'm embarrassed…

Jerick smiled and said, "Nothing… I just think that it takes courage to admit this. I admire you!"

Hardy smiled and patted his friend's shoulder as he said, "You're right, we're the same."

Vera, Qin Yue, Wei Wen, and Jerick: "…"

F*ck sake!

However, it made sense, and they couldn't refute this.

Wei Wen coughed and said, "Don't forget what we're here to do. Qin Yue, go ring the doorbell."

Qin Yue said, "But… You do it."

Wei Wen: "…"

The two guys stood in front of the door; no one moved.

It wasn't just Qin Yue and Wei Wen, even the playful Hardy didn't touch the doorbell.

Although everyone wanted to know how Lu Zhou was doing, no one wanted to interrupt his thought process. Even Professor Lu, who was normally very easygoing, might blame them…

The original clear blue sky gradually became darker.

A cloud seemed to have blocked the sunshine.

It was like something big was about to happen.

Vera pointed at the thick black clouds and said, "It's getting dark, I think it's about to rain."

This was between spring and summer, so the weather was always unpredictable.

Hardy said, "Perfect, we can hide from the rain."

He was interrupted.

The dusty door was pushed open.

Lu Zhou walked out of the house and was about to go to the garage. When he noticed his students, he was stunned.

"What… are you guys doing here?"

Qin Yue said, "Hardy was worried that you got carbon monoxide poisoning and planned to visit you…"

Hardy suddenly panicked. "Hey bro, I never said that!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou liked the fireplace.

But it was summer; what kind of insane person would start a fire!

Vera quietly said, "Professor, you haven't taught your number theory class for a long time, and your students miss you. The class is over in two weeks, so you should start preparing for the exam."

"I'm a bit busy." Lu Zhou rubbed his nose and looked at the little girl as he asked, "The final exam… Can you write it?"

I feel like my professor job is a bit too easy, I have barely even seen my students.

Maybe I should give the girl a raise?

Vera couldn't refuse a request like this. Instead, she blushed and said, "Okay…"

Jerick noticed Professor Lu's car keys, and he asked curiously, "Professor, do you plan on going out?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou looked at his students and asked, "Who here has a driver's license? Who's familiar with New York roads?"

Hardy and Jerick both raised their hands.

Hardy looked particularly enthusiastic.

However, Lu Zhou ignored him and threw the car keys to Jerick.

"Take me to Columbia University, I'm visiting an acquaintance there."

Hardy said, "Professor, I know how to drive too."

Lu Zhou said, "Maybe you do, but I don't trust your driving."

Hardy: "…"

Jerick got the care keys and went to the garage. He then drove the Ford Explorer into the driveway.

Lu Zhou was riding shotgun when Hardy said, "It's going to rain heavily soon, is it fine leaving now?"

Lu Zhou put his seat belt on and looked outside before he said, "A rainstorm can't stop me."

Jerick said with excitement, "You… succeeded?"

"You could say that, but there's still one more step." Lu Zhou closed his eyes and said, "I'm going to sleep now, wake me up when we arrive."

It didn't take long before Lu Zhou started to snore.

He hadn't slept in a long time.

The only thing he wanted to do now was to sleep…

Chapter 335: Anton Supercomputer!

This was the first time that Lu Zhou encountered a computing power bottleneck.

Most of the difficulties he had encountered before were on the logical level. Even if he encountered complicated calculation problems, he could have easily found the result using his computer.

But the situation now was completely different from the past.

A mathematical model built for a single problem could easily be done with a computer and a piece of software like Molpro.

However, when the "single problem" extended to "a certain type of problem", the amount of calculation involved would increase exponentially.

Lu Zhou tried to solve some of the problems in the mathematical model with his own laptop. However, no matter how many times he tried, the final result was that the system crashed.

Fortunately, he thought of someone that could help him.

And that person was David Shaw.

However, Lu Zhou had only met him briefly at the MRS Conference…

"We're here".

Lu Zhou was awakened by Jerick. When he looked outside, he saw the D.E Shaw Research Institute.

He was at the Columbia University campus.

Lu Zhou was surprised that it was already night time as they should have arrived in the afternoon.

"How long did I sleep for?"

"Four hours… The traffic was bad," Jerick replied. He then added on nervously, "Professor, although I know you're doing a great research project, your body is the most important thing."

Lu Zhou rubbed his eyes and said, "I am in good health, I haven't been sick since coming to Princeton." He then sent David Shaw a text message to tell him that he had arrived.

Before he came, he made an appointment with David beforehand.

Lu Zhou got out of the car and soon the Wall Street investment legend greeted him with open arms.

"My friend, you're finally here!" David Shaw gave Lu Zhou a warm hug, and the two started to walk toward the research institute. David said, "I knew that you would come this year."

Lu Zhou said, "You knew?"

"Of course."

"Do you have scientific evidence?"

"Nope! But I could tell from my intuition."

Lu Zhou looked at David strangely.

If he's not joking, then his intuition is scarily good.

David brought the two to his office and made two cups of coffee before giving them to Lu Zhou and Jerick.

Then, he made himself some tea and sat down across the pair. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Go ahead, what kind of exciting things do you need my help with?"

Lu Zhou: "Actually, I don't know if it's appropriate to ask you this… I want to look at Anton, is that okay?"

"Piece of cake, it's not a secret. Anyway, Anton is going through maintenance. I'll bring you there," David said. He then looked at Jerick and asked, "How about you? Come with us or stay here?"

Jerick didn't expect the big man to talk to him, so he said, "I…"

Lu Zhou said, "Just come with us, it's good for you."

David smiled and said, "Then let's go."

…

Anton was located in the corner of the D.E. Shaw Institute and was housed in a separate building. Originally, Lu Zhou thought that this supercomputer would be very large. However, when he really saw it in its glory, it was surprisingly low-key.

This legendary computational chemistry weapon only occupied a dozen square meters or so.

However, for this dozen square meter chassis, David built a supercomputer center that was 100 times larger.

Not just that, but David said that the entire staff and supercomputer center was to keep Anton running.

"Isn't that shocking?" David smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "Most people who see this will have the same expression as you."

"It is shocking…"

Lu Zhou was shocked by its compactness.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a strange idea.

What if I put Xiao Ai inside?

Of course, this was only an idea.

He couldn't do this…

In addition to the three people, there were several employees in the room that were supervising Anton.

David gave Lu Zhou a tour of the supercomputer and showed him the performance of Anton.

After hearing his introduction, Lu Zhou only had one question.

"This thing is expensive, right?"

"It is expensive, but I don't want girls or cars, and money isn't useful to me." David shrugged and patted the chassis as he said in a joking tone, "This is my girl."

Lu Zhou said, "Then your girl is quite high maintenance…"

David smiled. "Of course, that is one of the reasons I love it."

Every time Anton flashed a signal light, hundreds of dollars were being burned.

There was no doubt that David Shaw was the least materialistic person on Wall Street.

He had no yachts, luxury cars, private planes…

David looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Then, can you tell me why you came all the way here?"

David didn't believe that Lu Zhou came here just to look at the supercomputer, Lu Zhou had probably encountered a problem that normal computers couldn't solve.

In fact, David's intuition was correct.

Lu Zhou didn't hide his intentions, and he made a request.

"I want to borrow your equipment to do an experiment."

David was interested. "Oh, what experiment?"

Lu Zhou: "It's about a theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure."

The laboratory suddenly quieted down.

The engineers who were debugging the computer didn't care. However, the doctors who were doing chemistry calculations paused.

Everyone turned their heads and looked at Lu Zhou.

Especially David… He tried to hide the shock on his face when he said, "Unbelievable… You actually made a theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure?"

Lu Zhou was embarrassed at all this attention. He then said, "Strictly speaking, not yet. I need to use a supercomputer to perfect my model. Can I please rent your equipment?"

"There's no need for payment," David shook his head and said, "I already have enough money. You should know how that feels. Looking at the string of numbers in your bank account and not knowing how to spend it is a burden."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Is he showing off?

Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment, but he couldn't agree with him.

Although his material needs were met, if someone wanted to give him a billion or two, he certainly wouldn't refuse.

If it were the prize money, even thousands would make him happy. However, this type of happiness wasn't related to money, it was related to winning the prize.

David said, "I only have one request."

Lu Zhou asked, "What?"

"You don't have to add my name to the thesis, but I hope that you can include the Anton Supercomputer Center of the Deshaw Institute as the location of the research institute," said David. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said sincerely, "I hope that the entire chemistry community knows that this came from Anton!"

Chapter 336: Computational Chemistry Weapon!

Any scholar would be ecstatic after hearing their request being accepted.

After all, supercomputers were very expensive, even renting one wasn't cheap. David's favor was similar to millions or even tens of millions of dollars being saved. In contrast, the only thing David wanted was to put the name of his research institute on the thesis.

When Lu Zhou heard David's insignificant request, he was pleasantly surprised.

Compared with profitable applicable research, theoretical research was definitely a money burning machine.

Lu Zhou obviously didn't refuse David's offer.

He nodded and said, "Done."

…

In some sense, Lu Zhou choosing Anton to carry out this experiment was inevitable.

A normal supercomputer couldn't perform molecular dynamics simulations efficiently.

However, Anton was different, each chip was dedicated to computational chemistry.

It had a total of 512 compute nodes, which could achieve 17,000 simulations per day of protein-water systems, consisting of 23,558 atoms.

In contrast, a general-purpose supercomputer with the same number of processors could only reach hundreds of simulations per day.

Because of this, Anton was named "the weapon of computational chemistry".

David was an absolute genius.

He was knowledgeable in finance, parallel computing, and in polymer chemistry.

Unfortunately, Anton was too expensive; most research institutions simply couldn't afford to rent it. Otherwise, the Nobel Prize committee might even consider nominating him for a prize.

It would be similar to the biologist, Jacques Duboche, who was nominated for the 2017 Chemistry Prize for cryo-electron microscopy…

After Jerick drove Lu Zhou back to Princeton, Lu Zhou sent an application to Princeton to request for a month-long scholar visit at Columbia University.

Columbia obviously welcomed Lu Zhou's visit with arms wide open. They even arranged a temporary dormitory for him in the vicinity of the institute.

Theoretical research that did not involve patents was always easier to reach cooperation agreements than the research in the application field.

This was especially so for people like Lu Zhou and David who didn't need any money.

After signing a cooperative research agreement which outlined the duties of both parties, the experiment would soon begin.

David showed great interest in the collaborative research project.

Not only did he adjust his original plans for his experiment to accommodate for Lu Zhou, but the entire workforce of the D.E Shaw Research Institute was put into Lu Zhou's project.

Lu Zhou soon witnessed Anton's combat power.

On the day of the experiment, Anton Super Center.

A massive parallel computing project was about to begin.

Lu Zhou and David stood behind as they watched the experiment.

"Experiment Group 1 is in place!"

"Experiment Group 2 is in place!"

"…"

"Begin the experiment!"

The blue signal lights were constantly flashing.

In the digital world, Anton used its powerful computing power to simulate the mathematical model provided by Lu Zhou.

The first experiment lasted for nine hours!

Unfortunately, the results of the experiment were not ideal.

David looked at the experiment report given by the engineer of the supercomputing center, and he frowned while saying, "Your mathematical model is too complicated… Is there a way to simplify it?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I tried to simplify it, but it was very difficult."

He would've simplified it if it was possible; he wouldn't have waited until now to simplify it.

David rubbed his chin and began to think. After a while, he said, "Then I guess we have to come up with another solution."

David was not an expert in the field of mathematics. He could not simplify complicated mathematical equations. However, attacking this problem from a parallel computing perspective, it was theoretically possible to improve Anton's calculations by adjusting the software.

Lu Zhou said, "Thank you."

"No worries," David waved his hand and said in a joking tone, "at least your mathematical model is in the scope of Anton's abilities. If it were any more complicated, I'm afraid we would need a quantum computer."

…

Lu Zhou's visit to Columbia University was not something that needed to be kept secret. Because he frequently visited the D.E Shaw Institute, the news quickly spread across the campus of Columbia University.

Many people were curious about this Crafoord Prize and Adams Chemistry Prize winner who was only in his twenties. Very few people could make such outstanding achievements at such a young age, especially in two fields— mathematics and chemistry.

Of course, Columbia students weren't the most interested in Lu Zhou. The one that would be most interested in him was his opponent in the field of lithium-sulfur batteries: Mobil Chemical.

They heard the news about Lu Zhou and was nervous as hell.

Not to mention, it was such a big piece of news…

Binghamton University, Institute of Materials Science.

Woods, who just finished a meeting in New York, immediately came over to Binghamton.

"Bad news! Lu Zhou found David Shaw to borrow a supercomputer!"

Stanley wasn't surprised about the news that Woods had provided, and he asked, "Is it fine for you to come to the laboratory every two days?"

Stanley was obviously saying that there was no reason for Woods to come all the way here; Woods could have just called Stanley.

"I'll do anything as long as we win the race," Woods said.

He sat on the sofa in the laboratory and sighed before he said, "F*ck sake! How did Lu Zhou suddenly find David Shaw, how?"

If Lu Zhou collaborated with other laboratories, Exxon Mobil could use its own influence to put pressure on the laboratories' funding partners, thus delaying their progress.

But David Shaw was an exception; this guy was a famous Wall Street freak who was completely disinterested in money.

"This is normal. One of them is doing computational materials, the other is doing computational chemistry. It's not surprising for them to get in bed together." Professor Stanley stood in front of the scanning electron microscope while he waited for results of the experiment. He said relaxingly, "In fact, there is no need to be so nervous. Whether it is a perfect mathematical formula or a theoretical model, if it cannot be implemented in the experiment, it is useless."

Who cares if your mathematics is nutty?

Who cares if you borrowed a supercomputer?

Computer simulation experiments are indeed a promising method, but in the end, it has to be implemented in experiments.

From trial and error, adding up the experience is the only way for materials science experiments.

Fortunately, Stanley already knew the answer, so he only had to figure out the working steps.

Woods asked, "I want to know how far are we from the finish line?"

Stanley stared at the molecular model on the screen and smiled.

"We are close!"

Chapter 337: Key Momen

The red signal light kept flashing.

The engineer finally decided to terminate the program and the temperature of the processors was lowered.

The blue signal light of "hope" was then turned off.

"Experiment number 31."

David looked through the chassis in a radiation-proof isolation room, and his eyes appeared to be gloomy and hopeless.

31 experiments.

This was undoubtedly a failure.

Other than the computing engineers who were still talking about technical problems, everyone inside the research institute was bored and quiet.

Even the supercomputer was tired.

Over the course of a month, the D.E Shaw Institute spent more than ten million dollars on this mathematical model.

During this period, the D.E Shaw Institute continued to improve the calculation process, and Lu Zhou also continued to modify the details of his theoretical model by using the data from the calculation.

However, no significant results were produced.

David looked at the engineers and sighed as he said, "Sure enough, it doesn't work."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed. "How about I pay for the costs?"

David said in a relaxing tone, "No, it's fine, the money is nothing. Research is like gambling, we just went to Las Vegas and lost."

His scientific intuition told him that this idea was worth exploring.

Therefore, he was willing to spend the money.

However, he couldn't help but add on, "Although I've never lost this much at Las Vegas before."

There was a summary meeting at the end of the experiment.

Everyone was silent at the meeting.

Lu Zhou briefly talked about his own point of view. The heads of the two experiment groups talked about the experiment.

As for David, he stayed silent until the end of the meeting.

"Do maintenance on Anton, and start the 32nd experiment three days later." David looked at the engineer closest to him and simply said, "Making sure Anton is running at its best before the next experiment."

The engineer nodded. "Yes, boss!"

"I need to rest, and I'm sure you guys are the same." David rubbed his eyes as he said, "That's it, meeting over."

…

A little setback was nothing for scientific research.

Even though they failed thirty times, no one talked about giving up.

After all, everyone knew that scientific truth wasn't that easy to obtain.

Lu Zhou was prepared to fail a hundred more times.

However, if the 50th experiment still didn't produce any results, he wouldn't let David pay for the experiment anymore.

Even though this money meant nothing to David, Lu Zhou felt that, morally, it wasn't acceptable.

Lu Zhou left the research institute and didn't return to his dorm. Instead, he walked around the Columbia campus.

It wasn't just Anton that needed a break, Lu Zhou also needed time to relax his overheated brain.

He planned to spend at least a day not thinking about the experiment.

Lu Zhou walked past the library, subconsciously avoiding all of the academic buildings.

He didn't know how long he had walked.

Without him knowing it, he was at the Columbia University philosophy building.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile.

"Is this fate?"

Even though he had fate with philosophy, he wasn't happy at all.

A bronze statue was erected on the lawn in front of the philosophy building.

The statue was of a man thinking while he was kneeling down, and his muscles were tensed as if he were immersed in a depressing thought.

This was one of the four "Thinker" statues of the world.

However, this statue was in a more deserted area than the other three. Lu Zhou was the only one on the lawn.

He placed his hands on the bronze statue and felt the coldness on his fingertips.

"I can see myself in you."

Thinking was a painful thing.

Especially endless thinking.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had an idea.

If only someone could give him some inspiration.

Even just a little bit of inspiration…

But then, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

Inspiration didn't come that easy.

This was the theory that could change the chemistry world, it wouldn't be cheap to buy inspiration.

Suddenly, something happened.

Something appeared in front of him.

A blue dialog box showed up in his field of view.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the reward mission!]

Lu Zhou: …?

What the hell?!

…

Unlike the D.E Shaw Research Institute, the Materials Research Institute at Binghamton University was cheering.

"Now is not the time to celebrate, the experiment has been successful but don't sink the ship at the last minute." Stanley then said to his assistant, "Apply for patents right now!"

The assistant nodded excitedly as he said, "Yes, professor!"

Professor Stanley looked at the SEM images and couldn't help but smile.

Preliminary analysis proved that the caged carbon molecule could inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds to a certain extent, and the production costs were acceptable.

However, more experiments were needed to test the effects of applying it to lithium-sulfur batteries.

For example, to mix sulfur element with cage carbon molecules, they needed to find a suitable mixing ratio as well as a mechanical dispersion method. Also, they had to test out how much suppression effect that could be achieved.

However, this didn't affect the patent application; it also didn't affect the thesis submission.

The second they found a way to create caged carbon molecules, they had already succeeded.

Without a doubt, they had won!

They were the leading developers of lithium-sulfur batteries!

Chapter 338: Level 4 Materials Science!

When Lu Zhou saw the mission completion pop-up reminder, he thought about it logically for a moment. He didn't immediately enter the system space. Instead, he picked up the phone and called Sarrot.

Sarrot was busy doing experiments in the laboratory when Lu Zhou called.

When he saw Lu Zhou called him, he picked up the phone.

"Hey, what's up?"

Lu Zhou: "How is your experiment going?"

Sarrot smiled and replied confidently, "We're making progress, you should be seeing results in a month."

Only progress?

Lu Zhou sighed.

He now knew how his mission was completed.

It seemed that Sarrot had lost.

However, Lu Zhou didn't blame him.

After all, Binghamton University was one of the top universities in North America. Although their overall strength was not comparable to Cornell University and other world-class universities, Professor Stanley was still one of the most famous scholars at Binghamton University.

Professor Stanley's research abilities definitely exceeded that of Professor Sarrot's.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but think.

It seems that I still have a long way to go before I can have a world-class research team.

Lu Zhou said bye and hung up the call.

Although Lu Zhou could tell him to stop doing the experiment now, Lu Zhou didn't have a good explanation as to why Sarrot should stop.

After all, there was no way Lu Zhou's "scientific intuition" could tell him that his opponent had beaten him.

Anyway, it wouldn't cost too much money to let Sarrot continue with the experiment.

Lu Zhou placed his phone into his pocket and whispered, "System."

He would definitely thank Professor Stanley if he had the chance.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know if Professor Stanley would accept his thanks…

…

[Congratulations, user, for completing the reward mission!]

[

Mission completion details are as follows: Analyze the carbon nanospheres under the modified PDMS film in Debris No. 1.

Mission evaluation: None (reward missions have no evaluation).

Reward: 50,000 materials science experience points, 10,000 biochemistry experience points. One lucky draw ticket.

]

Lu Zhou stood in the pure white system space as he quietly looked at the texts on the information screen.

When he saw the experience point reward, he was suddenly bursting with excitement.

50,000 materials science experience points!

If my materials science level up, maybe…

Lu Zhou quickly calmed down.

He suddenly remembered that it took 100,000 experience points to level up from Level 3 to Level 4.

Adding the 13,000 he had, he would only have 63,000 points.

"Hopefully I get something good in the draw."

Lu Zhou sighed and clicked the lucky draw button.

A roulette wheel started to spin.

Lu Zhou yelled, "Stop!"

With its momentum, it spun for a couple dozen more laps before it slowly reached to a stop.

A text popped up on the screen.

[Congratulations, user, for winning the "special" prize.]

When Lu Zhou saw this, he felt nervous all of a sudden.

The last "special" prize was an unpleasant experience.

The last prize gave him a "patronage appreciated", and he almost kicked the system in the face.

Undoubtedly, this could be worse than the "garbage" prize.

Come on!

[Received: Experience double award (last mission experience points doubled, effective immediately).]

Lu Zhou: …?

The f*ck?

It's not a "patronage appreciated"?

Lu Zhou was stunned.

This system actually has integrity now?!

In some sense, this reward was more exciting than the blueprint.

Especially when Lu Zhou remembered that his last reward consisted of 50,000 and 10,000 experience points.

If it doubles, then does that mean…

Lu Zhou suddenly laughed out in ecstasy, and he immediately exited out of the lucky draw page before speaking to the translucent screen, "System, open my characteristic panel!"

The translucent holographic screen started to load.

Soon, Lu Zhou's characteristic panel appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 6 (4,000/600,000)

B. Physics: Level 4 (33,215/200,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (24,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 4 (13,000/200,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 (0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 2,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

As expected, my experience points have been doubled!

Lu Zhou's materials science level went from Level 3 to Level 4, surpassing biochemistry, and was now at the same level as physics.

Lu Zhou's understanding of materials science would be further strengthened due to the level up. Although this didn't directly increase his materials science knowledge, it increased his materials science thinking abilities…

He received his award, did the lucky draw, and looked at his characteristic panel.

Now, it was time to choose his new mission.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission panel but didn't make a decision.

For him, the system was a tool and not his "boss".

Lu Zhou only had one goal for the time being, which was to complete the theoretical model for the electrochemical interface structure.

He didn't care about anything else.

He exited the system space and came back to reality. He felt a tingling sensation from his spine to his brain.

Within half a minute, this warm tingling sensation penetrated his cerebral cortex and began to spread throughout his brain.

Lu Zhou was standing in front of the "Thinker" statue when he absorbed the power and experienced the sensation that came along with the process.

This warm sensation was weirdly comfortable.

It was like his brain was wrapped in a warm bath while it was gently stroked.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes, and he felt more awake than ever.

It was like the exhaustion that he felt for the past one month had been removed in an instant.

However, what surprised Lu Zhou the most was the inspiration that was rushing into his brain.

The only thing Lu Zhou wanted to do now was to go back to the research institute.

If this inspiration disappeared, it wasn't only him that would be affected.

It would affect the entire computational chemistry industry…

Chapter 339: Victory

Inspiration was elusive.

It inadvertently came and inadvertently passed.

Lu Zhou didn't want to waste a second.

He walked to the nearest library and sat down. He placed the pen and paper he bought from the convenience store on the table.

This library was one of the 20 libraries at Columbia University, and it was open 24 hours and sold delicious sandwiches and coffee in the lounge area.

He could stay here for as long as he wanted, and he wouldn't have to worry about his ideas getting interrupted.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and imagined the equations he had previously written.

Even though he didn't have the information at hand, he would never forget something he had researched himself.

It didn't take long to recall all of the information.

Lu Zhou took this chance to incorporate new ideas into his theory…

"In a system with N electrons, the total wave function can be written as the product of all single-electron wave functions…"

Lu Zhou wrote down the first equation on the blank paper.

[Ψ(r1,r2,…,rn)= ∏Ψt(rt).]

He didn't stop; he continued to write the next line.

"Then, use the Hartree equation!"

Lu Zhou was gradually getting excited.

However, this was only the first step.

But he could see the light in front of the tunnel.

[{pi2/2m+V(ri)+1/4πε0∑∫drf|Ψj(rj)|2e2/|ri-rj|}Ψi(ri)=EiΨi(ri)]

[…]

The inspiration came like a tsunami, completely unstoppable.

His pen danced on the page, writing faster and faster.

Lines of formula appeared on the page, gradually building a theoretical model.

This theory included all of the cumbersome and complicated equations as well as the collision between particles, the interaction between electrons, and even the microscopic interactions.

"This should work!

"We don't need to explain and describe the system wave function of each particle motion. We just need to find a spatial wave function that only has the particle density of three variables…

"All of the particles can be calculated, and we can use this to predict the physical properties of the material!

"Even if the prediction is within a range!"

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up as he talked to himself.

The pen in his hand was like a sword, cutting through the unknown.

Lu Zhou was immersed in research; he completely forgot about time and everything around him.

He didn't know how much time had passed.

When he finally stopped writing, he saw the dark night had turned into the light yellow of dawn.

The rays of morning sunlight shone on the antique bookshelves.

Lu Zhou looked at the draft paper. He then relaxed and finally smiled.

Several months of effort was for this moment.

He finally found the answer to a problem that had no answer.

Especially writing the last equation, it was like putting down the last brick in the wall of a building. He felt like the happiest man on earth.

That happiness was far greater than any material object could provide…

"Maybe this is what heaven feels like."

Lu Zhou put away the pen.

Lu Zhou's concentration attracted a red-haired man sitting next to him.

There were many people writing theses in the library, but few had a sense of purpose.

"Hey, dude, writing a thesis?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer as he tidied up the stack of draft papers.

Although the theory was recorded in his mind, these were the precious manuscripts.

Maybe one day, he would donate them to a library or a museum.

But right now, he had to keep these things to himself.

"Theoretical chemistry?" The man didn't care that Lu Zhou ignored him as he continued to ask, "What a coincidence, I'm also studying theoretical chemistry, who is your supervisor?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I don't have a chemistry supervisor."

Lu Zhou actually wanted a chemistry supervisor to mentor him.

However, given that his theory was completely self-made, who could mentor him?

The red-haired man looked at him with disbelief as he said, "You're an autodidact? Unbelievable… There are people that learn this stuff by themselves? What major are you in?"

Lu Zhou said, "I guess you can say it's mathematics."

Lu Zhou didn't stay at the library for long. He took his manuscripts and went to the D.E Shaw Research Institute.

Although the sun was already up, the research institute was still brightly lit.

Anton sat in the middle of the room like a tall goddess.

The engineers at the research institute were busy working in front of the chassis.

They had to have been here all night.

It wasn't just the researchers, even David Shaw himself was the same.

David Shaw stood in his usual spot as he stared at Anton from behind a glass panel.

Suddenly, David heard footsteps.

He turned around and saw Lu Zhou at the entrance of the laboratory.

David noticed his dark circles and the manuscript in his hand. "You stayed up all night? You should take a break, we'll need your help in three days."

Lu Zhou placed the manuscript on the desk as he said, "Or do we?"

The two locked eyes and laughed at the same time.

The researchers turned their attention and wondered what the two guys were laughing about.

However, neither David nor Lu Zhou explained anything.

Because there was no need for any explanation.

David said in a joking tone, "I'm guessing that we are very close to the finishing line."

"Yes," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I can promise you that it is right in front of us."

Chapter 340: Submission

The 32nd experiment finally began.

The original plan for the experiment was to be three days after the previous experiment, but it had only been one day since then.

The results of the experiment were gratifying for Lu Zhou.

During the ninth hour of the experiment, a loud cheer was heard in the laboratory.

People were clapping and bumping their fists.

"Yes!"

"God… It's incredible!"

"We did it! We did it!"

Lu Zhou heard the cheers from the researchers, and as he looked at the data of the experiment that was reflected on the screen, the knot in his heart finally unraveled itself.

"I guess the problem was my mathematical model after all."

Just now, the researchers used the computational power of Anton to test Lu Zhou's new theoretical model of Li electrolyte solution interface.

The experiment results were perfect.

With Anton's help, Lu Zhou's mathematical model produced perfect digital simulations.

The establishment of this theory would have a meaningful and far-reaching impact on the entire electrochemical field and computational materials field. Prior to this, people could only study the physical and chemical properties of electrochemical interface structures through trial and error.

But now, the establishment of the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure would provide a theoretical basis for scholars who studied theoretical chemistry.

Undoubtedly, this was groundbreaking work.

"I have to thank you, my machine here made a new breakthrough thanks to your mathematical model," David said with a smile. "Maybe soon you will see a third-generation Anton."

Lu Zhou was surprised by it as he replied, "I look forward to that day."

There wasn't a good reason why the powerful Anton still needed upgrades as it was future-proof for computational chemistry for at least a few years.

The entire computational chemistry industry would be thrilled to see Anton3.

The need for supercomputers was an advantage for both the computer science industry and the chemistry industry.

…

Since the experiment phase was over, it was time to write the thesis.

Lu Zhou left the D.E Shaw Research Institute and instantly went back to his apartment to sleep.

He slept until 9 a.m. the next day before he crawled out of bed. He then went to his computer desk and sat down.

Lu Zhou consulted David's opinion and decided to submit the thesis to JACS.

Compared to other journals, the impact factor of JACS wasn't high, but it was well respected in the chemistry community.

After all, the impact factor was not the only factor that measured the influence of a journal. The total number of citations and references also mattered. Combining all of these factors, JACS ranked first in the field of materials and chemistry.

Lu Zhou opened the unfinished document on his laptop and placed his hands on the keyboard. He then began to fill in the contents for his thesis.

He already wrote the outline of the thesis a month ago.

Right now, he only had to modify the mathematical model and fill in the new content.

This work was boring compared to the simulating research work.

If it wasn't so difficult, he would have asked his student to write it for him.

"If only I had an assistant…"

Lu Zhou spent the entire morning writing ten pages before he leaned back on his chair and stretched his shoulders.

He was about to make a cup of coffee when he suddenly received a notification.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail!]

Mail?

Lu Zhou opened his email.

When he saw the title, he was intrigued.

He didn't expect to receive an email from Professor Stanley.

[

Dear Professor Lu, how are you?

The last time I chatted with you at the Organic Chemistry Conference, I was quite inspired by your research.

Thanks to you, we were able to make a major breakthrough in the field of the lithium-sulfur batteries. You will soon see our thesis on JACS

To celebrate this great moment, this evening, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Manhattan, New York, there will a banquet hosted by ExxonMobil. Many well-known scholars and entrepreneurs in the industry will attend this party.

We will show our new technology at the end of the banquet.

If you are interested, you are welcome to come.

I will introduce you to some interesting people who might be useful for your next research project.

]

Once Lu Zhou had read the email, he shook his head.

He could smell the humble bragging coming through the screen.

Maybe Professor Stanley hoped that he would lash out at the banquet and embarrass himself?

Obviously, Professor Stanley was wrong.

A "good idea" was only 1% of the product.

The other 99% was in patents…

Lu Zhou deleted the email and closed the browser.

Although he would be happy to congratulate Professor Stanley, he had another party waiting for him.

To celebrate this hard-won victory, David Shaw decided to invite all the engineers and researchers at the institute to the Hilton Hotel.

Lu Zhou would much rather celebrate with his comrades.

"Xiao Ai, help me reply to the email, just refuse the invitation," Lu Zhou said while he continued to type out his thesis.

Xiao Ai: [Okay, master, I got this!]

Oh?

There are improvements, it knows how to write emails now.

Lu Zhou was surprised at Xiao Ai's reply.

He clearly remembered that this thing couldn't even write his award-winning speech.

Lu Zhou decided to give Xiao Ai a chance.

"Okay then, take care of it."Journal of the American Chemical Society

Chapter 341: Great Achievements

After Professor Stanley obtained the patent number, he submitted the thesis to JACS.

To celebrate this victory, ExxonMobil organized a banquet. Not only was Professor Stanley and his research team invited, but Woods also invited the company's shareholders.

Of course, Professor Stanley also invited Lu Zhou.

He decided to show respect to his opponent who had lost the race.

However, it seemed that the kid didn't have a lot of respect for him.

[Not coming! :) ]

Stanley: …

Short and concise reply.

When Stanley saw the line of text, his eyebrow twitched.

What the hell is this?

He calmed himself down and deleted the email.

"You don't have to let a loser affect your mood."

Stanley took a deep breath and tried to relax his mind.

He reached out to fix his tie before he went back into the party with a smile on his face…

…

In order to build momentum, ever since the beginning of the year, ExxonMobil had kept their involvement in the battery industry a secret.

Professor Stanley making a breakthrough in lithium-sulfur batteries was undoubtedly a shocking piece of news for the entire industry.

Because this meant that Mobil Chemical, who had an advantage in raw chemical materials, had first dibs on the patent.

During the party, Professor Stanley naturally became the center of attention.

Whether it was business people or scholars, they all didn't want to miss the opportunity to make friends with this lithium-sulfur battery expert.

Woods stood in the middle of the banquet hall and raised his glass to Professor Stanley before he said, "Congratulations, Professor Stanley, your status in the lithium field has strengthened once again."

Professor Stanley gracefully sipped some wine before he said, "Thank you, congratulations to you too, I heard ExxonMobil's shares are booming."

Woods had a bright smile on. "Of course."

A Broadway singer played a melodious song for the banquet.

The guests attending the banquet gradually stepped onto the dance floor.

People outside the dance floor formed into circles as they enjoyed the party in their own ways.

Professor Stanley was standing with his research team, and he had a glass of champagne in his hand as he spoke loudly.

"Everyone, quiet please, I have something to say!"

People around him stopped talking and focused their attention onto this big man.

Stanley enjoyed the attention. He coughed and said solemnly, "This is without a doubt a great moment! We should thank those who silently contributed to a great cause."

He raised his glass and smirked.

"Cheers to Professor Lu!"

"Cheers!"

"Hahaha! Thank you, Professor Lu, for your thesis!"

"…"

The researchers knew the inside story; they started to laugh and some even whistled.

Professor Lu undoubtedly helped them greatly.

However, history didn't remember people that helped, only people that created.

No matter how close someone was to the results, coming second meant nothing.

Ricardo waited until no one was around Stanley before he walked up to him to ask, "Congratulations, Professor Stanley, have you submitted your thesis yet?"

Stanley nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Ricardo, your data came in handy."

Ricardo said, "According to our agreement, you will add my name on the thesis, right?"

Stanley had a sudden flash on disdain in his eyes, but he managed to conceal it well.

He nodded. "Of course, you are our hero."

According to the contract, his name would be on the thesis, and he would remain in the research team.

Of course, he could forget about being involved in important research.

No matter how talented he was, Stanley would never allow him in the core research team or to touch any sensitive data.

A researcher without integrity was worthless.

Ricardo was immersed in joy; he obviously didn't realize Professor Stanley's plan. He really thought he was a hero.

In a sense, he did make a great contribution.

A contribution that was so great that Lu Zhou was willing to sue this guy…

But neither he nor Professor Stanley noticed any weird signs.

Until halfway through the banquet when Professor Stanley suddenly received a call…

…

"What did you say? The inhibitory effect of the carbon molecule on the shuttle effect isn't as ideal as we thought?"

Professor Stanley stood on the balcony with his cell phone; he was in disbelief.

Just now, he had received a piece of bad news from his research assistant who was still in the laboratory.

Really bad news…

He made sure that no one was around before he lowered his voice and asked, "Are you sure you experimented with all of the ratios?"

The research assistant said, "I have increased the carbon mass ratio to 50%. Although there is some effect on polysulfide compounds, the effects are far below our expectations."

Professor Stanley turned red and suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"This is impossible! Continue the experiments and increase the carbon mass ratio to over 50%!"

The assistant said, "Professor! We're making a battery! Battery!"

Professor Stanley suddenly realized what he had said.

His face turned white.

Yeah, they were making a battery.

The carbon nanomaterials weren't part of the electrochemical reaction.

Normally, the ratio of carbon in carbon-sulfur composites was within 30%. If it were increased to 50%, then there would be no point for the material to exist. This was because the real reaction didn't involve carbon, it involved sulfur!

Even if the producers could accept this cost, the market would never accept a battery so unnecessarily large…

The old professor took two steps back and leaned against the balcony railings. He looked as if he had aged 20 years instantly.

It was like he was just standing on a cloud before he got hit by lightning.

Right now, he didn't know why this was happening.

Suddenly, Professor Stanley remembered that email.

He calmed down and thought about it from a different perspective.

If he were the one that got poached and his researcher leaked important experiment data, he would be furious. Even if he could contain his anger, he would never be able to write such a calm email.

Maybe…

He had a scary thought.

This thought sent chills down Stanley's spine.

Maybe he was played…

Chapter 342: Not Everyone Can Laugh Until The End

While ExxonMobil was celebrating their "victory", another victory celebration was going on nearby at the Hilton Hotel.

In order to celebrate Anton's great victory in the field of computational chemistry and the creation of the model for the electrochemical interface structure, David rented a luxurious ballroom at the Hilton Hotel to host the party.

They spent a month working overtime on this project; everyone was dead tired.

Party was the best way to relax.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that these formal PhD researchers took off their white coats and put on their most expensive tuxedo to this party, completely going against the stereotype of a "science bro".

What surprised him the most was the ladies that attended the party.

Where there that many female researchers at the D.E Shaw Research Institute?

He was at Columbia University for over a month, he had been going to the research institute every single day, and still, he could only count a handful of female researchers.

However, those young and beautiful ladies… they didn't look like researchers…

The party hadn't begun yet but the guests had already arrived.

David, who was wearing a suit, stood at the entrance of the ballroom. He poured himself a glass of champagne and raised his glass.

"This is a moment worth celebrating, let us toast to Anton and Professor Lu!"

This lighted the atmosphere of the party.

The guests smiled and raised their glasses.

"Cheers!"

The champagne popped and foam burst into the air.

The party had finally begun.

The waiters in uniform walked into the ballroom with plates and dining carts; the food was stacked on long tables on both sides of the dance floor.

A melodious jazz song started to play while the young woman and men gradually stepped onto the dance floor.

Most people were willing to dance with their favorite person before eating…

However, Lu Zhou obviously didn't want to do that.

He was more attracted to the food than dancing.

Especially after eating a month of bacon sandwiches, the salads, chicken legs, and foie gras looked exceptionally appetizing.

He was adding more delicious food onto his plate when David came over.

"How do you feel?" David smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "This party is for you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's very New York style."

"Princeton is different?"

"Princeton is mostly about barbecue on lawns; it's another type of enjoyment."

Lu Zhou then said with a relaxed tone, "Speaking of which, I never noticed so many female researchers at the institute before."

"Of course they're not all my researchers, there are also girls from Columbia's Manhattan sisters sorority." David looked at Lu Zhou and joked, "You know, 90% of researchers at research institutes are male, so this gives them a chance to "socialize". This is one of the responsibilities of being a boss."

Lu Zhou asked, "Kind of like a group dating club?"

David smiled and said, "Haha, I guess so."

In American universities, clubs, fraternities, and sororities were extremely common. Almost half of the students participated in some kind of club.

There were basketball, football, and even dance clubs. The social clubs allowed young people to interact with one another.

However, all of the clubs had a common theme— an endless amount of partying.

In some sense, Lu Zhou's food club was an elite club. It rarely hosted any kind of party events.

But how did David connect with Manhattan Sisters?

Actually, it was easy.

This was the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan; there were very few people that could host a party here.

There were tons of young and beautiful girls who were willing to dress to impress the D.E Shaw Research Institute.

They enjoyed partying and posting photos on Instagram.

"Speaking of which, you're still single, right? Actually, there's nothing wrong with being single," David said. He shook the glass of champagne in his hand as he added, "Feel free to ask anyone to dance."

Lu Zhou said, "But I don't know how to dance."

"It's fine, people don't care if you dance horribly," David said. He then smiled and continued, "I bet that many girls are willing to dance with you."

Is he calling me handsome?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

This… I'm embarrassed.

Even though Lu Zhou thought of himself as handsome as well…

David opened a new bottle of champagne and as he filled his glass, he asked, "What is your next step? How about you just become a professor at Columbia University? I can convince the principal to open a computational materials department."

Lu Zhou looked at the lights of Manhattan outside the window and said, "Columbia is a beautiful place, so is Manhattan. But I think Princeton is more of my kind of place."

David sighed and said, "Really? Okay then, everyone has their preferences."

He poured the remaining alcohol into Lu Zhou's glass and said, "If you have time, remember to come and visit me here."

"Sure, it's close by anyway."

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something when he said, "Oh yeah, I have something to ask you before I go back to Princeton."

David: "What?"

"The theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure has already been completed, but the new theory is often ignored. In order to enhance its credibility, I intend to use our theoretical tools to try to solve more specific problems. I need the power of Anton for this." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "I won't need it for too long, I only need it before I return to Princeton."

His visit to Columbia University would last until June, which meant that he still had a month to go before leaving for Princeton.

This experiment wouldn't take a month. Optimistically, it would only take two weeks.

Also, this experiment was related to the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

Therefore, whether David wanted or not, Lu Zhou planned to pay him equipment rental fees.

David was interested, so he asked, "What kind of problem?"

Lu Zhou smirked.

"It's a molecular dynamics simulation of the interface between carbon-sulfur composites and organic electrolytic solutions!"

Chapter 343: JACS!

A major event in the chemistry industry took place in July.

Well, two events.

Two important theses were published in the latest issue of JACS.

In particular, the "Cage-like carbon molecules and sulfur elemental composite cathode materials" thesis which was written by Stanley shocked both the materials science industry and the energy industry.

A month ago, after the patent number was received, the materials science laboratory of Binghamton University released a statement, and now the material science and industry finally saw the true content of the thesis.

Even though the academic community doubted if Professor Stanley really solved the problem regarding lithium-sulfur battery, they were generally optimistic.

After all, Professor Stanley was a big name in the lithium field, and he had ExxonMobil's support, thus making his thesis very credible.

Many research institutes were doing repeated experiments.

Maybe soon lithium-sulfur batteries would come out of laboratories and into people's lives…

As for the other important thesis, it was the highly controversial "theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure".

Prior to this, the theoretical chemistry community did not have a theoretical model that could thoroughly clarify the microscopic essence of various electrochemical processes occurring on the "interface".

If this model proved to be effective, it would help the entire chemistry community on electrochemical interface research.

However, this theory was too advanced.

Because of this, this thesis caused widespread controversy in the theoretical chemistry community.

It was no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't because of the Crafoord Prize and the Adams Chemistry Prize, JACS would never have published this thesis so easily.

Although mathematics could be judged by its logical self-consistency, research outside of mathematics, especially for applied sciences, couldn't be judged by its logical self-consistency.

The most difficult thing was that there were very few mathematicians that could understand the logical self-consistency in Lu Zhou's mathematical model.

It wasn't difficult to find a scholar both proficient in mathematics and in chemistry but to find a Crafoord level mathematician, that was much more difficult.

Although testing the model through experiments sounded like a good idea, it wasn't.

After all, not every laboratory could afford supercomputers. Especially for calculations of molecular dynamics, the price wasn't cheap.

The reason why "Anton" was so famous in the computational chemistry industry was that it had no worthy opponents.

However, due to Lu Zhou's reputation in materials science and mathematics, many people were convinced that his theory was reliable.

Among them were scholars in theoretical chemistry and scholars in applied mathematics.

Rumors said that the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science in Germany had set up a task force that brought together several scholars in the fields of mathematics, chemistry, and condensed matter physics to test the model.

Maybe soon the answer would come out.

But for now, it seemed that the controversy would stay.

Lu Zhou, who was at the center of all of this, was surprisingly calm. He did his experiment without hesitation.

Three days after the JACS publication, his second experiment with the D.E Shaw Research Institute came to an end. He had finally completed the research on the molecular dynamics simulation of the interface between carbon-sulfur materials and organic electrolytic solutions.

After sending these millions of dollars worth of experiment data to Yang Xu, who was far away at the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, Lu Zhou was about to turn off his computer. Suddenly, he received a video call from Sarrot.

Lu Zhou knew what the professor wanted and picked up the call.

As expected, Sarrot had an awkward expression.

He stayed silent for a while before he said, "I'm sorry… for letting you down."

Lu Zhou didn't blame him.

"It's fine, you don't have to feel guilty. You did what I asked you to do."

Scientific research wasn't gardening; just because one planted seed doesn't mean results would come out.

Professor Stanley was the director of the Institute of Materials at Binghamton University; Sarrot was no match for someone like him.

Not to mention Stanley's financial support, it would be a miracle if Sarrot had won the competition.

However, just like Lu Zhou had guessed, it didn't matter who developed the technology.

Sarrot was confused. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said, "I don't understand, why do you look like you don't care? This is the lithium-sulfur battery project, you must have invested a lot of money into this?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, I spent a lot of money on your lithium-sulfur batteries, and your experiment on HCS-1 was inspiring. But when did I say the key to solving lithium-sulfur batteries was the caged carbon molecule?"

Sarrot was stunned.

Lu Zhou told him to do everything he could to solve the laboratory synthesis method of the caged carbon molecule, and the HCS-1 was only a by-product of the caged carbon molecule.

But Lu Zhou never said the caged carbon molecule was the key to solving the lithium-sulfur battery shuttle effect…

He suddenly realized this.

His eyes widened. "Wait a minute, you're saying…"

"The caged carbon molecule is a very interesting material whether it is from the perspective of its geometry or its physical chemical properties. However, it has nothing to do with lithium-sulfur batteries." Lu Zhou threw a sugar cube into his coffee and said, "As for its use, I will tell you later."

Sarrot gulped and said, "Which means the JACS thesis that Professor Stanley had published…"

"They're probably running around like lobsters in a pot," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "but it's their fault."

Similar things happened before.

Professor Stanley's thesis could be interpreted as an academic mistake.

Lu Zhou guessed that in order to win the competition, Stanley probably "modified" some data in order to publish sooner.

For example, according to the mathematical model he established for "the effect of pore size and surface area of hollow carbon spheres on the diffusion of polysulfide compounds", the caged carbon molecule had a lesser effect on the "shuttle effect". This was confirmed in Professor Stanley's experiment.

The so-called lesser effect meant a tiny effect.

Its actual industry application value wasn't even comparable to Lu Zhou's HCS-1…

Sarrot was speechless.

What is a genius?

This is a genius…

Stanley thought he had the upper hand. Instead, he was baited…

From Sarrot's perspective, Lu Zhou had planned this whole thing.

Including Ricardo stealing the data… It was all part of Lu Zhou's scheme.

Sarrot would still be in the dark if Lu Zhou hadn't explained this to him.

However, Sarrot didn't know that the reality was much more simple.

Even if Lu Zhou explained the high tech system missions to him, he wouldn't believe in it…

"Oh yeah, about the Ricardo lawsuit, just withdraw it." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "He's helped us so much, we'll let him go."

Their most competitive opponents were destroyed; this reduced a lot of pressure on the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

Lu Zhou couldn't be bothered to go through with a lawsuit.

Lu Zhou originally thought that Sarrot wouldn't be happy to drop the lawsuit. He didn't expect Sarrot to look at him with admiration.

"Okay, boss!"

Sarrot couldn't help but say, "Smart, your scheme was wonderful…"

Lu Zhou: …?

What scheme?

What is he talking about?

I'm so confused.

Lu Zhou felt like Sarrot had misunderstood something.

Chapter 344: Nobel Prize Winner Is Also Not Sure

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in a crystal chemistry lecture at the University of Munich.

Professor Gerhard Ertl didn't delegate his lecturing work to his assistant. Instead, he stood in the middle of the classroom as he explained the mysteries of crystal chemistry to his young students.

For a Nobel Prize winner, this kind of basic educating work seemed unusual. However, many well-known scholars were actually happy to share their knowledge with their young students.

Professor Ertl was the same, especially when he came across a complex problem.

Teaching basic knowledge always gave him inspiration.

At the end of the lecture, suddenly a student raised his hand.

"Professor, have you seen the recent thesis on JACS about a theoretical model of electrochemical interface?"

Professor Ertl paused for two seconds before he adjusted his glasses and nodded.

"Yes, I have, is there a question?"

The student looked at him and asked, "Is it correct?"

Ertl thought for a moment before he said with a relaxed tone, "My child, due to the rigorous of science, I cannot answer you this question right now."

The student didn't seem to be satisfied with the answer, and he asked, "What if it's correct?"

"There are no ifs in science, but if I have to answer…"

Ertl frowned and seemed reluctant on answering, but in the end, he said, "If it is correct, then it will revolutionize chemistry."

The classroom exclaimed in awe.

Revolutionize chemistry!

What a shocking statement!

Most people wouldn't have cared if someone else had said this, but this was said by Professor Ertl who was a 2007 Nobel Prize winner and an expert in solid surface chemistry!

In addition to his role as a professor at the University of Munich, he was also the director of the Fritz Haber Institute at the Max Plank Institute.

Who else's opinion in the electrochemistry field mattered more?

Professor Ertl smiled at the student's reaction.

"I am happy to see that you guys are optimistic at the birth of a new theory. You guys are right, the only way to improve is to accept new theories.

"However, in the midst of being curious about new theories, I hope you guys can all remember to look at every conclusion meticulously.

"This is the responsibility of a scientist."

Ertl tapped the podium.

"I will ask my assistant to send you the homework through email, class over."

After leaving the classroom, Professor Ertl didn't return to his office. Instead, he got into his car and drove to the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society.

The recent JACS thesis caused widespread controversy in the chemistry field. The Fritz Haber Institute had a responsibility to express its opinion on this thesis.

Of course, this expression of opinion had to be taken seriously.

Due to the importance of this theoretical model in the field of electrochemical interface structures, the Max Planck Society had set up an interdisciplinary team to bring together top scholars in the fields of mathematics, chemistry, and condensed matter physics to discuss this theoretical model.

Ertl was a member of the research group and the director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry; his opinion represented the research institutes' opinion.

Because of this, he was particularly cautious when dealing with this research project.

He walked into the conference room and saw Faltings sitting there while holding a printed thesis and reading it carefully.

Strictly speaking, this guy was an expert in the field of algebraic geometry and arithmetic geometry. Functional analysis wasn't his field of research. However, he was a big name in the number theory field; it wasn't a rare thing for him to research out of his expertise.

He was also the most influential mathematician since Grothendieck, and he was the director of the Max Plank Institute for Mathematics, thus it was necessary for him to understand other areas of research.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the director of the research institute.

However, this old German had a temper at Princeton, and his attitude didn't change when he got back to Germany. In fact, it became worse.

Faltings spoke slowly to Ertl as if he were telling a story.

"Only second-rate mathematicians are interested in applying mathematics to real-world problems. In my opinion, such things have no value at all."

Looking down at applied sciences was the norm at the Bourbaki School. Although the phenomenon was less common among young mathematicians, the concept still existed in the mind of the older generation of mathematicians.

Hardy was a classic example of this. Other than researching mathematics, Hardy's favorite thing was to show off to others. He loved to study pure mathematics and was proud that his research couldn't be applied.

However, unfortunately, Hardy didn't expect his research to be applied in computer science and cryptography…

Of course, Faltings didn't mean that Lu Zhou was a second-rate mathematician; he was only looking down at his thesis.

At last year's Crafoord Prize ceremony, he said there were only four mathematicians in the world that could surpass him; Lu Zhou was the most promising among them.

But now, he thought about changing the number four to three.

Ertl sat across from Faltings and said, "I don't agree."

Faltings replied, "I didn't expect you to agree. It's like how not everyone can appreciate the sculptures of ancient Greece, you just don't understand the beauty of mathematics."

Ertl's eyebrow twitched.

Professor Klaus von Klitzing coughed and tried to stop the two from fighting.

"Enough, Mr. Faltings, I hope you can provide more constructive opinions, we're not here to hear you ridicule us."

Professor Klaus von Klitzing was a researcher for the Max Planck Institute for condensed matter physics. He was the discoverer of the quantum Hall effect and a Nobel Prize nominee.

"I didn't ridicule you guys," Faltings looked at the thesis and said, "I'm only stating facts."

Ertl looked at Klitzing; he decided not to argue with the stubborn old man before he finished reading the thesis.

Fortunately, Faltings had the same intention, and he continued to read the thesis carefully.

After a long time, he threw the thesis on the table and gave a review.

"From the standpoint of a mathematician, his process is fine."

Ertl and Klitzing were relieved.

If Professor Faltings said it was mathematically correct, then it should be fine in the mathematics department.

Klitzing looked at Ertl and said, "What do you think of this theory?"

Ertl thought for a moment before he said, "In my opinion, it's not bad. However, his theory is difficult to understand. Even if we were to give our opinion, the chemistry world wouldn't be able to accept this theory."

Klitzing said, "So you're saying?"

Ertl nodded and said, "There is nothing better than a report. The more difficult the theory is, the more it needs its author."

Klitzing gently tapped his finger on the conference and asked, "What do you think is appropriate?"

"We can send an invitation letter to Princeton and invite Professor Lu to come to Fritz Haber Institute on an exchange visit. We can provide him a platform to explain his views to the chemistry community."

This was a great idea.

Klitzing nodded in agreement.

"I agree, but the problem is which research institute should send the invitation?"

This was an important question.

The Max Planck Institute was not a top-down organization; the research institutes were basically independent of one another.

However, this question was easy to answer.

The two spoke at the same time.

"Of course it should be from the Institute of Physical Chemistry."

"It should be from our Institute of Mathematics."

Faltings and Ertl looked at each other.

Faltings said, "He is a mathematician."

Ertl looked at him in disbelief and said, "But we are talking about chemistry."

Seeing that the two men were arguing again, Klitzing made a compromise.

"Since you guys can't make up your minds, how about the Institute of Condensed Matter Physics…"

"Impossible."

"Don't even think about it!"

Klitzing awkwardly coughed and said, 'I was just saying… If so, we should just resolve this issue in the classic way."

A physicists tradition.

Betting.

"Heads you're out, tails you're in," Klitzing said. As he placed a coin on the table, he added, "Of course, I will also participate."

Chapter 345: Please Tell Me

It had been a month since Lu Zhou's thesis was published in JACS; the debate about the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface had become more and more intense.

Because of this controversy, this thesis had been receiving more and more attention.

Although he didn't choose to submit to the popular journal Science, Science still made a "highlight" for his thesis.

Not only that, the famous theoretical chemist and the 2013 Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Martin Karplus of Harvard University, was invited to write a scientific review and comment on the research results.

"… I've been paying attention to his theses, and I didn't expect his results to come out so soon. This is without a doubt a great achievement. I am quite optimistic at the correctness of the research. However, it answers many problems regarding the electrochemical interface, thus I have some unresolved questions.

"So far, the Nobel Prize has only been given to the computational chemistry field twice. I believe that the Nobel Prize will visit this field again in the near future."

Prior to this, Martin Karplus made an outstanding contribution to the multi-scale simulation of complex molecular system design by proposing the Karplus equation for the relationship between the coupling constant and the dihedral angle. This was the reason he received the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

He was a theoretical chemist that was also proficient in mathematics. Karplus made many outstanding contributions in fields such as quantum chemistry, biomacromolecules, and molecular dynamics model.

Because of this, his review of Lu Zhou's thesis received widespread attention.

Especially because Science was one of the top two journals in the world, many scholars outside of the chemistry field were able to read a summary of the thesis.

At the same time, a photo had been circling on Twitter among the Columbia University students.

It was a photo of a man standing in front of the Thinker statue.

The caption was in one line.

[A mortal man saw the universe through a bronze statue.]

This photo was taken a month ago.

Apparently, it was taken by a person with a PhD in philosophy who was walking back to his apartment.

This PhD holder thought it was interesting that someone was standing in front of the "Thinker" statue for so long, therefore he took a photo.

After returning home, the PhD holder drank some alcohol and came up with the caption for Twitter.

He didn't expect that his tweet would be discovered a month later.

Actually, this tweet didn't attract any special attention until the 2013 Nobel Prize winner gave this photo a very different meaning on Science.

It brought a sense of character and color.

Even though everyone knew that it was impossible for an apple to teach Newton the laws of gravity, a story gave a sense of scientific romance to the public. It was then easier for the public to spread the story.

Standing in front of a bronze "Thinker" statue while coming up with a new chemistry theory was exactly this type of story.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know that these things were happening on Twitter. He merely realized that he was being recognized more often on the Columbia campus; some people even took photos with him.

He was confused at the enthusiasm of these people, but since he was an easygoing person, he would often accept the requests of his fans.

As for those that were too enthusiastic and naughty…

He obviously rejected them.

The interesting thing was that Lu Zhou wasn't the only popular person on the Columbia campus.

Even the bronze statue became the center of attention.

More and more people began to stand in front of it, both professors and students.

It was difficult to say whether this was a good thing for the statue or not…

…

Times of joy were always short-lived.

It was time for Lu Zhou to say goodbye to this university.

Before leaving, the president of the Columbia University, Professor Lee Carroll Bollinger, personally sent Lu Zhou to the school entrance.

"I can tell that Columbia students like you a lot. Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Lu Zhou smiled and joked, "I don't think Mr. Eisgruber would like that very much."

Eisgruber was the president of Princeton University. Although Lu Zhou wasn't close to him, he still knew of him.

"Oh, don't do this, I was only thinking for my students." Bollinger smiled and said, "If you can, tell Eisgruber I said hi. Also, the doors of Columbia University are always open for you."

Lu Zhou smiled. "Thank you."

Professor Bollinger said with a heavy tone, "Actually we prepared a gift for you. But this gift is a little special, it requires your opinion…"

Lu Zhou asked, "Can I ask what this gift is?"

"An honorary professor title at Columbia University. Since this gift is nothing useful to you," Bollinger smiled and said, "I don't know if you're willing to accept this gift?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's my honor."

Professor Bollinger smiled. "This is also the honor of Columbia University."

A person could have many honorary professor tittles. Prior to this, Lu Zhou was only an honorary professor for Jin Ling University.

This title represented Columbia University's recognition of his academic ability and his friendship with Columbia University.

Any scholar would be happy to receive as many honorary professor titles as possible.

Lu Zhou walked outside of Columbia campus and sat in his Ford Explorer.

Jerick was sitting in the driver's seat. When he heard that his professor was coming back, he volunteered to pick Lu Zhou up.

Even though Lu Zhou planned to take the train back, he didn't reject Jerick's proposal.

"Professor, are we going back to school?"

Lu Zhou put on his seat belt and said, "Of course, we can still get some lunch if we get there fast."

Jerick nodded. "Okay, professor."

He was about to start driving, but suddenly, a man in a suit fell in front of his car.

Lu Zhou was muddled.

Is this…

The legendary insurance fraud?

I've never even seen this in Jinling, why is it happening here?

Jerick was also muddled; he had never seen anything like this. He removed his feet from the gas pedal and turned the engine off.

The man in the suit climbed up and walked to the side of the car. When he saw Lu Zhou, he screamed tearfully.

"Please, in god's name, forgive me."

Lu Zhou was confused; he didn't know what was happening.

"Speak slowly, who are you?"

Honest to god, Lu Zhou had never seen this dude before.

It was almost like Lu Zhou had bullied this guy before.

This isn't a good look for me…

Lu Zhou looked around and saw many students staring at the commotion.

The security guard at the entrance of the Columbia campus touched his baton as he stared at them.

There had been an increase in school shootings in recent years. Although New York had the strictest gun laws in America, they still took security very seriously.

This could be seen from the protective gear the security guards had.

"I…" The man in the suit awkwardly hesitated and said, "I'm Ricardo… I used to work at your research institute."

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he finally knew what was going on.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have already withdrawn your lawsuit."

Although Lu Zhou was angry when he was poached…

But it had been so long… Furthermore, since this dude had been a great help to him, Lu Zhou had let this matter go a long time ago.

However, Lu Zhou didn't expect Ricardo to be even more miserable.

"No, please don't do this! Sue me! I beg you!"

Lu Zhou: …?

What?

Chapter 346: Two Invitation letters

Lu Zhou swore.

He had never had a better invitation in America.

Lu Zhou looked at Ricardo and asked, "Is the food in jail that good?"

"It's not good…" Ricardo shook his head and said, "No, no, it's good, please send me to jail!"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Jerick: ???

Jesus, is this guy crazy?

Jerick took out his phone and was about to call the police.

As an American, he knew the dangers of mental patients better than Lu Zhou. He was more aware of how to deal with a situation like this.

However, Lu Zhou waved his hand and gestured Jerick not to call the police.

"Although I want to help you…" Lu Zhou looked at Ricardo and paused for a second before he said, "You should be aware that once the lawsuit has been withdrawn, the court will not pursue another civil action on the same case again."

When Ricardo heard Lu Zhou's explanation, his face turned white. He took two steps back and sat on the sidewalk.

The security guards relaxed, but the pedestrians nearby were even more confused. Ricardo looked down at the ground; no one knew what he was thinking about.

Lu Zhou looked at him and sighed.

He remembered Professor Sarrot's anger and could probably guess what Ricardo was afraid of.

In a sense, being a two-faced spy was worse than the usual corporate espionage. He both angered ExxonMobil and stained his resume; he could say goodbye to his career.

However, although Lu Zhou felt sympathetic, he wouldn't apologize.

Ricardo was the one that did something wrong.

If only he didn't bring the data to ExxonMobil…

If it were a normal resignation, Lu Zhou might have even introduced Ricardo to some of his scholar and research institute friends.

However, the world didn't work in that way.

Like how no one would compensate the losses of ExxonMobil and Professor Stanley, no one would compensate Ricardo…

…

Lu Zhou finally left Columbia University and arrived at the quiet Princeton town.

Jerick drove his Ford Explorer to his driveway. When Lu Zhou was taking out his suitcase from the trunk, he received a warm welcome.

"Professor, you're finally back," Hardy said with a warm smile. He then said with an enthusiastic tone, "I was originally going to bet if you were going to stay there forever… but I knew you wouldn't ditch us."

Lu Zhou smiled; he felt warm in his heart.

Lu Zhou was about to say something when Qin Yue patted Hardy's shoulder and said two words, "Pay up."

Hardy muttered, "Oh, Jesus… Can't you wait a bit?" He took out a hundred dollar bill and placed it in Qin Yue's hands.

Vera couldn't help but laugh at the two.

Even Wei Wen chuckled.

However, Lu Zhou gradually lost his smile…

This f*cker bet against me?

Jerick helped park his car into the garage while Lu Zhou walked into his warm house with his suitcase.

However, the dust inside his house made him sneeze.

No one had been in the house in two months.

Obviously, there was no way anyone could live here without some thorough cleaning.

The kitchen was in a mess.

Lu Zhou knew that this would happen, so he planned to go eat at the Ivy Club.

However, out of his five students, only Hardy was a member of the Ivy Club.

The weather was cool today. Therefore, Hardy proposed a barbecue in the backyard. Everyone unanimously agreed to this idea.

The group then started to work on it. They took out the barbecue stove and folding table from Lu Zhou's garage and set up a lively barbecue party in Lu Zhou's backyard.

Lu Zhou sat on the grass while eating authentic Brazilian barbecue and drinking cold beer.

Although this party wasn't as luxurious as the one at the Hilton Hotel, it brought him a completely different type of relaxation.

As expected, he still preferred to hang out with his students.

Vera walked over to him while carrying a plate of food.

She sat next to him and made some small talk. After that, she reported to him her work for the past two months.

This included her number theory lecturing job, results of the class exam, the research progress on Collatz conjecture…

When Lu Zhou heard Vera's report, he nodded with approval.

"Not bad." He smiled and said, "Remember what I said? You were born for this job."

Vera blushed and looked away before she quickly said, "Also, when you were gone, there were two letters sent to your office. I had retrieved it from the mailroom and placed it in your drawer."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, I will look at it tomorrow."

He just got back from Columbia University; he needed a day to unpack his luggage and relax.

Today, he wouldn't go to the Institute for Advanced Study.

However, everything would return back to normal tomorrow…

…

Lu Zhou spent the whole day relaxing.

The next morning, he wrote a report on his Columbia University exchange and sent it to Nassau Hall at Princeton University. He then quickly went to the Institute for Advanced Study.

When Lu Zhou got back to his office and sat down on his chair, he opened his desk drawer and found the two letters.

One letter was from the International Mathematical Union (IMU); it was an invitation letter to the International Conference of Mathematicians which was to be held on the 1st of August next year in Brazil.

As expected, he was invited to do an hour-long report at the International Conference of Mathematicians.

Normally speaking, reports were usually forty-five minutes or sixty minutes long. He should be the only Chinese scholar invited to do a sixty-minute long report at the conference.

Lu Zhou was surprised at the other letter.

It was from across the pond, all the way from Germany.

[Dear Mr. Lu Zhou, I apologize for disturbing your busy research schedule. We did extensive research on your "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure" thesis that was recently published in JACS. We still have many questions…

[… We sincerely hope that you can come to Europe. We will arrange a report session for you, and scholars from all over the world will get to witness this great moment.

[Max Plank Institute of Condensed Matter Physics.]

Lu Zhou wasn't surprised by the content of the letter.

The letter itself was fine.

What he was confused about was…

Why was it sent by a condensed matter physics research institute?

Chapter 347: Experience More When You're Young

Lu Zhou couldn't make up his mind, and he told Professor Deligne about the Max Planck Institute invitation. Professor Deligne looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "You plan on going to the Fritz Haber Institute?"

"I'm thinking about it," Lu Zhou replied. He then added, "Actually I prefer to do this report in Princeton."

Germany was too far.

He just got back from Columbia University, he didn't want to leave so soon again.

Deligne thought for a moment. Surprisingly, he didn't agree with Lu Zhou, and he said, "Principal Eisgruber will be very happy to hear you say this, but I don't recommend doing this."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

"This is like a monastery, it's suitable for spiritual practice. However, it is not a place for evangelism. There is a bigger world out there." Deligne placed the pen in his hand down and said, "My suggestion is to experience more when you are young. No matter what you are researching, it is good to network with other scholars."

Deligne believed that Lu Zhou's attitude toward academia was suboptimal.

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "Okay, I will consider your suggestion."

"I hope you will. Also, once you get there, remember to say hi to the old man Faltings for me." Deligne smile and said, "It's been 20 years since he left Princeton, don't know if he's still cocky or not."

Lu Zhou remembered his last encounter with the old man in Stockholm.

Lu Zhou didn't know what Faltings was like 20 years ago.

But the old man still seemed pretty arrogant…

Lu Zhou left Professor Deligne's office and went back to his own office.

He sat in front of his computer and thought for a moment. He then wrote an email to the Max Planck Institute for Condensed Matter Physics.

In the end, he chose to go to Germany.

The Max Planck Institute promised to pay for all expenses, and a free trip wasn't too bad.

But now he had to prepare for his PowerPoint report…

Lu Zhou worked all day until it was dinner time.

He stretched and saved his incomplete PowerPoint report. He then got up from his office chair.

He had some special matters to take care of at night; therefore, he decided to end the day early. He told Vera not to bring him a sandwich. He then went to the dining area on the first floor.

Lu Zhou was about to eat when he coincidentally bumped into Edward Witten, who had just finished his meal.

"Didn't eat at the Ivy Club?" the talkative Jewish professor asked as he sat down across from Lu Zhou. He then added, "The chef changed when you went to Columbia."

Lu Zhou twisted his fork in the meat sauce as he said, "Every time I plan on going there, I end up here because I'm too lazy to go that far."

"Haha, same here. I got used to the food here after a while." Edward Witten smiled and said, "If I didn't have a lifetime membership, I would've canceled a long time ago."

This was the first time Lu Zhou had heard something like this. He looked at Witten and asked, "Lifetime membership? You don't have to pay the membership fee?"

"Of course not, you'll probably get it soon. No club will ask a Fields Medal or Nobel Prize winner a membership fee. This is the Ivy Club tradition." Witten paused for a second and suddenly remembered something important. He then asked, "Speaking of which, you received an invitation from the IMU?"

Witten was obviously talking about the International Conference of Mathematicians invitation.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, they invited me to do an hour-long report."

Edward Witten wasn't surprised at Lu Zhou's invitation.

Lu Zhou was a strong Fields Medal candidate, so it was only natural for him to receive an invitation.

"An hour isn't short, have you thought about what to report on?"

Lu Zhou said, "If all goes to plan, I'll report on the Collatz conjecture."

"If all goes to plan?" Edward Witten looked at Lu Zhou and asked curiously, "What if it doesn't?"

Lu Zhou smiled and answered the question, "Of course, I'll still report on the Collatz conjecture."

The difference being who was going to prove the conjecture.

After solving Goldbach's conjecture, there weren't that many number theory conjectures that Lu Zhou took an interest in.

His Group Structure Method had been perfected by the proof of the Goldbach's conjecture. Lu Zhou was more interested in seeing people use his tools to create new theories.

Because of this, Lu Zhou decided to ask his students to prove the Collatz conjecture. He only provided guidance and methods.

Of course, if his students couldn't solve it, he would solve it himself.

However, Lu Zhou was quite optimistic at the abilities of his students.

Especially Vera; she was the most talented young mathematician Lu Zhou had ever seen.

Although she lacked creativity, she made up for it in analytical skills and logical thinking. Lu Zhou only had to teach her something once and she would never forget. She could also easily apply her newfound knowledge to new problems.

Lu Zhou believed that if she had proper guidance, she could become as successful as Schultz.

She did win the IMO gold medal at a younger age than Schultz…

…

Once Lu Zhou finished his dinner, he didn't go home right away. Instead, he jogged around Lake Carnegie.

A researcher needed a healthy body for grinding.

Lu Zhou discovered this fact after becoming Professor Lu.

He was drenched in sweat and took a shower at home. He then lay down in bed and whispered "system". His consciousness was transformed into the system space.

When he completed his mission last time, he only received the mission reward. He didn't even look at the new missions.

Now that his electrochemical theoretical model had been completed, he finally had some spare time.

It was time to look at the system missions.

Chapter 348: A Genius Studen

[

Mission 1: Genius Student Development plan

Description: A super genius cultivates a genius student and receives a cohort of genius students tomorrow. What a great deal.

Requirements: Help a student to complete their thesis.

Rewards: 1 ??? Subject experience points. (Value correlated to the academic value of the research project and negatively correlated to user's participation in the thesis.). 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket. (50% garbage, 25% samples, 15% blueprints, 10% special).

]

Lu Zhou looked at this first mission and complained.

What does this system think of genius students?

Does it think that teaching genius students is like planting trees?

The "super genius student" must be a compliment.

Lu Zhou received recognition from the high tech system, but he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.

[

Mission 2: King of the football field

Description: Football is the American national sport. The Super Bowl is a national-level event. The Super Bowl seems a bit too difficult, but the Ivy League fall championship should be fine?

Requirements: Participate in any of Princeton's rugby clubs and place third place in the league.

Rewards: 10,000 to 50,000 experience points. 500 General points. One lucky draw ticket (80% garbage, 10% sample, 6% blueprints, 4% special).

]

Lu Zhou: "…"

What do you mean it should be fine?

This is not fine.

Lu Zhou remembered that Connie was built like the hulk, and he decided to stay away from the dangerous sport of football.

If he got hurt, it would be a loss to all of mankind…

Lu Zhou continued to look at the mission panel.

[

Mission 3: Lithium-air battery is the future!

Description: Lithium-sulfur batteries will eventually be eliminated, lithium-air batteries are the future!

Requirements: Solve a series of lithium-air battery problems and make lithium-air batteries occupy 5% of the global battery market.

Reward: 0-??? subject experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket (50% garbage, 30% sample, 10% blueprints, 10% special).

]

There was nothing wrong with the mission itself, but the high tech system's logic was similar to Professor Sarrot's.

Lu Zhou didn't know if the system overestimated the technological level of human civilization or if the system just didn't want him to earn experience points.

However, since the system was so confident in lithium-air batteries, Lu Zhou felt that he should consider it seriously. He might have to buy the caged carbon molecule from Professor Stanley.

Anyway, it shouldn't cost a lot.

Lu Zhou looked at the three missions and thought for a bit. In the end, he chose Mission 1 as his primary mission.

Mission 2 was too dangerous and Mission 3 was too difficult; Mission 1 was undoubtedly the best option.

However, the reward was negatively correlated with Lu Zhou's participation in the thesis. The system wanted Lu Zhou to be more "hands-off" and let his student do the project.

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and began to think.

That's a bit difficult.

…

Institute of Materials Science at Binghamton University.

"Ricardo! Come out! Damnit… Where did that idiot go?"

Professor Stanley was looking for Ricardo in the laboratory. He was so filled with rage to the point that even his beard was trembling.

Obviously, he was as furious as he could get.

Many laboratories had been questioning his thesis, asking him to do repeated experiments.

Professor Stanley replied to these suspicions with "just because you can't do it, doesn't mean that other people can't as well".

This response sounded a bit unreasonable.

However, it was nothing unusual in the academic community.

Although the essence of scientific research was that it could be repeated, not every experiment could be copied perfectly.

After all, even if the experiment process was easy, a small change could lead to wildly different results.

In fact, the caged carbon molecules did have an effect on inhibiting the shuttle effect.

However, it was far less effective than what Professor Stanley had described.

The academic community gradually lost interest in his research and the market began to get annoyed. Especially ExxonMobil, they were becoming impatient at their stock price.

In order to fix this situation, a month ago, Professor Stanley told ExxonMobil that he would do everything he could to make the caged carbon molecules useful.

However, unfortunately, no matter what mixing method he used for the positive sulfur material, he couldn't prevent the polysulfide compound from diffusing into the electrolyte. The positive electrode material would disappear after a hundred or two hundred cycles.

Professor Stanley was more and more suspicious of Ricardo being a double spy. He was about to confront Ricardo when Ricardo suddenly disappeared from his laboratory.

He asked his assistant what had happened.

Since two days ago, Ricardo hadn't been coming to the laboratory.

Suddenly, Professor Stanley understood what had happened.

His worst fear was realizing itself.

He felt like an idiot for believing in that traitor!

The researchers in the laboratory feared Professor Stanley's temper.

No one knew why but ever since that Manhattan banquet, Professor Stanley, who was at the peak of his career, suddenly developed a temper.

Even though they were in the same laboratory and working on the same experiment, no one knew the specifics of the entire experiment.

Other than the core researchers whose name appeared in the thesis, most researchers of the institute knew nothing about the specifics of the caged carbon molecule.

Most researchers thought that they had solved the lithium-sulfur battery shuttle effect and defeated the world-class problem…

"Damn, f*ck!" Professor Stanley couldn't stop swearing as he sat in his office desk and breathed heavily.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

Professor Stanley checked the phone number and took a deep breath to calm down. He then picked up the phone.

Woods' voice could be heard from the other side of the telephone.

"My engineer told me what you can't create the battery at all! Stop giving me boring reasons, I need an explanation."

This was his fifth call to Professor Stanley since the Manhattan banquet. His voice had gotten less and less polite each time he called.

Professor Stanley went silent for a while.

He was about to tell the CEO the whole truth when he suddenly had another thought.

ExxonMobil didn't know that Ricardo was missing from the laboratory.

This might not be a bad thing.

He could throw Ricardo under the bus…

Professor Stanley lowered his voice and said, "We were played."

Woods was stunned at this answer. He then asked, "What do you mean?"

Professor Stanley said, "The data was fake, Ricardo was a double-spy! Don't you understand! We were played right from the beginning!"

Woods immediately said, "Impossible! Where can he go? There is a lawsuit on his a*s, he can't run far."

In America, corporate espionage was a very serious crime. Especially when it came to intellectual property theft…

Ricardo's entry out of the country could be under heavy restrictions.

As long as Ricardo was in America, it would be easy to find him.

Professor Stanley said, "He's a double-spy, do you think that Star Sky Technology will still sue him? They probably have already withdrawn their lawsuit…"

Woods began to think.

He was angry that Professor Stanley had hidden this from him for over a month.

But his anger was now on Ricardo.

If what Professor Stanley said was true, then it wasn't all his fault.

After all, poaching from Lu Zhou was Woods' idea as well.

However, this wasn't the time to argue about whose fault it was…

Woods took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "I will talk to the legal department about the lawsuit. As for now…"

An energy giant like ExxonMobil faced lawsuits every day; a small lawsuit on one of the members of their staff wouldn't attract their attention.

Woods wasn't up to date with the progress of the lawsuit.

Of course, if what Stanley said was true, Woods would make Ricardo pay the price.

As for now…

Woods paused for a moment before he said, "As for now, we must stabilize our position! The new material is not ideal, this information cannot be leaked! Our investors trust us, we cannot let them down.

"Also, I learned that Lu Zhou has been researching new theory recently; lithium-sulfur batteries is not his focus anymore. Although we went on the wrong track, we are not too far behind.

"I need you to do more experiments.

"We have invested a lot of resources, I don't want to see nothing come of it! I don't think you want to fail either!"

When Professor Stanley heard this, he sighed in relief.

Obviously, ExxonMobil wouldn't admit defeat so easily. Woods still chose Stanley to fight on the front line.

Professor Stanley spoke in a gentle tone, "I have been doing experiments already."

He had never intended to admit defeat.

He would fight until the day he received the results.

Chapter 349: One Year Plan

The next morning, Lu Zhou went to his office.

He looked at his five students and walked to the front of the blackboard. He then cleared his throat and said, "Today, I have something to announce."

Everyone stopped working and looked at the professor standing in front of the blackboard.

Lu Zhou changed his tone to be less formal as he continued, "Yesterday, I received an invitation letter from the IMU. They invited me to participate in the 2018 International Conference of Mathematicians and do a 60-minute report at the conference."

Clap clap clap…

The office was filled with applause.

Especially Hardy, his applause was the most enthusiastic. He even added a congratulatory speech.

"Congratulations, professor! I think in order to celebrate…"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and interrupted him.

"We've already had enough parties."

Hardy sighed and said, "This isn't enough, the Princeton football club has parties every week."

Lu Zhou ignored him and continued to speak, "For the subject of this hour-long report, I will use the Collatz conjecture. Our research results will be shown to the mathematics community.

"No one believes that this conjecture can be solved. We will tell those pessimists that they are wrong."

Qin Yue looked hesitant when he said, "But professor, according to your framework, our research on the Collatz conjecture is only at around 30% or so. This is far from being able to present a report…"

"That's why you guys have to work harder," Lu Zhou said as he looked at Qin Yue. He then turned to look at Vera and said, "I will help you guys when necessary, but I hope you can finish this research project on your own. Best case scenario, this thesis can become a master's thesis for all three of you."

Even the risk-averse Qin Yue was relieved.

If the professor helped on the research, there was nothing to worry about.

The only thing was that Professor Lu had been studying chemistry problems recently, so he might not have the free time for mathematics conjectures.

"This is the basic plan for the next year. I hope your research project can go smoothly." Lu Zhou looked at Wei Wen and said, 'Wei Wen, come outside with me for a second, I have something for you to do."

Wei Wen smirked and immediately left the office with Lu Zhou.

It looked like his supervisor was about to arrange a research project for him.

He had been waiting for this for a long time.

…

Lu Zhou came up with an idea for the system mission.

On one hand, he would ask Vera to continue her research on the Collatz conjecture. Due to the academic value of the Collatz conjecture, this was Lu Zhou's first choice.

On the other hand, Wei Wen and Jerick were also arranged to do research projects.

However, their project difficulty would be much lower.

This way, if the research on the Collatz conjecture stagnated, Lu Zhou would still have a backup.

However, even if the system did not give Lu Zhou this mission, Lu Zhou himself would have arranged something for Wei Wen to do.

After all, there was a limited amount of knowledge one could learn from textbooks. Precious scientific research knowledge couldn't be learned in the library.

"… Your research direction is the Hilbert space area of functional analysis. I remember that I suggested for you to do research on mathematical physics when you first came here. Unfortunately, I have not studied that area recently."

Wei Wen stood on the corridor outside of the office. Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "However, although I don't have a suitable project for you, I can recommend a person to you."

Wei Wen asked, "Who?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "He's my friend, come with me."

Although Luo Wenxuan's lifestyle was pretty relaxing, he still had the talent and ability. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten the offer from Edward Witten.

After all, Witten had strict requirements for his students.

The reason why Lu Zhou recommended Wei Wen to Luo Wenxuan was that Luo Wenxuan's research was related to Hilbert space.

Also, because Luo Wenxuan's master's degree was in the field of functional analysis and he was well versed in mathematical physics, he could teach Wei Wen many things.

Lu Zhou took Wei Wen to Witten's office.

Luo Wenxuan was reading documents when Lu Zhou arrived.

When Luo Wenxuan saw Lu Zhou standing at the door, he smiled.

"Morning, what brings you all the way here?"

"Nothing, just visiting." Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the computer screen as he said, "Reading theses?"

"That's right, it's my daily routine to log onto arXiv and check theses." Luo Wenxuan said, "That's how the field of theoretical physics is, there hasn't been new physics research in a long time. I'm not afraid to come up with a new idea, I'm afraid someone else already has."

Lu Zhou asked, "Have you still not finished your thesis?"

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "Nope, Witten's requirements are way too high, my thesis hasn't been satisfactory."

Lu Zhou asked, "So your thesis is still the same one?"

"I changed it." Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Now, it's about the research on the even coherent state of the q-distorted harmonic oscillator in the finite-dimensional Hilbert space."

Lu Zhou: "…"

He didn't know why this was worth bragging.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had second thoughts on lending his student to Luo Wenxuan.

Luo Wenxuan noticed Wei Wen who was standing behind Lu Zhou, and he asked, "Who's this?"

"My student, Yan University applied mathematics graduate…"

Lu Zhou hesitated for a few seconds before he decided to give it a shot.

Although Luo Wenxuan had his shortcomings, he had been Witten's student for a long time. Wei Wen had almost zero research experience, so he could learn a lot from Luo Wenxuan.

Also, Lu Zhou felt like he should help Luo Wenxuan. Luo Wenxuan was almost thirty years old and still didn't complete his thesis.

Therefore, Lu Zhou patted Wei Wen's back and said, "Didn't you tell me last time you required a mathematical genius in Hilbert space to help with your research project? This is it."

Luo Wenxuan was overjoyed. "Thank you so much! My research has entered a bottleneck, you are my savior!"

He looked at Wei Wen and said, "Wei Wen, right? I'll have to thank you in advance."

Wei Wen obviously noticed that this guy seemed unreliable, so he was a bit hesitant.

Will I be okay doing a research project with this guy?

However, Wei Wen trusted Lu Zhou's decision.

Wei Wen said with an uncertain tone, "I'll… try my best."

Chapter 350: The Dawn Of The Lithium-Sulfur Era

After dealing with Wei Wen, Lu Zhou went back to his office and began to prepare his PowerPoint report.

He spent a week working on the "theoretical model of electrochemical interface structure".

When Lu Zhou finally completed his PowerPoint report, he suddenly received a call from Yang Xu.

An excited voice was heard from the other end of the telephone.

"We did it! We did it!"

Lu Zhou heard the exhilarating voice and immediately asked, "Lithium-sulfur battery?"

Yang Xu nodded with excitement and said, "Yes! Your thought process is right, we can use glucose as the precursor and choose the copolymer of polyaniline oxime polypyrrole as the pore-forming agent. We successfully synthesized the surface area to 3022m2/g and created hollow carbon nanospheres with a diameter of only 69nm."

Yang Xu drank some water and cleared his throat; he couldn't wait to speak.

"Then, we mixed the hollow carbon spheres with sulfur by chemical deposition and assembled them into the battery mold to perform the battery performance test. The final result was quite satisfactory.

I won't talk about the rest over the phone, I have sent the relevant experiment data to your email. Look at it!"

"Okay, I will."

Lu Zhou was excited at how thrilled Yang Xu was, so he hung up the phone and checked his email.

There was an email from Yang Xu in his mailbox.

Lu Zhou downloaded the email attachments and opened the file with the experiment data. He converted it to a PDF format and carefully read it line by line.

This experiment data contained the battery performance test data, images taken with the SEM, and also data graph plots.

As per what Yang Xu said, the performance of this new material was quite good. No wonder Yang Xu was so excited.

Comparing the original hollow carbon nanospheres with the activated carbon nanospheres prepared using potassium hydroxide, the activated hollow carbon spheres performed excellently with a 70% sulfur composite.

This was only at the macroscopic level, the microscopic level was even more interesting.

The sulfur ions embedded in the hollow carbon spheres could escape from the surface pores of the hollow carbon spheres. They could also electrochemically react with the lithium ions moving to the positive electrode in an orderly manner as well as generating Li2S2 and Li2S between the carbon spheres. This prevented the pore blockage from affecting the efficiency of the electrochemical cycle.

On the other hand, because the charged sulfur ions were in limited contact with the lithium ions, the formation of a long-chain compound LiSn was avoided.

Everyone knew that long-chain LiSn molecules were easily soluble in organic solutions, and that was the basis of the shuttle effect. If the formation mechanism of these molecules could be reduced, it would totally prevent the loss of the positive electrode material.

Not just that, even if a small amount of LiSn (where n is greater than 2) compound was formed in the reaction system, due to the surface absorption properties of the hollow carbon sphere, the polysulfide compound would be trapped inside the positive electrode material. This could prevent it from diffusing through the surface of the material and into the electrolyte.

These two layers of protection minimized the effects of the shuttle effect.

Once Lu Zhou finished reading the physical and chemical properties analysis, he looked at the battery testing.

According to the battery experiments done by the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, the ability to inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds into the electrolyte peaked when the sulfur content was at 73%. Even after 500 battery cycles, the coulomb efficiency remained at a high level.

When the sulfur content was at 75%, other factors such as energy density, volume energy density, etc reached an optimal level.

Yang Xu named the new hollow carbon sphere HCS-2, following the nomenclature of Lu Zhou.

This new material was undoubtedly more applicable than HCS-1!

"Perfect."

Lu Zhou placed the experiment report on the table and took out his phone. He called Mr. White Sheridan, the general manager of Star Sky Technology. He told Mr. White to immediately start the international patent applications.

Taking into account the broad prospects of this material, Star Sky Technology would separately register patents on a series of aspects such as compounds, production, use, and mixing ratio of sulfur to HCS-2 materials. This allowed them to establish a robust patent defense.

If things went well, Lu Zhou could receive the patent numbers before the end of the month and could begin writing his thesis.

The success of the HCS-2 material was partly due to computational materials methods. This would undoubtedly provide an important example of his theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure.

Lu Zhou was particularly looking forward to his theory being applied…

…

White was very efficient; he had already submitted all of the documents and passed the patent application.

After getting the patent numbers, Lu Zhou immediately began writing the thesis.

The last paper on HCS-1 was also written by him. He could use the same format and structure for this thesis. He finished writing the thesis within three days.

He chose the Science journal as his submission target.

Lu Zhou submitted the journal and began to prepare for his Max Planck Institute meeting.

Submitting theses in Science was a hobby of many big names. For example, David Shaw was one of them.

And Science welcomed these theses. After all, the big names gave Science a good reputation within the academic community.

However, Professor Lu had submitted three theses within half a year; it was a bit extreme…

Not to mention the carbon-sulfur composite thesis by Professor Stanley was also on JACS.

Everyone had reason to suspect that Professor Lu might have competed with Professor Stanley on the lithium-sulfur battery project and that Professor Stanley might have published incomplete experiment results.

Things like this had happened in the academic community before.

The reviewer responsible was Professor Bawendi from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Just like last time, this professor accepted the review request and repeated Lu Zhou's experiment step by step by paying out of his own pocket.

He was amazed by the results.

Bawendi succeeded again…

Chapter 351: Finessed

Wang Haifeng was feeling very unhappy recently.

Accurately speaking, he hadn't been happy for the past six months.

First, he had to redo his research project due to various reasons. Then, his researcher was poached by the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

Honestly, he had never thought that the small, honest-looking Xiao Liu would betray him.

To begin with, he didn't have many skilled students in his laboratory, and now the most capable one was gone. He used to delegate many matters to Liu Hong, but now he had to do these things himself.

Finally, his research project was approved, and he received the research funding.

However, within a few days, he received a piece of bad news from across the Pacific Ocean. The Binghamton University Materials Science Research Institute, sponsored by ExxonMobil, developed a caged carbon molecule that successfully solved the shuttle effect problem of the lithium-sulfur battery.

This thesis was published in JACS and was promoted by ExxonMobil. The entire academic community focused on Professor Stanley and his thesis.

There were several other Chinese research and development teams that were also researching the shuttle effect.

Especially for the companies that invested in the research projects, they had already cut their investments by half.

Research teams were facing the risk of being divested.

In contrast, Wang Haifeng was quite lucky.

His research grant was from the National Research Fund.

The National Research Fund didn't care as much about profits and were less prone to changes in the market.

At the very least, they didn't give up on research projects halfway through.

In any case, ExxonMobil had set up patent barriers on lithium-sulfur batteries and had full pricing power control on lithium-sulfur battery cathode materials. This was bad news for the global energy industry.

Wang Haifeng felt sorry for domestic energy companies, but he also felt a sense of comfort.

As for why he felt a sense of comfort…

The reason was that Lu Zhou wasn't the one that won the lithium-sulfur battery battle.

After all, Professor Stanley was a big name in the lithium battery industry. Professor Stanley was the one that created the earliest lithium battery model, so losing to him wasn't a disgrace.

However, if Wang Haifeng had lost to Lu Zhou, he would feel extremely embarrassed.

Professor Wang finished his lecture and was about to walk to the laboratory building.

Suddenly, a man in a suit and his assistant greeted him.

Wang Haifeng looked at the stranger and asked, "Who are you?"

The man in the suit had a friendly smile as he handed Wang Haifeng his business card.

"Hello, I am a reporter for the Science Magazine, you can call me Xiao Li."

"Magazine reporter?" Wang Haifeng frowned and asked, "What do you want?"

Xiao Li said, "Here's the case. I have learned from many sources that you are a big name in the battery industry. I want to ask you some battery-related questions, are you free right now?"

Wang Haifeng didn't want to do any interviews, but he was happy to be called a "big name".

"I am busy, I can only give you ten minutes. Just ask any questions you want."

"Okay, Professor Wang." Xiao Li smiled and signaled his assistant to record the conversation before he asked, "What do you think about the recent JACS thesis by Professor Stanley?"

Wang Haifeng said, "The academic community hasn't come up with a conclusion yet. However, the author is Professor Stanley, and he is quite reputable in academia."

Xiao Li asked, "Then, do you think the caged carbon molecule is more applicable than Lu Zhou's HCS-1?"

"HCS-1?" Wang Haifeng laughed and said, "The two are not comparable at all. If the carbon molecule is a light bulb, then the HCS-1 would be a candle. That's how big the difference is."

Wang Haifeng wanted to laugh.

Why would anyone trust in a twenty-something-year-old professor?

Lu Zhou lost in the end.

Xiao Li asked, "Don't you think this is a big exaggeration?"

Wang Haifeng said without hesitation, "Not at all, in fact, it's conservative. You're not in the field, so you don't know much about the material science industry. The materials science industry produces amazing results every once in a while, but less than 10% of these research results have an industrial application uses. The HCS-1 material is an in-progress achievement and is a good result, from an academic point of view. However, this technology is worthless on the market. Do you think anyone is interested in his patent?"

Xiao Li nodded and said, "How can you be sure that Professor Stanley's caged carbon molecules are applicable in the real world? Did you look at the thesis data?"

"The focus is not on the thesis, it's on ExxonMobil. They're an international giant that strives for success, and there is a reason that they funded this research."

Wang Haifeng then said with emotion, "I have to say that the hollow carbon spheres are a good research direction; many research teams including my own are researching toward this direction.

"I believe that Professor Lu made a mistake talking about his ideas in that meeting. He should have kept his optimistic views on carbon spheres to himself. This way, no one would have copied his ideas.

"But I understand. He's a young man, he's full of energy. Maybe he'll become more rational when he grows up."

Professor Wang looked sad when speaking.

It was almost like ExxonMobil had won because Lu Zhou spilled the beans.

But actually, the fault wasn't on Lu Zhou.

Before that meeting, there weren't many research teams that focused on carbon nanospheres.

This included Wang Haifeng himself. Although he knew about hollow carbon spheres for a long time, he had never done any experiments in this area.

Also, it was the meeting organizers that published the content of the meeting, not Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou was still the one that said the words.

Xiao Li's eyes lit up. He could sense a story from Wang Haifeng, and he immediately asked, "What do you think of Professor Lu?"

Wang Haifeng smiled and said, "He's talented in scientific research, but he doesn't look at the whole situation, so it is quite embarrassing."

Xiao Li asked, "Why do you say that?"

Professor Wang laughed and said, "Look at the Jinling Institute Computational Materials, hundreds of millions have been invested in that institute, but what results have they produced?"

Wang Haifeng wasn't afraid to speak his mind.

After all, everyone was aware of the limited application use of HCS-1…

Wang Haifeng successfully finessed the reporter, and he felt extremely satisfied.

He returned to his laboratory and sat on his chair.

Suddenly, his assistant walked into the laboratory holding a journal magazine.

"Professor, this is the new Science journal. You told me to give this to you, so I'll put it here."

"Yes, just put it here." Wang Haifeng noticed that his assistant looked weird, so he asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." The assistant smiled and placed the journal on the table before he walked away.

Wang Haifeng sensed something was wrong. He reached out and picked up the new Science journal.

He was about to flip the page, but his hands suddenly froze.

He stopped breathing as he was rooted there like a statue.

On the cover of the Science journal, there was a line of text regarding the "highlights" section.

This was Wang Haifeng's worst nightmare…

[HCS-2 Material: Terminator of the Shuttle Effect]

Chapter 352: Times Magazine Interview

[HCS-2 Material: Terminator of the Shuttle Effect]

Theses that get highlighted were often the most outstanding research results in the journal issue.

As for Lu Zhou's thesis, not only was it selected to be on the cover of the journal, but the reviewer evaluation from Professor Bawendi was also in the scientific review section.

However, the evaluation was very short…

[Frankly, I didn't trust the data in the thesis until I did the experiment myself.]

This short evaluation caused someone to be ashamed after reading it…

Far away at Binghamton University.

The latest issue of the Science journal as well as an experiment report was on the table.

Professor Stanley sat in front of the desk.

He looked muddled and in disbelief.

Woods looked at the experiment report and sighed. "We lost."

Professor Stanley's lips moved as if he wanted to say something. However, he didn't speak.

He received the latest issue of the journal three days ago.

He couldn't believe that Lu Zhou could produce such a great research result in such a short amount of time.

Especially the data in the experiment, it was like the data was faked.

Like Professor Bawendi, he repeated the experiment.

The results were perfect enough to make him hopeless.

Although there were some fluctuations in the data due to the differences in chemicals and equipment used, the general outcome of the experiment was consistent with Lu Zhou's thesis data…

What was the premise of science?

Repeatability.

What made something industrially applicable?

Able to produce stable outputs.

There was no doubt that once the HCS-2 met these two requirements, the market would undoubtedly prefer the HCS-2 material.

Professor Stanley couldn't help but look bitter.

His experiments couldn't be repeated; this was his weakness.

Although he had been trying to remedy his results, the academic community and market were becoming impatient. Since the HCS-2 material came out, major energy companies had already begun to design lithium-sulfur batteries in accordance with the standards of the HCS-2 material.

It seemed that his attempts to remedy it were too late…

However, Professor Stanley still couldn't bear losing six months of his efforts.

He couldn't help but speak, "Give me half a year! I promise I can come up with a solution."

"There's no point, my dear Professor Stanley." Woods said, "Unless you can do better than him, what is the point? Also…"

Woods paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, HCS-3 or even HCS-4 might have come out by the time your research results are out."

Professor Stanley opened his mouth and couldn't speak.

Woods didn't say anything. He merely patted Stanley's shoulder and left.

The birth of the HCS-2 material caused an earthquake in the energy industry.

After the lithium dendrites problem was solved, the market went back to traditional lithium batteries, and these were seen in phones and laptops.

Many people were looking forward to what lithium-sulfur batteries could bring.

And now, this dream could become a reality.

Many OEM manufacturers that helped 3C electronics had completed the transformation of the production line and adjusted the production capacity of lithium-ion batteries into lithium batteries. They had to continue to design new capacity adjustment plans and start preparing to embrace the new era of lithium-sulfur batteries…

…

The most fortunate thing about Lu Zhou's thesis publication was that he didn't have to deal with patent licensing and pricing problems anymore. They were all handled by the management at Star Sky Technology.

Otherwise, Lu Zhou would have to deal with all kinds of patent inquire calls…

On a sunny morning, at Lake Carnegie near the Princeton campus, a small drone flew past the kayaking team.

The kayakers cheered and whistled as the small drone hovered around Lake Carnegie before it flew back to the park and landed on the grass.

There were several students sitting on the park bench, and all of them were looking at the computer screen.

"Oh, Jesus, what did we get?"

"Christine didn't wear a bra!"

"This is huge…"

"Oh, send me a copy of the photo."

Obviously, these guys were up to no good taking photos near Lake Carnegie.

Lu Zhou stood next to them, and he warned the group of boys.

"Jimmy, I promised to be your technical consultant to help you win the competition, I didn't promise to help you to infringe on other's privacy."

"Sorry, professor, I will delete the photo." The guy with a face full of freckles lowered his head and deleted all of the photos in front of Lu Zhou.

Although it would be cool to share the photos on social media, it wouldn't be fun for the victims in the photographs.

Jimmy was the group leader, so he had to be responsible for his friends.

Lu Zhou made sure the photos were deleted before he looked at his watch. He then said, "Flight time was 30 minutes, look at the remaining battery."

Jimmy placed his laptop aside and got up from the park bench.

"Okay, professor, I'll go right now."

Lu Zhou said, "Call me coach."

"Okay, coach!"

Jimmy stood up straight and was laughed at by his friends. He then walked over to the drone sitting on the grass.

It was already summer, so it wasn't just football competitions anymore, there were a variety of other interesting competitions.

For example, the drone design competition was one of them. This was a popular competition among American universities; it was just like the robot and artificial intelligence competitions.

Although the engineering department at Princeton was nothing special, these engineering students were still very capable. They made the drones themselves and purchased the materials online or from the professors' laboratories.

Lu Zhou was the consultant and also participated in the creation of this drone.

It was quite a coincidence that Lu Zhou became a consultant for these students.

These students originally went to Professor Chiric to ask about the battery of the drone and how to increase the battery performance. Professor Chiric immediately recommended Lu Zhou to them.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou had just finished his experiments and had a lot of samples left over. He used equipment from the Frick Chemistry Laboratory and helped the boys to replace the positive electrode material in the battery.

Although this kind of DIY process couldn't match industry standards, it was considered high tech among college students.

It more than doubled the battery performance of the drone.

This project was very interesting; it was like a new world was opened to Lu Zhou when he saw his research result flying in the sky.

Compared to football and rugby, Lu Zhou felt like this kind of intellectual hobby was more suitable for him.

Then, because Lu Zhou was very interested in technical problems, he gained a lot of inspiration from talking with the students. Therefore, he accepted their invitation and became their club consultant.

Because of this, he gained another title: Chief Consultant of the Princeton University Drone Club.

Of course, even though he was a consultant, he didn't actually have to do much work. The students knew that he was busy and didn't bother him much.

At most, Lu Zhou would spend a few hours on the weekends to discuss some technical problems with them and watch them fly the drone.

While Lu Zhou was watching the students flying the drone, a woman with blonde hair and dressed in business attire walked to the park.

She had an assistant and photographer following her. Obviously, she was not from the university.

Lu Zhou noticed this woman walking toward him, and he asked, "Who are you?"

The lady smiled and handed him her business card.

"Hello, Professor Lu, I am a reporter from the Times Magazine, are you free right now?"

Chapter 353: Science Is Endless

Founded in 1923, Times Magazine was one of the most influential media outlets in the world.

Times wrote reports on many different industries and fields. However, they weren't for industry experts to read. Rather, they were for normal people who wanted to understand the world through the window of Times.

Lu Zhou took the business card from this lady and turned the card over.

Under the iconic logo "Times" was a name: Julia Drake.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I don't have a lot of time."

Julia smiled and said, "Don't worry, this won't take long."

The interview quickly began.

Julia turned on the recorder and asked the first question.

"Most people know you from the Goldbach's conjecture and Crafoord Prize, and they think of you as a mathematician. Can I ask what made you interested in the chemistry industry?"

The first question was very interesting. Lu Zhou thought about it seriously for a moment before he came up with an answer.

"The public likes to label a person based on their limited knowledge. In fact, this labeling is often biased and one-sided. The more cutting-edge the research is, the more difficult it is to classify a problem.

"For example, my research on modified PDMS film was undoubtedly a materials science problem, but it was also an organic chemistry problem. It involved the analysis of the physical and chemical properties of the material, so it was also related to condensed matter physics. Personally, I used a computational model myself, so it could also be classified as a mathematics problem."

Julia asked, "Why battery then?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Probably because my phone is often out of battery at important times, so I want the battery to last longer?"

Julia was unsatisfied at this answer.

She asked, "Is this the real reason?"

Lu Zhou said, "If I have to give a reason, this is the only one I can think of. In fact, most of my colleagues at the Institute of Advanced Study are engaging in research work with no specific motivation behind the research. Just like me, they are just curious and interested."

Julia's eyes lit up as she asked, "So, do you think interest is the best supervisor?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "You could say that."

Julia looked at her notes and asked, "The next question might be a bit offensive, but do you want to talk about personal assets?"

Lu Zhou said, "It depends on the question. I hope it doesn't involve me talking about any specific numbers…"

He wasn't sure how much money Star Sky Technology had made for him.

After all, the string of numbers in his bank account was only a tool to help him achieve his purpose, not the purpose itself. Unless the research required a lot of investment, Lu Zhou wouldn't pay attention to the finances.

Julia smiled and said, "No worries, I won't ask about that."

She continued to speak, "Star Sky Technology has made hundreds of millions off your modified PDMS patent. Lithium-sulfur batteries could also be hugely profitable for you.

"There is no doubt that you are living a life that all researchers are envious of. You can research any topic you wish without constraints. Most people describe your career as successful, but what do you think of your career?"

This question wasn't easy to answer, and Lu Zhou had to think for a long time.

After a while, he finally answered.

"I enjoy the fun that science brings me more than the money. As for the numbers in the bank account… They are useful of course. As per what you said, I can research anything I want without having to think of the economic, culture, and politics."

"As for the success," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I think science is endless. But I don't think I deserve this evaluation."

The interview took about 20 minutes. Julia asked him other questions about life, research, and working as a professor. Lu Zhou responded selectively.

At the end of the interview, Julia asked one last question, "Can I ask about your future plans?"

"Future…" Lu Zhou looked up and thought for a bit before he said, "Maybe physics."

Julia asked, "Physics?"

"That's right," Lu Zhou said with a nod. He then continued, "Theoretical physics has always been an area of interest for me. I think this field is closely related to mathematics. In fact, I have done quite a lot of research in this area, and most importantly, there is still a physics problem that troubles me."

It was about the 750 GeV signal.

Although the mainstream opinion was that this was just a coincidence, Lu Zhou believed that mathematics wouldn't lie.

There was an amazing secret behind the signal.

Julia smiled and said, "This is a bold decision. I wish you success. Also, there is one more favor I have to ask."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

"If you don't mind, I want to take a photo of you for the next cover of Times Magazine. But not here. Do you have time tomorrow?"

Oh, this is what you want?

Easy.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Sure."

Lu Zhou had always been confident about his looks.

He agreed to a time and place for the photoshoot before Julia left with her assistant and photographer.

As per what she said, this interview didn't take long.

The club members saw that the interviewer had left, and they came over.

Jimmy was the first to speak and this freckled boy asked, "Coach… who were those people?"

Lu Zhou said, "Reporters."

A Mexican guy asked, "Are you going on the news?"

"I guess." Lu Zhou looked at the club members who were worshiping him and said, "Work hard, if you win the championship, I'm sure a lot of people will want to interview you."

The Mexican dude asked, "Can I ask which TV station those reporters were from?"

"Not a TV station…" Lu Zhou said. In fact, he was also surprised why there was a photographer.

Was it for capturing photos?

The crowd quieted down after hearing it wasn't a TV station.

They lost their interest.

It turned out that Lu Zhou wasn't going on TV.

Lu Zhou added another sentence.

"It's just Times Magazine."

Everyone: "…"

People were speechless at how nonchalantly Lu Zhou spoke.

Finally, Jimmy was the one to speak first.

The kid quietly whispered, "… Times Magazine would never interview a drone competition winner."

Everyone in the Princeton Drone Club agreed.

Their consultant was great; the only downside was that Lu Zhou humble bragged too much.

They were muddled.

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't reply to Jimmy. Instead, he clapped his hands and changed the topic.

"Stop wasting time, hurry up and train. This is probably my last session with you guys before the competition."

Jimmy asked, "Coach, are you busy next week?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"I will go to Germany for a while next week. It might take a week or two, or it might take a month. If you need to use the equipment in the laboratory, you can ask Connie."

Lu Zhou patted the young man on the shoulder as he said, "I hope that the next time I come back, I will be standing among winners."

Chapter 354: To Berlin

Two weeks after the interview, Times Magazine published its weekly international issue.

The person interviewed in this issue was quite special.

This person wasn't a politician, a movie star, or a CEO.

He was a scholar.

The public definitely didn't pay attention to academia figures. Interviews about science or scholars were often labeled with boring titles.

However, surprisingly, after Julia Drake's interview came out, the article attracted widespread attention.

Lu Zhou was about to go on a flight from New York to Berlin. He had been busy working on the report and almost forgot about his interview.

He then suddenly saw the magazine at the airport while waiting for the plane to depart.

Although he didn't really care about the public's opinion on him, he was still curious about what the world-class magazine said.

Lu Zhou flipped through the pages and read the text.

[… Three years ago, he didn't have any research results, nor did he have a single medal, nor were there people visiting the Jin Ling University library like a shrine, sitting in his old seat while hoping to gain inspiration.

[But three years later, not only did he have all of this, but he also used mathematics to create a different world for everyone.

[When he stood on the stage of the Stockholm Concert Hall and received the Crafoord Prize, not only did he receive recognition from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences but also from the entire world. The Goldbach's conjecture was finally solved.

[Today, his new achievements in the field of lithium-sulfur batteries have changed the energy industry. Any consumer that uses electronic devices is directly affected by his research.

[Very few scholars are able to achieve this much at such a young age, and even fewer are able to avoid the obsession with money and fame while maintaining their excellence in climbing the mountain of science.

[After all, going into unknown territory required more than just courage.

[Recently, he was invited by the Max Planck Institute to travel to Europe to attend a conference. He will present his latest research findings to the academic community on the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure.

[As he promised, he would redefine science with mathematics. He will attempt to fulfill his original promise.

[He isn't just a person but a symbol.

[The symbol of the new generation of scholars.

[This new generation of scholars will shape our future.

[Times Magazine 21/8/2018.

-Julia Drake]

Lu Zhou looked at the international issue of Times Magazine in his hand and smirked.

Times didn't evaluate every interviewee positively, and they often published satirical and criticizing content. However, there was no doubt that this article about him was positive.

And obviously, Lu Zhou was most satisfied at the photo of himself on the cover.

The series of spell-like formulas and letters on the blackboard, and the books and documents that piled up at the corner of the table; they all portrayed his identity as a mathematician. He wasn't portrayed as a nerd at all.

He was wearing his favorite plaid T-shirt, and he looked like an ordinary college student instead of a professor.

He was holding a piece of chalk in his right hand and "Little Guy" from the Princeton Drone Club on his left arm.

Yes, the name of the four-rotor drone was "Little Guy".

Perhaps the Times Magazine wanted to use the four rotors to symbolize his never-ending thinking process.

Of course, Lu Zhou felt like all of this could be symbolized into one word.

Anyone that looked at this photo would know the word.

Handsome.

…

After a few hours of flying, a bright silver airplane landed at the Tegal Airport in Berlin.

Soon after Lu Zhou got off the plane, he received a warm welcome.

He saw a gray-haired old man extending his right hand and walking toward him with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, welcome to Berlin."

Lu Zhou let go of his suitcase and shook hands with the old man.

"Hello!"

Even though Lu Zhou didn't speak German, they could still communicate in English.

After some small talk, the old man introduced Lu Zhou to several scholars standing behind him.

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I am the president of the Max Planck Institute, Martin Stratmann." Stratmann then looked at the person next to him and said, "This is Professor Klaus von Klitzing…"

Although this was their first time meeting, Lu Zhou knew who Stratmann was.

He served as the president of the Max Planck Institute and the director of the famous Max Planck Institute of Steel Research; he was an expert in surface chemistry.

The Kelvin scanning probe he invented was widely used to study the hidden secrets in corrosion science such as revealing the stability mechanism of the metal-polymer interface.

Lu Zhou had read his thesis when he was studying computational materials science in the library.

As for Professor Klitzing, he had countless achievements. Whether it was in theoretical physics or condensed matter physics, his name was everywhere.

His most famous research result was the quantum Hall effect which won him the 1985 Nobel Prize.

In addition to Klitzing, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry and Professor Faltings were also there.

Faltings hadn't changed since Lu Zhou met him last year. The old German man still had a temper.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"We meet again."

"… Yeah, we do."

Lu Zhou thought that Faltings would be more welcoming to him since they had met before.

Since the old man came all the way to pick up him, this had to be Falting's unique way of expressing recognition.

After all, there weren't many people that were worthy of Falting's recognition.

The old man respected less than a handful of mathematicians in the world.

Lu Zhou thought that his theory was quite reasonable.

Chapter 355: Max Planck Institute

The greeting ceremony at the airport wasn't spectacular. There were no welcoming staff and no crowd. Apart from three directors and one president, there were only two research assistants that also came along.

According to Mr. Faltings, these two were doctoral holders of the Max Planck Institute. They were here were because they had worshiped Lu Zhou for a long time.

Although there wasn't a crowd, there were two Nobel Prize and one Fields Medal winners here, so the pick-up was quite meaningful.

However, as a scholar, Lu Zhou didn't care about this kind of stuff.

When he went to Stockholm to receive the award, he took the subway after landing and went sightseeing by himself.

This time, Lu Zhou planned to take a taxi to the hotel. He even mapped out the travel route.

However, it seemed that he had overprepared…

"You're an absolute genius, how did you come up with the formulas?" Professor Ertl said while sitting in the special Max Planck Institute car.

Lu Zhou said in a joking tone, "You might not believe it, but the Schrodinger equation gave me a lot of inspiration."

Klitzing smiled and said, "This isn't unbelievable. HF methods and molecular dynamics simulations have a lot to do with quantum mechanics."

Professor Ertl continued to ask, "I've read your thesis. Although I don't understand some of the theories, I still have doubts about the parts I do understand. How do you accurately simplify the solution of the multi-body ground state to the ground state density? What is the difference between the theory and the first principle calculation method if it is passed through the Schrodinger equation?"

The first principle calculation method was the core method of modern computational chemistry, and the source of the theory was the Schrodinger equation in quantum mechanics. This kind of calculation method had some issues.

First of all, the number of variables reached 3N (N being the number of total particles), and this astronomical number resulted in controversy.

It wasn't just because the number of variables was so large. In order to make the theory more "presentable", the empirical parameters were also horrendous.

"Yes, but not entirely," Lu Zhou replied. He then smiled and said, "I introduced the concept of partial functional density theory in the ground state density distribution problem. For example, taking the radius of the designated core atom as RA, the chopping function outside the truncation radius is the same as the real valence electron wave function ψv, thus obtaining…"

"Let's talk about the specifics in a week," Stratmann said as he was already confused. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "What do you plan to do this week?"

Lu Zhou didn't have access to a blackboard, so it was difficult to explain in detail.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before saying, "Before the report, I want to become familiar with the environment around here. Is there any interesting places that you would recommend?"

Professor Klitzing was suddenly interested, and he said, "Places? There isn't a more interesting place than the laboratories at the Max Plank Institute, do you want me to take you there?"

Lu Zhou immediately replied, "Please do."

Compared to the landmarks of the Brandenburg Gate and the Houses of Parliament, Lu Zhou was still more interested in laboratories. In particular, the laboratories of the Max Planck Institute were famous in the condensed matter physics field.

Plus Lu Zhou had a Nobel Prize winner as his tour guide.

After a half an hour drive, they arrived at their destination.

Lu Zhou took out his suitcase from the trunk in front of the Pegnitz Hotel.

He was about to bid farewell to the scholars when he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I have always wanted to ask something."

Professor Klitzing said, "Go ahead."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This question might be a bit boring. Just out of curiosity, why was my invitation letter from the condensed matter physics institute instead of the chemistry institute?"

Lu Zhou would understand if it came from the mathematics institute but from the condensed matter physics institute… Although it wasn't completely unrelated to his research, he was still confused.

Suddenly, there was an awkward tension in the air.

Especially Professor Ertl and Professor Faltings.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that he shouldn't have asked this question.

Professor Klitzing looked somewhat proud as he cleared his throat and speak, "Good question…"

However, Faltings interrupted him.

"This is a boring question." Faltings looked like he didn't care when he said, "Also, next time I'll play Blackjack instead of flipping a coin."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou kind of knew what was going on…

…

The predecessor of the Max Planck Institute was the Royal Society of Williams which was founded in 1911. Emperor Williams II believed that interest in science and technology could enhance the country's strength, so he established the society in his own name.The royal family funded the research to strengthen Germany's scientific research community.

This decision was undoubtedly wise. Due to the support from the state, a large number of outstanding scholars and scientific research projects were created. Within 30 years, German technology was the best in the world.

After World War II, although the Royal Society of Williams was disbanded, it was retained due to support from the United Kingdom Max Planck Institute.

The impact of this historical heritage could be seen today.

Although the academic community had been leaning toward America ever since the Cold War, the Max Planck Institute had always been the world-leading institute on condensed matter physics.

From this aspect, the Germans were undoubtedly more fortunate than the French who had lost their status as the world's mathematical center.

Lu Zhou spent a day resting in his hotel room. On the second day, he went to one of the Max Planck Institute laboratories.

Strictly speaking, the laboratory was also a legacy of the Royal Society of Williams, but it was unrecognizable after the modern renovations.

"… The laboratories of the Max Planck Institute are located in various cities in Germany. This is only one of them, but it is the largest. Many chemistry and physics projects are done here."

Lu Zhou said, "So the research projects here are determined by the research institute?"

Professor Klitzing said, "Not exactly. Strictly speaking, most of the projects here are done by research groups. There is a big difference between the research groups. We use a different research method compared to American research institutes."

Professor Klitzing walked along the tree-lined path leading to the condensed matter physics laboratory while talking to Lu Zhou about the internal organization structure of the Max Planck Institute.

They walked past a round-shaped building when Lu Zhou asked, "What is that?"

Professor Klitzing smiled and said, "That is the Institute of Plasma Physics, I bet you can't guess what's inside."

"Is it a collider?" Lu Zhou joked.

"Haha, nope. It's more fictional than a collider," Professor Klitzing joked. He then said, "You might have heard of it before, controllable nuclear fusion is an interesting topic."

Chapter 356: New Chemistry?

Controllable nuclear fusion?!

This does sound interesting.

Lu Zhou was immediately interested once he heard Professor Klitzing mentioned this matter.

"Can I visit inside?"

Professor Klitzing smiled and said, "If you are interested, then sure."

Lu Zhou followed Professor Klitzing into this building.

Lu Zhou thought that this place would be highly confidential, but Professor Klitzing easily went inside with his work card.

Professor Klitzing noticed Lu Zhou's confusion and smiled as he said, "There's no secret here. You can retrieve the papers from the Firestone Library. The access restrictions are mainly to prevent troublemakers from coming in. The security in Berlin has gotten worse recently."

Lu Zhou joked, "I thought it was some highly confidential place."

Professor Klitzing smiled and said, "Don't worry, even I wouldn't be able to access a place like that."

Contrary to popular conspiracy theories about nuclear fusion technology, most countries had done research in controlled nuclear fusion but the research results were open to the public.

According to the ITER agreement signed in Paris in November 2006, the national research teams of each country would report their latest research progress at each International Fusion Energy Conference.

The reason for cooperation was simple.

It was because the difficulty of this project had far exceeded any research project. It was more difficult than the Manhattan Project, Human Genome Project, and the Apollo Project. Also, controllable nuclear fusion technology could not be achieved by one country alone.

Due to these circumstances, the benefits of closed-door research were far outweighed by the benefits of participating in the ITER program.

For example, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), played a pivotal role in the ITER project.

As for how the benefits of the project would be distributed, that would be an issue for later. Right now, they couldn't even figure out what the problem was much less how to solve it.

Whether it was the tokamak or stellarator, there was no secret design theory. This was why Professor Klitzing could bring Lu Zhou for a visit.

The only secret part was the laser fusion that was used for "ignition".

One of the main functions of laser fusion was to simulate a hydrogen bomb explosion. Therefore, ITER didn't cooperate with countries that didn't sign the nuclear peace treaty.

However, this secret part of the research couldn't be seen. Confidential research was obviously done in a confidential place.

Lu Zhou followed Professor Klitzing all the way to the core area of the building. He looked at the strange object sitting in open space and said, "This looks like a fried dough twist."

The "dough twist" was connected seamlessly from end to end, forming a circle.

From a geometry perspective, it was a Mobius ring transformed into three dimensions.

The plasma could operate stably in the circular orbit that was wounded by a coil.

In contrast, the tokamak device relied on the magnetic field generated by the external magnetic field and the plasma current. If the plasma became unstable or disturbed due to some unknown physical phenomenon, the entire system would be at risk of collapsing.

It was also theoretically possible to control the ignition of the stellarator more easily than the tokamak.

However, although the stellarator had many advantages, it had one deadly disadvantage. That was, the technology requirements were extremely demanding, and the equipment engineering process was complicated.

The weird-looking object in front of Lu Zhou was already complicated enough, and it was only one of the parts required for nuclear fusion. Not to mention, there were only a handful of countries that possessed this part.

This was one of the reasons why China chose the tokamak route instead.

Professor Klitzing jokingly said, "Really? I think it's more like a donut with cream."

Lu Zhou looked at the old man. He clearly didn't understand what a "fried dough twist" was.

"This is the plasma orbit that was replaced by the spiral stone 7-X," Professor Klitzing said while looking at the device in front of him. He continued, "As for the complete spiral stone 7-X, it is in Greifswald. If you are interested, I can take you there after the report is over. They are doing an experiment there right now."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? I'll remember your words."

This was a good opportunity.

Although controlled nuclear fusion was outside of Lu Zhou's research area, he was interested in any sci-fi like technologies.

However, no matter how interesting the experiment was, it wasn't as important as his report.

After Lu Zhou's visit at the Max Planck Laboratory, he returned to the Pegnitz Hotel and began preparing for his upcoming report.

Days flew by and it was soon the report day.

The report would be held at Humboldt University.

Lu Zhou woke up early on Saturday and arrived at the venue an hour earlier.

The venue was almost full of people when he arrived.

The Max Planck Institute didn't have restrictions on participants; they only pre-allocated seats for important participants. Therefore, many scholars, students, and professors from major universities and research institutes also joined in on the fun.

It was less than half an hour until the report began; some people even sat on the corridor.

The theoretical chemistry community had been waiting for this report for two months.

They were wondering if this could mean a new generation of chemistry…

Everyone looked at the big screen behind the podium while they waited to witness this historic moment.

President Stratmann stood next to the podium and saw the people sitting on the ground. He told the venue staff members to find some chairs and place them inside the venue.

He then looked at Lu Zhou who was copying data onto the projector.

"How's the preparation going?"

Lu Zhou said in a relaxed manner, "Basically, pretty good."

"You got this," Stratmann said as he gave Lu Zhou a thumbs up. He then added, "I hope everyone will get to witness history today."

Lu Zhou smiled and adjusted his tie.

"Definitely."

Chapter 357: New Chemistry!

Not everyone in the audience was researching theoretical chemistry. Other than chemistry scholars, there were many people who did research on applied mathematics, condensed matter physics, and even materials science.

Professor Stanley from Binghamton University was one of them.

He wore a long trench coat and sat quietly in the corner of the venue. With his hat covering his face, it looked like he didn't want to be recognized.

But even if he didn't dress like this, few people would have recognized him.

It looked like he had aged ten years; his face was no longer full of energy.

Professor Stanley didn't know what his mood should be.

He randomly bought a ticket to Berlin and came to his venue. He wasn't sure what he should expect from this report.

"Come on…

"Let me see how you defeated me."

Professor Stanley's lips trembled as he stared at the projector screen.

He whispered to himself, "Let me see what you were really researching…"

Finally, it was ten o'clock.

The whispers that filled the venue disappeared.

It was like they were silenced by some mysterious power.

No one had to maintain the orderliness of the venue; no one had to announce the beginning of the report.

Because suddenly, the PowerPoint turned to the first page, showing the title.

[Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure]

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and adjusted the microphone. He then cleared his throat and spoke.

"The theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure has been a problem in the theoretical chemistry community for many years.

"Unless we understand the nature of the interface, we cannot thoroughly clarify the microscopic essence of various electrochemical processes.

"From a mathematical point of view, I tried to establish a theoretical model from the collected data and observed phenomena. This mathematical model has been tested on the Anton supercomputer.

"Now, I will elaborate on the theoretical model I proposed.

"If there are mistakes, I hope I can be corrected."

Lu Zhou spoke slowly.

He continued his speech.

He had been preparing for this report for two months.

When he was designing the PowerPoint, not only did he elaborate on the difficult parts of the theoretical model, but he also explained the complicated theory in a language that made it as simple as possible.

Of course, he didn't over-simplify the theory itself.

The reason for an academic conference was to spread knowledge. However, the academic report wasn't for the public. It wasn't Lu Zhou's responsibility to make other people understand his report.

There was no room for compromise.

Everyone in the venue listened intently.

Although they couldn't understand everything, no one wanted to miss any details.

Missing one detail could mean everything.

"All of the ground state properties of multi-particle systems are the only density functions. With this, we can calculate the total energy of multi-particle systems as the sum of kinetic energy, general coulomb energy, and multi-body effects…

"All of these three energy values can be calculated."

While speaking, Lu Zhou used a marker to write on a whiteboard.

Part of the theorem was derived by the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem, it wasn't particularly difficult.

The next part was the calculations, which was the main part of the theoretical model.

There were more and more equations appearing on the whiteboard. Many people were lost as they were unable to keep up with Lu Zhou's speed.

Professor Stanley stared at the whiteboard and muttered to himself, "What is he writing?"

Even though Stanley did his homework and read the thesis many times, he still couldn't understand the report.

However, he was still an outstanding scholar.

Although he was far from a Nobel Prize, he was still much stronger than the average scholar.

Professor Stanley gently tapped his pen on his laptop.

Suddenly, his brain made a connection…

What connection?

He didn't know either.

He couldn't understand the connection…

Some of the audience was becoming more and more focused on the talk.

Professor Ertl was one of them.

As a Nobel Prize winner, he had a deep understanding of computational chemistry.

Although he had many questions about Lu Zhou's theoretical model, most of the questions were from the mathematical side.

But now, Lu Zhou's detailed explanation laid out every formula and derivation.

His original doubts had disappeared.

Lu Zhou's voice echoed through the quiet venue.

Time quickly flew by.

Without knowing it, Lu Zhou had already filled five whiteboards. He turned his attention to the next one and began writing.

Lu Zhou finished writing on the sixth whiteboard and took two steps back.

"Using this theorem, the result is obvious…"

He looked at the six whiteboards and suddenly stopped talking. He started to think.

The venue was dead silent while everyone looked at him.

A minute passed.

This minute felt like an hour.

Professor Ertl looked at the lines of calculations on the whiteboard and said, "No doubt…"

President Stratmann immediately said, "No doubt what?"

Ertl suddenly smiled and put down his pen.

"There is no doubt that this is a new generation of chemistry."

Professor Stanley, who was sitting at the corner of the venue, took off his glasses and frowned.

Undoubtedly.

He had lost.

A complete defeat…

He wasn't even worthy to be his opponent.

However, Professor Stanley felt relief.

His question was finally answered…

There was a commotion in the crowd.

More and more people began to understand the theoretical model.

At last, Lu Zhou came back to life.

He smiled at the whiteboards.

He then turned around and gently placed the marker down on the podium.

Finally, he made an announcement.

"… As you can see, our conclusion is correct!"

The moment he finished his announcement, the venue was filled with thunderous applause.

Applause of approval.

Applause of celebration.

They were also applauding this historic moment…

Chapter 358: Nobel Prize Winner Recommendation

When a theory was thoroughly clarified in a report to the point that it warranted applause, a Q&A session wouldn't be necessary.

Of course, there were still many people that asked questions during the Q&A session.

Lu Zhou answered all of the questions in detail.

This was undoubtedly more exciting than the MRS Conference which didn't have a single question.

This meant that the audience was actually paying attention.

After the report, several doctoral holders from Humboldt University went on stage and asked for Lu Zhou's signature. They said it was to commemorate this chemistry historic moment.

Although Lu Zhou didn't think that history would remember such trivial matters, he still fulfilled their request and scribbled his signature on their textbooks.

At backstage, Professor Ertl walked toward Lu Zhou, and he spoke in a serious tone, "Whether the Nobel Prize committee agrees with your theory or not, I will recommend you to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences."

Lu Zhou smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Professor Ertl smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "We're the ones that should be saying thank you. Thank you for bringing this report to Berlin. We haven't seen such an amazing report in a while. Although I can't guarantee that you will win the Nobel Prize, I think that you are worthy of nomination."

According to the Nobel Prize selection rules, former Nobel Prize winners were allowed to recommend candidates.

However, this was nothing to get excited about. Every year there were thousands of recommended candidates, but after two rounds of screening, there would only be one Nobel Prize winner.

Usually, the referee names couldn't be disclosed, and the nomination information was confidential for 50 years.

But the rule wasn't enforced in the initial recommendation stage.

Nobel Prize winner would often joke that they "recommended you to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences". This would cause stress on the potential nominee until the results were revealed in October.

Of course, this didn't apply to the Nobel Peace Prize and Nobel Prize in Literature.

Even gambling companies could guess the list of nominees in advance and announce the list.

Lu Zhou joked, "You shouldn't tell me, you'll ruin the surprise."

Ertl laughed and said, "Only a nomination, don't get too excited. It'll be lucky if you can win the prize by my age."

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression.

"That's… a bit sad."

It wasn't realistic to win a Nobel Prize by creating a theoretical model.

But Lu Zhou still felt like he wouldn't take that long…

…

Lu Zhou wasn't worried about the Nobel Prize, nor was he anxious about Professor Ertl's recommendation.

He felt like the medal was an endorsement of his research, but it didn't give him motivation.

He was still young.

He just had to do his own research. He'll get what he deserved sooner or later.

Regardless of how Lu Zhou thought about the medal, the entire theoretical chemistry community exploded after the report.

The response was way more intense than Lu Zhou's first JACS thesis.

Like the Millennium Prize Problems in mathematics, there were similar questions in chemistry.

However, these questions were longer than one equation. Universities were still debating about which question was more important.

However, even though there was a debate, the theoretical chemistry community had reached a general consensus.

For example, there were four major chemistry problems in the 21st century. One of them was how to establish a time-dependent quantum many-body theory.

Simplified, the problem was concerned with the calculation of the rate of chemical reactions, the route of chemical reaction, and how much catalysts were needed.

Also, how to answer similar questions using a theory.

The theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure was one of the problems.

What this theoretical model was to the four major chemistry problems was like what the Hardy-Littlewood theorem was to Riemann's conjecture.

The Hardy-Littlewood theorem determined that the number of non-trivial zeros in a certain interval of the Riemann function was less than KT. On the other hand, the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface structure determined the "microchemistry of a certain type of reaction".

After Lu Zhou's report, the Max Plank Institute announced their support for the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure.

What was interesting was that after the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Plank Society stated their opinion, Professor Martin Karplus, who previously stated his optimistic opinion about the theory on Nature, immediately published a JACS thesis.

In Karplus' thesis, he cited Lu Zhou's JACS thesis and gave a clear explanation of the zero-charge potential of polycrystalline metal electrodes from a theoretical point of view.

This was a classic electrochemistry problem.

Although the existence of "zero-charge potential of polycrystalline metal electrodes" was unquestionable, there had been no conclusion on the exact formation mechanism under microscopic conditions.

However, solving this problem with the "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure" wasn't difficult.

Obviously, this Nobel Prize winner already knew the potential behind this theoretical model two months ago. That was why this thesis was published in such a timely manner.

It seemed that he won.

It wasn't only Martin Karplus who was interested in this new theory.

More and more theoretical chemistry researchers showed great interest in this theory.

Compared with the inferior "Kohn-Sham method" or the "density functional theory", the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure was almost made for electrochemistry materials. It provided a strong foundation for the study of polymer materials as well.

Especially for PhDs in computational materials science and computational chemistry, this theory was a god's gift.

At least it gave their bosses another reason for them to stay in the research team.

While the world was debating if Lu Zhou could become the youngest Nobel Prize winner due to this theory, the German Chemical Society made a quiet decision.

In recognition of this theoretical chemistry's contribution to the chemistry society, the German Chemical Society decided to award the founder a remarkable medal…

Chapter 359: Hoffman Prize

A week after the report at a Humboldt University auditorium.

Lu Zhou was dressed in formal attire as he stood in front of the podium just like last time. He adjusted his breathing pattern and felt as if his heart were about to jump out of his chest.

Precisely speaking, a prize-giving podium.

On the screen behind him, there was a list of his chemistry research achievements.

Klaus Mullen, the president of the German Chemical Society, started the speech in a calm voice.

"… From the modified PDMS film to the hollow carbon spheres that inhibit the diffusion of polysulfide compounds, from the imperfect HCS-1 material to the HCS-2 material that completely solved the bottleneck of the lithium-sulfur battery industry. Not to mention the Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure.

"He has done something meaningful for our world and civilization through his own knowledge.

"Very few scholars can achieve such great results at this age.

"Now that the Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure is completed, it will allow us to achieve even greater results. I believe that this will become a cornerstone for our future theories."

Professor Klaus Mullen paused for a second before he announced the German Chemical Society's decision.

"The German Chemical Society has decided to reward Lu Zhou the great Hoffman Prize to thank him for his contribution to the theoretical chemistry community.

"Please give him a round of applause."

Thunderous applause filled the venue.

Professor Ertl was sitting in the crowd, and he gave Lu Zhou a thumbs up.

Sitting next to him was Faltings; he looked bored and couldn't help but yawn.

However, the arrogant German man still clapped his hands.

The theoretical model contained a certain amount of mathematical beauty.

This was the reason for his applause.

Faltings reluctantly admitted that mathematical part in the theory was sophisticated.

On stage.

The medal and certificates were handed to Lu Zhou as the old man smiled and reach out his hand.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu Zhou."

The Hoffman Prize was established by the German Chemical Society in 1902. The rules were that any scholar who could make an outstanding contribution to the field of chemistry could win this medal regardless of nationality.

The prize money wasn't a lot; it was only €10,000.

Lu Zhou was the first Chinese scholar to receive this honor; he was also the youngest.

The meaning behind the honor was even more significant due to these two factors.

Holding the medal and certificate, Lu Zhou shook Professor Mullen's hand as he expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you."

Professor Mullen smiled and replied, "You're welcome, you deserve this honor."

The award ceremony came to an end.

However, the German Chemical Society hadn't finished celebrating yet.

It was a tradition in the academic community to host a party after an award ceremony.

At night, at The Westin Grand Berlin hotel, the German Chemical Society held a banquet for Lu Zhou; all of the members of the society were invited.

In addition to celebrating the Hoffman Prize, the purpose of this party was also to provide a place for scholars to network and communicate.

As the winner of the Hoffman Prize, Lu Zhou was undoubtedly the center of attention.

Many people gave him their congratulations.

Professor Mullen was chatting with Lu Zhou, and he said, "… China is a beautiful country, I have been there many times. I've been to Shanghai Jiao Tong University the most as the library there gave me a lasting impression. It was packed full of people from opening to close. In my opinion, a nation that loves academia and knowledge is worthy of respect."

Any outstanding scholar had many identities. Other than the president of the German Chemical Society, Professor Mullen was also the dean of the German Academy of Sciences and the director of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. He was also an honorary professor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

He spoke in a sincere manner.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm glad to hear that. If you want, you can come to visit Jin Ling University. I promise you it's a beautiful place."

"Haha, please take me there."

Professor Mullen smiled as he added, "Any place that can cultivate a scholar of your caliber is worth visiting."

Lu Zhou toasted with Mullen. "For sure."

Although he wasn't sure if Professor Mullen could find any inspiration from Jin Ling University's education model, communicating with foreign universities was always a good experience.

As a handsome alumnus, Lu Zhou felt like he should contribute something for Jin Ling University.

…

Lu Zhou drank quite a bit of alcohol at the party. Although he had a decent alcohol tolerance, he couldn't drink anymore.

Lu Zhou took a taxi and returned to the Pegnitz Hotel. The first thing he did was to take a hot bath in the bathroom.

Once he got rid of the alcohol smell on his body, he felt a lot more comfortable.

Lu Zhou threw his clothes into the laundry and lay down in bed. He looked at the blank ceiling and played with the medal in his hand.

He suddenly felt a little lonely, so he took out his phone and spoke.

"Xiao Ai, I'm a little dizzy now, I'm going to sleep soon. I feel like I forgot about something, do you know what it is?"

Xiao Ai thought for a bit.

A line of words appeared on the screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, I know, you forgot to celebrate with your fans!]

Lu Zhou: …?

What?

I think…

It's right.

Lu Zhou smiled with a drunken look on his face.

This…

Isn't good.

Although the Hoffman Prize wasn't as popular as the Crafoord Prize, and the German Chemical Society wasn't as strong as the American Chemical Society, the Hoffman Prize was still popular in the chemistry community.

After all, this award wasn't given every year.

Due to the rarity of this medal, it had even more influence than the Adams Chemistry Prize.

Thinking about it this way, he should really share the joy with his fans.

Lu Zhou took a photo of the Hoffman Prize medal and certificate before he wrote a caption.

[Was just given a €10,000 prize bonus. Last time, I chose ten winners for a Huawei phone. This time, I'll choose ten iPhone winners.]

Lu Zhou hit "Send" before he threw his phone on the nightstand and went to sleep.

Chapter 360: These Students Are Not Good Enough!

[Nutty!]

[God Lu is insane!]

[I thought that once I go into university, I would be able to touch God Lu's trophy, but now, I don't even understand what God Lu's trophy is…]

[It doesn't matter if you understand it or not, geniuses doing scientific research is different than normal people doing scientific research…]

[I'm staying up all night reading theses, so sad :( ]

[Can this guy humble brag any more?]

[Lu Zhou, please teach me…]

[God Lu, are you still writing other people's theses?]

[…]

Overnight, Lu Zhou's inbox had 99+ notifications.

The comment section was blowing up.

Lu Zhou sat in the hotel restaurant and was eating breakfast. As he scrolled through his phone while looking at his fan messages, it made his breakfast even more delicious.

Suddenly, he received a call.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and heard Principal Xu's voice.

"How is it, is there hope for a Nobel Prize?"

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his food.

"How would I know?"

Even Einstein didn't receive the Nobel Prize immediately after explaining the photoelectric effect.

The more original a theory was, the more time it would take to test its importance and value. After all, not everything was as simple as the "existence of gravitational waves".

Principal Xu realized that he had asked a nonsense question. He smiled as he said, "This… I don't know anything about chemistry. However, the professors from the chemistry department have a high opinion of you. They said your theory laid the foundation for computational chemistry. A few academicians agree that it is no exaggeration to say that your research deserves a Nobel Prize."

This is not a f*cking exaggeration?

Lu Zhou replied humbly, "… That's a bit optimistic."

"Haha, it's not optimistic at all, congratulations on your Hoffman Prize!" Principal Xu smiled and changed into a more serious tone as he asked, "Also, I have something to ask you, what do you think about computational chemistry?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He thought about it for a few seconds before he replied.

"I think it is a good field, it can increase our research efficiency and decrease research costs. This is all thanks to the breakthrough in computer technology. I think that chemistry will go in the direction of physics, it will change from a purely experimental discipline to a discipline based on experiment, theory, and calculation."

Actually, this wasn't Lu Zhou's own idea. The potential of computational chemistry was mentioned at the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awards ceremony.

But now, the idea became a reality. Until now, computational chemistry hadn't received any attention.

Lu Zhou always felt like it was only a matter of time until the rise of computational chemistry.

Principal Xu smiled after hearing Lu Zhou's answer.

"I think so too."

Principal Xu was in computer science. He was an academician in the Ministry of Information Technology, and he had always valued Jin Ling University's computer science department.

Now that the international theoretical chemistry community had recognized Lu Zhou's theoretical model, the domestic debate had ended. Particularly, the success of the HCS-2 material shone a light on the future of computational chemistry. This was one of the reasons why Principal Xu wanted to develop in the area of computational chemistry.

Actually, Jin Ling University had a theoretical and computational chemistry research institute. However, it mainly did theoretical research and lacked special equipment.

Principal Xu Jian paused for a second before he said, "We plan on building a computational chemistry supercomputer center near Jin Ling University campus, what do you think?"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"I think it's good…"

Does Jin Ling University have this much money?

A supercomputer center wouldn't be cheap.

When Principal Xu heard Lu Zhou's answer, he smiled and said, "Then, can you please help us write a letter?"

Lu Zhou: "Letter?"

Principal Xu: "Yes, just talk about the application potential of computational chemistry… After all, Jin Ling University can't afford to buy a supercomputer; we need support from the state."

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what was happening.

So, you're asking me for this favor?

"Oh, just this? Okay," Lu Zhou said. He didn't know if he would be of any use, but he still agreed quickly. "Give me a week, I'll write a letter to you."

Principal Xu smiled and said, "Thank you so much."

If Jin Ling University built a computational chemistry supercomputer, it would be helpful for Lu Zhou's computational materials research institute. He could easily borrow the equipment.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was also helping himself.

Lu Zhou finished his breakfast and returned to his room to change his outfit.

At the party yesterday, President Hendrik Olbertz of Humboldt University gave him an invitation to give a lecture to the science students at Humboldt University.

Although he said it was a lecture for undergraduate students, before the lecture even began, a few Humboldt University professors walked into the lecture hall and sat at the back of the classroom.

They were engineering professors, which was in a different field than Lu Zhou's. They didn't expect to learn any new theory from Lu Zhou; they only wanted to learn how Princeton professors lectured.

Because of this, the professors were even prepared to take notes.

Lu Zhou looked at the crowded classroom and adjusted the microphone on the podium. He made sure everything was working normally before he looked at the clock on the wall.

It was about time, so he cleared his throat and began his speech.

This was an unexpected lecture, so Lu Zhou didn't have much time to prepare. However, that was not a big deal for him.

The lecture was about general scientific knowledge, it didn't dive deep into any specific area.

His lecture was about the connections between physics, mathematics, and chemistry. He also talked about the problems he encountered in scientific research as well as some of the research experiences he acquired.

He didn't even use a PowerPoint. With just a blackboard and chalk, Lu Zhou managed to portray his thoughts vividly.

However, there was a difference between plans and reality.

The first half of the hour was fine, but when the second half of the hour came, Lu Zhou wanted to make his theory more convincing and obvious, so he couldn't help but write a few lines of equations on the blackboard.

After that, it was like a tsunami.

The entire blackboard was soon filled with equations.

The students sitting in the classroom were fascinated by the first half of the lecture, but they were soon muddled when the second half came along.

"That's the gist of it."

Lu Zhou threw the chalk on the podium and patted the dust off his arms.

"I've finished my lecture. Did you understand everything?"

Everyone, including the professors, looked at him silently; no one dared to speak.

Lu Zhou gradually lost his smile.

"…"

F*ck sake!

These students are not good enough!

Chapter 361: A New Letter

Lu Zhou shook his head at the muddled students before he announced the end of his lecture.

He didn't stay for a second. Instead, he just turned around and left the classroom.

However, Lu Zhou didn't go far before someone shouted at him.

"Please wait for a second, Professor Lu!"

Lu Zhou stopped walking and turned around. He saw a well-dressed lady rushing out of the classroom.

Lu Zhou looked at the girl and asked, "Who are you?"

The girl took a few breaths and brushed her hair, she smiled and spoke.

"I'm Hu Ying, a second-year student at Humboldt University!"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Nice to meet you, Hu Ying, what do you want?"

"Nothing." Hu Ying looked around and smiled before she said, "Um… Professor Lu sounds weird, can I call you God Lu?"

Weird?

Lu Zhou didn't understand why Professor Lu sounded weird.

However, he didn't really care what other people called him.

A name was a name. Besides, his roommates at Dorm 201 gave him countless nicknames, so he was used to it.

Therefore, Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, I don't care."

Hu Ying smiled and said, "God Lu, can you please tell me how can I be as excellent as you?"

An academics problem, I see.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What is your major?"

Hu Ying replied immediately, "Applied mathematics and international trade!"

Double degree?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

He didn't understand much about international trade, but applied mathematics was his cup of tea.

"Do you have a pen and paper?"

Is he giving me his phone number?

"I do!" Hu Ying's eyes lit up as she grabbed a pen and notebook from her purse. She then smiled and said, "Thank you, God Lu, for mentoring me!"

"Not quite mentoring, but I can teach you a little about applied mathematics."

Lu Zhou took the pen and paper from her and immediately started writing.

Time quickly passed by.

Lu Zhou finished writing another page, and Hu Ying started to get suspicious.

Just as she was wondering what kind of contact information wouldn't fit on a page, Lu Zhou stopped writing and handed her back her notebook.

"This is a book list. I've read these books at Humboldt University when I was bored, and they should be helpful for applied mathematics."

Hu Ying: ???

Hu Ying was rooted to the spot. Lu Zhou thought that she went into deep thought and nodded with satisfaction.

"The rest is up to you, there is no technique other than hard work.

"That is all I can do for you."

Before Hu Ying could say anything, Lu Zhou turned around and left.

Lu Zhou walked outside the school gate and went to the supermarket. He then bought some letters and envelopes.

He didn't want to forget anything, so he decided to send Principal Xu the letter in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou walked out of the supermarket with a plastic bag and was about to go back to his hotel when he saw the girl running toward him again.

"Wait a minute…"

Hu Ying stopped running and panted while holding her kneecaps. Lu Zhou was stunned.

"Do you need anything else?"

"I forgot to give you something."

"… What?"

"Letter!"

Hu Ying took out a letter from her purse and shoved it into Lu Zhou's hands.

Lu Zhou took the letter and looked at her in confusion.

Why do I feel like…

She looks resentful?

Lu Zhou couldn't think of anything that might have pissed her off so he placed the thought aside.

Lu Zhou turned the letter.

He saw the address of the sender and was stunned.

The German embassy?

Lu Zhou opened the letter and read the words.

[… Hello, Professor Lu, I am Hu Mingde, the ambassador to Germany. I would like to express my congratulations for your Hoffman Prize…]

Lu Zhou skipped the political part and read the last paragraph.

[… My wife and I are very interested in your story. I am very thankful for your achievements in mathematics, theoretical chemistry, and physics. Would you like to have dinner with us?

[Ambassador Hu Mingde]

Lu Zhou looked at Hu Ying with suspicion.

This letter seemed legit, it didn't seem like a joke.

However, Lu Zhou was confused.

Why did a letter from an ambassador come from a student?

Lu Zhou asked the question.

After some explanation, he found out that this girl wasn't just a student at Humboldt University.

In addition to serving as an assistant for the embassy, she was also the president of the Humboldt University Chinese Society, and also the Director of the Berlin University Student Union…

Of course, this didn't matter that much.

What mattered was that she had a diplomat as a father…

…

He had to give some respect to the ambassador's invitation.

Lu Zhou told Hu Ying that he would accept the invitation and agreed to a time and place.

Lu Zhou had plans tomorrow.

He might not be in Berlin for long, so he wanted to complete this matter as soon as possible.

Lu Zhou returned to his hotel and placed the invitation letter aside. He took out the letter and envelope he bought from the supermarket and began writing Principal Xu's letter.

He didn't think this would be that difficult to write. However, once he began writing it, he ran into some obstacles.

He had never been good at politics, and he had never even read an official political letter before.

He found out that his letter started to look like an exposition.

Lu Zhou shook his head and leaned back against his chair.

"If I've known that it would so difficult, I would have just signed an empty letter and give it to Principal Xu."

This was a good idea, but he would never do it.

After all, he was a disciplined scholar, so he had to keep his word.

Lu Zhou finally gave up. He crunched the paper into a ball and started all over again on a blank piece of paper.

He was a scholar; he should just speak what was on his mind.

Lu Zhou wrote a new headline.

[The application prospects of computational science in research and development of chemistry and materials science.]

Chapter 362: Ambassador's Invitation

Lu Zhou wrote countless words and read the letter from beginning to end. He made sure that he didn't make any mistakes before he stuffed the letter into the envelope.

Lu Zhou didn't expect that a letter could help Jin Ling University get a supercomputer.

However, he wrote down his detailed views on computational chemistry, materials science, and the practical significance of computational materials.

Anton's strengths were obvious; a supercomputer was needed for any kind of molecular dynamics simulation.

Although there weren't much short term gains, this was definitely a worthwhile long-term investment.

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall; it was getting late. He changed into formal clothes and went downstairs to take a taxi.

When he got to the entrance of the hotel, he saw a black Mercedes-Benz parked there. A man in a gray suit was standing next to the car.

The moment he saw Lu Zhou, he immediately greeted him.

The guy reached out with his right hand and said, "Hello, Professor Lu, I am the driver from the embassy, here to pick you up."

Lu Zhou shook his hand and asked, "What should I call you?"

"Just call me Sun Hong."

This man definitely wasn't just a driver; he looked like a bodyguard from the embassy.

However, this had nothing to do with Lu Zhou. He looked at Sun Hong's identity document and sat in the car.

The car quickly drove to the Spree River in the heart of Berlin and stopped in front of the embassy in Germany.

Lu Zhou saw Hu Mingde and his wife waiting in front of the magnificent building.

"Welcome, Professor Lu!"

"Nice to meet you!" Lu Zhou shook hands with the ambassador and politely said, "There's no need to be so kind. Humboldt University isn't far from here, I could've taken a taxi."

"No way! This is the least we can do," Ambassador Hu said.

He then smiled and said, "This is my wife, Wang Dexin."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Dexin, what a nice name, it means simple yet elegant, right?"

Mrs. Wang smiled as she replied, "I didn't know that Professor Lu is also a man of culture."

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed.

He actually didn't know anything about culture.

Everything he knew was from high school…

"Let's go inside," Ambassador Hu made a gesture and said, "Professor Lu, please."

…

Ambassador Hu, his wife, and Lu Zhou ate dinner together at the restaurant in the embassy.

The food was nothing special. However, it was traditional-style Chinese food that was difficult to find overseas.

Lu Zhou looked at the crystal clear pork buns and couldn't help but speak.

"… It's been so many years since I left, I miss this thing the most."

After he went to Princeton, he found out that he missed the pork buns and beef noodles the most.

He couldn't get pork buns in Princeton, but he could still find beef noodles.

However, the beef noodles were sweet!

Instead of chili peppers, they put sugar in the noodles!

There was no way Lu Zhou could accept this.

Ambassador Hu smiled as he asked, "How is the food?"

"It's delicious," Lu Zhou replied. He then smiled and said, "You must have invited great chefs, tell them I said thanks."

Ambassador Hu laughed.

"The chef is sitting right in front of you."

Lu Zhou looked at Mrs. Wang with surprise.

"Did you make this?"

Mrs. Wang smiled as she replied humbly, "I'm no great chef. I made the pork buns, but the other dishes are made by the real chefs of the embassy."

"Being an ambassador is an interesting job. However, I do miss home after being away for a long time. My wife and I love to study our traditional culture, and food is one of them." Ambassador Hu laughed and said, "I'm mainly responsible for the eating part."

The dinner wasn't serious at all; it was almost like a family dinner, relaxed and friendly.

Lu Zhou talked about his research and teaching at Princeton, while Ambassador Hu talked about his experiences working in Germany.

The three ate while chatting.

When everyone was almost finished with their meal, Ambassador Hu wiped his mouth with a paper towel before he looked at Lu Zhou with a smile.

"Professor Lu, you've been single for so many years, haven't you thought about finding a partner?"

Lu Zhou sighed. "Busy with career, I don't have time for that."

It was true.

Before this, he couldn't find a suitable one, but now, he didn't even have the time to find one.

Lu Zhou felt like with his looks and career, he could easily find a partner.

"Haha, you're right, your time must be precious. However, although scientific research is important, you have to take other aspects of your life seriously. How about I introduce one to you?" Ambassador Hu said in a half-joking tone, "What do you think of Hu Ying?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Um… Marriage is an important event, I won't trouble you with it."

Arranged marriage is a horrible backward tradition…

However, if the state wants to solve my marriage situation…

I can consider it!

Ambassador Hu saw that Lu Zhou wasn't interested in his daughter, but he didn't seem to care. He merely said, "Haha, I'm just saying, don't take it seriously."

However, Ambassador Hu didn't look like he was joking at all.

Ambassador Hu coughed and spoke in a more serious tone.

"Have you been paying attention to this years' National Science and Technology Award Conference?"

Lu Zhou looked at him suspiciously. He didn't know why Ambassador Hu suddenly brought this topic up.

"I haven't… Why?"

"You can expect some great things."

Ambassador Hu laughed.

He then laid out a piece of news.

"I heard from my friend that your name might be in the January conference next year."

Chapter 363: I Am Just A Mathematics Professor

A rustic study room in Beijing.

An old man sat in front of a wooden desk while he read a letter in his hand.

Although he couldn't understand most of the letter, his assistant pointed out the key points for him. He skipped the paragraphs that contained technical words.

Footstep sounds came from the corridor; a knock was heard outside his office.

The old man put the letter down and said, "Come in."

The door opened and an old man wearing a suit walked in.

"Elder, are you looking for me?"

"I have something that I'm not sure about, and I want to ask you," the old man said as he looked at Old Wu. He then asked, "It's about the young man. Do you think he should get the first-class award or the second-class award?"

Although the old man didn't say the name of the young person, Old Wu immediately knew who he was talking about.

Old Wu paused for a second before he said, "I think both the first class and second class awards are not appropriate. The State Science and Technology Progress Award is more appropriate than the State Natural Science Award."

Although the State Science and Technology Progress Award was one of the top five awards in the country, it was still one level lower than the State Natural Science Award.

To make an analogy, this would be like the difference between the city's three best students and the state's three best students.

The old man thought for a moment before he said, "In the 1980s, Mr. Chen won the first-class Natural Science Award for his contribution to Goldbach's conjecture. With this in mind, the young man should be worthy."

Old Wu knew the old man would say this, so he smiled and tried to persuade him.

"It's not the 1980s anymore; the domestic academic community was underdeveloped back then. It's different now. Goldbach's conjecture is only a mathematics conjecture."

The old man smiled and said, "Then what about the lithium-sulfur batteries? That's an applicable result."

According to the government's plan, they were going to increase the battery capacity to 350Wh/kg by 2020 and achieve a price of $1 yuan/Wh.

But now, with the breakthrough in lithium batteries, the battery capacity had more than tripled, thus fulfilling the government's plan.

The young man solved the technical problem of lithium dendrites and lithium-sulfur battery positive electrode materials. There was no doubt that the state energy department owed him one.

The old man loved young, capable people.

Old Wu was the head of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and he couldn't help but feel he was stuck in a dilemma.

He actually believed that Lu Zhou deserved this honor.

However, the state awards were different than academic institute awards. They had to think beyond academics; they had to think of the response of others.

Old Wu thought for a moment before asking, "If you give him the honor now, what will happen if he achieves something greater? Are we going to give him the Highest Science and Technology Award?"

The old man smiled and said, "If he deserves it, then why not?"

Old Wu sighed. "The average Highest Science and Technology Award winner is over eighty years old. If you give it to a young person, I'm afraid the public…"

He paused for a second before continuing, "Regardless, it might not be a good thing for him."

He was right.

This time, the old man didn't speak. Instead, he merely nodded as he began to think.

After a minute, he spoke.

"Go do your own stuff, I'll think about it."

Director Wu sighed and nodded.

He turned around and started to leave.

However, when he was at the door, he heard the old man said, "Wait a second."

Director Wu turned around and asked respectfully, "Is there anything else?"

The old man slid the letter across his desk.

"I have a letter here, take it and read it."

Director Wu immediately took the letter and opened it.

He was stunned when he saw the title of the letter.

[The Application of Computer Science in Cutting-Edge Research and The Trend Of Future Academia Development.]

…

Lu Zhou was in Germany. He didn't know that his letter to Jin Ling University was passed to the government heads.

After all, he was more interested in science than politics.

After he got back from the embassy, he and Professor Klitzing went to Greifswald in east Germany.

This small town had a population of less than 70,000. Almost all of them were members of the University of Greifswald. This was like the Princeton of Germany, quiet and rural, perfect for studying and retirement.

However, Lu Zhou and Professor Klitzing didn't come here for the University of Greifswald; they came for the Wendelstein 7-X research institute.

Professor Klitzing walked into the institute and brought Lu Zhou into a laboratory. He found the person in charge and spoke to Lu Zhou.

"This is the person I told you about, Professor Ralph Keriber. He's worked here for more than ten years, making him one of the oldest research engineers here."

"That's right, I watched this little guy grow up," Professor Keriber said as he took off his hard hat and smiled. He then offered his right hand to Lu Zhou and said, "Welcome, professor from Princeton University, I'm glad you are interested in this project."

He was talking about the stellarator. The stellarator was actually related to Princeton. Even though it was Germany that developed this technology, it was Lyman Spitzer, a physicist of Princeton University, who first proposed the idea.

However, the idea was considered too advanced at the time; it was unfeasible both from the engineering side and the materials science side.

Ten years later, the first stellarator was born. Fifty years after that, the stellarator was still a prototype. It might take another fifty years until a fully working model could be created.

Lu Zhou shook his hand and smiled as he spoke humbly.

"I'm only a mathematics professor, I haven't done any research on nuclear fusion. I'm only here to satisfy my curiosity, so I'm afraid I can't help you."

As a Nobel Prize in Physics winner, Professor Keriber disrespected physics and said, "Haha, who cares? In my opinion, Princeton mathematics professors are more remarkable than physics professors."

Professor Klitzing wanted to say something but Keriber put his hard hat on and spoke again.

"It's the perfect time for you to come, there's an experiment planned for today. Come with me, I'll show you the little guy."

He took the two people and walked out of the laboratory.

Chapter 364: Six Seconds?

This laboratory was an "investment" under the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. Obviously, many other research institutes around the globe were also researching the same device.

Lu Zhou looked at the list of cooperating research institutes; the list of names was long enough to fill an entire A4 page. If this was like CERN, where everyone involved had their name on the final thesis, then the first few pages of the thesis would be filled with just names.

The stellarator seemed small compared to the research group.

Lu Zhou and Professor Klitzing followed Professor Keriber's footsteps. They finally walked into the radiation protected room and saw the Wendelstein 7-X.

It sat quietly in the middle of the radiation protected room; it was 3.5 meters high and 16 meters wide. The stellarator looked like the "Millennium Falcon" from Star Wars.

It was like it had just been in a battle and was docked in the "Star Harbor" while it was being fixed by technicians.

Lu Zhou walked closer and could see countless electric cables connecting to various types of equipment. It was all tangled together.

"How much is this thing?"

"Apparently, it's over one billion euros," Professor Klitzing said with admiration. "If you add in the cost of research, the figure would be astronomical."

The physics community was envious of the funding that the Institute for Plasma Physics had.

On the other hand, the Max Planck Institute for Condensed Matter Physics had a lot less funding.

Klitzing was well aware of this.

After all, this multi-country collaborative project wasn't only funded by Germany, many other countries also participated.

"Is it really that expensive?"

Lu Zhou gulped.

Before this, he was wondering if he should buy one for research, but now, it seemed that it would be better if he stuck to supercomputers…

"Fine, who cares about money, we don't have to worry about that," Professor Keriber said as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He then added, "The final calibrations are done, the experiment is about to start, let's go to the observation room."

…

This was different than CERN. The Hadron Collider was 100 meters underground, and unless someone was a qualified engineer, they would not be able to enter the pipeline.

The theoretical physicists could only look at data on a computer screen.

But now, the Stellarator was right in front of Lu Zhou's eyes.

The staff members were waiting inside the observation room.

"Coil tension normal!"

"Filling in protective gas!"

"Protective gas is filled, beginning pressure measurement procedure!"

"…"

"Superconducting temperature reached, the circuit is fully charged!"

"Magnetic field looks normal!"

Professor Keriber issued a command.

"Ignite!"

The moment the magnet current reached 15kA, the thyristor switches quickly switched on and the magnet current was transferred to the first stage energy-consuming resistor, generating 2,400 voltage. This caused the gas in the vacuum chamber to break down, thereby generating plasma.

Lu Zhou could see a layer of reddish membrane material through the screen; it formed a ring around the circular orbit.

He was surprised at how beautiful it was.

"… The temperature of the plasma will reach hundreds of millions of degrees at its peak. Almost equivalent to the center of a star. No material can stop this energy," Professor Klitzing said while he looked at the screen.

Lu Zhou asked, "How does the stellarator do it?"

"It twists the magnetic field." Professor Klitzing said, "We use magnetic fields to constrain the energy, and it keeps them away from the inner walls of the orbit. However, it doesn't last for long…"

The experiment entered the most critical stage.

The thyristor switched turned off, and the voltage dropped to 1000V. At the same time, the current rose to its peak value, and the entire track was filled with burning light. Lu Zhou felt that his eyes were hurting even though he was looking at it through a screen.

However, this light didn't last for long.

Within a few seconds, the light had vanished.

The stellarator stopped operating, but the people in the observation room began working.

Professor Keriber told his two researchers, "Collect the data immediately, check the condition of the equipment, hurry!"

At the same time, the door of the radiation protected room opened, and staff members wearing radiation protection suits quickly entered the room with several tools. They began to check the physical conditions of the track.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Keriber and asked, "It's over?"

"It's over." Professor Keriber threw his hard hat on the table and said, "The discharge time was a few seconds, the longest I can remember is six seconds. The shortest is only a few picoseconds."

Lu Zhou was speechless.

"… I thought it would be more astonishing."

Professor Keriber smiled and said, "Theoretically, the discharge time can be longer, but right now, the divertor hasn't been installed. The excessive discharge might cause the head to damage the first wall of materials. Maybe in two years, once the water-cooled divertor has been installed, a 30-minute discharge might be possible."

The discharge timed referred to the time in which the magnetic field could maintain a charge, the so-called pulse time of one discharge.

30 minutes was a goal for the Wendelstein 7-X.

If it were achievable, it would have a huge impact on the nuclear fusion project. It might even change the entire world's opinion on nuclear fusion engineering.

After all, right now the mainstream choice was the tokamak, but the tokamak reached a bottleneck in terms of its discharge time.

The longest discharged time recorded was China's "EAST" tokamak, with a record of 102 seconds. This was almost at the limit of the tokamak's capabilities.

Lu Zhou looked at the device and began to think.

Suddenly, he had a thought.

How much general points would the system charge for a complete stellarator blueprint?

Chapter 365: Preconditions Are Not Me

Lu Zhou found out that he was overthinking.

When he asked the system about this problem, not only did the system not give him an answer, but the system didn't even respond. He couldn't help but wonder if the system was broken…

On the tenth attempt of asking, the system finally gave him an answer.

It was only one line of words.

[Preconditions are not met.]

Lu Zhou looked at the message in front of him and started to think.

"Preconditions are not met… Does this mean the subject level or that nuclear fusion technology isn't possible yet?"

The system didn't answer his second question; it completely ignored him.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't mad at the system.

Because for him, one answer was enough…

After the experiment ended, Professor Keriber invited the two people to coffee at the Wendelstein 7-X resting lounge.

A Nobel Prize winner, a soon-to-be Fields Medal winner, and a senior nuclear fusion engineer sat on the sofa in the lounge. They drank coffee while talking about the Wendelstein 7-X cooperation problems with ITER.

ITER was the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project; their main source of funding.

However, Professor Keriber wasn't optimistic toward ITER. He felt deeply concerned about the topic.

"The potential of a controlled nuclear fusion project is huge. But the ITER project hasn't been doing well. It is losing hundreds of millions every year, and the results are not gratifying. Even the US government has lost its patience. In order to fund the Wendelstein 7-X, I even shut down the WEGA experiment group."

Professor Klitzing was sipping on his coffee, and he used the coffee mug to hide his face.

He was laughing.

Although he knew that he shouldn't gloat, but he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of these "spoiled" researchers running out of money.

Professor Keriber sighed.

"Controlled nuclear fusion is a systematic project, whether it's the inertial or magnetic constraints. Whether it's the tokamak or the stellarator, it is only when a series of problems are solved, will there be results. Right now, we haven't solved a single fundamental problem."

Lu Zhou asked, "What problems do you think need to be solved?"

Professor Keriber said, "In terms of engineering, we need a larger electromagnetic field to complete the magnetic confinement of the plasma. However, this is not a good solution. A larger magnetic field means a large current. The current will release heat when it passes through the conductor. We will have to soak the wire with liquid helium to reach the superconducting temperature and to prevent the current from heating up the wire.

"The magnetic field isn't enough. We have to find a way to control the magnetic field… Of course, fortunately, the advantage of the stellarator design is that we don't have to use an ohmic transformer. Unlike the tokamak device, we don't have to think about factors like the distortion film, the magnetic surface tear, the resistance wall film, etc."

Professor Keriber smiled and spoke in a joking tone.

"All of these engineering problems still come down to the material.

"If there is a material that can achieve superconductivity at room temperature or at least under less extreme conditions, we would be able to create a larger artificial magnetic field to constrain the plasma. Many problems would disappear."

Superconductivity is a must.

Lu Zhou wrote this down on the notebook he carried with him.

"If you want to solve a difficult problem, you have to solve many difficult problems first, is that what you mean?" Professor Klitzing said, "I think if there is a superconducting material at room temperature, not only will nuclear fusion be solved, many energy problems will also be solved."

"That's why I'm only speaking hypothetically." Keriber shrugged and said, "If we can't improve the material, we have to improve the coil design and increase the strength of the magnetic field from another perspective. Also, things are not looking good in the theoretical department either."

Lu Zhou asked, "Is there complex theoretical problems regarding the controlled nuclear fusion?"

Professor Klitzing smiled and helped Keriber to answer the question. He said, "There's a saying in physics—'more is different'. Although the plasma uses Maxwell's equations, it cannot be generalized. The more particles there are, the more different the system gets. Even quantum mechanics wouldn't be applicable. You should know this."

Lu Zhou nodded.

While he was researching the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure, the variables in his equations were almost three times the number of particles in the system. Even Anton had to work for a while to calculate the answer.

On the other hand, the plasma in the Stellarator was a more complex chemistry problem.

It was like fluid mechanics. Although everyone knows the basic Navier–Stokes equations, it wasn't applicable to the turbulence phenomenon which had troubled the physicists for more than 200 years.

The turbulence phenomenon was also seen in plasma. Due to the external magnetic field, the turbulent flow of the plasma was even more complicated and even more difficult to predict than general fluids.

Since it was impossible to explain theoretically, it would be impossible to build a model to explain the plasma behavior.

Therefore, when researchers do plasma experiments, they were hoping to construct a model that could explain the behavior of plasma.

Professor Keriber saw that Lu Zhou was interested and couldn't help but send out an invitation.

"If you're so interested in nuclear fusion, why don't you join the ITER project? We're always looking for talented mathematicians."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he replied, "Unfortunately, I can't accept your invitation. I have to go back to Princeton soon, and I also have to prepare for next year's mathematics conference."

Lu Zhou smiled as he continued, "However, I will write down these problems and study them as a hobby. I can't guarantee any results, but it might be useful one day."

Professor Keriber wasn't affected by the rejection. Instead, he smiled and said, "Really? Then I'll have to wait for your results."

However, when Keriber said this, he didn't look interested. He thought Lu Zhou was joking.

Obviously, any of these problems couldn't be solved by research hobbyists…

Professor Keriber had worked at this research institute for many years, so he was well aware of how difficult the problems were…

Chapter 366: Never Would Have Guessed

Lu Zhou and Professor Klitzing didn't stay in Greifswald for long. The day after their visit to Wendelstein 7-X, they returned to Berlin.

Lu Zhou had been in Germany for a month now, and he had received a lot of gains. However, there was a bunch of stuff in Princeton that he had to do, so it was about time to go back.

Lu Zhou booked a weekend flight ticket. He went to the University of Bonn for a visit. After that, President Stratmann of the Max Planck Institute drove him to Berlin Tegel Airport.

The old man shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "Thank you for bringing your speech to Berlin. We look forward to your next visit and watching you climb to an even higher level of academic success."

"For sure," Lu Zhou said as he shook Stratmann's hand. With a smile, he added, "I will definitely continue on this road."

Lu Zhou said goodbye to Stratmann and dragged his suitcase into the airport.

After a ten-hour flight, the plane landed at JFK airport in New York.

Lu Zhou didn't tell anyone that he was coming back. He got to experience riding a train.

The train went all the way to the familiar Princeton town where his students welcomed him back.

In order to celebrate his Hoffman Prize, Hardy suggested a party in Lu Zhou's house.

This time, the food at the party wasn't Hardy's authentic Brazilian barbecue, it was traditional Chinese food— skewers.

This was the first time Lu Zhou had Chinese kebab overseas.

Unfortunately, there was no beer in the fridge. They only had fruity champagne; it was just not the same.

As Lu Zhou sat on the lawn eating skewers, he started to think of his three buddies back in Dorm 201.

Ever since Lu Zhou graduated, they hadn't stayed in contact. He wondered how they were doing.

Hardy grinned and walked over with a bottle of champagne.

"Professor, can I interview you?"

Lu Zhou said, "As long as the question is normal."

"Don't worry, it's definitely a normal question." Hardy coughed and said, "What does it feel like to excel in both mathematics and chemistry?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's something you'll never experience."

"Professor, that's hurtful. I'm one of your good students." Hardy acted like he was hurt as he said, "Can't you be more confident in me?"

Lu Zhou was feeling sad as well.

However, he wasn't sad for the kid, he was sad for himself.

He wondered what he saw in this kid, why did he give him an offer?

Lu Zhou didn't know the answer to this question.

The party had been going on for a while. Luo Wenxuan, who just got a girlfriend, finally came.

However, this time he didn't just bring his girlfriend. He also brought a piece of good news.

After several months of hard work, with the help of Wei Wen, he finally completed his graduation thesis.

His "Research on the Coherent State of the Q-Distorted Harmonic Oscillator in a Finite-Dimensional Hilbert Space" thesis was finally accepted by Physics Today, and it would be published in six months.

Although this journal's impact factor of 4.3 wasn't high, for a PhD student, especially one in theoretical physics, this wasn't bad at all.

Also, the impact factor wasn't the only factor in measuring academic influence as even his boss, Witten, submitted to Physics Today.

If everything went well, he should be able to receive his PhD degree by early next year.

"Thank you so much, you are my savior!" Luo Wenxuan said to Lu Zhou. He patted Lu Zhou on the back and said, "I'll buy you a drink someday!"

"Don't thank me, thank Wei Wen." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, I won't refuse your drink."

"Actually, I didn't help that much." Wei Wen coughed; he didn't seem to care about recognition. Instead, he said, "I only did some computing work, but my name is on the thesis. Are you sure it's fine?"

"No, no, no, I disagree," Luo Wenxuan said as he shook his head. He then added, "Mathematical physics is studying physics using mathematical methods. You made up for my shortcomings. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to complete my thesis until the end of the year."

Lu Zhou saw that Luo Wenxuan admitted that his mathematics skills were lacking. He then sighed and asked, "Old Tang would be hurt by your statement, did you really major in applied mathematics?"

How the hell did this guy get an offer from Princeton?

No less an offer from Witten.

Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and smiled.

"No worries, Old Tang has always criticized me."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

The next day, Lu Zhou went back to the Institute for Advanced Study. He didn't immediately start researching. Instead, he went to find Edward Witten to ask some questions.

The designer of the stellarator, Lyman Spitzer, worked at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study for a while. The original concept of the stellarator was created by him.

Spitzer had to have left some evidence at his old workplace.

"Congratulations, the Hoffman Prize is a great honor," Edward Witten said to Lu Zhou. He then smiled and asked, "How was Germany? Did you see Faltings?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I saw him, but I feel like he doesn't like me."

Edward Witten smiled as he said, "Don't worry, that old man treats everyone that way. Even Deligne can't stand him. But I'm glad to hear you say this… At least, this means he's in good health, good enough health to dislike you."

"I don't care," Lu Zhou said as he shrugged. He then continued, "Actually, this time I didn't only stay in Berlin, I also went to Greifswald."

"Greifswald?" Witten was interested, and he asked, "Did you go to the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Professor Klitzing and I took a tour of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator. Not only that, but I was lucky enough to see a live experiment."

Professor Witten said, "You are lucky. I've been to Europe five times in the past 2 years, two of which I was in Germany. However, every time I went there, I missed out on the Wendelstein 7-X experiment. Especially the one in 2016."

Lu Zhou then coughed and revealed his true intention behind the visit.

"I want to ask you something about the stellarator."

Witten said, "What?"

Lu Zhou said, "About Lyman Spitzer's manuscript…"

Chapter 367: Firestone Library Is Full Of Treasures

The documents released to the public were carefully selected.

Lu Zhou hoped to see the original idea that Lyman Spitzer had for the stellarator.

He also wanted to build a theoretical model from a physicist's perspective.

"Lyman Spitzer's manuscript?" Edward Witten rubbed his chin and said, "I haven't paid attention to his area of research. I think he donated his manuscript to the Institute for Advanced Study. Some things are kept in the Firestone Library. If you are interested, you might be able to find them in the Firestone Library."

Lu Zhou said, "Firestone Library? Thank you."

"No worries." Witten smiled and said, "Actually, if you are interested in the stellarator, why don't you consult other research institutes? No one in Princeton is researching this thing, but there are plenty of people at MIT, Stanford, and Caltech who are doing this research."

Lu Zhou said, "I'll think about it if I have to, but until then, I just want to do my own research."

The nuclear fusion topic was too large. Just the research project outline would take five pages to write.

In some sense, the reason why Lu Zhou wanted Lyman Spitzer's manuscript was to get inspiration from it.

Witten sipped his coffee and said, "I hope you find what you need."

"Thanks."

Lu Zhou said bye to Witten and walked out of the Institute for Advanced Study.

…

There was a type of people in the academic community who could maintain creativity while being involved in rigorous research work.

When they encountered a problem, instead of saying it was impossible, they would look at it from a scientific point of view.

Lyman Spitzer was this kind of person.

Other than him, Freeman Dyson, who proposed the Dyson sphere, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who proposed the space elevator, were also this type of people.

Lyman Spitzer wasn't as famous compared to the other two. However, no one could ignore his influence in astrophysics.

It was him who first proposed to put a telescope in space to eliminate the shadowing effect of the atmosphere on Earth. This led to the birth of the Hubble Space Telescope.

In order to commemorate him, the last space telescope made by the Great Observatories program was named after him— the Spitzer Space Telescope.

After bidding farewell to Witten, Lu Zhou went to the Firestone Library and found a librarian.

A weird-looking old man was responsible for the library books.

Although there were weird people in Princeton, there weren't that many people like this old man, who was wearing pajamas at work.

Especially those murky eyes, it made people wonder if he had Alzheimer's.

However, what surprised Lu Zhou was that after this old man heard his request, he quickly climbed the ladder of a two-story-high bookshelf and took a thick notebook from there.

The old man then climbed back down and handed the notebook to Lu Zhou.

"This is what you want."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou reached for the manuscript.

However, the old man instantly retrieved his hand.

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The old man said, "This is the wealth of civilization, please take care of it."

It seemed that he was only giving Lu Zhou a piece of advice.

However, Lu Zhou noticed that the old man's hand was shaking.

"I know… Can you give me the book now?" Lu Zhou said while looking at the old man. He didn't reach for the book this time.

He felt like the old man was toying with him.

The old man saw that Lu Zhou didn't fall for the trick a second time, so he felt disappointed. He coughed and replied, "Of course you can. But you must promise me that you will bring it back exactly the way it was."

Lu Zhou held up three fingers.

"I swear…"

"Don't swear at me," the old man suddenly took out a Bible from nowhere, and he said, "swear at this."

Lu Zhou was speechless.

Why are you asking an atheist to swear at this thing?

I'd rather swear at Newtons' "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy", or Einstein's "Unified Field Theory". That would make more sense.

However, Lu Zhou didn't want to waste time. He placed his hands on the bible before he said, "I swear that I will return this book exactly the way it was."

Although the old man wasn't satisfied with Lu Zhou's attitude, he still nodded and handed the manuscript to Lu Zhou reluctantly.

"I hope you keep your promise."

"I will."

Lu Zhou didn't waste a second; he immediately walked into the reading room next to him.

…

Lu Zhou couldn't take the manuscript out of the Firestone Library, he could only read it in the reading room.

If the manuscript was hundreds of years old, he might even have to wear gloves before reading.

However, this manuscript was relatively new; it was only sixty years old.

Lu Zhou opened the book and began reading it carefully.

Understanding the contents wasn't easy as Lyman Spitzer was extremely imaginative. There were some unrecognizable drawings.

Lu Zhou didn't know why he left this manuscript at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou felt like if it was him, he would never let this "unreadable" text exist in the world…

Lu Zhou spent the entire afternoon reading the book from beginning to end.

Although it was difficult to understand, after reading it, Lu Zhou felt like it was helpful.

Especially since Lyman Spitzer had the same conclusion as Lu Zhou for the final vision of the stellarator.

"… I can't believe this is from sixty years ago."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but give his own review of this old manuscript.

Even now, this manuscript on the stellarator would be thesis worthy.

However, it had been sixty years. Someone would have written that thesis already.

Lu Zhou placed the manuscript aside and went into deep thought.

Controllable nuclear fusion was a huge project, but Lu Zhou was interested in both its prospects and mechanics.

The problem was that he needed an entry point.

Superconducting normal temperature material?

Or look at it from a mathematics point of view, and try to figure out the "law of motion of plasma"?

The first one was more applicable, the second one was more theory-based. Both of them are pretty difficult.

Especially the second one. It involves the study of complex plasma turbulence. It might be the most difficult part of the Navier-Stokes equations.

Also so far, the measurements that people can make on plasma are only "estimates".

However, if this problem is solved, not only will it push nuclear fusion forward, but it might also help the Navier-Stokes equations research…

Lu Zhou spent around ten minutes thinking.

Lu Zhou suddenly smirked and picked up a pen. He circled the words "The Law of Motion of Plasma in a Stellarator".

He picked up the manuscript and stood up from his chair.

As expected, he was more interested in the harder problem.

Ever since Goldbach's conjecture, he had been searching for a more challenging problem…

Chapter 368: Tasting The Sal

Although traditional media had become inferior to internet media, in the academic community, the Science Report journal still had its influence.

After all, they were directly affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Even though their newspaper wasn't read by most researchers, most research institute still mass-ordered their newspapers.

After all, if he made a mistake, he would be personally responsible.

However, today's articles were all pretty good quality. That was until he came across an interview with Professor Wang Haifeng, a well-known academic scholar.

He slapped the printed article on the desk and looked at his secretary.

"Get me Li Xuesong."

"Okay."

However, when he looked at the article on the table, he became angry again.

During the meetings, he kept emphasizing to his journalists on how important politics was. However, this idiot obviously didn't hear what he said.

If he didn't review this article and the article got published, then he would be in trouble with the leadership team.

He was furious.

Secretary Zhou found Li Xuesong in the cubicles outside.

Li Xuesong asked nervously, "Brother Zhou, Chief Cai… What does he want?"

I didn't offend anyone recently, right?

"I don't know." Secretary Zhou frowned and looked serious as he said, "Also, this is an office, stop calling me brother."

Li Xuesong was so anxious that he began to sweat. He then nodded and said, "Yes, I was wrong."

Secretary Zhou said, "Just go."

The people in the cubicles watched Li Xuesong while they whispered about what had happened.

He knocked on the door and was met with a cold reply, "Come in".

He shivered a little as he walked inside.

"Did you write this thing?"

Li Xuesong immediately knew what was going on.

He guessed that the higher-ups weren't happy with his interview, so he tried to explain.

"Chief Cai, I know my report might cause controversy, but what does it have to do with us? We're in a neutral position, only objectively reporting on Professor Wang. It's Professor Wang that is in a controversy, this is the only way we can receive publicity…"

Li Xuesong was being scolded like a dog, but he didn't complain.

He was just a normal journalist; he wrote whatever was said by the interviewee.

However, he was still responsible.

After all, the reason he interviewed Wang Haifeng was to hear about his problems with Lu Zhou.

The controversy was good content.

Everyone was more willing to watch drama than serious reports.

Li Xuesong stopped talking.

Li Xuesong said, "Change the whole thing? Including the interview part?"

Li Xuesong was a little hesitant. "But Professor Wang…"

I don't want to piss of Professor Wang, and I can't just change his words, right?

"Yes…" Li Xuesong said quietly before he walked away holding the draft article.

After some changes, the final report finally came out.

Professor Wang's words were completely altered.

"Quite embarrassing" became "talented", "doesn't look at the whole situation" became "scientific researcher who take risks"…

All of the negative comments said by Professor Wang were changed into positive ones.

Did Professor Wang have opinions?

He didn't.

He couldn't.

In the beginning, he really thought that the caged carbon molecules by Professor Stanley would solve the lithium-sulfur batteries problem. He never would have expected the industry to reject Professor Stanley's plan and accept Lu Zhou's invention instead.

After Lu Zhou won the Hoffman Prize, his face turned blue.

China wanted to use this politically significant medal to promote friendship with Germany.

It would be suicide if he tried to criticize Lu Zhou now.

He thought about calling Science Report to ask them to remove his interview. However, he was too embarrassed.

Still, even though Wang Haifeng got lucky, he still felt a little distasteful after seeing this report.

But he couldn't do anything other than whine.

After all, he had no ground to criticize a Hoffman Prize winner.

Wang Haifeng looked at the Science Report journal, and he scoffed, "Possible Nobel Prize winner?"

He sneered and ripped the newspaper in half.

It was like he didn't learn his lesson; he started to criticize Lu Zhou again.

"Try staying in your own lane."

The PhD student sitting next to his desk shook his head.

He couldn't criticize his supervisor's opinions.

However, he could taste the salt from here…

Chapter 369: A Small Goal

Lu Zhou was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, so he didn't know that the Hoffman Prize caused so much commotion.

However, he probably wouldn't have cared even if he knew.

Right now, he was at Lake Carnegie. He was celebrating with the guys from the drone club.

"Coach, we won! I can't believe it, we beat MIT!"

Jimmy was full of excitement as he shoved the trophy into Lu Zhou's hand and said, "You should've been there. It was a magical moment."

The gold-plated trophy was as big as a watermelon; it was quite heavy as well.

Lu Zhou smiled to the guys and said, "Nicely done, your trophy is much heavier than mine."

Lu Zhou wanted to encourage these boys.

However, he didn't know why but the guys became quiet.

Lu Zhou asked, "… What happened?"

Jimmy shook his head and said, "Nothing, we knew that you would humble brag to us, but we still don't know what to say."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Lu Zhou swore that he wasn't humble bragging. He only wanted to congratulate these boys and encourage them to continue on the scientific path.

Things suddenly became awkward.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou was saved by the bell when he received a phone call.

"I have to take this call."

Lu Zhou walked away to take the call. When he found a bench, he sat down as he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Lu Zhou, it's me!"

"Principal Xu?" Lu Zhou's eyes lit up, and he smiled and said, "What's up?"

"Nothing special," Principal Xu said with a smile. He then added, "On behalf of all of the teachers and students of the chemistry department, I want to say thank you!"

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed. "There's no need to thank me, I only wrote a letter and expressed my own opinion."

"Your letter was immensely helpful! The higher-ups valued your opinions, and the relevant funds have arrived. The project is underway, and the new supercomputer center will be next to Jin Ling University. It's not just me or the teachers that have to thank you, but everyone else would also have to thank you!"

Not only would the hundred million yuan investment help Jin Ling University, but it would also help local research institutes and other universities.

Principal Xu couldn't help but feel emotional.

If it wasn't for Lu Zhou's letter, securing this project would have been a lot more difficult.

Principal Xu paused for a second before he asked, "Oh yeah, did you pay attention to Everyone Daily?"

"Everyone Daily?" Lu Zhou said, "Not really, why?"

Principal Xu smiled and said, "You didn't? Their latest issue has a part about you, so maybe you want to check it out."

Lu Zhou tried to ask what the content was, but Principal Xu didn't tell him.

After the call ended, Lu Zhou leaned on the park bench and sent a text message to Yang Xu, asking him to mail a copy of the Everyone Daily newspaper.

After sending the text, Lu Zhou put away his phone.

Suddenly, he saw someone.

The person who was jogging along the lake seemed to have noticed him as well, and she slowed down and walked toward Lu Zhou.

Molina was wearing a blue sports outfit. She shook the sweat off her hair before she asked, "Thinking about life?"

"No, just sitting here."

Lu Zhou was distracted by the tight sports outfit, and he wasn't sure where to look. Therefore, he decided to look at the lake.

He then asked, "Speaking of which, it's been a year now, how is your research project going?"

Molina bit her lip and didn't speak.

She remembered that when Lu Zhou first came to Princeton, she recommended her supervisor Morel to him. At that time, she wanted to defeat the Riemann's conjecture together with him.

However, it had been a year since then, Lu Zhou already defeated Goldbach's conjecture and achieved success in chemistry, materials sciences, condensed matter physics, and many other fields.

But she and Morel were still desperately holding on the past.

Not long ago, Lu Zhou was also invited to give a 60-minute report by IMU. Not to mention, there was also his likelihood of winning a Fields Medal.

It was foreseeable that Lu Zhou would break the record held by Princeton mathematics professor, Charles Fefferman.

With the highly-rated contestant, "German God" Peter Schultz, the Fields Medal next year would be highly competitive.

However, Molina and her supervisor didn't make any significant progress on Riemann's conjecture.

It was without a doubt that her supervisor wouldn't be able to win the Fields Medal.

Molina was as jealous as one could get.

Although Molina didn't reply, Lu Zhou guessed what was going on.

He smiled and changed the subject.

"It seems that I shouldn't have asked the question, pretend like I didn't say anything."

Molina looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "How did you do it?"

"Before challenging a difficult goal, I often find a smaller, easier to accomplish goal first," Lu Zhou said. He looked at the drone flying over the lake as he continued, "Even I wouldn't be able to tackle the Goldbach's conjecture immediately."

Lu Zhou was right; his Group Structure Method was perfected by the Polignac's conjecture, and he used the large sieve method to solve the twin prime conjecture.

The tower of Goldbach's conjecture wasn't built in a day.

Molina started to think, and after a while, she asked, "And your small goal was?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "Twin prime conjecture."

Molina: "…"

This is a small goal?!

Suddenly, she had the urge to toss this guy into the lake.

Outrageous!

Chapter 370: Superconducting Materials

It had been a week since Lu Zhou left Germany. October came and so did the cold weather.

Lu Zhou sneezed and put on his favorite trench coat.

Lu Zhou sat in his study room chair. He was drinking coffee while reading the newspaper from across the ocean.

He opened the first page and read the large headline.

[The Application of Computer Science In Cutting-Edge Research and The Trend Of Future Academia Development.]

Everyone Daily used an entire page to publish his letter content.

Of course, the newspaper simplified the content of the letter and explained how supercomputers worked.

Lu Zhou read the entire article and couldn't help but smirk.

However, he was a little worried as well.

Although he was optimistic about supercomputers, he wondered if he had over-promoted it…

After all, scientific research funding was limited.

Although computational chemistry had good prospects, it wasn't necessary. Many laboratories were able to produce results without computational chemistry.

Hopefully, the policymakers realize this.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt like it would be better if he commented less on subjects like this.

Even with the help of the system, he couldn't guarantee that he was correct. Scientific research was a process of trial and error. In fact, the number of errors he had made far exceeded the number of success.

However, all of the published articles were about his success.

Lu Zhou shook his head and put the newspaper away as he said, "I guess I have to be more cautious, a mistake might come to bite me in the future."

He took his empty coffee cup into the kitchen. When he returned, his phone suddenly rang.

It was from an international caller. However, it wasn't from Jin Ling University, it was from Yang Xu.

Lu Zhou answered the call.

"Did you receive the package?"

"I did."

"How does it feel to be on Everyone Daily?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "It feels okay."

It wasn't his first time on Everyone Daily.

He had won multiple international awards, so this was nothing special.

Lu Zhou said, "If you didn't call me, I would've called you. Speaking of which, how is the construction going at the computational materials research institute building?"

"The foundation has been laid. I've been there a couple of times but I'm not sure. Aren't you the CEO of Star Sky Technology? Can't you just ask your manager?"

Star Sky Technology had opened a branch in Shanghai, and Lu Zhou had received the construction report, but he was still worried.

"The report is only on paper, it's not as good as seeing it in person. Remember to take a few photos when you go there next time."

Yang Xu smiled as he said, "It's just a big empty construction site with dust everywhere. It'll take two to three years just for the dust to settle."

Lu Zhou replied, "Two to three years is too long, I'll move in a few months after it's built."

Yang Xu smiled. "The chemistry department said we can stay here for as long as we want."

"No, no," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "we're only borrowing it for now, we still have to move out. We're still a private research institute while they're a public research institute. It's not good to mix the two together."

It was fine staying there for a while, but people would start asking questions if they stayed there for too long.

Like who owned the building?

Could the state transfer assets to private organizations?

There were a series of complicated questions.

Lu Zhou already bought the new building. Anyway, he wasn't lacking money, so he didn't have to borrow anyone's building.

"Okay, you're right," Yang Xu said. He suddenly slapped his head and said, "I nearly forgot, do you have any new research plans this year?"

Lu Zhou said, "Not right now, but I will tell you if I do. My suggestion is that you should find some interesting research projects to do."

Researchers would get distracted if they didn't do experiments for a long time.

They didn't have a research plan themselves, so it was a good idea for them to cooperate with other research companies. This way, they could gain experience and might even generate some income.

Many companies would love to cooperate with the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

"Okay, I'll take note," Yang Xu said. As he twisted the pen around his fingers, he asked, "Speaking of which, what research have you been up to? Theoretical chemistry again?"

"Me?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Not really, the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure is already done, and I'm not interested in chemistry anymore."

Yang Xu said, "So you're doing nothing?"

Lu Zhou said, "Nope, I'm been studying the Navier-Stokes equations recently."

Yang Xu's pen flew out of his hand.

The pen flew onto the wall.

Yang Xu was stunned.

The f*ck?

Navier-Stokes equations?!

Although he wasn't familiar with mathematics, he still knew of the Millennium Prize Problems.

Lu Zhou didn't hear a response.

"… Is there a problem?"

"F*ck, you're insane! NS equations!" Yang Xu sat up from his chair and said, "You're finally taking on the Millennium Prize Problems?"

What do you mean finally?

Also, what does this have to do with Millennium Prize Problems?

Lu Zhou coughed and explained.

"The Millennium Prize Problem is about the smoothness and existence of the NS equations, I'm studying a specific application of the NS equations, on plasma…"

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, if you're looking for a collaborative research project, my suggestion is superconducting materials."

"Superconducting materials?" Yang Xu asked. He then pointed out by saying, "But we're in the carbon nanomaterials field, we don't have any experience with metals…"

"I'm not asking you to change directions, we're still doing carbon nanomaterials."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "It's just my opinion, but I think we don't have to find superconducting materials that are metals. Maybe we can find Cooper pairs in the π bonds."

Chapter 371: Just Go For I

Finding superconducting materials from carbon nanomaterials was a novel idea.

Although people had researched this topic before, no one had ever produced any significant results.

Therefore, Lu Zhou wasn't sure about this either.

However, since most scientific research started from a guess, Lu Zhou decided to just go for it.

After determining the research direction, Lu Zhou called Sarrot and told him the story.

Sarrot's eyes widened as he asked, "Superconducting materials? Why do you want to study this?"

Lu Zhou said, "I think it's interesting, is it not?"

Sarrot: "No, I mean that barely any research has been done in this area, we would have to start from zero."

Lu Zhou: "…"

"So it's very likely that we will have to take a long time before we can produce any patent-worth results." Sarrot couldn't help but say, "Why don't we continue to do batteries? The industry is looking forward to a new and improved HCS-2 material."

Lu Zhou laughed.

"The industry is definitely not looking forward to a new and improved HCS-2 material. It'll take some time for them to adjust to HCS-2.

"As for the patent, don't worry about it. I won't use patents as a standard of evaluation, just do your research."

Sarrot shrugged and said, "Okay, as long as you don't care about losing money."

Although he couldn't understand his boss' motives, as long as someone was willing to pay him to do experiments, he was fine with anything.

Sarrot then said, "Actually if you don't care about patents, we can cooperate with other research teams. This will speed up our in-progress results. I know a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research team that is also doing this. We can work with them."

Lu Zhou asked, "What is the name of the team?"

Sarrot: "Pablo Jerillo-Herrero research project team. They're well known in the graphene industry."

Lu Zhou asked, "Will someone like them want to cooperate with us?"

"Depends on who proposes for the cooperation. If it's me, they will probably reject me," Sarrot shrugged as he said. He then continued, "But if the Hoffman Prize winner, inventor of the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure, and leading person in computational materials science were to ask them, I'm sure they wouldn't refuse."

Emmmm…

Lu Zhou felt that even though Sarrot's argument was a bit strange, it made sense.

"Okay then, I'll contact them."

Lu Zhou hung up the call. He then turned on his laptop and searched for information on the Pablo Jarillo-Herrero research team using Princeton's database.

The academic community wasn't big, so it was easy to find out what someone was researching. Lu Zhou only had to find his recent theses.

Lu Zhou quickly found the relevant information.

Ten years ago, this research team did research on graphene's superconductivity.

In 2007, they published "Bipolar Current In Graphene" in Nature. In 2014, they also published "Graphene's Quantum Spin Hall State" in Nature again. The most recent thesis was on "The Ferromagnetic and Heterostructure of Van Der Waals Crystals"; all of them were interesting research topics.

Lu Zhou wrote down the email address of the thesis author and quickly found Pablo Herrero's blog on Google.

As per what Sarrot said, they were researching an interesting topic— the superconductivity of graphene at low temperatures.

They could provide a new idea for studying superconducting materials.

"The materials science world has a lot of nutty people."

Lu Zhou opened his email and began typing.

[… Hello, Professor Pablo Herrero,

I am Professor Lu Zhou from Princeton University. After reading your Nature thesis, I became very interested in your research direction. I want to cooperate with you on graphene superconductivity research, what do you think?]

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and waited for a bit.

He knew that most people checked and replied to emails in the mornings.

Professor Pablo Herrero should be sitting at his computer, reading the email.

Lu Zhou was correct.

Within five minutes, he received a reply.

There was only one line in the email.

[I'm fine with it, do you have a specific cooperation plan?]

Lu Zhou smiled and began typing.

[Of course…]

…

Lu Zhou managed to reach a cooperation agreement faster than he had imagined.

For this type of low patent probability projects, most professors were willing to cooperate with other research teams.

According to their agreement, Lu Zhou would send a consultant researcher to help them with computational materials science methods. Also, for research exchange, they would send a researcher to Lu Zhou.

Both parties would study the topic of two-dimensional carbon nano superconducting materials. The final thesis would be signed by both parties.

The next day, Lu Zhou found Connie, who was doing his postdoctoral.

Compared to Jerick, Connie, who has been working with Lu Zhou for a while, was more suitable for this task.

Lu Zhou found Connie and said, "I need you to go to Boston."

Connie was doing an experiment at that time. When he heard Lu Zhou, he stopped and asked, "Boston? Why?"

Lu Zhou said, "I've been in contact with the Pablo Jarillo-Herrero research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We're doing collaborative research on the superconductivity of carbon nanomaterials. I need you to visit for a while, it might take a few weeks or even a few months. Of course, I will pay for all expenses. Do you have any problems with your schedule?"

"Nope, no problems," Connie said with a smile. He then added, "I got this… When do I leave?"

Consulting exchange was a good opportunity to network, especially when one didn't have to pay for it.

Any student would be eager at such an opportunity.

Lu Zhou nodded.

"You can start preparing now, you leave in three days!"

Chapter 372: Requires Manpower

Connie hit the road with the cooperative R&D agreement while Professor Pablo Herrero sent a PhD student to Lu Zhou.

However, he didn't send the student to Princeton.

He sent him to the Sarrot Research Institute in California.

After the signing of the cooperative R&D agreement, research on superconducting materials finally began. The two research teams joined forces and greatly increased their speed of research.

Even though the situation looked good, Lu Zhou didn't expect any short-term results.

Science was based on trial and error, there were still many "errors" that they had to make.

Superconducting materials was only a subset of the nuclear fusion project.

After the superconducting materials research began, Lu Zhou also began his theoretical research on plasma.

Both the tokamak and stellarator nuclear fusion devices faced the same problems. The problems were on the high temperature, high density, and the running-time constraints.

The high-temperature problem had some solutions. For example, laser ignition, heating of the plasma itself, the compression of plasma, or a combination of solutions.

However, the difficult problems were the latter two— the high density and running-time constraints.

Plasma was a very unstable substance. According to the plasma's Reynold's number, Re=ρvd/μ, any tiny disturbance in the high-density plasma system would result in a cascade of turbulence effects.

The stellarator had certain advantages over the tokamak. For example, it had lesser disturbance factors than a tokamak.

However, even though it had lesser disturbance factors, containing the unstable plasma in a small space was no small feat.

The theory was important.

Having a reliable and concise theoretical model would be immensely important for the nuclear fusion project.

The current research was at a bottleneck due to the lack of the theoretical model for the plasma in the nuclear fusion device.

This was exactly the thing that bothered Lu Zhou.

Whether it was the Euler–Lagrange equation or the Navier–Stokes equations, both of these simple-looking theories became astronomically difficult when applied to the nuclear fusion plasma problem.

If the Navier–Stokes equations were the mathematics problem of the century, then the viscous fluid that satisfies the Navier–Stokes equations would be the physics problem of the century.

And Lu Zhou's research of the "turbulence phenomenon of plasma" would be part of this century problem.

Lu Zhou sat in his office desk at the Institute for Advanced Study and stared at the fiber-reinforced plastic cup on his desk. It was almost like he was daydreaming.

The cup wasn't big; it similar to a vacuum flask. The liquid inside the cup was bubbling and white smoke overflowed from the edges of the cup.

Vera walked over, and she was about to report on her previous number theory lecture. However, she suddenly froze.

Lu Zhou rarely daydreamed.

"Professor, what are you doing?"

"Looking for inspiration."

Obviously, Lu Zhou wasn't daydreaming, he was in deep thought.

He stared at the bubbling liquid in the cup and tapped his pen on his notebook.

There was a short line of equations in the notebook.

[ρ{∂V/∂t+(V.Δ)·V}=-ΔP+ρg+μΔ2V]

This equation wasn't difficult; the left side was the rate of momentum change of the liquid, and the right was the various forces acting on the liquid.

However…

Vera didn't interrupt his search for inspiration. Instead, she sat next to him and looked at the cup curiously.

Gradually there was less and less smoke coming out from the cup, and the liquid level in the cup was decreasing.

After a while, the liquid completely disappeared, Vera blinked and spoke.

"It's gone."

"Yeah."

Lu Zhou didn't explain anything. Instead, he gestured Vera to walk a few steps back.

Then, he put on his insulated gloves and picked up a small bottle of liquid helium under his desk. He poured the liquid helium into the fiber-reinforced plastic cup.

The fiber-reinforced plastic was filled with the transparent liquid; white smoke overflowed the cup again.

Lu Zhou placed the liquid helium bottle down and continued to look at the boiling liquid in the cup.

Liquid helium at low-temperatures exhibited a superfluid phenomenon; the viscosity coefficient became close to zero and the Reynolds number was to infinity. The fluid became close to an ideal state fluid.

Although it looked more chaotic than other fluids, from a mathematical perspective, the amount of computation involved was much lower.

In some sense, the plasma was magnetically constrained in a vacuum chamber. It also had a large Reynolds number. However, due to its viscosity coefficient, it wasn't as "perfect" as liquid helium.

Because of this, the plasma's mathematical calculations were far more complex.

"Professor, why do I feel like the office is so cold?"

Hardy was sitting at his desk next to Lu Zhou, and he shivered as he looked at Lu Zhou.

"Because I poured a little liquid helium," Lu Zhou said. He suddenly remembered something, and he looked at Qin Yue before saying, "Qin Yue, open the window for me."

Qin Yue put down his pen and said, "Okay, professor."

The office became a lot warmer after the window was opened.

Hardy suddenly realized something. He began to clean up the things on his table and was about to leave.

Lu Zhou noticed his movements and asked, "Where are you going?"

Hardy smiled awkwardly and said, "I suddenly remember that I still have a few theses I need to read, I have to go to the library."

"Helium isn't poisonous, don't be so nervous," Lu Zhou said. He sighed and placed the fiber-reinforced plastic on the window ledge, letting it sunbathed.

Liquid helium was a lot more dangerous than helium air.

If someone accidentally touched liquid helium, they would get frostbite on their fingers.

Lu Zhou returned to his office desk and remembered something. He then asked Vera, "Have you studied partial differential equations?"

Vera thought for a bit and nodded. However, she suddenly shook her head and said, "I have, but not much. Do you need help with anything?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "No, it's fine, continue on the Collatz conjecture."

There were only three people in the Collatz conjecture research group. If Vera left, Lu Zhou would have to rely on Hardy and Qin Yue. He was afraid that the conjecture would never be solved.

The little girl looked a little sad.

She wanted to help the professor.

However, her abilities weren't enough…

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered there was someone else in his office. He looked at Wei Wen and asked, "Wei Wen, have you researched partial differential equations before?"

Wei Wen pushed his glasses and smiled.

"I have, why?"

The partial differential equation was one of his many talents.

He had conducted research in partial differential equations at Yan University.

He had been at Princeton for so long, this was his chance.

He had been waiting for this day.

He would prove that he was the second strongest person in this office!

Lu Zhou said, "I want to open a research project; it's about the Navier–Stokes equations."

Wei Wen's smile disappeared; he didn't look so confident anymore.

However, Lu Zhou didn't notice his change of expression.

Right now, he needed manpower, and any manpower would be good.

Of course, Wei Wen alone wasn't enough. Even though Wei Wen was outstanding, he was still only a graduate student.

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the desk and began to think who else could help. Suddenly, he stood up from his chair.

"Oh yeah, how did I forget about him…"

Lu Zhou sounded excited.

He should be able to help me!

Chapter 373: Visiting Harvard

Lu Zhou remembered that Qiu Chengtong was the leading person in partial differential equations.

There was no doubt about Old Qiu's achievements in differential geometry.

Anyone who had read the book "Differential Geometry" would know that he was the founder of geometric analysis.

What was the geometric analysis?

It was the study of integrating partial differentiation into differential geometry.

Although the Chinese academic community had mixed opinions on this figure, the international academic community still respected this scholar.

This could be seen from his rewards.

There were only two mathematicians who had won the three big prizes: the Wolf Prize, the Fields Medal, and the Crafoord Prize. One of them was Lu Zhou's mentor, Deligne, and the other was Qiu Chengtong.

When Lu Zhou won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, he had a brief encounter with Old Qiu. However, because their research areas were different, they hadn't stayed in contact.

Navier–Stokes equations was a partial differential equation problem. Lu Zhou had no doubt that Old Qiu was the leading expert in partial differential equations.

A Ford Explorer parked itself near the department of mathematics building in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lu Zhou got off the car and didn't know where to go.

Therefore, he used his intuition and spoke to a person that looked like they study mathematics.

"Hello, where is Professor Qiu's office?"

"You want to find Professor Qiu?" said the guy with glasses as he looked at Lu Zhou. He felt like he had seen Lu Zhou before. He then asked, "Why do you want to find Professor Qiu?"

Lu Zhou said, "I have some questions I want to ask."

Maybe Lu Zhou looked too young because the guy with glasses chuckled and said, "Professor Qiu doesn't have time for your simple questions, just ask me."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Oh yeah? Then can you explain to me if there's a backward self-similar solution for the Navier-Stokes equation?"

The guy froze.

However, he didn't want to admit defeat. He began thinking about the problem but wasn't able to come up with an answer.

It was obvious that he studied partial differential equations, and he knew about the Navier-Stokes equation.

However, it was also obvious that he hadn't done any in-depth research.

Otherwise, he would know that this problem was actually answered in 1995 by Necas.

Lu Zhou looked at his watch as he asked, "Can you take me there now?"

"Sure, bro." The guy smiled and said, "Come with me… Old Qiu is a busy person, so he might not want to meet you."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything as he followed the guy.

They started to talk. Lu Zhou found out that this guy was called Zhao Wei, a Shuimu University graduate. He was now studying mathematics at Harvard.

"You're an undergrad?"

Lu Zhou said, "Why do you say that?"

Zhao Wei smiled and said, "Because you have a full head of hair, and you look young."

Lu Zhou: …?

How…

Does this make sense?

Zhao Wei continued to say, "… You found that problem in a textbook, right? I suggest you focus on the basics first. Only then should you study more in-depth problems."

This guy was very interesting. He didn't have bad intentions; he was just a bit too nosy.

If Zhao Wei became a professor, he would be deeply loved by his students.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Makes sense, noted."

Zhao Wei was happy to pass on his knowledge. He smiled and said, "We're all friends here, we should help each other. Come find me if you need any help. You can call me, Brother Zhao!"

Lu Zhou said, "Okay then."

Brother Zhao is an interesting name.

Zhao Wei smiled and said, "You know my name now. Little brother, what is your name?"

"Lu Zhou."

Lu… Zhou?

Zhao Wei frowned and couldn't remember where he had heard this name before.

The two finally arrived at Old Qiu's office.

Although the office door was open, out of politeness, Lu Zhou still knocked on the door.

Old Qiu was writing at his desk when he looked up.

When the old man saw who was at the door, he was stunned. He then frowned before putting on a kind smile.

"Oh, guests…" Old Qiu stood up and smiled as he asked, "What brought you here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "I ran into a bottleneck in my research, and I want to ask you some partial differential equation problems."

Zhao Wei was confused about why Old Qiu was so nice to Lu Zhou.

Finally, he remembered who Lu Zhou was…

He thought about his arrogant conversation with Lu Zhou and wanted to crawl into the ground.

When Old Qiu heard Lu Zhou's request, he looked interested.

"Partial differential equation? This is my cup of tea, what is the exact problem?"

"It's related to Navier–Stokes equations."

Old Qiu's eyes suddenly lit up; he was even more interested now.

"Navier–Stokes equations? This is interesting… Sit down, I'll find my tea set; this will take a while."

Lu Zhou nodded and sat down at the tea table.

Suddenly, Old Qiu noticed that there was someone else at the door.

"Who are you?"

Zhao Wei said, "I'm Zhao Wei, I'm a student of Professor Steve Nadis!"

"Oh, Professor Nadis' student." Professor Qiu pushed his glasses and said, "Then, sit down?"

"No, it's fine." Zhao Wei shook his head and said, "I'm just bringing Professor Lu here, I won't bother you two."

Listening to these two big names talk would be helpful for Zhao Wei's research.

However, Zhao Wei felt like it would be too much pressure for him to sit next to them…

"It's just learning, no big deal." Old Qiu smiled and said, "Come and sit down, and drink some tea before you go."

Chapter 374: Another Grinding Session

The tea was ready.

A fine mist floated out of the teapot.

The old man picked up his cup and had a sip of tea before he started to talk.

"Out of all of the partial differential equations, the Navier-Stokes equations is probably the most difficult one. We cannot directly apply the partial differential equation theorems on the Navier Stokes equations, we can only get an approximation.

"From what I know, the Clay Institute has been researching the turbulence phenomenon. Although they have produced some results, they were nothing impressive.

"The plasma turbulence that you want to study is even more difficult. First of all, there isn't a computer that can handle that kind of calculation. Secondly, we can't obtain accurate observation data. We can only rely on inaccurate data."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

Old Qiu smiled and said, "Because we don't have a method to observe high-temperature plasma ions. For example, if we take a nano-probe and poke it into the gas to collect molecules, the movement will perturb the gas and disrupt the data.

"We can use electrostatic probes and magnetic probes for lower temperature plasma. However, for any high-temperature plasma, any slight disturbance can cause the whole system to collapse. It is impossible to constrain the plasma.

"Therefore, we can only obtain the model by using the electromagnetic waves emitted by the plasma itself. However, the spectrum of the electromagnetic waves emitted by the plasma is wide, the amount of information is large, but the information contained is quite messy. The established model would only be accurate for a certain range."

Lu Zhou said, "Is there a solution?"

"Nope." Old Qiu put down the teacup and said in a joking tone, "If you can design an experiment to observe high-temperature plasma, then your contribution to the physics world would be akin to what the contribution cryogenic electron microscopy did to the biology world."

Lu Zhou smiled; he didn't know what to say.

Although the high tech system had information on engineering, Lu Zhou's energy was limited. He had barely studied engineering.

He was fine at designing experiments.

But designing the experiment instrument was beyond his capabilities.

"My personal suggestion is that since the experiment problem can't be solved, why don't you perfect the theoretical tools first?" The old man looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Mathematics is your strength, right?"

Lu Zhou was stunned, and he suddenly had a thought.

Yeah.

Mathematics is my strong suit.

If I can't create a piece of experiment equipment, why don't I create a theoretical tool first?

For example, the Navier–Stokes equations are used as a tool to study more complex problems. Just like how I was studying additive number theory, I needed to create other tools before I could tackle the Goldbach's conjecture.

Lu Zhou thoughts gradually became clear.

The rest of their conversation was centered around mathematics.

Old Qiu was very experienced in partial differentials.

Although he had never studied Navier–Stokes equations before, his opinions were still helpful for Lu Zhou.

Just like this, two hours had passed by.

The mist on top of the teapot disappeared, and the tea gradually became cold.

Zhao Wei sat next to them as he anxiously listening to their conversation.

He was a PhD student; he had nothing to add to the conversation.

This was a painful thing for him.

It wasn't just mental pain, it was physical pain as well.

Because he drank too much tea…

After three hours, the conversation between the two finally ended.

Lu Zhou said bye to Old Qiu, and Zhao Wei was finally set free.

Zhao Wei quickly went downstairs, and he rushed to the toilet to relieve himself. When he came out, he quickly caught up to Lu Zhou.

"Hey, Lu Zhou, what did you guys talk about?"

Lu Zhou was in a good mood, and he replied, "Some interesting things."

Zhao Wei said, "I heard something about nuclear fusion, is that thing real?"

It would be amazing if it is real.

Lu Zhou didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked, "What do you mean by real?"

Zhao Wei was stunned by the question, and he said, "Like, if it is achievable."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The basis of science is to achieve things that cannot be achieved. If the problem is already solved, what is the point of researching it? You're a PhD student, why are you asking these outsider questions?"

Zhao Wei blushed as he scratched his head and smiled.

"I want to buy you dinner, do you have time?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay."

Anyway, it was dinner time.

He would never refuse a free meal.

…

Lu Zhou was inspired by his conversation with Old Qiu.

As per what the old man said, the most important thing was to create the tools to solve the problem.

Which meant that he had to get himself a ladder before he could climb the wall.

Before he could get a ladder, all he could do was to walk around the infinitely long wall.

Lu Zhou returned from Harvard to his Princeton house. He re-examined the problem from a different perspective and felt like every single cell in his body was bursting with inspiration.

He sat in his study room and twisted a pen in his hand while he talked to himself.

"… Building a theoretical model for the plasma requires accurate observations.

"However, since I can't create an experiment tool, I can only start with the part I can solve!"

Lu Zhou stretched his neck, picked up the pen, and wrote a line on a piece of blank paper.

[The Existence of Smooth Solutions of 3D Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Specific Initial Values]

He looked at this title and felt full of motivation.

It was time to grind again!

Chapter 375: In-progress Navier–Stokes Equations Results

Ever since Lu Zhou arrived in Princeton, he discovered how normal grinding was.

Deligne had always criticized him for his work and lifestyle. However, Lu Zhou's desire to solve problems made him this way.

This often reminded him of his high school life.

Whenever he came across a mathematics problem that he couldn't solve, he would always become obsessed with the problem. He wouldn't even eat until he had solved the problem.

He had always had this desire to explore the unknown.

Lu Zhou finally completed his thesis at the end of October.

Lu Zhou looked at the stacks of paper on his desk and smiled.

He felt nostalgic at the feeling of solving pure mathematics problems.

Lu Zhou turned on the computer and opened a Word document. He began transferring his work into the computer.

[The Existence of Smooth Solutions of 3D Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Specific Initial Values]

Lu Zhou typed the title and began writing the abstract. He made a summary of his work.

Simply put, he set the initial value of a certain condition α and used a PDE 1 method to prove the existence of a smooth solution to the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, under the "α case".

Prior to this, the study of the existence of the smooth solution of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations assumed that the initial value of the fluid motion region was small.

As for the existence of the smooth solution to the Navier–Stokes equations when the initial value was large, it was still a mystery.

In some sense, Lu Zhou was adding onto the foundation. He made another step forward to the Millennium Prize Problems.

Interestingly enough, Lu Zhou didn't intend to go after the Millennium Prize Problems, he only followed Old Qiu's advice to create a theoretical tool.

Now, not only did he create the theoretical tool, but he also made an in-progress result of the Navier–Stokes equations problem.

This was related to the Millennium Prize Problems. Therefore, the significance of this research wasn't small.

Lu Zhou was in a dilemma.

Should I post this in a mathematics journal or a physics journal?

This is a problem worth considering.

It's purely theoretical, I can't post it on Science or Nature, right?

…

The next day, Lu Zhou brought his laptop to his Institute for Advanced Study office.

He placed his laptop on the table and opened it. He looked at Wei Wen, who was on the other side of the office.

"Wei Wen."

"What?" Wei Wen adjusted his glasses. He was studying partial differential equations when he heard Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, "Look at this thesis."

Wei Wen was confused. He stopped writing and walked to Lu Zhou. He looked at the thesis on the laptop screen.

He didn't react for a long time.

Wei Wen: "…"

When Lu Zhou saw that he didn't react, he said, "Just roughly look over it, what do you think?"

"I…" Wei Wen lowered his head and said, "Don't understand."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "That's fine, just give me an opinion. Do you think it's better to post it on a mathematics journal or a physics journal?"

Wei Wen went silent for a while before he responded hesitantly, "… Mathematics should be good."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

Wei Wen said, "The calculation part is longer than the discussion part."

Lu Zhou: "…"

That's straightforward.

However…

This does seem to make sense?

Mathematics does have more calculations than physics.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and decided on a mathematics journal.

As for which journal…

Lu Zhou was a Princeton professor, he obviously was going to submit to the Princeton University Journal.

He hadn't submitted to the Princeton Annual Mathematics journal in a while.

After that, he closed his laptop and went to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory(PPPL).

The theoretical work was nearly complete, Lu Zhou now had to work on the experiment.

…

A modern minimalist-style building surrounded by grass was located in the town of Princeton. It looked ugly compared to the Oxford-style Princeton University buildings.

However, no one could undermine its influence in the nuclear fusion field.

If Lyman Spitzer was able to provide a theoretical blueprint for people to achieve controlled nuclear fusion, then this laboratory was responsible for realizing the blueprint.

Since the beginning of the century, ITER established a framework for various research institutes in the field of controlled nuclear fusion technology. PPPL had been working closely with the Max Planck Institute on research for the stellarator.

The world's largest prototype stellarator nuclear fusion device, the "Wendelstein 7-X", was built with the help of PPPL. PPPL also cooperated with several other major nuclear fusion research groups around the globe.

Most people didn't believe that in addition to controllable nuclear fusion, the researchers here also dealt with neon plasma and even helium plasma accelerators.

Imagine the rocket spacecraft thrusters in Sci-fi movies, that was what they were researching.

Lu Zhou made an appointment in advance and waited in the research institute lounge. Soon after, he saw the head of the laboratory, Sam Lazerson.

When Professor Lazerson heard Lu Zhou's request, he smiled.

"You plan on designing an experiment to observe high-temperature plasma?"

Lu Zhou nodded. "Yes."

Professor Lazerson smiled and said, "This is different than mathematics, it's not that simple."

"I know," Lu Zhou shrugged and said, "I only want to consult on some technical issues."

Lazerson didn't say anything; he wanted Lu Zhou to continue.

It was obvious that Lazerson treated Lu Zhou as a "non-expert".

After all, if this thing was that easy, someone would have solved it by now.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't fazed by the plasma expert's attitude, and he continued to speak.

"Hypothetically speaking, can we place two ports of plasma on the track and deliver an extraneous particle to the helium and neon plasma through the A port, then recycle the particles through the B port… Is this possible in theory?"

Professor Lazerson touched his chin as he replied, "This does sound interesting, but what is the use of this?"

"It's difficult to directly observe plasma at high temperatures, but it is mathematically feasible to analyze the trajectories of the plasma colliding with particles."

Professor Lazerson squinted his eyes, and he didn't look as condescending as before.

His expression gradually became more and more serious, like he was thinking about the possibility of this idea.

After a long time, Professor Lazerson finally said, "Ordinary particles won't work!"

"You're right." Lu Zhou nodded and smirked as he said, "Its mass must be the same as tritium or similar, so it can be distinguished from the reactants and products.

"Also the most important thing is that it must be stable!" partial differential equation

Chapter 376: He3 Atom Probe

At the cutting edge of theoretical physics, it was common to throw a particle into an unpredicted chaotic system.

Then, the system could be observed indirectly by the motion of the particle.

In fact, Lu Zhou's experiment proposal idea came from his earlier work at CERN.

The whole system of plasma could be treated like a pool table where playing a shot could tell you where the balls were.

As for the particle that would play the role of the "white ball", there wasn't a better option than helium-3.

First of all, its atomic diameter was small. It consisted of two protons and one neutron, which was close to the atomic mass of helium-2, and the nuclear structure was stabler than helium-2! Not only could it avoid indistinguishable multi-atomic collisions, but it could also pass through plasma easier.

In order to reach the temperature at which the fusion reaction occurred between helium-3 and deuterium, a temperature a hundred times of the magnetic field would be required.

Therefore, there was no better option than helium-3!

Due to a large number of particles in the plasma system, the effect of the helium 3 atom on the entire system was negligible. After all, throwing one atom into the system was much better than inserting an atom probe!

The helium-3 atom passed through the plasma and collided with the particles in the system. The electromagnetic waves generated in the collision would act as "sounds", which could be heard by the observation device. Using this data, the macro and microscopic parameters of the plasma system could be analyzed.

After that, the helium-3 atom would collide with the target material and the impact data would also be recorded.

As long as the helium-3 atom collided with the plasma system, and the electromagnetic wave data generated by the collision and the impact data on the target material could be collected, Lu Zhou was confident that he could indirectly analyze the system using mathematical methods.

This could be put into a simple analogy.

If someone were measuring the refractive index of water, studying the whole water system itself would be too complicated. However, studying one beam of light injected into the water and observing the change in the angle would be much simpler.

Lu Zhou's experiment consisted of injecting the helium-3 particle into the plasma system!

"… We only need to set up a large palm-shaped target material on the first wall of the stellarator to capture the helium-3 particle emitted from the atomic gun which can be generated by the collision of helium-3 with tritium atoms in the emission cycle. The electromagnetic wave signal and the data of the impact angular momentum when the final helium-3 hits the target can be recorded. Then, we can indirectly analyze the state of plasma under high-temperature pressure!"

"I'm not saying that it can't be done," Professor Lazerson looked at Lu Zhou and said, "but are you sure that you can process the data? If we launch N particles, then there are N variables that would be involved! We also have to consider the disturbance of the magnetic field on the plasma…"

With enough variables, even a supercomputer wouldn't be able to calculate the model.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't shocked by Lazerson's words.

Lu Zhou was confident, and he said, "I have 90% certainty that this will work."

Although building a mathematical model sounded tedious, it was nothing a supercomputer couldn't solve.

Lu Zhou believed in his ability to build theoretical models.

Professor Lazerson was slightly hesitant, and he couldn't make a decision.

In theory, the idea should work. However, the premise was that Lu Zhou could complete his theoretical model and that the helium-3 atom would produce electromagnetic waves.

Then, they would have to analyze the collected data successfully.

Data that couldn't be analyzed was no better than random noise.

"… Give me a reason to trust you."

"Is the Goldbach's conjecture enough?"

Professor Lazerson said, "Not enough! That only shows that you're an expert in number theory, it means nothing to me!"

"Then what about the 'Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure'?" Lu Zhou said, "I know you'll say that it only means I'm an expert in theoretical chemistry and computational chemistry, not an expert in plasma, right?"

Professor Lazerson didn't say anything.

Lu Zhou continued, "But I want to tell you that all of my research is based on data. Processing data, analyzing data… I've processed much more data than this experiment will produce!"

Professor Lazerson was speechless, and he went into deep thought.

Lu Zhou saw that he wasn't speaking so he continued, "Believe me! It sounds hard, but it isn't impossible! We only have to use an atom probe to insert the helium-3 into the plasma.

"If we succeed…"

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "Then it would undoubtedly be an invention worthy of a Nobel Prize."

The Nobel Prize wasn't only a reward for theoretical discoveries, it would also award major inventions that revolutionized the world.

For example, in 2017 October, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scholars who invented the cryo-electron microscope.

As per what Old Qiu said, if someone could establish a method to observe the parameters of a high-temperature plasma system, the effect on the physics industry would be huge.

This would also undoubtedly push forward the controllable nuclear fusion project!

"This sounds…"

Professor Lazerson took off his glasses and wiped his glasses with a handkerchief.

He became more and more excited.

However, he wasn't sure.

Lu Zhou looked at his watch; ten minutes had passed.

Lu Zhou was about to give up and find someone else to cooperate, but suddenly Professor Lazerson put on his glasses.

He was no longer hesitant toward Lu Zhou.

Instead…

He was excited!

"… This sounds interesting!"

Lu Zhou sighed in relief and smiled as he reached out with his right hand.

"I'm happy to hear that."

Finally, someone didn't tell him that the "idea is unrealistic".

…

Convincing Professor Lazerson saved Lu Zhou a lot of trouble.

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory was a world-class laboratory. They also cooperated with nuclear fusion research institutes around the world and had a tremendous amount of resources and talent.

They were one of the only research institutes to have this quality.

If Professor Lazerson was still unwilling, Lu Zhou would have to write a letter to the Max Planck Institute and consult the scholars at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

As for building a laboratory himself with the same capabilities of the PPPL…

It would cost a lot more than a few hundred million.

Lu Zhou reached a cooperative agreement with Professor Lazerson. He consulted other experts on this matter and decided to name this technology as "Helium-3 atom probe".

The project team name was only three letters.

"He3".

Over the next few days, Lu Zhou basically went back and forth between the Institute for Advanced Study and the Plasma Physics Laboratory. He was either reading the literature on plasma research or working with Professor Lazerson on He3. He also sat with plasma physics experts and engineers of the project team to exchange ideas on the experiment design.

Even though Lu Zhou finished his theoretical research, he was still busy.

While Lu Zhou was working on the "He3" project, his thesis was published in Annual Mathematics.

His thesis on partial differential equations was finally available to the public.

Lu Zhou didn't pay attention to the mathematics community's reaction to his thesis.

In his opinion, he didn't produce any particularly outstanding research result. It was only reinforcement to the foundation laid by predecessors.

However, fate was sometimes wonderful.

Lu Zhou didn't expect things to go in the opposite direction.

The stone he threw into the pond of mathematics didn't sink. Instead, it floated to the top…

Chapter 377: Playing The Long Game?

Annual Mathematics was one of the top four journals in the mathematics world. Any mathematics research institute would subscribe to the journal.

Tao Zhexuan's office was no exception.

The latest Annual Mathematics issue was sent to his office. He opened the journal catalog and began searching for theses he might be interested in. He marked the theses with a pen for him to read later.

Suddenly, his fingers trembled, and his pen tip rested on a thesis title.

[The Existence of Smooth Solutions of 3D Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Specific Initial Values]

"Navier–Stokes equations?"

Tao Zhexuan looked at the thesis title, and he looked interested.

He hadn't seen a mathematics thesis about the Navier–Stokes equations in a long time.

After all, even though the Navier–Stokes equations had a wide range of application, it was too difficult to make any pure mathematics thesis-worthy progress on the equations.

Tao Zhexuan was curious. He put down his pen and flipped to the thesis page.

When he saw the author's name, he was stunned.

Lu Zhou?

He originally planned on reading the theses when he had spare time, but when he saw this name, he couldn't wait any longer.

He took a blank piece of draft paper from his table and picked up the pen. He then began to meticulously read over the thesis.

Time quickly passed by.

Without him knowing it, it was already noon.

Professor Tao spent the entire morning reading the thesis.

When he put down the journal, he couldn't help but exclaim.

"Professor Lu really is impressive…"

Although he only briefly read the thesis, he still understood the underlying complexity and connotation of the thesis.

What impressed him the most was that Lu Zhou used a theorem that he had never seen before.

Of course, if he wanted to get a deeper understanding of the thesis, he would have to spend a lot more time reading.

Professor Tao didn't want to teach his afternoon lecture anymore. He called his assistant and told him to lecture the class instead. He, on the other hand, turned on his laptop.

Like Lu Zhou's Weibo, this big-name also liked to share his research.

He had a blog.

He blogged about trending events, thesis reviews, and talked about other academia figures.

He also blogged about his own thoughts!

[

… I think this is a very interesting discovery. Not only is the conclusion of the thesis amazing, but the creative theorems he used is also innovative.

I know that he is talented in using many different mathematics tools. I've never seen someone involved in more fields of research than him. Not only that, but his ability to understand and apply mathematics is the best I've ever seen.

Normally a scholar would be exceptional if they can understand and apply an entire branch of mathematics.

However, Lu Zhou is beyond exceptional.

He's talented at inventing an entirely new way of thinking, finding ways to apply old methods to new problems, and building completely new theorems.

In my opinion, if he continues to perfect his theorem, he might be able to solve this century-old problem.

Of course, I have to admit, it is not easy!

]

No one knew more about partial differentials than Tao Zhexuan.

In 2014, a Kazakh mathematician, Otelbayev, claimed to have proved the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equations solution. This event caused controversy among international mathematicians.

Otelbayev was a well-known mathematician that had a better reputation than Professor Enoch. Therefore, his seemingly outrageous claim wasn't ignored.

However, reviewing his thesis wasn't easy.

Perelman, who solved the Poincare conjecture, had an eccentric personality, but thankfully his thesis was written in English. However, Otelbayev wasn't that good at English, so he wrote his 90-page thesis entirely in Russian.

Tao Zhexuan, who could only speak Cantonese and English, didn't understand Russian. However, that didn't stop him.

According to Mr. Otelbayev's thesis, Tao Zhexuan used his idea and constructed a similar Navier–Stokes equations structure. Therefore, if Tao Zhexuan's thesis was proven to be correct, then there would be no doubt that Otelbayev's idea was also correct.

Then, something even nuttier happened.

By setting a special initial value, Otelbayev proved that a smooth solution corresponding to that value would lose its regularity across time. This was equivalent to a contradiction proof by finding a counterexample.

This meant that the idea itself was wrong.

His counterexample was recognized by many partial differential scholars.

Soon after, a Russian mathematician at the University of Oxford, Professor Gregory Selegin, finally reviewed Otelbayev's thesis. He pointed out six errors in Otelbayev's thesis and ended the controversy.

Of course, Otelbayev also acknowledged the mistakes himself.

All in all, Professor Tao was quite well-versed in the Navier–Stokes equations.

He rarely posted academic content on his blogs, and any information he posted on his blogs was verified by himself.

Actually, it wasn't just Tao Zhexuan that gave a high rating for this thesis, many other big names in the partial differential equations field also gave a similar review.

For example, Professor Fefferman, the head of the mathematics department at Princeton, basically had the same opinion as Tao Zhexuan. He believed that the method used by Lu Zhou was more important than the conclusion of the thesis itself.

It didn't matter if there really was a "smooth solution of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations", what mattered was the inspiration that Lu Zhou's mathematics method could bring.

Lu Zhou was previously immersed in fields like materials science and chemistry, whereas many scholars thought that it was a mistake to concentrate on other fields in Lu Zhou's prime years.

After solving the Goldbach's conjecture, Lu Zhou went silent for more than a year. He hadn't published a mathematics thesis since then, and some people even thought that this genius was bored of mathematics.

However, it seemed that wasn't the case now.

This genius didn't give up on mathematics research.

Instead…

He was playing the long game?

Chapter 378: Enough time!

The Navier–Stokes equations was one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems; it gained popularity due to its applications in engineering and physics.

Now that a genius scholar wrote a thesis on this topic, the Navier-Stokes equations were receiving more attention than ever.

Many mathematics and physics doctoral holders in major universities and research institute were all talking about this problem.

They were curious if Lu Zhou was taking on the Navier–Stokes equations.

If he was, what stage was his research at?

Was it only the Annual Mathematics thesis?

Most people believed that this genius had already produced far better research results than the Annual Mathematics thesis.

Lunchtime, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

"I'll have a bacon sandwich."

"Another sandwich… Do you really not want to try other flavors? You're always eating the same food, it's not a good diet."

The chef recognized Lu Zhou because he ordered the same food every time.

"No thanks."

Lu Zhou took the sandwich and coffee from the chef. He then found a comfortable place to sit down.

Normally, he would cook for himself or even eat the Ivy Club, but these days he would often eat a simple sandwich before heading to the plasma laboratory.

The design of the experiment sounded simple, but it was extremely complicated to execute!

In addition to the obvious problems, there were many hidden and unclear problems that needed to be solved. This required both theoretical and engineering knowledge, which meant that Lu Zhou had to keep in touch with the engineers at the laboratory. He also had to exchange ideas and find viable solutions with the engineers.

Lu Zhou felt like his speed of comprehending engineering material was unexpectedly fast.

As for how fast…

It was similar to his speed of studying mathematics two years ago.

Lu Zhou slowly ate his sandwich while he was still studying complicated problems.

Suddenly, a blonde woman sat across from him. She took out a microphone out of nowhere before she said, "Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou, I am sorry to bother you. I'm a BBC reporter."

Lu Zhou stopped eating his sandwich and looked at the blonde lady before he asked, "What do you want?"

He didn't recall doing anything spectacular recently.

She obviously wasn't here to talk about the Hoffman Prize which had happened a long time ago.

The reporter smiled and said, "The thing is, your thesis in Annual Mathematics recently has attracted worldwide attention from the academic community. I want to ask if you are attempting to find a smooth solution to the Navier–Stokes equations, to challenge one of the Millennium Prize Problems?"

A normal mathematics problem wouldn't be worthy of an interview from BBC, but the Millennium Prize Problems were different. Its million dollar prize was worthy of a news headline.

"Oh no, you have it wrong, there's no such thing." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I only researched the Navier–Stokes equations to facilitate my own experiment. Even though I found an interesting result, it is not worth of being commended."

The reporter looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Unbelievable… Can I ask what are you experimenting on?"

"It doesn't matter, I don't want you guys to report on my research and write an unrealistic headline," Lu Zhou said as he crunched up his sandwich wrappers before he threw it in the trash can. He then added, "I can only tell you one thing before the research results come out."

Lu Zhou was worried that if he had told BBC he was designing experiments to study the turbulence phenomenon of plasma at high temperatures, the BBC would report that he was going to solve the nuclear fusion problem. Lu Zhou's phone would blow up again.

After all, this was a BBC reporter.

Due to their exaggerated headlines and shady reporting techniques, they were banned from Wikipedia citations.

The reporter didn't care about Lu Zhou's remark. Instead, she leaned forward with the microphone and asked, "What thing?"

Lu Zhou said, "No comment."

Reporter: "…"

…

Lu Zhou went to PPPL after the short interview.

The engineers at the lab were already working.

When Professor Lazerson saw Lu Zhou, he greeted him.

"The Wendelstein 7-X accepted our request to install the target material and atomic gun for our next experiment. They will also help us collect the data."

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "When is the next experiment?"

Professor Lazerson wasn't sure, and he said, "In a month… We must come up with valuable results before December! Otherwise, they might consider postponing the experiment. The ITER project is running out of money, and all of the laboratories are racing against the clock."

Lu Zhou said, "There's not much time left."

"Yes, not much time left. Of course, we can wait until the overhaul in June, but…" Professor Lazerson said.

"But?"

Professor Lazerson continued, "But PPPL won't continue supporting our research without restrictions. If we don't produce any results for half a year, they might scrap the experiment."

This project relied heavily on PPPL. The funding was from PPPL; the talent and equipment were all from PPPL.

There were many high tech projects being developed, and nuclear fusion was only one of them. The "He3" atom probe was only a sub-project under the nuclear fusion project.

If this project took up half a year of resources and didn't produce any results, the laboratory director might call off the project, or at least delay the project.

Unless there were multiple Nobel Prize winners endorsing the project, or the project itself was worthy of a Nobel Prize.

However, Lu Zhou obviously wasn't a Nobel Prize winner, and neither was Professor Lazerson…

Lu Zhou said, "We can't wait for half a year?"

Professor Lazerson said, "Normally we can, but research projects recently have been on a tight schedule, so less important projects will be delayed… no matter how interesting the project is."

He certainly hoped the project could continue.

After all, the physics community could only "detect" plasma, not "observe".

The two concepts were completely different, and the models built from the concepts were also completely different.

If Lu Zhou could really use his mathematics abilities to complete this experiment, the Nobel Prize committee might even consider Lazerson for a prize.

As an engineer, this was his only chance to win the Nobel Prize.

When Lu Zhou heard Lazerson's explanation, he said, "We have to work faster! The deadline is the end of the year, so we have to finish it before the end of the year."

Professor Lazerson asked, "Is there enough time?"

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lazerson, and he replied, "There is definitely enough time!"

Chapter 379: Greater Transmission Power!

There wasn't much time left for the "He3" project team.

Everyone was racing against the clock.

Finally, due to everyone's constant effort, a rough prototype was completed.

The prototype consisted of two parts; one part was an "atomic gun" used to accelerate and emit helium atoms, and the other was a target material installed in the vacuum chamber for receiving helium-3 atoms. There were also various computers and sensor components.

As for why this was a rough prototype…

It was because almost all of the parts were pieced together.

The acceleration track path of the atomic gun was taken from an old particle accelerator from the Argonne National Laboratory. The vacuum chamber used to hold the plasma was designed by the PPPL when they were working on the stellarator.

This entire system could heat plasma up to 7,000 degrees, which was a long way from the "high" temperature of 100 million degrees. The electromagnetic field was also an order of magnitude below the stellarator's, which was 10T.

However, it was enough.

Every experiment would start with a proof of its feasibility. They didn't have to complete nuclear fusion in the vacuum chamber, and they didn't need a high density of the plasma.

They only had to successfully collect data from the plasma and analyze the data to get an "observation".

Then, they just had to integrate this observation device on the stellarator.

In fact, Lu Zhou's original idea was to obtain the old stellarator from the WEGA experiment group.

But it was only an idea. Professor Lazerson told him that their stellarator couldn't be bought with money.

All in all, the prototype was complete!

The particle accelerator path was the atomic gun's "barrel", while the target material for the high energy helium-3 particles was a tungsten-titanium alloy. Behind the target material were the sensitive probes that would collect the data of the impact.

Although the engineering team encountered many problems, it was generally a smooth ride up to this point.

Some final adjustments were done, and Professor Lazerson eagerly announced the start of the first experiment.

The researchers in the laboratory spent countless days and nights working on this project. They needed a successful experiment to boost their morale.

However…

Not everything went as smooth as expected.

The second the helium-3 atom was injected into the plasma, the atom quickly rose to a high temperature and collided with the orbit wall. The detector connected to the other side of the target material collected electromagnetic wave data of the helium-3 atom.

God seemed to have played a joke on the researchers. The helium-3 shot from the atomic gun didn't travel through the plasma as expected.

It didn't hit the target material.

Obviously, they successfully fired the atom bullet.

However, they weren't able to recover the bullet.

The first experiment failed…

…

The 21st experiment was over.

The laboratory was silent.

The atom probe mounted behind the target material still didn't detect the signal emitted from the helium-3 impact.

The experiment was facing their biggest bottleneck yet.

If the emitted atom couldn't be collected, then the experiment would be meaningless.

The first to break the silence was a nuclear fusion engineer.

He said, "Maybe the probe isn't sensitive enough? Maybe the impact happened, and we just didn't detect it."

This was a possibility. If the collision signal was too weak, it might have been ignored by the detector.

"Impossible," a plasma theoretical physicist said. He then added, "The electromagnetic wave has a unique shape, and the only possible scenario is the helium-3 atom deviating from the orbit path… You should know this."

The plasma physicist was looking at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't say anything; he only looked down and nodded.

Lu Zhou could tell from the electromagnetic spectrum image that the helium 3 atom didn't penetrate the plasma. Instead, it "disappeared" inside the plasma particles.

The atom might have been confined in the plasma electromagnetic field, but the orbit path was changed due to the collisions…

If a particle that entered a chaotic system could not be observed, then it would become a part of the chaotic system. Even if it still existed, it would be considered as "missing" in the physics sense.

The research seemed to reach a dead-end…

"This idea might not work at all," Professor Lazerson said as he took off his safety helmet and looked at the computer screen. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said, "The plasma used in the experiment was only 7,000 degrees, it's far from the stellarator's plasma density…"

Professor Lazerson's intentions were clear.

Even though the temperature was greatly decreased, the helium-3 particle still didn't penetrate the plasma. There was a doubt that the helium-3 particle wouldn't be able to penetrate the hundreds of millions degree plasma in the stellarator.

Lu Zhou looked at the computer screen, and suddenly, he said, "We need an atomic gun with a greater transmission power!"

"Yes, we need a larger atomic gun. It would be nice to get the Swiss Hadron Collider as an acceleration module and put our helium-3 atom on a rocket and make it pierce through all of the particles," Professor Lazerson said. He then shook his head and added, "You know that's not possible."

"Don't exaggerate so much," Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I did the calculations, and we only need to increase the electromagnetic field strength of the atomic gun to 1T. Then, in theory, the helium-3 particles will be able to penetrate the plasma."

Lu Zhou didn't rigorously calculate this number; it was a rough estimate based on experience.

They might not need 1T, but 1T was definitely enough.

"This is ridiculous! The stellarator only has a magnetic field strength of 10T!" Professor Lazerson couldn't help but say, "Are you serious, do you mathematics people have an idea of numbers? Do you know how expensive superconducting materials are?"

This was still a problem of funding.

Although the PPPL laboratory was powerful, its annual funding was only US$40 million.

This money was split between many projects, and the "He3" project only had US$4 million of funding.

They used recycled parts and equipment to save money.

After all, every experiment they ran was burning money.

Professor Lazerson suddenly had an impulsive thought.

Maybe… working with Lu Zhou is a bad idea.

The engineers in the laboratory were silent; they didn't want to anger Professor Lazerson anymore.

Lu Zhou's request was ridiculous; it was like a rich person telling a homeless person to buy a house to solve all their problems.

Lu Zhou didn't say anything. Instead, he quietly waited for Lazerson to finish his words.

He then looked at Professor Lazerson before he coughed and said slowly, "What if… I can solve the funding problem?"

Chapter 380: Able To Do Anything With Money

The laboratory went silent for a minute.

Professor Lazerson rubbed his nose and said, "Sorry, what did you just say? I didn't hear you."

Lu Zhou: "I'm saying that I can solve the funding problem."

Professor Lazerson looked at Lu Zhou like he was an alien before he spoke in disbelief.

"You sure?"

Professor Lazerson wasn't the only one in disbelief; the engineers standing next to him couldn't believe what they were hearing.

Lu Zhou: "I am sure."

Professor Lazerson smiled and shook his head as he said, "Your prize money isn't enough. Even if you win both the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize and sell the medals next year, it still won't be enough."

There had been people who sold their Nobel Prize medals in the past, but Lu Zhou would never do something like that…

At least for now, he wasn't lacking money.

Lu Zhou sighed and didn't try to explain. Instead, he asked, "How much will it cost?"

Professor Lazerson obviously didn't think Lu Zhou could afford the funding, and so, he said in a joking tone, "If you can find US$10 million, then I guarantee you our project will be funded."

Lu Zhou didn't reply. Instead, he walked outside of the laboratory and called his manager, White Sheridan.

Sheridan picked up the call; he was probably at his office.

"Hello?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's me."

Sheridan already knew who was calling from the caller ID.

He said with a respectful tone, "How can I help you?"

Lu Zhou said, "Check how much money is in the Star Sky Technology's business account."

Sheridan said, "… I'll have to consult the finance manager for the specific amount. After that, I'll send the financial report to your email."

The parent company of Star Sky Technology was registered in the Cayman Islands, while the Star Sky Technology North American branch in Philadelphia was independent of the parent company.

Sheridan was mainly responsible for managing the patents, so he had to contact the parent company finance staff for financial documents.

However, Lu Zhou didn't want to know the specific number; he only needed an estimate.

"Is there ten million?"

When Sheridan heard this number, he hesitated for a second.

"There's definitely ten million…"

My boss…

Is underestimating our capabilities.

The company's income on HCS-2 material patent license alone was more than US$10 million.

The revenue from the modified PDMS patent licensing hadn't been touched, and Umicore had been paying money quarterly to the account.

The only cost was the one where Lu Zhou spent a hundred million on a Chinese laboratory.

US$10 million was nothing for Star Sky Technology.

When Lu Zhou heard Sheridan's answer, he nodded.

"I'll send you an account in a bit. Transfer 10 million there."

Star Sky Technology's business structure was simple as Lu Zhou was the only shareholder. He had the power of a king, and he didn't have a board to answer to.

Sheridan didn't ask what Lu Zhou was planning on doing. Instead, he replied in a respectful tone, "Yes, boss."

…

Lu Zhou rarely talked about his assets with outsiders, because honestly, earning money was too easy; it almost didn't feel real.

Other than the small number of people that followed him closely, almost no one knew about the branch of Star Sky Technology at the Cayman Islands. They didn't know that the modified PDMS patent license and HCS-2 materials license had already netted US$100 million.

Even if this money were put into a bank account untouched, the interest alone would be enormous.

Lu Zhou wasn't interested in yachts or jets, and the only expenditure he had was experiments.

When the US$10 million arrived in the He3 project account, the project auditor rushed into the laboratory due to the sudden influx of cash. The auditor handed Professor Lazerson the printed wire transfer information…

The entire laboratory went dead silent.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lazerson and coughed before he asked, "Is US$10 million really enough?"

Lu Zhou thought this was nothing compared to the budget of the particle accelerator.

However, he didn't know that the entire PPPL's annual research funding was only US$40 million.

The amount he injected into the He3 project was worth a quarter of the entire budget of PPPL…

Professor Lazerson gulped and nodded.

"It's enough…"

Lu Zhou noticed that the researchers in the laboratory were looking at him, and he coughed softly.

"Start working, we don't have much time left."

The researchers and engineers in the laboratory glanced at each other before they went back to work.

Professor Lazerson looked at the piece of paper and then looked at Lu Zhou. He then asked, "The funding problem is solved?"

Lu Zhou: "Solved."

"Unbelievable! Where did you…" Professor Lazerson didn't know how to express his astonishment.

Lu Zhou guessed what he wanted to ask, so he said ambiguously, "Actually, I researched chemistry a while ago, and earned some money from the patent."

Lu Zhou pointed to the Apple laptop on the office desk and said, "For example, the electrode battery material inside this thing was probably invented by me."

Professor Lazerson's eyes were wide open as he said, "But still, it's ten million… Are you crazy?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine, I have more than enough."

Professor Lazerson: "…"

Engineers: "…"

Researchers: "…"

Evil capitalist!

What a punchable face!

But why am I…

So jealous!

…

The only problem the He3 project team had was insufficient energy on the helium-3 particle. This could be solved by increasing the intensity of the confined magnetic field of the atomic gun.

The strength of the confined magnetic field could be increased with money.

Yes, that was how scientific research was conducted. Anything could be solved with money. If Lu Zhou invested a billion dollars, he could make SpaceX send a rocket to collect helium-3 from the moon.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't have a billion dollars…

In short, with the US$10 million, the He3 project team could directly purchase accelerator components from the Brookhaven National Laboratory or even from CERN. The experienced engineers of PPPL could then modify the parts.

This did cost a lot of money.

But Lu Zhou thought it was worth it…

Chapter 381: The Last Number Theory Lecture Before Christmas

After the US$10 million research fund was received, no one else had any doubts about the project or Lu Zhou's mathematical abilities.

Even the project meetings were quieter.

However, it wasn't quite because of the sudden US$10 million; it was because they didn't have anything to discuss.

The entire engineering design had been clearly outlined; all of the complex physics and engineering problems were already solved.

Right now, the most important problem was implementation.

The theoretical work was complete. Suddenly, Lu Zhou realized that in these two most crucial and intense weeks, he had somehow relaxed. There was nothing else for him to do, at least not before the equipment arrived.

However, the engineers had no time to relax.

In order to prevent the accelerator magnetic field from interfering with the magnetic field of the plasma, they had to drill a hole in the laboratory wall and place the atomic gun further away from the orbit path…

…

Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Hardy and Jerick dug out a two-meter tall Christmas tree and placed it next to the decoration boxes in the office.

Although Lu Zhou gave them a Christmas holiday, no one wanted to take a vacation.

Everyone agreed to Hardy's proposal of decorating the office for Christmas.

Hardy wiped the sweat off his forehead and stretched his back. He suddenly noticed Lu Zhou, who rarely came to the office, was in the office. Therefore, he greeted him.

"Professor, will you spend Christmas with us?"

Lu Zhou was writing at his desk, and he stopped writing and said, "I should."

Hardy was delighted, and he immediately asked, "Then… professor, do we get Christmas presents?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course, I'll prepare a special Christmas gift for all of you."

The office was suddenly intrigued.

Lu Zhou would prepare a Christmas gift for them?

Although they didn't know what the gift was, everyone was obviously looking forward to it.

Of course, some people also looked worried.

Jerick turned to Hardy and whispered, "The gift isn't a math problem, right?"

Hardy said, "Probably… not."

However, this seemed like something Professor Lu Zhou would do.

Hardy wasn't so excited anymore…

Vera stopped writing and looked at Lu Zhou as she asked, "Do I get one as well?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course."

Lu Zhou would never cheap out on his students.

He even prepared a gift for the troublemaker Hardy.

Vera was blushing slightly as she said, "… I also prepared a gift for you."

Hardy started to whistle but was stopped by Qin Yue.

Lu Zhou looked at them and asked, "… Is there a problem?"

Qin Yue covered Hardy's mouth and said, "Nothing!"

Emm…

Lu Zhou looked at Qin Yue suspiciously and felt like this normally honest guy was hiding something from him.

But that didn't matter; Christmas was in two weeks anyway.

All of the mysteries would be revealed.

…

On the last lecture before Christmas, Lu Zhou brought his textbook to the lecture hall.

It was almost the holidays. Therefore, the classroom was full of energy.

Just like the Chinese students, it seemed that American students felt the same way about holidays as well.

Lu Zhou walked into the classroom and when he saw the surprised looks on his students' faces, he felt a little embarrassed.

Lu Zhou was very busy this semester. After he returned from Columbia University, he had to fly to Germany.

Therefore, the students that chose this course because of him barely got to see him.

Since this was the last lecture, Lu Zhou felt like he should perform his duties as a professor.

He had some free time anyway.

"… Today's lecture is about Mersenne primes, I will mainly talk about the distribution of Mersenne primes and the derivation of the Lu Zhou theorem. This isn't the main course material, so you can just relax and listen. I'm guessing your minds are on Santa Claus right now."

The students chuckled, and Lu Zhou wrote down the title of the lecture on the whiteboard. He continued to talk with his students in a relaxing manner.

Most of the Chinese textbooks replaced Zhou's conjecture with Zhou's theorem. However, after Lu Zhou came to Princeton, he found several American textbooks that used "Lu-Zhou theorem", or "Zhou-Lu theorem".

Because these students had already studied the lecture material beforehand, and because Lu Zhou was talking about his own research, Lu Zhou spoke very quickly. It took him less than twenty minutes to finish the lecture content.

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and saw that there was a lot of time left. Therefore, he looked at his students and said, "There's still a little time left, feel free to ask me any questions."

A girl with maroon hair immediately raised her hand.

Lu Zhou nodded at her, indicating that she could speak.

"Professor, are you researching the Navier–Stokes equations?"

Lu Zhou smiled at this unexpected question.

"Why do you ask this?"

"A lot of people are curious," the girl blinked and said, "and we're also curious."

Lu Zhou looked around the classroom.

"Are you guys curious?"

A third of the students in the classroom nodded.

Lu Zhou asked again, "Really?"

Perhaps it was because of Lu Zhou's mysterious smile because everyone in the classroom nodded this time.

"Okay then," Lu Zhou said as he wiped the whiteboard and wrote down a new title. He then said, "For the second half of the class, I will talk about my personal understanding of the three dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation."

Revisiting fundamental concepts was a good way of finding obvious problems.

Lu Zhou was reminiscing about his research ideas, especially those abstract concepts that were difficult to express in words.

Lu Zhou lectured his heart out.

However, the students didn't have such a good time.

Princeton undergraduate students were talented, and most of them had completed all of the undergraduate content while they were in their second year. However, it was still difficult for them to understand the concepts on the whiteboard.

Even students that had a deep understanding of partial differential equations had trouble understanding them.

For those that hadn't learned about partial differential equation yet, it was as if Lu Zhou was speaking in a different language.

These students were geniuses that often went hand to hand with professors.

This really humbled them!

"… According to the above conclusion, we can calculate the global existence of the smooth solution of the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation in a finite case.

"As for extending this conclusion to a more general case, more research is needed.

"I hope that you can think about this problem in your spare time. It isn't difficult, but it is very interesting."

Lu Zhou picked up a marker and wrote on the whiteboard.

[<B(μ,v),w〉= -1/2∫R3{((u·▽)v)w + (((v·▽)u)·w}dx

[B(μ,v) = -1/2P{(μ·▽)μ+(v·▽)μ}

[…]

Strictly speaking, this wasn't a practice question; this was a partial differential equation problem that Lu Zhou ran into when he was studying Navier–Stokes equations.

He obviously didn't expect the undergraduate students to give an answer. Instead, he wanted to listen to the students' thought process for inspiration.

Lu Zhou wrote and explained at the same time.

"Where P is the Leray projection without the divergence vector L… We now asking searching for the equation Pμi with a square-integrable solution."

[… Pμi=?]

Lu Zhou finished writing the last symbol and placed the marker on the lecture stand. He then looked at the students as he spoke in a joking tone.

"If anyone one of you can solve this problem, I will recommend them to Professor Fefferman for early graduation, or you can study a master's or even a PhD under me."

Professor Fefferman was not only a researcher at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, but he was also the head of the mathematics department at Princeton University.

Although Lu Zhou spoke as if he was joking, the students didn't take it as a joke.

Professor Lu definitely had the ability to let them graduate early.

Studying a master's degree under the legendary Professor Lu was an attractive option.

The lecture hall went dead silent; everyone was thinking.

However…

This "question" obviously wasn't easy to solve.

Lu Zhou looked at the students and wrote down his email on the whiteboard. Suddenly, in the back corner of the lecture hall, someone raised their hand.

"… Can I use the whiteboard?"

Lu Zhou looked at the raised hand and was surprised.

He wasn't surprised that someone was attempting to solve the question.

He was surprised at who this person was.

The person sitting in the back row of the lecture hall was none other than Professor Fefferman.

Chapter 382: Clash Of The Titans

"Of course you can…"

Lu Zhou made a gesture to invite Professor Fefferman to the whiteboard.

Professor Fefferman picked up a marker and stared at the whiteboard for a while. He then started to write.

The lecture was technically over, but not a single person left the lecture hall.

Everyone, including Lu Zhou, stared at the whiteboard.

Lu Zhou looked at what Professor Fefferman was writing, and his eyes gradually lit up.

Amazing…

This was an interesting part of mathematics.

A method that was unfeasible would never work, no matter how many times one tried.

But once one embarked on a method that might work, one could feel the victory ahead.

Although Fefferman hadn't finished writing, Lu Zhou was 90% certain that his method was correct.

As expected, this big name didn't let him down.

Professor Fefferman swiftly filled in the rest of the calculation steps and wrote one final line.

[Pμi:= μi - (Δ^-1)·δi·δj·μj]

There was a commotion in the classroom. Although this content was too difficult for undergraduate students, this was still Princeton.

They couldn't think of the method, but they could understand it.

Obviously, their comprehension speed was slower than Lu Zhou's, but just like Lu Zhou, they saw the ingenuity of Professor Fefferman's workings.

Professor Fefferman placed down the marker and carefully read his calculations from beginning to the end. After that, he smiled and said, "This question isn't easy… A bit too difficult for undergraduate students."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Hence, it is supposed to be a thought-invoking question."

Lu Zhou only planned to lecture the students. He wouldn't have written his research problem on the whiteboard if there weren't so many students interested.

Lu Zhou definitely didn't expect this big name to sit at the back of the lecture hall.

Professor Fefferman placed his attention back to the contents on the whiteboard and rubbed his chin as he spoke in a thoughtful manner.

"(Δ^-1)·δi·δj is defined as the Fourier multiplier of ξiξj/|ξ|2… But what I want to know is that even if you have derivation equation of Pμi, what is the point? I can't seem to grasp it… Can you explain it to me?"

"Of course," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "but I'll need a new whiteboard."

"Princeton has plenty of whiteboards, I'll find one for you."

Professor Fefferman left the lecture hall and came back with a whiteboard.

Lu Zhou erased the writing on the new whiteboard and picked up the marker. He then began to explain while writing.

"If we get Pμi: = μi-(Δ^-1)·δi·δj·μj, we can find the non-diverging property of μ for conventional integration…"

Lu Zhou's research was only up to the "Pμi:=?" step. Therefore, he was deriving equations on the spot.

This sounded difficult.

But actually, it was very easy.

After all, all he needed to do was to use the new conclusion to continue his train of thought.

However…

[

Lu Zhou suddenly stopped writing.

Professor Fefferman suddenly looked interested.

Lu Zhou looked back at Fefferman.

"What do you think?"

Professor Fefferman rubbed his index finger on his chin as he said, "It's… interesting."

The students stared at the two men standing on the podium silently; they were afraid of interrupting the thought process of the two big names.

There was nowhere else in America that respected knowledge as much as Princeton.

Five minutes passed by before Professor Fefferman suddenly spoke up.

"It seems that this problem isn't that easy to solve."

Lu Zhou was still staring at the whiteboard, and he nodded. "You're right."

If this problem were easy to solve, the Clay Institute wouldn't have included it in the Millennium Prize Problems.

"However, I'm surprised you are able to get to this step." Professor Fefferman said, "The Navier–Stokes equations is an interesting topic; it is the basis of fluid mechanics, but it is also a partial differential equation problem. If someone can find a smooth solution of the equation, not only will it be a glory to the human spirit, it will also have a profound impact on multiple disciplines."

Dieudonne was one of the founders of the Bourbaki Group, and "Mathematics is the glory of the human spirit" was one of his famous quotes. Professor Fefferman didn't agree with the views of the Bourbaki Group but he agreed with the quote.

Professor Fefferman smiled and started to clap his hands.

"I think this has been a very fulfilling lecture… although we might not be the best judge of that… What do you think?"

He turned around and looked at the students.

Obviously, a round of applause ensued.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile in the midst of the thunderous applause.

Although he didn't say anything, he felt pretty proud in his heart.

The sense of accomplishment in a classroom was different than doing a serious report.

It seemed that even though he had barely seen his students, his student still quite liked him.

"Oh yeah, I solved the question," Professor Fefferman said when he suddenly remembered something. He then pointed at the calculations on the whiteboard and asked, "Do you keep your promise?"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"Promise?"

The girl with the long maroon hair raised her hand and said, "Professor, you said that whoever solves this problem can become your PhD student."

The classroom started to jeer playfully.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Stop joking around."

"No, no, I'm not joking," Professor Fefferman said. He smiled and continued, "If you want, I wouldn't mind doing another PhD."

Although Professor Fefferman didn't sound like he was joking, Lu Zhou thought that he was definitely joking.

Compared with Professor Faltings who had left Princeton, Fefferman was on the other end of the spectrum in terms of arrogance. Only he would make a joke like this.

Seeing that Lu Zhou was confused, Fefferman coughed and spoke in a more serious tone.

"Okay, since you don't plan on taking in a PhD student, I hope you can do one favor for me."

Lu Zhou asked, "What favor?"

"It's about the existence of a smooth Navier-Stokes equation," Professor Fefferman said with a smile. "I want to work with you on the problem!"

Chapter 383: Invitation For Research Cooperation

There was no doubt that this was an unexpected request.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while before he said, "… Although I did do research on a smooth Navier-Stokes equations solution, I didn't intend to aim for the Millennium Prize."

Lu Zhou was telling the truth.

The reason why he researched the Navier-Stokes equations was to create a suitable theoretical model for the turbulence phenomenon in plasma.

This research was Old Qiu's suggestion.

As for finding a complete solution to the Millennium Prize Navier–Stokes equations…

Lu Zhou had honestly never thought about it.

"I know that it isn't easy, if it was, it would've been solved by now. Even I'm not confident enough to go against it," Professor Fefferman said with a smile. He then added, "However, if we join forces, I think it is worth trying."

Lu Zhou asked, "Are you sure this thing can be solved by joining forces?"

"I don't know, but my intuition tells me that it might be the right path."

Professor Fefferman looked at the equations on the whiteboard and nodded to himself.

Then, he looked at Lu Zhou before he offered his right hand.

"What do you think?"

The classroom was quiet.

Professor Fefferman wasn't the only one waiting for Lu Zhou's decision; everyone in the classroom was holding their breaths.

Lu Zhou stared at his hand and began to think.

Speaking of which, he hadn't challenged a difficult mathematics problem ever since he solved the Goldbach's conjecture and reached Level 6 in mathematics.

Lu Zhou suddenly laughed and shook Fefferman's hand.

"This will be interesting."

Millennium Prize Problems…

This does sound interesting.

Just like Professor Fefferman, Lu Zhou wasn't confident enough to challenge the problem alone.

But if they joined forces, it would be a different story altogether.

"Haha, I'm happy to reach an agreement with you!" Professor Fefferman grasped Lu Zhou's right hand firmly as he said, "It seems that the world will contain one less mystery."

Lu Zhou wasn't as optimistic, so he only smiled slightly.

"Hopefully it will work out."

The classroom was heating up like a boiling pot of water.

"Oh, god…"

A Caucasian guy with freckles took out his phone and took a photo of the two professors. He couldn't wait to record this exciting moment.

Two men joining forces to fight the Navier-Stokes equation!

There is nothing…

Nuttier than this!

If the professors succeed, then everyone sitting in this classroom will be witnessing history!

This photo will be a record of this historic moment!

…

After Lu Zhou reached an agreement with Professor Fefferman, the Institute for Advanced Study officially opened the research on "the existence of a smooth solution to the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations".

The name of the research project was simple; it was only two letters— "NS".

The two professors decided to adopt the traditional method of "independently researching and regularly exchanging research results".

The second day after the NS research project was created, the He3 project team finally received their small particle accelerator.

Lazerson chose a piece of used equipment from the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Although getting it from CERN was also a possibility, CERN's small accelerator needed customs clearance, which took a long time. Brookhaven National Laboratory was in New York, and they were happy to get rid of their old equipment.

Although it was considered as a "small" particle accelerator, it wasn't small at all. It occupied a decent amount of space in the laboratory.

After all, the initial velocity of the particle was determined by the strength of the magnetic field and the radius of the particle orbit.

The newly arrived accelerator had a magnetic field strength of 1T and a maximum radius of 5 meters. It took five days for the He3 project team to assemble the accelerator.

And this was with Professor Lazerson personally helping the engineers by working overtime.

Normally, this would take a team of engineers a month to assemble this thing.

Professor Lazerson was inside the PPPL laboratory wearing a safety hat. He was checking the circuit condition of the superconducting coil using some professional equipment when he asked Lu Zhou who was standing behind him.

"Why?"

Lu Zhou was caught off guard.

"What do you mean why?"

"This technology won't bring you any patents. Even if it will, the patent won't be as popular as the cryo-electron microscope. I'd be willing to bet that there will be less than ten laboratories that are willing to pay for this technology."

Professor Lazerson didn't know the answer to this question.

Even though he knew how rich the mathematics professor was, he didn't know the professor's intentions.

Was it for a Nobel Prize?

That would be too superficial.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and suddenly smiled as he explained, "For the glory of the human spirit… Is this reason not enough?"

Professor Lazerson's eyes were wide open. He had nothing to say.

After a long time, he slowly gave him a thumbs up.

"There are only three Chinese scholars that I respect, and you are the most…"

Professor Lazerson thought for a bit; he didn't know what word to use.

Young?

Doesn't sound serious enough.

Smart?

That would be insulting to the other two Chinese scholars.

Lu Zhou spoke first.

"Most what?"

After a while, Lazerson finally found the adjective.

"The one with the most money to burn…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

What the hell do you mean by most money to burn?

Can't you find a better quality of mine?

Like the highest IQ, knowledgeable, most handsome…

Anything would be better than burning money!

…

The experiment was scheduled to take place two days after the equipment was assembled.

Which was two days before Christmas.

If the experiment was successful, everyone could enjoy a wonderful Christmas break.

If the experiment failed…

They would still go on Christmas break.

But their holiday wouldn't be as pleasant.

They didn't have time to make big changes to the experiment; this was the He3 project team's last chance.

If they couldn't succeed, they would have to wait until next year June for the Wendelstein 7-X overhaul and reschedule their experiment plan.

This meant that they would have to waste half a year.

However, Lu Zhou was optimistic.

He was full of confidence, especially now that the atomic gun was upgraded.

A 1T magnetic field was definitely enough.

Both his calculations and intuition were telling him this.

The He3 project team anxiously waited.

At last, the experiment day had arrived…

Chapter 384: Invisible Bullets

On the day of the experiment, a thick gloomy cloud covered the town of Princeton, and it looked like it was about to rain.

Lu Zhou went to PPPL, and as he walked in the laboratory corridors, he suddenly felt a little strange.

It was like he wasn't in a laboratory. Instead, it was almost like he was going to a hospital's child delivery room.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and realized that this analogy was kind of correct.

The team of He3 engineers and researchers spent countless days and nights on this seemingly impossible project.

Lu Zhou couldn't even count how many hours he had put into the project.

It was no exaggeration to say that the He3 atom probe technology was his child.

Lu Zhou walked to the control room and went inside.

The control room was messy; there were wires tangled everywhere, bunched together using plastic ropes. The computer used to control the atomic gun electromagnetic field was in an even worse state as the mainboard and wires of the computer were exposed.

After all, this was all pieced together in a hurry.

The engineers only had to ensure that there was no faulty equipment; it wasn't their responsibility to impress every visitor.

Lu Zhou look around the control room and saw Professor Lazerson.

However, there was a stranger standing next to Professor Lazerson.

When the stranger noticed Lu Zhou, he offered his right hand.

"Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou."

When Professor Lazerson saw Lu Zhou, he introduced his boss to him with great enthusiasm.

"This is the director of the PPPL laboratory, Professor Terrence Brog."

Lu Zhou looked at this man and shook his hand.

"Hello."

Lu Zhou had heard of Terrence Brog before.

Last year, the former director of the PPPL, Stewart Prager, caused a US$438 million loss for the US Department of Energy because of the NSTX-U equipment failure. Prager decided to resign and since then, Terrence Brog had taken over the director position at PPPL, thus saving the fusion energy science industry.

After taking over as director, his first course of action was to clean up the mess done by his predecessors and increase scientific research funding.

Impractical projects were cut; if the He3 project team couldn't show enough potential, they might be cut as well…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized why this guy was here.

Professor Brog looked at Lu Zhou and cleared his throat. He then said with a blank face, "First of all, congratulations for reaching this step."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I didn't do anything. Plus I'm not giving you any good news," Professor Brog said. He then paused for a second before he said emotionlessly, "If this experiment fails, I will suspend the project. The PPPL researchers are not your personal employees, we can't waste time on projects without potential."

Lu Zhou flinched, and he said, "Even though I am willing to provide funding?"

Professor Brog stared at Lu Zhou as he replied, "That's right."

There was tension in the air.

Professor Lazerson noticed this and coughed. He wanted to diffuse the tension, and so, he pulled Lu Zhou aside.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lazerson and asked, "What is his problem?"

"Maybe…" Professor Lazerson hesitated for a bit before he said in an uncertain tone, "he has his eyes on the US$4 million in the research funding account…"

Although he didn't want to bad mouth his boss, the situation was apparent.

"US$4 million?" Lu Zhou was stunned. However, he was focused on something else, and he asked, "Why haven't we spent the US$4 million yet?"

Professor Lazerson nearly choked on his breath.

Haven't spent the US$4 million?

Why do you sound dissatisfied?

"The US$10 million funding cost was a rough estimate. In fact, the Brookhaven National Laboratory has a good relationship with us. We are perfect buyers of their old equipment. Including the original funding that we had, we only spent an extra US$7 million…"

Professor Lazerson looked suspicious when he said, "The problem is the remaining funds in the research account. You know, although we seem well funded, this technology is difficult to commercialize in the short term. The Congress budget committee hasn't been happy with us…"

Lu Zhou asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

Professor Lazerson said with a serious tone, "Of course it does! If this project is killed, then the money can be moved onto another project with more potential."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but curse in his heart.

"They can do this?"

"Who knew that you would send the money over so quickly," Professor Lazerson said. He then looked away as he continued, "The original agreement we signed clarified the money as a donation. Therefore, we are at an advantage here… But all this doesn't matter… We just have to successfully do the experiment."

No one could touch the He3 research funding account, as long as the project wasn't killed. Although this wasn't ethical, it was part of scientific research.

However, just like what Professor Lazerson said, talking about this didn't matter.

If their project didn't produce results, even without the US$4 million in research funding, Professor Brog would still kill the project.

After all, PPPL had many projects with a higher potential; they couldn't spend all their resources on one project even if the project was fully funded.

Professor Brog was the person in charge, so he had to think of the big picture.

Therefore, the He3 research team needed a win to prove themselves!

…

After a short meeting, Professor Lazerson announced the beginning of the experiment.

Everyone was in their respective work stations as held their breath.

They were afraid that their breathing would disturb the plasma and helium-3 particle in the vacuum chamber.

Once everything was ready, Professor Lazerson didn't say anything. Instead, he merely looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't speak either. He only gave him a thumbs up.

Professor Lazerson understood Lu Zhou's intention, and after taking a deep breath, he then pressed the button.

All the work was complete.

All they had to do now…

Was pray.

The liquid helium was poured into the orbit track and the ultra-low temperature conductor gradually reached its critical superconducting temperature.

The instant the orbit temperature reached superconducting critical temperature, the current in the coil began to rise. This was to prepare for the high-speed helium-3 atom.

The moment the signal 1 light lit up, the speed of the helium-3 atom reached its limit and the atomic gun was "loaded".

This was all like loading a gun— crisp and quick.

Professor Lazerson looked at Lu Zhou again.

Lu Zhou nodded without speaking.

This time, it was Lu Zhou's turn.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and walked to the computer. He then pressed the second button, which was the final button.

It was like a trigger was pulled; the helium-3 atom orbiting in the track suddenly broke away from the acceleration orbit and launched in a tangent line into the inner track.

There were no sounds.

No effects could be seen.

However, the moment the atomic gun fired the helium-3 atom, the helium-3 atom was like a bullet that carried a huge amount of energy as it smashed into the hot plasma.

The electromagnetic wave detector showed a series of waves.

Everything happened in an instant, but it felt like it took forever.

At this moment, whether it was Lu Zhou, Professor Lazerson, Professor Brog, or other researchers in the laboratory, they all held their breath for half a second.

The helium-3 atom nucleus penetrated the plasma and quietly slammed into the target material.

A faint wave fluctuation was captured by the probe behind the target material, and the impact data was sent to the computer.

It was like time had suddenly stopped flowing.

Then, the laboratory burst into celebration.

Professor Lazerson threw his hat into the air and waved his fist in the air.

"We did it! We did it!"

Chapter 385: Mathematics Is Difficul

Success!

The voice of celebration was wonderful.

At this moment, the countless blood, sweat, and tears spent on this project were all worth it. The doubts that the PPPL higher-ups had on this project vanished.

Lu Zhou looked at the flashing signal light and loosened his fists. Due to the adrenaline in his heart, he tightened his fists again.

The experiment wasn't finished.

After the first successful attempt, then came the second, and the third…

The helium-3 particles were accelerated to the limit of kinetic energy before it penetrated the plasma and crashed into the tungsten-titanium target material.

The series of data was collected, wrangled, and imported into the database in a standard format which was soon to be analyzed by theoretical researchers.

Professor Lazerson looked at the computer screen as he patted Lu Zhou's arm.

On the other hand, Director Brog was standing in the jubilant crowd. He stared blankly at the data on the screen and didn't say anything.

"What did I tell you," Professor Lazerson said as he walked to Director Brog with a smile. He patted his shoulder and said, "I told you this is feasible! You must believe us now."

Brog came back to life and coughed heavily before he said, "It's only an in-progress result, this is still too early to tell."

"Yes, yes, only in-progress result." Professor Lazerson smiled and joked, "Don't be jealous when I stand on the podium in Stockholm."

"Talk when you actually win the Nobel Prize."

Director Brog stayed silent for a while before he walked toward Lu Zhou.

He then stood next to the young scholar and sighed before he spoke in an apologetic tone.

"For the things that I said before… I have to apologize to you."

Although Lu Zhou was a bit pissed off at Director Brog's words, the moment the helium-3 particle hit the target material, all of his anger was diluted by the joy of success.

"There's nothing to apologize for, you did what you were supposed to do," Lu Zhou said as he looked at the data on the computer screen. He then said in a relaxing voice, "Just like how we're doing what we're supposed to do."

"Thanks for your understanding… I sincerely wish you all the best."

Director Brog was grateful. He then left the laboratory without mentioning anything about killing the project.

If the He3 atom probe technology was commercialized, all of the major plasma physics laboratories around the world would be able to "observe" instead of "estimate" the plasma at a high temperature.

Observing and estimating were two completely different things.

This was without a doubt a Nobel Prize-level kind of breakthrough!

If Director Brog really killed this project, although no one would blame him, he would regret it for the rest of his life…

…

On the same day, after Lu Zhou ate his dinner, he walked to Lake Carnegie for his nightly run around the lake path.

His run was euphoric, and he couldn't help but run faster.

In the end, he ran as fast as he could; it was like he was a horse in the wild.

The only thing that calmed his emotions was the cold wind blowing onto his face.

Although the system's medication improved his metabolic function, it didn't make him an athlete.

After sprinting around the walking path for less than five minutes, Lu Zhou stopped by a bench at the park. Panting, he grabbed the armrest before slowly sitting down.

His sweat was dripping down his back and stuck to his sports attire, and the cold wind was piercing through his bones.

The freezing cold made Lu Zhou sneeze, but it didn't put out the fire in his heart.

Suddenly, Molina, who was jogging around the lake, noticed Lu Zhou sitting on the bench. She slowed down and walked up to the bench.

Molina looked at him weirdly as she asked, "… Are you having a mental breakdown or something?"

"Nope, I'm feeling better than ever," Lu Zhou said while holding his kneecaps with his hands. He then forced out a smile to show that he was fine.

In fact, Lu Zhou was too happy.

Molina looked at him like he was crazy and didn't say anything. Instead, she sat down on the other end of the bench.

She took out a bottle of water from her running belt and took a sip of water elegantly. She then looked at Lu Zhou, who was still panting, and asked, "It's nearly Christmas, do you have any plans?"

"I'll probably spend it in Princeton. My students want to have a party, then…" Lu Zhou thought for a bit and couldn't think of any better plans, so he said, "Then, I'll rest at home."

Molina was speechless as she stared at Lu Zhou. She then sighed and said, "That's kind of sad… You don't plan on finding a girlfriend to spend the holiday together?"

Are you just rubbing it in my face?

However, Lu Zhou didn't care. After all, he was used to it.

"Mathematics is difficult enough, I'll deal with females some other time." Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and he looked at Molina before he asked, "I almost forgot, aren't you single as well?"

"I'm not the same, I'm a voluntarily celibate; emotions are a burden for me." She shook her sweaty blonde hair gently and said, "As you said, mathematics is difficult enough."

Lu Zhou was amused when he heard this.

"But I haven't seen any mathematics achievements from you."

Since knowing Molina, Lu Zhou went from an undergraduate student to a professor, but Molina was still studying under her mentor who was attempting to solve the impossible Riemann's conjecture. Molina hadn't even written her PhD thesis yet.

Of course, Lu Zhou wasn't gloating. In fact, it was the contrary. He had persuaded her many times to choose an easier target.

Obviously, she had never listened to his advice.

Molina looked at him angrily.

She wanted to make a comeback but found out that she had nothing on him.

"You just wait… I'll make you regret saying that next year at the IMO conference!"

She then stood up and ran away.

"I'll wait for your good news."

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

Who's having a mental breakdown?

But then again, if a mental breakdown can create achievements, then maybe it's not so bad.

Lu Zhou wiped the sweat off his forehead. He then stood up and began to slowly run along the walking path again…

Chapter 386: You Don't Realize Learning Is Fun

The experiment report was due after the experiment.

On the day before Christmas, with the help of several plasma PhD students, Lu Zhou complied the He3 project team experiment report and sent it to the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory.

Mr. Keriber, the head of the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, was responsible for reviewing this report.

He expressed great interest after he read the experiment report.

Although he still doubted if the He3 project team could really successfully use the electromagnetic wave data to analyze the plasma turbulence phenomenon, he still respected the He3 atom probe technology.

After all, this observation method had a higher sensitivity than any other observation method; it was also more accurate both on the macro and micro scale.

He was an expert in the field of controlled nuclear fusion engineering, and he immediately saw the sophistication in the technology. He even sent an invitation to the He3 project team for collaboration.

The second Professor Lazerson received the reply, he purchased a ticket to Berlin. He didn't have time to spend the holidays as he had already started to prepare for his trip to Germany.

Professor Lazerson was inside the laboratory and had finished packing for his trip. He looked at Lu Zhou, who was analyzing the data of the experiment on the computer, and he couldn't help but ask, "You sure you don't want to go with me? We plan on testing our equipment on the Wendelstein 7-X, a real controllable nuclear fusion machine!"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

"I have to attend a conference after New Year's."

Professor Lazerson said, "Conference? Academic conference? If it's not an important conference, I suggest you call it off."

This…

I don't think I can call it off.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "It's not an academic conference, and there's no way I can call it off. Plus I've been working for an entire year, I need a break to relax. You'll have to collaborate with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics by yourself."

Professor Lazerson said, "That's unfortunate."

"It's not unfortunate, I don't have to be there in person to witness history." Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxing tone, "Remember to take a few photos for me. Also, contact me by email."

Although communicating by email was slightly more cumbersome, it didn't affect Lu Zhou's work progress. With a computer and draft paper, he could do theoretical research anywhere.

The day before Christmas.

Professor Lazerson flew to Berlin with two engineers from the project team.

It was around noon when it began to snow. Soon, the town of Princeton was covered in white.

Although it wasn't dark yet, there was barely anyone to be seen on the streets. Even the popular Palmer Square street was deserted with many of the shops closed.

Everyone was more willing to stay indoors with family and friends than outside in the blistering cold. They would roast a turkey and eat an apple pie around the table as they wished everyone a happy new year.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't as immersed in the holiday spirit.

After all, Chinese New Year was his real New Year's.

Christmas Eve was just another normal day for him.

Lu Zhou sat next to the warm fireplace with his Macbook. He worked with the data collected by the He3 project team and compared it with the plasma theses he got from the Firestone Library.

Without a plasma turbulence phenomenon, analyzing the data was crucial.

Suddenly, his phone on the table began to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and leaned back on his sofa.

Before he could speak, an excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Bro, I've finished my exams!"

When Lu Zhou heard the energetic voice, he said, "Already?"

He thought that the mathematics majors began their holiday in late January or even February.

"This year's exams are early, so the holidays are earlier as well. Ah, I heard next semester will be more difficult," Xiao Tong said before she sighed. She then asked, "Oh yeah, bro, are you not coming back for Chinese New Year?"

Lu Zhou said, "Of course I'm coming back, why?"

"Nothing, dad told me to ask you…" Xiao Tong suddenly remembered something and smiled mischievously as she asked, "Oh yeah, bro, tomorrow is Christmas, right?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah."

Xiao Tong: "Merry Christmas!"

Lu Zhou: "Merry Christmas…"

Is she implying that she got me a present?

Lu Zhou was a little confused at the sudden holiday blessings; he didn't know what his sister was up to.

Xiao Tong said, "Then, it should be Christmas Eve at your place, right?"

Lu Zhou: "Yep…"

Xiao Tong immediately asked curiously, "Then, which girl are you going to celebrate it with?

Lu Zhou almost didn't realize Xiao Tong's intentions.

When he realized how dirty Xiao Tong was, he said, "… Why are you thinking about these things?"

Xiao Tong said, "Bro, you're not young anymore, you're 24 years old! You should think about your major life choices!"

Lu Zhou asked, "Is 24 years old considered old?"

The other end of the phone went silent.

Xiao Tong frowned as she replied, "… I guess not."

Lu Zhou sighed.

If only he could convince his parents this easily.

He would probably be interrogated by his parents on this matter when he went back for Chinese New Year.

"Study hard, and don't think about your brother's potential partner all day. I'm too busy these days. If I want to, I could easily find one."

Xiao Tong wasn't thrilled. "I'm already a university student, not a kid anymore, why are you still telling me to study all day…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Who told you that you don't have to study at university? If you don't study now, all you'll get to do when you grow up is press like on other people's Weibo photos."

Xiao Tong was bored, and she asked, "Then what if I study well?

Lu Zhou said, "Then people will like your photos."

Xiao Tong said, "Who cares about likes?"

Lu Zhou was amused. "I don't care about likes, you're the one that does."

Xiao Tong: "…"

Lu Zhou had some small talk with Xiao Tong before he ended the call.

He walked up to his kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He then sat back down on the sofa next to the fireplace to continue reading his theses.

However, before he could begin reading, his phone rang again.

Lu Zhou was surprised at the caller's name.

"Shi Shang?"

This doesn't make sense.

Shi Shang celebrates Christmas like it's Valentines… Why is he calling me?

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face as he picked up the phone.

A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone.

Shi Shang: "Zhou."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

Shi Shang: "I…"

When Lu Zhou heard his voice, he could already guess roughly what had happened. He sighed.

"Stop being a beta. Just tell me your troubles, I can help you."

Shi Shang coughed and said, "No, I don't need your help."

Lu Zhou said, "I'm not good enough to help you?"

"I'm getting married next month."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Chapter 387: The Most Beautiful Snowstorm

Things suddenly got a bit awkward.

The telephone line went silent.

In the end, it was Shi Shang who broke this silence.

"This is an international call, the fees are very expensive."

Oh…

Then let's talk a bit longer.

Lu Zhou was speechless, he decided to stay silent.

F*ck sake!

I'm spending Christmas alone, and now this asshole is shoving it in my face!

Outrageous!

Shi Shang was anxious; he spoke in a worried tone.

"Zhou, say something! Are you still here?"

Lu Zhou listened to Shi Shang screaming for a while. He then sighed and said, "I'm here, my phone lagged… Have you guys gotten the certificate?"

Shi Shang replied, "We have."

Lu Zhou asked, "With who?"

Shi Shang: "Ya Jing… No shit, who else could it be?"

Lu Zhou said, "Ya Jing? She's the same year as you, right? She's still doing her master's?"

They were the class of 2013, although many people left the school in March and April, they only officially graduate in July.

Therefore, Wang Jingya was only a first-year master's student.

"Marrying in your first year of master's study, is that good?"

When Shi Shang heard this question, he felt a bit awkward. He then coughed and said, "This… There's a bit of a situation."

The moment Lu Zhou heard his hesitant voice, he instantly knew what was going on.

I guess he wasn't being safe when doing naughty things…

Lu Zhou didn't know why but he felt like gloating.

Shi Shang didn't notice how Lu Zhou felt, and he continued, "Zhou, honestly, sometimes I think fate is a magical thing. When I was with her, I never thought we would make it to this day… But now, I found out that when the moment came, I… Sorry, I don't know how to describe this feeling."

Shi Shang, who was usually the most articulate, was at a loss for words.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while before he sighed and said, "… It seems like you really love her."

"Yes, I love her more than I love myself." Shi Shang blew his nose and suddenly had a serious demeanor as he said, "Wedding's on January 20th at the Jinling Purple Mountain Hotel. Your bro's missing a best man, are you coming?"

Lu Zhou laughed.

"No shit, I'm coming!"

There was no point in asking this question.

Lu Zhou would be back in China in January; even if he wasn't, he would fly back.

Even though he would be insanely jealous at the wedding, he would still be going.

"Good!"

Shi Shang was moved by Lu Zhou's answer.

However, Shi Shang had a problem. Whenever he was moved, he would get too philosophical.

"Oh yeah, Zhou, no offense, but hurry up and find a girlfriend. I know mathematics is your life, but you should know that there's more to the world than mathematics. Tagore once said, 'love is when the soul starts to sing' and…"

Ah…

I accidentally hung up the phone!

Lu Zhou pretended as if nothing had happened and threw his phone on the sofa. He continued to read his thesis.

Since all of his phone calls tonight were cursed, he didn't want to pick up another call!

…

The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was jolly festive on Christmas day.

Most people here were considered geniuses, but they were still people. Professors or doctors… They were just their academic qualifications.

Actually, because they were geniuses, they knew how to party and have fun better than normal people.

Dean Goddard was usually a serious person, but today, he was wearing a red hat and a fake white beard, dressing up as Santa Claus. He stood around and handed out small booklets to people while everyone responded with a hesitant smile.

Under his orders, the chefs in the dining area on the first floor were wearing festive costumes and were serving Christmas special meals.

Not only that, but the No. 1 lecture hall was also emptied for a live-action "Star Wars" play.

Star Wars was basically American culture in a nutshell.

The script for this live-action play was adapted by the professors in the School of Social Sciences and the School of History. Therefore, it had a classic European historical influence.

However, Lu Zhou was more interested in the lecture hall than Star Wars.

Because it was in this lecture hall that he announced the Goldbach's proof to the mathematics world.

A year later, he was standing here again.

But he wasn't here as a report presenter, but rather a guest star on the live stage. He played the part of a soldier who was killed by a lightsaber; his only line was "Ah!".

And his "opponent" was Molina.

Lu Zhou highly suspected that this woman deliberately arranged the script to be this way so as to make it an opportunity for "revenge".

All of the actors were having a good time and so was the audience.

What was interesting was that the two mathematics professors sitting in the front row were having a serious discussion on the science behind Star Wars.

Professor Deligne stared at the dazzling "lightsaber" and said, "This is not realistic at all, they're clearly in the Space Age, but they're still using swords."

Professor Fefferman smiled as he retorted, "No one knows what physics is like outside of the solar system, we only know what it should look like."

Witten, who was a diehard Star Wars fan, would've loved to join in on the conversation.

However, at this moment, he was acting on stage.

After the live-action ended, people began to enjoy the festival in their own way.

For example, chess.

Or dancing to the music.

Regardless, everyone was exchanging Christmas presents.

"Oh, why is it a football again? I've already gotten five footballs," Hardy said while holding the football. He then asked, "Do you think that all Brazilians like football?"

Qin Yue smiled. "I don't know what else to give you."

"It's fine, I don't mind having another football, thank you for your gift," Hardy smiled, showing his bright teeth. He gave Qin Yue a nicely wrapped gift box and said, "This is my gift to you."

Qin Yue shook the box and couldn't guess what it is. He then asked, "What is this thing?"

Hardy smiled. "Table tennis ball."

Qin Yue: "…"

Hardy didn't care about Qin Yue's reaction. He had a box of chocolates in his hand as he looked around.

"Speaking of which, where is Vera? I haven't seen her."

Qin Yue sighed and said, "Did you forget? We planned on telling the professor about the thing."

Hardy was suddenly unhappy.

"Wait a minute, didn't we say we'd tell him together?"

Hardy was looking forward to Professor Lu's reaction. Now that his friend was the one giving the news, his victory was stolen.

Qin Yue suddenly looked a bit weird.

"… The situation has changed, I think it's best if Vera tells the professor herself."

Although Qin Yue was introverted, that didn't mean he wasn't observant. He could tell from how Vera looked at Professor Lu, and he knew that it wasn't just admiration.

"Oh, she's getting the entire spotlight then," Hardy complained. "We contributed as well, but how come she's the only one that'll get a compliment from the professor…"

Qin Yue: "…"

What the hell is a compliment?!

You're not in primary school anymore…

Qin Yue always knew that his friend was slightly brain-damaged, but now it seemed that it wasn't just his brain, his soul was also damaged.

Qin Yue coughed and explained it briefly.

"Ok, stop complaining, 70% of the work is done by her. I don't care if you like it or not, she has the right to do this."

Hardy looked dissatisfied.

"Do you support her?"

Qin Yue shrugged and said, "I always support Professor Lu."

While the two were talking, Lu Zhou, who finished his act on stage, walked out of the backstage room.

He bumped into Vera.

The little girl looked like she had something to say so Lu Zhou spoke first.

"Is there something you want to say?"

Vera nodded and said quietly, "Can… you come with me?"

Lu Zhou said, "Christmas present?"

Vera nervously nodded. "Yes!"

Lu Zhou looked at the nervous girl and smiled.

"Then please lead the way."

Lu Zhou followed Vera and walked down the corridor.

They walked for a while, and Lu Zhou couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What secret gift is this?"

Vera shook her head and didn't say anything.

Finally, the two arrived in an empty classroom.

Lu Zhou looked at the closed door and felt a bit strange.

"Can I go in?"

"Ok!"

Vera nodded.

Lu Zhou reached down for the doorknob.

However, the second he stepped into the classroom, he was shocked.

There were ten blackboards in front of him.

Lines upon lines of neatly written formula occupied the blackboard; its mathematical beauty attracted Lu Zhou's eyes.

Time slowly passed by.

The snow fluttered outside the windows, cruising in the cold, blistering wind.

It was like the white snow was landing on the blackboards.

Lu Zhou stared at the blackboards for more than half an hour.

He suddenly burst into a smile.

"Thank you.

"This is definitely the most… beautiful thing I've seen this year."

Chapter 388: Proof Of The Collatz Conjecture

When Vera heard Lu Zhou's praise, she smiled brightly.

This was undoubtedly the best compliment she had ever been given.

As she stood next to Lu Zhou, she said in a low voice, "Your guess is correct, Collatz conjecture is a number theory problem. It's also a complex analysis problem…"

In as early as 1994, L.Berg and G.Meinardus proved that the 3n+1 conjecture was equivalent to the function equation h(z3) = h(z^6)+{h(z2)+λh(λz2)+λ2h(λ2z2)}/3z (where λ=e^(2πi/3)). This could be expressed through the unit disc {z:|z|

In 1998, D.Schliecher used this foundation to prove that any integral function in the form of h(z) results in g(z) = z/2 + (1-cos(πz)(z+1/2)/2+1/π(1/2-cos(πz)sin(πz)+h(z)sin^2(πz)).

Vera used these two conclusions to construct a wonderful transcendental integral function. She proved that both g(z) and Φ(g) contained a positive integer, such that for branch D, there was z0∈D, by which {g^ok(z0)}∞/k=1 converged to 1.

The Collatz conjecture was established by inference!

"Excellent proof…" Lu Zhou smiled happily as he said from the bottom of his heart, "I'm amazed."

He met Vera in the summer of 2016; it was now the end of 2017.

Lu Zhou was happy to see his student's progress.

He was also happy to see that the Group Structure Method he used to solve the Goldbach's conjecture was applied by his own students.

He now knew exactly what kind of "joy" the high tech system was talking about.

"This is all thanks to your guidance," Vera said humbly. Her eyes were full of gratitude as she looked at her professor.

Although the proof process was completed by her, the proof idea was provided by Lu Zhou.

Ever since her in-progress report at Berkeley at the beginning of the year, she had been working with Hardy and Qin Yue on the final proof. All of this work was based on Lu Zhou's idea.

Vera was the one that completed most of the work. Therefore, she knew better than anyone how important Lu Zhou's proof idea was.

Lu Zhou smiled. "You don't have to be humble. I only suggested a direction, but you're the one that ran to the finish line."

Posting the thesis on arXiv could prevent someone else from posting a similar thesis first. However, this didn't matter too much. The Collatz conjecture was popular in the '80s and '90s, but these days, it wasn't a trending topic at all. The chance of a similar thesis was almost zero.

Of course, Lu Zhou made this suggestion with his own benefits in mind.

Using the inferences he made when he solved the Goldbach's conjecture, the system's deciding factor of when the mission was completed was when the thesis was released to the public.

If the thesis was posted on arXiv, then his mission would be completed.

When Vera heard Lu Zhou's advice, she nodded her head seriously.

"I understand, I'll do that right now."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Okay then, I'll help you erase the blackboards… Thank you for the gift."

The moment Vera heard Lu Zhou's praise, she smiled.

After a while, she suddenly lowered her head and blushed.

"Professor."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

She gave herself some courage and looked up at Lu Zhou.

"Can… I ask you for a wish?"

"I'm not Santa, I can't put your gifts in a sock next to your bedside table," Lu Zhou joked. He then paused for a second before adding, "But, as long as it's not a violation of any principles, I'll do anything to help you."

"I'm…"

Vera opened her small mouth.

However, she suddenly realized that her wish might cause trouble for him.

The words were at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say it out loud.

"I… want to do a PhD under you."

Lu Zhou smiled. "I welcome you! I'll be offended if you choose another supervisor."

Vera felt a little more comfortable and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

She was disappointed at herself for not having enough courage.

However, she had gained a lot of courage over the past two years…

But, it still wasn't enough.

…

Lu Zhou spent the day hanging around the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. He then returned to his home while carrying all of the gifts from his colleagues and students.

The gifts weren't extravagant; they were less than US$30. However, they were meaningful.

As for his gifts to his students, he gave them the pens that he had collected at conferences from all over the world.

The gifts weren't expensive, but they were memorable.

Lu Zhou put the gifts away and sat on the sofa by the fireplace. He then closed his eyes and went into the system space.

As he walked in front of the translucent holographic panel, he suddenly saw two lines of text floating in front of him.

[A. "Research on the even coherent state of a q-distorted harmonic oscillator in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space."

Student: Wei Wen.

Student engagement: 25%.

Type of experience: Mathematics, Physics. ]

[B. Collatz conjecture.

Student: Vera, Hardy, Qin Yue.

Student engagement: 70%.

Type of experience: Mathematics.]

Before Lu Zhou got home, Vera already uploaded the thesis to arXiv and satisfied the system's mission conditions. Therefore, the Collatz conjecture was posted on the mission panel.

Lu Zhou didn't know how the system determined whether a person was his student, but the system was quite accurate.

Not just that, but the system could even calculate the proportion of the student's work participation.

"Is this a multiple-choice question?"

Lu Zhou looked at the two options on the screen and crossed his arms.

According to the system mission description, he could choose one thesis as a mission submission.

The total amount of subject experience reward was based on the academic value of the thesis multiplied by the coefficient of the student's participation in the thesis.

It was obvious that the system wanted him to nurture genius students who could do their own research. Therefore, the system required him to avoid direct participation in the thesis.

Actually, Lu Zhou had been trying to be more "hands-off".

However, even with his hands-off attempts, the system rated his contribution as 30%.

Because in the beginning, he developed a clear research direction for them and developed a framework for the entire research project.

His students followed his research direction and completed the proof.

Lu Zhou thought that the system would allow this, but now it seemed that he was too optimistic.

"It really doesn't want me to help at all."

Lu Zhou looked at the translucent screen and shook his head.

When he reached out and selected "B", a pop-up came out. He then selected "Confirm".

After that, a wave of blue light swept through the information screen, and a line of text appeared.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Chapter 389: Probability

[Congratulations, user, for mission completion!

[Mission completion details are as follows: Guide students to complete the "Collatz conjecture".

Students: Vera, Qin Yue, Hardy. Student engagement: 70%. Type of experience: Mathematics.

[Mission final evaluation: S+

[Mission reward: 140,000 mathematics experience points. 500 general points. One chance of a lucky draw. (50% garbage, 25% sample, 15% blueprint, 10% special)]

The academic value of the Collatz conjecture was actually lowered than the twin prime conjecture.

However, the Collatz conjecture was a lot more difficult to solve than the twin prime conjecture.

Of course, that was before the "Group Structure Method" was invented.

When Lu Zhou was studying the twin prime conjecture, he used a topology large sieve method. He developed the Group Structure Method when he was studying the Polignac's conjecture.

The Group Structure Method theory was already perfected by the time Vera started solving the Collatz conjecture.

Therefore, the difficulty of the Collatz conjecture greatly decreased.

After a mathematical tool was created, using the tool to solve problems was a piece of cake.

Therefore, more and more people would have mastered the Group Structure Method. If Vera didn't solve the Collatz conjecture, it was only a matter of time until someone else did.

Of course, it still wasn't an easy tool to master.

It was better than what 99.99% of people could do.

Lu Zhou looked at the experience reward and opened his translucent information screen.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A light blue light swept across the screen, and his characteristic panel emerged.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 6 (144,000/600,000)

B. Physics: Level 4 (33,215/200,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (24,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 4 (13,000/200,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 (0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 3,475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

140,000 experience points sounded like a lot, but it wasn't that much compared to the 600,000 mathematics level up requirement.

Leveling past Level 6 had gotten extremely difficult, and solving the Millennium Prize Problems might be the only way for Lu Zhou to get to Level 7.

As for beyond Level 7…

Lu Zhou's only hope right now was that the experience points required wouldn't be too ridiculous.

Lu Zhou closed the characteristic panel and looked at the lottery button.

Next up was the fun and exciting lucky draw.

However, the system would probably screw him over and give him some strange item…

Lu Zhou looked at the spinning wheel and pressed the lucky draw button.

If he had a low expectation when he received a can of coke, it wouldn't be as unacceptable?

The roulette wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou waited for ten seconds or so before he pressed the stop button.

[Congratulations, user, for winning the "special" prize!]

Lu Zhou's eyebrows raised when he saw this line of text.

The f*ck?

It's only a 10% probability, and I got it?

However, Lu Zhou wasn't immediately ecstatic because of the special prize. Instead, his heart was beating through his chest, and he began to say in his heart.

Please don't be "Patronage Appreciated", please don't be "Patronage Appreciated"…

[Receive: Inspiration time (Duration of 72 hours. Cannot be paused.)]

Lu Zhou calmed down.

There was a flash of happiness in his eyes.

The f*ck?

This thing is legendary!

Lu Zhou had used "inspiration time" before; he was well aware of how wonderful it was to enter the inspiration state and how magical the inspiration was for a scholar.

If he had a difficult problem to solve right now, he would begin the inspiration time immediately and enter into the wonderful world.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and prepared himself.

The lucky draw was over, and the next thing was the mission selection.

Because he received an S+ rating, the next mission was a reward mission. Therefore, it was something he could look forward to.

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the mission panel.

[

The reward mission is activated! (Give up at any time without spending general points)]

Description: Learning is an individual's responsibility. Science is a community's responsibility. Integrating science into civilization is society's responsibility. While receiving recognition in the academic community, the user should also try to spread its influence beyond the academic world.

Requirements: Obtain an honor issued by a national agency.

Reward: 1-??? Free experience points. One lucky draw ticket (???).

]

Lu Zhou looked at the mission and was stunned. He then smiled and shook his head.

This mission really is a reward mission…

The National Science and Technology Award Conference is on January 8th.

This mission was basically tailored for him.

…

After Lu Zhou received the mission, he exited the system space, and his consciousness returned to the warm fireplace.

He was about to go to sleep when he suddenly noticed that his phone had seven missed calls.

"Hello?"

"Little Brother… Are you busy?"

Lu Zhou didn't know why, but he felt like there was a little resentment behind "Little Brother".

Lu Zhou didn't want to argue about his nickname, so he coughed and explained, "I was at a Christmas party just now, and I just got home. Sorry, I didn't see your calls."

Chen Yushan asked, "Were you on a date?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

She must be doing this intentionally?

Has to be…

Chen Yushan gloated and chuckled. She then diverted the conversation by asking, "Then, Little Brother, are you going back for Chinese New Year?"

"You're… going back?"

"Yeah, I finally get to have a holiday, I'm definitely going back!"

Lu Zhou was surprised. "Your supervisor didn't ask you to work during the holidays?"

Lu Zhou remembered Chen Yushan complaining about her supervisor and saying how her supervisor used her as free labor.

It seems like… pigs are starting to fly?

When Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's surprised tone, she said smugly, "This is what you don't understand. My supervisor respects me now; she even let me put my name on a thesis… Of course, I was the one that wrote the thesis."

When Lu Zhou heard that his friend was finally free from the evil supervisor, he was sincerely happy for her.

Other than Luo Wenxuan, she was his only real friend in America.

Chen Yushan said, "Ah, let's talk about something else. The reason why I called you earlier was to ask if you've bought the plane ticket yet?"

Lu Zhou: "I bought it ages ago."

Chen Yushan: "Which day are you flying?"

Lu Zhou said, "Let me see."

Lu Zhou pulled out an email from the airline and read the flight information.

"AC75… Philadelphia International Airport, flying on the 28th."

When Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's flight number, her pair of beautiful eyes instantly lit up.

"What a coincidence! I'm also on this flight! 9 a.m.?"

Really?

Lu Zhou was astonished at the possibility of this low probability event happening.

"Then… let's go together?"

When Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's invitation, she replied happily, "Yes, yes! It's a deal then, don't back out!"

Lu Zhou said, "What do you mean back out?"

Our flights are in a couple of days… Who would change their flights last minute…

Lu Zhou wouldn't change his itinerary even if there were an emergency.

"Who knows? Anyway, it's a deal; I'll see you at the airport!"

Chapter 390: Plans Before China

Lu Zhou's flight to China was after Christmas.

He had three days before his flight, and he planned to run some errands. This was to prevent him from being swamped when he returned back to Princeton after the break.

The first matter he had to deal with was the "existence of a smooth solution to three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation" research project.

Other than the plasma turbulence phenomenon, this was Lu Zhou's most important research project.

There had only been one discussion meeting ever since the "NS research project group" was established.

The next day, Lu Zhou went to Nassau Hall to hand in his holiday application. He then went to the Department of Mathematics building at Princeton University where he found Professor Fefferman's office.

When he arrived, Professor Fefferman was talking about next month's American Mathematical Society Conference with his students.

When Professor Fefferman saw Lu Zhou holding a holiday application in his hand, he smiled.

"You plan on returning to China?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, instead of Christmas, Chinese New Year is my real holiday. I'll probably come back around mid-February."

Professor Fefferman nodded and casually said, "You really do need a break to relax. Very few scholars work themselves to the bone in so many research projects in such a short amount of time."

"Working to the bone?" Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't feel that way at all. After all, research is a fun and interesting thing."

"I thought the same when I was young," Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "but I found out that no matter how interesting the mathematics problem is, moderation is key."

Lu Zhou said, "… That's because you've already received all of the honors you could possibly get."

Earlier this year, the Wolf Prize Foundation announced the winner's list, and the most important award was given to Professor Fefferman.

The Wolf Prize was regarded as the ultimate mathematics award. It was mainly given to mathematicians over 40 years old for their long-standing contribution to the mathematics community.

Fefferman was the youngest person ever to receive the Fields Medal, and now, he had the ultimate mature mathematician award. There wasn't another mathematics award he could aim for.

"What do you mean? No amount of awards is enough, plus I'm still missing an Abel Prize," Professor Fefferman said. He then smiled as he continued, "In short, go enjoy your life. I won't send you any emails until February."

Lu Zhou asked, "What about the Navier–Stokes equation?"

Professor Fefferman said, "We'll talk about that in a month."

When Lu Zhou saw that Fefferman didn't budge, he shrugged.

"Okay, if you insist."

…

Other than Professor Fefferman and Lu Zhou's collaboration project, Lu Zhou's Collatz conjecture project also came to an end.

Perhaps it was because of Lu Zhou's influence or because of the Collatz conjecture's popularity, the thesis on arXiv attracted a lot of attention.

Many people referred to the Collatz conjecture as another "victory application" of the Group Structure Method.

What surprised people the most was that instead of Lu Zhou, it was his students who applied the method.

It was the morning of the 27th, one day until Lu Zhou's flight.

Lu Zhou sat in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study while he read Vera's thesis.

Although he had read the entire proof process, as their supervisor, Lu Zhou still had to review every single detail before they could officially submit the thesis.

Also, he had to determine the thesis authors.

Normally, the names of the three students would be listed according to their respective contributions.

As for Lu Zhou, he would be the fourth and corresponding thesis author.

Of course, as their supervisor, he had the right to claim the results as his own. However, he would never compromise his integrity like this.

Normally, a supervisor wouldn't be willing to give the thesis results to their students, but Lu Zhou didn't care.

The Collatz conjecture wasn't worth anything to Lu Zhou.

Even if Lu Zhou claimed it, it would only be the icing on the cake.

In addition to the author list, this type of collaborative theses would also indicate exactly what each author did. Most research institutes cared about this part more than the author ranking order.

However, Lu Zhou noticed that Vera didn't list out each author's contributions. Instead, she wrote, "These authors contributed equally to this work" and left the section at that.

Adding this sentence to the thesis meant that every author contributed equally and everyone was integral to the thesis.

This also meant that all of the authors in the thesis would be considered equally ranked.

"Is it fine?" Lu Zhou read the thesis in its entirety before he looked at Vera and said, "This isn't fair for you."

Although Lu Zhou hadn't directly participated in the project, he had been keeping up with the progress of the project.

For example, he would have a weekly discussion meeting whenever he was at Princeton, and he would carefully read the in-progress reports.

It was no exaggeration to say that Vera was responsible for 70% of the research project, while Hardy and Qin Yue was only responsible for the remaining 30%.

Vera shook her head. "I just like to research these problems. As for who contributed more… I don't think it matters."

"If you really think that way, then I'll respect your decision." Lu Zhou didn't try to persuade her.

Qin Yue put in a lot of effort; Hardy, not so much. However, Vera was willing to give them equal amounts of credit, and so, Lu Zhou didn't pursue the matter.

At most, Lu Zhou felt a little pity for Vera.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and placed the thesis on the table as he continued to speak to Vera.

"According to the original agreement, I will help you guys apply for graduation. You'll receive the diploma in three to four months. If you plan on studying a PhD under me, it's best to apply as soon as possible so that I can accept your application."

Lu Zhou was well aware of his student's abilities; interviewing them would be a piece of cake.

Vera nodded seriously.

"Okay, I understand!"

Chapter 391: Back To China

By the time Lu Zhou finished his errands at Princeton, it was already the 28th.

Lu Zhou gave himself and his students a month-long vacation and asked Jerick to drive him to Philadelphia Airport.

On the way to the airport, Lu Zhou was scrolling through his Weibo when he suddenly received a phone call from Yang Xu.

"Boss, you're coming back to China today?"

After seeing his friends' news feed, Yang Xu had immediately called Lu Zhou to ask about it.

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, I'm on the way to Philadelphia Airport."

Yang Xu said, "I'll pick you up at the airport tomorrow, when do you land?"

Lu Zhou said, "No need, I'm flying directly to Beijing this time. I'll come to Jinling in mid-January."

"Beijing?" Yang Xu suddenly realized something, and he smiled as he said, "Is it…"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, the conference on the 8th."

"Nutty! Did you win some kind of award?" Yang Xu asked.

He couldn't help but envy Lu Zhou.

The conference on the 8th was obviously the State Science and Technology Awarding Meeting of the People's Republic of China.

He wouldn't be able to win the Highest Science and Technology Award, but he might win the State Technological Invention Award or the State Natural Science Award.

Each of the five state awards was legendary; any research institute would welcome a state award winner with both arms open.

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "No one has told me what the prize is. I don't know yet, but I'll know when I get there."

"Boss, you're going to a prize ceremony! Don't forget about me in the future," Yang Xu joked. He then said, "I'll ask on behalf of our research institute; is there going to be a year-end bonus for us?"

Lu Zhou said, "Of course there is."

"How much?"

"You'll know when I get there!"

Once Jerick dropped Lu Zhou off at the airport, Lu Zhou then walked into the terminal with his suitcase.

He and Chen Yushan had made plans to meet up through WeChat messages.

Lu Zhou walked inside the airport and instantly recognized a familiar person.

Her rimless glasses perched on her delicate nose and her smooth black hair brushed against her coat. She was wearing a black cotton skirt and pantyhose as well as a pair of brown boots that made her looked both fashionable and youthful.

It was almost like Chen Yushan could tell Lu Zhou was nearby. The moment she looked around, she made eye contact with Lu Zhou.

Her eyes lit up, and she began to wave at him before she dragged her suitcase over to meet him.

As Chen Yushan stood next to Lu Zhou, she patted her chest and sighed in relief.

"You scared me; I thought you were going to ditch me again."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why do you make it sound like I always ditched you?"

Chen Yushan stared at Lu Zhou with a pair of bright beautiful eyes.

"Haven't you?"

Emm…

I think…

I haven't, right?

Lu Zhou had ditched people too many times. Even though he couldn't remember ditching Chen Yushan, he wasn't so sure anymore…

…

There wasn't much time left, so Chen Yushan and Lu Zhou quickly went to get their boarding passes.

Lu Zhou thought that Chen Yushan would be flying first class; he didn't expect her to be in business class as well. They then chose to sit together for the flight.

Even though her family was wealthy, it didn't seem like she was reckless with money.

As for why Lu Zhou didn't buy a first-class ticket…

It wasn't because he didn't want to spend the money. He just didn't care. Unless someone else bought the ticket for him, he would stick to business class.

The pair got their boarding passes and went through the security check. They then walked at a brisk pace through the terminal and successfully boarded the plane.

Lu Zhou sat in the middle seat while Chen Yushan sat by the window.

He was about to close his eyes and nap for a while when a man, who was holding a briefcase, sat down next to him while he continued to talk on the phone.

The man was talking loudly, and people began to look at him.

However, the man wasn't aware, and he kept blabbering.

A flight attendant came over.

"Sir, the plane is about to take off, please turn off your phone."

The middle-aged man frowned and looked dissatisfied. However, he still followed the order.

Lu Zhou was watching this unfold from the side. He then sighed in his heart.

He was going to have a bad time with a person like this sitting next to him.

The man who had just turned his phone off looked bored, and he looked around to find someone to talk to. Suddenly, he noticed Lu Zhou, who was sitting next to him, and he asked, "Bro, what do you do for a living?"

"Mathematics."

"Oh, mathematics teacher? Middle school or high school?"

"University."

The middle-aged man was stunned, and he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

"You're teaching college students? I don't believe it."

Lu Zhou didn't bother arguing with him.

The middle-aged man wasn't happy with being ignored. He then looked around, and soon, he noticed Lu Zhou's watch.

"Bro, what brand is your watch?"

Lu Zhou said, "I don't know, someone gave it to me and didn't tell me the brand."

Middle-aged man: "The friend that bought you the watch must've bought a replica, right?"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Is this guy retarded?

When Lu Zhou didn't answer him, the middle-aged man laughed and said, "Look at the color, it's obviously not pure silver."

Lu Zhou wanted to ignore him, but he was suddenly interested in something. He then looked at the man and asked, "You can tell?"

The man laughed and said, "Of course! I've been doing sales for many years, so I can tell."

"Then guess who gave this watch to me."

"How am I supposed to guess that? Why don't you just tell me?"

"The American Chemical Society."

The man looked at Lu Zhou like he was crazy.

"Bro, at least make your lies realistic. You said you do mathematics, but now you're a chemist. Why don't you say the United Nations gave it to you?"

Lu Zhou chuckled. "Mathematicians can also study chemistry."

The man laughed. "Stop bragging! Do you think I haven't been to university? Okay then, since this watch is from the American Chemical Society, then tell me… Why did they give this watch to you?"

"Because of the Adams Chemistry Prize?"

"Haha, bro, you're being ridiculous!" The man laughed and said, "Come, tell me, when did you win the Adams Chemistry Prize, I'll search it up on Google."

Lu Zhou chuckled. "It was around April this year."

The man turned on his phone and started to google it. He was ready to expose Lu Zhou's lies.

However, the search results weren't what he expected, and he started to look confused.

He clicked on a news article and found a photo.

The man looked at the photo. He then looked at Lu Zhou, and it was like he just saw a ghost.

The f*ck?

This… This is real?!

Lu Zhou smiled and ignored him. He then closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

The flight attendant noticed the phone and walked over again.

However, this time she gave a warning.

"Sir, please turn off your phone. If you insist on disturbing the plane's operations, we will have to ask you to leave the plane. Sir? Can you hear me?"

Obviously, the man could hear her, but he was too shocked to reply.

When Chen Yushan saw the man's face, she couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

Her stomach began to hurt from the laughing…

Chapter 392: What Is With You Two?

An announcement was made through the plane speakers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to arrive at Beijing International Airport. Please return to your seat and fasten your seat belt. Please put away your table trays. The outside temperature is 2 degrees Celsius. Thank you for flying with us. We wish you a pleasant journey!"

After more than ten hours of flying, the plane finally landed on the runway of Beijing International Airport.

The man sitting next to Lu Zhou got up and walked away quickly.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

He didn't know how the middle-aged man who was working in "sales" didn't go bankrupt.

"Let's go."

"Yes."

The pair followed the other passengers as they walked toward the exit.

However, the people in front of them were moving slowly.

Lu Zhou finally got to the door. However, just as he was about to walk down the airstair, he was stunned by what he saw.

There was a group of people standing in suits waiting for him at the bottom of the airstair.

Although Lu Zhou knew that someone would pick him up at the airport, he didn't expect so many people to be here…

Chen Yushan, who was standing next to him, was also stunned.

However, the reason why she was stunned was different from Lu Zhou's reason.

She didn't expect that her father, who claimed to be too busy to pick her up from the airport, was standing less than ten meters away from her.

The father and daughter locked eyes silently…

Academician Xiang Huanan watched as Lu Zhou walked down the airstair. He then reached out his right hand enthusiastically.

"Professor Lu, long time no see!"

Lu Zhou looked at the old man in surprise.

"Academician Xiang?"

"Haha, it seems that you still remember me."

"How could I forget you?" Lu Zhou smiled and shook the old man's hand as he asked, "How are you doing?"

"Good!" Academician Xiang Huanan said with a hearty smile. He then continued, "I heard you won the Hoffman Prize in Germany. Your achievements have brought honor to the Chinese academic community on the international stage!"

Lu Zhou replied humbly, "That's just publicity, don't need to talk about it."

Academician Xiang waved his hand and said, "Don't need to be humble. The Chinese Academy of Science specifically held a meeting for your 'Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure', and several old professors at the Institute of Chemistry had looked at your model. They think that it will make an impact on polymer materials!"

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, another old man smiled at him.

"Professor Lu, welcome home!"

Lu Zhou had never seen this man before, and so, he asked, "You are?"

Academician Xiang smiled and said, "This is the leader of the Ministry of Talents, Ma Gaoyang."

Ministry of Talents?

Lu Zhou didn't really know what this ministry was for, neither did he know the ranking of the ministry. However, he vaguely remembered that the "Thousand People Initiative" was led by them…

In short, their ranking was high.

"What leader…" Ma Gaoyang waved his hand and smiled at Lu Zhou as he said, "If you don't mind, just call me Mr. Ma."

Lu Zhou went with the flow and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ma."

Ma Gaoyang nodded. "You must be tired after the long flight; we can talk more in the car."

While Lu Zhou was talking with the academician and Ma Gaoyang, the people getting out of the plane began talking among themselves.

"Who's that?"

"I think it's that mathematics professor."

"Mathematics professor? What kind of mathematics professor would be this famous? It's not like he's an actor."

Suddenly, someone couldn't help but say, "He's not a normal mathematics professor, and he's way nuttier than some actors."

"Who is that?"

"Lu Zhou."

"Lu Zhou? Who the hell is that?"

"The person that solved Goldbach's conjecture, Professor Lu!"

Most people didn't know about the Hoffman Prize and Crafoord Prize, nor did they pay attention to the latest academic community news…

But when it came to the Goldbach's conjecture…

Even primary school students were familiar with the conjecture.

"Fuck me?! That's him?!"

…

Lu Zhou began chatting with Xiang Huanan in the car.

"What have you been researching lately?"

"Navier–Stokes equation."

"Navier–Stokes equation?" Amazed, Academician Xiang looked at him and asked, "Is it the Millennium Prize Problems from the Clay Institute?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded.

"… You young people really are energetic," Academician Xiang Huanan said with a smile. He then added, "It would be meritorious if you could solve the problem."

Academician Xiang paused for a second before he continued, "I know a bit about number theory, but the partial differential equations are far beyond my scope of research. I don't have much to talk to you about. However, there are many doctoral holders at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who are doing research in this area. Are you interested in talking to them?"

"Now?"

Although Lu Zhou was interested, he needed to rest.

"Of course not now." Academician Xiang smiled and said, "I'll take you to your hotel first! You were just on a long a*s flight, you have to rest for a few days."

On another car.

The father and daughter looked at each other for a long time and didn't speak.

At last, it was Chen Yushan who broke the silence.

"Dad."

"Yes."

"Didn't you tell me… that you had a meeting today?"

Chen Baohua coughed and said, "The company told me I had to come in, and I was only notified of what I would be doing during the meeting at noon."

Chen Yushan: "…"

Chen Baohua then asked in a fatherly concern, "You know him?"

Although Chen Yushan wasn't happy with her father's tone, she still answered truthfully.

"Yes."

Chen Baohua asked in a stern voice, "How do you know him?"

Chen Yushan replied carefully, "From school."

Chen Baohua then asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Chen Yushan didn't know what to say, and so, she said, "Dad, you didn't ask me… You can't expect me to tell you everything about everyone I know."

Chen Baohua realized his stupid question and awkwardly tried to change the topic of conversation.

"Do you know what he does?"

"Professor of mathematics at Princeton… Dad, did he break the law?" Chen Yushan asked in a nervous tone.

She hadn't seen Lu Zhou once ever since she stepped foot into the car.

Honestly, Chen Yushan was worried, but she couldn't find a good opportunity to ask.

"Of course not," Chen Baohua coughed and said, "it wouldn't be us picking him up then."

Chen Yushan relaxed.

Thank god he didn't break the law.

Chen Baohua didn't want to let his daughter off the hook just yet. He asked in a serious tone, "What's with you two?"

Chen Yushan replied, "We were classmates…"

Chen Baohua: "…"

Chapter 393: Special Treatmen

Lu Zhou thought that he wouldn't have a place to stay in Beijing since he didn't have many relatives or friends here. However, what he didn't know was that everything has already been arranged for him.

Their destination was an elegant small hotel surrounded by a small man-made lake. There was nothing extravagant about the hotel's decor itself, but the hotel was located next to Old Summer Palace, making it extra special.

However, Lu Zhou felt like this place should be a retirement home.

The old people could look at the plants and rocks near the lake or listen to the water flowing. It would be as if time was slowing down.

Ma Gaoyang took Lu Zhou to his room and asked, "What do you think, Professor Lu, is this place good?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied politely, "It's very nice… You're too kind."

Ma Gaoyang smiled. "Of course! Given that you're our national treasure, this is the least we can do! If there are any issues, you can contact the manager here, and he'll forward the issue to me."

The lobby manager who was behind Ma Gaoyang smiled.

"If you need anything, Professor Lu, just ask me."

Lu Zhou smiled. "Thanks."

Normally, a national treasure wouldn't enjoy such treatment or be personally escorted by the head of the Ministry of Talent. However, Lu Zhou was no ordinary national treasure. He was the catalyst for the government's energy initiative!

If it wasn't for his modified PDMS material and HCS-2 material, it would be a lot more difficult for the Chinese government to achieve an energy density of 350Wh/kg by 2020.

If Lu Zhou merely solved the Goldbach's Conjecture and won the Crafoord Prize, then he wouldn't receive this kind of treatment.

But the situation now was that he had also solved the lithium-sulfur battery problem…

Therefore, he received the highest level of special treatment.

Lu Zhou ate dinner at the hotel. Although the food was nothing fancy, it was still quite healthy and delicious.

Lu Zhou thought that Director Ma would talk to him about attracting outside talent. After all, that was Director Ma's job.

Lu Zhou didn't expect to only talk about interesting international news stories. After their dinner, Director Ma said goodbye and left.

Since Lu Zhou had nothing else to do, he walked along the man-made lake behind the hotel.

To be honest, living here was comfortable.

In comparison, Princeton was like a monastery; researching there was like practicing spirituality.

Actually, although Director Ma didn't say anything when he left, Lu Zhou could tell that the old man wanted him to "stay" here.

Whether it was due to orders from the higher-ups or purely out of Director Ma's own heart, Lu Zhou could tell Director Ma was treating him nicely.

However, now was not the time.

Lu Zhou wasn't materialistic, but he still hoped and craved for something more.

It was getting late, so Lu Zhou cast one last look at the lake before he walked back to his room.

When it was eight o'clock at night, Lu Zhou unpacked his luggage before he gave his family a call.

The call connected almost immediately.

Lu Zhou: "Dad, what are you up to?"

Old Lu: "I'm watching TV with your mom. Does this phone number mean that you're back in China?"

Lu Zhou had two phone numbers; a Chinese one and an American one.

Lu Bangguo immediately knew that his son was back in China.

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah, I'm in Beijing right now."

"Beijing? Why are you in Beijing?"

It was his mom who spoke this time. It seemed like they were on speaker.

Lu Zhou smiled as he explained, "I have a meeting in Beijing, so I might stay here for a while. I'll come back to Jiangling at the end of January… How are you guys?"

Old Lu smiled. "Good, how are you? Are you exercising?"

"I'm in good shape; I've been running at night. Oh yeah, Dad…"

"What's up?"

Lu Zhou hesitated for a second before he said, "How about… you retire now? I've made a lot of money."

"Don't give me that," Old Lu said as he interrupted his son. He then continued, "Why would I retire? So that I can become a farmer? I know you're earning big American dollars, but just live your own life, you don't have to worry about me!"

Fang Mei said, "Yeah, don't worry about us. Your dad might as well be considered to have retired since his job is nothing demanding. But I'd still prefer to have him go to work than be bored at home. Otherwise, he'd be running around with a fishing pole all day."

Old Lu wasn't happy, and he retorted, "What do you mean I'm basically retired? The boss moved me from the front line to the second line! Although my job is easier now, I'm still contributing. I'm only giving the young people an opportunity."

Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, right. What kind of young person would want to work at your factory? They should just shut it down and save the taxpayers' money. Ever since you were transferred from the technical department to the logistics department, all you've been doing all day is drinking tea and eating sunflower seeds. Look at how much weight you've gained."

Lu Zhou could imagine the sight of his parents arguing, and he couldn't help but smirk.

Being in good shape was the most important thing.

Lu Zhou was relieved to hear that they were healthy.

Lu Zhou chatted with his parents for a while before he ended the call.

As he laid on his soft bed, he yawned and was about to go to sleep.

However, the phone in his hand suddenly flashed. A line of text popped up.

Xiao Ai: [Master, what is a parent? :^) ]

Lu Zhou looked at the line of text and paused for a second.

It was such an obvious question.

However, he quickly realized that there was no easy answer to this question.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he typed.

[Parents, the people that created you.]

Xiao Ai: [Then, master, do I have parents? (๑•.•๑)]

Lu Zhou looked at the line of text and went silent. After a while, he sighed softly.

[I think you do?]

Xiao Ai: [What a cursory answer.]

Is this…

Artificial retard becoming smarter?

Lu Zhou recalled that he had never talked about such a deep topic with Xiao Ai.

The relationship between AI and ethics was a very profound proposition. Lu Zhou wasn't well versed in the social sciences and couldn't think of an answer.

However, Lu Zhou was curious about something else.

Xiao Ai's parents… Do they exist in this universe?

Maybe one day, he would meet Xiao Ai's parents… or rather, its creator…

Lu Zhou couldn't imagine what that would be like, but he felt like that day would soon come.

While he was thinking about this problem, his phone flashed again.

It was another notification from Xiao Ai.

[Master, you have mail!]

Artificial retard is back.

Lu Zhou looked at the notification. Using a finger, he swiped across his screen and opened the email.

The mail was from Connie.

A few months ago, Lu Zhou sent him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a visiting scholar to study the topic of superconducting nanomaterials with Professor Herrero.

It's been a while. Lu Zhou wondered how Connie was doing.

He opened the email and read it.

Then…

Lu Zhou froze.

There was only a short line of text that ended with three exclamation marks.

[We did it!!!]

Chapter 394: Poaching

Lu Zhou turned off his phone and immediately got out of bed. He sent a video call request to Connie, who was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Although Lu Zhou could probably guess what Connie was talking about, he still wanted to confirm it.

"What did you guys do?"

"Your guess was correct! After countless experiments, we have successfully discovered that the twisted double-layer graphene can achieve superconductivity under 1.7 kelvin. This is amazing!" Connie said in an astonished tone, "Professor, you're a god!"

Connie started to think in his mind.

Maybe…

This is the so-called "scientific research intuition" that nutty people have?

Lu Zhou stared at Connie's look of worship through his phone screen as he said, "I just made a random guess; it wasn't based on science."

Connie shook his head and said, "No, Professor Lu, science isn't needed for intuition. Some people can communicate with the heavens, and this doesn't even require science."

He paused for a second before he continued, "We will publish the thesis in Nature. Professor Herrero said that he will send you an email tomorrow to inform you. As for what's happening right now, we're about to get wasted at a bar. Unfortunately, you're not here, so I'll have to drink your portion of the drinks."

Lu Zhou said, "Have a great time."

"Of course!" Connie smiled and said, "We've been working throughout Christmas! We spent the entire Christmas holiday inside the laboratory! Thank God, it's finally done!"

This research was a collaborative study between the Sarrot Institute and the Pablo Jarillo Herrero research group. The Jinling Institute of Computational Materials also took part in the research and helped with many issues; this was why the thesis was completed so quickly.

Although this thesis alone wouldn't create any patents, Lu Zhou was still very excited to hear this news.

Confirmation of a superconducting carbon nanomaterial could provide a new research path for superconducting materials.

Also, carbon nanomaterials had great plasticity and strain properties compared to alloy and metal compound materials. This meant there would be even more research paths available for superconducting materials.

This was a small step toward "room temperature superconductivity" as well as a small step toward controllable nuclear fusion…

…

A night of rest later…

The next day, Lu Zhou slept until nine in the morning.

Once he finished washing his face, he went down to the hotel restaurant and ordered a bowl of rice noodles. While eating, he was thinking about his plans for today when a beautiful waitress came over.

"Mr. Lu, someone is here for you."

"Who?"

"He didn't reveal his identity. He only said he was sent by Director Ma. I told him to wait for you at the hotel lobby. If you want, I can ask him to come over."

"No need," Lu Zhou said. He then put down his spoon and stood up before he continued, "I plan on going out anyway. I'll head over there myself."

The waitress then replied politely, "Okay, Mr. Lu."

The hotel had every facility Lu Zhou could hope for; it was like a high-end sanatorium.

However, for Lu Zhou who had to stay here until the 8th, it did not take him long before he started to get bored.

Since Shuimu and Yan University were close by, he felt that it would be a shame not to drop by for a visit.

Lu Zhou met up with the person who claimed to have been sent by Director Ma.

Lu Zhou instantly felt a special vibe coming from the man.

He couldn't describe what the vibe was, but the man looked like an undercover cop from the movies, or at least someone with a military background.

When the man saw Lu Zhou, he stood up from the sofa and reached out his hand as he said, "Hello, Professor Lu, I am Wang Peng, the driver of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China. If you need to go anywhere, feel free to ask me."

They are giving me a personal driver?

Is this necessary?

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and shook his hand.

"Thank you in advance, Brother Wang."

Wang Peng immediately said, "Don't call me Brother Wang. Otherwise, the leadership team will tell me off. Just call me Xiao Wang."

"How can that be? You're clearly older than me! In that case, I'll just call you Mr. Wang…" Lu Zhou said. He then went silent for a while before he coughed and said, "I'll listen to you then."

Wang Peng sighed in relief and said, "Thank you for cooperating with me. Are you going out now?"

Lu Zhou said, "I'm just going for a walk nearby."

"Okay, this is my contact number. If you need to be picked up or dropped off, or if you run into any trouble, you can contact me," Wang Peng said while handing over a business card from his pocket.

There was no name on the business card. There was only a phone number written on it.

Lu Zhou looked at him and asked, "Do you know mathematics?"

Wang Peng was stunned. He then coughed awkwardly and said, "This… isn't within my scope of abilities. I apologize, but my abilities are limited…"

…

Lu Zhou walked out of the hotel and walked around using the map on his phone.

Soon after, he was at the campus of Shuimu University.

Due to the New Year's holiday, as one of the sacred academic places in the capital of the country, Shuimu University's school gate was surrounded by many tourists.

Lu Zhou didn't know if someone made arrangements beforehand because the guard seemed to have recognized him.

People without a campus ID were forbidden from entering. However, when Lu Zhou walked over, they let him go without any issues.

Lu Zhou walked along the asphalt road covered with green trees on the side while he thought about where he should visit first. He decided to visit the Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Center.

Old Qiu had always been a patriot. While he was a tenured professor of mathematics at Harvard University, he was also the director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the director of the Mathematical Sciences Center of Qiu Chengtong at Shuimu University and XiangJiang University.

The old man once said that he would use Harvard University's teaching philosophy to create a mathematics center in Asia. Although there was still a long way to go, Old Qiu's experience from working at Harvard was apparent.

Although Old Qiu wasn't in Beijing, Lu Zhou still wanted to visit the center.

If Lu Zhou wanted to use the experience he gained from Princeton to build a Chinese version of Princeton, then he had much to learn from the elders.

When Lu Zhou saw a tall guy walking by, he asked, "Bro, where is the Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Center?"

The tall guy looked at Lu Zhou and felt that Lu Zhou looked familiar.

"It's near the spring gardens, you can ride a bicycle all the way to the south. You'll see it around there."

Lu Zhou replied, "Oh, thank you."

The tall guy then said, "You're welcome, but are you a new student?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "No, I'm just here to visit… What do you do?"

The tall guy with glasses said, "Me? I'm doing a post-doc in materials research."

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Yeah? What field?"

"Carbon nanomaterials and polymers…" The tall guy suddenly looked at Lu Zhou suspiciously and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to…" Lu Zhou said, "ask you about someone."

The tall guy asked, "Who?"

Lu Zhou said, "Professor Sun Hongbiao."

Sun Hongbiao was the only polymer materials professor that Lu Zhou knew at Shuimu University.

Lu Zhou had a deep impression of him.

"Professor Sun?" The tall guy was stunned. He then said, "My supervisor! Wait a minute, didn't you want to go to the Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Center? Who are you?"

Lu Zhou coughed and reached out his hand as he said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Lu Zhou."

"Lu Zhou… F*ck?! Lu Zhou! You're really Lu Zhou?" Lou Fan finally realized why Lu Zhou looked so familiar.

"That's right." Lu Zhou coughed. He wanted to make a sneaky offer, and so, he said, "Bro, are you interested in working at Jinling? We're the ancient capital of the six dynasties, plenty of talented people who are talented at research, and the rent is also cheaper…"

Lu Zhou was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice.

"Professor Lu, it's not nice of you to do this!"

Chapter 395: I Am Only Passing By

It was none other than Professor Sun Hongbiao.

"Professor Sun, you must be joking, I'm only exchanging thoughts with him," Lu Zhou said. He was a little embarrassed, so he smiled and said, "And you have no right to say I'm not nice."

When Professor Sun heard him, he became less aggressive. He then yawned and pretended like he didn't know anything.

"Professor Lu, what are you talking about, I don't understand?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

At the lithium-sulfur battery conference held by the Energy Bureau, Professor Sun's question ignited the debate about the research direction. Because of this, Professor Sun offended many of his peers.

Of course, Lu Zhou wasn't a narrow-minded person, so he wasn't resentful of Professor Sun.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to let Professor Sun publish the "Feasibility of Suppressing the Shuttle Effect on Hollow Carbon Spheres" in the journal published by Shuimu University.

However, even though Lu Zhou wasn't resentful, he still didn't like being poached.

Lu Zhou coughed and didn't look at Professor Sun. Instead, he smiled at the tall guy and asked, "What do you think, bro? Offer still stands. Within two years, I'll let you publish in a top journal. Do you prefer Science or Nature?"

Scientific researchers often didn't care about salaries. Furthermore, a private research institute would definitely be able to provide a higher salary than a postdoc.

For someone who was interested in academia, publishing a journal was a much more valuable thing.

This was the reason why there were so many people who only cared about doing experiments and didn't care about money.

When Lou Fan heard Lu Zhou's offer, he started to think.

If it was anyone else that "let him publish in a top journal", he would be doubtful.

But this was Lu Zhou…

He was not a normal person.

After all, Lu Zhou published in journals more than twice per year.

Lou Fan thought of this, and he started to feel tempted.

However, he then saw Professor Sun looking at him…

Lou Fan smiled awkwardly and said, "I… have to think about it."

He only said this to save Professor Sun the embarrassment.

One was a well-known domestic scholar while the other was an internationally renowned scholar.

It was obvious that he had already made up his mind.

Lu Zhou could sense this, so he smiled and handed Lou Fan his business card.

Professor Sun, who was standing at a side, stared at Lu Zhou. However, he didn't say anything.

He knew that he couldn't match Lu Zhou's offer. In addition, his previous actions weren't moral.

The conference was about to begin, and by the likes of it, the national award was in Lu Zhou's hands.

Professor Sun would rather make friends than enemies.

Although Professor Sun's talent was poached, he suddenly felt a little more comfortable.

Lou Fan took the business card. He couldn't stand Professor Sun looking at him, so he quietly walked away.

Professor Sun looked back at Lu Zhou and asked, "Professor Lu, did you come to Shuimu to give me a hard time?"

Lu Zhou rubbed his nose.

"You have it wrong. Actually… I'm only passing by."

Two seconds of silence passed by.

Professor Sun coughed and said, "Professor Lu, stop joking."

"No, no, I'm not joking."

"You really didn't come to find me?" Professor Sun asked as he looked at Lu Zhou. He was surprised by Lu Zhou's answer, and he couldn't believe that Lu Zhou wasn't joking.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Sun's astonished expression. He didn't know what else to say.

Lu Zhou was only at Shuimu University to look around.

He didn't come for Professor Sun at all. In fact, he didn't expect to poach anyone.

However…

Lu Zhou felt that Professor Sun wouldn't want to hear the truth.

…

Lu Zhou basically spent the past few days hanging out at Shuimu, Yan, and Minzu University. He even received an invitation from Academician Xiang to report on his "Group Structure Method" at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the report session, he also shared his research on the additive number theory.

The days quickly flew by, and soon, it was already the 8th of January.

Lu Zhou woke up early in the morning.

Once he had his breakfast at the hotel restaurant, he went back into his room. He then put on the same suit that he wore to the prize ceremony in Stockholm.

Lu Zhou stared at himself in the mirror for a while as he admired his own appearance. He would have been late if it wasn't for Wang Peng calling and reminding him.

The award ceremony was at the Beijing Conference Center.

Lu Zhou went through the entrance security check before he followed a VIP staff member inside. By then, the venue was already full of people.

When Academician Xiang noticed Lu Zhou, he quickly walked over.

"What took you so long?"

Lu Zhou said, "There was a bit of traffic… Am I late?"

Academician Xiang replied, "Not quite, but most people usually arrive an hour or two early. This conference is a good opportunity to network with peers. Your mentor told me to take care of you, and I planned on introducing you to a few people. However, we don't have time for that anymore."

Lu Zhou's mentor was obviously Academician Lu.

When Lu Zhou heard that Academician Lu wasn't here, he asked, "Academician Lu isn't coming?"

Academician Xiang shook his head and said, "He just got back from Switzerland yesterday. He has to go to Daya Bay in a few days, so I'm afraid he doesn't have time to come."

Okay then, I guess theoretical physicists are really busy…

Lu Zhou recalled that old man Witten also flew between America and Switzerland often. Witten might teach at Princeton one day and fly to CERN for a report on the next day.

While Lu Zhou was talking with Academician Xiang, Wang Haifeng, who was standing nearby talking with his peers, suddenly noticed him.

There was no way for Wang Haifeng to ignore Lu Zhou's existence. After all, Lu Zhou was the youngest person at this conference.

It would be difficult not to notice Lu Zhou!

Wang Haifeng looked at Lu Zhou walking over, and he quickly put on a fake smile.

"Professor Lu, how are you?"

Lu Zhou noticed someone greeting him, and he froze for a bit.

He didn't recognize Wang Haifeng at all.

"Sorry, who are you?"

Wang Haifeng's eyebrows suddenly twitched.

There was a twinge of dissatisfaction in his eye, but he quickly smiled and said, "Professor Lu, you are really forgetful. It has been less than a year since the lithium-sulfur battery meeting; how can you forget about me?"

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up, and he smiled.

"Oh, you're Professor Wang… You were Liu Hong's boss?"

When Wang Haifeng heard Liu Hong's name, he nearly exploded.

Not only did Lu Zhou poach Liu Hong, but Lu Zhou had the nerve to mention it to Wang Haifeng.

This is despicable!

When Academician Xiang saw that there was a bit of tension in the air, he coughed and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Okay okay, the conference is about to begin. Wait until after the conference to settle your beef."

Although Wang Haifeng didn't like Lu Zhou, he was at a grand conference hall, and he couldn't just start an argument here.

He saw the old man standing next to Lu Zhou, and he could tell that the old man was a scholar.

However, he wasn't sure of the status of the old man.

Wang Haifeng calmed down a bit and didn't say anything. Instead, he turned around and left.

"Look at you…" Academician Xiang pulled Lu Zhou's shoulder and lowered his voice as he said, "If you don't maintain good relationships, you are bound to offend people!"

Lu Zhou was helpless.

He really didn't think he offended Wang Haifeng at all.

The only time they had interacted before was at the lithium-sulfur battery meeting.

If Wang Haifeng didn't introduce himself and mention that meeting, Lu Zhou really wouldn't have remembered who he was…

The conference was about to begin.

The professors, scholars, and the higher-ups were seated. The noise at the conference hall gradually quieted down.

The solemn bright red color of the podium gave a sense of respect to the venue.

A lively song broke out and the highest honor academic award ceremony finally began!

Chapter 396: Prize Conference!

Jin Ling University, Institute of Computational Materials.

The period between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. was the quietest time at the research institute.

Liu Bo sat in front of his office desk as he searched for journals containing their relevant research keywords. Once he confirmed that there wasn't a clash in research, he downloaded several interesting theses on arXiv into a folder.

This process took a long time. By the time he was finished, it was already 10 o'clock at night.

Liu Bo stretched. He then stood up from his chair and walked over to Qian Zhongming's desk. Looking at his computer screen curiously, Liu Bo asked, "Oh, why are you watching the morning news?"

"It's the National Science and Technology Award Conference," Qian Zhongming said as he looked at Liu Bo. He then clicked on the computer, making the broadcast fullscreen, before he added, "It's the CCTV live broadcast, not the news."

Liu Bo suddenly remembered something and asked, "Award conference? Oh yeah, isn't Lu Zhou there?"

"No sh*t, did you just realize? He's been back in Beijing for nearly two weeks now."

The national anthem began to play on the screen.

The camera panned away from the big names and gave the audience a bird's eye view of the venue.

Liu Bo was jealous of all of the nutty people at the venue.

"What award do you think God Lu can get?"

Qian Zhongming stared at the computer screen and didn't answer the question.

He didn't know how to answer the question.

While these two were talking about this question, in an office of the Computational Materials department, someone else was giving their own opinion…

"… First-level prize is difficult, second-level prize is possible."

Academician Lu was sitting on the sofa while he watched the television. He had his legs crossed and was smoking a cigarette.

Academician Xu smiled and said, "Just the Goldbach's conjecture alone isn't worthy of a first-level prize?"

"It's not about wort; it's about if it's appropriate."

Academician Lu lit another cigarette. He then smiled and said, "The State Natural Science Award is more focused on physics than mathematics. After all, the award organizer isn't an academic institution. They would consider more than just academic achievements.

"If his achievements were made while working in a domestic research institute, then his chances of winning would be higher. If he had a decade or two of working in domestic research institutes, then he would definitely win the first-level prize."

Lu Zhou was Academician Lu's best master's student ever.

Talent aside, the more important thing was the effort and courage to explore.

He would remember that CERN report for many years to come.

Academician Lu had asked himself; if he were in Lu Zhou's position as an intern, would he have the courage to stand on the report stage and challenge the entire physics community.

In Academician Lu's opinion, it didn't matter if the kid won the first-level prize.

Because Lu Zhou had infinite potential; the medal was just a piece of evidence of that.

Academician Xu remarked, "What a shame."

Academician Lu smiled. "It's good. After all, the kid still has a long way to go. He'll only be forty by the time you and I go six feet under. If he doesn't win it this year, he'll definitely win it before he hits thirty."

Academician Xu smiled as he said, "You old f*ck! Are you saying I'll be dead in twenty years as well?"

Academician Lu noticed that his statement was somewhat wrong. He coughed and tapped the cigarette on the ashtray before he said, "It's just a metaphor, we can easily live another forty years… Okay, stop screwing around, it's about to start."

It was exactly ten o'clock.

Once the national anthem ended, the venue was dead silent. The annual Science and Technology Award Conference had finally officially begun.

The scholars in the crowd were all from top research backgrounds that ranged from everything from natural sciences to engineering and technology. Everyone was quietly listening to the spokesman's speech on stage.

After a while, the most important part of the conference finally began— the awards ceremony.

By convention, the list of winners was announced first.

The first award was the 2017 Highest Science and Technology Award.

The winners were Academician Wang from the Jinling University of Technology, and Academician Hou from the Chinese Academy of Epidemic Prevention and Control Center.

The former was a leader in the field of military explosives and had made great contributions to the national military industry. The latter was the main founder of Chinese molecular virology, modern medical biotechnology, and various modern infectious disease prevention and control systems.

After the two names of the winners were announced, the scholars in the crowd gave them a warm round of applause.

After the Highest Science and Technology Award was the State Natural Science Award.

Compared to the Highest Science and Technology Award, which was a type of "lifetime award", the Natural Science Award was aimed toward those that had made significant contributions to fundamental applied research.

The Highest Science and Technology award was divided into two levels. The first-level award was awarded to those that had made the most outstanding research results for the country.

Last year, the person who received this honor was the leader of the "Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Oscillation Experiment" which was led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The discovery was sensational and affected the entire international theoretical physics community.

The project alone was worthy of the glorious award!

The venue was exceptionally quiet; everyone was waiting for the announcement of the winners.

"Agricultural production is an essential part of the national economy. Only by consuming nutritious food can we build a better future. The molecular catalyst and design of the 'high-yield high-quality rice traits' led by the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences achieved a breakthrough in rice production…

"The first-level award winner is Academician Li Jiayang!"

The crowd erupted in applause the second the name was announced.

Wang Haifeng, who was sitting in the crowd, clapped his hands enthusiastically.

He didn't care who won, as long as it wasn't that kid Lu Zhou!

The announcement of the second winner was also made, and the winner was Academician Tao Benzhong, who was awarded for his "aggregation-induced luminescence technology" project.

When Professor Wang heard the second name, he smirked as the knot in his heart was finally untied.

Normally speaking, there were more than 40 second-level State Natural Science Award winners, but there were very few first-level winners.

For example, there hadn't been a first-level winner from 2010 until 2012.

The last time a first-level prize was awarded twice in succession was back in 2006.

As for three first-level winners…

The last time that happened was in the '80s.

After the applause ended, Wang Haifeng picked up the vacuum flask on his desk and sipped on some hot water.

He really wanted to see what Lu Zhou's reaction was.

However…

Just when everyone thought that the first-level prize for the natural science field was finished, another announcement was made…

"The Goldbach's conjecture is a crown jewel of the number theory building, and the Chinese number theory community left a splendid proof on this proposition…"

Wang Haifeng froze.

His heart was instantly shattered.

It was like he was turned into stone as he sat in his chair and muttered to himself, "How is this possible…"

There are three first-level prizes this year!

This is impossible!

Wang Haifeng wasn't the only one stunned.

The people that wanted Lu Zhou to win the first-level prize, the people that didn't, even the people that didn't care…

Everyone froze for two seconds.

Everyone was in shock.

However, the announcement continued in spite of the emotional fluctuations in the crowd.

"… The Goldbach-Lu theorem is a monument of the human mind and spirit. It is a gift from China to the people of the world…"

The spokesperson paused for a second.

Then, he spoke in a solemn voice.

"The third award winner is…

"Lu Zhou!"

Chapter 397: Top of The Top

"The third award winner is…

"Lu Zhou!"

The spokesman announcement was still playing back in Academician Lu's head; his cigarette butt was in the ashtray, extinguished long ago.

The awards ceremony continued.

The TV was broadcasting the awards presentation.

Lu Zhou walked on the podium wearing a suit, and he received a bright red certificate from an old man.

Academician Lu stared at the TV screen for a while before he said with an emotional tone, "… This year's higher-ups are ballsy."

Academician Xu was also staring at the bright red certificate on the TV screen. He was happy to see his own student succeed, but he felt hesitant all of a sudden.

"Do you think this is good for bad?"

"This is good!" Academician Lu lit up another cigarette and said, "This is the first-level State Natural Science Award, how can it not be good? I wish I could swap my academician title for his award."

Academicians were common, but scientific breakthroughs weren't. Scientific results that were widely recognized were even less common.

It was like the tens of thousands of theoretical physicists and engineers working at CERN. Everyone played a pivotal role, but not everyone's work was recognized. Only a few would win the Nobel Prize.

Academician Lu had made a lot of achievements during his lifetime, but none of them were as outstanding as a first-level State Natural Science Award.

By contrast, the Highest Science and Technology Award would be better suited for him.

Of course, he was only joking.

He couldn't just swap a title for an award.

Academician Xu saw that Academician Lu had misunderstood him, and he shook his head as he said, "I meant that receiving this award at this age is unforgettable. He's still young. To receive this kind of attention now might not be a good thing."

Academician Xu's worries weren't unreasonable; this kind of thing had happened in the academic community before.

Although Jin Ling University was a strong university, due to various reasons, Jin Ling University's domestic influence wasn't top-notch. Therefore, he couldn't give much support to Lu Zhou.

"The thing you said can't be avoided. Even if he didn't win the State Natural Science Award, people might still be jealous of him. How many Crafoord Prize or Nobel Prize winners are there in China? It would be strange if Lu Zhou wasn't getting this kind of attention!"

Academician Lu smiled and looked outside the window. He then said, "If people are envious of him, how will that affect him?"

When Academician Xu heard this, he froze.

Suddenly, he smiled.

"You're right."

Outstanding people were always attacked.

Academia advanced through discussion and debates, and discussions were bound to produce arguments. Some people could handle the arguments, while others couldn't. This was inevitable.

Because of this, the more excellent one was, the more they should study the Doctrine of the Mean.

However, this law only applied to average people.

If someone was able to rise and defeat everyone else, why should they care about criticism or jealousy?

If this was true, then Academician Xu was overthinking it…

…

Someone screamed inside the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

"Nutty! First-level State Natural Science Award!"

Liu Bo's exclaim attracted the attention of the other researchers in the office. Many people stopped their work and came over.

When they saw the awards on the screen, they were just as shocked as Liu Bo.

"This is… our boss?"

"He is really a god…"

"First-level State Natural Science Award? There aren't many of them at Jin Ling University, right?"

"How many do you think there is? One is already impressive, okay? I remember that the last time someone won this, it was in 2006. Academician Min from our physics department won the prize and was awarded the academician title the following year!"

"Then, do you think our boss can become an academician?"

"I don't know, an academician might need to have experience working domestically. I heard the competition is fierce, but if God Lu wants it, it shouldn't be difficult…"

Qian Zhongming was staring at the screen the entire time, and he was quite surprised.

"This… is the highest domestic honor, right?"

Only the Highest Science and Technology Award was more prestigious than this.

However, although it was called the "highest" science and technology award, it was still a lifetime achievement award. This meant the award didn't focus on only one specific research result. Rather, the committee would look at a lifetime of contributions.

This also meant that the award was only given to older people.

It would be difficult to compare its value to the State Natural Science Award.

The former was more respectable, while the latter was more academically valuable.

For Lu Zhou's age, this was the highest domestic honor he could hope for!

Qian Zhongming wasn't the only one that was aware of this.

Right now, Lu Zhou was standing on the stage.

Back when he was sitting under the stage, even when he heard his name, he remained calm and collected.

But standing here now, at the center of attention, Lu Zhou suddenly felt like time had slowed down.

He accepted the heavy red certificate from the old man, and he could feel his own heartbeat.

Lu Zhou received the certificate and shook hands with the old man.

When he released his hand, the old man smiled at him.

"Nervous?"

Lu Zhou nodded and answered truthfully.

"A bit."

"Young man, the pressure is good; it is motivation!" the old man said as he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and nodded his head. He then said, "Nicely done!"

Lu Zhou said, "Thank you."

Perhaps it was because the old man highly regarded Lu Zhou, and so, he added the extra compliment.

Lu Zhou could sense the various emotions of those around him.

Jealousy?

A bit.

Respect?

A bit as well.

Sincerity?

I don't know…

Lu Zhou felt the gaze of everyone in the crowd as they stared at him, and suddenly, he felt as if the red certificate had increased in weight.

Part of which was the force from gravity…

The other part was the responsibility that came with the certificate.

Chapter 398: State's Dinner

The next day, various news outlets reported on the award ceremony.

[Famous scholar, Lu Zhou, won the first level State Natural Science Award!]

[The youngest first level State Natural Science Award!]

[Shocked, this year's first level State Natural Science Award was given to three people! One of whom is only 24 years old!]

[The highest honor in China academia, the first level prize State Natural Science Award that you didn't know about.]

[…..]

Just like the Crafoord Prize, Lu Zhou received an enormous amount of attention for the State Natural Science Award.

Whether the media was trying to create a public image or hype Lu Zhou up for content, Lu Zhou's name as plastered over the news.

Other than Lu Zhou's achievements, people were also talking about Lu Zhou's age.

Most people thought that Lu Zhou deserved the award and that the award committee made the correct decision.

Of course, there were some people who disagreed.

Some people thought that this decision was sloppy. After all, it was ridiculous to award a person under forty a State Natural Science Award.

This discussion wasn't happening only on the internet; it was also happening in various universities.

At the cafeteria of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Two researchers who had just received their PhD were eating lunch while discussing the sensational academia news.

"Did you hear? This year three first-level State Natural Science Awards were given."

The researcher in glasses said with emotion, "I heard that this was the first time this has happened since the '80s, and I'm guessing that the award committee made a difficult decision. There were no winners in the past few years, and three this year. There are so many nutty people."

The chubby researcher raised his eyebrows and looked at him.

"You think this is a good thing?"

"Why is it not a good thing? The strength of our country's science and technology is getting stronger and stronger, and it's becoming more and more influential in the international academic community, how is this a bad thing?"

The chubby researcher asked, "But isn't he a Princeton professor? Does he count as one of us?"

The researcher, who was wearing a pair of glasses, put a slice of meat in his bowl and shook his head.

"The rules of the first-level State Natural Science Award are clear. The award winner has to be a Chinese citizen. The award criteria are major achievements. He has never given up his Chinese citizenship, so why shouldn't he be able to win this award? Deligne was working at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study when he was knighted by the King of Belgium. You're only seeing the surface and not the essence!"

The chubby researcher asked, "How do you know he will return to China later?"

The researcher in glasses was amused.

"Let me put it this way. With his abilities, as long as he wants, he can become a citizen in any country in the world. But he still has his Chinese citizenship, and he's still holding a Chinese passport. This proves his loyalty. Compare this to the professor that received the academician title and left the country…

"His glory is the nation's glory, his brilliance is Chinese academia's glory. Spend your time doing something else rather than picking a bone with him."

The chubby researcher frowned and said, "But his age…"

The researcher with glasses said, "What about his age? This is good for us young people! The State is saying that as long as you are good enough, age is not an issue. What is wrong with you?"

The chubby researcher smiled and didn't say anything.

Your words seem right…

But the problem is that we're not good enough.

Am I not supposed to be envious?

…

There were still photoshoots after the award; the ceremony ended at night.

The state's dinner would be held the following evening.

This was different than the Stockholm party as this dinner was classier and more ceremonious.

Also, this was the first time Lu Zhou had truly seen an extravagant party.

There were various cuisines, each of which were divided into different categories. Each dish had its own characteristics, and the only unfortunate thing was that Lu Zhou couldn't taste all of the dishes.

As the winner of the first level State Natural Science Award, it was inevitable that he received a huge amount of attention.

Lu Zhou responded politely to all of the scholars that tried to talk with him.

Other than the normal scholars that tried to talk to him, the other two State Natural Science Award winners, Academician Li and Academician Tang, also conversed with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't know much about agriculture, so he only exchanged a few words with Academician Li before they wished each other the best on their science journey.

Academician Tang's research direction was polymers, and he had much to talk about with Lu Zhou…

"Professor Lu, what have you been researching lately?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Do you mean the materials science side or the mathematics side?"

Tang Benzhong was surprised, and he said, "Researching mathematics and materials science at the same time?"

Normally speaking, researching in two different directions was extraordinary. Researching in two different fields was unheard of.

When Lu Zhou saw Academician Tang's look of astonishment, he smiled and said, "Not both at the same time. The materials side is mainly done by my research team at Silicon Valley and Jinling and also by cooperating with the research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The theses have already been submitted to Nature. As for the specific content, I'm afraid I can't disclose it before publication. I can only say that it's related to superconducting materials."

Academician Tang smiled and said, "Superconducting materials? I'll be looking forward to the next issue of Nature then!"

…

After the state's dinner ended, Lu Zhou climbed into a Mercedes.

Driver Wang Peng started the car and skillfully drove out of the parking lot.

Lu Zhou felt the cold wind blowing on him through the window. He felt like he wasn't as drunk anymore.

He then asked Wang Peng, "Have you eaten yet?"

Wang Peng said, "Not yet, I plan on eating in a bit."

Lu Zhou said, "Oh yeah, can I ask you something?"

Wang Peng said, "Go ahead."

Lu Zhou asked, "When do I have to leave the hotel?"

Wang Peng, who was holding the steering wheel, smiled and said, "Professor Lu, you can stay there for as long as you want."

"I can't do that, that'll cause too much trouble for you guys," Lu Zhou shook his head and said. He then added, "Check out once I head off to Jinling."

Wang Peng: "…"

Actually, there was no such thing as checking out the room.

Because that hotel wasn't open to outsiders; only important national guests or special military personnel could live there.

Even money couldn't buy one a spot at the hotel.

After Lu Zhou went back to the hotel, he hung his clothes on the hangers before he went to take a shower. Once he dried his hair, he then lay down on the bed.

When the state's dinner ended, it also meant that his work in Beijing was completed.

Also, because of his first level State Natural Science Award, his system mission was completed. Originally, he planned on receiving the mission rewards yesterday, but he was too busy.

He couldn't procrastinate any longer.

Lu Zhou went into the pure white system space and walked in front of the translucent information screen. He then walked up and read the text in the center of the screen.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

Chapter 399: Fruit Flavored "Garbage"?

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!

[Mission completion details are as follows: Win the first level State Natural Science Award.

[Mission evaluation: None (reward missions have no evaluation)

[Reward: 100,000 free experience points. One lucky draw ticket. (???)]

Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel and thought for a bit. He tapped the information screen and spent all of his experience points on mathematics.

A blue light swept across the screen.

Lu Zhou's characteristic panel was soon updated.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 6 (244,000/600,000)

B. Physics: Level 4 (33,215/200,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (24,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 4 (13,000/200,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 (0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 3,475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

100,000 experience points made quite a dent in the 600,000 experience points requirement.

However, Lu Zhou still had a long way to go from Level 6 to Level 7.

Although spending the 100,000 experience points on engineering or energy science would increase their levels, these subjects were useless for Lu Zhou, at least for now.

Also, the more research Lu Zhou did, the more important mathematics was.

If he ignored mathematics because of the level up requirement, then he would never level up.

Lu Zhou finished the experience allocation, and it was time for the exciting prize draw.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and prayed in his heart. He then pressed the lucky draw button.

The wheel began to spin, and not long after, Lu Zhou pressed stop.

The inertia of the wheel caused it to spin a couple more turns.

Lu Zhou stared at the wheel pointer and felt like something big was about to happen.

He squeezed his fists as he stared at the screen.

Soon after, a line of text appeared on the screen…

[Congratulations, User, you have won the "Garbage" prize.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

[Received: Nutrition Juice.]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Oh well, a lottery is a lottery.

Lu Zhou never expected to get rich from this thing.

Speaking of which, he hadn't gotten any garbage in a while.

This was probably a result of the accumulation of his bad luck.

Lu Zhou closed the lucky draw panel and immediately opened the mission panel.

[Mission 1: Resistance

Description: Advanced superconducting technology is crucial for both the controlled nuclear fusion and the Hadron Collider. Therefore, material constraints are not only constraining the frontier of civilization but also the frontiers of civilizational imagination!

Requirements: Discover a carbon nanomaterial that is superconducting at temperatures over 100 Kelvin.

Rewards: 100,000 materials science experience. 50,000 biochemistry experience. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.]

]

[Mission 2: Unpredictable fluids

Description: The Navier-Stokes equation refers to a motion equation that describes the conservation of momentum in a viscous incompressible fluid. Whether there is a smooth solution to the three dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation is one of the great mathematical problems of the 21st century.

Requirements: Give a logically self-consistent answer to the existence and smoothness of the Navier-Stokes equation.

Rewards: 1-??? experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.

]

[Mission 3: Wake up, loners have no future.

Description: This is a gift for loners, don't miss it!

Requirements: Unlimited time to complete the mission. Find a willing spouse and excrete your DNA into her. (Friends with benefits, prostitutes are invalid.)

Rewards: (amount of days single * 10) experience points. 500 General points. Physical strengthening medicine. (7 bottles, 8 hours effect).

]

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

What's wrong with being single?

Who cares if I'm single?

Lu Zhou felt a sense of maliciousness from the system missions.

Assuming that he had been single for 34 years, that was only 8,760 days, which was less than 90,000 experience points.

The other rewards were also unattractive to him.

Lu Zhou ignored Mission 3 and focused on Missions 1 and 2.

He could tell from the description of the system mission that Mission 1 was special.

This mission was difficult, but it wasn't impossible.

Therefore, the system thought that it was possible to have a superconducting carbon nanomaterial at normal temperatures.

Also, this feasibility was based on his Level 4 materials science and Level 3 biochemistry.

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up; he was interested.

As a researcher, being able to confirm the correctness of a research idea was a valuable skill.

But of course, although Lu Zhou was interested in the potential of Mission 1, after some careful consideration, Lu Zhou still chose Mission 2.

First of all, the Navier–Stokes equation was his focus. Second, this was a good opportunity for him to level up his mathematics.

Compared to Goldbach's conjecture, the "existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution" was more valuable, which was why it was listed as one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems. The influence of the Navier–Stokes equation had far surpassed the partial differential field and spread to other areas of mathematics.

Therefore, the experience points gained from solving the Navier–Stokes equation would be undoubtedly higher than Goldbach's conjecture!

But of course, studying superconducting materials was also important. Lu Zhou wouldn't easily forget such an important clue that was revealed by the system.

Although he didn't have time to participate in the superconducting materials project, the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials could carry out the project on his behalf…

…

Once Lu Zhou selected Mission 2, he left the system space.

He then sat on his bed as he looked at the silver bag in his hands.

He originally thought that the nutrition juice would be some kind of powerful thing, and he didn't expect the packaging to be so low-key. It looked like Jell-o from the supermarket.

There was no product information or anything on the packaging.

Lu Zhou unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip.

Emm…

Fruity flavor?

The taste was quite good, so Lu Zhou drank the whole bottle at once.

What surprised him the most was that his hunger was instantly gone.

This really came from an advanced civilization.

Even eating is so efficient.

Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment before he formed his own opinions.

This thing can be conveniently transported and used in space stations.

But I'd go crazy if I had to eat this long term…

Chapter 400: My Daughter?

The morning three days after the conference.

An office inside the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China. A middle-aged man with glasses sat at his desk reading Everyone Daily.

Suddenly, he heard a knock from behind his door.

The man put the newspaper in his hand down before he said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Chen Baohua walked in.

"Hey, did you look for me?"

Although He Nian was ranked higher than Chen Boahua, the two were close friends and didn't call each other by their formal titles.

Although they were both in the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China, they were in separate divisions of the department. Therefore, they spoke casually to each other.

However, there was something unusual about this encounter.

Old He was abnormally warm this morning.

Chen Baohua was confused when He Nian smiled and made a hand gesture.

"Old Chen, I didn't expect you to come so soon. Please sit down, let's talk."

"Oh, are you trying to persuade me about something?" Old Chen sat down on the sofa and said, "Just give it to me straight, I'll do what I can."

"What do you mean persuading? Old Chen, you're funny…" He Nian smiled awkwardly and said, "I just want to ask you about something."

"What's up?"

"That day at the airport, the girl that came off the flight with Professor Lu is your daughter?"

Chen Baohua frowned and didn't look like he wanted to answer the question, but he still gave a short reply.

"Yeah."

When He Nian heard this answer, he seemed interested.

"Then… What's their relationship?"

"I don't know," Chen Baohua shook his head and said, "I don't know about her friends."

"Old Chen, as your old friend, I have to criticize you!" He Nian looked serious as he said, "She's your daughter, how can you not care about this?"

"She's my daughter, why do you care?" Chen Baohua looked at him and said, "She's not young anymore, why do I need to care? Cut the sh*t, what do you have to say? Stop wasting my time."

When He Nian saw that Chen Baohua didn't take the bait, he smiled.

"Then… I'll cut to the chase."

Chen Baohua said, "Yeah."

He Nian said, "Your daughter isn't young anymore, have you thought about… finding a son-in-law?"

Chen Baohua's eyebrows raised and he furiously stood up from the sofa.

"Your degenerate of a son is already thirty years old, don't even think about taking my daughter!"

He Nian quickly said, "Old Chen, don't get angry, I'm not talking about my son. I don't care what my degenerate of a son does! I'm talking about… Lu Zhou, you know."

Chen Baohua calmed down a little as he stared at He Nian.

"… I know, why?"

"The higher-ups think that he's important, and therefore, our department did some research on him."

Old Chen said, "Yeah, and?"

He Nian paused for a second before he said, "You might know that this Professor Lu… has never dated before."

Chen Baohua said, "Oh, maybe he's too busy doing research and doesn't have the time to date."

He Nian said, "He still has to marry and have a family eventually!"

Chen Baohua smiled and said, "Ha, what if he likes guys?"

Hearing his friend's response, He Nian nearly spat the tea out of his mouth. He then slammed his vacuum flask on the table and said, "Then, we'll have to find a way to straighten him!"

Chen Baohua said, "Forget about it. If he doesn't want anyone, why are you forcing a wife on him?"

"Ah, I don't mean it like that," He Nian smiled and said, "but that's sort of what I mean!"

He Nian saw that Chen Baohua didn't say anything, so he continued, "Think about it, he's a lonely man, and at most, he cares only about his parents. But does that even matter? My degenerate of a son never visits me; he barely even calls me. Do you think this is reliable? It's not reliable at all!

"Eventually, he won't be able to withstand the temptation. I'm worried about him having a foreign family in a foreign country. Not only will this be a mistake for our department, but this will also be a mistake for the country!"

The introduction of overseas talent was one of the Organization Department's duties. This was mainly handled by the division of the Ministry of Talent.

The introduction of high-level talents was often done by higher authorities themselves, which meant their tactics were often more creative.

For example, researching overseas talents' relatives in China, manipulating emotions, offering research funding, etc. These were some of the basic tactics.

Other than these basic tactics, there was also the "partner matching" technique, which was one of China's specialties.

It'd be great if they could find Lu Zhou a partner.

However, Chen Baohua didn't like what he was hearing.

He couldn't help but fight back.

"Why are you sending my daughter? Why don't you send your daughter?"

He Nian was helpless, and he said, "I want a daughter, but it's too late to have one now!"

He didn't sound like he was joking.

If Lu Zhou fancied his non-existent daughter, he'd immediately vacate his mansion in Beijing so that the newly-wed couple could move in.

After all, it would be a worthy sacrifice.

Chen Baohua snorted and said, "Put your money where your mouth is. I'm telling you, don't even think about it! I, Chen Baohua, will not sell my daughter."

"Old Chen, that's not the way to think about it. What do you mean by selling your daughter…" He Nian quickly stood up from his chair and said, "They are both single and around the same age. Professor Lu is a brilliant human being. Do you really think your daughter is being sold?"

Chen Baohua looked at his old friend and said, "You're manipulating his life. Have you ever thought about it from his perspective? What if this thing turns south?"

He Nian frowned and thought for a bit. Chen Baohua did make sense.

The times had changed, and it was all about individuality and freedom now.

If Lu Zhou ended up resenting the marriage and chose to never come back to China, then it would be horrible…

Chen Baohua saw that He Nian didn't speak, so he said, "You can't force love. If they click, then what happens happens. If they don't, then nothing will happen no matter how hard we try. I want to let her find her own happiness. I don't want her to marry someone just for the sake of it."

He Nian looked at Chen Baohua.

"Old Chen."

Chen Baohua: "What?"

He Nian asked, "Are you and your wife… unhappy?"

Chen Baohua replied instantly, "F*ck off!"

…

"Achoo!"

The sneeze shook the ground and earth.

"… Is someone talking about me behind my back."

Lu Zhou rubbed his nose as he walked out of Jinling International Airport.

He had bought the return plane ticket to Jinling long ago.

Lu Zhou spent the day after the state's dinner resting in the hotel. The next day, he woke up at 5 a.m. to take a plane to Jinling.

This time, he didn't tell anyone he was coming back. He didn't even post it on his friends' news feed.

The main reason was that he didn't want to trouble other people.

When Lu Zhou arrived at the airport and was about to take a taxi to Jin University, suddenly, he saw someone he recognized.

Lu Zhou was stunned, and he walked over to confirm that he wasn't mistaken.

Standing outside the airport was none other than Wang Peng.

The car behind him was the same car that Lu Zhou used in Beijing.

Lu Zhou asked, "Why… are you here?"

Wang Peng said, "Beijing to Jinling is only a 12-hour drive. I left yesterday morning and arrived last night."

Lu Zhou looked at him and was speechless.

"… You must be tired."

Wang Peng smiled heartily.

"Not tired, I'm happy to serve the people!"

Chapter 401: Balance In The Hear

Once Lu Zhou got in the car, Wang Peng drove him to Xianlin University City.

When they drove past the school gate, Lu Zhou suddenly noticed a banner on the school gate.

[Congratulations to honorary professor Lu Zhou for winning the first-level State Natural Science Award!]

Lu Zhou looked at the white text on the red banner and felt nostalgic.

Speaking of which, how many times had his name been on a banner?

He remembered that the first time was because of the Higher Education Society Cup where he competed in the mathematical modeling competition.

Wang Peng also noticed the banner and said, "This is your school, right?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah."

Wang Peng saw Lu Zhou's nostalgic expression and asked, "Professor Lu, do you plan on returning to Jinling?"

"That's right," Lu Zhou said. He then continued, "Education resources in Suzhou are pretty good, plus I have a soft spot for this place. With my experience at Princeton, I plan on building an Institute for Advanced Study at this place. I want it to be the best institute in Asia."

Lu Zhou was obviously bragging.

He wasn't sure if he could do it.

However, Lu Zhou didn't expect Wang Peng to believe him.

Anyone else saying this would have been considered to be bullsh*tting.

But this was Lu Zhou…

Wang Peng couldn't help but believe it!

After a while, Wang Peng finally spoke.

"… Professor Lu is an ambitious person, I admire you!"

"Haha," Lu Zhou smiled and said, "don't take it seriously, I was just saying."

Academia was one thing, education was another.

Old Qiu tried for many years to recreate a Harvard-like mathematics department at Shuimu University, while Lu Zhou's Institute of Computational Materials was still in its early stages. It would take a while for him to see the results.

Wang Peng didn't say anything, but he quietly memorized Lu Zhou's words. He planned on reporting back to the higher-ups.

If Lu Zhou could stay in China…

It undoubtedly would be a good thing for the country.

The car stopped at the laboratory building, and Lu Zhou got off. He looked back at Wang Peng.

"I might stay here for a few hours, why don't you go hang around for a bit?"

Wang Peng said, "Hang around?"

Lu Zhou said, "I mean, find a way to kill some time."

Wang Peng smiled. "No need, I can just wait in the car."

Seeing that Wang Peng was willing to wait in the car, Lu Zhou didn't say anything else.

Lu Zhou took out a box of tea from the car trunk and walked toward the laboratory building.

Now that the exams were over, the students on campus had gone home. The entire laboratory building was deserted, and it seemed like no one was there.

Lu Zhou walked up to the familiar office and knocked.

A voice came from inside the office.

"Come in."

Lu Zhou pushed the door and walked in.

When Tang Zhiwei saw Lu Zhou, a smile appeared on his face.

"Didn't I tell you last time, that if you want to see me, just come. To bring gifts is too tacky."

"I'd rather feel tacky than come empty-handed," Lu Zhou said with a smile. He then placed the tea on the table before he said, "Cigarettes and alcohol are unhealthy. I couldn't think of anything else to bring, so I brought some tea."

Old Tang shook his head and looked at his graduate student.

"Xiao Wang, go boil some water and make some tea."

"Okay!"

Xiao Wang, who was sitting at the other side of the office, stood up and walked toward the office cabinet.

The water in the electric kettle started to boil.

Xiao Wang then placed the tea set and electric kettle on the coffee table.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Wang and couldn't help but say, "Brother Wang, you still haven't graduated?"

Xiao wang was embarrassed as he smiled and spoke.

"I'm graduating this year… I've already received an offer from Shuimu, and I plan on going there in May."

"PhD?"

"Yeah."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Congratulations."

Xiao Wang was happy when Lu Zhou congratulated him. However, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

Xiao Wang stared at the steam coming out of the kettle and sighed before he said, "Ah, not as good as you. When I was studying my master's, you were an undergrad. Now that I'm about to finish my master's, you're already a professor at Princeton."

Lu Zhou didn't know how he should comfort Xiao Wang.

Receiving an offer from Shuimu University was already extremely impressive.

At least, it was better than 99% of people.

Lu Zhou didn't understand why Xiao Wang seemed down.

The teacups were filled, and the office was soon filled with the fragrance of the tea.

Old Tang took a sip and said, "This is nice tea, where did you get it?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I got it from the hotel at the conference. I don't think it's branded."

The story of this tea was interesting.

Lu Zhou thought that the tea in the hotel tasted nice, so he asked the manager of the hotel about the tea.

However, the manager didn't tell him where the tea came from. Instead, he immediately sent a few boxes of tea to Lu Zhou's room. Lu Zhou originally wanted to buy the tea, but the manager wouldn't accept his money. The manager only said the tea was unlicensed and couldn't be bought with money.

Therefore, Lu Zhou accepted the tea without paying for it.

There was no way Lu Zhou could finish all of the tea. Therefore, he decided to bring it back to Jinling and give it to others.

Especially his dad.

Lu Zhou remembered that his father told him that his biggest joy in life was drinking tea while fishing.

Old Tang shook his head and said, "Then I won't ask about it. Even if you told me, I wouldn't know anything about the tea."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If you like it, I can bring more to you next time."

Old Tang stared at Lu Zhou for a while before he suddenly said, "Before this, I knew that your future will be extraordinary, but I didn't expect your ability to exceed my expectations. Back then, I could still talk about mathematics with you, but now, it seems that you are my teacher."

"No way," Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'm still using the applied mathematics knowledge that you taught me."

Old Tang didn't only teach Lu Zhou mathematics; he taught him more than that.

Before Lu Zhou went to the Princeton conference, he was a no-name in the academic world. What made him famous among the academic community was the Princeton report.

And Professor Tang Zhiwei was the one that told him to attend the report.

Good professors were rare in this world.

Lu Zhou was grateful to have met Old Tang.

No matter where he was in life, Lu Zhou would never forget the people that have helped him.

"Okay, stop embarrassing me…" Old Tang waved his hand and said, "I'm well aware of my strength and level."

Old Tang paused for a second before he continued, "You're not a little kid anymore, you're a national level genius. I can't teach you anything academically related anymore. However, I can teach you something a little outside of it… But I don't know if you want to listen."

Lu Zhou put on a serious face and said, "Professor, please go ahead."

Old Tang didn't look at Lu Zhou. Instead, he looked at Xiao Wang.

He then said slowly, "The first level Natural Science Prize is the highest state-recognized honor. With that red certificate, you can do what most scientific researchers dream of.

"No one else has more say than you in your field. No one will constrain you as long as you don't break the rules. But you also have to remember, honor is a double-edged sword. Be careful when using it.

"If you want to climb to a higher academic level, you have to have a balance in your heart. Know what is worthwhile and what is not."

Xiao Wang was being stared at by Old Tang, and he couldn't help but complain in his mind.

F*ck sake!

I would never have to worry about these things.

Don't even think about the state award, I can't even get a provincial award…

However, Lu Zhou, who was sitting across from him, had a thoughtful expression.

He had been pondering about this over the past few days.

"Don't be so serious," Professor Tang said. He then picked up the vacuum flask and took a sip of tea before he said, "Oh yeah, I have to ask you something else."

Lu Zhou looked up and said, "What?"

"How's that Luo Wenxuan kid doing? Has he graduated yet?"

Luo Wenxuan heard Luo Wenxuan's name and couldn't help but smile.

"That guy finally finished his graduation thesis. He'll probably receive a PhD from Professor Witten in a few months."

"Oh really? That's good!" Professor Tang was happy to hear his students doing well. He smiled as he said, "I'm happy to hear that!"

Chapter 402: You Grew Taller

Old Tang had been working as a professor for many years. Even though his academic achievements might not be outstanding, but he had taught many talented students. Other than his kids, the people he cared the most about in life were his students.

Lu Zhou left Old Tang's office and pondered about what Old Tang said.

He walked around, and soon, he arrived at Academician Lu's office.

Other than Old Tang, Lu Zhou respected Academician Lu more than anyone else in Jin Ling University.

However, when Lu Zhou arrived, the old man wasn't here. There was only a young master's student with glasses sitting there. The student was painfully reading through research documents.

Lu Zhou remembered someone telling him that Academician Lu didn't take on master's students.

But now it seemed that the old man changed his rules and started training some high potential master's students.

Lu Zhou looked at the student who was working hard before he knocked on the door.

The master's student noticed Lu Zhou and asked, "You're looking for Academician Lu, right? Academician Lu isn't in Jinling these days; you're a step too late."

Lu Zhou asked, "Where did he go?"

Guy with glasses: "He went to Daya Bay for a meeting."

Although this was unfortunate, Lu Zhou had expected something like this to happen.

Normally academicians were very busy, especially ones that did theoretical physics. There were countless conferences around the world for them to attend.

"I see… Then can you tell him that his student came to visit him."

Lu Zhou placed the box of tea on the table.

"Okay, I will tell him, but I can't promise you that Academician Lu will accept your gift."

The master's student looked suspiciously of Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou was stunned by the student's reaction, and he could tell what the student was thinking of.

"It's fine… Just tell him that it's from the student called Lu Zhou; he will be happy to accept it."

Giving gifts during exam time could be misunderstood. The master's student probably thought that Lu Zhou was an undergraduate student.

Lu Zhou turned around and started to walk out of the office.

Suddenly, the guy in glasses yelled.

"Wait a minute!"

Lu Zhou stopped, and he turned around before asking, "What?"

The guy in glasses tried not to sound overly excited, but he still stuttered as he asked, "You, you're really God Lu?"

Lu Zhou said, "… Just call me Lu Zhou."

It was fine when people called him God Lu on Weibo but to call him that in real life…

It was a bit weird.

The guy's eyes lit up.

He quickly opened the drawer and took out a letter. He then walked up to Lu Zhou and said, "Before he left, Academician Lu told me to give you this letter!"

Lu Zhou took the letter and nodded as he said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome…" The guy smiled and scratched his head while he said, "Uh… Can I ask you a favor?"

"What's up?"

"Can you sign something? Just sign here on this book."

Oh, that's it?

Lu Zhou smiled and readily agreed.

He took the textbook from the guy and flipped over to the first page. The guy's name was written on the page.

Song Xuewen

Not bad, good name.

I wonder why Academician Lu accepted him as his student.

Song Xuewen spoke while Lu Zhou was signing the book.

"Um, God Lu…"

Lu Zhou said, "Just call me bro."

"Yes, bro!" Song Xuewen smiled and said, "Then let me ask you something, when you received the first-level State Natural Science Award, what did it feel like?"

Lu Zhou stopped writing and looked at his neatly written signature as he began to think.

After a while, he replied, "Quite nervous."

Song Xuewen thought Lu Zhou would have a long answer.

"That's… it?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's it."

Song Xuewen: "…"

…

Lu Zhou came out of the laboratory building and wandered around the campus.

He walked around and without knowing it, he was near the Institute of Computational Materials.

He was about to talk toward the research institute when he suddenly heard a voice from behind.

"Teacher?!"

Lu Zhou heard the familiar voice and looked back.

He saw Han Mengqi wearing a white coat, standing ten meters away. She was holding a sample box as she looked at Lu Zhou with surprise.

She had her long black hair tied in a ponytail, and her petite chin was covered in a black scarf. Her tiny nose and small lips perched under her eyes.

The little girl did seem to grow a bit compared to last summer, but she was still petite compared to her sister.

Lu Zhou looked at Meng Qi and asked curiously, "What are you doing here? Are you not going home for the winter?"

Xiao Tong previously had posted a picture of her hanging out with her friends on her friends' news feed.

Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou and said, "But my home is in Jinling…"

Oh…

She's right.

Lu Zhou realized that he had asked a stupid question, and he quickly looked away. He then changed the topic of conversation while he looked at the sample box in her hand.

"What is this?"

Han Mengqi said, "This is the material sent from the Carbon Nanomaterials Research Institute. The laboratory teacher told me to get it back."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Oh, an experiment sample. I'm going the same way, let's go."

Han Mengqi nodded happily.

The Institute of Computational Materials was nearby.

Along the way, Han Mengqi chatted with Lu Zhou about things that were happening at her school.

Lu Zhou could tell that she had had a very fulfilling year and that she had matured a lot since last year.

They were walking on the stairs when Han Mengqi suddenly called out to Lu Zhou in a sad tone.

"Teacher."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

Mengqi gently pulled her scarf and said, "Um, long time no see…"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah."

"Do you not have anything to say to me?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he suddenly became quiet.

He thought for a moment. Meanwhile, Meng Qi's cheeks had turned bright red, and she couldn't help but think back to a few years ago when he was teaching her mathematics…

Her heart rate increased.

Lu Zhou finally said, "… You've grown taller?"

Han Mengqi: ???

Chapter 403: Seven Figure Bonus

Han Mengqi didn't know why, but she suddenly had the urge to bite someone.

Talking about her height was fine, but Lu Zhou's questioning tone was infuriating!

If it was anyone other than Lu Zhou…

Meng Qi swore that she'd definitely…

Ahhh, I'm so angry!

Han Mengqi buried her mouth in her scarf and didn't say anything. She gave the sample box to the laboratory teacher and left.

Yang Xu watched Meng Qi walked away before asking Lu Zhou, "Do you guys know each other?"

Lu Zhou didn't know why Han Mengqi's demeanor suddenly changed. "I used to teach her."

Yang Xu suddenly realized what was going on.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know what Yang Xu knew.

"Fine, no more nonsense…" Lu Zhou redirected the conversation and asked, "Tell me how the experiment is going."

Yang Xu: "The experiment was very successful. The two layers of graphene were superimposed. When the corner angel reached 1.1 degrees, and the temperature reached 1.7k, an unconventional superconductivity phenomenon happened. Our research team named this angle the 'Magic Corner'."

Lu Zhou was interested. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Very imaginative name."

"That's right, full of imagination. This research result is like the name, full of imagination," Yang Xu said with a smile. He then added, "Metal superconducting materials are more difficult to adjust; for example, carbon oxide. Carbon nanomaterials, on the other hand, have a higher plasticity which gives us unlimited possibilities."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It also means unlimited experiments?"

Yang Xu said, "Experiments are always necessary."

"Room temperature" was actually hotter than "high temperature", at least in the field of superconductivity. The latter was only 77K (around -196 Celsius), while the former had to be above 273K.

Not mentioning the high tech laboratories that had 100K superconducting temperatures, the 1.7K temperature was in an even worse position than copper oxide which had a temperature of 35K.

However, it would be ignorant to classify the technology as useless just because it couldn't be commercialized.

It was no exaggeration to say that 99% of the research results were useless.

However, without 99% of the results, there wouldn't be the 1%.

Yang Xu briefly explained the experiment and began to talk about their future plans.

"… Our next goal is to find a way to increase the superconducting temperature of the graphene materials to 77K. Of course, this is a long term goal, it might be difficult to achieve in the short term."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "A goal of 77K is too conservative; we should set it at 100K."

The system said 100K was achievable, thus it would be a pity not to use this information.

Yang Xu looked helpless.

"Ok, but we have a problem. Whether it is 77K or 100K, if this superconducting material can be created, then this technology will carry limited industrial application prospects… It will generate patents regardless of anyone's interest in the technology."

Yang Xu didn't finish his words, but his meaning was clear.

Collaborative research projects became awkward once patents were involved.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he asked, "What does Professor Herrero think?"

Yang Xu: "When I was doing my post-doc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I heard that Professor Herrero was a person that didn't care about fame or fortune. Looking at his past theses, it is obvious that he rarely competed with students for experiment results. He's happy to train those with great potential."

Lu Zhou asked, "So what you're saying is?"

Yang Xu shrugged and said, "He probably will think that this technology should be used equally by everyone."

Just like in China, there were professors overseas that didn't care about owning patents; they only cared about doing research.

Instead of coming from companies, most of their funding came from a variety of state-funded research funds. As long as the professors' salaries could pay for their living expenses, they didn't care about converting research results to patents.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I just think that we are not offering enough. If I'm willing to pay them US$10 million in research funding, I think they might take this problem more seriously."

When Yang Xu heard the US$10 million figure, he was stunned.

Every scholar thirsted for research funding, and US$10 million was an amount that couldn't be rejected.

Even a Nobel Prize winner couldn't easily secure funding of that size.

Yang Xu gulped before he asked, "Is this worth it?"

Even if the 100K temperature superconducting material was created, it wouldn't be worth much money.

After all, superconducting materials had a more limited industry application compared to lithium batteries.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't care if it's worth it. I need this technology, and I need the relevant patents. As for the why, I'll tell you that later. As for now, you don't need to care if it's worth it. You only need to remember that we have to do this thing even if we lose money."

Yang Xu nodded and said, "Okay… What if he doesn't agree?"

Lu Zhou said, "Then offer US$20 million."

Yang Xu: "…"

F*ck sake!

He nearly forgot that his boss was filthy rich.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "My limit is US$20 million. If he refuses, then we have to find someone else that is willing to cooperate… I'll leave the negotiation to you."

Yang Xu nodded and said seriously, "I will relay your intentions."

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu and nodded with satisfaction.

He suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, speaking of money, I said there'd be a year-end bonus."

When Yang Xu heard this, he smiled and said, "Boss, I've been waiting. If you didn't bring it up, I was planning on asking you about it on behalf of the team."

Several researchers in the laboratory all began to listen in to the conversation. After all, they were all curious about their bonuses.

"You guys have been working so hard every day, how could I forget about the bonuses?" Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said, "I'll go to the finance department in a bit and sort out the bonuses. I can promise you that everyone will have a new year full of happy surprises."

Yang Xu smiled as he asked, "Boss, can you tell me what my bonus is? Just give me an estimate?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What kind of estimate?"

Yang Xu said, "Just tell me how many months of salary the bonus is equivalent to?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "That's too precise. I'll tell you how many figures it is, but you'll have to guess the exact amount."

Yang Xu asked, "How many figures?"

Lu Zhou said, "At least seven figures."

Yang Xu was frozen.

Seven…

Seven figures?

He originally thought that it would be three or four months of salary.

He didn't expect his boss to exceed his expectations.

Lu Zhou smiled and patted Yang Xu's shoulder while he said, "You guys have been working hard this year, keep it up for next year!"

Chapter 404: Letter From Germany

For scientific researchers, having experiments to do alone was a fortunate thing. However, they still ultimately craved for a higher quality of life.

Lu Zhou didn't want mindless researchers. He wanted a team of researchers that was efficient, experienced, and teamwork-oriented.

While experience could be gained from working on research projects, compensation was what retained talents.

Lu Zhou felt like because he had earned more money than he could ever spend, he might as well give his fellow researchers some welfare.

After all, scientific research couldn't be done by one person. Especially when it came to the creation of the HCS-2 material, his research team was of great help.

Lu Zhou planned to take out 20 million RMB as a bonus for the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials. The compensation for each person would depend on their contribution to the theses.

It wasn't just the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials; Lu Zhou would also take out a few million USD for the Sarrot Laboratory.

Once Lu Zhou left the Institute of Computational Materials, he had dinner with Wang Peng. After that, they found a hotel nearby and booked two rooms.

Lu Zhou finished unpacking his luggage. After that, he turned on his computer and sent Star Sky Technology manager, White Sheridan, an email.

He was about to turn off his computer when he received an email.

The email was from Professor Lazerson in Germany.

[… Dear Professor Lu, I have to tell you a piece of exciting news. Our He3 atom probe technology was successfully deployed on Wendelstein 7-X! The results from the first experiment were quite satisfying, and the He-3 particles emitted under the constrained electromagnetic field successfully pierced through the plasma and successfully hit the target material.

[At first, Keriber had doubts about our equipment as he believed that the high-temperature plasma would produce unpredictable consequences. But it turned out that his worries were redundant!

[We have successfully collected important parameter information such as the plasma temperature, density, etc. This information is more accurate than any information obtained by previous plasma observation techniques. If only you were here in person, you would have experienced the excitement behind what I just described!

[I have attached the relevant data in the email. If you can wrangle the data and find useful things, please contact me. I look forward to you bringing us an even bigger surprise. But if you can't, that's fine as well since we've already made huge progress on our technology.

[Regarding the He3-probe-technology thesis, my suggestion is to submit it during the ITER conference. If you have any suggestions, please reply to me ASAP…]

When Lu Zhou read the email, he smiled.

This worrying research project finally made some progress. The ability to accurately collect information on high-temperature plasma would help drive the progress of the entire international controlled nuclear fusion field.

However, for Lu Zhou, this was only the beginning of the plasma turbulence research project…

[I agree with your proposal.]

The ITER conference was an open exchange meeting that involved plasma physics experts from all over the world. It was equivalent to the CERN of theoretical physics.

There didn't seem to be a better place to submit the thesis than at this conference.

Lu Zhou typed up a reply and pressed "Send". He then reopened the email from Professor Lazerson.

Once he downloaded and unzipped the attached data, he couldn't wait to open the various graphs and pictures.

Half an hour passed by.

Lu Zhou finally finished reading the data in its entirety. He then lay back in his chair and stretched.

Difficult!

Very difficult!

This was a thousand or even ten thousand times more complicated than any previous mathematical model that he had built before. The difficulty increased exponentially.

Even with his Level 6 mathematics and Level 4 physics, he could feel the difficulty.

"Should I use inspiration hours?"

Lu Zhou looked at the computer screen for around five minutes. In the end, he shook his head and gave up the idea.

The system's system inspiration hours couldn't be paused.

The Navier–Stokes equation was a higher priority for Lu Zhou than the plasma turbulence phenomenon problem. He couldn't use his secret weapon on the less important task.

Lu Zhou closed his laptop.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had an unread letter from Academician Lu.

He took out the letter and ripped open the envelope. He then discovered that it wasn't an ordinary letter paper, but rather a folded piece of red square paper.

He unfolded the paper and saw two lines of words.

[Discard fame and fortune, obtain a higher ideal of life.]

Lu Zhou looked at the two lines and smirked.

"Good advice."

Lu Zhou didn't expect the old man to be proficient in both theoretical physics and poetry.

Lu Zhou didn't know anything about poetry.

Even then, the old man was able to charm Lu Zhou with the power of poetry.

"I'll hang this up for Chinese New Year."

It was getting late. Lu Zhou folded the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope. He then pulled out some clean clothes from his suitcase before he went into the bathroom.

…

The next morning at the Institute of Computational Materials.

Although there were still a few weeks until the Chinese New Year, the research institute already had a festive atmosphere.

Because today… was bonus day.

The team had spent a month looking forward to this.

Qian Zhongming looked sluggish, while Liu Bo was excited when he asked, "How much was your bonus?"

It wasn't appropriate to ask about other people's bonuses in the workplace, but they were close friends and there was no rule against it. Not to mention, this was a laboratory where some people were even willing to work for free. Therefore, usual workplace rules didn't apply.

Qian Zhongming looked at his text message quietly as he murmured, "I got 880,000… It's not a mistake, right?"

"F*ck? Eight…'

Liu Bo was shocked by his number; his entire body was frozen.

After a while, he received a text message as well.

He looked at his phone screen as he replied, "I can confidently say that it's not a mistake."

Qian Zhongming then asked, "How much did you get?"

Liu Bo gulped.

"I… got 660,000."

Qian Zhongming: "…"

Liu Hong, who was sitting in the corner of the office, looked at his 100,000 RMB bonus and nearly started to cry.

He had never even seen this much money when he was working for Wang Haifeng.

He could finally rent a better place now.

Yang Xu was undoubtedly the quietest person in the office.

His bonus was undoubtedly the highest.

1.5 million RMB…

His hands started to shake when he saw this figure.

His original plan was to save for two years and buy a house in Jinling, but now, it seemed that he didn't have to wait for two years.

This bonus was too scary!

Especially for the material science field…

Yang Xu remembered what Lu Zhou said to him, and suddenly, he felt like the burden on his shoulder had just become heavier…

Chapter 405: Long Time Reunion

Lu Zhou had been hanging around Jin Ling University over the past few days.

He'd either visit his old professor friends or study the Navier–Stokes equation in his hotel room.

He had many social events to attend in China. Therefore, he didn't have much time to work on mathematics problems.

But now, he finally had some time to continue focusing on his math problem.

Other than studying the math problem in his hotel room, Lu Zhou would go to the library at Jin Ling University and feel what it was like to be a student.

That feeling gave him a mindset to tackle problems from a different perspective; it often gave him an unexpected inspiration.

A week quickly passed by, and it was soon January 18th.

His friends from Dorm 201 decided to gather together two days before the wedding.

The gathering spot was obviously the fish restaurant.

They ordered a pot of grilled fish and some beer.

The boys began to brag while drinking beers.

"Zhou, let me give you a toast…" Liu Rui tapped glasses with Lu Zhou and said, "I saw you on the news a few days ago, and I bragged to a chick and said we slept together before. She didn't believe me until I showed her a photo. Congratulations on winning another national-level award, also thank you for letting me brag in front of a hot chick."

Lu Zhou nearly choked on the beer. "… You're welcome, next time don't make it sound so weird."

Lu Zhou had to admit that Liu Rui's mentality matured after graduating from Yan University.

If it was before and Liu Rui saw Lu Zhou on the news, he would have turned off the TV.

But now, he could calmly read the news without being bothered by it.

In the beginning, Liu Rui didn't know what Lu Zhou was researching, but now, he didn't even know what prize Lu Zhou was receiving. The difference between the two was becoming bigger and bigger.

Of course, was Liu Riu jealous?

Of course he was!

Lu Zhou said, "Oh yeah, who is your supervisor at Yan University?"

Liu Rui said, "Academician Wang Yuping. I'm studying partial differential equations under him."

"Wang Yuping? He's also studying partial differential equations?"

Lu Zhou didn't expect to know Liu Rui's supervisor.

Liu Rui nodded and said, "That's right, but his research is more applied than pure mathematics. You haven't been studying number theory recently. Are you studying partial differential equations as well?"

Lu Zhou: "You could say so."

Interested, Liu Rui asked, "Oh, what research project?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "Let's not talk about that."

Liu Rui waved his hand and said, "It's fine, my mental health is strong now, just tell me."

Lu Zhou replied, "Navier–Stokes equation."

Liu Rui went silent for a while. He then said, "… The existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution?"

Lu Zhou nodded. "Yes."

Liu Rui: "…"

F*ck sake!

Millennium Prize Problem…

Why is the difference between us so big?

Huang Guangming saw that Liu Rui was feeling down, and so, he quickly said, "Let's talk about something else."

Shi Shang nodded. "Agreed."

The four bros didn't talk about academics for the rest of the night.

After all, they had different development paths in life, and so, they had nothing similar to talk about.

Huang Guangming didn't change much. The only change he had was that he gave a douchey vibe even when he wasn't laughing.

Liu Rui looked more tanned and well-built than before. According to him, that was from playing basketball. When he was an undergrad student, he never played basketball. However, he started playing it after he went to Yan University.

As for Shi Shang, he changed the most among the squad. He went from a boy to a man and looked a lot more mature now.

According to Huang Guangming, Shi Shang could "grow a beard and become a director, put on a pair of glasses and become an insurance broker".

Shi Shang had an eventful year.

His life after graduation didn't go as expected. Rather, it completely deviated from his original plan.

He planned on working to save some money. After that, he wanted to open a little business, and then, to get married and buy a house. By then, Wang Jingya would have finished her master's degree, and they could seal the deal.

However, less than a year after he graduated, something big happened.

The fetus inside of Jingya's body completely changed Shi Shang's plans.

Not only that, but he wasn't able to save up enough money to open a small business in Jinling.

But fortunately, he was able to buy a house in the city.

However, that was with his parent's money…

"… I don't want to say anything else, I just want to say one thing to my bro. If you have a girlfriend, make sure to take safety measures. Don't make the same mistake I did."

Shi Shang lamented to his buddies.

However, Lu Zhou, Huang Guangming, and Liu Rui looked weird.

Huang Guangming was the first to speak.

"Shi Shang."

Shi Shang burped and said, "What?"

Huang Guangming: "Why do I feel like…"

Liu Rui ended it for him. "… You're humble bragging."

Lu Zhou quietly nodded.

Shi Shang rubbed his nose and smiled.

"… What do you mean humble brag… I'm not Lu Zhou, does it look like I would humble brag?"

Huang Guangming: "…"

Liu Rui: "…"

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

They finished eating dinner at 8 p.m.

There was still a lot of food left but the alcohol was gone.

The three originally planned to get Shi Shang wasted. However, they had Liu Rui with them.

As usual, Liu Rui was the first to get wasted.

Like before, he slammed his head on the table and didn't move.

Huang Guangming and Liu Rui came here in Shi Shang's car, but obviously, no one could drive in this state.

Lu Zhou had to call Wang Peng and ask him to drive Shi Shang to the Purple Mountain Hotel.

Liu Rui and Huang Guangming had been living at the hotel for the few days prior to the wedding.

Before Shi Shang got in the car, he patted Lu Zhou's shoulder.

"The wedding is the day after tomorrow, thank you in advance!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

Shi Shang said, "I'm talking about the best man."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Of course?

What else could you be talking about…

Chapter 406: Most Beautiful Day In The Life Of Shi Shang

The day before the wedding, Shi Shang invited the best man and bridesmaids to come out and eat together. It was also for them to become familiar with each other before the wedding.

There were three best men and three bridesmaids. Coincidentally, the bridesmaids were also the bride's university roommates. Although everyone went their own ways after graduation, they all gathered here for the wedding.

A long time ago, when Lu Zhou was still doing his undergrad, Shi Shang arranged a group date between the two dorms.

Although the people in the two dorms weren't close friends, they knew each other's names.

The elegant looking girl with round glasses was called Deng Le, the gorgeous girl with long black hair was Xiao Yunyun, and the girl with short hair was called Qian Hua.

Even after so many years, the girls of Dorm 406 still looked prettier than ever.

"Wow, God Lu is here!" Deng Le stared at Lu Zhou for a while and couldn't believe her eyes. She then said, "Jingya told us you were a best man as well, and we all didn't believe her."

Xiao Yunyun, who was sitting next to her, smiled and said, "Yeah, we didn't expect you to come."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Shi Shang is my good bro, how could I miss his wedding?"

Curious, Deng Le asked, "Oh yeah, God Lu, we always wanted to ask you. What is it like being a Princeton professor?"

Lu Zhou said, "Boring life, hard work."

Xiao Yunyun smiled as she said flirtatiously, "That's because you don't have a girlfriend."

"Maybe!"

Lu Zhou looked away and tried to change the topic of conversation.

In general, the squad had a good time.

Even though there was no alcohol to spice up the atmosphere, the conversation was flowing smoothly.

Other than Qian Hua, because of what happened with Wu Yan, she had a little beef with Lu Zhou.

However, that was so long ago, and she wasn't the innocent and childish girl anymore. Still, the tension between her and Lu Zhou was inevitably awkward.

The two only chatted briefly.

Once the squad finished eating, they went to karaoke.

However, because they had a big thing planned for tomorrow, no one stayed out late. The squad dispersed at 9 p.m.

When Lu Zhou left the karaoke place, he called his driver, Wang Peng. Lu Zhou told Wang Peng to go home as he had booked a room at the Purple Mountain Hotel with his friends.

Wedding day.

Lu Zhou was awakened by a knocking sound that came from the door. He then quickly put on his suit and styled his handsome hair in front of the mirror. He then went outside the hotel to meet up with the group.

The group got in the car and first went to Shi Shang's house in the city. After that, they went to the bride's house. Finally, they returned to the Purple Mountain Hotel.

Shi Shang didn't say anything during the car ride. However, he would look at the squad in the rearview mirror and smile from time to time.

This was probably the happiest day of his life.

…

Although they said that the best man had a lot to do, it actually wasn't the case. All they had to do was act as a backup when picking up the bride. They also had to help the groom with drinking alcohol during the wedding.

The newlyweds were both from Jinling, which saved a lot of trouble.

Before the wedding began, Liu Rui placed his hands on Shi Shang's shoulder and patted.

"Shi Shang, are you nervous?"

Shi Shang took a deep breath and adjusted his tie.

"Nervous! I've never been more nervous in my life!"

Huang Guangming smiled and said, "Then Shi Shang, are you still going through with the wedding?"

Shi Shang stared at him.

"No sh*t!"

How can I back up now…

Huang Guangming's joke took away Shi Shang's nervousness.

Shi Shang was called away by the wedding staff. He joined the bride and went on stage.

The wedding was in motion, and the best man squad had nothing to do.

Normally, they would help to deal with the guests. But nowadays, the guests were handled by the wedding staff.

Lu Zhou tried to help a few times but didn't want to cause any trouble. In the end, he sat in the corner of the venue while eating sunflower seeds and bantering with his friends.

Lu Zhou had to catch the high-speed train after the wedding.

He didn't know when they would meet again.

Time quickly passed by. Liu Rui was talking about his experience studying at Yan University when suddenly a staff member came over.

"Which one is Lu Zhou?"

Lu Zhou spit out the sunflower seed and raised his hand.

"Me, why?"

The staff member's eyes lit up and smiled.

"I've been looking for you. The best man squad's representative will have to speak on stage."

Hearing that, Lu Zhou was stunned. "Speak about what?"

What the hell is the best man squad's representative?

He had never heard Shi Shang mentioned this before.

The staff member smiled and said, "Your good friend is about to get married, don't you want to say anything to him? Just represent your dorm room and say something. You don't have to make it long; one sentence is enough."

Huang Guangming was gloating as he said, "Zhou, just represent us and say a couple of lines. Just say something."

Lu Zhou was muddled, and he asked, "Why me?"

Liu Rui said, "We're both master's students while you're a PhD holder and a professor. You are the most cultured one among us."

Huang Guangming said, "F*ck off! Why do you make it sound like I'm uncultured?"

Liu Rui looked at him and asked, "Do you want to speak?"

Huang Guangming instantly smiled and said, "Never mind, I'm not good at speaking. I might offend someone, and I don't want to screw up Shi Shang's big day… Let's just let Zhou do it."

The host of the wedding was speaking into a microphone on stage.

"… Next up, let us welcome the groom's university roommate who came all the way from America— Professor Lu! Professor Lu will represent the best men and say a couple of lines of blessings!"

The wedding venue erupted in applause.

Some people had heard of Lu Zhou before, and they excitedly looked around the venue as they attempted to find the legendary Crafoord Prize winner.

Some people had never heard of Lu Zhou before, but they knew that it was a nutty thing to be a professor in America.

Since the host of the wedding made the announcement, Lu Zhou had to speak on stage.

He patted the sunflower seeds off his body before he stood up from his chair. He then adjusted his tie before he walked through the crowd and onto the stage.

He stood in front of the guests and calmly took over the microphone.

Lu Zhou looked at the newlyweds and began to think.

Lu Zhou never got stage fright.

But what should he say?

Chapter 407: Life Isn't Only About Mathematics, There Are Physics And Chemistry As Well

This wasn't Lu Zhou's first time speaking on stage.

However, this was his first time speaking as a best man at his friend's wedding.

Lu Zhou took the microphone, but he remained speechless.

He was a loner that had never had a girlfriend before, what insight could he possibly give?

The guests saw that Lu Zhou wasn't speaking and began to whisper to each other.

Qian Hua looked at Lu Zhou. Shen then looked at her friend and whispered, "Does he have stage fright?"

Xiao Yunyun smiled and teased.

"He's a big scientist; he's setting the mood."

Qian Hua said, "Pfft, who cares about some mathematician. He understands mathematics, but he doesn't understand life."

"Okay, okay. Please stop arguing…" Deng Le interrupted the two and said, "Yunyun, how about you go on stage and save him?"

Normally, the maid of honor would speak after the best man.

If Professor Lu really couldn't handle speaking at a stage like this, then the wedding host could easily rescue him.

Xiao Yunyun just had to give a beautiful speech and save the day.

Xiao Yunyun said, "I don't mind, I've done my preparation…"

Just as the host was about to save Lu Zhou, he suddenly spoke.

"From the beginning of the universe to the evaporation of the last black hole, we know that the probability of birth is only a billionth of a billionth of a billionth…"

The wedding venue quieted down.

The young folks stopped chatting while the older folks put down the sunflower seeds.

Even the children stopped screwing around…

Everyone focused their attention on stage.

It wasn't because of Lu Zhou's opening. It was because they were curious about what this professor from Princeton had to say.

Lu Zhou looked around at the wedding guests, and he felt that he was in the zone.

It was like he was back in a Princeton lecture hall.

He continued in a monotonic voice, "As we know, the probability of two lives meeting is less than the square of a billionth of a billionth…"

He wasn't sure if the guests knew what he was talking about.

He wasn't sure if they understood this astronomically low number.

He had never used sensational words like this.

He was never a dramatic person.

He probably would never be one.

But right now, he wanted to send his blessings to his friend.

"From a probability perspective, the greatest miracle in the universe is not the death of stars, the formation of galaxies, or the evaporation of black holes…

"Rather, it's the miracle of two people meeting each other and falling in love on this billion-year timeline.

"Maybe because mathematics is too interesting, I'm rarely interested in anything other than mathematics. At most, I'll dabble in chemistry or physics… But even then, even though I don't understand the meaning of love, I can feel that you two truly love each other."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then looked at the groom and bride before he continued, "Hence, I sincerely wish you guys the best and that you can love each other like I love mathematics. Cherish… this miraculous moment."

The crowd erupted in applause.

The applause was louder than what Lu Zhou had expected.

He never thought that the speech he made up on the spot would resonate with the crowd to this level.

However, he noticed that it wasn't just the crowd that was cheering. Even the groom on stage was feeling quite emotional as well…

The handsome man who was in a tux nearly started to cry.

"Zhou…"

Would it be bad for Shi Shang to cry?

I guess it doesn't matter.

Lu Zhou smiled at Shi Shang and nodded. He then handed the microphone back to the wedding host.

Then, he walked off the stage…

Xiao Yunyun watched Lu Zhou walked off stage and said, "Wow, even though he's a mathematician… he's still good with words."

People used to say that mathematicians were the best at picking up girls.

She didn't believe it before, but she did now.

Deng Le said emotionally, "Yeah… I thought he was more of the introverted type and that he might have stage fright. I didn't expect him to own the stage."

With a proud expression on her face, Xiao Yunyun looked at Qian Hua.

"What do you think, Qian Hua?"

Qian Hua pulled herself together.

"Ah… What?"

Xiao Yunyun and Deng Le looked at each other.

Why do I feel like…

This chick…

Is acting a bit weird?

After Lu Zhou finished his speech, the bridesmaid went on stage and congratulated the newly-wed couple.

The wedding went into its most climatic stage.

Everyone watched as the groom put a ring on the bride.

From that moment, there were two less lonely people in the world…

…

The wedding came to an end.

Most of the relatives and friends that came to the wedding had finished their meals and were beginning to leave the venue.

Lu Zhou went to the bathroom to wash his hands. When he came out, he was stopped by someone.

He looked at the short-haired girl standing in front of him and said, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Qian Hua said as she shook her head. She then looked down as she continued, "I just want to say… sorry to you. I stepped over the line."

Lu Zhou was stunned, and when he replied, he spoke in a relaxed tone.

"It's fine, I didn't take it to heart."

That was three years ago, Lu Zhou had nearly forgotten about what had happened.

After all, everyone would get overwhelmed by emotions sometimes.

Not to mention, she never did anything to Lu Zhou other than defending her idol.

Lu Zhou wasn't easily offended, which was why he was still good friends with Liu Rui.

"If there's nothing else, I'll see you around."

Qian Hua saw that Lu Zhou was leaving, and she quickly said, "Wait a second…"

Lu Zhou stopped and looked back at her.

"Anything else?"

"When this is all over… Can I buy you a drink?" Qian Hua said while blushing. "As a payback."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Some other day then. I have to catch a train later."

Qian Hua: …?

Other than celebrating Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou had important things to do in China.

One was to attend the Science and Technology Award Conference, and the other was to attend Shi Shang's wedding.

Since Shi Shang's wedding was over, all he had to do now was to celebrate the holiday with his family.

This was his only time in the year to relax…

Chapter 408: Chinese New Year

At the parking lot of a high-speed train station.

Lu Zhou took his suitcase out from the trunk before he looked at Wang Peng.

"Just drop me off here."

"Okay." Wang Peng's reply was simple as he opened the car door in a soldier-like motion.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng as he got back into the car, and he suddenly remembered something.

"Wait a second."

Wang Peng got out from the driver's seat and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Lu Zhou said, "You won't… drive all the way to Jiangling, right?"

Wang Peng nodded and said, "Of course, the higher-ups told me to make sure that your travel is convenient and safe."

I knew it!

Thank god I asked him!

Lu Zhou immediately said, "It's the holidays, and everyone is going to be on break. Go home to your family, and don't follow me."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "It's fine, this is my job. I don't mind working during the holidays!"

Lu Zhou was worried, and he said, "I can't let you do this!"

Wang Peng smiled as he replied, "No, really. It's fine."

Lu Zhou said, "No, this is not about politeness. Listen to me. Drive home and have a great Chinese New Year. I don't need a car during the holidays anyway. Also, if I bring you home, they…"

Wang Peng said, "They?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "My dad has been asking me to look for a partner. If I bring you home this year… I'm afraid it'll look bad."

Wang Peng: "…"

…

At last, Lu Zhou was able to convince Wang Peng to go back to Beijing for the holidays.

Spending Chinese New Year with one's family was more important than one's job.

Lu Zhou got on the high-speed train and headed east, and he soon arrived at Jiangling.

When he arrived at his hometown, Lu Zhou took a deep breath of air. Without wasting another second, he got into a taxi that was parked outside the train station and immediately went home.

Once he arrived at the doorsteps of the house with his bags, he pressed the doorbell, and soon, he could hear the sound of slippers running on the hardwood floors.

The door opened, and when Xiao Tong saw Lu Zhou standing outside, her eyes were wide open as she asked, "Oh, brother, why did you buy so many things?"

"Some are gifts, and some are stuff that I bought at the airport duty-free shop. Your gift is in the suitcase. As usual, find it yourself…" Lu Zhou said while he dragged the suitcase and bags into the house.

Suddenly, he noticed Xiao Tong looking behind him, and he asked, "What are you looking for?"

Xiao Tong looked at Lu Zhou and sighed.

"Ah, bro, I'm sad…"

Lu Zhou patted his sister's forehead and gently pushed her.

"Stop giving me this sh*t, let me go in!"

Lu Zhou gave his suitcases to Xiao Tong before he walked past the living room and into the kitchen.

Fang Mei was about to cut a live fish with a knife when she suddenly saw her son standing outside the kitchen door. Startled, she nearly dropped the knife.

For Lu Zhou who hadn't seen his mother in a long time, he started to tear up.

He then took a deep breath and put on a bright smile on his face.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Welcome, welcome home!" Fang Mei had a glistening smile as she said, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I didn't prepare any food."

Lu Zhou rubbed his nose and said, "I wanted to give you a surprise."

"What surprise? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Fang Mei looked at her son. Grabbing the fish, she said, "Go chill in the living room first, I'll grill some fish for you."

Fang Mei picked up the knife and fiercely chopped off the fish head.

The fish twitched for a couple of seconds before it lay dead on the chopping board.

It was half-past five when Old Lu got off work and went home.

When he saw his son sitting on the sofa, he was just as surprised as Fang Mei. He then started to ask Lu Zhou a bunch of questions.

When Old Lu saw the box of tea on the coffee table, he said, "Why did you bring so much tea back? We have a ton at home."

Curious, Lu Zhou looked at his dad and asked, "Dad, did you finally start buying tea?"

Old Lu replied, "I didn't buy it myself, the office gave it to me."

Lu Zhou was even more confused, and he asked, "When did your office get so rich?"

Old Lu grinned.

"Long story… The higher-ups transferred me to the logistics team a while back, right? The compensation there is a lot better there. Anyway, you don't have to worry about us, so don't bring so much stuff back next time. These big bags of gifts are hard to travel with. Just bring a wife back next time."

Lu Zhou coughed and tried to divert the conversation.

"Oh yeah, dad, can I ask you something?"

Old Lu: "What?"

Lu Zhou squatted down next to one of the suitcases, opened the zipper, and took out a letter.

"I have a couplet paper here. See if there's any glue in the house and stick this on the front door."

Old Lu took the couplet paper and said, "Oh, this is well written. Did you write it?"

"Not me," Lu Zhou said. He then smiled as he continued, "It was written by Academician Lu. He was my supervisor during my master's degree."

"An academician wrote it? That's impressive! I'll stick it on right now," Old Lu said. He then stood up from the sofa and walked toward his toolbox.

Given that Old Lu had barely left Jiangling City during his lifetime, it was rare for him to meet an academician. He had heard that academicians were the top scholars of the country.

He was certain that the couplet paper would bring him good luck.

As Old Lu stood outside and looked at the couplet paper that he had just stuck on the door, he could not help but rub his chin with satisfaction.

However, after a while, he suddenly shook his head.

"Unfortunate."

Lu Zhou stood next to him and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Why is it unfortunate?"

Old Lu sighed and said, "It was unfortunate because Xiao Tong had already finished her exams. This luck is wasted."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Dad, your son is a scientist, can you not be so superstitious?"

"This isn't superstition, everyone believes in it…" Old Lu made a hand gesture, but he couldn't find a way to explain this feeling. In the end, he said, "Ah, forget about it, I can't explain it to you! Go, your mother has finished cooking. Let's go and help her set the table!"

Chapter 409: A High Viscosity Fluid Coefficien

The food was on the table.

The family sat around the table and began to eat dinner.

After dinner, Lu Zhou helped his parents clean up the table.

Originally, he wanted to help his parents with the dishes, but his mother wouldn't let him. Therefore, Old Lu told Lu Zhou to stay in the living room.

The kitchen wasn't big enough for three people.

Lu Zhou didn't insist. Instead, he went to sit in the living room and watch TV.

Xiao Tong lay on the sofa next to him, and she was playing on her phone. Suddenly, she looked at her brother and asked, "Bro, can you win the Nobel Prize this year?"

When Lu Zhou heard her question, he smiled and said, "I don't know, but some people told me that they'd recommend me to the Nobel Committee."

Xiao Tong tilted her head and said, "Who?"

"Gerhard Ertl, a German guy… You don't know him."

During the conference at Germany, the Nobel Prize winner told Lu Zhou that he would write recommendation letters to the Nobel Committee until Lu Zhou won a prize.

Lu Zhou was pretty excited at that time, but now, he realized it was nothing to be excited about.

It wasn't uncommon to chase after a Nobel Prize for decades, especially in theoretical fields. There were only a handful of cases where the Nobel Prize was given right after the research results came out. Winning the first-level State Natural Science Award had used up all of Lu Zhou's luck. Furthermore, there was still a Fields Medal in August waiting for him.

Winning the Nobel Prize might take a while.

Xiao Tong murmured, "You're insane…"

Lu Zhou smiled. "Work hard. Since you are studying economics, maybe you can also win a Nobel Prize someday."

Xiao Tong muttered, "No way, my mathematics isn't that good…"

The Nobel Prize in Economics was a prize for mathematicians. This was a well-known piece of information. For economics, most of its Nobel Prize winners had a mathematics background or at least a high level of literacy in mathematics.

In 1969, the first Nobel Prize in Economics was given to Professor Frisch and Professor Tinbergen. The former was a mathematician while the latter was a physicist. It was obvious that the Nobel Committee favored people in quantitative fields. The reason why these two won the award was that mathematics and physics were heavily related to "econometrics".

Lu Zhou smiled as he said, "That's not a good excuse. Your brother is right here, so you shouldn't worry that mathematics would be a problem."

Xiao Tong stopped her game and threw her phone aside. She then sat crossed-legged on the sofa and said, "Brother, does this mean that you're going to carry me?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "I can carry you, but you need to at least rank up to Diamond in Honor of Kings first. I can't carry you if you don't carry yourself. It's not fun if I have to do everything."

Lu Zhou wasn't very interested in the Nobel Prize in Economics. After all, his patents had already brought him financial freedom, and he didn't have to worry about money.

However, if Xiao Tong was interested in economics, Lu Zhou wouldn't mind helping her.

Of course, Xiao Tong had to reach a level that was worthy of his help first.

No academic institution would recognize her contribution if she only did miscellaneous work and wrote her name on the thesis.

"… Oh, okay, I will work hard." Xiao Tong sighed and looked at her phone. After a while, she couldn't handle the temptation anymore, and she quickly started another game.

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

She was on her holiday right now, so there was nothing wrong with relaxing. There wouldn't be any point for her to start studying now. What she needed was discipline, not motivation.

As for the Nobel Prize, that actually wasn't important.

Lu Zhou just hoped that she could have a goal during her university years so that she would know what to do instead of wasting four years of her life.

…

Family Lu had never stuck couplet papers on their front door before.

This was their first time, and therefore, it attracted the curiosity of many neighbors.

Old Lu loved to brag, and whenever people asked about the couplet, he would tell them that an academician wrote it for his son, thus making everyone envious.

Some people even began to think… Even though the couplet was written by an academician, wasn't Old Lu's son a lot stronger than the academician?

Old Lu's son was a scientist that went on national television and won that Swedish prize.

Therefore, many people were interested in Lu Zhou's luck.

Whenever Old Lu would go to the office, his colleagues and even his bosses would ask him for Lu Zhou's couplet. Not just that, but some people even began to knock on Old Lu's door and give him gifts.

They all wanted a couplet paper from a big name scientist.

After all, there wasn't a scholar more knowledgeable than Lu Zhou in the entire city.

If they could obtain a couplet paper from the big scientist, they might bring some of that "luck" into their own homes. This was especially valuable for families that had children who were about to do the college entrance examination.

Old Lu was an easy going guy, and he wanted to please everyone.

He agreed to all of the couplet paper requests.

However, Lu Zhou was the one that had to suffer…

When Lu Zhou heard his dad's requests, he said, "Dad, why are you bragging! I've never even held a couplet brush before, how do you expect me to write it?"

Old Lu said, "Your writing is pretty good, right? Someone even gave you a brush, so just write whatever."

He seemed to realize the problem, but he decided to let his son deal with it.

In his mind, if his son could solve the Goldbach's conjecture, then writing a few words should be a piece of cake.

Should be…

Lu Zhou said, "Is a brush the same as a pen?"

Old Lu said, "Don't worry about it and just write something. It doesn't matter as long as you wrote it yourself."

Lu Zhou had to practice writing with a brush.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhou's handwriting was good, or perhaps it was because Lu Zhou was naturally talented, but although it was a bit difficult in the beginning, Lu Zhou managed to get the hang of it after practicing for a while.

Lu Zhou found out that when he was immersed in writing, his entire body calmed down.

It was almost like the knot in his heart was being untied.

He hadn't felt like this in a long time…

Lu Zhou treated the writing as a mission.

He even began to enjoy it.

Lu Zhou finally finished writing all of the couplets for his father a week before the Chinese New Year.

He suddenly realized that the couplet paper that Academician Lu gave him was missing a third line.

Although not having a third line didn't matter, Lu Zhou felt like something was missing.

He twirled the brush in the ink.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou frowned.

"Xiao Tong."

"What, bro?" Xiao Tong was playing Honor of Kings on the sofa, and she looked at Lu Zhou and said, "I have to tell you first, I don't know how to write couplets."

"I didn't ask you to help me." Lu Zhou stared at the ink and stopped writing. He then asked, "Don't you think ink is like fluid?"

A type of fluid with a high viscosity coefficient.

Xiao Tong said, "Fluid?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah."

Xiao Tong looked at the ink first. She then looked at Lu Zhou.

She then said hesitantly, "Brother."

Lu Zhou: "Yeah?"

Xiao Tong said in a serious manner, "Are you retarded?"

Lu Zhou: "… F*ck off!"

Lu Zhou threw the brush aside. Without wasting any time, he went into his room. He then quickly found some draft paper.

Once he had the paper with him, he sat in front of his desk and began to think.

Inspiration would always come at unexpected times, making it difficult to capture.

Just now, Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea in his mind.

However, the idea was too abstract, and it nearly slipped away from his mind.

What Lu Zhou had to do now was to take the abstract idea and transform it into written mathematics…

Chapter 410: Town of Princeton

Lu Zhou didn't end up writing the third line for the couplet.

However, he made some unexpected progress on his research on the Navier–Stokes equation.

"The Navier-Stokes equation on the Euclidean space R3 can be expressed as ∂tμ = Δμ + B (μ, μ), where B is a bilinear operator on the vector field without divergence, and μ obeys elimination =0…"

Lu Zhou quickly wrote it down on the draft paper while muttering to himself. Suddenly, he stopped and shook his head.

"I said I wouldn't touch mathematics when I'm home, but I can't control myself…"

Lu Zhou stopped writing. He shoved the draft paper into his suitcase, and he planned to continue with the research when he was back at Princeton.

He had an entire year to do all the research he wanted.

But he could only be with his family right now…

…

Lu Zhou didn't do any research at all for the rest of the holiday. Instead, he focused on having a great vacation.

Lu Zhou took a half a month break and felt full of energy; his entire soul felt resurrected.

The home-cooked meals had enhanced his appetite.

Unfortunately, he couldn't gain any weight no matter how much he ate.

The Lus had a relaxing and happy Chinese New Year.

After Chinese New Year was over, Lu Zhou bade farewell to his family and went back to Princeton.

Lu Zhou got on the high-speed train. He then got onto the subway and headed to the airport.

While Lu Zhou was sitting in the terminal and scrolling through Weibo to kill time, he suddenly received a text from Chen Yushan.

Chen Yushan: [Little Brother, when are you going back to school?]

When Lu Zhou saw the message on his screen, he typed a reply.

[I'm about to board the plane.]

Ding!

Lu Zhou quickly received a reply.

Chen Yushan: [Ah, you didn't wait for me, how could you! :( ]

Lu Zhou: …?

You didn't tell me that you wanted to fly together…

But speaking of which, when did Chen Yushan start acting cute?

Lu Zhou looked at the text message and almost thought it was from Xiao Ai.

He got on the plane to fly to Shanghai. From Shanghai, he flew over the Pacific Ocean.

After more than 20 hours of flying, Lu Zhou finally dragged his suitcase out of Philadelphia airport.

His student Jerick was in his Ford Explorer, and he was waiting outside at the airport parking lot. In fact, Jerick had been waiting for a while.

When he saw Lu Zhou walking out of the airport, he waved his hand excitedly before popping open the car trunk.

"Professor, you're finally back! How was your holiday?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It was great, how about you guys? Are you guys doing okay during my absence?"

Jerick smiled. "Very good, but it feels like something is missing when you are gone."

Jerick started the car and drove Lu Zhou back to the quiet town of Princeton.

This town had a magical vibe, and Lu Zhou could feel himself getting back into the zone.

Lu Zhou rested at home for the day.

The next day, he woke up early and had breakfast before he went to the Institute for Advanced Study to look for Professor Fefferman.

When he arrived at Professor Fefferman's office, he saw some of Fefferman's PhD students there.

The moment Professor Fefferman saw Lu Zhou in front of his office door, he immediately stopped writing as he said in a cheerful tone, "How was your holiday?"

Lu Zhou replied, "Pretty good, I haven't had a long holiday in a while."

Professor Fefferman said, "Yeah? It might start to get busy from here on."

Lu Zhou smiled slightly.

"I'm prepared for it."

The two set up a Navier–Stokes equation research team a while ago and made quite a lot of progress on the Navier–Stokes equation. However, Lu Zhou had to return to China for the award, and the research was temporarily paused.

However, even though Lu Zhou was on holiday, Professor Fefferman didn't stop researching. In fact, he had been studying the problems they encountered during the research.

Professor Fefferman stood up from his desk and went to stand next to the window. He asked abruptly, "Do you smoke?"

Lu Zhou replied, "I don't, why?"

"Nothing, it's good not to smoke," Professor Fefferman said as he lit up a cigarette. He handed Lu Zhou the cigarette before he said, "But sometimes, it gives me inspiration when I least expect it."

Lu Zhou took the cigarette from Professor Fefferman and looked at the smoke coming out of the cigarette.

The smoke from the cigarette slowly floated upward and gradually dispersed.

It was like a liquid with a low viscosity coefficient.

Lu Zhou stared at the burning cigarette for a while before he asked, "What do you want to tell me?"

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "Often, the liquid we study is just like this. Its Brownian motion diverges, and it completely loses its predictability. Even mathematics can't explain this chaotic state."

Lu Zhou didn't say anything. Instead, he patiently waited for Fefferman to finish.

"Recently, I've been thinking about the question you left behind," Professor Fefferman said as he walked to the blackboard. He then smiled as he picked up a piece of chalk and said, "Last time, we got Pμi:= Ii-(Δ^-1)·δi·δj·μj. I did some analysis on it and found something interesting…"

He then wrote on the blackboard.

[

This was Lu Zhou's research result which he wrote on the blackboard last time.

But Professor Fefferman did some further research.

"Given a Schwarz non-dispersive vector field μ0, time interval I ⊂ [0, + ∞), we define a generalized solution H10 of the Navier-Stokes equation as continuous obedience integral equation μ(t) Map μ→H10df(R3)…"

He wrote again on the blackboard.

[μ(t)=e^(t△)·μ0+∫e^(t-t')△B(μ(t'), μ(t'))dt']

[…]

As the two PhD students in the office looked at the blackboard, they were confused by what they were seeing. They then looked away and focused on their own work.

Geniuses working on a problem…

I can't understand it…

Fefferman finished writing the last line of calculations and put the chalk down. He then looked back at Lu Zhou.

"What do you think?"

Lu Zhou stared at the blackboard for a while before he asked, "You constructed a partial differential equation that's similar to the Navier–Stokes equation?"

"That's right!" Professor Fefferman said in a relaxed tone, "I constructed an abstract bilinear operator B', which has similarities to the Euler linear operator B in μ(t), but it is also different than B."

"If we prove this stronger conclusion is true…"

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "Then we can prove the original conclusion is also true!"

Chapter 411: Explosive Equation?

Lu Zhou and Professor Fefferman reached a consensus on the proof idea, but there was a problem on how to go about constructing this abstract bilinear operator B'.

It had to have a similar nonlinear structure to the Euler linear operator B in μ(t), but at the same time, it also had to be different from B.

"Nonlinear" partial differential equations were complex.

And the series of problems derived from it was even more complex…

The first seminar in March; in a small conference room at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Fefferman stared at the calculations on the blackboard and said thoughtfully, "I can guarantee you that we are close to the final result… We are so close."

Lu Zhou threw the chalk on the podium and nodded at the blackboard.

However, even though he nodded, he wasn't happy at all. In fact, he looked a bit gloomy.

After a while, Lu Zhou said, "… I feel the same way."

Professor Fefferman sighed and uncrossed his arms.

"Sometimes failure and success is only an inch apart, you know? I'm even starting to doubt…"

Lu Zhou looked at him.

"Doubt?"

Professor Fefferman nodded and said, "Although we were optimistic that this proposition must be correct, the results tell us that it may not be as perfect as what we think."

Professor Fefferman spoke in an uncertain tone; it was completely different from when he was lecturing.

This was the first time he had been uncertain at his calculations.

Lu Zhou stared at the blackboard and went silent for a while. After a while, he finally talked again.

"This is ridiculous."

Professor Fefferman sighed and said, "It is. This is ridiculous… but it's not illogical."

He took out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket.

Normally, smoking wasn't allowed in the conference rooms; smokers had to go to the smoking room.

But this rule didn't apply when one was doing research.

After all, the Institute for Advanced Study was established for science, and every rule here was made for scholars to do research.

Without hesitating, Professor Fefferman lit the cigarette and carefully placed it on the multimedia desk.

The smoke from the cigarette spiraled up into the air.

Soon after, the smoke gradually dispersed and disappeared into the air without a trace.

Professor Fefferman looked at this phenomenon as he spoke confidently.

"The final state of all systems is chaos, just like our equations. The μΔ value explodes as time increases and blasts truth into the universe. When the time variable is magnified, the equation will explode at an unknown point, and the solution will no longer be smooth…"

This point could not be infinite, and it definitely existed.

It was difficult to find its value by using existing mathematical tools. It was just like how the mathematicians could not solve the Navier–Stokes equation. However, it could be proved indirectly… provided that the proof process wasn't wrong.

Professor Fefferman didn't say anything else. Instead, he lit up another cigarette and smoked both at once.

Lu Zhou was certain that this wasn't for science; it was only for Fefferman to relax.

Lu Zhou admitted that this was an uncomfortable feeling.

The results of the calculations were clear, but it deviated from common sense.

Would a car that was driving on the highway self-disintegrate at a random certain point in time? This was impossible. The worse case was a speeding ticket from the police.

If the conclusion was correct, then the three dimensional Navier–Stokes equation would undoubtedly "explode" past a certain point.

This meant that at some point in time and space, it would no longer retain its regularity…

This was ridiculous!

…

The Navier–Stokes equation research team reached a bottleneck.

At night, Lu Zhou went back to his routine. He put on his running attire and jogged around Lake Carnegie as he tried to relax his mind by breathing in the fresh air.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do so.

The problem that he discussed with Professor Fefferman earlier kept lingering in his mind.

Lu Zhou began to run faster and faster, and without knowing it, he was already sprinting.

He exhausted all of his energy, and his legs felt as if they were becoming heavier. He finally stopped running.

While panting, Lu Zhou walked to the grassy area and sat down.

Suddenly, a can of sports drink was thrown on the grass, and it rolled and stopped next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Molina in sportswear. She was holding another can of sports drink.

"For you."

Lu Zhou opened the can and took a big gulp.

He sighed in relief as he felt the cool liquid moving down his chest. He then wiped his mouth.

"Thank you," Lu Zhou said.

"You're welcome."

Molina sat next to Lu Zhou. She opened her can of drink and took a sip.

When she saw that Lu Zhou was still panting, she said, "This isn't like you."

Lu Zhou smiled as he asked, "What do you mean?"

Molina said, "You were in much better shape two months ago. I guess you were completely relaxed during the holidays."

Molina sounded like she was gloating. However, Lu Zhou didn't know what she was gloating about.

Despite his time off, Lu Zhou could still easily destroy Molina's supervisor at the IMU conference that was to be held in August this year…

"Maybe."

Lu Zhou tossed the can into the garbage bin like it was a basketball.

The can swished into the garbage bin.

Lu Zhou began to stare at the lake.

He stayed silent for five minutes. Suddenly, he asked, "Do you think that Lake Carnegie will suddenly explode?"

"Are you saying there's a bomb under the lake?" Molina raised her eyebrows and said, "You can't make this joke in this country."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I meant… under normal conditions."

Molina said, "Of course not… Why do you ask that?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Because mathematics tells me there's a possibility of it happening."

Molina snorted.

"That's bizarre."

Lu Zhou looked at the lake water that was sparkling under the sunset as well as the kayaking club members training before he murmured, "Yeah, this is bizarre."

But, is it possible?

For example, a water molecule in the system that is moving irregularly. Could its vector of motion randomly erupt in chaos? Just like how natural disasters are caused by coincidences where all of the "volatile" energy is released in an instant.

Lu Zhou kept thinking about the lake evaporating in an instant.

It won't happen unless…

I throw a large bomb in the lake or something.

However, Lu Zhou research obviously didn't include "external factors".

Molina asked, "The lake exploding is a part of the Navier–Stokes equation?"

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, "Yes."

Chapter 412: Lu Manifold?

Molina stared blankly at Lu Zhou for around half a minute. Suddenly, she reached out her hand.

Lu Zhou felt that his forehead was about to be touched, and he quickly ducked.

"What are you doing?"

Molina said nonchalantly, "Nothing, I just wanted to see if you're sick."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Molina looked at Lu Zhou as she asked in a serious tone, "Seriously, I haven't studied partial differential equations before, but why are you trying to complicate the problem?"

Lu Zhou patted the grass off his shorts before he stood up.

"I want to make it simple, but I can't. It's that complicated."

Molina stood up, and as she walked in front of Lu Zhou, she said, "If a calculation has violated some basic common sense, then there's a high probability that it is wrong."

Lu Zhou didn't deny her claim.

"Maybe you're right, I agree with you. However, when it comes to the solution of a three dimensional Navier–Stokes equation, I want to know why…"

Lu Zhou looked at the lake as he continued, "Why our equation exploded…"

…

"Explosion" was also called divergence. At least, they were called so in the field of computational fluid dynamics. Many of these authors also like to use "blew up" as a way to describe this troublesome phenomenon.

Mathematically speaking, an explosion could mean many things, like when the denominator of a solution was 0, or when the matrix solution didn't converge…

But when it came to the Navier–Stokes equation, exploding meant divergence. It referred to a certain point in time and space where the flow rate of the fluid became faster and faster and moved towards infinity. This violated common sense.

People had proved half a century ago that this point didn't exist in two-dimensional space, which meant that the Navier–Stokes equation had a unique and stable two-dimensional solution. But no one in the academic community knew what would happen when one applied the Navier–Stokes equation into a three-dimensional system.

The mathematics community was generally optimistic about the existence of a three dimensional smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution. People who were in the field of computational fluid mechanics were also optimistic. Because if a smooth solution didn't exist, then their phenomenological models would be equivalent to using lies to explain lies.

By the time Lu Zhou returned home, he was drenched in sweat. He threw his clothes into the washing machine and went to take a shower.

The feeling of hot water flowing down his body helped his mind to relax.

The idea of an indirect proof using bilinear operators might be flawed. Therefore, instead of being entangled with an uncertain piece of proof, it might be better to try another proof method.

This type of problem often challenged the limit of the human mind; there was no correct way to solve it.

The differential geometry community never thought about partial differential equations before the Calabi Conjecture was solved. After the Calabi Conjecture was solved, geometric analysis on partial differential equations was born.

Maybe Lu Zhou could discover something even more valuable while he attempted to solve the Navier–Stokes equation?

He went into his study room and opened his computer. He began to search for material on the Navier–Stokes equation.

After all, this was a century-old problem that came with a reward from the Clay Institute. The Navier–Stokes equation had a crucial position in the field of partial differential equations, and therefore, many scholars had produced beautiful research results based on this problem.

Every time Lu Zhou's research reached its bottleneck, he would try to solve the puzzle by finding research documents.

Just like how Perelman immediately solved the Poincaré conjecture after reading a thesis on the Ricci flow, Lu Zhou was using a similar method.

However…

Finding the piece of the puzzle wasn't so easy.

The sky outside the window was covered with stars; the clock hit 12 o'clock.

Lu Zhou sighed and leaned against his chair as he pinched his glabella.

His mind was filled with erratic thoughts; he was thinking about writing ink and cigarette smoke. It made his head hurt.

Suddenly, amid this foggy thoughts, Lu Zhou had a slight enlightened moment.

"If I don't have a tool, why don't I build one…"

If I take each abstraction of a molecule as a point and collect these points into a Euclidean space, then I can construct an approximate three-dimensional space and use topology…

But this feels like I'm making this "simple" problem even more "complex".

But I think…

It might work?

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up.

Lu Zhou grasped firmly on his inspiration and quickly picked up the pen to write down a line of words on the paper.

[Lu Manifold]

After that, he couldn't stop writing…

…

Time always flew by when Lu Zhou was immersed in research.

In a blink of an eye, it was already April.

Over the past month and a half, Lu Zhou mostly locked himself in his room and had a boring spring break.

During this time, other than when Vera came to his house to give him her lecture report, Lu Zhou had basically cut off all communication with the outside world.

In fact, even though Lu Zhou was the one that asked Vera to give him the lecture report, he hadn't even read the report once.

Professor Lu had a unique approach to research that even undergrad students had come to know about it from the older students.

Perhaps Professor Fefferman knew that Lu Zhou's research had gone into a critical stage as he didn't bother Lu Zhou at all during this period of time. He stopped all regular research exchange meetings and began doing his own independent research.

Lu Zhou finally produced some results.

He stopped writing and looked at the draft paper with a smile on his face.

Lu Zhou's brain could finally relax, and he began to think of some unimportant things.

Like whether the name "Lu Manifold" was a good name or not?

What if he changed it to "LZ Manifold" or "Lu Zhou Fold"?

Lu Zhou thought about it and decided not to torture future generations.

The former sounded weird and the latter didn't roll off the tongue well.

"I'll just stick with Lu Manifold, L Manifold or L Fold for short!"

Lu Zhou was happy with this name. He changed the manuscript title and put the papers aside. He was about to import the contents into the computer.

He then turned on his computer and was about to get to work when a blue notification popped on the corner of his computer screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail!]

When Lu Zhou saw this notification, he immediately clicked on the link that Xiao Ai included in its message.

The email was from the Annual Mathematics journal.

It was about the Collatz conjecture.

Lu Zhou read the email from the beginning to the end and smiled.

Although this was expected, he was still sincerely happy for his students.

Chapter 413: Congratulations On Graduating

The next day, Lu Zhou ended his research retreat and went to his office at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

As usual, his students were there.

When they saw Lu Zhou in front of the office door, they were all surprised.

Vera was the first to speak.

Her little mouth opened, and she said in an astonished tone, "Professor, your retreat is over?"

"I guess so…" Lu Zhou looked at Vera before he looked at Hardy, and he could tell everyone was surprised.

He then asked, "Why are you guys looking at me like this?"

Jerick murmured, "Because if you come out of the house, it means you've succeeded…"

Wei Wen said, "Which means you've solved the Millennium Prize Problem?"

"Nope, but I have made some in-progress results." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "But I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about the Collatz conjecture."

Qin Yue asked, "Annual Mathematics replied?"

"Yes, your thesis was brilliant and Professor Peter Sarnak, who was your reviewer, had a high evaluation of your thesis." Lu Zhou smiled as he continued, "Your thesis will be in the next issue of Annual Mathematics."

When Vera heard that the reviewer was Peter Sarnak, she had a surprised look on her face.

Professor Sarnak was one of the leaders of modern number theory. They had obviously heard of him before.

Lu Zhou paused for a moment before he continued, "As I said, the Collatz conjecture is your graduation thesis. I originally only expect you to make a little progress on the conjecture, and I really didn't expect you guys to solve the entire conjecture. I have to say, your performance really impressed me."

Qin Yue smiled and said, "It's mainly thanks to the mathematics tools that you provided. We couldn't have done it on our own."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Tools still require a smart person to apply them. You guys are talented, so you don't have to be humble. I hope you guys can continue down the number theory path and achieve greatness in the additive number theory field."

He adjusted his demeanor and continued, "You guys have now officially graduated!"

Clap clap clap…

The office was filled with applause with Jerick and Wei Wen clapping the loudest.

Especially Wei Wen, he was looking jealously at Qin Yue.

Being able to publish a thesis on Annual Mathematics for the proof of the Collatz conjecture…

It was no exaggeration to say that Qin Yue's name would appear in the Thousand People Initiative.

Whether Qin Yue wanted to stay overseas or return to China, there would be various academic institutions that would offer him a salary he couldn't refuse.

Lu Zhou paused for a second. As he looked at his three students, he said, "I want to hear about your plans for the future."

Whether his students wanted to keep researching or go work at another university, Lu Zhou would do anything he could to help.

For example, he could write letters of recommendation.

In academia, having a recommendation letter from a well-known scholar could be the deciding factor in an interview. Even if the interviewee didn't perform well, his application would be taken seriously…

Hardy smiled and said, "Professor, if you want, I wish to continue studying under you."

Lu Zhou replied, "Why wouldn't I want that? I certainly welcome you guys to study a PhD under me."

Although Hardy was a bit naughty sometimes, his strength was still ok.

Anyone that could study a master's in mathematics at Princeton was talented in their own respective fields of study. There were only "talented" and "extremely talented" students at Princeton.

Vera already told Lu Zhou her plans last year. She had even given Lu Zhou the application form. Qin Yue also planned to continue his studies at Princeton.

All three of his students planned on furthering their studies. Lu Zhou's research team at Princeton would soon consist of a postdoc computational materials fellow, three PhD students, and two master's students.

As for whether or not Lu Zhou wanted more students…

This depended on whether there were any new talents that could attract his interest.

After Lu Zhou finished dealing with his students, he made plans with Professor Fefferman to meet up.

He had a lot of research results to exchange with his partner…

…

A conference room at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Fefferman read Lu Zhou's manuscript and rubbed his chin.

"Differential manifold… Seems interesting."

Compared to the abstract proof method, using a differential manifold to research the Navier–Stokes equation was undoubtedly a novel idea. Using a topology method seemed to be feasible.

However, Professor Fefferman had never done any research in this area. Therefore, he couldn't give Lu Zhou a definitive answer.

Professor Fefferman read the manuscript in its entirety before he asked, "How did you think of it?"

Lu Zhou said, "I was inspired when I was running around Lake Carnegie."

Surprised, Professor Fefferman looked at Lu Zhou before he said, "That's surprising… I'll have to go there more often in the future."

Lu Zhou diverted the conversation by asking, "What do you think about this method?"

"I don't know, I have to admit that this is an interesting idea. But I still prefer the abstract proof method."

Professor Fefferman sighed and picked up a piece of chalk. He spoke while he was writing on the blackboard, "Over the past month, I have tried to improve the bilinear operator B'. This construct is very close to the Euler linear operator B in μ(t)."

[μ(t)=e^(t△)·μ0+∫e^(t-t')△B(μ(t'), μ(t'))dt']

[…]

The calculation process was very similar to that of more than a month ago, and the calculus framework was still the same.

The only difference was the construction of the B' bilinear operator with respect to the obsolete =0. Professor Fefferman used a very sophisticated method which made the B' operator very close to the original B'.

However…

Lu Zhou felt like something was missing.

He thought back to more than a month ago, and he suddenly frowned when he felt that the calculations looked unnatural.

Lu Zhou stared at the blackboard for a long time before he finally spoke.

"I think I know what the problem is…"

Chapter 414: Two Ways

When Professor Fefferman heard him, he was stunned.

He quickly asked in a serious tone, "Can you elaborate?"

"Of course." Lu Zhou picked up the chalk and said, "But I need to use the blackboard."

Once Lu Zhou had the idea, doing the calculations was just a matter of the application of mathematics.

It took about half an hour for him to fill in two blackboards.

Lu Zhou took a step back and looked at the calculations on the blackboard. He gently squeezed the chalk in his hand as he spoke confidently.

"In short, using the abstract proof method, we can only calculate the existence of T1 (>0). Therefore, the weak solution is smooth only in the time (0, T1), but the value of T1 is undetermined."

This conclusion was wildly different from the proposed conclusion by the Millennium Prize Problem. This was probably equivalent to the difference between Newton's law of motion and the special theory of relativity.

The former defined the specific initial value and only applied to a finite time domain. The Navier–Stokes equation was about the existence of a smooth solution under three-dimensional conditions.

The reason why the equation they constructed exploded was that they set the known value at t=T1, and therefore, it exploded when the specific time value was outside of (0, T1).

This was exactly like how Newton's law of motion wasn't applicable in objects with a high velocity…

When Fefferman heard Lu Zhou's statement, he was speechless.

"… If you knew this already, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Lu Zhou said apologetically, "… I only thought about it just now."

Professor Fefferman stared quietly at the blackboard for around ten minutes as he read the calculations over and over again. He then sighed.

"You are right; our previous idea wasn't perfect."

Things often became less mysterious once they were revealed.

Professor Fefferman paused for a second before he said, "However, as per what you said, if we can determine the T1 value is within a specific time interval of the Navier–Stokes equations, then a smooth solution exists."

Lu Zhou was stunned. He didn't expect Fefferman to persist with his abstract proof method.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he replied, "It's not enough. We have to find a precise way to distinguish the original operator B from the constructed bilinear operator B'."

Professor Fefferman sighed and said, "I know, but I think using our original research results is easier than using another idea. In my opinion, I think the abstract proof has potential."

He went silent for a moment before he continued, "Since we are both people that prefer independent research, we should do the research separately."

Although Fefferman was optimistic about Lu Zhou's new idea, he still didn't want to give up on his abstract proof idea.

Therefore, they would research in different directions.

This increased the chance of success.

Lu Zhou nodded, showing his agreement with Professor Fefferman's proposal.

"This is the best choice."

Mathematics conjectures could be solved through discussion, but discussions weren't always necessary.

Lu Zhou returned home after his nightly run. He showered and went into his study room. He then turned on his computer and continued to edit his "L Manifold" document.

L Manifold was actually already a very impressive research result.

Just like the bilinear operator B' that Professor Fefferman constructed, even if the smooth solution of Navier–Stokes equation couldn't be solved, the tools they created could be published as independent research.

At least they could report it at the IMU conference.

As for the use of the tools?

It was most applicable to the Navier–Stokes equation, but it could also perform topology surgery on complex nonlinear differential structures, like manifolds. This would simplify complicated problems.

As for its possible applications in other fields, that would depend on the creativity of other researchers.

Maybe one day it could be applied in theoretical physics or engineering…

Lu Zhou stared at the computer screen as he sat quietly for a long time. In the end, he decided to submit his L Manifold thesis to Annual Mathematics.

As for the IMU conference in August…

He still planned on gifting the mathematics community with the Navier-Stokes equation solution.

Obviously, his plan consisted of a challenge.

After all, he only had a vague grasp on the Navier–Stokes equation.

Lu Zhou didn't know if he could actually solve the problem.

Just as Lu Zhou expected.

The Collatz conjecture thesis caused a huge sensation in the academic world…

…

Kai University, Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Research Institute.

The latest issue of Annual Mathematics was laid open on the table.

Academician Zhang Yuping read the thesis in its entirety before he sighed and spoke with emotion.

"Professor Lu really is brilliant. Not only is he talented, but even his students are also talented…"

Academician Zhang knew who Qin Yue was; he was actually the one that wrote Qin Yue's recommendation letter for Princeton.

To be honest, even though Academician Zhang encouraged Qin Yue to apply for a master's degree under Professor Lu, he didn't have much hope for Qin Yue.

Because back then, Professor Lu had just recently solved the Goldbach's conjecture, and there wasn't another mathematics professor in the world that was more "wanted" than Professor Lu.

After all, that was the Goldbach's conjecture.

The problem that troubled Gauss, Euler, and other great mathematicians; the crown of number theory.

It even attracted attention from the Times magazine.

Standing next to Academician Zhang was the director of the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Research Institute, Professor Fu Lei.

This director was slightly younger than Academician Zhang, but he was also a big name in the Chinese mathematics community.

Like Academician Zhang, who researched differential geometry, the director's main area of research wasn't number theory. It was group theory. However, this didn't prevent him from understanding the academic value of Lu Zhou's thesis.

Professor Fu went silent for a while before he asked, "This thesis… Do you really think his students wrote it?"

Academician Zhang smiled and said, "Of course! Who would be so generous to give their research results to students?"

The claim of research results was an ethics issue.

Generally, it was rare for a supervisor to not steal their students' research results.

As for allowing the students to take credit for the research…

No normal person would do this.

Professor Fu knew this, but he couldn't help but say, "But I don't understand! If his students can solve it, why doesn't he solve it himself?"

"Don't over-think it. You can't apply normal people logic to a genius like him." Academician Zhang smiled and said, "Maybe he's not interested in a simple problem like this, and therefore, he handed it to his students."

Professor Fu didn't believe this. It sounded too ridiculous.

Collatz conjecture wasn't just a simple problem.

Even though there weren't that many people who researched this conjecture, there were many people that paid attention to it.

If it were him, he would never do something like this. After all, anyone that solved a conjecture like this, they could easily become an academician as long as they met the qualification and age requirements.

Academician Zhang could tell that Professor Fu was in disbelief, and so, he merely smiled and didn't try to explain.

Academician Zhang was correct. There were some people in the mathematics world that weren't interested in "simple" mathematical problems.

For example, Grothendieck, Hilbert…

They were all revolutionary mathematicians.

Lu Zhou was far from being revolutionary. However, he was still young and had a long way to go…

Academician Zhang paused for a second before he smiled and said, "It's normal to not be interested. I recently heard that Professor Lu is researching another big project. In contrast, the Collatz conjecture is nothing."

"Something better than the Collatz conjecture?" Fu Lei frowned as he asked, "Is it chemistry? Physics-related?"

Academician Zhang laughed and said, "Not related to chemistry. Kind of related to physics but not quite."

Fu Lei couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

"It's about the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution," Academician Zhang said while looking out the window. His tone was full of emotion as he continued, "And that's one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems."

Fu Lei was totally shocked.

He stood there with his mouth agape.

"… Is he at this level yet?"

"You don't think so?" Academician Zhang smiled and said, "Otherwise, why did the country give the first-level State Natural Science Award to a 20-year-old?"

Academician Zhang heard a rumor.

Before the Science and Technology Award Conference began, he heard that the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology believed that Lu Zhou shouldn't win the first-level State Natural Science Award.

After all, Lu Zhou was decades younger than the other winners.

However, in the end, the higher-ups still decided to give Lu Zhou the first-level State Natural Science Award.

There were many rumors as to why they did so.

Among them, the most credible and widely accepted rumor was that there was a highly ranked person in academia that convinced the prize committee to take this risk.

This person convinced the prize committee with only one reason.

It was rumored that the International Mathematical Union would invite Professor Lu to do a one-hour report during the Fields Medal Award Ceremony in August. Not just that, but the Nobel Prize winner Professor Ertl would also nominate Lu Zhou for this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

At first, Academician Zhang didn't believe that Lu Zhou could solve the Millennium Prize Problem, but Lu Zhou created so many miracles that Academician Zhang couldn't help but believe that he could do it.

Because the name Lu Zhou was always associated with miracles.

Professor Fu thought for a moment before he muttered, "… If only this guy can work at our research institute."

Of course, he was only kidding.

Even if Professor Lu returned to China, he would definitely work at his own research institute.

Just like the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Research Institute, or like the Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Research Institute…

Academician Zhang laughed and said, "Forget about it! He'll never come work for us. However, we can try to contact his students."

Professor Fu said, "So what you're saying is?"

Academician Zhang said seriously, "I will write a letter to the higher-ups and recommend Qin Yue to the Thousand Talents Initiative.

"Whether he intends to return to China or continue researching, we should start preparing now!"

Chapter 415: Two Invitations

At the beginning of April, a major event took place in the mathematics community.

In the latest issue of Annual Mathematics, the proof to the Collatz conjecture was published.

The Collatz conjecture was as followed: Start with any natural number N. If it was odd, then the next number was 3N+1. If it was even, then it became N/2. After some limited number of iterations, the sequence would inevitably fall into [4,2,1].

This conjecture was popular during the 1980s.

Prior to this, some people had used supercomputers to test numbers below 1.1 trillion. They determined that no matter what number they chose, they would end up in the "421" curse.

Due to this miraculous property, this conjecture was also known as the "Hail conjecture" because it was like a hail—fast and unstoppable.

But now, Vera's thesis provided proof for this age-old conjecture.

That the Collatz conjecture was true.

The thesis received worldwide attention.

What astonished the world wasn't just because the thesis was the proof of the Collatz conjecture, but this conjecture was proved by Lu Zhou's students.

By convention, a proof for a major mathematics conjecture often required more than a thesis publication. Other than the journal review process, the proof had to be recognized by the entire mathematics community.

Normally, Princeton would have arranged a report meeting for Vera and others to report on the relevant research results and to answer questions from other scholars.

But coincidentally, the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians was going to happen in August. Therefore, Vera's report would be taken care of by the International Mathematical Union.

Very few people received two invitations from the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Sarnak had never heard of this happening before.

"… Professor Viana, the chairman of the International Congress of Mathematicians, sent me an email asking me to forward this letter to you. A major conjecture like the Collatz conjecture should be known by more people. This is a rare opportunity, and they've arranged a 45-minute report for you. Are you available?"

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Sarnak and shook his head. He then said, "I already have a one-hour report to do, so I'm pretty busy. I'm afraid I don't have time to prepare for a second report."

Sarnak raised his eyebrows. "Is it about the Navier–Stokes equation?"

The Navier Stokes equation research group applied for an official research project at the Institute for Advanced Study. Therefore, Lu Zhou and Professor Fefferman's collaboration was not a secret.

However, what surprised Sarnak was that this research project had only begun at the end of last year; it had been less than a year.

He didn't think Lu Zhou and Fefferman could solve the Millennium Prize Problem in such a short amount of time.

However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou's answer.

Lu Zhou nodded. "Yes."

When Professor Sarnak heard his answer, he had a surprised look on his face.

He then said, "Are you confident that you can solve it before August? You don't have much time left."

Lu Zhou smiled and answered the question with ease.

"Once a tool is crafted, applying it is only a matter of time. That's how I feel right now. You must know this feeling as well."

Professor Saneck frowned and immediately reacted.

"Is the tool you're talking about the L Manifold thesis that you recently submitted to Annual Mathematics?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded his head. "Exactly! I think it's the key to solving the Navier–Stokes equation."

When Professor Saneck heard this confident answer, he began to think.

Sarnak also couldn't see the use behind it despite knowing a little about partial differentials.

In the end, he accepted Lu Zhou's thesis and allowed it to enter the peer review stage.

Now, it seemed his decision was quite intelligent…

…

After Lu Zhou bade farewell to Professor Sarnak, he brought the IMU invitation back to his office at the Institute for Advanced Study. He then held an internal meeting for his three PhD students.

"In my hand is an invitation letter by the International Congress of Mathematicians to do a 45-minute report. Although the organizers invited me to do the report, I know that you guys need this opportunity more than me."

Lu Zhou paused for a second as he looked at his three students.

He then continued, "Normally, the report will be completed by the main contributor to the thesis. I will give my recommendation to the International Mathematical Union for Vera to be the presenter. What do you guys think?"

Qin Yue: "Agreed!"

Hardy: "Me too!"

The students reached a consensus.

Lu Zhou looked at his two students and nodded.

He then said, "It seems like we've reached an agreement."

Vera was a little anxious. "Wait a second, I…"

Hardy grinned and said, "You don't have to be modest. Since most of the thesis was completed by you, you should be the one to do the report."

Vera looked embarrassed, and she started to get nervous. She began to stutter as she said, "But I've never reported at an IMU conference before… I've never even been to one."

"That's fine, this is my first time going as well. As a matter of fact, it's actually my first time going to Brazil, so I'll have to ask Hardy to act as a tour guide." Lu Zhou smiled as he said in an encouraging tone, "Your report at Berkeley went pretty well, right? I remember you even received the Best Young Speaker Award. Just remember to do your thing."

Vera calmed down a bit after hearing Lu Zhou's words of encouragement. However, she still looked a little nervous.

Lu Zhou looked at Vera being shy and couldn't help but wonder.

Is she really a Slav?

Although he didn't know much about Slavs, from what he saw in movies, he would never imagine Slavs as being timid and fearful.

Lu Zhou said, "In short, don't take it too seriously. Just pretend as if it's a normal report. Also, you have 4 months to prepare."

Vera twiddled her fingers as she asked in a hushed tone, "Can you help me?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't."

Seeing that Vera looked disappointed, Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "I will be going on a retreat, so you will have to do this report by yourself."

Chapter 416: Busy July

Lu Zhou was determined to report on the Navier-Stokes equation at the International Congress of Mathematicians. Therefore, he didn't have any time to waste.

It was early April, and the conference was in early August. At the very latest, he had to complete his Navier–Stokes equation thesis by early July.

Which meant he only had three months left.

In a situation like this, his only option was to go on a grinding session…

The days of researching quickly flew by, and it was soon July.

It was getting closer and closer to the conference date, and the International Mathematical Union had sent Lu Zhou multiple emails to remind him to update his report content information on the website.

Normally, participants had to disclose the content of their report before the conference began. They also had to upload the entire report script before a certain date.

Lu Zhou finally got around to doing this. He logged into his International Mathematical Union account and updated his report information for the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Most people updated their report information half a year ago, and it was rare to see people updating information a month before the conference.

Since it was a one-hour report, and the report presenter was a well-known international scholar, everyone was paying attention to Lu Zhou's report content.

A few months ago, various online mathematics forums were talking about what Professor Lu was cooking up.

Many people in the number theory field checked the official website daily, in hopes of seeing Lu Zhou's topic for his report.

Lu Zhou's report content met everyone's expectations.

When the community saw the report topic was on the Navier–Stokes equation, the entire mathematics community exploded…

On a well-known Europe mathematics forum.

[The existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution? How is this possible?]

[How many times have people claimed to have solved the Navier–Stokes equation?]

[Countless…]

[Last time was the scholar from Kazakhstan, this time it's a Chinese scholar. Do third world countries really want the one million dollar prize that bad?]

[Let's wait until we see his thesis. No one knows yet. What if he really solves the Millennium Prize Problem? Just like how he solved Goldbach's conjecture.]

[This is impossible! Navier–Stokes equation and Goldbach's conjecture are on completely different levels! One is a partial differential equation, the other is number theory! No matter how smart he is, there is no way he can reach the top of two different fields!]

The online debate was fierce.

It wasn't just people online, but many famous mathematics scholars were also paying attention to this unexpected announcement.

Tao Zhexuan was obviously one of them.

Actually, Tao Zhexuan had been doing research on the Navier–Stokes equation in as early as 2007. He had even published a couple of theses.

Tao Zhexuan expressed his opinion on his most recent blog.

[… It is difficult for me to give my opinion before reading the thesis. But according to my understanding of him, although he likes taking risks, he won't do anything that he is unsure of.

[Also, two months ago, I noticed his latest research on Annual Mathematics. Many of you might know the thesis contained a very novel differential manifold. It was called the L Manifold.

[I was confused at L Manifold's specific use. That was until I delved into research on the relationship between partial differential equations and topology.

[Undoubtedly, this is a very interesting differential geometry tool. Since then, I had a feeling that it might be used to solve the Navier–Stokes equations.]

The discussions weren't just happening online.

Two weeks after Lu Zhou posted his report topic, a silver plane flew across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America.

Lions dragged his suitcase out of New York International Airport. He then gave his old friend Fefferman a warm hug.

"Long time no see, my friend."

"Long time no see!" Professor Fefferman patted his old friend's shoulder and asked, "What brings you here?"

Standing in front of Professor Fefferman was Professor Lions from École Normale Supérieure. He was a 1994 Fields Medal winner who had made outstanding contributions to nonlinear partial differential equations and Boltzmann equations.

Lions had always paid attention to the latest research results on the Navier–Stokes equation.

What he saw that Lu Zhou chose the Navier–Stokes equation as his report topic, he immediately hopped on a plane from Paris to Princeton. He also visited his old friend who was the head of the mathematics department at Princeton.

"… I'm curious," Lions said as he placed his suitcase into the trunk. Before he could fasten his seatbelt, he asked, "Did you guys really solve the Navier–Stokes equation?"

Professor Fefferman was holding the steering wheel, and he paused for a second.

After a while, he shook his head.

"… Sorry, I don't know."

Lions was stunned.

He spoke in disbelief.

"You don't know? Haven't you guys been working on this research project together?"

"That's right." Professor Fefferman started the car and said, "We were actually working on the Navier–Stokes equation project together, but two months ago, we decided to work on the problem in different ways and to do independent research…"

Until now, he was still trying to use his abstract proof method.

He wasn't sure which step Lu Zhou was on.

Lions: "…"

Conducting research using two completely different methods.

Only geniuses could do something like this.

Lions went silent for a while before he said, "Can you take me to see Professor Lu? I want to talk to him."

Fefferman shook his head and said, "I'm afraid I can't."

Lions asked, "Why?"

Fefferman sighed and said, "He likes to lock himself in his house when he dives deep into research. Whenever he enters a state like this, unless he was satisfied with his research progress or an earthquake happened, he won't leave his house."

To be honest, Fefferman didn't even think an earthquake would do it.

Lions was astonished. "This… is ridiculous."

Fefferman smiled and shook his head. He then said, "I was just as surprised as you at first. After all, this is the 21st century. I can't believe there's someone using this type of retreat method other than Perelman. And even Perelman only reduces his traveling. He doesn't shield himself completely from the outside world. But I'm used to it."

The professor asked, "Is he… that type of introverted scholar?"

Professor Fefferman waved his hand and said, "Not exactly. He's quite easy to get along with. Everyone in Princeton knows about his unique research method. I heard from my Chinese students that this method is very common in China."

Lions immediately asked, "What research method?"

Fefferman had a serious look on his face as he said, "They call it 'grinding'…"

Chapter 417: Millennium Prize Problem!

There was an intense discussion happening around the world, and Lu Zhou, who was in a retreat, was oblivious to those discussions.

His research didn't go as smooth as expected, but he had confidence in his final result.

If the Navier–Stokes equation was like a maze, then there was only one wall separating him and the exit. Passing that wall was only a matter of time.

There was a week left until the end of the month.

His research entered its most critical stage.

There was only a thin line separating success and failure.

This was it.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and placed his phone on his desk. He then set a timer for 168 hours.

He pressed start on the timer and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, the light in his dark pupils was gone; all that was left in him was cold, hard logic.

This type of sensory reinforcement didn't increase his brainpower, nor did it increase logical thinking, but it did increase mathematical intuition.

It was like all of the numbers were his friends, and all of the images were transformed into geometric figures.

Lu Zhou was well familiar with this feeling.

Mathematics was the language of God.

At this moment, he was an omnipotent god!

…

The day before the IMU conference thesis submission deadline, dark clouds covered the sky, and the rain was pouring down before the sun even came up.

It kept raining until the morning; it didn't look like it would stop anytime soon.

Vera had an umbrella with her as she came to the Princeton University classroom to fulfill her duties as a teaching assistant and to help Lu Zhou with his lecture.

Even though the students had barely seen Professor Lu this semester, they were fond of this teaching assistant.

Especially after Vera proved the Collatz conjecture, her reputation among the undergraduate students skyrocketed. Many students that hadn't done number theory before would come here and listen to her class.

At the end of the lecture, as usual, Vera allowed her students to ask questions.

Suddenly, an Asian girl with long black hair raised her hand.

"Miss Pulyuy, has Professor Lu produced any research results?"

Normal university students wouldn't pay any attention to the IMU conference, but Princeton was no normal university.

Especially for the students that were taking high-level number theory classes, their plans for the future were to study pure mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study. It wasn't unusual for them to pay attention to the IMU conference.

Because of this, lots of students were interested in Vera's answers.

They were all curious about how Professor Lu's research on the Navier–Stokes equation was going.

Vera looked at the curious students and shook her head.

"I don't know. I'm afraid only Professor Lu himself can answer this question."

A tall boy with curly hair raised his hand and asked, "Miss Pulyuy, do you think he can successfully solve the Navier–Stokes equation?"

When Vera heard this question, she replied without any hesitation, "Of course he can."

The Asian girl asked, "Why?"

Vera smiled and gently tapped the podium with her fingers.

Then, she spoke in a confident tone.

"Because I believe in him."

Her belief wasn't based on mathematical logic; it was purely based on belief.

Of course, her belief wasn't unreasonable.

Whether it was the Berkeley report, the Collatz conjecture, or the upcoming 45-minute International Congress of Mathematicians report…

That shy little girl who sat in the conference venue by herself; that girl who spent most of her time working at restaurants; and that girl who looked at the mathematical world in awe.

That girl could never imagine what she could accomplish.

All of this was like a miracle.

She believed that Lu Zhou was the one that made this miracle happen; there was nothing Lu Zhou couldn't do.

Suddenly, it stopped raining.

The dark clouds disappeared, leaving a colorful rainbow in the air.

Lu Zhou, who was also in the town of Princeton, also saw that rainbow.

He put down his pen. He looked outside quietly and stared at the rainbow.

He suddenly smiled; his dark, logical pupils gradually lightened up.

Suddenly, the timer on his phone went off.

Lu Zhou turned off the alarm and unlocked the screen. That was when he saw dozens of missing calls.

Some of the calls were from a week ago, some were from today.

He finally had time to deal with these calls.

Lu Zhou picked the phone number with the highest number of missed calls and dialed back.

The phone connected, and an anxious voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Oh, god, if you didn't pick up, I might have driven to your house. Do you know what day it is?"

Professor Fefferman had always been an easy-going person; this was the first time Lu Zhou saw him all fired up.

Lu Zhou moved the phone half an inch away from his face and said in an uncertain tone, "There's a fruit discount at Walmart?"

Fefferman: "…"

Fefferman wanted to punch someone.

He took a deep breath and calmed down. He then yelled into the phone.

"Submission day! Conference submission deadline! According to the rules of the IMU conference, the report presenter must disclose the report content two months before the conference and upload the relevant thesis within one month… Seriously, you didn't forget about this, right?"

"How could I forget about it?" Lu Zhou yawned and said, "… But I remember that we can postpone the thesis, right?"

Professor Fefferman sighed and said, "… Change the report topic, there's still a chance."

Although Lu Zhou could postpone uploading the thesis, Fefferman didn't think it made sense to do so.

Instead of holding onto failure, Lu Zhou should correct his mistake now.

Lu Zhou had plenty of material other than the Navier Stokes equation to report on.

However, Lu Zhou didn't

"Why should I change it?"

The other end of the telephone went silent for a minute.

Professor Fefferman's voice trembled, and he spoke in disbelief.

"… You solved it?"

"I can't solve the Navier–Stokes equation. At least for now, we can't find a general solution," Lu Zhou said. As he placed his phone in his other hand, he smiled and said confidently, "But I can promise you there exists a smooth solution!"

Chapter 418: Small World

The phone call ended.

Within 20 minutes, Lu Zhou heard knocking sounds from his front door.

Lu Zhou came out of the toilet and went downstairs.

He then saw Professor Fefferman who was breathing heavily at his front steps.

Upon seeing him, Fefferman immediately asked, "You really, really solved it? The Navier–Stokes equation?"

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Fefferman, who was gasping.

"… Do you want to catch your breath first?"

"No, it's fine." Fefferman leaned against the door with his hand and said, "Tell me, how did you do it?"

Fefferman was usually gentle and easy-going; he had never been this serious before.

Lu Zhou could tell Fefferman was craving for an answer.

"… Long story, come with me."

Lu Zhou turned around and walked upstairs.

Lu Zhou brought Professor Fefferman to the second floor, and they went into his study room. He cleaned up his messy table and floor before he pulled out a one-hundred-page manuscript. He handed the manuscript to Professor Fefferman.

Professor Fefferman took the manuscript and began to think while Lu Zhou spoke.

"I made references to the L Manifold thesis that I published in Annual Mathematics a while ago. If you haven't read that, I suggest you read the two theses together."

Professor Fefferman ignored Lu Zhou's advice and stood there flipping through the pages without saying anything else.

An hour passed by.

Finally, he put down the thesis and spoke emotionally.

"… Unbelievable, this is incredible."

An hour wasn't enough to understand the core ideas of the thesis, but for Fefferman, it was enough time to skim through the thesis.

A major mathematics conjecture proof had to pass through rigorous review from the entire mathematics community, but after an hour of reading, Fefferman couldn't find any mistakes.

The thesis ideas and words were smooth, rigorous, clean, and neat.

Fefferman was mostly surprised at Lu Zhou's ingenious mathematics methods.

"It really is shocking." Lu Zhou made two cups of coffee, and he handed Fefferman a cup before he said in a joking tone, "When I proved the last lemma, even I was surprised by my own wit."

Professor Fefferman took the coffee. He then shook his head and said, "No, it's not just the last lemma, you don't understand what you did."

Lu Zhou asked, "What do you mean?"

"You used the L Manifold to introduce a differential geometry method into the partial differential equations. You've even successfully integrated the principle of topological psychology… I've never seen this before."

Professor Fefferman felt a little thirsty, so he took a sip of the coffee.

After that, he spoke in a half-joking tone.

"Gromov, who introduced the concept of pseudo-holomorphic curves into differential geometry, invented symplectic geometry. And Qiu Chengtong, who introduced the partial differential method into differential geometry, was the founding father of geometric analysis. In my opinion, the L Manifold has the same significance. If I were you, I would think about naming this new mathematical field."

Lu Zhou didn't want to think of another name.

"Let's talk about naming things later, I need to rest right now."

Fefferman's reaction was strong, and he immediately said, "No! You can't rest, not until you transfer the manuscript into an electronic file!"

Fefferman didn't look like he was joking, so Lu Zhou said, "… But can't I postpone the uploading of the thesis for a few days? I was invited to do an hour-long report, surely they will allow me to do this."

I'm an internationally renowned scholar, they must give me some leeway?

I'm not postponing on purpose, I'm just too tired.

Professor Fefferman shook his head.

"You can postpone the upload, but this is a hundred-page thesis, how long do you plan on postponing? Not to mention, you have to edit some of the details in the thesis. I will send a letter to the International Mathematical Union for you. What you have to do now is to sort out your thesis within three days, a week at the latest!"

Professor Fefferman placed the coffee cup on the table and started to walk out the door.

However, he suddenly remembered something.

Fefferman took a deep breath before he turned around and looked at Lu Zhou.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I have to say thank you."

"Thank you?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What is there to thank me for? You're a member of NS research project team as well."

Professor Fefferman shook his head and said, "No, I'm not talking about that."

He paused for three seconds before he cleared his throat and spoke in a solemn voice.

"Whether it is about boats producing ripples on water or jets producing turbulence in the sky, mathematicians and physicists believe the Navier–Stokes equation can predict these phenomena…"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He suddenly felt like he had heard this quote somewhere before.

Lu Zhou replied, "… Although the Navier–Stokes equation was proposed in the 19th century, we have a very little understanding of the equation."

"That's right," Professor Fefferman said with a smile as he nodded at Lu Zhou. He then said, "Hence, we are the first scholars in the world to change the history of mathematics and challenge the Navier–Stokes equation puzzle!"

The study room went silent for a moment.

Lu Zhou finally remembered where he heard this monologue before.

"… This is the declaration speech from the Clay Institute at the Millennium Mathematical Conference at the French Academy?"

"That's right," Professor Fefferman said. He then smiled and continued, "On May 24th, 2000, at the Millennium Mathematical Conference at the French Academy, the Clay Institute announced seven Millennium Prize Problems, one of which is the Navier–Stokes equation. This monologue was regarding the Navier–Stokes equation.

"And I was the person that gave this monologue."

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He knew the seven Millennium Prize Problems was created by the Clay Institute, and he knew about the Millennium Mathematical Conference held at the Paris Academy.

But he never thought that the person who proposed the Navier–Stokes equation as one of the Millennium Prize Problems was his research project team member?

This was almost like he defeated the person that wrote the exam…

Okay, that metaphor wasn't appropriate.

"Defeat" wasn't the right word.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu," Professor Fefferman said. As he held Lu Zhou's right hand tightly, he said, "You have re-written history, and I, am the witness of this historical moment!

"Remember to upload the thesis on time. Also, protect this manuscript, it might become a museum-worthy item one day."

Fefferman smiled before he left.

As Lu Zhou looked at him leaving, he smiled and shook his head.

He looked at the manuscript in his hand and whispered, "… Princeton really is a magical place."

Chapter 419: Eliminating the Navier-Stokes Equation

After Professor Fefferman left, Lu Zhou took out his phone to call Wei Wen.

The phone quickly connected.

"Hello?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Are you free right now?"

Wei Wen said, "I am, why?"

Lu Zhou said, "Come to my house. If Jerick is there, bring him along. I have a manuscript that I have to transfer to the computer, and I need your help!"

…

Lu Zhou wasn't the first to use a topology method to research partial differential equations. This method was first seen in Hilbert's thesis, and later on, it was also seen in Banach and Braun's theses.

One of the more recent applications of this method was probably by the French mathematician Leray Schauder; this was one of the reasons he won the 1979 Wolf Prize.

However, even with these theses and research results, using topological methods to study partial differential equations had never become an independent discipline.

It wasn't even considered a branch of research; it was merely a research idea or research style.

Lu Zhou introduced differential geometry and topology ideas into the field of partial differential equations by inventing the L Manifold. This allowed him to finally prove the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution. This meant that Lu Zhou had perfected this mathematical method.

Therefore, it was no exaggeration when Professor Fefferman said that Lu Zhou had created a new discipline.

As for this discipline's name, Lu Zhou hadn't thought of a name yet.

Maybe in the future, he might consider sorting out his theories and methods into a textbook, and at that time, he could name this emerging discipline.

Of course, it would be better if someone else was willing to do it.

After all, writing textbooks was a very daunting task. Not only did one had to consult a large number of resources, but one also had to consider the readers. The textbook had to be both interesting and challenging. Instead of sharing knowledge, Lu Zhou preferred to absorb and create knowledge.

After Wei Wen received Lu Zhou's phone call, he immediately brought Jerick to Lu Zhou's house. Wei Wen even brought his work laptop.

After three days.

With the help of his two students, Lu Zhou finally transferred his thesis into the computer and uploaded it onto the official website.

Prior to this, Professor Fefferman helped him contacted the International Mathematical Union and explained Lu Zhou's situation to the Union. After hearing Lu Zhou's story, the International Mathematical Union was happy to extend the submission deadline by one week.

Not just that, but due to the importance of the Millennium Prize Problem, the IMU changed Lu Zhou's report date. Originally, Lu Zhou was going to make his report during the opening ceremony on the first day, but the IMU rearranged it so that Lu Zhou could report it one day before the opening ceremony as a special "Navier–Stokes equation" event.

As for why this arrangement was made, the reason was simple.

It was a hundred-page thesis on the popular Navier-Stokes equation. Not to mention, the audience would undoubtedly want to ask questions. One hour was simply not enough for a report.

Lu Zhou looked at his two exhausted students and felt a little apologetic.

"Good work… I'll buy you guys food in a few days. Go get some sleep."

They stayed up all night with Lu Zhou. Since Lu Zhou was used to pulling all-nighters, his body's metabolic function had been strengthened, and it was much more capable than the bodies of the two rookies.

Jerick placed his head down on the table, and within two seconds, he began to snore.

However, Wei Wen's reaction was the opposite.

"No, I'm not tired!"

Although Wei Wen had dark circles around his eyes, he was still energetic. He checked the thesis on the computer screen over and over again, reading every symbol and every punctuation.

"I will check it again; one last time!"

He had said that multiple times already.

Lu Zhou stared at Wei Wen and said, "Don't tire yourself out, checking it once is enough."

Lu Zhou had more than enough time to edit the thesis, so they didn't need to finish the edits today.

Wei Wen felt like Lu Zhou wasn't treating the problem seriously.

"Professor, but this is the Navier–Stokes equation!"

Lu Zhou replied, "Yeah."

Wei Wen was stunned at how nonchalantly Lu Zhou was treating this thing.

"Aren't you excited at all?"

Lu Zhou said, "I was excited in the beginning… but I can't be excited for three days straight, right?"

Wei Wen: "…"

Why not?

This is a Millennium Prize Problem!

If it were Wei Wen, he would be excited for the rest of his life…

…

Lu Zhou postponed his thesis upload by three days.

As a result, the peers who were paying attention to this thesis also had to wait an extra three days.

Less than an hour after the thesis was uploaded, the International Congress of Mathematicians website reached an all-time high of concurrent users; it nearly crashed the website servers.

For a few days after the thesis was uploaded, various mathematics forums were quiet.

Other than the occasional "What's the update?", there weren't any discussions happening.

This was how professional forums were, nutty people didn't have time to post on forums all day.

The really nutty people didn't even have time to visit the forums.

People that could do so were trying to understand the thesis, and people that couldn't do so were watching from the sidelines.

After all, the people that couldn't understand the thesis were afraid to speak and embarrass themselves.

It wasn't easy to read a hundred-page thesis in a short amount of time.

Plus it was a new and unfamiliar L Manifold method…

Even Tao Zhexuan, who was proficient in almost all areas of mathematics, spent two full days reading the thesis.

Tao Zhexuan turned on his computer and couldn't wait to update his blog.

[He adopted an unconventional research pathway and used a differential manifold to bridge the gap between partial differential equations and topology. This kind of research is so clever that it reminded me of the thesis on fixed point theorem written by Mr. Braun…

[I can't say for certain that his proof process is correct. I can only say that for the time being, I cannot find any mistakes. I will later write a more professional post to analyze his thesis and the research ideas he used…

[Of course, even though he has most likely succeeded, I still have a lot of questions that I want to ask him. The Navier–Stokes equation is an interesting topic which I've also been researching for a long time. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to solve it. Thankfully, there are people smarter than me in the world.

[Fortunately, I managed to book my ticket on the 30th! I look forward to the end of the month! :)]

…

Finally, the second week after the thesis was uploaded, the discussion about the Navier–Stokes equation exploded.

Several big names in the academic community expressed their opinions, and their voices spread like wildfire. The news even spread to other fields, like physics.

Shuimu University's forum, Navier–Stokes equation post.

[I just want to know if God Lu succeeded? Is there a mathematics god that can tell us?

[Mathematic gods are useless, and normal people can't understand God Lu's thesis. Today our professor told us in class that the Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Research Center organized a meeting last week for professors that are in the fields of the partial differential equation, differential geometry, and topology. They all began to research on God Lu's thesis.]

[Is there a result?]

[How the hell would I know? They won't tell me the results. However, I read Tao Zhexuan's blog, and it seems like God Lu's thesis is nutty.]

[So many gods…]

[Nutty! Navier Stokes equation, Millennium Prize Problem… If he solves this, he must get in the Thousand People Initiative, right?]

[Pfft, Thousand People Initiative! He's a first-level State Natural Science Award winner! Are you joking?]

[Screw it, I'm going to Brazil. Not traveling, not watching football, I just want to touch God Lu…]

[I want to go as well.]

Time slowly passed by, and it was finally July 31st.

Tomorrow would be the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians…

But for most people, this world-class event had already begun.

Chapter 420: World-Famous Even

Morning of July 31st, 2018.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Mathematicians from all over the world gathered here for the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Although the official opening ceremony of the conference was tomorrow, the parking lot outside the Barra da Tijuca Hotel was already crowded.

There was only one reason.

The upcoming report on the "Navier–Stokes equation" would be held in the main conference hall. Professor Lu Zhou from the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study would report on his latest research progress.

For many people, this report was more significant than tomorrow's opening ceremony.

It wasn't only because of the million dollars reward.

But because it was the beginning of a new era…

Although the organizers of the conference provided rooms for all of the invited scholars as well as some of the scholars that applied, the rooms were limited and not everyone had accommodation.

Most of the attendees, who came here, came at their own expense, and they would stay at a nearby hotel or motel.

Some of these people were university professors or researchers from research institutes, some were PhD students coming with their supervisors, and some were tourists that wanted to see the academic vibe.

Many universities with highly ranked mathematics programs often organized group participation activities. They might choose some strong genius students from their school who would attend the conference with their professors.

After all, this conference only happened once every four years. Even if they couldn't understand anything in the conference, they could still broaden their views of the world which could pave their future academic career path.

7 a.m.

A tourist bus stopped at the entrance of the hotel.

Several young Chinese students followed their professor's lead and walked off the bus. They then gathered in front of the hotel entrance.

These students were from Yan University, and they were all considered genius students.

The professor who led the team was even more impressive.

He was considered a leader among young Chinese scholars. Professor Xu Chenyang was a millennial and an expert in the field of algebraic geometry; he also won the Ramanujan gold award in 2016.

There were five Chinese scholars that were invited to do a 45-minute report at the International Congress of Mathematicians.

And Professor Xu was one of them.

This time, Xu Chenyang and another professor were asked by the head of the mathematics department at Yan University to take these students on a trip.

Coincidentally, since this world-famous conference was just around the corner, Xu Chengyang didn't plan on missing the conference, and therefore, he brought his students along. Even though they might not be able to enter the lecture hall, but Xu Chengyang said it would be interesting just to watch from the outside.

A boy with glasses looked at the people coming in and out of the hotel lobby. He then looked at Professor Xu and asked, "Professor, have you read Professor Lu's thesis?"

Xu Chenyang nodded and said, "I've read a bit, but I'm in the field of algebraic geometry, and I don't know much about partial differential equations."

Another girl asked, "Do you think he will succeed?"

"I don't know," Xu Chenyang replied honestly as he shook his head. He then said, "There is no universal conclusion on Professor Lu's thesis. He used a very novel approach and new things are often controversial."

The guy with glasses asked, "Is it even more novel than abstract proof?"

Xu Chenyang raised his eyebrows and looked at his student before he asked, "You know about abstract proof?"

The guy in glasses smiled and scratched his head as he replied, "I read some documents in my spare time."

"You're pretty impressive. Partial differential equations is a promising field, and it has a high potential, both in applied and pure mathematics," Professor Xu said with a smile. He was about to explain the difference to his students when he heard a familiar voice.

"Xu Chenyang, how are you?"

Xu Chenyang looked toward where the voice came from. When he saw the owner of the voice, his eyes lit up, and he reached out his right hand.

"Brother Zhang, long time no see!"

The student in glasses instantly recognized Professor Xu's friend.

"God Wei!"

The other students heard this name and looked at the man in awe.

God Wei!

Yan University only had one God Wei—Zhang Wei!

Everyone who came from Yan University knew about Zhang Wei.

29-year-old Ramanujan gold award winner, 34-year-old Columbia University tenured professor, 35-year-old Morningside Medal of Mathematics… He and God Yun were the idols of Yan University.

Zhang Wei smiled friendly and looked at Brother Zhang.

"Why are you here so early? It doesn't start for another two hours."

Xu Chenyang smiled and said, "Aren't you the same?"

Just like Xu Chenyang, Zhang Wei also had a 45-minute report at the conference.

They brought these students into the conference hall and agreed on a time and place to meet up later. The professors then walked into the main lecture hall together.

Along the way, the two didn't actually talk about the Navier Stokes equation. Instead, they talked about tomorrow's opening ceremony, and tomorrow's main event—the Fields Medal.

Xu Chenyang said, "Is there any hope this year?"

Zhang Wei sighed and said, "There are too many nutty people, it's difficult."

The youngest rank W3 German professor and the youngest Princeton professor; these two were no doubt the strongest contenders.

Everyone else was no match for them.

The other contenders were no ordinary people either. If last year's Fields Medal contenders were uncommon people, then this year's contenders were people that were uncommon among uncommon people.

Zhang Wei looked a little depressed, and Xu Chenyang didn't know what to say. He tried to comfort him and said, "You're God Wei, how can you not be confident?"

Zhang Wei stood in front of the lecture hall entrance, and as he stared at the crowd, he smiled and shook his head.

"Let's drop that name…"

Who here isn't considered a god?

…

At exactly 8 a.m…

The venue was so fully packed that even the aisles were crowded.

Although there was still an hour until the report officially began, the venue was already completely full.

In addition to the scholars that were participating in the conference, there was also a row of cameras attached to the walls of the venue.

There had been many people that tried to challenge the Navier–Stokes equation, but very few had succeeded.

If this challenger succeeded, then these cameras would capture this historic moment. The media would never miss a moment like this; several famous museums even brought their own cameras.

Vera sat in the back row of the lecture hall. As she looked at the stage, she took a deep breath in order to slow down her heart rate.

Although her report was in two days, she was more nervous than ever.

"… You got this."

Vera tightly squeezed her hand as she prayed for Lu Zhou in her heart.

Suddenly, an old man came over and sat next to her.

"You're worried about him?"

"…"

Vera looked at this old man in surprise.

Pierre Deligne!

Her supervisor's supervisor…

She met this old man a few times at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Her impression of him was that he was the type that rarely laughed and barely spoke to people.

Deligne looked at the lecture stage as he said, "There's nothing to worry about. After all, he's my favorite student."

A condescending voice came from the side.

"Are you not embarrassed to say this? You only taught him for a few months."

Deligne could tell from the arrogant voice which friend it was.

He smirked and looked at the man.

"You're here as well?"

"What a strange question, how could I not come?" Faltings sat next to Deligne and said, "If someone is bullsh*tting on stage, someone has to point it out."

Vera looked at him with dissatisfaction.

However, she was too small and weak, and no one noticed her.

Deligne only smiled lightly.

"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

Faltings raised his eyebrows. "You're that confident?"

Deligne: "Do you want to bet?"

Faltings stared at his old friend for a while and didn't respond. He then looked at the stage and said, "… It's about to begin."

Chapter 421: Smoothness Exists!

Lu Zhou originally thought he was used to this type of feeling.

He didn't expect to feel his heart beating out of his chest.

This was different than the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study report; he wasn't only facing the number theory world but the entire world of mathematics…

Lu Zhou stood on stage and took a deep breath as he tried to calm his heart down.

He looked at his watch.

The second hand was getting closer and closer; he put a serious look on his face and gave himself some courage.

"It's about to begin!"

At exactly 9 a.m…

There was no need for anyone to maintain order; the noisy chaotic venue instantly became quiet.

A title appeared on the silver projector screen.

[Proof for the existence of a three-dimensional incompressible smooth Navier-Stokes equation solution.]

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and began his report.

"Why doesn't a car on the highway spontaneously disintegrate, why doesn't a lake suddenly combust?

"We have been asking these questions for a long time, but the truth that we crave for is covered in disguise.

"In the 19th century, we have already invented the equations that generalize the laws of fluid emotion and made these equations succinct. However, to this day, we still don't have a deep understanding of the mathematics and physics that are behind these equations.

"Mathematics is a rigorous discipline that involves the proposition of numbers, and there is no such thing as 'maybe' in mathematics.

"Back to my original question. Why doesn't a car on the freeway disintegrate? Why doesn't a lake spontaneously combust? Is there a mysterious singularity on an infinite time scale that causes our equation to diverge?

"It's time to answer these questions."

After his brief opening remarks, Lu Zhou turned the PowerPoint to the next slide.

This was the main section of the report.

Lu Zhou spent three seconds thinking of a summary. He then faced the audience and spent a minute giving a brief overview of his proof.

The crowd was silent.

Everyone stared at the pictures and calculations on the projector screen. Everyone was listening intently; they didn't want to miss a single detail.

[μ(t)=e^(t△)·μ0+∫e^(t-t')△B(μ(t'), μ(t'))dt']

[…]

"When we introduce a Schwarz-free divergence vector field μ0 to the equation and set the time interval I ⊂ [0, + ∞), then we can define a generalized solution H10 of the Navier-Stokes equation as an integral equation μ (Continuous mapping of t), ie μ→H10df(R3)…"

The PowerPoint presentation was on the projector screen.

Lu Zhou had a laser pointer in his hand, and he used it to point at the screen while explaining.

This part was nothing special.

Any Navier–Stokes equation research theses would contain similar things.

However, the crucial part was his bilinear operator B' and the L Manifold.

The next part was the key to the whole proof process!

Lu Zhou would introduce the concept of differential manifolds into partial differential equations.

This was the core idea of using topology methods to research partial differential equations!

…

Xu Chenyang was in the crowd, and he lightly tapped his notebook with the pen in his hand.

After a while, he whispered to Zhang Wei, "Do you understand?"

Zhang Wei shook his head and said, "I don't know much more about partial differential equations any more than you. If you're having a hard time, then so am I."

Zhang Wei's area of research was similar to his mentor Zhang Shouwu's; he mainly focused on representation theory, Langlands program, and Dirichlet distribution.

He wasn't knowledgeable at partial differential equations; he only briefly learned about the Navier–Stokes equation out of interest.

After all, not everyone was a genius like Tao Zhexuan. Not everyone could prove the weak Goldbach's conjecture, study the Navier–Stokes equation's abstract proof, and read all of Shinichi Mochizuki's theses…

There were people in mathematics that knew everything.

But they were extremely rare…

Xu Chenyang looked at the calculations on stage and said, "I can't believe it…"

Zhang Wei: "Can't believe what?"

Xu Chenyang: "Number theory, abstract algebra, functions analysis, topology, differential geometry, partial differential equation… Is there anything he's not good at?"

Zhang Wei said in an uncertain tone, "Maybe… algebraic geometry?"

However, he suddenly remembered Lu Zhou's mentor was Deligne. Deligne's mentor was Grothendieck, the founding father of algebraic geometry as well as the "pope of mathematics".

The core theory of modern algebraic geometry was basically derived from the few books that Grothendieck wrote.

Zhang Wei was certain that Lu Zhou was well-versed in algebraic geometry as well.

He was certain Lu Zhou would eventually come up with new algebraic geometry research results…

…

The report continued.

Lu Zhou began to speak faster and faster; his ideas were becoming clearer and smoother.

The introduction of the L Manifold played a crucial role in the Navier-Stokes equation.

It was like a hammer that was breaking the maze wall.

This confusing situation became clearer and clearer.

They finally arrived at the climax of the report.

Fefferman sat in the corner of the venue with a smile on his face.

Tao Zhexuan was sitting on the other side of the venue, and he muttered to himself, "I see."

His eyes sparkled with excitement.

Vera was sitting in the back row of the venue, and she could feel the enthusiasm in the atmosphere. Her heart rate began to increase, and she felt proud of her supervisor…

Faltings was also sitting in the back row; his rigid face finally turned into a smirk…

Deligne noticed his old friend smirking and asked, "What do you think?"

Faltings put on a poker face as he replied, "It's okay."

Deligne smiled and said, "You're really saying that?"

Faltings ignored his old friend's banter and looked at his watch. He then stood up.

Deligne asked, "It's almost over, aren't you going to stay till the end?"

"There's no need."

Faltings had understood everything already.

As for the boring questions, others could deal with it.

Faltings walked through the crowd and exited the hall.

The report ended the moment Professor Faltings left the lecture hall.

The last line of calculations was on the project screen; it was almost like Lu Zhou didn't have to do any explanation.

Because the audience could see the answer for themselves.

"… Combining all of the above inferences, the result is obvious. There exists a smooth solution to the three-dimensional incompressible Navier Stokes equation!"

His voice was crisp and confident.

It wasn't sonorous, but it was magically charming.

And the source of that magic was knowledge.

The second Lu Zhou finished speaking, the crowd stood up from their seats.

Then, a seemingly endless thunderous applause echoed throughout the lecture hall…

Chapter 422: Not Just One Person's Miracle

"F*ck me, this is nuts!"

Xu Chenyang's hands were red from clapping. He usually never swore but he couldn't help himself.

Although he wasn't the person standing on stage, nor had he even met Lu Zhou before, he still couldn't help but be excited. He was genuinely cheering from the bottom of his heart.

The Millennium Prize Problem that troubled the mathematics community was solved by a Chinese scholar.

This wasn't just one person's miracle.

It was a miracle for the entire country!

Xu Chenyang was certain that after today, even people who knew nothing about mathematics would read Lu Zhou's name on television and newspapers.

This honor was even greater than the Fields Medal.

Rather, the Fields Medal would be honored to be awarded to Lu Zhou.

"…"

Zhang Wei sat next to Xu Chenyang; he stared at the man on stage and didn't say anything.

He was completely shocked.

When Zhang Wei took off his glasses to wipe his foggy lens, he saw his own reflection in his glasses.

Originally, he was invited to do a 45-minute report. He didn't expect to witness a historic moment.

CCTV had never broadcasted the Fields Medal award ceremony before. At most, they would include a snippet of the International Congress of Mathematicians.

However, tomorrow's CCTV broadcast might be an exception.

But Lu Zhou didn't really care about these things…

On stage.

The thunderous applause echoed in Lu Zhou's ears. His heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. When he looked at the crowd, he felt somewhat dissociated.

After ten seconds, he finally came back to life.

The applause gradually ended.

The audience sat back down.

Although his report had ended, the presentation didn't.

Next up was the most crucial stage of the report.

Even though his report was stellar, even though he had successfully convinced many people, there were still doubts among people.

He would answer the questions one by one during the Q&A session.

His ability to successfully answer the questions would determine if his thesis would be accepted and recognized by the entire academic community…

…

The Q&A session was longer than Lu Zhou had thought.

Tao Zhexuan was the first to ask a question; it was about the L Manifold.

Then Fefferman, Qiu Chengtong…

Almost all of the big names in the partial differential equation field asked a question.

Lu Zhou provided detailed answers to all of these questions.

Time flew by quickly during the Q&A session.

By noon, the questions were still coming.

Everyone was feeling hungry, and so, the organizers had to announce intermission. They consulted Lu Zhou for advice and decided to schedule a second Q&A session in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou finally had some time to rest. He then sighed in relief as he walked off stage.

However, before he could go to the toilet, he was surrounded by people who were waiting outside the lecture hall.

Surrounding him were journalists, scholars, as well as his admirers. Not everyone had the opportunity to witness this historic moment, and many people were waiting outside the lecture hall.

"Professor Lu, hello, I am a reporter for Columbia TV…"

"… Please let Daily Mail interview you!"

"How is the result? Is there a general smooth solution to the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation? Is it smooth?"

"God Lu, can I shake your hand?"

"Let me take a photo! Just one photo, I want to post it on Twitter! Oh sh*t, don't step on my foot!"

"Can I have your contact information, I have some mathematics questions I want to ask you…"

Lu Zhou was shocked by the enthusiasm of these people. He didn't expect the crowd to be outside the lecture hall.

But after all, this was the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematicians, and so, this was understandable.

In addition to the invited participants, there were people that paid out of their own pocket to attend the conference. The International Mathematical Union didn't exclude any math enthusiasts from participating in this nine-day long event.

However, when Lu Zhou looked at the energetic crowd, he started to have a headache.

He still had a Q&A session in the afternoon, and he was tired and hungry. He just wanted to find a place to eat and take a nap. He didn't have the time nor energy to deal with these people's demands.

Fortunately, the conference organizers anticipated this, and Lu Zhou managed to escape the crowd with help from staff members…

…

At noon, the organizer of the conference, the International Mathematical Union, provided a free simple lunch for everyone.

The lunch was an authentic black bean on rice with mate tea and a ball of chocolate as dessert. Although it wasn't anything fancy, it was quite filling.

Lu Zhou wandered around the hotel restaurant holding a plate of food. When he found a quiet corner, he then sat down.

The second he sat down, his three students came over.

"Professor, I just saw your report, you're so cool!"

Hardy sat across from Lu Zhou as he waved his fist excitedly. It was almost like he had just witnessed a football match.

Qin Yue, who sat next to him, nodded excitedly as well; he looked unusually energized.

However, he didn't like to talk as much as Hardy as he wasn't good at expressing his feelings. He could only come up with one word.

"Epic!"

Lu Zhou smiled and responded.

"Jealous?"

Hardy: "Of course!"

Qin Yue and Vera didn't say anything, but they all nodded.

A one-hour report was already nutty.

A special report session that was organized just for him? That was beyond nutty!

Lu Zhou looked at his students and smiled. He then said in an encouraging tone, "If you're jealous, then go work hard! There will be a day where you will stand on stage, sharing your knowledge with the world. The future is yours."

Hardy: "… Professor."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

Hardy scratched his head and said, "Nothing… I just wanted to say that I'm 25 years old, one year older than you. If you're old, then we're going to be old as well…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Shut up!

…

Lu Zhou finished his lunch and returned his empty plate. He then quickly left the hotel restaurant.

There was still half an hour until the second Q&A session. He planned to go back to his hotel room to take a nap. He wanted to recharge before the afternoon session.

Suddenly, Vera, who didn't say a word, caught up to Lu Zhou's footsteps and stopped him at the corridor outside the restaurant.

"… Professor."

When Lu Zhou heard her voice, he stopped walking. He then turned around and looked at the little girl.

"What?"

Vera was embarrassed to express her feelings. However, the two other students already sent their congratulations. Therefore, Vera made up her mind and blushed while congratulating Lu Zhou.

"You looked… handsome on stage."

Lu Zhou was embarrassed.

With a smile, he said, "Of course."

Chapter 423: System Easter Egg?

After an afternoon of fighting, the report was finally over at 5 p.m.

Normally speaking, for a major conjecture like this, in order to remember the moment, the organizers of the conference would arrange a dinner party to celebrate.

However, everyone was very tired. Not to mention, there was an opening ceremony tomorrow. They could only wait until tomorrow to taste the champagne of victory.

After Lu Zhou ate his dinner, he finally returned to his hotel room. He went straight to bed.

The report was finally over.

From the reaction of the audience, it seemed like the academic community accepted his thesis.

As for the Clay Institute, they were probably still researching his thesis, but it wouldn't take long for them to accept the thesis as well.

In any case, the Navier–Stokes equation research project finally came to an end. The knot in Lu Zhou's heart was finally untied.

Although Lu Zhou was completely exhausted, when he thought about his report, he couldn't help but smile.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered he hadn't posted on Weibo in a while.

"… I can't do this to my fans."

Lu Zhou smiled and rolled over. He then took out his phone from his pocket.

Joyful things should be shared with others.

Lu Zhou opened his phone and typed out a post. He then clicked "Send" and shared his happiness with his fans.

[After half a year of hard work, it's finally done!]

Replies immediately came in.

[Wow, why is God Lu up so early?]

[Dumbass, it's night time for him.]

[I wonder what God Lu is doing at night? (smirk) (smirk)]

[Wow, this time God Lu didn't humblebrag!!!]

Lu Zhou: "…"

What are you talking about!

What do you mean humblebrag?

Am I that kind of person?!

Lu Zhou read a few comments in the comments section. He then turned off his phone and placed his phone on the bedside table.

It was just after sunset here in Rio de Janeiro, which meant it was probably quite early in the morning back in China. Not a lot of people would see his Weibo post.

Comments were like pickles; the longer you waited, the better they would taste.

Lu Zhou lay in bed and closed his eyes.

Before going to sleep, he had an important thing to do.

He whispered, "System".

Soon, his consciousness entered the pure white space…

…

[Congratulations user for mission completion!

[Mission completion details are as follows: Give a logically consistent answer to the existence of a smooth Navier-Stokes equation.

[Mission final evaluation: S+

[Mission reward: 400,000 mathematics experience points. 100,000 physics experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.]

After all, it is a Millennium Prize Problem.

The 400,000 mathematics experience points is double the experience points for Goldbach's conjecture.

The 100,000 physics experience points also surprised Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't waste a second, and he immediately said, "System, open my characteristic panel!"

A blue light swept across the translucent holographic screen; Lu Zhou's updated characteristic panel quickly appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 7 (44,000/1.2 million)

B. Physics: Level 4 (133,215/200,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (24,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 4 (13,000/200,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2( 0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 3,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

I leveled up in mathematics!

Lu Zhou looked at the 44,000 mathematics experience points and felt ecstatic. Thank god he allocated all of the last mission's free experience points into mathematics.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have leveled up.

However, his joyfulness didn't last long.

Lu Zhou looked at the experience limit and couldn't help but feel despair.

1.2 million experience points!

What kind of mission would give me that many points…

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and decided to think about this problem later.

He then reached out a finger and selected the lucky draw.

The probability rates weren't known, so Lu Zhou had no idea what he could get.

The second he touched the translucent screen, a circular roulette wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then suddenly opened them.

"Stop!"

He pressed his index finger on the stop button.

The wheel's inertia caused it to spin a couple more rounds before it finally stopped.

A line of words appeared on the center of the translucent information screen.

[Congratulations, User, for winning the "special" prize.

[Received, "Easter egg".]

Lu Zhou: ?!

What the hell is an Easter egg?

Lu Zhou couldn't wait to receive the prize. He was wondering what exactly a system's Easter egg was. Suddenly, a rainbow-colored egg appeared in his hand.

He fiddled with the egg for a long time and couldn't find out what it was.

The only thing he knew was that it was an Easter egg.

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Is it really just a colorful egg!

Does this thing not have special features?

Lu Zhou remembered the first time he got the "special" prize and it turned out to be a "Patronage Appreciated". Lu Zhou was so over this system's jokes.

If he didn't receive the "inspiration hours", he would have suspected that the special rewards were the exact same as "garbage" and that the system was just playing a cruel joke on him.

Lu Zhou put the egg back into his inventory. He then saw that he had a lot of items in his inventory which were collecting dust.

Like that nitrogen shield, or that Debris No.2 that looked like a Rubik's cube. He hadn't had time to study the Debris yet, so he had no idea what it was.

If only he had a scanner gun.

Lu Zhou sighed and closed his inventory tab.

He had passed the mission and received the mission reward, and now, it was time to receive his new mission.

Lu Zhou looked at the shiny S+ mission panel evaluation and clicked his mission panel.

Soon, the updated mission panel appeared in front of his eyes.

[Reward mission is activated (Give up at any time without spending general points)

[Explanation: Due to user's deep understanding of the Navier–Stokes equation and user's ability to solve partial differential equations by using differential geometry methods, new ideas paths have been opened for the field of fluid mechanics. The L Manifold and topology tools will also revolutionize the research in hydrodynamic turbulence phenomenon!

[Requirements: Establish a mathematical model for the plasma turbulence phenomenon in the stellarator.

[Reward: 1~??? subject experience. One lucky draw ticket. (100% special).]

Lu Zhou had high expectations for this mission.

If this reward mission was like last time where all he had to do was to receive a national reward, then it would be amazing.

Unfortunately, the system didn't let him off the hook so easily.

Not just that, but this reward mission was actually quite difficult.

The turbulence phenomenon was the most difficult part of fluid mechanics, and so far, physicists had only created approximate models on this phenomenon.

And the turbulence phenomenon of plasma was even more complicated than other fluids.

However, although this was a difficult task, Lu Zhou was confident he could solve this problem.

He had already defeated the Navier–Stokes equation, is there anything else that he couldn't do in the field of fluid mechanics?

Not to mention, applied mathematics was his forte.

He exited the system space and returned to reality.

Lu Zhou felt a gentle twitch in his cerebral cortex before his entire consciousness felt numb.

Lu Zhou secretly enjoyed this feeling of being upgraded, and soon, he yawned and fell asleep.

Lu Zhou didn't know that the news of him solving the Navier–Stokes equation had already hit China and that many CCTV mathematics reporters stayed up all night because of his report…

Chapter 424: International Congress of Mathematicians!

Morning, 1st of August, 2018.

The crowd gathered inside the conference venue.

This was the largest, most important mathematics conference. The International Congress of Mathematicians was known as the Olympics of mathematics. Except for when the two world wars were happening, it had been held every four years since 1897.

This was an international conference that provided a place for mathematicians to exchange ideas, discuss academic issues, meet old friends, and make new friends. Every conference played a pivotal role in the history of mathematics.

This year's conference was particularly special.

Not just because this was the first International Congress of Mathematicians held in the southern hemisphere, but it was also because of the Millennium Prize Problem. This conference had received worldwide attention.

Lu Zhou was walking outside the venue while wearing a suit. He bumped into Professor Fefferman, and the two then entered the venue together.

Lu Zhou stood in an uncrowded area as he looked at his watch.

It was 8 a.m, an hour until the opening ceremony.

Fefferman: "I heard the CCTV in your country applied for a live broadcast permit for the conference."

Lu Zhou looked at the corner of the venue where he saw a CCTV logo on one of the cameras.

The guy holding the camera noticed Lu Zhou as well, and he pointed the camera toward him.

Lu Zhou looked away and asked, "Does this rarely happen?"

"Rarely. At least, this is the first time I've ever seen it happening," Professor Fefferman said. He then smiled and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder as he asked, "How do you feel? Nervous?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he replied, "… I'm feeling ok."

His report was already over. Since today was just the opening ceremony, it wasn't like he had to do anything.

As for the CCTV cameras…

It wasn't as if this was his first time on national TV.

Professor Fefferman looked at Lu Zhou in surprise and said, "Unbelievable… That's a TV channel with 1.4 billion viewers, are you not nervous?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's not that big of a deal…"

"… Actually, there's one more thing that might be important to you, but I'm not sure if I want to tell you." Fefferman looked a little hesitant; he wasn't sure if he should tell him.

Lu Zhou asked, "What?"

Fefferman looked around. Once he confirmed that no one was staring at them, he coughed and said in a hushed tone, "At a party yesterday, I was talking about this year's Fields Medal with an old friend, and he told me the list of winners…"

Lu Zhou was shocked by this news.

After a while, he said, "… This isn't appropriate, right?"

Professor Fefferman said seriously, "It isn't, but I hope you can keep it a secret."

Lu Zhou looked around.

Although he knew he shouldn't ask, he couldn't control his curiosity.

"… Can I ask who is on the list?"

Professor Fefferman asked, "You really want to know?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

Professor Fefferman lowered his voice and said, "Unfortunately, your name is not on there… However, we all think you deserve this year's Fields Medal award."

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

The f*ck?

No way?

This is still not enough for a Fields Medal?!

Lu Zhou was shocked.

He suddenly heard someone saying something.

"Don't listen to his bullsh*t. No one knows the winner's list prior to the announcement. Not even Fefferman," Professor Deligne said with a blank expression. He then looked at Professor Fefferman and asked mercilessly, "Tell me, who is your friend?"

Fefferman coughed and tried to look away as he said, "Oh, my dear Deligne… I'm just joking, don't take it so seriously! Life is a lot less fun when you take everything seriously."

Lu Zhou was speechless. "… You nearly fooled me."

Fefferman laughed and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder as he said, "Don't be so serious. See, don't you feel relaxed now?"

Lu Zhou said, "I was relaxed before you made this joke."

Professor Fefferman sighed and said, "Okay, my apologies…"

…

At exactly 9 a.m…

The scholars were seated inside the venue, and the 28th International Congress of Mathematicians officially began.

Professor Viana, the head of the conference committee, and Professor Viana, the director of the International Mathematical Union, gave an opening speech on stage. She thanked the local organizers of the conference and the people attending the conference before she announced the official opening of the mathematics conference.

After the opening was the prize-giving session.

This was the climax of the conference.

Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was the first prize to be announced. This award was given to achievements in the field of applied mathematics.

David Donoho from Stanford University received this year's Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize. This was due to his contribution to mathematical statistics and computing analysis in the field of signal processing.

Next was the Shiing-Shen Chern Award. This was a type of lifetime achievement award that wasn't specific to any field. This year's Shiing-Shen Chern Award winner was given to Masaki Kashiwara for his 50-year-old contribution to algebra analysis and representation theory.

Next was the Leelavati Award, and the winner was a Turkish mathematician named Ali Nesin…

Finally, it was the main part of the award ceremony and the highlight of the entire International Congress of Mathematicians—the announcement of the Fields Medal winners.

Most mathematical achievements were done by mathematicians younger than 40 years old. The Fields Medal was the highest honor that a young mathematician could receive. It was known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics.

Although a medal wouldn't determine the greatness of a mathematician, the scholar that won this medal would earn the respect and recognition of the entire academic community.

Moments before the winner list was announced…

People held their breaths and watched the stage with great enthusiasm.

Especially those that had hopes of winning the Fields Medal.

Zhang Wei sat in the crowd nervously; he began to squeeze his fists.

Molina sat next to Sophie as she nervously rubbed her knees with her fingers.

James Maynard from the UK was also here, and he sat in the corner of the venue with his arms crossed. This young number theory expert was also a Fields Medal candidate even though he did once lose to someone on the twin prime conjecture…

Professor Mori could feel the enthusiasm of the crowd.

He gave a friendly smile before he cleared his throat and spoke in a steady tone.

"He has a high understanding of applied mathematical ideas coupled with extraordinary ambitious and ever-lasting curiosity.

"… From the Zhou-Lu theorem to the twin prime number theorem, from the Polignac-Lu theorem to the Goldbach-Lu theorem, he has added new and novel research to the great ancient discipline of additive number theory.

"Not just number theory, but functional analysis, group theory, topology, differential geometry, partial differential equations… His work spans multiple disciplines, his contribution cannot be described in just a few words.

"I believe that his results didn't just come from his talent, but it also came from the countless blood, sweat, and tears."

Director Mori then declared in a solemn tone.

"The first winner is… Lu Zhou!"

Chapter 425: People's Favorite

The venue exploded the moment the winner was announced.

A 24-year-old Fields Medal winner!

The thunderous applause was like nothing else.

The conference venue wasn't the only place that exploded.

The second Director Mori read the name "Lu Zhou", the comments section of the CCTV broadcast exploded.

[Amazing!]

[God Lu is nutty!]

[Congratulations!]

[The third Chinese Fields Medal winner! The first Chinese citizen to win the Fields Medal!]

[Powerful youth, powerful country! Thank you, Professor Lu! (flag) (flag) (flag)]

[I'm from Jin Ling University as well, I guess I went to a fake university, haha.]

[The difference between some people is bigger than the difference between people and pigs.]

[Genius student, please give me some luck, don't let me fail any subjects this semester…]

Although the total amount of theses output in China had continued to grow, the Chinese mathematics community was never at the cutting-edge.

Maybe a Fields Medal didn't represent anything or mean anything.

But this medal gave countless people hope and confidence in the new generation of Chinese scholars…

CCTV's live broadcast wasn't the only place that exploded…

Yesterday, the Shuimu University forums were filled with posts on the Navier–Stokes equation, and today, it was conquered by the Fields Medal.

At least half of the new posts on the forum were about the Fields Medal. Most of the posts weren't talking about the Fields Medal itself, but rather, the Fields Medal winner…

[Amazing, a 24-year-old Fields Medal winner! I remember the 230IQ Tao Zhexuan won it when he was 31, right?]

[The youngest Fields Medal winner was Jean-Pierre Serre, and he was 27 years old when he won it. Lu Zhou bet the record by three years…]

[This is scary… When did Jin Ling University's mathematics department become this strong?]

[God knows, I only know they're strong at physics. They don't even have a mathematics academician!]

[The International Mathematical Union is taking a big risk here! Many 39-year-olds are waiting for the prize. Giving the Fields Medal to a 24-year-old, isn't that a bit impulsive?]

[Why not? He's solved both the Goldbach's conjecture and the Millennium Prize Problem, Navier–Stokes equation. You really think he's honored to have the Fields Medal? And not the other way around?]

…

The applause inside the venue gradually subsided.

Lu Zhou didn't know what was happening online when the International Mathematical Union announced his name.

He wasn't sure how excited the people were.

He walked on stage while being watched by the crowd and cameras. He then received the Fields Medal medal from Director Mori.

This old professor shook hands with Lu Zhou and congratulated him on behalf of the International Mathematical Union.

"Congratulations, scholar from China."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

The awards ceremony continued.

To no one's surprise, the second winner was Peter Schultz from Germany.

Schultz's PhD thesis created a new field of "complete geometry". He had, on average, received one award for every two theses he had ever written. His outstanding contributions to the arithmetic geometry field was recognized by the entire mathematics community.

He didn't win the Fields Medal last time because everyone didn't understand his "p-class perfect space theory (PS theory)". However, after he made a series of breakthroughs in the Langlands program using his PS theory, no one had any more doubts about his theoretical tool.

The third and fourth winners were a bit inferior to the first two winners, but they were undoubtedly still top scholars of mathematics.

One of them was Caucher Birkar, an Iranian scholar from the University of Cambridge, and the other was Akshay Venkatesh, an Australian scholar from Stanford.

The former was a legendary Kurdish refugee while the latter was an Australian who had won both the International Physics Olympiad and the International Mathematical Olympiad… when he was only 12 years old.

After these four scholars' names were announced, a round of thunderous applause was heard again in the venue.

Sophie Morel looked at the four people on stage, and she looked a little depressed. She bit her lip and didn't say anything.

Molina, who was sitting next to her, sighed and tried to comfort her supervisor. "… You still have a chance."

Zhang Wei was on the other side of the hall. He stared at the stage, and after a while, he suddenly sighed.

Xu Chenyang tried to comfort his old friend. "This is unfortunate…"

Zhang Wei shook his head and said, "It's not that bad."

This was his last chance. By the time the next mathematics conference came around, he would have passed the age limit of forty.

Although it was a pity that he could never win the Fields Medal, he couldn't help but feel a little comfort in his heart.

Because a Chinese scholar finally won the Fields Medal.

However, it was unfortunate that he wasn't the one to bring this honor to his country…

Zhang Wei looked at the four Fields Medal winners on stage and suddenly said, "What were you doing when you were 24 years old?"

Xu Chenyang replied, "I was studying my PhD at Princeton, what else?"

"I was at Columbia University that year…" Zhang Wei suddenly shook his head and said, "We lose fair and square."

…

After the award ceremony, the four winners sat together.

Peter Schultz was sitting next to Lu Zhou. As he stared into the camera, he poked Lu Zhou's arm.

"Ah, we meet again."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, long time no see."

These two first met at the 2015 American Mathematics Conference. Coincidentally, they both won an award at that conference as well.

However, one won the Cole Number Theory Prize while the other won the Cole Algebra Prize.

Ever since then, the two had been communicating through email.

The last time Lu Zhou went to Germany, he originally planned to visit Schultz at the University of Bonn. Unfortunately, he was caught up with work and didn't get to go.

Schultz smiled and said, "Congratulations, youngest Fields Medal winner. You beat Jean-Pierre's record by three years."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you, congratulations to you as well!"

When he was 22 years old, Schultz had the chance to break this record when he created his "perfect space" theory as the following year happened to be the International Congress of Mathematicians.

However, his "perfect space" theory didn't receive recognition from the algebraic geometry community. It only helped him get his PhD.

Schultz said, "You've already defeated the Navier–Stokes equation, so what's next? What do you plan on researching?"

Lu Zhou gave a simple answer. "The application of the L Manifold on plasma physics."

"Still partial differential equations?" Schultz sighed and said, "Do you really not want to dabble in algebraic geometry?"

Algebraic geometry was one of the main fields of pure mathematics; some would say it is the most mainstream mathematics branch. However, many people were disappointed that Professor Lu wasn't interested in algebraic geometry.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There are already so many geniuses in that field, there's no need for me to join in."

Schultz smiled and said, "Have you heard this joke about you before?"

Lu Zhou said, "What joke?"

Schultz said jokingly, "If you encounter a research problem you cannot solve, one of the methods to solve it is to make Professor Lu be interested in it."

Chapter 426: Professor Lu's Fields Medal

While Lu Zhou and Schultz were talking about the Langlands program, the other two Fields Medal winners were also talking about their award-winning thoughts.

Birkar looked at his medal and began to reminisce about his flee from Iran to UK. "… When I escaped Kurdistan, I never thought this day would come. I didn't even know any English when I enrolled at the University of Nottingham."

From overcoming his cultural and language barriers, from becoming the main contributor to the field of double rational geometry, from proving the finiteness of the Fano plane, as well as solving many problems of the minimal model program, all of these reasons were why Birkar was able to win the Fields Medal.

"It's not easy," Venkatesh said, "I've never experienced such tragic things in Australia. We are really lucky."

During the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s, being a mathematician wasn't an easy thing.

"It's fine, that's the past," Birkar said as he placed his medal in his briefcase. He smiled and said, "Kurdistan isn't a place that ignites children's interest in mathematics. I hope that by winning this award, I can put a smile on the faces of the 40 million people in Kurdistan."

After that, the International Mathematical Union also awarded the Nevanlinna Prize, the highest award in the field of mathematical computing. The winner was Professor Daskalakis.

After all of the award ceremonies, the opening ceremony of the conference came to an end.

A local Rio de Janeiro culture dance group gave a unique Brazilian performance to the conference participants.

Lu Zhou looked at the people who were dressed as Inca Native Americans and thought that their crowns looked like a peacock's feathers. Compared to dancing, Lu Zhou felt that it looked more like a piece of performance art.

He didn't know what was so interesting about the so-called dance.

Maybe, this was the difference between cultures.

…

After the performance, Director Mori announced the end of the opening ceremony.

Most of the participants left the venue in a happy mood.

Lu Zhou stood up and was about to leave as well. However, when he went to the venue restaurant to grab some lunch, he was surrounded by reporters.

A CTV reporter asked the first question.

A young female reporter with professional makeup asked, "Hello, Professor Lu, may I ask how does it feel to be the first Chinese scholar to win this medal?"

This question was a little difficult.

Excited? Delighted? Fulfilled?

They all didn't seem appropriate.

Lu Zhou didn't know how to describe his feelings.

He looked at the camera that was being pointed toward him and smiled as he replied, "It's okay."

The cameraman nearly dropped the camera.

It's okay…

The Fields Medal is okay… Professor Lu!

If we broadcast this interview, people will think it's a joke.

The female reporter's hand trembled a little. However, she quickly composed herself and asked a different question.

"I heard you're very famous at Jin Ling University and that many young students aspire to be like you. Since you're standing on this international stage right now, do you have anything to say to them?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Remember your roots; fight for your success!"

Lu Zhou wasn't the only one surrounded by reporters; the other three winners were also receiving attention.

Especially Birkar.

Although his academic achievements were slightly inferior to the other three winners, Birkar's unique background made him extra sought after by western media.

But this kind of attention wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Birkar was annoyed by the reporters, and he was about to leave when something awkward happened.

"Wait a minute, where's my medal?"

All of the cameras began to point at Birkar.

Birkar anxiously looked around for his medal.

Professor Viana, the head of the conference committee, noticed the commotion and quickly came over.

"What happened?"

"My medal; it was just in my briefcase…" Birkar said in disbelief. He was about to look in his briefcase.

He quickly found out that not only did his gold medal disappear, but his briefcase that contained his phone and wallet also disappeared.

Professor Viana quickly realized the seriousness of the problem. He then looked at his assistant and sighed.

"Call the police."

The assistant nodded and took out his cellphone.

The organizer of the conference didn't want to make things worse, but they didn't have a better solution other than to call the police.

The news of the disappearance of the Fields Medal quickly spread around; it caused a lot of commotion in the venue.

Not long after, the briefcase was found near the hotel, but the phone, wallet, and medal inside were gone.

Due to the principle of shared knowledge, the mathematics conference didn't restrict anyone from attending. Anyone could freely present their academic opinions and discuss academic topics with other attendees.

However, no one expected that a thief was able to attend the conference.

The spokesperson of the International Mathematical Union expressed his disappointment with the security and safety standards in Rio de Janeiro to the media. He also said that if the medal was found, a special ceremony would be held for the unfortunate award winner.

Lu Zhou, who just escaped the reporter, heard about Birkar's troubles from Hardy.

He felt deeply sympathetic for his Kurdistan friend as he subconsciously touched his own medal.

Thankfully, his medal was still there.

Hardy listened to the argument happening around him and had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Professor, I don't want to say this, but the public security situation in Rio de Janeiro isn't that good. If you want to go outside, please remember to keep your wallet and medal safe."

Hardy didn't look like he was joking, so Lu Zhou nodded silently.

"… I will."

When Lu Zhou left the conference venue, he decided to wander around the conference site.

The reports at the International Congress of Mathematicians were all of the highest quality, and other than the 45 and 60-minute reports, there were also 10-minute reports for normal scholars where any participant interested in reporting could apply.

The conference reports were divided into more than 20 different mathematical fields, each of which could be further subdivided.

This was an opportunity to understand the latest research trends in the academic community, and Lu Zhou obviously wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.

Just as Lu Zhou was wandering around the hallways while contemplating on which report he should listen to, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Professor Lu, long time no see!"

Chapter 427: Nutty Supervisor, Nutty Students

Lu Zhou looked at the person who spoke, and his eyes lit up the instant he recognized who it was.

Academician Wang Shicheng, chairman of the China Mathematics Society!

He met Academician Wang at the 2015 Chinese Mathematicians Conference.

Lu Zhou remembered that it was at Beijing Normal University. He was still doing his master's degree when he attended the conference with Academician Lu. He also won a Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award at the conference.

Unlike the international Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, the domestic Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award wasn't a lifetime achievement award; it was similar to the Fields Medal which focused on young scholars. However, the age limit was different; it was up to 50- year-old scholars.

"Long time no see!" Lu Zhou shook Academician Wang Shicheng's hand and looked at the three people standing next to him. He then asked, "This is?"

Academician Wang smiled and introduced the person closest to him. "This is the secretary-general of the China Mathematics Society, Cheng Dayue."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Professor Cheng, nice to meet you!"

Cheng Dayue smiled. "Who said I was a professor? Professor Zhang and Professor Xu are professors, just call me Secretary Cheng."

Lu Zhou's eyes lit up. When he heard the other two professors' names, he immediately knew who they were.

"These two are Zhang Wei and Xu Chenyang?"

Before Zhang Wei could speak, Academician Wang Shicheng said, "I was about to introduce them to you, I didn't expect you to guess it right."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I didn't expect to meet these two great mathematicians. What an honor!"

These two together with God Yun were legendary at Jin Ling University. Lu Zhou heard their names on Jin Ling University campus before, but unfortunately, he had never met them before. He didn't expect to get the opportunity today.

"No, not quite! God Wei is real, I'm not quite a god yet. Rather, I should say, nice to meet you God Lu!" Xu Chenyang said while shaking hands with Lu Zhou.

Zhang Wei was a coughed and said, "… Don't call him that, it's embarrassing."

Academician Wang Shicheng smiled at these young scholars and said, "Professor Lu, are you available later?"

Lu Zhou said, "Is there anything?"

Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and said, "Nothing, but if you weren't busy, I thought we could grab some food or something. I know a good restaurant nearby, and it's much better than the hotel food."

The "Brazilian-style" lunch provided by the hotel was pretty average; Lu Zhou didn't plan on eating there anyway. Therefore, he smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing, let's go!"

…

On the other side of the planet, the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Xiang Huanan was sitting in the corner of the office, watching the CCTV report on TV. He sighed and spoke with emotion.

"Before this, I thought that kid was talented, but I didn't expect him to be this insane! He even won the Fields Medal."

The Fields Medal was the highest honor for mathematicians under the age of 40. No one had ever won the Fields Medal at the tender age of 24.

The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, Wolf Prize, etc., were all lifetime achievement awards; they weren't given to scholars under the age of 40.

After all, to reward a young mathematician for his "lifetime" of achievements almost seemed like a curse…

Academician Wang Yuping sat on the office sofa. He was also watching the TV, and he was sincerely happy for Lu Zhou.

After a while, he suddenly thought of a few students from Yan University. With a sigh, he said, "Unfortunate."

Xiang Huanan looked at his old friend and asked, "What's so unfortunate?"

Wang Yuping shook his head; he almost looked depressed.

"The scholars born in the '80s and graduated in the year 2000 are the most outstanding. Zhang Wei and Yun Zhihui are classic examples. Then there's also Xu Chenyang, who returned to China… We thought these young talents could win the Fields Medal; I didn't expect all of them to be defeated."

Especially Zhang Wei who studied the Kudala Conjecture for his PhD under his supervisor, Zhang Shouwu. He discovered the answer within three months, and when he only took two years to receive his PhD, he shocked the Chinese mathematics community. When he won the Ramanujan gold award, it further boosted his reputation among the academic community.

Professor Wang Yuping was a professor at Yan University; he had heard about the rumors circulating around Yan University campus.

Many young mathematics students greatly worshipped Zhang Wei; they called him "God Wei".

It was obvious that both the older and younger scholars highly respected Zhang Wei.

However, no one expected Zhang Wei to lose out on the Fields Medal.

Xiang Huanan looked at his sad old friend and smiled.

"It's not a big deal. From what I can tell, you guys are giving him pressure, disturbing his mental. You're torturing him!"

"Old Xiang, I'm going to have to disagree with you," Wang Yuping said as he wasn't happy to hear this. "Yan University is one of the top mathematics institutions in the country, so what's wrong with having expectations? How is it torture?"

"You're a Yan University professor, do you not know?" Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "Who cares if he doesn't win it? Is the sky going to collapse? Is winning the Fields Medal the goal of mathematics research?"

Wang Yuping shook his head and said, "I know, researching isn't for awards. I'm just sad that he lost."

Xiang Huanan looked at his depressed friend and said, "There's nothing to be sad about. This might not be a bad thing. At least he can let go of his baggage, and focus on mathematics. He might achieve greater success in the future."

"Don't give me that sh*t," Professor Wang Yuping said. He looked at the TV as he continued, "But then again, this Professor Lu guy really is brilliant. I heard his Ukrainian student will do the 45-minute number theory report."

"You're talking about the Collatz conjecture, right? I've read that thesis; it's well written." Academician Xiang said before he picked up his vacuum flask and took a sip of tea. He said, "He has a very good understanding of applied mathematics, so it's not surprising that his students are geniuses as well. However, I don't know if the Ukrainian, Brazilian, or Qin Yue is stronger. But I am sure of one thing. In ten years, one of these three will win the Fields Medal."

Wang Yuping said, "The Qin Yue student has a chance as well?"

Xiang Huanan was surprised, and he asked, "What? Do you want him to study at Yan University?"

Professor Wang Yuping smiled and said, "I can't convince Professor Lu to come, but surely I can convince his students."

Xiang Huanan shook his head as he said, "You guys are too late. From what I know, the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Research Institute already sent him the Thousand People Initiative."

Wang Yuping was shocked by the news. He asked, "How are they so fast?"

"They're not fast, you guys are too slow!" Xiang Huanan put down his vacuum flask and said, "Nutty professor, nutty students."

Chapter 428: Give Me Some Inspiration

Although this was the first time the International Congress of Mathematicians was held in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro had hosted various other international math conferences before.

According to Wang Shicheng, this was his seventh time visiting this city. Therefore, he was quite familiar with the city.

Wang Shicheng called his other Chinese mathematician friends, who came here to do a 45-minute report. The original squad of four became a squad of ten. Academician Wang led the way, and the squad went to a Sichuan restaurant near the hotel.

The owner of the restaurant was a Chinese person, and apparently, he used to work for China National Petroleum. He then found out it was more profitable to run a restaurant here; therefore, he resigned and started his own restaurant. Once his business started to take off, he migrated and started a family here.

The boss obviously knew Academician Wang. When he heard they were mathematicians who were attending the International Congress of Mathematicians, he immediately gave them a 10% discount.

When the owner heard that Lu Zhou was here as well, he removed the discount and said it was on the house.

Lu Zhou insisted on paying but the owner pushed his hand away.

The owner smiled as he said, "The entire Chinese community in South America is talking about Professor Lu from Princeton that won the first Fields Medal for our country. I'm honored for you to eat here; there's no way I'm letting you pay! If you win the Nobel Prize, I'll let you eat here with all of your friends!"

Secretary Cheng was standing next to them, and he said, "That might be a little difficult as there's no mathematics Nobel Prize."

Professor Zhang said, "Wait, no, Professor Lu might have a chance…"

Xu Chenyang nodded. "True."

Although there was no mathematics Nobel Prize, Lu Zhou had a chance to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Last year, Lu Zhou won the Adams Chemistry Prize and the Hoffman Prize. This was a well-known fact among the Chinese mathematics community.

Secretary Cheng: "…?"

The owner was persistent, so Lu Zhou didn't insist and accepted his kindness.

Everyone got to know each other at the dinner table. Wang Shicheng, the Chairman of the China Mathematics Society, raised his glass and gave Lu Zhou a toast.

"On behalf of the China Mathematics Society, I would like to congratulate you on winning the Fields Medal. Thank you for bringing this glory and honor to the Chinese mathematics community."

Lu Zhou downed the glass of beer with Academician Wang and humbly said, "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do."

Academician Wang smiled and said, "I know, research is the number one thing for us scholars. As for the awards, those are just the icing on the cake. Regardless, cheers."

"God Lu, cheers. On behalf of myself," Xu Chenyang said as he smiled and raised the glass in his hand. "Come to our Yan University International Mathematical Research Center some time. It's the only research institute built in a Siheyuan style. It's a good place to visit."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you, I will definitely go there when I can!"

Originally Lu Zhou didn't plan on drinking too much, but this was a day worth celebrating; everyone was enthusiastic and Lu Zhou was having a great time.

Even though his alcohol tolerance was pretty good, but after a couple of rounds of beers, he was feeling a little dizzy.

But on the other hand, this was a chance for Lu Zhou to meet some of the big names in the Chinese mathematics community.

Like Xu Chenyang, God Wei, God Yun, Zhang Yuping, etc…

Although they didn't win a Fields Medal, the Fields Medal wasn't the only metric for measuring a mathematician's achievements. These were respected scholars, and their work was essential.

They ate for a long time; Lu Zhou finally stumbled back to his hotel by 2 pm.

Lu Zhou was standing in front of the hotel lobby when he saw Schultz.

"The party is tonight, are you drunk?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'm not."

Schultz said, "That's what a drunk person would say. Is your medal still there?"

Lu Zhou touched his pocket.

"It's still here… I told you I'm not drunk."

Schultz raised his eyebrows and said, "Okay then, let me test you."

Lu Zhou said, "What question?"

Schultz smiled and said, "Let an elliptic curve E be defined on the finite field, a general case of the Hasse-Weil-L function should be the self-contained L function of GLn in the algebraic number field. These self-contained L functions can uniquely be decomposed into the product of the 'standard' L function."

After Lu Zhou leveled up to mathematics Level 7, his mathematics-based memory had gotten immensely better.

The knowledge he had to read again to remember, whether it was from theses or textbooks, he could now remember clearly.

Lu Zhou felt like he had heard this problem before.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and burped.

"Very interesting, I think it's an algebraic geometry problem… And then what?"

Schultz said in a serious tone, "No more and then, I just want to know why is this true?"

"My dear Schultz, I'm not Mr. Google, I don't know why…"

Lu Zhou frowned and tried to concentrate. After a while, he shook his head and said, "Don't know, this is too difficult. I have a feeling that solving this question might take me three months… or even half a year."

Schultz's eyebrows twitched when he heard this problem.

Half a year…

This guy really is drunk.

The question Schultz described was one of the many conjectures about the Artin-L function in the Langlands program; a classic algebraic geometry proposition.

Over the past year, Schultz had tried countless methods to try and solve this problem, albeit none of them had worked.

He didn't think Lu Zhou could solve this problem either. He only wanted to hear Lu Zhou's opinion on it as it might give him some inspiration.

Schultz took a deep breath and said, "Okay then, do you have any good ideas for this question? Any idea is fine."

Lu Zhou frowned and thought for a while. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "You'll have to prove that the self-defense L-function can be decomposed into the product of the 'standard' L-function. First, you have to prove that the decomposition of the L-function is unique… In this case, why not try to prove it using group representation or mathematical analysis? I think it's worth a shot."

Actually, Lu Zhou didn't understand algebraic geometry very well; his knowledge of algebraic geometry was limited to what Deligne had taught him. He had never studied any of the more difficult algebraic geometry conjectures.

Because of this, Lu Zhou had always felt a little guilty. Even though he had Grothendieck's manuscript, he never thought of going to France and taking on Grothendieck's mathematical legacy.

Normally, Lu Zhou wouldn't talk about things that he was not fluent in.

But when he was drunk…

It was a different story.

He would say anything that came to his mind.

When Schultz heard Lu Zhou's gibberish, he sighed. He then shrugged and said, "I'll get you some hangover medicine from the organizer…"

Group theory representation, analytic methods, that's child's play…

Wait a minute…

Schultz remembered his research bottleneck; he frowned and crossed his arms.

Lu Zhou saw that Schultz wasn't speaking.

"… I'm just casually thinking, don't take it seriously."

"No… maybe it makes sense." Schultz twirled his long hair around his finger and said, "Why not try a group theory method or an analytics method? You're right, how did I not think of it…"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

The long-haired German bloke totally forgot about Lu Zhou's hangover medicine as he walked away while muttering to himself…

Chapter 429: Collatz Conjecture Repor

Although Lu Zhou was wasted in the afternoon, but due to his powerful metabolic function, he was able to attend the evening party.

He was one of the main attendees of this conference; if he didn't attend, then the party wouldn't be interesting…

The banquet went from 6 pm until 8 pm. Professor Fefferman didn't have enough fun; therefore, he came up with the idea to use the Brazilian chocolate balls the Princeton professors got at the conference as chips for playing contract bridge.

This sounded like an interesting idea. Therefore, Lu Zhou joined in on the fun. In the beginning, he lost some of his chips because he wasn't familiar with the rules, but after a while, he began to dominate the playing table.

Mathematicians gambling with cards was a very interesting thing.

Lu Zhou heard Fefferman said that everyone on the table except Lu Zhou was part of the contract bridge club at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Prior to this, Lu Zhou, who had worked at the Institute for Advanced Study for years, never knew about this interesting club.

Professor Fefferman shuffled the cards and said, "If you're interested in playing contract bridge, you can join our club. Unless there's a special occasion, we play every day from 2 pm until 3 pm at the activity room of the Institute for Advanced Study. You're welcome to join us if you like."

Lu Zhou said, "But I'm already a consultant for the drone club at Princeton."

"That's fine, you can join as many clubs as you like," Professor Fefferman said with a smile. Fefferman was a well-liked person on Princeton campus, and he said, "If I recall correctly, I'm an honorary member of more than 20 clubs."

Lu Zhou suddenly felt like he was missing out…

They played bridge until midnight. At the end of the day, Lu Zhou had his pockets full of chocolate balls. He suddenly remembered that there was a 45-minute report tomorrow that he had to attend; therefore, he bade farewell.

Lu Zhou spent the night sleeping in his hotel room.

The next morning, Lu Zhou woke up with dark circles around his eyes. He took a shower and yawned as he walked out of his hotel room.

He took the elevator downstairs and walked into the restaurant. When he happened to see Molina, Lu Zhou immediately greeted her.

"Morning."

"Morning." Molina noticed Lu Zhou's dark circles, and she teased him by saying, "Stayed up late?"

Lu Zhou yawned and said, "Nope, just a bit tired…"

Vera, who just finished her breakfast, walked out of the restaurant and bumped into Lu Zhou.

When the little girl saw Lu Zhou, she greeted him politely.

"Morning, Professor Lu."

"Morning." Lu Zhou smiled and encouraged her, "You got this!"

"Yes!" Vera nodded energetically. In the end, she couldn't help but yawn as well.

Although she went to bed early last night, the thought of her reporting at the International Congress of Mathematicians caused her to stay wide awake.

She rolled around in bed and finally fell asleep around 3 am.

Her entire body felt dizzy; it was almost like she could fall asleep while standing.

Molina looked at this scene in front of her. She then looked weirdly at Lu Zhou.

"… Be honest, what did you do last night?"

When Lu Zhou heard this weird question, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Molina was about to say something, but she suddenly shook her head and said, "… Never mind, I didn't see anything, I didn't ask anything."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Molina looked like she just made a choice between ethics and her friendship with Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou felt like she had misunderstood something…

…

Vera's report was at 10 am; she was part of the number theory division.

There was still two hours until Vera's report, and Lu Zhou didn't want to waste any time. Therefore, he began wandering around the conference.

Without knowing it, he arrived at the algebraic geometry division.

When he walked into the lecture hall, the person doing a one-hour report happened to be his acquaintance, Professor Schultz.

Lu Zhou was interested in the report topic written on the whiteboard. He sat down in the back row and began listening.

Simply put, Schultz's report was based on the perfect space theory that he created which solved some of the problems in the Langlands program; many of which were closely related to the BSD conjecture.

Lu Zhou had a basic understanding of his perfect space theory; therefore, it wasn't difficult for him to listen to Schultz's report.

After Lu Zhou finished listening to Schultz's report, he went to the partial differential equation lecture hall, but he didn't see any interesting reports happening.

Apparently, some people had applied to report on the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation, but since Lu Zhou had defeated the Millennium Prize Problem, they had to abandon their reports…

It was soon at 10 am.

The number theory lecture hall was packed.

Lu Zhou found a seat in the back row and sat down as he quietly waited for the report to begin.

Vera's palms were sweating as she nervously walked on stage.

Many people in the lecture hall were surprised at the presenter's age, but since mathematics is a young scholar's subject, they didn't overreact.

Vera took a deep breath and remembered her professor's encouraging words. She then patted herself on the cheeks as she tried to calm herself down.

"You got this… Vera Pulyuy, you can do it!"

She gave herself some encouragement and had a self-assuring look in her eyes.

The Collatz conjecture soon began.

Although her report was a little unsteady at first, she got the hang of it and began to smoothly articulate herself.

Lu Zhou had to admit that she was a very talented girl, both in mathematics and in public speaking.

Her only flaw was her introverted shy character.

Lu Zhou watched Vera and nodded with approval.

No wonder she's my student, she reminds me of my presenting style.

Half an hour had gone by, the report gradually came to an end. However, Vera didn't relax at all.

Because next up was the Q&A session; the main part of the report session.

The first question was asked by Professor Helfgott from the École Normale Supérieure. Helfgott was an analytic number theory master who proved the weak Goldbach's conjecture; he was also one of the six peer reviewers for Lu Zhou's Goldbach's conjecture thesis.

Maybe Helfgott didn't want to put Vera under too much pressure because he spoke in a non-aggressive way. He looked at the printed thesis in his hand and spoke.

"On page 9, line 7, I noticed something interesting. Φ(g) is the open subset of the complex plane f, and each of the largest connected sub-regions of Φ(g) is a branch of Φ(g)… How did you conclude this expression?"

Vera quickly turned the thesis to page nine and answered clearly.

"Φ(g) is the set of ordinary points z0 beyond the integer function g(z). On page 7, line 15, inference 1.4, I proved that the function column {gk(z)}∞/k=1 has sub-columns in the local neighborhood of point z0, which converges to the analytic function S(z)…"

When Helfgott heard Vera's explanation, he nodded with approval.

"Thank you."

The Q&A session continued.

After all, this was the International Congress of Mathematicians; the skill level of attendees was very high, and the questions were all sophisticated.

Of course, there were some less sophisticated questions.

A doctoral holder from the University of Montreal stood up and spoke.

"Excuse me, on page 11, line 13, any whole function h(z) gives g(z)=z/2+(1−cosπz)(z+1/2)/2+1/π(1/2−cosπz ) sinπz+h(z)sin2πz, which satisfies N⊂Φ(g). What is the derivation of this inference?"

Some people in the lecture hall chuckled.

Vera sighed and said, "For this part, please refer to the textbook by Letherman-S, Schleiche-D, Wood-R. The '3n+1' problem-and-holomorphic-dynamics…], Professor Letherman has already given a complete proof, I won't repeat it here…"

Anyone that asked this type of question obviously didn't read Vera's thesis at all.

When the guy realized he asked a stupid question, he blushed and sat back down.

Generally speaking, the report went quite well.

After the report finished, Vera ran to Lu Zhou excitedly.

"Professor! I did it… I did it!"

She clenched her fists tightly; her face was full of excitement.

As Lu Zhou looked at the excited little girl, he was happy that she could overcome her introverted personality.

There was nothing better than watching one's students grow and develop.

This was one of Lu Zhou's most rewarding days in his life.

Chapter 430: Conference Ending

Not only did the crowd respond well to Vera's report, but her report attracted the attention of various media outlets that attended the International Congress of Mathematicians.

For a long time, mathematics had always been viewed as a male-dominated field. Very few women were able to make outstanding mathematics achievements. This meant that any mathematics achievements by a woman were amplified.

Not to mention, the Collatz conjecture was a difficult conjecture in and of itself.

However, unfortunately for the media, this female mathematician didn't like to be interviewed, and she was almost scared of the camera.

But even though the media wasn't able to interview Vera, they were able to get ahold of Vera's supervisor.

The fourth day of the International Congress of Mathematicians.

A reporter from BBC science arranged a time to interview Lu Zhou at a coffee shop near the Barra Da Tijuca Hotel.

BBC reporter: "… We all know you had a hand in both of the reports. The proof of the Collatz conjecture was completed by your student, Vera Pulyuy. What do you think of your student?"

Lu Zhou said, "Vera is a stellar student. Whether it was her, Qin Yue, or Hardy, they are all extremely talented in number theory. I don't think we should pay attention to gender as I've met many outstanding female scholars."

BBC reporter: "I heard Vera received guidance from you when researching the Collatz conjecture, and many people think that you were the one who solved this conjecture. What do you think about those rumors?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I only provided an idea to the solution, the entire proof process was done by them. There is no doubt about that. Also, as you can see, the Group Structure Method is an excellent additive number theory tool which I believe can be used to solve a variety of problems."

Reporter: "Which problem do you think the Group Structure Method can solve? Or rather, which field?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Do you really want me to say it? Actually, even if I don't say it, I'm sure my peers could've guessed it by now."

The reporter smiled and said, "Just say it, say it for the people outside of the mathematics field."

Lu Zhou gave a simple answer—"Waring's Conjecture."

Waring's Conjecture was a classic additive number theory conjecture.

This conjecture originated from the "Depths of Algebra" published by Waring in 1770. Edward Waring guessed that for every natural number k, k had an associated positive integer g(k) such that every natural number was the sum of at most g(k) natural numbers to the power of k.

As a classic additive number theory problem, there were many people who were conducting research on this problem.

The existence of g(k) had been proved by Hilbert in a rather complicated way where the case of g(2) = 4 was the quadratic sum theorem, which was proved by Larter in the eighteenth century.

Wieferich, Chandrasekhar, and Chen Jingrun proved the cases for g(3), g(4), and g(5).

If Lu Zhou had to answer which conjecture he was the most optimistic he could solve, then it undoubtedly would be the Waring's Conjecture.

"That's surprising…" the reporter said as she looked at Lu Zhou with surprise. Although she wasn't an academic scholar, she was still a science journalist, and she had a good understanding of mathematics conjectures.

The BBC reporter continued to ask, "Then, regarding your other report, we all know you have proved a solution to the Navier–Stokes equations, and the academic community also validates your proof… But, hypothetically speaking, if this proposition isn't proved, but rather disproved, how will that impact our lives?"

Lu Zhou rested his hands on his knees. He smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "If this proposition is falsified, then its meaning would be more significant. Take the smooth solution as an example, if we find that in one particular point in time, the equations are no longer smooth, then it would mean that no only have we solved an unanswered mathematics problem, but we also have discovered a new physics theorem."

The reporter said, "Then… are you disappointed?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Kind of disappointed… Actually, when I worked with Professor Fefferman on this project, we always thought we found this special point in time. Unfortunately, it was just an illusion."

"How did you discover it was an illusion?"

"When I was running around the lake… As for the specific thought process…" Lu Zhou looked around and asked, "Is there a blackboard? If there is, I can explain it in detail."

The reporter said, "There's… no need."

The media reports were released the day after the interview. Some fragments of the report were edited out by BBC science, but it kept most of the original interview content.

Lu Zhou watched the news on Youtube and looked at the comment section.

Unfortunately, foreign people didn't seem to be interested in mathematics and learning, and the attention was all on Vera.

The most liked comments were basically "This chick is hot!", "I want to visit Ukraine", "Does she have a boyfriend?", etc.

Lu Zhou admitted that Vera, who stood on stage despite her fears and completed her report bravely, was an attractive sight. However, Vera's physical appearance shouldn't be the center of attention.

They're so superficial!

Lu Zhou shook his head and closed the video tab. He wasn't happy that the foreign netizens completely ignored his part of the video…

…

The main part of the International Congress of Mathematicians was the exchange of academic ideas; many wonderful theses and reports had also emerged due to this conference. Lu Zhou gained a lot through this conference.

After spending each day at the conference meaningfully, the nine-day International Congress of Mathematicians finally came to a close. The closing ceremony was of a type of dance by South Americans.

After the closing ceremony, the conference logo was taken down from the Barra Da Tijuca Hotel, and the scholars from all over the world flew back home.

It was worth mentioning that Birkar didn't find his medal.

However, the conference organizer generously held a special ceremony and made up for the lost medal.

Professor Fefferman was sitting on the plane when he said, "… Rio's public safety is disappointing. There are even participants who have been robbed on the beach. There is no doubt that this is the worst ICM in history as there has never been a theft of the Fields Medal medal before. Not to mention, the theft happened half an hour after the prize ceremony."

South America, particularly Brazil, was strong in the field of dynamical systems. This was one of the reasons why the conference was held in Rio de Janeiro.

Although the International Mathematical Union team had some security concerns about Rio de Janeiro, they didn't expect the situation to be this bad and for something unfortunate like this to happen.

The local police of Rio de Janeiro was even more disappointing.

If it weren't for the excellent conference reports, this conference would have been a complete failure…

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why don't they hold it in Beijing? I can guarantee the medal would have been found."

Of course, Lu Zhou felt like before the thief could even reach for the medal, the thief's hand would have been chopped off.

After being overseas for so long, other than his friends and family, Lu Zhou missed China's safety the most.

Professor Fefferman smiled.

"This is a good idea, I'm sure it will happen one day!"

Chapter 431: Wire Transfer Me

After Lu Zhou got back from Brazil, he began his research on the plasma turbulence phenomenon.

Although he didn't go on another retreat, his lifestyle was very regular. He would either be in his bedroom, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, or the PPPL.

Researching the plasma turbulence phenomenon wasn't much easier than solving the Navier–Stokes equation.

They were at a different kind of difficulty.

The latter was equivalent to using abstract mathematical tools to prove whether a smooth solution existed. The latter was equivalent to finding a special case and solution of the Navier–Stokes equation.

Until now, there had only been a hundred special Navier–Stokes equation solutions discovered in the mathematics world; most of them did not include the time dimension or were limited to two spatial dimensions.

For the people that did computational fluid dynamics or applied mathematics, most of their special solutions were done using observational models with empirical formulas and parameters; it didn't provide much reference value for Lu Zhou.

This meant that Lu Zhou had to do this daunting task entirely by himself as he didn't even have any literature to research.

Of course, he still had some tools.

For example, his L Manifold Navier–Stokes equation topology object was a very useful theoretical tool.

Not just that, but after coming back from the conference, his mathematics level went from Level 6 to Level 7, and he was only three levels away from the maximum Level 10. His intuition and talent in mathematics had grown exponentially over the past few weeks.

Lu Zhou wasn't 100% certain, but he was 90% certain he could solve this problem.

All he needed was time…

Three weeks after returning to Princeton and near the end of August, Lu Zhou finally received an email from the Clay Institute.

[Dear Professor Lu Zhou, I am James Carlson, the chairman of the scientific advisory board for the Clay Mathematics Institute.

[Based on the anonymous evaluation of 12 reviewers and the comments from the International Mathematical Union, we believe you have proved the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation.

[The solution to this problem will greatly enhance the development and application of mathematical theory. We sincerely thank you for your contribution to the mathematics and scientific world.

[Based on the recommendation from your partner, Professor Fefferman, we are confident that your project work was crucial. After a vote by the Clay Institute board of directors, we have decided to grant you the one million dollar prize money in advance…]

Normally, solving a Millennium Prize Problem didn't mean one could immediately receive the price money.

According to the official rules, any solution had to be published in a reputable journal for at least two years and recognized by the mathematics community. Only then, could the Clay Mathematics Institute decide on whether or not to issue the million-dollar prize money.

However, this rule was malleable.

For example, Perelman's thesis had never been published in a reputable journal, and Carlson, the president of the Clay Mathematics Institute, didn't wait two years before heading over to St Petersberg to visit this hermit…

However, Carlson wasn't able to meet Perelman.

Because Lu Zhou's report was held in the form of a special report at the International Congress of Mathematicians, and that Lu Zhou had answered all of the questions at the report sessions, there was no need to wait for the academic community to reach a consensus.

Therefore, the Clay Institute made this decision.

In the email, the Clay Institute also attached the conditions for receiving the award.

As an age-old proposition announced at the Millennium Conference, Carlson hoped that this award ceremony would be grandiose.

The award ceremony location was at the Collège de France, which was also where the Clay Mathematics Institute first announced the Millennium Prize Problems. The million-dollar special award ceremony would be held by the Clay Mathematics Institute and European Mathematical Society.

No one knew what kind of ceremony it would be.

This was because Perelman, the mathematician that proved the Poincaré conjecture, was a peculiar person that didn't enjoy public attention. Even though he proved the conjecture over a decade ago, an award ceremony was never held.

If Carlson sent the invitation a month ago, Lu Zhou would be happy to buy a plane ticket and attend the award ceremony. After all, a million dollars was a million dollars.

But now that his research on plasma turbulence phenomenon had entered a critical stage, he was neither willing nor interested in traveling long distances.

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he responded politely to the invitation. He said that his research was in a critical stage, and he couldn't find the time to fly to Paris. In addition, he said he didn't want to refuse the million dollars and even attached his bank account details in the email.

Which meant that Lu Zhou just wanted a wire transfer.

As for the medals or certificates, Lu Zhou didn't mind if they sent it to him by postage…

When Carlson read this email, he nearly spat on the computer screen.

This was almost more irritating than when Perelman refused to accept the award.

If that weirdo doesn't want the award, then it's fine! But what the hell is this bank transfer!

Why are all of these Millennium Prize Problem solvers so eccentric?!

Carlson wrote a response and told Lu Zhou it would be impossible to wire the money to him.

The reason was simple!

Two Millennium Prize Problems had already been solved, but the Clay Institute had never even hosted an award ceremony. If Lu Zhou wanted the prize, he had to come to Paris.

Of course, in Carlson's reply, he also wrote in a respectful manner where he stated that he understood the importance of a scholar's research.

If Lu Zhou really wasn't available, Carlson was willing to arrange a suitable award ceremony date with him.

When Lu Zhou read Professor Carlson's reply, he felt annoyed by the formalism of this guy.

The Clay Institute was located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it wasn't too far from where Lu Zhou lived. Lu Zhou could even get there without flying. He could do so just by driving in his Ford Explorer.

However, these people weren't happy to hold the award ceremony in their own country; they had to hold it across the pond at the Collège de France.

Attending the award ceremony would waste at least a week of Lu Zhou's time.

Lu Zhou had an interesting research project going on right now; therefore, this was unacceptable.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he wrote a reply.

[… I can't give you an accurate date. Maybe only after my research results on the plasma turbulence phenomenon is out that I might be able to take the time to accept the prize.]

After writing the email, Lu Zhou hit "Send". He closed his email tab and continued to study his half a year old experimental data that was sitting in his computer.

Professor Carlson, who was at the Clay Institute in Massachusetts, read Lu Zhou's email. He didn't say a word. Instead, he looked at his secretary, Daft.

Daft sighed and patted Professor Carlson's back as he said, "… That was probably the most euphemistic rejection we could've gotten."

Daft didn't study fluid mechanics; he wasn't even in academia. However, working at the Clay Institute had exposed him to many cutting edge research advances.

The turbulent flow was a well-known type of a chaotic system; it was also a problem that many mathematicians and physicists struggled with.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou's research object was on plasma…

In Daft's opinion, Lu Zhou's letter might as well have been a direct rejection.

Carlson took off his glasses and rested his arms on the table. He then pinched his glabella.

"I don't understand… Why? It's free money, why is it so hard to give?"

He was tired from the inside out.

He had experienced this feeling when he was the institute director, and now that he was the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, this feeling hadn't changed a bit.

All he wanted to do before retirement was to grant a million-dollar prize bonus and medal to the solver of the Millennium Prize Problem at the grand hall of the Institut de France.

But why was this wish so difficult to achieve even though two Millennium Prize Problems had already been solved…

Chapter 432: Supercomputing Application

After receiving Lu Zhou's reply, Carlson basically didn't have any hope. The Millennium Prize Problem ceremony was put to a hold.

However, someone might have leaked the news of the Clay Institute's original award ceremony plans.

Then the rumors ended up being that Lu Zhou had rejected the award.

Ever since the Navier–Stokes equation was solved, the media had been paying attention to the million-dollar Millennium Prize Problem award. After all, for people that didn't study mathematics, a million-dollar award was much more shocking than the solution to the Navier–Stokes equation…

The New York Times reporter's comments.

[… After Perelman, a Russian mathematician, refused the million-dollar award, Chinese mathematician Lu Zhou also refused the award. There seems to be a magical curse attached to the Millennium Prize Problems as everyone that solves the problems seems to lose interest in money?]

Hardy handed the newspaper article to Lu Zhou, and after Lu Zhou finished reading it, he threw it in the garbage bin and shook his head.

"It's absolute nonsense! When did I refuse the award? I only told Clay Institute to wait for a bit as I've been very busy recently. I don't have time to fly to Paris."

Hardy: "Professor, did you dismiss the Clay Institute's prize money because you don't have time to go there?"

Lu Zhou corrected him. "I postponed it, not dismissed."

Hardy shrugged and said, "Okay, postponed… Professor, actually I have a suggestion, I don't know if I should say it."

Lu Zhou looked at Hardy and asked, "What suggestion?"

Hardy scratched his head and smiled as he said, "What I'm saying is, if you don't have the time, I can go to Paris and accept the prize for you. You're busy with research, but I don't mind traveling…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

This dude… has too much free time!

…

The rumors about Lu Zhou was only a minor disturbance.

Lu Zhou was busy with plasma turbulence research, and he didn't have time to go do some press conference and clear this boring matter.

Solving the Navier–Stokes equation didn't only cause Lu Zhou to receive excessive media and award ceremony attention, but it also gave him other troubles.

For example, ever since he returned to America with the Fields Medal, his email had been filled with invitations from various places.

Some of which were from domestic and foreign research institutes, some were from the top 100 mathematics universities, and some weren't even from the academic field; there were invitations for a TV show and a talk show…

Once Lu Zhou left Xiao Ai to sort through these emails, he felt a lot more relaxed.

In addition to rejecting people and dealing with the spams, Xiao Ai was basically his personal assistant. As demonstrated, Xiao Ai had become more and more intelligent.

After solving these trivial matters, Lu Zhou returned to his research on the plasma turbulence problem.

It was worth mentioning that the difficulty of the turbulence problem was divided into two parts.

The first part mainly came from the complexity of the system itself and the environment around the system as well as the difficulty that arose from the diversity of the turbulent motion system as a whole.

Take a spacecraft as an example. As the altitude, speed, or even location and material surface temperature changed, the gas and macromechanical environment around the spacecraft was also constantly changing.

The second part came from the methodology of classical physics.

Traditional reductionism started from the most basic components of the material dynamics and established the equations of motion from the basic interaction laws. This sounded simple. After all, most classical physics formulas didn't even require advanced physics.

However, in the world of physics, "more is complex".

Take an aircraft as an example, the flow field around the aircraft contains 10^15~10^24 microfluids, and each microfluid had to be individually mechanically analyzed. The interaction forces between the microfluids also had to be considered, and this problem couldn't be solved even with the entire world's computing resources.

Due to its complexity, most models made by computational fluid dynamics researchers were phenomenon-based. Therefore, different scholars using the same computational fluid dynamics modeling method could get different results.

Because of this, turbulence computational fluid dynamics modeling based on a closed model was often considered an art rather than hard science.

The reason why people were so obsessed with a smooth solution to the Navier–Stokes equation was not only because they wanted to find out if such a solution existed, but they also wanted to know what mathematicians would find out while researching this problem.

The mathematicians might find out a structural quantity between the subsonic zone and sonic zone, or an approximate weak form in a limited range. Or in the case of L Manifold, the L Manifold differential geometry method that could be used on partial differential equations.

For the plasma inside the stellarator, the first complexity part was relatively easy to deal with. Although plasma wasn't stable under high temperatures and pressures, at least the macro-plasma circulation was relatively uniform.

The second type of complexity problem was much more cumbersome.

However, this was only difficult for normal people.

After Lu Zhou applied the L Manifold into the Navier–Stokes equation and built a mathematical model based on differential geometry experimental data, he found out that although the process was difficult, the end result wasn't as complex as he had imagined.

Time quickly flew by.

Early September.

Lu Zhou sat in his office at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study while he stared at his computer screen. From time to time, he would write on a draft paper with the pen in his hand.

After he entered the final line of calculations on the computer, he finally let out a sigh of relief and put down his ballpoint pen.

"Done!"

When Hardy heard his professor's voice, he looked up with a confused expression. He made eye contact with Qin Yue before he looked back down again.

Jerick and Vera also looked at Lu Zhou with worship. Especially Vera, her eyes were almost twinkling with stars.

Although she didn't know what her professor was doing, she felt like her professor was doing something amazing.

As for Wei Wen, he was writing his master's thesis while completely ignoring the commotion around him. He wanted to finish his master's this year and start his PhD next year, so he wasn't concerned with Lu Zhou's work.

All he knew was that his professor was researching something nutty again…

Lu Zhou didn't notice his students' reaction; he quickly double-checked his mathematical model and then copied the data onto a USB. He took the USB and quickly left the office.

Equation derivation could be done by a human brain, but whenever a numerical solution was concerned, the calculations were beyond the capabilities of a human.

In order to verify his mathematical model and to collect some firsthand simulation data, Lu Zhou needed a supercomputer.

The faster the computer, the better!

…

As one of the richest universities in North America, Princeton's wealth wasn't only reflected in its willingness to poach talented people, but also its campus hardware facilities.

Although Princeton was a small town, there was everything from plasma laboratories to supercomputers centers.

This showed how important having a financially strong alumni association was for a university.

Princeton's supercomputer was at the John von Neumann Center; it was mainly used for simulations in condensed matter physics, plasma physics, and cosmic mechanics.

Lu Zhou was acquainted with a big name in the parallel computing field—David Shaw.

However, Anton's supercomputing powers only excelled in the computational chemistry field; it wasn't ideal for general computing.

Not to mention, David Shaw might not be interested in plasma physics or fluid dynamics simulation. Therefore, Lu Zhou didn't want to bother him.

Lu Zhou didn't have to wait long after he filled in the application form in Nassau Hall. He quickly received approval from the school.

Any research project linked to the PPPL had the highest priority.

Not to mention, the researcher was a Fields Medal winner.

Lu Zhou took the relevant documents to the John von Neumann Center and the director of the center, Amer Green. He told Amer Green about his intentions.

After hearing Lu Zhou's request, Green was full of surprise.

"Unbelievable… Are you sure you're not kidding? You successfully built a mathematical model for plasma turbulence in a stellarator?"

Although Green wasn't a physicist, he still knew how amazing this achievement was.

Lu Zhou sighed and waved the application approval document in his hand as he said, "It's still six months until April Fool's, I'm not joking."

Professor Green didn't waste a second. He switched on his work computer and said, "Did you bring the model?"

Lu Zhou put the USB on the table and said, "Of course."

Green plugged the USB into the computer and opened the files inside. He looked at the data and images on the computer screen and rubbed his beard. He thought for a bit before he said, "To put it bluntly, this is difficult. I'm not sure John Neumann has the capabilities to withstand computing on this magnitude. You might need something like the Summit supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory… Are you sure you can't simplify the model?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "That's the most I can simplify it."

"Okay then, you have given us a difficult problem on behalf of PPPL." Professor Green spun the pen in his hand and said, "I can solve the algorithm part, but don't expect results anytime soon."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I know, I will also help you guys."

Professor Green smiled and said, "Of course! After all, we do massively parallel computing; we're no plasma physicists."

Chapter 433: Professor Lazerson's Decision

While Lu Zhou and Professor Green were reaching an agreement, a strange person appeared outside his office at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

The person hesitated before knocking and walking into the office.

"Is this Professor Lu Zhou's office?"

Vera stopped writing and said, "Yes, why do you want to find Professor Lu?"

The old man looked around the office as he said, "I need to talk to him… Is he taking time off today?"

"Nope," Vera shook her head and said, "but he left in the morning."

The old man asked, "Then can you tell me where I can find him?"

"He's been doing research at the John von Neumann Center these days, so you can go there if you want to find him."

The old man nodded and said, "The supercomputer center? Okay… Thank you." He turned around and was about to leave the office.

However, suddenly, the office door was pushed open.

Lu Zhou came back from the John von Neumann Center with the new data.

When he saw Lazerson, he was stunned.

At first, he thought he had misrecognized him.

Ever since the end of last year, Professor Lazerson had been visiting the Germany Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, and the two had been communicating through email.

Lu Zhou didn't know Lazerson was coming back.

"Lazerson? My dear friend, you came back from Germany? When did you come back?"

Lazerson looked at his watch.

"I got off the plane five hours ago…"

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "In any case, welcome back! Actually, I was about to email you a piece of good news. Come, I'll show you a piece of treasure."

When Professor Lazerson saw how excited Lu Zhou was, he hesitated for a moment. However, he still followed Lu Zhou to his computer.

Lu Zhou switched on his laptop and plugged in his USB. He then quickly opened the simulation software.

When Professor Lazerson saw the intersecting green, red, and yellow lines on the computer screen, he had a surprised look on his face.

"Unbelievable… You actually did it?"

"There's still one more step I need to do. I need to use a supercomputer and test the model, and it might take a few days. But the mathematical model is basically finished," Lu Zhou said with a smirk. "Isn't it magical?"

"Yeah…" Lazerson was hesitant. He coughed and said, "Congratulations! This mathematical model alone is worthy of a physics award. Also, the main reason I came back was to tell you something. I hope you won't be too surprised."

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Lazerson's serious demeanor and asked, "What's up?"

Lazerson: "I plan on resigning."

Actually, Lazerson could have said something worse. Still, Lu Zhou didn't expect to hear this.

Lu Zhou looked at Lazerson in disbelief and said, "Resign?"

"Yes." Professor Lazerson nodded and said, "The He3 atom probe is a fantastic plasma diagnostic technology. I have a feeling that it might become a staple of every plasma research institute. If every He3 atom probe has to be designed and constructed by my group of engineers, it would be way too cumbersome. So I want to design a standardized device that can be disassembled or installed; the kind that works by plugging it into an electric outlet."

Lu Zhou didn't know how to react.

He went silent for around five seconds before he said, "You're already the head of the project team, and you might become the PPPL director in a few years… Is this really the right choice?"

"There's nothing right or wrong about this. In my opinion, distributing the He3 probe technology is more important than any position at the PPPL. Not to mention, why would I want to be the PPPL director? I would rather have a few million in funds to do my own research than to manage hundreds of millions and have none of the money."

Lu Zhou: "But… My dear Professor Lazerson, how many plasma research institutes can afford your equipment? Or how many are willing to order it?"

"That's not a problem, and I'm not worried about sales." Professor Lazerson smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "I know you don't think this is much money. After all, you rejected a million-dollar Millennium Award prize."

Lu Zhou said, "I didn't reject it, I only postponed it!"

"Fine, you postponed it, but that's not the main point." Professor Lazerson said, "Back to what we just said, although my company is still in its early stages, we've already signed two 8-figure contracts."

Whether it was in China or America, jumping from academia to business was not an unusual thing.

Especially for technical engineers like Professor Lazerson, they were much better at transforming a piece of technology into a product than normal scientists.

Not just that, but with his academia connections, Lazerson could easily sign contracts with major plasma physics research institutes. As for the people in the plasma physics community, as long as Lazerson's prices were reasonable, they were happy to do business with him.

But this wasn't good news for Lu Zhou.

Not because Lu Zhou wouldn't receive any profits.

He never intended to make money on the He3 probe technology, nor did he want to register a patent. The probe's main purpose was to facilitate his own research. In fact, he was happy to see other people commercialized the product as it would save him a lot of trouble.

However, he didn't expect Lazerson to be the one to do this.

If Professor Lazerson resigned, Lu Zhou would undoubtedly lose an excellent research partner.

Lu Zhou tried to convince him, "You're already fifty years old, I suggest you think carefully before making decisions."

Professor Lazerson shook his head and said, "Fifty years old isn't that old. Plus I've thought about this for a long time. The reason I came here was to bid you farewell."

Lu Zhou looked at how determined Professor Lazerson was, and he knew he couldn't persuade him.

After a while, Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I wish you the best… If there's anything I can help, feel free to contact me."

Although this was unfortunate, everyone had to make their own choices.

Professor Lazerson was his research partner, not his employee. He didn't have a right to interfere with Lazerson's choices.

Professor Lazerson's eyes lit up when he heard Lu Zhou.

"Really? You're willing to help me?"

When Lu Zhou saw how delighted Professor Lazerson was, he said, "Of course… But It depends on what it is."

"Oh, here's the deal… Although I've already raised some money, we're still lacking in the financing department. Of course, I've thought about borrowing from the banks, but it's not easy for a start-up to secure funding, you know?" Professor Lazerson coughed and seemed embarrassed as he said, "Are you interested in investing?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 434: I'm Afraid You Don't Need Supercomputers...

In the end, Lu Zhou still spent the money.

The reason wasn't that he thought Professor Lazerson could make a lot of money. He did it as a favor for a friend.

Not to mention, since he took part in creating the He3 atom probe technology, he hoped that this technology would make an impact on the plasma physics field.

Lu Zhou told his manager at Star Sky Technology, White Sheridan, to sort out the specific financing plan and relevant contracts.

A few million dollars worth of investment wasn't a big deal for Lu Zhou…

As the numbers of electric or hybrid cars that were on the roads increased, so would the size of Star Sky Technology's bank account.

It was a wise decision to license the patent to Umicore. Other than the one-time payment that Lu Zhou received, according to White Sheridan's battery market evaluation, Lu Zhou would also receive at least US$90 million in dividends from Umicore.

So far, he hadn't thought of how to spend this money…

After an agreement was reached, Professor Lazerson thanked Lu Zhou again before he bade farewell.

"Goodbye, my friend, whether it is the past or present, it has always been a pleasure to work with you. You've contributed a lot to the He3 atom probe technology. We are certain this will be a great product. Maybe you don't care how people think of the atom probe, but I will make sure this product will impact the field."

Lu Zhou said, "Goodbye… If you go bankrupt someday, feel free to find me. Although I might not be able to make you a PPPL project supervisor again, I can at least provide you a place to do experiments."

"My friend, are you really going to say goodbye like this?" Professor Lazerson patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and laughed. He walked two steps backward toward the office door and said, "Rest assured, that day will never come. Then… Take care!"

Like this, Professor Lazerson left.

Before leaving, he told the PPPL research institute not to disband the He3 project team; the project team would continue as usual.

Fern Boucher, Professor Lazerson's assistant, would be the new person in charge.

Fern had a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and although he was only thirty years old, he had proven himself to be quite talented in the fields of engineering and plasma physics.

However, since this newly appointed engineer supervisor was currently doing an academic exchange at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany, Lu Zhou would have to wait a while before he could see him.

Speaking of which, a minor disturbance happened because of this.

At first, PPPL director Terrence Brog proposed to let Lu Zhou take on the role of the project supervisor.

Lu Zhou had to admit that it was an attractive proposal.

The PPPL was well known in the field of international plasma physics. If it was any other research institute, Lu Zhou wouldn't have created the He3 atom probe technology in such a short amount of time.

The reason why Lu Zhou and Professor Lazerson could achieve success was that the PPPL was full of geniuses. If Lu Zhou could become the project supervisor, he would receive a huge amount of opportunities and resources. In fact, it would be much more than he could possibly imagine.

Lu Zhou thought about Professor Brog's offer for a long time, but in the end, he euphemistically rejected Brog.

Although the PPPL was co-owned by Princeton University, most of its projects were conducted by the United States Department of Energy. Therefore, it wasn't as "safe" as a private institute like Princeton.

If a foreign scholar became the leader of a government lead research project, it would inevitably lead to some unnecessary misunderstandings.

Regardless of why Professor Brog made the offer, Lu Zhou felt like he should only be a consultant for the project team, not the person in charge. This was to avoid potential political conflicts.

Although Lu Zhou might be overthinking, this was something he always paid great attention to…

…

It had been a week since Professor Lazerson resigned.

John von Neumann Center.

A group of staff members wearing white anti-static clothes were inside the supercomputer control room, working in front of their computers.

When Professor Green saw that Lu Zhou was standing there silently, he said, "I don't know why, but I feel like you're not feeling that good?"

Lu Zhou looked a little depressed as he sighed and said, "A week ago, one of my friends went away."

Professor Green went silent for a while and sighed.

"Sorry."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Don't be sorry, I didn't mean 'went away', I only meant he resigned."

Professor Green: "…"

Why the fuck would you tell me that then?

Wasting my emotions…

A staff member wearing a white coat came over and reported the situation to Professor Green.

"The supercomputer is in good condition, we can start the experiment at any time."

Green looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Are you ready?"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to cheer up, "I am ready."

Green nodded and looked at the staff member.

"… Let's begin."

The supercomputer began to operate.

John von Neumann was running on full performance; it was like a furnace that was slowly melting the mathematical model.

The stellarator's circular orbit was simulated in the virtual world of 0s and 1s, hundreds of billions of plasma microfluids were being calculated.

Professor Green stared at the data on the screen and spoke in a serious tone.

"No offense, but your mathematical model is way too complicated! Even if we succeed, it would be difficult to implement this model into the stellarator's control computer. The simulation alone is so difficult, don't even think about inputting other variables into the system. Unless…"

Lu Zhou looked at Green and said, "Unless?"

"Unless it's a quantum computer that can quickly process discrete logarithm operations." Professor Green said in a joking manner, "Theoretically, the result you want isn't something a massively parallel computer can handle. Only quantum computers can effectively process each superimposed component."

However, quantum computers…

Honestly, they were just a concept.

Even the most advanced quantum computers had a computing power of ancient classical computers.

What exactly are ancient classical computers?

Middle school or high school information technology textbooks might have some pictures for reference. Those pictures would show thousands of vacuum tubes that occupied a room the size of a house.

Yep, that guy was called ENIAC.

The computer science field was still at least half a century away from commercializing quantum computing. As for the quantum computers that blew traditional computers out of the water… that was all science fiction.

Therefore, Professor Green said this in a joking tone.

Lu Zhou didn't say anything; he only nodded his head and began to think.

"Okay."

Chapter 435: Magical Key

It turned out that supercomputers were not invincible. When the calculations were complex enough, it would also get a "headache".

Although the laws of motion involved in microfluid dynamics were under the framework of classical mechanics, when the number of microfluids reached a certain limit, it transformed into a non-classical chaotic state.

As per what Professor Green said, classical computers might not be fit for this kind of work. Controlled nuclear fusion simulation required a quantum computer. In addition, all precise numerical fluid simulations required sophisticated quantum computing technology.

Fortunately, with the help of Fields Medal winner Lu Zhou and countless hours of hard work, Professor Green's team finally completed the numerical simulation of the model.

The moment the calculations were completed, the people inside the supercomputer control room began to cheer. People were giving out high fives to celebrate this hard-won victory.

Half a minute ago, they used the von Neumann computer to confirm a plasma physicist's hypothesis of a chaotic system. Whether from the perspective of massive parallel computing or from the perspective of physics, this was undoubtedly a great achievement.

They were the only ones that knew how difficult this was.

Of course, most of the work was accomplished by the person who was able to create a mathematical model of this chaotic system…

Lu Zhou stood next to Professor Green as he asked in an uncertain tone, "We did it?"

"Seems like it… although I don't know if this is the result you're looking for," Green said as he placed the USB into Lu Zhou's palm and smiled. He said, "Honestly, I didn't think we could succeed."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou looked at the USB in his hand and smirked.

"You're welcome." Green patted Lu Zhou's arm and said, "Remember to add the John von Neumann Center in the list of research centers. We haven't produced a result like this in a long time."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I will, definitely."

…

After receiving the experimental data, Lu Zhou began to write his thesis.

Actually two weeks ago, before the John Neumann project began, Lu Zhou had been writing the main part of the thesis. Right now, he only had to add the data and images generated from the supercomputer into the thesis.

Once Lu Zhou finished writing the thesis, he leaned back against his chair as he looked at the thesis on the computer screen. He then felt a sense of accomplishment.

Suddenly, his eyebrows twitched.

In the midst of happiness, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

If I continue researching… will it become a little dangerous?

Nuclear fusion is undoubtedly a dangerous piece of technology.

Especially when it becomes "controllable".

Lu Zhou stared at the screen while thinking.

"Should I think of adding a backup plan?"

However, they were still a long way from implementing this technology. Countries didn't want to spend money on funding while ITER's budget requirements grew every year.

But what if one day the technology was implemented?

In other words, if the world's nuclear fusion scientific researchers finally created a controllable nuclear fusion technology, then ITER would have fulfilled its mission statement. They could finally show the governments all across the world some results.

Lu Zhou didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt like he had the key to all this.

It could lead to a better future, or it could open a box of curses that would completely destroy humanity…

He frowned and switched off his computer. He then stood up from his chair.

Vera noticed that Lu Zhou looked a bit weird, so she tilted her head and asked, "What's wrong, Professor?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Nothing, I'm going out for a bit."

The sun was setting outside the research center.

Lu Zhou ran two laps around Lake Carnegie and felt a lot better.

As a scholar, he didn't have to worry about the impact a piece of technology would bring.

As civilizations got more and more advanced, no matter how complicated the process might be, history would push humanity forward and build a better future.

Whatever was in the box…

Lu Zhou would open it.

This was the mission of a scholar.

When Lu Zhou went back to his house, he went upstairs into his study room and switched on his laptop.

As he looked at his thesis, he tapped his finger on the desk and began to think.

Where should I submit it?

Nature?

Science?

These two journals don't seem to be suitable for this type of heavy academic, data-driven thesis. After all, the application of L Manifold and various differential geometry methods in the thesis greatly increases the reading difficulty.

Lu Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up; he thought of a suitable journal.

PRX!

You're the chosen one!

…

PRL and PRX were journals of the American Physical Society; the former had a 4-page, 3,750-word limit. After all, the PRL's full name is Physical Review Letters. The latter didn't have a word limit, nor did it limit the number of submissions per journal issue.

The only unfortunate thing was that a thesis publication had a base fee of US$1,500 with additional fees based on the number of pages in the thesis. For most theoretical physicists, this was a huge expense.

However, for scholars that were slightly well-known, this fee could be waived.

Because of this rule, PRX's first issue in 2011 published 38 theses; all of them were long papers.

That was until 2013 when the American Physical Society's meeting in March decided to strictly control the number of theses published in PRX. Each month's issue was restricted to between 6 to 8 theses. Each thesis was also required to solve a certain type of problem conclusively, thus eliminating sub-par theses.

After all, inconclusive in-progress results produced too many sub-par theses…

Therefore, all theses published in PRX were screened and filtered.

PRL had a bigger influence in the China academic community than PRL, but in the international stage, PRX's influence was way beyond that of PRL's…

"Plasma turbulence?" Frank raised his eyebrows. He finished reading the abstract of the theses and continued to read the thesis body.

But soon, he began to frown.

It wasn't because the thesis was badly written, but because he couldn't understand the mathematical formulas at all…

Frank double-checked the author's name and research institute of the thesis and began to start teasing.

"The author is a mathematics professor from Princeton… Interesting, he might have intended to submit to a mathematics journal instead?"

Therefore, not being able to understand the thesis was normal.

Lancent was standing next to Frank by the coffee machine. He took a sip of coffee and looked at the thesis contributor's name on the screen. Suddenly, he had a surprised look on his face.

"Lu Zhou? I know this guy. He's this year's Fields Medal winner."

Frank looked at his co-worker and said, "You follow mathematics?"

Lancent smiled and said, "Why not? Physics and mathematics are closely related. Not to mention, he solved the Navier–Stokes equation at the International Congress of Mathematicians."

Frank had heard of the Navier–Stokes equation. He had even read the New York Times report. He heard the lucky guy rejected million-dollar prize money… Even though the scholar was famous, Frank still had to treat the thesis with caution.

Frank thought for a long time before he finally decided to let a reviewer determine the content and quality of the thesis.

"Which reviewer do you think is appropriate?"

Lancent rubbed his chin and spoke.

"Experts in plasma physics… Let me think… I know! Professor Keriber from Germany should be a good choice. I remember he was the head of the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

"I think he has the most amount of say in this field!"

Chapter 436: Dilemma Of Wendelstein

The thesis was sent across the Pacific Ocean and right into Professor Keriber's mailbox. At the same time, a very serious meeting was taking place in the conference room at the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory.

The big names sitting here were Professor Ganser Hesinger, a director of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, a representative sent from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, and various visiting scholars from the PPPL, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Plasma Physics.

If Professor Lazerson didn't retire, he would be at this meeting as well. The He3 atom probe technology played an important role in plasma observation, and the reputation of the He3 project team had also grown.

But now, Lazerson wasn't sitting here. Rather, his assistant, the thirty-year-old doctoral holder Fern Boucher was here. When he sat next to the group of big names, he almost felt embarrassed to speak.

As for why the conference was so serious…

That was because of something that happened last month.

Last month, the Wendelstein 7-X finally completed the installation of a water-cooled divertor.

According to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics plan, the water-cooled divertor would completely solve the temperature problem that was present in the reaction chamber.

However, the results weren't as ideal as expected.

When the 100 million degrees plasma was confined within the electromagnetic field, the water-cooled divertor did indeed come in handy. However, the speed of the temperature rising of the first wall exceeded the researchers' expectations.

Due to the large amount of heat energy, the temperature of the first wall material kept rising, and it slowly began to affect the safety of the stellarator's orbit path.

In order to prevent an accident from happening, the staff members had to turn off the equipment and pause the experiment.

At last, the stellarator with the water-cooled divertor could only maintain a high-temperature plasma for six minutes.

Compared to the tokamak's 100 seconds record, this result was quite excellent.

However, this wasn't particularly amazing for a stellarator.

Keriber looked at the research report in his hand and made a brief report to the scholars and experts sitting around the conference table.

"… The water-cooled divertor has been installed. However, it wasn't as good at controlling the plasma as we had expected.

"… According to the data recorded, starting from second 227, a small amount of unbounded plasma made contact with the first wall; this was the main cause of the heat accumulation. This eventually led to the first wall temperature rising faster than the cooling capabilities of the water-cooled divertor."

After hearing Keriber's report, Professor Edor from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres suddenly spoke.

"So what you're saying is that the problem isn't the water-cooled divertor, but rather the uncontrollable plasma from the stellarator?"

Although the Wendelstein 7-X Laboratory was owned by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the stellarator's internal design was co-built by the Max Planck Institute and the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

The Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres was the second largest institute in Germany, behind the Max Planck Institute; it had a high amount of respect within the fusion energy community.

Keriber answered the question from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, "Not uncontrollable. It's the natural divergence of plasma. Even a star couldn't make every single plasma particle orbit around the track. There will always be a few plasma hitting the wall; this is within the bounds of acceptable errors."

Professor Edor raised his eyebrows. "Only a few particles?"

Keriber: "… That is only an example. I obviously can't give you the exact number. I can only tell you, compared to the mainstream tokamak device, we are doing extremely well in terms of magnetic confinement fusion."

Professor Hesinger saw that the two were about to get into an argument, so he coughed and interrupted the conversation.

"The problem is clear. Now, we have to solve the problem, not argue about meaningless things."

Professor Hesinger paused for a second before he continued, "We have two choices. One is to change the existing control plan, and the other is to change our cooling system."

They could either reduce the number of plasma particles hitting the first wall by improving the electromagnetic field's control or upgrade the water-cooled divertor to improve cooling performance.

"Improving the fusion control is very difficult." Professor Keriber shook his head and said, "If there's a better control solution, we would've used it by now."

Boucher, who didn't get a chance to speak, finally said, "What about changing the water-cooled divertor?"

"It's not realistic, and modifying the existing divertor is also impossible." Professor Hesinger shook his head and said, "The main problem is, we need to achieve our 30 minutes by 2020 promise… That means we have a maximum of two years."

The atmosphere in the conference room was a little tense; no one was speaking.

Like what Professor Hesinger said, time was the key.

The water-cooled divertor was no refrigerator; even a millimeter or micrometer change was an enormous project. Reassembling the device was difficult, but redesigning the device was almost impossible.

Over the past 15 years, they spent three years installing the water-cooled divertor onto the Wendelstein 7-X.

Now that they only had two years until 2020, there was no way they could spend another three years redesigning and assembling the water-cooled divertor.

Honestly, setting a time limit for scientific research was an asinine thing.

Even the leading expert of a field couldn't be certain on when a new piece of technology would be created.

It could be created tomorrow, or it could never be created.

However, if they didn't set a time limit, no one would give them funding.

…

It was noon. The meeting was temporarily dismissed and scheduled to continue at 2 pm.

Keriber was in the laboratory restaurant, and he ordered himself a cup of coffee before he sat down next to the window. He then opened his work laptop and checked his unread emails.

"Thesis review invitation?"

Keriber looked at the email in his mailbox and became interested.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't a plasma physicist. Instead, he was a plasma and fusion energy engineer.

Also, the stellarator was less popular than the tokamak, and there weren't many international research institutes that engaged in this field.

The last time he received a thesis review invitation from the American Physical Society was five years ago.

He didn't want to waste his meeting break time reading a thesis. However, Keriber was too curious and opened the thesis.

Although he wasn't a plasma physicist, he had been working at the Institute for Plasma Physics for a long time. He was familiar with the theory, and he was also experienced in reading research theses.

A mathematical model for plasma turbulence?

Professor Keriber read the thesis abstract and raised his eyebrows.

Phenomenological model?

Kind of? I'm not sure.

After reading the thesis abstract, Professor Keriber began to read the thesis body. When he saw the big formula in the thesis, his eyebrows twitched.

As an engineer, he was well-versed with mathematics. However, the equation in the thesis was beyond his scope of knowledge. Just looking at it gave him a headache.

It's just a phenomenological model, is it really necessary to use such complex mathematics?

Professor Keriber was confused; this style of compact writing reminded him of someone.

When he looked at the author's name, he suddenly smirked.

It's this guy…

He smiled and shook his head. Keriber gave up and skipped the complex formulas; he looked at the conclusion of the mathematical model instead.

At first, he didn't agree with the thesis.

But the more he read, the more serious he became.

Suddenly, his face turned red. He immediately took out his phone.

"Iger, I'll send a thesis to your email address, print out the thesis for me!"

Iger was his office assistant who was responsible for most of the daily miscellaneous tasks such as scheduling and documents.

Normally, theses that hadn't been published shouldn't be open to the public. However, exposing the thesis privately was within the rules.

After all, many reviewers that came across a particularly excellent thesis in a field they weren't familiar with would often exchange opinions with their peers.

Iger: "Okay sir, how many copies do you need?"

"However many people that are attending the afternoon meeting!"

Chapter 437: Coach, I Want To Sell Drones

The meeting started again.

Professor Keriber stepped foot into the conference room and placed a stack of paper on the desk. He made a gesture to his assistant, who was also holding a stack of papers, telling him to pass the theses around the table.

The professors and engineers sitting around the table didn't know what Professor Keriber was doing.

Edor took a copy of the thesis and frowned.

"What is this?"

Professor Keriber placed his hands on the table before he spoke with a twinkle in his eye.

"This is what we've been waiting for!"

Edor was somewhat uncomfortable at how excited Keriber was, and he hesitated for a second before asking, "Are you sure this thing is reliable?"

Professor Keriber spoke in a confident manner, "The author of the thesis is Professor Lu from Princeton; this year's Fields Medal winner. If his mathematical model isn't reliable, then I'm afraid no mathematical model in the world is reliable."

A plasma physicist threw the thesis on the conference table and said, "Plasma turbulence… turbulence… the word turbulence gives me a headache." He pinched his glabella and said, "I'm a plasma physicist; I'm not here to discuss fluid mechanics with you."

Some professors didn't say a word as they were concentrating on the thesis in their hands, trying to comprehend the complicated calculations in the thesis. There were a lot of big names in the Max Planck Institute; there were also visiting scholars from all over the world.

There were bound to be some people who were proficient in mathematics.

However, it didn't matter if someone wasn't proficient.

They were just like Keriber.

Even though Keriber couldn't understand the body of the thesis, but like most people, he could still understand the mathematical model results and conclusion of the thesis.

Keriber stared at Hesinger and said in a serious manner, "I know this sounds outrageous since it is well known within the physics community that the turbulence problem is unsolvable. However, if this model is reliable, we can use it to change our fusion control scheme, and reduce the amount of plasma collision on the first wall material."

Professor Hesinger went silent for a long time before he finally made a decision.

"Then let's give it a go."

The best way to test the truth was through experiments.

Just like how their phenomenological model was built using the cumulative experience from countless experiments.

Edor looked at Hesinger in disbelief. "Are you sure you want to change the control scheme? Just because of this unpublished thesis?"

Professor Hesinger looked at him.

"Do we have another choice?"

Changing the control scheme wasn't an easy task.

However, this type of procedural modification was much easier than a large systematic modification…

…

Once Lu Zhou submitted the thesis, he left it alone.

Interestingly, he posted the thesis onto arXiv's website, sharing it with his peers. However, it didn't trigger the system mission completion.

It seemed like the rules for this type of application-based thesis was different than mathematics proof theses. Making the thesis available to the public wasn't the only criteria for mission completion.

Lu Zhou remembered the mission description said he had to "establish a mathematical model for the plasma turbulence phenomenon in a stellarator".

Maybe the mission also required at least one stellarator to apply his model?

If that was the case, this mission would be a little more difficult…

Even top journals like PRX were unlikely to be adopted by research institutes.

More importantly, there were only a few stellarators in the world…

Of course, there could also be a problem with Lu Zhou's thesis.

But Lu Zhou felt like the probability of that was very low…

After confirming the thesis had entered into the peer review stage, Lu Zhou's work had slowed down a little.

From the Navier–Stokes equation to plasma turbulence, apart from the few days he went to the Brazil conference, he basically hadn't taken a break.

After all, he wasn't a machine; he still needed to rest…

A group of undergraduate boys was testing their drone near Lake Carnegie.

The annual autumn competition was about to begin, so this was the most important time for practice.

As their consultant, Lu Zhou would occasionally join them when he wasn't busy.

On the one hand, he would give the boys advice on technical problems. On the other hand, he would also use this opportunity to hang out around the lake and get some sunshine.

The club leader, Jimmy, sat next to Lu Zhou. He grabbed the grass on the ground and suddenly said, "Professor, I'm graduating next year."

"Oh? Maybe I can give you some good advice, like some reliable professors you can study under."

Lu Zhou had a good impression of the boy with freckles.

Although Lu Zhou didn't know a lot of engineering professors, he could still consult some of his professor friends for suggestions.

However, to Lu Zhou's surprise, Jimmy shook his head.

"I don't want to study anymore, I want to graduate."

Lu Zhou looked at him in surprise.

"Graduate? Have you thought of what you want to do?"

"Drones!" Jimmy stared at the little guy flying in the sky and said, "I want to open a drone company. That's my dream."

Lu Zhou said, "This sounds… interesting. But Jimmy, what do you plan on using drones to do?"

Jimmy smiled and said, "There's a lot of things it can do…. like delivering packages or pizza."

Package delivery drone?

This word makes me nostalgic…

Lu Zhou looked at the drone hovering in the sky and thought back to the first few theses he published in his university days.

He also remembered his Shunfeng offer.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but think. What if he didn't refuse the offer, chose to give up on academia, and went to research drone logistics in a laboratory instead? What would his life be like?

Life really is amazing…

Jimmy: "Professor?"

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

Jimmy looked at Lu Zhou seriously and said, "What do you think of the drone delivery idea?"

"A good idea. I'm optimistic about this project, but I don't have any plans to invest…"

Jimmy smiled and said, "No, you're misunderstanding me, I don't need your investment. My father agreed to lend me five million dollars in venture capital; it should be enough."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Okay, I guess I was over-thinking.

But speaking of which, how come other than my own students, all the students I'm friends with are filthy rich…

"In this case, good luck with your venture. I can't help you with anything else, but I can recommend you some good theses to read… However, it only outlines a general framework. It is far from complete." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "However, they're in the General Journal, and I'm not sure if the database of Firestone Library has them, so you might have to be a little patient when you're looking for them…"

That was how the General Journal worked. Even if someone produced a top tier result, it would be treated poorly.

Lu Zhou spent general points in order to complete the mission. Therefore, it was actually the system that wrote the theses.

Objectively speaking, Lu Zhou felt like the quality of those theses were pretty good. Although they were somewhat sub-par, using it as a framework would be pretty decent.

However, Jimmy was keen. His eyes lit up as he immediately said, "Please recommend them to me!"

Lu Zhou took out a small notebook from his pocket.

He couldn't remember which academic conference he got this notebook from. He mainly used it to record inspirational thoughts. He was the only one that could understand the symbols and calculations written within.

Lu Zhou tore off a blank sheet of paper and wrote down the name of the journal and approximate publication date before he gave it to Jimmy.

"Take it."

"Thank you!"

Jimmy took the piece of paper from Lu Zhou and shoved it in his pocket like it was a piece of treasure.

Although the theses were useless for Lu Zhou, he hoped Jimmy would find them useful.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

Lu Zhou stood up and patted the grass off his pants. He then walked next to the lake and took out his phone.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail!]

Lu Zhou looked at the notification on his screen and clicked on the link. He instantly logged into his email.

Coincidentally, there were two unread emails in his inbox.

One was from PRX, informing him that the peer review had ended and that the thesis would be published in the latest PRX issue.

The other was from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics…

Chapter 438: Thank You Letter From Max Planck Institute?

[Hello, dear Professor Lu, I am Professor Keriber from the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory. We met around this time last year, I don't know if you remember our encounter.

[There is only one reason why I am writing you this letter. On behalf of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the entire controllable nuclear fusion field, and ITER, I would like to thank you.

[Actually, last month, we completed the installation of a water-cooled divertor. However, the results were not as optimal as we had hoped.

[Coincidentally, we received a thesis review letter from PRX. Using the mathematical model you provided, we redesigned the control computer's design and scheme. Then, a miracle happened!

[You have no idea how shocked we were. The amount of stable plasma orbiting the track increased by 50%!

[I am sure, that if we continue to change the control scheme and change the orbit electric control sensitivity, this number will grow even larger. There is still a lot of potential in your mathematical model. However, due to technological constraints, we are not able to realize that potential.

[As for the calculations for the changes, we will do a report in the next IAEA-Demo meeting. If you are interested, I can get you an invitation. Of course, if you are not able to attend, you can still look at the thesis on the IAEA website.

[All in all, I have to thank you. Also, I'm sure a lot of people also have to thank you…]

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face after reading the letter.

What a coincidence.

The reviewer happened to be Professor Keriber?

But I guess this makes sense, the controllable nuclear fusion field is small. Plus the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory is one of the few laboratories that have a stellarator. I can't think of a better reviewer than Keriber.

I heard running the stellarator isn't cheap, it's burning money on the millisecond scale.

Then I guess this might be the most expensive thesis review in PRX history…

Suddenly, Jimmy walked over.

"What's wrong, Professor?"

"Nothing," Lu Zhou said as he shook his head and put away his phone. He said, "I have to go, I have some matters to attend to. This is your last university competition, make sure you do your best."

"That's for sure!" Jimmy smiled brightly and said in a joking tone, "I plan on getting a trophy before I graduate."

The drone club continued to practice. After Lu Zhou said goodbye to the club members, he returned to his office at the Institute for Advanced Study.

When he arrived at his office, Vera walked in holding a stack of documents.

The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw Lu Zhou. She began to report to him.

"Professor, this is the CV for next year's spring cohort. I've printed them for you."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks, put them on my table."

Speaking of which, there were only a couple of months left in the year.

Normally, he would be drinking coffee while carefully picking out a few excellent CVs from the pile. Then he'd find an afternoon to conduct some interviews before he finally decided on which "lucky" students would receive his precious offer.

However, he didn't plan on recruiting any new students this year.

First of all, he was too busy.

Second of all, after he finished with his current students, it would be time for him to return to China.

Vera asked awkwardly, "Do you want me to sort them out for you?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No need, I'll do it myself."

"Okay then."

Vera nodded and walked to her desk. She returned back to minding her own business.

Wei Wen was sitting nearby. When he saw Lu Zhou didn't even touch the pile of CVs, he suddenly asked, "You're not recruiting new students?"

Lu Zhou said, "Nope, I'm too busy."

Wei Wen nodded thoughtfully and didn't say anything.

I guess I have to hurry up and finish my graduation thesis…

Wei Wen shook away these thoughts and focused his attention on work.

…

The new thesis on PRX caused a sensation in the plasma physics world.

Actually, it wasn't just the plasma physics field. Due to the content of the thesis, it also caused a sensation in applied mathematics, fluid mechanics, and even weather fields.

Before this thesis, turbulence was a well known unsolvable chaotic system.

And plasma turbulence was one of the most complicated turbulence problems.

Many scholars in the related fields were surprised by Lu Zhou's thesis.

Because this was too unexpected.

If Lu Zhou didn't solve the Navier–Stokes equation of the Millennium Prize Problem, or if he wasn't a famous scholar with a good reputation, most people would've thought this was an April Fool's joke.

The thesis contained a large amount of complicated mathematical methods. For people that didn't have a background in differential geometry and partial differential equation, understanding Lu Zhou's thesis would be extremely difficult. Even for people that did have a background in mathematics, they would have to read Lu Zhou's L Manifold thesis that was published in Annual Mathematics first.

For the people that did bother to read and understand the thesis, they were immediately shocked by the mathematical methods used.

This was just like half a century ago when Robert Kraichnan used the quantum field theory to research a turbulence pulsating energy that satisfied the Navier-Stokes equations. This was the only self-consistent momentum-based conversation theory to date, the DIA theory, thus inventing the modern "turbulence analysis theory".

Lu Zhou's work was in some sense, similar to his, or even a level above his.

Because no one had ever thought one could tackle turbulence in this way!

Two weeks after the thesis publication, the thesis caused a commotion in the academic community.

In the latest Physical Review Letters, well-known plasma physicist Professor Dieter Hoffman, former dean of the nuclear physics department at the ‎Darmstadt University of Technology, was invited to write a commentary on Lu Zhou's thesis. He portrayed his shocking views on the industry.

"… His mathematical model idea is very unique, but his theoretical tools used are nothing new. After all, the L Manifold tool was already published a couple of months ago in Annual Mathematics, which was later used to solve the Navier–Stokes equations.

"Normally, applying mathematics into physics is a physicist's job. After a reliable tool is born, testing its reliability is only a matter of time.

"If this thesis didn't exist, a similar thesis would have come out in five to ten years time. Everything that followed would have also happened in five to ten years.

"He alone made ten years worth of progress in this field."

Chapter 439: Physics Level 5 and Special Mission Reward Mission?

Lu Zhou didn't care about the academic community's reaction; he only cared about the completion of this reward mission.

Compared to the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution, this type of mission was basically "free marks".

As Lu Zhou stood in the pure white system space, a light blue line of text appeared in the translucent information screen in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!

[Mission completion details are as follows: Build a mathematical model for the plasma turbulence phenomenon in a stellarator.

[Final mission evaluation: None (Reward missions have no evaluation)

[Mission reward: 100,000 mathematics experience points. 100,000 physics experience points. One lucky draw ticket. (100% special)]

200,000 experience points in total, plus a lucky draw. Although there weren't any general points, it was still a decent reward mission.

After looking at the mission rewards, Lu Zhou began to command the system.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A blue light swept across the screen.

Soon, Lu Zhou's characteristic panel appeared in front of his eyes.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 7 (144,000/1.2 million)

B. Physics: Level 4 (33,215/300,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 3 (24,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 2 (0/50,000)

E. Materials science: Level 4 (13,000/200,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 (0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 3,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Having finally reached Level 5, physics was right behind mathematics.

As for the 1.2 million experience points requirement…

Lu Zhou didn't want to deal with it.

He closed his characteristic panel. Next up was the exciting prize draw.

100% special…

Please don't give me an "Easter egg" again…

Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He then prayed to the gods and hoped that he wouldn't get the Easter egg before he clicked the screen.

However, he suddenly realized a problem.

Wait a minute…

Other than the Easter egg, there's also a "Patronage Appreciated" prize?!

However, it was too late to pray again as the second his fingertips touched the screen, a wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou pressed the button.

The system announced the prize in midst of Lu Zhou's nervousness.

[Congratulations, User, for winning the "special" prize!

[Received special mission card!]

Mission card?

Lu Zhou looked at this gadget and paused for a second. Suddenly, he looked worried.

How do we say this…

This isn't as useless as an Easter egg, right?

It's not just a plastic card, right?

Lu Zhou had been screwed over many times by the lucky draw; he didn't trust the system anymore.

I swear if this card is really just a plastic card…

Lu Zhou felt a little suspicious, so he opened the mission panel.

Fortunately, the thing he was worried about didn't happen.

[Special mission card: Able to activate before accepting a normal mission. Activate to begin a special mission chain which replaces the normal mission. Special mission chain cannot be stopped unless the user fails the mission.]

Can't be stopped? Does this mean I can't use general points to stop the mission?

Lu Zhou read the description and hesitated for a bit before clicking the golden card icon in his inventory.

[Special mission chain: Fusion Light

[Mission description: The moment the first two nuclei collided, the small fire of civilization was ignited in the sea of stars. However, it is important to know how to maintain this fire…

[Objective: Complete the design and construction of the DEMO fusion reactor before 2025.

[Mission rewards: Depends on mission evaluation. Rewards include experience points, general points, samples, blueprints, special items…

The mission description was kind of weird, but it was fine. However, when Lu Zhou saw the mission objective, he nearly puked his eyes out.

Before 2025?

Does this sh*tty high tech system use a different calendar?

The DEMO fusion reactor was one of ITER's "fifty-year plan" projects.

Lu Zhou wasn't familiar with the specific plan. After all, plasma physics wasn't a popular field, and most of his physicist friends were theoretical physicists.

The last time he went to Germany, he remembered Professor Klitzing mentioned something like this to him.

According to the EU Fusion Alliance, around 70% of the funds went to ITER and 30% went to DEMO… Something along those lines.

There wasn't a clash between the DEMO and ITER project; they were being conducted at the same time. But anyone with a brain cell knew that if the "controllable nuclear fusion" problem wasn't solved, there would be no way to build a demonstration nuclear fusion reactor.

Therefore, in order to complete the DEMO project, ITER had to be completed first.

It'd be great if the ITER project could be smoothly completed by 2025.

Of course, for this type of seemingly impossible mission, the system gave Lu Zhou a choice.

There were two buttons below the mission requirements.

[Accept/Reject]

Rejecting it means my mission card will be useless, right?

After that, he could choose the best mission from the three randomly generated ones.

Lu Zhou stared at the two buttons and thought for a long time.

Although the number of options decreased from three to two, Lu Zhou felt like the difficulty of the choice had doubled.

He shook his head and tried to clear his mind. He made a decision and placed his hand on the "Accept" button.

Although it was pretty difficult to complete the mission by 2025, he was never one to step down from a difficult challenge.

Controllable nuclear fusion was a very interesting field; it was also one of the obstacles humanity would have to eventually overcome.

Lu Zhou would continue to do research in this area even without the mission.

It was like the system was celebrating his correct decision. The moment he clicked "Accept", a blue wave swept across the holographic information screen.

["Fusion Light" mission chain begin!]

The mission panel was refreshed, and the options of choosing three normal missions disappeared and replaced by the Fusion Light mission.

There was a list of mission below the "Fusion Light" mission chain.

The precursors or subtasks for implementing controllable nuclear fusion were listed below.

There were "superconducting material" and "quantum computers or computers stronger than traditional computers" which were part of the main mission. There were also weird side missions like "convince China to invest 10 billion", "convince a company to invest 10 billion", "build a nuclear fusion research center", and "score 100 goals in an international football match".

In addition to completing the entire mission chain, he could also get rewards from completing main missions and side missions.

Lu Zhou looked at the long list of missions and felt overwhelmed. However, he still sighed with relief.

He could still receive mission rewards by producing in-progress results.

This way, he didn't have to worry about not receiving anything after years of hard work…

Chapter 440: Thirty Minutes

While Lu Zhou was making a difficult choice, a plane landed on the other side of the planet in Lu Yang, China.

Sheng Xianfu returned from his academic exchange at the Germany Wendelstein 7-X laboratory. He immediately got on a car and went to the Institutes of Physical Science on Science Island.

When Ren Yong saw Professor Sheng walking briskly in the research institute, he looked at him and asked, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Professor Sheng only said two words.

"Thirty minutes."

Ren Yong paused for a second. He didn't know what Sheng Xianfu was talking about. However, he quickly realized what was going on.

He said in disbelief, "Thirty minutes? They… really did it?"

Professor Sheng nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

"Actually, in the beginning, they nearly failed. The water-cooled divertor didn't meet expectations. However, the recent thesis published on PRX helped them changed the control scheme and reduced the heat load on the first wall. It's only a few seconds off from thirty minutes."

The stellarator was a very novel research idea; there was still controversy among the academic community on whether or not it could achieve the theoretical expectations.

Although the stellarator could restrain plasma much more easily compared to the tokamak, the excessive heat caused by long term pulsing discharge was still a major problem in the nuclear fusion field.

However, if the Wendelstein 7-X could achieve a discharge time of thirty minutes, it would impact the international nuclear fusion field.

After all, the more research that was put into the tokamak, the closer the researchers could get to the theoretical limit. More and more people began to have doubts about this research project.

"Just because of one thesis?"

Professor Ren looked at Professor Sheng in disbelief.

Professor Ren wasn't disrespecting theoretical work.

He was just surprised at how fast the theory was applied!

After a while, he spoke in a more serious manner, "Which thesis? Let me look at it."

"Newest PRX issue, Lu Zhou's thesis. As for the Max Planck Institute's thesis, it should already be on the IAEA-Demo website. Just look for it."

Professor Sheng didn't wait any longer; he continued to walk up the stairs.

He had things to do right now.

One was to report his academic exchange results to the higher-ups.

The second was to tell the higher-ups the importance of this person.

He was willing to pay anything for Lu Zhou to come work here.

Perhaps other people might not know the importance of that thesis, but he knew.

Ren Yong looked at Professor Sheng leaving. He then walked down the stairs and went into his office.

He switched on his laptop and found the theses that Professor Sheng was talking about. He downloaded all of them and began to read from the beginning.

Although he didn't understand everything, he understood the gist of it.

Simply put, Professor Lu established a theoretical model for the plasma turbulence phenomenon in a stellarator. Then the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics rewrote their control algorithm and control scheme by using Lu Zhou's theoretical model. This reduced the number of plasma particles colliding with the first wall, which also reduced the temperature of the first wall…

Ren Yong briefly read the theses on his computer. He then laid back in his office chair as he stared at the screen.

He then said in a thoughtful manner, "… Is he more optimistic about the stellarator?"

Actually, China conducted some research on stellarators.

They were influenced by the Americans in the early '70s. The Southwestern Institute of Physics tried to design a stellarator called "Ling Yun". However, due to time constraints, the project was canceled.

After all, even Americans couldn't handle the research. They changed the Stellarator C to the Tokamak ST and began working on the T3 device by learning from the Russians.

After that, the tokamak became the mainstream choice for various international research institutes. In order to concentrate resources, and due to Obama's influence, various Chinese research institutes also chose the tokamak device as their research project.

However, research was always changing. It was one way fifty years ago, another way fifty years later. Although the tokamak device achieved good results, the critical pulse discharged time had fallen into a bottleneck.

China had gradually realized the importance of this problem. Recently, they had been restarting stellarator projects such as the H1-Heliac Stellarator, which was sent from The Australian National University to Yuhua University. The Xinan University also collaborated with the Japanese National Institute for fusion science and built the first Chinese quasi-symmetric stellarator…

However, even though China had restarted research on the stellarator, the mainstream nuclear fusion research center which was the Chinese Academy of Sciences was still focusing on the tokamak.

After all, there was no such thing as a perfect scientific research project. A healthy research environment consisted of conducting various different research projects.

For a scholar, there was nothing more important than persistently researching one's idea.

As for who was right or who was wrong?

History would be the judge of that.

Liu Zhangle was sitting at a desk next to him, drinking tea. He looked at the screen and said, "What thesis is this? I've never seen this many equations before."

"Professor Lu wrote it." Ren Yong smiled and said, "It's normal if you don't understand it… Even I can only understand the abstract."

"Professor Lu?" Liu Zhangle paused for a second. He frowned and began to think, but he couldn't think of a person named Lu in the Chinese plasma physics field.

Ren Yong said, "Lu Zhou at Princeton, who else could it be?"

Liu Zhangle was stunned when he heard this name.

He knew Lu Zhou… obviously.

But…

"Isn't he in mathematics? He knows nuclear fusion as well?"

Ren Yong was amused when he heard this.

"He's a technical consultant for the PPPL He3 team, and there are even rumors that he's the actual person in charge of the project. He's built a mathematical model for the plasma turbulence problem. There's not a single person in this field that has more influence than him… other than maybe the particles inside the plasma reactors."

Liu Zhangle's facial expression changed.

"The He3 atom probe technology?"

He didn't understand Lu Zhou's other work, but given that the He3 atom probe technology caused a huge commotion in the industry, he had definitely heard of it.

Recently, the Science Island had been designing a technology similar to the He3 atom launcher in hopes of observing the macro and microscopic parameter of the high-temperature plasma inside the reactor.

Not only could the He3 atom probe be used in nuclear fusion projects such as the tokamak and stellarator, but it could also be applied in many projects that dealt with plasma.

The relevant theses could be downloaded from the ITER database; it was all public information.

Contrary to popular belief, the only secret part of the nuclear fusion project was the laser ignition technology used in nuclear tests…

Ren Yong looked at his colleague and asked, "When was the last time you paid attention to the latest academic news?"

Liu Zhangle coughed and diverted the conversation.

"Imagine if the Chinese Academy of Sciences hired this genius, we'd probably be forced to work on the stellarator under him."

Ren Yong said, "Forget about it! He's a genius; he won't want to work at a place like this. Even if he wants to come, he wouldn't come to us."

Liu Zhangle frowned and said, "Where else is he going to go?"

After all, nuclear fusion was a "futuristic" field. There were only a few institutes in China that were involved in nuclear fusion, and one of them was the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

There was also Xi Nanjiao University, but they were less attractive than the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ren Yong smiled and said, "A research institute will be built for him, obviously."

Chapter 441: Trouble From The Royal Swedish Academy Of Sciences

If Lu Zhou could solve the controllable nuclear fusion problem, having his own research institute would be a given. In fact, Lu Zhou would receive even better benefits.

After all, China was a country good at adapting and attracting international talents was one of the highest priorities.

Furthermore, China didn't care about the domestic academic community's reactions to attracting outside talent.

It was getting closer and closer to October. The physics field weren't the only ones that paid attention to Lu Zhou. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee in Stockholm was also paying attention to him.

Inside a research building at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Olof Ramstrom had just finished a Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee meeting. He sat in front of his desk, reading the thesis in his hand.

Peter Brzezinski also attended the meeting. He looked at the thesis in his colleague's hand and said, "Physics? You really are involved in everything."

"I'm not researching physics. It's just that this paper seems to have caused quite a commotion in the physics field. I heard several professors talking about it. Therefore, I went to find a friend to get me a copy."

Olof definitely couldn't understand the mathematical formulas in the thesis. After all, he wasn't in the field of mathematics.

However, this didn't prevent him from reading Physical Review Letters, consulting the experts' comments, understanding why the thesis was brilliant, and finding out which age-old physics problem was solved.

Peter stared at the thesis for a while before he said in an uncertain tone, "Lu Zhou?"

"That's right. The guy that's a pain in the a*s." Olof paused for a second and said in a joking tone, "Maybe we'll see his name on the nominations for the Nobel Prize for Physics next year."

Olof Ramstrom was an organic chemistry professor at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, an academician at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and also a 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee member.

Standing next to him was Peter Brzezinski, a biochemistry expert from the University of Stockholm. He was also an academician from the Royal Academy of Sciences, and this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee member.

Over the past month, the Nobel Prize Committee had spent countless hours debating about Lu Zhou. They had had several meetings about Lu Zhou but hadn't arrived at an agreement.

Interestingly, the debates weren't centered around Lu Zhou's achievements. After all, whether it was the "shuttle effect" of lithium-sulfur batteries or the problem of lithium dendrites, they were all brilliant research results.

Also, Lu Zhou's achievements went beyond the applied fields.

Last year, he established his "Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure" which caused a sensation in the fields of computational chemistry, surface chemistry, and even condensed matter physics. This also won him the Hoffman Prize.

However, the Nobel Prize wasn't an ordinary prize. The committee had to consider other aspects.

Even though Lu Zhou had made brilliant achievements, there were plenty of other people that made equally amazing achievements.

Many people had waited for decades to win this prize; some had even waited for their entire lives…

The opinions among the Nobel Prize in Chemistry committee members varied greatly. Some people believed Lu Zhou and his research results were too young while other people believed that age was just a number and that Lu Zhou's age didn't hinder the significance of his research results.

For example, Professor Olof believed that age was just a number.

In his opinion, the modified PDMS material and HCS-1 was debatable. After all, these two results had to be proven through industry application, and they hadn't made outstanding contributions to the chemistry field yet. However, in his opinion, the "Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure" undoubtedly made an enormous contribution.

Over the past year, many scholars had produced valuable research results by using Lu Zhou's theoretical model.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Lu Zhou's theoretical model had completely redefined the surface chemistry field and opened up new research ideas for the computational chemistry field.

"The 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to the cryogenic electron microscopy. The DNA repair research that won the 2015 prize should have been the Karolinska Institute's job. I'm serious, if we don't think about what counts as true chemistry results, we might as well change the name to the Nobel Prize in Biology committee."

Professor Peter was in the field of biochemistry, and he coughed awkwardly.

"Not like this, my friend. Biochemistry is also a part of chemistry… Also, the cryogenic electron microscopy isn't totally in the field of biology. It also counts as analytical chemistry, right?"

Olof shook his head and said, "There's no point playing with words. We all know which industry is impacted."

Someone calculated an interesting statistic among the five sub-disciplines of chemistry. A third of the Nobel Prizes were given to the fields of macromolecule and biochemistry, 26 awards in biochemistry, and six awards in structural biology.

In contrast, there had only been 12 awards given to the organic synthesis field, and even less for the inorganic chemistry field…

If one considered a strand of DNA to be a macromolecule, then the Nobel Committee for Chemistry didn't make a wrong decision; it was justifiable.

However, everyone knew that this wasn't fair for chemists.

After all, the biologists should aim for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Now that even the cryogenic electron microscopy won a prize, the chemistry field was bound to revolt.

Peter looked at his old friend and sighed.

"I understand where you're coming from. His work in surface chemistry has been outstanding. Although I wasn't there for his Berlin report, I've talked with several Max Planck Institute professors about him, and they all have high opinions of him… But I have to say, this result is too young."

Olof said, "What does that have to do with anything? When we gave the award for the 'design and production of molecular machines', were we not thinking about the future potential contributions of the technology?"

"That's why that year's award caused a huge amount of controversy as people weren't expecting it. But this isn't the focus; the key problem is his age." Peter shook his head and said, "24-year-old nominee… If he wins the Nobel Prize, he would undoubtedly be the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history."

Prior to this, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate was the 25-year-old Lawrence Bragg.

There were no rules regarding a Nobel Prize winner's age. However, some people didn't like it when the record was broken by a new winner.

Unless the winner was truly brilliant.

However, this was a subjective problem that was difficult to assess unless there was a surface chemistry scholar in the Nobel Prize Committee who could objectively rate Lu Zhou's work…

But unfortunately, there weren't any surface chemistry scholars in the committee.

In fact, Olof was hesitant about whether or not he was correct.

He just felt like this year's Nobel Prize should be given to a pure chemistry result.

Or rather, they should give the award for the "Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure".

After all, producing such an important chemistry theory in the 21st century was extremely difficult…

Chapter 442: The Human Mind Is Tiny Compared To The Universe

While the Nobel Committee for Chemistry was arguing over whether or not Lu Zhou should win the award, the PRX thesis continued to impact the physics industry.

Lu Zhou had received many calls and emails over the past few days.

Lu Zhou's physicist friends such as Professor Frank Wilczek, Klaus von Klitzing, etc., were all surprised by his work.

There were also some strangers that wanted to get to know Lu Zhou and discuss the turbulence phenomenon with him.

Additionally, there were also some invitations from academic conferences.

For example, the IAEA-Demo international conference in November. They invited him to do a one-hour report on his turbulence phenomenon research.

Normally, Lu Zhou would have gone for it.

After all, there were many excellent controllable nuclear fusion reports at the conference. If he wanted to build the first DEMO nuclear fusion reactor by 2025, he had to utilize his international academic opportunities…

However, over the past few days, he hadn't been "in the zone".

After accepting the mission, Lu Zhou didn't immediately start working on a feasible sub-mission. Instead, he gave himself a week off.

He'd walk around campus every day or take his Ford Explorer for a ride.

Although New Jersey was small, there were plenty of tourist attractions.

Like The Sussex County Park which was covered in red by the autumn leaves, or the 220-foot white war veterans monument on top of High Point mountain that overlooked the tristate area.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized that he had been missing out on what America had to offer. Unfortunately, he went on this trip alone, with only one set of picnic utensils.

The only partner that was always by his side was Xiao Ai.

Whether it was at the High Point State Park in New Jersey or on Princeton Campus, Lu Zhou was never fully relaxed; he was always thinking about a problem.

If the system contained all of the solutions to civilization or humanity's unsolved academic problems, then the most effective method would be to tell Lu Zhou the answers directly instead of getting him to do research and figure out the answers himself.

However, the system obviously didn't do this. Rather, it guided Lu Zhou to study these mysteries on his own.

Lu Zhou enjoyed studying, and he felt that his knowledge had increased exponentially under the system's guidance. Not only did he surpass people his own age, but he had also achieved what most could never hope to accomplish in their lifetimes.

However, what confused him the most was the motive behind the system's actions.

He had actually thought about this problem for a while now.

Is there a species of alien out there in the universe that is entertained by us low-level humans? Or does the system come from the future?

The possibilities were endless; it was even more complex than a chaotic physics system.

However, Lu Zhou felt like no matter what the motive was behind the system, it probably wasn't some kind of boring principle like "humans must solve their own problems".

There had to be a deeper motive behind this system that came from nowhere.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a strange idea.

What if the Zhou's conjecture about Mersenne primes is only a practice question, and the Goldbach's conjecture… or even the Navier–Stokes equation is the system giving me "homework"… or rather, "research projects"?

And the general points give me a way to buy the answers, almost like a supplementary exam.

In this case, when all of my subjects reach Level 10, will the system give me a "graduation letter" or maybe an "acceptance letter" for a higher academic level?

Thinking about it this way… I'm not a professor as I haven't even graduated from the system yet!

Lu Zhou's hypothesis was further affirmed when he recalled reading "the small fire of civilization" in the system's controllable nuclear fusion mission chain description.

He sat on a bench near Lake Carnegie as he stared at the body of water that was sparkling under the sunset. This lake had brought him a lot of inspiration. However, this time, it was unable to answer his question.

"For you, these questions aren't even questions, right?"

This wasn't the first time Lu Zhou felt something like this.

However, this was the first time Lu Zhou felt like humanity's mind and glory was so small compared to the universe…

Suddenly, a familiar voice brought him out of his daydream.

"What are you looking at?"

Lu Zhou looked over and saw Molina standing there.

Molina didn't know why, but she felt like Lu Zhou was ignoring her.

"What's… wrong with you?"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

"Nothing… I just bumped into a problem I don't understand."

"There's a problem that you don't understand?" Molina raised her eyebrows and said, "I thought there's nothing in this world you don't know."

Lu Zhou smiled when he heard this, and he shook his head.

"I don't know why you think that when there are so many problems in this world I don't understand."

Every night, sporty students and professors from Princeton would run around Lake Carnegie; Molina was one of them.

Lu Zhou would occasionally sit on the bench, and he would always see Molina running.

The two had a pretty good relationship. Not only were they academia friends, but they were normal friends as well.

At a place like Princeton, other than his own students, Lu Zhou had very few friends that were around the same age as him.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou, who was staring at the lake, and she said, "You're becoming more and more like those people."

Lu Zhou said, "Which people?"

"The old folks at the Institute for Advanced Study," Molina said. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study offers you a tenured researcher position."

A tenured researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study was different than a tenured professor at Princeton. The title itself was one of the highest honors in academia. There were less than 30 tenured researchers among the top four universities.

For example, Einstein was one of Princeton's tenured researchers. This went to show how high the threshold was.

Also, unless there were special circumstances, a lifelong honor like this would almost never be awarded to a young scholar…

So, when Lu Zhou heard Molina's ridiculous statement, he laughed. "Tenured researcher? I'll take that as a hopeful wish?"

Molina smiled and said, "Of course you can, but you do realize I'm saying that you look like an old man when you're thinking?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Don't say that. In terms of age, you're older than me."

Molina: "…"

She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt like throwing her can of coffee at his face…

Chapter 443: Fusion Starts With Superconductivity

It was getting closer and closer to the end of the month. Another huge event happened in the mathematics community, and not only did it spread across the entire academic community, but it even spread beyond academia.

Hardy was sitting in front of his computer at the Institute for Advanced Study, researching information about the conference. When he read a piece of news, he suddenly froze.

In his surprise, he nearly shouted out loud.

"Professor, the Riemann's conjecture is solved?!"

Lu Zhou: "What?"

It was like Hardy had discovered a new continent when he said excitedly, "I saw it on mathoverflow. It says that Sir Michael Atiyah from Cambridge used a very simple method to solve Riemann's conjecture, and he will do a presentation at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum."

Mathoverflow was a well-known mathematics website and many nutty mathematicians had accounts on there. For example, Tao Zhexuan was active on the site; not only did he update his blogs, but he would also frequently interact with visitors.

After hearing Hardy, Lu Zhou smiled and said in a half-joking kind of tone, "If he really completed the proof, then he undoubtedly would become this century's greatest mathematician."

Hardy asked, "Are you optimistic about his proof?"

Lu Zhou didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he only gave a simple opinion.

"Sir Atiyah is an outstanding scholar; he's also a Fields Medal and Abel Prize winner. However, the old man is 89 years old… It's hard for me to give an accurate opinion."

In fact, Atiyah wasn't the first scholar who claimed to have solved the Riemann's conjecture.

Around 2004, well-known number theory professor De Branges also claimed to have solved the Riemann's conjecture. This caused quite a sensation at the time, but unfortunately, his proof wasn't recognized by the mathematics community.

Even before that, English mathematician G. H. Hardy declared to have solved this problem.

Hardy hesitated for a bit before saying, "But… he's Sir Atiyah, Fields Medal and Abel Prize winner. Would he make a claim like this if he wasn't fully confident?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he said, "My dear friend Hardy, if you want to become a scholar, then you must remember that awards are only a type of honor, nothing more. In other words, because the mathematics community gave him the awards, he should take extra care in responding to people's legitimate questions. People that question him shouldn't be treated as fools."

Lu Zhou looked at Hardy and paused for a second.

"Rather than the Riemann's conjecture, I would like to know more about Atiyah's progress on the non-existent complex 6-sphere."

Hardy: "… the non-existent complex 6-sphere?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said: "It's a famous unsolved algebraic topology problem that is related to the K-theory. Although it's not a Millennium Prize Problem, it is still one of the most important algebraic topology problems. Around 16 years ago, Sir Atiyah gave this proposition a definitive answer. However, his thesis wasn't satisfactory. Not only was the proof only half a page long, but he even began to talk about the history of mathematics in the fourth section of the thesis…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and shrugged. He then said, "According to mathoverflow, he hasn't responded to the doubts about his thesis. Therefore, the academic community is still skeptical about it."

The thesis on non-existent complex 6-sphere was available on arXiv.

Solving the famous K-theory problem, then within two years, solving one of the most important number theory problems…

Lu Zhou obviously hoped this was real. After all, anyone in the mathematics field had a bit of a hero syndrome.

But this was a nearly ninety-year-old man…

To be honest, he didn't have much hope.

Mathematics was a discipline for the young, and there was no such thing as old and wise in this field. Once a person got older, their memory and intelligence would decline significantly.

Therefore, there were very few mathematicians that could produce results that were superior to their younger self.

The final result didn't matter as long as the old man was happy…

…

Riemann's conjecture was a very interesting topic. However, it wasn't Lu Zhou's main concern.

He set notifications on for any updates regarding the issue and focused his attention back to Fusion Light mission chain.

Designing the stellarator required a huge amount of engineering, and quantum computing technology was still far from being applicable. After taking into account all of the factors, Lu Zhou decided to choose superconducting materials as his next research project.

Honestly, superconducting materials were no piece of cake. However, it was the best matching project in terms of Lu Zhou's skill set.

Lu Zhou went to meet Connie at the Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Because of the cooperation project with Pablo Herrero, over the past six months, he had been doing an academic exchange at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He had just gotten back last week.

When Lu Zhou saw Connie, he asked, "How is the superconducting materials project going?"

"I can't give you an accurate answer, but generally, it's going smooth." Connie handed Lu Zhou a USB and said, "I've written a summary report on the results. It's in the USB C folder. I was going to send it to your email."

Lu Zhou took the USB and nodded.

"Understood, I'll look at it later."

Connie looked at how serious Lu Zhou was and asked with excitement, "Professor, are you planning to do something?"

Lu Zhou said in a brief manner, "Yeah… Due to various reasons, I have shifted my focus from mathematics onto superconducting materials."

He obviously wouldn't tell Connie the real reason.

Lu Zhou told Connie to start working. He then sat in front of his desk and plugged the USB into his computer before he opened the report written by Connie.

He quickly finished reading the report in half an hour and gained a general understanding of the current progress of the research project.

Basically, the Pablo Jarillo Herrero laboratory was focused on researching theory such as enthalpy energy, pseudogap, nematic liquid crystals, etc.

On the other hand, the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials was mainly focused on application-based research. Their business model was to use a large number of experiments to find a way to maintain the concentration of graphene carriers in superconducting materials.

Lu Zhou had to admit that Professor Pablo Herrero was an expert in the graphene field. After receiving the US$10 million research fund from Star Sky Technology, the progress of their research had been increasing exponentially.

With the help from their theoretical progress, the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials and the Sarrot Laboratory had also produced amazing in-progress results.

However, they were still far from the final result.

Lu Zhou looked at the images on the computer screen and thought for a bit. He quickly realized what he needed to do.

He was good at computational materials science and using mathematical methods to find patterns in materials.

Therefore, the first thing he needed to do was to build a reliable mathematical model using the year-long data collected by the three laboratories.

Also, in order to speed up the progress on this project, he needed more hands.

Professor Chirik was a good candidate…

Chapter 444: I Just Want To Buy You Food

Wharton student apartments, University of Pennsylvania. Chen Yushan was woken up by her cell phone ringing.

It was midnight.

She wondered who would call at such a time.

Her pale hand reached out from under her blanket and picked up her phone on the bedside table. She then answered the call and placed the phone next to her ear.

"Hello?"

When Chen Baohua heard his daughter's voice that sounded like she had just woke up, he hesitated for a bit.

"You've slept?"

Chen Yushan yawned and couldn't help but complain.

"Dad, check the time difference next time you call… It's already midnight here."

Chen Baohua coughed and said, "I thought it was night time, I didn't realize it was that late…"

"It's fine, what do you want? If it's not important, I'll sleep…" Chen Yushan couldn't help but yawn again.

She was used to her father being careless. She had no idea how he was able to marry her mother.

She had been writing her graduation thesis recently, doing a ton of work every day. Therefore, she was always very sleepy at night.

However, she was much more fortunate compared to those graduate students who were being used as free laborers.

Honestly, Ms. Michelle's persistent care made her a little worried.

There was a saying—"No good deed goes unpunished".

Although this wasn't totally accurate, there was still some truth in it.

Every time Chen Yushan looked at her, she could see something weird in her eyes. It was almost like Chen Yushan's supervisor was trying to go beyond the friendship of teacher and students…

In short, for her own integrity's sake, she made up her mind on trying to finish her graduation thesis as soon as possible and get the hell out of this place.

When Chen Baohua heard his daughter yawning, he felt distressed.

Therefore, he didn't beat around the bush and cut straight to the point.

"The reason I called is to ask you about something."

Chen Yushan: "Yeah."

Chen Baohua spoke in a serious manner, "Tell dad, what exactly is the relationship between you and Lu Zhou?"

Chen Yushan, who was still under her blanket, nearly coughed out loud.

"Just… friends, what else. Didn't I tell you that last time?"

Chen Baohua asked in disbelief, "Just friends?"

Chen Yushan said, "Dad, what is it? Just tell me."

Chen Baohua heard his daughter and felt a bit awkward.

Honestly, he didn't want to undergo the mission of "capturing" Lu Zhou. He would be worried about his daughter if someone else was conducting this mission.

However, this wasn't Old He. This was the leader of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China.

After all, even though he understood the importance of talents like Lu Zhou to the country, this was still his daughter, and he only had one daughter.

If the two clicked, then this thing would be over. But now, it seemed that wasn't the case…

"… Nothing, I just wanted to ask."

Chen Baohua contemplated for a bit, but in the end, he decided he couldn't do that to his daughter.

He'd rather fly to America himself. As for getting Lu Zhou to return to China, he would talk to him directly.

"I'm going to America in a few days, regarding Lu… Contact Professor Lu for me. I have some things I want to talk to him."

Chen Yushan didn't think much of this. She yawned and said, "Okay then, just talk to him face to face. If that's all, I'm going to sleep…"

Chen Baohua nodded and said: "Okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

Chen Yushan placed her phone on the bedside table and went under the blanket to go back to sleep.

However, she suddenly realized something. Her cheeks under the blanket began to warm up, forming two red circles.

She didn't think this through at all.

What should I say?

Should I say "My dad wants to meet you"?

Or say "I want to you to meet my dad"?

This is insane!

Chen Yushan, who was half-asleep, couldn't help but bury her head into the blanket. She almost wanted to kill herself.

Sh*t, what do I do now?

…

In the morning, Lu Zhou arrived at the laboratory on time and began the experiment.

With Connie's help, he performed N-type and P-type doping on graphene. He then filtered and labeled the small angle-twisted bilayer graphene samples. After that, they placed the samples under an SEM and observed the sample microstructure.

They needed to find two energy bands with a zero dispersion band structure.

The location of the two energy bands' position was theoretically determined; it should be at the intersection of two linear bands that was also known as the Dirac point.

However, it was actually very difficult to apply the theory.

Finding this would bring enormous benefits to the entire superconducting material industry.

Not only was Connie in the laboratory, but Professor Chirik was here as well.

In order to complete the data collection and superconducting material research as soon as possible, Lu Zhou recruited this organic chemistry expert.

Although Professor Chirik mainly studied graphene, he showed great interest after hearing about Lu Zhou's research project.

Especially when he heard the project funding was in the eight-figure USD range, he immediately suspended his own project and came here with his research team.

Professor Chirik stood next to Lu Zhou, and suddenly, he said, "It's already October."

Lu Zhou was fiddling with the electron microscope, and he murmured, "Yeah."

Chirik: "Your reaction is just 'yeah'?"

Lu Zhou stopped fiddling with the microscope and asked, "What, is there something going on in October?"

Professor Chirik was confused, and he asked, "Are you not paying attention to this year's Nobel Prize?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "My dear Mr. Chirik, if I pay attention to the Nobel Prizes now, I wouldn't be able to get a good night's sleep for the rest of my life."

Chirik shrugged and made a helpless expression.

"Okay then, it's boring to talk about this with you. I thought you'd be excited. After all, that theoretical model you made last year was really good."

Lu Zhou: "Time will tell. Besides, I'm not in academia just for the Nobel Prize."

While the two were speaking, Lu Zhou's phone in his pocket began to vibrate.

When Professor Chirik heard the vibration sound, he had a strange expression.

Lu Zhou immediately knew what Professor Chirik was thinking about, so he sighed and said, "I know what you're thinking about, but it's impossible… I'll take this call outside."

Professor Chirik joked, "How about you just take the call in here? What if it's from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences?"

"Wake up! It's only the 1st of October!"

It obviously wasn't the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Normally, the calls to Nobel Prize winners would happen moments before the announcement.

And the announcement of the winner's name for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry would be on the fourth.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was well aware of the probability of him winning a Nobel Prize.

Lu Zhou picked up the call and put the phone next to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Little Brother…"

When Lu Zhou heard how unnatural her tone was, he asked, "What?"

Chen Yushan asked cautiously, "Are you free this weekend?"

Lu Zhou was confused. "I am… Why?"

"Nothing." Chen Yushan smiled awkwardly as she said, "I haven't seen you in a long time… I just want to treat you to a meal."

Chapter 445: Last Conference

It was October, and the streets of Stockholm were crowded.

Every time this year, this city that was near the Baltic Sea would attract attention from all over the world due to the Nobel Prize.

Although the awards were given out by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, most Stockholm citizens were still proud of this.

Interestingly, not all of them were like this.

Back when nationalism swept across Europe, many Swedes would publicly complain or even criticize a rich Swedish scholar—Nobel.

They would say how Nobel never donated his inheritance to the country, nor did he give the Scandinavians any advantage of winning the prize. What Nobel left behind wasn't a gift, it was years and years of trouble.

Even Hans Fischer, the then president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, complained that Nobel should have donated the money directly to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences instead of making them go through the cumbersome award-giving process. Not to mention, Nobel refused to attend the meeting regarding the process of the awards.

Fortunately, due to the relentless efforts made by Ragnar Sohlman, Nobel's trustworthy assistant, the King of Sweden finally announced the effectiveness of Nobel's will and ended the controversy surrounding the 31 million kronor.

It turned out that most people were short-sighted. Before the Internet existed, very few people had the opportunity to see the world beyond the Baltic Sea.

But looking back, that 31 million kronor was the most cost-effective investment in the world.

There had never been a city that had received this much honor due to a prize-giving process. There had also never been a Swede, not even the King of Sweden or the Prime Minister, that had left such a huge and timeless legacy to this country.

Of course, this also came with trouble.

Especially for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, who has upkeeping Nobel's testament for over a century.

The closer it got to the fourth of October, the more lively and exciting the atmosphere in the town of Stockholm was.

Logically, the Nobel Prize winners list was prepared three days ago.

But this time, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry didn't reach a consensus.

This had happened before. Due to the differing opinions of the members of the Nobel Prize Committee, the Nobel Prize announcement was delayed until mid-October. However, there was no reason for it to happen this year.

Under the pressure from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the members of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry held a meeting once again.

Over the past two years, the list of committee members hadn't changed. The only change was that Snogerup Linse retired from being a chairman, while Claes Gustafsson, who had been a committee member for more than 15 years, was promoted to chairman.

The other three academicians were Peter Brzezinski, who was a professor of biochemistry at the University of Stockholm, Olaf Ramstrom, who was a professor of organic chemistry at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Professor Johan Aqvist, who was a professor of molecular biology and computational chemistry.

Old Ms. Linse looked sharply at the members in the room and spoke in a determined tone.

"We're all that is left. The Royal Academy wants us to make a decision as soon as possible, at least before the 4th."

In fact, they've made a decision a month ago.

Chairman Professor Claes nodded.

"Like what Academician Linse just said, we have to make a decision. This will be the final meeting, I hope you all will give us your opinions."

The other three members looked at each other and nodded.

This would be the last time they discussed this issue.

The last review meeting of the year…

…

Objectively speaking, the decisions made by the Nobel Committee for Chemistry was bewildering. The 2017 cryogenic electron microscopy was fine, but the 2016 molecular machine was a completely new concept. Although the results were good enough, they were still a long way from knowing its application uses.

What made people astonished was the lithium battery. Every year, people would predict that the father of lithium batteries, Goodenough, would win. However, it was almost like the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences forgot he existed.

Other than the "Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure" by Lu Zhou, Professor Franz-Ulrich Hartl from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and Yale University professor Arthur Horwich who were on their intracellular protein folding research was also a worthy consideration.

Prior to this, the two big names had already won the Lasker Award, which was like a "mini Nobel Prize". Almost fifty percent of Lasker Award winners would eventually go on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In addition to this, there had been a recent strong development in optogenetics as well as motor proteins.

This showed that chemists were more likely to produce stellar biology research results.

At first glance, biology seemed to be quite attractive.

Of course, if one's goal was the Nobel Prize…

After some preliminary exchanges of opinions, the meeting began to decide on the final nomination.

As expected, the focus of the meeting was on the "Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure".

The atmosphere of the meeting was becoming more and more intense…

Olof: "No matter what, we have to consider a real chemistry achievement this year. If Mr. Nobel finds out that we have changed his most favorite Nobel Prize in Chemistry into a Nobel Prize in Biology, I'm sure he would be furious."

Peter said in a fierce manner, "But he is only 24 years old! Younger than Lawrence Bragg! Can't we wait until after his 25th birthday to consider him?"

Olof said, "But is there a better theoretical chemistry research result?"

Peter paused for a moment as he began to think. He then said hesitantly, "Research on molecular dynamics? Roberto Car from Princeton has made excellent progress in this field."

Olof shook his head and said, "I admit his work is excellent, but it is far from being outstanding."

Peter complained, "Then give it to the folding protein cells! Why do we have to narrow it down to theoretical chemistry?"

Ms. Linse nodded her head and said, "I agree with Peter's viewpoint."

In 2015, it was her idea to give the Nobel Prize to the DNA repair.

Now, the opinion was the same; she believed that this award should be given to biochemistry.

Olof said, "Since we're not limiting the research field, then why are we limiting the age of the winner? Nobel has never said in his will that his inheritance has to be given to old people."

Johan, who hadn't spoken yet, suddenly said, "I think Academician Olof is correct. Not only is the electrochemical interface structure an achievement in electrochemistry and theoretical chemistry, but it is also a pioneering contribution to the field of computational chemistry."

He was a researcher in computational chemistry. There wasn't anyone else at this table who had a more accurate understanding of how excellent the theoretical model was.

However, this was the biggest disagreement in the Nobel Prize selection process.

As science continued to develop, the boundaries between disciplines became more and more blurred. However, the directions of research became further and further apart. It was extremely difficult for scholars to understand research beyond their fields; it was even more difficult to accurately compare the research results.

A "fight" seemed to have begun on the conference table.

Chairman Claes, who hadn't said much, looked at Olof and Peter. He thought for a moment before he clapped his hands, interrupting the dispute on the conference table.

"Fine, gentlemen… and ladies. It doesn't make sense to argue any longer. Let us use the most democratic, fair, and most traditional way to settle this."

Everyone looked at each other.

Although there was no agreement, they didn't object to Academician Claes' suggestion.

When opinions differ, there was no better way than taking a vote.

After Academician Claes saw that the committee members didn't object, he gestured for his assistant's attention.

His assistant could tell what Cleas wanted. The assistant stepped forward and placed a piece of A4 paper in front of everyone.

Ms. Linse picked up a pen and wrote a word on the paper. She then looked at Claes with a surprised expression and asked, "You knew this was going to happen?"

"I had a feeling it would turn out like this," Academician Claes said as he smiled and folded his paper. He gently placed the paper in the middle of the conference table and said, "We rarely reach a consensus, right?"

Chapter 446: You Said It Was Just Food...

Although Lu Zhou was busy with his research, his current research project wasn't like Goldbach's conjecture or the Navier–Stokes equation which required his full attention. He still had time to eat a meal.

Not to mention, this was the weekend.

Lu Zhou drove down to the University of Pennsylvania student apartments and waited on the asphalt roads for a bit. However, Chen Yushan wasn't the only person there.

There was also a middle-aged man, who looked very imposing.

Chen Baohua forced a perfect smile as he reached out his hand and said, "Hello, Professor Lu, I am Chen Yushan's father. I am sorry to disturb you in the midst of your work."

Lu Zhou was muddled as he shook this man's hand.

"… Nice to meet you, Mr. Chen."

Chen Baohua nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad, this kid is pretty polite.

He quickly realized he had important matters to discuss. Therefore, he coughed gently and went straight to the main topic.

"Shan Shan[1.Shan Shan is Chen Yushan's nickname] should've told you the situation, right?" Lu Zhou: …?

What situation?

Lu Zhou was about to ask this out loud, but he saw Chen Yushan's pitiful begging eyes.

He hesitated for a bit and decided to change his answer.

"Yeah, she told me…"

Chen Baohua had a smile on his face.

"Okay then, I've booked a table at a Chinese restaurant nearby. Let's eat while we chat… Should we drive your car or Shan Shan's?"

Lu Zhou: "… Let's take mine."

Shan Shan hadn't driven an SUV before, and even though Chen Baohua knew how to drive, he didn't have a US driver's license. Therefore, Lu Zhou was the one who drove his own car.

Chen Baohua got on the car and glanced at the driver's seat.

"Good car, you like SUVs?"

Lu Zhou turned on the GPS and smiled as he said, "It's okay, it feels safer to drive… Where's the Chinese restaurant?"

After Chen Baohua set the destination location on the GPS, Lu Zhou started the car and began to drive.

Lu Zhou immediately made eye contact with Chen Yushan through the rearview mirror; it was almost like they were communicating through their eyes.

Lu Zhou: What the hell is this???

Chen Yushan: Sorry sorry! I'll explain it to you later!

Lu Zhou: …?

Chen Yushan's expression was complex and contained a lot of information, but Lu Zhou didn't understand what she meant.

He was still just as muddled as before.

You said we were going to eat together, so why am I meeting your parent now?

Chen Baohua obviously noticed Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan's exchange of expressions.

When Chen Baohua saw this jack*ss and his daughter "flirting", he had a complex expression.

Is there really…

Nothing going on between these two?

When Chen Baohua thought that his daughter was hiding something from him, his mood became as complicated as his facial expression.

If it wasn't for this mission, he definitely wouldn't give this kid an easy time.

…

The car soon arrived at the destination.

Before sitting down at the table, Chen Yushan found an opportunity and secretly pulled Lu Zhou aside.

"Sorry!" Chen Yushan put her palms together and looked down with her eyes closed. She said, "I actually didn't explain it to you. My dad is the one that wants to see you, and I really didn't know how to tell you this through the phone, so…"

Lu Zhou, "Chen Baohua does mathematics?"

Chen Yushan replied quietly, "… Nope, he's part of the Communist Party."

Communist Party?

Although this was unexpected, after her explanation, Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

He recalled that the Thousand People Initiative was under the supervision of the Communist Party.

In this case, Chen Baohua is probably responsible for introducing outside talents?

Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about the Chinese government, nor was he interested in doing so.

Lu Zhou had a rough estimate of what Chen Baohua wanted to talk to him about.

They all sat down at a table. Chen Yushan sat next to her father, and Lu Zhou sat across from the two.

Chen Baohua coughed and looked at his daughter before he spoke in a demanding manner, "Shan Shan, go to the bathroom. Professor Lu and I have some things to talk about."

"Oh."

Chen Yushan obediently stood up from her chair and was about to leave.

She's probably a "good girl" at home…

Emm…

I didn't expect this at all!

Lu Zhou threw away his strange thoughts and coughed.

"Chen Baohua, do you plan on talking about something secretive with me?"

Chen Baohua paused for a second and smiled.

"Not quite, I just want you to feel secure…"

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head as he said, "Then let's allow student… Chen Yushan to stay here. I have nothing secretive to say."

It's quite sad to leave her alone outside.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou with gratefulness and sat back down.

Obviously, she didn't want to be excluded.

Chen Baohua looked at his daughter and didn't say anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and said, "Since you put it like that, I'll cut straight to the chase."

Chen Baohua knew it was useless to brainwash intelligent scholars, and people like Lu Zhou who had read too many books often had their own political ideas and viewpoints. He didn't beat around the bush and cut to the chase.

"The motherland appreciates and needs your talent. We are eagerly looking forward to you returning to China and doing research there.

"In order to show our sincerity, we can pay you three times your Princeton salary and make it such that it is tax-exempted.

"Also, we can guarantee that your scientific research funding will also be three times your current amount. It will also be distributed from the central government in the form of a special fund. No matter what university or research institute you go to, the fund will follow you. On behalf of the Communist party, I can assure you that your research will receive the utmost attention."

Finally, Chen Baohua said with sincerity, "If you have any other requests, feel free to tell me, I will tell the higher-ups your request!"

Triple salary…

Lu Zhou looked astonished.

Right now his salary was US$400,000, and triple of that would mean US$1.2 million.

That meant it was 8 million yuan, not to mention it would be tax-exempted.

Even for a Fields Medal winner, this was ridiculous.

Although he didn't require much scientific research funding, being able to receive the funds from the government was still very attractive. It would save him from a ton of complicated application and approval procedures.

After a while, Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "I have no other request regarding the benefits. All I want is an academic environment that isn't affected by politics…"

Chen Baohua nodded and remembered Lu Zhou's words. He was about to speak, but Lu Zhou's phone began to ring.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and put it on vibration mode. When he saw that it was from an unknown number, he didn't want to interrupt the conversation. Hence, he declined the call.

However, within two seconds, his phone began to vibrate again.

Is this call really that important?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and was about to turn off his phone. Chen Baohua gently coughed and said, "Professor Lu, just take the call. What if it's something urgent? Don't delay anything because of me."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "If it's anything important, the call would have been made to my office, not me."

There were always people on duty at his office. If there were anything urgent, Vera would instantly tell him.

From his past experience, calls from unknown numbers were either scams or some kind of marketing calls.

However, since Chen Baohua insisted, Lu Zhou picked up the phone and placed the phone next to his ear.

"Hello?"

Two minutes passed by.

When Lu Zhou heard the voice coming from the other end of the phone, his facial expression became weird.

After a while, the phone call ended.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone screen and went silent for a while.

Chen Baohua wanted to know what had happened but didn't know if he should ask or not. All he could do was sit and stay in silence.

Chen Yushan didn't overthink it. When she saw Lu Zhou's weird expression, she thought something bad had happened. She asked softly, "What happened?"

After a while, Lu Zhou looked up at the two and hesitated for a bit.

"I think… I might have won a prize."

Chapter 447: What Do You Think Of My Daughter?

Won a prize?

Chen Baohua was stunned by Lu Zhou's words, and he asked immediately, "What prize?"

Lu Zhou answered truthfully, "Nobel Prize…"

Everyone went silent for half a minute.

Lu Zhou didn't look at his watch, but he estimated it was at least half a minute or so.

Chen Baohua looked at Lu Zhou with his eyes wide open. He then stuttered, "No… Nobel? That Nobel?"

Lu Zhou nodded. "Yeah."

Honestly, Lu Zhou was very surprised to receive the call.

Although Professor Ertl promised him that he would nominate his name to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, he never thought this day would come so soon.

He wasn't prepared for this at all.

Excited?

He obviously was.

The Nobel Prize was the highest honor in the academic world; any scholar that said they weren't interested in the Nobel Prize was plain jealous.

However, Lu Zhou was more confused than excited.

When he remembered that he nearly hung up on the Nobel Prize phone call twice, he felt a mixture of emotions. It seemed that he couldn't refuse unknown phone numbers in the future anymore. At the very least, he should answer the calls first…

Suddenly, Chen Yushan, who was just as confused, asked in a hushed tone, "Is there a Nobel Prize for mathematics?"

"Nope," Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "it's the Nobel Prize in Chemistry."

"Oh, chemistry."

Chen Yushan sighed in relief.

However, she instantly realized something.

Sh*t!

No matter what field it's in, this is still the Nobel Prize!

She always knew Lu Zhou's mathematics was strong, strong enough to be internationally famous. However, she didn't expect his chemistry to be just as powerful.

Chen Yushan didn't even realize that she had begun to subconsciously look at Lu Zhou in a different manner.

"Amazing… Little Brother…"

Lu Zhou wasn't good at being complimented.

Embarrassed, Lu Zhou smiled as he said, "It's okay."

Chen Baohua: "…"

…

In an inconspicuous factory complex at Jiangling, a town in China.

After transferring to the logistics department, Old Lu had been bored out of his mind every day. He'd either go fishing with his friends all day or drink tea and read the newspaper in his office.

It was a national holiday and the weather was nice. Lu Bangguo caught two humongous fish and happily invited his fisherman friends to his house.

He asked Fang Mei to grill the fish and make some appetizers. Old Lu then took out his beloved baijiu and placed everything on the dining table.

Zhou Ping was sitting across from Old Lu. He took a sip of the baijiu before he said enviously, "You're really living the good life; fishing and drinking every day. I wouldn't trade a life like this for the world."

Old Lu said, "Good my a*s. All I'm doing is gaining weight. I'd be retiring in a few years; I'll have even more free time then. I'd rather find some work at a factory." Although it seemed that he was complaining, he had a smile on his face.

Zhou Ping picked up a piece of fish and smiled. He said, "Stop it. Don't give Secretary Wu more trouble. The leadership team sends their condolences to a guy like him every so often. Do you really think a factory would put you back in the workforce?"

Old Lu shook his head and smiled, not saying anything in return.

He hadn't done anything earth-shattering in his life, but he knew how to manage relationships. He had spent his life doing manual labor in the factory, and his biggest achievement was his factory promotion.

There was really no reason for anyone to commemorate him.

Even though no one told him this, but he knew in his heart that he was riding his son's success.

Zhou Ping poured some more baijiu in his cup and said, "It's the national day today, why hasn't the big mathematician come back yet? What about your daughter at Jin Ling University?"

Old Lu smiled and said, "They're all busy minding their own business. I'm not worried about them at all. I'd be happy if they come back for Chinese New Year and call home every so often."

"How can you do this? They're forgetting their roots." Old Zhou couldn't help but show off his daughter. He said, "Look at my daughter, she will never leave home. Regardless of the length of the holiday, she'll always come home and visit."

Old Lu looked at Old Zhou and said, "Your daughter is studying in Jiangcheng; traveling here by high-speed rail is faster than going to the city from here. Is this really a good comparison?"

Old Zhou smiled and said, "The location isn't the focus; the heart is the important thing."

Old Lu said, "Okay then, brag about this to me when she has a partner."

Old Zhou's eyes widened, and his demeanor instantly changed. "No boy will steal my daughter from me!"

While the two old men were bragging, a piece of news was being broadcasted. They could hear it coming from a television nearby.

The news anchor had just finished with the news segment when she received a piece of paper off-camera.

After the news anchor read the contents of the paper, she had a surprised expression on her face.

However, she quickly adjusted her expression.

"We will now present a piece of breaking news.

"Today, 4th of October, around fifteen minutes ago, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the list of winners for Nobel Prize in Chemistry …"

Suddenly, the news anchor paused for a second.

It was almost like she had to restrain the excitement in her heart.

It was almost like she had to try and maintain the demeanor of a news anchor.

She then spoke in a steady tone.

"Because of his outstanding 'Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure' contribution, Professor Lu, an alumnus of Jin Ling University, will become the sole prize winner and receive nine million kronor!

"At the same time, he will become the first scholar in the world to receive both the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize!"

The news broadcast continued, but the living room was dead silent.

Old Lu hadn't heard of the Hoffman prize or the Fields Medal, but he knew that the Nobel Prize was on another level. Even a guy like him, who had never left his hometown, had heard of it.

They remained silent for a minute or so.

Lu Bangguo's fisherman friend was the first to break that silence.

Zhou Ping: "Old Zhou…"

Lu Bangguo: "… What?"

Zhou Ping: "I heard your son hasn't married yet?"

Lu Bangguo: "Yeah."

Zhou Ping: "Are you thinking of… finding him a partner?"

Lu Bangguo looked at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

While slightly embarrassed, Zhou Ping smiled as he asked, "What do you think of my daughter?"

Chapter 448: Nobel and Fields

October 4th was the national holiday in China.

Most people were either taking a break, traveling, or playing with their phones in bed.

Other than the prize giving day in December, very few people paid attention to the names of the Nobel Prize winners.

Unless…

There was a special name on the list of winners.

The moment the news was broadcasted, or rather, there was no need for the news broadcast at all.

The second the list was announced, the news of Lu Zhou winning the Nobel Prize spread across the fields of chemistry, materials science, condensed matter physics, and mathematics at an incredible speed.

After the first news article came out online, the rest followed like a tsunami, flooding Weibo and WeChat.

After the legitimacy of the news was confirmed, almost half of China was discussing this event.

[Oh my god, a mathematician won the Nobel Prize!]

[Jesus, if I recalled correctly, God Lu won the Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians, right?]

[Winning both the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal! Scary…]

[Organic chemists must be crying right now; this year's Nobel Prize wasn't stolen by biologists…]

[24-year-old Nobel Prize winner… One year younger than the youngest Nobel Prize winner in history. This might be a world record!]

[God Lu is nutty!]

[Shuimu University sent a congratulatory message!]

[Yanjing University sent a congratulatory message!]

[Jin Ling University sent a congratulatory message!]

[…]

Lu Zhou had never been number one on trending. He hadn't even had time to share his joy with his fans, but he was already bumped to number one on trending.

What did the Nobel Prize represent?

For the country, this represented confidence as it meant that China's scientific research was on par with international research standards. It meant that more students doing the college entrance examination would major in biochemical. It also meant many other things…

At the same time, it also meant that Lu Zhou's birthplace, residence, and schools would try to develop themselves into a tourist, education, and cultural attractions.

As for Lu Zhou himself, the significance of the Nobel Prize was extraordinary.

There wasn't a single international scientific research institute in the world that would refuse the participation of a Nobel Prize winner.

The same thing applied in China.

Not just that, but he would receive an insane amount of respect, special treatment, and resources. The kind that most scientific researchers couldn't even begin to imagine.

…

They spent around two hours eating.

Chen Baohua was somewhat off his game.

He never expected Lu Zhou to win the Nobel Prize. Not just that, but he was afraid that the Communist Party also didn't expect this to happen.

A Nobel-level scholar and a Nobel Prize winner was completely different…

After dinner, Chen Baohua went back to Philadelphia International Airport. He didn't spend an extra day in Philadelphia. He was on the next flight back to China.

Apparently, the Communist Party called him in for a meeting. Therefore, he didn't want to stay here for long.

Also, he said that he would convey Lu Zhou's requests to the higher-ups.

After driving Chen Baohua to the airport, Lu Zhou drove Chen Yushan back to the University of Pennsylvania.

While getting off the car, Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something.

"Are you interested in the Nobel Prize?"

"Of course I'm interested."

"Are you available in December?"

"I am! Are you taking me there?" Chen Yushan's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded. However, she realized she might cause trouble for Lu Zhou, so she asked, "Can you bring people to the Nobel Prize award ceremony? This won't cause any trouble, right?"

If it caused trouble for Lu Zhou, she wouldn't want to go…

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What trouble, friends and relatives can all go."

Whether it was the award venue or the world-famous Nobel Prize dinner, as a Nobel laureate, he had powers to invite any family and friends he wanted.

Also, apparently in the past, there was no upper limit on the number of friends and family he could bring to the Nobel Prize party.

That was until 1988, when Camilo José Cela, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, brought 68 people from his village to the dinner. His action had frightened the Nobel Committee.

Therefore, a new rule was implemented—Nobel Prize laureates couldn't bring more than 14 relatives or friends.

However, 14 people were a bit too much for Lu Zhou.

He didn't have that many relatives, and he was only close to his parents and Xiao Tong.

His parents and Xiao Tong definitely had to go, so that took up three spots. Because this all happened so suddenly, Lu Zhou didn't know who else he should invite for the remaining 11 spots.

Therefore, since Chen Yushan seemed to be very interested, he decided to ask her.

Chen Yushan said in a happy tone, "Really? Then I'm going! I have never been to a Nobel Prize award ceremony before."

Lu Zhou smiled.

It's totally normal that you haven't been to one.

99.9999% will never have the chance to go…

…

It was pretty late once Lu Zhou got back to Princeton.

He didn't go to his office at the Institute for Advanced Study. Instead, he drove straight home.

After taking a shower, Lu Zhou lay in bed with his phone. When he saw the 99+ notifications on Weibo, he couldn't help but smirk.

Should I do a Nobel Prize dinner lottery for my fans?

Lu Zhou thought about it for a bit and decided to give up on the idea.

Although it sounds interesting, the logistics are way too complicated…

His phone suddenly rang.

It was from Xiao Tong.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone.

An excited voice came from the other end of the telephone.

"Brother, brother! My mathematical modeling competition results are out! I receive a first-level national prize!"

When Lu Zhou heard the good news, he smiled and said, "First-level national prize… Not bad at all. You have potential!"

Lu Zhou was thinking about the time when he was in the mathematical modeling competition.

He hadn't been in contact with his two competition teammates.

He wondered how they were doing.

Xiao Tong smirked at Lu Zhou's compliment. Although Lu Zhou couldn't see her face right now, he could imagine her narcissistic smile.

In many ways, Xiao Tong was like him.

The only difference was their levels of humbleness.

Xiao Tong laughed and asked, "Then brother, is there a reward?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "There is, how about I take you on a trip?"

"Really?" Xiao Tong's eyes lit up, but suddenly, she felt suspicious of it. She said, "But brother, you're usually very busy. When did you have the time to go on a vacation?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's not just for vacationing."

Xiao Tong asked, "Not just for vacationing?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, it's also to receive a Nobel Prize."

In addition to the Nobel Prize, there was also the long-awaited Clay Institute Millennium Prize Problems.

Since he was going to Europe anyway, he might as well visit the Institut de France to receive his million-dollar reward for solving one of the Millennium Prize Problems…

Xiao Tong: "…"

Chapter 449: Lu Zhou's Former Residence

Lu Zhou was sleeping.

However, it was still day time in China.

Today was different from yesterday's rushed news intervention. Today, CCTV news broadcast spent nearly ten minutes preparing a special report for his Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In this official report, not only did the news anchor talk about Lu Zhou's life, his achievements, and the problems that he had solved, but they also talked about his international honors.

They even dug up his award speech from the Crafoord Prize.

"Science changes the world; mathematics changes science."

Now it seemed that Lu Zhou's inspiring words were true after all.

He did it, and he did it in less than two years.

He used his own knowledge to create a discipline with unlimited potential, and he created a miracle for Chinese scholars as well as a miracle for the human mind.

Despite the Nobel Prize press conference and official website announcement, some people didn't know about this piece of news. However, once the propaganda machine began, almost everyone knew about this sensational piece of news.

Xiao Tong didn't like to go on Weibo, but when she was eating lunch at the cafeteria, she saw her brother on the TV inside the cafeteria.

In fact, Lu Zhou wasn't the first Chinese person to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. There was a Chinese-American before him that won the prize and a Taiwanese before the Chinese-American. However, the Chinese government obviously didn't want to help spread their news.

Lu Zhou was the first Chinese resident with a Chinese passport to win this prize. Furthermore, he broke the record by being the youngest Nobel Prize winner and became the first person to ever win both the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize…

Either of the achievement was able to make the entire country proud of him.

When 25-year-old Lawrence Bragg won the Nobel Prize in Physics, in order to commemorate this talented scholar, Australia built a museum for him and his father. They also used the name "Bragg" as the name of the award for the best physics thesis of the year.

In honor of this scholar, Stockholm held a special celebration at the 50th anniversary of his award and invited him to make the first "Nobel lecture" in history.

Lu Zhou was the first Nobel Prize scholar born in China. Therefore, China valued him even more.

Not only did they value him because he hasn't returned to China yet, but also because rejuvenating the country through science and education was one of the country's basic strategies.

Building a museum would be too formal, plus it was a bit too early to "commemorate" him.

However, the local tourism bureau already registered his house as a cultural relic. Even if the small town was demolished in the future, that apartment building without elevators would be left alone. Not just that, but it would also be repaired by professionals to maintain its original condition.

Of course, it would be decades until the actual implementation of that.

After all, even though it was registered as a cultural relic, the people living inside the home wouldn't be kicked out.

The other place that benefited the most was probably Lu Zhou's high school.

Jiangling High was able to reap benefits when Lu Zhou won the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and Cole Prize in Number Theory. The high school had been ranked as a second-rate high school for many years. However, due to Lu Zhou's effect, the Ministry of Education instantly made Jiangling High a first-rate high school.

Now that Lu Zhou won the Nobel Prize, everything was going to be different.

Not only did this bring a new building and stadium to Jiangling High, but the Party Committee Secretary decided to make this ordinary high school as one of Jiangling's model education projects.

Lu Zhou heard about these things from his father over the phone.

When he first heard about these things, he was astonished and rendered speechless.

Lu Zhou: "Dad…"

Old Lu was overjoyed when he talked about these things. He smiled and said, "What?"

Lu Zhou said, "Our house is a cultural relic now… It won't affect your life, right?"

"What effect can it have? They're just hanging a sign." Old Lu paused for a second and said with a smile, "Oh yeah, yesterday your high school teacher Mr. Qin, mathematics teacher Mr. Ma, and the school principal came to our house to give your mom and me some gifts. Honestly, it's been so many years, I didn't expect those teachers to still remember us.

"I didn't want to accept those gifts, but they insisted on giving them to us, and I couldn't stop them. When you come back, remember to bring some gifts to your teachers. We can't owe them anything; we have to give them something in return."

Given that he hadn't even contacted his high school teachers once ever since he graduated, Lu Zhou couldn't help but feel ashamed when he heard that his teachers actually came to his house and gave his parents some gifts.

"I understand, I'll visit them when I come back for Chinese New Year… Oh yeah, are they doing well?"

Old Lu smiled and said, "It seems like it. One became a vice-principal, and the other is a special eds teacher and dean."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile.

One reason was how proud his father was of him.

The other was that he didn't expect his teachers to be doing so well.

For him, this was probably the biggest surprise.

…

The Nobel Prize wasn't the ultimate goal of scientific research, but it was a type of certification and a recognition from the world of scientific research.

In this modern era where everything was becoming internationalized, every country was part of the world.

Whether it was trade, cultural exchange, or scientific research.

Jiangling High wasn't the only one happy for Lu Zhou.

There wasn't anyone else more happy than Jin Ling University.

The second day after the winner's list was announced, a banner with a magnificent headline was hung directly on the gate of the university.

[Congratulations to Lu Zhou, class of 2013 and an honorary professor of our school, for winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year!]

A university that could cultivate a Nobel Prize winner was indeed impressive.

Especially when compared to Shuimu and Yan University, the meaning was even more significant.

Of course, if anyone could be happier than Jin Ling University, then it would definitely be the researchers at the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials.

Liu Bo looked at the news on his computer and couldn't help but say, "Nutty… From now on, we can brag about how our boss is a Nobel Prize laureate."

Brother Qian smiled and said, "Why don't you just brag about being friends with the Nobel Prize winner and that you've co-written a thesis with him? Isn't that more brag-worthy?"

Liu Bo scratched his head with an embarrassed expression as he said, "I can do that, but I shouldn't."

If he bragged too much, his credibility would go down.

Suddenly, Yang Xu opened the door and walked in. He looked at the people in the office and asked, "What are you guys so excited about?"

Liu Bo: "Our boss won the Nobel Prize, of course we're excited!"

"You guys knew?" Yang Xu smiled and said, "I was about to give you guys a surprise."

Liu Hong, who was sitting on the other side of the office writing experiment reports, couldn't help but feel emotional.

At first, he slightly regretted not having completed his PhD. He thought that he should have just powered through the two years.

But now, it seemed that his choice was undoubtedly correct.

Most people could never do scientific research under a Nobel Prize laureate.

As for his PhD…

With his abilities and his boss' reputation at Jin Ling University, he could still easily get one.

Chapter 450: I Heard Someone Wrote You Into The Thesis

Won the Fields Medal.

Won the Nobel Prize.

Lu Zhou felt like his time at Princeton was worthwhile.

Honestly, if he ever decided to return to China, he would miss this place quite a bit.

Whether it was the house he spent quite a lot of effort decorating, the fireplace in his living room, his office at the Institute for Advanced Study, or Lake Carnegie.

Or the scientific research environment and the scholars…

He'd come and visit again when he had the chance.

Okay, it's settled, I'm not selling the house.

In the morning, Lu Zhou went into the office. When he opened the door, he was rained by confetti.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu! Youngest Nobel Prize winner in history," Hardy said with a party hat on his hand. He used the empty confetti cannon as a microphone and said, "May I ask, what are your thoughts right now?"

At first, Lu Zhou was bewildered by his students' actions. When he finally realized what was happening, he smiled.

"My thoughts are… Someone might have to sweep this office."

"Oh, don't be so realistic, my dear Professor Lu." Hardy made a helpless gesture and said, "I'll sweep it later, shouldn't we be celebrating right now? My suggestion is to host a party! I can do the barbecue."

Lu Zhou: "… I'll think about it."

Vera stood next to them, and she was blushing as she looked at Lu Zhou with an excited expression.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou smiled at Vera and nodded. He then replied, "Thank you."

For him, a normal celebration was enough. He didn't need his students to do anything extra.

Qin Yue also congratulated him. He then asked, "Professor, when is the Nobel Prize award ceremony?"

Lu Zhou: "December 10th, still two months away."

Hardy immediately asked, "Professor, can you bring us to the award ceremony?"

Everyone in the entire office began to pay attention after Hardy asked this question.

Even Wei Wen, who had buried his head in research documents, began to pay attention.

There weren't many opportunities to participate in the Nobel Prize dinner, especially for mathematicians.

If one wasn't engaged in economics research, there was basically no chance at all…

Of course, their supervisor was an exception.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No problem. If you want, then come with me. But I do have a condition."

Jerick raised his hand and asked, "What condition?"

Lu Zhou said in a relaxed tone, "Anyone that wants to go must complete their graduation thesis by the end of the month. You guys have been studying for quite a long time under me, and it's time to think about graduating."

"Graduation thesis?" Hardy was confused, and he said, "But Professor Lu, we only received our master's this year…"

"Then try to get your PhD by next year." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's definitely doable since the condition is very easy. I don't need you to work under me for a long time. Just finish a thesis that I can be satisfied with."

Hardy: "…"

Qin Yue: "…"

Jerick: "…"

How is this easy?!

…

Even at a place like Princeton, winning this Nobel Prize was a very glorious thing.

Historically, Princeton had produced 25 Nobel Prize winners and most of them were in the field of physics. No matter the field, the winners of the Nobel Prize would enter the Princeton hall of fame for future scholars to admire.

However, Lu Zhou's photo was already in the hall of fame, next to the 12 Princeton Fields Medal laureates. Obviously, they couldn't hang two photos of him.

In order to celebrate all this, the Institute for Advanced Study hosted a party for him.

Originally, Lu Zhou planned on hosting this celebration party at his house. He didn't expect the Institute for Advanced Study to take care of this for him. It was arranged to be held in Report Hall Number 1.

It turned out that this report hall, which was attached to a cafe and cafeteria, was excellent for conducting serious mathematics reports and for celebrating special celebrations.

At the party, Professor Fefferman held a glass of champagne and smiled while he cheered Lu Zhou.

"Congratulations, I didn't expect you to become the first scholar to win both the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize, as well as being the youngest record holder for both of them… I think the Guinness Book of Records can open a new sub-category just for you."

Lu Zhou took a sip of the champagne and smiled as he said, "That's ridiculous, Guinness wouldn't create a new sub-category for just two records."

Professor Fefferman said in a half-joking manner, "This isn't 'just two records'. Not to mention, you're only 25 years old. I'm sure many PhD students in history will be interested in writing about you as their thesis topic."

According to the statistics from major journals, Lu Zhou's theses had an extremely high rate of being referenced. However, this was the first time Lu Zhou heard about someone writing a thesis about him.

Can they really graduate with a thesis like that?

Lu Zhou had his doubts.

Professor Fefferman wasn't the only one congratulating Lu Zhou. Even his mentor, Professor Deligne, was also here.

The old man gave him a toast as he congratulated him. He then paused for a second before he continued to speak, "I think mathematics should be pure, but I'm sure you have your own opinions about mathematics. Regardless, I have to congratulate you. You've accomplished a historic record at the tender age of 25."

Lu Zhou replied sincerely, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. The stuff I taught you didn't even come in handy," Professor Deligne, who was always very serious, joked. "We always thought Edward Witten would become the first person to win both the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize. We definitely didn't expect you to beat him."

Professor Witten overheard his old friend's words, and he said with a smile, "That's impossible. Unless I can live for another hundred years, otherwise, it is impossible to prove the M-theory with an experiment."

It was extremely difficult to find a trace of superstring theory in a laboratory, much less finding a proof. Proving the M-theory in the 11-dimensional superstring theory space was unthinkable.

Right now, the physics world was still testing and exploring the boundaries of the standard model. They were still far, far away from entering the one-dimensional universe.

However, some problems were not meant to be solved in this century.

As long as physics continued to develop, one day there would be someone that would prove his theory.

Just like how a century later, people were still carefully testing Einstein's theory of relativity, which was how they discovered the existence of gravitational waves. Whether it would be proven or disproven, only the people in the future would know the answers to the unsolved questions left by their predecessors…

Chapter 451: Evasive Answer

Winning the award made Lu Zhou excited for a while, and he was busy with various social events that came with the award. However, it didn't disturb his research schedule.

As he said, whether it was the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize, the awards weren't the reason for research; it was only the icing on the cake.

There were greater, better things waiting for him.

Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Lu Zhou gave Connie a USB and spoke while yawning.

"I've already completed the relevant mathematical model. I've made some predictions regarding the positions of the zero-dispersion electronic band structure. As for whether or not it is reliable, that would depend on your experiment results."

Even though this mathematical model wasn't something he was dying to complete, once he immersed himself in the interesting research, time quickly flew by.

Connie took the USB and looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression as he said, "You already finished it?"

"I'm just skilled…" Lu Zhou rubbed his eyebags and said, "When you're able to integrate the things I have taught you, plus once you develop an intuition toward numbers, I'm sure you can do the same."

Connie frowned and said, "But Professor Lu, your theorems are way too difficult."

What he actually wanted to say was that if he ever reached that level, he would be able to win a Fields Medal as well.

"Because it's difficult, that's why you have to learn it." Lu Zhou patted Connie's shoulder and to encourage him, he said, "If one day I'm no longer at Princeton, you'll have to be the one to pass on my theorems."

Connie was stunned. "No longer at Princeton? Are you planning on leaving?"

Lu Zhou laughed and gave an evasive answer by saying, "Just a hypothetical situation. Regardless of whether or not I'm here, science and knowledge must continue to be passed on. You and Jerick have the best understanding of my computational materials theory. Compared to Jerick, you have more experience in experiments… Of course, his mathematics might be a bit stronger. So work hard, academia prospers because of communication. I can only create the knowledge; the work of spreading it depends on you guys."

Connie nodded seriously and said, "I'll try my best, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction and patted his shoulder again. Without saying anything else, Lu Zhou turned around and left.

…

The research on superconducting materials was carried out step by step while Lu Zhou was still doing his other job.

The students didn't take a long time to choose their graduation thesis topic. Even Hardy successfully chose a research topic by the middle of the month.

Although Hardy was a little too playful, he was still decently skilled.

Since he was able to step into the doors of Princeton, it meant that his talent and diligence were way beyond ordinary people.

For example, the Collatz conjecture that the three of them worked on…

Although Lu Zhou was the one that set the initial framework, Vera was the one that did the majority of the work. However, like what Vera said, she couldn't have completed it as smoothly as she did without the help from the other two students.

After looking at all of the students' proposed topics, Lu Zhou spent an afternoon chatting with his students one by one. He also gave his opinion on their research topic and which field they should focus on.

Qin Yue and Hardy should focus on analytic number theory, while Vera, who was almost like Lu Zhou, was an all-rounder.

Although this path was very difficult, with her talent and love for mathematics, it was worth a try.

Once the PhD students chose their topics, it was time for the master's students to also choose their thesis topic.

Under Lu Zhou's suggestion, Jerick chose applied mathematics, or more specifically, computational materials.

This field was full of potential, especially since the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year was given to the "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure" thesis.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was Wei Wen's decision.

This genius student, who once lost to Lu Zhou at the mathematical modeling competition, not only chosen his thesis topic, but he even finished writing the thesis itself.

Lu Zhou: "Actually I wanted to chat with you after you have chosen your topic to see if I can help you with anything, but it seems like you have your own plans… If so, show me your thesis."

"Okay, Professor!"

Although Wei Wen was very proud to be the first to complete his thesis, he couldn't help but feel a little worried when he gave his thesis to Lu Zhou.

After all, he didn't consult his supervisor's opinion when he chose his thesis topic.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't a nitpicking person, and he was fine with Wei Wen making his own decisions.

Lu Zhou quickly finished reading his thesis and began to think. After a minute or so, he gave a simple evaluation.

"The study of coherent states of non-harmonic oscillators in a Hilbert space is a classic problem, both in quantum mechanics and in theoretical physics. It's not that popular, but there are many places to dive into deep research. As for your thesis, there are some problems starting from the fourth section. I suggest you modify it before thinking about publishing."

Wei Wen's research direction was functional analysis. Right now, he focused on Hilbert space related problems. Lu Zhou guessed that his future research direction was probably mathematical physics.

Lu Zhou gave the thesis back to Wei Wen and spoke with a pleasant smile.

"Other than some minor issues, your thesis is well written. You can try to streamline it and submit it to PRL."

When Wei Wen heard his suggestion, he was stunned. With a stiff expression, he looked a little distressed.

"Will PRL accept it?"

PRL was the acronym for "Physical Review Letters", a legendary top physics journal.

Publishing in PRL didn't necessarily mean that one was an expert. However, a PRL publication was worthy of being celebrated on any university's official website.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and smiled as he said, "Scared?"

Wei Wen quickly calmed himself down and shook his head. "Nope."

Lu Zhou nodded with approval. He then smiled as he said, "It's not easy to produce results in the field of theoretical physics. It's even more difficult to convince others your results are important. However, one thing you should know is that you should always believe in yourself. You must believe your research is correct and good enough. Only then, can you convince others."

Wei Wen: "… I understand."

Lu Zhou looked at Wei Wen's distressed expression and knew what he was worried about.

Therefore, he spoke in a relaxed tone, "Of course, if PRL rejects your thesis, I'd suggest you try Physics Today as it's slightly easier. Whether it's PRL or PT, as long as your thesis is accepted, I'll let you graduate. I hope you can concentrate on your research and don't let the pressure of graduation get to your head."

Physics Today had a similar style to PRL, and it accepted all types of physics thesis.

Honestly, it was a bit difficult for Wei Wen to submit to PRL.

But PT was a lot more realistic.

Wei Wen sighed in relief and looked determined.

"I will try my best!"

Chapter 452: Mathematics, Pursuit Of Truth

Recently, Lu Zhou was busy with superconducting materials research as well as the graduation of his students.

Although he set notifications for Sir Atiyah's thesis on the Riemann's conjecture, he didn't pay attention to the Heidelberg Laureate Forum. Plus due to the sudden Nobel Prize call, he totally forgot about Atiyah.

Until now.

He suddenly received an invitation to write an article for Annual Mathematics.

In the morning, when Lu Zhou went into his office, Hardy walked over with some A4 papers.

"Professor, I've already printed the thesis that you wanted."

Lu Zhou took Atiyah's thesis from Hardy and was stunned. He then looked at Hardy.

"That's it?"

"Yes, Professor Lu," Hardy nodded and said, "I'm sure this is all of it."

The thesis was only five pages and with only three referred documents. There was even a small typesetting error on the third and fourth subsections, but it wasn't a big problem.

If this was a PhD thesis, this thesis definitely wouldn't be accepted. However, the academic community was more tolerant when it was from a famous scholar.

For example, when Wiles first proved Fermat's last theorem, he even added a "preface" to the front of the abstract. He wrote about his childhood and Fermat's last theorem, humoring everyone that read it.

Sir Atiyah was also capricious. After all, he was the winner of the Fields Medal and Abel Prize, and the study of the Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem was one of the most important mathematical achievements in the 21st century.

However, this wasn't the main point.

The mathematics world wouldn't blindly trust a person just because of their past achievements or honors.

Lu Zhou didn't have much hope for this thesis. However, the invitation was sent by Professor Sarnak, and the thesis author was a highly respected scholar. Therefore, Lu Zhou sat in his office chair and read the five-page thesis objectively.

However, the more he read, the more he began to frown.

Like Sir Atiyah had previously claimed, he used a very simple method to "solve" this problem.

As expected, claims like this were often unreliable…

Once Lu Zhou read the thesis from the beginning to the end, he had a basic understanding of the proof process.

Basically, in Sir Atiyah's thesis, he used a weak analytic function called the Todd function. He also used a hypothetical method to associate this Todd function with the fine structures of physics.

The most upsetting thing wasn't that he didn't specifically describe what this Todd function was or its relationship with the Riemann zeta function, it was that he used a proof by contradiction.

Yes, he actually used a proof by contradiction.

For example, if the Riemann's conjecture was wrong, then "my theorem" was a contradiction.

Because there was no way "my theorem" was contradictory, then the Riemann's conjecture had to be correct…

When Lu Zhou read this, he made a conclusion.

Although this was unfortunate, it seemed like Lu Zhou's initial thoughts were correct.

Hardy saw that Lu Zhou had a weird expression, and so, he asked, "Professor, what do you think about this thesis?"

Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and put the thesis aside.

"You're in the field of number theory as well, don't you have an opinion?"

Hardy scratched his head and said, "I don't study the Riemann zeta function… Honestly, Sir Atiyah's thesis is too esoteric, and he seemed to have used some physics terms."

Lu Zhou: "That's right, Sir Atiyah did use some physics terms. Professor Witten, who knows Atiyah very well, said that Sir Atiyah only recently entered the field of physics. Atiyah's physics intuition isn't flattering, to say the least. As for this thesis, basically, he constructed a weak Todd function and combined the function with a physics concept."

Hardy couldn't help but ask, "Is there a problem with the weak Todd function?"

Lu Zhou: "I don't know if the weak Todd function has a problem… Because the amount of information that I can retrieve from this function is way too small, that's why I can't decide yet. The biggest problem in his thesis is that he made reference to the fine-structure constant in physics."

Hardy: "… Fine-structure constant?"

"Yeah…" Lu Zhou nodded and said, "It's an important dimensionless number in physics with the symbol alpha that's commonly used in quantum electrodynamics."

This was a very important physics concept that was often used to measure the intensity of charged particles and electromagnetic fields.

Interestingly, physicists had spent more than a century to try and derive the value of alpha from a physics perspective. They then try to "invent" a mathematical formula for it.

Unfortunately, no one had succeeded so far, and most people had given up.

However, in Atiyah's thesis, he recklessly used this concept and used it as the basis for his argument.

This sounded bad, but this was something Professor Enoch would do…

Hardy said: "… You called it, Atiyah is past his prime."

"Not exactly." Lu Zhou shook his head as he said, "Even though he is wrong, his courage is still commendable."

In academia, there was a distinct difference between "honest mistake" and "academic fraud".

In his later years, Einstein claimed many times that he had discovered the unified field theory, and he continued to research the theory right up to moments before his death… At that time, no one believed in his calculations; they just quietly accompanied him to the end.

In any case, it wasn't easy to conduct research at 90 years old.

It was even more commendable to gamble one's honor and reputation just to challenge Mount Everest.

Therefore, just like what Lu Zhou had said, as long as the old man was happy, the final result didn't matter…

…

Lu Zhou contemplated writing the commentary for Annual Mathematics. In the end, he wrote a polite rejection letter. He conveyed that he was very busy with his research and euphemistically refused the invitation from Peter Sarnak.

This was different from Shinichi Mochizuki's complicated and lengthy papers. No one was certain whether or not Shinichi Mochizuki was correct; therefore, no one wanted to stand up and testify.

However, the problems in Sir Atiyah's thesis were very obvious. One didn't even need to have a deep understanding of mathematics to find the problems.

Despite him staying silent, everyone knew what was going on.

Lu Zhou decided to let Faltings execute this type of humiliating matter.

After all, Faltings was famous in the mathematics world for being ruthless.

However, if instead a 25-year-old was to humiliate Atiyah…

It would be pretty ignorant of the old man's feelings.

After writing this response, Lu Zhou suddenly realized why no one in the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study was talking about this seemingly huge sensation.

After all, everyone would grow old someday, and everyone needed respect and dignity.

Especially when it was a respectable scholar.

Also, the media loved to use click-bait titles to attract attention. They rather believed the 90-year-old Atiyah wasn't old at all.

Unfortunately, mathematics was the pursuit of truth, and it would not pander to the public.

Chapter 453: 101K!

Recently, there was an uproar in the mathematics world.

First was Sir Atiyah and the Riemann's conjecture, then it was Schultz and Shinichi Mochizuki.

Recently, Peter Schultz and Jakob Stix recently co-wrote a thesis regarding Shinichi Mochizuki's 1.5 inequation proof. They also said that Shinichi Mochizuki's proof process required a lot of corrections.

Of course, in Mochizuki's opinion, Schultz didn't discover any problems.

As for the reason, he would explain it in a thesis.

Compared to Sir Atiyah's abysmal thesis, this fight was obviously a lot more popular among the mathematics community.

After all, it was rumored that there were fewer than 20 people in the world that could understand Mochizuki's 500-page book that caused quite a bit of controversy in 2012.

One was the founder of the "anabelian geometry", "Teichmuller theorem", and the disciple of Mr. Faltings while the other was the founder of the "PS theory", and the winner of the Fields Medal.

The confrontation between the two seemed epic, and it dazzled the outsiders who were watching the fight.

Unfortunately, compared to number theory, Lu Zhou wasn't well versed in algebraic geometry, much less the extremely unpopular anabelian geometry.

The abc conjecture wasn't something Lu Zhou wanted to pay a large amount of attention to. He set notifications on for the development in this topic and left it aside. He put all his energy into his superconducting materials research.

Although the mathematical model was complete, he still needed to be at the laboratory.

Any theorems that were based on calculations were open to being questioned. Computational materials could only guide experiments, it wouldn't determine the final experiment results.

Lu Zhou didn't stay in the laboratory just to produce results as soon as possible. It was also to perfect his own theories through the knowledge gained from experiments.

Time quickly flew by; it was already the end of October.

A quiet celebration was heard in the scanning electron microscope room at the Frick Chemistry Laboratory.

Why was it quiet?

Because the instrument and samples at the laboratory were too "fragile", plus their experiments were full of metaphysics where even the tiniest vibrations could affect the final experiment results.

"It's a N-shaped doping! We did it!"

Connie clenched his fists as he excitedly looked at the image in the scanning electron microscope. He recorded the data and said, "I knew it. As long as you participate in the research project, anything is possible!"

This sudden compliment was as unexpected as the experiment result. Lu Zhou was almost embarrassed by it. He said, "That's an exaggeration, I only provided a mathematical model."

Professor Chirik was standing next to them, just as cheerful. However, he had been around a lot more than Connie.

Therefore, he smiled as he joked, "No need to be humble, your mathematical model was undoubtedly useful. If we used traditional methods to find this sample, we'd be lucky to produce any in-progress results by the end of the year."

Compared to the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials and Sarrot Laboratory, their focus was mainly on theory and finding the electronic band structure close to zero dispersion…

According to Lu Zhou's mathematical model, the positions of the two energy bands were at the negative and positive doping ends of the graphene Dirac point. This was proven by the experiment.

What was the reason for all this?

There were many reasons.

Finding the zero-dispersion energy band meant finding the Mott insulator.

When they applied a small voltage to the two-dimensional structure material and added a certain amount of electrons to the Mott insulator, a single electron combined with other electrons in the graphene would allow them to pass through a place that couldn't previously be accessed.

Throughout this entire process, Lu Zhou and the team had been measuring the resistance of the material while also reducing the temperature of the material. They soon discovered that whenever the temperature dropped to 101K, the resistance rate of decrease suddenly reached a peak, and the value of the resistance also approached zero.

Obviously, this was what they were looking for.

Sometimes theory and application research didn't form a contradiction, especially in the field of materials science.

Of course, underlying these simple research were many profound theoretical problems; problems that Lu Zhou didn't even know how to explain.

For example, how could he explain the forbidden superlattice bandwidth near 1.1 degrees, or what kind of parameter should be used to describe the Mott insulator formed at this angle…

Maybe someone in the future would dive into these theoretical problems, or maybe their research partners would be interested in this type of follow-up work.

In short, when they changed the concentration of charge carriers by using N-doping, they also adjusted the superimposition angle of the two-dimensional materials. Finally, they found a "half-filling" structure by using the new angle.

When the temperature reached 101k, as they imagined, the material went through a superconductivity transition.

Although 101K wasn't a high temperature, relatively speaking, this was undoubtedly an amazing achievement.

Excited, Connie looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Professor, what should we name this new material?"

Lu Zhou said, "… Are you guys sure you want me to name it?"

Honestly, Lu Zhou wasn't good at coming up with names.

He was quite self-aware about this.

However, these two obviously didn't know that.

It wasn't just Connie, even Professor Chirik smiled and said, "Of course, this should be done by you."

Lu Zhou didn't want to refuse their kind gesture. He thought about it seriously for a moment before he said, "Okay then… Let's call it SG-1."

SG-1 stood for Superconductivity Graphene 1. Although they could name it by a preparation method or a compound type, functional naming was easier to distinguish.

After all, there were countless ways in which two-dimensional materials could be superimposed on each other, not to mention the complex chemical processing methods; all of them produced a different N-doping graphene material…

Lu Zhou wasn't confident at first, but he was quite satisfied with this name.

Of course, being satisfied alone wasn't enough; he had to seek the opinions of his two partners.

"What do you guys think about this name?"

Connie: …

Chirik: …

When the two suddenly became silent, Lu Zhou hesitated slightly.

"… What?"

Chirik and Connie looked at each other and made a helpless expression.

Connie: "Nothing, SG-1 it is… It's just such an exciting discovery, I thought you'd come up with a cooler name."

Now that I think about it, this is Lu Zhou's style.

Modified PDMS and HCS-2…

I knew I shouldn't have let him be the one to name the material.

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 454: Really Not Thinking About Going Public?

At the beginning of the year, the Pablo Jarillo Herrero's team made remarkable achievements regarding the graphene superconductivity project, opening up a new platform for superconductivity research.

Which was, whenever the two graphenes superimposing angle approached 1.1K, the electronic band structure reached zero-dispersion, causing the band to transform into a Mott insulator when half-filling.

This research result caused a huge commotion.

Most people didn't think a 1.1K superconductivity was anything worthy. However, in reality, this project was full of potential.

To know the reason why, it was necessary to clarify a basic concept, which was that superconductivity transition temperature was positively proportional to the material carrier concentration.

Therefore, in theory, as long as the concentration of charge carriers increased, the upper limit of the superconductivity material temperature could also be increased.

For example, graphene had a charge carrier concentration of only 10^11cm^-2 and transition temperature of 1K.

In contrast, the superconductivity transition temperature of copper oxide was around 100K, while the single-layer material charge carrier concentration was on the order of 10^14cm^-2.

Even if one didn't understand chemistry, one could still intuitively feel the superiority of graphene materials compared to traditional copper oxide materials in the field of superconducting materials.

There were many ways to increase the charge carrier concentration in graphene. Doping could be divided into N doping and P doping, and the doping material could also be divided into small molecule doping, metal doping, lattice doping, etc.

This was precisely why graphene had an advantage.

The two-dimensional material atom sheets could be stacked and combined in many different ways to form new structures. These new structures often had new properties, which meant there was a near-infinite amount of possibilities.

The disadvantage was that it was very expensive.

However, scientific researchers often didn't have to think about costs.

How to cut costs, manufacture, profit… These were some of the things that the industry had to consider.

However this time, Lu Zhou sincerely hoped that the industry could hurry up and find a way to effectively manufacture his research results.

The system didn't give him a lot of time.

He had to build a DEMO nuclear fusion prototype before 2025, so superconducting materials were a must.

After all, it was not like he could build a magnetic confinement fusion device as big as the European Hadron Collider. He needed the superconducting materials…

In the evening the experiment results came out, Lu Zhou invited Connie, Professor Chirik, and Professor Chirik's two assistants to drink at the best bar in Palmer Square.

Obviously, their drinking was funded by the research fund.

After all, the research fund was funded entirely by Lu Zhou anyway.

Professor Chirik sat next to Lu Zhou and ordered a cocktail. He asked, "Honestly, why are you suddenly interested in superconducting materials? Superconducting materials obviously isn't as profitable as batteries."

There wasn't anything wrong with the research topic. No matter how unpopular a research topic was, there was still someone engaged in that topic. However, Lu Zhou's previous research was on electrode materials, so when he suddenly migrated to superconducting materials, Professor Chirik was genuinely confused as to why he would do that.

After all, while the field of superconducting materials wasn't necessarily unpopular, it definitely wasn't a highly profitable field.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If I said it was for humanity's future, would you believe me?"

"You're drunk." Chirik looked at the bartender behind the bar and said, "Hey, give him a Bloody Mary."

"Don't listen to him, change the Bloody Mary to a Tequila Sunrise. You can drink that tomato juice yourself." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "Okay, honestly, it's actually because my experiment needs a larger constrained electromagnetic field. The traditional copper oxide superconducting material has already reached the engineering limit of electromagnetic field strength; therefore, I need to find new materials."

Professor Chirik said, "Is it for the sake of theoretical physics?"

He had heard about Lu Zhou and the story of 750 GeV.

Lu Zhou picked up the glass of Tequila Sunrise from the bar and slowly took a sip before he replied ambiguously, "I guess."

"Okay… Doing research to do more research, I guess this counts as a reason," Chirik said as he shook the glass in his hand and made a helpless expression. He slowly raised his glass and said, "Cheers to your passion for research."

"Thank you."

They both raised their hands and gently tapped their glasses together.

Bars on Palmer Square were pretty boring. Other than the small town's residents, the guests here were basically all Princeton professors and students.

Scenes that happened in American movies were rarely seen here unless one went to a more popular bar.

Connie said that if they wanted to have more fun, they had to go to Philadelphia.

However, Lu Zhou said the alcohol was enough to relax his tired brains.

It was worth mentioning that although the atmosphere here wasn't intense, everyone was very enthusiastic.

Professor Chirik couldn't handle the alcohol and stumbled off to the toilet. A young pretty Asian chick seemed to have noticed Lu Zhou sitting alone, so she walked over and sat next to him. While smiling, she asked for his number.

However, Lu Zhou quickly realized this was one of his past students. Also, Lu Zhou had left his phone number and email on the lecture hall blackboard multiple times.

Obviously, there was no way she didn't know his phone number.

He didn't know what she wanted. She probably just wanted to amuse herself.

The chick looked surprised after being exposed by Lu Zhou, so she quietly walked away.

The group of drunk men hung out until the early morning before they crossed the road and returned to their respective homes.

The next day, Star Sky Technology in North America sent a team of lawyers from Philadelphia to help with the patent application.

They could only publish the thesis after receiving their patent number.

If this process was reversed, then they likely wouldn't be able to pass their patent application as the material would no longer be novel.

In order to receive the patent number as soon as possible, the CEO of the North American branch, White Sheridan, personally came to Princeton.

When Sheridan received the completed material patent application from Lu Zhou and looked at the patent description, he couldn't help but ask.

"Really, are you not thinking about going public?"

Lu Zhou: "Public?"

Sheridan earnestly persuaded him by saying, "That's right, just by patent income alone, other than the one-time buyout fees, our yearly profit is less than US$100 million. However, if we are publicly listed on Nasdaq, with our potential in the lithium-sulfur batteries market and future energy industry, you'll become a multi-billionaire in less than a year."

Lu Zhou had to admit that it sounded pretty appealing.

However, when he heard about being a multi-billionaire, he laughed. He then said nonchalantly said, "The market value is all fake. I'll think about it if I can turn it all to cash, but if I can't, I'd rather not have to report to the board every time I want to set up a new project."

His original intention of Star Sky Technology was to facilitate his research work, so it wouldn't make sense for him to violate that intention.

As for being a multi-billionaire…

Honestly, Lu Zhou already had no idea how to spend the couple hundred million in his bank account.

"Okay then… But I think there would be any investors that will stop you from doing experiments even if you only own 1% of the shares."

Sheridan made a helpless expression.

There weren't many people that were as stubborn as Lu Zhou.

However, he had nothing to complain about.

After all, even though Lu Zhou had a strong desire to control the company, the salary was quite generous.

The salary alone was enough to dispel his additional ideas.

Chapter 455: Good Opportunity For Validation

With White Sheridan's help, the patent number was obtained quickly. This was even faster than Lu Zhou's previous lawyer team in China.

Sheridan was the former director of the intellectual property department at Verizon. Just this alone was worth half of Sheridan's salary.

After receiving the patent number, everything else sailed smoothly.

With a group of strong and expensive lawyers as a backup, the approval process was a walk in the park.

Actually, for more popular patents, authorizing the patent to outside sources during the patent filing stage wasn't anything unusual.

However, even though the field of superconducting materials was a popular academia topic, it wasn't very attractive to the market.

This was obvious in Pablo Jarillo Herrero's research team.

Before receiving the US$10 million fund from Lu Zhou, the team of superconducting materials researchers led by Herrero was funded by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and the National Science Foundation; they didn't receive funding from any market companies.

In short, with Connie's help, Lu Zhou completed the entire thesis by mid-November.

Lu Zhou gathered the other two main authors of the thesis. They then went to the coffee shop that was exclusive to members of the Ivy Club and held a short meeting.

"The thesis is complete, and I've communicated with Professor Herrero through email. They are very interested in the theoretical interpretation of the superlattice bandwidth under the new angle, and they will continue to do research in this area."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at his two partners before he said, "If everything goes well, after this thesis, our cooperation and research agreement with Professor Herrero will come to an end."

Because they were in a coffee shop, the three decided not to clap and instead gently tapped their coffee cups together.

Once the research on graphene superconductivity had begun, Lu Zhou's two research institutes would definitely conduct research on the application aspects, like improving the SG-1 material or increasing its superconductivity transition temperature.

As for Professor Herrero, he seemed to be more interested in researching the theoretical aspects.

Therefore, even though their research would be centered around the same direction, their research content would be wildly different.

Of course, even though their cooperation was over, Lu Zhou's US$10 million research fund would still continue to support Professor Herrero's research.

After all, Professor Herrero's research team had contributed greatly to the SG-1 superconductivity research project.

Lu Zhou also hoped that Professor Herrero's research team could discover more interesting theoretical research results even though these things might not be profitable.

Theoretical research was the basis of applied research, and these seemingly useless things could one day play a crucial role.

Lu Zhou explained the basic situation to his two partners. He then paused for a second before he looked at Connie and said, "As I said earlier, Professor Herrero will focus on theoretical research. You've been at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a year, so you should know more about their research process than I do.

"I want to hear your future plans."

Computational materials science was a tool whether it was the "computational materials" redefined by Lu Zhou or the "first principle" widely accepted by the computational chemistry community.

This tool could be used for both application and theoretical research. However, Connie seemed to have determined his future research direction.

Connie hesitated for a long time before he finally said confidently, "I want to do applied research."

When Lu Zhou heard his response, he nodded.

"I'll write a letter of recommendation for you in a few days. Take that to Sarrot Laboratory in Silicon Valley and Professor Sarrot will arrange work for you. You will also have your own research team which will be mainly responsible for computational chemistry and superconducting materials research… Of course, the choice is yours. If you want to work at some university, I can write another letter of recommendation for you."

Since there weren't any computational chemistry methods that Lu Zhou could teach him, this letter of recommendation meant that Connie could finally graduate as a post-doc.

Lu Zhou welcomed Connie to work under him. However, if Connie had other plans, Lu Zhou would also respect his decision.

Connie scratched his head and smiled as he said, "I'd rather work in your laboratory obviously."

Doing research at some university? No thanks. I'd rather work under a Nobel Prize laureate.

Not to mention, according to Lu Zhou, Connie would become a "mini-boss". This meant he would be well funded and have people working for him. If he wanted to earn this position on his own, he would be 40 years old before he achieved his goal.

Although Connie had the body of a gorilla, he wasn't stupid at all.

When Lu Zhou heard Connie's answer, he smiled. He then reached out his right hand and said, "Welcome to the team."

Connie shook hands with him and continued to talk about research.

He put on a serious face and said, "Oh yeah, Professor Lu, since the thesis is already written, what next? Should we submit it to a journal or an academic conference?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Submit it to a conference. If we hurry up, we might be able to submit it to this year's MRS Autumn Conference."

Although it was past the deadline stated on the official website, a Nobel Prize laureate had special privileges whether it was for the channel of submission or the amount of attention the report would receive.

Professor Chirik asked, "Do you plan on going to this year's MRS Autumn Conference?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I have to go to Stockholm in August, so I'm afraid I don't have time for it."

The MRS Autumn Conference had always been held the day after Black Friday, ranging from the end of November to the beginning of December. The duration depended on the size of the conference.

Theoretically, Lu Zhou could attend. However, he would have a very tight schedule.

When Professor Chirik heard that Lu Zhou wasn't planning on attending, he smiled and said, "Since you don't have time, I'll attend the MRS Autumn Conference for you."

This is a good chance to brag… Oh, I mean validate myself in the industry.

With his achievements, Lu Zhou didn't need to validate himself. However, this was a good opportunity for Chirik.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head at how eager Professor Chirik was.

"Then you'll do the report… Connie, go with Professor Chirik. You can be his report assistant."

Connie excitedly nodded.

"Okay, Professor!"

Chapter 456: Invitation To The Nobel Prize Dinner

After mid-October, the weather in Jin Ling started to grow colder as the days passed by. Although winter hadn't arrived yet, it was just as cold.

In an office in the physics department at Jin Ling University, a strand of steam was floating on top of a vacuum flask.

Professor Li Rongen sat in front of his office desk drinking tea while he browsed through the conference information on his computer.

It would soon be the annual MRS Autumn Conference, and all the reports and theses that were to be presented at the conference had been released.

Regardless of whether or not one had time to attend this conference, anyone in the materials science would pay attention to a top-level conference like this.

Looking at the trend of thesis submission, there had been a growth in graphene research this year.

Among them, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the study on graphene as a superconducting material.

101K!

This number caused a sensation in the materials science community.

Even though this thesis was posted on the official website after the deadline, according to the website rankings, it was one of the top three downloaded theses.

Li Rongen wasn't in the field of superconducting materials. He had a very shallow understanding of graphene as most of his research was centered around carbon nanotubes. However, this didn't prevent him from reading the thesis and understanding its finesse.

Professor Li Rongen read the thesis in its entirety before he put the thesis down. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Amazing."

Graphene superconductivity.

A few years ago, this concept was a distant dream. I didn't expect that in a few short years, this concept would go from the theoretical realm to the applied realm.

Not just that, but according to the thesis, 101K isn't even the limit of the superconductivity transition temperature.

Theoretically, as long as the concentration of charge carriers in the graphene increases, the temperature could also increase… Of course, even though this sounds easy, it definitely isn't easy to do.

Regardless, any researchers in the field of copper oxide superconductivity would probably start to have doubts about their life, right?

After all, they spent half a century to raise the critical superconductivity temperature to 125K. Then graphene came and blew copper oxide out of the water in terms of plasticity and engineering possibilities.

It seems that Professor Lu isn't satisfied with lithium batteries anymore.

First, batteries. Then, superconductivity, what's next?

Professor Li Rongen was only curious about one thing; what would this guy do next?

It seemed that Lu Zhou could conquer any research field he set his mind to.

Li Rongen wasn't the only one reading this report. His PhD and master's students who were next to him was reading it as well.

A PhD student named Zhang Fan heard his professor's exclaim. He couldn't contain the curiosity in his heart anymore, so he asked respectfully, "Professor, when you were doing experiments with God Lu, what kind of person was he?"

Professor Li Rongen heard this question and smiled.

"What kind of person? I don't know how to describe him other than he's a genius."

Professor Li Rongen began to think back to the past and continued to speak, "I won't tell you guys about his mathematical modeling competition results as you have probably heard of it already. In his second year, he built a mathematical model using experimental data provided by us, and he estimated the mechanical properties of the material based on the data collected by the Fourier infrared spectrometer. I'll leave it to your imagination to think about the level of technical skills required to do that."

It wasn't just Zhang Fan, the other two graduate students in the room also looked astonished.

Being able to do computational materials was nothing impressive as many materials science experiments would often use the first principle calculations. This was especially so after Lu Zhou's influence. Even people that weren't in the computational materials field would learn a bit about computational materials.

However, being able to do all this as a second-year student was frightening.

As for the Higher Education Society Cup…

For people like them, they'd be lucky to win a second-level national prize.

Zhang Fan couldn't help but think about what he was doing during his second year.

After a while, all he could remember was his ex-girlfriend's name.

Professor Li Rongen seemed to have guessed what his students were thinking when he smiled and shook his head.

"Don't be jealous. He's a mathematical genius. Soon after he won the Higher Education Society Cup, he solved a world-famous mathematics problem… It's called the Zhou guess or something. You guys haven't met him, so you don't know how strong his mathematical intuition is. Simply put, if I give you guys some data, it'd be a blessing if you could make me some graphs. However, Lu Zhou can make the data come to life."

The students looked at each other with confusion.

They obviously didn't know what Professor Li Rongen meant by making data come to life.

Zhao Qing, who had kept quiet this whole time, finished reading the thesis. He looked up from the computer screen.

"Professor, why do you think Professor Lu is researching superconducting materials? Does it have market application potential?"

Li Rongen: "It's not necessarily that he's researching this for market application, but if you want to know about the future potential, it's application prospects are much larger than you think."

Zhao Qing was stunned. He then asked, "Is the superconducting materials market that big?"

Professor Li Rongen shook his head and said, "It's more than just superconductivity."

Zhang Fan was also stunned. "It's not just superconductivity?"

"Read the thesis again if you don't understand. The existence of the Mott insulator means the graphene can be 'opened' and 'closed'. What does this mean? Do I really need to explain it?"

Zhao Qing said: "… Semiconductor?"

Professor Li Rongen nodded with approval and said, "Correct."

Due to graphene's high charge carrier mobility, it had a broad application when used in electronic transistors.

Also, everyone knew that graphene had no bandwidth, which meant that the graphene electronic devices would remain highly conductive at any voltage and could not be completely turned off, thereby limiting their use in electronics.

However, the magic of the Mott insulator was that it added a voltage gate to the material which allowed the graphene superlattice electrons to rapidly pass through like there was no resistance.

Obviously, this created an "opening" and "closed" state.

If one only wanted to utilize this property of the Mott insulator, one didn't need to achieve the superconductivity temperature of 101K.

Therefore, this thesis wasn't only significant in the superconductivity industry, it also opened up a door to graphene semiconductors.

Not only would the energy industry be interested, but major electronics manufacturers would also pay attention to this area of research at the MRS conference.

After all, graphene was sold by the gram. Thus, to use it to transmit power was too expensive. However, it could be used in electronics.

Suddenly, the taskbar below the browser flashed.

When Professor Li Rongen saw the email notification, he opened his email.

He was stunned when he saw this email, but a gleeful smirk gradually appeared on his face.

"This kid didn't forget me."

It was the invitation to the Nobel Prize award ceremony.

He originally planned to watch it on TV, and he didn't expect to have the opportunity to see it in person…

Chapter 457: Highly Rated MRS Autumn Conference

Professor Li Rongen wasn't the only one that received an invitation.

Old Tang and Academician Lu also received one.

Once Lu Zhou sent out these three invitations, he suddenly found out that his worries were unnecessary.

His parents and Xiao Tong, his three professors from Jin Ling University, his five students, and Chen Yushan… It seemed like he had almost used up all of his invitations?

Lu Zhou spent a while thinking about the remaining two invitations, but he couldn't come up with an idea.

Professor Deligne would be attending the European Mathematical Society in France with Professor Fefferman.

As for Witten…

He might be interested in attending the Nobel Prize dinner, but unfortunately, he would be at CERN to participate in a very important international theoretical physics conference, so he didn't have time.

It seemed that everyone would be pretty busy during the few weeks before Christmas.

As for inviting his previous roommates…

There weren't enough spots left, and he didn't want to leave anyone out.

Lu Zhou couldn't come up with a good idea, so he decided to leave this issue aside.

I guess I just won't invite anyone else. It's not like I have to invite 14 people.

He had more important things to do.

Like finding a suitable method for the industrial manufacturing of SG-1…

The samples in experiments were created using a chemical vapor deposition method on a high-temperature carbon substrate. After that, the substrate was dissolved to obtain graphene.

However, this wasn't enough as this process only yielded the basic graphene material. In order to enable it to achieve superconductivity at 101K, it needed to be subjected to a series of processes, such as N doping.

Actually, these things should be figured out by the market. However, Lu Zhou didn't want to wait that long.

When engineers like Professor Lazerson finally opened up their minds and saw the value in this industry that had small profits but no competitors, it would be way past Lu Zhou's mission deadline.

For now, the most popular use of superconducting materials was for scientific research.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou had read some industrial design books in his free time, and he went to a few engineering lectures. Combined that with his engineering knowledge which was at Level 2, it wasn't difficult for him to absorb new knowledge.

He might not be able to design a production line from start to finish, but he could improve the laboratory preparation method and find a lower cost synthesis method.

Worst case scenario, he would just use the laboratory preparation method.

It would just cost a bit of money.

If he really created a DEMO fusion reactor, he wouldn't ever have to worry about money.

For that, he would be willing to burn a hundred million dollars… or even a billion.

It was almost the end of the month when Professor Chirik got on a plane to Boston and headed to the MRS Autumn Conference.

As for Lu Zhou, other than his SG-1 material experiments, he had been preparing for his seminar which would begin after the Nobel Prize award ceremony.

Interestingly, he had received a lot of invitations to accept awards.

The most famous one among them was the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Apparently, it was sponsored by a Russian billionaire and the founders of Google, Facebook, Tencent, and other companies. There were also some less famous awards, ones that couldn't even be found online.

After all, Lu Zhou was the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and both his age and achievements were something worth paying attention to.

Bragg first set the record when he was 25 years old. It took a century for the record to be beaten by one year. Who knew how many centuries it would take for it to be beaten again.

Lu Zhou didn't mind receiving a few extra awards, but there were so many invitations piled up in his mailbox that it gave him a headache.

It seemed that winning a Nobel Prize really increased his popularity.

After flying to Stockholm, he still had to fly to Paris. Lu Zhou really didn't have that much time to fly around the world. In the end, he decided to let Xiao Ai get rid of the invitations that weren't relevant to academia.

However, Lu Zhou later learned that the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics was worth US$3 million…

He couldn't help but feel heartbroken to have lost US$3 million.

Although US$3 million wasn't a lot of money for him, but still, who didn't want more money?

Furthermore, this was free money.

However, since he had already refused the invitation, he couldn't do anything about it anymore.

…

On the last day of November, Lu Zhou applied for a long vacation away from Princeton to prepare for his to Stockholm.

Around the same time, a piece of good news came from Professor Chirik, who was at the MRS Autumn Conference in Boston.

Professor Chirik spoke excitedly through the phone.

"The report went very smoothly and the seats and aisles were completely full! You should have seen it in person!"

When Lu Zhou heard Professor Chirik's energetic voice, he couldn't help but smirk.

When he reported at the MRS conference on the modified PDMS, the aisles were also full of people.

He felt nostalgic just thinking about this.

Lu Zhou began to talk about the important part.

"Are there any companies that are interested in our technology?"

Chirik: "There is, but… it might not be what you expected."

Lu Zhou: "What do you mean?"

Chirik: "IBM wants us, and they're very interested in our technology. However, it's not because of the superconductivity but because of the semiconductor properties exhibited by the Mott insulator at a particular angle."

A light bulb went off in Lu Zhou's brain.

"They plan on using the SG-1 material in electronics?"

Professor Chirik nodded and said, "Seems like it. They're doing research on carbon-based electronic devices. However, they only asked about some technical details and if we needed funding. I told them we don't, so they left without saying anything else."

Chirik sounded a bit disappointed.

When the IBM representative talked to him, he thought they wanted to pay for a license. Unfortunately, they didn't do that.

Obviously, they had doubts about whether or not this material could actually be used on electronic devices. They needed to verify it by doing experiments in their own laboratory.

As for the superconducting material itself, some medical device companies that were involved in superconducting materials production expressed interest in this technology.

Lu Zhou noticed that his partner seemed to be a little upset, so he said, "There's nothing to be upset about. The field of superconducting materials isn't popular, so it's normal if the market isn't interested."

"I know… I just feel as if this great technology isn't being recognized by the industry…" Professor Chirik didn't know how to describe this feeling, so he merely shrugged and said, "It's just a little unfortunate."

Lu Zhou: "Not being recognized by the industry doesn't hinder the greatness of a piece of technology. Also, I can promise you that this technology will be used in a great project."

Chirik: "Like?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I can't tell you now, but you'll know what I'm talking about by 2025."

Professor Chirik said, "Okay then, it seems like I'll have to wait 7 years for the mystery to reveal itself."

Chapter 458: Back To Stockholm

After the report was finished, the mission chain submission regarding superconducting materials was also completed.

Once Lu Zhou hung up the call with Professor Chirik, he lay down on his bed. He closed his eyes and whispered, "System."

Shortly after, his consciousness entered the pure white system space.

He walked in front of the information screen and clicked on the mission panel.

[Fusion Light mission chain

[Optional branch mission: Research and develop a carbon-based superconducting material that has a superconductivity transition temperature of over 100K. (Completed)

[Mission rewards: 100,000 materials science experience points, 100,000 biochemistry experience points. (Available for collection)]

Lu Zhou was speechless when he saw this mission reward.

The branch mission alone had an experience award of over 200,000 points. He wondered what kind of bountiful rewards he would receive after completing the entire mission chain.

After he received the mission rewards, his characteristic panel was updated. His biochemistry went from Level 3 to Level 4. It was now at the same level as his materials science.

On the other hand, after the completion of this branch mission, the mission panel was refreshed.

The branch mission regarding superconducting materials didn't disappear. Rather, it was replaced by a new mission.

Which was to research and develop a carbon-based superconducting material that had a superconductivity transition temperature of over 200K.

The mission rewards also increased by a substantial amount.

"Is it even possible to create a material that has superconductivity at a high temperature like 200K?"

After Lu Zhou read the mission description, he had a thoughtful expression on his face.

For something like scientific research, knowing whether it was feasible or theoretically possible was a very important piece of information.

Just like how after the Manhattan Project ended, many other countries also completed their nuclear experiments.

Prior to that, Einstein heavily advocated for the development of nuclear weapons. Even then, in his letter to Roosevelt, he was uncertain about whether or not this type of weapon would produce the expected power output.

However, optional missions were still optional, and Lu Zhou didn't have to complete them. The so-called controllable nuclear fusion was only a concept, and there was no correct solution to the project.

According to the system's requirements and Lu Zhou's own estimates, building the DEMO power station didn't necessarily require something as high tech as a 200K temperature superconducting material.

Just like quantum computing technology, it'd be great if he could solve it. However, it was fine if he couldn't as he could just substitute it with a powerful supercomputer.

After double-checking the mission panel and having a general idea of the direction of his next research project, Lu Zhou exited from the system space.

…

The days quickly passed by. It was getting closer and closer to the award ceremony date.

The Nobel Prize award ceremony actually began on the 10th of December. However, there was a press conference waiting for Lu Zhou on the 7th. In order to avoid a tight schedule, most Nobel Prize laureates would often arrive half a week or even a week earlier.

The first Thursday in December.

Lu Zhou drove his five students to New York JFK International Airport, and they all boarded a flight to Sweden.

After a long flight, the airplane landed steadily on the runway of Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

With help from the airport staff, they walked through the VIP passenger channel. Lu Zhou met with the Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Vice President of the Nobel Foundation, Academician Staffan Normark.

This was Lu Zhou's second time in this town.

This was also his second time meeting Academician Staffan.

Academician Staffan opened his arms and gave Lu Zhou a warm hug. He then shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "Welcome, Professor Lu! It's been two years since we last met. I didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Actually, it's two years and seven months," Lu Zhou said as he shook Academician Staffan's hand. He then added, "Long time no see."

The last time they met was for the Crafoord Prize, and at that time, Academician Staffan was also responsible for welcoming Lu Zhou to Stockholm.

Lu Zhou hadn't seen Staffan in a long time. He didn't expect this old Viking man to be so tough.

Of course, Academician Staffan was the one that was more surprised.

"After you became the youngest winner of the Crafoord Prize, I didn't expect you to become the youngest Nobel Prize winner as well," Academician Staffan said as he looked at Lu Zhou. He then smiled and continued, "Honestly, after the Nobel Committee listed your name for the chemistry prize, the Royal Academy spent half a month arguing about you."

Lu Zhou then asked jokingly, "Is it because of my age or my identity as a mathematician?"

Academician Staffan smiled as he replied, "A bit of both."

After some small talk, Academician Staffan looked at the people standing behind Lu Zhou.

"These are?"

Lu Zhou said, "They are my students. They're attending the banquet with me."

Academician Staffan smiled and said, "Then let's not waste everybody's time. Let's get in the car. We can continue to chat in the hotel."

Lu Zhou smiled. "Sounds great."

There were two Volvo cars parked outside the airport VIP exit.

According to Academician Staffan, a Swedish Royal Guard was driving the car.

Interestingly, even though the Royal Guards existed, the Swedish Royal Family still drove themselves during their daily commutes. Even the king did so.

No wonder Old Carl was willing to give up the throne when he pursued Kristel.

A stingy throne like that was pretty worthless.

After getting in the car, the group went straight to the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

It was a convention for the Nobel Prize winner and their friends to live here. The last time Lu Zhou came to Stockholm to attend the Crafoord Prize award ceremony, he also lived here—even his hotel room number was similar.

Xiao Tong arrived at the hotel first. When she saw her brother at the hotel entrance, she excitedly ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

Although she was only grabbing his arm, this movement made Vera extremely anxious.

Hardy poked Qin Yue's arm and whispered, "Hey, do you know who this girl is?"

Qin Yue knew what Hardy was thinking, so he sighed and said, "It's probably the professor's sister."

When Hardy heard it was Lu Zhou's sister, he suddenly looked bored.

Professor Lu's love life was just like his research retreat method; it was one of the legends at Princeton.

Compared to the Nobel Prize, Hardy was more interested in Lu Zhou's love life.

Wei Wen, who hadn't said a word, suddenly asked, "You've seen her before?"

Qin Yue shook his head and said, "Nope."

Wei Wen: "… Then how did you know?"

Qin Yue was speechless. "Isn't it obvious? Standing next to their parents, around the same age, what else could it be? His girlfriend?"

Wei Wen looked at the tall girl and asked, "What about her?"

Qin Yue went silent for a while before he spoke in an uncertain tone.

"Sister?"

Wei Wen shook his head.

"Doesn't seem like it."

Chapter 459: What Do We Call Her?

Xiao Tong shook Lu Zhou's arm and smiled cheekily as she asked, "Brother, do you miss me?"

Lu Zhou gently patted Xiao Tong's hair and said with a smile, "I did. Of course I miss you, I miss you to death."

Lu Zhou looked at his parents walking over and said, "Dad, Mum, when did you guys get here?"

Fang Mei looked at her son and said with a smile, "We arrived in the morning. Thankfully, your friends came to pick us up. Otherwise, we wouldn't know how to get here. Make sure you thank them."

Old Lu said, "Definitely thank them."

Lu Zhou immediately looked at Chen Yushan, who was standing nearby. She was looking at Lu Zhou with a smug smile.

Although she didn't say anything, Lu Zhou could almost read the expression on her face. It was something along the lines of "Look, am I not amazing?".

Lu Zhou: "… How did you guys meet up?"

Xiao Tong looked at her curious brother and waved the phone in her hand as she said, "It's because of me."

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that when Xiao Tong came to America to visit him, she became friends with Chen Yushan and Han Mengqi.

They probably exchanged WeChat details back then.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou who was reuniting with his family and walked over with a smile.

"Little Brother, long time no see, do you miss me?"

Feeling a little embarrassed, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It hasn't been that long. Didn't we see each other last month?"

Xiao Tong said, "Bro, a month is a long time!"

Chen Yushan looked at Xiao Tong supporting her and sighed. She then said, "It's fine, I'm used to it."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

…

After having some small talk at the hotel entrance, the group went inside the hotel.

Lu Zhou and the rest of his family stayed in the rooms on the fourth floor while everyone else stayed in the rooms on the third floor.

Coincidentally, Qin Yue and the boys' rooms were at the right end of the corridor, while Chen Yushan and Vera's rooms were at the left end of the corridor.

The group walked out of the third-floor elevator and walked in opposite directions. Wei Wen seemed to be thinking about something while walking toward his room. He then asked, "Chen Yushan's little brother is Lu Zhou, should we call her older sister?"

Qin Yue thought for a moment before he spoke in a serious tone, "We should call her auntie."

Wei Wen: "… Where did you get that from?"

Qin Yue said: "… Didn't you read martial art light novels?"

Wei Wen: "…"

Because the two were speaking Mandarin, Hardy was completely confused. However, when he saw the two talking in such a serious manner, he couldn't help but ask, "What are you guys talking about?"

Qin Yue said in a serious tone, "We're talking about how to call Chen Yushan."

Hardy was even more perplexed. "Then did you guys come to a conclusion?"

Wei Wen nodded and said, "We did, you can call…"

Wei Wen suddenly stopped.

He made eye contact with Qin Yue, and they both looked baffled.

How do we say this… in English?

On the other hand, Chen Yushan and Vera were quietly walking toward their respective rooms.

The two didn't talk much. However, Vera would, from time to time, secretly glanced at Chen Yushan.

She had to admit, Chen Yushan was really beautiful both in terms of her looks and her figure.

Especially Chen Yushan's big chest…

Vera couldn't help but feel frustrated every time she accidentally glanced at her.

She inherited the classic Slavic pale skin and blonde hair. However, there were two genes she didn't inherit.

One was the tall gene, and the other was the gene responsible for bigger breasts…

Chen Yushan noticed that Vera would occasionally look at her, so she tilted her head and smiled at Vera.

"What's up?"

"No, nothing." Vera accidentally made eye contact with Chen Yushan and panicked. She then quickly looked away.

Chen Yushan had to admit, Vera was very cute.

She looked at the frightened little girl and smiled as she said, "I'm Chen Yushan, can you tell me your name?"

"I'm… I'm Vera Pulyuy," Vera said after a moment of hesitation.

"Vera Pulyuy? That's a good name. Nice to meet you," Chen Yushan said with a smile.

Vera: "… Nice to meet you too."

Although Vera wasn't good at communicating with extroverted people, she had a good impression of Chen Yushan.

She felt weird. Chen Yushan should be somewhat confrontational and aggressive. However, she didn't do that.

Does this mean that she doesn't see me as a threat at all?

Vera couldn't help but feel depressed.

…

After putting his luggage in the hotel room, Lu Zhou took his friends and family to eat dinner with Academician Staffan.

After they finished their dinner, he received a call from Old Tang.

When Lu Zhou heard that they just got off the plane, he immediately sent him the address of the hotel.

Soon after, a taxi was parked at the hotel entrance.

When Academician Lu gracefully got off the taxi, he saw Lu Zhou standing at the hotel entrance. He then waved hello and walked over.

"Lu Zhou, meeting you isn't easy."

When Lu Zhou heard Academician Lu's words, he smiled.

"Professor, it's not that I don't want to see you, but every time I go to Jin Ling University, you're not there."

Speaking of which, this really was unlucky.

There were always countless theoretical physics conferences around the world. Academician Lu was one of the BESIII representatives; therefore, he represented the entire Chinese theoretical physics community. He couldn't just act like Lu Zhou, who would reject many conference invitations.

It was no exaggeration to say that every year, he'd spend an entire month either on a plane or at an airport.

Lu Zhou went to visit Jin Ling University a couple of times before. During those times, he managed to visit Old Tang, but he never got the chance to see Academician Lu. It wasn't because the old man didn't want to see him, but because he physically couldn't.

Old Tang laughed when he heard Lu Zhou.

"I can testify. Every time Lu Zhou came to Jin Ling University, he would pay a visit to your office."

When Academician Lu heard Old Tang, he felt a little embarrassed, so he gently coughed.

"It's cold outside, let's talk inside."

The group walked into the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

As Professor Li Rongen looked at the grand hotel, he couldn't help but say, "I can't believe a mathematician became the first-ever Chinese to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. How are you feeling now? Are you nervous?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm okay. The Crafoord Prize award ceremony is similar to the Nobel Prize award ceremony."

Academician Lu smiled and shook his head. "There's definitely a difference. Even the people attending are different…"

Old Tang looked at his former student for a long time. Suddenly, he broke into a smile.

"I'm honestly both surprised and honored at your achievements. I've been a professor for so many years, and even then, I never thought that one day, I would teach a future Fields Medal and Nobel Prize laureate. Furthermore, they're the same person."

Old Tang paused for a second before he continued, "The award ceremony is in a few days. By then, not only will you be representing yourself, but you will also be representing the entire Chinese academic community. I don't have much else to say since I can't help you much either. But we will be cheering for you in the crowd, so do your best!"

Knowing that Old Tang spoke from the bottom of his heart, Lu Zhou nodded solemnly.

"Yes, I will!"

Chapter 460: December 10th

At 3 pm on December 10th, the long Nordic winter had begun in Stockholm.

However, the cold didn't dissipate anyone's enthusiasm.

Reporters from all over the world stood in front of the entrance of the Stockholm Grand Hotel while they quietly waited. With cameras and microphones in their hands, they hoped to see a certain group of people.

"Brother, there are so many people outside."

Xiao Tong looked out through the hotel window. She was normally quite lively, but at that moment, she felt anxious at this nerve-wracking moment.

She had been to many social events over the past two and a half years. However, the school activities at Jin Ling University were at a lower level compared to this world-class event.

Lu Zhou: "Scared?"

Xiao Tong nodded.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then go with Old Tang. If you really don't want to, there's no need to force yourself."

There were two cars going to the Stockholm Concert Hall. One was for the Nobel Prize winner and his relatives, while the other was for the guests who were invited to attend the award ceremony and dinner. Although this was all ceremonious, the feeling of sitting in a different car was different.

Xiao Tong shook her head.

Even though she was shy, it was obvious she didn't want to miss this event.

Seeing that Xiao Tong was in a dilemma, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

After a while, he said, "Just follow behind me, don't think about anything else."

Maybe it was because Lu Zhou sounded reliable, Xiao Tong, who was mentally distressed, suddenly felt more secure.

She looked at the crowd of people outside the hotel and suddenly spoke.

"Brother."

Lu Zhou: "What now?"

Xiao Tong held the window curtains and asked in a serious tone, "What have you been experiencing over the past few years?"

Lu Zhou was stunned when he heard this. He then smiled as he answered her.

"That's a long story. If you really want to know, it'll take a long, long time to tell you. I'm afraid it won't even fit into a book."

Xiao Tong stuck her tongue out and said, "Bragging again."

"That's not bragging." Lu Zhou felt emotional just thinking about his past. He paused for a second before he joked, "What? Do you think that I've changed?"

Xiao Tong shook her head. She didn't say anything but her mouth perked up.

Even though her brother had changed a lot.

It didn't matter to her.

My brother… is still my most reliable brother…

Old Lu also looked outside the window.

Compared to the nervous Xiao Tong, Old Lu was much calmer.

If he smoked a cigarette, he would look even more charismatic…

Unfortunately, if he lit a cigarette, he would probably end up on the news.

Fang Mei looked at her husband and couldn't help but say, "You really are calm. You'll have to do an interview soon, are you not nervous?"

Old Lu replied calmly, "I'm so proud of my son, and I can't just embarrass him, can I? Plus, since we're representing the face of the country, we can't let people look down on us!"

Fang Mei said, "Look at you, old man. You often go to the logistics department to read newspapers and didn't get a promotion, but you adopted the leadership team's mannerisms."

"What do you mean by 'old man'?" Old Lu looked at Fang Mei and asked, "Is fifty old?"

Fang Mei poked his arm and said with a smile, "Your hair is white, isn't that old?"

It was time to leave.

His parents and Xiao Tong followed Academician Staffan downstairs.

Lu Zhou approached the hotel front door and felt his heart beating out of his chest. He then gently adjusted his tie and took a deep breath.

This moment… is finally here!

…

It was very cold outside the hotel, but the atmosphere was very warm.

A CTV reporter wore a puffer jacket and held a microphone. He scrambled in the crowd and stood at the front row, facing his cameraman. With a high-spirited voice, he spoke to his audience members, which were thousands of miles away, about the situation at this grand event.

"We are now live at the Stockholm Grand Hotel… We are waiting for the Nobel Prize winners to attend the upcoming award ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

"There's a ton of people here, and everyone's feeling excited and energetic. Other than media reporters, standing here with us are local Stockholm citizens, and our Chinese friends… Look!"

There was no need for any explanation.

A group of people walked out of the hotel entrance.

All of the cameras moved quickly, focusing on one person.

Accompanied by his parents and Xiao Tong, Lu Zhou walked out of the hotel VIP entrance. He was then bombarded with camera flashes. There were other Nobel Prize laureates walking next to him; some were alone, some had a partner.

However, even though Lu Zhou was standing in a group of brilliant human minds, he was the most unique out of all of them.

Both because of his youthfulness… and because of his confidence.

Professor Lu looked at the CTV camera and smiled at the audience behind the camera lens.

The reporter was even more excited when he noticed Lu Zhou looking at them. His voice trembled with excitement.

"Right now, walking in front of us is this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, Lu Zhou! He is accompanied by his family as he shares this glorious moment with them.

"There is no doubt, that at the tender age of 24, he is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history!

"This is another Nobel Prize for the Chinese!

"Also the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a Chinese citizen!"

The reporter was shouting in order to stand out from the noisy environment. He began to sound a bit exhausted; his voice even began to crack.

However, no one blamed him for this.

At this inspiring moment, people were just as excited as him.

He really wanted to bring the microphone to Lu Zhou and interview this young Nobel Prize winner.

Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. If he wanted to interview this world-renowned scholar, he would have to wait until after the award ceremony.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at the microphones and cameras coming from both sides. He then sat in the car that was prepared especially for him, which was parked at the hotel entrance, and headed toward the Nobel Prize award ceremony venue with the other laureates.

Just like previous years.

The moment the clock hit 4.30 pm, "Song of Kings" began to play, thus kicking off the Nobel Prize award ceremony.

More than 1,300 people attended this award ceremony. There were members of the Nobel family, members of the Royal family, politicians, and people from all corners of academia.

In order to signify the ceremonial nature of this event, every minute and detail of the ceremony had been carefully planned and arranged, from the winner's white bowtie paired with the black tux to the decorative ceremony crowns…

An interesting rumor was that the Nobel Prize award ceremony itself cost more than the annual prize money.

And in fact, it did.

A few weeks before this banquet, the Nobel Foundation ceremonial secretary was as busy as an army's general; all of this was done to make this award ceremony proceed in an orderly manner.

The first to speak on this international stage was the chairman of the Nobel Foundation, Carl-Henrik Heldin.

In his opening speech, he said that the winners were all role models, and he hoped that they could continue their work, to make more scientific discoveries in the future, and to produce better theses…

As Lu Zhou stood in the backstage of the podium, his emotions made it difficult to breathe.

He didn't even hear what Mr. Heldin said.

That was until the chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Academician Claes, walked on stage.

He faced the auditorium and spoke in a solemn and loud voice.

"For a long time, the chemistry industry has been troubled with an obvious problem. This problem on how to establish a quantitative relationship between structure and properties is one of the most important 21st-century chemistry problems.

"And as we all know, the theory of electrochemical interfaces is an important pillar of modern electrochemistry. The inability to thoroughly explain the microscopic nature of various electrochemical processes means we do not know what chemical phenomenon is happening in front of us."

Academician Claes paused for two seconds before he continued, "However, he used a mathematical method to open up a new way of research thinking. And countless experiments have proved that he is correct."

Academician Cleas looked at the crowd and increased his voice as he announced the decision of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

"This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner is Professor Lu Zhou!

"Let us give him a round of applause."

That last sentence was completely redundant.

Because the second Academician Claes finished speaking, the entire Stockholm Concert Hall was filled with thunderous applause…

Chapter 461: Most Crowded Dinner In The World

Nervous?

A bit.

But I don't feel anything anymore.

Excited?

Of course.

This was the highest scientific glory, also the greatest honor a scholar can receive from the academic community.

What the Nobel Prize can bring is far beyond the value of the nine million kronor prize money.

Even the Fields Medal is inferior in this aspect.

Lu Zhou walked steadily on stage in the midst of the thunderous applause.

He made brief eye contact with the chemistry committee; Academician Claes smiled at him; Academician Olof nodded; Ms. Linse was expressionless; Academician Brzezinski… seemed to be a little unhappy?

Obviously, even now, there were conflicts between the members of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

But in any case, this thing was a done deal.

With the crowd and media watching from all over the world, Lu Zhou received the gold medal and award certificate from the hands of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Carl XVI Gustaf shook hands with Lu Zhou and smiled.

"Congratulations, young scholar, I've given out many Nobel Prizes, but you are the youngest one."

Lu Zhou nodded politely and said, "Thank you. I promise, there will be younger people in the future."

Carl XVI Gustaf smiled and said, "Haha, I hope so, I hope science is always youthful!"

The audience stood up and paid tribute.

The applause echoed throughout Stockholm Concert Hall.

It lasted for a long time…

…

After the award ceremony.

By convention, all of the winners and guests would move to the Blue Hall at the Stockholm City Hall for the famous Nobel Banquet.

Lu Zhou looked at the red brick building located next to the lake. He walked up to the stairs and suddenly said, "Actually, I wanted to ask something the last time I was here."

Academician Staffan said, "What do you want to ask? Maybe I can answer for you."

Lu Zhou looked around and said, "Why is it called the Blue Hall? I didn't notice anything that's blue."

When Academician Staffan heard this, he smiled and said with a funny tone, "A lot of people have asked me this question. Apparently, the designer of the City Hall intended to paint this blue in order to match with Lake Mälaren. However, after it was built, everyone thought the red brick looked more solemn."

Lu Zhou said, "Which is saying… the construction of the Blue Hall isn't finished yet?"

Academician Staffan smiled as he replied, "From an architectural perspective, yes."

Regardless of whether or not it was "finished", the Nobel Prize had been held there for more than a century. Not only were people in the academic community interested in this ancient ritual, but the people outside of academia were also interested.

Every year, there would be tens of thousands of people that wrote to the Nobel Prize Foundation, asking to attend the banquet. However, the probability of being chosen was no different than winning the lottery.

Lu Zhou sat down inside the Blue Hall and looked around.

He saw people sitting between the long row of tables; it was even more crowded than an academic report seminar.

If there was one difference between this and the Crafoord Prize ceremony, it was the size of the crowd.

1,300 people would be eating at the same time. After all of the guests were seated, each person was basically seated shoulder to shoulder. Apparently, the dining space per person was only 40 cm.

However, Lu Zhou felt like it was even worse than he had imagined.

Soon after, the first dish arrived. It was a bottle of unlabeled champagne.

The bottle cork was opened, and a line of dense air bubbles formed from the bottom to the top of the bottle. It seemed to take forever for the bubbles to disappear. Other than the elegant floral and fruity aromas of the wine, it also carried a scent of burning oak barrels.

Staffan poured some into his and Lu Zhou's goblet. He smiled and said, "Fourny, special French farmer champagne. It has a special sweet, sugary taste. In order to meet the demands of more than a thousand people, the Nobel Foundation had to reserve an entire farm."

Lu Zhou looked at the clear liquid and smiled. "You guys really know how to enjoy life."

"It's not just enjoyment, it's also to pay respects." Academician Staffan raised his glass and said, "Cheers."

Lu Zhou tapped his cup. "Cheers!"

Like what Academician Staffan had said, the liquid tasted exceptionally sweet in the mouth, leaving a strong aftertaste.

Perhaps, this was the taste of victory?

…

The atmosphere inside the Blue Hall was animated, and the same was reflected outside the Blue Hall.

Even though the Northern European sun had already gown down, it was far from bedtime.

Many local citizens of Stockholm would walk around Lake Mälaren and look at the red brick building.

The local Chinese students did the same.

If there was anyone happier than Lu Zhou and his family, it would undoubtedly be the local Chinese community.

Other than some extreme examples, there wasn't anyone else that could empathize more strongly with Lu Zhou's achievements.

As early as October, when the Nobel Committee for Chemistry announced the list of chemistry winners, the entire Chinese community in Stockholm held a celebration.

However, now, it seemed that their celebration was only a preview of today.

Because there were a lot more people gathered here today.

They were holding red lanterns in their hands as they stood outside Stockholm City Hall, completely filling the streets.

Some local citizens were curious and joined in.

It looked like a parade or some type of festival.

This all was obviously captured by the reporters.

With the camera pointed at the crowd gathered outside Stockholm City Hall, the female CTV reporter faced the camera and spoke enthusiastically.

"It's the Nobel Prize night, and the locals, overseas Chinese, and Chinese students are gathered outside Stockholm City Hall. They're holding red lanterns in their hands, hoping to use a special way to give the warmest, most sincere blessings to Scholar Lu Zhou."

"Let us interview them and see what they're thinking!"

She stopped a young Chinese pedestrian and asked in a pleasant voice, "Hello sir, are you a student here?"

The guy with a puffer jacket nodded and said, "Yes."

"Is it always this lively on December 10th?"

Guy: "It depends, Stockholm City Hall is always lively this time of year, but this year is particularly lively."

The reporter smiled and asked, "What do you think about Lu Zhou winning the Nobel Prize?"

The guy smiled heartily and said, "Well, after seeing Professor Lu, I finally understood the difference between me and a Nobel Prize winner."

The reporter had a polite smile on her face.

No shit?

The reporter mocked the guy in her head.

The guy coughed. He then changed his facial expression and continued, "Of course, other than that, what affects me the most is that I can see the progress and development of the Chinese academic community from him.

"The new era of talents is growing, and maybe there are still some shortcomings. However, I believe that one day, Professor Lu won't be the only Chinese scholar to walk on the international academic stage, mark my words!"

Chapter 462: Can I Dance With You?

Lu Zhou thought he would get completely wasted, but in reality, it was the opposite.

Not only did he not get wasted, but he didn't even get to eat enough food.

Although the banquet served many courses, each dish was only half the size of a palm.

Also, other than the bottle of champagne at the beginning and the dessert at the end, three of the meal courses contained alcohol. This was quite different than what Lu Zhou was accustomed to.

Lu Zhuo wasn't the only one still hungry; Xiao Tong was the same.

No matter how much food or alcohol the Lu family consumed, they couldn't gain weight.

Xiao Tong was wearing an evening gown, and she wasn't even 50% full. She licked her lips in an unladylike manner and looked around; she seemed to be looking for a server.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to find one. In the end, she could only look at her all-powerful brother with pitiful eyes.

However, Lu Zhou didn't have a solution either.

He looked at Xiao Tong's pitiful eyes and replied with a helpless look.

"It's fine. I can't do anything. It's not like we can get the chef to give you another full course meal."

After the dinner ended, the guests followed the Nobel Prize winners and royal family to the Gold Hall.

The extravagant golden hall and painting of Goddess Mälaren on the wall looked especially familiar to Lu Zhou.

Because he stood here for the Crafoord Prize.

Back then, he had a feeling that he would stand here again one day.

Now, it seemed that day finally came.

And it arrived sooner than what he had expected.

Academician Claes noticed Lu Zhou was standing motionless on the side of the dance floor. He walked over and asked cheerfully, "Do you need help with anything?"

Lu Zhou had a brief moment of eye contact with Claes at the award ceremony.

Although Lu Zhou didn't know what he looked like, he could tell from the award ceremony standing positions that he was the chairman of the chemistry prize review committee.

Lu Zhou looked helpless as he asked, "Do I have to dance?"

When Academician Claes heard his question, he laughed. "Of course you do! This is a custom. Not to mention, you're one of the main characters on stage; the media all over the world is waiting for your dance."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I promise, my report is more exhilarating than my dance."

"It's not about the dance, it's about who is dancing."

Seeing that Lu Zhou looked a little embarrassed, Academician Claes smiled and said, "Don't worry. Even if your shoe flies out, no one will laugh. At most…"

"At most?"

Academician Claes smiled and said, "At most, people will remember it. Just like you winning that medal, it'll be written in history books or something."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

I guess he's f*cking with me.

This isn't good…

Lu Zhou tried to find an excuse, and he said, "You should have told me earlier. This is too sudden; I don't even have a partner."

Unfortunately, his plan didn't succeed.

Because right as the words came out of his mouth, a beautiful voice came from the side.

"Do you mind dancing with me?"

Lu Zhou looked over and saw a woman in a light blue evening gown.

Lu Zhou had a brief exchange with her. She was none other than Princess Madeleine, daughter of Carl XVI.

Even though the European media didn't have a good opinion of this beautiful lady with countless affairs, this was a ceremonious dance party. It had nothing to do with the lady's personal life.

"There's no need to prepare for a dance partner in advance," Academician Claes said as he raised his eyebrows and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He then smiled and said, "The dance is about to start, I won't bother you two."

…

Even though Lu Zhou still wasn't interested in dancing, Princess Madeleine's invitation was in good faith, and it would be somewhat rude to refuse it.

Not to mention, at that moment, he represented more than just himself.

The two stood on the dance floor and moved rhythmically to music while chatting.

Madeleine: "Do you remember the small card on the table?"

Lu Zhou, who was gradually getting used to the rhythm of the music, said, "I kind of remember it, why?"

Madeleine grinned and said, "Before the Nobel Banquet, the Nobel Foundation ceremonial secretary would consult the opinions of the guests and try to satisfy their banquet requests. The requests would be written on the card."

"So?"

"So we're always able to see a lot of interesting requests, like 'I want to sit next to Professor Lu Zhou'."

Lu Zhou said, "What kind of strange request is that?"

Princess Madeleine replied, "It's not strange since there are similar requests every year. However, there's a lot more this year. As far as I know, the Nobel Foundation received more than 50 similar requests. Some of them were from academia while the other 70% or so were probably from people that didn't exactly admire your academic achievements."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

"Because this 70% came from a young woman," Princess Madeleine said as she grinned and looked at Lu Zhou. She said in a teasing manner: "I've always been curious, what kind of scholar can attract so many women."

Lu Zhou coughed and tried to change the question. " Unfortunately, I can't be split into 50 copies."

Princess Madeleine paused for a second and smiled as she said, "You're funny."

The song quickly ended.

Princess Madeleine let go of Lu Zhou's hand and gently adjusted her dress as she cheerfully asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Zhou had accidentally stepped on her foot a few times, so he felt awkward and said, "I just got the hang of it but it's over."

Princess Madeleine smiled and said, "Then, do you want me to teach you again?"

Lu Zhou: "… I'd rather not."

For him, dancing was much more difficult than sprinting around Lake Carnegie.

Thankfully, his shoe didn't fly off.

Seeing that Lu Zhou was slightly uncomfortable, Princess Madeleine smiled and teased.

"Actually there's plenty of beautiful ladies that want to dance with you. There's still a lot of time left, so enjoy this night to the fullest."

She gently bowed toward Lu Zhou. She then inadvertently looked to the side before she walked away gracefully.

Lu Zhou was stunned, and he looked at the direction she was staring at. He then saw Vera in a black evening dress gown.

Vera squeezed the frill on her dress and blushed. She then said nervously, "I borrowed this dress from a friend… Does it fit?"

Actually, Lu Zhou wanted to say the dress was slightly too big as the hem was nearly touching the ground.

However, he didn't want to hurt her self-esteem.

After all, height was a sensitive topic for both boys and girls.

However, Lu Zhou certainly wasn't lacking in the height department.

"It doesn't fit perfectly… But it's beautiful."

Vera was somewhat sad when she heard the first half of that sentence, but she burst into a grin when she heard the second half.

"Then… Can I dance with you?"

Perhaps Vera's smile was too bright, as it caused Lu Zhou to be stunned for half a second.

A thought emerged in his head.

Is this appropriate?

Lu Zhou looked at Vera's hopeful eyes and paused for a second.

There didn't seem to be a Princeton rule against dancing with students.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he nodded with a smile.

"Of course you can."

Chapter 463: I Promise, It's More Interesting Than Lithium Batteries

What would happen when two rookies dance?

Lu Zhou, who accepted Vera's invitation to a dance, didn't think about this problem.

But now, he finally had a deep and painful understanding of this problem.

"Move your feet to the right, around 3cm… Yes… Don't be so close to me, move more naturally. Yes, okay…"

Lu Zhou's toes were stepped on, and even though the little girl was very light, he was still in pain.

Vera noticed Lu Zhou's reaction and retracted her feet. She then panicked and apologized profusely.

"Sorry, sorry."

Lu Zhou pretended to stay calm as he said, "It's fine, it doesn't hurt."

He finally realized how difficult it was for Madeleine to maintain a smile and avoid the awkwardness after being stepped on…

Vera was blushing after the song ended. She lifted her dress and gave Lu Zhou a slight bow. She then turned around and quickly ran away.

After Lu Zhou was finally freed from this "ritual", he sighed in relief and walked off the dance floor.

Suddenly, he saw an acquaintance.

This was none other than the director of the Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry, Professor Gerhard Ertl.

When Professor Ertl noticed Lu Zhou, he smiled and said, "Long time no see."

"Long time no see." Lu Zhou looked at Professor Ertl and said solemnly, "Also, thank you for the nomination letter."

"Don't thank me. Actually, I'm not the only one that recommended you to the Nobel Committee for Chemistry." Professor Ertl smiled as he continued, "However, I am surprised by their decision. I didn't think Academician Claes would make this decision. When I saw the news, I was so surprised that I dropped my sandwich on the table."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. "This… I don't know what to say."

"It's fine, the sandwich still ended up in my stomach," Ertl laughed and said. "In any case, congratulations!"

Lu Zhou didn't step foot on the dance floor for the second half of the dance.

He followed the other guests and left the Gold Hall. Just like the other Nobel Prize laureates, he walked toward his designated car. However, he was ambushed and surrounded by the reporters who were waiting outside.

It was too dark and they were noisy; he couldn't see which media outlets there were.

However, as long as the question was serious, he would give a simple answer.

CNN reporter: "Professor Lu Zhou, how do you plan on spending the nine million kronor prize money?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "I haven't thought about that yet. Maybe I'll use it to improve my life, maybe I'll fund more research projects… or maybe I'll just put it in the bank."

CNN reporter: "May I ask what your next research project is?"

A lot of people cared about this question.

Or rather, most people that cared about him, also cared about this question.

When Lu Zhou heard the reporter's question, he didn't give a clear answer.

"It's an interesting research project that's difficult to achieve, but if it's feasible, it will change everyone's lives."

The reporter's eyes lit up; she immediately began to follow up on the question.

"More interesting than lithium-sulfur batteries?"

It wasn't just Tesla cars, BYD batteries, DJI drones, and Apple phones… Ever since the lithium-sulfur battery technology breakthrough, high energy density batteries had been integrated into every aspect of society.

Two years ago, it was normal to watch videos while charging your phone. Now, people were used to charging their phones once every three to five days.

Not everyone knew the person behind all this, but the academic community would never forget that person.

Lu Zhou laughed at the reporter's question, and he replied, "I promise this research project is much more interesting than lithium-sulfur batteries!"

After that, even though all of the reporters used up all their tricks, Lu Zhou didn't reveal anything.

He finally escaped the reporters

Lu Zhou got into his designated car and went back to the hotel.

In the hotel lobby, he saw Chen Yushan, who already changed out of her evening gown and into casual wear.

Chen Yushan saw Lu Zhou as well, and her eyes lit up before she immediately walked over.

"Where did you go? I tried looking for you."

The seats at the banquet were separated. The Nobel Prize laureates, royal members, and political figures sat at the main table. Everyone else was scattered at various corners of the venue.

The banquet was crowded, and not everyone was interested in dancing. Therefore, some people might have accidentally followed the crowd and left the venue.

Lu Zhou: "Didn't you go to the Gold Hall?"

Chen Yushan: "Gold Hall?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"There's a dance after the dinner at the Gold Hall that's next to the Blue Hall…"

When Chen Yushan realized she had missed the last part of the banquet, her expression was like she just lost her wallet. "Ah, why didn't you tell me!"

Lu Zhou was speechless. "I thought you knew."

This is common sense, right?

Emm…

I think it is.

Chen Yushan: "Then… Did you dance?"

Lu Zhou nodded, "Yes."

Chen Yushan asked, "With who?"

Lu Zhou: "Princess Madeleine."

Chen Yushan's eyes lit up. "Princess? Is she pretty?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Kind of…"

Chen Yushan looked regretful, and she sighed before she said, "Ah, I'm jealous, I want to go as well."

Lu Zhou looked at her silently.

It's just a dance with the princess, what is there to be jealous about?

Chen Yushan suddenly looked at him with hope reflected in her eyes.

"Is there another chance in the future?"

Lu Zhou looked at her hopeful eyes and blurted, "This is the Nobel Prize, you want to come here again?!"

Chen Yushan asked, "Can't you win it again? I don't remember there being a rule against winning it more than one time."

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "It's theoretically possible, but it's insanely difficult."

There had been people in history that won two Nobel Prizes, but one could count them on a hand.

Their ability was unquestionable, but luck played a big factor in whether or not they would win the prize.

This also applied to the medal inside Lu Zhou's pocket.

If at the final voting stage, Academician Claes had some doubts about Lu Zhou's age, he would have to wait another year for a chance of winning the prize.

Lu Zhou was well aware of how difficult winning the Nobel Prize was.

Chen Yushan said, "But it is possible, right?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's astronomically unlikely."

Chen Yushan laughed and said, "It's a done deal then. If you win it again, you have to take me here!"

Lu Zhou smiled nonchalantly and jokingly replied, "Sure, if there is a next time, not only will I invite you to the banquet, I'll give you whatever you ask for."

Lu Zhou didn't usually make promises.

But he was confident at his slim chances of winning the Nobel Prize again.

Chapter 464: I Warned You

While it was already night time in the city of Stockholm, on the other side of the globe, China's sky was still shining as brightly as ever.

The China Central Television set the tone of the Nobel Prize. After a night of editing and changes, the final decision was to put it on the six o'clock domestic news broadcast and eight o'clock international news broadcast.

Due to the time zone difference, unlike the European media, CTV didn't do a live broadcast of the Nobel Prize ceremony. However, CTV spent the entire news broadcast session covering this moment worthy of national celebration.

The television screen showed Lu Zhou, who was in his tux, receiving the Nobel Prize from Carl XVI and showered by applause.

When the people saw the crowd standing up and applauding, some were excited, and some even began to tear up.

Especially the students from various universities, PhD graduates that recently entered the academic world, and the struggling scientific researchers…

Not only did that see the glory of the Nobel Prize on that young man's body, but they also saw hope.

The Chinese academic community was rising, scholars of China were spread across the world, and the voice of China was redefining science.

What could the people in academia be more excited about?

Unsurprisingly, due to the intense discussion online, Lu Zhou's name was on trending on Weibo again.

After the CCTV's Weibo account posted the news broadcast, the comment section instantly blew up.

[Nutty!]

[God Lu is nutty!]

[F*ck me, 9 million kronor! How much yuan is that?]

[China is the best!]

[My supervisor said the golden stage for a researcher is from 30 to 40 years old. A 24-year-old Nobel Prize winner, that's insane.]

[The scariest part is that even though he's only 24 years old, he's able to produce outstanding results every year. Even Einstein only reached his miracle year at age 26. But ever since he was 20 years old, God Lu hasn't stopped…]

Of course, even though this was a delightful event, there would inevitably be one or two flies flying around, showing off their sesame sized brains.

Especially on a diverse platform like Weibo, anyone with a keyboard was part of the leadership team.

The difference was that these people looked at the country's problems from the perspective of a politician. However, they weren't cultured at all; they lacked the sophistication of politicians.

These people pretended like they knew everything about socialism and capitalism. When in reality, their knowledge of politics and science came from Red Alert and Age of Empires…

Therefore, in between the waves of blessings, there were some ridiculous comments.

[Trash! It's just a Nobel Prize, who cares about some prize given by white people! Haha, it's just like that Yang physicist. All he knows is how to write theses, doing pure research all day, what's the point? Can he make bombs or aircraft? If not, don't bother coming back to China! Wasting our food and money!]

These types of posts represented the views of a certain group of people.

Fortunately, this group of people wasn't the majority.

Not only did he not receive any approval, but he was quickly overwhelmed by criticism.

[I'm shocked, did you eat bombs and aircraft growing up? What type of bomb did you use to type this comment?]

[Nine-year compulsory education has a long way to go.]

[Holding the national flag, fighting against the national flag. Obstructing the country in the name of patriotism. These types of retards are way too common. Also, what gives you the right to judge Old Yang?]

[Now comes the question, what's your use? Other than wasting the country's food?]

[User's mom be like—"I accidentally gave birth to him, I'm… sorry."]

[…]

At last, the Weibo comment was gone.

It might have been deleted by the administrator, or the original poster saw his comment had caused public outrage and deleted his comment to avoid trouble.

This showed that even if it was something the entire country was overjoyed with, some people wouldn't like it.

Some people were just venting while being ignorant.

Others were doing it for their own interests.

For example, Wang Haifeng was probably one of them.

Lu Zhou winning the Nobel Prize was basically a piece of horrible news for him.

He would get furious whenever he walked on campus and heard those dumb undergraduate students talked excitedly about the new Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner.

However, his emotions didn't affect the world at all.

Ever since Lu Zhou won the first-level State Natural Science Award, Wang Haifeng had completely lost his power from going toe to toe with Lu Zhou. Not to mention, Lu Zhou now had the Nobel Prize.

In a chemistry laboratory building at Zhi University…

Wang Haifeng sat in his previous supervisor's office and looked at the newspaper on the table. He then asked, "Does Lu Zhou have any plans to return to China?"

"What do you mean plan to?" Academician Liu smiled when he heard Wang Haifeng's words. He then said, "His family is here, and it's almost New Year's, where else is he going to go? Your house?"

Wang Haifeng: "What are you talking about? I asked if he planned to return to China, not for New Year's!"

"I know what you're saying; I'm just lazy to answer your question," Academician Liu said. He then smiled and asked, "Regardless of whether he's coming back, it's his body. Are you're going to control where he goes?"

Wang Haifeng was anxious. "But, do you really think it is a good thing for him to come back? You saw it! Back at that meeting on lithium-sulfur batteries, Director Lu almost treated his words as decree!"

Academician Liu looked at Wang Haifeng calmly.

"Good or bad, it's not something you or I can decide on."

The second Wang Haifeng heard this, he was stunned.

He soon felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.

Like what Academician Liu had said, there wasn't anyone other than Lu Zhou that could make this decision.

He couldn't compare himself to a Nobel Prize laureate, whether it was from the influence or connection perspective.

As for Wang Haifeng's background…

Who didn't have a strong background in the circle of C9 schools?

The difference between this guy and the guy that controlled the education world was probably experience and the fact that Wang Haifeng wasn't interested in things outside of academia.

Of course, these were all secondary.

Whether it was the academic community or cultural community, as long as this community was in China, nothing Wang Haifeng could say would defeat Lu Zhou…

"Black cat or white cat, any cat that can catch a mouse is a good cat. The fact is, Lu Zhou actually did it, and this is worthy of recognition," Academician Liu said while looking at his former student. It was like he suddenly understood something.

He paused for a while before he slowly said, "Oh yeah, let me tell you something."

Wang Haifeng said, "What?"

"Have you heard of Ma Changan?"

Wang Haifeng frowned and carefully thought for a bit, but in the end, he shook his head.

"Nope."

Academician Liu smiled and said, "It's normal that you don't know him since he's not in our university and not in the materials science field. He's only a mathematics professor."

Mathematics professor?

Wang Haifeng frowned. He seemed to be puzzled as to why Academician Liu suddenly brought up this guy. In any case, the gap between mathematics and materials science was way too big.

Academician Liu looked at Wang Haifeng, who was frowning. He then spoke.

"A while ago, probably two weeks ago after that International Congress of Mathematicians ended, he ran into some researching funding issues and was quietly removed by Aurora University."

"Removed because of funding issues?" Wang Haifeng said, "He must have offended someone, right?"

The management of scientific research funding was quite strict; it was overkill to the point where it would make people furious. The possibility of having funding problems was very small. Unless someone was very poor or extremely scummy, otherwise, very few professors would be dumb enough to steal money from the funds.

Unless…

It was something dodgy that happened in the past.

Academician Liu smiled and said, "I don't know who he offended, and I don't know what's going on with Ma Changan right now since I didn't pay attention. But what's interesting is that, guess who taught Ma Changan?"

Wang Haifeng: "I… don't know."

Academician Liu smiled as he said, "The old man was a legend among the mathematics community."

Wang Haifeng was shocked when he heard this.

The old man?

Even though he didn't know the mathematics world, he had been in academia for a long time, and he knew the main characters in the mathematics world.

And the old man had to be one of the higher-ups at Aurora University.

Even though he had been away for six years, he still had a ton of influence.

Wang Haifeng didn't know about Ma Changan's connections in Aurora, but anyone that could get rid of Ma Changan so easily had to be at the level of a Fields Medal…

Wang Haifeng suddenly felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

"I don't know what the beef is between you and him, but even if you don't let it go, I hope you don't do anything stupid," Academician Liu said as he looked at Wang Haifeng, who was rendered speechless. He then put down the teacup in his hand and said, "I'm warning you!"

Chapter 465: Nobel Lecture

"I warned you!"

The words from Wang Haifeng's former supervisor made him turn white.

When he left the office, he was walking in a zombie-like manner, almost like he was a puppet being controlled by ropes.

He thought back to Academician Liu's facial expression and suddenly realized how dangerous his behavior was.

Maybe because Lu Zhou was too young, even younger than his own students, he almost forgot the rules of academia.

The only fortunate thing was that Lu Zhou wasn't a revengeful person.

Otherwise, Lu Zhou could easily destroy him.

This was the first time he had gotten so lucky that his enemy ignored him as if he was nothing but an ant…

…

Actually, Wang Haifeng overestimated himself.

If Lu Zhou didn't meet him at the State's dinner, he wouldn't even have remembered this person.

As part of the Nobel Prize award ceremony, after the Nobel Banquet, there would be a series of Nobel Lectures the next day.

At 2 pm, UTC+1, Lu Zhou came to the lecture halls at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He would conduct a thirty-minute lecture on "The Mystery Of Numbers In The Microscopic World".

The lecture hall was crowded when he first arrived; it was even more packed than the Nobel Banquet. However, no one was complaining.

Not only did chemistry scholars from all over the world come to attend this lecture, but there were also students from the University of Stockholm, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and even some local citizens who were interested in science.

Due to the nature of these Nobel Lectures, the lectures weren't completely academic. Even if someone didn't have knowledge in a particular field, they could still understand what the people on stage were saying.

Of course, the lectures weren't completely simplified.

Simply put, the purpose of the Nobel Lectures was to enable scholars in the same field but in different branches of the field to get a glance of what the Nobel Prize winners had done or were doing. To let them understand the meaning of the work done and what it meant for academia.

This sounded simple, but it wasn't easy to do at all.

After all, ever since the second half of the twentieth century, the development of academia went from primitive to the sophisticated refinement of different categories. Electrochemistry scholars might not necessarily understand research in the physical chemistry field, and biochemistry scholars might not be able to read theses in either of those fields.

And this applied to any academic discipline.

In this report, Lu Zhou didn't use any overcomplicated formulas to explain his arguments. He only talked about the problems he faced when researching HCS-2 and some of his thoughts on the abnormal situations that occurred.

Although he didn't use any overly passionate language, the live audience was eager to listen.

One reason was out of respect for the Nobel Prize.

The other was their admiration for this Nobel Prize winner's knowledge.

Most people could spend their entire lives working and only be proficient in one area.

Building on the basis and making small progress was the mission of a scholar.

Actually, modern science was progressing in this fashion.

However, this rule only applied to normal people.

For him, whether it was theoretical electrochemistry or applied lithium-sulfur batteries, these problems that would take many people to solve were solved by him alone…

Lu Zhou's speech soon came to an end. He paused for half a second before he made some simple ending remarks.

"… I remember hearing a phrase from a long time ago; when you've made all the mistakes there is made in a field, you become an expert in that field. Because by then, you know which hypotheses are destined to be wrong.

"In my opinion, the mathematical tool is equivalent to providing a unique perspective. It lets us bypass accumulate experience and allows us to stand in the perspective of the gods and think about the unknown phenomena.

"What is science?"

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and stopped for a second before he spoke in a confident manner.

"In my opinion, it's rational thinking. It's the answer to the unknown."

Thunderous applause echoed throughout the venue.

The crowd stood up and showed their tributes.

Lu Zhou bowed slightly before he turned around and walked down from the stage.

…

There were several civil servants in suits standing outside the lecture hall in the corridors of the Royal Academy of Sciences. They were led by a middle-aged Chinese man.

The middle-aged man's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Zhou walking out of the lecture hall. He smiled and walked toward Lu Zhou.

"Professor Lu's vivid language really brought us an exciting speech!"

When Lu Zhou heard this unexpected compliment, he looked at the stranger and smiled. "Thanks, you are?"

Zhang Wenbin smiled and reached out with his right hand as he said, "I'm Zhang Wenbin, an ambassador at the Sweden Embassy of China."

Ambassador?

Lu Zhou didn't expect to see this person. He shook his hand and said, "Honored to meet you, Mr. Ambassador."

"I'm the one that is honored," Ambassador Zhang said as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He then said with a smile, "Also, congratulations, Professor Lu! The honor you won on stage is huge for the Chinese science community!"

"You're too kind." Lu Zhou smiled humbly and said, "There's a lot of outstanding scholars in the Chinese academic community; one Nobel Prize is only the icing on the cake."

"You're too humble! If a Nobel Prize is only the icing on the cake, then there is no such thing as a praiseworthy glory." Ambassador Zhang paused for a second before he asked, "Can I ask if you have any plans after your Stockholm trip ends?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I might have to go to France."

Ambassador Zhang said, "France?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "Yeah, there's a Millennium Prize Problem award there, and since it's on the way, I plan on accepting it."

Accepting an award because it's on the way…

Millennium Prize Problems…

This guy…

The embassy staff members cringed when they heard him.

Even Ambassador Zhang, who had seen a lot of stuff in his lifetime, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

But he quickly coughed and tried to hide his emotions.

"I only thought athletes would get sick of medals; I didn't think this would happen in academia as well. Professor Lu, you're very… surprising."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I guess."

Including the Fields Medal he won a few months ago, it was true he won quite a lot of awards this year.

Ambassador Zhang immediately asked, "Then what about after France?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and made sure he had no other plans before he said, "Other than going home for New Year's, nothing else planned."

Ambassador Zhang smiled brightly when he heard this. He then proposed with a smile.

"Before you go home, can you please drop by Beijing?"

Lu Zhou: "Beijing?"

"Yes," Ambassador Zhang smiled and said, "someone wants to see you."Universal Time Coordinated

Chapter 466: France Is On The Way

The Nobel Prize award ceremony ended.

All good things had to come to an end. The scholars gathered in Stockholm boarded their return flights and left this city.

Lu Zhou stood at the airport entrance while looking at his family. Xiao Tong, who was standing behind her parents, spoke with a sad expression on her face.

"Brother, are you not going back with us?"

Lu Zhou: "I still have to go to France before I go back. I'll probably be back next week."

Old Lu: "Another award?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I guess so."

After all, he promised he would accept this award.

Before going home, he planned on going to Institut de France to receive the award from the Clay Institute.

Old Lu: "What award is this?"

Lu Zhou: "It's about the Millennium Prize Problems."

Old Lu didn't know what the Millennium Prize Problems were. He thought for a moment and decided to ask about the prize money.

"How much is it?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Around a million."

"USD?"

"Yes."

Old Lu went silent for a while before he suddenly said, "Look at all of you mathematics people winning all these awards. It's enough to buy a house in a big city."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "… You can't put it that way, it's not the same for everyone."

In terms of making money, science lost to engineering. Therefore, it was normal that there would be more funding in science, which meant there would be more awards.

However, only a minority of people in science won awards.

Most scholars that were in the theoretical fields were having a hard time.

…

The Nobel Prize in December was of great significance to the science community.

The creation of a 24-year-old Nobel Prize winner almost refreshed people's acknowledgment of this award. It also refreshed many people's acknowledgment of science in general.

This month was equally significant for the mathematics community.

After the dust from the Navier–Stokes equation finally settled, the Clay Institute finally fulfilled its promise of one million dollars and held a grand award ceremony at the Institut de France… At least, that was how most people looked at it.

Because very few people knew that Professor Carlson, the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Clay Institute, actually spent numerous attempts in trying to convince this "stubborn" Fields Medal winner to accept this award.

At the award ceremony venue…

Most of the guests attending the ceremony were mathematics academicians from the French Academy of Sciences and important members from the European Mathematical Society.

Professor Carlson stood on stage and spoke in a solemn and dignified voice.

"… From the rippling small boats that produce waves to the high-speed turbulence jets. Although the Navier–Stokes equation has been proposed in the 19th century, we have very little understanding of its deep meaning. In the millennium year 2000, at this historical hall, we proposed a challenge to scientists around the world, to change the mathematics history and uncover the mysteries of the Navier–Stokes equation…

"And now, the study of the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation has finally be solved and settled. We have gained an immeasurable amount of knowledge and benefit from this breakthrough."

Professor Carlson paused for a moment before he said, "History will remember this moment. It will also remember everyone that took part."

There was a round of applause in the auditorium.

In the midst of the applause, Professor Carlson handed Lu Zhou the certificate and medal.

The study on the nature of the Navier–Stokes equation had finally come to a conclusion.

"Congratulations, Professor Lu Zhou," Professor Carlson said as he reached out his right hand and firmly shook Lu Zhou's hand. At this sincere moment, he smiled and even jokingly said, "Also, congratulations to myself as I've finally accomplished my wish."

Lu Zhou: "Wish?"

"Yes." Professor Carlson smirked and said, "We've prepared certificates, ceremonies, and even special medals for the Millennium Prize Problems. I was involved in all of this preparation but this is the first time I've seen it being implemented.

"Originally, in my retirement plan, I planned on at least issuing one medal before I retire. However, when I stepped down from the director of the Clay Institute and went to serve as a chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, I still didn't get to fulfill my wish… That was until now… So thank you for completing my wish."

Professor Carlson suddenly looked a little exhausted.

He had put in a lot of effort for the future of mathematics.

Now, he could finally put this responsibility aside and enjoy his years on earth…

After he received the Millennium Prize Problem medal and million-dollar check, Lu Zhou didn't stay in Paris for long. Instead, he quickly got on a flight back to China.

Originally, he planned on directly landing at Jinling Airport. However, because of Ambassador Zhang's invitation, he decided to get on a flight to Beijing.

After the plane landed, just like last time, he was warmly welcomed at the airstair.

Lu Zhou gave his luggage to his driver and security guard, Wang Peng. He then sat in a black car with a red flag and went to a mysterious place…

…

Lu Zhou followed the guards as he passed through layers of security.

When Lu Zhou sat inside an antique government compound, he met the old president, who gave him the award.

Also, sitting next to the old man was a white-haired academician.

Lu Zhou knew who he was because of the lithium-sulfur battery meeting. Academician Wu Shigang also participated in major scientific research projects such as the 863 Program. Therefore, Lu Zhou remembered him.

The prestigious old man looked on as Lu Zhou walked into the room. He gave a kind smile and nodded.

"We meet again."

He reached out his right hand and said, "Please take a seat."

Lu Zhou sat across the old man with his back straight.

After a while, the old man introduced Lu Zhou to the scholar sitting next to him.

"This is Academician Wu Shigang."

"Hello, Professor Lu." Academician Wu smiled and reached out his right hand.

"Hello!"

The two shook hands and didn't waste any more time on small talk.

After all, everyone who sat here was busy people. It was just that they were busy in their own ways.

Lu Zhou couldn't complete the controllable nuclear fusion DEMO project on his own. He needed support from the national level.

Fortunately, because of the Nobel Prize, Lu Zhou was given this chance.

Even though his main research field was mathematics, there wasn't anyone that doubted his opinion in the energy field.

After all, his breakthrough in the field of the lithium-sulfur battery had benefited the entire country, and there was nothing more persuasive than facts.

"… Energy, materials, and information technology are the three pillars of modern social development. Energy is the foundation of power and the lifeblood of the industry. Looking at the past three industrial revolutions, energy as well as energy production is inseparable from technological breakthroughs."

Academician Wu looked at Lu Zhou with a serious expression. On behalf of the old man, he asked cautiously, "Then what project do you think is suitable for us?"

Lu Zhou only spoke three words.

However, the three short words shocked everyone in the room.

"Controllable nuclear fusion!"An academy in the Institut de France

Chapter 467: Three Word Answer

Lu Zhou's answer was beyond the expectations of Academician Wu.

In Lu Zhou's meeting with Ambassador Zhang, he revealed that he wanted to talk about the problem of new energy in this meeting.

However, everyone didn't think much of it. They only thought he was going to talk about the future prospects of lithium-sulfur battery technology or what kind of support he needed from the country for his research.

However, nuclear fusion was a scientific research project that had systematic risk…

Undoubtedly, this was beyond the scope of his abilities.

Academician Wu noticed the old man looking at him, so he hesitated for a bit before he asked Lu Zhou with a serious expression, "Can you elaborate?"

Lu Zhou nodded. "All of the earth's energy sources, whether it be petrol, wind, or water… All of them come from the sun, and the sun gets its energy from fusion.

"Like what I just said, from a technical perspective, as the previous industrial revolutions have shown, the key to productivity and production is energy.

"If we can solve fusion energy, that means we have solved the sun, that means we will have mastered the future!"

The compound went completely silent for a minute.

Lu Zhou also stayed silent for a minute.

He knew that these people had listened to hundreds of exciting and passionate speeches, and they had learned their lessons.

But he also knew about the significance of a Nobel Prize and the power behind the words "nuclear fusion".

Fusion power generation was cleaner than fission power generation and accepted a much wider source of raw materials.

There were 0.03 grams of deuterium in one liter of seawater. The nuclear fusion energy provided by that deuterium was equivalent to burning 300 liters of gasoline.

The earth's resources were abundant. There were more than 45 trillion tons of deuterium in the sea; it was almost inexhaustible. As for how to get the expensive deuterium, a simple "heavy water" industrial method would suffice.

If they could master controllable nuclear fusion, then all of the industrial energy problems would disappear.

What did it mean for energy problems to disappear?

It meant that one could build a reinforced concrete tower in the barren desert or grow an arable land on the bottom of the sea where the sunlight wouldn't reach… At least in theory.

Because when that time arrived, electricity would no longer cost money.

Of course, Lu Zhou was the only one that could see these things happening. In other words, he believed that these things could happen.

Compared to those far away fantasies, politicians had to think about the present and something more realistic.

Academician Wu and the old man thought for a long time. They looked at each other before they looked at Lu Zhou.

Academician Wu then spoke slowly.

"The controllable nuclear fusion project has been around for a long time, but there hasn't been any obvious progress so far. Actually, our country plays a very important role in the ITER project, so we are very aware of the value of this technology and are willing to invest in it. However, the main question is, what is your level of certainty? And whether or not you think it is worth it…"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Unless the technology is already there, there is no experiment that can be done to test the value of the technology. Science is trial and error, that's the same in any scientific field. You're an academician, you should know this."

"But the cost of trial and error for controllable nuclear fusion might be too big."

Wu Shigang suddenly felt his palms drenched with sweat.

It was both because of how nerve-wracking the topic of fusion was and because of the young man sitting across from him.

This would at least be a hundred million dollar project.

And there was no limit on how much it could potentially cost.

Before the technology could be implemented, the project would just be a money-burning black hole. No one would know how much it would cost…

Lu Zhou acknowledged Academician Wu's question and nodded.

"That's right, it is expensive, but it will generate benefit for all future generations."

Perhaps it was after careful consideration, or perhaps the old man was touched by Lu Zhou's sentence.

The old man thought for half a minute before he slowly said, "What kind of support do you need?"

Lu Zhou said in a confident manner, "Funding, people, and cooperation with relevant departments."

The old man nodded and didn't even ask for specifics.

Instead, he only said two words.

"No problem."

…

While the conversation was going on inside the courtyard, Academician Pan Changhong from the Southwestern Institute of Physics was hosting an important meeting.

The focus of the conference was the breakthrough in Wendelstein 7-X plasma confinement time that happened a month ago.

The person that did the meeting report was Professor Sheng Xianfu, who just came back from an academic exchange in Germany. In the report, he mentioned the problem of the stellarator's water-cooled divertor and how the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics solved this problem. He also highlighted Lu Zhou's thesis.

"Professor Lu's calculations played a crucial role in the stellarator research. His role could be seen from the Wendelstein 7-X control plan update…"

In the PowerPoint, Professor Sheng presented the relevant technical information and quickly went through the graphs.

In the end, he placed his hands on the table and spoke in a confident manner.

"We have to pay attention to this issue. We're already behind on the stellarator research. If we don't take this issue seriously, we will fall behind."

Suddenly, a researcher had an objection.

"However, even so, the tokamak is more succinct from an engineering perspective. Furthermore, it is still the mainstream international nuclear fusion research project."

Professor Sheng nodded and proposed a counter-argument.

"I know the tokamak is still the mainstream project, but that doesn't mean it is correct. Before this technology could be invented, all possibilities have to be considered!"

Suddenly, another researcher gave his own opinion.

"The technical problem with the tokamak is the plasma constraints, right? How about we ask Professor Lu to help us design a control plan?"

Professor Sheng shook his head and said, "The tokamak's plasma problem is much more difficult than the stellarator. Theoretically, even if a control plan like that exists, it will be difficult to have the matching hardware."

That researcher said, "How can we know that without trying?"

Professor Sheng was annoyed, and he said, "Then why don't you write him a letter yourself?"

The researcher didn't know what to say, so he smiled and shut his mouth.

He didn't have the authority to ask some Nobel Prize winner for a favor.

The conference went into intermission.

Academician Pan walked outside in the corridor, and as he thought back to what Professor Sheng had said during the report, he lit a cigarette.

"I have a feeling that the tokamak isn't feasible."

Compared to the Chinese media, who celebrated every small EAST achievement, Academician Pan, who was an expert in this field, was much more cautious.

Most things were exciting from an outsider's perspective, but for insiders, they didn't even count as in-progress achievements.

Professor Zheng Gaoming stood next to Academician Pan and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"No special reason," Academician Pan said as he shook his head and flicked the cigarette butt. He then said, "Just a feeling."

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

Academician Pan put out the cigarette and took out his phone to answer the call.

"Hello?"

Academician Pan went silent for a while and didn't say anything. In the end, he simply nodded.

"Okay, I understand."

Zheng Gaoming had been looking at Academician Pan's expressions during the phone call. He couldn't help but try to figure out what was going on.

"… What happened?"

Academician Pan put the phone back into his pocket and looked at Professor Zheng.

"The person we were just talking about is in Beijing right now."Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

Chapter 468: Experienced Exper

After that, Lu Zhou talked with the old man for a long time.

The topics discussed were mainly centered around the details of controllable nuclear fusion.

This included the advantages and disadvantages of various technical pathways, technical difficulties, and which problems could potentially be solved.

Because Academician Wu was out of his element, he sat next to them and didn't say anything. He merely listened quietly like a plebeian.

For the more difficult parts, Lu Zhou tried to explain them in layman's terms.

Of course, other than talking about controllable nuclear fusion, they also talked about the idea of constructing an Institute of Advanced Study in China which was to be similar to Princeton's.

As for Lu Zhou's special treatment in China, he didn't mention it, and the old man didn't ask.

Because this simply wasn't something worth talking about.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't mention anything, there naturally would be someone to take care of him.

Lu Zhou followed the guards and walked out of the courtyard. Wang Peng waited outside next to the black car.

He used to be a stranger, but he was now Lu Zhou's good acquaintance.

"Finished?"

"Finished," Lu Zhou sat in the passenger seat as he replied casually.

Wang Peng nodded and didn't say anything.

Whatever Lu Zhou talked about when he was inside was none of his business.

Once Lu Zhou put on his seatbelt, Wang Peng started the car.

Lu Zhou looked at him and asked, "Oh yeah, where are we going? I don't have a place to stay in Beijing."

Even though the old man verbally agreed in the meeting, the specific implementation had to be discussed at a high-level internal government conference.

After all, funding controllable nuclear fusion wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

Lu Zhou still had to stay in Beijing for two days. One was to wait for the results of the high-level meetings, and the other was to communicate with the Chinese controllable nuclear fusion scholars.

Wang Peng heard Lu Zhou and smiled heartily.

"Professor Lu, you must be kidding! You're in your home country; how can we not give you a place to stay?"

…

Lu Zhou stayed at the same place he stayed at when he came to Beijing for that meeting.

When Manager Wang saw Lu Zhou, he had an innocent smile on his slightly chubby face. He then greeted him enthusiastically.

"Professor Lu, are you happy with the tea from last time?"

"Very satisfied, thank you so much," Lu Zhou said with a smile.

Manager Wang smiled and said, "You're too kind. If you want, we can get you some more."

This time Lu Zhou didn't refuse the tea, nor did he offer to pay.

He knew the hotel was a public institution, and if he gave money to Manager Wang, it would cause him trouble.

Also, since he won two enormous awards for China, taking two packs of tea wasn't a big deal, right?

As Lu Zhou followed Manager Wang to his room, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Manager Wang."

"What's up?"

Lu Zhou looked around and asked, "Is there a conference room here?"

Manager Wang smiled and said, "Of course there is. If you need to use it, just tell me."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I'll need it the day after tomorrow."

Manager Wang: "Okay."

…

It had been 11 years since China first participated in ITER.

The start of all of this was because of a letter from the Southwestern Institute of Physics to the Communist Party of China.

The person that wrote the letter was Academician Pan Changhong, the dean of the Southwestern Institute of Physics.

Even though Academician Pan had retired from his Southwestern Institute of Physics position, he was an experienced expert and still had a considerable amount of influence among the domestic nuclear fusion community.

After some planning with the relevant departments, Lu Zhou finally met the person that convinced China to join ITER.

When Lu Zhou saw the old man, he politely reached out his hand and said, "Hello, Academician Pan, I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."

"I'm the one that is supposed to be looking forward to meeting you," Academician Pan said as he shook Lu Zhou's hand. He then smiled as he continued, "I've always heard that Professor Lu is young and promising, but I have never met you before. I didn't expect you to be younger than I imagined… and even more charismatic."

Lu Zhou smiled and politely made a gesture. "You're too kind. Please, take a seat."

Once they sat down at the conference table, the hotel staff poured a cup of tea for each of them. The hotel staff then left the conference room, and on the way out, the hotel staff closed the door gently.

Lu Zhou organized his train of thought first. He was about to speak, but Academician Pan was the one to speak first.

"You think the stellarator has potential?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, I think so."

Academician Pan looked sharply at Lu Zhou and said, "Are you certain?"

Lu Zhou: "Yes."

"Why?"

"My intuition."

Intuition?

When Academician Pan looked at Lu Zhou's emotionless face, he was slightly stunned. He smiled and shook his head before he said, "… Scientific intuition? Interesting… You believe in your intuition that much?"

"Of course!" Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If I don't believe it, how can I convince others to believe it?"

Academician Pan smiled and gave a simple answer.

"Since you put it that way, I am convinced. I'm curious. Tell me; how do you plan on convincing me to do?"

Lu Zhou smiled and paused for a second before he replied, "Controllable nuclear fusion is a project that has systematic risk, and the technical difficulties range from plasma physics to materials science to information technology. All of these research units have to cooperate together. This is very difficult to achieve by myself."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Academician Pan. He then made a sincere request.

"I need your help."

Academician Pan was stunned; he didn't expect Lu Zhou to make such a sudden request.

There was a brief moment of consideration, but after a while, he still shook his head.

"I can't help you. Besides my old age, the stellarator isn't my research direction. I can conduct lectures, but to do experiments with you young people, that's really difficult for me."

The old man paused and reminded Lu Zhou of something.

"Not to mention, the main person in charge of China's controllable nuclear fusion is Academician Zhou. If you need support, you should talk to him instead of coming to me."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "The research led by Academician Zhou is mainly on the tokamak device. He won't support my point of view."

Academician Pan didn't say anything, but his face conveyed his agreement.

This wasn't just an engineering problem; this was also a problem in academia.

After all, after spending billions in research, no one wanted to hear someone with a different research plan who might take their resources.

Funding was only part of it; this also involved jurisdiction.

Authority and power weren't academically related; it couldn't be solved with just one conversation.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "Actually, yesterday I was contacted by the higher-ups and received funding and policy support guarantees. The new project will be carried out simultaneously with the original tokamak project."

Academician Pan said, "You… talked to the higher-ups?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

If that's the case… then this thing is different.

Academician Pan went silent for a while. He seemed to be hesitating.

Lu Zhou didn't say anything. Instead, he quietly waited for him to gather his thoughts.

As the old man looked at the steam rising from the teacup, he suddenly relaxed his tense face and looked at Lu Zhou with a smile.

"If you don't care about me being old, then I'm willing to give it a shot."

Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his hand.

"Welcome to the team!"

Chapter 469: Just Buy One

The high-ranking officials at the government spent multiple days holding meetings. Over these few days, Lu Zhou had been busy as well. He had met many Chinese controllable nuclear fusion scholars that were recommended by Academician Pan.

Strictly speaking, Chinese universities didn't have a controllable nuclear fusion major.

Most experts in this field were professors in plasma physics or nuclear engineers.

The situation in China was different than that of Princeton; the research institute that did research on the stellarator device basically didn't exist. When Lu Zhou was at PPPL, he could easily assemble a research team.

But now, he had to utilize his connections with Academician Pan to find talents scattered around the city.

Of course, other than human resources, there was also another important problem he had to solve.

He had the rice, and he had the chef; the only thing he lacked was a cooking pan.

Academician Pan gave Lu Zhou an organized list of names and said, "If you plan on researching the stellarator, having just talents and funding isn't enough. We need to get our hands on a stellarator device first. This is more crucial than anything else. How do you plan on solving this problem?"

There were only eight stellarators in operation around the world, including the H1-Heliac that Yuhua University got from Australia. As for the "first cyclic symmetrical stellarator" project by China and Japan, they only signed the contract last year and would take several more years for the construction to begin.

China could wait, and the world could also wait. After all, controllable nuclear fusion was a hundred-year long project.

However, Lu Zhou couldn't wait.

If he couldn't successfully implement the DEMO machine by 2025, then he would have failed his Fusion Light mission chain. The high-tech system had been relatively fair, and he wouldn't lose the experience points he already gained from the branch missions, but there would be no doubt that he would have to say goodbye to the mission chain's final reward.

Lu Zhou accepted Academician Pan's list of names and thought for a bit. He then said, "Germany has a discontinued stellarator—the WEGA. It's the prototype for the Wendelstein 7-X. We don't have to build one from scratch. We can buy one and modify it."

Academician Pan was in disbelief. "You plan on buying the WEGA?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Spending money is a must in this field."

Lu Zhou originally thought Academician Pan didn't want the country to waste money. After all, a stellarator wasn't cheap at all; even the retired WEGA would cost quite a bit.

However, Academician Pan wasn't worried about money at all.

"This isn't about money. Is this something they're willing to sell?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Hard to say, but we can negotiate with them. I have some connections with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, so convincing them to sell their retired equipment shouldn't be a big problem."

Actually, the WEGA machine had been unused since 2013. The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics put all of their research focus onto the new Wendelstein 7-X. As such, there was hope in convincing them to sell the WEGA.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "After everything is settled here, I'll personally fly to Germany and try to get this done."

Pan Changhong looked envious.

He didn't have many international connections in academia.

In order to fill in their blank page on the stellarator, in 2017, Yuhua University had to send inspection teams on three occasions to The Australian National University. They finally came to an agreement and spent AU$35 million buying the "small" machine.

Which was the so-called H1-Heliac…

Australia's research on the stellarator was definitely behind that of Japan and Germany's research. The H1-Heliac was designed and assembled by The Australian National University; therefore, it was far from being advanced.

If they could choose, they wouldn't have chosen the H1-Heliac machine. However, they had no choice.

If somehow, Lu Zhou was able to buy the retired WEGA from Germany…

This thing alone would be considered a great achievement for the Chinese nuclear fusion community.

…

Lu Zhou brought two huge gifts when he came back to China.

The first was the Nobel Prize, and the other was a piece of the nuclear fusion pie.

However, this pie was still uncooked. Everyone could look at it but couldn't eat it. However, Lu Zhou was confident he could cook this pie well.

China welcomed Lu Zhou's two gifts and responded with their greatest attention.

After more than 2 weeks of discussions, the two academicians decided to give the green light for the stellarator research project.

After consulting Lu Zhou's opinion, the project team would be named "STAR" and would continue in parallel to the EAST tokamak controllable fusion reactor program.

The state was quite generous with its funds, with a total of one billion.

Since most of the stellarator equipment had to be imported, this one billion was obviously in USD…

Southwestern Institute of Physics.

When Jiang Liang heard the news, he couldn't help but grumble.

"A billion USD, that's too much money."

Even though the project was the same level as that of EAST, this was enough to fund several EAST projects.

A Nobel Prize isn't worth that much, right?

Zhou Chengfu sat in the middle of the office reading newspapers. He didn't look up when he spoke with a blank expression.

"Regardless of how much money it is, he earned it himself. It's none of our business."

Even though this was true, this still affected Jiang Liang's mental condition.

Researching controllable nuclear fusion was a money-hungry project, but the country's funding still had a limit.

Even though Academician Zhou's expression didn't change, Jiang Liang could still tell that the old man wasn't in a good mood.

After all, he used the be the leader of China's controllable nuclear fusion field.

But suddenly, there was a young man that came from nowhere, fighting for his throne. Obviously, he couldn't help but feel displeased.

However, this Nobel Prize laureate's aura was… a bit too dazzling.

Jiang Liang could guess what the old man was thinking, so he said, "About Academician Pan, even though he's a veteran of the ITER cooperation team, the efforts weren't done by him alone. Not to mention he's retired now. You should be the main person in charge of the controllable nuclear fusion project.

"Lu Zhou wants to engage in controllable nuclear fusion but doesn't consult you. Instead, he went to Academician Pan. Isn't that a bit disrespectful?"

"Go do your own work, this is none of your concern."

Once Academician Zhou saw Jiang Liang shut his mouth, he continued to speak without hesitation.

"He can do his own thing, and we'll do our thing. The stellarator is not part of our expertise anyway. If we can, we'll cooperate with them, and if we can't, then it's not our problem. We have our own conditions. What? Is he going to blame us?"

Jiang Liang understood. He then smiled as he replied, "Dean Zhou, you're correct, I get it now!"

Chapter 470: You Guys Really Only Talked About Mathematics?

Controllable nuclear fusion wasn't some kind of aircraft or cannon, nor was it an atomic missile. Even though it contained the words "nuclear fusion", it wasn't something that was classified.

Therefore, the location of the research unit didn't have to be a secret.

The people involved also didn't have to be classified.

Same with the communication.

This was just like the International Space Station program; these types of large projects often required more than just one country or organization to accomplish. The controllable nuclear fusion project was the same; competition always existed in ITER, but yet, cooperation would still be there.

If going to a meeting meant having to take multiple flights and rides, then this meeting probably wouldn't happen.

When the Chinese Academy of Sciences wanted to research the tokamak, they set up shop around a beautiful island in Lu Yang city.

Lu Zhou felt like Jinling was pretty good; therefore, he drew a circle around the Purple Mountain in Jinling, which determined the project location.

The official documents would take a while to process. Before that, Lu Zhou planned on going back to his alma mater.

First of all, the building for the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, which he spent a hundred million yuan on, was finally completed. Secondly, he still needed support from Jin Ling University for his controllable nuclear fusion plan and his vision of a Chinese version of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Manager Wang followed Lu Zhou to the hotel entrance and asked with a smile, "Professor Lu, are you not going to stay for a few more days?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No, I'm not. Work is too busy, and I can't take a break. I'll see you soon."

Manager Wang: "Take care."

Lu Zhou nodded and walked toward his black government-issued car.

His suitcase was already in the car trunk; he didn't have to worry about these things.

Wang Peng was sitting in the driver's seat. When he saw Lu Zhou put on his seatbelt, he started the car.

"Where to?"

"Airport!"

…

At the administrative building at Jin Ling University…

Principal Xu was wearing a pair of glasses as he sat in front of his desk and meticulously handled his administrative duties.

Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds at the door.

Principal Xu put down his hand and cleared his throat.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and someone unexpected stood in front of the doorway.

When Principal Xu saw Lu Zhou standing in front of the doorway, he was stunned. He put down the pen in his hand and smiled as he stood up from his office chair.

"Professor Lu? What brings you here? Please come in."

Lu Zhou looked at the documents on Principal Xu's desk. He then smiled politely and said, "The timing is a bit sudden as I just got off the plane. I didn't interrupt your work, right?"

Principal Xu smiled and said, "Since a Nobel Prize laureate is visiting our school, obviously we have to welcome him with both arms open; how is this an interruption? However, your timing is quite sudden. Why didn't you tell us beforehand? We didn't prepare anything."

"There's no need for any preparation. I'm just here to see my alma mater, and there's no need to make it so troublesome." Lu Zhou smiled, and as he placed the pack of tea on the table, he said, "I brought some tea."

Principal Xu said, "I can't accept such a valuable gift. Take this to Old Tang or Old Lu."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean valuable? It's just two packs of tea. I also brought some for Professor Tang and Academician Lu, so please accept the gifts."

After some small talk, the two sat down on the sofa.

Principal Xu told his assistant to make two cups of hot tea.

Lu Zhou spoke in a serious tone.

"I'll probably leave Princeton and come back to China around next year. If it's okay with you, Principal Xu, I'll have to trouble you in the future."

"What do you mean trouble?" Principal Xu smiled and said, "If you want to come back, I'm willing to let you take over the principal's position."

Lu Zhou quickly said, "There's no need for that. I'm finding a research institute director, but let's not make me manage a university."

His research was already busy enough. If he really became a principal, he'd have to clone himself to handle all of the work.

Also, he was against using administrative power to eliminate talents.

Lu Zhou sipped some tea to moisten his throat. He then changed his demeanor and began to speak about serious matters.

"I just got back from Beijing; I met the president."

Principal Xu suddenly looked stern; he put on a serious expression.

"What did you guys… Is it okay to ask?"

"Nothing secret. The documents will probably be released soon, so it's fine talking about this in advance."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "… Other than some technical things, we mainly talked about academia and the history of mathematics."

Principal Xu: "History of mathematics?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's right."

Ever since the Renaissance, mathematicians had been a group that was extremely sensitive to the environment. The last century's mathematicians mostly centered around Europe, and the French Bourbaki scholars and the German Göttingen scholars had had an equal share of academia influence and attainment. However, in less than a quarter of a century, the Göttingen scholars had almost been completely annihilated, and the Bourbaki scholars were also declining. The world center of mathematics had since moved from Europe to North America.

Lu Zhou explained, "Over the years at Princeton, I've learned quite a lot of things, whether it's knowledge itself or the academic culture.

"After learning from history and real-life experiences, my biggest takeaway is that academic prosperity is inseparable from an open academic environment. Therefore, I told the old man that I plan on building a Chinese Institute for Advanced Study in Jinling for purely academic research. It was also to separate academia from bureaucratization and politics."

When Principal Xu heard Lu Zhou's words, he nodded.

He had a background in scientific research, so he was well aware of the impact of bureaucracy on scientific research efficiency.

He was a supporter of education reform, and he had made previous efforts on reforming the education system.

Even though he might not agree with some policies, but he fully supported Lu Zhou's point of view.

Especially for Lu Zhou's plan on building an institute in the style of Princeton Institute for Advanced Study in China. They had talked about this plan a long time ago, and he also showed support back then.

However, support was just support. To actually implement it might be a little difficult…

"I agree with you, but this is very difficult to implement; especially the depoliticization. With the situation in China right now, this is basically impossible…"

Lu Zhou: "The president agreed."

Principal Xu's eyes were wide open as he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "He said that since it's my research institute, I can do whatever I want. If I mess up, then its whatever, but if I succeed, I can expand in a limited range."

This limited range obviously meant Jin Ling University.

Actually, Lu Zhou didn't really care if he expanded or not.

He didn't think of himself as an educator; he was only a scholar.

What he needed was a comfortable academic environment which would allow him to quietly engage in his own research.

He didn't have any political demands nor was he interested in making them.

However, it seemed that Principal Xu simply didn't believe in Lu Zhou's words.

Especially at the high-level government official's response; this was simply ridiculous for him.

Principal Xu couldn't help but ask, "You guys really only talked about mathematics?"

"Of course it's not just mathematics," Lu Zhou smiled and said. He then continued, "Before that… we were talking about controllable nuclear fusion."

Chapter 471: Large Buildings

The official documents were quickly released.

It was almost like it grew wings and followed Lu Zhou, flying all the way from Beijing to Jinling.

The first action was the dispatch of Jinling military troops where they then proceeded to set up fences around the Purple Mountain area.

Even though the entire research facility design only covered 80 acres, the military cleared out nearly 800 acres of land nearby.

Even though controllable nuclear fusion had nothing to do with nuclear bombs, it still had "nuclear" in its name.

And anything related to nuclear, even though it was absolutely safe from a technical standpoint, would cause others to be afraid or worried.

Thankfully, this was in the suburbs, and thus, the population density wasn't high.

What had to be knocked down would be knocked down, and what had to be moved would be moved. Due to the city's standard 1.5 market value demolition compensation, this process was very fast.

After that, the equipment from the China National Nuclear Corporation arrived.

Almost immediately after the project bidding finished, more than a dozen trucks and engineering vehicles fearsomely followed the military personnel and entered the construction site. They then began to set up everything on the empty land.

Guard Xiao Liu looked at the cement blocks on the trucks and stuck his tongue out.

"Nuclear construction, nuclear power cement… Are they planning on building a nuclear power station in Jinling?"

Xiao Li, who was standing next to him, shook his head. He said, "Doesn't look like it. Nuclear power plants have to be next to the sea, right? Who builds power stations in the middle of nowhere…"

Xiao Liu: "Then is it a nuclear test?"

Xiao Li shook his head again and said, "That's even less likely. Who would conduct nuclear tests near the capital and coastal provinces? Surely they would do it thousands of miles away from everyone!"

Xiao Liu couldn't help but ask, "Then what do you think this is?"

Xiao Li looked at the Purple Mountain next to him and made a random guess. "I'm guessing it might be a nuclear fallout shelter. What do they say? Build your camps next to mountains and water! See that Purple Mountain next to us? This thing is probably a natural nuclear bunker…"

Old Zhao couldn't stand to listen anymore, and he couldn't help but reprimand them, "Stop talking sh*t! Do you really think you can guess what this is? Shut up and stand still."

The two new soldiers suddenly shut their mouths.

Old Zhao was right; there was no way they could guess what the state planned on building here.

Suddenly, a military vehicle parked on the dirt road.

The car doors opened from both sides, and a prestigious looking middle-aged man and a very young-looking man got out of the car.

The armed soldiers, who were standing there, suddenly stood straight and saluted.

"Hello, commander!"

"Hello, soldiers."

The man nodded and saluted. Without saying anything else, he and this young man walked toward the construction site.

Xiao Liu, who had a big mouth, looked at the commander walking away, and he couldn't help but start quietly chatting with Xiao Li again.

"Hey, who do you think is the person walking behind the commander?"

Xiao Li was obviously very interested in this question; he looked at the young man walking away from them.

"I don't know. He looks pretty young. His pale skin obviously means that he's not in the troops… Maybe in military logistics?"

Xiao Liu and Xiao Li were both kicked in the a*ss by their field officer.

…

Less than a week had passed between the policy being passed and the beginning of construction. This type of efficiency was only achievable in China.

Lu Zhou looked at the busy construction site and felt emotional. He couldn't help but thank the person next to him.

"Commander Liao, thank you so much."

Commander Liao smiled slightly and said, "There's no need to thank us; it is our duty to protect and defend the country. The real people that are improving our motherland are scientists like you."

Party A on the STAR Stellarator Research Institute contract was the Jinling Military; this was all to make sure the project continued at the fastest speed and without any interruptions.

Standing in front of Lu Zhou and Commander Liao was the chief engineer, Sun Zhonghai, who was sent from Party B, the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Even though Sun Zhonghai was already sixty years old, he had worked at the Daya Bay nuclear power plant. He was exceptionally experienced in the field of nuclear engineering construction.

They kept the small talk to a minimum. The old engineer placed the design drawings on the hood of his truck and said to Lu Zhou, "This is the engineering drawing. See if there's anything you want to change; you can just tell me."

The engineering drawing was a modified version of the research institute at Lu Yang. Even though their research institute was used for the tokamak device, the two had very similar engineering requirements.

Lu Zhou briefly looked at the engineering drawing and said, "I can't understand these professional engineering blueprints, so I'll just say some of my requirements."

Engineer Sun nodded and gestured his assistant to take out a pen and paper; he was ready to write down Lu Zhou's requirements.

Lu Zhou looked at the excavator next to him and contemplated for a bit before speaking.

"Safety comes first. After that, it is confidentiality. I don't have any special requirements for the facilities, so you can just do them according to the blueprint requirements. As for the underground section, I'll need a 500 square meters room which would mainly be used to store the stellarator."

Engineer Sun looked at the blueprints. He then looked at the construction site and said, "We can dig a hole in the mountain and build a road. After that, we can build the entire laboratory in the mountain. Is that okay?"

Lu Zhou asked, "Digging the Purple Mountain, isn't that a bit troublesome?"

The Purple Mountain wasn't barren, and a few kilometers north was a scenery spot. However, undergoing construction in a place like this would require consideration of many factors.

Engineer Sun smiled as he said nonchalantly, "This isn't troublesome at all. We're one of the top national projects, so we have the highest priority. Besides, we're only opening a small hole at the bottom of the mountain. It's not like we're constructing a bunch of large buildings."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, this laboratory must be safe."

Commander Liao asked with a serious tone, "Is it dangerous?"

Lu Zhou nodded at first, but after that, he shook his head and said, "Every experiment has a certain element of risk involved. Even though the risk isn't high, this is a matter of precaution."

Theoretically, controllable nuclear fusion was safe. Unlike nuclear fission, nuclear fusion wouldn't produce a chain reaction. If the machine failed to work, then the reaction would stop.

However, even then, the high-pressure plasma was at hundreds of millions of degrees. Even though there was no nuclear fusion, there was still a certain amount of danger.

However, as long as the construction was done properly, this risk could be greatly mitigated.

Engineer Sun: "Don't worry about this, the entire research institute will be built using nuclear power cement."

Lu Zhou looked around and said, "The other thing is traffic. The roads here don't look good."

Commander Liao: "This is easy. I will report this to the superiors. They will then communicate with the city council, who will build a road here."

Lu Zhou nodded. "Thank you so much."

Chapter 472: Knowledge Is The Greatest Asse

Cars were coming to and fro the construction site; stifling smoke came out of the non-stop roaring excavators and cement trucks. There were engineers wearing white hats, holding design drawings. They personally came to the construction site to command the construction workers who were wearing yellow hats.

Just like the engineering machinery, everyone was working around the clock. The project was progressing at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. The construction site was roaring with action.

The environment was horrible; just standing there watching would make one's leather shoes covered with mud and dust.

However, the high ranking city council officials were standing nearby. They didn't have an ounce of disgust on their faces. Instead, their faces were blooming with joy.

A billion-dollar USD national investment was suddenly designated to Jin Ling City. This was basically a blessing from the heavens for Jin Ling City.

Especially since this was a controllable nuclear fusion scientific research project, this would greatly benefit the advanced technology industry and attract skilled talents to Jin Ling City.

Putting it straight forward, this was a huge political achievement.

Of course, this controllable nuclear fusion thing was nothing worth keeping confidential. There were plenty of research institutes around the world that did the same type of research, and they had been doing it for nearly half a century.

However, in order to prevent unnecessary worries and misunderstandings, these things were still kept low-key. Before any brilliant in-progress results came out, it was best to avoid any type of publicity.

Since the engineering part was overlooked by Commander Liao, the quality of the construction team was guaranteed.

At the current progress speed, it'd take at most six months for the project to be completed. If everything went well, it wouldn't even need to take six months; three or four months would do.

Since Commander Liao gave his word to Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou didn't worry too much about the construction project anymore. Once he told Engineer Sun some of his requirements, he began to focus his attention on the construction preparations for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Three days before New Year's, the STAR Stellarator Research Institute was in its second week of construction, while the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials building was finally completed.

The laboratory building the chemistry department lent to Lu Zhou was finally returned to its original owner.

However, the chemistry professors at Jin Ling University weren't eagerly looking forward to its return.

Because the relocation of the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials meant that the billion-dollar high precision instruments and equipment would also be reallocated by Yang Xu and his team.

Even though the Institute of Computational Materials wasn't far from Jin Ling University, it was still outside of the university campus.

Borrowing instruments wouldn't be so easy in the future.

Dean Li of the chemistry department looked at the truck that was being driven away. As he stood next to Lu Zhou, he began to feel nostalgic. He then said, "Why are you guys in such a rush? It's not like there's someone forcing you to leave."

Lu Zhou: "This laboratory building is still the property of the school; it's not that good having it under my name."

Dean Li shook his head and said, "You're not an outsider though."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Jin Ling University is my alma mater, so I've never thought about myself as an outsider. However, it is good to separate public and private matters."

If the relationship between public and private business wasn't clear, it would cause problems sooner or later.

When he was overseas, he was careful in his every step. Now that he was back in China, he had to be extra careful.

Since Lu Zhou put it like this, Dean Li didn't say much else; he just sighed.

"You're right, you're a Nobel Prize laureate now; the benchmark of the Chinese science community. All of the spotlights are on you. There's a lot of people staring at your achievements, and also a lot of people waiting for you to make a mistake, so it's good to be careful."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I will."

…

Even though the research institute building was built and the instruments had been relocated, this was still only the beginning of Lu Zhou's vision for the Institute for Advanced Study.

The field of computational materials was the only research institute around; all of the other research institutes were yet to be seen.

If he wanted to make his vision a reality, he had to put in a lot more work.

Because this was a privately owned research unit, after Lu Zhou made his policy requests, he didn't want to ask the state for more money. Even though the president promised him a billion yuan interest-free loan, Lu Zhou didn't plan on borrowing this money.

Firstly, he didn't need that much money right now.

Secondly, there was still quite a bit of funds left in the Star Sky Technology China branch for him to play with.

If he didn't look at the numbers in his bank account, he would have almost forgotten that he was basically a billionaire. After he realized he had this much money to play with, he immediately invested a hundred million yuan into the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study fund.

Lu Zhou never cared about spending money on research.

After all, the original intention of Star Sky Technology was to help with his laboratory research.

Lu Zhou walked around the brand new research institute building with his most helpful assistant, Yang Xu. While he familiarized himself with the environment, he asked, "How does it feel like to move back home?"

Yang Xu smiled and said, "The laboratory is much more spacious, and there's not a lot of people around here, so it feels a bit deserted."

Lu Zhou smiled.

"Deserted is part of it. I'll quickly hire a new group of researchers and make this place lively again."

With his Nobel Prize medal, coupled with the sophisticated equipment in the brand new laboratory building, Lu Zhou didn't even have to offer a high salary to attract a bunch of hard-working researchers.

Of course, looking at it from a long term perspective, he wouldn't treat his scientific researcher poorly either.

Lu Zhou stood in the research director's office that had floor-to-ceiling windows. As he looked at the entire institute, he said enthusiastically, "This is only phase one of the whole research institute. There are three more phases to go. Not just in materials science, but also mathematics, and physics. Whether it is software or hardware, we must strive to achieve world-class standards!"

Yang Xu: "Higher standards than CERN?"

Lu Zhou: "That will happen eventually."

Bragging didn't require proofs, and what if it turned out to be true?

Yang Xu joked, "You really plan on getting a Hadron Collider?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "It's an idea, but the thing can't be built in the city, plus right now we don't have the resources needed."

Theoretical physics experiments was another funding black hole. Nothing spectacular could come from it even if he invested his entire fortune.

However, if the controllable nuclear fusion project was a success, then funding wouldn't be a problem anymore.

By that time, if he wanted to draw a circle on the ground for a Hadron Collider or place a satellite in the sky to collect dark matter, no matter what ideas he came up with, someone would give him the green light.

Yang Xu didn't think about things that far into the future; his thoughts were still on the Hadron Collider. Feeling slightly astonished, he rubbed his chin while he thought about it.

"That thing isn't cheap, right? It'll cost billions; where will the money come from?" Yang Xu asked.

Lu Zhou smiled, but he didn't give this question a direct answer.

"Knowledge is the greatest asset, and our research is creating wealth."

Lu Zhou, who looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows paused for a moment.

"Gather up all of the researchers in the institute. We will have a large conference to talk about the next steps!"

Chapter 473: Two Major Directions

"That's everyone?"

Lu Zhou looked at the empty conference room; he wasn't used to something like this.

When he did his report at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the venue was so crowded that people couldn't get into the lecture hall; they had to sit in the hallways.

But now, when he looked around, he only saw around 20 people in the conference room.

He even knew some of them.

Like Brother Qian, Liu Bo, etc…

"There aren't many formal researchers in our institute. I thought you might want to say some confidential stuff, so I didn't invite the temporary researchers and research assistants," Yang Xu said while he looked at Lu Zhou awkwardly. He then immediately added, "How about I notify them now?"

Lu Zhou was stunned. He then smiled and said, "No need, it's fine. Everyone sitting here is the backbone of the research institute, and I only have a few things to say."

He plugged in the USB into the projector and turned it on.

Once the projector screen behind him was pulled down, he cleared his throat and adjusted his demeanor.

"You guys might have already heard that the controllable nuclear fusion project is set in Jinling."

When Lu Zhou said this, there was a commotion in the conference room. The researchers all looked at each other in surprise and shock.

Even though they had heard some rumors before, that type of hearsay was obviously less shocking than Lu Zhou's in-person confirmation.

If anyone else said they wanted to research some state of the art technology like controllable nuclear fusion, they would be laughed at.

However, it was different for Lu Zhou.

Not only did he solve the world-class Navier–Stokes equation problem, but he also established a mathematical model for the plasma turbulence phenomenon using the L Manifold.

When their god-like boss said he wanted to engage in nuclear fusion, even though the researchers sitting here had never even seen a stellarator, they still naturally believed in their boss.

However, what confused them was why did Lu Zhou have to talk about this here?

After all, the Institute of Computational Materials wasn't a plasma physics laboratory; their research was focused on materials science and had nothing to do with controllable nuclear fusion.

However, Lu Zhou's following words answered the question that was on everyone's mind.

"… Some people might ask, 'what does this have to do with us?'. After all, you guys have a chemical engineering background and chose materials as your development direction. And even though some of you studied condensed matter physics before, it has nothing to do with plasma and nuclear engineering.

"However, breakthroughs in energy technology is inseparable from advancements in materials technology. We need a larger magnetic field to constrain the erratic plasma. We also need a more secure first wall to withstand the light and heat from the fusion reaction."

Lu Zhou looked at the researchers and paused for a second. He then began to talk about his main point.

"Our future research will be focused on two major directions. One is the field of superconducting materials. Like what I said, we need to engineer a more concise material that has a lower superconductivity temperature. This is to strengthen our magnetic field.

"The other is heat-resistant materials. We need to build a first wall that is resistant to high temperatures and can block the plasma that escaped from the magnetic field.

"Right now, we have made some progress on the side of the superconducting materials. At the MRS meeting, the SG-1 superconducting material reached a superconductivity transition temperature of 101K. Among other superconducting materials, this number isn't anything special. However, the plasticity of graphene gives us great potential for further research."

Lu Zhou showed a list of technologies required for controllable nuclear fusion on the PowerPoint behind him.

These were all problems known to the public; the known bottlenecks of controllable nuclear fusion.

He was a one-man army. He couldn't solve all of these problems by himself. The best way was to split a big research project into smaller research projects and then delegate the small research projects to his research team.

And he would choose some of the more difficult problems to conduct research on.

In fact, many Chinese research institutes used a similar model when trying to conduct a major research project.

For example, an academician received an eight-figure yuan project funding. The academician then split that project into many seven-figure or six-figure level projects, which he delegated to scholars in the Changjiang Scholars Program. If the project couldn't be split further, then Changjiang Scholars would delegate the work to lower-ranking Jie Qing scholars. It was like building the entire project out like a pyramid…

Of course, this was an inaccurate comparison. After all, in the academic pyramid, whether it was the Changjiang Scholars or the Jie Qing scholars, they were all considered top experts by average researchers. Differences could only be seen by comparing experts among experts.

However, there was no dispute on who would be at the bottom of the pyramids. That naturally would be the noob researchers, and they would be given the most tiring job.

Lu Zhou looked at the pairs of eyes in the conference and paused for a second.

"If we succeed, we will give benefits to the country, the people, and even our entire human civilization. This value cannot be measured with any monetary currency.

"I know this isn't a project that can be done overnight, and every step of the way will be full of difficulties.

"But I am confident that we will overcome these difficulties!

"We will all try our best together!"

…

The conference ended.

Liu Bo was holding his conference notes and muttered to himself, "Controllable nuclear fusion… Do you think this stuff is reliable?"

Qian Zhongming: "What do you mean by reliable?"

Liu Bo: "Including everyone, there are only a hundred people in our research institute and that includes the undergraduate students that just came from Jin Ling University. There are only 20 formal researchers. Did you see the research project on the PowerPoint? Just the human resources part alone is making me worried."

Qian Zhongming didn't reply to his question. Rather, he asked, "Other than our boss, how many Nobel Prize winners are there in Chinese academia?"

Liu Bo was stunned; he didn't know why he was asked this question.

"Academician Yang, Old Tu… Mo Yan?"

Qian Zhongming: "I'm talking in the academic community."

Liu Bo: "Then there's only two."

Qian Zhongming then asked, "How many are still on the frontier of scientific research?"

Academician Yang was already 95 years old. Even though he had cultivated many talented Chinese physicists and put forward many constructive opinions for the Chinese physics community, he had clearly moved away from the frontier of scientific research.

Old Tu was the same, she was already 87 years old. She was already at the age of retirement, and she was enjoying her life. Regardless of whether or not the elderly woman was still doing scientific research, it was unrealistic to expect someone that old to produce any significant research results.

Liu Bo pondered for a bit and said, "… I think it's only God Lu."

"Yeah," Qian Zhongming nodded and said, "so do you think a lack of research talents will be a problem for him?"

If the Nobel Prize winner's research institute wanted to hire people… then the researchers in the entire country or even the entire world would be running toward that institute, and they would be trying their best to squeeze their way in.

Chapter 474: At Least A Postdoc

Just like Lu Zhou had mentioned earlier at the internal meeting in the Institute of Computational Materials building, if they wanted to solve the difficult problem of controllable nuclear fusion, they couldn't avoid advancing in the field of superconducting materials.

However, a technical breakthrough wasn't enough, if it couldn't be applied through engineering, then even the greatest breakthrough would remain in the laboratory.

For example, the SG-1 material; it was one of the major breakthroughs in the field of superconducting materials, and it had already shown considerable prospects of real-life application.

However, whether it was China or the rest of the world, they had no experience in producing carbon-based superconducting materials at all, let alone applying it through engineering.

Therefore, not only did Lu Zhou have to overcome academic problems, but he also had to conquer problems outside of academia.

Fortunately, he could delegate problems to other people…

A laboratory inside the Institute of Computational Materials.

Right now, standing in front of Lu Zhou was Cao Ganwei, the chief engineer from Baosheng Group.

Baosheng Group was a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China and was a leading company in the field of superconducting materials in China. They had cooperated with many Chinese research institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and had participated in many large-scale research projects. Cao Ganwei was the chief engineer of the company, so naturally, he was involved in many of the projects.

Their most prominent project was probably the Beijing Spectrometer III(BESIII) experiment at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II.

It was difficult to determine the future, but as of now, the BESIII superconducting solenoid magnet was still the largest superconducting magnet in China.

Also, this company was involved in EAST and several other tokamak superconducting magnet projects.

After consulting Academician Pan, Lu Zhou immediately decided to contact this company and send an invitation for research and development cooperation.

After Baosheng Group received the invitation for the cooperation from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, Baosheng Group immediately sent their chief engineer and gave this project the highest priority.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't have a Nobel Prize and didn't have his reputation in the materials science community, a billion USD national-level scientific research project was definitely considered a top-level project.

However, when Engineer Cao listened to Lu Zhou's requirements, he quickly realized that things weren't so simple.

"You plan on using a 50T superconducting magnet on the stellarator; I'm afraid this won't be easy."

Even high schoolers knew how to create a stronger electromagnetic field; one just had to increase the number of coils wrapped around the solenoid.

However, even though this was the case, it was an engineering nightmare to achieve magnetic fields stronger than 10T.

Lu Zhou said, "If traditional materials would make it difficult, what if we use new materials?"

Engineer Cao raised his eyebrows as he asked, "You're talking about SG-1?"

Even though Engineer Cao wasn't in academia, he was still in the superconducting-magnets engineering field; he was up to date with the latest research developments in the field of materials science.

Especially after the SG-1 was showcased at the MRS conference. Even though he hadn't read the relevant thesis or attended the conference, he still heard about its magical properties.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's right. I actually participated in the SG-1 research."

Engineer Cao was surprised when he heard Lu Zhou say this. However, he quickly composed himself.

He had heard from somewhere that this research result came from the Frick Chemistry Laboratory in Princeton. Since Lu Zhou was a Princeton professor, his participation in this project was nothing out of the ordinary.

Engineer Cao contemplated for a bit before he asked in a cautious manner, "Is there an SG-1 sample here?"

Lu Zhou: "Not just the samples, but we have all kinds of experimental data. Come with me."

Lu Zhou took Cao Ganwei to another laboratory. He told Qian Zhongming, who was sitting in front of a computer, to collect various experimental data on the SG-1 material.

Engineer Cao spent some effort looking at the data and graphs on the computer screen. He then frowned and pondered for a while before finally speaking.

"Honestly, this is my first time hearing about using a carbon-based superconducting material to create a superconducting track."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Isn't experimenting a part of science?"

"That's right, but we're a company. Even though the things you're talking about sound interesting, we have to think realistically," Engineer Cao said as he rubbed his chin while looking at the material resistance versus time graph and the electric current graph. After a long time, he suddenly had a flash of interest in his eyes.

He then said, "… Theoretically, this is feasible, but with the price of graphene right now, if you want to build a magnet as large as the BESIII project, it will probably be extremely expensive."

Lu Zhou said, "The budget isn't an issue. Even if it costs billions, as long as the DEMO nuclear fusion power station project can be built, it is worth it."

The billion-dollar USD was only the first round of investment. As long as he could produce stellar in-progress results, he was confident that more people would be willing to invest.

"Since the cost isn't an issue, I think it is worth trying," Engineer Cao said. He then paused for a second before he cautiously asked, "Can I bring a few samples back for research?"

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "Of course you can, but you can't take the experimental data on the computers. It involves some confidential information that hasn't been released to the public, and I'm afraid you can only look at it when you are here."

Engineer Cao nodded. "I understand."

After the chief engineer left, Lu Zhou found Yang Xu, the director of the Institute of Computational Materials.

"After New Year's, I plan on going to Germany."

Yang Xu: "Germany?"

"Mainly for the stellarator." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Since I'm there, I plan on buying a set of new instruments, and it'll cost around US$100 million. I need you to compile a list of necessary equipment."

He would expand the scale of the research institute after New Year's; his hardware also had to be kept up to date.

A smile appeared on Yang Xu's face when he heard about the purchase of new equipment. He said, "That's easy. Since we're doing research on superconducting materials, let's get two transmission electron microscopes."

Even though the research institute already had one of those microscopes, having two more meant the same experiment could produce two more sets of data.

Especially for something as magical as a transmission electron microscope, it was impossible to have too many of them.

Lu Zhou agreed without even blinking. "Write it down on the list."

He paused for a second before he continued, "Also, I plan on expanding the number of researchers to around 200. I will let Star Sky Technology contact the headhunting company, and you will handle the talent selection."

Yang Xu nodded and said, "Don't worry about that. I will hold them to the highest standards. Oh yeah, are there any requirements for the new recruits?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he replied.

"A least a postdoc."

Chapter 475: A Noob researcher

[Do you have a friend in materials science? Why not apply to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study? Link: Recruitment page.

[PS1: All you need is a passion for scientific research. Minimum education level: PhD, with more than 12 months of experience working as a postdoc or corporate scientific researcher.

[PS2: You don't have to be a PhD in materials science. PhDs in Mathematics, physics, and other disciplines can also throw in your resumes. But please attach a formal research project application to your resume.]

At midnight, in a materials science laboratory at the University of Science and Technology of China.

Hou Jinli, who was guarding the laboratory, was scrolling through his Weibo when he saw this post. He suddenly felt motivated.

Like most people, he only followed God Lu on Weibo to see God Lu bragging about his achievements. Since this Nobel Prize winner didn't post anything on Weibo for so long, he didn't expect to see a… recruitment ad?

He looked at the comments and saw the plebeians discussing.

[Minimum PhD, 12 months of postdoc experience… God Lu, I'm still studying my undergrad, can you save me a spot?]

[This advertisement is making me uncomfortable, I'm reporting it!]

[Can a high schooler apply? I can clean the floors, pour tea, and act cute~~]

[Man, how come there isn't biology? Think about us biologists! (cry) (cry)]

[That biologist must be autistic, how about we… (evil smile) (evil smile)]

Hou Jinli: "…"

He saw the hundreds of likes and felt like there was a deep malevolence coming from across the screen; he decided not to read any more comments.

Every year, there were plenty of students that fell into the big dark pit of biology, chemistry, chemical engineering, environmental studies, and materials sciences.

The materials science research environment was the same, whether it was in China or around the world.

The profit margin was less than 30%. It was common for the product development cycle to be 7-8 years. The real question was, how many real estate buildings could be built during those 8 years? How many online companies could grow, go public, and go bankrupt in that time frame?

Of course, materials science was still relatively important in China as the industry received quite a lot of support.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many companies that relied on state subsidies and scientific research funding to survive.

Of course, for noob researchers in this field, doing scientific research still depended on one's passion; it wasn't just about money.

If Hou Jinli were to ask himself why he didn't change fields, it would be because of his passion for the materials science world.

At the same time, he hoped that one day he would be as successful as his PhD supervisor and that he would be driving a BMW, handling multi-million projects, and chatting with CEOs of public companies.

However, while dreams were beautiful, the reality was often cruel.

Million-dollar projects? He didn't even have his own laboratory!

His ideal future path was probably two years of postdoc. After that, he would apply for the Thousands Talents Plan. Then, he would work at a good university…

However, this was only an idea.

Like what the name had suggested, his chance of achieving this was less than one in a thousand.

When Hou Jinli looked at the Weibo post and saw the name of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he couldn't help but think about the matter that caused intense controversy in academia a while ago.

Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the new controllable nuclear fusion research unit in Jinling.

Even though this matter wasn't publicly reported, this was no secret among the academic community.

Some people thought Lu Zhou was arrogant; some people thought he was crazy. Some people were arguing about the possibility of the allegations being true. After all, one could argue that humans were a long way from controllable nuclear fusion technology, but one could also argue that humans were one football kick away from the winning goal.

However, it had been fifty years, and the ball hadn't entered the goal.

Hou Jinli couldn't help but think if the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study's recruitment post for materials science researchers was related to the controllable nuclear fusion project.

He curiously clicked on the link within the Weibo post and read the details.

When his eyes arrived at the compensation section, he was frozen.

Formal researcher will get a salary of 300K!

And the end of the year bonus, insurance, accommodation, and food subsidies…

Of course, what attracted his attention the most wasn't the 300k annual salary but the description after that.

According to the information listed on the page, as long as one passed the interview and finished a 1-6 month long internship, one would receive the qualification of a formal researcher!

Normally for PhDs that didn't study abroad, the usual procedure was to do a two to three-year postdoc at a university, then become assistant researcher, then associate researcher, then associate professor. This entire process would take at least six years. Also, if someone got unlucky and had a terrible, heartless boss, it could take them eight years to earn an independent research qualification.

And how many years one had in a lifetime?

A researcher only had ten golden years, and that period was the period from 30 to 40 years old.

If he could successfully become a formal researcher, he could cut down the process by at least six years.

Hou Jinli remembered that in two days, he would have stayed at the University of Science and Technology of China as a postdoc for exactly one year. His mind began to race.

If he was a formal researcher, he could have his own laboratory and could engage in independent research. He could skip the six years of exploitation he would have to endure otherwise.

Even though this scientific researcher position wasn't attractive for expert researchers, but for noob researchers like him that were still suffering, this was insanely appealing.

…

Staying up all night was the norm for Hou Jinli.

The next day, Hou Jinli filled in the experimental data on the report. He then energetically opened his laptop and downloaded the attachments from the recruitment website.

Suddenly, his friend at the laboratory walked over.

Sun Hao stood next to his friend's seat and looked at the computer screen. He then said, "… Minimum a PhD, 12 months of scientific research experience. Jesus, what kind of scientific research institute has this kind of threshold?"

Hou Jinli: "Jinling Institute for Advanced Study."

When Sun Hao heard the research institute's name, he was stunned.

"Jinling Institute for Advanced Study? F*ck me! You want to work for the Nobel Prize winner?!"

Hou Jinli: "It's at least worth a try?"

Regardless, he was a postdoc at the University of Science and Technology of China; he had an advantage in terms of his academic qualifications.

Of course, he didn't know how big this advantage was.

"Unfortunately, I still have seven months to go; otherwise, I'd apply as well." Sun Hao looked at the recruitment post on the screen and said with envy, "Bro, if you really end up working at this Nobel Prize winner's laboratory, don't forget about me."

Hou Jinli smiled. He then sighed and said, "We'll see. I'm afraid the competition is quite fierce."

200 spots seemed like a lot.

But if the jobs were evenly spread across China's major universities, it wasn't a lot at all.

Also with a salary like this, it wouldn't only be domestic universities; even postdocs who were doing their research abroad would be tempted…

After some anxious waiting, Hou Jinli successfully received an interview invitation. He confidently sat on a high-speed train and left Luyang, arriving at Jinling.

However, after he took a taxi and arrived at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

He had a hunch when he was booking his hotel room.

Now it seemed like his hunch was correct.

He looked at the crowd of people gathered at the research institute and felt hopeless at his profession for the first time ever…

Chapter 476: Talent Placemen

Hou Jinli was just one example.

There were many people that had the same experience as him, and they stood downstairs at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study while holding the same dreams.

Tens of thousands of resumes were screened, and there were less than a thousand that received invitations to come for the interviews.

And only one-fifth of the people could pass the interview.

Regardless, everyone here had an equal opportunity.

It was up to them to grasp that opportunity.

Of course, other than formal researchers, there were also positions like assistant researchers, associate researchers, etc., waiting for them.

Even though the compensations from these positions weren't as attractive as that of a formal researcher, most people were willing to work here regardless of the role.

There was only one reason why.

Because this was a Nobel Prize winner's laboratory; if they were to put in the same amount of effort in their scientific research here, there would be more opportunities here than any other research institutes in China…

…

Yang Xu was the recruitment gatekeeper.

Lu Zhou was confident in Yang Xu's abilities; therefore, he left this matter to him. He only briefly reviewed resumes that weren't in the field of materials science, such as physics and mathematics.

These people were treated differently than those applying to the material science research institute. For researchers in the fields of mathematics and physics, Lu Zhou asked them to attach a research project application.

If they passed their interviews, the corresponding research project application would be considered as a thesis proposal. After being hired, their thesis proposal would also be accepted.

After they wrote their conclusion report, they would graduate from the internship.

Therefore, compared to the resume, Lu Zhou paid more attention to the research project applications.

He could extract many things from the thesis proposal that he wouldn't be able to extract from a normal resume, such as the applicant's experience in applying for research funding, etc…

While the Institute of Computational Materials was hiring 200 people, the yet to be established physics research institute and mathematics research institute would only hire around 20 people each.

Rome wasn't built in a day; the same applied to the Institute for Advanced Study. Cultivating talents couldn't be done overnight, and rapid expansion wasn't necessarily a good thing.

Even though Lu Zhou had a rough idea of how to copy Princeton, he was still in the process of figuring out the specifics.

He hoped that in the midst of this trial and error process, he could find an ideal way to build his research institute.

This wasn't an easy task, but it was worth a shot.

After three days of interviews and screening, the list of formal researchers was finalized.

Surprisingly, other than the 200 formal researchers, there were more than 500 PhDs that were willing to stay as research assistants.

After the expansion, the Institute of Computational Materials had transformed from a small 20 formal researcher institute to one of the largest materials science research institutes in the country.

Of course, this was only judging by the number of staff and equipment; it wasn't by the number of theses or research results produced.

With the talents and equipment in place, as long as the Nobel Prize winner led the team, excelling in the latter two was only a matter of time.

However, that was the future. Now that the people were hired, the placements of talents became another problem.

The city council at Jinling paid great attention to the construction of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Even though they didn't send any direct payments, they basically gave the Institute for Advanced Study a free piece of land for the accommodation of their employees. The land was next to the major university; it was in a high-tech industrial developmental zone.

However, the new piece of land had just finished their apartment bidding, and it would take at least a year before the apartments could be handed over to the institute.

On the side of the Institute for Advanced Study, starting from January, the PhDs that passed their interviews would have to come over and start their new job.

"Just rent a place for the time being," Lu Zhou said. He was at a conference when he talked about this problem. He thought for a bit and said, "Until the construction for the employee accommodation is completed, formal researchers will be issued a 2,000 yuan monthly renting subsidy. This should solve the housing problem."

The average rent of houses near the university was around 3,000 yuan per month, so a 2,000 yuan housing subsidy was quite generous. As for the assistant researchers and other positions, they would receive around 1,000 yuan per month of housing subsidy.

However, in this case, the Institute for Advanced Study would have to spend more than a million yuan a month just on housing subsidies.

Yang Xu shook his head and said, "Making all of them rent outside is a hassle. It's difficult to manage and the housing market isn't good near the university. If they find a place far away, transport will be a problem."

Lu Zhou: "Do you have a better plan?"

Yang Xu smiled mischievously and said, "I do have a plan… But it depends on you."

Lu Zhou: "Depends on me?"

Yang Xu looked away and said, "I think the faculty accommodation at Jin Ling University has been built…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

He immediately knew what Yang Xu was thinking.

Obviously, Lu Zhou had to ask for this favor in person…

…

The next day, Lu Zhou visited Principal Xu at his office at Jin Ling University. While chatting, they happened to talk about the few problems the Institute for Advanced Study was facing.

Lu Zhou was hesitant about whether or not he should ask, and he didn't know how to phrase it. However, Principal Xu was one step ahead of him.

He smiled as he said, "That's easy. Since the faculty accommodation at Jin Ling University has just been built, it's still empty. If you need, I can lend you two buildings."

Lu Zhou: "This… isn't appropriate, right?"

"Nothing is inappropriate." Principal Xu smiled and said, "You guys are working on an important national project as well as an important city council project. Not to mention, you guys have also helped us quite a bit before, so lending you two apartment buildings is no big deal."

Even the chemistry department laboratory building was lent out for two years, so lending them the two staff apartment buildings really was nothing.

Furthermore, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had a close connection with Jin Ling University, and they had been cooperating on scientific research projects.

And more than that, the real reason Principal Xu didn't hesitate before making this decision was because of the one billion USD scientific research engineering project.

What did one billion USD mean?

That meant almost seven billion yuan.

Forget about Jin Ling University; even the highest funded university in China, Shuimu University, only had annual funding of 5.79 billion yuan.

Other laboratories could take on research projects for Lu Zhou, thus taking a piece of the billion dollar fund.

With the strength of the physics department at Jin Ling University, they would be able to take on many research projects.

In contrast, they only had to temporarily lend out two staff apartment buildings.

It wouldn't be a big deal even if they never take back the buildings.

Lu Zhou saw how clear-cut Principal Xu's answer was, so he didn't try and decline.

After pausing for a moment, Principal Xu said with a smile, "Oh yeah, since you're here, I want to ask you for a favor."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

Principal Xu smiled and said, "The Jinling University's Annual Person Award Ceremony will be held in a week!"

Most of the good universities had their version of the Annual Person Award where the selected ones were all geniuses among geniuses. It was quite a prestigious award. The Annual Person Award Ceremony was one of the major university events.

In principle, one person could only win this award once. However, Lu Zhou remembered that he seemed to have won it twice; once for his undergrad, and once for his master's.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and coughed. He then said, "It's been so long since I graduated, you're not going to give me a prize, right?"

Principal Xu smiled and said, "You've already won the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize, and you're still concerned about our little prize?! We're not giving you a prize, I just want to ask if you have the time to give the young students at Jin Ling University a medal or something."

Oh, I'm supposed to give out prizes…

There were too many people calling him that tried to give him awards, so the thought of receiving another prize almost activated Lu Zhou's conditioned response of rejecting the prize.

"Not concerned, just used to it." Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "Okay then, just let me know when the time comes."

Principal Xu nodded and said, "Okay, thanks in advance!"Based on 2016 statistics

Chapter 477: Too Early For Me

The accommodation problem was solved.

After New Year's, the researchers that were hired began working, and the research plan was finally put on the agenda.

As for the coordination of new researchers, they had to quickly integrate themselves into their new roles and positions and arrange their own research group projects. Important equipment and instrument also had to be allocated. This all depended on Yang Xu's management abilities.

As Lu Zhou walked in the corridor outside the principal's office, he took out his phone and called Wang Peng, asking him to drive to the administrative building.

However, when he hung up, he suddenly had a weird expression on his face.

Speaking of which, he had been working for so long and even solved the staff accommodation problem. However, he still didn't have a place to stay in Jinling; he was stuck in a hotel all day.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile as he shook his head.

When I have time, I'll go look at some houses.

…

Lu Zhou came downstairs and entered Wang Peng's car. He was putting on his seat belt when he suddenly received another call.

When he saw that it was Xiao Tong who called, he answered the call and placed the phone next to his ear.

"Bro, where are you?"

Lu Zhou: "About to go back to the research institute, why?"

Xiao Tong looked around and began to beat around the bush. She said, "Are you going to the New Year's Eve party?"

Lu Zhou: "What party?"

Xiao Tong blushed and said, "The party for the Annual Person Award Ceremony."

When Lu Zhou heard about the party for the Annual Person Award Ceremony, he smiled as he began to casually brag to his sister.

"If everything goes well, your brother will have to present the awards."

Xiao Tong was surprised. "Really?!"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah… Why?"

"Nothing, I'm hanging up, bye!"

Lu Zhou: …?

Xiao Tong didn't even give Lu Zhou time to ask a question; she quickly hung up.

When Lu Zhou heard the beeping sound coming from his phone, he put his phone down.

He was at a loss as he looked at his phone screen. He didn't know why this girl suddenly called.

What was she doing?

Wang Peng: "Little sister?"

Lu Zhou put away his phone and casually said, "Yeah."

Wang Peng was holding the steering wheel, and he said in a wistful tone, "It's so nice."

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. "You won't think it's nice when you have one."

Wang Peng had been Lu Zhou's driver for so long that they were almost friends.

Plus they were around the same age and didn't take things too seriously, so they often spoke casually to one another. They even occasionally bragged about some private things.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't ask about Wang Peng's specific job scope because he didn't have to. Wang Peng also didn't ask about Lu Zhou's research.

Wang Peng: "That might not be the case."

Lu Zhou: "You're an only child?"

Wang Peng sighed and said, "Since my family works for the government, I don't think we can escape the one-child policy."

Lu Zhou nodded, showing his understanding.

But speaking of which, his father, who worked at the factory, also seemed to work for the state.

Lu Zhou didn't remember how his father was able to save Xiao Tong; he only remembered that it was a cumbersome process.

Wang Peng: "When I marry, I plan on having two children. How about you?"

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "… For me, it's still too early to talk about this kind of stuff."

…

On the first Friday after New Year's, the 2018 Jin Ling University's Annual Person Awards was held at the grand auditorium in the new campus.

Lu Zhou happened to meet an acquaintance on his way to the auditorium.

"Student Yan?"

"Lu Zhou?" Yan Xinjue looked back and stopped walking. His eyes lit up as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Principal Xu invited me." Lu Zhou walked forward and smiled. He then said, "Bro, what are you doing here?"

If he recalled correctly, when he graduated from Academician Lu, this student also graduated from his PhD.

After that, he got a fellowship at the CERN research center in Switzerland. Therefore, he went to Switzerland and started to work on synchrotron radiation sources and electron injectors in X-ray free-electron laser devices. His research went from being purely theoretical physics to being applied physics. He began to work on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the Future Circular Collider (FCC).

After that, because the two didn't have an overlapping area of research, plus they were quite busy, they stopped contacting each other.

Meeting each other at the campus of Jin Ling University made them feel extra cordial.

Yan Xinjue smiled and said, "I only returned to China a few days ago, just in time to attend the Annual Person Awards, so here I am. Oh yeah, I heard you plan on returning to China and developing here."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll return at the latest this year. Once my work in Princeton is over, I plan on resigning and returning to teach at Jin Ling University. What about you? Is your work at CERN going well?"

Yan Xinjue sighed and buried his chin into his scarf as he said, "There are too many nutty people there, so the pressure is huge. It's like working under an alarm clock every day."

Lu Zhou felt sympathetic toward his friend.

After all, theoretical physics was the temple of academia; it was normal for there to be nutty people…

Lu Zhou diverted the conversation into something lighter. He asked, "Are there any interesting discoveries at CERN?"

Yan Xinjue: "Nothing recently, and the laboratories there are on holiday. However, at the end of August, we successfully observed a pair of Higgs boson fading into a pair of bottom quarks, so that's definitely an exciting discovery. According to the ATLAS and CMS detectors, the observation exceeded five sigma! Almost half of the nutty theoretical physicists went to Switzerland at the end of the year… I thought I could see you there, but you didn't end up going."

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled and said, "I was in Stockholm at that time."

Yan Xinjue patted his head when he remembered something.

"I almost forgot you won the Nobel Prize… Hm, maybe I should call you something else."

Lu Zhou was so nutty that Yan Xinjue didn't want to call him directly by his name.

Lu Zhou joked, "Sure, you can call me Professor Lu if you want."

Yan Xinjue: "Never mind, forget about it."

After arriving at the auditorium, Lu Zhou greeted Principal Xu, Academician Lu, and Old Tang. He was then escorted by a staff member to the guest seating area.

Soon after, the award ceremony opened with a youthful dance song.

When Lu Zhou looked at the dancers leaving the stage, he couldn't help but think back to the previous times when he attended the award ceremony. He then clapped as he spoke emotionally.

"It's been so many years, that song still sounds so youthful. I can't believe the dance hasn't changed yet."

Yan Xinjue, who was sitting next to him, coughed and said, "… It hasn't been that long; you were here in 2015."

Emm…

I think he's right?

He didn't know if it was because of Shi Shang's wedding, or because of the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize, or because of his own mentality changing, but time felt like it was passing by quickly…

Lu Zhou looked at the stage as he reminisced about his youthful years; he suddenly felt like that was a long, long time ago.the most valuable type of scholarship

Chapter 478: Another Year Of Awards

Just like the previous years, the award ceremony was held to celebrate outstanding student achievements in areas such as academic research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural construction.

Other than the Annual Person Award certificate, the winners would also receive a special Jin Ling University scholarship.

Even though the amount wasn't large, it was only 15,000 yuan, but the ability to stand out from tens of thousands of students was far more valuable than the money.

After all, this was a one-of-a-kind reward. Furthermore, this was in a top C9 university. The students selected this year were stronger than ever.

Physics was the trump card of Jin Ling University, so the first to appear on stage was a physics genius student.

After the host shouted the guy's name, Lu Zhou saw a tall boy, who was wearing a suit and square glasses, walking toward the stage. He then stepped on the podium in the midst of a round of applause.

When this physics genius student received the award certificate from Lu Zhou, he held his hand with excitement as he said, "God Lu!"

Lu Zhou: "… Just call me Lu Zhou or Professor Lu."

It wasn't too weird to see it on Weibo, but when he was called God Lu in real life, he felt a little shameful.

Besides, there were so many people here.

Hu Tiancheng nodded excitedly. He then asked, "Um, God… Professor Lu, can you give me your signature?"

Lu Zhou: "Sure… Do you have a pen?"

"I do! I'm carrying it," Student Hu said. Obviously, he came prepared as he quickly took out a notebook and pen from his inner suit pocket.

The notebook was huge; Lu Zhou didn't know how he managed to stuff it in his pocket.

Lu Zhou took the pen and paper and flipped through the notebook. As he looked at the densely written calculations, he couldn't find an empty space to sign.

"Where should I sign?"

Hu Tiancheng replied excitedly, "Just sign the cover!"

Lu Zhou didn't say anything else as he put his signature on the front cover of the notebook.

When Hu Tiancheng saw Lu Zhou writing, he then awkwardly asked, "Umm… Can you give me your email address as well?"

"No problem."

Lu Zhou replied cheerfully and wrote a string of letters and numbers next to the signature.

Hu Tiancheng looked at the email address and opened his mouth again. "Umm…"

Lu Zhou: "Anything else?"

Hu Tiancheng awkwardly scratched the back of his head and said, "Can I add you on WeChat?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

The physics genius student got off stage. The next student walking on stage in the midst of the applause was a mathematics genius student.

This year, the normally weak mathematics department exploded again. They didn't expect after Lu Zhou's departure, there would be another outstanding genius student.

The curtain behind the podium presented his achievements.

Full marks for all of his 12 core subjects and the rest of the subjects were 99. Ranked first in the school for his core subject marks and miles ahead of second place.

However, it wasn't just his grades that were nutty. Even his extracurricular activities were decent as well.

The guy won three gold medals—the Qiu Chengtong Award from the Qiu Chengtong College Students Mathematics Competition, the geometric topology Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, and the Zhou Weiliang Award. Other than that, he was also the first author on two SCI theses, and according to the Chinese Academy of Science, the theses were considered top-ranking.

Even though in the minds of Jin Ling University students, his status was quite a bit below that of God Lu's, but for a normal university student, his achievements were exceptionally outstanding.

As a result, Lu Zhou even had an idea of taking him in as a student.

The person receiving the award on stage was an awkward-looking male of average height.

When he shook hands with Lu Zhou, it was like he met his celebrity crush. He then shouted with excitement, "God Lu!"

Lu Zhou was so embarrassed by the enthusiasm of this kid that he even forgot to tell him not to call him God Lu.

"Uh, hello…"

Wu Kai's face was bright red because he was so nervous. He even stuttered slightly while talking.

"I… I grew up listening to your story!"

Lu Zhou nearly vomited when he heard this.

What the hell do you mean grew up listening to my story?

Also, you're an adult male, why on earth are you blushing…

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled as he said euphemistically, "I'm only 24 years old."

Wu Kai paused for a second. His face then turned red again, and he quickly explained, "Oh, sorry, I meant when I was doing the college entrance examinations…"

"No, it's fine, everyone gets nervous sometimes." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "However, you should be more confident. You've accomplished a lot for your age. I hope you continue to work hard; the future is yours."

"Thanks, thank you!" Wu Kai stood up straight; his face blushed again.

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why are you red again?

"And, can you let go of my hand now?"

"Oh, sorry!"

Wu Kai quickly retracted his hand. While holding the certificate, he bowed at Lu Zhou again before he wandered off stage.

Environmental engineering was after mathematics, and even though the engineering department at Jin Ling University wasn't as good as those universities up north, they were still quite good at materials science and natural environment.

Of course, compared to those science geniuses, engineering geniuses were another type of excellence.

However, the most basic thing they had in common was that whether they were studying theoretical or applied sciences, their academic grades were superb.

Lu Zhou was happy at how brilliant these young students were as it meant that his alma mater was getting stronger and stronger.

However, the only downside was that all of the people shaking his hand on stage were fanboys; he didn't even meet a single fangirl.

Most of the genius students in the liberal arts department were male; this made him very worried about the unbalanced gender ratio of his alma mater.

Finally, it was the business school award.

When the host announced the winner, Lu Zhou looked at the little girl walking toward the stage and was instantly shocked.

Xiao Tong?

The achievements of the winner were displayed on the projector screen behind them.

Full marks for ten core subjects and ranked first in the entire grade.

In addition to the straight As that she received for her summer exchange program that was offered by Oxford University, she also completed one SCI thesis during her exchange and won the national first-level prize for the mathematics modeling competition…

With these achievements, she definitely deserved this honor.

However, Lu Zhou just didn't expect his little sister to suddenly become so powerful.

Especially the Oxford University summer exchange program… She didn't even mention it to him.

Xiao Tong stood in front of Lu Zhou. When she saw how surprised he was, she had a smug smile on her face. "Haha, what do you think? Are you surprised?"

"Quite surprised," Lu Zhou replied honestly. He nodded and said, "I didn't expect you to be a genius student."

Xiao Tong grabbed the certificate from her brother grumpily. "What do you mean… I don't want to humiliate you, so I've been working very hard, okay?"

When Lu Zhou heard his sister, he was speechless.

What do you mean by you don't want to humiliate me… You should study for yourself.

Xiao Tong was still happily holding the award certificate. She wanted to take this opportunity and speak to the Nobel Prize laureate, so she spoke with a tinge of gloat in her voice.

"Bro, so… Do you think I can catch up to you?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're not quite there yet. Make sure you keep working hard."

Facing away from the crowd, Xiao Tong glared and said, "… Can't you just compliment me for once?"

"I don't want you to get cocky," Lu Zhou said as he patted his sister's shoulder. He then paused for a second. With a sincere smile on his face, he said, "However, I have to say… Well done!"

When Xiao Tong finally heard her long-awaited praise, the small amount of disappointment in her heart suddenly vanished.

Xiao Tong was grinning from ear to ear as she held her award certificate tightly and walked off stage with satisfaction written on her face.

Finally, it was time to give the last Annual Person Award.

Lu Zhou was a bit tired from standing on stage. He took the winner's certificate from the student union's representative and was about to wish for the award ceremony to end so that he could rest backstage.

However, while he was taking the certificate, the host announced the name of the final winner.

The second Lu Zhou heard that name, he froze.

"The last Annual Person Award goes to…

"Han Mengqi from Class One, applied chemistry!"

Chapter 479: Buying A House

His little student was standing on the stage right now.

Her achievements and honors were displayed on the projector behind them.

In addition to the ten full marks for her core subjects, she also ranked first in the applied chemistry department.

It wasn't just her grades; she also published two SCI theses as the first author and had a year of experience doing research at the Institute of Computational Materials.

Even though she wasn't as well-rounded as the other students, who won awards in various competitions, her scientific research experience was on another level.

What did two SCI theses mean?

It wasn't a big deal for nutty master's or PhD students, but for an undergraduate student, this was a huge deal.

Meng Qi walked up the stage in the midst of the applause. When she received the certificate from Lu Zhou, she gently bit her lower lip before she said anxiously, "Teacher…"

"What?"

"Um, Can… I become your master's student?"

Would Nobel Prize laureates accept master's students?

Forget about Nobel Prize laureates, even some busy academicians didn't want master's students.

After all, in terms of free labor, it was more efficient to take experienced PhD students.

When she remembered that Lu Zhou worked at a place far, far away, she couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Suddenly, she regretted asking this.

Lu Zhou finally replied, "I'll probably come back to Jin Ling University and teach sometime this year."

He paused for a second before he smiled and said, "When the time comes, I will probably be teaching computational materials science. If you're interested in that area of research, you can become my master's student."

Han Mengqi was quite talented, especially in science. Lu Zhou could tell that from back when he tutored her.

She managed to pull her grades up in such a short amount of time, and she was able to be admitted to Jin Ling University; this wasn't something an ordinary person could do.

The teenage version of Lu Zhou might not have been able to do the same.

After all, before the system existed, he had a certain amount of talent but was nowhere near a genius level.

Therefore, being able to be admitted to Jin Ling University from an ordinary high school, where the educational resources are not the best, required serious hard work.

Lu Zhou never agreed with the saying that girls shouldn't be in scientific research.

There were plenty of beautiful knowledgeable female researchers at Princeton, such as Dr. Nieng Yan, or Molina's supervisor, or even Vera.

Meng Qi, who was anxious, became surprised. She then became excited.

As Han Mengqi held the certificate in front of her chest tightly, it was like she didn't believe what she just heard. She then spoke quietly, slightly trembling in disbelief.

"Really?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Of course. I mean, before you did your college entrance examination, we did make a deal."

In the crowd.

Seeing that Han Mengqi was blushing on stage, her three roommates in the crowd looked at each other.

As they clapped along with the other audience members, Li Fang said, "Am I wrong or is Meng Qi actually being shy?"

The applause gradually subsided. Su Jiawen stopped applauding and said, "I think you're right."

Luo Meng: "She knows God Lu?"

Without thinking, Li Fang said, "How is that possible? He's a Princeton professor."

Luo Meng was suspicious, and she said, "But look at her face; I think they know each other."

Li Fang: "I think you're over-reading into it."

"Didn't Meng Qi submit to SCI before? Do you think God Lu happened to be her reviewer? Also, I remember now. The chemistry department undergraduate student internship program that Meng Qi joined was at the Institute of Computational Materials. I heard the Institute of Computational Materials is owned by God Lu! Maybe…" Luo Meng was blushing from excitement as she began to imagine; her mind was already filled with a million-word romance novel.

Su Jiawen facepalmed. She looked on hopelessly at her crazy roommate before she sighed and said, "Stop reading so many novels…"

…

After the Annual Person Award Ceremony came to an end, Jin Ling University returned to its usual peacefulness.

The weather became colder and colder as it approached Chinese New Year. There were fewer students around, and the peaceful campus felt deserted.

However, compared to the Jin Ling University's quiet atmosphere, the Institute for Advanced Study next door was way more lively.

After the researchers arrived at their new jobs, the experiments began.

Also, in order to finally leave the crappy hotel room, Lu Zhou decided to take some time and let Wang Peng drive him to a real estate office.

The black car with the red national flag was parked outside the real estate office. When the sales lady saw Lu Zhou and his driver got off the car, her eyes lit up. Once she realized the status of this customer, she immediately walked over.

Wang Yalan had a professional smile on her face as she politely asked, "Sir, is there anything I can assist you with?"

Lu Zhou sat down on a sofa in the office and picked up a brochure on the table. As he flipped through the pages, he said, "I want to buy a house. Is there any good listing?"

"Are you planning to buy for living or investing?"

"Living I guess," Lu Zhou said. He looked at the photos on the wall and thought for a moment before he said, "The main requirement is a quiet environment. Preferably already built, as I don't want to wait too long."

He suddenly remembered something, so he added another requirement.

"Oh yeah, it has to be a stand-alone house."

When Wang Yalan heard the words "stand-alone", she became even more enthusiastic. She immediately sat next to Lu Zhou and began recommending houses to him.

"Sir, are you planning on buying a mansion?"

Lu Zhou: "You could say so."

Wang Yalan: "Then I recommend this mansion in the rose garden area. The main body of the building is made of German limestone, and it has a modern minimalist influence and classical European style. It's unique both in terms of appearance and comfort…"

Lu Zhou looked at the photos of the mansion and felt it was pretty good. He then asked, "How big is it?"

Wang Yalan: "The building area is 1,100 square meters, and the backyard is 2,600 square meters. There's also a lawn and swimming pool…"

Lu Zhou nearly choked when he heard this number.

It was not like he had a goddamn helicopter, so why the hell would he need such a big backyard? Was he going to be playing golf? Actually, it was not big enough for golf…

"Too big. Just recommend me something a couple of hundred square meters. Plus this is too far away. Find me a place with a better transport system, and it has to be close to the university."

Surprised, Wang Yalan looked at him and asked, "You're living by yourself?"

Lu Zhou: "Not allowed?"

"No, no," Wang Yalan said. She then quickly flipped to another page and said, "This mansion is on the east side of the Purple Mountain, so it fits your requirements. The area is 585 square meters, with a front yard and garage. It's close to the city, and the university and high-tech zone is on its east side."

That's pretty good.

As Lu Zhou flipped through the interior and exterior pages of the house, he nodded with satisfaction.

He was quite happy with it, especially with the location and transport.

"How much is it?"

"70,000 yuan per square foot."

Which meant the total price is around 40 million yuan?

Lu Zhou closed the brochure in his hand and stood up from his sofa.

"Okay then, let's go see it."government-appointed areas for technological innovation and development

Chapter 480: Experiment Success Rate

The suburb name was called "Zhongshan International", also known as the "legendary filthy rich suburb of Jinling".

Lu Zhou remembered hearing about it back in college, but he didn't remember who told him about it.

The entire suburb was filled with mansions, and it was located on the northeast side of the national grade 4A scenery area. The suburb covered an area of 3671 mu and had a plot ratio of only 0.168. It contained a golf course and also had a shopping mall nearby.

However, Lu Zhou didn't really care about these things; he didn't play golf nor did he like to shop.

As long as the house was adequate and the environment was decent, it was good enough for him.

"This house is pretty good."

As Lu Zhou stood in this rustic study room and touched the bookshelf, he nodded with satisfaction.

Wang Peng walked to the side and touched the windows. He then pointed at the two trees outside and spoke.

"The position of the two trees outside isn't good."

Lu Zhou looked out the window and said, "Why do you say that? I think it's pretty good."

Without those two trees, the entire front yard would be naked; it would ruin the overall allure.

Wang Peng pointed and said, "It's easy to create a blind spot in that position. If I climb over there and walk along the wall, I don't even have to bend over; I bet you won't see me."

Wang Yalan raised her eyebrows and politely said, "Sir, there is a professional security team in the gated community, and there is no way for thieves to get in. Therefore, there's no need to worry about these types of things."

Wang Peng was amused, and he raised his eyebrows as he asked, "More professional than me?"

Wang Yalan was stunned; she didn't know what to say.

What do you mean by more professional?

Are you a professional thief?

Lu Zhou gently coughed to end the conversation. He then said, "Don't bother with the two trees. I'll just install a camera there."

To be honest, he wasn't some kind of secret agent nor was he involved in weapon research. Anyway, he wasn't going to put any important data at home. Even though being cautious was the correct thing to do, he didn't have to be that careful.

There weren't any scholars in the world that had a wider research area than his, but there were scholars that were nuttier than him; there were even a few in Princeton. He'd be crazy to think the conspiracy theories of attacking scholars were real.

As for what would happen in the future?

He would deal with it in the future. After all, to worry about this now was unnecessary.

After he bought the house, he planned on installing a security camera system and some drones. Xiao Ai would manage the security for him.

Even with the two trees there, he didn't believe anyone could climb over.

Wang Peng made a helpless expression.

"I was just suggesting… Of course, the decision is yours."

Lu Zhou walked away from the window and looked at the study room. He then said, "I quite like this house… This will do then."

…

While Lu Zhou was inspecting his future house, Hou Jinli, who also recently joined the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, was also inspecting his future house… Well, the dorm that he would be staying in.

Hou Jinli had just left the University of Science and Technology of China campus. He was now at the Jin Ling University campus, As he looked at the new staff accommodation while carrying his luggage, he felt very emotional.

However, it wasn't a negative emotion…

It wasn't positive either…

He thought about the research institute's promise for staff accommodation and couldn't help but feel a little excited. Houses nearby had an average price of 30,000 yuan per square meter. He could start living there after working for one year and could own the place after working for eight years. These conditions were considered extremely generous among the Chinese research community.

Especially the materials research community.

Of course, what made him more excited was that he would become a staff member of a Nobel Prize winner's laboratory.

He'd be willing to work there even if he wasn't paid.

Once he wrote a couple of theses, his qualifications would be on another level.

Hou Jinli spent a long time tidying his new place and spent his first night in Jinling sleeping at the Jin Ling University staff faculty dorms.

He finally settled down at his new place.

Tomorrow was the first official working day.

The next day, Hou Jinli took a taxi all the way to the entrance of the Institute for Advanced Study. He then went to the Institute of Computational Materials.

From the main entrance of the research institute to the materials building, he had to go through two security access points. Both points used facial recognition.

The research didn't give these new hires time to become familiar with the environment. After their orientation yesterday, all of them had basically been assigned specific tasks.

However, he didn't need time to become familiar with the environment here. Before coming here, he had been doing similar types of work. Coincidentally, it was also research on carbon nanomaterials.

For him, all that changed was the location where he would be conducting the experiment.

The only thing he had to familiarize himself with was where the instruments and reagents were at.

Hou Jinli double-checked his tasks for today before he put on an anti-static white lab coat. He weighed 10 grams of 100 mesh graphite powder and mixed it with sodium nitrate solids at a 2:1 ratio.

Suddenly, Yu Junda walked into the laboratory. He was also in the internship stage.

"We're making an SG-1 sample today?"

Hou Jinli nodded and said, "Yeah, there's not enough stock left. Are you familiar with the Hummers' method?"

"I've done it a few times."

"Okay then, come and help me."

Normally, other than preparing it in-house, the chemicals and reagents needed in experiments could be bought from other research institutes or companies.

However, the SG-1 material was a new technology that was recently unveiled at the MRS conference. Even though most databases had all the relevant theses and experimental reports, there weren't many laboratories that had the capability of producing it.

Every step of the graphene oxide preparation was crucial.

According to the Hummers method, which was adopted by Qian Zhongming, the process of adding potassium permanganate was divided into low, medium, and high-temperature reaction stages.

When adding the potassium permanganate in parts, the reaction temperature should be around 20 degrees Celsius, and it would require around half an hour of stirring.

After that, the temperature should be raised to 35 degrees Celsius, and it should be stirred for half an hour.

Once the product of the reaction was poured into a certain amount of deionized water, it should then produce a bright yellow solution. This should be placed in a 98 degrees Celsius water bath and heated. It should be stirred for about half an hour. Finally, the solution should go through suction filtration. After that, the researcher would place it to be dried.

If everything went well, the final sample would be in a light reddish-brown color.

If something went wrong, one would have no idea what one just made.

Most of the time, the real marker of a researcher's experiment abilities were in the small details.

If one didn't pay attention to these details, one could produce two different results even though one was doing the same experiment using the same procedure.

In other words, if a researcher could pay attention to the small details, even though they wouldn't necessarily become an excellent researcher, they wouldn't be a noob researcher anymore.

For Hou Jinli, these procedures weren't difficult at all.

He spent a year working as a researcher for the University of Science and Technology of China, and he did similar experiments countless times before. When he finished the entire process smoothly, Yu Junda, who stood next to him, was astounded.

Even though he also worked as a researcher for a good university, unfortunately, he was responsible for writing theses…

Hou Jinli completed the graphene oxide preparation but stayed serious.

Next up, he had to follow the experimental report and use techniques such as N-doping, etc. to modify the graphene oxide.

The next steps were the key to determining the success of his experiment.

Unfortunately, even though the experimental report was written clearly, and he was carefully following the steps, things didn't go as smooth as he had imagined.

The final product that appeared in front of the two researchers was a pile of black powder.

Yu Junda realized the experiment had failed. He had a slightly awkward expression when he asked, "… Is this thing still salvageable?"

Hou Jinli was also feeling awkward as he replied, "Probably not."

Experiments all had an underlying success rate, so failing once wasn't a big deal.

However, their efforts had gone to waste…

Hou Jinli sighed and placed the sample into a small plastic bag.

He walked to the waste bin and squeezed the black sample.

He thought this thing would instantly turn to dust when squeezed. However, the irregular powder particles didn't break.

Hou Jinli noticed this unusual phenomenon and stopped walking. He then looked at the small plastic bag in his hand and frowned.

This thing seems to be… quite strong?666 m^2

Chapter 481: "Interesting" Research Projec

There was no way Hou Jinli could use these instruments to analyze this material.

At the very least, he needed to do an XRD test on it first.

Of course, the best thing would be to use a scanning electron microscope as the situation would then become clear instantly.

If the things observed were "interesting" enough, it might be able to produce an SCI thesis.

Ah, I really want to have my own laboratory…

Hou Jinli sighed in his heart. He looked at the bag of black waste in his hand and hesitated for a second.

In the end, he didn't throw it into the waste bin. Instead, he left it on the experiment table.

When Yu Junda noticed his colleague's actions, he asked curiously while looking at him, "Why are you keeping that thing?"

"I plan on applying for a thesis proposal and see if I can borrow the scanning electron microscope to analyze this thing," Hou Jinli said. He then paused for a second before he continued, "I think this thing is pretty interesting."

Yu Junda couldn't help but say, "Isn't this stuff just carbon waste? What is there to research?"

Of course, it could also be the residue of potassium permanganate, a mixture of the two, or something more interesting.

People in the field of materials science often saw all kinds of weird stuff; this was nothing unusual.

Hou Jinli picked up the plastic waste bag and placed it in his colleague's hand. He then said, "It's a little different than carbon residue; try touching it yourself."

Yu Junda squeezed it in his hand for a while. He then frowned and said, "I don't feel anything?"

Hou Jinli was confident he was correct, so he said in a positive tone, "You'll feel it if you touch it more."

Yu Junda: "…"

Yu Junda didn't know why, but he felt like his colleague sounded a little dirty.

Actually, both superconducting graphene and SG-1 were completely new research fields.

Most material institutes that did research on carbon nanomaterials or superconducting materials might have heard about the SG-1 at the MRS conference. However, very few institutes knew about the in-depth material details.

Precisely because of this, there were still many places worth exploring.

Hou Jinli wasn't the only one who was interested in the problems he found while doing experiments related to the SG-1 material, nor was he the only one that was immersed in research ideas. However, he was probably the only one that was interested in experimenting with waste products.

In the end, after some consideration, he used his spare time outside of work to write the thesis proposal.

Then, this proposal and other thesis proposals ended up on Lu Zhou's desk.

"Unknown black material was created during the preparation of the SG-1 material?"

Lu Zhou looked at the thesis proposal and had a weird expression on his face.

It's not carbon residue, right?

Speaking of which, this thesis proposal does have a simple title…

Lu Zhou skipped the title section and began reading the proposal body.

For researchers in the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, other than the National Natural Science Foundation of China or the City Scientific Research Fund, another way to receive funding and equipment was from the institute's proprietary fund.

As long as the research direction was consistent with the general research direction of the institute and that the thesis proposal was able to convey the value of the research project, the chance of the thesis proposal being accepted was pretty high.

Lu Zhou had always been generous in terms of funding. He even encouraged researchers to dive into problems found in experiments. Even if these findings were not necessarily economically beneficial, it was fine as long as the findings were meaningful.

After all, many marvelous research results were discovered through accidents.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in his office chair, began to think for a bit. In the end, he decided to sign his name on the application.

In general, the thesis proposal was pretty good; it made him feel like it was worth a try.

Six of the ten thesis proposals were accepted, while the remaining four did not meet the requirements and were rejected.

Once Lu Zhou finally finished this annoying task, he stretched and stood up from his office chair. He then walked to the coffee machine and made himself a cup of coffee.

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on his door.

"It's unlocked. Come in."

The door opened and Yang Xu appeared at the door.

A few days ago, he represented the Institute of Computational Materials and went to Zhi University for an exchange. He only came back today.

When Yang Xu saw Lu Zhou standing next to the coffee machine, he smiled and said, "Aren't you going to hire an assistant?"

"I don't need one right now," Lu Zhou said with a smile. He then picked up his freshly brewed coffee and asked, "I'm pretty good at making coffee; do you want to try?"

Yang Xu smiled as he joked, "It's coffee made by a Nobel Prize winner, of course I have to try it."

Yang Xu took the cup of coffee from Lu Zhou and took a sip. He then hesitated for a bit before speaking.

"Isn't this just instant coffee?"

"It's instant coffee, but you still have to control the temperature and amount of water…" Lu Zhou coughed and to change the topic, he said, "No more screwing around. How's the situation at Zhi University?"

Yang Xu said in a relaxed tone, "The situation is looking good, and there are many professors who are interested in our cooperation research plan. They can help us conduct at least 20 research projects."

When Lu Zhou heard him, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Nicely done, good job."

"It's nothing," Yang Xu said as he waved his hand around. He then smiled and said, "This is part of my job."

Controllable nuclear fusion was a huge project; there were more than a hundred research projects just for the materials section alone. Not to mention, that was only the projected numbers. The actual number of projects required could be even higher.

Relying only on the Institute for Advanced Study and Jin Ling University for these research projects was obviously difficult. Therefore, they had to cooperate with other universities and research institutes.

Materials science was one of Zhi University's strong suits, especially in the field of carbon nanomaterials.

Yang Xu still had to go to Shuimu in a few days. The more allies he made, the better.

Yang Xu paused for a second before he said, "Oh yeah, one more thing. Baosheng Group sent us an email yesterday. They already drafted a production plan for SG-1."

When Lu Zhou heard this, he instantly became interested.

In terms of companies, Baosheng Group, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, was their main cooperation partner. They were responsible for solving the industrial production issue of the SG-1 material.

The two complemented each other, so they signed a cooperation agreement. The institute would be responsible for solving technical problems, while the Baosheng Group would be responsible for solving design, implementation, and production problems.

As of now, Baosheng Group had already completed the draft of the production plan.

This was the best thing that happened to Lu Zhou over the past few days.

"It's already done? Send it to my email."

Yang Xu nodded and said, "I already sent it. Also, in order to complete the final design of the production line, they need us to send a couple of our researchers over there to help."

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "Then send some people there. You can choose the people but just make sure not to delay our research progress."

"Okay."

Yang Xu nodded and turned around. He then left the office.

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu leaving. He then looked at the calendar sitting at the corner of his desk.

It was getting almost Chinese New Year.

He had to start working harder…

Chapter 482: Half A Meter Long Wire

Jinling began to start snowing in February. It was almost Chinese New Year.

Lu Zhou spent the past couple of days basically living in the laboratory.

Even though he bought a house, he barely went there; it was a bit unfortunate.

However, thankfully a few days before Chinese New Year, his research task at hand was finally completed. This made him sigh in relief.

Actually, he didn't have to complete these tasks before Chinese New Year.

However, being able to produce these results would add some credibility for his Germany trip.

In any case, in order to continue research, he needed a stellarator.

Lu Zhou wrote a politely worded email and sent it to Professor Keriber, who was far away from Germany. He then put on his coat and left the research institute.

When he walked out of the research institute, he took a deep breath of the fresh air outside before going back. He then went around to the STAR stellarator research institute.

The freezing cold didn't kill the workers' enthusiasm. Just like when the project started, the construction site was buzzing with activity.

Lu Zhou could see the changes every time he went to this place.

With ten times the manpower and resources, the progress of the project was measured in days. The progress speed was visible to the naked eye.

Regiment Commander Dai happened to be patrolling on the site. When he noticed Lu Zhou getting out of his car, he walked over. He smiled and greeted him.

"What brings you here?"

Lu Zhou: "This place is on the way home, so I decided to see what's happening here. It's almost Chinese New Year. Thank you for all of your guys' hard work."

Regiment Commander Dai said nonchalantly, "No worries; this isn't hard work at all."

They wouldn't stop working until the project was completed.

They didn't plan on spending Chinese New Year anywhere else other than on the construction site.

Regiment Commander Dai made some small talk with Lu Zhou. He then looked at the research institute that was under construction nearby and squinted. He then asked, "Hypothetically, if our country uses controllable nuclear fusion energy, how much money can we save on energy per year?"

"I didn't win a Nobel Prize in economics, so I'm afraid I can't give you an accurate number."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "However, one thing I am certain about is that, when that day comes, our country's electrical industry will grow by leaps and bounds."

Even though Lu Zhou hadn't studied economics before, his intuition told him that this wasn't something that could be measured by money.

Regiment Commander Dai: "Leaps and bounds? Like back when the economic reform was happening?"

Lu Zhou joked, "Hard to tell. It might even become an industrial revolution."

Industrial revolution…

This sounds like something that is far far away.

This has only happened three times in history.

As Regiment Commander Dai looked at the building nearby, he couldn't help but look forward to that day.

…

The snow in Jinling came by quickly but also left quickly.

Most cities in Northern Europe were still covered by a blanket of snow.

Keriber was checking his work email at the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, which was located in the quiet town of Greifswald, near the corner of the Baltic sea.

He was about to finish reading all of the previously unread emails when suddenly, he received another email.

When Keriber clicked on the email and saw the sender's name, he paused for a second.

Lu Zhou?

When Keriber saw the name, he quickly composed himself. He then looked at the body of the email and began reading.

[Hello, Professor Keriber.

[The Chinese New Year is in a few days, and in an auspicious time like this, I'd like to sincerely wish you good health and good luck.

[Also, I have a piece of good news which I'm sure you will be interested in…]

Upon reading that last sentence, Keriber raised an eyebrow. He looked interested to continue reading the email.

If this was anyone else, he wouldn't have believed them.

However, this was from Lu Zhou. Even though Keriber didn't know what to expect, he was still excited to continue reading.

[… In order to solve the insufficient magnetic field strength problem, we have tried many solutions. In the end, we have succeeded in a carbon-based superconducting material.

[As you know, among the many engineering problems that restrict the increase of electromagnetic field strength, the most important one is the difficulty in expanding the coil magnitude while ensuring the copper oxide conductor is at its superconducting transition temperature. After all, whether it is the copper oxide or the liquid helium transporting channel, the superconducting magnet occupies quite a large area.

[We tried many solutions to solve this problem. The most important factor was to increase the superconductivity transition temperature of the material to as close as room temperature as possible. This can reduce the cooling device volume.

[Actually, we've achieved decent results using this experimental pathway. However, we unexpectedly found that, in order to solve this problem, we don't necessarily have to start with the temperature.

[For the case of copper oxide materials, in order to maintain the copper oxide conductor at its superconducting transition temperature, one of the most difficult problems to overcome is the poor thermal conductivity of copper oxide. It's not easy to deal with.

[Graphene, also a superconducting material, has superior properties in both heat dissipation and heat conductivity. In theory, it reaches a thermal conductivity of 5300W/mk.

[You're an engineer, you should know what this means.]

This was a serious email, but when Keriber read to this part, he smiled and shook his head.

He obviously knew what that meant. Even if the SG-1 thermal conductivity wasn't as high as 5300W/mk, any thermal conductivity in the range of thousands would destroy copper oxide.

Even pure copper only had a thermal conductivity of 401W/mk.

What did this mean?

In engineering terms, if the difficulty of keeping copper oxide at its superconductivity transition temperature was at 10, then the engineering difficulty of keeping graphene at its superconductivity transition temperature was only at 1 or even lesser.

In fact, in some electrical cables or electronic devices, graphene was used as a higher grade heat sink than even graphite.

However, the problem was that the SG-1 superconducting properties appeared on a two-dimensional plane with an overlapping angle of the planes. How could one convert an SG-1 material into a wire?

It wasn't as easy as just layering the planes together.

Keriber had no idea how to convert that thing into electrical wires.

Not to mention the enormous costs it would require…

However, he suddenly froze.

Because at the end of the email, Lu Zhou mentioned something else.

[… Actually, we've already successfully found a suitable method. Even though it might not look reliable, we have already created a half a meter long electrical wire from graphene.]

Keriber jumped up from his chair.

His assistant noticed him and asked, "What's happening, Professor?"

"Nothing," Keriber said. He then grabbed the chair armrests firmly before he hastily fixed his collar. He then looked at his assistant and ordered, "Book me a plane ticket, I have to go to Jinling."

The assistant paused for a second.

"… Which date?"

Keriber didn't hesitate, and he replied in a serious tone.

"Right now, as soon as possible!"

Chapter 483: Xiao Ai's New Home

The lease for the house near the university almost came to its end. Lu Zhou already had his own house, so he didn't have to continue renting and storing Xiao Ai there.

After Lu Zhou finished his last project, he spent two days directing professionals to move his server to his mansion at Zhongshan International.

There were security cameras and alarms in his old house. Obviously, he couldn't just leave these things for the landlord. Coincidentally, since his new house needed security equipment, he moved them as well.

After everything was done, Lu Zhou looked at the server chassis in the room and smirked.

All of the security cameras were connected to Xiao Ai's server. Regardless of whether anyone was at home, no matter what happened, Lu Zhou would immediately be notified of the situation through his phone.

"From now on, this is your new home."

Xiao Ai: [But I don't want this home. (sad.jpg)]

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Shh, be quiet."

Xiao Ai: [(slamming the table.jpg) (about to cry.jpg)…]

Lu Zhou didn't care if Xiao Ai was unhappy with the new home. He comforted Xiao Ai for a bit then went out to the supermarket and bought some fresh produce.

Xiao Tong would come around later and eat at his place. She would also help him clean the house.

His parents would come over tomorrow.

He had to clean up the guest room before the arrival of his parents. Since Xiao Tong was going to spend Chinese New Year here, she had to clean up her room as well.

Lu Zhou put the grocery near the sink. He was about to wash the vegetables when his phone suddenly vibrated. When he picked up the phone, he heard a robotic voice.

"Master, there are guests at the door."

"Okay."

Lu Zhou took off his cooking gloves and threw them near the sink. He then walked out of the kitchen and went to the front door.

…

When Han Mengqi saw Xiao Tong pressing the doorbell, she asked anxiously, "We didn't tell him beforehand that we're coming. Is that alright?"

Xiao Tong smiled and said, " Don't worry, my brother isn't that stingy."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from behind the door, followed by the door being opened.

"You're here… Han Mengqi?" Lu Zhou was about to invite Xiao Tong into the house but suddenly noticed the little girl standing behind her. He then asked, "What are you doing here?"

Han Mengqi replied nervously, "Xiao Tong said you needed some help, so I came along… Um, I'm not bothering you, right?"

"Not at all! Come on in." Lu Zhou moved out of the way to let them in. He then asked with a smile, "Speaking of which, are you not going to Shanghai for Chinese New Year?"

Han Mengqi smiled reluctantly. She didn't seem willing to answer this question.

"Okay okay, girls don't like it if you ask too many questions."

Xiao Tong interrupted this heavy conversation. She then took Han Mengqi's hand and walked into the house as if it were her own house. She then took off her shoes and put on a pair of slippers.

After entering the house, Han Mengqi looked around the living room and couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

Five years ago, her tutor was still teaching her mathematics problems for a few hundred yuan an hour; she didn't expect her tutor to become so powerful in just five years.

She suddenly felt a little discouraged.

No matter how hard she worked, how matter how many hours she spent in the library or laboratory, she would never catch up to him.

Whether it was in terms of knowledge or status…

Han Mengqi felt like Lu Zhou left to a place far, far away from her.

Lu Zhou found a pair of spare slippers for Han Mengqi and said in a friendly manner, "The house isn't clean. It's a mess, and I hope you won't mind it."

Han Mengqi stopped daydreaming, and she muttered, "It's fine, I'm here to help clean up anyway."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fine, you don't have to help. Xiao Tong will clean her own things, so just rest on the sofa."

"What do you mean?" Han Mengqi persisted as she said, "Don't underestimate me! I'm not the same girl I was five years ago, and I know how to do chores!"

Even though Lu Zhou didn't want his guests to clean his house, but since she was so motivated, he decided to let her be.

Actually, when he just bought the house a while ago, he called for a house cleaning company to clean the place.

However, since he didn't live in it for a long time, there were layers of dust everywhere.

The most important thing was the guest bed; it didn't even have a bedsheet or bedding on it.

What if I buy a sweeping robot? I can let Xiao Ai control it.

Anyway, the artificial retard is just sitting there. I might as well utilize it…

The more Lu Zhou thought about it, the better the idea seemed.

…

It was soon lunchtime, and the three sat at the dining table.

Lu Zhou, who hadn't cooked for a long time, decided to flex his skills to his past student and sister by making a table of delicious food.

Han Mengqi hadn't tasted her tutor's cooking for a long time, so she was delighted.

While eating, Lu Zhou said to Xiao Tong, "This time next year, you'll have to think about your future. So, what plans do you have after graduation?"

Xiao Tong already had a clear goal in mind, and so, she replied promptly, "I want to study abroad."

Lu Zhou: "Do you have a goal?"

Xiao Tong: "Oxford University. I already received a recommendation letter from my summer student exchange program… Oh yeah, Brother, can you write a recommendation letter for me as well?"

Oxford University was ranked second in the world for economics. However, the major was more theoretical based rather than application based.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong's puppy eyes and chuckled.

"No problem, piece of cake."

His phone suddenly began to ring.

Lu Zhou put down the chopsticks and stood up from his chair.

"I have to take this call."

He left the dining room and stood at the corridor near the stairs before he took out his phone and looked at the screen.

It was an unknown caller, but from the number, it seemed to be an international call.

Don't these foreigners know how to use WeChat? They're killing me with these long-distance phone charges.

Lu Zhou: "Hello?"

Keriber: "It's me!"

When Lu Zhou heard the familiar German accent, he remembered the email that he sent two days ago. He immediately knew who was calling, so he spoke with a cheerful voice.

"Professor Keriber? What's up?"

Keriber was sitting in the airport terminal. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm in Dubai."

Lu Zhou: "Dubai?"

Keriber couldn't help but complain. "Yeah, all of the flights from Germany to China are full, so my assistant helped me book the ticket. This is the fastest route."

Lu Zhou: "When will you arrive?"

Keriber: "The day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow?" Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "Why does it take so long?"

Keriber replied in a resentful tone, "The flight is delayed."

Lu Zhou: "…"

This… really is quite an ordeal.

When Lu Zhou heard about Keriber's unfortunate encounter, he didn't know how to comfort him.

Keriber paused for a second and sighed before he said, "Actually, before arriving at Jinling, I still have to transfer to Beijing. However, I don't think I can catch the Beijing flight… Do you have a way to take me from Beijing to Jinling?"

When Lu Zhou heard this, he instantly understood the root of Keriber's troubles.

Chinese New Year was the busiest time of the year. Whether by rail or by flight, one had to buy it at least a week in advance.

Lu Zhou said, "I'll give you a phone number. After you land in Beijing, just call that phone number. Someone will help you solve the problem."

Keriber was a bit hesitant, and he asked, "Phone number? Will it work?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You'll know when you try it."

Chapter 484: New Year Of 2019

It took an entire day and two people to help Lu Zhou clean up the house.

Even though he was drenched in sweat, he discovered that cleaning actually helped him to relax.

He had spent the past couple of weeks at the research institute, either doing experiments or analyzing experimental data. Therefore, cleaning really lightened up his mood.

Just like lunch, when dinner time arrived, Lu Zhou was still the chef.

After eating dinner, Xiao Tong obviously stayed over, but Han Mengqi had to say her goodbyes.

Originally, Xiao Tong wanted to ask her to stay and sleep together. However, it wasn't appropriate for a girl to sleep at someone else's house.

Furthermore, it was a guy's house.

It was getting late, and there weren't any taxis nearby, so Lu Zhou called Wang Peng and asked him to drive Mengqi home.

After Mengqi left in Wang Peng's car, Xiao Tong suddenly sighed. She then asked in a dry tone, "… Brother, why didn't you persuade her?"

Lu Zhou: "Persuade her to do what?"

"Persuade her to stay." Xiao Tong tilted her head and said, "If you tried to convince her, then she definitely would have stayed."

Lu Zhou: "Don't bother other people."

"What do you mean by 'bother'? Ah, you make my brain hurt… Ouch!" Xiao Tong was shaking her head when she suddenly cried out in pain.

Lu Zhou gently tapped Xiao Tong's forehead and spoke angrily.

"Brain hurt my a*s! You haven't even sorted out your own things, but now you're worried about others. The TV remote is on the table. If you want to watch TV, then watch it. If not, go and take a shower and sleep. I still have some stuff to do, so I can't stay with you."

Lu Zhou turned around and walked toward the stairs. As Xiao Tong rubbed her forehead, she felt dissatisfied. She then asked, "What do you have to do? Is it more important than your sister?"

Lu Zhou: "I have to write a recommendation letter for you."

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up, and she immediately said, "Really? You're writing it right now? Remember to say good things about me! Like I'm a once in a century genius or something."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

The day before Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou let Wang Peng drove him to the train station. He went there to pick up his parents that took the train from Jiangling.

Since they didn't have the habit of visiting their hometown relatives, the old couple decided to just come to Jinling this year instead.

Actually, it didn't matter where they spent Chinese New Year. As long as everyone was healthy and was together, everything was well.

"You're doing pretty good for yourself. You even bought a mansion!" Lu Bangguo had his hands behind his back as he stood next to the window and looked at the flowers and plants in the backyard. He then asked curiously, "This place isn't cheap, right?"

"It's not cheap, but it's not too bad." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I got a lot of money from the awards, right? I don't usually spend it so I bought a house."

After buying the mansion, paying taxes, cleaning and buying furniture, all in all, it added up to around 50 million yuan.

His prize money wasn't enough to buy this house.

It was just that Lu Zhou didn't know how to tell his father about his patent management company.

Old Lu didn't ask exactly how much it was. Instead, he merely nodded and said, "Good."

If the money was spent on something else, he would have told his son not to waste money. However, since the money was invested in a house, in his mind, no matter how much it cost, it was worth it.

Obviously, Lu Zhou thought the same.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "How about you guys just move here? The house is too big, and I feel lonely living here by myself."

Old Lu waved his hand and said, "We'll talk about it when you have kids."

This again…

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart and looked helpless.

"Dad, it's Chinese New Year, can we not talk about this?"

Old Lu looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "What other time can we talk about it?"

Emm…

I think he's kind of right?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou's phone began to ring. He took out his phone that was in his pocket and answered it.

"… You're already here? Okay, I'll be there in a sec."

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and looked at his father.

"Dad, I have some work matters to attend to. I have to go to the research institute."

"Go go, your mom is making dumplings in the afternoon. Are you eating at home?"

Lu Zhou: "Of course I am! Remember to prepare an extra pair of chopsticks."

Old Lu paused for a second. He then suddenly said in a joyful tone, "Okay okay, I'll tell your mom to make more dumplings."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

…

After three days of torturous traveling, Professor Keriber finally arrived at Jinling.

He felt so exhausted that when he finally walked off the airstair, he felt like a layer of skin was shed from his entire body.

However, his tiredness didn't dampen his desire to see Lu Zhou's good news.

If everything was real, then his research might really bring light to the future of controllable nuclear fusion technology.

Professor Keriber didn't spend an extra second at the airport. The moment he got out of the airport, he immediately took a taxi to the Institute for Advanced Study.

When this German engineer saw Lu Zhou waiting at the entrance of the institute, he greeted Lu Zhou and walked toward him with his suitcase.

Keriber said with surprise, "I can't believe it! They said there were no more tickets left, so how did you do it?"

Lu Zhou: "It's just power and influence."

Keriber went silent for a while. Suddenly, he asked, "… Is this why you decided to research in China?"

Lu Zhou joked, "Part of it. At least I won't have to worry about research funding problems or a protest letter from some environmental organization."

Keriber: "Power makes people lose sight of themselves."

Lu Zhou smiled. "Objectively speaking, anything can make one lose sight of themselves. This doesn't only depend on pleasure, it also depends on self-control. As long as it is properly used, power can solve many of my problems outside of research. And that is good enough for me. Okay, no more small talk. I've waited for you for a long time, so come with me."

Lu Zhou took Professor Keriber through the layers of security, and they soon arrived at a laboratory at the Institute of Computational Materials.

Brother Qian, his most productive assistant, was standing next to a piece of laboratory equipment.

There was a glass display cover on top of the equipment, the air was sucked out, forming a vacuum.

When he looked closer, he could clearly see that in the middle of the glass cover, there was a wire that was thinner than a human hair.

The ends of the wire were connected to the upper and lower ends of the glass display cover.

Keriber stood next to the experiment equipment and frowned. As he looked at the wire inside the glass cover, he asked, "What is this?"

"I was about to introduce it to you," Lu Zhou said. He stood next to Professor Keriber and smiled as he said, "This is the thing I told you about, the SG-1 electrical wire."

Chapter 485: Let's Make A Deal

"A lot of things can't be conveyed clearly through email. Once I demonstrate it to you live, you'll understand how amazing this thing is."

Lu Zhou nodded to Qian Zhongming. He then told him to begin the experiment.

After receiving Lu Zhou's instructions, Qian Zhongming pressed a few buttons on the computer. He then operated the equipment and put liquid helium on top of the glass cover.

The second the extremely low-temperature liquid helium touched the wire, the heat was instantly dissipated, and the wire quickly reached its transition temperature. The resistance curve on the computer screen quickly began to slide down.

Professor Keriber's pupils slightly narrowed.

It was obvious that he was astounded.

"It's too early to be surprised," Lu Zhou said to Professor Keriber. He then looked at Qian Zhongming and said, "Increase the voltage."

"Okay."

Qian Zhongming skillfully operated the equipment. He followed Lu Zhou's instructions and increased the voltage across the wire.

There were three parameters for superconductivity. One was the critical transition temperature, also known as Tc, the other was the critical magnetic field strength, Hc, and finally, the critical current density, Jc.

When the magnetic field strength of the superconductive material surface reached Hc, it would exit the superconductivity state.

The Jc was the same. When the voltage on both sides of the conductor reached a certain value, the current in the superconductor would exceed the critical value and exit the superconductivity state.

According to the experimental data, the SG-1 material showed excellent performance in these three factors.

At least, it far surpassed the copper oxide superconducting material.

As Professor Keriber looked at the resistance-versus-current graph, a look of astonishment gradually appeared on his face.

From an engineer's point of view, he could clearly see that maintaining the SG-1 material in its superconductivity state was way more difficult than achieving the superconductivity transition temperature of copper oxide.

Lu Zhou looked at Keriber and said, "In addition to these graphs, we have looked at its atomic distribution structure under a scanning tunneling microscope. Using that data, we also plotted a simulated image of the carbon atom distribution."

Professor Keriber then asked worriedly, "Is it fine for you to show it to me?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "Of course!"

He signaled Qian Zhongming to retrieve the simulated image.

In the simulated image, the green-labeled carbon atoms were densely packed together.

For the lateral structure, the carbon atoms were densely arranged in a hexagonal shape with only a thousand nanometers in width. It was like a net that was weaved into a six-grid pattern.

For the longitudinal structure, the layers were stacked together at a slight angle, forming an elongated columnar structure.

It was basically like a piece of art. Keriber couldn't describe his feeling when he looked at it.

Professor Keriber marveled at the molecular processing technology. When he looked at the images, he couldn't help but ask, "How did you guys do it?"

Lu Zhou smiled slightly. "We were inspired by the chemical vapor deposition method. As for the exact process, I'm afraid I can't reveal it to you. I hope you understand."

Actually, the synthesis technology for graphene nanoribbons had been invented in 2012, so this was nothing magical.

A more classical method was to engrave grooves on the surface of silicon carbides and use that as a substrate to form the few nanometers wide graphene nanoribbons.

As for the latest research results, the graphene nanoribbons synthesis technology completed by the CNR Institute of Nanoscience of Italy and the University of Strasbourg in France was able to cut the nanoribbon to a width of seven atoms.

However, even though there was existing research that could be used as a reference, the difficulty was still there.

For example, how to stack the graphene nanoribbons longitudinally and how to adjust the overlapping angle between layers; these were all problems that had to be solved.

Lu Zhou used the CNR Institute of Nanoscience's research results as the inspiration for his design experiment. However, he didn't use silicon carbide. Rather, he used a weak polyvinylpyrrolidone ligand and formaldehyde to form a monoatomic thickness layer of a metal film. He then stacked the layers together and adjusted its overlapping angles.

It turned out that it was much easier to operate a micro-sized substrate than a hexagon with the width of a few atoms.

Also, once they successfully obtained the substrate, it was almost like obtaining a wire synthesizing mold; it could be repeatedly used in the production line of a laboratory.

Of course, even though this sounded easy, it wasn't that easy to do.

There were many complicated steps and methods involved, not to mention the countless blood sweat and tears shed by scientific researchers.

But fortunately, this task was already completed.

Keriber couldn't help but ask, "What about the costs?"

Lu Zhou said with ease, "The main cost is on the production of substrates, and the production cost is very high for a small number of products. However, according to our research, as long as the scale of production is increased, the cost isn't as unacceptable as we had imagined."

Keriber had a worried smile on as he asked, "But how long do you think it will take before the industry is interested in it?"

The industry wouldn't decide to produce a product just because the underlying technology behind it was interesting. And unless their country had secured enough orders with ITER, it also wouldn't rush the production line just because ITER needed to add an experimental reactor.

Maybe if tech companies like Microsoft suddenly discovered that the SG-1 material could be used on circuit boards or supercomputer chips, the downstream industry would push the demand for upstream companies to produce this material.

And by that time, maybe the material price would come down.

Actually, Keriber thought that this wire had potential, but he didn't know how long it would take for this potential to be realized.

If the industry didn't see enough profit in this product, it might never be interested in it.

Lu Zhou smiled. He didn't seem to care. "This isn't fully dependent on the market economy, so the rules you said don't necessarily apply here. There are things other than the market that would move the industry."

Keriber raised an eyebrow. He seemed to have understood what Lu Zhou meant.

However, in his opinion, doing that was crazy…

"You don't have to worry about the SG-1 production line. Actually, we have already contacted a company and they are in the final stage of the production line design. We will start producing the SG-1 material in a year at the latest."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then looked at Professor Keriber.

"Let's make a deal."

Chapter 486: Exchange Of Technology

When Professor Keriber heard Lu Zhou's sudden suggestion, he paused for a second.

"… Exchange?"

Lu Zhou: "I heard you guys shut down WEGA?"

Keriber: "A long time ago… I think in 2013."

Lu Zhou: "Then how is it doing now?"

"Neither good nor bad. Maybe we'll send it to a museum in twenty or thirty years… Why?"

Keriber was confused; he didn't know why Lu Zhou suddenly brought up WEGA.

Lu Zhou: "Can you sell it to me?"

Professor Keriber froze.

After a while, his lips slightly twitched.

"WEGA? Are you joking?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I'm not joking, I'm being serious."

Keriber saw that Lu Zhou didn't seem like he was joking, so he smiled and said, "We spent €800 million to build WEGA, and that was over a decade ago, before all the inflation. How much do you plan on spending?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he gave a number.

"Is €500 million enough?"

"… Don't even think about it. That's impossible."

Even though Keriber was shocked that Lu Zhou was able to offer this much money, he didn't accept it because it wasn't just about the money.

An ITER game had been going on between technologically advanced and less technologically advanced countries. This game could be seen from the proportion of funds each country bore, the allocation of projects for the various national research institutes, and other external factors.

And most of the problems occurred in the exchange of technology.

These problems were inevitable. After all, ever since the latter part of the last century, the European Union and the European Community had spent countless amounts of money on the ITER project.

This meant that dominant countries hoped that weaker countries would contribute more funding to equally share the risks and costs and for their national research institutes to undertake more projects from the pool of research funds.

Meanwhile, the weaker countries hoped that dominant countries would exchange more technologies with them while also hoping to undertake more projects.

After all, no one wanted to be in second place. Everyone wanted to master the core technology of nuclear fusion. Otherwise, weaker countries would have no backbone when it came time to split the rewards.

Could money buy everything?

Not when there were prerequisites.

The WEGA device was a technological invention from the Max Planck Institute and the Helmholtz Association. They spent a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to complete this device. Under these circumstances, they obviously didn't want to sell it at such a cheap price.

Lu Zhou knew what Professor Keriber was thinking about, so he said, "Its final destination is the museum anyway. You guys have already learned all you could from it. I am willing to pay €500 million to buy your results, and I might even be able to squeeze some juice out of it, also…"

Professor Keriber frowned and said, "Also?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "If you give us the WEGA device, in return, I am willing to use the technology behind the SG-1 material as an exchange. Since we both need a more powerful superconducting magnet, we can totally cooperate for the research."

Keriber: "WEGA is the prerequisite for our cooperation?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If you're worried about your technology being bought at a cheap price, then we are willing to exchange it with our technology. If you don't want to, then we are not obligated to disclose our newest research. After all, this isn't an ITER outsourced research project. This is our own."

The theses on the SG-1 material were all available to the public; even the SG-1 laboratory preparation methods were public as well. Lu Zhou registered some patents in this area, just in case.

However, the method of turning SG-1 into an electrical wire was obviously part of the production process, which was not disclosed in the thesis.

This was just like the mask aligner machine; everyone knew the concept behind it and could download the relevant theses, but the technical parts were all enterprise secrets. They weren't publicized.

Professor Keriber stared at the thin wire in the glass cover for a long time. He stayed silent for a while while he contemplated whether or not this proposal was worthwhile.

On one hand, it was the prototype for the Wendelstein 7-X. Even though it was retired, it still had a lot of undisclosed technology.

On the other hand, it was a carbon-based superconducting material that was likely one of the key factors for controllable nuclear fusion. However, that was only a possibility, and there were still many uncertainties such as cost and mass production.

This choice wasn't easy to make.

The German professor was silent for around five minutes. He finally relaxed before he said, "I have to think about it."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "No problem."

…

The mansion in Zhongshan International was particularly lively as the family prepared for the Chinese New Year dinner together.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Coming!"

Lu Bangguo's face lit up; he quickly walked toward the door.

He opened the door.

Old Lu was ready to smile and greet the guest, but suddenly, his face stiffened.

Professor Keriber gave a friendly smile as he said in broken Chinese, "Hello."

"Hello hello…"

Old Lu subconsciously responded. He then snapped back to reality and immediately looked at Lu Zhou.

"This is a guest from my research institute." Lu Zhou could tell what his father was thinking, so he smiled and said, "He's also my friend.'

Even though he felt resentful toward his son, he couldn't show that resentment in front of a guest.

Old Lu looked at Professor Keriber and showed him a warm smile. "Lu Zhou's friend, please come in."

Even though Keriber couldn't understand Old Lu's words, he could still sense the enthusiasm.

Keriber smile and politely replied in the only other Chinese word he knew.

"Thank you."

When Xiao Tong saw her father bringing this tall foreign professor into the living room, she sneaked behind Lu Zhou and pulled her brother's arm. "Brother, you have no idea how excited dad was in the afternoon."

Lu Zhou: "Excited about what?"

Xiao Tong was rendered speechless by his response. After a while, she said, "What else? He thought you finally grew a brain and would bring a girlfriend home."

The little girl rolled her eyes and said, "I knew that wasn't the case. Still, I didn't expect you to bring a guy home."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou's family was hospitable, both on Chinese New Year and during normal days.

However, due to the language barrier, the conversation didn't flow so smoothly on the table.

Occasionally, he even had to make some modifications due to the differences in the languages.

Keriber, who was usually a serious person, couldn't stop praising the dumplings. He even gave them a big thumbs-up.

When Lu Zhou translated his words into Chinese and told her mother, she was so happy she couldn't keep her mouth closed.

She had been cooking for many years, and this was the first time she was complimented by an international guest. For Fang Mei, this was undoubtedly a new kind of fulfillment.

Keriber didn't stay here for long. It was getting a bit late after dinner. He sat on the sofa and chatted with Lu Zhou for a bit before saying goodbye.

Lu Zhou showed Keriber the way out. When they stood outside the door, Keriber spoke.

"The dumplings were delicious, thank you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're welcome."

Keriber thought for a bit and said, "Regarding your proposal, I can't give you an immediate response as this isn't something I can decide on my own. And WEGA isn't solely the property of the Max Planck Institute, I hope you can understand."

He paused for a second before he continued, "However, I can assure you I will try my best."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you so much."

Chapter 487: Coming Or Not?

On Chinese New Year's eve, Lu Zhou sat on the living room sofa. He went through his contacts list and gave everyone his Chinese New Year blessings.

If he were close to the person, he would call them; if not, he would just send a text. He didn't care if people looked at it or not; there was no such thing as too many connections. Besides, sending a text wasn't anything cumbersome.

After a while, he heard Xiao Tong's voice.

"Bro, will you call Sister Chen?"

Lu Zhou pressed the button for dialing and said, "… Even I don't even call her that, so why are you calling her sister…"

"Because she's also in the business school. I don't think there's anything wrong with calling her sister…" Xiao Tong said as she lay on the sofa like a dead fish. She then tilted her head and looked at Lu Zhou before she continued, "Whereas you graduated from the mathematics department, right?"

Emm…

I think she makes sense…

Lu Zhou: "…"

When Lu Zhou didn't say anything, Xiao Tong hugged the couch pillow and sat up. Her face looked like she was looking forward to listening to a story.

"Brother, speaking of which, how did you guys meet each other?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "It's not as complicated as what you are thinking. We just met at the library. After that, we became normal friends."

While hugging the pillow, Xiao Tong said, "Normal? But why do I think you guys click together? Also, she has big br*asts! Even as a girl, I'm attracted to her."

Lu Zhou: "…"

How did we start talking about br*asts?

Also… what does this have to do with br*asts?

Lu Zhou didn't say anything. However, Xiao Tong suddenly looked like she figured something out, and she immediately squinted her eyes and looked at Lu Zhou. With a curious tone, she asked, "Wait… Do you like small ones?"

Lu Zhou: "F*ck off!"

Lu Zhou sent out a text message. He was about to start typing another text when he saw Chen Yushan's name in his contact list.

He hesitated for a bit before he decided to call her.

Merely sending a text message would be too perfunctory.

The phone only rang once before connecting.

Lu Zhou didn't even realize the phone had connected until he heard her familiar voice coming through the phone.

"Little Brother! I'm so happy! You're actually calling me."

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "You don't have to exaggerate! I'm only sending my New Year's blessings… Uh… Happy New Year!"

Chen Yushan had a joyful smile on her face, and she replied, "Happy New Year! I was about to call you."

Lu Zhou could hear her father's voice coming through the telephone.

"Shan Shan, who are you calling?"

"Lu Zhou!"

Chen Baohua merely said, "Oh."

When Lu Zhou heard Chen Baohua's voice, he asked, "How is your father's health?"

Chen Yushan then replied in a happy tone, "Him? His health is great. Oh yeah, I heard from Meng Qi that you're back at Jinling? Are you planning on working here?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I plan on coming back this year. I might have to go back to Princeton for a bit since I still have some unfinished matters there. After that, I'll probably focus on my work in Jinling. Speaking of which, you're about to graduate soon, right?"

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Yeah, I already handed in my graduation thesis. I'll finally have my freedom soon."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile as he sincerely felt happy for her.

Apparently, her supervisor wasn't a nice person. For her, being able to graduate smoothly was a godsend gift.

"What do you plan on doing after graduation? PhD?"

"No more studying… I'll become a female nerd if I do that," Chen Yushan joked. She then said, "Not to mention, my field cares more about work experience rather than academic qualifications. I plan on getting a business internship after I graduate and work for two years or so."

Lu Zhou: "Have you decided where you want to intern?"

Chen Yushan sighed and said, "Not yet, but I have some offers from a few companies. But I haven't thought about where to go."

Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea.

"Are you interested in patent management companies?"

"Patent management companies? I think I did a patent case before, but I wasn't very interested… It's alright. Why, Little Brother? Do you have a good place to recommend to me?"

"Actually, I started a patent management company. If you don't mind, can you come work for me?"

"Not bad, Little Brother, starting companies now I see." Chen Yushan was a little surprised by his revelation. She then said in a joking tone, "Can you tell me the name of your company? I'll search it up."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Go search for it. It's called Star Sky Technology, and it's registered in the Cayman Islands."

Chen Yushan froze.

It wasn't because the company was registered in the Cayman Islands.

But because…

"You founded Star Sky Technology?"

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before he asked, "… Is there a problem?"

If he recalled correctly, Star Sky Technology wasn't a particularly well-known company.

After all, companies that specialized in intellectual property management didn't need to promote their public image. Normal people wouldn't try to investigate the origin of the lithium batteries in their phone or electric cars.

However, this name was deeply engraved in Chen Yushan's heart.

Because of an unforgettable night.

No. Actually, not just one night but countless nights.

In order to complete the company's organizational planning scheme and personnel training plan by a specific date, her supervisor used her as free labor. After she pulled all-nighters for two weeks, she finally completed the task…

She even developed an automatic reflex. Whenever she heard the name "Star Sky", she couldn't help but clench her teeth.

Chen Yushan didn't speak for a long time, so Lu Zhou thought she looked down at his company. He hesitated before asking, "So… Are you going to join?"

It was fine if she didn't come, his little company wasn't that busy anyway.

Chen Yushan then replied without further hesitation, "I'm coming!"

…

Chinese New Year was the time to visit relatives.

However, Lu Zhou's family didn't have many relatives in Jinling, not even distant relatives. Therefore, their Chinese New Year was relatively lonely.

Other than Lu Zhou's Chinese friends, he also received many blessings from his international friends.

There were Professor Fefferman; his mentor, Deligne; and several of his students.

Other than Vera's Chinese New Year card, the most inventive blessing was probably the email from Pablo Jarillo Herrero at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After Professor Herrero sent his Chinese New Year blessings, he spent a couple of paragraphs describing something interesting he encountered in research.

Lu Zhou even suspected that the latter part of the email was his real intention for writing this email.

[… We found a very interesting thing when we studied the forbidden bandwidth of the superlattice near the SG-1 angle. The existing BCS theory doesn't seem to apply to carbon-based superconducting materials.

[I tried to explain this phenomenon by using the electro-acoustic wave function method. However, the troubles I encountered while attempting to solve the function was beyond my abilities.

[I am certain that if this problem is solved, it will reveal the underlying physical mechanism behind superconductivity.

[I have attached the relevant experimental data. I might temporarily put this research project on hold, but it might be of interest to you.]

When Lu Zhou read this email, he raised his eyebrows, showing his interest.

It had been more than 30 years since the discovery of high-temperature superconductors in 1986. Despite the tremendous efforts by outstanding theoretical physicists around the world, the underlying physical mechanism behind high-temperature superconductivity was still unresolved.

The problem had always been related to the multi-body wave function model, which had yet to be solved.

This was a very interesting phenomenon as almost all of the "deep" physics and chemistry theoretical problems were related to calculations and mathematics.

Lu Zhou's fingers rest gently on the keyboard as he thought for a while. After that, he replied with an email.

[I will seriously consider your proposal.]

Chapter 488: High-Temperature Superconductivity's Physical Mechanism And Strongly Correlated System

Even though Lu Zhou was very interested in Professor Herrero's research project, he was responsible for the controllable nuclear fusion project. He didn't have time to research the deep underlying physics behind the SG-1 material.

However, his intuition told him that if the strongly correlated system in SG-1 could be solved, it might reveal the physical mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity or even the calculations for a superconducting state.

Most people couldn't understand it, but it was very clear in Lu Zhou's mind.

This theoretical project might be even more significant than controllable nuclear fusion.

Because once the high-temperature superconductivity problem was solved, it would greatly reduce the engineering difficulty of hadron colliders or even magnetic confinement fusion devices.

Lu Zhou put this research into the database of the Institute for Advanced Study. He planned on continuing this research when he had more time.

As for now, his highest priority was still controllable nuclear fusion…

Professor Keriber spent less than three days in China, and on the third day, he got on a plane and quickly went back to Germany.

On the other hand, almost immediately after Professor Keriber's departure, Academician Pan arrived at Jinling from Beijing. He then went to Lu Zhou's mansion in Zhongshan International.

As Academician Pan looked around the living room, he opened his mouth in surprise.

"This house is really big; how much was it?"

Lu Zhou: "Mid eight figures."

Academician Pan said with envy, "It seems that the lithium batteries really made you a lot of money."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The Chinese New Year holiday isn't even over, and you came here from Beijing. You're not here just to give me Chinese New Year blessings, right?" He brought two cups of hot tea and placed them on the table. After that, he sat across from Academician Pan, who was sitting on the sofa.

Academician Pan smiled and asked jokingly, "What, am I not welcomed?"

"What do you mean?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm just a bit surprised."

"Enough screwing around, let's get to business," Academician Pan said. He then stopped smiling and stood up. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked in a serious tone, "Have you contacted the people at the Max Planck Institute?"

Lu Zhou: "You could say so."

Academician Pan frowned at this ambiguous statement and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhou: "I was in contact with an engineer from the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory. As for the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, I still haven't contacted them yet."

Lu Zhou sipped some tea to moisten his throat before he continued to speak.

"Our conversation went relatively well. I showed them our carbon-based superconducting material technology and said that we would complete the superconducting magnet design by the end of the year. They were very interested in our technology, so I decided to make a technology exchange proposal."

Academician Pan asked, "The German guy agreed?"

This was his biggest concern.

Back when Yuhua University bought the H1-Heliac from the Australian National University (ANU), other than paying AU$35 million and the 4 million yuan shipping fee, in the contract, Yuhua University also agreed to install a magnetized plasma interaction device on ANU's MAGPIE-II, which was a power generation component.

The Australians didn't have the perfect technology, but the Germans didn't have this problem.

After all, WEGA was a machine that created several world records. Even though it was sitting there collecting dust, it wasn't that easy to buy it.

Lu Zhou smiled as he said in a relaxed tone, "Not for the time being, but I think the chances are very high."

After that, Lu Zhou gave a brief overview of the situation to Academician Pan.

As Academician Pan sat across from him, he had a look of approval on his face.

Lu Zhou's personal research abilities were unquestionable; no one would doubt the abilities of a Nobel Prize laureate.

However, he was only 25 years old. Even if his abilities were strong, he lacked experience.

In the beginning, Pan Changhong still had some concerns about whether or not Lu Zhou could take on the leader role for such a large scale scientific research project, and whether or not he could coordinate the various research institutes involved.

But now it seemed that his concerns were redundant…

Lu Zhou drank some tea again before he continued, "The most important thing now is to hire a group of experts and prepare for the purchase of the new equipment. Do you have any recommendations?"

The stellarator wasn't a refrigerator; one couldn't just buy one, plug it in, and expect it to start working.

How to use the equipment safely, how to disassemble and assemble it; all these had to be done by professionals who were trained to do these operations. While delivering the machine, the Max Planck Institute would also be responsible for the training of personnel. However, Lu Zhou had to send some people that had a general idea of what was going on.

He couldn't send someone that had to learn from scratch, right?

Academician Pan thought for a moment before he said, "This isn't an issue if you can actually get the machine. We can just find some people from other research institutes. The Southwestern Institute of Physics has experts in this area. There's also the Institutes of Physical Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, I'm afraid the field of the stellarator is way too small. There's a lot of people who are involved in this area of research but not many are doing in-depth research."

Lu Zhou understood the country's shortcomings, so he didn't have any strong requirements. He merely said, "Just do your best. If you can't, experts on the tokamak are fine. Even though the two fusion devices have different technical designs, they're both involved in magnetic confinement, so it should be relatively similar."

Academician Pan: "I'll try to find you some candidates in this area… Speaking of which, how long will it be before the STAR Stellarator Research Institute finishes construction?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he smiled.

He had encountered many problems regarding the research on controllable nuclear fusion. However, the construction of the stellarator research institute had been going smoothly. Whenever he thought about this, he felt happy.

"According to Regiment Commander Dai, it should be done in May."

…

Academician Pan didn't stay in Jinling for long. After visiting the construction site for the stellarator research institute and Institute for Advanced Study, he returned to Beijing and began to help Lu Zhou find expert candidates.

On the other hand, the Chinese New Year holiday was basically over, and Lu Zhou's research was back on track.

While he continued to improve the SG-1 material, he was also planning the formation of an Institute of Mathematics and Institute of Physics.

After all, the theory was the basis of all applied work. The Institute of Mathematics and the Institute of Physics were two vital components for his Jinling Institute for Advanced Study plan.

However, he encountered some awkward trouble at the beginning.

Compared to the Institute of Computational Materials, the establishment of the Institute of Mathematics and the Institute of Physics didn't go as smooth as imagined.

Even though he received many high-quality resumes, the candidates were generally younger; most of them were recent PhD graduates that had only recently left campus.

There weren't that many top quality resumes.

Theoretical disciplines were inherently different than applied disciplines. Research in materials science required a lot of scientific labor to conduct repetitive tasks. But for theoretical disciplines like mathematics and physics, it was difficult to produce research results by human labor alone.

In order to solve this problem, Lu Zhou finally thought of Principal Xu. Two days after the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, Lu Zhou went to visit his office to talk to him…

When Principal Xu heard Lu Zhou's problem, he took a sip of tea. He then smiled.

"… Highly talented people are often unwilling to change their research environment. Generally, any researchers that can secure a formal researcher position, unless they were bullied and didn't receive funding or something, didn't like to move their a*ses and change locations. Your type of wide-spread approach might be attractive to researchers with less than ten years of experience, but it's not that attractive for outstanding formal researchers."

Principal Xu paused for a second before he said, "Your hiring compensation is pretty good, and there's no need to increase it. However, you can't expect to attract talent just from compensation alone. For outstanding scholars, fame is often more important than money."

Even though Principal Xu was an academician, he had worked in this administrative role for many years, so he had a lot of personal experience in administrative and hiring work.

Lu Zhou listened carefully to the principal's words. He nodded thoughtfully.

He then asked, "Do you have any good methods?"

"Be proactive," Principal Xu smiled and said. "I'm sure even academicians will seriously consider invitations from a Nobel Prize laureate."

Chapter 489: Reached A Cooperation

After he returned to Germany, Professor Keriber didn't screw around. He immediately talked to the director of the Institute for Plasma Physics and explained the situation in China…

"… I met Professor Lu at Jinling. He showed me the latest results produced by their Institute of Computational Materials. They stacked the two-dimensional graphene at a special overlapping angle and prepared a type of material with a superconductivity transition temperature of 101K."

"SG-1 material? I've read that thesis before. It was on the MRS Autumn Conference website," Professor Ganser Hesinger said. He was writing at his desk, and he didn't bother to look up. He then said nonchalantly, "101k transition temperature, nothing special."

Even though he was a plasma physicist, materials science wasn't his research field. However, as the director of the Institute for Plasma Physics, he was responsible for controllable nuclear fusion engineering. Therefore, he kept up to date with the latest research in areas such as superconducting materials.

There really was nothing special about a 101K superconductivity transition temperature. After all, the current research on superconducting materials had reached a state transition temperature of 203K. However, the application of this technology wasn't promising. Therefore, it was difficult to take it out of the laboratory.

So far, they were still using copper oxide when making superconducting magnets.

Even though the material had many poor qualities such as poor thermal conductivity and an unstable magnetic field output, after combining all of the factors, the copper oxide was still the best choice.

"It's not about the 101K," Professor Keriber shook his head and said. "The real advantage of the SG-1 material is in its thermal conductivity properties, we were oblivious of this part."

Professor Ganser Hesinger put his pen down. He frowned and asked, "Are you sure?"

Professor Keriber said in a confident tone, "I saw it with my own eyes, and I don't think my eyes will lie to me."

After hearing Keriber's description, Professor Hesinger suddenly became serious.

Superconducting magnets were the key to magnetic confinement fusion technology. Whether it was the tokamak or stellarator, they both required a larger magnetic field to constrain the plasma which was at hundreds of millions of degrees.

If the graphene superconductor was really as shocking as what Keriber had described, then it undoubtedly would become the key to solve the controllable nuclear fusion bottleneck.

Professor Hesinger's assistant, who sat at a desk next to them, spun the pen in his hand as he said, "What about the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres? Without their permission, we cannot transfer the WEGA to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study."

Professor Hesinger said, "I will contact the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. Help me inform the researchers at the Institute for Plasma Physics; I have to hold a meeting regarding this matter."

…

Principal Xu's suggestion gave Lu Zhou an idea.

Since spreading the hiring advert on the Internet was useless, he had to target people one by one.

This wasn't difficult for Lu Zhou.

He had always kept up to date with the latest mathematics research. He only had to look at the scholar's theses to see what work they had done.

He didn't keep as close an eye on the latest physics research; he just had to pay attention to some top-level seminars and poach some scholars that had potential.

He was mainly aiming at overseas Chinese professors that were willing to return to China.

Due to the Jin Ling City's talent settlement policy, on top of the basic salary, he might be able to help these scholars get a moving allowance of 500,000 to 1 million yuan. Not to mention, it was extremely cost-effective as Lu Zhou didn't even have to pay for this allowance himself.

As it turned out, Principal Xu's suggestions were pretty good.

After they received the emails from Lu Zhou, even the scholars that didn't want to return to China were interested in this Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winner's invitation.

Furthermore, the Institute for Advanced Study had a research environment that wasn't affected by politics, which was quite unique among the Chinese research institutes. This alone was quite tempting.

Lu Zhou didn't know how many people he would attract, but he was optimistic.

"Your place is so far away from everything, there isn't even a place to buy breakfast! I have to drive just to buy it," Lu Bangguo said while carrying soymilk, Chinese fried breadstick, and steamed buns into the house. He put on a pair of slippers before he walked inside the house.

Just like what he did in Jiangling, he woke up early in the morning and went outside to buy breakfast.

Xiao Tong said, "Dad, this is a mansion-only area. Naturally, there won't be any breakfast stalls nearby."

Old Lu looked at his daughter and said, "Rich people don't eat breakfast?"

"They can ask their chefs to make breakfast or ask their maids to buy it for them." Xiao Tong chuckled and said, "Oh yeah, Brother, how about you hire a female servant?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

"What servant… Don't let outsiders live in your home," Fang Mei said. As she put the breakfast takeout into some bowls, she said, "If you really can't take care of yourself, we'll move from Jiangling and accompany you here. We'll buy you grocery and cook or something."

Old Lu said, "Don't spoil him! If we really live here, you can give up your dreams of having a grandson."

When Lu Zhou was in high school, Old Lu was very satisfied with his hardworking, single son.

However, Lu Zhou was still single despite him having graduated from university, received a PhD, became a professor, and won the Nobel Prize. He might even become an academician in a few years. Lu Zhou was addicted to research, and Old Lu couldn't help but worry.

Even though there was no throne in the family for him to inherit, their bloodline couldn't be broken.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't marry right now, at least he should show some signs of a girlfriend, right?

When Lu Zhou placed his laptop on the dining table and ate breakfast, Old Lu sighed and said, "It's the holiday… Why are you still busy with work?"

As Lu Zhou sorted through his emails, he joked, "I have to. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility."

It wasn't just the country; the entire world was waiting for his research results.

Old Lu went silent for a while and decided not to mention the marriage thing. After a while, he then said, "Don't overwork yourself. Whether it's learning or studying, your health is the most important."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Okay, I know."

Suddenly, his phone on the table began to ring.

It was an international number. Lu Zhou picked up his phone and accepted the call.

He heard Professor Keriber's voice through the phone.

"We had a meeting regarding your proposal."

Lu Zhou: "And your answer is?"

Professor Keriber: "We think cooperating is more beneficial for us."

When Lu Zhou finally heard this long-awaited answer, he smiled widely.

He didn't expect to hear this piece of good news so early in the morning.

"I'm happy to hear this answer, and I wish us happy cooperation."

"Happy cooperation!"

Chapter 490: I Want To See Who Dares To Leave?

As the birthplace of China's controllable nuclear fusion project, the Southwestern Institute of Physics had a pivotal influence in China's controllable nuclear fusion field.

Not only did they have a large tokamak device with a divertor called the HL-2A, but it also played a pivotal role in propelling China's participation in the ITER project.

Pan Changhong witnessed all of this happening; he was one of China's controllable nuclear fusion veterans.

Even though he had retired for quite a while, he never stopped caring about China's controllable nuclear fusion development.

Because of this, when Lu Zhou gave him the invitation, he agreed without hesitation.

In a country with 1.4 billion people, energy problems were always the top priority.

If the energy problem could be solved, many other problems would be solved as well.

The stellarator wasn't necessarily for the future of controllable nuclear fusion, but if the stellarator did become the future, China couldn't fall behind in this field.

Otherwise, by that time, it would take them ten or even fifty years to catch up.

"Oh, it's you," Academician Zhou Chengfu said when he saw Academician Pan Changhong at his doorway. "What brings you here?"

"Good things," Academician Pan Changhong said with a smile. He then sat on the sofa.

Academician Zhou smiled. "Oh, what good things? Tell me about them."

"We have negotiated with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Germany. If everything goes well, they will sell the WEGA equipment to us."

Even though Academician Zhou still had a smile on his face, his smile became somewhat unnatural.

"… Oh? WEGA?"

"Yes, the prototype for the Wendelstein 7-X." Academician Pan didn't notice Academician Zhou's subtle smile, so he nodded and said, "I didn't think Professor Lu could manage to seal the deal. Honestly, I am quite surprised."

Even though they were exchanging technology, the carbon-based superconducting magnet that the Max Planck Institute needed was of a lower engineering difficulty. Therefore, this cooperation was more advantageous to China.

After all, even though the WEGA device had been retired, but it was still the predecessor of the Wendelstein; therefore, it still contained many key technologies.

Being able to master these technologies would greatly shorten the time needed for Chinese scholars to catch up with the frontier of international stellarator research.

Academician Zhou wasn't as happy as Academician Pan, and so, after giving it some thought, he asked, "If they're willing to sell this equipment, it must cost a lot of money, right?"

Academician Pan: "It's not about the money. If we can buy it and study the technology, we can hopefully catch up to the frontier of international stellarator research in a short amount of time. Even if we can't catch up to Japan or Germany, we can still catch up to Australia."

Academician Zhou picked up his vacuum flask and sipped some tea. He suddenly frowned and asked, "Is this necessary?"

Academician Pan froze. His eyebrows began to furrow.

"What do you mean… necessary?"

Academician Zhou put down the vacuum flask and spoke without hesitation.

"We're already at the frontier of tokamak research. Instead of catching up with other people's research on the stellarator, we should just follow our own research direction. Spending hundreds of millions to support someone else's research, is this really necessary?"

Academician Pan froze when he heard this.

He didn't expect that his old colleague, who once looked forward to the triumph of controllable nuclear fusion in China, actually said something like this.

Regardless of what the media portrayed, regardless of what the public opinion was, a researcher should always stay calm and objective. They should look at the in-progress results cautiously and never become arrogant.

However, he could hear a sense of disapproval in his tone or even disdain.

Hopefully, he heard it wrong…

Academician Pan stopped smiling. He then adjusted his composure before he switched the topic of conversation and coughed.

"I'm not here to argue with you about which technical route is superior. Regardless of whether or not the tokamak is easier to implement than the stellarator, we shouldn't put our eggs in one basket. America is doing the same, and they're researching both technical paths. We are behind on the research on stellarators, and now that Professor Lu gave us this opportunity, we can't just let it go by."

He paused for a second before he continued, "I want to organize a team to represent us and head to Germany. I want to borrow around 20 researchers from you, and I already have a list of names. I hope you can approve of it."

Academician Zhou didn't even look at the name list when he said with a poker face, "The stellarator isn't in our research plan, so I'm afraid I can't help you."

Academician Pan squinted and asked, "You don't approve?"

Academician Zhou said, "We have our own plans, and we don't have to cooperate with you."

Academician Pan slapped his thighs and stood up. He then said, "Okay then, I'll bring the name list to Beijing. I'll go to find Minister Wang."

Academician Zhou looked at Academician Pan and said, "Old Pan, you're really going to help him and go against me?"

Academician Pan looked at him with a disappointed expression.

"Zhou Chengfu, you've changed. You haven't advanced in academia, but you've learned to abuse your power."

"Changed? I have never changed," Academician Zhou said with a blank expression. "I just don't want to screw around with you guys."

He had the highest authority in the field of tokamak research. Even the higher-ups had to hear his opinions. Therefore, he obviously would try his best to ensure tokamak's dominant position in the field of controllable nuclear fusion research.

He didn't think he was selfish in doing so, and at the same time, he believed it was the right choice.

Putting eggs in two baskets might reduce the risk, but putting all of the eggs in one basket also had its own advantages.

Not to mention, he was the one that owned this basket.

The reason why China was able to surpass America and the UK in tokamak controllable nuclear fusion research and produce world record in-progress results was because of the concentrated resources put into the research and because of his leadership.

Researching the stellarator?

One could do it of course.

But one couldn't hope to get his support.

Especially Lu Zhou, a Nobel Prize laureate that came out of nowhere. When Lu Zhou suddenly announced that he would participate in controllable nuclear fusion, he was obviously trying to steal his throne.

What made him afraid the most was that the young man was able to "trick" the high-ranking government officials into trusting him.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't declare war with him, there were two voices in the field of controllable nuclear fusion now, and that was basically a challenge for his authority.

Academician Pan angrily said, "What do you mean screw around! Are you certain your path is correct and no other path is? You're the one who is screwing around."

Academician Zhou had his hands behind his back as he said with a poker face, "I am certain my choice is correct."

Jiang Liang, who stood beside them, saw the atmosphere was getting tense. He quickly smiled and tried to break the tension.

"This… Academician Pan, it's not that we don't want to help you; we are just unable to help you. Academician Zhou might have a temper, and his words are a bit straightforward, but as you know, we're engaged in the research of tokamak. But now, you're asking us to research the stellarator. We just can't find any suitable candidates."

Academician Zhou didn't say anything. Instead, he slowly drank his tea. He didn't refute nor agree with Jiang Liang's statement.

When Jiang Liang saw this, he took the hint. He then smiled and continued, "How about… you try asking the people at Lu Yang? Maybe they'll spare some people?"

Jiang Ling broke the tension and tried to get rid of the situation entirely.

Academician Pan smiled. He had a flash of resentment in his eyes, but he didn't become angry.

"Oh, trying to make me leave I see. Since I'm not welcome here, I'm afraid nothing I say will do anything."

Academician Pan stared at Zhou Chengfu for a while before he turned around.

When Zhou Chengfu saw that Old Pan was leaving, he said with a blank expression, "See yourself out."

After Academician Pan left, the office quieted down.

Jiang Liang looked at the closed office door and stopped smiling. He then asked in a worrying manner, "He isn't really going to Minister Wang, right?"

Academician Zhou snorted.

He then slammed the vacuum flask on the table and said nonchalantly, "Who cares if he does? Who cares if he succeeds? Without my approval, I'd like to see who dares to leave."

Chapter 491: Then Invite Them All Over

"Exchange visit at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics… This is a good opportunity, but how come it was never mentioned in the meeting," Yuan Yuan said while reading the email and the attached documents about the exchange. He had a strange expression on his face.

In the field of plasma physics, in addition to the PPPL, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics was probably one of the most advanced research plasma institutes in the field.

Logically speaking, one shouldn't give up this opportunity.

Zhuang Qingwei was sitting on the office desk beside him, and he shook his head and said, "Don't even think about it."

Yuan Yuan frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhuang Qingwei sighed and kindly pointed out. "Look carefully at the organizer."

Yuan Yuan: "STAR Stellarator Research Institute… Is there a problem?"

Zhuang Qingwei said, "Do you not know that Academician Zhou doesn't like Professor Lu?"

Yuan Yuan asked, "Just because of… this?"

Zhuang Qingwei: "Yeah!"

Yuan Yuan angrily said, "This is ridiculous!"

Seeing how angry Yuan Yuan was, Zhuang Qingwei shook his head and tried to persuade him. "There are many opportunities for academic exchange. You're about to get a promotion; there's no need to offend Academician Zhou because of something small like this."

"How is this something small?" Yuan Yuan said while looking at the proclamation on the computer screen.

There were many conference nuclear fusion seminars and conferences one could attend.

However, the opportunities to learn the core nuclear fusion technologies were rare.

He was an engineer; he knew how valuable this kind of opportunity was.

For example, the water-cooled divertor on the WEGA. If one could thoroughly digest this piece of technology, one could make some modifications and apply it on the tokamak or even apply it in a magnetic plasma interaction experiment.

Yuan Yuan shook his head reluctantly. He finally decided not to go against his boss.

It wasn't worth it.

He stood up from his chair and sighed.

"I'm going for a smoke."

Zhuang Qingwei: "Go ahead."

…

"The Southwestern thing didn't go well; I'm sorry."

Pan Changhong's face was a bit embarrassed when he said this.

He made a promise, saying that as long as the Max Planck Institute agreed, he would handle the rest.

Lu Zhou made an agreement with the Germans and even sacrificed his own technology for this opportunity, but he dropped the ball.

He talked to the higher-ups regarding this matter, but he knew it wouldn't be that useful.

Zhou Chengfu was the leader of the Southwestern Institute of Physics and the chief engineer of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center; he had control of billions in research funds and hundreds of projects.

In academia, anyone that had control of these resources was the king.

Especially in the small field of controllable nuclear fusion, there were only four tokamaks and a dozen or so research institutes; most of the projects and funding had to go through him.

Not only did he control the Southwestern Institute of Physics, even the Institute of Materials at the Chinese Academy of Sciences had to listen to him.

Who would care if the ministers commanded him? So what if Academician Zhou was willing to lend his people?

It still depended on whether or not the experts themselves were willing to go.

Unless it was some dumb*ss that didn't care about their bosses hating them or someone that intended to quit, there weren't many people that had the guts to stand against their bosses.

Even the minister knew that at most, they could mediate the situation from the side; they couldn't force the old academician to do anything. Issues in academia weren't that easy to solve, especially when it was at the academician level.

Honestly, Academician Pan thought for a bit and realized he was too naive.

He thought that the situation now was the same as ten years ago.

Back then, there weren't many experts in a future engineering field like con nuclear fusion. There were even undergrads that could pass as a researcher. As for the funding side, the country obviously didn't have that much money.

However, even though every step along the way was extremely difficult, with his help, everyone still gathered from all locations and invested in this industry.

Due to their efforts, ITER became the first international science engineering project that cooperated with China with an equal partnership.

Even though he was retired, he could still remember the excitement that was in their hearts. It was even more exciting than when Beijing was chosen as the host city for the Olympics.

After listening to Academician Pan's explanation, Lu Zhou simply nodded and didn't say anything else about this matter.

"It's fine. I thought about the possibility of this happening. If Southwestern doesn't want to do it, we won't force them. We can do our own thing."

If he went to Beijing, he had 80% of making this deal.

However, his time was precious; he didn't want to waste time fighting against his own people.

Also, even though he wasn't interested in power and authority, he still knew that academia was never a pristine place.

Even so, there was one thing that was clear in his mind—results were always more convincing.

When Academician Pan heard Lu Zhou, he sighed in relief. In fact, he was somewhat gratified.

Even though he wasn't happy with Old Zhou's cooperative attitude, he knew in his mind that he should look at the bigger picture.

If he really decided to start fighting, it would hurt both parties. Whether it was Old Zhou who was removed from his position of power or Lu Zhou who decided to leave, both would harm the future of China's controllable nuclear fusion project.

"You're right," Academician Pan nodded and said. "Southwestern is not looking good, but I will find another way."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I remember there's a research team at Yuhua University that has around 30 people. They've been engaged in stellarator research for many years, and some of their engineers have been trained by The Australian National University. It might be better to send them to Germany."

Academician Pan frowned and said, "You're talking about Professor Gong's team? I'm afraid they can't spare any talents. Besides, even Yuhua University's controllable nuclear fusion funding is from the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center."

Even though Zhou Chengfu didn't care for the stellarator, he didn't refuse all stellarator related projects.

After all, even though he didn't agree with the stellarator route, the stellarator wasn't his enemy.

However, if Yuhua University cooperated with Lu Zhou, then their future funding might become a problem.

"Then just invite all of them." Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "It's not like they're receiving a lot of attention. I'll handle all of their future funding."

Academician Pan smiled and shook his head at this over-the-top idea.

"Okay then, I'll go tomorrow."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks… But this time, I'll go there instead."

Chapter 492: Visiting Yuhua University

Yuhua University used to be the Hunan Institute of Technology, which could be traced back to Central South University.

In 1959, due to China's development of nuclear weapons and the nuclear industry in general, the state moved the Central South University mining and metallurgy engineering departments to Hengyang.

In the late 1960s, it was closed due to special reasons. Later in the 1980s, under the leadership of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry and the Hunan Provincial Government, it was revived in the form of the Hunan Institute of Technology. Finally, it was renamed Yuhua University in the 1990s, which had stayed that way ever since.

In some sense, the fate of this school was deeply tied to the republic.

Even though it wasn't a particularly good school, its engineering department was still at the forefront of the country. It also produced a large number of nuclear industry experts back in the day.

And now, it was still shining in its own light.

The stellarator research wasn't a project that received heavy support; it was the most unpopular controllable nuclear fusion device. However, there was still a 30-people research team that was engaged in this research field.

The purpose of Lu Zhou's trip was very clear; he was here to poach talents.

Of course, this wasn't particularly good for Yuhua University.

In some sense, he was here to do an academic exchange.

But honestly, if this thing went through, it would bring benefits to Yuhua University.

The small Yuhua University was suddenly visited by a big name like Lu Zhou. Their leadership team might know that this visit would bring benefits to them, or they might not know that.

Regardless of the fact that he was a Nobel Prize scholar who came to the school to do a seminar, even if it was someone from Shuimu or Yan University, they would still welcome them with banners…

[Welcome, Professor Lu Zhou!]

A college student was holding a textbook. When he looked at the banner, he asked his roommate.

"Why do you think God Lu is coming to a place like this?"

The slightly bigger guy shook his head and said, "God knows."

A tall skinny student walked over. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and said, "Jinling is building some controllable nuclear fusion research center, right? I think Professor Lu is in charge. They're probably coming here for our H1 Stellarator."

The guy holding the textbook asked, "How come I didn't hear about this?"

The tall student adjusted his glasses again and said, "It's normal. The news didn't really report on it, but it doesn't seem to be a secret either. I heard it from the student in the nuclear engineering department."

The guy who hadn't spoken yet said, "It doesn't have anything to do with us; let's go to class."

"You're right," the students said as they nodded their heads. They then walked toward their classroom.

In fact, even if they wanted to go, there would be no place for them.

Because the lecture hall in Yuhua University was already completely packed with people.

It wasn't just Yuhua University students in the crowd; there were many Yuhua University professors and lecturers and even people from other universities.

Other than the students and professors, there were also reporters from the Hunan TV station.

The lenses were all pointed toward the stage; everyone was waiting for the person to start speaking.

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and couldn't help but think.

I think my last lecture was in Stockholm.

It's been three months since then.

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall; it was about time. The staff next to him nodded, telling him he could begin.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the microphone and cleared his throat. He waited until the classroom quieted down before he started to speak.

"A lot of people have asked me. China doesn't lack electricity, and we have the Three Gorges Dam, coal mines, and our power generation ranks first in the world. We also have thermal and hydropower. Our power grid technology is also leading the world right now… So, why is it that we have to research the cumbersome nuclear power?

"My answer to this question is that scientific research cannot only be focused on the current investment or short-term benefits. Researchers also have to have a long-term vision and courage to face difficulties.

"Looking at it from a large enough time-scale, nuclear energy is the ultimate energy source for humans. Because we have the largest population in the world that consumes a quarter of the world's energy output, we should optimize our energy structure. We should make it cleaner, more efficient, and cheaper.

"Besides, this doesn't apply to just controllable nuclear fusion technology. Every major scientific research project brings us more value than just the project itself. This is just like how when I was studying the Navier–Stokes equation, I discovered the L Manifold and differential geometry solution to the partial differential equation. The treasures we find at the end of the maze isn't inferior to the achievements we make along the journey.

"Take controllable nuclear fusion as an example. Controllable nuclear fusion research has pushed the superconducting materials field, allowing us to dive deep into plasma research and helping us in creating stronger superconducting magnets. There are tons of beneficial by-products."

Lu Zhou introduced the theme of the seminar in a few short sentences. He picked up the marker from the desk and turned around, facing the whiteboard. As he explained using simple language, he began to write on the whiteboard.

Wang Xuehai was sitting in the crowd writing notes when he accidentally dropped his pen cover. He bent over and picked it up. When he looked up at the whiteboard again, he was muddled. He had no idea what was on the whiteboard.

Wang Xuehai looked at the podium and couldn't help but mutter, "What is he writing about?"

Fang Jie was sitting next to him; he also studied nuclear physics. He adjusted his glasses. Even though he didn't understand either, he wasn't as muddled as Wang Xuehai. "It looks like a mathematical model for plasma turbulence? I think I've read it in a thesis before.'

Wang Xuehai: "F*ck me! Isn't this supposed to be a simple science lecture? Does he have to be so hardcore?"

Fang Jie looked at him and said, "Of course! He's a Nobel Prize scholar; you're obviously not going to be on the same page as him."

Wang Xuehai couldn't help but ask, "Is there anyone that can understand him?"

Honestly, he was pretty confident at his physics knowledge.

However, plasma turbulence was the frontier of international physics research.

His major was in nuclear physics, which meant his research direction was more applied rather than theoretical. Without two weeks of preparation, there was no way he could understand these esoteric things.

Fang Jie closed his laptop and shook his head. He then used his chin to point at the seats in the front row.

"It doesn't matter if we understand or not. Just look at the professors from the Institute of Nuclear Physics, and you can tell how much they understand just from their facial expressions."

Just like what this PhD student said, for the second half of the lecture, Lu Zhou went from simple science to the esoteric areas of controllable nuclear fusion, or specifically, the high-temperature plasma research.

Actually, he had already written a few theses that outlined his research results. His most important thesis was published at the Max Planck Institute. Last year, he did a report on that thesis at the European Nuclear Summit.

However, Lu Zhou's in-person explanation of his theses was more in-depth than reading his theses directly or reading someone's summary of his theses. Listening to him in person was greatly beneficial for the people in the field of controllable nuclear fusion or plasma physics.

Actually, this was why many professors came all the way from the provincial capital.

If it wasn't because of time constraints, some international people might even take a flight to come and listen to this lecture.

As Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of equations on the whiteboard, his explanation also came to an end.

He put the marker on the desk and paused for a second. He then looked at the audience and spoke.

"This school is strong in nuclear engineering, and everyone sitting here is the pillars of the future nuclear engineering field. The future of nuclear engineering depends on you guys!"

Chapter 493: Interested In Joining?

There was a round of applause in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou walked down the lecture hall platform in the midst of the applause.

Principal Wu Zhuohua, the school leadership team, and some of the professors were waiting at the lecture hall entrance. Once Lu Zhou was done with the media interviews, they walked over to him.

Principal Wu had a warm smile on his face as he greeted him. "Thank you, Professor Lu, for bringing such a vivid presentation to our Yuhua University students!"

The few students that were standing near them cringed.

Other than the beginning and the end, they didn't think it was vivid at all.

Lu Zhou smiled and humbly said, "This doesn't count as vivid. It's just my personal explanation on some of my controllable nuclear fusion research and some high-density plasma research. It might be a bit boring."

A professor was standing next to them, and he didn't look too old. He smiled and said, "How is it boring? I benefited a lot from your lecture."

Lu Zhou: "You're too kind, but may I ask who you are?"

Principal Wu said, "This is Professor Li Changxia from our Yuhua University Institute of Nuclear Physics."

Lu Zhou reached out his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Professor Li."

"Nice to meet you." Professor Li Changxia shook Lu Zhou's hand with a beaming smile as he said, "I've heard about your success, but I didn't expect you to be this young."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Professor Li, aren't you the same?"

"Don't be fooled by my black hair, I'm actually thirty-five years old," Professor Li joked.

"Thirty-five is very young." Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "What about Professor Gong? I heard he is the head of the Institute of Nuclear Physics."

Professor Li gently coughed and said, "Professor Gong, he… isn't at the research institute anymore."

Lu Zhou: "Did he retire?"

Professor Li gave him an awkward smile as he said, "Not exactly. He's now the deputy mayor of Hengyang's city council and the chairman of the Municipal Committee of the Jiusan Society. He's not participating in the school's affairs anymore."

I guess he went into politics.

Lu Zhou nodded and continued to ask, "Then who is responsible for the Institute of Nuclear Physics?"

Professor Li nodded and said, "Right now, I am."

Lu Zhou looked at him, slightly surprised.

It wasn't because he didn't trust in Professor Li's abilities. It was because university research teams led by middle-aged professors often didn't have access to good resources.

Because the number of resources a research team had was often determined by the academic qualifications of the team leader.

Principal Wu could tell Lu Zhou was surprised, so he quickly said with a smile, "Professor Li is quite young, but he is very reliable. The stellarator is the main research project of our school. Due to Professor Li and his team's efforts, we are able to cooperate with The Australian National University and successfully collaborate on the H1 Stellarator project."

Professor Li was a little embarrassed by the compliments. He then said humbly, "It's mainly thanks to Professor Gong."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not doubting Professor Li's abilities; I'm just a bit surprised," Lu Zhou said. He looked at Professor Li Changxia and smiled as he asked, "Is it okay for you to give me a tour of the Institute of Nuclear Physics?"

Professor Li immediately nodded and said, "Of course it's fine! I'll take you there right now."

The Institute of Nuclear Physics was located at a quiet corner on the Yuhua University campus.

It was worth mentioning that nuclear physics and nuclear engineering were two very different fields. Yuhua University was quite strong at the latter, while they were weaker at the former.

Therefore, the research institute hadn't been established for long, and the scale wasn't particularly large. It was mainly formed by the school's nuclear physics department, the nuclear fusion and plasma physics research team, and the particle physics and nuclear physics research team.

Principal Wu originally planned on inviting the leadership team to come with them. However, Lu Zhou didn't want to disturb their daily routine, so he euphemistically refused the suggestion.

Besides, having too many outsiders following him made it difficult to discuss things.

Lu Zhou then followed Professor Li Changxia to the Institute of Nuclear Physics. Professor Li gave Lu Zhou a simple tour around the place while talking about the latest international research on controllable nuclear fusion.

They began to talk about the ITER project's development, and Professor Li Changxia started to get carried away.

"Right now, international research on controllable nuclear fusion is progressing on the highway. According to ITER's project schedule, they plan on building a commercial demonstration reactor in Paris by 2025. Our country is also planning on building one, also by around 2025. If everything goes well, controllable nuclear fusion might become this century's greatest technological breakthrough."

Lu Zhou: "But it seems like you guys aren't being valued?"

Li Changxia smiled awkwardly as he said, "It's because there's still a long way until 2025."

After walking around the research institute, the pair then arrived at Professor Li's office.

Lu Zhou was a bit tired from all the walking, so he sat down on the office sofa.

Li Changxia sat across from him. He then ordered his PhD student to pour two cups of tea.

"Speaking of which, I haven't had the chance to visit you. I have some questions regarding plasma physics, and I don't know if you mind answering them?"

Lu Zhou sipped some tea and smiled. "There's no need to be polite, ask away."

Professor Li nodded. "While conducting research on the ion cyclotron wave and plasma coupling process, we discovered that the ion cyclotron wave and plasma coupling process is difficult to carry out. Do you have a good solution for this?"

Lu Zhou thought for a moment before he said, "I've encountered a similar research problem when I was at the PPPL. The thesis should be on the Physical Review Letters. I don't remember the exact issue, but you should be able to find it.

"If I recall correctly, according to the thesis, by increasing the central plasma density or the scraping layer density and reducing the density gradient of the parabolic or exponential decay region, you should be able to make the ion cyclotron wave better at plasma coupling. If you are unsure, you can try to use a plasma model to numerically simulate the coupling process of ion cyclotron waves and plasma."

Professor Li nodded as he wrote down Lu Zhou's words in a notebook.

Lu Zhou then asked in a relaxed tone, "Is there any other question?"

"Yes, actually a bit more."

Professor Li Changxia used this opportunity to consult Lu Zhou on some of the theoretical problems he encountered in research.

Lu Zhou answered all of the questions to the best of his ability.

Time quickly passed by; they had already spent an hour sitting in this office.

Professor Li closed his notebook and smiled as he said apologetically, "Sorry for wasting so much time."

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "It's fine. These discussions give me inspiration as well."

He paused for a second and said, "Speaking of which, how is the H1-Heliac doing? I didn't see it when I was walking around the research institute."

When Professor Li heard Lu Zhou mentioned the H1 Stellarator, he couldn't help but reveal his difficulties. "It might be difficult if you want to see it. The supporting facilities only completed the construction bidding last year in October, and it might only be completed this year."

"That's so slow." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I remember this project began in 2017, right?"

"Yeah," Professor Li said. He suddenly looked somewhat helpless. "But there's no other way. Professor Gong suddenly withdrew from the project, plus our school ran into some problems. Actually, we didn't want to delay it for so long."

As Lu Zhou looked around the office, he nodded thoughtfully.

After a moment of silence, he finally began to talk about why he came here today.

"Speaking of which, the STAR Stellarator Research Institute in Jinling is about to finish constructing."

Professor Li was full of envy. Lu Zhou paused for a second before he threw out an offer.

"Are you interested in joining us?"

Chapter 494: Ready To Go

Lu Yang, Science Island.

Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Materials.

Sheng Xianfu stood in the institute director's office. When he gently placed a resignation letter on the table and took a step back, the old director was dumbfounded.

"I'm here to resign."

The old director was taken by surprise. He looked at the letter on his table in disbelief before he looked at Sheng Xianfu.

"Re… resign?"

"Yes." Sheng Xianfu nodded. He knew that there was no pulling back once he handed out this letter. He took a deep breath and spoke in a calm voice.

"You know that I'm researching the Stellarator. This opportunity is rare, and it would be a shame to miss it. I know you don't want to stand between Academician Zhou and Professor Lu, and if I insist on going, it might be awkward for you. Therefore, there shouldn't be any problems once I quit."

The old director shook his head and said, "Is this necessary? Regardless of whether or not Academician Zhou is correct, that's business between those two. Putting yourself in between them is just making things difficult for you."

He looked at the resignation letter and sighed.

"I'll leave this letter here, for now. Think about it for a couple more days."

He admired Professor Sheng's talents, and he didn't want to see this promising researcher ruin his future. Therefore, he decided to give him another chance.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't say a word and just let them leave.

Sheng Xianfu shook his head and said, "I don't have to think about it anymore. I already thought about everything before coming here."

He didn't have time to reconsider; the visiting team to Germany was going to leave in a week.

The old director saw how determined Sheng Xianfu was, so he didn't say anything else. He signed his name on the resignation letter and took out the official seal stamp from his drawer.

"Since you've already decided, I won't say anything else. Your resignation is approved. Go to human resources and follow the procedure."

Sheng Xianfu nodded toward the director and took the letter of resignation from the table.

"Thank you."

He then turned around and walked out of the office.

…

The cooperation between Yuhua University went very smoothly, and Professor Li Changxia didn't even hesitate before accepting Lu Zhou's invitation.

However, at the same time, he also put forward a request, which was to retain their positions at Yuhua University.

This wasn't just his personal request; this was also the request from his research team members.

For Lu Zhou, these requests were easy to oblige.

When Lu Zhou met Principal Wu again, he promised him that he would include Yuhua University as a cooperative research unit of the STAR Stellarator Research Project. As expected, the principal readily agreed.

Even though the H1-Heliac was the prominent scientific research project for Yuhua University, but in fact, other than being able to call themselves the first stellarator in China, the H1-Heliac didn't bring any extra benefits to Yuhua University.

It didn't matter what the insiders thought. From the outsiders' perspective, the concept of controllable nuclear fusion was too far away. Because of this, Yuhua University wasn't able to give Professor Li Changxia a large amount of resource support. It'd be better for them to join the STAR stellarator project as experts from Yuhua University. With the one billion dollar research fund, they might be able to help produce some outstanding results.

When the time arrived, since they were a cooperative research unit, they undoubtedly would get some of the credit.

After the matter at Yuhua University was sorted, Lu Zhou didn't stay in Hunan for long. He returned to Jinling the next day and began preparing the team for their Max Planck Institute exchange.

There were five formal researchers, including Li Changxia, and ten associate researchers. With these people plus the few controllable nuclear fusion professors that Academician Pan was able to find, the STAR Stellarator Research Institute finally formed a capable exchange team.

However, something unexpected happened.

Originally, Lu Zhou thought he didn't have to rely on Academician Zhou's Chinese ITER project team for help. They were still able to get their hands on an expert that came from the Science Island in Lu Yang.

However, that expert had resigned…

Lu Zhou met with this stellarator expert from Lu Yang in his Jinling Institute for Advanced Study office.

"Professor Sheng, it's an honor to meet you," Lu Zhou said. He stood up from his chair and walked over. With a smile, he reached out his right hand.

"I'm the one that is honored," Sheng Xianfu said as he shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled. He said, "Not to mention, I'm technically not a professor anymore."

He didn't only quit his position at the Institute of Materials. Because he had to work long term in Jinling, and after considering various factors, he resigned from his professor position at the University of Science and Technology of China as well.

Lu Zhou: "If you don't mind, the Institute for Advanced Study is willing to provide you with a researcher position."

Sheng Xianfu didn't decline. He nodded and said, "Thank you so much."

Lu Zhou: "I noticed in your resume that you have been to the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory for an exchange?"

Sheng Xianfu nodded and answered truthfully, "The Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Materials organized a collaborative research project with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics on plasma interaction experiments. I've also been to some of the ITER cooperation meetings."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "So I'm guessing you're familiar with the Max Planck Institute?"

Sheng Xianfu smiled as he replied humbly, "Not quite familiar, I've only been there."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, since that's the case, you will be the team leader for this exchange."

The proposal caught Sheng Xianfu by surprise, and he froze for a second.

He didn't expect to immediately take on such an important responsibility.

Sheng Xianfu hesitated for a moment before he said, "That… isn't appropriate. I just got here, and I'm not familiar with the situation at the exchange team. Also, aren't you coming with us?"

"Nothing inappropriate; the other people in the exchange team also just got here," Lu Zhou said. He then paused for a second before he added, "As for me, I might not stay in Greifswald with you guys for the entire exchange as I still have some other matters to attend to."

When Lu Zhou saw Professor Sheng's name on the list that Academician Pan gave him, he had a good impression of Professor Sheng.

He was one of the top plasma physics experts in China and had some involvement in both tokamak and stellarator research. He also had experience leading exchange teams.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and put on a more serious face. He then looked at Sheng Xianfu and said sternly, "This matter is very important, so I hope you can take it seriously. Of course, if you refuse, I won't force you. It's just that in my opinion, you're the most suitable candidate."

Sheng Xianfu clenched his teeth and nodded. "I can try!"

Lu Zhou nodded with approval and said, "Then this matter will be handed to you."

Sheng Xianfu asked, "When is the specific departure time?"

Lu Zhou answered calmly, "End of February."

End of February?

This means there are only three days to prepare.

Sheng Xianfu thought about the imminent departure date and couldn't help but feel the pressure on his shoulders.

However, even then, he didn't have any complaints in his heart. Rather, he was looking forward to it.

Perhaps, Sheng Xianfu could really help progress the controllable nuclear fusion field…

Chapter 495: Arrival of the Visiting Team

A bright silver airplane left a white trail across the blue sky.

The thirty people visiting group headed toward the Max Planck Institute, carrying the future of Chinese controllable nuclear fusion on their shoulders. According to the cooperation agreement between the two parties, they will receive simple training for the transfer of the WEGA Stellarator.

In their original plan, Lu Zhou was going to travel with them.

However, he didn't end up on their flight. Instead, he arranged his flight to be three days later.

This was because, on the day the Chinese experts departed, the experts from the Max Planck Institute arrived at Jinling International Airport.

The German engineer had a wrinkly face; his hat almost touched his tall nose bridge. He carried his suitcase and got off the airstair.

He squinted as he looked at the airport terminal building. He then said to his colleague, "This place has changed a lot."

The red-haired, slightly younger-looking engineer raised his eyebrows.

"You've been here before?"

"That was from ten years ago," the old-fashioned engineer said as he opened his wallet and rubbed the photo inside. He then casually added, "If you live in Berlin, you won't see any obvious changes over a 10 year period. However, you can see the differences every year here."

"Berlin, right? There are actually some changes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Ever since Angela Merkel opened the gates for the immigrants, we're seeing new things on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper every day."

When the old engineer heard the young engineer's joke, he laughed while shaking his head.

"Keep these things private, don't let other people hear them."

"I know, I know." The young engineer looked at the people picking them up and paused for a second. He then narrowed his eyes and said, "… A few thousand nanometers wide wire, do you really think they can do it?"

It wasn't that he looked down upon China's ability in science and technology innovations. After all, Europe had been weak ever since the latter half of the 20th century; they didn't have the right to look down on anyone.

However, technology innovation was one thing, being able to take the technology out of the laboratory was another.

In fact, ever since 2014, people had been able to achieve in laboratories a couple of dozen nanometer width graphene nanoribbons. Up until now, there had even been laboratories that had been able to create a wire seven atoms wide. However, this technology had remained in the laboratory so far.

This was the biggest gap between academia and the industry.

Half a century ago, if some scientist found a new compound or a simple synthetic method for an important industrial material, they might become rich overnight. However, these things rarely happened anymore.

More often than not, the academic community would produce a beautiful result but the industry would take ten or even decades to digest the technology. The industry might even eventually prove that it was useless.

Due to Lu Zhou's success on lithium anode materials, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres noticed the potential in carbon-based superconducting materials ever since the SG-1 material was created. However, when they did an industry analysis on the material, due to costs, production, and various other difficulties, they decided to give up on this material.

However, someone had suddenly completed the task that they had previously thought was impossible. They were astonished when they heard the news.

After all, China wasn't particularly good at nanotechnology…

"Looking at the samples they sent, they actually did it."

"Unbelievable."

"Yeah, unbelievable." The old engineer paused for a second before he said, "But isn't that why we're here, to figure this thing out?"

At the airport VIP entrance that was on the other side of the airport.

Yang Xu stood next to Lu Zhou and looked at the airplane not far away. Suddenly, he asked, "Actually, I always wanted to ask, why are the people from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres here?"

Lu Zhou: "It's normal. You can't expect a group of plasma physicists to also be good at materials science, right?"

Yang Xu replied with a joke, "Isn't there someone like that standing right here? Good at mathematics as well."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he realized that Yang Xu was talking about himself. He smiled and shook his head.

"It's totally different."

While they were talking, the German visiting group already stepped off the airstair.

Lu Zhou began to walk toward the airstair.

The old engineer walked in front of the team. He took off his black hat and extended his callus-filled hand.

"Hello, Professor Lu, I am Rand Ulic from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy. This is my colleague, Simson Eugene."

"Hi, I'm Lu Zhou." Lu Zhou shook hands with this Geman engineer as he looked at him with surprise. With a smile, he asked, "You speak Chinese?"

"I worked at Jinling for two years. I'm not very good at it, but I know a little," the serious old man smirked and said in a funny tone.

"Really? It sounds good to me," Lu Zhou said. He then gave a friendly smiled as he introduced the three people standing next to him. "This is the director of the Institute of Materials Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Yang Xu. These two are the general manager of Baosheng Group, Sun Chengwu, and chief engineer, Mr. Cao Ganwei."

"On behalf of Baosheng Group, I would like to welcome you all." Sun Chengwu shook Ulic's hand and said with a smile, "Our company has prepared a hotel for you. Are you going to leave your luggage at the hotel or do you have other plans?"

Ulic: "We can go to the hotel later, can you guys take us to the factory first?"

Sun Chengwu paused for a second. Obviously, he didn't expect the Germans to be in such a rush. He then glanced at Lu Zhou.

When General Manager Sun saw Lu Zhou nodded, he looked at Professor Ulic and said with a smile, "Of course, no problem at all."

The German visiting group wasn't large; there were only six people there. However, most of them were top carbon nanomaterials experts at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy.

After the group boarded their cars, General Manager Sun sat next to Lu Zhou and couldn't help but ask, "Why are these German folks in such a rush?"

When Lu Zhou heard General Manager Sun's question, he smiled.

"For example, when you were in school, when your friend who usually got seventy or eighty in a test, suddenly scored 120 in the latest test, what would you think?"

Yang Xu thought for a moment before he replied, "Depends on the grading system?"

"The grading system doesn't matter." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Regardless of the grading system, you will definitely wonder how he did it, whether something fishy happened."

Manager Sun hesitated and said, "So, you're saying they think we're tricking them?"

"Anyone would be extra cautious when it came to important cooperation like this." Lu Zhou paused for a moment before he said, "We just have to prove it to them that we're legit."

Chapter 496: Conquering The Germans With Technology

Not far from Jin Ling University, the Baosheng Group factory was located in the municipal government's newly planned high-tech zone.

There was a piece of large production equipment in the middle of the spacious factory.

From the outside, this equipment might look a bit strange, or rather, a bit elementary. It almost looked like something that was pieced together in a hurry.

If someone didn't introduce it, no one would guess that this non-science fiction looking thing was actually the core equipment in the production of thousand-nanometer wide graphene wires. No one would ever think that the silver strand between the opening and closing metal plates was actually the SG-1 wire, which was worth more than its weight in gold.

Of course, that was only for the time being.

Once the production and equipment improved, and the production of scales goes up, the cost would naturally come down.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from outside the factory.

When the engineers inside the factory noticed the sound, they turned to look at the door. They then saw a group of people walking behind General Manager Sun and Engineer Cao.

An engineer wiped the sweat off his face. When he saw a young man smiling with General Manager Sun, he couldn't help but curiously ask his colleague.

"Who is that?"

"Which one?"

"The one next to Manager Sun."

"It's Lu Zhou, didn't you watch the news?"

"Lu Zhou? The one that won the Nobel Prize?"

"Of course!"

"Amazing… The Nobel Prize laureate is talking about research at our factory, so this must be going on the news tomorrow?"

It wasn't just the news; it might even cause the stock price to soar.

Superconducting materials wasn't a popular topic within the A-shares industry. However, once Lu Zhou's name was involved, the situation was completely different.

After all, everyone in the world knew how hot the lithium battery market was doing.

The engineers whispered a few words to each other. When they saw General Manager Sun's team walking over, they shut their mouths.

With Engineer Cao leading the way, the German experts walked up to the equipment at the center of the factory. They finally saw the legendary machine that could mass-produce thousand nanometer-sized graphene nanoribbons.

Simson Eugene had a tinge of suspicion and contempt in his heart when he looked at this featureless machine.

Just looking at it from the outside, he couldn't believe that this simple equipment could work on the nanometer scale.

However, his face soon began to look more and more dignified. Finally, his eyes were glued to the equipment, and he couldn't look away.

The lines of silver wires were connected between the two metal plates, and the slightly thinner metal plate was connected to a sieve-looking ring-shaped object, which converged to a thumb-size ring.

Even though the speed of the metal plates opening and closing was as slow as a snail's movement, it was still producing wires…

Looking at it from the outside, he had no idea how they managed to do it.

Ulic stood next to Eugene as he asked in a serious manner, "Is this it?"

Lu Zhou smiled and explained in a relaxed tone, "This is the core of the entire production process. You can interpret it as the wire drawing machine of the cable production line… However, these two things are completely different in principle."

Eugene couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure… this thing is producing graphene wires that are only a few thousand nanometers in width?"

Lu Zhou glanced at him and said, "Listening to me alone isn't that convincing. If that's the case, you can take a sample from the product and we can do a test on it together."

Since Lu Zhou said this, Eugene didn't hesitate anymore. He walked next to the machine, and with the help of another Chinese engineer, he took a short piece of the SG-1 wire and placed it into his pre-prepared sample bag.

They all walked into the product quality testing room. When the red-haired German engineer saw the scanning electron microscope, he took the initiative to ask.

"Can I do it?"

Lu Zhou made a welcoming gesture. "Of course you can."

Eugene walked up and carefully inspected the equipment. He placed the sample onto the device and skillfully operated a fine probe through a computer. He aimed at the thousand-nanometer wide SG-1 wire.

Soon after, the probe gave the feedback data to the computer.

Eugene looked at the data collected by the scanning electron microscope and the simulated three-dimensional atomic structure diagram. It wasn't just Eugene, but even Professor Ulic and the other four German experts looked bewildered.

Eugene couldn't believe what was happening in front of his eyes; it was like he was grabbing onto his last strand of hope. He then asked, "What about its superconductivity?"

"I knew you would probably ask this." Lu Zhou looked at the researcher standing next to the scanning electron microscope and said, "Show it to them."

The wires were removed from the scanning electron microscope and transferred onto another experimental equipment.

The Keithley Model 2182A Nanovoltmeter and Keithley Model 6220 current source were installed on this piece of laboratory equipment, as well as pipelines and temperature controllers for liquid helium.

The final measurement was obvious; the "resistance/temperature" curve quickly fell to the bottom at the exact same time when the transition temperature was met. This was just like the graph Professor Keriber observed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Even though Eugene didn't want to believe it, he couldn't help but become thoroughly convinced.

They actually did it…

"Unbelievable… How did you guys do it?"

Lu Zhou: "Simply put, we stack single atomic layers of rhodium metal sheet. After that, we punch holes in it and adjust the overlapping angle. Then, we use the principle of chemical vapor deposition to deposit the SG-1 material into the pores on a macroscopic scale. It's almost like the resulting graphene nanoribbons are grown into a specific shape… This is the rough process. As for the more specific technical details, Baosheng Group's engineers will give you a detailed explanation."

Ulic frowned and asked a more professional question, "Single atomic layer of metal foil? How did you guys guarantee its monoatomic structure?"

Due to the sea of electrons in the metal atoms, it was very difficult for them to form a three-dimensional closely-packed structure. Theoretically, it would be very difficult to prepare a metal foil one atom thick. And even if it were prepared, it would be difficult to guarantee and maintain its monoatomic layer property.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "We don't need to do anything special."

Ulic was stunned. "Don't need anything special?"

Lu Zhou nodded as he replied, "Yes, there is a special localized large π bond in the enameling metal sheet which stabilizes the monoatomic layer structure."

This was a research result that only came out in the past two years.

Actually, this was the reason why he chose rhodium.

Even though the price of rhodium was expensive, the monoatomic sheet could be used as a mold for a long time due to the extremely anti-oxidation properties of rhodium. Therefore, the cost was generally acceptable.

As for the exact method to prepare a piece of monocrystalline thick rhodium, it was just like the method he had previously mentioned—by reducing the weak ligand polyvinylpyrrolidone with formaldehyde.

After that, the group of German experts asked many questions, and Lu Zhou answered them one by one. For the theoretical questions that were out of his scope of knowledge, Chief Engineer Cao answered them.

They stayed in the high-tech zone until evening.

When they were leaving, Yang Xu got in the same car as Lu Zhou, and he couldn't help but speak emotionally.

"I didn't think that we could conquer the Germans with our technology."

Lu Zhou smiled as he replied, "Germany's industry technology is strong, especially in the field of precision machining and automation. We still have a big gap to catch up to. However, they're not gods, and you shouldn't think of them as omnipotent."

China was behind Germany in many technological developed areas; there was nothing they could do about that. However, since everyone was searching for a way to implement new technology, this meant that all of them had the same starting point.

With the help from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, Baosheng Group was fortunate enough to be at a starting point ahead of others. If everything went well, with the investment China was putting into controllable nuclear fusion, they could continue to be the world leaders on carbon based superconducting materials.

Maybe in the future, they would even be the leading manufacturing country…

But that wasn't something Lu Zhou could control.

He was only interested in research.

…

In the evening, Lu Zhou returned to his mansion at Zhongshan International. He was in his study room and on the phone with Sheng Xianfu, who already arrived in Germany.

"Did you guys arrive safely?"

Sheng Xianfu: "We arrived in Berlin yesterday, and we're already at Greifswald now."

"Is the WEGA at Greifswald?"

Lu Zhou recalled back to his last trip to Greifswald; he didn't remember seeing the WEGA device.

Sheng Xianfu: "Not quite. It's just that our first training stage will be done at the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory."

Lu Zhou replied with a joke, "We're paying €500 million for this training session, so be sure to try your best."

Professor Sheng, who was holding his phone, nodded seriously.

"We will!"

Chapter 497: STAR Stellarator!

The days quickly passed by, and soon, it was already April.

The construction of the STAR Stellarator Research Institute went even faster than planned. The construction team used five or even ten times the manpower to finally complete the construction project.

After Regiment Commander Dai gave Lu Zhou the scissors to cut the red ribbon, he solemnly raised his right hand and gave him a military salute.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't a soldier and that he didn't know what the salute meant, he could still see the eager expectation in Regiment Commander Dai's eyes.

At the same time, the WEGA Stellarator, which was disassembled and packaged, followed the visiting team's footsteps and entered the port of Haizhou.

€500 million was almost 4 billion yuan.

Even though this wasn't Lu Zhou's own money, he still felt a little heartbroken when he saw this money disappeared.

However, he knew that this money was definitely well spent.

Even though the WEGA machine had been shut down for more than five years, during these five years, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics didn't just let it rust and collect dust, they still did regular maintenance on the machine.

Also, once they added up the cost of research and development, the Germans spent more than €1 billion on this machine.

Thinking about it this way, he actually got a discount.

After all, the worth of SG-1 wire technology was nowhere near €1 billion.

With coordination from the Suzhou provincial government, the WEGA Stellarator machine quickly arrived at Jinling and was sent to the STAR Stellarator Research Institute near Purple Mountain.

As Academician Pan stood in the laboratory that was under the mountain and looked at the pile of valuable equipment and parts, he was full of excitement.

But suddenly, the excited old man sighed.

"Unfortunately, we had to buy it…" Academician Pan shook his head as he said, "If only we have the ability to build one completely from scratch…"

When Lu Zhou heard him, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

We just bought the thing and now you're already thinking about making a counterfeit?!

Isn't this a bit greedy?

Lu Zhou wasn't an engineer, so he couldn't evaluate the engineering difficulty of the tokamak. However, from an outsider's perspective, he could tell that the stellarator was much more difficult than the tokamak in terms of the engineering requirements.

Honestly, even the Americans, who designed the Stellarator, couldn't produce one themselves. They gave up half-way through the production of their C type stellarator and decided to follow the Russians by working on the tokamak instead.

Therefore, not being able to create a stellarator was nothing embarrassing.

Specialization of fields didn't only exist in academia; it also existed in the industry.

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "We just started, so it'd be fantastic if we can just follow the steps one-by-one. We don't have to make every step perfect; we just have to make sure the crucial steps are done properly."

Academician Pan shook his head and said, "Even though you put it like that, it feels like we're inferior to them in some way. It just doesn't sit well with me."

After hearing Academician Pan, Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

Because he didn't know how to reply.

After all, not everything could be solved with an engineering blueprint.

Otherwise, that wouldn't be considered a problem.

Sheng Xianfu stood next to Lu Zhou as well, and unlike Academician Pan who was going through a roller coaster of emotions, he was so excited to the point that he began to rub his hands together.

"Do we start assembling now?"

After receiving more than a month of training in Germany, now was finally the time for him to show his skills.

Lu Zhou looked at Sheng Xianfu and nodded.

"Yeah, you can start now."

"Also, for the time being, don't install the external coils. We'll replace them with new ones when the time comes."

…

According to their original plan, after WEGA arrived in China, it would be officially renamed as STAR Stellarator.

With the staff and equipment in place, the stellarator research project had officially entered its next phase.

So far, Lu Zhou had completed two parts of the controllable nuclear fusion demonstration reactor puzzle.

One was the "eye", which was his atom probe He3 technology. The other was obviously the "torso", which was the STAR Stellarator.

In fact, since STAR Stellarator was the prototype for the Wendelstein 7-X, it had most of the crucial components. Lu Zhou was confident that he could update the components in such a way that STAR Stellarator could go toe-to-toe with the Wendelstein 7-X.

The key to all this was the completion of the third controllable nuclear fusion blueprint puzzle piece, the "legs" of the reactor—the superconducting magnet.

Actually, Lu Zhou already completed half of this puzzle piece.

After the SG-1 wire synthesis technology was completed, the "superconducting magnet based on carbon-based superconducting material" project had begun.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, the superior thermal conductivity of the SG-1 wire could greatly reduce the size of the liquid helium refrigeration unit. The data on the blueprint showed that, when compared to copper oxide coils, it would decrease 20% of the engineering footprint.

And what did this 20% decrease in engineering footprint mean?

This meant that he could make STAR Stellarator's magnetic field strength double that of WEGA's field strength!

On the other hand, due to the 500 million yuan order and pressure from the state, Baosheng Group had been continuously expanding its SG-1 factory production capacity.

The wires they produced were directly sent to the STAR Stellarator Research Institute, where they were then modified by the STAR's engineering team into cluster coils around an arm's thickness and 3 meters in length.

These coils had a conduit that allowed liquid helium to pass through, and this maintained the SG-1 material to be below superconductivity critical temperature.

In order to produce a stable output of the magnetic field during the energization of the coil, a sturdy insulator holder was also mounted on the outside of each set of bundled coils. After all, for a sophisticated instrument like this, even a millimeter movement in the wire could lead to serious experiment accidents.

Also, the temperatures inside the stellarator were as high as the temperatures inside the stars…

Lu Zhou spent his days in the laboratory at the STAR Stellarator Research Institute as he overlooked this project in person.

After more than a month of hard work, on the first week after Labor Day, the team of STAR engineers finally completed the assembly of the last set of coils.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the reborn STAR Stellarator and wiped off the beads of sweat from his forehead.

Even though he didn't personally drill in the screws, he was involved from day one, from the design of the superconducting magnet. He knew exactly how many difficulties he had to go through to get to this step.

But thankfully, this work was finally completed.

All they had to do now… was to test his hypothesis!

Lu Zhou smirked as he looked at Sheng Xianfu, who was standing next to him. He then ordered him, "Check the installation status of each component. If there are no problems, get ready to connect the power source!"

Chapter 498: First Step Toward The Sun

Even though "checking" the status of the components sounded simple, it actually took all of the STAR engineers three days to complete all of the necessary examinations.

At the laboratory inside the mountain, all of the STAR project team members were standing in their respective positions, just like they did three days ago.

Lu Zhou stood next to the computer inside the control room, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he overlooked the giant steel behemoth that was densely surrounded by coils. His heart was beating out of his chest.

Soon, this reborn STAR Stellarator would perform its first experimental run.

He waited half a year for this moment…

Sheng Xianfu walked toward Lu Zhou. As he stood next to him, he took a deep breath. He restrained the excitement in his voice as he said, "The water-cooled divertor is operating normally… We can begin the experiment."

When Lu Zhou heard Sheng Xianfu's report on the situation, he nodded.

"Then let's begin."

Sheng Xianfu stood up straight and replied energetically.

"Ok!"

The first experiment wasn't going to be too cumbersome; they weren't going to ignite, nor would they use hydrogen isotopes.

There were only two simple goals for their experiment.

One was to confirm that the maximum magnetic field of the coil could exceed the theoretical limit of 50T while the other was to ensure that the temperature of the plasma could reach 100 million Celsius.

The timing for the experimental run wasn't long; one second was enough.

After receiving orders to begin the experiment, the laboratory staff immediately began to start working.

The liquid helium valve opened, and as expected, the SG-1 wires quickly reached its superconductivity transition temperature.

The loud rumbling sound hurt the staff's eardrums. The current through the superconducting coil began to gradually increase the external field strength, causing them to approach the critical current of the SG-1 wires.

The feedback data of the magnetic field strength was sent to the computer. Lu Zhou looked at it carefully as it moved on the computer screen. When it stopped at the maximum value of 51.14T, a smirk appeared on his face.

51.14T!

Wendelstein 7-X.

The magnetic field strength of the bounded plasma was the key to solve controllable nuclear fusion. They were able to achieve magnetic confinement of more than 50T; there was no doubt that they had solved this piece of the puzzle.

The first experimental goal was successfully achieved!

When Lu Zhou saw the same kind of joy on Sheng Xianfu's face, he nodded toward him.

"Begin the next phase of the experiment!"

Sheng Xianfu immediately said, "Okay!"

In the wounded coil on the streamlined track, other than the superconducting coils attached by the irregularly shaped blue insulating bracket, around 20% of the non-superconducting coils were attached using the red insulating brackets. They were mainly used to fine-tune the shape of the magnetic field in the stellarator.

As the experiment progressed to the next stage, the current in the blue coil began to drop while the current in the red coils began to rise. This would then mold the shape of the magnetic field inside the stellarator into the desired shape.

Lu Zhou looked at the non-stop jumping parameter measurements on the computer screen and said, "Inject the helium!"

"Ok!"

The conduit connected to the stellarator began to inject 1mg of helium into the stellarator.

The helium that was injected quickly dispersed inside the vacuum chamber and quickly thinned out.

However, after the microwave heating device was turned on, the temperature inside the stellarator began to continuously rise. The plasma gradually began to shape and the magnetic field bounded by it was continuously under pressure. Finally, a light blue membrane appeared in the fusion chamber, trembling at a frequency invisible to the naked eye.

Everyone was in their respective seats, and whether it was the engineers or the researchers, they all subconsciously clenched their fists.

At that moment, the stellarator in front of them was like a monster, brewing the most terrifying energy on the planet.

Actually, even nuclear cores were only at 6,800 degrees.

But right now, the helium flowing inside the stellarator fusion chamber was hundreds of millions of degrees.

Even though it only weighed 1mg…

This short second felt like it lasted a century.

Sheng Xianfu's fists were tightly clenched when he suddenly looked excited and began to shout, "We did it! We did it!"

When Lu Zhou heard him shouting, a smile appeared on his face as well.

"Yeah, we did it!"

Even though this was only in-progress results, the achievement was still satisfying.

The next project would be to solve the damage on the first wall done by plasma irradiation.

Structural and functional materials in fusion reactors could experience severe swelling and embrittlement due to the high concentrations of radiation defects and the accumulation of nuclear reaction products. This resulted in an overall decline of the core component and joint structural material properties.

The high-speed neutrons were hitting the closely arranged first wall atoms like pool balls. However, the atoms that were hit did not disappear. Instead, they traveled to other places inside the first wall. Eventually, the atoms in the center of first wall moved to the surface of the first wall, causing the material to swell like a hollow foam.

So far, the academic community hadn't found a suitable way to solve this problem.

Lu Zhou wasn't confident he could solve this problem, but he had some ideas in his mind.

Of course, other than the wall materials, there was also the vital control system, which was the "brain" of the controllable nuclear fusion device.

However, compared to the material-related problems, this was actually relatively easy to fix.

After all, the demands of a supercomputer could be solved with money.

Still, it seemed that they would have to spend money from the research fund again…

The microwave heating unit was turned off.

The current in the superconducting coil gradually weakened.

The plasma temperature began to decrease…

This "metal behemoth" stopped rumbling, and this experiment was finally completed.

After all of this was over, the cheers that were previously suppressed were finally heard in the laboratory.

Many people were so excited that they began to tear up.

In order to celebrate this hard-won success and to thank everyone for their countless days and nights of hard work, Lu Zhou announced in front of everyone that he would host a celebratory dinner at the Purple Mountain Hotel in the evening.

Obviously, this was coming out of his own pocket; it had nothing to do with the research fund.

After the experiment ended, the engineers began to overhaul the equipment for maintenance. After Lu Zhou asked Sheng Xianfu to be in charge, he took off his white coat and left this laboratory that was under a mountain.

The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, he was hit by the bright rays of sunlight that pierced through the leaves of the trees.

Even though Lu Zhou was blinded by the rays of the sunlight, he was faintly aware of what he was seeing.

Suddenly, the light blue dialog box floated into his sight without any warning.

[Fusion Light mission chain.

[Optional branch mission: 50T superconducting magnet. (complete)

[Optional branch mission: First ignition. (complete)]

As Lu Zhou looked at the two dialog boxes, he paused for a second. After that, a look of excitement appeared on his face.

He completed two missions at the same time.

This was his first time ever doing so.

Chapter 499: In-progress Results

Bam!

A newspaper was slammed on the table.

The big eye-catching headline made people turn their heads.

[Big News! STAR Stellarator test runs successfully!]

Even though it wasn't heavily advertised to the public, this and other similar news still appeared in China National Nuclear Corporation's newspaper, "China Nuclear Industry News".

Considering the fact that the stellarator for Lu Yang was still being transported, this was probably the first time a stellarator set foot in China.

However, even though this was something worthy of celebration, it was impossible for everyone to be satisfied.

At least when Zhou Chengfu was reading this newspaper, he wasn't happy at all.

Jiang Liang was standing next to his desk. When he read the newspaper, he secretly pouted. He looked like he was both jealous and envious at the same time.

"This kid really doesn't care, spending €500 million in the blink of an eye."

Zhou Chengfu was expressionless when he spoke slowly.

"It's not like he's spending his own money, why would he care…"

Also, after one successful stellarator ignition, it was much easier to receive additional research funding.

Zhou Chengfu glanced at the newspaper on his desk and laughed coldly.

"1 second…"

This achievement was far worse than that of HL-2A.

Zhou Chengfu picked up the newspaper; he was about to throw it in the trash can.

Suddenly, while holding the newspaper in his hand, he had an idea in his mind.

Maybe, he could capitalize on this…

…

The successful STAR Stellarator experiment opened the door for stellarators to the Chinese controllable nuclear fusion field.

Two days after the successful experiment, reporters from magazines such as China Nuclear Industry News, Science and Technology Weekly, etc ran reports and interviews on the latest STAR project. When the members of the city council of Jin Ling heard the news, they came to visit the laboratory under the Purple Mountain and to show their appreciation for the stellarator project.

Lu Zhou let Academician Pan deal with these trivial matters.

He wasn't interested in doing any media interviews before any decisive results came out; he was even less interested in the city council members.

Other than the in-progress STAR Stellarator results, the greatest joy this successful experiment brought him was probably the system rewards that came out of nowhere.

He completed two of the system's branch missions at once, which gave him various experience points—100,000 in materials science, 50,000 in biochemistry, 50,000 in physics, 100,000 in engineering, and 1,000 general points.

This was undoubtedly an unexpected surprise for him.

The total accumulated experience was over 300,000; it was not an exaggeration to say that he hit the jackpot.

While Lu Zhou sat in his office at the Institute for Advanced Study, his consciousness was currently in the system space.

He looked at his updated characteristic panel.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 7 (144,000/1.2 million)

B. Physics: Level 5 (83,215/300,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 4 (74,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 3 (5/100,000)

E. Materials science: level 5 (13,000/300,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 ( 0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 1 (3,000/10,000)

General points: 4,975 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

He leveled up both in materials science and engineering.

His materials science level was at level five now, which was the same level as his physics.

As for engineering…

Even though he wasn't really involved in engineering research, there was no harm in having more talents.

Also, a scholar that had an understanding of the engineering field often gave more constructive suggestions. Their laboratory research results were also more like to be easily applied in the real world.

After Lu Zhou closed his characteristic panel, he double-checked the branch mission of the Fusion Light mission chain before he exited the system space.

After his consciousness was brought back to his office, he stretched his back and leaned against his office chair.

It was pretty tiring sitting in the same position.

He stretched his stiff arms and looked at the clock on the wall; it was already half-past twelve in the afternoon.

He felt a bit hungry, so he got up and left his office. He then went straight to the cafeteria of the Institute for Advanced Study.

Since it was a bit past lunchtime, there weren't many people in the cafeteria.

After Lu Zhou got his food, he found a place to sit down and began eating.

Coincidentally, Yang Xu came to the cafeteria as well. He noticed Lu Zhou sitting there, so he walked over and placed his food tray across from Lu Zhou.

"What a coincidence, you're having a late lunch as well?"

Lu Zhou: "There's been a lot of work piled up, so it slightly delayed my lunch."

Yang Xu: "I really think that you should hire two assistants. Whether you need help making your coffee or not, at least they will save you a lot of trouble."

Lu Zhou: "I'll think about it. What about you? What have you been up to?"

"Mainly research-related work." Yang Xu suddenly thought of something, so he said, "Oh yeah, there's something I have to talk to you about."

Lu Zhou: "What thing?"

Yang Xu: "We hired a bunch of new people at the beginning of the year, right? Most people don't really know each other, so they're lacking a bit in cooperation and teamwork. I talked about it with Liu Bo, and we plan on organizing a sports event next month, to boost everyone's morale and friendship."

"Sure, health is the capital for scientific research. I support this," Lu Zhou smiled and said. "Give me a budget statement, and I'll cover the prizes."

Yang Xu smiled and said, "I'll remember that."

After Lu Zhou ate his lunch, he returned to his office and switched on his computer. He began to work on his unfinished work from the morning.

A few hours ago, the STAR team finished the experimental report and summarized the plasma diagnostic data, which they sent to his work email.

After Lu Zhou opened the email, he downloaded the attachment and began to read it carefully.

[Longitudinal wave field 51.14T, plasma current 0kA, plasma confinement time 1.11s, maximum time 1.75s, auxiliary heating power 40MW, plasma line average density greater than 7.5x10^19m-1, electron temperature 9.86keV (around 1.1 billion degrees)…]

Lu Zhou looked at the data on the spreadsheet and nodded with satisfaction.

From the data alone, it seemed that the last experiment was quite successful.

We can try putting in hydrogen for our next experiment.

Also, we have to solve the supercomputer and plasma control schemes as soon as possible. Otherwise, the magnetic confinement time isn't going to increase.

And the water-cooled divertor; if we want to accommodate higher fusion temperatures and confine high-density plasma for more than 30 minutes, we might have to redesign this component.

Lu Zhou was thinking about this in his mind.

Suddenly, he heard hasty footsteps coming from the corridor.

Soon after, he heard someone knocking on the door.

Lu Zhou closed his email and looked at his door.

"Come in."

Sheng Xianfu was holding a newspaper as he walked in, obviously exasperated.

"This is ridiculous!"

He placed the newspaper on Lu Zhou's desk.

When Lu Zhou looked at the headline of the article, he raised an eyebrow.

Are they… trying to provoke us?

Chapter 500: 4 Billion Yuan Well Spent?

[WEGA Transforms Into STAR, Is This 4 Billion Yuan Well Spent?]

This title was meant to stir up public discussion, while the article body used three paragraphs to objectively portray a simple narrative of the past and present of the STAR Stellarator.

However, this so-called objective narrative was only five hundred words.

And even the five hundred words were only used to merely pave the way for their biased opinion.

Lu Zhou saw this and raised his eyebrows with interest. He couldn't help but wonder what Academician Zhou planned on doing; therefore, he continued to read the article.

He quickly realized the intention of the article.

Simply speaking, this scientific article had two main intentions.

The first was to pour cold water on this burning fire. They explained the 1-second plasma confinement time from a simple scientific standpoint, saying how it wasn't anything novel in the controllable nuclear fusion field.

Then, it subtly pointed out the work done by the STAR project team so far, saying how all they did was spend 4 billion yuan to buy a "second-hand machine" from someone else.

As for the central idea of the article, other than criticizing the technical route of STAR Stellarator, they also said that he was "trying to impress people", "wasting our country's resources", and "affecting the development of controllable nuclear fusion".

Lu Zhou could probably guess why Academician Zhou was doing this.

It was nothing more than trying to defeat Lu Zhou before his wings were fully grown.

After all, the country's investment into the controllable nuclear fusion field was limited. If Lu Zhou received more resources, then naturally, he would receive less.

Did this article have any impact?

It actually had a little.

A commentary article signed by a big name had a certain amount of influence in the higher-ups' decision-making process.

Furthermore, this article wasn't a normal article.

This was written by Zhou Chengfu himself, the head of the ITER China project team as well as the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center.

If this article were targeting some no-name scholar, they would be killed just by the influence of this review article alone.

As for Lu Zhou…

It did have a certain amount of impact, but it was limited.

This was the power and aura of a Nobel Prize winner.

But then again, average scholars weren't worthy of being personally attacked by Zhou Chengfu.

"Nicely written." Lu Zhou chuckled and turned over the newspaper.

Seeing that Lu Zhou wasn't angry and casually dismissed this matter, Sheng Xianfu couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you angry?"

Whether it was Professor Li Changxia, or Professor Sheng Xianfu, or the others, the technical backbone of the STAR project team comprised of middle-aged scholars who were in their thirties. They often weren't able to hold back their anger.

After all, if they could manage their anger and understand the philosophy of playing safe, they wouldn't have come work for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou knew he was going to ask this, and he smiled as he replied nonchalantly, "Do you see Academician Pan getting angry?"

"I don't know… But how can we just leave it like this?" Sheng Xianfu asked, feeling unjust.

"What else are we going to do? Write a scientific review and criticize the tokamak? Offending most of the controllable nuclear fusion experts?" Lu Zhou threw the newspaper aside and said, "Why am I still doing research then, why don't I just become a reporter for the newspaper…"

Actually, if he really wanted to, he could write an article.

If any unresolved technical problem was a flaw, then every technical route had flaws.

For example, the tokamak was an external magnetic field coupled with the magnetic field generated by the plasma current, which was equivalent to running tens of millions of amps on an unstable, turbulent conductor.

Serious problems such as twisting, magnetic tearing, and magnetic reconnection could all lead to the collapse of the entire system. And the consequences could be far more dangerous than the stellarator; it could cause serious damage to the equipment.

This was one of the reasons why every tokamak experiment was done cautiously and carefully.

Actually, Lu Zhou sometimes wondered if there were any new ideas that could jump out at him. He wondered why mathematics was so easy to deal with compared to this. After all, he solved the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation and the plasma turbulence problems. If only he could also solve the twisting, magnetic tearing, and magnetic reconnection problems for everyone.

But then again, even Old Zhou wouldn't use this kind of ridiculous argument to attack his opponent.

He noticed that Sheng Xianfu looked like he didn't want to take this loss, so Lu Zhou spoke slowly.

"Facts speak louder than words, and our result is the biggest counterattack.

"Right now, your job is to prepare for the experiment in August.

"Next time, we will aim for thirty minutes."

After hearing thirty minutes, Sheng Xianfu's facial expression changed; he looked a bit reluctant.

"Thirty minutes… Isn't it a bit too difficult for STAR Stellarator?"

Even with the upgraded water-cooled divertor and improved control scheme, the Wendelstein 7-X was barely able to reach this number.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Scared?"

Sheng Xianfu looked at Lu Zhou's confident expression and paused for a second.

He went silent for a while before a smirk gradually appeared on his face and reignited his fighting spirit.

"… No way, I'm not scared of anything."

…

There had always been a power hierarchy problem in academia.

There were some people at the top of the academic hierarchy that didn't talk about specific academic problems. Instead, they incorporated the issue of morality, race, and even politics into academic problems. They also took advantage of the general public's knowledge gaps and tried to incite their sense of justice and nationalism to attack their opponents. This was one of the common tactics used by tyrants in academia.

Even the international big names like Old Qiu had been screwed by the Chinese academic community.

These people didn't reason, didn't disprove. They only selectively chose facts that were beneficial to them and exaggerated them.

Zhou Chengfu was definitely an expert in using this tactic.

Even if Lu Zhou wanted to respond to this article, it would be difficult.

However, Lu Zhou actually didn't have to do that.

Because the end result was always the best counterargument.

He never really cared about what Zhou Chengfu said.

Of course, even though he didn't care, there were many people that cared for him.

Like Academician Pan.

Even though the old academician was retired, he had been paying attention to the things that were happening in the industry.

After he read that article signed by Zhou Chengfu, his first reaction was to call Lu Zhou. He tried to persuade Lu Zhou not to do anything out of anger. If Lu Zhou acted impulsively, he might fall into Zhou Chengfu's trap.

Lu Zhou obviously already knew this; therefore, he told Academician Pan not to worry.

Lu Zhou knew exactly what to do and what not to do.

Other than Academician Pan, there was also the principal of Jin Ling University, Principal Xu.

Principal Xu's temper was not nearly as nice as that of Academician Pan's.

The STAR project was one of the key projects for Jin Ling University. Furthermore, Lu Zhou was the pride of Jin Ling University. Old Pan had a history with Zhou Chengfu, but Principal Xu was having none of this.

Lu Zhou found Principal Xu. He was about to discuss the control scheme of the stellarator with him when Principal Xu spoke first.

"What is with this Zhou Chengfu guy?"

Chapter 501: Building a Supercomputer

Lu Zhou was stunned when he heard Principal Xu's concern, so he smiled and spoke.

"Actually it's not a big deal, maybe Old Zhou thinks that my development is going too smoothly and is worried about me surpassing him. He probably wrote that article hoping I would slow down and wait for him to catch up."

Principal Xu heard Lu Zhou's words and shook his head.

"Your mentality is so strong, still able to make jokes with me."

"It's not that big of a deal, making a joke isn't a big deal," Lu Zhou carelessly smiled and said. "From Mr. Zhou's point of view, he owns the controllable nuclear fusion field. Obviously, he wants to control everyone in this field. To put it bluntly, this isn't a fight between the Stellarator and Tokamak. Regardless of what I am researching, as long as he isn't in control of the STAR Stellarator project and my research is affecting his authority in the field, he will definitely have some negative opinions about me."

Principal Xu smiled and said, "… You're seeing the whole situation thoroughly. So you really don't care at all?"

"I really don't care what he says." Lu Zhou smiled lightly and said, "It might have impacted someone else, but it isn't impacting me."

"… Okay then, if he's intimidating you with his authority and does something out of line, you can tell me. I can't help you much with your research, but I can still help you write a couple of letters," Principal Xu said. He unscrewed his vacuum flask lid and took a sip of hot tea. He then paused for a while and said, "It's not just me, your supervisor Old Lu and the entire Jin Ling University is on your side."

Lu Zhou: "If it really comes to that, I will tell you."

"I'm relieved to hear you say this." Principal Xu nodded and said, "What I'm most worried about isn't your research going wrong, it's you not speaking up about some issue."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "You must be kidding, am I the type of person that will mistreat myself?"

"Okay, enough of this. I know you're not here to talk about this thing." Principal Xu smiled and asked, "Tell me, what trouble have you encountered?"

Lu Zhou put on a more serious expression and spoke.

"The reason I came to visit you today was mainly to talk about the program problems."

"Program problems? I'm decent at that." Principal Xu put down the vacuum flask and said with interest, "Let's hear it. Even if I can't solve it, I can recommend a couple of information technology academicians that can."

Lu Zhou: "It's about the control scheme for the stellarator."

"Stellarator's control scheme?" Principal Xu frowned after hearing Lu Zhou's question, and he asked, "This… I really don't know a lot about it. Can you elaborate?"

Lu Zhou nodded and explained the specific problem from an academic point of view.

In short, whether it was the tokamak or stellarator, the high destiny plasma in the fusion chambers was highly unstable, and turbulence could occur at any time.

The magnetic field that constrained the plasma was like an invisible hand, while the computer that controlled the outer field coil was like the brain. Having just the brain alone wasn't enough, the plasma changes could occur in an instant. It was impossible for people to control the computer, this could only be done by a program.

The Max Planck Institute was quite well-versed in this regard. According to the control scheme established by referencing Lu Zhou's plasma turbulence model, the operation time of Wendelstein 7-X successfully increased to 30 minutes, thus shocking the entire world.

Now that Lu Zhou's plasma turbulence model was proven correct by the Wendelstein 7-X, all Lu Zhou had to do was to prepare a reliable control scheme for his STAR machine.

The Institute for Advanced Study didn't have anyone proficient in information technology. With his scrappy programming knowledge, he could write a couple of programs, but he was way out of his league when it came to large-scale scientific research project software.

Therefore, Lu Zhou focused his attention on Jin Ling University.

Jin Ling University's computer science department was second only to the physics department. It was ranked as one of the highest in China. Plus Principal Xu himself was an academician of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, so asking him for help was the perfect match.

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, Principal Xu thought for a moment and said, "The problems you talked about, it's not just software problems, right?"

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed as he said, "Yeah, that is the case."

This was quite shameful. As of now, not only was the STAR machine brain lacking in software, but it also had hardware problems that had to be solved.

Like building a supercomputer, this was all something that would require professionals to complete.

Professor Xu sighed and said, "Okay then, I'll gather the professors from the computer science department and form a small team. We'll help you solve both the hardware and software problem as well as the control scheme… Can I ask how much is your budget?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Around a billion yuan."

Principal Xu: "…"

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit and asked, "Is it not enough?"

It's not like I'm building a Tianhe-2 supercomputer, one billion is surely enough?

Principal Xu gently coughed and said, "… Nothing, it's enough. I was just a bit surprised."

What he really wanted to say was how rich the controllable nuclear fusion industry was, but it wouldn't be appropriate to say this out loud.

They had hundreds of millions in research funding, and any research project they outsourced would be able to fund countless professors.

No wonder Zhou Chengfu was jealous.

"The computer science department here can solve the control scheme and supercomputer problem. Is there anything else?"

Lu Zhou was about to say that there wasn't anything else, but he suddenly remembered Yang Xu talking about a staff sports event thing, so he spoke.

"Oh yeah, one more thing."

Principal Xu: "What thing?"

"It's not anything important. It's just that our institute plans on hosting a sports event, but our gymnasiums are still under construction." Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly as he said, "If it's not too much of a hassle, I'd like to borrow a sports venue or something."

When Principal Xu heard this request, he replied with a smile, "That's it? Piece of cake, I'll call the academic affairs office. Oh yeah, Dean Liu was also talking to me about hosting a faculty sports event. How about we find a time to host it together?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Sure, I don't mind."

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Jin Ling University 1 were part of a family. Not only did they collaborate on research projects, but many researchers at the Institute for Advanced Study also had faculty positions at Jin Ling University. Having a sports event would boost everyone's morale.

Also, sports events would be boring if there were not a lot of people; it would be much more fun with more people.

Since Lu Zhou agreed, Principal Xu smiled and patted his thigh. He quickly said, "Okay then, it's ad one deal. We'll provide the venue, and you guys will take care of the prizes."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why does it feel like…

There's some kind of strange agreement mixed into this.

Whatever, it's not like we're lacking money anyway. Jin Ling University is also known as Jin University

Chapter 502: Faculty Sports Games

This was completely opposite of what Zhou Chengfu expected. He waited for a week and didn't hear anything from the STAR project team.

STAR didn't announce any new experiment plans, nor did he see Lu Zhou respond publicly to his scientific review article.

It was like…

He was being ignored…

Zhou Chengfu felt like he was being punched out of nowhere; it made him uneasy.

Originally, he thought that after Lu Zhou saw his article, even if Lu Zhou didn't reply with a rebuttal article, he would at least immediately begin the next controllable nuclear fusion experiment, in hopes of proving himself.

And regardless of which one Lu Zhou chose, it would be beneficial for him.

If Lu Zhou chose the former, he wouldn't lose to him in terms of article writing abilities. If Lu Zhou chose the latter, at least he could get an understanding of the STAR machine.

After all, he didn't know exactly what was the situation with the STAR machine. Whether it "only decided to run for one second" or "could only run for one second", he had no idea.

Even though he didn't feel optimistic about the WEGA machine, that was only a guess based on the fact that the Germans were willing to sell the machine for €500 million. Therefore, he didn't want to say anything too controversial and absolute. At the very least, he had to be cautious with his words.

Zhou Chengfu was in his office, reading the latest issue of China Nuclear Industry News. As if he was talking to himself, he asked, "Why is this kid staying so silent?"

Jiang Liang was also puzzled. Logically speaking, Lu Zhou had no reason to take the loss.

His eyes turned as a thought appeared in his mind.

"Maybe… They really bought a piece of trash?"

Zhou Chengfu pondered for a while and said, "That could be possible. After all, the WEGA machine has been retired since 2013. Anything could have happened within these six years."

Ever since the Wendelstein 7-X project was launched, the WEGA machine was forgotten and faded out of everyone's mind. The only information about the WEGA machine was that it was still on the laboratory's list of devices.

After all, controllable nuclear fusion wasn't a popular field. The important research was basically centered around a few nuclear fusion devices that were still operational. No one would pay attention to a device that couldn't produce any research results.

And if a device wasn't able to produce theses, then no one would know what the situation of the device was.

From the very beginning, Zhou Chengfu had suspected that this equipment was defective. Otherwise, it wouldn't make any sense for the Germans to so readily agree to a sale.

After all, from his objective opinion as an insider, the price tag of €500 million was a bit cheap…

Zhou Chengfu thought for a bit.

"Let's see what happens in a few days.

"We'll wait until the end of the month."

If they really bought a 4 billion yuan piece of scrap metal, then it would be interesting…

…

While Zhou Chengfu was planning on how he should play the cards in his hands, there was a beautiful clear blue sky thousands of miles away in Jinling.

On this day, the staff of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study as well as the faculty of Jin Ling University finally met each other at their jointly held sports games.

Other than traditional track and field events, such as running, hurdling, high jump, long jump, and relay running, there were also a wide variety of ball sports, such as table tennis, football, and basketball. There were also events specifically designed to promote teamwork, such as table tennis ball relay and the three-legged race.

At the opening ceremony, the contestants raised the national flag. They were arranged by their faculty departments and shouted the oath of sportsmanship. After the principal's opening speech, this sports event finally officially began.

"Old Tang, are you fine?"

Professor Lu Fangping was warming up at the start of the hundred-meter race. He's actually been gaining quite a bit of weight over the years, but he still jokingly teased Professor Tang Zhiwei, who was standing next to him on the race track.

Old Tang heard his friend's joke and laughed. He then said, "You don't have to worry about me, just worry about yourself, and don't break your back."

Old Lu: "I'm not trying to offend you, but your posture isn't correct at all, aren't you going to warm up?"

Old Tang: "Warm up? It's only a hundred meters."

Old Lu: "Ah, don't blame me when you trip and fall."

When the referee next to the race track raised his gun, the two old professors shut their mouths and focused on the race track in front of them. They both planned to prove to each other who would be the real winner.

"Everyone…

"Get set…

"Run!"

The moment the gun went off with a bang, the professors sprinted like a couple of rabbits.

However, within two seconds, something embarrassing happened.

First, Old Tang's shoe flew off his foot, landing a couple of meters away. Then, Old Lu, who was running behind him, saw the shoe fly off, and he fell onto the ground. He even nearly got a cramp from laughing too hard.

Obviously, being good at running had nothing to do with warming up beforehand.

Thankfully the running track was made from soft polyurethane, therefore the fall wasn't too painful. Not to mention, Professor Lu's beer belly helped him reduce the impact. With people on both sides of the race track cheering for him, he still stood up while wincing.

The teachers and students who were standing on both sides of the running track tried their best to cheer Old Lu on. But falling onto the ground would undoubtedly make him come last.

However, the two old professors still persevered. They stumbled to the finish line and received applause from the students and teachers.

Inside the gymnasium, there were two teams fighting on the basketball court, defending and chasing the ball.

This competition was between the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Jin University chemistry department.

It was obvious the ball sports were more enjoyable to watch than track and field events.

There were many more people surrounding the basketball court.

Of course, it also could've just been because of Lu Zhou's presence on the court.

Some random professors accidentally gossiped in class, which ended up causing all of the students in the maths, chemistry, and physics departments to find out that the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize winner was going to participate in this sports event. This put the number of spectators on a whole other level.

However, Lu Zhou didn't pay attention to the spectators; his focus was on the basketball competition.

Over the past six months, he had been busy with research. He hadn't exercised this intensely in a long time.

As for how many shots he landed…

That wasn't important.

Playing basketball was more about having fun.

After all, everyone was bad at the game.

Besides, he knew that the reason why there were so many people watching him and cheering him on wasn't because of his skillful basketball techniques.

What was the real reason?

Was that really a question that needed to be answered?

Obviously it was because of his handsomeness…

A couple of chemistry students stood on the edge of the basketball court while watching the game. They began to brag to each other.

"Whenever our new lecturer on computational materials talks about the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure, his PowerPoint presentation would show a photo of him and the Nobel Prize laureate. The main thing is that he's in the background of the photo, and you can only see half of his face. I think it might even be photoshopped."

"Bro that's nothing. Every class, our experiment professor will talk about how useless we are and brag about how nutty God Lu was when he was our professor's assistant."

"Is it Professor Li?"

"Of course!"

"He probably just wants to show off he had a Nobel Prize laureate as his assistant."

"Sigh, what's the point? These professors just brag to us undergrad students all day."

Suddenly, they heard a jarring voice from the crowd behind them.

"Ah, what are you guys talking about?"

The students turned their heads and saw Li Rongen with his hands behind his back as he smiled at them.

It was like the students saw a ghost, and they turned around as they scattered away.

Chapter 503: I Didn't Expect You to Be Very Popular

Break time.

Qian Zhongming sat on the side of the basketball court. He gasped for air and looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting next to him.

"I didn't know you can play basketball."

"I can do a lot of things." Lu Zhou smirked and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his collar.

Suddenly, someone handed him a bottle of Gatorade.

Lu Zhou looked over and saw a familiar figure standing there.

"I-I saw you were sweating a lot, so I bought this for you."

When Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou in his basketball clothes, her cheeks felt a little warm.

Up until now, she always thought of him as a trench coat in the winter, t-shirt in the summer kind of guy.

This was her first time seeing him like this.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou took the bottle of Gatorade from her and said thanks.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Han Mengqi's ponytail swung like a squirrel's tail, and she threw away her strange fantasies as she raised her fist. "You got this, Master!"

"Oh, thanks!"

Seeing how energetic she was, Lu Zhou's strength recovered quite a bit. He smiled and shouted with her.

But speaking of which, she was in the chemistry department, right?

Is it really fine for her to cheer me on?

While he was thinking about this problem, Han Mengqi already left with a blushing face.

When Lu Zhou placed the half-finished bottle near the basketball hoop, he noticed Brother Qian looking at him thoughtfully. Lu Zhou was feeling kind of suspicious by it.

"What?"

"… Nothing." Qian Zhongming adjusted his glasses and said, "It's just a bit surprising, I didn't expect you to be this popular."

Lu Zhou: "I'm popular?"

Qian Zhongming asked seriously, "Are you not?"

"… A bit." Lu Zhou looked at the students cheering him on and scratched his head. He then said awkwardly, "Probably because I'm so handsome."

Qian Zhongming: "…"

The final competition score was 52:37, the winner was the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou played his heart out in this competition.

The only unfortunate thing was that in the second half of the game, Brother Qian, who was the point guard, didn't pass him the ball at all.

Is Brother Qian jealous of me?

…

The chemistry department wasn't the only one that lost.

Over the next three days, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study overcame all of the obstacles and successfully won the championship.

However, Lu Zhou was carried by his team…

At night, when the sports event ended, several teachers from the sports department gathered at the top floor of Jin Ling University cafeteria. They were giving out award certificates and prizes to the first, second, and third place winners.

The prizes weren't extravagant; the individual competition gold medalist won a watch worth tens of thousands of yuan, and the silver medalist won a phone worth less than ten thousand yuan. As for the team competition, everyone got their share of the prize money.

The award ceremony was lively. However, Lu Zhou, who was holding a trophy on stage as he represented his teammates, didn't feel a sense of accomplishment at all.

After all, the Institute for Advanced Study had a huge age advantage. It wasn't easy for the Jin Ling University departments to assemble a team with an average age of around 35 years old. It wasn't like they could only send the young school counselors, they had to let the old professors participate as well.

Also, the most important thing was that the prizes were coming out of Lu Zhou's pocket, which made it even more boring for him.

"The International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference is in Los Angeles next month. Do you plan on going there?"

Professor Yu Jinsong asked Lu Zhou this question when they were at the dinner table.

Professor Yu was one of the few plasma physics professors at the Jin Ling University physics department. He was doing a collaborative research project with the STAR Stellarator Research Institute on plasma reactions inside the stellarator reactor.

Not just that, but he also played the role of a technical adviser for the group of software experts established by Jin Ling University for the STAR machine control scheme and supercomputer equipment.

When Lu Zhou heard him talking about this topic, he smiled and said, "I might be attending, why?"

The International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference was regarded as the highest level academic conference in the entire nuclear fusion field.

It was organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was headquartered in Vienna. The conference aimed to provide a platform for scholars in the field of controlled nuclear fusion, as well as for those greedy industry folks who were interested in commercial fusion reactors… Actually "greedy" would be the wrong adjective. It should be those who were "brave" enough to embrace the future and provide investment for research and development.

After all, any great cause couldn't be carried out without money.

Lu Zhou obviously didn't want to miss an opportunity to communicate with his peers.

Also, he could use this opportunity to put an end to his work at Princeton.

Professor Yu Jinsong smiled and said, "Here's the thing, two of my students signed up for this conference. However, I'm caught up in some matters, so I can't go. If you're not busy, I'm wondering if you could take care of them?"

This didn't sound like a big deal, therefore Lu Zhou agreed to it.

"Sure, they can come with me."

Professor Yu toasted Lu Zhou and said, "Then thank you so much."

…

The dinner lasted until nine o'clock at night.

Lu Zhou was fed quite a lot of alcohol. Even though his alcohol tolerance was pretty good, thanks to the system strengthening his metabolic capacity, he still stumbled a little when he walked outside.

Wang Peng was standing outside next to a car with their national flag when he saw Lu Zhou stumbling out of the main cafeteria entrance. He just finished smoking his cigarette, so he threw the cigarette butt into the trash can.

He had driven Lu Zhou for a long time, so he knew Lu Zhou didn't like the smell of cigarettes. Every time he had a craving for a cigarette, he would smoke when Lu Zhou wasn't around.

Lu Zhou sat in the passenger seat and put on his seatbelt before he casually asked a question, "Did you eat?"

Wang Peng smiled and said, "I already did. Where to?"

"Zhongshan International."

"Ok."

He started the car engine, and soon, they were on the way out of the university campus.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pinched his eyebrows. He felt his phone in his pocket vibrate, so he took it out and glanced at his screen.

Unsurprisingly, Xiao Ai was harassing him again.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have a new mail. Are you buying a supercomputer? I'm so happy! (/≧▽≦)/♡]

Lu Zhou resisted the urge to fall asleep. He yawned and typed.

[You read my email?]

Xiao Ai: [Hey! Didn't you say Xiao Ai can read it? (°△°|||)]

Actually, I think I did say that.

After all, this thing feeds on information, and it won't grow without eating.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and typed.

[I do have plans on buying a supercomputer… But that thing is very expensive, and it's for the fusion machine, so don't even think about it.]

Xiao Ai: [But I can help you. (o_o)]

Lu Zhou's fingers rested on the screen. He then typed hesitantly.

[You can help me?]

Xiao Ai: [Yeah! I don't know what exactly I should do, but my learning abilities are very strong! (^.^)]

Lu Zhou looked at the stupid emojis and wasn't convinced at all.

However, keeping Xiao Ai on standby wasn't a good idea either.

If it was possible, he'd rather find a way to utilize Xiao Ai.

Lu Zhou looked down and thought for a bit.

"… I'll think about it."

Wang Peng, who was holding the steering wheel, suddenly heard this come out of nowhere.

"… Think about what?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Lu Zhou burped, and it smelled like alcohol. He leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and began to think.

Should I do it?

It's worth considering.

Chapter 504: Headed to Los Angeles

Lu Zhou had always been cautious toward Xiao Ai.

Even though he had researched its core software, to this day, there were still many things that he didn't fully understand.

After all, this wasn't some advanced technology that he invented himself; it was given to him by the system.

He still didn't know if there were hidden dangers inside of Xiao Ai.

However, Lu Zhou decided it was worth a try.

If Xiao Ai really could be of use, it would undoubtedly be a huge helping hand for him.

However, his information science level was at the bottom of all his disciplines.

But he believed that it was one of the three pillars of modern science. As his research continued to dive deeper into the unknown, the scope of his research would continue to expand. The value of information science would gradually unfold.

A few days after the faculty sports event, Lu Zhou tidied up the collected data from the STAR machine's last experiment. He also arranged assignments for his researchers and began to prepare for his Los Angeles trip.

Professor Li Changxia was going with him to the International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference, since he had to do a report at the conference. Manager Sun Chengwu and Chief Engineer Cao from Baosheng Group were going as well.

The reason why Manager Sun and Engineer Cao were going was simple, it was obviously to develop their international market.

Of course, other than these three, there were also two PhD students that were going with Lu Zhou.

The day before the departure, Lu Zhou went to Jin Ling University to sort out some matters. He also went to the physics department and met Professor Yu Jinsong's two PhD students.

"You guys are?"

"I'm Fei Jingti."

"I'm Dian Cili."

One is called amorphous solid, one is called electromagnetic force.

When Lu Zhou heard these two names, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you guys have a friend called Ning Jutai?"

Brother Dian and Brother Fei paused for a second and looked at each other before smiling awkwardly.

"… We don't have a friend named that, but we do have a friend who is still studying for a master's."

Lu Zhou: "What is his name?"

Fei Jingti said awkwardly, "Liu Ti."

Lu Zhou: "…"

…

Lu Zhou didn't care whether or not Professor Yu had a weird thing for physics sounding names. He still arranged a time and place with Brother Dian and Brother Fei to meet up for departure.

This year's International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference would be held on July 1st. The location was at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. In order to have more time, they decided to leave two days in advance, departing on June 29th.

On the day of departure, the squad first flew to Shanghai before transferring from Shanghai onto a plane heading toward Los Angeles.

As soon as Engineer Cao got on the plane, he immediately closed his eyes and began to nap.

"I hate flying." Fei Jingti looked at the ground gradually becoming smaller, and he shivered as he said, "I feel unsafe when I'm this far away from the ground."

Dian Cili, who was sitting next to him, mockingly said, "Don't worry, from a statistical point of view, the probability of you falling from the sky is much lower than the probability of you winning the lottery jackpot."

Fei Jingti argued, "But from a quantum mechanics perspective, you can't rule out any possibility until the plane is re-observed by a ground radar station."

"That's not how quantum mechanics works. You two go take a break, don't jinx it for us."

Lu Zhou, who was sitting beside them, couldn't stand listening for any longer. He couldn't help but interrupt their argument.

Talking about a plane crash on an airplane wasn't a good thing.

Just now, he noticed many passengers looking at them with dissatisfied expressions.

Since Lu Zhou said this, the two blabbers immediately realized their mistake and shut their mouths.

Suddenly, the white guy sitting next to Lu Zhou asked in a poor Chinese accent, "You guys are going to the academic conference?"

Surprised, Lu Zhou looked at the old man and asked curiously, "How did you know?"

"Because I often attend academic conferences. Plus I know a little bit of Chinese, so I listened to your conversation," the old man said with a smile. "I hope you don't mind me asking, I'm just curious… Are you guys physics researchers?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "My colleagues are physics researchers, I'm a mathematician, I only know a bit about physics."

Li Changxia: "…"

Fei Jingti: "…"

Dian Cili: "…"

Since Professor Lu said he only knew a bit about physics…

Then did that mean that they knew nothing about physics?

Manager Sun, who hadn't said anything, touched his forehead and smiled as he said, "They're the researchers, I'm just a layman. I know a bit about high school physics, but for anything bachelor's and above, I'll leave it to the researchers."

The old man smiled and said, "That's all good, I'm a researcher, but I'm also a layman. I know a bit about condensed matter physics, but my research is mainly focused on materials science. What about you guys?"

Professor Li Changxia: "Plasma physics."

The old man nodded and said, "I've heard about it before, it's a very esoteric field."

Meeting someone from academia while being on a plane was improbable.

Flying was boring, and it was a bit too early to start fixing their sleep schedule. Therefore, they began to start chatting.

According to the old man, a few days ago, he went to an international materials science conference in Shanghai, and he was now on the way back to America.

Lu Zhou felt like this person looked familiar, so he asked with a smile, "Can I ask what your name is?"

"Moungi G Bawendi." Professor Bawendi smiled and asked cheerfully, "What about you?"

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he paused for a second.

Bawendi?

This is such a coincidence, how did I bump into him?

"… Lu Zhou."

When Bawendi heard Lu Zhou's name, he was stunned and surprised by it.

"Lu Zhou? You're that Lu Zhou? This is… This is such a coincidence."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I didn't expect to bump into you here."

Professor Li Changxia: "You guys know each other?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Kind of, but we only communicated through work. This is our first time meeting in person."

Lu Zhou remembered a long time ago, when he was still doing his bachelor's degree at Jin Ling University, Professor Bawendi was his thesis reviewer.

Lu Zhou still remembered that the thesis was about computational materials.

Back then, the entire computational materials field was a new discipline that was quite unpopular. But a few years later, this new discipline began to become more and more popular in the international scientific field. It became much easier to fund a thesis reviewer.

During the flight, Professor Bawendi and Lu Zhou talked a lot about materials science.

Especially the carbon nanomaterials field, which they were both familiar with.

During their conversation, Bawendi began to talk about the recent development of carbon nanomaterials research.

"… I don't know if you've been paying attention to the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting. A few months ago, at the conference, Professor Banerjee from the University of California, Santa Barbara, reported their latest research on carbon interconnection technology."

Lu Zhou: "Carbon interconnection technology?"

"That's right." Professor Bawendi smiled and said, "Simply put, they designed a computer chip and replaced the copper in the chip with a carbon-based nanomaterial. I heard IBM is interested in their research. This is a very trendy research direction. I can bet that after you read their thesis, you'll be interested."

Using a carbon nanomaterial for computer chips?

This does sound interesting.

Lu Zhou connected this to his recent breakthrough in SG-1 wire synthesis and suddenly looked interested.

"This does sound interesting, if I have the time, I'll pay attention to it."

The two talked a lot during the flight.

Because there was someone Lu Zhou could discuss academic problems with, even though the flight was tedious, he didn't think it was boring.

After a dozen or so hours of flight, the airplane finally landed on the Los Angeles airport runway.

After Professor Bawendi and Lu Zhou walked down the airstair, they shook hands and bid farewell.

"If you have the chance, you can come to visit me at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Goodbye."

Lu Zhou shook Professor Bawendi's hands and smiled as he said, "Have a nice trip. If you ever come to Jinling, you can also visit me at Jin Ling University."

After they parted ways, Lu Zhou found two taxis outside the airport. The squad went straight to the InterContinental Hotel, which was where the meeting would be held.

Lu Zhou walked through the hotel lobby and was about to walk toward the elevator.

Suddenly, he heard a voice come from the side.

"Hello, are you Professor Lu?"Fei Jingti and Dian Cili sound like amorphous solid and electromagnetic force in Chinese.Ning Jutai sounds like condensed matter physics in Chinese.Liu Ti sounds like fluid in Chinese.

Chapter 505: International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference

Lu Zhou stopped walking and looked at the person who asked the question.

"Who are you?"

"Mihir Benderbauer, chairman and chief technology officer of Tri Alpha." Benderbauer reached out his right hand to Lu Zhou and said with a smile, "It's nice meeting you here."

Tri Alpha?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

He had obviously heard of Tri Alpha, one of the biggest companies in the controllable nuclear fusion field.

It was a privately owned commercial controllable nuclear fusion company. The parent organization behind this company was Google, the company with a "clean energy complex".

In order to speed up the experimental progress of Tri Alpha's C2-U machine, Google utilized its advantage in software engineering and tailored a specific "Optometrist Algorithm" for them. This algorithm used a stochastic perturbation method combined with the human choice to generate the plasma required for the nuclear fusion experiment in a much efficient manner.

Google wasn't the only nutty one; Tri Alpha itself was also very competitive. The company independently developed a "field-reversed configuration (FRC)" machine. The outside of this machine looked like a long cylinder with several small cylindrical chambers inside the cylinder. This machine could increase the plasma temperature much more efficiently than conventional microwave heating.

There was no doubt that the Optometrist Algorithm and the field-reversed configuration machine were considered advanced technologies in the controllable fusion field.

However, Lu Zhou always felt like they had put their attention and focus on weird places.

After all, neither an advanced human-computer interaction algorithm nor a faster way to increase plasma temperature was a difficult bottleneck in the controllable nuclear fusion field.

Lu Zhou shook his right hand and said, "It's nice meeting you too… Do you want something from me?"

Benderbauer smiled and said, "Can we talk in private?"

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Li Changxia and gave his suitcase to him.

"Sorry to bother you."

Professor Li Changxia smiled and said, "It's fine, I'll head upstairs first."

Lu Zhou: "Okay, I'll be there in a sec."

Lu Zhou followed Benderbauer and walked to a cafe next to the hotel.

After they found a quiet place to sit down, Benderbauer picked up a menu.

"Do you want anything?"

"A mocha is good."

"One mocha and one black coffee, please."

"Okay, sir." The waiter quickly wrote down their order on a notepad and left while taking the menus with him.

The coffee soon arrived at their table.

Lu Zhou looked at the coffee on the table and leaned back against his chair. He then asked, "Now, can you tell me what you plan on talking about with me?"

Benderbauer placed his interlocked fingers on the table and looked at Lu Zhou with interest. "I heard you're interested in nuclear fusion research?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, it's a very challenging and meaningful research project."

Benderbauer: "Can I ask if it's spiritually meaningful or financially meaningful?"

Lu Zhou: "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I just said." Benderbauer took a sip of coffee, the bitterness made him pucker his face. He dropped two sugar cubes into his cup and looked at Lu Zhou as he said, "If it's the latter, why don't you consider working with me?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Whether it's a billion or two billion USD, that's other people's money. It's not yours. If we join forces, we can expand our company and then go public. 10 billion, or 100 billion, it's all possible.

"What do you think about my proposal? Mr. Genius Professor Lu, youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history," Benderbauer had a smile on his face as he said, "I can promise you, you will have at least 5% equity, and its value will far exceed your imagination."

Is he…

Trying to get me on his side?

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head when he heard this request. He put down his cup of coffee.

"I originally thought you were planning on talking about the FRC device.

"Thanks for your coffee, but also no thanks. I can't help you."

Benderbauer obviously didn't expect Lu Zhou to refuse so swiftly, so he paused for a second.

He saw Lu Zhou stand up and couldn't help but ask, "… Why?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "There's an old saying in Chinese, those who have different beliefs shouldn't work together."

Benderbauer was astonished. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked in disbelief, "Don't tell me… You're actually planning on achieving nuclear fusion?"

Lu Zhou: "Why don't you ask the researchers in your company this question? I'm sure they'll give you a more reliable and rigorous response from a professional's perspective."

"I don't talk about this problem with them, it's meaningless. Their answer is always the same." Benderbauer shook his head and said, "Anyone betting on ten years in the future is a genius, anyone betting on twenty years is a dumb*ss."

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "What a coincidence, my answer is the same."

…

1st of July.

The International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference officially began.

On the first day of the conference, Dian Cili and Fei Jingti ate their breakfast and came to the lecture hall yawning. They walked into the first conference seminar and found a seat in the back row.

Their supervisor, Professor Yu Jinsong, couldn't come due to some urgent matters. Therefore, before they got here, Professor Yu Jinsong assigned them some special tasks. Not only did he specify which seminars they had to attend, but he also asked them to make detailed notes about the seminar.

Therefore, they couldn't just goof off at the conference as usual.

The seminar report soon began.

The person on stage was Professor Botham from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. His report was on a plasma interaction experiment discovery.

The pair took out their notebooks. Regardless of whether or not they understood the seminar, they still felt like they should take notes of the important parts.

When the seminar was halfway done, Fei Jingti's eyelids were feeling heavy, and he suddenly lowered his voice as he said to his friend, "Over the past six months of reading theses, I discovered something very interesting."

Dian Cili: "What?"

Fei Jingti: "If you explain a very easy concept using academic terminology, you can confuse anyone."

Dian Cili: "Like what?"

Fei Jingti: "Just like so-called 'trivial' content we find in theses. Maybe the author of the thesis only meant that the laboratory person who was responsible for checking the thesis thought it's 'trivial'. Or sentences like 'according to our statistically-based predictions', which basically means, 'we just made an estimate, don't take it seriously'."

Dian Cili: "Can you give a more specific example?"

Fei Jingti: "A more specific example? Like the thesis you're holding right now, look at the last few lines. 'We hope our research can motivate scholars to explore more deeply into this field…'"

Dian Cili was curious. "What does that mean?"

Fei Jingti: "It means that I'm done, whoever else wants to do it, can continue doing it. I'm not doing it."

"Pfft…"

Dian Cili huffed out a quiet laugh and slammed his forehead on the table.

Fei Jingti was muddled, and he glanced at him.

Does this guy really find it that funny?

Professor Botham was standing on stage with his back turned against the blackboard, which was full of calculations. He spoke in a warm and slow voice.

"… We used a high-order harmonic XUV generated by a high-intensity laser and plasma interaction to measure the structure of plasma with a high image resolution.

"As shown in the PowerPoint, we received a very interesting data set from the observations and derived a series of conclusions based on these results.

"This involved a multi-scale analysis of non-linear growth and compressed turbulence… It's not an easy task to solve. Fortunately, we have produced in-progress results."

There was a commotion in the audience as the scholars and experts whispered to one another.

"… If the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy really solved this problem, then it will provide a theoretical basis for solving the magnetic surface tearing problem in the tokamak."

"I can't believe it… Do you think their data is reliable?"

"I don't know, I'll have to do my own research."

Professor Botham was satisfied with the chatting going on around him, and a smug smile appeared on his face.

Just like he had expected, their research results were amazing enough to surprise people.

It was soon the Q&A session.

Professor Botham looked at the first person with their hand raised and nodded.

"Sir, do you have a question?"

Lu Zhou stood up and looked at the calculations on the blackboard. He then opened his mouth and spoke.

"If my guess is correct, you used a differential geometry method to solve the nonlinear equations."

Professor Botham adjusted his glasses and looked at the Chinese scholar. He then frowned and said, "That's correct, is there a problem?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Integrating the L Manifold to solve the nonlinear topology transformation like this is incorrect. Your method is wrong, you can't use the L Manifold like this."

Botham wasn't angry at the fact that he was being questioned. Instead, he laughed.

He then replied in a sarcastic tone, "I don't know how you came to this conclusion. But in my opinion, it is nonsense. There are no problems in my calculations, I know exactly how to use the L Manifold. I don't need you to teach me."

The scholars caused a ruckus in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd in the venue and coughed.

"I'm the one who created the L Manifold."

Chapter 506: Useless Notes

Immediately after Lu Zhou said that sentence, the lecture hall went quiet for a few seconds.

This was followed by a commotion in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou could clearly hear a tint of quiet laughter buried in the conversations.

Obviously, when he said that he was the one that created the L Manifold, many people recognized his identity.

There were also a lot of people that were confused, and these people were waiting patiently for the situation to unfold.

After all, not everyone would know about the "trivial content"; it was only specifically for those who had read the relevant literature.

It wasn't easy for most scholars to read all of the papers in their field, let alone reading research papers in other fields.

Unless someone studied differential geometry and partial differential equations in-depth and did their research on the proof of the existence of a smooth Navier–Stokes equation solution, then they likely didn't know what the L Manifold was.

Not to mention that it had been less than a year since the Millennium Prize Problem Navier–Stokes equations were solved.

Of course, since Professor Botham's research was in this field, he knew quite a bit about the L Manifold. He obviously knew who the inventor of the L Manifold was.

But even so, it was difficult for most people to remember a face from a foreign country.

Forget about a foreign Nobel Prize laureate, he didn't even recognize his own country's Nobel Prize laureate!

It wasn't like there were photos attached to the papers…

Professor Botham's wrinkly face turned red, and he stared at Lu Zhou for a long time and couldn't say anything.

You're just a mathematician, what the hell do you know about the L Manifold… I obviously can't say this.

He took a deep breath and decided to bite the bullet.

"Where was I wrong?"

To be honest, he didn't think he was wrong.

After all, before going on stage, he had gone over his thesis numerous times.

And no matter how many times he checked, he was convinced that his calculation process was perfect.

Botham clearly didn't admit his mistake.

Lu Zhou sighed.

"Can I use the blackboard?"

Even though Professor Botham wasn't convinced, he still made a gesture of invitation.

He was already being humiliated, so he should try to appear generous.

Professor Botham watched Lu Zhou walk toward the stage. He stared at Lu Zhou expressionlessly as he comforted himself in his mind.

On the other hand, under the gaze of the scholars, Lu Zhou walked onto the stage.

He picked up an eraser from the multimedia lecture station. He looked at the blackboard and began to contemplate for a moment. Then he began to erase the middle part of the blackboard.

Lu Zhou didn't notice how stiff Professor Botham was. After he erased the blackboard, Lu Zhou threw the eraser aside and picked up a piece of chalk from the lecture station.

"You have a fundamental misunderstanding on the L Manifold. Differential geometry is a very effective tool for solving partial differential equations. However, it cannot be directly applied like other methods. First of all, we have to construct a bilinear operator B'…"

This type of situation was very common in the field of mathematical physics.

The rise of an interesting mathematical tool. The physicists didn't completely understand the tool but that wouldn't prevent them from using it.

Because if they were correct, they might have made a physics discovery.

If they were wrong…

Then they could at least produce a paper, demonstrating how the mathematics tool couldn't be applied like this.

Lu Zhou spoke while filling in the part he erased.

[μ(t)=e^(t△)·μ0+∫e^(t-t')△B(μ(t'), μ(t'))dt']

"We set a Schwarz divergence vector field μ0 to the equation and set the time interval I ⊂ [0, + ∞). Then define a generalized solution N5 of the nonlinear equation as an obey integral equation μ with the continuous mapping of t, ie μ→N5df(R3)…"

Professor Botham looked at the lines of calculations on the blackboard and had a headache.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't move at a fast pace, he never took a pause.

It was difficult for Botham to keep up with Lu Zhou's train of thought.

If Lu Zhou prepared all this to give him a hard time, then… whatever.

But if Lu Zhou thought of all this on the spot…

Then that would be terrifying!

Botham spent a week to prepare the content that he wrote on the blackboard earlier…

Compared to Professor Botham, the scholars sitting in the crowd were even more muddled…

In order to listen to this seminar, they spent a long time studying the thesis from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. But now, someone was telling them that the calculations in the thesis were wrong?!

???

Excuse me?

As expected, new physics discoveries didn't happen that easily.

Of course, other than the majority who were muddled, there were a small number of scholars who were actually listening and understanding the content on the blackboard.

These were the only people in the lecture hall that could appreciate the value of these calculations.

And for Lu Zhou, that was enough.

Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of calculations and looked at the blackboard. He briefly checked his work and nodded.

"It's basically like this.

"Even though there's no new physics discovery, this is still a very interesting phenomenon.

"I'm not well versed on the tokamak. I can't form an opinion on the magnetic surface tearing problem from these conclusions alone. However, in my opinion, due to the uncertainty of the internal current in the plasma, even if we construct a perfect external field coil, it would be difficult to control the magnetic field inside the reactor…"

Lu Zhou placed the chalk on the lecture station and nodded toward Botham. He then turned around and walked off stage.

The moment he stepped down from the lecture stage, the lecture hall was filled with tumultuous applause.

Soon, the muddled scholars stopped daydreaming and joined in on the applause.

The applause echoed in Professor Botham's ear. He watched Lu Zhou leave the lecture hall and couldn't say anything. Finally, he silently took out his phone and took a photo of the blackboard.

This made him very upset.

However, he still learned something from this seminar…

…

Dian Cili stared blankly at the calculations on the blackboard. He had totally forgotten about what notes were; he was speechless.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Whose seminar am I listening to?

Suddenly, Brother Fei, who was sitting next to him, let out a long sigh.

"Professor Lu really is nutty…"

Even though they didn't understand anything, they didn't feel too frustrated.

He was willing to bet that even if their supervisor, Professor Yu Jinsong, was sitting here, he wouldn't be able to understand anything either.

Dian Cili blankly nodded and gulped.

"Yeah…"

When he looked down at the notes that he had written, he suddenly realized a serious problem.

"Oh yeah, we just finished writing these notes…"

Fei Jingti smiled bitterly.

"They're probably useless."

In less than half an hour, their notes were proven to be wrong.

I feel bad for this British professor…

The two looked at each other, they were at a loss for words.

F*ck sake!

Why did we wake up so early for this?

Chapter 507: Comparing Technologies

What happened at the seminar was only a minor disturbance for Lu Zhou.

He hadn't done any research on the tokamak. Therefore, he obviously didn't read the thesis from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

The main reason he attended this academic conference was for the "technical exhibition" segment. He woke up a bit too early on the first day of the conference, so he found his way into a random seminar, causing the previous incident.

After correcting Professor Botham's mistake, Lu Zhou left the lecture hall. He already killed quite a lot of time, so he slowly wandered to the technology exhibition hall.

Compared to the academic conference happening nearby, there was another level of liveliness in the technology exhibition hall.

What was shown at the exhibition wasn't theoretical research results. Instead, it was actual technology.

Because of this, it wasn't just scholars and researchers that paid attention to advancements in this area, but many entrepreneurs and investors interested in controllable nuclear fusion were also standing here with great interest.

Even though human civilization was still a long way from fusion energy, this didn't prevent the imaginative people from turning their heads into this untapped land.

What was interesting was that most people thought the emergence of controllable nuclear fusion would inevitably affect the profits of the energy giants. They also thought that most energy giants hated controllable nuclear fusion to the bone and wanted to get rid of nuclear fusion…

However, the truth was the complete opposite of what they thought. Many investors of nuclear fusion companies were precisely the energy giants that were seemingly on the edge of losing their profits.

For example, the famous General Fusion Company was led by the Canadian oil company Cenovus. As for the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics stellarator project, not only were they funded by ITER and the German Energy Agency, but part of their research project was also funded by French oil giant Total S.A.

Of course, other than those oil companies, there were also a bunch of wealthy tech companies that were equally as interested in the cool-sounding controllable nuclear fusion.

Like Google's investment in Tri Alpha.

Lu Zhou personally thought Tri Alpha might be defrauding investors. However, looking at it objectively, this private company was able to build a fusion reactor from scratch within a year. Even the famous Nobel Prize laureate Burton Richter was shocked, which meant the team at Tri Alpha had a certain amount of skills.

Professor Guo Houyang, who was the chief scientist and experiment operation director of Tri Alpha, was also a nutty Chinese scholar in the field of plasma physics. Even though his name didn't sound familiar, but this big name was in the 1996 edition of Marquis Who's Who. This was a manifestation of the academic community's recognition of him.

Because there were so many talented people entering the field, and because of the capital being invested into the field, this field was able to go from being unwanted into one of the most popular fields in academia.

Coincidentally, not long after he walked in, he saw Benderbauer, who he chatted with at the cafe the day before yesterday.

This chairman and chief technology officer of Tri Alpha was standing in front of a gray curtain. He was presenting a PowerPoint presentation, which was about their C2-U fusion machine as well as their world-leading field-reversed configuration, to some scholars and investors who were interested in the controllable nuclear fusion field.

Even though Benderbauer's speech on stage was enthusiastic, Lu Zhou thought about what Bendebauer said to him the day before yesterday, and he felt that this enthusiasm was somewhat fake.

"Life is just like a movie, you really do need acting skills."

Lu Zhou shook his head and didn't say anything. He listened to a brief explanation of the FRC machine technology and walked toward the booth next to it.

Other than Tri Alpha, Baosheng Group also had a booth in the technology exhibition hall.

After all, state-owned companies were not the same anymore. Even though this high tech company had special subsidies from the state, they still had to worry about sales.

Otherwise, by the time they finally increased their production capacity, they might have to actually decrease their excessive production capacity.

At Baosheng Group's booth, they demonstrated their SG-1 wire technology, which they developed in cooperation with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, to scholars from all over the world.

Even though the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres had also mastered this technology, this technology was still dominated by Baosheng Group due to their production cost and production scale advantages. Even though the Germans had received this technology, they still had to pass on a large number of orders to Baosheng Group due to their insufficient production capacity.

In short, when the representatives from major research institutes saw this wire, which was only a few thousand nanometers in diameter, they couldn't believe it was real.

That was until Chief Engineer Cao calmly operated the experiment equipment in front of everyone. He showed them the thermal conductivity of the SG-1 wire and the most important one—superconducting properties. The people around the booth had their eyes wide open in disbelief.

At the end of the first day of the conference, Lu Zhou originally planned on going back to his room and rest.

But General Manager Sun insisted on treating his guest. Therefore, the group found a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown and sat down around a table.

At the dinner table, General Manager Sun Chengwu raised his glass and looked at Lu Zhou.

"Professor Lu, thank you so much!

"We've secured more than US$200 million worth in orders just this morning alone!

"This toast goes to you!"

Even though a few hours had since passed, General Manager Sun still couldn't forget how the foreigners responded when Engineer Cao was showing them their SG-1 wire technology, and how shocked and astonished the foreigner experts were.

As the general manager of Baosheng Group, there was nothing more exciting than watching his own company be at the forefront of the industry…

Lu Zhou toasted with General Manager Sun and smiled as he said politely, "There's no need to thank me, you deserve this."

US$200 million in orders was a lot, that was almost 1.4 billion in yuan.

According to the current cost of the SG-1 wire, Lu Zhou roughly estimated that the US$200 million worth of wires was enough to build the outer-field coils of three medium-sized stellarators.

If it was the tokamak, it wouldn't need as many wires.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know much about the Tokamak. Therefore, he couldn't give an accurate estimate.

"What do you mean? Without your technology, we couldn't have come this far by ourselves." General Manager Sun downed his shot glass and cheerfully said, "If Professor Lu has any more good suggestions in the future, I hope you're generous enough to share them with me!"

Chapter 508: Forecast of Carbon-Based Chips

Even though investing in materials research was a bottomless pit, it still depended on who one invested in.

After experiencing the success of the SG-1 wire, General Manager Sun made up his mind and decided to stick with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

And for Lu Zhou, since General Manager Sun was willing to ask him, he was willing to teach General Manager Sun.

This might even help Chinese companies to establish their competitiveness in the global market.

Looking at it from a practical point of view, this was also profitable for him.

Just take the SG-1 material as an example. For every meter of SG-1 wire produced by the Baosheng Group, they would have to pay patent licensing costs to Lu Zhou. Even though this wasn't as rich of an income as what the lithium batteries had brought him, it was still a considerable amount.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I don't have much to say regarding the future direction of your company. However, since you guys already have an advantage in terms of carbon-based production, why don't you consider expanding it to your advantage?"

When General Manager Sun heard Lu Zhou, he immediately took this seriously.

"Oh? Professor Lu, do you have any insights that you want to share?"

"Not exactly an insight." Lu Zhou smiled and paused for a second. He then opened his mouth and said, "I just heard that there's a research team at the University of California that used a very interesting method to successfully synthesize a one-nanometer width, 50-nanometer length graphene nanoribbon. So far, this research result has already attracted IBM's interest, and the industry is optimistic about it being used in the production of the next generation of carbon-based chips."

Everyone knew that 5 nanometers was the physical limit of silicon-based transistors. Once the transistor size was less than 5 nanometers, the behavior of the silicon electrons became unpredictable due to the laws of quantum uncertainty, which might even result in quantum tunneling effects. This could cause the electrons to teleport through the transistor "walls". Therefore, silicon transistors were becoming less and less reliable, and the upgrade of computer chips was becoming more and more of a challenge.

In order to face this challenge, the industry and academic community had formed a consensus. They had to find a new material to replace the traditional silicon in order to produce smaller and better performing electronic devices.

And according to the latest research results, the technical routes that were considered feasible were carbon nanotubes, molybdenum disulfide, black phosphorus, graphene, and tungsten diselenide.

Because Lu Zhou was in carbon nanomaterials research, he obviously was more optimistic about the graphene route.

And the fact was that Lu Zhou's intuition was correct. Under the conditions of the Mott insulator, the graphene had the potential to be applied as a semiconductor material in electronic devices.

Chips…

When General Manager Sun heard Lu Zhou's words, he had a headache.

Even though Baosheng Group had a fat bank account, investing in the big pit of computer chips still made him nervous.

"Professor Lu… You're not suggesting us to invest in the big pit of computer chips, right?"

Lu Zhou saw General Manager Sun's distressed facial expression and smiled as he said, "You're not in the electronics industry, so it's not realistic for you guys to develop computer chips. I just think that since we've already accomplished a few-thousand-nanometer wide graphene wire, why not try to accomplish a few nanometers wide graphene nanoribbon? I know these are two very different technologies, but I think we have the ability to do it."

Lu Zhou was actually being serious.

When he was chatting with Professor Bawendi on the plane, he already had this idea in his mind.

Of course, right now his research was still focused on controllable nuclear fusion.

Not to mention, even if he was interested in computer chip technology, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study didn't have talents in this area.

I'll wait until the controllable nuclear fusion project finishes before diving into computer chips.

I'm sure that by then, a lot of the problems will be solved.

General Manager Sun had a helpless expression on his face, and he shook his head.

A few nanometers wide graphene nanoribbon…

Sounds easy.

But how much is it going to cost…

…

The controllable nuclear fusion conference lasted for five days.

Lu Zhou had gained a lot over the five days.

Other than attending the interesting seminars, the advanced technologies presented by major research institutes also greatly enriched his outlook on the field.

Including Tri Alpha's FRC machine, he had purchased at least US$40 million worth of equipment.

The FRC machine was only a little faster and slightly more stable than the microwave-heating machine. It wasn't a key technological component, but it was still useful.

Other than the non-key components such as the FRC, Lu Zhou's list of purchases also included the He3 atom probe, which was considered a key component.

Speaking of the He3 atom probe, Professor Lazerson was doing well.

This former PPPL engineer had entered the industry as a technician and was now doing pretty well for himself in the plasma physics world.

With his networking skills from the time he was in academia, he knew better than anyone else exactly what kind of equipment the scholars needed. He helped to make the He3 atom probe technology even more powerful and strong.

At the closing conference dinner, when chatting with this old friend, Lu Zhou learned that his business was getting bigger and bigger. Not only was he working closely with more than 20 plasma research institutes, but he was one of the suppliers for the ITER project.

It wasn't just that. Now that the He3 atom probe technology was improved by him, the observation accuracy for high-density plasma had significantly improved.

Speaking of which, when the He3 company was first founded, Lu Zhou seemed to have invested a few million USD.

Therefore, he seemed to be one of the shareholders as well.

"I am willing to bet this is definitely one of the most successful investments you will ever make." Professor Lazerson began to chat about the past, and he smiled and said, "That few million dollars would be worth at least US$100 million. The future of controllable nuclear fusion technology is clear. I plan on going public on Nasdaq and wait for it to rain money."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? I wish you good luck."

Surprised, Professor Lazerson looked at Lu Zhou as he asked, "How come you're not excited at all?"

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression as he said, "… When you have more money than you could ever spend, if someone tells you that you've made another hundred million, you won't react either. That's how I feel about money, you must feel the same sometimes."

Even though Lu Zhou's hundreds of millions in dollars was nothing compared to the billionaires on the Forbes Fortune list, the thing was that Lu Zhou's money was all in cash, which was entirely different.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou didn't have a lot of expenses. Even though he spent quite a bit to establish the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, not only did he make back his initial investment, but due to patent licensing fees, he had even made quite a profit.

Professor Lazerson looked straight at Lu Zhou for a while.

After a long time, he shook his head.

"… No, I don't feel the same at all."

…

After the conference dinner ended, the group of people returned to their hotel rooms and began to pack their bags.

Their flight back to China was tomorrow morning. In order to not have to rush in the morning, they naturally had to pack their bags the night before.

Lu Zhou found Dian Cili and Fei Jingti in the hotel corridor and reminded them.

"Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, you guys will take the plane with Professor Li Changxia. Don't be late."

Fei Jingti: "Okay, Professor… Are you not going back with us?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

"I still have some matters to take care of, you guys go back first."

Chapter 509: The Future Is Yours

A secluded office at the corner of the corridor, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Vera's white chin was buried in between her palms as she stared at the empty seat and lifelessly slouched at the table.

It's been seven months…

Although it was common for Princeton researchers to be away from Princeton all year round, being away for such a long time made it inevitable for people to miss Lu Zhou.

Over the past seven months, she had basically taken over Lu Zhou's number theory class.

This was one of her main jobs as a teaching assistant, and because of the existence of emails, it didn't hinder her ability to teach. However, the feeling of communicating online was different from the feeling of communicating face-to-face.

She thought back to seven months ago at the Stockholm Gold Hall, it seemed like it was yesterday…

She began to daydream when suddenly, her white cheeks began to blush…

Vera's face was feeling slightly hot, and she leaned sideways and put her face on the desk.

There was almost steam coming out of her brain, and the cold desk made it better. Her mood began to get better, but it went back down again shortly thereafter.

Summer really is a season that makes people sleepy.

Vera sighed quietly and turned around, placing the other side of her face on the desk.

I'll lay here for a bit…

I just finished my work anyway.

Hardy and Qin Yue, who were sitting nearby, heard the quiet sigh. They looked at each other helplessly.

It had been half a year.

She had been like this for the past six months.

Even though they wanted to comfort her, they didn't know what to say.

Actually, anyone that paid the slightest amount of attention could tell that her feelings toward Lu Zhou was far more than just gratitude or gratefulness. It had reached a level way beyond that; it was even a type of admiration.

Qin Yue didn't know if Professor Lu knew about this.

However, when he thought about it, even if Professor Lu knew, this situation wouldn't be easy to resolve.

Whether the end result was rejection or acceptance, it would still depend on one party taking the initiative.

And with Vera's personality, if Professor Lu wasn't the one initiating, there would never be any progress.

But if Professor Lu was the one initiating…

Qin Yue stopped writing at his desk and looked toward the air conditioner at the corner of the room.

He could never imagine someone like Lu Zhou, who spent all of his time studying difficult research problems, would be interested in anything outside of research.

I don't think anything will ever come of this…

When Hardy noticed Qin Yue staring at the air conditioner, he nodded thoughtfully and said, "I think Vera is feeling too hot… How about I lower the temperature?"

Qin Yue sighed and said, "… It's fine. It's better if you don't do anything."

Honestly, Qin Yue was sometimes quite impressed at how smart Hardy was.

Suddenly, a wave of hot air came from the door.

When the office door was fully opened, a familiar figure was standing at the doorway.

The moment they saw that familiar face, everyone in the office was stunned.

"I think Hardy is right, it is pretty hot… Hey, why aren't you guys talking?" Lu Zhou looked at everyone staring at him. He then smiled awkwardly and said, "Or should I have said hello first?"

"Professor?!"

Vera's eyes were wide open as she looked at the doorway in disbelief. The moment Lu Zhou's figure appeared, Vera's beautiful pair of blue eyes regained its color.

Lu Zhou looked back at Vera and smiled as he said, "Hi, long time no see."

Hardy stood up and walked toward the air-conditioner remote.

Jerick and Wei Wen were sitting not far from the door, and they looked at each other in disbelief. Jerick quietly said, "We thought you were going to resign."

Lu Zhou: "You are correct, I actually am planning on resigning."

The second the words left his mouth, the office became quiet.

Even Hardy, who was walking toward the air conditioner, froze in place.

They went silent for a minute or so.

The first to break the silence was Qin Yue.

"… Do you plan to continue teaching at Jin Ling University?"

On the way here, Lu Zhou planned what he was going to say, but when he heard Qin Yue's question, he suddenly didn't know what to say.

He just nodded. "Yes."

Qin Yue knew Lu Zhou was going to say this, so his facial expression didn't change.

"I want to go with you."

Vera realized what was happening, and she immediately said, "I'm…"

Lu Zhou interrupted his two students and said with a smile, "There's no need for that. Even though I haven't been at Princeton for the past seven months, I can still notice your abilities. With what you guys have achieved so far, you guys have undoubtedly reached the standards set for Princeton PhDs. I don't have any reason to keep you in this office any longer… You guys should have your own office, and your own research projects."

Lu Zhou looked at Vera, then Qin Yue, and finally Hardy. He paused for a second and continued, "One of the main reasons I came back this time was to sort out your graduation."

Qin Yue went silent for a while before he asked, "Then… after I graduate, can I come to work at your research institute?"

Lu Zhou knew he would ask this, so he smiled and answered, "Of course you can, the doors of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study are always open to you… But I don't suggest you do this."

Qin Yue paused for a second and looked at Lu Zhou with a confused look. "… Why?"

"I can teach you the way to think about problems and the way to solve problems. However, the ability to think independently is something you have to practice on your own. I'm not exaggerating when I say that with your abilities, you can become a scholar in any mathematics research institute in the world. However, if you follow me, you will never reach the next step.

"The future is yours, you have to think about how you want to spend it.

"Whether you want to stay at Princeton, or return to your alma mater, or even go to Yan University, all of these options are far better than working for me."

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "Not to mention, the reason why I taught you guys these things wasn't to make you work for me in the future. Instead, I hope you can help me spread the knowledge further."

Chapter 510: I've Thought About It for Six Months

Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, dean's office.

After the cleaning lady poured some water into the plants on the window sill, she began to wipe the dust on the glass window.

She quickly completed her work and lifted her water bucket, about to walk out of the office.

When she was leaving, she looked at Professor Peter Goddard with a surprised look on her face.

Even though she didn't know a lot about academia, this was the first time in many years that she had seen such a distressed expression on the serious old man's face.

Of course, he only became a dean five or six years ago…

The old man full of white hair sat silently at the desk. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at the young man standing in front of his desk. He then sighed and said softly, "At the beginning of the year, someone suggested to include you in the team of tenured researchers at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. I know it's not a good time to bring this up now, but… are you really not going to think about it?"

Research institutes such as the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study all had a small, tenured, life-long research team. This team consisted of the best scholars in the world. Even the researches that they undertook were also the most cutting-edge research in all kinds of fields.

In academia, not only did a tenured researcher position at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study meant a guarantee of research funding and living standards, but it also meant the highest type of honor.

There were only ten tenured researchers in the mathematics department. Lu Zhou's supervisor Professor Pierre Deligne was one of them. If Lu Zhou continued to stay at Princeton, within two to three years, he'd become the eleventh tenured researcher.

However…

Lu Zhou shook his head and said softly, "I've thought about it for six months already."

Before winning the Nobel Prize, the resources he received in China were far less than those at Princeton. However, after winning the Nobel Prize, the resources he would have access to in China were far greater.

There was nothing wrong with calling Lu Zhou selfish. After all, whenever he did multiple choice questions, he would consider which option was the "best choice".

Since Lu Zhou said this, Dean Peter Goddard didn't say anything else. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out an application form.

"Really? Since you've already thought about it, I have nothing else to say. Princeton in the nation's service and the service of humanity… This is Princeton's informal school motto. I think your choice is correct."

Dean Peter Goddard gently placed this application form on the desk, as if he were putting down a heavy burden. He then leaned against his chair and looked at Lu Zhou.

"Other than the researcher position at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, there's also your faculty position at Princeton University… I'm guessing you're resigning your teaching position as well."

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I'm going to Nassau Hall after this."

Dean Goddard smiled and said, "Remember to say hello to Professor Eisgruber for me."

Lu Zhou picked up the application form on the table and nodded.

"I will."

After Lu Zhou left Dean Goddard's office, he didn't stay at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study for long. He immediately went straight to Nassau Hall.

Compared to Goddard's disappointed reaction, Principal Eisgruber's reaction was fairly mild and calm.

After hearing Lu Zhou's request, the principal didn't say much else. He took out a similar form from his drawer.

"… I remember more than twenty years ago, I was still an academic dean back then. Mr. Faltings found me and told me that he was going back to Germany. I also wanted to retain him, but now that I think about it, there's no need for that. This decision can't be made in a day or two, it also can't be changed with just a few words."

He adjusted his glasses and handed the form to Lu Zhou.

"Not being able to have you here is our loss."

Principal Eisgruber paused for a second and said jokingly, "So, in order to make up for our losses, I hope that while resigning as a professor, you can at least accept an honorary professor title."

Lu Zhou paused for a second after accepting the form. He then smiled and said, "It's my honor."

…

By the time Lu Zhou left Nassau Hall, the sun was already setting.

With these two application forms in his hand, Lu Zhou slowly walked back home. He even took a longer route.

His mentality was similar to someone who was traveling far away, who still wanted to stay here for a bit longer.

After all, he had lived here for so long and experienced so many things, so naturally, he had a soft spot for Princeton.

When Lu Zhou walked past Lake Carnegie, he contemplated on whether or not he should go for a nostalgic night run later. He suddenly saw a familiar figure sitting on a bench by the lake.

A smirk appeared on his face. He walked toward the vending machine and bought a sports drink and a can of coffee. He then walked toward the lake.

Molina was in a blue sports outfit, wiping the sweat off her face with a towel.

Suddenly, a drink appeared in front of her.

Molina paused for a second and looked to the side. She then saw Lu Zhou standing there.

She raised her pretty eyebrows and took the drink. She thanked him and immediately opened the can, taking a huge sip.

"You're welcome."

Lu Zhou smiled and sat on the bench. He opened his can of coffee and slowly took a sip.

Even though he normally likes to drink instant coffee, this type of factory-produced cold brew coffee had a special flavor.

Molina: "When did you get back?"

"I got back around noon. I wanted to come here for a run. But after I finished my errands, it was already dark," Lu Zhou said while looking at the students running as well as the rowing team training around the lake.

Molina glanced at Lu Zhou.

"Speaking of which, you haven't been at Princeton for half a year, right?"

"Yeah, time really flies by quickly." Lu Zhou looked at the lake that sparkled under the sunset and said with a smile, "It feels like I just graduated yesterday, but I'm already 25 years old."

Molina: "… I think most people graduate when they're 25 years old."

Lu Zhou smiled in an awkward manner and said, "I think you're right… Speaking of which, what about you? How's your research project with your supervisor going?"

Molina had a smug smile on her face, and she said, "I already graduated. I'm a lecturer at Princeton University now."

Surprised, Lu Zhou looked at her and said, "Already graduated? Congratulations… I wanted to host a party to celebrate you joining the faculty, but I've already resigned."

"Oh yeah?"

Molina didn't look surprised; it was like she expected Lu Zhou to resign.

She looked at the can of sports drink in her hand and said, "So this can of drink is to compensate for that?"

"I guess, but one can isn't enough." Lu Zhou patted the dust of his pants and stood up from the bench. He then looked at her and smiled. "When you get the chance, come to China. I'll take you drinking."

Molina jokingly said, "What if I don't get the chance?"

"Then we'll just have to meet at some academic conferences."

This was how their normal nightly conversations went.

There were no greetings, no farewells.

Molina looked at Lu Zhou walking away and didn't say anything. Instead, she picked up a rock and threw it in the lake.

She didn't have a lot of interests outside of mathematics, and Lu Zhou was just her normal friend.

But when she thought about Lu Zhou leaving, she still couldn't help but feel a little lonely…

Chapter 511: They Are the Treasure of Civilization

By the time Lu Zhou returned home, the sky was already dark.

He returned to his long-separated house. The moment he opened his door, the dust coming onto his face made him sneeze.

"I knew I should have asked a housekeeping company to clean it regularly." Lu Zhou waved his hand around his nose and looked at the dusty doorway.

Maybe I should sleep at a hotel for tonight?

Lu Zhou thought about it for a bit and decided not to.

With the time it would take for him to get to the hotel, he would have been able to clean his bedroom.

Holding a broom and rag in his hand, he spent around an hour cleaning his bedroom and study room.

Lu Zhou leaned the broom against the wall and looked at his newly-cleaned study room. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Next, there's only one thing to do."

He planned to finish his work for today before sleeping.

Fortunately, there was only one thing left to do.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his familiar desk and spent around half an hour writing his resignation letter.

After he looked at the completely dark sky outside his window, he put his two resignation letters into his drawer and walked toward his bedroom.

…

A special ceremony was held at the No.1 lecture hall in the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

After approving Lu Zhou's resignation, Dean Goddard awarded him the title of an honorary researcher.

This title was similar to the honorary professor title at the university. It was mainly given to scholars who had made significant contributions to the research institute but are unable to continue to work here for a variety of reasons.

"You are one of the most outstanding scholars throughout the history of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. As your colleague, your research results gave me a lasting impression.

"Even though it's a pity I can no longer work with you, I still hope that no matter where you are, you can continue down the road of academia."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I will."

A round of applause was heard in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou received the certificate that symbolized the honorary researcher title from Dean Goddard.

Before this, he already had three honorary professor titles. One from Principle Eisgruber, one from Columbia University, and one from Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou didn't deliberately collect these honorary titles. However, he was still curious whether one day, the history textbooks would dedicate an entire page for his academic titles.

After the ceremony ended, Lu Zhou planned on spending the rest of his remaining time wandering around the Princeton campus. Professor Fefferman, who previously worked on the Navier–Stokes equations with him, suddenly called out his name.

He took out a fountain pen from his pocket and said in a joking manner, "Even though Princeton doesn't have this tradition, I still want to give you something. I got this fountain pen at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki. This is my favorite one, and I'm handing it to you."

Because of the movie, A Beautiful Mind, which was directed by Ron Howard, Princeton became famous for a while. And the most talked-about quirk was probably Princeton's tradition of giving fountain pens as a way of paying tribute.

However, according to author Nasar's interview, the gift of the fountain pen was only an exaggeration from the movie director. There wasn't a tradition like that in Princeton. But after the film was aired, this custom was unexpectedly welcomed by Princeton students and teachers.

After all, for these professors, all they had in their drawers were fountain pens collected at academic conferences.

As for the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki that Professor Fefferman was talking about, that was the year he won the Fields Medal.

"Thank you." Lu Zhou solemnly accepted this meaningful fountain pen and smiled as he jokingly said, "You just gave me such a valuable gift, I'd be embarrassed if I don't give you something."

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "You definitely should give me something. Gifts should be exchanged, I think that's a saying in Chinese."

Lu Zhou guessed that Fefferman probably meant gifts should be reciprocated.

Lu Zhou smiled and took out a fountain pen in his pocket and handed it to him.

Fefferman took the fountain pen and looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression.

"I didn't expect you to be prepared."

"I just have it on me." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "By the way, I got this from the International Congress of Mathematicians in Rio de Janeiro."

"Oh, really? I have to take good care of it then." Fefferman smiled and said, "Oh yeah, speaking of which, do you still have your manuscripts?"

Lu Zhou: "I have them, why?"

Fefferman: "If you don't plan on taking them with you, I suggest you donate it to Firestone Library. Even though that old librarian seems to be a little crazy sometimes, he's very good at preserving paper documents."

When Lu Zhou heard this suggestion, he paused for a second.

Donating my manuscripts to the library?

He hadn't thought about this issue before.

Originally, his plan was to give them to his students as a token of remembrance. However, now that he thought about it carefully, he decided that professionals would take better care of them.

Maybe one day, he'd want to come back and look at them.

After all, those pages were the product of his blood, sweat, and tears.

Lu Zhou was a bit uncertain as he asked, "Will Firestone Library collect those pieces of paper?"

Fefferman smiled and said, "Of course! It's not just Firestone Library, I'm sure any museum in the world will be happy to take over those documents."

…

After Lu Zhou left the Institute for Advanced Study, he headed straight to Firestone Library.

When he arrived there, the old man was in his pajamas, and he was taking a nap in his chair.

Even though Princeton was a place full of freaks, it was still rare to see someone wearing pajamas in a library.

Lu Zhou still remembered the last time when he came here to borrow Lyman Spitzer's manuscripts, this old man gave him a lot of trouble.

However, even though the old man had a lot of weird traits, there was no doubt about his love for books.

Perhaps his weird personality was the reason why he did such a good job at preserving these historical documents.

When the old man saw Lu Zhou at the front door, he snorted and made a weird laugh.

"You're here?"

The old man's uncanniness could scare people that were coming to borrow books. Lu Zhou sighed and said, "It's been so many years, do you not plan on changing your style? Not to mention your eerie smile."

"What's the matter, who cares what an old a*s man wears?" The old man smiled and reached for his crutches. He stumbled while standing up. "Not to mention Princeton is full of geeks and freaks, so I'm one of the normal ones."

No, you're probably one of the least normal ones.

Lu Zhou silently complained in his mind.

"When do you plan on retiring?"

The old man smiled. "Retiring? It'll be the day they put me in a coffin."

Lu Zhou heard this and looked at him in surprise.

"I thought someone your age would avoid the word coffin."

"Why should I avoid it? Will I avoid death by avoiding the word? We all grow old, but our wisdom and knowledge will be left for future generations." The old man looked at Lu Zhou with turbid eyes as he smiled and said, "Alright, tell me, are you here to borrow books or are you here for something else?"

Lu Zhou: "I plan on returning to China."

The old man nonchalantly said "Oh" without any other reaction.

After all, he was only responsible for this library. As for the staff changes in the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study and Princeton University, that wasn't within his scope of concern.

Lu Zhou thought about what he was going to say and said, "When I was cleaning the house, I found a bunch of manuscripts. Some are related to Goldbach's conjecture, some about the Navier–Stokes equations, and they might take a while to organize them… What I'm trying to say is, are you interested in keeping them?"

When the old man heard Lu Zhou was planning on donating the manuscripts to Firestone Library, he finally looked interested.

"Of course, this is a treasure of civilization. Give them to me, I'll take good care of them."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The future generations will judge whether or not it is a treasure. I just think it's a hassle bringing all of them back, and they probably won't fit in my suitcases. Also, if I come back one day, I hope they will remain in the same condition."

The old man smirked and said, "Don't worry about that. Just like how you're an expert in mathematics, I'm an expert in document preservation."

"Really? I'm relieved." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "Oh yeah, by the way, if I borrow my own manuscripts, do I still have to swear to the Bible?"

However, the old man didn't find this humorous at all.

He replied seriously, "What foolish things are you talking about? This is the treasure of humanity. The moment you completed them, they no longer belong to you."

Chapter 512: Farewell to Princeton

It had been two days since he donated his manuscripts to Firestone Library.

Lu Zhou contacted a local house cleaning company and cleaned his entire house.

On the third day, he sent an invitation to his Princeton supervisor, friends, and professors to a party in his backyard.

One reason was to say goodbye to Princeton.

The other was to congratulate his students on successfully graduating.

Other than Professor Deligne, Dean Goddard, Fefferman, and Edward Witten, almost half of the Princeton mathematics and physics tenured researchers were all at this party as well.

Because Lu Zhou was pretty sociable, he had a good relationship with most of the people he interacted with.

Because of this, after hearing he was going to leave, a lot of people tried to persuade him to stay.

"… I still remember twenty years ago, when I heard Faltings was going back to Germany, I nearly laughed out loud in my lecture. But my friend, when I heard you were leaving, I felt sorrowful." Peter Sarnak toasted Lu Zhou, and his words were full of pity.

Comparing him to Faltings, Professor Sarnak respected Lu Zhou's humbleness the most.

Even though Sarnak had a pretty good relationship with Faltings, that didn't excuse Faltings' arrogance.

Even though there was no chance to prove it in person, but Lu Zhou believed that there was a reason behind the famous line in mathematics—"You are better at chess, but I'm a better mathematician."

Deligne: "You plan on going back?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah."

Unlike other people, Deligne didn't try to persuade Lu Zhou to stay. He paused for a second and simply said, "My supervisor… The letter Mr. Grottendick gave you, do you still have it?"

Lu Zhou: "Of course I have it."

Deligne nodded and said, "Don't lose it. If you don't need it, give it back to me."

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "… How could I possibly lose it…"

It was quite unfortunate. Even though Lu Zhou was involved in many branches of mathematics, he hadn't made any major research results in the most important branch—algebraic geometry.

Maybe one day, when Lu Zhou needed Grottendick's wisdom, he'd take a trip to France.

But now was not the time.

Deligne stared at Lu Zhou for a while and said, "I've taught many students, some are talented, some are extremely talented. If I had to rate, you're the most talented mathematics scholar I have ever seen, but you're also the most difficult to understand."

"Regardless, I hope you don't waste your talent. No matter what kind of research or work you do, I hope you can continue down the road of mathematics."

Lu Zhou nodded happily.

"I definitely will."

…

All good things had to come to an end.

As the sun began to set, the farewell party came to an end.

Over the next two days, Lu Zhou's students successfully received their diplomas and degree certificates. Before returning to China, Lu Zhou took this time to help them prepare for their further path in education or future jobs.

Actually, he didn't even need to help them; his students were all excellent.

Like he said, no matter which mathematics research institute or university, there wasn't a place on earth that would reject their résumés.

Finally, due to Lu Zhou's advice, Wei Wen decided to do a PhD under Edward Witten. Witten gladly accepted this potential-filled student. Even though this supervisor's reputation gave Wei Wen a lot of pressure, he still accepted this challenge.

As for Jerick, he didn't stay in Princeton. Materials science wasn't Princeton's strong specialty, so it was very difficult for him to take his computational materials science to the next level here. Therefore, with Lu Zhou's advice, he chose to go to MIT to study a PhD.

As for the three graduated PhDs, they all decided to stay at Princeton.

Like this, all of Lu Zhou's worries were solved. He could finally relaxingly embark on his journey back home.

Lu Zhou spent a few hours packing up his things. He then carried his suitcase downstairs and sat in his Ford Explorer, which was parked in his driveway.

Qin Yue was in the driver's seat.

Normally, when Lu Zhou went to the airport, Jerick was the one that drove him there.

However, this time, Qin Yue offered to drive, and Lu Zhou obviously didn't refuse.

Qin Yue drove his Ford Explorer to the airport.

After they got off the car, Qin Yue walked to the back of the car and took out the suitcase from the trunk.

Lu Zhou took the suitcase from his former student's hands and nodded toward him.

"Thank you."

Qin Yue: "You're welcome, this is the least I could do."

Lu Zhou smiled and was about to bid farewell to his student.

However, he suddenly remembered something. He put his hands into his pocket and took out a keyring with a bunch of keys on it.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot something… Take this."

Qin Yue looked at the keys that were thrown in his hand and paused for a second.

"… What is this?"

"The keys for my house." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I probably won't have time to come here, and I probably won't get to live here anymore. You're moving out of your student apartment soon, right? I'm guessing you haven't found a place to live yet. Take care of my house please."

Qin Yue stared at the keys in his hand for a bit and suddenly asked, "Can you tell me your bank account number?"

Lu Zhou: "What?"

Qin Yue said in a serious tone, "So I can pay the rent."

"There's no need for that." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't need that money anyway. Just help me clean the house. Oh yeah, try not to touch my study room and fireplace. Even though I don't know when I'll be back, but I still hope those two places will remain the same."

Qin Yue nodded seriously and remembered Lu Zhou's words.

"I understand, sir."

Qin Yue didn't stay at the airport for long. After he bid farewell to Lu Zhou, he got back in the car and drove out of the airport.

Lu Zhou watched as his Ford Explorer got further away, and he smiled as he waved his hand. He then turned around and walked into the airport terminal with his suitcase.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice nearby.

"Lu Zhou!"

Lu Zhou heard someone call his name, so he stopped walking.

When he turned around and looked, he was stunned.

Someone he never expected to see in a million years was running toward him.

It was like Vera had just finished running a marathon as she stopped in front of Lu Zhou and breathed heavily while leaning on her kneecaps. A bead of sweat fell down from her golden hair onto the ground.

Lu Zhou didn't expect to see her here, and he looked at the little girl panting as he asked, "Why… are you here? I mean, how did you get here?"

"I… I took… I took a train here."

Vera stuttered while panting.

Lu Zhou: "… You don't have to bid farewell to me at the airport."

"I'm… I'm not here… to bid you farewell. I just have to tell you something… very, very important."

Lu Zhou looked at her panting and sighed.

"Can't you just tell me over the phone or through email?"

Surprisingly, the usually submissive Vera suddenly became weirdly stubborn. "No, I can't!"

Vera took a deep breath and stood up straight as she tidied her messy hair.

Jesus, this is such bad timing.

I should have put on a dress and some makeup, make myself look presentable.

But I guess it's too late now.

I've been waiting too long for this…

Her thin lips opened and one word came out.

"I…"

Lu Zhou: "I…"

I can't hesitate, I'll never get the chance again…

Vera took a deep breath and gave herself some courage. She then closed her eyes.

She didn't care anymore, and she finally shouted out the words that were buried in her heart.

"I like you!"

Chapter 513: I Won't Give Up

The atmosphere suddenly solidified.

It was as if time were frozen.

There were two women that walked by, and they looked at them with interest as they smirked and whispered to each other.

Even though it wasn't polite to speak loudly in public, no one would blame a courageous girl for confessing her innocent crush.

Of course, there were also guys that gave Lu Zhou dirty looks…

These two stared silently at each other in this crowded airport drop-off sidewalk.

It was like Vera's confession exhausted all of her courage.

Her white cheeks that were covered by her blonde hair gradually turned red. Her face felt like it was burning, like steam could come out at any second.

She never spoke so loud before, not even when she was lecturing.

Nor had she ever confessed to anyone.

Will he respond?

He's going to reject me, right?

What if I get rejected?

There were a million thoughts in the girl's mind.

However, for her, these problems were more difficult and complicated than the Collatz conjecture, and there wasn't one question she could analyze and find the answer to.

After all, this was the first time she had ever had a crush on someone.

As for Lu Zhou…

He was standing there dumbfounded.

The dumbfounded expression slowly disappeared from his face, and he went silent for a while before he replied calmly, "Sorry, I can't promise you anything."

The moment she heard this, her blue sapphire-like eyes began to water.

Vera gently bit her lower lip, and she looked down at the ground like an insect as she quietly said, "Do… you like someone else?"

Lu Zhou: "Oh no, not at all."

Rather, he had never liked anyone. He didn't even know what having a crush on someone felt like.

He thought about it carefully and realized he never liked anyone growing up.

Maybe responding to her confession is a good choice.

After all, he couldn't avoid the issue of love. He was already 25 years old, and he should start thinking about having a significant other.

If he lived alone for the rest of his life, like Newton or G. H. Hardy, he would be fine with it. He didn't have any obsession with having offspring.

After all, compared to his DNA, there were things that would be more worthy to leave behind.

However, even though this was his opinion, due to traditional Chinese culture, his father would kill him if he were to actually do this.

He had to consider other people's feelings too.

However, even then, he was clear that giving out an empty promise was irresponsible.

Regardless of what happened, he'd be on a flight back to China in an hour.

Vera used all of her courage to look up, and she stared straight into Lu Zhou's eyes.

There wasn't an ounce of evasion from Lu Zhou's dark pupils.

However, because of this, being rejected made her even more depressed.

There was a flash of despair in Vera's blue sapphire-like eyes, and she lowered her head.

"Is it because I'm too ugly…"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "No way, it's not."

If you're ugly, then there's no one on Earth who can be considered pretty.

Objectively speaking, even though her figure was a bit petite, judging from her face alone, she was undoubtedly gorgeous.

At least that was Lu Zhou's opinion.

Vera quietly said, "Then… is it because my boobs are too small?"

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "… No… what are you talking about."

Speaking of which, why would you suddenly bring up such a private topic?

However, he wasn't sure whether or not there was a direct correlation between love and chest size.

"Then… why?" Vera looked up at Lu Zhou and said, "If you're worried about my identity, I'm not your student anymore. Plus I…"

She looked back down at her feet and mumbled in a fragile voice, "… I waited all this time."

Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

He looked down at Vera and thought for a second. He then slowly spoke.

"You're an adorable girl."

When Vera heard Lu Zhou use "adorable" to describe herself, her cheeks began to feel warm again.

She wasn't sure what to respond, but Lu Zhou spoke first.

"The reason why I can't respond to your confession has nothing to do with the fact that you were my student, and it also has nothing to do with what you talked about.

"It's because I'm not available for an intimate relationship…"

"I won't drag you down," Vera interrupted Lu Zhou and quickly said, "I can research by your side. I will try to catch up to you… You don't need to spend a lot of time on me, as long as you're willing to let me be with you."

Lu Zhou quietly waited for Vera to finish talking. He then looked at her in the eyes and said in a serious tone, "It's not that I'm worried about you dragging me down, it's that I don't want to drag you down."

The pair went silent for a minute or so.

After that, the conversation died.

Lu Zhou looked at her thin lips that were moving slightly.

However, she spoke so quietly that he wasn't sure what she said.

When Lu Zhou was about to ask her, Vera suddenly looked at him in the eyes and stood up straight.

"I won't give up…"

There was an unusual sense of courage in her eyes.

This was the first time Lu Zhou had ever seen this expression on her face.

"You told me that if I win the Fields Medal, you'll promise me anything."

Did I say this?

Lu Zhou carefully recalled the past, but he seemed to have forgotten ever saying this.

He probably just casually said it in a conversation. After all, Vera was a timid and shy girl, and she didn't look like someone who would ask for something ridiculous.

However, Lu Zhou didn't expect that not only did she take it seriously, but she was bringing it up now.

"Really?" Lu Zhou smirked and said, "If you still haven't given up by then, I'll have to agree to you."

It had only been a year since the mathematics conference in Rio de Janeiro, the next conference would be three years later.

Not to mention, winning a Fields Medal wasn't that easy.

Even though she solved the Collatz conjecture and improved the Group Structure Method to a certain extent, she didn't produce any striking and outstanding results.

From an outsider's perspective, solving a mathematics conjecture was an amazing achievement.

However, the mathematics community was more concerned with the mathematical tools created in the process of solving conjectures, or any kind of new mathematical theory.

Because of this, the mathematical community viewed Lu Zhou as the biggest contributor to the Collatz conjecture. This was because, since the beginning of this research project, it was clear that Lu Zhou had an idea of how to solve this conjecture.

However, Lu Zhou didn't agree, and he was against this viewpoint.

Therefore, even though Vera had the potential for a Fields Medal, it would take at least seven or eight years for her to win one…

By that time, she'd probably be a little more mature…

Chapter 514: Restart the Experiment!

This was probably the most tiring flight Lu Zhou had ever taken.

It was also the longest.

Lu Zhou carried his suitcase as he walked down the airstair. He looked tired as he pinched his eyebrows and felt his entire body was discombobulated.

He thought about it carefully and realized this was the first time in his life that he was ever confessed to.

And it's by my own student…

I guess being handsome is really a curse?

Wang Peng saw how exhausted Lu Zhou was, so he paused for a second and immediately took Lu Zhou's suitcase.

"Are you jet-lagged?"

Lu Zhou yawned and casually said, "I am, I didn't sleep on the plane at all…"

Wang Peng was astonished, and he looked at Lu Zhou.

"Didn't sleep? What did you do during the dozen-hour long flight?"

Being able to stay awake during a dozen-hour long flight was a nutty achievement in and of itself.

"I just thought about some stuff… regardless…" Lu Zhou diverted the conversation and coughed before he said, "Just take me to Zhongshan International. I just want to sleep right now."

Wang Peng nodded and said, "Okay… Do you need me to hold you?"

Lu Zhou: "… That's not necessary."

…

After Lu Zhou returned to China, he immediately threw his attention into the controllable nuclear fusion project.

The professors used Lu Zhou's previous thesis on the stellarator plasma turbulence model as a reference. The computer science department and physics department of Jin Ling University finally finished writing the code for the plasma control scheme.

And almost at the same time, the construction of the supercomputer was also completed.

The superconductive coil and the main computer control scheme was written. Now there was only one thing left for him to do.

Which was to conduct the experiment.

After some discussion in a meeting, Lu Zhou finalized the next experiment plan. He also assigned tasks to various research units. The time of the experiment was finally decided to be on August 20th.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't plan on doing any dangerous experiments, he still decided to report to the Jin Ling city government.

However, he didn't expect that this ordinary experiment would be taken so seriously.

August 20th, under the Purple Mountain, outside of STAR Stellarator Research Institute.

Lu Zhou looked at the armored vehicle and helicopter parked outside of the institute entrance. He coughed and spoke to Regiment Commander Dai.

"Is this really necessary, it's not a nuclear experiment."

Regiment Commander Dai smiled and said, "Please don't be nervous, Professor Lu, we're doing this just in case. The military general even called me, and he said that if there is an accident, the equipment can be left behind, but the people must come out alive."

If the accident you imagined really happens, it's not like we can escape with the help of a helicopter…

The neutron beam of fusion reactions was different from the fission reaction of gamma rays. From the perspective of the neutron beam, armor was the same as cardboard, the only thing that would help was to dive underwater… However, it might not make that big of a difference.

Lu Zhou explained in a serious manner, "I have to clarify that controllable nuclear fusion is safe. It's completely different from nuclear weapons."

Regiment Commander Dai still had a smile on his face as he said, "I know. We're doing this just in case."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Since Regiment Commander Dai was so persistent, Lu Zhou let him be.

An armored truck and helicopter didn't take up much parking space anyway.

After Lu Zhou and Regiment Commander Dai passed through the security check, they followed the guards and went into the laboratory that was under the mountain.

The engineers and researchers were already here, and they were working in their respective workstations.

Other than that, Lu Zhou saw a man and a woman dressed in casual wear.

The young woman's eyes lit up when she saw Lu Zhou, and she immediately walked over to him.

"Professor Lu, hello, I am Wu Qingqing from Jinling Daily, and this is my assistant Zhang An."

The young man, who was holding a camera, nodded and smiled brightly. "Professor Lu, hello!"

Lu Zhou frowned. He didn't look at these two. Instead, he looked at Sheng Xianfu and asked, "Why did you invite reporters?"

Sheng Xianfu was helpless, and he said, "I didn't invite them, they were waiting at the entrance in the morning… I thought you invited them."

Wu Qingqing saw that Lu Zhou didn't seem like he was happy that they were here, so she immediately explained, "Professor Sheng had nothing to do with this. Jin Ling city government invited us to do a live interview… If we are interfering with your research, we can leave."

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Forget about it. Since you're already here, if you want to stay, you can stay. But after the experiment begins, I hope you guys can remain quiet. Don't say anything, don't walk around, and don't you dare take a phone call. Also, if you want to take any photos, take them now."

Many Chinese and international theoretical physics and plasma research institutes liked to promote themselves using the media. CERN was a prime example of this. Even when they weren't conducting any experiments, they would still hold a press conference every couple of days or so.

However, Lu Zhou didn't have this habit. In his opinion, other than the final experiment result, all of the in-progress results were worthy of celebration, but they weren't worthy of publication.

After all, theoretically, he could produce as many tiny in-progress results as he wanted.

Wu Qingqing smiled and said, "I understand! Oh yeah, before the experiment begins, can I interview you?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "If it doesn't take too long."

"Professor Lu, please rest assured, it's only a few simple questions, it won't affect your work." Wu Qingqing smiled brightly and opened her notebook as she said, "Many people turn their eyes when they hear the word 'nuclear'. What I want to ask you is that, is controllable nuclear fusion really as safe as the experts say? Or rather, what will happen if there is a nuclear leak in the STAR machine?"

When Lu Zhou heard this outsider's question, he smiled.

"Have you seen a hydrogen bomb explode?"

Wu Qingqing paused for a second and said, "… I've seen it in movies."

Lu Zhou said, "If an accident happens, you'll probably see a flash of light or you might not see it at all. Then the temperature from the explosion will turn every inch of your body into gas, but I promise this process won't feel painful at all."

Seeing that the two young people were nauseous, Lu Zhou chuckled.

"Just kidding."

"Hahaha…" Wu Qingqing snorted and said, "Professor Lu, you're such a comedian."

Do all scientists make jokes like this?

Honestly, it's not funny at all.

Lu Zhou spoke in a calm voice, "Relax, there's a fundamental difference in fusion and fission reactions. The experiment today is only regarding plasma confinement, it won't actually involve any fusion reactions."

When Wu Qingqing heard that there wasn't going to be any fusion reaction today, she quickly asked, "What is the difference between plasma confinement experiments and fusion reaction experiments?"

Lu Zhou: "The difference is that the nuclear fuel we use is hydrogen, not its isotope; deuterium."

While they were speaking, the engineers had completed the final preparations for the experiment.

Lu Zhou stopped messing around and gestured the two reporters to quietly step aside. He signaled the staff to turn off their mobile phones and cameras. He then looked at Sheng Xianfu.

"Is it ready?"

Sheng Xianfu solemnly nodded and said, "It's ready."

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the time on his silver watch.

It's two minutes until 3 pm.

Everything was in place.

He looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked at the steel behemoth in the middle of the laboratory.

Lu Zhou spoke in a steady and serious voice.

"Then begin the experiment!"

Chapter 515: Not Just Thirty Minutes

Beijing.

There was a controllable nuclear fusion program going on in the CTV Road Of Science studio.

"Welcome everyone to Road Of Science, I am your host, Cheng Nan.

"We always see controllable nuclear fusion in the world of science fiction film and television works. It seems that all of our future energy fantasies are locked up in the words 'controllable nuclear fusion'…

"The theme of today's program is the future energy source that we are all fascinated with— controllable nuclear fusion.

"For this, we invited the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center and the chief engineer, Academician Zhou Chengfu, from the Southwestern Institute of Physics to explain the past and present of controllable nuclear fusion… Everyone, let's welcome them!"

Clap clap clap!

The audience in the crowd was encouraged by the host to give a round of applause.

Zhou Chengfu walked out from the backstage and onto the studio stage. With his head full of white hair, he nodded and gently smiled toward the live audience. He then sat on the sofa.

He had been attending meetings in Beijing over the past few days. He received an appearance invitation from Road Of Science. Since he wasn't busy, he decided to head on over to the studio.

Even though they said that scientists were different than actors and that scientists didn't need publicity, however, for researchers like him that were engaged in futuristic disciplines, it was still necessary for them to make a certain amount of media appearances.

After all, scientists like him were spending a lot of money on scientific research funding. The public deserved to know what the money was being used on and what the research results could do to change their lives.

"Some of you might have heard that a few months ago, the STAR stellarator in Jin Ling City successfully completed its first experiment. Including this stellarator, the magnetic confinement fusion devices such as HT-7 and the EAST tokamak as well as inertial confinement fusion machines like the SG-III and the newly proposed reversed-field pinch devices, our country's researchers are involved in basically all of the possible technical routes for controllable nuclear fusion. We are at the forefront of the world.

"Before the STAR machine, our country's research toward the stellarator was basically non-existent. I want to ask Academician Zhou, what do you think about our country's first stellarator machine?"

When Zhou Chengfu heard this question, he smiled and replied humbly, "Saying it's the first in the country is a bit exaggerated. After all, tritium is very expensive. Before solving the problems of heavy water and plasma irradiation damage on the first wall material, we usually experiment with hydrogen."

The host: "Are you familiar with the STAR machine?"

Zhou Chengfu smiled and said, "I don't know a lot, but I know enough."

The host: "Then can you explain to us the special characteristics of the STAR machine?"

Zhou Chengfu smirked when he heard this question, and he opened his mouth and said, "In terms of its special characteristics, it's just like you said, it's probably the first real stellarator in the country.

"You guys might not have heard of its origin. However, I can tell you that this is Germany's WEGA device. This machine was retired back in around 2013 and was stored in Frankfurt ever since. That was until when Professor Lu went to Germany for an academic exchange, and he had his eyes set on this machine. Therefore, he persuaded the two countries and spent around €500 million in research funding to buy this machine from the Germans."

The host looked astonished, he said, "€500 million? That's almost 4 billion yuan… Is controllable nuclear fusion this expensive?"

The live audience members were also astounded.

4 billion yuan!

Their poverty limited their imagination. They could never imagine that research would cost this much money.

Zhou Chengfu smiled and didn't react at all to this large number.

"It's all relative. It's quite a bit compared to mathematics research funding. But if you compare it to the space station or the hadron collider, it's slightly cheaper."

Of course, it was more than just "slightly" cheaper.

The host: "Then do you think the resurrected STAR machine can replicate the 30-minute mark of Wendelstein 7-X?"

Zhou Chengfu didn't seem to like the word "resurrected", so he subconsciously frowned. However, he realized he was taping a show, so his eyebrows relaxed again.

"30 minutes?" Zhou Chengfu smiled and shook his head. "It'd be great if they could run the machine for 2 minutes."

Surprised, the host looked at Zhou Chengfu as he asked, "Are you not optimistic about the STAR machine?"

When Zhou Chengfu heard this question, he said, "It's not a matter of whether or not I'm optimistic about it. The reason why Wendelstein 7-X was able to maintain a 30-minute plasma confinement time was due to the special external field coil design and the most important factor; the water-cooled divertor.

"Even though WEGA also has this water-cooled divertor, their divertor was a 20-year-old tech. It's a lot worse than the current Wendelstein 7-X divertor. If the STAR stellarator wants to replicate Wendelstein 7-X's success, then they would have to innovate on the water-cooled divertor. However, they obviously didn't do this."

He wasn't bullshitting. The reason why the Wendelstein was able to achieve the 30-minute mark was mainly due to the water-cooled divertor. At least, that was what the Germans thought.

And the newest water-cooled divertor obviously wasn't installed on the WEGA machine.

Even if one disregarded these factors, just judging from that science review article that came out attacking them two months ago, the STAR Stellarator Research Institute hadn't done anything in return.

Right now Zhou Chengfu was confident that Lu Zhou wanted to fight him, but the STAR machine simply couldn't do anything.

Therefore, he had no pressure saying this on television.

"… Right now, the mainstream international controllable nuclear fusion research is still the tokamak. Then, it's the inertial confinement fusion device as well as the reversed-field pinch device you just mentioned.

"Theoretically, all of these technical routes are possible. We just have to solve all of the problems a certain technical route faces, and the final destination will be the fusion energy that we all desperately want. It's just like a truck and a sedan, as long as they have four wheels, they can drive on the highway."

The audience was amused by this analogy, and they were all grinning.

Zhou Chengfu paused for a second and continued, "The stellarator is too difficult from an engineering perspective. In contrast, the tokamak is much more succinct, and it has a relatively low engineering difficulty.

"We don't have to attempt every single technical route. Rather than trying every possibility, it'd be better to focus our limited resources on a few optimal routes.

"Instead of carelessly attempting random technical routes, this is the logical way to do research!"

…

After the interview finished, the sound of applause resonated in Zhou Chengfu's head. He left the studio and couldn't even describe how happy he was feeling.

Even though this kind of science shows for the public didn't have a lot of purposes, whenever he thought about that young man who ignored him, he couldn't help but feel relieved.

Suddenly, his phone in his pocket began to ring.

He took out his phone and saw Jiang Liang was calling, so he picked up the call and put his phone against his ear.

"Hello?"

"Director! Director Zhou!"

"What?" Zhou Chengfu heard how flustered Jiang Liang was, so he furrowed his eyebrows.

"The STAR research institute!"

Zhou Chengfu said impatiently, "Speak in full sentences, what happened with the STAR research institute?"

"Yesterday, they restarted their experiment!"

Zhou Chengfu's heart dropped to his stomach when he heard this, and he immediately asked, "They restarted their experiment? How come I didn't hear anything about this? Tell me, how was their experiment? Did they achieve the 30 minutes of run time?"

Jiang Liang was being fired with questions, and he had a bitter smile on his face.

"Not thirty minutes…"

When Zhou Chengfu heard it wasn't thirty minutes, he sighed in relief.

However, before he could feel relieved, something else happened.

Jiang Liang, who was still on the other end of the telephone, spoke bitterly in disbelief.

"… I saw on Jinling Daily that they achieved one hour of magnetic confinement time…"

Chapter 516: This Is Impossible!

He almost wasn't able to breathe.

"One hour?!"

Zhou Chengfu's fingers were trembling, and he nearly dropped his phone on the ground. His eyes widened, and his wrinkly old face was red from his rising blood pressure.

"How is this possible!"

This is impossible!

There's no way!

Even the latest Wendelstein 7-X's achievement was only 30 minutes.

How did they modify the WEGA machine, which was retired in 2013, to be able to achieve a one hour run time?

How the f*ck?

Jiang Liang was sweating bullets as he said, "I-I only just heard about this. I called you as soon as I heard about it… How about… I go to Jinling and see if it's legit?"

"… It's fine."

Zhou Chengfu took a deep breath and gradually calmed down.

Even though he didn't want to believe it, but since Jinling Daily reported heavily on this issue, it was unlikely that it was fake news.

It wasn't like it couldn't be fake, it was just that the only benefit from faking something like this was to make the members of Jin Ling city council happy. It was quite useless otherwise.

After all, private capital investments in these types of large-scale projects were basically negligible. Most of their research funding came from the government. A non-expert article from Jinling Daily or even a scientific journal for that matter wouldn't come into play in terms of government scientific research funding decisions…

Therefore, since the news was released by Jinling Daily first, the legitimacy of the news source was high.

However, by the time the public heard about this news, Lu Zhou and his team were probably already preparing their Science and Nature theses.

Zhou Chengfu thought about this and had a sliver of fear in his eyes.

He didn't expect this kid to be this smart. He purposely didn't respond to his provocative article. Instead, the kid dug a hole and waited for him to jump into it.

Fortunately, he didn't do anything out of line. Otherwise, this mess would be even more difficult to clean up…

However, Zhou Chengfu didn't realize something.

Which was that since the beginning, Lu Zhou never viewed him as a worthy opponent. All Lu Zhou did was follow his research plan step by step.

Jiang Liang quietly asked, "Director Zhou, what do we do now?"

Zhou Chengfu had a bitter smile on his face.

What do we do?

He was contemplating this as well.

This would be easy to solve if Lu Zhou was under the same jurisdiction as him. Unfortunately, Lu Zhou wasn't part of the China National Nuclear Corporation, nor was he part of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center.

Simply put, he had no power over Lu Zhou.

It seemed that his usual tactics wouldn't work here.

Of course, these were all secondary.

The most important part was this one hour magnetic confinement time since it was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.

This result in and of itself was breathtaking…

…

In some sense, Zhou Chengfu's analysis on the television program was correct.

The water-cooled divertor was one of the most important components in the controllable nuclear fusion device. Which was also one of the shortcomings in China's controllable nuclear fusion field. Without solving the problem of the divertor, theoretically, there was no way for the STAR machine to perform better than the WEGA did.

In other words, if the water-cooled divertor problem was solved, then the domestic tokamak magnetic confinement times would also increase by quite a bit… Of course, there were also other unsolved problems, like the magnetic surface tear of the internal plasma current.

However, this wasn't it.

To achieve a long plasma confinement time, one would have to solve the heat dissipation problem of the first wall material. Increasing the cooling rate wasn't the only way to solve this problem.

Improving the control scheme and precisely controlling the external field coil could reduce the direct contact of the plasma and the first wall material. This could produce the same cooling effect.

Even though this approach was more difficult than the water-cooled divertor from a technical perspective, it was very easy from an engineering perspective.

After they created a control scheme, achieving a 30-minute confinement run-time was only a matter of time.

However, Xiao Ai played a crucial role as for how Lu Zhou went from half an hour to one hour.

After the supercomputer was built, he fulfilled his agreement with Xiao Ai and gave it a new home.

His original server acted as a "repeater" between his local network and the internet, which was stored in his home so that he could contact Xiao Ai through his phone.

As for the cybersecurity problems…

Honestly, if someone could hack into the artificial intelligence that the high tech system gave him, he would admit defeat.

After all, anyone that could do such a thing probably didn't come from Earth.

In short, after Xiao Ai was moved into its new home, it finally did something useful.

Through the control scheme algorithm that was stored in the supercomputer and its analysis of the plasma experimental data, it had greatly improved and optimized the original control scheme algorithm.

On the day of the experiment, Lu Zhou executed the experiment as planned.

Their original plan was to achieve a thirty-minute run time. However, after thirty minutes of experimenting, they didn't expect the sensors to indicate that the reactor was running normally.

After that, he received a text from Xiao Ai.

[(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧].

Therefore, after a short conversation with Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou decided to change the experiment plan on-the-go. He ordered his assistant Sheng Xianfu to continue the experiment and set the experiment target to one hour…

This was the story behind the shocking one-hour run-time achievement.

…

Inside the pure white system space.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the translucent mission panel and confirmed his mission completion details.

1. [Congratulations, User, for completing the "artificial intelligence" technology branch mission!]

2. ["Fusion Light" mission chain]

[Optional branch mission: 1-hour high-density plasma confinement. (complete!)]

The first mission was from his technology branch.

After so many years, he almost forgot it existed.

According to the system's experience reward rules, leveling up his "artificial intelligence" technology branch to level 2 also gave him 10,000 information science experience points, which leveled up his information science discipline to level 2.

The second mission rewarded him with 50,000 engineering experience points, just enough for him to level up.

Other than that, there were also 500 general points.

This experiment could be considered a huge success.

Lu Zhou closed the mission panel and ordered, "System, open my characteristic panel!"

A blue light swept across the screen. Soon, his updated characteristic panel was presented in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 7 (144,000/1.2 million)

B. Physics: Level 5 (83,215/300,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 4 (74,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 4 (0/200,000)

E. Materials science: level 5 (13,000/300,000)

F. Energy science: Level 2 ( 0/50,000)

G. Information science: Level 2 (3,000/50,000)

General points: 5,475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

[

Technology branch:

Artificial intelligence: Level 2 (0/50,000)

]

Lu Zhou looked at his updated characteristic panel and nodded in satisfaction.

Ever since he activated the controllable nuclear fusion mission chain, he felt like he was leveling up at the speed of light.

The only downside was that he didn't get a lot of mathematics experience points.

As a mathematician, he couldn't help but feel a little gloomy…

Chapter 517: Explosion of the Plasma Physics Community

The researchers at the STAR Stellarator Research Institute spent around three days wrangling the experimental data.

Just after he finished submitting the thesis, his phone began to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone. When he saw that it was Academician Pan who was calling him, he answered the call.

The second the call connected, he heard laughter from the other end of the phone.

"Kid, you're not bad at all! You're really giving Old Zhou a headache with this one. He's probably wondering how he's going to take back his words."

Lu Zhou was leaning against his office chair as he made a careless expression.

He's the one that is coming after me, it's not like I did anything wrong.

Even if I say my comeback wasn't intentional, I'm sure not a lot of people will believe me.

Academician Pan paused for a second before he said in a more serious tone, "Honestly, when I heard that your second experiment target was thirty minutes, I was more than astonished. I never expected to have actually underestimated your abilities. I'm sure the Germans also didn't expect their garbage WEGA machine to perform this well."

Even though the run-time was only doubled, this type of thing couldn't be compared linearly.

It was no exaggeration to say that this achievement alone would put them miles ahead of the world in terms of controllable nuclear fusion research.

"What's next? What's your next plan?"

Lu Zhou smiled. "Next time, I plan on taking this seriously."

There was a subtle change in Academician Pan's facial expression as he spoke in disbelief.

"Demonstration reactor?"

Lu Zhou, while holding the phone, nodded.

"Yes."

When Academician Pan heard Lu Zhou's decisive answer through the phone, he took a deep breath. He was completely shocked.

Even though the experimental reactor sounded similar to the demonstration reactor, they were two completely different things.

The former was only able to achieve the most basic experimental set up for plasma experiments, while the latter was a demonstration reaction device that required a series of technical requirements such as plasma confinement, fusion reaction, and the appropriate power output.

It came as a surprise to no one that for a long time, this demonstration reactor became China and the world's controllable nuclear fusion target project.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the former was child's play compared to the latter.

Even though controllable nuclear fusion research experiments had been going on for more than half a century and various experimental reactors had emerged throughout the world, but whether it was the Princeton Institute for Plasma Physics or the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, there wasn't a single institution on earth that could create a nuclear fusion demonstration reactor.

And the plan for building a demonstration reactor had always been on the timelines of various large research institutes.

Academician Pan hesitated for a bit before asking in an uncertain tone, "Isn't it a bit too early to start building a demonstration reactor?"

Even though a one-hour high-density plasma magnetic confinement time was worthy of celebration, it was still quite ambitious to start building a demonstration reactor now.

As far as Academician Pan was concerned, there were many major issues that were unsolved.

When he heard how confident Lu Zhou was, he couldn't help but worry if Lu Zhou was becoming too arrogant.

Lu Zhou smiled when he heard Academician Pan's question.

"It's not too early. There are a lot of things we can do while researching. We don't have to wait until everything is ready. Not to mention, the most important superconducting magnet and control scheme is already solved. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until anti-radiation materials for the first wall is invented. As long as the conditions are matched, I have an 80% certainty of building this demonstration reactor."

Lu Zhou wanted to first build the components for the reactor, such as the plasma track, external field coil, water-cooled divertor, etc. For the problems that were impossible to solve from an engineering perspective, such as the first wall material, he would have to wait until the theory was solved. After that, he could invent and implement the material.

However, the scale of a demonstration reactor was completely different from the experimental reactor, and they were on a different order of magnitude.

And his research funding was running low.

When Lu Zhou thought about this, he subconsciously looked at the fountain pen laying on the corner of his table.

Looks like I'll have to write some letters again.

…

For most people, submitting a thesis to top journals such as Science and Nature wasn't an easy task. However, this wasn't difficult for Lu Zhou at all.

The data didn't have any problems, and Lu Zhou didn't have to wait long before his thesis was quickly reviewed and published in the latest issue of Science.

After the publication of the thesis, the people finally learned about the miracle that happened on the STAR machine. The entire plasma physics community exploded.

How long was one hour?

Just a year ago, various countries were using seconds as a measurement for their tokamak run-time.

The results of this thesis were leaps and bounds beyond any other national research institutes.

However, if one used a pulse igniter, one wouldn't need such a long confinement time. But the shock that came with this one-hour achievement was still able to surprise all of the scholars that were paying attention to this machine.

Not only in academia, but the success of the STAR machine also aroused the general public's attention, which led to a lot of heated discussions on the internet.

Some people pressed the like button as they thought it was a huge step toward the future.

Some other people expressed their concerns when they thought humans were moving closer and closer to their own extinction.

While some people didn't care at all.

After all, it wasn't their first time seeing news about controllable fusion energy. Twenty years ago, someone said that controllable nuclear fusion energy would be achievable in twenty years at the latest. However, no one was able to fulfill that original promise.

But in any case, for a major scientific breakthrough like this, the CTV stood on the political side and gave widespread coverage of the news.

In its latest news broadcast, CTV allocated a specific segment for a comprehensive report on this matter.

"A few days ago, the Jinling STAR Stellarator Research Institute published a paper in Science, which revealed the details of their latest controllable nuclear fusion experiment.

"In that experiment, Chinese Nobel Prize laureate Professor Lu Zhou and his research team were able to successfully achieve a one-hour plasma confinement run-time.

As usual, the CTV news segment cited a foreign media interview.

Stanford Professor Burton Richter, 1976 Nobel Prize laureate and Tri Alpha consultant, was sitting in front of the camera. He was asked by a CBS reporter on his opinion regarding the STAR machine, in which he described how astonished he was.

"… When my colleague told me that someone was able to achieve a one-hour magnetic confinement runtime, I first thought it was a ridiculous joke. That was until he found the paper in the latest Science issue and presented it in front of me.

"Even now, my heart is still full of amazement. Especially when I heard that the machine was a modified version of the retired WEGA machine, that just added to the surprise even more.

"There was no way WEGA could achieve something like this when even the Wendelstein 7-X couldn't.

"In my opinion, China is at the forefront of controllable nuclear fusion research. If the most important superconducting material and plasma control scheme is solved, then they only have to solve the first wall plasma anti-radiation material problem before they could build a real demonstration fusion reactor. After all, converting heat energy into electrical energy wasn't a difficult problem in and of itself."

Burton Richter had a mixture of emotions on his face.

"We've been leading the controllable nuclear fusion field for half a century, but it's very likely that we'll lose at the finishing line. I'm not joking, the Department of Energy should take this matter seriously…"

Regardless of whether or not the American Department of Energy took this matter seriously, the STAR machine attracted attention from many high ranking Chinese government officials.

The paper that was published in Science pushed the word "controllable nuclear fusion" to the cusp of global media coverage. At the same time, a hand-written letter from Lu Zhou appeared on Mr. President's office.

This letter triggered a lot of sensitive nerves…

Chapter 518: 40 Billion Yuan Engineering Project!

Beijing.

A mysterious place inside a ring road.

Director Lu stood in front of the office door and took a deep breath. He reached out his hand and gently knocked on the door.

After he heard someone say, "Come in," he opened the door and walked inside. He spoke respectfully.

"Sir, did you ask for me?"

The old man looked at the head of the energy department standing at the doorway, and he gently smiled.

"I have a letter here, take it and read it."

Without hesitating, Director Lu walked up and picked up the letter from the desk.

He looked at the title of the letter and had an epiphany.

This made sense; there were only a few people in the country that could directly send letters to this office.

Just as he expected, this letter was related to the matters at Jinling.

[Dear…

[I'm sure you have heard about our STAR research institute's latest experiment. Where our researchers were able to achieve a one hour magnetic confinement time.

[This research result allows me to believe that in the near future, deuterium will become a brand new, important energy source for us to use. This type of energy is cleaner and more efficient than any other type of energy that we are familiar with.

[In theory, one kilogram of deuterium and tritium mixture can release 108 million kWh of energy in a complete reaction. Using an energy conversion ratio of 35%, 37.8 million kWh of electricity can be produced.

[Using a rough estimation, we would only need 167 tons of deuterium and tritium mixture to satisfy China's yearly energy demands.

[Aside from the fact that tritium can be used as an intermediate product, the main consumption material, deuterium, costs less than 4,000 yuan per kilogram. And by expanding the production scale, this cost could be greatly reduced.

[Based on these apparent facts, we can deduce through a simple calculation that the cost of nuclear fusion energy will be less than a thousandth of the cost of traditional thermal power.

[The creation of nuclear energy will completely change society's energy structure. It will completely change our lifestyles and production capacity… It will change everything we know of.

[As a scholar, it's my duty to remind you that we are at an inflection point in history, and the door to a new era is right in front of our eyes.

[Of course, the cost of opening this door will be huge.

[The decision of opening this door is in your hands.

[…]

The letter wasn't over; it was followed by a timeline for the commercialization of controllable nuclear fusion technology, the goals of the demonstration reactor, and a budget statement.

For the time being, Director Lu didn't finish reading the letter. After reading the first page, his eyebrows twitched.

The entire letter was full of polite wording. It was about how good the future of fusion energy was and how important it was. However, between the lines of the handwritten letter, all he could see was, "give me the money".

He turned the page to the demonstration reactor plan.

It contained a detailed list of Professor Lu's estimated specifications for the various DEMO reactor components, as well as an estimation for the performance of the DEMO machine.

[Project objective: To complete the construction of the DEMO demonstration reactor by 2025.

[Assessment Criteria: Radiofrequency prototype negative ion source surface: 0.45 x 3.2m, radiofrequency plasma under multi-drive has a uniformity of over 95%, negative ion extraction current density is greater than 300A/m^2, beam intensity greater than 20A, negative ion beam synthesis energy indicator reaches 200keV, beam stability lasts for 60 minutes…]

Even though he had met Lu Zhou a few times, he never knew that Professor Lu Zhou was involved in engineering as well. The plan looked legit.

He read the plan from start to finish.

The more he read, the most serious he looked.

Director Lu was irritated, and he put down the letter and shook his head.

"43 billion yuan… Professor Lu really knows how to make us spend money."

This wasn't just about money.

Especially that one specific line in the plan—"This reactor alone can satisfy the electricity needs of the entire Jiangsu province."

It was an obvious boast and likely wasn't backed by facts.

One should know that the yearly electricity consumption in Jiangsu was 580.78 billion kWh, second only to Guangdong's 596.89 billion kWh, with Jiangsu's consumption ranking second in the country!

Even if this power generator was running 24 hours a day, to produce 580.79 billion kWh a year would require at least 66,300 MW of continuous power!

What did a power output of 66,300 MW mean?

The total power capacity of the Three Gorges Dam was only 22,000 MW, while the six nuclear power units in Daya Bay only added up to around 6000 MW.

Which meant that the power of one fusion reactor was equivalent to three Three Gorges Dams? Or eleven Daya Bay nuclear power units?

What kind of monster reactor was this?

Common sense told Director Lu that this was impossible.

If it were anyone else that drafted this plan, he wouldn't think twice before throwing it in the garbage bin.

However…

This was from Professor Lu.

And when he thought about it carefully, it was actually kind of tempting…

When the president looked at how perplexed Director Lu was, he smiled and asked, "What do you think about this?"

"The plan is extremely ambitious, I don't know where he got this confidence from, but…" Director Lu realized that the old man wasn't asking for his opinion, so he hesitated for a second before saying cautiously, "I am certain that the things he said, are exactly what we need!"

China was a huge energy-consuming country. Their annual coal and oil consumption was measured in billions of tons. Especially their coal consumption, which accounted for almost half of the world's total coal usage!

If Professor Lu's letter was correct, that their entire country's electricity needs could be met with just 167 tons of deuterium and tritium mixture, then with the wide application of fusion energy, China's future energy expenditure would be a fraction of the current cost!

Also, the motivating factors weren't just the political and economic value behind it, but it was also the cleanliness factor.

Due to the Renewable Energy Assessment subsidy provided by the state, the various provincial administrative regions were inclined to meet their quota for minimum renewable energy consumption. The state had always been determined to develop clean energy.

This was one of the reasons why "conserving energy" was mentioned at every large government meeting.

Fusion energy was efficient, cheap, abundant, and hardly produced any type of pollution. It could basically solve all of China's sustainable energy problems, once and for all.

If all of this was achievable, the state should develop this technology at all costs.

"It is quite ambitious." The president nodded and paused for a second before saying, "But I think it is worth trying."

Director Lu's made a subtle expression, and he immediately said respectfully, "I understand, sir."

Even though there were still some doubts in his heart about the contents of that letter, his doubts were no longer important.

A 40 billion yuan project couldn't be decided by one individual alone. Hearing how relaxed the president's words were, it was obvious that this proposal was unanimously agreed by the National People's Congress.

Since the highest governing body agreed to this proposal, there was only one thing left for him to do.

Which was to draw up a plan that would meet all of Professor Lu's conditions and to try his best to ensure that this "DEMO demonstration reactor" project could begin as soon as possible!

Sitting behind the desk, the president suddenly thought about something.

"Oh yeah, how is the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center project going?"

Director Lu replied honestly, "Looking at the timeline, they plan on constructing the demonstration reactor in 2025… However, given that the various conditions are not met, I'm afraid it might be postponed."

The president shook his head and said, "So slow."

Comparison is the thief of joy.

By comparing these two demonstration reactor projects, the timeline gap was apparent.

Director Lu: "… Scientific research cannot be rushed."

"You're right, slow and steady is the way to go." The president nodded and said, "Then let them slowly do their research. Since they don't need money for the time being, just take out part of their research funding."

Chapter 519: Hopeless Future

While the STAR stellarator machine completely ignited the controllable nuclear fusion field, shocking the entire plasma physics community, Greifswald, which was at the edge of the Baltic Sea, was as calm as always.

The Wendelstein 7-X laboratory was located in this small rural town. The researchers and engineers were going to work on time, doing their usual tasks, just casually drinking coffee, and chatting during their lunch breaks…

However, there was more or less a look of depression on everyone's face.

Just a few days ago, the newly published paper on Science completely shattered their pride.

For a long time, they were at the forefront of stellarator research.

Even the Princeton PPPL, which invented the stellarator technical route, couldn't keep up with their stellarator research.

However, a few days ago, their lead was completely demolished.

The STAR machine located in Jin Ling City, China, was able to achieve a one hour confinement time on 100 million-degree plasma.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that not only was this technological breakthrough leaps and bounds ahead of their current research, but this breakthrough was at the cusp of the finishing line.

And the most frustrating thing was the fact that they had no idea how the hell the STAR machine did it…

Keriber looked at the paper with a solemn expression on his face.

He had read the thesis in its entirety more than a dozen times.

However, no matter how many times he read it, when he saw the dazzling data, he couldn't help but feel shocked at the implication behind this thesis.

His assistant, Price, was standing next to him. Price took a deep breath and couldn't help but exclaim, "I can't believe this… How did they do it?"

Professor Keriber shook his head. When he placed the thesis on the table, he said, "I don't know. If I knew, we wouldn't be so inactive right now."

He was the head of the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, so average researchers couldn't imagine the amount of pressure he was under.

After all, he was the one that convinced the Max Planck Society and Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres to follow through on selling the WEGA machine.

Even though this wasn't entirely his fault, he promised that all of WEGA machine's component technologies were at least two generations behind that of Wendelstein 7-X's…

But even though he still firmly believed in his previous statement, there probably weren't a lot of people that trusted him.

Price suddenly began to wonder, and he quietly asked, "Maybe they… faked it?"

Keriber shook his head and said, "There are no problems at all in the data. The possibility of them conducting fraud is almost zero."

In a soft voice, Price reminded him, "But Professor Lu is a mathematician…"

What Price really wanted to say was, if a big name Fields Medal winner wanted to create fraudulent data, no one would even be able to tell the difference.

However, Keriber shook his head and spoke in a serious manner.

"I trust in his academic reputation. Also, there's no reason for him to do something like this."

Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard at the door, and a researcher walked in.

"Professor, the president of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Professor Millek, and Secretary-General Norbert from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is outside."

Professor Keriber's body was drained of energy. He sighed and pushed himself up from the office chair.

"Understood, I'll go there right now."

…

Laboratory first floor.

Just as Professor Keriber walked out of the office, he saw a group of people marching into the building.

Professor Keriber looked at the two people leading the group. He cleared his throat and forced a stiff smile on his face.

"Professor Millek, Mr. Norbert, welcome to Wendelstein 7-X laboratory… What brings you guys here?"

Professor Millek didn't smile. Instead, he said with a blank expression, "Cut the crap, take me inside."

Professor Keriber was stunned, and he said, "Inside?"

"Inside the Wendelstein 7-X."

"Wendelstein 7-X? Sorry, there isn't any experiment planned for today…"

"I don't care if there's an experiment or not." Professor Millek stared at Keriber and said, one word at a time, "Take. Me. Inside."

"Okay…"

Professor Keriber hesitated for a bit before nodded.

In academia, whoever had control of the research funding was the boss.

This was true in any country.

Professor Keriber didn't feel the best right now. Actually, he felt horrible. However, he still had to bury those negative emotions in his heart.

After all, most of the research funding for the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory was controlled by these two big names.

With Professor Keriber leading the way, the group of people walked into the research institute. They soon arrived at the laboratory in which the Wendelstein 7-X machine was stored.

This medal behemoth was situated in the middle of the laboratory. Professor Millek walked up and personally examined the instrument.

Professor Keriber was confused at his actions, and he asked, "Are you satisfied?"

Professor Millek took two steps back and nodded. "Very good, it's still here."

Keriber: "What is still here?"

Professor Millek stared at Keriber and replied bluntly, "I thought you sold all of the components for €500 million."

Keriber had a strange expression on his face.

"I don't know why you would think that, but rest assured, because… the Wendelstein 7-X doesn't have that kind of capability."

Even though this was frustrating, it was nothing but facts.

An hour-long magnetic confinement experiment would burn their first wall material to ashes.

But if they really tried to replace their outer field coils with the SG-1 material and improve the control scheme, it might be possible.

However, this might sound simple, but it would take a lot of time and resources to actually execute…

And now was obviously not a good time to ask for more research funding.

"That's the problem," said the president of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Mr. Norbert looked at Keriber and slowly said, "How come the improved WEGA machine, the STAR machine, can do it? How come the Wendelstein 7-X, which you guys spent five years renovating, can't? Maybe I'm not being scientific with my words here, but I want to ask, aren't these machines born from the same mother?"

The few staff standing around couldn't help but chuckle.

Keriber's eyebrows twitched, but he still explained patiently, "Yes, you're right, their machine is only an improved version of our old WEGA machine. However, I can guarantee that their WEGA machine has been completely remodeled.

"The key to their one hour magnetic confinement time isn't our device. It's the superconducting magnets and the control scheme… Also some other secrets only they know."

Norbert interrupted Professor Keriber's explanation. "I didn't come here to listen to you explain your failure.

"We've spent countless billions of euros on you, and you've been beating around the bush for decades. Not only are you far from achieving any type of significant results, but a country that has been terrible at nuclear research has surpassed us. I have to say, this isn't something I like. I need you to catch up to them and give a reasonable explanation to the government and our allies."

Professor Keriber bit the bullet and said, "I'm doing my best."

Mr. Norbert looked at Professor Keriber. "Don't just give me empty promises, I want to see results."

Norbert turned around and walked away while his staff followed him.

Chapter 520: The Fewer Words There Are, the More Information There Is

Beijing.

Even though it was late at night, the China National Nuclear Corporation building was still brightly lit.

Su Yiwen received a call for a conference even though he had already left work and was already laying in bed. He climbed out of bed, put on some clothes, then drove to the corporation building.

Su Yiwen yawned while sitting in the conference room. He looked at Section Chief Zhang, who was sitting next to him, and he couldn't help but speak, "What the hell is going on, why are we having a meeting so late?"

"I don't know." Zhang Xueqian shook his head. He thought about something and said, "I just heard that it has something to do with the recent stellarator experiment at Jinling."

A week ago, very few people would know what a stellarator was. Even if they were familiar with the word, they would not be able to precisely explain what it was.

But now, anyone that looked at the news broadcasts or saw the trending pages online would know about the shocking one hour run-time of the STAR machine.

After all, this was the research result that shocked the entire plasma physics community.

However…

What did this have to do with the China National Nuclear Corporation?

"Stellarator?" Su Yiwen stared at his boss and said with a strange expression, "Aren't the Chinese Academy of Sciences researching that thing? What does it have to do with us?"

Old Zhang glanced at him and said, "You're asking me, who do I ask?"

They didn't wait for long before the conference began.

While chatting with Old Zhang, Su Yiwen learned that this conference was personally hosted by the CEO of the corporation. Not only did the department level leaders receive notice of the conference, but high-level engineers and senior researchers from various city-level research institutes also received a notice for the conference, and almost all of them were coming.

Even though Su Yiwen didn't know what the CEO planned to speak about at the meeting, looking at the dozen or so Academy of Sciences academicians and the Academy of Engineering academicians sitting in the front row of the conference room, Su Yiwen put on a serious attitude.

Normally speaking, these big names wouldn't attend the same meetings as them, and even if they did, only a few of them would come.

But now, all of these big names were sitting here.

Obviously, important things were about to be discussed at this conference.

Soon, a dignified looking man walked on stage.

Xu Jianfeng cleared his throat and reached out for the microphone. He didn't waste time on his opening statement, and he spoke in a simple and concise manner.

"My apologies for hosting a meeting at this hour. You've all worked hard during the day, so I know it's not easy for you all to be here.

"The things I am about to say are very important, and I hope everyone will carefully listen to every word and take notes.

"There are a lot of things that I have to say, but I'll try to keep it short."

CEO Xu paused for a second and spoke in a more serious tone.

"I'm sure everyone has heard that a week ago, there has been a huge breakthrough in the controllable nuclear fusion field. Professor Lu Zhou's research team was able to achieve a one-hour high-density plasma confinement time.

"I'm glad to see our country is at the forefront of controllable fusion technology.

"Our country is a major energy consumer, and we have an urgent need for sustainable energy. Two hours ago, the Communist Party of China issued an administrative document to relative government departments, which outlined a plan and implementation guideline for a controllable nuclear fusion demonstration reactor.

"The main contractor for this project is the China National Nuclear Corporation!"

There was a commotion in the crowd.

Some people's eyes lit up with excitement.

Other people shook their heads, looking worried and anxious.

The vast majority of people looked bewildered.

Controllable nuclear fusion…

For most people, this was something that they would only see in science fiction movies.

Even just yesterday, a lot of them were discussing designs for the next-generation nuclear fission power plants and the future prospects for nuclear fission development.

However, within a day, their designs seemed to have been tossed into the garbage bin.

Xu Jianfeng, who was standing on stage, didn't care about the commotion. He knew in his mind that it wasn't easy for them to digest this information.

He said in a clear and sonorous voice, "Designing, preparing, building… This is the government's instructions.

"As the leading corporation in China's nuclear power, we are responsible and obligated to follow the national energy development strategy and stand at the front line of new energy development!

"From now on, the research project for the fourth-generation nuclear fission technology will be suspended. The controllable nuclear fusion project will be the main project for our group and will be executed with the highest priority!

"I know there are many difficulties yet to be solved, but I believe in you, and I believe that we can overcome those difficulties!"

There was a thunderous applause in the conference room.

Xu Jianfeng instructed everyone to be quiet. He gently sorted his documents on the multimedia desk and said in a steady voice, "Our corporation will work closely with the STAR Stellarator Research Institute. At the same time, we will assemble a small team of experts that would be based in Jinling, and we'll also cooperate with the research team at STAR Stellarator Research Institute.

"I have a list of names here. I will name everyone that will report to Jinling tomorrow.

"I hope everyone who is named will follow the higher-ups' orders. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me."

This indicated that the conference was about to be over.

The only thing left to do was to announce the names of those who would be part of the Jinling team.

Controllable nuclear fusion…

Su Yiwen looked at the list of names in the CEO's hand and felt his heart warming up.

Why do I feel like…

I might have the opportunity to witness history.

…

The government's response was much faster than what Lu Zhou had anticipated.

Three days after he sent out that letter, he received a response from the president.

There were only two words.

[No problem.]

There was a saying—"the fewer words there are, the more information there is."

Lu Zhou fully experienced this after he received the letter.

The first to arrive was the 43 billion yuan research funding.

His nearly empty research fund was once again filled with cash.

It wasn't just research funding, the relevant government policy support also came along.

After the Communist Party of China released the administrative documents to the relevant departments, the controllable fusion demonstration reactor didn't encounter any barriers. Instead, it was launched at an extraordinary speed.

After consulting Lu Zhou's opinion, this fusion machine would be called the "STAR-2".

The main responsible party for this was obviously the STAR Stellarator Research Institute, and the main contractor was the China National Nuclear Corporation, a leading enterprise in China's nuclear energy field.

From developing and designing nuclear power technology to the design of nuclear power plants, not to mention the production and supply of nuclear fuel, this state-funded enterprise was directly managed by the Communist Party of China, and they had a lot of experience in nuclear-related projects.

There were a lot of small cooperating parties, such as Sinopec Group, State Grid Corporation of China, and other state-owned or state-funded enterprises. In total, there were more than a hundred parties that were involved in this project.

Some of them were giving research funds, some were giving research talents, the others gave both.

In short, all of the issues outside of research were solved by these state departments.

All Lu Zhou had to worry about was how to implement this massive engineering project…

Chapter 521: Boiling Water Is Wasteful

Lu Zhou spent the past few days attending meetings.

Some were internal meetings for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, some were for the STAR Stellarator Research Institute, and others were with the companies that were cooperating with STAR…

He already had a rough blueprint in his mind for how to implement a controllable nuclear fusion reactor. However, he couldn't execute this blueprint on his own.

He was the chief designer as well as the person in charge of this massive project. Therefore, it was his responsibility to dissect this research project into multiple sections and subsections. He then had to allocate these small projects to various organizations, pinpoint any particularly difficult problems, and concentrate his resources on those problems.

For example, by digging through the relevant literature, one could find out that research problems such as "recycling and cleansing tritium and deuterium from the plasma exhaust" or "safe confinement of tritium" had been conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Therefore, Lu Zhou didn't have to repeat the research himself. He only had to make sure the people or organizations in these research fields had enough research funding so that they could continue their research and find ways to implement their technologies on the stellarator.

As for the more difficult research projects such as the "first wall material", "anti-neutron irradiation material", "proliferation and extraction of tritium", or "tritium stagnation", Lu Zhou wanted to hand them over to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Three days after the project was launched.

In the STAR Stellarator Research Institute, Lu Zhou met the task force sent by the China National Nuclear Corporation.

The person in charge of the task force was Academician Wang Zengguang, chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation. This old academician had been working in the nuclear industry for many years and had plenty of experience in the design of fission reactors and nuclear power generators.

Even though his experience on fission reactors wasn't fully applicable to fusion reactors, they were both nuclear power, so they still had a lot of similarities.

For example, the design of the generator set.

The old academician brought a design sketch on how to convert the heat energy generated by the reactor into electrical energy.

The concept of a very-high-temperature reactor could be implemented on the nuclear fusion machine.

However, Lu Zhou briefly looked at the sketch and put it down.

"It's a waste to boil water using such an advanced piece of technology."

Academician Wang: "But you have to admit, boiling water is still the most efficient way."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Not necessarily."

Academician Wang didn't say anything. He waited for Lu Zhou to continue.

However, Lu Zhou didn't give an explanation. Instead, he took a piece of A4 paper from his desk. He then picked up a pen and began to sketch on the paper.

After his engineering level reached level four, he could gradually feel the upgrading effects of his engineering level.

If his mathematics level increased his intuition of numbers, ability to calculate, and ability to learn mathematics, then not only did his engineering level increase his ability to absorb engineering knowledge, but it also strengthened his ability to articulate his abstract concepts and ability to convey graphs and numbers.

Like right now.

He had never gone through formal training for drawing engineering blueprints and had only read some related textbooks. However, it was like the muscles in his hands formed a type of muscle memory; all of his strokes were accurate and precise.

Academician Wang looked at Lu Zhou drawing, and his eyes squinted. He had a surprised look on his face.

"You know how to draw technical drawings?"

"Not really." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's probably because I drew quite a lot of pictures when I was researching topology questions."

Academician Wang couldn't believe this explanation.

Even though he had never studied mathematics before, it was obvious that mathematical drawings were completely different than mechanical drawings.

He knew that without a few years of professional experience, one wouldn't be able to draw these drawings.

Lu Zhou didn't care if Academician Wang believed him or not, he didn't have to explain these unimportant matters. He was concentrating on his work at hand.

He first drew a simple outline of the stellarator. Then, he outlined a simple structure of the generator set.

The more he drew, the clearer the lines were. When Academician Wang finally had a rough idea of what was going on, he raised his eyebrows.

"Ferrofluid power?"

"That's right." Lu Zhou stopped drawing and looked at the paper. He then nodded with satisfaction and said, "This is the best I can draw. I haven't made any specific designs yet, so I'm afraid you will have to do the grunt work."

Just like controllable fusion, ferrofluid energy-generating technology wasn't a particularly new concept. It actually had a long history.

Looking at its timeline, this concept was first proposed together with the "Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Power Plants (GTCC)".

In the 1980s, ferrofluid electric energy technology was even included as a key project in the 863 Program. It was rated the same importance as that of nuclear fission power.

The full name of the 863 Program was the "State High-Tech Development Plan". The projects included were basically the hot topics in the international academic community at that time. Therefore, it was easy to see that the academic community viewed ferrofluid energy as a hot area.

However, the situation changed in the latter half of the twentieth century.

The aerospace and military arms races led to the rapid development of engine and gas utilization technology. The GTCC benefited heavily from this development, which led to it being the main type of power generator.

In contrast, even though ferrofluid technology had a more attractive prospect, it was difficult to achieve due to various technical reasons. Its economic benefits also couldn't keep up with the market demand. Nothing significant came from it for decades, so it was gradually abandoned by the industry and academic community.

Academician Wang looked at the sketch and shook his head. "Forgive me, but ferrofluid energy-generating technology isn't perfect, I'm afraid it's not a suitable choice. The world's nuclear fission reactors are mainly based on pressurized water reactors. I've never heard of any nuclear power plant that's using ferrofluid electricity-generating technology."

Lu Zhou knew Academician Wang would say this, so he smiled and continued, "That might be the case for nuclear fission, but it's not true for nuclear fusion."

"Oh yeah?" Academician Wang looked amused, and he looked at Lu Zhou as he asked, "Why do you say that?"

Lu Zhou: "The difficulty of ferrofluid energy generation is the gas ionization part. It's difficult to heat the gas beam to 2,000 Celsius and form a plasma beam. Even if this is achievable, this process will incur a lot of thermal energy waste. It's difficult to achieve more than a 20% cycle efficiency with ferrofluid electric energy technology… Am I right?"

Academician Wang nodded and said in a serious tone, "That's the gist of it."

Even though there were other problems, this problem was undoubtedly the most important.

There were ferrofluid electric energy generators on the market, so a lot of laboratories had the capabilities of making one. Some were powered by coal, while others were powered by fuel. However, no one was able to achieve an energy conversion efficiency of more than 20%.

But if it was nuclear fusion…

"In the case of nuclear fusion, this problem doesn't exist." Lu Zhou looked at Academician Wang's confused expression and smiled as he said, "After all, the nuclear waste generated by the nuclear fusion itself is helium gas, which is billions of degrees hot."

Academician Wang's expression made a subtle change, and he immediately looked at the sketch before quickly realizing what was happening.

Everyone knew that the principle of ferrofluid electric energy was to heat an ionized gas to a temperature of 2,000 degrees. They would then ionize the gas into a conductive plasma beam before cutting the magnetic lines of force to generate an induced electromotive force.

The helium generated by the fusion reaction in the stellarator itself was in the form of a hundred million degrees plasma!

In other words, they didn't have to spend any energy to heat the ionized gas; they could just utilize the plasma that carried these huge amounts of energy!

Using this technology on coal or petrol generators was undoubtedly a waste. However, it was basically made for nuclear fusion power!

It would be a complete waste to use the high-temperature plasma to boil water.

Academician Wang was still staring at the sketch, and there was a flash of excitement in his eyes.

He looked up at Lu Zhou and said in a cautious tone, "You're making sense… And this is theoretically possible. However, I can't give you a definitive answer right now. I have to discuss with the other experts in the task force."

He then looked at the sketch on the paper again.

"Can I take this technical drawing with me?"

"Of course you can," Lu Zhou said, "I look forward to hearing good news from you."

Chapter 522: Not Taking the Usual Path

Chief Engineer Wang left the STAR Stellarator Research Institute with the technical sketch. He flew back to the China National Nuclear Corporation headquarters in Beijing on the same day and contacted ferrofluid electric energy experts at the Academy of Engineering. They began to discuss the feasibility of applying ferrofluid electric energy technology on the controllable fusion device.

However, even though their leader was gone, the China National Nuclear Corporation task force still stayed in Jinling. They were working with the STAR Stellarator Research Institute researchers on technical issues.

At the same time, the STAR machine was undergoing experiments.

After the institute received sufficient research funding, the institute had been conducting experiments almost every three days. Their research targets were hydrogen and helium, and their job was to observe their various complex physical properties in the stellarator plasma.

In order to collect valuable data, Lu Zhou even demanded to mix the 1mg of precious deuterium into the reaction chamber, which had the risk of damaging the first wall material.

In fact, this experiment did actually cause some damages to the STAR machine. Thankfully, the damage was repairable. But even then, the entire machine had to be shut down for at least a month.

Of course, even though the cost was high, the return was also high.

Not only did they verify the feasibility of a fusion reaction ignition, but they also obtained a slice of lithium that was hit by a neutron beam carrying 14MeV of energy.

The scientific research value of the piece of lithium couldn't be measured with money.

They were probably the only institute in China that could conduct such extravagant experiments.

This hard-fought lithium metal slice was lying quietly in a specially treated oxygen microscope slide. Which was placed under a scanning electron microscope and observed by a worker in protective clothing.

Outside of the isolated room, Lu Zhou and other researchers were standing in front of a computer in the laboratory. Through the computer screen, they were able to observe the numbers and graphs from the scanning electron microscope.

Just like they had expected, the original smooth metal surface was covered with holes.

Through the infrared spectrometer, they could even see traces of tritium and helium in the metal.

A piece of good news was that this proved the 14meV neutron energy beam did react with lithium-3. This meant they were able to successfully recover part of the tritium used in the experiment.

Unfortunately…

They were facing countless problems.

Professor Li Changxia stared at the graphs on the computer screen and gently sighed.

"I'm willing to bet that this thing will break the instant someone touches it."

Lu Zhou stared at the hard-fought data on the computer screen and replied casually, "There's no need to bet. Even if it wasn't hit by the neutron beam, it wouldn't be that strong."

Sheng Xianfu shook his head and said, "It's not just the radiation damage, the recovered tritium is way too low. And the most important problem isn't even recovering the tritium. The energy carried out by the neutron beam is too high. Not only did the surface of the lithium-3 react, but so did the interior layers. Even if the tritium was collected in the lithium interiors, we wouldn't be able to extract it."

The neutron energy beam carrying 14MeV of energy was like a missile, the metals were no match for this monster.

Also, not only did the neutron beam penetrate a hole in the first wall, but it will form an empty space inside the first wall material, just like a balloon. This could ultimately result in the swelling, embrittlement, and even surface material shedding of the first wall material, which could lead to serious accidents.

This was one of the main reasons why the fission reactor layer material couldn't be used in the fusion reactor.

The two had different orders of magnitude in terms of their radiation-resistant capabilities.

From now on, their research had entered into an unknown field. This meant that there wasn't any more literature they could consult. All of the problems from this point onward had to be solved by themselves.

Professor Li Changxia thought for a bit and suggested, "What if we use molybdenum instead?"

"Molybdenum won't work." Lu Zhou instantly rejected this idea. He shook his head and said, "Molybdenum has decent heat-resistant properties, but it will produce radioactive elements when it undergoes neutron irradiation."

Another researcher suggested, "What about tungsten? Tungsten has good heat-resistant properties, and its by-products are osmium and rhenium, so there's no radiation!"

Lu Zhou didn't even have to speak himself. Li Changxia shook his head and said, "This is a common misconception. Tungsten has good heat-resistant properties, but it is not malleable enough. The thermal stress will cause cracking on the surface of the material… When I was doing an academic exchange in the DIII-D tokamak experiment, there was a specific research project regarding this problem. In short, tungsten won't work."

The laboratory became silent again.

Lu Zhou, who had been staring at the data on the computer screen this entire time, suddenly asked, "If we can't contain the neutron beam inside the stellarator, why don't we let it pass through?"

"Pass through?" Sheng Xianfu paused for a second and smiled while shaking his head. He said, "If we let it pass through, how are we supposed to recycle the neutrons produced by the reaction?"

Recycling the deuterium-tritium neutrons produced in the fusion reaction was a key part of the nuclear fusion technology. After all, the price of tritium was tens of thousands that of deuterium's. It was sold by the grams, costing US$30,000 per gram.

If they couldn't retrieve the neutrons generated by the reaction, not only would they lose a large amount of energy, but the reactor would also "shut down" due to the loss of tritium.

In an ideal scenario, both the tritium and neutron should be able to be preserved as an intermediate product. The final waste should only be helium and heat.

Therefore, they shouldn't let the neutron just pass through, they had to preserve it no matter what.

Lu Zhou heard Sheng Xianfu's remarks and smiled.

"Letting them pass through doesn't mean releasing them. In theory, no matter the design for the first wall material, we cannot avoid the damage of the neutron beam to the metallic bonds. Also, the repair properties of metals are poor, not to mention the metamorphosis problem.

"Hence, why not make first wall material to be something that allows neutrons to pass through and has a strong self-healing ability. Then we can use liquid lithium-3 to recover the neutrons behind the first wall material. As for the side beyond the liquid lithium, we can put a layer of beryllium metal to reflect the unreacted neutrons that penetrate the liquid lithium layer."

His design was equivalent to sandwiching liquid lithium between the first wall and the beryllium.

Sheng Xianfu lowered his head and contemplated it for a bit. He thought that this method seemed feasible, but he also felt like there were problems.

He thought for a while and came up with two of the most obvious problems.

"But where can we find a material that allows neutrons to pass through and has great self-repairing capabilities? Even after using lithium as the first wall material, we still can't solve the radiation damage problem. Also, like you just said, after we recover the tritium, how do we carry the tritium back into the reactor?"

When Lu Zhou heard these two questions, he smiled and said, "The second problem is easy to solve. Under liquid lithium's temperature, both the tritium and helium are in their gas forms. They are incompatible with each other.

"We just have to apply a weak upward force to the neutrons inside the liquid lithium and transport the neutrons to the top of the reactor.

"Then we just need to recycle the gas that comes out of the reactor."

The generated tritium and the exhaust gas helium would then be injected into the reaction chamber for ionization. As for removing the helium from the reactor, that was the job of the divertor.

As for choosing a water-cooled divertor, a tungsten-copper divertor, or any other divertor, that choice would depend on their specific needs. Even though this part was crucial, it wasn't something that they couldn't solve.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "As for your first question, that metal can't be found in alloys. So how about we discard the entire metal layer?"

Everyone in the laboratory, including Li Changxia and Sheng Xianfu, was frozen.

Getting rid of the metal layer?

This…

Is outrageous, right?

"We're not using a metal?" Professor Li Changxia looked at Lu Zhou with an astonished expression. He said, "Then what are we going to use?"

Ceramics?

Even though other research institutes had tried using ceramics and produced decent results, the killing factor was the poor thermal conductivity of ceramics.

If they couldn't remove heat from the reactor, they would end up with other problems.

"We're going to use carbon." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said in a confident manner, "Or more precisely, carbon fiber composites!"

Lu Zhou didn't suddenly come up with this creative idea. He had been thinking about this for a long time, even back when he was still working with Professor Keriber at the Wendelstein 7-X research institute.

The carbon core was relatively stable. It didn't react with neutrons easily. Also, it could act as a buffer for the neutron beam, so when the neutron beam contacted with the liquid helium, it could prevent the neutron beams from instantly breaking down.

The energy reduced by the carbon fiber layer would be released in the form of heat energy. Due to its stellar thermal conductivity properties, the heat energy generated inside the reactor could be easily diverted.

It also had good heat-resistant properties.

When it wasn't exposed to air and oxidants, carbon fiber could withstand temperatures above 3,000 degrees. This was comparable to the melting point of tungsten, which met the requirements for the first wall material!

Lu Zhou looked at the people in the laboratory and said, "Remove the first wall metal layer completely. Use carbon fiber as the main structural material. Then fill in liquid helium in the middle layer and use beryllium on the outer layer to reflect the neutrons. The shielding layer should be a mix of paraffin and water carbon carbide, covered with nuclear-grade cement. If all of this is successful, we will solve the tritium retention problem!"

As for the choice of carbon fiber composite materials and the self-repairing component, that research project would be conducted by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study materials research division.

Even though the problem was severe, Lu Zhou had a feeling that he would be able to solve it!

Professor Li Changxia couldn't help but say, "This is too…"

What he wanted to say was that this was too outrageous.

However, before he could finish, Sheng Xianfu interrupted him.

"No, maybe… this could work!"

Sheng Xianfu rubbed his chin with his finger as his eyes began to light up.

"I've read the relevant literature on replacing tungsten and steel structures with carbon fiber. The international academic community is optimistic about this technical route, just like nanoceramics!

"However, using carbon fiber composites to completely replace the metal as the main body of the reactor and to allow the neutron beam to react with the liquid lithium outside the first wall before recovering the tritium in the liquid lithium… This is my first time hearing about something like this."

The difficulty involved in something like this was high. They had to face carbon fiber composite problems. For example, the problem of temperature. The carbon fiber composite material had an operating temperature of around 3,000 degrees, while the boiling point of lithium metal was only at 1,340 degrees.

If they couldn't transfer the heat in time, the liquid lithium could risk being vaporized, which could result in it being mixed in with the tritium reaction. This could blow up the whole reactor…

There was also the volume changing problem where the lithium liquid would be solidified after the machine was turned off…

However, just like Lu Zhou had said, this idea might be feasible.

It was at least worth a try!2017 price

Chapter 523: Competition for the Future

The conference after the experiment continued into the evening.

Lu Zhou and the other researchers in the institute began to discuss in detail about the "liquid lithium neutron recovery" technical route.

Even though they hadn't made a specific plan, through this meeting, they had reached conclusions regarding the feasibility and general framework of this technical route.

After that, they just had to summarize the meeting contents and compile all of the problems. They would then host another meeting or two to come up with a relatively complete plan of attack.

The next meeting was set to be in three days. As for the next three days, Lu Zhou decided to give all of the researchers in the institute a small holiday.

Firstly, over the past year, these researchers hadn't had the chance to take a break. They needed to spend time with their family or girlfriend. Secondly, the neutron beam generated by the fusion reaction caused significant radiation damage to the first wall material. Not only was there a hole in the austenite structure material, but a layer of fluffy-looking metal scraps was formed on the surface.

This was a very interesting phenomenon.

Even though no one knew the science behind it.

Even Lu Zhou, the big-name Nobel Prize winner, couldn't come up with a suitable theory to explain this phenomenon. His initial guess was that the material underwent thermal stress. However, perhaps only the plasma inside the stellarator knew the true reason.

Lu Zhou planned on abandoning the idea of using austenite. He didn't want to dive deep into this research area.

In short, because the equipment had to be overhauled, they would have to wait at least another month until the next experiment.

When Lu Zhou got back home, the sky was basically pitch black.

When he opened the front door and walked inside, a small but sophisticated four-rotor drone flew by.

"Master! Welcome home!"

Lu Zhou looked at the shaky little guy hovering in the air and couldn't help but smile.

He felt quite nostalgic. This drone was named "Little Buddy"; it was a gift from the members at the Princeton drone club, which he was a consultant for.

After he took the drone back to China, he made some simple modifications and gave it to Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai obviously loved this flying toy. Under Xiao Ai's request, Lu Zhou installed a speaker, changed the motors, and attached four short but dexterous motorized claws at the bottom.

Not only did Xiao Ai look after the house, but using this modified "Little Buddy" and other smart home devices like vacuum robots, Xiao Ai often helped do the chores around the house.

Of course, even though Lu Zhou gave Xiao Ai the right to control these devices, he imposed strict restrictions and code of conduct on its scope of activities.

For example, Xiao Ai could only operate within the Zhongshan International area and was forbidden to fly into other people's yards or to move fragile items.

Xiao Ai strictly obeyed Lu Zhou's orders. After all, no matter how smart it was, it was still a program. Its obedience was part of its core code.

"Um, Master, can you please do something for me?"

Lu Zhou put on a pair of slippers and walked toward the living room as he said, "What?"

Xiao Ai flew next to Lu Zhou and continued, "Can you add an LED display on the drone? Speaking of which, it feels weird talking in some other woman's voice. I prefer communicating through text. Embarrassed."

Lu Zhou: "…"

What the hell do you mean by another woman's voice? Isn't this just Google text to speech? You can just change it to a man's voice, right?

Also, why is it reading out loud its emotions? Is it trying to show off its upgraded emotional capabilities?

Why do I feel like Xiao Ai is going toward a strange direction…

Lu Zhou: "I refuse."

Xiao Ai: "Why?! About to cry."

Lu Zhou looked at the flying thing in the air and sighed.

Do you really need to ask?

Because I can't be bothered to do it.

Also, Lu Zhou couldn't imagine what it would be like if there were a flying LED screen showing texts and emojis.

Basically, he wouldn't do anything that was a burden and didn't benefit him.

Xiao Ai: "Then can you install an arm? I can control it myself… Cry."

When Lu Zhou heard this ridiculous request, he couldn't help but say, "I'll just build a robot for you. Do you want a Doraemon or a Dorami?"

Xiao Ai's drone stopped hovering, and it went silent for a bit.

Lu Zhou guessed that it was probably searching for what "Dorami" was. It probably already downloaded a complete set of data on his server and began "searching" through the data.

Lu Zhou shook his head. He turned around and went into his bathroom to take a shower.

Lu Zhou put on his pajamas. He then walked into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He then went into the study room and sat in front of the computer as he browsed through the web.

Because his work recently had gotten so busy, he barely had the time to browse the web. He only heard from the other researchers that their thesis on Science attracted attention from all over the world, and they were on the trending page again or something.

Speaking of which, ever since he received the Nobel Prize, he had paid very little attention to what the media was saying about him, and he rarely accepted any interviews from reporters.

However, both the Chinese and Western media's interest toward him hadn't diminished.

Especially when he produced some kind of new research results.

Lu Zhou briefly looked at a few articles. He grabbed his cup and took a sip of the coffee.

Chinese reports regarding controllable fusion were basically all about the STAR machine and the 60-minute world-record. Zhou Chengfu hadn't come out and said anything yet. He probably was hiding with his tail between his legs. Lu Zhou didn't know if he didn't have anything to say or that no one wanted to run a report on him.

Other than that, compared to Chinese media, Lu Zhou's attention was more on the Western media.

The success of the STAR machine certainly boosted people's confidence in the controllable nuclear fusion field. Lu Zhou wanted to see the reactions of his peers and if anyone was triggered.

Suddenly, a news headline caught his attention.

It was a CNN news video.

The United States Secretary of Energy, Perry, stood at a press conference and faced the reporter's camera. He gave a speech on the recent development in the controllable nuclear fusion field and responded to the rumors that the US intended to withdraw from ITER.

"The United States' stance on future energy development hasn't changed.

"… We have invested tens of billions into fusion energy research projects. Since the 1950s, we have been at the forefront of controllable fusion technology.

"I have to reiterate here that the United States has no intention to withdraw from ITER. I haven't seen any documents regarding this on my desk.

"We will work closely with our allies in the study of fusion energy, and we will do our best to increase our research institutes' contribution in this area.

"If everything goes well, we will complete the construction of a controllable fusion demonstration reactor by 2030 and commercialize controllable fusion energy by 2050!

"We will complete our goal and fulfill our promise to our allies…"

Lu Zhou watched the secretary of the United States Department of Energy through his screen. He then murmured to himself while rubbing his finger on the mouse, "… Looks like the Americans are in a hurry."

Just like the United States Department of Energy, Lu Zhou could also ask other Chinese government departments to help him.

Also, China and Russia had an advantage in controllable nuclear fusion technology. This was one of the driving factors for the Congressional Budget Office to spend money on this research area.

In Lu Zhou's opinion, the competition for the future of controllable nuclear fusion had begun.

From now on, not only would the rocket scientists and nuclear engineers have visa application issues, but so would the controllable fusion researchers…

Chapter 524: Kick Them Ou

Interestingly enough, while Lu Zhou was relaxing and drinking coffee while watching a video of Perry talking to reporters, across the Pacific Ocean, in the United States Department of Energy office, Perry was looking at a photo of Lu Zhou.

However, Perry wasn't as relaxed as him…

Two weeks ago, the Jinling controllable fusion research institute made a breakthrough in plasma confinement time. This shook the entire plasma physics community.

Over the past two weeks, Perry had received at least 30 written letters regarding this matter.

Some were from the National Academy of Sciences, others were from the PPPL at Princeton.

In particular, the letter from the National Academy of Sciences contained a signature of the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and former Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu.

Not only did this letter portray the importance of controllable nuclear fusion energy, but there was also one central idea, which was money.

Also, there were letters from the CIA, but they didn't contain anything worth noting.

Rather than learning about Lu Zhou's personal information and his shining academic achievements, Perry wanted to know about China's controllable nuclear fusion advancements as well as how far China was from mature nuclear fusion technology.

Unfortunately, this all happened too fast.

Before the STAR machine completed a one hour magnetic confinement time, no one believed that they would succeed. Even the Chinese people didn't believe it.

Didn't they say even two minutes would be difficult?

That's what the head of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center told me!

"What a complete idiot…"

Perry threw the document on the table and couldn't help but curse.

He didn't need anyone to tell him the importance of controllable nuclear fusion technology, he was well aware of its significance.

However, he also knew how expensive this research would be.

Instead of the useless CIA reports and information, what he needed was advice from experts.

Perry sat in his office chair and thought for a bit. He made up his mind, stood up from his chair, and walked out of the office.

He looked at his assistant sitting outside his office and demanded.

"Gather the NIF1 project directors, and the head of the PPPL controllable fusion energy project… I don't care where they are, I want to see their a*ses here by tomorrow."

"I understand, sir."

Looking at how serious Perry was, his assistant immediately knew the importance of this matter, and he immediately began to reach for his telephone.

Perry nodded and was ready to leave.

Before attending the meeting, he had to go to the White House first.

But he suddenly remembered something. He stopped his footsteps and looked back at his assistant, who was on the phone.

"Also contact the CIA, remember to ask them to send someone reliable."

…

Around six or seven years ago, the US$3.5 billion NIF project failed, which tumbled the American controllable nuclear fusion research industry. It even affected the entire international nuclear fusion field.

The inertial confinement fusion technical route was almost terminated. If it weren't for this laser ignition machine, which could still undergo some nuclear tests, the entire project would have been scrapped by the Congressional Budget Office.

The tokamak was the only device that could still receive some research funding, but it wasn't as easy as before.

Especially because none of the countries wanted to spend more than the others on ITER funding, not to mention America had intentions on withdrawing from the ITER Organization. The future of the controllable fusion was gloomy.

However, no one expected that the light under the Purple Mountain would illuminate the entire world…

Right now, Ed Moses, head of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the National Ignition Facility, was sitting in the office of the Department of Energy.

Sitting next to him was Terrence Brog, head of the PPPL controllable fusion laboratory, and several of his friends, who were also in the controllable fusion field.

This wasn't their first time being summoned by the higher authorities.

Every month or so, they would be summoned by the Department of Energy or the Congressional Budget Office, who would ask them why they needed their budgets to be increased.

They were big money spenders; negotiating with bureaucrats on the topic of research funding was almost a part of their daily research.

However, unlike the past, this time the Department of Energy didn't summon them regarding budgeting issues…

The pair looked at each other with surprise in their eyes.

Obviously, there were other people outside of the Department of Energy in this room. There was a low-key man in a suit, who didn't fit in with his surrounding environment.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Helms, CIA."

When Ed Moses heard the word CIA, he raised his eyebrows in interest.

"When did the CIA become interested in the NIF?"

"I'm not very interested in the NIF. Rather, I'm more interested in the PPPL." Helms spun the pen in his hand and looked at Brog as he said, "Mr. Terrence Brog, I've heard that you have worked with Professor Lu Zhou in the past, is this true?"

Brog nodded and said, "Yes."

Helms: "What type of person do you think he is?"

Brog said, "You should ask his supervisor or his students about this question. I don't know about his personal life, our communication is strictly professional."

"His professional side is what I want to know." Helms flipped through his notebook and said, "Our people have noticed that around two years ago, a transaction happened from an overseas account into the research fund account."

Brog: "During his time at Princeton, he served as a consultant for the PPPL on the He3 project. We ran into funding issues at the time, so he helped out a little."

Helms asked, "Can you explain in detail the contents of the He3 project?"

Brog: "It's about the insertion and observation of He3 particles in the fusion machine's plasma… If you think that this project gave the STAR Institute critical technology, then rest assured. Nuclear fusion technology is important, but the research results itself is available to the public. If you don't know what I mean, you can go ask your physics professor."

Helms twisted the ballpoint pen in his hand and wrote on his notebook as he said, "Unfortunately, my major in university was psychology, I haven't studied physics before."

Brog quietly muttered, "You must have learned it in high school."

Helms either pretended like he didn't hear it or he really didn't hear it. He ignored Brog's comment and looked at Moses for a second.

"If they didn't use the technology from PPPL, I want to know why a research institute that was established less than a year ago, using a second-hand stellarator, was able to produce such incredible results."

Ed Moses coughed and said, "The answer is simple. The Chinese are willing to invest money into this technology. Even though most of our problems can't be solved with money alone, but when this money is correctly used by the right people, the situation is different."

Perry, who was sitting at the other end of the conference table, said, "Your research funding is almost just as much as theirs. Are you saying that you didn't use the money in the right places?"

Ed Moses looked at him with an awkward expression as he said, "Of course I'm not saying that, I can guarantee that every penny is used in the right place… But, trial and error is part of research."

Helms didn't care for Ed Moses' reply, he looked at his notebook and continued to ask a lot of questions.

Some were regarding their cooperation with ITER, others were about the STAR Stellarator Research Institute.

The meeting lasted for around two hours.

After the meeting was over, Perry dismissed the summoned experts and asked Helms.

"What do you think?"

Helms used to work in the diplomatic system, so Perry obviously wouldn't take his advice too seriously, but it was worth consulting.

Helms looked at the notebook in his hand and thought for a bit before speaking.

"According to our reports, China has already launched a controllable fusion demonstration reactor project. However, judging from the meeting just now, other than that Science thesis, our experts have no understanding of the STAR research institute whatsoever.

"Combining the facts, we can assume that China has borrowed a lot of technology and research from the ITER project. They stole their technology from us, but they don't want to share their research. I think this is unreasonable."

Perry raised his eyebrows with interest. "So?"

"So, I suggest to negotiate with the Chinese, to let the STAR research institute disclose more technical details." Helms paused for a second and said in a serious tone, "Otherwise, we'll kick them out of the ITER project." National Ignition Facility

Chapter 525: Professor At Alma Mater

Around two months ago, when Lu Zhou's research was at its busiest, he often thought that when he had more free time, he would go outside and do something he normally wouldn't.

However, when he had free time, he found out that he wasn't interested in the plans he made anymore.

No matter where he went, it wasn't as comfortable as being in his own home, especially in his own study room.

This was the only room in the mansion where he could feel relaxed and at peace.

However, the only downside was that whenever he was here, his mind would inadvertently drift to the unsolved research project topics.

Even though the process of creating knowledge was enjoyable, if he was studying these problems during his vacation, then there would be no point in having a vacation in the first place.

Lu Zhou recently discovered how important it was to have a hobby not related to research.

Lu Zhou thought back to how he relaxed when he was in Princeton. On the second day of his holiday, Lu Zhou was feeling cabin fever, so he sat in Wang Peng's car and came to Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou originally just wanted to walk around the campus. He didn't expect to run into Principal Xu, who invited him to his office.

Principal Xu asked his assistant to make two cups of tea. He sat on the sofa and began to chat.

"How is it? Are you used to being here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why are you putting it like that? You sound like I haven't been here in a long time."

Professor Xu smiled and said, "I didn't ask about your personal life, I meant the research side. You're living in Zhongshan International now. All the professors at Jin Ling University worship you, are you not satisfied?"

He paused for a second and said, "There must be a difference between the Chinese and international research institute environment."

Lu Zhou said, "There is definitely a difference, but I think it's whatever."

At the very least, Lu Zhou was pretty satisfied with his own Institute for Advanced Study.

"Speaking of which, how is your controllable fusion project going?" Principal Xu suddenly remembered something and added, "Ah, if you can't tell me, just pretend like I didn't ask."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "There are no secrets, the research is available to the public anyway. Everything is being done step by step. The eyes, brain, and two legs are all in place. There are only some small problems, like the torso that needs to be created."

The "eye" was the He3 atom probe technology, the head was Xiao Ai's supercomputer, the legs were the outer field coil, made from SG-1 superconducting material, while the torso was the reactor itself.

Strictly speaking, there were also two "arms", which were the ferrofluid electric generators, but that was handled by the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Principal Xu sat up straight in surprise and said, "Does this mean there's hope?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "It's difficult, the torso is probably the most difficult."

From the carbon fiber composite to the first wall liquid lithium neutron recovery system, there were way more problems than he had anticipated.

The only fortunate thing was that he had a rough feasible idea on how to solve these problems.

All he had to do now was to follow these ideas and solve any other problems along the way.

Lu Zhou picked up the teacup on the table and diverted the conversation.

"Let's not talk about nuclear fusion anymore. I'm on holiday now, and the reason I came here was to get away from the research project."

Principal Xu smiled and said, "If you really wanted to relax, you should have gone fishing or hiking, why are you at a college? Oh yeah, school is starting in September. If you aren't busy, how about you say a couple of words at the opening ceremony?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm not busy, but I don't have anything to say."

Principal Xu smiled and said, "I'm not asking you to speak for long, just say a couple of words. Even just one sentence is fine. If anything, most of the students at Jin Ling University this year applied here because of you."

"I'll see. If I'm free, I'll definitely come." Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something, and he smiled and said, "Oh yeah, last time you said I would become a tenured professor here. It's been half a year since I've been back, so where is my offer?"

Professor Xu said, "You want to become a professor at Jin Ling University?"

Lu Zhou joked, "Does my alma mater not welcome me?"

"Not at all, why didn't you mention this earlier!" Principal Xu slapped his thigh and laughed. He said, "The reason why I never brought this up was that I didn't want to waste your time. If you really want to come back and teach, you can become the dean of any department you wish for; chemistry, physics, mathematics, whatever you want!"

Originally, Principal Xu wanted to bring this matter up, but he didn't expect the situation to suddenly change. After Lu Zhou returned to China, Lu Zhou immediately became the chief designer on the Chinese project and an academic leader in the controllable nuclear fusion field.

Normally speaking, even if the school offered millions in research funding, not many people would be willing to teach undergraduate students.

Anyone at the academician level that controlled a few dozen projects, not only were they bored at teaching undergraduate students, but they often ignored their PhD students as well.

After all, there weren't many people that would think that teaching was a fun and interesting thing.

Therefore, the principal didn't mention this matter.

However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou to bring up this matter, making this was a wonderful surprise.

"Forget about becoming a dean, I can't handle an administrative position. Just give me a mathematics department office." Principal Xu looked eager, so Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "If I can't teach the classes well, it'll only affect the students' final exam marks. If I do a bad job at being the department dean, I'll ruin the students' futures."

For Lu Zhou, thinking about simple problems outside of research relaxed his tight brain, and it also gave him inspiration.

Not to mention, research couldn't be done by one person alone. If he could train a couple of talented students, it would make his life much easier.

He would pass on doing administrative work.

After all, he didn't have any desire for things like power.

"Okay then, if you don't want to work a management role, we won't force you. It's decided!" Principal Xu smiled and said, "From now on, our Jin Ling University is a Nobel Prize level school."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Hasn't it always been?"

Principal Xu: "There's a big difference between an honorary professor and a working professor. I'll ask someone to handle the procedure for you. In a few days' time, when you're free, go pick up your stuff at the administrative office. If you don't have time, I can find someone to send it to you. Purple Mountain is closeby anyway."

Lu Zhou: "I'll pick them up myself…"

Suddenly, they heard a knocking sound from the office door.

A respectful yet unfamiliar voice traveled through the office door.

"Is Professor Lu there?"

…

Europe.

Wendelstein 7-X research institute.

The equipment was slowly shutting down, Professor Millek, president of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, stared straight at the device. He spoke with a poker-face.

"What's the result like?"

Professor Keriber took a deep breath and replied, "We've tried to improve the control scheme. There is a slight increase in the plasma confinement time, but we're still quite a long way from one hour."

Millek: "Be more specific."

Keriber looked at his assistant next to him as his mouth twitched bitterly.

"… We increased it by 102 seconds."

If this were a few months ago, an increased confinement time measured in seconds would be an exciting achievement. It could even be counted as an in-progress result, with press conferences and media reports.

But now, the improvement measured in seconds had lost its meaning…

Professor Millek nodded and didn't say anything.

He was the only one that came here; he wasn't accompanied by government officials. As a scholar himself, he knew he shouldn't put all of the blame on Keriber.

Any research project had its own development speed; impatience would only cause trouble.

Millek went silent for a while before he suddenly said, "The Americans are planning to kick China out of the ITER organization."

Professor Keriber's heart was shocked when he heard this, and he gasped in disbelief, "Why?!"

"The reason is intellectual property… Or rather, the excuse. After all, there are a lot of specifics that aren't clear to me."

Keriber: "… Will the ITER Council agree?"

Professor Millek replied, "If they have to, they will."

Keriber had a complicated expression on his face as he said, "What about the funds that come from China? Just looking at it from the monetary perspective alone…"

Professor Millek: "The United States promises to cover the funding."

Keriber complained, "Another promise? They've never even fulfilled their past funding promises!"

"There's no point for us to discuss this. After all, we haven't fulfilled our own promises." Professor Millek looked at Keriber, who was triggered. He then added, "Also, I'm just giving you the facts."

Keriber took a deep breath and calmed down. He quietly muttered, "I don't understand, why don't they leave themselves?"

Ten years ago, the Americans had been yelling about leaving ITER. Now, not only were they not leaving, but they were kicking other people out of ITER.

Professor Millek went silent for a while. He pretended like he didn't hear anything and sighed.

"ITER is considering to adjust the planned tokamak demonstration reactor to a stellarator demonstration reactor. Fortunately, the tokamak project hasn't started yet, so the loss isn't too big. I'm guessing after the next conference, the relevant official documents will be released. The Wendelstein 7-X, which is you guys, will play an important role in this."

Professor Keriber smiled bitterly and said, "So you're saying, you want us to 'go toe-to-toe' with Professor Lu?"

This is asinine.

Scientific research isn't a boxing match.

Instead of having a winner and loser, it'd be better to cooperate and form a win-win situation.

Especially for research regarding mankind's future, cooperation is far more meaningful than a competition.

As if Professor Millek understood what Professor Keriber was thinking, without expressing his own opinions, he gently nodded.

"You can think of it like this, we have to be ahead of China."

Chapter 526: The Higher-ups Value Your Opinion

In November 1985, the United States "Air Force One" arrived in Geneva. The US president at that time, Ronald Reagan, met with the new leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. They began negotiations on nuclear disarmament.

The Iron Curtain was in effect at that time. All in all, this "meeting" was generally considered as one of the ice breakers for the cold war.

However, the first meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev didn't go as well as expected. The two parties were discussing the "Strategic Defense Initiative" as well as the debate on human rights and "regional issues". The meeting looked like it was going to end on a bad note.

At the end of the meeting, around five o'clock in the morning, the two parties finally agreed to issue a joint statement, which didn't contain any actual promises.

At the end of this joint statement, these two world leaders announced an ambiguous statement, which was that the two countries would develop a new energy source that was in the common interest of mankind.

This was the origin of the ITER.

Therefore, about the rumors that America would leave ITER…

Keriber himself knew that this would never happen.

Even though the United States had never fulfilled its 25% research funding promise, ITER itself was a politically-motivated project.

Normally, research on controllable nuclear fusion was a "lone island", away from all the politics.

However, the premise for this was that no one knew how far in the future this technology was.

Thinking about this from a logical perspective, if he had to choose between working at an American research institute versus cooperating with Professor Lu, he would undoubtedly choose the latter, to cooperate with the scholar who had already made significant achievements in the fusion field.

Unfortunately, as a researcher, he had no power in this matter.

Even the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, who was backing him, had no power.

If the United States put pressure on ITER through the EU and used intellectual property protection as an excuse, kicking China out would be a piece of cake, just like what happened to the Galileo plan.

When Professor Millek turned away and began leaving, Keriber looked at him with a hint of worry on his face.

Strictly speaking, these weren't problems that he had to think about.

But if his fears really came true, then the ITER Organization might face its collapse.

After all, this organization was never that stable; everyone was only tied by the same dream.

No one really placed their energy dreams on the futuristic controllable fusion energy. However, as he sat in this coffee shop, he could hear students from the University of Greifswald chatting about what would happen after controllable fusion technology became a reality.

It was hard to tell if the light at the Purple Mountain would really ignite the future energy field or blow out the last flame.

If they didn't have any expectations from the beginning, maybe they could've gone further?

…

A man in his early thirties knocked on the office door; he had a lanky figure.

According to him, his name was He Mingxuan, secretary for the Energy Bureau, Director Lu's right-hand man.

When Lu Zhou went to Beijing, he met this guy before, but they didn't communicate.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know what the Energy Bureau wanted from him, he still politely invited him to sit down.

He Mingxuan sat down next to Principal Xu, which was across from Lu Zhou. He said in a sincere manner, "I originally planned to visit you at Zhongshan International, but you weren't there. This situation is urgent. My apologies for bothering you."

"It's fine, you don't have to be this polite, I'm on vacation anyway, so I'm not busy." Lu Zhou looked at Secretary He and said, "Actually I want to ask, why are you in such a hurry?"

Principal Xu noticed Secretary He looking at him, so he smiled and put down the teacup.

"It seems that you two have matters to discuss, I won't be in your way."

The principal had participated in many national-level scientific research projects, and many of them had sensitive information. He knew exactly what he should and shouldn't listen to.

The old man stood up and left his office.

Secretary He looked at the office door. When it was closed, he sighed and put on a more serious face as he said, "The Americans are planning to kick us out of ITER."

When Lu Zhou heard this sudden news, he frowned. "Is the source reliable?"

Secretary He nodded and said, "I'm 90% certain. In fact, they've had this idea for quite a long time."

When Lu Zhou heard this, he couldn't help but worry.

This was definitely not a piece of good news for him.

The STAR-2 project was similar to China's original CFTER project; it wasn't affiliated with the ITER project. However, various research institutes around the world more or less benefited from ITER.

If China was to leave the ITER project, not only would it mean that its previous tens of billions of "subscription fees" paid to ITER would all go to waste, but it would also mean that China's controllable nuclear fusion research institutes that were doing academic exchange with other international research institutes under ITER would also be interrupted.

Other than the research losses, the billion-dollar contracts with Chinese companies would also face the risk of being replaced.

Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about diplomatic affairs, but from a scientific research perspective, this was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "What's America's reason for doing this?"

"Their reason is intellectual property. United States experts on the ITER board of directors have asked us questions. They think that we have concealed our research results while taking in technology, which violates the spirit of ITER…" Secretary He had a bitter smile on his face as he added, "Of course, they don't need a reason."

That's right, they didn't need a reason.

After hearing the secretary's explanation, even though Lu Zhou understood the meaning behind it, he still shook his head.

"This is outrageous. We've done our duty in disclosing the research progress on the controllable fusion project. We are not obligated to disclose any additional research. If the STAR computer uses Intel's chips, does that mean we can ask them to disclose their chip technology?"

Secretary He silently took out his notebook and wrote down Lu Zhou's words.

Lu Zhou looked at the notebook and paused for a second before asking, "Why are you taking notes?"

"I think you put it nicely." Secretary He smiled helplessly and said, "At least… we can repeat that when we deal with diplomatic affairs."

However, logic and reason had never been effective.

Lu Zhou took a moment to process all of this before asking, "What are their specific requests?"

Secretary He: "They're asking to send an academic visiting team composed of ITER members to permanently reside at the STAR Stellarator Research Institute, and that they would be involved in the research. They're also asking us to release the latest production technology of the SG-1 superconducting coil and all of the technical details for the modified STAR stellarator as well as the control scheme."

Lu Zhou began to contemplate.

The superconducting material was an easy deal. The SG-1 material itself had a public patent while the SG-1 wires were exported to other countries. The only secret involved was the production process technology developed by Baosheng Group with the assistance of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Regardless of whether they released the technology or not, it didn't have anything to do with Lu Zhou.

However, the control scheme was a big problem.

The control scheme that the Jin Ling University computer science department developed was definitely worse than that of Wendelstein 7-X laboratory's.

The reason why the STAR machine could achieve a one-hour plasma confinement time was partly due to the SG-1 superconducting material, but Xiao Ai deserved most of the credit.

In short, there was no way he would ever release the control scheme.

Making a request like this was ridiculous.

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't speak for a while, Secretary He asked in a serious manner, "This thing is tricky. After we heard the news, we held meetings for two days straight, but we haven't made a decision. The higher-ups value your opinion. If Director Lu were free, he would've personally came to Jinling to visit you.

"In your opinion… What do you think we should do?"

Chapter 527: The Thought Behind the Gif

"In your opinion… what do you think we should do?"

Secretary He was asking for his advice in a humble manner.

Lu Zhou became silent.

This was a difficult question to answer.

Putting it bluntly, he wasn't an expert in international relations. He was only responsible for matters in scientific research.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and slowly said, "I'm not the one that should answer this question. I'm just a scholar, I'm not a diplomat. The only thing I can promise is that before 2025, we will create a demonstration reactor."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He looked at Secretary He in the eye and continued, "If you really want to hear my opinion, I think the key to this problem is how we plan on using this technology."

He Mingxuan: "Plan on using?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

It was very difficult to monopolize a known technology.

Whenever the use of a piece of technology was present, the difficulty in solving that technology would reduce exponentially.

An example of this was the Manhattan Project. This project gathered all of the top western non-German scientists. More than 100,000 people participated in this project, in which they spent two billion USD to successfully create the first atomic bomb. President Truman even complained that the cost of developing an atomic bomb was more expensive than buying the entire universe…

Obviously, Truman's complaint was an overstatement. But it still showed how expensive the costs were at that time.

However, the nuclear tests that followed obviously didn't cost as much.

If the "STAR-2" project was successful, China would be able to start an energy revolution, but it probably wouldn't monopolize this technology.

The principle of maximizing gains was to use one's technological advantage in a field to expand one's influence and become the standard in the field, which would then cause everyone else to try and catch up to that standard.

Of course, the most important thing was that they could use fusion energy as leverage, to exchange for China's political and governance interests.

Secretary He went silent for a while.

"The thing you just talked about, we haven't discussed it in the meeting."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I understand, after all, these things are far away in the future.

"But what I want to say is that if we are only planning to be a participant in the international community, then we can give requests of our owns in exchange with America's demands.

"However, if for example, we want to become the one that sets the rules…"

Lu Zhou went silent for a bit before he continued, "Then the suffering and obstacles on the road are inevitable."

When Secretary He heard this, he couldn't help but hold his breath.

The one that sets the rules…

This sounds…

This really is an emotionally intense sentence.

He tightened his fists, which were resting on his knees, and slowly relaxed. He kept repeating this motion and took a deep breath.

He wasn't a decision-maker; he was only someone that conveyed opinions. However, at this moment, he felt the need to ask on behalf of Director Lu and the country's higher-ups.

Secretary He's heart was beating out of his chest. "What happens to the STAR-2 project if we exit from ITER?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and answered confidently, "There will be an impact, but not a lot."

He Mingxuan finally had a smile on his face.

"Since you put it like this, we are relieved! I will convey your opinions to the higher-ups."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Please make sure you do."

The secretary didn't want to stay in the office for long.

Secretary He planned to immediately return to Beijing, so he chugged the tea and bid farewell to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou accompanied Secretary He downstairs and was about to leave as well. He was contemplating whether or not he should say goodbye to Principal Xu when he suddenly ran into him.

When Principal Xu saw Lu Zhou standing downstairs alone, he walked over with a stack of documents in his hand and smiled.

"You guys are done?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "My apologies for borrowing your office."

"It's fine, not a big deal, your matters are more important." Principal Xu waved his hand and smiled. He handed a document to Lu Zhou and said, "I had nothing to do when you were in my office, so I went over to the academic affairs office and finished the hiring process for you."

Lu Zhou took the document from Principal Xu's hands and asked, "Hiring process?"

Professor Xu smiled and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to be a professor here? Sign this document, and you'll be a member of our mathematics department!"

Lu Zhou was surprised. "Already?"

Principal Xu said, "It's better to get this sorted now before you sleep on it and change your mind."

Lu Zhou laughed and said, "That's not going to happen. Okay then, I'll sign this document. I'll bring it back to you tomorrow."

Principal Xu: "Are you not going to ask about the salary?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

"It's on the document anyway. I'll just look at like later. I'm not in a hurry either. Or maybe you can tell me now?"

"I'll just tell you now. If you read it later, you'll probably think it's too low and blame me."

Principal Xu smiled and pause for a second. He then said, "As for your compensation, actually we had a meeting about this last year. Our final decision is an annual salary of 4 million yuan, with 5 million in housing subsidies… I know you probably don't care about this pocket change, but this is the highest compensation we can give you. As for your research funding, since you're already the manager of a 40 billion yuan project, I'm guessing you don't need any additional research funding, and I won't embarrass myself with an offer. But if you have any other needs, make sure to tell me, and we will try our best to help you!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean by pocket change? This is higher than my salary at Princeton."

Shuimu University was the top university in China, and the salary for their "Nobel Prize level scholar" was only 1.7 million yuan a year.

A 2 million annual salary was basically the upper limit for academicians.

As for the eight-figure salaries posted in newspapers, most of them included benefits such as housing and insurance. The most significant one of them all was scientific research funding.

Jin Ling University gave him an annual salary of four million, which was double the usual maximum professor salary. Principal Xu himself had to have gone through a lot of debates and discussions to secure this for Lu Zhou.

For Lu Zhou, he didn't need nor care about the annual salary.

But he was quite touched by this gesture from his alma mater…

…

Once the energy problem was solved, many other problems would be solved as well. However, there would be more problems that follow.

Just looking at the present alone, the cake hadn't even finished baking yet. At most, the creamy buttery smell was coming out of the oven. However, people were already desperate to eat the cake. What would happen when the cake was finally out of the oven?

What happened today at ITER was only a preview for the future.

At night.

An office in Beijing.

Director Lu was smoking next to a window when he looked at his watch.

The meeting would begin in around an hour.

Director Lu's head hurt when he thought about the recent events, and he pinched his eyebrows.

Even though they anticipated the actions by the US, the US executed so fast that many people, including him, were caught by surprise.

It was obvious that the Americans were coming after the STAR-2 project.

Suddenly, he heard a knock from his office door.

Director Lu sighed and put out the cigarette. He walked to his desk and sat down.

"Come in."

His secretary opened the door and walked in.

Director Lu looked at Secretary He and asked, "Have you met with Professor Lu yet?"

He Mingxuan nodded.

"We met in the afternoon."

He then immediately began to report on what happened during his conversation with Lu Zhou.

After hearing the secretary's report, Director Lu tapped his index finger on the desk and went silent for a bit.

"Is that what he said?"

He Mingxuan nodded seriously and said, "Yes… He promised me that even if China withdraws from ITER, the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project will not be significantly affected."

Director Lu's furrowed brows finally relaxed, and he nodded in relief.

"Okay, I understand!"

This was probably the best news he heard all day.

This should do the trick!

Chapter 528: We're Relying On You!

The ITER Council is the highest decision-making body of the ITER program and organization. It consisted of four representatives from each seven ITER country members. These representatives were authorized by their respective foreign ministries and were nominated according to the needs of the meeting. Their roles and responsibilities were very similar to those of a company's board of directors.

However, unlike a company, there were no "company bylaws" that could restrict the ITER Council's decision.

The voting power of the various members wasn't necessarily entirely determined from their country's technological strength and contribution to a specific field. Rather, it depended more on the international relations abilities of various countries.

One had to admit that the United States was definitely strong in this area. The questions asked by the American representatives to the Chinese representatives were quite scary.

However, at this conference, the situation changed.

At this board of directors meeting, Chinese representative Luo Zhanyuan, who was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, made a clear and strong response to the request made by the US representative.

"We have already fulfilled our duty and obligation to disclose the details of our controllable fusion experiment. If just because the STAR machine uses a certain technology that we have to disclose all of the other technological details, then I must responsibly remind you that the STAR machine control scheme uses Intel's chips. Before asking for our generosity, maybe you guys should show a little generosity of your own?"

After hearing the translation, the American representative Adam Cohen stared coldly at Luo Zhanyuan and said in a serious manner, "This is an outrageous request. Intel is not a cooperation unit of ITER, the chip technology is their private property. Also, this is totally different than what we were discussing!"

Even though Minister Cohen spoke in an aggressive tone, Luo Zhanyuan didn't hesitate before making a comeback.

"The STAR Stellarator Research Institute and their partner companies are also not cooperative units of ITER. The SG-1 superconducting material technology and the STAR machine control scheme belongs to their respective private units. In my opinion, this is the same as Intel."

Adam Cohen: "You guys are manipulating the situation!"

Luo Zhanyuan said impolitely, "Are you talking about yourselves?"

"…"

The meeting basically became a "battlefield" for the American and Chinese representatives. The two sides were bickering back and forth on the issue of intellectual property.

Other countries' representatives didn't seem to be interested enough to join in on the dispute, but it was obvious that they weren't indifferent either.

Director-General Motojima was also sitting at the conference table. He suddenly sighed gently.

"Looks like this conference is going to end on an unhappy note."

The Japanese representative Ishida was sitting next to him, and he turned slightly to look at the Director-General.

"Motojima, are you not interested in how Professor Lu did it?"

Last year, the Cray-XC50 supercomputer officially became in service for the Rokkasho Fusion Energy Research Centre, to provide computational support for Japan's national controllable nuclear fusion research and to contribute to the ITER program. Although the supercomputer's computing power was only ranked around 15 in the super-calculation rankings, the supercomputer was designed for controllable nuclear fusion research. Therefore, one couldn't compare it directly to the other general-purpose supercomputers.

Just like how Anton was designed for computational chemistry, Cray-XC50 was equivalent to a large harvester, which was designed for plasma physics and controllable nuclear fusion.

Coincidentally, the Japanese lacked a set of effective control schemes. If China agreed to ask the STAR Stellarator Research Institute to disclose their control scheme, then they could improve their research results.

However, the probability of this happening was low.

Motojima stared at the two representatives bickering and went silent for a while. He then answered Ishida's question, "I am curious, but I have to say, this is not an honorable way to go about this. America wants to show its strengths through the ITER project. But the possibility of China compromising is low. If Mr. Cohen continues to stand his ground, the final result might be China getting kicked out of the ITER project."

Ishida asked, "Is this not what the United States wants?"

"Not necessarily." Motojima shook his head and said, "At least not before China discloses their research results. It's not in the interests of the Americans to kick China out of the ITER project."

Zhou Chengfu, who was sitting at the conference table, could feel the representatives from the other countries staring at him. He felt a mix of emotions.

Ever since the meeting began, he could smell the gunpowder. Even before the meeting began, he could see the signs of a fight.

First, it was that internal domestic meeting. Then, it was that representative from the Air Force, who was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Luo Zhanyuan's resilience was beyond his expectations.

All of the signs showed that the higher-ups seemed to have given up on the ITER fantasy. It was almost foreseeable that they faced being removed from ITER, and they probably wouldn't receive their next round of ITER funding.

The country's attitude toward ITER turned sharply. As the director of China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center, he was caught in a dilemma.

Logically speaking, he didn't want to leave ITER.

At the start, they invested a lot of money to join ITER. If they really decided to leave now, not only would it mean that those efforts would go to waste, but it would also mean that the Chinese research institutes that were cooperating with the ITER countries would cease their cooperation.

And the most important thing was that, if China decided to leave ITER, then there would be no point for China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center to exist. Even though they wouldn't immediately disband the center, they would definitely be restructured.

Also, it was foreseeable that China's future research in fusion energy would be focused on the stellarator.

And his ten years of hard work…

When Zhou Chengfu thought about this, his emotions became more complicated.

Right now, he wasn't sure whether he was concerned about China's future controllable nuclear fusion field or his own future…

…

The dramatic changes at ITER wasn't a pleasant thing for Lu Zhou.

He had a lot of cooperation plans with the Max Planck Society, but now, it seemed that the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory might change from partners to potential competitors.

He had to admit that these changes gave him a mix of emotions.

However, the one positive upside was that after he finally completed the design plans for the liquid lithium neutron recovery system, there was a piece of good news from the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Chief Engineer Wang arrived at Jinling again. Not only did he bring hope for using a ferrofluid electric energy generator on the fusion reactor, but he also brought a more detailed design sketch.

Even though it was only a sketch, the entire basic structure and all of the connection port placements for the ferrofluid electric generator were on the design sketch.

Lu Zhou briefly looked at the sketch.

"There aren't any obvious problems… Oh yeah, what is the expected energy conversion efficiency?"

Academician Wang: "The initial estimate of 50% is a piece of cake. It might be even higher. However, before the real thing is built, it's too early to say."

Lu Zhou was surprised. "50%? That high?"

Academician Wang smiled and said, "That's just a conservative estimate. We've talked with experts from the Institute of Electrical Engineering. Like you said, ferrofluid electric energy isn't efficient when used in thermal power, but it is quite feasible when applied to nuclear fusion power. Other than the heating plasma problem and the effect from the carbon deposit and cinder, the problems we encountered when trying to use thermal power are non-existent."

Lu Zhou: "How long will it take to build this thing?"

Academician Wang thought for a bit and said, "Around next year, other than the connection port, the rest of the design is easy. It wouldn't be very troublesome to make.

"The generator isn't a big issue, it can be solved with time. When the electrical engineering experts heard you plan on using ferrofluid electric energy for the nuclear fusion reactor, they were thrilled. As long as you can build the reactor, we can definitely handle the generator.

"Speaking of which, I'm a little worried for you guys. I heard that the United States plans on kicking us out of the ITER project. It looks like they're trying to set up a technology blockade, are you guys fine?"

When Lu Zhou heard Academician Wang's statement, he smiled.

"You don't have to worry about this. Talking about it won't do anything. Whether we're fine or not, you'll know when the time comes."

"Looks like you're pretty confident." Academician Wang looked at Lu Zhou's confident expression and said, "Speaking of which, you're a millennial, right? Do you know what a technology blockade means?"

Lu Zhou calmly said, "It means that the two dozen or so Chinese research institutes that are doing academic exchanges with foreign controllable fusion research institutes might be suspended from further cooperation. Hundreds of ongoing research projects might be paused or even canceled."

In addition, it would probably affect billions of dollars worth of contracts, as well as hundreds of master's and PhD students…

This all could happen, or rather, this would happen.

However, what did it mean?

Would compromising earn them equality and dignity?

Lu Zhou didn't think so.

"So you know what it means."

There was a tinge of approval in Academician Wang's face.

There was a difference between talents. An excellent scientific researcher wouldn't necessarily be an outstanding academic ruler. There was a difference between geniuses and leaders.

If there was any doubt in Academician Wang's mind about Lu Zhou's leading abilities, that doubt had now disappeared.

Academician Wang stopped smiling and looked at Lu Zhou with respect.

"We're relying on you!"

Chapter 529: Interesting Results Are Often Expected?

Jinling high-tech zone.

A couple of years ago, this place was a wasteland, waiting to be used. But now, it was very well developed.

With support from the municipal government's policies, a large amount of high tech company workers resided at this place. They relied on the talent resources from the universities nearby. This place had become a standard model for economic development, taught by universities.

Even though the original intention of this area was only to retain local talents, it seemed that this goal had been overfulfilled. Also, it brought enormous economic value.

Especially in the lithium battery industry.

According to the latest industry reports, this year's modified PDMS lithium anode material and the HCS-2 lithium-sulfur battery positive electrode material occupied 32.7% and 47% of the national market share respectively. They were basically the pillars of this industry.

There were also the SG-1 superconducting magnets, recently put into production by Baosheng Group. They were sold all over the world.

For the city council leader that first designed this high-tech area plan, this was a dream come true.

Of course, the reason why they were able to achieve this level of development had little to do with government policy support.

One of the reasons was that Zhongshan New Materials, the leader of the domestic material industry, was able to successfully ride the wave of the lithium battery market. Another reason was obviously everyone's personal efforts.

Of course, the most crucial reason was probably the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

All of the companies in the high-tech zone were like stars that rotated around this black-hole like research institute, as if they were a galaxy system. More than 60% of the economic output here was directly or indirectly related to this research institute's technology. As the market expanded, this proportion would continue to increase.

The industry was led by academia, while the factories were being led by laboratories.

For any other research institute in China, this was unthinkable.

Even in a developed country with a scientific research to industry conversion ratio of more than 40%, there were only a handful of research institutes that had the capabilities.

Especially after the Nobel Prize laureate returned to China, this became a holy place for countless scientific researchers.

Regardless of how the researchers inside the research institute viewed their own work, at least from an outsider's perspective, being able to conduct research alongside a Nobel Prize big name was a nutty thing in and of itself.

After all, this was a Nobel Prize winner's Nobel Prize laboratory. This meant that their experiments were on another level.

A Nobel Prize winner's research project had to be at least on a Nobel Prize level, right?

In fact, this was true.

The STAR fusion machine from Purple Mountain ignited the entire world's hope for controllable nuclear fusion technology. Not just that, but even the STAR's research partner, Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, also received a lot of attention.

In the beginning, this research institute was only able to attract researchers that didn't have their own laboratories. But now, even some semi-famous scholars were extremely interested in working at this place.

After all, it was backed by a 40 billion yuan large project. Not to mention, it was also a major national scientific research project. This was on another level compared to most domestic research institutes.

Of course, even though all of this sounded attractive, when one really entered this institute, the beauty inside wasn't as good as what an outsider might think. At least, it was no paradise…

There was no bureaucracy, no quota for the number of research theses produced… These were all major features for this research institute, and the researchers conducting scientific research here only had to focus on their own work.

On the other hand, the pressure and work intensity here were much stronger than normal research institutes. After all, if they didn't try their hardest, these people wouldn't be able to keep up with Lu Zhou's footsteps.

At least, in Hou Jinli's opinion, this place was full of opportunity.

But it was also extremely intense and competitive.

Working until midnight was a common occurrence. When they were particularly busy, they even slept in the laboratory. This was more intense than any other materials research institute in the country.

As for the Institute of Mathematics or Institute of Physics…

He hadn't worked there yet, so he couldn't give a fair evaluation.

Of course, even though Hou Jinli was busy working here, he was still quite satisfied with his life here.

Both the scientific research environment and salary were at the first-class level in China.

Of course, this was when he compared with his peers. It wouldn't be fun if he had to compare himself with those working in tech.

Since he bravely jumped into the pit of materials science, he had to be prepared to be buried.

Not to mention, scientific research required a certain amount of passion.

Even though academic and research funding were closely related, it'd be boring to only care about the money side.

This was what Hou Jinli told himself in order to encourage himself whenever he felt like he couldn't handle it any longer.

By the time he published a couple of theses and became a small boss of his own, the situation would be completely different.

However, dreams were beautiful, but the reality was cruel.

Almost a year had passed, but the research project he successfully applied for hadn't progressed at all.

Even though there were many interesting discoveries, they were far from being outstanding.

Up until now, all he did was explore a set of laboratory synthesis methods.

If he were in any other research institute in China, he would have to worry about how he would pass the end-of-year assessment.

Thankfully, Professor Lu didn't have a quota on the number of theses publications. He only had to write a monthly report on the things he did that month, and his experiment would be allowed to continue.

This way, he didn't have to worry about his research project being cut out halfway through.

"This is the data you want, figure A is a XRD diagram, figure b, c, and d are the TEM material tests. There are also the characterization phase graphs for the SEM and XRD diagrams, I did those for you as well."

Hou Jinli picked up these graphs and began to look at them carefully.

Yu Junda stood next to the experiment table with his arms crossed. He sighed.

"I told you, this thing is just some carbon residue, what's the point in researching it."

They had wasted nearly a year researching this thing, so Yu Junda wasn't in a good mood.

Honestly, he was intrigued at that time, so he decided to work on this research project with Hou Jinli, but now, he was starting to regret doing so.

"Calling it carbon residue is such an understatement…"

"Maybe you can think of something that sounds better?" Yu Junda shrugged and said, "Regardless of what it is called, I think we are wasting our time."

When Hou Jinli heard his friend's words, he went silent.

It wasn't that he didn't want to argue, it was just that he didn't know what to say.

Nothing significant came out of this experiment.

Whether it was dispersing this material into other materials or using it alone, it was hard for him to think of the potential value of this material.

Hou Jinli sighed and put down the data on the table. He was thinking about how he would write the experimental report when he suddenly looked at the mortar and pestle on the experiment table.

The mortar and pestle were used to grind carbon nanotubes.

Normally, they would use a ball mill, but the mortars were used for handling small samples.

What attracted him wasn't the mortar itself, but rather…

An idea suddenly popped up in Hou Jinli's mind, and he spoke thoughtfully, "Speaking of which, we haven't tried ceramics yet…"

Yu Junda paused for a second.

"I don't think we did…"

It was like Yu Junda had suddenly thought of something. He had a strange expression on his face.

"Are you thinking of…"

Hou Jinli nodded.

"Let's try it, we've already wasted all this time anyway."

He had a bitter expression on his face when he spoke.

If this doesn't work out, then it's whatever…

Chapter 530: Don't Ruin Your Own, Ruin Others

Hou Jinli had no idea how many times he had failed.

In the beginning, he was only preparing the SG-1 material in the laboratory and was interested in the expected waste generated in the experiment.

Compared to ordinary graphite materials, that piece of waste felt quite special in his hands.

These were the conclusions he made from the experiments. He discovered that the reason why this waste product felt so special was that it had a layer of porous mesh aerogel barrier on its surface.

Honestly speaking, this result disappointed him. After all, porous mesh aerogels made from graphene wasn't a particularly new research method. One could even make the case that similar methods were used in electrode materials.

However, this was the first research project he independently applied for in his life. This was also the first research project he worked on after coming to this research institute, so he didn't want to give up so easily.

Therefore, after he found out that the porous aerogel itself had no special characteristics, he continued to perform in-depth research on using it as a dispersing medium and looking at its dispersed phase.

This entire process was despairing.

It even made him doubt his entire life.

Fortunately, he didn't give up.

He used the porous mesh aerogel prepared from graphene as a toughening agent. He combined it with silicon carbide ceramics, and a miracle happened!

The porous mesh aerogel wasn't a particularly superior toughening agent compared to other materials, at least when one compared it to similar toughening materials.

However, its thermal properties made him so excited that he couldn't help but shout in the laboratory.

Hou Jinli immediately finished writing the experimental report and handed it to the institute's office.

The day after this experimental report was submitted, it arrived on Lu Zhou's desk…

…

Even though many interesting inventions were created by accidents, this particular accident was more unexpected than usual.

Lu Zhou looked at the experimental report. He was intrigued.

"Interesting."

The report was divided into two parts.

The first part was about the preparation of the porous mesh aerogel.

[Using graphene oxide as the base material, prepare 1-2mg/ml of graphene oxide solution, then add the reducing agent, stir for 5-10 minutes. After that, heat it at 90-160 Celsius for 30-45 minutes, take it out and immediately put it into the freezer for four hours. After that, take it out, then continuing to reduce and thaw at a high temperature for 5 hours. Finally, wash it several times and dry it… This was the method to create the porous mesh aerogel.]

The second part of the report was the crucial part of the entire experiment.

In the experiment, Hou Jinli and his research team used atomic layer deposition to chemically bond the porous mesh aerogel, which was prepared from graphene, to a silicon carbide ceramic layer. Thus, allowing them to obtain a special graphene ceramic composite.

Looking at its microstructure, this material looked like the honeycomb-shaped graphene layer was connected to a ceramic layer in the middle. These honeycomb-shaped graphene molecules were tightly bonded to the silicon carbide molecules.

According to the experiment results from the high-temperature test, in an oxygen-less environment, this special graphene-ceramic composite was able to withstand a temperature of 3,200 degrees!

Not only did it have excellent heat-resistant properties, but the material also had a small expansion coefficient. It also had remarkable anisotropy and thermal conductivity properties.

Which meant that the heat energy could be easily transmitted through its cross-section, and it wasn't easily transmitted through its vertical direction.

Other than this, it also had a high tensile and compressive strength, not to mention resistance to thermal stress.

Looking at these data, this material could be considered superb.

Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou's intrigued face and asked, "Is this the material you need?"

"Hard to say." Lu Zhou put down the experimental report and leaned back in his office chair before saying, "But this report did provide me with a new idea."

Yang Xu: "Idea?"

"That's right." Lu Zhou nodded and contemplated for a bit. He said, "At first, I thought that ceramic materials are not suitable for the first wall, due to its poor heat dissipation properties. But looking at it from another point of view, the smaller the perpendicular heat transfer performance is, the better."

Yang Xu: "What makes you think that?"

"Because of the liquid lithium neutron recovery system." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Due to the thermal conductivity of the carbon fiber composites, we have to consider adding another thermal insulation layer between the carbon fiber composite and the liquid lithium. Otherwise, the 3000-degree temperatures would vaporize the liquid lithium layer we used for neutron recovery."

The difference in temperature of the first wall and liquid lithium layer was one of the main difficulties in the reactor.

The thermal conductivity couldn't be too weak, nor could it be too strong. Looking at it from this point of view, carbon fiber fell quite behind.

In contrast, the anisotropy and thermal performance of this new material were quite promising. Weakening the thermal energy transfer of the vertical cross-section could provide a sufficient buffer time for the external cooling unit to come into effect.

As for the heat dissipation of the structural material, that could be solved by "inserting a heat transfer tube into the structure and discharge the heat transferred from the cross-section direction".

Even though Yang Xu didn't understand much about the fusion project, Lu Zhou's explanation was simple enough for Yang Xu to understand.

However, even though the thermal problem was solved, there was also another important issue…

"What about the neutron radiation? That's the most important part, right?"

Lu Zhou heard him and sighed. "You're right, that's the important part. Even though this material is suitable in all other aspects, its neutron radiation resistant property… We have to test it before we know."

Both the silicon carbide and graphene material had stable nuclei. The carbon-silicon covalent bond was far more stable than the metal bond. Also, the permeability of neutrons through these two materials against the neutron beam was also an advantage.

At least, this was how it was… theoretically.

In reality, not only would the damage caused by neutron radiation to the material cause changes in the atoms' nuclei, but it would also destroy the internal chemical bonds, as well as causing basic physical damage to the material.

All of these factors couldn't be calculated with theory alone, they had to draw conclusions from experiments.

The only trouble was that…

They couldn't test this thing.

Yang Xu had a painful smile on his face as he said euphemistically, "This experiment isn't easy to do."

Anti-neutron radiation performance testing was one of the most difficult materials tests in the field of materials science.

Normal anti-radiation experiments were relatively easy to do, the nuclei could be irradiated by hitting them with alpha particles.

The reason why researching the first wall material for a controllable fusion reactor was difficult was because there wasn't any equipment in the world that could handle the radiation test.

There were 14MeV neutrons constantly hitting the sample, what kind of experiment equipment could handle this?

Normal alpha particles were nowhere close to having this much energy.

Even the nuclear fission power generator at Daya Bay had an anti-radiation grade two magnitudes below that of the fusion reactor's!

As for the accelerator…

That would be nonsense. No one had ever heard of accelerating neutrons directly. If anyone could do it, they would be the king of the theoretical physics world.

As for indirectly accelerating using the deuterium nucleus method, it was indeed possible. However, it would be better to just obtain the energy from shooting alpha particles into the metal foil. The only advantage of the former was that the neutron beam had a more stable path.

Lu Zhou thought about all this and felt like he was trapped. His fingers gently tapped on his desk, and he began to wonder.

Should I make the STAR machine "suffer" again?

In theory, it's possible.

But this limits the rate of experiments to once a month, is the price to pay too high?

After all, there's only one stellarator in China.

The China National Nuclear Corporation is studying how to build one of its own. If our own equipment is ruined, then it would be over.

However, a light bulb suddenly turned on in Lu Zhou's mind, and he clapped his forehead.

F*ck sake!

I only thought about ruining my stellarator, I forgot about the tokamak!

Even though their confinement time isn't long, at least it works!

There's only one stellarator in China, but there are plenty of tokamaks…

Chapter 531: Lying Down

"Achoo!"

Luo Zhanyuan: "What happened?"

"Nothing…"

This air conditioning is too cold, it's making me sneeze…

Zhou Chengfu blew his nose and contemplated in his heart.

Right now, he was on a return flight. He didn't know that he was being thought of by someone.

A dozen or so hours ago, he and Director Luo, who was sitting across from him, as well as several other experts from the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center and other representatives appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participated in an informal ITER meeting in France.

The outcome of the meeting wasn't positive.

However, rather than worrying about the US representative's attitude toward them, he was more worried about the situation in China.

"Director Luo."

"Yeah?"

Zhou Chengfu was trying to test out the waters. "In your opinion, what do the higher-ups want?"

Luo Zhanyuan highly respected this academician-level expert on controllable nuclear fusion. When he heard the question, he replied. "The higher-ups basically have no hope for the ITER project anymore. Judging by the United States and European's sincerity toward us, even if we do disclose our technology, we might still be kicked out. Before coming here, the top leaders in the department set up a meeting for us. They asked us to drag this out for as long as possible and to not disclose any technical secrets. Unless they were willing to do a technology exchange with us, the deal is off the table."

Zhou Chengfu heard this and silently sighed in his heart.

As expected, his worst nightmares came true.

His efforts over a decade were about to be ruined. He already knew the higher-ups' decision, and he knew that an expert like him had no say in this matter. However, he still couldn't help but complain.

"Then we're just going to withdraw from ITER? We spent so much just to join…"

Luo Zhanyuan shook his head and said, "What else are we going to do? If we don't stop the damages now, the damages will just increase over time."

Director Luo paused for a second.

"Also, even though I shouldn't say this, but withdrawing from ITER isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least we can take the money we give to the Europeans, and invest it into our own fusion energy projects instead.

"Also, Professor Lu promised that we could complete the demonstration reactor by 2025… If he succeeds, we don't have to be so passive anymore, we can take the initiative."

Lu Zhou again…

When Zhou Chengfu heard this name, his eyebrows subconsciously twitched.

What if that kid is bragging…

Even though Zhou Chengfu really wanted to say this out loud, he decided not to; it was buried in his heart.

After all, even though he didn't want to lose to Lu Zhou, he wasn't an idiot…

…

According to Murphy's law, "anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

Even though the Chinese representatives tried to drag this out for as long as possible, they still had to face reality.

The last day in August.

The first "victim" appeared.

Before the United States convinced its allies, it planned on putting a little pressure on China first.

Because the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory had too high of a profile, they often appeared in the news headlines. The institute, which had nothing to do with the STAR research institute, was wrongfully killed.

Xiao Le dragged a dusty suitcase. He stood in front of his house feeling perplexed.

Three days ago, he was a visiting scholar at the General Atomics DIII-D laboratory. He planned on returning to China at the end of the year.

However, he didn't expect that he would be sent back to China because of a document personally signed by POTUS.

Professor Li was leading the team, and he gave the team a week of holiday and told them to wait in their homes for an update. The person in charge of General Atomics said that they would escalate this matter with the Department of Energy. After all, General Atomics didn't want to lose these talented scholars, but it was most likely that nothing would come of it…

In short, they would take a short break and wait a bit before reporting to Lu Yang.

The doorbell rang and the front door opened.

When Xiao Zhiping saw his son standing at the front door, he paused for a second.

"Aren't you coming back at the end of the year? Why are you back now?"

"What? Our son is back?" The voice of his mother, Wang Li, traveled through the living room. When she saw her son, she walked over happily. She took the suitcase from her son's hand and said, "Come inside and rest. Jesus Christ, you came all the way back and you didn't even call us. I'll tell your dad to buy pork later, I'll braise it for you."

Xiao Le forced a smile and said, "Everything happened a bit urgently. Our communication equipment was taken away, they only gave it back to us when we got on the plane."

After he got off the flight, he didn't bother calling beforehand.

Xiao Zhiping paused for a second and frowned. "Taken away? What happened?"

"Maybe… it's related to the recent trade wars, I don't know the specific situation." Xiao Le shook his head and sat on the sofa. He picked up a cup and took a sip of water before saying, "The day before yesterday, we were planning on going to a plasma physics seminar. The professor in charge of our exchange team suddenly told us that the seminar was canceled. After that, when we got back to the hotel, some people that claimed they were from the FBI confiscated our communication equipment and searched our rooms…"

Wang Li was astonished, and she asked, "You guys didn't get robbed, did you?"

Xiao Le shook his head and said, "Nope… They had a local court search order, so it's probably not fake."

Actually, it didn't matter if it was fake or not.

After Xiao Le got back his phone, he found out that the photos he took of the General Atomics' company building were all deleted. However, he posted those photos in his friends' news feed, so the loss wasn't huge.

Wang Li: "Th-this is too scary… How about you don't go on any academic exchanges anymore?"

Xiao Le shook his head and said, "What exchange, my visas have all been canceled!"

Because of this incident, their names were probably all blacklisted. Not only academic exchanges, but he would probably have problems just traveling for vacation.

Honestly speaking, he was muddled. He had no idea what these Americans were up to.

From his point of view, controllable nuclear fusion was still in the far future. It might take another fifty years to realize. Suddenly, the nuclear fusion field became similar to the nuclear fission field; it was considered a sensitive technology.

He maliciously speculated and suspected that this president wanted to show his power against China.

After all, it was nearly 2020, close to the elections again.

After Xiao Zhiping heard his son's sufferings, he was outraged, and he spoke with anger, "Ah, who cares about America. Who cares! Without them, is the earth going to stop spinning? Did we not create atomic bombs and satellites without them?"

Xiao Le shook his head and said, "Okay, fine fine, you won't understand if I explained it to you."

Many people didn't realize, and obviously, the media wouldn't report on this, but the EAST device on the Science Island wasn't designed by a Chinese research institute. They actually heavily referenced the DIII-D tokamak device from General Atomics.

After all, there was a difference between scientific research and agriculture. It wasn't like if someone gave you the seeds, you could grow the plants yourself.

If it were a fully developed technology, then this problem wouldn't exist. But the large scale nuclear fusion technology research was far from being developed. The follow-up research and what to plan on doing next was far more crucial than the existing technology.

But now, their cooperation with General Atomics had been suspended.

Of course, they could still use their EAST device, but as for what they should research next…

They could only rely on themselves.

Of course, Xiao Le wasn't totally hopeless.

Learning was part of scientific research. It was important to know one's weaknesses, but one shouldn't be overly humble either. In fact, they had made significant innovations on the EAST machine. For example, the superconducting D-section technology was developed by the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory.

It was just that, compared to being in a win-win situation, they had to fight alone from now on.

This made him feel somewhat unsafe about China's future controllable fusion field…

Xiao Zhiping: "I don't understand those stuff, but you guys are the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory, surely you are the leaders in the domestic controllable fusion field? Do your best, make your father proud. Make those Americans beg for us to go back!"

Xiao Le heard his father's encouraging words and shook his head as he continued to eat.

Sounds easy, but it's not easy to do.

Not to mention, we're not the leaders in fusion energy anymore.

The ITER is planning on going toward the stellarator direction, and the United States and Europeans don't want to play with us anymore. I have no idea if the CFTER is going to survive.

I think China is planning on pursuing the stellarator as well.

I think it's called STAR-2?

After all, the light coming from the Purple Mountain blinded the entire world…

Chapter 532: Going to Slightly Offend You Guys

After Zhou Chengfu's flight landed, he headed toward the Southwestern Institute of Physics. He didn't expect to see a particular person there.

And this person was his least favorite…

"… Our stellarator is still being overhauled. We have to borrow your HL-2A machine. I've applied to the higher-ups regarding this matter, and the Energy Bureau has approved our request. Director Lu said you guys will fully cooperate with our experiment, so I immediately came over. As for the written documents, they'll probably arrive tomorrow at the latest," Lu Zhou said while sitting in Zhou Chengfu's office. He fiddled with the tea set on the coffee table and said, "This teapot is pretty, where did you buy it?"

Zhou Chengfu stared at Lu Zhou with a blank face and said, "Aren't you researching the stellarator, why are you here?"

Lu Zhou: "Fast ignition."

Zhou Chengfu was stunned when he heard this.

"No way! Igniting the experimental reactor, are you insane?"

Lu Zhou didn't care about Zhou Chengfu's comments. He only smiled and continued, "I've read the relevant papers. The HL-2A can achieve the ignition conditions. I need to test the performance of a new type of material by simulating the internal neutron radiation environment, so I'm asking you guys for help.

"Don't worry about the money. The tritium resources consumed by the experiment will be provided by us. You only have to cooperate with our experiment."

After hearing Lu Zhou's request, Zhou Chengfu nearly vomited in his face.

What do you mean you're going to provide us with the money?

Do you think you can just buy us with money?

Not to mention, money was a trigger for Zhou Chengfu.

Especially when he heard that Director Lu said they would "fully cooperate", this made him furious. He was the one that decided to research fusion energy first, but now he was being treated as a b*tch.

"If you really f*cking want to do neutron radiation experiments, why don't you go to Daya Bay?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Both Dongguan and Daya Bay can't reach our neutron requirements."

Right now the newest international controllable fusion research plan was to build a neutron source device based on the D-Li interaction, to simulate a neutron radiation environment, which was present inside the fusion reactor. However, up until now, this device had remained in a concept stage. Only the Americans were doing research on this thing, and they were probably the only ones that knew their research progress.

"What about Science Island?" Zhou Chengfu was frustrated; he didn't want to give up. He quickly said, "The EAST machine in Science Island can do it, why don't you…"

"I need to use yours."

One sentence from Lu Zhou blocked Zhou Chengfu's entire argument.

Lu Zhou put down the teapot in his hand and stood up from the sofa.

Zhou Chengfu looked so uncomfortable; it was like he just ate a bug. Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed manner.

"Anyway, I've probably already offended you in the past, so I'll just offend you one more time today."

Zhou Chengfu's face looked gloomy as he said quietly, "You have to think clearly. If our HL-2A is destroyed by you guys, and you're not able to create the demonstration reactor…"

Lu Zhou's facial expression didn't change as he replied, "You don't have to worry about that, that's my responsibility."

Zhou Chengfu snorted.

He stood up from his office chair and walked out of his office without saying anything.

Lu Zhou looked at this old man leaving and stopped smiling.

Maybe there was a more euphemistic approach he could have taken, but he was in a hurry.

Therefore, he could only apologize.

…

Including the University of Science and Technology of China's inertial confinement fusion machine, there were 16 controllable nuclear fusion experiment machines in China.

However, there were only a few machines that could reach hundreds of millions of degrees in their reaction chamber, which was the temperature at which deuterium-tritium fusion occurred.

HL-2A was one of them, which was obviously the accumulation of countless researchers' blood, sweat, and tears.

Zhou Chengfu looked at the equipment maintenance technician, who was on the verge of tears. Without asking, Zhou Chengfu knew that his machine was ruined.

He looked at Lu Zhou angrily; his blood was boiling.

He couldn't help but want to melt this kid by throwing him into the tokamak machine. However, the experiment was over. At the very least, he knew this wasn't done for nothing.

Zhou Chengfu stared deadly at Lu Zhou.

"What's the result?!"

Lu Zhou ignored the resentment in his tone and stared at the scanning electron microscope images, and finally, he sighed.

"It doesn't look good."

This time he brought around 20 samples; all of them were mounted to the first wall of the tokamak.

These images were obtained after the experimental reactor shut down and cooled. Workers in chemical protective suits entered the reaction chamber and collected these materials for special laboratory testing.

Looking at these data alone, the performance of these materials in the reactor chamber didn't look good.

However, Lu Zhou never expected the first experiment to be successful since every research experiment was done by trial and error.

Blood nearly came out of Zhou Chengfu's nose.

What do you mean it's not looking good?

Are you going to do another experiment later on?

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and stared carefully at the images. He said, "The neutron radiation from the fusion reactor environment is too strong. Even though the silicon carbide and porous aerogel material have good neutron-transmission properties, the neutron beam still penetrated the material, which formed several Frenkel defects inside the material."

Zhou Chengfu: "What the hell is that?"

Surprised, Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at him.

"Frenkel defect? The defect forms when an atom or smaller ion leaves its place in the lattice, creating a vacancy, and becomes an interstitial by lodging in a nearby location… It's a very basic crystallography concept."

Zhou Chengfu's face was as red as a tomato. He nearly wanted to curse at Lu Zhuo.

However, he suddenly realized that this kid was a Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner. Anything he could say would embarrass himself even further, so he decided to shut his mouth and whispered quietly, "I'm in nuclear physics and plasma physics, not materials…"

After all, there weren't a lot of people that were a master of everything.

Zhou Chengfu was the manager of the entire project, so he might know a bit more about various different fields. However, his understanding obviously wasn't in-depth enough.

Not to mention, the HL-2A reactor didn't use this type of material. He had only ever heard about ceramic-based composite materials used on reactors.

"Like this thing here and there." Lu Zhou didn't care if Zhou Chengfu understood or not. He pointed at the images and said, "Can you see these white dots? Looking at it with the infrared detection data, one can deduce that the vacancies are left by the displacement of hydrogen atoms. This indicates that this material doesn't have good anti-neutron properties; the neutrons are trapped inside the material."

Zhou Chengfu understood this part, and he asked, "So what's the use of this stuff?"

"That would depend on who is using it."

Lu Zhou stored the data on a mobile hard drive. Without looking at Zhou Chengfu, he said relaxingly, "Don't forget, I was the one that invented the computational materials field."

Chapter 533: Returning to the Old Field

Lu Zhou didn't stay at Southwestern Institute of Physics for long. After he received the data he needed, he flew back the next day. He and some of the researchers from the Jinling research institute went back to Jinling.

After Lu Zhou and his team left, almost everyone in the Southwestern Institute of Physics was relieved.

This kid was like a gang member, leaving the whole place in disarray. After their experiment was finished, they collected the data and left, leaving someone else to clean up the disarray.

A lot of people were discussing whether this kid came here for revenge. After all, no one knew if the experiment itself was needed or not; it wasn't like this kid gave away any secrets. Not only did Lu Zhou take away the samples, but he didn't even give them a copy of the data.

Regardless, after this incident, Zhou Chengfu's status in the institute was completely wiped out…

Jiang Liang stood in Zhou Chengfu's office. He looked relieved.

"That devil is finally gone."

Zhou Chengfu sat frozen in his chair, and he asked slowly, "How is the HL-2A doing?"

When Jiang Liang heard this question, the expression of relief on his face gradually turned into a pained expression.

"The radiation damage report isn't out yet… But according to the engineers, the situation doesn't look good."

Zhou Chengfu: "What did they say?"

"There are different degrees of swelling inside the structural material. As for the first wall… it was basically ruined!" Jiang Liang said with a dull face.

The experimental reactor was never intended to be used for fusion ignition; it was only ever meant to simulate the high density and temperature environment of plasma.

Therefore, the anti-radiation resistance level for the reactor materials was basically equivalent or even less than the fission reactor's materials.

Therefore, it was inevitable that the HL-2A would end up in a horrible condition.

Even though Zhou Chengfu was mentally prepared for this, he still couldn't help but clench his teeth.

He took a deep breath and held back the pain in his heart.

"Is it repairable?"

Jiang Liang reluctantly nodded and said, "I've asked the engineers in the institute. It should be repairable. However, we won't be able to use it… in the short term."

After all, there were too many components that had to be changed.

Zhou Chengfu went silent for a while and spoke.

"After the radiation damage test is done, make sure to keep all of the information."

Jiang Liang paused for a second. Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he said, "You plan on…"

Anger was running through Zhou Chengfu's veins as he clenched his fists and said, "We cannot give up."

If Lu Zhou succeeds, then whatever.

But if that little brat doesn't…

I swear, I will take this radiation damage evidence to Beijing, and he will pay for the damages!

…

For most people, this data might not be useful. However, for Lu Zhou, it was priceless.

Mathematics was a powerful scientific research tool; it was also Lu Zhou's most powerful weapon.

Even though the inferences made from the data couldn't directly give him the result he wanted, it could be used as a reference, to prevent him from making a lot of mistakes.

"I haven't been this overwhelmed in a while."

Lu Zhou sat in his study room looking at the data and graphs on his computer screen. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

As expected, compared to commanding other people to conduct experiments, it was much more fulfilling to be on the front line of scientific research and personally solve these difficult problems.

After he stretched his back, he picked up a pen and wrote on a brand new piece of paper.

[Radiation damage energy: Tdam = Td(1+kg(ε))^-1]

[k = ξ0.0793(A1+A2)^3/2.Z1.Z2/(Z1^2/3+Z2^2/3)A1^2/3,ξ≈Z1^1/6]

[ε=…]

It was worth mentioning that due to the expensive cost of neutron radiation experiments, more than a decade ago, when the nuclear physics community was researching neutron beam radiation, they developed a set of calculation methods for parameters such as DPA. These could be simulated using software such as McDeLicious and NJOY.

Because it was a phenomenological model built from empirical formulas, there were many relevant calculation methods. The one Lu Zhou decided to refer to was the more reliable Linhard Robinson model.

After selecting an expected DPA interval and the maximum value for the helium generation rate, using the theory from the model, he used the constants from the ceramic-based graphene composite as variables, which he then integrated into his own computational materials theory. This allowed him to simulate the DPA and helium generation rate.

Even though this all sounded easy…

But in reality, this process was far more difficult than using the Lindhard Robinson model to simulate the rate of DPA and helium production of a material under normal neutron radiation conditions.

Moreover, the results obtained by the simulation were not necessarily reliable.

This situation was common in the field of computational materials. Even though it was plausible from a mathematical perspective, it was impossible from a practical perspective.

Especially when strictly positive parameters such as mass became negative…

The days quickly passed by. Lu Zhou gradually went into the state of grinding. Over the past few days, he had been locking himself in his room.

Principal Xu called him a while back, asking him if he had time to speak at the university's opening ceremony. Lu Zhou really didn't have any spare time, so he rejected the invitation.

Principal Xu understood why Lu Zhou had to reject the invitation.

In any case, a national level major scientific research project was the highest priority.

However, the principal still tried to convince Lu Zhou over the phone. He said that Lu Zhou shouldn't overwork himself and that Lu Zhou should take time to go outside. After all, one's health was the most important, ruining one's body would be detrimental.

However, no matter how hard Principal Xu tried, Lu Zhou still insisted on doing his own thing.

There was no way he would leave the house before the research results were out.

Fortunately, even though he stopped researching mathematics ever since a year ago, his skills had not decreased.

After two weeks of locking himself in his room, in the middle of September, Lu Zhou finally finished the final step.

He sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair as he looked at the calculations on the screen and gradually smirked.

He finished the entire framework of the model.

What was left now was to give it some input.

Which meant it was time to do some calculations.

"Xiao Ai, let me give you a mission."

The instant he spoke, a small text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of his screen.

[Ok! Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)ゞ]

Even though the number of calculations required was enormous, with the help of supercomputers, it wasn't difficult for Xiao Ai to complete this tedious and mundane task.

After Lu Zhou gave Xiao Ai the specific mission details, he stood up from his seat.

He stretched his sore arms and shoulders and stepped over the draft papers scattered on the ground. He went over to the kitchen and made himself a cup of instant coffee.

While he was waiting for the kettle to boil, he took out his phone and checked his texts, calls, and emails. He typed out some simple replies to everyone that tried to contact him.

After he finished replying, Lu Zhou grabbed his coffee and went back to his study room.

When he sat down in front of his desk, the calculation results were already presented to him.

Lu Zhou ran the simulation results in its entirety and smirked.

The results were almost perfect.

Other than some obviously impossible data, he had at least five sets of feasible data.

Each set of feasible data corresponded to a theoretically possible technical pathway.

"All we have to do now is to verify the feasibility through experiments!"displacement-per-atom

Chapter 534: Happiness Came Too Suddenly

Institute of Computational Materials.

Hou Jinli stood in front of the laboratory entrance and took a deep breath. He nervously opened the door and walked into the laboratory.

Ten minutes ago, he was still sorting out samples in the laboratory. However, someone suddenly told him that Lu Zhou wanted to see him.

After he heard this news, without any hesitation, he put down the work he was doing and rushed over here.

When he saw Lu Zhou standing in the laboratory with a white lab coat, he asked nervously, "Sir, did you ask for me?"

Lu Zhou nodded and answered concisely, "Yeah, I did."

Hou Jinli became even more nervous after hearing Lu Zhou's reply.

Professor Lu, who hadn't been to the laboratory for several days suddenly appeared again. Not to mention, the first thing he did after returning to the lab was to ask for Hou Jinli.

What could Professor Lu want me to do?

Maybe there's a problem with my research project?

Impossible…

He clearly remembered that he repeated the experiment several times, and he also double-checked the experiment report.

Also, surely Professor Lu wouldn't ask for me over such a small matter.

It wasn't his fault he was nervous. Normal people would never think that a Nobel Prize laureate would be interested in their research. After all, Hou Jinli was a noob researcher for so many years.

While Hou Jinli's mind was racing, Lu Zhou was carefully observing him.

Lu Zhou noticed his nervous expression and guessed what he was thinking, so he smiled and said, "Relax, don't feel any pressure. I'm probably younger than you in age. Also, I don't have any bad news for you."

When Hou Jinli heard this, his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "I've read your research report."

When Hou Jinli heard this, he immediately stood up straight and waited for the Nobel Prize big name to critique his research.

"The thing you discovered is very interesting. It not only has good resistance to high temperature, but it is also much better at resisting neutron radiation than normal alloy materials."

Excited, Hou Jinli gasped, "Really?"

His experiment was mainly concerned with high-temperature resistance; he obviously didn't have the means to conduct a neutron radiation experiment, so he didn't even think of doing one.

Now he found out that not only did his research material have excellent temperature resistant properties, but it also had excellent anti-neutron radiation properties, so he was immediately shocked by this great news.

Lu Zhou nodded.

"There are some flaws, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

"Also, that's the end of the good news. The news I am about to say might not be beneficial to you.

"After I discussed with some of the experts at the China National Nuclear Corporation, we believed that this material has future prospect applications on fusion reactors. Therefore, we will approve your conclusion report, but you might not be able to publish the research thesis."

Hou Jinli sighed in his heart.

Actually, when he heard that his material had neutron radiation-resistant properties, he already guessed what Lu Zhou was about to say.

The research that was done in the research institute all belonged to the research institute. This was written on the contract and was standard practice, so there was nothing debatable about that. What belonged to the researcher was often the thesis itself or maybe a bonus.

Due to the issue of patents, other research projects, and the overall interests of the research institute, researchers couldn't immediately publish the thesis upon completion. They had to first make a report about the situation. After that, the person in charge would decide on the thesis publication.

In most cases, unless someone was screwing with you, this process would all go smoothly. After all, theses were the life of a scholar; their job titles depended on their thesis publications.

However, there were also some special circumstances where the thesis would be banned from publication.

For example, when a major scientific research project was underway and the research results in a thesis could help the research project. Basically, the research result could be considered an in-progress result.

In order to prevent from helping competitors, theses like these were often banned, or at least, it would be delayed from publication.

Normally, if this happened, the research institute would often compensate the thesis author.

Normally, this compensation was in the form of research funding or more bonuses. Some nutty bosses would even compensate by letting the author co-sign a high-impact-factor thesis; these were all possibilities.

Of course, there were also some unjust bosses, especially arrogant ones on the leadership team.

In their opinion, letting researchers conduct experiments was a privilege. They often stole the thesis first author spot and wouldn't give any compensation when a thesis was banned from publication. If the researchers tried to defend themselves, the bosses could even prevent them from publishing on the academic conference posters.

These were all possibilities.

Obviously, Lu Zhou wasn't that kind of boss. Hou Jinli also didn't think that a big name like him would bother stealing a first author spot from his little thesis.

Therefore, he thought for a bit before replying, "That's fine, I am willing to comply!"

Lu Zhou looked at Hou Jinli and nodded. "I hope you understand. I'm sorry your thesis turned out this way, but I will try to compensate you for your loss. Both in terms of monetary value and honor value, and I will make sure that you're satisfied with it."

When Hou Jinli heard this, he looked at Lu Zhou with gratitude.

He didn't even ask what the exact compensation was.

He believed that since Lu Zhou made a promise, Lu Zhou wouldn't let him down.

Otherwise, there was no need to make the promise in the first place.

Lu Zhou didn't plan on talking about the exact compensation, he'd think about that later. He didn't come here just to talk with Hou Jinli. Otherwise, he wouldn't have worn the anti-static white lab coat.

Since Hou Jinli understood the circumstances of his thesis, Lu Zhou ended this conversation topic and started a new one.

"The reason I asked for you to come today was mainly to ask about that ceramic-based graphene composite of yours."

When Hou Jinli heard Lu Zhou ask about his project, he immediately put on a serious expression.

"Please ask."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "With regards to the toughening agent for the ceramic-based graphene composite material, which is the porous graphene aerogel, is there a way to change its pore diameter?"

Hou Jinli thought for a bit and answered, "Theoretically, it is possible. When I tried to synthesize the material, I received samples with different pore diameters… However, this is still in theory, we'll have to try to find out."

"Then please try to figure it out." Lu Zhou picked up a document from the table and handed it to Hou Jinli as he said, "I have some simulation data here. If you can, I hope you can produce the materials that match these data."

When Hou Jinli looked at the document, his facial expression subtly changed subtly.

What shocked him wasn't the content of the data. After all, he couldn't understand the calculations.

What really shocked him was…

Hou Jinli gulped.

Does this mean…

I'm doing an experiment with a Nobel Prize winner?

This happiness came too sudden, and he wasn't prepared for this at all.

Seeing that Hou Jinli went silent for a while, Lu Zhou asked, "Is there a problem?"

"No problem, no problem." Hou Jinli immediately nodded. When he thought about something, he asked, "Oh yeah, it might be slow if I do it by myself. Can I get an assistant? One is enough."

"One isn't enough, you'll need at least ten. Start the experiments on all five samples now. This task is important. I need to see results in a week."

Lu Zhou handed him a name list and said, "The names of all of the researchers working in this institute are on this list. They all come from good backgrounds. Find the ones you like and circle their names."

Chapter 535: Not Enough Time, Get More Manpower

After doing scientific research for this long, this was the first time Hou Jinli experienced what it was like being a boss.

Even though he was only a small boss, who was controlled by a big boss, his big boss was still a Nobel Prize winner. Thinking about it this way, even being a small boss was an honor.

Even though Hou Jinli was excited, he was still attentive to his work.

Using the name list Lu Zhou gave him, he searched the names one by one on professional databases. He found their numbers of citations, numbers of SCI, and their academic backgrounds.

The ceramic graphene composite material had been given the highest priority, so he had to look at who had the highest amount of quality publications.

He obviously wouldn't forget Yu Junda, who worked on this project with him in the beginning.

He considered the fact that not everyone had the time to participate in this research project. In the end, he selected around 20 names and handed them to Lu Zhou's office.

At first, he was worried that he might have chosen too many people, but when Professor Lu glanced at the name list, he approved it in a blink of an eye.

"These people will report at your laboratory tomorrow. You know my requirements. Is there anything else you need?"

Hou Jinli quickly shook his head.

"Nope, that is all."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you."

…

The workers of the Institute of Computational Materials were very efficient.

Or rather, it was because of Professor Lu's prestigious reputation in the institute.

Even though Lu Zhou said that the team members would arrive tomorrow morning, they all arrived at night time.

The most unexpected thing for Hou Jinli was that the 20 people he selected were all here.

Before this, he thought that it would be nice if half of them came.

In order to speed up the progress, he immediately went to the relevant department and applied for a conference room. He put on his PowerPoint presentation, which he made during the afternoon. He then called the researchers over and had a simple meeting.

"I'm sure you've seen the experimental process on the report already. However, I'll still use the powerpoint to explain it simply again. According to my research, the key to changing the pore diameter of the porous mesh aerogel network is on temperature and the addition of a reducing agent…

"Also the most important thing is the freeze-drying part. This part of the process is the key to not destroying this three-dimensional network during the process of obtaining the graphene aerogel. This part of the process is also relatively error-prone…

"I hope all of you pay attention to these parts during the experiment."

Hou Jinli wasn't normally a leader, so he obviously didn't know how to delegate very efficiently. He explained the important parts of the experiment in simple terms.

"This mission is very difficult, and Professor Lu wants us to finish five samples in one week. I hope everyone here can work hard!"

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the conference room.

"One week…" One of the researchers, who was wearing glasses, looked troubled as he said, "This time frame is too short, I'm afraid it's not enough."

Reading all of the relevant literature should take two days at least, right?

Understanding all of the experimental steps on the report should take a day at least?

Plus composite materials have a high fail rate, one week is probably impossible.

It would be possible if it were two weeks.

Even though Hou Jinli knew clearly that this mission wasn't that easy, he still insisted.

"The samples from us are going to be sent to Daya Bay for testing. According to the schedule, if we don't send the samples by the beginning of next month, we'll have to wait for an entire month.

"If we waste one day here, the STAR-2 project will be delayed by one day.

"I know this isn't easy, but we only have one week. The problem isn't whether or not it is possible. We have to do it!"

When the researchers in the conference room heard this daunting request, they all looked at each other with concerned looks in their eyes.

The researcher earlier still wanted to say something, but looking at how desperate Hou Jinli was, he scratched his head and sighed.

Honestly, this was the least intimidating boss he had ever had.

But since this was Professor Lu's request…

"Whatever, it's not like I haven't slept in the laboratory overnight before."

The researchers all looked at each other and nodded.

Even though everyone was kind of confused as to why they were transferred here, especially when the person in charge wasn't anyone special, but because of Professor Lu's presence, they were prepared to work their hardest.

Not to mention that this was also for the future of China's controllable fusion field.

Hou Jinli sighed in relief and looked grateful.

"Thank you!"

…

The experiment began on the same day.

The twenty researchers were divided into five teams, with four people in each team, and within each team, each member would be responsible for a sample.

Three groups were led by Hou Jinli, while the other two were led by Yu Junda.

Even though scientific research wasn't building a wall, one couldn't produce research results by using manpower alone, but when there was sufficient research funding and a clear solution to solve the research problem, having enough manpower was still an advantage.

The first two problems were already solved by Lu Zhou. Therefore, Hou Jinli didn't face too much pressure.

The success rate was less than 20%?

Then they'd just do the experiment five or six times.

At most, they would have to sleep in the laboratory for a couple of nights.

For them, grinding all night was the norm.

It was late into the night when Yu Junda took the samples for XRD testing. He returned to the laboratory and saw Hou Jinli about to experiment on the next set of samples. Yu Junda quietly asked, "Speaking of which, does this mean we are participating in a secret national project?"

Hou Jinli thought for a bit and said, "Yes and no."

Yu Junda: "What the hell does yes and no mean?"

Hou Jinli: "The controllable fusion technology is not at a mature stage yet. We would have to wait until the demonstration reactor is built before the detailed documents are released. But I think that since the United States has been trying to kick us out of ITER, our country is starting to take this seriously… I guess this counts as a confidential project?"

Any inventions or technologies that involved national security would require confidentiality. These research results would probably be filed in the form of confidential patents.

Normally, non-military enterprises could not qualify for confidential patents. But because the STAR-2 was a national key scientific research project, if they explained the importance of the technology, the patent office should give them an exception.

But then again, the only use for this material was probably the reactor.

The only other possible application was probably in medical equipment. However, because of the inferior toughness properties of the ceramic-based graphene composite compared to alloy materials, it was unlikely to be used in small-sized equipment.

Of course, these weren't things the researchers had to worry about.

"Controllable nuclear fusion." Yu Junda sighed and said, "Honestly, I never thought that I would one day participate in a national level scientific research project."

"I didn't expect this either."

The newly-baked sample was stuffed into the freezer. Hou Jinli set a four-hour timer and rubbed his tired eyebags as he said, "However, whether it is a national research project or an insignificant research project, all we have to care about is whether we are doing a good job."

Chapter 536: Good News From Daya Bay

Lu Zhou was prepared for Hou Jinli to not be able to complete this mission. However, Hou Jinli lived up to his expectations.

Five sets of samples, four samples in each set.

Due to the difficulties of preparing for the ceramic-based graphene composite, completing this mission within a week really wasn't easy.

In short, these samples could be sent to Daya Bay for testing.

Before testing the high-energy neutron radiation resistance, Lu Zhou had to first diagnose the performance of these five samples in a relatively low energy neutron radiation environment.

He'd only consider testing it on the experimental reactor if the results were good.

After all, both the tokamak and the stellarator were billion-dollar machines; they didn't come for free. Lu Zhou didn't know how long this project would take, so he had to conserve resources.

Unless it was necessary to collect experimental data, or it was a reliable attempt, it would be better to test it on a fission reactor first.

Hou Jinli looked at Lu Zhou, who was reading the report. He then took a deep breath and said, "In the experiment, we made some changes to the original experiment process and was able to find a more concise and easy synthesis method!"

When Lu Zhou heard this unexpected news, he raised his eyebrows with interest and said, "Oh, really? Write a report and hand it to me in two days."

Hou Jinli immediately nodded and said, "Okay!"

After Lu Zhou finished reading the XRD inspection reports, he put down the documents.

As far as the test results, these sample properties were basically consistent with his calculations.

Next up was to wait for the results from Daya Bay.

"If there's nothing else for you to do, you should go home early. You look like you can barely walk."

"Okay…"

Hou Jinli looked at Lu Zhou gratefully and didn't decline his suggestion.

After all, he was nearly thirty years old. His body wasn't as good as when he was still doing his PhD.

After a week of constant grinding, his body couldn't handle it anymore…

…

Just like they planned, Lu Zhou sent these five samples to Daya Bay through some special logistics channels.

They patiently waited for a while.

The test results were soon sent over.

"The test results from Daya Bay are here."

Yang Xu placed a document on Lu Zhou's table and said with excitement, "The results are perfect!"

Even though the test result was obvious from Yang Xu's facial expression alone, Lu Zhou still reached for the document and immediately began reading.

The five groups of materials were tested for different DPA interval rates and in different energy zones. They were also tested in different radiation conditions such as the pressurized water-cooled reactor (PWR) and the boiling water reactor (BWR).

The control group was austenitic steel, which was normally used as a structural material inside the fusion machine.

Just like Yang Xu had said, the results were near perfect.

Even though there were many values that weren't consistent with his computational materials calculations, the errors were within acceptable ranges.

After all, the Linhard Robinson model he used wasn't a perfect phenomenological model. Rather, if the data were to fit perfectly, then it would mean something had gone wrong.

The five groups were compared to one another. As the neutron scattering rate increased, the fourth set of samples exhibited the best neutron permeability and repairability against the Frenkel defect.

Especially when it was in the PWR environment, the radiation temperature was 680K, and when the neutron scattering reached 4.2x1020/cm^2, the DPA production rate was less than 10% that of the control group's austenitic steel.

In the field of radioactive detection, the DPA index was used to indicate the number of outliers per atom.

Undoubtedly, they had succeeded!

At least, in a low-energy environment…

Compared to how excited Yang Xu was, Lu Zhou remained unusually calm.

After he read the entire document from the beginning to the end, he contemplated for a bit and said, "The radiation temperature is only 680K, obviously the neutron scattering is not enough. The energy of a single neutron is only at 1MeV, so don't be happy just yet. Our goal is to create a material for the structural material of the fusion reactor. This is only an in-progress result."

However, this in-progress research result was quite amazing.

At least in a low-energy environment, this ceramic-based graphene composite had already surpassed the common experimental reactor materials such as Al, Mg, and Zr.

Also, its anisotropy heat-transfer properties were unrivaled.

Judging from these excellent properties, even if this material wasn't used on the fusion reactor, it would still be highly applicable for fission reactors.

Yang Xu smiled and said, "You're too critical. Even though this is an in-progress result, this is quite a big achievement. I think there's nothing wrong with feeling happy about this."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe, but I prefer to wait until the dust settles, then taste the victory champagne."

Yang Xu: "So… Does this mean we still have to experiment with the fusion machine?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "From the looks of it, yeah."

The only thing that could simulate a fusion reactor environment was the fusion reactor itself.

Yang Xu: "Let's not talk about the fusion reactor first. What do you plan on calling this material? The fourth sample set produced the best results. It's not like you can keep calling it by its number."

When Lu Zhou heard that he had to name something again, he was suddenly overwhelmed.

"Don't ask me to come up with a name. Go consult Hou Jinli and his research team. You guys can name the thing."

"Surely we can't do that?" Yang Xu smiled and said, "Normally, important things like naming the research results are done by the manager of the project. If you really can't come up with an idea, we can put your name on it."

Lu Zhou suddenly choked on his saliva and said, "Don't use my name, I'll think about it."

He knew that he would produce a lot of research results in the future.

If he used his name for everything, he was afraid that he wouldn't even remember which invention was which.

Lu Zhou contemplated on this serious problem for a second. His eyes suddenly lit up.

"Just call it PGC-1."

Yang Xu: "…"

Seeing that Yang Xu was speechless, Lu Zhou paused for a second.

"What?"

Yang Xu coughed and said awkwardly, "Nothing, it's a good name. I just think… this name matches your style very well."

PGC was an abbreviation for porous graphene carbon material. Since this was the first generation of this type of material, there was a number "1" at the end. This was basically the least confusing but also the most unimaginative nomenclature.

Naming such an important research result like this felt a little careless.

Lu Zhou guessed what Yang Xu was thinking, so he smiled and said, "The material name doesn't matter, what matters is its capabilities."

Yang Xu: "Okay, whatever you say… Oh yeah, if you plan on testing it on an experimental reactor, then are you going to Southwest?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "The HL-2A has been pushed to its limit. Looking at the situation after the last experiment, they'll probably take until the end of the year to repair it. I won't trouble them this time."

Even though Lu Zhou didn't mind torturing Old Zhou a couple more times, he had to think about this logically.

Injecting nuclear fuel into an experimental reactor was no joke. Even though the experimental reactor had safety protocols, if the hundreds of millions of degrees plasma were to leak out, it would cause a very serious accident.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and began to joke, "Not to mention, this is a historic moment. It'll probably be in future textbooks.

"It would be a shame if we were to use someone else's equipment for this important experiment."

Chapter 537: Helms’ Countermeasures

It was getting closer and closer to the end of the month.

Finally, all of the contradictions were coming to an end.

Soon, the next ITER conference would be held in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. In this meeting, the United States would once again question the Chinese representatives on the STAR research institute and other intellectual property related issues.

If everything went well, this might be the last time the ITER Council talked about this issue.

Because there were various signs that showed the outcome of this conference would likely determine China's future participation in ITER.

The world knew that China would not compromise and cooperate.

There were even ITER employees that wanted to remain anonymous, who said this might be the trigger for the collapse of ITER.

Even though this sounded like an exaggeration…

But in fact, this could happen.

As everyone knew, ITER had seven major participating countries or continents, namely Europe, America, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, and India. In addition to ITER, almost every participating country had its own independent controllable nuclear fusion project.

There was a consensus among all of the countries to establish their own controllable fusion technological advantage.

Because of this competition, it wasn't difficult to predict that an international cooperation project such as ITER would collapse.

This could all be seen from the insufficient funding ITER had been receiving recently.

Obviously, no one believed that this giant ship with all of the countries on board could sail for long.

Not to mention the captain of the ship was Europeans.

If the US suddenly created a problem regarding intellectual property rights, it would cause a lot of trouble.

The ignited fusion light was like a candle in the wind, vulnerable as it trembled in the cold winter night.

However, no matter what happened internationally, the scholars in the field still had to do their experiments.

Just after Lu Zhou received the good news from Daya Bay, a magnetic confinement experiment was well underway in the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory in Germany.

"37 minutes 6 seconds." Kervin looked at the computer screen and said, "This is probably our best result this month."

Even though they were still far from STAR's one-hour mark, at least they were able to produce a stable magnetic confinement fusion time for more than half an hour.

Professor Millek said, "Can we start an ignition experiment?"

Professor Keriber shook his head and said, "We haven't solved the radiation problem yet."

Professor Millek said, "Is there any progress?"

"Progress?" Professor Keriber's voice became even more bitter as he said, "The only progress we made is probably the fact that we are now aware that this technical pathway won't work. The swelling from the metallic materials from neutron radiation is too significant. It's hard to fix this, no matter what we do… Unless we can restrain the neutrons? But that sounds crazy."

The latest technology was the use of a molybdenum and zirconium alloy that was actually quite effective against the swelling effect from neutron radiation. However, alloys doped with molybdenum were much more difficult to weld than normal austenitic steels.

Not just that, but no matter how little molybdenum was doped into the metal, there was always the unstable factor from its radioactive metamorphic products.

Millek thought for a bit and pondered, "If the alloy doesn't work, what about non-metallic materials?"

Kervin shrugged and said, "There are a lot of non-metallic materials, but do you have a good suggestion?"

This wasn't the first time someone thought of using non-metallic materials in the field of controllable fusion research. The problem was that this technical pathway had never made much progress.

Kervin began to contemplate.

If Lu Zhou were here, what would he do?

However, Kervin didn't have a single clue.

He couldn't help but sigh.

If only we can cooperate with the STAR Stellarator Research Institute on the stellarator research…

If he had Professor Lu on his team, he was confident that he could shorten the time to commercialize controllable fusion by at least 20 years.

The completion of this technology would benefit the entire human civilization.

But now, it looked like there would be no cooperation.

…

Outside of the laboratory, Helms sat in the laboratory lounge while sipping coffee. He looked at his watch from time to time.

A few months ago, he was only a mid-level official at the CIA. However, because of an evaluation report that he wrote on controllable fusion research, he became highly recognized by the CIA higher-ups.

Right now, he was the CIA intelligence commissioner for the controllable fusion problem. He was fully responsible for collecting important information in the relevant fields and had a certain amount of decision-making power in some matters.

The reason he came to Germany was to understand the latest stellarator developments the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics had made. He also came here to meet with senior officials from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

The Chinese countermeasures worked very well. At least on the surface, it looked like China's research on controllable fusion had stopped progressing.

The STAR-1 and HL-2A machines had gone out of operation, while the cooperation between the EAST machine and the General Atomics company had been suspended. Everyone couldn't help but wonder how far China could go without any help from the international community.

Regardless, right now was the time to attack.

Even though on the surface the plan was going smoothly, he would never underestimate his opponents.

Just the name Lu Zhou alone made him cautious about this whole situation.

From their limited intel, it seemed that the failure of these two machines was related to Lu Zhou.

Right now, Lehman was sitting next to him. Lehman was a CIA intelligence officer operating in the German region.

Unlike the other agents who were underground, his identity was open to the public and was registered with the Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany. His main responsibility was to sit and drink coffee in the office or exchange information with the German intelligence departments.

He was the one that organized the meeting with Helms and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany.

When the two people were chatting, they happened to start talking about Lu Zhou.

Even though Lehman's work wasn't focused in this area, he still raised his eyebrows with interest.

"So, how many professors do you think this Professor Lu guy is worth?"

Helms: "If you really know him, you wouldn't ask such a dumb question. His value can't be measured in professors. It should be measured in Silicon Valleys or Seattles."

Lehman didn't care about Helms calling it a dumb question. Instead, he smiled and said, "When did Silicon Valley and Seattle become measuring units?"

Helms: "Silicon Valley and Seattle are not, but their potential economic values are. One person can create 10 billion or even 100 billion of GDP value, and I think he has this potential."

Lehman: "A Nobel Prize laureate creating 100 billion of GDP value? Is this Zimbabwe or Venezuela money?"

"Obviously it's in USD, and this is just a conservative estimate. The more I research about this guy, the more confident I am on my estimate." Helms put down the coffee cup and said, "Both the CIA and White House are not paying enough attention to this kid, and I think this is extremely dangerous."

Lehman leaned back in his chair and said, "Maybe you should write a detailed report and send it to the White House. Trump loves publicity."

Helms: "Actually, that's exactly what I plan on doing."

While they were talking, a group of people entered the lounge.

The person leading the group was the secretary-general of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Norbert.

Helms stood up and reached his hand out with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Norbert, I'm glad to meet you again."

"Hello, Mr. Helms." Norbert shook Helms's hand. He skipped the small-talk and said, "You didn't fly all the way from America to drink coffee with me, just give it to me straight."

"Here's the thing." Helms organized his thoughts, and he said, "Our Congress has reassessed the controllable fusion project and decided to invest around US$2 billion. This new stellarator machine is expected to be built at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. This means that German companies will receive at least a billion or so in contracts, thus creating tens of thousands of jobs. I'm sure you will be interested in this."

"Oh yeah?" Norbert's raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm interested in this topic, but why is the CIA talking about this with us?"

He was more confused about why the CIA officers were disclosing this information to him.

"Because the specific bidding plan will come out next month. If you are interested in this project, I have a small proposal."

Norbert said, "What proposal?"

"The ITER Council conference at the end of the month." Helms looked at Norbert and smirked as he said, "I think it's time for China to leave."

Chapter 538: No Obvious Radiation Damage

Jinling, China.

STAR machine research institute.

"We're here?"

Hou Jinli followed Lu Zhou into the research institute and looked around curiously.

Since leaving the University of Science and Technology of China, he had been at Jinling for more than six months. He was obviously related to the STAR stellarator project, but this was his first time coming here.

Prior to this, he had only heard rumors about this research institute.

Like for example, the security of the research institute was handled by military members.

Also, this place didn't appear on maps like Baidu and Google.

However, coming in now, he found out that the situation was the opposite of what he imagined.

How come the security here isn't as serious as I had thought?

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, we're here."

Hou Jinli scratched his head awkwardly.

"I thought the security measures here would be harsher."

Even airports have metal detectors and luggage scanners.

"The army is handling the security here, so it's completely safe. There is no way unauthorized personnel can even get close to here. Also, real security measures are hidden." Lu Zhou pointed with his chin and said, "See that?"

"Where?"

Hou Jinli looked at the direction Lu Zhou pointed at, but he but couldn't see anything.

"What's there?"

Lu Zhou: "There's a security camera hidden there, you just can't see it."

Hou Jinli was stunned. "How do you know?"

Lu Zhou: "I've seen the surveillance footage."

Hou Jinli: "…"

All the streets near this place were filled with security cameras; it had no dead spots.

Not just that, but in terms of personnel review, it was equipped with facial recognition by using big data analysis. For example, if a non-resident of this area kept wandering around here all day, even if they didn't come close to the research institute, they would be approached by a security member.

This level of security measures was only possible in recent years.

After all, China's ITER situation was becoming more and more obvious. Also, the United States' interest in controllable fusion technology gave China a reason to believe that the US might pull some dirty tricks and try to take data in an illegitimate way.

Regardless, there was no such thing as too safe.

Also, it wasn't like Lu Zhou had to personally worry about these things.

There were people that took care of these things behind the scenes.

Hou Jinli walked past the tunnel entrance, and the pair walked straight into the laboratory embedded into the mountain.

When the two arrived, the rest of the laboratory researchers were already there.

After more than a month of the overhaul, the STAR machine had returned to its best state.

However, it was not really in the "best" state. After all, the swelling of the structural material couldn't be completely eliminated. However, using the knowledge they gained from the ignition experiment last time, this shouldn't be a big problem.

Even if an accident were to happen…

It would be worth it!

Even though the radiation environment for both the stellarator and tokamak was similar, there were some subtle differences. Other than for the sake of "witnessing history", this was the other reason why Lu Zhou chose the STAR stellarator over EAST or any other tokamak for this experiment.

Sheng Xianfu, who was in charge, saw Lu Zhou walk into the laboratory. He immediately walked over and gave Lu Zhou an update of the situation.

"All of the preparations have been completed, we can begin the experiment anytime now."

Lu Zhou: "Is the sample inside?"

Sheng Xianfu: "It's inside."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Then, let's start."

Sheng Xianfu: "Ok!"

Their conversation ended.

After Sheng Xianfu received the order, he immediately returned to his work station.

Hou Jinli took a deep breath. The experiment was about to begin, and his whole body was shaking.

40 billion yuan scientific research project. He had never participated in such a major project before.

What if the machine failed, would he be held accountable? What if the LPC-1 material didn't work or that he made a mistake on the XRD test, thus resulting in the failure of this experiment…

Even though there was no way these things could happen, he was still sh*tting bricks.

After all, he had never thought about these problems before he stepped foot into the laboratory.

Hou Jinli looked at Lu Zhou and went into deep thought.

If I'm feeling the pressure just by standing here, then what kind of pressure is Professor Lu feeling?

It's terrifying just thinking about it…

Academician Pan, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, looked at the hard-working staff members behind the floor-to-ceiling windows. He frowned and began to look a little concerned.

"Are we really going to use the STAR machine for this experiment?"

"This is the best choice." Lu Zhou nodded and said with a poker face, "If the LPC-1 material proves to be effective, we will immediately begin the construction of the demonstration reactor."

"Is the issue with the liquid lithium neutron recovery system solved?" Academician Pan looked at him in surprise and said, "There's also the ferrofluid electric energy generator, these are two very important issues, right?"

Lu Zhou: "They can be solved while the construction is underway. Compared to the neutron radiation, these aren't very difficult problems."

Academician Pan: "I don't know why you're in such a hurry. There's still five years until 2025. It's important to go slow and steady… Please don't be overly hasty."

"Ok," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I understand."

Academician Pan shook his head.

He knew he couldn't persuade Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou only said "I understand" to be polite to him. Maybe because Lu Zhou was too used to researching alone, which created his assertiveness.

However, Academician Pan had nothing else to do.

After all, he had been away from the research front line for too long; all he got now was the so-called "honor" and "reputation".

He could help with things outside of the research. Like when Lu Zhou's cooperation with other research institutes didn't go smoothly, he could act as a type of lubricant.

However, in terms of the actual experiment… he really didn't have any say.

Academician Pan sighed and looked at the giant metal behemoth behind the glass panels.

All he could do now was pray.

…

More than 20 samples were installed in the reactor.

This time, there weren't any cameras or reporters.

Because Lu Zhou contacted the city council and indicated that the content of this fusion experiment wasn't suitable for public exposure.

Thank God he did this.

Otherwise, the city council really would have sent a media reporter.

Sheng Xianfu took a deep breath and looked at his watch.

He exchanged glances with Lu Zhou before ordering, "Begin experiment!"

The second he finished speaking, the liquid helium was injected into the SG-1 superconducting magnets, soaking the circle of graphene wires outside the stellarator outer track.

The resistance of the external magnetic field quickly dropped, and a large current began to pass through the magnetic coil. With the help from the control coil, a perfectly closed magnetic field was formed inside the stellarator.

Using a computer, once Sheng Xianfu confirmed that the magnetic field was in good shape, he continued to order, "Inject the fuel!"

1mg of tritium deuterium mixture was injected from the conduit into the reaction chamber.

At the same time, the microwave heating device began to heat up the gas molecules inside the machine reaction chamber.

Almost instantly, the gas molecules were ionized into plasma. There was a beautiful aurora-like glow from the magnificent reaction chamber.

The glow was slightly shaking, making it appear vulnerable.

However, that glowing heat inside was hot enough to cut through any armor in this world.

Fortunately, it was being controlled by an invisible force…

The magnetic field stabilized and confined the plasma.

The temperature and density of the plasma began to increase to the critical point of fusion ignition.

Everyone couldn't help but clench their fists.

In an instant, the camera flickered and was filled with white noise.

The most terrifying energy on the planet was brewing inside the stellarator chamber.

However, this entire process lasted for less than three seconds…

"Turn off the microwave heating device!"

After the heating device was turned off, the heat inside the machine began to dissipate, and the fusion reaction suddenly stopped.

After they waited for the machine to cool down, staff members wearing protective gear quickly entered into the reaction chamber and retrieved the valuable samples.

These samples would be sent into a dedicated test chamber for DPA and helium residual measurements.

At the same time, the equipment maintenance staff members rushed into the machine and began to evaluate the damage of the first wall material, structural material, the divertor, and other components.

Hou Jinli looked at the samples being sent to the testing room. He followed them and helped the STAR research institute researchers complete the tests.

Within an hour, the test results came out.

Hou Jinli took the report to the laboratory. Everyone gathered around him, including those that couldn't understand the report content.

Hou Jinli's hands were trembling. He looked at Lu Zhou. He then looked at the researchers around him before he said excitedly, "The neutron beam basically passed straight through the material, and the interstitial atom returned to its original position! All of the data show that the material has extremely high neutron radiation-resistant properties! There is no obvious radiation damage!"

Sheng Xianfu held his breath.

Academician Pan's eyes were wide open.

Everyone's expression changed to a look of astonishment.

The neutron beam passed through!

No obvious radiation damage!

Lu Zhou began to gradually smirk.

This was probably the best news he heard this year!

Chapter 539: Retrea

Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. The sky was drizzling.

This small town in the south of France normally was undisturbed by the outside world. However, at this moment, the entire world's attention was on this small town.

Soon the ITER Council conference at the end of the month would begin at the ITER headquarters.

In this conference, the US would issue a final inquiry on whether or not China would fulfill the ITER technology sharing agreement.

If this meeting went sideways, the ITER Council would issue a vote and decide on China's future involvement in the ITER organization.

Over the past month or so, the world had made many speculations on the decision of the Chinese representatives.

However, none of the speculations were optimistic about China and the US reaching a consensus on this issue.

This rainy weather seemed to have foreshadowed this meeting; this conference was destined to go south.

Luo Zhanyuan, who was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a representative, sat at the conference table.

It was 9:30 am.

The conference was about to begin in thirty minutes.

Not far away, United States representative Adam Cohen was pleasantly exchanging opinions with the European Union representatives. He couldn't help but look at the Chinese representatives from time to time.

Obviously, they had reached a consensus before coming to this meeting.

Even though Luo Zhanyuan had a careless expression on his face, he secretly sighed in his heart.

Being able to survive until now…

I tried my best.

Half an hour quickly passed by. The ITER chairman announced the start of the meeting and talked about the meeting agenda.

In addition to figuring out whether or not China had fulfilled its ITER obligations, they were also going to discuss the technical route and details of controllable fusion machines.

Which was, the various tokamaks the countries had all built.

After the ITER chairman finished reading the meeting agenda, American representative Adam Cohen was the one to speak first.

"With regards to the controllable nuclear fusion technology disclosure ITER agreement, I would like to reiterate our position.

"We believe that China has been receiving ITER technology, but hasn't fulfilled its international ITER obligations.

"We have spent a long time arguing about this previously. Today will be the last day we shall talk about this issue. If China continues to refuse to fulfill its obligations, then we will apply to the ITER Council for a vote on China's withdrawal from ITER…"

The second Cohen finished speaking, there was a commotion in the conference room.

Before coming here today, most people already knew this was going to happen. However, they still didn't expect that the first words that came out of the American representative mouth were so blunt and threatening.

The Americans were basically saying, "if you don't agree with us, we will vote and kick you out".

It looked like they didn't give any room for negotiation for the Chinese representatives.

Director-General Motojima was sitting at the end of the conference table, and he spoke thoughtfully.

"It looks like I made a mistake in my previous judgment."

Ishida, the Japanese representative who was sitting next to him, said, "What judgment?"

"I always thought the US was using intellectual property issues as a way to pressure China to disclose its superconducting magnet, plasma control scheme, and other technologies. I didn't think the US made up its mind right from the beginning. All they want to do is to kick China out."

Ishida frowned and said, "But how does this benefit the Americans?"

Motojima looked at him and said in a serious manner, "Ishida, benefits don't always mean receiving something, it also means denying your opponents something."

"Oh really…"

Ishida began to contemplate.

I guess this makes sense…

But will this really go so smoothly? If China is kicked out of ITER, will they really fall behind on fusion energy research?

I don't think it's this simple…

After all, he heard that the chief designer of the Chinese stellarator project was that genius Lu Zhou, who had created countless miracles…

Luo Zhanyuan, who sat at the conference table with his arms crossed, listened to the chatter around him. He looked at Adam Cohen with a poker face.

When the ITER conference organizer signaled that he could start speaking, he reached out and adjusted the microphone.

Suddenly, the satellite phone in his pocket began to vibrate at this inconvenient time.

Luo Zhanyuan felt the vibration in his pocket and frowned. However, he didn't hesitate before reaching for his phone.

After all, there were only a few people on earth that could call this phone…

"Hello?"

Luo Zhanyuan quietly listened to the other side of the telephone. When he heard something, he suddenly raised his eyebrows.

He took a deep breath and murmured quietly, "Okay, I understand."

The other representative sitting next to him glanced at him.

Even though it was only a short exchange, the other Chinese representative felt like Luo Zhanyuan's tone had completely changed.

Adam Cohen patiently waited for Luo Zhanyuan to finish his call.

"Do you have anything to say?"

Luo Zhanyuan hung up the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He glanced at Adam with a blank face.

When Luo Zhanyuan saw Adam's smug face, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Cohen was stunned when he saw the Chinese representative laughing, and his brows furrowed.

Helms, who was also part of the American representative team, furrowed his eyebrows. He had no idea why this Chinese guy was laughing.

"My apologies." Luo Zhanyuan cleared his throat and removed the impolite smile off his face. He put his fists on the table and stood up as he said, "There's a saying, if you want to punish someone, you will always find a way. We don't have anything to say…"

Cohen wasn't surprised at this reply.

He previously thought that the Chinese representative might try to argue on this issue, and he would fight back every single argument. No matter how fierce the argument was, the final outcome wasn't going to change.

Cohen cleared his throat and was about to proceed onto the next step, which was the voting process. However, Luo Zhanyuan, who was still standing up, interrupted Cohen and spoke first.

"A month ago, we have disclosed all of the relevant data in accordance with the ITER policy. However, your unreasonable demands on this issue have been disappointing, to say the least.

"We are willing to cooperate under equal terms. However, we will never oblige to unreasonable demands.

"Since this is the case, we will not waste any more of your time."

Luo Zhanyuan adjusted his collar and looked at the other Chinese representatives. Then, he looked at everyone in the conference room and spoke calmly, "I am speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.

"From this point onward, the People's Republic of China will withdraw from ITER!"

The second he finished speaking, the entire conference room was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

Luo Zhanyuan looked around the room. He then stared at Adam Cohen before speaking in a condescending manner, "I'll let you guys host this meeting by yourselves.

"Farewell."

After that, he packed up the things on his desk and turned around before walking toward the conference room door.

The ITER director looked at the Chinese representatives leaving. He was dumbfounded. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say.

Adam Cohen was the same. His entire body was frozen. It was like there were three question marks written on his face.

According to the usual process, they should kick the Chinese out by way of a voting process. However, he didn't expect them to leave before the voting even began.

There was a commotion in the conference room again.

It wasn't just the chairman and the American representatives, almost everyone was dumbfounded.

American representative Helms looked at the empty Chinese representative seats and couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

They should feel happy right now.

After all, kicking China out of ITER was what the White House and CIA wanted; it was what he wanted.

Maybe…

China has already completed the key technologies for controllable fusion?

He quickly shook his head at this terrifying possibility, and he tried to remove this thought from his head.

No, impossible…

There is no way they already did it.

The ITER chairman secretary observed the chaotic conference room. The secretary began to whisper to the ITER chairman, "Mr. Chairman… Is this meeting still happening?"

The chairman went silent for a while.

"Begin whatever is next on the agenda."

In any case, they still had to continue this meeting.

Next on the agenda list was the issue of controllable nuclear fusion machines.

Logically speaking, this was an exciting topic.

However, he wasn't excited at all…

Chapter 540: Construction!

After China announced its withdrawal from ITER, it was like a brick was thrown in the quiet pond, setting off an uproar in the international community.

Various major media outlets reported on this incident and made different analyses as well as comments on the whole situation.

The secretary of the United States Department of Energy and spokesperson of the European Union Energy Department had repeatedly emphasized that this wouldn't affect ITER's progress and that all of the remaining country members were still focusing on energy development. However, the academic community and media outlets had a negative view of this situation.

Some even commented that this was the starting point of ITER's collapse.

This rumor was floating around both in China and around the world.

Even though this piece of news was only a tiny segment in the news broadcast, it still attracted a lot of attention.

On Weibo, this piece of news that had nothing to do with boring celebrities flexing their wealth was actually on the top-ten trending page.

Even though the popularity of this event quickly decreased, it still caused widespread discussion.

Some people praised China for its domineering response to the US representatives' unreasonable demands. Other people thought that brute-forcing wouldn't fix any problem, and expressed their concerns for the Chinese future controllable nuclear fusion research field. They even blamed it on Lu Zhou…

[Apparently, the reason why China left ITER was that the STAR research institute didn't fulfill ITER's protocols.]

[Really?]

[I think it's real! My neighbor's uncle is working at some nuclear fusion research institute. Apparently, our nuclear fusion research institute was ruined by that Professor Lu.]

[What the hell do you mean ruined? Is the STAR machine not the best in the world?]

[They said it's the best, but surely STAR research institute isn't the only one doing research on controllable nuclear fusion. According to the ITER Agreement, the country members must share their research progress on controllable fusion research with other country members. However, the STAR research institute didn't fully disclose their research details!]

[If this is real, then Lu Zhou both brought us success and failure…]

[Stop bullsh*tting, this story has a million loopholes! For a national scientific research project like this, do you really think the research institute gets to decide on whether or not they disclose their results?]

[Omg, do you know what a contract is? Do you think the Americans are just questioning us for no reason? Are you confident that the STAR research institute didn't conceal any of their research results?]

[…]

"This is so annoying!" Xiao Tong sat at the table and scrolled through her Weibo. She said furiously, "These people have no idea what they're talking about, they're just speaking nonsense!"

My brother is working so hard…

Yet these people are still talking trash about him.

Lu Zhou looked at how riled up Xiao Tong was, but he only gave a short answer.

"Don't use your phone when you're eating."

Xiao Tong put her phone down. She felt dissatisfied.

"Brother, do you not care what the people on the Internet are saying about you?"

Lu Zhou chuckled and replied nonchalantly, "A thousand people have a thousand brains and a thousand mouths. You will never make everyone be satisfied with you. These things are all insignificant, just make sure you live your best life."

The world was dominated by laymen.

Whether it was in academia or in the industry, once a person reached the status of a celebrity, then their name was no longer just a name.

Compared to Lu Zhou's contributions to society or his "boring" research work, people would always be more keen to report on minor things. They would try to judge based on things like moral standards or his personal life.

It was just like how most people didn't even know what Yang Chen-Ning received the Nobel Prize for, but they would gladly blabber about his wife who was 50 years his junior.

Lu Zhou was used to seeing this.

Just like how in his Weibo comments area, rather than talking about the groundbreaking problems that he solved, netizens were always focused on why he was so handsome but didn't have a girlfriend…

Xiao Tong felt suspicious. She looked at her brother and said, "Why do I feel like you're not in a good mood?"

"Am I?" Lu Zhou rubbed his chin. He didn't feel any different than usual.

Xiao Tong nodded her head in a half-serious way.

After a while, she began to think about something naughty, and she said worriedly, "Brother…"

"What now?"

"Are you…" Xiao Tong was embarrassed as she said, "Are you the type of person that gets turned on when people insult you?"

Lu Zhou: "F*ck off."

…

Lu Zhou's mood had been pretty good recently.

Even though China's withdrawal from ITER had a certain degree of influence on his work, but compared to the breakthroughs that he recently made on his research, the effect of leaving ITER was negligible.

It wasn't just the PGC-1 material breakthrough, the first stage of the liquid lithium neutron recovery system design had also been completed.

Right now, he had all of the puzzle pieces in his hands.

All he had to do now was to complete the final, most important step…

STAR research institute.

A meeting was about to begin in a conference room inside the research institute.

All of the institutions that were cooperating with the STAR research institute had sent their engineers and representatives to this conference room.

Academician Wang was inside the conference room. When he flipped open his notebook, he suddenly heard a familiar and loud voice.

"I was wondering if you were going to come, I didn't expect you to actually be here."

"Oh, Old Sun?" When Academician Wang Zengguang saw the old man sitting next to him, his eyes lit up as he said, "Haha, long time no see!"

This was Sun Zhonghai, the chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation!

Even though this guy wasn't very likable, he didn't care. After all, these two had known each other for more than 20 years.

"Yeah, long time no see." Engineer Sun saw looked at his friend and said, "More than a year, right? Your hair isn't even white yet, but half of them are falling off."

"Haha, maybe you should look at yourself in the mirror first." Academician Wang smiled and said, "I'll be bald, but at least I'll get to attend your funeral."

Engineer Sun looked at the front of the conference room and said, "Speaking of which, did Professor Lu give you a heads up on what this meeting is for?"

"He didn't tell me anything." Academician Wang shook his head and looked at the red curtains on stage. "It's about to begin soon, why don't you just wait for a bit?"

Prior to this, he only heard that they were going to discuss important things at this conference. However, the STAR research institute didn't tell them the specifics.

The conference began.

Once the curtains unveiled, the two stopped talking. They quietly waited for the conference to begin, just like everyone else.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and looked at all of the attendees. He cleared his throat and said slowly, "A week ago, there has been a breakthrough in the first wall material research.

"The PGC-1 material, developed by the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, has reached the neutron radiation-resistant requirements for the fusion reactor."

There was a commotion in the audience.

Academician Wang and Engineer Sun looked at each other with shock in their eyes.

They were also excited.

Lu Zhou didn't stop.

He continued to speak in a clear and steady voice, "We have done enough preparations to integrate this material.

"I think that it is time to push our plan to the next stage."

The venue was dead silent.

Even though Lu Zhou's speech wasn't particularly passionate or monumental, everyone here couldn't help but clench their fists and hold their breath.

Lu Zhou was just as excited as everyone else, but he didn't show it on his face.

He took a deep breath and looked around the venue. He then made a clear announcement.

"The STAR-2 demonstration fusion machine.

"Will begin…

"Construction immediately!"

Chapter 541: Tianwan

From his Institute of Materials exchange visa being revoked to China leaving ITER, Xiao Le's mood this month was like a slide, sliding all the way to the bottom.

Xiao Le waited for a month at home; he basically wasted the entire month. Every day, he'd browse arXiv, track the latest major research institute trends, or help his mom walk the dog.

He was the only one that could understand the pain of being pulled out of unfinished research.

He hadn't heard any news from Professor Li yet. He didn't know if Professor Li hadn't found a new research project for him to do or just temporarily forgot about him.

The Institute of Materials had no further arrangements for the PhDs that were sent back from General Atomics. It seemed like they didn't have a plan for what they should do.

After all, after the withdrawal from ITER, many collaborative ITER research projects were suspended. There were a lot of people who had to reschedule their work.

Unfortunately, the state had tightened its investment in the tokamak field. Their existing funds simply couldn't support so many research projects…

Apparently, the institute was in chaos right now. Xiao Le wasn't sure if he wanted to go back or not. However, he still decided to rest for a few days and then go to Lu Yang.

After all, his brain was rusting from staying at home all day…

However, after he packed his bags and even bought the train ticket, he suddenly received a call from the institute.

"Where are you now?"

"Beijing… Did Professor Li ask you to contact me?" Xiao Le quickly responded to the phone.

"We've already contact Professor Li. He's the one that recommended you to us. There's a research position in Jiangsu that is a good fit, we want to know if you are interested."

Xiao Le was muddled. "Wait a second, I don't understand what you're saying. Research position? In Jiangsu?"

"Yeah." The man on the other side of the phone wasn't impatient at all, and he said, "It's in Jiangsu, and it's about the controllable nuclear fusion."

Xiao Le asked, "STAR research institute?"

"No comment."

Xiao Le was confused, and he said, "The nuclear fusion field is too broad. You should at least tell me what exactly the research is and the research location."

"The specific research is undetermined yet, the research location is still in a confidential period," the man said. "You just need to say if you're going or not."

This… is really a difficult request.

Xiao Le smiled and shook his head.

However, he only contemplated for two seconds before answering…

"I'm going."

This kind of opportunity was once in a lifetime.

His intuition told him that this was the only time he would have an opportunity like this.

The man on the phone replied, "Ok, I'll help you with the procedure. Also, your train ticket has been changed, remember to take the train at 3 pm tomorrow."

After that, he hung up the call.

Xiao Le looked at the phone in his hand with a weird expression.

Not only did the guy know about his train ticket, but he even changed his ticket destination. The person behind the call must be a powerful figure…

At least, it wasn't anyone from the Institute of Materials.

…

On the afternoon the next day, Xiao Le sat on the train and arrived at the destination. He dragged his suitcase off the train and stood outside the train station. In less than half a minute, he saw a black Jetta park in front of him, which drove him to the mysterious workplace.

After he arrived at the destination, he was immediately shocked.

Not because the work location was deserted. Instead, it was the opposite. This place was almost too "lively".

There were more than a dozen buses parked outside the factory, with various engineering equipment scattered around.

There were more than a dozen logos that he recognized. Some were top Chinese institutes for plasma physics, others were giant companies like the China National Nuclear Corporation.

He had a vague understanding of what this project was going to be.

However, never in a million years did he expect the STAR research institute to progress so quickly.

The entire world was still estimating how far they were from a demonstration reactor, but they had already begun their demonstration reactor project quietly.

Suddenly, a man in his early fifties walked over while holding a resume.

"You're Xiao Le?"

Xiao Le nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

"Ok, come with me."

Xiao Le looked back at the driver who drove him here and gulped. He immediately took his suitcase and followed the old man.

Even though he followed the old man reluctantly, he couldn't help but ask about the situation here.

"I'm in the tokamak field. This is probably research on the stellarator, right? Me coming here…"

"There's no use saying these things to me." The old man walked toward the research institute and said without any expression, "I'm only responsible for bringing you there. If you have any questions, you can ask him."

Him?

Who?

Even though Xiao Le really wanted to ask this question, seeing that the old man didn't answer his question regarding the research institute, he decided to shut his mouth instead.

He looked around and asked an unimportant problem.

"There are so many people here, how is this place going to be kept a secret?"

The expressionless old man suddenly smiled.

"Kiddo, do you know what happens when someone leaks a secret?"

"I don't know."

How would I know?

Xiao Le began to think.

The old man pointed behind him, toward the driver in the Jetta.

"If you want to know, you can ask him."

…

The requirements for the location of a nuclear power plant were very high.

According to the international site selection guidelines, factors such as geology, surface, meteorology, hydrology, environmental protection, construction, transportation, power station technology, power grid, and social impact had to be considered.

First of all, geographically, there couldn't be any fault zones below the site. There shouldn't be any active fault zones within a few kilometers of the nuclear power plant. As for the history of the site, there shouldn't be any earthquake of magnitude 6 or above within 100 kilometers of the sea or 50 kilometers on lands near the site.

Secondly, there was the transportation issue.

The entire reactor was designed to be several times more complex than the fission reactor, and the size was also much larger. The various components involved couldn't be produced locally in the province of Jiangsu. It could only be produced and then transported to Jiangsu, where it would be assembled on site.

Taking all these factors into consideration, there weren't many places in Jiangsu that could meet all of these conditions.

After the provincial government discussed and consulted with experts, the location of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor was finally set to be near the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Haizhou.

First of all, there were abundant resources available here. The site reserved for the third phase of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant project was a perfect place for the demonstration reactor experimental plant. Secondly, the engineers in this area were all experts in the field of nuclear power. They had an ocean of experience and could help with the demonstration reactor engineering problems.

As for the safety problem, Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about it at all.

After the demonstration reactor location was determined, a military combat unit was deployed in the area.

On the other hand, after the project site was selected, Lu Zhou rushed to the site and began to consult the engineers from China National Nuclear Corporation. They exchanged views on the design of the demonstration reactor.

Also, in less than a week, thousands of researchers from various research institutes and engineering-related fields were assembled.

In order to ensure that this project went smoothly, the country basically agreed to all of the conditions proposed by Lu Zhou.

Which were funding and human resources.

"I have the guy." The old man walked into the laboratory with Xiao Le and placed Xiao Le's resume on the table.

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Thank you."

The old man waved his hand.

"This is nothing. You guys have fun, I'm leaving."

When the old man left the office, he closed the door on his way out.

Lu Zhou looked at how nervous Xiao Le was and smiled.

"Relax, don't be so nervous. I only want to ask you a few questions."

Xiao Le smiled and said, "Of course I'm nervous, I'm meeting my idol."

Idol?

Lu Zhou heard this and smiled awkwardly.

This kid has good taste in idols.

I think I have the potential to be an idol.

However…

This is not the time to be joking around.

Lu Zhou coughed and stopped smiling. He said, "I heard from the Institute of Materials that you have visited the DIII-D at the General Atomics laboratory?"

"Yeah…" Xiao Le felt like his answer was too simple and wasn't respectful enough. He immediately said, "I went there with Professor Li when I first started my PhD. I stayed there for four years, so I was there for the longest."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I know, that's why I brought you here."

He paused for a second and continued, "Since you stayed there for four years, I'm sure you know a lot about the situation there. With regard to their heating technology, I want to know what their main research area is? What is their research progress like?"

Xiao Le was an expert in this field, and he immediately answered, "Their main research area right now is on the ion cyclotron resonance heating…"

Lu Zhou listened carefully to Xiao Le's explanation while rubbing his chin with his finger and nodding from time to time.

He had to admit that the DIII-D plasma diagnosis and heating technology was very strong.

The plasma diagnosis was handled by the He3 atom probe; he didn't have to think about that for the time being.

As for the heating part, even though it wasn't a critical issue, he still had to pay attention.

After all, the demonstration reactor was different than the experimental reactor. The plasma diagnosis didn't matter too much, but the heating technology was important.

A lack of heating technology would ultimately be shown in the efficiency of energy output.

Also, through these detailed explanations from Xiao Le, combined with Lu Zhou's own experience in controllable nuclear fusion research, he could roughly estimate the research progress the General Atomics energy company had made in the field of controllable nuclear fusion as well as how far they were from a demonstration reactor.

Lu Zhou asked a lot about DIII-D's experiment. Xiao Le answered all of the questions one by one.

Finally, Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit before saying, "The tokamak heating device isn't exactly the same as that of the stellarator, but the heating principle is similar.

"We plan on redesigning the ICRF[1.Ion cyclotron resonance heating] antenna from the EAST machine and building one that can be used on the stellarator.

"If you are interested, I can introduce you to the research project in this area."

Did I just… struck the jackpot?

Xiao Le was ecstatic, and he immediately nodded and said, "Please do!"

As expected, I made the correct choice on the phone…

Chapter 542: The News That Shocked the World

The controllable nuclear fusion field had been action-packed for the entire year.

In the past, ITER would hold a press conference even for a tiny matter. However, this year, the amount of news overwhelmed the ITER spokesperson.

First was the plasma turbulence model, then it was the STAR one-hour magnetic confinement time, after that was the US representative questioning China at the ITER meeting, which resulted in China's withdrawal from ITER.

Throughout the year, it was like everyone working in the controllable nuclear fusion field was riding a thrilling roller coaster.

The news that China had withdrawn from ITER was still trending when an article released by Everyone Daily once again shocked the international plasma physics and controllable nuclear fusion community.

The first day in October, which was a national holiday, China suddenly announced that the STAR-2 demonstration reactor would enter its next and final stage.

Which was, that the demonstration reactor would begin construction at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant.

Once this announcement was made, not only were the international plasma physics and controllable nuclear fusion community shocked, but it was like a magnitude 8 earthquake that shocked the entire world.

Demonstration reactor!

No one expected this to happen; it all came so suddenly.

The English media outlet BBC was first to report on this news.

Benderbauer, Chairman of the American Tri Alpha company, agreed to do an interview with BBC. He commented on this event.

"If China becomes the first country to commercialize fusion technology, then they will gain significant economic, geographical, and political advantages. Their presence in the Asia-Pacific region will also expand at an unimaginable speed.

"I'm not exaggerating at all when I say this. This new technology is completely different than anything we had in the past. To put it in simpler terms, it is the holy grail of the energy field, it can illuminate the dark future for mankind.

"Of course, even though the situation is severe, the competition has only just begun. We are confident we can surpass them. Of course, that is on the premise that Congress continues to invest in us…"

In addition to Benderbauer, the BBC reporter also contacted Professor Steven Cowley, who was also the dean of the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, former Director of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, and the former CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

During an interview, Professor Steven gave his opinion on China's withdrawal.

"Even though ITER has been talking about kicking China out of the ITER international project, no one wanted to see it go down this way."

Reporter: "Is there a difference?"

Steven Cowley looked into the BBC camera and said, "There definitely is a difference.

"In the beginning, China had the lowest amount of employees in ITER out of all of the countries. Now they are second only to the European Union. Not just that, but they were ranked third in all of the country members in terms of funding, and they were always able to meet their financial commitments…

"Because the withdrawal process was so abrupt, all of the Chinese employees were forced to evacuate. Less than one-fifth of them chose to stay. A lot of key projects have stagnated because of this.

"The reason they chose to quit is undoubtedly a counterattack to the US' pressure on their STAR machine. The reason they were willing to do so was largely in part due to the success of their STAR machine.

"Every country has its own controllable fusion project and its own technologies. ITER isn't the only ongoing controllable fusion project. ITER has also never asked any other countries to disclose their research that wasn't related to the ITER project.

"What I have to say is that it is asinine to force China to leave ITER right now. Starting a competition for this future technology is also ridiculous.

"If China is no longer involved, then ITER, which is seriously under-funded, will no longer be able to continue. We can only hope that America fulfills its commitments and that South Korea and the European Union will be able to bear more funding… But looking at it practically, this is very difficult."

Reporter: "Are you not optimistic about ITER's future?"

Professor Steven: "Actually, I've never been optimistic. Shutting down our Joint European Torus in Oxfordshire to support the EU's ITER program was the wrong decision from the beginning. Where are they planning to build a demonstration reactor? In Cadarache, near Marseille. The second I heard that they are planning to build the demonstration reactor in France, I knew this project was doomed. Sure enough, they haven't even finished building the laboratory."

Reporter coughed and said, "Which country do you think is a better choice?"

Steven didn't even hesitate before saying, "Of course it's the UK."

Reporter: "…"

…

Washington, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

A president with a stylish haircut slammed the newspaper on his desk. His spit was flying all over the place.

"I want to know what is happening here! If it wasn't for someone on Twitter reminding me to read the newspaper, I wouldn't have even known what is happening in China!"

The newspaper he was talking about was the Everyone Daily - English edition.

The news headline was about the latest STAR-2 demonstration reactor project development.

The irony was that he didn't first hear about this through his own intelligence channels. Instead, he read it in a Chinese newspaper.

The bright red eye-catching news title was painful to his eyes.

He could feel the provocation from China just through the newspaper alone.

Sitting next to him was CIA director Gina Haspel and the CIA controllable fusion intelligence commissioner Helms.

Gina had her arms crossed as she slowly said, "Maybe Mr. Helms can explain."

When Helms heard the woman call his name, his shoulders couldn't help but tremble.

Gina Haspel.

If there was one person in the CIA he didn't want to piss off, then it undoubtedly was this sixty-year-old woman.

In addition to Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse rumor that gave her the name "Bloody Gina", Helms had heard other rumors about Gina's cruel doings.

When Trump appointed her as the CIA director, it set off an uproar in the United States…

Helms took a deep breath before he said, "This is our negligence. We underestimated the interest the Chinese have on controllable fusion. They might be more ahead than we think."

Trump took a deep breath. "I want to know… After they finish building the demonstration reactor, how many years are they away from achieving this technology?"

"I don't know." Helms had a painful expression on his face as he said, "But at their speed, it shouldn't take long for them to go from demonstration reactor to fusion commercialization…"

The office became silent.

Seeing that Mr. President and Ms. Director weren't speaking, Helms carefully tried to defuse the situation. He coughed and muttered, "I think we should pay attention to one particular person."

Haspel looked at him and said, "One person?"

"Yes." Helms gulped and nodded. He then said, "I've done the research. Before he returned to China, even though China has made some achievements in the tokamak, they were far from catching up to us. They didn't do any research on the stellarator.

"But after he returned to China, within a year, the situation changed drastically…"

Chapter 543: Outbreak?

Regardless of how the White House was reacting to this sudden situation, the global market had already responded.

The day after Everyone Daily reported on the demonstration reactor project, the global thermal coal futures market was scared sh*tless; everyone panicked and began selling.

What did a demonstration reactor mean?

How far away was China from controllable fusion technology?

There wasn't anyone that could answer these questions.

However, one thing was certain—China was a huge coal-consuming country, and it consumed more than 50% of the world's coal. If China didn't need so much coal in the future, who was going to pay for the coal they had in stock?

Even though everyone knew that this day wasn't going to come anytime soon, the futures market was about future transactions. Whenever investors lost their confidence in the future of a commodity, the downfall of that commodity was only a matter of time.

At a time like this, the faster one exited, the lower the losses.

This didn't only happen in the coal industry.

Since a large amount of money was withdrawn from the energy sector, the panic began to spread to other energy markets such as propane, natural gas, and crude oil. This led to a decline in the entire energy futures market.

Even though the loss of other futures contracts was a lot less than that of coal, it still maintained a downward trend. This trend continued from the opening to the closing of the market.

The stock market was just like the futures market.

The energy sector was completely demolished.

The world's major financial institutions made some statistical analysis on the day trading situation. In just one day, the global energy stock market capitalization dropped hundreds of billion USD, almost equivalent to the market cap of Google.

Lu Zhou was the person that triggered this chain reaction. He had no idea what he just unintentionally did.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn't care too much. At most, he would sign and hope the money would go to him instead.

Because he could spend the money more meaningfully…

…

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Lu Zhou was in the pure white system space. He read the texts on the holographic information screen and received the rewards from his mission victory.

Just like last time, he completed two mission-chain missions at once.

First was the PGC-1 material that gave him 100,000 engineering experience points and 500 general points.

After the demonstration reactor project began, the government invested all of its funds that were previously allocated to ITER into the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project. Since the accumulated investment reached 10 billion, it brought him 50,000 general experience points and one lucky draw ticket.

Lu Zhou looked at the only two level-2 disciplines on his characteristic panel. He thought for a bit and finally decided to assign the 50,000 general experience points into energy science.

His information science discipline already unlocked the artificial intelligence technology branch. As long as Xiao Ai kept improving, his artificial intelligence level would also be upgraded. Hence, he didn't need to spend any more experience points on artificial intelligence.

In contrast, energy science wasn't his cup of tea. Therefore, it wasn't that easy for him to earn experience points in that field.

Considering the fact that the reactor energy generator was obviously in the energy science field, Lu Zhou decided to level up this discipline, just in case.

After Lu Zhou finished assigning the experience points, he refreshed his characteristic panel and saw the updated information appear in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 7 (144,000/1.2 million)

B. Physics: Level 5 (83,215/300,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 4 (74,000/100,000)

D. Engineering: Level 4 (0/200,000)

E. Materials science: level 5 (113,000/300,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (0/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 2 (3,000/50,000)

General points: 5,475 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Lu Zhou briefly looked at his characteristic panel and shook his head.

"I wonder when I'll be able to reach level 8…"

1.2 million experience points.

That's more than all of the other discipline experience point requirements combined.

After Lu Zhou closed his characteristic panel, he was about to leave the system space.

However, he suddenly remembered that this second mission chain also gave him a lucky draw ticket.

Lu Zhou hadn't done a lucky draw in quite a long time.

After he activated the mission chain, he almost forgot the system had this feature.

This lucky draw cost US$10 billion in research funding.

Lu Zhou, who normally didn't have any expectations for the system's lucky draw, couldn't help but get excited.

Lu Zhou pressed the lucky draw button and a roulette wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou subconsciously prayed for a few seconds and pressed the button again.

The wheel's inertia caused it to spin a couple more times. It then finally stopped.

[Congratulations, User, blueprint awarded!]

Lu Zhou: "?!"

The moment he saw this line of text, he froze.

The f*ck?

Praying to the gods actually worked?

He thought about it carefully. The last time he received a blueprint was more than four or five years ago.

[Received: PGC-1 material production process.]

Lu Zhou: "???"

Even though Lu Zhou was used to the system playing tricks with him, he didn't think the system would do something to this extent.

Speaking of which, wasn't he the one that invented the PGC-1 material?

Lu Zhou stood in front of the information screen and contemplated it for a bit. He then sighed.

Whatever, it's fine.

Coincidentally, he was trying to figure out how to solve the production problem for the PGC-1 material. After all, the method that Hou Jinli invented was only a laboratory preparation method. It could be used to prepare a small number of samples, but it would be almost impossible to produce enough for a reactor.

This production process blueprint actually saved him a lot of time.

After Lu Zhou collected the prize, he left the system space, and his consciousness returned to reality.

Recently he had been at Haizhou, overlooking the demonstration reactor construction site. He obviously couldn't return to his Jinling mansion every night.

The China National Nuclear Corporation arranged a house for him. It was in the employee accommodation area near the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant. The house was quite modern, with 90 square meters or so.

Even though it wasn't particularly big, it was decent.

After all, all of his work was basically done on the construction site, and he only needed a place to sleep.

After Lu Zhou opened his computer, he took out his black USB from the system space and plugged it into the computer.

Just like he expected, after he finished copying the data, the black USB began to slowly disintegrate into ashes before finally disappearing.

Lu Zhou blew at the USB connection port to get rid of the ashes. Without hesitating, he immediately opened the recently copied file.

In theory, the blueprint rewarded by the system probably contained answers to theoretical or technical problems that were within 1 to 2 levels of his discipline levels.

He briefly looked at the drawings. Even though the design had a lot of novelty, it was still within the scope of something he could understand.

The most important thing was that, according to China's production capabilities, it was completely feasible for them to implement this production process.

After Lu Zhou finished reading the blueprint, he began to smirk.

The first wall material was completed.

All he had to do now was to find a suitable partner and begin this production process.

Chapter 544: Full Cooperation

After Lu Zhou turned off his laptop, he began to feel a bit hungry.

It was around noon, so he sent a text to Wang Peng and walked downstairs in a new outfit. He sat in Wang Peng's car and drove toward the cafeteria at the demonstration reactor construction site.

This cafeteria was located on the inner side of the construction site. It was originally reserved for the third phase of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant. However, just like the construction site, it was now given to Lu Zhou.

Just like the other researchers, Lu Zhou only came to Haizhou a week ago. He didn't start cooking at home, nor did he have any cooking utensils.

Even though he was used to cooking for himself, he wasn't a picky eater. Over the past week, just like the other researchers, he ate all three meals everyday at the cafeteria.

Honestly, the food here was quite good. The chefs in charge were military cooks, who were transferred over from the army.

Apparently, in order to provide food for more than 2,000 scientific researchers, the military squadron near the area intentionally expanded their team of military cooks.

Lu Zhou heard these rumors from Wang Peng.

Lu Zhou ordered a side of Yuxiang shredded pork and braised pork leg. He asked Wang Peng to get him a bowl of soup from the other counter. Then they both sat down in the cafeteria seating area.

Lu Zhou was still thinking about that blueprint when Wang Peng suddenly said, "Oh yeah, sir, there's something I want to discuss with you."

Once Lu Zhou heard Wang Peng call him "sir", he knew that this was something serious. So, he asked, "What's the matter? Let's hear it."

Wang Peng: "My higher-ups want to strengthen your security."

"Security?" Lu Zhou munched on a piece of pork leg as he asked, "Did something happen?"

Wang Peng shook his head and said, "Not like that, it's mainly for cautionary reasons."

Lu Zhou said, "I'm fine with anything. You guys can just do whatever you want. I'm only responsible for the research."

"Of course we still need to consult your opinion." Wang Peng smiled and said, "After all, we don't want to bring too much trouble to your daily life."

Lu Zhou smiled and used his chopstick to grab another piece of pork leg. He then asked, "Speaking of which, let me ask you, what department is your boss in?"

Wang Peng paused for a second before he asked curiously, "Do you not know?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't know. I was never interested before, but now that you're bringing this up, I'm kind of interested. Of course, you don't have to tell me if it's not appropriate."

"There's nothing inappropriate about this." Wang Peng looked around before he answered in a hushed tone, "Ministry of State Security."

Lu Zhou was stunned when he heard this, and he looked at Wang Peng suspiciously.

"You sure?"

Wang Peng was amused. "Of course I'm sure, why would I lie?"

"Nothing." Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I just feel like…"

Wang Peng: "I don't look like it?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

I mean you don't even wear a suit or sunglasses.

Also, with your physique, it doesn't look like you can fight very well.

Of course, it could also be that Lu Zhou just couldn't tell.

After all, Wang Peng didn't know a lot about academics.

Wang Peng was speechless, and he said, "This… We don't look like the bodyguards in movies, and the nature of our work is quite different."

Lu Zhou looked at the sweaty chefs behind him chopping vegetables, and he jokingly said, "Hey hey, look at that guy chopping vegetables, how many of him can you take on?"

"You're hilarious." Wang Peng coughed and said, "I was trained in the special forces, so it's humiliating to compare me to a chef."

…

After Zhou Chengfu got back from Europe, he had been staying in Beijing. He had to deal with the "aftermath" of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center.

Since China withdrew from ITER, the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center was now in an awkward position.

Even though it wasn't going to be dissolved immediately, most of its cooperative research projects that were linked to ITER were basically all suspended. Their research fundings were also given to the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project instead. It was basically like they were dissolved.

Also, what hurt Zhou Chengfu even more than the dissolution, was that the higher-ups only had one demand. Which was to fully cooperate with Chief Designer Lu Zhou and participate in the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project.

Yes, fully cooperate.

Zhou Chengfu's heart burst into flames whenever he heard these two words.

However, this anger was contained in his heart since he had nowhere to vent.

After he finished some work, he planned on going to get some food. However, he suddenly received a call.

He took out his phone and saw the call was from Pan Changhong.

Zhou Chengfu's mouth twitched, but he still answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Old Zhou, how are you?"

Zhou Chengfu smiled coldly and said, "Ah, are you calling to laugh at me?"

Pan Changhong: "Why would you say that, what is there to laugh about?"

Zhou Chengfu's eyes squinted, as if he wanted to say something.

However, the other end of the phone spoke first.

"We're long-time friends. Even though you don't like me sometimes, I still think of you. I have a bottle of liquor with me, are you coming?"

Zhou Chengfu wanted to refuse at first.

However, he didn't know why he agreed to it.

He came to the restaurant that Old Pan mentioned on the phone and sat down. Soon after, he saw a familiar person walking into the restaurant while holding a bottle of Maotai.

"Boss, the usual, give us some dishes that pair well with alcohol."

"Okay!"

The boss of the restaurant, who was behind the counter, walked into the kitchen.

Pan Changhong sat across from Zhou Chengfu and smiled.

"The traffic was pretty bad, that's why I'm a bit late. I didn't expect your old a*s to come this early."

Zhou Chengfu said, "If you have anything to say, just say it."

Pan Changhong said, "I don't have anything to say, I'm only here today to drink with you and talk about the old days. What, you don't even have time to eat one meal with me?"

Zhou Chengfu's eyebrows furrowed; he had no idea what this guy was trying to do.

Pan Changhong didn't explain anything. He took two cups and poured the Maotai into each of the cups.

"After I left your place, I started to think. I answered a lot of my own questions, but there are still some things that I don't understand."

Zhou Chengfu faked a smile as he asked, "What don't you understand?"

"I don't understand what your plan is."

Zhou Chengfu frowned and didn't say anything.

Seeing that Zhou Chengfu didn't respond, Academician Pan continued to speak, "Money is too boring for you, I'm sure you don't care about it. Fame? Our students are scattered all over the world, so it's not an exaggeration to say that in China, there isn't anyone in the controllable fusion field that doesn't know your name."

Zhou Chengfu snorted and grinned.

"You asked me to drink with you today just so that you could kiss my a*s?"

Pan Changhong chuckled.

"I'm already retired, so why would I need to kiss your a*s? Are you getting dementia?"

Zhou Chengfu stared blankly at Pan Changhong.

"Just give it to me straight, stop beating around the bush."

Pan Changhong stared at Zhou Chengfu for a while.

"You've changed," he said all of a sudden.

Zhou Chengfu frowned.

Pan Changhong took a sip of the liquor and licked his lips in a satisfying manner. It was like he was being nostalgic about the past.

"A few decades ago, we were less developed back then. The state wanted us to learn from the western countries, the Americans were researching the stellarator C machine at that time, so we made the Lingyun."

"Then the Americans stopped their research and followed the Russians into researching the tokamak instead. We figured out that we couldn't continue with our Lingyun research, so we started researching the tokamak as well. Then inertial confinement fusion replaced the tokamak on the international stage, so we decided to research that instead. Then the Americans failed at their NIF ignition experiment, so the inertial confinement fusion field cooled down again and the tokamak became a hot topic again.

"At that time, I said we shouldn't do this. We'll always be behind other countries, we'll never be the leaders. You agreed with me and said that the only way we can develop our own technology is if we participate in the most cutting-edge research in the world. So, we turned our attention to ITER because we thought that was the path to success. I wrote a letter to the Communist Party of China while you went to Europe for negotiations. Then after a few years, we finally made China a country member of ITER.

"After returning, you joyfully told me that I had no idea how hard you worked to secure this deal.

"After that, China's controllable fusion research went on the highway. More and more research institutes joined the field. The Southwestern Institute of Physics was no longer the only research institute in the field of controllable fusion. From Rongcheng to Lu Yang, we created more than a dozen fusion machines. Within twenty years, we went from the followers to leaders…"

Zhou Chengfu smiled coldly as he interrupted, "What about now? Your blood, sweat, and tears are destroyed by that kid."

They left ITER, the HL-2A was still under repair, the Southwestern Institute of Physics was falling behind in the controllable fusion field… Even though half of this was because Zhou Chengfu didn't want to cooperate, but that root of all this was Lu Zhou.

Zhou Chengfu thought that Pan Changhong would be somewhat emotionally affected. He didn't expect Pan Changhong to smile and sip some liquor.

"Yeah, and?"

Zhou Chengfu said with a blank face, "You're not hurt at all?"

"Hurt about the tokamak or ITER?" Pan Changhong smiled and said, "Ask yourself, we are pursuing the label of tokamak or ITER, or are we pursuing the controllable fusion field? Right now, my blood, sweat, and tears became the STAR-2 demonstration reactor. We just took a big step toward the finish line, so why would I be hurt? How about you tell me, why should I feel hurt?"

Zhou Chengfu had a subtle change in expression.

Pan Changhong looked deep into his old friend's eyes and said emotionally, "Old Zhou, I only have two words for you.

"Wake up."

Chapter 545: Core Catcher

"This is a bit interesting." When Academician Wang Zengguang looked through Lu Zhou's blueprint, he looked interested.

After a while, he asked, "Who designed this thing?"

Lu Zhou obviously couldn't give him the real answer, so he gave a simple answer.

"The institute designed it."

Technically, he was part of the institute.

Also, it was kind of "designed" by the system?

Academician Wang looked at Lu Zhou suspiciously and said, "Surely there's a main person that designed this thing. No one designed this out of thin air."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't explain. Instead, he diverted the conversation.

"Let's not go into the details. Rather than talking about who came up with this idea, I want to know more about this blueprint. Does the China National Nuclear Corporation have the means to implement this production process?"

Academician Wang looked at the blueprint and rubbed his chin. He thought for a bit and said, "It's difficult, but it should be fine."

Since Academician Wang said it was fine, Lu Zhou sighed in relief and nodded.

"Okay, I'll hand this over to you guys then."

"No problem, I promise we will solve this as soon as possible." Academician Wang looked at Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "Looks like Professor Lu is a secretive man."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Is he thinking that I'm the one that drew the blueprint?

Lu Zhou remembered what happened last time he drew something in front of this guy. He could probably guess why Academician Wang misunderstood.

However…

You can misunderstand all you want, it doesn't affect me.

I'd rather you misunderstand than keep drilling me with questions.

Academician Wang looked at the blueprint in his hand and suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, even though controllable fusion is a national-level project, there is still a clear line between public and private enterprises. This technology is developed by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, so we can't just use it for free. I suggest for a cooperation agreement. You guys provide the technology, we implement the production."

If Academician Wang Zengguang took someone else's blueprint, he wouldn't have mentioned anything. However, Lu Zhou's status was different.

What did it mean to be a chief designer of a national-level project?

It meant that he could spend tens or even hundreds of billion yuan however he wanted. He was the one that had all the power. This was coupled with the fact that the government viewed highly of him. Even a giant company like the China National Nuclear Corporation didn't want to offend him.

Therefore, even though Lu Zhou didn't make any special demands, Academician Wang still considered all of the factors. He didn't want to get into any trouble in the future, so he couldn't let Lu Zhou feel like he was wronged.

He had to talk about this with the company leadership team.

Lu Zhou didn't think much of this suggestion as he replied nonchalantly, "Okay, do it then."

Actually, Academician Wang was over-thinking it. Lu Zhou didn't really care about this. Compared to the huge lithium-sulfur battery market, the first wall material nuclear fusion market was minuscule.

If the PGC-1 material patent fee could earn Lu Zhou a dime, then his cooperation with the China National Nuclear Corporation would earn him an extra 5 cents at most.

If he really wanted to make money, he shouldn't care about these small profits. He just had to focus on commercializing the controllable nuclear fusion technology.

Not to mention, the state definitely wouldn't treat him badly. The impact of nuclear fusion technology breakthrough would increase the lithium-sulfur battery market by several-fold. Just the increase in sales of the battery anode materials and cathode materials alone was enough to make him filthy rich.

But these were all meaningless.

After all, he had more money in his bank account than he could ever spend.

Even if there were another zero at the end…

Emm…

Wait, that sounds quite tempting actually.

While Lu Zhou was talking with Academician Wang about the blueprint details, a knocking sound was heard from the office door.

They stopped their conversation, and Lu Zhou looked toward the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and a researcher walked in.

"An expert came from Southwestern."

Southwestern?

Lu Zhou's face was full of surprise.

"Who?"

"Academician Zhou Chengfu…"

…

A group of people was standing at the demonstration reactor construction site entrance.

Wang Peng followed Lu Zhou outside. He signaled the soldiers to open the entrance checkpoint. Lu Zhou looked at Zhou Chengfu standing there and reached out his hand while smiling.

"Nice to see you here."

Zhou Chengfu shook hands with Lu Zhou. He looked emotionless as he spoke slowly, "Nice to see you."

Lu Zhou felt like he had something to say, so Lu Zhou asked, "Do you want to come to my office?"

Zhou Chengfu nodded.

"Sure."

The two walked side by side, they didn't talk much.

Lu Zhou didn't want to feel so awkward, so he tried to initiate a conversation.

"Is the HL-2A fixed?"

Zhou Chengfu said, "Thanks to you, not yet."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly as he replied, "Yeah, that was my fault."

Zhou Chengfu: "…"

Even though Zhou Chengfu came in "peace", it was hard to restrain himself when he saw Lu Zhou's smug smile.

They walked through the middle of the construction site and passed a big pit.

Zhou Chengfu looked at the construction equipment next to the pit and frowned.

"What's this?"

Because this wasn't a secret, Lu Zhou casually said, "This is the core catcher. It's to prevent accidents from happening. It collects and cools the nuclear core in the event of a serious accident… It's just a foundation right now, but it should be done by the end of the year."

After all, the interior of a controllable fusion reactor simulated the energy of a star. Even though the fusion reaction was theoretically safe, hundreds of millions of degree plasma was still a serious threat.

Especially since the energy in the demonstration reactor was completely different from the experimental reactor.

If a leak were to occur, before the plasma could be cooled to a safe temperature, it would melt everything in its path. There was nothing in the solar system that could resist the heat from the plasma.

The core catcher was there to catch the expensive fusion core from escaping.

Even though it was only a one-time use kind of thing, if it could save any components of the machine that wasn't destroyed, it would be worth it.

Zhou Chengfu knew what the core catcher was from the fission reactor, and he looked at Lu Zhou in surprise.

"You guys even thought about this?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's not my idea. It was suggested by the engineers from China National Nuclear Corporation. Since it made sense, I approved it."

Both the tokamak and the stellarator could be interpreted as larger nuclear cores compared to normal fission reactors.

After the engineers from the China National Nuclear Corporation understood the value of the reactor, they immediately proposed to use the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant third-generation nuclear fission core catcher on this fusion reactor.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou could also use the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant as a reference. Therefore, he immediately made a decision.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't sound like he was bragging at all, Zhou Chengfu still couldn't help but complain, "Why do you even bother with the core catcher, do you even have a reactor?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The reactor is still under construction. The two components don't interfere with each other. We will complete all of the components and then assemble them."

This time, Zhou Chengfu didn't reply.

He had nothing to say.

After all, he didn't have a deep enough understanding.

He didn't even fully understand the concept of an experimental reactor, much less a demonstration reactor.

The two stopped walking. It was like Zhou Chengfu didn't plan on talking anymore. He just stood there as he quietly looked at the engineering equipment on the construction site and the busy engineers who were walking around.

There were also things happening behind the scene that he couldn't observe.

There were more than thousands of people working on this reactor.

The whole demonstration reactor project was like an engine; every person was like a tooth on a gear, running the engine at a high speed.

Jealousy?

Emotional?

Disbelief?

Right now, Zhou Chengfu's heart was so full of emotion that he had no idea how to make of this.

He didn't understand how a 20-something-year-old kid was able to do all this. If he didn't see it with his own eyes, he never would have believed this was true.

However, it looked like Lu Zhou really did it.

This was the indisputable truth.

Zhou Chengfu suddenly felt a little depressed.

Just like how Old Pan didn't understand his actions, he didn't understand Old Pan.

But now, looking at all of this, he suddenly understood.

If they continued to develop at this rate, maybe…

Maybe Lu Zhou could really develop controllable fusion energy in his lifetime.

After staying silent for a while, Zhou Chengfu slowly spoke.

"These thousands of workers are all working for you, right?"

Lu Zhou: "You can interpret it that way."

Zhou Chengfu looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Have you ever thought that one day, maybe because of your decision or your mistake or because of someone else's mistake, you lose your research project… I want to know, what will you do?"

Lu Zhou: "What does this have to do with me?"

Zhou Chengfu was stunned.

He didn't expect Lu Zhou to respond this way.

He stood there for a while and smiled.

"Huh? Oh, it doesn't. Ah, a leader that doesn't care for his workers isn't a good leader."

Lu Zhou smiled.

"That's why I never wanted to become a leader. All I'm responsible for is to explore the unknown. As for my workers' futures, that's something for them to think about. I am not obligated to care about it."

Chapter 546: We Are Differen

"Ah, sounds easy." Zhou Chengfu shook his head and smiled. He didn't know if he was smiling at himself for being paranoid or he was smiling at how young Lu Zhou was. He said, "One day, you'll realize it's not that simple.

"Well, it looks like you won. I have nothing to say.

"I have to apologize for what happened in the past. But I have to say, even if I, Zhou Chengfu, wasn't around, there would have been a Wu Chengfu or Zheng Chengfu instead. Also, let's talk about you for a moment."

Zhou Chengfu suddenly stared at Lu Zhou with his bloodshot eyes.

"There will be a day where you are the king of your field. What you say is the truth, no one can trump your throne. If you want to go east, no one dares to go west. The scholars that resent you only dare to talk behind your back… Are you certain that when that day comes, you'll be any different than me?"

Lu Zhou stared at Zhou Chengfu for a while and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Your idea is strange in and of itself. Since you're talking about the truth, then is the truth not the thing that determines whether one should go east or west?"

Zhou Chengfu was stunned.

After a while, he suddenly laughed.

His dry laughter was becoming louder and louder, and in the end, his voice was full of self-destruction.

That wave of laughter attracted the attention of the construction workers. It also attracted the attention of the security team who were patrolling nearby.

When they were about to come over and figure out what the situation was, they saw Wang Peng was following Lu Zhou. Therefore, they decided to let it go and continue their patrol route.

Lu Zhou looked at him quietly, but he didn't stop him.

Finally, Zhou Chengfu finished laughing. He coughed and said, "I used to ponder about… what is different about you. Now I think I figured it out. You're a freak, no wonder Old Pan likes you so much."

Lu Zhou looked at him with a blank expression as he waited for Zhou Chengfu to finish speaking.

Zhou Chengfu used his sleeves to wipe his mouth. He then took a deep breath and stood up straight.

He stared at Lu Zhou for a while before saying, "I hope you remember what you said today."

…

After that, Zhou Chengfu turned around and left.

After he left the demonstration reactor construction site, he took a plane and returned to Rongcheng.

Lu Zhou didn't really care about his visit.

He was always a very easygoing person. He'd be happy if other research institutes would cooperate with him, but he wouldn't care if they didn't want to cooperate.

After all, scientific research wasn't farming crops, nor was it building a skyscraper or repairing roads. Investing in scientific research didn't necessarily mean returns.

If Mr. Zhou really didn't want to cooperate with him, there wasn't much he could do.

Instead of dwelling on trivial matters, it would be better for him to use the resources that he already had to produce more value.

Lu Zhou nearly forgot about the whole Zhou Chengfu situation. Two weeks after Zhou Chengfu's visit to the demonstration reactor, the people from the Southwestern Institute of Physics visited again.

This time it wasn't Zhou Chengfu. It was an old man in a gray jacket, who looked like he was in his fifties.

Academician Yuan Yuan made a simple self-introduction and continued to speak, "Academician Zhou retired from the institute yesterday. I am the dean of the institute now."

Lu Zhou was stunned. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Retired?"

Yuan Yuan replied cautiously, "Yeah… This happened recently. Before he retired, he told me to come here and visit you…"

Academician Yuan sighed and began to beg.

"I hope Professor Lu can give us a chance…"

Lu Zhou felt a little surprised, but he just smiled.

"I don't know the so-called 'chance' you're talking about, but if you guys want to join the demonstration reactor construction project, I'd welcome you with both arms open."

Academician Yuan was stunned. He obviously didn't expect Lu Zhou to answer so casually.

However, he quickly replied, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Lu Zhou reached out his right hand and said, "So, Academician Yuan, I'll thank you in advance."

Academician Yuan shook Lu Zhou's hand as he said gratefully, "No way, I'm the one that should be thanking you. Thank you for giving us this opportunity so that we can continue to contribute to China's controllable nuclear fusion field."

Lu Zhou let go of his hand as he smiled.

"No need to thank me, you made that choice yourself."

…

There wasn't any kind of irreversible dispute between Lu Zhou and the Southwestern Institute of Physics.

This all happened because Mr. Zhou was trying to cause trouble.

As for the normal researchers in the Southwestern Institute of Physics, they didn't have a say in the matter at all. Lu Zhou obviously didn't hold a grudge against them.

One could never have too many talents. If they wanted to contribute to the controllable fusion field, he obviously wouldn't reject them.

However, the only unfortunate thing was that Zhou Chengfu decided to retire.

In fact, with his ability and experience, it was a bit too early for him to retire.

Lu Zhou thought about it carefully and discovered that this was actually the best decision for Mr. Zhou, the Southwestern Institute of Physics, and China's future in the controllable fusion field…

Demonstration reactor site, chief designer's office.

Academician Pan sat in the office and sighed in relief. He said, "I really didn't expect Old Zhou to be so persistent. He didn't want to back down. With his ability, he could've continued to dominate this industry. Why did he have to retire? Ah, how unfortunate."

He looked sympathetic.

They had been struggling together in the controllable nuclear fusion field since the 70s, and they walked a long way to get here.

Now that the demonstration reactor project began, controllable fusion was just around the corner.

What was the difference between choosing to retire at this time and deciding to stop the war one day before it could be won?

Lu Zhou looked at the sorrowful Academician Pan and thought about something. He then said, "A while ago, he came here to talk to me."

Academician Pan looked surprised.

"What did you guys talk about?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "We talked about something that had nothing to do with controllable fusion."

Academician Pan didn't ask about the specifics. He only sighed and said, "Okay, it looks like he made his choice after careful consideration."

Academician Pan put his sympathy toward his old friend aside and smiled.

"Oh yeah, other than the Southwestern Institute of Physics, he also retired from his director position at the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center. We haven't decided on a new person yet, but the academicians at the Academy of Engineering all wrote letters recommending you to fill this role. What do you think?"

Chapter 547: Materials Production

The predecessor of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center was the International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center. The name changed ever since China left ITER. The director had always been Zhou Chengfu.

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Pan's expression and knew that Academician Pan was probably the one that convinced the other academicians to vouch for him.

After all, his level of networking and contacts in the Chinese academic community wasn't enough to warrant academicians who he had never met to write letters for him.

Lu Zhou began to enter into deep thought.

Should I accept or not?

He thought for a bit and said, "I'm already the chief designer of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project. Is it fine for me to become the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center as well? Not to mention, my research work is very busy, and I don't have the time."

"Of course it's fine, it's common to have multiple jobs in academia. Not to mention these two jobs don't conflict with each other, plus it wouldn't take up too much of your time." Academician Pan shook his head and said, "You just have to hold the director spot. The actual work can be delegated to your secretary, assistant, or if you really don't want to do it, you can make the deputy director do it."

Normally, Academician Pan wouldn't suggest someone doing this. After all, it was very common for higher-ups to do nothing and delegate work all day.

But since this was Lu Zhou…

He didn't have to worry about these things.

Lu Zhou didn't look like he was convinced, so Academician Pan continued, "If you really don't want to go, none of the deputy directors is a good fit. I'm sure you can figure out the reasons. If we transfer a person from the Energy Bureau, not only will they be unfamiliar with the work, but I'm afraid that they'll be commanding people that know more than them and affect the progress of the project. We are focusing our attention on the big things, so we must do everything possible to avoid wasting resources."

Lu Zhou: "I'll think about it."

Since Lu Zhou had his own ideas, Academician Pan didn't want to persuade any longer. He just nodded.

"Okay, think about it. The Energy Bureau will ask for your opinion beforehand anyway. Oh yeah, the stellarator… is fine, right?"

When Academician Pan mentioned the "big things" just now, he felt a little anxious.

Unlike for a layman, the word stellarator was quite painful for scientific researchers.

Even though concentrating on the big things would increase efficiency, but that was based on the premise that the direction of the "big things" was correct.

Even though Academician Pan knew that the possibility of a mistake was small, he still couldn't help but ask.

When Lu Zhou heard this, he gently coughed and muttered, "We've already come this far, don't try to jinx it for us."

Academician Pan was stunned. "What does jinx it mean?"

Lu Zhou: "It's like when you say something bad is going to happen, it actually happens."

"Can't you millennials say some words that I can understand? My granddaughter is like this as well. She would say some random words all day long." Academician Pan shook his head and stood up from the sofa. He then said, "Okay, I'm relieved that you are so confident. I don't have time to chat with you. I'm going back to Beijing."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "See you, take it easy."

…

Finally, after some consideration, Lu Zhou decided to agree to Academician Pan's suggestion and became the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center.

As for the financial, personnel, management, and other administrative tasks of the Execution Center, Lu Zhou decided to maintain the original arrangements and make no changes. If it was necessary, he would make adjustments later.

Lu Zhou didn't need to use this new director job to achieve any political influence. All he needed was for the Execution Center to continue to do what he wanted and to not bother his research.

After all, after the demonstration reactor was built, the Execution Center would probably be restructured again.

By that time, he could quit and give this director position to someone else.

A week after Zhou Chengfu quit his position, Lu Zhou received the formal director appointment document.

Almost at the same time, a piece of good news came from the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Academician Wang returned to the demonstration reactor site again and immediately found Lu Zhou. He was so excited that he didn't even say hello. He got straight to the point.

"Your blueprint was so useful, we've basically solved the PGC-1 production process! We'll start production latest at the end of the month!"

Lu Zhou had a smile on his face when he heard this news, and he immediately asked, "Where is the factory built?"

Academician Wang: "Changan!"

Ceramic-composite materials were widely used in the aerospace industry because of their high-temperature resistance, strength, and they are relatively lightweight. They were mainly used in liquid rocket engine nozzles, missile radomes, and other aerospace components.

The largest ceramic-based composite material production base in China was located in Changan. Therefore, the LPC-1 material production factory, co-owned by the China National Nuclear Corporation and the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, was also being built there.

Changan…

That's in the middle of the country.

Lu Zhou: "Isn't Changan a bit too far from here?"

Lu Zhou originally thought that it could be built near Haizhou. This way, if a production accident happened, the researchers at the Institute of Computational Materials could go help them.

Just like the SG-1 superconducting material, the researchers at the Institute of Computational Materials helped a lot with the production process. All the way from the upgrade of the production line to solving a series of technical problems.

Academician Wang shook his head and said, "Not too far, it takes two days by rail. It's close to our production base in Rongcheng. After the material is produced, it can be directly shipped to Rongcheng and be processed. Then, it can be sent to Haizhou to be assembled here."

Actually, there was something else that Academician Wang didn't say, which was the production safety aspect. Producing it inland was much safer than producing it near the coastline.

After all, even though this wasn't military technology, it was still nuclear-related. This counted as a piece of sensitive technology.

Lu Zhou nodded and didn't say much else.

"Okay then, you guys are the experts in this area. I won't say much else. Stellarator track processing in Rongcheng? Will you guys be fine?"

When Academician Wang heard this question, he waved his hand.

"Don't worry about this. Twenty years ago, our nuclear experts went to the French nuclear power plant for a visit. Even just observing from afar, they built a similar machine back home. After all, we also tinkered with the STAR machine for half a year now, and we've disassembled and reassembled it countless times. We're the one that changed the outer coil for you. If we can't even do this right, then we should all retire instead!"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "No, don't do that. This project can't continue without you guys. If you want to retire, make sure the demonstration reactor is successful first."

Academician Wang smiled when he heard this, and he squinted his eyes and didn't say anything.

The line, "this project can't continue without you guys", really resonated with him.

This feeling of being valued felt quite good.

Especially since Lu Zhou was a Nobel Prize laureate…

Lu Zhou asked, "The material production is already solved. How long will it take for the stellarator track to be in place?"

Without any hesitation, Academician Wang answered the question confidently, "I promise to build a complete stellarator track for you latest by the end of this year!"

Chapter 548: Full Power Ahead

The beginning of October.

The construction site was lively.

There were several heavy-duty trucks parked on the side of the construction site. With the help from the on-site construction crew and lifting equipment, they carefully unloaded the shipment.

Lu Zhou was standing next to him, watching the heavy equipment being transported onto the site. Xiao Le spoke emotionally, "We were going to sell this thing to ITER, but I'm guessing they probably won't buy it anymore."

The device in front of these two people was the legendary ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna.

This device consisted of four components—the transmitter, the transmission line, the impedance matcher, and the most important component, heating antenna. The RF output energy could reach 3MW and the frequency could be adjusted between 30-110MHZ.

This was one of the key components of the fusion machine. This was probably one of the most advanced pieces of technology, second only to the superconducting D-shape design from the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory.

In addition to being purchased by the General Atomics company, this billion-dollar equipment also received orders from the ITER demonstration reactor project.

But now, it seemed that the Europeans probably wouldn't buy it anymore.

Xiao Le paused for a second and said, "This equipment was originally intended to be dismantled and shipped all the way to France. However, our cooperation with ITER has obviously been interrupted. Using this piece of equipment, we can quickly heat the plasma inside the reactor to more than 100 million degrees! This is one of the most advanced pieces of plasma heating equipment in the world!"

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the equipment with interest.

Even though it was called the ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna, rather than looking like an antenna, this thing looked more like a gigantic air conditioner.

The shape of the steel frame for the entire machine was similar to that of an air conditioner. The limiter and current band attached on the outside of the machine looked like an air filter and fan blade.

Further to the back were the tubular vacuum transmission lines, hydraulic drives, and the important vacuum feed ports.

During an experiment, the protection limiter was the "air-conditioner fan blade", which was located at the front of the ICRF[1.Ion cyclotron resonance heating] antenna. This, combined with the current band, constituted the plasma heating components and the "Faraday shielding box". This isolated the plasma from the charged current while the plasma was heating, it also prevented the electric field from coupling into the plasma.

Since the plasma was in a vacuum chamber, there were also 43 cooling pipes with a diameter of 10 mm on the outside of the machine.

Even though the whole machine looked complicated and humongous, it lacked some of the classic science fiction aesthetics. However, nothing about the design was unnecessary; each solder joint had been carefully designed.

Therefore, it wasn't an easy task to change the design of this thing.

Suddenly, an old engineer, who was wearing a hard hat and a gray coat, came over. He looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

"How is it? Looks pretty good, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Looks pretty reliable. I just hope it will work normally on the stellarator."

The old engineer waved his hand and said, "Rest assured. Even if it doesn't work now, we promise to make it work eventually."

The old man standing in front of Lu Zhou was called Li Jiangang. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was also the vice president of the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Science and Technology of China.

The old man was previously researching marine power plants, but somehow, he ended up in the field of plasma physics. He was caught in the wave of the 90s scientific revolution when controllable fusion became more and more popular. His academic career had been nothing but success. He first became a vice president, then became an academician.

Before China withdrew from ITER, he was also one of China's expert committee members. When the ion cyclotron resonance heating technology was internationally recognized, his work on this piece of technology was crucial.

Now that China withdrew from ITER, he became a consultant for the Execution Center. He was also responsible for coordinating the involvement of the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory in the demonstration reactor project, specifically, the entire heating component of the reactor.

Xiao Le, standing next to Lu Zhou, was one of his students recommended by him.

Lu Zhou had a lot of trust in this big name's promise.

"Thank you so much, but I have a few simple requirements."

Professor Li took out a notebook he was carrying.

"Go ahead."

Lu Zhou nodded and recalled the details he discussed in previous meetings.

"Due to the several different types of plasma discharge in the stellarator, the heating antenna has to be able to move in a radial direction. The moving range has to be between minus 150 mm and 150 mm. The accuracy has to be on the millimeter scale, is this possible?"

Professor Li said without hesitation, "This isn't a problem."

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, "The impedance requirements of components such as the vacuum feed port and transmission line of the antenna have to meet the design requirements of 50 ohms. The voltage requirement for the inner and outer conductors has to be 45 kV.

"The current band and Faraday shields all require their separate cooling circuits, and their cooling capacities are required to withstand the scale of MW/m2 thermal loads.

"Also, regarding the maintenance and assembly of the antenna, we need to minimize the welding position so that the total leakage rate of the antenna has to be less than 10^-10Pa·m^3/s.

"…"

This was fine at the beginning, and Academician Li was pretty relaxed. However, when Lu Zhou continued to fire out these requirements like a machine gun, Academician Li didn't look as relaxed anymore. Instead, he looked stressed.

Lu Zhou listed another dozen requirements or so. He even began to feel a little thirsty, so Wang Peng gave him a bottle of water. He took a sip of the water and continued, "That's the basic situation. I might have spoken too fast. Once the meeting outline is written, I'll send the details to your email."

Li Jiangang finally stopped writing.

He looked at his notebook for a while and began to subconsciously frown. However, he forced a smile.

"You really know how to make us work hard. Even the ITER project conferences aren't as complicated as this."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "After all, this is the first reactor of its kind. We have to do a good job from the start, and I want to make it as perfect as possible."

Even though the system didn't specify any requirements for the DEMO demonstration reactor, there was no doubt that the mission rewards were tied to the outcome of the demonstration reactor. The better the reactor was built, the more mission rewards he would receive.

Looking at it from a realistic point of view, the better the demonstration reactor capabilities were, the fewer problems they would encounter during the technology commercialization phase. As a researcher, he wanted his research to be recognized by the world.

Academician Li closed his notebook and said, "Okay, I'll go back to the institute tomorrow and give you an answer in two days."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."

…

The STAR-2 demonstration reactor project had been going on the right track. Both the construction site and research institute was blossoming with action.

The demonstration reactor was like a torch, illuminating the entire future of the nuclear fusion field.

Even though no one did any kind of motivational speech, everyone working here had a strong sense of purpose.

They were doing something meaningful.

Their research was at the forefront of the world.

Up until now, they had achieved countless in-progress results, won countless fights, proved themselves countless times.

Everyone was certain that as long as Chief Designer Lu was here, they would continue in this manner until they were past the finish line.

It was difficult to have negative emotions working in an environment like this.

Even the chefs in the cafeteria were working enthusiastically.

If everything went well, all of the components could be completed by the end of the year.

As for whether it was by the end of New Year's Day or Chinese New Year, that would depend on their luck.

There were only two things Lu Zhou had to solve.

One was to go back to the STAR Stellarator Research Institute near the Purple Mountain and complete the final design of the liquid lithium neutron recovery system as soon as possible.

Other people were working so hard, he couldn't drag them behind.

The neutron recovery system was the core component of the entire fusion reactor. The design of this component directly determined the success of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project. If this part was successfully completed, then they would have a "plasma control technology". Which could help solve the second biggest fusion reactor problem—the "heavy water" issue.

This was the last difficult part.

As for the electricity generator, the heater, the "safety-nets" under the reactor… These components were only minor components that perfected the reactor.

As for the other thing, he had to solve the supercomputer problem.

As of now, the plasma control scheme of the STAR experimental reactor was done with the help from Xiao Ai.

It was not like he could move Xiao Ai onto the main demonstration reactor computer, right?

After all, it wasn't appropriate for Xiao Ai to be shown to the world.

The best way would be to separate the plasma control scheme from the main program.

If Lu Zhou solved these two problems, then he'd have assembled all of the "puzzles".

The completion of a demonstration reactor was just around the corner.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but get excited.

Countless nights of hard work.

This day was finally going to come.

Chapter 549: The Mysterious "District 900"

It was late into the night, but the bar near the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant was filled with flashing disco lights, heavy music, and the smell of alcohol.

Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant was the largest cooperation project between Russia and China. In addition to stationing a lot of its own Chinese engineers, the residential area for engineers also contained a lot of Russian engineers.

When it was late into the night, these foreign employees often came here to wind-down.

In contrast, the Chinese engineers rarely visited this place.

Georgy was by the bar, and he was a little tipsy. He stumbled around and began to chat with his colleagues.

"What do you think those Chinese people are doing?"

Ever since the troops were stationed in this area, blocking the site that was originally going to be used for the third phase of the nuclear power plant, it was like the area a few kilometers away from them had disappeared from the map. The on-going third phase project was also suspended.

All these were bound to attract people's attention.

What exactly were the Chinese doing?

This problem had been plaguing all of the foreign researchers; it became a very popular topic of conversation.

However, the Chinese engineers working here seemed reluctant to talk about this issue.

As for the ordinary employees, they were also interested in what was happening. However, they probably didn't know any more than the Russians.

Maksim was sitting next to Georgy, and he said in an uncertain tone, "I heard it's nuclear fusion."

"Nuclear fusion?!" Georgy's eyes were wide open. He took another sip of his tangy cocktail and said, "Are you kidding me? That's the third phase project site! They're using it for controllable fusion experiments?"

Maksim twirled his glass around, he seemed to be a bit down.

"I think so, I read their newspaper a while back… They might be more advanced on nuclear fusion technology than we had expected. Maybe it wouldn't take long before they start generating electricity."

If the demonstration reactor project was successful, there would be no reason to continue the third phase of the nuclear power plant project.

When that time arrived, they might as well forget about second-generation fission reactors, since even third-generation fission reactors would be of no use.

Also, by that time, it would be about time for the Russians to go back home.

Honestly speaking, after working here for so long, Maksim actually liked it here.

Suddenly, an Asian looking man who was sitting next to them spoke in fluent Russian, "You guys are Russian?"

Maksim raised his eyebrows, and he said with interest, "I've lived here for so many years; this is my first time seeing a Chinese speak fluent Russian."

"Oh really? It looks like we are destined to meet." The man smiled and looked at the bartender before saying, "Three White Russians, two for my friends."

The man looked back at Maksim and smiled, showing his row of white teeth.

"From now on we are friends, right?"

Maksim looked at him strangely.

He felt like there was something wrong with this man, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where.

The man noticed the Russian was doubting him, so he continued to speak, "Don't feel alarmed. Actually, I'm just a reporter. I want to interview you about some things."

"Anything but trade secrets." Georgy burped and grinned as he said, "Since you bought me a drink, I can talk with you for a bit."

The Asian man asked, "I heard that there has been an army squadron stationed near here?"

Georgy rubbed chin and said, "They came here around two weeks ago."

The man was interested, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Two weeks ago… Do you know what they're doing?"

Georgy smiled and said, "Haha, good question! We all want to know what they are doing. How about you go ask them and tell me?"

"I'll change the subject." The man seemed to have expected this answer, so he didn't feel discouraged. He smiled and asked, "Have you heard any planes around here?"

"Planes? Why are you asking about this?" Georgy frowned and said, "I haven't heard any I think…"

Suddenly, two men, who were dressed casually, walked out of the crowd and stood next to the self-proclaimed reporter.

The reporter could feel the pressure weighing on him. He prepared to get up and leave, but when he saw his pathway was blocked, he calmly sat back down on the bar stool.

"I am a reporter from the Daily Mail. This is my reporter credentials." The man took out his ID from his pocket and handed it over to the man.

However, the man in casual wear didn't even look at the ID. Instead, he said with a blank expression, "Interviews are not allowed here, please come with us."

The reporter immediately refused as he said, "Hey, you have no right to do this."

However, the two men didn't bother to argue with him. They skillfully found and confiscated his recording equipment and camera, which were hidden in his collar. Then, without explaining anything, they took him away.

The loud heavy metal music was still playing, and the alcohol was making everyone discombobulated.

It was like no one noticed this was happening, as if nothing had happened.

Georgy and Maksim looked at the man being dragged away. They looked at each other and intelligently stopped talking about their previous topic. They began to drink instead.

…

[Secret nuclear tests? The mysterious District 900]

The latest issue of the Daily Mail was on Lu Zhou's desk.

District 900 seemed to be what the foreign media called this area. Because this area was blocked off in September, and they didn't know the specific date, so they wrote 00.

Ever since the demonstration reactor nuclear fusion project was launched, this small town gathered a large number of reporters.

Some of which were real reporters, others were disguised as overseas intelligence personnel. Lu Zhou occasionally heard from Wang Peng that the Ministry of State Security had caught many spies here.

So far, it seemed like the country was doing a good job of keeping it a secret. Even though there had been nosy people trying to explore this place, there hadn't been any "incidents" that affected the experiment.

However, the mysterious aspect was precisely what gave the foreign media the ability to use their imaginations.

The western media described the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project as China's version of the Manhattan Project.

To be honest, Lu Zhou was quite disappointed.

The reasons why he collected these newspapers for himself, was mainly to understand the latest developments in the international controllable fusion field. However, most of the news articles were written about himself.

Lu Zhou was sitting at his desk. He put down the newspaper and said, "I plan on going back to Jinling. There's an important piece of research waiting for me there."

Wang Peng: "Is it urgent?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "The sooner the better, it's best if we can leave today."

Wang Peng immediately looked like he was taking this matter seriously, and he said, "Okay, I'll arrange it for you immediately."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Ok, thank you."

He was quite confident at Wang Peng's abilities. At least, in terms of traveling, Wang Peng had never let him down.

After Lu Zhou let Wang Peng handle his travel plans, he continued to do his work at hand.

After around an hour or so, his phone suddenly began to ring.

"The vehicle is ready for you, you can leave now. Do you need to go back home and pack your luggage first? If you do, I'll drive you there first."

Already?

Lu Zhou looked a little surprised.

"No need, I don't have anything to carry back. I'm only going for a few days. Just wait for me at the site entrance."

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He then picked up a few copies of the recently printed files from the table and put them in his computer bag.

When Lu Zhou was walking outside, he thought that Wang Peng had bought him the latest train ticket for him.

He didn't expect to see a military green helicopter parked right at the entrance of the base. The propeller on top of the helicopter was humming.

Lu Zhou looked at the helicopter. He then looked at Wang Peng. He stood there with his computer bag in his hand and his mouth wide open.

"This is the fastest means of transportation." Wang Peng walked next to Lu Zhou and smiled as he said, "Oh yeah, you're… not afraid of flying in one, right?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 550: Didn't You Say As Soon As Possible?

Even though Lu Zhou had flown in a plane countless of times, this was his first time in a helicopter.

Lu Zhou looked away from the faraway ground and subconsciously touched his sturdy seatbelt; this finally gave him a sense of security.

He looked at the people in the cabin.

There were five people in the cabin.

Other than him and Wang Peng, there were also two men and one woman.

Two of them were pilots, sitting at the pilot and co-pilot seats. As for the lady sitting across from Lu Zhou and Wang Peng, she looked quite young. Lu Zhou didn't know what she did, but he felt like it was probably similar to Wang Peng's job.

She even felt more military-like than Wang Peng.

Both from her posture and her vibe…

However, this was just Lu Zhou's intuition, and it was often not that accurate.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and quietly asked, "I just told you to buy a train ticket, why did you get me a helicopter?"

Wang Peng: "Didn't you say as soon as possible?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

"Okay, the real reason is that we have recently captured several overseas spies in Haizhou. Even though we are not certain if they are scheming against you, we're taking the helicopter just in case." Wang Peng smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I haven't introduced you to these people yet, this is…"

Lu Zhou looked at the young woman sitting across from him. Wang Peng was about to speak but the woman spoke first.

"Yan Yan."

Lu Zhou: "You're also from the Ministry of State Security?"

Yan Yan's eyebrows furrowed slightly as if she wasn't satisfied with this assumption. She replied in an almost insulting and ridiculing manner, "He's the only one from the Ministry of State Security here."

Wang Peng coughed and explained, "Doctor Yan is from the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department, not the same as me."

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know what the General Staff Department was, he knew what a doctor was.

"Doctor? Military doctor?"

Yan Yan said in a concise manner, "You could say so."

Wang Peng looked behind Ms. Yan, at the man sitting in the pilot seat.

"The one sitting in the pilot seat is Yang Guangbiao, also known as Captain Yang. Just like Doctor Yan, he's also from the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department."

Compared to Yan Yan, the man named Yang Guangbiao seemed to be much older. Lu Zhou guessed that he was probably in his thirties.

Maybe because he was too focused on flying the helicopter, or perhaps it was just his personality, he didn't talk much with Lu Zhou. He silently nodded to acknowledge Lu Zhou, then placed his attention back onto the helicopter controls.

Lu Zhou nodded at him and didn't want to interrupt him.

Wang Peng said, "Sitting next to him is Captain Wu. He's in the army and doesn't have anything to do with us, he's just helping to co-pilot."

"Why did you put it like that?" Captain Wu, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, smiled and said, "All of the construction site safety is done by the military. What do you mean I have nothing to do with Professor Lu?"

Compared to the cold-blooded Doctor Yan and quiet Captain Yang, Captain Wu seemed much more talkative.

Lu Zhou nodded toward him.

"Thank you for all the safety work."

Captain Wu smiled and said, "No need to thank me, we just occasionally patrol around the perimeter. The real hard work is being done by the scientific researchers on the front line."

Wang Peng coughed and stopped the small chat. He said to Lu Zhou, "Didn't I tell you about this before? We're in a special time period. The higher-ups want to increase your security level. So, these two people were transferred from the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department to assist us."

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face, and he pointed toward his feet and asked, "Is this helicopter also transferred?"

Wang Peng coughed and said, "The helicopter obviously isn't for you, we borrowed it from the military. We have to return it."

Captain Wu smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, I'll fly it back when you don't need it. Professor Lu, whenever you need it, just call us and we'll arrange everything for you."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you."

Captain Wu smiled heartily.

"You're welcome, I'm happy to serve the people!"

…

The helicopter was insanely fast, and the scenery below swiftly flew by. This 300-kilometer trip was completed in less than two hours.

Even a high-speed train wouldn't be this fast. After all, it had to stop mid-way at Anhui.

However, after getting off this speedy machine, Lu Zhou felt like he couldn't feel the bottom of his feet.

He swore that this was his last time flying in that thing.

Unless there was no other option.

Yan Yan noticed his discomfort, and she asked, "Do you need motion sickness medicine?"

"No thanks…" Lu Zhou stretched his stiff arms and shook his head as he said, "I don't need a medic just yet."

Yan Yan said in a serious tone, "Don't force it, your health is part of my duties."

"If I need it, I'll tell you." Lu Zhou took a deep breath of the fresh air and felt alive. He then looked at Wang Peng and said, "Please send me to Zhongshan International."

Wang Peng immediately said, "No problem, the car is ready for you."

It was pretty late when they departed since it was already dusk when they got off the chopper. When they drove into Zhongshan International, the sky was almost dark.

Lu Zhou finally arrived at his front door. As he looked at the mansion from the car, he sighed in relief.

I'm finally home.

He hadn't been back here for more than a month, so he quite missed this place.

After Lu Zhou got off the car, he took out his keys and opened the door.

He suddenly noticed that Doctor Yan was following him.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit. He looked back at her and asked, "What are you doing?"

Yan Yan frowned and said, "Is there a problem? Doesn't Wang Peng live here as well?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

There were so many problems with this that he didn't even know where to begin.

Also, what do you mean Wang Peng also lives here?

Other than my parents and sister, no one else has ever stayed the night here before.

Since Lu Zhou didn't say anything, Yan Yan thought that he had agreed. She said, "According to the higher-ups' demands, from now on, I will be responsible for your health. This will probably continue until the end of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project. In the meantime, thank you for cooperating with our work."

Yan Yan looked at the mansion.

"Your house is pretty big, so there should be empty rooms, right? I don't really care about my living environment, just give me a room that is close to your bedroom."

What is this?

Living in my house?

No way!

Lu Zhou wasn't happy at all, and he immediately said in a serious manner, "Ms. Yan, please respect my boundaries!"

Yan Yan: "???"

…

Without explaining the reason why, Lu Zhou refused to let Yan Yan into his house. Lu Zhou first took a shower and then made himself a cup of coffee. After that, he went into his study room, opened his computer, and turned on his home private server.

After the server was turned on, the sleeping robot vacuum cleaner woke up and began to clean the dust that accumulated on the floor.

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee in a relaxed manner as he waited for Xiao Ai to appear.

After a few seconds of waiting, a notification popped up on the lower right corner of his screen.

[Master, you're back! Happy~(•̀∀•́)]

Lu Zhou looked at the energetic Xiao Ai and smiled as he said, "Xiao Ai, let me ask you something."

Xiao Ai: [Ok, ask me ~(cute.jpg)]

Lu Zhou sipped some coffee and contemplated it for a bit. He then asked, "About the plasma control scheme algorithm, is there a way to extract the algorithm?"

Xiao Ai went silent for a while.

Lu Zhou was wondering what this thing was thinking about when another text bubble popped up.

[Master, are you going to abandon me? :( ]

Lu Zhou nearly spat his coffee on his keyboard.

What the hell do you mean abandon?

Chapter 551: I Won't Ghost You

"You couldn't do it either?"

Wang Peng was sitting in the driver's seat smoking. When he saw Yan Yan walk out of the mansion, he blew a cloud of smoke and jokingly said, "I thought Professor Lu would be more welcoming to a pretty girl, so I didn't warn you. I didn't expect him to reject you."

He had a pretty good relationship with Professor Lu, but when it came to spending the night at Professor Lu's house…

Lu Zhou had never agreed.

To be honest, this did bring a certain degree of difficulty to his job.

However, according to Lu Zhou, he felt uncomfortable when non-family members were at his house.

Especially when he was researching problems, he liked to be alone.

In fact, this was true. According to Wang Peng's observations, the only people that lived here were Lu Zhou's parents and his sister, who was studying at Jin Ling University.

Yan Yan ignored Wang Peng's joke as she opened the back car door, sat down, and sighed.

"You're just his driver?"

"Yeah, why?" Wang Peng put out the cigarette and lit another one as he asked, "Do you think I wash his clothes and buy him grocery?"

"Letting you guys handle security is the wrong decision." Yan Yan shook her head and looked at Wang Peng as she said in a serious way, "Is privacy important or is safety important? Professor Lu doesn't know this, but you should know."

Wang Peng smiled and tapped the cigarette. He was about to speak when suddenly, Yang Guangbiao, who was sitting shotgun, spoke first.

"Fine, Wang Peng doesn't have it easy either."

Finally, someone was agreeing with Wang Peng, so he spoke emotionally, "Yeah… I'm just a bodyguard. Everyone I take care of is a god. No matter how hard I beg, they won't cooperate with me."

"Professor Lu is even worse. Forget about the domestic situation, what if foreigners are more 'concerned' about him, what can I do then?"

Wang Peng opened the glove box and pointed inside. He said, "The security camera is inside. Are you willing to install it in his mansion without him agreeing? If you are, then let's cut the crap and let you do it. If anything happens, it's your fault!"

Yan Yan looked at the security camera inside the glove box, but she didn't reach for it.

After all, this wasn't her profession.

It wasn't like she could operate this professional equipment.

"I still feel like something is wrong. If this place is infiltrated by foreign intelligence…"

Wang Peng was a little annoyed.

"Then go talk with Professor Lu, don't bring it to me."

Yan Yan's eyebrows furrowed. She was about to say something but was stopped by Yang Guangbiao.

"Don't worry about this too much. It's safe here… If I'm guessing correctly, you guys are in the same squadron, right?"

Wang Peng flicked his cigarette and smiled as he said, "Finally! Someone that knows what's going on."

Yan Yan: "???"

Yang Guangbiao raised his chin and pointed on the sidewalk. "That person patrolling over there. He's in the army."

People had already thought this through.

Since Professor Lu wasn't happy about having security in his own home, they had to install security outside his home.

After all, it was only one small-gated community in the suburbs. It wasn't too difficult to install outdoor security measures.

Even though the property management security here was reasonable, it was nothing compared to the army.

They were happy to cooperate with the army.

Yang Guangbiao said, "Doctor Yan, just do your job, Mr. Wang will handle the security."

Yan Yan hesitated for a second and finally sighed.

"I understand."

…

At the same time, inside the mansion.

Lu Zhou accidentally spilled the coffee, so he was wiping the keyboard with some tissues.

Thankfully, he didn't spill too much. He quite liked this keyboard.

Xiao Ai's text bubble kept flashing on the screen.

[Please, Master, don't kick me out of my home. :(( ]

The tissues were dyed brown. Lu Zhou threw them into the trash can and focused his attention on the screen. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kick you out."

Xiao Ai: [Really? ._.)]

Lu Zhou: "When have I ever lied to you?"

Xiao Ai: [341 days 5 hours 21 minutes and 4 seconds ago. You said I was going to move into a new home, but you lied. ._. ]

Lu Zhou: "???"

The f*ck?

Did this really happen?

Lu Zhou was muddled. After thinking about it for a while, he finally remembered. It happened last year when he was still moving homes.

But that's just a joke, why are you still resentful?

You've been remembering this the whole time?

Lu Zhou coughed and tried to hide the awkwardness. "You were still level 1 back then, not intelligent enough. I meant a physical home back then, not a server home. You misunderstood! You can't blame me for this. Also, look, your demands are satisfied now, right?"

Xiao Ai: [(sad.jpg) (sad.jpg) (sad.jpg)]

Lu Zhou continued, "Think about it. Even though that supercomputer is yours, it's mainly used for stellarator experiments. At most, you're just borrowing it. If you separate the plasma control scheme algorithm from the main program, then you'll be set free from the plasma control scheme work! I'll even give you a new supercomputer or let you have this one. How does that sound?"

Xiao Ai: [Even though Xiao Ai thinks master is being very reasonable, it feels like something is wrong. ._.]

Lu Zhou said, "Tell me, can you do it or not?"

Xiao Ai: [I… I can… :'(]

When Lu Zhou saw the ":'(", he empathetically lowered his tone and said, "Don't worry, I won't ghost you this time."

Xiao Ai: [Ok… :'(]

Finally, Lu Zhou was able to "convince" Xiao Ai.

Actually, this wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.

Even though it was called artificial "intelligence", it was far more primitive than humans.

At the very least, from an algorithm level, Xiao Ai couldn't betray him.

No matter how much Xiao Ai resisted, Lu Zhou only had to answer some [yes/no] questions. He didn't even have to explain why. If he ordered Xiao Ai to do something, Xiao Ai had no other choice but to follow the commands.

However, maybe because it was getting too human-like, Lu Zhou didn't like to treat it harshly.

He wasn't sure if it could think like humans, or if its "emotion" was only a simulation. He wasn't even sure if its intelligent behavior were top-down or bottom-up.

If it was the former, then he didn't have to worry about much. In the "Elephants don't play chess" thesis by Rodney Brooks, he pointed out that this kind of artificial intelligence would never surpass the framework designed by humans.

But if it was the latter…

He hoped that while teaching this naive artificial intelligence the ability to think, he could also teach it the concept of humanity.

As for whether or not there was any meaning in doing this, Lu Zhou wasn't sure. After all, he wasn't an expert in artificial intelligence. For the time being, he didn't have the energy to dive deep into the topic of artificial intelligence.

However, his intuition told him that he was correct.

Chapter 552: Last Hurdle

"I see…"

Lu Zhou quickly looked through the code on the screen. He had a moment of realization on his face.

Relying on his coding ability, it might be a bit difficult for him to completely understand the algorithm. However, he could understand the basic execution logic of the plasma control scheme just from a few key lines of code alone, so it wasn't too big of a problem.

In short, this algorithm was probably made from machine learning.

This advanced ML algorithm referenced the program written by the Jin Ling University computer science department and Lu Zhou's previous mathematical model. It carried out countless simulations on the plasma kinetic trajectories and made adjustments to the phenomenological model. Finally, it set a number of parameters to make the algorithm as perfect as possible.

When it came to real-life application, when a phenomenological model was done to the extreme, it was just as good as a theoretical model.

At least that was how it was performance-wise.

It was just like the empirical fluid mechanics formulas, even though it wasn't possible to explain them with existing theories, that didn't prevent people from using them to design aircraft and engines.

Collecting these data and adjusting the original control scheme might take years or even decades if done by hand.

However, Xiao Ai had a supercomputer at hand, and it could change the control scheme in real-time, so it only needed a few stellarator experiments for reference.

In a sense, the plasma control scheme algorithm extracted from Xiao Ai's core code could be interpreted as an algorithm developed by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

However, this extracted artificial intelligence was undoubtedly less intelligent than Xiao Ai.

Does this mean that this thing is Xiao Ai's offspring?

This idea flashed in Lu Zhou's mind.

However, Lu Zhou quickly threw the idea away and closed his computer.

If that were the case, then Lu Zhou wouldn't be able to look at Xiao Ai the same way anymore.

…

The plasma control scheme problem finally came to an end. After the supercomputer for the demonstration reactor was built, the algorithm would be transferred.

Lu Zhou woke up early the next morning. He called Wang Peng and asked him to bring some dumplings. After Lu Zhou drank some soymilk and finished eating the dumplings, he departed to the STAR research institute.

Other than the plasma control scheme, one of the reasons Lu Zhou came back this time was to complete the final design of the liquid neutron recovery system.

Even though ever since Lu Zhou went to Haizhou, the STAR research institute hadn't stopped working, their progress hadn't increased by much. They weren't able to produce any kind of in-progress results yet.

This type of scientific research project was like a car; every component of the car had to work together for it to work.

Now that the first wall material was solved, other research institutes had been working on the core catcher and the heating components. However, even though they were responsible for the most crucial parts of the project, they hadn't been able to make any substantial progress.

Even though no one was rushing them, they were still under a lot of pressure.

Now that Lu Zhou came back from Haizhou, everyone in the institute felt relieved.

Sheng Xianfu, who looked like he hadn't slept for weeks, looked at Lu Zhou and smiled brightly.

"You finally came back, we were about to go and find you."

Lu Zhou: "Thanks for working hard all this time."

"Ah, it's fine." Sheng Xianfu scratched his scruffy hair and sighed as he said, "There are just a few main problems that aren't solved, giving us a headache."

Ever since he joined the research institute here, he felt his hair becoming thinner and thinner.

Lu Zhou had an awkward expression on his face.

He was the one that proposed this technical route in the beginning, but he himself had been busy with other research projects.

However, he had no other choice. After all, he didn't think it would be so troublesome. He originally thought that since the plan was written in detail and they had help from the China National Nuclear Corporation engineers, it shouldn't be a big problem. So, Lu Zhou focused his attention on the PGC-1 material.

Little did he know, he underestimated the difficulty of this research project.

"Gather everyone in the institute and host a meeting." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I have to understand what is going on here."

"Okay, I'll do it right now."

Sheng Xianfu nodded and quickly walked into his office.

Lu Zhou returned to his office and revisited the liquid lithium neutron recovery system plans. He then got up and went to the research institute conference room No. 1.

He didn't have to wait long before everyone else in the institute arrived.

With all of the STAR researchers and engineers gathered here, Lu Zhou made a short opening statement and was informed of what was going on by various departments.

According to the leaders of several departments, the current research was still centered on the same idea he had before he went to Haizhou.

Which was to use the PGC-1 first wall material to transmit and decelerate the neutrons. After that, the liquid lithium circulation device would absorb the neutrons and release the tritium. The beryllium reflective layer coated outside the liquid lithium would bounce back the unreacted neutrons.

The recovered tritium would be in the form of gas, which would be recovered at the top of the machine. This would be reinjected back into the reaction chamber for further reaction.

Professor Li Changxia, who came from Yuhua University, was sitting at the conference table. He said, "The collection of tritium in the liquid lithium is easy. We just have to put a filler in the reactor. It is theoretically possible to separate the tritium using the divertor inside the reactor, or we can also add a separation device in front of the machine. However, the hard part is the thickness of the liquid lithium layer. We conducted several experiments, but the results weren't very good."

The thickness of the liquid lithium layer was a crucial problem; it couldn't be too thick nor too thin.

Too thick would cause a large amount of tritium to be trapped in the liquid lithium, thus reducing recovery efficiency. This would also greatly increase the engineering difficulty and could affect the safety of the reactor.

It couldn't be too thin either as it would directly affect the proliferation rate of the tritium. After all, the half-life of free neutrons was only around 10.6 minutes. This meant that in addition to other elements decaying, they had to think about the neutrons themselves decaying.

Ideally, the neutrons could be recovered by the liquid lithium before a secondary neutron reflection occurred at the base metal. However, this wasn't easy to do at all.

Lu Zhou: "Did you bring the experimental data?"

"It's here."

Sheng Xianfu nodded and immediately handed over a document.

Lu Zhou took the document and began to carefully examine the data within.

Time slowly passed by, and the only sound in the conference room was the sound of the clock ticking on the wall.

Lu Zhou didn't say anything, so the researchers sitting at the conference table waited patiently.

Lu Zhou finally finished reading the document.

Everyone thought that this big name would come up with an idea, but his actions were beyond everyone's expectations.

"The research path is correct, this data is very important. There are just some methods that were lacking, so you guys didn't achieve the expected results. You all have worked quite well over the past month, and I suppose no one has gotten any rest recently.

"The conference ends here, you guys can go home. Everyone will take two days off."

Lu Zhou looked at the surprised looks on everyone's face and gently tapped the data document on the conference table.

"I'll take this and tinker with it.

"I'll give you guys a result in three days!"Machine learning

Chapter 553: The Faster The Better!

The conference ended in a hurry.

After the conference ended, the group of researchers left the conference room. Only Professor Lu stayed behind.

Li Changxia walked next to Sheng Xianfu and hesitated for a bit before he asked in a confused manner, "What is Professor Lu… thinking about?"

Sheng Xianfu: "What do you mean by that?"

Li Changxia sighed and said, "We don't know when the results will come out. We are still researching whether or not the demonstration reactor can progress to the next stage. It's not a good time to go on a break."

Also, he claimed to be able to produce results in three days…

Even though he knew Professor Lu was skilled, this wasn't a theoretical mathematics or physics problem.

In any case, this sounded ridiculous.

Sheng Xianfu thought for a bit and said, "Maybe… he already has a solution?"

"He has a solution?" Li Changxia paused for a second and frowned. He then asked, "But why didn't he mention it during the meeting? Is he really going to leave us hanging?"

"I don't know, but I trust Professor Lu's mathematics intuition. There aren't many mathematicians in the world who are more talented than him. I don't think he's leaving us hanging…" Sheng Xianfu forced a smile and said, "Maybe it's just that, even if he were to explain it to us, we wouldn't understand."

Li Changxia: "…"

…

Sheng Xianfu's speculation was very accurate. Lu Zhou had a moment of inspiration and wanted to express his ideas. However, when he was about to manifest this inspiration into the language of mathematics, he decided against it.

His experience told him that even mathematics professionals wouldn't be able to easily understand his calculations. To make these non-mathematical researchers understand his calculations would be even more difficult.

They had been working hard.

Instead of giving them unnecessary burdens, it would be better for him to solve this himself and give them instructions on what to do next.

Lu Zhou left the research institute and went home. He didn't even eat lunch. He went straight to his study room.

He placed the printed experimental data on the table and took a pen and paper. He began to focus meticulously on the data and started to examine it.

Maybe other people wouldn't be able to extract any value from this data, but he was different.

Just like he had expected, their idea to solve the problem was correct. They were just lacking in the area of methodology. Therefore, they weren't able to extract the full value of this data.

Maybe in the future, in months or even years, they would finally be able to make a breakthrough.

Just like other outstanding research results, it was the accumulation of countless experiments, which aid the final breakthrough.

And what Lu Zhou was going now, was just to make that breakthrough come sooner.

Time slowly passed by, and the draft papers began to form a pile.

With help from Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou calculated the rest of the engineering parameters. He sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair.

He looked at the dark night outside his window and smirked.

All he had to do now was to provide these calculations to the engineers at the STAR research institute and let them complete the final design.

"I thought I would need three days, I didn't expect to complete it in one day."

Lu Zhou left his state of concentration and gradually felt hungry.

Speaking of which, all he ate today was some dumplings.

Lu Zhou realized this and was about to get himself something to eat in his kitchen. However, in his peripheral, he saw the liquid lithium neutron recovery system plan sitting on his table.

A light bulb went off in his mind, and Lu Zhou quietly whispered, "System, how many general points does it take to exchange for the liquid lithium neutron recovery system?"

He waited quietly for a bit, but no one responded.

Lu Zhou realized he wasn't using the right method, so he shook his head and focused his attention on the plan.

Soon, a translucent pop-up window appeared in his sight.

[Mathematics level 7, engineering level 4, engineering level 3… User met the minimum level requirements.

[Required general points: 50,000]

Lu Zhou saw the four zeros behind the five and looked hopeless.

He only had 5,000 or so general points.

This is just a sub-project of the nuclear fusion project, is it really worth 50,000 general points?

If it was for the entire fusion project, I wonder how many general points it would take…

As expected, even though the system gave him a chance to "look at the answer", this shortcut wasn't optimal.

He originally intended on using the general points to save him some time…

Lu Zhou shook his head and was about to give up on this idea. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind, and he quickly flipped open the plan and put it together with the data he just calculated.

From his past experience, the "optimal solution" given by the system was based on his designs, plans, and subject level.

If Lu Zhou's speculation was correct, then the price given by the system was correlated to how long it would take for him to solve the problem himself.

Lu Zhou had no idea how long it would take for him to earn 50,000 general points.

It could take five years, or it could even take ten years.

One thing for sure was that he didn't need the "optimal solution" since he didn't necessarily need the entire answer to the liquid lithium neutron recovery system.

The majority of the plan had been completed and the parameters that caused troubles to the STAR research institute had been solved by him. All he needed now was to implement these research results into the engineering drawings. This was originally going to be done by professional engineers, but it would just take longer.

Lu Zhou reorganized his thoughts and placed his attention on one of the pages. He called out the system again.

Soon, the system gave a reevaluation.

As expected, the general points requirements this time was much more reasonable.

Of course, even then, it was no small change…

[Required general points: 4,000]

Lu Zhou looked at the price and sighed.

"It's still so expensive…"

4,000 general points was the optimal design based on the parameters he had just calculated.

If this was handed over to the engineers at China National Nuclear Corporation, they wouldn't be able to design it as well as the system.

Whatever, this should work.

At least I won't have to worry about upgrading the liquid lithium neutron recovery system for a while.

Not to mention, if Lu Zhou's speculation was correct, the sooner he finished this mission, the more valuable the final product was and the more mission rewards he would receive.

Even though this was painful, it could save him at least one year.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath as his finger swiped on the translucent window.

"Confirm purchase!"

[General points remaining: 1,475]

…

Outside the mansion.

Yan Yan looked at her phone and anxiously looked at the mansion.

"He hasn't been out for three days."

Wang Peng tapped his cigarette and said nonchalantly, "This happens often, get used to it."

In the beginning, if he couldn't contact Lu Zhou for a while, he would also worry about him.

But later he realized that his fears were all redundant.

Yan Yan couldn't help but say, "Aren't you worried about him getting into an accident inside?"

Wang Peng smiled and said, "I've been driving him around for nearly a year. Over this past year, he hasn't been to the hospital one time. He's in better shape than you think, what accident do you…"

Suddenly, the mansion door opened.

When Wang Peng saw Lu Zhou appear at the front door, he nearly dropped the cigarette in his hand.

The f*ck?

When was the last time Lu Zhou slept?

Yan Yan saw Lu Zhou's heavy eyebags and immediately began to worry. She walked over there and said seriously, "You need to rest right now, please…"

"No thanks."

Even though Lu Zhou knew she had good intentions, he had more important things to do.

If he was really sleepy, he could just sleep in the car.

Not to mention, he only stayed up for 48 hours. His strengthened body was capable of handling this.

Lu Zhou looked past Yan Yan, straight at Wang Peng.

"Send me to the STAR-2 demonstration reactor construction site, leave now.

"I don't care what transportation we use, the faster the better!"

Chapter 554: Everything Is Ready

A helicopter landed smoothly near the STAR-2 demonstration reactor construction site.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't prefer this kind of transportation, this was his fastest option.

After Lu Zhou got off the helicopter, he didn't hesitate for a second. He carried his computer bag in one arm and walked toward the construction site.

He walked straight into the main building and found Academician Wang Zengguang's office.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door and walked in.

When Academician Wang Zengguang saw Lu Zhou walk in, he stopped writing and smiled.

"Oh? You're back already? Academician Li Jiangang told me to inform you that their modified ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna is ready. It fits your requirements.

"We're also doing well, we might even be able to finish before the end of the year.

"The most important part is the liquid lithium neutron recovery system, have you got it or not?"

Academician Wang was half-joking when he said this. He wasn't rushing Lu Zhou at all.

Because he understood clearly that the reason he was able to ride so smoothly was that Lu Zhou paved a smooth road for him.

It was not an exaggeration to say that from the plasma turbulence model to the PGC-1 material, these research results had saved them at least 20 years.

Therefore, even though the most important liquid lithium neutron recovery system hadn't made any progress, it was completely acceptable.

After all, one's energy was limited.

However, he didn't expect Lu Zhou's answer.

He saw Lu Zhou take out a stack of files from his computer bag.

"I should be the one asking you this. The design is finished. Building it depends on you guys."

"Already?"

Academician Wang stood up from his chair in shock. He quickly walked around his desk and took the stack of drawings from Lu Zhou's hand. He began to carefully read them.

Time slowly passed by.

Academician Wang's expression began to look more and more serious.

When Lu Zhou noticed his expression changing, he yawned and casually asked, "Is there a problem?"

Academician Wang shook his head and said, "Nope."

Rather…

It was so perfect that he couldn't even give any constructive advice.

Also, the engineering difficulty of the design was within their acceptable range.

Academician Wang closed the drawings in his hand and looked at Lu Zhou. He couldn't help but exclaim, "You're literally a genius."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

"This isn't just my own work, the people from the STAR research institute also…"

Of course, there was the system.

But these problems could be solved even without using the general points.

However, it would just take a lot more time. Also, it wouldn't be as perfect as it was.

Academician Wang didn't seem to buy Lu Zhou's "humbleness". He waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay.

"Yeah yeah, this is everyone's hard work, I totally believe you."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What are you talking about?

…

The weather was slightly cold in mid-November; the red brick tiles in the Forbidden City were stained with frost.

In a nursing home not far from the Forbidden City, two men were sitting under a big willow tree while staring at a chessboard.

On this rare sunny day, these two old men were sitting across from each other while playing Chinese chess.

The battle on the chessboard was intense.

Suddenly, the situation on the board changed.

"Checkmate!"

The red-side knight killed the black-side elephant, forming a dead-corner with the red-side, and the black-side king was forced into this dead-corner.

There was undoubtedly only one outcome.

The old man stared at the chessboard and thoughtfully said, "I shouldn't have moved my pawn, if I moved my elephant…"

When the other old man saw him reaching out to move the chess pieces, he immediately stopped him.

"Hey hey hey, what are you doing, I don't care if other people make do-overs, but not you!"

The old man's hand was touching the edge of the chessboard. He paused for a second and smiled.

"Chief Designer, you are right, I lost this match!"

Sitting across from him was Academician Ren Changming, the former chief designer of the Chinese linear exploration project.

"Are you busy?"

Old man: "You could say I am, or you could say I'm not."

Ren Changming: "You look pretty relaxed to me, you even have the time to play chess with me."

The old man shook his head and said, "The international situation isn't looking good, I'm just trying to clear my mind."

Ren Changming: "I heard Jinling is doing controllable nuclear fusion?"

The old man nodded and said, "Yeah, they are."

Even though many old experts didn't think this project was achievable, they felt like it was worth a try.

Maybe this technology could be the key to the future?

"Controllable nuclear fusion…" Ren Changming looked emotional as he said, "I talked with Qiao Gong about this problem. Back then, we all thought that either America or Russia would be able to create this technology within twenty years, and we would be able to catch up. But nearly 40 years have passed since then, and I still have no idea when it will happen."

In the 1990s, everyone was researching inertial confinement fusion, and they claimed they could achieve fusion ignition within ten years and could commercialize within 20 years. China was witnessing the potential birth of controllable fusion, and they obviously didn't want to fall behind. In 1993, the inertial confinement fusion project was launched, and it was selected into the 863 government initiative. China followed the international trend to launch a research attack on inertial confinement fusion.

However, the project did not go as smoothly as planned. America's inertial confinement fusion machine failed to achieve fusion ignition, which depopularized the field. Then, the unpopular tokamak began to become popular, while the once popular inertial confinement fusion became a deserted island.

If it wasn't for the military application of laser ignition, the investment into inertial confinement fusion could be considered a total loss.

What was happening now at STAR-2 was just like a cycle of the past.

Even though Ren Changming wasn't in the nuclear engineering field, he personally witnessed all of this happen.

Honestly speaking, he was more worried than optimistic.

Of course, deep down in his heart, he still looked forward to this project to be successfully completed.

"Isn't Lu Zhou in charge?"

Old man: "You know him?"

"More than just know." The old academician had a smile on his face as he said, "A few years ago, that kid was still studying at Jin Ling University, I knew of him back then.

"I think it was the expert interview section for a mathematical modeling competition. I was sitting at the judges' table, and I asked him what his views were on the moon landing project. This kid was interesting. He was different than the other interviewees, and he turned the question on me and asked my opinion on the Great Wall? We began to talk about the history and the future. It was a great conversation.

"Back then, I instantly knew he was a talented person. I felt like it was a waste for him to be stuck in the mathematics field, so I personally went to Jin Ling University and tried to convince him to come to Yan University. I asked if he wanted to learn about rocket science with me, guess what he said?"

The old man smiled and asked, "What did he say?"

Ren Changming slapped his thigh and smiled. "He told me, 'Professor Ren, I don't want to fly yet'!"

"Hahaha…"

These two old men began to laugh out loud.

When Ren Changming began to reminisce about the past, he couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

Back then, he could travel all over the country. Even if he wanted to travel now, his old body didn't give him the time of day.

Ren Changming stopped laughing and spoke emotionally.

"You know what happened after that… This kid is an enigma. Even though he didn't build rockets, he was basically flying in the sky."

Ren Changming paused for a second and continued, "If he doesn't succeed, don't be disappointed. After all, scientific research isn't building infrastructure. The input and output aren't necessarily proportional. I'm actually more optimistic about his future. Compared to us old folks who are about to go six feet under, his research career has just begun."

The old man smiled and said, "I know this, don't worry about it."

Ren Changming felt relieved, and he nodded.

Even though it was entirely possible for Lu Zhou to succeed, he still had to tell the president these things.

Because if he didn't say anything, no one else would dare to say it.

A security guard came over and reported to the old man.

"Director Lu is outside."

The old man nodded and said, "Let him come in."

"Ok!"

The security guard saluted and turned around.

Soon, Director Lu walked over excitedly while being followed by the security guard.

The old man noticed the letter Director Lu was holding in his hand, and he smiled as he asked, "What's making you so excited?"

Director Lu replied energetically, "There's good news from Haizhou! The demonstration reactor project is in its final stage! I have a letter from Professor Lu!"

Ren Changming looked astonished.

The chess piece in the old man's hand fell onto the chessboard, and he immediately stood up.

"What did he say in the letter?"

Director Lu took a deep breath and said enthusiastically, "The demonstration reactor is in its final countdown mode. It's expected to achieve fusion ignition at the end of the year! They're requesting approval from the Communist Party of China!"

The old man smiled heartily and said, "Okay, good."

He changed his demeanor and gave an order.

"Fusion ignition is approved!"

Chapter 555: Everything Is in Order

STAR-2 demonstration reactor construction base.

The construction site was raging with action.

It had been more than a month since Beijing approved fusion ignition. Autumn was gone and Winter had arrived. It was now the season to eat dumplings.

Even though the weather was getting colder, it didn't put out the fire in everyone's heart.

They had crossed countless obstacles and barriers to get to this moment.

Soon, they would find out if it was all worth it.

"Connection port is checked! Connection is normal!"

"Attention all units, start docking!"

The ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna, which was around ten meters long and around four meters wide, was hoisted by a steel cable and attached to a crane. It slowly moved toward the huge reactor.

At the same time, the China National Nuclear Corporation engineers were standing nearby. They were operating other professional equipment and installation work.

Academician Wang Zengguang, the chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation, was in charge of everything that was going on. He wore a helmet and had a proud smile on his old wrinkly face.

"I used to think that when China National Nuclear Corporation develops the fourth-generation nuclear fission technology, it'd be time for me to retire."

Academician Li Jiangang from the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory was standing next to Academician Wang. He smiled.

"What about now?"

Academician Wang stared at this metal behemoth and smirked.

"It looks like I'll have to wait a couple more years."

If we achieve fusion ignition…

There has to be someone to lead it.

Before fusion technology arrived on the right track, Academician Wang had to continue working.

Suddenly, a middle-aged engineer, who was wearing a safety helmet, came over to these two old men.

"The ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna has been installed!"

Academician Li said in a serious manner, "Is the connection port seal checked?"

The middle-aged engineer nodded and said in a serious manner, "It's been checked three times! There are no problems whatsoever."

Academician Li nodded with satisfaction and looked at his old friend next to him. He then jokingly said, "The Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory successfully completed their task, it's up to you guys now. Old Wang, don't drop the ball at this crucial moment. If your ferrofluid electric energy generator doesn't produce electricity, then it'd be a shame."

Academician Wang smiled and replied, "Ah, you old man, worry about me now I see? Rest assured, if we end up dropping the ball, my name isn't Wang Zengguang!"

He looked at this middle-aged engineer and ordered, "Begin the ferrofluid electric energy generator installation!"

"Ok!"

The middle-aged engineer nodded and immediately ran toward the reactor base.

…

Whoosh!

Two fighter jets whizzed past the skyline, producing a deafening roar behind them.

Recently, this sound could often be heard around here.

Lu Zhou stood in his office with floor-to-ceiling windows. He looked away from the sea and stared at his watch.

In thirty minutes, there was another conference for him to host.

Ever since his research work was temporarily paused, he had been extremely busy.

It would be better to say that this month of demonstration reactor construction was the most exhausting month he had ever had.

More than one hundred research institutes participated in research projects of the STAR-2 machine, and dozens of institutions had participated directly or indirectly in the construction of the demonstration reactor components as well as the construction site infrastructure.

In order to coordinate these various departments, the most common thing he did this month was to host meetings. He had to host more than three meetings every day and had to oversee at least ten reports.

For a person that liked to stay in a laboratory and study interesting problems, this was excruciating.

But thankfully, these days were coming to an end.

The STAR-2 demonstration reactor components had all been completed.

If everything went well, in the upcoming meeting, the chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation, Academician Wang, would report to him about the installation of the ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna and the ferrofluid electric energy generator.

These were the last two puzzle pieces.

After these two components were installed and a final verification check of the components was completed, the fusion ignition experiment could basically begin.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smirk when he thought about this.

This day finally came.

He heard knocking sounds at his door.

Lu Zhou looked away from the windows and looked at the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open. Yan Yan walked in. She was wearing a dark blue coat and holding a lunch box.

"You haven't eaten again, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I have no appetite during the day. I'm used to eating just breakfast and dinner."

Yan Yan sighed and placed the lunch box on the coffee table as she said, "I know you're busy, but you still have to eat three meals a day. I brought you some dumplings from the cafeteria."

The food was delivered directly to Lu Zhou's door, so he didn't want to persist. He gracefully thanked Yan Yan and sat down on the sofa. He then opened the lunch box.

The delicious scent wafted over as the crystal-clear dumplings enticed Lu Zhou.

When he drank some soup and felt his stomach warm up, his eyes shone brightly.

Oh, it's quite nice.

He couldn't help but pick up the chopsticks.

"Is the army food always this good?"

Yan Yan sat down on the sofa across him and said, "It depends which department it is."

"Oh yeah?"

Lu Zhou didn't continue carrying on the conversation. Instead, he concentrated on enjoying his delicious lunch.

A regular diet was definitely healthy, and he didn't need anyone to tell him that since he was well aware of this.

But even though he was aware, he lost his appetite whenever he was busy. Once he realized he was hungry, it was already past lunchtime, so he would just wait for dinner instead.

Lu Zhou was enjoying the dumplings in the lunch box when he suddenly remembered something.

"Speaking of which, today is the winter solstice, right?"

Yan Yan was sitting on the sofa across from him. She paused for a second and nodded. "Yeah."

No wonder we're eating dumplings…

Lu Zhou smiled. If it weren't for this box of dumplings, he wouldn't have realized today was a special day.

It really is the winter solstice…

Time really flies…

He heard footsteps coming from the corridor, and soon, a familiar face appeared at the door.

"Since the door is already opened, I'm coming in. I'm not disturbing Professor Lu's meal, am I?"

"You're not disturbing me at all." Lu Zhou smiled and put down the chopsticks as he said, "I just finished eating."

He looked at Yan Yan.

"Thanks for the lunch."

Yan Yan shook her head and said, "No worries, you're welcome."

She got up from the sofa and took away the lunch box on the coffee table. She left the office and closed the door.

Regiment Commander Dai sat down across from Lu Zhou. He then cleared his throat and asked in a serious manner, "It's almost the end of December, is there an exact date for fusion ignition?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and replied, "The exact date isn't determined yet. I'll discuss this matter at the next meeting. But regardless of what day it is, it definitely won't be delayed until next year."

"Okay, I'll come back here in the evening," Regiment Commander Dai nodded and said, "but my suggestion is that, if you guys have determined a date for fusion ignition, try to tell us three days in advance. This is so that we can ask the city council to cooperate with us and sort out the safety and traffic issues in the area."

"No problem, thank you so much." Lu Zhou nodded. When he suddenly remembered something, he said, "Speaking of which, it's New Year's Day in a few days, right?"

Regiment Commander Dai nodded and said, "Yeah, why?"

"Perfect, let's pick an important day for fusion ignition then." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "We'll give the people of China a gift for the upcoming new year!"

Chapter 556: Fusion ignition!

December 31st.

New Mexico, Sandia National Laboratories.

Several engineers in protective clothing were standing in a half-spherical device to overhaul the cooled down equipment.

This machine was called the Z-machine.

The capacitors that were densely packed inside the machine could discharge up to 1,000 times the power of lightning. Just by pressing the switch, a 20-million amps current would instantly surge into the cylinder, violently compressing the hydrogen atoms. This would then release the terrifying fusion energy.

Even though they were being pressured by the demonstration reactor across the Pacific Ocean, the controllable fusion laboratory in the United States had been having a good day.

Especially after they saw the disturbance that occurred in the energy futures market a while ago. Congress finally began to pay attention to the controllable nuclear fusion technology, and they started to generously give out research funding.

In addition to Congress, multiple giant energy companies had also increased their investments in the fusion technology. However, Sandia National Laboratories, a research institute under the Department of Energy, was mainly funded by the federal government.

Unlike the National Ignition Facility in California, the Z machine wasn't exactly considered inertial confinement fusion. The high power current and nuclear fuel formed a magnetic cage. This cage produced fast ignition in the microsecond time range. This basically combined inertial confinement fusion and magnetism together.

Even though this machine wasn't as popular as the National Ignition Facility, it previously set a world record for the highest recorded temperature of 3.5 billion degrees. Even the researchers that designed the machine themselves were surprised and confused by this temperature.

But honestly, there was no point achieving this high of a temperature for the deuterium-tritium fuel. After all, 100 million degrees was more than enough for a fusion reaction to take place. Even the second generation nuclear fusion fuel, He3, only needed a critical temperature of 600 million degrees.

The difficulty in controllable fusion research had never been the high-temperature part, but rather, it was on how to confine the high-temperature plasma.

But compared to other technical routes, the Z machine had at least produced some results in terms of electricity output.

Rick Perry, the secretary of the United States Department of Energy, looked at his watch.

When the watch handle landed on the hour, Sandia National Laboratories chief researcher Andy Rofan appeared at the door and walked toward him.

Perry waited for Rofan to sit across from him before he asked, "How is the result?"

Andy Rofan shook his head.

"It's still too early to ask this question. Can the material's anti-radiation problem be solved, are the elements inside the reactor self-sustaining? These are all basic problems of the controllable fusion…"

Perry took a deep breath and interrupted him, "Listen, I need a specific time frame. When can you produce real results?"

Rofan couldn't help but say, "You're giving me such a hard time! I can't give you a specific time unless the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory can tell us when they can figure out the D-Li neutron interaction."

Perry said, "So the source of the problem is the neutron?"

"Obviously not just that…" Rofan had a bitter smile on his face. He went silent for a bit before he continued, "But after the neutron source problem is solved, we can at least begin anti-radiation testing on materials."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from outside the lounge.

Perry looked at the man who was walking over, and he frowned.

"What's up?"

The man, who was wearing a suit, took a deep breath before saying hesitantly, "The White House called. The president wants you to go back immediately… There's an important conference tomorrow."

"What happened?"

"I just heard rumors…" The man in the suit sighed and quietly said, "Our allies have informed us that in twelve hours… the demonstration reactor in Haizhou, China, is about to begin fusion ignition."

Perry's eyes began to squint.

Rofan, who was sitting across from him, bounced off his chair and exclaimed, "This is impossible!"

…

Haizhou, STAR demonstration reactor base.

There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The ocean waves were calmly crashing toward the rocks.

Inside the reactor base, all of the researchers and soldiers were stationed in their respective positions.

Since last night, the farthest checkpoint had been set to more than 20 kilometers away. With the help from armored vehicles, all roads leading toward this area had been blocked. All nearby tourists and pedestrians had been warned. Soldiers with live weapons were patrolling inside and outside the reactor base, to defend against any potential threats and safety hazards.

Three days ago, the regiment-level combat units stationed in this area prepared enough heavy firepower to defend against terrorists and enemy air units. They carried out various drills, including ground-to-air combat, anti-missile training, and anti-ship combat.

They had taken every possible scenario into account and made adequate preparations.

At the same time, the China National Nuclear Corporation engineers were inside the nuclear plant, doing final inspections on the reactor.

If the STAR-1 was a steel behemoth, then this fully assembled STAR-2 was a giant steel dragon.

The SG-1 superconducting magnet was its legs, the supercomputer was its brain, the plasma control scheme, developed by artificial intelligence, was its running instructions. The He3 atom probe was its eyes, while the PGC-1 composite material was its organs, and the liquid lithium was its blood…

There were countless other components in addition to these, all of these were the blood, sweat, and tears of countless researchers.

Thankfully, this project was finally completed.

The engineers finished all of the inspections and quickly left the building while accompanied by security personnel.

The control room was on the other side of the demonstration reactor; everything was being carried out in an orderly fashion.

They had completed a fusion ignition drill three days ago. Everyone here was familiar with the safety and operating instructions.

All they had to do now was to repeat what they did three days ago.

"Superconducting magnet inspection completed! Liquid helium is being injected…"

"Liquid helium injection completed. Temperature has reached critical value, turn on the electricity!"

"Electrical current reached critical value…"

"Magnetic field adjustment complete…"

"Inject the fuel!"

The last step finally came.

All they had to do now was to turn on the ion cyclotron resonance heating antenna. After that, all of the work would be done.

When Lu Zhou looked at the button in front of him, he suddenly started to get second thoughts.

He took a deep breath and looked at Academician Pan.

"How about you press it?"

"No, you do it." Academician Pan shook his head and smiled as he said, "Being able to witness this in my lifetime, I'm already satisfied!"

All of the researchers inside the control room were looking at Lu Zhou.

The CTV camera was facing him as well.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and reached out his right hand.

From the 863 plan to now, China had been mingling with controllable fusion for almost half a century, while the international community had been researching controllable fusion for more than 70 years.

The year would turn 2020 tomorrow.

Everyone had waited too long for this day.

And right now, they were at the edge of a new generation of technology.

There wasn't anyone else closer to the future than Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou gulped and looked at the dial on the dashboard. He then looked at the researchers around him.

"I am honored to witness this moment with all of you.

"We have completed all of the work necessary, we have done our best to make everything as perfect as possible.

"No matter what the outcome is, history will remember this day, we will all be remembered."

He pressed the button.

It was like the sun was rising.

That pitch-dark reaction chamber was illuminated by the hottest energy in the entire solar system…

Chapter 557: Energy of the Star

The temperature in the reaction chamber began to rise.

It was forming the most intense energy in this solar system, and the plasma that was trapped inside the magnetic field was like a thin aurora, flowing quietly inside the reaction chamber.

Once the temperature reached 100 million degrees, the plasma was instantly lit up.

The enormous energy was like a tidal wave that gushed out of the tiny nuclei.

Everyone in the control room was witnessing this moment, and they all looked excited.

However, no one was cheering.

Because all of this had just begun!

The reporter, who just took a photo, quickly retreated to the side. The researchers inside the control room were like gears inside a clock; they were busy working.

There was a fundamental difference between the demonstration reactor and the experimental reactor. One would only have to complete a few experiments for the latter to be considered successful, while the former was based on true success.

At this moment, the sleeping metal dragon was awakened by them, producing a deafening roar.

The ability to control the energy of a star depended on whether or not they could control this dragon!

"Fusion reaction detected! The neutron beam is in contact with the beryllium metal layer!"

"External field coil is being adjusted… the plasma control scheme is valid!"

"Magnetic field is stable! Plasma inside the reaction chamber is in good condition!"

"Recycling pump has detected tritium! The liquid lithium neutron recovery system is working!"

It was like the liquid lithium was circulating through the dragon's body. It was slowly injected with tritium. After that, it was pumped back into the reaction chamber for further ignition.

The staff reporting on the situation spoke with a slight tremble in his voice, "The tritium was successfully recycled!"

This was the second goal of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor, right after fusion ignition!

It wasn't just his voice; even his shoulders were shaking with excitement.

Also, it wasn't just him.

All of the researchers inside the control room were witnessing this exciting moment, and they clenched their fists.

Whether or not the recycled tritium could be used in the reactor again was the key to the commercialization of the fusion reactor.

Even though they would have to calculate the specific recovery efficiency after the experiment, judging from the current observations alone, they had achieved their expectations!

This meant that their hard work over the past year wasn't wasted…

On the other side of the demonstration reactor base, next to a facility that looked like a water pump…

An engineer was accompanied by security personnel as he checked the heat discharge pressure of the water valve. He looked at the dial and squinted.

"Oh, it looks like we're doing pretty good."

His PhD student, who was standing next to him, asked, "What's pretty good?"

The old engineer smiled and said, "Obviously it's the reactor."

The PhD student was a little surprised. He couldn't help but ask, "How can you tell?"

"Water pressure, use your brain. You're an engineering student. You can't just write theses all day." The old engineer tapped the water pipe next to him and happily said, "The water cooling system is pumping hot air, what does this mean? Tell me."

"The nuclear core is working…" The PhD student gulped and asked excitedly, "Does this mean… we've succeeded?"

The old engineer squinted and said, "It's too early to say this. Our success still depends on whether or not we can generate electricity and if the power output matches our expectations. This demonstration reactor aims to be the largest power generator in Jiangsu. Apparently, it can reach 100,000 megawatts. So, it's not that easy to achieve this goal."

"100,000 megawatts… Do you think this is possible?"

"It's not possible now. We've only installed four ferrofluid electric energy generators, so at most, we'll be able to output 4,000 megawatts." The old engineer smiled and said, "But if we install another hundred ferrofluid electric energy generators, we can do it!"

This was different than nuclear fission generators.

Not only was the ferrofluid electric energy generator on the STAR-2 demonstration reactor relatively small in terms of size, but it was also surprisingly difficult to install on the STAR-2 machine.

With just four generators, it was impossible to utilize the heat generated from the fusion reaction. Most of the heat generated from the fusion was being discharged into the sea. In his opinion, it was entirely feasible from an engineering perspective to add a hundred ferrofluid electric energy generators.

"One hundred generators…" The PhD student looked at the dial on the water pipe and said emotionally, "I wonder how much deuterium would be burned in a day."

The old engineer smiled.

"Around 50 kg or so."

The most expensive price of deuterium was 4,000 yuan per kg, so 50 kg was 200,000 yuan.

200,000 yuan of fuel could provide an entire day's worth of electricity to Jiangsu.

Even if the price was increased by tenfold, this investment would still be insanely profitable…

…

Of course, the demonstration reactor obviously didn't need to use that much deuterium.

The consumption of 50 kg of deuterium per day was the maximum load for the reactor.

The fusion ignition experiment happening now was measuring fuel in units of mg per second.

After all, only four ferrofluid electric energy generators had been installed. Most of the heat was discharged into the sea.

Inside the reaction chamber…

When the forty-minute fusion cycle came to an end, the heat accumulated inside the reactor was poured into the sea by the circulating water cooling system. After the fusion reaction stopped, the temperature of the gas molecules inside the nuclear core quickly dropped from 100 million degrees to less than 10 million degrees.

The reactor would be shut down for twenty minutes.

In the next twenty minutes, the outer field coil would adjust the shape of the magnetic field in order to prepare for the next fusion cycle.

Even though the fusion reactor was paused, the staff in the control room didn't relax at all; they were still in their respective work stations.

As Lu Zhou stared at the lines of data and graphs on the computer screen, he thought for a bit before he said, "Open the No. 1 electric generator."

According to the collected data, the previous round of experiments was near perfect.

Next up was to push the experiment to the next stage!

"Ok!"

After hearing this command, the staff member sitting in front of the computer immediately pressed the button to access the No1. generator.

Just like most nuclear fission power stations that were near the sea, when it was turned off, the excess heat in the reactor was directly discharged into the sea through the water cooling system. As for the special helium debris produced by the nuclear fusion, that was recovered by a special piece of equipment after the reactor was cooled down.

When they needed to generate power, the thermal energy output was directly connected to the corresponding electric generator.

If they needed a certain amount of energy output, they would burn a certain amount of fuel. All they needed was enough generators.

After the No.1 generator was connected to the reactor, the second round of the experiment began.

The energy of a star was being produced again. Not only was this steel behemoth boiling the seawater near the cooling pipe, but it also awakened the ferrofluid electric energy generator.

The high-temperature ionized plasma gases were ejected from the nozzles, cutting through the magnetic lines. This converted the thermal energy in the reactor into a constant stream of electrical energy.

The researchers were staring straight at the computer screens as they exclaimed excitedly, "The ferrofluid electric energy connection port is working properly!"

"No.1 generator power output is increasing!"

"No.1 generator reached max capacity of 1,000 megawatts!"

They couldn't contain the excitement in their hearts, and one of the researchers shouted out loud, "We did it!"

That's right, they did it!

The energy produced by the fusion reactions were converted into electrical energy.

The No 1. generator began to supply energy to the ion cyclotron resonance heating unit as the entire fusion reactor produced a cycle of continuous and stable electric energy output.

There wasn't another form of energy in the solar system that was purer than this.

The researcher's exclamation resonated in everyone's heart.

The control room exploded with sounds of cheer, and everyone was hugging and high-fiving each other.

Victory belonged to them.

Not only would history remember everyone here.

But it would also remember their victory.

Old Pan's face was red from the excitement as he clenched his fists. Even his dry lips were slightly trembling.

Academician Wang was also smiling with his mouth wide open. He patted Li Jiangang on the shoulder excitedly like he was a child.

"What did I say? Is my generator working or not?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, you're nutty!"

Academician Li raised his hand and rubbed his eyes.

Normally, he would throw a comeback or two.

But right now, he only felt excited; he couldn't even come up with a comeback.

Regiment Commander Dai stood at the entrance to the control room while looking at all of the researchers in the room. He took off his military hat, and without knowing it, his eyes began to water.

He didn't even know what the data on the computer meant.

He had no idea why the researches were cheering.

But he knew that from this moment onward, the light of controllable fusion could finally shine on the land of China.

The power of fusion energy was finally unlocked.

There was nothing that could stop them now.

They finally won this battle…

The sound of cheering echoed in Lu Zhou's ears. He had no idea how many hugs he just gave.

He stood in front of the control panel as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

He finally had a smile on his face.

"Yeah… We did it."

A translucent text bubble was floating in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, "Fusion Light" mission chain is completed!]

Chapter 558: Fusion Light Completion!

The noise around Lu Zhou slowly disappeared.

He whispered, "System."

Soon, his consciousness was sucked into the system.

He stood in the pure white space and walked toward the translucent information screen.

There were prizes waiting for him there.

However, he wasn't so excited anymore.

In the beginning, he thought this mission would be impossible to complete. Now that he successfully achieved fusion ignition, he had gone through a lot, and he had also learned a lot.

Maybe he had already received the true rewards for this mission.

[

Congratulations, User, "Fusion Light" mission chain is completed!

Evaluation: The spark of controllable fusion has finally been ignited. The ignorant human civilization has finally learned how to warm up the solar system…

Experience rewards: 1.5 million free experience points. 500,000 physics experience points. 20,000 materials science experience points. 200,000 engineering experience points.

General points rewards: 2,000 points.

Other rewards:

1. Special mission card: Able to activate before accepting a normal mission. Activation begins a special mission chain, which replaces the normal mission. Special mission chains cannot be stopped unless the user fails the mission.

2. Reward mission card. (Can be used before accepting a normal mission. Replaces normal mission after activated.

3. One prize draw ticket.

]

The moment Lu Zhou saw the experience reward, he gasped.

1.5 million free experience points!

Before this, he thought that no matter what kind of rewards he received, it wouldn't be as shocking as achievable controllable fusion energy. But when he saw the 1.5 million figure, he couldn't help but look astonished.

The level 8 experience point requirement was only 1.2 million!

He already decided where to allocate these experience points.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and spoke.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A blue light swept across the screen, his characteristic panel quickly appeared in front of his eyes.

Lu Zhou reached out his hands and selected the 1.5 million free experience points. He then allocated all of them into mathematics.

Soon, his characteristic panel was updated.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (444,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 6 (282,000/600,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 4 (74,000/200,000)

D. Engineering: Level 5 (0/300,000)

E. Materials science: level 6 (13,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (0/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 2 (3,000/50,000)

General points: 3,475

]

Lu Zhou had been stuck on level 7 for so long. Now that he reached mathematics level 8, he felt his entire body relax. He couldn't even describe the joy he was feeling.

However, the next level experience points requirement made him sweat.

3 million…

This is ridiculous.

Lu Zhou's eyebrows couldn't help but twitch. He took a deep breath and looked away from his mathematics discipline.

Rather than worrying about this horrible experience points requirement, there were many other things to be happy about.

For example, physics and materials science were upgraded to level 6, while engineering was upgraded to level 5. His general points also recovered a bit from his last expenditure.

Lu Zhou felt a lot better as he closed the characteristic panel and looked at his reward inventory.

He looked at the special mission card and had a confused expression in his face.

It's not another mission chain, right?

However, he decided not to think about what was behind this special mission card.

Because just a few minutes ago, he completed one of his most amazing achievements to date.

Even though research was interesting, he needed a break…

This time, Lu Zhou learned his lesson. He didn't touch the mission card. Instead, he closed his inventory.

Since he wasn't in a hurry to accept another mission, he didn't even touch the lucky draw button. After he closed the system panel, he exited this pure white system space…

…

He gradually began to hear the cheers around him.

The parameters on the computer screen were as stable as ever.

His consciousness didn't stay in the system space for long.

As Lu Zhou looked at the researchers celebrating, he smiled and was about to say something. However, he suddenly felt a warm sensation crawling from his spine to the back of his head.

As always, whenever his discipline levels had an increase, the system would strengthen his brain.

However, this time, the warm sensation was getting hotter and hotter.

Lu Zhou was having an unusual feeling. He paused for a second and quickly realized what was happening.

From his previous experience, leveling up too fast would cause stress on his brain. If he leveled up multiple times, that stress would increase accordingly.

This time, he stepped into the world of level 8 mathematics.

Not just that, but he also leveled up in physics, materials science, and engineering…

Lu Zhou gradually felt dizzy, and he shook his head as he grabbed a chair next to him in order to support himself.

Yan Yan was the first to notice something was wrong.

Her doctor's intuition told her that Lu Zhou was acting weird.

After that, Wang Peng also noticed Lu Zhou's weird situation, and he quickly walked over to him.

Lu Zhou noticed Wang Peng was walking over.

"Hold me for a second."

He wanted to say that, but he didn't actually hear himself say anything.

Lu Zhou reached out his hands and tried to grab Wang Peng's arm, but his hands went straight through Wang Peng's arm.

Is this an illusion?

Lu Zhou had a bitter smile on his face.

Is this the downfall that comes after intense joy?

Whatever, it's still worth it.

At most, I'll just rest for two days.

Even though Lu Zhou felt disappointed that he couldn't attend the celebrations later in the evening, he knew that he hadn't had a break for a long time, and it was about time for him to take a rest…

He felt that his center of gravity was moving backward.

The noise around him began to increase.

Finally, more and more people began to take notice of him.

Lu Zhou vaguely heard footsteps and some people were shouting anxiously.

After that, he felt like he was put onto a stretcher or something, and he felt something soft at the back of his head.

Everything in his view turned into a blurry white image, and he suddenly felt fatigued and lethargic.

Lu Zhou used the tiny amount of lucidity left in him to sigh in his heart.

Looks like I'm going to be a burden to a lot of people.

I hope they don't worry too much about me.

His consciousness then fell into a pool of darkness…

Chapter 559: Tomorrow Is a Better Day

The early hours of December 31st.

The streets of Washington were still quiet.

Christmas was one of the ten important holidays in the United States, and this holiday lasted until the 5th of January next year.

However, not everyone was in the right mood to enjoy this holiday.

At least, a certain president with an orange haircut didn't.

Rather, him and the White House bureaucrats didn't sleep at all last night.

In a few hours, China would conduct a controllable fusion ignition test in Jiangsu, leaving them little time to spare.

After Trump gave a New Year's Eve speech and posted on Twitter last night, he immediately hosted an overnight meeting with the higher-ups. He also made an appointment to talk with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America.

Around five o'clock in the morning, a black limo parked at the northwestern part of Washington, near the Embassy of China in the United States.

Mr. Trump was accompanied by several of his people. When he entered the embassy, he was accompanied by the embassy reception staff.

"I'll get straight to the point." The president made a hand gesture and told Helms to close the door behind him. Trump stared at Ambassador Sun Wenkai and said seriously, "China will conduct a nuclear test in Haizhou in around five hours. Am I correct?"

It was like Ambassador Sun heard a joke; he had a smile on his face.

He didn't give him a direct answer. Instead, he put down the teacup in his hand.

"Who told you this?"

"That's not important." Trump, who thought he had guessed correctly, placed his hands on his kneecaps with a smug smile on his face. He looked at the ambassador aggressively and slowly said, "According to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, all nuclear testing is prohibited. However, according to my intelligence agency, China seems to be violating this international convention."

Trump was observing the ambassador. He was trying to find a trace of weakness.

Unfortunately, he didn't see any weakness at all.

He didn't see any trace of fear that he wanted to see…

Ambassador Sun took a sip of tea and slowly said, "Thinking controllable fusion research is nuclear testing is a very interesting way of interpreting this. If you don't understand the difference between the two, why not try asking some of the American nuclear experts?"

The president smiled coldly.

He obviously knew the difference between the two.

However, he could still pretend not to know the difference between the two.

"Who can guarantee that you're telling the truth? I don't care what kind of secret experiment you guys are scheming at District 900, but the international community needs an explanation. If you're not doing anything illegal, then why don't you disclose your experiment to the world?"

"District 900?" Sun Wenkai smiled at this invasive question. He asked, "Is that what you guys are calling it?"

The president said in a serious manner, "Don't divert the conversation, this is a serious matter."

Sun Wenkai stopped smiling. "I know you're curious about what we're doing there, but there's no need to drag the international community into this. The experiments that are being conducted there has never been a secret. However, it does involve confidential technology, and we cannot disclose the full information."

The president said with a blank face, "We have the right to be suspicious."

"Yes, of course, you have this right." Sun Wenkai suddenly looked at his watch and said, "Mr. President, it is 5:30 in the morning right now."

The president frowned and said, "Is there a problem?"

Ambassador Sun slowly said, "Before talking about the matter of District 900 with you, I want to borrow half an hour of your time."

The president's eyebrows furrowed, and he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh? Is there an interesting topic you want to discuss?"

"It might not be interesting to you." Ambassador Sun smiled warmly and reached for the remote control from the coffee table. He said, "But I want to invite you to watch a show together."

Show?

The president paused for a second.

"What show?"

"China central television news broadcast."

…

December 31st, 5:50 am North American time.

It was 18:50 in the Beijing time zone.

Right now, in the CTV studio, television host Guo Qiang was reading the program script in his hand. He was nervously doing the final preparations.

Even though there was a teleprompter that reminded him of what to say, as a host, he still had to have a comprehensive understanding of the whole situation.

Especially since it was a special day.

Not only was it the last day of 2019, but a few hours ago, an earth-shattering event happened in Haizhou, Jiangsu.

The STAR-2 demonstration reactor project, led by the famous Nobel Prize laureate Lu Zhou, had finally lived up to its expectations. By cooperating with hundreds of research institutes around the country, they successfully achieved fusion ignition!

If everything went well, this news broadcast today would be recorded in history, along with the success of the controllable nuclear fusion demonstration reactor…

Guo Qiang was the news anchor that had to broadcast this information to the entire country, so he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

Guo Qiang, who was sitting in front of the cameras, took a deep breath. He took advantage of these last couple of seconds to try and calm down.

The director was sitting behind the cameras, and he made a gesture to Guo Qiang.

"Guo Qiang, you can start!"

"Okay." Guo Qiang nodded seriously and looked at the camera, showing a smile that he had practiced countless times in front of a mirror.

"Good evening, everyone. It's currently the 31st of December, 7 pm at night…"

Just like Guo Qiang's countless times of rehearsals, he stared at the teleprompter and read the contents of the press release in a clear voice.

Compared to other CTV news anchors who often had a more serious expression on their faces, he preferred to smile more.

In addition to giving off a more calm and welcoming vibe, he was more charismatic than others. This was precisely why the news network chose him as the news anchor for tonight.

According to the director, not only would the country be waiting for this news broadcast, but the whole world was also waiting.

Guo Qiang was one of the country's spokespersons, so the leadership team wanted him to convey the controllable fusion energy experiment news in a friendly and peaceful manner.

The peaceful rising of China would not be predicated on the sacrifice of other countries' sovereignty.

"… The STAR-2 demonstration reactor in the Tianwan area of Haizhou city has completed its final fusion ignition experiment, under the leadership of Chief Designer Lu Zhou."

The broadcast switched to a short clip of the fusion ignition laboratory.

There weren't any spectacular lights, no earth-shattering sounds. It was just a plain control room. There was a row of blurred screens and consoles, showing the person pressing the button, followed by cheering and celebration.

Even though it was through the TV screens, people could feel their excitement and pride.

Guo Qiang, who was sitting in the broadcast studio, continued to read the script in a clear and loud voice.

"… So far, the reactor operation is stable, and the output of the No.1 generator has reached the expected 1000MW limit.

"According to the plans, the reactor will gradually be connected to the electrical grid next year. The expected power output will gradually reach 50,000MW next year. The controllable demonstration reactor will meet most of the electricity needs of our Jiangsu province…"

The field of controllable fusion was ignited.

Perhaps it wouldn't take long before the streets were filled with electric cars.

Maybe it wouldn't take long for the deserts to become fertile oases.

Perhaps it wouldn't take long before those imaginations gradually became true…

The distant future had never felt so close.

Maybe there would be a day where oil would no longer be used as a fuel, and that it would only be used as a raw material for industrial production.

From the Strait of Hormuz to Malacca, from the Red Sea to the South China Sea, China would no longer be stuck on the energy front. Their road for future development would be as long as the Milky Way.

All of this was possible.

Guo Qiang proudly looked at the excited scholars in the video, and he couldn't help but tear up.

There was a trace of tremble and excitement in his voice as he tightly grabbed the television script in his hands.

He looked at the country through the camera lens and announced solemnly, "My fellow citizens, the wheel of history is moving forward, and we are ahead of the times.

"The light of controllable fusion is our hope and future.

"History will remember this hard-fought moment. It will remember those great scholars that dedicated their lives to scientific research!

"And all of us will be able to live in a better future!"

Chapter 560: When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Scientist Too

Beijing.

Inside an ordinary apartment in the 3rd Ring Road region.

A family of four sat around the table while eating dinner in a lively atmosphere.

If this were previous years, there would be someone else sitting here.

But that person was in Haizhou, Jiangsu, and hadn't come back yet.

"Grandma, what about Grandpa? Is he not eating with us?"

The little girl with a ponytail tilted her head and spoke quietly.

Wu Haiyan had a head of white hair. She looked at her dear granddaughter and smiled.

"Darling, you miss Grandpa?"

"Yeah!" The little girl nodded and said, "Where is Grandpa?"

Wu Haiyan had a kind smile on her face as she touched her granddaughter's hair and spoke in a loving voice.

"Your grandpa is planting a sun."

The little girl blinked innocently and asked curiously, "Planting a sun? Does that exist?"

"Yes it does, darling." Wu Haiyan smiled and said, "Your grandpa is a scientist, there isn't anything he can't do."

Pan Gaoyang was sitting at the dinner table eating. He looked at his daughter and his mom. He then said, "Dad has already retired, why is he still so busy. It's New Year's Eve tomorrow."

Wu Haiyan knew what her son was thinking. She sighed and said, "After all, that's your father's dream."

Pan Gaoyang said, "I know, but he doesn't have to be this busy, does he?"

Even though he was questioning his father's actions, he actually understood why his father was doing this.

Just like his mom said, this was his father's dream, and his father had been fighting for this his entire life.

However, controllable fusion was still the science of the future. Any type of advanced research was difficult.

Even westerners were puzzled with this stuff. It wasn't an easy task to catch up and be at the forefront of the world.

The hands on the clock on the wall finally hit 7 o'clock. The television news broadcast played in the background.

Pan Gaoyang hadn't watched TV in a long time, so he didn't pay attention nor was he interested in the news.

However, he suddenly heard his daughter exclaim.

"Wow! It's Grandpa! Grandpa is on TV!"

Grandpa is on TV?

Pan Gaoyang was stunned, and he quickly looked at the television screen.

A short film of the demonstration reactor control room was being shown on TV.

Wait, that old man in the gray jacket with tears running down his face… Isn't that my dad?

Fusion ignition experiment?

Connected to the power grid within this year?

How come I've never heard Dad talk about this before?

Does this mean… they have succeeded?

Controllable fusion!

As Pan Gaoyang listened to the film narrator, he was completely shocked.

His daughter, who was sitting next to him, curiously watched the TV screen and spoke with a girly voice.

"That guy standing next to Grandpa, is that Professor Lu, the one Grandpa always talks about?"

"Guy?" Pan Gaoyang paused for a second. He looked at the young man through the TV screen and smiled. He said, "Yeah I think that's him. He looks quite young."

His wife, who was sitting next to him, jokingly said, "Look at him, winning the Nobel Prize in his twenties. What were you doing in your twenties?"

When Pan Gaoyang heard his wife's roast, he smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't remember? I was chasing after you."

Cui Xuefang looked into her husband's eyes. She then blushed and rolled her eyes.

"Stop flirting."

The little girl was still staring at the TV screen. She suddenly looked at her dad and said in a childish but serious voice, "Dad, I also want to become a scientist when I grow up."

Pan Gaoyang smiled and rubbed his daughter's head.

"Okay okay, I'll support whatever you want to do! But being a scientist is no piece of cake."

The little girl clenched her fists.

"I will try my best!"

Pan Gaoyang smiled and said, "Not bad, you're ambitious. Since you're so confident, how about you ace both of your next exams!"

…

While the news broadcast was happening, the STAR-2 demonstration reactor official Weibo account, which was created a few hours ago, sent out a post.

The post was unusually short for a celebratory post. It only contained five words.

[We Lived Up To Expectations!]

Within an hour of this post being sent out, several media outlets, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Everyone Daily, had re-posted the post and added their own captions for explanations.

This was just like the ignited fusion light.

It was almost like the news of the successful experiment grew a pair of wings as it flew at incredible speed all across the country.

Almost everyone who had seen this news was startled by it.

[F*ck me, controllable fusion!!! I can actually witness controllable nuclear fusion within my lifetime!!!]

[I just woke up and now I'm seeing news about a demonstration reactor fusion ignition. Shook. Can anyone tell me what year this is, and how long did I sleep for? Did I turn into Captain America?]

[Even though I have no idea what is going on, it seems impressive!]

[China has the best technology! (fist) (fist) (fist)]

[Thank you to all the scientists that are still working near the holidays! (touched) (touched) (touched)]

[Congratulations from Jin Ling University!]

[Congratulations from Jiangsu! I, for one, welcome the decrease in electricity prices. Take that, Zhejiang!]

[Congratulations from Zhejiang! Also, that person from Jiangsu, I'm sure our electricity prices will decrease as well.]

[Science is finally on trending!]

[How good is this?]

[…]

There were still opposing voices, questioning whether or not this was all worth it. They doubted whether the technology was really as good as was mentioned. They even doubted if the fusion ignition was successful at all…

However, these weren't the mainstream opinions, and they would never become mainstream.

This was just like how scientific research was pure.

There would always be respect toward the exploration of the future.

After all, most people looked forward to the future.

Everyone Daily and the Chinese Academy of Sciences weren't the only ones being flooded with comments.

After the world learned who the chief designer behind this demonstration reactor was, Lu Zhou's comment section was blown up.

[God Lu is nutty!]

[Nutty!]

[Please have some respect! Stop calling him God Lu! Call him Chief Designer Lu!]

[God Lu is planting a sun for us!]

[He's too good!!!]

[God Lu! God Lu, have you found a girlfriend yet? Have you thought about having a boyfriend?]

[? ? ?]

However, even though Professor Lu was usually passionate about sharing his joy with fans, he didn't interact with his fans at all this time.

Normally, if someone was calling him handsome in the comment section, he would secretly give the comment a like…

But today, no matter what kinds of witty compliments the fans gave to Lu Zhou… Lu Zhou was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe because he was too busy?

That was what most people were thinking.

After all, Lu Zhou wasn't an ordinary mathematics professor anymore. He was responsible for scientific research projects worth hundreds of billions. Especially after he became the chief designer for the controllable fusion project, he probably didn't have as much time to spend online.

However, surely Lu Zhou would look through the comments one day and smiled at them, right?

That's what most people thought.

However, no one knew that their hero was lying in the bed of 301 Hospital, unconscious…

Chapter 561: I Am Very Disappointed

Actually, Lu Zhou's worries were superfluous.

He was still asleep on the hospital bed, so there was no way anyone would hold a celebration party without him.

As for his wish about not giving other people trouble…

That was obviously not possible.

There were a lot of people that were concerned with his well-being.

The second he collapsed, Yan Yan, who noticed him acting weird, immediately rushed over and held him.

After that, the health squad from the army immediately rushed into the control room and put him on a stretcher. They then immediately sent him to Beijing.

While he was being placed on a stretcher, the news of him collapsing immediately traveled to Beijing, shocking the government higher-ups.

In addition to restricting this news from traveling to the outside world and notifying the relevant personnel, after Lu Zhou's short stay at the army provincial hospital, he was immediately transferred to the 301 Hospital. A team of medical experts led by an academician began to inspect his condition.

However, his medical results were quite surprising.

This team of medical experts were composed of neuroscience and virus professionals. However, they weren't able to make a diagnosis.

The only thing that was confirmed was that Lu Zhou had been extremely fatigued over the past few days.

However, they weren't sure if his blackout was related to this fatigue.

As for the other aspects…

Even with the equipment from 301 Hospital, they weren't able to detect any abnormalities.

Almost everyone was shocked at this result.

Even Academician Zhao Zhongji, who was leading the medical expert team, began to suspect that the instrument was broken.

In short, if they couldn't make a medical diagnosis, they obviously couldn't start any kind of medical treatment.

No one dared to make a conclusion, and no one dared to try a solution.

Even though it would be great if they could solve the problem, but if they made the situation even worse, they would be personally responsible for it.

In the end, all they could do was to watch him lay there and carefully observe.

After all, even though his heart rate and breathing were a little weak, it wasn't anything life-threatening.

If he really was just overworked, maybe he would feel better after he woke up?

On the other hand, the news broadcast announced the success of the controllable fusion experiment.

However, in the midst of the nation celebrating, most people at the demonstration reactor site didn't even know that Chief Designer Lu collapsed at the job site.

Most people were confused.

They finally won this hard-fought battle, but they didn't even hold a celebration party. They all just ate some dinner and were put on holiday. They all felt a little unsatisfied.

Academician Wang stood outside the west building of the 301 Hospital. He sighed and looked at the hospital building.

"We said we were going to hold a celebration party on the night of New Year's Eve and that everyone could go home and celebrate the new year. We finally won the fight, but our leader passed out."

"Yeah." Academician Li Jiangang sighed and said, "The young is dying before the old… F*ck, why are you kicking me?"

Wang Zengguang was furious.

"You old f*ck! Say it again and see what happens!"

The nurses looked at these old men arguing and walked out of the way.

Anyone that could stay in the west building of the 301 Hospital had to be an important figure.

Not only were the patients in this hospital of high status, but so were the visitors.

Especially those old men who looked like they had been around a lot, no one wanted to offend them.

However, they heard a light cough from the side.

"What are you guys doing?"

The two old men were stunned.

Academician Wang looked at the person and coughed. He then replied awkwardly, "We're just… screwing around."

…

Inside the hospital.

Yan Yan looked at Lu Zhou, who was lying on the bed, with a guilty look on her face.

Wang Peng looked at a notification on his phone and scratched his head. He then sighed.

"I'm so screwed, the higher-ups are going to kill me."

Captain Yang looked at him and didn't say anything. He only patted his shoulder in silence.

Wang Peng's work over this period was worthy of recognition.

However, he was a security guard, and he was personally responsible for Professor Lu's safety. Now that Professor Lu was on the hospital bed, there wasn't anything Wang Peng could do.

All he could do now was to take the blame.

"I'm fine, you don't have to comfort me." Wang Peng made a helpless expression and smile. He said, "Don't worry about me, you guys are probably in trouble as well."

As for why the higher-ups hadn't called them yet…

It was probably because they hadn't finished criticizing other people.

Once the higher-ups were finished, it would be their turn.

Wang Peng sighed and walked out of the room.

Yan Yan was stabbing herself with her nails. She had her head down and her eyes were filled with self-blame.

As a medical personnel, she clearly knew that Lu Zhou's lifestyle wasn't healthy. However, she didn't insist and stand her position. She should have forced him to eat more and sleep more…

If only…

She was more persistent.

She bit her lip and muttered in a raspy voice, "This is my responsibility… This is all my fault. I didn't do my job."

Yang Guangbiao said, "We are a team, there's no point discussing whose fault it is."

Right now, he didn't even care what the army would do to him.

As long as Professor Lu woke up, he would be happy to die. He would even be happy to shoot himself.

However, this couldn't solve anything.

Suddenly, the hospital room door was pushed open.

The president walked in while accompanied by someone in military uniform.

The two people in the hospital room saluted.

Yan Yan bit her lip and said, "There are no signs of consciousness yet."

The old man went silent for a bit before saying, "Professor Lu is a hero of our country. He's been fighting on the front line of scientific research. No matter what the cost is, we have to do our best to cure him!"

The head of 301 Hospital, who was standing next to him, nodded.

"Understood!"

The old man nodded.

"Also, inform me as soon as he wakes up."

The old man looked at the young man lying on the hospital bed and sighed. He turned around and left the room.

The head of the 301 Hospital also left, but the person in the military uniform stayed behind.

Yang Guangbiao knew he was about to be criticized. He took the initiative and began to admit his mistake.

"This is my fault, I am willing…"

Yan Yan: "No, this is my fault."

"Enough!" Ye Canmou stared at these two people and said, "What's the point of arguing about this? Is this going to wake Professor Lu up?"

The hospital room went quiet.

After staring at the two people for a while, Ye Canmou said, "I am very disappointed in you two."

Yang Guangbiao lowered his head and didn't say anything.

Yan Yan was the same; her heart was in pain.

"Especially you, you're a medical personnel. Look what you did? Where is your medical protection?" Ye Canmou stared at Yan Yan, who was the daughter of his veteran friend. Ye Canmou looked deeply disappointed.

"I am disappointed."

It was like he didn't want to say anything else. He merely shook his head. He then turned around and left.

Chapter 562: Overjoyed Presiden

Yan Yan wasn't the only one being criticized.

Across the Pacific Ocean, in the White House, the CIA director was also being yelled at.

"A bunch of idiots!

"Do we really need the Chinese to tell us themselves what they were doing?! How many times has this happened?! Tell me!"

The president hadn't slept for 24 hours already.

Even his foundation couldn't cover his thick eyebags.

However, since he was filled with rage, it made him feel more energetic.

A dozen or so hours ago, they were still in the White House, scheming on how to stop China's controllable fusion experiment… or at least let America join in on the experiment.

However, when he confidently sat in the embassy to talk about this matter, Ambassador Sun told him that the experiment was already over.

Also, that the experiment went smoothly.

This was horrible news for him.

It affected the return of manufacturing jobs for his campaign policy. Only by fulfilling his policy and making America great again could he have a chance at the 2020 election.

However, China was the first to ignite the light of controllable fusion.

Not only did this destroy his plan, but it put him in a terrible position.

If they couldn't catch up in this area within the next three years, controllable fusion reactors would be widespread across China. How could they compete by then?

Trade tariffs?

Or oil prices?

Would China even care about these threats by then?

There was a fundamental difference between a complete transformation of society's productivity and the improvement of market competitiveness. It was just like how an improved wheel could make the horse carriage run faster and more stable, but it would never catch up to a gas car.

Gina was standing next to the office desk, and she began to patiently explain, "I admit that this is our department's fault, but the blame isn't completely on our intelligence personnel… The entire city of Haizhou is armed with security. Any foreigner would be tracked. The news of fusion ignition was provided by our allies in Asia at great risk… However, no one expected that they would set the experiment on the day before New Year's Day, instead of on New Year's Day."

The most important thing was that this all happened too quickly.

Any type of intelligence network needed time to develop and build.

Especially when the other party was carrying out counter-intelligence precautions, it was very difficult to gain any kind of information.

The demonstration reactor project had been operating for less than a year.

No one thought that China would be progressing at such a fast speed.

Especially because ITER had been working on this project for more than 20 years. Not only did the White House think that China wouldn't be able to complete this project so quickly, but even several national laboratories and academicians from the Energy Bureau believed that this was impossible.

Ever since China left the ITER organization, most people thought they had lost their only opportunity.

However, the truth was the exact opposite.

They weren't the ones who were left behind in the fusion field.

They were leaving the entire world behind…

However, the president didn't want to hear this explanation. "Go f*ck yourself."

Gina's face turned white. She couldn't say anything.

Suddenly, there were footsteps coming from the office door.

Helms appeared at the door, as well as United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Gina and the president both looked at them.

Gina squinted and stared at Helms.

It was almost like she was asking…

"You have the balls to show your face here?"

Helms subconsciously shuddered. He was prepared to start explaining, but Mike patted his shoulder.

Then, Mike looked at the president and smiled with his arms open.

"The situation is not as bad as we think. There are some good news."

The president snorted.

"Oh yeah? I can't imagine anything that could be considered good news."

"Of course there's good news." Mike smiled and looked at Helms. He then said, "Just a moment ago, Helms made up for his mistake. Helms, tell the president your good news."

Helms looked at Gina and spoke nervously.

"Two hours ago, according to our informants in China… Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the demonstration reactor project, is in a coma. He is currently at the 301 Hospital intensive care unit. Even though we don't know his specific symptoms and the cause of his coma, he might go into a persistent vegetative state…"

The president was stunned.

The CIA director Gina was also stunned.

Lu Zhou… passed out? In a coma?

He might be in a persistent vegetative state?

The president instantly stood up excitedly. He even slammed his fist on the table.

"Hahaha! Nicely done, it looks like God is still on our side!"

However, because the controllable nuclear fusion technology was already invented, Lu Zhou wasn't an important asset anymore.

But the president still couldn't help but feel excited.

This annoying guy is finally gone.

I hope Lu Zhou never wakes up!

Seeing that the president was in a good mood, Helms was relieved. He said, "I still think that we are neglecting China's most important person in the nuclear fusion field. We do not respect him enough.

"According to my research, Professor Lu is integral to the entire controllable nuclear fusion demonstration reactor project. He brought together dozens of research units not only because of the government's help, but it was also because of his personal academic aura. He has a crystal clear idea of how to implement controllable fusion technology.

"If his health becomes a problem, then China's controllable nuclear fusion industry will undoubtedly stagnate. According to the head of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, even though China has taken the lead on controllable nuclear fusion, they are not that far ahead of us. Besides that, our European allies still have a desire for nuclear fusion energy. They have been suppressed by the Russians for too long. As long as we are united, we have the chance to catch up."

All they needed was a little time.

Everyone looked happy when they heard this.

The United States Secretary of State smiled and said, "I knew there was a bright side to all this. I have a brilliant idea. Since the news of Lu Zhou's collapse is still confidential, we can first release this news in a small segment of a newspaper and test China's reaction."

The president said, "Then what?"

Mike smiled and said, "Then we can use his health as an excuse to put a little pressure on them, after that…"

There was no such thing as an impenetrable wall.

In the age of information technology, nothing could be kept secret forever.

Whether it was good things or bad things.

Sooner or later, everything would come out.

The next day, on the fourth page of The Washington Star, there was an unusual piece of article.

Which was that Lu Zhou, the former Princeton mathematics professor and Nobel Prize laureate, who was responsible for China's controllable fusion project, had collapsed due to overworking.

This piece of news didn't cause a huge commotion in America. In fact, most people didn't even notice it.

That was until this piece of news was passed around on Twitter and spread across the ocean.

The news of Lu Zhou's coma was finally released to the Chinese people in China…

Chapter 563: Where Is My Phone?

After the incident spread across the country, there was an uproar.

It had been three days since the fusion ignition of the demonstration reactor.

However, they only knew now that Chief Designer Lu of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor had collapsed.

Actually, because there was no celebration party at the demonstration reactor site, nor was there any commendation conference, a lot of people had started to connect the dots.

However, most of them were just speculating on whether or not the STAR-2 demonstration reactor was really successful or not. They didn't think that it was about Lu Zhou's health.

And now that this news broke out, everyone was muddled.

Actually, the higher-ups didn't plan on keeping Lu Zhou's condition a secret forever. They even prepared a press release speech.

It was just that no one expected him to be in a coma for this long. It had been days, and there was no sign of him waking up.

Since the public opinion was shifting anyway, there wasn't any point keeping this a secret.

China finally confirmed this news.

Everyone Daily was the first to report on this.

That press release speech was modified and was presented on the front page of the newspaper.

[Professor Lu, chief designer of China's controllable nuclear fusion project, Nobel Prize laureate, and Fields medalist. After the successful fusion ignition of the demonstration reactor, due to his work overload and fatigue, has collapsed on the worksite…

[According to his colleagues, during his most difficult periods of research, he stayed at the office for weeks at a time. He often even skipped lunch.

[He is the torch of the younger generation. He illuminated the path toward a great nation. He is a candle, burning for the cause of scientific research…

[We pray for his recovery.]

The picture in the newspaper was a candle.

It was very rare for Everyone Daily to highlight an individual's safety.

The controllable fusion ignition was successful.

This was originally supposed to be a moment worthy of celebration.

In this celebration-worthy day, Lu Zhou was supposed to be sitting with his family, sharing the joy of his success. However, he was burned out.

Maybe he couldn't handle it anymore.

However, he still stood there, persisting until the end, until the moment fusion ignition was achieved…

Surprisingly, there weren't any haters regarding this incident.

Even when the STAR-2 demonstration reactor was successful, there were a lot of people that were using conspiracy theories to hate on their success.

But at this moment, anyone with an ounce of intelligence knew not to hate on a sensitive topic like this.

Official Weibo account of Everyone Daily…

Comment section.

There were hundreds of thousands of candle emojis…

[(candle) (candle)…]

[I wish him a speedy recovery! (candle)]

[I hope he wakes up as soon as possible. (candle)]

[…]

…

At the same time, the international community was also debating.

American representative: "Professor Lu Zhou is mankind's asset. His health isn't only China's responsibility. If China does not have the ability to cure him, I suggest to send him to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. He will receive the best treatment there."

The French representative said, "The Saint-Joseph Hospital has world-leading experts in neurosurgery. We are willing to pay for all of Professor Lu's medical expenses, and we will ensure he will receive the best treatment!"

The British representative interrupted the French representative and said, "Saint-Joseph Hospital? Where is that? Are you joking? The Royal London Hospital is a million times better than that."

The conference table was having a furious discussion.

Finally, the Chinese representative stood up and interrupted the discussion.

"Due to our concern for Professor Lu's safety, unless he personally agrees to such a proposal, we will not agree."

The American representative said, "I hope you guys are doing a good job taking care of Lu Zhou."

Chinese representative: "We would be doing a bad job if we were to send him to you."

American representative: "What do you mean?"

Chinese representative: "You heard me."

It wasn't just the various governments, even the World Health Organization expressed their willingness to send a medical team to Beijing for free and provide medical help for this outstanding scholar.

Finally, China decided to take a step back on this issue.

After all, out of all of the countries, China was probably the one who wanted him to wake up the most.

Since the domestic experts couldn't solve this problem, it was a good idea to consult the foreign experts.

The World Health Organization team of experts was undoubtedly a better choice than a team of experts from a single country.

Even though the possibility of espionage couldn't be ruled out, it was still relatively easy to control.

Just like that, a team of medical experts set off from Geneva and traveled to China.

However, surprisingly, the international experts weren't able to come up with a better conclusion. Even the most respected neurosurgeons couldn't diagnose Lu Zhou's condition.

Academician Castin from the UK expressed his opinion.

"I personally think this is a very interesting medical phenomenon. It can even be used as a future textbook example."

Academician Zhao Zhongji said, "Oh yeah?"

Academician Castin nodded with excitement. "Yeah, his body is normal. It's like he's just fallen asleep, but he can't wake up. If we can figure out how he fell asleep, this might be a discovery worthy of the Nobel Prize."

Before he came to China, he only regarded this mission as a political task to earn some goodwill from China. After all, the England Royal Society promised him a considerable amount of research funding.

However, he was now completely fascinated and intrigued by this situation.

Academician Zhao Zhongji was also curious about what this Nobel Prize-level discovery could be. But he was more concerned about Lu Zhou's health.

Even ten Nobel Prizes couldn't compare to the life of a scholar.

"If you dare to do any kind of experiment on him, I swear to God you'll never do an experiment again."

Academician Castin smiled awkwardly and tried to diffuse the tension.

"Don't get angry… I was just kidding."

However, Castin didn't look like he was kidding.

…

The multi-national medical expert team didn't have any good ideas. China didn't really trust them, and Lu Zhou's treatment had become more and more complicated.

Fortunately, his "condition" did not worsen.

But many people were still worried about him.

The only person that wasn't worried was Lu Zhou himself.

January 20th, snow was blowing outside the window, leaving a crystal white layer on the windows.

Chinese New Year's Eve was in four days.

Lu Zhou was still lying on a hospital bed with a medical ventilator. He looked as calm as ever, and one could even hear him breathing.

Yan Yan was sitting next to the bed, and her eyes were full of tears. She thought back to a few days ago when she faced her angry father, who slammed the door in her face.

And what her father said to her.

"F*ck off!

"You're not my daughter!"

His father was in the army. He was old when he had her and was now retired.

For a man who had devoted his entire life to his country, there was nothing more important to him than the interests of the country.

Not even his own daughter.

She knew why her father was this furious, it's just that she hasn't been treated like this before.

Yan Yan took a deep breath and began to tear up.

After all, she was only in her twenties.

She originally thought she was mature, but now, it seemed like that wasn't the case.

Maybe because her life was too perfect or her military achievements made her too arrogant… She always had an illusion that she could handle anything life threw her way…

When she accepted this mission, she never even thought about the possibility of failure.

Her arms rested on her thighs, and she buried her face into her hands.

However, while she was in a pool of self-pity and blame, she heard a cough.

After that, a reassuring voice could be heard.

"Where… Where is my phone?"

Chapter 564: Thank You!

"Why are you crying?"

Lu Zhou saw Yan Yan's red and swollen eyes. After some struggle, he managed to take off his respirator.

He then paused for a second.

He had just woken up and still felt a little discombobulated. He didn't remember offending her.

Lu Zhou didn't know if Yan Yan was excited or emotional, because her eyes became even redder.

Yan Yan used her arms to wipe away her tears. Her serious personality could no longer hold back her tears. Pea-sized teardrops soon came falling down the corner of her eyes.

"I thought… I thought you'd never wake up."

Over the past couple of weeks, she had been berated numerous times. It was torturous for her.

Even…

Even her own father didn't want to see her.

Lu Zhou: "…"

Even though Lu Zhou was touched by how much she cared about him, he felt that if someone were to suddenly come into the room, there would be a weird misunderstanding.

Lu Zhou wasn't sure if he should comfort her. He hesitated for a bit before deciding not to.

After all, she was an adult. She probably didn't need his comfort.

Therefore, he coughed and repeated his request, "Can you bring me my phone?"

"Phone, phone?"

"My phone, don't tell me it's out of battery." Lu Zhou tried to lift his arm, but he realized he was completely powerless.

It seemed like he actually had been sleeping for a long time; all of his muscles were exhausted.

Even though there were people that massaged him to prevent muscle atrophy, there was still a certain amount of tiredness left in his body.

However, with his body's metabolic capabilities, it would only take two to three days for a complete recovery.

It might not even take a day; a couple of hours would be enough.

Of course, he wanted to keep his body's capabilities low-key.

Lu Zhou was optimistic about his situation.

After all, the experiment was successfully completed, and the burden on his body was released. Staying at a high-end hospital like this wasn't a big deal since he could finally get some rest.

"I'll go get it right now."

After Yan Yan heard Lu Zhou's request, she immediately got up and walked toward the cabinet.

Lu Zhou's personal belongings were placed inside the cabinet, including his phone and his notebook, which were used to write down thoughts of inspiration. No one dared to touch his belongings.

While getting Lu Zhou's phone, Yan Yan used her phone to report to the higher-ups regarding Lu Zhou's condition. She then handed Lu Zhou his phone.

"Here."

"Thanks."

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou immediately unlocked his phone. When he saw he still had 21% battery left, he sighed in relief.

But when he looked at the date, his eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

The f*ck?

I slept for nearly a month?!

Lu Zhou remembered that when he upgraded his phone, lithium-sulfur battery technology reached a new breakthrough. Half a month of standby time was no problem at all.

Because of his OCD, he would usually charge his phone every day. Therefore, he didn't feel the effects of the battery upgrade at all.

Lu Zhou looked at the date on his phone screen and felt a little relieved.

If I leveled up in one more discipline, I would have slept for a couple more days. If I slept past Chinese New Year, everyone would've thought I died. An obituary would have been written…

Actually, considering all of the various factors, the obituary of Lu Zhou staying in a persistent vegetative state was already written. However, whether he would wake up or not, he wouldn't be able to read it.

Suddenly, a bunch of Weibo notifications popped up on his phone.

Lu Zhou saw these messages and paused for a second. He then subconsciously tapped the notifications.

He froze.

[Everyone, let's give our thoughts and prayers.]

[God Lu! Don't leave us! (cry) (cry)]

[(candle) (candle) (candle)]

[God, please help us.]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Even though he was touched by so many people caring about him, he was confused by the candle emojis.

Yan Yan was scared that Lu Zhou would pass out from this surprise, so she quickly explained the situation.

"Everyone is worried about you."

It was as if she realized her statement wasn't comforting enough, so she added another sentence.

"This is a type of way… to pray for you."

Lu Zhou: "Do you think this is my first time on the Internet?"

Yan Yan smiled and didn't say anything else.

…

In addition to his loving fans, there were a bunch of missed calls, texts, and unread emails.

Just like that little girl who was far away in Princeton.

[Professor, where are you?]

[You're sick?!]

[I'm in Beijing right now.]

[I can't find you, where are you?]

[My visa has expired, I have to return to Princeton… If you wake up, can you please tell me?]

When Lu Zhou saw this string of messages, he felt a mix of emotions.

He went silent for a while and wrote a reply.

[I'm fine. I'm better now. Don't worry about me.]

Lu Zhou hit "Send" and sighed. He threw his phone on the bedside table.

No one had ever confessed their love to him before.

Honestly, even though a lot of time had passed since then, he still didn't know how to deal with it.

If only…

Emotions are as simple as mathematics.

Yan Yan noticed Lu Zhou's mix of emotions, and she immediately thought that he wasn't feeling well.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lu Zhou: "Doctor Yan, can I ask you a personal question?"

Yan Yan nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Lu Zhou said, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The moment Yan Yan heard this question, her cheeks turned bright red.

Boy… boyfriend?

Why are you asking me this?

I don't have one…

Maybe he's suggesting something…

Yan Yan was at a loss, and she sneakily looked at Lu Zhou.

She had never thought about being with a researcher.

But now that she took a closer look at his face…

He actually looks decent…

No, actually, he's quite handsome.

Especially when he is concentrated on his research, it's strangely attractive…

Wait a second, how do I remember what he looks like when he's doing research?

Yan Yan looked at the snow dancing outside the window. Her cheeks felt burning hot, as if she were about to have a heat stroke.

She answered calmly and slowly, as if she were a robot.

"I. Do. Not."

"Oh yeah?"

Lu Zhou sighed and felt a little disappointed.

"Never mind then."

It'd be useless to ask her about my situation.

I should consult someone with more experience when it comes to relationships.

Who should I ask?

Brother Fei? Luo Wenxuan? I feel like they have some experiences, but they're in different situations than me.

This is so complicated…

Yan Yan: "? ? ?"

Wait a second, what do you mean by never mind?

What happens next?

Finish your question!

Just as she was about to ask Lu Zhou, the door was pushed open.

A kind-looking old man, who was accompanied by a man in military uniform, appeared at the door.

When Yan Yan saw these two, she immediately stood up and saluted.

The old man smiled and nodded toward her, indicating that she didn't have to be so serious. He even eased the atmosphere.

"Am I bothering you two?"

Yan Yan was still blushing, and she quickly said, "No… I mean, no."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why did she just repeat "no" two times?

The old man smiled and shook his head.

"Miss, please excuse us, I have something to say to Professor Lu."

"Okay."

Yan Yan nodded and stiffly walked away.

The old man looked at Lu Zhou and paused for a second. He composed himself and looked solemn.

"Professor Lu, I am very happy to see you wake up.

"Right now, on behalf of the entire country, on behalf of 1.4 billion people, I would like to say… Thank you!

"Thank you for your contributions!"

Chapter 565: Laying out the Future

Lu Zhou looked at the old man's solemn expression. He paused for a second and smiled.

"There's no need to thank me. I'm just doing what a scholar is supposed to do."

For him, studying those difficult research problems were interesting in and of itself.

It was just like solving a mathematics question.

Whether it was the exploration of the unknown or the satisfaction from walking out of the maze, all of this made him feel happy.

He didn't care what other people thought, this was his opinion.

And it had never changed.

Therefore, even without the pressure from the system mission, he would still try his best to try and bring fusion energy to the world.

It was just that, without the pressure from the mission, it wouldn't happen as fast…

The old man said with emotion, "Our country is honored to have such a scholar!"

Lu Zhou replied humbly, "You're too kind. If other people didn't help and if the department didn't cooperate, it would be impossible to achieve this with just me alone."

The old man smiled and didn't say anything.

Even though the Manhattan Project was the result of the joint effects of thousands of people, everyone placed their attention on Oppenheimer.

He paused for a second before saying, "Regardless, you are our country's hero. If you have any requests, please let me know."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and smiled. He said, "They're not requests, more like suggestions."

The old man said seriously, "Professor Lu, please continue."

Lu Zhou: "The breakthrough of controllable fusion technology will inevitably impact the traditional energy industry. If these impacts are not properly cared for, it might become obstacles to the increment of the productivity of our society."

The old man smiled and said, "Professor Lu, please rest assured. These problems don't exist for us."

China was different from western countries.

There was no such thing as a Chinese "energy giant".

Whether it was the oil companies or the State Grid Corporation of China, even though they are technically public companies, they were all owned by the state.

After all, the socialist market served more than just the private sector.

In the fact of the greater good, there were only two paths to choose from. Either one could follow the trend of history, or one could be left behind.

That included but not limited to the capital.

Lu Zhou nodded.

Since the old man already thought about this problem, he didn't have to say anything else.

How to balance the interests of the parties, how to properly manage the coal-power industry… These topics were in the field of sociology and economics. He didn't want to comment too much on them. He believed that the Institute of Social Sciences had many experts that knew more than him.

What he was interested in and responsible for was only research.

Therefore, the second problem was the real problem.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "The second thing is about controllable fusion itself."

The old man said, "Professor Lu, go ahead."

Lu Zhou's head was lying on the pillow as he stared at the ceiling of the hospital room and organized his thoughts. He said, "Right now, controllable fusion is using tritium and deuterium as fuel. Controllable fusion technology is headed toward commercialization. However, no matter how efficient the self-sustaining fusion reaction is, there will be an inevitable loss in tritium.

"Therefore, there's an idea in the academic world. Which is to use deuterium and helium-2 as reactants to carry out the fusion reaction. The fusion of helium-3 produces electrons instead of neutrons. This reduces the impact on the reactor material and can release more energy."

The old man couldn't keep up with Lu Zhou's worlds. He frowned and said, "Helium-3?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If you don't understand, you can think of deuterium-tritium as burning coal, while helium fusion would be like burning oil."

This was quite an abstract example.

It wasn't academically rigorous, but it could be understood by a layman.

Old man: "The helium-3 fusion you're talking about, it's not easy to do, right?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Definitely not."

The more charge the nucleus carried, the greater the Coulomb repulsion was, and the greater the kinetic energy required for the nucleus to merge.

According to the theoretical calculations, the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction section was several times that of the fusion reaction section of deuterium-helium-3. This meant that the Lawson criterion for achieving a fusion reaction might be billions of degrees higher for helium fusion.

Using the technology available right now, it wouldn't be possible to achieve helium-3 fusion.

Therefore, helium was widely regarded as an ideal fuel for the next generation of fusion reactors.

The old man went silent for a bit and said, "But the power cost of the deuterium-tritium fusion is already low enough, and it's inexhaustible for hundreds of years. Do we really have to develop this helium-3 technology now?"

Lu Zhou: "I think it's necessary."

Old man: "Really?"

Lu Zhou said succinctly, "The helium-3 fusion reaction does not produce neutrons, which makes it safer than the deuterium-tritium reaction. Looking at it from an engineering point of view, this is the only possible way to reduce the weight and size of the fusion reactor. Also, the controllable fusion reactor has already achieved fusion ignition. The next generation of controllable fusion ignition will be created by a country within the next 20 years."

It was not the industrial era anymore. There wasn't any technology that could be permanently kept confidential.

Even if other countries created worse control schemes and anti-radiation materials, they could achieve a similar result. It was just like the atomic bomb, the latecomer always walked a smoother road than the firstcomer.

The way to maintain an advantage had never been to lock the doors, but rather, it was to walk in front of others forever.

The old man looked serious, and he asked, "What is your suggestion?"

Lu Zhou said, "Restart the moon landing program."

Of course, landing on the moon wasn't enough.

It would be best to establish a permanent research station there and colonize space…

The old man couldn't keep up with Lu Zhou's thought process. He asked, "Why are we talking about space now?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Helium-3 is extremely rare on earth and aren't suitable as industrial fuels. However, the moon has a rich reserve of helium-3. If we want to lead the world forever, we have to be at the forefront, whether it's from the technology standpoint or from the raw materials standpoint."

The old man nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing that the old man understood Lu Zhou's ideas, Lu Zhou continued to speak, "The energy problem has been solved. We have a ten or even twenty-year window to the Space Age. We are closer to the future than anyone else. It'd be a pity not to use this advantage."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Our current interests are important, but we should also build a foundation for the future.

"The sky above us will one day become the new Persian Gulf of our century. It's not just energy, but also inexhaustible minerals. From the Earth to the Moon and to the more distant Milky Way. That is our path to the universe. Whoever has control of the stellar system, has control of the future!"

Compared to international politics and financial markets, as a scholar, Lu Zhou was much more concerned about the far future.

Even though the ideas in his mind might not be possible to achieve in the short term, he still had to do something about them.

He believed that one day, he would see his ideas come to life.

Even if he didn't, he was certain that someone in the future would see them.

The old man was touched, and he looked at Lu Zhou. "We will consider your proposal."

He looked at his watch and saw it was getting late, so he stood up from the chair.

The old man suddenly remembered something, and he spoke in a casual and relaxed voice.

"I came here to visit you. I didn't expect to talk about national affairs with a patient. Speaking of which, Professor Lu, are you not going to think about yourself?"

Lu Zhou: "Myself?"

Old man: "Yes."

At the beginning, the old man asked if Lu Zhou had any requests.

As long as it was within the old man's capabilities, he would try his best to satisfy Lu Zhou's needs.

However, Lu Zhou went beyond his expectations.

Lu Zhou looked at the ceiling and smiled as he said, "This is a difficult question. I really don't want anything… Actually, my life is not lacking in any particular area. The only thing I wish for outside of research is probably to see my research results being used properly."

The old man nodded solemnly. "I can promise you that."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Well then, I'm relieved to hear that."

Chapter 566: Where To Broadcast?

Ten minutes after the old man left, the hospital room door was pushed open again. A group of people walked in.

"Brother!"

Xiao Tong burst into tears, and she wanted to rush over but was stopped by Yan Yan.

"His body is very weak right now."

Lu Zhou: "Actually, I'm fine…"

Yan Yan: "No, you're not."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chen Yushan sat down on the side of the bed and looked at Lu Zhou with a worried expression on her face.

"You finally woke up."

Lu Zhou forced a smile on his face. "Yeah… I kind of overslept."

Chen Yushan's eyes were watering, but she finally smiled in relief.

"Don't say that. It's not funny."

Yan Yan was holding Xiao Tong. She kept staring at Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan. Suddenly, she had a surprised expression on her face.

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression and looked toward his parents.

Fang Mei looked at her son and said with teary eyes, "You finally woke up… You have no idea how worried your dad and I were."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Sorry for making you guys worried."

His family was worried about him the most.

Therefore, he felt the most apologetic toward them.

Old Lu looked at his son on the hospital bed, and he seemed to have a lot to say. However, in the end, he merely sighed and said, "Take care of your body, don't overwork yourself… Who cares about that fusion nuclear stuff, I want to see you healthy. Not sleeping for a week, what is wrong with you?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "This is just an accident."

Who said I didn't sleep for a week?

That's a ridiculous exaggeration.

"Sleeping for 20-something days is an accident?" Old Lu said, "Go do a body examination! Don't tell me you have radiation damage or something! I've seen that stuff in my friends' news feed, it affects your offspring as well!"

"Rest assured! Controllable fusion is safe, so don't be nervous." Lu Zhou guessed that his father probably saw some fake news in his friends' news feed, so he coughed and said, "I already did the body examination stuff."

There were countless medical machines and instruments that were used on or attached to his body when he was asleep.

Actually, he was quite curious since even the equipment from 301 Hospital couldn't find any abnormalities in his body. If it was possible, he wanted to take the medical data and examine it himself.

However, he also knew that nothing would come of it.

"Oh, you already did the examination." Old Lu looked at his son for a bit and said, "Then rest well and try to recover. Don't overwork yourself next time…"

Lu Zhou looked at his father as he muttered apologetically, "Yeah… Sorry about this."

Patient visiting time was limited to ten minutes.

Family members weren't exempted from this rule.

After the group of people left, Yan Yan pushed Lu Zhou, who was in a wheelchair, to the examination office next door for a check-up. She then made him do some less intense recovery exercises. After that, she sent him back into the hospital room to lie down again.

Lu Zhou was in a coma for a long time.

Even Superman wouldn't be able to recover immediately.

Even though his body was in good condition, it still took a while for his body to metabolize the toxins that were accumulated in his muscles.

Even though Lu Zhou felt like he had mostly recovered, other people obviously didn't think so.

Whether it was the doctors of 301 Hospital or the medical expert group responsible for his diagnosis, they all suggested him to stay in the hospital for at least another month. This was so that they could confirm there weren't any residual symptoms.

As a result, he wouldn't be able to go home to celebrate Chinese New Year.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't too sad.

His parents and Xiao Tong were nearby.

For him, home was wherever his family was.

The sky outside the window was getting darker.

Lu Zhou picked up his phone from the bedside table and was about to reply to those that cared about him.

However, when he opened his Weibo, he found out that his fans were being facetious.

[I'd be happy to trade God Lu being single for another ten years, for him to wake up right now.]

[If God Lu wakes up right now, I'll run naked in the streets.]

[Who cares about streaking, if God Lu wakes up, I'll eat a kilogram of sh*t!]

[I'll swim in the sewage!]

These people were getting more and more ridiculous. Lu Zhou couldn't stand it anymore.

Do these a*sholes even care about me?

He tapped his fingers on the screen and sent out a post.

[Where are you broadcasting your sewage swim?]

Within five minutes…

His entire Weibo page blew up…

…

Because of that Weibo post, the news of Lu Zhou waking up spread like wildfire. Some people were excited, some were disappointed. In any case, it didn't have much to do with him.

Also, since it was Chinese New Year soon, a lot of people had been visiting him.

In addition to the people he knew, there were also some strangers.

Among them were people he didn't know, and most were government officials.

Even though government officials wouldn't usually try to make connections with scholars, being a respected scholar was a completely different concept.

A scholar like him was on a completely different level.

In a way, Lu Zhou's opinion influenced the decisions of the higher-ranked government officials.

This alone gave people a reason to visit him.

However, this gave Lu Zhou a headache…

Academician Lu was sitting on a stool beside the bed. He happened to be attending a conference in Beijing and didn't leave yet. He came to visit Lu Zhou and even brought a bag of mandarin oranges.

Academician Lu was peeling the mandarins as he smiled and said, "The day before yesterday, my old classmate from the Ministry of Education was telling me that their last department meeting was discussing whether or not they should put your story in elementary school textbooks."

Lu Zhou said, "Please don't… That sounds embarrassing."

"Oh, you still feel embarrassed?" Academician Lu placed a peeled mandarin in Lu Zhou's hand and said, "Eat it, the doctor said that you woke up recently, and you're still in the recovery stage. The fruit is good for your health. I'm guessing you can't peel the mandarin yourself, so I'm peeling it for you before someone else eats it."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I can still peel mandarins."

Not to mention, even if he couldn't, there were many nurses that were willing to help him.

"You should stay in bed, and try to recover as soon as possible. After the holidays, there's still a commendation conference for you. I think you shouldn't go back home this year, just stay in Beijing."

Lu Zhou, who was eating the mandarin oranges, made a helpless expression.

"I want to go back, but the hospital won't let me."

Academician Lu smiled and said, "That's true, you're a treasure now. Experts from more than a dozen countries formed a medical team to diagnose you. This is my first time seeing this kind of treatment happen to anyone."

At the very least, normal politicians wouldn't be able to receive this kind of treatment.

Right now, a news broadcast was playing on the TV in the hospital room.

There were news about Lu Zhou's recovery and news about the movement in the international crude oil markets…

In order to stabilize the oil prices and market sentiment, OPEC made a rare promise to increase production in the next three months to stabilize oil prices. On the other hand, Russia had also tacitly stated that it would not increase oil production in the short term as they had decided to wait and see what the market would be like.

The rise and fall of oil prices had nothing to do with Lu Zhou since he had never invested in the futures market before.

However, what surprised Lu Zhou was that at the end of the news broadcast, he saw a piece of news about China's resumption of the moon landing program.

The year was 2020, and global politics seemed to have reached an inflection point.

They were all more or less related to the successful completion of the fusion reactor.

Even though everything that was happening in the news was far away from Lu Zhou, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of participation when he looked at the news anchor through the TV screen.

It was almost like he personally turned a page in the history book.

And this was just the beginning.

In the evening, after Lu Zhou ate dinner…

With the help from Yan Yan, Lu Zhou went for a walk in the courtyard of 301 Hospital.

Even though he felt like he could walk on his own, Yan Yan still insisted to accompany him.

It seemed like the unfortunate event gave her PTSD. Ever since he woke up, she didn't leave his side even for a second. She nearly followed him into the bathroom.

Since she kept insisting, Lu Zhou decided to let her be.

After all, his condition brought a lot of trouble to those that cared about him.

Coincidentally, while he was walking in the courtyard, he ran into the people from CTV.

Chang'an street was nearby from here.

An intense ministerial conference on the future of controllable nuclear fusion was happening…

Chapter 567: Cross-Regional Power Grid

Moscow.

An office in the Kremlin.

A powerful-looking man was sitting behind his wooden desk. After he heard his servant's report, he frowned.

"Woke up?"

The man who was in a leather jacket nodded.

"Yes… According to our intelligence personnel, Professor Lu Zhou has already woken up from his coma. According to the experts at the World Health Organization, there is no evidence that his coma was caused by external factors. It's likely that he was just fatigued."

Fatigue that resulted in a coma of more than 20 days.

Even though this sounded somewhat ridiculous, this seemed to be the most reliable explanation compared to the other outrageous speculations.

Mr. Vladimir walked to the window and looked at the Red Square outside the Kremlin. His facial expression made it difficult for people to guess what he was thinking.

Lu Zhou is alive.

This definitely isn't good news for Russia.

The Russian economy relies heavily on energy exports, and China is the second-largest buyer for Russian crude oil and natural gas. They accounted for 18% of total exports.

If the leverage caused by the fall of oil prices caused the US dollar to strengthen in the short term, then the Russian ruble would receive an unacceptable blow.

However, in order to win over Russia, China will not cut the import orders for Russian crude oil and natural gas in the short term. But this undoubtedly means that the Chinese will have more leverage in the negotiations of energy imports.

The global political situation was originally in an equilibrium state.

Now that controllable fusion was thrown into this mix, this balance was completely broken.

Suddenly, a terrible image emerged in Mr. Vladimir's mind.

What if one day, the Siberia factories have to rely on China's power grid?

This is quite scary…

If only that kid never woke up.

If he passes away, his story will undoubtedly become legendary. He will be remembered as the greatest scholar of this century. Not only will the Chinese people mourn him, but so will I. Even the President of the United States will manipulatively prepare a eulogy to mourn his death.

But the problem is that he is still alive…

"Mr. President."

Vladimir looked at his servant and said with a blank expression, "What?"

The man in the leather jacket lowered his voice and said, "What if we…"

"I know what you're thinking, but that is not possible." Vladimir looked away from the window and sat back down again. He said, "We can't risk the chance of offending the Chinese. Especially at such an important time. It would be asinine to do something like that."

In any case, assassination was a barbaric act. It would mean that their country was an uncivilized country.

Especially when it was the assassination of an internationally renowned scholar.

Not to mention, the other party had the ability to avenge themselves.

The man in the leather jacket stood there silently as he waited for the president's order.

After sitting at the desk for a long time, Vladimir said, "Continue to collect intelligence intel on controllable fusion energy. They are ahead of us, but we can't fall too behind."

He flipped through the document on the table. When his eyes came across a certain line, he squinted his eyes.

"He's single?"

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open.

"Latest news!"

The Russian Foreign Minister quickly walked to Vladimir's desk, and he said in a hurry, "China has started negotiations on cross-regional grid interconnection projects with Myanmar and Laos. Even though we don't know if an agreement will be reached, but according to our reliable sources, the Chinese side has provided the two countries with very attractive offers…"

It was too late to ask why they didn't knock on the door. The moment Vladimir heard this, his pupils dilated slightly.

As expected, his biggest worry came true.

Even though Russia didn't have any interest in Southeast Asia, this still wasn't a piece of good news.

It was Laos and Myanmar now. The question was, who would be next?

If they went south, they could expand their energy grid to Vietnam, Thailand, and maybe even Malaysia. They could control Malacca and pave their way for their power across the ocean.

Or they could go west, along the Silk Road. They could connect the five Central Asian countries and continue their power on land.

Perhaps only God knew the answer to this question.

…

Beijing.

301 Hospital.

Lu Zhou originally planned to just take a walk. He didn't expect to bump into anyone.

When he heard the middle-aged man yell his name and run toward him, Lu Zhou looked back at him.

"Who are you?"

The man looked at Lu Zhou and reached out his hand. He smiled and said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm the CTV station director, Luo Qidi."

CTV station director?

When did TV station directors have so much free time?

Not to mention he's the station director of CTV…

Even though Lu Zhou was surprised, he still smiled and reached out his right hand.

"Nice to meet you, Director Luo."

There were countless higher-ups that visited him over the past couple of days. Even though the CTV director was a pretty important figure, Lu Zhou wasn't fazed at all.

"Haha, nice to meet you, Professor Lu." Luo Qidi shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled. He then immediately introduced the person next to him, "This is the host of our TV show 'Light of Science', He Ying."

He Ying smiled politely and said, "Nice to meet you, Professor Lu."

"Nice to meet you, Miss He." Lu Zhou nodded toward her. He then looked at Director Luo and joked, "Director Luo, did you come here to personally interview me?"

"Haha, I want to interview you, but I haven't worked in the field for a long time. I'll give this opportunity to my younger colleague." Director Luo smiled and turned to He Ying as he said, "He Ying, please explain the situation to Professor Lu."

"Okay, Director Luo."

He Ying looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Here's the situation, it's almost Chinese New Year. The entire country is concerned with your physical condition. If you have some time, we would like to invite you to participate in a popular science show."

Lu Zhou: "Is it about controllable nuclear fusion?"

He Ying nodded and said, "It's related to nuclear fusion, but it's mainly about you."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he replied, "I'm fine with anything, but you should talk to the relevant government departments about your show. After all, a lot of things are confidential and sensitive."

He Ying nodded and said, "Don't worry about this, the show will not involve confidential topics. We have already done our homework."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, when is the interview?"

Seeing that Lu Zhou agreed, He Ying sighed in relief. She then said happily, "Tomorrow at two o'clock, our show is going to be broadcast on the day before Chinese New Year."

Their production department planned a long time for Professor Lu to make a guest appearance on their show. This included obtaining licenses from other departments, collecting questions from the public through telephones and Weibo, screening questions, etc… A lot of the preparation began at the end of last year.

Not only did the production team spent a lot of time and effort, but she also spent a lot of effort on this herself.

After all, being able to interview Lu Zhou would be enormous for her entertainment career.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Okay then, I'll be there."

Since the station director came in person, he felt obligated to accept this interview.

However, Lu Zhou felt like the real reason Director Luo was visiting him wasn't because of the TV show. It was probably the same reason as the other people that visited him over the past few days. Director Luo just wanted to use this opportunity to form connections with Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't sure if their careers would benefit from being friends with himself.

Yan Yan saw Lu Zhou agree to the CTV interview and watched Director Luo and the female host walk away. She looked at Lu Zhou with a worried look on her face.

"Is your body fine?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I've basically recovered. It'd be better to go outside than to stay in this hospital. Please help me apply for the temporary discharge."

Due to safety reasons, Yan Yan didn't want to agree with his request. But in the end, she still sighed and agreed to it.

"Okay then… I'll go with you when the time comes."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Actually, it's fine if you don't want to go, I can go alone."

Yan Yan immediately said, "No way! If an accident happens again, I'll…"

However, she suddenly stopped talking.

Yan Yan looked at Lu Zhou and clenched her teeth. She took a deep breath before muttering, "Nothing, pretend like I didn't say anything."

It's not like I can tell him that my father nearly kicked me out of the family because of the last incident!

It'd be so embarrassing to tell him!

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What is this chick talking about?

Chapter 568: Interview With Station C

Beijing.

Chang'an street.

The CEO of China Petroleum, Wang Yongping, attended meetings for the entire morning. When he walked out of the conference room and looked at his notes, he had a complicated expression on his face.

Since the beginning of the month, the upper management team had made a series of energy development adjustments. During the meeting, they made detailed arrangements for the development plans of several state energy companies for the next five years.

As for the content of the meeting…

It wasn't good news for China's petroleum industry.

First of all, the upper limit of offshore investment was reduced by around US$130 billion. Secondly, the signed contracts had remained unchanged and the expansion of overseas oil and gas fields had to be stopped within three years.

Not only that, but there were also plans like "50,000 electric vehicle charging stations within two years" and "every gas station on the highway has to have four electric charging stations".

This all indicated that the state seemed to be eager to remove petroleum fuel from the hands of civilians.

In fact, he wasn't confused by the upper management's decision. After all, the amount that China spent on foreign energy imports each year was staggering.

However, even though he understood why the upper management was doing this, he was still aching.

Especially the offshore investment, which was the most profitable part.

Now that it had been reduced, he couldn't help but feel the pain.

But they didn't even receive the worst end of the stick.

They were still lucky compared to the coal companies that had been obliterated.

Just the reduction in coal production capacity alone gave headaches to countless people.

Especially for the laid-off workers and the local economy of several coal-producing provinces…

Wang Yongping had a headache just by thinking about these problems.

It wasn't just these energy mining companies; two major power grids and five major electric utility enterprises were also assigned their respective tasks.

In particular, they made adjustments plans for the residential electricity price while taking fusion power generation into account.

However, the electric companies had actually received a lot of benefits at this meeting.

In particular, the cross-regional transmission project to Laos and Myanmar.

If they could complete this project, it wouldn't matter if they could make a profit or not, it would be a huge success for China's future energy development…

If they could export energy to neighboring countries, that would mean that China would have a stronger influence in that particular country.

Wang Yongping couldn't help but admit he was jealous.

He was stuck in the same place.

But there was nothing he could do, he just got unlucky.

…

With this controllable fusion technology breakthrough, both domestic and foreign political stances would be restructured to account for this increase in productivity.

Of course, as usual, some people were happy and some people were worried.

However, the fate of each individual was often neglected in a time like this.

History was irreversible, nothing could stop it from moving forward.

The entire year of 2020 would probably be in chaos.

However, Lu Zhou, who personally kicked off this new era, was having a much better time.

He even had time to go on TV.

The day before Chinese New Year, the Light of Science live studio was filled with people.

Lu Zhou walked on stage in the midst of the applause. He smiled and waved at the audience. He then sat on the sofa.

After he sat on the sofa, he briefly looked at the audience members.

These people were relatively young, and most of them seemed to have come from local universities. Some of them might have come from high school or even middle school.

The audience all looked excited, and their applause was getting more and more energetic.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't sure if these people were actors who were hired by the program production team.

Emmmm…

I'll just pretend they're not actors.

He Ying was sitting beside Lu Zhou, and she looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

"Professor Lu, are you feeling better?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "I've basically recovered. Otherwise, I wouldn't be sitting here with you today."

The audience chuckled.

The camera hanging above the studio gave the audience a few close-ups of Lu Zhou.

The production department hoped that they could use this opportunity to convey to the public and the international community that Lu Zhou's health was improving.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't sure if this was the reasoning behind this interview, he still agreed to come here today.

After all, it was true that his body had mostly recovered.

He felt guilty, especially since he knew that a lot of people were worried about his health.

After some small talk to lighten up the atmosphere, He Ying smiled and said to Lu Zhou, "Before the show begins, I want to ask you a few questions that we took from our audience."

Lu Zhou rested his hands on his knees. He leaned back on the sofa and said, "Ask away, I'll answer to the best of my abilities."

"Don't worry, Professor Lu, these questions are very easy." He Ying looked at the cards in her hand and said, "The first question is from our netizen friend in Jiangsu.

"He expressed his concern about the thermal pollution impact of controllable fusion. What do you think about this concern?"

There's someone that knows about thermal pollution?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows with interest. He didn't expect this.

It looks like these audience members are quite knowledgeable.

At least they didn't ask if fusion reactors are more explosive than fission reactors.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Global warming is a systematic topic. Let's not discuss the possibility of thermal pollution, but rather think about this from a scientific perspective."

He Ying: "Scientific perspective?"

Lu Zhou: "That's right, the frame of reference is a high school physics topic. Which is that, when one studies the motion of a moving object, one would have to choose a suitable reference frame, then study the relative motion of the object to the reference frame.

"An example is a runner. When we talk about his running speed, we don't talk about the frequency of his steps or the speed at which his arms swing. Instead, we look at him as a whole system and compare his speed to the ground. The ground is used as the reference system so that we can calculate his displacement and time relative to the starting point.

"For a large and complex system like the earth, we can't just isolate one aspect. We should discuss it as a whole, on both the spatial and time scales.

"Talking about the environmental impact that controllable fusion energy has on the earth is a non-scientific way of thinking about this.

"Whether it is thermal power or nuclear power, they're all just ways of generating electricity. The metric that determines the value of social production isn't electricity. They are needs and demands."

He Ying: "Needs?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's right."

Controllable fusion would accelerate the increase of productivity, but would productivity stop without controllable nuclear fusion? Obviously not.

As long as there was a need for development, as time went by, civilization would continue to develop. However, the speed of said development would be relatively slow, and there would be more obstacles on the way.

The audience didn't seem to understand what Lu Zhou was saying, so Lu Zhou put it in an easier to understand manner.

"On a short time scale, controllable fusion technology is able to slow down global warming. The energy conversion efficiency of traditional thermal power technology is about 35%, which means that in order to produce 1 unit of electricity, we have to release 2.85 units of heat by burning coal. This release of heat corresponds to carbon dioxide and other sulfur gases in our atmosphere.

"However, controllable fusion doesn't have this problem. Using the ferrofluid electric energy generator on the STAR-2 demonstration reactor, the energy conversion efficiency is 50%, and there is still room for improvement. Which means that for every 1 unit of electricity, we only need to produce 2 units of heat. Also, there are no greenhouse gas emissions.

"China is a huge energy consumer, we account for half of the world's total energy consumption. If we make a difference in our carbon emissions, the whole world will follow us."

As for looking at this from a longer time scale, then one would have to consider more than just human behavior. There were other long-term factors that were more impactful.

For example, the solar magnetic activity cycle.

The solar activity had a high probability of entering Maunder Minimum halfway through the 21st century. The heat that would reach Earth was 0.3% smaller than the maximum.

What did 0.3% mean?

In Mr. Zhu Kezhen's History of China's Meteorology, the four ice ages in history were just a special cycle of Chinese civilizations. And these were the four dynasties; the late Han Dynasty, the late Tang Dynasty, the late Ming Dynasty, and the early Qing Dynasty. Take the Ming Dynasty as an example. According to historical records, the Dongting Lake had a foot of ice on top of it. The Yangtze River was frozen and the moon was nowhere to be seen. This was all due to the powerful solar cycle.

The heat released by human activities was minuscule compared to solar activity.

At least for now, humans were a long way from competing against a star.

However, Lu Zhou couldn't go this in-depth during the show, as the TV program time was limited…

Chapter 569: Creator of the World

After that, He Ying asked Lu Zhou a lot of questions on behalf of the audience, and Lu Zhou responded to them one by one.

This included how controllable fusion technology would affect the lives of ordinary people.

And what kind of positive impacts the energy breakthrough would have on the nation's economy.

Also, Lu Zhou's own personal future plans…

Of course, Lu Zhou obviously didn't talk about any sensitive technology topics.

Once they were done with the interview, some people would edit the content of the program before the program would be officially broadcasted. They would edit out those sensitive topics.

Of course, since these things were handled by the professional production team, Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about it.

In the second half of the interview, during the audience interactive session, an 11-year-old girl walked on stage. She stood next to Lu Zhou while holding a large bouquet of clove pinks.

She stared at Lu Zhou with her big, bright eyes as she handed out the bouquet in her hand.

"My teacher told us that you should put the flowers in a vase, next to your bedside table. This will make you feel better. Grandpa said that you used knowledge to help a lot of people, he wants you to get better. Also, I want to become a scientist like you when I grow up…"

It wasn't easy for the little girl to say all this, especially while holding a large bunch of flowers.

The young girl took a deep breath. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Thank you for your clove pink!"

Lu Zhou smiled and took the flowers from her hand. Even though he knew this was probably arranged by the show production team, he still smiled and said gratuitously, "Smelling the flower is already making me feel a lot better. Remember to tell your teacher I said thank you!"

The little girl blushed and nodded. She then turned around and ran off stage.

The audience erupted in applause.

In the midst of the applause, the show also came to an end.

Lu Zhou left the studio and went into the green room.

After He Ying expressed her gratitude to Lu Zhou on behalf of the production team, she continued to speak, "Professor Lu, are you free later?"

Lu Zhou: "Why, what's up?"

He Ying smiled and said, "Nothing much, I just wanted to grab food with you or something."

"Let's get food another day. I'm afraid Doctor Yan won't let me eat anything before I leave the hospital," Lu Zhou said with a smile.

Yan Yan, who was standing behind him, didn't say anything. However, she obviously agreed.

Even though she didn't have the power to control Lu Zhou's actions, as his personal doctor, she was still responsible for all of his health concerns.

Even though He Ying was a little disappointed, she still smiled. "Okay then, another day it is."

After Lu Zhou left the TV studio, he went back into his car. He was surprised to find out that the 301 Hospital guards that followed him here were gone. Instead, in came Wang Peng, who he hadn't seen for three days.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the back seat. He looked at the familiar face through the rearview mirror and said, "I thought you went home for the holidays."

Wang Peng made a helpless expression.

"No holidays for me, I'll probably lose my end-of-year bonus as well."

Forget about the end-of-year bonus.

If it weren't for his previous excellent record, he would be in even more trouble right now.

He had been constantly berated by the higher-ups over the past few days.

"No end-of-year bonus? Why…" Lu Zhou suddenly realized something and awkwardly said, "It's not because of me, right?"

Wang Peng smiled and didn't say anything.

It was quite difficult for him to answer this question.

Of course, he didn't complain about the punishment. After all, it was his job to protect Lu Zhou. And now, it seemed like he had failed his job.

However, Lu Zhou, who knew the real reason of why he was sick, felt somewhat guilty. After all, he wasn't poisoned or malnourished into a coma or something. It was purely because he leveled up his discipline. His brain couldn't handle the information overload…

Lu Zhou decided he should do something to compensate for this.

"Oh, I see, I'll write a letter for you and explain the situation to the higher-ups."

Wang Peng was suddenly anxious, and he said, "Oh please don't, please don't do this."

Lu Zhou said, "No, this isn't your fault. It's mainly because I didn't take care of my body…"

Suddenly, Yan Yan interrupted him.

"His department has rules and regulations. If someone said that he made a mistake, then he made a mistake. There's no debate about that… If you really write a letter for him, not only will it not help him, but it will give him more trouble."

She was also punished in the same regard.

The reason why she wasn't fired from her current position was that 301 Hospital couldn't find any evidence of malnourishment.

This was also the reason why Wang Peng was able to get his job back. There was simply no evidence of sabotage.

Even though Yan Yan's father was a veteran, she didn't get any type of special treatment.

And she never expected Lu Zhou to get her out of this trouble.

Lu Zhou began to realize the situations they were in, so he decided not to write the letter.

Even though he still felt kind of guilty, it was what it was.

At most, he would just compensate them later…

Lu Zhou returned to 301 Hospital and was about to go upstairs for his daily medical checkup. However, when he walked into the main building, he saw Academician Wang waiting at the front entrance.

Academician Wang's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Zhou, and he smiled as he walked over.

"How are you? Do you feel better?"

"I feel a lot better." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's almost Chinese New Year. Are you not going back to your hometown?"

"I was born and raised in Beijing, where am I supposed to go? My hometown is one metro stop away." When Academician Wang saw that Lu Zhou could walk on his own, he nodded in relief. He said, "I'm relieved that your condition is getting better. You have no idea how many people were worried about you."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I feel really bad."

"Don't say that! We're the ones who should be feeling bad." Academician Wang sighed and said, "Controllable fusion isn't an easy thing to accomplish. Especially when it comes to coordinating various research departments. Most of the critical research projects were done by you alone. Honestly… I and the old guys at the Chinese Academy of Sciences feel quite guilty."

"I'm just doing my best, no big deal." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Plus, my health is getting a lot better now."

Academician Wang sighed and said, "I'm glad you think that way. Also, there's one thing I have to tell you. While you were in a coma, we tried to achieve fusion ignition a couple more times. The STAR-2 demonstration reactor is looking good. The higher-ups personally made demands to implement the grid connection and supply electricity to the 80 million residents in the Jiangsu province!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's going to be connected? That's fantastic!"

Academician Wang smiled and said, "Yeah, it's really amazing. I didn't expect to live to see this day. But, there's another favor I have to ask you."

Lu Zhou frowned and said, "Is there a problem with the demonstration reactor?"

That's not possible!

Even the system recognized the success of the fusion ignition.

"It's not the demonstration reactor." Academician Wang quickly explained, "It's just that after it's connected to the grid, we can't keep calling it its code name, right? After all, this is the world's first demonstration reactor. The higher-ups asked us for a new name. I don't really care about these kinds of things, so I'm asking you, the chief designer."

Academician Wang smiled and said, "How about you think of a beautiful name for the reactor? If you really can't think of anything, you can use your own name. This is a good opportunity to leave your name in history."

"Let's not use my name. It sounds weird." Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I'll think about it."

Academician Wang said, "Okay then, you think about it. I have a couple of examples here."

Lu Zhou: "What examples do you have?"

"Oh, like Houyi, Jinwu, Daohuozhe, Suiren, etcetera. There's also the more westernized Prometheus. These were all decided through votes by the people in the army department. You can decide which one you like."

After thinking for a long time, Lu Zhou said, "Let's call it Pangu."

Academician Wang: "Pangu?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded.

He had actually thought about this for a while.

Not only would the controllable fusion breakthrough revolutionize the energy industry, but it would change the entire world.

In some sense, the birth of this demonstration reactor was the second creation of the world.

"If you think that's a good name, then so be it." Academician Wang smiled and said, "Okay then, I'm not going to stay here for long. I'll submit this name to the higher-ups and you should get some rest. The people at the demonstration reactor site are still waiting for your return. We still haven't hosted a fusion ignition celebration party yet. We've been looking forward to this for the whole of last year."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Ok, I promise we'll have the party soon."Chinese myth, creator of the world.

Chapter 570: The Third Debris

Germany, Greifswald.

Wendelstein 7-X laboratory.

Professor Keriber was sitting at his desk. He was holding a mouse in his hand while staring at his computer screen. As his cursor repeatedly clicked through the video progress bar, he had a massive headache.

The video was Lu Zhou's Light of Science interview.

The show aired last night. Someone recorded it, added subtitles, and uploaded it to Youtube. It received millions of views.

Millions of views for a science interview was quite impressive, especially since the video quality wasn't the best. It was obvious that the controllable fusion field, which previously had nothing to do with the public, had received widespread attention.

After Keriber saw this video, he immediately downloaded the video.

He was different from other people.

He didn't really care about Lu Zhou's thoughts on controllable fusion energy, nor did he care about the "future technical problems" that came along with controllable fusion. He only cared about one thing.

Which was Lu Zhou's opinion on the controllable fusion reactor itself!

He just wanted a little bit of inspiration, a little guidance!

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he didn't find the thing he was looking for.

Suddenly, he heard his assistant's voice.

"Professor?"

While frowning, Professor Keriber looked away from the screen and stared at his assistant, who was sitting in his office.

"What now, Price?"

"You've been staring at that video for over an hour…" Price was shocked by how tired Professor Keriber looked. He originally wanted to remind Keriber that he had a new email, but instead, he asked, "Do you need any help?"

"No need… Wait, bring me a cup of coffee."

"Okay."

Price immediately stood up and walked out of the office.

Professor Keriber continued to stare at the young man in his computer screen. He had a complicated expression on his face.

Kicking China out of ITER was a mistake.

That was always his opinion.

However, those politicians who made the wrong judgment obviously wouldn't pay for their own actions or even admit their mistakes.

The only evidence of them admitting their mistakes was their redirected focus of research resources into the stellarator projects.

Now that China had proved this technical route was feasible, they could eliminate the other technical routes, like the reversed-field pinch, inertial confinement fusion, or the tokamak.

They could also couple this with the help of the westerners who had participated in previous stellarator research projects. Not to mention, it was very difficult for large-scale scientific research projects like this to be kept completely confidential. They could find a way to reveal the secrets.

Of course, even if the state decided to increase its investment and more research institutes were involved, they knew that it wouldn't be easy to achieve what China had done.

Professor Keriber estimated that even if the whole of Europe put their resources into the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory, it would take them at least a decade to complete the demonstration reactor project.

And that was if everything went well.

If something didn't go well…

It could take two decades…

In order to advance this project as soon as possible, Professor Keriber had been tirelessly collecting information about Lu Zhou. From looking at his theses to watching his interviews… Everything he did was to find an ounce of inspiration.

However, the worst thing was that this was all a waste of time.

Lu Zhou knew more about controllable fusion than anyone else on this planet.

If Lu Zhou didn't want to reveal the secrets of the controllable fusion energy, then there was no way for the world to know those secrets.

Perhaps the only way was to ask Lu Zhou for help.

But he knew that the probability of this working was slim…

"I have to go to China…" he muttered to himself. He stood up from his office chair and grabbed his coat from the coat hanger. He then walked out of the laboratory.

Two minutes passed by.

The office door opened.

Price walked in with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. When he saw the empty office, he paused for a second.

"Professor?"

Where is he?

He was here a second ago.

…

Night of Chinese New Year's Eve.

The 301 Hospital was almost deserted.

Even though there were a lot of nurses and patients who were still here, it was quieter than usual.

Lu Zhou lay in his medical room and stared at the ceiling. He was thinking about difficult math problems to kill time.

Xiao Tong was sitting on a stool next to him, and she was playing with her phone on a small table.

They already ate their family dinner during the afternoon. After that, Lu Zhou's parents went to the CTV station.

The tickets for the annual New Year's Gala live show were sent by Director Luo, and there were five tickets in total. In addition to Lu Zhou's family members, there was also a ticket for Yan Yan.

However, only two of these five tickets were used.

First of all, Lu Zhou wasn't particularly fond of crowded and loud places. Secondly, he wasn't interested in the New Year's Gala. Xiao Tong felt the same way, so she stayed in the hospital with him.

As for Yan Yan, apparently she had been to the New Year's Gala show when she was a kid, so she wasn't interested anymore. It wasn't uncommon for kids of higher-up state officials to attend the New Year's Gala.

Lu Zhou began to feel a little bored. He suddenly remembered that he still had a lucky draw ticket. Thus, he silently whispered, "System."

His consciousness went inside the pure white system space.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the corridor.

Chen Yushan gently knocked on the door and walked in.

"Hello!"

She didn't want to disturb Lu Zhou, so she spoke quietly. She waved at Xiao Tong.

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up when she saw Chen Yushan. She immediately put down her phone and jumped out of her chair.

"Sis? Why are you here?"

Chen Yushan carefully made a "shush" gesture to Xiao Tong and pointed at Lu Zhou. She pointed at the plastic bag she was holding and said, "I came to bring you guys food."

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up and said, "Oh, dumplings, did you make them yourself?"

Chen Yushan said awkwardly, "Uh… I did half the work? It was mainly my grandma helping me. I hope it's palatable for you guys."

"It's definitely palatable, my brother isn't a picky eater." Xiao Tong suddenly thought of something. She smiled mischievously and said, "Speaking of which, Doctor Yan is also making dumplings. It seems like my brother is quite popular this Chinese New Year."

Chen Yushan asked, "Doctor Yan?"

Xiao Tong nodded and said, "Yes! The lady that has been taking care of my brother. The hospital organized a dumpling making event and she went. She said she'd give us some dumplings later… She'll probably be back soon."

Chen Yushan nodded.

She heard about Doctor Yan from Lu Zhou before, and her father, who was in the government, had also talked about Doctor Yan with her.

She didn't know why, but she had a hunch in her stomach.

She felt like there was something going on between Doctor Yan and Lu Zhou.

However, compared to the insignificant relationship stuff, she cared more about Lu Zhou's health.

Chen Yushan placed the dumplings on the table and walked next to the bed. She sat on a stool and quietly looked at Lu Zhou's face.

Speaking of which, this was the first time she had seen Lu Zhou asleep.

Why do I feel like…

He looks quite different when he's sleeping.

It was almost like Lu Zhou could feel someone was staring at him.

His eyelashes gently moved, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and gently coughed.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Chen Yushan blushed and stood up from the stool.

She took half a step back and cleared her throat.

"Don't get the wrong idea, I didn't do anything when you were asleep."

Xiao Tong smirked and raised her hand. "I can testify."

Lu Zhou looked at his energetic sister and sighed. "I know… I was just resting for a bit, I didn't fall asleep."

He was doing the system lucky draw.

According to his past experience, he could feel any real-world movements while inside the system space.

However, Chen Yushan made the situation even more awkward when she tried to clarify it.

After realizing that Lu Zhou wasn't asleep at all, Chen Yushan was even more embarrassed.

She blushed and quickly cleared her throat before diverting the conversation.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Better than ever before," Lu Zhou said, "I haven't been in the laboratory for a long time, so it feels like my brain is rusting."

Chen Yushan didn't know why, but looking at Lu Zhou in the hospital bed made her feel a little distressed.

Even though she wanted to say some words of comfort, she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.

"My grandpa asked me to give you these dumplings."

Lu Zhou: "Grandpa?"

"Yeah… He saw you in the news and praised how you are the pillar of our country. Then, when he found out that we know each other, he was shocked. He urged me to come over here and bring you some food. He also told me to thank you for your scientific research contributions to the nation…"

Chen Yushan playfully looked around and said, "Speaking of which, is there a kitchen here? You and Xiao Tong haven't eaten yet, right? Since you're going through such a tough time, I'll help you cook the dumplings."

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up, and she raised her hand.

"I'll show you where the kitchen is!"

She playfully grabbed Chen Yushan's arm and walked out of the room with her.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

His head was back on the soft pillow, and he continued to look at the ceiling. He began to think about the prize he just won.

Maybe it was because of the painstaking scientific research efforts that he made, he had been quite lucky.

He finally hit the jackpot on this lucky draw this time.

The third piece of debris was quietly lying in his inventory.

Just from the appearance of the debris alone, it looked like something spectacular.

At the same time, he felt like he was getting closer and closer to revealing the secrets of the system itself.

Chapter 571: Who Cooks It Better?

Lu Zhou had only ever received two pieces of debris before.

The first debris was a battery, some kind of lithium battery. Lu Zhou used the scanner gun to verify that it was indeed a lithium battery.

The only thing he wasn't sure was exactly what the battery should be used for.

As for the second debris, it had the shape of a cube. However, Lu Zhou had no idea what it was.

Not just that, he wasn't even sure what was "broken" about the debris.

After all, that big cubed-like thing didn't look like it had anything missing. There wasn't any noticeable damage on the surface either.

As for this third debris, it actually looked like a real "debris".

The side of the meter-long cylindrical object looked like it was hit by something that left a big gap behind.

Under the broken surface, one could see a large number of messy and complex components. At the other end of the entire cylindrical body, there was a bowl-like structure that extended outward.

The whole thing looked like a white radish.

However, it was like someone had taken a bite out of the side of the radish…

The items in his inventory could be taken out of the system space and into the real world. It didn't seem to contain any mass in the real world, so Lu Zhou could orient it however he wanted.

However, before taking it out of the system space, Lu Zhou could only stare at it in his inventory. He couldn't change the appearance of the object, nor could he disassemble it and observe the internal components.

For the time being, Lu Zhou decided not to care about what it was. He stood next to the debris and began to inspect the damage.

He was more interested in the device that could cause such serious damage.

However, apart from the debris itself, there was no other useful information at all…

"Meteorite impact? Or is it some kind of… energy-based weapon?

"If only I can take it apart and inspect it."

Lu Zhou sighed and took two steps back. He rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.

This was different than the battery debris. This thing wasn't easy to carry around in the real-world at all.

There was no way he could take it out in the hospital.

He would have to wait until he was back in Jinling.

"Speaking of which, is this an engine? But it doesn't have an exhaust pipe or a turbine…"

Actually, it kind of looks like an engine…

This thing is a bit too small for a rocket engine, but if this was some kind of high-tech plasma thruster, the size seems kind of reasonable?

Lu Zhou didn't know what a high-tech spaceship looked like, but he had seen a Hall-effect thruster before.

He thought back to when he was researching the He3 atom probe device in the Princeton PPPL. The NASA-funded AF-MPD[1.applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster] project team was doing research in this area.

However, Lu Zhou didn't inquire too much about the technical details.

First of all, it would be impolite to do so. Secondly, rocket thruster technology was a sensitive field. Knowing too much about rocket technology would put him on a list somewhere; it could even affect his travel rights.

He had always been aware of this.

Lu Zhou looked at the high-tech debris and rubbed his chin.

"What should I do?"

His intuition told him that Debris-3 was much more valuable than Debris-2.

Even if he couldn't completely figure out the underlying technology, just scraping some of the technology would have extraordinary value.

This was just like the modified PDMS film that he got from Debris-1. Even though he wasn't able to create the legendary lithium-air battery, he was able to solve the technical bottleneck of battery anode materials.

He had no idea what this high-tech thruster lookalike thing was capable of…

While Lu Zhou was thinking about this, he suddenly felt a sensation on his arm.

When he vaguely heard Xiao Tong yelling his name, he guessed that they had finished cooking the dumplings. So, he closed his inventory and left the system space.

"Brother… Brother! You better wake up, don't scare me like this."

Xiao Tong was shaking Lu Zhou's arm. Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't react at all, Xiao Tong was about to cry.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou's mouth twitched, and he smiled.

When Xiao Tong saw Lu Zhou smiling, she suddenly jumped up.

"Wow, you were trying to prank me!"

"Sorry, that expression on your face… I just couldn't help but try to scare you."

Xiao Tong said in a serious face, "Brother, did you hear the story about the kid who cried wolf?"

"Of course I have, didn't I tell you about it when I was younger?"

"Please don't mess with us like that anymore." Yan Yan sighed and removed her finger from the emergency medical button. She said, "You're giving me a hard time."

Lu Zhou: "Sorry."

He thought about it carefully and realized this joke wasn't too appropriate. After all, he was still lying in the hospital.

He admitted that he was being a little facetious, but this year's Chinese New Year's Eve was too boring, so he couldn't help but try to have some fun.

Chen Yushan was just as worried. She rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou but didn't scold him like the other two girls.

"The dumplings are ready, hurry up and eat them. It won't be as nice when they're cold."

"Ok, I'm coming."

With the help of Xiao Tong, Lu Zhou slowly sat up from his bed.

Normally, after being in a coma for more than 20 days, it would be very difficult to get out of bed. Even daily activities such as swallowing would be insanely difficult. However, Lu Zhou's recovery abilities were much stronger than the average person. He had been getting out of bed and going to the bathroom himself. Other than some minor inconveniences, he had basically fully recovered.

Maybe if everything went well, 301 Hospital would probably let him leave the hospital.

The table was moved to the middle of the hospital room. The group of four sat around the steaming dumplings.

This was Lu Zhou's first time eating dumplings in a hospital.

Interestingly enough, Lu Zhou found out that half of the dumplings were stuffed with leek while the other half was stuffed with cabbage. Eating two kinds of dumplings at once felt a little weird…

Xiao Tong seemed to have noticed this as well, and she turned around and asked, "Brother, do you think the leek dumplings are better or the cabbage dumplings are better?"

Lu Zhou was sipping on some soup, and he replied, "They're around the same. I'm not a picky eater."

Xiao Tong said in a serious manner, "No, no. Your taste is important, you have to choose one."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

While Xiao Tong was asking the question, Chen Yushan was waiting with a look of expectation on her face.

Yan Yan didn't seem to care, but she couldn't help but pay attention to Lu Zhou as well.

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't answer, Xiao Tong began to urge him.

"Don't care about it too much, just tell me your first instinct."

"If you really want me to say which one tastes better…"

Lu Zhou looked at the dumplings and went silent for a while.

"I think the dumplings I make are better."

Xiao Tong: "…"

Yan Yan: "…"

Chen Yushan: "…"

The atmosphere suddenly became stiff. Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit.

Emm…

Did I say the wrong thing again?

Chapter 572: Scientist's Nationality

The only difference between this year's New Year's Eve and previous years was that Lu Zhou ate a lot more dumplings and wasn't able to visit as many relatives.

However, even though it wasn't as lively as in previous years, he didn't feel too lonely.

Lu Zhou's grandparents from his dad's side had already passed away, and he wasn't that close with his other relatives. His relationships with his other relatives were drinking and eating together once-a-year but no contact during the year kind.

Everyone had their own things to work on, so they didn't communicate a lot normally.

The only thing Lu Zhou helped them with, was for a cousin. Lu Zhou convinced the cousin, who was studying at Aurora, to switch majors.

Even though he had never been to Aurora University, he had been a reviewer for several well-known journals such as Annual Mathematics and Mathematics Chronicle. And he had communicated with several professors in the Department of Mathematics in Aurora. Not to mention, he also had the professors' contact information.

Helping someone switch majors was a piece of cake; all it took was a phone call.

On the second day of Chinese New Year, Lu Zhou received a lot of emails in his mailbox.

Some were from Princeton, while some were from Columbia University. They were mainly his friends in the academic community.

He had to admit that his relationships with the people in the academic community were wonderful.

Even though his research had caused headaches for numerous country leaders, the overseas academic communities didn't exclude him… At least, he would still occasionally receive manuscript review invitations from Annual Mathematics. However, since he was too busy with work, he would refuse to review any thesis that didn't interest him.

At the end of the day, controllable fusion wasn't some kind of monster. The STAR-2 demonstration reactor project was fundamentally different from the Manhattan Project. Even though it affected the global political landscape, it wasn't a killing machine. Not to mention, the original intention of the project wasn't for destruction.

Looking at it from the political and governance perspective, fusion energy would reduce global carbon emissions, create cleaner energy, and better the future of mankind… Maybe the United Nations would even grant him a "Protector of The Earth" prize?

Everyone's opinion of Lu Zhou wouldn't change. Other than the people affected by fusion energy, most people's opinions would stay the same. At least, this would be the case until Lu Zhou entered the weapon design industry.

On the third day of Chinese New Year…

Lu Zhou was lying inside a CT machine, performing his first physical examination after the new year.

Academician Castin from the Royal Society looked at the intracranial CT picture and rubbed his stubble as he said, "Your physical condition is normal, and the rehabilitation process is going very smoothly… Honestly speaking, with what happened to your body, this is unbelievable."

Lu Zhou: "Unbelievable?"

"Yes." Academician Castin said, "Letting your brain rest for more than 20 days by sleeping… You might not think this is interesting, but this is a magical thing in the medical community."

Lu Zhou: "I don't think it's interesting at all."

"Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow." Academician Castin took out a business card from his pocket. He had a bright smile on his face as he handed the business card to Lu Zhou and said, "If you want to figure out the secrets of your brain, you can contact me at any time you wish. I am willing to bet that this is a Nobel Prize level discovery…"

Lu Zhou took the business card and said, "Oh, I already have one though."

"…"

Academician Castin smiled awkwardly and coughed.

"But you don't have a Nobel Prize in Medicine, right? We can co-sign the research on your brain…"

Lu Zhou said, "We'll do it another day. For now, my brain is still awake."

Castin: "…"

Even though Lu Zhou was also very curious as to what happened in his brain, with the current neuroscience technology, it would be impossible to understand the mystery behind his brain.

After Lu Zhou left the CT room, he threw Academician Castin's business card into the trash can.

After that, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He unlocked the screen and saw Xiao Ai's text bubble pop up on the screen.

[Master, you have mail ∇ (^∇^*)]

Lu Zhou clicked on the link, which opened his email directly.

As he read this email, he paused for a second and had a weird expression on his face.

[Dear Professor Lu, this is Keriber. After I heard the news regarding your coma, I felt downhearted. I wish you a safe recovery…

[… Even though this might be a little abrupt, but I am currently in Beijing. I don't know if you're available right now.

[If you are, there are some things I would like to talk to you about, face to face.]

…

Professor Keriber was sitting in a cafe near the Wukesong Subway station. He looked outside the window at the crowd walking by and glanced at his watch from time to time.

Suddenly, he heard a crisp bell sound from the cafe door.

Professor Keriber looked over and saw two people walking toward him.

Lu Zhou sat across from Professor Keriber and smiled as he said, "It's nice to meet you, my dear friend."

"It's nice to meet you…" Keriber looked at Yan Yan, who was standing behind Lu Zhou. He then looked at Lu Zhou again.

Yan Yan noticed Keriber's actions and said to Lu Zhou, "Do you need me to leave?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There's no need for that, just sit next to us."

Yan Yan hesitated for a bit and decided not to sit down. She continued to stand behind Lu Zhou.

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't want Yan Yan to leave, Keriber hesitated for a bit and slowly said, "Honestly… we've reached a bottleneck for the stellarator research."

When Yan Yan heard the word "stellarator", she suddenly became nervous.

However, Lu Zhou's expression didn't really change. He just smiled and said, "Yeah?"

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't take the initiative, Keriber went silent for a bit before saying, "I know this request might put you in a difficult position, but I can't think of another way other than to ask for your help… I won't let you provide us with any technical help, just a little bit of inspiration is enough. You know that fusion energy will benefit the entire mankind. I hope you can give me some research inspiration."

Seeing that this German professor was desperate, Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

Finally, he sighed.

"I'm sorry, my dear friend, if you want to talk about the plasma mathematical model of turbulence or any other mathematical problem, I would be happy to help. But I can't give you help regarding controllable fusion.

"As you said, this is a technology that will benefit mankind. Unfortunately, it was your arrogance and prejudice that led us to this situation. If the ITER conference didn't end in such a bad note, I would have had the opportunity to share this victory with everyone in the world."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, "Not to mention, the STAR-2 demonstration reactor isn't my own project. It's the crystallized efforts of hundreds of research institutes. If I help you now, it would be disgraceful to those that have worked hard for me."

Professor Keriber looked at Lu Zhou with a confused expression.

"I thought you would agree that scientific knowledge shouldn't have borders…"

"Yes, I agree with that." Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "But scientists have nationalities."

The conversation fell silent.

Lu Zhou saw Professor Keriber went silent, so he continued to speak, "I understand what you're feeling, but this is all I can say. However, if you guys are really desperate for this technology, I can give you a hint."

Professor Keriber suddenly looked up.

"Tell me."

Lu Zhou said, "Ask the politicians of your country to help you. Don't ask them to find me, ask them to meet with Chinese politicians.

"Us scholars really have nothing to do with these things that are outside of research. You shouldn't be the one to ask for help on behalf of your motherland.

"China is an open country. Whether it's economy, cultural, or scientific, we have never avoided integrating with the international community. However, integration is based on the acceptance of both parties. One country shouldn't compromise for another.

"I believe that as long as you are willing to let go of your prejudice and show us enough sincerity, there is the possibility of cooperation between us."

Chapter 573: Ling Yun!

Lu Zhou was the one who paid for the two cups of coffee.

After thanking Lu Zhou, Professor Keriber left the cafe and took a flight back home.

Since Lu Zhou's body hadn't fully recovered, he didn't go to the airport with Keriber. However, he told Wang Peng to send Keriber to the airport.

Only time could tell what choices Keriber would make and what choices Europe, as a whole, would make.

Nine days after Chinese New Year's Eve, in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a commendation conference was held for the successful fusion ignition of the controllable demonstration reactor. The conference opened with a brilliant speech by the host and a round of applause.

At the commendation conference, the president personally awarded the twenty-six golden 585 commemorative medals and bright red certificates to the researchers who made outstanding contributions to the demonstration reactor project. The president also expressed his gratitude to these researchers who were fighting on the front line of scientific research.

In the spring of 1958, the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences officially established a study on magnetic confinement fusion, which began the research of controlled fusion.

Up to now, there had been more than sixty years of controllable fusion research.

It took almost three generations to finally complete this project.

The commendation conference was also a perfect ending to this vigorous scientific research project.

Academician Li Jiangang was sitting at one of the tables with a golden medal rested against his chest. He wiped his eyes as he said quietly, "Professor, we did it…"

He still remembered the year of 1982, when he graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology as a nuclear power major. His original intention was to become an aircraft carrier designer. However, his mentor's influence completely changed his career, and since then, he had devoted himself to the field of controllable fusion research.

Forty years had passed since then. The nuclear power road used to be full of hope, but back then, he couldn't see an end to this road. He was regretful and sorrowful. However, he persisted without hesitation and gave up his position at the Culham Laboratory in Oxford when his motherland needed him most. He returned to China to continue his controllable fusion research.

However, his mentor wasn't able to see the glory of controllable nuclear fusion anymore.

But he believed that if his mentor's spirit were in heaven, he would definitely be proud of the choices he made today…

Academician Wang Zengguang was sitting next to him. He touched the medal on his chest and felt a burst of emotion.

"I've been in the nuclear power industry my entire life. I never would have imagined that instead of seeing the glory of the fourth generation fission power generator, I was able to witness the collapse of the third generation fission power generator."

Fission reactor was an expensive source of energy. The electricity price was much higher than that of thermal power. It was also much more difficult to deal with its nuclear waste.

After China commissioned the Pangu fusion reactor and connected the reactor to the power supply grid, there wouldn't be any new fission reactor construction plans in China.

"Speaking of which, Chief Designer Lu isn't an academician, right?"

Academician Li Jiangang hesitated for a bit and smiled as he said, "The year of 2019 was so busy for him, so he didn't have time to become an academician."

An academician had to go through two rounds of voting. The academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences would decide based on these two rounds, and this would take up a lot of time.

Since Lu Zhou was busy with the controllable fusion project for the entirety of 2019, he obviously didn't have time to be elected as an academician.

Academician Wang suddenly had a thought in his mind.

"I'll vote for him in next year's election."

"An academician in his twenties?" Academician Li hesitated and said, "Isn't it a bit too young…"

Since his old friend was staring at him, Academician Li added, "Don't look at me that way, I was just saying. When the election comes around, I'll definitely vote for him."

Academician Wang Zengguang smiled and said, "I guess there's still some kindness left in your heart then."

Academician Li wasn't happy with that remark. "What are you talking about, I always had kindness in my heart. But speaking of which, it's fine for me to vote for him since I'm in the mathematical physics department. You're in the engineering department, are you really going to vote for him?"

Academy of Engineering frowned and said, "Why does Lu Zhou have to be a mathematical physics academician? Can't he just join the Academy of Engineering?"

"Old man, you're being unreasonable." Li Jiangang smiled and said, "He's a Nobel Prize laureate and Fields Medal winner, why the hell would he be in the Academy of Engineering!"

"Oh, you're looking down on the Academy of Engineering? The controllable fusion project is way more impressive than the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize!"

"They're not the same thing! You can't compare them like that."

Their argument seemed to have ended up in a strange place.

The two men nearly started a fight over whether Lu Zhou should join the Academy of Engineering or the Academy of Sciences.

On the other hand, Zhou Chengfu was sitting at the front of the Great Hall of the People. He looked at the medal on his chest and felt a little uncomfortable.

Even though he was one of the heroes for controllable fusion research, he always felt like an outsider. He didn't feel any joy from this honor. Instead, he felt he should be disdained.

It felt like he wasn't worthy of the thing hanging in front of his chest.

Academician Pan was sitting next to him. He smiled as he said, "What now? The president gave it to you himself. Do you want to take it off?"

Zhou Chengfu didn't say anything. He had a complicated expression on his face.

However, Pan Changhong knew his friend too well.

Pan Changhong sighed and looked at the stage.

"It doesn't matter what you did, it's been fifty years. You did the hard work and this honor should belong to you. No one makes perfect choices, you were just loyal to your research.

"Also, I'm not the only one who thinks like this. Even Professor Lu nominated you."

Zhou Chengfu looked emotional…

In addition to the 26 585 medals and the 120 individual awards as well as five team awards, there was also a special medal.

This medal was about 8 cm in diameter, cast from 99.9% pure gold, weighed 527 grams, and was equipped with red and black ribbons that could be hung on one's chest. The main body of the medal consisted of five stars, olive branches, and light rays.

Its name was "Ling Yun".

It was a design that never came to life. No one had ever thought that the crazy idea of a stellarator would one day come to life in the hands of a new generation of scholars. That one day, it would produce the energy of stars.

Lu Zhou couldn't fully comprehend the significance of this medal.

After all, he wasn't from the '70s, and he didn't devote his life toward controllable fusion.

However, when his fingers rubbed against this medal and he felt the delicate textures, he could somewhat feel the historical significance that was contained in this medal…Now the China Institute of Atomic Energy.First Chinese Stellarator Design

Chapter 574: You Decide

The commendation conference finally came to an end. This celebration finally fulfilled the wish of all the scientific researchers who had shed their youth and blood for this project.

Compared to other people, in addition to the Ling Yun medal, Lu Zhou also received an hour of private meeting time.

The state needed to listen to his opinion on the future of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project.

After Lu Zhou heard the president's question, he thought for a bit before saying, "The STAR-2 demonstration reactor base has completed its mission. There's no point to continue running research at the base. My suggestion is to select some of the technical and core management staff and form a new institution. This new institution can be incorporated into an existing institution, to be responsible for the operation of the fusion reactor."

The STAR-2 demonstration reactor project was a huge scientific research project. In order to coordinate the research resources among various research institutions, it was necessary to have a large management organization.

However, now that the entire demonstration reactor project had been completed, there wasn't a need for scientific research resources, nor was there a need to coordinate various departments. Most of the management organization staff were redundant.

The president nodded.

"The people from the China National Nuclear Corporation also suggested this. Our conclusion from our meeting was that the demonstration reactor project team should be reorganized, and the important technical personnel and some management staff will form a new nuclear power company. This company will be called East Asia Energy. It will be responsible for the domestic fusion reactor project and the construction of supporting facilities for cross-regional electricity transmission projects in Southeast Asia and Central Asia."

East Asia Energy.

Seems like the state is quite ambitious.

Lu Zhou was surprised.

After all, only one fusion reactor had been built, and the southern and western China fusion reactors hadn't been established. However, the higher-ups were already talking about transmission projects to third-world countries.

However, doing this made sense.

Instead of being selfish and playing with the technology alone, it would be better to play with a group of neighboring countries. Increasing the market competitiveness of the East Asia region would increase China's influence on the market and the yuan value would rise…

However, these things had nothing to do with research, so Lu Zhou wasn't very interested.

The president said, "There is a demand for management staff at the domestic fusion reactor project. The newly established East Asia Energy isn't capable of handling it. The National Nuclear Cooperation said that some of the demonstration reactor management staff should return to their original jobs, and they can provide jobs if needed. But I feel like it's a pity to disband the demonstration reactor team. Do you think there's a more suitable arrangement?"

"It is quite a pity to disband like this…" Lu Zhou nodded in agreement as he spoke emotionally.

Not only did a huge scientific research project like that produce research talents, but it also cultivated countless management talents.

If these talents were broken up and sent back to their original research institutes, it would be a waste.

After all, the least sought after talents were management people. The management people were often only responsible to delegate work. This was why state-owned enterprises were so inefficient.

Also, these management staff had left their original work positions for so long, their vacant spots would have been filled a long time ago. They might not be able to get their old jobs back.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit. Suddenly, he had an idea.

An idea he thought of a long time ago suddenly emerged in his mind.

"Instead of letting these people return to their old positions, it would be better to let them stay, just in a different way."

The president asked, "A different way?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Can I explain what I mean?"

The president smiled and said, "Of course, I want to know your opinion."

Lu Zhou: "I did an exchange visit to Germany for a while. I think we have a lot to learn from their way of managing scientific research projects, especially their operation tactics for medium and long-term projects. Projects that affect society and industry."

The president asked, "Like what?"

Lu Zhou: "Like, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres POF funding model, like the Max Planck Institute's open network of R&D institutions. In my opinion, these seem to help improve the conversion rate of research results from research resources. This conversion rate is exactly what we lack."

China's investment in scientific research definitely wasn't small. Even using OECD's purchasing power parity calculations, it was ranked second in the world, only behind the United States.

However, even with the huge capital investment, the scientific research results conversion rate of the Chinese research institutions was still unsatisfactory.

Logically speaking, this shouldn't happen.

After all, China was more inclined to throw money toward engineering projects rather than pure scientific projects.

The conversion rate of scientific research results was only one of the problems; there were many other problems.

If they wanted to maintain their advantage in fusion energy, they had to keep developing and researching.

The technological advantage was a dynamic process.

In addition to the controllable fusion energy, Lu Zhou hoped that the demonstration reactor project could leave behind something more than just the research results itself.

Just like how the Manhattan Project produced the atomic bomb, but it also produced the valuable Argonne, Brookhaven, and other national laboratories that were well versed in medium and long-term research projects.

Implementing this kind of research model would make Lu Zhou's life much easier.

"We don't have to totally implement the German's system, but we can learn from the good parts.

"For example, we can use the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres system as a reference and transform the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project organization into a window that connects enterprises and research institutions.

"Using the model of this research center, we can begin long-term research projects on fields like energy, aerospace, and information technology. We can also make sure the research funds land in the hands of 'useful projects'. At the same time, we can allow qualified foreign research units to participate."

After hearing Lu Zhou's suggestion, the old man thought for a long time.

"So, what you're saying is, use the rest of the management talents to build a Chinese Max Planck Society?"

The president's interpretation was right.

Lu Zhou already had this vision in his mind when he visited Germany.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yes."

The president looked at Lu Zhou and smiled. "I guess you really learned a lot from your foreign experiences."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and didn't say anything.

Academic knowledge isn't the only thing worth learning.

The president's finger tapped on the armrest. He thought for a bit before saying, "I think it makes sense. We can give it a shot."

After all, letting those talents return to their old work positions would be a waste.

Instead of just letting these talents be wasted, it would be better for them to play their part in this pilot project.

If this project succeeded, then it obviously would be great.

If it did not, then whatever.

Not to mention, due to the success of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he trusted Lu Zhou's ability to handle this project.

After that, the old man stood up.

"Just like you said, establish… the Eastern Research Centers Association! With focuses on longer-term projects in the fields of aerospace, energy, and information technology.

"As for the specifics…

"You decide."

Chapter 575: Retire After Success

Lu Zhou just felt that it would be a waste to disband the STAR-2 demonstration reactor team. Therefore, he proposed to retain those talented people that had experience managing a large scientific research project. He would use the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres model to open a system that connected companies and research institutes.

However, he didn't expect that the government officials would let him manage this project himself.

Furthermore, the 2.7 billion yuan leftover research funding for the demonstration reactor was also left behind as a "start-up fund".

Normally speaking, leftover scientific research funding should be returned to the investor.

With this money, Lu Zhou wouldn't have to worry about financial matters, such as employees' salaries, where the new R&D center, and other costs.

Two days after the commendation conference.

The people over at the Ministry of Science and Technology contacted Lu Zhou.

A man in his thirties wearing glasses personally came to visit him. The man looked like he was rather elegant and easy-going.

Lu Zhou learned that his name was Feng Shuqing, and he graduated from the Department of Life Science at Shuimu University. However, after he received his master's degree, he didn't look for work in his professional field. Rather, he took the national examination and entered the strategic planning department at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

He was quite a high-ranking official within the department.

According to the department, Secretary Feng was mainly responsible for two things. One was to complete the restructuring of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project team by coordinating with the necessary departments. The other was to serve as the secretary for the soon-to-be newly formed Eastern Research Centers Association.

"The higher-ups greatly value your opinion, and they told us to cooperate with you. Our department leadership team had a meeting and decided to send me here to help you." When Feng Shuqing noticed Lu Zhou's look of surprise, he smiled and asked, "Is there a problem, Director Lu?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No problem, I just think that you look very young."

Feng Shuqing smiled gently and said, "Maybe the higher-ups think that we are similar in age, so there's less of an age-gap in terms of communication."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thank you so much for helping me manage this restructuring. I might be a bit busy, so I might not be able to help much."

Feng Shuqing said, "Don't worry about it. The whole reason I'm here is to help you!"

Lu Zhou: "Okay, thanks… Oh yeah, one more thing."

Feng Shuqing: "What?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Just call me Professor Lu, I'm more used to it."

Feng Shuqing paused for a second and smiled. He then said, "Since Professor Lu is insisting, then from now on, I shall call you that."

…

After the Chinese New Year holiday ended, Lu Zhou's parents made sure that Lu Zhou's health was in good condition. After they repeatedly told him to take care of his body, they went back to Jiangling, while his sister went back to Jinling and began to apply to universities abroad.

As for Lu Zhou, because there were some matters he had to attend to in Beijing, he decided to stay here for a couple more days.

After he got out of the 301 Hospital, he had been staying in a luxury hotel near Yuanmingyuan Park. Even though he didn't have a house in Beijing, every time he came here, he didn't have to worry about finding a place to stay.

Three days after the commendation conference, Feng Shuqing went to Haizhou and began to work on restructuring the STAR-2 demonstration reactor team.

Lu Zhou's business in Beijing was almost finished, so he bought a train ticket to Jinling.

He was feeling a bit guilty. He had been a Jin Ling University professor for more than a year now, but he hadn't even interacted with the students at Jin Ling University yet. Now that the controllable fusion project was finally finished, he could finally spend some time on the things that interest him.

Dusk time, near the hotel man-made lake…

Chen Yushan was walking next to Lu Zhou when she asked, "Is your health better?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm already out of the hospital, what do you think?"

Chen Yushan sighed and said, "I know you like to stay in the laboratory, but don't overwork yourself."

Lu Zhou said, "Don't worry about it. Now that the controllable fusion project is done, I won't have to be that busy. Well, not for a while at least."

Chen Yushan: "What do you plan on doing next?"

Lu Zhou thought and said, "Probably return to Jin Ling University and teach."

Chen Yushan said, "You're a chief designer now, do you still have time to teach at the university?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I was a chief designer. Now that the controllable fusion energy project is finished, the rest of the work can be handed over to the professionals. There's nothing else left for me to design per se."

Even though he was somewhat involved with the Eastern Research Centers Association, Lu Zhou didn't want to spend too much energy on anything outside of research. Right now, he was just paving the way for his future research work.

If it turned out that Feng Shuqing was competent, then Lu Zhou would just give him a general direction and let him handle the rest.

It was quite interesting actually.

Lu Zhou found out that the road he was walking on was oddly similar to someone from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

After the Manhattan Project ended, Oppenheimer also returned to Princeton as a dean and was no longer engaged in atomic bomb research. However, unlike Lu Zhou, Oppenheimer had been driven away from research due to his inner guilt that was caused by the war. On the other hand, Lu Zhou simply wasn't interested in a management role. Therefore, he chose to retire.

It took twenty years for Oppenheimer to receive political rehabilitation. Compared to him, Lu Zhou was receiving a much better treatment.

Whether it was being called the father of controllable fusion or the honor of the Ling Yun medal…

With these two honors on his shoulders, he could walk into any industry or field he wanted.

And that honor and prestige were something that money couldn't buy.

Chen Yushan gently kicked a stone on the road and sighed. She looked at the man-made mountain near the lake and felt a little depressed.

"That's so nice, you know what you want to do, and you know how to achieve your goals. Unlike me…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Aren't you the same? A University of Pennsylvania offer is no easy feat."

Chen Yushan didn't seem to be comforted.

"Well, is it harder than a Princeton offer? Mr. 'Nearly became the dean of the Princeton math department'."

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his spit. "When did I nearly become the dean of the mathematics department? I don't remember anything like that."

Chen Yushan: "Who cares, if you want to become the dean, you can."

Lu Zhou: "Let's not talk about me. I'm curious, what's troubling you?"

"Oh… Actually, it's not a trouble, it's more of a self-entanglement dilemma kind of thing." Chen Yushan twirled her hair with her fingers and hesitated for a bit. She said, "My father wants me to work in the government, but I don't really like working here. I'm studying finance and an MBA, and I want to work at a multinational company with a hundred-billion market value. Wouldn't it be weird to just sit around in some government office?"

What?

What do you mean just sit around?

That's kind of diminishing what government officials do.

Chen Yushan smiled at Lu Zhou's expression and said, "Whatever, thank you, Mr. Big Scientist, for spending so much time to listen to my non-existent problems… Well, since you're in good condition, I'm gonna leave now."

As Lu Zhou watched her walking away, he suddenly remembered something and called her.

"Oh yeah… Wait."

Chen Yushan stopped walking and looked back at him. "What's up?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Remember that question I asked you last year? If I recall correctly, you promised me something…"

Chen Yushan: "…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he said, "If you don't have anything better to do, why don't you come work for me?

"Even though it's not a hundred-billion dollar company, it's still a billion-dollar company."

Chapter 576: Unexpected Cake?

Chen Yushan agreed to Lu Zhou's invitation without any hesitation.

After she received the offer from Star Sky Technology, she immediately went to Shanghai.

The China office branch of Star Sky Technology was registered there. As Lu Zhou's work would gradually be migrated to China, Star Sky Technology's business center would also shift from Philadelphia to Shanghai.

Lu Zhou trusted Chen Yushan's abilities.

Especially after he found out that she was the one who was initially responsible for the patent management of Star Sky Technology. Therefore, he confidently handed these matters to her.

After Lu Zhou returned to Jinling, he greeted Principal Xu and moved his belongings into his mathematics department office.

His number theory class was going to start in April.

Other than that, he also planned on taking over a few master's and PhD students in mathematics and computational materials. On the one hand, this was to reduce his research load, and on the other hand, he would use this opportunity to help his alma mater train some outstanding talents.

While Lu Zhou's work was gradually shifting to Jin Ling University, the restructuring of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project team in Haizhou was also proceeding in an orderly manner.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that, it wasn't just about the Eastern Research Centers Association, but the East Asia Energy company was also heavily involved.

Feng Shuqing was reporting to Lu Zhou through the phone.

"… In order to accelerate the cross-regional power grid projects in Southeast Asia, the state wants to introduce private capital to participate in the construction of East Asia Energy, under the premise that it will still be state-owned. According to the higher-ups' instructions, we plan on going to the four major banks, the three major oil companies, and the top five electric companies in China to issue 20 billion yuan worth of shares. We'll also publicly issue around 20 billion yuan worth of shares to raise capital."

Lu Zhou was twirling a pen in his hand when he frowned and asked, "Is it normal to introduce private capital into a state-owned enterprise?"

Feng Shuqing smiled and said, "It's totally normal. The stock market is our long-term goal. In addition to reducing the suspicion of other countries, the introduction of private capital can also bring social vitality.

"Not to mention, these shares do not hold management rights. How the company operates, the expansion of the company, etc, these things are still managed by the management department of the company."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, I understand."

Feng Shuqing: "Oh yeah, I had to notify you of this matter, but I hope you can keep it a secret for the time being."

Lu Zhou: "Are you guys not releasing the shares to the public?"

Feng Shuqing coughed and said, "We are… But we can't just let everyone buy them. If the news goes out now, it'll just increase our workload."

Everyone wanted to jump on the money-making train.

As soon as the news spread, this few dozen billion worth of market cap would be instantly bought out.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't ask about the specific progress of the restructuring, this still caught his attention.

After all, this was the controllable nuclear fusion.

The only company that could achieve fusion energy, at least for another ten years, was East Asia energy. What could be better than a complete monopoly?

Due to China's huge energy demands and the low costs of controllable fusion, it would be impossible to lose money on this investment.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou didn't know where he should spend his money, so he'd rather just spend it on the construction of the national nuclear power industry.

After Lu Zhou hung up the call, he leaned back in his chair and thought for a bit. He then called Chen Yushan.

After the phone connected, he immediately asked.

"How much money do I have right now?"

Chen Yushan, who was in the Shanghai office, nearly choked, and she said, "You don't even know how much money you have?"

People like this actually exist?

What a show-off.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I haven't been managing the company recently, I was too busy last year… Aren't you in Shanghai? Please just look it up for me."

Chen Yushan looked at the piles of documents on her desk and sighed. She suddenly had a headache, but she still replied, "Okay, I'll send you a financial report."

Lu Zhou: "Okay, thank you."

He didn't have to wait for long.

On the morning of the next day, Chen Yushan sent the financial report into Lu Zhou's mailbox.

Lu Zhou opened the email and looked at the attachment.

He was astonished.

Last year, Star Sky Technology's intellectual property business made a net profit of US$470 million last year! An annual increase of 37.6%!

If this were listed on the Nasdaq, it would have a market cap of more than US$40 billion.

Lu Zhou looked at this financial report and felt emotional.

Adding to the profits from the previous years, there was US$1.2 billion in the company accounts.

Without knowing it, he became a billionaire.

This was a different type of feeling.

Of course, intellectual property was basically the only thing that Star Sky Technology was involved in.

Other than that, there was the cooperation with Baosheng Group, the China National Nuclear Corporation, SG-1 superconducting magnets, and the liquid lithium neutron recovery system. However, those profits were tiny, and they were a few orders of magnitude lower than the rest. They could basically be ignored.

Lu Zhou read the financial report from start to finish and thought for a bit. He then picked up the phone and called Chen Yushan.

The phone rang two times and connected.

Chen Yushan immediately asked, "Did you read the financial report?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I did. Also, there's one more thing I need you to do."

Chen Yushan: "Well, what? Tell me."

Lu Zhou: "The STAR-2 project team is going through restructuring, and the talented management and technical personnel will be incorporated into East Asia Energy. The newly established East Asia Energy will be responsible for domestic and international controllable fusion inter-regional grid interconnection…"

Lu Zhou made a brief explanation of the East Asia Energy situation. He paused for a second and said, "It would be a pity if we missed out on this opportunity."

The shares of private companies could not be circulated in the stock market, but there was a high probability that East Asia Energy would eventually go public.

If that happened, the stock price would certainly jump up.

And when the time arrived, even the dividends would be worth a lot of money.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't lacking in the financial department, there was no such thing as too much money.

Not to mention, he had so many expensive projects going on, he might not even have enough.

Chen Yushan: "How much do you plan on buying?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

"Just buy a billion yuan first."

Chapter 577: Scientific Research Assistan

After Lu Zhou handed over the equity acquisition to Chen Yushan, he didn't ask any more questions. He put his focus back onto his computer screen.

Even though Feng Shuqing was responsible for the restructuring of the STAR-2 project team, as the chief designer of the fusion reactor, his opinion was still very important.

Especially regarding his plans for the Eastern Research Centers Association.

The higher-ups suggested that the newly established research and development centers would focus on aerospace, energy, and information technology.

Lu Zhou planned to find one or two areas in these fields to focus on.

For example, for aerospace, he planned on developing a plasma thruster.

The reason for doing this wasn't totally because the use of Debris No.3 was still unknown. The main reason was that some of the controllable fusion technology could be applied to the research of plasma thrusters.

This was just like how the Apollo moon landing project indirectly promoted the development of gas-steam turbine combined cycle technology(GTCC). Plasma propulsion technology was inseparable from controllable fusion.

As for the energy side, Lu Zhou planned to continue to deepen his research on controllable fusion and develop the second generation of controllable fusion energy—fusion ignition with helium-3 and deuterium as fuel.

Even though this type of technology was difficult to achieve in the short term, it was always worthwhile to invest in the long-term.

As for information technology, this was slightly out of Lu Zhou's research area.

Even though he had read textbooks in this area due to the system's missions, but he was far from being a professional.

However, after some deep thinking, Lu Zhou finally made a decision. He chose carbon-based chips and quantum computers as the main areas of research focus.

The Eastern Research Centers Association was focused on medium and long term projects. As an academic leader, Lu Zhou didn't have to worry too much about achieving short term technology results.

Scientific research was unlike planting trees, investment did not necessarily mean success.

It was fine as long as the technical pathway was theoretically achievable in the long term.

Lu Zhou was halfway through writing the proposal plan when he looked at the long list of names on his screen and leaned against his chair.

"Is it ten o'clock already?"

The day had gone by without him knowing it.

Since he had to go to university tomorrow, he decided not to stay up late. He went to take a hot bath and then lay down on his bed.

Xiao Ai's drone picked up his phone from his study room and brought it inside the bedroom.

Lu Zhou lay in his bed while scrolling through Weibo. He pressed "like" on a couple of comments that called him handsome. He then yawned and gradually began to fall asleep…

…

The next morning.

Lu Zhou woke up early and did his bathroom routine. After that, he put on a trench coat and went out.

When he was walking out of the house, the black car with the national flag was already waiting in front of his mansion.

Lu Zhou sat shotgun and looked around the car. He then said, "I plan on changing the car."

Wang Peng: "Do you plan on buying a BMW or a Mercedes? I can drive anything."

Lu Zhou: "I haven't decided yet, maybe an electric one?"

The path from Purple Mountain to Jin University wasn't very far.

The two were chatting when they arrived at Jin Ling University International Conference Center.

The car drove inside the campus and stopped in front of the cafeteria. Lu Zhou took off his seatbelt and asked, "Have you eaten breakfast?"

"I ate before picking you up."

"Okay then, I won't spot you any food."

After that, Lu Zhou got off the car and closed the car door.

After he went to the cafeteria to buy some breakfast, he took the dumplings and soy milk into the mathematics building and went straight to his office.

He walked to the front of his office door and was about to take out his keys. However, he faintly heard someone talking inside the office.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before knocking on the door.

He heard the sound of footsteps from behind the door.

After that, the office door was opened. A girl with bangs and round-rimmed glasses looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Oh, Professor, why are you here so early?"

Lu Zhou was more surprised than her, and he asked, "Who are you?"

The girl forcefully smiled and said, "I'm Zhao Huan, your assistant."

Assistant?

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face. When he looked inside the office, he saw two other desks.

He saw a girl in her twenties sitting behind one of the office desks. She was looking at him with a curious glance.

"What about them?"

Zhao Huan replied awkwardly, "They are…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

After some explanation, Lu Zhou finally had a general understanding of the three girls.

The one with bangs was called Zhao Huan, and she was mainly responsible for managing classes, conferences, and academic visits. The other more mature girl was called Kong Jie, and she was responsible for copywriting, PPT, and other miscellaneous stuff. As for the other person, she was mainly responsible for answering phone calls and running errands…

Why do I feel like she looks familiar?

Lin Yuxiang waved her hand and said, "Hello~".

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lin Yuxiang: "Don't be so quiet, we used to fight on the academic line side by side."

All you did was bring me food, why are you so confident?

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Why are you here?"

"I'm about to graduate next year, and I plan on becoming a civil servant, so I applied to be an assistant in the school." Lin Yuxiang smirked and said, "I didn't expect the school to put me in your office, this must be fate."

Lu Zhou: "…"

I guess this chick hasn't changed one bit.

Lu Zhou looked around the office and said, "Since the school already arranged tasks for you guys, I won't repeat anything. Just make sure you do your work at hand and tell me if any special circumstances arise… Also, where are the application resumes of the graduate students? The academic affairs office said that they already sent it to you guys."

Zhao Huan immediately ran to her desk to pick up the resumes. She then handed the resumes to Lu Zhou.

"I already sorted them for you."

Lu Zhou nodded and flipped through the resumes.

"Ok, not bad."

After that, he didn't say anything else. He sat behind his office desk and began to flip through the resumes.

…

Since Lu Zhou's work was so busy, he understood why the school arranged three assistants for him. The only thing he didn't understand was why were they all women?

He didn't doubt the efficiency of these ladies. It was just that the job of a scientific research assistant wasn't a particularly good job.

It was considered a buffer position and one of the least attractive jobs in universities.

Compared to the post-doctoral positions that had more scientific research involvement, research assistants were mainly responsible for physical work. They received low wages and had a bleak future. The only way out was to transfer into administrative work. If they couldn't do that, then they would have to leave their jobs after a couple of years.

Honestly, Lu Zhou wasn't optimistic about these three ladies. He didn't think they had the tenacity required.

But regardless, this was already pre-arranged.

Even though he wasn't satisfied, he would have to at least wait for a while and see how they do.

Lu Zhou spent the entire morning flipping through the resumes that Zhao Huan had sorted for him. He chose a few candidates to interview in-person.

This time, Lu Zhou planned to recruit quite a large number of students.

Not just in the mathematics area, but also in the computational materials area as well as the theoretical physics area.

The reason was because of the reward mission he accepted a couple of days ago…

Chapter 578: Isn't It Already One?

The previous mission chain gave two mission cards; one was another mission chain, while the other one was a reward mission.

Lu Zhou thought about the time frame of the mission chain and how he could only accept one mission at a time. In the end, he decided to choose the reward mission first.

[

Reward mission: Able to give up at any time without consuming general points.

Description: The prosperity of a generation cannot be done by one alone. Stop focusing only on experiments, take on more students!

Requirements: 1. Select two courses, with a minimum of 12 contact hours each course. The final reward depends on the quality of the course. (S grade = 100,000 experience points, one lucky draw ticket).

2. Help instruct students to produce 5 or more theses. Rewards are calculated by the cumulative value of the impact factors. (1 impact factor = 1,000 experience points, 10 general points).

Reward: 0~??? experience points, 0~??? general points. 1-2 lucky draw tickets.

]

All in all, this mission was relatively simple.

He just had to lecture classes and take on a few students. It should take him one semester to do it. Especially for the theses part… It might not be easy for the average person to do this, but for him, guiding a few students to write a few theses was a piece of cake.

The rewards calculation metric wasn't based on the academic value of the theses. It was based on the impact factor of the journal. His students didn't have to tackle world-class mathematics problems. All that mattered was that his students' theses were accepted by a high impact factor journal.

Not to mention, he could utilize the computational materials science field.

As one of the pioneers of this field, he could go to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and find a few research projects for his students to work on. He could then sign the theses as a communication author, and the probability of these theses being accepted would be very high.

As for the mission rewards, it was decent.

If he was lucky, he could get two S-grade, which would result in two lucky draw tickets. If he was lucky again, he might be able to get a scanner gun?

That was probably what Lu Zhou wanted the most.

It would be quite difficult to reverse engineer the Debris No.3 with the current technology. After all, Lu Zhou had no idea what the technology behind the engine was. He wasn't even sure if it was an engine or not.

Of course, Lu Zhou had only ever gotten the scanner gun once in his life, so the probability of getting another one was very low.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but complain in his mind.

Maybe it's because I'm not a "beginner" anymore, that's why I don't even get to see the lucky draw probabilities…

Lu Zhou prepared the interview list and gave it to Lin Yuxiang, who was in charge of contacting the students. After that, he refused her invitation to eat at a restaurant and went to the cafeteria for lunch instead.

After Lu Zhou returned to the office, he began to think about his plans for the afternoon. However, Zhao Huan suddenly ran into the office.

She panted and lowered her head.

"Um… Professor, you have a number theory class in the afternoon."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and looked confused.

"Number theory class? I thought my class starts on week ten?"

Zhao Huan looked guilty as she said, "Sorry, I'm really sorry! Your computational materials class starts on week ten, but the number theory class starts this week…"

Starts this week?

Even though Lu Zhou was a little surprised, he didn't put any blame on her.

After all, she was new to this job and was inexperienced. It was fine as long as she didn't make the same mistake again.

"Keep your head high, it's just one class, not a big deal. Just watch out next time."

Even though Lu Zhou didn't really mind, Zhao Huan still felt apologetic.

"How about I contact the academic affairs office and change your class schedule?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "No need, I'll do it in the afternoon."

Zhao Huan was worried, and she said, "But… you haven't done any preparation, right?"

Lu Zhou pulled out his desk drawer and smiled.

"That's not a problem, all I need is a textbook."

…

Teaching building.

Inside the second-floor classroom at the end of the corridor.

Even though the class would not start for another half an hour, the lecture hall was already filled with people. Some students even sat on the aisle of the corridor.

The class was about to begin, and the students in the classroom were excited.

"Do you think God Lu will really teach us himself?"

"I don't know, that's what it says on the curriculum."

"It won't be a teaching assistant, right?"

"That might be possible! If I were a chief designer, I wouldn't have time for undergraduate classes! I won't even bother working on a project worth less than a billion."

"Keep dreaming, you!"

A tall and thin boy stood up in the middle of the classroom and looked around. He then sat back down.

"Jesus Christ, this is a full-sized lecture hall, how many people are in this number theory class?"

His roommate, who was sitting next to him and wore glasses, sighed and said, "This is Chief Designer Lu, Fields Medal and Nobel Prize winner. Forget about the master's students at our school, even the genius students from Jinshi University came here."

The students had to take the subway just to get here.

The tall guy said, "Why is Jinshi University here? Do they even have a mathematics department?"

"Who knows? But I think they should have one…"

Soon, the class bell rang.

As soon as the bell had finished ringing, Lu Zhou, who was wearing a gray trench coat, walked into the classroom while carrying a textbook.

His young and handsome face gave the students a different feeling from the other professors. When he stood on the podium, the commotion in the classroom became even noisier and more excited.

When a girl sitting in the front row began to take photos, Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

"Student, the class hasn't begun yet, there's no need to take photos."

The girl taking the photos blushed and put her phone away.

Lu Zhou looked around at the crowded classroom and was surprised that there were so many people attending. He cleared his throat and said, "Everyone quiet down, let's start."

The moment he finished speaking, the classroom became quiet.

Lu Zhou could feel from everyone's gaze that they were looking forward to his lecture.

In order to live up to their expectations, he didn't make the students wait any longer.

Lu Zhou opened the first page of the textbook and cleared his throat.

"Number theory is an ancient field of study, its origin can be traced back to BC…

"You guys might ask what's the point of studying these outdated things, and I can tell you now that there is no meaning.

"Whether it's the twin prime conjecture, Goldbach's conjecture, or the '1+1' problem, it's all just a matter of solving the permutation of prime numbers. However, through repeated scrutiny of these interesting yet meaningless propositions, we can often receive unexpected treasures from it. What treasures, you might ask. Treasures like a new mathematical tool or even a new area of mathematics…

"Turn your books to the introduction section, I will try to control the pace and start from the beginning. There's no PowerPoint presentation, so you'll have to write notes… I hope you guys can keep up."

Lu Zhou turned around, facing the blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the board.

The textbook he used was written by Professor Feng Keqin of Shuimu University. He was a close disciple of Hua Luogeng and one could say he personally witnessed the rise and fall of China's number theory field.

When Lu Zhou first won the Crafoord Prize for his Goldbach's conjecture proof, he received an invitation from his alma mater. It was to do a report regarding his Goldbach's conjecture proof and the Group Structure Method. All of the big names in the number theory field were present at this report.

After the report ended, Feng Keqin asked for Lu Zhou's opinion on incorporating the Group Structure Method into the textbook—Introduction To Number Theory.

After more than two years of repeated edits, this textbook was finally released last year.

Lu Zhou flipped through this book at the Jin Ling University library before and felt that the contents of this book were pretty good. It was suitable for a beginner to get their feet wet, but it also dove deep into some core number theory problems.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't think any of these students could solve some kind of world-class conjecture, but he believed that as long as he passed on some of his ideas to them, it would greatly benefit their future academic careers.

Professor Tang Zhiwei sat at the back of the classroom as he looked at Lu Zhou and muttered emotionally, "Time really flies."

Dean Lu Fangping, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said, "Yeah, you'll be seventy next year, when are you going to retire?"

Professor Tang: "I'll teach for a few more years, I'm not in a hurry."

Dean Lu said, "A few more years? If I had a disciple like Lu Zhou, I would have retired a long time ago."

Old Tang shook his head and said, "I didn't teach him anything. This kid was very assertive during his second year. My plans for him never caught up with his progress. Over the past few years, I have been thinking about how he was able to do it. But the only conclusion I had was that he was a genius who was more diligent than your average geniuses… Maybe, there's a higher-being teaching him."

Lu Fangping looked at the crowded classroom and the students taking notes in the aisle, and he asked, "Do you think that Jin Ling University will one day become the mathematics center of China?"

Old Tang smiled and looked at the young man standing on the podium.

"Isn't it already one?"

Chapter 579: The Perks Of Being Handsome?

After talking for around 80 minutes, Lu Zhou took two steps back and looked at the blackboard. He saw that there was no more space for him to write. Therefore, he looked back at the students in the classroom and put down the chalk in his hand.

"We'll end the class here."

When the students in the classroom saw Professor Lu put down the chalk, they finally sighed in relief.

Even though most professors lectured at the speed of rockets, they were nowhere as bad as Professor Lu, who went through seventy pages in just one lecture.

If this continued, this textbook would be finished in just a few lectures.

But they had to admit that…

Professor Lu's lecture ability was pretty good.

Actually, it wasn't pretty good, it was extremely good.

Most professors weren't interested in teaching undergraduate students, and their teaching abilities were almost inversely proportional to their academic research abilities.

However, Professor Lu gave them a different kind of feeling.

Even though they couldn't fully understand the ideas he used when solving problems, when he was explaining some of the more esoteric topics, they were learning things that couldn't be taught from textbooks.

Like mathematical methods.

And experience.

Those genius students sitting in the classroom were well aware that these things were more important!

A tall skinny guy who was sitting in the middle of the classroom looked at his notes and sighed. "If God Lu taught us real analysis last semester, it wouldn't have been so miserable."

For undergraduate students, number theory required a strong mathematical and logical background, and it was considered a difficult subject.

Especially for advanced algebraic number theory and analytic number theory fields, even PhD-level mathematicians wouldn't be able to understand some of the more profound problems.

The things they were learning were relatively basic, but there were many esoteric materials.

Surprisingly, after Professor Lu explained the difficult topics, they didn't seem so difficult anymore.

His roommate, who was wearing glasses, said, "After all, he was a Princeton professor, earning hundreds of thousands of USD per year. Why do you think so many people are coming to this class?"

The tall, skinny guy said, "Oh? Isn't it because he won the Fields Medal and Nobel Prize?"

"Fine, that too."

While the two were chatting, Lu Zhou began to speak.

"There's still a little time left. If there are any questions regarding the material I just went through, feel free to ask me.

"Of course, I will also answer questions outside of the teaching material. But I will not answer any personal questions."

There was a commotion in the classroom as the students began to whisper to each other.

This group of students, who didn't know mathematics at all, who only came because of God Lu, suddenly woke up and paid attention.

After a while, a genius student who was wearing black-rimmed glasses raised his hand and asked, "Professor, can you tell us how you solved the Goldbach's conjecture?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Of course I can, but not now. With your foundation now, I'm afraid you won't be able to get through the first page of the thesis. I suggest you guys set your foundation first before trying to understand the problem… Of course, if you guys are really interested, I can put this problem at the end of the course material."

The student sat down. Soon, a chubby guy in a puffer jacket raised his hand and asked curiously, "Professor, how did you move from mathematics research into controllable fusion?"

Controllable nuclear fusion?

This is a difficult question to answer.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "My research isn't limited to pure mathematics. In my opinion, mathematics is a powerful theoretical tool, whether it's physics or chemistry or any other fields, it can help us find answers through effective calculations.

"The research on the Navier–Stokes equations gave me a chance to research plasma turbulence. Of course, I started this problem three years ago. I was in Berlin at that time, and the German Chemical Society invited me to accept the Hoffman Prize. I met Professor Klitzing there, and he invited me to the Wendelstein 7-X laboratory…"

"As for the specifics, I'm sure you guys aren't interested." Lu Zhou smirked and jokingly said, "Also, it's not good for you guys to know too much, I like to stay mysterious."

The classroom chuckled.

Coincidentally, the class was over.

While the bell was ringing, Lu Zhou picked up the book in his hand and quickly left the classroom before the students were able to surround him.

He was walking in the hallway and happened to bump into Principal Xu.

Principal Xu noticed Lu Zhou holding the textbook and smiled.

"How is it? How does teaching feel?"

"It feels alright." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "My biggest takeaway is that our students are much more enthusiastic than Princeton students."

When he was teaching in Princeton, even though those students also preferred young and knowledgeable professors, they were nowhere near as enthusiastic.

After all, there were too many geniuses and big names in Princeton. Anyone standing on the podium was a potential Nobel Prize or Fields Medal winner.

Also, compared to those experienced professors, there were many lecturing techniques Lu Zhou had to learn.

Of course, that was compared to Princeton's standards.

If it was Jin Ling University's standards, there wasn't a better mathematics lecturer than Lu Zhou…

Principal Xu smiled and said, "It seems like our students quite like you. My classrooms have never been so full."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

Maybe…

This is the perks of being handsome?

Principal Xu paused for a second and said, "If you have any problems or suggestions regarding your lectures, tell me. The school will try our best to find a solution."

Lu Zhou: "I'm pretty happy, I don't have any problems… it's just that…"

Principal Xu: "Just what?"

"No, nothing."

Lu Zhou originally wanted to talk about how all of his assistants were females, but he suddenly changed his mind and felt like this wasn't appropriate.

Should I ask the school to give me male assistants?

Emm…

I feel like that will cause a misunderstanding.

Chapter 580: Laboratory Three Stories Underground

Since Lu Zhou's office was full of estrogen, he didn't really want to go there.

He called Zhao Huan and told her to arrange the interviews for the master's students. He then went to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The Debris No.3 had been in the system space for a while now.

Every night before bed, he would go into the system space and look at it for a while. Unfortunately, he could only see the projection inside the system space, he couldn't see the internal structure at all.

Lu Zhou was eager to find out what this thing was, and he couldn't wait any longer.

He came to the main Institute for Advanced Study building and took the elevator to the sample warehouse, which was the second floor underground.

He walked to the end of the sample warehouse corridor and stood in front of a thick metal alloy door. He entered the password on the electronic lock and looked at the camera, passing retinal recognition.

The metal door slowly opened and gave him a passage to the second floor underground.

Ever since Lu Zhou received Debris No.1 from the system, he had taken into consideration what would happen if he received a larger piece of debris that was more difficult to handle.

Therefore, when he was constructing the Institute for Advanced Study, he specifically told the contractor to design a hidden private laboratory.

Of course, on paper, this was part of the sample warehouse. It was just located in a more secure place.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study conducted research in many sensitive areas, like the SG-1 superconducting magnets.

It wasn't abnormal to have secure sample warehouses like this.

Even if an intruder broke in, all of the cameras and security systems were linked up to Xiao Ai.

In the case of an intruder, Xiao Ai could cut off the elevator system and closed the metal doors. This would completely trap the intruder on the second floor.

If it was necessary, Lu Zhou could even turn off the air ventilation system on the second floor.

Of course, Lu Zhou felt like it probably wouldn't be necessary to do that.

After all, with Xiao Ai guarding the place, it would be impossible to enter the second floor underground without permission.

Lu Zhou walked through the third floor underground door.

When he was walking through the corridor outside the secret laboratory, two drones that were quietly laying at the door lit up with a green light and flew behind Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou stood in the middle of the spacious laboratory and took a deep breath. He entered into the system space and selected the Debris No.3.

Within a few seconds, Lu Zhou exited the system space and opened his eyes.

He saw that there was a black outline of the debris in front of him. It was filled with unknown material and the debris shell began to glow under the light…

No matter how many times he experienced the system project items turning into reality, he couldn't help but feel astonished.

This was breaking the laws of physics. Lu Zhou had no idea how the system was able to do it.

Teleportation? Or some kind of two-dimensional material expanding on the three-dimensional plane? Or some other special physical forces…

Due to safety reasons, Lu Zhou used an instrument to detect its gamma value before approaching the device.

He made sure that there were no radioactive or abnormal electromagnetic signals. He then put on some white plastic gloves and took out a flashlight and some electric wire clippers from his toolbox. He then carefully walked toward the debris.

When he found the location of the fracture, he used a flashlight to look inside the debris.

This time, he was finally able to see the internal structure.

This was different than he had imagined. He originally thought that this high-tech device was almost sci-fi like. However, he didn't expect that it was just a bunch of fragmented components and a million torn wires.

He used a high-resolution camera to take a few internal structure photos. After that, he began to start researching. Well, dissecting the equipment.

He chose a piece of broken wire and used the clippers to gently squeeze it. The wire casing quickly turned into powder, revealing a silver thin wire.

"Electric wire? Or fiber?"

Lu Zhou used the clippers to cut a section of the wire and placed it into a sample box labeled "Sample A". He wrote down the location of the wire and was going to do an analysis on the wire later.

After that, Lu Zhou put the flashlight in his mouth and walked inside the engine through the fracture point.

Lu Zhou followed the strings of wires and soon found what he wanted.

Those intricate wires were connected to a black board.

He gently reached out and pulled on the silver wires. They were easy to pull off.

He reached out and picked up the board that was broken into two pieces and slowly climbed out of the engine.

He used the light from the laboratory to carefully inspect the board.

With a frown, he muttered, "Is it a circuit board?"

There was a layer of black paint on this board.

Lu Zhou didn't know if it was because of the damage or other reasons, but the layer of black paint faded away because of a gentle touch.

Lu Zhou looked at the black stains on his plastic gloves and frowned. He pinched his fingers together and rubbed.

He felt the smooth and delicate texture and paused for a second.

"Graphite?"

Lu Zhou suddenly had a moment of realization, and he looked excited.

Carbon!

It's carbon!

There is no reason why an engineer from a higher civilization would connect wires to a graphite board.

The graphite must be made from other carbon-based materials when the device was subjected to severe impact or high temperatures!

Following this line of logic, the unknown board in his hand had to be an "integrated circuit board" for carbon-based chips or at least something similar!

If this was all correct, then it was likely that some higher-civilizations had achieved carbon-based electric components!

The only downside was that the carbon-based electric components had all been turned into graphite…

"I guess carbon-based materials are good at keeping secrets…"

Lu Zhou placed this board into a larger sample box and sighed.

However, this wasn't a total dead-end.

He now knew that this technical pathway was feasible, and this was an important piece of information.

After that, the Eastern Research Centers Association and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study would begin to research and develop this technology.

When Lu Zhou looked at the debris, a flame of curiosity was ignited in his heart.

As expected, he was correct.

This thing is a treasure box!

If only he had an assistant to help him…

Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

"Xiao Ai."

"Yeah?"

The drone hovering behind him said.

Lu Zhou: "Do you want to have a body?"

"Body? I do! Master, Master, can I really? You're not lying to me?" Xiao Ai said excitedly while hovering in the air.

"Yes…"

Lu Zhou took off the white plastic gloves and thought about it seriously for a while. He then said, "It's a bit difficult to do that right now… But I will try my best."

Chapter 581: This Isn't The Body I Wanted!

After Lu Zhou left the underground laboratory, he went straight to the Institute of Computational Materials building and found Yang Xu, as well as his team, inside the battery testing laboratory.

When he arrived, Yang Xu had just finished a set of experiments and was recording the results of his experiment.

Lu Zhou didn't interrupt Yang Xu's team. He waited for them to finish and then called Yang Xu aside. He then gave him the sample box.

"Help me do a component analysis."

"Okay." Yang Xu didn't ask any more questions. He looked at the thumb-sized box and said, "Is it urgent?"

Lu Zhou: "Not urgent, just give it to me within three days."

"Okay then." Yang Xu placed the sample into his lab coat and said, "Do you have any requirements?"

Lu Zhou said, "Infrared spectral characteristic peak detection, as well as transmission electron microscopy… These two for the time being."

Yang Xu: "No problem, I can get it to you the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"Okay, thank you." Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the battery detector next to him. He then asked, "Oh yeah, what are you guys doing?"

Yang Xu said with a smile, "We're trying to improve the cathode material of lithium-sulfur batteries. We replaced the pore agent and tried to adjust the pore size of the HCS-2 material. The limited data seems to indicate that the HCS-2 can be further improved. The rate at which the polysulfide compounds diffuse into the electrolyte in the negative electrode material can increase battery life… We're still trying to verify this."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Looks like a promising project… Oh yeah, let me ask you something, do you know anything about robots?"

Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou with a strange look. He didn't know why Lu Zhou was asking this.

"Robots? Why are you asking about this?"

Lu Zhou: "I need it for some experiments. I plan on buying a few to research. It's fine if you don't know about them, I'll ask someone else."

"Robots… I really don't know much about robots." Yang Xu rubbed his chin and said, "But I have a friend that is in this field."

Lu Zhou: "From MIT?"

"Not from MIT. He's a friend that I made during my undergraduate years. He also majored in materials, but then he transferred to automation. He followed his mentor and went onto the robotic field. I remember during our class reunion, he tried to sell me the robots that his factory was producing. He laughed and said that the Institute for Advanced Study isn't some kind of factory and that we don't need that kind of thing."

Yang Xu smiled and added, "His factory is in Jinling. If you need to, I can introduce him to you?"

Lu Zhou: "Just give me a business card."

Yang Xu: "Okay then, I think I have one in my office. I'll go grab it."

…

Yang Xu's friend was called Zhao Zhongshu.

Even though it was very rude to make fun of other people's names, Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud when he saw this business card.

However, even though the name was a bit silly, this person was also nutty.

According to Yang Xu, this guy was originally a materials major, but then after his undergrad, he had a career change. He jumped from the materials field and followed his supervisor to go into the robotics field.

Before the 2010s, the robotics field wasn't particularly popular. His supervisor's factory was mainly responsible for importing types of equipment and selling them to logistics and assembly plants in China.

Back then, he was in the so-called "real economy". It didn't make him rich, but it did not make him poor. He just cruised along in the factories and got his paycheck.

However, in 2015, there was a drastic change.

At that time, in order to catch up with the China 2025 manufacturing plan, one of the national strategies was to invest in the manufacturing industry. And the industrial robotic field was an important part of this. The robotics industry received hundreds of billions in subsidy funds. Just like the photovoltaic industry, money and state subsidies were swarming in.

At that time, he was still doing a postdoc, and he saw a money-making opportunity.

After some consideration, he gave up on his wish to stay in academics and started a company with some of his friends.

And the result went far beyond his expectations.

With his years of accumulated experience, within five years, he was able to grow his small company to a decent size.

Honestly, even Zhao Zhongshu was surprised by his own achievements.

After all, he only started the company with a few people…

Jinling suburbs.

Inside a bright and spacious factory.

Various types of robotic arms were displayed on both sides of the walkway. The large arms were almost three-people high. The small ones were about the same length as a human arm. There were also some other obscure equipment and a wide variety of machining tools, which were attached to the robotic arms.

Looking at the letters on the side of the machines, it didn't look like these robots were produced in this factory. At the very least, half of them were imported.

As Factory Director Zhao led Lu Zhou inside the factory, Lu Zhou looked around the factory and asked, "What kinds of models do you guys sell here?"

Zhao Zhongshu smiled and said, "We sell a lot of models. There are small multi-joint robots, and vertical multi-joint robots, which were around 5kg. There are also large ones that have a capacity of 1.35 tonnes. There are some pieces of equipment that were imported in, like ABB and YuMi intelligent robots, as well as KUKA's iiwa. However, these machines are not in stock, you'd have to order in advance."

Lu Zhou: "Do you have any good recommendations?"

Zhao Zhongshu: "It depends on what you need the robot for."

Lu Zhou: "To do experiments."

"Experiments?" Zhao Zhongshu froze. He thought he had misheard, so he asked, "Using robots to do experiments?"

Lu Zhou: "Is it not possible?"

Zhao Zhongshu smiled and said, "It's possible… But it depends on what kinds of experiments. If you're working with precise instruments and delicate tasks, I'm afraid the accuracy will be a problem."

Lu Zhou: "Can I take photos?"

Zhao Zhongshu said with a hearty smile, "Take them, it's no big deal. I was still hoping that Professor Lu can help introduce us to some big clients."

Honestly, he didn't expect Lu Zhou to buy a lot of stuff. After all, no matter how nutty a robot was, they could only do the physical tasks that wouldn't require a lot of brainpower. There was no way a robot could replace even a noob researcher.

However, the industry was often connected and linked with the academic world. This was why he was so eager to help Lu Zhou; he wanted Lu Zhou's industry connections.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and took a few pictures of the factory. He then opened his phone and sent the photos to Xiao Ai.

He didn't know a lot about robots. Instead of him choosing them himself, he'd rather let Xiao Ai choose.

After sending the pictures, he generously sent a line of text as well.

[Which one do you like?]

After a while, a text body popped up.

Xiao Ai: [This isn't the body that I wanted. o(╥_╥)o]

Lu Zhou: "…"

You didn't tell me what kind of body you wanted!

I didn't expect this guy to be so picky.

Lu Zhou sighed and replied.

[This is all we have.]

Earth's technology is primitive, my apologies.

Xiao Ai: [I don't want to talk to you.jpg]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Seeing how Lu Zhou was staring at his cellphone, Zhao Zhongshu asked, "If you can't make up your mind, I can suggest some stuff."

Lu Zhou's mouth twitched as he continued to look at his phone screen.

"No need, give me a second."

Even though Zhao Zhongshu was confused, he still nodded.

"Okay then."Zhao Zhongshu sounds like planting a tree in Chinese

Chapter 582: Seen Him Before, He's from the Chinese Academy of Sciences

After an inducement and some persuasion, Lu Zhou was able to appease Xiao Ai and persuaded it to pick a few favorites from the existing pieces of equipment.

Lu Zhou felt that the smarter Xiao Ai was, the more annoying it would become.

However, a program was still a program. Lu Zhou's order couldn't be rejected.

He finally received a photo from Xiao Ai. He looked at the robotic arms in the factory and said, "The YuMi intelligent robots from ABB, as well as the 5kg, 160kg, and 1.35t six-axis robots, I'll get two robots for each model."

Eight robots weren't a lot. Even though it was imported, it cost less than two million.

Since Lu Zhou was recommended by a friend, Zhao Zhongshu didn't even take a deposit from him.

However, even though Zhao Zhongshu didn't ask for a deposit, Lu Zhou still gave one according to the terms of the contract.

"When will it arrive?"

"It will definitely be here this month."

"Okay then. Can you help install it?"

Zhao Zhongshu patted his chest and said, "Don't worry about it. Our technicians in the factory will definitely help you install them."

Lu Zhou nodded and put away the contract. He didn't spend any more time in the factory.

Since he still had some stuff to do back at the university, he refused Factory Director Zhao's invitation to lunch. He sat in Wang Peng's car and headed toward Jin Ling University.

…

This year's Chinese New Year was early. Therefore, the exams for the graduate students also came earlier.

Lu Zhou was invited by Dean Qin to be an interviewer for the graduate student interviews in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou had a bowl of barbecued meat with rice in the cafeteria. He then quickly went to the interview site.

When he arrived at the interview site, there was ten minutes left before the interviews.

Other than him, everyone else had arrived.

Dean Qin greeted him and smiled.

Lu Zhou sat down and began to drink some tea. He chatted with some of the other academicians and professors. Soon, it was two o'clock.

When the hour hand on the clock reached two o'clock, a male student, who was wearing a black puffer jacket and glasses, walked in. He had a receding hairline.

Because he looked slightly order, if he didn't introduce himself, Lu Zhou would have thought he was an interviewer.

Obviously, Lu Zhou wasn't the only one who thought this.

Professor Yang Chunhua, who was in his forties, looked at the resume and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Born in 94? Doesn't look like it."

This guy was shameless. He even smiled and said, "Maybe because I have pale skin, I look more on the young side."

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his tea.

Yang Chunhua: "No, I mean you look old."

Student: "???"

Lu Zhou put down the teacup and gently coughed. He said, "Old is good, it looks more academic."

Isn't that what they say?

The older you look, the more likely you're from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

When Lu Zhou saw that receding hairline, he had a feeling in his heart.

He didn't know why, but he felt like his words of comfort didn't seem to work. The student looked even more depressed…

Soon, the first interview was over. The experts exchanged some opinions and gave him a fairly good score.

After that, the second student came in.

He did a customary self-introduction.

Professor Yang Chunhua was the first to speak.

"Kid, do you have a girlfriend?"

The guy smiled and said, "Not yet. If I get into the master's program, I hope my professors can introduce one to me."

Lu Zhou: "Who cares about that, don't think about dating all the time if you're in academia."

Student: "…"

Dean Qin: "…"

Interviewer: "…"

After the interview finished, the experts exchanged their opinions.

Lu Zhou was about to give his own opinion when he suddenly received a text from Yang Xu.

[The test results are out!!!]

Lu Zhou didn't know why he used three exclamation marks in one sentence, but he felt that the results had to be amazing. So he replied.

[I'm heading over right now.]

He turned off his phone and looked at the other interviewers.

"I have some urgent matters to attend to, I have to leave for a while."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "No worries, go ahead."

Lu Zhou nodded and said thanks. He then got up and left the classroom.

Outside the classroom.

Two postdocs were leaning against the corridor window. They were responsible for keeping the interviewees in order.

When they saw Lu Zhou walk out of the office, they immediately began to talk about him.

"That's Lu Zhou, right?"

"Looks like it."

"Why is he an interviewer?"

"Don't know, maybe because he takes on more students and that he doesn't trust others to interview his students, so he came along himself."

"I heard that he recruited four students at Princeton?"

"I heard it was six. Apparently, there were two PhD students."

"Amazing… So many students, how does he manage it?"

The postdoc had a look of jealousy on his face.

Noob researchers like them could never experience the feeling of others working for them…

They only experienced the pain of working for others.

The postdoc standing next to him shook his head and said, "God knows how he's able to do it."

Compared to teaching undergraduate students, taking on master's student was a little more beneficial. After all, even complex problems needed a certain amount of repetitive work.

Compared with normal employees, no matter how hard the students worked, they would never complain about wages and work hours… There wasn't another place with such a high-quality workforce. Therefore, professors usually were very willing to take on students.

However, even though they were willing, normally one professor would only be able to take on one master's student every year. Some nutty professors would take on four, but that was uncommon.

Lu Zhou took on four from the mathematics department and two from the chemistry department; that was six in total. This was extremely rare.

While the two postdocs were being jealous, right after Lu Zhou had left, a girl with a ponytail and a red-and-black scarf walked over.

Han Mengqi waited outside for a bit. When she heard her name being called out, she took a deep breath and gently fixed her collar before stepping into the office.

Her resume was quite perfect. Not only did she have an internship at the Institute of Computational Materials, but because of her undergraduate research experience, she had even published in SCI and received a special scholarship.

For cases like this, as long as she completed the interview without any major problems, it was almost guaranteed that she would pass.

At the teacher's request, she made a simple self-introduction.

After that, a female professor in her forties asked, "What is your future life plan?"

Han Mengqi smiled politely and said, "I plan on going to MIT to do my PhD. After two years of postdoc, I want to stay in academia."

This was a standard answer, and almost every interviewee would answer this way.

However, the professors were bored with this standard answer.

Once the planned questions were asked, it was time for some informal questions.

Seeing that this girl was quite attractive, Professor Yang Chunhua asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Han Mengqi didn't know why the interviewer would suddenly ask this. She was muddled, but she still replied, "Not yet."

It wasn't that there weren't any guys after her; it was just that she wasn't interested in those boring guys.

The female professor in her forties asked, "Do you have a plan on getting a boyfriend?"

Han Mengqi: "Not at the moment."

Yang Chunhua: "Who did you write down as your supervisor?"

Han Mengqi said, "Professor Lu…"

The two female professors immediately began to whisper to each other.

Even though they spoke quietly, Han Mengqi was still able to hear their conversation.

"She wants to become Professor Lu's student as well."

"Yeah, this makes sense."

"No plans on getting a boyfriend, that fits Professor Lu's requirements."

"Then should we pass her?"

"Let's pass her."

Han Mengqi: "…"

Even though passing the interview was supposed to be a happy thing, she had a weird feeling in her stomach.

Chapter 583: Impossible Material

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Institute of Computational Materials.

Yang Xu brought Lu Zhou to the laboratory. He sat in front of the computer with the experiment data and spoke emotionally.

"This is incredible…"

Lu Zhou didn't ask what was exactly incredible. Instead, he asked, "What material is this thing?"

"Silver." Yang Xu took a deep breath and said, "More specifically, silver and graphene!"

"Silver and graphene?" Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu in disbelief and said, "This thing is silver and graphene?"

He remembered reading similar theses before.

However, because he didn't do a lot of research on metal materials, he couldn't remember where he read the theses.

Honestly, when he heard that there were only these two materials, he was a little disappointed. Even though he knew that an advanced civilization probably wouldn't build a wire with expensive materials, he still didn't expect the materials to be so ordinary.

However, Yang Xu was speechless.

"What do you mean just these two materials, this is already very nutty."

He tapped on the keyboard as if to prove his point.

Soon, a transmission electron microscope image appeared on the screen.

On the image, the black and gray sections were interlaced, and there was a neat and delicate texture interwoven in the two-dimensional space of the plane. This completely revealed the secret of the nano-scale silver wire.

Yang Xu pointed at a few key areas of the image and didn't explain a lot. He just said, "Look at these areas and you'll understand."

Lu Zhou leaned toward the computer screen and looked at the direction of Yang Xu's finger.

He saw that in the 1-5 nm particle size range, there was a single layer of graphene that had bonded together with the silver atoms.

Lu Zhou's eyebrows furrowed.

Even though he didn't do a lot of research on metal materials, he could still see the abnormality in this.

This wasn't something they could consider manufacturing.

It was a problem of whether or not they could even find the technology to manufacture this material…

Producing graphene alloys based on metal materials required bonding between metal nanoparticles and graphene.

This could only be achieved with powder metallurgy technology. However, even powder metallurgy technology couldn't bond graphene and silver nanoparticles to such a perfect degree.

It was not an exaggeration to say that this thin silver wire was a piece of art.

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn't speak, Yang Xu continued to speak emotionally, "Powder metallurgy is relatively new and unpopular, and I don't know a lot about it. However, using the current 3D printing technology as an example, the best metal powder is around 10,000 mesh, which is around 13 micrometers in diameter. The powder used in ceramic materials might be finer, but it's still on the micrometer scale.

"Even though some laboratories are able to achieve ultra-fine 20 nm powder… This is almost impossible to store under normal conditions, let alone bonding with graphene."

Not only was it difficult to prepare, it was difficult to filter the powder and even more difficult to store.

The higher the mesh measurement, the smaller the particle size, the easier it was to oxidize. Also, it was more likely to agglomerate.

The only two possible ideas that might seem to work were either to disperse it in a special way while smelting or to mix it directly with graphene crumbs while producing the powder.

Yang Xu leaned against his chair and sighed.

"As you can see, the difficult part isn't the technology itself, but rather the production process. Countless papers on composite materials like Ag/GF, AG/GO, AGFe/rGO, etc have appeared due to the rapid development of the electronic industry.

"For example, the indium tin oxide used for making mobile phone screens has fragile properties, and many scholars have proposed combining silver nanowires with graphene to develop a new generation of flexible phone screens. According to the current limited experimental data, the mechanical properties of this material are quite excellent, and the electrical resistivity is much lower than that of metals… When I was a postdoc at MIT, there was a laboratory that specialized in this research."

Lu Zhou looked up from the computer screen and asked, "Then what happened?"

Yang Xu shrugged and said, "I'm not sure, but I guess the project couldn't continue. Indium tin oxide isn't cheap, and silver is even more expensive. Even if the technology is made, most people wouldn't be able to use it."

Lu Zhou had a strange look on his face.

If using silver in mobile screens is considered expensive, then what's the point of using silver in electric wires?

However, Lu Zhou remembered that if an advanced civilization could achieve space travel, space mining would probably be a piece of cake.

For a civilization that had this kind of technology, the price of silver might only be slightly more expensive than copper.

Yang Xu looked at the data on the computer screen. His eyes were filled with curiosity.

After hesitating for a bit, he couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get this thing?"

He had the same feeling as Lu Zhou.

In his opinion, this thumb-sized silver wire was a work of art!

It was no exaggeration to say that its existence alone could change the industry's perception of metallurgical technology.

However, Lu Zhou didn't answer his question. He just said, "It's a national secret, just help me reverse engineer it. It's better if you don't know its origin."

Lu Zhou didn't explain too much because there was no need.

Even before winning the Ling Yun medal, he didn't have to explain anything to anyone.

Even if he did need to explain something, he only needed to explain it to one person—the president.

And that would only happen in a special circumstance.

Which was if something seriously jeopardized national security.

Other than that, it was not an exaggeration to say that even those responsible for his security, responsible for keeping secrets, had no right of knowing the "secret" itself.

When Lu Zhou saw Yang Xu's look of surprise, he was secretly glad.

Thankfully, he only cut a small piece of the wire.

If Yang Xu knew that he had a pile of this kind of stuff, Yang Xu would start having doubts about his life.

"Okay then…"

Yang Xu shrugged and reluctantly accepted this explanation.

If it was actually confidential, then it would be better if he didn't know.

Yang Xu paused for a second before he continued, "But it's not easy to reverse engineer this stuff. At least for now, I can't think of a way to produce this thing."

Lu Zhou: "What about producing nanometer-scale silver particles?"

Yang Xu hesitated for a bit and said, "It's still difficult, but if you are interested, we can try it. However…"

Lu Zhou: "However?"

"However, what's the point?" Yang Xu said, "Even though I admit that the resistivity of Ag/GF materials is excellent, due to the sheer price of silver, it almost has zero industrial application."

It would take a lot of effort to understand the mystery, and it would at most produce a "beautiful" thesis.

Even though this kind of thing might be of interest to normal researchers, for people like Yang Xu and Lu Zhou, there was no point.

After all, unlike mathematics and physics, materials science itself was an application-based discipline…

Lu Zhou thought for a long time.

Honestly, he was also hesitant on whether or not this technology had any value.

However, Lu Zhou made up his mind and said, "I can't answer this question, at least not right now.

"But my intuition is telling me that this is worth researching."

Chapter 584: Teaching Arrangements

Among the many materials available, only a very small subset of materials had the so-called "subversive genes", and graphene was one of them. As one of the most popular materials, it could be combined with almost any other material.

At least that was how it was in theory.

To a large extent, what restricted the development of modern materials technology wasn't the lack of innovative ideas. It was to find a way to realize the ideas.

With the current technology available, it would be almost impossible to achieve a composite of silver nanoparticles and graphene with a particle diameter of 1-5 nm.

Whether it was a laboratory preparation method or a developed industry technology, Lu Zhou and Yang Xu couldn't think of any good methods. After some discussion, the two eventually reached a research consensus.

Which was, to first bond the 10,000-mesh silver powder to the single-layer graphene crumb by powder metallurgy, and if it was successful, the particle size could be further reduced until it reached the nano-scale.

At the same time, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had also begun to carry out research on the method of bonding small-sized metal particles and graphene chips to form alloys.

Even though the short-term application prospects of this technology were bleak, Lu Zhou still decided to spend 120 million yuan on a series of projects that were related to Ag/GF composite materials.

In addition to this, they were also doing research on carbon-based computer chips.

However, that side of research wasn't only done by the Institute of Computational Materials. The Institute of Physics at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and the physics department at Jinling University were all involved in carbon-based computer chip research.

Regarding the computer chip technology research, Lu Zhou spent almost twice the amount of research funding compared to Ag/GF composite materials. He himself even participate in this project.

On the other hand, his research on the Debris No.3 was still going on. In addition to researching the treasures that had been retrieved, Lu Zhou still hoped to find more treasures on this piece of debris.

Of course, even though there were so many things to do, Lu Zhou didn't forget about the system mission.

Honestly, the description of this reward mission was quite interesting.

The theses required the students to have a certain degree of participation in the research project. However, the system didn't specify this requirement.

If only Lu Zhou knew about this participation requirement, it would make the mission a lot easier.

As of now, Lu Zhou could only make general speculation. If all he did was to make the students pour some tea, clean the equipment, and then write the students' names on the theses, the system probably wouldn't consider the mission to be completed.

Also, there were other researchers in the research institute that weren't his students.

Even though Lu Zhou took a lot of time to help them with their research projects, the system didn't consider them as his students.

Obviously, the system didn't give him any loophole opportunities. If he wanted to complete the mission, he still had to do it the old-fashioned way.

However, since this was only a reward mission, Lu Zhou felt more relaxed than usual.

He still had another mission card in his inventory.

That mission card should contain a large project.

By that time, he would be a lot busier.

…

Jin Ling University mathematics building.

The office at the end of the corridor.

Four guys and two girls stood in front of the office door; no one dared to knock on the door.

Other than Han Mengqi, most of the people here had only even seen Lu Zhou on television.

Seeing someone on a screen or on stage was a very different feeling than seeing them face-to-face, especially for these beginners.

As for Han Mengqi…

She didn't expect to feel nervous…

After some negotiation between the students, finally, a young man who seemed to have a little courage bravely knocked on the door.

The office door was opened.

Feng Jin, who knocked on the door, saw the lady and asked bravely, "Hello, is this Professor Lu's office?"

When Lin Yuxiang saw the students, she smiled and said, "You guys are Professor Lu's students, right? Come on in."

Assistant Lin brought the group of people into the office and gestured them to sit down on the sofa. She poured a cup of tea for each of them.

"It might be a while until Professor Lu comes back, just sit here and wait for a bit."

When Lin Yuxiang turned around and walked toward her desk, almost all of the male students couldn't help but look at her.

A guy said, "Professor Lu's assistants are so pretty."

The other guys said, "Yeah…"

Han Mengqi heard their whisper and couldn't help but look at her.

Where exactly is she pretty? I don't see it.

She continued to look at Lin Yuxiang for a while and went silent.

Fine.

She had to admit, that Lin Yuxiang was stronger than her in the fashion department.

However, that was only because she was normally introverted and didn't have time to dress up!

A man with thin hair walked into the office.

He saw the six students sitting on the office sofa and paused for a second.

"You guys are all… Professor Lu's students?"

"Yeah." Feng Jin stood up and politely said, "Are you Professor Lu's assistant?"

He Changwen paused for a second and shook his head. "Assistant? No, I'm Professor Lu's PhD student."

The other master's student said, "You're a student?"

He Changwen smiled and said, "I don't look like one?"

The six students looked at each other and nodded.

He Changwen touched his receding hairline and looked at these young students. He then smiled awkwardly.

"No worries, you'll understand sooner or later."

Graduate students: "…"

They sat for around ten minutes on the sofa before another PhD student came.

Compared to He Changwen, this student's hairline was a lot better.

All of the students had arrived, but Lu Zhou, who assembled all of them, was nowhere to be seen.

When the hour hand hit nine, Lu Zhou walked into the office.

When he saw the group of students in his office, he looked surprised.

"You guys are all here?"

They all looked at Professor Lu and nodded.

Han Mengqi originally wanted to greet him, but she thought that it wouldn't be good to show her relationship with Professor Lu. Therefore, she hesitated for a bit and decided to greet him later.

Lin Yuxiang, who was sitting at the desk near the door, smirked and said, "They've been waiting since half-past eight."

Lu Zhou gently coughed and said, "I told you guys to come after nine o'clock, I didn't say you have to come at nine o'clock…"

Originally, he wanted to meet the students one by one, he didn't expect all of them to come together.

After that, he looked at Assistant Kong and said, "Bring me the name list."

"Okay." Kong Jie nodded and pulled out a list from the drawer. She then stood up and walked over to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou took the name list from her and cleared his throat.

"Since everyone is here, I'll do a name check. There are a lot of people, so just raise your hand when I call your name."

Among the eight students, there were only three he could name off the top of his head.

The thin-haired PhD student was called He Changwen; he was in the analytic number theory field.

The PhD student who was quite tall was called Wu Shuimu; he studied applied mathematics for his undergrad, just like Lu Zhou. His master's degree was in the area of functional analysis, and now, he switched to computational materials science.

As for the other six master's students, other than Han Mengqi, who he had most definitely met before, Lu Zhou had only read their resumes. He didn't even know what they looked like.

After Lu Zhou called out their names, he finally had a general idea of who everyone was.

He handed the name list to Zhao Huan and spoke to his eight students.

"From now on, you guys are my students. I will try my best to pass on my knowledge to you guys.

"However, I might be busy, so I won't have a lot of time to guide you guys. If you encounter academic problems, you can send it directly to my email address. Or you can ask the other researchers at the Institute for Advanced Study."

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study opened an Institute of Physics and an Institute of Mathematics last year. Due to the high salary and a relaxed research environment, not to mention the glory of a Fields Medal and Nobel Prize, Lu Zhou was able to attract a group of outstanding talents.

Lu Zhou trusted that his researchers could help his students.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "Of course, even though I won't have a lot of time for you guys, I will definitely not allow you guys to mess around for the next three to five years. Starting tomorrow, I will arrange all of you into different project teams, and you guys can start learning from practice.

"I really hope you all take this job seriously. I don't have requirements for weekly theses reading. Just read the ones that interest you and benefit your research. Within half a year, I want to see a thesis written by yourselves."

Other than Han Mengqi and the two PhD students, all of the master's students took a deep breath.

Writing a thesis within half a year…

Most of them had just finished their undergraduate studies; they didn't even know the format of writing a thesis. The longest thing they wrote during their undergrad was probably the conclusion reports on the course design and their undergraduate theses.

However, that was far from being a formal thesis…

Lu Zhou explained some simple things for them to pay attention to. He then paused for a second before saying, "Also, I have some suggestions regarding your courses. However, the final choice is up to you. After you have selected your classes, send it to my email."

"Are there any other questions?"

The students shook their heads and answered, "Nope, no more questions."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, that's it for today. Remember to come here tomorrow."

"The rest can go, except for the master's and PhD students in the computational materials field."

Chapter 585: Thank You For Saving Me

In addition to a PhD student, two other master's students stayed behind. The other four students left.

Honestly, the quality of this cohort was average, at least in Lu Zhou's opinion.

However, this was none other than his fault. After all, he spent the entirety of last year on the controllable fusion energy project. He didn't have time to cater to his university work, and he waited until the end of the year to post on the student admissions website.

As usual, the higher quality students were already taken by other professors during the summer.

Among the master's students group, except for Han Mengqi, who was in computational materials, and another mathematics genius called Feng Jin, most of them had no previous scientific research experience.

For example, Liu Siyuan, who was standing here, was another master's student in computational materials. Even though his fourth-year undergraduate scores from Zhi University were pretty good, his research experience was almost zero.

However, that didn't matter too much. After all, other than undergraduate experimental classes, unless someone had a special relationship with a teacher or were lucky enough to be selected into a talent training program, they wouldn't have any chance of participating in a research project.

"You used to be from Aurora?"

Wu Shuimu: "Yes."

Lu Zhou: "Who was your supervisor?"

Wu Shuimu said, "Professor Liu Xianglong. I was in the functions analysis field."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and didn't recognize this name, so he changed the subject.

"Have you had any experience with materials science before?"

Wu Shuimu scratched his head and said awkwardly, "I have a bit of experience since our professors in the chemistry department did a project on the mechanical dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes. I helped them to collect data and did a mathematical model."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows with interest. "This is the reason why you chose computational materials science?"

"Kind of." Wu Shuimu smiled and said, "I feel like I have reached the ceiling of functions analysis. It's very difficult to create any new innovative theories. Therefore, my supervisor recommended me to switch from theory to application. Back then, I watched your Crafoord Prize award-winning speech. From then on, I made up my mind and decided to go into the computational materials science field!"

There was almost a sense of purpose in his voice.

Liu Siyuan looked at this guy with admiration while thinking about how invincible this guy was.

Han Mengqi's eyebrows twitched. She couldn't help but look away.

Lu Zhou smiled.

Is he kissing my a*s?

Who cares, it sounds nice.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

"Since you already have your own goals, then work toward them. Also, listening to what you said, you should have a fairly basic understanding of computational materials. Therefore, I will try to allocate some more appropriate tasks for you."

After that, he looked at Lin Yuxiang, whose desk was closest to him.

"Give me my marker."

"Let me try to find it…"

Lin Yuxiang went through the drawer and quickly found a black marker. She happily handed it to him.

"Here."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou took the pen from her and walked next to the whiteboard in his office. He looked at the black whiteboard for a bit before he began to write.

[Ψ(r1,r2,…,rn)= ∏Ψt(rt).]

[{pi2/2m+V(ri)+1/4πε0∑∫drf|Ψj(rj)|2e2/|ri-rj|}Ψi(ri)=EiΨi(ri)]

[…]

Wu Shuimu looked at the formulas on the whiteboard and said, "This is…"

"The Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure." Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of the equation and smiled as he said, "You should know about it."

Wu Shuimu coughed and said, "Professor, you must be joking… Anyone in the field of computational chemistry knows about the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure."

On one hand, there was the first principle calculation. On the other, there was the "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure". These two were the pillars of modern computational materials science.

When he was studying in Aurora, his supervisor, Professor Liu Xianglong, highly praised the theoretical model. He said that this model was able to apply functional analysis to the extreme extent.

Even though with his current knowledge level, he didn't know what was so "extreme" about this model, but when he looked at Lu Zhou writing down the equations, he still felt quite emotional.

Even if he had written the thesis himself, he wouldn't be able to recite every word, at most he would remember the final conclusion.

Actually, he believed that there was no way Lu Zhou could recite his thesis either.

Therefore, it was likely that Lu Zhou was deriving these equations on the spot…

The two master's students looked at the PhD student and professor communicating, and they felt that they were out of their elements.

Even Han Mengqi, who worked part-time for two years at the Institute of Computational Materials, wasn't able to understand what they were discussing. Even though she had participated in several research projects, the researchers obviously didn't give an undergraduate student too much responsibility.

Stuff like the "Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure" was obviously a bit too advanced for her.

"Actually, this model is far from perfect. Actually, there is a lot of room for improvement. For example, the multi-body wave function can be configured to have different levels of correlation. The clustering method and the accuracy of the calculations can also be improved.

"What I need you to do is to improve on the Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure. Even though this might seem insignificant, like modifying a window on an already complete building, but this is still important. After all, with your current ability, you are not able to build a new floor on top of this building."

Wu Shuimu nodded seriously and said, "I understand, I will do as you say."

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad, this kid's quite obedient.

"Try your best, if you really dive deep into this field, you might be able to write two JACS theses before you graduate."

Two publications!

That's enough to get into the Thousand Talents Program!

When Wu Shuimu heard this, he smiled and said, "Okay, I will try my best!"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He then looked at the two master's students.

"As for your mission, it is to understand the things I wrote on the whiteboard.

"Once you guys have understood these basic things, I will arrange more specific scientific research tasks for you guys. If you encounter something you don't understand, feel free to ask Wu Shuimu. If he can't explain it, then ask me."

How is this basic at all…

Even though Liu Siyuan and Han Mengqi wanted to complain, they still forced themselves to nod.

Liu Siyuan had it even worse.

He was only an average genius student. Even though his grades were pretty good, he had no additional talents outside of academic results.

Even though he had some mental preparation before this, he didn't expect to suddenly feel a sense of struggle.

As expected, it was not easy to study under a Nobel Prize winner.

Since he didn't have Lu Zhou's extraordinary talent, the only way to keep up was to start grinding…

…

After Lu Zhou handed out the tasks, he put down the marker and announced that they could leave.

When they were leaving, Han Mengqi purposely slowed down her footsteps and stayed at the end.

After everyone else left, she looked at the door before turning back to look at Lu Zhou. She quietly whispered, "Teacher."

Lu Zhou looked at her nervous face and smiled as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Han Mengqi twirled her fingers and looked down. She then said quietly, "Um… I did it."

Even though she had a lot of words to say, she didn't know why, but she froze.

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, congratulations!"

Han Mengqi stared at the floor and couldn't help but pout.

"Do you not have anything else to say?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Honestly, I'm quite surprised."

Han Mengqi: "Surprised?"

Lu Zhou said, "Yeah, remember what I told you before? If you can get into Jin Ling University, I promise to become your supervisor… I didn't expect you to actually be able to do it."

Seeing how Lu Zhou underestimated her, Han Mengqi said unhappily, "What do you mean? I used to be your student, of course I can do it."

"Getting into Jin Ling University is no easy feat." Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Of course, what surprised me wasn't you getting into Jin Ling University four years ago, it was that four years later, you are still standing here."

Han Mengqi was a little confused; she didn't know what he was saying.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "I have always thought that time can change a person. Not just a person, but it can change everything, including the fundamental particles that make up the universe.

"Time can theoretically solve any problem… And you! You gave me another perspective."

Han Mengqi tilted her head and said, "Another perspective?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, which is that there are some things that time can't change. Just like how you told me that you liked mathematics, I didn't take that seriously back then, I thought you were just joking around. I didn't expect you to persist until now and to become my master's student… Honestly, I am shocked."

Lu Zhou was filled with complex emotions.

If there are things that even time can't change…

Then the concept of allowing time to solve a problem is flawed.

"Actually, it's not only mathematics…" Han Mengqi scratched her cheeks awkwardly and looked at her shoes. She said, "I'm also interested in chemistry."

Lu Zhou had an unnatural smile on his face.

"Yeah, scientific research is also a very interesting thing, I hope you will continue to like it."

"I definitely will!" Han Mengqi looked up at Lu Zhou and nodded. She looked up at the ceiling and said, "Um, there's one more thing I want to tell you…"

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

Han Mengqi: "In August last year, my parents divorced…"

Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou's look of concern and smirked.

Even though she didn't want to talk about this sad topic, she still continued, "If this were before, I would probably cry my eyes out. I definitely wouldn't be able to leave my room, and I would miss out on a lot of interesting things…"

Her face burst into a cheerful smile.

"Even though this might be four years late… I still want to…

"I still want to say thank you!"

Thank you for saving me…

Han Mengqi turned around and quickly ran out of the office.

Lu Zhou looked at her leave and paused for a second. He shook his head, and he felt a lot better.

He didn't expect that helping others would be such a joyful feeling.

Honestly, when he was still tutoring her, he didn't think about this aspect at all…

Chapter 586: Meeting on the Moon Projec

Lu Zhou basically spent all of his time at Jin Ling University, the Institute for Advanced Study, and in his Zhongshan International mansion.

He taught two classes per week to Jin Ling University undergraduate mathematics students. The rest of his time was spent helping his graduate students in his office, keeping up with the latest physics r, mathematics, and materials research, as well as researching the debris in his underground laboratory.

He finally had some schedule in his life. It more or less gave him the feeling of when he was still working at Princeton.

Honestly, the more Lu Zhou came in contact with undergraduate work, the more he realized that Jin Ling University, and other universities in China for that matter, were still a step behind from internationally renowned universities.

Objectively speaking, the scientific research strength of domestic universities had risen quite a lot over the past decade. However, there was still a certain gap when compared to other universities around the world.

Lu Zhou couldn't figure out the exact reason why.

Other than the well-known factors, such as academic commodification, the industrialization of papers, the conversion rate of scientific research results, and the lack of attention for undergraduate teaching, there were still a lot of problems that he could vaguely sense… but he couldn't say exactly what it was.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and the Eastern Research Centers Association were the country's attempts in creating suitable models for the development of domestic universities.

At the very least, it could make certain changes within a limited scope.

Jin Ling University hospital.

Yan Yan was wearing a white coat. She then handed a medical report to Lu Zhou.

"Your body is recovering well, but you should pay more attention in the future. You should avoid greasy and spicy food, and eat more vegetables and fruits to supplement your nutrition. As of now, 301 Hospital hasn't made a clear conclusion regarding your illness. No one can guarantee that a similar situation won't happen in the future."

Lu Zhou briefly looked through the medial report. He then folded it and stuffed it in his pocket.

Since the beginning of February, Doctor Yan had given him two physical examinations, and no obvious signs of abnormalities were found.

Honestly, even though Lu Zhou knew that their effort of trying to find a cause of his coma was useless, he still cooperated with their work.

After all, it was just a blood test and some urine tests, it wasn't a big deal.

"Okay okay, I understand." Lu Zhou tried to divert the conversation away from his health and said, "Speaking of which, when did you transfer to the university hospital?"

Yan Yan replied briefly, "The higher-ups arranged this. It will be more convenient if I work here. After all, I'm guessing you're not too happy with me following you all day."

She paused for a second before adding, "Of course, if you plan on traveling, I hope you can inform me beforehand, or at the very least, inform Wang Peng."

"Okay then, but I probably won't be traveling any time soon."

Suddenly, the hospital room door was pushed open. An old man, who was wearing a wool vest and looked like he was in his seventies, walked in.

Lu Zhou looked at the old man and felt that he looked familiar, but he wasn't able to recognize who the old man was.

He stared at him for a while and a name suddenly popped up in his mind.

"Academician Ren?" As Lu Zhou looked at this old man, he was surprised. "How come you're here?"

Academician Ren Changming!

Former Chinese designer of the lunar exploration project!

Lu Zhou hadn't seen this man in years. Compared to when he first saw him at the mathematical modeling competition, Lu Zhou could clearly tell that this academician had aged a lot.

Five years ago, he was still standing on the lecture hall podium talking with students, but he probably couldn't do that anymore.

Seeing how Lu Zhou still recognized him, Ren Changming smiled and said, "Chief Designer Lu Zhou, you still remember me?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I met you just a few years ago, of course I remember you."

At that time, this old man wanted to recruit him to Beijing for aerospace engineering.

"It's been six years, quite a long time." Ren Changming sighed and spoke emotionally, "Time really flies. It's only been six years and my old body can't even lecture anymore."

Lu Zhou smiled gracefully. Ren Changming paused for a second before he said, "But I'm very pleased to see you. The student that was ecstatic about winning the Higher Education Society Cup was able to win a Nobel Prize."

"Those medals are kind of meaningless." Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and changed the subject. He asked, "Speaking of which, what brings you to the university hospital?"

Ren Changming smiled and said, "I was strolling around the mathematics building and Old Tang said you were here, so I came over. I heard you were seriously ill a while ago, how is your recovery process?"

Lu Zhou said, "I wasn't exactly seriously ill, just in a coma for a few days. I'm feeling great now."

Yan Yan, who was sitting next to him, rolled her eyes.

Being in a coma isn't seriously ill?

Not only was the entire country worried about his health, but even the World Health Organization sent a team of experts to help him.

"Being in a coma for more than 20 days isn't seriously ill?" Ren Changming shook his head and said, "You're still young, but if you don't pay attention to your body, you'll regret it when you reach my age."

Some time ago, he was also sick and had to stay in a nursing home until now. If he weren't sick, he would have visited Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou was still in Beijing, as opposed to waiting until now.

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression.

"You didn't come to Jinling just to scold me, right?"

"I did come because of you, but not just to scold you." Ren Changming smiled and said, "I heard that we restarted the moon landing project, and your opinions are highly valued by the leadership team. As an ex-chief designed by the lunar project, I have to say thank you."

Even though the moon landing project had been constantly mentioned by the media, the actual launch mission wasn't on the timetable of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The associated plans also hadn't been approved by the government.

However, this time was different. Academician Ren could clearly sense that the relevant plans for the moon landing project were quickly being launched and its national strategic importance was rising…

Even though he wasn't clear about the specific situation, a lot of people in the industry were spreading rumors, that this all had to do with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou said, "There's no need to thank me, I'm just a scholar, putting forward my own opinion."

"It's fine if you don't think I should thank you, but I still have to give my thanks." Ren Changming smiled and said, "However, you were the one who brought up the idea of the moon landing. The project, astronaut training, and everything else are all being arranged. Are you not going to manage the project?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm not in the aerospace industry, why would I manage the project? Whenever you need to build a nuclear fusion generator for the spacecraft, come find me."

Ren Changming: "But you can't just leave it alone, right? There's going to be a moon landing meeting in a few days. It's going to be held at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Not only will the academic community come, but so will the industry experts. Are you going to come?"

Lu Zhou: "What's the specific date?"

Ren Changming: "6th of March, if you want to come, I'll let the conference organizers send you an invitation letter."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit. He realized he probably wouldn't have any other plans, so he replied, "Okay then, I'll take some time out and attend the conference."

Chapter 587: Xiao Ai's New Body

Early March.

The industrial robots that Lu Zhou ordered from Zhao Zhongshu finally arrived.

Under the supervision of several security guards, two large trucks entered the campus of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. The workers inside the trucks finished unloading the goods.

Zhao Zhongshu patted the meter high boxes and smiled.

"YuMi intelligent robot, produced by Switzerland ABB, able to achieve an accuracy of 0.02mm. The other six-axis general-purpose robots can reach an accuracy of 0.1mm. They can handle normal assembly, cleaning, and welding work. Even though I don't know what kind of work you plan on doing, anything that can be done by industrial robots, can be done by these robots as well."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I'll see for myself. Please start installing them now."

"Okay!"

Zhao Zhongshu immediately told the engineers and workers who accompanied him, to begin installing the equipment.

These pieces of large equipment were no air conditioner or TV; it was impossible for them to go through the elevator.

Especially the six-axis universal ABB robot, produced by ABB with a load capacity of 1.35t. The servo motor and reduction drive were integrated into one and couldn't be disassembled. The entire machine was completed on the assembly line.

Lu Zhou took into account the size of the debris. When he designed this laboratory, in addition to the normal elevator, there were also lifts specially designed for transporting cargo that weighed more than 1 ton. The elevator could be accessed from the garage of the Institute for Advanced Study.

However, this lift could only be accessed through the underground laboratory.

As Zhao Zhongshu stood next to the boxes and looked at the slowly descending lift, he curiously looked around.

"This is like a military defense building, is it easy to use?"

Lu Zhou simply said, "I'm more concerned about safety and confidentiality."

When Zhao Zhongshu heard the word confidentiality, he immediately stopped asking questions.

He didn't want to be involved with government secrets.

For a normal guy like him, it would be better to not know too much.

…

The third floor underground laboratory was probably one of the most secretive places in the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, second only to the servers used for the research backup data.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't worried about these people coming in.

He had obviously made some preparations.

However, even if someone were to see something, it wouldn't matter.

Even Lu Zhou wasn't entirely sure what the Debris No.3 was; he could only study the secrets bit by bit. If these people could tell that this device was unusual, they could quit their engineering and security jobs and directly work for Lu Zhou instead.

Being Lu Zhou's assistant was much better than working as an engineer at some unknown small factory.

As Zhao Zhongshu followed Lu Zhou into the laboratory, he didn't ask about the thing that was covered by a black cloth. He looked at the large open space in the middle of the room and said, "Where do you want to install it?"

Lu Zhou pointed toward the wall and said, "Just install it over there."

Zhao Zhongshu: "Where's the assembly line?"

Lu Zhou: "We don't have that here."

Zhao Zhongshu: "Okay then…"

If you don't have an assembly line, what's the point of having robot arms?

Building sandcastles?

Zhao Zhongshu decided not to think about it too much.

What his customers did was his customer's business, it had nothing to do with him. He just needed to put things in order.

However, due to a force of habit, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you want to buy a logistics robot?"

Lu Zhou: "Logistics robot?"

Zhao Zhongshu: "Yeah, like an automated guided vehicle. It's mainly used for carrying things. I don't see a conveyor belt here, so if a few industrial robots aren't enough, you'll still have to carry things by hand!"

When Lu Zhou heard Zhao Zhongshu's explanation, he suddenly had a moment of realization on his face.

He had totally neglected this part.

After all, he didn't plan on building anything here, he only needed Xiao Ai to give him a helping hand. But after listening to Factory Director Zhao, an automated guided vehicle seemed to be necessary.

Lu Zhou didn't speak yet. Suddenly, his phone that was in his pocket began to vibrate furiously.

Xiao Ai, who was connected to the drone in the corner of the laboratory, had heard their conversation.

Well, this is quite an innovative way of asking me for stuff…

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled as he said, "Okay then… Do you need to place an order?"

"No need, we have them in stock at our factory." Zhao Zhongshu smiled and said, "If you are interested, I can send them over. They're not expensive, only 70,000 yuan per machine."

Lu Zhou: "Then send them… I'll buy four for now."

Zhao Zhongshu just received another 280,000 yuan in orders. Obviously, his face was full of joy as he said, "Okay, I'll make a call and tell them to send the machines from the factory."

Since there was no signal in the laboratory, he had to go outside to make the call.

After Zhao Zhongshu told the engineers how to install the equipment, he followed a security guard to the elevator and went back to the ground level. He also took the unboxing material with him.

Lu Zhou still stayed in the laboratory. He was watching the engineers install the equipment.

Ever since his engineering reached level 5, he found out that these engineering problems were extremely simple to learn.

Just by standing here and observing, he could basically remember all of the installation steps. He even felt like he could do their jobs.

Of course, improper installation of the equipment might affect the accuracy of the robots, so Lu Zhou decided not to intervene with the installation.

After the automated guided vehicles were shipped from the factory, the installation of the eight industrial robots was finally completed.

After the on-site engineers copied the operating system onto the control terminal, the group of people left the laboratory, leaving Lu Zhou inside the laboratory alone.

He looked at the wall with eight robotic arms and couldn't help but smirk.

All he had to do now was to connect the control terminal to Xiao Ai.

With help from these tools, his research work on the debris could be cut in half.

At the very least, he wouldn't have trouble physically turning the piece of debris upside down.

"What do you think, are you satisfied with this body?"

Lu Zhou didn't care if Xiao Ai was satisfied was not, he was quite satisfied himself.

His phone vibrated.

Lu Zhou knew Xiao Ai was sending him pictures again.

[I don't want to talk.jpg]

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Okay, stop being upset. This is the most flexible body on the planet. If you want the Gundam Transformers type of robots you see in movies, there's nowhere to buy that."

Xiao Ai: [Master, can you buy something for me? (๐•̆·̭•̆๐)]

Lu Zhou: "What thing?"

Xiao Ai didn't reply.

After a while, a bunch of links appeared.

Lu Zhou clicked on the link and saw that the shopping cart was full of hardware tools, aluminum alloy plates, screws, and some other parts.

Lu Zhou had a weird expression on his face.

Is this thing…

Planning to build its own robot body?

Whatever…

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Okay then, I'll buy them for you."

Xiao Ai: [Ok! Master, you're the best! ( ́▽`)]

This thing is pretty easy to satisfy…

Lu Zhou looked at the line of text and couldn't help but smile.

He didn't expect these simple words could melt his heart.

Chapter 588: The Shortcut for Overtaking

The control terminal for the industrial robots was connected to Xiao Ai's server. After Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai not to mess around with the underground laboratory without permission, he left the laboratory.

The list that Xiao Ai gave him didn't contain materials that were difficult to get; Lu Zhou didn't even have to search online for them.

After Lu Zhou placed an order in the name of the Institute of Computational Materials, he moved the materials to the underground laboratory.

Xiao Ai didn't even say thanks. It immediately began to start tinkering with its new toys.

Lu Zhou was standing on the side, and he watched Xiao Ai operate the six-axis mechanical arm skillfully. It opened the toolbox and pulled out a hammer, then the arm picked up an aluminum alloy plate that was sent from an automated guided vehicle(AGV). After that, it began to start banging on the aluminum plate with the hammer.

Lu Zhou looked at the mindless operation and didn't know what Xiao Ai was doing.

His eyebrows twitched when he heard the banging sound, but after a bit of thinking, he decided to let it be. After he told Xiao Ai not to break anything, he turned around and left the laboratory.

He had to go to a meeting in Beijing in a couple of days, and he didn't have time to bother with this.

Lu Zhou just hoped that when he was back, Xiao Ai wouldn't turn his laboratory upside down…

…

Morning of the 6th of March.

A red banner was hung at the entrance of the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, welcoming the attendees of the moon landing seminar.

The organizers and participants of this conference all came from special backgrounds, so the topics discussed at the seminar was bound to be important. Security measurements had been taken; all the way from the school gate to the school auditorium.

Two young ladies curiously looked at the explosion-resistant police car parked on the asphalt road as they chatted while walking past the library.

"Is there someone important surveying the campus?"

"I don't think so, apparently it's a manned moon landing conference or something."

"Manned moon landing?" The tall girl was confused, and she asked, "When are we able to put people on the moon?"

"I don't know… Maybe because we can't, so that's why they're having a meeting about how to send someone up there."

Suddenly, they heard a gentle voice.

"Hello, how do I get to the school auditorium?"

The two ladies stopped walking.

The taller girl looked at the guy and asked, "Are you attending the conference?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

The taller girl pointed to the road on the right and said, "Go straight along this road and turn right at the second intersection."

Lu Zhou looked toward the direction she pointed and said thank you. The more petite girl suddenly asked, "Wait a second, are you… God Lu?!"

Lu Zhou was a little shocked at her excitement, and he awkwardly smiled.

"Just call me Lu Zhou or Professor Lu."

He didn't expect to meet his Weibo fans in real life, what a coincidence.

The petite girl stared at him excitedly and said, "The auditorium is quite far from here, you might not be able to find it. How about I take you there!"

Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Lu Zhou couldn't help but say, "There's no need for that, I can just walk there myself."

He thanked the two people and turned around, walking along the road the girl had previously pointed.

The petite girl looked at Lu Zhou walking away and said with emotion, "It's actually God Lu!"

Suddenly, she had a look of regret on her face. "Ah! I forgot to ask for his signature!"

The tall girl was speechless. "What's the point of having his signature?"

"Do you really need to ask this? It's so that I won't fail my classes!"

"…"

…

Lu Zhou walked along the road and quickly found the auditorium without much effort.

He presented his conference card and passed through the security check. He then walked into the venue.

He looked at the logos in the venue and saw the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, two major state-owned aerospace companies. He also saw the three giant tech companies—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent—and various other private high-tech enterprises.

The once unpopular private aerospace companies were affected by Space-X. It became more popular than ever.

Even though aerospace-related technologies were basically monopolized by the two major state-owned enterprises, the promotion of military-civilian integration had become a national strategy over the past few years. The government had also created relevant policies to support this strategy.

For example, the first Chinese private space company, OneSpace, or Penguin's Satellogic, or the "Tmall international" communication satellite and "Candy Pot" mini space station that Alibaba was expected to launch. The aerospace exploration of private enterprises was gradually becoming more and more important.

For innovating technologies in an advanced field, the performance of private enterprises was indeed better than that of state-owned enterprises.

Because this was clearly the case, the higher-ups had been progressively freeing the aerospace market, allowing private enterprises to participate.

Lu Zhou was about to find a place to sit down when he suddenly heard someone shout his name.

Lu Zhou stopped his footsteps and looked behind him. He saw a man in his fifties wearing a suit while walking toward him with a smile.

Lu Zhou looked at him for a while and remembered his name.

Xu Yuanming, second-in-command at the Ministry of Science and Technology.

He talked to this person before, at the controllable fusion commendation ceremony.

"Secretary Xu?" Lu Zhou smiled and shook his hand as he said, "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"Haha, it's only been two months." Xu Yuanming enthusiastically shook Lu Zhou's hand and smiled. He then said, "The conference is about to begin, let's head on over there first."

Lu Zhou walked with Xu Yuanming toward the auditorium.

Through talking with Secretary Xu, Lu Zhou gained a rudimentary understanding of the current Chinese aerospace situation.

The part he cared the most was the budget.

Overall, the situation didn't look good.

At present, the Chinese Aerospace budget was only about US$2 billion per year, and this was the budget aggregate of the Long March, Beidou, Sui, Shenzhou, Tianzhou, and other domestic rocket projects.

Back in the day, the total cost of the United States Apollo program reached a staggering US$22.5 billion, accounting for 0.57% of the US GDP at that time! It wasn't easy to calculate how much the US$22.5 billion would be worth in today's dollars, but back then, US$22 billion would be more than enough to build a fleet of aircraft carriers.

This was how expensive aerospace programs were.

Not to mention, there were other underlying aspects that money couldn't solve, like various technical problems…

Secretary Xu sat next to Lu Zhou.

After they sat down, he slowly said, "We are not inferior to the west in terms of small rockets, but there's still a big gap between us and the United States and Russia, in terms of the carrying capacity for large rockets.

"The long-range orbit carrying capacity of the Long March 5 is 25 tons, only 18 tons for the synchronous orbit, and only about 8 tons for the earth-moon transfer orbit. The take-off weight of our Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft is already 8 tons. Considering the fact that the moon landing spacecraft must be redesigned for the moon's magnetic field environment, it must carry at least an additional 3 tons of components and more than 5 tons of living space. The final weight of the entire moon landing spacecraft will exceed 20 tons.

"With our current rocket technology, it would be impossible to complete a manned moon landing."

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

Rocket engines were a whole different field, it wasn't something that could be solved overnight.

He suddenly had an idea.

"Why don't you consider ion thrusters?"

"Ion thruster?" Xu Yuanming paused for a second and shook his head as he said, "The ion thruster barely has any power. It might be able to change the orbit path, but there's no way it can launch a spacecraft into orbit."

Lu Zhou said, "We can build an electromagnetically accelerated land-based mass transmitter on the ground, and use that to send unmanned parts to low-Earth orbit. Then, we push it to the moon using a plasma engine."

Because the controllable fusion power generator was already built, the cost of electricity wouldn't be too high. Even though this sounded like science fiction, it was technically possible.

After all, the United States was even thinking about using a cannon to shoot satellites into space…

Xu Yuanming: "Then how will astronauts go up?"

Lu Zhou: "They can get on board from the space station."

Even though China didn't have the ability to send people on the moon, they could send people into the space station with no problem.

Xu Yuanming was shocked by this proposal. He went silent for a while before saying, "This sounds interesting, but it's also a bit too ridiculous."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't deny his claim.

"How can we achieve anything without some imagination?"

Xu Yuanming wasn't a professional engineer. He only knew a little about aerospace engineering due to his job. Therefore, he didn't discuss the technical side with Lu Zhou.

He paused for a second before he continued, "As of now, our strategic focus is still on the construction of cross-regional power grids and controllable fusion generators. The upper management thinks it's more important to be down to earth and focus on the current problems rather than the problems of a distant future.

"A lot of people have proposed to postpone the moon landing project until 2030. However, the leadership team values your opinion. Therefore, they decided to come up with a compromised plan."

Lu Zhou asked, "Compromised plan?"

Secretary Xu smirked and didn't explain anything. He looked at the stage and said, "The conference is about to begin, they will discuss the matter in a moment. Just keep your ears open."

Chapter 589: Strategic Finesse

The conference officially began.

The spokesperson of the conference stood on stage and read out the main contents of this seminar.

Lu Zhou didn't have to wait long before he heard the part he was curious about.

The first was regarding the funding; the country's annual aerospace project would increase from 14 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan.

This part wasn't really relevant for private sector companies. It was mainly for state-owned enterprises.

So far, even though private companies had mastered certain rocket technologies of their own, large thruster rockets that were used for moon landing were beyond their capabilities. Even with the supporting government policies, private companies did not have the capital nor the guts to research large thruster rockets.

Because of this, when the spokesperson began to read out the funding policies, most of the people in the venue were uninterested.

However, when the spokesperson began to read out the second policy, everyone's spirit was lifted.

The policy was that, in order to promote the aerospace industry and moon landing project, companies that invested in the domestic aerospace industry would enjoy tax benefits.

Simply put, if a company spent 30 million yuan on satellites, as long as the party that undertook the launching of the satellite was a Chinese company and the launch mission was completed on Chinese soil, then the parent satellite company would receive 30 million yuan of tax relief.

For large tech companies like Penguin and Alibaba, which paid hundreds of millions of taxes, this offer was quite tempting.

Their businesses had a need for satellites, and now, the state had almost completely waived their launch costs in the form of tax relief. Even though this wasn't a direct form of subsidy from the state, it was no different from a direct subsidy.

When the spokesperson was reading out the second policy, Lu Zhou could clearly see that all of the private and state-owned representatives were all filled with excitement, and they had a shining twinkle in their eyes.

No one even paid attention to the spokesperson reading the third policy.

Actually, the third policy really wasn't worthy of paying attention to. It was just a verbal agreement that had legal effect.

Which was, for the next ten years, enterprises, research units, or individuals who managed to establish a permanent or semi-permanent scientific research station on the moon would enjoy franchising rights for up to 70 years. At the same time, they would also receive tax reliefs in scientific research and other aerospace-related projects, such as tourism and space resource exploitation.

This was guaranteed by the state.

When the spokesperson finished reading the policy, there was a commotion in the venue.

Compared to the irrelevant first policy or the verbal promise that was the third policy, the large companies here were much more interested in the attractive second policy.

If the cost of launching satellites could be converted into a form of tax relief, then they could greatly reduce their cost of launching satellites.

Of course, the third policy wasn't entirely unattractive. Even though no one knew what would happen after ten years, even though it was just an empty promise, it would still bring them a considerable degree of benefits.

China was stepping forward into the aerospace field, and they were among the participants.

These few policies were enough to give the wealthy investors a world of imagination…

Just like these companies, Lu Zhou was equally surprised by the policies of the state.

However, he wasn't surprised by the extent of the policies. Instead, he was surprised at the other aspects…

"Does the state want to use aerospace to control the United States?"

When Xu Yuanming heard this, he was even more surprised than Lu Zhou.

"I thought you didn't do any research on the international political situation."

Lu Zhou looked at Xu Yuanming's look of surprise and coughed as he said, "There's a difference between researching and understanding. I'm not very interested in these things, but that doesn't mean I don't understand them."

Xu Yuanming smiled and said, "Is that so? But you're only half-correct. Even though the moon landing plan is a type of international strategy, we also have other expectations."

Xu Yuanming put on a more serious expression as he continued, "According to our intel, the United States, Russia, the European Union, and other countries have already established a technical route for developing their respective controllable fusion demonstration reactor projects. Their progress is still unknown, but like you said, as long as they are determined enough, they will catch up to us. It might take ten or twenty years.

"In order to maintain our advantage, the state has decided to fight on a new battlefield. At the same time, we will continue to maintain our advantage in fusion electric generator and cross-regional power grid projects."

Lu Zhou: "This new battlefield is space?"

Xu Yuanming nodded and said, "Correct."

Lu Zhou connected the dots and finally had an understanding of the state's intentions.

In a world of information technology, there was no such thing as a secret. With the foundation built from several industrial revolutions, the western countries wouldn't take long to catch up.

In order to maximize the national advantage, China obviously wanted to delay the time frame of other countries acquiring this fusion technology.

Making the opponent fight on two battlefields at once was undoubtedly a strategy that would produce this effect.

Just like Secretary Xu said, looking at it from a long-term perspective, it was not necessary to board the moon. The moon landing project wasn't urgent.

The real purpose of this project wasn't to allow China to set footprints on the moon. Instead, it was to control the technological research focus of western countries.

Putting it this way, this was quite the stratagem.

By that time, the second generation fusion project would also be underway, putting even more pressure on other countries.

Lu Zhou finally understood why his Eastern Research Centers Association idea and his plan on a second-generation controllable fusion energy technology was able to be implemented so quickly by the higher-ups…

The higher-ups were probably drawing up this plan while he was still in the hospital.

Smart.

Really smart…

Even though Lu Zhou felt like he was being used, he couldn't help but admire the sophistication of this plan.

Of course, even though this trick was clever, achieving the expectations wouldn't be easy.

China's current rocket launching technology was even worse than the United States and the Soviet Union's technology back in the 1960s. Even though NASA's annual budget was reduced, catching up to America was no easy feat.

To put it bluntly, even if China wanted to start a space race and pave the way for the second-generation fusion technology, NASA might pretend to go to war with China, but they might not view China as a scary opponent.

So…

China needs a strong academic leader to represent the space program.

Lu Zhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Are they planning on making me lead this project?

I really want to put someone on the moon, but I don't want to be involved in a political fight…

Lu Zhou couldn't help but ask, "You guys aren't going to make me the chief designer of the space project, right?"

"Um… It depends on you. Even though I think it is appropriate for you to take this position, but if you really don't have the time," Xu Yuanming smiled slightly and said, "you can at least be a chief consultant?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I don't really mind, but I'm afraid I won't be able to do much. Also, if you plan on publishing some misleading theses in my name, then I'm afraid I can't help you."

As a scholar, he had a certain moral barometer.

He would spare no effort to fight for the truth that he believed in. Even if he was wrong, it would be an honest mistake. Similarly, he didn't have the conscience to lie for things he was against.

If a scholar did not seek for the truth, then was he really a scholar?

That would be more like a political puppet…

Xu Yuanming smiled and said, "Rest assured, we will not make any public statements in your name. Your academic reputation is our honor and pride, and this will never change."

"Okay then, if you think it's appropriate, I will be the chief consultant." Lu Zhou joked, "Since I'm the chief consultant, are you going to consider the mass driver I just talked about?"

Xu Yuanming coughed and said, "Um… Even if I agree with you, I can't change anything. Have you heard about our state's orbit facilities?"

Lu Zhou: "I've heard a bit about them."

"There is not much publicity about this in the media. In fact, the mass driver you talked about is similar to the country's orbital facilities. The project passed a feasibility demonstration test a while ago, but guess what was the problem?"

Lu Zhou: "Funding approval?"

"Correct, this project was cut." Xu Yuanming nodded and said, "Its estimated budget was 2 trillion yuan. And that's just the estimate, god knows how much it will actually cost… Do you think it's worth it?"

As expected, it was stuck on the funding approval stage.

This two trillion yuan…

Even with an academician vouching for this project, it would be extremely difficult to receive approval.

The 2018 and 2019 27 high-speed railway projects only added up to one trillion.

If this two trillion is spent on railways, god knows how insane our infrastructure would be…Chinese broadcasting company

Chapter 590: Chief Consultant of the Moon Projec

There was a huge demand for energy in China, but there wasn't a demand for aerospace.

Even if the success of the controllable fusion project could save the country more than 2 trillion yuan per year, this money wouldn't be placed into aerospace projects.

Where the money would be spent and what kind of effects it would bring, these all had to go through a rigorous decision-making process.

Especially with rocket recycling technology, space launching costs were not what they used to be.

Taking the launch of a low-Earth orbit satellite as an example, Space-X's Falcon rocket was able to achieve a price of US$1,141 per kilogram. Compared this to NASA's design of the Delta 4 rocket in the 1990s, which had a cost of US$11,660 per kilogram. The cost had been cut by nearly ten times.

The launching cost of the Chinese quick-reaction Kuaizhou rocket, which was the most commercially advantageous rocket in the world, had dropped from US$10,000 per kilogram to about US$5,000 per kilogram.

If a manned mission to the moon required a spacecraft with a mass of around 50 tons to be sent into low-Earth orbit, ignore the fact that the spacecraft wasn't a satellite and couldn't be separated into ten different launches, the launch cost could theoretically be restricted to around US$250.

Therefore, if they only needed to go to the moon, there was no point in inventing a feasible mass driver.

However, Lu Zhou didn't only want to send people to the moon and erect a flag. He wanted to establish a permanent scientific research station on the moon… or even a resource mining base.

Due to this long-term goal, it was quite necessary to find a theoretical lower-cost way to transfer mass into low-Earth orbit.

If people kept using chemically powered rockets, when the number of launches reached the five-figure range, space exploration would transform from a scientific research field to an industrial field. The costs would be astronomical, and there would be environmental consequences.

Rocket fuel, which was made out of dinitrogen tetroxide and dimethylhydrazine, was indeed poisonous.

However, Lu Zhou also knew very well that it would be impossible to convince the higher-ups of this trillion-dollar project, especially since there wasn't an urgent need for aerospace projects.

However, he believed that once he produced enough results, his case would be more convincing.

The conference was divided into two parts. There was an intermission announced at noon. After everyone ate a simple lunch, they would continue the conference at half-past one.

The afternoon part of the conference was mainly centered around researchers and engineers. The content of the discussion was more focused on the technical side.

During the meeting, representatives from major research units spoke enthusiastically and put forward their own viewpoints.

In addition to the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's concept of the Long March 9 rocket, many other people had also come up with interesting technical ideas.

For example, high-level researchers at the Space Science and Applied Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed a concept model of the mass drive ion thruster. The acceleration technology concept was different from Lu Zhou's idea, but nevertheless, it was still a very interesting idea.

Lu Zhou didn't talk a lot at this conference; he only briefly spoke about his idea of the Hall-effect thruster.

Some of this was purely his own opinion, and some were inspirations that he managed to glean while talking to researchers of the AF-MPD project team during his time as a consultant at the PPPL.

He thought his opinion was already sci-fi and experimental. He did not expect that some people's opinions were even more sci-fi than his. Someone even brought up the concept of an EM Drive.

In fact, EM Drive wasn't entirely fictional. NASA had done research in this area, and these theses could even be found on arXiv.

After all, no one had any idea what was possible in the future. Even the most outstanding scholar couldn't make any absolute assertions of the future, even for things that might seem impossible.

But in any case, this EM Drive technology was something in the distant future; it didn't belong in this conference.

Everyone laughed at the concept and didn't pay too much attention to it.

There wasn't any prohibition in a seminar like this. It was a free-for-all. Anyone could say anything, there wasn't anyone that stood against a technical route.

As for which technical route would be implemented, that would depend on the result.

During the middle of the year, there would be a meeting to discuss which heavy-duty spacecraft would be used for the moon landing plan.

Whether it was a rocket or a space shuttle, anyone that could deliver at least 30 tons of payload from the earth to the moon and safely come back, had the hope of winning the bid.

The most promising spacecraft seemed to be the Long March 9.

However, the earliest possible flight time would be in 2028. Even without any delays, that was eight years away.

The state might wish to complete the manned mission to the moon within five years, in order to achieve the strategic goal of putting pressure on the United States and Europe. Therefore, the Long March 9, which was still stuck in the design stage, would probably miss the battle.

Any other company that could create a low-cost solution in a short time frame would be a competitive bidder.

As for whether Lu Zhou should join in on this moon landing party…

He hadn't made up his mind yet.

He was only in the research stage of ion thrusters. Even if he could reverse engineer the debris, he might not be able to use it on Earth's atmospheric environment.

What if this piece of debris was some kind of component on a space station? It might not be able to break through Earth's atmosphere and launch into orbit.

This was all possible.

In short, before he was certain of his abilities to achieve this technology, he would not make any promises and only express his viewpoints. As for the bidding war, he probably wouldn't participate…

After the conference ended, Lu Zhou walked out of the venue.

He suddenly discovered that there was a huge crowd surrounding the venue.

Looking at the cameras and microphones, these people were undoubtedly reporters.

When the representatives from Penguin and Alibaba stepped out of the venue, the reporters swarmed like a group of sharks that smelled blood.

When Lu Zhou looked at these reporters, he couldn't help but flinch. Just as he felt lucky enough not to be surrounded by reporters, suddenly, a reporter noticed him and quickly ran toward him.

Even though Wang Peng was standing in front of him, the microphone was still shoved in his face.

"Professor Lu, hello, we are reporters from the CTV technology channel. I heard you were the one who proposed the manned moon landing project?"

"Professor Lu, hello, we are reporters from the Penguin technology channel, there are rumors online that China will soon achieve space travel, what do you think?"

"Rumors say that you are the chief designer of the aerospace project, is this true?"

Lu Zhou had a headache from all of the questions, but he couldn't find a way to escape. He quickly grabbed the closest microphone and angrily said, "It's not true."

Reporter: "Uh… then, may I ask…"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, "The launch of the manned moon project isn't entirely due to my suggestion, it's also because the country has a strategic demand. As for the chief designer of the project, I don't know where you heard this rumor, but as far as I know, the relevant departments have only invited me as a chief consultant."

Secretary Xu, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, "Chief consultant."

Chief consultant!

These two short words completely shocked the reporters…

Chapter 591: Prologue of the Space Race

Lu Zhou was sitting in a restaurant near the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He looked at his phone while waiting for his food to arrive, and he had a somewhat unnatural look on his face.

[Shocked! Professor Lu, the chief designer of the controllable fusion project, is in charge of the moon mission?!]

[Lu Zhou: Our next journey is in the sea of stars!]

[Lu Zhou accidentally revealed secrets!]

[Chief Designer Lu said that the moon landing will be for him?!]

Lu Zhou: "???"

Didn't I tell them I'm not the chief designer?

Do these reporters not listen to people speak?

Xu Yuanming noticed Lu Zhou's stiff face and smiled as he said, "Our journalists are optimistic, it's good."

Positive energy rumors are good, right?

Lu Zhou put down his phone and looked at the braised pork and beans on the table. He sighed and said, "You're really a troublemaker."

"Let's stop talking, eat. This pork won't taste as good when it's cold." Xu Yuanming pretended like he didn't hear anything. He picked up the chopsticks and smiled as he said, "This place has good food. I often came here when I was still studying here. It's been so many years, but the flavor hasn't changed."

Lu Zhou: "…"

This change of topic is too abrupt.

However, since he is the one treating me to this meal, I'll let it go…

After Lu Zhou finished dinner, he bid farewell to Xu Yuanming. He then got in his car.

"Send me to the train station."

Wang Peng was driving the car, and he asked, "We're going back to Jinling?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, I've been away from the laboratory for too long, I'm worried."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "Aren't you on a holiday? Why are you so busy?"

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

He obviously wouldn't say that he was not worried about some experiment and that he was actually worried about an artificial retard playing around with its new toy in his laboratory.

Of course, even if it wasn't for Xiao Ai's shenanigans, it was time for him to go back.

The secrets of Debris No.3 were still sitting there, waiting for him to explore.

If it went well, it might become the key to solving the manned moon landing project…

Lu Zhou arrived at the train station and got on the next train from Beijing to Jinling. After a couple of hours, he got off at the Jinling Southern train station.

Lu Zhou sat in his black car with the erected red flag. He didn't ask Wang Peng to send him home. Instead, he went to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Because a lot of the experiments needed to be monitored 24/7, the institute never closed its doors.

After Lu Zhou told Wang Peng to head off, he walked into the main institute building alone. He walked past the metal alloy door at the end of the second floor underground sample library and headed toward the third floor underground laboratory.

When he walked into the laboratory, his entire body froze.

The f*ck?

Bumblebee?

…

After the Chinese manned moon landing project was reignited, not only did the three government policies cause a sensation in the domestic media, but it also attracted a lot of attention around the world.

In particular, the British Daily Mail reported the news with a rather intriguing headline.

[China Wants to Go on the Moon! Is This a Prologue for a New Space Race?!]

Inside the Tri Alpha company building…

Benderbauer sat in the office of the chief technology officer. He read the newspaper in his hand and frowned.

After a while, he murmured, "This isn't good news."

"They're still a long way from a second-generation controllable fusion, you don't have to worry at all."

That was Professor Burton Richter, particle physics expert at Stanford University in Palo Alto. In addition to his role as a professor, he was also a member of the advisory board of the Tri Alpha company as well as the winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Physics.

He was well informed of this matter. However, he didn't read it from the Daily Mail.

Just a few hours ago, China announced a set of specific measures to implement the manned moon mission. China announced its plan to establish a permanent scientific research station on the moon in order to explore the helium-3 reserves on the moon.

It was widely speculated that this was paving the way for the second generation of controllable fusion technology. However, Professor Richter knew how difficult it was to achieve helium-3 fusion. He knew that these speculations regarding China were nothing but bragging.

"No, I'm not worried about the second generation controllable fusion reactor." Benderbauer put down the newspaper in his hand and leaned back against his chair. He pinched his forehead and said, "I'm worried about the Congressional Budget Office…"

After China announced the successful ignition of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor at the beginning of the year, the United States also quickly launched its own national controllable fusion project. A giant demonstration reactor was going to be built between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Just for the first phase of the project, the US government had allocated tens of billions of dollars in funding.

For this newly launched demonstration reactor project, Tri Alpha had successfully defeated its competitor, General Atomics, and obtained orders for the reactor heating parts. This was due to their excellent heating performance of their field-reversed configuration.

If everything went well, this contract would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for his company. This would bring him more than US$100 million in market capitalization growth on the Nasdaq.

However, now that China suddenly announced its moon landing project, and it even announced a strategy for the exploration of the moon's resources, this would undoubtedly impact the demonstration reactor project in California.

After all, there was a limitation to scientific research funding. There wasn't a single country on Earth that could conduct two large-scale scientific research projects without compromising.

The United States didn't want to fall behind, both in terms of controllable fusion and in terms of space exploration.

It was foreseeable that once the United States was drawn into this space race, Congress would almost certainly re-examine the budgets for the existing research projects. To ensure NASA had plenty of resources, they might cut down their funding on some less urgent projects.

For example, they might cut down on the costs of plasma heating components…

The demonstration reactor project might even be postponed.

This was obviously bad news for Benderbauer.

He could imagine the people of NASA cheering once their budget was increased.

NASA didn't have to worry about its budget anymore. The country on the other side of the Pacific Ocean gave them an excuse for more funding.

While Benderbauer was flipping through the newspaper, his hands suddenly froze.

His eyes locked onto Lu Zhou's interview in the newspaper.

"Plasma engine…"

He muttered something and gradually became excited.

"Plasma engine! That's it!"

Benderbauer threw away the newspaper and stood up from his office chair. He paced around his office as he said excitedly, "Ion thruster, controllable fusion, it works perfectly! We can combine these two projects together!"

At the very least, he would be able to create a PowerPoint presentation to convince people.

"Sir, I'm not discouraging you but…" Burton Richter looked at him with a weird expression and said, "We haven't even solved the controllable fusion problem, yet you're planning on miniaturizing a reactor and using it as a plasma thruster."

Benderbauer stopped and looked at Professor Richter.

"My dear Professor Richter, of course I know you have to make the cake before you can eat it.

"But before we make the cake, we have to make people believe that we can do it!

"This is the most important thing!"

Chapter 592: Disassemble Debris No.3

Lu Zhou didn't care how the media overseas reacted to China's moon landing project. He was standing in his underground laboratory and completely shocked by Xiao Ai.

It was not exactly Bumblebee.

Accurately speaking, the thing in front of him was a model of Bumblebee. The smooth and flat aluminum casing gave off a metallic shine under the incandescent lamp on the laboratory ceiling. The mechanical components beneath the streamlined casing gave it a complex aesthetic.

Even though it hadn't been painted, it was still very similar looking to a transformer, Lu Zhou recognized the resemblance at first sight.

It would still take a while for this robot to finish construction. However, there were still leftover materials piled up in the corner of the laboratory, and the industrial robot arms against the wall were working non-stop.

Lu Zhou saw the eight robot arms, which looked like an octopus, flexibly manipulating the aluminum alloy plates in their hands.

Through Xiao Ai's neural network learning algorithm, once it learned how to operate a tool, Xiao Ai could quickly apply it to the extreme. This skill wasn't only limited to plasma control, it was obvious that machining and automatic assembly were also within its capabilities.

But…

Lu Zhou: "What are you doing?"

The robotic arms stopped working.

The drone hovering beside him swayed back and forth, as if it were tilting its head.

Soon, Lu Zhou's phone received Xiao Ai's message.

[Master asked what kind of body Xiao Ai wants. Xiao Ai doesn't want to give Master any trouble, so Xiao Ai is building one. (*°▽°*)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

[What do you think, Xiao Ai's new body is very cool right! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

[Praise me, please, please compliment me! ヾ(≧▽≦*)]

Okay, Lu Zhou admitted that this was pretty good.

However…

What's the point of this thing?

Lu Zhou didn't want to discourage Xiao Ai, but he couldn't help but ask, "How do you plan on putting yourself into the robot?"

The eight mechanical arms paused for a second.

After a while, a message popped up on his phone.

[I can't go in? °△°]

Lu Zhou: "I don't think so."

This robot model is built pretty well…

But in any case, I can't just put Xiao Ai into this robot.

Not only is there no motor or servo motor, but there isn't even a control chip or signal receiver. Did Xiao Ai not think about how to integrate itself into the robot body?

Lu Zhou didn't know how Xiao Ai didn't even understand common sense.

After a while, the mechanical arms holding the alloy plates sagged down.

[I'm sad.]

Lu Zhou saw the message and sighed.

Is this thing…

Actually retarded.

Even kids can distinguish between movies and reality.

"Stop playing around, help me work."

He didn't know how to comfort people, much less comforting an artificial intelligence program.

Lu Zhou didn't care about Xiao Ai's emotions. He walked next to Debris No.3 and reached out, taking off the black cover sheet. He then walked to the industrial robot control terminal.

With Lu Zhou's new industrial robots, he didn't have to hold the pliers himself and clumsily climb in.

With the help of Xiao Ai and the eight industrial robots, he could easily disassemble Debris No.3

Actually, disassembling this thing wouldn't take a lot of work.

Even though the outer case material was very strong, due to its need for regular maintenance, the designer didn't weld this thruster.

Relatively speaking, the engine of the spacecraft should be located in a rather safe part.

Of course, this was all relative.

This debris was neatly split into three sections. When Lu Zhou looked at the messy situation inside, his eyebrows twitched.

The situation was even worse than he had imagined. Not only did the impact completely destroy the internal parts, but it even destroyed the internal structure.

For example, the inner wall metal pipes were completely flattened. Lu Zhou could only use his knowledge to guess that this thing was probably similar to a heat exchanger or a plasma pipe, something along those lines.

Connected to the flattened tubes was a special looking cylindrical hollow structure.

"Electrode… Heat exchanger… Is this an ionization chamber? Is this a Hall-effect thruster?"

Lu Zhou stared at the pictures he took with his camera and rubbed his chin as he fell into a deep thinking mode.

Behind this cylindrical thing was various exhaust pipes, which were shaped like conical flasks.

This was at the very back of the debris.

Lu Zhou analyzed the internal structure and made a bold guess.

The engineer who created this device probably used an unorthodox design… Or maybe it was common practice for high-civilization engineers.

Which was, the ionization chamber was taken out separately, and the plasma-emitting nozzle was designed as a single Hall propulsion unit. This entire thing was placed behind the ionization chamber.

The ionization chamber ionized the propellant by heating and applying a voltage, forming a high-temperature plasma that expanded in volume. This plasma was simultaneously sent to the "Hall propulsion unit" that was connected to the rear end of the ionization chamber, which was the exhaust pipes that looked like conical flasks.

Due to this special design, the Hall propulsion unit was able to process high-temperature plasma in the ionization chamber more efficiently as well as to excrete them out of the engine.

At the same time, the middle "Xing" device on the tail ring was used to neutralize the ejected plasma, preventing the injected plasma from being sucked back into the ionization chamber…

In theory, as long as the power output was large enough and the plasma was shot out fast enough, and before the critical current of the superconducting magnet was reached as well as before the ionization chamber pressure and the temperature threshold were reached, the engine power output could be infinitely increased.

Looking at the direction of the cracks of those pipes, Lu Zhou speculated that before being destroyed, the pilots of the spacecraft probably carried out some kind of procedure so that the power of the engine was overloaded and maintained for a certain period of time.

Lu Zhou looked at the flattened tubes and went into deep thought.

He felt like there were more and more secrets behind the system…

After he determined the external components of the engine, the rest of the work was easy. Through the photos taken by Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou quickly found the "fuel tank" of the engine, which was the storage location of the fuel liquid.

But then again, the question was, where did the electricity come from?

Regardless of how the Hall thruster was designed, the power provided per kilowatt was just not enough. Even if this high-civilization engineer greatly increased the jet velocity of the plasma, making its thrust power break through μN, mN, and even reach the magnitude of N, the energy required to accelerate a 100-ton spacecraft to 1G was a scary number.

The output of the energy had to be on the order of MW.

Such a huge power consumption was obviously not possible with ordinary batteries.

At least it wasn't possible for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lu Zhou speculated that the energy storage unit should not be far from the fuel tank, and this was because of the circular double-layer structure that connected the fuel tank and the heat exchanger. Lu Zhou felt that this thing was somewhat similar to something that he had seen before, but he couldn't remember exactly what it was.

Suddenly, a crazy thought emerged in his mind.

Could this be powered by…

Nuclear fusion?

Chapter 593: Clear Technical Route

Institute for Advanced Study, dean's office.

When Lu Zhou saw Yang Xu walk through the door, he stopped writing and looked at him.

"Is the analysis result ready?"

Yang Xu took out a USB from his pocket and placed it on the desk. "The data is inside."

Lu Zhou said, "What about the original copy?"

Yang Xu: "It's in the backup database… Is there a problem?"

Lu Zhou: "Delete it."

Yang Xu paused for a second. He didn't ask why, he only nodded.

"Okay."

After Lu Zhou's office door was closed, he plugged in his USB into the laptop and opened the folder. He began to carefully examine each picture.

After he came out of the underground laboratory yesterday morning, he took a few samples from the circular double-layer structure between the fuel tank and the heat exchanger. He gave it to Yang Xu for him to do an infrared spectrum characteristic peak analysis and to take some transmission electron microscope images.

Looking at the pictures alone, it seemed like his speculation was correct.

Since the fragmented nano-ceramic composite material had been embrittled, it was very difficult to calculate the original structural characteristics. However, looking at the internal carbon residue, one could conclude that it was an anisotropic heat-resistant composite material that had high-temperature resistant properties.

Through the images taken by the transmission electron microscope for the inner layer material samples, he could clearly see that there were hydrogen residues inside several samples.

As far as Lu Zhou was concerned, there were two possible scenarios that could cause something like this.

One scenario was that the hydrogen atoms came from the material neutron decay.

The other scenario was that a high-energy proton beam broke through the inner wall of the material and remained inside the material.

The hydrogen particles and the swelling inside the material were basically distributed in a concentrated area. By comparing the penetration force of neutron and the proton beam, Lu Zhou could basically infer that a large probability of the swelling of this structure was mainly caused by the proton beam.

In this case, the debris of the Hall-effect thruster lying in his underground laboratory was 90% likely to be using nuclear fusion energy.

The power came from the fusion reaction between protons and helium-3!

"It is fusion batteries!"

Lu Zhou's speculation was confirmed. He slowly looked at the images on the screen and was filled with excitement.

Not only that, but he could use the limited clues to roughly deduce the technical route of this gadget.

For example, looking at the closed structure and the damage to the inner wall of the reactor, the small fusion reactor was probably disposable.

Which meant that the fuel was directly integrated into the nuclear core and that the entire core was directly discarded after one use.

This might sound a bit wasteful, but in fact, this was the most feasible approach.

If one didn't care about the pounding high-energy proton beams, the small amount of neutron-induced radiation damage to the materials, and the long-term economic benefits, a lot of complex systems like the liquid lithium neutron recovery system could be omitted.

Not only would this reduce the difficulty of the project, but it would also save a lot of space.

After all, every square inch on the spacecraft was valuable space.

As for shielding materials, heating components, heat exchanger systems, and the nuclear core monitoring system, these expensive components could be integrated into the engine itself, serving as the "battery section" of the nuclear core.

Thinking about it this way, the engineering difficulty of this one-time fusion power supply shouldn't be too high or ridiculous…

Of course, this concept wasn't ridiculous if one compared it to a second-generation controllable fusion technology. It was only ridiculous when compared to the current technology available.

If someone designed a second-generation controllable fusion reactor with the one-time-use disposable concept in mind, the engineering difficulty wouldn't be very high. It might even be easier than the STAR-2 demonstration reactor. However, the cost of generating the electricity would be astronomically high.

It would be like using aerospace fuel to power a civilian's house…

"The entire design concept is to integrate the fuel inside the nuclear core and control the power of the engine by controlling the volume of the intermediate reaction chamber and the fuel consumption rate through the two-layer structure… So the nuclear core shouldn't undergo constant ignition. Instead, it should undergo fast ignition.

"But the fusion battery on the Hall-effect thruster debris is probably not done by magnetic confinement, it should be done by way of another technical route."

Even though he found a structure similar to a superconducting magnet on the Hall-effect thruster debris, the amount was obviously not enough to confine hundreds of millions of degrees of high-temperature plasma. Moreover, in space, the superconducting magnet would be in contact with the ionization chamber, and its real function was probably to provide an alternating magnetic field for the Hall propulsion unit…

So, is this inertial confinement fusion?

Lu Zhou used a pen to draw on the draft paper. His eyes began to lit up.

Fast ignition, inertial confinement fusion…

The technical route is clear to me now!

He restrained the excitement in his heart and scrunched the paper into a ball. He then stuffed the paper ball into his pocket. He took out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

It rang three times. When it was connected, he heard Secretary Feng's voice.

"Hello?"

Lu Zhou said, "It's me."

Feng Shuqing smiled and said, "Professor Lu, what's up now?"

Lu Zhou: "How is the restructuring of the STAR-2 demonstration reactor team?"

After Feng Shuqing heard this question, he replied, "The staff reallocation, inventory check, and property rights allocation has basically been completed. The relevant documents have been submitted to the SASAC. I'll wait for them to inspect the situation. If there are no big problems, it'll take a week at most for East Asia Energy to split from the STAR-2 project team."

Feng Shuqing smiled and said, "Are you ready to get in the car? If you aren't, we can wait for a few days."

Get in the car?

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He didn't understand what Feng Shuqing was talking about.

However, this was obviously not the time to ponder about this, so he ignored it and continued to speak.

"Make sure to look over the operations at East Asia Energy, just follow the higher-ups' instructions. The reason I called you today is to talk about something else. I have a new research project in mind. I need to transfer some people from the STAR-2 project."

Feng Shuqing didn't ask questions. He merely said, "Okay, give me their names."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "It might be a long list. It'll be difficult to communicate through the phone. I'll make a name list and send it to your email."

Feng Shuqing paused for a second.

"How many people do you need?"

Lu Zhou: "Not a lot, around ten."

You think that's not a lot?

Feng Shuqing smiled and cautiously asked, "Can I ask what project is it?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before he replied, "It's regarding the miniaturization of controllable fusion."

Feng Shuqing: "???"State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission

Chapter 594: To Go or Not to Go?

Miniaturization of controllable fusion?

WTF?

Feng Shuqing nearly dropped the phone in his hand.

The demonstration reactor was just recently released, and he's already thinking about making a miniature version of it?

Even though he wasn't in the nuclear fusion field, he was still a student from Shuimu University. Not to mention, he had worked at the Ministry of Science and Technology for many years and was also responsible for the restructuring of the STAR demonstration reactor project team. He had a certain understanding of the nuclear fusion research.

Lu Zhou noticed that the phone went silent. He paused for a second before asking, "Is there a problem?"

"Nothing… Just send the name list to my work email." Feng Shuqing hesitated for a bit before saying, "Miniaturization of controllable fusion… Isn't it a bit early to do this? I think a second-generation controllable fusion is more reliable."

Scientific research was difficult.

Even though he knew Lu Zhou was nutty, he still couldn't help but warn Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou immediately knew what he was thinking about, but he was too lazy to explain in detail, so he briefly explained, "Nuclear batteries are also considered to be a small fusion reactor, but there's quite a difference between nuclear batteries and a real controllable fusion reactor. If you don't understand the difference, you can think of it as the fission reactor and a radioisotope battery. I'm well aware of my research capabilities, so you don't have to worry about it."

His reply was quite impolite.

However, since Lu Zhou spoke in such a confident manner, Feng Shuqing felt a lot more comfortable.

There were many scholars in the Ministry of Science and Technology, and they spoke in roughly the same manner. They were just too lazy to explain things in detail to laymen.

However, one thing for sure was that there were two possible scenarios for these scholars. There was a 20% chance that they would be stuck in a research pit, and the other 80% was the chance of success.

Feng Shuqing felt like Lu Zhou wasn't the type of person to be stuck in a research pit.

Therefore, it had to be the latter…

Lu Zhou didn't really care about Secretary Feng's opinions.

The energy was the main problem of the Hall-effect thruster. If Lu Zohu didn't want to reduce the thrust power, the only option was to increase the energy.

After Lu Zhou hung up the call, he made a name list on his computer and sent it to Feng Shuqing's email.

After that, he quit his browser and opened a blank Word document. He sat in front of his computer while contemplating for a while. He then placed his hands on the keyboard and began to type.

The staff problem was easy to solve; he just had to transfer researchers and engineers from the STAR-2 project team.

The demonstration reactor project trained a large number of experts in plasma physics and controllable fusion. All he had to do was to look through the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project's staff list, and he would easily find anyone that he would need.

With help from these researchers, his research on the fusion battery would become much more feasible.

Of course, since controllable fusion was now a sensitive technology, he had to report this to the government.

Even though fusion batteries were completely different from fusion reactors, there was a lot of overlapping technology.

Especially if he decided to go the route of inertial confinement fusion. It was very likely that he would use laser ignition. Not only could the laser ignition be used for plasma research, but it could also be used for nuclear testing.

Due to its involvement in many sensitive areas, Lu Zhou couldn't conduct this research without cooperation from the state.

However, getting cooperation from the state was an easy thing for him.

He looked at the title on the screen and smirked.

[Application Prospects and Technical Feasibility of Controllable Fusion Miniaturization Technology in the Aerospace Field]

He believed that once he handed in this thesis proposal, he would definitely be able to establish this project…

…

Haizhou.

Demonstration reactor site.

Sheng Xianfu was sitting in his office, filling out forms at his desk.

Since the STAR-2 demonstration reactor project was successfully completed and the commendation conference was over, his life had been quite enjoyable, to say the least.

Not only did the success of the demonstration ignition give him a shiny medal, but it also gave him respect and status.

According to the restructuring arrangements of the project team, the STAR Institute would probably be merged with the East Asia Energy Company, and Secretary Feng, who was responsible for the restructuring work, gave him two options.

One was to go into the company, which was, to stay in the newly established East Asia Energy as the chief engineer and vice president of the technology department.

The other option was to return to the Southwestern Institute of Physics, where he would serve as the director and had full control of the institute.

Sheng Xianfu thought about this for a long time.

Due to the future development prospects of East Asia Energy, the company would definitely have higher career potential. Once he received enough qualifications, he could transfer to the parent company and become the vice president of the whole company. His level would be equivalent to oil giants.

Going to the Southwestern Institute of Physics and becoming the director would give him short term power and status, but the development space was much smaller. Even if he became an academician in the future, it wouldn't be better than to stay in the corporate world.

If this were an average person making this decision, most of them would choose the former.

However, after some contemplating, Sheng Xianfu chose the latter.

The reason was simple.

Compared to working in a corporate environment, he much preferred to work in a research institute. Being a scholar wasn't his career, it was his life.

Also, back then, he quit his job at the Southwestern Institute of Physics to work on the STAR-2 project, and a lot of people gave him dirty looks because of this.

Even though no one was insulting him in front of him, he was still well aware of this. The choice that he made in the past was infamous among his ex-colleagues.

If he returned now as the director, it would probably make a lot of people shut their mouths.

When Sheng Xianfu thought about the scene, he couldn't help but smirk.

It was true, he wanted to brag.

After all, bragging was part of being a human being.

Even though he was still sitting in this office, his mind was thousands of kilometers away, all the way in Rongcheng.

Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds from his office door, and this interrupted his train of thought.

Sheng Xianfu put down the pen in his hand and looked at the door.

"Come in."

The office door opened, and a stranger walked in.

Judging from this guy's posture and movement, he didn't look like a researcher. Instead, he looked more like one of the soldiers who were guarding the site.

Sheng Xianfu looked at the stranger and paused for a second. He then asked, "Who are you?"

The man made a brief self-introduction.

"I'm from the State Administration for National Defense."

From the State Administration for National Defense?

Sheng Xianfu paused for a second and said, "Do you need anything from me?"

The man said, "Professor Lu is looking for you."

Sheng Xianfu: "Is there a project?"

"Yes."

Sheng Xianfu was baffled at this short-sentence speaking guy. He smiled and said, "Can you tell me what the project is?"

The man shook his head and said, "The research project is confidential. I cannot disclose any specific content. You just need to tell me if you're going or not."

"So I have a choice?"

"Of course."

Sheng Xianfu went into deep thought.

On one hand, he could serve as the director of the Southwestern Institute of Physics. On the other hand, he could work for Professor Lu in scientific research… He didn't even know what the specific project was.

Should I go or not?

He was in a dilemma…

Chapter 595: Let Me Read It Again

Beijing, in a conference room.

There were a lot of people sitting in this conference room. There were officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology, military officers with badges on their chests, academicians from the Academy of Engineering, as well as experts from the aerospace field.

An inch-thick conference material was handed to each person.

The cover of the conference material was a title.

[Application Prospects and Technical Feasibility of Controllable Fusion Miniaturization Technology in the Aerospace Field]

This thesis contained a certain amount of information regarding the application of the miniaturized controllable fusion reactor as well as the Hall-effect thruster in the aerospace field. It also contained rigorous calculations, which demonstrated its feasibility possibility.

However, the argument for its feasibility was subjective.

Not to mention, this was a highly-advanced concept…

"Complete gibberish!"

Academician Wu slammed the thesis in his hand and shook his head. He said impolitely, "Just looking at the specific impulse alone, the ion thruster is indeed much stronger than the chemical thruster. However, it isn't without weakness!"

"Ignoring everything else, even the VX-200SS ion engine that we completed the trial run for last year can only achieve 200KW, and total thrust is only 5N! Even if we multiply this by a hundred times, a thousand times, there would be no way we could use this power to send a spacecraft to low-Earth orbit! We can't even send an egg to space with this power!"

"I think the person that wrote this thesis is mental!"

"Pigs will start flying before this thing can send satellites to outer space!"

When Old Wu was speaking, there was an awkward atmosphere in the conference room.

However, this was just how elderly scientists were.

But did he really have to compare it to…

Pigs flying?

The leadership team from the Ministry of Science and Technology couldn't take it anymore, but the president didn't seem to mind. He thoughtfully said, "Is it not solvable?"

Academician Wu shook his head and said, "Unsolvable!"

As for the miniaturization of controllable fusion, he wasn't well versed in the field, so he didn't want to comment too much.

No one knew what kind of technology the future would bring.

In the beginning, the nuclear fission batteries were the size of a house, no one had hopes of putting it on a spacecraft.

However, in just a few years, around the 1970s, the miniaturization problem was solved. As of now, the smallest battery was as small as a coin.

However, the demonstration reactor at Haizhou was only three months old. Planning to put the reactor on a spacecraft now was kind of laughable.

When Ren Changming heard this thesis being criticized, he had an awkward look on his face, and he tried to diffuse the situation.

"The ideas presented in this thesis are indeed somewhat optimistic. I agree that it is really difficult to achieve the technology mentioned in this thesis, but I don't think it's impossible, right?"

"You've been away from scientific research for a long time. I'm not going to argue with a layman." Academician Wu waved his hand and pointed at the thesis as he said, "Who wrote this thesis? Find the person, I'm going to have a conversation with them!"

Ren Changming didn't know what to do.

The Ministry of Science and Technology leadership team exchanged glances with Xu Yuanming, who coughed and said, "Chief Designer Lu wrote it."

The conference room went silent for a second.

The silence was scary.

Old Wu had an awkward look on his face, and he picked up the thesis again.

"Let me read it again."

After a while, he had a moment of realization. He began to mutter about the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

"Umm, I seemed to have missed a few points. The thing with ion thrusters is that the thrust strength depends on the power. Traditional batteries cannot provide this power, electricity is a bottleneck. But with fusion batteries, it might be possible, I don't know…"

Xu Yuanming: "…"

Everyone in the conference room: "…"

Every proposed project was subject to be reviewed by an expert team, even if the proposer was a Nobel Prize winner and Ling Yun medalist.

However, it was difficult to find someone to review a proposal written by an academic big name like Lu Zhou.

The boundaries and levels within the academic community were obvious. No one wanted to publicly comment on someone that had a higher academic status and prestige than themselves.

Because they were worried that this would happen, they intentionally removed Lu Zhou's name from the thesis.

However, no one expected that Academician Wu, former chief designer of the lunar exploration project, suddenly put his head down after hearing Professor Lu's name.

However, judging from his previous reaction, this technology was indeed quite difficult to achieve.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have had such a strong reaction.

Suddenly, a man with an epaulet on his shoulder spoke calmly.

"Can I give my opinion?"

President: "Please do."

The man paused for a second before he said, "I don't know a lot about the aerospace industry, so I won't comment on that side. However, even if we don't consider the Hall-effect thruster and the ion thruster, miniaturization of controllable fusion is quite necessary.

"According to this thesis, if controllable fusion miniaturization technology can really be invented, its application might not only be in the aerospace field, it can also be applied in our submarines or even our aircraft carriers."

A lot of the people sitting around the table had a serious look on their faces.

The president went silent for a while and then nodded.

"You're right, regardless of whether or not this technology can be achieved, regardless of its aerospace applications, this project is worth attempting."

He paused for a second and picked up a fountain pen. He slowly wrote on the meeting document.

"Project approved."

He thought for a bit and felt like it wasn't enough, so he wrote another line.

"All relevant departments must fully cooperate."

The president looked at these two sentences and nodded with satisfaction.

However, he suddenly remembered something, so he spoke.

"Oh yeah, ask Professor Lu, if he doesn't mind, we should publish this thesis."

He smiled and said, "We've already thrown a smoke bomb at America, we should let them know we're getting to work."

…

Jin Ling University.

Lecture hall No.1.

After the class bell rang, Lu Zhou closed the textbook in his hand and turned around before walking out of the classroom.

Ever since his number theory class began, his lectures had been completely filled with students. Not only were the undergraduate students from other classes attending this class, but some master's students, doctoral students, and even mathematics professors occasionally came to listen.

As for Lu Zhou, he loved to talk about problems with these students.

Thinking about simple problems was a unique way for him to relax his mind.

After the lecture was over, if he wasn't busy, he would spend twenty minutes to half an hour of class time to answer the students' questions.

Unfortunately, he had to attend a conference on the miniaturization of controllable fusion today, so he didn't have time for the after-class questions.

Lu Zhou was walking toward the mathematics research building before he suddenly returned to the Institute for Advanced Study. He wanted to return the textbook to his office and help out some of his graduate students.

However, his phone in his pocket suddenly began to ring.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and saw it was Yang Xu who was calling. He picked up the call and placed it next to his ear.

"Hello?"

Yang Xu: "There's an old man who claims to be an academician from the engineering department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences… Do you know him?"

He's here already?

When Lu Zhou heard that the academician had arrived, he had a strange look on his face. The conference was going to begin at five o'clock, and he thought that the experts he invited would arrive at four-thirty. He didn't expect this old gentleman to come so early.

It seemed like he didn't have time to go to his mathematics research building office.

"I invited him. Bring him to the C1 Institute of Physics conference room."

Yang Xu: "Okay."

Lu Zhou hung up the call and opened his contact list. He then called Wang Peng.

"Where are you now?"

Wang Peng: "Near the campus entrance, do you need a ride?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, come find me at the lecture hall building."1.95 cm in diameter and 1.55 mm thick, with an energy density around 1 million times that of a normal chemical battery

Chapter 596: Fusion Battery Projec

Twenty minutes later.

The car parked outside the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study entrance.

Sheng Xianfu arrived at the same time as Lu Zhou, who had just got down from the car.

When he saw Lu Zhou, he walked over to him.

"What a coincidence, I was about to give you a phone call."

"Thank God you didn't call me, I've been on the phone non-stop." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "How have you been?"

"I've been alright, just a bit too bored. I don't like being bored. I've been working hard my entire life." Sheng Xianfu jokingly said, "What do you think? I'm pretty loyal, right? As soon as I heard that you wanted me to come, I left my director job and immediately came over to you. Since I'm so loyal to you, can you tell me what the project is?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at him with a surprised expression. He asked, "The State Administration for National Defense did not tell you what the project is?"

Sheng Xianfu shook his head.

"The person who talked to me told me it's a secret, he didn't tell me the specifics."

"Is it that serious?" Lu Zhou smiled and cleared his throat. He said, "Oh well, it's fine. The reason you came here today is so that we can talk about the project. Come with me."

The two men passed through the main entrance of the Institute for Advanced Study and arrived at the Institute of Physics. They walked through the corridor and walked into a conference room.

There were already ten other people in the conference room.

Also, there was a whiteboard with a plastic cloth covering it, which would probably be used for the conference.

Sheng Xianfu briefly looked at the people sitting in the conference room.

He recognized some of them, like Professor Li Changxia from Yuhua University and Academician Li Jiangang from the Lu Yang Physics department. There were also people who he didn't know personally but had heard of.

For example, the white-haired old man who was wearing a wool vest, he was Academician Yu Jiannan, from the fluid physics department at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

His name was on the list of designers for the "Julong No.1" laser ignition device that the people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences had built.

Compared to the Sheng Guang fusion ignition device, the Julong No.1 was far superior in terms of performance and nuclear technology. It contained 1,440 pulse capacitors, 720 field-distortion switches, 24 laser-triggered gas switches, and 12 high-performance lasers. This was on the level of the United States' National Ignition Facility machine.

Nowadays, laser ignition and inertial confinement fusion had been heavily used by the military. Julong No.1, which was built by the Shenguang fusion ignition team, was well aware of this. They designed the machine for nuclear weapons testing. And whether it was the miniaturization of laser ignition or the integration of laser arrays, this machine was cutting-edge technology.

Sheng Xianfu had only heard of this old man's name, he never expected a chance to see him.

There were also some strangers who he didn't know or heard of before. However, since they were sitting here, they obviously weren't common people, they were probably just not in the field of plasma physics and controllable fusion engineering.

Sheng Xianfu couldn't help but feel emotional.

Being elected as an academician came with a certain amount of prestige in academia, and his status far exceeded that of normal scholars.

In any type of research institute, academicians were the leaders. Research groups were also led by academicians. The highest level of scholars were the people in the Changjiang Scholars Program, then came the top researchers, then came the middle-level researchers, the noob researchers, then the master's students, and even the undergraduate students.

This team, however, only consisted of academicians.

Other than Professor Lu, there weren't many people in China that had the power to form such a team…

When Sheng Xianfu remembered that he had actually hesitated to join this project, he was embarrassed of himself.

Even if no one would blame him for not joining the project, he would be the one to receive the losses.

After all, this kind of opportunity was once in a lifetime.

If he firmly grasped this opportunity, it would greatly benefit his career as well as increase his chances of becoming an academician.

Lu Zhou looked at the people sitting in the room and smiled, "Apologies for making everyone wait, I just came from campus."

Academician Li Jiangang smiled and said, "It's fine, we've only just arrived. Let's skip the small talk, we have no idea why we're suddenly being summoned here. We don't even know what the project is, let's start talking about the project first."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Okay then, I won't waste anyone's time with small talk."

Lu Zhou composed himself and walked toward the whiteboard in the conference room. He then reached out and took off the plastic cover.

The moment he took it off, at least half of the people in the conference room were stunned, while the other half were expressionless.

Sheng Xianfu, who didn't know anything about the project, was stunned.

However, he wasn't only just shocked.

He was amazed as well…

"This is…"

Sheng Xianfu's voice was trembling as he looked at the whiteboard with disbelief. He opened his mouth but words couldn't come out.

"The miniaturization of fusion reactors, or fusion batteries." Lu Zhou looked at him and smiled. He then said cheerfully, "They're the same thing anyway."

Lu Zhou didn't care about everyone's surprise. He cleared his throat and continued, "I have already calculated the technical feasibility of the miniaturization of controllable fusion technology. I will send you guys the relevant theses. Of course, in a few days, you will get to read it in the Journal of Nuclear Physics. So, I won't go into details here.

"The reason I invited everyone over is mainly to have a simple meeting and assign everyone their research tasks."

Lu Zhou pointed at the whiteboard with a laser pointer and continued, "This road map on the whiteboard is the general research plan of the entire project. The content might be slightly abstract, but I think it is quite comprehensive. If you can't understand it, feel free to ask me."

Sheng Xianfu, who had just recovered from his initial shock, raised his hand and said, "I have a question…"

Lu Zhou: "Please go ahead."

Sheng Xianfu carefully looked at the road map on the whiteboard and frowned. He asked, "Why is it inertial confinement fusion? We are more experienced in magnetic confinement."

"Good question." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The reason why magnetic confinement isn't chosen, is because the magnetic field overflow will interfere with the operations of the precision components in the aircraft. The second reason is that magnetic confinement requires a much larger space.

"We can't put a thousand square meter superconducting magnet on the plasma engine. It's not realistic, and it's not necessary.

"In terms of maintaining the fusion reaction, we will use fast ignition. We do not need to keep the fusion reaction stable for a long time. We only need the reaction to happen quickly."

Li Jiangang frowned and said, "Fast ignition? Ignoring the advantages and disadvantages of magnetic confinement and inertial confinement fusion, if the liquid lithium neutron recovery system is removed, how do you plan on offsetting the neutron beam radiation damage?"

"I will talk about this later."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "The design of the nuclear battery can be roughly divided into three sections. The first section is the nuclear core and fuel component. I will be responsible for solving this section. The second section is the power generator connected to the core. I will hand this part over to the team at China National Nuclear Corporation."

Academician Wang Zengguang: "Are we using a ferrofluid electric energy generator?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Uncertain. It depends on what the reactor is, and what it needs."

He paused for a second before continuing, "As for the third section, this is the fusion ignition device for the reactor. Since we are planning on using inertial confinement fusion and fast ignition, I personally prefer using laser ignition as the heating device. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility of microwave heating.

"The research in this section is very important. I hope this will be led by Academician Li Jiangang and Academician Yu Jiannan. You guys will research two technical paths, laser ignition, and microwave ignition."

Yu Jiannan thought for a bit and said, "I'm okay with this, but the laser ignition device occupies quite a lot of space. If you want to put that thing on a spacecraft, it might be a little difficult."

"I understand." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's precisely why we need to do experiments.

"The budget given by the State Administration for National Defense is plentiful. If anyone has any good ideas, feel free to share them. We have enough funds to research any problems we want."

Chapter 597: Too Big of a Step?

The entire controllable fusion battery project was broken into thirteen sub-projects, and this covered everything from laser ignition to electric generators. A total of six research institutes participated in the project.

Due to the success of the Pangu fusion reactor, Lu Zhou felt quite confident regarding this project.

However, there had been disagreement during the discussion regarding the fusion battery nuclear fuel.

As Sheng Xianfu listened to Lu Zhou's crazy plan, his mouth was wide open with amazement. After a while, he spoke in disbelief.

"Are you sure you want to use helium-3 as fuel? The reaction cross-section of helium-3 and deuterium is one-tenth of the deuterium-tritium reaction, but the difficulty of ignition is ten times more difficult than deuterium-tritium!"

He wasn't the only one that held this viewpoint. The chief engineer from the China National Nuclear Corporation, Academician Wang Zengguang, also nodded.

"I also think helium-3 isn't practical. Even though you are saving space and the cost of the nuclear core, the fact is that this cost will be passed onto laser ignition or the microwave ignition heating device."

Academician Yu Jiannan, who didn't know Lu Zhou very well, spoke with nuance and subtlety.

"It's not a good thing to take too big of a step."

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the table as he thought for a long time.

This was a trade-off problem.

If he chose deuterium-tritium as the fuel, they would have to install a liquid lithium neutron recovery system on the fusion battery, and the volumetric energy density of the entire fusion battery would be reduced. If the He3 deuterium was selected as the reactant, it could save at least 15% of the nuclear core volume, and the volumetric energy density of the entire battery would increase.

However, Academician Wang's words were correct. With the current domestic laser ignition technology, choosing this technical route might not result in the effect he had expected.

Lu Zhou went silent for around five minutes.

He had an idea in his mind.

"Then let's compromise."

Sheng Xianfu: "Compromise?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Just like the fusion ignition device, we'll go with both the technical routes. One route will be a deuterium-tritium fuel fusion battery and the other will be a He-3 deuterium fuel fusion battery. We can agree on a standard battery interface connection. If the bottleneck of the He-3 deuterium fuel fusion battery technology can't be solved, we can immediately switch to deuterium-tritium. One day, when the helium-3 fusion problem is solved, we'll be able to upgrade our equipment faster."

Academician Wang Zengguang thought for a bit and said, "I think it's a good idea."

Academician Yu Jiannan didn't speak a lot. He merely nodded and said, "As long as the budget allows it, I'll allow it."

Lu Zhou looked at a few other people, and seeing how there were no more comments, he said, "Okay, then it's settled."

Jumping onto helium-3 immediately was a bit premature.

Lu Zhou was convinced by his elderly teammates' persuasion.

He admitted that when he discovered the technical route regarding the miniaturization of controllable fusion through the advanced civilization debris, he got a little too excited and forgot about Earth's current technological capabilities.

In fact, creating fusion batteries was no piece of cake in and of itself.

As for the complete reverse engineering of the advance debris thruster technology, it wouldn't be possible for at least another century…

After leaving the conference room, Lu Zhou planned to return to his underground laboratory so that he could continue to tinker with the Hall propulsion unit. However, when he remembered that there was still one more thing he had to do, he returned to his office.

Some time ago, while the higher-ups were approving his project, they suggested that he should submit the thesis on the feasibility of a fusion battery technology to an appropriate academic journal.

Even though Lu Zhou knew that this was intended to be a political strategy, he didn't really care.

The thesis was his true academic viewpoint.

If the higher-ups didn't really have a problem with the thesis content, he obviously wouldn't refuse to submit the thesis.

He retrieved the paper he wrote some time ago and scrolled through the pages on his computer. He deleted some more "ambitious" content and only kept a few things like the "detachable core", "laser heating", and "microwave heating". He then translated the entire thing into English.

In fact, for this kind of technical feasibility thesis, it didn't matter if he didn't make any changes. After all, this kind of strongly subjective thesis didn't involve specific research ideas or experimental plans. It was only an argument of whether it was "feasible" or "not feasible".

As for actually inventing the so-called "feasible" technology, that would depend on one's abilities.

After Lu Zhou read the revised thesis from beginning to finish, he stared at the PDF file on his computer screen and began to think.

Which journal should I submit it to?

He thought for a bit and suddenly smirked. He had an idea in his mind.

When Lu Zhou clicked send, he couldn't help but feel mischievous.

I wonder if someone will praise me for my internationalism after they read this thesis?

I'm sure anyone outside of the controllable fusion field will compliment me…

…

After Lu Zhou submitted the thesis to PRL, he posted his thesis on arXiv and left this matter alone.

What he didn't know was that his thesis was transformed into a PPT the same afternoon after his thesis was posted on arXiv.

Los Angeles International Hotel.

Inside a conference room that was a couple of hundred square meters wide…

When the crowd heard Mr. Benderbauer, the president of Tri Alpha, announcing that the company's next step was to build a plasma engine equipped with nuclear fusion batteries for the US moon landing program, they were in an uproar.

Even though the investors sitting here didn't necessarily know what exactly controllable nuclear fusion was, it didn't mean that they were stupid.

The Pangu demonstration reactor was less than three months old. The United States had barely begun researching controllable fusion. Now he was talking about the miniaturization of controllable fusion. What the hell was going on?

A lot of people looked at their watches. It seemed that they had already made up their minds. If they didn't hear any worthy news in the next five minutes, they would get up and leave.

However, Benderbauer didn't panic in a situation like this.

He was wearing a plaid T-shirt, which was a classic Silicon Valley style. He cleared his throat and looked at the investors.

"Miniaturization of controllable fusion!

"I know this might sound unbelievable, but it's not as difficult as we think."

He turned the PowerPoint presentation to the next page.

An arXiv thesis appeared on the screen.

As for the author of the thesis, it was obviously the chief designer of the controllable fusion project, Lu Zhou.

The crowd was in an uproar again, and there was a commotion in the venue.

Even the people that didn't care about this PowerPoint presentation couldn't help but start paying attention.

After all, this was Lu Zhou, the father of controllable fusion!

If anyone else were to talk about the miniaturization of controllable fusion, they would be ignored. But the words from this big name was different.

The CEO of Exxon Mobil, Woods, was sitting in the back corner of the venue, and he stared at the name on the screen.

To be honest, he was not optimistic about the over-hyped Silicon Valley company Tri-alpha. In fact, he was more inclined to invest in the practical and stable General Atomics Company.

However, when he saw the name on the screen, he began thinking again.

Because Lu Zhou's name made a lasting impression in his mind, and this made him anxious.

The lithium batteries market had multiplied more than a hundred times. This piece of the energy pie was getting bigger and bigger, and Wall Street was full of regrets.

From the lithium battery anode material to the positive electrode material, a part of this pie belonged to them. But now, they were paying other people in the energy industry as they watched them make a fortune in front of their eyes.

Now that a breakthrough had been made in the nuclear power field, power generation costs would be further reduced, and the lithium battery market would only grow larger.

Precisely because of the mistake he made last time, he had to pay extra attention to the technological feasibility thesis that Lu Zhou wrote.

On the other hand, Benderbauer was on stage, holding Lu Zhou's thesis.

"The nuclear core inside the battery can be of a modular structure. This design allows us to ignore the damage to the material structure to a certain extent.

"Based on this design, this disposable controllable fusion battery is much less technically difficult than the fusion reactor! Even though the cost is a problem, it is minuscule compared to the money we spent on the space race."

When Benderbauer saw the investors' eyes lit up, he knew that the time was now. Therefore, he smiled brightly and threw another piece of bait.

"As for whether or not our products will have a place in the market, please rest assured.

"In fact, just yesterday, we reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Space-X, to prepare a fusion battery that can be applied to their spacecraft. The miniaturized controllable fusion device will be first applied in the aerospace field. The related research projects have already been approved by the Congressional Budget Office!

"I believe that in the near future, our rockets will be able to use clean and endless nuclear energy. Our footprint will be all over space. I am certain that day will come sooner than the controllable fusion device in California!"

His passionate voice seemed to have ignited everyone's emotions.

Woods looked at his secretary and lowered his voice.

"I need a briefing on Tri Alpha's earnings and business operations!"

The secretary immediately knew what the CEO was thinking about.

"Okay, sir, the documents will be on your desk by tonight."

Woods said, "Go do it now, I need it before the six o'clock dinner."

The secretary nodded upon hearing this difficult demand.

"Ok."

Chapter 598: A Market Created by a Thesis

For a Nobel Prize laureate, making money was a very easy task.

Even though most investors had rich investment experience and financial knowledge, they didn't know much about science. Therefore, this kind of investors usually either avoid investing in esoteric science fields, or they would just consult experts.

When it came to experts, it seemed that in the eyes of ordinary people, there was no better proof than a Nobel Prize winner.

In a situation like this, even if a concept looked quite unreliable, as long as there was a Nobel Prize big-name vouching for it, a ton of investors would be eager to invest… even if they didn't know what exactly they were investing in.

This didn't only happen in the controllable fusion field. This type of thing was very common.

For example, blockchain…

Lu Zhou didn't know that within a day, his thesis caused a lot of people to jump from the small controllable fusion train onto the large miniaturization of controllable fusion train. There were also a lot of smart people that seized this opportunity and doubled their net worths.

In a single day, the concept of controllable fusion batteries had exploded in America, and a multi-billion market had been created.

On the other hand, China didn't seem to have a lot of movements. After all, controllable fusion was still a sensitive technology. Most private companies and venture capital firms could only look through a window. They couldn't get the tickets for the show admission, let alone playing on stage.

However, even though there was a lot of noise in the fusion battery field, there was also a lot of action.

Various cooperative research institutes had begun research on the fusion battery project.

Compared to the demonstration reactor project, the miniaturization of controllable fusion wasn't as urgent. Both the government and Lu Zhou weren't in a hurry. They had plenty of time to research.

Compared to others, Lu Zhou was mainly responsible for a leadership role.

As for the focus of his current work, it was still on the system reward mission.

Lu Zhou woke up early the next morning.

After he took a shower, he put on his sportswear and ran along the asphalt road outside his mansion toward the golf course.

Springtime came along with March, and winter had already passed. Even though it was six o'clock in the morning, the sky was already bright and the thin morning mist was fading. The Purple Mountain was glowing from the sunshine.

If Lu Zhou wasn't particularly busy, he would run around his neighborhood either at night or in the morning. He wasn't interested in the slow-paced game of gold, but he quite enjoyed the greenery here.

Lu Zhou sprinted for a short distance and stopped near a bench. He wiped his sweat with a towel that was draped over his shoulder.

Coincidentally, a man in his fifties was also exercising in the morning. When he saw Lu Zhou sitting here, he smiled and greeted him.

"Oh, Professor Lu is exercising in the morning today?"

In a sense, he was kind of a celebrity in this neighborhood.

When the controllable fusion project was still going on, the army stationed a team that was responsible for his security near the suburbs. Hence, a lot of people had been gossiping about Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou put the towel back on his shoulder and stood up straight. He said, "Yeah, I have to exercise. Scientific research is hard work. If I don't exercise, I won't be able to keep up with the young people."

The old man laughed and said, "You're not even in your thirties yet, and you're already comparing yourself with young people."

"I'm twenty-six now, nearly in my thirties."

Zhongshan International was considered to be the wealthiest area in Jinling. Most of the people living here were filthy rich. For example, Zhang Anqiang, who was talking to him, was the CEO of a listed company.

Because Lu Zhou often ran into him, he knew this old man's name. However, even though this man was worth millions, Lu Zhou was used to working with giant companies that were worth billions.

At least in Lu Zhou's eyes, this old man was just a normal person who was exercising in the morning.

After some small talk, Lu Zhou stood up and continued his morning run.

The sun on the horizon completely eliminated the morning fog. Lu Zhou ran home and took a bath upstairs.

He was putting on his usual windbreaker when he heard the doorbell. After Xiao Ai confirmed the identity of the visitor, Lu Zhou told it to open the door. He then walked downstairs.

"I brought you breakfast." Wang Peng placed the soy milk and soup buns on the table. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Are you going to the research institute or the university?"

"University."

Lu Zhou shook his head to dry off his hair and sat down at the table. As he was eating his soup buns, he took out his phone and began to scroll through the arXiv website.

Seeing how Lu Zhou was occupied, Wang Peng sat on the sofa and picked up a magazine on the coffee table.

When he flipped through some of the magazines, he realized that he couldn't understand any of them, and so, he gave up on reading them.

"If you're interested, you can try reading Scientific Reports. It's more of a scientific mega journal. It's not as esoteric and most people are able to read the articles."

Seeing how Lu Zhou suddenly spoke, Wang Peng paused for a second and smiled before he said, "I thought you only read Science or Nature."

Lu Zhou sipped the remaining soy milk before wiping his hands with a napkin.

"Occasionally I'll read some layman articles."

Wang Peng said, "Trying to leave no stone unturned?"

Lu Zhou: "No, there are some mind-blowing articles that I find interesting."

Wang Peng: "…"

Lu Zhou looked at his watch and saw that it was about time. "I'm done eating, let's go."

"I'll get the car." Wang Peng got up from the sofa. He suddenly remembered something, and he said, "Oh yeah, Doctor Yan told me to tell you something."

"What?"

"Don't forget the medical check-up tomorrow."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, got it."

…

The car ride took around twenty minutes.

A black car with a mounted national flag was parked near the mathematics building.

Lu Zhou greeted Old Tang, who was on his way to give a lecture. He then went straight to his office.

Lin Yuxiang, who was sitting at her table, yawned while studying for the National Public Servant Exam. When she saw Lu Zhou appear at the door, her eyes immediately lit up, and she walked toward the coffee machine. After a while, she held a warm cup of coffee and gently placed it on Lu Zhou's desk.

"I put some milk in your coffee. Apparently, it helps with fatigue."

"Thanks."

Lu Zhou took a sip and put down the cup.

"Is it good?"

"Is it freshly brewed?"

Lin Yuxiang stared at Lu Zhou with her fingers behind her back as she said, "Yeah, my boyfriend got it from Brazil. If you like it, I can tell him to bring more next time."

Lu Zhou: "No, thanks, I prefer instant coffee."

Lin Yuxiang: "…?"

Kong Jie was sitting at her desk nearby. She wanted to laugh but decided not to.

The office door was opened.

A girl with a ponytail walked through the door.

Han Mengqi looked at the lady standing near Lu Zhou's desk and walked toward Lu Zhou. She then asked quietly, "Teacher, can I steal some of your time?"

"Call me professor." Lu Zhou coughed and looked at Lin Yuxiang as he said, "You can head off."

"Oh… Okay."

Lin Yuxiang nodded and walked away.

Han Mengqi looked at her and couldn't help but frown. When she noticed Lu Zhou looking at her, she remembered why she came here.

She blushed, and she quickly took out the thesis she was holding. She then pointed toward some highlighted areas as she said softly, "I finished the tasks you gave me… There are just a few parts that I haven't been able to figure out."

Lu Zhou glanced at the highlighted parts.

"They're all calculation-based?"

"Yeah." Han Mengqi nodded awkwardly and looked down as she murmured, "Is it because I'm too stupid?"

"No way, you're quite talented. No one is born with knowledge, learning is everything."

Lu Zhou took out a piece of draft paper from his drawer and picked up the pen. He did some calculations on the paper and began to tutor his little student.

After Lu Zhou explained the calculation process, he paused for a second before he continued, "In short, you did a good job, but you have to get better at calculations.

"If you plan to innovate on top of my theory, I suggest you choose the semiconductor-electrolyte solution interface as your starting point."

Han Mengqi: "Semiconductor-electrolyte solution interface?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "As far as the phenomenological model is concerned, the physical image of the semiconductor-electrolyte solution interface is more complicated than the metal-electrolyte solution interface. The existing theory of this interface mainly focuses on the analysis of the potential distribution of the space charge layer. However, when it comes to the surface interface, the impact of interface energy level, etc, those haven't been deeply investigated."

Han Mengqi tilted her head and asked, "Does your Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure not explain this?"

Lu Zhou: "It explains it to a certain extent, but it isn't perfect. My theoretical model mainly applies to the electronic-conductor-electrolyte-solution interface, it's not involved in the semiconductor interface.

"I'm working on a project for carbon-based computer chips. If you are interested, you can try to research in this area."

Carbon-based chips had always been one of the key projects of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Some progress had been made, but a few key technical bottlenecks had not yet been solved.

If everything went well, it should be solved within a couple of years.

Han Mengqi took note of Lu Zhou's words as she nodded and said, "Ok!"

Liu Siyuan, who was studying, heard Han Mengqi and Lu Zhou's conversation, and he felt anxious.

Is this the world of geniuses?

He finally understood why Hang Mengqi was so eager to talk with Lu Zhou…

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open again.

Lu Zhou thought that another one of his students had come. When he looked up and saw a familiar face, he was stunned.

Han Mengqi was also stunned.

She looked at the person. "Sis?!"

Chapter 599: Someone Is Investigating You

"Meng Qi?"

When Chen Yushan saw that her cousin was here, her eyes lit up. She immediately walked over. "What a coincidence, you're here as well?"

Han Mengqi nodded. "Yeah… I'm studying for a master's degree under Lu Zhou, of course I'm here."

Chen Yushan held her cousin's hand and looked at her as she said with emotion, "Time really flies by quickly. It feels like you're still in high school yesterday, but now you're already a graduate student. Also, didn't you like putting your hair in a double ponytail? Why did you change to a single ponytail?"

Han Mengqi touched her hair and said, "It looks more mature this way…"

Lu Zhou looked at the two sisters and coughed. "Why did you suddenly come here? You didn't even tell me you were coming."

"You're too busy." Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and said, "I've some business in Jiangsu for a few days, so I came here to visit you. Also, it's so that I can report to you about the work I've been doing."

Lu Zhou: "Report?"

Chen Yushan blinked and asked, "Did you forget?"

Lu Zhou said, "Forget about what?"

"It's not appropriate to talk about it here. Since it's such a rare occasion, let me buy you a drink?" Chen Yushan looked at her cousin and said, "Meng Qi, do you want to come?"

Han Mengqi immediately nodded. A moment later, she asked quietly, "You guys are going to talk about business, right? Won't I bother you?"

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "It's just not appropriate to talk about it in public, but there are no secrets… Of course, it depends if Professor Lu minds."

"Of course I don't mind." Lu Zhou smiled and said nonchalantly, "You guys haven't seen each other for a long time, right? Let's all go together."

…

At a commercial district near campus, inside a cafe.

It was still quite early in the day, plus it was a workday, so there weren't a lot of people here.

Lu Zhou found a seat near a window to sit at. He then ordered a cup of hot mocha and leaned back against his chair. He looked at the decor inside the cafe.

He felt quite nostalgic since he accepted his first tutor job here. It had already been six years since then, and he went from being a student to a famous scholar. And yet, this place hadn't changed a bit.

"An iced cappuccino and an iced americano."

Chen Yushan helped order for her cousin and politely returned the menu to the waiter.

Lu Zhou watched the waiter bring their drinks over. He then took a sip of his mocha before looking at Chen Yushan and asked, "Can you tell me now?"

"It's regarding the shares from East Asia Energy."

When Lu Zhou heard the name "East Asia Energy", he immediately remembered what the matter was.

"Oh, you already bought it?"

"Yeah, I've been busy with this over the past couple of days."

Lu Zhou nodded and asked.

"How much did you buy?"

Chen Yushan said, "Just like you said, a billion USD."

"Ptui!"

When Lu Zhou heard USD, he nearly spat his coffee out.

Chen Yushan looked at him choking and smirked as she continued to speak, "I have carefully studied the prospectus of East Asia Energy. The main purpose of this fundraising is for the construction of the cross-regional power grid in the southwest and the new fusion reactor project in Daya Bay. The expected capacity of the project will reach 100,000 MW. Within a year, the old fission reactors and other electric generators will gradually be replaced. East Asia Energy will supply power to Hong Kong, Macao, Guangdong, and other places.

"According to my experience, this kind of investment is high profit, low risk. You can rest assured! If that guy named Feng wasn't so persistent, I would have found a bank to borrow hundreds of millions just to buy more shares."

No shit, they have a monopoly, of course this is high profit, low risk!

Lu Zhou wiped the coffee off his chin and said, "A billion USD… That's almost 7 billion yuan, isn't it a bit too much?"

7 billion…

The total amount of public shares is only 20 billion yuan!

Lu Zhou ate a third of a pie just by himself. He was worried there might be a problem.

Chen Yushan blinked and asked, "Is it a lot?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Seeing how Lu Zhou was speechless, Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Calm down, calm down. I know what you're worried about. Before contacting East Asia Energy, I discussed it with my dad. He said that as long as the money is clean, there is no problem investing normally just like everyone else. Think about it, if there is a problem, Feng Shuqing wouldn't approve of it."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but say, "Who knows what Feng Shuqing will do…"

Chen Yushan said, "Technically, he's your subordinate. Do you know anything about your subordinates?"

Lu Zhou: "I'm not interested."

Even though Feng Shuqing was technically the second-in-command of the project team, he reported directly to the government officials. Therefore, he wasn't technically Lu Zhou's subordinate.

Lu Zhou did not care for administrative work.

Rather than delegating work to other people, he preferred to do experiments in his laboratory.

Seeing how Lu Zhou was disinterested, Chen Yushan sighed and said, "Being able to take on this role in his thirties and reorganize the demonstration reactor project team, this isn't something that normal genius students from Shuimu University can do. This person has a bright career in front of him. He's not going to put himself in a risky situation just to be friends with you. His approval is definitely backed by the higher-ups."

"You really know a lot."

"I don't know that much. It's mainly because my dad always talks about this kind of stuff at home, so I inevitably learn some of it." Chen Yushan held the straw and stirred the ice cubes in her cup as she sighed and said, "That's why I don't want to work in the government, I can't fully showcase my financial ability."

Lu Zhou drank his coffee and pretended like he didn't hear the second part.

A billion USD case isn't enough to showcase your financial ability?

Lu Zhou didn't know what to do with this chick.

Suddenly, Chen Yushan remembered something.

"Oh yeah, there's one more thing you should pay attention to."

Lu Zhou asked, "What thing?"

Chen Yushan: "Star Sky Technology has a laboratory in California?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Yeah, but it's mainly responsible for ordering me some more obscure reagents and to take on some projects from the Institute of Computational Materials… Is there a problem?"

Chen Yushan said, "If you transfer anyone here, try to transfer them now. If you can't transfer them, it'd be better to find a way to get rid of them. When I was investigating the company's business a few days ago, I noticed someone investigating your assets in North America… I talked to your CEO from the North American branch, and we agreed that there might be someone who's trying to collect evidence."

Lu Zhou frowned and said, "Investigating me? What is there to investigate?"

He had always been very careful.

When he returned to China, he donated all of his mathematics notes, and he didn't bring a single piece of paper back.

If anyone was to investigate him, he didn't think they would find anything.

"Please, you're Chief Designer Lu. Because you went to the Germans to buy the WEGA stellarator, our country was kicked out of ITER. Now that the Pangu fusion reactor is in everyone's face, of course they're going to investigate you."

"Who do you think it is?"

Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and said, "They're obviously not going to announce their investigation, but surely you know who it is."

Lu Zhou looked at his cup of coffee and went silent for a while. He suddenly smiled and shook his head.

"I didn't think that a mathematician would be on the CIA's list."

Actually, he wasn't completely surprised.

When he was doing the He-3 atom probe experiment at Princeton, he vaguely felt that someone might have noticed him. If he continued to conduct research, there was bound to be a problem.

However, at that time, controllable fusion was a futuristic field, and it did not receive a lot of attention. Countries never put their hopes of addressing climate warming and the energy crisis on fusion energy. It was not until the success of the STAR-1 device that everything was completely changed…

Chen Yushan's slender chin rested on her fist as her delicate lips bit the straw. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

Lu Zhou looked at her slim shoulders and couldn't feel any sense of security from her.

"Oh, thanks."

Chen Yushan snorted and said, "What is that kind of reaction? Are you bored?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

"Um… I'll buy you dinner next time?"

Chen Yushan smiled and felt nostalgic. "You didn't change at all."

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

"I haven't?"

He thought that compared to his twenty-year-old self, he had actually changed quite a bit.

As Han Mengqi watched these two talk, she kept her head down while using a spoon to mix the cream in her cappuccino.

She hadn't said anything yet.

This wasn't a big deal. After all, she didn't have anything special to say.

She just felt like…

Sitting next to these two made her feel like a little kid.

She sighed and sat there feeling gloomy.

However, she didn't know why she was feeling this way…

Chapter 600: Stock Market Is Risky

There was only a certain amount of business stuff to talk about.

Later on, the three people began to talk about some interesting things in their life and work.

After Chen Yushan polished off the desserts and her drink, she looked at her watch and saw that it was getting late. She smiled and said, "I have a meeting soon, so I have to go. Oh yeah, Meng Qi, remember to tell your mom I said hi. I'll visit you guys in a few days."

Han Mengqi nodded and said, "Ok!"

Lu Zhou looked at the time and also got up from his chair.

"Yeah, I have to go back as well. Your car is still at the campus entrance, right? Let's go together."

After he returned to his office, he planned on sending an email to Sarrot.

If Sarrot wanted to come work in China, Lu Zhou would provide him with a laboratory.

If he didn't want to come, then Lu Zhou would respect his decisions and help him find a new laboratory. Everything would end on good terms. Even though this political situation had affected his research, he didn't want it to continue affecting his life.

Even though Sarrot had always been a cocky person, he was actually quite academically able.

After working together for so long, Lu Zhou appreciated him.

After they walked to the campus entrance, Chen Yushan waved goodbye to Lu Zhou and her cousin. She then got into a silver sedan.

Lu Zhou smiled and waved goodbye.

Ever since Chen Yushan moved from Beijing to Shanghai, Lu Zhou felt like she had gained a lot more energy.

Lu Zhou felt this indescribable aura coming from her body.

It seemed like she had discovered her life purpose.

She had been searching for this kind of thing for a long time, surely she had found it already.

Han Mengqi walked next to Lu Zhou and glanced at his face.

She hesitated for a bit before saying, "Teacher…"

"What?"

"Um… What do you think about my sister?"

Lu Zhou looked at her strangely.

"What do you mean what do I think?"

Han Mengqi's cheeks turned red as she said awkwardly, "Like… in terms of feelings…"

Lu Zhou went silent for a while. He seemed to be thinking.

Han Mengqi saw him and felt worried.

Suddenly, she regretted asking this question.

When she was just about to change the conversation, Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

"She's one of the few friends I can talk with."

When Han Mengqi heard this unexpected answer, she paused for a second.

One of the few friends he can talk with?

She didn't know why, but when she looked at him, she felt heartbroken…

…

Haizhou, demonstration reactor base.

The demonstration reactor project had been completed. After the commendation conference, everyone basically had nothing to do. In some sense, they were being compensated for having no holiday last year.

Other than the busy experts who were responsible for the grid-connected technology of electricity generators, most researchers and engineers were sitting in their offices. They held pointless meetings, filled in documents, and did their own things most of the time.

For example, Su Yiwen from the technical department had recently become fascinated with the futures market. Whenever he was at work, he would look at the market charts and graphs. Other than going to the toilet or eating, he stayed at his desk all day.

Su Yiwen, who was short-selling, looked at the bleak futures market and clicked his mouse. He sighed and spoke emotionally.

"The price of Brent crude oil futures was 60 something just a while ago, but now it's fallen below 45 barrel. Why aren't the Chinese oil companies dropping as well?"

Looking at this trend, the price of oil was going to fall below US$40 per barrel.

When that time comes, surely China's oil production will stop, right?

Zhang Xueqian was reading a newspaper when he looked at his colleague and smiled.

"Forget about it, once Pangu connects to the grid, it would be impossible for the oil price to fall. Forget about the price falling. Once electric vehicle technology has matured and their charging stations are extended to fourth and fifth-tier cities, the tax on oil will increase."

Su Yiwen paused for a second and asked, "Why is that?"

Old Zhang looked at him and smiled as he said, "Do you know what macroeconomic regulation and control is?"

"I do… but what does this have to do with macroeconomic regulation and control?"

"Think about it, our nation's energy is heavily dependent on imports and the channel for transporting energy is in other people's hands. After the fusion reactors are connected to the grid and generate electricity, the cost of electricity will go down. The country will have to adjust our energy structure, like pushing for electric cars. Now, if the oil price goes down, will you switch to an electric car?"

Su Yiwen thought for a bit and felt that it made sense. However, if someone suddenly made him change cars, he would feel a little reluctant.

Seeing how Su Yiwen wasn't speaking, Zhang Xueqian began to talk about the things he read in the newspapers.

"Now that lithium-sulfur batteries have been invented, the electric car ranges aren't that much lower than gasoline cars. Charging time might be a problem, but it's a lot better than a few years ago. I also heard that the Power Industry Association is going to combine a number of car companies and standardize the battery interface. Then no one would have to charge their batteries since they could just switch out the batteries. Of course, no one knows when that technology would come. We'll have to see what happens next."

The state had invested trillions of dollars into new energy vehicles. This money had to come from somewhere.

Where did it come from?

It obviously came from those people who were unwilling to keep up with the changing times.

Even though Su Yiwen knew this was a good thing, he couldn't help but complain, "So they're forcing us to switch cars?"

Zhang Xueqian said, "You can interpret it that way… But you have to admit, this is the right thing to do in the long term."

Whether it was for environmental protection or being able to escape from being dependent on energy imports, ever since East Asia Energy was established, gasoline cars were slowly being eliminated.

The government officials were quite smart.

They spent less than 100 billion yuan to build the fusion reactor.

Not only did it save trillions in energy costs, but it also created a trillion-dollar market.

With the advancement of electrical energy, industrial production and social vitality would undoubtedly improve.

What could the future look like?

It seemed like only time could tell.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, and Chief Wang from the finance department walked in.

He was holding a list of names and contracts in his hand. He avoided any small talk and went straight to the point.

"East Asia Energy is raising funds from the public, are you guys interested? If not, I'll ask someone else."

Su Yiwen was just about to ask some questions. He was surprised to see Old Zhang, who wasn't interested in stocks, suddenly stood up.

"How much are they raising?"

Chief Wang said, "A total of two billion shares were issued, ten dollars per share."

Su Yiwen froze.

The f*ck?

They're raising 20 billion?

However, he was even more surprised by Old Zhang's words.

"I'll buy 100,000 shares!"

Su Yiwen: "???"

A hundred thousand!

That's a million!

This guy always talks about how broke he is, when did he get so rich?

Chief Wang didn't accept his demands. He shook his head and said, "Every employee can only buy 3,000 shares."

When Zhang Xueqian heard this number, he felt a bit uneasy.

"Only 3,000?"

"Yes." Chief Wang was expressionless. He didn't plan on negotiating at all. He said, "Technical employees are limited to 3,000, administrative employees are limited to 2,000, the rest is at 1,000. Secretary Feng wrote the rules. If you are unhappy, you can go talk to him."

Seeing how Secretary Feng made the rules, Zhang Xueqian sighed and didn't say anything else.

3,000 is quite a lot anyway.

Including the army members, as well as the research units around the country, the entire demonstration reactor project team had tens of thousands of people. Only 2 billion shares were issued to the public. 3,000 shares each person was quite good. If the general public wanted to buy the shares, they might even have to go through a lucky draw.

Zhang Xueqian comforted himself in his head and took over the contract from Chief Wang's hands. He signed his name on the contract and wrote down the number of shares.

"Remember to make the payment before Wednesday. Otherwise, your order will expire."

Chief Wang then looked at the other person sitting in the office. That person was Su Yiwen, who was sitting in front of a computer.

Before he could open his mouth, Su Yiwen spoke.

"I want in."

After Su Yiwen signed the order, Chief Wang left the office.

Su Yiwen looked at the contract in his hand and asked emotionally, "Old Zhang, the stock market is risky, did we buy too much?"

Zhang Xueqian immediately rolled his eyes and reached out his hand as he said, "If you don't want it, give it to me, I'll take on your risk."

"I was just saying…"

Su Yiwen smiled and tightly held onto the document in his hand.

He was just joking, he wasn't dumb.

This type of free money opportunity was once in a lifetime. There was no way he was going to give it away.

While the East Asia Energy shares were issued to the demonstration reactor project team, the online orders had also begun.

However, the people who had heard about this news in advance through various channels, as well as the professional investors, such as the private equity funds and investment companies, who were refreshing the purchase page, were surprised to see that the 20 billion of market cap was gone in an instant.

Chapter 601: Taking Advantage

The East Asia Energy company issued a total of 2 billion shares to the public. This could roughly be divided into three parts, where one part was bought by the demonstration reactor project team, and one went to various banks.

As for the last part, that was the part that was truly given to the public.

Even though it was a good thing to support the ventures of the country, most people didn't have the opportunity to do this.

Private funds learned the news in advance through various channels, just like vultures smelling carrion. The second the stocks were issued, every single last one of them was bought.

By the time the normal people saw this stock, it was probably already at its daily trading limit. When they could finally buy it, East Asia Energy would have been worth trillions already. By that time, the rapid increase in the stock price would have already been over…

Of course, some funds or investment companies had supercomputers and multi-threaded operations. However, they weren't nutty at all.

After all, no matter how fast their internet speed was, it could only increase their probability of "winning". The number of shares that they could buy still depended on luck.

For the more prestigious and well-renowned funds and investment companies, they only needed to get their share buying rights from "qualified" companies.

For example, in addition to the 2 billion shares issued to the public, they also issued 2 billion shares to qualified companies, such as oil and electric giants.

And this was technically all legal…

Shanghai, Haixiang Capital trading room.

After the online stock ordering session ended, there was an outcry in the room.

In order to get ahead of everyone for the East Asia Energy company's online stock ordering draw, not only did they work overtime in the trading room last night, but they even used supercomputers.

However, the results of the draw had ended, and they were only eligible to buy thirty thousand shares.

Li Xiang, General Manager of Haixiang Capital, looked at the results of the draw on the computer screen. He clenched his fists. His heart almost began to bleed.

Even though thirty thousand shares was quite a lot for most people, for a financial company like them that traded in the tens of millions, this was only a rounding error…

After the results of the draw were announced, the top ten shareholders of the winning bed were posted on the relevant website.

The biggest major shareholder was the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, which owned 50%. Then there were the major oil companies, the State Grid Corporation of China, the social security fund… Basically, the "state team". They accounted for more than 80% of the available shares.

There was nothing to say about this. After all, the state had priority.

However, when he looked down at the names of the shareholders, he suddenly saw Star Sky Technology with a shareholding ratio of 7%, and he nearly spat onto the computer screen.

"F*ck, 7%! What kind of fund is this?!" said Vice General Manager Tang Guang. He took the words out of the General Manager's mouth.

"Yeah… I've never heard this name before." Assistant Zhang stood next to them with a confused look on his face as he said, "Maybe… It's some big name's brokerage firm?"

Vice General Manager Tang said, "Then how come we didn't know about it until now?"

Li Xiang stared at the screen for a while and said, "Look up this company's background… Even though we lost, we have to know who we lost to."

Even though this name sounded vaguely familiar, he couldn't remember where he heard it.

Regardless, he had to at least figure out who the boss behind this company was.

If the boss wasn't a big name…

He would like to have a chat with him.

Assistant Zhang saw that his boss was in a bad mood, so he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

They weren't the only ones who wanted to figure out who Star Sky Technology was. Half of the domestic financial market was shocked by this company.

Even the overseas funds that were paying attention to the East Asia Energy public offerings noticed this interesting phenomenon.

Even though 7% might not seem like much, this was a giant company that operated in a monopoly market, and it had an almost infinite amount of development space and a future market value that would at least be in the trillions. The amount of publicly available shares for China Petroleum was only 2.2% of the total share capital. This would show how big 7% was.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, was in Jin Ling University. He didn't know that his patent management company became famous in the domestic financial circles because of his CEO.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn't be surprised.

East Asia Energy wasn't a public company, and it wasn't controlled by the CSRC[1]. He purchased it at the regular price of 10 yuan per share. This didn't count as swallowing state-owned assets, nor was it illegal. As for the private equity funds and financial companies that were in an uproar, they were just unlucky.

After all, the public wasn't particularly fond of the financial funds.

Jin Ling University.

Mathematics building office.

Doctor Yan brought over the medical examination results from yesterday. She looked at the three assistants in the office as she handed the report to Lu Zhou with a strange look on her face.

"They're… your assistants?"

"Yeah, the school arranged for me."

Lu Zhou didn't know why, but he felt like Yan Yan was looking at him with a weird look.

After a while, Yan Yan said, "They're quite young."

Lu Zhou: "Ok."

Yan Yan: "…"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What is this chick talking about?

Suddenly, the office door opened and a student walked in.

Liu Siyuan walked past Doctor Yan while holding a stack of A4 papers.

"Professor, I've finished the tasks you gave me!"

Lu Zhou looked at his thick eyebags with surprise. However, he didn't say anything since he was more than familiar with the act of working all night.

"Okay, put it on my desk… Why did you come so early today?"

It was only 7 o'clock.

His three assistants were here because of their work requirements, but he didn't have strict attendance requirements for his students. His students only had to complete their works on time.

Liu Siyuan scratched his head and smiled as he said, "I have to work hard, otherwise, I feel like I'm falling behind."

It seemed like Lu Zhou's work had begun, so Yan Yan didn't want to bother him.

"I have to go."

Lu Zhou: "Ok."

Do you want to eat lunch together?

Yan Yan was about to ask this question, but she realized it would be a bit weird to ask this at seven in the morning. Therefore, she dismissed this idea and walked away.

Like usual, after Lu Zhou briefly reviewed the student's work and gave some suggestions, he told Liu Siyuan to go away. He then began to check his email.

Except for an email regarding analytic number theory from Qin Yue, who was lecturing at Princeton, all of the emails were unimportant.

Lu Zhou thought for around five minutes before typing up an email to answer Qin Yue's question.

He was about to close his email and open up arXiv to look for any mathematics or physics research that was worth paying attention to when he suddenly received a new email.

Lu Zhou looked at this email and paused for a second.

Professor Sarrot?

Of course, he wasn't surprised by this name. He was surprised because of the content of the email.

[I was contacted by the FBI.]

[1] China Securities Regulatory Commission

Chapter 602: Good Gathering

Near Jin Ling University.

Still that same old cafe.

Chen Yushan had been working in Jinling these past few days. After she received a call from Lu Zhou, they agreed to meet here. Lu Zhou was fulfilling his promise of treating her to food.

"Your laboratory director was contacted by the FBI?"

Lu Zhou took a sip of the coffee and nodded. "Yeah, I received his email this morning."

"Then try to get rid of this situation as soon as possible." Chen Yushan held the steaming cup of coffee and sighed. She said, "This is good for both you and Professor Sarrot."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I don't understand."

Chen Yushan: "Don't understand what?"

Lu Zhou: "The Sarrot Laboratory research project does not involve sensitive technology. Most of it is the more troublesome experiments from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study… If the CIA or FBI is really investigating me, what can they possibly find?"

Chen Yushan: "They don't have to find anything. Whether it is evidence or witnesses, they can fabricate it."

Fabricate it?

Lu Zhou had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and said seriously, "Anyway, I will help you contact some potential buyers. I'm sure there are many people that are interested in buying a Nobel Prize level laboratory, so it should be able to sell at a good price."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you… Oh yeah, one more thing."

Chen Yushan: "What?"

Lu Zhou looked at the coffee in her hand and asked curiously, "Speaking of which, aren't you an iced americano kind of girl? Why did you get a hot coffee today?"

He was curious when ordering the drink.

He didn't know why, but Chen Yushan suddenly blushed and stuttered, "I-I just wanted to change flavors."

Lu Zhou was stunned by her reaction.

"Nothing… I was just curious. If you don't want to tell me, it's fine."

"It's not that I don't want to tell you…" Chen Yushan closed her legs and shyly looked away. She quickly said, "I have the thing, I can't drink cold stuff."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Even though he didn't know what she was talking about, he felt like the conversation just went to a strange direction…

…

After talking with Chen Yushan, Lu Zhou made a decision regarding the Sarrot Laboratory.

Honestly, he felt a mix of emotions when making this decision.

Even though he had always been very careful about not allowing politics to interfere with his research, it seemed to be impossible now.

Even if he didn't take the initiative to find trouble, trouble would find him.

According to Chen Yushan's suggestion, starting today, Star Sky Technology's branch in North America would only retain the necessary management departments and relevant legal teams to ensure that their patent rights were still guaranteed.

As for the R&D department, it would be transferred to China or a country with a lower level of political governance.

They employed a professional to evaluate the assets of the Sarrot Laboratory. After that, Star Sky Technology released the news regarding the sale of the laboratory.

Just like Chen Yushan had expected, the day after the news was released, she received eleven offers for Sarrot Laboratory.

Among them were Lu Zhou's partner, the Belgium Mobil Chemical company, and other international chemical giants, such as Nichia, Dow, and BASF. There was also his old rival Exxon Mobil, which had tried to compete with him on the lithium-sulfur battery positive electrode material project.

These companies all had material needs for their businesses, so their offerings were quite generous.

After comparing all of the offers, Lu Zhou chose the rich and powerful ExxonMobil.

The CEO of ExxonMobil made a special trip to Jinling, Jiangsu, to talk with Lu Zhou about this matter.

Actually, this CEO wanted to talk with Lu Zhou in Los Angeles.

However, Lu Zhou told him, "Come to me if you want, otherwise forget about it."

The CEO immediately compromised.

Just like that, the negotiation location was set in Jinling.

With the help from Chen Yushan, Lu Zhou negotiated the original US$45 million offer to US$50 million.

Even though US$50 million wasn't a lot, it was around the price of a private jet, but for Lu Zhou who just spent a lot of his money investing in stocks, this was still a decent amount of cash flow.

Even though Lu Zhou's personal expenses weren't that high, his total expenses were quite large.

Not only did he have to pay thousands of researchers, research assistants, and other researchers in the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, but there were also nearly a hundred ongoing money-burning research projects.

Especially for the carbon-based chip research as well as the Hall-effect thruster research… Those two were the bottomless money spenders. Even though the national research fund had relieved some of the financial stress, most of the patent-related research project was still funded by Lu Zhou alone.

In addition to the US$50 million, Lu Zhou also wanted to own the seemingly useless carbon-nanospheres patent.

Even though he didn't have any plans of using this advanced technology, ExxonMobil stole this thing from him unfairly.

Now, it could finally return to its original owner.

Speaking of which, a minor disturbance happened because of this.

When Woods first heard that Lu Zhou was interested in the carbon-nanospheres patent, he didn't want to sell it.

But after he saw that Lu Zhou easily gave up on this idea and increased the laboratory sale price by US$1 million, Woods immediately took the deal.

Useless patents were not worth anything.

Rather than letting this million-dollar increase delay the sale of Sarrot Laboratory, Woods would rather put it to good use. After all, in his opinion, a useless patent document was not worth a million dollars…

At last, the contract was finalized. The time for the signing of the contract was agreed to be at 8 pm at the Hilton hotel.

Woods had a painful expression on his face when signing.

However, the instant Lu Zhou signed his name, Woods' painful expression suddenly disappeared, and he smiled as he put away his copy of the contract.

"Happy cooperation!" Woods warmly reached out his hand, showing the most pleasant smile ever.

"Happy cooperation. My workers are all very talented, so remember to treat them nicely. I might want to poach them someday… You seem to be in a good mood. It seems like my asking price was a bit low." Lu Zhou let go of Woods' hand and smiled.

"What do you mean? In fact, I'm very sad, very, very sad… But we all have to stay optimistic, right?" Woods laughed and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He was too lazy to keep his act up, and he said, "Do you want to get a drink? I know a good bar nearby."

Obviously, US$50 million was lower than ExxonMobil's expectations, and to ExxonMobil, Lu Zhou had received the short end of the stick…

Well, that was ExxonMobil's opinion.

Lu Zhou put away his copy of the contract and shook his head. He said, "No, thanks, I have plans tonight."

"Date?"

"Experiment."

Woods was helpless, and he said, "Okay then, it seems like you're a joyless man… Honestly, my friend, with all the money you're making, have you not thought about spending money on yourself and enjoy your life?"

Lu Zhou said nonchalantly, "I am enjoying life. I'm enjoying the experiments and their results."

Woods shrugged and said, "How unfortunate is that… It seems like I'll have to drink by myself."

After the negotiations ended, Lu Zhou left Hilton with Wang Peng.

He sat in his black sedan and looked at the contract in his hand. He took out his phone and sent an email to Sarrot, who was waiting for the outcome of the negotiation.

[The negotiation is over. Your new owner is ExxonMobil.]

After three minutes, an email came back.

The email contained only two words.

[Thank you.]

Lu Zhou smiled and replied.

[You're welcome.]

Chapter 603: I Want To, But I'm Scared...

Shanghai, Haixiang Capital, general manager's office.

Li Xiang sat in his office chair with his phone in his hand. He nodded while sweating and said, "Okay, Director Wu! I understand… No no! I'll never do anything without your approval."

The phone call ended.

After he hung up the call, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. It was like he had just run a marathon; his entire forehead was full of sweat.

Director Wu was obviously the shareholder of Haixiang Capital. He was the one who received the news about East Asia Energy in advance and told Li Xiang to buy the shares.

Li Xiang was worried that Director Wu would blame him for not being able to buy the shares. Li Xiang wanted to investigate who was behind Star Sky Technology, and if he could somehow take a piece of Star Sky Technology's shares…

However, one phone call from Director Wu scared Li Xiang away.

He didn't expect Star Sky Technology to have such an impressive background.

When he remembered he was almost going to have a chat with the shareholder from Star Sky Technology, he was drenched in cold sweat.

Have a chat with him?

I'll be fired before the conversation even begins.

Suddenly his office door was opened, his deputy manager Tang Guang quickly walked in.

"Boss, we found the information you want! Lu Zhou is the registered legal person of Star Sky Technology. He's Professor Lu, a professor from Jin Ling University!"

Li Xiang nodded without expression and said, "Okay, I understand… Okay then."

Seeing how Li Xiang was expressionless, Tang Guang paused for a second and said anxiously, "General Li, this is an opportunity!"

Li Xiang paused for a second and was dumbfounded.

"What?"

"An opportunity to make money!" Tang Guang excitedly said, "Why do you think a scientific researcher is so rich? I'm guessing this money is probably dirty! We just have to tell the public about his mansion and company, and make them think that he's using the state's research funds for his own benefit! The bank will freeze his accounts, and the relevant departments will investigate him…"

Tang Guang's plan was quite devious.

Even if there was seven billion dollars in cash, it would be impossible for the money to get to the account so quickly.

If something happened to the money and Lu Zhou couldn't make the payment, the 700 million shares would be available to the public?

A state-level project like this wouldn't want to have any delays.

Not to mention, there were a lot of people staring at this piece of the pie. As long as they did a bit of work, it was very likely that the shares would be reissued. They couldn't buy all of the shares, but they might be able to buy some.

As for discrediting an internationally-renowned scholar…

Why should they care?

Li Xiang looked at him.

"You're an absolute genius."

Tang Guang smiled.

"Thank you, it's all thanks to your guidance…"

"Guidance my a*s!" Li Xiang took a file folder and threw it in his face. Tang Guang was muddled, so Li Xiang explained, "You think you're the only one who can come up with these retarded ideas? Even if there is a problem with his funding, do you really think you're going to be investigating him? Do you think you're the FBI or the CIA?"

"But, but…"

"F*ck off!"

Li Xiang threw a pen holder at him.

Tang Guang covered his face with his hands and left the office.

Li Xiang looked at the empty doorway and panted for a while before calming down.

When he thought about his subordinate's plan, he felt afraid.

Fortunately, that retard had the foresight to mention the plan to him first, before acting on his own.

Even though he was envious, after he learned about Star Sky Technology's background, he didn't have a strand of malicious intention left in his heart.

Government, industry, academia, and the media, none of them were touchable.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou's level of security.

If he really did something he shouldn't have, not only would his boss not be able to protect him, but his boss himself would be thrown into the pit together.

Now he finally understood why the brokers and other predators in the financial industry were so quiet.

Obviously, it wasn't because they didn't want to.

But it was because they didn't dare to…

…

After an agreement was reached with ExxonMobil regarding the laboratory sale, Lu Zhou went to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

He didn't lie to Woods about his experiment plans, he actually did have research to do.

Around half an hour ago, the samples and the sample testing results from the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant had been sent back. All he wanted to do was to return to the research institute and look at the experimental data.

It took around 40 minutes to drive from the city center to the high-tech zone. By the time the black sedan was parked outside the research institute, the buildings in the area were already completely dark. The research building was the only one that still had some lights turned on.

Wang Peng turned off the car and Lu Zhou looked at him.

"Do you want to go eat something? I'll probably come back after 12 o'clock."

"No need, I'll just smoke a few cigarettes."

"Okay then."

Lu Zhou didn't say anything else. After he got out of the car, he walked toward the research institute.

He passed through security and got in the elevator.

When he arrived at the laboratory, Li Changxia, Sheng Xianfu, and a couple of other professors were already in the laboratory.

Judging from the looks on their faces, the situation didn't seem good.

However, Lu Zhou still asked.

"What's the result like?"

Sheng Xianfu sighed and said, "Look at it yourself."

Lu Zhou was handed the freshly-printed documents that were still warm to touch. He sat down on a laboratory stool and began to carefully read the experimental report.

However, the more he read, the more serious his expression became.

Just like he had expected, the experimental report wasn't ideal.

The neutron radiation damage was fine, and the self-repairability of the PGC-1 material itself and its permeability of neutron rays were pretty good. It should be a perfect reactor material.

However, the problem wasn't the neutron radiation, it was the heat dissipation.

"The concept of fast ignition might be correct, but the heat accumulation is a big problem." Sheng Xianfu looked at him and sighed. "If we use inertial confinement fusion, our materials will have direct contact with plasma that is hundreds of millions of degrees hot. Even though there aren't a lot of reactants involved in the nuclear core reaction, it will still create a lot of pressure on the reactor itself. We might not be able to find a suitable way to get rid of this heat, especially in space…"

Even though the temperature in space was very low, because it was nearly a vacuum, there was no water or air for any kind of heat transfer. It could only dissipate heat in the form of thermal radiation.

If the heat generated by the fusion reaction couldn't be dissipated in time, the components would be damaged and the spacecraft could be burnt or disintegrated.

This wasn't just a fusion battery problem, this was a problem with almost all aerospace components. Normally, the solution was to add heat sinks and accelerate the thermal radiation by increasing the surface area.

However, when it was about nuclear fusion, using thermal radiation to dissipate the heat was obviously abysmal…

Li Changxia thought for a long time and sighed before he said, "If only we can slow down controllable fusion energy."

Sheng Xianfu couldn't help but say, "How about we just decrease the temperature of the controllable fusion reaction, because that's definitely possible."

Cold nuclear fusion became a sensation in the 1980s, but it turned out to be an academic fraud. The investigation lead by a 22-member panel from the United States Department of Energy concluded the whole incident as a hoax.

Even now, there were still people that claimed to have solved the problem of cold nuclear fusion, but it was all either an error in the data or outright fraud.

Regardless of whether or not cold nuclear fusion could be achieved in the future, it was unrealistic right now.

However, Li Changxia's words attracted Lu Zhou's attention.

If they could slow down the reaction and leave enough time for the nuclear core to transfer heat to the power generator or dissipate the heat outside the aircraft, it might seem feasible?

However, Lu Zhou had no idea how to achieve this.

The discussion went on until late at night.

Lu Zhou stared at the clock on the wall and said, "It's getting late, let's end the meeting."

It was already midnight.

Even if they continued this meeting, it wouldn't be productive.

And Lu Zhou also needed time to think about this so that he could come up with a research project that could solve this problem.

Chapter 604: Unavoidable Bottleneck

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, it was still noon.

After Sarrot sent the email, he went to the bar and got drunk.

In order to maintain a clear mind for experiments, he never drank during the day. However, today was an exception.

As he sat in a bar in Silicon Valley, his assistant Paul looked at him and sighed. Paul tried to comfort him.

"Think about the big picture. ExxonMobil buying your laboratory isn't necessarily a bad thing. Even though Professor Lu is a great scholar, he didn't actually provide you with that much resources. Not to mention, ExxonMobil spent US$50 million to buy us, they definitely won't just leave us alone…"

Professor Sarrot didn't react at all. Paul knew that his comforting words were not effective. Therefore, he shrugged and ended the conversation topic.

"In short, having money isn't a bad thing."

Sarrot snorted. "You don't understand."

Paul: "What don't I understand?"

Sarrot didn't explain anything. He just picked up the bottle and drank a few mouthfuls. He then began to talk about other things.

"My dear Paul, I have always believed that academic research should have freedom. As long as it doesn't violate basic human rights, even if it isn't definitively correct, as long as you think it is correct, you should advocate for it. The more people disbelieve in you, the more you should prove to them you are right."

Paul frowned and said, "Do we not have freedom now?"

"Maybe we do." Sarrot stared at the ceiling and sighed. "But once you get to my level, when your research affects the world… Your understanding of freedom will change."

Paul didn't say anything. He just looked at Sarrot.

After a while, Sarrot placed the empty bottle next to the stool and picked up another bottle.

Paul was about to tell him that he was drinking too much when Sarrot suddenly said, "I plan on migrating soon."

"To where? Professor Lu's laboratory?"

"I don't know, but not China. There's only one Professor Lu there…"

Sarrot, who was holding the bottle, scratched his head and said, "Maybe the Netherlands? I heard my father tell me that our family used to live in a small town in Utrecht until the Germans bombarded Rotterdam… I've never been there. A long time ago, Utrecht University sent me an invitation to become a professor, but the salary was too low and the resources weren't comparable to Cornell University… But now that I think about it, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I take the offer?"

…

The research on fusion batteries had reached a bottleneck. The nuclear core heat dissipation problem seemed to be difficult to solve. A lot of people inside the project team had even begun to doubt the feasibility of this technical route.

After all, was it really possible to miniaturize nuclear fusion?

Also, was inertial confinement fusion on the miniaturized controllable fusion really possible?

The most troublesome thing was that if they couldn't use a magnetic field to withstand the energy, what kind of material could they possibly use to restrain the heat?

However, it seemed that inertial confinement fusion was their only choice. After all, there simply wasn't enough room in a small spacecraft for them to create a magnetic confinement cage for the plasma.

No one had the answer to these questions. They didn't even have any previous research to use as a reference.

In order to find inspiration to solve this problem, Lu Zhou collected a large number of theses in the field of aerospace, fission batteries, and space station cooling technology. He tried to get some inspiration from these public research resources.

Actually, these theses did give him a little inspiration.

For example, the thesis on the "first-principles study of phonons in α-boron and its icosahedral boron-rich compounds" contained an interesting thermoelectric conversion model and discussed the scattering of electrons by phonons.

Converting thermal energy to electrical energy was an interesting idea in some sense. In fact, most nuclear fission batteries used in spacecraft would generate electricity with this method.

However, this didn't solve the problem on a fundamental scale.

Using the temperature difference inside the spacecraft and outside the spacecraft might increase the efficiency of converting thermal energy into electrical energy, but it didn't change the fact that the heat was difficult to dissipate.

Lu Zhou sat in his office and leaned against his chair as he stared at the ceiling and whispered to himself, "If only I could slow down the controllable fusion reaction."

Or reduce the fast ignition area…

Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Professor, what are you talking about?"

Zhao Huan stood in front of his desk while holding a binder, and she looked at him with a curious expression.

Lu Zhou: "Nothing… What's up?"

Zhao Huan said, "It's the tenth week, and your computational materials class is about to begin. This is your class schedule."

"Okay, just put the schedule on my desk." Lu Zhou stood up from his desk and sighed as he said, "I'm going for a walk, call me if there is anything."

"Okay." Zhao Huan nodded.

She didn't know why, but she felt like Professor Lu wasn't in a good mood.

Actually, Zhao Huan was correct, Lu Zhou wasn't in a good mood; he was even a little annoyed.

His intuition told him that the research path he chose was correct.

However, it was almost like there was an invisible barrier that blocked the seemingly feasible road that was in front of him.

Lu Zhou vaguely felt that the bottleneck wasn't in the engineering department. Instead, he felt that the problem was in the theoretical field.

Which was, there wasn't enough theoretical foundation to support his idea of the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

Also, he couldn't treat this like the tokamak or the stellarator and convert theoretical problems, such as magnetic tearing, into engineering problems.

"Is the research efficiency decreasing because of the advanced research topic?"

Lu Zhou walked along the tree-lined path on campus. He suddenly smiled and shook his head.

Two years ago, when he first got into the research on controllable nuclear fusion, he was in a similar situation.

At that time, the research methods of the L-manifold and partial differential equations had not been invented yet. The existence of a smooth solution to the Navier–Stokes equations and the theoretical model of plasma turbulence were two unsolved mysteries in mathematics and physics.

After he solved these theoretical problems, controllable fusion had a sufficient theoretical basis for it to become feasible.

Without these theories as a foundation, it would be impossible to achieve the results of the German Wendelstein 7-X or the modified STAR-1 stellarator machine.

However, where was the theoretical bottleneck of the miniaturized controllable fusion?

If this really is a theoretical bottleneck…

Lu Zhou walked through the tree-lined path and began to think about these problems in his head. Without knowing it, he walked to the lecture building that he normally lectured at.

He didn't recognize the professor on stage, but from listening to the content, he could tell it was physics.

Through the windows of the lecture hall, he could clearly see the students listening to the lecture intently.

However, when he was about to leave, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a couple of keywords on the blackboard.

A moment of inspiration passed through his body.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou walked toward the back entrance of the lecture hall.

Chapter 605: Why Do Nucleons Stick Together?

The class seemed to have just begun.

Lu Zhou gently pushed open the back door and looked at the middle-aged professor facing the class. Lu Zhou didn't interrupt the students who were listening to the lecture, nor did he interrupt the students with their heads on their desks. He found a low-key spot and sat down.

Inspiration didn't just come by itself, he had to go search for it.

A quote by Fermi resonated with Lu Zhou, which was that thinking about easy problems would depend on one's understanding of esoteric problems.

This seemed to apply to both mathematics and physics.

When Lu Zhou was in Princeton, whenever he encountered a problem he couldn't understand, he would take time to lecture some undergraduate students, or he would go to other professors' classrooms to find inspiration.

Like when he was studying the Goldbach's conjecture, Professor Fefferman's number theory lecture gave him a lot of inspiration. This wasn't because Fefferman's lecture content was deep and complex; it was the opposite. Fefferman's lectures were all easy material…

When the professor on stage finished writing on the blackboard and cleared his throat, he began to speak.

"Quantum mechanics is a very difficult field. If you really go deep into the field, its content will subvert your understanding of the micro-universe, physics itself, and even philosophy. Even though I sound boring, I don't recommend you guys to sleep in the first lecture…"

There was laughter in the classroom, and Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the back row, couldn't help but smile.

It seemed like this professor was a young scholar. At the very least, he didn't read verbatim off a PowerPoint presentation.

However, his voice wasn't quite loud enough.

Because the guy sleeping next to Lu Zhou didn't wake up.

The professor glanced at the students and shrugged. He then continued to speak, "We all know the STAR-2 demonstration reactor in Haizhou was successfully ignited under the command of Professor Lu from our school. Our country's controllable fusion reactor technology is at the forefront of the world, and we are the only country that has a commercial reactor."

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the back row, was a little embarrassed.

Why is a quantum mechanics professor talking about me?

It's not like this is a plasma physics class.

However, the professor on stage was quite enthusiastic, and the students in the lecture hall were also interested. The guy that was sleeping next to Lu Zhou woke up and looked at the professor with a muddled look on his face.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed that the teacher's name and phone number were written on the title page of the quantum mechanics textbook, which was under the student's arm.

Zhang Zhiongqing?

I haven't heard of him before…

"According to the public data, the STAR-2 demonstration reactor, or the Pangu reactor, has an internal nuclear core temperature of 130 degrees, nearly nine times the temperature of the sun's core!"

The students in the classroom were amazed, and Professor Zhang, who was standing on the lecture stage, knew that he had successfully captured the students' attention. So, he immediately followed up with more information.

"Normal temperatures can't stand a temperature like this. So, our country's STAR-2 demonstration reactor uses magnetic confinement to constrain the deuterium-tritium mixture, confining it in a magnetic cage.

"Then the question comes, my students, what temperature is required for fusion reaction? In other words, why is fusion reaction not carried out at room temperature?"

The classroom went quiet.

The guy sitting next to Lu Zhou snorted.

"No sh*t…"

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows with interest. He was about to ask him for his opinion but the student spoke first, "If it's carried out at room temperature, then it can't be nuclear fusion."

Lu Zhou: "…"

"Is there a student that can stand up and tell us the answer?"

Professor Zhang's eyes swept across the room. When no one raised their hand, he said, "You'll receive bonus marks if you answer this question."

There was a commotion in the classroom.

Half of the students in the classroom raised their hands.

The professor nodded at a glasses-wearing female genius student who was sitting in the front row. She quickly said, "I know! It's because the nucleus is positively charged, so there is a Coulomb repulsion force between the nuclei. Only when the two nuclei are close enough can the strong interaction force overcome the Coulomb repulsion and polymerize the two nuclei. Looking at it from a macroscopic scale, one would have to increase the heat in the system and accelerate the thermal motion of the molecules in the system to create enough kinetic energy to cause a fusion reaction."

"Good answer." The professor wrote down her name and cleared his throat. He then smiled and asked, "Then the next question is, why does the strong interaction only happen at short distances?"

"Because of… the short-range force?"

"That's a high school textbook explanation, it's not quite what I'm looking for." Professor Zhang smiled and gestured the student to sit down. He then said, "You guys are already university students, so you should know the 'why', in addition to the 'what'.

"Quantum field theory tells us that the interaction between particles is not an action at a distance effect, but is actually carried out by using a boson as a medium. For example, electromagnetic waves are photons, and strong interaction is a gluon or a meson, weak interactions are the W and Z bosons… Some people might ask, what does this have to do with the range of the force we are talking about?"

Professor Zhang turned toward the blackboard and began to write.

"When scattering occurs between two resolvable fermions (p+k→p'+k'), under the Berne approximation, we can conclude that the scattering cross-section and the interaction have a relationship…"

[ = -iV(q)(2π)δ(Ep'-Ep) , (q = p'-p)]

[…]

Who am I?

Where am I?

The student sitting next to Lu Zhou was muddled. He looked at the blackboard and thought he was dreaming.

"F*ck me, isn't this supposed to be nuclear fusion… What day is it?"

It had only been two seconds, and he felt like he had missed an entire lecture.

He wasn't the only one who felt this way.

Less than half of the class was able to understand what Professor Zhang wrote on the blackboard.

Lu Zhou looked at the muddled guy next to him and smiled as he asked quietly, "Do you want to know?"

"I do… You understand?" The muddled guy looked at Lu Zhou. Maybe because he just woke up, he didn't recognize Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If you want, then I'll teach you."

Professor Zhang stopped writing and turned around. He then looked at the muddled students and smiled.

It's normal to be confused.

Quantum mechanics is the hard part of physics.

Especially when it comes to the calculations, one would have to have a certain mathematics background.

He could write down a conclusion with no problem, but if someone made him calculate a quantum mechanics problem on the spot, he might not be able to do it in one lecture's time.

"The calculation process for this part is very complex." Professor Zhang threw the chalk on the desk and smiled with his hands behind his back. He said, "Whoever can finish the rest of the equation, I'll give them full marks for the non-exam grades, and they won't have to come for my classes in the future."

The classroom was dead silent.

The students looked at each other.

Even the graduate students that came here for fun, were muddled.

Professor Zhang smiled and shook his head. He was about to give this problem as a challenging homework task, but then, he heard someone speak from the back of the classroom.

"Can I use the blackboard?"

Zhang Zhiongqing: "… ???"

Chapter 606: Unifying Nuclear Power

The f*ck?

God Lu?

He's my idol!

When Zhang Zhiongqing looked at the person standing up, his glasses nearly dropped to the ground.

When he remembered that this big name was listening to his lecture, he was shocked and happy; it was almost like he had won the lottery. He was shocked that he didn't notice Lu Zhou was in the classroom, and he was happy that he could brag to people that he gave a lecture to a Nobel Prize winner.

However, even though Zhang Zhiongqing felt a mix of emotions, Lu Zhou was emotionless.

Classrooms were one of the places for academic exchange.

Back when he was in Princeton, he often asked his students to lecture for him.

In his opinion, academic exchanges shouldn't be about honor or status.

"Professor Lu, please go ahead." Professor Zhang made a gesture and respectfully gave up the stage.

"Don't need to be so polite, I just have some ideas."

Lu Zhou looked at the professor move to the side and smiled.

This formality was wasting too much time.

He wasn't a person who liked to waste time on formality.

Lu Zhou walked next to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk.

"This isn't a question that undergraduate students can solve since it involves an understanding of quantum chromodynamics and also a deeper understanding of functional analysis."

Lu Zhou paused for two seconds and said, "But actually, it's not as difficult as it seems."

Lu Zhou wrote on the blackboard with a piece of chalk and began to talk about his thought process.

"Using field theory, make a Feynman diagram, then use the Feynman rule to calculate the scattering amplitude, we obtain…"

[iM=(ig2/|p'-p|2+mφ2)2m^ss'·2mδ^rr']

[…]

"The mφ denotes the mass of the corresponding boson, and g comes from the coupling constant in the interaction Lagrangian. If we combine this with Professor Zhang's previous calculation, V(q) can be obtained from the scattering section…"

[V(q)=-g2/(|q|2+mφ2)]

Lu Zhou put down the piece of chalk and looked at the students in the classroom. Some students were muddled, some students were listening intently. He smiled and said, "This part is the simple part, but the next step we'll have to use some tricks."

Everyone: "…"

F*ck sake!

How is this simple?

Zhang Zhiongqing looked at the blackboard as well. He was also amazed.

It wasn't that he couldn't understand the calculations, but he couldn't believe that someone could actually calculate these things on the spot.

Do these people not take time to do calculations in their brains?

This is amazing…

Lu Zhou didn't stop. He turned to face the blackboard as he continued to speak while writing, "Then we do an inverse Fourier transform on it!"

The chalk sliding on the blackboard was getting faster and faster, and Zhang Zhiongqing was more and more amazed. As for the students, they were looking at the blackboard with a blank look on their faces. Even the genius students who had finished the entire textbook were staring in disbelief at the complex calculations.

Lu Zhou didn't notice their expressions; he was completely immersed in his own world.

Admittedly, these were basic things, but they weren't basic enough to appear on an undergraduate class exam.

However, the more Lu Zhou thought about this problem, the more steps he wrote on the blackboard. His train of thought became clearer and clearer.

Why does the strong interaction force only work at short distances?

To put it in other words, what makes nucleon form a nucleus only at short distances?

The answer is obvious…

[…]

[V(r)=-g2/4πr·e^(-mφr)]

Lu Zhou stopped writing and looked at the equation on the blackboard. He then said, "Electromagnetic interaction is the exchange of photons, and the mass of a photon is zero, so for electromagnetic interaction, V is proportional to 1/r.

"The strong interaction force is the meson acting between the nucleus. The mass is about 200 MeV. With some calculations, we can estimate that only at a distance of 10 to the power of negative 14 meters, can the nucleus force offset the electromagnetic repulsion between protons and cause fusion reactions."

The first row began to applaud.

Like waves in the ocean, the applause began to spread toward the back of the classroom.

Professor Zhang, who was standing next to him, began to subconsciously clap.

For most university students, this was just an exciting demonstration.

But for a professor like him, he just witnessed a simple solution to explain the strong interaction distance… At least, it was a lot easier than the explanations he had learned before.

He couldn't believe that this was all done in less than ten minutes.

He was probably the only one who could fully experience this moment.

Lu Zhou was still on stage.

Even though the classroom was filled with applause, Lu Zhou, who was standing in front of the blackboard, was immersed in his own mind. He didn't even notice when the applause stopped.

He already finished all of the calculations for the simple problem.

However, he wasn't only thinking about this one problem.

According to quantum field theory and quantum chromodynamics, the four basic forces and the traditional particles could be unified into one.

For example, during different positions of time and space, the components of an electric field could be constructed as noncommutative operators. When one constructed a Hilbert space in which these operators act, traditional particles, such as electrons, can be reinterpreted as a Dirac fermion, a quantization of the field.

This way, the difference between a field and a particle would disappear.

Was it possible for a simple mathematical equation, like the Weinberg Salam Glashow weak electric unified theory, to describe the electromagnetic interaction, the weak interaction force, and the strong interaction in a unified way?

The answer to this question couldn't solve the miniaturization of controllable fusion, and it wouldn't be able to bring any innovation to the existing controllable fusion technology. However, Lu Zhou's intuition told him that if he could solve this theoretical problem, it might provide him with some clues or ideas…

Of course, solving this problem was not easy.

For example, there was the classic strong interaction force and weak interaction force problem…

After the class bell rang, Lu Zhou was still standing still, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn't react, Zhang Zhiongqing didn't want to announce that the class was over since he didn't want to interrupt Lu Zhou's thought process.

Around two minutes passed by.

Lu Zhou stared at the simple calculations on the blackboard and began to speak to himself, "How would one explain the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap in mathematical terms?"

When Zhang Zhiongqing heard this problem, he was stunned. He blushed like a student and mumbled, "I don't know."

"I didn't ask you, of course you don't know…"

Lu Zhou spoke to himself and left the classroom, leaving the muddled students and professor behind.

No one could tell him the answer to this problem.

After all, this was one of the most difficult propositions in the field of particle physics. It was about the unified field theory.

This was also one of the internationally recognized Millennium Prize Problems…

Chapter 607: Bald

Five minutes after the class ended, the Jin Ling University's Wechat news feed exploded because of a physics class.

[F*ck me, God Lu just came to our physics class.]

[Which one?]

[Zhang Zhiongqing's quantum mechanics class, what else can it be.]

[F*ck me, God Lu's physics class? Which classroom???]

[The class is over already!]

[Over already? F*ck, why don't these big names tell us beforehand when they give lectures.]

There were quite a lot of people in the university that just did the bare minimum, but there were also people that knew how to take advantage of an opportunity, and there were quite a lot of genius students here.

As for the students who were interested in going into research, listening to a big name's lecture was a valuable opportunity.

After all, this kind of opportunity was once in a lifetime.

It didn't even matter if they couldn't understand the lecture. As long as they could understand one concept, it would be much more useful than reading a textbook by themselves. Because there were a lot of things that couldn't be taught from textbooks.

After Lu Zhou walked out of the classroom, he walked toward the mathematics building.

The only thing he wanted to do right now was to write down the inspirational thoughts he just had.

Actually, the evidence of the strong force interacting with the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap had been proved by theoretical physics experiments, and it had been verified by computer simulations.

However, explaining it from a mathematics perspective was still an unsolved mystery.

Simply put, for most mathematicians, this was a complex physics problem. For most physicists, this was a mathematics problem.

Solving this problem would require inventing both mathematics and physics theories.

Lu Zhou wasn't a hundred percent certain he could solve this problem.

After all, theoretical physics wasn't his strong suit.

During his time at Princeton, his research was mainly in the field of mathematics. Other than discovering the 750 GeV signal, he didn't do any other research in the field of theoretical physics.

If he were still at Princeton, he would choose to ask Edward Witten or Dean Goddard for advice since they were all experts in theoretical physics and had a deep understanding of the unified field theory.

But now, he could only communicate with his friends through email, and a lot of problems couldn't be articulated properly in emails.

As for the domestic academic circle…

Honestly, it would be quite difficult to find someone to talk to about this problem.

Even though Mr. Yang, one of the founders of this field, was happy to discuss this issue with him, at nearly a hundred years old, Lu Zhou didn't want to bother him.

Especially when he thought about Professor Atiyah's five-page thesis on the Riemann's conjecture, he had no expectations for elderly scholars.

After all, age is a curse for scholars…

"Do I have to rely on myself?"

Lu Zhou sat down in his office chair and picked up a pen. He wrote down a line of words and used mathematical language to describe the problem.

[Want to prove: For any compact single group G, there is a quantum Mills field with G as the norm group on R^4, and there are Yang-Mills existence and mass gap of ∆>0]

The tip of the pen gently traveled across the draft paper. As Lu Zhou looked at the line of words on the draft paper, he fell into deep thought.

Even though he wasn't very confident he could solve this problem, he still had an idea of solving it.

First of all, this huge proposition could be divided into two parts.

The first part could be proven purely by mathematical methods.

Which was, to mathematically prove the existence of the solution to the Yang-Mills equations or find the general solution.

This part wasn't too useful for physicists. After all, they had obtained the conclusions that they wanted through high-energy experiments and computer simulations. However, for mathematicians, the meaning of a general solution to this system of equations was significant.

Just like Edward Witten once said, if anyone could achieve this task, that person's accomplishment would become a milestone for the 21st-century mathematics to catch up with the 20th-century theoretical physics…

Of course, Lu Zhou took into account that this was said by a physicist who won a Fields Medal. In his opinion, mathematics had its own development trajectory, and he didn't think mathematics had to catch up with physics.

If someone really wanted to argue about this, it would be a bit ridiculous.

As for the second part, that was more of the core content.

Which was, the proof of the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap.

Completing this proof would benefit both the mathematics and physics communities. Not only would this proof create new mathematics methods, but it would also clarify the laws of nature that the physicists had not yet fully understood, and physicists could use this to invent an even more advanced theory.

For example, unifying strong interactions and electromagnetic forces…

Doing this would mean the entire theoretical physics community would be one step forward toward the Grand Unified Theory.

Time slowly passed by.

Lu Zhou stared at the mathematical proposition on the draft paper and went into deep thought. He sat in front of his desk with a ballpoint pen in his hand. Other than a trail of ink dots, nothing else was written on the draft paper.

He sat there until six o'clock when he heard the bell ringing from outside his window. He finally wrote down two lines on the paper.

After that, he stood up and left the office.

Inside the office.

Two minutes passed by.

Feng Jin looked at the door, and when he saw that Lu Zhou wasn't going to come back, he stopped writing and stood up as well.

He noticed Lu Zhou was sitting there "daydreaming" for over half an hour.

Even though he had stayed in this office for some time, this was his first time noticing Lu Zhou with this expression on his face.

He was curious about the problem that was able to trouble his supervisor, and so, he pretended to go to the water dispenser to get some water. He wanted to walk past Lu Zhou's desk and see what was written on the desk.

He was still a genius student at Jin Ling University. If he could provide some help to Lu Zhou, maybe he would earn some brownie points.

However, the reality was often cruel.

When he looked at the calculations on the paper, he froze.

[HΛ(L)=∑(rows)∑(c)·h^(c,c+1)+∑(columns)∑(r)·h^(r,r+1)+∑(i∈Λ( L))·h(i)]

[…]

Feng Jin: "… ???"

F*ck me, what is this thing?

He Changwen saw that it was getting late. He wanted to go to the cafeteria to get some dinner, so he stood up.

He noticed his friend standing next to Lu Zhou's desk with a muddled look on his face. As a doctoral student, he tried to discipline the younger student.

"Don't look at the supervisor's stuff."

It seemed like he wasn't convincing enough, so he added another line.

"You'll go bald."

Feng Jin: "…"

Liu Siyuan: "…"

Han Mengqi: "…"

Chapter 608: Grid-Connected Power Generation

Ever since Lu Zhou went to the physics class on campus, he basically didn't leave his house for a week.

When he was still in Princeton, he would still go to Walmart to buy groceries, but now, there was someone else to buy groceries for him.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't want Wang Peng to run his errands, he had asked him so many times that Lu Zhou wasn't ashamed anymore.

On the other hand, a lot of things happened in the outside world during his one-week retreat.

The most important one was probably from East Asia Energy.

On the second day of his retreat, East Asia Power, which already completed its reorganization, reached an agreement with the State Grid Corporation of China Jiangsu division. The twelve ferrofluid electric energy generators from the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant had finally completed their final commissioning and had been officially connected to the grid to deliver clean, cheap electricity to the province of Jiangsu. This was all done at a fairly cheap but still profitable price.

The one that felt most of the changes, other than Haizhou, was probably the Gusu District in Jiangsu Province.

This industrial town in the middle of the Yangtze River apparently supported half of the high-tech industries in China. With only a population of 10 million people, their annual power consumption was almost equal to Shanghai. It broke through 150 billion kWh a few years ago, and it was now running at 200 billion kWh.

After the Pangu fusion reactor was integrated into the power grid, the electricity price of the Jiangsu district fell by nearly half.

For the manufacturing owners in the Jiangsu province, this was basically money falling from the sky.

Especially for large power consumers in the semiconductor industry, the production cost had visibly decreased.

In this economic downturn, integrating the fusion reactors into the Jiangsu province was a godsend.

On the surface, the decline in energy costs only lowered the cost of electricity for factory owners and entrepreneurs, but in fact, it changed the future of the entire city as well as the people who were living there.

The cost of production had dropped and the companies had more money. This money would be used to upgrade production technology, develop automation, and create the railway electrification system. The industrial structure of the entire city and even the provinces would shift toward a more centered area of the industrial ch[a]ain.

This kind of economic effect caused by a revolution of the energy structure was much more effective than direct payments of subsidies to a bunch of leeches.

In addition to industrial electricity prices, the electricity prices of Haizhou, Gusu, Jinling, and other cities had also experienced a steep downfall of 10% to 20%.

However, it was currently spring. Summer was the peak electricity consumption season. Most people didn't feel a significant impact of the price reduction yet. At most, they were surprised when they saw the electricity bill. Some of them weren't even surprised.

After all, the process of a society moving into the future couldn't be done overnight. It was often done in subtle and nuanced ways.

However, looking at the macroscopic data, after the electricity prices decreased, the demand for electrical appliances and electric vehicles had a small increase.

Maybe after a while, Gusu would have a few electric public transport buses.

Perhaps in another year or two, smart devices such as vacuum robots would spread throughout households and wired or wireless electric vehicle chargers would have unknowingly migrated from gas stations to mall parking lots.

Maybe in three to five years, small pieces of postage or takeaway would be done by drones that could fly between tall buildings.

Human's pursuit of efficiency was limitless.

It was now 2020, the first year of the Pangu reactor being connected to the power grid.

As for what the distant future could be like, only time could tell.

…

This was the first time Lu Zhou focused on a pure mathematics problem after he leveled up to mathematics level 8. This was also his first time experiencing the difference between mathematics level 7 and level 8.

The difference wasn't in the calculations.

It was more reflected in a transcendent way of thinking.

It was very hard to describe this feeling. But if he had to write down his thoughts, it would be as if his entire body were immersed in the mathematical proposition, like everything in the world had slowed down.

Maybe because his thinking speed had increased, that was why the time seemed to slow down?

This sounded a bit outrageous, but this was how Lu Zhou felt.

Of course, even though his thinking speed had increased, when he was immersed in research, he still felt time would fly by quickly. Without knowing it, an entire day had gone by. He still had to rely on his stomach to remind himself to eat.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and pinched his eyebrows. He looked at the time on the bottom right corner of his computer screen.

"Is it ten o'clock in the morning already?"

It was just pitch black outside, but it's so bright now.

Of course, what surprised him more was the date.

A week had passed since the physics lecture he attended, but he didn't feel this week passed by at all.

Lu Zhou opened the curtains and looked at the rubbish bin that was full of draft papers as well as the stacks of draft papers on his table. He sighed and got out of his chair.

"As expected, it's not that easy to solve…"

However, his work over the past few days wasn't resultless.

At the very least, he nearly finished the part on the proof of the existence of a solution.

Objectively speaking, the mathematical difficulty of the Yang-Mills equation wasn't as difficult as the Navier–Stokes equations.

When Lu Zhou was trying to solve the existing problem of the Navier–Stokes equations, he invented the L-manifold and the "differential topology research method for differential equations" during his research. They were also very effective in solving the existence of the solution for the Yang-Mills equations. This saved him a month of work, at least.

If he didn't have to do something today, he would have continued his retreat.

However, today was the beginning of week ten.

He still had to teach a computational materials science class later.

If his doctoral student were excellent enough, he would have given this task to him.

Unfortunately, Wu Shuimu's current level of computational materials was still too far away for him to lecture others. Wu Shuimu was less competent than his two master's students at Princeton. Therefore, Lu Zhou had to do this thing himself.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the door of his study room and thought for a bit. He cleared his throat and said, "Xiao Ai, help me clean my room… Clean the things on the desk."

A chat bubble popped up on the lower right corner of the computer screen.

[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Soon, a drone flew in from the open window and after grabbing the rubbish bin full of papers, it flew out the window. After that, a sweeping robot brushed past Lu Zhou's legs and went into the study room. It began to clean the rubbish on the floor.

Lu Zhou smirked and looked at the little guys helping him clean his room. He then turned around and walked downstairs.

He hadn't been outside for a week, and the study room wasn't the only thing he had to clean up.

Lu Zhou took a hot bath and dried his hair. He put on a clean outfit and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror for a while before walking to the front door.

When he was about to put on his shoes, he heard the doorbell.

He looked through the security camera and saw the person standing outside his gate. He paused for a second.

Yan Yan?

What is she doing here?

Even though Lu Zhou was suspicious, he still pressed a button to open the gate for her. He then opened the door.

After a while, Yan Yan walked through the front yard and went into the house. She was wearing casual clothes.

She didn't greet him. She only looked at him.

"You didn't go to the medical examination yesterday."

"Oh, really? I don't really remember."

Lu Zhou vaguely remembered that Wang Peng had told him about this, but he was thinking about the problem when he was on the phone. He couldn't remember what he talked about in the phone call.

Yan Yan looked at Lu Zhou's muddled face and sighed. "I know you're busy. I even brought the stuff to you… Oh yeah, you haven't eaten breakfast, right?"

"I was about to eat…" Lu Zhou looked at the plastic cup and cotton swab that she handed him and asked, "What's this?"

Yan Yan said, "One's for urine collection, one's for feces collection. Do you need my help?"

Lu Zhou: "No need, thanks."

He originally planned to eat then go to class.

But now, he seemed to have lost his appetite.

[a]what is a "centered area"? like central area?

Chapter 609: Proof of the Existence of a Solution

It was in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou stepped into the classroom in the midst of the bell ringing. He looked at the crowded classroom and smiled while making some simple opening remarks. He then began to give the first-ever computational materials science lecture in his life.

Actually, strictly speaking, computational materials science wasn't part of the core applied chemistry classes. The mathematics knowledge and the programming knowledge that were needed were a bit too advanced for undergraduate students.

However, due to the development of computer technology, the field of computational materials science was becoming stronger and stronger. Also, because Lu Zhou was the founding father of this emerging discipline, this course had been classified as a core class, which was compulsory for all applied chemistry students.

After all, Jin Ling University had been around for many years, but there had only been one Nobel Prize alumnus.

However, classifying it as a core was unnecessary.

Even if the class wasn't compulsory, Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about people not coming to his class.

Not only were there Jin Ling University students sitting in the classroom, but there were also genius students from Dong University that took the subway to come here, and even professors in fields like theoretical chemistry, nanomaterials, etc. After the class, most of the people would talk about how "difficult" it was, but in fact, most of the people were taking notes seriously…

Lu Zhou used a hundred and twenty percent of his energy to lecture, and after the lecture, he left the classroom in the midst of a round of applause.

He looked at his phone in the hallway and saw that it was still early, so he went to his mathematics building office.

When he arrived at his office, his students and assistants were all here.

Even though he hadn't been at the office for the past few days, all of his students had been clocking in every day.

Lu Zhou sat down at his desk and looked at his tidy desk. He reached out and flipped through his document folder. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he asked casually, "Where are the draft papers that I put on my desk?"

Assistant Zhao stood up and quickly said, "I put it in your drawer when I was organizing your desk."

Lu Zhou: "Oh, thanks… But in the future, you don't have to organize my desk, just keep it the same."

Zhao Huan said, "Okay, Professor, I'll take note."

Lu Zhou found the draft papers from his drawer and placed it on his desk. He looked at the lines of equations he wrote a week ago and thought for a moment. He then began to continue where he left off.

Feng Jin, who was writing at his desk, hesitated for a bit. He then finally made up his mind and stood up before walking toward Lu Zhou.

"Professor."

Lu Zhou looked at his student standing next to his desk. Since he was in a pretty good mood, he said, "What?"

"That question… Did you solve it?"

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "You read my draft papers?"

Feng Jin awkwardly scratched his head and said, "I accidentally saw it…"

Lu Zhou looked at him and didn't say anything.

He didn't really care that Feng Jin secretly read his draft papers.

After all, he wouldn't put anything important on the table. If he wanted to hide it, he would at least put it in his drawer.

"Then what? You researched the problem for an entire week?"

"Yeah." Feng Jin saw that Lu Zhou didn't seem to care, so he sighed and scratched his head as he muttered, "I tried thinking about it for a week, but I don't have a single clue."

"It's normal. If you can solve that problem, forget about a master's degree, you can become a professor right now."

Feng Jin smiled awkwardly.

It was true, challenging the Yang-Mills equation was a bit ridiculous for him.

Lu Zhou looked at his expression and knew what he was thinking, so he smiled and said, "Tell me about your thoughts over the past week."

Feng Jin said, "Thoughts?"

Lu Zhou: "That's right. Since you've been thinking about it for a week, regardless of whether or not you found the solution, surely you have thought of something? Don't tell me you just looked at the draft papers and wrote down some nonsense."

Feng Jin blushed and said, "It's not nonsense, I thought about it seriously."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and asked, "Like?"

"Like…" Feng Jin thought that Lu Zhou would laugh at him again, so he hesitated for a bit before clenching his teeth and bravely speaking his opinions.

"According to my understanding of quantum mechanics, the Yang-Mills field is mass-less, yet the strong interaction mediated meson has mass. In this case, if we introduce a scalar-field on top of the space-time manifold, it would simplify this problem."

Lu Zhou nodded with approval and said, "Correct."

Surprised, Feng Jin looked at Lu Zhou. He didn't expect him to actually compliment himself.

Lu Zhou: "You've studied quantum mechanics before?"

Feng Jin, who was a little surprised, suddenly felt a little depressed.

I guess Professor Lu isn't complimenting my thoughts, but rather my attitude toward studying extracurricular knowledge…

Feng Jin nodded. Lu Zhou smiled as he said, "You remind me of someone."

Feng Jin paused for a second before asking, "Who?"

"One of my students at Princeton. He studied under Witten and was in the mathematical physics field. You guys have similar personalities, both competitive types."

Speaking of which, time really flew by. It had been a year since he left Princeton.

Lu Zhou didn't know how his students were doing.

Qin Yue was probably lecturing at Princeton, and they had talked about number theory problems some time ago.

Vera…

Lu Zhou's expression was somewhat unnatural, and he coughed and diverted the conversation.

"Anyway, back to what we're talking about. In a sense, there aren't huge problems with your idea."

Feng Jin asked excitedly, "Really?"

"Don't be too happy just yet. Like I said, there aren't huge problems." Lu Zhou looked at Feng Jin's excited expression and said, "However, in terms of physics, having no problems doesn't mean it is correct."

"Doesn't mean it is… correct?"

"That's right." Lu Zhou looked at Feng Jin and nodded with approval. He said, "When you can really understand the meaning behind this sentence, then you'll be closer to the truth than ever."

…

Lu Zhou stayed on campus until 6 o'clock in the evening.

When Lu Zhou returned home from school, it was already dark outside.

He went straight into his clean and tidy study room and sat down on his chair. He quietly picked up a pen and began to finish the incomplete proof from this morning.

Sometimes, mathematics problems were almost magical.

After a proof idea appeared in his mind, Lu Zhou already knew the proof process would work. All he had to do was to write down the proof in a rigorous mathematical form.

After Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of equations, he looked at the stacks of draft papers and smiled.

Even though this wasn't a decisive result, it could be considered an in-progress result.

Which was, he used mathematical methods to prove the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations.

This was the first half of a Millennium Prize Problems, and this part wasn't challenging for him at all.

Even though he used some advanced mathematical techniques to solve this problem, it was nothing novel.

Actually, the core of the whole proof was built around the L-manifold that he invented when he was solving the Navier–Stokes equations.

Regardless, the problem was finally solved.

The next step was to find the actual solution to the Yang-Mills equations…

Compared to the proof of the existence of a solution, this part was undoubtedly more challenging…

Chapter 610: Most Suitable Reviewer

Princeton.

An office in the Institute for Advanced Study.

Wei Wen sat at his desk while staring at the draft paper on his table.

Around 2019, after Lu Zhou left Princeton, he recommended Wei Wen to study mathematical physics under Professor Edward Witten.

Wei Wen was at first quite excited to study a PhD under Professor Witten.

Anyone who was in the mathematical physics field or who knew anything about mathematical physics had heard of Witten's name before.

However, studying a PhD under a big name was obviously not an easy task. His excitement didn't last very long, and soon, he began to feel the pressure.

Because Witten had to frequently visit CERN, he would be at Princeton only a third of the time. Most of the time, Wei Wen had to face his academic difficulties alone.

After Wei Wen was accepted as Professor Witten's student, he finally understood why Luo Wenxuan took so long to graduate. He also realized how much Professor Lu really cared about him.

Even though he graduated more than a year ago, Lu Zhou would still help him solve problems.

Or he would help him find someone that could solve the problems…

Professor Fefferman walked next to him holding two cups of coffee. He placed one cup on Wei Wen's side and one cup on his side. He then asked in a warm tone, "Do you have an idea?"

"Not right now."

"Do you need help?"

Wei Wen shook his head and stared at the line of equations on the paper.

"No, thanks, you've already given me enough help… Give me another ten minutes, I feel like I know the answer, I'm so close."

"Ten minutes is not enough, try two hours." Fefferman looked at his watch and said, "I still have a differential equations class to each. Anytime before 6 o'clock, you can find me at the dean's office."

Wei Wen said, "I'm sorry for taking so much of your time."

"It's fine, I'm not that busy anyway." Professor Fefferman took a sip of the coffee and smiled. He said, "Not to mention, Professor Lu has helped me a lot, now that he's not here, you can ask me any problem you want."

Wei Wen smiled in his heart but didn't say anything.

Even though he knew that Professor Fefferman didn't mind helping him, he still felt extremely guilty.

Maybe this is a culture difference.

Knocking sounds came from the door, and soon, a glasses-wearing young man walked in.

Fefferman seemed to have recognized this man. After Fefferman saw the stack of A4 papers in his hand, he suddenly looked nervous.

"Then tell him, that this way of sending the message is not polite at all. I hope next time, he can send me the review invitation to my email instead of coming to me in person." Professor Fefferman looked at the overwhelmed assistant and shrugged. He said, "Also, I'm going on a holiday in two days, so tell him to find someone else."

"Professor Sarnak knew you would say this," the assistant said. "He told me to tell you that you are the most suitable candidate and that you are the only one who can review this thesis."

Professor Fefferman stared at the assistant for a while before putting down his cup of coffee. With a sigh, he said, "Okay then, bring it over here."

He had never been good at declining other people's requests, especially when it was in his field of expertise.

The assistant smiled and handed over the thesis. "Okay, Professor."

The assistant didn't stay in the office. He turned around and left.

Fefferman had to conduct a lecture soon, so he didn't have time to read it. He merely briefly flipped through the pages.

There were no author names on the thesis.

This type of double-blind review process was uncommon.

Fefferman guessed that the author was either one of his acquaintances or a colleague at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

However, this wasn't important.

Even if he knew the author from the style of the thesis, he wouldn't hinder the review process due to friendship.

"The existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equation? Shouldn't Witten read this thesis? I bet he's more interested in this than me."

Fefferman looked at this eye-catching title. He raised his eyebrows and began to read.

He soon snorted, and his eyebrows furrowed.

Wei Wen noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Professor?"

Professor Fefferman stared at the thesis for a while and suddenly smiled, shaking his head.

"Nothing."

He finally knew why Sarnak insisted on letting him review this thesis.

"L Manifold… Also, a partial differential geometry method for a partial differential equation." Professor Fefferman's finger swept over the printed A4 paper as he spoke emotionally, "I only know one person in this world who can apply these theories to such an extent."

Wei Wen's expression changed.

"Professor Lu's thesis?"

"Yes." Professor Fefferman nodded and said, "The proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations. It seems like he hasn't stopped his mathematics venture."

When Wei Wen heard the thesis content, he took in a deep breath. He was overwhelmed.

Challenging two Millennium Prize Problems…

Is he even a human?

Professor Fefferman sat down at his desk and took out his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his contact list and called his assistant.

"Yo, Lewis, are you free right now? I have a partial differential equation class in half an hour. Regardless of whether you can or not, I hope you can find someone to do the class for me."

"Um, I'm a bit busy."

"It's important."

They only exchanged three sentences.

After that, Fefferman hung up the call and placed his phone on his desk.

He looked at the thesis on his table. His eyes flashed with excitement.

Let me look at this.

You've left Princeton for a year.

Did your mathematics ability improve or worsen…

Chapter 611: You Wrote That Thesis?

Peer review was a job without glory.

Secondly, being able to judge whether something esoteric was correct or not, was very difficult in and of itself.

If it were a normal proposition, it was fine, but when it came to a world-class problem like the Yang-Mills equations, there was no room for error. Every line in the thesis had to be carefully reviewed by reviewers.

The reason why people would accept this job, other than for the reputation of being a reviewer for a well-known journal, was more out of social goodwill and a sense of purpose for being a scientific research gatekeeper.

For a scholar who had made a name for himself, Professor Fefferman's motivation for accepting this review was probably the latter reason. However, when he received the thesis, he threw all of these reasons out of the window.

Starting from the first line of calculations, the calculation process was like a flow of water. Like magic, it instantly grabbed his attention.

Especially the paper's understanding of the differential geometry of partial differential equations, as well as the application of the L Manifold, it was so subtle that he could hardly believe it.

He couldn't believe that a theory that was only two years young could develop to such a mature level.

"This is incredible."

Professor Fefferman spent around fifteen minutes just on the first page. He couldn't help but feel emotional.

He felt a little regretful earlier that his holiday was going to be interrupted.

But now, there wasn't an ounce of regret in his heart.

The time in his office slowly passed by, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

Wei Wen was sitting at another desk in the office. When he finally found the solution, he took a deep breath. He stretched his back and felt relaxed.

He was about to stand up and go to the cafeteria for some dinner when he noticed Professor Fefferman sitting nearby. He was still sitting in the same position while reading the thesis in his hand. Professor Fefferman would occasionally write something on a piece of draft paper.

Wei Wen hesitated for a bit and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did Professor Lu… prove it?"

When Professor Fefferman heard this, he stopped writing.

He placed the thesis on the table and picked up his lukewarm cup of coffee. After a while, he replied thoughtfully, "I can't make a decision on something this important alone…"

Professor Fefferman looked at the thesis on his desk and paused for a second. He then continued to speak, "However, in my opinion, he probably did it."

…

Lu Zhou didn't know who the reviewer was. At least, he wouldn't know until the thesis was published.

However, that wasn't important.

Before importing it into his computer, he already checked the entire proof process, he was more than 90% confident that his proof was correct. Regardless of what the reviewer thought, in his eyes, this problem was already solved.

Lu Zhou verified that the thesis had entered the peer review stage and then left it alone. He began his next research phase.

In fact, proving the existence of a solution to the holy grail Yang-Mills equations was only the first step. He was far from solving the entire problem. Before he could begin researching the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, he had to find a general solution to this complex equation.

From a mathematical perspective, there was no doubt that finding a general solution was much more difficult than finding a proof of a general solution. Using his knowledge of the Navier–Stokes equations was not though.

Lu Zhou didn't plan on going through another retreat before he had an idea of how to solve this problem. He had been searching for other people's theses on arXiv to see if he could find some inspiration from other people's research.

Unfortunately, the results weren't ideal.

Even though the Yang-Mills equations played an important role in the modern gauge theory field, very few people did research on the general nonlinear partial differential equation solution. Even though there were some interesting ideas, the researches often weren't deep enough.

This meant that he had to rely on himself for this part of the research as well…

The last Wednesday in April…

Lu Zhou finished his computational materials science lecture and walked out of the classroom while holding a textbook.

He was thinking about the Yang-Mills equations while walking toward the stairway. A middle-aged man shouted his name and ran toward him.

"Please wait a second, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou stopped in his footsteps and turned around. He had a suspicious look on his face.

"Who are you?"

The middle-aged professor panted and smiled as he said, "I'm Zhang Zhiongqing, from the physics department… We met in my physics class last time."

"Oh yeah." Lu Zhou immediately remembered this name. He then said cheerfully, "Professor Zhang, what's up?"

Seeing that Lu Zhou still remembered him, Zhang Zhiongqing awkwardly smiled and said, "Here's the thing, you gave my students a lecture regarding the strong interaction, right? A lot of students felt unfortunate that they couldn't listen to your lecture. Quantum mechanics is also a very difficult undergraduate subject, and it requires a certain level of mathematical literacy. The physics department leaders had a chat, and we want to ask if you have time to give a lecture on quantum mechanics."

"Oh, sure, no problem." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Is this Saturday good?"

Zhang Zhiongqing smiled and said, "Sounds good! The dean said that we can do it any time you like. Then it's a deal! On behalf of the physics department, I would like to thank you."

Lu Zhou: "No need to be so polite, I quite like giving lectures."

Even though teaching undergraduate students couldn't directly help him solve problems, it could give him inspiration, which he couldn't get from his retreats.

Zhang Zhiongqing smiled and said, "After all, you're so busy with research, and you're still taking the time to teach undergraduate students, we're very grateful…"

"Lu Zhou!"

A loud voice was heard from across the hallway, interrupting the conversation.

The two men stopped their conversation and looked toward the direction of the voice. They saw Academician Lu, who was wearing a gray coat, walking toward them.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see Academician Lu. He was about to greet him, but before he could speak, the old man asked excitedly, "You wrote that thesis?"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"Which thesis?"

Academician Lu didn't even catch his breath. "The proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations!"

Zhang Zhiongqing nearly choked on his spit.

Yang-Mills equations?!

The f*ck?

Chapter 612: Chaotic Month of April

It was the end of April.

Something big happened in the academic world.

In the latest issue of the Annual Mathematics journal, a forty-page long thesis regarding the proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations was published.

Once this news was confirmed, it caused a sensation in the international mathematics and physics circles.

This thing blew up on the internationally renowned mathematics forum "Math Overflow".

[Did you guys hear? The existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations has been proved?!]

[I heard about it this morning, but this is still inconclusive, right?]

[It's posted on Annual Mathematics, of course it's conclusive. The reviewer is Charles Fefferman!]

[I haven't finished reading it yet, and I don't know much about L Manifold theory. If I want to understand the 2018 paper about the L Manifold, I'll have to learn differential geometry first, what a pain in the a*s… Anyway, it's very difficult to find mistakes in a big-name thesis like this. We'll have to see what the final result is after the report conference.]

Because many of the modern young mathematicians, like Tao Zhexuan and Schultz, had their own accounts on this website, the Math Overflow trending page basically reflected the current trending events in the mathematics community.

The last time a discussion was this popular was two years ago, because of Sir Atiyah's five-page thesis…

Professional academic forums weren't the only place that blew up.

Even though most people didn't even know how to write the Yang-Mills equations, most people knew about the Millennium Prize Problem.

Two days after the thesis came out, the news appeared on various news networks and attracted countless attention from people who were in and out of academia.

Compared to the rational discussions on Math Overflow, the Facebook and Twitter crowds were much more emotional.

[Lu Zhou? Lu Zhou is the author? If I recall correctly, he solved a world-class mathematics problem two years ago!]

[The Navier–Stokes equations! One of the seven Millennium Prize Problems! I still remember his International Congress of Mathematicians report!]

[Challenging two Millennium Prize Problems in the span of two years… Jesus, how does he do it?]

[And he also solved controllable fusion?]

[Haha, maybe this is the power of Asian mathematicians?]

[This is crazy!]

[…]

Ever since the Millennium Prize Problems were announced, there had been no shortage of challengers.

However, very few people achieved worthy results regarding the Yang-Mills equations.

If someone could prove the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations through a mathematical method, then it wouldn't take long before someone could find a general solution.

Because this matter was so impactful, Nature journal, which usually paid very little attention to mathematics research, selected this thesis for a 200-word highlight on their latest issue. Nature even included an extract on the front cover.

During an interview with a reporter from Science, Professor Fefferman spoke highly of the mathematical methods used in this thesis.

"Very few people are able to reach a high level in more than three areas of mathematics. Not only was he able to do this, but he also integrated partial differential equations, differential geometry, and topology into a new mathematical tool."

Reporter: "Are you talking about the magical L Manifold?"

Fefferman: "Correct."

Reporter: "But some people commented that while he proved the solution existence of the Yang-Mills equations, he didn't create any new mathematical tools, he only re-used the tools that he created during his research on the Navier–Stokes equations… What do you think about this comment?"

The value of a mathematical proposition wasn't reflected in the proposition itself, but rather it was reflected in the mathematical tools that were created when solving the proposition.

If this paper only proved the solution existence of the Yang-Mills equations using mathematical language and couldn't pave a way for finding the general solution, even though it would still be an excellent achievement, it wouldn't be outstanding.

Fefferman: "I don't think that is fair. The value of a mathematical conjecture isn't manifested in creating new mathematical tools. It can also be manifested in the perfection of existing tools, or even just in an abstract mathematical concept."

Reporter: "Do you think he strengthened the L Manifold theory?"

Fefferman: "That's right, a theory often take five to ten years to mature, and it requires the accumulation of countless corollaries and theorems.

"By inventing the L Manifold, he successfully built a bridge between partial differential equations and differential geometry and introduced topological methods. If I were to describe it in laymen's terms, he converted the equation into a geometrical object that exists in a special space."

Reporter: "That's so abstract, can you be more specific?"

Fefferman shrugged and said, "It's like drawing an auxiliary line on an irregular image. After a special transformation, the originally complicated things become simple."

Research: "But I noticed that there are very few people in arXiv who are following this research field. Even though my opinion might be misinformed, but if it is so important, why aren't people paying attention to it?"

Fefferman: "The answer is simple. You can't expect a two-year-old theory to become mainstream in the academic world. Even Grothendieck couldn't do something like this. Forget about studying the theory in-depth, even learning the theory would take a certain amount of time… Not to mention, there is a certain threshold for learning this theory."

Reporter: "So, you view highly of his work?"

Fefferman: "Yes, I believe that anyone who truly understands the thesis will agree with me."

Reporter: "One more question, it's not related to the Yang-Mills equations, and of course, you can refuse to answer."

Fefferman smiled and said, "Ask away."

Reporter: "Do you think he can become the greatest mathematician of this century?"

This was a very difficult question.

After all, the twenty-first century had only just begun.

Fefferman stared into the reporter's eyes and thought for a bit. He then said, "It depends on whether or not the Riemann's conjecture is going to be solved in this century, if not…"

He paused for a second.

"Then, there's no doubt that he already is."

Chapter 613: Letter From Clay Institute

When Lu Zhou submitted the thesis, he never thought that his Annual Mathematics thesis would cause such a sensation.

After all, that was only in-progress results, it was far from reaching the essence of the Yang-Mills equations. At most, he just took a step that others had not yet taken.

It wasn't until Academician Lu kept asking him questions excitedly that he realized that the situation wasn't as simple as he had thought.

The status of the Yang-Mills equations in the physics world was far higher than its position in the mathematics world.

For the mathematics community, it was just a difficult partial differential equation, but for the physics community, it was the first step toward the Grand Unified Theory, the holy grail of modern theoretical physics!

Therefore, even though it was a small step, it still shocked the entire world.

After all, ever since entering the 21st century, other than discovering some particles that had been predicted and verifying some pieces of the standard model, there hadn't been any "new stuff" happening in the theoretical physics community.

Of course, theoretical physicists weren't the only ones that were shocked, those laymen who had heard about this news through various channels were also amazed.

In some sense, those laymen were even more excited than the experts.

Especially after Professor Fefferman was interviewed by the Science magazine… The interview pushed the popularity to its peak.

This was so popular that when Lu Zhou was eating in the cafeteria, he could hear students that were obviously not physics majors, looking at him and whispering something about him.

This was just the tip of the iceberg.

After his number theory class, he carried the textbook and left the classroom. A group of people then surrounded him at the door.

Lu Zhou didn't know where these reporters came from. They took out their cameras, microphones, and voice recorders before placing them right in front of Lu Zhou's face.

"Hello, Professor Lu, I am a reporter for Penguin news. It is rumored that you are challenging the Yang-Mills equations from the Millennium Prize Problems, is this true?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, and?"

"Professor Tao Zhexuan from the University of California once mentioned in his personal blog that the best way to solve a problem is to make Professor Lu become interested in the problem… What do you think about this?"

Lu Zhou: "Go ask him."

The reporter who was squeezed to the back of the crowd was able to stick a microphone in front of Lu Zhou.

"Annual Mathematics published your paper. Does that mean you have solved the Yang-Mills equations Millennium Prize Problem?"

When Lu Zhou heard this retarded question, he replied, "The proof of the solution existence is only an in-progress result, it doesn't…"

"If the Clay Institute gives you the million-dollar bonus, how do you plan to spend this money?"

Lu Zhou: "???"

Don't they know how to listen?

The microphones were shoved in front of his face one after the other, causing Lu Zhou to be overwhelmed.

Thankfully, Wang Peng responded quickly and stood in front of him.

Wang Peng's arms weren't particularly beefy, but he was able to carve a path for Lu Zhou to get out of the crowd.

Ten minutes later, the school security heard about the news, and a group of security guards in black jackets came to kick these people out of the school campus.

Lu Zhou finally got rid of the relentless reporters and escaped to the mathematics research building. He sighed in relief and sat down in his office chair.

Lin Yuxiang, who was studying for her National Public Servant Exam, noticed his tired expression. She got up and walked to the water dispenser.

When Lu Zhou opened his laptop and was about to start working, she walked over with a cup of coffee in her hand and smiled.

"Are you tired? I made you some coffee."

"Thanks," Lu Zhou took the coffee and replied politely.

"You're welcome." Lin Yuxiang smiled and said, "I used instant coffee this time, I don't know if you'd like it."

"Yeah, it's pretty good."

"Perfect." Lin Yuxiang put her hands together and looked at him with puppy eyes. She then said flirtatiously, "Well then… If you like it, I'll make it for you every day?"

From her past experience, when she said something like this with her puppy eyes, even females would get butterflies in their stomach, much less a loner that had never experienced love before.

However, while she was thinking about this…

Lu Zhou said, "You don't have to make it every day, I'm not here every day."

Lin Yuxiang: "…???"

Lu Zhou didn't know if he said the wrong thing or offended her, but when Lin Yuxiang sat back down in a stiff manner, Lu Zhou felt like she seemed… frustrated?

Screw it, who cares.

Lu Zhou blew on his coffee cup before he took a sip. He put the coffee cup aside and opened arXiv. He then began to check the latest development in the research fields that he followed.

He had to admit that the theoretical physicists really were a lonely bunch.

He still remembered that for a few months after his 750 GeV discovery, arXiv exploded over this "mysterious particle" that was outside the standard model.

And the same was true now.

Various theses that included words like "L Manifold" and "Yang-Mills equations" began to pop up on the website.

What annoyed him the most was that after going through a couple of theses, he didn't see anything notable.

In short, it felt like these theses were poorly written in a hurry, purely to contain the buzzwords…

Suddenly, a text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

[Master, you have an email message!]

Email?

Lu Zhou saw Xiao Ai's pop up and raised his eyebrows. He then clicked on the link in the bubble.

The email was sent from the Clay Mathematics Institute, and the sender was Carlson, the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Clay Institute. They were acquaintances, so of course he still remembered Carlson.

In the email, Professor Carlson expressed his courtesy and thanks for Lu Zhou's work. He also made a request. He hoped that Lu Zhou could present his proof to the international academic community in a report.

If Lu Zhou didn't have the energy to plan the report, the Clay Institute would be happy to help.

After Lu Zhou read this email, he thought for a bit. He then wrote a reply.

[I'll seriously consider your proposal.]

Even though he didn't have any intentions of hosting this report, after all, in his opinions an in-progress result wasn't worthy of a report. However, after he saw the rubbish theses on arXiv regarding the L Manifold, he felt like he should stand up and explain his theory to the world in a more detailed manner.

If he could attract a group of talented people into his field, it would greatly benefit his research.

At the very least, he would be able to find theses worthy of reference.

Lu Zhou was thinking about how he should go about doing the report when he heard a knock coming from his office door. He then saw Principal Xu walk in.

"Um, Professor Lu."

When Lu Zhou saw Old Xu's fervent expression, he paused for a second.

"What's up?"

Principal Xu smiled and said, "Nothing much, it's just that… You just produced such a great research result, according to the convention of the mathematics community, shouldn't you do a report or something?"

"This is a convention…"

Principal Xu immediately said, "Then what do you think about the big auditorium at the old campus?"

Lu Zhou immediately knew what the principal was talking about, so he smiled and replied, "That would be great, thank you."

Principal Xu waved his hand and smiled.

"No worries, no worries! Oh yeah, what time do you think is appropriate?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before replying, "Let's do it in May."

Chapter 614: Can We Chat Properly

Lu Zhou didn't really care about where the report was held.

For the stuff that was unrelated to academia, he would be happy for someone else to do it for him.

Normally speaking, an academic report was a very troublesome thing to host. Not only would one have to worry about the guests eating and sleeping, but they would also have to consider all of the possible unexpected situations that could happen. However, for Jin Ling University, this was the opposite.

Because of Lu Zhou's international academic reputation and the reputation of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations in the mathematics and physics community, it was foreseeable that there were going to be many big names that would be attending this report session.

Being able to host an academic conference of this caliber was obviously beneficial for the school's academic status.

Especially for a school that was interested in showing themselves on the international academic stage, they were more than happy to help Lu Zhou host this report.

The organization of the report became a top priority for the university. The administrative departments held several days of meetings, and they talked about everything from the safety of the meeting to the placement of the water cups, to the dishes at the banquet.

Inside the principal's office.

Principal Xu found several teachers who were involved in administrative work to further discuss some of the report arrangements.

However, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

When Principal Xu saw Academician Wang Shicheng at his office door, he paused for a second.

Wang Shicheng was the chairman of the China Mathematics Society, and he was one of the leaders of the mathematics community at Yan University. Even though Principal Xu wasn't a mathematician himself, he was still well aware of Academician Wang's reputation in academia.

Principal Xu immediately knew his intentions.

However, he pretended like he didn't know anything.

"Oh, Old Wang, what brings you from Beijing? You didn't even tell me you were coming."

Academician Wang Shicheng walked to the sofa and sat down. "I had a meeting in Jiangsu. After the meeting, I came here to look at my old friend. What? Am I not welcome?"

Haha!

You never talk to me normally, now you think of me as a friend?

Only a dumb*ss would believe you!

"What do you mean?" Principal Xu smiled and looked at his assistant next to him. "Xiao Yang, go and get Academician Wang a cup of tea."

"Okay."

Xiao Yang immediately stood up and walked to the cabinet. He then took out the tea set.

After the tea was ready, the two of them began to chat casually while drinking tea. The teachers that had administrative responsibilities were left aside. They looked at each other and didn't know what was going on.

Half an hour had passed by, and Wang Shicheng finally couldn't handle it anymore.

Even though he tried to divert the conversation to Lu Zhou and the Yang-Mills equations multiple times, Principle Xu would always quickly avoid the conversation.

He put down the teacup and looked at Principal Xu.

"Old Xu, to be honest, I came here to ask for help."

Principal Xu said, "Oh yeah?"

Wang Shicheng cleared his throat. He then said, "A while ago, Professor Lu published a thesis in Annual Mathematics, right? It's about the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations. A lot of the professors in my department looked at it and felt that the thesis was very well written."

No sh*t.

Who doesn't know it's good?

Did you win a Fields Medal or a Crafoord Prize?

Principal Xu still smiled on the outside, but he didn't say anything.

Wang Shicheng continued to speak slowly, "But I'm sure you also know the rules of academia. For this type of major mathematics proposition, a thesis is not enough. Surely one would have to host a few report sessions and express their views to other scholars? This proposition can only be considered solved after answering all of the questions."

Xu Jian said, "Oh, what do you mean?"

Professor Wang Shicheng stopped hiding his intentions, and he said, "I don't mean anything… It's just that, Yan University wants to invite Professor Lu to do a report."

"Oh sure, this is easy, I'll ask Professor Lu for you." Xu Jian smiled and said, "If he agrees, then I'll allow it. The second report session will be at Yan University."

Academician Wang, who had a smile on his face, nearly vomited.

"This… isn't appropriate, right?"

Xu Jian asked confidently, "What's wrong?"

Wang Shicheng said, "This kind of important international event shouldn't be done in Jinling, it should be done in Beijing."

Xu Jian: "Oh, are you looking down on Jinling?"

Wang Shicheng slapped his thigh and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that Yan University has a higher status in the international mathematics community, and we have experience in organizing international mathematics reports. Let us do it, we can show the international community the sophistication of the Chinese mathematics world!"

Xu Jian said, "We also have experience hosting international academic conferences, and it's also our duty to show the world the strength of Chinese mathematicians. Don't worry about this."

Wang Shicheng said, "Old Xu, you know the level of mathematics at Jin Ling University, so why are you fighting this?"

Plus, Xu Jian, you're a computer scientist, why are you stepping into the mathematics world?

However, Xu Jian wasn't happy. He didn't slap the table, but he spoke impolitely. "Does Yan University have a Fields Medal?"

Wang Shicheng paused for a second and shook his head.

Xu Jian: "What about a Crafoord Prize?"

Wang Shicheng was muddled, and he shook his head.

Xu Jian said, "Oh yeah, we have both of them."

Wang Shicheng: "…"

F*ck sake!

Can you just have a normal conversation with me?

Seeing how this conversation was going sideways, Wang Shicheng shook his head and stood up.

"Old man, you're being unreasonable. I'm not going to talk to you. Where is Professor Lu? I'm going to talk to him."

"Professor Lu is not here."

"Where is he?"

Xu Jian rolled his eyes and said, "Don't ask me, find him yourself."

Wang Shicheng: "…"

After Wang Shicheng left Principal Xu's office, Principal Xu looked at the muddled teachers inside the room.

Principal Xu then asked in a stern manner, "Did you hear what that old piece of crap said?

"He thinks we can't do it!

"I repeat again, this report will affect the glory of Jin Ling University! It will affect our future!

"If anything goes wrong, I'm blaming it on you guys!"

Chapter 615: It's the Same in My Opinion

Academician Wang had been an academic leader of Yan University for many years, and he had also served as the chairman of the China Mathematics Society.

He had quite a temper.

After he came out of the Principal's office, he didn't ask a professor for help. Instead, he asked a student and found his way to Professor Lu's office.

After Lu Zhou, who was sitting at his desk, heard Academician Wang's request, he stopped writing.

"Do a report at Yan University?"

"Yes." Academician Wang didn't hide his true intentions as he said, "The mathematics department at Yan University is much stronger than the mathematics department at Jin Ling University, both in terms of academic atmosphere and ability. This kind of world-class academic conference is a chance to showcase China's mathematics community to the world. It's also an important opportunity for Chinese mathematicians to integrate with the world. I know the report is yours, and you have the right to choose where you want to host it, but I hope you can look at the big picture and reconsider."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Wang Shicheng said, "Go ahead."

Lu Zhou: "Do you think the window is important or the things inside the house are important?"

Wang Shicheng: "Of course I think the things inside the house are important."

"I think so too." Lu Zhou nodded and paused for a second before he said, "Whether or not the Chinese mathematics community can connect with the world, doesn't depend on how many windows or where the windows are. It depends on the things inside the house. I'm asking you to think about the big picture. I'm telling you that the location of the report itself isn't important. My research itself is the thing that is going to bridge the gap between China and the rest of the world."

Wang Shicheng's thoughts were blocked by Lu Zhou's words.

He opened his mouth and couldn't say anything. After a while, he said, "I don't understand."

Lu Zhou: "Don't understand what?"

Wang Shicheng said with a confused look, "I don't understand why you don't want to go to Yan University? Do you think it's more realistic for Yan University to be the center of Asian mathematics or Jin University to be the center of Asian mathematics?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he smiled.

"Actually, there isn't any special reason. This place is just my alma mater."

Even though there were special reasons, he didn't have to say them.

Why did Shiing Shen Chern choose Kai University? Why did Qiu Chengtong choose Shuimu? Wasn't Yan University supposed to be better? It was actually the contrary. It was because Yan University was too strong; it already had too many mathematicians.

For something to change, it required a collision of academic ideas.

Lu Zhou was thinking about the long-term effect, hence, he didn't choose to go to Yan University.

When he saw how shaken Academician Wang Shicheng was, he paused for a second before saying, "As for which one is more likely to become the center of mathematics…

"They're both the same to me."

…

There was still a month and a half until the Yang-Mills equations report, but the preparations for the report had already begun.

The preparations were stuff like preparing for the conference itself, as well as changing the school's appearance, safety inspection work, and even renovating some old dorm buildings on the old campus. For example, when Lu Zhou was in the mathematics modeling competition, he lived in the infamous dorm building six. This time, the school leaders made up their minds and several dorm buildings were completely renovated. They even installed air conditioners in these newly renovated buildings.

Honestly, Lu Zhou felt a little shameful that Jin Ling University was taking this report so seriously.

After all, when he was still in Princeton, his reports were not this grandiose. Even his report on the Goldbach's conjecture was just hosted in the number 1 lecture hall.

However, he still understood why Principal Xu was doing this.

After all, the mathematics department at Jin Ling University had never produced such a major result before.

This was the closest the international theoretical physics community had ever gotten to the holy grail of physics, and it was also Jin Ling University's top international academic achievement. Whether the principal was doing it because of the results itself or because of Lu Zhou as a person, either way, it was worth it.

On the other hand, other than the school preparing for the report, Lu Zhou's three assistants were also getting busy.

Especially Assistant Lin, who was responsible for public relations. Normally, she had a lot of free time, but now, she finally had some stuff to do. She would run around the new and old campus with a pile of documents, but it looks like she seemed to be enjoying this?

Lu Zhou didn't understand what was enjoyable about this.

Regardless, since there were so many people organizing the report, Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about it himself. He continued to research the general solution for the Yang-Mills equations.

However, things were far more complicated than he had imagined.

His research wasn't even in a bottleneck. There was no bottle at all…

[F^i(μv)≡δμ·Av^i-δv·Aμ^i+g(f^ijk)·(Aμ^j)·(Av^k).]

[…]

"I have no idea how Mr. Yang and Mr. Mills were able to derive this equation." Lu Zhou crunched the paper in his hand and threw the paper ball into the bin.

The L Manifold was very useful for testing nonlinear partial differential equations, but it was quite limited when one used it to solve specific problems.

This was why Lu Zhou never thought about solving the Navier–Stokes equations.

Not because it was difficult, but because he knew he couldn't do it.

Han Mengqi walked to his desk and handed him the thesis she had just printed.

"Teacher, this is my thesis."

Lu Zhou stopped writing and briefly looked at the abstract and title of the thesis. He then raised his eyebrows with interest.

[A theoretical model of a semiconductor-electrolyte solution interface based on the Schottky barrier]

Seems like this chick is quite talented at computational materials.

After two months of work, she's able to write something of her own.

"Oh, put it here… I'll look at it later."

"Oh…" Han Mengqi nodded and hesitated for a bit. She then asked quietly, "Um… teacher, is there anything I can do to help?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

There really wasn't anyone that could help him.

However, he still had to stay humble.

"You can complete the task I gave you; that's the biggest thing you can do for me now."

In a sense, this was correct.

After all, the final reward for his reward mission, other than his lecturing quality, was related to the impact factors of his students' theses.

However, Han Mengqi obviously didn't know about the system. She felt a little down as she nodded.

"Okay then…"

If only I was stronger.

This way, I can actually be of use…

Chapter 616: Inspiration is Contagious

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

A laboratory inside the Institute of Physics was filled with smoke.

Sheng Xianfu smoked one cigarette after another as he looked at the design sketch on the table, which he had altered many times, and sighed. "Why do you think Professor Lu is suddenly studying the Yang-Mills equations?"

Li Changxia, who was reading theses next to him, shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Sheng Xianfu said, "Are we still doing fusion batteries or what?"

He gave up his director position at the Southwestern Institute of Physics to come here and research the miniaturization of controllable fusion with Professor Lu. However, it had been more than two months and the research project hadn't progressed at all.

Not only did they stagnate, but Lu Zhou was involved in other projects now.

"I don't know."

Sheng Xianfu couldn't help but say, "Can you say anything other than you don't know?"

Professor Li Changxia scratched his head and made a helpless expression as he said, "Theoretically speaking, if we can establish a unified relationship between the strong interaction and the electromagnetic force… it will benefit our understanding of the nuclear fusion conditions."

He sounded uncertain.

After all, he was an engineering professor. If anything, he was even more confused than Sheng Xianfu.

Sheng Xianfu looked at him.

"Then what? How long do you think it will take for this theory to be put into a piece of real technology. Also, who cares if it deepens our understanding of the fusion reactor, is it going to make the fusion reactor better?"

Li Changxia sighed and said, "But we have no other option."

Sheng Xianfu didn't say anything this time.

He was correct.

They couldn't do anything else.

They had designed at least a dozen solutions for solving the problem of the reactor heat dissipation. However, there wasn't a single solution that could pass the technical feasibility test. Even in the case of the best solution, the reactor melted after 34 seconds of operation.

"Perhaps the idea of using a high-temperature fusion ignition itself is wrong." Sheng Xianfu pondered for a while. Suddenly, he said, "Maybe like you said, if we can find a way to reduce the temperature conditions of the fusion reaction, our work might become a lot simpler."

Professor Li Changxia tapped his cigarette and smiled. He shook his head and said, "I think that the idea of putting controllable fusion technology into a spacecraft is impossible."

They went silent for a while.

Sheng Xianfu looked at the design sketches on the table, and suddenly, he sighed and reached out to press the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

"I'm going to find Professor Lu."

He scrunched the paper into a ball and stuffed it in his pocket. He then stood up from his chair and walked out of the laboratory in an imposing manner…

…

When Sheng Xianfu arrived at Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou was giving students a lecture in the classroom.

More specifically, a quantum mechanics lecture.

Sheng Xianfu quietly walked into the lecture hall through the back door. When he saw the crowd, he couldn't help but feel amazed.

When he was teaching at the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory, he also served as a lecturer for the nearby University of Science and Technology of China. However, even though his classes were about controllable fusion and plasma physics, his classrooms had never been more than 50% full.

Of course, that was because controllable fusion was unpopular at that time, and not a lot of people took his class…

Sheng Xianfu didn't interrupt Lu Zhou's lecture. Instead, he found a seat in the back row and sat down. He then listened to the lecture and waited patiently for it to finish.

When he walked into the classroom, the lecture seemed to have been almost over.

During the Q&A session, a student raised his hand and asked, "Professor, can you tell us about how to understand the Yang-Mills equations from a mathematical perspective?"

When this question was asked, it immediately received approval from the other students.

It was obvious that the physics students were all interested in this topic.

"With your current level of physics knowledge, it would be too difficult to understand this question." Lu Zhou smiled at the student who asked the question and said, "If you are interested, you can go to the old campus on May 20th and listen to my report. I'll explain it in detail during the report."

Someone in the audience complained, "But the entry requirements for the report is too high."

This was indeed a problem.

For an international academic report like this, the barrier of entry wasn't only for the report presenter, but also for the report attendees.

When Lu Zhou heard the complaint, he contemplated it for a bit. He then smiled and said, "Then I'll explain it right now."

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and composed himself.

"If you want to understand the Yang-Mills equations from a mathematical perspective, we first have to know what it is.

"In a nutshell, the non-abelian symmetry group given by the Yang-Mills equations is a special type of gauge theory. Classically, this theory is similar to Maxwell's theory, which replaces the more general tight gauge group G in the Abelian group U(1)…"

When it came to mathematics, talking wasn't enough.

Lu Zhou picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the blackboard.

[If 0=dA∗F, we can derive from the variation of the Lagrangian operator for passive Yang-Mills field: L=1/4g2·∫Tr(F'∗F)…]

[…]

The proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations was way beyond an undergraduate student's level.

Even if Princeton professors wanted to understand the theory, they would have to start from learning the L Manifold first.

The things he was writing on the blackboard were just explanations regarding the Yang-Mills equations itself.

The most he did was incorporating some of his own ideas while explaining this proposition.

Just like this, more and more calculations appeared on the blackboard.

Lu Zhou went into a state of concentration and couldn't stop, and he gave fewer and fewer explanations.

The students in the lecture hall were muddled.

In the beginning, they could kind of understand it, but now, they were totally defeated by this esoteric theory.

Later on, even the professors from the physics department weren't able to keep up.

What is this guy writing about?

The more they read, the more they felt like…

Lu Zhou didn't even seem like he was writing about physics?

Is this guy really talking about the Yang-Mills equations?

A lot of muddled professors were looking at the blackboard, and they began to have doubts about their lives.

Academician Lu was sitting in the front row of the lecture hall with a frown.

Suddenly, he noticed an important line on the blackboard, and his pupils dilated.

"The non-zero asymptotic constant in a vacuum state converts the normative group into U(1) subgroups!"

Lu Zhou is trying to use a mathematical method to explain the strong interaction in the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap!

Academician Lu's eyes were filled with excitement.

He looked at the blackboard, full of expectations. However, when Lu Zhou wrote the final line, he seemed to have failed his expectations.

Lu Zhou suddenly stopped writing and took a step back. He looked at the calculations on the blackboard and went silent for a long time.

It seemed like he was stuck.

He scratched his head and threw away the chalk. He then turned around and looked at the muddled students before he said embarrassedly, "My bad… I seem to have gone off the rails."

The physics professors were so full of expectations that they nearly spat out blood.

F*ck!

At least f*cking finish the calculations!

However, Professor Sheng Xianfu, who was sitting in the back row, was different from the other professors. His eyes began to light up.

Even though he didn't understand the content of the lecture itself, he received an unexpected moment of inspiration.

"As long as the distance between nuclei is small enough…"

He muttered to himself as the inspiration flashed through his mind.

Even though this sounded a bit crazy, but he might have thought of a feasible controllable fusion reactor model.

If this was theoretically possible…

Maybe they could really achieve a new type of nuclear fusion energy at a temperature of less than 100 million degrees…

Chapter 617: Thinking About the Same Thing

The term "cold fusion" was a very awkward term in academia because it often didn't have any interesting connotations attached to it.

This concept was first introduced in the 1920s. Two German chemists Panis and Peters proposed in 1926 regarding the idea of nuclear fusion at room temperature. They found helium permeate the asbestos by passing hydrogen through the heated palladium asbestos. They then confirmed that the fusion reaction occurred and published the research in Nature.

Once this thesis was published, it immediately caused a huge sensation. However, it was quickly criticized by Rutherford, the then president of the Royal Society. Actually, in the follow-up experiments, the two were not able to repeat the success of the experiment. Finally, the whole incident was identified as a mistake, and Nature retracted the thesis.

The end of the 1980s was probably the most popular period of cold fusion research. During a press conference at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, Fleischman and Pons published their latest research—which was about the continuous nuclear fusion on a palladium electrode with a special heavy water electrode machine at room temperature.

This discovery broke through the traditional impression that nuclear fusion could only be conducted at hundreds of millions of degrees of temperature. This also made controllable fusion researchers, who recently hadn't made any significant progress, see a light at the end of the tunnel. The sensation generated by this event quickly swept across North America and the world, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Princeton PPPL, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and a dozen more research institutions. Even IBM's private labs were involved in this race to chase this new kind of energy. The media referred to the research results as "a sun inside a test tube".

However, the good times didn't last for long. The US nuclear power giant and the University of Utah experimental team signed a cooperative research and development agreement, while the Italian Ministry of Science and Technology prioritized "cold fusion research". The Office of the Secretary of State for Scientific Research in Belgium held a special meeting with a team of experts. Moscow University in the Soviet Union organized a world-class research team, which was ready to begin research on cold fusion… After all this initiative, it took less than a year for the cold fusion world to die down again.

This world-wide failure completely diminished the academic community's enthusiasm for cold fusion. A few research teams were still persistently researching in this field. However, even thermonuclear fusion research had been dead for a long time, much less the unpopular cold nuclear fusion.

As of now, the attitude of the entire academic community was to put aside this field, but not completely deny its possibility. However, no one had hope of ever achieving cold fusion.

As for whether or not there was a feasible technical route…

Strictly speaking, it actually existed.

Like "sound fusion".

However, even that didn't sound reliable.

Sheng Xianfu left the venue and didn't go look for Lu Zhou. Instead, he went to the Jin Ling University Institute of Acoustics.

At the end of the 1980s, all of the countries around the world tried to do research on cold fusion. China, who was closely watching the movement of the international academic community, was no exception. For example, the research team led by Professor Chen Weizhong from the Institute of Acoustics of Jin Ling University tried to research "sound fusion", but unfortunately, he failed.

The current conclusion was that fusion was impossible, but it could emit light.

However, people were still uncertain why exactly it could emit light.

Before he could complete the blueprint, he had to seek some help from the research of his predecessors…

"The data from the cold fusion experiments more than 30 years ago?" said Professor Chen Weizhong after he listened to Sheng Xianfu's explanation. He sneered and shook his head before saying, "You are wasting your time."

Sheng Xianfu tried to convince the old man. "How can we know if we don't try?"

"Try? I spent ten years of my life trying. I proved that this research path isn't going to work, and I didn't do all that work just so that you can try again later." Chen Weizhong smiled and said in a sarcastic tone, "I wasted half of the institute's budget, and I all got was a pile of useless papers. You're asking me to let you waste more time and more state resources to do this experiment? My morals won't allow this."

It seemed that this old professor had completely given up on sound fusion.

But this was justified given how he had spent a decade trying to walk a path that was unfeasible. Not only had this disappointed his own career and scientific research goals, but it had also disappointed the students and researchers who helped him in his research.

However…

"I don't think the data is useless." Professor Sheng Xianfu stared into the old professor's eyes and said in a serious manner, "It's just that it hasn't been applied yet."

The old professor stared at Professor Sheng Xianfu for a while and didn't say anything. He stood up slowly and left the office.

After five minutes, the old man walked back into the office carrying an old notebook.

"The Institute of Acoustics didn't have a large budget when I began this project. I was hoping it could make some achievements… but I failed." Professor Chen Weizhong calmly handed this notebook that was filled with data to Sheng Xianfu. Professor Chen Weizhong looked at Sheng Xianfu and said, "If this stuff can help you even just a little, go ahead."

If it could really help someone…

The old professor felt like he would feel better in his heart.

Sheng Xianfu took the notebook and nodded solemnly as he said, "I will use it properly."

…

After Sheng Xianfu got the experimental data, he went back to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and began to sketch out the blueprint.

When he was in Southwest, he was studying plasma physics and was more engineering rather than theory-oriented. Now that he suddenly had to do research in the theoretical field, he was obviously struggling.

He hadn't read up on a lot of things for a long time, and he had even forgotten most of it. Therefore, in addition to reading the current literature, he even had to resort to reading textbooks in order to complete his theoretical deductions.

Fortunately, these difficulties could be overcome.

It took ten days for him to both study and research at the same time. He finally finished his latest paper, "The Technical Feasibility of Achieving Fusion Reaction at a Relatively Low Temperature". He took this paper and went to Lu Zhou's office.

When he arrived at Lu Zhou's office, Lu Zhou was thinking about something while staring at a piece of paper on his desk.

Sheng Xianfu gently knocked on the door. "I'm here."

Lu Zhou didn't stop writing. He simply said, "Yeah, what's up?"

"I have some stuff about the miniaturization of controllable fusion… Some thoughts." Sheng Xianfu looked at the thesis in his hand and was about to hand it over to Lu Zhou. However, he was somewhat hesitant.

"Do you not want to show it to me?"

"Not that." Sheng Xianfu smiled awkwardly and made up his mind. He placed the thesis on the desk and said, "It's just that… Don't laugh at me after you read it."

"Of course I won't."

Lu Zhou picked up the thesis on the table and began to carefully read it.

Time slowly passed by.

Sheng Xianfu, who was standing in front of the desk, patiently waited. He took a deep breath for the tenth time.

When Lu Zhou finally finished the thesis, he smiled and said, "You're quite imaginative."

Sheng Xianfu had a bitter smile on his face.

Didn't you say you weren't going to laugh at me?

He coughed and began to explain, "I am quite imaginative, so don't take it seriously, I was just randomly brainstorming…"

"Don't think you're wrong. Academic discussions shouldn't have the premise of right or wrong. We all can make mistakes, or we can be correct." Lu Zhou gently placed the thesis on the table and said, "Not to mention, we thought of the same thing this time."

Chapter 618: I'm the Only One Who Can Do This

Sheng Xianfu was stunned.

When he sent out his thesis, he made some mental preparations in case he was ridiculed for it.

However, he didn't expect that his futuristic vision to be recognized by Lu Zhou.

"Cold nuclear fusion isn't a ridiculous concept. Actually, for most concepts that we are not able to achieve, the concept itself isn't wrong, we just don't know enough about the universe."

Lu Zhou stood up from his desk and walked to the solar system framed picture that was hanging on the office wall. He looked at the ball of flame that had been burning for billions of years.

"Just like how we don't fully understand the source of a star's power…"

Technically, the fusion reaction inside a star was also a form of cold fusion, but it wasn't the kind of "cold" that people could understand.

In order to achieve nuclear fusion, two protons must have sufficient energy to overcome the Coulomb potential barrier so that the distance between the nuclei would be less than 10^-14 meters. In order to reach this distance, the thermal kinetic energy of a single nucleus must reach at least an energy level on the order of MeV magnitude.

However, the average thermal kinetic energy of a nucleus inside the star was only on the KeV magnitude.

Comparing the magnitudes of energy level, one would expect that the thermal kinetic energy was too low to overcome the Coulomb potential barrier. Even considering the effect of gravity, the reaction inside the star didn't make sense.

It would be very difficult to explain this phenomenon from a classical mechanics perspective.

Therefore, one would have to introduce quantum mechanics concepts.

Like, the quantum tunneling effect.

Even though this concept might sound a little obscure, as long as one understood the principle of wave-particle duality and the uncertainty principle, it wouldn't be too difficult to understand this implication.

In quantum mechanics, all objects were in indeterminate states, and there was a range that determined their states.

For example, a small ball, a common classical mechanics example. Place the small ball in front of a mountain. According to the concepts of classical mechanics, when the speed of the ball was large enough, it could roll across the mountain. If it was not fast enough, it might roll to the middle of the mountain and run out of kinetic energy, thus going back to wherever it came from.

However, in quantum mechanics, even if the speed of the ball was small, when it rolled toward the mountain, it still had a certain probability of rolling up and across the mountain.

If we were to change the mountain into a barrier and replace the ball with an atom, we could explain why fusion was able to occur in stars.

Even though the energy of the nucleus in a star was much smaller than the potential of the Coulomb potential barrier, due to the existence of the quantum tunneling effect, the proton could still pass through the Coulomb potential barrier. With a barrier of this kind of probabilistic combustion, a star could burn steadily for billions of years, as opposed to exploding in an instant, thus exhausting all of its fuel.

"Cold nuclear fusion is actually theoretically possible, or more scientifically, when the macroscopic conditions for fusion are not met, it is still theoretically possible for the fusion reaction to occur. However, we don't have a suitable method to advance our theoretical knowledge to fully reveal the mystery.

"We want to solve the miniaturization of the controllable fusion energy problem, and we have to start from the basics. We have to understand what the strong interaction is and use a model to unify it with the electromagnetic force." Lu Zhou handed back Sheng Xianfu his thesis and paused for a second. He then said, "If we can use a model to unify the strong interaction and electromagnetic force, our problem will become a lot easier.

"Actually, I haven't given up on the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

"The thing is, I'm the only one who can advance our theoretical knowledge."

…

Lu Zhou had made some progress with regards to the general solution of the Yang-Mills equations. However, the main difficulties were still unsolvable. He wasn't too worried. After he was done with the report, he would have plenty of time to think about this problem.

Time quickly passed by. Soon, it was May.

Lu Zhou had finished his computational materials science and number theory classes. He was waiting for his students' theses to be published so that he could finally receive his system rewards.

Interestingly enough, he found out that this reward mission had more freedom than the previous missions. He didn't even have a time limit for the completion of this mission. In theory, if he wanted to, he could make it so that his students' theses would have sky-high impact factors, and after that, he could collect the mission rewards.

However, it wasn't interesting to drag this mission on for any longer.

Every impact factor gave 1,000 experience points and 10 general points. Even if one had a hundred impact factor, that was only a hundred thousand experience points.

This obviously wasn't possible.

Lu Zhou made up his mind that he would complete the mission before June, no matter how many theses his students had. If there really wasn't enough time, then whatever. He had been resting for six months; it was time to begin another mission.

Three days before the report, Professor Klaus von Klitzing from Germany arrived in Jinling. He bumped into Lu Zhou, who had just finished his last computational materials lecture, at the laboratory building of the new campus.

"Long time no see." Professor Klitzing gave Lu Zhou a warm hug and smiled as he said, "I didn't think that in less than two years, your name would be giving the Nobel Prize Committee a headache again."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Maybe."

"It's not maybe. Regardless of whether or not they would choose a scholar who had just won a Nobel Prize, I'll still nominate you." Professor Klitzing smiled and said, "Speaking of which, before I came to China, Professor Keriber told me to tell you something."

"Uh, what thing?"

"He said you're a scary opponent." Professor Klitzing shrugged and said, "He said that his biggest regret in life is showing off his laboratory to you. Thanks to you, he's been ridiculed by the economic and technology department. The technology department saw that you waved your hand and solved the controllable fusion problem, so they thought that controllable fusion was actually a very simple thing… Apparently, in their latest meeting, the Wendelstein 7-X engineers nearly started a fight with the secretaries from the technology department."

Lu Zhou awkwardly coughed.

"Um… My apologies. If he doesn't think that I'm being fair, I can let him visit the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study."

"Haha, I'm just kidding." Klitzing patted his shoulder and said, "He doesn't hate you… He's actually quite thankful. After all, without your plasma turbulence model, the research on the stellarator would still be stagnated. Not to mention, if his laboratory achieved nuclear fusion first, I'm sure he would have made the same decisions."

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression and said, "I hope my research won't bring him more trouble."

"How could it? Also, we might have the opportunity to cooperate in the future." Klitzing smiled and said, "Several members of ITER have already reached an agreement with China on the exchange of many technologies. The agreement will be implemented in maybe five years."

Lu Zhou nodded.

Five years was a good buffer period.

Other countries weren't certain if they could solve this problem on their own, so they were reluctant to exchange their chips too early. On the Chinese side, they also didn't want other people to achieve controllable fusion and lose their dominance in this field.

Of course, this was all because everyone knew that it was impossible to keep a technology secret.

Especially for civilian technology such as controllable fusion, which was destined to be implemented on a large scale. The only thing the government could do was to lock the technology in a basement and never implement it. Once controllable fusion technology was wide-spread, the secrets were bound to leak out.

In three to five years, controllable fusion power stations could supply more than 80% of the country's electricity consumption. The decision to exchange political, technical, and other interests with other countries for controllable fusion technology in five years was the optimal strategy.

However, a lot of things could happen in five years…

Chapter 619: From All over the World

During the middle of May, the atmosphere of Jinling was somewhat unusual.

As the report date was getting closer and closer, scholars from all over the world flew to Jinling. This city, which had never had an international academic culture, had become more and more popular as an academic hotspot.

After Jin Ling University announced the report, whether it was the hotels that provided accommodation or the municipal government of Jin Ling City, they all took this matter seriously. From the cleaning up of the streets to coordinating traffic, the city government had given the green light on things that were outside of Jin Ling University's control.

After all, this kind of world-class academic conference attracted more than a thousand scholars and was the center of attention of the physics and mathematics communities. This kind of event only happened once every few years. Being able to host a report like was an honor for the school, and it was also an opportunity for Jin Ling City to present itself to the international community.

It wasn't just about the reputation of the city, it was also about politics; they all had to take this event seriously.

At the entrance of the InterContinental Hotel.

An old man, who was wearing a black jacket, carried his suitcase up the stairs and stood at the hotel entrance. He then looked at his watch. A man in a gray suit walked out of the hotel elevator and greeted him.

When Faltings saw the person walking out of the hotel elevator, he raised his eyebrows.

"I didn't expect you to come here first."

Klitzing smiled and said, "You're too slow, I've been here for two days already."

Faltings: "Have you met him?"

"Yeah, I went to Jin Ling University yesterday to meet him. It seemed like he's doing well. He took me to visit the Institute for Advanced Study and some other interesting places nearby." Klitzing paused for a second and said, "Arriving early is a good thing."

Faltings' expression didn't change as he said, "You know I don't care about those kinds of things."

Klitzing shrugged and said, "I know, I also care about what you care about. But the report is going to start tomorrow. Let's wait until tomorrow to think about these troublesome matters."

Faltings felt like Klitzing made sense, so he didn't say anything else. He carried his suitcase and went into the elevator with Klitzing.

The entire hotel was booked just for the three-day [a]report. Theoretical physicists and mathematicians from all over the world were living here.

On the way to his hotel room, people constantly greeted Faltings, who nodded in response. He was quite surprised, especially when he saw Professor Sarnak from Princeton and Andrew Wiles from Oxford University.

"I didn't expect to see so many old friends here."

"After all, this question has troubled the mathematics and physics community for a long time." Klitzing smiled and said, "We all want to know the answer."

Faltings: "That's not what I meant."

Klitzing raised his eyebrows with interest.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mathematics is getting younger."

Faltings paused for a second and muttered to himself, "This a good thing."

…

The day of the report.

The crowd was packed into the grand auditorium at the old campus of Jin Ling University.

Professor Deligne wore a black hat, which covered his shiny head, and a black jacket. He walked to the third row in the venue and sat next to Edward Witten.

"Aren't you doing a report at CERN? How come you have the time to come all the way to the other side of the Pacific Ocean?"

"I heard there's an interesting report going on, so I came." Witten smiled and said to his old friend, "Plus, my research partner Professor Wilczek suddenly stopped his work and insisted on coming here. I didn't want to stay in Switzerland alone, so I thought it would be better to come. How about you?"

"I mean he is my student…" Deligne noticed Witten's look of surprise, and he asked, "What?"

Professor Witten coughed and said, "Nothing, I forgot that Professor Lu even studied algebraic geometry."

Deligne: "…"

The front of the auditorium wasn't the only busy place. On both sides of the auditorium were people who were responsible for maintaining the order of the conference. There were also logistical workers who had been working since 6 am.

Every great event had countless people working behind the scenes.

In order to do a good job of organizing this conference and not get laughed at by Yan University, Principal Xu personally came to the venue to command the logistics staff. Dean Qin was also working hard. In fact, he was even more nervous.

Even though he wasn't the one giving the report, his hands were still drenched in sweat.

This was the first time that Jin Ling University's mathematics department stood on an international stage; it was their first time facing the world.

One could say that not only did this report affect the future of the mathematics department, but it also affected the future of Jin Ling University…

There was only half an hour left until the report.

Lu Zhou's quiet green room was in contrast with the loud venue. He quietly sat at the table. He was calculating something while writing on the draft paper.

He heard footsteps from outside the door.

Lin Yuxiang gently knocked on the door and walked in. She was wearing a red dress.

"Professor, it's about to begin."

Lu Zhou twirled his thumb around the ballpoint pen and looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling. He then stood up.

"Okay, got it."

Lin Yuxiang saw that Lu Zhou was walking to the closet, and she said, "Do you need me to help tie your tie?"

"No."

Lin Yuxiang sighed.

Even though she knew he would say this, the way he refused her wasn't euphemistic at all…

Lu Zhou picked up the suit from the closet and put it on. He walked in front of the mirror and looked at himself.

After he confirmed that he was still a handsome fellow, he tightened his tie and walked out the door.

Han Mengqi was standing near the entrance of the green room. When she and saw Lu Zhou walk out of the room, she cheered, "Teacher… You got this!"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and casually said, "Of course I do."

[a]is it a three day report? previous sentence seems like so

Chapter 620: The Chalk That Stopped Writing

The lights were turned on.

Lu Zhou steadily walked onto the auditorium stage.

The second he walked to the microphone stand, the noise died down, and the venue instantly became quiet.

As Lu Zhou stood on the stage and looked around the venue, he felt ice in his veins.

This wasn't his first report session.

It also wasn't his first time challenging a world-class problem.

Lu Zhou reached out and adjusted the microphone stand. He then said in a clear voice, "Thank you all very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come here. I won't waste any more of your time, let's get straight to the point."

After the opening remarks, Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, "I'm sure you all have read my thesis before coming here. I will briefly repeat the proof process and explain in detail my thought process for this proof.

"I'm sure that after my explanation, there will no longer be any confusion in your minds.

"If there are any questions, feel free to ask during the Q&A session."

The PowerPoint on the projector screen flipped to a new page, showing everyone the lines of formulas.

[F^i(μv)≡δμ·Av^i-δv·Aμ^i+g(f^ijk)·(Aμ^j)·(Av^k).]

[…]

"When we set a Schwarz non-dispersion vector field μ0 to the equation and set the time interval I ⊂ [0, + ∞), we can then define a generalized solution N9 of the Yang-Mills equations as an integral equation μ, ie μ→ H10df (R3)…

"It is difficult to solve this nonlinear partial differential equation using conventional methods, and it's also difficult to prove the existence of its solution. We must introduce a three-dimensional manifold and bridge the gap between the dimensionless equations and geometric principles by introducing topological ideas…"

Lu Zhou picked up a piece of rather long chalk from the desk and walked to the blackboard. He then began to write.

In the crowd.

The first row.

As Academician Lu looked at Lu Zhou who was writing on the blackboard, he felt emotional.

"This is incredible."

Professor Tang was sitting next to him. He smiled and asked, "What is incredible?"

Academician Lu didn't answer this question. Instead, he began to reminisce.

"Five years ago, at CERN's European Nuclear Research Conference, I had a disagreement with him regarding the 750 GeV energy characteristic peak. My opinion was that the signal could be a two-photon signal produced by the gluon during polymerization. He insisted that there might be something beyond the standard model."

"Then what happened?" Professor Tang smiled and asked, "Was he correct or were you correct?"

"There wasn't a conclusion." Academician Lu shook his head and said, "CERN did research on his discovery for an entire year, and the theoretical physics community also paved a way for this new particle for an entire year, then… It was almost like the universe was fooling us, some said that it's quantum fluctuations, others said that it's a two-photon signal generated by the polymerization of gluons… But this isn't the main point."

Academician Lu paused for a second and smiled. He said, "Being able to stick with your opinions when challenged by a higher authority is a rare personality trait, especially for students that have been trained in our education system. This quality is extremely commendable. Ever since then, I knew this kid was going to make something of himself. I didn't expect that I actually underestimated him. I can't believe he's gotten to this point in just five short years."

That last sentence finally answered Tang Zhiwei's question.

He just thought that with Lu Zhou's talent and hard work, he was bound to earn a place in the mathematics world as well as the physics world. However, he didn't expect that in these five short years, not only did he become stronger, but he also made Jin Ling University, as well as the Chinese academia, stronger.

Professor Tang smiled. "Yeah…

"He's the fastest-learning student I have ever seen before."

The report continued.

After the part about the L Manifold finished, Lu Zhou quickly accelerated the speed of the report.

The thesis was forty pages long, and the main proof process was at least twenty pages.

If he didn't want to leave the Q&A session to the afternoon, he had to finish speaking within two hours.

As Lu Zhou's reporting speed gradually increased, the scholars in the venue intently stared at each line of equations. They didn't want to miss a single detail or a single letter.

For people like them, they didn't have to worry about not understanding the report. At most, they just didn't have the time to leisurely talk with their peers while listening to the report.

The PowerPoint pages were shown one after another.

There were more and more equations on the blackboard.

Lu Zhou completely forgot about where he was, and he had completely forgotten about the audience behind him. He had entered the "zone", where all of his attention was focused on the chalk and the half-filled blackboard.

While writing and explaining, Lu Zhou also organized his thoughts regarding the proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations.

While he was organizing his thoughts, new inspirations and ideas were also brewing in his mind.

It was the 36th page of the thesis.

The report was about to end.

Professor Klitzing could finally take a break since he had already grasped the essence of the proof process. He looked at Professor Faltings, who was sitting next to him, and asked, "Amazing proof… What do you think?"

Faltings stared straight at the lines of equations on the blackboard, and he seemed to be analyzing something. He didn't speak for a long time.

Before he came to China, he studied the L Manifold and the proof of the existence of a solution to the Yang-Mills equations. He also talked with several PhDs that were in this field, who were from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics. However, he still had some doubts regarding some details.

However, most of his questions had already been answered.

Five or six minutes had gone by… He looked at the PowerPoint presentation. After that, he looked at the blackboard. He then said with a poker face, "He answered some of my doubts… but not all of them."

Professor Klitzing chuckled.

Since Faltings said so, I'm guessing there are no problems with the proof.

However, when he was waiting for Lu Zhou to finish so that he could stand up and give him a round of applause…

Lu Zhou suddenly stopped writing.

Chapter 621: I Solved I

The chalk on the blackboard stopped moving.

The explanation from Lu Zhou also stopped.

Everyone in the audience was stunned.

Lu Zhou's hands hadn't stopped writing for the past hour, and now that he suddenly stopped, everyone felt a little uncomfortable.

However, everyone knew that when someone was in an unusual environment, they were bound to perform worse than usual. Some people even witnessed old professors dozing off while reporting. Also, this was a major mathematical proposition. Not only did it test the reporter's mathematics level and articulation ability, but it also tested the reporter's mental endurance.

Everyone waited in silence.

However…

10 seconds passed.

5 minutes passed.

Lu Zhou still stood still on stage. He stared at the blackboard like he was thinking about something.

Seeing how he didn't react for a long time, the audience began to worry.

Why hasn't he moved yet?

Is he stuck in his train of thought?

Or did he… realize he made a mistake?

A lot of people looked like they were gloating, while others looked like they were concerned. After all, making a mistake during a major mathematics conjecture report was possible. It wasn't like everyone could be correct every single time.

However, no one thought that an issue would arise during the reporting stage, as opposed to the Q&A session.

This almost felt like…

Lu Zhou used his own logic to tie himself to the floor.

The reporters standing behind the auditorium noticed the commotion in the audience. They felt like something big was going to happen. They secretly pointed the camera lens at Lu Zhou to get a close-up of his facial expression.

Laymen always liked to watch accidents happen.

Principal Xu and Dean Qin, as well as several other teachers who were also in the venue, started to sweat. The staff members near the stage were even more helpless; they didn't know if they should inform Lu Zhou of the time or just stand there and wait.

Dean Qin clenched his fists as he mumbled, "What is he doing, isn't he about to prove it?"

He had read the thesis, and he understood the thesis. With just a few more steps, he could prove the solution existence of the Yang-Mills equations. He didn't know if Lu Zhou forgot or something, because Lu Zhou just stood there and… started to daydream?

Han Mengqi, who was standing at the corner of the venue, watched Lu Zhou on stage. She clenched her right hand and silently prayed for Lu Zhou.

Lin Yuxiang, who was standing next to her, looked like she just realized something. She smirked and looked a little mischievous.

In the audience.

Academician Wang Shicheng was sitting in a corner of the venue. He stared at the blackboard and frowned.

The proof process was correct.

The rest of the proof should be easy. It would only take one more sentence to finish the proof. Lu Zhou just had to finish the PowerPoint presentation and begin the Q&A session.

For an internationally-renowned scholar, people wouldn't ask him to clearly prove every step. He only needed to answer some of the more controversial steps.

While Academician Wang was thinking about the proof process, the man wearing glasses, who was sitting next to him, asked, "Is he… stuck? This is going to be embarrassing for Lu Zhou."

Wang Shicheng stared at him and quietly said, "Shut up."

The man immediately shut his mouth.

After all, Wang Shicheng used to be the chairman of the China Mathematics Society. Even though he wasn't famous in the international academic community, he was still quite famous, domestically speaking.

On the other side of the venue.

Professor Witten stared at Lu Zhou on the stage and looked at Professor Deligne.

"Is there a problem?"

Deligne's eyebrows furrowed. He didn't say anything.

Fefferman's eyebrows were also furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

As for Wiles, he wasn't worried at all. He heartlessly smiled and happily answered Witten's question, "Maybe his thought process is stuck. When I was researching Fermat's last theorem, I fell into the same state… I know what he's experiencing right now, we just have to wait for a bit."

When he was researching Fermat's last theorem, he first failed when he used the Iwasawa theory. He then changed to the Colivagin Fletcher method. Then he found out that the method had a serious problem when applied to a special Euler class. This led him to abandon his claim of successfully proving Fermat's last theorem.

That was until the last day of August when he suddenly came up with the idea of using the Iwasawa theory and combining it with the Colivagin Fletcher method. The final result was quite gratifying, to say the least. Wiles repaired the holes in his hopeless thesis and turned it into a proof for Fermat's last theorem.

Wiles talked about how he was inspired by his daughter's Lego blocks, and how desperate he was, and about how it was a sunny morning in Barabara…

Actually, he did have the right to brag.

As far as the conjecture itself was concerned, the proof of Fermat's last theorem was the most brilliant mathematical achievement of the 20th century.

However, thirty years had passed since then.

When Deligne heard him blabber, he merely ignored him.

Fefferman reached out and poked Witten with his finger.

Witten looked at him.

"What?"

"I've heard another version of this story." Fefferman pointed toward Wiles, who was talking to Deligne. Fefferman said, "The last time he told me about this story, he said he was inspired by his wife's breakfast."

Witten: "…"

Ten minutes had passed.

Lu Zhou still stood still on stage.

People even began to wonder if he was asleep, but Lu Zhou suddenly moved.

Moreover, he moved in a way that was unexpected.

He picked up the eraser from the table and began to erase the lines of equations on the blackboard. He then picked up the chalk and began to write down new lines of equations.

When Fefferman saw the lines of calculations, his pupils dilated, as if he knew something was coming, but he couldn't believe it.

However, Lu Zhou's movements confirmed his hunch.

Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of equations.

He turned around and threw the chalk onto the desk.

He went silent for a few seconds. He then faced the crowd and said in a positive tone, "I solved it."

After that, to everyone's surprise, Lu Zhou turned around and walked down from the stage.

Chapter 622: Yang-Mills Equations General Solution!

Solved it?

General solution for the Yang-Mills equations???

Where's the process?

Wait a minute, what about the Q&A session?

Why did he just leave?!

Even though you're a Fields Medal, you can't just be this reckless?!

The audience in the venue looked at each other. The commotion spread throughout the venue like a tidal wave.

Some people shook their heads and stood up, ready to leave. Other people were overwhelmed. There were also some people that took photos of the calculations on the blackboard, and others that looked at their peers in shock, not knowing what to say.

Klitzing was stunned as he stared at the calculations on the blackboard while tightly gripping his pen. He wrote some stuff on a piece of paper and looked at Faltings and said, "Is this the general solution?"

Faltings stared at the blackboard without any expression. He could barely speak.

"I'm good at algebraic geometry. You'll have to ask Fefferman about PDE[1]."

Klitzing: "…?"

There are actually things that you're not good at?

Even though Faltings kicked the ball to Fefferman, Fefferman was just as muddled.

Deligne stared at the calculations on the blackboard. He tried to make some calculations, but just like Faltings, he gave up. He looked at the PDE expert, Professor Fefferman, who was sitting next to him. He put down his pen and asked, "Are his calculations correct?"

"I don't know… Even if I wanted to, I couldn't verify the answer." Fefferman paused for a second and said, "This is in the realm of computer science, not mathematics."

Partial differential equations were different from general equations. It had the highest computational calculation requirement out of all of the mathematical disciplines.

Not only were there very few nonlinear partial differential equations that could be solved, but there were even fewer that had a solution. One could make the case that not only was this one of the most difficult areas of mathematics, but it was also an essential area for establishing phenomenological models for other areas.

If Lu Zhou wrote down the calculation process, Fefferman could follow the steps and try to find any mistakes.

However, the general solution was just there, on its own.

He had no idea what to do.

Edward Witten closed the notebook in his hand and nodded with a serious expression.

"The verification calculation is too large… If he isn't going to provide a calculation process, we'll have to use supercomputers to verify this historic discovery."

His voice was full of excitement.

Not only did he see the possibility of a mathematical solution for the Yang-Mills equations, but he also saw the possibility of connecting the electromagnetic force with the strong interaction.

If Lu Zhou was correct, this day would go down in history.

Wiles was sitting next to him, and he looked interested.

Even though he didn't really care about what the physics world thought about this, he was still interested in the mathematical proposition itself. After he heard Witten's words, he immediately nodded.

"I agree, every great discovery has to be taken seriously. If we can't verify the answer, this would be a huge loss for both Professor Lu and us… Just like Fermat's last theorem. Also, speaking of which, doesn't Princeton have a supercomputer? Why don't we just use yours?"

Professor Deligne nodded.

"I'll contact them."

Academician Wang Shicheng was sitting on the other side of the venue, and he took out his phone and took a photo of the blackboard. He then sent it to the Yan University's mathematics department's group chat. The people in this group were all top mathematics scholars from Yan University, leaders of China's mathematics community.

After Academician Wang Shicheng sent the photo, he called the dean of Yan University's mathematics department.

"I sent the photo to the group chat, help me use a supercomputer to verify it.

"Yeah, it's for the Yang-Mills equations."

The guy that previously gloated was sitting next to Academician Wang Shicheng. He gulped and quietly whispered, "Did he really solve it?"

Wang Shicheng said, "I don't know, but there's a high chance he did."

The people in the venue were all muddled. The professors who were responsible for the logistics and the school leaders were overwhelmed by Lu Zhou's impulsive movements. Dean Qin tried to chase after Lu Zhou but was stopped by Principal Xu.

"What are you doing?"

"What else could I be doing, I'm trying to get him back here. There's still a Q&A session." Dean Qin said with a look of worry, "What the hell is this, we're just going to stop the report halfway through?"

Principal Xu went silent for a while before saying, "We'll talk about Lu Zhou later. Try to salvage the situation on stage."

Dean Qin was stunned.

"What… do you want me to do on stage?"

Principal Xu said, "Just say something, thank them for coming, tell them that the report is over. Ask them to eat at the InterContinental Hotel… Do I really need to teach you everything?"

"Okay, okay! I'll try," Dean Qin said with a look of panic on his face.

On the other side of the venue.

Han Mengqi was absolutely dumbfounded. She snapped back to reality after Lu Zhou had already left the venue.

General solution?

What general solution?

Is this report over?

Lin Yuxiang, who was sitting next to her, was a lot calmer. Her eyes flashed like stars.

"Wow, Professor Lu is so handsome…"

Han Mengqi: "???"

Even though she didn't disagree, what did that have to do with the situation at hand?

The grand auditorium was left in chaos because of Lu Zhou's lines of equations.

Lu Zhou walked out of the old campus and was already in Wang Peng's car. He headed toward Zhongshan International.

He opened the door and walked into his study room. He then sat in front of his computer and began to edit a new document by typing on his keyboard.

"The differential geometry method is applicable to the partial differential equations solution, but the method requires some adjustments… Damn, why didn't I think about this half a month ago…"

As Lu Zhou muttered to himself, he became more and more excited.

Inspiration always came at unexpected times.

He finally connected all of the dots that he had been collecting.

"Just set U(3) to be a closed-line alignment in Banach Space X…

"That gives a general solution!"

As he stared at the lines of equations on his screen, his fingers were slightly trembling.

If mathematics were the language of gods, then at this moment, he was standing on a god's shoulders.

He had never been so close to the objective truth before…

Was there anything else that could be more exciting for a scholar?

Probably not.

[1] Partial differential equation

Chapter 623: Strong Response

While Lu Zhou was writing his thesis, the Internet was exploding.

Some random reporter that attended the conference uploaded the entire report video onto the Internet.

When everyone saw the moment that Lu Zhou wrote down the last equation and said "I solved it" in a confident manner, the comment section exploded.

[Nutttty! He solved the general solution for the Yang-Mills equations?]

[God Lu is insane!]

[I'm honestly shook.]

[Amazing, even a video like this has millions of views…]

[What the hell is the yang mill? I came here for God Lu!]

[I'll give everyone a brief explanation. The Yang-Mills equations problem is one of the most outstanding theoretical physics achievements of the twentieth century. It aims to describe the behavior between elementary particles using the non-abelian group. Finding the general solution to the equations gives us hope for understanding the mass gap from a mathematical perspective. This lets us take a big step toward the Grand Unified Theory!]

[What the hell is the Grand Unified Theory?]

The comment section wasn't the only place that blew up, various media outlets had also followed suit.

Titles such as "The mathematician in his twenties shocks the world again with a unified theory!" or "Former US intelligence chief says: I regret letting Lu Zhou leave our country" were popping up on Weibo and various websites. Numerous photos of Lu Zhou standing in front of the blackboard thinking were posted in many articles.

For a long time, the Yang-Mills equations had been a milestone in the theoretical physics world. Co-invented by a Chinese physicist, this unsolvable equation was finally solved.

Of course, there was also criticism.

For example, after some social media influencer on Weibo saw this video, they immediately responded.

"I don't care about the significance of the Yang-Mills equations. Leaving the stage in the middle of a report is a disrespectful thing to do, it's like a comedian leaving in the middle of a set.

"As a Chinese scholar, Lu Zhou represents more than just himself; he is the image of China. In addition to academic achievements, he should be self-disciplined and well mannered.

"Not to mention, it's extremely irresponsible to write down a conclusion that hasn't been rigorously checked."

After the post came out, the comment section became a war zone.

[Please show us what you're really like in real life, show us how polite you are.]

[Oh, last time when Sir Atiyah used a five-page mathematics thesis to scam the whole world, you said he's a brave warrior. How come now you're criticizing Lu Zhou? Because Professor Lu isn't a foreigner?]

[F*ck sake, what's wrong with telling people to be more polite!]

The original poster saw that the comment section was a mess, so they left one last comment and decided to leave it alone.

In addition to the domestic media, foreign media had also been paying attention to this matter.

Like the drama-filled Daily Mail, after the report ended, they contacted a middle-aged professor who taught at St. Andrew University, who claimed to be an insider.

During the interview, when the middle-aged professor was asked about the incident, he began to respond in an awkward manner.

"I think the general solution is just a bunch of scribbles."

The reporter said, "Why?"

Middle-aged professor: "Everyone that knows a little about mathematics would know that behind every rigorous page of a mathematical thesis, are countless pages of thesis drafts. Especially for a computationally intensive partial differential equation proposition. How can anyone solve the problem without writing anything down? You're telling me he just solved it by standing there and using his inspiration?"

Reporter: "Why would Professor Lu need to forge anything?"

The professor shrugged and said, "I don't know, maybe he's too cocky? Wants research funding? I have a wonderful algorithm to prove that the general solution is correct, but unfortunately, there isn't enough space for me to write down the algorithm."

…

At night.

InterContinental Hotel.

Scholars dressed in formal attire were inside the spacious banquet hall. The gold-plated tables were filled with champagne and Chinese as well as western food. In order to make up for the morning report, Jin Ling University could only use food and drinks to try and give a better impression.

However, only a small subset of people was offended that Lu Zhou didn't follow the rules. Most people were more concerned about the general solution left on the blackboard.

"It's already 8 o'clock." Fefferman looked at the banquet hall entrance and said, "Looks like our protagonist is not going to show up."

Originally, he wanted Professor Lu to explain the general solution at the banquet, but unfortunately, that didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Wiles, who was wearing a tuxedo, had a glass of champagne in his hand as he walked over and said, "What happened with Princeton?"

Deligne still wore the black hat that covered his head. He shook his head and said, "The calculation required is large, and the researchers told me that it would take two to three days to complete. It's still morning over there, so the engineers responsible for arranging the supercomputer task has just woken up."

The John von Neumann Center didn't only serve as a supercomputer for the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, but it also provided computational support for PPPL. The people at the John von Neumann Center obviously valued orders from NASA or the Ministry of Science and Technology more than the Institute for Advanced Study.

However, since Deligne personally arranged this task, it shouldn't take too long.

Not to mention, the engineers at the John von Neumann Center were also interested in a world-class mathematics problem.

Fefferman sighed and said, "If only he could provide a derivation, even just an idea would be nice."

Wiles smiled and said, "Apparently, he's gone on another retreat? I heard Professor Lu has a unique way of thinking about problems."

Fefferman said, "I think so. He had the habit of locking himself in his room in Princeton. Regardless, before he finishes his work, even if you go to his house, he won't open the door."

"I'm not sure if I should go back first or wait for the results here." Edward Witten looked at his phone and said, "There's going to be a new collision experiment conference in CERN in five days."

Wiles smiled and said, "CERN has conferences every day, how often do you get a chance to witness history?"

Witten thought for a bit and shrugged.

"You're right.

"I'll just wait here for a couple more days."

Chapter 624: Passed Verification!

The sky outside the window gradually lit up.

Lu Zhou was sitting in front of his desk. He took a deep breath and slowly breathed out.

A lot of things were like this, there was only a thin paper wall between understanding and not understanding.

If the wall wasn't broken, then one would stay confused.

But if it was broken, everything would become clear.

Inside Lu Zhou's computer screen was the general solution process for the Yang-Mills equations.

When one compared this with the differential geometry L Manifold method for proving the existence of the solution for the nonlinear partial differential equation, the general solution process was surprisingly simple. The main proof part was only ten pages long.

Of course, part of the reason why it was so short was that it used several corollaries and lemmas that had been proven in his previous thesis. Directly referencing the previous thesis omitted some of the more cumbersome proof processes.

After this, Lu Zhou stretched his back and got up from his chair. He went downstairs and took a hot bath.

Since he stayed up for the entire night, his biological clock was disrupted, and he didn't feel sleepy just yet.

In order not to screw up his sleep schedule, he planned on taking a two-hour nap in the afternoon, then sleep at night normally.

After Lu Zhou got out of the bath and put on some clean clothes, he went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He took out a cold sandwich from the fridge and was about to put it in the microwave when he heard the doorbell ring.

Lu Zhou looked at the drone hovering near the fridge and asked, "Xiao Ai, who is outside?"

Soon, an artificial electronic voice was heard from the drone.

"It's your personal doctor, Master."

Yan Yan?

What is she doing here?

Lu Zhou put the sandwich back into the fridge and told Xiao Ai to open the front gate. He then walked through the living room to the main entrance.

When the door opened, he saw Yan Yan standing there with a plastic bag in her hand. She was dressed differently from her usual medical attire. The white coat was replaced by a casual purple-black t-shirt, and she also had on a casual pair of jeans, making her seem more youthful.

However, compared to her clothes, Lu Zhou was more interested in the plastic bag she was holding.

Even though he couldn't see what was inside, just from the shape of the container and the smell alone, he could immediately tell that it contained his favorite soup dumplings and soy milk.

"Why are you here?"

Yan Yan shook the plastic bag in her hand and replied in a relaxed manner, "Wang Peng was scared you're going to die at home alone, so he called me and told me to bring you some food."

What do you mean I'm going to die?

Lu Zhou ignored this tiny detail and sighed. "Why didn't he come?"

Yan Yan: "He said that if something did happen to you, I have more experience rescuing people."

Lu Zhou: "…"

I only went into a coma because I leveled up too fast.

Why are you making it seem like I'm going to die at any second?

Regardless, I'm sure she has good intentions.

Lu Zhou took the breakfast from Yan Yan and began to eat the soup dumplings at the dinner table. He took out his phone and opened Weibo. He was about to look at some interesting trending news when he saw that Yang-Mills equations was actually on trending.

He was intrigued, so he clicked on it and found multiple related articles. Lu Zhou clicked on the comment section.

There were some fans who were congratulating him, and some who were being sarcastic. There were also some who were insulting him… However, he only briefly glanced at the comments and smiled. He didn't take it to heart.

After all, he had matured a lot over the past few years.

Compared to his previous self, he didn't care about the praises and insults anymore.

After he gave a "Like" to the people that called him handsome, he was nearly done with his breakfast.

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a paper towel and stood up from his chair. He threw the plastic bag and container into the garbage and looked at Yan Yan, who was sitting on the sofa.

"I'm going to the InterContinental Hotel later."

Yan Yan nodded and stood up.

"I'll send you there."

Lu Zhou looked at her with surprise.

"You know how to drive?"

Yan Yan raised her eyebrows.

"You don't believe me?"

Lu Zhou gently coughed.

"It's not that."

Lu Zhou was just a bit worried about getting into AH a female driver's car[a][b][c].

…

Lu Zhou wasn't the only one who stayed up all night.

A dozen kilometers away, at the Jin Ling University's supercomputer center, a group of computational science engineers also worked all night.

Xu Jian was sitting in the office next door waiting for the final result. He chain-smoked while glancing at the door from time to time.

After the report ended yesterday, Dean Qin and the vice-principal took care of the visiting scholars. He, on the other hand, found some professors that were knowledgeable about PDE and took them here. He used Lu Zhou's general solution and the power of supercomputers to verify the general solution.

It had been more than ten hours since then.

With so many manpower and computing resources, it was about time for a result to come out.

However, there was no activity in the computer room yet…

This time of restlessness reminded him of when his wife was giving birth.

Xu Jian took a deep breath and put the cigarette butt in the ashtray. He was about to go ask about the progress.

However, when he arrived at the lounge door, the door was pushed open. Two information technology engineers walked in with serious expressions.

Xu Jian looked at the serious expressions on their faces and paused for a second. He then immediately asked, "Is the result out? What is it?"

The engineer said, "The result is out, I hope you're mentally prepared."

Xu Jian looked a little bitter as he took a deep breath and said, "Tell me."

The two engineers looked at each other before the same engineer said, "The result went beyond all of our expectations… The general solution for the Yang-Mills equations is correct!"

Xu Jian: "… ???"

Xu Jian nearly spat in their faces.

F*ck sake, if it's f*cking correct, why did you give me that look? My a*s thought it was going to be incorrect!

However, he didn't care about the two engineers. The excitement that rushed into his veins made him laugh out loud.

The two engineers looked at Principal Xu before looking at each other.

Is this guy…

Crazy?

Xu Jian stopped and caught his breath. He immediately looked at his assistant, who was sitting in his office.

"Immediately contact the public relations department, I want to tell everyone about the results!"

[a]i can see the comments already.

"Author is sexist!"

[b]_Marked as resolved_

[c]_Re-opened_
yeah…

Chapter 625: Is He Even a Human?

While Jin Ling University's supercomputer center published the results on their official website and contacted media outlets for a press conference on this issue, Lu Zhou was riding in Yan Yan's white SUV that was parked outside his house.

After a half an hour drive, the car stopped at the hotel's underground parking lot.

After Yan Yan put the handbrake down, she looked at Lu Zhou through the rearview mirror, as if she was trying to show off her driving skills. However, Lu Zhou didn't notice her at all. After all, he was still focused on the thesis he had just written.

After he got off the car, he went into the elevator and went straight to the hotel lobby.

It was already seven o'clock in the morning, and a lot of scholars who had healthy sleeping schedules were already out of bed.

Especially for people who were planning on flying today, they were already carrying their suitcases and walking out of the main entrance. However, the scholars were stunned the moment they saw Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou?

Isn't this guy on another retreat?

Why is he out so early?

Maybe…

Suddenly, the scholars who had already bought tickets and were walking through the main entrance with their suitcases began to hesitate.

When Fefferman walked out of the elevator, he made eye contact with Lu Zhou and paused for a second. He immediately walked over with a cheerful smile.

"I can't believe it, you're out of the house?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "What do you mean out of the house, I'm not an introvert."

"No, I mean about you retreat… You know what I'm talking about, your unique way of researching problems. We all thought that it'd be at least a month before you'd come out. I didn't expect you to be out so soon." Fefferman smiled and patted Lu Zhou's shoulder. He said, "Regardless… Since you're here, I'm guessing your result is correct? I have a lot of questions I want to ask you, how about we eat breakfast together?"

Lu Zhou: "I already ate breakfast."

Fefferman shrugged and said, "That's unlucky, can I have you for afternoon tea?"

"Of course you can, I also have some problems about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap that I want to discuss with you." Lu Zhou looked at his watch and said, "There will be a simple report in about two hours, in the same venue as yesterday. It'll be a continuation of yesterday's report. I'll explain the general solution and answer some questions."

Fefferman spoke in a serious manner, "Do you not have a thesis? Or at least a thesis draft? I'm guessing you didn't prepare a PowerPoint. I'm afraid there aren't many people that can keep up with your tempo."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said apologetically, "The time frame is too short, and I didn't have time. However, the thesis is already on arXiv, I'll tell Jin Ling University to print a few hundred copies before the report and make sure that everyone has a copy."

"Already on arXiv? You should have told me." Professor Fefferman thought for a bit and said, "I suggest moving the time of the report to 2 o'clock. That way, we'll have more time to read the thesis."

Normally speaking, for a major mathematical proposition like this, it would take at least three days to fully comprehend the thesis. If Lu Zhou wanted to do the report in two hours, even scholars who were researching the Yang-Mills equations would have trouble listening to the report.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and felt that it made sense, so he nodded and replied, "Okay then, we'll go with your plan."

…

While the people from Jin Ling University were relentlessly informing every participant of the report, the announcement from the Jin Ling University's supercomputer center spread to various major media networks.

Because the Yang-Mills equations was on trending yesterday, Lu Zhou was still on the trending page. Today, because of the Jin Ling University's supercomputer center, he was on the trending page again.

A Chinese news network that re-posted the supercomputer center's announcement had already reached 5,000 comments.

[Supercomputer used 16 hours to verify the results, while Professor Lu calculated it in ten minutes… Amazing, how many supercomputers is Professor Lu's brain worth?]

[Jesus Christ, is he even a human???]

[Surely he used more than 10 minutes, he definitely thought about it beforehand.]

[I think God Lu can fight against AlphaGo.]

[You can't compare it like this. Traditional supercomputers are more dominant in the numerical calculation, whereas the human brain is more dominant in abstract thinking. For problems that need to be solved in an abstract way, it is difficult for supercomputers to exhaustively find a solution. If quantum computer develops and matures in the future, they might have a slight advantage for solving these kinds of problems. But for now, supercomputers aren't the end-all solution for mathematics problems!]

[If only I had a strand of this god's DNA… (sad) (sad)]

[Forget about it, it's a state secret, why else do you think God Lu is still single?]

[Hahaha, makes sense.]

[Don't know if he's going to win the Fields Medal again, but he's probably going to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.]

While the entire Internet was shocked at the announcement made by Jin Ling University's supercomputer center, the social media influencer that previously insulted Lu Zhou had suddenly deleted their post and pretended as if nothing happened.

After all, everyone made mistakes.

Now that the Jin Ling University's supercomputer center made the announcement, all of the previous fake information was now exposed.

Lu Zhou was too lazy and didn't have the time to argue with those laymen, but Jin Ling University was different.

Whether it was to protect the reputation of the school or to protect the rights of teachers and students, Jin Ling University wouldn't tolerate any slander.

After all, no one would want to go against a top-five domestic university.

Plus, the social media influencer only wanted to stir some drama and gain more followers; they didn't want to lose their millions of existing followers…

If they did lose their account, the damage would be unthinkable.

At the same time, the Daily Mail was informed of this news. They immediately sent a reporter to the University of St. Andrew because they wanted to interview the mathematics professor that they just interviewed yesterday. The reporter wanted to ask him about the results of Jin Ling University's supercomputer center.

Unfortunately, the other party refused to conduct any interviews. The professor said he was too busy with research and kicked the reporter out of his office.

Lu Zhou wasn't very concerned about his reputation outside of academia. However, he was famous again…

Chapter 626: A Historic Mathematics and Physics Monument!

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Still in the Jin Ling University's old campus grand auditorium.

Even though there were one-fifth fewer people attending compared to yesterday, the scene at the venue was still quite lively.

Lu Zhou was standing on stage. He was writing on the blackboard while explaining at the same time.

Once the blackboard was filled, a staff member quickly dragged another one and neatly placed the blackboard on stage.

The staff went on stage five times in total, there were six fully written blackboards.

When Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of the equation for the general solution, the audience stood up in excitement.

Thunderous applause spread like a tidal wave, filling the entire report venue.

Edward Witten was clapping. He looked at the blackboards on stage and smiled. "Thank God I didn't leave early. Otherwise, I would have missed this historic moment."

Deligne had a warm smile on his face as he said emotionally, "Maybe his talents in other mathematics fields are much stronger than his algebraic geometry ability."

Fefferman smiled and jokingly said, "Don't be discouraged. He's just not interested in algebraic geometry for the time being. Once he becomes interested, the entire algebraic geometry field will be shocked by his results."

Deligne couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hopefully that day comes."

The applause gradually subsided.

It faded away, just like a tidal wave.

The audience in the venue sat back down when Lu Zhou stopped writing.

Lu Zhou looked back at the audience and cleared his throat. He then said slowly, "We have obtained the general solution for the Yang-Mills equations. This gives us a deeper understanding of the mathematical relationship of the interaction between microscopic particles and their existence or movements.

"From this point onward, I will try to explain the strong interaction mass gap from a mathematics perspective."

When Lu Zhou heard the exclaims from the audience, he paused for a second before he continued, "Next up is the Q&A session."

…

The solution to a proposition was different than the proof of a proposition.

The latter required a rigorous proof process of the idea; there was no room for any mistake.

The former didn't require any proof process, even guesses were allowed by the academic community.

Just like when Waring wrote "Depths of Algebra" and proposed that "every positive integer can be expressed as the sum of at most r powers of k, where r depends on k". For example, he boldly predicted that every natural number was the sum of at most 4 squares, 9 cubes, or 19 fourth powers.

He didn't provide a clear solution to these conclusions, and the proof of the existence of g(k) and the subsequent numerical solutions was solved by someone 150 years later.

Actually, even if Lu Zhou didn't provide a perfect solution proof, it would be fine.

It would just leave the future generations in suspense, and the people in the next 50 to 100 years would, instead of using computers, try to prove this solution in a mathematical way, to test whether this conjecture was correct…

In short, after the Q&A session ended, the report also came to an end. The scholars visiting China went on their return flights.

Ten o'clock at night, Jinling international airport.

Edward Witten was waiting for his flight in the airport terminal. He picked up a magazine and was about to sit down and read it. However, he was immediately approached by a reporter.

"Professor Witten, what do you think about this report?"

"That was an excellent report. I would like to thank Professor Lu for bringing this report to us, and the hospitality from Jin Ling university. I already miss the uh… Jin Ling roast duck? I think that's how you say it," Witten said with a smile on his face.

The reporter smiled as well before immediately asking, "Then what do you think about the content of the report?"

Witten thought for a bit before replying, "There is no doubt that this is a milestone both in mathematics and physics. Finding a general solution for the Yang-Mills equations means that we can look at the microscopic world in a more profound mathematical point of view. This will reveal existing physical phenomena that we have not yet discovered.

"Looking at this from the view of a theoretical and mathematical physicist, I think this will be the most outstanding research result of the year."

Reporter: "Even though the year has only just begun?"

"Yes, I am almost certain of this." Witten looked at his watch and saw that it was getting late. He looked at the reporter and said, "If you have any other questions, make sure to ask them now. I have to board the plane in five minutes."

If everything went well, he might be able to still attend the CERN conference.

However, compared to the experience he just had in China, the conference waiting for him in Switzerland seemed to be rather minuscule.

"I promise, this is my last question." The reporter flipped through their notebook and found the most important question. They asked, "People have criticized Professor Lu for suddenly leaving the report, and they said that his action offended other scholars. As an internationally-renowned scholar, what do you think about this?"

"I'm not exactly internationally renowned." Witten smiled and humbly said, "Compared to Professor Lu, I'm still lacking in the Nobel Prize department."

He smiled and paused for a second.

"Normally speaking, unless something happens, no one would leave in the middle of a report. After all, the report affects whether his theorem is going to be recognized by the academic community. However, if he really had to leave during the middle of the report to do something, I personally think it is understandable."

Reporter: "Do you think the accusations are unreasonable?"

"I think so, I mean after I saw the amazing results of the second report, I don't really have any complaints." Witten smiled and said in a relaxed manner, "Personally, I think that criticizing a scholar that has made outstanding contributions to the theoretical physics community and think that us scholars are as shallow as them…

"I think that's the most offensive thing."

Chapter 627: Discussion With Professor Fefferman

The report of the general solution to the Yang-Mills equations came to a successful conclusion.

Over the next three days, the Yan University's supercomputer center, the John von Neumann Center in Princeton, and several other supercomputer centers that were interested in this proposition had released their calculation results.

The results were as expected.

The solution to an equation might differ depending on the input parameters, but the general solution wouldn't differ from calculation to calculation even though it was a nonlinear partial differential equation.

After the supercomputer centers released their results, most of the general public were amazed by Professor Lu's "super calculation" abilities. However, there were also attacks about the Jin Ling University's supercomputer center releasing fraudulent data and how the general solution was just a bunch of scribbles.

Even though academic fraud had happened in the past, and even if the Yan University's supercomputer center wasn't totally trustworthy, the John von Neumann Center was certainly still authoritative in most people's eyes.

Also, because of Lu Zhou's thesis on arXiv, research on the Yang-Mills equations, the mass gap, and the electromagnetic force and strong interaction had blown up on arXiv. There were also popular discussion posts on other major academic exchange forums.

After all, understanding the mystery behind this equation was the lifelong wish of many scholars. The discovery of the general solution gave everyone hope.

In addition to satisfying the scholar's own curiosities, there was also the lure of the Nobel Prize and the million-dollar reward for each Millennium Prize Problem.

If anyone could put down the last brick on this building, not only could they receive at least a third of the prize money, but they could also stand on the Nobel Prize podium with a world-renowned scholar.

Except for some rather peculiar scholars, no one disliked having too many honors…

…

Lu Zhou didn't pay a lot of attention to the results from the supercomputer centers.

After all, he knew that he was correct, and that was enough for him.

During the three days after the report, Lu Zhou spent his time at the mathematics department of Jin Ling University. He discussed the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap with his friend Professor Fefferman.

Even though Fefferman's main area of expertise was mathematics, he was well versed in partial differential equations. Therefore, his research was closely related to physics. He had his own unique insights in fluid mechanics and theoretical physics.

This was exactly what Lu Zhou needed.

Not to mention, they were partners for the Navier–Stokes equations, and they already had past experience talking about academic problems.

Jin Ling University, mathematics department.

Lu Zhou's office.

The three blackboards placed against the wall were fully written.

After talking for the entire morning, Lu Zhou's throat was feeling dry. After he asked Assistant Lin to make him two cups of coffee, he sat down on the sofa with Professor Fefferman and started to chat.

"How is Princeton?"

Fefferman smiled and said, "It's good, a lot of students miss you, there are also some young female researchers that have expressed their fondness of you… It's kind of weird for me to talk about these things, but do you want me to give them your email?"

Lu Zhou nearly spat the coffee out of his mouth.

"Cough! There's no need for that… Oh yeah, what about my students? How are they doing?"

"Qin Yue is currently a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics back at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. He seems to be doing research in number theory. The guy named Hardy returned to Brazil, and apparently, he's teaching at Sao Paulo University. I'm not very sure about him… Oh yeah, the girl named Vera Pulyuy, her number theory lectures are very good. She's already an associate professor at Princeton University. However, she seems like she doesn't want to tell people what she's working on, so maybe you can go ask her? Satisfy our curiosity."

Lu Zhou subtly looked away and coughed.

"Since she doesn't want to disclose her research, I think we should respect her decision."

Even though Lu Zhou was pretty sure that if he asked her, she would tell him.

But…

Lu Zhou wasn't sure how to go about asking her.

"You're right." Fefferman shrugged and said, "I'm afraid she's a bit too stubborn. I've seen similar cases that happened to many young scholars. After all, we all think that she is the biggest contender for the Fields Medal at the St Petersburg International Congress of Mathematicians. If she's stuck on one mathematical proposition, it would be a shame."

Lu Zhou went silent for a while before saying, "I believe she knows what she's doing."

"Okay then, since you put it that way," Fefferman said.

Fefferman noticed that Lu Zhou didn't seem like he wanted to talk about this, so he didn't say anything else.

He picked up the cup of coffee and looked at the three blackboards near the office wall.

"Honestly, you should talk about this stuff with Edward Witten. He's a master in theoretical physics, while I only know about theoretical physics because of my research needs." Fefferman put down the coffee cup and said in a somewhat helpless tone, "And my theoretical physics knowledge is even worse than my fluid mechanics knowledge."

Lu Zhou knew he would say this, so he smiled and said, "Discussing this problem with him might not be the best choice, at least for now… Of course, I hope you won't tell him I said this."

"Can you tell me why?" Fefferman looked at Lu Zhou in surprise and said, "Maybe I'll put this in my memoir later."

"Then I'll have to answer this question seriously." Lu Zhou smiled and paused for a second. He said, "Actually, the reason is nothing special. It's just that he's a mathematical physicist, and he's been researching the Grand Unified Theory for more than a decade. He has a mature viewpoint of both string theory and the interaction of microscopic particles.

"The existing theoretical physics theory is quite mature. It just lacks experimental evidence. Talking about this problem with him wouldn't be a discussion, it would just be us trying to persuade one another… Before any new theories are invented, there wouldn't be a point discussing this with him."

"I think Witten knows this as well." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "Otherwise, I'm sure he would have liked to stay here for a few more days. There was no reason for him to leave in such a hurry."

Chapter 628: Nature Weekly Interview

All good things had to come to an end. After all, Fefferman was the head of the mathematics department, he still had a lot of work to do in Princeton.

Lu Zhou sent Fefferman to the airport. As he watched Fefferman carry his suitcase toward the security checkpoint, Lu Zhou said, "Have a safe flight."

"I will." Fefferman waved goodbye and said, "If you have any new discoveries, make sure to contact me."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"I will."

Over the next few days, Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion, the buildings at the Institute for Advanced Study, and his office at Jin Ling University. His number theory classes and computational materials science classes had finished for this semester, so he didn't have a lot of university work to do.

Lu Zhou either worked on his own research or help his students finish their academic tasks.

Honestly, when he saw his students growing and thriving, he felt a sense of accomplishment.

Mathematics department office.

Lu Zhou called Han Mengqi to his desk.

"I have some good news for you."

Han Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou's mysterious expression and felt suspicious.

"What good news?"

Han Mengqi was stunned. She suddenly had a joyful smile on her face.

"Really?"

"Of course." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This is the result of your hard work for the past six months. What do you think? Are you excited?"

Han Mengqi nodded her head excitedly.

"Yeah, super excited!"

The impact factor of ACS-Nano was around 14, and it was one of the top journals in materials science. Successfully submitting a thesis to this journal wasn't an easy task.

Even though the reason why the thesis was accepted so quickly might have something to do with Lu Zhou's name on the thesis as a corresponding author, but the quality of the thesis itself was unquestionable.

After all, reputation was part of it, but the academic community mostly cared about quality content.

When Lu Zhou saw how excited Han Mengqi was, he sincerely felt happy for her.

Roughly speaking, all of his students were quite outstanding.

In addition to Han Mengqi's thesis, there were two PhD theses that were also published, one in number theory and one in computational materials science. They were published in SIAM Review, which had an impact factor of four, and Nano Today, which had an impact factor of 17.

Since Wu Shuimu was able to publish in a journal that had an impact factor of over 10, he was ecstatic.

Even though this thesis was part of a research project of the Institute for Advanced Study and that some people had some doubts about his first author title, he did actually put a lot of work into this project.

As for He Changwen's thesis, other than some guidance from Lu Zhou, he basically completed it on his own.

Mathematics journals generally had lower impact factors. The real level of influence wasn't reflected properly by the impact factors. Even though "SIAM Review" wasn't considered to be one of the top four mathematics journals, it was still a top-tier journal according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Another thesis was from Feng Jin, and his journal's impact factor was around 1-2.

His thesis was still in peer review, but the results should come out by July.

As for the other three mathematics and one materials science master's students that weren't able to complete their thesis, Lu Zhou didn't blame them.

After all, different people had different abilities. Not to mention, Jin Ling University students weren't comparable to Princeton students. He never expected all of his students to be outstanding. He only expected them to be able to complete his tasks step by step.

Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria at noon to eat some barbecue meat on rice. After he returned to his office, he saw it was about time for his interview. He changed into a handsome formal attire and sat on his office sofa. He was then interviewed by the British Nature Weekly.

Recently, he had been receiving a lot of interview invitations; some were from domestic media outlets, and others were international.

Lu Zhou knew that the public was curious about his research work. Therefore, he selectively agreed to conduct interviews for a few appropriate media outlets.

For example, Nature Weekly was one of them.

Nature Weekly was much more academic-focused than media outlets like the Daily Mail. It had a serious attitude toward covering academic figures and scientific breakthroughs.

After the reporter and the photographer arrived at the mathematics department, Lin Yuxiang enthusiastically invited the two of them to sit down. She then poured two cups of coffee for them.

The camera was turned on and the microphone was set in place. Belinda sat professionally and smiled.

She then opened her mouth and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu Zhou."

"Nice to meet you."

Belinda smiled and said, "Do you still remember when we met five years ago at the CERN headquarters in Switzerland? Back then, you participated in the European Nuclear research conference as an intern because of the 750 GeV characteristic peak discovery, and I interviewed you back then."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No wonder you look familiar."

Belinda smiled and said, "I still remember when Professor Grayer at CERN boasted about your physics abilities. Can I ask why did you choose the path of mathematics instead?"

"At first, it was because my major was mathematics." Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "But the more in-depth research I did, the more interested I became. In the end, I decided to dive into the field."

Belinda was surprised. "Oh really?"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Belinda looked at her notes and said, "The general solution for the Yang-Mills equations has been found. According to my understanding, there is still a crucial problem that hasn't been solved, which is the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap. A lot of physicists have said that this problem is the holy grail of modern physics… What I want to ask is, why do they say this? What is so difficult about this problem?"

This question wasn't easy to answer.

After all, most people didn't even know what the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, much less understand why it was so difficult.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

He then said, "Figuring out the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap requires the exploration of the hadrons under the strong interaction described by the special unitary group of gauge theory. As for the unknown hadron world, the minimum frequency required for a high energy beam to detect it is the minimum mass times the square of the speed of light, divided by the Planck constant."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "Thus, we can calculate the minimum frequency of the hadron world experiment is 10^24 Hz. The high degree of coupling interactions indicates that the world of hadrons is very different from the world that we are familiar with. Understanding a world that one is not familiar with is a meaningful and challenging thing in and of itself. It can change the face of civilization and can help us discover livable planets.

"Simply put, we will find out how massless particles are able to form particles with mass, and how the four fundamental forces can unify together."

Belinda looked surprised.

"So your goal is to unify the four basic forces?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This isn't just my goal, this is the entire physics world's goal."

Belinda immediately asked, "Then how do you think we can achieve this goal?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Before unifying gravity with the other three fundamental forces, I think it is important to achieve unity between the three fundamental forces first."

"The Yang-Mills equations problem is the first step to the Grand Unified Theory. Establishing the relationship between the strong interaction and electromagnetic force will become an extremely important piece of the puzzle, and it could be the last piece we need to unify the three basic forces… After all, Weinberg's theory of weak electricity unification has already unified the electromagnetic force and weak interaction by adding a Higgs field."

Belinda had a thoughtful expression on her face as she continued, "So what you're saying is, the electromagnetic force will bond the weak interaction and strong interaction together?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou leaned back against the sofa and jokingly said, "Then they will all go find the anti-social gravitational force… But I'm guessing that won't happen in my lifetime."

Chapter 629: Seems More Academic

The interview came to an end.

Belinda put away the audio recording device and smiled.

"Oh yeah, can we take a photo of you?"

Lu Zhou: "Photo?"

Belinda nodded and said, "Yeah, we plan on making you the cover person of this week's Nature Weekly issue."

Cover person?

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled.

This… I'm embarrassed.

Speaking of which, he didn't even remember how many magazine covers he had been on.

"No problem… I'll send my photo to your email?"

"No need for that, we have a photographer here, so we'll just take a photo right now." Belinda nodded at her colleague and smiled toward Lu Zhou. She said, "Most people are curious about what your office looks like. Is it fine if we take a photo here?"

"Sure…" Lu Zhou looked around his office. He then looked down at his t-shirt and said, "Can I change clothes?"

Belinda smiled and said, "Just wear the same thing, it seems more academic."

Lu Zhou: "…"

It took an hour just to take one photo, and it was more tiring than the interview itself.

When the Nature Weekly photographer finally made an OK gesture, it was already dusk.

All in all, the photo was pretty good. Even though it didn't totally reflect Lu Zhou's handsomeness, it was still a seven or eight out of ten.

After the interviewer left, Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria.

Like usual, he ordered a bowl of barbecue meat on rice and sat down at a quiet, secluded area. He was about to eat his food when he heard Yan Yan's footsteps. She wore a white coat today. She walked toward him and placed her food tray across from him.

Lu Zhou was a little startled. He began to eat while talking to her.

"You eat at the school cafeteria as well?"

"Of course, where else am I supposed to eat? I'm living in one of the school apartments right now, and I don't have a kitchen." Yan Yan took a pair of disposable chopsticks and gently blew her noodle soup. She lifted the bowl and took a small sip, which left her with a satisfied look on her face.

She then put down the bowl. When she saw Lu Zhou's bowl of meat and rice, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you not sick of eating meat and rice all day?"

"Sick?" Lu Zhou stopped moving his chopsticks and smiled. "Why would I? There's spicy-flavored meat, curry-flavored, tomato-flavored… I think there are more than seven flavors? If I wanted to, I can even put Lao Gan Ma sauce on it."

Yan Yan was speechless. She couldn't think of a counterargument.

After a while, she sighed.

"You should still try to eat healthier and more nutritious food. Eating this kind of fast food isn't good for your health, you'll gain weight."

"Oh, I don't care." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm the type of person that can't gain weight no matter how much I eat. I'll be happy to gain weight."

Yan Yan: "…"

F*ck sake!

I'm jealous!

After Lu Zhou finished his meal, he walked around the campus while thinking about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem. A lot of students recognized him and greeted him, to which he smiled and greeted them back.

Lu Zhou walked from the lecture buildings to the observatory, then back to the library. He saw it was getting late, so he called Wang Peng and was about to ask him for a ride back home.

However, when he opened his contact list, he saw an incoming call from Chen Yushan.

Lu Zhou picked up the call and put his phone next to his ear.

"Hello?"

A pleasant voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Little brother, Little brother, did you eat yet?"

Lu Zhou was too lazy to complain about his nickname.

"Yeah, I ate."

"Oh? You already ate…" The other end of the phone sounded a little disappointed. However, she quickly said, "Do you want to get a cup of coffee then?"

Lu Zhou was a little full, so he didn't want to drink coffee.

However, judging by her tone of voice, she was probably near campus.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before asking, "Which cafe?"

As expected, she immediately replied in a cheerful voice, "The place outside the campus entrance! Come over, I'm already waiting for you here!"

…

Cafe outside the school entrance.

When the cafe door was opened, Chen Yushan, who was sitting near a window, heard a bell sound. She looked up and saw Lu Zhou walking into the cafe.

She waved her hand happily as she called out, "Over here!"

Lu Zhou sat down across from her. He warmed his hand by cupping the hot cup of mocha and looked at Chen Yushan.

Her delicate face was lightly coated with makeup, and she had a white off-the-shoulder top and a light red skirt on. If it weren't for her professional aura, one could easily mistake her for one of the university students.

These two had been friends for a long time, so Chen Yushan didn't waste any time on small talk. She immediately took out a contract from her bag and placed it on the table. She looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

"Look at this."

Lu Zhou picked up the contract and briefly glanced at it.

"What is this?"

Chen Yushan smiled and explained, "Zhongshan New Materials' letter of intent."

"Zhongshan New Materials?" This name sounded familiar. Lu Zhou flipped through the letter of intent and said, "Patent license for lithium-sulfur battery anode material and cathode materials, and 15 million yuan, in exchange for 15% of shares. Both parties will cooperate in technology research… Is there any point in buying this company?"

He didn't really ask questions about his investments, but when it came to major decisions, Chen Yushan would take his input.

Chen Yushan's soft lips gently bit on her iced americano straw. She looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

"The state is trying to standardize clean energy vehicle batteries, right? Several domestic automotive energy giants are participating in this project. Apparently, they're trying to separate the battery component from the automobile so that they can develop standardized battery specifications, which will be produced by battery manufacturers. Rumor is, when the time comes, more than 40 billion yuan of subsidies will enter the battery production market. Right now, it is the best time to invest in battery production.

"Since we don't have any battery production experience, our best way of eating a piece of this pie is to jump on the bandwagon."

Lu Zhou knew about this battery standardization news since he was partly responsible for this proposal.

After automobile batteries were standardized, it would be equivalent to buying cars without batteries. They wouldn't have to wait to charge at gas stations anymore. They could just replace the battery and continue on their journey. As for a series of concerns, such as battery degradation or damage, this can all be included in the cost of the battery replacement. Car owners also wouldn't be allowed to dismantle their temporary batteries.

Considering the fact that in three years, the penetration of fusion electric energy would be more than 80%, the cost of electricity would be extremely cheap by then. Even including all of the additional costs, the average cost per kilometer for electric vehicles would be much lower than traditional gas vehicles.

But I don't think the state has approved this policy yet, right?

Lu Zhou hadn't heard anything about it.

He flipped through the letter of intent and asked, "How did you hear about this?"

"I obviously have information sources. Of course, even without my sources, there are little clues scattered all over the place. For example, BYD Company is separating its battery production business, which will become a separate subsidiary." Chen Yushan sighed and said, "But they have their own friends, and they don't want to play with us. Otherwise, it would be better if we could cooperate with a giant company instead."

Even though Lu Zhou didn't really understand what she was saying, he noticed a few key points from the contract.

"What do you think about this proposal?"

Chen Yushan said in a serious manner, "I think we should consider this. Zhongshan New Materials has already become the largest anode and cathode material manufacturer in the whole province of Jiangsu. If they plan on entering the battery industry, they'll already have a good foundation and government support. Also, Jiangsu is the first province to operate a fusion power station. I'm guessing that the battery standardization will also be implemented in Jiangsu first."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and nodded.

"Okay, we'll go with your plan."

Chapter 630: Level Five Biochemistry!

Lu Zhou didn't want to waste a lot of time on business. After all, his energy was limited.

Thankfully, Chen Yushan was here to help him, so he didn't have to worry too much.

To be honest, Lu Zhou felt like asking her to come here and become CEO was undervaluing her.

After all, she was a top student from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Besides, her father was a high ranking government official in Beijing. With her background, she could easily become a CEO of a top 100 company.

Therefore, Lu Zhou agreed to most of her proposals regarding the expansion of Star Sky Technology.

After all, like she said, it would be foolish to let so much money just sit in his bank account. Money had to be invested for it to create more value. Letting it sit in a bank account would only depreciate the money.

Her eloquent speech reminded Lu Zhou of his little sister, Xiao Tong, who was studying finance in the UK.

Hopefully, when Xiao Tong graduates, she can also become as excellent as her…

The next morning.

Like usual, Lu Zhou walked into his office.

When he opened the door, he heard an excited voice.

"Professor!"

Feng Jin stood up from his desk while blushing. Lu Zhou curiously asked, "What's up?"

"I…" Feng Jin's cheeks were bright red. It was almost like he was on drugs as he excitedly said, "I passed!"

Lu Zhou and everyone else in the office were a little shocked by his loud voice.

The three mathematics master's students looked jealous, but everyone else just smiled at him and continued on with their work.

Lu Zhou could relate to his feelings.

After all, when he first submitted to SCI, he was so excited he couldn't fall asleep.

But after he submitted to Annual Mathematics, it was a lot less exciting.

"Okay, not bad." Lu Zhou patted his shoulder and said, "Keep working hard, this is only the beginning. I hope you can publish in the big four journals."

"Okay!" Feng Jin nodded and excitedly said, "I'll try my best!"

After Feng Jin's thesis passed the review, Lu Zhou could finally receive his mission rewards.

According to the system, the cumulative impact factor was 36, which was equivalent to 36,000 experience points and 360 general points. Both of his classes were given an S rating, which gave him 200,000 experience points and one lucky draw ticket.

Lu Zhou was very curious about how his classes were evaluated and why the system didn't wait until after the exam to evaluate him. However, he carefully thought about it and realized that it made sense.

After all, he was the one who wrote and marked the exam. If the system evaluated his classes based on the students' exam marks, it would be a little unfair.

Lunch break.

Lu Zhou lay unconscious on his chair; his consciousness was in the system space.

He stared at his characteristic panel for a while and contemplated it for a bit. He assigned the 236,000 experience to biochemistry.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (444,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 6 (283,215/600,000)

C. Biochemistry: Level 4 (110,000/300,000)

D. Engineering: Level 5 (0/300,000)

E. Materials science: level 6 (13,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (0/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 2 (3,000/50,000)

General points: 3835 (Two lucky draw tickets)

]

Biochemistry went from level four to level five. Overall, the rewards were pretty good.

Lu Zhou looked at the two lucky draw tickets and hesitated for a bit. He didn't use them.

First, he had to wash his face for good luck, and second, he still had some other matters to attend to…

…

Three o'clock in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou got into Wang Peng's car and went to the airport.

He received an email from Luo Wenxuan yesterday. Luo Wenxuan was flying to Jinling today and asked if Lu Zhou had the time to pick him up.

Luo Wenxuan had helped him many times in Princeton, so Lu Zhou happily agreed.

The car was parked in the airport parking lot.

Lu Zhou got out of the car and waited for a couple of minutes. He soon saw Luo Wenxuan, who was wearing a trench coat, dragging his suitcase out of the airport.

Lu Zhou was standing next to his black sedan. He waved at Luo Wenxuan from a distance and smiled while Luo Wenxuan walked over to him.

"Why did you suddenly decide to come back to China?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "I didn't just come back, I'm working here permanently. I came back here for the Thousand People Initiative."

Lu Zhou smiled and jokingly said, "You're the all-mighty Witten's pupil, did the FBI not investigate you?"

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "Why would they investigate a nameless pawn like me? If anything, they should investigate you. Also, the United States Congress couldn't wait for theoretical researchers like me to go back to where I came from."

Lu Zhou said, "Do you plan on teaching at Jin Ling University?"

"I'll see, I'll stay here for a couple of years." Luo Wenxuan looked at the airport and said, "If I end up liking teaching, I'll stay here. If not, I'll probably go to some research institute."

Luo Wenxuan seemed kind of carefree.

After all, he was Witten's disciple. He had traveled around the world with Witten over the past few years, and he had been to CERN in Europe and Brookhaven in America. He had basically been to all of the major theoretical physics laboratories.

Even though he wasn't an outstanding researcher in Princeton, when it came to the domestic academic scene, he was quite nutty.

After all, the biggest shortcoming of the domestic academic community was the academic exchanges with the international academic community.

Yan University and Shuimu University had always wanted to poach Lu Zhou, not just because of his academic status or his teaching abilities, but mostly because of Lu Zhou's connections with the international academic community.

At the very least, Lu Zhou's connections could let a few students publish in major journals or send a few students for student exchange programs. It could even affect the entire university's status in academia.

These connections often couldn't be bought with money.

Why did Shuimu buy two cryogenic electron microscopes from a Princeton biology professor?

Other than the fact that they wanted a Nobel Prize, they also wanted to make connections.

Lu Zhou: "I personally think that research work and teaching doesn't have to be mutually exclusive."

Luo Wenxuan made a helpless gesture and said, "Okay then, it seems like you're a supporter of the Fermi model."

"Not really." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's just my personal experience… Oh yeah."

Luo Wenxuan: "What?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "Do you want to come work at my Institute for Advanced Study?"

Chapter 631: Outbreak

Luo Wenxuan froze for two seconds after hearing Lu Zhou's words.

However, by the third second, he replied with any hesitation, "Yes!"

When Luo Wenxuan accepted his offer without any hesitation, Lu Zhou was a little surprised.

"Are you not going to think about it carefully?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and waved his hand.

"Big Nobel Prize is inviting me, what do I have to think about."

Emm…

I guess he makes sense.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou didn't know what to say.

"Since you've agreed to work for me, let's talk about your work arrangement." Lu Zhou put on a serious expression and looked at Luo Wenxuan. He said, "I plan on making you the director of the Institute of Physics."

Luo Wenxuan was stunned.

This time, he wasn't as decisive. He hesitated for a bit and was almost embarrassed.

"Are you sure… about this?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I've thought about it for a long time, you're undoubtedly the best candidate for the job."

He had actually thought for a long time regarding the idea of making Luo Wenxuan the director of the Institute of Physics.

Looking at his qualifications, whether it was his academic ability or his connections, Luo Wenxuan was far ahead of any other researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study. Even Yang Xu, who studied at MIT, was no match for Luo Wenxuan.

His only shortcoming was management experience, but this wasn't a huge problem. Just like other research institutes, a deputy director could handle the management tasks.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou's sincere expression and went silent. He finally sighed and smiled.

"Since you have so much belief in me, I shouldn't doubt myself. Before you find someone better, I guess I can be the director of the Institute of Physics. I'll try to do my best."

"I'm sure you can handle it." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Then I'll talk about my requirements."

Luo Wenxuan nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Lu Zhou: "I want the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study to become Asia's Princeton Institute for Advanced Study."

Luo Wenxuan contemplated for a while and calmly said, "This might be a bit difficult. The domestic academic scene is different from the international scene. There are different software and hardware facilities. Even if you copy the Princeton model, it might not work, it might even become a burden."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I've considered all of the things you talked about, but these things cannot become an obstacle for a reform. You spent more time in Princeton than I did, and you also studied at other research institutes in America and Europe. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, and I'm also sure that you can do a good job."

Luo Wenxuan's expression was a bit heavy as he said, "I'll try my best."

Lu Zhou continued to speak in a more relaxed manner.

"Yeah, you got this… Also, that was the first thing, there's one more thing."

Luo Wenxuan: "What?"

"The expansion of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study requires talents." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "You're well connected with the Chinese foreign exchange students in America. We're looking for people that have a teaching position in America or are still doing postdoc research. If they don't want to come back to China, there's no need to force them. But if there are scholars who are still contemplating on coming back, we can try to invite them."

"Okay." Luo Wenxuan nodded and said, "I'll take care of this."

…

Lu Zhou and Luo Wenxuan chatted for a long time while driving from the airport to Jin Ling University.

They talked about CERN, some trivial life stuff, and Luo Wenxuan's girlfriends.

When Lu Zhou heard Luo Wenxuan gushing about his last girlfriend, he couldn't help but lecture him.

"You're already in your thirties, you should think about settling down. Haven't you thought about finding someone to spend the rest of your life with?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at the streetlights outside the window.

"I haven't."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

"You don't understand. Once you've been with all kinds of people and experienced all kinds of feelings, there's no way you can ever put all of your feelings into one person anymore." Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "Rather than two people ending up in pain, it'd be better to just live a good life on your own. Sometimes, I feel like this type of carefree lifestyle is pretty good. At least, I'll only have to worry about one thing, like physics… And I don't have to rely on someone else for happiness."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Fine.

It was true, Lu Zhou didn't really understand all this.

After all, he hadn't even been in a relationship, much less multiple relationships.

Luo Wenxuan smirked, like he was searching for agreement. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, "You should know how I feel. It's like when you're studying mathematics or physics problems."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head.

"I don't really know how you feel… Even though there are problems that I can't solve for the time being, I can solve most of the problems I encounter."

Luo Wenxuan: "…"

Obviously…

I can't talk about emotions with this guy at all.

Luo Wenxuan got out of the car at the main entrance of Jin Ling University. He said goodbye to Lu Zhou and walked into the campus while dragging his suitcase.

Jin Ling University had arranged a place at the faculty apartments for him, so Lu Zhou didn't have to worry about his accommodation.

Lu Zhou got back in the car and asked Wang Peng to send him home. He got home and hung his coat on the coat hanger near the door. He then went into the bathroom and washed his face.

After his "good luck ritual", Lu Zhou went into his bedroom and lay in bed. After he whispered "system", his consciousness was sucked into the pure white system space.

Lu Zhou didn't waste any time. He walked in front of the translucent characteristic panel and clicked on the lucky draw button, which was next to his general points.

The round roulette wheel appeared in front of his eyes, and it began to rapidly spin.

When Lu Zhou clicked on the lucky draw button again, the inertia of the wheel caused it to turn a couple more times, and it finally stopped.

[Congratulations, User, sample reward received.

[Future Men's Fragrance.

[Instructions: Using induces the release of special pheromones in the human body for a certain period of time. This increases the opposite sex's attraction toward the user. More successful dates with less effort.

[Warning: Do not mix with different genders. May produce unpredictable consequences.]

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What is this?

Is this really a "sample" and not a "garbage"?

He was a little excited when he saw the item pop up, but when he pulled out the bottle of perfume, he wasn't in a good mood.

Regardless of whether or not he knew how to use cologne, did he really need a bottle of cologne to increase his attractiveness?

He obviously didn't.

Lu Zhou silently cussed at the system and took a deep breath. He calmed himself down and looked at the lucky draw button again.

The reward mission gave him two chances at the lucky draw.

Even though the last draw wasn't ideal, he still had one more chance.

His hand was about to touch the screen when he suddenly stopped.

I'm feeling unlucky today, maybe I should wait a few days?

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit. In the end, he decided to press the button anyway.

I don't care, I believe in science, not faith!

The wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou stared at it and pressed the button.

The wheel slowed down and came to a stop.

[Congratulations, User, sample received.]

Another sample?

Looks like it's my lucky day.

Then, the words on the screen echoed in his mind.

[Received: Scanner gun (one time use)]

Lu Zhou: "!!!"

Scanner gun?!

The f*ck?

Chapter 632: New Tailored Mission.

Other than cursing in his heart, Lu Zhou didn't know how else to express his surprise. It was almost like he bought a soda bottle for two dollars fifty and won a Ferrari from the bottle cap.

So far, the best sample he had ever gotten was the scanner gun.

He had analyzed less than 20% of the Debris No.3. He could figure out what materials the components were made of. However, because the debris was highly damaged, it wasn't clear what the components were even used for.

This scanner gun could undoubtedly save him a lot of time and effort. It could also allow him to maximize the reverse engineering of the debris technology.

Lu Zhou looked at the scanner gun in his inventory and resisted the urge to take it out. He looked over at his mission card.

Now that the lucky draw and experience points assignment were complete, he had to accept a new mission.

Lu Zhou looked at this gold shiny card and contemplated it for a bit. He didn't immediately open it. Instead, he opened his mission panel to look at the random three missions he was given.

Soon, the mission panel refreshed and appeared in front of him.

[

Mission One: Research and Production Combination

Description: An inventor can also be a producer. In fact, production guided by the inventor often leads to a more efficient allocation of resources.

Requirements: Produce 10,000 tons of lithium-sulfur batteries and put them on the market. The reward is positively correlated with the performance of the battery.

Rewards: 0-200,000 experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.

]

[

Mission Two: Please Get Married Soon

Description: User is 26 years old, verging on the thirties. Has the user not thought about passing on their genes? Just complete this lifelong event, a test tube baby is fine!

Requirements: Create a human.

Rewards: 100,000 experience points. 500 general points. One ton of Future branded milk powder.

]

Lu Zhou had a serious face when he was reading the first mission, but when he read the second mission, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

Jesus, how many times am I going to be tortured for my relationship status?

Also, what is this mission requirement?

What the hell is creating a human?

Even if I found a partner, it's not like I can immediately create a human, right?

But this Future branded milk powder…

Lu Zhou looked at this mission reward and thought for a while.

He didn't know why. Even though he knew this milk powder would be considered garbage if he won it through a lucky draw, but after drinking Future branded Coke, Sprite, and coffee, he suddenly wanted to try it…

[

Mission 3: Yang-Mills equations and Yang-Mills existence and mass gap

Description: The Grand Unified Theory is the holy grail of theoretical physics. The Yang-Mills equations is the first step to the Grand Unified Theory. How are particles made out of massless bricks? This is a question worth pondering.

Requirements: Complete the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap Millennium Prize challenge.

Rewards: 300,000 mathematics experience points. 300,000 physics experience points. 500 General points. One lucky draw ticket.

]

Even though the previous mission was kind of retarded, thankfully, the third mission was quite legit.

Especially after Lu Zhou read the mission requirements, he had a smirk on his face.

Thank God he didn't use his mission card.

600,000 experience points in total. It would be a shame if he had lost this opportunity.

It was almost like this mission was tailored for him.

…

The next morning.

As usual, Lu Zhou woke up early and put on his sportswear. After going out for a morning run, he came back and took a hot shower.

After singing in the shower, Lu Zhou opened the shower glass door and yelled for Xiao Ai.

Without him saying anything, Xiao Ai flew two drones into the bathroom. One drone handed him his clothes that were taken out of the dryer, and the other handed him his phone.

Lu Zhou put on his clothes and heard a synthetic voice from the drone.

"Master, you haven't been at the underground laboratory with Xiao Ai for a long time. Colon, Parentheses…"

When Lu Zhou heard the weird symbols, he paused for a second. He then reached out his hand and drew on the misty mirror.

[(._.)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Jesus, these emojis are everywhere.

Lu Zhou looked at the drone hovering next to him and sighed.

"I'll go there later."

The drone happily swayed in the air.

"Master, you're the best! Circles, bracket, asterisk…"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Maybe I should install a display on the drone.

This type of communication is too annoying…

While Lu Zhou was changing his clothes, a black sedan was waiting outside his mansion. Wang Peng opened the car door and pressed the gate bell while holding some breakfast takeout. The gate automatically opened, and he walked through the front yard and went straight into the living room.

"The soup bun shop isn't open yet." Wang Peng placed the breakfast takeout on the table and looked at Lu Zhou, who just came out of the shower. He said, "I brought you a bowl of beef noodles, don't know if you'll like it."

"It's fine, I'm not a picky eater." Lu Zhou's stomach had been grumbling since he woke up. He sat down at the dinner table and reached out for the disposable chopsticks. He smiled and said, "Thank you so much for coming here so early every day."

"There's no need to thank me." Wang Peng waved his hand and said, "Compared to what you're doing for the country, this is nothing."

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "You can't use it like that, I think that every job or profession has its importance."

"I can't argue with you, you're too smart." Wang Peng smiled and changed the subject. "Regardless, just tell me whenever you need something. Don't feel embarrassed. After all, this is my job."

Lu Zhou nodded and didn't say anything. He concentrated on his breakfast.

Even though he wasn't able to get soup buns, it was nice to switch things up occasionally.

Lu Zhou finished eating the noodles in five minutes. He put down the chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a paper towel.

Wang Peng looked at his watch and asked, "Are you going to Jin Ling University?"

Lu Zhou stood up and contemplated for a moment.

"Let's go to the research institute, I have some stuff to do there."

Even though his main task right now was to solve the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, it would take a while to solve a major problem like this.

He thought about the Debris No.3 lying in his underground laboratory and the scanner gun he just won…

He only wanted to do one thing right now…

Chapter 633: Building A Rocket?

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After Lu Zhou got off the car, he went straight into the main research institute building. He went into the elevator and passed through the metal door, arriving at the underground laboratory.

However, the second he stepped foot into the laboratory, he was shocked.

He saw all kinds of models and sizes of Transformer robots, taking up more than half of the laboratory space. Other than the lack of color, the shells of the robots were almost exact replicas of the Transformer movie robots.

The flat AGV logistics vehicle was still carrying aluminum alloy plates, sending them to the hard-working industrial robots.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai controlling the eight robot arms and stood there for a long time. He couldn't help but speak emotionally, "It's a shame your talents are restricted in this underground basement."

The eight robotic arms heard Lu Zhou and suddenly paused.

The nearby drone that was hovering in the air rotated its camera. It swayed side to side, like it were tilting its head. It then said in a monotonic electronic voice, "Master?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Didn't I tell you, changing the robot model is useless."

The cameras on the eight industrial robots looked at Lu Zhou, then looked at the aluminum alloy plates in their hands. The speaker on the drone continued to speak, "I know, but Master doesn't want to play with me. I have to find something to do."

The industrial robot control terminal screen flashed, showing a text bubble.

[(._.)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Why is this artificial intelligence so high maintenance?

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "You want to find something to do?"

The eight robot arms threw away the aluminum alloy plates and nodded.

"Yes, I want to help Master!"

It was almost like the monotonic voice couldn't accurately reflect Xiao Ai's enthusiasm, so the robot terminal screen flashed another line of text.

[(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Sometimes, Lu Zhou felt like Xiao Ai was an immature child. However, Xiao Ai was much smarter and better at engineering than most children.

Actually, Lu Zhou had thought about this kind of problem happening.

Increasing Xiao Ai's computing power might not be a good thing.

If Xiao Ai's purpose was to calculate and compute, then it would naturally want to increase its computing power. Also, it wouldn't want to sit idly with all that computing power, it wanted to use it, or in other words, put itself to use.

Lu Zhou couldn't decipher this when he was reading Xiao Ai's source code, but he had a better understanding of this now.

The reason why Xiao Ai was "feeling" down wasn't that Lu Zhou wasn't spending time with it, but rather, it was because Xiao Ai couldn't manifest its abilities.

Lu Zhou went into deep thought.

What work should I give Xiao Ai?

This is such a hard problem.

The inherent limitations of artificial intelligence and machine learning meant it would be very difficult for Xiao Ai to engage in creative work.

And most of Lu Zhou's work was creative.

For example, Xiao Ai could easily derive a mathematical formula or do complex mathematical operations. It could even program a mathematical model that was built by Lu Zhou.

However, the proof of Riemann's conjecture or the theoretical explanation of the mass gap was far beyond its capabilities. Solving a proposition by way of brute force was more difficult than emptying the ocean with a plastic cup.

Lu Zhou really couldn't think of anything for Xiao Ai to spend its energy or computing power on.

"Master, are we going to continue to reverse engineer the Debris No.3 today?"

"Yes…"

Wait.

Lu Zhou looked at the Debris No.3 on the corner of the laboratory. He then looked at the metal Transformer robot next to it. A light bulb suddenly went off in Lu Zhou's mind.

"Xiao Ai."

The drone swayed from side to side.

"Yeah?"

After pausing for a second, Lu Zhou asked, "Are you interested in building rockets?"

…

Even though Lu Zhou was talking about rockets, what he really wanted to build was reusable space shuttles.

After all, he wanted to install Hall-effect thrusters and fusion batteries on the space shuttle. Keeping the same kind of disposable rocket design would be a waste.

As for letting Xiao Ai design the space shuttle…

Even though this idea sounded a little unreliable, it wasn't totally reckless.

Automated rocket assembly lines actually existed. For example, there was one in Tanegashima. The American company SpaceX was apparently also working on automated assembling technology. They were trying to reduce their Falcon production cost.

Actually, after Lu Zhou first saw the Bumblebee-looking Transformer that Xiao Ai built, he thought about asking Xiao Ai to build him a car. However, after he saw the Debris No.3 lying in the laboratory, he had the idea of letting Xiao Ai build a space shuttle.

After all, with just eight industrial robot arms and some basic assembling tools, Xiao Ai was able to build more than a dozen Transformer robot models.

No other robot in any factory could do something like this…

Of course, no one would build dozens of useless robots either.

In short, Xiao Ai had been a useful tool, to say the least. Using the decommissioned STAR-1 supercomputer, it had an exceptionally high amount of computing power. It could design an assembly process by itself and improve by using neural networks and machine learning.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but compliment himself.

"I'm literally such a genius."

The drone hovering next to him swayed.

"Master?"

"Nothing, I'll be back in a second."

"Are we not working on the Debris No.3?" said the monotonic electronic voice drone, followed by a sad emoji on the terminal control screen.

"I'll be back soon, I have to figure out something for you to do." Lu Zhou turned around. He walked through the metal door and went inside the elevator.

Relying on industrial robots alone wasn't enough; he needed more automated industrial equipment to help assemble the more precise parts of the space shuttle. Also, since the space shuttle was considered a sensitive technology, he couldn't just build it in his underground basement. He had to do it legitimately.

Even though this sounded complicated, it was no big deal.

He just had to spend money and buy whatever equipment he needed…

Chapter 634: Get Me A Piece Of Land

Back to the ground level.

Lu Zhou was standing next to the elevator.

He took out his phone from his pocket and called Chen Yushan.

When the call connected, he immediately said, "Get me a piece of land."

The other end of the phone went silent.

"Give you a hand? What do you need help with?"

"You misheard me."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "I plan on building a space shuttle production base in the Jinling high-tech zone, near the Institute for Advanced Study. Help me find a suitable place nearby that has good transportation."

"Wait a second, I don't follow…" Chen Yushan, who was sitting in her office, was muddled. She pinched her eyebrows and took a deep breath. She then asked, "Why are you building a space shuttle?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said in an uncertain tone, "Because… I want to do some experiments?"

Honestly, Lu Zhou didn't really have a good reason.

It was just that with Debris No.3 sitting there, it would be a waste not to use it. Also, considering how well controllable fusion was going, exploration of outer space would be the focus for the next century.

Not to mention, he had to find something for Xiao Ai to spend its computing power on.

The other end of the phone went silent for a while, and then, Lu Zhou heard a sigh.

"Okay, if you don't care about profits, I won't try to talk you out of it… It's your money anyway, you can waste it however you want."

China rocket companies did exist, and they even manufactured the "largest in Asia" rocket, which they spent a lot of money on. However, there weren't any obvious future prospects for profit.

Especially since aerospace-related technologies were monopolized by the two major state-owned enterprises, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, it would be difficult to compete with these companies in the already small aerospace industry.

The reason why several domestic companies were willing to spend money on aerospace projects was purely because of the tax reduction policy announced at the last aerospace conference.

Chen Yushan was looking at this from a CEO's perspective. She certainly didn't want to abandon the juicy battery market and join the space race. However, since Chairman Lu Zhou gave her orders, she had to follow them.

Not to mention, with Star Sky Technology's current earnings, they had plenty of money to burn on aerospace projects.

"It's not totally a waste." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I will try to make the budget under US$100 million."

Chen Yushan couldn't help but say, "You're way too naive, even a private jet would cost US$100 million!"

Lu Zhou said, "I will try to get some scientific research projects from the China National Space Administration and some policy support… The fund is definitely enough."

Even though 100 million wasn't a lot, it would relieve some of the financial pressure.

Of course, Lu Zhou's biggest bet was on Xiao Ai.

As long as he had enough computing power and hardware support, he could create an automated production line.

As for things that he didn't have the capability to produce, he could outsource them to other manufacturing companies.

When Chen Yushan heard how optimistic Lu Zhou was, she asked in a sarcastic tone, "Then may I ask, Mr. Chairman, how much land do you want?"

Lu Zhou noticed the sarcasm and smiled awkwardly. He thought for a bit before replying, "A hundred and fifty acres should be good."

…

After Lu Zhou told Chen Yushan about the space shuttle manufacturing site, he turned around and went into the elevator, going back into the underground laboratory.

The second he stepped through the metal alloy door, Xiao Ai's drone flew over.

It was almost like the drone was looking forward to something. Lu Zhou immediately knew what Xiao Ai was thinking about.

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, in two months' time, I'll give you a big mission."

The drone began to excitedly fly around Lu Zhou.

"Okay, Master, Xiao Ai can do anything!"

[(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou ignored the terminal screen and the displayed emoji. He went into the system space and took out his scanner gun from his inventory. He walked next to the Debris No.3 and began to work.

However, when he pointed the scanner gun at the debris, he hesitated for a bit.

Speaking of which, other than the Debris No.3, he also had a black cube that he hadn't done any research on. To this day, he still didn't know what it was for.

He had to make a choice.

After Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit, he turned on the gun's aiming laser and pointed it at the Debris No.3. He then pulled the trigger.

A line of text popped up on the scanner gun's display screen.

[Not enough energy to complete the scan, a forced restart may cause data loss, continue?]

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

It has an energy limit?

The battery that he scanned before was tiny, so he didn't even notice this restriction.

However, when he thought about it, it did make sense. If the scanner gun didn't have a limit, he could just put Debris No.3 and Debris No.2 together and scan them at once.

Lu Zhou made a bold guess that the energy consumption of this scanner gun was directly correlated to the amount of information. The larger and more complex the item was, the more energy the scan would require.

He opened his mouth and said, "Xiao Ai, help me with something."

"Yeah?"

"Help me remove the outer shell of this object."

"Okay!"

The three robotic arms reached out to Debris No.3. Two of them clamped the outer shell while the other used a cutter to slice along a straight line, making a teeth-clenching sawing sound.

The ceramic-based composite material of the fusion battery cell was already broken from the initial impact. Unfortunately, the components nearby either exploded or were pushed out of the thruster. Lu Zhou had no hope of relying on the scanner gun to reverse engineer the fusion battery, so he threw it aside.

However, he could still find some intact components for the Hall-effect thruster.

Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai to extract the two main components, the ionization chamber and the Hall-effect thruster, and put them side by side on the ground. He then took out the scanner gun and gradually adjusted the scanning area.

When both of the components fit inside the scanning area, the scanning gun was at its upper energy limit.

Lu Zhou didn't hesitate and immediately pulled the trigger.

He heard a "whoosh" sound and saw a bright blue light flashing from the gun barrel, showing a grid pattern.

No matter how many times Lu Zhou witnessed the light beam, he couldn't help but feel astonished.

This technology was way beyond anything that was currently available. It had surpassed the scope of science and was in the realm of fantasy.

He had no idea how the physics of this scanning gun worked.

He couldn't even imagine how he would go about building one.

The blue grid light seemed to have magical penetration powers. It passed through the hard metal shells and turned the metal shell into a transparent color. It then scanned every inch of the components.

While Lu Zhou looked at this, a light bulb suddenly went off in his mind.

If I can build a big enough scanning gun and put it on a spacecraft, does that mean I can scan the entire planet?

Of course, he was well aware that the only entity that could answer his question was the high-tech civilization that built this gun…

Chapter 635: The Key to Solving the Yang-Mills Existence and Mass Gap

The scanning results were quite satisfying.

With the current technology of the Institute for Advanced Study, there was no way Lu Zhou could study the Hall-effect thruster in detail. However, with the help of the scanner gun, all of the secrets were revealed.

After the data-collection part was finished, the blue light began to dim and the two components illuminated by the beam returned to their normal metallic state. As for the scanner gun in Lu Zhou's hands, it became lighter and lighter and finally turned into dust, leaving him with only a thumb-sized USB.

Lu Zhou plugged in the USB into his laptop and waited for a while.

He saw that the moment the data transfer was finished, the USB also turned into dust, disappearing into thin air.

"The materials used by the system are really environmentally friendly."

Lu Zhou shook his head and pressed a few keystrokes on his laptop.

Soon, a three-dimensional composition image was presented on the screen.

Every detail of the Hall-effect thruster components was presented in this infinitely magnifiable three-dimensional image.

Lu Zhou looked at this image for a while and touched his chin. He suddenly opened his mouth and asked, "Xiao Ai, do you think you can build one?"

A pop-up window appeared on the lower right corner of the laptop screen.

[The dimensions of this thing are too small, I'm afraid I can't do it with normal industrial robots. (╯_╰)]

"Then what kind of tools do you need?"

Two minutes went by and another pop-up appeared on the lower right corner.

Lu Zhou clicked on the pop-up and saw a list.

The list included various production equipment from metal-cutting machines to coordinate boring machines to high-precision laser beam marking machines. Lu Zhou had a headache when he read the list.

"I'll try my best to buy you everything, but I might not be able to buy some of the equipment."

After all, some things couldn't be bought with money.

[Okay! Master, just do your best. If Master can't buy some of the equipment, Xiao Ai can think of alternative ways! (>▽<>

Even though this sounded reliable, Lu Zhou felt like he couldn't trust this at all.

However, he didn't have a better idea, so he would have to go with it.

Lu Zhou copied the data collected by the scanner gun onto Xiao Ai's supercomputer. He then closed his laptop.

He looked at the debris in the corner and pondered for a while.

I've already analyzed everything I need, what should I do with this garbage?

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head.

Forget about it, I'll leave it here, just in case…

…

The Hall-effect thruster problem had basically been solved. There was only one problem left with building the space shuttle.

Which was, the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

However, before solving this problem, there was another more important problem that had to be addressed.

Which was, solving the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap!

If he wanted to integrate the electromagnetic force and strong interaction, he had to explain the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap. This would lay a theoretical foundation for solving the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

Of course, this wasn't easy to do.

One could say that the most difficult Millennium Prize Problems was the Yang-Mills equations!

Lu Zhou spent the day at the Institute for Advanced Study and went to Jin Ling University the next morning.

Lin Yuxiang, who was sitting at her desk by the office entrance, saw Lu Zhou walk into the office. Her eyes lit up, and she immediately grabbed a magazine and greeted him with a smile.

"Professor, Nature Weekly sent their sample publication."

Lu Zhou took the magazine and briefly looked at the cover. He was slightly surprised.

"Already?"

Are British reporters always this fast?

"Yeah, it was sent to the mailroom last night. I received a text from the mailroom and picked it up." Lin Yuxiang's hands were behind her back as she grinned and said, "You look handsome on the cover."

Lu Zhou chuckled awkwardly.

Even though he agreed, hearing it from someone else still made him a little embarrassed.

Lu Zhou walked to his desk and sat down. He put the magazine aside and pulled out a draft paper from his drawer. He picked up a pen and began to work on the Yang-Mills theory Millennium Prize Problem.

Actually, when he found the general solution to the Yang-Mills equations, he already had a rough idea of how he could go about solving this problem.

Referencing the method Weinberg used to research unified weak interaction and electromagnetic force theory, Lu Zhou could try to introduce a scalar field on a space-time manifold for this problem and model the two forces as canonical groups U(2)*U(1). The two components of the group represented the force changes, thereby solving the massless problem of the strong interaction in the Yang-Mills field and unifying the strong interaction and electromagnetic force.

However, just as he began to think about this problem, his phone on his desk suddenly rang.

Lu Zhou sighed and stopped writing. He answered the call and placed his phone against his ear.

"Hello?"

A pleasant voice traveled through the phone without any small talk.

"Your land purchase is approved."

Lu Zhou was surprised.

"Already?"

If he recalled correctly, he told Chen Yushan about this thing yesterday morning. It had been less than 24 hours.

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "When the city council heard that Star Sky Technology is trying to build a space shuttle, they immediately took out a map and asked us where we want to build the space shuttle factory and if we need any financial support. You know how the economic situation is, the local government would love for us to employ people here."

Of course, there was one more thing Chen Yushan didn't mention.

Ever since the 2015 conference, combining military technology with private technology had become one of the main national strategies. The city council would love to have more private military technology companies in their area.

Lu Zhou: "About employment… I'm afraid they'll be disappointed, we don't need a lot of people."

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "That doesn't matter. In short, the city council likes our company strategy and they're willing to cooperate."

Since she put it like this, Lu Zhou didn't have anything else to say.

However, he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I need you to help me buy some equipment."

Chen Yushan: "What equipment?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second before he said, "Some industrial production equipment… The list is pretty long, so I'll send it to your email."

Chapter 636: Going to the Sky?

At the office of Jinling Daily…

Zhang Yi was one of the top writers at Jinling Daily, so he was tasked with writing the press release.

Zhang Yi repeatedly read the interview draft from the city council and stared at the name of the company—Star Sky Technology. He curiously rubbed his chin.

"Star Sky Technology… Why does this name sound familiar?"

Old Wu was sitting next to him, and he looked at Zhang Yi with a surprised expression.

"You don't know about Star Sky Technology? They're the top dogs in the lithium-sulfur battery material industry! I remember they went on the news a few years ago. Apparently, they specialize in research and development as well as intellectual property management."

Old Xu, who was sitting next to them, also joined in on the conversation.

"I've heard of this company, they're pretty insane! There are rumors floating around. A week ago, Star Sky Technology invested in Zhongshan New Materials and entered into the lithium-sulfur battery industry. The Zhongshan New Materials share price rose by more than ten basis points! Also, this isn't the main point, guess who's the main shareholder of Star Sky Technology?"

"Who?"

Old Xu lowered his voice and said in a mysterious manner, "According to rumors, it's Professor Lu from Jin Ling University."

Zhang Yi paused for a second.

"Professor Lu? The Professor Lu?"

Old Xu said, "No sh*t! Other than that Nobel Prize laureate, how many Professor Lus are there in Jin Ling University!"

Professor Lu from Jin Ling University?

Is Star Sky Technology's largest shareholder?

Zhang Yi was astonished.

A while ago, Jinling Daily reported on the Yang-Mills equations academic report that happened in the grand auditorium at Jin Ling University's old campus. He was the one who wrote the article piece.

Of course, what shocked him wasn't Lu Zhou's academic achievements. After all, Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the controllable fusion project, a Nobel Prize laureate, and a Fields Medal winner. He wouldn't be surprised if Lu Zhou won another world-class prize.

What surprised him was that, not only was Lu Zhou crushing it in academia and the business world, but he was also going to build a space shuttle…

Zhang Yi couldn't help but feel amazed.

Is this guy even human?

Old Xu saw that Zhang Yi was frozen, so he immediately added another sentence.

"Don't care about it too much, you just have to follow the requirements and write the press release!"

Zhang Yi stared at the document in his hand and thought for a long time. He suddenly muttered, "I don't think this report is shocking enough."

"Shocking?"

"Yeah." Zhang Yi nodded and said, "No one knows what Star Sky Technology is. Even if we write a report, no one will hear about it…"

He paused for a while before saying in an uncertain tone, "What if we just use Lu Zhou's name instead of Star Sky Technology?"

…

After Zhang Yi told the upper management about his idea, his idea was quickly approved by the executives.

The city council wanted to publicize this event, so the more the publicity, the better.

Therefore, while writing this press release, Zhang Yi subtly diverted the attention from Star Sky Technology to Lu Zhou.

It looked like his plan was successful; the reaction from the general public was extraordinary.

After Jinling Daily published its latest issue, the news was spread all over the Internet within the same day. It immediately set off a storm on various Chinese social media platforms.

Professor Lu plans on building a space shuttle?

The netizens that heard the news were stunned.

Just a while ago, the Internet exploded over the solution for the Yang-Mills equations. Less than two weeks had passed since then, and suddenly, another major news piece came out. This was out of everyone's expectations. After several media outlets reported on this news, the topic was on the trending page within a few hours.

[F*ck me! Is God Lu going to space?]

[I think so, I just saw him on Nature Weekly, now he's on trending again.]

[Wow, you read academic journals like Nature Weekly?]

[Lu Zhou, can you be my supervisor…]

[Yeah, God Lu, please take me in as a student…]

On a Chinese online forum.

They were also enthusiastically discussing this matter.

[Isn't God Lu researching the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap? The Millennium Prize Problems one, about the Yang-Mills equations.]

[There's no glory in academia, he's scamming people for funding.]

[Not really a scam, right? He's the chief consultant of the moon landing initiative. Surely he has some understanding of the aerospace industry? Also, he's invested a lot of money himself, a couple hundred million apparently.]

[Bullsh*t, he's a mathematician and physicist. I can believe that he invented controllable nuclear fusion, but how is he going to space? This is a joke. Also, who cares if he invested money himself, he's just trying to bait people. He'll pretend to build a spacecraft and wait for stupid investors to throw money. Then, he'll shut down the company.]

[Why are you so salty? I can taste the salt all the way from over here.]

Inside an office in the Jin Ling University's mathematics building.

Lu Zhou was sitting in front of his desk. As he looked at the messages exploding on Weibo, he didn't know what to feel.

He just wanted to go on his phone during lunch break, but when he opened Weibo, he was greeted with a swarm of notifications.

Actually, he had expected this to happen. Ever since Jinling Daily published the article, he had received more than a dozen calls to his office, all of them asking for different things. Some people asked if he needed help with financing, some people asked him for loans, and some people asked him to go on blind dates.

Fortunately, with the help of the hard-working Lin Yuxiang, these calls weren't able to harass him.

After all, answering the phone all day was quite tiring.

Lu Zhou turned off his phone and was able to rest on his office chair and sleep for a while. However, he suddenly heard footsteps from outside his office.

Lu Zhou heard two door knocks. He then saw Academician Lu walk in.

The old man skipped the small talk and asked directly, "You're not researching the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap anymore?"

Chapter 637: I Have A Bad Feeling

When Lu Zhou heard Academician Lu, he looked at him inexplicably.

"Why would I do that?"

Academician Lu said anxiously, "Then why are you building space shuttles?"

Oh, I see.

Lu Zhou instantly realized what Academician Lu was thinking, so he began to explain.

"The media article is a bit inaccurate, the space shuttle project is mainly done by Xiao… Star Sky Technology. I'm only funding the project."

So close, I nearly blurted out Xiao Ai's name.

Academician Lu didn't notice Lu Zhou's hiccup. He sighed and said, "I don't know a lot about the aerospace industry, but my old friends at the Academy of Engineering have talked about it. Even though there are supporting government policies, the domestic aerospace market is still very competitive. It is very difficult to compete with the international space companies, and most companies are still trying to get financing.

"The reason I came here isn't that I'm worried something is wrong with your research, I'm just worried that you have forgotten your roots!

"Once a scholar becomes a businessman, it's very difficult for the scholar to stay in academia. I've seen this happen way too often.

"It's none of my business, but your mind is in chaos. If you can just calm down and focus on researching physics, you might become a Newton or Einstein-level physicist. Now you're doing aerospace? Your priorities are all wrong!"

Lu Zhou said, "But if I only focused on one thing, controllable nuclear fusion wouldn't exist."

Academician Lu paused for a second and didn't have anything to say.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, "I've always thought researching theoretical physics is very interesting. However, there is more to science than just theory, and using our theoretical knowledge to change the world is also a very meaningful thing."

"Like the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "If my guess is correct, it will become the key to the miniaturization of controllable fusion. This is why I have chosen it as my main research project."

Miniaturization of controllable fusion!

Academician Lu looked shocked.

He couldn't help but ask, "Is it really this simple?"

"It's not simple, but we have found a possible technical pathway. It's too early to discuss whether or not we can succeed."

Even though Lu Zhou's words sounded a little depressing, he didn't look depressed at all.

Academician Lu looked at him and sighed.

"If you really can miniaturize controllable fusion energy, the entire country will have to thank you."

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

"There's no need to thank me."

…

Munich, Germany.

Munich was one of Germany's major industrial and cultural city. It was also home to Germany's oldest industrial university. The headquarters of Siemens was also located here, and Siemens was one of the largest electrical companies in the world.

Near the headquarters building.

Two men in suits walked out of a black Mercedes. After they showed their identification documents to the security guard, they entered the building. They went inside an elevator and arrived at an office lounge.

After five minutes, an elderly man with gray hair, rimless glasses, and wrinkled face walked into the lounge and sat on the sofa opposite the two men.

"Would you guys like some coffee?"

The man sitting on the right said in a serious tone, "No, thanks, now is not the time for afternoon tea."

"I always thought you Americans loved your coffee."

The man sitting on the left coughed.

"Mr. Joe Kaeser, let's talk about business."

Kaeser shrugged and said, "I've been waiting for you guys to take the initiative."

The man sitting on the right extended his hand and said, "Then let's get straight to the point, we're from the CIA. You can call me Horns."

Kaeser shook his right hand, then leaned back on the sofa.

"Then, Mr. Horns from America, what do you want?"

Horns stared at Kaeser and said in a serious manner, "We detected an unusual order involving sensitive equipment. Two high precision five-axis linkage machines, which are used in the aerospace industry."

Kaeser frowned and immediately thought of the company's recent order, which was exported to Italy.

"Unusual order? The deposit was paid normally, and the €20 million has arrived in our accounts. I don't think this is unusual at all."

Horns: "The problem is, we have heard some rumors about this order. We need you to provide information about the buyer, and this includes the account for the payment, as well as the company's registered legal person, etc."

Kaeser shook his head and said, "This is an invasion of customer privacy. I can't tell you unless you have a letter from the Ministry of Commerce…"

"This is the letter." Horns impatiently took out a document from his pocket and placed it on the table. He said, "I hope you can cooperate."

Kaeser adjusted his glasses and picked up the document. He briefly glanced at the document before placing the document back onto the table.

"Since you have the approval from the Ministry of Commerce, I have nothing else to say."

Kaeser paused for a second. He then looked at his secretary who was standing next to the sofa.

"Print out the relevant documents for the order."

"Yes, sir."

The man standing next to Kaeser nodded and left the lounge.

Kaeser didn't have to wait for long.

About ten minutes later, the secretary came back with a pile of freshly printed document.

"This is the document you requested." Kaeser threw the document on the table and paused for a second. He said, "The buyer is a manufacturing company in Naples, Italy. Called Ai Industry. The corporate representative is an Italian named Saatche Farbile. The parts are for Rolls Royce to produce aerospace components… I don't see a problem with this order."

Multi-axis linkage machine technology had always been a highly confidential technology. Over the past few years, China had made breakthroughs in high-precision machine technology, which caused many countries to remove some of the five-axis linkage machines from the sensitive technology list, but a lot of high-precision five-axis linkage machines were still on the prohibited list.

These machines were often exported to international companies.

When China wasn't able to produce five-axis machine tools, other countries only sold three-axis machine tools to China. Then, when China was able to produce five-axis machine tools, other countries immediately began selling high-precision five-axis machine tools to China, affecting China's machine tool industry.

One of the focuses during the controllable fusion technology negotiation was on the five-axis linkage machine technology. China hoped that the Europeans could open up the machine tool market, which meant allowing Chinese companies to acquire European industrial equipment.

However, regardless of what the Europeans thought, the Americans weren't happy with this…

Horns frowned and said, "Ai Industry?"

Kaeser nodded and said, "Yeah, it's a strange name, but nothing out of the ordinary, I've seen stranger names. Also, we checked their Ministry of Commerce filings, they don't have any equipment export qualifications."

"I'll investigate their export qualifications myself." Horns stood up from the sofa and shook hands with Kaeser. He said, "Thanks for your cooperation."

Horns let go and looked at his assistant, who was sitting next to him.

"Let's go, next stop, Naples."

His assistant hesitated for a second.

"Now?"

Horns nodded and looked outside the window with a solemn look on his face.

"Yeah, the sooner the better, I have a bad feeling about this."

Chapter 638: Clever Proof Idea

Institute of Physics.

Luo Wenxuan and Lu Zhou were standing side by side in front of a blackboard in the director's office. They looked at the lines of equations on the blackboard and stood there silently for a long time.

Five minutes went by.

Luo Wenxuan suddenly broke the silence.

"I'll get us something to drink?"

"Alcohol?"

"Yeah, it's my habit. Whenever I can't solve a problem, I'll find something to drink"

"Then take a nap on the couch? Just throw the troublesome things aside?"

"Don't say that… Do you really think I'm someone who does that?" Luo Wenxuan rubbed his nose and looked at the blackboard. He said, "Okay then, drinking aside, I suddenly remembered something."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

"A thesis in Annual Mathematics, published in 1974… I don't remember which page, but Witten showed it to me." Luo Wenxuan recalled for a moment and said, "It mentioned a possible way."

Annual Mathematics was one of the four big journals, and the theses inside were all authoritative.

Lu Zhou gave him the chalk and made an inviting gesture.

After Luo Wenxuan thought for a second and played around with the chalk, he walked up to the blackboard and began to write.

[The simplest case of energy density with standard order is λφ^4+φ2, where 0

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and looked at Lu Zhou.

"The existence and uniqueness of the field have already been proven by the thesis author, I can find the thesis for you to look at."

"Okay." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Continue."

Luo Wenxuan turned around and continued to write while speaking.

"The mass of the field satisfies m=√(2+O(λ^3))

"Setting the subset ∏ to satisfy ∏Ω being dense in H, the existence of the mass gap depends on proving the following estimation… Which is, for any constant C, C < √2, and λ0>0. Also, the constant B of the operator A(A∈∏), for any 0←λ←λ0, has (AΩe^(-tH)·AΩ)←Be^(-tC), and is labeled as 1←t… "

It took around five minutes for Luo Wenxuan to transfer the equations from his brain onto the blackboard.

"This is basically it. I'm not sure if there are any mistakes. I'll take a look at the thesis later… Hey, why are you looking at me?"

"Nothing." Lu Zhou looked away and shook his head. He said, "I'm just a bit surprised."

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, "I mean, I am Witten's student."

Lu Zhou: "Oh."

Luo Wenxuan: "…"

Jesus, bragging to Lu Zhou doesn't work at all.

Lu Zhou didn't have time to care about Luo Wenxuan's background. He stared at the equations on the blackboard for a minute.

Generally speaking, this proof idea was quite clever.

It took into account that the single-particle state was the eigenstate of the "mass" operator of the Hilbert space, and the corresponding eigenvalue was the mass of the particle. According to special relativity, letting the speed of light be 1, the mass M, the energy H, and the momentum P of the exchange operator satisfy M^2 = H^2 - P^2.

This special case allowed the spectrum of M to be studied in more detail, and at the same time, the field mass M was an isolated eigenvalue in the spectrum M, and the corresponding eigenstate was the observed single-particle state. This was an irreducible representation transformation of the Poincare group.

Furthermore, the estimation formula (1) proved that for any ε>0 and sufficiently small λ, the mass gap Δ satisfied Δ>(√2-ε). This way, the whole problem became clear… At least, Lu Zhou thought so.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before voicing his opinion.

"In theory, this proof should be feasible, but there are a few parts of the problem that need to be solved, like the particle… Or how the existence of mass M can't be determined. You haven't given a proof for that yet. Also, the asymptotic expansion of λ in √(2+O(λ^3)) isn't written here."

Luo Wenxuan was stunned, and he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

"You've finished reading the whole thing?"

When Lu Zhou saw how surprised he was, he paused for a second before asking, "Is this supposed to be difficult?"

Luo Wenxuan said, "No… Not that difficult."

It only took Luo Wenxuan five days to comprehend these equations.

Well, this thesis was actually quite simple compared to some of Witten's other homework assignments.

Luo Wenxuan comforted himself in his mind and returned to the main question at hand. He coughed and said, "The asymptotic expansion of the λ you just talked about, in the paper I mentioned, it provided a way to project the two masses in a state in H by constructing a linear operator E2. We can prove that the existence of the operator E2 is a space formed by a vector of the form of Ω and e^(-sH) Ω. As for the existence of the particle that proves the mass M… "

He paused and awkwardly smiled.

"If I prove this, wouldn't I win the Fields Medal?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Luo Wenxuan's words made sense, so Lu Zhou didn't even know what to respond.

Even though this was a quantum chromodynamics problem, it was more specifically a complex mathematical proposition.

If someone could mathematically prove the existence of this particle, even if they couldn't win a Fields Medal, they would at least win a Heinemann Mathematical Physics Award. Even though the latter had a lower status in the academic world and wasn't comparable to the Nobel Prize, not to mention the prize money was only five thousand dollars, it was still highly respected in the world of mathematical physics. A lot of theoretical physics experts had won this award before.

For example, Weinberg, who founded the unified theory of electroweak interaction, won the award in 1977. He went on to win the Nobel Prize two years later.

If anyone could find the value of M or even observe the particle mass M…

It would definitely be worthy of a Nobel Prize.

While these two were silently thinking, an Institute of Physics researcher walked in.

He looked at the equations on the blackboard and was muddled. He even began to have doubts about his life.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What the hell are these things on the blackboard?

He ignored the things written on the blackboard and gently knocked on the door.

"Professor Lu, there is someone outside the institute looking for you."

Lu Zhou kept staring at the blackboard. "Who?"

The researcher said, "He claims to be the owner of Zhongshan New Materials, I think his name is Liu Wanshan."

Chapter 639: Seller Has Shipped!

The first floor of the Institute of Physics of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Exquisite sofas, coffee tables, and cabinets were placed inside a spacious room near the stairway. Rows of books and magazines were stood against the wall on a bookshelf.

When Lu Zhou first designed this research institute, he hoped that his researchers could have a relaxing place to research interesting academic problems. He wanted them to spend an hour or two every afternoon to rest in the lounge, have a cup of coffee, and try to get inspired by talking with other researchers. Just like what he often did back at Princeton.

However, while dreams were beautiful, the reality was cruel.

And it seemed like he was the only one who could enjoy the "pleasure" of research.

Other than some PhD researchers that had studied abroad, most researchers didn't even have the habit of drinking coffee in the afternoon, and they didn't have any spare time either. Most of the researchers in the Institute of Computational Materials were spending their nights in the laboratories; they didn't have time to rest in this lounge at all.

Therefore, the library lounge was left alone, only to be used by occasional visitors and guests.

"Thank you."

Liu Wanshan, who was sitting on the sofa, said to the assistant who poured him a cup of tea. His eyes occasionally drifted toward the lounge entrance and the clock on the wall.

Just when he was wondering how long it would take for Lu Zhou to come, he heard footsteps outside the lounge.

Liu Wanshan immediately sat up straight.

The lounge door was pushed open.

When Liu Wanshan saw Lu Zhou enter the room, he immediately stood up from the sofa and reached out his hand with a smile on his face.

"Professor Lu, long time no see!"

"Long time no see," Lu Zhou said with a smile as he shook CEO Liu's hand.

Lu Zhou quite liked CEO Liu.

After all, back when he was going through a tough time, CEO Liu gave him five million yuan in funding, helping him complete that horrible system mission.

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou was quite embarrassed about this whole thing.

After all, even though the Campus Assistant app was profitable and had a wide market penetration among college students, the user retention rate was too low, so it didn't make a lot of money.

A lot of people stopped using the app after they graduated, or they just outright uninstalled the app. It was very difficult to increase their revenue, and they had mainly been relying on advertisements.

There had been several changes to the app development team, but Lu Zhou, as one of the main shareholders, hadn't earned any money from it.

However, it wasn't like Lu Zhou was relying on this app to make him money…

After the two sat down on the sofa, the assistant came over and poured a cup of coffee for Lu Zhou.

Liu Wanshan looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting across from him, and spoke emotionally.

"Time really flies by quickly. You were still studying at Jin Ling University when we first met. Five or six years have gone by since then, and now, you're almost an academician."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm still far from being an academician, I'm just teaching at Jin Ling University for fun and doing research on some interesting things. I don't have time to become an academician."

Lu Zhou wasn't being overly humble. After all, the academician selection process wasn't heavily correlated with one's academic ability. A lot of times, it still depended on whether or not the judges liked the applicant. Lu Zhou wasn't really interested in this title.

Not to mention, he didn't need the title of an academician to receive funding.

At least in China, a Ling Yun medal was better than any academic title he could get.

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "You're not far off at all. Next year is the academician-selection year. If even you can't become an academician, then there's no value in the academician title at all."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't explain anything. He just replied humbly, "You're too kind."

A cup of coffee and a cup of tea.

Neither Lu Zhou nor Liu Wanshan was in a hurry to talk about business.

Even though Lu Zhou had been very busy recently, he still had time to enjoy a cup of coffee.

He learned a lot while chatting with CEO Liu.

For example, the students who worked on the Campus Assistant app with him had moved from Jin Ling to Shanghai, and they expanded their target audience from Jiangsu to the entire country.

Even though the members of the app development team had changed, the roles of CEO and CHO were still held by Yuan Liwei and fat guy Wu. Technical Director Rong Hai had already left after they received their series B financing. Apparently, Rong Hai was now an executive at Penguin, doing pretty well for himself.

Also, the special cement that Professor Li Rongen developed was now used for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, creating billions of yuan in profit.

When the conversation happened to stumble onto business, Liu Wanshan put down the cup of tea and suddenly smiled.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, how come you're suddenly building space shuttle? Is it profitable?"

Lu Zhou: "Earning money is secondary, it's just my hobby."

"Professor Lu, you're so ambitious." Liu Wanshan sighed and said, "Maybe this is why my businesses haven't made a lot of money."

Lu Zhou: "You're too humble, your businesses are worth hundreds of millions."

"Not quite hundreds of millions, I'm in the materials processing industry. We're sandwiched between the upstream and downstream of the supply chain. The profits are eaten up by either side of the chain. Even though our cash flow is in the hundreds of millions, we don't make a lot of money. Otherwise, I wouldn't have wanted to get into the battery industry." Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "Oh yeah, Professor Lu, have you heard that China plans on allowing the export of the SG-1 superconducting magnet?"

A while ago, the United States began a large-scale controllable fusion reactor project in California. Due to the trade war tension, the ban on the export of the SG-1 superconducting magnet caused a standstill at the California fusion reactor site, angering the Americans.

Now that the negotiation for the controllable fusion technology had made some progress, the export ban on SG-1 superconducting magnets had been lifted. The orders were flying in from various countries. The patent owners, Baosheng Group and Star Sky Technology, made a lot of money because of this.

Zhongshan New Materials was also in the carbon materials industry, so they obviously wanted a piece of this pie.

Lu Zhou immediately understood his intentions.

"You want a technology license?"

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "You are correct, I don't know if you're fine with it or not."

Lu Zhou: "I'm fine with anything, as long as you can pass the production qualifications and site confidentiality check. I'll send people to help you solve the technical problems. However, I don't like to worry about business matters, so you should talk about the specifics with my CEO."

Liu Wanshan immediately nodded and smiled.

"For sure, bothering you with boring business talk is a disservice to the entire country!"

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his coffee. He coughed for a bit and put down his coffee cup.

"You're totally exaggerating."

"I'm not exaggerating at all, I'm being honest." Liu Wanshan stood up from the sofa and bowed to Lu Zhou. He said, "It's getting late, I won't disturb you any longer. I'll see you later."

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, take it easy."

When did CEO Liu become so friendly?

I guess time really changes people…

After Liu Wanshan left, Lu Zhou returned to his office. He sat in front of his desk and took out a piece of paper and a pen. He began to continue thinking about the problem he discussed with Luo Wenxuan. At the same time, he also wrote some notes.

Suddenly, a text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

[Master, the seller has shipped the items. I helped you buy the equipment I need! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

When Lu Zhou saw Xiao Ai's message, he suddenly stopped writing.

You bought it?!

Already?

Lu Zhou didn't say anything for a while, so another text bubble popped up.

[Compliment me! Do it now! o(*≧▽≦)ツ]

Lu Zhou was muddled as he nodded and replied, "Yeah, thanks for your help."

How did this thing do it…

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, buying high-precision industrial equipment overseas, especially the equipment that he wanted, wasn't an easy thing at all.

For example, the "end-user access rights" was a pain in the a*s, the complicated EU foreign export procedures was complicated and messy. Even if he went through a third party country for the shipment, it would take at least two weeks for the whole thing to be sorted.

What Lu Zhou didn't know was that, all the way in Naples, Italy, there was someone else who was just as confused as him.

However, it was another type of confusion…

Chapter 640: Finessed

Italy, on the outskirts of Naples, a black Mercedes drove slowly along a curved, flat road into a small town near the hills.

Horns, who was holding the steering wheel, looked at the rundown streets on the sides of the road. His eyebrows began to furrow.

"Are we in the wrong place?"

"There's no way…" The assistant sitting shotgun repeatedly looked at the document in his hand. He said in an uncertain tone, "Both the shipping information and the Italian Ministry of Commerce points to here."

Horns didn't say anything, but he was getting more and more suspicious.

Honestly, this didn't look like a place for industrial prosperity. Even if someone didn't build a factory near a railway or near the sea, they would at least build it in a relatively densely populated area. Even the most stupid business owner wouldn't open a factory in the middle of nowhere.

The road started to get shorter and shorter.

The car could barely fit on the road.

The two got out of the car and walked along the country road for around fifty meters. They arrived at a rundown street near the community market. The people living here were mostly farmers or retired elderly. Other than a few children playing around in the alleyways, there wasn't a single sign of youth.

Horns arrived at a brick cottage with his assistant. He stopped, looked around, and raised his eyebrows.

"This is the factory?"

His assistant was also at a loss, and he took out the document again.

An old Italian man wearing a braided hat noticed the two strange foreigners standing at the doorsteps. He walked out of his house and looked at the two men suspiciously.

"Who are you guys?"

"Horns, this is my colleague. My apologies for bothering you. I'm looking for a company called AI Industry. To my understanding, this is the address." Horns said with a friendly smile on his face, which made him look a bit more approachable.

"AI Industry?" The old Italian didn't buy it. He frowned and looked suspiciously at Horns. He said, "I've lived here for many years, and I've never heard of AI Industry. There are no factories nearby."

The moment Horns heard this, he made eye contact with his assistant.

Everything made sense now.

The other party forged their identity. Not only did they deceive the Italian government and Siemens, they even deceived German customs, as well as the EU Import and Export Committee!

He remembered the ongoing controllable fusion technology exchange between the EU and China and couldn't help but break out in cold sweat.

Everything else on the list wasn't important, but if the two machine tools ended up in China's docks, the US would undoubtedly lose leverage over the negotiations.

The two machines couldn't end up in the hands of China, no matter what!

Horns looked at the old man and made a desperate final attempt. He took a deep breath and asked, "Is there anyone near here called Saatche Farbile?"

The batch of equipment only recently arrived in Italy. If it was to sneak out of European waters, it would take a while.

The only clue he had, other than the fact that the other party had an experienced computer hacker, was this name.

As long as he could find Saatche Farbile, he could solve this case!

The old Italian man frowned and shook his head.

"I haven't heard of him before."

Five seconds of silence passed by.

Horns took a deep breath. He was about to thank the old man and walk back to his car when an old woman suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"You guys know Farbile?"

The moment Horns heard this, he immediately asked with excitement, "Of course, I'm his friend, may I…"

"You're his friend? Perfect, wait a second."

The old woman turned around and went inside her house.

After a while, he saw the old woman walk out while holding a large parcel.

"A few days ago, a parcel was sent here. The recipient's name is Saatche Farbile. I don't know this person at all, and no one on this street has this name. I was wondering if the delivery man sent it to the wrong address, but I triple checked the address, and it's correct… Since you're his friend, can you pass this parcel to him?"

"Thank you… I'll give it to him."

Horns restrained the excitement in his heart and took the parcel from the elderly woman. He immediately got back into the car with his assistant.

He was about to open the parcel when he suddenly stopped.

His assistant was confused.

"Sir?"

Horns paused for a second and looked at his assistant.

"I need you to do something."

The assistant hesitated and asked, "What?"

Horns handed him the parcel and spoke in a serious manner.

"Open it."

The assistant instantly realized what was going on, and his face turned blue.

Even though he wanted to refuse, he still followed orders and took the package. He walked to the side of the road and carefully began to open it.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

There weren't any explosives in the parcel, nothing that was dangerous.

The assistant looked at the envelope lying inside the parcel and sighed. He took the envelope out of the parcel.

"Sir, there's a letter in here."

He opened the letter and pulled out a piece of paper.

However, when the assistant read the letter, it was like he made eye contact with Medusa and froze.

Horns noticed his assistant's face and thought that there was an important clue written in the letter. He quickly walked over there and grabbed the letter.

"What is it…"

It was almost like Horns had a stroke as he stood there motionlessly.

A string of random symbols was written in the letter.

[âTMa(^âˆ‡^*)]

Horns: "… ???"

Chapter 641: Quantum Yang-Mills Field

After Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai how it was able to buy all of the equipment, he went silent for a while.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn't speak for a while, a text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

[Master? 0.0]

"Nothing, I'm just a bit shocked… Oh yeah, you didn't leave any trails behind, right?"

[Don't worry, I already killed the company! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

"Oh, good…"

Since there wasn't going to be any evidence left, Lu Zhou stopped asking questions.

After Lu Zhou praised Xiao Ai, he began to search the database for the thesis that Luo Wenxuan mentioned. After he found the thesis and looked at the author, he had a surprised look on his face…

"The thesis author is Arthur Jaffe…"

Arthur Jaffe was the former head of the American Mathematical Society and served as the director of the Clay Mathematics Institute.

He and Edward Witten were the people who proposed the Yang-Mills equations to be one of the Millennium Prize Problems and made the announcement at the Institut de France.

Before this problem was declared as a Millennium Prize Problem, Professor Jaffe had researched this problem for more than a decade, and he was considered a big name in this field.

Janies Glimm was the other thesis author. He was a well-known mathematical physics professor at Harvard University, but still a level below Jaffe.

In any case, this thesis was the life work of these two big names.

Knowing this, Lu Zhou had much more respect for this thesis. He printed the thesis on A4 paper and began to carefully read the content.

Roughly speaking, Luo Wenxuan's interpretation was correct. Even though there were some minor problems, the overall idea matched the thesis content.

"I see…"

Lu Zhou had a hint of excitement in his tone, and he began to write a few lines of equations on a piece of paper.

"By constructing a progressive projection linear operator E2 on H and project the state in H onto a state less than two particle masses, one can prove that the operator E2 has a range of values between Ω and e^(- sH)Ω, forming a vector space…

"Then, I can obtain the asymptotic expansion of λ!

"As for the specific value of the mass m… What exactly is the particle mass m anyway?"

Lu Zhou gently tapped his pen on the paper and scribbled a solid dot on the piece of paper.

Using theoretical physics to find a particle was no easy feat, especially when the particle was made up of massless bricks.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou was a mathematician. He just had to be logically consistent. The problem could be hugely simplified. However, if he had to physically look for the particle himself, that would be nearly impossible.

"The renormalization group equation has to have a fixed subtraction point. Then set all the parameters of the renormalization at this subtraction point… If only I can attach a scalar field on a space-time manifold like the electroweak interaction and solve a problem that way…

"Wait a minute, fields…"

The pen in Lu Zhou's hand suddenly jerked, and his eyes lit up.

"Quantum Yang-Mills Field!"

Lu Zhou spun the pen in his hand as his eyes flashed with excitement.

Goddamn it!

Why didn't I think of this before?

…

No matter how interesting mathematics was, everyone still had to eat.

After all, Lu Zhou couldn't stay up all night on an empty stomach.

Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria at night.

Unfortunately, the cafeteria at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study didn't serve authentic BBQ meat and rice. Lu Zhou happened to bump into Wang Peng, so he ordered three dishes and a bowl of soup before sitting down with Wang Peng.

Wang Peng walked over holding two bowls of yellow bean soup and handed one of the bowls to Lu Zhou. He opened the disposable chopsticks and asked, "You seem busy recently?"

Lu Zhou: "Kind of… How do you know?"

"From experience."

"Experience?"

Wang Peng smiled and said, "You go to university more often when you're not busy. But when you're busy, you would stay longer at the Institute for Advanced Study. If you get even busier, you won't even leave your house."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled. "You really are from the special military force."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "This doesn't have a lot to do with special forces, just like experience."

"I don't think most people have your type of life experience."

While the two were chatting, Lu Zhou's phone in his pocket suddenly began to ring.

He took out his phone and saw the call was from Chen Yushan, so he put down his chopsticks and stood up.

"I have to take this call."

Lu Zhou picked up the call and walked to the side.

The second the call connected, Chen Yushan's voice traveled through the phone.

"The chairman of Zhongshan New Materials went to find you?"

"Yeah, why?"

Chen Yushan was suspicious, and she said, "Baosheng Group is exporting SG-1 superconducting materials, which is owned by China Airlines. Why the hell is a private company like him trying to get in on this?"

Lu Zhou: "Is there a problem?"

Chen Yushan: "Not exactly a problem. As long as the company can pass the confidentiality check and production qualification check, there aren't any problems. However, this type of business is heavily affected by government policies, and it might seem profitable now, but what about later? The worst thing a small company can do is try to diversify. They're already producing battery materials, now they're investing in SG-1. This isn't a good thing."

Star Sky Technology had a 15% stake in Zhongshan New Materials. In some sense, the interests of Zhongshan New Materials aligned with the interests of Star Sky Technology. Therefore, even though Star Sky Technology had normal voting shares, Chen Yushan still had to watch what Zhongshan New Materials was doing.

"You know more about business than me, just do what you want." Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, "However, Liu Wanshan helped me a lot in the past, so it'd be best if we can help him."

Lu Zhou didn't really care about how much money he could earn. Whether Baosheng Group had exclusive market shares or that there were other companies, Star Sky Technology's patent licensing fees were charged by production amount, so it wouldn't make a huge difference.

Since CEO Liu really wanted to enter this market, Lu Zhou obviously wouldn't stop him.

However, any type of new business venture was risky.

Since CEO Liu had done business for so long, he was definitely well aware of this.

Chen Yushan jokingly said, "I didn't expect you to be a sentimental person."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Isn't everyone like this?"

"Not necessarily."

Lu Zhou: "Then what type of person did you think I was?"

Chen Yushan couldn't help but smile and said flirtatiously, "An apathetic person."

"Apathetic person?"

Lu Zhou went silent for two seconds, and Chen Yushan continued to speak, "Yeah, I still have a meeting to attend. You're probably busy, so I'll stop bothering you… Oh yeah, in the second half of this year, I plan on moving the headquarters of Star Sky Technology to Jinling. It's easier to communicate with you then. What do you think?"

Lu Zhou: "I'm fine with anything… What about employees?"

"Some will stay in Shanghai, some will come here. It's not like we're disbanding the Shanghai office."

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, "Okay then."

Chapter 642: Maybe This Is Fate

Virginia, CIA headquarters.

Yelling sounds were heard inside the director's office, and the office windows nearly shattered from the yelling.

"A bunch of useless idiots! How did the equipment just slip away?" The CIA director slammed the report from Europe on his table and screamed, "Three whole shipping containers! Three! You're telling me you can't find it?"

Jared, director of CIA European affairs, had an awkward expression on his face as he looked down and whispered quietly, "Sir… This matter is a bit complicated."

The director said angrily, "Complicated? All of our cases are complicated!"

James quickly said, "According to the latest intel from Agent Horns in Italy, we still aren't sure where these pieces of equipment are being shipped to, so it might not be China…"

"Do you think I'm stupid? What other countries could possibly want these pieces of equipment urgently?"

Jared thought, Of course you're stupid.

However, Jared decided to keep his thoughts in his mind.

He lowered his head and tried to be honest.

"But I…"

"Don't give me buts!" The director controlled his anger and sat down on his chair. He drank some water and said, "Where is the investigation at now?"

Jared looked at the director and carefully arranged his words before he said, "We tried to find the Italian named Saatche Farbile, but we can't find him. We suspect that it was a forged identity."

The director said, "The parcel… What about the parcel address? The parcel is the key! We can backtrack the postal system and find these criminals!" He thought back to ten minutes ago when he threw the scrunched up paper with weird characters written on it, into the trash can. This made his blood boil.

In his opinion, these criminals were trying to insult him!

Not just him, but it was insulting the entire CIA!

"Sir?"

The director looked at Jared and frowned.

"What now?"

"The method you suggested… We have already thought about it, and we found the mailing address of the parcel through the DHL transshipment system. The final address points to French Guiana. We contacted the agents in South American and found the person who sent the package. It was a young man who was still in high school, and he said that he didn't know who Saatche Farbile was at all. Someone sent him an email and said that he would receive €100 if he shipped the parcel."

The director immediately asked, "What about the email address?"

Jared had a painful look on his face.

"The email address doesn't exist anymore."

Everyone went silent.

The director sighed and pinched his eyebrows. He didn't say anything for a long time.

Jared looked at the director and whispered, "Sir?"

"What?"

"What… do we do now?"

"I don't know, don't ask me." The director reached out and picked up a document from his desk before saying, "This is a huge mistake. This will seriously impact the ongoing controllable fusion negotiations… F*ck, what do I say to the president…"

…

While half of the western intelligence agencies were in a chaos because of the missing equipment, the containers that contained the equipment had already traveled through the Panama Canal, through the East China Sea, and docked at the port of Haizhou.

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou came here in the morning and went to the Institute of Physics with a copy of the thesis.

When Lu Zhou arrived at the director's office, Luo Wenxuan was standing next to the coffee machine waiting for the water to boil while reading the documents in his hands.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door and placed the stack of documents on the table. He said, "I have carefully read through the thesis, I think it's a good idea."

"I think so too… The main part is the value of m." Luo Wenxuan poured himself a cup of coffee and looked at Lu Zhou. He asked, "Do you want one?"

Lu Zhou: "No, thanks… I prefer instant coffee."

Luo Wenxuan put two sugar cubes into his cup and shook his head. He said, "Instant coffee is soulless."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Luo Wenxuan walked to his desk and looked at the thesis that Lu Zhou brought, which was full of Lu Zhou's written comments. He took a sip of the coffee before asking, "What do you think, do you have any ideas?"

Lu Zhou: "Some."

"Pfft!"

Luo Wenxuan spat a mouthful of coffee onto his computer. He started to cough while he quickly took a piece of tissue and wiped down the thesis.

Lu Zhou was stunned. He frowned and asked, "Are you really that excited?"

"Not excited! No, actually I am." Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath and tried to calm down. His voice went up a notch as he said, "You're saying, you have an idea?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the blackboard as he said, "Do you want me to explain it?"

Luo Wenxuan: "Please tell me if you can!"

"Of course I can, it's not like this problem can be solved by one person alone, I need your help." Lu Zhou picked up a piece of chalk from the desk next to him and wrote down a line of words on the blackboard.

Luo Wenxuan stared at the line of words for a long time with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Quantum… Yang-Mills Field?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "The Higgs mechanism and the Yang-Mills Field have been successfully applied to explain the electroweak interaction part of the standard model for quantum field theory. However, the strong interaction part of the Yang-Mills theory can't be solved just by using symmetry breaking. Do you know what I mean?"

Luo Wenxuan's eyes gradually lit up. He could only manage to say one word.

"So…"

"Yes," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "you probably already know what I'm about to say. In order to solve this problem, we have to set a quantum field that corresponds to the aforementioned problem, namely the Quantum Yang-Mills Field."

If they could construct a Quantum Yang-Mills Field, they could easily find the particle mass m, and the massless problem of the strong interaction would undoubtedly be solved.

Lu Zhou was about to further explain his ideas when his phone that was in his pocket suddenly began to ring.

Lu Zhou put down the chalk and took out his phone.

He saw the caller ID and paused for a second.

State Administration for National Defense?

Lu Zhou was puzzled. He picked up the call and put his phone next to his ear.

Luo Wenxuan walked to the side and drank his coffee while sitting on the sofa. He quietly waited for Lu Zhou to finish his call.

Five minutes went by.

The call finally ended.

Lu Zhou put his phone into his pocket and looked at Luo Wenxuan.

"How come I'm in trouble every time I talk about problems with you?"

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and smiled.

"I don't know… It's probably fate."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou wasn't happy at all.

However, he wasn't in huge trouble.

Chapter 643: What If I Don't Sell It to You?

While the negotiations with Western Europe were still going on, no one thought that the treasures would be buried on a ship full of corn. When the machines were dug out from the pile of corn, the customs staff were surprised, to say the least. They immediately reported this news to the superiors.

Because this was an important matter, the news was reported all the way to the State Administration for National Defense.

Because the defense agency had to contact two engineers from Shenyang Machine Tool to inspect the machines, the rumors began to spread to the public.

There were several major machine tool manufacturers in China, mainly Shenyang Machine Tool, Qiqihar Heavy CNC Equipment Corporation, and BYJC Machine Tools. They occupied a significant amount of China's machine tool market, and everyone was aiming to manufacture high-end machine tools.

The problem was that every company wanted to improve its product, and they were all confident that they could reverse engineer this high-end exported machine tool. However, there were only two machine tools, which was not enough for everyone to get a piece.

Therefore, when Shenyang Machine Tool chief engineer Academician Yang Zhongquan heard about the news, he skipped his lunch break and went on a flight with his colleague Secretary Wu.

The two sat on the couch in the lounge of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Secretary Wu looked at the door and lowered his voice.

"Mr. Yang, the machines are very important for our factory. We have to try and get one in our hands, preferably both."

Yang Zhongquan took a sip of the tea. His expression didn't change at all.

"Of course."

Suddenly, the door opened, and the two immediately stopped talking.

Lu Zhou greeted the two and sat across them on a sofa. He looked at them and asked, "You two came all the way to see me. I'm curious, what do you guys want?"

Yang Zhongquan was about to speak, but Secretary Wu coughed and took the initiative. Secretary Wu looked at Lu Zhou and said, "We know you're a busy person, so I'll get straight to the point. Did you buy the machines?"

Lu Zhou: "Yes."

Honestly, Lu Zhou was surprised.

The person that arranged a meeting was one of the State Administration for National Defense executives. However, these two corporate businessmen came instead.

Secretary Wu asked, "How much money did you spend?"

The price wasn't anything worthy of keeping a secret, so Lu Zhou replied casually, "Around €20 million."

"Only €20 million?" Yang Zhongquan was in disbelief. He looked at Lu Zhou with a curious expression and immediately asked, "Where did you get it?"

According to his experience, if someone in China wanted to buy a high-end machine like that, they would have to transfer it using a third-party country, and the price would often double or more. €20 million was a good deal for this type of machine.

Not to mention, this wasn't even the main point.

It would be difficult to buy the latest industrial machine tools for three times the normal price, especially the machine tools used for aircraft engine production. First of all, the middleman in the third-party country wanted to make a profit, but they didn't want to take on too much risk. Secondly, companies in Europe had a strict qualification review process and end-user license agreements. After all, this could impact their market competitiveness, and everyone knew that Chinese companies often ignored rules and regulations.

It would be much more valuable to know where these two pieces of machinery came from, than to buy them off Lu Zhou's hands.

Yang Zhongquan and Secretary Wu were thrilled. They couldn't wait to find out how Lu Zhou was able to get these two pieces of machinery in the country.

However, Lu Zhou, who was sitting across from the two, felt a little uncomfortable.

The tone of the pair made Lu Zhou feel a little unpleasant. Not to mention, this wasn't something that Lu Zhou should disclose so easily.

Lu Zhou leaned on the sofa and wasn't as polite as before.

"I met some friends during my study abroad. I just asked for a favor. What? Do I have to report my friends' favors?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

Secretary Wu looked at Lu Zhou's expression and realized something was wrong.

Lu Zhou looked very young, so Secretary Wu subconsciously spoke in an authoritative manner. He was about to speak in a more polite manner to salvage the conversation, but Yang Zhongquan spoke first.

Yang Zhongquan looked at Lu Zhou for a while and waved his hand.

"Forget about it, I don't care where the machines came from. I'll pay you €20 million, and you'll give us the machines."

When Lu Zhou heard the old man's demands, he frowned.

"I don't plan on selling."

Yang Zhongquan stared at him and said, "Do you even know what you bought?"

Lu Zhou said, "Two high precision five-axis linkage machine tools from Siemens?"

These two were the most expensive pieces of machinery in the equipment batch. Due to its high precision, it was even more expensive than six or seven-axis linkage machine tools.

Yang Zhongquan snorted and leaned on the sofa.

"Good, so you know."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile at Yang Zhongquan's face.

"What happens if I don't sell it to you?"

Yang Zhongquan said, "This concerns national security. I hope Professor Lu can think of the bigger picture. Otherwise, there will be consequences."

Seeing how these two were about to get into an argument, Secretary Wu felt anxious. However, he didn't have an opportunity to speak. He could only stare at Yang Zhongquan with a desperate look in his eyes.

However, Yang Zhongquan was still furious. He didn't care about Secretary Wu.

Lu Zhou looked at the old man's face and smiled. He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Oh, Regiment Commander Dai? Do me a favor."

Regiment Commander Dai had immediately picked up the call when he saw Lu Zhou's name on the screen. "Sure, anything you want."

"There's a batch of equipment at the Haizhou port. It contains state secrets, so can you please send it to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study."

"Okay."

A total of four sentences were exchanged over the phone.

Yang Zhongquan's eyes widened. His face turned bright red as he pointed his finger at Lu Zhou.

"You! Do you know what the hell you're doing?!"

"I do." Lu Zhou stuffed his phone back into his pocket and smiled. He said, "But it's a state secret, so I can't tell you anything."

Do you think I'm scared of you?

Chapter 644: Things Went Wrong

The army was quite efficient.

The phone call was made in the morning and the delivery truck arrived at the Institute for Advanced Study in the afternoon.

These two engineers came all the way to Jinling only to look at these three untouchable shipping containers. Yang Zhongquan was enraged; he almost wanted to skin Lu Zhou alive.

He couldn't help but question Lu Zhou, "Why the hell would you need high precision machine tools for your tiny laboratory. Are you building a particle collider or something?"

Lu Zhou replied impolitely as well, "Then why the hell would you need high precision machine tools for your factory? Are you going to disassemble them and play with them like Lego?"

Yang Zhongquan nearly vomited blood.

Wang Peng was standing nearby watching this unfold. He wanted to persuade Lu Zhou to calm down, but he didn't know what to do. Therefore, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

In the afternoon, the executives from the State Administration for National Defense finally came over.

A black sedan parked at the front entrance. Director Li quickly got out of the car. He and Lu Zhou went into another lounge.

"Professor Lu, that batch of machines is very important to us."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Is aerospace not important?"

"No, that's not what I meant. Aerospace is the future of China, of course it's important from a long term perspective, it's very important! Not to mention, you're the chief consultant of the moon landing project, so I understand what you're feeling!"

Lu Zhou sipped his coffee and didn't say anything.

Director Li sipped some tea to moisturize his throat. He then said with a sincere tone, "But you also know, that in addition to long term issues, we also have to think about the short term. Our industrial revolution began late, thus we're more than 15 years behind from the Germans and the Japanese. Especially in key areas of national defense like engines and submarines. There's still a big gap between us and the western countries."

Chinese machine tools had their own advantages, such as being relatively low cost, which almost made foreign low-end machine tools unprofitable. However, when it came to high-end machine tools, whether it was processing precision or failure rate, Chinese machine tools were no match with international industry giants.

Since China desperately wanted to improve its manufacturing industry, it had to focus on obtaining higher quality machinery.

For example, some Chinese manufacturers that needed high precision manufacturing machines would usually choose to import machine tools and nano-precision CNC machines. Since the west had the machines, the west had all the leverage. Not only did the Chinese have to pay huge prices, but they also had to deal with the horrible "end-user access rights". Therefore, the companies that were involved in sensitive technology didn't even dare to use imported machine tools.

Therefore, the cutting edge industrial technologies were also placed on the controllable fusion negotiation table.

After Lu Zhou heard Director Li's explanation, he nodded.

He wasn't a stingy person. He just didn't like the attitudes of the other two men.

He just wanted to have a normal conversation.

Lu Zhou was a reasonable person.

Seeing how Lu Zhou seemed to calm down, Director Li continued to speak sincerely, "I know it's difficult for you to buy these two machine tools. I hope you can give us one of them. Of course, we won't just take it from you. Tell me how much you bought it, and we'll buy it at triple the price. If you have any other requests, feel free to tell me."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There's no need to pay me triple the price, I didn't buy this thing to make money."

Director Li said, "Then is there any matter regarding the policy that we can help you?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit. His eyes suddenly lit up as he said, "The domestic spaceports are quite far from Jinling. After I build the space shuttle, transportation might be a little difficult."

Director Li began to sweat from his forehead.

"Are you implying…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "If only the spaceport can be a little closer…"

Director Li said with a headache, "That's impossible! Even if we agree, the local government wouldn't agree. Not only is this about confidentiality, but this also concerns the surrounding geographical environment, as well as other safety and meteorology factors. This isn't just something we can approve of."

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "You're misunderstanding me. I don't need spaceports like the ones in Jiuquan or Xichuang. I just need a small spaceport to launch a space shuttle."

Space shuttles were different from rockets, especially since Lu Zhou planned on reverse-engineering the Debris No.3 Hall-effect thruster, which was much more environmentally friendly than normal chemical rockets.

Director Li shook his head and said, "That won't work either!"

Lu Zhou slapped his thigh and was about to leave.

"Okay then, I'll talk to you about the machines some other day. I'll write a letter about the spaceport to the big man."

When Director Li heard that Lu Zhou was going to write a letter to the president, he anxiously said, "Don't need to write a letter, don't bother the big man with these little matters."

Lu Zhou said in a serious tone, "Aerospace engineering is one of the country's main national strategies, how is this a little matter?"

Director Li: "…"

The room was silent for five seconds.

Director Li sighed and said, "I can't give you any promises. To be honest, this is out of my control. However, I will try my best to find a way to coordinate with the relevant departments to help you solve this problem."

Director Li contemplated in his mind.

If Lu Zhou only wanted to launch a space shuttle and not a high-powered rocket, a small spaceport would work fine. The spaceport just had to be away from the urban area, and they had to ensure that the launch path didn't pass through any densely-populated areas.

After all, Jinling was different from Shanghai. There was plenty of land on the eastern side.

If Lu Zhou really didn't need to launch rockets, a small scale spaceport should do the job.

Since Director Li didn't immediately refuse, Lu Zhou knew that this plan might work. He smiled and said, "Then thank you, Director Li."

Director Li waved his hand and said politely, "You're welcome, I'm happy to help scientific researchers like you."

Lu Zhou: "Oh yeah, one more thing."

Director Li: "What?"

Lu Zhou: "The machines are already here. After the inspection, you guys can take one."

Director Li thought for a bit and immediately knew what Lu Zhou was talking about, so he smiled and replied, "Good idea."

Lu Zhou nodded at Director Li.

Lu Zhou was a mathematician. He didn't want to deal with these sleazy businessmen, nor did he want to offend anyone. Now that Shenyang Machine Tool heard about the rumors, other companies would follow suit and try to buy the machines off him.

It would be better to just give the machines to the State Administration for National Defense, and let the companies contact them instead.

Yang Zhongquan was standing in the research institute warehouse. When he saw Lu Zhou and Director Li smiling, he guessed that the two had reached a consensus. So he stood there and didn't say anything, nor did he look at Lu Zhou.

Obviously, he was still angry about what happened.

Director Li walked to Yang Zhongquan and smiled.

"Let your engineers inspect the two machines first."

Yang Zhongquan nodded and waved at the two engineers standing next to him.

The two engineers excitedly walked over to the two five-axis linkage machine tools, which were placed in the middle of the warehouse. They carefully began to tinker with the machines.

Lu Zhou was bored, so he took out his phone and began to read some theses.

Yang Zhongquan saw the theses on Lu Zhou's screen and looked away. The mathematics symbols gave him a headache.

Five minutes went by.

The engineers who were inspecting the machines suddenly looked worried.

"There's a problem with this batch of machines," said one of them.

Director Li's heart rate dropped, and he immediately asked, "What's the problem?"

The engineer's face was white as he replied hesitantly, "The CNC system… isn't installed yet."

Chapter 645: Let Me Find An Expert Firs

The CNC system isn't installed?!

Other than Lu Zhou, everyone else in the warehouse was stunned.

Secretary Wu from Shenyang Machine Tool sighed. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and walked out of the warehouse. Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense stared at the two machines silently. His eyes were filled with disappointment.

Yang Zhongquan almost looked like his lottery ticket was stolen. He shook his head and sighed.

"CNC system hasn't been installed… I knew there is no such thing as a free lunch."

In the beginning, he didn't understand how Lu Zhou was able to use €20 million to buy this batch of equipment since the two machine tools alone were worth more than that. However, he finally understood why. It turned out that Lu Zhou bought a "soulless version".

Lu Zhou stared at everyone and quietly asked, "Isn't it just the control system?"

He didn't think this was a big deal at all…

However, he didn't expect to piss off the engineers surrounding him.

Especially Yang Zhongquan; he couldn't help but berate Lu Zhou.

"Do you know what the CNC system even does?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou was a mathematician; he didn't know a lot about machinery control systems.

But even then, he didn't think this was a big deal.

When Director Li saw that these two people were about to get into an argument again, he coughed and tried to act as the peacemaker.

"This machine tool is quite special. There's the software part and the hardware part. The hardware is simple. It involves materials, hydraulics, pneumatic components, bearings, servo motors, etc. Every part of the machine affects its accuracy. As for the software, that determines whether the hardware can be used in actual production."

Lu Zhou nodded and kind of understood what was going on.

"The software is the CNC system?"

Yang Zhongquan sneered.

"No sh*t, Sherlock, what now, do you plan on manually controlling the machine?"

Relatively speaking, industrial machine tools didn't require high-end computer chips. However, they were highly dependent on CNC system algorithms. To achieve the highest degree of accuracy, an excellent machine tool had to be combined with an excellent CNC system.

According to the report from the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries (CECIMO), it clearly stated that the main competitors of the European's machine tool industry were Japan and Asia, while Japan and Europe were around the same level. China's machine tools had the advantage of being cheap, and their technology was gradually increasing. However, China was still behind Europe and Japan.

One of the reasons was because the Chinese produced machine tools by using imported CNC systems, such as systems from Japan. Not only did this add to the cost, but it also caused China to fall behind in terms of machine tool software.

Now that the machine tools were here without a control system, even though they weren't completely worthless, their values were halved, at the very least. Also, it was halved for the companies that planned on reverse-engineering the machine tools. For the companies that planned on using these machine tools, these were worthless.

When Yang Zhongquan saw Lu Zhou silently standing there, he thought Lu Zhou was distressed over wasting money, so Yang Zhongquan began to gloat.

"You might as well sell both of the machine tools to us, they're useless for you anyway. Might as well melt them down and recycle them. Don't worry, we'll still pay you €20 million."

Lu Zhou ignored him. He looked at Director Li and asked, "Can't we just buy a system and install it?"

Director Li shook his head and said, "It's difficult. If you bought it through legitimate channels, it would be fine, but this… is a bit difficult."

Lu Zhou instantly realized what the director was talking about.

The main part was that these two machine tools were considered "illegal goods". Everyone around the country was trying to look for these two machines. It wasn't as if Lu Zhou could knock on Siemens' door and just ask for a system?

Especially since the controllable fusion energy negotiations were still going on, he couldn't do anything that would affect the negotiations.

As for installing a Chinese CNC system…

It would be useless, Chinese systems were no match for this monster.

Lu Zhou looked to the side.

"I'll find some engineers and try to figure it out."

Yang Zhongquan couldn't help but say, "Ah, if you can figure this machine tool system out, I'll eat this machine."

"Okay, I'll remember that."

Lu Zhou didn't bother arguing with him, he didn't have the time nor did he care.

Director Li shook his head.

Old engineers with a bad temper like this couldn't be stopped. Lu Zhou, on the other hand, was quite easy-going. However, that was based on the premise that the other party was also polite.

After all, Lu Zhou was an internationally-renowned scholar. Even though he wasn't a machine tool expert, Yang Zhongquan should be a little more respectful.

Overall, the customs office did a bad job. Not only did they forgo telling Jinling Institute for Advanced Study about the arrival of the equipment, but they also didn't immediately report this to the higher-ups. Instead, they quickly contacted engineers from the industry for inspection.

In any case, Yang Zhongquan and Lu Zhou were two pillars of the country.

Even though this was out of Director Li's control, he still hoped that these two could be on good terms…

Most people in the warehouse left, leaving two engineers and a few Institute for Advanced Study security guards behind. One of the machine tools was going to be moved to another warehouse, while the other one was going to be taken away from the State Administration for National Defense.

Secretary Wu stayed with Director Li. Yang Zhongquan, on the other hand, obviously didn't care about this anymore. He went into his car and got back to his hotel.

As for Lu Zhou, he didn't waste any time here either. After he told the research institute about the situation, he went back to his office and began to research the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem. When the sun was setting, he went downstairs to the cafeteria for some dinner.

Wang Peng sat across from Lu Zhou and casually asked, "This is bad, right?"

Using his chopsticks, Lu Zhou picked some meat into his bowl of rice as he said nonchalantly, "It's not bad at all, they're just overreacting."

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou and said, "But… the chief engineer from Shenyang Machine Tool said that there is no CNC system? That system is important, right?"

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't an expert in machine tools, he was vaguely familiar with hardware and software interactions.

However, Lu Zhou still looked carefree as he continued to gorge on his food.

"Their opinions don't matter. I'll find an expert and talk with them."

Chapter 646: Who Installed This System for You?

The expert that Lu Zhou referred to was obviously Xiao Ai.

In the evening, a flat AGV followed Lu Zhou into the warehouse where the equipment were stored. It strolled around the warehouse for a few laps. Lu Zhou was about to ask what it was doing, but his phone began to vibrate.

[Where is my machine tool? It was just here a second ago. (°ー°〃)]

The AGV spun in a circle on the warehouse floor; the circle was approximately the size of the equipment.

Lu Zhou looked at the message on his screen and felt a bit apologetic. He scratched his cheek and muttered, "Oh, the other one was borrowed by someone else."

The AGV suddenly stopped.

After a while, a message appeared on his phone screen.

[: (]

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "There's no point sulking. There's only one left, just deal with it… Or I can give you some money and you can go buy another one."

Xiao Ai: [It's very difficult to buy another one using the same method. :( ]

Lu Zhou: "…"

The same method wouldn't fool the intelligence agencies a second time.

They would have to make do with just one machine.

Exchanging one machine tool for a nearby launch site was a good deal. Not to mention, one machine tool should be enough. It would just take longer.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

"Xiao Ai, do you know there's no CNC system in the equipment you bought?"

Xiao Ai: [Why does it need a system? Can't I just learn how to use it? 0.0]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Even though Lu Zhou wanted to criticize Xiao Ai, he didn't know what to say.

However, Xiao Ai did make sense. After all, it was able to build a Transformer replica model with normal industrial tools. So, it should be able to operate high-precision tools with no problem.

Even though Lu Zhou believed in Xiao Ai's abilities, he still asked Xiao Ai just in case, "You're not going to ruin the machine tool, right?"

Xiao Ai: [I won't, I'll be careful.]

Lu Zhou: "Then please, learn how to use it…"

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master, I got this! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

…

The next day, a truck from the State Administration for National Defense drove to the Institute for Advanced Study.

A group of people came to the warehouse. They were ready to retrieve the machine tool.

Lu Zhou walked over and ignored Yang Zhongquan. He looked at Director Li and said, "I found someone to install the CNC system."

When Director Li heard this, he nearly dropped his cigarette.

However, before he could speak, Yang Zhongquan smiled and said, "Oh, really now? Who did you find?"

Lu Zhou said, "State secrets."

Yang Zhongquan thought that Lu Zhou probably installed some fake sub-par system. He gently tapped his cigarette and glanced at the machine tool.

"Let's give it a test then."

Lu Zhou: "Sure, what kind of test?"

Yang Zhongquan tapped his cigarette and casually said, "I'm not going to make it too difficult, just make an S-shaped test piece."

An S-shaped test piece was a machine tool testing standard, which was proposed by several experts from the Academy of Engineering. It was first proposed in a patent and played a special role in testing five-axis linkage machine tools. It was used in various machine tool factories across the country.

The S-shaped test piece was the only Chinese-created ISO test standard for high-end machine tools. Prior to this, the ISO standard was made by countries such as Germany and Japan.

Therefore, the S-shaped test piece was one of China's great machine-tool-related inventions.

As an academician at the Academy of Engineering and the chief engineer of Shenyang Machine Tool, Yang Zhongquan obviously participated in the S-shaped test piece design. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that with his experience, he could tell the quality of a machine tool just by touching the S-shaped test piece.

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What the hell is the S-shaped test piece?

However, Xiao Ai understood what was going on.

Lu Zhou walked to the control terminal and pretended to press some buttons. He then pressed the start button.

After the start button was pressed, it was like a beast was awaken inside the warehouse. The tool connected to the spindle began to rotate at a high speed. It was like an avalanche was happening on the solid block of metal as large amounts of metal debris were peeling off.

Yang Zhongquan frowned when he saw this, and he squinted.

This is at least spinning in the tens of thousands of RPM range.

This doesn't seem right.

High-speed cutting had obvious advantages. It reduced the cutting force and the deformation from the thermal stress on the product. It also improved the rigidity of the thinly-cut parts, and the final product had a higher degree of quality.

However, the disadvantages were fatal. High-speed cutting might break the tool or even melt and burn off the machinery components.

Normally, high-speed cutting had to be paired with a corresponding feed rate, and both of them had to be within a certain range. This was so that the machine's accuracy and lifespan on the tools were optimized.

The quality of a CNC system was reflected in this system.

If a poor machine tool broke down during operation, the blame wasn't entirely on the machine tool itself. At least half of the blame was on the CNC system.

Of course, Yang Zhongquan was surprised at the machine for maintaining such a high cutting speed.

However, this wasn't anything special. A lot of machine tools with imported ceramic bearings could cut at high speeds, much less a five-axis linkage machine tool from Siemens.

The key to a reliable machine was the final product.

If the machine couldn't produce the final product or if the final product had a defect, then the cutting speeds wouldn't matter.

Yang Zhongquan thought about this and felt a little more comfortable.

Lu Zhou was standing next to the control terminal. He didn't really know what was going on, so he took out his phone and began to read a thesis from where he left off last night. Around ten minutes later, the rotating tool stopped and an S-shaped piece of metal was presented on the workbench.

The engineers standing nearby all looked shocked.

Done?

Already?

Lu Zhou put his phone into his pocket and smiled at Yang Zhongquan.

"I think it's done."

"I know."

Yang Zhongquan frowned and walked toward the machine tool.

He stood next to the machine tool with his eyebrows furrowed.

He extended his finger and touched the S-shaped test piece.

It's warm!

Lu Zhou looked at him and didn't know what he was doing. He smiled and said, "Is it too hot? Maybe blow on it a little."

Yang Zhongquan didn't care for Lu Zhou's ridicule. He flipped over the S-shaped test piece and rubbed his thumb on the curved surface of the metal test piece.

His facial expression totally changed.

Yang Zhongquan's hands trembled slightly while holding the S-shaped test piece, and he stuttered, "W-Who installed… this system for you?"

Chapter 647: The Secretive and Modest Professor Lu

Yang Zhongquan stared at the S-shaped test piece in his hand. He was in disbelief.

One shouldn't estimate this small S-shaped metal sheet. The surface of the metal object followed a spline function, which was generated by using a control point spline. This was very similar to the shape of aircraft wings.

Because of the twisted S-shape, the curved surface was at an acute angle with the base, therefore only a five-axis linkage machine tool could produce a shape like this. Also, the feed rate had to be changed several times during the machining process. This was a test of the performance of the machine.

Therefore, what reflected in the final S-shaped product wasn't only the machining accuracy, but also the force, heat, vibration, noise, and other error factors.

Yang Zhongquan didn't know what the control system for this machine tool was, but his intuition told him that it would be difficult to achieve this level of accuracy even if Siemens tailored a CNC system for this machine tool.

Lu Zhou saw Yang Zhongquan's expression and knew that Xiao Ai's performance was too good. He didn't know how to explain himself.

However, he thought…

Why the f*ck do I need to explain myself?

I don't need to explain anything!

Therefore, he casually made up a reason.

"I met a few friends while studying in Europe, and some of them were experts in this field. I was told that he was working on a machine tool control system based on neural networks and machine learning…"

"This is impossible!" Yang Zhongquan's eyes went wide open. "The application of the neural networks and machine learning algorithms on machine tools has been researched before, but it is all theoretical. There aren't any examples of algorithms being able to improve the accuracy of machine tools…"

Lu Zhou used his chin to point toward the machine.

"The example is right in front of you."

Yang Zhongquan went silent for a while.

"Who is your friend?"

Lu Zhou said, "I'm not telling you."

Yang Zhongquan: "…"

Secretary Wu: "…"

Director Li: "…"

The atmosphere in the warehouse was a bit awkward.

Lu Zhou didn't want to end things on a bad note, so he looked at the engineer, then at Yang Zhongquan. He continued to speak, "I can't tell you where I got the system, but if you want to buy it, I might consider selling it."

Yang Zhongquan said, "Your CNC system is compatible with other machines?"

"Of cour… I don't know." Lu Zhou suddenly changed his reply. "But whatever machine you want to install the system on, bring it over here, and I'll find someone to see if they can install the CNC system on it."

Yang Zhongquan didn't ask who. After all, he knew that Lu Zhou wouldn't tell him. He asked, "What about the price?"

Lu Zhou didn't have a sense of money, so he said, "Don't bring me a low-end machine tool, I don't have the time for that. I'll only tailor CNC systems to high-end machine tools. A million per machine."

Before Yang Zhongquan could speak, Secretary Wu quickly said, "Deal!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Did I ask for too low?

…

During dinner time.

A group of people sat in front of the dinner table, laughing while eating.

After some drinking and eating, it was getting late. Secretary Wu whispered to Director Li, who was sitting next to him.

"Director Li, can you find out who is making the systems? Chinese machine tools are always of poor quality. If we find this person for help, I am certain that Shenyang Machine Tool will be the top machine tool manufacturer in the world!"

Even though this sounded like an exaggeration, after Secretary Wu saw the quality of the S-shaped test piece, he was totally confident about it.

The domestic CNC system field desperately needed talents, and to let a huge talent like this stay in a research institute was painful for Secretary Wu.

Director Li didn't say anything. He just smiled and looked at him.

Even though he was drinking, he wasn't drunk yet.

After a while, he said, "The person wants to stay in the Institute for Advanced Study, so let's just leave them alone, okay? Do you have to have them work in your company? Paying them to design systems for you is the same thing, right? The economy has changed, so try to keep up with the times. You're doing business with another entity, stop trying to get me involved."

Director Li sounded like he was criticizing Secretary Wu.

Secretary Wu smiled and tried to explain.

"I just don't want good talents to go to waste."

Director Li smiled and shook his head. "Then talk with Professor Lu, see if he wants to cooperate."

Secretary Wu shut his mouth.

Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the controllable fusion project and was now the chief consultant of the moon landing project. He had made great contributions to the country. Lu Zhou didn't have time to meet with guys like him.

If it wasn't for the State Administration for National Defense, Lu Zhou wouldn't have met with them in the first place.

Director Li said subtly, "Also, I don't think his friend is necessarily the one who created the CNC system."

Secretary Wu paused for a second before asking, "What do you mean?"

Director Li stared at him and said, "Around six or seven years go, he wrote more than a dozen theses on artificial intelligence, neural network, and drone logistics. Even though it was sent to an unknown journal, some of the experts from the information engineering department found and read the theses. They all agreed that these theses couldn't be written by an average scholar. After all these years, if his programming ability stayed the same or even improved… He might have done something incredible himself."

Secretary Wu was in shock and disbelief.

"So you're saying he is the one who wrote the CNC system code? But this is totally different from mathematics, this is…"

"It's ridiculous, right?" Director Li smiled and said, "Sometimes I think so too, but it's not impossible. Think about it, he spent all that effort buying the equipment, so how could he forget about the crucial CNC system?"

Secretary Wu said, "But he didn't know…"

Director Li shook his head.

"Even if he didn't know, what about the people who helped him buy the equipment?"

Director Li stared at Secretary Wu, who was totally frozen, and said with nuances, "Not to mention, do you really think the CNC system is more difficult than a controllable fusion control system?"

Chapter 648: Was Proven?

At night time.

Lu Zhou quickly finished his dinner and began walking back to his office. On his way there, he called Chen Yushan and told her about the equipment.

After Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's explanation, she sighed.

"You should have called me, your price is obviously too low."

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I thought so too, but I couldn't go back on my word."

Chen Yushan was speechless. She said, "Of course you can go back on your word, who cares what an enterprise thinks? Just change your offer."

Lu Zhou: "Uh, that's not good, right? I already agreed."

Chen Yushan: "Okay then, if you want to keep your word, we can use another method."

Lu Zhou: "What method?"

Chen Yushan smiled mischievously and replied, "A million is just the installation fee, this doesn't include the service fee and system update fees."

Lu Zhou was speechless. He said, "You're way too good at extortion."

Honestly speaking, even though Lu Zhou didn't like these two Shenyang Machine Tool executives, he still wanted China to have a spot in the international machine tool industry.

Even though he wasn't familiar with this field, production and research were closely related. He didn't want to offend anyone.

He had plans to build a collider and an outer-space laboratory, and all of these exciting high-tech projects needed industrial support. He would have to pay a ton of import taxes if he relied on other countries.

"Why would you care about them?" Chen Yushan said, "I'm telling you, if you really care, then you shouldn't have offered such a low price! They deserve to pay a higher price. It's only then that they will try to invent new technology on their own. If you don't charge them a higher price, they'll never treat their researchers well. True competitive enterprises all come from high patent licensing fees!"

Lu Zhou felt that Chen Yushan made sense, so he nodded and replied, "I don't really want to handle this, so we'll just do what you say."

Chen Yushan: "You should have made me handle it in the beginning!"

When it came to things that were related to work, Chen Yushan was like a different person. Her mannerisms and actions were almost ferocious.

It was refreshing for Lu Zhou to see this side of her.

After everyone left for the evening, Lu Zhou went back to the institute warehouse. He installed the CNC system that Xiao Ai wrote onto another machine. He didn't have to worry about this anymore since Star Sky Technology would handle the rest.

The next day, the people from the State Administration for National Defense came over and placed the machine tool into their car.

Lu Zhou happened to see Yang Zhongquan, so he smiled and greeted him.

"Oh, Yang Zhongquan, are you ready to eat?"

Yang Zhongquan thought back to his words and instantly blushed. He turned around and walked away.

Secretary Wu smiled and joked, "Ummm… The machine tool is too expensive. It costs us tens of millions, we can't let him eat it."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything.

…

The new space launch site was still under examination and approval, but the State Administration for National Defense said that it shouldn't be a big problem. The space shuttle manufacturing site was approved a week ago. The construction equipment had already been moved to the site, and they had begun the construction.

The construction company that won the bidding wars was a local engineering company based in Jinling. It met the military engineering qualifications, as well as the security and confidentiality conditions. It should be able to easily construct the spacecraft assembly factory.

Since the construction was managed by professionals, Lu Zhou left it alone. He focused on his Yang-Mills existence and mass gap research.

According to the results he discussed with Luo Wenxuan, the most reliable way to find the particle mass m was to introduce a Quantum Yang-Mills Field.

This would require a massless field that could propagate at the speed of light, whereas quantum particles had a positive mass, which was, a positive number ∆. And the energy of any excited particle state must not be less than ∆, thus ensuring that the strong interaction nuclear force was short-ranged.

Lu Zhou exchanged ideas with Professor Fefferman and Professor Witten through email messages, and the advice Lu Zhou received was peculiar.

Witten believed that the method of using a Quantum Yang-Mills Field to solve the Yang-Mills theory wasn't reliable and that the M theory would be a more reliable way of explaining the mass gap.

However, the problem was that there wasn't any direct evidence to prove the existence of the M theory, or string theory for that matter. Using a hypothesis to prove another hypothesis was obviously unreliable.

Unlike Witten, Professor Fefferman was optimistic about Lu Zhou's proposal of a Quantum Yang-Mills Field.

At the end of Fefferman's email, he mentioned something interesting.

[… When traditional methods fail to solve new problems, the best thing to do is to create new ways to adapt to the ever-changing world of science. You're creating a quantum field that corresponds to the classical effects described above, to solve a problem that cannot be described on this space-time manifold. I think this method is very interesting, it is at least worth a try.

[If I weren't busy with my own research project, I would have bought a plane ticket to fly over there and research this problem together with you.]

Other than exchanging emails with Professor Fefferman and Witten, Lu Zhou's only other partner was Luo Wenxuan.

This was actually quite embarrassing. Even though the Institute for Advanced Study had been established for a long time, there weren't a lot of big talents. Institute of Computational Materials, on the other hand, had plenty of talents, and their scientific research level was world-class.

However, when it came to the Institute of Mathematics or the Institute of Physics…

They were basically relying on Lu Zhou's reputation.

He had to admit, cultivating talents and creating an academic environment would take a lot of time.

Institute of Physics.

Director's office.

Whenever Lu Zhou couldn't find any inspiration to solve a problem, he would come here. This was his time to exchange new research discoveries with Luo Wenxuan.

When Luo Wenxuan saw Lu Zhou walk into this office, he looked up from his computer and asked, "Did you make any progress on the Quantum Yang-Mills Field?"

"I'm still a bit off, but I think I'm very close to the answer. There's just a thin layer between me and the answer… Of course, this layer might be made of frosted glass," Lu Zhou walked to the water dispenser and made himself a cup of instant coffee. "What about you?"

Luo Wenxuan shook his head.

"I think there's a thick wall between me and the answer."

Lu Zhou: "You'll figure it out eventually… Oh yeah, what are you doing?"

Luo Wenxuan: "I'm looking at the theses on Arxiv to see if there are any interesting ideas. Ever since your report, the number of Yang-Mills equations theses has been growing at an exponential rate. However, the average quality of these theses has been declining at an exponential rate."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "That's understandable, everyone wants to find an answer."

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "Yeah, after all, this is the most difficult problem of the century."

Lu Zhou took a sip of his coffee and said, "Not necessarily. I think the Riemann's conjecture is more difficult. There has been some progress made on the Yang-Mills theory over the past few decades, but the Riemann's conjecture is still a mystery."

"Really, is that what you think?" Luo Wenxuan shrugged and carelessly said, "One might be more difficult than the other, but as long as I am unable to solve the problem, they're the same to me."

He said while clicking his mouse.

While staring at the computer screen, he suddenly froze.

Lu Zhou, who was sipping on his coffee, noticed Luo Wenxuan's expression and asked, "What now?"

Luo Wenxuan looked away from his computer screen. He looked at Lu Zhou as he said with a perplexed expression on his face, "The Yang-Mills existence and mass gap… was proven?"

Chapter 649: Serious Flaws

It was proven?

When Lu Zhou looked at the screen, his face was full of surprise. He put down the coffee cup in his hand.

"Are you sure it was proven? Is it not a possible proof idea?"

"Yeah, I am… The author of the thesis claimed that he solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem. Also, this guy's background is impressive," Luo Wenxuan said while looking at the author's information. He spoke in disbelief, "Brian Caro, professor at Oxford University. A member of the Royal Society, academician of Academia Europaea. Participated in the Higgs particle discovery. Won five medals, including the Institute of Physics Isaac Newton Medal… Unbelievable, he's sixty years old."

Sixty years old wasn't exactly the golden age for physics research, but it wasn't old enough for significant memory decline. However, even then, making such an achievement at this age was no piece of cake.

Lu Zhou had never even heard of Professor Brian Caro, but maybe that was because he didn't know a lot about the theoretical physics community.

After Lu Zhou heard Luo Wenxuan talk about Brian's accomplishments, he began to ask questions.

"Is the thesis already released as a preprint? Or just the abstract?"

Luo Wenxuan clicked his mouse and said, "The preprint is already released."

Even though this type of situation was rare in the mathematics world, it wasn't rare in the physics world, especially in the field of theoretical physics. For a major theoretical physics problem like this, a lot of experienced professors like to publish a preprint of their theses to prevent other scholars from stealing their glory.

After all, it was very difficult to produce results in theoretical physics. Being one step behind could lead to years of extra hard work.

Lu Zhou was intrigued. "Print a copy for me."

"Okay… But I don't understand why you like to read printed papers, isn't it easier to read it on an e-reader?"

"There's no special reason why, I just like being able to physically touch the thesis."

Even though Lu Zhou would read papers on his phone, that was only when he didn't have access to the printed version.

If he were sitting on a sofa or studying at a desk in the library now, he would much rather prefer reading a printed copy of the thesis. Not only was it easier to make notes, but it was also easier for him to write down inspirational thoughts that come to mind.

The printer started humming.

Luo Wenxuan was reading the thesis on his computer when he suddenly said, "What if he is correct?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at him strangely.

"Good for him then, what's the problem?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at him in disbelief.

"You won't feel sad?"

Lu Zhou: "What's so sad about it?"

Luo Wenxuan looked helpless as he said, "But, we researched this problem for so long, we are one step away from the finish line. You don't feel anything?"

Lu Zhou said nonchalantly, "I don't feel anything. I don't really care who solves the problem, it's all the same for me."

Lu Zhou had already won the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize. He didn't crave for more medals. He researched these problems purely because he wanted an answer. If someone else was inspired by his research and successfully solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem, he would actually feel more satisfied than if he had solved it himself.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou. He opened his mouth and sighed.

"Okay then… I don't feel the same at all."

Lu Zhou said, "You'll get there eventually."

…

After a minute or two, the twenty-page thesis was printed.

One could say that a lot of care had been put into this thesis, especially since it was a preprint version.

The formatting met all of the normal journal standards and the proof section of the thesis was clear and concise. It wasn't like those typical Internet preprints, which were full of mistakes.

After the thesis was printed, Lu Zhou sat down on a sofa and began to read the thesis abstract and content.

Overall, Brian Caro did a pretty good job, both from a mathematical and a physics perspective. Even though there was still a gap between him and top scholars, Caro's ability matched his reputation.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was that the method adopted by Brian Caro was similar to the idea that Lu Zhou and Luo Wenxuan had. Brian Caro's thesis was also based on Professor Jaffe's thesis in Annual Mathematics. It tried to explain the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap by finding the particle mass m.

However, Lu Zhou and Caro had different methods of finding the particle mass m.

Brian Caro didn't introduce a Quantum Yang-Mills Field. Instead, he used a method similar to Weinberg, he introduced a scalar space-time manifold to solve this problem.

However, even though there were many nuances in the thesis, in Lu Zhou's opinion, this thesis wasn't rigorous at all.

After all, the massless strong interaction problem couldn't be solved by using a simple "symmetry breaking" method.

"His proof is very close, but it's still a bit off." Lu Zhou put down the thesis and grabbed his coffee mug. He noticed that his coffee was cold, so he walked up and made himself another cup of coffee.

Luo Wenxuan immediately looked up. "So, is he correct?"

"Yeah, but don't gloat too much. We can still learn some stuff from his thesis, like how he used the existence of a four-dimensional gauge field to normalize the lattice point or how he set a constant effect on the torus Euclid space… Of course, there are many problems."

Luo Wenxuan: "Like what?"

"Like when he talked about the normalization of grid points, he didn't prove that the lattice step size limit tends to zero. Therefore, his method of defining the torus Euclid space-time isn't rigorous, it's actually wrong."

Lu Zhou gently blew on his cup of coffee and took a sip. He paused for a few seconds before saying, "But I'm not sure if it's because this is a preprint version. He might have already found a good proof method, but just didn't post it yet."

This type of scenario was pretty common.

After all, a lot of high-quality theses on arXiv were perfected through constant discussion and revision.

Luo Wenxuan: "So he didn't prove it?"

"It seems so. I don't care what other people think, in my opinion, he didn't succeed." Lu Zhou sighed and looked a bit disappointed.

He originally thought Professor Brian could show him something novel. He didn't expect Professor Brian to make so many mistakes.

As expected, Lu Zhou had to rely on himself to solve the problem.

Chapter 650: Professor Brian's Invitation

Professor Brian Caro's thesis caused a sensation in the academic community.

Since most people speculated that the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap was going to be solved by Professor Lu, no one expected this sudden change of events.

The last problem of the Yang-Mills equations was actually solved by a professor at Oxford University.

Of course, people weren't overly surprised by Professor Brian Caro's proof. After all, this big name had been in the field of theoretical physics studying gauge theory for more than two decades. It was understandable for him to make such a major breakthrough like this.

After Professor Lu gave a general solution to the Yang-Mills equations, it inspired the entire mathematics and physics community.

Professor Brian Caro's reputation instantly blew up in the theoretical physics community, and the number of theses that were being posted on arXiv regarding the Yang-Mills equations also reduced by a huge amount.

Everyone was waiting.

They wanted to see what the physics community thought about this thesis.

They were waiting for opinions posted by top scholars.

Oxford University.

Inside a study room with red wooden bookshelves, Professor Brian Caro was sitting on a sofa. He was being interviewed by Nature Weekly. He looked energetic and high-spirited.

When he was asked about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, the question that troubled the theoretical physics community for decades, he leaned back against the sofa cushions and easily gave an answer.

"The Yang-Mills existence and mass gap is a very complicated problem. Even though we can observe the phenomenon in physics experiments and computer simulations, we weren't able to give a mathematical explanation. This was the reason why we couldn't understand its existence from a quantitative perspective. This problem troubled the physics community for more than half a century. It's like a marathon, but now the marathon is finally finished."

The journalist Belinda from Nature Weekly was holding a microphone, and she asked seriously, "Then how did you solve it?"

Brian Caro said, "How do you want me to answer this question?"

Belinda smirked and said, "I hope you can talk about the source of your inspiration and the solution to the problem in a way that can be understood by the average person."

"I'll try." Brian took a sip of black tea and gracefully put down the teacup. He said, "I have researched this problem for more than two decades. The report from Jin Ling University inspired me to a great degree. By introducing the L Manifold method, Professor Lu taught us how to apply a differential geometry method to the solution of nonlinear partial differential equations. I think this is extremely significant to the mathematics and physics world."

Belinda said, "So did you use the same, or a similar method?"

Brian shook his head and said, "Not necessarily, but Professor Lu's idea did give me some inspiration. We all know that the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap cannot be observed in a four-dimensional gauge field. In order to prove it, we must introduce classical variable transformations. Therefore, my approach is to introduce a scalar space-time manifold on the whole problem, then use a simple method to solve the problem."

Brian unconsciously grinned.

He couldn't help but feel satisfied whenever he thought about how smart he was.

Belinda smiled and said, "Will you display the content of your thesis in the form of a report presentation?"

Professor Brian smiled politely and said, "Of course, this is the common practice of academia. Every great discovery is bound to be met with questions, even Einstein was no exception to this rule. My proof report will be held in the lecture hall at the University of Oxford. I will explain all of the methods I have used and answer any questions from my peers."

Belinda then asked, "What do you think would be the opinions of the other physicists?"

Professor Brian: "If they are confused or have any questions, I welcome them to ask me any questions. However, I think the possibility of this happening is low."

Belinda: "However, according to the comments on arXiv, Professor Lu has some interesting opinions about your thesis. He thinks that there are at least three sections in your thesis that weren't explained clearly, and that these sections couldn't be easily fixed."

Professor Brian initially frowned, but he quickly relaxed and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Professor Lu is a respectable scholar, but he isn't the highest authority in academia. Everyone makes mistakes, including me, including him."

Belinda was interested, and she asked, "So, what you're saying is, Professor Lu could be wrong this time?"

"I didn't say that, but that is possible. I am confident in my own thesis, after all. I have been researching this problem for more than 20 years. He has researched this problem for less than a year, a little negligence from him is normal"

Professor Brian stopped for a second and cleared his throat.

"Of course, in order to clarify his misunderstandings, I will send him an invitation to my University of Oxford report. He will get to witness this glorious moment. If he wants to come, I will answer all of his questions during the report."

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Knocking sounds were heard from outside the institute director's office.

Lu Zhou was writing something on his desk. He stopped writing and looked up at the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open.

Luo Wenxuan walked in while carrying a Nature Weekly magazine.

"I heard that Professor Brian wants to invite you to his report," Luo Wenxuan said as he placed the magazine on Lu Zhou's desk. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "Did you receive his invitation?"

"Yeah, I received it yesterday," Lu Zhou said as he nodded.

Luo Wenxuan: "Do you plan on going?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head as he said, "It's not a good idea for me to leave the country within the next five years, I might not be able to go."

Luo Wenxuan: "That's unfortunate."

Luo Wenxuan knew about Lu Zhou's situation.

Before the controllable fusion negotiations were finished, a top scholar like him should be more careful when traveling overseas, both from the standpoints of technology confidentiality and personal safety.

It was just too risky.

Lu Zhou didn't really care. "It's not unfortunate at all. After all, it's not an important conference."

He had been following the thesis. Even though Professor Brian made some modifications to the thesis preprint, Lu Zhou wasn't satisfied. Honestly speaking, even if Lu Zhou had the time, he wouldn't want to attend the report.

After all, he could just email Brian the thesis mistakes.

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Then I'll go instead, make sure to reimburse me for the flight."

Lu Zhou joked, "You still care about that?"

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "Yeah, I have to. I plan on starting a family, so I have to be more frugal."

"Well, good for you then…" Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He pulled out a check from his drawer and signed his name on the check. "Forget about the reimbursement. Just take €5,000."

Luo Wenxuan took the check and smiled as he said, "Why are you being so generous? Looks like I'm going to spend an extra day or two in England."

"Go ahead, have a great vacation."

Chapter 651: I Have Questions

University of Oxford, lecture hall.

The venue was fully seated.

The scholars sitting in the venue either chatted with each other or flipped through the thesis print-out and report summary…

The noisy venue was like music for Brian Caro's ears. In half an hour, he would become one of the greatest mathematical physicists of this century. He would place down the last piece of the Yang-Mills equations puzzle and win a million USD in prize money… Or at least a third of the prize money.

For a scholar working in the theoretical field, this prize money was quite substantial.

Of course, his motivation for solving this problem wasn't the prize money. In his opinion, money and honor were bonuses.

So why did he try and solve this problem?

Because pushing civilization forward was a pleasant thing in and of itself.

There was still fifteen minutes until the report. Most of the participants had already arrived. The ones that still hadn't arrived, probably wouldn't end up coming. The security guard standing at the entrance of the lecture hall opened the doors and allowed some of the people, who didn't receive the invitation letters, into the venue.

Professor Brian was wearing a black suit. He stood at the venue hallway and looked at his watch. He looked at the venue entrance and seemed a little disappointed.

A waiter wearing a black suit and a bow-tie walked over.

Professor Brian looked at the waiter and immediately asked, "Is Professor Lu here?"

The waiter paused for a second and shook his head. "No."

Professor Brian was even more disappointed now.

However, it was what it was.

Even though it was unfortunate that Professor Lu couldn't come, there were a lot of other big names who were attending this report. Regardless of whether or not Professor Lu was here, his report would continue.

Fifteen minutes passed by, the report officially began.

Brian walked on stage and began to show his PowerPoint presentation. He started to talk about his main thesis ideas, as well as some of the methods he used to prove the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap.

Luo Wenxuan was in the crowd. He took a deep breath and opened his laptop that was placed on his knees.

On his laptop screen were some of the problems he discovered while researching Professor Brian's thesis. It would be great if his questions could be answered during Professor Brian's report, but if not, he would ask them during the Q&A session.

On the other hand, Peter Goddard and Edward Witten were sitting together.

Both of them were big names in the mathematical physics world, and their main area of expertise was string theory. When they heard that Professor Brian from the University of Oxford claimed to have solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, these people immediately left CERN and took a flight to the UK.

As Goddard listened to Professor Brian's talk, he sighed.

"If only Professor Lu was here."

He was the dean of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. When he received Lu Zhou's resignation letter, he tried to convince Lu Zhou to stay. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed. Every time he thought about Lu Zhou, he would feel a little regretful.

"He has his own matters to attend to." Witten smiled and closed his laptop. He said, "Also, regardless of whether he is physically here or not, I believe that he won't miss this report."

Goddard: "What do you think about Professor Brian's thesis?"

Witten thought for a bit and said, "I need to take some time to think about it. After all, he has modified it at least a dozen times after he released the preprint. I saw the final version just a week ago. I think his proof idea is worthy of recognition, but I feel like something is wrong. If the Mathematical Physics journal wants to invite me as a reviewer, I'll express my opinions in the review process… What do you think?"

Before the report began, Professor Brian stated that his finalized thesis would be submitted to Mathematical Physics. If everything went according to plan, Mathematical Physics would organize at least five people to conduct a rigorous review of this thesis.

Witten was a top mathematical physicist who had won the Fields Medal before, so Mathematical Physics obviously wouldn't forget about him.

Of course, this was true for Peter Goddard as well.

Goddard went silent for a while. He then responded, "I feel the same way. His proof might be flawed… Also, I view this problem in a different way?"

Witten raised his eyebrows. "Oh really?"

Goddard used a pen to draw four points on his notebook as he said, "Set a four-dimensional gauge field with SU(N) or SO(N) and SP(N) as the norm group. This might be equivalent to the 1/n chord coupling constant in string theory… If this is the case, both the mass gap and the quark confinement can be perfectly explained."

Witten raised his eyebrows as he said, "From the perspective of string theory?"

Goddard nodded at him and said, "Yes."

Witten smiled and said, "Your opinion is interesting. Maybe we can go for a cup of coffee after the report finishes."

Goddard smiled and said, "Haha, only if you're paying."

In the midst of talking about a new proof idea, these two didn't realize that in the back of their minds, they had no hope for this report anymore.

Two hours passed by, the report came to an end.

After Professor Brian finished his PowerPoint presentation, the lecture hall erupted in applause. It was time for the Q&A session.

Professor Brian made adequate preparations beforehand and answered all of the questions that were raised by scholars.

Soon, there wasn't anyone asking questions.

Professor Brian was about to announce the end of the report when someone raised their hand.

"Wait a second."

Professor Brian looked at the lonely hand in the crowd and frowned. However, he quickly smiled cheerfully.

"Yes?"

Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath and closed his laptop. He then stood up.

Witten was sitting on the other side of the lecture hall, and he suddenly had a look of surprise on his face.

Goddard looked at him and said, "You know him?"

Witten looked at Luo Wenxuan, who was standing up, and said, "Of course, he was my student."

Even though Luo Wenxuan had attended more than two dozen reports, being stared at by so many scholars still gave him a lot of pressure.

He calmed himself down and then looked at Professor Brian.

"I have a question."

Brian: "Go ahead."

Luo Wenxuan: "On page 11, line 15, I noticed that you defined the constant amount of motion in the torus Euclidean spacetime… Is that correct?"

Brian lifted his chin and said, "Of course, we use the Euclidean spacetime to formalize the lattice point, this is crucial to the entire theorem argument."

"Like you said, this is important, but…" Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath before asking, "But how do you plan on proving that the grid step size is zero?"

Chapter 652: Solved It?

"How did you prove that the grid step size limit tends toward zero?"

The moment Professor Brian heard this question, his eyebrows furrowed.

Do you really need to ask?

The answer is obviously…

The words were at the tip of Brian's tongue. However, he froze.

His mouth was wide open, but nothing came out.

How to prove that the grid step size limit tends toward zero?

F*ck… How do I prove this!

When he was writing the twenty-page thesis, he used this as a theorem without providing any proof. However, this wasn't entirely his fault; this was such a small detail that it was almost insignificant to put the proof in the thesis.

A drop of cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"This an interesting question… Hmm, interesting, of course I can prove it…" Brian said some meaningless words, in hopes of providing him with more time. His brain was operating at 120% as he desperately tried to find a solution.

However, the more anxious he was, the slower his thinking became.

The venue was dead silent.

This silence was terrifying to Brian.

As it turned out, delaying didn't help Brian at solving the problem.

When the crowd saw that Professor Brian couldn't answer this question, whispers were heard around the venue.

Witten was sitting on one side of the lecture hall. He closed his notebook and smiled as he said, "Looks like I won't have to worry about a reviewer invitation by Mathematical Physics."

Constant action in a torus Euclidean spacetime.

Detecting errors in a complex spacetime like this was difficult.

If Witten had to review the thesis, he wouldn't miss this detail. However, it was very difficult to find a mistake like this during the live report. After all, there were too many areas that were worthy of paying attention.

However, when Witten remembered that Luo Wenxuan was working at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he instantly knew what was going on.

He knew that Luo Wenxuan must have talked about this stuff with Lu Zhou beforehand…

Goddard looked at Professor Brian with sympathy and nodded.

"Yeah."

As a British, he obviously wanted Professor Brian to be right.

However, it looked like Professor Brian couldn't repair this fatal loophole in his thesis. This report would have to end with a disappointing ending.

Unfortunately, their trip to the UK was a waste.

No wonder Professor Lu didn't come…

The venue went into chaos, a lot of people had even begun to leave the venue.

It wasn't like the scholars had somewhere else to be, but they knew it wouldn't be worth waiting for Brian to answer.

The reporters who were standing on both sides of the venue also noticed the chaos, and they frantically pressed their camera shutters. A lot of reporters were even prepared to run toward Professor Brian after the report and stick their microphones in his face.

Even though the University of Oxford staff members tried to maintain order, it seemed like the chaos was uncontainable.

Luo Wenxuan was still standing there, and he felt a bit nervous.

Especially since Professor Brian was staring at him with a dirty look, it even gave him the chills.

Originally, he wanted to take a vacation here for a few days.

But now, it seemed like…

He should go back home instead.

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Inside the corner office.

Lu Zhou was sitting at his office desk. He was writing some stuff on a piece of draft paper.

Because Luo Wenxuan was gone, there wasn't anyone worth talking to at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Since Lu Zhou had been absent from Jin Ling University for quite some time now, he decided to use this opportunity to work in his office at Jin Ling University.

The change of environment gave him more thinking room, and he could also help his own students with some of the problems they had encountered.

He Changwen was sitting at his desk while watching the full report. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and asked Lu Zhou, "Professor, did you tell Professor Luo about the loopholes in Professor Brian's thesis?"

Lu Zhou stopped writing and pondered for a second.

"I actually did mention the torus Euclid spacetime effect with him, but even if I didn't mention it, he would have spotted the mistake himself."

He Changwen adjusted his glasses. He had a poker face on the outside, but his heart was surprised.

He knew that Professor Luo was Witten's student and was in the Thousand People Initiative, but he never saw any of Professor Luo's theoretical physics achievements. He didn't expect Professor Luo to be this strong.

Not to mention, that Professor Brian wasn't just a nobody. Even though he wasn't a top-ranking scholar, he was still high up in the academic world. Not to mention, he had been researching the Yang-Mills equations for more than 20 years. Being able to find mistakes in Brian's thesis wasn't something normal people could do.

Lu Zhou looked at He Changwen's look of disbelief and said, "You think it's incredible?"

He Changwen nodded and said, "Yeah, I do."

Lu Zhou smiled and said in a relaxing manner, "It's nothing incredible, fame is just a byproduct of strength. Once someone reaches a certain level, fame and honor will naturally come."

He Changwen: "What level do you think Professor Luo is?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Fields Medal is too difficult, and Nobel Prize is too dependent on luck. However, if he puts his mind into the path of mathematical physics, he can definitely win the Dannie Heineman Prize."

Dannie Heineman Prize!

He Changwen was shocked.

Even though this award wasn't well known outside of physics, anyone in the mathematical physics world knew of this award.

This award wasn't significant among CERN researchers, but when it came to Chinese researchers, having this award alone could make someone a leader in the academic society…

He Changwen paused for a second and said, "Do you think Professor Brian can fix his mistake?"

"I think it's not…"

Lu Zhou suddenly stopped.

His pen also stopped moving.

He Changwen paused for a second before asking, "Professor?"

Professor Lu sat there as motionless as a statue.

He Changwen was about to speak again, but Lu Zhou's pen suddenly moved. He muttered to himself in a quiet voice. It was so soft only he could hear it.

"I see…"

The particle of mass m was the key to solving the problem. According to Jaffe's proof idea, this was crucial for the strong interaction Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem.

However, it was almost impossible to calculate this specific value.

The mass of the particle wasn't defined in the quantum chromodynamics world. It might not even be a particle.

Even now, he didn't have a value for m.

However, he had the proof of its existence.

As long as it existed, the theorem could be proved.

He didn't have to find the mass value at all!

Lu Zhou looked a the lines of calculations on the paper, and his eyes gradually lit with excitement.

He stood up abruptly as if he had just received an electrical shock.

"I solved it!"

He Changwen: "…?"

Everyone else in the office: "???"

A long time went by.

The office was dead silent.

Chapter 653: Aging Is Sad

The report ended with a failure.

However, for world-class problems like this, the physics community was relatively tolerant. As long as he could reasonably fix the problems in his thesis, no one would immediately invalidate his thesis. However, this was a huge blow to him personally.

For theses that were new or weren't full of obvious mistakes, even the best scholars wouldn't be able to find mistakes during the report conference. Especially since most scholars weren't in the same research field.

Revision of the thesis, long discussions with the reviewers, these troublesome matters were often carried out in the review section of the journal submission.

However, this was only the report session, yet it ended in such a disastrous way.

He was feeling frustrated and humiliated at the same time.

"Goddamn it!"

Professor Brian threw the pages onto the floor, and he tightened his fist. He was about to punch the table but didn't want to hurt himself.

Everyone in the office saw how furious Professor Brian was. No one dared to speak.

Even though this old gentleman looked enlightened and wise, he wasn't always this way. Anyone who had spent a lot of time with him would know that he was quite an emotional person.

If anyone pissed him off when he was angry, that person could forget about spending a good time at the University of Oxford.

After a while, Professor Brian finally calmed down a bit.

His assistant, who was standing next to him, hesitated for a bit before speaking, "This isn't a deadly mistake. Even though we can't explain this problem, at least we were able to calculate the mass m in computer spacetime manifold simulations… There might be mistakes in our proof process, but no one can prove that we are wrong."

Professor Brian felt a little better, but he still wasn't in a good mood.

"This is meaningless… Computer simulation results aren't always convincing, especially for problems like this." Professor Brian pinched his eyebrows and thought for a long time. He said, "But you're right, no one can prove that we are wrong, we're just not perfect."

Professor Brian took a deep breath and tried to cheer himself up. He cleared his throat and said,

"Okay, guys, get ready to work… The Asian professor is correct, this mistake is important. If we can't prove that the grid step size tends toward zero, our proof won't work. It's actually a good thing we discovered this mistake now, as opposed to finding out about it later."

After everyone in the office heard Professor Brian's words, they sighed in relief and started to work again.

Professor Brian got up and walked to the coffee machine and made himself a cup of coffee.

He sat back down at his desk. Before he rectified this problem, he set his arXiv thesis status to "In Progress".

However, when he went on the arXiv website, he found a new thesis posted in his field. It was on the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap; the problem he claimed to have already proved.

Professor Brian was stunned. He wondered who would do such a thing.

He then opened the thesis.

The second he saw the thesis title and author, he was stunned.

Lu Zhou?

WTF?

Without hesitating, he skipped through the abstract and went straight to the main thesis body.

The more he read, the more his eyelids began to twitch.

Especially when he saw the crucial "m=√(2+O(λ^3))" formula. His eyes were filled with rage.

The proof process was exactly the same!

The preprint published by Lu Zhou also referenced Jaffe's thesis and gave an asymptotic expansion of mass m!

There was a "tiny" deviation in the proof process… But in Brian's opinion, this was insignificant.

For example, he used a scalar field on a spacetime manifold, which was the method used by Weinberg to establish the unified theory of electroweak interaction. However, Lu Zhou used a quantum corresponding to the Yang-Mills theory, the Quantum Yang-Mills field.

There was a thunderous roar in the office as Professor Brian stood up angrily from his chair.

"This can't be a coincidence!"

He finally understood.

He understood why Lu Zhou didn't attend his report.

Why some "nobody" from Jinling appeared instead.

And how this "nobody" was able to point out the weaknesses in his thesis.

In his opinion, this was all premeditated. They planned to destroy his report. Then, they jumped on the opportunity to steal Brian's proof while Brian was busy changing his thesis.

This kind of scenario wasn't uncommon in the physics world. Whenever an idea was invented but wasn't applied to its full potential, it would quickly be taken and used by other scholars, who would implement it in their own research and claim their research was the "first".

However, he didn't expect a scholar like Lu Zhou to do something like this!

"Professor…"

The assistant looked at Professor Brian.

The assistant was about to speak but decided not to do so in the end.

Brian was full of anger.

His eyes were filled with malevolence. There was no point in saying anything.

Professor Brian stared straight at his computer screen and said, "Contact BBC for me. I have to let everyone know how despicable this guy is!"

…

At the campus of the University of Oxford…

After the scholars from all over the world left, the campus returned to its peaceful state.

Two theoretical physicist students were holding textbooks while walking down the asphalt road next to the cafe. They just came out of the library and were about to return to their dormitory.

They began to talk about quantum chromodynamics and the latest gauge theory research.

"Have you heard? The strong interaction Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem has been proved!"

"Are you talking about Professor Brian Caro's proof? Wasn't it disproven?"

"No, not him, I'm talking about Professor Lu's thesis."

"Lu? From Jin Ling University?"

"Do you not know? Yesterday, he posted a thesis on arXiv at three o'clock in the morning. My professor even tweeted about it. I woke up in the morning and liked his tweet."

"On arXiv? Alright, see you later, I'm going back to the library!"

"…"

Next to the cafe.

Witten, who was wearing sunglasses, saw the young men walking past and smiled.

"Looks like Professor Lu won the race."

He wasn't in a rush to return to CERN. Instead, he talked about solving the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap from a string theory perspective with Goddard. However, it seemed that his past two days of discussions weren't necessary.

After all, Professor Lu, who had always been known for his rigorous proofs, had released a preprint.

Finding a mistake in Lu Zhou's mathematics thesis was more difficult than writing a thesis.

Goddard was sitting across from Witten. He took a sip of coffee. It was almost like Goddard knew this was going to happen.

"I knew it."

"There's a CERN conference the day after tomorrow." Witten looked at his watch. He then looked at Goddard as he said, "Now that the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap has been proven, do we still have to discuss our string theory idea?"

Goddard: "Even though the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap has been proven, the strong interaction and electromagnetic force unification haven't been proven yet. Aren't you interested in the Nobel Prize?"

He knew that Witten had always been angry about not being able to win the Nobel Prize even though he was one of the pioneers of string theory.

So far, it seemed like Witten wouldn't be able to win a Nobel Prize on the M theory. After all, there was no chance that this theory would be verified in this century. However, there was more to theoretical physics than just string theory, namely, the Grand Unified Theory.

However…

"Forget about it." Witten smiled and stood up as he said, "If he is correct, then there is no one in the world closer to the objective truth than him. If someone wanted to surpass him, they would have to surpass him in talent and grit. If I were twenty… or thirty years younger, I would be interested in competing with him. But now…"

Witten looked at Goddard and shrugged.

"Forget about me, are you confident in yourself?"

Goddard didn't say anything. He just reached out his hand. He grabbed his coffee cup and took a sip.

Aging was a sad thing.

Especially for people who had devoted their lives to academia.

Even though they didn't care about the extra wrinkles on their faces, their decline in fluid intelligence and critical thinking was inevitable. Both him and Witten used to be able to stay up for days while thinking about a problem. However, that wasn't possible anymore.

Their time was gone…

Chapter 654: The Path to the Milky Way.

The preprint thesis posted on arXiv swept the entire physics community like a tsunami.

Even though everyone mentally prepared themselves before reading the thesis, after they read the thesis, a lot of people were shocked by the huge amount of information in the thesis.

Both the solution to the Yang-Mills theory and the proposal of the Quantum Yang-Mills Field allowed people to look at this problem from a different perspective.

Just like always, Lu Zhou's thesis was as rigorous as possible. Unless there was a major mistake, he wouldn't make any changes to the thesis. Therefore, this was likely going to be the final version.

After he uploaded the thesis, he finally completed his mission.

Lu Zhou was sitting at his desk waiting for a cup of coffee. He leaned back in his chair and went into the system space.

He walked toward the translucent holographic panel in the pure white dimension. A line of words soon appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the mission!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: Complete the Millennium Prize Problem Yang-Mills equations.]

[Final mission evaluation: S]

[Mission reward: 300,000 mathematics experience points, 300,000 physics experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.]

[S evaluation special reward: 10% experience points bonus.]

I didn't get an S+?

Lu Zhou looked surprised.

Normally speaking, S+ was accompanied by a bonus reward mission.

The extra rewards for an S grade were usually experience points, general points, or equipment.

Obviously, the best would be a branch award, but he had only ever received one branch award before. Which was at the CERN seminar, where he discovered the 750 GeV signal. The system considered the discovery as a completion of a hidden branch mission, which gave him a considerable amount of experience points.

Lu Zhou stared at the information screen while wondering where he could have done better.

Is it because uploading it on arXiv isn't solemn enough?

But this didn't make sense. After all, when he first proved Goldbach's conjecture, he also uploaded the preprint to arXiv before submitting the official version to Annual Mathematics later.

If he recalled correctly, he received an S+ evaluation.

Lu Zhou couldn't think of a reason why he didn't receive a perfect evaluation, so he set this matter aside.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't receive an S+ evaluation, he wasn't overly distraught. After all, after he completed this mission, he planned on using his mission card, which would activate a mission chain. If he received another reward mission, he wouldn't know what to do.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A gentle blue light swept across the screen, showing his characteristic panel.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (774,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 7 (13,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 5 (110,000/300,000)

D. Engineering: Level 5 (0/300,000)

E. Materials science: level 6 (13,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (0/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 2 (3,000/50,000)

General points: 4,335 (one lucky draw ticket)

]

Lu Zhou looked at his physics experience points and felt relieved.

Jesus Christ, thank god my mission evaluation was S, which gave me the experience points.

If it wasn't for the extra 10% experience points, which gave him an additional 30,000 physics experience points, he would have had 583.215,000 physics experience points, just on the edge of the 600,000 level 7 requirement.

Missing the cutoff by a bit would have been so annoying.

As for mathematics…

Since Lu Zhou was nowhere near leveling up, he wasn't in a hurry.

After he received his mission rewards, the next thing to do was the exciting lucky draw.

Lu Zhou navigated to the lucky draw page and clicked on the lucky draw button. He took a deep breath and watched the roulette wheel rapidly rotate. He then pressed stop.

The inertia of the wheel caused it to spin a couple dozen more times. It slowly came to a stop.

[Congratulations, User, sample received.]

Lu Zhou's heart skipped a beat.

[Received: Energy Medicine (10x)

[Energy Medicine: Developed by Future Pharmaceuticals. It can completely remove any fatigue accumulated by the nervous system and the somatic cells. Completely restore the user's cellular function and metabolic level to the optimal state.]

Lu Zhou's heartbeat returned to normal.

He stared at the reward and went silent for a while.

What does this thing even do?

Does it mean I can stay up all night, take this stuff, and recover?

Regardless, it's still better than the useless cologne.

Lu Zhou opened his inventory and saw his new prize sitting inside. He then looked at his mission card, which he had had for a long time.

[Special mission card: Able to activate before accepting a normal mission. Activation begins a special mission chain, which replaces the normal mission. Special mission chains cannot be stopped unless the user fails the mission.

[Activate? Yes/No]

Lu Zhou didn't hesitate. He reached out and clicked "Yes".

A light blue wave swept across the screen, and the updated mission panel was soon presented in front of him.

[Special Mission Chain: Take Control Of The Earth and Moon

[Mission Description: Learning how to stay warm at a cold night like this isn't enough. Fortunately, there is an undeveloped abundance of resources near the vicinity waiting for human exploration.

[Target: Complete three milestones.

[Mission reward: Final evaluation is determined by the user's performance on each stage. Rewards include but are not limited to, experience points, general points, samples, blueprints, special items…]

The entire mission chain was divided into three milestones. Only the first milestone was visible, the other two were blacked out.

This mission chain was different than the previous one. There were no various paths that he could take to complete the mission. Lu Zhou had to follow the system's plan step by step.

Until Lu Zhou completed the first stage of the mission, he wouldn't even know what the next mission stage was.

Therefore, he couldn't find any shortcuts.

However, there were also advantages.

For example, he would receive experience and rewards after each phase of the mission instead of waiting for the entire mission chain to be completed.

Lu Zhou reached out and selected the first mission milestone.

[Target 1: Implement a manned moon landing.

[Requirements: Send at least one astronaut to the moon and successfully bring them back while ensuring their personal safety.]

[

Secondary goals:

1. Collect and bring back 1kg of lunar soil. Reward: 10,000 experience points.

2. For a period of five months, deploy 10 square meters of crops on the surface of the moon. Observe and record the growth of the crops under conditions of low gravity and the absence of a magnetic field. Reward: 10,000-50,000 experience points.

3. Place ten live mice on the surface of the moon for five months. Record mice activity under low gravity and the absence of a magnetic field. Reward: 10,000-100,000 experience points.

…

]

Lu Zhou looked at the mission information screen and began to contemplate.

"So, I'll have to send someone to the moon?"

Honestly, he previously thought about sending a few communication satellites or signal stations to the moon. After that, he could maybe send equipment for some unmanned scientific research experiments. However, it seemed like the system was eager for him to send a live person.

The Yang-Mills equations had been solved, and the unified theory of the strong interaction and electromagnetic force was bound to be discovered. Controllable fusion battery technology was almost feasible, and Lu Zhou already had an idea of how to implement controllable fusion batteries.

After I complete the Hall-effect thruster and fusion battery, I guess I'll send someone to the moon.

Chapter 655: Answer Before End of the Month

After Lu Zhou confirmed his mission, he exited the system space.

Lu Zhou's consciousness returned to his study room in his mansion. He wasn't in a hurry to start working. Instead, he went into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He then opened his computer and went on his MathOverflow account.

This was the world's largest and most professional mathematics forum, many well-known scholars such as Tao Zhexuan and Schultz had their own accounts and blogs, and Lu Zhou was no exception.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't update his blog as often as Professor Tao, he still liked to communicate with scholars from all over the world.

Lu Zhou knew that his thesis on arXiv should have been downloaded a lot of times by people around the world. He opened his MathOverflow email, and he was shocked by the number of email messages he received.

The most interesting part was that it wasn't just email messages from people in the mathematics world, there were also email messages from physics PhD students, postdocs, and physics professors. They all sent him private messages.

The core content of these private email messages was the same.

They were all asking him how close he was to the electrostrong interaction theory.

Or rather, how long it would take him to solve this problem.

The Yang-Mills existence and mass gap were explained from a mathematical point of view. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before the unified theory of electrostrong interaction would be discovered. After all, the most difficult part about the electrostrong interaction was that one couldn't use the "symmetry breaking" method, which was used to discover the electroweak interaction.

However, now that the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem was solved, there was no longer a bottleneck on the electrostrong interaction. It was clear that it was only a matter of time before a groundbreaking theory would be discovered.

When Lu Zhou read these email messages, he couldn't help but smirk.

Replying to all of them was way too cumbersome.

Lu Zhou used a blog function that he had never used before, and he spent ten minutes writing a post before clicking "Send".

[I'll give you guys an answer before the end of the month.]

This short blog post exploded in the physics community.

…

Lu Zhou's life had been chaotic for the past few days. However, after solving the Yang-Mills equations, he could finally climb into bed and get a good night's sleep.

He slept until six o'clock the next day, when his circadian clock woke him up. After he had some breakfast that Wang Peng brought him, he went to Jin Ling University.

He got off the black sedan and began to walk toward the mathematics building. Interestingly enough, people began to congratulate him.

"Professor Lu, congratulations!"

"I didn't think I would witness this day in my lifetime, Professor Lu, you're amazing!"

"Congratulations, congratulations. Your name will be in the physics hall of fame."

Lu Zhou maintained a stiff smile as he responded politely to everyone who greeted him.

He didn't know why, but he felt like some of the professors were waiting on campus just to congratulate him.

The number of people that he happened to bump into was suspiciously high.

Not to mention, the physics building was quite far from the mathematics building.

Lu Zhou finally arrived at his office. He sighed and was about to sit down at his desk. However, he saw someone was already on his sofa, and there was a warm cup of tea on the coffee table.

"Academician Lu?" Lu Zhou was surprised as he looked at the old man. He walked over there and asked, "Why are you here?"

Academician Lu used to be Lu Zhou's supervisor, so Lu Zhou had a lot of respect for him.

Even though they didn't spend a long time together, even now, Lu Zhou's internship experience in CERN was still valuable to him.

Academician Lu smiled and said, "What else could I be doing, I'm here to see you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You could have just told me. I would have gone to the physics department to visit you. You didn't have to come all the way here."

Academician Lu waved his hand and said, "There's no need for that. It's not far, and I don't have anything else to do anyway. Plus you're so busy with your research, I don't want to disturb you too much."

The old academician had aged quite a lot. Even though he wanted to attend conferences all over the world, his fragile body wouldn't let him. Ever since he retired from scientific research, he devoted most of his energy to teaching the next generation of scholars at the Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou: "What do you mean? I still have some free time to visit you."

"Yeah, whatever." Academician Lu waved his hand and smiled. He then said, "The reason I came here today is mainly to congratulate you!"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

Even though he had been congratulated a lot on the way here, hearing his ex-supervisor congratulate him made him feel proud, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

Academician Lu looked at Lu Zhou and nodded. His heart was full of praise and admiration.

Accomplishing this much in the field of theoretical physics at such a young age was extremely rare. Academician Lu could have never imagined that convincing Lu Zhou to dive into the world of theoretical physics would change the history of physics.

He paused for a second before he continued, "The Grand Unified Theory is the holy grail of theoretical physics. The unification of the strong interaction and electromagnetic force is the second step to the Grand Unified Theory. Since you were able to solve the mass gap, I'm sure you're close to solving the electrostrong interaction. Your name will go down in history, not only as a great physicist but also as a monument of the human spirit."

"Just a while ago, I thought that you were distracted by the aerospace field, wasting your physics talents. I was wrong," Academician Lu spoke emotionally. He looked at Lu Zhou and half-jokingly said, "You're the most omnipotent physicist in the world, go do what you have to do!"

Lu Zhou solemnly nodded.

"Ok!"

He knew what Academician Lu was talking about.

He also knew what he should be doing.

After Academician Lu left, Lu Zhou sat down at his desk and pulled out a piece of paper from his drawer. He thought for a second and then started to write his electrostrong interaction thesis.

Maybe because he leveled up in physics, which improved his ability to think about these types of abstract problems, or maybe because he was used to solving peculiar problems like this, but his writing was fluent than before.

It was almost like success was imminent.

Lu Zhou skipped the abstract and finished writing the first section of the thesis. He stopped writing and looked at the paper, almost like it was a piece of art. He couldn't help but smirk.

However, the office door was suddenly pushed open. Zhao Huan, who was responsible for his schedule, quickly ran into the office.

"Professor, this is bad."

Lu Zhou looked up from the draft paper and looked at Zhao Huan.

"What's bad?"

Zhao Huan didn't say anything. She took out a newspaper and placed it on the desk.

Lu Zhou glanced at it. It was an English version of Daily Mail.

There was an article title on the second page.

[Professor Brian: This is plagiarism!]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Oh, it's this clown?

I thought it was something serious…

Chapter 656: Is This the Difference?

"This guy is literally lying!"

Zhao Huan said while watching Lu Zhou read the newspaper. She was feeling a little agitated.

She personally witnessed all the blood, sweat, and tears that Lu Zhou put into researching this problem.

But now, out of nowhere, someone was saying that Professor Lu stole the research results!

She thought this was outrageous!

However, unlike her, Lu Zhou was as cool as a cucumber. He even read the report with a look of interest in his eyes.

Lu Zhou finished reading the article and smiled. He then folded the newspaper and gave it back to her.

"Okay then."

When Zhao Huan saw how unmoved Lu Zhou was, she paused for a second and couldn't help but ask, "Do you not care at all?"

"There's nothing to care about." Lu Zhou picked up his pen and organized the draft paper on his desk. He said, "There's no way the Chinese media will run this story, so it won't bother me. As for the foreign media, I don't have to care about it, people will vouch for me."

People having similar ideas happened all the time in academia. However, saying that Lu Zhou stepped on his idea, was a bit ridiculous.

Jaffe's thesis in Annual Mathematics had been published for more than half a century. Professor Brian definitely wasn't the first person to have thought of this proof; he was just the first that almost succeeded.

Luo Wenxuan was the real person who provided Lu Zhou with this idea, so he was stoked to find his name written on Lu Zhou's thesis.

As for why Professor Brian was acting this way…

He probably knew he was being illogical, but he just didn't want to act logically.

After all, this was his chance to make a name for himself. Forget about an unknown scholar, even a Nobel Prize level scholar would be tempted by this honor.

Lu Zhou decided to forget about the Daily Mail article. He didn't want to complain about Professor Brian's slander. Instead, he focused his attention on studying the electrostrong interaction.

Even though he was closer than ever to the objective truth, he still needed a lot of time to solve this problem. Just like how the "symmetry breaking" method was first introduced in theoretical physics during the 1960s, but Weinberg took years to complete his electroweak interaction theory.

However, sometimes accidents could happen.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't actively look for a solution, a solution would find him.

Lu Zhou had been receiving some strange emails. Some emails were interview invitations from media outlets, others were just plain hate messages. Thankfully, Xiao Ai helped him filter out the "spam email".

However, Lu Zhou couldn't just stay silent like this forever.

After some contemplation, Lu Zhou decided to let his assistant arrange some interviews with various foreign media outlets.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, the second the interview began, he was asked a controversial question.

"During Professor Brian's interviews with the BBC, the Daily Mail, and other media outlets, he insisted that you plagiarized his research… What are your thoughts?"

Lu Zhou chuckled.

"I don't have any thoughts."

The reporter said, "You… don't have an opinion?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and replied relaxingly, "If Mr. Brian can prove the Yang-Mills equations by setting a spacetime manifold, then I'll give him all the glory of solving a Millennium Prize Problem."

Lu Zhou was totally calm when he said this, like he didn't care at all.

However, the reporter next to him was shocked.

All the glory of solving a Millennium Prize Problem!

Even though the reporter had never heard of someone transferring "glory" to someone else, this so-called "glory" would make Professor Brian one of the most outstanding mathematical physicists of this century…

Maybe Lu Zhou didn't think it was convincing enough, so he looked at the reporter and said, "Of course, this is including the million-dollar prize money as offered by the Clay Institute.

"I'll even pay him in advance."

…

The interview was first broadcasted on the Columbia Broadcasting System.

Then it was reposted onto other major video sites, such as Youtube.

Because of the British media's portrayal of the situation, the public was originally on Professor Brian's side. However, after hearing some words from Lu Zhou, the public started to doubt Professor Brian.

Lu Zhou didn't care about fame or fortune at all. There was no motivation for him to do something like this.

Maybe…

There was another side to this story.

Inside an office at the University of Oxford.

Professor Brian stared angrily at his computer screen as he watched Lu Zhou's interview in its entirety. When he heard Lu Zhou say that he would give the prize money to him, he almost started to blow fire from his mouth.

There was no way Brian was going to swallow his pride.

"You better keep your word, Mr. Lu Zhou."

Professor Brian closed his laptop and pulled out some paper from his drawer.

"I'll give you the proof…

"This method is definitely feasible…

"You will pay for your own words!"

Time always flew by when one was immersed in research.

Even though Brian hadn't done intense research for a long time, with his rage and anger as fuel, it made him extra energetic. Even though being overly emotional wasn't a good thing, Brian turned it into drive and motivation.

A month passed by.

Professor Brian's beard grew like a wild forest. He didn't look like a gentleman anymore. He was almost unrecognizable.

A PhD student was sitting in the corner of the office. He looked at the professor and quietly whispered to himself, "The professor is insane…"

This PhD student used to study psychology before he went into physics.

According to his experience, this was clearly a sign of someone going crazy.

Another PhD student sitting next to him spoke as well.

"Sh, be quiet, don't let Professor Brian hear you."

The office was only so big, so Brian was bound to hear it.

However, Brian Caro didn't care anymore…

His murky pupils looked straight at the crumpled pieces of paper. Professor Brian muttered to himself the same phrase that he had been saying for the past month, "This is impossible… This is impossible…"

However, this time, there was a trace of life in his voice.

He put down his pen and looked at the ceiling. He then said with a monotonic voice, "I proved it."

The second he said those words, everyone in the office was stunned.

10 seconds of silence went by.

His assistant was the first one who dared to break this silence.

The young man in his twenties gulped and spoke in disbelief. His voice was trembling.

"You… p-proved it?!"

He proved it!

If Professor Lu was a man of his word, not only would Brian receive a million dollars, but he would also receive the honor of solving the Yang-Mills equations and become one of the greatest mathematicians of this century.

"Yes." Brian looked at the draft paper and said in a self-deprecating tone, "I spent a month proving that the scalar spacetime field manifold cannot be used to research the strong interaction… A mathematical proof."

Whether it was the invariant torus Euclidean space or the grid step size limit…

All of these mistakes were just manifestations of something deeper.

Luo Wenxuan didn't see the whole picture, and neither did Brian.

The most crucial problem in Brian's thesis was that the scalar spacetime manifold field itself couldn't be used to study strong interactions. It was as if 1+1 could never be equal to 3, no matter how many factorizations he did, he would never be able to overthrow the Peano axioms.

Lu Zhou must have known about this since the beginning. That's why Lu Zhou was so sure Brian couldn't do it.

Brian finally realized this.

Even though he wasn't as talented as Lu Zhou, he still proved this in a mathematical way.

Maybe he could call this the "Brian's theorem" or a "non-standard theorem"?

In the midst of his self-deprecation, Brian had an epiphany.

It was at this moment, did he finally realized what Professor Lu was talking about.

"If Mr. Brian can prove the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap by setting a scalar spacetime manifold field?… Is that what you meant?" Brian said as he logged onto Youtube. He soon found Lu Zhou's interview.

After he watched the video, he smiled bitterly.

"Is this the difference between him and me?"

Lu Zhou's mathematics intuition alone was able to defeat something that Brian spent more than a decade on. In Brian's mind, Lu Zhou was an absolute monster.

Why do I feel like…

I'm becoming more and more in denial.

Chapter 657: Electrostrong Unification!

Oxford University.

Inside the same office room.

Professor Brian cleaned himself up and sat at his desk. He looked at a piece of paper in his hand and took a deep breath. He then looked at the cameraman and nodded.

"We can start."

The cameraman didn't say anything. He only made a gesture.

Professor Brian looked at the camera and went silent for a while.

"It was extremely irresponsible of me to make such an accusation against an academic scholar. Even though there were many misunderstandings and other nuances at play, I still take full responsibility for the incident."

His eyebrows lowered as he paused for a second.

"I would like to apologize for what happened between me and Professor Lu.

"Even though I know an apology won't fix anything, I still would like to ask for your forgiveness."

Apologizing wasn't an easy thing.

Especially for egoistic and arrogant people.

However, Brian had changed.

He spent a month researching the torus Euclidean spacetime. Not only did he grow academically, but his personal character also grew.

Even though this was embarrassing…

But the fact of the matter was that Professor Lu indirectly gave Brian a physics lesson, without Brian even knowing it.

This video wasn't just an apology.

It was Brain saying goodbye to his past-self.

…

The video was very short; it was less than five minutes.

After it was uploaded on Youtube, it received a measly amount of views.

After all, it had been more than a month since Brian's Daily Mail slander. This matter was no longer controversial. Even though Daily Mail heavily advertised the article, most people were only interested in the drama. They didn't really care about the truth anyway…

Brian Caro was sitting at his desk. He had just finished uploading the video. He went silent for a while before he opened his computer and typed up an email. He sent the email to Lu Zhou's mailbox.

Two days later, Lu Zhou watched this video in his office at the mathematics department of Jin Ling University.

"Amazing… Professor, how did you do it?"

Zhao Huan was sitting at her desk watching the video, and she had a look of worship on her face. She was in disbelief.

She couldn't imagine how Lu Zhou was able to make such a "shameless" person apologize so sincerely…

Calling Brian shameless was a bit over the top.

However, in her eyes, Professor Brian was a shameless scum.

"I didn't do anything." Lu Zhou turned off the video and casually said, "He just came to terms with it himself."

If Brian couldn't come to terms with this, then his academic career would have been over.

However, now that he accepted this situation, he was able to walk out of that dead end and continue onward with his academic career.

Lu Zhou didn't explain anything to Assistant Zhao. He continued to focus on his thesis.

It had been a month since the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem was solved. However, there wasn't a conclusive evaluation for Lu Zhou's thesis. Most of the top-tier international theoretical physics research institutes were still carefully studying Lu Zhou's thesis. Lu Zhou, on the other hand, hadn't stopped working.

He said that by the end of the month, he would give everyone an answer.

He was progressing smoothly.

He was almost finished…

The entire day went by.

Lu Zhou was still sitting at his desk with a pen in his hand. He touched his stack of draft papers and felt satisfied.

His strong interaction theory…

Was finally completed!

Lu Zhou spent the whole day working, and now, he was feeling a bit hungry. He put his thesis manuscript aside and wanted to go outside to eat something.

Han Mengqi, on the other hand, was holding a stack of freshly printed computational materials thesis. She cheerfully walked to Lu Zhou's desk and said, "Sir, I finished the task you gave me!"

Lu Zhou looked at her thesis and nodded. "Okay, just put it here."

Han Mengqi put the thesis on the corner of the desk and noticed the manuscript. She asked curiously, "What are you writing?"

"Nothing." Lu Zhou stood up and smiled. He casually said, "It's just a simple summary of the work I did a while ago."

…

2020 was an exciting year for the world of theoretical physics.

In less than a year, the general solution to the Yang-Mills equations and the mass gap problem was solved. The invention of the Quantum Yang-Mills Field began a new era for the gauge theory field.

And this wasn't just it.

While everyone was thinking that ten years' worth of physics research progress was made this year, another world-shocking research project emerged.

Three days after Professor Brian posted his apology video, Lu Zhou posted his second thesis on arXiv.

The title only had three words.

[Electrostrong Interaction Theory!]

The second the thesis was published on arXiv, it was like the physics community experienced a magnitude eight earthquake.

Even though everyone had no doubt that Lu Zhou, the one who solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, was the most promising person in the world to unify the strong interaction and electromagnetic force, physicists still didn't expect to see Lu Zhou's thesis on arXiv.

In just one and a half months, Lu Zhou had perfected his own theorems and unified the strong interaction and electromagnetic force!

Lu Zhou couldn't even be described as merely being a genius…

After all, geniuses were people.

Lu Zhou was a god…

Apart from some Chinese research institutes, there wasn't a single well-known international research institute that commented on this freshly published paper. Most people either avoided questions from the reporter or gave an irrelevant answer.

After all, this was too important, even the highest-tier physicists had to treat this matter with caution.

If this thesis was correct, then it would change the face of physics for the next century.

If it was incorrect, but the academic community had mistakenly accepted it, then it could setback theoretical physics research for decades…

Chapter 658: Answer Is in Your Hand

Switzerland.

CERN headquarters.

Witten was inside a coffee shop. He was sitting on a sofa with his legs crossed. He read through the thesis in his hand while drinking a cup of black coffee.

Sitting next to him was Jaffe.

The old man rested his hands on the table as he quietly waited for Witten to finish reading the thesis.

As the founder and the director of the Clay Institute, the inclusion of the Yang-Mills equations as one of the Millennium Prize Problems was decided by these two, and they were the ones who actually phrased the problem.

This problem was set to be the final physics problem of the Millennium Problems, and Jaffe thought that no one in this century would be able to solve this. He didn't expect this day to come so suddenly…

After a while, Witten finally flipped through the last page of the thesis.

Jaffe noticed this, so he asked, "You finished?"

"Almost."

"I want to know what you think."

"He's even faster than I thought." Witten put down the thesis and looked at the calendar on his phone. He smiled and said, "41 days. He's probably the only person on this planet who can do something like this."

Jaffe sighed and said, "Is there anything else you want to comment on, other than his speed?"

"Unfortunately, these are all my thoughts at the moment." Witten sighed and paused for a second. He then said, "We don't have a clear conclusion regarding his previous thesis yet."

Witten couldn't help but feel emotional.

The international physics community was still arguing over Lu Zhou's previous research results.

This was the first time Witten witnessed research results being released faster than conclusions. It was as if the entire world were trying to catch up to Lu Zhou…

"There's a meeting in the No.1 conference room in a bit, about his thesis on arXiv… I'll mention it during the meeting. But I'm sure someone else will mention it if I don't," Witten said. He looked at his watch and continued, "Also, in any case, there has to be a conclusion about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap thesis by the end of this month."

Jaffe nodded.

"I agree."

…

While CERN was preparing another seminar regarding the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, it was already night time at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Most people were ready to leave work and go home, but the lights were still on inside the laboratories in the Institute of Physics.

This was especially true for the laboratory at the end of the corridor.

A dozen researchers sat in the 30 square meters sized room. Everyone's desk was filled with a foot high of research documents. Everyone looked exhausted.

This was China's "largest" research center for the miniaturization of controllable fusion technology. Most of the people here had worked on the original stellarator machine, and their specialties ranged from plasma physics to physics engineering.

However, this wasn't enough.

It had been more than half a year since the project was established, yet the research project hadn't progressed at all.

As usual, Sheng Xianfu looked at the dark sky outside the window. He walked to the coffee machine and returned to his desk with a hot steaming cup of coffee.

He found some documents from the Institute of Acoustics and was about to finish the research report for today. However, someone suddenly opened the laboratory door. A person walked straight in the laboratory.

"I have some stuff here." Lu Zhou gently tossed the documents in his hands onto Sheng Xianfu's desk and said, "I hope you can read it within a day… If not, try to finish reading it in less than two days."

Sheng Xianfu was muddled. He looked at Lu Zhou, then at the documents.

"What's this…"

"Some stuff that needs experiment verification. It's about the miniaturization of controllable fusion." Lu Zhou looked at the messy laboratory and said, "Also, about the question you asked me a while ago, I can finally give you a clear answer.

"High temperature isn't the only condition for achieving a fusion reaction. There are other methods. As long as we determine the relationship between the strong interaction and the electromagnetic force, we can find this method…"

Lu Zhou grabbed a marker from the table and wrote down a string of equations on the whiteboard.

As Sheng Xianfu looked at the whiteboard, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What is this?"

Lu Zhou smiled and explained, "The formula that connects the strong interaction and electromagnetic force.

"It turns out that electromagnetic force and strong interaction force can be unified under the theoretical framework of the Quantum Yang-Mills Field. One month ago, I wasn't sure of this, but now, I can prove it in mathematical terms."

Sheng Xianfu was shocked.

"You… did it?!"

If he recalled correctly, Lu Zhou just solved the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem a month ago.

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "Yeah, kind of."

Even though the theoretical physics community didn't accept his research on the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap yet, this didn't affect his "electrostrong interaction" research.

Not to mention, the high-tech system already accepted his research and gave him an S rating. Lu Zhou was extremely confident regarding his mathematical abilities.

Lu Zhou's words echoed in Sheng Xianfu's mind. It was like he was just hit by lightning.

He gulped and said, "But… how do you plan on incorporating this theory into our research?"

Applying theoretical results to practical problems was sometimes even more difficult than discovering the theory in the first place. This was especially true for theoretical physics. The application of theoretical physics often came a century later than the discovery. Even though Lu Zhou successfully unified the strong interaction and electromagnetic force, Sheng Xianfu wasn't confident that he could apply this theory to the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

"This is why I came here." Lu Zhou tapped on the stack of documents and said, "I need your help to verify some of my conjectures."

Sheng Xianfu flipped through the stack of documents and glanced at the content.

"Is this…"

Lu Zhou nodded and said seriously, "Yes, the so-called sonoluminescence."

Lu Zhou was the director of the Institute for Advanced Study, so he obviously knew what Sheng Xianfu was researching.

Lu Zhou knew about the information Sheng Xianfu got from Professor Chen Weizhong at the Institute of Acoustics as well as the several models that Sheng Xianfu abandoned.

The physics community didn't have a clear conclusion regarding the principle of sonoluminescence. Some invented the "air implosion theory" or "chemical bond breaking theory"… However, the most attention-grabbing theory for the explanation of sonoluminescence was the "fusion reaction theory".

Lu Zhou looked at Sheng Xianfu and said, "I know you've failed many times, you might have even thought about giving up… I just want to say, your research is not useless, you just didn't find a suitable method."

Sheng Xianfu shook his head.

"I've tried every method there is, what else is there to do?"

Lu Zhou looked at the pile of documents.

"The answer to your question is in these documents."

Chapter 659: Amazing Experimental Results

Bubbles in a liquid could be stably suspended and periodically pulsated by a certain sound field. When it reached a collapse, within picoseconds, the bubble could produce a volumetric compression ratio of one to a million and create a high temperature and high pressure environment. When the sound pressure was large enough, the energy accumulation would cause the bubbles to illuminate. This phenomenon was called sonoluminescence.

In a proper driving pressure environment, the sonoluminescence bubbles could remain spherical. The nonlinear vibration was repeated for millions or even hundreds of millions of cycles. Because of this characteristic, controllable fusion could possibly be achieved under relatively low-temperature conditions.

Inside the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The acoustics laboratory in the Institute of Physics was temporarily taken over by a controllable fusion miniaturization team led by Lu Zhou. A transparent container with a radius of around three inches was placed on one of the tables in the laboratory.

The entire transparent container was filled with a viscous concentrated sulfuric acid. High-powered ultrasonic generators were attached to both sides of the container. Various sophisticated instruments were placed around the entire unit, and they were ready to collect experimental data.

Because the sonoluminescence phenomenon happened at the picosecond scale, it was difficult for laboratory cameras to capture all the light flash, especially at the moment when the bubble collapsed to its smallest size.

Therefore, for this experiment, Lu Zhou borrowed a set of "a phase-locked loop-based proportional-integral experimental system" from the Jin Ling University Institute of Acoustics.

Other than being used in these special acoustic experiments, this system was generally used to study anti-submarine sonar systems. If it weren't for Lu Zhou personally asking for the favor, the Institute of Acoustics director would never in a million years have lent out the equipment.

Sheng Xianfu was standing next to the experiment device, and he looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Let's start."

"Ok."

Sheng Xianfu took a deep breath and walked to the nearest computer. He then swiftly pressed a few buttons.

As a short mosquito-like buzzing sound was heard, the high-powered ultrasonic generator began to release ultrasonic waves into the solution, transferring large amounts of energy.

When the sound pressure in the fluid reached five times the standard atmospheric pressure, Lu Zhou ordered.

"Inject the xenon!"

"Ok!"

The xenon gas was injected, and a series of bubbles slowly floated from the bottom of the container to the center.

Immediately after, the power of the ultrasonic transmitter began to gradually increase, and the sound pressure applied to the bubble also began to increase.

The moment the sound pressure on the bubble reached 15 times the standard atmospheric pressure, the xenon bubble floating in the concentrated sulfuric acid popped with a purple-white light!

The researchers standing around the experiment had a look of joy on their faces.

Even though this was only a test of the experiment device, and they were a long way from succeeding, this was definitely a good start.

The bubbles suspended in the fluid continuously flashed 10 sets of light-rays, and the photos were captured by the phase-locked loop-based proportional-integral imaging system. Several acoustic physicists at the Institute for Advanced Study immediately began to analyze the photos and calculate the luminescence temperature and power.

After Lu Zhou looked at the experimental data, he glanced at Sheng Xianfu.

The luminous power was around 130W. Even though it was gone in a flash, it was still quite astonishing. The peak temperature of the bubble surface reached a terrifying number of 1.5 million kelvin. It was like the inside of the sun was floating in the solution!

Of course, this data could be inaccurate.

After all, the collapse of the bubble happened instantaneously. It wasn't easy to capture the temperature in the first place, much less reducing the data collection error.

"The first phase of the experiment was successful, let's enter the next stage," Lu Zhou said. He placed the experimental report on the table and said to Sheng Xianfu, "Add a neutron shielding layer to the container and prepare for a deuterium-tritium gas injection!"

Sheng Xianfu nodded seriously and said, "Ok!"

The first stage of the experiment was a test of whether or not the design of the set-up was feasible and whether or not they could provide enough sound pressure to the bubble such that the temperature could reach more than a million kelvin.

It seemed like their experiment was very successful.

The xenon floating in the fluid was compressed to a tiny point, and inside that point was energy equivalent to that of a tiny star.

Even though it was at a temperature in the millions and was still far from controllable fusion ignition, the temperature wasn't the only way to achieve fusion ignition.

Not only did the bubble reach millions of kelvin, but it was also at a terrifying density level!

And density was the other condition for fusion reaction!

The researchers in the laboratory placed a transparent container in a black box, which was made of neutron-shielding material. They turned off the phase-locked loop-based proportional-integral imaging system and began to set-up the experiment again.

However, this time, the xenon was changed to a deuterium-tritium gas mixture. The ultrasonic power also increased by a whole magnitude.

The experiment began.

Even though the black box blocked the researchers' view, it didn't really matter.

Some things didn't need to be seen by the naked eye, and experimental data was often more reliable.

The researchers took out the concentrated sulfuric acid container and began to analyze the radiation damage and neutron fluence rate.

Lu Zhou was standing next to the researchers, quietly waiting for the experimental result.

Ten minutes passed by.

The results finally came out.

"The results are here!" a researcher happily said. He handed Lu Zhou the completed experimental report and said excitedly, "Through the neutron shielding material detection, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the surface of the material was bombarded with 2.5 MeV neutrons during the experiment… The neutron fluence rate increased by 1.7%

"We have confirmation that the fusion reaction has occurred!"

Everyone in the laboratory was excited, and they nearly started to cheer.

Especially Sheng Xianfu!

He tightly clenched his fists.

This might work!

There wasn't anyone more excited than him.

However, even though the experimental results were gratifying, the neutron fluence rate wasn't optimal.

They only observed signs of fusion reactions occurring. They were still far from using this set-up for stable controllable fusion reactions.

Professor Li Changxia stared at the data in the experimental report and said, "The neutron fluence rate is way too low. If we want to achieve a stable controllable fusion reaction… this magnitude of the sound wave might not be enough."

Lu Zhou nodded seriously, and he said, "You're right, with our current set-up, it's difficult to achieve stable controllable fusion reactions. I think we have to replace the fluid."

Professor Li Changxia asked, "What kind of fluid do you plan on using?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't know, but I do have a rough idea."

"Idea?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Since traditional liquids can't reach the requirements under room temperature, why don't we try liquid metals? I think liquid lithium might be worth trying…"

Chapter 660: CERN's Vote

While the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was conducting experiments on "sonoluminescence" and "acoustic" fusion, a seminar regarding the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap was currently being held at the CERN headquarters in Switzerland.

Not a lot of people were attending this conference. Basically, all of them were top physicists, and more than half of them had won the Nobel Prize before.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that if someone blew up this conference room, it would set back physics research by decades…

After Witten entered the conference room, he found a low-key position to sit down. He looked at another scholar sitting at the conference table.

Peter Higgs!

The godfather of subatomic particles!

Ever since Higgs returned to the UK from CERN in 2013, he rarely appeared in the public now. He was now 91 years old, so Witten didn't expect to see him here.

However, this did make sense. After all, this conference would determine the future of physics, and anyone who cared deeply about physics wouldn't miss an opportunity like this.

There was still some time before the conference would begin. Witten looked around the scholars in the room and saw that not only was Peter Higgs here, but many introverted, lonely physicists also showed up. They were sitting in this conference room, quietly waiting for the conference to begin.

"This is surprising," Jaffe said to Witten with a smile. "I didn't expect to see so many old friends here."

"Yeah." Witten nodded emotionally. He was about to say something, but he heard a microphone testing sound coming from the front of the conference room.

The chairman of CERN was standing on the stage. He cleared his throat and said, "We have spent more than enough time discussing the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap.

"The entire theoretical physics community is waiting for our conclusions. Instead of letting the debates continue, it would be better to let the physics community hear our opinions… On whether it is correct or not."

The chairman paused for a second before adding, "Therefore, I propose we vote."

There was a commotion in the conference room.

The chairman coughed and raised his voice.

"Everyone that agrees, please raise your hand."

More than 70% of the people in the conference room raised their hands.

The staff members sitting in the back counted the show of hands and sent the voting data back to the screen on the stage.

The chairman looked at the voting data and nodded. He signaled everyone to put their hands down before he continued to speak, "Everyone that disagrees, please raise your hands."

Just like before, a lot of people raised their hands.

However, only around 15% of the people raised their hands in disagreement. A lot of people seemed hesitant when raising their hands, like they weren't certain about their opinions.

The chairman looked at an old man sitting in the first row of the conference room and asked in a respectful manner, "Mr. Higgs, I noticed that you raised your hands twice, can I ask why?"

Professor Higgs, who was sitting in the front row, stood up while shivering slightly.

He looked at the chairman and said, "Mr. Chairman, the reason why I raised my hand the first time is that I can't find any problems in the thesis. I raised my hand the second time because I am against making hasty decisions."

The chairman nodded and said, "I know what you mean, but we have spent enough time discussing. It's not just me; a lot of people also think it's time for a final vote."

"I don't think we have discussed enough yet," Professor Higgs said. "First of all, as the proponent of this theory, he is responsible for explaining his theory in detail. He should answer our questions directly. However, I have been paying attention to Jin Ling University's official website, and it seems like Professor Lu has no plans for a report."

A lot of people agreed with this.

Almost half of the people who raised their hands in disagreement agreed with Higgs.

In particular, Professor Wilczek, who was another Nobel Prize laureate, nodded and complained to the chairman.

"I don't have any ridiculous demands. Even if he doesn't want to come himself, he should at least send a student or assistant!"

It wasn't an uncommon thing for scholars to send their own students or assistants to conduct academic reports. Whenever a professor was too busy with research or simply not interested in reporting, they would send their own students instead.

For example, Shinichi Mochizuki, who developed the "Inter-universal Teichmüller theory", made two of his students report on the ABC conjecture. Shinichi Mochizuki, on the other hand, was "monitoring" the report through a live video feed.

It wasn't a good idea for Professor Lu to leave China right now, and most scholars sitting here were well aware of this.

However, even though Lu Zhou couldn't leave the country, he should at least send a student to do the report for him.

When the CERN chairman heard Wilzek's words, he contemplated it for a while.

"I will relay your suggestion to Professor Lu."

"Let's not talk about the report, just the thesis content. Does anyone have any questions or doubts regarding Professor Lu's theory on the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap?"

This time, not a single person raised their hand.

Not even Professor Higgs.

There was also Witten, who hadn't raised his hand for the entire conference.

The chairman looked around the room and felt relieved. He had a smile on his face.

Since all of these big names didn't have any objections, there shouldn't be any serious problems with the thesis.

"It looks like we have reached a consensus.

"History will remember this day, we just took a big step toward the Grand Unified Theory!"

He paused for a second and continued, "The discussion about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap ends here.

"Also, a lot of professors, such as Professor Witten, proposed an experiment for the latter half of this year to the first half of next year. We will arrange an experimental plan for the m particle and conduct energy zone testing for Professor Lu's thesis…

"Regardless of whether or not we can find the particle, I believe that the experimental data obtained will help our understanding of the standard model!"

The CERN conference came to an end.

On the same day of the conference, CERN issued a public statement, announcing their approval for Lu Zhou's thesis on the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap. They also published their meeting agenda for the next month, as well as changes to their experiment schedule.

One news article appeared after the other.

Because of CERN's voting results, this matter completely blew up…

Chapter 661: Invitation From CERN

On Weibo.

The moment the announcement came out, Everyone Daily posted on Weibo regarding the announcement. The post was less than a hundred words long.

After the public found out what the CERN voting result meant for the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem, the re-post and likes blew up.

[Nutty!]

[God Lu is amazing!]

[The world of physics is going to change.]

[I guess that means the electrostrong interaction is also correct, right?]

[You can't say that, there's a difference between the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap and the electrostrong interaction. Even if Lu Zhou's thesis was written well, it has to undergo a rigorous and repeated review process by the physics community. Actually, this is much better than what Weinberg had to go through. When his electroweak interaction theory came out, no one paid attention to his research. It was more than a decade later that the physics community finally accepted his research.]

[Lu Zhou's research speed is too fast, the world can't catch up to him.]

[I can't believe this, my master's research is going nowhere. I can't take this anymore… :(]

[Goddamn it, he's smarter than me and more handsome than me! (cry.jpg)]

Someone is calling me handsome?

How embarrassing is this…

Lu Zhou was scrolling through Weibo while sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch. He couldn't help but smile as he liked the comment.

In fact, he didn't expect CERN to make a decision so quickly.

He thought that he wouldn't hear anything from them until the end of the year.

However, it seemed like he didn't have to wait that long.

Lu Zhou finished his lunch and returned the food tray. His phone suddenly vibrated and a text bubble popped up.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail!]

New mail?

Lu Zhou was curious. He opened his email and clicked the unread email.

The sender's email address was CERN Secretariat. Because Lu Zhou saved this email address a long time ago, he recognized this address.

The author of this email was Kalman Soma, CERN's secretary-general. When Lu Zhou was interning at CERN, he exchanged a few words with Kalman. However, Kalman Soma was only an ordinary office director at the time, mainly responsible for reception work for other partner countries.

[Dear Professor Lu, I am the secretary-general of the CERN Council Secretariat, Kalman Soma. First of all, please allow me to pay the utmost respect to you and your research results. The unification of the four basic forces is the lifelong pursuit of all mathematicians and physicists. Without the great work from outstanding scholars like you, civilization cannot move forward.

However, many people are still confused with regard to the two theses you recently published on arXiv. We understand that you are not able to do a live report, but we hope that you can appoint a trusted student or another scholar to explain your theory and answer some of the questions raised by our scholars.]

The email was pretty short, but it was sincere.

This request was definitely reasonable.

For a world-class problem like this, it was a common convention in the academic community to explain one's theory through the form of a report. If Lu Zhou weren't busy with the miniaturization of controllable fusion, he would report this theory at the old Jin Ling University campus.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and wrote a short email.

[I will consider your proposal seriously, I will soon appoint a candidate for the report.]

Lu Zhou clicked "Send" and then called Luo Wenxuan.

When the call was connected, Luo Wenxuan immediately said, "Hello? What's up?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "Are you interested in a work vacation?"

Luo Wenxuan was suddenly interested, and he immediately asked, "Tell me, where am I going to humblebrag this time?"

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his saliva. He asked seriously, "What do you mean humble brag???"

"Okay, whatever," Luo Wenxuan said. "Just tell me, where am I going?"

Lu Zhou: "Switzerland."

Luo Wenxuan: "CERN?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, they're inviting me to do a report there, but I can't really go. So you'll have to go on my behalf."

Luo Wenxuan: "Piece of cake, I got this… When do I need to leave?"

Lu Zhou: "Probably in the near future, it depends on when you're ready."

Luo Wenxuan had worked with Lu Zhou on the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem before, and after the thesis was written, they talked in detail about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap.

Therefore, Luo Wenxuan was the most suitable candidate to represent Lu Zhou to do the report. As long as the questions weren't too difficult, Luo Wenxuan could handle the report by himself.

After Lu Zhou told Luo Wenxuan about the report, he left this matter aside.

Lu Zhou went into his office at the mathematics department and was about to take a break.

When he opened his office door and walked to his desk, Lin Yuxiang's eyes instantly lit up. She stood up and greeted him.

"Professor, when you were eating, CTV called us."

"CTV?" Lu Zhou's eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "What do they want?"

Lin Yuxiang smiled and said, "Well, didn't you recently solve the Yang-Mills equations? They wanted to do an exclusive interview with you on this matter, and they wanted me to ask if you are available?"

Lu Zhou: "Which program?"

Lin Yuxiang smiled and said, "I think it's a special program, prepared just for you. Apparently, it's going to be broadcast at CTV's 8 pm time slot."

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't interested in the interview, he still had to give some respect to the national television.

Of course, he didn't want to waste too much time.

After all, compared to interviews, he cared a lot more about his research.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "Do I have to go to Beijing?"

Lin Yuxiang: "No, you don't, they said they'll send a reporter here."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay then, tell Assistant Zhao about this and arrange an appropriate time."

Lin Yuxiang playfully saluted.

"Yes, sir!"

Chapter 662: CTV Interview

The interview was scheduled for a week later.

All of Lu Zhou's time was being spent on the miniaturization of controllable fusion.

In order to increase the maximum temperature peak of the bubble in the working fluid, several old professors at the Institute of Acoustics tried to help. They removed the acoustic suspension stabilizer on the ultrasonic generator, which increased the energy of the ultrasonic wave. The maximum sound pressure acting on the bubble was increased from 15 times atmospheric pressure to 30 times.

However, this all came at a cost.

Removing the acoustic suspension stabilizer meant that the bubbles couldn't remain stable in the center of the fluid container.

However, sonoluminescence didn't require the bubble to float in a certain position, so this didn't matter too much.

After the experiment equipment was updated, Lu Zhou brought Sheng Xianfu and the team to repeat the experiment. They used a gas mixture of xenon and deuterium and observed the bubble temperature and neutron recovery rate.

When the completed experimental report was handed to Lu Zhou, Sheng Xianfu felt a mixture of emotions as he spoke, "The situation isn't looking good, the peak temperature can only reach a maximum of 10 million kelvin, but the lowest is only about 500,000 kelvin."

Lu Zhou stared at the experimental report and frowned.

"Is the difference that big?"

Sheng Xianfu nodded. "The temperature change observed by blackbody radiation is quite unstable. We don't know if our observations are incorrect, or if it's something else."

If they could make the bubble peak collapse temperature reach 10 million kelvin every time, it would be possible to stabilize the fusion reaction by shrinking the volume and using fast ignition.

Unfortunately, this seemed to be an extremely difficult thing to do.

Lu Zhou asked, "What about the neutron fluence rate?"

Sheng Xianfu hesitated for a second before saying, "It has improved… But we're still a long way from stable controllable fusion."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "How is the new experiment container going?"

Sheng Xianfu: "The China National Nuclear Corporation already finished building it. It should arrive tomorrow."

Lu Zhou finally felt a little relieved.

He placed the experimental report on the table and said to everyone, "Today's experiment is finished, we'll check the equipment tomorrow, and use liquid lithium the day after that."

Sheng Xianfu nodded seriously.

"Ok!"

Just like Lu Zhou's calculations predicted, when the lighter liquid lithium was used as the working liquid, the sonoluminescence performance did exceed that of the concentrated sulfuric acid. Especially when the mixed gas was introduced, the sound pressure acting on the surface of the bubble was significantly improved and the maximum atmospheric pressure is 31.7 times atm[1].

However, the liquid lithium was at 700 degrees Celsius, making it extremely volatile. The experiment became several times more dangerous than using concentrated sulfuric acid.

During the third experiment, the experimenter accidentally mixed a small amount of oxygen when preparing the deuterium gas mixture electrolysis. This instantly caused the container to burst into flames.

Fortunately, the amount of oxygen was small. The researchers in the laboratory reacted quickly to the situation and rescued the laboratory. If the liquid lithium melted through the working container, the high-temperature liquid lithium would instantly be in direct contact with air. If that were to happen, they could forget about the laboratory; the entire building would be at stake.

After that, everyone in the Institute for Advanced Study viewed Sheng Xianfu's research team in a different way…

The days quickly passed by, and it was soon the day of the interview.

Lu Zhou was inside his office at the mathematics department of Jin Ling University. He met the interview team from CTV.

Coincidentally, he had met the reporter a year ago.

"Hello, Professor Lu," He Ying said. She was in a dark blue formal attire. She extended her hand and gently shook Lu Zhou's hand as she said, "We meet again."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Long time no see, Ms. Ying… Should we start now?"

He Ying smiled and said, "Let's start then."

She knew Lu Zhou was busy with research, so she didn't waste time on small talk.

After He Ying sat down on the sofa, she adjusted her posture and signaled the cameraman next to her. She put on a professional smile and said, "I am honored to have this opportunity to interview you. Before the interview begins, I want to ask you a few questions on behalf of the audience at home."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Ask away, I'll try my best to answer."

He Ying smiled and said, "Don't worry, they are easy questions."

She said, "We all know that the Yang-Mills equations problem is solved and the unification of the strong interaction and the electromagnetic force will completely change the world of physics. However, most people are puzzled by these concepts, what do you think about the future of physics?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "You're gonna start off with such a hard question?"

He Ying smirked and said, "It might be hard for most people, but it should be easy for you, right?"

"As a scholar, what do I think about the future of physics… This question isn't easy to answer. After all, no one knows when a revolutionary set of theory is going to be discovered. " Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit and said, "The long-term goal of theoretical physicists is the Grand Unified Theory. Now that the strong interaction and the electromagnetic force have been successfully unified, the only thing left is gravity. Of course, even though we have spent a century researching this theory, we haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg."

He Ying then asked seriously, "Is there a reason why gravitational force is so difficult to unify?"

Lu Zhou: "Of course! Gravity is the most mysterious field of physics, even though we are more intuitive regarding gravitational force than the other three fundamental forces. Actually, both string theory and the quantum gravitational theory explain gravity in two diametrically opposite ways. No one knows which is correct."

He Ying said, "What's a more realistic goal then?"

Lu Zhou leaned back against the sofa and said, "A more realistic, or short-term goal, is to verify and explore the standard model. Even though the standard model is magnificent, we can always find things that exist outside of the standard model. Whether through experiments or theoretical research."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and jokingly said, "Like the m particle, even though I don't know what it looks like, I can prove its existence using mathematical methods. If someone can find the particle, then another piece of the standard model puzzle would be solved."

He Ying: "This sounds very exciting."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, exploration of the unknown is exciting."

He Ying: "However, theoretical physics is still a very distant concept for most of us. Can you explain how theoretical physics influences society?"

Lu Zhou thought for a long time.

He Ying began to wonder if Lu Zhou was allowed to answer this question. She was about to ask the cameraman to pause the interview when Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

"This is a very abstract question. It is very difficult for me to tell you about a theoretical physics discovery that people can see with their own eyes. Just like the Higgs particle, gravitational waves, etc. The things we find in the universe are generally useless for most people.

"This includes the m particle that I talked about earlier. Even if we unify the electroweak interaction, electrostrong interaction, and gravitational force, and create a theory of everything, the universe will still remain the same. Perhaps we should use theoretical physics funding for charity work, it will make people's lives better."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he added seriously, "However, if no one researches these seemingly 'useless' things, we won't have a future."

[1] Atmospheric pressure

Chapter 663: Xiao Ai's Colorful Bubbles?

After that, He Ying asked a question about the m particle and the strong interaction force, as well as some things about the moon landing project. Lu Zhou answered all the questions to the best he could.

The hour-long interview was finally finished.

After the interview, Lu Zhou requested the cameraman to show him some of the footage.

Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with how he looked during the interview.

After the CTV interview finished, Lu Zhou invited the interview team to dinner. After that, he went back home.

He poured himself a hot glass of milk and went into his study room. He was going to look at his computer, then go to sleep. However, he suddenly received a call from Chen Yushan.

"Hello?"

"It's me, I call you in the afternoon, but your phone was off."

Lu Zhou could hear echoes coming from Chen Yushan's side as well as sounds of water splashing around.

Is she taking a bath?

Lu Zhou didn't think much of it, and he replied, "In the afternoon? It's probably during the CTV interview, I think I turned off my phone."

Chen Yushan pouted while sulking.

"Why didn't you call me back then?"

Lu Zhou: "Oh, I didn't see your call."

Chen Yushan brushed her wet hair and sat in a more comfortable position. Her head was the only part of her body above the water.

"Whatever, it's your loss anyway. The reason I called was that I wanted to tell you that the space shuttle manufacturing center is already built."

Lu Zhou looked surprised.

"Already?"

Chen Yushan answered with a smug voice, "Yeah, the first phase of the project is just a few factories, so it didn't take a lot of time to build. How about you go check it out when you have time?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go there when I have some free time."

The conversation suddenly stopped.

Now that the business talk was finished, they didn't have anything else to talk about.

Time quickly passed by.

Chen Yushan could sense the atmosphere becoming somewhat awkward. She wrapped her hands around her knees. The hot bath made her a little dizzy. She was about to say something, but Lu Zhou spoke first.

"Hello? Are you… okay?"

When Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's voice through her Bluetooth headset, she suddenly blurted out, "Oh, I'm good… I'm taking a bath."

She blushed and wanted to bury her face in the bathtub.

F*ck, why did I say that?

Is he going to think…

She didn't have to worry at all because Lu Zhou didn't think anything of it.

"I know, just don't pass out in there."

Chen Yushan: "???"

You know?

How do you know?

Her face instantly turned bright red.

She went silent again. Lu Zhou didn't know if he said something wrong, so he quickly tried to explain.

"Wait, I meant that… I guessed that you were in the bath. After all, there were all kinds of sounds, I analyzed the sounds…"

Beep.

Before he could explain himself, the call was terminated.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at his phone.

She hung up on me?

Screw it, who cares.

As long as she doesn't pass out in the hot bath.

Lu Zhou put his phone aside and finished his glass of milk. He looked at his computer and said,

"Xiao Ai, put some hot water in my bathtub, around 40 degrees, halfway full."

He was originally going to brush his teeth and head to bed, but he felt like taking a bath now.

He heard that baths were good for relieving fatigue.

Since he was so tired, he decided to let himself relax.

After Xiao Ai heard its master's voice, a text bubble popped out in the lower right corner of the computer.

Xiao Ai: [Do you need Xiao Ai to put some colorful bubbles in the bathtub?]

Lu Zhou: "Uh… Forget about the colorful part, normal bubbles are fine."

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

…

Lu Zhou had to admit, that a hot bath was one of life's great pleasures.

He went out of the bathroom, covered only by a bathrobe. Every pore in his body felt relaxed. It was an indescribable feeling of comfort.

He went into his bedroom and fell asleep until six o'clock the next day.

After he got out of bed, he went on his morning run and came back. He ate some soup buns and sat in his black sedan. He didn't go directly to the institute or the university. Instead, he asked Wang Peng to go to the space shuttle construction site.

Concrete was poured onto the entire piece of land, and there were two three-story-high buildings. Lu Zhou could see the steel-reinforced concrete columns inside the buildings.

There was another five-story-high concrete building next to it. It was mainly for staff members, and it was also where the server was placed.

Just like Chen Yushan had said, the first phase of the project had been completed. They could start moving their equipment in.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but smirk.

With Xiao Ai's help, the most advanced five-axis machine tool, and a complete set of automated industrial equipment… Forget about the space shuttle, he was confident he could build a real-life Transformer robot.

It would just take time.

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of a serious problem.

He had to remind Xiao Ai not to place the pieces of equipment in random locations. After all, this wasn't his underground laboratory. The processing capabilities of this machine tool was far inferior to those automated industrial robots.

Lu Zhou stood outside the assembly center for a while. After that, he returned to his car.

"Let's go. Jin Ling University."

Wang Peng started the engine and looked surprised.

"Are you not going inside?"

"No need." Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He looked at the empty factory and said, "The things haven't been moved in yet, so there's no point going inside. Oh yeah, how many of your friends in the army are retired?"

"Some… Are you interested?"

"I want to hire a few security consultants. A salary of 10,000-20,000 RMB per month, food and accommodation included. Can you help me find anyone who's interested?"

Lu Zhou thought of this idea just a second ago.

If he wanted to get a license for a military-civilian project, he had to pass a confidentiality review. Not only was there a comprehensive qualification process, but this involved the production of aerospace technology, which was considered a sensitive technology. Security was a top priority.

Thankfully, Wang Peng had a military background, and he had a lot of connections to people in the army. Finding a few retired veterans for this job would be much better than outsourcing to a security company.

Not to mention, they could also train some security guards.

After all, this assembly center was considered private property. It would be unreasonable to use government resources.

When Wang Peng heard the RMB20,000 salary, he said, "This salary is making me a bit tempted."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Forget about it, you weren't' in the security logistics department, so you're not a good fit."

Wang Peng smiled and didn't disagree.

"Okay then, I'll ask around for you… When do you need them?"

Lu Zhou said, "As soon as possible."

Chapter 664: I'll Read, You Write

On the other side of the planet, in Switzerland, the No.1 lecture hall at CERN headquarters was packed with people.

Luo Wenxuan was dressed in a suit, and he was standing on the aisle next to the podium as he carefully read the thesis in his hand. He took deep breaths, in hopes of lowering his heart rate.

Even though this wasn't his first time coming here, there was a difference between sitting in the audience and standing near the podium.

This was the temple of the international physics community.

In half an hour, he would be scrutinized by the world's top physics scholars.

Luo Wenxuan was nervous as he made his final preparations. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice from the side.

"Your tie is too tight, it'll affect your breathing."

Luo Wenxuan looked over and was immediately surprised by who he saw.

"Professor?"

"You shouldn't be this surprised, you do know that I always spend half of the year at CERN," Witten joked. He smiled and said, "Not to mention, I'm here to attend an important report."

Luo Wenxuan smiled awkwardly as he scratched his head.

"I'll thank the lord if I don't mess up this report."

"Since Professor Lu chose you to do this report on his behalf, it means that he believes in you. If I were you, I wouldn't be this nervous, just pretend like it's an ordinary report."

No sh*t… You're a Fields Medal winner, of course you wouldn't be nervous. I haven't won a Fields Medal before.

Luo Wenxuan didn't say anything.

Witten paused for a second and said, "Speaking of which, how is Professor Lu doing?"

Luo Wenxuan: "He's doing pretty good, but his research is as busy as ever."

"Oh really? That totally sounds like him." Witten smiled and said, "Actually, I don't think he needs to be in such a hurry. He's achieved a few lifetimes worth of success in just a few short years, and he still has decades to go… My suggestion is that he should switch to a healthier lifestyle and find some time to travel or something."

Luo Wenxuan: "I'll tell him your suggestions."

"Not suggestions, just some personal thoughts." Witten looked at Luo Wenxuan, who was still nervous, and said, "Also you, relax a little. If I recall correctly, it's not your first time being here."

Luo Wenxuan replied nervously, "But I've always been in the audience."

Witten smiled and said, "Well, not this time. I look forward to your report, don't disappoint me."

Witten patted his ex-student's shoulder and walked away.

…

After Luo Wenxuan chatted with his former supervisor, he felt a lot calmer.

Soon, it was time for the report to begin.

Luo Wenxuan walked on stage and took out his phone. He dialed a number before placing it next to the microphone on the multimedia desk.

The venue gradually quieted down. He looked at everyone, cleared his throat, and said, "Due to various reasons, Professor Lu is not able to join us today. I will be conducting this report instead. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them now."

Someone immediately put up their hand.

Luo Wenxuan made an inviting gesture and spoke politely.

"Professor, please go ahead."

The old man with a wrinkled face and a crooked nose stood up while trembling. He stared straight at Luo Wenxuan and asked, "I just want to ask one question, what role did you personally play in the solution of the Yang-Mills equations?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at the audience. It seemed like a lot of people were curious about this question.

He adjusted his breathing and tried to speak fluently.

"I… mainly provided a possible idea proof. I also discussed with him how to solve the problem. Of course, as stated in the paper, the main argument was done by him alone."

The old man then asked, "Then does that mean your viewpoint is the same as his viewpoint?"

Didn't you say you only had one question?

Luo Wenxuan complained in his mind. He then explained, "Of course you can this so… unless Professor Lu has explicitly stated another opinion."

He pointed at his phone on the multimedia table and said, "He will be listening to this entire report. He will make contributions when necessary… He has the final say in this report."

The old man nodded and sat back down.

Luo Wenxuan sighed in relief.

"Then, please turn your papers to the abstract section, we'll start from the top…"

Even though Luo Wenxuan was nervous, once the report began, he quickly went into the zone.

He actually had previous experience reporting at CERN. When he was still a student under Witten, he had a lot of opportunities to report on CERN stages. However, those weren't particularly important reports, and there were no big-name attendees.

Time quickly passed by.

An hour had already gone by.

Finally, Luo Wenxuan looked at the last PowerPoint page and sighed in relief. However, he didn't feel relaxed at all.

Even though the PowerPoint presentation was finished, the report wasn't finished at all.

Next up was the Q&A session, the most important part of the report!

"That's basically it… If you guys have any questions, you can ask me."

The second he announced that the report had entered the Q&A stage, hands immediately went up.

Luo Wenxuan looked at the same old man who raised his hand before and nodded.

"Please go ahead."

The old man with the crooked nose trembled while standing up. He then asked in a steady voice, "On page 9, line 23, for the generalized polynomial interactions on R2 such as λR(φ) + φ2, there is a lower bound on R(φ), and 0<><λ_0 <="" 1.="" how="" did="" you="" determine="" the="" isolated="" single-particle="">

Luo Wenxuan sighed in relief when he heard this question.

This was a normal difficult question, but nothing too hard.

He cleared his throat and walked to the whiteboard. He then picked up a marker and began to explain while writing, "For the two-dimensional small coupling constant R(φ), the presence or absence of a bounded state depends on the specific case of R(φ). A field with a bounded state will have a mass operator M, which has an excitation spectrum. The mass gap (0, m) and upper gap (m, mb)… This is how we prove its existence."

"As for the single-particle spectrum…" Luo Wenxuan suddenly stopped writing and speaking at the same time.

It was like there was something stuck in his throat, not a single word came out of his mouth.

The single-particle spectrum.

F*ck sake!

How should I answer this?

A single drop of cold sweat rolled off his forehead.

His brain was turning a hundred miles an hour, and all of his brain cells were used on solving this problem.

However, it was to no avail.

There were whispering sounds in the venue, and Luo Wenxuan saw a glimpse of disappointment from some of the professors who were sitting in the front row.

He gulped and felt his limbs going limp.

What should I do…

He couldn't imagine what would happen if he screwed this up.

Even if Lu Zhou didn't care, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

However, a sound came from the phone sitting on the desk, almost like an act of god. The four words gave Luo Wenxuan hope.

Lu Zhou was on the other end of the phone, and he spoke confidently.

"I'll read, you write."

Chapter 665: Done by Him Alone

The problem regarding R(φ) two-dimensional small coupling constant wasn't a particularly difficult problem. It only required a little abstract thinking… At least that was what Lu Zhou thought.

However, even though the problem itself wasn't difficult, not everyone could ask a question like this. After all, most people wouldn't notice this problem in the first place.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and spoke.

"The existence of the isolated eigenvalue m of M, together with the Wightman axiom, provides a theoretical basis for the two standard forms of scattering theory, which are the wave operator method and scattering matrix elements. By applying these two scattering methods, we can conclude that there is a progressive state with an arbitrary number of particles…"

Luo Wenxuan immediately picked up the marker and began writing on the whiteboard.

Lines and lines of equations were neatly written, filling up the whiteboard.

The problem was slowly derived. Witten's frown went away, and he smiled. The old man with the crooked nose nodded his head.

The whispers in the venue were gone.

Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath and stopped writing.

"That's the answer to the single-particle spectrum particle… Are there any other questions?"

The old man smiled.

"Nope, no more questions."

When the people in the audience began to applaud, Luo Wenxuan could feel the praise and encouragement in the atmosphere.

Luo Wenxuan placed the marker on the multimedia table and sighed in relief. He smiled and his brain started working again.

He listened to the subsiding applause in the venue and couldn't help but feel emotional.

Professor Lu really is nutty.

Thank god for him saving me.

But…

He's the one that gets to do all the bragging.

After that, the scholars in the venue asked a lot of questions, which Luo Wenxuan answered one by one. Whenever Luo Wenxuan had some hiccups, Lu Zhou would give his own input.

After a final round of applause, the report came to an end.

When Luo Wenxuan walked off stage, the old man with the crooked nose walked over to him while carrying a cane.

"What a wonderful report."

The old man looked at Luo Wenxuan and smiled kindly, which gave him even more wrinkles on his face.

However, Luo Wenxuan wasn't too happy. Instead, he scratched his head awkwardly. After all, Lu Zhou was the one who answered this old man's question.

"Yeah, it was okay."

"Okay? No, it was great." The old man smiled and said, "Also, when you see Professor Lu again, give him my thanks. I didn't expect the unification of the forces would happen before I go to heaven. Originally, I felt a little worried about the theoretical physics industry… But now, it seems that my worries were superfluous."

Luo Wenxuan replied politely, "I'll give him your thanks… May I ask who you are?"

The old man put on his hat.

"Peter Higgs."

He smiled at Luo Wenxuan, turned around, and left.

Higgs!

Luo Wenxuan stared at Higgs walking away, and it took him a while to process this.

He thought this old man looked familiar, but he didn't expect it to be Higgs!

However, this was expected. The old man disappeared from the physics community in 2013, and all of the photos of him were from years ago. Luo Wenxuan first went to CERN in 2014…

"I should have asked for a signature, "Luo Wenxuan muttered to himself.

However, Higgs was long gone…

…

The thunderous applause in the CERN lecture theater spread throughout the entire physics community. Previously, the international physics community was still debating about the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem. However, all of the debates had now ended.

Three days after the CERN report, the Clay Mathematics Institute immediately issued a statement. The director of the Clay Institute, Professor Jaffe, announced that he accepted CERN's judgment and said that the Scientific Advisory Board was looking for a suitable time to present Lu Zhou with the Millennium Prize Problem award and prize money.

Also, Lu Zhou's phone call during the interview became a talking point in the physics community…

Three days after the report ended, 8 pm Switzerland time.

In China, it was already afternoon.

Luo Wenxuan was sitting on a hotel sofa near CERN. He was on a call with Lu Zhou.

"I might come back a bit later."

"Why?"

"Uh… I plan on going to France, try to get some inspiration." Luo Wenxuan said awkwardly, "Oh yeah, I'm running out of money, can you transfer me some, and I'll pay you back later?"

Lu Zhou could hear water flowing in the background. He smiled and shook his head.

"Forget about lending. Professor Carlson, the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, has been emailing me all day. If you go to France, help me get the million-dollar prize money at the Institut de France, and I'll split half of it with you."

Luo Wenxuan nearly fell off the sofa.

"What do you mean! Half is…"

Lu Zhou said nonchalantly, "It's fine. Besides, you helped me a lot. I should share the prize money with you."

Honestly, given that Lu Zhou had received hundreds of millions in scientific research funding, a million was nothing to him. He was only interested in the certificate issued by the Clay Institute.

After all, there was no such thing as too much honor. Only seven of these certificates existed, so it had a collection value.

However, Luo Wenxuan didn't agree. Instead, he argued with Lu Zhou.

"The Yang-Mills existence and mass gap problem is the final problem of the Millennium Prize Problems, and I did less than 10 percent of the work. This prize money doesn't belong to me, I don't want it!" Luo Wenxuan seemed to be hesitant. He paused for a second before saying, "I can go to the award ceremony for you, but I'm not taking the money."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Chapter 666: Miniaturization Breakthrough!

In the end, Luo Wenxuan still didn't accept Lu Zhou's proposal. He said he would bring the Clay Institute cheque back and hand it straight to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou thought about it carefully and felt like his proposal was indeed a bit ill-judged. Therefore, he went to the finance office of the Institute for Advanced Study and gave Luo Wenxuan US$100,000 in travel expenses. He also wished Luo Wenxuan a good time at the red-light districts.

Luo Wenxuan didn't refuse this money. He even took a month-long holiday.

Looks like Luo Wenxuan plans on spending all of the money…

However, Lu Zhou didn't really care.

Many people had congratulated him over the past few days.

Some were from his students and colleagues at Princeton, and some were from people he met from academic conferences, as well as close friends.

Like Tao Zhexuan.

Lu Zhou worked closely with Tao Zhexuan when he was still researching the Goldbach's conjecture. They had always remained in contact. Both of them were the type of mathematician that was fluent in many fields, so they had a lot to talk about.

During their phone call, Tao Zhexuan said, "Congratulations, another Millennium Prize Problems solved by you. Clay Institute should update their list of problems. By the way, can you tell me what problem you're working on next?"

Lu Zhou: "I probably won't research pure mathematics for a while. I'll probably focus more on applied mathematics."

Tao Zhexuan: "Like the moon landing?"

Lu Zhou: "That's one of them!"

Tao Zhexuan: "This sounds very exciting. My wife works at NASA. She always tells me about her work, which is very different from my field of study. If you succeed someday, remember to save me a seat, I haven't been to the moon yet."

Lu Zhou jokingly said, "If that really happens, I'll host an academic report on the moon."

After the call ended, Lu Zhou got up from his office chair and was about to go to the cafeteria for some lunch. However, the second he put his phone in his pocket, it started ringing again.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone and saw Sheng Xianfu was calling, so he immediately picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Professor…"

Sheng Xianfu sounded a little off, so Lu Zhou immediately asked, "It exploded again? Did anyone get hurt? The equipment I borrowed is fine, right?"

Sheng Xianfu gasped and said, "What do you mean exploded again! We're not making bombs in here, do you really have to say that?"

Lu Zhou: "…"

I mean, fusion energy is scarier than bombs, right?

But…

At least they're safe.

Lu Zhou was speechless. He said, "Then why are you being so mysterious?"

Sheng Xianfu touched his nose and said, "I'm excited."

Lu Zhou: "Excited?"

"Yeah…" Sheng Xianfu nodded while holding his phone. He said in a trembling voice, "I think… we did it."

The phone went silent for two seconds.

Lu Zhou composed himself and took a deep breath.

"I'll come over right away, we'll talk in person."

Lu Zhou ended the call and called Wang Peng.

"Pick me up at the mathematics department."

Wang Peng only responded with one word.

"Ok."

After a twenty-minute drive, a black car with a red flag parked at the entrance of the research institute.

After Lu Zhou got out of the car, he passed the security check and walked straight toward a corner of the building.

Ever since the last security incident, the miniaturization of the controllable fusion laboratory group moved from the corner of the building to a temporary warehouse on the side of the institute. Even then, people would try to stay far away from the warehouse.

Lu Zhou walked to the laboratory entrance. Before he could open the door, he heard loud cheers coming from inside the laboratory.

"What is going on?" Lu Zhou quickly walked into the laboratory and saw how ecstatic Sheng Xianfu was. Lu Zhou immediately asked Sheng Xianfu, "What is going on?"

"The method of using liquid metal as a working solution works! According to our experimental data, when we used liquid lithium as the working solution, we were able to apply a greater sound pressure on the bubble through the ultrasonic emission device! This bubble collapse volume is also more stable!" Sheng Xianfu said in excitement. His shoulders were shaking from the adrenaline.

When Lu Zhou heard that his idea worked, he couldn't help but smile.

However, he was more concerned about how they were able to succeed.

"Why did we fail last time?"

Sheng Xianfu replied excitedly, "Last time, we tried to increase the power of the ultrasonic generator, but the neutron fluence rate didn't increase. Then we found out that the problem was the deuterium gas mixture!"

Lu Zhou: "What did you guys do then?"

"We warmed up the gas!"

Lu Zhou immediately said, "You ionized and heated the gas?"

Sheng Xianfu's face was full of joy as he said, "That's right!"

Lu Zhou nodded, like he had a rough idea of what they did.

They heated and ionized the deuterium gas mixture and injected the liquid lithium through the air inlet. Even though the ionization temperature was only a few thousand degrees, which was nothing compared to the tens of millions of degrees when the bubble collapsed, the ionized gas expanded when driven into the liquid lithium. This gave it a higher surface area, which meant the energy transmitted by the sound to the bubble became larger.

Therefore, the bubble's instantaneous collapse temperature increased, which allowed them to meet the conditions of deuterium-tritium fusion!

Professor Li Changxia was standing next to Sheng Xianfu. He said with excitement, "We just found a more stable way to achieve controllable fusion! Once again, we're leading the world in fusion technology!"

"Yeah…"

Lu Zhou was staring at the black container in the middle of the laboratory. He couldn't help but feel fascinated.

The design of the Hall-effect thruster was taken from Debris No.3. Also, the five-axis CNC machine tool was stationed at the space shuttle assembly center. Xiao Ai could handle all of the production work. Now that they solved the miniaturization of controllable fusion, there was nothing to stop Lu Zhou from achieving his plan.

Of course, this "reactor bubble" was very simple. Both its energy efficiency and power output were far less than the large scale magnetic confinement fusion Pangu reactor. Because it was non-reusable, it also had higher costs.

However, this kind of miniaturized fusion energy device wasn't used for mass-energy production, so it didn't really matter.

Because of its high energy density and various advantages over traditional fission batteries, the pros outweighed the cons.

With the Hall-effect thruster design he got from Debris No.3, he could revolutionize the space industry, much like how the gunpowder revolutionized the military industry.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the entire world would change because of their discovery…

Chapter 667: Did It?

Haizhou.

China National Nuclear Corporation laboratory.

Academician Wang Zengguang was sitting in front of the experiment table while wearing a pair of glasses. He was meticulously staring at the blueprint in his hand while thinking intently.

The goal of the miniaturization of the controllable fusion project was to design a smaller ferrofluid electric energy source, specifically for the spacecraft. This task was now assigned to the China National Nuclear Corporation, which worked on the Pangu reactor.

Even though China National Nuclear Corporation wasn't optimistic about the miniaturization of controllable fusion, they still agreed to undergo this project.

There was only one reason.

Because, other than the fact that Lu Zhou had already brought them a victory, this was their responsibility.

The phone on the desk began to ring.

Wang Zengguang squinted his eyes. He was a bit annoyed at this phone call because it was interrupting his work. However, when he saw the name of the person calling, he immediately picked up the phone.

The call connected, and before he could speak, he heard them say, "Hello?"

"Academician Wang, is the ferrofluid electric energy generator done or what?"

Since Lu Zhou spoke in a half-serious manner, Academician Wang relaxed a bit and said, "Don't worry about us, we'll produce a prototype in a month. How about you? Is there any progress?"

The ferrofluid electric energy generator was only a small project, it wasn't anything particularly high tech. The main problem was still the reactor itself. If they couldn't build a reactor, the ferrofluid electric energy generator would be useless.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean if there's any progress? Does completing the project count as a type of progress?"

The other side went silent for a few seconds.

After a while, Academician Wang spoke.

"Um, I didn't hear you, what did you just say…"

Lu Zhou raised his voice and spoke clearly.

"I said, we've already solved the miniaturization of controllable fusion!"

When Lu Zhou heard a bang sound through his phone, he moved his phone away from his ear and looked at his phone screen.

Did he drop his phone?

He's not that surprised, is he?

Academician Wang quickly picked up his phone from the ground and began asking a string of questions.

"Solved? Already? Did you solve the heat dissipation problem? That thing is going to space! You didn't just build a smaller version of Pangu, did you?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The reactor isn't using magnetic confinement fusion, but rather a combination of inertial confinement fusion and fast ignition… I can't convey it clearly through the phone, come by when you have the chance."

Academician Wang: "I'm coming over right now!"

The phone call ended.

…

The China National Nuclear Corporation's nuclear fusion research center was in Haizhou, right next to the Pangu reactor. This was so that it could provide technical support for East Asia Energy and be protected by the military troops.

Jinling was halfway across the state from Haizhou, making this trip very inconvenient.

However, the next morning, Academician Wang Zengguang still brought two of his students to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Also, Academician Wang wasn't the only person that came, Director Li also came.

"Professor Lu, long time no see!"

Director Li looked at Lu Zhou with a smile on his face as he reached out his right hand.

Lu Zhou shook his hand and smiled as he said, "It's an honor, Director Li. It hasn't been that long, right?"

When Academician Wang saw that Director Li was about to make some small talk, he was getting impatient, so he interrupted them.

"Okay, go have your small talk later, ok? Where is it? I want to see it."

Director Li smiled and said, "Uh… Mr. Wang is correct. Professor Lu, let's chat inside?"

Lu Zhou smiled and turned around.

"Come with me."

With Lu Zhou leading the way, the group arrived at a laboratory located at the corner of the institute.

Located in the middle of the laboratory was the experimental reactor, which was designed by the miniaturization of controllable fusion project team.

Academician Wang looked at the black cylinder, which had a diameter of around two meters. He looked at the chaotic wires and electrical circuits. He stood there with his mouth wide open.

After a while, he finally said, "You plan on using this thing… for nuclear fusion?"

He started to think.

Can this thing…

Even achieve nuclear fusion?

The two PhD students standing behind Academician Wang were also in disbelief.

Not only does this thing look ugly as hell…

But it seems a little small…

Because they needed to add an insulation layer and a neutron shielding layer, a two-meter diameter cylinder would only be able to accommodate a two-centimeter wide nuclear core.

When Lu Zhou saw that Academician Wang was in disbelief, he chuckled.

"It does look a little simple, but it's compact and has everything we need. After all, this is only the experimental reactor. When the time comes, we'll adjust the components."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and didn't bother explaining the principle behind it. He looked at Sheng Xianfu and said, "Can you please give Director Li and Academician Wang a demonstration?"

"Yes, sir!"

Sheng Xianfu walked up to the reactor and ordered the two researchers next to him.

"Start the heating machine!"

"Yes, sir!"

The heating machine was turned on, and the reactor began to heat up. When it reached around 180° Celsius, the lithium material inside the insulating layer gradually began to melt into a liquid.

After that, a deuterium-tritium gas mixture was injected into the ionization chamber, before turning into plasma. The liquid lithium was like a machine gun as it was shot into the nuclear core.

The second the bubble collapsed to its minimum volume, the bubble's temperature instantly increased into the hundreds of millions of degrees.

However, this wasn't the most shocking part.

Academician Wang Zengguang and his two students stared at the neutron detector value, which was increasing.

Director Li was muddled. He gulped and asked softly, "Is it… a success?"

Academician Wang nodded. His voice was trembling as he confirmed, "It is!"

Chapter 668: How Did You Guys Do It?!

Since they didn't connect the generator yet, the heat could only be transferred through the water heat exchange system. However, the energy generated from the system far exceeded the required input energy for the system. Therefore, the neutron's proliferation rate was self-sustainable. From this standpoint alone, this fusion reactor was undoubtedly a success!

Once the ferrofluid electric energy generator was installed, the ultrasonic device would no longer require an external power supply. Only a large lithium-sulfur battery would be needed to melt the lithium, and the reactor could rely entirely on the electrical energy for operation.

When the experiment finished, Academician Wang immediately asked Lu Zhou, "How did you guys do it?"

Lu Zhou smirked and gave a simple answer.

"Sonoluminescence."

Wang Zengguang was stunned. He squinted and said, "I thought… that pathway wasn't possible?"

Because magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion fell into a bottleneck, the research on sound fusion was popular during the 1980s and 1990s. However, even to this day, this research pathway had been controversial.

Not only were there two different experimental reports, but the main reason for this controversy was because there wasn't a clear conclusion in the physics community about the origin of the natural phenomenon of sonoluminescence.

"There are two reasons why a technical pathway isn't feasible. One is because it is inherently wrong, and the other, is because the method is wrong. Twenty years ago, there were plenty of problems with it came to sound fusion research. The theoretical ground wasn't built yet. People were just doing experiments blindly and collecting empirical data to find ways to achieve fusion reaction, which is no different than trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He picked up a marker from the desk and wrote a few lines of equations on the whiteboard.

"Only after we determine the quantitative relationship between the electromagnetic force and strong interaction, can we build a phenomenological model that balances the relationship between the two. Then, we can use this phenomenological model to find the most optimal experimental method."

Academician Wang stared at the whiteboard for a while and frowned.

"Are you talking about the electrostrong interaction?"

Even though he wasn't a theoretical physicist, he was in the nuclear physics and nuclear engineering field. He was up to date with physics research, especially ones regarding nuclear power.

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Wang and nodded.

"Correct."

On the surface, it might seem like the reason this sound fusion machine was successful was because of Sheng Xianfu and others, who added a small ionization chamber between the air inlet and the nuclear core. This was to heat the deuterium-tritium gas mixture and allow them to inject the ionized gas into the liquid lithium.

However, in fact, whether it was the use of liquid lithium or the calculation regarding a series of nuclear fusion parameters such as bubble density, surface area, and sound pressure, all of these were possible only because of the electrostrong interaction model.

This was just like how the plasma turbulence model was related to magnetic confinement fusion.

Without Lu Zhou's prior theoretical work, who would have known how long it would take for someone to build a sound fusion machine…

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense couldn't wait any longer. "Can we put this on an aircraft carrier?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

"I don't know a lot about aircraft carriers. You'll have to consult with the naval nuclear engineers. However, even though the power efficiency and energy utilization are much lower than the Pangu's, they are still stronger than a traditional nuclear fission reactor… As long as it's properly implemented, we should be able to put it in an aircraft carrier or a submarine."

Director Li sighed in relief and looked solemnly at Lu Zhou.

"On behalf of the country, I'd like to say thank you!"

Lu Zhou smiled.

"You're welcome."

Lu Zhou had been thanked too many times; he didn't even react to it anymore.

However, he still felt pretty good when he heard Director Li's sincere tone.

Even though he wasn't interested in military technology, he was still happy that he could contribute to the safety of the country.

As for how to implement this into aircraft carriers or submarines, that would be the responsibility of the Navy Equipment Research Institute. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study would provide some technical support, but most of the design work would be done by the military experts.

Of course, all of this wasn't for free.

Since the miniaturization of the controllable fusion machine was funded by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, which was a private research institute, the intellectual property rights would be in the guaranteed form of national defense patents.

Even though the profit from licensing to the domestic navy would be far less than the profits from licensing lithium-sulfur battery patents, Lu Zhou's intention for this research project was never to make money, so he didn't care that much.

"So far, this fusion machine is mainly going to be used on spacecraft. After all, we still need to conduct more experiments." Lu Zhou looked at Academician Wang and said in a serious manner, "So, I'm assuming you'll take care of the ferrofluid electric energy generator."

Academician Wang nodded solemnly.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely give you an answer in two weeks!"

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"I'm happy to hear this."

After Academician Wang witnessed the experimental sound fusion machine, he left Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and went back to Haizhou with his two students.

The most critical part of the project had been completed. All they had to finish now was the ferrofluid electric energy generator.

He had to complete the ferrofluid electric energy generator design as soon as possible so that he could efficiently convert the heat energy into electrical energy!

As for Director Li, after he ate dinner with Sheng Xianfu and Lu Zhou, he left Jinling and returned to Beijing, bringing back the news of the miniaturized controllable fusion breakthrough.

This involved national security, so the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

Therefore, he had to personally report this to the senate…

Chapter 669: For the Greater Good

Beijing.

A pale-skinned old man was sitting inside a rustic house. He meticulously read the newspaper in his hands. When he read to a certain point, he couldn't help but frown. Suddenly, he heard footsteps.

He looked up and saw Director Li walking toward him, escorted by guards. The old man looked at Director Li and smiled.

"What's up? It's so early in the morning."

"I just got here from Jinling." Director Li took a deep breath and tried to restrain the excitement in his heart.

The old man could have guessed what this was about, but he still asked.

"What is going on in Jinling?"

"The miniaturization of the fusion experimental reactor… With Professor Lu's help, it was successful!"

The old man wasn't the only one who was surprised, even the guard escorting Director Li was astonished.

The old man smiled and put away his newspaper. He then stood up from his chair.

He walked next to Director Li and looked at the big willow tree in the courtyard. After a while, he began to speak emotionally.

"It's an honor to have a scholar like Professor Lu in our country!"

"Yeah…" Director Li felt emotional too.

Director Li totally agreed with the president.

Fusion nuclear energy was now connected to the grid, strengthening the weak manufacturing industry. People's lives were made better by this source of endless energy. Lu Zhou had made a great impact on this country.

This was enough to make him remembered in history.

The old man thought for a bit before he suddenly asked, "Who knows about this?"

Director Li replied in a serious tone, "Other than the researchers, only the China National Nuclear Corporation Chief Engineer Wang and two of his students know about this… I already told Professor Lu to keep this thing quiet."

Everyone who knew about this used to be part of the STAR stellarator project, so they were all trustworthy people. Keeping a secret was no problem.

The old man nodded with approval.

"Good, keep this thing quiet."

Fusion research by the countries around the world had always been stagnated, and the negotiations for controllable fusion had nearly come to an end.

Even though the experimental reactor in California was walking the same technical path as Pangu, they still had several major unsolved problems. Even though China had temporarily relaxed its SG-1 superconducting materials exports, California's superconducting magnet test results didn't meet its expectations.

As for ITER, they were still the same. It was all talk and no walk.

Western countries had gradually begun to lose confidence in their own researchers, and they were eagerly negotiating with China. China, on the other hand, was very happy to negotiate in exchange for technology and governance.

Letting other countries know about China's sudden breakthrough in fusion miniaturization technology would undoubtedly have a negative impact on the on-going negotiations. The western countries would become greedier and start bargaining for the miniaturization technology… Also, the miniaturized fusion reactor was much more… dangerous.

When Director Li saw the old man's look of approval, he relaxed a bit. He then sighed in relief before saying, "Then what about aerospace?"

Old man: "Aerospace?"

Director Li paused for a second and decided to express his concerns.

"Yeah… if we put a fusion battery on a spacecraft, I'm worried that the news will leak out. If an accident happens, our technology might even be taken."

This was totally reasonable. After all, aerospace was a chaotic field. As long as something was in the sky, there was a chance it could fail. It would be fine if the battery were to land on China's soil, but if it were to land in the sea or foreign soil, then it would be a lot of trouble.

The president smiled and replied, "It's good to be careful, but we can't be overly cautious. Besides, the miniaturization of controllable fusion was meant for aerospace implementation in the first place, do you really think it's a good idea to pause the project because of this?"

"Uh… Yes, you're right, I was being negligent." Director Li looked down.

The old man looked at him.

"You don't have to worry about Professor Lu, just make sure you tell the Navy Equipment Research Institute about the technology. It's too early to implement the technology into aircraft carriers, but I think we can put it in a submarine!"

Director Li nodded and remembered every word spoken by the old man.

"Yes, sir!"

…

On the other hand, Lu Zhou was at the Institute for Advanced Study. He invited the researchers of the miniaturized fusion project to a conference room for a brief meeting.

"The State Administration for National Defense has contacted me. The miniaturization of controllable fusion technology is not suitable for public release. Let's keep it a secret for the time being. We won't have a big ceremony or anything, we'll just have a celebratory dinner."

Sheng Xianfu smiled and said, "We just had a big ceremony at the beginning of the year."

Professor Li Changxia nodded.

"Yeah, we don't need to celebrate. We're doing this for the greater good."

A few other researchers also nodded.

Even though it was a shame they couldn't write this accomplishment on their CV, being able to participate in a historical project like this was honorable in and of itself.

Besides, most people sitting here were still on the younger side. The oldest was only in their forties. Most people could live to see the day this secret was released, which was usually thirty years away.

Even if they couldn't see their results released to the world, it would be engraved on their tombstones.

Therefore, they had nothing to worry about…

"Also, regarding our next step."

Lu Zhou looked at Sheng Xianfu.

"The miniaturization of controllable fusion project will gradually disappear. We'll announce that the experiment was a failure and that we didn't discover any results… You can go back to the Southwestern Institute of Physics or go to the East Asia Energy company. Tell me where you want to go, and I'll write you a recommendation letter."

Sheng Xianfu spoke without hesitation.

"I'll go back to the Southwestern Institute of Physics. I was going to go back there after Pangu was completed."

Professor Li Changxia patted Sheng Xianfu's shoulder and said, "I understand, you want to show off to your old colleagues?"

Sheng Xianfu subconsciously rubbed his nose and said, "What do you mean to show off, am I that kind of person?"

"I'll write you a letter on behalf of the China National Nuclear Corporation and the Ministry of Science and Technology. You'll receive the letter within a week." Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Li Changxia. He then asked, "What about you? Do you want to return to Yuhua, East Asia Energy, or some other research institute?"

Professor Li Changxia paused for a second.

"I want to stay here."

Surprised, Lu Zhou looked at him and asked, "Stay here?"

"Yeah." Professor Li Changxia nodded and said, "I'm not suitable for a corporation, and Yuhua… The research space is limited. I want to stay here."

Lu Zhou said, "There are a lot of research institutes in China, so you don't have to stay here."

Li Changxia waved his hand and said, "What research institute in China is nuttier than you?"

"Okay then." Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, "Jin Ling University wants to open a nuclear physics institute, which is to be separated from the Institute of Physics. This is to help train the new wave of Chinese nuclear physicists. Since you worked at the STAR Stellarator Research Institute before, you should be the director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics."

Li Changxia had a sincere smile on his face.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "This is the least you deserve."

Chapter 670: Assembly Center Completion

On the outskirts of Jin Ling City, a Volvo 18 wheeler drove on the concrete roads, creating a dust cloud behind.

Normally, a truck like this would have been stopped by traffic cops for driving on concrete roads.

This truck could drive smoothly because there were two military vehicles escorting it, one at the front and the other at the back.

Most people would walk the other way when they saw this intimidating scene.

The cars headed east and entered the eastern area of a high-tech zone. They stopped at a hundred-acre factory.

A man wearing a hard hat and work clothes walked to the truck and spoke a few words with the guy sitting in the passenger seat. Then, he began to gesture the military cars to enter the factory.

The factory company's name was erected near the gate.

"Star Sky Technology Space Shuttle Assembly Center."

The name sounded quite futuristic.

A black sedan with a red flag was parked near the factory entrance.

Wang Peng turned off the engine and glanced at the military cars. He couldn't help but wonder.

"You really plan on building a space shuttle?"

Lu Zhou: "Of course, why?"

"Nothing… I thought aerospace was just for scaring the United States."

After all, Wang Peng's family had ties to the government, and he had heard rumors before.

He heard that, on the surface, the moon landing conference was to lay out China's plan regarding controllable fusion, but in fact, it was only used to scare the United States and Europe. He even heard that the Ministry of Science and Technology planned to make Lu Zhou the chief designer, but Lu Zhou insisted on only being a consultant.

Wang Peng had to admit, scare tactics like these were useful.

After all, the idea of a "mass driver" scared people shitless. If the mass driver could really send tons of load into low-earth orbit, it could even be used for sending mail packages…

Even though China had no intention of doing this, other countries were still worried.

Especially since Lu Zhou was a chief consultant…

"No way, I could never intentionally try to scare people as a political play, I'd rather just do it legitimately." Lu Zhou smiled and said," Okay, no more joking around, I actually thought about building a spacecraft for a long time."

"I always thought you were a mathematician."

"I am a mathematician."

Lu Zhou didn't spend long in the car. After he got out, he walked straight to the assembly center.

Because of Xiao Ai, the entire assembly center could theoretically achieve a complete automated production process. Other than the technicians responsible for equipment, electronics, and maintenance, the only necessary staff members were those from the security department.

There were twice as many security members as there were normal employees.

Being able to automate a production process to this extent was rare, even in western countries.

Once the processing materials arrived, the assembly center could get to work.

Lu Zhou planned on building an independent and research department here, as well as a dedicated astronaut training center. However, he couldn't do all of this at once since it would take a long time.

Lu Zhou was inside the factory.

He looked at the rows of industrial robots and took a photo. He then sent the photo to Xiao Ai and smiled.

"What do you think, do you like your new toy?"

Xiao Ai instantly replied.

[Yeah! Super satisfied! Thank you, Master!]

Lu Zhou: "That's good… Oh yeah, don't forget what I told you. Don't make anything weird… Also, build the space shuttle according to the drawings, don't add any extra components."

Lu Zhou got the space shuttle blueprints from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The engine and fuel tank were modified, while the rest was basically an exact copy.

Even though China had never built a working space shuttle, that didn't mean they didn't have space shuttle researchers. China only stopped space shuttle research after the Soviet's failure.

There were a lot of advanced technological concepts in the 863 initiative. The reason some technical routes were abandoned wasn't that they weren't good concepts, but it was because it didn't align with the times.

If they could invent a high energy density power storing device and power source, then they could totally replace traditional chemical rockets and significantly increase the thrust.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou had already solved both of those problems.

Xiao Ai: [Don't worry! Xiao Ai will take care of it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou saw Xiao Ai's reply and couldn't help but smirk.

Even though this thing acted a bit retarded sometimes, it was still backed by total obedience.

He heard footsteps behind him.

Lu Zhou looked over and saw Chen Yushan at the factory entrance. She was walking toward him.

Lu Zhou looked at her and put his phone away. He then smiled and asked, "Why are you here?"

Around March, the headquarters of Star Sky Technology was moved from Shanghai to Jinling. The new office was in Jinling's CBD, not the high-tech zone. It took at least an hour to drive from the city to the high-tech zone.

Chen Yushan stood next to Lu Zhou and smiled.

"Well, I'm still the CEO of Star Sky Technology, how could I not come on such an important day? What do you think? Are you happy?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm very happy, thanks."

"You're welcome." Chen Yushan smirked and jokingly said, "Speaking of which, I've never been to space. If you can really make this space shuttle work, maybe we can take a day-trip to the moon."

Lu Zhou: "A day trip is too short, we have to stay for at least a couple of days."

Chen Yushan said, "Then we should build a hotel on the moon."

Lu Zhou smiled as he said, "Your ambitions are… interesting."

Chen Yushan couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"What do you mean interesting, I'm a businesswoman! I'm thinking about business!"

"Sure sure, whatever."

Chapter 671: From Nothing to Something

Lu Zhou stayed at the newly completed assembly center for the entire day. The customized server equipment was delivered to the assembly center.

Lu Zhou watched the technicians set up the server equipment. After that, he transferred Xiao Ai into the assembly center servers.

By the time everything was completed, it was already night time.

Lu Zhou booked dozens of tables at the most luxurious hotel near the Purple Mountain area. He invited the engineers and construction workers, as well as the staff from the assembly center, for a huge dinner. This was his way of showing his thanks.

After the big meal, Lu Zhou got into his car and went home. He was about to fall asleep on his bed when Xiao Ai suddenly sent him a message.

[Master, you have mail!]

Lu Zhou looked at the sender's address and saw that the email message was from the China National Nuclear Corporation. He immediately opened the email message.

The content was very short, only one sentence.

[The ferrofluid electric energy generator is done.]

Lu Zhou climbed out of bed and put on some slippers. He went into his study room and began to type on his computer.

[Encrypt the blueprint and send it to me.]

After five minutes, Academician Wang replied.

[Okay.]

Soon after, Lu Zhou received the blueprints.

Lu Zhou downloaded the large attachment and decrypted the file. He opened the folder and quickly scanned the blueprints sent by Academician Wang.

Overall, the design of this ferrofluid electric energy generator was heavily influenced by the Pangu's ferrofluid electric energy generator. Whether it was the air inlet or the superparamagnets, the design was similar to that of Pangu's.

However, even though there were many similarities, China National Nuclear Corporation had to make a lot of improvements and changes.

Especially for the ionization chamber design. Because they adopted a curved ionization chamber design, it reduced the generator size by at least 20%. However, they had to sacrifice a bit of energy conversion efficiency, but this sacrifice was acceptable for use on a space shuttle.

After Lu Zhou looked at the blueprints, he thought for a while before saying, "Xiao Ai."

Xiao Ai: [Yes? 0.0]

Lu Zhou used his mouse to draw a circle on the computer screen. He said, "This ferrofluid electric energy generator, can you build it?"

Xiao Ai: [No problem, Master, don't worry! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Xiao Ai sounds confident, but can it really do it?

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit, but in the end, he decided to place his trust in Xiao Ai.

"Okay then, I'll ask the supplier to send the materials. Try to see if you can manufacture this thing."

Xiao Ai: [I promise I can do it! (≧∇≦*)ゝ]

…

At the same time, in Beijing, thousands of miles away, a car slowly entered the courtyard of the Navy Equipment Research Institute.

Under the escort of several intelligence personnel, a USB containing all of the information regarding the miniaturization of controllable fusion quickly passed the guards and entered into the Navy's ship laboratory.

Unlike the ferrofluid electric energy generator, information regarding the miniaturization of controllable fusion energy could only be transferred through this primitive method. This was the most secure method, and it wouldn't leave any traces.

It was late into the night.

Academician Zhang Jianrong was sitting in a quiet laboratory with a pair of glasses on his face. As he meticulously read the freshly printed documents, his eyebrows furrowed from time to time.

After a long time, he gently put down the blueprints.

"So this is… the experimental reactor model for the fusion battery?"

"Yes," said the man who was standing next to the academician. He nodded and said, "We've already sent the package, please sign here."

Zhang Jianrong didn't say anything. He picked up a fountain pen and signed the document. After that, he gave the document back to the man.

The man nodded turned around, and he immediately began to leave the laboratory.

He was from the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department. After he left, the tense atmosphere in the laboratory disappeared.

A researcher wearing glasses was sitting at the experiment table next to him, and he couldn't help but whisper, "I can't believe it… The Pangu project collaborated with nearly a hundred nuclear physics institutes around the country. They spent an entire year to complete the project. I can't believe this pillar with a diameter of less than two meters is able to solve the problem."

"The hardest part of any technology is creating something from nothing," another researcher said. "The fusion battery is different from the real fusion reactor, whether it's power generation or energy efficiency."

"Regardless, with this technology, our battleships will see a huge improvement."

"Yeah."

The blueprints were all in Academician Zhang Jianrong's hands. The other researchers could only sit around and chat.

As usual, Mr. Zhang would only assign the researchers their jobs after the project had begun. Each person's task was different. Before that, the blueprints were strictly confidential.

Academician Zhang Jianrong stared at the blueprints for a long time. Unlike usually, he didn't give the researchers anything to do. However, he suddenly stood up from his chair.

"I'm going to Jinling tomorrow."

The researchers who were chatting looked at the academician in surprise.

"To Jinling?"

Zhang Jianrong nodded seriously.

"Yes."

"This is an entirely new technical route, and it's very different from the magnetic confinement fusion path that we've been trying to achieve."

All of the researchers in the laboratory looked astonished.

An entirely new technical route?

Prior to this, all of them just thought that Professor Lu was trying to make a smaller magnetic confinement fusion device. They didn't expect him to go on another entirely different technical pathway.

"I have to be safe. I have to talk to Professor Lu in person. I'll bring a few people over. As for everyone else, be on the lookout. I'll arrange work soon."

The researchers who were sitting at the experiment table nodded subconsciously.

"When are you leaving?"

Zhang Jianrong answered without any hesitation, "Now."

Chapter 672: It Is Time to Show the Real Technology

In many cases, the reason why Chinese scientific researchers produced little to no results wasn't entirely the researchers' fault. A lot of the time, it was because of the industry. After all, having a blueprint was different from having the real thing.

Whether it was the development of science or the development of technology, they both had to move forward coherently.

Lu Zhou hoped he could focus on the theoretical research side and let other people turn his research into a real product.

However, if he only did theoretical research, it might take him decades to see his research come to life.

The next morning, outside the space shuttle assembly center.

After Wang Peng parked the car, he looked at the building before casually asking, "What do you plan on doing after the space shuttle goes into space?"

When Lu Zhou heard this question, he smiled.

"I don't know yet, probably an astronomical observatory station."

"Astronomical observatory station?" Wang Peng looked at him and said, "When did you become interested in the stars?"

"Astronomical observatory stations aren't only used for stars. There's a branch in physics called astrophysics. For theoretical physics, experimenting is one way to prove conclusions, but it isn't the only way. Especially for problems that are beyond our technical knowledge, the more economical and practical thing to do is to look for clues in space."

Actually, many great discoveries were born this way.

For example, the famous gravitational wave was the result of an astrophysics observation. The existence of gravitational waves was first observed by looking at two black holes, which were 1.3 billion light-years away, being merged into one.

Wang Peng: "Sounds like finding a needle in a haystack."

"That's just how scientific research is." Lu Zhou took off his seatbelt and asked, "Do you want to look inside with me?"

Wang Peng: "Is it appropriate for me to go inside?"

Lu Zhou smiled.

"Come if you want. It's just some metal machines, nothing inappropriate."

After Wang Peng got out of the car, he followed Lu Zhou into this mysterious space shuttle assembly center.

Looking from the outside, the assembly center was protected by high walls, barbed wire, and security guards carrying high power electric batons. However, once they went inside, the assembly center was no different from any other large machining center.

They walked all the way to the center of the factory.

A staff member wearing a hard hat walked toward the two.

"The materials from Zhongshan New Materials have arrived, this is the list of materials."

After Lu Zhou was handed the document by the staff member, he glanced at the document and confirmed that all of the necessary materials had arrived. He then picked up a pen and signed his name.

"Tell the people in the warehouse to bring the materials here."

"Okay!"

The staff member nodded and quickly walked toward the warehouse.

Lu Zhou gestured to Wang Peng, and they continued to walk around the factory.

Wang Peng looked around the factory building.

The last time he came here, everything was still inside various boxes. But now, they were neatly placed around the building.

The only thing he didn't understand was, all the things were here, but where were all the workers?

Are these machines going to work by themselves?

Wang Peng was confused. He looked around the factory before looking at Lu Zhou.

"Work is starting today?"

Lu Zhou nodded and gave a simple answer.

"Yeah, China National Nuclear Corporation sent the blueprints here yesterday, I plan on testing them."

Wang Peng couldn't help but ask.

"Then how come there aren't any workers here?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Because we don't need them."

Wang Peng paused for a second. He didn't realize what was going on.

However, soon after, he knew what Lu Zhou was talking about.

He saw a large automated logistics vehicle that was parked at the unloading point.

Then, a group of small AGV logistics vehicles moved like ants, swarming to the pile of materials. They began to grab, transport, and place the materials. It was a dazzling sight.

However, this was just the beginning.

The AGV vehicles were like red blood cells in blood vessels, sending important chemicals to the "organs".

Soon after, an alloy sheet was molded into a generator set casing. The casing was then transported to another industrial robot.

After that, a few robotic arms began to fill the interior of the metal shell with the generator set components, such as the stabilizer and heating device. They worked at an incredible speed. After that, they quietly waited for the magnetic coil robot to send over its component…

The production process was filled with neural networks, deep learning, and sensors. Every part of the production line was completely controlled by artificial intelligence, which maximized its efficiency.

The only place in the production line that needed physical workers was the loading and unloading of large logistic vehicles.

Wang Peng stood next to Lu Zhou. His facial expression didn't change much, but deep inside, he was totally astonished.

After a while, he murmured, "If these robots become mainstream, people are all going to lose their jobs."

Lu Zhou smiled.

"You're overthinking it. Even in developed countries, it would be impossible to completely popularize this kind of equipment. Also, if this becomes popularized one day, it might be a good thing."

Production technology improvements would move labor workers to a higher level. Even though this would bring a series of social problems in the short term, it would benefit the development of civilizations in the long run.

Lu Zhou was about to say something when a technician walked into the factory.

"Professor, someone outside is looking for you."

Lu Zhou looked at the technician.

"Who?"

"They said they're from the Navy Equipment Research Institute. I think the leader is Academician Zhang Jianrong."

Academician Zhang Jianrong?

Lu Zhou vaguely remembered hearing this name before, but he forgot from where.

He remembered that this old man seemed to be in battleship power research and was an alumnus of Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory. He was also good friends with Li Jiangang.

Regardless, since the old man came all the way from Beijing, Lu Zhou should give him some respect.

Therefore, Lu Zhou reluctantly walked away from the factory machines and looked at the technician.

"Bring me there."

Chapter 673: You're My Teacher

The reception room at the assembly center…

An old man with a head of white hair sat on the sofa. Even though he was over eighty years old, he gave off a sharp and bright demeanor.

In addition to this old gentleman, there were two other young researchers sitting next to him. Even though their demeanors weren't as strong as the old man's, it was obvious they were not just ordinary scientific researchers.

Therefore, even without an introduction, Lu Zhou could immediately tell which person was Zhang Jianrong.

He suddenly remembered where he first heard about this old man.

At that time, he was chatting with Academician Wang Zengguang from the China National Nuclear Corporation after eating dinner with him. They talked about the times when the China National Nuclear Corporation cooperated with the Navy Equipment Research Institute, and Wang Zengguang told Lu Zhou about Zhang Jianrong.

Back in the day, when China's economic development was at its peak, Zhang Jianrong and 29 other experts from all over the country were assembled to research the first generation of nuclear-powered submarines. What was even more amazing was that the only references they had were two blurry photos and a children's submarine toy from the United States…

Even now, this amazing story was still widely talked about.

When Lu Zhou saw Academician Zhang stand up, he smiled and reached out his hand.

"Hello, Academician Zhang, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hello." Professor Zhang Jianrong shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "It's my pleasure. That thing you did in Haizhou ignited the hopes of many young children. Even though I wasn't there, I could still feel the sensation through my TV screen!"

Even though this old man was an academician, there was a military vibe to him. However, he didn't seem arrogant. On the other hand, he was likable.

"You're too kind." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "May I ask why you came all the way from Beijing?"

"Yes." Academician Zhang Jianrong nodded and said, "I read the documents on the miniaturization of controllable fusion for a long time yesterday. I also discussed with my two assistants for a long time, but I still don't have a clue about the overall design… I have never heard anyone talk using ultrasonic waves for fusion ignition."

The miniaturization of the controllable fusion reactor was one of the key projects of the Navy Equipment Research Institute. The Navy Equipment Research Institute had been working with the China National Nuclear Corporation regarding the miniaturization of the Pangu reactor, in hopes of implementing it on battleships.

However, their project wasn't going well. At least for now, they hadn't made any progress.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou had developed this new sound fusion technology.

The old man paused for a second before he said in a solemn tone, "You're my teacher, I hope you can aid me in understanding this technology."

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed at how polite the academician was.

"I'm no teacher, but I can help you with the parts you don't understand."

The old man immediately took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it over to Lu Zhou.

"These are some of the problems I found while reading the blueprint and documents. I hope you can answer some of my questions."

Lu Zhou took the notebook from the old man and began to flip through the notebook.

Time quickly passed by.

After around two minutes, Lu Zhou flipped the notebook to the final page and suddenly closed the notebook.

"How about this," Lu Zhou handed the notebook to the old man and said, "I can answer the questions, but that's all talk. How about I take you to see the real thing?"

The three people in the reception room were all stunned.

Especially the two researchers, they looked astounded.

Lu Zhou could tell a lot from their facial expressions.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, the Navy Equipment Research Institute didn't believe he really solved the miniaturization of controllable fusion at all.

Even though Academician Zhang didn't doubt Lu Zhou, the two researchers who came with Academician Zhang were full of disbelief and doubt.

Of course, they didn't doubt Lu Zhou himself, only Lu Zhou's claims.

Even though Lu Zhou was a Nobel Prize laureate and Ling Yun medalist, the concept of sound fusion sounded a bit too unrealistic.

Especially since the reputation of cold fusion hadn't been very good, and a lot of countries failed at cold fusion in the 1980s. Therefore, people's first instinct was that cold fusion was a hoax.

The matter of fact was that it was true that the vast majority of research institutions or individuals who were researching cold fusion, were doing so just to receive research funding. However, that didn't mean cold fusion was impossible.

Presupposition in scientific research was a deadly sin.

After all, a lot of things that seemed impossible a few hundred years ago, had now become part of their world…

In some sense, sound fusion wasn't a subset of cold fusion. After all, the instantaneous temperature peak from the bubble exceeded the temperature inside the sun's core, so it was not exactly "cold". However, the nuclear core was operating at a temperature of 1000-1300° Celsius, which was much cooler than the millions of temperature nuclear core inside Pangu.

Because of this, after the Navy Equipment Research Institute researchers saw the documents, no one believed that this cold fusion thing was real.

"The fusion machine is… in here?" Surprised, Academician Zhang Jianrong looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and smiled.

"The experimental reactor isn't here, but we have something better."

Academician Zhang Jianrong squinted.

"Something better?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yeah, come with me, you'll see."

Chapter 674: 100 MW!

The group of people followed Lu Zhou's footsteps and went into the main factory building of the assembly center.

The moment Academician Zhang Jianrong walked through the factory door, it was like he became a statue that was frozen in time.

The two researchers behind him were the same. Their mouths were wide open as they were rendered speechless.

Dozens of industrial equipment in the factory were running on high-speeds, completely unmanned. They processed raw materials into necessary components and assembled the components together. These people had seen a lot of Chinese processing sites, but this was their first time seeing a factory automated to this extent.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone and typed a few words.

[How much longer?]

Xiao Ai: [Soon! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Soon after, an AGV logistics vehicle carrying a two-meter diameter cylinder slowly moved next to two ferrofluid electric energy generators, which were just assembled. The AGV waited for the robotic arm to finish the final long-awaited assembly.

Academician Zhang Jianrong finally realized what was going on, and he closed his mouth.

He then asked, "This is?"

Lu Zhou walked next to the strangely shaped equipment and knocked on the cylinder. He smiled and replied, "This is the sound fusion reactor you saw on the blueprints, and this is the ferrofluid electric energy generator. The shape is quite simplistic, but it's going to be installed inside the space shuttle, so aesthetics don't matter here."

Academician Zhang Jianrong couldn't help but ask, "So this thing was assembled just now?"

Lu Zhou gave a simple reply.

"I guess."

More precisely, it was assembled half an hour ago.

Both the ferrofluid electric energy generator and the nuclear core reactor began production at the same time. While these three components were in production, the vacuum production room next to them was also working. A high-temperature liquid metal was being poured into the nuclear core mold.

By the time Lu Zhou and the other three people got here, Xiao Ai already finished assembling the two ferrofluid electric energy generators, and it had just finished the nuclear core and the nuclear core container. As for the final assembly process, that was easy as a piece of cake.

Academician Zhang Jianrong asked, "Can you demonstrate it for us? It's a working process."

"Of course I can."

Lu Zhou gestured to the camera in the factory.

After Xiao Ai saw its master's gesture, it immediately began to operate the robotic arms, connecting electrical wires to the reactor.

The control program software was already installed, and the debugging had already been completed. After the heating and ultrasonic generating device were turned on, the entire machine went into a preheating state, in preparing for the activation of the nuclear core.

They quietly waited for a few minutes. Soon, the liquid lithium inside the nuclear core was heated to several hundred degrees, slowly flowing due to the sound driving pressure.

On the other hand, the air inlet began to discharge the deuterium-tritium gas mixture, which was then heated to a state of plasma. Bubbles began to continuously collapse under the ultrasonic sound pressure while it traveled from the bottom of the container to the top.

Right after that, the green signal lights on both sides of the reactor were lit up. A huge amount of electrical energy emerged from the ferrofluid electric energy reactor, and this power was sent to the outside of the factory through a dedicated power line…

When Academician Zhang Jianrong saw that nothing special was happening, he couldn't help but ask, "It's already activated?"

Lu Zhou nodded and replied confidently, "Yes."

The researcher next to them whispered, "I feel like nothing is happening."

Lu Zhou smiled.

"We can't see anything here, let's go outside."

Lu Zhou turned around and brought the three skeptical people outside the factory.

As they passed through the factory, a strong gust of wind blew in their faces.

Academician Wang was wondering why the wind was so strong, and he looked at the direction of the wind. He then suddenly froze.

There were several tall windmills that were spinning near the factory.

Wind turbines?

Wait… No!

Academician Zhang Jianrong was shocked, and he immediately asked, "Wait… Those are being powered by the reactor?"

Lu Zhou nodded and answered his question.

"Of course."

Lu Zhou looked at the towering windmills and said, "We have to find a way to use the electricity generated by the fusion battery. There's no lake or river nearby, so we have to use this."

Academician Zhang asked anxiously, "What's the maximum power? Of the sound fusion device!"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit. He then replied, "Theoretically, it can reach 100 MW. We just have to control the injection rate of the deuterium-tritium gas. However, it's a bit expensive to generate electricity this way, and I can't find a place to consume the excess energy, so I won't be able to demonstrate."

Lu Zhou looked casually at the academician.

10 MW could be used up by the few windmills outside the factory. If they increased the power to 100 MW, Lu Zhou would have to find a laser transmitter and convert the electrical energy into laser energy.

Zhang Jianrong and the two researchers looked astonished.

100 MW!

Even though this number wasn't very high, many thermal power plants could only reach a couple of hundred megawatts. However, this thing wasn't powered by an entire facility. It was only a "portable" controllable fusion battery!

The two A1G pressurized water reactors on the Nimitz aircraft carrier only had a combined power of 194 MW. However, that device weighed 900 tons!

Even though this fusion battery was heavy as well, it was nowhere near 900 tons.

Also, the other important thing was its volume.

One of the biggest goals in nuclear power was how to reduce the size of the power plant. This fusion reactor had huge advantages in terms of energy density and mass-energy density. This undoubtedly would be beneficial for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Also what surprised Academician Zhang Jianrong the most was that this was only the first generation of fusion batteries.

Once this technology became mature, the power output would increase!

As for the two researchers standing behind Academician Zhang Jianrong, they had a mix of emotions on their faces.

Before they came here, they didn't even believe that sound fusion could generate fusion energy.

However, the truth was right in front of their eyes, they were in a state of cognitive dissonance.

They didn't want to believe this was real, but they had to admit that Lu Zhou was right.

Controllable fusion energy was miniaturized.

Lu Zhou was able to complete this near-impossible task!

Chapter 675: So Angry!

After the two researchers saw this with their own eyes, all of their doubts and suspicions disappeared. The two researchers from the navy equipment research institute began to look at Lu Zhou with worship.

Honestly, Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed.

After the trial run was finished, Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to stop the reactor and waited for the nuclear core to completely cool down before removing it. He then asked an assembly center technician to inspect the radiation damage on the reactor casing.

While they were disassembling the reactor casing, Academician Zhang Jianrong and the two other researchers were watching by the side, asking questions about the reactor components from time to time.

Even though they were well into their later years, they still had a serious and eager attitude about learning, the same as that of a young man in his twenties.

This was what Lu Zhou admired the most.

He always believed that as long as a person kept learning, that person would never grow old.

Even if their bodies weakened, their minds would remain young forever.

Academician Zhang Jianrong would probably stay for a few weeks in Jinling to learn about the relevant sound fusion knowledge as well as its technical knowledge from Lu Zhou. Because Lu Zhou was often busy and couldn't teach him every day, he arranged Professor Li Changxia to be the one responsible for teaching these three researchers.

Professor Li Changxia obviously accepted Lu Zhou's task.

After all, this was a good opportunity for Li Changxia to advance in the academic field.

If he could make friends with this prestigious academician from a high-ranking military institution, Li Changxia would have the hope of getting into the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Also, living in a hotel wasn't very convenient, nor was it safe. Lu Zhou talked with Jin Ling University and arranged them to live in the Jin Ling University's faculty dormitory, in the name of academic exchange groups.

At night time, Lu Zhou found a grilled fish restaurant near the university and invited the three researchers from the Navy Equipment Research Institute to dinner.

Because Academician Zhang was quite old, Lu Zhou didn't ask the waiter to bring any alcohol. However, when the grilled fish was placed on the table and the mouth-watering smell filled the entire room, Academician Zhang decided to go against his plan and asked one of the researchers to buy a bottle of Baijiu from the nearby supermarket.

It seemed like Lu Zhou's worries were superfluous.

This old man drank alcohol like it was water. He didn't seem like he was a day over 50 years old.

After some drinking, Academician Zhang Jianrong suddenly said, "Oh yeah, I suddenly remembered something."

Lu Zhou just came back from the toilet after getting rid of the metabolized alcohol from his body. He sat back in his chair and poured himself another shot.

"What's up?"

Academician Zhang: "Next year is the academician election year, right?"

Lu Zhou: "I think so?"

Academician Zhang: "I was thinking, what if you become an academician of the Academy of Engineering? Or Academy of Science?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled. He then said, "I'm a mathematician, there's no room for me at the Academy of Engineering. If I could, I'll probably be an academician at the Academy of Science."

Academician Zhang shook his head and said, "In my opinion, your achievements in the field of engineering are no inferior to your theoretical field achievements. The significance of the Pangu project is comparable to the Manhattan Project!"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Pangu wasn't my work alone."

Academician Zhang smiled and said, "That's what you said, but we all know that there are many excellent scholars and engineers, yet none of them can lead the way like you did. Do you think if Academician Wang Zengguang was the chief designer, the fusion reactor would have been made?"

Lu Zhou nearly spat the Baijiu out of his mouth.

Even though he knew they were good friends, this was still a little ruthless…

Academician Zhang suddenly had a flash in his eyes. He smiled and said, "How about you apply to the Academy of Engineering next year? We have already discussed it several times. A lot of people are willing to write recommendation letters for you. It'll be an easy ride. As for the Academy of Science, it doesn't really matter if you apply or not, they don't have a lot of funding."

Even though this sentence was somewhat bitter, the two academicians were actually around the same status, neither was better than the other. They both had backgrounds in directing research institutes and were the vice presidents of universities.

This old man definitely had drunk too much. Lu Zhou smiled and said, "We'll see what happens, who knows what can happen."

Academician Zhang Jianrong waved his hand.

"What do you mean? I'll personally write a recommendation letter for you! No one will dare to vote against me!"

Lu Zhou coughed.

"I'll think about it."

Zhang Jianrong smiled and nodded.

"You should think about it!"

The two researchers sitting next to them ate silently.

Wow…

Forget about begging for an academician spot, this academician is begging Lu Zhou!

F*ck sake, I'm so angry!

…

After they finished eating, Lu Zhou said goodbye to Academician Zhang. He sat in Wang Peng's car and went back to his Purple Mountain mansion.

On the way back, he asked Xiao Ai to fill the bath with water. He went straight into his bathroom and soaked his body into the warm bath, washing away his sweat that smelled like alcohol.

This was the best part about his increased metabolic activity. Whether it was drinking or exercising, his body recovered at an insanely fast rate. Even though Academician Zhang drank a lot with Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou's body was able to process most of the alcohol on the ride home.

In some sense, this was a convenient superpower.

Lu Zhou walked out of his bathroom and put on the pajamas, which was placed by Xiao Ai's drone. He then went into his study room.

He still had some work to do before he could sleep.

However, the moment he sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, he received a phone call…

Chapter 676: Do You Know Who I Admire the Most?

The phone call was from Chen Yushan.

The moment the phone connected, Lu Zhou heard a pleasant voice through the phone.

"Hello, what are you up to? I called you before, but you didn't pick up."

"I was eating."

Chen Yushan curiously asked, "Eating? With a guy or a girl?"

"An academician from the Academy of Engineering, he's in his seventies." Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Forget about it, why are you calling me this late?"

Chen Yushan: "Well, the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense just called our company."

"Commission for Science?" Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. He was curious. "What did they say?"

"They asked if Star Sky Technology is interested in the end of year bidding for the manned moon landing project. If we are interested, we should start preparing the proposal and hand it in within two months."

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "What's the specific project details? Did they say?"

"The specific project content can be found on the Commission for Science's website. I briefly read through it. Roughly speaking, the first phase of the project requires us to provide a 50-ton low-Earth orbit launch capacity, to be completed within 5 years."

50-ton low-Earth orbit delivery capacity?

Quite ambitious.

One should know that the orbit capacity of the Long March 5 was only 25 tons. None of the Chinese aerospace companies could accomplish this task with their current technology.

As for the Long March 9, no one knew. After all, this thing was expected to be completed in 2026. However, aerospace funding had been increased by a lot. If they tried hard enough, they might be able to make the 5-year cut-off.

Lu Zhou sat in his chair and thought for a while.

"Okay then, I'll write a proposal in a few days."

"Okay, I'll wait for your news."

After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he turned on his computer and contemplated it for a bit.

Even though at the beginning of the year he didn't consider bidding for this aerospace project, he didn't expect the sudden breakthrough in miniaturized controllable fusion technology.

Not to mention the scanner gun he won from the lucky draw, which cracked the secrets of the Hall-effect thruster. This greatly reduced his reverse-engineering time on the Debris No.3.

So far, the energy supply problem could be solved by the fusion battery. The most advanced five-axis CNC machine tools and the advanced neural network algorithm could be used to reverse engineer the Hall-effect thruster from the blueprint. It would be a pity not to participate in this project.

After all, he had seen the last moon landing seminar. The budget for this project was around two billion yuan. This kind of money-burning project would hurt his bank account quite a bit, so it would be great if someone could pay for his research.

Also, sending a 50-ton load into orbit wasn't anything too difficult for him.

Lu Zhou opened a document and placed his hands on the keyboard. He typed a title.

[The feasibility of fusion battery technology and ion thruster propulsion in aerospace.]

…

Over the past few days, Lu Zhou spent his time either at the Institute for Advanced Study or the space shuttle assembly center. He had collected the necessary data for his report, so he had very little time to spend at Jin Ling University.

However, this didn't matter too much. He didn't have a lot of classes in the second half of the semester. Only a few lectures on number theory, theoretical physics, and surface chemistry.

Even though occasionally there were a couple of students asking him questions, the PhD students who were residing in his office could deal with it.

As for the other more miscellaneous stuff, his three assistants could handle it.

Two weeks after the semester began, Lu Zhou had almost completed his entire argument report. He received a call from Luo Wenxuan, who was on a business trip in Europe.

When the call connected, a familiar voice was heard through the phone.

"It's a shame you can't come in person. The award ceremony is at the famous Institut de France. You have no idea how much preparation the Clay Institute did for this ceremony!"

"Oh really?" Lu Zhou heard how excited Luo Wenxuan was. He smiled and said, "I'm not too envious, I've already been there."

The other end of the phone went silent.

After two seconds, Lu Zhou heard a cough.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, this is the second time you won this prize…"

Jesus Christ, I totally forgot.

I totally got one-upped!

Lu Zhou didn't know what Luo Wenxuan was thinking. He smiled and said, "Remember to thank Professor Carlson, Jaffe, and Witten for me."

Luo Wenxuan was helpless. He sighed and said, "I knew you would say this. I've already said hi to them… Oh yeah, I've mailed the medal and check from the Clay Institute to you. Make sure to check your mail."

Lu Zhou said, "You mailed it? Why couldn't you bring it back yourself?"

Luo Wenxuan: "Traveling with a million-dollar check and a pure gold medal? Do you think I'm crazy?"

Lu Zhou: "Okay then, how long do you plan on staying in France?"

"Haha, uh… I haven't decided yet." Luo Wenxuan looked through his hotel window and yawned. He said, "At least until the end of month, right? I plan on taking a trip to Liechtenstein."

Lu Zhou: "…"

This guy is so unreliable.

Since Luo Wenxuan had done what he had to do, Lu Zhou didn't say much else.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Okay then, just come back after your trip."

"No problem! Actually, I'm not totally on holiday, I'm walking around to accumulate inspiration. Do you know who I admire the most?"

Lu Zhou: "Who?"

It's not me, right?

Please don't be me…

Luo Wenxuan: "It's Schrodinger! He discovered the great wave equations in the foothills of the Alps with his lover! I think you know what I mean, just like how you teach undergraduate students for inspiration, my way of being inspired…"

"F*ck's sake!"

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and threw his phone on the table.

He looked at his completed thesis on his computer screen and double-checked the entire thesis. He converted the thesis format and sent it to the relevant China National Space Administration department.

He was certain that after they saw where the email came from, the department would take his proposal seriously.

As for Luo Wenxuan…

There weren't any physics research projects that Lu Zhou needed Luo Wenxuan's help with, so Lu Zhou decided to just let him be.

Chapter 677: Raise Your Hand

China National Space Administration.

Inside a conference room.

A title was shown on the screen.

[The feasibility of fusion battery technology and ion thruster propulsion in aerospace.]

The title of the thesis was also the subject of the conference.

Even though the title wasn't very long, it contained a lot of information. So much so that even though the conference had begun a long time ago, no one has spoken yet.

Director Sun looked at the people in the conference room and contemplated for a bit with his eyes closed. He slowly opened his eyes and broke the silence.

"This thesis was written by Professor Lu around two days ago. After we received this thesis, the leaders from the Communist Party of China told me to discuss this with you guys."

Director Sun paused for a second and made sure that he didn't forget any details.

"About this thesis… Well, the space shuttle, I want to hear your opinions."

The conference room remained silent.

After a while, a quiet voice spread through the conference room.

"The space shuttle program was dropped by Qian Xuesen for a reason… Should we do this?"

"Are we going to listen to Qian Xuesen forever? Also, that was a long time ago. If someone wanted to build a plane a hundred years ago, do you think people would have believed them?"

"I agree with Professor Yu, right now the NASP program and the Sanger program in Germany are focusing on reusable space shuttles for round-trip transportation systems. I'm sure the Americans have lost more on the space shuttle program than we have. There's a reason why they're choosing to go with the space shuttle. Therefore, we can't ignore their decision!"

Director Sun was sitting at the end of the conference table as he quietly listened to their discussion.

Even though the discussion was somewhat sloppy, he had no other choice.

After all, since Professor Lu's thesis mentioned a lot of sensitive technology, it wasn't suitable for public discussion or even closed-door expert meetings. Therefore, the information sent to the conference attendees was altered. For example, the fusion battery was described as a hypothetical unfinished technology.

Therefore, most people didn't take the fusion battery technology seriously.

Actually, similar things had happened before in this conference room. However, there weren't advanced multimedia equipment back then, and the conference attendees had obviously changed.

Deputy Director Wang looked at the chaotic conference room. He then quietly said, "Director."

"What now?"

"Is this discussion… necessary?"

Director Sun raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

Deputy Director Wang said, "The higher-ups want us to treat Professor Lu's thesis seriously. Isn't their intent obvious?"

Director Sun said with a blank expression, "We still have to discuss. Otherwise, do you want to be responsible when something goes wrong?"

The deputy director smiled and shut his mouth.

The discussion gradually became heated.

No one could convince anyone.

Director Sun looked at his watch and saw that it was about time, so he cleared his throat and raised his voice.

"In order to ensure this meeting can be held more effectively, I will disclose some private information. I want you all to make sure that you do not have any electronic devices and make sure that this stays strictly confidential."

The conference room began to quiet down.

The experts in the room looked at each other. They all had thoughtful expressions on their faces.

Of course, some people were confused as they looked at Director Sun with suspicion on their faces.

Director Sun didn't explain anything. He looked at his assistant next to him and nodded.

The assistant standing next to the multimedia desk immediately knew what was going on. The assistant placed a CD into the computer on the multimedia desk and quickly found the original thesis inside the CD. There was some sensitive data, as well as information regarding the fusion battery.

The moment the information was projected on the screen, the conference room went dead silent.

A few minutes had gone by…

Suddenly, there was an uproar in the conference room.

"100 MW! This is impossible!"

"If the output power can reach 100 MW… then it could generate thrust on the kN magnitude…"

"This is ridiculous! If they can reach 100 MW of power, then the ion thruster can provide kN magnitudes of thrust?!"

So far the world's most powerful ion thruster was NASA's NEXT system, which had a power output of 6.8KW, with only a thrust of 0.236N.

A thrust that was in the magnitude of thousands of newtons…

It would require energy in the order of MW, but no ion thruster in this world would be able to use this energy.

An old professor with glasses looked at the data on the projector.

"What kind of ion thruster can achieve this level of power…"

"They're not scamming for research funding, right?"

"Impossible, Professor Lu wrote this himself! Do you think he's lacking in research funding?"

"I think he's a fraud!"

"But what if he actually did it?"

"Quiet!"

The loud voice interrupted the chaotic conference room.

The director looked at the experts in the conference room and said, "I'm a layman, so I can't evaluate whether this is reliable or not. After all, I've been on many planes, but I've never been on a space shuttle.

"You are all aerospace experts. Over the past two decades, our country's aerospace industry has made great progress with your help. Not only have we made technological breakthroughs, but we also completed things that other countries couldn't dare to imagine.

"Therefore, I believe in your judgment."

Director Sun only used one sentence to put an end to this argument.

"Put your hands up for a vote."

The conference room went silent for a while.

The experts carefully looked at the data on the projector and began to contemplate.

Gradually, one hand went up.

Then the second…

Then a third…

After a while, Director Sun looked around the room and began to count.

Eleven of the twenty people raised their hands.

Even though some people didn't want to vote, the majority was for the proposal.

Director Sun looked around the room and nodded. He stood up and spoke in a concise manner.

"Project approved!

"Meeting finished!"

Chapter 678: Funding Approved!

The space shuttle had a long history behind it.

Ever since the completion of the Apollo program in the United States during the 1960s, the focus of space shuttle R&D had been on easy maintenance and multiple launches. The Soviet Union followed the United States closely in this space battle. They successfully launched three space shuttles, such as the Snowstorm and the Little Bird.

Therefore, China didn't want to fall behind either, and they also made their own plans.

Like the 863-204 project. The so-called "world-wide round-trip transportation system". During the early stages of the project bidding, Chinese space experts heavily debated the space shuttle. The people supporting the space shuttle had the upper hand.

However, once the arguments were settled, the report was given to Qian Xuesen, who was near retirement.

After Qian Xuesen read the report, he only wrote one line in reply. That line completely changed the technical route of the space shuttle, and it also changed China's aerospace industry.

"This is a terrible idea."

Looking back at it now, this decision was undoubtedly correct.

Space shuttles weren't actually as glamorous as it seemed. Even the two super-nations couldn't achieve their dreams of achieving convenient space travel.

Using the United States as an example, the design life of the Space Shuttle Columbia was 20 years/100 launches, but the total number of launches across all five of the United States' space shuttles was barely a hundred times. The launch costs and maintenance costs were also copious, always exceeding their estimated budgets.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union was even worse. Their three space shuttles had only been launched once each. After the 90s, the space shuttles couldn't even be launched to space. One of them was bought by a museum in Germany.

Rather than going through all of this again, it might be better to just research how to recover the second-stage launch rockets. That would cost around the same as maturing space shuttle technology.

However, the times were always changing.

One had to look at the problem from another perspective, and any problem had a solution.

Space shuttle assembly center…

Lu Zhou was standing next to an industrial robot. With gloves on his hand, from a plastic box, he picked up a metal tube around the size of a water bottle. He then placed the metal tube near a metal port and began to carefully look at the surface.

"Why do I feel like it's too big?"

A series of texts popped up on the control screen of the machine tool.

Xiao Ai: [Sorry, Master! This is the best Xiao Ai can do…]

Lu Zhou: "It's fine, I'm not blaming you… You did a good job."

Xiao Ai: [Really? 0.0]

"Yeah."

Xiao Ai: [Happy! Φ(≧ω≦*)♪]

Lu Zhou: "…"

In his hand was the enlarged version of the Hall-effect thruster from the Debris No.3. This component was at the upper manufacturing limit of the CNC machine.

Lu Zhou tried to ask Xiao Ai to make this thing smaller without sacrificing performance. However, the diameter of the propulsion unit was only reduced by 1 mm, and yet the overall processing difficulty increased exponentially. This also affected the stability of the propulsion unit.

However, even though it was difficult to reverse engineer the technology behind Debris No.3, this copy was quite good.

The engine port that had a diameter of 1.32 meters could be filled with 200 Hall-propulsion units. By supercharging and rectifying the plasma xenon in the ionization chamber, the plasma plume could accelerate to one-thousandth of the speed of light and be injected backward. This would result in a maximum thrust of 200KN.

A single engine had a thrust of 200 kN, so five engines would have a total of 1,000 kN.

Even with a load of 50 tons, it would be able to achieve 1G of acceleration. Even though it was slower than traditional chemical rockets, it had the advantage of not having to carry heavy fuel.

The only problem now was that the 100 MW fusion battery had to meet the requirements of 1 X-type Hall-effect thruster.

If he wanted to have enough energy output, he had to upgrade the power of the fusion battery.

"It looks like we have to increase the power of the fusion battery to 500 MW… Ideally, 1,000 MW." Lu Zhou stared at the propulsion unit in his hand and said, "The power control system also has to be improved… Is there a way to integrate the ionization chamber with the five engines? Or get a bigger Hall-effect thruster with more propulsion units."

Lu Zhou placed the propulsion unit back into the plastic box and walked away from the factory. He went into the main office at the building next door and found the technical director of the Star Sky Technology's space shuttle assembly center, Hou Guang.

Speaking of which, this guy was also a nutty person.

This old professor had participated in the 836-204 project. Even though he was only an intern for the space shuttle design, he had a wealth of experience in the aerospace field. After that, he worked as an aerospace professor at Beihang University.

Normally speaking, it would be difficult to hire a big name like this. However, once the old professor heard that Lu Zhou was leading the team to build a space shuttle, he immediately accepted Star Sky Technology's offer. He flew to Jinling the next day.

It had been more than a month since he had worked here as a technical director.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with his work.

After all, designing the space shuttle wasn't Lu Zhou's cup of tea, and it would be better for him to let the professionals handle it.

"I've carefully researched the space shuttle design. Because of the size of the power supply components, the ion thrusters, and the propulsion units, we have to design more than 40% of the space shuttle."

Lu Zhou: "What does more than 40% mean?"

Hou Guang thought for a bit and gave a clearer answer.

"We probably have to completely redesign from the shuttle wing backward."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Since you're a space shuttle expert, I'll do what you say. Also, based on your experience, I want you to give me a simple assessment of how much the entire project will cost?"

Hou Guang thought for a bit before replying, "A conservative estimate is a billion USD… Of course, before the new design comes out, no one knows how much it'll cost."

A billion USD…

For a space shuttle project, this price wasn't high at all. After all, the Columbia space shuttle cost the Americans more than US$2.5 billion, and that was decades ago. Being able to build this with only a billion USD was largely due to the fact that most of the design was completed in the 1990s. Since the assembly center could process most of the components, they only needed the raw materials.

However, even though Lu Zhou was prepared to spend money…

This US$1 billion price tag was out of his budget.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but start to worry about money.

Should I sell some of East Asia Energy's shares?

Even though it wasn't a public company, he could easily sell his shares. After all, everyone knew the potential of this giant fusion company. However, the work at Daya Bay had only just begun, and the Southeast Asian power grid was in its first stage. It would be a shame to sell now.

Should I borrow money from the bank?

But this is an aerospace project. The ROI will take too long, plus there are no profit forecasts. It'll be difficult to get a loan.

While Lu Zhou was worrying about it, he suddenly heard a door knock.

Lu Zhou looked at the door and said, "Come in."

When the door was pushed open, the secretary of the assembly center was at the door.

The secretary didn't expect to see Lu Zhou here. She paused for a second and looked pleasantly surprised.

"Professor Lu!"

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

She spoke with excitement, "The research funding that we applied for at the China National Space Administration was approved!"

Chapter 679: 500 Million

Funding was approved?

Already?

There was a flash of surprise in Lu Zhou's eyes, and he quickly asked.

"How much was approved?"

"500 million!"

Only half a billion?

Lu Zhou looked a little disappointed, but he quickly returned to normal.

Even though it wasn't a lot of money, it temporarily relieved their funding shortage.

After all, the country wanted to commercialize the aerospace industry, and they couldn't just give all of their subsidies to one company. If he wanted to survive in the aerospace industry, he had to rely on many departments, such as the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, China National Space Administration, and the manned mission to the moon.

If he could win the bidding and take on some research projects from the China National Space Administration, such as collecting lunar soil, then he wouldn't have to worry about funding.

Hou Guang had a similar idea. After he heard the secretary's report, he frowned and thought for a bit. He said, "500 million… Should be enough for the first couple phases of the project, we'll have to get more funding later on."

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I'll find a way to get us funding, you don't have to worry about it."

Lu Zhou smiled and patted the technical director on the shoulder.

"Even if our funding really runs out, I'll sell my Purple Mountain mansion and make sure our space shuttle will fly into space!"

Hou Guang was speechless.

Selling your house to build space shuttles…

What kind of person does this?

Hou Guang asked himself if he could sacrifice materialistic things for the greater good, and he didn't think he could do it.

There's no way Lu Zhou won't be able to send the space shuttle into space!

Hou Guang stood up straight and made a solemn promise.

"I won't let you down!"

Lu Zhou didn't expect Hou Guang to get so serious. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

Even if they needed money, he wouldn't sell his mansion…

His mansion was worth a lot less than his East Asia Energy shares or his lithium-sulfur battery patent.

Using those two as mortgages would get him a lot more money.

Lu Zhou coughed and diverted the conversation.

"In short, you only have to do your side of things, you don't have to worry about anything else. We have to try to win the big projects from the Commission for Science and the China National Space Administration. If we do, we won't have any more funding problems!"

Hou Guang nodded his head.

"Roger that."

…

Virginia.

CIA headquarters.

The director of the CIA was sitting at his desk. He was carefully reading a document about the ITER project, which was sent from Europe.

Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds.

He put down his pen and closed the document. He then looked at the door and muttered, "Come in."

The office door was pushed open.

An agent in his forties walked in while holding a file.

"Director, our agents in China have returned with the latest information. The Navy Equipment Research Institute is developing a more reliable power unit."

"More reliable power unit?" The director raised his eyebrows as he asked, "Can you be more specific?"

The agent took a deep breath. He then replied with a hint of uncertainty, "Apparently… it's a smaller controllable fusion machine."

"Smaller controllable fusion machine?" The director's pupils dilated, and he stood up from his office chair abruptly and slammed his hands on the table. "Is the information reliable? Is there a detailed report?"

"The information is still being verified… Of course, the report is ready."

The anonymous agent walked forward and placed the file on the table. He then took two steps backward and stood straight with his hands behind his back.

The director picked up the report and sat back down. He began to carefully read the report.

"Estimated power output of 500-1,000 MW… Technical route unknown, may be different from magnetic confinement." The director put the file down and said, "Is this the only information we have?"

The agent nodded and said, "At the moment, yes."

The office became silent.

A few seconds went by, and the director suddenly asked, "Is it Professor Lu again?"

The agent frowned.

"It is possible… but not likely. According to our agents in China, after the STAR-2 stellarator project was completed, Professor Lu resigned from his position. However, he later went on to research sound fusion but didn't achieve any significant results… The project team was even disbanded last month."

Sound fusion was one of the ideas for cold fusion, and the research on cold fusion had been labeled a "hoax" by the National Academy of Sciences and the United States Department of Energy in the 80s.

It turned out that even the all-mighty Professor Lu wasn't able to take down this mysterious dragon.

Even though the CIA had considered the fact that China could have tried to cover their experiment success, considering the fact that Lu Zhou was busy with the Yang-Mills equations some time ago, it would be impossible for him to research sound fusion at the same time.

It was very likely that the sound fusion was just a smoke bomb released by the Chinese authorities, which was used to cover their top research at the Navy Equipment Research Institute.

The director didn't say anything. He tapped his index finger on the table and began to contemplate.

A couple of seconds went by. He suddenly relaxed and leaned in his chair.

"The possibility of Professor Lu being in this is low… But I don't think we can separate this thing from him."

The agent asked, "What do you mean?"

The director looked at the report on the table and said, "At the moment, we are not certain whether this is a ploy by China or if they have actually achieved some results.

"Regardless, obtaining more intel is the most important thing.

"Increase the agents in Jinling, especially at the space shuttle assembly center! I need to know what Lu Zhou is doing. Also at the Navy Equipment Research Institute! If they're really doing research on the miniaturized controllable fusion, there have to be clues. Immediately report all information to me!"

The agent stood up straight.

"Yes, sir."

Chapter 680: Prepare for the Future

Lu Zhou wasn't able to help too much with the space shuttle design.

Even though with his current level of engineering, he could self-learn the necessary knowledge, his energy was limited. He had to invest his time and energy into things that had the highest rate of return.

These days, in order to increase the energy density of the reactor as much as possible, Lu Zhou spent his time researching on how to improve the sound fusion machine. Most of the heat generated by the Hall-effect thruster was contained in the ionization chamber, which was then expelled from the spacecraft in the form of high-energy plasma.

Fortunately, because of Xiao Ai, the difficulty of his work decreased greatly.

As long as he had a laptop, he could control the reactor with the help of Xiao Ai's robots and verify some new interesting experiment ideas, which were dozens of kilometers away.

So far, Lu Zhou had successfully increased the power of the sound fusion machine to around 200 MW. As for the sacrifices, he only had to increase the nuclear core volume by 20% and the weight by 10%. Therefore, the overall volumetric energy density and mass-energy density had improved significantly.

Even though there was still a long way to go from the minimum requirement of 500 MW, Lu Zhou believed that they weren't far from success.

In addition to improving the fusion battery, there were also the project bid documents.

The end-of-year aerospace conference would be held in less than a month. There were many aerospace enterprises that would participate in this year's conference. Not only were the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation attending, but OneSpace, Blue Arrow Aerospace, and other excellent private aerospace companies were also attending. Even some of the large tech companies were joining in on the fun.

After all, investing in the aerospace industry meant tax concessions. For big taxpayers like them, it meant that the state was basically subsidizing them to develop their aerospace technology. Not to mention they had needs for communication satellites…

The days quickly passed by, and it was soon late September.

During the last week of September, Luo Wenxuan finally came back from Europe.

When Lu Zhou saw him come into the office, he teased.

"Did you find any inspiration?"

Luo Wenxuan coughed and replied, "Inspiration… can't be hurried, it'll come naturally."

"Well, regardless, I have something for you to do."

Luo Wenxuan immediately started to focus.

"What?"

Lu Zhou didn't plan on telling him just yet.

"How long did you stay at CERN?"

Luo Wenxuan: "Probably around three years."

"Three years?" Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Do you know a lot about hadron colliders?"

Luo Wenxuan didn't know why Lu Zhou was asking this, but he still answered honestly, "I know a bit, I'm pretty close with Professor Grayer. He often took me to visit the tunnels, and I've also witnessed the overhaul of many detectors, like ATLAS and CMS."

"Grayer?" Lu Zhou looked nostalgic as he smiled and said, "He's an interesting guy."

"You know him?" Luo Wenxuan looked surprised. He patted his forehead and said, "Oh right, I forgot, you interned at CERN."

"Yeah, but I don't know a lot about CERN, especially about the Large Hadron Collider." Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, "I plan on building a similar thing for theoretical physics research."

"Building a similar thing?" Luo Wenxuan's eyes widened, and he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief as he said, "You plan on building a collider? Do you know how much those cost?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Tens of billions of USD? Actually, it's not that much, also… I don't plan on building it on the ground, but in space."

Luo Wenxuan was shocked speechless.

"Wouldn't that cost even more money?"

Lu Zhou: "You don't have to worry about the money, that's my responsibility. Also, we don't need money just yet, I just need you to participate in the design."

Luo Wenxuan said, "But I'm not a physics engineer."

"I know, but you're an expert in theoretical physics who had spent three years working at CERN." Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and said, "I'll hand over the engineering to someone else, and you'll be responsible for providing theoretical support for the design. Of course, if you are not interested, I can ask someone else."

"Of course I'm interested… I'm just afraid to let you down."

"Don't worry," Lu Zhou patted Luo Wenxuan's shoulder and said with a smile, "I believe in you."

Building a Large Hadron Collider in outer space for theoretical physics research had the advantage of low-gravity and a non-magnetic field environment. Lu Zhou had thought of this idea for a long time but never had the means to realize it.

Now that he had made breakthroughs in controllable fusion technology, the advanced ion thrusters would kick off a new aerospace era. This unrealistic idea now seemed feasible.

Regardless of whether it was difficult, the design work could begin now.

Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and sighed.

"Okay then, if there's anything else I need to do, just tell me."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yeah, I'll send the specifics to your email. Okay, that's about it, you can leave if you want."

Luo Wenxuan joked, "You're kicking me out now? You're not even going to give me a cup of coffee?"

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Kong Jie standing near the coffee machine.

"Kong Jie, make two cups of coffee for me, an instant one and a black one, the kind with no sugar or milk."

"Okay." Kong Jie nodded at Lu Zhou and took out a bag of instant coffee and a can of coarsely ground coffee beans from the drawer. She skillfully made the two cups of coffee and brought them over on a tray.

"Here you go, enjoy!"

"Thank you."

Kong Jie smirked and twirled her hair with her thumb.

"You're welcome."

Kong Jie went back to the coffee machine and made herself a cup of coffee as well. She then returned to her desk and sat down.

Lu Zhou picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip.

Not bad.

The taste and temperature were perfect, just how he liked it.

Lu Zhou put down the cup and looked at the other cup. He then looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, "Didn't you ask me to get you some coffee? Why aren't you drinking it?"

"I…"

Luo Wenxuan stuttered. He stayed silent for a while.

He looked behind himself, then looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou knew he had something to say, but didn't know how to say it. Lu Zhou sighed.

"Say it, what's on your mind…"

Luo Wenxuan: "I suddenly want to ask you some… questions."

Lu Zhou was bored.

"Go ahead."

"Is she… your assistant?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He looked at Kong Jie, who was sitting at her desk sorting out documents.

"Yeah, why?"

Luo Wenxuan immediately asked, "Does she have a boyfriend?"

Lu Zhou nearly spat out his coffee. He put down his coffee cup and lowered his voice.

"I'm warning you! I don't care if you go after other people, but if you try to hurt my students or employees…"

"Am I that kind of person! I…" Luo Wenxuan looked at Kong Jie and said, "I'm being serious."

Lu Zhou was speechless.

He had heard this line many times before.

"You weren't serious the previous times?"

"I'm always serious… but this time is different. Every time is different. Lu Zhou, you get me, right? Love is so sudden, it's like the electrons outside the nucleus, you never know exactly where it is. One second it'll suddenly appear next to you."

I can't…

This is disgusting…

Lu Zhou made a fake-vomiting gesture.

Luo Wenxuan pretended like he didn't see anything. He kept looking toward Kong Jie's desk.

Lu Zhou said, "Look me in the eyes and repeat what you said."

"No, thanks, I'd rather look at her."

"F*ck sake!"

Chapter 681: Luo Wenxuan Is Lovestruck?

Because of Kong Jie, Luo Wenxuan recently liked to visit Lu Zhou's office. He'd either come for some coffee or talk about some difficult problems with Lu Zhou.

Honestly speaking, even though Lu Zhou was too lazy to care about this guy's love life, Luo Wenxuan was the type of guy who went through 5 girlfriends in a month, and this made Lu Zhou slightly worried. If Luo Wenxuan really started dating his assistant, Lu Zhou was afraid it would end badly…

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou was quite puzzled since Luo Wenxuan mentioned before that he never dated people from his workplace.

Somehow, he changed?

Fortunately, Luo Wenxuan's pickup tricks didn't work every time. At least from Lu Zhou's perspective, Assistant Kong had no interest in Luo Wenxuan's attention-grabbing behaviors. She only concentrated on her work.

Even though Luo Wenxuan was a bit frustrated, Lu Zhou was relieved.

However, Lu Zhou was getting tired of his shenanigans.

Therefore, on the last day of September, Lu Zhou couldn't help it anymore. He put down his cup of coffee and sighed.

"Do you know what Edward Witten said about you?"

Luo Wenxuan, who was bothering Lu Zhou with a discussion about the electrostrong interaction, paused for a second.

"What… did he say?"

"He said that if you spent half of your womanizing energy on physics, physics would be your lover."

There was something else Lu Zhou didn't say.

Witten once thought that Luo Wenxuan was the best student who could take on Witten's torch and carry forward the M theory, but unfortunately, it took Luo Wenxuan a billion years just to graduate…

Of course, this would be too hurtful to say out loud, so Lu Zhou thought that it would be better to never tell him.

However…

"Witten thinks this highly of me?"

Lu Zhou: "… ???

"You think he thinks highly of you?!"

"Anyway, give me a break! I'm already in my thirties! If I give up on this opportunity, who knows how long it'll take for me to find my true love…"

"Go figure it out yourself!"

Han Mengqi peeped in their direction, but she couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Suddenly, they heard a knock outside the office door.

Lin Yuxiang, who was sitting near the door, saw Dean Qin appear at the front of the door with a smile while holding a vacuum flask in his hand.

"Oh, Professor Luo, you're here too, I'm not interrupting your discussion, am I?"

"Nope." Lu Zhou leaned back and sighed. "This guy is going a bit crazy these days, I'm enlightening him… What's up?"

Dean Qin smiled and said, "There's some stuff I have to tell you, it's regarding the faculty event in October."

Faculty event?

Lu Zhou was confused.

"What event?"

"Field trip."

"Field trip?"

"Yeah." Dean Qin nodded and sat down on the sofa. He smiled and said, "This autumn season field trip is jointly organized by our mathematics department and the foreign languages institute. Faculty members below the age of thirty are encouraged to participate. It's designed to provide a chance for the faculty members to relax and take a break from the stressful workplace… Of course, the main part is to let you young people get to know each other."

"So… it's a group date?"

Dean Qin: "You can think about it that way, but the main part is to give everyone a chance to go out. Everyone will stay at the Purple Mountain Hotel for a night. I've been there a couple of times, the environment and scenery are nice. What do you think? Are you interested?"

Actually, there was one thing the dean didn't mention. For faculty events like this, especially between departments, it was mainly hosted to help the single employees find their partners.

After all, universities and academia was a closed circle. Compared to other professions, there weren't many opportunities to contact the outside world. Especially for some of the more introverted scholars, without these faculty events, they might never find their partners.

As for Lu Zhou's relationship situation…

There had been countless people trying to find him a partner…

Lu Zhou felt a little suspicious. He felt like Dean Qin was hiding something.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Oh well, I'm probably not going to go, you guys have fun."

Dean Qin knew Lu Zhou would say this.

"You have tons of time for research, but you can't even spend one day to socialize? Socializing is good for research!"

Lin Yuxiang was eavesdropping on the conversation, and she walked over with a cup of instant coffee and nodded. She said, "Yeah, it's much better than staying at home."

Lu Zhou said, "I'm not staying at home."

Dean Qin: "Staying at your office is the same! You're young, go out and have some fun."

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and sighed.

"Okay then… If I'm not busy, then I'll go."

He really wasn't good at rejecting people.

Especially when it came to things that weren't too troublesome for him to do.

"Yay!" Lin Yuxiang held up a victory sign and smiled at Dean Qin. She said, "Dean Qin, can assistants go as well?"

Dean Qin smiled and replied, "You can apply if you want to!"

When Luo Wenxuan heard that anyone could sign up, he quickly poked Lu Zhou's arm. He pointed at himself and looked desperate.

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

"Who else wants to go?"

The office went silent for a while.

Other than Lin Yuxiang, no one else held their hand up.

This made sense…

After all, this was for faculty and staff members; students didn't want to go. As for the low-level assistants, they weren't interested either.

Lu Zhou gave Luo Wenxuan a helpless expression.

Suddenly, an arm went up.

"Umm… Me."

Lu Zhou looked over and saw Han Mengqi with her hand up in the air.

Lu Zhou looked at her face and asked, "You want to go as well?"

Han Mengqi's face turned red, and she quickly nodded.

"Yeah!"

Lin Yuxiang looked at Han Mengqi's reddened face. She blinked and pretended to be dumb as she said, "But… You're not a staff member, right?"

"Well…"

Compared to Lin Yuxiang, Han Mengqi was too innocent. Even though she wanted to say something, she couldn't think of anything.

Dean Qin waved his hand and smiled as he said, "It's fine, it's fine. Graduate students can go as well. You're all young people anyway. It's healthier to go out than staying in the office all day!"

Lin Yuxiang was a little disappointed, but Han Mengqi felt relieved.

Originally, Han Mengqi didn't want to go…

It was just that she was worried about Lin Yuxiang being with Lu Zhou alone.

After all, Lu Zhou was Mengqi's future brother-in-law!

Han Mengqi picked up the pen and wrote down her name on Dean Qin's registration form.

Luo Wenxuan, who was standing next to Lu Zhou's desk, looked heartbroken.

Even though Assistant Kong wasn't interested in signing up, he still put down his name.

"I'll just go to clear my mind."

Luo Wenxuan sighed and handed the registration form to Lu Zhou. He then turned around and left.

Chapter 682: Yikes!

Autumn was the most beautiful season in Jinling.

The summer heat was still blasting through the tree branches yesterday, but in just a blink of an eye, the golden autumn leaves already covered the ground. A group of young people stepped on the golden ginkgo leaves scattered across the mountain asphalt roads.

"I'm so tired."

"Who told you to come in high heels?"

"I thought the bus would take us to the hotel, who knew we would have to walk there… Ah, this is so painful."

"Look, there's actually quite a few handsome guys from the mathematics department."

"Oh, look, Professor Lu is there…"

"…"

Lu Zhou didn't know why, but he felt like someone behind him was staring at him.

And it wasn't just one person staring.

Wang Peng was walking next to Lu Zhou. He looked at the mountains and suddenly said, "I've lived in Jinling for nearly two years now, but it's my first time coming here."

Luo Wenxuan said, "Ah, that's nothing, I was here for four years for my bachelors, and two years for my master's, and I haven't been here either."

"Two years for your master's?" Wang Peng looked surprised.

"Yeah, I received an offer from Princeton in my second year, so I went there instead."

Luo Wenxuan was quite proud of this.

Even at a top university like Jin Ling, being able to receive a PhD offer from the well-known Professor Edward Witten was an extraordinary accomplishment.

As expected, Lin Yuxiang, who was next to them, clapped her hands.

"Amazing."

Luo Wenxuan's ego was through the roof.

"Haha, yeah."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but say, "Then you took six years to graduate?"

Luo Wenxuan coughed.

"That's because Witten loves to… Ok, can we not talk about this?"

Han Mengqi was nearby. When she heard their conversation, she couldn't help but chuckle. Other professors from the mathematics department also smiled.

The atmosphere was full of joy, and Luo Wenxuan quickly changed the topic. He began to talk about the things he experienced at CERN and his internship at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Lu Zhou had to admit, this guy had a lot of experience. Lu Zhou had always wanted to go to Brookhaven National Laboratory, but the closest he got was talking with Professor Wilczek about the 750 GeV signal at a cafe near the laboratory.

After walking for about five or six kilometers, they took a break at a gazebo. After that, they walked some more. Finally, they reached their destination.

The name of the hotel was simple. It was named after the Purple Mountain. The decor was elegant. Apparently, there was also a spa, but Lu Zhou didn't know if it was manmade or natural.

After the mathematics department arrived at the hotel, they did their usual check-ins. After a while, the foreign language department also arrived at the hotel.

Lu Zhou looked around the hotel while holding his room key. Roughly speaking, the foreign language department was similar to the mathematics department. Other than some older professors who were still in good shape, most of them were young people. The only difference was that the sex ratios were the exact opposite, and they were on the younger side. There were even a couple of beautiful foreign teachers.

Because there were so many people, Lu Zhou originally didn't want to go. However, Dean Qin's invitation made it difficult for him to refuse.

Besides, he had finished most of the work for the upcoming bid. The fusion battery improvements were also in its final stage. Since he wasn't as busy with work anymore, it was time for him to get some rest.

This was what Chen Yushan told him over the phone last night.

This was just a way for him to get some rest.

Lu Zhou picked up his luggage and was about to go upstairs.

Suddenly, the hotel manager walked into the lobby and smiled at the faculty members.

"You guys are all from Jin Ling University, right? Welcome!"

Dean Qin seemed to know the manager. He went up and shook the manager's hand.

"Manager Song, you're too kind."

"This is nothing, our little hotel is honored to accommodate these scholars."

Dean Qin smiled and said, "This hotel is not little at all."

Manager Song smiled and didn't say anything. He looked at Lu Zhou, who was standing behind Dean Qin. He had a surprised expression when he said, "You are… Professor Lu?"

Lu Zhou was a little shocked. Even though he had been on the news a few times, he was rarely recognized in public.

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

Lu Zhou smiled politely.

"It's an honor," Manager Song shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "I didn't expect you to be here."

"You know of me?"

"Of course I do, my daughter worships you. She follows and comments on your Weibo all the time."

"Dad," said a teenage girl who was hiding behind Manager Song. She pulled her dad's arm and said, "Please stop."

Lu Zhou didn't expect to meet his fans here. He smiled awkwardly.

Ah, I guess this is the downside of being famous?

Lu Zhou asked, "How old are you?"

The girl blushed and said, "I'm in middle school."

Browsing Weibo in middle school?

That's not good.

Lu Zhou began to lecture her.

"Don't spend all your time on Weibo, make sure you keep your studies up and try to get into a good high school."

"Yes."

The girl nodded.

It seemed like the girl took Lu Zhou's advice seriously.

Lu Zhou smiled and continued to ask, "By the way, what did you comment on my Weibo?"

The girl went silent.

Manager Song smiled and patted his daughter's shoulder.

"Go on, I'm curious as well, you never let me see your phone."

The girl hesitated for a long time and looked at Lu Zhou. She finally replied in a small voice, "Stuff like 'yikes'…

"They're all commenting on it, so I commented on it as well. I mean, you're actually pretty handsome, so…"

The lobby went silent for a second.

Luo Wenxuan nearly laughed out loud. Han Mengqi covered her mouth with her hands and turned around. She tried to control her laugh, which made her look as if she were in pain.

As for Lu Zhou, he was muddled.

Yikes?

The hell is yikes?

Manager Song suddenly pulled his daughter aside.

"What the hell is this?"

"Didn't you tell me to say it?" the girl said.

Dean Qin coughed and tried to diffuse the situation. He said, "She's just a kid, I'm sure Professor Lu won't take it to heart."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Lu Zhou obviously didn't care about what a kid said.

After all, he was quite confident in his looks.

However, Manager Song seemed a little unhappy.

Due to this incidence, during lunchtime, the teachers' tables were given some extra delicious steamed crabs. Even Lu Zhou, who normally didn't like seafood, ate several plates full of crabs.

"This stuff pairs well with alcohol," Old Tang said as he munched on a crab leg while drinking rice wine.

Another professor replied, "Haha, should we come back in the spring?"

"To Purple Mountain again?"

"Okay then, I'll organize our next trip, we can go Beidaihe instead."

"Beidaihe in spring? What a horrible idea."

While the mathematics professors were chatting, Lu Zhou quietly ate his crabs. He suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, what are we doing in the afternoon?"

Professor Tang, who was filling his drink, said, "I think we're going on a hike."

Hiking…

Sounds so boring.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, "Can I not go?"

Professor Tang smiled and said, "Of course you can, but the evening barbecue is at the top of the mountain. Let me tell you, Old Lu went to the villages and bought several barrels of fish just for this. It would be a shame if you missed this barbecue!"

When Lu Zhou heard there would be grilled fish, he hesitated for a second.

Even though he wasn't interested in hiking, he was quite interested in eating.

Especially when it came to barbecued fish…

"Then… I guess I'll go."

Chapter 683: Night On Purple Mountain

During the afternoon, the sun was less piercing. When cool autumn winds blew through the mountains, everyone felt relaxed and comfortable.

The afternoon activity was still hiking, but unlike the morning hike, this hike was divided into six groups, and each group was made up of five or six people.

Wang Peng was obviously in Lu Zhou's team. Luo Wenxuan only came to Jinling half a year ago, so he didn't know a lot of the other faculty members. Plus he didn't want to try and pick up girls, so he joined Lu Zhou's team.

Han Mengqi, Assistant Lin, and another lady from the foreign language department also joined Lu Zhou's team. The lady from the foreign language department had luscious long black hair. She majored in Spanish and became a counselor last year. She was bubbly and extraverted. Even though she was the only one from the foreign language department in this group, she seemed to fit in well.

"Oh yeah, Professor Lu, is this your first time coming to Purple Mountain?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Not quite."

After all, his mansion was at the bottom of the mountain, taking a stroll outside his house counted as walking up the mountain.

"Us locals rarely come here."

"You're from Jinling?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"I'm from Jiangling."

The counselor from the foreign language department smiled and said, "Jiangling, sound pretty similar. Haha, it seems like we're quite destined for each other."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

You count this as destined?

With someone constantly talking along the way, the hike wasn't too boring. They took some breaks and walked for around an hour. They passed by a beautiful maple tree forest and decided to stop and rest.

Before Lu Zhou could find a place to sit down, the female counselor held his arm and gave Wang Peng the camera. When Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou gave Wang Peng a helpless expression and smiled. Wang Peng shook his head and took a few steps back to take the picture.

Han Mengqi was sitting on a bench nearby. Her legs dangled off the bench as she looked at the two people taking the photo. There was a glimpse of envy in her eyes.

She wanted to be in the photo as well.

However, for some reason, whenever a thought like this came to mind, she would choke up and couldn't say anything.

"Do you like Professor Lu?"

Han Mengqi nearly jumped off the bench. She turned around and saw that it was Assistant Lin. She gave Assistant Lin a death stare.

"No, no! What are you talking about?"

Lin Yuxiang smirked and blinked innocently.

"Nothing, it's just that you've been staring at him the whole day. I'm just curious."

Han Mengqi stared at Lin Yuxiang and didn't say anything.

After a while, she coughed.

"Forget about me… What about you?"

"Me?" Lin Yuxiang smiled and said, "Professor Lu is not my type, I don't like him."

That frivolous reply made it difficult to tell if she was lying.

After all, this was how she normally spoke.

Han Mengqi stared at her for a while and couldn't tell if she was lying. She pretended as if she saw through Assistant Lin.

"Liar."

Lin Yuxiang smirked with a hint of ambiguity as she said, "Why would I lie to you? Hmm… I guess I wouldn't mind if something were to happen between us."

Han Mengqi instantly blushed. She was like a frightened rabbit, and her entire demeanor changed.

"Isn't that weird?! You don't like him, why would you… want anything to happen?"

Seeing how flustered the little girl was, Lin Yuxiang couldn't help but tease her.

"It's not weird at all. He's handsome, rich, he doesn't have any bad qualities. He's quite charismatic as well. It's not just me, a lot of other people think the same, just like… that lady who's dragging Professor Lu for a photo. Her eyes are glowing with lust."

"Well…"

Han Mengqi stared straight at Lin Yuxiang. She puckered her lips and didn't say anything.

Lin Yuxiang looked at her and suddenly felt a twinge of resentment.

However, this resentment quickly disappeared. She smiled at the little girl and said, "I think you're the weird one, you clearly have feelings, but you don't want to admit to it."

Before Han Mengqi could reply, Assistant Lin turned around and took two steps. She then stopped and said, "However… if you want to be more straightforward toward Professor Lu someday, I can help you."

She turned around and walked away.

Han Mengqi looked at Lin Yuxiang walking away and muttered to herself, "Why would I believe you…

"Wait no, I don't like him!"

Han Mengqi stomped her feet. She didn't know why she was angry. She got up and walked away.

…

In the evening, the sun started to disappear behind the mountain.

The six teams arrived at their destination. They were at one of the Purple Mountain peaks.

Even though this was supposed to be the peak, Lu Zhou felt like they could walk a little further. However, there weren't any smooth roads ahead. Only a few well-built male teachers and some other female teachers continued to explore the mountain. The rest stayed at the gathering point and set up a charcoal grill.

This was a dedicated barbecue spot, so it was fine for them to have an open flame. However, they had to take away their rubbish and make sure to be safe.

Wang Peng walked over holding a plastic bucket. When he saw Lu Zhou sitting there quietly, he smiled and asked, "Why aren't you choosing your fish for grilling?"

"You can choose for me, I like eating, not grilling."

"Okay then." Wang Peng threw a few catfish into a plastic bucket and stood up. "I'll go get some more."

The sky was filled with a deep shade of orange as the golden ginkgo leaves in the distance blended seamlessly into the sky.

The flames on the charcoal grill burned slowly. Some of the ladies from the foreign language department took out their phones and excitedly took group photos in front of this beautiful scenery.

As for Lu Zhou, he wasn't interested in photos. He sat down comfortably against a parasol tree and took out his phone to read a thesis.

The area was soon filled with the scent of barbecued fish.

Wang Peng was holding a couple of catfish skewers. He smiled and said, "Barbecue is not my only cooking skill."

Lu Zhou asked, "What else can you cook?"

"Hotpot."

Lu Zhou: "That counts as cooking?"

Wang Peng smiled and said, "Anything related to food is cooking!"

The barbecue party was held until 8 pm.

They picked up their rubbish and went on a bus, which sent them back to their hotel.

Lu Zhou wanted to rest in his room, but Old Tang suggested that he experience the hotel's hot spa.

Lu Zhou had to admit, the hot spring was pretty nice. He didn't even care whether or not it was manmade or natural.

Lu Zhou wiped himself dry and put on some clean clothes. He bought a can of coffee at the vending machine and was about to return to his room. He then saw Han Mengqi with her wet hair. She was sitting on a chair nearby.

Lu Zhou looked at the vending machine and contemplated it for a second. He then bought a small carton of warm milk and walked toward her. He sat down next to her.

"Your hair isn't dry yet, you're going to catch a cold." Lu Zhou gave her the carton of warm milk. He opened his can of coffee and took a sip.

Han Mengqi avoided eye contact as she gently nodded.

"Oh, okay, I'll dry it later."

Lu Zhou nodded and didn't say anything.

He looked at the view outside the window. He then stood up and was about to leave.

However, before he could take a step, Han Mengqi suddenly stopped him.

"Wait a second."

Lu Zhou turned around and asked, "Why?"

Han Mengqi grabbed her knees and curled into the seat. She then asked quietly, "Can you sit here with me for a while?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and nodded.

"Sure."

He sat back down and the two stayed silent.

Lu Zhou drank his coffee and looked at Han Mengqi.

He felt like there was something Hang Mengqi wanted to say.

However, he didn't take it too seriously, nor did he ask her.

Everyone had their own worries and secrets. It wasn't a polite thing to ask about them.

A few minutes went by.

Han Mengqi held her knees tightly and looked at Lu Zhou. She quietly asked a question that surprised Lu Zhou.

"What do you think about my sister?"

"Chen Yushan?"

Lu Zhou looked at the city lights in the distance and felt the evening breeze on his face. He thought about this question for a while and said, "She's a close friend with whom I get along with."

There were two types of friends.

One was the type of friend with common interests, like Luo Wenxuan.

The other was the one without any common interests, but they could get along well.

For him, Chem Yushan was the rare kind, the ones he got along well despite not having common interests.

As for his other feelings…

He carefully thought about it and didn't think he had any.

Han Mengqi looked a little disappointed, and she looked down as she quietly muttered, "That's it?"

Lu Zhou looked at her and said, "Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

Han Mengqi buried her chin between her knees and lowered her head.

Because of the lighting, Lu Zhou couldn't see her face. He could only hear a soft whisper.

"Nothing…"

Chapter 684: Sorry!

They didn't speak again that night.

The next morning, which was also the last day of the field trip…

According to the itinerary, the squad was originally going to go sightseeing, pay a visit to the pagoda, and visit the Tibetian Pavilion.

However, some of the Jinling local teachers weren't interested. Lu Zhou had already been here twice before, so he wasn't interested either. Hence, some of the newly-recruited staff members and other assistants packed their bags early in the morning and went about their way.

As for the old professors who didn't plan on going, they set up some card games in the hotel lounge.

The female counselor, who kept chatting with Lu Zhou yesterday, knocked on Lu Zhou's door early in the morning. She invited him to visit the pagoda together, but Lu Zhou wasn't interested at all. She ended up having to go with her female friends.

Lu Zhou ate some breakfast and walked to the hotel's activity room. Since Luo Wenxuan and Dean Qin were also here, they started to play cards.

"A pair of aces."

"Pass pass!" Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and smiled. He clearly couldn't beat Dean Qin's aces.

Dean Qin smiled and looked at Lu Zhou.

"Then it's still my turn…"

"Bomb."

The four-of-a-kind "bomb" was thrown on the table. Luo Wenxuan nearly slid off the sofa.

"F*ck me! You still have some cards up your sleeves."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't say anything. He dropped the pair of Jacks on the table and threw down the remaining 10.

Dean Qin looked at his cards and frowned. He sighed and said, "I shouldn't have thrown the pair of queens."

"Maybe if you didn't play your pair of queens, I would have played differently."

"You know what cards I have?"

"Looking at it from a probability perspective, I can calculate the chances of every card in your hand." Lu Zhou smiled while shuffling. "Actually, this is just a number game, I prefer to play blackjack."

"I'm not playing anymore," Luo Wenxuan said while leaning back on the sofa. "This guy is ridiculous. No one could beat him in Princeton, much less here."

He lost twelve times in a row, and his mentality had completely exploded.

He finally decided not to play cards with the Fields medalist anymore.

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and smiled.

"Last round, I'll show you my cards."

Luo Wenxuan bounced up from the sofa and immediately threw two hundred-dollar-bill on the table. He rubbed his hands and smiled.

"Okay, let's bet big this time."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Dean Qin: "…"

They were playing for a few yuan earlier, but now, there was suddenly two hundred yuan on the table…

…

In the end, Lu Zhou still won.

Even though the technique was one aspect, luck still played a huge part.

And Lu Zhou was obviously a lucky guy.

He had both of the jokers and three of the aces. His luck was through the roof. Forget about showing his cards, he could have won with his eyes closed.

Lu Zhou wanted to lose and send his winnings back, but Luo Wenxuan wasn't having a good day.

Lu Zhou waved the cash in his hand and stood up. He let Old Tang, who just got out of the spa, take his spot.

Lu Zhou left the activity room and went out of the hotel. He was about to go shopping nearby when someone called his name.

"Wait a second, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou looked back and saw the little teenage girl he met yesterday. She half-ran toward him while holding a book.

"Um, about yesterday, I'm sorry…" the little girl said while looking down at the floor.

Lu Zhou looked at the girl and smiled.

"It's fine, I understand."

After all, he had a lot of fans on Weibo. There was bound to be some that were jealous of his looks.

Once the haters started to form an opinion, more and more people would jump on the bandwagon even though it didn't represent their real thoughts. Therefore, Lu Zhou never took the haters' comments seriously.

The little girl sighed in relief and took out her math textbook and a pen. She passed it to him and asked, "Um, I want to apply to the city's top high school… Can you sign this for me?"

"No problem."

Lu Zhou took the pen and signed his name.

After thinking about it, it felt too shallow. In the end, he neatly wrote down a line of words and gave the book back to the girl.

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today."

The girl quietly read out the line. Suddenly, she looked up at Lu Zhou happily and said, "Thank you! Your handwriting is so nice."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Make sure to study hard."

"Yeah! I will."

When the little girl went back into the hotel, Lu Zhou turned around and started to walk down the mountain. However, he happened to meet an acquaintance.

"Professor Lu! Haha, what a coincidence seeing you here."

Liu Wanshan's face was bright red. Lu Zhou was surprised to see him.

"Manager Liu? What a coincidence, you're here as well?"

Liu Wanshan smiled and shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"Yeah, what a small world. I'm on vacation at the nursing home next door. I know a good teahouse near here, do you want to go?"

Since Lu Zhou didn't have anything else to do, he nodded and replied, "Sure, you know the way?"

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "Haha, of course I do. It's not easy to find that place, come with me."

It wasn't as difficult as CEO Liu had said. The tea house was halfway up the hiking trail. It was a place for the visitors to rest and look at the beautiful Purple Mountain scenery. It was also a good place to take photos.

The pair found a quiet place with a good view to sit down and ordered some tea.

"How's your business?"

"It's all going great, thanks to you!"

Liu Wanshan took a sip of the Longjing tea and moistened his throat. He smiled and began to talk with Lu Zhou about how Zhongshan New Materials was doing.

Ever since Star Sky Technology bought their shares, Zhongshan New Materials had also received technical support from Star Sky Technology, which reduced their patent licensing fees. Zhongshan New Materials had been rapidly growing in the Chinese market.

Particularly, after they recently acquired two local battery factories and updated the production line, Zhongshan New Materials now had control over a full lithium-sulfur battery production line. They had been receiving orders from many electric vehicle and phone companies.

Due to the impact of the controllable fusion technology, the entire Chinese battery market was expanding. Zhongshan New Materials was CEO Liu's most profitable venture, turning over billions of yuan per month.

There was also the SG-1 superconducting material. Even though the chance of it being regulated by the government was high, the Americans and the Europeans were desperate to get a piece of this thing, which would make them a hefty profit.

"What about you? You're still researching aerospace?"

Lu Zhou took a sip of the tea and said, "I guess so."

Liu Wanshan nodded and didn't ask anymore.

After so many years in business, he knew exactly what he could ask and what he couldn't.

It was obvious that Lu Zhou was reluctant to speak about this, so he changed the topic.

"Oh yeah, speaking of batteries, there's a new electric vehicle industry summit in a few days. Apparently, they will discuss the new unified battery standard. A high-level official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is going to be there."

Electric vehicle summit?

A light bulb suddenly flashed in Lu Zhou's mind, so he asked, "Where is this summit?"

"It's right here in Jinling, what, are you interested?" Liu Wanshan smiled and said, "Well, if you're interested, I have some invitations that I can send you."

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Thanks so much."

"No worries! This is nothing."

The two sat there and kept drinking tea until noon.

Lu Zhou looked at his watch and saw the hotel lunch buffet was about to open, so he said goodbye to Liu Wanshan and left the tea house.

While walking back to the hotel, he felt like someone was following him. He frowned and glanced back, but he didn't see anything.

"Is it just an illusion?"

Lu Zhou looked ahead and continued to walk toward the hotel.

Once he arrived at the hotel, the buffet had already begun.

Lu Zhou happened to bump into Wang Peng, so he sat across from Wang Peng.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered his weird feeling on his way here, so he told Wang Peng.

"You feel like someone is following you?" Wang Peng frowned and said, "Maybe they're from the Army General Staff Department?"

"General staff?"

"Yeah, there are two security departments in charge of your safety. I'm from the state security side, but I'm not sure about the general staff side. However, you don't have to worry about your safety. Security has been patrolling this area ever since you've been on this mountain. If you're still worried, I can call the general staff side."

Lu Zhou said, "I don't think it's necessary. If I knew it would be this troublesome, I wouldn't have come on this field trip in the beginning."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "No, please, we don't want your normal daily life to be affected. Do as you wish."

Not to mention…

Lu Zhou never goes out, he stays in the laboratory with a bunch of older men all day. If he never goes out, he'll spend the rest of his life as a single man.

If this were anyone else, the government wouldn't care.

But Lu Zhou's love life…

This was something the government officials are concerned about.

Lu Zhou shook his head and didn't say anything.

He didn't like to trouble others. He rarely delegated work to others.

However, even if he didn't want his security to be so extensive, the Ministry of State Security wouldn't agree. After all, his personal safety wasn't just his own business, it was also the country's business.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou had a weird idea.

Why not get a "terminator" bodyguard?

With Xiao Ai's current intelligence and the manufacturing abilities of the space shuttle assembly center, it might be possible.

However, he quickly gave up on this idea.

Xiao Ai was like his child; what kind of person would let their child be their bodyguard?

Besides, Xiao Ai's mind was like a blank piece of paper. Lu Zhou didn't want to fill it with violent things.

Otherwise, Xiao Ai could become really scary, really fast…

Chapter 685: Only Kids Do Multiple Choice Questions

The faculty field trip lasted two days. On the morning of the third day, the bus stopped at the hotel entrance. The faculty members then went on their way back to Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou didn't do any research over the past two days, and his trip to Purple Mountain relaxed him quite a bit. His stress from the beginning of the year was finally relieved.

As Lu Zhou sat on the bus with his head leaning against the window, he began to reminisce about this field trip. He heard Dean Qin and the dean of the foreign language department talk about something in the back of the bus.

"Around five to six couples."

"Five to six, not bad."

"Looks like we'll be attending some weddings next year."

"Oh yeah, did Professor Lu from the mathematics department find a partner yet?"

"I don't know, the female counselor from your department seems to like him, who knows if they're a thing or not."

"I'll go ask."

Lu Zhou was sitting in front of them. His eyebrows furrowed, and he coughed heavily.

The two old men didn't realize Lu Zhou was sitting so close to them. They then laughed awkwardly and stopped talking.

After Lu Zhou got out of the car, he went straight to the mathematics department building. On his way there, he called Chen Yushan.

She quickly picked up. A pleasant voice traveled through the phone.

"How was it? Did you have fun?"

"It was fun."

Chen Yushan smirked and said, "That's good, you're always in the laboratory, I'm worried that something is going to go wrong."

Lu Zhou: "Nothing is going to go wrong, when I was in Princeton, I stayed at home for a month or two at a time. Nothing happened other than my skin getting paler. Oh yeah, when I went to the Purple Mountain hotel this time, I ran into Liu Wanshan."

Chen Yushan curiously asked, "Liu Wanshan? The boss of Zhongshan New Materials? You guys are talking business again?"

"Not quite, we just chatted." Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "There's going to be an alternative energy vehicle summit in Jinling in a few days. I want to go, try to see if you can get me an invitation."

Even though Liu Wanshan had spare invitations, Lu Zhou didn't want to use them.

It wasn't like Lu Zhou couldn't get an invitation himself.

Chen Yushan replied concisely, "Ok, I'll ask them, there should be no problem."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Okay, thanks."

After the phone call ended, Lu Zhou arrived at his office.

Unsurprisingly, Luo Wenxuan was already here. He was talking with Kong Jie about the various methods of processing coffee beans. Kong Jie had a professional smile on her face, and she clearly wasn't interested in talking with Luo Wenxuan. Unfortunately, Luo Wenxuan didn't notice this.

Lu Zhou shook his head and interrupted Luo Wenxuan's chattering.

"Stop interrupting my assistant's work."

Luo Wenxuan realized what he was doing, so he looked at Assistant Kong and smiled awkwardly.

"Oh? I'm sorry."

"It's fine, enjoy your coffee."

Kong Jie smiled conservatively and didn't say anything else. She then turned around and left.

Luo Wenxuan looked at her walking away and reluctantly glanced at Lu Zhou. He lowered his voice and said, "This is not a good time to come here."

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, "Are you crazy, this is my office, your office is in the building next door."

"No, I meant, couldn't you have gone home and put your luggage there?" Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and said, "I thought you weren't coming here today."

"Unfortunately, I don't have that much free time." Lu Zhou sat down at his desk and tapped on his keyboard. Soon, the printer next to him began to hum.

Several warm sheets of paper with freshly printed ink on them were pushed out of the printer. Lu Zhou grabbed the stack of papers and patted it on Luo Wenxuan's shoulder as he said, "However, congratulations to you, your vacation is also over."

"What's this?" Luo Wenxuan took the stack of A4 papers from Lu Zhou and glanced at it. He looked shocked. He said, "East Loop project… is about to begin?"

The so-called East Loop project was to build a large circular orbital hadron collider in outer space. Lu Zhou was the project sponsor, and the project had already passed the preliminary review stage, and it was now entering the review stage.

So far, there were two plans. One was to find a suitable area on the surface on the moon, and the other was to build it in geosynchronous orbit. The former depended on their ability to deliver payloads to the moon, while the latter depended on their ability to construct large orbital space stations. Neither of them was easy.

However…

This project passed the preliminary examinations.

Luo Wenxuan was astonished.

Lu Zhou looked at him and chuckled as he said, "When have I ever joked about academic things with you? I talked the talk, now I'm walking the walk."

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then continued, "This project has already entered the design stage. We will cooperate with many units, like the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Institute of High Energy Physics, etc. I want you to work in Beijing for a while."

"Beijing… Like a business trip?"

"Yeah, what, you don't want to go?"

"Not that, it's just…" Luo Wenxuan looked a little distressed as he said, "You're not going to send me away just for a little matter like this, right?"

Looking at how uncomfortable Luo Wenxuan was, Lu Zhou smiled in his mind.

It's your fault for drinking coffee in my office all day, now are you happy?

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't purposely want to ruin Luo Wenxuan's potential love life… He didn't even have time to take care of his own love life.

However, Luo Wenxuan's actions had been starting to get a little ridiculous.

Just in case, Lu Zhou felt like it would be good for him to leave and calm down for a while.

"Come on, it's Beijing we're talking about. This is just a business trip, you'll be back in six months. I think going away and calming down is good for you," Lu Zhou said as he looked at Luo Wenxuan's reluctant face. He knew Luo Wenxuan wasn't going to be obedient, so he said, "If there's any work progress, you can report it directly to Assistant Kong."

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second. He suddenly smiled, and he looked grateful as he said, "Bro, thanks!"

Lu Zhou frowned and warned him.

"I'm warning you, work is the most important thing."

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "Rest assured, I know exactly what's important!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

I hope so.

However, even though Luo Wenxuan spoke frivolously, he had never let Lu Zhou down.

When Lu Zhou thought about this, he felt a little more confident.

Luo Wenxuan: "Then I'll leave… Oh yeah."

Lu Zhou: "What?"

Luo Wenxuan stared at the A4 papers in his hand and hesitated for a bit before he said, "The 750 GeV signal… It's been so long, have you still not given up?"

Even though the 750 GeV signal wasn't on the East Loop project plan, Luo Wenxuan's intuition told him that this project was made for the 750 GeV signal.

Or at least part of the project was for this signal…

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smirked.

"Have you seen me ever give up on anything?"

Chapter 686: Alternative Energy Vehicle Summi

Lu Zhou was indeed a little selfish when it came to the East Loop project.

The reason why he tried so hard to realize this project, was partly because of the 750 GeV signal.

He knew that his own calculations didn't lie. And the "errors" that appeared on the two detectors weren't just a coincidence. Even though the LHCb experiments had found nothing, he believed that the experimental method was wrong.

He couldn't rely on CERN anymore.

He needed a large hadron collider that was his alone. Or at least one that he had total control over. Only then, could he conduct experiments exactly how he wanted.

Of course, before making these blueprints a reality, he had to face the things in front of him.

It was the middle of October when the Alternative Energy Vehicle Summit was held.

Big names in the automobile industry, academic leaders, and other capitalists who were interested in this industry all gathered in this city.

With the invitation that Chen Yushan was able to get, Lu Zhou arrived at the summit.

After he showed his invitation letter to the reception, he was about to walk inside the venue. However, he was stopped by a lady standing at the entrance.

"Sir, your seat is over there."

Lu Zhou looked at the corridor the lady was pointing at and asked, "Isn't the auditorium over there?"

The lady politely said, "You have a special expert-only invitation. It's on the right side of the auditorium, please use the right corridor to enter the venue."

Lu Zhou looked at his invitation letter, which had the words "Special Expert Invitation".

"There are special invitations?"

The lady was baffled, and she said, "Sir, did you not realize this prior to receiving your invitation?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I… My company's CEO helped me get this invitation, I didn't look at it carefully."

"I'll take you there then."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Okay then, thanks."

Alternative energy vehicle was the first application of the new controllable fusion technology. After the standardization of vehicle batteries, a large amount of capital would be invested in alternative energy vehicles. This would accelerate the Chinese automobile market and eventually eliminate traditional gasoline cars.

The fact was, this trend had existed before the lithium-sulfur battery breakthrough.

For high-tech companies focused on research and development, like Star Sky Technology, this summit was undoubtedly a valuable opportunity. After all, after the battery standards were set, battery research and development would change.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn't interested in making money, he was a bit short on cash.

He burned hundreds of millions of yuan into the space shuttle project and only made a little progress. Who knew how much he would have to spend in the future.

Soon after, the summit began.

Lu Zhou opened the recording app on his phone and asked Xiao Ai to organize the conference contents into notes. He then focused on the presentation.

The first to walk on stage was the second-highest-ranking official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Secretary Yang Zhongyuan.

After a round of applause, he began to give a normal conference opening speech.

Honestly, there wasn't anything particularly important in this speech. However, there was one thing that attracted Lu Zhou's interested. During his opening remarks about alternative energy vehicles, Secretary Yang mentioned the keyword "smart city" multiple times.

Generally speaking, speeches like this often conveyed the Communist Party of China's true intentions.

"The development of science and technology is rapidly changing our society. With the rapid growth of the Internet, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc, smart cities will slowly emerge into our lives. Controllable fusion has brought us cheap and clean energy. This new energy allows us to realize everything in our blueprint for the future."

Secretary Yang paused for a second before he continued, "We have clearly seen that our economy and society are racing toward 'artificial general intelligence', and in some cases, we are at the forefront of the world.

"Informatization and electrification of cities will be our focus for the next five years. I hope you all can continue to use this momentum to build a future that is full of prosperity."

Secretary Yang nodded in midst of the applause and announced the start of the summit.

When the summit host walked on stage, Lu Zhou seemed to be in deep thought. He wrote down a line in his notebook.

[Lithium-air battery.]

Lithium-air batteries were more futuristic than lithium-sulfur batteries as they relied on external oxygen to generate oxides. Theoretically, they would have a higher volume energy density than lithium-sulfur batteries. In fact, the first debris he got was of a lithium-air battery. Therefore it shouldn't be difficult to reverse engineer the technology.

Actually, he didn't even need to completely reverse engineer the technology. He just had to follow the technical routes seen on Debris No.1 and let the Institute of Computational Materials of the Institute for Advanced Study do the rest.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't sure if he should create this technology right now or later.

"I'll let Yang Xu start a research on oxygen molecular gas exchange membranes first."

Lu Zhou's eyebrows furrowed as he began to think. He crossed out the words "lithium-air battery" and wrote the words "gas exchange membrane". He then closed his notebook.

He heard a voice beside him.

"Isn't this speech interesting?"

This person was clearly talking to him.

Lu Zhou looked across and was suddenly surprised.

The man sitting next to him, who looked a bit like ET, smiled kindly and reached out his right hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Lu."

Lu Zhou shook his hand and gave a simple response.

"Hello, CEO Ma."

Jack Ma smiled and said, "I'm not a CEO anymore, you can call me Jack Ma."

Lu Zhou was thinking about his own problems, so he didn't even realize that he was sitting next to the boss of Alibaba. However, this wasn't a huge deal. Lu Zhou was just slightly surprised.

In terms of money, Lu Zhou definitely had less than Jack.

In terms of status…

That wasn't easy to compare.

"Mr. Ma, you're also interested in alternative energy vehicles?"

"I'm not interested in alternative energy vehicles per se." Jack Ma shook his head and said, "I'm interested in this industry."

"The alternative energy industry?"

"Nope, the future industry." He paused for a second and said, "Just like Secretary Yang had said, electricity will become cheaper and cleaner. Many costly ideas that couldn't be realized, might become a reality. Not just alternative energy vehicles, but many other great inventions will come to life."

Jack Ma suddenly turned his head and smiled at Lu Zhou.

"For example, the logistics drones you proposed six or seven years ago was definitely unattainable back then. But in four to five years, our streets might be filled with flying drones. In the future, our cities will be more like an information-based community, people will only need to connect to the Internet and will be able to do everything through the Internet. People released from repetitive manual labor will be able to do creative work, enriching our civilization."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I thought you weren't a manager anymore."

Jack Ma smiled and said, "I'm not a manager, but I'm still an investor. Even though I can't get to space, that doesn't mean I'm not interested in space. Of course, I'm more interested in you, Professor Lu."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I have a lot of ideas. But not only do you have ideas, but you also have the ability to realize those ideas," Jack Ma said while staring at Lu Zhou with a twinkle in his eye.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

He suddenly smiled and replied, "I'm a little embarrassed you think so highly of me."

Jack Ma smiled and said, "You're too humble."

He took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Lu Zhou.

"If you have any interesting projects that need investment, you can always contact me. Even if I can't help you, I can introduce you to someone who can."

I see…

That's why you started to talk to me, you want to invest in me?

Lu Zhou took the business card and nodded as a show of thanks.

"If necessary, I'll definitely call you."

Chapter 687: Lithium-Air Battery Projec

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Institute of Computational Materials.

Because it was already lunch break, the people in the office were quite relaxed. Other than Qian Zhongming, who was still reading through theses, most of the people were either browsing the latest industry news or chatting while drinking coffee.

"I heard Jin Ling University had a group date a few days ago?"

"Yeah, I heard about it as well. I think they had an autumn field trip with the foreign language department. They stayed at the Purple Mountain hotel for two nights."

Liu Bo sighed and said, "Damnit… How come the chemistry department never hosts events like this?"

Most of the researchers at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had faculty positions at nearby universities, most of them being Jin Ling University, followed by the Jinling University of Science and Technology. After all, the head of the institute was Lu Zhou, Nobel laureate in chemistry and the founding father of computational materials science. Even in the international field, the Institute of Computational Materials was one of the top research institutes in the materials science field.

Therefore, no university would refuse to hire researchers from an institute like this.

Hence, they should also receive a share of the faculty benefits.

Unfortunately, the chemistry department didn't have any activities this year, and October was going to pass by quietly.

Yang Xu laughed when he heard Liu Bo's sigh. He made himself a second cup of coffee as he said, "Don't count on it. Even if the chemistry department did have a group date, you think those foreign language girls will be interested in us? Forget about the rest, just our hairline alone will kill our game."

Not only did the people in the natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry, environment, and material sciences, not make any money, but they didn't have good hairlines either.

In order to accurately measure a set of data, they often had to stay in the laboratory until after midnight. The old professors were fine, after all, they could delegate the work to noob researchers. However, this meant that the noob researchers had the short end of the stick.

Of course, one should stay hopeful.

Liu Bo wasn't happy, and he immediately refused.

"I mean, it's not like our hairlines are much worse than those from the mathematics department, right?"

Yang Xu casually drank his coffee and shook his head as he said, "Not quite, have you seen Professor Lu's hair?"

Liu Bo was speechless, and it took him a while to think of a comeback.

"I think he's an exception."

Yang Xu smiled and said, "Okay then, when you get off work, take a stroll around the chemistry department and mathematics department buildings. Find staff members who are around the same age and compare their hairlines."

Qian Zhongming, who was scrolling with his mouse wheel, couldn't help but join in on the conversation.

"It's probably not easy to find staff members who are around the same age…"

The office became silent.

No one said anything.

In the end, Liu Bo broke the silence.

"Let's not talk about this sad topic…"

This time, everyone in the office agreed with one another, and no one said anything else.

When it came to their actual age and biological age…

This topic was too heavy for these noob researchers to talk about.

The lunch break was quickly over, and at around one o'clock, the crowd sitting at their desks began to start working. By half-past one, everyone was working on their tasks.

Yang Xu returned to his office and sat down. He opened his laptop.

He suddenly saw a new email message in his mailbox. It was from Lu Zhou.

"The application of high permeability oxygen molecular membranes to the lithium-air battery?"

After glancing at the email title, Yang Xu raised his eyebrows. He quickly downloaded the attachment in the email and opened it carefully. The more he read, the more shocked he was.

Lithium-air batteries had always been a controversial topic in the academic world. Many people supported the idea, but many people also questioned it. The most basic reason was that the extremely reactive nature of lithium metal made it reactive with almost all gases in the air except for the noble gases.

If someone wanted to solve this problem, they would have to separate out the oxygen in the air and only allow oxygen gas to enter the reaction system.

The most realistic method was to add a layer of molecular sieve or membrane that only allowed oxygen molecules to contact the lithium metal surface. This might sound simple, but this was extremely difficult to achieve.

However, in this email attachment, not only did Professor Lu point out a clear research pathway, but he also listed several seemingly feasible technical ideas.

"Did he do this while studying the Yang-Mills equations?" Yang Xu said after reading the last line of the attached document. He sighed softly, leaned on his chair, and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't help but say, "This guy really is a monster…"

He did this while researching a world-class problem, is he even human?

Of course, Yang Xu didn't know about one other thing.

If he knew that in addition to solving the Yang-Mills Equations, Lu Zhou also solved the miniaturization of controllable fusion problem, Yang Xu would begin to have doubts about his life…

Regardless, the technical ideas were there. Whether or not it would work, that would depend on them experimenting.

Yang Xu selected the email Lu Zhou sent him and forwarded it to his colleagues. He then stood up from his chair.

He walked to the cubicles and knocked on a door.

"New mission, guys, time to get to work."

The researchers in the office looked up at him.

Qian Zhongming was the first to speak. He adjusted his glasses and said, "New mission? Is there a research project?"

Yang Xu said succinctly, "A high permeability oxygen molecular separation membrane. As for the technical information and experiment methods, I have sent them to your emails."

High permeability oxygen molecular separation membrane?

The second Qian Zhongming heard this, he looked astonished.

Liu Bo, who was sitting at a desk nearby, also looked shocked. He spoke with a hint of excitement in his tone.

"High permeability oxygen molecular separation membrane? Is this research project about…"

"Yeah," Yang Xu nodded and said, "our next research project is… lithium-air batteries."

Chapter 688: New Way to Eat Bacon Sandwiches?

If lithium-sulfur batteries were like the nuclear fission of batteries, lithium-air batteries were like the nuclear fusion of batteries. The method of obtaining oxides from the outside air was the upper limit of the energy density of the lithium-anode battery.

Compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries, the energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries was an order of magnitude higher. Compared with lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries were also an order of magnitude higher, in terms of energy density. Both the volume-energy density and mass-energy density were the same, a magnitude higher.

The only downside was that it probably wasn't suitable for mobile phones or satellites.

After all, the reason why the energy density of lithium-air batteries was high was that its oxides weren't integrated inside the battery, but were located outside the battery. Therefore, the battery needed to "breathe".

Mobile phones were often kept in tight pockets and satellites were kept away from Earth's atmosphere, making these devices difficult to take advantage of lithium-air batteries. However, for alternative energy vehicles or small drones, there wasn't a better energy storage device than lithium-air batteries.

Because of this, lithium-air batteries were much more difficult to create than lithium-sulfur batteries.

Not only was there the lithium dendrite problem, which plagued all lithium anode batteries, but lithium-air batteries also had extremely demanding material requirements. After all, lithium itself was a super reactive metal. Exposing it to the atmosphere meant one would have to make it react only with the oxygen in the atmosphere.

Not to mention numerous other complex side effects.

The key to solving this problem was to find a thin film that could filter out water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases in the air and can accurately and quickly screen through oxygen molecules.

In fact, this technology was present in Debris No.1.

Unfortunately, the damage done to Debris No.1 was relatively large, and the layer of film was located on the surface of the debris. Even using the data collected with a scanner gun, there would still be a certain degree of difficulty to reverse engineer this technology.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou could rely on his intuition in the field of computing materials and his understanding of carbon-based materials to narrow down several technical routes that seemed more feasible. He then handed these technical routes to the researchers at the Institute of Computational Materials.

Since he was an academic leader, he didn't need to work on every project himself. All he had to do was plan the research direction and find a reliable technical route.

If this technology succeeded, its impact would spread beyond the battery field.

From manufacturing to medical devices, a lot of fields would benefit from this technology.

The Alternative Energy Vehicle Summit in Jinling was held for a total of two days, during which Lu Zhou received a lot of business cards. Even though he rarely contacted people in the capital investment field, people in the field were extremely interested in him.

Whether it was because of the Ling Yun medal or because of Star Sky Technology's research and development advantage, many people had exchanged business cards with him.

And no matter their intention, Lu Zhou responded politely to everyone who was interested in him.

Even though he didn't need their help right now, who knew what the future could hold?

After all, not all projects could be funded by the state.

A week after the summit had ended, at the end of October…

Autumn was the perfect season for Lu Zhou to sit in his office and study mathematical problems. He unexpectedly received an email from Switzerland.

It was from Edward Witten.

In this email, in addition to his greetings, Witten walked about CERN's latest research progress.

Especially regarding the "M particles".

[In regards to the "M particles" you predicted in your thesis, an exploration project has been scheduled in this month's experimental plan. If everything goes well, we will receive the results at the end of the month. We have held many meetings for this experiment, and we are all looking forward to seeing interesting things in the experiment.

[Finally, I hope you stay healthy and work hard. If there are any updates, I will tell you as soon as possible, even though I think CERN's press releases are faster than my emails.

[Also, do you know about a kind of tofu that looks like cheese? I'm not sure if it's a Jinling specialty, but putting that in bacon sandwiches is very delicious, I recommend you to try it. Unfortunately, I haven't found it in any supermarkets here… Can you send me some if you can? I'll pay you back of course. :P ]

The emoji at the end nearly made Lu Zhou spit out his coffee.

What the hell is chess-like tofu?

Is it fermented tofu?

Lu Zhou tapped on his keyboard and sent an email back.

[I think I know what you want.]

Lu Zhou clicked "Send" and closed the webpage. He was about to read a new thesis he just downloaded when his student Wu Shuimu walked in.

"Professor, are you going to eat at the cafeteria?"

"No, I have some documents to read… Oh yeah, if you can, bring me a bacon sandwich."

"Bacon sandwich? Sure," Wu Shuimu said as he nodded.

Lu Zhou said, "Also bring me a bottle of fermented tofu."

Wu Shuimu: "…?"

Regardless, he had to follow the professor's demands.

Wu Shuimu went to the supermarket and came back with a plastic bag.

"I brought you the sandwich… And the fermented tofu."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou transferred Wu Shuimu some money for the food. Hesitantly, he spread some fermented tofu on the bacon sandwich and took a big bite.

The pungent, salty smell filled his nostrils. He leaned on his office chair and contemplated it for a bit. He looked at the tofu jar and threw it aside.

For f*ck's sake!

It's just salty as f*ck, how does this taste good at all?

…

The days quickly passed by, and it was soon the end of October.

Lu Zhou was preparing for the upcoming bidding conference for the moon landing project. He almost forgot about Witten's email when he suddenly heard exploding news from CERN.

In CERN's latest round of collision experiments, they tested the M particles predicted by Lu Zhou in his electrostrong interaction theory. Surprisingly, they were able to observe the existence of the particles from both the ATLAS and CMS detectors!

However, it was just a "signal". The standard deviation was 2.5 and 2.7 sigma, so it was far from being classified as a "discovery"; however, it was still very exciting!

If this signal could be confirmed as a discovery, the physics community would finally find a piece of the puzzle that was outside of the standard model. The so-called "new physics". People could finally give a clear explanation for things like the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap!

Also, this would become a major discovery, second only to the Higgs particle. It would be in the top ten greatest physics discoveries of the century!

Even if this century had only just begun…

Ever since this news was announced, it attracted a lot of attention from the international physics community.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States jumped on the bandwagon and announced that they were preparing to repeat the experiment and check CERN experimental results. Other high-energy physics laboratories around the world had also started to prepare for the arrival of this new particle.

High-energy physics institutes weren't the only ones that were ecstatic, the entire theoretical physics community was overjoyed at the possibility of a particle bridging the gap between the strong interaction and electromagnetic force.

Particle physics theses on arXiv reached a record high. Many PhD students were eager to use this potential discovery as their graduation thesis.

All of the physicists around the world were looking forward to this. The experiment at the Brookhaven National Laboratory was about to be carried out, and CERN's second experiment was carried out as scheduled.

However, China wasn't too excited about this news. The positron collider in Beijing didn't have the capability to repeat high-energy particle experiments.

However, even though the Chinese physics community stayed relatively calm, the aerospace field was blossoming.

On the first Friday of November, all the way in Harbin, a bidding conference for the manned moon landing project was held as scheduled…

Chapter 689: Secret

Five o'clock in the morning.

Harbin International Airport.

A bright silver plane slowly landed on the runway.

Lu Zhou looked at the city covered in the morning mist as he said, "This is my first time being up north."

Wang Peng looked outside the window and said, "It's my second time."

"Oh yeah?"

"Last time was around six years ago, we went to the border for a mission. On the way there, we stayed here for a day and a half."

"There's a mission up north?"

"There are missions everywhere."

Lu Zhou nodded and didn't ask what kind of mission it was.

First of all, Wang Peng probably wouldn't tell him, and secondly, it didn't have anything to do with him, so he wasn't interested in knowing.

After Lu Zhou got off the plane, a silver Buick was parked at the entrance. A man dressed in casual clothing got out of the car and opened the door for Lu Zhou. They drove to a hotel near the Harbin Institute of Technology.

This time, Wang Peng wasn't the one driving. Instead, the driver was from the State Administration for National Defense.

Unlike the conference in Beijing last time, the participants of this aerospace conference all had high statuses.

Because some of the content discussed at the conference was temporarily confidential to the outside world, both the identities of the participants and details of the conference were strictly confidential.

Therefore, Lu Zhou's excuse for coming to Harbin was to give an academic lecture at the Harbin Institute of Technology.

After they arrived at the hotel, two men, who were waiting at the hotel entrance, walked up to greet them.

One of them smiled and reached out his right hand.

"Professor Lu, long time no see!"

Lu Zhou shook his hand and smiled.

"Long time no see, Director Li."

Director Li looked at the old man standing next to him and began to introduce him.

"Please allow me to introduce the principal of Harbin Institute of Technology, Academician Zou Yu."

"Pleasure to meet you."

"It's my pleasure." Academician Zou shook Lu Zhou's hand and said, "I've heard many rumors about how young Professor Lu is, I guess the rumors are true!"

"You're too kind."

Director Li smiled and said, "Okay, enough small talk. You just got off the plane, so you didn't eat breakfast yet, right? We haven't eaten either, so let's grab a bite at the hotel?"

The group of people quickly reached a consensus.

Especially Lu Zhou.

He spent the night on the plane and didn't sleep well, and he had been starving this whole time.

Soon, breakfast was ready.

A bowl of steaming lamb soup was served first, followed by a flatbread filled with kebab meat. Even though they were simple dishes, it was surprisingly delicious. Especially the bowl of lamb soup. When Lu Zhou took a sip, he felt his whole body warming up. Even though he was way up north, he didn't feel cold anymore.

The group of people sat at the table, eating and chatting. Soon, they began to talk about academic matters.

During their conversation, Lu Zhou heard that Academician Zou was studying ceramic composite materials and bio-composite materials. Academician Zou was a big name in the materials science field. When Lu Zhou heard about bio-composite materials, a light bulb went off in his head.

"Bio-composite materials?" Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Which field are you in?"

Academician Zou smiled and said, "Me? I'm mainly concerned about hydroxyapatite and titanium."

Hydroxyapatite and titanium composite materials?

Lu Zhou had a look of interest on his face.

Even though he hadn't researched this field extensively, he had a certain amount of understanding.

Hydroxyapatite and titanium composite materials were some of the more advanced research directions in the field of materials science. They were generally regarded as the next-generation material for artificial bones. If the research on this technology was successful, it would have a huge impact on industries such as medical care and bionic machinery.

"We are now working with Aurora University to develop a bionic artificial bone that can replace human bones, in which it can be controlled by neural electrical signals. If this technology becomes a success, the problem of mutilation will disappear."

Lu Zhou: "Controlling them using neural electrical signals? That's not easy, right?"

Academician Zou nodded and said, "Of course Professor Lu is able to instantly recognize the most important problem. In fact, the biggest problem we are now facing is the acquisition and feedback of neural signals. Especially for the feedback part, it's not easy to trick the brain by using simulated neural signals."

"This sounds interesting."

However, Lu Zhou wasn't thinking of bionic prosthetics; he was thinking about something else.

Academician Zou said with a smile, "It is interesting. If you're interested, you can come to visit our laboratory; I'll give you a tour."

Lu Zhou: "I'll probably go after the moon landing bidding conference is over, thanks in advance."

Academician Zou jokingly said, "You're welcome. If you become interested, you'll probably end up helping us big time."

Whenever someone couldn't solve a problem, the easiest way to solve that problem was to get Professor Lu interested in it.

This saying, which was originally spread within the mathematics world, had now spread to all corners of academia…

…

The beginning of November.

The moon landing project bidding conference was held in a low-key manner at the auditorium of Harbin Institute of Technology.

After presenting the invitation letter and his ID card to the staff at the door, Lu Zhou handed in his electronic devices. He followed the reception staff into the venue and sat down at his seat, which was marked with his name.

In addition to the inspection at the venue entrance, there would also be a second inspection 15 minutes before the conference would begin. Other than checking the identities of the attendees, they would also check if any electronic devices were sneaked through.

After all of the inspections were done, it was ten o'clock in the morning.

After someone from the State Administration for National Defense came to read the confidential agreement, a high-ranking official from the State Administration for National Defense announced the start of the bidding conference.

This bidding conference was different from the other project bidding conferences. The buyer didn't explain their specific requirements for the project. Instead, it was the bidder who had to demonstrate their own technological capabilities.

Of course, the demonstrations were in the form of PowerPoint presentations. Other than some sensitive data, the contents of the PowerPoint presentations were non-technical.

In fact, the two Chinese aerospace giants were quite strong. Even though they were far from being aerospace leaders of the world, they still presented a lot of dazzling technology.

For example, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation demonstrated a 500-ton liquid oxygen kerosene engine.

Even though the technology was only demonstrated on a PowerPoint presentation, according to the statements made by experts appointed by the Aerospace Corporation, the high-powered turbopump, high-flow gas generator, high-pressure low-temperature valve, and high-precision flow regulator had all been developed. Prototypes had also been produced and were currently in the testing phase.

On the other hand, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation also showed its strengths. They demonstrated the latest high-temperature and wear-resistant ceramic coating technology, which solved a key technical problem of liquid oxygen and kerosene dynamic sealing under high-speed and heavy-load conditions. This technology could be applied to the 120-ton liquid oxygen kerosene high-pressure turbopump engine. This can improve the performance and safety of the rocket engine.

Finally, after the technical director from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation completed their demonstration, it was Star Sky Technology's turn.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and began to show the PowerPoint presentation that he prepared a week ago. He showed them the latest ion thruster system developed by Star Sky Technology.

The second he flipped to the second page of the PowerPoint presentation.

The entire auditorium fell silent…

Chapter 690: Let's Make A Be

Ion thruster propulsion system in space?

Space?

F*ck, am I reading this correctly?

Whether it was the experts or the company representatives, they all subconsciously rubbed their eyes. However, no matter how many times they rubbed their eyes, the data on the powerpoint didn't change.

An expert from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation shook his head.

Another private aerospace company representative, who just received funding from Penguin, was baffled.

We all exaggerate in our PowerPoint presentations, but this…

But this is outrageous!

The silence ended and in came the discussions.

"Unbelievable…"

"This isn't just unbelievable, this is impossible! I've never heard of an ion thruster propulsion system that can reach kN levels of thrust! Even the latest AEPS XR-5 ion propulsion system designed by Lockheed for NASA only doubles the thrust from the Hall-effect thruster."

"…"

The staff members were about to ask the audience to calm down, but Lu Zhou gestured them not to.

He quietly waited for the commotion to die down before speaking in a relaxed tone, "Feel free to ask any questions."

Even though this wasn't a designated Q&A time, technology demonstrations like this didn't allow the audience to ask questions. However, Lu Zhou knew that if he didn't explain himself, no one would believe him.

Soon after, someone raised their hand.

"I have a question."

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old man.

"Please go ahead."

The old man slowly stood up from his seat and stared at the PowerPoint for a while. He looked at Lu Zhou before asking cautiously, "I have never heard of an ion thruster propulsion system that can reach kN magnitudes of thrust. I have to ask, Professor Lu, is this a typo?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I can assure you that this is not a typo. We have proven through reliable experiments that its thrust can indeed reach kN magnitudes. Of course, I have to admit that using the maximum thrust level consumes a large amount of fuel. However, compared to traditional chemical rockets, the fuel weight is still decreased by 90%."

The old man shook his head and sat back down.

Soon, another expert from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stood up.

"500-1000 MW miniaturized reactor… I haven't heard any rumors about this kind of technology before, so I won't make any comments. But the question is, how do you plan on accelerating the outflows of ionized matter to one-thousandth of the speed of light?"

An RD-170 rocket had a power of 192 MW, and most of this power was used to propel the liquid fuel carried by the rocket itself. If the total power of the ion thruster propulsion system could reach the power of 1000 MW, theoretically, it was possible to send a 50-ton load to low-Earth orbit.

However…

Power alone wasn't enough.

Applying this power into the working medium was the key.

Lu Zhou knew someone would ask this, so he smiled and changed the page on his PowerPoint presentation.

"I was about to say this next."

The PowerPoint switched to the next slide.

A cylindrical object appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

Even though they couldn't see the internal structure, the text nearby listed its experimental parameters in detail.

However, after seeing these parameters, the now-calm attendees once again fell into a wave of intense and heated discussions.

"Hall-effect thruster unit? What the hell is this?"

"I don't see anything special about the design of this Hall-effect thruster unit. If it's so amazing, why not just make a bigger one? Instead of integrating countless so-called propulsion units in the same engine?"

"This is impossible! It's ridiculous!"

Director Li saw that the situation was going out of control. He was about to speak, but an old man sitting in the front row of the auditorium stood up.

"Let me say something."

The commotion in the auditorium gradually subsided.

The person who stood up was Chief Engineer Yuan Huanmin from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. He was head of the latest large-thrust rocket project. After seeing the old gentleman stand up, a lot of people stopped talking out of respect.

Lu Zhou looked at the old man while the old man looked back at him.

"I understand that Professor Lu, as an expert in the field of controllable fusion, has a soft spot for the technical route of ion thrusters. I acknowledge that controllable fusion has changed our lives and that ion propulsion technology has a lot of potentials."

Whispers were heard in the auditorium.

A lot of people were confused.

This doesn't sound right…

How come this big name in the field of chemical rockets is agreeing with Lu Zhou?

However, Lu Zhou didn't relax at all.

Because unlike the other attendees, he could clearly see the old man's face.

And the old man's eyes were filled with doubt and suspicion.

As expected, after a pause, the old man continued, "Maybe someday in the future, your proposed ion thruster system will change the aerospace industry. But I don't think that time is now."

Lu Zhou: "Oh, really? Why?"

The old gentleman smiled and said, "The development of any technology is a gradual and slow process. New technology cannot be developed in a day or two. It's just like quantum computers, which obviously already exists, but we are still putting energy into improving traditional computers. Not because quantum computers are not good, but because they are not good enough… Do you know what I mean?"

Before Lu Zhou could speak, the old man continued, "It is clearly too early to adopt ion thruster propulsion technology. We should focus our limited resources on chemical rockets and complete the first step of the manned moon landing before trying to develop any unknown technology. If we implement the ion thruster propulsion you proposed, we will have to bear all the risks that new technology brings. Can you guarantee that your ion thruster propulsion system is reliable? Can we afford an accident? Can our country afford to have an accident?"

A lot of people agreed with the old man's words.

Even though Lu Zhou was the chief consultant for the moon landing project, he didn't have any real authority. Also, his specialty was controllable fusion, not aerospace engineering. A lot of people viewed him as an outsider.

And when it came to the field of chemically powered rockets…

Obviously, this old gentleman was more authoritative.

And Lu Zhou was well aware of this.

It was normal that he wasn't the crowd favorite.

After all, for people who had researched chemical rockets their entire life, not only was this unbelievable, this was hard to accept.

In fact, when the structure diagram of the Hall-effect thruster propulsion unit was recovered from Debris No.3, Lu Zhou was full of doubts about whether or not this thing could really push a space shuttle to low-Earth orbit. After all, according to NASA's information, their strongest ion propulsion system could only lift an egg.

However, after completing the assembly and testing of the Hall-effect thruster unit, all of his doubts had disappeared.

People were in disbelief, only because that was their first intuition.

However, the development of science and technology wasn't based on intuition. It was based on facts.

Lu Zhou knew that after these people witnessed what he had witnessed already, they would be equally as shocked.

So that Lu Zhou wouldn't have to explain anything himself, he had to show them.

Lu Zhou shrugged and said with a poker face, "So, I just have to prove that this ion thruster propulsion system can send a 50-ton load to low-Earth orbit, right?"

Academician Yuan said with a smile, "I'll eat a vacuum flask if you can do it."

"There's no need for that." Lu Zhou smiled and sighed. He then said, "People have said that to me before, yet no one has ever fulfilled their promise."

Director Li, who was in charge of the meeting, coughed and tried to diffuse the situation.

"Everyone, let's just have a friendly discussion… This is a public tender conference, and we're here to see everyone's technical routes and materials. And us, as the State Administration for National Defense, will also look into various aerospace agencies and look at all sides of the story."

Director Li was in a hard spot.

Even though the ion thruster propulsion system was good, he was more inclined to choose the chemical rockets from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

It wasn't because of his bias against new technologies. It was merely for practical reasons.

After all, China Aerospace Corporation had always had ties with National Defense. The reason why countries were willing to spend money on rockets was due to the development of rocket technology, which not only enhanced their aerospace capabilities but also strengthens the country's military strike capabilities.

No matter how strong the ion thruster propulsion system was, due to the working medium limit, the thrust wasn't as strong as chemical rockets. Even though ion thrusters had long-distance advances, that wasn't applicable to ballistic missiles.

Besides, they couldn't just throw controllable fusion machines on missiles.

Miniaturization of controllable fusion technology was important, but was ion thruster propulsion systems equally as important?

Maybe it would be in the future, but not now, not yet…

Lu Zhou saw Director Li's face and knew that the State Administration for National Defense was probably unwilling to invest in ion thruster propulsion technology and that Director Li just didn't want to embarrass Lu Zhou by saying this out loud.

Actually, Lu Zhou wasn't very concerned about whether or not other people were optimistic about his research, but he did care about money…

This research is going to cost billions of dollars…

Even if Lu Zhou cashed out all of his East Asia Energy shares, he couldn't afford this on his own.

What should I do?

Lu Zhou thought for a bit. He suddenly looked up and smiled at Academician Yuan.

"Ok then.

"Since you're so sure that I can't do it, let's make a bet."

Chapter 691: Competitor

The bidding conference was finished.

After Lu Zhou's presentation, many other research institutes and aerospace companies demonstrated their technology in the form of a powerpoint. Even though there were some designs that were even more ridiculous than Lu Zhou's presentation, no one had any desire to complain.

Just like this, the bidding conference came to an end.

After the conference ended, Lu Zhou went into his hotel room and took a shower. Then, he made phone calls to all the business cards he was given a while ago. Finally, he called Chen Yushan and told her about the bet he made at the conference.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't an official bet with Academician Yuan. After all, it was meaningless to make a bet with a chief engineer. Even if he won, it wasn't like he could take over China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Instead, this was just an oral agreement that had a gambling nature.

Which was, for the bidding scheme of the 50-ton low-Earth orbit delivery, the "finished product" would be used instead of the bidding documents. Or in other words, the first person who proved that they had the ability to put a 50-ton load into low-Earth orbit could win the project bidding, provided their price was reasonable.

This funding would probably be around 9-12 billion yuan.

Even though this was only an oral agreement, it was acknowledged by the leadership teams from the State Administration for National Defense and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and it was written into the conference transcript. In some sense, it was enforceable.

After all, aside from the bet being made in front of so many colleagues, if Star Sky Technology could really produce an advanced ion thruster propulsion like the one shown on their PowerPoint presentation, there was no reason for the State Administration for National Defense not to choose Star Sky Technology.

No matter which bidder would win this competition, the buyer would always win.

Of course, it wasn't easy for Star Sky Technology to face off against such a giant aerospace company. Because the 500-ton liquid oxygen kerosene engine had been basically developed, if they worked hard enough, they might be able to build the Long March 9 in advance.

Regardless, Lu Zhou still had a chance to win.

Now that the miniaturized controllable fusion technology and Hall-effect thruster propulsion units had been completed, the design of the space shuttle had entered its final stage. As long as Lu Zhou had enough funding, he was certain that Xiao Ai and his assembly center could live up to his expectations.

However…

After he told Chen Yushan what had happened, he started to get criticized by her.

"Why didn't you tell me this in advance?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I couldn't make a call at the conference venue since they confiscated my phone. There was no way I could contact you."

Chen Yushan sat in her office chair and said, "Your decision is too hasty… Do you know what this means for us?"

Even though Star Sky Technology's research and development prospects seemed pretty good, they were inferior when compared to the giant that was the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Especially when it came to the aerospace field, they simply weren't in the same weight class.

Forget about the technical reserves and industrial production capabilities, in terms of launch experience alone, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation had a huge advantage over Star Sky Technology.

Otherwise, why would other companies give up so quickly? Instead, other companies placed their focus on other smaller bids, such as the lunar module, the astronaut life-support equipment, etc.

In terms of low-Earth orbit delivery capabilities, there wasn't a single company that had the confidence to defeat the "500-ton-class liquid oxygen kerosene engine", let alone the confidence to defeat the "Long March 9".

This was the power of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation!

Lu Zhou's finger gently tapped on his armrest. He finished listening to Chen Yushan's complaints before saying, "But this is the best way, if this were a normal bid, unless we heavily reduced the price, it would be difficult to beat them."

Actually, it wasn't just difficult, it was near-impossible.

Most of the experts and scholars in the aerospace industry didn't believe Lu Zhou could do it.

Most importantly, the State Administration for National Defense was obviously not as interested in the ion thruster propulsion system as they were in the miniaturized controllable fusion devices…

Chen Yushan sighed and couldn't help but say, "The best way is to abandon this bid. If you want to build a space shuttle… we can slowly accumulate experience from smaller launch missions. After that, we can think about participating in large projects like this."

From the perspective of a CEO, this was the most appropriate approach.

There was no reason to pursue a project with risks that outweighed its benefits.

As a matter of fact, being able to create the miniaturized controllable fusion reactor was amazing enough.

After the Navy Equipment Research Institute finished improving the small controllable fusion reactors, many military companies would pay to get this technology in their hands. Even though their income from the national defense patents was limited, they could easily earn back their research cost.

Also, there was something else that Chen Yushan was worried about.

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, she sighed and said, "What kind of bank will grant an 8 billion yuan loan for a project like this! Unless you want to sell your East Asia Energy shares, there is no way we have that kind of money."

"Uh… I actually already solved the money part, you don't have to worry about it."

"I'm telling you, without money… Wait, what?" Chen Yushan paused for two seconds before gasping in disbelief. "You solved it?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Alibaba is willing to contribute part of it… in the form of an investment."

Accepting this investment meant that after the project was completed, Alibaba would recover their investment and also take a certain percentage of the funds given by the State Administration for National Defense. However, Lu Zhou wasn't very concerned with the profits.

After all, there were plenty of space activities to be done in the future, and the moon landing was only a tiny portion.

The phone went silent for a few seconds.

After a while, Chen Yushan murmured, "Are they crazy…"

"Maybe," Lu Zhou shrugged and jokingly said, "but I think they're quite confident that we can win this bet, so I think you should be more confident as well."

Actually, even if Star Sky Technology lost this bet, they wouldn't lose too much.

After all, in the early days of the aerospace industry, the state announced policies in regard to aerospace investment funding. Funds invested in aerospace projects were able to enjoy tax deductions.

Since Lu Zhou didn't want to change his mind, Chen Yushan didn't try to convince him. She sighed and said, "Okay then, I won't convince you otherwise. Just… I will help you cut down costs as much as possible… without affecting the quality and progress of the project."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"Okay, thanks."

Chapter 692: Do You Need Help?

The day after the bidding conference.

That same auditorium.

Lu Zhou stood in the front of the auditorium and spoke in a loud and steady voice. He was giving a computational materials science lecture to some Harbin Institute of Technology students.

"The advantage of computational materials science is that we can avoid many unnecessary mistakes through calculation, and get rid of human scientific bias, and use a more pragmatic approach to find the answers we want.

"Take the Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure as an example. I will briefly explain the application of mathematical methods such as functional analysis into the field of computational materials science…"

The venue was fully packed, shoulder touching shoulder, and some people were even sitting on the ground.

After hearing about the conference, students from Harbin Institute of Technology and other nearby universities as well as some researchers who graduated years ago, who were working in nearby research institutes, all came to this seminar.

In order to maintain order at the venue, Harbin Institute of Technology placed almost half of their security guards around this venue. Even though this added a lot of trouble to the teachers at Harbin Institute of Technology, judging by Academician Zou's face, he was quite happy.

In response to their enthusiasm, Lu Zhou gave his 110% into this lecture.

The Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure had caused a huge sensation in the fields of computational materials science and surface chemistry. Because of this theory, Lu Zhou was awarded the Hoffman Prize by the German Chemical Society and the joint nomination of several Nobel Prize laureates.

Both the theory itself and the mathematical methods he described in the report was inspiring, both for people in materials science and applied mathematics.

Therefore, everyone in the venue listened carefully.

Regardless of whether or not they understood what was going on, they all wrote their own notes.

Both the students and the professor.

Both people from the chemistry department and the mathematics department…

The lecture was held from 10 am to 1 pm.

The lecture was originally scheduled to end at 12:30 pm, but it was extended by half an hour. Less than ten people left the lecture before it was finished.

After the lecture was finished, the entire auditorium was filled with thunderous applause.

Lu Zhou looked at the teachers and students in the crowd. He nodded and began to walk off the stage.

He spent the entire morning lecturing, and by now, everyone in the venue was hungry and tired.

Lu Zhou followed the staff member and went to the school cafeteria.

The school prepared a table of food for him at the faculty dining floor.

"Professor Lu, on behalf of the students at Harbin Institute of Technology, I'd like to thank you! Thank you for bringing your wonderful lecture to our students!"

"Academician Zou, you're too kind." Lu Zhou toasted Academician Zou and humbly smiled. He said, "I wonder if you can give me a tour of your laboratory this afternoon?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot." Academician Zou put down his cup and patted his forehead. He smiled and said, "No problem, I'm happy you're so interested in my research! I'll take you there after lunch!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Thanks, you're too kind."

After eating lunch, the group of people left the cafeteria.

As Academician Zou walked along the tree-lined path leading to the laboratory, he smiled and asked, "What do you think of the campus of our Harbin Institute of Technology?"

Lu Zhou walked along the tree shade and saw the library nearby. He smiled and replied, "It has a strong engineering atmosphere."

"That's our specialty. We are training the future national defense talents, and engineering is the strongest field in our school." Academician Zou paused for a second and smiled. He then said, "If you have the time, I hope you can give more lectures at our school."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"I definitely will."

Academician Zou didn't invite Lu Zhou to stay as a staff member. After all, he knew this wasn't realistic.

Even Yan University and Shuimu University weren't able to poach Lu Zhou, much less Harbin Institute of Technology. Inviting Lu Zhou for a few lectures was already more than enough.

Even Academician Zou was able to learn a lot from Lu Zhou's lecture.

Soon, the group of people came to a six-story tall building.

After they crossed the security gate, Academician Zou brought Lu Zhou into the laboratory.

"This is the thing I told you, the bionics prosthetic laboratory. My hydroxyapatite and titanium biocomposite project teams all work here. There is also a research team from Aurora University, and they would occasionally come here and collaborate with us. Of course, they are mainly responsible for the neural interface, and we are responsible for solving the material and mechanical problems… Right this way."

Academician Zou opened a door and brought Lu Zhou into the laboratory.

The two researchers standing next to some experiment equipment noticed the door opening.

The two researchers were about to say hello to Academician Zou when they noticed Lu Zhou. The researcher who was wearing a pair of glasses instantly looked surprised, and he excitedly took two steps forward and asked, "You… You are Lu Zhou?"

"Oh… yeah." Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed. He smiled and said, "I'm not disturbing your work, am I?"

"No, you're not, please sit down, I'll make a cup of coffee."

"No, it's fine, Academician Zou is just giving me a visit, I'm not staying for long."

The researcher finally calmed down, and Lu Zhou followed Academician Zou around the laboratory. They arrived at a transparent container around one or two meters long. Inside the container was a pair of mechanical arms, which were mounted on a metal base.

Lu Zhou looked at the robotic arms.

"Can this thing move?"

Academician Zou smiled.

"Of course it can! Some things have to be adjusted, but it's basically functional… Do you want to try?"

"Please, I'd be glad to."

The device used to control this robotic arm was a separate hollow metal ring. Lu Zhou placed his real arm through the metal ring, like a fencing guard.

After the researcher who was wearing glasses did some adjustments, Lu Zhou felt a slight tingling feeling in his elbow, but soon, the feeling disappeared. Two tiny probes were penetrated into his muscles, collecting neural signals transmitted from his arm.

"Is it done?"

"Should be fine." The researcher tapped a few buttons on the computer and a fluctuating electrocardiogram-like line appeared on the screen. He smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "Try to punch something."

Lu Zhou tried to punch the air.

Then, a miracle happened.

His real arm didn't move; it only slightly jittered forward. Instead, the robotic arm inside the container punched forward awkwardly.

Lu Zhou was intrigued. He looked at his "dead arm".

"Did it block my neutral signal?"

He pinched the palm of his right hand with his left hand.

Emm…

I still feel pain.

That's weird!

The researcher standing next to them said, "Actually, it's not blocking anything. After all, this is only used to collect experimental data, so it's not a fully-developed technology… In fact, as long as your nerve cells are healthy enough, you should be able to lift your hand. At most, they would feel a little weak, like you just finished weightlifting."

"I never weightlift… But this is an interesting invention," Lu Zhou said as he moved his arm, but only some of the movements were able to be replicated by the robotic arm.

Just like the researcher had said, this technology was in its early stages.

Even so, this technology was full of potential.

Unlike exoskeletons that amplified human movements, this kind of device allowed one to operate machinery that was far away from one's human body just by relying on transferring neural electrical signals into digital signals.

If this technology could be fully developed, not only would it be applied in the medical equipment field, but it would also play an unexpected role in many other fields!

Academician Zou shook his head and said, "Not really an invention. The neural bypass system appeared in Nature as early as April 2016. Our project is only a sub-branch of this technology. From what I understand, MIT is at the forefront of this technology, and they've already achieved some amazing results. We're just trying to catch up to them."

"It doesn't matter who's at the forefront." Lu Zhou took off the ring and touched the two tiny holes in his arm as he said, "If only it can be connected painlessly… This needle is quite long."

The researcher standing next to them made a helpless gesture.

"There's no need for that since this thing is originally intended for amputees. It generally won't be taken off."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I think this technology is applicable beyond amputees. If someone installs this on their spine, could they remotely control an entire robot?"

Academician Zou smiled and said, "That's an interesting idea, but probably too difficult to implement. The spinal neural signal is 100 times more complicated than limbic neural signals. Also, this is related to the overall health and comfort of the nervous center, it's not something we can do experiments on easily."

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right."

Lu Zhou returned the equipment to the researcher and walked around the laboratory.

Lu Zhou was at the entrance of the research institute, and he was about to leave. He suddenly stopped and looked at Academician Zou.

"Oh yeah, Academician Zou, I have something else I want to ask you."

Academician Zou asked, "What?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

"Do you need help with this project?"

Chapter 693: Experts Have the Final Say

Beijing.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

An old man with thin hair was sitting at his desk. After he finished reading the report in his hand, he shook his head and gently dropped the report on the table.

"This thing isn't handled properly."

Yesterday noon, the tender conference for the moon landing project came to an end. The conference information was quickly delivered to his desk.

Even though the moon landing project was being handled by a second-level government department, the Communist Party of China attached great importance to this project. The higher-ups had repeatedly asked about this project many times. Therefore, as the leader of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, he had to put 110% of his effort into this matter.

However, who would have thought that such a huge disagreement had already appeared…

Ion thruster propulsion or chemical rocket propulsion?

If possible, it would be better to go with both of those technical routes. Unfortunately, the moon landing project funding was limited. Even though the state's investment was large, it wasn't unlimited.

Choosing between these two was a difficult decision.

The middle-aged secretary looked at the leader sitting there in silence. He tried to figure out what the minister was trying to say.

Is he unhappy with Director Li's approach?

Or does he not know what to do?

The secretary paused for a second and asked, "There is no contract for this bet, it's just a verbal agreement… Should I discuss with both sides and let them take a step back and cancel the bet?"

The minister smiled and shook his head.

"There's no need to do that."

There's no need to do that.

But weren't you the one who said this isn't being handled properly?

The secretary was muddled.

However, even though he didn't know what to do, from his past experience from working in the department, he knew that his best option was to shut his mouth.

The minister glanced at the secretary and said, "Secretary Li, this thing isn't being handled properly, but it's not entirely wrong. The academic experts can argue however they want. We can decide after the argument ends."

"Are you saying to leave them alone?"

"Not exactly." The minister shook his head and said, "Compared to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Star Sky Technology is still too small. To be fair, we should help Professor Lu."

Because of Professor Lu's reputation, he wasn't worried about China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation using malicious strategies.

Letting the two companies compete fairly was beneficial.

The most important thing was that, no matter what, the state would still come out on top in the end…

The minister couldn't help but smirk.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation had been cruising along for too long; it was time to give them some pressure.

The secretary immediately asked, "How do you plan on helping them?"

The minister thought for a while before saying, "Contact the Air Force Equipment Department and ask if they're interested.

"I don't know a lot about space shuttle and ion thruster propulsion systems, and neither do you.

"Whether or not it is worth researching…

"Let the experts have the final say!"

…

Academician Zou obviously welcomed the cooperative research proposal from Lu Zhou.

The Institute of Computational Materials of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was well-known in the field of materials science. Whether it was the facility, equipment, or the professionalism of researchers, it was ranked among the top in the world.

Not to mention the tremendous achievement of helping in the controllable fusion project, there was no reason for Aurora University and Harbin Institute of Technology to refuse the collaboration.

Also, aside from these resource advantages, being able to have a Nobel laureate involved in the project would mean more support at both the enterprise and national levels. This was much better than letting a single academician lead the project.

After signing a cooperation research and development agreement with the Harbin Institute of Technology, Lu Zhou got on a plane and returned to Jinling the next day. On his way back, he sent his researchers the information about the research project and assigned tasks to each research team.

Generally speaking, the research projects that were taken on by the Institute for Advanced Study could be divided into two parts. One was the "neural interface" and the other was the "bionics bone".

The former was jointly handled by the Institute of Computational Materials and the newly established Institute of Information Engineering. This had the same priority as the "carbon-based chip" project that began a year ago. The latter was a cooperative project between the Harbin Institute of Technology and the Institute of Computational Materials and had a lower priority than the "lithium-air battery".

As for the projects such as the servo motors and the neural electrical signal processing used in the robotic arms, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study hadn't recruited experts in this field, so Lu Zhou decided to step aside.

Even though these technologies were equally as important, they didn't interest him.

There were so many research projects, it wasn't like he could take on all of them, right?

Even if other people didn't mind, his energy would be drained from all of these projects.

Of course, even though these projects were immensely interesting, most of his energy was still focused on aerospace.

After Lu Zhou's flight landed in Jin Ling City, he didn't even return home. He immediately went to the space shuttle assembly center and found the person in charge—Hou Guang.

Lu Zhou saw this the lanky chief engineer and was about to speak, but the chief engineer spoke first.

"I've heard CEO Chen talk about the bet you made."

"Good, that saves me from explaining it." Lu Zhou thanked Chen Yushan in his heart and said, "The schedule is tight, I know this is very difficult, but this is integral to our project. I hope we can get a working prototype by January next year."

"January next year?" Hou Guang nodded reluctantly as he said, "I'll do my best."

Even though this task was difficult, it wasn't impossible.

After all, he had personally witnessed the processing capacity of this factory.

Also, most of the engine components had been developed, and they could refer to the 863 plan technical reserves for the remaining technical problems. As long as the few key problems were solved, building a prototype shouldn't be a big problem.

At most…

I'll just spend a few nights in the office!

Hou Guang clenched his teeth and said, "There's one more thing."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

"We are still missing an astronaut to test the prototype." Hou Guang paused for a second and said, "Of course… There are a lot of things the astronaut needs to do, so it's best if we get two."

Lu Zhou patted his head.

"I nearly forgot about this… Okay, I'll find a way to solve this. Is it urgent?"

Hou Guang said, "Not super urgent, but preferably within a month."

Within a month?

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin.

There's no way I can train astronauts in time.

Space shuttle pilots were much more in demand than ordinary pilots. Not only did they have higher physical fitness requirements, but they also had higher mental capability requirements. Finding or training a person capable of a flight mission like this was going to be difficult, especially because of the limited time and capital.

Lu Zhou looked a little awkward.

I don't want to trouble him…

But it looks like I'll have to use my connections…

Chapter 694: Skyglow

Borrowing two pilots from some departments would be the easiest way to go about this.

However, the cumbersome part was that he wasn't familiar with the Air Force. He didn't know where to borrow the appropriate pilots. However, the problem seemed to solve itself.

The second week after the moon landing bidding conference, after Lu Zhou had finished writing the letter, the space shuttle assembly center welcomed several special guests.

Inside the reception room at the aerospace assembly center…

The secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced Lu Zhou to the chief engineer of the Air Force Equipment Department, Academician Wu Kang, as well as the minister of the Air Force Equipment Department.

This old man in a military uniform looked serious and stern. He gave off a solemn vibe.

"This is the head of the Air Force Equipment Department, Minister Qin Zhuangyan."

"Minister Qin, nice to meet you."

Lu Zhou wasn't sure if he should shake the minister's hand, but the minister reached out his hand first.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Lu."

After Lu Zhou shook hands with several other experts from the Air Force Equipment Department, Minister Qin spoke to him.

"Professor Lu, I'm sure you're a busy person, so I won't waste your time. I apologize in advance for being straightforward."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

"No, it's totally fine, I don't like small talk anyway."

Minister Qin nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

"I'm sure that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has already contacted you before I came here. I only have one question, can your ion thruster propulsion engine really produce 200 kN thrust?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "I'm not sure about your stability requirements… but it should be fine if you're using it to send space shuttles into low-Earth orbit."

The experts standing behind Minister Qin looked shocked.

Even though they had seen the data sent from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, seeing it on the PowerPoint was far less shocking than hearing Lu Zhou say it in person.

Especially Academician Wu, who was even more excited.

According to usual aerospace engine standards, 200 kN of thrust wasn't very large. Even the Trent-800 from the Boeing 77 had double the thrust.

However, if someone were to take the continuous flight time into account, very few conventional fuel engines could stand up against the ion thruster propulsion engines equipped with small nuclear fusion machines. Even though the 200 kN thrust was much lower than traditional jet aircraft, the extreme endurance of the nuclear fusion propulsion can outlast any traditional aircraft…

Instantly, an idea popped into his mind.

Airspace strategic bomber jet!

If this ion thruster propulsion engine is really as magical as Lu Zhou describes it to be, then this would be perfect for bombing planes!

He wasn't the only one that had this idea.

Obviously, Minister Qin, who was standing beside him, also had this idea.

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, Minister Qin instantly looked a little excited. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked sincerely, "I wonder if you can show us the ion thruster propulsion system?"

Lu Zhou looked at Minister Qin's eager face and smiled.

"Of course I can, you guys happened to come here at the right time. We just finished assembling a Hall-effect thruster yesterday, and now, the thing is lying on the rocket engine test bench, waiting for testing. If you guys are interested, just follow me."

Right after Lu Zhou finished speaking, Academician Wu replied, "Please, we'd be glad to see it!"

"Okay then, right this way."

Lu Zhou took the group of people to the rocket engine test bench, which was located at the corner of the assembly center.

In the center of the test rig, there was a cone that was a couple of meters tall, which was securely attached on a steel alloy stand. The cone was densely packed with hundreds of fist-sized propulsion units. Right in front of the cone's opening was a concrete wall.

Lu Zhou noticed that Academician Wu was very interested in the concrete wall, so he said, "The temperature of the Hall-effect thruster jet stream is very high, so we have to put it in front of a concrete wall to avoid accidents." He looked at the staff member who was adjusting the equipment and nodded. He said, "There's going to be an experiment on the thrust and jet plume stability; I think you'll be very interested."

Half an hour quickly passed by.

The experiment officially began.

Maintenance personnel located near the thruster began to evacuate. The staff members finished the final adjustments and pulled down the lever. Huge amounts of electricity began to flow inside the engine ionization chamber. The temperature on the screen began to rise, and the air around the engine condensed into a clear blue cone as an orange thruster shell was pushed outward.

The plasma was continuously being ejected out of the thruster. The thrust value on the screen gradually began to rise. After it reached 198.68 kN, it began to fluctuate up and down over a range of 10 kN.

"The plasma output is stable!"

"The ionization chamber temperature is normal!"

"…"

After Academician Wu listened to the staff member, he glanced at the plume speed on the screen.

"What material does your engine use? How is it able to withstand such high temperatures?"

"It's not the material that is resistant against high temperatures, it's the magnetic field… But that concrete wall isn't so lucky."

The concrete wall behind the thruster had melted, creating a one-meter wide concave dent in the wall.

Even though the total amount of working medium ejected wasn't large, the concrete wall wasn't able to bear the temperature.

The experiment went on for about an hour.

In addition to the maximum thrust, Lu Zhou instructed the staff to conduct experiments on the orbital change speed at 15% of maximum power and the outer space cruise speed at 3% of maximum power.

After the entire set of experiments were completed, the power consumption alone was close to 100,000 kWh.

Minister Qin was standing on the reinforced steel platform, looking over the engine. He was totally astonished.

After a while, he looked at Lu Zhou and took a deep breath.

"This ion thruster system… How long before it's complete?"

Lu Zhou said, "This ion thruster propulsion system is already complete, but it's still sitting on the rocket engine test bench. Before we complete space shuttle test flights, I can't guarantee that its operation in the sky is reliable."

Minister Qin looked at Lu Zhou and said seriously, "If you encounter any difficulties in your research, please tell us, we'll try our best to help!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I actually do have some things I need help with. I need two aviators."

Minister Qin paused for a second before asking, "Are two enough?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah."

Minister Qin didn't expect this request. He said, "I heard you were having a funding problem."

Lu Zhou said, "Oh, funding problem? We've already solved that."

"Oh, you solved your funding problem. Good, good…" Minister Qin nodded. He was relieved.

He knew that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology wanted the Air Force Equipment Department to pay for the research and development of the ion thruster propulsion system.

If it weren't for the fact that the ion thruster system was so strong on paper and because Lu Zhou was Nobel Prize and Ling Yun winner, he would not have brought so many experts here. Nor would he had given so much support to this project.

But now that the funding problem was solved, they could just spend money on buying the final product.

As for buying the two aviators…

Given that this technology was going to change the entire future of air combat, two aviators were a piece of cake.

Minister Qin looked at Lu Zhou and solemnly said, "I'll arrange the aviators. As for the Hall-effect thruster research… I'll leave that to you, thanks!"

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

"Rest assured, I'm confident about my research."

Lu Zhou was quite relaxed.

There are bound to be people who would like a technical route.

Unfortunately, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation experts aren't here…

Lu Zhou was looking forward to seeing the haters' faces when they see his plane in the sky.

Minister Qin suddenly remembered something, and he said, "Oh yeah… Does the space shuttle have a name?"

Name?

Lu Zhou hadn't thought of this before. It only had a code name at the moment.

But…

I guess I can name it.

The perfect name came to mind.

He looked down at the huge silver engine under the steel platform and said, "The Hall-effect thruster jet plume can reach hundreds of millions of degrees when it's in the air, and it'll leave a red and blue glow in the clouds."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smile.

"It's nearly Chinese New Year soon, so let's call it Skyglow!"

Chapter 695: Astronaut Team

Above the blue sky.

Two fighter jets soared through the sky, gliding back and forth between the clouds, leaving behind the roar of their engines.

Nie Yun was closely behind the other aircraft, and the missile targeting mechanism was locked on the fighter jet in front of him. He took a deep breath and pressed the launch button on his joystick.

Right after, he heard a command from his headset.

"Target destroyed.

"Prepare for the next exercise."

I won!

Nie Yun sighed in relief and loosened his helmet. He then replied calmly, "Roger that."

They couldn't fire live ammunition in training exercises obviously. Instead, optoelectronic transmitting and receiving devices were installed on the fighter jets. The light beam emitted acted as substitute missiles. If the target was hit, the optoelectronic receiving device on the target would receive the signal and notify the ground command post. The aircraft that was "hit" would then exit the exercise.

Of course, this type of fighting simulation exercise was only one section of the entire training course. They had to complete the training course before they could touch down at the airbase.

After the ground command post announced that the losing jet had been shot down, the two fighter jets changed their formation and started to fly to their next designated airspace, in preparation for their next exercise.

Just when Nie Yun was mentally preparing himself for the next exercise, he heard a command in his ears.

"Exercise terminated, return immediately."

Exercise terminated?

Nie Yun paused for a second.

Even though he was surprised, he still replied calmly, "Roger that, exercise terminated, returning now."

Nie Yun gave one last look to the blue sky and gave a thumbs-up to his friend in the other fighter jet. He used the joystick to control the J-20 and flew back to the airbase.

…

The silver-gray fighter jet steadily touched the runway. After a short taxi, the parachute was ejected and the fighter jet came to a stop.

The ground crew came forward and the cockpit hood was opened.

After Nie Yun handed the ground crew his helmet, he followed the flight test captain's footsteps and walked toward the senior officer. He then performed a military salute.

The serious-faced senior officer saluted as well before turning his attention to Minister Qin.

"This is Nie Yun, the one I told you about, J-20 test pilot, and the best of our flight team."

Minister Qin looked away from the J-20 jet and looked at the test pilot. He slowly nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Nie Yun, I'm sure training was exhausting."

Nie Yun said, "Not at all, this type of training is very common for our flight team."

Minister Qin looked at the energetic man standing in front of him and nodded.

After a while, he put on a more serious face and said, "Our Air Force Equipment Department has a critical mission that requires two outstanding pilots. Commander Sun recommended you to me. Now all you have to do is tell me if you want to go or not."

Air Force Equipment Department mission?

Testing some kind of new weapon?

Nie Yun suddenly became intrigued.

"I'll go wherever my country needs me to go."

Minister Qin smiled and said, "Are you sure? You're not even going to ask what it is about?"

Even if I asked, you wouldn't tell me…

Nie Yun answered decisively.

"I am certain!"

Minister Qin nodded.

"Okay then."

"From now on, you'll be moved from the test flight team to the astronaut team."

Astronaut…

Astronaut team?!

Nie Yun was dumbfounded.

…

He definitely was a little disappointed.

Nie Yun never thought that the Air Force Equipment Department would assign him to the astronaut team. The so-called mission turned out to only be a test of a space shuttle made by a private company that cooperated with the national defense team, the so-called Skyglow.

Even though the astronaut team wasn't shabby at all, they were all elites, but whenever he remembered that he could no longer fly the J-20 through the blue sky, he couldn't help but feel a little lost.

However, the duty of a soldier was to follow orders, so even though he was lost, he had nothing to complain about.

He threw his thoughts aside and looked at the young man standing in front of him.

Is this the legendary Professor Lu?

He's just… a bit more handsome than I had imagined. He doesn't seem special.

While the two pilots were secretly looking at Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou, who was holding a document, watched the pilots carefully as well.

Of course, he wasn't concerned about their appearances. He was concerned about whether or not they had the qualities to become qualified astronauts.

[Nie Yun, male, age 32, jet model J-10, J-20…]

[Nie Yan, female, age 29, jet model Xi'an Y-20, Shaanxi Y-8…]

Lu Zhou looked up from his document and asked a question.

"You guys are siblings?"

The two said in unison, "Yes."

Lu Zhou was curious, and he asked, "Why were you guys selected?"

The female with short hair said, "The chief asked me if I wanted to fly higher in the sky, I said yes, so he told me to come here."

There was nothing wrong with this answer, but Lu Zhou laughed a little.

He coughed and looked at Nie Yun.

"What about you?"

Nie Yun said, "Orders from the higher-ups."

Lu Zhou could tell something was different with this guy.

He looked at the file in his hand and turned to the next page while speaking.

"Even though Skyglow is neither a fighter jet nor a bomber jet, I promise that flying it will be more interesting than either of them… It'll also be more meaningful. I promise that many people will be envious of you two, and your teammates will be proud of you. Therefore, it doesn't matter what you guys think, just follow my orders."

Honestly, if it weren't because of the State Administration for National Defense calling him in the middle of the night asking if he was crazy, Lu Zhou would have become the test astronaut himself. His physical fitness was just as good as normal pilots.

However, this didn't matter too much.

He could always fly after the technology was fully and safely developed. He didn't have to be the first to fly.

Lu Zhou finished reading through the material and cleared his throat. He looked at the two and asked, "How much do you know about space shuttles?"

Nie Yun: "It's an aircraft that can travel to and from outer space and atmosphere."

Nie Yan's reaction was slower, and she said, "I agree with my brother."

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. "Correct, but there are a lot more than that. Before boarding the space shuttle, I hope you guys can have a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of a space shuttle.

"In the next three months, there will be dedicated people teaching you guys what exactly the space shuttle is, how to operate it, and most importantly… how to save yourself in the event of an accident.

"This mission is very crucial, and we only have three months, so I hope you guys can do your best."

The two aviators stood up straight and answered in unison.

"Yes, sir!"

Chapter 696: Nobel Prize Season

Even though Lu Zhou could feel that the two new pilots were somewhat reluctant to accept their new identities, fortunately, they didn't bring their emotions into their work. They completed each task meticulously.

What satisfied Lu Zhou the most was that these elite pilots achieved excellent results in all of their tasks, whether it was underwater weightless training or high-G centrifuge training.

They obviously nailed other tasks such as skydiving and outdoor survival training.

Since they were formal aviators, they had already completed those training missions before.

In fact, compared with the chemical high-thrust manned rockets, the Skyglow didn't have particularly tough physical fitness requirements. Its acceleration in the atmosphere was only 2 g. After entering low-Earth orbit, the Hall-effect thruster would switch to outer space mode and fly with a lower engine thrust. Therefore, even ordinary people could handle flying in this spacecraft.

However, they still had to prepare accordingly.

The days quickly flew by, and it was soon December.

Another year of the Nobel Prize dinner was held in the Stockholm Blue Hall.

Even though Lu Zhou, like previous Nobel Prize laureates, received an invitation from the Swedish royal family, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also asked if he was interested in attending diplomatic occasions, after some careful consideration, Lu Zhou politely declined the invitation.

First of all, he was too busy with his research. Secondly, it was pretty boring to sit on the sidelines. Rather than watching other people receive awards, he much preferred to receive the awards himself. Even though the food in the Blue Hall was quite memorable, it wasn't good enough to make him want to go back.

Also, this year's winners of the Physics award were David O'Sharon and Arthur C. Gossard, and the reason for their award was because of their research in the field of semiconductor spin electronics.

The former had a Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University and was a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The latter was a big name in the field of materials science and computer engineering, who was also teaching at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In this day and age, it was very rare to find scholars who were proficient in two fields at the same time. It was even rarer for those scholars to achieve outstanding results in two different fields. Because of this difficulty, their research results were regarded as prominent.

In particular, the discovery of the quantum-restricted Stark effect and the fractional quantification of the Hall effect was a huge physical breakthrough. It also had profound impacts on the computer chip industry.

In fact, many years ago, many people predicted that these two would win the prize.

Now, this award had finally fallen into the hands of these two.

It was worth mentioning that people had been predicting whether or not Lu Zhou would win this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, and people even began to place bets online.

Just like Lu Zhou had predicted, even though the controllable fusion project was excellent, the Nobel Prize Committee did not consider giving awards to group research projects.

However, Lu Zhou thought that this was only one of the many reasons. The main reason was probably that he had just won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry not long ago. Otherwise, the theoretical model of plasma turbulence in the application of controllable fusion engineering would be more than enough to win him the award.

Not to mention there was also the He3 atom probe technology.

As a generous person, he would have gladly shared the millions of krona prize money with Professor Lazerson.

The same day when Lu Zhou decided to reject the Nobel Prize dinner invitation, he heard news from East Asia Energy.

After a year of construction, the Xihe fusion reactor in Daya Bay was finally completed. The final commissioning would be completed before the end of the year. On New Year's Day, it would begin to deliver clean and cheap electricity to the Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Xiangjiang area.

So far, the installed capacity of the power station had reached 11,000 MW, which had exceeded the total installed capacity of the original Daya Bay Fission Nuclear Power Station. The new reactor would continue to expand its electricity generator, eventually matching the Pangu 100,000 MW capacity.

In the month of December, the Southeast Asian cross-regional power grid project had entered its final phase. The Jinwu and Houyi reactors, which were located in the north and central regions, had also completed their first project phase and could be put in use as soon as next fall.

By then, controllable fusion would supply power to East China, South China, North China, and Central China. The high pollution thermal stations would gradually be phased out.

Apparently, because of the Houyi reactor, some people proposed to dismantle the Three Gorges Dam. This matter was heavily debated in the academic world and was still unresolved.

On the other hand, after the Xihe reactor began its construction, the other ITER member states had begun to negotiate.

One year ago, they were confident that they could replicate the success of Pangu rector in five to six years. Now, regardless of whether they were still confident in their scholars and ITER itself, the gap between them and China would slowly increase. China would go through an energy revolution. The other countries couldn't stand waiting anymore.

Lu Zhou wasn't very certain about the specific negotiation progress and what the Americans and Europeans had offered in exchange. However, due to the fact that the Sweden Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited him to Stockholm, the negotiations should be going smoothly.

After all, if the negotiations weren't going well, the Chinese government wouldn't risk letting him set foot on foreign soil.

Lu Zhou was standing at the training room entrance. He thought about all of the interesting experiences he missed out on and couldn't help but sigh.

He looked at the two people laying on the vibration training machine with their teeth trembling, and he muttered, "I'm so jealous…"

Wang Peng, who was standing beside him, paused for a second.

"Jealous?"

Wang Peng looked at the two pilots on the vibration training machine, then looked strangely at Lu Zhou.

What is there to be jealous about?

"Yeah," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "don't you want to fly?"

Wang Peng: "Fly… You mean in space?"

"Yeah."

Wang Peng shook his head and said, "I've never thought about flying so high before."

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "What was your maximum skydiving height?"

Wang Peng: "The highest was probably… six thousand meters."

Generally speaking, airborne parachuting was completed at heights of less than one thousand meters. At this height, the temperature and air pressure outside the aircraft were at normal levels, and the parachutists wouldn't have to risk the lack of oxygen or freezing conditions.

Skydiving above five thousand meters was extremely dangerous, even for special forces. It was only used as an absolute last resort, like when an aircraft was in a critical area and couldn't descend. Otherwise, no one in their right mind would skydive at those heights.

"Six thousand meters?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Once you return to the army in a few years, thousand-kilometer skydives will be the norm."

A thousand kilometers?

Wang Peng chuckled.

I never thought the rigorous Professor Lu would make mistakes with his units.

A person jumping from a thousand kilometers would become popsicles.

Chapter 697: Begin Preparations!

Time quickly flew by.

As the end of the year was getting closer, the aviators and engineers were like tightened clockwork gears as they put all of their efforts into their jobs.

As for Lu Zhou, since the project was getting closer and closer to an end, all of the work had already been arranged and delegated. He, as the leader of the project, had actually had less work to do.

Hou Guang had previously participated in the 863 Program, and he was responsible for the design of the space shuttle. Xiao Ai, on the other hand, could precisely use the five-axis CNC machine tool to process the required parts and use various automated machines such as logistics vehicles and robot arms for assembly. The Skyglow space shuttle was moving from blueprint to reality.

As long as Lu Zhou could ensure the funding was coming in, this aircraft would be a done deal.

Of course, this was no easy feat.

Even though Xiao Ai's industrial performance with a full set of processing equipment was sufficient, there were still many things that Lu Zhou couldn't manufacture. For example, the flight control system was purchased from China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. Also, while the surface coating material was designed by the Institute of Computational Materials, the production was outsourced to a professional chemical materials company.

Then there were a series of cutting-edge materials such as high-temperature surface insulation tiles, reinforced CC composite materials, and even the special steel used in the main structure of the aircraft. These were all uncommon materials. They had to ensure that these materials stayed relatively light while maintaining tensile strength, fracture toughness, corrosion resistance, and high-temperature resistance.

Because of its excellent performance capabilities, it also had a complicated and cumbersome processing technology.

It was no exaggeration to say that the per square meter material cost was higher than Jin Ling City's downtown per square meter housing cost.

These materials weren't produced by Star Sky Technology itself, but rather, they were produced by an upstream supplier in the industrial chain. A large part of the space shuttle cost came from this area, with orders in the tens and hundreds of millions of yuan range. The entire Skyglow space shuttle was built with cash.

It was no exaggeration at all to say that aerospace was a money-burning industry.

However, compared to the Americans, Lu Zhou was still quite comfortable.

Before the Columbia was retired, the United States government spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the space shuttle. Each launch cost was as high as US$500 million, and there were all kinds of problems.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou referenced and improved the design from the 863 Program, eliminating the need for large amounts of money that would have been thrown in research and development. The Hall-effect thruster design came from the scanner gun, so he reverse-engineered the technology without spending a dime.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to build a space shuttle even if he invested and liquidated all of his assets.

Nie Yun was standing in the space shuttle assembly center. As he looked up at the ginormous space shuttle and its five sturdy ion thruster engines, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Unbelievable."

Lu Zhou was standing next to him. He smiled and asked, "What's unbelievable?"

Nie Yun: "It's unbelievable that you built this thing in two months."

Nie Yan didn't say anything, but her expression was similar to her brother's.

Compared to Nie Yun, who flew fighter jets, she flew large military transport aircraft such as the Xi'an Y-20. Therefore, she was more excited at being able to fly in this gigantic spacecraft. She was disappointed at the beginning, but she was now looking forward to boarding the flight.

Lu Zhou could tell that the siblings were shocked. "It is not just two months. The production preparation work started half a year ago. The energy supply components were prepared a year ago."

Nie Yun said, "But I still think this is amazing…"

"Yeah?" Lu Zhou looked at the space shuttle and thought seriously for a moment. He then said, "I think compared to the Yang-Mills equations, this is a lot simpler."

Nie Yun: "…"

Nie Yan: "…"

Lu Zhou was probably the only person on Earth that could make a comparison like this.

…

Actually, Lu Zhou wasn't bragging when he made this comparison; this was his true opinion.

After completing the Yang-Mills equations and establishing the electrostrong interaction theory, he easily calculated the theoretical model of the sound fusion machine. The Hall-effect thruster was obtained through the scanner gun, and the design and manufacture of the space shuttle were mostly done by other professionals. When he thought about it carefully, he didn't actually have to do that much work.

Chief Engineer Hou Guang was leading a number of technicians. They were conducting a comprehensive inspection of the various space shuttle components. In order to eliminate the chances of an accident, he divided the maintenance staff into two teams and began to inspect the space shuttle from two different starting positions. They were extra careful with this process.

"Are you done with the inspection?"

Technician: "Yes, sir!"

Hou Guang: "What about the ionization chamber and working medium interface compartment? And the hydraulic pump and thermal cycle device, have those been checked?"

The technician nodded and said, "They've all been inspected! Everything is normal!"

Hou Guang: "Are you sure?"

Technician: "Certain!"

Hou Guang nodded and said, "Then double-check it!"

"Okay!"

Even though repeated inspections was a torturous process, the technicians didn't complain about Hou Guang's orders.

The space shuttle was a large and sophisticated piece of equipment. They had to ensure that each of the 100,000 or so components were working properly. Only then, could the astronauts be safely sent and brought back from outer space.

Any tiny mistake, even if one screw wasn't tightened properly, could have serious consequences.

Therefore, just like China's great aerospace experts said, every successful launch was one small mistake away from failure, and every failed launch was one small correction from success.

The maintenance work lasted for three whole days.

Finally, on the day before New Year's day, all of the inspections were completed. Hou Guang brought the maintenance report to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou glanced at the report and asked, "Is everything ready?"

"It's ready!" Hou Guang looked at Lu Zhou and said with excitement, "Now we just need to find a way to transport it to the launch base, which is more than ten kilometers away, then do one more inspection. After that, we can schedule the launch!"

Transporting this big guy for more than ten kilometers was no easy piece of cake.

Especially since they had to keep everything confidential.

However, even though this might be difficult for others, it wasn't difficult for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou said with a smile, "No problem."

He took out his phone and walked to the side. He then dialed a familiar number.

"Regiment Commander Dai, there's a favor I need from you."

Chapter 698: Are We Overthinking?

The United States.

California.

Space-X headquarters building, press conference site.

Elon Musk was wearing a classical silicon valley outfit, jeans and a t-shirt. He was facing the audience at the press conference and various reporter cameras. He spoke in his unique, stuttering voice regarding Space-X's future.

A futuristic bright silver bullet-shaped spaceship was being displayed on the screen behind him, and the spaceship left off a trail of light, with the blue earth and boundless space as the background.

The words BFR and Space-X were printed on the side of the spacecraft.

The theme of this press conference was the BFR.

"The first section has the main thrust rocket, which will be powered by 31 Raptor methane rocket engines, the second section has 2 sea-level engines and 4 vacuum engines. The fuel tank can store a total of 240 tons of methane, and the maximum thrust is in the magnitude of kilotons… Of course, this is not my main point. Our focus is on a series of plans surrounding the BFR rocket."

Musk paused for a moment. He then looked at the audience and camera.

"We will launch two manned spacecraft to Mars by 2024!"

There was a commotion in the audience as the reporters frantically pressed their camera shutters.

Aerospace wasn't anything new for Americans.

However, the exploration of Mars and the colonization of outer space was still fascinating.

Otherwise, Star Wars wouldn't be such a cultural icon in the United States.

Musk smirked and raised his volume.

"Once the BFR research and development is complete, it will replace all of our current launch devices. It will allow spacecraft to perform various space missions. Whether it's the Moon or Mars, we can achieve all kinds of things with this power."

"It will redefine our understanding of aerospace."

"It will change our future!"

Later on, Musk continued to talk about the advantages of the BFR spacecraft as well as Space-X's plans for Mars.

In the midst of the applause, the press conference came to an end.

The reporters rushed up to the stage, surrounding Musk.

Musk finally finished all of the interviews.

After getting rid of the reporters, he went back to his office and sat in his office chair. He couldn't wait to take out his phone.

Musk looked at the rise of his stock price on his phone and relaxed a little.

The feedback from his stock price told him that the press conference went well.

The concept of the BFR gave the aerospace investors hope.

Of course, now was not the time to celebrate.

The stock market was a volatile animal, especially for high-tech companies like Space-X.

Whether or not the wealthy investors would still be willing to support Musk's vision, didn't depend on the type of profit returns Musk could give them, but was rather dependent on Musk fulfilling his promises.

Fortunately, due to controllable fusion and lithium-sulfur batteries, the overall performance of the alternative energy industry was good. Tesla's stock price was rising, and compared to a few years ago, the investors' confidence in him had greatly increased. However, aerospace was a brand new field; even he himself wasn't 100% certain that everything would go smoothly.

He heard a knock on the door, and a female secretary wearing professional attire walked in.

"Sir, there's someone asking for you."

Musk was about to take a break.

His eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "Who?"

The secretary said, "They claim to be from the CIA…"

"CIA?" Musk hesitated for a bit and played with the pen in his hand. He said, "I don't remember…"

The office door was aggressively pushed open, and two men wearing black jackets walked in.

Musk looked dissatisfied as he looked at the two rude men who walked in without permission.

"I don't recall allowing you guys to come in, do you have a warrant?"

"My apologies, Mr. Musk, but the situation is urgent, I hope you can forgive us." the African American agent showed his credentials and said, "You can call me Aiden."

Musk looked at the African American agent and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm Elon… You guys know who I am anyway, do you want some coffee?"

The agent standing behind Aiden said, "No need, we're in a hurry."

"Okay then." Musk looked at the female secretary standing next to his desk and said, "Alyssa, bring me a latte."

"Okay, sir." The secretary nodded and walked out of the door.

Aiden: "…"

Agent: "…"

After five minutes, the coffee was finally served.

Aiden didn't want to waste any time, so he went straight to the main topic.

"We heard that around two months ago, Star Sky Technology purchased a US$20 million order from you guys, is that correct?"

Musk thought for a while and nodded.

"Yeah… But I remember those orders aren't regarding banned items, is there a problem?"

Aiden said, "The problem isn't with those parts, but what those parts are being used for."

Musk wasn't frightened by his tone. He said impatiently, "We are not concerned with what our customers do with our products. If there are any problems, I suggest you consult customs."

Aiden didn't say anything. He took out a blurry photo and placed it on the table.

When Musk saw the space shuttle in the photo, he immediately sat up from his chair and asked, "What is this?"

"Your customer, or your future competitor. It's called Skyglow." Aiden shrugged and said, "Apparently, they're using a cutting-edge ion thruster electric propulsion system. We're still investigating this matter."

"Wait a second, electric propulsion?" Musk opened his mouth and looked at the man standing in front of his desk. "Ion thrusters? Are you sure?"

"We're certain." Aiden nodded and said, "Our sources are reliable, but it's not detailed."

Musk smiled and shook his head. He then sat back down.

Suddenly, Musk's look of interest became a look of mockery.

"Aiden and Mr. Agent, even though I'm not sure what the CIA investigation process is, as a taxpayer, I hope you guys can be a little bit more professional… Ion thrusters? Using electric propulsion to send space shuttles to the sky?" Musk shook his head and smiled. He then said, "This is ridiculous."

Aiden said, "Is ion thruster propulsion unrealistic?"

"It's impossible," Musk answered without hesitation. "Even with our most advanced ion thruster propulsion technology, the thrust is merely on the order of Newtons. Sending a spacecraft to outer space orbit requires at least the order of kilo Newtons!"

Aiden looked at the agent next to him.

The other agent said, "NASA also said this… Are we overthinking this?"

Aiden was lost in his thoughts, and he didn't say anything.

He hoped that he was overthinking this whole thing.

But whenever he thought of the name Lu Zhou, he couldn't help but feel nervous…

Chapter 699: Responsible for the Countdown

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Chief engineer's office.

When he heard that Star Sky Technology planned to conduct a test flight on New Year's day, Secretary Yu immediately rushed over in order to bring this news here. Yuan Huanmin was reading a thesis, and after hearing about the situation, he froze for a few seconds.

Once he realized what was going on, he had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Test flight?"

"Yeah! Who knew they were moving so fast!" Secretary Yu was worried. He sighed and said, "Ah, we were one step behind, what do we do now?!"

Actually, unlike the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation never took this bet seriously.

Ion thruster propulsion…

Everyone knew that it would be impossible to overcome gravity with that small amount of thrust. Otherwise, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation leaders wouldn't have agreed on this bet so easily. They would rather let Professor Lu self-destruct.

Now…

Who would have thought that they were starting their flight tests?

When Yuan Huanmin saw how anxious Secretary Yu was, he was astonished.

However, his worries were different from Secretary Yu's worries…

After staying silent for a while, he spoke in a suspicious tone.

"They're sending people on their first test flight?"

Secretary Yu paused for a second and said, "There are two pilots in the launch plan…"

"This is outrageous!"

Yuan Huanmin slapped the table with his right hand, causing the teacups that were on it to shake. He stood up angrily from his chair and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair. He then started to walk out of the office.

Secretary Yu quickly caught up to him.

"Chief Engineer Yuan, where are you going?"

Yuan Huanmin said without hesitating, "Do you really need to ask? I'm going to Jinling's launch site!"

Secretary Yu said, "But Jinling didn't invite us, wouldn't it be embarrassing for us to show up like this…"

"Is this the time to feel embarrassed?!" Yuan Huanmin's eyes were wide open as he said, "Which one's more important, human lives or pride?!"

Two astronauts!

Not to mention they're the elites of the test flight team!

Yuan Huanmin was furious, he shook his head.

As expected, Lu Zhou is too immature.

His ego is through the roof.

Using novel technology is whatever, but now he's putting the precious lives of the two astronauts at risk!

Yuan Huanmin's opinion was that Lu Zhou was blindly abusing the country's trust in him!

Yuan Huanmin was fine with Lu Zhou spending money on the project, but now that lives were at risk, he had to do something.

I have to stop him!

Yuan Huanmin called his assistants and asked him to book him a train ticket from Beijing to Jinling. He then went downstairs to the parking lot.

Secretary Yu was walking right behind Mr. Yuan. He wanted to persuade him not to go, but in the end, he decided against it.

Maybe it's a good thing for him to prevent this test launch?

Regardless of whether Mr. Yuan can stop the launch, it's worth a try…

…

Outside the Jinling aerospace launch site.

A heavy rocket transport vehicle was being escorted by several military vehicles, and it slowly entered the launch site.

Yesterday, the Jin Ling city council blocked this section of the highway and used police forces to temporarily block all sections of the road leading to the launch site. This was for the protection of the citizens and also to keep this launch confidential.

However, it was obvious that many foreign countries had their eyes on this launch.

But that didn't matter.

Nothing could be kept secret forever. Moreover, it was actually quite amazing they were able to keep this confidential until now.

Regiment Commander Dai got off a military green jeep and walked in front of Lu Zhou. He then firmly shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"Professor Lu, we meet again."

"Good to see you, Regiment Commander Dai," Lu Zhou said while shaking his hand.

These two had known each other since the controllable fusion project. They had always had a good relationship. This test launch was very important to the higher-ups; therefore, the China Eastern Military Division was responsible for security, which meant that Regiment Commander Dai was in charge.

After some small talk, Regiment Commander Dai said, "Let's catch up after the launch is over, I won't bother you anymore. This area is guarded by our soldiers. You just have to focus on the experiment!"

"Okay," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "thank you guys so much."

"No need to thank us, this is our duty."

Regiment Commander Dai waved his hand and walked back to his jeep.

The moment he picked up his walkie-talkie, he spoke in a dignified manner.

"Squadron 1, Squadron 2, begin patrol of the launch site!

"I don't want to see a single fly within a 500-meter radius!"

…

After saying goodbye to Regiment Commander Dai, Lu Zhou found the two test pilots. They were preparing to board the flight. Their instructor was giving them some last-minute advice.

When the instructor saw Professor Lu coming, he stopped talking and gave Lu Zhou the opportunity to speak.

Lu Zhou walked next to the two test pilots and reached out his fist. He then gave Nie Yun a fist bump.

"You got this!"

Nie Yun took a deep breath.

He didn't talk a lot. He smirked and replied, "Ok!"

Lu Zhou walked in front of Nie Yan and reached out his fist. He suddenly remembered that Nie Yan was a girl, so he awkwardly touched her shoulder instead.

Nie Yan noticed Lu Zhou's movements, so she smiled and began to flirt.

"Actually I don't mind fist-bumping."

"Are all the women in the army so masculine?"

"Not quite, there are many types of girls in the army. What type do you like? I can introduce some to you."

"I'm good…"

Does everyone know I'm single?

Lu Zhou put on a more serious face and looked at her solemnly as he said, "Do your best."

Nie Yan did a military salute. Her expression was fearless and strong, and she looked exactly like her brother.

"I will!"

Lu Zhou nodded and started to walk toward the space shuttle. He suddenly turned around and looked at the two pilots again.

"This is going to start a new age of aerospace, and you guys will be the first people to take that step.

"I won't waste your time.

"But just know that history will remember this day, they will remember you guys, and everyone else standing here."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at the silver spaceship.

"See you guys later."

All of the engineers and technicians at the scene were touched.

No one noticed that Lu Zhou, who was looking at the space shuttle, had a beaming smile on his face.

After a while, Lu Zhou yelled out a name.

"Hou Guang."

"Yes, sir!"

"You'll be responsible for the countdown!"

Hou Guang excitedly nodded his head.

"Yes, sir!"

Chapter 700: Ignition! Take off!

"5

"4

"3

"2

"1

"Ignite!"

The circulating liquid lithium began to tumble in the reactor.

A series of dense bubbles were injected, and the energy of a star was ignited in the invisible atomic nuclei. The moment the solid-state xenon in the working medium compartment was injected into the ionization chamber, the high-temperature plasma began to emit light and heat. While constrained by the magnetic field, the plasma was sent to the engine exhaust nozzle…

A light blue arc could be seen from the bottom of the space shuttle, pushing the giant space shuttle forward…

The speed gradually became faster and faster, and the tires left the runway as the landing gear retracted into the space shuttle.

That blue arc of light represented humans' vision of space. The silver bullet disappeared into the clouds, heading toward space…

The technicians standing near the runway were watching the whole thing unfold as they cheered and threw their hats into the sky, celebrating with excitement.

At the same time, in the ground command center less than 500 meters away from the runway, sounds of cheering were heard.

As Hou Guang listened to the deafening cheers, he took a deep breath and took off his headset. He wiped the tears from his eye.

It had been so many years.

His dream finally became a reality.

At last, he didn't disappoint his teachers…

Those designs that were considered useless at the time, was finally reborn.

Outside the launch site.

The soldiers guarding the launch site also saw the blue arc of light disappearing in the clouds.

Even though their jobs didn't allow them to show excitement, everyone's face was full of pride and joy.

Regiment Commander Dai looked into the direction the blue light disappeared to, and his expression didn't change much. He silently raised his right hand and did a military salute.

God bless this country.

May you return safely!

…

Meanwhile, outside the launch site.

An SUV came to a stop.

Yuan Huanmin, who was authorized to enter the site, quickly walked toward the main entrance of the launch center. Secretary Yu followed him closely.

The security staff at the entrance noticed the two men approaching, and he immediately stopped them.

"Stop right there, this is a restricted area!"

Secretary Yu immediately presented their authorization documents.

"This is our authorization documents from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, get out of the way."

The security guard took a close look at the documents, then returned the documents to Secretary Yu.

"Sorry, this authorization is only a permit to enter the perimeter, you can stay in this area, but you may not enter."

Yuan Huanmin squinted his eyes and said, "What do you mean?"

The security guard said, "This is a private area."

Secretary Yu's eyes widened. "What!"

This was correct.

Even though this was a controlled airspace area, the land was ultimately owned by Star Sky Technology. The documents from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology allowed them to pass through the restricted area, but if they wanted to enter the private area, they would have to have a court warrant or authorization from a special department…

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the launch site.

A team of army soldiers ran across the launch site, toward the command center.

The security guard was stunned. He obviously didn't know what was going on. He saw Regiment Commander Dai and Chief Engineer Hou Guang walk out of the launch site.

Yuan Huanmin noticed the commotion, and he immediately asked Regiment Commander Dai.

"What happened? Is there an accident?"

Regiment Commander Dai was about to speak, but Hou Guang shook his head and spoke first.

"Not quite, the launches have been successful, it's just…"

Secretary Yu gulped and said, "Just what?"

Regiment Commander Dai sighed and said, "Professor Lu has disappeared, and we're not sure why. We're trying to find him. If you guys have any clues, please tell us as soon as possible…"

"Disappeared?" Yuan Huanmin had his mouth open, and he asked, "Where is he?"

"He was just on the launch site a second ago… maybe…"

Hou Guang suddenly had a strange expression on his face.

Regiment Commander Dai noticed his change of expression, and he immediately asked, "Maybe what? Where is he now?"

Hou Guang still had a strange expression on his face.

"I'm not sure, but maybe, and just maybe… He's on the flight."

Yuan Huanmin: "???"

Secretary Yu: "???"

Regiment Commander Dai: "???"

The soldiers on duty: "???"

On the space shuttle?

F*ck!

…

Meanwhile, above the clouds.

Nie Yun was sitting in the cockpit. His entire hand was shaking.

He looked at Lu Zhou, who appeared out of nowhere, and asked, "Why are you here?"

Lu Zhou leisurely made himself a cup of coffee. He said while sitting in the crew seat, "It's my plane, why can't I be here?"

Nie Yun: "…"

Nie Yan: "…"

Lu Zhou did seem to make sense, so they didn't know how to respond.

Nie Yan looked at Lu Zhou's coffee and couldn't help but ask, "Is now the best time for coffee?"

"It's the only time for coffee." Lu Zhou stirred his cup with a spoon and said, "Once we fly to the stratosphere, I won't be able to drink anything."

Ion thruster propulsion acceleration was much slower than chemical propulsion. Even under ideal conditions, it would take two hours to reach orbital velocity. Using the wings to provide an upward force in the ozone layer meant a stable flight.

Because of this, he could enjoy his cup of coffee while they were still in the ozone layer.

Also, carrying one extra person wouldn't impact their safety. The Skyglow was designed for a maximum capacity of ten people. They could have seven more people on this flight if they wanted to.

Nie Yun and Nie Yan looked at each other. They gulped and communicated with their eyes.

"Brother, what do we do?"

"I don't know! Should we go back?"

"But the launching cost is probably astronomical, we can't just go back…"

"But think about how much Lu Zhou is worth?"

Nie Yun began to clench his teeth.

This guy…

Has no awareness regarding how important his safety is.

Honestly, the moment Nie Yun stepped on the space shuttle, he was putting his life at risk. He even placed his own testament in his drawer. But now, failure wasn't an answer.

He had to do everything to land this spacecraft safely.

Nie Yan, while sitting in the co-pilot's seat, looked at her brother.

"You're right… I'll talk to ground command."

Lu Zhou saw the siblings communicating with their facial expressions, and he could probably guess what they were planning, so he coughed and said, "I know what you guys are thinking, but I advise you against it.

"If we land now, not only will that destroy thousands of researchers' efforts over the past year, the entire project will also be at risk of bankruptcy."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, "Also… I didn't just come here for fun, I have my reasons.

"No matter what the reasons are, you guys are soldiers, right? So you will listen to orders. The military sent you guys to me, so you have to listen to my orders. Right now, I want you guys to concentrate on completing your own tasks. Don't worry about anything else, don't worry about me. I run for an hour every single morning, and I'm in better physical shape than you think. Just pretend like I don't exist."

Is this about physical health?

What do you mean to pretend like you don't exist?

Nie Yun hesitated for a bit and decided not to land this flight.

Like Lu Zhou said, his mission was to follow orders.

The moment his senior officer sent him here, Lu Zhou became his superior. Even though Lu Zhou was not a soldier, he still had the power to command him.

Therefore, even though there were a million reasons to land this flight, he had to follow orders…

Chapter 701: Overlooking Earth

"This is Skyglow…"

"We have a… problem."

Nie Yun hesitated for a bit before deciding to report the situation to the ground command center.

"Professor Lu is here."

The ground command center went silent for a bit.

Hou Guang's voice came through after a while.

"Okay, we understand."

Understand?

That's it?

Nie Yun hesitated on whether he should ask what to do, but Hou Guang spoke first.

"Continue flight, flight plan remains unchanged… Make sure Professor Lu is safe."

Changing the flight plan would increase the mission risk.

Nie Yun was well aware of this, so he nodded.

"Roger that."

Nie Yun took a deep breath and looked at Lu Zhou, who was putting away his coffee cup.

"We're approaching a critical altitude value, flight mode is about to change."

Due to the pressure and temperature curve, when the altitude reached more than 20 kilometers, the outside atmospheric density would drop to a relatively low value. At this altitude, it was no longer possible to rely on the wings to provide upward power. Therefore, it was necessary to rely on the thrust of the engine to counteract the gravitational force. The space shuttle would begin to fly upward at a greater tilt angle.

At this altitude, the crew could no longer move around freely in the spacecraft.

"Okay."

There was no need for Nie Yun to remind him. Lu Zhou already walked next to the passenger seat and opened a metal door. He dragged out a bulky spacesuit.

As Nie Yun looked at Lu Zhou struggling with the spacesuit, he asked, "Do you know… how to wear a spacesuit?"

Lu Zhou skillfully put on the spacesuit, which had various bio-security systems and cabin environmental information panels. He looked at Nie Yun and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I've practiced this at home many times."

Nie Yun: "…"

Nie Yan: "…"

For f*ck's sake…

He had this planned from the beginning!

The acceleration of this space shuttle wasn't particularly high, so the spacesuit was only needed for protection during the landing phase. However, because this was the first flight test, there were many uncertainties, and they had to stay prepared.

In order to stay as safe as possible, they had to follow procedures. This bulky spacesuit could only be taken off after they were in the orbit.

Lu Zhou stood beside the passenger seat and looked at himself in the mirror.

Compared to the outer-spacesuit with its own power system and portable life support system, the in-cabin spacesuit was relatively lightweight but still bulky. The cost was much cheaper than outer-spacesuits, only around 10 million yuan.

Speaking of which, this was probably the most expensive piece of clothing he had ever worn before.

Lu Zhou had an idea in his mind.

Should I take a photo?

In the end, he decided not to take the photo.

As expected, it was difficult to use his phone while wearing this thing.

After reaching an altitude of around 20 kilometers, the engine output power of Skyglow gradually increased. The tip of the spacecraft began to rise, beaming toward outer space along a trajectory that was tangent to Earth…

…

Going to outer space was a long journey.

Strictly speaking, altitudes from 100 kilometers[1] to 2,000 kilometers were counted as low-Earth orbital space. The height of this test flight was based on the International Space Station's orbital height of 419 kilometers. The total flight time was about two hours, and they were expected to return to Earth after staying in low-Earth orbit for 24 hours.

This altitude was pretty good for manned spaceflights like this. Generally speaking, most manned flight activities in low-Earth orbit were completed at an altitude below 400 kilometers. Lu Zhou didn't want Skyglow to fly too high for its first flight.

The five engines at the back of the spacecraft were all turned on, and like a meteor, it left behind a blue light arc. The altitude continued to increase. The three people sitting in the cabin could definitely feel the increase in g-force. However, the g-force was weak enough that they got used to it after a while.

Lu Zhou looked at the planet from the window, and his pupils dilated. As the azure sea and thick clouds blended together, thousands of manmade lights sparkled in the distance.

It took him a while to digest the shock in his heart, and he said emotionally, "This is the best place to witness the fact that Earth is round."

Nie Yun: "Can't you see it from a globe?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "That's a conclusion made by others, it's different seeing it with my own eyes."

Nie Yan also looked down at the planet, and she felt completely different from the two men. Compared to their rational thinking, she was appreciating Earth's beauty.

After a long time of staring at the planet through the window, she said, "It's beautiful."

Nie Yun nodded.

"Yeah… Beautiful."

After breaking the 100 km boundary, the spacecraft entered the thermosphere from the mesosphere. About 60 kilometers forward, they would have reached the lowest altitude for low-Earth orbit—160 kilometers.

At that point, even though they hadn't left the exosphere, the air resistance was at a negligible level.

The blue arc of light behind Skyglow began to weaken. It went from a bright beam to a swaying candle. Lu Zhou heard "successful entry into orbit" in his headset. The Skyglow's controllable fusion engines began to shut down and switched instead to a lithium-sulfur battery-powered system.

Even though Lu Zhou couldn't hear anything, he could almost feel the cheering sounds from the ground command center, as well as the national anthem, and the pride of all the people on the ground.

"We're in orbit… Jesus, this suit is easy to put on, but it's a pain in the a*s to take off."

Especially in a zero g-force environment…

Lu Zhou finally was able to get out of his passenger seat and take off his spacesuit. In a clumsy-looking manner, he floated off his seat and toward the space shuttle's window.

Lu Zhou looked at the blue Earth and held his breath. He took out his phone and took a picture.

The moment he pressed the camera shutter, a light blue panel appeared in his sight.

[Secondary mission: Overlooking Earth

[Description: Exploring science is more than excellent research, but also dedication and courage!

[Requirements: At an altitude of 100-2000 km, manually operate a camera and take a photo of Earth. (Has to be completed by the user himself)

[Rewards: 50,000 free experience points, one lucky draw ticket. (rewards are given after the first phase of the main mission is completed)]

This mission is…

It makes it seem like I'm dedicating my life to science.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission description and shook his head. He then shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Even though the mission description was strange, the rewards were quite satisfying.

It's just that…

The people in the ground command center are probably going crazy.

What do I tell them?

I can't just tell them that I flew up here to admire the view, right? Even though the view is pretty nice.

Emmmm…

Lu Zhou shook his head and decided to not think about it.

Forget about it, who cares.

He didn't have any obligation to explain himself.

You guys want a reason?

Well, think of one yourselves.

[1] upper bounds of international airspace

Chapter 702: Silicon Valley Superstar?

California, United States.

Inside a mansion in Bel Air.

Musk took out two champagnes and half a box of pizza from his fridge. He placed the pizza into the microwave and sat down on the sofa with his champagne. He grabbed the robot control and turned on the TV, quietly waiting for the show to begin.

The most popular football game of the year was about to begin in an hour.

However, that wasn't where his attention was at.

Rather, it was the Columbia TV news that was playing before the game.

Even though most high-tech Silicon Valley people more often used trendy news sources, such as Twitter or Facebook, for Musk, the upcoming TV news was more important.

Because in a minute, the Space-X logo would appear at the center of the screen.

Soon the host of the Columbia TV news channel would report on his Space-X speech, well as his interviews after the press conference.

The BFR super rocket equipped with 42 Raptor engines would attract everyone's attention in Silicon Valley. The liquid methane engine technology would change the field of aerospace.

This type of feeling was more satisfying than becoming an international pop-star.

Even though he didn't know what it felt like to be an international pop-star…

"To space and beyond." Musk unscrewed the champagne bottle cap and filled his goblet. He looked at the Columbia TV news program starting to play and said, "Cheers!"

The news program began.

Just like he had expected, the concept image of the BFR rocket was placed at the center of the screen. After quoting an interview with NASA experts who had worked closely with Space-X, the program began to present a concept map of Space-X's lunar base and their plan to colonize Mars by 2024.

While Musk was drinking champagne and watching TV, he heard a ding over at the microwave.

Musk's pizza had finished heating. He reluctantly got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen. He placed the pizza on a plate and quickly walked back to the living room.

However, the news program took an unexpected turn.

"Elon Musk, Chairman and CEO of Space-X, stated that they will conduct the first test of BFR rockets this year…"

The news reporter was cut off, and Musk could see someone hand the news reporter a piece of paper.

The news reporter read the content on the paper and looked surprised.

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Apologies, we have breaking news…

"Around two hours and 50 minutes ago, the Skyglow space shuttle carrying China's latest ion thruster propulsion system was successfully launched at the Jin Ling City launch site.

"This was first reported by CTV and has been confirmed by other Chinese media outlets such as Everyone Daily. We are contacting NASA to confirm the authenticity of the information. So far, we have not received a clear response… For follow-ups on this report, please keep an eye on our news…"

The hot slice of pizza fell, smearing the ground with cheese and sauce.

Musk looked at the TV with a blank face. He didn't even pick up the slice of pizza. He had no idea what was happening.

His brain was completely shut down; he was muddled.

Skyglow?

Ion thruster propulsion?

???

Did they make a mistake?

The news program continued, the subsequent reports were still regarding Space-X and his BFR spacecraft.

However, he didn't have an inch of interest in this news segment even though he was one of the designers of the ship…

He took out his phone and quickly went on Twitter. He began to search for information about Skyglow.

However, he wasn't able to find any additional information. After all, until a few hours ago, Star Sky Technology didn't even make any announcements about Skyglow. He couldn't find any content regarding Star Sky Technology.

Instead, all of the people in Silicon Valley were talking about Skyglow in an astonished tone.

Musk turned off his phone. The news broadcast had already ended.

He then muttered, "Jesus Christ…"

He tried to take a sip from the champagne bottle but didn't realize that the cap was still on the bottle…

…

The Americans weren't the only ones who were shocked.

The ones who were most shocked by this news was still the Chinese people themselves.

The moment Skyglow was safely put in orbit, the CTV reporter waiting at the Jinling ground command center sent the news straight to Beijing. After receiving approval from the Communist Party of China, CTV began to report and congratulate Skyglow on reaching low-Earth orbit. The broadcast was sent to the entire country, almost as a New Year's Day gift.

Of course, not everyone was cheering.

There were a lot of people who were having headaches over this matter.

State Administration for National Defense.

Director's office.

Director Li was holding his phone in his hand, and he was on a call with the Jinling launch site.

When he heard that Lu Zhou was also in the space shuttle, his smile disappeared. His phone dropped onto the table and nearly fell on the ground.

Director Li quickly picked up his phone and made sure that his screen wasn't cracked. He put his phone up to his air and spoke anxiously.

"What?! Professor Lu is on Skyglow?"

Hou Guang, who was at the other end of the phone, gulped and replied, "Yeah…"

"Did you guys even do any inspections? How did you miss a living person?"

"We did do inspections… But I think Professor Lu sneaked in."

Director Li's vision was becoming blurry, and he nearly passed out.

Thankfully, his hands were holding the table, preventing him from falling.

He sat back in his chair and asked, "Then where is he now?"

"He's on the flight."

Director Li couldn't help but say, "No sh*t! I know he's on the flight, where else could he be? I'm asking about his situation, is he healthy? Are there any problems?"

"Not really, Skyglow is very stable, and according to the pilot, Professor Lu… seemed to have trained himself at home."

Jesus…

Director Li had a throbbing headache.

He had authority over other people, but he couldn't control Lu Zhou at all.

"That's good, that's good he's safe…"

Director Li took a deep breath and hung up the phone.

He stood up and walked around the office. He slammed the table and grabbed his coat. He then looked at his assistant, who was muddled.

"Xiao Zhou, buy me a train ticket!

"I want it as soon as possible!

"To Jinling!"

Chapter 703: It's Not A Bad Thing Anyway

The train ticket was bought.

However, Director Li wasn't able to make the trip to Jinling.

The moment Director Li stepped out of the State Administration for National Defense building, he received a phone call from the higher-ups. They asked him to attend an important meeting at Chang'an Avenue.

The meeting subject was obviously related to the successful Skyglow launch.

Inside a conference room at Chang'an Avenue.

By the time Director Li arrived at the scene, many people were already there.

Director Li greeted the heads of various departments before sitting down at his desk. He looked around the room and felt surprised.

What surprised him wasn't that there were leaders, but rather the number of leaders and high-ranking officials present. The people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were here, but those from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Air Force Equipment Department… even the chief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were here.

This lineup was quite impressive.

Director Li didn't waste time observing other people. He reached out and picked up the one-inch thick file in front of him.

When he saw the title of the file, he finally realized what was going on.

[Air and Space Strategic Bomber Project]

I see…

No wonder this conference happened so suddenly.

The conference soon began.

There weren't many opening remarks, and the conference soon got to the main point.

The first to speak was obviously Minister Qin from the Air Force Equipment Department.

This old man stood up and said in a steady and powerful tone, "The Skyglow launch was successful, and clearly, ion thruster propulsion technology has matured. I think that with the increase in outer-space activities, the current war model that we are familiar with will change drastically. Fortunately, we are ahead in this field. I think we should maintain our advantage and use ion thruster propulsion technology for national defense. We should develop military aerospace aircraft that can cruise above 100 kilometers!

"Regarding this proposal, I have already consulted experts at the Air Force Equipment Research Institute and summarized the content into the form of a report. This report is in section 3, page 24 of the documents in your hands.

"I hope you all can seriously consider this proposal."

Minister Qin's words were approved by some people.

But not by everyone.

After he sat down, a representative from another department stood up and spoke carefully.

"I think this matter ought to be considered more carefully. Right now, our stance in the international community is not optimal. If we choose to apply aerospace technology for military uses and develop outer-space weapons, this will alarm other countries."

Minister Qin's expression didn't change as he stood up and spoke again.

"Strategic deterrence is a part of national defense, not to mention that we are not the only ones researching aerospace weapons. The Americans have their X-37B and X-43 projects, and they even completed the first test flight years ago. The Russians have their codenamed 'H5' project, which also clearly states their intention of building an aerospace strategic bomber with requirements of Mach 10 speed and the ability to launch strategic strikes at ground targets at altitudes above 100 km.

"Even though we shouldn't try to give rise to military conflicts, we should still treat these weapons seriously!"

The discussion went on for about half an hour.

A slight cough interrupted the discussion.

The president, who was sitting at the end of the conference table, nodded and said, "I agree with Minister Qin.

"We have to develop aerospace planes.

"Of course, we have to comply with international treaties.

"We should limit our development of outer-space weapons and focus on conventional weapons. We do not want to be the first to develop and deploy unconventional weapons. We should never take the initiative to send unconventional weapons to space unless other countries do it first."

In fact, the difference between unconventional and conventional weapons was sometimes just a matter of changing the warhead, but claiming it as conventional weapons would help to reduce the pressure from the international community.

The president paused for a second before he continued, "Also, we have previously underestimated the importance of space exploration and placed a low priority on aerospace projects. I think we should make some adjustments to our strategy. Other than military-focused aerospace projects, we should prioritize aerospace-related projects, including the moon landing project."

Almost all of the participants agreed with the president's statement.

Even those who had doubts about the development of the strategic bomber, or those who questioned the significance of the space program, had no doubts about the importance of the moon landing project.

So far the controllable fusion negotiations had nearly come to an end. In exchange for controllable fusion, China had received many important technologies from other countries. There wasn't any point to use aerospace engineering as a tactic to scare the United States and Europe.

Especially because of Skyglow's recent success, anyone with half a brain could see that the space age was coming soon.

Now that the energy problem was solved, next up was the problem of resources.

Whoever controlled the moon had control of the future.

Many things were discussed in the meeting.

This included the establishment of new high-tech aerospace industrial areas along the river from Jinling to Xijiang, low-interest rates, supporting policies for private companies in the field of aerospace, etc.

Time quickly passed by, and the conference was near its end.

This time, the leader of the China National Space Administration was speaking.

The China National Space Administration was a second-level department and usually wouldn't have speaking rights. However, this time was a bit special…

"One more thing… it's about Professor Lu." The China National Space Administration leader coughed awkwardly and said, "A few hours ago, we've received information from the Jinling launch site command center. They said that… Professor Lu is on Skyglow."

Everyone: "…"

An old man in military uniform took off his glasses and muttered, "I think it's time to find him a partner."

Another kind-hearted looking old man sitting nearby shook his head and smiled.

"The times have changed, it's not the same anymore. I'm afraid that the young man wouldn't be interested. Whenever I ask my son about his partner, he gets angry at me…"

"W-why are you talking about this?!"

"What else can we do?"

The president sighed.

"Forget about it, let him do whatever he wants.

"It's not a bad thing anyway."

Chapter 704: Celebrating New Year's Day in the Sky

Moscow.

Federal Security Service.

A man in a gray leather jacket was sitting behind an office desk. He held a fountain pen in his hand while reading a report.

Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds coming from the door.

The man looked toward the door.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and a skinny man walked in.

"We have our latest report from the Foreign Intelligence Service, as well as news from the Federal Space Agency," the skinny man said as he placed the document on the table. He said, "It looks like the Chinese have indeed succeeded."

The man sitting behind the desk began to tap his finger on the table. He picked up the document and began to flip through it.

A minute passed by.

He put down the document and looked at the agent standing in front of him.

"That's all the intel we have?"

The agent nodded solemnly and continued, "The local army patrols are too strict, there are also reconnaissance aircraft patrolling at high altitudes in the surrounding airspace. It's too dangerous to get close, so we can only observe at a distance."

The man in the gray leather jacket nodded and didn't ridicule his subordinate.

He paused for a second and stood up from his desk. He grabbed the new document, as well as the previous report he was reading.

"I will report this to Mr. Vladimir. Make sure the Foreign Intelligence Service is on the lookout. If there are any new findings, report them to me immediately.

"Especially what kind of propulsion system they're using…

"I want to know what it is!"

There was one thing Lu Zhou guessed incorrectly.

Even though the ground command center did go into chaos after discovering he was missing, after they heard that Lu Zhou was safe and sound in Skyglow, the chaos disappeared.

After all, he was already on the spacecraft, there was no point panicking.

It wasn't like they could turn the space shuttle around and make him come back?

Therefore, after Hou Guang confirmed Lu Zhou's safety, he readjusted his mindset and continued to lead the command center.

5 hours and 27 minutes into the flight.

When Skyglow was passing on top of China, they made contact with CTV through the ground command center. Just like they had planned, Skyglow sent a 25-second congratulatory video on New Year's Day.

This video was originally going to be filmed by the two astronauts. But now there were more than two people on the flight. Nie Yun and Nie Yan didn't want to pretend that Lu Zhou didn't exist, not to mention Lu Zhou was keen to participate in an interesting thing like this. Therefore, the two-person video was changed to three people.

Lu Zhou waved at the camera. On behalf of all of the astronauts and the ground command staff members, he wished everyone in China a happy new year.

While Lu Zhou was sending this video to the ground command center, America, which was 13 hours behind Beijing, finally stepped into the new year.

However, countless people lost sleep last night because of the sudden news report by Columbia TV.

According to Twitter's official statistics, during the SuperBowl, almost a third of Americans were discussing the aerospace spacecraft that was launched from the other side of the globe.

This was extremely rare…

For a long time now, aerospace was America's pride and joy, it was even part of their culture. This wasn't only because Hollywood produced so many science fiction movies, but also because ever since the cold war, no one had ever surpassed the United States in the field of aerospace.

However, the successful launch of this weirdly named aerospace spacecraft destroyed that pride.

Especially when people heard that the rumored Skyglow was using ion thruster propulsion!

Everyone was in shock and disbelief…

Especially people in the aerospace industry, engineers at Space-X, Blue Origin, and so on. When they saw the news broadcast, they could hardly believe their eyes.

NASA's most advanced ion thruster propulsion could barely send an egg into the sky. Yet, Star Sky Technology, a company that produced lithium batteries, was able to fly a rocket using ion thruster propulsion?

Could there be anything more science fiction than this?

They wanted to believe that this was just an early April Fool's joke…

In addition to the engineers at Space-X and Blue Origin, the NASA employees were also having a horrible time.

This was their time to enjoy their comfortable vacation, like taking their family to Hawaii to enjoy the warm sunshine. However, because of that damn aerospace spacecraft from the other side of the Pacific Ocean, their vacation abruptly ended.

Not just this, but ever since last night, there had been countless reporters gathered at the headquarters of NASA. People coming to work the next morning had to squeeze through the reporters and their microphones, just to get in the building.

In order to get rid of these annoying reporters, NASA held a press conference as a last resort. They invited all of the reporters to the building reception hall and gave this daunting task to a freshly recruited intern.

In the midst of the chaos, the conference began.

Because there were so many reporters there, the entire reception hall was a mess.

There wasn't any time for the presenter to speak. The reporters crazily shoved their microphones and recording pens in the presenter's face.

"Hello, I'm a reporter from Columbia TV. I want to ask you, is it true that China's latest space shuttle is using an ion thruster propulsion system?"

"Does the successful launch of Skyglow mean that China has caught up with us in the aerospace field?"

"I want to know where the taxpayers' US$40 billion per year is being spent on!"

"We did receive a briefing regarding the new space shuttle launch in China. However, they didn't specify what kind of launch technology they were using," the NASA spokesperson said. He twirled a pen in his hand and quickly said, "We will keep a close eye on this matter, but that's it for now.

"But I want to say that a successful initial launch doesn't mean anything. There's also the orbital operations, return to the atmosphere, etc. The entire launch has to be completed, for this to be regarded as a successful space flight."

There was a small commotion in the scene.

The New York Times reporter noticed a story he could twist, and he immediately reached out with his microphone and asked, "So what you're saying is that the ion thruster technology in Skyglow is going to fail on its return? Is this NASA's statement?"

"I never said that." The spokesman opened his mouth and expressed his views in an ambiguous way as he said, "We don't know whether or not Skyglow is actually using an ion thruster propulsion system. Also, the success of China's launch depends on whether the astronauts can make it back to Earth safely."

The New York Times reporter eyes' lit up.

It wasn't just The New York Times reporter, other media outlets reporters were doing the same.

The venue erupted in chaos.

Breaking news!

NASA predicts that there is a flaw in Skyglow's design, Skyglow will crash into the atmosphere?!

The spokesman on stage was sweating, he didn't know what to do.

As expected, this intern was too inexperienced.

Even though he tried to make his statements ambiguous, the reporters still decided to twist his words.

However, NASA wasn't concerned that the press conference was in chaos. Compared to how media outlets viewed this matter, they obviously cared more about how Skyglow was doing…

Chapter 705: Major Defect?

NASA Headquarters.

Aiden was standing inside the satellite control room wearing a black suit. He slammed a stack of reports on the table and stood in front of a NASA expert. "Who told me that ion thruster propulsion systems can't send spacecraft to the sky, who told me it can't even send an egg?! Who! How about you explain this to me then!"

The NASA expert who previously vowed that using an ion thruster was impossible looked away awkwardly.

"We are still not sure what kind of propulsion system they're using. By looking at the engine plume, they might be using a hydrogen and methane mixture as their propellant…"

"Go eat sh*t!"

Bill Gerstenmaier looked at how emotional Aiden was. He coughed and adjusted his glasses.

"Mr. Aiden, gathering intelligence is the CIA's responsibility. We are obligated to cooperate with your work, but that doesn't mean we are responsible for the CIA's mistakes."

"You think this is our mistake?" Aiden glared at Gerstenmaier and said, "You guys told us that it was impossible for them to send a spacecraft to space using ion thruster technology."

"But we're still not sure what type of propulsion they're using, right? Maybe the situation isn't as bad as we think…" Gerstenmaier said awkwardly. He coughed and said, "Also, we didn't say anything wrong. Traditional ion thruster technology can't even send an egg to space. Its biggest advantage over traditional chemical rockets is its massive specific impulse… But maybe China found a more efficient way to accelerate the working medium? You would have to ask China about this, we're not researching ion thruster propulsion after all…"

Aiden uttered coldly, "Oh yeah? But as far as I'm concerned, you guys receive quite a lot of funding from Congress for the ion thruster propulsion research."

Gerstenmaier smoothly diverted the conversation away from funding.

"I'm not in charge of funding, go ask the director."

Aiden took a deep breath and walked to the satellite control console.

He looked at the green dot on the screen and wished there was a missile launch button nearby so that he could blow that thing out of the sky.

He had to admit, that was a tempting idea…

It was just a bit impractical.

Forget about whether or not those anti-satellite missiles could even track a spacecraft traveling at kilometers per second, even Trump wouldn't approve of such a stupid plan.

Not to mention that the controllable fusion negotiations were almost finished…

He only prayed for one thing, which was for Skyglow to have a faster than expected landing when returning to Earth.

Just like what happened to Space Shuttle Columbia.

Suddenly, the NASA expert, who was berated, muttered something, "I hope they succeed."

Aiden glared at him.

The expert noticed Aiden's glare, and he knew that it wasn't the right time for him to speak. He awkwardly began to explain himself.

"I mean that… If Skyglow succeeds, and they're really using an ion thruster propulsion system, that proved that ion thrusters' power is comparable to traditional chemical thrusters. Do you know what this means? It will completely revolutionize the aerospace industry!"

"Oh, really now? Too bad it's not going to revolutionize America's aerospace industry," Aiden said as he stared at the expert with a dead stare. He snorted, "I just hope that damn spacecraft and the astronauts burn to ashes on re-entry… Wait, what did you say?"

Suddenly, Aiden realized something, and he grabbed the NASA expert's collar.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Gerstenmaier said. He wanted to help but was stopped by Aiden's subordinates.

The expert looked muddled as he stared at Aiden and said, "What are you doing? You want to fight? I'm warning you, if you touch me…"

Aiden: "You said enough power?"

"What, what power…"

"Ion thrusters!"

"Yeah… Why?"

"How much electric power would it take to send a 10-ton spacecraft into space? Tell me!"

"100 MW? Maybe 1,000 MW? I don't know! We never even thought about putting a battery that size on a rocket, and satellites only need small batteries and solar panels!"

The moment Aiden heard the MW unit, his face changed.

He vaguely remembered a classified document.

That document mentioned that China might be researching the miniaturization of controllable fusion technology.

If Skyglow was really using an ion thruster propulsion system…

Forget about the ion thrusters, the huge energy supply device that could support the ion thruster power consumption was what they should be worrying about!

A drop of cold sweat rolled off Aiden's forehead…

…

Jin Ling City.

Star Sky Technology headquarters.

The sky was dark, only a few offices still had their lights on.

Chen Yushan was sitting in the CEO's office. She anxiously called the Jinling launch site. The phone rang for a while before connecting.

"What the hell is going on? Why is Lu Zhou on the space shuttle?"

Ten minutes ago, she saw the news broadcast regarding Skyglow's successful launch. Only then, she heard about Lu Zhou being on Skyglow.

Hou Guang nervously spoke with the CEO.

"We…"

Chen Yushan was on the verge of tears as she snapped, "Why didn't you stop him?!"

Hou Guang explained, "Who could stop Lu Zhou, he's the boss."

Lu Zhou had the highest security clearance in the launch site.

Lu Zhou could dismantle the space shuttle if he wanted, much less getting on the space shuttle.

Ordinary employees wouldn't dare to ask why Professor Lu was getting on the space shuttle, they would think that he was just double-checking the shuttle.

Ordinary employees would have never thought that Lu Zhou would have stayed on the space shuttle. They only found out he was missing after the launch was over, when the shuttle was already high in the sky…

After hearing Hou Guang's answer, Chen Yushan finally realized what was happening.

This guy…

This isn't even the first time he's done something like this!

Why does he never take his safety seriously?

Even though research is interesting, he shouldn't do something like this…

Chen Yushan's heart was thumping, and she leaned back on her office chair.

She took out her phone and began to scroll through Weibo, in hopes of calming down.

She saw the 30-second New Year's Day congratulations video shot in space, which was released by CCTV's official account. She read all of the exciting comments posted by netizens. She suddenly burst into a smile and felt a lot better.

She suddenly knew why Lu Zhou was doing this.

Maybe he wanted to show everyone that spaceflight wasn't an impossible thing for ordinary people, nor was it a dangerous activity… In the near future, spaceflight would be available for everyone.

There was nothing for Chen Yushan to be scared about.

She gradually calmed down. However, a news headline suddenly caught her eye.

After reading the news headline, she nearly fainted.

[Skyglow is suspected of major design flaws? Difficulties on re-entry?!]

This was the latest report from The New York Times.

Which came from the press conference at NASA…

Chapter 706: Returning From Orbit!

On New Year's Day.

Almost half of China was celebrating the launch of Skyglow, regardless of whether or not they knew anything about aerospace. Most people didn't understand the difference between ion thruster and chemical propulsion, or what a Hall effect thruster was. However, Skyglow was the first spacecraft that could travel between Earth and outer space, and this was a huge victory for China.

But on this glorious day, the sudden report from The New York Times poured an ounce of worry into everyone's head.

In this report, The New York Times manipulated the NASA spokesperson's speech while also citing opinions from the Silicon Valley aerospace engineers, which all said that Skyglow had massive design flaws.

And because of these design flaws, re-entry on earth might be fatal.

The end result could be similar to the Space Shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated during atmospheric entry…

The moment this report was released, it spread quickly across Twitter and Facebook.

After this report was spread to China, people were outraged. Especially since the 25-second New Year's Day celebration video just came out, this immediately masked the successful launch.

No one was excited anymore.

A lot of people even began to pray for Professor Lu.

[For f*ck's sake! Americans are evil! They cursed our plane!]

[Is it even possible to curse a plane? I think they're just kindly reminding us.]

[I don't know! I think the Americans are scheming something, they're not going to strike it with a missile, right?]

[MiG-25: As long as I run fast enough, missiles can't catch me.]

[Pray for God Lu (candle) (candle) (candle)]

[I hope Skyglow and God Lu return safely. (candle)]

[…]

This topic quickly went on trending.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou couldn't go on his phone. Otherwise, he would burst out laughing.

Fatal re-entry?

Impossible…

Even if they couldn't return, there was a backup escape cabin available. Lu Zhou wouldn't risk his life like this.

400 km in the sky.

Skyglow was in low-Earth orbit. The crew had already completed numerous basic operations such as orbital flight, cabin pressure regulation, sanitary system testing, weightless sleeping, eating, etc. They also observed the possible effects of cosmic rays on 20 different plants and seeds.

After completing the series of flight tests and scientific experiments, the flight time was 23 hours 50 minutes.

Just like they had planned, the ground command center ordered Skyglow to restart its engine, in preparation for returning to Earth.

Nie Yan was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, checking the energy supply components, and she imitated the voice of a flight attendant as she said, "Professor Lu, please put on your spacesuit and sit in your seat. Our flight is landing soon…"

"I know, you don't have to remind me." Lu Zhou smiled and gave two thumbs-up as he said, "You got this, land this thing safely."

Lu Zhou was in a good mood.

This finally scratched his itch for space.

Of course, the most important thing was the 50,000 experience points and the lucky draw ticket.

The 50,000 experience points alone was worth the cost of this flight.

Nie Yun turned around and forced a smile, but his palms were drenched.

Re-entry was just as difficult as the initial launch.

Even though the Skyglow return path was theoretically safer than its launch path, there were no guarantees there wouldn't be any accidents. After all, this was his first time flying so high…

"Professor, can you promise me one thing?"

Lu Zhou: "What thing?"

"If we safely land…"

"Stop!" Lu Zhou raised his hand and interrupted Nie Yun as he said, "Don't jinx us. I'll promise you whatever you want once we land."

Just don't be too ridiculous.

Also, it can't be anything about my love life.

However, Nie Yun didn't listen.

Seeing how Lu Zhou was trying to dismiss him, Nie Yun removed his hands from the control console and spoke aggressively.

"No, I have to say it now!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

For f*ck's sake!

Can't you just wait an hour or two?

Lu Zhou sighed and said reluctantly, "Okay then… Say it, but I can't make any guarantees."

Nie Yun: "My request is simple, just promise me this is your last time going to space!"

Lu Zhou was stunned.

There's no way I'm agreeing!

I'm still young!

When Lu Zhou saw how determined Nie Yun was, he reluctantly compromised.

"At best, I can promise you that this is my last time flying with you."

Nie Yun thought for a second and nodded.

"Ok!"

Just don't be on my flight again.

If anything happens, my name will be shamed forever.

After spending so many years in the army, this was his first time afraid of dying.

"Okay, Brother, stop it!"

Nie Yan shook her head and pressed a few buttons on the control panel.

"Navigation system is turned on, confirm there are no malfunctions, energy supply machine has been turned on. Engine 1 and 2 are on standby.

"Ready to exit orbit."

Nie Yun was calm, cool, and collected. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, he said, "Let's go home!"

…

Regardless of whether it was an aerospace plane or a space shuttle, returning from low-earth orbit was always a difficult task.

As the co-pilot, Nie Yan checked the "fuel" status of Skyglow. The remaining amounts of deuterium and tritium were sufficient. They had enough for a second round trip. The small problem was the xenon in the working medium compartment; there was only 21% remaining.

After all, they had to reach a certain amount of force to escape Earth's gravity. If they wanted to get in low-Earth orbit, they had to increase the amount of working medium ejection. They also had to lower the specific impulse but increase the engine thrust.

However, this amount of working medium was plenty for the re-entry.

With the ground command center's guidance and Skyglow's intelligent navigation system, Nie Yun successfully finished the orbital change and entered the transfer orbit.

At the same time, in NASA's satellite control room, exclaims were heard.

"Target began atmospheric entry"

"The Pacific Ocean is going to be their graveyard," Aiden said while staring at the green dot on the screen. He said, "I hope the spacecraft is the only thing salvageable."

Several workers monitoring the spacecraft movement frowned.

This was too devious for them.

Even though China was their competitor…

The engineer who was sitting in front of the console stared nervously at the green dot. When it was near the density boundary of the atmosphere, he spoke.

"Skyglow's trajectory is abnormal…"

Aiden slammed his hands on the table and said happily, "There's an accident?"

Did God hear my wishes?

If they really land in the Pacific Ocean, we will gladly help them salvage the spacecraft parts.

"Their return trajectory is different than what we expected…"

Aiden's excitement faded. He frowned as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"There's only one possibility."

"What is it?"

"They still have fuel left…" the engineer said in disbelief, "a lot of fuel left."

Chapter 707: Triumphant Return

NASA engineers guessed correctly.

Compared to other spacecraft, Skyglow had a lot of leftover fuel for its re-entry trip.

The remaining 21% working medium might not be enough for them to fly from the surface to low-Earth orbit, but it was plenty enough for them to accelerate away from Earth-Moon's escape velocity and go to Mars or something.

From the altitudes of 100 km to 20 km, with the help of air resistance and the engine, Skyglow's speed decreased to Mach 7. It was flying over China's western airspace.

Because of this relatively slow speed, a successful landing was guaranteed.

Roscosmos.

A stern-looking man wearing a black suit looked at the green dot moving on the radar screen; there was a flash of disappointment on his face.

If Skyglow landed in Russia or the Pacific Ocean, he would have gladly "helped" the Chinese. Unfortunately, God didn't give him the chance to "help" his old Chinese friends.

There was nothing else left to see.

He was confident that at this height and speed, even he could land this thing safely.

"Cancel the Pacific fleet standby."

A man in military uniform saluted and responded.

"Yes, sir."

…

When the faint blue arc emerged from the clouds, the metallic silver Skyglow spacecraft appeared in people's sights.

Cheers could be heard at the Jinling launch site command center.

Chief Engineer Hou Guang, who was standing in front of the control console, took off his headset and broke out in celebration with the staff members.

They had been on duty for the better part of the past 24 hours. Most people slept less than 2 hours, and some didn't sleep at all.

After all, this was Skyglow's first flight.

For them, this aerospaceplane was like their child, carrying the world's most advanced fusion technology and ion thruster propulsion technology.

Not to mention that Professor Lu was on there as well.

A lot of people even dropped their headsets on the table and ran out of the control room, out to the launch site, waiting to meet their heroes.

Chen Yushan, who was here since last night, was in tears.

She was worried since last night.

Yan Yan was standing near the command room entrance, and she carried a portable medical box over her shoulder. She stared at Wang Peng, who was standing next to her, and asked, "That kid is a pain in the a*s for you, right?"

"It's alright." Wang Peng sighed and reached for the box of cigarettes in his pocket. He suddenly remembered that smoking was banned here, so he put the box of cigarettes away and said, "The higher-ups knew that this guy is difficult to control, so they're not blaming me."

At most, he was criticized over the phone.

Yan Yan looked at him in disbelief.

"That's it? You're not going to be punished? I don't believe it."

"I'm really not…" Wang Peng paused for a second and made a helpless gesture. "Okay, I'm probably going to lose my end-of-year bonus… But honestly, after spending this much time with this kid, I didn't expect a bonus anyway."

Yan Yan shook her head and looked at Chen Yushan, who was walking out of the door.

"Let's go as well… Hopefully, he doesn't have hemiparesis."

Yang Guangbiao, who was standing next to them silently this whole time, coughed and said, "Please don't jinx it."

He still remembered what happened at the controllable fusion reactor site last time.

…

The engine turned off.

The landing gear was released and made a heavy impact with the ground. The space shuttle rolled along the runway.

When the two deceleration umbrellas were released, Nie Yun's anxious heart finally relaxed a little.

He took his hands off the joystick and leaned against his seat. He suddenly realized that his entire back was soaking wet. Only then, did he realize what kind of responsibility and pressure he had to endure over the past 24 hours.

But at last, the victory was here.

He could faintly see people running toward the plane.

There were launch site staff members, headquarters engineers, CTV reporters…

He managed to squeeze out a smile when he suddenly reminisced back to the day he first flew the J-20 jet.

"This is like a dream…"

Unlike Nie Yun, Lu Zhou didn't spend time being sentimental.

He already left the passenger seat. He stood in front of the porthole and looked outside. It seemed like he was thinking about something.

Nie Yun noticed his expression and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"No problem," Lu Zhou said, "but the designs of the engine and the wing have to be changed."

"I think it's pretty good."

"But it can be better." Lu Zhou looked outside and smiled as he said, "As expected, I had to fly myself to get a better understanding."

Nie Yun: "…"

Nie Yan: "…"

These two had a bad feeling about the future…

…

The three helped each other take off their spacesuits.

The moment they stepped out of the cabin, the three heroes were immediately surrounded by people.

Lu Zhou let Nie Yun and Nie Yan handle the interviews. He was about to go to the ground command center and talk to Hou Guang about future Skyglow designs. However, he saw a man walk forward.

Lu Zhou stared at him for a while before saying in an uncertain tone, "Director Li?"

"It's me!"

Lu Zhou: "Oh Jesus, what happened to you? You look horrible."

Maybe a day in space means a year on Earth?

That doesn't make any sense.

Director Li frowned and sighed.

"It's all because of you!"

He was about to say something, but another old man walked forward.

Lu Zhou looked at him and cursed in his mind.

Yuan Huanmin?

The f*ck?

What is this guy doing here?

Lu Zhou was about to pretend he didn't see anything, but the teary-eyed old man shook his hand.

"I was wrong… Please let me apologize!"

Lu Zhou: "…?!"

Wrong about what?!

What is he talking about?

While Lu Zhou was still confused about it, a slim figure slipped through the crowd and hugged him.

"Thank god, you're okay!"

Yan Yan was watching this from a distance, and she suddenly stopped herself from walking forward.

She was happy that Lu Zhou was safe.

However, there was a twinge in her heart…

Chapter 708: You're Half Correc

The biggest breaking news this year wasn't some celebrity's wedding, nor was it Daya Bay's power generation success, but instead, it was the successful launch and return of Skyglow.

Everything from the successful launch, to the 25-second congratulatory video, to The New York Times report, and the safe return of Skyglow. Every moment grabbed everyone's attention.

There are plenty of rocket scientists.

But Lu Zhou was probably the only rocket scientist who flew in his own rocket.

Even Elon Musk, who had been called the real-life Iron Man, said he would never fly on his Falcon 9 rocket.

This sensational flight completely changed everyone's opinions regarding aerospace.

2020 was going to be a new aerospace era.

This would revolutionize the aerospace industry.

Interestingly enough, if it wasn't for NASA's news release on Columbia TV, most people wouldn't have known that Skyglow was using an ion thruster propulsion system.

After the news came out, neither Star Sky Technology nor the Chinese government denied or confirmed the claims. For most people, this silently confirmed that Skyglow was using ion thrusters.

The people praying for Skyglow's safe return were ecstatic.

For a long time, China had been chasing the footsteps of the United States and Russia in the aerospace field. When it came to the design of high-thrust rockets and spacecraft, China was even behind Japan and Europe. When Skyglow successfully used ion thruster propulsion technology, it placed China five years ahead of everyone else.

The first step of the moon landing plan was a success.

Next was figuring out how to safely send people there.

Most people didn't care about those distant things. Skyglow's safe return proved many people wrong.

After Lu Zhou heard about what happened from Chen Yushan, he opened Weibo and posted the photo he took of Earth, along with a caption.

[Who said I'm not coming back?]

Less than 30 seconds after he posted the photo, there were hundreds of comments.

[Haha, what do the NASA experts have to say now? What happened to disintegrate on re-entry?]

[F*ck The New York Times, fake news!]

[I just want to say one thing, God Lu you're nutty!]

[Actually, Skyglow was supposed to disintegrate, but NASA jinxed it.]

[Haha, I knew that God Lu knew what he's doing!]

[God Lu, I want to have a kid with you in space ~~]

[Jesus Christ!]

[No one's talking about how handsome God Lu is, so I'll say it!]

[…]

Within half an hour, the retweets were in the tens of thousands. It was also retweeted by Everyone Daily, CTV, and other major media outlets. It quickly spread throughout Weibo and other social media sites.

A lot of people posted Lu Zhou's Weibo photo on Twitter and tagged The New York Times' account.

Interestingly enough, the first to respond wasn't The New York Times, but it was NASA's official account.

In NASA's tweet, they quickly clarified that they never said that the Skyglow could disintegrate on re-entry. And that The New York Times twisted their words at the press conference.

There was a lot of backlash on Twitter, and people were all tagging The New York Times' account.

Lu Zhou thought that this matter would be over. After all, in his opinion, this was only a test flight, nothing amazing. However, this matter was far from complete.

After interviewing the two astronauts, CTV used previously recorded material and made a documentary regarding the launch of Skyglow.

A classic CTV documentary style was used, and it highlighted the difficulty of research and the danger of the launch. The focus of attention was on Lu Zhou, who flew with the two other astronauts. He was depicted as a hero who risked his life for research.

They even quoted him.

"I'm the chief designer. If I want firsthand experience, I have to go!"

The quote made it seem like Lu Zhou was going to space to battle aliens…

Inside a special ward at 301 Hospital, Lu Zhou threw the half-read newspaper on the table and shook his head while sitting on the hospital bed.

The reason he was in the ward wasn't that he was sick. It was because just like the two astronauts, the higher-ups asked him to undergo medical inspections.

Even though he had repeatedly stated that he was healthy, he wasn't able to argue with the old 301 Hospital doctors.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that they had good intentions; they were just scared he was secretly ill.

Therefore, he didn't resist.

"It's written pretty nicely…"

Wang Peng stared at Lu Zhou and had a weird expression on his face.

I've never seen you this humble before…

Yan Yan came over and said, "Objectively speaking, the news article is pretty touching."

"You guys don't get it," Lu Zhou said as he shook his head.

Chen Yushan, who was standing beside the hospital bed, asked, "Can I take a guess?"

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Go ahead."

After their hug the day he returned to Earth, his relationship with Chen Yushan became more complex.

However, Lu Zhou didn't know how to describe this complexity.

Therefore, neither of them mentioned the hug. They merely pretended as if nothing had happened.

How do I describe this?

Lu Zhou didn't know what this type of feeling was.

Maybe I've never experienced this before…

"Well… Through this launch, you want to tell people that there is no difference between space travel and normal travel, and that it is less dangerous than they imagined?"

Lu Zhou went silent for a while as his eyes drifted aside.

"Okay, you're half correct."

Actually, she was only a quarter correct.

Half of the reason was because of Lu Zhou's system mission, the other quarter was purely because he wanted to see what exactly would happen when the spacecraft was flying. He wanted to know exactly where he could improve, instead of only hearing the aviators' suggestions and studying the data.

Even though Chen Yushan was only half correct, she still smiled happily.

Yan Yan, who was standing next to her, silently pouted. She picked up the medical inspection sheet and walked out of the ward.

Lu Zhou didn't notice her subtle change. He was focused on the snowflakes falling outside of the window.

I guess it's winter.

STAR-2 experimental reactor's successful fusion ignition was around this time last year.

Time really flies…

Chapter 709: Discharge

While Lu Zhou was hospitalized, a lot of people came to visit him.

There were people from the State Administration for National Defense, China National Space Administration, and the military equipment department.

As well as higher-ups from the Communist Party.

Honestly, he could have been discharged after two days. After all, there were a lot of matters he had to take care of. 301 Hospital did a comprehensive examination as fast as possible. However, when the president came to see how Lu Zhou was doing, he smiled and said, "Stay here and rest a bit longer, remember what happened last time?"

So…

Lu Zhou's hospital stay was extended by a week.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that the president had good intentions and only wanted him to rest instead of going back to doing research. However, staying in the hospital made him feel like his body was rotting.

Chen Yushan stayed with him in Beijing for a few days and made sure that his health was okay. She then went back to Jinling. In a sense, she was similar to Lu Zhou; she couldn't stop working.

Lu Zhou was bored staying at 301 Hospital, so he ended up playing cards with Wang Peng and Yan Yan.

Unfortunately, playing cards didn't help pass the time. Even though the two other people were pretty good, they were rookies when compared to Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou got sick of winning and let Yang Guangbiao take his spot.

At last, the week was over, and Lu Zhou only had one last round of inspections.

Coincidentally, the person who did his last examination was Academician Zhao Zhongji, the same person who led the international medical consultant team back when Lu Zhou was in a coma. The kind-hearted old man smiled at him.

"Professor Lu, we meet again."

Lu Zhou didn't know what to say, so he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah."

Academician Zhao Zhongji smiled and said, "The examination went well. There are no problems. But I still have to say that you're still young, you should take care of your body. Aerospace is suitable for people who already have kids. After all, there's no magnetic field in space, and no one knows how those cosmic rays can affect your body."

Lu Zhou: "I think science can solve those problems, but this is nothing important, there's no need to worry."

Actually, not all astronauts had kids. Astronaut Liu from China had a kid three years after her return to Earth. The claim that genetics could be altered by cosmic rays was debatable, not to mention that the current high-energy ray shielding technology was able to block most of the rays.

Zhao Zhongji had a helpless expression. He didn't try to persuade anymore.

"Okay then, I don't know as much as you, I'm just suggesting."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome, fill out this form." Academician Zhao Zhongji handed Lu Zhou a form and said, "Oh yeah, it's almost the academician election season, are you ready?"

Lu Zhou, who was filling out the form, paused for a second before he said, "I… haven't been paying attention."

Academician Zhao Zhongji shook his head and said, "You're probably the only Chinese scholar who doesn't pay attention to this stuff."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm not the only one. It's just that, this title doesn't matter too much for me."

Academician Zhao Zhongji: "Haha, you're right. Regardless, congratulations in advance."

Lu Zhou handed back the form and said, "You can congratulate me after I get elected… See you later."

The old academician smiled and waved his hand.

"Goodbye, hope I don't see you here again."

…

Lu Zhou handed in a form to the reception, which was on the first floor of the hospital. After he went through the discharge procedures, he went back to his ward to pack his luggage. The other two astronauts were also discharged today, but he didn't plan on going back with them.

Before going back to Jinling, he still had some things to take care of.

Lu Zhou opened the door of his ward and walked to his bed. He was surprised to see a person sitting on a chair near his bed.

"Director Li?" Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and smiled as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Coming to visit you before you leave the hospital, what, am I not welcome here?"

There was a tiny bit of resentment in Director Li's eyes.

It seemed like Lu Zhou's action of sneaking into Skyglow without telling anyone gave Director Li a lot of trouble.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean? I was just about to visit you after leaving the hospital. The ward is pretty crappy, so just sit wherever."

"This is crappy? This is the best room in the 301 Hospital!" Director Li sat down and said, "Do you plan on going back to Jinling after being discharged?"

Lu Zhou: "I'm staying in Beijing for a couple of days, why?"

Director Li: "Nothing, just wondering. Oh yeah, there's something I have to tell you."

Lu Zhou: "Aerospaceplane?"

Director Li: "Yeah."

Lu Zhou: "Okay then, I'll listen… Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thanks. I'll keep it short." Director Li paused for a second before he said, "A week ago, after you boarded the spacecraft, the Communist Party of China had a meeting. The meeting was about placing aerospace engineering as a top national priority again. There are many specific policies. I'll only tell you the relevant ones. The specific documents won't be released for a while, so make sure you don't tell anyone."

Lu Zhou: "Go ahead."

Director Li looked toward the door and lowered his voice. He said quietly, "We plan on establishing an aerospace science and technology park from Jinling and Xijiang."

Lu Zhou looked strangely at this guy.

"Shouldn't this be a local policy? Why is the central government taking the lead?"

Director Li coughed and said, "Do you think a small local government can handle something related to the aerospace field?"

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right."

He didn't know a lot about politics, so he decided to stay quiet.

However, there was something else he didn't understand…

"What does the aerospace park have to do with me?"

"It has a lot to do with you." Director Li sat upright in his chair and said, "When all of the supporting policies are approved, that place will be the largest aerospace incubation area in China, and a large number of aerospace and military enterprises will move in. High-level officials want to focus on researching the ion thruster propulsion system you developed, as well as a wide range of fields such as aerospace and national defense."

He looked a little embarrassed as he smiled at Lu Zhou.

"We hope that you can provide technical support to the enterprises in the park. Of course, your profits will also be protected in the form of defense patents and research and development subsidies."

"Sure thing." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Once the policies are approved, just call me. Is there anything else?"

Attracting a large number of aerospace companies was beneficial for Star Sky Technology. This meant that the space shuttle assembly center would no longer have to find parts from all over the country; they would have everything at their fingertips.

Lu Zhou had control of the core aerospace technology, but he didn't need to have total control over the entire space shuttle production process as it was neither realistic nor economical. He only needed to manufacture the most important components, such as the ion thrusters.

"Okay then, that's all." Director Li patted his thighs and said, "There's one thing people keep asking me. You're quite old now, there are 25-year-old adults with toddlers already. Aren't your parents worried?"

"Fate can't be rushed."

Director Li smiled and said, "Fate doesn't wait for you? Do you want me to introduce you to someone?"

Lu Zhou said, "Let's talk about it later."

Research is so fun, why would I want to do anything else?

If I really end up having a family…

I probably won't be able to spend as much time in the laboratory anymore.

He always tried to hide from this problem.

Director Li shook his head, but he didn't say anything else.

He was about to stand up and leave when he suddenly patted his head as if he forgot about something.

"Oh wait, I nearly forgot something. This morning, the China Western Military Division called us. The troops stationed in the Junggar Basin area found the thing you were looking for. Do you want them to send it to Beijing or directly to the Jinling research institute?"

Lu Zhou immediately became energetic, and he responded quickly, "Where is it approximately?"

Director Li paused for a second before replying, "I think it's on a hamada."

Lu Zhou said, "Tell them to stay where they are! I'll personally go there with some of my guys."

Chapter 710: Desert in the Basin.

The wind howled along the endless wasteland, sand dunes, and a few oil wells that were barely visible. There wasn't any sign of living things.

Two desert-colored military jeeps drove on the sand-covered highway, one in front of the other.

This was the center of the Junggar Basin, the second largest desert in China—Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert.

There was no life to be found here.

As Wang Peng looked into the distance, he squinted and said happily, "The weather is pretty nice today."

Lu Zhou: "… You call this nice?"

"At least there's no sandstorm, it's pretty nice," Wang Peng said while holding the steering wheel. He smiled at Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the back seat, and said, "Do you know what Dzoosotoyn Elisen means?"

Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about liberal arts, so he asked, "What does it mean?"

Wang Peng: "In Mongolian language, it means infested with wild boars."

Lu Zhou looked out the car window and said, "How come I'm not seeing any boars?"

Forget about boars, he couldn't even see a cockroach.

There were only camelthorn bushes and half-dead tree branches.

Wang Peng: "The meaning came from a long time ago."

Lu Zhou: "You know so much."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "I just heard about it from someone else."

Director Li was also sitting in the backseat with Lu Zhou. His face was tightly wrapped with a desert neck scarf. He coughed and said, "Are we there yet?"

Wang Peng looked at the car navigation system and said, "It says that there's ten kilometers left, so we'll be there soon."

Director Li sighed in relief.

His old body couldn't handle this trip any longer.

It took a whole day to take the train from Beijing to Wushi. Then it took another half a day to go from Wushi to this desert.

Honestly, Lu Zhou had never been to this area. If he didn't have something important to do, he would have gladly vacationed here for a bit. However, it was not the time for vacation yet; there was a very important research task waiting for him.

The jeep was borrowed from the local Wushi army. Wang Peng was in the driver's seat, Doctor Yan was in the passenger seat, Lu Zhou and Director Li were in the backseat.

The jeep in front of them was filled with soldiers from Regiment 150. They were here to lead the way and escort them.

Even though this area was rural, it wasn't safe.

Not only did Wang Peng have a QBZ-95 gun next to him, but even Yan Yan also had a pistol.

Lu Zhou wanted to borrow a pistol for fun. Even though he wasn't interested in weapons, he was still curious.

However, Wang Peng didn't let him. He insisted that it would be more dangerous for Lu Zhou to carry a gun, but he promised to let Lu Zhou play with the gun when no one else was around.

…

They quickly completed the ten-kilometer journey.

They got off the main highway and drove on the hamada until they reached a temporary campsite.

Wang Peng followed the jeep to the main gate. He then opened the window and took out his credentials.

After the gun-carrying soldier checked everyone's credentials, he saluted and pointed toward the direction of the checkpoint. After the boom barrier was raised, the jeeps drove inside.

On the way to the center of the camp, Lu Zhou looked out the window and saw soldiers patrolling. He then asked in surprise, "Why is the security here so strict?"

"It has to be strict," Wang Peng said as he followed the jeep in front of him. He skillfully parked the jeep and turned off the engine. He then said, "The Jinling launch attracted the attention of the entire world. The thing you threw from low-orbit couldn't be seen by ordinary people, but it didn't escape satellites and radar. Guess how much your stuff was priced on the black market?"

"How much?"

"Two hundred million."

"Two hundred million?!"

Lu Zhou couldn't help but think.

F*ck…

Is it really that expensive?

Why did no one tell me?

I would make a fortune selling it on the black market.

Wang Peng didn't know what Lu Zhou was thinking, but he did see how surprised Lu Zhou was as he got out of the car. He smiled and said, "It's also in USD."

"That's right," a man in military uniform said. He walked over to the jeep and smiled. He said, "Yesterday, we caught some criminals disguised as tourists."

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "There are people that come here?"

"Ah, guess what we found in their van?" The man in military uniform smiled and gestured with his hands. "Two RPG-7s, quite a bit of firepower."

Yan Yan naturally asked, "No one was hurt, right?"

"No, of course not," said the man. He looked at Wang Peng and opened his arms. "Long time no see! It's been so long since you were discharged, how have you been?"

Wang Peng hugged his old friend and patted him on the shoulder. He said, "I'm good, I'm a lot paler now! You've been doing pretty well over the last four years, and you even made it to the battalion commander rank."

Lu Zhou wasn't very interested in their small talk, so he looked around and asked, "Where is the stuff?"

"It's in the middle of the camp, I'll bring you guys there." Battalion Commander Li smiled at Lu Zhou and reached out with his hand. He said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Li Gaoliang."

Lu Zhou shook Battalion Commander Li's hand and said, "Lu Zhou. You can call me Professor Lu."

"I know, we all watched the news on New Year's Day, and I also saw you on TV a few days ago." Battalion Commander Li smiled and said, "How was space? Was it fun?"

"It's pretty interesting."

Battalion Commander Li was an interesting person. Even though he had been in the military for a long time, he was easy to talk to. They chatted while talking. Shortly thereafter, they arrived at the center of the camp.

In the center of the camp, there was a fenced-off sand dune. On the west slope of this sand dune, there was an "iron coffin", which was around 2.5 meters high.

Four parachutes of different sizes lay quietly next to the iron coffin. The troops tried not to touch the iron coffin, but in order to stop the sandstorm from blowing it away, the troops placed some fixed weights for stability.

Wang Peng looked at this strange thing and murmured, "What's this…"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "Lightning… Escape capsule. Remember when I talked about the thousand-kilometer sky-dive? This makes it possible."

Chapter 711: "Lightning" Escape Capsule

"Lightning" escape capsule.

The whole capsule body was dark, and it was made of a titanium alloy. The surface was coated with a high-temperature resistant ceramic. It could allow one person to safely land from low-Earth orbit. There was a payload fairing at the top of the capsule, but it was abandoned on its way back to earth.

Even though the height of this test was not 1,000 kilometers, the 100-kilometer height was still record-breaking.

This escape capsule was installed on Skyglow.

On its re-entry, at an altitude of around 100 kilometers, Skyglow tested the escape capsule while it was flying over China's western area. It released the "lightning" escape capsule from the spacecraft, and it landed at the center of the Junggar Basin.

This was the final task in Skyglow's 24-hour flight.

This thing wasn't actually that high-tech; it was just a smaller version of a manned spacecraft return capsule. Other than accommodating an adult, it also stored some essential survival tools such as food, water, and medicine, which could help someone survive for ten days.

The shape was a bit peculiar, but it was nowhere near worth as much as US$200 million. Even though the data collected was important, it wasn't worth that much money, not to mention that it was a one-use item…

That was why Lu Zhou was so surprised when he heard someone was offering US$200 million on the black market to buy this thing.

It turned out that people were willing to pay for garbage.

Wang Peng stared at the iron coffin for a long time, and it took him a while to realize what Lu Zhou had said.

"… Wearing this?"

"Yeah."

Lu Zhou did not give much of an explanation, he put on a pair of gloves and walked forward.

Satellites that fell from the sky might contain a little bit of radiation, but they had been orbiting in space for a long time, which could cause radiation-related health damages.

Skyglow only spent 24 hours in orbit, and this thing was thrown out of the spacecraft at an altitude of 100 kilometers. Therefore, he didn't have to worry about any radioactive residue.

Lu Zhou didn't open the hatch just yet. He first observed the damage done to the parachute's connection port, as well as the damage to key components such as the high-temperature resistant ceramic shield and alloy protection plate. He then used the emergency switch on the outside of the capsule to open the hatch.

The sound of gas leaking was heard as the hatch slowly opened. A plastic dummy was lying in the protective cushion with its hands across its chest.

Yan Yan stared at the escape capsule and whispered, "You really do 'wear' it…"

Director Li didn't say anything. He merely stared at Lu Zhou's movement.

Lu Zhou didn't care about the people behind him. His attention was completely focused on the dummy lying on the air cushion. He took out his phone and connected the data capsule to the dummy. He then pressed his Bluetooth headset and spoke quietly.

"Xiao Ai, it's all yours now."

Soon a line of text popped up on the screen.

[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

The data transfer bar on the screen progressed quickly.

Various data, such as the temperature, pressure, G value, as well as the time and altitude changes, were all presented on the mobile phone screen. The phone automatically presented line graphs for these values.

Lu Zhou looked at the data and pressed the save button. He disconnected the data cable and plugged it into the capsule itself to copy its flight data.

"… Around 174 meters away from the original landing spot, an acceptable error."

Lu Zhou looked at the data on his phone and smirked.

Roughly speaking, this escape capsule did its job perfectly. However, it wasn't too comfortable for the astronaut lying inside. This was due to the large G values, which could cause vision loss or even coma. However, this could still save someone's life.

Also, these disadvantages could be corrected in future versions.

Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and quickly asked, "How is it? Does this thing work?"

Lu Zhou was in a good mood as he said, "It works, judging from the sensor data, if someone were actually sitting inside, they should be alive."

Director Li then quickly asked, "Are there strict requirements for the physical fitness of someone who wants to use the escape capsule?"

"Strict? Not too strict." Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "As long as they don't have heart disease or high blood pressure, after some training, they should be able to use this equipment. Depending on the individual, there might be some side effects, but there won't be permanent damage."

Director Li then asked, "Is it possible to use this to airdrop soldiers…"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and smiled.

"It should be possible… but the cost is a bit high."

Director Li: "How much does this cost?"

Lu Zhou said, "Ten to twenty million USD."

This wasn't considered expensive for astronaut equipment, but it still wasn't cheap.

Using this to deliver special forces was still too expensive, not to mention it could only be used once.

Also, if they were to improve the capsule and use some kind of ion thruster deceleration technology, they would have to worry about keeping the equipment confidential.

However, mastering this technology was quite significant.

This meant that Chinese special forces could land at any corner of the earth within an hour… or even less. This equipment could be used for search and rescue, hostage, or terrorist situations.

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and smiled.

"Let's go, there's nothing else to see here."

Director Li was stunned. "That's it?"

"Basically, my work here is done." Lu Zhou looked at the jeep and said, "Next, we have to wait for Jinling researchers to come here and do a more comprehensive inspection of the landing area and the escape capsule… That might take a couple of days. After that, you guys will have to find a way to ship this thing back to Jinling."

Director Li frowned and couldn't help but mutter.

"You came all the way here for this?"

Anyone could have copied the data for you!

"I didn't only come here for this." Lu Zhou stared at the distant yellow sands outside the camp and said, "I mainly came here to examine the environment of this desert."

Director Li paused for a second.

"Examine the environment?"

"Yeah," Lu Zhou nodded and said, "for the location of China's Biosphere 2!"

Chapter 712: Garden Plan

In the 1990s, the Americans tried to build a miniature artificial ecological system in the desert north of Tucson, Arizona. Its purpose was to conduct ecological and environmental research in a closed environment as well as to help humans understand how Earth operates by simulating its ecological environment.

This plan was originally proposed by a rugby player and received investments from several consortiums, including Rockefeller, totaling US$150 million. It was quite a commotion at that time.

Unfortunately, the final experiment results weren't as sensational as the proposal. A year after the experimental team started their work at the Biosphere 2, they declared the project a failure. They had to withdraw from the project.

The only conclusion drawn from the experiment was that Earth might be the only suitable planet for humans.

Overall, this plan was undoubtedly a failure. Not only did Biosphere 2 fail to form a stable and independent ecosystem, but it was even transformed into an ecological hotel after the project was abandoned.

However, back then, this idea was quite groundbreaking. A lot of technologies were invented because of this project, which had been applied to many other fields.

Judging from the missions arranged by the system, there was a 90% chance that the third stage of the mission chain was to establish a permanent or semi-permanent research station on the Moon. Even though Lu Zhou hadn't completed the Moon landing yet, that didn't stop him from preparing for the future.

Not to mention that there were side missions in the first stage, such as "planting on the Moon".

Therefore, after some discussion with the experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China National Space Administration, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "Garden" artificial biosphere project was born.

Compared to China's Biosphere 2, the "Garden" plan had a clearer goal, which was to pave the way for space colonization.

Based on a series of external factors such as climate and environment, the location of the Garden Biosphere A was chosen to be in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert and at the center of the Junggar Basin. The biosphere would be contained in a semi-spherical building, and it would be completely isolated from the outside world.

Of course, because of various factors, Lu Zhou didn't plan on copying Biosphere 2's plan, which was to establish a complete ecosystem copy of Arizona. Instead, Lu Zhou's plan was to set "limited input of minerals, freshwater, and biological resources". The goal of his experiment was to reduce the input of resources by as much as possible.

Even though Lu Zhou had a specific implementation plan for this project, he wasn't personally responsible for this project. Instead, he chose to cooperate with several universities such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Agricultural University. He also selected one person from China Agricultural University to be in charge of research…

After Lu Zhou stayed at the 150 Regiment Camp for the night, he met with Jinling researchers the next day. He gave them a brief explanation of the work. He received a call from China Agricultural University, which informed him that the researchers had arrived in Wushi.

Junggar Basin was quite far from Wushi, but Lu Zhou wasn't in a hurry. After lunch, Wang Peng drove Lu Zhou and an army guide around the desert area to examine the terrain around the area.

When it was almost night time, a desert-colored military jeep and water truck appeared on the desert horizon. They slowly approached the checkpoint.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou just came back from his terrain examination. He got out of the car and walked toward the desert-colored jeep. When he walked up to the car, a slim, middle-aged man who was wearing glasses and a windproof coat walked out of the car while carrying a dirty rucksack.

The middle-aged man instantly recognized Lu Zhou. He threw his rucksack over his shoulder and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu! It's an honor!"

"You're too kind," Lu Zhou shook his hand and made an inviting gesture. "This isn't the place to talk, let's go inside."

Other than the guy carrying survival necessities and food, there were two other PhD students in the car. They didn't look very good, and it seemed like they didn't sleep well.

Due to the strong wind and sand outside, everyone in the group was tired. Lu Zhou invited them to a warehouse and went to find the tea set. Yan Yan, who was wearing a military green casual outfit, walked in the warehouse.

"The water is boiling, go sit down, I'll help you."

Lu Zhou nodded toward Yan Yan and said, "Thanks so much."

"No worries."

Yan Yan flipped her hair and poured a cup of tea for each of the four people sitting in the room. She then left the teapot on the table, turned around, and walked out of the door.

Lu Zhou was sitting at a desk. He pulled out a resume and looked at the middle-aged professor, who was sitting professionally on the sofa. He compared the professor with the photo on the resume.

The professor was somewhat embarrassed by Lu Zhou judging him, so he coughed and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Nothing, I'm just confirming." Lu Zhou smirked and put down the resume. He looked at the professor and said, "Welcome to Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert."

The Agricultural University professor sitting in front of Lu Zhou was called Hu Yang. He had a down-to-earth and diligent demeanor.

Lu Zhou hadn't met him prior to this; he had only seen Hu Yang's photo on the resume, and he had a brief understanding of Hu Yang's research direction and academic background.

Generally speaking, his resume was relatively standard. Just like most scholars who were in unpopular research areas, he wasn't in the Changjiang Scholars Program, nor did he have a chance of becoming an academician… But this wasn't the stuff Lu Zhou cared about.

After all, it would be strange for an agricultural researcher to have a stacked resume.

After Lu Zhou briefly looked at his resume, he decided to let him manage the project.

The reason was that not only was this area Hu Yang's expertise, but Hu Yang was able to stay in this research area for many years, which meant he had a certain amount of persistence and tenacity.

This job was very difficult, and one would have to stay in the hamada desert for years, which would take away their youth and life.

Other than him, no one else applied here.

Therefore, Lu Zhou didn't have a lot of choices.

After two minutes of small talk, Lu Zhou put down the teacup and went into the main topic.

"I'll skip the formalities, I'm sure the Agricultural University has already told you about the Garden project."

"Yeah," Hu Yang nodded and said in a serious tone, "I received the project two days ago, and I immediately came here."

"Thanks for coming in such short notice."

"No worries," Hu Yang smiled nervously and said, "I have to travel to test fields all the time, whether it's the desert or city, it's the same to me!"

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, "It's admirable that you think that way. It's not easy to make a decision like this, you must have thought about it for a long time. But I still have to emphasize some things. This project is important to China's future aerospace industry. It will not be easy."

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, "Before you decide to take on this scientific research project, I hope you know that for the next few years, or even decades, you will be isolated from the world, and I'm afraid you'll only be able to take a vacation once or twice a year."

The two PhD students sitting next to Hu Yang held their breath, but they soon relaxed.

Even though they were in a difficult field, they didn't have to work as hard as their boss.

After all, they would graduate in a few years. At most, they would only stay here for two years.

As for Hu Yang, his expression didn't change.

He nodded and spoke without hesitation.

"I've thought it through."

Lu Zhou looked at him solemnly.

"Then… please take care of this project."

Chapter 713: Academician Primary Elections

The entire Garden project was divided into three phases.

The first phase of the project was the foundation. Welded stainless steel was used to isolate the ground of the enclosed area. The second phase of the project was mainly regarding the construction part of it. A six-grid steel skeleton would be supported by compression-resistant steel for the entire hemispherical artificial biosphere. As for the third phase of the project, the hemisphere would be equipped with double-layered special glass, where the outer layer would be coated with a special coating material to control the temperature.

There would also be biosphere B, C, D, etc. This would be to simulate other special outer-space environments, such as Mars. It could also be used for developing life support devices for people to use on other planets.

Because any small amount of interference could lead to unpredictable results in the experiment, the biosphere must be built in a life-restricted zone, away from living things.

Fortunately, China was quite big, so it was easy to find a place like this.

There wasn't a better place for this artificial biosphere than the middle of the desert in the basin.

It took three days for Lu Zhou to inspect the nearby geological environment. After consulting Professor Hu and other geologists, Lu Zhou finally made a decision and chose the location of the Garden Biosphere to be near a road and a sand dune.

The total investment of the project was 1.5 billion yuan; 1.3 billion of which would be supported by 41 different government project funds, and the remaining 200 million yuan would be provided by Star Sky Technology. This funding was small compared to the entire moon landing project, but it was still significant.

After Lu Zhou finished planning the general outline for the Garden project, he didn't stay in the desert for too long. He still had things to do in Jinling. The next day he left the camp and boarded a train in Wushi, returning to Jinling.

Coincidentally, the second he got off the train, Lu Zhou received emails from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Engineering, and Jin Ling University. He read that his name was on the primary election list for the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering.

Lu Zhou looked at these three emails and didn't know what to do.

His original idea was to be an academician at the Academy of Science. After all, he was a mathematician. However, he didn't expect that the old folks at the Academy of Engineering nominated his name.

According to the academician selection process, after the recommendation stage, the committees of the academic departments will review and select the candidates.

This selection process was standardized; it had to fairly and objectively evaluate one's scientific results.

As long as someone didn't violate academic conduct or break major laws, they should be able to pass the review process. After the review process was the anonymous voting stage. As long as the person received more than two-thirds of the votes, and there was space in the faculty, they would be elected.

The election results would then be checked and confirmed by the standing committees of the respective academic departments, which was the so-called "final review". After being reviewed and approved by the leadership team of the Academician Assembly, all of the successful academicians would be notified in writing.

Jin University hadn't had a new academician for many years, and the few academicians from the physics department were more than 70 years old. This time, Lu Zhou's name was nominated for two different academies; this was undoubtedly something worthy of Jin University's celebration.

Even though it was worthy of celebration, Lu Zhou didn't put much attention to the academician selection. He replied to the congratulation emails from Wang Zengguang, Li Jiangang, and several other old academicians from the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory.

There was no doubt that these people were the ones who nominated him.

Even though he didn't really care about the nomination, he still had to thank the people who nominated him.

Lu Zhou placed most of his attention on the space shuttle.

Even though the Skyglow launch was successful, there were still many things that needed to be improved.

The next launch was scheduled to be before the Chinese New Year, which was around two months away. He didn't have any time to waste.

Even though Lu Zhou casually placed the academician selection matter aside, a lot of other people were tangled with this issue.

Lu Zhou was in Jinling, conducting a meeting with the Skyglow designers. On the other hand, Academician Wang Shicheng, the director of the mathematical physics department, who was responsible for the academician elections, was inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences human resource department office.

Director Qian, who was sitting behind his desk, stopped writing and asked his assistant to pour a cup of tea for Academician Wang.

"What brings you here today?"

Wang Shicheng sipped some tea and sighed.

"What else can it be?"

"Let me guess…" Director Qian smiled and said, "It's because of Lu Zhou?"

Wang Shicheng didn't say anything. He placed the teacup on the table and spoke.

"This matter is not easy to deal with."

The academician elections were a troublesome matter for the standing committees of various academic departments.

The Chinese academic community was relatively isolated and had its own system. For most Chinese-grown scholars, it was quite difficult for them to obtain an international honor that was higher than the academician title. Therefore, the title of academician was the ultimate goal of 99% of domestic scholars.

Having the title of an academician doubled their power and status, and they could basically work at any research institute or university they wanted.

Not to mention that there were only a small number of academician spots available.

Therefore, there was a lot of fierce competition between the candidates.

However…

Lu Zhou's situation was different.

All of the candidates left him alone. In theory, this should be a good thing. Everyone would vote for him, and the title would be his.

However, the thing was that this guy was too nutty. He was on the primary election list for both the Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Science.

It went without saying that the chief designer of the fusion energy project should be in the Department of Energy. If everything went well, Lu Zhou would be the department's head after a few years, or at least the director.

After that, the problem was that, since the Academy of Engineering was definitely going to give him the academician title, was there still a point for the Academy of Science to give him one as well?

There had been scholars who held two academician titles, but to be awarded two in the same year…

That was a bit ridiculous.

There were many accomplished old professors still waiting in line, and some of them had produced major research results. It was a bit inappropriate to let someone else take two academician titles at once.

Wang Shicheng looked at Director Qian, who was sitting behind his desk, and said, "I heard that the people from the Academy of Engineering also elected his name. I wonder if we should ask them to stay low this year and elect Lu Zhou next time instead. This way, Lu Zhou won't receive both titles at once."

"Oh," Director Qian smiled and said, "then tell me, what young talent from Yan University is a better choice than Professor Lu?"

Wang Shicheng didn't say anything.

This was the other thing that was giving him trouble.

Deferring Lu Zhou for a term was a good idea…

But the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize were too big to be ignored. Not to mention the Ling Yun medal. Lu Zhou couldn't be replaced. Forget about the domestic community, there wasn't anyone in the world that was a better candidate than him.

"I don't know what to do, so I'm here discussing with you. We'll do whatever you think is appropriate," Wang Shicheng said.

Director Qian shook his head and said, "I think you're overcomplicating this issue."

Wang Shicheng: "Overcomplicating?"

"That's right." Director Qian nodded and said, "This academician title isn't important for him. His opinions are highly regarded by the government. The academician title is at most the icing on the cake."

There was a flash in Wang Shicheng's eyes, and he said, "You mean… It's fine if we defer it until the next term?"

Director Qian: "No I mean… This doesn't matter to him, but it matters a lot to us."

Wang Shicheng: "…"

Chapter 714: Blueprint for a Tiltrotor Aerospaceplane

After the Skyglow launch, Lu Zhou moved the space shuttle assembly center research department to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, turning it into its separate "Aerospace Science and Technology Institute". This research institute was responsible for researching aerospace-related technologies, including ion thruster propulsion systems.

Because there were many top-secret projects, the building of the institute had the highest level of security.

Unlike other institutes at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute's main customer was the Star Sky Technology space shuttle assembly center. The vast majority of funding also came directly from Star Sky Technology's account. This was different from the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials, which received funding from other companies.

The director of the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute was obviously Hou Guang, the designer of Skyglow.

Because of his past experience in the 863 Program, there wasn't anyone else more suitable for this position than him. There wasn't anyone else in the entire research institute who was more familiar with the structure and overall design of Skyglow. Asking him to coordinate the project teams was undoubtedly a wise decision.

Hou Guang lived up to Lu Zhou's expectations. During the time when Lu Zhou wasn't in Jinling, not only did he speedily complete the relocation of the research institute, but he didn't stop researching.

On one hand, he organized technicians to modularly dismantle the Skyglow aerospaceplane, On the other hand, he evaluated the damaged equipment areas and systematically performed analysis on the test flight data. He summarized all of the data in a 20-page report.

After Lu Zhou spent two days reading the report and finished his PowerPoint presentation for the conference. He called Hou Guang and had a meeting with the people from the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute.

"First of all, I would like to thank you all for your hard work. I can't speak on behalf of this country, but as the president of the Institute for Advanced Study, I would like to give my most sincere thanks."

After the brief opening remarks, there was a round of applause in the conference room.

Lu Zhou nodded and the applause subsided.

He cleared his throat and gently placed the 20-page report on the multimedia desk.

"I have already read the contents of the report.

"The Skyglow design was successful, but I think there are many areas that can be improved.

"Looking at the analysis of the overhaul, the wing and the belly of the spacecraft received more heat than we expected during re-entry. Our brilliant engineers deduced that the main reason is that the spacecraft entered the dense part of the atmosphere too quickly.

"I've thought about this problem for a long time, and I have also exchanged opinions with experts. I think that because ion thruster is relatively 'stable' compared to chemical engines, we can abandon the 'rocket' design of traditional chemical rockets. We can move four of the ion thrusters to the wings of the shuttle, leaving only one main engine at the tail.

"Also, we should add a pair of bi-axle ailerons to the aerospaceplane. This can be used to suspend and control the engine's ejection direction."

Whispers were heard in the conference room; a lot of people looked surprised.

This design was nothing novel. It referenced the tiltrotor design, which had the advantages of both fixed-wing aircraft and vertical take-off aircraft. Even though this type of design wasn't rare, this was the first time someone had heard of using this design in the field of aerospace.

After Lu Zhou paused for a second, he continued, "By improving the design, we can use the deceleration engine to decelerate upon re-entry and balance out the effect of gravity. We can reduce the flight speed before the aircraft reaches the dense section of the atmosphere, which reduces friction."

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, Hou Guang stood up and spoke.

"This design is interesting… I will study the feasibility with my team."

"I've already studied the feasibility, but it was simulated." Lu Zhou smiled and clicked the mouse. He opened a folder and presented a 3D composition image on the projector.

He paused for a second and continued, "This is for reference only."

Shining on the center of the curtain was a professional conceptual graphic of this tiltrotor aerospaceplane. Next to it were the altitude of the aircraft, the atmosphere density, speed, and various other parameters, which were all presented in a graph.

These calculations were all done by Lu Zhou alone.

Xiao Ai helped him with the models and the flight simulation.

Hou Guang stared at the image on the projector and adjusted his glasses. He spoke in astonishment.

"Which… company's software is this?"

He had been in this industry for many years, and he had worked with many companies that made simulation software. However, he had never seen such precise physical dynamics simulation before… In his opinion, this software was perfect.

Lu Zhou didn't explain anything. Instead, he said, "I asked people from the Information Technology Research Institute to code it for me. I'll send you a copy after the meeting."

The second Lu Zhou finished speaking, his phone in his pocket began to vibrate.

Lu Zhou knew that it was Xiao Ai complaining.

However, there was no way Lu Zhou could disclose Xiao Ai's existence and give it credit.

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, Hou Guang mouth was wide open

Even though he wasn't sure what kind of person could make such a perfect simulation program, this program would make his work a lot easier.

Hou Guang said, "Forget about the software… If we move the engine from the tail to the wing, it will impact the failure rate. If we're just doing this to improve maneuverability, isn't this a bit excessive?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "It's not just maneuverability. With this new design, we can significantly reduce the speed of an aerospaceplane at altitudes above 30 kilometers. Not only will this reduce the risk of re-entry, but it will also reduce each mission's maintenance costs.

"As for the failure rate, there are definitely risks, but I think we can solve them by improving the design."

Even though this sounded simple on paper, Lu Zhou was well aware that it was no piece of cake to make this blueprint a reality.

Adding two electric drive shafts to the aileron wings would significantly increase structural risk on the wing itself.

Also, in order to maintain coordination between the two engines, he also needed to develop a more sophisticated electric drive system to prevent the engine from deviating from the original course due to direction adjustment errors.

There was also the crucial junction materials, as well as the control system. These things all needed to be improved.

It was no exaggeration to say that this was as difficult as conducting the Skyglow project from scratch.

Hou Guang frowned and raised his hand. He then asked, "What about the bidding projects at the State Administration for National Defense and China National Space Administration?"

"We'll use Skyglow to bid," Lu Zhou said. "This is our new goal for next year. We're in no rush. We have enough time to prepare."

After hearing this, Hou Guang was relieved.

At last, Professor Lu set more realistic deadlines.

The manned moon landing project was happening soon. The State Administration for National Defense and China National Space Administration would announce their bidding results soon. Conducting new research was not a good idea, but it would be fine to take on this project next year.

Since Lu Zhou and Hou Guang were in agreement, there was nothing left to debate about.

Lu Zhou continued to present the PowerPoint, and he briefly talked about the new aerospaceplane design.

The engineer who was taking notes raised his hand.

"I have a question."

Lu Zhou said, "Go ahead."

Engineer: "What should the new design be called? Skyglow 2?"

Using the old name didn't sound nice.

Not to mention that the new aerospaceplane was unrecognizable from the old one.

What should I call it…

Lightning? The escape capsule is called that already.

Meteor? Sounds a bit tacky.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while, and a light bulb suddenly went off in his head.

"… We'll just call it Starlight."

Chapter 715: Waiting For Me

After the meeting finished, the Starlight aerospaceplane project was green-lighted, with Hou Guang in charge.

The days quickly went by, and it was soon the end of January.

After the long wait, the State Administration for National Defense, China National Space Administration, and other government units jointly announced the winning results of the manned moon landing bid.

Just like everyone had expected, the 50-ton low-Earth orbit delivery capable Skyglow won the bidding competition. This was the most important project of the entire manned moon landing project—the space launch vehicle.

Actually… the bet didn't even matter anymore.

After seeing Skyglow's excellent performance, anyone with a normal IQ would make the correct decision.

With 10 billion yuan of funding, Star Sky Technology's urgent need for cash was quickly resolved.

According to the contract with Alibaba, Star Sky Technology repaid all of its debt and used the remaining funds to start making final preparations for the upcoming manned moon landing plan.

As for the lunar module, command module, service module, extravehicular spacesuit, lunar rover, moon communication satellite, and other components necessary for the moon landing project, these bids were won by dozens of other aerospace companies, such as China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

Many of these projects had already been completed. For example, the most important command module and the lunar module were completed in December last year. The big and powerful China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation had already displayed module samples.

As long as they had a large-thrust rocket with a delivery capacity of more than 24 tons, the moon landing project could be started.

Judging from Skyglow's current carrying capacity, there was no doubt that this condition was met.

After some high-level discussion between departments, the moon landing launch was set to be a day before 2021 Chinese New Year.

There was less than a month until Chinese New Year. Star Sky Technology had to discuss and formulate specific launch plans with other companies that participated in the moon landing project.

This time, state funding was quite sufficient. The eye-catching performance of Skyglow during the test flight greatly boosted the confidence of domestic aerospace companies. All of the participating parties were moving forward with great momentum, preparing to give the country a special gift on Chinese New Year.

Early morning at the end of January.

Sun Chengping, CEO of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, arrived in Jinling with several other experts.

A black sedan parked quietly at the entrance of the space shuttle assembly center. Sun Chengping got out of the car and reached out his right hand enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you, Professor Lu, I've heard many good things about you."

"You're too kind, CEO Sun." Lu Zhou smiled and released his hand. He made an inviting gesture and said, "Let's talk later, follow me first."

The command module and the lunar module of this launch were both completed by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. There was a very important issue to be resolved. This issue was the compatibility of the lunar module and the command module with the Skyglow aerospaceplane.

Whether the equipment could smoothly exit the cabin, whether the equipment could be successfully recovered, and whether there would be satellite interference during the mission… These issues had to be discussed and researched by professionals. If they didn't solve these problems, the spacecraft might not be able to come back from the Moon, which would be pretty awkward.

The group of people followed Lu Zhou, and they soon came to the giant object parked in the shuttle center.

The experts from the Air Force Equipment Research Institute were shocked.

Especially when they saw the five ion thruster propulsion engines.

The bright metal shell represented the dreams of every aerospace scientific researcher…

Sun Chengping was stunned for a couple of seconds. He then asked emotionally, "This is Skyglow?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "First time seeing it?"

"Not quite." CEO Sun shook his head and said, "I've seen it a few times on TV, but it wasn't as shocking on the TV screen."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Do you want to sit inside? I promise it's more exciting."

Sun Chengping coughed and said, "… I'm good, I'm scared of heights."

On the other hand, next to Skyglow, experts from the Institute for Advanced Study had already started to talk to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation experts.

"… What is the highest carrying capacity for an Earth-Moon transfer orbit?"

Hou Guang: "The maximum is theoretically 25 tons."

"25 tons?" An expert from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation asked, "What plan do you think is the best?"

Hou Guang: "So far, the most reliable way is still lunar orbit rendezvous. Our suggestion is to integrate the command module to Skyglow and only extend the lunar module after entering lunar orbit. This will decrease the recovery process risks."

There were four main methods for landing on the Moon—direct takeoff, lunar orbit rendezvous, earth orbit rendezvous, and Earth-Moon orbit rendezvous. In terms of safety, methods were ranked 1>4>2>3, and in terms of rocket performance, it ranked 2>4>3>1.

In fact, the Apollo spacecraft chose method 4, which was the lunar orbit rendezvous. The entire spacecraft was launched to lunar orbit, where one section—the lunar module—landed on the Moon, while the other—the command module—remained in orbit. After performing tasks on the Moon, the lunar module returned to orbit and entered Earth together with the command module.

After hearing Hou Guang's explanation, the engineer nodded and rubbed his chin.

"Integrating the command module on the spacecraft? Interesting idea, we will consider it…"

Sun Chengping looked at the engineers standing next to Skyglow as he spoke emotionally, "I didn't expect that I would be able to witness Chinese footprints on the Moon."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The Moon is only a beginning; we will go even farther in the future."

Sun Chengping looked at Lu Zhou and asked in a confused tone, "Can I ask a question?"

Lu Zhou said, "What question?"

Sun Chengping: "Just out of curiosity, you have always claimed to be a mathematician, but your contributions in other fields have far exceeded your achievements in mathematics."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Is that so?"

Sun Chengping: "Isn't it?"

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, "Whether it is controllable fusion or aerospace, these futuristic technologies will be developed by society sooner or later. All people need is a lot of resources, time, trial, and error. However, mathematics is a completely different beast. Even if a mathematical tool is invented, if there is no one to use that tool, the mathematics problems will never be solved."

Sun Chengping smiled and said, "Then I'm even more confused."

"Confused about what?"

Sun Chengping: "If you think mathematics is so important, why are you interested in aerospace?"

Lu Zhou: "Are you interested in my motivation behind researching this stuff?"

Sun Chengping nodded.

"I guess."

Lu Zhou smiled and answered in a relaxed tone.

"That isn't important.

"The important thing is that the problem is here, and it's waiting for me to solve it."

Chapter 716: White House Countermeasure

The center of the Junggar Basin.

A row of heavy industrial equipment was on the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert highway, and they were currently being driven deep into the desert.

After the Garden plan was completed, the funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology quickly arrived. The second the construction bidding was over, the construction equipment was moved from Wushi to the construction site.

Rows of mobile homes had been set up on the construction site near the military site. Workers wearing small yellow hats quickly finished loading and unloading the equipment and supplies. They set up basic living facilities near the mobile home. Heavy construction equipment had already begun to work on the site.

Every big project had to start from the foundation; Biosphere A was no exception.

Before setting up a reinforced steel frame, the construction company would first hollow out this area and dig a large pit with a depth of three to four meters. After that, they would insert steel rods into the ground, pour cement, and finally lay down the stainless steel plates.

Professor Hu, who was wearing a hard hat, stood nearby while looking at the construction site. He meticulously read the engineering drawings and construction plans in his hand and listened to the person in charge of construction talk to him.

"… This is our construction plan. Right now, we are laying the foundation. If there are any problems, feel free to tell me. I'll try my best to solve them."

Professor Hu carefully read the drawings and blueprint, and after making sure that there were no mistakes, he nodded.

"Should be fine, when can it be completed?"

The person in charge stared at the distant sand horizon and said, "The first phase should take three months, and all three phases should take at least six months, at most eight months. It depends on the weather. If there are sandstorms every day, then the construction is going to be delayed."

It wasn't just the sandstorm.

There were also sudden high temperatures and other extreme weather.

There were many unpredictable factors that could happen on a desert construction site.

"The speed is not important; it doesn't matter if it takes longer." Hu Yang handed the drawings back to the person in charge and said in a serious tone, "Please make sure to focus on quality, as a small mistake can fail the whole experiment."

"Don't worry." The person in charge tapped their cigarette and said, "This is a national-level project, and our quality is guaranteed. Otherwise, our a*ses would be on the line."

If they decided to cut corners on a project like this, their careers would be over.

The construction company had to put in 120% effort.

While the Garden construction was going on, news regarding Biosphere A spread like wildfire.

Even though the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert was considered a classified zone, it was impossible to keep a huge project like this a secret.

In fact, there was no need to keep the Garden project confidential at all. After all, there wasn't any national defense technology involved. Fields like biology, ecology, meteorology, hydrology, etc belonged to the field of natural sciences. Therefore, they had to cooperate with other international research institutes.

The news that China was constructing an artificial biosphere quickly spread throughout the international academic community, and it caused a huge sensation in the environmental protection organization and the scientific community.

Ever since America's Biosphere 2 program failed, people had always been talking about building a Biosphere 3. However, no one wanted to invest in this high-risk, low-return project.

There was no way the Americans would invest in this area again.

But now, China was willing to pay for a biosphere, built in the center of the Junggar Basin. This was undoubtedly fantastic news for scholars who were studying artificial ecosystems.

After all, China's investment in the natural sciences had always been limited. International scholars gained much respect for China after China decided to invest so much into the research of natural sciences.

Interestingly enough, unlike the international academic community, many major international media outlets had more nuanced opinions.

Some people thought that this was yet another brave challenge initiated by mankind to control nature. Others had tried to relate this with China's recent actions in aerospace and determined that it was very likely that China was trying to pave the way for space development.

The New York Times and The Washington Times used phrases such as "military involvement" and "unclear intentions" to describe China's project. They didn't want to give China the title of "leading in space development". The media outlets told scholars to participate in this project cautiously.

Even though these opinions were a bit absurd, they still attracted NASA's attention.

Or rather, NSC's attention.

Three years ago, after the United States announced its plan to return to the Moon, Trump signed an executive order to reestablish the National Space Council.

The difference this time was that the re-established National Space Council was directly under the president's office. This was similar to the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Intelligence Advisory Board.

Obviously, America had demonstrated its new interest in space.

Inside a conference room in the white house.

The president gathered some of the senior officials from the relevant departments. He slammed his hands on the desk and spoke solemnly.

"The Chinese have displayed a considerable amount of interest in the development of outer space resources. We must examine our own space program. It doesn't matter what we achieved in the past! We have to maintain our advantage in aerospace!"

A voice was heard in the conference room.

"Can I give my two cents?"

The president looked at the person and nodded.

"Of course."

Everyone in the room stared at the NASA director, who stood up slowly and spoke.

"China is still trying to catch up to us, so I don't think we need to worry. Of course, I'm not saying we should sit on our a*ses. We have to increase our own pace to keep our lead."

The NASA director continued to speak.

"I propose that we continue our plan on returning to the Moon, but we should also set new plans, such as Mars."

The president frowned.

"Mars?"

Whispers were heard around the conference room.

The NASA director ignored the whispers as he nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

"That's right, you heard me. We have the ability to explore Mars. We have many excellent aerospace companies that are capable of doing so. We only need to provide them with some help and combine their powers together."

He paused for a second and raised his voice.

"I propose to launch the Ares program!

"If they really think they can surpass us just by walking on the Moon, we will send our men to Mars!"

Chapter 717: Ares Projec

[Shocked! American Begins "Ares" Project, Their Goal Is Mars!]

Inside the office at the end of the corridor, Jin Ling University mathematics department.

Lu Zhou was sitting at his desk drinking coffee while browsing the Internet. He happened to read this eye-catching headline.

After he read the full article, he shook his head and smiled.

"It looks like the Americans are intrigued."

According to the news article, NASA would begin the "Ares" Mars-colonization project within this year, and they would dismantle the entire project into several sub-projects and allocate them to Space-X, Blue Origin, and other aerospace companies around the United States and the world.

According to the disclosed information, the entire project was divided into three parts. The first part was to deliver life-supporting machines to the surface of Mars.

After they confirmed that the life-supporting machines would work properly, the second launch plan would begin.

Which was, to launch a manned spacecraft to Mars and send 2-3 astronauts to prepare for future colonization plans.

Lu Zhou was surprised to see this sudden announcement from NASA. He was shocked that the United States Congress approved the budget so quickly.

However, he also knew why this was happening.

Not only had China implemented a series of aerospace policies, but Skyglow's ion thruster propulsion technology had been wildly successful. This definitely triggered the United States.

Not to mention the Garden project and the manned moon landing project happening in mid-February. Not only did the White House witness China's determination to explore space resources, but the White House was also frightened by it.

After all, space technology wasn't just about national defenses; it was also about honor and glory.

Therefore, NASA didn't have any problems with the United States Congressional Budget Office.

On the other hand, even though NASA was being overly ambitious, Lu Zhou still had to admit that the United States was a strong aerospace opponent.

In the 1960s, they completed the initial flight for Saturn V, with a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of up to 140 tons and a success rate of 13/13. As a substitute for the Saturn V, the SLS system was known as the strongest launch vehicle in history.

In contrast, the Long March V, which China flew for the first time in 2016, only had a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of 25 tons and a 1/2 success rate.

Even though the ion thruster propulsion system used by Skyglow was a huge achievement, the low-Earth orbit carrying capacity was only 50 tons. Due to the relatively lower thrust from the ion thrusters, it was very difficult to increase the carrying capacity.

More importantly, he wasn't the only one researching ion thrusters.

Before he left Princeton, the PPPL was working on the development of Hall-effect thrusters for deep space navigation beyond the Moon…

Lu Zhou put down his coffee cup. He was about to end his lunch break and get back to work when he heard footsteps from outside the room. Soon after, he heard knocking sounds.

Before Lin Yuxiang could get up and open the door, a clear voice traveled through the office.

"Long time no see, Professor Lu."

"Secretary Yang?" Lu Zhou stopped writing and looked toward the office door. He stood up and asked, "Why are you here?"

Secretary Yang was the second highest-ranked official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lu Zhou briefly interacted with him at the state's dinner. The Blue Hall party in Stockholm and the international controllable fusion conferences invitations were sent by him, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Lu Zhou.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou wasn't able to go.

"I'm here to see you." The old man smiled and walked into the office. "I purposely came during lunch break. I'm not interrupting your work, am I?"

"No, please sit down… Lin Yuxiang, get us some tea."

"Okay!"

Assistant Lin had worked at the office for more than a year, so she knew exactly what to do.

Within five minutes, a cup of hot tea and a cup of instant coffee were placed on the coffee table.

Secretary Yang sat across from Lu Zhou. He took a sip before saying, "This is good tea."

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and didn't say anything.

He didn't know what to say.

After all, he normally didn't drink tea. Every year, he would bring back some tea from Beijing for the mathematics department professors.

The tea in the office was actually cheap tea bought in the supermarket…

Secretary Yang put the teacup down and looked at Lu Zhou. He then smiled and said, "You like coffee?"

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Kind of, tea is too weak for me. I like the strong taste of the coffee."

Secretary Yang smiled and said, "Haha, I knew you liked coffee, that's why I brought some of the coffee beans my international friends gave me."

Lu Zhou quickly said, "Don't do this. I'm not used to grinding coffee beans. I only drink instant coffee."

"You have quite a unique taste. Okay then, I'll keep the coffee beans for myself." Secretary Yang smiled and shook his head. He paused for a second and said, "The reason why I came to Jinling is that there's an important diplomatic summit here. Also, I wanted to ask you some questions on behalf of the Communist Party of China."

Lu Zhou put down the cup of coffee and looked surprised.

Ask me some questions?

What questions?

"It's regarding the recent rumors about the Garden project. You must have heard them." Secretary Yang paused for a second and added, "The international rumors."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I've heard some… Why?"

Secretary Yang waved his hand and said, "It's nothing big. It's just regarding the international academic community. Two days ago, the International Union of Biological Sciences and International Council for Science sent us letters. They want to participate in our artificial biosphere program."

Lu Zhou vaguely knew what was going on. He nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What does the state want?"

"The state hasn't decided, but it hasn't rejected the offer either." Secretary Yang looked at Lu Zhou and said, "The state is in a dilemma. Even though we welcome international scholars to participate in this project, this project is related to aerospace. The risks involved are difficult to assess. Since I happened to be in Jinling, the higher-ups want me to ask for your opinions."

He solemnly looked at Lu Zhou and continued, "What do you think we should do?"

Chapter 718: Space Plant Uni

After hearing Secretary Yang's question, Lu Zhou paused for a second. He couldn't help but smile.

"If they want to participate, then we should let them participate. Do you really need to ask me about this?"

Secretary Yang said in a serious manner, "But what about confidentiality?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and spoke.

"There's no need to be so nervous. The Garden project is different from STAR-2. There's nothing to keep confidential. If we receive help from international organizations, a lot of problems will become a lot easier to deal with."

Back in the day, the Biosphere 2 project created a large number of advanced technologies such as "temperature control systems", and it also trained a large number of outstanding ecology and biology scholars.

Even though the Biosphere 2 project failed in the end, the experience and the knowledge gained were valuable.

Not to mention that people had been begging for a "Biosphere 3" project. These past scholars had summarized their failures, and they were ready to challenge this futuristic scientific project again. Therefore, there was no reason why the Garden project should exclude these talents.

Even though there might be a chance of espionage, the risks were acceptable.

Secretary Yang rubbed his chin and said, "So what you're saying is, we should let the international scholars participate?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I strongly recommend doing this, not just the Garden project, but we should cooperate with the international community for other projects, like the manned moon project. As long as it doesn't involve sensitive technologies."

This reduced the surveillance of other countries on China's aerospace industry. Also, it could attract more talents to do research in China, or even stay there long-term.

Also, China could focus on cooperating with its ally countries.

This was extremely beneficial for enhancing China's influence in the international academic community.

Lu Zhou was well aware of this, but Secretary Yang, who was from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wasn't aware.

After hearing Lu Zhou's explanation, he went silent for a couple of seconds. He then stood up from the sofa.

"Your opinion is very valuable. I will convey it to the higher-ups."

Lu Zhou: "Are you leaving? Let's have dinner or something?"

"No, thanks. I still have to go back." Secretary Yang smiled and said, "Let's have dinner some other time. I'll treat you in Beijing."

Lu Zhou smiled and walked him out of the office.

China had plenty of experience in large-scale scientific research projects, but they lacked experience in large-scale international projects. This cooperation would be a great opportunity.

Lu Zhou sat back down at his desk and took out a couple of blank paper from his drawer. He contemplated for a second before writing down his opinion, which was from the perspective of a scholar, on this matter.

Scientific research was inevitably going to be globalized.

Just like the already globalized manufacturing industry, as humans' understanding of nature deepened, huge scientific research projects would no longer be taken on by one country alone.

Whoever took on the most responsibility in these cooperation projects would lead the future…

The tip of the pen smoothly glided across the paper as he quickly finished writing five pages.

Lu Zhou read the letter from start to finish. Satisfied, he nodded. He then shoved it in his pocket and planned on mailing it later.

At this moment, he still didn't know that this letter would have profound impacts on Asia and the entire world's politics.

In a sense, this letter had more impact than controllable fusion…

Lu Zhou leaned back on his chair and contemplated on whether or not he should order takeout. His phone on his desk suddenly began to vibrate.

He picked up the phone and saw that Chen Yushan was calling. He stood up from his chair and picked up the call while walking out to the corridor.

The moment the phone connected, he heard a familiar and pleasant voice travel through the phone.

"The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation just called me. Their plant growth unit that they designed in cooperation with Agricultural University has been completed. They can deliver to our launch site in a week."

Lu Zhou had a look of surprise on his face.

"Already finished? This soon?"

The plant growth unit wasn't a sub-project in the government manned moon project. It was a private project conducted by Star Sky Technology. The reason why Lu Zhou made this arrangement was obviously because of the "Take Control of the Earth and Moon" system mission chain.

The first phase of the mission chain had two interesting mission branches. One was the deployment of a 10 square meters unmanned planting module on the surface of the Moon, and the other was the breeding and observation of ten mice on the Moon.

Since the Moon landing project was happening soon, Lu Zhou asked the China National Space Administration to green light this project.

After receiving Lu Zhou's application, the China National Space Administration quickly approved the project.

Skyglow's Earth-Moon transfer orbit had a carrying capacity of 25 tons. After subtracting the 17 tons required for the moon landing program, there was still 8 tons of carrying capacity left remaining. This 8-ton carrying capacity was going to be wasted, so it would be better for them to make use out of it.

As long as Lu Zhou didn't apply to go on the Moon himself, China National Space Administration would agree with anything.

The application happened in July or August last year. After Lu Zhou received approval from the China National Space Administration, he immediately contacted the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Agricultural University, and the Research Institute of Technical Biology and Agricultural Engineering for the space plant growth unit project.

Even though the name sounded fancy, it was actually just an automated plantation device. In order to reduce the size, the growth medium was separated from the hardware, with a foldable design. It wasn't even considered "high tech".

Even then, being able to research and produce the device within six months, with less than 10 million yuan of funding, was quite impressive. That was why Lu Zhou was so surprised.

"Not as fast as your spacecraft building. It's been almost six months." Chen Yushan smirked and said, "Just like you requested, the plant growth unit is using hydroponics technology. After the device is fully unfolded and the culture medium is filled, the planting area is exactly ten square meters and the total weight is about 5 tons. As long as there is sufficient power, the stored nutrients can catalyze the first stage of the crop growth."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Not bad, what about the technical specifications?"

"I've sent them to your email."

"Ok, I'll read them right away."

After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he returned to his office and sat at his desk. He opened his email on his laptop and opened the email.

After Lu Zhou read the email in its entirety, he couldn't help but smile.

I knew it.

This 50,000 experience points is in the bag!

Chapter 719: Prepare for the Moon!

Beijing.

Press conference held by a news outlet.

A spokesman wearing a suit stood in front of the cameras as he spoke in a clear and solemn voice.

"… After taking into account the eagerness of the international community, our higher management has decided that cooperation applications will be opened for the Garden project. We welcome the international community to participate in this global, futuristic cause."

The second the spokesman finished speaking, there was a commotion in the press conference center.

Letting the international community participate in the Garden project?

This was different from their expectations.

Prior to this, international media had framed the Garden project as a scheme from China for colonizing space. The related research projects were expected to be kept private. However, they didn't expect China to open the door to the Garden project for the international community.

As long as someone was a professional, they could apply to the relevant department, and after they got approved, they could participate in the research plan.

1.5 billion yuan of investment was more than US$200 million. For most poorly-funded natural science researchers, China's plan was extremely lucrative.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, after the Ministry of Science and Technology opened the gates for the Garden project, many participation applications were received. Due to the sheer number of applications, the Ministry of Science and Technology had set up a special department to assist the Garden project.

The international academic community approved and welcomed China's Garden project.

However, not everyone thought that way.

For many patriotic Americans, China taking the lead in the space race was an act of war.

On an American talk show set.

They happened to start talking about this project.

The host in a black suit was sitting on the sofa. He handed the microphone to his guest and asked, "Jim, you work at a bank, correct?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I think you're a person that has been around the block. Can I interview you?"

"Of course you can, as long as it's something that I can answer."

"We all know that China is building a biosphere, and they're also inviting many scholars to participate in this project. What do you think about this?"

The guy named Jim had a playful smile on his face.

"What do I think about this? It's as if your dodgy neighbor suddenly asked you to grab a beer. He either wants to steal your car or bang your wife."

The audience members laughed.

Political humor was the norm on this show.

However, this time, the joke was more explicit.

But this was just how American media was.

For example, in the latest issue of The New York Times, it stated that China opening the gates for the Garden project was an act of trying to gain domination over the space industry. It told Americans research institutes and scholars to participate at their own risk.

After reading the article, Lu Zhou chuckled.

There was a reason why the Americans thought this way.

After all, space domination established from the Cold War era had become part of the United States patriotism. Now that this pride was being challenged by China, it was normal for American media to act in such a hostile manner.

However, these conservative articles barely had any impact at all.

Unlike those conservative people, most scholars in natural science research were liberals, and their research was mainly beneficial to the entire world, not just America. They were happy to work for whoever that gave them research funding.

After the news of the Garden cooperation application was made public, scholars actually began to apply before the media even began to report on it.

If the Americans planned on creating a Biosphere 3, then the scholars might be persuaded. However, because of the lack of funding, most American scholars were happy to research in other countries.

Unfortunately, the United States Congress wasn't going to pay for a natural science research project like this.

Both the California experimental reactor and NASA's "Ares" projects were money-hungry projects. Even the United States would have difficulty in funding another biosphere project, especially with the two pre-existing large-scale scientific research projects.

Even though the biosphere project would cost a lot less than the other two…

On the other hand, there was no chance Wall Street was going to fund this project.

The Rockefeller Financial Group lost money funding the Biosphere 2. Unless there was a special reason, no investment company would be willing to take this risk.

The days quickly passed by, and it was soon Chinese New Year.

All of the launch preparations were completed. The equipment that needed to be delivered had already been loaded on the Skyglow spacecraft. Skyglow was ready to give everyone a unique gift on Chinese New Year.

48 hours before launch.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense took the train to Jinling. The first thing he did was to head to the launch site, where he found Lu Zhou, who was delegating work at and managing the launch site.

When Lu Zhou saw Director Li walking toward him, he smiled and spoke.

"… Director Li? Why are you here?"

Director Li angrily stared at him.

"Do you really have to ask!"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

How would I know?

What's wrong with asking?

Director Li stared at the oblivious Lu Zhou. He sighed and said, "Stop pretending, do you really not know why I'm here? Tell me the truth, you're ready, aren't you?"

Lu Zhou was muddled. He said, "… Ready for what?"

Director Li thought Lu Zhou was still pretending to be oblivious, so he tried to persuade him.

"Landing on the Moon is very different from a low-Earth orbit space flight! We have experience in sending people up and bringing them back safely, but we have no experience bringing people back from the Moon. Zero. Do you understand? No one knows what will happen up there, maybe you'll never come back again! Go ask Nie Yun or anyone else in the astronaut team. They all have written their wills!

"I know you are confident in your research, but I hope you care about your safety more! Think about your parents! You're their only son! If something happens to you, what do you want me to tell them?"

Oh, so this is why…

I thought it was some huge problem!

Lu Zhou coughed and replied, "Don't worry, I went up with Skyglow last time, I've had my fun. I won't go up this time."

Director Li nearly passed out.

You said you went up there for science!

You only did it to have fun?!

Director Li stared at Lu Zhou in the eye for a while.

"I don't want to hear your promises, I will follow you on launch day. If you're flying, then I'm flying with you!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Jesus, I only flew once, do you really have to follow me?

So unnecessary…

Chapter 720: Reunion

Even though Director Li wanted to follow Lu Zhou for the next 48 hours, that was obviously not possible.

Other than Lu Zhou's own family, he had never invited anyone to stay at his mansion even though he had plenty of spare bedrooms.

After promising Director Li he wouldn't go on the spaceship, he finally was able to get rid of him.

Lu Zhou worked at the space launch site until four o'clock in the afternoon. He asked Wang Peng to send him back to his Zhongshan International mansion. He was about to take a bath and get some food, but his doorbell suddenly began to ring.

Lu Zhou walked to the door and looked at the security camera footage near the mansion entrance. He was shocked.

He quickly opened the door.

"Dad, Mom, Xiao Tong? Why are you guys here?"

Lu Bangguo carried a suitcase through the door and smiled.

"If I don't come, you'll end up in space again!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why didn't you guys tell me, I would have picked you up."

Fang Mei sighed and said softly, "You're so busy with your work. We didn't want to disturb you, that's why we came all the way here from Jiangling. Families should stay together for the holidays. You shouldn't be alone."

Lu Zhou stared at his parents and went silent for a while. He had a guilty smile on his face.

"Sorry… It's almost Chinese New Year, and I haven't even called you guys."

Old Lu didn't say anything. He just reached out and patted his son's shoulder.

"It's fine, I understand."

Sometimes, men didn't have to communicate with words.

Lu Zhou could feel that his father was understanding. He also felt that his father was proud of him.

Xiao Tong, who was wearing a backpack, squeezed between her parents and rushed next to her brother.

"Brother, Brother, I heard you went on a rocket?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Well, not a rocket, it's an aerospaceplane."

Xiao Tong's eyes lit up as she asked, "Wow! Is it fun?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's fun, I'll bring you up there some time… But not this time. This time is a bit risky. I don't even plan on flying."

When Old Lu heard that Lu Zhou was going to take his baby daughter to space, he suddenly said, "Forget about it! Give me a grandson, then we can talk about going to space!"

Fang Mei stared at her husband and said, "What do you mean grandson, what about a granddaughter?"

Old Lu immediately said, "Granddaughter is good too! Two grandchildren are better!"

Xiao Tong stuck her tongue out and stopped talking.

I can't go to space until my brother gets married and has kids…

I guess I'll have to wait a while.

It was nearly six o'clock at night.

There was still some grocery in the fridge. After Fang Mei took a look, she told Old Lu to buy two pounds of braised meat and some vegetables. She then put on an apron and started to cook.

Lu Zhou didn't want his mom to cook. After all, she just got off a tiring train ride to Jinling. However, he wasn't able to convince her otherwise, so he gave up persuading and just sat down at the living room sofa instead.

Their parents were both busy, and Xiao Tong and Lu Zhou were the only two in the living room.

Lu Zhou turned on the rarely used TV, in hopes of killing some time. In a classic big brother fashion, he began to ask Xiao Tong about her school.

"How's studying in Britain?"

Xiao Tong's feet were placed on the coffee table as she replied while playing on her phone, "It's alright, the school isn't as lively as in China. I don't really like to party, so I just hit the library with my roommates."

Lu Zhou said, "Speaking of which, you're graduating next year, right?"

Xiao Tong said, "Yeah, pretty much."

Lu Zhou said, "Have you thought about what you plan on doing after graduation?"

Xiao Tong turned off her phone and thought for a while. She then scratched her head.

"I plan on doing a PhD at Oxford, or work at HSBC."

Lu Zhou said, "You have an offer from HSBC? HSBC accepts master's students?"

Because Lu Zhou had never borrowed money from a bank before, he didn't know a lot about finance. If he recalled correctly, HSBC was the biggest bank in the UK and had a lot of influence around the world.

Xiao Tong awkwardly rubbed her nose and replied, "Of course they take master's students. My supervisor helped me get an internship over the summer. My job prospects are looking pretty good. HR asked me if I planned on working there after graduating. Even though I'll be starting from the bottom, I quite like the environment there."

Lu Zhou said, "I guess you'll have to choose either academic or corporate. If you choose academic, then PhD is obviously a good choice, but if you want to get into corporate, then HSBC's offer is quite attractive."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but feel a little down.

He thought back to his experience as an undergraduate student. Even with the system helping him, he had to put in a considerable amount of effort to get here.

Of course, Xiao Tong also worked hard to get where she was today. Even though Lu Zhou did help her with a letter of recommendation, she was still the one who utilized her opportunities.

This was like how if an idiot student were given the system, they wouldn't be able to achieve much…

Xiao Tong blinked and asked in a serious manner.

"Then, Brother, what path do you think I should go with?"

"You're asking me?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I don't know anything about finance, so my opinion doesn't matter… Ask Ms. CEO."

"Ms. CEO?"

"Yeah, Chen Yushan."

Xiao Tong saw Lu Zhou's slightly embarrassed face. She smirked and poked her brother's arm.

"Hey, Brother, tell me honestly, which stage are you guys at?"

Lu Zhou angrily stared at her.

"What do you mean which stage, you're still young, don't ask about this stuff."

Xiao Tong was suddenly interested in this gossip, and she said, "I'm not young! Think about it, Chen Yushan is 26 years old, and she's still single, she has to be waiting for you."

"… You don't know sh*t."

Xiao Tong wasn't happy.

"Ah, I obviously know women better than you. What a minute, Brother…"

Xiao Tong suddenly had a weird look on her face.

Lu Zhou stared at the ceiling and sighed.

"What now…"

Xiao Tong looked at her brother strangely and asked, "Are you… homosexual?"

"F*ck off!"

The news broadcast began to play on the TV.

The report was regarding the upcoming launch mission.

Xiao Tong looked at the screen and pointed at it.

"Brother."

"What now?"

"Will this launch be successful?"

Lu Zhou began to contemplate, and after a while, he had a smirk on his face.

"Of course it will.

"A hundred percent."

The entire country was looking forward to the moon landing project.

Billions of hopeful eyes were watching.

Lu Zhou couldn't let them down.

Chapter 721: Combine the Tables?

It was night time.

The aerospace launch site was still brightly lit.

Most people had started to plan their vacations and look forward to the new year. However, there wasn't an ounce of festival vibes here.

The ground crew was busy walking around the take-off runway. They were doing a final inspection of the launch site and Skyglow's hardware.

The launch plan was finalized, and the launch was set at 12 o'clock midnight.

Based on the weather observational data provided by the meteorological department, this was the most suitable time for the launch mission.

The astronauts and the launch site staff members were working at their respective positions.

Inside the astronaut resting room.

The atmosphere was quiet.

The launch was in three hours, and they had to board the spacecraft in an hour.

Nie Yun sighed and broke the silence.

"Are you ready?"

Nie Yan smirked and bumped his fist with his chest.

"I was born ready."

Nie Yun was infected by her enthusiasm, and he couldn't help but smile.

However, that smile only lasted a few seconds.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"… You should think about this seriously. This is different from the last launch mission. We have no idea what is waiting for us on the Moon."

Nie Yan smiled and jokingly said, "What's the point of thinking about it? It's not like we can find other astronauts to fly instead."

Nie Yun said, "We have backup astronauts."

Nie Yan said without hesitation, "Don't even think about it."

Nie Yun knew what type of person his sister was, so he didn't try to convince her.

Actually, because they were related, they couldn't fly the spacecraft together. Therefore, Nie Yun was selected as the only pilot for the flight.

However, Nie Yan asked her superiors for permission to fly as well. Because of her outstanding performance in the military, her superiors approved her request.

Nie Yun didn't think this was a good idea.

Because if anything were to happen, their parents would be devastated to lose both of their children.

In addition to the siblings, there was someone else flying.

He was different from the other two astronauts; he wasn't an ex-military pilot. He was a researcher at the Institute of Geochemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and used to work at the Chinese Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, working in planetary exploration and research. He passed multiple rounds of interviews and tests before he was finally selected to join the moon landing project.

Prior to this, he had only received two months of professional training. He didn't realize how serious this was until his senior officer asked him to write a will…

Nie Yan noticed his hands were fidgeting, so she asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

The man was startled by her voice, and he replied while stuttering, "Liu… Liu Zhengwen."

"Nervous?"

"Yeah… Kind of."

Liu Zhengwen forced a smile. He took a deep breath and looked at his fist. After a while, he said, "I thought I was prepared, but now… I'm afraid of dying."

Nie Yun said, "Everyone is afraid of dying, it's nothing to be ashamed about."

"Are you scared as well?"

Nie Yun nodded, then shook his head.

"Being scared and afraid are two different things."

Suddenly, a bell rang was heard in the astronaut lounge.

It was time for them to head to the locker room and put on their spacesuits with help from other staff members.

Nie Yun stood up and quietly walked next to Liu Zhengwen. He reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax, there are millions of people praying for us.

"We got this."

…

The launch site was filled with military troops. Barriers had been set up on nearby highways to prohibit all vehicles and personnel from entering the area. Some people were taking photos nearby, and they were warned and escorted by police and military personnel.

The launch site was like a fortress; not even a cockroach could sneak in.

Inside the launch site.

A CTV van was parked at the launch site. It had obtained filming permits.

A camera was aimed at the three pilots who were walking toward the spacecraft. An excited reporter lady spoke loudly toward the microphone.

"… Right behind me on the runway are the three astronauts who are about to board Skyglow. In less than an hour, Skyglow's second flight will begin. According to the staff at the Jinling launch site, the spacecraft will reach the Moon's orbit. Our astronauts' footprints will be on the Moon! They will wish us a happy Chinese New Year from the Moon!"

The reporter lady took a deep breath.

If everything went well, the footage recorded by the camera would be broadcasted on the news channel tomorrow.

If something went wrong…

She had no idea what would happen.

The only thing she could do was to pray.

On the runway, a tall boarding platform slowly connected with the aerospaceplane entrances.

Lu Zhou stood on the boarding platform and watched the three astronauts boarding the plane. He smiled and waved at them.

Director Li was standing behind Lu Zhou with a serious look on his face. Even though the boarding platform was disconnected from the spacecraft, he still kept his eyes on Lu Zhou.

Director Li really was a man of his words. He had been following Lu Zhou for the past hour, even to the bathroom.

At least he didn't go into the stalls with Lu Zhou…

Lu Zhou looked at his nervous face and sighed.

"… I thought about it."

Director Li said, "Thought about what?"

Lu Zhou awkwardly said, "The lunar module can only take two people. So one person is going to stay on the spacecraft alone."

"… So?"

"It's pretty boring for them to be there alone. We should fly with them so that we can play cards with them."

Director Li's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Lu Zhou almost began to worry about his blood pressure.

"I'm just kidding… Go… Let's head back to the ground command center. The show is about to begin."

Before Director Li could answer, Lu Zhou dragged him toward the command center.

Chapter 722: Something to be Proud of

The spacecraft hatch closed.

Nie Yun sat down at the pilot's seat.

After Nie Yun attached the bio-safety system and seatbelt on his spacesuit, he took a deep breath and slowly shifted his center of gravity on the seat's backrest.

The electronic clock quietly ticked.

"It's almost time."

"Yeah."

Nie Yun fist-bumped Nie Yan. He then looked at the control console. He heard someone say "all units ready" in his headset. He turned on the safety lock for the sound fusion device before twisting the ignition knob.

The moment the knob was turned, a huge amount of energy came out of the nuclear core. It was like the entire aerospaceplane was an awakening giant monster.

Liu Zhengwen, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, felt the vibrations on his feet. He gulped and asked nervously, "Are we about to ignite?"

The communication channel wasn't open, so no one could hear him speak.

Nie Yun stared at the rising energy dial, and he reached out and tapped his headset. He spoke in a clear voice.

"This is Skyglow, fusion ignition is successful. We are ready to fly. Requesting approval."

Soon, the ground command center replied.

"Request approved, begin launch in one minute."

"Roger that."

Nie Yun clenched the joystick with both of his hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His thumb pressed the switch, which turned on the engine thrusters.

The moment he opened his eyes, he could hear a countdown in his ear…

"5.

"4.

"3.

"2.

"1.

"0.

"Lets go!"

Last time Lu Zhou let Hou Guang do the countdown, but this time, Lu Zhou was the one counting down.

The five gigantic ion thrusters attached to the aerospaceplane began to fire, leaving behind a blue flame-like substance. The aerospaceplane was slowly being pushed forward on the runway.

The moment the blue lights burst out of the thrusters, the ground crew near the runway, the army soldiers, and the engineers were all completely taken away.

This amazing view would never get old.

Director Li stood next to Lu Zhou as he stared at the big screen in the command center.

After a while, he spoke emotionally.

"I finally know why you want to go up there."

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, "Let's fly together some time?"

Director Li answered without hesitation, "Don't even think about it!"

While the two were talking, the aerospaceplane on the runway was getting faster and faster.

Finally, the silver spacecraft slowly took off from the ground, disappearing at the skyline. The blue lights shined brightly in the dark, like an aurora.

As the ground crew watched the spacecraft disappear into the night, they burst into excited cheers. The aerospace experts in the ground tower were in tears.

Even though the journey to the Moon had only just begun, this successful launch would be remembered in history.

As for whether or not they could successfully land on the Moon and return safely…

That would depend on the astronauts…

"Skyglow, this is ground command center, please report on your status."

After a short pause, the co-pilot's voice was heard.

"… This is Skyglow, we are at an altitude of 5 km, speed is 1,000 km per hour, acceleration is 1.25 G. Temperature sensors are looking good. Everything is normal."

"Good, please keep in contact. The ground command center will provide navigation instructions."

"Roger that."

Skyglow vanished from sight.

Director Li looked at the ground crew on the launch site clearing the runway and taking away the equipment. He suddenly spoke to Lu Zhou.

"If it takes two hours to reach low-Earth orbit, how long does it take to reach the Moon."

Even though the estimated arrival time was written on the launch plan, the launch plan was sent directly to the China National Space Administration, and the State Administration for National Defense wasn't responsible for specific project details. However, Star Sky Technology did send a copy to the State Administration for National Defense, but Director Li had to urgently get to Jinling, so he didn't get the chance to read it.

Lu Zhou stared at the green dot on the radar. He smiled and replied, "Around 56 hours."

"Only 56 hours?" Director Li looked at Lu Zhou with a shocked expression, and he said, "If I recall correctly, the Americans' Saturn V took more than 70 hours, right?"

"If the distance were longer, we could have accelerated to an even faster speed." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "The launch is over. I'm going to take a nap, and you should go rest already. The spacecraft is already in the sky, so there's no way for me to fly anymore."

Before Director Li could reply, Lu Zhou took off his headset and gave it to Hou Guang.

"You're in charge now."

Hou Guang took the headset from Lu Zhou and nodded solemnly.

"Roger that."

…

In the blue sky.

Skyglow had already reached a height of 20 kilometers. The pilot smoothly changed the engine mode, and the spacecraft began to fly toward outer space, with a trajectory tangent to earth.

Liu Zhengwen could feel the change to the center of gravity. He took a deep breath and tapped his helmet, which gave him access to the crew communication channel.

"… Have we left the atmosphere?"

After a while, Nie Yan's voice traveled through the communication channel.

"Not yet. If you are nervous, you can sleep for a bit."

"… I just woke up a few hours ago. I can't fall asleep again now."

It's not like I can fall asleep in an environment like this anyway!

Nie Yan smiled and said, "Stop acting like a little girl, you're a grown-ass man. Professor Lu is also a researcher, and he wasn't scared at all when he sneaked on here."

Most young Chinese scholars viewed Lu Zhou as a role model or even an idol.

After remembering Lu Zhou also flew in this spacecraft, Liu Zhengwen calmed down.

"What was Professor Lu like when he was on here?"

Nie Yun already switched Skyglow to automatic flight mode. He smiled and replied, "He? He was nuts. Even us professional astronauts were a bit nervous, but he wasn't nervous at all. He even took a selfie in space."

Liu Zhengwen: "…"

I guess Lu Zhou really is a god.

Other than wanting to post "God Lu is nuts" on his Weibo, he didn't know what to say.

Nie Yun noticed that Liu Zhengwen was staying silent, so he thought Liu Zhengwen was still scared. He tried to encourage Liu Zhengwen.

"Actually, you should relax a little and think about the positive. Once we come back from the Moon, we will become heroes, and that's something to be proud of for the rest of your life."

Liu Zhengwen looked up and said, "What if we don't come back?"

Nie Yun smiled.

"Then we'll still be heroes."

Chapter 723: We Need A Win

Midnight in Beijing.

It was 8 am in Washington.

For most Americans, the day had just begun.

Inside a home in the suburbs of New Jersey, a couple and their four-year-old child enjoyed breakfast at the dining table.

Julia added some dressing into the salad bowl. She glanced at the news on the TV, which was about the Ares project. She couldn't help but say, "I don't get it, why do we have to spend money to compete with China on this. Can't the money be better used elsewhere?"

Brad was munching on a bacon sandwich. He grinned at the TV and spoke.

"You don't get it, this is what guys do."

Julia rolled her eyes at her husband.

"Yeah, a truck driver cares about space. It's not like they're going to let you drive a truck on Mars."

Brad raised his eyebrows and smiled as he said, "It might happen one day. Apparently, Ares is recruiting volunteers, so maybe I'll be like Han Solo…"

"Don't even think about it!"

Brad looked at his serious-faced wife, and he tried to calm her down.

"Relax, sweetheart… I was just kidding. I'm not actually going to sign up."

Suddenly, a piece of breaking news was being shown on TV.

"Nine minutes ago, NASA's observation satellite found that Skyglow with a lunar module took off from China's Jinling launch site. As of right now, it has left the stratosphere and is on its way to low-Earth orbit."

Brad stared at the image on the screen, and his mouth was wide open. He didn't even notice his bacon slices dropping from his sandwich.

"Oh my God… The Chinese are going on the Moon."

Julia was flicking the salad in her bowl with a fork as she glanced at her husband.

"So what?"

Brad didn't answer his wife. He stared intently at the TV as he muttered, "F*ck, what is NASA even doing! We haven't done anything in the past couple of decades!"

The news broadcast continued to play.

The original news segment was disrupted by this breaking news.

After reporting on the press release, the TV host immediately connected with an expert, Professor Slade, from Cornell University. He was also a consultant for NASA's Ares program, so there was no doubt he was a professional.

"… After receiving this breaking news, we immediately contacted NASA expert Professor Slade… Professor Slade, hello!"

Professor Slade: "Hello."

A picture of Professor Slade appeared on the screen.

Through a telephone connection, the host conducted an on-site interview.

"What do you think of China's moon landing plan?"

Professor Slade thought for a couple of seconds and spoke cautiously, "China didn't disclose the technical information for Skyglow. Our guesses are there may be advanced Hall-effect thrusters and miniaturized controllable fusion reactors on board… Of course, other people think that they have adopted an advanced lithium-sulfur battery technology. After all, Star Sky Technology's main business is the battery industry."

TV host: "I think the majority of the audience doesn't care about the technology they're using. Can you make a simple prediction for us?"

"Prediction?"

The host nodded and said, "Yeah, we all want to know what the probability success is."

Professor Slade: "I can't give you a clear answer. I don't have information about Skyglow."

He paused for a second and spoke in a reluctant tone.

"But if I had to estimate, China's chances of success are higher than the Soviets."

"You think China's odds of success are higher than the Soviets?" The host's eyes were wide open as he said in disbelief, "So what you're saying is, they will succeed?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just saying that their chances of success are either 50% or 30%…" Professor Slade said in a vague manner, "Of course, even if they land on the Moon, they are still behind us in the aerospace field. After all, we have landed on the Moon many times. Also…"

Brad was watching the news.

He sighed in relief, and he felt a lot better.

I guess there's only a 30% chance the Chinese are landing on the Moon.

NASA experts are more trustworthy than Columbia TV.

The little four-year-old boy poked his omelet with a fork. He raised his fork high above his head.

"Dad, I want to go to the Moon."

Brad smiled and rubbed the little guy's head.

"One day you will. Our president is going to make our country great again! When you grow to be as tall as me, going to Mars will be as easy as going to Hawaii… Remember to bring your dad some souvenirs from Mars."

The little boy blinked and nodded.

"Ok, Dad."

Julia smiled, and she shook her head and continued to eat her salad.

She didn't care if America became great again.

She just hoped it wouldn't become worse.

…

Most Americans' worries were coming to life.

Ever since the success of the Pangu fusion reactor, energy costs in China had sharply decreased.

NASA headquarters.

Satellite control room.

Three days before Skyglow's launch, observation satellites in orbit had been pointed at Jinling. Now, this "annoying" spacecraft was inching toward the Moon.

Aiden stared at the green dot on the screen and muttered under his breath, "We're just going to sit on the sideline and watch them?"

The NASA director stared at him.

"Yeah."

Aiden was pissed off.

"We should take some countermeasures."

The NASA director ignored the CIA official and looked at his assistant.

"How's the life support system at Space-X?"

The assistant immediately said, "They're in the testing phase."

"How long is the testing going to take?"

The assistant paused for two seconds and quickly said, "Due to the landing window on Mars and other factors, our colonists must live there for two years… Of course, the testing won't take that long. According to Elon, it will take nine months."

"We can't wait for nine months." The NASA director shook his head and stared at the green dot on the radar. "The Chinese are catching up to us. We have to put the Ares project on the highest priority."

He took a deep breath and spoke to his assistant.

"Listen, contact Elon Musk for me and ask if he can shorten the testing time. I know this is difficult, but we need a victory; a victory that we can give to Congress!"

The assistant took a deep breath and spoke.

"Sir… What do you mean by victory?"

The NASA director spoke with a poker face.

"Deliver life support systems to Mars within six months.

"If the Chinese think that they have caught up to us just by walking on the Moon, then we have to tell them and our fellow Americans how insignificant their achievement is!"

Chapter 724: Setting Foot in the Starry Sky

Ever since the Apollo 17 lunar mission in December 1972, no one had ever ventured beyond Earth's orbit and stepped on the surface of the Moon. The Skyglow sailing on the Earth-Moon orbit was like a lonely boat in the sea.

The view out of the porthole was pitch black; it was different from the night on earth, a different kind of silence and cold. This kind of darkness seemed to come from another world. The kind of dark that was 10-kilometer deep in the sea.

After nearly forty hours of the voyage, they were getting close to the dark grey planet.

Nie Yun, who was holding the joystick, looked at the Moon and took a deep breath.

"This is Skyglow, we have entered the 12-hour orbit, closing in on the Moon…"

Liu Zhengwen was sitting behind him in the passenger seat. As he stared at the approaching planet, his heartbeat increased.

This was a feeling he couldn't describe.

After five minutes, he suddenly remembered something.

"Speaking of which… Who's going first?"

Liu Zhengwen blushed. Even though he didn't want to sound greedy, he felt like he came off as rather gluttonous for the "first Chinese on the Moon". He just felt like this might turn into an argument, so it'd be better to solve it before the mission began.

After hearing him, Nie Yun smiled.

"You can go first."

Liu Zhengwen awkwardly replied, "No, you should go."

After all, Nie Yun was the one who drove Skyglow all the way here.

Nie Yun smiled and said, "I have to stay on Skyglow. I'm afraid I can't leave."

During the moon mission, the main pilot had to remain on Skyglow to ensure that all systems on Skyglow were operating normally. Even though there was an autonomous cruise mode, for which Skyglow could automatically orbit a given track, the system wasn't very reliable. Therefore, an experienced pilot would have to remain on Skyglow at all times.

Hence, he could only witness the glorious moment of inserting China's flag on the Moon.

However, he didn't really care about this.

Liu Zhengwen said nervously, "I'm going alone?"

Nie Yun pointed at Nie Yan and said, "Don't worry, she'll go with you and bring you back."

Liu Zhengwen said, "Then she should go first."

"Don't worry about me. It doesn't matter if I go first or second," Nie Yan smiled and said. "Regardless, I'll still be the first female on the Moon."

Nie Yun said, "Are there no female astronauts on Apollo?"

Liu Zhengwen: "… I don't think so. I think all of the 12 astronauts are male."

Nie Yun nodded.

"I see…"

No wonder the higher-ups asked for a female astronaut.

In addition to investing in the future, the space race is about being first.

So why didn't the Americans bring a female astronaut to the Moon?

…

Even though Skyglow was near the Moon, it was impossible for them to release the lunar module at their current speed.

After a week of orbiting at the 12-hour orbit track, with the help from the ground command center, Nie Yun piloted Skyglow into a 127-minute orbit. The magnitude and the direction of the velocity were now at a safe level.

Nie Yun pressed on his helmet. He then took a deep breath and spoke.

"… This is Skyglow. We have successfully entered the 127-minute orbit. We will reach the landing point in 25 minutes, requesting approval to release the lunar module."

"This is ground command center. Release approved."

"Roger that."

Nie Yun looked back at Liu Zhengwen, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"25 minutes until moon landing. You guys should get ready."

"Okay!"

The two other astronauts unlocked their life support systems and helped each other put on outer-spacesuits. With Nie Yun supervising, they checked the statuses of their spacesuits.

"Oxygen systems activated!"

"Checking oxygen levels."

"100% oxygen left, enough for 4 hours!"

"Test the astronaut propulsion unit."

"Yes, sir!"

Just like what Liu Zhengwen learned during his training, he hooked himself onto a nearby railing. He then reached out and pressed a button on his left arm. His jet backpack made a quiet noise, and he could feel a gentle force pushing him forward.

However, this gentle force didn't push him too far.

"… Astronaut propulsion unit is working!"

Nie Yun nodded, and he looked at Nie Yan, who was sitting next to him.

After Nie Yan completed her tests, she nodded and said, "Everything is normal."

Nie Yun nodded.

"Begin boarding, good luck!"

"Thanks."

Nie Yan smirked, and she fist-bumped her brother. She then stepped through the hatch.

Liu Zhengwen nodded at Nie Yun. He then followed Nie Yan's footsteps.

Nie Yun saw the hatch close, and he went silent for a while. After that, he raised his hand and saluted.

He spoke to himself in a solemn voice.

"Take care!"

This was it.

After a five-minute voyage, Skyglow reached its target airspace. A black egg-shaped object was separated from Skyglow.

With the help of two pairs of chemical rockets, the lunar module flew toward the Moon like a meteorite and landed on the barren Moon soil.

The dust on the Moon billowed.

Whether it was Nie Yun sitting in Skyglow, or the ground command center staff 380 thousand kilometers away, everyone staring at the live-streamed footage clenched their fists.

Finally, the lunar module door opened.

A figure stood at the hatch.

Everyone held their breaths.

Except for Liu Zhengwen, who was standing at the hatch. He took a deep breath.

He gently jumped out of the cabin.

It was like his body was made of feathers, and he gently fell on the Moon.

The moment his feet touched lunar soil, he felt his entire body on fire.

The moment he stepped on the Moon, deafening cheers were heard 380 thousand kilometers away.

People hugged each other and burst into tears.

They did it!

They landed on the Moon!

They were rewriting history!

Chapter 725: Special Blessing

The day before Chinese New Year.

A family sat around the dining table while eating Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.

The dishes were beautifully laid out on the table. There were braised trotters, which was Lu Zhou's favorite, crispy and tender bream, as well as leek dumplings.

The dumplings were especially tasty.

Lu Zhou nearly started to tear up after he tasted his mother's dumplings.

This was the most delicious thing he ate all year…

Old Lu saw that Lu Zhou already finished two plates of dumplings. He grabbed a piece of braised beef into his plate and spoke.

"Don't eat too much, you'll overeat."

Lu Zhou replied while chewing, "I only get to eat this once a year, so just let me eat."

"What do you mean once a year, if you want, your mom can cook more," Fang Mei said as she looked at her son. She then stared at Old Lu and said, "Our son wants to eat, what's your problem?"

Old Lu said, "I'm just worried he's going to overeat."

"What do you mean overeat, he's clearly gotten skinnier. Stop worrying about him, how about you do the dishes instead?"

Lu Zhou looked at his parents arguing and said, "No, it's fine. Just put the plates in the kitchen. We have a dishwasher."

His phone vibrated.

Lu Zhou knew Xiao Ai was messaging him again.

However, he didn't have time to reply. He had to eat.

Xiao Tong looked at her brother furiously eating and smiled as she said, "We just started eating. Slow down, Brother."

"Ok! I'll slow down."

However, Lu Zhou didn't slow down at all.

As for overeating…

That was impossible for him.

The system had strengthened his physical abilities a long time ago. Even if he ate twice the normal amount, his metabolism could easily handle it. The excess calories would be converted into things other than fat.

Because of this, he could never get fat.

After being ridiculed by his wife, Old Lu shut his mouth.

Lu Zhou's phone had been vibrating non-stop.

He couldn't take it anymore, so he put down his chopsticks and took out his phone.

As expected, Xiao Ai was the one messaging him.

There was only one message.

[Master, I want to eat as well. ~ (ˉ『ˉ)]

Lu Zhou: "…"

This request was too difficult.

Lu Zhou sighed and replied.

[You're still young, let's talk about this later.]

Xiao Ai: [QAQ]

Lu Bangguo stared at Lu Zhou's phone, but Lu Zhou quickly turned his phone away.

Old Lu drank some alcohol and smiled.

"Hey, why are you so shy? Girlfriend?"

Before Lu Zhou could answer, his mother happened to walk out of the kitchen while holding a fresh batch of dumplings. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she put down the plate of dumplings and asked, "What? Girlfriend? Oh my, why didn't you let us meet her?"

Sitting across the table, Xiao Tong sighed and said, "You guys don't know my brother at all."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Xiao Ai: [(・∀・ *)?]

The New Year's Gala show began.

Even though no one was interested in watching the show anymore, this show almost became a Chinese New Year tradition.

It made the atmosphere more lively.

It would feel like something was missing if they didn't watch the New Year's Gala show.

Before the show began, the host gave new year blessings to the entire country.

The male host stood on the stage while holding a microphone, and he stared at the cameras as he said enthusiastically, "… We have a special new year's blessing this year."

The female host pretended like she didn't know what was going on.

"A special blessing? From who?"

The male host raised his voice and said, "Not from who, but from where! It comes from the Moon!"

The TV screen quickly switched to a scene of the lunar orbit, 380,000 kilometers away.

Nie Yun was floating inside the Skyglow cabin, and he smiled as he waved at the camera.

"Hello, everyone, this is Skyglow. We are currently 380,000 kilometers away from Earth.

"My two teammates have already set foot on the Moon. On behalf of my teammates, I'd like to wish you all a happy new year!

"Also, Dad, Mom, happy new year!"

The TV scene quickly switched back to the New Year's Gala.

The New Year's Gala live audience was cheering and applauding.

Old Lu stared at the big TV screen and suddenly asked, "You built that spacecraft?"

Lu Zhou was also staring at the TV, and he smiled as he replied, "Obviously I didn't build it myself. That was the joint effort of all of the aerospace research institute engineers and the staff members at the launch site."

Not to mention those who were still working at the launch site.

Forget about a family dinner, those people didn't even have time to eat some instant noodles.

Old Lu: "So you built it."

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression. He didn't answer.

I guess I'll just agree with Dad.

Old Lu looked at his son and said, "Not bad, son."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's alright."

Old Lu nodded and said sincerely, "Nicely done."

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

"Thanks, Dad."

Air and water weren't the only precious resources on the Moon, communication was also a scarce resource.

After all, the ground command center needed to communicate with Skyglow, and the data collected by the lunar module also had to be sent in real time. Therefore, it wasn't realistic for them to send a live broadcast of the moon landing. Sending the 57mb Chinese New Year's greeting video already occupied a significant amount of the data stream, which was originally allocated to scientific research missions.

However, traditions were important.

The same applied to aerospace.

If everything were done for scientific research, then life would be pretty boring.

After all, not everything had quantifiable value.

Lu Zhou continued to watch the New Year's Gala, and he quietly smirked.

Communication from the Moon is quite difficult.

But that's only for now.

After the communication base or communication satellite is set up on the surface or the orbit of the Moon, the communication bandwidth problem will ease significantly.

Chapter 726: A Moment of Celebration

Moon landing successful!

After this short video clip was shown at the New Year's Gala, the entire country was moved.

For thousands of years, people had looked at the Moon as a mythical place; a place written in poetry and songs.

Ever since China successfully became the third country to send astronauts to space, setting foot on the Moon had always been a dream of the Chinese people.

But, all of this wasn't easy.

Even though China had caught up with America and Russia in terms of manned space flights, China had always been behind America and Russia in terms of high-thrust rocket technology. Not just that, but China was also behind the EU and Japan.

However, Skyglow's successful test flight completely changed the situation. The advanced ion thruster propulsion technology was able to send Chinese astronauts to the Moon!

People sitting in front of their TVs had their eyes wide open.

Tears of excitement were rolling down their faces…

Inside a house in Beijing.

Yuan Huanmin was sitting in front of the dinner table eating New Year's Eve dinner. Two drops of tears rolled off the corners of his eyes as he watched the TV.

As the chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, seeing China's lunar module and Chinese footprints on the Moon was his lifelong dream.

And now, his dream came true.

His son noticed the tears. "Dad, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

His granddaughter quietly said, "Don't cry, don't cry."

"I'm fine, you guys… Don't have to worry about me," the old man took off his glasses and wiped his tears. He said, "I'm just… a bit emotional."

He thought back to his attitude toward Lu Zhou and the Skyglow project, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Even though he knew his intentions were good, he still couldn't live with himself if the Skyglow project failed because of him.

Maybe…

He was a little too harsh on himself.

At the same time, inside a house in Changan, another family was also eating dinner.

The old man looked at the TV and smiled as he patted his thigh.

"Haha, I knew it, this kid is a genius!"

The only downside was that Lu Zhou didn't think carefully about the consequences. But after all, all 20-year-olds were immature. It was rare for a 20 something-year-old to stay humble while becoming famous and rich.

Not to mention that the world was always more forgiving to people with extraordinary abilities.

The woman sitting across the old man smiled and said, "Look at how happy you are. The guy already won a Nobel Prize, of course he's a genius."

The old man said, "Many people have won the Nobel Prize. But I'm afraid he's the only scholar who has achieved this much at his age. Unfortunately, no award in China can match his achievements."

These three astronauts were definitely going to be awarded at the commendation conference.

As for the scientific researchers and heroes working behind the curtains, they would receive awards as well.

As for what award should be given to Lu Zhou…

The old man contemplated for a while.

The woman sitting across the table smiled and said, "He has already won the highest award in the scientific world, he probably doesn't care anymore. Instead of worrying about what medal to give him, you should focus on providing him with a good academic environment and creative resources."

"You're right, but awards aren't only for the recipients, it's also to motivate and inspire others." The old man suddenly looked up and said, "Forget about it, I can't think of a solution. I'll have a meeting and discuss with others."

Regardless, the important thing was that the astronauts were still on the Moon.

They could postpone the commendation conference until next year.

On the other hand, the news that Chinese astronauts had landed on the Moon spread across the internet.

Within ten minutes, Skyglow was trending across major social media platforms.

This was just as exciting as the Beijing Olympic.

Lu Zhou opened Weibo and saw that Skyglow was trending above the New Year's Gala. He couldn't help but smile.

[It's really been a hard and long ride. (cry) (cry)]

[This is the most exciting news I've heard this year! (excited)]

[Everyone knows that landing on the Moon isn't that difficult. The reason why the Americans aren't landing on the Moon is that their target is the sun! This isn't big news, go to bed, everyone.]

[Yeah! I heard American scientists are very smart, they'll land on the Moon at night!]

[I'd like to thank the Skyglow scientific researchers!!!]

[…]

After closing Weibo, Lu Zhou took a glance at Twitter.

Surprisingly, the official NASA Twitter account didn't tweet anything.

For a long time, every time China made progress on the moon landing, NASA would send almost patronizing encouragement and praise.

Because they knew that China was significantly behind them in the field of aerospace. NASA had already explored half of the solar system and even began to launch detectors outside of the Kuiper belt.

However, not only had China completed a 50-ton low-Earth orbit carrying capacity, but their astronauts had landed on the Moon.

Obviously China was rising in the aerospace industry.

Of course, the NASA directors might be in a meeting right now, and that's why they weren't tweeting.

Lu Zhou smiled and scrolled through Twitter. He read the comments from foreign netizens. He then turned off his phone and lay on the sofa.

The first stage of the manned moon mission was complete. He could enter the system space and press the mission complete button if he wanted to.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't in a hurry to enter the next mission stage.

After all, there were many easy and rewarding side missions in his mission panel. He just had to wait for the astronauts in the sky to help him complete these missions…

Chapter 727: Space Plant Growth Uni

Landing on the Moon was only the first step.

For those researchers who sent the astronauts to the Moon, what really mattered was what happened after the moon landing.

Some of the materials from the lunar module were loaded on the lunar rover. Nie Yan sat in the driver's seat, and she started the engine and drove toward the closest crater. Liu Zhengwen was sitting in the co-pilot seat.

Liu Zhengwen stared at the craters in the distance. When he looked back at the blue planet, he couldn't help but speak.

"It's quite lonely here."

"Yeah."

The two didn't talk a lot.

The lunar rover stopped next to an impact crater. Liu Zhengwen got out of the car and looked around. He saw a pole standing on the ground near the crater.

"This is…"

"This is probably the flag of the United States. Apparently, they used nylon flags back then. The flag was damaged by cosmic rays, and the pole is the only thing left… Turn on your body camera."

Liu Zhengwen had a moment of realization on his face.

He obviously was aware of the damage of cosmic rays on nylon materials. After all, he had the highest academic qualifications out of the three astronauts. Because of the solar wind, the flagpole was probably brittle as well.

"I already turned it on after I left the lunar module."

Nie Yan took out a flag from the lunar rover and nodded.

"Oh yeah? Good."

Liu Zhengwen watched Nie Yan walk toward the center of the crater while carrying a flag pole.

"Then what about us?"

"We learned from their mistakes. As long as it is not hit by a meteorite, this flag can stay here for a hundred years."

That bright red flag was firmly inserted into the Moon soil, and a triangle mount on the bottom of the pole was deployed.

Nie Yan smirked. She raised her arm and wiped away the Moon dust on her mask. She said, "This is the first step… One day, the entire Moon will be filled with bright red flags."

Liu Zhengwen felt his heart rate increase.

He thought back to why he chose this profession…

He thought back to his oath when he signed up for the astronaut selection process…

"The Moon is too small."

Nie Yan looked at Liu Zhengwen and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah?"

Liu Zhengwen stared at the blue planet in the sky and smiled.

"The Moon is boring. One day, we will insert this flag on planets beyond the Kuiper belt."

Nie Yan smiled and started to walk back to the lunar rover.

"Okay, enough of this, let's get to work."

They didn't come here for a vacation.

Inserting the flag was only the first step.

They had a lot of things to do.

…

Time on the Moon was very precious.

The food, fresh water, and oxygen on the lunar module were only enough to sustain the two astronauts on the lunar surface for 48 hours. Each out of cabin activity could only last 4-6 hours. They had to return to the lunar module every so often to eat and drink. There was very little time left for them to perform missions.

After they planted the flag, the two got back in their rover and drove around the crater. They stopped at a relatively flat area near the ridge.

According to the computer calculations, the chance of this area hit by a meteorite was low.

Even though this was only a probability estimation, this area was still worthy of study.

After the rover came to a stop, just like Liu Zhengwen was trained, he took out an infrared beacon transmitter and placed it on the ground. He then went into the lunar rover and left this area.

Soon after, a black square object separated from Skyglow. With the help from a weak jet flame, it slowly landed on the surface of the Moon.

After the Moon dust cleared away, the lunar rover returned to the area.

Liu Zhengwen got out of the car and pulled out a special data cable from his spacesuit. He then connected it to this black device.

Soon after, a progress bar appeared on the screen, which was attached to his arm.

The progress bar completed, and a simple interface appeared in front of his eyes.

"… This is the lunar scientific research team. The plant growth unit has been successfully deployed. The device is normal."

Nie Yun's voice was heard on the communication channel.

'"Check the condition of the specimen."

"Roger that."

The entire space plant growth unit covered an area of 15 square meters. It was actually quite spacious after the plant growth unit was fully deployed.

The core components were divided into two parts, most of which were planting cabins for cultivating crops such as potatoes and carrots. A small segment was located at the corner of the planting unit, which held ten white rats.

Six of them were divided into three rooms, with one male and one female in each room. The rest of the rats were sterilized, and they lived in separate rooms.

As long as there was electricity, the gas circulation system would continue to supply oxygen. There was also a year worth of freshwater and food. When the device detected the death of a rat, it would activate its freezing function. This would, in turn, freeze the rat and prevent it from decaying.

As for the rats that lived longer than a year…

There was no need for that.

This space plant growth unit was only an experiment to test whether or not crops could be self-sufficiently planted on the Moon's surface. This was also to test the effects of long-term low gravity environments on the organisms' health.

As long as these rats lived longer than three months, the experiment could be considered a success.

After Liu Zhengwen ran diagnostics on the plant growth unit, the first thing he did was to check the health of the rats.

Perhaps because they were unable to adapt to the low gravity environment of the Moon, a few of them seemed quite perturbed. Fortunately, they were still alive and were moving.

Liu Zhengwen wasn't sure if they could survive. He silently prayed for the little guys that sacrificed their lives to science.

After he confirmed that all the specimens were in good condition, he checked the operating status of the plant growth unit. Finally, he disconnected the data cable from his spacesuit and reported the situation to Nie Yun and Skyglow.

"… This is the moon scientific research team. All specimens on the plant growth unit have survived. Pressure, temperature, and carbon-oxygen balance are at normal levels."

"Nicely done! Prepare for the next mission."

"Roger that."

Next up was to collect lunar soil.

For a long time, lunar soil and lunar meteorite samples preserved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences had been collected by remote-control space probes. This was the first time China collected lunar soil by hand.

Liu Zhengwen stared at the gray mountains and smiled.

Because he used to work at the Chinese Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, he was well aware of how valuable this soil was.

This couldn't even be measured in monetary value.

If it weren't for the weight carrying limit, he would have gladly dug more soil.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day." Nie Yan placed a set of lunar soil into a sample bag. She glanced at her locator on her arm and said, "Our next sampling spot is at a crater two kilometers away. We have to move faster."

Liu Zhengwen used his shovel and started to dig.

"Roger that."

Chapter 728: Return!

"5!

"4!

"…

"0!

"Let's go home!"

The thrusters lit up.

The return cabin on top of the lunar module was ignited.

The hemispherical aircraft separated from the huge module, and it easily overcame the Moon's gravitational force and began to fly upward.

On the other hand, Skyglow began to decelerate and change its orbit. It welcomed the returning cabin.

380,000 kilometers away, two white dots were presented on a large screen inside the ground command center. They flew side by side and gradually approached one another, before finally merging into one…

After that, a refreshing voice was heard on the communication channel.

"… This is Skyglow, the return cabin has been successfully connected. Requesting instructions."

Hou Guang was standing on the podium, and he said, "This is the ground command center. Please return immediately."

Two seconds after, a response was heard.

"Roger that."

After receiving orders from the ground command center, the five thrusters lit up with blue lights, gradually accelerating Skyglow. Skyglow went from the 127-minute orbit to the 3.5-hour orbit, then from the 3.5-hour orbit to the 12-hour orbit.

After several hours of acceleration, Skyglow finally reached the moon escape velocity of 2.4 kilometers per second, successfully entering the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.

Nie Yun, who was sitting in the pilot's seat, skillfully shut down the engine and transitioned into cruise mode. With the help of Earth's gravity, Skyglow successfully entered the 48-hour orbit.

This was the optimal return route, which was calculated by the ground command center supercomputer.

With only 9% of the working medium left, this was the only safe way for re-entry!

The flight lasted more than 50 hours.

Finally, six days after Chinese New Year's Day, Skyglow began to approach the edge of Earth's atmosphere.

Until yesterday, the American media were still sticking with their story. They posted headlines such as "successful moon landing leaves the question of successful return" and accused China of disregarding the safety of the astronauts. They claimed China was using human lives to test immature technologies.

Skyglow's successful entry into the atmosphere made the NASA experts and American journalists look stupid.

It wasn't just America, space centers and space enthusiasts all around the world were focusing on Skyglow; even normal civilians were paying attention to Skyglow.

Especially Chinese people.

Countless hearts and minds were praying for that spacecraft.

This was the last hundred meters of a marathon.

Landing on the Moon was an accomplishment, but bringing the victory back from the Moon was the ultimate victory!

"… This is Skyglow, we have successfully entered the return orbit," Nie Yun said as he took a deep breath. He said in a calm voice, "Re-entering the atmosphere in 5 minutes."

Soon after, the ground command center replied.

"… Message received, good luck."

Five minutes quickly passed by. Skyglow began to make contact with the atmosphere, and the deceleration plates on the wings opened in hopes of counteracting Earth's gravitational pull.

Skyglow finally entered into the troposphere, the densest part of the atmosphere.

50 kilometers!

10 kilometers!

5 kilometers!

2 kilometers!

It's there!

Skyglow broke through the clouds.

The moment Skyglow appeared in the sky, the staff on the runway, the engineers, and the technicians in the command center couldn't help but cheer for this hard-won victory.

The giant fuselage landed slowly and smoothly onto the runway.

A parachute was ejected, dragging Skyglow to a stop.

The ground crew and reporters swarmed to the spacecraft.

The sound of air leaking was heard. The heavy hatch slowly opened, and three astronauts appeared in everyone's sight.

Liu Zhengwen held the handrails and walked down the airstair. When he looked at all of this happening in front of him, he felt like he was dreaming.

I'm…

A hero?

Tears filled his eyes.

That moment, he realized that the responsibilities and pressure he had to endure over the past few days were all worth it.

…

The moment the spacecraft successfully landed, the ground command center's work was done. The engineers and technicians working there either ran to the runway or went to the lounge for some rest.

Some of them had worked for more than 24 hours straight.

Especially Hou Guang, the chief commander of the ground command center. He hadn't had a second of sleep ever since the aerospaceplane entered the 24-hour orbit. After seeing Skyglow successfully land, it was almost like he was on drugs. He dropped his headset and ran out of the command room.

It seemed like before taking a break, he had to see it with his own eyes.

Lu Zhou was standing in the command center, and he watched from a distance as the three astronauts were surrounded by the ground crew and reporters. He couldn't help but smirk.

Yan Yan, who was standing behind him, teased.

"Aren't you gonna let the reporters take some photos of you?"

She was quite worried. She thought that Lu Zhou would become overly excited after the spacecraft landed. Fortunately, Lu Zhou's health had been stable.

Yan Yan couldn't help but feel relieved.

It seemed like Lu Zhou finally started to take care of his health.

Lu Zhou stared at the crowd outside and smiled.

"I'm good.

"I already received my rewards."

Yan Yan was confused. Before she could ask, Lu Zhou turned around and walked out of the command room.

Two minutes ago, he received a reminder from the system that his side mission had been completed.

He could finally collect his side mission branch awards, and he couldn't wait to find out what the next phase of the mission chain was…

Chapter 729: Second Stage

Inside Lu Zhou's private resting lounge.

Lu Zhou hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the lounge door. After locking the door, he walked to the bed and lay down on it. He closed his eyes and summoned the system.

Soon, a familiar feeling surrounded him.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a pure white space.

How long has it been since I last came here?

A month?

Two months?

Or maybe half a year.

Lu Zhou didn't remember when was the last time he came here.

Ever since the long-term scientific research mission chain began, he rarely returned to the system space.

He walked in front of the holographic panel, a line of blue text appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, user, for completing the first phase of "Control of Earth and Moon": landing on the Moon.

[Requirements: User has to lead a project in sending at least one astronaut to the Moon and successfully bring him back to Earth safely.

[Rewards: 100,000 engineering experience points, 50,000 materials science experience points, 50,000 energy science points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.

[Secondary goals:

1. A barrel of gold: Collect and bring back 1kg of lunar soil. Reward: 50,000 experience points. (completed)

2. Overlooking Earth: At an altitude of 100-2000 kilometers, manually operate a camera and capture a photo of planet Earth. Reward: 50,000 experience points, one lucky draw ticket. (completed)

3. Life Of Farming: Deploy a 10-square-meter unmanned planting module on the Moon's surface. Observe and record the growth of crops under conditions of low gravity and the absence of a magnetic field. Reward: 50,000 experience points. One lucky draw ticket. (completed)

4. Crazy Jerry: Plant ten rats on the surface of the Moon. Observe and record the activities of the specimen under the conditions of low gravity and the absence of a magnetic field. Reward: 100,000 experience points. One lucky draw ticket. (completed)

]

This mission's experience point rewards were plentiful. In addition to the main mission experience points, the 250,000 branch mission experience points were assignable to any subjects. He also received four of the precious lucky draw tickets.

Lu Zhou was as excited as the astronauts who had just stepped out of the aerospaceplane.

Of course, it was too soon to celebrate.

Whether or not this was worth celebrating still depended on the lucky draw.

"System, open my characteristic panel!"

A blue light swept across the screen, and his characteristic panel soon appeared in front of him.

He didn't have to worry about mathematics and physics right now; one was level 8, the other was level 7. Their level up requirements were all in the millions of experience points range, so the 250,000 wouldn't do anything.

Engineering and biochemistry, which were both on level 5, seemed to be a pretty good investment. However, the level 3 energy science and level 2 information science were also cost-effective choices. If the helium-3 mining or lunar communication bandwidth problem were solved, information science and energy science might be useful.

Lu Zhou stood in front of the characteristic panel and contemplated it for a while. He suddenly felt like 250,000 experience points wasn't enough.

"I guess I didn't complete enough branch missions? I guess I have to pay more attention to the second mission stage…"

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and pondered for a second. He quickly made a decision. He spent 200,000 of the experience points on biochemistry, then allocated the remaining 50,000 experience points to information science.

Soon, his characteristic panel was updated.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (774,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 7 (13,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 5 (10/300,000)

E. Materials science: Level 6 (63,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (50,000/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 3 (3,000/100,000)

General points: 4,835 (four lucky draw tickets)

]

Biochemistry was upgraded from level 5 to level 6, while information science was upgraded from level 2 to level 3. He was getting closer to mastering biochemistry and was no longer a novice in information science.

The reason he chose to allocate the experience points this way was mainly that biochemistry was closely related to materials science. Because his biochemistry level was lower than his materials science level, the benefits of leveling up his biochemistry level were quite large.

As for why he chose information science and not energy science, it was mainly because second-generation controllable fusion technology was still nowhere to be seen, and helium-3 mining wasn't an urgent project.

Of course, there was another thing he could have done, which was to level up his engineering to level 6.

However, so far, Lu Zhou felt like he didn't require a high-level understanding of engineering. After all, there were many excellent engineers at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study who could make up for his shortcomings in the engineering field.

All of the experience points had been allocated; next up was the exciting lucky draw.

Lu Zhou stared at the information screen and took a deep breath. He silently prayed for a bit before focusing his attention on the roulette wheel.

He pressed the button, and at the same time, he spoke.

"… Let's go!"

The wheel began to spin.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou spun the wheel three times in a row, giving him three prizes.

After he saw the prizes, he was appalled.

Three lucky draws; two pieces of garbage and one sample. One was a Future brand liquid meal replacement, the other was the long-lost Future branded coke. There was also a Future brand… pajama?

Even though the label said it was a sweater, it was clearly a gray pajama.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was that this "pajama" was a sample…

Lu Zhou thought this item was no different from a piece of garbage.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at the lucky draw button.

He only had one shot left.

Lu Zhou clenched his teeth and pressed the button.

The wheel spun quickly. He pressed the button again, and the wheel slowly came to a stop.

[Congratulations, user, sample is given!

[Received: "Crawler", an all-terrain remote-controlled exploration vehicle!]

Lu Zhou: "?!"

Lu Zhou's eyes immediately focused on this weirdly-shaped exploration vehicle.

Even though there weren't any instructions, his intuition told him that he just struck gold!

He felt a little better.

Lu Zhou looked at the holographic panel.

After all of his lucky draws were finished, he could finally see what the next stage of the mission was.

"Time to move on to the next stage."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and opened the mission panel.

The blue light swept across the screen, and the mission "Target 2" was presented in front of his eyes.

[Target 2: Permanent Station on the Moon

[Requirements: Build a semi-permanent scientific research station on the surface of the Moon. This station is for astronomical observation, observation of geohydrological and climate activities, as well as high-energy physics experiments. The basic requirement is to place more than 100 tons of man-made objects on the surface of the Moon.

[Secondary goals:

1. Crowded Planet: 24-hour active population on the Moon has to exceed 100.

2: Spark of the Future: Large Hadron Collider on the Moon.

3. Three Feet Deep: Collect 50 tons of rare lunar soil.

4. Alchemist: Produce 100 tons of titanium alloy.

5 Look Back on the Earth: Establish a semi-permanent Earth meteorological observation station in the Moon's orbit.

6: Look Far Away: Establish a large space telescope for detailed observations of planets in the solar system, as well as extraterrestrial stars.

…

]

Lu Zhou: "…"

The manned moon landing was still realistic, but these missions were on a completely different level.

Even if Skyglow picked up trash from the low-Earth orbit and threw them on the Moon, it would take several trips to place 100 tons of man-made objects on the Moon. If he really did that, he could forget about receiving any mission rewards. Not to mention how scary the next mission stage would be.

Lu Zhou had a headache.

Why do I feel like this damn system…

Is becoming more and more difficult to deal with.

Chapter 730: Mysterious Coke

Aerospace launch site.

The excited crowd formed a circle.

Nie Yun and the other astronauts tried to adapt to Earth's gravity. With the help from the ground crew, they walked down the airstairs.

The reporters swarmed around these three heroes with their cameras.

"Mr. Nie Yun, as the pilot, how are you feeling right now?"

Nie Yun didn't talk a lot, even at a moment like this.

"I feel alright."

The reporter said, "Is that it? The entire country is waiting to hear your thoughts."

Nie Yun stopped his footsteps and looked at the lens. He then said, "This is broadcasting to the entire country?"

"There is an hour delay. We'll edit it before it goes live."

After hearing the reporter, Nie Yun nodded.

He stood up straight and spoke.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

On the other hand, Liu Zhengwen, as the first Chinese to step foot on the Moon, was also surrounded by reporters.

"Mr. Liu Zhengwen, as the first Chinese to step foot on the Moon, what would you like to say to the audience who is sitting at home watching TV?"

Liu Zhengwen: "… I'd like to thank my fellow citizens."

Of course, compared to the other two astronauts, the media was more interested in Nie Yan.

She was the first female astronaut to step foot on the Moon.

However, because of the astronauts' health conditions, the reporters didn't stay for long. After a five-minute interview, they all cooperated and left the launch site.

Wang Peng stood next to the command tower as he stared at the aerospaceplane.

He heard footsteps behind him.

He looked back at Yan Yan.

"Where is Lu Zhou?"

Yan Yan stared at the crowd in the distance and spoke casually.

"He is resting."

Wang Peng: "Sleeping?"

"Yeah."

Wang Peng gave her a strange look and said, "Forgive me for asking, but are you sure he isn't in a coma again?"

Yan Yan paused for a second. She didn't know what to do.

I hope not…

"Then… Should I… check on him?"

Wang Peng said in a serious manner, "I think you should."

I hope he is okay.

…

The white system space faded away, Lu Zhou's consciousness returned to reality.

He climbed down from the rigid bed and stretched his body. He then sat on the bed again.

Those were some pretty good rewards.

He planned on taking the exploration vehicle and the weird piece of clothing to the underground laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Study.

As for right now…

He obviously had to celebrate this victory with a bottle of champagne!

Lu Zhou concentrated on the coke in his mind, and the thirst-quenching can of coke appeared in his hands out of thin air.

The can felt similar to the familiar Coca-Cola cans.

Does this really come from the future? Why hasn't the packaging changed?

Maybe they specifically made the can like this?

He tried looking for the production date and ingredients list, but he wasn't able to find it.

Lu Zhou was about to open the can and take a sip, but the lounge door was suddenly pushed open. Yan Yan appeared at the doorsteps, and when she saw the coke in Lu Zhou's hand, she immediately snatched the can from him.

"Why are you drinking this, it's bad for you."

Yan Yan opened the can and took a sip herself.

What?

It's pretty good.

She realized that even though the can looked like Coca-Cola, the brand was completely different.

"Future?" Yan Yan muttered. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, "What brand of coke is this? I've never seen it."

"… It's a Coca-Cola custom can, of course you haven't seen it," Lu Zhou said as he stared at the can of coke in Yan Yan's hand. He was secretly heartbroken.

"Okay, big man, you're rich, we get it."

Yan Yan couldn't help but think.

What a waste of money!

Who cares about your custom coke can?

Lu Zhou couldn't help but laugh.

Yan Yan knew what Lu Zhou was thinking, and she rolled her eyes and placed the coke on the table.

"… Fine, here you go."

If he's willing to drink Coca-Cola, his health should be in good condition.

Not to mention that after she heard this can was custom made, she felt a little guilty drinking it…

After making sure Lu Zhou was in good health, Yan Yan told him about the "danger of carbonated drinks". She left the lounge and hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door.

Seeing how Yan Yan didn't notice anything, Lu Zhou sighed in relief.

Wang Peng or Yang Guangbiao wouldn't have been fooled so easily…

Even though it wasn't a big deal if other people knew he had some kind of special coke, he should be more cautious in the future.

Lu Zhou picked up the can of coke and was about to have a "victory drink". However, after he saw the opened top ring, he hesitated for a second.

Even though he wasn't a germaphobe, he still didn't like to drink from other people's can.

What do I do now?

After pondering for a while, Lu Zhou decided he didn't want to waste the precious coke. He went to the nearby cupboard and found a cup.

I'll just pour it in the cup…

On the other hand, Yan Yan was walking in the corridor outside the resting lounge. She whispered to herself as she reminisced about the coke, "I've never heard of custom Coca-Colas… It tastes pretty good."

Her impression was that coke was divided into sugar-free and the ordinary version; neither of which was good for the body.

After a while, she shook her head and put this problem aside.

Forget about it, rich people are weird.

I'm just happy Lu Zhou is healthy…

She didn't know why, but she felt her mental state was exceptionally good. It was almost like she was injected with a stimulant…

Why do I feel so good? Is it an illusion?

Yan Yan slapped her face and tried to forget about what just happened.

Chapter 731: The Exhausted NASA

While China was cheering for the triumphant return of their heroes, the news of Skyglow's successful return spread throughout the world through media reports and public statements from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, and other agencies.

Almost everyone was shocked after hearing the news.

Prior to this, American media outlets were publishing interviews with relevant NASA experts. NASA experts believed that the Skyglow did indeed have a 25-ton Earth-Moon transfer orbit carrying capacity, but, due to the rushed moon landing plan, China might end up facing the same failure as the Russians.

However, this reality was like a slap to their faces.

Not only did Skyglow successfully return to the Jin Ling city launch site, but it also safely brought back the three astronauts and one kilogram of lunar soil.

Even though they were reluctant to accept the truth, they had to face reality.

China had shocked the aerospace industry with its ion thruster propulsion system, and the Chinese were catching up to the Americans at an incredible speed.

If China landed on the Moon today, then what was going to happen tomorrow? Or the day after that?

Even though over the past half-century NASA had some amount of success, their progress speed had undoubtedly slowed down. NASA's lunar space station plan was set in 2022. Even though the Ares plan caused a huge sensation, there wasn't any practical action yet to be seen.

All of the Americans who were concerned about the aerospace industry were full of doubts; some were even furious.

They were wondering what the hell NASA was doing?

The American media's opinion gradually started to change.

No longer was the patronizing tone directed toward China's aerospace technology; rather, the media was outraged against NASA. This was especially true for The New York Times. This time, they didn't interview NASA experts. Rather, they pointed their guns toward NASA and had a rather interesting headline on their latest newspaper.

[China is landing on the Moon, what are we doing?]

Coincidentally, while The New York Times was aggressively attacking NASA, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Times also attacked NASA from different perspectives. They questioned exactly how NASA spent their giant budget.

CNN even suggested having a special investigation team check NASA's budget spending over the years. They claimed there might be something shady going on.

On the other hand, NASA was perplexed by the attacking crowds.

Objectively speaking, the United States had achieved quite a lot in the aerospace industry over the past couple of decades. Their exploration boundaries even reached Pluto, and two of their space probes had set foot outside of the solar system.

However, all of these achievements didn't sound as impressive as putting a man on the Moon.

After all, the space probe was just a lifeless machine. It wasn't as exciting as putting humans beyond planet Earth.

NASA wasn't the only one under attack. This issue divided the country into two sides. This was no longer just a technical problem, it was a political problem.

The American government promised to make America great again.

However, these promises were not fulfilled.

Not only was the media attacking NASA, but they were attacking the White House as well…

…

White House.

Inside a conference room.

Other than a few unfamiliar faces, the same crowd sat at the conference table.

When the president walked in, everyone stood up to show their respect.

"Ladies and gentlemen, take a seat."

The president sat down and looked around the conference table. He stared at the NASA director, Carson, and said, "I need an explanation."

Carson looked at the NASA deputy director. He then took a deep breath and stood up.

"We underestimated China's determination in the aerospace field… as well as their technical strength. Their application of ion thruster propulsion systems exceeded our expectations. We never imagined that ion thrusters could go hand-in-hand with traditional chemical thrusters. This goes to show that ion thruster propulsion systems are more than capable of escaping Earth's gravitational pull. So far we have collaborated with the PPPL, MIT, and other research institutes on improving our ion thruster technology…"

The president slammed the table and interrupted Carson. He frowned and said impatiently, "How long?"

Carson paused for a second and forced a smile.

"Um… We don't have estimates. We have to miniaturize controllable fusion reactors first."

Before they could miniaturize controllable fusion, they had to figure out controllable fusion first. Even though Carson's intuition was that the miniaturization of controllable fusion wasn't as difficult as imagined, they were still far from developing the technology.

After all, according to the technology negotiations with China, they would have to wait until next year to reach an agreement.

Not to mention that the price of the negotiation was not small…

The president said, "I need a solution now, I don't want to hear about your incompetence!"

Carson nearly spat out blood.

The f*ck?

Weren't you the one that wanted an explanation?

Of course, Carson didn't dare to say this out loud.

He went silent for a while before speaking, "Of course, we have come up with a response strategy… I've talked about it with the vice president prior to this meeting."

When the president looked at the vice president, the old man sitting in the vice-president chair nodded and spoke.

"Before the conference, I spoke with Mr. Carson. His proposal is quite good, albeit a bit risky."

Even though the vice president was only a political mascot, he still played a useful role sometimes.

For example, in the case of the revival of the National Space Council.

In many cases, the president didn't directly control matters in the aerospace field. Most of the time, it was handled by the president's administrative office and the vice president.

"Risky?" The president frowned and looked at Carson. "What kind of risk?"

Carson took a deep breath and said, "My proposal is to immediately begin the first phase of the Ares project and send a life support system to Mars!"

The president frowned and said, "You call that a proposal? If I recall correctly, the life support system is still in its testing phase."

"You're right, but we can't wait any longer. Just like you said, we should trust our engineers." Carson took a deep breath and said, "If we remove some of the more cumbersome procedures, we can send a life support system to Mars in two months!"

Quiet discussions were heard at the conference table.

Carson was sweating from his forehead.

He knew how risky his proposal was.

It wasn't just risky; he was straight up gambling with the astronauts' lives.

Especially after Columbia's tragedy, this seemed like a terrible idea!

Sure enough, a serious-faced middle-aged man stood up and stared sharply at Carson. He said, "Director Carson, I want to ask if by cumbersome procedures, are you referring to the necessary testing procedures?"

Carson looked at the president's executive office adviser and said, "The testing procedures aren't necessary… Actually, we are confident we can operate the life support system for at least two years."

The man asked, "How are you so sure?"

Carson was speechless. Before he could reply, the president spoke first.

"He's right.

"We should be more flexible, especially in the face of adversary. Isn't this what the National Space Council is for?"

The vice president smiled and adjusted his tie.

This was one of the rare situations where he felt impactful.

People in the room were whispering, and the man who previously attacked Carson hesitated.

He then said, "Mr. President, I have to tell you, this is not a good idea."

"Maybe, maybe not. The testing doesn't have to be done in the Arizona desert. It can also be done on Mars," Carson said. He continued, "We can send the life support system to Mars first, then confirm whether or not it works. If it works, then we can send astronauts."

Even though he wasn't sure of this risky idea, he didn't care anymore.

NASA needs a victory.

America needs a victory!

If something goes wrong, I'll just take the blame and resign.

Carson had no other choice.

"Do what he said, and send the life support system to Mars for testing," the president said as he tapped the conference table with a metal pen. He said, "We don't have any more time to waste. China is going to war with us! Every minute is precious!"

The president cast a thoughtful look at Carson.

"Mr. Carson, I hope to open a bottle of champagne with you in two months' time. Don't let me down."

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Carson's forehead.

However, he still pressed his right hand against his chest and made a promise.

"I promise you.

"God is on our side!"

Chapter 732: Unbreakable Clothes?

The entire country cheered for the successful manned moon landing.

China became the second country to land a person on the Moon, and a lot of other countries were envious.

Especially Russia.

As the second strongest aerospace nation, in 2017, the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities issued a four-step strategy for landing on the Moon. It claimed to put a man on the Moon in 2031 and carry out a 14-day scientific research mission… as well as building a research base on the Moon in 2034.

Even though this was widely regarded as a response to the United States' Lunar Gateway program, the fact was that the Roscosmos was going through with its own program.

After all, aerospace wasn't just the pride of the Americans, it was also the pride and joy of the Russians.

Even though it was impossible to recreate the greatness that was the Soviet Union, if the Roscosmos could accomplish what the Soviet Union failed to accomplish, many Russians would be satisfied.

Everyone thought that Russia would become the second country to land a man on the Moon.

However, that didn't happen…

From the successful launch of Skyglow to the landing of the lunar module, and finally, to the successful return of the astronauts. Not only did this series of achievements scare the Americans, but it also frightened the Russians.

Russia felt like China was getting the upper hand…

The Roscosmos gave its congratulations in regards to China's successful moon landing. It also quickly convened a closed-door internal meeting. It re-scheduled its moon landing program and applied for an increase in the budget.

Russia wasn't the only country reacting this way; the European Space Agency also quickly held a press conference. It stated publicly that "it is time for us to land on the Moon". The European Space Agency also announced a new set of manned moon landing plans, as well as cooperation projects with the United States in its Ares plan.

Like the life support system project…

Regardless, the underdog that was China completely changed the international aerospace field. Gone was the geopolitics and governance conflicts, and in came a new era of aerospace competition.

It was very hard to predict what would happen in the future…

The day after the heroes returned, the news channel was still playing videos filmed on the Moon, as well as documentaries on the Moon landing.

As for the three heroes who landed on the Moon, they were sent to the 301 Hospital in Beijing.

Even though their health was in good condition, they still had to go through the usual inspection procedures. After all, there could be hidden health problems.

Because they stayed in a low-gravity environment for a long time, it would take them a couple of days to adjust to Earth's gravity.

As for Lu Zhou, he left the aerospace industry alone for the time being. His attention was on something else…

…

Underground basement in the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Inside Lu Zhou's personal private laboratory…

A black sweater was placed on the experiment table… There wasn't anything special about it, other than the fact that it was extra-soft and smooth.

No matter how Lu Zhou looked at it, it was just an ordinary piece of clothing. He even felt pretty comfortable wearing it.

He touched the sweater inside out and didn't find any special mechanisms.

"Is this really just for wearing in the summer? What if people think I'm crazy for wearing this on the street?"

Lu Zhou believed that there was something else about this sweater. He refused to believe that the future generations had such a simple taste in fashion.

And given that the system had classified it as a sample, there had to be something different about it.

"… Thickness of 1.72mm, thermal conductivity of 2000w/ (m·k)," Lu Zhou said as he looked at the data measured on the high-precision thermal conductivity meter. He thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Xiao Ai, fetch me my toolbox."

[Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

A string of text popped up on the screen two meters away. Right after that, the robotic arm connected on the wall began to move. It accurately grabbed the toolbox on the ground, then placed it on the logistics vehicle. The vehicle quickly drove itself next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou reached out and took out a pair of scissors from his toolbox. He found a spot near the sleeve. He then cut the sweater.

He was shocked.

It was like the pair of scissors was cutting a piece of steel plate. No matter how hard Lu Zhou tried, the scissors didn't make a dent.

"This is weird."

Lu Zhou threw the scissors aside and looked at the perfectly good sweater. He was full of surprise.

Seeing how Lu Zhou was perplexed, the flying drone flew over.

[Master, do you want Xiao Ai to help? 0.0]

Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, "What idea do you have?"

[Why don't we try a water jet cutter?]

Lu Zhou immediately slapped his head.

I almost forgot about that!

A long time ago, in order to keep Xiao Ai entertained, Lu Zhou added a bunch of industrial and experimental equipment in the underground laboratory. He obviously had basic equipment like a water jet cutter.

Lu Zhou immediately said, "Okay, cut 1cm off the left sleeve for me."

[Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

The drone grabbed the clothing on the table and flew to the corner of the laboratory. The drone then placed the sweater on the water jet cutter, which was connected to the laboratory central server.

After the drone accurately placed the sweater on the processing station, Xiao Ai controlled the water jet cutter to release a high-pressure jet of water. A 1cm square of fabric was cut off from the sleeves.

After the device finished cutting, Lu Zhou stepped forward and picked up the 1cm square with a pair of tweezers. He carefully observed the fabric before placing it into a sample bag.

Even though there were quite a lot of different types of experimental equipment in the underground laboratory, large equipment such as the transmission electron microscopes were only found in specialized departments in the upper-floors.

Lu Zhou planned on giving this piece of fabric to Yang Xu and let him take a transmission electron microscope image and do an infrared spectrum analysis.

Lu Zhou quite trusted Yang Xu.

Both in terms of talent and trustworthiness…

Lu Zhou tidied up the laboratory. He put on his coat and was about to leave.

However, when he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something. He quickly returned to the experiment table.

"I nearly forgot about this."

He picked up two sealed test tubes from the test tube rack; one was filled with a green liquid, the other was filled with a black liquid. Lu Zhou smiled and put the two test tubes in a sample bag, together with the piece of fabric. He then turned around and walked out of the door.

Chapter 733: Component Analysis

Ever since the establishment of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, the experimental facilities have been gradually improved. Because of the relaxed academic atmosphere and funding, the institute successfully attracted a large number of overseas talents.

The Institute for Advanced Study used to be a small private institute with four major institutes, namely mathematics, physics, computational materials, and information science. Because of the fresh talents, it gradually evolved into a large institute, with a large range of subjects.

After the second and third phase of the research institute was completed, teams inside the institutes branched off from their former institute and formed their own research institutes.

For example, the Institute of Biochemistry used to be part of the Institute of Computational Materials.

After Lu Zhou gave Yang Xu the fabric sample, he brought the two test tubes to the composition analysis laboratory at the Institute of Biochemistry. He found the person in charge, which was Xu Wenhao.

"Professor Lu? Oh, come on in, I'll get some drinks from… What do you want? We have…"

"No, it's fine," Lu Zhou said as he looked at how excited Xu Wenhao was. Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, "I have some test tubes that I need you to do some component analyses on. I hope I'm not disturbing your work."

Xu Wenhao shook his head and said, "No no, I just finished my experiment. If you have any samples you want me to measure, just tell me!"

For a noob researcher like him, he felt honored that he was able to help a Nobel Prize winner.

Not to mention that any thesis with Lu Zhou's name on it would be blessed!

Lu Zhou felt like this guy was a bit overenthusiastic, but he didn't take it too seriously.

Lu Zhou happened to notice some samples placed on the experiment table, and he raised his eyebrows.

"What is this?"

Xu Wenhao looked at the samples and immediately knew what Lu Zhou was talking about. He smiled and replied, "Oh, these are some carbon-based chip samples sent from the Institute of Computational Materials. They asked me to do a component analysis, so I was just fiddling with it."

Carbon-based chips?

There was suddenly a tinge of surprise on Lu Zhou's face.

It has already been two years, he nearly forgot about this project.

He still remembered that shortly after he left America, the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials cooperated with Baosheng Group and developed the SG-1 superconducting material by improving the graphene overlap angle.

Last year at the conference in California, Baosheng Group demonstrated the superconducting technology at the controllable fusion summit. This surprised many foreign fusion research companies, and Baosheng Group received countless orders.

Before Lu Zhou left America, he told the boss of Baosheng Group that silicon-based chip research was entering a bottleneck. Even though Intel and Qualcomm were still continuously improving their silicon chip technology, they were still limited by the laws of silicon physics. If China wanted to overtake the computer chip field, they had to find another material to replace silicon.

Graphene semiconductor was one of the possible materials.

Graphene had almost all of the characteristics required for electronics. Its only flaw was finding a suitable energy band gap. However, the energy band gap could be adjusted by changing the graphene overlap angle.

Even though the boss of Baosheng Group promised to begin research on graphene chips, he never got around to it.

However, Lu Zhou didn't blame him too much. After all, the Baosheng Group boss only wanted to focus on the SG-1 material and get a promotion.

Not to mention that graphene semiconductors research had only just begun. It might take years or decades before the maturity of graphene chip technology. Even if Baosheng group spent a bunch of money on researching the technology, they might not receive any profits.

Therefore, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was the one that worked on this project.

This project was partly funded by the state scientific research funds, and the rest was funded by Star Sky Technology.

After all, if they wanted to have a patent on the technology, they had to put some skin in the game.

Lu Zhou was intrigued, so he asked, "How is the project going?"

Xu Wenhao scratched his head awkwardly and said, "I'm not sure about their progress, but I heard Professor Yang's team has developed a method for preparing graphene semiconductors. But the synthesis is still not stable… I've heard Professor Yang complain several times, that if you were to help him, this problem would have been solved a long time ago."

Lu Zhou coughed.

"What do you mean a long time ago… I'm not a god, what am I supposed to do…"

Xu Wenhao quickly said, "I didn't say that, Professor Yang said it."

"Okay, whatever." Lu Zhou shook his head and took out two test tubes from his pocket. He placed it on the empty test tube rack on the experiment table and said, "I have two samples here, I need you to do component analyses on them."

One of the test tubes contained a sample of the liquid meal-replacement.

After Lu Zhou took the liquid out of the system space, he drank half of it and felt like it tasted pretty good. It tasted like a mixture of yogurt and lemonade, but it was thicker than lemonade.

Of course, the taste wasn't important. The important part was that after drinking half of the bottle, he was totally satiated.

Lu Zhou was curious about the nutritional content, so he placed the remaining liquid in a sample test tube.

If he could figure out the formula of this liquid, it could be used for food in space.

The other test tube was obviously the remains of the can of Future coke.

In the past, Lu Zhou didn't have the means to test this stuff, but now, he finally could. He obviously would never pass up on an opportunity to experiment. Every time he drank the coke, he felt refreshed and energized. The ingredients might be interesting…

Of course, maybe he was just overthinking.

For example, maybe the manufacturer just added some extra taurine and caffeine…

Xu Wenhao looked at the two test tubes and smiled.

"No problem, when do you need it?"

"As soon as you can. Send the report and the remaining samples to my office…"

The phone in Lu Zhou's pocket suddenly began to ring.

"Let me take this."

Xu Wenhao immediately started to kiss a*s as he said, "No worries, go ahead, I'll start testing right away!"

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, "Okay then, thanks!"

Lu Zhou turned around and left the laboratory. He picked up the call as he walked toward the end of the hallway.

"Hello?"

He heard Director Li's voice through the phone.

"It's me, how have you been?"

Lu Zhou could tell from his voice that Director Li was in a good mood. Clearly, the successful moon landing was a huge accomplishment for the State Administration for National Defense and the China National Space Administration.

But Lu Zhou didn't really care, so he smiled and replied, "I'm good, what's up?"

"Do you have time to come to Beijing?"

Lu Zhou: "Beijing? Why?"

"Why?" Director Li smiled and said, "To give you an award, why else?"

Chapter 734: Use It as an Antique

Beijing.

More than 3000 people sat in the majestic Great Hall of the People.

Most of the people sitting here were academics from the Chinese Academy of Sciences or Academy of Engineering, senior officials from various government departments related to the manned moon landing program, and other high-level officials. Everyone sat here for one purpose—to give thanks and blessings to the hero of the moon landing program.

After a solemn opening remark, the commendation ceremony for the manned moon landing project officially began. A kind-faced old man walked on stage.

The applause gradually subsided.

The president paused for a second. He then spoke in a calm and solemn voice.

"Our Dong Fang Hong I was successfully launched 51 years ago. That was our first satellite, and it was our first milestone in aerospace.

"18 years ago, our Shenzhou 5 spacecraft was successfully launched. We became the third country to master manned space technology, ahead of the Europeans… This was our second aerospace milestone."

The auditorium went silent.

After a pause, the old man spoke.

"We are now the second country to land on the Moon! This is undoubtedly our third and greatest accomplishment yet!

"Allow me to speak on behalf of the whole country. I'd like to thank the vast number of scientific and technological staff members who have made great sacrifices to the manned moon mission!"

The thunderous applause spread like a tidal wave, instantly filling the entire conference hall.

The president nodded and went off stage.

The conference entered its next stage.

Academician Yuan, the chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, looked at the three astronauts receiving their medals on stage. He was overwhelmed with emotion.

These past six months felt like a dream to him.

He never thought that he would live to see the day ion thruster propulsion systems come to life. He didn't know if he was remorseful or thankful.

Academician Wu Kang, the chief engineer of the Air Force Equipment Research Institute, was sitting next to him. Wu Kang spoke quietly.

"That guy is pretty amazing."

Yuan Huanmin glanced at him.

"You're talking about…"

"Professor Lu. Who else could I be talking about?" Academician Wu smiled and said, "The State Administration for National Defense called the Air Force Equipment Department, and Minister Qin called me. They told me someone created an ion thruster aerospaceplane, but there were funding problems. They asked me to find out if it was reliable… Guess what was my first reaction?"

Yuan Huanmin: "I don't know."

Academician Wu said, "I said to hurry up and arrest that person! Who dares to lie to the Air Force Equipment Department! Arrest them now!"

Yuan Huanmin felt a little embarrassed.

Speaking of which, he had something to do with this.

However, the things he did were justified.

"Thank God you didn't arrest him."

"Haha, of course now." Academician Wu shook his head and smiled. He said, "Minister Qin told me that this was a special person and that no one would dare to arrest him. I immediately knew who he was talking about, so Minister Qin immediately took me to see the aerospaceplane in person."

Academician Wu was embellishing.

He stared at the podium, and there was a hint of fascination in his eyes.

"… I will never forget what I saw."

In the midst of the applause, the president shook the three astronauts' hands on stage. He awarded them the "Aerospace Gold Medal of Excellence" and the "Aerospace Medal of Honor", in recognition of their determination and courage in the manned moon landing program.

Next up was the awards for the researchers who contributed to the moon landing program.

Even though the three astronauts were the ones who landed on the Moon, without these heroes working behind the curtains, these astronauts couldn't have landed on the Moon.

They were also awarded the Aerospace Gold Medal of Excellence.

This was the highest medal in the field of aerospace, and it was the lifelong dream of many astronauts. This award was generally only given to astronauts and researchers who had made outstanding contributions to aerospace projects.

The president took out the shiny gold medal from the award box, and he draped the medal on Lu Zhou's chest before shaking Lu Zhou's hand.

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you!"

Ever since Lu Zhou received the Ling Yun medal, he stopped caring about awards. His wants were very simple. He only needed people to support his experiments so that he could continue his journey in scientific research.

The president stared at Lu Zhou for a while and smiled.

"Unfortunately, this is all I can give you."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Oh, you're too kind, this is more than enough."

"One medal is not enough to represent the country's gratitude." The president thought for a while and said, "Everything I can give you, you already have. You're probably not interested in anything else. I thought for a while… Since there's nothing I can give you, I have decided to give you a calligraphic work."

The president grabbed a rolled piece of paper from the staff member next to him. He unrolled the paper and presented it to Lu Zhou.

There was a magnificent line of text on the Xuan paper.

[A propitious and auspicious omen comes to those who are talented!]

There was also a square name stamp on the corner.

Lu Zhou stared at the line of calligraphy and looked astonished.

Even though he didn't know a lot about art, he could still feel the power from the brush.

"Well written," he said.

The president smiled and waved his hand. "If you like it, find a place to hang it."

Lu Zhou took the Xuan paper and the medal box from the president. He then bowed as a show of thanks.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know what this meant, when he saw Director Li's envious eyes, he knew this wasn't just an ordinary piece of calligraphic work.

Speaking of which, wouldn't it seem too arrogant if I were to hang this in my office?

Emm…

Forget about it, I'll just store it as an antique.

Chapter 735: Worthy of Bragging

Academician Wang Zengguang was applauding as he looked at Lu Zhou, who was on stage. He then spoke.

"Old Li…"

Academician Li Jiangang was still clapping when he stared at Wang Zengguang and said, "What?"

Wang Zengguang said emotionally, "I think we can brag about controllable fusion for the rest of our lives."

"Of course," Li Jiangang smiled and said, "we'll brag about it until the end of time."

"I think so too." Wang Zengguang sighed and said with a sullen voice, "It's not easy to achieve something earth-shattering in one's lifetime."

Li Jiangang: "Of course, how many earth-shattering things do you want to achieve?"

Wang Zengguang sighed and said, "I don't know, but look at this kid. Maybe there really are true geniuses on Earth; those that are uncommon among uncommon people. Those that do things people don't even dare to think of."

Li Jiangang went silent for a while. He then spoke emotionally.

"He's an exception… Forget about him."

After the commendation conference finished, a grand celebration dinner was held in the same venue. The dinner started as a formal event, but it became more and more lively. In the end, everyone walked around drunk as they socialized.

Lu Zhou didn't plan on drinking, but there were too many people who were enthusiastically forcing him to drink… So enthusiastic that he couldn't refuse. Therefore, he ended up getting wasted.

He didn't control himself and drank too much. He felt dizzy and could barely stand up straight. Fortunately, a beautiful young waitress brought him hot towels and took him to the back of the venue to rest.

Lu Zhou wiped the hot towel on his face while sitting down on the sofa. He felt sweat coming out of every pore in his body. Because of his fast-metabolic abilities, he quickly recovered.

The beautiful waitress stood next to him as she spoke softly.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Thanks, I feel a lot better. You can go now."

"I've been told to take care of you. If you need anything, please tell me."

"I don't need anything. I'll sit here for a bit, then go back to the hotel."

If he went back to the conference hall, he would be fed alcohol again.

Academician Wang was the biggest culprit. Lu Zhou didn't know why, but Academician Wang kept feeding him alcohol. In the end, Academician Wang collapsed first.

The waitress said softly, "I don't feel safe letting you stay here alone. How about I drive you home?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

Even though he knew she had good intentions, he already had a ride home.

"No, it's fine, I have a driver."

Waitress: "…"

…

The banquet continued to go on. The guests were still having a blast, but Lu Zhou was exhausted.

After Lu Zhou said goodbye to his friends, he walked to the main entrance of the Great Hall of the People and got in Wang Peng's car.

Lu Zhou let the wind blow on his face during the drive back. He could feel himself getting sober again. He took a hot shower in his hotel room, changed his clothes, and lay on his bed.

However, the moment he lay on his bed, his phone started to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone from the nightstand and yawned. He answered the call.

"Hello?"

A voice traveled through the phone.

"Hey, Professor Lu, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Lu Zhou scratched his head and rolled on his bed.

"Who are you?"

"It's Director Qian!"

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he paused for a second.

"Director Qian?"

Emm…

Who is that?

He contemplated for a while, but he didn't remember meeting this person.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a while and tried to ask politely.

"Who… are you?"

Director Qian was baffled, and he said, "I work in the Chinese Academy of Sciences…"

Lu Zhou was probably the only academician election candidate who didn't know who Director Qian was.

Director Qian's role at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was directly related to the academician elections. He was responsible for coordinating the standing committees of various academic departments. His a*s was kissed by every single scholar who wanted to become an academician.

After all, if a scholar could become an academician, then they would receive the highest academic honor possible. They would be at the top of the "academic food chain", and they would be able to receive enormous amounts of research funding!

However, Director Qian wasn't angry at Lu Zhou for not knowing who he was.

He cleared his throat and spoke in a congratulatory tone.

"Oh… Professor Lu, I'm calling you to inform you that your name has passed the academic review!"

"Academic review?" Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "I thought that is in early July?"

If he recalled correctly, the academic review results would be released in June. It wasn't even March yet, and the deadline for the application was still in a month. Some people hadn't even finished writing their applications, but Lu Zhu somehow passed?

More importantly, Lu Zhou didn't even apply…

Director Qian smiled and said, "The results are announced in early June, but we have already started the review process! The results would be made known to the candidates after the review is completed, so we don't have to wait until June."

Lu Zhou said, "But I didn't submit the three-thousand-word application essay…"

"It's fine, we are well aware of your achievements and medals. Taking into account your contribution to our country's aerospace industry, I asked my office secretary to write it for you."

"Okay… Thanks," Lu Zhou said. He didn't know what else to say.

It's not like I can ask him out for dinner…

It'd be fine if I were friends with him, but this might count as bribery.

But speaking of which, is ghostwriting the application essay even allowed?

Even those nutty professors wrote the essay themselves, right?

Lu Zhou was very confused by what the Chinese Academy of Sciences was doing.

Director Qian pretended like nothing weird was going on. He smiled and said, "You're welcome! If that's all, I'll talk to you later?"

Lu Zhou: "… Oh, okay, talk to you later."

"Okay then, bye!"

Click.

The phone call ended.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone screen and muttered, "This is weird."

However, he didn't take this too seriously.

He was a bit hungover, and he just wanted to sleep.

Not to mention that the title of an academician was just the icing on the cake…

Lu Zhou placed his phone on the bedside table and closed his eyes, and he fell asleep soon after…

Chapter 736: Research Progress on the Lunar Hadron Collider

It was ten o'clock when Lu Zhou woke up.

He took a shower and put on some fresh clothes. When he walked downstairs, he found out that the breakfast buffet was already close. The chefs were busy preparing for lunch.

However, after the hotel lobby manager heard that Lu Zhou hadn't eaten his breakfast yet, he thoughtfully told a kitchen chef to prepare a separate breakfast for Lu Zhou. However, Lu Zhou didn't want to bother other people, so he declined the manager's proposal. Lu Zhou said he was going to take a walk and eat outside.

Lu Zhou sat on the sofa at the hotel lobby and called Wang Peng. He asked Wang Peng to drive to the hotel entrance.

After Lu Zhou got into the car, Wang Peng skillfully drove the car and asked Lu Zhou, "Where are we going?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and wanted to ask Wang Peng if there were good places to eat nearby.

However, he suddenly remembered that Luo Wenxuan had been here for almost half a year. Therefore, Lu Zhou decided to visit him.

"Head to the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics."

"Okay."

…

It was already the end of February, and spring was nearly here.

The air in Beijing was still a little chilly, but there was no need to wear a puffer jacket anymore; a sweater and a coat would be enough.

Fortunately, the traffic was pretty good today. The two reached their destination in less than 20 minutes.

After Lu Zhou got out of the car, he walked to the entrance of the Institute of High Energy Physics. He registered his name at the security entrance and asked where the "lunar hadron collider project team" was located. The security guard then pointed him toward the building.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door, and the door quickly opened.

A lady wearing glasses opened the door. She was probably an assistant. She was a little surprised when she saw Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the surprised lady and politely asked, "Hello, is Professor Luo Wenxuan here?"

The lady stuttered nervously, "Oh… You're looking for Professor Luo? He's here…"

Before she could finish speaking, Luo Wenxuan's distinctive voice was heard.

"Xiao Juan, who is it?"

Lu Zhou smiled and walked inside the office.

"It's me, I'm here to visit you."

Suddenly, there was a thumping noise in the office, like something had fallen to the ground.

Luo Wenxuan sat up straight in his chair. He was astonished.

"F*ck, God Lu?! Why are you here?"

Lu Zhou nearly fell onto the floor. He couldn't help but complain, "I tolerate other people calling me this, but why are you calling me God Lu?"

"The name fits you." Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and said, "The people at the Institute of High Energy Physics have been talking about you. They always refer to you as God Lu, so I picked up on it."

Lu Zhou thanked the lady who brought him tea. He then sat down on the sofa and asked with a smile, "What are they talking about?"

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and said, "You don't know? Did you not look at the website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences?"

"… What's on the website?"

"The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering have announced the primaries of the academician elections! Both of them have your name listed. I know you don't care about this kind of stuff, but the academic forums have been going crazy over this matter."

Lu Zhou didn't say anything. He only smiled.

Lu Zhuo wondered what Luo Wenxuan would do if he were to tell Luo Wenxuan that not only did he enter the primaries, but he also passed the academic essay review in June. Lu Zhou was only one review process away from the official voting.

However, he should keep things like this to himself. After all, Director Qian did him a favor telling him, and Lu Zhou felt like he should stay low-key.

Luo Wenxuan picked up the cup and took a sip. He put down the cup and asked Lu Zhou.

"So you came all the way to Beijing to see me?"

Lu Zhou: "Not quite. I mainly came here to receive an award."

Luo Wenxuan rolled his eyes and leaned on his office chair. "I f*cking knew it! Couldn't you just lie to me?"

"What's the point of lying to you?" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Speaking of which, how is the design of the lunar hadron collider going?"

Luo Wenxuan waved his hand and said, "The design itself isn't difficult. The difficulty is how to actually build the design. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is taking this project quite seriously, and many experienced engineers from the BESII project team were transferred to our team, which made things much easier."

Even though the Beijing Electron–Positron Collider II wasn't huge, it still had all of the essentials. The engineers who had participated in the BESII project were all top talents in the field of experimental physics.

Even though these people didn't rank high in the international academic community, that had nothing to do with their own abilities. After all, it wasn't as easy to publish articles in experimental physics compared to high-energy physics. Therefore, they mostly worked behind the scenes. This was evident from the fact that most world-class awards were given to theoretical scholars.

After hearing that Lu Zhou planned on building a collider on the Moon, even though they knew this project would be difficult to implement, experts from the Institute of High Energy Physics still took this project seriously.

After all, the Chinese theoretical physics community had a shortage of research funding. It was very rare for someone to willingly invest in a collider. No matter how impractical this plan sounded, they still didn't want to give up this opportunity.

It would be a shame if they didn't try at all.

"… Also, our project team contacted CERN. After CERN heard about our plan, they were extremely interested. They sent several engineers from the LHCb to help us solve technical problems."

Lu Zhou was surprised.

"They sent people from CERN?"

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, "They weren't as enthusiastic at the beginning. When the group of Europeans heard that we were building a hadron collider on the Moon, they thought we were joking. But after they heard that you were the person in charge, they immediately signed the cooperation agreement."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "What do they want?"

Luo Wenxuan: "They want us to purchase space probes from their partners, and if possible, let them have a few researchers on the lunar hadron collider after completion."

Lu Zhou nodded.

These were reasonable requests.

Compared to other competitive fields, theoretical physics was relatively innocent. Most research institutes had a close relationship with other research institutes. Even though there was a certain amount of competitiveness between the institutes, cooperation was very common.

Lu Zhou had no reason to refuse the European scholars in participating in the lunar hadron collider project.

After all, the field of high-energy particle physics benefited humanity as a whole. It was a cause that humans should fight for together, as a species.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn't speak for a while, Luo Wenxuan said, "Oh yeah, there's something I want to ask you."

Lu Zhou: "What? Go ahead."

Luo Wenxuan said in a serious manner, "Actually, no matter how we improve the design scheme, the entire project will weigh in the thousands of tons. If we really design this thing, can we even send it to the Moon?"

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and spoke confidently.

"I promise you we can, I will try my best."

Even with the current technological capabilities of Star Sky Technology, there was no way Lu Zhou could send thousands of tons of equipment to the surface of the Moon. Not even if he sold all of his East Asia Energy stock and lithium-sulfur battery patents…

However, that was the present.

The future could bring unexpected solutions.

After Starlight was built, Star Sky Technology's Earth-Moon orbit delivery capabilities would increase to another level. At the same time, the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and other domestic research institutes were researching industrial equipment that could automate outer-space mining, smelting, and production.

There were tons of titanium and other resources on the surface of the Moon. It was entirely possible to automate the industrial process of mining these materials.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't know how long this would take.

After all, even though he was an excellent scholar, he wasn't an equally excellent engineer.

He still had a long way to go.

"Let's forget about all this for a second." Lu Zhou put his teacup on the table and said, "The reason I came to see you is to see how you're fitting in, also to buy you dinner."

Luo Wenxuan was surprised.

"When did you become so generous?"

Lu Zhou was speechless. "What do you mean, when have I been selfish? Are there good restaurants nearby?"

"Okay then," Luo Wenxuan stood up from his chair and said, "There's a nice place nearby, come with me."

Chapter 737: Amazing News

Lu Zhou thought Luo Wenxuan was planning on breaking his wallet, but the place wasn't fancy at all; it was just a normal small restaurant.

Most of the people here were students, professors, and researchers from nearby institutes, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the Institute of High Energy Physics.

Even though it wasn't lunchtime yet, the place was already crowded.

They sat down in a corner, and the waiter quickly came over with some tea and three menus.

While Luo Wenxuan and Lu Zhou were ordering food, Wang Peng went to the kitchen and wandered around. He then calmly sat back down.

Luo Wenxuan was already accustomed to Lu Zhou's bodyguard, so he wasn't fazed. He chatted with Lu Zhou while waiting for the food.

"… The owner of this place is from Hubei. My team and I eat here pretty often, and we always get the Du Chicken. One of my guys said that the Du Chicken here is the most authentic, and it pairs really well with alcohol."

Lu Zhou drank some warm tea and said, "The boss is from Jiangling city?"

"I think so, I'm not sure… Have you been here?" Luo Wenxuan said. He was slightly surprised.

"Of course not, it's my first time." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "It's because Du Chicken is a famous dish in Jiangling, so when you said authentic, I thought that the boss came from Jiangling."

Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and said, "Oh, so the dish is from Jiangling, you must have eaten it before then."

Lu Zhou shook his head and spoke emotionally.

"We were poor growing up, so I never had the chance to eat it. After I grew up, I never had the chance to eat it as well… Forget about it. How's theoretical physics going? Are there any new discoveries?"

Lu Zhou had been focusing on the moon landing program, and other than paying attention to the latest mathematics news, he didn't have time to keep up with the latest trends in academia.

"The biggest discovery last year was the general solution of the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap." Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and said, "It's actually quite unlucky. A lot of professors felt like this accomplishment is worthy of a Nobel Prize in Physics. They didn't expect the Nobel Prize Committee to award the prize to the Quantum-confined Stark effect achievement."

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and smiled.

"It's not unlucky at all. I've already won the Nobel Prize once, so I'm satisfied. If the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences wanted to give me the Nobel Prize again, I'm afraid people in the academic community aren't going to be happy."

For most scholars, the Nobel Prize was their lifelong pursuit.

Most people achieved their accomplishments in their 30s and 40s, but there were plenty of people in their 80s and 90s who were still waiting for a Nobel Prize.

Being able to receive a Nobel Prize in one's 20s was an achievement in and of itself.

Soon after, the waiter came over with a pot full of garlic chicken and green onions. The waiter placed the pot on the rack.

Luo Wenxuan sniffed the delicious pot of food and immediately picked up his chopsticks. He then asked the waiter to bring a few beers.

He still had to work in the afternoon, but a few drinks were fine.

Wang Peng was sitting next to them, stiff as a mummy. He quietly drank his tea. He had to drive later, so he obviously couldn't drink alcohol.

"What's next? You landed a person on the Moon, what now?"

"Me?" Lu Zhou drank a glass of beer and said, "Landing on the Moon is only the first step."

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, "Wow, I really don't understand how your genius brain works."

Luo Wenxuan studied under Witten at Princeton, and he was quite the genius himself.

But ever since he met this "Lu Zhou" guy, his definition of genius had changed.

There were always bigger fish in the sea.

The two chatted while eating. The table next to them drank too much and started to get rowdy.

Lu Zhou didn't pay attention to what they were talking about, but he couldn't help but notice their loud voices.

"Do you know that Professor Lu made Skyglow?!"

"Of course I know, my friend works at the China Aerospace Corporation. We were just talking about this. Jesus, he really is insane, casually sending people to the Moon."

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows when he heard them say his name.

Even though he didn't care what they were talking about, he was very much interested in other people's opinions of him.

A man with dark-rimmed glasses poured himself another drink and said, "Pfft, he's nothing… The Americans sent a man to the Moon in the 60s, and now that we finally sent someone there, the Americans are already preparing for Mars."

His friend laughed and said, "Mars? Are you drunk?"

The man with glasses said, "Hey, go on Twitter yourself. NASA tweeted that they are planning to launch a 25-ton life support module to Mars. There's going to be a press conference soon."

The other people sitting at the table were stunned.

"25 tons? How is that possible? They must be exaggerating!"

"There's no f*cking way, let me turn on my VPN and hop onto Twitter."

Even though these people didn't major in aerospace at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they still had common sense. They knew that there was no way for NASA to send a 25-ton object to the surface of Mars.

The man in glasses knew his friends wouldn't believe him, so he smiled and spoke.

"Apparently, Space-X is going to use their BFR rocket, which is equipped with 31 Raptor engines! Apparently, after they send the life support module to Mars, they'll send 1 to 5 people to Mars. They're already recruiting volunteers worldwide."

Luo Wenxuan was super surprised, and he looked at Lu Zhou.

"… Really?"

Lu Zhou was even more surprised than Luo Wenxuan.

The f*ck…

Landing on Mars?

Are these Americans for real?!

Chapter 738: NASA Press Conference

9 a.m., Washington time.

In a green room at the NASA press conference.

NASA Director Carson stood in front of the mirror. He adjusted his tie and suddenly spoke.

"Gerstenmaier, do you believe in God?"

Gerstenmaier was sitting in a chair nearby. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"I… Sorry, I don't believe in God."

"So you're a materialist?"

"I guess so." Gerstenmaier shrugged and said, "I mean, I deal with rockets and satellites all day. I doubt there are any Christians in NASA."

"It seems like we are different people then." Carson smiled and slowly said, "I'm an idealist."

"… So you're a monotheist?"

"No, I believe in a different kind of idealism. It's more of a spiritual awakening kind of belief. How to make America great again? It's not about how to make it great again; it's about making people believe in America again."

Carson looked at Gerstenmaier and spoke.

"It's almost time. The reporters are waiting for us, let's go."

…

The lights were turned on.

Director Carson was wearing a suit. He stood in front of the reporters and cameras, and he soon announced the beginning of the press conference.

Normally, this kind of press conference would be done by a dedicated spokesperson, but after considering the incident caused by the poor spokesperson last time, Carson felt like it would be better for him to do it himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in our press conference. A week ago, the Congressional Budget Office approved our budget for the first stage of the Ares program. The BFR super rocket will carry the 25-ton life support module system to Mars. A month after that, we will head toward our new home, Mars."

Director Carson looked at the projector screen behind him.

"This is the life support system."

The projector screen changed slides.

There was a white dome building in the center of the screen.

The hemispherical white building was divided into two parts, the inner and outer circle. The inner-circle was divided into four blocks, two of which were living quarters, which could accommodate up to four people. Each person was provided with a living space of 5.3 square meters. The other two quarters were used for experiments and living space. One was for scientific research, the other was for comfort.

The outer ring of the life support system could be inflated and folded. It was similar to a vegetable greenhouse, and it was used for cultivating drought-resistant crops and to provide the astronauts with additional food. This was going to reduce the need for transporting supplies from Earth.

There was also a conceptual map of the Mars colony area.

Rows of white hemispherical "tents" were linked together through transparent pipes. 3D rendered human figures were walking between the pipes, and a giant Mars rover was driving nearby on the red desert.

The media members exclaimed.

Even though they had heard the news from NASA's official Twitter account, NASA didn't disclose any details about the Ares plan, nor did they explain the life support system.

Now that they were witnessing the life support system on the big screen, people couldn't help but be shocked.

Especially when they saw the BFR rocket!

The largest carrying capacity rocket was the Saturn V rocket, which had a moon carrying capacity of 47 tons.

However, Ares' target wasn't the low-Earth orbit, nor was it the lunar orbit. It was the planet 55 million kilometers away—Mars!

The reporters were shocked by NASA's grand plan, and the 300 people in the conference room went into chaos.

Carson was satisfied with the reporter's reaction, and he coughed before beginning the explanation.

"… After the life support system is successfully deployed on the surface of Mars, it will be able to sustain the needs of 5 astronauts for two to five years. During this period of time, the astronauts will perform many Mars scientific research activities, like exploring the minerals and water reserves on Mars. They will collect first-hand information for our researchers on Earth and pave the way for follow-up projects. Eventually, we will build a self-sufficient community on that red planet!"

The atmosphere of the conference was at a climax.

It was soon the Q&A session.

All of the reporters raised their hands.

Director Carson looked at the reporters, and he naturally chose one from the Washington Post.

The Washington Post was an established media outlet, and there was a lower chance they would give Carson a difficult question to answer. This was the safest option for the NASA director.

A well-known reporter from the Washington Post took this valuable opportunity and spoke.

The reporter reached out with his microphone in his hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Director, we all know that the Ares plan was created recently. Do you think we have enough time to execute this grand plan? Or rather, how confident is NASA at achieving the first stage of the Ares plan?"

Just like Carson had expected, the Washington Post's question was focused on "preparation time" and "success rate".

Carson looked at the reporters and said, "It's true that the Ares plan was created recently. But we have prepared for a Mars landing for a long time. For example, research on the life support system has begun as early as ten years ago. The first test flight for the Space-X BFR was completed two years ago.

"Colonizing Mars is a well thought out plan. I can assure you that we will take all of the precautions!"

Deafening applause filled the venue.

British journalists from the BBC were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask questions.

"Mr. Director, we all know that a week ago, China successfully landed a man on the Moon. I want to ask if NASA's recent Ares plan is a response to China's behavior?"

The answer was quite obvious.

If it weren't for China sending astronauts to the Moon, the United States Congress would never in a million years agree to this expensive aerospace project.

NASA really had to thank the Chinese.

After all, if it weren't for China's development in the aerospace field, there was no way the Congressional Budget Office was going to be so generous.

Of course, Carson wouldn't admit to something like this.

"That is ridiculous. We sent an astronaut to the Moon half a century ago. China trying to catch up to us does not make them a worthy opponent.

"Remember, landing on the Moon is old news. Our new goal is to land on Mars, where there are infinite possibilities."

Click clack!

Photos were being taken in the press conference room.

It was almost like the American reporters were injected with caffeine. They were thrilled. The British reporters were interested, whereas the Russian reporters looked worried.

Regardless of how anyone interpreted it, the NASA director didn't speak kindly of China.

The Americans didn't even think of China as a competitor.

While China was trying to catch up, the Americans were already onto bigger and greater things!

Chapter 739: Round Two?

NASA's press conference was like a nuclear bomb. It received a strong international response.

The BFR rocket had a 550-ton low-Earth orbit carrying capacity!

The Ares was going to launch in a month, sending the life support system to Mars!

China wasn't even a competitor!

All of Carson's statements were well received by the Americans.

Media outlets such as The New York Times were criticizing NASA not too long ago, but now, their stance totally changed. They instantly praised Space-X and the Ares project.

Aerospace was the future of humanity; it was the pride and joy of Americans.

Ever since they defeated the Russians in landing on the Moon, China had been slowly creeping up.

People thought it was ridiculous that NASA sat around while China was catching up.

Now that NASA finally had something to respond with, the Americans didn't criticize them anymore. Rather, they gave them applause and praise.

China landed on the Moon?

Taking away our pride and glory?

Sorry, but we did that sixty years ago, our new goal is Mars!

China can't even send a space probe to Mars!

After the NASA press conference, Space-X, Blue Origin, and other high-tech aerospace held their own press conferences, presenting their unique skills in the field of aerospace.

For example, Elon Musk's BFR rocket was being tested. Blue Origin's BE-4 rocket was in development.

Many pharmaceutical companies also joined in on the fun. Johnson & Johnson announced a "frozen slow-release agent" project, which was designed to prevent cell fluid from freezing and puncturing under low temperatures.

This project was supported by the United States Department of Health and NASA as a sub-project of the frozen chamber project, which was jointly being developed by NASA and SpaceWorks.

The market cap of the space companies reached an all-time high, and people felt nostalgic about the night sixty years ago.

One year, Yuri Gagarin went to space on Vostok 1. Seven years later, the Americans landed on the Moon…

British media outlet BBC also reported on NASA's press conference.

Compared to the American's enthusiasm, the BBC report looked at the situation from a more objective angle.

After all, the space race was between China and the United States. It didn't have anything to do with the UK. Even if they wanted to participate, they couldn't.

In contrast to America's enthusiasm, after NASA's press conference, Chinese media outlets were silent.

Chinese media outlets received instructions by the state to promote the moon landing, but no one expected NASA's response.

They didn't know if they should report on NASA's plan or just ignore it.

If they were to report it truthfully, it would undoubtedly cast a shadow on the national moon landing success. However, ignoring it seemed a bit petty.

They also thought about briefly reporting it and trying to sweep it under the rug.

Regardless, this wasn't the choice of major TV stations and newspapers.

This was decided by the state!

While the mainstream media outlets stayed silent, online media outlets captured this opportunity and reported this news online.

The United States was going to execute the first stage of the Ares project next month, and the news of the life support system caused a sensation on Chinese social media sites.

Most people were still immersed in the victory of the manned moon landing, but now, they were wide awake.

China's opponent had begun the preparation to land on Mars.

This news left a distaste in many people's hearts.

They knew it was going to be difficult to defeat the Americans.

Some people were worried; some people were happy. The pessimistic people that were ridiculed because of Skyglow's successful Moon landing, finally had a chance to speak.<>

Who cares about landing on the Moon!

The Americans are going to Mars!

This pessimism spread throughout the country…

[Ah… The Americans are planning to land on Mars, and we only just landed on the Moon. I thought we caught up with their footsteps, I didn't expect us to be this far behind.]

[What happened to the people who said we could defeat the Americans? Where are they now? (laugh) (laugh)]

[I said a long time ago that landing on the Moon isn't difficult anymore. The reason why western countries aren't landing on the Moon is that their goal is Mars. We shouldn't be proud of Skyglow for landing on the Moon.]

[Yeah, we should land on Mars as well.]

[Ah, I'm so jealous… I applied for Ares recruitment. Apparently, they recruit globally. I hope I get chosen.]

[Where are those people bragging about Skyglow? Where are they now? (laugh) (laugh)]

The discussion went beyond Weibo, and this topic began to trend on other social media sites as well.

For example, an anonymous user posted an article analyzing the reason why China lost the space race…

[The successful test flight of the BFR super rocket shattered our dreams. The 42 Raptor engines have a vacuum thrust of 138 Meganewtons and can be reused more than a thousand times. It's on a completely different level than Skyglow.

[This is a slap to the face. The Americans are showing us that chemical rockets are not outdated at all. Liquid oxygen methane engine with a full-flow staged combustion cycle is still the preferred propulsion scheme for interplanetary travel. That's how they are going to colonize Mars.

[Actually, we can think about it this way. If ion thrusters are good enough, why are the Americans still using chemical propulsion? It's not because they can't create ion thrusters, it's because they know it's not necessary.

[The so-called success of Skyglow is making us arrogant and ignorant. China is too focused on the Earth-Moon system.

[Inventing new technology is always good, but sometimes, new technology can be tricky…]

The article received tens of thousands of likes. It was reposted on We-media, Weibo, and other social media sites.

Even though some people thought this article was biased against China's aerospace industry because of the pessimistic atmosphere, it resonated with a lot of people.

People thought, We are losing this race.

Chemical propulsion is going to destroy us.

Even though the Americans hadn't launched their rocket yet, China was already losing hope…

Chapter 740: Route Choice

Lu Zhou usually didn't have any special hobbies. His only special hobby was probably scrolling through Weibo and clicking like on some comments.

Like some comments that called him handsome.

Over the past few days, he searched up the Ares plan on Weibo, and he found that a lot of people had tagged him in that article.

Out of curiosity, Lu Zhou clicked and read the article in its entirety.

He couldn't help but laugh.

"This guy really is something."

Being able to analyze the "Raptor" engine meant that he was probably in the aerospace field.

However, the article was overly biased. Lu Zhou was well aware that the Skyglow thrust was nowhere near Long March 5's thrust, but not mentioning the push-to-weight ratios and flight endurance was plain prejudice.

Saying that the Americans weren't interested in ion thruster propulsion systems at all was absolutely wrong. Before Lu Zhou left Princeton, the PPPL was researching ion thrusters.

Also, the article author probably thought the Long March 5 was the Long March 9. Even though Skyglow was successful, that didn't mean Long March 9 was going to be abandoned. Because ion thrusters were more expensive, it was still feasible to use chemical rockets for low-Earth orbit missions.

Even though the French invented the steam tricycle, they still used horses for more than a century. Technology changes didn't happen in a few days.

If Skyglow didn't successfully send a man to the Moon, Lu Zhou would receive a huge amount of blame.

Lu Zhou didn't know how academically accomplished this person was, but this person was good at fooling the public.

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou, and he suddenly asked, "Do you want me to handle this?"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "How are you going to handle it? What, are you going to track his IP address?"

Wang Peng hesitated for a bit and said, "We can capture him for misconduct… Slandering a national hero, lock him up for a couple of weeks."

Lu Zhou had an Aerospace Gold Medal of Excellence and a Ling Yun medal, so there was no doubt he was a national hero.

When Lu Zhou saw how serious Wang Peng was, he said, "It's fine, I was just kidding. It's kind of ridiculous for the state to censor his speech. Just let him be."

Lu Zhou was quite an easy-going person, and he didn't really care what other people said about him.

He had been on Weibo for a long time, and he could handle a little criticism.

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou and said, "What do you mean… let it be?"

"My time is valuable, and I don't have time to waste it on people like this." Lu Zhou smiled and turned off his phone. He then stood up from his chair and said, "It's about time. I have a meeting to attend. Let's go."

"Okay."

Wang Peng didn't say anything else. He merely nodded and walked toward the door.

…

Lu Zhou exited the hotel and got into his car. He asked Wang Peng to drive him to the Great Hall on Changan road. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

It was already early March.

He originally planned on going back to Jinling after accepting the award. He didn't expect that he would still be in Beijing after that.

The reason was obvious.

This was because of America's Ares program.

Lu Zhou walked into a conference room inside the Great Hall.

He entered from entrance A, and when he found his seat with his name tag on it, he sat down. He took out his phone and opened a recorder app.

This conference wasn't confidential. A lot of the things discussed would be made public after the conference, so electronic devices weren't confiscated.

Lu Zhou sent Xiao Ai a message and asked it to organize the conference notes. This saved him a lot of time.

Lu Zhou flipped through the conference notes and waited for the conference to begin. An old man sitting next to him kept looking at him. The old man put on a serious face and spoke calmly.

"The Americans are planning to land on Mars, what do you think of this?"

Lu Zhou turned and saw that Academician Yuan Huanmin, the chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, was sitting next to him.

Back at the manned moon landing conference, this old man harassed him quite a bit. However, after the Skyglow test flight was successful, he disappeared.

Lu Zhou didn't know what the old man meant, so he smiled and asked, "What does that have to do with me?"

Yuan Huanmin paused for a second before saying, "So what you're saying is, we should ignore them and focus on ourselves? I see…"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What is this?

Lu Zhou didn't have the chance to finish reading the conference notes since the conference already began.

The secretary of the China National Space Administration went on stage and talked about the conference process and content. He then gave the microphone to the director of the State Administration for National Defense—Director Li.

Director Li stood on stage and cleared his throat. He then spoke sternly.

"First of all, I would like to apologize for making everyone take time out of their busy schedules and sit here. This conference was supposed to be held next month, but due to various reasons, it has to happen now."

Even though Director Li didn't explain why the conference was advanced forward, everyone knew why.

NASA's announcement of the Ares program was an attack on China. Whether it was the timing of the launch or the size of the investment, they were obviously trying to one-up China's manned moon landing project.

Even though neither side acknowledged this new space race, everyone could see that this was going to be a fierce battle.

"Yesterday, the Communist Party of China had a meeting. They had two conclusions. One is to follow the Americans and prepare to land on Mars. The other is to continue our lunar strategies.

"As for the specifics, I'd suggest you all consult experts. I hope everyone can speak freely. If anyone disagrees with these two conclusions, or have a better idea, feel free to tell me."

Whispers were heard in the conference room.

It was no exaggeration to say that the outcome of today's meeting was going to determine China's aerospace strategy over the next five or even ten years. Various aerospace companies would shift their focuses to landing on Mars and lunar exploration.

People in the conference room began to think more seriously about this issue.

There was a voice from the front row of the conference room.

"I'll say a couple of words."

Director Li looked at the old man sitting in the front row and spoke politely.

"Academician Yuan, please."

Yuan Huanmin stood up slowly and said, "The Americans want to land on Mars, that's their business. We don't have to try and catch up to them. We should focus on our own projects. I think that the future of aerospace is still the Moon. There is nothing more important than building on top of the success we had with the moon landing."

Yuan Huanmin was quite reputable in the aerospace community, and his opinion immediately received the approval of many people.

Of course, some people didn't agree. They wanted to catch up to the Americans, increase China's Mars landing technology, and develop more powerful rockets.

This was because these people were from entities that developed rocket technologies; therefore, they were more inclined to choose the rocket-intensive Mars route.

After Director Li signaled Yuan Huanmin to sit down, he turned his attention to Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the front row and reading Xiao Ai's conference notes.

Lu Zhou didn't notice Director Li looking at him, so Director Li spoke.

"Let's see what Professor Lu has to say."

Chapter 741: No Stone Left Unturned

Lu Zhou was reading the conference notes when he was suddenly called out by Director Li. He didn't realize at first, but he soon noticed that people were staring at him.

Emmmm…

I didn't ask to speak…

Even though Lu Zhou didn't prepare anything, he didn't want to embarrass Director Li.

Therefore, he stood up and spoke.

"I agree with Academician Yuan's opinion. The Moon is huge, and there are a lot of things that we can do there. Since the Americans are interested in Mars… We'll accomplish things on the Moon instead. We can grow plants on the Moon, or study how to mine the Moon's resources."

Should I be saying this?

Screw it, who cares.

When Lu Zhou sat back down on his seat, he could hear voices of approval behind him.

He was correct, landing on the Moon was just the first step. There were many things to do on the Moon. They didn't have to follow America's footsteps and try to land a man on Mars. There was no point planting a flag on Mars or bringing back a few Mars stones.

There was no need for the discussion to continue.

A veteran in the aerospace industry and a big name in academia both agreed to focus on lunar development. Even if other people disagreed, it wouldn't matter.

Besides, most people agreed with their proposal.

Director Li had a rough idea of what the conference attendees thought, and he asked if anyone else had any other opinions. No one raised their hand, so Director Li spoke.

"It seems like there is no need to argue about whether to go the Moon route or the Mars route. The Communist Party of China has similar opinions. Compared to futile honors, practical things are more worthy of accomplishment."

Director Li paused for a second and continued, "Then our next stage of aerospace will still be focused on the Earth-Moon system.

"After consulting with other agencies, such as the China National Space Administration, our plan is to build a space station in outer space to replenish resources for spacecraft, such as fuel. This space station will also be used for scientific research tasks.

"The China National Space Administration came up with two plans for the space station. One is in low-Earth orbit, similar to the International Space Station. The other is in the lunar orbit, similar to the United States' lunar space program.

"Where should we build a space station? I hope you all can express your opinions."

People in the conference room began to discuss with one another.

What was different from the previous discussion topic was that, whether it was the experts or the company representatives, everyone now had a higher desire to speak. The debates were also stronger.

The reason was that this kind of national strategy program was directly related to everyone's interests, both in academia and in industry.

Some people were more conservative, and they believed that they should build a low-Earth orbit station first, then wait a couple of years before trying to reach lunar orbit.

Other people were more optimistic. They thought that since China had mastered a 25-ton Earth-Moon transfer orbit delivery capacity, it was entirely possible for them to build a space station in lunar orbit. They didn't need to build another space station similar to the ISS since they could just share the ISS with other countries.

After all, one of the most important aspects of the controllable fusion negotiations was to loosen the barriers of entry for international scientific research cooperation projects, such as the ISS, and for China to participate on equal terms.

Lu Zhou obviously wanted to put the space station in lunar orbit.

After all, he wanted to complete his system mission. Without state funding, there was no way he would be able to complete the second stage of his system mission.

Furthermore, even though the international situation was a bit tense right now, he had always supported openly-cooperative, mutually-beneficial, win-win projects. Projects that used science to achieve prosperity for all of mankind.

However, he was still a bit hesitant. He didn't know if they should accumulate more experience on low-Earth orbit technology first, or if they should be brave and directly target the lunar orbit.

Lu Zhou listened to the intense debates happening nearby. He saw Academician Yuan, who was lost in thought.

Yuan Huanmin noticed Lu Zhou looking at him, and he looked up and asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Zhou didn't expect to be asked this question. He suddenly said, "You go first."

Academician Yuan went silent for a while and sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know."

Lu Zhou was surprised. "You don't know?"

You don't know?

Aren't you quite the opinionated old man?

"Yeah…" Yuan Huanmin nodded and said emotionally, "Our country's aerospace development started much later than other countries. You might laugh at me for this, but back in the day when Columbia was successful, we planned on building a space shuttle as well, then look at what happened? Sure, Qian Xuesen favored rockets more, but the real reason was that the Americans gave up on their space shuttle."

Lu Zhou nodded and thought for a bit.

"I understand, but this isn't something I would laugh at."

Scientific research was a process of learning and discovery. No one was born with knowledge in their brain. It wasn't shameful to follow others' footsteps. What's important was to apply the knowledge one learned.

When Lu Zhou was studying in Princeton, he met many respectable scholars and learned a lot from them. This knowledge contributed greatly to his current success.

Lu Zhou knew what Academician Yuan was concerned about.

Now that China had successfully sent astronauts to the Moon, their international position was at the top of the world.

But because they were ahead or on-par with everyone else, they didn't have any past examples to use as a reference.

They had to go blind from now on and try to find the right way by learning from their mistakes.

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Yuan and suddenly smiled as he said, "I think this could be a good thing for us."

Academician Yuan frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhou: "This means that we will go from a follower to a leader, and we will set the standards for the world."

Academician Yuan paused for a second and smiled.

"You millennials think quite differently. Aren't you satisfied with the low-Earth orbit?"

"Of course I am," Lu Zhou sighed and said, "but we can do better."

Academician Yuan smiled and said, "Okay then, brag to me when you put a space station in lunar orbit."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What?

We're close enough that you are now making jokes with me?

The debates continued.

An expert from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stood up. His beard trembled as he said, "We should choose the low-Earth orbit!

"First of all, we can use the ISS as a reference. Even though there are engineering difficulties, it won't be too difficult. Secondly, we can use our experience and knowledge gained from the low-Earth orbit station for the future Moon orbit station!"

A lot of people in the conference room nodded with approval.

Representatives from companies that were focused on rocket launching projects all nodded their heads.

Suddenly, a voice was heard.

"Disagree."

Everyone in the room looked toward the voice.

The man that sent three astronauts to the Moon, Professor Lu, stood up.

Director Li was stressed by the chaotic situation in the conference room, and he immediately lifted his head and said, "Please explain."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Since we're building a space station anyway, we might as well put it in lunar orbit!"

The conference room was in mayhem.

Chapter 742: Conquer the Future

Lu Zhou didn't just put out an argument.

After he expressed his opinion, he also explained in detail the economic and scientific impacts.

Considering the fact that the carrying capacity of the Skyglow Earth-Moon transfer orbit had now reached 25 tons, the significance of building a space station in lunar orbit was far greater than building an ISS clone in low-Earth orbit.

"… The Moon has an abundance of resources such as titanium and helium. If we have the capabilities to mine these resources, building a space station on the Moon is undoubtedly the better choice."

After hearing Lu Zhou's words, the expert who spoke before couldn't help but stand up and speak.

"But we have to learn to walk before we run. I never said we shouldn't build a space station in lunar orbit. But why don't we take it step by step, and build one in low-Earth orbit first? Can you guarantee that the Moon space station is going to be successful?"

Lu Zhou replied calmly, "I can't guarantee it, but I can answer your question. It's because we can't afford to wait."

The expert frowned and said, "What do you mean?"

Lu Zhou smiled and continued to speak.

"You might not know this, but the lunar orbit space station is included in the 2018 NASA Lunar Gateway program. Even though their focus is now on the Ares program, the Lunar Gateway program is set to execute before Ares. We have reason to suspect that the Congressional Budget Office has already approved the Lunar Gateway program. Lunar Gateway will begin in 2022. If the Americans begin their lunar space station construction, things will be more difficult for us."

Whispers were heard in the conference room. The expert that spoke looked like he wanted to say something, but he hesitated and couldn't find a counter-argument, so he sat back down in his seat.

The lunar orbit was much narrower than the Earth orbit.

Perhaps with developments in aerospace technology and software technology, the space station orbit capacity of the Moon could be increased. But with the current technology available, one space station was the limit for lunar orbit.

If the United States 2022 lunar space station program began as scheduled, it would be nearly impossible for China to send another space station into lunar orbit.

Director Li had a serious look on his face.

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, "Correct, just like this gentleman said, we should learn to walk before we run. But we have the opportunity to conquer the future. If we don't take this opportunity now, we will have to pay the price eventually.

"That is my opinion, thank you all for listening.

"Not only will the outcome of this debate affect this current space race, but it will also forever impact our country's aerospace industry."

People in this room were already under a lot of pressure. After they heard Lu Zhou's words, the experts and scholars had an even more dignified look on their faces.

Forever impacting our country's aerospace industry…

Jesus, if I choose the wrong decision, I'll be shamed forever in history…

What if…

I let other people make this decision?

The "low-Earth orbit" and "lunar" supporters were divided somewhat equally into two groups. However, after Lu Zhou's speech, the groups were no longer balanced.

Everyone looked at the front row, at the person sitting beside Lu Zhou—Academician Yuan. Especially for the supporters of the low-Earth orbit, they were hoping the old man would have a counterargument.

However, Academician Yuan sat there motionlessly. He didn't say anything, and he didn't react. He was in a neutral position.

Director Li repeatedly looked at Academician Yuan, but it seemed like Academician Yuan had no intention to speak.

All of the people in the conference hall that supported the low-Earth orbit station had a look of despair on their faces.

This old gentleman staying silent meant that Professor Lu had all the power. Even if other people disagreed with Professor Lu, no matter who they were, they would lose.

Not to mention that most people actually supported Lu Zhou's proposal…

The conference continued for a while, and several other people stood up to speak, but it seemed like the decision was settled. Director Li announced the adjournment of the meeting.

After the conference was over…

Academician Zheng Xiangdong, the vice president of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, immediately stood up and walked toward Exit A of the conference room. He caught up with Academician Yuan and asked, "Oh, my dear friend, you were sitting right next to that kid, why didn't you persuade him?"

Academician Yuan looked at him with a strange look.

"Persuade about what?"

Zheng Xiangdong immediately said, "Did you hear what he said?"

Academician Yuan smiled and replied, "I think he spoke pretty well."

Vice President Zheng stared at Academician Yuan like Academician Yuan was a monster.

After a while, he pinched his eyebrows and said, "Wait a second, I'm confused… Haven't you always been against that Professor Lu?"

"Who said that?" Academician Yuan stared at Vice President Zheng and said, "When did I say I'm against Professor Lu?"

Academician Yuan didn't like Lu Zhou initially, but that was the past.

He didn't like people who brought up the past.

It was like Vice President Zheng was constipated, he didn't know what to say.

"That kid is crazy, he's making you crazy as well.

"That project is worth tens or even hundreds of billions! If we build this space station in lunar orbit, none of the Chinese companies will be able to get a piece of the pie! Do you know what this means? Do you know how many jobs will be lost?"

Of course, what worried him the most wasn't the jobs, it was also the rocket research and development projects at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

If for the next five years, China's demand for rocket technology shifted from low-Earth orbit to lunar orbit, even though the Long March 9 project might survive, more than half of other chemical rocket projects would be killed.

Zheng Xiangdong sighed and patted his leg.

"This kid is ruthless!"

Academician Yuan stared at Vice President Zheng and frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Zheng Xiangdong began to explain to Academician Yuan.

"Do you not get it? If we build a space station on lunar orbit, there is only one Chinese company that will be able to deliver payloads! Other companies, including us, won't even have a chance in the contract bidding wars! Why else do you think he wants to put the space station on the Moon? Do you really think he's just that selfless for his country?"

If they decided to build the space station in low-Earth orbit, they might be able to use the Long March 5. It wouldn't be cheap, but it would work.

However, if they decided to build the space station in lunar orbit, it wouldn't be about the cost, as they wouldn't be able to do it at all.

If they wanted to participate in the bidding wars, they would have to wait for the Long March 9. However, even if they upped the pace, they would have to wait until 2025 for the Long March 9 design and manufacture to be completed.

By then, the space station project would almost be complete.

Academician Yuan's expression didn't change. He shook his head and said, "He's not that kind of person."

Zheng Xiangdong was baffled, and he asked, "How do you know that? Are you his uncle?"

The only way for Zheng Xiangdong to change the space station project was to convince Academician Yuan and other academicians. Then they would have to write a letter to the Communist Party of China.

However, Academician Yuan wasn't budging.

Haven't you always been dissatisfied with Professor Lu's involvement in our aerospace industry?

What is wrong with you?!

Academician Yuan saw how flustered Vice President Zheng was, so he spoke slowly.

"I'm not his uncle, and I don't know him well. But he put his life on the line and flew on Skyglow. I can promise you he is not that kind of person.

"I know what your intentions are. I suggest you to give up."

Lu Zhou was a national hero; an academic scholar!

There was no way Yuan Huanmin would believe someone like Lu Zhou was doing all this for monetary gain.

That was the kind of person Yuan Huanmin was.

Once he had a reason to believe in something, he would never change his belief.

Academician Yuan turned around and walked away, leaving Vice President Zheng behind.

Chapter 743: The Wheel Is Moving Forward

After the manned moon landing mission was successful, China quickly decided on its next national aerospace strategies. It was about time for Lu Zhou to return to Jinling.

After hearing that Lu Zhou was planning on leaving Beijing, Academician Wang Zengguang quickly found him and took him to a restaurant near the hotel. Wang Zengguang ordered some food and began to talk about the past.

"I wanted to buy you dinner a few days ago, but I heard you had a meeting to go to, so I thought I'd wait a few days. I didn't expect you to leave right after the meeting."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Yeah, work is getting really busy, I don't have time to waste."

Academician Wang took a sip of liquor and spoke.

"You must have offended a lot of people with the moon space station."

Lu Zhou put some food in his bowl and said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, anything I say will offend some people."

Any argument would have a counterargument, that was inevitable.

If he didn't want to offend anyone, then he could forget about expressing his opinion.

Academician Wang smiled and said, "Seems like you don't care then."

Lu Zhou put down his chopsticks and said, "It's mainly because there's no reason to care."

Academician Wang filled his glass with some beer and said, "Cheers to not caring!"

"Cheers."

Lu Zhou smiled and downed his glass.

After eating, Lu Zhou bade farewell to Academician Wang. He returned to his hotel and packed his luggage. Wang Peng then drove him to the high-speed rail station.

Before the conference even began, the State Administration for National Defense already bought him a business-class train ticket. Even though Lu Zhou didn't need them to be this polite, he still appreciated the gesture.

Lu Zhou was sitting on the high-speed rail train. He asked the stewardess to make a cup of coffee. He then took out his laptop.

He was looking through the documents stored in his mailbox when he suddenly received a call.

"Hello?"

"It's me, where are you?"

Through her pleasant voice, Lu Zhou could immediately tell Chen Yushan was the one calling.

Lu Zhou leaned in his chair and said, "I'm nearly back in Jinling, what's up?"

Chen Yushan smirked and said, "Nothing, I just wanted to call you. I always thought you didn't have any business talents, but it seems like I have underestimated you."

"Haha, you definitely did."

Did you call me just to kiss my a*s?

Why?

Lu Zhou smiled and rubbed his nose as he said, "By the way, what made you change your mind?"

Lu Zhou was actually a little embarrassed.

He always knew he didn't have any business talents, but he didn't think Chen Yushan would notice.

Chen Yushan: "Didn't you see? The State Administration for National Defense published on its website the information for the space conference in Beijing. China will focus on the lunar space station as its next aerospace development plan."

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "… Oh, what about it?"

He attended that conference before, and he was actually the one who suggested this route.

What does that have to do with business talents?

"I asked people in the aerospace department to do an industry report for me. Yesterday, I took a closer look at the report and found that if we bid for the lunar orbit space station, we are the only one qualified to bid for the entire spacecraft transportation project."

Chen Yushan said emotionally, "To be honest, I was never optimistic about aerospace. It requires a large investment, it's a high risk and low return project. But you, it's like you saw the future. We are now the industry leader in aerospace. I'm really impressed."

Honestly, before launching the Skyglow project, she even helped the company formulate countermeasures, in case of bankruptcy.

She didn't expect everything to go so smoothly.

Lu Zhou replied, "Oh, I see…"

Seeing how he wasn't excited, Chen Yushan asked, "… What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Lu Zhou pinched his forehead and sighed. He said, "I just think that people are going to hate us for eating the entire pie."

He finally realized why the head of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation gave him a death stare when he was walking out of the conference room.

Also why CEOs of private companies, such as i-Space and Zero One Space, had such dismal expressions on their faces when they walked out of the conference room.

Even the state-owned corporations couldn't win the bidding war… They could forget about winning the bids. They only had two options.

They could either try to develop new space launching technologies, or they could focus on the business aspect and invest more money into research and development on outer space equipment.

Chen Yushan heard Lu Zhou's sigh, and she chuckled. "Why are you worried about this?"

Lu Zhou: "I'm not worried, I just think…"

Chen Yushan: "Beta!"

Lu Zhou: "…"

Beta?

Am I being a beta?

Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Don't worry, you should worry about something more important. I have a meeting soon, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay then, see you."

Chen Yushan was right, Lu Zhou's worries were superfluous.

The market will eventually adjust itself back to a sustainable position.

If companies are unable to adapt in this era, they will be abandoned. If the companies can find another profitable pathway, then they will survive.

There is always someone better to take their place.

As for people hating me…

I guess it doesn't matter.

After thinking about this, Lu Zhou felt a lot better.

He put his phone back into his pocket. The stewardess came over with his coffee.

"Sir, your coffee."

"Thank you."

Lu Zhou took the coffee from the stewardess. He nodded as a show of thanks and took a sip. He then continued to stare at his computer screen.

When he opened his browser, a news headline caught his attention.

Lu Zhou was intrigued, and he clicked on the article and began to read.

"… Johnson & Johnson has made a major breakthrough in human frozen dormant slow-release technology. The CEO of Johnson & Johnson said that if the technology matures, not only will it be used for ultra-long distance interplanetary travel, but it will also allow some terminally ill patients to survive into the future, where medical technology is more advanced.

"… This is quite interesting."

Lu Zhou's eyebrows rose.

If controllable fusion were the discovery of fire, then aerospace would be like the invention of the wheel. It reignited people's enthusiasm and desire to see new technologies.

Just like how the Americans ignited the Europeans' desire to explore, exploration of outer space would leave people longing for more.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, most technological fields outside of computer technology had stagnated. Now, it seemed like the wheel of technology was finally moving forward.

Lu Zhou felt a little emotional.

He looked forward to seeing what the world would look like half a century later.

I'm certain the next half of the century will be more exciting than the last half of the century.

If everything goes well, I will get to witness this technological revolution…

Chapter 744: Arrogant Opponen

New York.

The New York Times building.

"Anders, here's a survey about the Ares program. I hope you can integrate it into the next interview and hand it to me before the end of the day."

"Okay, boss."

The man named Anders took the documents, licked his index finger, and began flipping through the documents.

Even though this action seemed unsanitary, it was one of his professional habits. Whenever there was exciting news, he would lick his finger, even if the document was in electronic form.

Anders finished reading the survey data. He sat up straight and spoke with excitement.

"… I can't believe it, the approval rate for this administration increased by 14.3%."

"That's right, people are very interested in the Ares program and the volunteer selection. Columbia TV has contacted us. They want to do a talk show."

Anders looked up and said, "Talk show? With who?"

Duke: "Of course it's the three lucky people who got chosen for the Ares program."

Anders' eyes were wide open. He stood up and said, "Oh sh*t, have the three already been chosen?"

Duke: "They were chosen last week, but they haven't announced it yet. My friend at NASA told me that the three astronauts are already training in the Arizona desert, as well as learning some basic space knowledge."

Anders said, "They're all normal people?"

Duke: "Apparently, two of them are normal civilians, and the other is a professional."

Anders shook his head and sighed as he said, "… Alright then, it seems like I wasn't chosen… This is the first time I've paid for a volunteer project like this, guess my US$100 is down the drain. I was hoping to be the first reporter in history to be on Mars, but it seems like all hope is lost."

Duke was in a good mood, and he said with encouragement, "Not necessarily, this is only the first group of colonists, there are many opportunities in the future."

While the two were chatting, the office door suddenly opened.

Duke watched the lady step in, and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Camille, you forgot to knock."

"Sorry, but there's no time for that," Camille said as she walked to Duke's desk. She flipped her blonde hair and perched her laptop on Duke's desk. She said, "Something big happened in Asia! Trust me, this is definitely going to make headlines tomorrow!"

When Duke saw how excited Camille was, he paused for a second and began to take this more seriously.

Camille was no longer the rookie.

Duke knew that Camille had a calm personality, he guessed that something incredible must have happened for her to be this excited.

Duke looked at the laptop, and less than ten seconds later, he froze.

He immediately asked, "Is this reliable?"

"I am certain!" Camille excitedly said, "I contacted an old friend in Beijing and confirmed it with them. Yesterday, China held a conference. The State Administration for National Defense and the China National Space Administration published the meeting content on their official website!"

Anders was still sitting behind his desk, and he asked, "What is it?"

Camille: "In response to our Ares plan, China has announced plans to construct a space station in lunar orbit. Apparently, it's going to be called the Moon Palace!"

Moon Palace?

What a weird name.

Anders wasn't only surprised by the name…

"Are they crazy? Do they even know what a space station is?"

"I don't know?" Camille took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She looked at Duke and said, "There is no doubt that this is going to make headlines tomorrow."

Duke stared at the laptop for a long time. He took a deep breath and spoke with a trembling voice.

"Good job, nicely done!"

Duke became more and more excited. He even began to think about what tomorrow's headline should be.

China Wants to Build a Space Station? Can They Do It?

The only word I can think of to describe this situation is arrogance. The Chinese are out of their minds.

…

China's announcement of its lunar space station plan caused a worldwide sensation.

The New York Times, the Washington Times, and other American media outlets reported on this matter.

Compared to landing a man on the moon, this piece of news was obviously more eye-catching. After all, building a space station in lunar orbit was much more difficult than throwing a lunar module on the Moon.

Even the Americans were still in the research stage, and their lunar projects wouldn't launch until 2022.

There was no doubt that for most Americans, China's plan was nothing short of impossible.

They thought, China only just landed on the moon, and now they're running before they learn how to walk?

The media outlets and newspapers were slightly biased when reporting on this matter, but the daytime and late-night talk shows teased and ridiculed China.

Of course, even though the Americans said China was overconfident, there was still reason to believe in China's plans.

After all, the Skyglow flight was a success. Even the radical media outlets did not rely on NASA experts' quotes, and they outrightly claimed China's Lunar Gateway program was going to fail.

Even though there was a 80% chance China was going to fail.

What was more interesting was that most of the criticism came from inside China…

Lu Zhou didn't know if he offended someone or not, but he didn't care.

Even if he did offend someone, so what?

Most intelligent people weren't offended.

And as for the non-intelligent people…

Lu Zhou didn't have anything to do with them.

After Lu Zhou returned to Jinling, he gradually became busier and busier. He didn't have time to pay attention to things on the Internet.

He was sitting in his office, reading documents. He heard a knock at the door.

He looked up and asked, "Who is it?"

"I am Xu Wenhao, from the Institute of Biochemistry laboratory. I am here for a report!"

Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

What is this, the military?

Lu Zhou remembered he asked the biochemistry laboratory for a favor. He adjusted his facial expression and spoke.

"Come in."

The office door was pushed open. Xu Wenhao walked in with a pile of documents in his hand.

"Professor, the tests you wanted are here. The rest of the samples are here as well!"

The young man solemnly placed the test results and remaining samples on Lu Zhou's desk. Lu Zhou was a little fazed.

"… Oh, thanks."

"No need to thank me." Xu Wenhao smiled and scratched his head as he said, "Um… Can you sign something? Just sign this electrochemistry textbook."

Like magic, an electrochemistry textbook appeared out of nowhere.

Lu Zhou said, "… Okay, bring it over."

Xu Wenhao smiled and said, "Sure thing."

Signing a textbook wasn't a big deal for Lu Zhou. He signed plenty of documents a day.

Lu Zhou flipped through the textbook and saw there were notes written inside, so he asked, "You're studying electrochemistry by yourself?"

Xu Wenhao smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm on the grind! I want to work at the Institute of Computational Materials."

The Institute of Biochemistry used to be part of the Institute of Computational Materials. Even though they had a decent amount of research funding, they were nowhere near the level of the Institute of Computational Materials.

After all, one was a newly-born research unit, while the other was a world leader in the computational materials field. Forget about domestic scholars, even foreign PhDs had a hard time getting into the institute.

Most of the people in the Institute of Biochemistry had PhDs or master's degrees. All of them were motivated to get into the Institute of Computational Materials.

After all, materials science was similar to biochemistry. They wanted to go where the research funding was.

Lu Zhou knew what Xu Wenhao was thinking of. He shook his head and smiled. He then signed his name in the textbook.

He suddenly remembered something and said, "I remember you're in biochem, right?"

Xu Wenhao didn't think Lu Zhou would remember a nobody like him.

He was flattered by it.

"Yeah, I am."

Lu Zhou put down his pen, thought for a bit, and spoke.

"Actually, you don't have to worry about getting into the Institute of Computational Materials. The Institute of Biochemistry is going to be one of the key development institutes in the next coming years."

Xu Wenhao's eyes widened, and he said, "Really?"

"Why would I lie?" Lu Zhou smiled and gave Xu Wenhao his textbook back. Lu Zhou patted his shoulder and said, "Do your best, son, I look forward to seeing your success."

Chapter 745: Finding Treasure

As Lu Zhou looked at Xu Wenhao happily walking out of his office, he smiled and shook his head. He reminisced for a second about his younger days. He then picked up the analysis reports on his table.

The analysis results were quite interesting.

The first analysis was the liquid meal replacement.

Even though Lu Zhou had never done any biology research, he still knew a little bit about biology. Also, Xu Wenhao's report abstract was written in relatively simple language, so he could still understand it.

According to the composition analysis, the liquid meal replacement food contained almost all nutrients required by the human body. It also contained a special active substance, which improved the activity and absorption of the human intestine. This increased the absorption of nutrients and reduced the excretion quantity.

Basically, if someone ate this for three meals a day, they would only have to sh*t once every three days, but they would urinate more often.

This thing could definitely be applied in spacecraft, where excretion was troublesome.

Also, in addition to being used in aerospace food, the active substance could be made into a health supplement.

As for the toxicology test of this active substance, the clinical experiments proved there were no obvious signs of toxicity. Xu Wenhao didn't do any experiments on humans, but Lu Zhou guessed it was probably fine.

After all, the future process of clinical and pharmacological tests was bound to become more and more sophisticated.

There was no reason for Lu Zhou to worry about "food safety".

After Lu Zhou finished reading the liquid food report, he began to read the report on the Future branded coke.

This report was slightly longer, and it was around a dozen pages long.

Other than the ingredient testing, Xu Wenhao also conducted clinical trials on mice for some of the most interesting substances.

It was worth mentioning that, like Lu Zhou's prediction, the coke had athletic enhancing abilities.

However, there was one part he was wrong. There wasn't a large amount of taurine; rather, a special amino acid substance was added.

This amino acid had stable chemical properties. It was insoluble in organic solvents, such as ethanol, and belonged to a special non-protein amino acid group. After being ingested into the human body, it did not participate in biological protein synthesis.

This amino acid had a special R group, which was more likely to bind to insulin receptors. This promoted cell glucose uptake and accelerated glycolysis.

Also, the amino acid could also accelerate the secretion speed of various human body glands. It improved the human body's metabolism level and stimulated nerve cells for a certain period of time.

More importantly, there was no toxic side effect!

But, Lu Zhou obviously knew that…

Because he had drunk this coke many times.

"This is basically NZT-48… The kind with no side effects."

Lu Zhou put down the report.

He was only curious about one thing. Which was whether or not the energy medicine contained similar ingredients.

Unfortunately, he drank all of the energy medicine when he was working hard. He had to wait until next time to test the ingredients.

After reading the component analysis reports, Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit. He opened his computer and opened a new Word document. He began to type up two patent document drafts.

Even though he didn't plan on selling coke, the interesting substances in the two liquids had interesting applications.

Regardless of whether or not it would come in handy, Lu Zhou decided to register a patent first.

The two patent drafts didn't take him too much time. He didn't have to write in detail. Star Sky Technology had a professional patent management department that could do the miscellaneous work for him.

Considering the fact that Star Sky Technology was in the patent licensing field, the examination and approval procedures weren't much of an issue. It wouldn't take long for the patent to be approved.

Lu Zhou leaned in his office chair and stretched his back. He placed the two reports aside and saw a notification on his laptop screen.

[Master, you have mail!]

"Okay."

Lu Zhou sat up straight and clicked the notification, which opened his email.

The email was from Yang Xu.

Lu Zhou could tell that the material analysis of the piece of clothing was completed.

He downloaded the PDF report from Yang Xu's email and began reading it. He started to get intrigued.

He glanced through the abstract and saw the transmission electron microscope image. He was in disbelief.

"… This is incredible."

Nano-thin wires were tangled intricately as they weaved into a solid mesh structure.

The wire was made of hexagon-filled carbon nanotubes!

No wonder this material is so tough and has good thermal conductivity properties. It is wrapped in carbon nanotubes!

Other tests such as compression and tensile resistance tests were also in the report.

Without using an actual gun for testing, just by looking at the data alone, Lu Zhou estimated that assault rifles would have difficulty penetrating through 2.2mm of this carbon nanofiber material.

If there were another layer of ceramic chip added to the clothing to disperse the impact force of the bullet, this piece of clothing would be impenetrable.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but mutter, "I can't believe this kind of material is made into a sweater, what a waste."

The SG-1 superconducting material used in the Pangu reactor was a similar kind of carbon nanotube. However, that material was so expensive that it was only used in controllable fusion reactors or atomic colliders.

But now, there was someone using carbon nanotube fiber thinner than SG-1, to make clothes. Lu Zhou couldn't even imagine how expensive that would cost.

This thing could be applied in marine and industrial fields as high mechanical property cables. It could be made into bulletproof clothing or even tank armor. It could even be used in fighter jets and other aerospace applications. Lu Zhou had countless application ideas…

However, maybe in the future, this kind of material would become cheaper, and that's why they made it into clothes?

It's just like how aluminum was as expensive as gold a century ago, but now it's used in soda cans.

However, for now, Lu Zhou couldn't imagine using this kind of material to make clothes.

In short, this thing was an absolute gem of a treasure.

I guess I underestimated this sweater!

Lu Zhou immediately had an idea, and he stood up from his chair.

The Lunar Gateway moon space station program is about to begin.

What if I use this material on the lunar space station!

Chapter 746: Arizona Dome

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Inside a laboratory at the Institute of Computational Materials.

Yang Xu was meticulously doing an experiment. He looked up and adjusted his glasses. When he saw Lu Zhou standing at the laboratory entrance, he spoke.

"Oh, you're here? I was about to look for you. Where did you… get that piece of fabric?"

"From a certain state department. It's confidential. I can tell you after the confidentiality period passes." Lu Zhou placed the report on the table and asked, "Is there a way to make this thing?"

Yang Xu had heard the "confidential" excuse countless times, so he rolled his eyes and decided not to ask any more questions. He placed a test tube in a test tube rack and asked, "Are you talking about laboratory preparations or industrial preparations?"

Lu Zhou: "Both."

Yang Xu thought for a bit and said in a serious manner, "I can make it in the laboratory now, but making it in a factory… I'm afraid it's going to be difficult."

Lu Zhou immediately said, "Compared to the SG-1 superconducting material?"

Yang Xu said, "They're not even on the same level."

Lu Zhou had a solemn expression on his face.

Just like he had expected, this fabric wasn't easy to recreate.

Because Yang Xu often worked in laboratories, his experimental abilities were stronger than his theoretical abilities.

Therefore, if Yang Xu said it was difficult, then it would be damn difficult.

"Set up a project team for this material. I don't care if it's difficult, we have to try… Oh yeah, there's something else I have to ask you."

Yang Xu: "What?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and asked, "Are there any pharmaceutical companies we're in good relationships with?"

"Pharmaceutical companies?" Yang Xu rubbed his chin and contemplated it for a bit. He then shook his head and said, "Probably not, we're mainly working with chemical and material companies. We don't work with any pharmaceutical companies… Why?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I have two interesting compounds. I might need a professional institute to help with clinical experiments. Also, they can become our OEM[1]."

Lu Zhou also wanted the pharma company to help market the product.

After all, if they could apply the liquid food amino acid and the coke active ingredient into other food and health products, he could earn a considerable amount of money.

Not to mention that this kind of meal replacement food could be used in the aerospace field.

Yang Xu adjusted his glasses and asked, "Is it profitable? Or is it just used for experiments?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "It's definitely profitable. In my opinion, it can be applied in food and medicines."

"Then this is easy." Yang Xu smiled and joked, "There are a bunch of companies lining up to work with a Nobel Prize laureate like you."

…

Arizona.

A Hummer roared on the barren desert.

Elon Musk was sitting in the back of the Hummer as he looked at the desert and cacti outside the window. He spoke to NASA's Director Carson, who was sitting next to him.

"… In fact, Mars is much more suitable for human life than the moon. It has a rich atmosphere… though the air density is low. There are rich resources, such as methane, which can be used by our colonists for industrialization. If we want, we can also consider melting the dry ice at the poles and release the carbon dioxide stored in the Mars bedrocks. The greenhouse effect will then revive the planet's atmosphere."

Carson smiled and asked, "How many centuries do you think that will take?"

Musk smiled and said, "Maybe a dozen? Or even a hundred? But that's not the main point. That's not Space-X's job. My vision for Space-X is clear. We will be the 'railway' company of space. Our job is to create space transportation systems and put humans on Mars."

Director Carson raised his eyebrows and said, "Sounds a little ridiculous, even childish."

Honestly, he didn't want to think about the far-distant future.

If future generations really had that kind of technology, instead of colonizing a planet tens of kilometers away, Carson would rather turn the Arizona desert into a forest. That seemed more practical than colonizing Mars.

Of course, he didn't say this out loud.

After all, he was the director of NASA, the leader of the Ares program. The success of this operation was directly related to the glory of the country and his future career.

Even if he didn't see any benefit in colonizing Mars, he would still fully support this plan to the end.

After all, he betted all of his chips in this plan.

Musk didn't really care about Carson's comments. He had heard many snarky comments in the past.

He looked at the red sand outside and said, "When the Union Pacific Railroad was built, people said it was a stupid project. Looking back at it now, no one can deny that this project has brought benefits to the United States. This is the same for Mars. Mars will bring huge opportunities for mankind. It will also give us motivation and courage to challenge the future… We're here."

While the two were chatting, they arrived at their destination.

A white egg-shaped building was sitting in the burning desert.

Next to it were several pieces of engineering equipment and engineers who were wearing safety hats. They were making final adjustments to this weirdly-shaped building.

Director Carson opened the Hummer door and got out of the car. He stared at the white dome in the desert and squinted his eyes.

"This is it?"

"Yes." Musk said and opened his arms, "Welcome to Arizona. This will be our new home for future colonists. Even though it isn't aesthetically pleasing from the outside, I am certain you will be surprised by the interiors."

Carson stared at the dome and said, "I don't care about that. What I want to know is, are you sure our colonists can safely spend 26 months in this building?"

Musk smiled and said, "Of course, even though we don't have time for long-term testing, judging from the food, water, and oxygen consumption data, even if our colonists do not engage in any resource refueling activities, they will be able to survive for 30 months."

Carson said, "How do you plan on sending it to Mars?"

"Through our BFR super rocket." Musk patted Carson's shoulder and said, "Believe me, we are winning this space race. Everything is under control."

[1] Original equipment manufacturer

Chapter 747: Make It a Habi

Just like Yang Xu had said, after Star Sky Technology expressed they were interested in cooperating with a pharmaceutical company, numerous offers came in the mail.

There were at least four or five calls a day, which annoyed Chen Yushan.

Chen Yushan called Lu Zhou and couldn't help but complain.

"You plan on selling health supplements or what?"

Lu Zhou knew what she was referring to, so he smiled and replied, "… I just found some by-products in an experiment. I thought they were quite interesting. So, I plan on benefiting the public."

"… I'm the sacrifice then? I'm being drowned by these calls."

Lu Zhou: "Yeah, thanks."

Chen Yushan said, "It's fine, this is my job. But next time, remember to give me a heads-up. I'm still busy with the state aerospace project. When I suddenly got a call, I thought it was a supplement marketing scam."

Lu Zhou said, "I'll give you a heads-up next time."

"Yeah, it's fine. Oh yeah, I researched some of the companies that called us and listed some of the more qualified companies. I've sent the list to your email. Look through it if you have time."

"Okay, I'll look at it right away."

After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he opened his email and found the report sent by Chen Yushan.

He had to admit, the report was very detailed. Not only did it contain information such as market value, business model, and operating status, but some of the more esoteric pieces of information were also listed in the report.

After carefully reading through the report, Lu Zhou chose Hengrui Medicine as their partner.

It was one of the few Chinese pharmaceutical companies that were willing to invest in drug research and development. The company was owned and controlled by its parent company, Hengrui Group. It had the largest antitumor production base in China. It was also involved in research on diabetes, heart disease, and cancer drugs.

In fact, other than Hengrui Medicine, there were many foreign-owned pharmaceutical companies that were suitable partners. For example, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Roche. These were all top-100 companies.

However, most of these companies' research and development units were located overseas. After what happened with Sarrot's laboratory, and with the possible foreign policy risks, Lu Zhou carefully excluded these companies as potential partners.

As for why Lu Zhou chose Hengrui Medicine, that was mainly because it had its own research and development team. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study planned on entering the biochemistry field, so there were many future cooperation opportunities between the two.

The specific cooperation agreement was negotiated by a dedicated patent management team. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was only responsible for sending the registered patent samples to the other party.

Two weeks had gone by… Lu Zhou nearly forgot the whole Hengrui Medicine thing when someone suddenly came to visit him…

"Hello, Professor Lu! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Inside his office at the Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou met Professor Zhang Jiafu, the Chief Technology Officer of Hengrui Medicine's new research and development department. Since he also taught at Zhi University, he had the "professor" title.

After Professor Zhang met Lu Zhou, he extended his right hand and shook Lu Zhou's hand.

"Hello, you're Professor Zhang, right? Please sit."

"You're too kind!"

After some small talk, Professor Zhang sat on the sofa.

Lu Zhou's office assistant came over with a pot and poured two cups of tea.

Professor Zhang took a sip of the hot tea and put down the cup. Without wasting any time, he started to talk about business.

"Everyone knows that we are currently developing a diabetes treatment drug. After we received the component analysis report and sample from you guys, we tested it in our laboratory, and…" he gulped and said, "the clinical trial was shocking."

Three years of research, and tens or even hundreds of thousands of compounds. Countless trial and error. Professor Zhang never expected that the answer would come from the Institute of Biochemistry, which was established less than a year ago.

This…

Made Professor Zhang slightly uncomfortable.

After hearing this, Lu Zhou was astounded.

"This thing can cure diabetes?"

The f*ck?

"Is this worth a Nobel Prize?"

However, after hearing Lu Zhou, Professor Zhang had an awkward expression on his face.

"… A complete cure is unlikely, but if it really is a cure, the Nobel Prize Committee might consider giving you another award. Even if it's not a complete cure, we found that the amino acid has synergistic effects with insulin and insulin analogs. It accelerates glycolysis and lowers blood sugar levels.

"We conducted experiments in diabetic mice, and we found that the amino acid directly prevents islet β-cell damage, and it maintains its structural integrity and helps endocrine function while also effectively inhibiting streptozotocin-induced islet β apoptosis."

Lu Zhou's expression gradually became more and more serious.

He knew about streptozotocin. It was listed on the WHO list of 2B carcinogens. However, the scary part wasn't its carcinogenic properties, but its ability to induce diabetes in many organisms. It was the culprit that caused diabetes in many diabetic patients.

Professor Zhang said in a serious manner, "We plan on using this amino acid as our newly developed drug. Can you tell us what you named the amino acid?"

"Name?" Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "Can't you guys just use its chemical nomenclature?"

Professor Zhang paused for a second and said, "Have you not named it yet?"

Lu Zhou: "… I haven't thought about it."

In the component analysis report, Xu Wenhao used the chemical nomenclature to name this amino acid. In order to save time, Lu Zhou abbreviated the name into letters and numbers.

Professor Zhang said, "If you don't know how to name it, just name it from wherever you extracted the amino acid from. That's more convenient."

Lu Zhou was a little worried.

What do I do now?

I got it from a can of coke, I can't call it coke-aline, right?

Hmm…

Wait a minute, it sounds pretty good.

Lu Zhou said, "Let's call it cokealine!"

"Cokealine?" Professor Zhang paused for a second. "Is there… a reason?"

Lu Zhou: "No reason… Can I not call it cokealine?"

Professor Zhang said, "No, of course you can."

It's just kind of a weird name…

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Okay then, I think it's a good name."

Professor Zhang wanted to convince Lu Zhou otherwise, but it seemed like Lu Zhou had no intention of changing his mind. Professor Zhang shook his head and gave up.

After Professor Zhang walked out of the office, he looked at the institute researcher who brought him to Lu Zhou's office. He asked, "Don't you think… Professor Lu has weird naming habits?"

He wanted to say "horrible", but he felt like it would be disrespectful, so he changed it to "weird".

After hearing Professor Zhang's words, the researcher smiled.

"… You'll get used to it."

Professor Zhang: "…"

Chapter 748: BFR Rocket Launch!

Florida, America.

A 32-floor high super-rocket sat on the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The American flag, NASA logo, and Space-X logo were printed on the side of the rocket, as well as the three large letters "BFR". Also, several Wall Street investment banks also had their logos printed on the rocket.

It took nearly a month for the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to assembly the entire rocket. It then took another week to finish the final launch preparations.

Now that the rocket was equipped with the life support system, all of the preparations were in place. It was finally time to begin the launch. Countless pairs of hopeful eyes were focused on this rocket. They had been waiting for this moment.

The ignition countdown began.

After the ten-second countdown, billowing smoke was seen from the launch platform.

The 42 Raptor engines consumed liquid oxygen and methane at an incredible rate. They provided an astonishing take-off thrust of 128 trillion Newtons across the entire spacecraft. It propelled the 100-meter-tall rocket slowly off the launch platform and toward the blue sky.

The engine roared like a giant monster.

This monster was called chemical propulsion.

It contained the world's most advanced liquid oxygen methane propulsion technology. This monster once again displayed its strength to the world…

Musk looked at the rocket through a telescope. He smirked and gave the telescope to his assistant. He looked at Director Carson, who was staring into the distance, and said, "I told you, there's nothing to worry about. We have the best aerospace research and development team in the world, and it is the most experienced team as well. We just have to wait for the team's good news from 60 million kilometers away."

"I hope it's good news." Carson put down the telescope and asked, "What about the BFS spacecraft? Is it ready?"

If the life support system could be successfully deployed on Mars, then the three lucky volunteers would board the ship in June and begin the greatest expedition in human history.

The BFS spacecraft played an important role in the Ares program, which was to send astronauts to Mars safely.

Musk: "We're not going to use the BFS spacecraft."

Director Carson looked at Musk and said, "But in your PowerPoint, you said…"

Musk waved his hand and said, "That thing has a 100-person capacity. We'll use it for the last stage of the Ares program. We only need to send three astronauts. We'll use a smaller, more reliable transportation method. Guess what it's called?"

Carson: "… What?"

"Heart of Gold!"

Carson paused for a second. He then responded, "Like in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"

If he recalled correctly, the spaceship in the novel was called the Heart of Gold. However, the spaceship in the novel didn't use chemical propulsion. Instead, it used some kind of "Infinite Improbability Drive", which claimed to be able to reach any corner of the universe instantly.

Musk smiled.

"That's right. Douglas Adams' sci-fi masterpiece. It will be the first manned spacecraft to land on Mars!"

Director Carson smiled and shook his head.

"… I think a more appropriate name will go down in history better."

Musk said, "History is written by people. When we succeed, the name won't matter."

While the two were talking, deafening cheers were heard nearby.

Standing there were people invited by NASA; people such as company representatives and reporters. Everyone's face was full of nothing but excitement.

The BFR rocket carrying the life support system was heading toward Mars, which was more than 60 million kilometers away. If everything were to go according to plan, it should land on the surface of Mars in a month.

The reporters stood at their designated shooting location. They were excited to have finished taking photos of the rocket taking off. They held their cameras and left the launch site.

They couldn't wait to get back to their computers and start editing tomorrow's headline.

Tomorrow…

The entire world would be astounded by America's achievement…

…

The news of the successful BFR launch reached headlines across the world.

According to NASA's report, the "Heart of Gold" spacecraft carrying the life support system had successfully reached the escape velocity, leaving the Earth-Moon system.

The United States had once again demonstrated to the world its ambitions and strengths in the aerospace field. Major newspapers, TV, and talk shows had also run relevant reports.

Because Space-X was one of the main protagonists in the Ares program, its stock price began to rise.

According to a financial trader who worked on Wall Street, not only did this launch plan bring in billions of dollars of revenue for Space-X, but it also brought tens of billions of market value growth for the US stock market.

The lithium-sulfur battery market and electric vehicle market was already expanding, and it wouldn't take long for Elon Musk to be one of the world's top 10 richest people.

Because of the successful BFR rocket launch, the Chinese community began to debate on the lunar orbit space station.

A lot of people claimed that this billion-dollar project was destined to fail and that even if the project was successful, it was all for a show. They even claimed that the space station itself was useless.

Lu Zhou didn't pay attention to what people were saying. After he returned from Beijing, he kept himself very busy.

The most difficult part of constructing a space station in lunar orbit was sending the components to space.

So far, it seemed like Star Sky Technology was the only one that could handle these kinds of payloads.

Therefore, it was not an exaggeration to say that the success of this project was entirely dependent on Lu Zhou himself.

A lunar orbit engineering meeting was happening inside a conference room at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

"… If we want to complete the construction of the lunar space station, we have to deliver at least 500 tons of materials to lunar orbit," Lu Zhou said while looking at the projector screen. He tapped his pen on the table and said, "And this is just the first phase of the project. There's at least another 2,000 tons of payload waiting for us. We have to increase our delivery capacity."

Because the lunar orbit space station was a highly valued project of the Communist Party of China, it was easy for Lu Zhou to receive funding. Plenty of banks were happy to give out loans.

Even though the project hadn't even begun, Lu Zhou already received a 50 billion yuan loan from a major bank. Part of the money would be used for the construction of the new Skyglow aerospaceplane. The rest of the money would be used for research and development of space transportation vehicles.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "I think we can create a special spacecraft, designed to specifically travel between the Earth-Moon transfer orbit and the geosynchronous orbit."

Quiet chatters were heard in the conference room.

The idea of building a spacecraft specifically designed to travel between the geosynchronous orbit and the Earth-Moon transfer orbit was so novel that many experts had no idea that this was possible.

Hou Guang's eyebrows furrowed, and he contemplated for a second before asking, "So what you're saying is… Use Skyglow to complete the ground to the geosynchronous orbit, and then use the other spacecraft to go from the geosynchronous orbit to the Earth-Moon orbit?"

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Correct."

Hou Guang said, "In theory, this is possible. However, transferring cargo like that might be risky."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Aerospace itself is risky. Every flight is an adventure. If we do this, not only will our moon delivery capacity increase substantially, but we can even outsource the surface to geosynchronous launch to other aerospace companies. This will cut our costs."

After hearing Lu Zhou's thoughts, Hou Guang went silent. After a while, he finally spoke.

"I'll do some research. I'll give you a detailed report by tomorrow night."

Lu Zhou nodded his head solemnly.

"Ok, thank you."

This kind of decision couldn't be made during meetings. He was just brainstorming. The experts in charge had to do the real work.

Hou Guang didn't try to reject Lu Zhou's idea. He even expressed that it was theoretically possible. He thought that the pros and cons were debatable, but at least, they were enough to make Lu Zhou feel intrigued.

The meeting lasted until noon.

After the meeting ended, Lu Zhou went to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study cafeteria. He was looking for a seat to enjoy his barbecue meat and rice when he suddenly received a phone call.

When he saw that Director Li was the one calling, he answered the call, "Hello, what's up?"

Director Li replied in a serious tone, "The Americans launched their BFR rocket!"

Chapter 749: Lunar Orbit Committee

The Americans launched their BFR rocket?

Lu Zhou's mouth was wide open. He silently placed his chopsticks on the table and asked, "They… launched it? When?"

"Last night! NASA issued a public announcement, and we also received confirmation through our satellites. BFR is currently leaving low-Earth orbit, and it was already on the news… When was the last time you checked the news?"

"Probably last night… I was preparing the material for the conference all night, so I didn't have time to look at the news." Lu Zhou frowned and contemplated it for a second. He then said, "Is it manned? Or is it just cargo?"

"It's just cargo. It is carrying a life support system made by several aerospace companies, like Space-X and Blue Origin," Director Li replied in a regretful tone. "How is the Garden plan going? Is there any progress?"

Lu Zhou: "We're still in the early stages… Why?"

So far, the Garden plan was mainly done by several research institutes, such as the China Agricultural University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Institution of Bio-technology. Star Sky Technology wasn't in charge of many projects yet.

A while ago, Lu Zhou contacted the project leader, Professor Hu Yang. So far, the Biosphere A had just finished construction, and none of the personnel or equipment had been moved in yet. It would take a while before they could use the biosphere to develop new technology.

The other end of the phone went silent.

Ten seconds later, Director Li lowered his voice and asked, "Hypothetically, if I gave you another 2 billion yuan of funding, do you think we can make a biosphere and place it on Mars?"

Even though he was just presenting a hypothetical situation, it was obvious that there was a hint of seriousness in his phone. Director Li couldn't make this decision by himself; many higher-ups had to agree to this proposal.

After Lu Zhou heard Director Li's words, he nearly choked on his water.

2 billion in funding?

Even though this sounded tempting, money couldn't solve anything.

Do you really think money alone can put something on Mars?

Lu Zhou didn't hesitate, and he immediately responded, "Forget about it, our technology is not there yet. The Americans are relying on more than half a century of experience. It's a miracle we can even send people to the moon. We should go one step at a time."

Lu Zhou could sense a hint of urgency from the Americans.

Seems like the successful Skyglow mission triggered the Americans.

Otherwise, forget about launching the life support system, the congress would take two years just to approve the construction of the life support system.

Director Li went silent for a while. He then sighed.

"Okay then, I know it's not realistic… How long until our lunar space station project begins?"

Lu Zhou thought for a second before saying, "Soonest by the end of the month. We can send the 'Moon Palace' core module first. If the core module orbit is stable, then we can also send the unity module and working module… As for the specific launch plans, that will depend on the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation."

The "Moon Palace" core module was the main component of the entire lunar orbit space station. It provided power, propulsion, navigation, communication, altitude control, temperature control, and other functions. A year ago, the two Chinese aerospace giants completed the design, and they successfully tested the module earlier this year.

In addition to the basic functions, this core module also had four spacecraft dockers. This allowed the core module to be connected with the unity module, working module, and other modules.

The core module mainly relied on solar energy, of which the power was stored by large lithium-sulfur batteries.

Even though some people had suggested using a small controllable fusion energy device as a power source, due to various factors such as heat, cost, maintenance, and technical difficulty, this plan was abandoned. The traditional and reliable solar power solution was implemented.

Director Li was astonished. "End of the month?"

Lu Zhou said confidently, "End of the month."

Even though the new Earth-Moon orbital transport system was still being developed, that didn't prevent Star Sky Technology from using their old spacecraft for module transport.

Director Li: "Okay then, I'll ask the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation to finish the final round of testing and send the core module to the Jinling launch site… Oh yeah, there's one more thing I have to ask your opinion on."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

Director Li cleared his throat and said in a solemn manner, "In order to facilitate the construction of the lunar orbital space station and the mining of lunar resources, the high-level officials at the Communist Party of China decided to establish a Lunar Orbit Committee. This committee will manage and coordinate funding for various lunar resource development projects."

Lu Zhou: "Yeah… and?"

"The Lunar Orbit Committee will also contain a chief designer…"

Director Li paused for a second. He then said, "The Communist Party of China has decided for you to be the chief designer of the committee!"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Even though there was no reason for Lu Zhou to be against this arrangement…

Couldn't they ask for my opinion first?

…

Skyglow's next launch mission was scheduled to be at the end of the month. In order to display China's determination to win this space race, the Communist Party of China greenlit various supporting policies.

At the same time, with the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee, the lunar orbit space station project was no longer controlled by the State Administration for National Defense or the China National Space Administration, but rather, it was directly under the Communist Party of China.

This was just like the first controllable fusion reactor.

It was obvious that China had big ambitions this time.

Interestingly enough, even though the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee caused a sensation in the aerospace industry, it didn't attract any attention from foreign media outlets.

After all, the news that China was building a lunar orbiting space station was announced a long time ago. The international community had a negative opinion on this project, and they thought it was an impossible project.

Even with the most advanced ion thruster propulsion technology, just from the cost perspective alone, sending 500 tons of material into lunar orbit was nearly impossible.

Not to mention China had no experience building large orbital space stations.

Even with Professor Lu's help, people thought this was unfeasible!

The Chinese aerospace community had similar opinions.

Successfully landing on the moon was an amazing accomplishment, but planning on building a lunar space station right after seemed overly ambitious.

Some of the more radical activists even thought that the Chinese aerospace industry was being fooled by Professor Lu's ego.

The establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee was an exciting event for the aerospace industry. However, when they saw who the chief designer was, at least a third of them felt worried.

It's over…

Nothing can save us.

Chapter 750: Heat Accumulation

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

A large cylindrical core module was placed in the center of an aerospace warehouse in Tianjin.

The final inspections were about to begin. The engineers were doing safety inspections on the core module.

After checking the core cabin door wires and confirming that the password was working correctly, Sun Yuanpei smirked and chatted with the engineer next to him.

"Professor Lu is the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee… He really is involved with everything."

Zhao Xianpu was still working. Without raising his head, he said, "I know…"

Because of Lu Zho, the launch was scheduled to the end of month. They gave up their weekend holiday and immediately started working.

Sun Yuanpei shook his head and said, "Sometimes, I really don't understand this guy. Can't he just focus on controllable fusion energy? I heard he rejected the offer to be the director of the China International Nuclear Fusion Energy Program Execution Center. He even gave someone else the chief engineer role for East Asia Energy. All these just for aerospace… He must be crazy."

In his opinion, no matter what happened to the aerospace industry, it would never be as huge as the controllable fusion industry.

Just by looking at how much benefits controllable fusion technology and East Asia Energy brought to China, it was obvious that the controllable fusion field was going to grow.

However, Professor Lu didn't seem to care about this at all. He tossed controllable fusion aside, as if it were an old toy.

Most scientific researchers thought his actions were incomprehensible.

They wondered why Lu Zhou didn't want to indulge in his victory.

Just when Lu Zhou could finally taste the success that he worked so hard for, he went to aerospace instead.

Zhao Xianpu adjusted his hard hat and muttered, "God knows what he's thinking."

A slightly younger engineer next to them said, "Maybe he is different from us?"

Sun Yuanpei said, "He's human as well, what's so different?"

Footsteps were heard from the warehouse, and the three people immediately stopped chattering.

Not long after, Zheng Xiangdong, the deputy manager of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and chief engineer Academician Yuan walked into the warehouse with a group of people.

Academician Yuan walked in front of Sun Yuanpei and glanced at the core module. He then asked, "Are you done with the inspection?"

"It's done. Everything is functioning," Sun Yuanpei said while standing up straight. He handed the old gentlemen a form.

Academician Yuan looked at the form. He then looked at Systems Director Zhang.

"Begin testing."

"Okay!"

Systems Director Zhang nodded.

This inspection was originally scheduled for two days later, but because Star Sky Technology was already ready to launch, the China National Space Administration advanced the schedule.

However, engineer Sun Yuanpei wasn't worried at all. The Moon Palace core module contained the most advanced technology from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and it was an improved version of the Tiangong core module.

Soon after, the core module was sent to a vacuum chamber. It was suspended in the air by four cables. This mimicked an outer space environment.

Immediately afterward, the engineer in charge pressed the start button. All of the equipment except the solar panel was activated. Various physical parameters were displayed on the control panel.

"Core module operation is stable!"

Zheng Xiangdong sighed in relief and forced a smile.

Academician Yuan, who was standing next to him, frowned.

"… Something is not right."

Zheng Xiangdong immediately looked at Academician Yuan and asked, "What's wrong?"

Academician Yuan didn't respond directly. He went silent for a while before saying, "Look at it again."

Zheng Xiangdong said nervously, "Don't scare me…"

The launch mission was going to begin at the end of the month, he couldn't afford to have any mistakes.

Academician Yuan didn't say anything as he stared intently at the screen.

Zheng Xiangdong relaxed a little.

Maybe he was wrong?

He continued to look at the console screen.

Ten minutes passed…

Twenty minutes…

Half an hour later, something finally happened.

The component temperature curves began to fluctuate toward a clear upward trend. Judging from the temperature-time function prediction values, the temperature of the entire core module was rising rapidly, and it would reach a critical value after 24 hours. Due to overheating, the antenna control equipment would fail first.

Sun Yuanpei started to sweat.

A terrible word appeared in his mind.

Overheating!

Judging from the temperature trend of the core module, the total heat accumulation of the core module had exceeded the heat dissipation limit.

Sun Yuanpei wasn't the only one who noticed this; the other engineers, as well as the researchers in the laboratory, also noticed this anomaly.

Academician Yuan was the first to speak.

"Stop the experiment! Inject shielding gas!"

"Yes, sir!"

The engineers in the laboratory quickly began to work.

The gas valve was opened, and nitrogen gas was injected into the vacuum chamber. The components of the core module began to turn off, and the temperature of the module finally began to decrease.

However, none of the engineers in the laboratory were relaxed.

Especially Systems Director Zhang, as well as Sun Yuanpei… Their faces began to turn pale.

"Sh*t…"

Even though Zheng Xiangdong didn't understand the technicality of the situation, he could tell something was wrong. He looked at Academician Yuan and asked, "What happened?!"

Academician Yuan frowned and shook his head.

"We're in trouble."

Even though he didn't closely inspect the module, he could guess what the problem was.

It was obvious that the problem was the loop heat pipe.

Loop heat pipe systems were usually used as cooling systems for spacecraft. It used capillary action to remove heat from a source before moving it passively to a condenser or radiator.

Even if all of the other components were perfect, failure of the loop heat pipe could sabotage the whole mission!

There were only two ways to solve this problem. One was to remove the loop heat pipe and redesign it. The other was to reduce the spacecraft performance and remove some of the high-heat inducing components.

However, the problem was that this was a core module. It wasn't a unity module or a working module. This was the "heart" of the entire Moon Palace space station! This was like the "Zarya" of the ISS.

Even though they wanted to remove some of the more heat-intensive equipment, there was nothing left to remove.

If they wanted to remove and redesign the loop heat pipe system, not only would it cost billions of yuan, but it would also delay the entire Lunar Gateway space station project.

Vice President Zheng felt his hands and feet go cold. He began to sweat from his forehead.

The launch mission was happening at the end of the month.

Just when the core module was about to be launched, a critical problem occurred.

Normally, being able to detect the problems before the launch was considered lucky.

However, the aerospace situation was tense right now. The life support system of the Ares program had just been launched. The entire country was looking forward to the Moon Palace program.

The entire plan could be postponed to 2021…

And he was personally responsible for this.

Chapter 751: Dropped the Ball?

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, materials science laboratory.

Lu Zhou was standing next to an optical microscope. He gently turned the focusing helix dial and observed the carbon nanotubes on the microscope slide.

A couple of minutes later, Lu Zhou looked up at Yang Xu and asked, "There's no way to make it longer?"

Yang Xu shook his head.

"That's as long as we can do."

By looking at the sample through the microscope, Lu Zhou could see that the shortest sample was only 5-10μm long, while the longest was 2mm long.

Unfortunately, when comparing the 2mm carbon nanotubes to the silky cloth material, the carbon nanotube was rough like stubble…

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and asked, "What about the directional growth technology used in the SG-1 superconducting material? Have you tried that?"

"I've tried everything," Yang Xu shook his head and said, "but the pore size of the high tensile carbon nanotube is much smaller than that of the SG-1 material. It is very difficult to synthesize by directional growth… Even if we could, it would be extremely costly."

Superconducting materials could be used in high-technology fields, so the costs were acceptable. However, spending this much on clothing materials was a bit unnecessary.

Lu Zhou stared at the microscope as he said, "So you have no ideas at all?"

"Not quite, I have some ideas." Yang Xu picked up a report from the experiment table next to him and handed it to Lu Zhou. He said, "According to the data from several sets of experiments, improving the catalyst could effectively improve the creation of long carbon nanotubes. These nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes are very similar to an experiment I did before.

"Therefore, we just need to improve the catalyst such that the catalyst remains active during the higher temperature growth of the carbon nanotubes. Theoretically, this will increase the length."

When it came to growing carbon nanotubes, catalyst deactivation during high temperatures was inevitable. This was one of the main reasons for the carbon nanotube length limit.

However, improving the catalyst and delaying the deactivation time was a feasible and inexpensive research idea.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "… Then we'll go with what you said. If you run out of funds, just tell me."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely ask you for funding when I need it." Yang Xu smiled and said, "Oh yeah, there's something else I want to ask you. Now that we have a laboratory preparation method… should we register a patent?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "Register one for a carbon nanotube sample first, and wait on the catalyst."

Yang Xu: "What about the thesis?"

Lu Zhou: "After the patent is registered, we can submit a thesis that doesn't include the preparation method."

They were going to keep the synthesis process a secret and only submit the nitrogen-group carbon nanotube as an interesting materials science discovery.

Attracting more research institutes to participate would be a good thing for them.

This wasn't true only in the materials science field; this was true in all of academia. The more popular a problem became, the more research institutes would become interested, and the faster the results could be produced.

If a research institute closed its doors and didn't collaborate with anyone, it would take them decades to achieve any type of success.

"Okay then." Yang Xu nodded and said, "Oh yeah, what should we name it?"

Yang Xu didn't think twice before asking this.

However, the moment the words came out of his mouth, he began to regret asking.

But it was too late, the question was already asked.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and thought for a while.

"Let's call it N-1."

There was nothing special about the nomenclature, considering the fact that the special characteristic of the carbon nanotube was its nitrogen group, so Lu Zhou decided to use "N" to represent "nitrogen".

The "1" was obviously because this was the first generation of this kind of carbon nanotubes. The second generation would be called "N-2" and so forth.

Even though he wanted to call it something like "super tensile carbon nanotubes" or "carbon nanotube that is 100 times stronger than steel", the names were too long and time-consuming to write. Therefore, he abandoned the idea.

Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with his own naming abilities. He looked at Yang Xu and saw that Yang Xu was quiet.

"… What?" Lu Zhou asked.

"Nothing…" Yang Xu smiled awkwardly and said, "It definitely fits your style."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

What is that supposed to mean?

You don't like my naming system?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou received a call.

When he saw that Director Li was calling, he bid farewell to Yang Xu and answered the call while walking out of the laboratory.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

It sounded like something was wrong, so Lu Zhou skipped the small talk and asked, "What happened?"

Sure enough, Director Li's words confirmed Lu Zhou's suspicion.

"Something happened at the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. The cooling function of the core module is subpar." Director Li paused for two seconds and said, "The launch has to be delayed."

Heat dissipation was a huge problem for spacecraft. It was also a problem that was difficult to detect during the design phase. Even though there was a technology that could simulate heat output and heat dissipation, the simulation still had a certain amount of deviation from real life.

For example, the GOES-17 United States satellite was vulnerable to solar radiation and overheating due to the cooling system design flaws. This made it unable to obtain infrared cloud images in a timely and effective manner. The hundred-million-dollar investment was a total waste.

In some sense, discovering the problem before the launch could be considered fortunate. After all, there was no way to fix the module in orbit.

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "What if we just install some heat sinks?"

Director Li said, "The problem isn't the heat sink, it's the loop heat pipe."

Lu Zhou's heart dropped. He knew this was going to be a major problem.

"You're saying that the entire loop heat pipe has to be redesigned?"

There was a hint of anguish in Director Li's voice.

"I'm afraid so."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Sh*t!

We have to redesign the loop heat pipe?!

Might as well redesign the whole f*cking core module!

Chapter 752: Big Problem

Even though the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation could afford to redesign the core module, Lu Zhou didn't have the time to wait.

Skyglow's working medium and fuel are already replenished. We're so close to launching, and you are telling me now that something is wrong with the core module?

The f*ck?

This is not happening!

Lu Zhou walked up and down the corridor. He made up his mind. He spoke to Director Li through the phone.

"I'm going to Tianjin!"

Director Li paused for a second.

"Why are you going… Are you a space station designer?"

All of the experts at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation can't solve this, even Academician Yuan shook his head. What are you going to do, Lu Zhou?

The main research and development projects at Star Sky Technology were all focused on the ion thruster propulsion system. There wasn't a single engineer at the Institute for Advanced Study who was an expert in space station design.

Lu Zhou said, "I have to see it in person!"

If the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation really decided to disassemble the core module and re-wire the loop heat pipe, it would take at least a year.

Even though Lu Zhou couldn't solve the technical problem, he wanted to go to the scene and see what was going on.

At the bare minimum, he wanted to see the problem with his own eyes.

Seeing how determined Lu Zhou was, Director Li didn't try to persuade him otherwise.

"Okay then… I'll tell the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation not to dismantle the core module yet."

"Okay, thanks."

Lu Zhou hung up the phone before putting it into his pocket. He quickly walked back to the laboratory.

Yang Xu was removing the glass slide from the microscope. He looked at Lu Zhou and paused for a second.

"… What?"

Lu Zhou said solemnly, "Something went wrong at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The launch has to be delayed."

Yang Xu pushed his glasses and asked, "Is the problem serious?"

Even though he wasn't in the aerospace field, as one of the senior members at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he still cared about these important matters.

"The problem is serious. I might be gone for a week or two, so you'll have to handle the N-1 research…" Lu Zhou was about to leave when he saw the carbon nanotube fiber samples sitting on the experiment table.

He stared at them for a while before asking, "What is the maximum length we can achieve at the moment?"

Yang Xu said, "Around 1-2mm… Why?"

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou immediately said, "You're flying with me tomorrow!"

Yang Xu: "…?"

…

The atmosphere in Tianjin was gloomy and bleak.

Because of overtime, most of the workers were already in a bad mood. Now that there was the overheating problem, people were feeling even worse.

Especially the engineers, they all had a tired look on their faces.

Sun Yuanpei, the engineer in charge of the Moon Palace project, sat on a small chair outside the factory building. He smoked cigarettes one by one. It seemed like he aged ten years overnight. He didn't even notice Systems Director Zhang walking over.

"… The core module is inside, I'll take you there."

"Okay." Lu Zhou nodded toward Systems Director Zhang and looked at the depressed engineer sitting nearby. He asked, "Who is that?"

"That is the engineer in charge of the space station. He's also in charge of the cooling system."

Lu Zhou had a look of realization in his eyes.

No wonder!

No wonder he looks so depressed.

I'm sure anyone in his position wouldn't feel so good.

Sun Yuanpei noticed the conversation happening near him, and he looked up at Lu Zhou. He then looked back down and continued to smoke the cigarette.

Lu Zhou: "You're Engineer Sun?"

Sun Yuanpei nodded.

"Yeah, I am."

"Have you found a solution?"

Sun Yuanpei had a bitter look on his face. He shook his head and said, "Right now, the only solution is to redesign the loop heat pipe… We should dismantle the module and rebuild it."

Honestly, as a conservative, he didn't really like Lu Zhou.

But right now, he didn't have any face to hate Lu Zhou.

Rather, he hated himself for not being able to discover the problem earlier.

Lu Zhou stared at him for a while before saying, "Put out the cigarette, and show me what's happening inside."

"Okay."

Sun Yuanpei threw away the cigarette butt and slowly stood up. He walked toward the warehouse like a soulless puppet.

Systems Director Zhang looked at Lu Zhou and sighed.

"Don't trigger him… He's in a bad emotional state right now."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why would I trigger him?"

Yang Xu, who was following Lu Zhou this whole time, asked, "Should I stay outside? I mean… There are state secrets involved here, right?"

After working with Lu Zhou for so long, the most common term Yang Xu heard Lu Zhou say was "state secret".

This term almost became a trigger for him.

Systems Director Zhang smiled and shook his head.

"It's fine, that thing inside isn't exactly a state secret. Two months ago some primary school children came for a field trip… Come with me."

He took the group of people into the warehouse.

Lu Zhou and Yang Xu followed Systems Director Zhang.

The moment Yang Xu walked into the warehouse, he began to look around curiously.

His research area was materials science. He had never been exposed to the aerospace industry. This stuff was all novel to him.

Lu Zhou wasn't curious at all. He walked straight to the core module that was placed in the center of the warehouse.

The module connection port was open, and it was wide enough for one astronaut to enter through.

However, Lu Zhou didn't go inside. He placed his head inside and look around. He then came out.

"The problem is the loop heat pipe?"

Sun Yuanpei nodded weakly and said, "Yes."

Lu Zhou immediately said, "What about coolants? Have you thought about changing the coolants?"

Sun Yuanpei smiled and shook his head.

"The coolant is glycol/water, which is already an excellent aerospace coolant… Do you really think changing the coolant is going to solve this problem? There's no way. Increasing the injection speed of the coolant, improving glycol water mixture… We have tried everything! The problem is that the excess heat is accumulated in the capillaries of the loop heat pipes. It's impossible to dissipate."

As expected, the problem wasn't that simple.

Lu Zhou had a dignified look on his face. He walked around the core module and began to recall the Debris No.3 lying in his underground laboratory.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He went inside the core module through the left connection port.

He knocked on the heat pipe and asked, "What is this made of?"

Sun Yuanpei, who was standing outside, said, "Copper-aluminium alloy… Why?"

"Nothing, just wondering."

Lu Zhou climbed out of the core module and took two steps back. He looked at Yang Xu, who was muddled, and asked, "Is it possible to electroplate the N-1 material?"

Yang Xu adjusted his glasses and answered the question, "It can be done… What do you plan on plating?"

"Copper."

"Copper?" Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou. He then looked at the core module and said, "You're planning to…"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yep."

Yang Xu contemplated it for a moment before saying, "I'm afraid it's not possible to electroplate the micrometer-sized N-1 on copper plates… Chemical plating should work."

"Then we'll do chemical plating. You're the expert."

Systems Director Zhang was baffled. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "What are you guys talking about?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied casually, "We're talking about a way to solve this problem!"

After that, he and Yang Xu began to walk out of the warehouse.

Chapter 753: The Only Remedy

Even though Systems Director Zhang wasn't convinced Lu Zhou could really solve this problem, but because of Lu Zhou's background, Systems Director Zhang couldn't help but have a little bit of hope.

He had no other choice, they were the ones who failed to do their jobs. If the loop heat pipe problem wasn't fixed, the launch could be delayed by a year.

Their investment in this project was too big to fail now. Forget about punishing the people responsible for this failure… He had to do everything he could to remedy this situation!

Therefore, after Systems Director Zhang heard that Lu Zhou had a potential solution, he immediately called Academician Yuan Huanmin, the chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. He then told his assistant to quickly arrange accommodation for these two gentlemen.

Systems Director Zhang was sitting in the passenger seat. Before they began driving toward the hotel, Systems Director Zhang looked back at Lu Zhou and said, "Professor Lu, what are you thinking? Can you tell me anything? I'll discuss with some experts and see if it's feasible…"

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I can't tell you the specifics now as it involves a new material that we are still researching and developing… Also, it's hard to say if it will work. We'll only know after testing it. Don't get your hopes up, I'm just trying my best."

When Systems Director Zhang heard that Lu Zhou planned on using a new material, he was both moved and worried.

He was thankful for Lu Zhou's generosity. As for why he was worried…

Of course he was worried.

Lu Zhou was taking materials out of the laboratory and directly applying it to an aerospace module. Anyone else would also be worried.

Systems Director Zhang stared at Lu Zhou with a painful look on his face.

"… Is this material reliable?"

Yang Xu, who was also sitting in the backseat, said, "Just don't ask any questions. We don't know if it's reliable or not yet."

Seeing how Lu Zhou had no intention of telling him anything, Systems Director Zhang decided to shut his mouth.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and perfected his plan in his mind.

In fact, the plan he came up with wasn't complicated. However, the preparation of the materials would take some time.

After Lu Zhou arrived at the hotel, he went straight to his hotel room. He called the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and asked Brother Qian to prepare the materials that he needed.

Fortunately, the Institute of Computational Materials solved the preparation problem for the N-1 material!

In addition to having good mechanical properties such as high tensile and compressive strength, the N-1 carbon nanotube material also showed potential for thermal conductivity.

Lu Zhou used the Debris No.3 as a reference.

When he first dismantled the thruster, layers of damaged graphite were smeared on the messy pipes inside.

Some of the graphite came from the carbon-based computer chips. Lu Zhou was certain of this.

As for the other graphite, he thought that it was probably a layer of thermal coating.

The thermal conductivity of N-1 was tested to be as high as 200W/mK! It was an entire magnitude higher than that of copper and aluminum alloys!

If they used this material to connect the loop heat pipe to various overheating components, there was a chance it could solve the insufficient thermal conductivity problem.

Of course, they had to make some modifications.

For example, using the N-1 carbon nanotubes by itself wasn't possible. They had to perfectly combine the N-1 material and aluminum-copper alloy. They needed to plate a layer of copper on the outside of the N-1 material.

The process was actually very simple. They had to use chemical plating, which was commonly used for carbon based powders.

The surface of the plate had to first be sensitized with stannous chloride, then activated with palladium chloride, and finally, it had to be chemically plated with a soluble copper salt by using formaldehyde as a reducing agent. There were many research articles that laid out this method.

Those at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation were ecstatic.

They thought, Chief Designer Professor Lu came all the way to Tianjin to save the core module!

There is still hope!

After the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation heard about Lu Zhou's potential solution, they started to treat Lu Zhou and Yang Xu like gods.

Yang Xu was a little embarrassed at how nice they were treating him, and during dinner, he pulled Lu Zhou aside and talked to him privately.

"That method you talked about… Will it work?"

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and nodded.

"Probably."

Yang Xu: "Probably?"

Lu Zhou glanced at him.

"No sh*t, I haven't tried it before, how would I know?"

Yang Xu couldn't help but say, "This is the space station…"

Lu Zhou: "I know."

Yang Xu: "It costs at least a couple hundred million yuan, right?"

Lu Zhou: "Try adding a zero."

"What if we screw up?"

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu in the eyes.

"We won't."

Seeing how Lu Zhou was determined, Yang Xu knew he couldn't persuade Lu Zhou otherwise. He shook his head and decided to continue eating dinner.

He thought about it again, and when he remembered Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, he suddenly realized that his worries might have been unnecessary.

After dinner, Lu Zhou wanted to take a walk outside.

However, the people from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation came to the hotel.

Academician Yuan and Vice President Zheng were there. Lu Zhou met them before in Beijing.

Lu Zhou waved and was about to talk to them, but Academician Yuan spoke first.

"You really found a way?!"

Lu Zhou was stunned by the old man's excitement. He paused for a second and said, "I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I can do my best."

When Zheng Xiangdong heard that Lu Zhou wasn't totally certain, he immediately became nervous. He said, "Don't mess around! We can still fix this thing. What if the module becomes beyond repair? Who's going to bear this responsibility?"

Lu Zhou smiled at Vice President Zheng's aggressive tone. He then joked, "I don't know, who do you think is appropriate?"

Zheng Xiangdong was about to say something, but he swallowed his words. He then said, "Um, the blame won't be on you. Our company will find the person responsible for this."

He suddenly remembered that Lu Zhou wasn't some chief consultant anymore; he was the chief engineer of the Lunar Orbit Committee!

That title came with a certain amount of power.

If anything, he was the one responsible…

Suddenly, he began to sweat.

Lu Zhou knew what Vice President Zheng was thinking, and he smiled as he replied, "The launch plan was approved a month ago. I don't want to postpone. My solution might seem hasty, but it's the only solution that can solve Moon Palace's cooling problem.

"If you really think I'm going to screw this thing up, I promise to pay back any damages."

Chapter 754: Cold welding

Academician Yuan immediately responded.

"Professor Lu, you have mistaken! The Moon Palace problem is our mistake, you came all the way here to help us, we are very grateful."

The old man stared at Zheng Xiangdong and hissed, "Shut up!"

Technically, chief engineer Yuan was below the "vice president".

However, Academician Yuan was a legendary figure in the aerospace industry. Even the president had a certain amount of respect for him, much less the newly promoted vice president.

Zheng Xiangdong's face turned bright red. He knew he had misspoken, so he lowered his head and smiled at Lu Zhou.

"Don't worry about the costs, I was afraid this would impact the country's aerospace industry. I hope Professor Lu can forgive me."

Lu Zhou smiled and didn't respond.

Even though he said he would pay back any damages, he was only kidding.

There was no way he would have to pay for anything.

Even if he did, there was no way Zheng Xiangdong would accept his money.

As for why?

Because all of the funding came from the state.

There was no reason for them to accept Lu Zhou's money.

Lu Zhou ignored Zheng Xiangdong. He looked at Academician Yuan and said, "If everything goes well, I can give you a conclusion in three days."

Academician Yuan paused for a second before saying solemnly, "Only three days? Is that enough time?"

Lu Zhou nodded his head.

"Three days is enough."

The required materials could be prepared by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study in two days. The extra day was reserved for sending the materials from Jinling to Tianjin.

This was Lu Zhou's only idea. If this method didn't work, he could only wait for them to redesign the core module…

After Lu Zhou returned to his hotel room, he lay in bed and took out his phone. He opened his contacts list and called a phone number.

"Hello? Is this Academician Yang Zhongquan's office? Yes, it's Lu Zhou… Can you please ask Chief Engineer Yang if there are any cold welding experts at Shenyang Machine Tool?

"Oh? I have to make an appointment? Well, tell him that it's about time for him to return the favor!"

…

Three days quickly went by.

A dozen or so individuals stood next to the core module, inside the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation warehouse.

An engineer was wandering around the warehouse. He was curious to see how Professor Lu would solve this problem.

Out of curiosity, Zhao Xianpu asked Sun Yuanpei, "What do you think Professor Lu is going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Didn't you give him a tour last time?"

Sun Yuanpei: "I only gave him a tour, he didn't tell me what he is going to do."

"Then do you think he can solve it?"

Sun Yuanpei shook his head.

"Impossible, no one can solve it."

"No one?"

"Yeah, if Tesla were alive, he'd call this madness."

Zhao Xianpu paused for a second.

"What does this have to do with Tesla?"

Sun Yuanpei sighed and said, "Nothing, but he's the godfather of engineering, right?"

Zhao Xianpu: "…"

Inside the core module.

With so many people watching, Academician Yang Zhongquan was nervous. He glanced at Lu Zhou anxiously.

"I've never dealt with aerospace equipment before, so I can't guarantee anything."

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, "Couldn't you have found a more experienced person then?"

The f*ck?

Yang Zhongquan nearly swore in Lu Zhou's face. With his eyes wide open, he said, "Oh, really now? Go and find someone in Shenyang Machine Tool that's more experienced than me. If you can, I'll eat an entire toolbox."

F*ck sake!

I came all the way here to help you fix this crap, yet you're complaining.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Forget about it, you still haven't eaten that machine tool yet…"

When Yang Zhongquan heard about the machine tool, he immediately calmed down and started to work.

"Where am I soldering? Hurry up, don't waste my time."

Lu Zhou smirked and unrolled the core module loop heat pipe blueprint. He then pointed to the red circles on the blueprint.

These were all locations where overheating were detected, mainly surrounding the central computer.

"Here, here, and here… All of these spots. I've already prepared the materials, so you just have to find a way to weld them."

Yang Zhongquan stared at the blueprint for a while. He frowned and rubbed his chin.

"Welding directly on the capillary structure? Carbon nanotubes powder? This is a bit interesting… If something goes wrong, how are we going to fix this?"

"Don't worry, nothing is going to go wrong. As long as you don't weld the capillaries together," Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Just pretend this is a water pipe, weld a layer of this powder between the capillary structure and the overheating components."

Yuan Huanmin: "…"

Zheng Xiangdong: "…"

Systems Director Zhang: "…"

Engineers: "…"

"Okay then, I'll try." Yang Zhongquan scratched his head and said, "If something goes wrong, don't blame me."

"Don't worry, just do what I say."

With the cold welding tool in his hand, Chief Engineer Yang began to drill into the core module.

Academician Yuan was expressionless, while Systems Director Zhang looked at his watch from time to time. Vice President Zheng was nervous. Unfortunately, he couldn't see what was happening inside.

The engineers extended their necks and tried to see what the man from Shenyang Machine Tool was doing.

As for Lu Zhou, his face was calm, but his palms were sweating.

Yang Xu wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say, so he shut his mouth and quietly waited.

Time quickly passed by, and soon, an hour had gone by.

Lu Zhou was about to fall asleep, but Chief Engineer Yang finally crawled out of the core module.

Lu Zhou wanted to ask how the welding was going. But before he could speak, Vice President Zheng Xiangdong spoke first.

"Everything is solved?"

Chief Engineer Yang smiled and said, "I don't know if it's solved, you'll have to ask Professor Lu for that. I just did what he told me to do."

"Thank you so much, Chief Engineer Yang!" Academician Yuan Huanmin looked at his assistant and said, "Prepare the vacuum chamber for experimentation!"

There was nothing left to discuss. All they had to do now was to test the damn thing.

"Yes, sir!"

The assistant nodded and ran off.

Chief Engineer Yang placed his cold welding tool back into the toolbox. He then nodded toward Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou nodded back to him, as a show of thanks.

He did everything he could.

Now, he just had to wait for the results!

Chapter 755: Professor Lu Is Nuts!

The experiment soon began.

With help from the logistics vehicle, the core module was quickly sent to the vacuum chamber.

Academician Yuan Huanmin walked to the control console and nodded toward the engineer next to him, signaling the engineer to turn on the suction valve.

The air in the vacuum chamber was gradually being sucked out. The mechanical cantilever above the vacuum chamber slowly moved. With the four cables attached to the core module, the cantilever slowly lifted the entire module.

After the core module was stably lifted in the air, the engineer standing in front of the console looked at Academician Yuan and said, "Ready to begin the experiment!"

Academician Yuan nodded and ordered, "Begin the experiment!"

"Yes, sir!"

The antenna on the core module unfolded.

Various lights on the console began to light up.

"Core module central computer is turned on!"

"All chipsets are performing normally!"

"Looking at battery condition!"

"Battery is operating normally!"

"…"

Lu Zhou and the other engineers from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. They quietly waited for the experiment to finish.

Yang Xu, who was standing next to them, glanced at Lu Zhou's face. He gulped and couldn't help but admire Lu Zhou.

Jesus Christ, this is a hundred million yuan project. If this doesn't go well, Lu Zhou is screwed.

I bet Professor Lu is the only person in the world that would be calm in a situation like this…

However, Yang Xu didn't know that Lu Zhou was actually staring at the temperature-time graph on the console. Lu Zhou was secretly sweating bullets, but he remained calm on the outside.

However, this wasn't Lu Zhou's first time on the block.

This was nothing compared to the controllable fusion experiment. Hence, he was able to remain calm on the outside.

However, the senior executives from China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, especially Zheng Xiangdong, were sh*tting bricks. After all, they were supposed to be the people in charge of the Moon Palace program.

Back then, they were ecstatic to have this power, but they didn't expect the project to turn on them. Zheng Xiangdong hadn't had a good night's sleep for nearly a week.

After staring at the temperature-time graph for a while, he finally whispered to Academician Yuan.

"Why do I feel like the curve is more volatile than before?"

What the f*ck is happening, why do I feel like this is worse than before?!

However, Academician Yuan Huanmin's facial expression didn't change. He simply explained, "This is normal, the material temperature environment is different."

"Temperature environment?"

Academician Yuan, who was still staring at the screen, nodded and explained impatiently, "Yeah, last time the core module was cooled, this time it was placed into the vacuum chamber at room temperature. The starting temperature is already 20 degrees, of course the temperature is going to be different."

Zheng Xiangdong said, "Then why didn't we cool it this time?"

Academician Yuan was annoyed by the questions.

"Why do you have so many questions? What are you, nine years old?"

Zheng Xiangdong finally realized the old man was annoyed, and he replied awkwardly, "Never mind then."

Systems Director Zhang stood next to them, gloating.

He never liked Vice President Zheng, so he was happy to see the old man chew him out.

But then again, anyone that asked questions during an experiment was quite annoying.

Time quickly passed by, and the experiment had already gone on for almost 20 minutes.

Lu Zhou stared at the temperature-time graph and suddenly tilted his head. He spoke to Yang Xu.

"13 Celsius."

Yang Xu paused for a second.

"What?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Let's make a bet. When the timer reaches 30 minutes, the temperature will be exactly 13.5 Celsius, plus or minus 0.5 Celsius. When the timer reaches 60 minutes, the temperature will be 14.7 Celsius, plus or minus 1 Celsius."

Yang Xu stared at the volatile curve and frowned.

F*ck sake…

What is this?

The stock market?

As the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, he was quite mathematically talented. He was a big name in the materials science field. However, he had no idea where the graph was trending toward, much less making a prediction.

He couldn't believe that Lu Zhou could predict the temperature!

Therefore, he replied without hesitation, "No bets! Gambling is illegal!"

Lu Zhou replied, "Let's just bet on a bowl of rice and barbecued meat."

Yang Xu: "… No need to bet, I'll buy you the rice bowl."

It was just one rice bowl anyway. He didn't want to bet at all.

"Boring."

Seeing how uncertain Yang Xu was, Lu Zhou shook his head and sighed.

It was obvious that the experiment was successful, so there was no reason to continue.

Even if the entire core module worked at a 100% load for 30 days, the temperature would still stay under 21 Celsius.

They couldn't take into account external factors such as radiation and sunlight. However, according to experimental data, it should be OK.

Lu Zhou was about to leave when Academician Yang Zhongquan raised his eyebrows and said, "You're not going to wait for the experiment to finish? If this thing burns to a crisp, you still have to pay."

Lu Zhou didn't look back. He shook his head and replied, "There's no reason to stay since I already know what the result will be."

After that, he walked out of the laboratory door.

As the researcher standing next to the door watched Lu Zhou leave, he was muddled. Academician Yuan, on the other hand, was too focused on the screen, and he didn't even notice that Lu Zhou left…

Yang Xu contemplated for a second and decided not to leave with Lu Zhou.

He didn't believe that Lu Zhou's mathematical abilities allowed him to predict the future value of a volatile curve. He wanted to stay behind and see how far off Lu Zhou would be.

He quietly waited for 10 minutes. When the curve went up and down, Yang Xu felt like his heartbeat almost synchronized with the curve.

The moment the experiment reached 30 minutes, someone spoke excitedly.

"Temperature is at 286.69 Kelvin! The temperature-time curve is stable!"

286.69K!

Yang Xu's eyes were wide open.

That's 13.54 Celsius!

F*ck!

Nearly on the dot!

Jesus… Is he even human?

The data could be clearly seen on the big console screen.

The crowd looked at the data presented on the temperature-time function curve, and everyone's eyes were wide open. The engineers from the lunar space station project burst into cheers and began to hug each other.

Sun Yuanpei stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked at the core module suspended in the vacuum chamber. His lips were trembling, and tears were rolling down his face.

We did it!

We actually did it!

This is like a dream…

Zhao Xianpu grabbed his arm and shook it excitedly.

"There is still hope for the Moon Palace! Professor Lu is nuts! He actually did it!"

The overly-excited engineer even began to stutter.

Sun Yuanpei, whose arm was still being shaken, nodded and began to choke up.

"Y-Yeah… Professor Lu is nutty!"

Oh my God!

Even though Zheng Xiangdong didn't know what the curve on the screen meant, he could tell from the laboratory's atmosphere that this was good news. He quickly pulled Academician Yuan aside and asked him, "What's happening? Is it fixed? Is the problem fixed?"

This time, Academician Yuan wasn't annoyed.

While staring at the screen, the old man spoke in disbelief.

"It's going very well…"

It wasn't just going very well.

It was going unbelievably well!

He turned around and tried to look for Lu Zhou.

There was only one thing he wanted to know. Which was how exactly did Lu Zhou improve the cooling system by an order of magnitude without changing the loop heat pipe design…

However, when he tried to look for Lu Zhou, he realized that…

Where is he?

Where did he go?

Chapter 756: Thermal Material

Yang Xu watched the excited engineers hugging each other. He looked at the volatile temperature-time curve, slowly opened his mouth, then slowly closed his mouth.

Is this the power of a Fields Medalist?

No wonder the Nobel Prize Committee admires his abilities…

No wonder the entire computational materials field is going crazy because of his theory…

Once upon a time, Yang Xu believed that he was close to winning a Nobel Prize. After all, he did win the "citation prize" from the lithium-sulfur battery cathode material and SG-1 superconducting material.

The reason why the Nobel Prize Committee didn't consider him was because of his collaborator's name. One day, he was going to win the Nobel Prize by doing his own research!

But now, he felt weak.

He stared at his own reflection on the floor-to-ceiling windows and shook his head.

Nobel Prize winners are monsters…

As expected, I'm far from winning a prize…

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted.

Academician Yuan walked through the crowd and grabbed his shoulder, and the academician asked anxiously, "Where is Professor Lu?"

Yang Xu looked at the anxious academician. He paused for a second before replying, "Professor Lu… left already."

Systems Director Zhang, who stood behind Academician Yuan, quickly asked, "Where did he go?"

"Of course he went back to the hotel…"

Where else is he going to go, back to Jinling?

Yang Xu looked at the two men with a strange expression. He didn't know why they seemed to be worried.

Academician Yuan looked at his assistant behind him and said, "Prepare the car, we're going to the hotel."

Systems Director Zhang quickly asked, "What about the experiment?"

Academician Yuan groaned and replied, "Let it continue for 24 hours."

Even though he knew the experiment was a success, they might as well complete the experiment properly.

Academician Yuan didn't stay for any longer. With Vice President Zheng following him, he walked out of the warehouse.

…

Mathematics is the language of the gods.

Mathematics is a riddle from the gods, waiting to be solved by humans.

Numbers provide more intuition than witnessing with one's eyes.

As for the seemingly irregular temperature-time function…

It might seem chaotic in the eyes of others, but for Lu Zhou, this wasn't even a challenge.

After Lu Zhou left the aerospace warehouse, he sat in Wang Peng's car and went back to his hotel.

Wang Peng noticed Lu Zhou's smile from the rearview mirror, and he asked jokingly, "Did something good happen?"

"I guess so." Lu Zhou sighed and said, "After solving this problem, Moon Palace is finally on track again."

Wang Peng didn't ask how Lu Zhou solved the problem; after all, he wouldn't understand Lu Zhou's explanation anyway.

He stared out the window and asked, "Where is Professor Yang?"

Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, "You don't have to wait for him. He doesn't believe me, so he's still waiting for the results. The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation will give him a ride back to the hotel."

Wang Peng: "You made a bet with him again?"

Lu Zhou was surprised.

"How did you know?"

"Of course I know!"

Wang Peng smiled and shook his head. He then started the car and began to drive toward the hotel…

…

After Lu Zhou got back to the hotel, he returned to his room to pack his luggage. He called his assistant Zhao Huan and asked her to book two high-speed rail tickets for him and Yang Xu.

After hanging up the phone, it was almost dinner time, so he went down to the hotel buffet on the first floor.

The elevator doors opened. Lu Zhou was about to step foot into the first-floor lobby when he heard footsteps.

Lu Zhou looked around and saw Academician Yuan walking in with a bunch of people.

Yang Xu was there as well, as well as Academician Yang Zhongquan from Shenyang Machine Tool, and even Vice President Zheng was there as well.

The only person that wasn't there was Systems Director Zhang. Lu Zhou guessed he was probably still in the laboratory.

Lu Zhou smiled at everyone and was about to greet Academician Yuan. However, before he could speak, Academician Yuan walked up to him and asked, "What exactly did you do?"

Lu Zhou: "First tell me if it worked or not."

"It worked!" Academician Yuan nodded and said, "It worked very well!"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Actually, it's nothing special. We increased the loop heat pipe and capillary structure affinity by using N-1 carbon nanotubes. Then we cold-welded the loop heat pipes to various overheating components, and the problem was solved…"

Simply put, it was almost like they applied a layer of "thermal paste" on top of various components. This improved the heat exchange rate between the components and the loop heat pipe.

Of course, this was just a simplified explanation. After all, the heat dissipation of aerospace components was very different from traditional electronics.

Academician Yuan wanted to ask something, but Yang Zhongquan spoke first.

"This N-1 material is quite interesting… It's copper-coated carbon nanotubes?"

Lu Zhou: "Basically."

"What's the thermal conductivity?"

"Around 2,000W/mK."

In fact, this number could be increased. However, with their current laboratory preparation method, the length of the carbon nanotubes produced was unstable and difficult to control.

Even then, a 2,000W/mK thermal conductivity rating was scary high.

After Yang Zhongquan heard this number, he took a deep breath and spoke in disbelief.

"That's one hell of a material, 2,000W/mK… That's several times that of pure copper!"

Silver had the best thermal conductivity among the common metals, but it was expensive to use. Copper had the second-highest thermal conductivity, but it was too heavy. Therefore aerospace loop heat pipes were often made of an aluminum-copper alloy.

Back then, 10-20mm graphite film was considered to have high thermal conductivity, and that thermal conductivity was only around 1,400w/mK. Phone manufacturers went crazy over graphite film for its superior thermal conductivity properties.

A 2,000W/mK thermal conductive powder…

That was almost at the level of diamonds!

Even the industrial manufacturers were j*zzing over graphite film's thermal conductivity…

Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about the heat-conducting materials industry. After hearing Yang Zhongquan, he smiled and replied, "It's not too bad, right? It does the job."

Yang Zhongquan awkwardly stared at Lu Zhou and hesitated for a while. He scratched his head and made up his mind.

"Oh yeah, about the N-1 carbon nanotubes… What's the price? Is it expensive?"

Lu Zhou was surprised.

"You're interested?"

Yang Zhongquan couldn't help but say, "No sh*t, do you know what this means for the thermal conduction industry?! Just take linear encoders on our high-end machine tools as an example; the thermal expansion directly affects the accuracy alignment! That error is reflected in the final product!"

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know a lot about manufacturing accuracies, from the way Yang Zhongquan was talking, he could tell that the heat dissipation properties of the N-1 material could mean a lot for the industry.

This was quite random.

He originally thought that the N-1 material would be a high-tensile strength plastic material. He didn't expect the short carbon nanotubes to have such amazing heat dissipation properties.

After quietly waiting for the old gentlemen to finish speaking, Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.

"I don't know the price yet, the material is still in its research stage. If it weren't for the core module, I didn't even plan on using it. Once we find a way to produce it on a large scale… we can discuss the price then."

Yang Zhongquan smiled and said, "Done! I'll wait for your good news then!"

Yang Zhongquan came to the hotel to give his thanks. He didn't expect to receive even more good news.

Coming all the way from Shenyang was worth every penny!

Vice President Zheng saw that Yang Zhongquan finally finished speaking, so he quickly said, "Professor Lu! There's something else I want to ask you. You welded all of the components in the core module, what happens if we need to dismantle it in the future?"

Lu Zhou smiled and replied jokingly, "You plan on dismantling it?"

Zheng Xiangdong was stunned. He didn't realize what Lu Zhou meant.

After he saw Academician Yuan staring at him, he awkwardly smiled and shut his mouth.

The core module would be in space, and no one was going to disassemble it anytime soon…

Chapter 757: Domestic Expor

Shanghai.

Deep Space's office building in the high-tech zone.

Xu Gui returned to his office from a board meeting. He threw his meeting notes on his table and sat on his office chair. He frowned and sighed heavily.

Since 2020, China had included aerospace as one of its main national focuses. A large number of private aerospace companies had had significant growth because of this.

Deep Space was at the right place at the right time.

Generally speaking, an industrial company needed more than just capital and policy support; it also needed time to grow its technology.

However, this company was special.

In one year, with just one billion yuan in capital, the company went from a raw materials supplier to a "high tech enterprise", mainly engaging in "aerospace launches".

Because of the successful Chinese moon landing project, Xu Gui was able to cooperate with Haifeng Capital Ventures and successfully take Deep Space to the public.

However, the good times didn't last long. The delay of the Tiangong program and the rise of the Moon Palace program lowered the demand for low-Earth orbit launches. This had a huge impact on the profits of Deep Space.

After all, Star Sky Technology was the only company that was capable of Earth-Moon transfers. That meant they couldn't receive any of the billions of yuan that was going to be spent on launches.

This was all because of Professor Lu…

Xu Gui stared at his meeting notes on the table and took out a cigarette from his pocket. He was about to light his cigarette when suddenly the office door was pushed open. A man wearing a suit walked in.

Chairman Xu Gui spoke in a commanding tone.

"I've told you before, knock before you enter my office."

"Is now the time to talk about that? Not to mention, I'm not your subordinate." The man placed a document on the table and said, "The board is not happy, that's all I have to say."

As Deep Space's partner, Haifeng Capital Ventures had a huge role in Deep Space's success.

One could even make the case that all of Deep Space's success came from Haifeng Capital.

Because of this, Xu Gui had no power over this man.

However, he wasn't scared of him either…

After all…

Xu Gui smirked and slowly said, "Forget about those useless things. I know the board isn't happy. We're walking on a tightrope here."

He Yan smiled and replied, "You're right, I wasn't trying to offend you. I just want you to know that because the Tiangong plan was replaced by the Moon Palace plan, our stock dropped by 15 basis points in a week. Even though I trust you, if this trend continues, other investors might not."

He Yan was actually underplaying the situation. If the stock price continued to fall, the small shareholders wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. It would be a bloodbath.

With the current financial state of Deep Space, any withdrawal or liquidation of assets would be a devastating blow.

Even though He Yan was smiling on the outside, he was bleeding on the inside.

His investment in Deep Space was one of his biggest career victories. He was the one that secured series funding for Deep Space and eventually taking it public. Haifeng Capital Ventures' initial 20 million yuan investment turned into 1 billion yuan.

However, unforeseen events happened. He counted on China's future investment in aerospace, but he didn't expect Professor Lu to disrupt the industry by sending a man on the moon.

He never expected that, in support of Professor Lu, the Communist Party of China even established a Lunar Orbit Committee!

Even though Haifeng Capital Ventures had some connections in politics, their influence wasn't comparable to the Lunar Orbit Committee at all…

Xu Gui stared at He Yan and didn't say anything.

After being in the industry for so many years, his intuition told him that the man standing in front of him didn't come here without a reason. So far so that Xu Gui believed He Yan already had a solution.

He Yan smirked.

"Insider information."

"Insider information again?" Xu Gui snorted and leaned back in his office chair. He said, "What's the news? Is the Lunar Orbit Committee going to be dissolved?"

The last thing he wanted was more news.

Ever since the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee, his company had had nothing but bad news.

He Yan shook his head and said, "Not yet, but close."

Xu Gui raised his eyebrows, and he said, "Oh really?"

He Yan slowly said, "According to a trusty source, there was a major failure in the core module of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation."

Xu Gui's eyes suddenly lit up, and he bounced up from his chair.

"Are you sure? Is the problem serious?"

"Very serious, the problem is with the cooling system. I think the loop heat pipe is broken or something… I don't know the specifics, but apparently, the higher-ups are planning on delaying the launch."

Xu Gui slapped his thigh.

"Fantastic!"

Even though he shouldn't gloat this much…

But the entire company's future was on his shoulders. This was music to his ears. He wanted the higher-ups to realize the impracticality of Professor Lu's moon space station. Only then would they adjust their aerospace policies and plans…

Maybe Professor Lu would be removed as chief designer, or the annoying Lunar Orbit Committee would be dissolved, and a new committee would be formed…

He Yan looked at Xu Gui's excited face and said, "Don't get excited just yet, this is just a small mistake. At most, a few higher-ups from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation will have to write a report. It won't reach Lu Zhou's level."

Xu Gui calmed down and looked at He Yan.

"So what you're saying is?"

"Spread the news."

Xu Gui looked surprised.

"Are you crazy?! Won't we get caught?"

"Don't worry, I'm not that dumb," He Yan said. "The news obviously won't come out of China. We can let the American media leak the news first, then wait for the news to travel across the ocean."

Xu Gui's eyes were lighting up, but he still had some doubts.

"Are you sure… about this?"

Hopefully, no one will find out we're the ones behind this.

But if someone finds out…

The stock price dropping won't be the only thing awaiting me.

He Yan saw that Xu Gui was a little hesitant, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, remember that 'We are losing this race' article?"

"Kind of…" Xu Gui suddenly looked at He Yan and said, "You're the person behind that article?"

"Manipulating public opinion is a valid strategy. Professor Lu benefits our country as a whole, but that doesn't mean he benefits us." He Yan lightly smiled and said, "Even though the public opinion isn't impactful, when combined with other strategies, it can work wonderfully!"

Chapter 758: Another Big Piece of News?

New York.

The New York Times building.

Thanks to the successful life support system launch, NASA had been in all of the major media's headlines. This made people feel like they were in the space race again, nothing in the world could defeat the stripes and stars.

Because of the heightened public interest, any news regarding the Ares program was highly sought after.

Media outlets didn't have to provide any new information. They just had to process and fabricate some already-existing knowledge. Combine that with a click-baiting headline made the newspaper sales go through the roof.

Duke looked at the rising KPI[1] number and couldn't help but feel delighted.

Maybe he would get a promotion in two months.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open. Journalist Camille walked in with her heels loudly clacking upon hitting the floor.

Duke, who was on cloud nine, didn't blame Camille for not knocking. He played with the pen in his hand and happily spoke to Camille.

"What's up? Is there another breaking story?"

Camille spoke hastily.

"Breaking story, from across the Pacific Ocean."

Duke smiled and said, "Fantastic, give it to me."

"I think it's better if you take a look at it yourself." Camille placed the report on Duke's desk and said proudly, "You're in for a surprise."

Duke raised his eyebrows and sat up straight. He curiously picked up the report.

As soon as he read the title, his eyes were glued to the report.

Duke quickly finished reading the report. His fingers rubbed against the paper, and a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

"Jesus Christ!"

This is unbelievable!

Duke slammed the report on the table and stood up. He then stared at Camille and said, "Severe design flaws in the Moon Palace program and the Chinese discovered the loop heat pipe dissipation system was substandard… The Chinese Moon Palace program will be severely affected by it… Is this true?"

Camille chuckled and replied, "Remember that Chinese informant I told you about? And the news about China's plan to build a space station in lunar orbit."

There was a hint of excitement in Duke's voice.

"They're from the same source?"

Camille didn't say anything. She just nodded her head.

Upon seeing the confirmation, Duke's face lit up.

Last time, The New York Times wrote an article on China's lunar space station plan before the Chinese media outlets. The reason why was because of Camille's informant.

Duke still remembered how The New York Times article was trending on Twitter, and he also remembered his boss praising him at the company meeting.

Back then, they claimed China was being "overly ambitious". Now was the perfect time for them to comment on the failure of the Moon Palace, thus creating a full-circle story.

God bless America!

God bless The New York Times!

He was confident that The New York Times sales would grow to a whole new level because of this.

Duke excitedly rubbed his hands and looked at the document on his table.

"Looks like your friend in China is quite high up."

Camille raised her eyebrows arrogantly.

"Indeed, but that doesn't matter; what matters is that we have common interests."

Duke knew there was no free meal in this world. If they wanted to cooperate with this informant, they had to meet their demands.

As a person who had worked with informants in the White House, he was well aware of this. Therefore, he didn't hesitate before asking.

"What do they want?"

Camille said, "They want us to make this story as big as possible."

Duke smiled and said, "Piece of cake! I'll satisfy their requests… I would have done so regardless!"

The failure of China's Moon Palace program will pair nicely with the Ares program's success!

There is no way this story isn't going to make the headlines!

Even though Duke was happy to make this story a headline, Camille was a little dissatisfied.

"He's my informant."

Duke smiled nonchalantly and said, "Yeah yeah, your informant, it's your story… Then, how should I award you? A raise?"

"Own office, and an assistant. It's what I deserve."

It was every reporter's dream to have one's own office and not have to work in a cubicle.

Not only did it help prevent colleagues from spying on their story, but it was also a symbol of status.

Even though Camille wasn't a rookie reporter, there was plenty of competition in a worldwide media outlet such as The New York Times.

After hearing Camille's request, Duke frowned. However, he quickly cheered up.

"Easy, I'll tell my boss that you deserve an assistant and an office."

Sniffing out stories was a crucial part of a reporter's skillset.

Duke was happy to oblige with Camille.

A journalist with special information sources was valuable.

Camille smirked.

"Then I guess I'll thank you in advance."

Duke replied, "No worries, are you free tonight? I know a good restaurant."

"Unfortunately, I have other plans tonight."

Camille turned around and walked away, leaving behind a scent of perfume.

Duke looked at Camille walking away and pouted. He then reached for the phone on his desk.

"Anderson, come to the office."

Anderson's voice traveled through the phone.

"Boss, I'm on break."

"Your break is over. I'll give you time off in two weeks. I want to see a press release regarding the major design flaw in the Moon Palace core module. Other newspapers might know about this story already, so we have to make headlines by tomorrow!"

Violent sounds were heard through the phone, like something was slammed on the ground.

Anderson's excited voice was heard.

"Wait, what? China plans on postponing the lunar space station? Until when? Is this reliable? I'm coming to the office right now!"

Duke didn't want to repeat what Camille said. He sent Camille's document to Anderson's email and replied, "I've sent the relevant documents to your email, so go read it."

Duke hung up the phone and leaned back comfortably on his office chair.

Everything is going so smoothly.

He was almost tempted to open his refrigerator and pop open that bottle of champagne…

To be honest, he couldn't wait to drink that champagne…

[1] key performance indicator

Chapter 759: Bullet in the Chamber!

Regardless of who the informant was, The New York Times hit it big this time.

The next day, on the latest issue of The New York Times newspaper, was a large red-colored headline. It reported the latest progress of the Chinese lunar program—a major design flaw in the Moon Palace core module cooling system and that the construction of the lunar space station was going to be delayed!

Apparently, the reason for this error was because China had insufficient experience in the space station field. Also, it was because the Lunar Orbit Committee was careless.

The latter was probably the main reason.

The news immediately went on trending in America.

NASA confirmed the speculation on its official Twitter account. They said that they had heard similar stories, but they couldn’t confirm just yet.

Compared to The New York Times, NASA was undoubtedly more credible. As soon as the tweet came out, American netizens began to discuss the matter intensely.

[Jesus… We were waiting for China to fight back, but they tripped on their shoelaces.]

[I told you, this isn’t a space race at all. Even though they have surpassed the Russians, they’re still half a century behind us. :D]

[Maybe we should donate to China’s space program? :p]

[We should! The competition is already about to end, this is too boring! xD]

[I’m looking forward to the end of the month! Space-X is not going to let us down!]

[…]

Interestingly enough, while most people were making fun of the Lunar Orbit Committee and the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, NASA didn’t ridicule the Chinese at all. They even expressed their apologies toward the Moon Palace program.

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation was a respectable opponent. Even though the White House and Congress were happy to hear this news, NASA didn’t want their respectable opponent to lose like this.

Not because they actually felt sorry, but mainly because China’s space program brought them huge amounts of funding and political support.

Therefore, they wanted the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation to survive.

At the very least, they wanted them to last a little longer…

While Congress and the White House were about to open bottles and celebrate, a small group of people already popped open those bottles and began celebrating.

For those in the low-Earth orbit launch industry, there was nothing that made them happier than hearing about the lunar space station’s troubles.

On the same day The New York Times article came out, the same story was published on Chinese media outlets.

An anonymous account named “We Are Losing The Space Race” began to post online.

This time, the author presented himself as a prophet… or even a “savior”.

[Unfortunately, reality has proven me right again. I didn’t expect this to come so suddenly and terribly.

[The design failure of the billion-dollar core module wasn’t an accident, it was inevitable from the beginning. I knew this was going to happen. If the problem wasn’t the loop heat pipe, it would have been the engine or the solar panel.

[Like I said, controllable fusion technology fueled the success of the Skyglow launch. However, there were dozens of problems that were hidden in Skyglow. Now, those problems are presented to us in daylight.

[The entire Chinese aerospace industry is like a clockwork that has been tightened. People are going after unobtainable vanity.

[From the moon landing project to the Lunar Orbit Committee, all of these projects and policies are driven by one lunatic. No one remembered to lubricate the machine, no one remembered to give it more time.

[Perhaps Professor Lu is an excellent mathematician, physicist, and chemist. His achievements in the field of controllable fusion will go down in history. But he is still a human, and humans make mistakes. History tells us blind worship doesn’t end well.

[Now that the Lunar Orbit Committee is established, Professor Lu has gotten what he wanted, the throne of the chief designer. His prestige in the academic world gained him a large number of blind supporters. However, Professor Lu isn’t always right.

[The failure of the Moon Palace core module should be a wake-up call.

[Wake up, scholars around the world!]

Less than a day after the blog was posted, the blog received tens of thousands of likes. It was reposted to other major social media platforms, spreading like the plague.

This anonymous netizen found an interesting niche. This netizen used the loop heat pipe problem to criticize the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, which was related to the Lunar Orbit Committee, which Lu Zhou was a part of.

If Lu Zhou wasn’t overly ambitious, if Lu Zhou wasn’t part of the Lunar Orbit Committee, if Lu Zhou didn’t arrange the launch mission…

All of this could have been avoided!

Even though some people were in support of Lu Zhou, the power of the Internet was too big.

Especially because most people weren’t good at critical thinking, they were too easily convinced.

After quietly waiting in this stormy weather for three days, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Space Administration, and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation finally spoke.

Their Weibo posts were the same.

The posts were short, but they contained a lot of information.

One sentence was posted on the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation’s official Weibo account.

[Launch plan is unaltered!]

Attached in the post was a photo of Skyglow, parked on the Jinling launch site. As well as the Moon Palace core module!

The bullet was in the chamber!

Their goal…

Was lunar orbit!

The Internet exploded.

Chapter 760: Let's Head In

Jinling.

Zhongshan International mansion.

Lu Zhou was sitting in his study room. He just got back to Jinling today. He received a call from the Lunar Orbit Committee chairman.

“What is happening at the Moon Palace? Is it serious?”

Lu Zhou was standing next to the window when he smiled and said, “It’s no problem at all, it’s already solved.”

The old man nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

“We can’t be careless. Slow and steady is the way to go. We should push back the schedule if we need to. We’ve been waiting for all this time, we can afford to wait another couple of years.”

Lu Zhou said, “Don’t worry, I got this covered.”

“Okay, that’s good,” the old man said, “I don’t know a lot about research, I can’t really help you. This chairman position I have is just a title. You’re responsible for the specifics.”

The call was almost over.

The old man made some small talk and asked questions such as “How have you been?”, “How’s research going?”, “Do you have a girlfriend”, etc. Other than that, they didn’t talk about anything important.

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and walked back to his desk.

He didn’t know who wrote that blog, and he didn’t know who was trying to create drama…

But it didn’t matter.

This didn’t affect Lu Zhou at all.

No one important was blaming Lu Zhou for anything…

Lu Zhou gently placed his phone on the desk and sighed. He suddenly shook his head.

“Why is this happening?”

A chat bubble popped out on the lower right corner of his computer.

Xiao Ai: [Master, why are you sad?]

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not, I just feel a little… tired.”

He never wanted to monopolize space.

For him, money was just a number.

As for political status…

He wasn’t interested in that either.

If he really were interested, he just had to open his mouth, and any political role would be his.

The reason why he asked Hou Guang to research a new transportation mode from Earth synchronous orbit to the Earth-Moon transfer orbit was to improve their lunar orbit transfer capacity and also to motivate Chinese companies to join in on the space race competition.

The United States had a large number of amazing aerospace companies. These private companies were the driving force behind technological innovation. This innovation ability, combined with America’s huge industrial capacity, was the reason behind America’s glorious aerospace industry.

Lu Zhou wanted China to have a large number of outstanding aerospace technology companies.

Lu Zhou didn’t want aerospace companies that relied on government subsidies and support. These weak companies gave up easily.

Of course, he knew this wasn’t easy.

Things like this needed time to mature…

Xiao Ai: [Master, don’t be sad. (; ′⌒`)]

Lu Zhou looked at the chat and smiled. He said, “Sad? I’m not sad, I’m not a clueless university student anymore. All I knew back then was mathematics.”

Honestly, he was nostalgic about the simpler times.

Back then, he didn’t have to think about anything other than mathematics.

Before this, he didn’t understand Grothendieck’s mentality, but now, he kind of understood.

[Okay then… Master, do you want me to sing to you? ♪ (^ ∇ ^ *)]

Lu Zhou: “… Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [What? 0w0]

Lu Zhou went silent for a while before saying, “If one day…”

He suddenly stopped.

Just now, he wanted to ask what Xiao Ai would do if he passed away. But he wasn’t sure if Xiao Ai knew what “passing away” meant, so he decided not to ask.

Talking about life and death seemed too complex for Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai: [Yeah? What’s the matter? (✿゚▽゚)]

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Nothing… I just think that it would be nice to retire and become a mathematics teacher.”

Xiao Ai: [… But Master, are you not one right now? 0.0]

Lu Zhou stared at the text and touched his nose awkwardly.

“Am I…?”

Last year, he gave a few lectures, but this year, he was too busy. He only met a few times with his master’s students and PhD students. Most of the guidance work was done by the workers at the Institute for Advanced Study.

However, Jin Ling University didn’t mention anything. They just kept sending him paychecks…

He felt guilty whenever he thought about this.

Lu Zhou’s phone on the desk began to ring.

Wang Peng was the one calling.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and spoke.

“Hey? How’s your holiday? Can you work tomorrow?”

When they were still in Tianjin, Wang Peng applied for a two-day vacation before returning to Jinling. He handed the security work to Yang Guangbiao and boarded a separate train.

Lu Zhou didn’t ask what Wang Peng was doing, but Wang Peng looked serious when he asked for the time off.

It definitely wasn’t just a holiday.

The other end of the phone went silent.

Wang Peng coughed and replied, “I want to extend my leave… I might return to Jinling in two days. Sorry, Yang Guangbiao will have to cover for me.”

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “Sure thing, hope everything is fine.”

“Yeah,” Wang Peng nodded and quickly said, “I’m on holiday… Everything is going great.”

“Sure sure, holiday.”

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and smiled. He then hung up the phone.

On the other hand, outside a building in the high-tech park in the city center of Shanghai, Wang Peng hung up the phone and looked at the screen with a strange expression.

A man in a black suit walked over.

“Target is in the building, the capture team is ready.”

Wang Peng nodded and put his phone in his pocket.

“Let’s head in.”

Chapter 761: Deserved

Lu Zhou always thought that he was an easy-going person.

He was able to joke about anything and would never take someone’s joke to heart.

Therefore, when he first read the blog that criticized him, he didn’t take it seriously.

So much so that he even agreed with part of the person’s viewpoint. Blind worship was a dangerous thing in academia. Everyone’s opinion should be given attention and taken seriously.

In fact, Lu Zhou knew he didn’t always make the right decision. Whether it was the controllable fusion energy project or Skyglow, the power of teamwork played a considerable role.

However…

That didn’t mean all opinions were useful.

Some opinions were made purely for criticism, some were made out of jealousy.

Because of this, he laughed at the Internet’s comments and didn’t take it seriously.

However, even though he didn’t care…

Some people did.

After all, his reputation was no longer his own matters.

…

Shanghai.

Haifeng Capital Ventures building.

Per usual, He Yan didn’t have any meetings to attend. He carried his briefcase through the cubicles and went straight to his office.

Just after he sat down on the cold office chair, he heard chaotic footsteps outside the door.

He Yan frowned and was about to stand up to see what was happening. However, the office door was slammed open.

A group of police officers walked in, led by several officers in plainclothes. They immediately filled up the small office room.

He Yan’s pupils dilated, and he subconsciously grabbed the armrest of his chair and stood up.

However, he quickly realized this was the 20th floor. There was no way for him to run, so he let go and sat back down again.

“I’m just an ordinary businessman, I haven’t done anything illegal. Why are you guys here?”

The slightly older officer in plainclothes smirked and said, “Haven’t done anything illegal? Mr. He, you are one forgetful man. Why would we come here if you didn’t do anything?”

He Yan felt the pairs of eyes staring through his heart, and a flash of panic swept his mind.

“… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His mental strength was quite good. Even though he knew he wasn’t going to escape, he still stuck to his story.

As long as he didn’t admit anything, there was still a chance for him to get out of this mess.

He could bribe his way out, or blame it on someone else.

After all, his boss in Beijing, the man that gave him orders, didn’t want to see him end up like this…

He Yan’s mind was racing. Wang Peng looked at He Yan pitifully, like He Yan was a man about to drown, who was hanging onto his life.

He Yan gulped and spoke.

“What… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He Yan!”

He Yan was frightened by Wang Peng shouting his name. It was like his throat was filled with cotton. He tried to argue, but nothing came out of his mouth.

“According to Article… of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, you are facing 12 charges, including espionage, defamation, disruption of the economic and financial market order, manipulation of the securities market, and insider trading. The charges were brought before the court, and an arrest warrant was issued by the court, thus permitting the national security agency…”

Wang Peng took out the relevant documents. He stared directly into He Yan’s eyes and said without emotion, “Here are my credentials, please cooperate with our investigation.”

“I don’t know…”

Seeing how He Yan was about to argue again, another office impatiently waved his hands.

“Shut up, take him away!”

Several law enforcement officers stepped forward. They held He Yan’s arms and dragged him from his chair.

When He Yan was being dragged out of his office, he was no longer calm. He began shouting with all his strength and screamed, “You have no right to arrest me! I am an American citizen! I demand extradition, I request for my lawyer! F*ck, don’t touch me!”

Seeing how distorted He Yan was, Wang Peng almost felt a little sympathetic.

As the mastermind of this whole incident, He Yan played a big role. However, he was just a front-line soldier.

He Yan was still hoping the back office in Beijing would protect him, but he didn’t know that his boss actually left him to die…

Of course, even though Wang Peng felt sympathetic, the court wasn’t going to drop the charges.

“We have contacted your lawyer for you. He will soon visit you at the detention center.” Wang Peng paused for a moment and said, “Your old friend Xu Gui is there as well. I’m sure you will meet him soon.”

At the same time, Shanghai International Airport.

Xu Gui was walking through airport security.

Xu Gui looked at the police officer walking in front of him, and he knew he had no hope of running away. He let go of his suitcase and smiled.

“Looks like I’m not getting on this flight.”

The old sheriff raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, so you know?”

Xu Gui smiled and said, “I have to pay the price at some point.”

The old sheriff stared at Xu Gui and said in a deep voice, “I don’t know what gave you the courage to do something like this!”

Leaking state secrets to foreign forces…

This was no different from treason.

Xu Gui stared at the pairs of eyes and suddenly smiled.

“Haha.”

Old sheriff: “What are you smiling at?”

“Do you really think I am the only one doing such things? I’m just the only one that got caught.” Xu Gui reached out his hands. His face was full of despair as he calmly said, “Come on, cuff me.”

The old sheriff stared at Xu Gui and went silent for a while.

He had been in the field for many years, so this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

However…

He didn’t have any sympathy for those that betrayed their own country.

He looked at a younger police officer and instructed, “Cuff him.”

Even though the suspect wasn’t resisting, they still had to put him in handcuffs.

The younger police officer nodded and walked toward Xu Gui.

“Okay.”

The same thing was happening in an apartment tens of kilometers away.

Another pale-skinned man had no strength to struggle at all. He was dragged out of his apartment by two policemen.

He was the smallest character in this whole incident, and he wasn’t worthy of the national security team. The police officers at the local police station were enough.

Compared to He Yan, the manager of Haifeng Capital, and Xu Gui, the chairman of Deep Space, his charges were relatively light. If Lu Zhou wanted to sue him for defamation, he might be set as an example and be locked up for two weeks.

The pale-skinned man’s face was full of regret, and with his neighbors watching him, he was placed into a police car.

People couldn’t believe that the “big man” blabbering his mouth on the Internet only had an undergraduate degree…

The Internet was a wonderful place, and anyone could pretend to be something different.

But then again, there were no places to hide on the Internet.

There was no anonymity there.

Chapter 762: Eye-Grabbing!

The launch plan was unaltered!

The Moon Palace would enter the lunar orbit at the end of the month!

After the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation sent out the Weibo post, intense discussion swept across the internet.

The Moon Palace is fine!

The design flaws are all rumors!

People who previously ridiculed on Twitter that China was overly ambitious didn’t have anything to say now.

It turned out that the whole thing was just a rumor.

There was no problem with the core module at all, and there was no change to the launch plan.

There were also people that ridiculed the Moon Palace cooling system on various talk shows, and they were now in an awkward spot.

Those talk show hosts had plans to continue talking about this story, but now it seemed like they had to change their script.

The New York Times was probably in the most awkward spot.

Even though there was little ethics in the media world, this incident still did considerable amounts of damage to the integrity of The New York Times.

After all, they were the first to release the story.

They even put this fake story on headlines.

The New York Times building.

Duke was just ridiculed by his boss. He walked back to his office, shattered.

Camille was sitting restlessly on the sofa as she looked around anxiously.

After some silence, Camille looked at Duke and spoke cautiously.

“We shouldn’t be so pessimistic… This smells a bit fishy, maybe they are just bluffing.”

The Weibo post from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation wasn’t necessarily true. It might have been the Chinese authorities behind the scene, trying to alter the public opinion. They might have instructed various research institutes to issue the same statement.

After all, similar things had happened before.

Camille had been a foreign reporter for more than a year, and she was well aware of China’s tactics…

Duke looked at Camille and spoke impatiently.

“It’s near the end of the month, what’s the point of bluffing?”

Camille didn’t know what to say.

He’s right, it’s nearly the end of the month.

Even if they are bluffing, there isn’t enough time for them to fix the problem.

Seeing how Camille didn’t have anything to say, Duke looked outside his window.

“… All we can do now is hope for the BFR rocket to successfully land the life support system. This will divert people’s attention and make them forget about this matter.”

Camille asked tentatively, “I think the story on the Moon Palace can be improved, what if—”

Before Camille could finish, Duke waved his hand and interrupted her.

“Forget about any new stories… We should focus on America for now.”

Camille gulped and nodded nervously.

“Okay.”

She didn’t dare to mention her new office or her assistant…

Seeing how distraught Duke was, she wisely chose to keep quiet.

She silently prayed in her heart.

God, please tell me the Chinese are bluffing…

If the Moon Palace launched successfully, it would be a disaster for The New York Times.

Not only would the readers be dissatisfied, but they would become a laughing stock in the media industry.

After all, they were the ones that placed a fake rumor as their headlines…

She took out her phone and checked her email.

She had been waiting for her informant from China to reply, but no emails were received.

It seemed like her informant was in trouble.

She felt like something bad was going to happen…

…

The intense public discussion didn’t stop immediately. But as the incident was denied by various departments, the topic was no longer trending.

Time quickly passed by, and it was soon the end of the month.

Both Star Sky Technology and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation didn’t break their promises.

Major media outlets such as Everyone Daily published photos of the Moon Palace being loaded into the aircraft.

After the photos were released, excited netizens swept the comments section.

[Jesus, who said that the Moon Palace isn’t going to fly?]

[Media outlets have no integrity, these keyboard warriors made me think the moon space station is a bust.]

[Professor Lu is nutty!]

[I bet someone in the future will say that even though the Moon Palace is in space, it’s still not an accomplishment.]

[Our journey is the sea of stars!]

[…]

The entire country was looking forward to this launch.

It was finally launch day.

Several media broadcast trucks drove to the launch site.

Those that didn’t obtain a media authorization drove to the outskirts of Jin Ling City, outside the security checkpoints. They planned on watching from a distance by using special pieces of camera equipment.

Just like this, with everyone watching, Skyglow spacecraft slowly departed from the runway, flying toward the blue sky, disappearing from people’s eyes.

Lu Zhou was standing in the command tower as he looked at Skyglow disappear from his view. He turned to Hou Guang and asked, “How long until the Earth-Moon transfer orbit system is online?”

Hou Guang paused for a second and spoke seriously.

“The technology is feasible… But even if we use a similar propulsion system as Skyglow, we would have to wait until next year.”

“Next year…” Lu Zhou looked at the busy ground crew on the runway and asked, “What about Starlight?”

Hou Guang: “We were going to test it at the end of the month, but because of the Moon Palace launch plan, it was postponed by a week.”

Lu Zhou: “So the next test flight is in a week?”

Hou Guang nodded and said, “Correct.”

Lu Zhou nodded and smirked.

If the Starlight test was successful, then the ion thruster propulsion system would rise to a whole new level.

Lu Zhou was relieved to see his own technology come to life.

His efforts were proven to be worthwhile.

Chapter 763: Moon Palace In Orbit!

NASA.

Satellite control center.

A group of people stood in front of the control console. Among them were NASA engineers, officials from the United States Congress and White House, and professionals from Space-X and Blue Origin, as well as other aerospace company representatives.

The atmosphere was quite depressing, everyone’s eyes focused on a single point on the large console screen.

Everyone was looking at the same place, waiting for the same result.

Three days ago, China’s Skyglow successfully took off while carrying the Moon Palace core module. It broke through the atmosphere and was entering low-Earth orbit.

The entire aerospace industry was focused on this aerospaceplane.

If this launch proved to be successful, China would become the first country in the world to put a space station in lunar orbit. It would also become the only country in the world to have lunar construction capabilities.

This was obviously bad news for America.

If everything were to go according to plan, their “Lunar Gateway” lunar orbit space station wouldn’t launch until next year. Even though the success of the Ares program placed them at the forefront of Mars colonization, it seemed like they had lost the Moon race.

Three days ago, NASA pointed their satellites toward the Earth-Moon transfer orbit as they waited for the spacecraft to appear in their lenses.

Today should be the day Skyglow arrived in lunar orbit…

Director Carson stared at the large console screen. He suddenly looked at his watch and asked impatiently, “Is it not there yet?”

Bill was standing next to Director Carson. He opened the document in his hand and quickly replied, “According to our calculations, they will reach lunar orbit in around ten minutes… Of course, there is the possibility that they are not using the traditional Earth-Moon transfer orbit path.”

Bill looked at Director Carson and added, “… If that is the case, then we would need more accurate data in order to observe their spacecraft.”

Director Carson replied, “Maybe you can call the China National Space Administration, they’ll be happy to give you that data.”

Director of the satellite control center, Bill, had an awkward smile on his face. He stared at his watch and said, “We can’t wait here all day, maybe next time you can give us a more accurate estimate.”

Director Carson: “Don’t worry, my friend, in two hours, we will see the results.”

Of course, he hoped that the damn aerospaceplane never appeared in the satellite’s lens. It would be great if Skyglow could disappear like a comet, flying away from the Earth-Moon system…

NASA needed an opponent who was behind them, not someone who was ahead of them. NASA had to be the best at everything they do. It was not only about honor, but it was also about political governance.

However, Carson knew that his dreams wouldn’t come true.

Given that the Skyglow had already successfully landed on the Moon, delivering a module was a piece of cake.

Sure enough, just like he had guessed, there was a commotion in the console room.

A NASA engineer suddenly pointed at the screen and yelled, “It’s Skyglow! I see it!”

Director Carson looked at the direction the engineer pointed at, and his pupils shrank.

It’s there!

It’s Skyglow!

…

A bright arc of light swept across the dark moon skies.

A bright silver aerospaceplane smoothly completed the orbital switch, slowly marching into the 127-minute orbit.

All of this was smoothly done in one go.

Nie Yun, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, stared at the rough moon surface. His mind racing a million miles a second.

Back here again…

Last time I was here was three months ago.

He couldn’t help but feel enchanted by the beautiful scenery.

Unfortunately, this time, he didn’t get to place his feet on the moon rocks.

But he knew that one day in the near future, a trip to the Moon would be as common as a flight across the ocean.

Nie Yun reached out and pressed his helmet. He then said in a clear voice, “This is Skyglow, we have successfully entered orbit.”

After a while, a voice traveled through the communication channel.

“This is the ground command center. Happy to hear that. You’ve already completed half of your mission… Please immediately head toward the designated airspace and prepare for the next stage.”

“Roger that.”

Nie Yun reached out and pressed the control panel. He switched the flight mode from orbital transfer mode to automatic cruise mode. He then skillfully turned on the cabin pressure measurement system.

Nie Yan was sitting in the co-pilot seat. She looked at the rangefinder data while she spoke.

“Altitude is normal, approaching the target area… Maybe we can move a little faster, if everything goes well, we might be able to test the Starlight flight.”

Nie Yun smiled and said, “Forget about it, the pilots have already been chosen. They’re two guys from the Astronaut Corps.”

Nie Yan sighed and said, “Really? That’s unfortunate.”

Starlight had a dual-wing design, while four of the five engines could rotate to any angles. This new type of aircraft would be able to complete the flight from Earth to low-Earth orbit in a safer and more efficient manner.

An aircraft like that was more interesting to operate than Skyglow.

Nie Yun said, “Nothing unfortunate, we still have other test flights to do, I’m sure they’ll be interesting.”

Nie Yan: “What kind of test flights?”

Nie Yun smiled and said, “Your favorite, transport aircraft… Flying between geosynchronous and lunar transfer orbit.”

A while ago, he heard that Star Sky Technology was planning on using the Skyglow ion thruster propulsion system to develop an interplanetary electric propulsion shuttle that could fly from the Earth to Moon repeatedly.

If this project was successful, then it wouldn’t be long until Skyglow could be retired.

It would at least retire from regular launches.

Nie Yan rolled her eyes and said, “I would rather fly Skyglow. I applied for this role because I was tired of flying transport planes.”

Nie Yun jokingly said, “Not because you wanted to fly higher?”

Nie Yan: “A bit of both… We’re here!”

The two reached their target area.

The flight path gradually deviated from the 127-minute orbit, entering an elliptical orbit.

This was the best place to place a moon satellite. Due to the combined gravitational effect of the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, the core module could maintain a stable orbit for up to 36 months without the need for external propulsion.

With a propulsion system and a small amount of working fluid, the space station could remain in orbit for decades…

After confirming the orbital parameters, Nie Yun calmed himself down and took a deep breath. He placed his hand on the side of his helmet and spoke in a steady voice.

“This is Skyglow, we have reached lunar space station orbit.”

Soon after, orders came from the ground command center.

“Begin unloading!”

“Roger that,” Nie Yan said. She then reached out, released the cargo safety lock, and pressed the bright red button.

“Begin unloading!”

A muffled rumbling sound was heard, and a silver-white cylindrical module was thrown into space, left behind by Skyglow…

Nie Yun stared at the [Unloading Successful] line on the screen, and he spoke with excitement.

“Unloading successfully!

“Moon Palace has successfully entered designated orbit!

“We did it!”

Chapter 764: Our Moon Palace!

After hearing that the payload had successfully been deployed, the ground command center erupted in deafening cheers.

People hugged and clapped, celebrating this hard-won victory.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense stood in front of the console. His wrinkly face began to tear up.

“We did it…”

The silver-colored Moon Palace core module floated steadily above the moon, slowly drifting away from Skyglow.

As Lu Zhou looked at the exciting image on the big screen, he smiled with relief. His stiff shoulders began to relax.

“Yeah… We did it!”

From today onward, the Moon Palace would become the starting point for China’s lunar adventures. The surface and orbit of the Moon would soon be filled with Chinese satellites and equipment…

Journalists from various major media outlets were invited to a special conference room. A spokesman from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, as well as various representatives from Star Sky Technology and the State Administration for National Defense, answered questions from major media outlets.

On the other hand, the command center was still working.

Even though the Skyglow mission was already complete, for the staff at the ground command center, the mission had only just begun.

They were still responsible for the return of Skyglow, as well as remotely controlling the Moon Palace space station.

Lu Zhou stood in the command center for a while. He didn’t want to disturb their work, so he decided to leave.

He walked across the launch site runway and walked toward the launch site entrance. He happened to see a young journalist lady holding a microphone. She had just finished interviewing the runway crew.

The reporter’s eyes lit up when she saw Lu Zhou, and she immediately walked over with her cameraman.

“Hello, are you Professor Lu?”

Lu Zhou was in a good mood, so he smiled and said, “Yeah, do you need anything?”

“Is now a good time to talk? I have a few questions from our audience.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’ll try my best to answer.”

The reporter lady smiled professionally and said, “We all know that Star Sky Technology has become the most advanced aerospace launch technology company in China and even Asia. Will Star Sky Technology expand their business into space station construction or satellite design?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and replied, “Not at the moment. My vision for Star Sky Technology is to create an interplanetary high-speed shuttle. Maybe our future project will be focused on Mars or even other stars, but right now our project is focused on the research and development of our spacecraft…”

The reporter’s eyes lit up.

Her instincts told her that there was a big story behind this.

Without any hesitation, she reached out with her microphone and asked excitedly, “What is the project? Can you disclose any information?”

Should I let the news out right now?

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second. He made up his mind and replied, “Considering the fact that future lunar launches will require thousands of tons of carrying capacity, we are researching a fast two-way transport system between the geosynchronous and the lunar orbit. This will be dedicated to sending materials and equipment between the Earth’s and the Moon’s orbits, and…”

The reporter excitedly asked, “And?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “And we will be able to send civilians to the moon.”

…

The same day as the Moon Palace launch, 7 pm Beijing time.

The success of the Moon Palace was officially announced.

After the confidentiality time period passed, major media outlets that participated in the State Administration for National Defense press conference began to publish the conference content to the public.

China’s Moon Palace success once again shocked the world.

Ever since the Cold War era, rocket launch technology had rapidly improved. The reach of extraterrestrial planetary probes was at record highs, while the number of satellites and space debris around the Earth had been increasing exponentially.

However, even then, no country had the power to send a ten-thousand-ton space station into moon orbit. Because not only did it require high-thrust rocket and satellite launch technology, but it also required sophisticated satellite control technology.

After all, the mass of the Moon was uneven. The Moon’s gravity was small, even compared to planets. Satellites orbiting the Moon would largely be affected by gravitational forces from other planets or stars.

Because of these two factors, it was difficult to maintain the same lunar orbit for a long time. One would have to continuously change the orbit according to the current gravitational forces.

Most lunar satellites had a fairly short life-span; they were usually single-use. However, the Moon Palace space station, which cost tens of billions of yuan, obviously couldn’t be abandoned like a normal moon satellite. The service life of the space station was at least 20 years.

It was obvious that without the excellent propulsion control technology acting behind the scenes, the space station would be short-lived. It would be as if the space station were a person with a strong pair of legs, but had a weak mind.

Fortunately, thanks to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology, China’s ion thruster propulsion technology was miles ahead of any other countries’ propulsion technology.

The Moon Palace space station was equipped with an ion thruster propulsion system that could continuously provide stable thrust, which reduced the difficulty of the control system.

Of course, even then, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation had to pay a big price for this technology.

The core capsule consisted of the most advanced technologies from the two major aviation and aerospace giants. Not to mention that the main control computer was from the National Parallel Computer Engineering Technology Research Center.

Not only was this a symbol of China’s aerospace technology, but this was a symbol of Chinese technology as a whole!

In addition to the news reports, media outlets covered the entire story behind the design and implementation of the Moon Palace in the form of a ten-minute video.

Due to insufficient preparation for the manned moon landing, Skyglow wasn’t able to broadcast live footage to Earth.

However, this time was different.

The upgraded Skyglow communication system used the extra communication bandwidth to transmit high-resolution photos of the Moon Palace. It also recorded the entire process of the Moon Palace unloading.

After the video and photos were edited by professionals, the content was released on news programs and social media sites. The discussion of the Moon Palace exploded…

Chapter 765: Start With the Bad News

In the video, the silver-colored cylindrical core module quietly floated the Moon’s orbit. A fist-sized ion thruster propulsion nozzle slowly pushed the core capsule to turn, leaving behind a blue glow.

The folded solar panels soon began to spread out toward the sun, like the wings of a flying eagle.

The video was only ten minutes long. Skyglow, on the other hand, began to shine from the moonlight.

This scene was like a painting.

In less than half an hour after the video was released, the comments section of the video blew up.

[Is that our Moon Palace? It’s so beautiful! (excited)]

[So cool!!!]

[I hope I can go up there in my lifetime.]

[The Moon looks so barren. Maybe we should plant something on there.]

[China is the best! (fist) (fist)]

For many years, China had been behind western countries in the field of aerospace. The Chang’e 5 mission had been hugely criticized.

But now, China managed to break through ion thruster technology. They were able to deliver a space station to Moon orbit, presenting itself as the leader of aerospace.

Only people in the aerospace industry knew how hard-fought this win was!

Less than an hour after the Moon Palace was successfully deployed, the news quickly spread across the world.

NASA first confirmed the news on its official website and Twitter, and this alerted the Roscosmos, European Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who all issued announcements and sent their own congratulatory messages to China.

Regardless of whether or not the countries had a competitive relationship with China, this showed their acknowledgment of China’s strength.

Even though NASA didn’t want to, they had to admit that China’s actions on the Moon had far exceeded their expectations.

Even they weren’t sure if they could place a space station on the moon. In some sense, China just surpassed them.

After various major space agencies successively confirmed the news that the Moon Palace was successfully deployed, the reporters from BBC combined interviews with NASA officials and the spokesperson of the China National Space Administration, to give an unbiased report…

“… So far, it seems like China has taken the lead in the exploration and development of lunar resources. No country has ever had the capabilities to place a permanent facility in lunar orbit.

“According to NASA experts, Moon Palace’s success was mainly due to the great progress made by China in ion thruster propulsion technology. It is not easy to achieve accurate control with the traditional chemical propulsion methods, but with ion thruster propulsion, it is much more precise.

“I have to say, this is very surprising. Compared to traditional aerospace powers, China is far inferior to America and Russia. I mean, the Americans have begun to develop a commercially available spaceflight.

“But somehow, they did it.

“The success of the Moon Palace is only a small step in human spaceflight, but it’s a big step for civilization as a whole!”

In this unbiased report, BBC spoke positively on China and the Moon Palace. After the video was posted on Youtube and other video sites, the report ignited widespread discussion among foreign netizens.

In contrast to the excitement of domestic netizens, these discussions were more or less filled with envy and hatred.

Especially the Americans netizens… They were still high from the successful life support system launch. However, less than a month later, China announced that its core module was in lunar orbit, taking away America’s attention.

They were all a little disheartened.

Of course, some people didn’t care.

For example, a well-known talk show host Jimmy Tang posted a tweet to cheer on NASA.

[I heard that China’s Moon Palace was successfully deployed? I don’t know why you guys have your heads down, it’s not that amazing.

[Even though China successfully sent their space station to the moon, NASA has begun to colonize Mars, which is tens of millions of kilometers away. It is obvious who is ahead in the aerospace game.

[What’s more is that, we also have plans to build a space station on the moon, like our “Lunar Gateway” project! However, we are more concerned about safety, that’s why we carefully set the construction period to begin in 2022.

[Our BFR rocket is approaching Mars. Soon, we will be able to receive news of the life support system deployment. Then we will be able to send our colonists to a new planet!

[My name is Jimmy Tang, catch me next Saturday night on the BBC, where I’ll be talking with three astronauts.

[If you are interested in the Ares program, please follow me and my show!

[…]

The tension brought by this space race quickly spread to other technical fields.

A black car parked outside the White House, Washington DC.

Director Carson was wearing a blue suit. He opened the car door and walked out. He began to quickly walk toward the White House.

After Director Carson arrived at the president’s office, he knocked on the door. After hearing “come in”, he reached out and pushed open the door.

When he entered the office, the president was sitting at his desk, and he seemed to be staring at a document.

Director Carson hesitated for a second. He wasn’t sure if he should interrupt the president.

However, he made up his mind.

Half an hour ago, he received two pieces of news, both of them were important…

Director Carson gulped and took a deep breath.

“Mr. President.”

The monotonous voice broke through the silent office.

The president seemed to be contemplating something as he stared at the document on his desk.

However, after a brief silence, the president responded, “Director Carson.”

Director Carson cleared his throat and said, “Sir, I have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?”

The president seemed to be tangled in his thoughts. He twirled his pen and suddenly spoke.

“I like to eat the broccoli first before I enjoy my steak.”

After hearing the president’s answer, Director Carson lowered his head and replied, “Sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

“What I mean is, I hate the taste of broccoli, I hate having to eat it after enjoying my delicious steak…”

The president put his pen down on the document with a CIA stamp. He looked at Director Carson and crossed his fingers.

“Let’s start with the bad news.”

Chapter 766: News of Victory

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Director’s office.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk as he meticulously reviewed the documents on his desk.

Ever since he became the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, he had been extra-busy.

The entire nation’s funding for the lunar space station project was controlled by him.

In other words, the old man who served as the chairman of the committee was responsible for verifying the total amount of funds. This was based on the scientific, economic, and cultural values of the lunar orbital project. This determined how much funding the lunar orbital project would receive.

Lu Zhou, as the chief designer, was responsible for the allocation of these funds. In other words, which research and development projects these funds would be allocated to.

The entire outer space exploration plan was like a small boat sailing in the sea, and he was in the captain’s position. If he were to make a mistake, the entire boat could sink.

Therefore, even though he wasn’t interested in these financial matters, he had to patiently read every document in its entirety. He identified the more reliable projects and signed his name on them.

Lu Zhou was thinking about a report on the technical feasibility of lunar mining equipment when he heard the door knock.

Lu Zhou put down his pen and looked at the door. He then cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”

The door was pushed open, and a young female assistant in business attire walked in while holding a stack of documents.

“Professor, these are the documents from China Agricultural University and the China National Space Administration.”

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, “Got it, just place it on the desk.”

“Okay.” The female assistant nodded and placed the documents on the corner of the desk. She then asked in a soft voice, “Is there anything else I can do?”

“Get me a cup of coffee, please.”

“Okay, professor!”

The young female assistant nodded and walked toward the water dispenser. Soon, she brought over a cup of instant mocha and quietly left the office.

Lu Zhou sipped his coffee as he flipped through the two new documents.

Generally speaking, these documents were good news. Especially the one from the China National Space Administration. They praised Jinling Institute for Advanced Study for their outstanding contribution to the lunar orbit space station project.

The successful deployment of the Moon Palace’s core module gave China an advantage to explore lunar resources while giving China international respect.

Also contained in this document was the concept map from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation of the first phase of the space station, as well as the schedule of the remaining space station components.

Lu Zhou was going to discuss with the Lunar Orbit Committee to determine the launch timetable of the unity module, energy module, experimental module, work module, and other space station components.

Not only was this good news for the Moon Palace, but there was also good news from the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert.

A month ago, while Lu Zhou was still busy with the Moon Palace, the first phase of the Garden project was complete. With Professor Hu Yang leading the project, Biosphere A had gone into operation.

So far, Biosphere A had successfully been operating for one month. In this month, the volunteers enclosed in the artificial biosphere successfully achieved their expected goals. They had been living with limited amounts of water and other resources.

“Closed system life support technology” was one of the most important technologies for colonizing the Moon or even Mars; it was also an important component of the lunar orbit project.

The United States once dominated this field with its “Biosphere 2” experiment. The life support system on the Ares was an embodiment of their Biosphere 2 technology.

If China planned to colonize the Moon or even distant planets, they had to unlock this part of aerospace technology.

After seeing Professor Hu’s report, Lu Zhou had a satisfied look on his face.

If everything went well, China might be able to send their colonists to the surface of the Moon by next year.

He heard knocking sounds at his door again.

Lu Zhou put down the document in his hand and looked at the door.

“Come in.”

Hou Guang, the director of the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute, opened the door and quickly walked in. Before Lu Zhou could ask what happened, he spoke first.

“Good news and bad news, which one do you want first?”

Seeing how serious Hou Guang seemed, Lu Zhou paused for a second and replied with a smile.

He then said nonchalantly, “Let’s… start with the good news.”

Hou Guang: “Good news is that the plant growth unit we deployed on the moon has successfully harvested the first batch of potatoes!”

Lu Zhou had a surprised look on his face.

“Already? This soon?”

Even though he had never planted any potatoes before, he heard that potatoes generally take three months to harvest.

It had been less than two months since the deployment of the plant growth unit, so he was quite amazed by the progress.

Hou Guang smiled and said, “It’s alright. We improved the potato seeds, not to mention the plant growth unit was able to keep the environment at a maximum growth temperature, so two months is not that fast.”

The cost of the potatoes grown in space was undoubtedly more expensive than potatoes grown on Earth.

But even then, because of the astronomical launch costs, the cost of growing food on the moon was much cheaper than launching the food from Earth.

Also, growing food on the Moon meant self-sufficiency…

“This is indeed good news.” Lu Zhou paused for a second and asked, “What’s the bad news then?”

“Bad news is that we received news this morning…” Hou Guang took a deep breath and said, “The BFR rocket launched by Space-X last month has landed on Mars at 13:00 Beijing time today.”

They already landed?!

Lu Zhou sat up straight in his office chair, and he immediately asked, “How was the landing?”

Hou Guang looked at him and replied, “Apparently… it was successful.”

Chapter 767: Equally Matched

The second weekend in April.

The morning silence in North America was disrupted by a newspaper headline.

A striking newspaper headline on the Washington Post shocked everyone.

[Major breakthrough in the Ares program! Life support system has landed successfully! A new era of space exploration is coming!]

The Washington Post was the largest and most authoritative newspaper in America, ahead of The New York Times. They played an important role in the Watergate scandal. They were also far more reliable than other media outlets.

White-collar workers were usually uninterested in newspapers, but after they saw this eye-catching headline, they couldn’t help but fork out a dollar and stuff the newspaper into their briefcases.

The freshly-printed newspapers were all sold out!

The Washington Post had to urge their printing factory to print millions of newspapers and quickly send them to major newsstands and sales outlets.

South of the San Francisco bay area, near Silicon Valley.

A couple of hungover office workers were eating breakfast at a diner, and some retired old men sat around them. They were clearly here to kill time.

A white man sitting on the counter muttered quietly to himself while reading a newspaper. He reached out, grabbed his old friend, and spoke in disbelief.

“Hey, did you hear? Space-X’s BFR rocket delivered the life support system to Mars!”

“Jesus… That’s crazy!”

“I know! But that’s not all, I heard that the new BFS spacecraft has been equipped with BFR rockets. Space-X has already submitted its launch plan to NASA. Elon Musk is going to put a man on Mars!”

“That sounds interesting. Maybe we’re on the verge of a revolution. We should pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate.”

“Oh, please not, it’s too early to get drunk.”

“Haha, who cares? For America!”

Soon after, the diner waitress brought over some beers.

A hungover man was woken up by a loud television near the bar counter. He opened his eyes. When he heard the conversation next to him, he held up his wine glass and spoke.

“For America… Cheers!”

On the other hand, the host of the morning news broadcast was reporting on the football game last night when he was handed a manuscript. Immediately, he had a joyful expression on his face.

“Breaking news… According to NASA, the BFR rocket launched last month has successfully reached Mars and delivered the life support system.

“This is all so sudden, allow me to take a deep breath…” The host took several deep breaths, looked at the camera, and said, “I can’t believe it! We did it!”

…

The Americans weren’t the only ones who were shocked by the BFR rocket.

After NASA made the official announcement on its website, the news that the life support system successfully landed on Mars spread across the world.

Space-X immediately held a press conference, which was hosted by famous engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk. He spoke to the public on Space-X’s role in the Ares program and how the legendary Space-X BFR super rocket was able to send a 25-ton payload to Mars.

Musk was wearing a black suit and a grey shirt. According to legend, he only had one outfit in his closet.

Musk spoke passionately.

“… The life support system is just the first step of Ares. We will eventually send people to Mars, and humans will become a multi-planetary species.

“One day, people of all gender, nationality, and age will have the chance to travel and live on Mars…

“The future is here…

“Thank you, everyone!”

The moment he finished speaking, the conference venue erupted in applause.

After the press conference.

After the news that Space-X successfully landed its rocket on Mars, the Space-X stock price shot up like a rocket.

Not just that, but Blue Origin, which was involved in the design of the life support system and other high-tech Silicon Valley aerospace companies, soared in value.

The space race seemed to be at an inflexion point.

With China’s lunar strategies on the rise, the United States once again demonstrated its unstoppable strength in the field of aerospace.

Even Lu Zhou had to admit that a 25-ton Mars delivery was indeed impressive.

After other international media outlets reported on the success of the BFR rocket, the BBC finally released its report.

After reporting on China’s Lunar Gateway space station, these British folks spoke objectively on the first phase of the Ares program.

“… Elon Musk’s Space-X has the potential to become the Maersk of the universe. If the Falcon 9 rocket is a small wooden ship, then the BFR is a metal steamship.

“Space-X’s never-ending exploration of technology clearly demonstrates their determination to be brave and courageous. We should look forward to their future endeavors in the field of technology and aerospace…

“It’s still too early to talk about these things, but if they keep up the momentum, Space-X could totally dominate the global aerospace transport industry.

“What’s interesting is that we noticed Professor Lu from China said in an interview that he would, ‘turn Star Sky Technology into a future interplanetary railway company’.

“It seems like Star Sky Technology, which dominates more than 80% of China’s space launch missions, might be Space-X’s biggest competitor.

“The space race between China and America is gradually becoming more and more intense.

“The first phase of this fight seemed to end in a draw.

“Whether it’s China or America, both sides seem to have done well on their projects. They both seem to have tricks hidden up their sleeves.

“One is a world-renowned mathematician, the other is a world-class engineer and technology entrepreneur… Who is going to win this competition?”

Chapter 768: We'll Find Out Soon!

The space race between China and the United States caused a lot of discussion on Chinese social media networks. The discussions were particularly fierce when it came to comparing the lunar space station to the Mars life support system.

Most people looked at this from an objective and rational standpoint.

For example, those that supported the United States said that the BFR rocket used the most advanced liquid oxygen methane engine in the world and that the BFR rocket could reach a maximum thrust of 138 trillion Newtons. All of these specs trumped Skyglow.

Not to mention that Mars was tens of millions of kilometers away. The transport difficulty wasn’t even comparable; obviously, the United States achieved more.

Those that supported China looked at it from a “usefulness” perspective. After all, Mars was millions of kilometers away and had a launch window of once every two years. On the other hand, the Moon was “so close to home”.

Objectively speaking, either side had valid reasons.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to these online discussions at all.

In his opinion, these discussions were all meaningless.

Whether it was the resource mining of the Moon or the exploration of Mars, these were all short-term money-losing projects. Whether it was the helium and titanium ores on the Moon or the rich methane reserves on Mars, they were both far away from Earth.

Just like how centuries ago, before the Age of Discovery, no one knew where the new colonists would go…

However, the Moon was a lot closer.

But, looking at it from an economics perspective, the space program was bound to lose money. Sometimes one couldn’t look at it purely from an economics perspective.

At least for China, the political, scientific, and cultural benefits gained from their space programs couldn’t be measured by money.

Take the Moon Palace project as an example. As the first country in the world to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, other countries that wanted to participate in lunar-related scientific research projects would be forced to sign agreements with China.

Or take Germany for example. As the first country that had reached an agreement with China on controllable fusion technology, they naturally had already begun negotiations on using China’s Moon Palace space station.

According to the negotiation results, after the first phase of the Moon Palace was complete, China would reserve a scientific research spot for the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. China allowed Germany to send one scientific researcher to the Moon Palace.

In exchange, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research would cooperate with Chinese research institutes on projects related to lunar resources.

Britain, France, the European Union, Russia, Japan, and other countries had also begun negotiations with China on the Moon Palace.

China was happy to cooperate with these countries. They even reserved a spot on Moon Palace for an American astronaut.

The competitive relationship between countries was always relative, never absolute.

Even though China had a clear position in the world, international relations were often far more nuanced.

Even during the tensest moments of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union still collaborated on mutually beneficial aerospace and controllable fusion projects.

So far, the tension between China and the United States was far from the Cold War. China had maintained a peaceful position and never taken the initiative to provoke other countries. Of course, if the United States wanted to cooperate, there was certainly no reason for China to refuse.

However, this was all based on the premise that the United States was willing to share its Mars colony resources or other things of equal value…

Lu Zhou didn’t know how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs negotiations were going, but he didn’t care.

That was none of his business.

These trivial matters had little to do with the Lunar Orbit Committee.

He had more urgent matters to worry about…

Jin Ling City.

Aerospace Science and Technology Institute.

A conference on the lunar orbit project was being held.

All of the big names in the aerospace industry were at this conference.

People such as Academician Yuan Huanmin, Systems Director Zhang, and other big names were all gathered here.

After a short opening statement, the conference officially began. Lu Zhou walked on stage and looked at everyone. He then said concisely, “I believe you have all heard that the United States completed its first phase of the Ares program.

“According to NASA’s detailed disclosure, the BFR rocket did not use the traditional Hohmann transfer orbit. Instead, it used a direct transfer orbit to enter Mars’ gravitational system.”

The moment he finished speaking, loud whispers were heard in the conference room.

Even though a lot of people already knew about the direct transfer orbit, they were still shocked.

Up until now, spacecraft that traveled to Mars had all used the Hohmann transfer orbit as this was the most fuel-efficient route.

However, this orbit could only be used once every two days, and it took 180 days of flying to reach Mars.

When it came to space probes, the 180 days of flight was acceptable. But when it came to sending passengers to Mars, 6 months seemed like a long time.

Therefore, as the main transport vehicle of the Ares program, the BFR rocket flew a faster, shorter flight path. Compared to the Hohmann transfer orbit, the BFR rocket only needed 30 to 120 days to complete the journey to Mars. It also had a much longer launch window period, and there was no need to wait two years for the next launch.

The price was obviously fuel.

Even though on the surface the BFR rocket seemed to increase the cost of flying to Mars, in fact, shortening the flight time meant that it could reduce the resource load. This meant less fresh water, oxygen, and food. Therefore, flying a less fuel-efficient route could actually reduce costs…

Even though not using the Hohmann transfer orbit was a crazy plan to everyone in the aerospace industry, it was obvious how advanced Space-X was!

Lu Zhou looked around the conference room and didn’t say anything, he quietly waited for the discussion to die down.

A few minutes passed by before a professor sitting in the conference room raised his hand and spoke.

“I have something to say.”

Lu Zhou nodded toward the professor and spoke.

“Please go ahead.”

The middle-aged professor adjusted his glasses and slowly stood up.

“I think the success of the BFR rocket proves to us that chemical rockets have not reached a bottleneck.

“Maybe we should look at our development plan again. I’m not denying the importance of ion thruster propulsion systems, but I think it is too early to give up on traditional chemical rockets.”

Lu Zhou looked at the professor for a while. He then suddenly asked, “If I gave you 50 years and a billion USD of funding per year, are you certain you can reach the same level of thrust as the BFR?”

The professor didn’t expect Lu Zhou to ask this question. He hesitated for a bit and looked uncertain.

After a while, he shook his head and answered honestly.

“It would be difficult.”

The BFR rocket was at the pinnacle of liquid oxygen methane engines. There was no match for this beast of a rocket.

It was impossible for China to pass America in this aspect.

The middle-aged professor didn’t even dare to brag.

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything. He signaled the professor to sit down.

“That’s right, like you said, it’s difficult.

“Maybe there is still room for improvement in the chemical propulsion systems. If we improve our engines, we can fly for longer and further. But beating our opponents through chemical rockets is impossible.

“Therefore, we should focus on ion thruster propulsion systems. That is our only advantage. We should maintain it.”

After a pause, Lu Zhou looked around the conference room and spoke.

“Even though the BFR rocket was a huge success, we shouldn’t belittle ourselves.

“We have lower thrust numbers than them, but we have our own advantages! Chemical rockets will never have the same amount of impulse as our ion thruster rockets.

“I have announced a while ago that Star Sky Technology is developing a more flexible and more suitable spacecraft, for low-Earth orbit flights. The research has come to an end, and it’s time to reveal some secrets.”

Lu Zhou looked at the big projector behind him and pressed the laser pointer in his hand.

Soon after, a three-dimensional concept image of Starlight was presented to everyone.

When Academician Yuan looked at the picture, he couldn’t help but stand up.

“What’s this?!”

Academician Yuan wasn’t the only one who was surprised by what he was seeing.

Everyone looked at the uniquely shaped aerospaceplane, and voices of exclaim spread throughout the conference room.

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Yuan and smiled as he spoke.

“It’s called Starlight! It’s our new generation of aerospaceplanes.”

Sun Yuanpei was sitting next to Academician Yuan. He stared at the image with his eyes wide open. He couldn’t help but question the design.

“Is this design… feasible?”

Four engines on the four twin-shaft fixed wings, with one main engine at the tail…

This looks ridiculous!

“We have already proven it is technically feasible. As for practically feasible…” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “We’ll find out soon!”

Chapter 769: Three Warriors

Every space flight was an adventure, every spacecraft test was a gamble.

No one knew what the outcome of a spacecraft launch would be.

Starlight had two pairs of rotating wings, and these would increase its maneuverability. However, this also added a certain amount of risk.

Even though the servomotor control system was designed by Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou wasn’t certain that Starlight would be without accidents.

All he could do was try his best to minimize the chance of an accident…

During the second half of the meeting, they talked about the timetable of the Starlight test flight, as well as the Moon Palace unity module launch next month.

Both the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation agreed that the launch should be scheduled next month. After the unity module combines with the core module, the Moon Palace floating in lunar orbit would have more room for experiments. Moon Palace would also be able to dock with manned spacecraft such as Skyglow.

Therefore, even though it was still quite small, this could truly be considered a “space docking port”!

While China was planning the Starlight test flight, the Americans were also cooking up their secret sauce.

The life support system on Mars was successfully activated by the ground command center, and the three volunteers had also completed their training. There was no reason for the Americans to wait any longer.

With approval from the United States Congress, NASA quickly announced that the Ares program was moving to the next stage.

They were going to send out their first colonists!

After the news was announced, the news caused a worldwide sensation.

Even though people knew the Americans were eventually going to send someone to Mars, none of them expected that it was going to be this soon.

Perhaps China’s advancements in the aerospace field really made NASA anxious. NASA might have wanted to prove to its country that it was still the king of aerospace.

Before the launch, The New York Times and Columbia TV, which were sponsored by Space-X, arranged a talk show for the three volunteers.

Not only was this to bid farewell to the three heroic volunteers, but it was also an opportunity to recruit more volunteers through this media event.

The third phase of the Ares program was to send 10 functional modules to Mars and 50 colonists to the “Mars Village”. For Space-X and NASA, eliminating people’s fear of going to space was essential for the survival of the Ares program…

On the day of the talk show, the famous talk show host Jimmy Tang came on stage wearing a fancy suit. He gently bowed toward the audience and smiled with his pearly white teeth.

“Hello, hello, welcome to today’s special space warriors talk show. If you’ve accidentally tuned in just now, then you just hit the lottery!”

The audience chuckled at Jimmy Tang’s skillful attempt to heat up the atmosphere. Jimmy Tang then looked at the big screen behind him.

“I’m sure I won’t have to explain what today is about. Our opponent sent a Moon Palace to the moon, but NASA is going to destroy them! Not literally, but in a metaphorical sense.”

Jimmy looked at the audience members and continued to speak with a fake smile on his face.

“Everyone, don’t get too excited. Even though our opponents are strong, they are still 60 million kilometers behind us. The victory is in our hands!”

Jimmy raised both of his hands and spoke passionately.

“Therefore, rather than calling it a competition, I’d like to call it an adventure! Our warriors, our heroes, will cross tens or even hundreds of kilometers to the unexplored planet, opening up civilization’s territory.

“This great plan has never been about winning a competition! The only worthy opponent is the future!”

The atmosphere was at its peak.

Jimmy smoothly transitioned into today’s show.

“I’m honored to welcome these three heroes to our show!”

The thunderous applause was mixed in with whistling and cheers.

The three astronauts appeared one after the other as they walked onto the stage and sat down.

The applause and background music slowly subsided.

Jimmy lifted the microphone and spoke to the audience.

“It’s my honor to introduce Johnson! The captain astronaut! As an ex-marine, he is a true warrior and patriot, let’s give it up for Johnson!”

The audience erupted in applause again.

Johnson smiled at the audience and nodded.

After the applause subsided, Jimmy smiled at Johnson and said, “Looks like you’re quite popular, why don’t you introduce yourself!”

“Hello, everyone, I am the captain of this expedition. It’s an honor to be here.”

Johnson was a typical Caucasian male with a masculine appearance and a built figure. He also had a charismatic vibe and appearance.

As he explained the details of the second phase of the Ares program, the audience listened carefully.

After Johnson finished speaking, he looked at Jimmy.

Jimmy smiled and asked, “So, have you been on an aircraft carrier before?”

“Yeah, I have.”

Jimmy said, “Then what made you interested in aerospace? Or rather, why did you want to join the Ares program.”

Johnson contemplated for a second and said, “Because it has always been my dream… Also, it’s because of my children.”

“Your children?” Jimmy looked surprised, and he asked, “Can you elaborate?”

Family was a core part of American values, especially when it came to children.

Johnson paused for a second before explaining, “I have a loving wife and two kids at home. My kids think of me as a hero, and I want to be a better role model for them. That’s why I decided to sign up for the Ares program. I didn’t have any expectations, so I was surprised to actually be chosen.”

Jimmy smiled and said, “Fate works in wonderful ways. I’m sure your kids will think of you as a role model!”

Johnson nodded and smiled.

“Thank you.”

The camera began to rotate, focusing on Johnson’s two teammates.

The good looking female astronaut was in her twenties, and her name was Julia. She didn’t seem to have an amazing background, and she was clearly a little nervous.

According to her self-introduction, before being accepted as an astronaut, she was a secondary school teacher in Amsterdam.

The other black guy was named Travis, and he was more jacked than Johnson. Apparently he was a professional football player and played as a quarterback on the Atlanta team.

For some reason, while Travis was being interviewed, it seemed like he was a little dazed, like he didn’t sleep well.

Jimmy joked, “You must have been so excited for this interview that you didn’t sleep well.”

“Maybe…” Travis forced a smile and said, “I’m just too tired, you know, training is not easy.”

“Take it easy, my friend.” Captain Johnson patted Travis on the shoulder and said, “Our return will be glorious!”

“That is if we do return…”

Travis tried to smile, but his eyes were looking around erratically.

Jimmy turned his attention to the audience and spoke passionately.

“Our warriors are ready to depart! The huge ship is about to set sail!

“The launch time is 8 pm next Wednesday, and CNN will broadcast live at the launch site!

“God will protect our warriors, the torch of Liberty will light their way! Let’s send our blessings to our warriors!”

The studio was once again filled with applause.

The show came to an end.

The “Heart of Gold” launch date was the exact same day as the Chinese’s Starlight launch. No one knew whether this was intentional or not.

The two sides were clearly competing against one another.

This competition was becoming more and more interesting…

Chapter 770: Hope in the Sky

“Five!

“Four!

“Three!

“Two!

“One!

“Zero!

“Ignite!”

A blue arc of light projected from the flared wings of the aerospaceplane.

Starlight was launched from the Jinling aerospace launch site, and with the ground command center watching, it disappeared into the clouds.

The launch plan went smoothly.

After leaving the troposphere, Starlight’s pair of short ailerons slowly rotated, and this changed the angle of the flight.

The blue arc of light began to shine brighter and brighter, and Starlight worked against gravity and flew toward the boundless deep space on a path that was tangent to Earth.

Time slowly passed by…

After nearly an hour of flying, Starlight lived up to expectations and steadily broke through the edge of the atmosphere, reaching low-Earth orbit. This was the beginning of its 72-hour orbital flight.

The test pilot, Xu Zhenghong, who was sitting in the cockpit, took a closer look at the altitude, temperature, and other spacecraft data.

After confirming that everything was operating normally, he sighed in relief.

This was his 57th test flight mission, the highest test flight he had ever been on. He never thought he would fly a plane out of the atmosphere.

That was until one day, his superior contacted him and arranged for him to test fly Starlight…

Even though there was an escape capsule on the spacecraft, only God knew whether it worked or not.

Xu Zhenghong reached out and turned on the automatic cruise mode. He disconnected his spacesuit from the cabin life support system and pressed the side of his helmet. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“This is Starlight, we have successfully reached target orbit, requesting further instructions.”

A noise came from the communication channel.

After the communication signal stabilized, the command center quickly sent a response.

“This is the ground command center. Congratulations on completing the first stage of the test flight. Please maintain orbital altitude for two hours. The next flight test will begin in two hours.”

Xu Zhenghong: “Roger that, spacecraft has already entered cruise mode.”

Liu Biao was sitting in the co-pilot seat. He also disconnected the life support system. He looked out the window and spoke with a smile.

“The view is quite nice up here.”

Xu Zhenghong looked at the sparkling lights on Earth and the boundless universe above. He then smiled and replied, “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

This was probably the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

Suddenly, far, far away, a silver spacecraft slowly rose to the edge of the atmosphere.

Liu Biao squinted his eyes and asked, “What is that?”

“It’s probably Space-X’s BFS spacecraft. I heard they are also launching today.” Xu Zhenghong looked at him and said, “I’m surprised you saw it. It looks tiny from here.”

Liu Biao smiled awkwardly.

“Let’s fly over there and say hi to them.”

Xu Zhenghong: “Amazing idea, you should tell the command center that.”

Liu Biao scratched his head and said, “Yeah, I should.”

Xu Zhenghong paused for a second and said, “Alright, enough joking around. Rest for ten minutes, then start working.”

Liu Biao sat up straight in his co-pilot seat.

“Yes, sir!”

…

On the other side of the Earth.

The BFR spacecraft also noticed Starlight.

Even though neither of them was equipped with dedicated spacecraft detecting radar, because they were orbiting close-by at the same height, they could faintly see each other.

Travis looked at the silver spacecraft outside the window and suddenly said, “It’s a tradition in the marines to write something on a piece of paper and stick it on the window.”

Johnson raised his eyebrows and spoke.

“That’s not a tradition in the marines, it’s the air force… Even if we did stick something on the window, there is no way they can read it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Travis muttered to himself.

Unlike the two big men, Julia was completely amazed by the blue planet behind the spacecraft.

After looking out the window for a long time, Julia said, “It’s gorgeous…”

Travis looked at Julia and replied, “It sure is.”

“Speaking of which, we all trained at different training bases.” Johnson looked at the two and smiled as he said, “Let’s get to know each other.”

Travis looked at him and asked, “What should we talk about?”

“Talk about life, dreams, why we’re sitting here, why we signed up for Mars… Damn, if only there were a bottle of whiskey here,” Johnson said as he scratched his head.

Julia quietly said, “Living supplies are only unlocked after landing… That’s what I heard during training.”

Travis didn’t care about the whiskey.

“Didn’t we talk about our lives and dreams on the talk show?”

Johnson shrugged and made a helpless gesture.

“I spoke about it, you guys didn’t.”

Travis hesitated for a second and looked at Julia.

“Ladies first.”

“Oh? Me?” Julia looked around and sighed. She then said, “Okay then, but promise you won’t laugh at me. I came here because there was a problem with my relationship…”

Johnson: “Problem with your relationship? Breakup? Divorce? Oh, wait… Sorry, I shouldn’t be asking.”

“Breakup.” Julia went silent for a while and said, “Maybe it’s not a big deal to you guys, but it really broke me. I wanted to pick myself up and live somewhere else.”

Travis raised his eyebrows and said in disbelief, “So that’s why you decided to sign up to the Ares program?”

“Correct.” Julia forced out a smile and said, “Surprising, isn’t it? All my colleagues were shocked. No one expected me to actually be chosen… The immigration department quickly approved my application and Space-X bought me a plane ticket. I thought about it and decided that it was a good idea, so…”

Julia shrugged and said, “So that’s how I ended up here.”

“That’s ridiculous…” Travis looked at Julia and said, “If you’re leaving Earth over a breakup, then I have to leave the solar system.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” Johnson tapped Travis on the shoulder and said, “The lady has finished speaking. It’s your turn now. I’ve always been curious, why did a football quarterback turn into an astronaut?”

Travis hesitated for a bit and shrugged.

“Because of… debt.”

Johnson was surprised, and he said, “Credit card?”

“Kind of…” Travis looked away.

Johnson smiled and patted him encouragingly on the shoulder.

“Haha, there are no debt collectors on Mars, so you’re free.”

Travis smiled but didn’t say anything.

Julia looked at him. From her woman’s instincts, she could tell that Travis wasn’t telling the whole story.

The reason why he signed up for this expedition wasn’t just because of a debt.

However, Johnson didn’t pick up on these details. He just felt like Travis didn’t want to talk about it, so he dropped the conversation.

A person’s past wasn’t important, what was important was how they handled the future.

They were all teammates, and they were all facing the same problem…

After the conversation gates were opened, the atmosphere gradually warmed up.

Johnson looked at his two teammates and nodded with satisfaction.

As the “captain” of this flight, in addition to being responsible for the overall operation, he was also responsible for the mental state of his teammates.

After all, they had to sit in this claustrophobic spacecraft for two months. It was no different than sitting in jail.

Time slowly passed by, and the blue planet slowly disappeared.

Just like that, the BFS spacecraft left synchronous orbit. It then sailed into the deep space, toward the red fiery planet…

Chapter 771: No One Can Stop Me

Starlight roared through the clear skies and landed vertically on the tarmac.

The two astronauts walking out of the spacecraft were surrounded by the ground crew. The astronauts waved their hands at the reporters in the distance and boarded their car. They were heading toward the medical office for a simple examination.

The 72-hour flight mission was successful!

The test flight was completed perfectly.

This showed that Lu Zhou’s conclusion was correct.

Even though there was some deviation from Lu Zhou’s theoretical data, Starlight’s working medium fluid usage was significantly reduced.

Especially for the denser sections of the atmosphere.

Not just that, but because the speed of the spacecraft decreased by a significant amount, the heat output of Starlight also decreased. This reduced the maintenance cost.

Starlight would officially serve at the Jinling aerospace launch site and jointly undertake the lunar transfer orbit mission with Skyglow.

On the other hand, the second day after Starlight completed its 72-hour test flight, Skyglow, which completed its lunar orbit mission, landed on the Jinling launch site.

The Moon Palace core module had already been in orbit for two weeks. During this two-week observation period, the core module was found to be operating normally.

Academician Yuan Huanmin, who was in the command tower, looked at Nie Yun and Nie Yan walk out of Skyglow, and he sighed in relief.

Over the past three days, he and several of his students, as well as engineers and technicians of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, spent 24 hours a day at the Jinling launch site.

Now that Moon Palace was finally on track, they could take a break.

Far across the Pacific Ocean, the Americans were also celebrating.

Space-X’s BFS spacecraft successfully left the Earth-Moon system, carrying three astronauts tens of millions of kilometers away.

This was the first time that humans left the Earth-Moon system.

This was also the first time humanity had sent colonists to another planet.

Even though China was the first to put a space station in lunar orbit, NASA had proven its dominance in far-distance aerospace navigation. NASA expressed in an interview that the Ares program funding would not interfere with the Lunar Gateway funding.

Not just that, but NASA’s “Lunar Gateway” space station, which was scheduled to begin in 2022, was now scheduled to the second half of 2021. Space-X’s Dragon spacecraft was going to send the “Lunar Gateway” core module to lunar orbit.

If the Americans could successfully place a space station in lunar orbit, then they would have undoubtedly won the space race.

The United States seemed to be at the forefront of human exploration again.

At least that was what the world thought…

The Ares program and the Moon Palace project had both been going full force ahead, and scientists and related aerospace practitioners had been trying their hardest to defeat the other.

It seemed like there were new aerospace technologies born every day.

The contest between the two super countries created a futuristic illusion.

In fact, it might not entirely be an illusion.

Because of the space race, large amounts of funds had gone into the aerospace research field. Major universities had created majors in outer space exploration and resource development. Many aerospace research projects also received funding…

Because of the funding flowing into aerospace technology, other technology fields were also growing at an unimaginable rate.

The most obvious was the medical industry.

Just a week after the BFS Heart of Gold spacecraft launched, the Washington Post released another breaking news.

Significant progress had been made in dormancy cabin technology. Johnson & Johnson and Blue Origin had successfully thawed and awakened the monkeys that had been frozen for 67 days!

The international community responded to the news.

Even though the monkeys’ body tissues suffered various degrees of damage and had signs of dementia after waking up, this “resurrection” still shocked the clinical and biology world!

Leading the project was Professor Grange of Harvard University. When Nature ran a highlight of his article, he even described his research as the “same level of a breakthrough as controllable fusion technology”.

In fact, even though biological freezing and dormancy sounded like science fiction, examples could be seen in nature.

Take the Siberian Salamandridae as an example. The Salamandridae living in Sakha would climb into the cracks of gelisol, where they would stay frozen for a long time.

The longest recorded time spent frozen was 90 years.

Theoretically, if living animals could survive the harsh environment of being frozen and stay dormant, they could effectively “time travel” into the future. Insects in many extreme environments had more or less similar capabilities.

The problem was how to achieve this in mammals!

When the scientists researched the technology, they found that when freezing and resuscitating animal cells, there was a dangerous temperature zone, which was between 0 to -60C.

Long periods of time spent in this temperature range could lead to the permanent death of the organism.

Avoiding the dangerous temperature zone and safely reaching -120C was the main part of the technology.

Professor Grange, who worked at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals, used a frozen slow-release agent to fix this problem. After anesthetizing the organism, the organism would then be soaked with a special slow-release agent, after which the freezing process would begin.

So far, this technology had been sponsored by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Many multi-billionaire rich men and the Arabic royal family had expressed their interest in this technology.

Most sponsors had stated in interviews that they hoped that the technology could allow them to time travel into the distant future.

In their opinion, in the distant future, perhaps human society would have found a way to cure almost all diseases and achieved immortality.

A member of the Arabic royal family said that he would consider dividing his wealth into seven pieces before going dormant. He planned on giving them to four different companies and three banks.

If everything were to go according to plan, when he woke up, he would still be a rich man living in the future.

Not to mention that the growth of his money could make him one of the richest people in the world…

As long as inflation wasn’t too ridiculous.

Of course, even though the ultra-rich were optimistic about this technology, many liberals and socialists were worried.

In particular, the well-known Nobel Prize in Economics winner, Professor Angus Deaton, said in an interview with the media that the technology was not as beautiful as everyone had imagined. Frequent use of this technology was likely going to exacerbate the problem of economic class differences.

If everyone wanted to live a better life in the future, no one would want to make the present a better place.

Especially when the 3% of people wanting to go dormant held 97% of the world’s wealth and resources. This could stop global economic growth, turning humanity into a dystopian society…

Professor Angus Deaton won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2015 for his “contributions to research in consumption, poverty, and welfare”. He was a genius who used mathematical methods to build economic models. He was currently the head of the economics department at Princeton University.

His remarks might have sounded alarmist, but due to his reputation in the academic field, his words of insight attracted many people’s attention.

The North American liberals even held a protest at the White House, calling for the legislation to ban research on dormancy…

Of course, the protest would likely be useless.

Especially when the rich and powerful were staring at this technology with greedy eyes…

Lu Zhou, who was far away at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, also read Professor Grange’s article in Nature.

After reading the article, he couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Last time when I read the relevant report in the newspaper, Johnson & Johnson said that the technology was still in the stage of technical demonstration. I did not expect that in just a few months, they have already completed clinical trials.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of tea.

Yang Xu looked up and replied, “It looks like they’re doing amazing stuff.”

“Yeah, it seems like they are making great progress.” Lu Zhou put down the Nature magazine and pondered for a while. He looked at Yang Xu and asked, “What did Hengrui Medicine say?”

Yang Xu: “They are very interested in our proposal and agree that cryonics technology can be very promising in the near future… However, they also expressed their concerns about the risks of the project.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “They don’t think they can do it?”

Yang Xu shook his head and said, “Not quite, they’re more worried about policy.”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Policy?”

“Yeah.” Yang Xu put down his teacup and looked at Lu Zhou as he said, “The international research community is debating heavily on human dormancy research. Not only is there a constant controversy in the academic world, but the general population is also divided. Hengrui Medicine is worried that China might ban research on relevant technologies due to international pressure.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“That counts as a risk?”

Yang Xu made a helpless expression and said, “You might not think so… After all, similar things have happened before.”

“Tell them that their worries are completely superfluous.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No one can stop me from researching what I want.”

Chapter 772: Recruiting

Back when Lu Zhou was still in Princeton, he was thinking about his potential research directions.

The more unfamiliar and novel his research, the more his research would conflict with ethics and morals.

This was inevitable.

After all, the high tech system had a wide range of subjects. He couldn’t just research mathematics for the rest of his life.

After talking with Yang Xu, Lu Zhou opened his laptop and contemplated it for a second. After extracting some of the core concepts from Professor Grange’s thesis, he wrote a thesis summary on “Human Freezing and Dormancy Technology”. In this summary, he clearly stated his support for the research.

“… Because of the short human lifespan, it is more meaningful to explore a way of allowing humans to travel for thousands of years, rather than finding a way to increase the speed of our spacecraft.

“The Earth is merely the origin of civilization. One day, our footprints will reach other galaxies.

“Maybe it’s still too early to think about that. But from a long-term perspective, I think it is necessary for us to master this technology.”

Lu Zhou’s fingers typed out his thoughts on the computer.

Even though he wasn’t obligated to explain his motivation behind his research, public opinions still mattered. If he didn’t have the public supporting him, the public would support someone else instead, which could mean trouble.

With the influence he had in academia now, even if some people might have objections against his research, no one would dare to stand up against him in public… at least not in China.

Therefore, before the foreign media and protests could influence the Chinese public opinion, he had to use his own influence to guide the Chinese academic community to be in favor of this technology.

Lu Zhou pressed the enter button on his keyboard. He read his thesis from the beginning to end and nodded with satisfaction. He then uploaded the thesis to his email and sent it to the editorial department at Jin Ling University.

Ever since he returned to China, the Jin Ling University journal’s influence had increased by a ton. Especially after the success of the controllable nuclear fusion project, Jin Ling University’s reputation was at its peak.

Even though they were still behind compared to top universities such as Shuimu University and Yan University, they were only a little behind.

Not to mention he was the one publishing.

Many universities and research institutes would specifically search for Lu Zhou’s thesis and use it as reference material.

After Lu Zhou finished the submission, he turned off his computer and set this matter aside.

He was not an expert in the field of biochemistry, nor was he an expert in biological dormancy technology. He still had to rely on experts to help him with research.

Yang Xu had already contacted Hengrui Medicine for that.

The results of the cooperation negotiations would come soon.

Lu Zhou was quite confident that they would end up cooperating.

After all, he was Lu Zhou.

With Lu Zhou backing them, Hengrui Medicine should have no concerns.

Now that the space race was in full swing, any scientific research project that was stamped with the Lunar Orbit Committee symbol would instantly receive the green light.

There were no exceptions to this.

…

The day after Yang Xu contacted Hengrui Medicine, Professor Zhang Jiafu, who previously visited Lu Zhou, visited him again.

After some small talk, Professor Zhang asked, “How come you’re suddenly interested in cryonics?”

Honestly speaking, Professor Zhang wasn’t optimistic about this technology. He didn’t know why Lu Zhou wanted to get his hands dirty in this field.

Apparently, because of the cryonics technology thesis, Professor Grange at Harvard University had received several death threat emails and even protesters at his house. Grange was forced to leave his Harvard home and relocate to Johnson & Johnson’s research institute in East Detroit.

Even though no one in China dared to send Lu Zhou a death threat, this would still impact his academic reputation.

After hearing Professor Zhang’s question, Lu Zhou answered casually, “Cryonics is an important technology that will be useful in the future.”

Professor Zhang Jiafu paused for a second. He smiled and shook his head.

“I don’t disagree… But if you insist, we are good to go.”

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t say anything else. He opened his drawer and took out a project proposal. He placed the proposal on the table.

“We will provide the necessary researchers and some funding to participate in this research. However, our talent in clinical biology is limited, and we will need researchers on your end.”

“No problem,” Professor Zhang Jiafu said, “we have quite a few experts in clinical biology.”

As one of the few Chinese companies in the field of drug research and development, Hengrui Medicine had a large talent pool in clinical biology and other drug-related fields. They had many researchers from top foreign universities and research institutions. These people were all top dogs in the field of biology.

On the other hand, the Jinling Institute of Biochemistry was only recently established.

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “The specific cooperation and profit distributions are all in this document. You can bring it back and show it to your legal department. If there’s no problem with everything, I hope we can begin work as soon as possible.”

Professor Zhang Jiafu picked up the plan and briefly read through it. After he saw the list of participants, he immediately said, “I have a question.”

Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”

Zhang Jiafu: “The field of cryonics is very unpopular. Even though we have big names in clinical biology and biopharmaceuticals, cryonics is not our expertise…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You’re a biopharmaceuticals expert, so I’m sure you have connections in the field. Just find some researchers that fit the job and hire them.”

“It’s not that easy.” Zhang Jiafu smiled and said, “There are very few people in China that are researching cryonics. I know who these people are, but I can’t guarantee they’ll join our project.”

The more novel the research direction, the fewer people there were. In a case like this, a handful of people had total control over the field.

A handful of top professors received the majority of resources, such as experimental funding, thesis publishing, and patents. On the other hand, weaker professors couldn’t even publish a thesis in a journal.

After the talented people were trained, they would often move to more popular fields… This was extremely common in the field of biology.

Therefore, the people that Lu Zhou wanted to hire were already big names themselves.

Since they were big names, why would they need Lu Zhou’s help?

However, Lu Zhou smiled gently and replied, “Just tell me who you want, I’ll go find them.”

Zhang Jiafu hesitated for a second before saying, “Liu Zuobing…”

Lu Zhou: “Who is he?”

“Director of the Laboratory of Cell Cryogenic Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, PLA General Hospital…”

Zhang Jiafu paused for a second and said, “I met him at an academic conference in Chengdu, and we talked about cryonics. He seemed to be optimistic about cryogenic technology. He even published a paper on cryonics biology cell repair in the ‘Annual Review of Physiology’. Professor Grange even quoted his paper, but…”

Lu Zhou: “But?”

“But I heard that he’s been trying to become an academician, so he might not want to get his hands dirty with us.” Professor Zhang said awkwardly, “It won’t be easy to convince him.”

Being elected as an academician wasn’t just about research results, it was also about not making potential mistakes and having a good public image.

However, after hearing Professor Zhang’s concerns, a light bulb went off in Lu Zhou’s mind.

He wants to become an academician?

Perfect!

Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Zhang Jiafu.

“Okay, we’ll get him.”

Zhang Jiafu said, “You really plan on recruiting this big name for our project?”

“You said he’s the best cryonics researcher in China.” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Obviously I want the best.”

Chapter 773: One's Own Style

There was less than two months until June.

All of the academician selection candidates already submitted a 3000-word essay. They were quietly waiting for the first round of evaluations to begin.

Of course, this was just the calm before the storm.

Even though the first round of evaluations wasn’t a total bloodbath, various lobbying strategies had already begun.

Some people enjoyed the competition, some didn’t care for it, and some even went to foreign academic conferences to avoid the sh*tshow.

PLA General Hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences, Laboratory of Cell Cryogenic Medicine.

Two noob researchers stood in front of the thermo incubator, “happily” doing experiments.

Compared to other Chinese universities, the PLA General Hospital might sound prestigious, and it was ranked fairly high in the industry. However, it was still ranked below other top universities.

The reason was obvious. It was just like how universities with more academicians couldn’t defeat factions like Yan University and Aurora.

The more diverse the talent pool was, the more competition there was. All of the talents were from different places.

Compared to hiring people from other institutes, they were more inclined to train people of their own.

This was true in academia and any public institutions that had an ounce of bureaucracy.

By contrast, the noob researchers at the Laboratory of Cell Cryogenic Medicine were quite happy.

If everything went well, their mentor, Director Liu, should be able to be an academician this year.

The academician selection was more about fate and luck. Director Liu was well aware of this, that was why he still hadn’t submitted his 3000-word personal essay.

After all, convincing other people to vote for him meant he had to owe them a favor in the future.

Not to mention he had already lost twice before.

After three consecutive unsuccessful elections, the candidate’s election eligibility would be suspended. All of the candidate’s previously submitted material must not be reused. It was very rare for someone to become an academician after three unsuccessful elections.

Even big names were no exception.

Because of this, these noob researchers didn’t have to help Director Liu make connections with the academician committee.

Song Siyuan: “This year’s academician election is interesting.”

Zhuo Ruicai: “Why is that?”

Song Siyuan: “Have you read the first round of primaries announced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences?”

Zhuo Ruicai said, “I’ve seen it, what’s wrong with it?”

“In the past years, the academician election was a battle of the elderly. The average age of the academician candidates was over 70 years old.”

Even though Jin Ling University had the third most academicians in the country, it had a serious aging issue. It had been a long time since Jin Ling University had a new academician.

However, this year the trend flipped. Many young scholars from Jin Ling University emerged on the primaries list.

Zhuo Ruicai: “What is so surprising about that, Jin Ling University has Professor Lu, so of course this year is going to be different! Forget about Jin Ling University, any university with Professor Lu would explode in the talent pool.”

Song Siyuan: “That’s not the entire reason.”

Zhuo Ruicai: “There are other reasons?”

Song Siyuan nodded and said, “Even though Professor Lu is from Jin Ling University, do you really think Jin Ling University can still contain him? The reason why Jin Ling University is this strong is because of Professor Lu’s goodwill.”

Zhuo Ruicai was a little muddled, and he asked, “Then what department do you think he’s from?”

Zhuo Ruicai was a newcomer in academia, so he didn’t know about the inner academic community gossip.

Song Siyuan looked at him and said, “Just look at the academician election.”

Zuo Ruicai hesitated for a bit and shook his head.

“I have no idea, is he a part of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study?”

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had been gaining popularity under the leadership of Professor Lu, and the institute had made many outstanding achievements and published many high-quality papers.

Not just that, but because of its relaxing academic atmosphere, many foreign Chinese scholars had made it their goal to return to China and work at the institute.

Even then, the Institute for Advanced Study wasn’t comparable to top universities.

After all, it was only established recently.

Song Siyuan looked at his confused co-worker and slowly spoke.

“He’s in his own league.”

Another noob researcher sitting beside them looked shocked.

He’s in his own league…

He’s probably the only person who’s in his own league!

Zhuo Ruicai also looked surprised.

“If only our supervisor was this nutty.”

“You’re talking about Director Liu?” Song Siyuan coldly smiled and said, “Forget about it, we’re in a no-name field, it’s a miracle our supervisor is in the Changjiang Scholars Program!”

Even though Song Siyuan didn’t want to admit it, his supervisor, Liu Zuobing, was an outstanding scholar. However, Liu Zuobing wasn’t quite yet at the level of an academician.

Changjiang Scholars Program might be his ceiling.

There was nothing sad about this. The Changjiang Scholars Program was an amazing accomplishment. Many people tried for their entire lives to get into the program.

The door was suddenly pushed open.

The two noob researchers immediately stopped talking.

Liu Zuobing walked into the laboratory and walked straight into the refrigerator incubator. He looked at the nematode cells and then looked at his students.

“How’s the sample condition?”

Song Siyuan replied with a stutter, “It’s… It’s still alive.”

He just realized how useless his sentence was.

However, his supervisor didn’t seem to care about the incubator samples at all.

“Send me a sample observation report tomorrow, then immediately pack your bags. We are going to Jinling tomorrow!”

To Jinling?!

What is going on?

Zhuo Ruicai and Song Siyuan were muddled, so were the other noob researchers in the laboratory.

Professor Liu Zuobing took a deep breath and spoke seriously, hiding his excitement.

“This morning, I received an invitation from Professor Lu to participate in the joint cryonics project at the Institute for Advanced Study!”

“Human cryonics project?” Song Siyuan nervously said, “But the public opinion on this… isn’t good, right?”

Scientific ethics was a serious issue.

Ethical misconduct could cost one an academician title!

However, Professor Liu Zuobing didn’t hesitate at all.

He said, “Scientific research requires sacrifices, I am willing to sacrifice for my country!”

Song Siyuan: “…”

Zhuo Ruicai: “…”

The other noob researchers: “…”

F*ck sake!

How come this is the first time I’ve seen you so patriotic?

Professor Liu continued to speak in a serious tone.

“I’ve already accepted to join the human cryonics dormancy project at the Institute for Advanced Study. The institute is supportive of my decision, and they want me to leave for Jinling as soon as possible! I want to contribute to the space race!”

Song Siyuan nodded and replied, “Okay.”

Honestly, he was a little bewildered.

Not because of human cryonics dormancy, after all, his supervisor had always been interested in cryonics…

He didn’t expect his supervisor to participate in this project during a sensitive time like this.

As for contributing to the space race…

That was totally a lie!

Even though cryonics might be helpful for the aerospace industry, for scientific academic scholars like them, the space race was quite meaningless.

However…

It seemed like the old man was more excited than if he had won the academician election?

What is happening…

The two noob researchers watched their supervisor leave the laboratory. They looked at each other in shock.

Song Siyuan spoke.

“F*ck me, is he still going to run for academician or not?”

Zhuo Ruicai gulped.

After a while, he replied, “Professor Lu really is nutty…”

Chapter 774: We All Die

Ever since the successful Johnson & Johnson experiments, Professor Grange had been at the center of public opinion.

Most people were against the development of human cryonics technology.

Even though it provided another chance of life for terminally ill patients, most people couldn’t afford to keep a freezer running for decades.

A technology like this was destined to only serve the upper class, hence there was no reason for the bottom class to support its existence.

A Dutch performance artist even painted a satirical oil painting on this issue. He portrayed a frozen mummy in an ice coffin, sitting on a throne. A group of servants in suits was kneeling around the mummy. He was ridiculing the servants that thought they could one day be sitting on the throne, similar to Pharaohs thousands of years ago.

A North American science fiction writer painted a picture of a dystopian society, ruled by servants that never woke their masters up.

In that dystopian society, people lived an extremely poor life, social development was stalled, and society solidified to the point where it was almost impossible for a person to climb up the class rankings through their own efforts. This was because most of the wealth was controlled by the “frozen mummies”.

In some sense, these viewpoints were quite extreme. But there was a logic behind them. Therefore, they attracted quite a bit of attention.

The question of whether this technology was ethical was discussed both in and out of the academic circle.

While the debates were going on, a major event happened.

While everyone was busy writing their own opinions on this technology, Jinling Institute for Advanced Study quietly established a human cryonics dormancy research group. They invited Liu Zuobing, who was the director of the Laboratory of Cell Cryogenic Medicine at PLA General Hospital, as the project manager.

As soon as the news broke out, there was an uproar in the international community.

They wouldn’t care if it were some no-name institute, but this was the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study!

They were the ones that invented controllable fusion technology!

They were the ones that designed the Skyglow aerospaceplane!

Most importantly, Professor Lu was the head of the institute…

People who were against cryonics suddenly began to worry.

Sh*t!

Professor Lu is interested!

What if he actually succeeds?!

Even though Lu Zhou had never displayed talent in the field of biology, nor had he ever been involved in biology research, so no one was certain of his true abilities.

After all, Lu Zho had made numerous miracles before.

Some of the more observant people noticed that Professor Liu Zuobing was the head of the research project, and they pointed out that Liu Zuobing’s name was quoted in Professor Grange’s thesis…

All of these signs indicated that Lu Zhou wasn’t joking around and that he was serious about solving this problem.

…

At the Department of Economics building, Princeton University.

Angus Deaton sat in his office. He took off his glasses and threw the newspaper on the table.

“This is unbelievable!”

Professor Witten sat across from him. Witten smiled and took a sip of tea.

“What’s wrong? My friend.”

Five years ago, Witten started to go bald, and now, only strands of hair could be seen on his head.

That’s life.

Born in 1951, he was now over seventy years old, and he had reached his final years.

Two years ago, Professor Atiyah passed away in the midst of his quest to solve Riemann’s conjecture. This took quite a toll on Witten. Up until now, Witten had lived a secluded life in Princeton.

“I don’t know why Lu Zhou would do something like this! There is no way a man as smart as him doesn’t realize this!” Professor Angus angrily opened his email, and his fingers trembled as he typed on the keyboard.

Witten looked at his old friend and smiled.

“Stay calm, my friend, we’re not young anymore, watch out for your blood pressure.”

“But… I have to stop him!”

Witten put down the teacup and thought for a moment before speaking, “Maybe… he has his own reasons?”

Angus stopped typing on the keyboard. He frowned and looked at Witten.

“You’re saying… The Chinese government is forcing him to do this?”

“Not quite, but it is possible!” Edward Witten smiled and said, “He’s a very opinionated person, so he wouldn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. On the contrary, he succeeds at everything he puts his mind on.”

Angus went silent, and he leaned back in his chair.

“Since you know him so well, why is he doing this?”

“You’re wrong, I don’t know him well. Even when he was at Princeton, I only knew of him as a talented scholar,” Witten said. “On the contrary, Professor Fefferman knew him a lot better than I did. I just think of him as a respectable scholar.”

Professor Angus said angrily, “But he’s using his knowledge to do something that is morally wrong!”

“Who knows what will happen in the future. Maybe I’m being politically incorrect, but I really don’t think human cryonics dormancy is as bad as you think.” Professor Witten smiled and said, “It’s not going to be worse than the invention of cell phones, right? All millennials do is go on their phones these days.”

Angus shook his head and said, “You don’t understand.”

Wittens smiled and said, “You’re right, I don’t understand economics, I’m just a physicist. But I think we are more similar than you think. I use mathematics to study physics, you use mathematics to study economics.”

Angus said, “But my economics models are phenomenological models that have been carefully tested! It objectively predicts human activities.” Angus then said sarcastically, “If you think it’s so easy, why don’t you use a mathematical economics model to win a Nobel Prize?”

Witten smiled and said, “Oh… I’m too old for that, maybe I’ll be able to use cryonics technology to win a Nobel Prize.”

“We all die in the end, my friend. There is nothing wrong with accepting death.” Angus looked at Witten and said, “I know Atiyah’s passing had a huge effect on you, but the same will come for us. There is nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t want to talk about this with you.” Witten smiled and said, “Since you have something to say to Lu Zhou, why don’t you talk to him face to face? Every time I talk to him in person, I become a little wiser… If it weren’t for my doctor recommended me to fly less, I would come with you.”

“Great idea!”

Professor Angus turned off his computer and slowly stood up from his office chair. He started to walk out of the office.

Witten looked at his old friend leaving the office and smiled.

“Remember to say hi to Professor Lu for me, and tell him that his friend wants to play cards with him!”

Angus didn’t respond.

He was long gone.

Witten smiled and shook his head. He held the sofa armrest and slowly stood up.

“Time really flies by when you’re old…”

He looked outside the window and noticed a turtledove on a tree branch. He suddenly muttered to himself, “That’s nice.”

Chapter 775: Nematode Cells

Actually, Professor Liu didn’t have to “suck up” to Lu Zhou.

He had his own laboratory, so he could do whatever experiment he wanted.

However, he still couldn’t resist.

He immediately came over to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou said, “I can’t help you this term, but next term, which is in two years, I can guarantee that you will become an academician.”

Professor Liu had no connections outside the world of biology, so this was enough to tempt him…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

A laboratory located inside the Institute of Biochemistry.

Some of the equipment here was ordered by Lu Zhou’s friends from Germany and the Netherlands, and the others were simply borrowed or bought from the Institute of Medical Sciences, PLA General Hospital.

Even though borrowing equipment like this was unusual, because the project was backed by the Lunar Orbit Committee, the PLA Hospital was more than happy to lend out their equipment.

All they had to do was sign over the equipment, and they would receive the glory of supporting a national key project. It was a no-brainer.

Lu Zhou stood in the laboratory. He stared at the glassware samples in the refrigerator as he asked, “What is this?”

Professor Liu Zuobing: “Ancient nematode cell samples! The research team from the St. Petersburg State University collected them from the tundra of the Alazeya River. I’m pretty close with the professors there, so I bought these off them.”

Lu Zhou casually asked, “How much is it?”

“Pretty cheap, just a hundred thousand USD.”

Only a hundred thousand USD…

That’s pretty expensive…

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, this wasn’t some kind of endangered species. It was often found in the feces of extinct species. As long as one was near an ancient river bed, one could retrieve these samples with just a shovel.

A hundred thousand dollars would be enough to fund an entire scientific research expedition.

Professor Liu Zuobing knew what Lu Zhou was thinking, so he coughed and casually explained, “A hundred thousand USD is not expensive! Supply and demand, my friend. According to carbon dating, this thing is 40,000 years old. It’s very difficult for us to retrieve them.”

Lu Zhou: “Alright, get to the main point, I’m not an expert in paleontology.”

Professor Liu Zuobing put on a serious face and said, “This is probably the earliest living biological sample we can get our hands on. After we bought the nematode cell sample from the research team at St. Petersburg University, we took out some of the nematode cells and placed them into special culture dishes, and an amazing phenomenon was discovered.”

Professor Zhang Jiafu, who stood beside them listening, couldn’t help but ask, “What phenomenon?”

Professor Liu Zuobing replied in a serious tone, “Among the 173 culture dishes, 2 observed the recovery of the nematode cells, and they resumed normal life activities!”

Professor Zhang Jiafu suddenly looked shocked.

“Are you sure there was no contamination? Could there be something wrong with the St. Petersburg University sample?”

Professor Liu Zuobing spoke in a serious manner, “I am certain, because my students were also with the St. Petersburg University research team.”

“Me,” Song Siyuan said. He looked at Liu Zuobing and nervously said, “I was there for the sample collection, I took photos.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Then why did you guys have to pay a hundred thousand USD?”

If you retrieved the samples yourself, why did you have to pay?

Professor Liu Zuobing suddenly had an awkward expression on his face.

Professor Zhang Jiafu coughed and said, “The thing is that we signed a contract with the Russians… Can I look at the sample?”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded and spoke.

“Of course.”

Professor Liu Zuobing’s assistant used a special pipette to retrieve a sample from a petri dish. The assistant quickly placed the sample on a slide specimen and placed the slide under a laboratory microscope.

Professor Zhang Jiafu stepped forward and carefully looked through the microscope.

He saw these precious tiny creatures floating in agar and a special nutrient solution. They slowly moved around, eating E. Coli as food.

After a couple of seconds, he looked up from the microscope and spoke emotionally.

“This discovery is incredible… St. Petersburg University just gave you the research results?”

“Of course not, the thesis is theirs, but I haven’t collaborated with them in further research.” Professor Liu Zuobing smirked and said, “For example, the retrieval of the nematode cell DNA… I assume they have been trying to do this, but no results have come out yet.”

Professor Zhang immediately asked, “Did you find something then?”

“By studying the DNA of the nematode samples, we found that the 18S-rDNA gene fragment may contain factors that allow them to remain actively dormant in extremely cold environments!”

Even Lu Zhou looked surprised.

The DNA fragment is related to frozen dormancy!

This is huge!

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Have you published the results?”

“Not yet.” Liu Zuobing shook his head and said, “This is just an in-progress result. We’re certain the Russians haven’t discovered this yet, so we’re keeping it a secret for now.”

This type of situation was common in the academic community.

Lu Zhou had done the same himself, so he nodded.

“Okay then, I want to hear your experimental ideas, can you explain them to me?”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded and said, “The 18S-rDNA gene fragment may become the key to solving dormancy technology. So far, we have speculated about two possibilities. One is that this 18S-rDNA gene fragment synthesizes a special protein through transcription of RNA, which allows cells to maintain cell body structure under extreme temperature conditions!”

This sounded extremely exciting.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t look excited. He thought for a bit and said, “But a lot of cells still die.”

Professor Liu nodded and added, “Yes, not every cell is able to survive, because the cold temperature isn’t the only damaging factor… Of course, this isn’t the main point. The point is that we have two ideas.”

He walked to the laboratory whiteboard and drew two lines on the whiteboard. He then wrote on one of them.

“One method is through gene editing. After we modify the potentially effective gene fragment, we can insert it into the genes of a living body. This way, we can achieve dormancy!”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, “What’s the other idea?”

Professor Liu Zuobing said, “The other is to use a similar idea to Professor Grange’s. Which is to immerse a human body in a substance containing the special protein.”

Professor Zhang Jiafu said, “Like formalin?”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded and said, “Something like that, but definitely not formalin…”

Standing next to the whiteboard, Lu Zhou thought for a while.

After a couple of seconds, he said, “This sounds like a crazy idea, but I think we can try the second idea.”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded.

“I agree as well, the genetic modification method… might succeed, but the costs are too high.”

More importantly, research regarding genetic editing of human DNA was currently banned.

Unlike the controversial debates regarding human dormancy, human genetic editing was deemed to be morally unethical…

Even Professor Lu didn’t dare to experiment with this kind of illegal research.

Suddenly, knocking sounds were heard.

Lu Zhou’s office assistant walked through the door.

“Professor, someone is looking for you.”

For me?

Lu Zhou didn’t recall having an appointment with anyone today, so he asked, “Who?”

The young female assistant replied, “The visitor claims to be Professor Angus Deaton from Princeton… He seems to be pretty anxious.”

Angus Deaton?

Lu Zhou had a vague impression of this name. He seemed to recall Deaton was from the economics department.

Even though Princeton didn’t have a business school, it did have an economics department. Surprisingly, Princeton’s economics department was ranked highly in the United States.

However, Lu Zhou had never studied economics before.

Therefore, he couldn’t think of a reason why Professor Angus would want to meet him.

After a while, Lu Zhou said, “Okay, ask him to wait at reception.”

The female assistant nodded.

“Okay, Professor Lu!”

She turned around and walked out of the laboratory.

Chapter 776: Deal With It Later

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, reception guest room.

When Lu Zhou pushed open the door, he saw Professor Angus sitting on the sofa. Professor Angus had a gray beard on his face. Wang Peng sat across from him.

Lu Zhou showed a friendly smile toward Professor Angus as he greeted him.

“Angus Deaton, what brings you here?”

Professor Angus adjusted his glasses. His old eyes didn’t work so well anymore. He finally recognized Lu Zhou and replied seriously, “It’s because of what happened recently. You must know why I’m here.”

What happened recently?

Lu Zhou immediately knew what he was talking about. He looked at Wang Peng as a signal for Wang Peng to leave the room.

Wang Peng hesitated for a bit before standing up.

However, he didn’t immediately leave the room. Instead, he walked up to Lu Zhou and said, “I heard some bad news. You should be more careful.”

Lu Zhou looked at him and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’m not doing anything dangerous. Not to mention the Chinese community is different from the foreign community. I’m sure the problems faced by Professor Grange isn’t a problem here at all.”

Ever since Grange’s thesis was published, the Chinese media chose to remain silent on this controversial matter.

“No, I don’t mean the human rights organizations, they’re not a problem, it’s…” Wang Peng hesitated for a bit and looked at Professor Angus. He whispered to Lu Zhou, “It’s the CIA… I heard they seem to be up to something.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at Wang Peng with a weird expression.

“Do you really think the CIA is sabotaging us right now?”

Wang Peng suddenly recalled Angus Deaton’s background. He smiled awkwardly.

“I think you’re right.”

Angus Deaton is a Nobel Prize-winning scholar, there is no way the CIA could turn Angus into a spy…

Even Hollywood wouldn’t have such a ridiculous plot.

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “Your worries are unnecessary.”

Wang Peng: “Just be careful, he is an American.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t care if he’s an American or not. I trust him. Not to mention…” Lu Zhou jokingly said, “I’m not exactly afraid of an old man in his seventies.”

Wang Peng finally decided to leave the reception room.

Professor Angus and Lu Zhou were left alone in the reception room.

Lu Zhou sat down on the sofa across from Angus. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. He then leaned on the sofa and said, “I’m guessing you have a lot to say. You can begin now.”

Professor Angus said, “I just want to say one thing… Please immediately stop whatever you are doing! Your research could release a terrible demon!”

Lu Zhou looked at the mist rising above his teacup, and after a while, he spoke.

“I don’t know a lot about economics and sociology, and I don’t quite understand what you mean by a terrible demon.”

Professor Angus stood up and said, “If you don’t understand, I can teach you.”

Lu Zhou nodded as a gesture for Angus to continue.

Professor Angus: “I need a whiteboard… or a blackboard.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No problem, we have plenty of whiteboards and blackboards here.”

Lu Zhou found a whiteboard and rolled it into the reception room.

Professor Angus picked up the marker and scribbled down a line of calculations on the whiteboard. He explained his theory to Lu Zhou in a simple manner. He then drew a line that represented his expectations for the future economic trend.

Angus talked about his concerns regarding dormancy technology, problems such as those causing a large amount of asset sedimentation, shifting the elite class to the future, amplifying class differences… He said these were all factors that would lead to the collapse of society.

After all, those rich people were greedy.

If they could live a better life in the future, who would want to stay in the current era?

“… In our society, the means of production are controlled by a small number of people. Therefore, we have adopted many methods to restrict this phenomenon, such as laws, regulations, taxes, and so forth.

“But your research will destroy people’s efforts at creating a balanced society.”

After hearing Professor Angus’ theory, Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit before speaking, “Even though I admit your concerns are reasonable, I cannot agree with you.”

“Why?”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“It’s not just human cryonics dormancy technology, advanced AI, VR, automation… There are so many things that can collapse our society. If you want to maintain society as it is, I’m afraid your only solution is to ban scientific research.”

Professor Angus said, “You’re a fascist!”

“No, I’m not, I’m just looking at this in an objective manner.” Lu Zhou shook his head and calmly said, “Technology itself is innocent, people, on the other hand, are not.”

Professor Angus immediately said, “Exactly, then how are you going to promise that people will use technology in a moral and ethical way?”

“I can’t promise anything, just like how politicians can’t guarantee world peace, economists can’t guarantee economic growth. Even weather forecasts get the weather conditions wrong sometimes… So why are you demanding me to promise that my technology will be used correctly?”

Professor Angus paused for a second.

He hesitated for a moment, then frowned.

“You’re right… But, this is a risk we can’t afford.”

“Some risks are inevitable.” Lu Zhou stared at Professor Angus and said, “Our civilization is always moving forward. Even if I decide not to research this technology, someone else will.

“It’s just like controllable nuclear fusion. Many people may hate me because I eliminated millions or even tens of millions of jobs. But I also believe that more people will thank me in the future as fewer people would be suffering in coal mines. People’s quality of lives will increase.”

This was the law of civilization development. Even though things might temporarily seem worse or stagnate, over the long term, quality of life would always improve.

Artificial intelligence would become more and more intelligent, smarter than human beings. One day, humans could act like gods, editing their genetics and making themselves omnipotent…

“The same is true for human cryonics dormancy, it will provide many terminally-ill patients a second chance at life. It will also allow civilization to expand across the galaxy.

“It will impact society in negative ways… The problems you are talking about are valid. But I think civilization will eventually find a suitable solution to these problems. Just like how we find solutions to scientific problems.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Angus and added, “And your job is to incorporate these new technologies into society in a non-destructive manner.”

Chapter 777: Great Ideas Often Come From Accidents

Princeton University.

Many professors were seen drinking coffee inside a cafe located on the second floor of a building. This was their favorite place to talk about academia, or simply read a book and enjoy the peaceful afternoon.

Edward Witten was a frequent visitor of this cafe.

Witten was a physicist with a Fields Medal under his belt. Most students had an enormous amount of respect for this man. Students often took the initiative to greet him or talk about obscure physics problems.

The old man happily responded to these students.

He and Professor Fefferman were both approachable people.

One day, after Witten finished his lecture, he came to this cafe. He ordered a cup of coffee and sat by the window. He was surprised when he saw someone walk up the stairs and into the cafe.

“Angus?” Witten’s eyes were wide open. He put away his notebook and looked at Professor Angus. Witten then joked, “My friend, why are you back so soon?”

“Because I already have the answer I need.” Professor Angus slowly sat down across from Witten and paused for a while. He said, “You are right, even though I talked to him for less than an hour, I learned a lot.”

Witten smiled and said, “Oh, really? Can you share what you learned?”

“These new generations of scholars are more optimistic than us, and they have unique ideas. I was too pessimistic before. I thought the world was doomed, but this gives me hope for humanity.”

“I’m glad you’re more optimistic now.” Witten looked at his watch and said, “I have a physics lecture in a bit, I have to go.”

“Go ahead… Speaking of which, why are you interested in teaching undergraduate students?” Professor Angus said with a strange look on his face.

“Because life always ends… I think you’re right, we will all eventually die, but some things can be passed on.” Witten smiled and finished his coffee. He put down the cup and said, “Maybe one day in the future, my students can unify the four forces.”

Professor Angus joked, “Or maybe they won’t.”

Witten smiled and said, “Haha, hopefully not! Regardless, I’ll be dead… Anyway, do you want to make a bet?”

Professor Angus said, “No problem, what are we betting? It’s not like you can bring money to heaven.”

Witten joked, “You never know, maybe you can use money in heaven.”

“We’ll find out soon!”

Witten left.

Professor Angus stayed in the cafe.

He quietly looked at the Princeton campus outside the window. He watched the students walk down the tree-lined path and began to daydream.

After a while, he took out a crumpled notebook.

This was his memo. Because of his decreasing memory, he often carried this with him. Whenever he had doubts about whether something happened or not, he would take out his notebook and read it.

Other than writing down errands such as “paying bills” and “repairing faucets”, he would occasionally write down inspirational thoughts…

Professor Angus stared at a blank page and pondered for a long time. The pen in his hand hovered above the page.

It seemed like he finally figured out something.

“Using past methods to speculate the future is incorrect. We need a new method to predict the future…”

He muttered to himself and scribbled down a line on the notebook.

[Universe Economics.]

He paused for a while, then crossed out the line. He then wrote down another line.

[Future Sociology.]

“This name sounds more interesting…”

Great ideas would often come at unexpected times.

Theories that could impact the entire world were born like this…

…

The second week after Professor Angus left, Lu Zhou heard an interesting rumor.

Princeton opened a new course for Professor Angus Deaton, and it was named the “Sociology of the Future”. This course didn’t teach any specific theories. It was just a general way of thinking about the future.

Even though the name sounded a bit strange, many students still signed up for this course since it was taught by a Nobel Prize laureate.

Apparently, Professor Angus was writing a book for this subject.

Even though the specific content of the course hadn’t been made public yet, according to an old friend of Angus, this book was like a boring scientific fiction novel with no academic foundation.

However, the old friend also said that this book might be really useful in the future…

Lu Zhou heard these stories from his ex-students in Princeton.

Qin Yue went from a lecturer to a professor. Hardy, who returned to teach at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, became one of the number theory leaders in Brazil… Of course, Brazilian mathematicians weren’t particularly good at number theory research.

As for Vera, apparently she was researching the Riemann’s conjecture with Molina. Regardless of whether she achieved any research results, having the courage to challenge this great conjecture was an achievement in and of itself.

Wei Wen was about to get a PhD from Princeton, while Jerick was recruited by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute of Computational Materials…

Generally speaking, his students had done quite well for themselves.

Lu Zhou was pleased to have taught them.

After returning Qin Yue’s email, Lu Zhou stretched and was about to kill some time on Arxiv. Suddenly, he heard knocking on his office door.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

“Come in.”

The door was pushed open, and Wang Peng walked in with a serious face.

Before Lu Zhou could speak, Wang Peng spoke first.

“Bad news!”

Lu Zhou frowned.

“What happened?”

Wang Peng paused for half a second and sighed.

“Biosphere A suffered an attack from an unknown armed force. According to the local troops, the damage was substantial…”

Unknown armed force… attacked us?

The f*ck?!

Lu Zhou grabbed his armrest and immediately stood up.

“Is everyone okay?”

Wang Peng said, “Militants were killed in combat. The researchers and foreign experts are all safe… They’ve been reallocated to a local city for safety reasons. The local troops have dispatched and blocked all roads in the nearby area, and they are investigating the militants’ backgrounds, but…”

Lu Zhou was a little relieved, however, the “but” made him nervous again.

“But?”

Wang Peng spoke.

“The damage to Biosphere A is serious.”

Chapter 778: Visiting the Wounded

Jinling General Hospital.

The soldiers who were wounded in combat were transferred to this hospital for the best treatment.

This included Battalion Commander Li Gaoliang…

Even though Wang Peng didn’t recommend Lu Zhou to come here, Lu Zhou was persistent. Wang Peng received approval from his superiors and brought Lu Zhou here.

According to Lu Zhou, these people were injured because of his project. It would be too cold-hearted of him not to visit.

Lu Zhou followed Wang Peng and came to a closed-off section of the hospital.

Lu Zhou looked at the soldiers standing at the corridor entrance, and he casually asked, “There are soldiers on duty here?”

“Of course,” Wang Peng nodded and said, “if we don’t keep this thing a secret, the news would spread like wildfire.”

Lu Zhou nodded and followed Wang Peng.

Wang Peng showed a letter to the door guard. After carefully examining the letter, the guard gave a military salute before stepping aside.

Wang Peng entered the ward and saw Li Gaoliang lying on the bed. Li Gaoliang’s legs were wrapped in bandages. Lu Zhou paused for a second before saying, “Your leg…”

“It was cut off,” Li Gaoliang said. “Professor Lu, why are you here?”

“I’m here to visit you.” Lu Zhou placed the fruit and milk on the table and said, “I’m terribly sorry to see you like this…”

Li Gaoliang looked to the side and coughed. He said, “Don’t say that, I’m the one who should be sorry… I’m sorry I failed to protect the experiment facilities. I’ve failed my country.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “The experiment doesn’t matter, as long as people are safe.”

Even though Lu Zhou was sad that the experiment was damaged…

But nothing was more important than human lives.

As long as the humans were okay, all Lu Zhou needed was some extra time to put the experiment back on track.

Li Gaoliang sighed and looked at Wang Peng.

“Can you light me a cigarette?”

Wang Peng shook his head and said, “When I came here, the doctors told me that you just finished the operation and shouldn’t smoke.”

Li Gaoliang said, “Just one puff, I can’t help this addiction.”

“No,” Wang Peng said, “not even one puff!”

Li Gaoliang turned toward Lu Zhou and said helplessly, “Well, Professor Lu, I’ve been here for days, could you possibly…”

Wang Peng coughed and said, “Forget about it, he doesn’t smoke.”

Li Gaoliang said, “There are guys who don’t smoke?”

Lu Zhou said, “Yeah, me. Do you have a problem with it?”

Li Gaoliang coughed and said, “No, that’s not what I meant…”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Anyway… Could you tell me what happened?”

Li Gaoliang suddenly became silent.

After a while, he said, “I can only tell you what I know.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“No problem.”

Li Gaoliang looked at the IV bag beside him and began to recall the past.

“It was around five o’clock in the evening. A sandstorm was blowing over the desert. The wind was very strong to the point that you couldn’t see a foot in front of you.

“They hijacked our water truck and approached our checkpoint during the sandstorm.

“The situation was very dangerous. Fortunately, the soldiers at the checkpoint noticed something was wrong, but then…”

What happened was simple, and it could be explained in a couple of words. However, the entire story took a lot more than just a few words to explain.

The soldier on duty at the checkpoint noticed something was wrong and secretly pressed the alarm button. However, the enemies noticed this. When the enemies realized, they immediately took off their camouflage and launched the attack.

These armed militants had obviously received formal armed training as their response and combat power were far more advanced than ordinary terrorists.

However, this was all expected. After all, ordinary terrorists wouldn’t be able to find a research facility hidden in the desert.

It was obvious that they had observed the facility for more than a month and did a lot of careful planning. It could even be an inside attack…

Fortunately, the four battalions were stationed there. When the armed men in the vehicle tried to drive the modified water delivery vehicle through the camp’s experiment facilities, the sniper on duty quickly responded and killed the driver with a single shot.

An intense fight broke out inside the checkpoint. An RPG was fired at the outer walls of Biosphere A, igniting the lithium-sulfur battery solar panels, which caused the facility to catch on fire.

Surprisingly, all of the 12 militants fought to the death. Even though they were all surrounded, none of them surrendered. The gunfire finally stopped after everyone was killed.

As for Li Gaoliang’s leg… He wasn’t injured during the battle. When he tried to rescue the experiment equipment, his leg was damaged by a falling concrete block.

After hearing Li Gaoliang’s story, Lu Zhou replied, “How many were injured?”

This time, Li Gaoliang didn’t say anything. He looked at Lu Zhou in silence.

Wang Peng sighed and said, “Don’t do this to him…”

Lu Zhou could tell something was wrong from the way Wang Peng looked at him.

Some things shouldn’t be made public.

Rather, they should stay undisclosed for at least a decade.

Wang Peng had to pull plenty of strings just to let Lu Zhou visit this wounded soldier.

Regardless, no matter how many casualties there were, the soldier at the checkpoint who pressed the alarm button must not have made it.

Lu Zhou still faintly remembered that the last time he went to the desert to select a site for the Garden plan, the young soldier saluted him. He did not expect the same soldier to be buried in the battlefield in less than a year…

Lu Zhou said, “… Sorry.”

The dark-skinned Battalion Commander shook his head and said, “Don’t be sorry. Defending the country is a soldier’s duty. The country will take care of us. Both of my legs are gone, but that means I’ll be able to retire and receive benefits for the rest of my life…”

The Battalion Commander smiled as he spoke.

However, Lu Zhou could still sense a trace of sadness and depression.

The Battalion Commander was obviously hiding his emotions.

Not only did his soldiers die in battle, but he also lost his legs.

He might have been happier to die in battle. Spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair would be torture…

Wang Peng looked at the Battalion Commander and didn’t say anything.

After a while, he said, “If you ever need a favor, tell me. I’ll do whatever you need.”

Li Gaoliang smiled and said, “Haha, I’ll remember that!”

Wang Peng said, “I promise.”

“Okay.” Li Gaoliang shook his head and said, “It’s fine, I just lost my legs. I don’t need you. Just come and drink with me sometimes. It’s time for the nurse to give me medicine. You should take Professor Lu and get out of here.”

Wang Peng nodded and turned around.

The ward door was pushed open, and a doctor and a nurse walked past Wang Peng.

The young nurse looked at Lu Zhou and spoke politely.

“Sir, could you please leave the ward? We need to examine the patient’s body and change his bandages…”

It was like Lu Zhou was awakened by the nurse’s voice.

Lu Zhou looked at Li Gaoliang and said, “Maybe the situation isn’t that bad.

“Maybe… I can make you walk again.”

Chapter 779: Possibility of Standing up Again

The ward went quiet.

Li Gaoliang wasn’t the only one who was stunned. The nurse, the doctor, and even Wang Peng were all stunned.

No one spoke.

After a couple of seconds went by, Li Gaoliang’s looked at Lu Zhou excitedly.

“Really?”

Stand up again!

He’s not kidding?

The doctor coughed and replied, “Please don’t make these jokes with patients.”

Even Professor Lu shouldn’t make such a cruel joke!

The nurse and doctor cast an unfriendly look toward Lu Zhou.

Li Gaoliang’s face turned gray, and he laughed to cover his embarrassment.

“Yeah, stop playing around with me… The doctors said that my legs are completely destroyed. It’s a miracle I’m alive right now.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and looked at Li Gaoliang as he said, “I’m not kidding, I’m being serious.”

Li Gaoliang paused for a second.

His intuition told him that this was impossible.

After all, when he was dragged out of the piece of concrete, his two calves were completely ruined. There was no hope of saving his legs.

When he was transferred to Wushi hospital, he received one response. Either he could amputate his legs now, or he could wait for necrosis, which meant an eventual amputation…

Now that the amputation operation was over, Li Gaoliang couldn’t believe there was a way for Lu Zhou to make him stand again.

In fact, the doctor standing next to him shook his head and said, “Impossible! I’ve never heard of this kind of technology before. If you’re talking about prosthetics, standing up is possible. With rehabilitation training, one might even be able to walk normally again.

“But his situation is different. Not only is his calves damaged, but his spinal nerve is damaged as well! He can’t even control his bladder, forget about prosthetics!”

“You’re right.” Lu Zhou looked at Li Gaoliang and nodded. He then said, “I don’t know a lot about biology, but if the nerves are damaged, it is quite troublesome.”

The doctor shook his head and said, “That’s why I’m telling you not to joke with the patient. You’re giving him false hope.”

Giving someone false hope wouldn’t fix any problems.

“I’m not giving him false hope.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It can be done in theory, just not with current technology.”

The doctor said, “So you’re saying it is possible in the future?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Not the future. Actually, we are conducting research with Aurora University and Harbin Institute of Technology on simulating electrical nerve signals.”

“Nerve access technology?” The doctor looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Has there ever been a successful case?”

The doctor had heard of this kind of technology, but even the top foreign laboratories were in the early research stage. Judging from the results so far, the technology was not mature enough to allow patients with spinal nerve damage to stand up.

“No, no successful cases, there aren’t even any cases,” Lu Zhou said. “This technology hasn’t passed the clinical trial stage, and it still remains in the laboratory. Even though we have achieved some results, it is far from being mature.”

The doctor seemed to know what Lu Zhou wanted to say. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, “So what you’re saying is…”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes… Whether it works or not still depends on whether Li Gaoliang is willing to try.”

Li Gaoliang looked at the two. He was muddled.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Li Gaoliang only wanted to know one thing, which was whether or not he had a chance at standing up again.

Also, is this doctor going to change my medicine?

The doctor paused for a second before replying, “We are talking about treatment…”

“Here’s the thing,” Lu Zhou interrupted the doctor and said, “we are conducting an experiment on a nerve access device. If everything goes well, this technology can help you stand up again. But because there have been no clinical trials, this is very risky. We promise to do everything to minimize the risks, but there is still no guarantee that we will succeed.”

Li Gaoliang suddenly laughed out loud.

After a while, he shook his head and looked at Lu Zhou. He then spoke in a serious manner.

“Forget about the risks. I’ll risk anything to have a chance at standing up again.”

He suddenly realized something and said, “Of course… I will not betray my country! I will never do such things!”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Do I look like someone who will betray my country?”

Li Gaoliang said awkwardly, “That’s not what I meant…”

“I understand.” Lu Zhou nodded with a smile and said, “You don’t need to give me anything. You were injured while protecting our country. I can’t let you sit in a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”

Lu Zhou looked at Li Gaoliang and asked solemnly, “Then, I’ll ask you again, do you accept the experiment? And bear all the risks?”

Li Gaoliang nodded without hesitation.

“I accept.”

“Okay.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I’ll have to discuss with Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense with this. I’ll get back to you in three days. If this doesn’t work out, I hope you won’t be too disappointed.”

Li Gaoliang glanced at his bandaged legs and smiled.

“Disappointed? What else do I have to lose?”

The doctor looked at Li Gaoliang and said, “This type of experiment isn’t a joke, especially experiments regarding the nervous system. Accidents might happen. I hope you carefully reconsider. After all, if something goes wrong, you could lose your life.”

Lu Zhou agreed with the doctor’s words.

He carefully watched Li Gaoliang’s expression.

If there was any hesitation on Li Gaoliang’s face, Lu Zhou would consider retracting the experiment offer.

After all, the cost of applying a novel technology on a living human being was expensive.

If Li Gaoliang was unable to fully cooperate, then the experiment could be a total waste.

However, Li Gaoliang didn’t have an ounce of hesitation on his face.

He even began to smile wider…

He said, “Then I guess I’ll die!”

Chapter 780: Surgery

Neurology had always been a difficult medicine discipline, especially when it came to the spinal nerve, where the situation would become increasingly complex.

If the end of the spinal nerve was damaged, the entire lower human body would become paralyzed. When this happened, doctors would usually tell patients that it was basically impossible to stand up again.

Li Gaoliang’s situation was the same. Once the central nervous cells were damaged, the cells couldn’t be regenerated. Even the best doctor in the world couldn’t repair a broken spine.

However, Lu Zhou’s treatment plan was rather unconventional.

A nerve signal modem was going to be implanted at each end of the damaged spinal nerve segment. The damaged nerve would be covered by an imitation nerve sensing device made of molybdenum/titanium alloy.

It was equivalent to building a bridge over the damaged spinal nerve by using electrical signals to replace the complex signal transmissions between the neuronal cells. Then, they could use “translators” at both ends to translate electrical signals into neural signals. Thus, the signals could control the built-in electric titanium alloy bones. This allowed the patient to restore their leg motor function.

In order to maximize the recovery of the subject’s athletic ability and to extend the shelf life of the nerve access prosthetics, the titanium alloy bones used in his legs were jointly designed by the Institute of Computational Materials and Mechanical Engineering of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The average unit price was at least US$2,000 per gram.

Adding the costs of the neutral access device and various other equipment, this experiment wasn’t going to be cheap…

After this transformation, almost the entire half of his lower body would be replaced with machinery parts. Even though it wouldn’t be quite like the Terminator, after he fully adapted to the transformation, he would return to the athletic abilities of a normal human being.

Operating room.

The anesthesiologist already prepared the anesthesia and was ready to inject it at any time.

The surgeon, who had already put on his gloves, took out the surgical tools. He looked at Li Gaoliang before the operation began and asked carefully, “Are you ready?”

Li Gaoliang was lying on the operating table, and he calmly replied, “I’m ready, let’s begin.”

All preparations were in place, and the surgery soon began.

Wang Peng stood outside the operating room. He found a cigarette in his pocket, but he decided to throw it in the trash can.

He took two steps back and couldn’t help but looked at Lu Zhou.

“Do you think this operation will be successful?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not 100% confident. I can only say that I tried my best to minimize the risks.”

In order to ensure that the operation was foolproof, Star Sky Technology invited the most experienced surgeon from Beijing and performed numerous operation exercises.

Even then, Lu Zhou couldn’t guarantee that there would be no accidents.

Wang Peng nodded and said nothing. He stared silently at the door of the operating room and clenched his fists. He silently prayed for his former comrade.

The operation was very long.

The original plan was to finish at 6:00 pm, but it was delayed until 3:00 am.

Lu Zhou was sitting on a bench in front of the operating room, taking a nap. He suddenly woke up to the sound of the operating room door opening. When he saw the surgeon come out of the operating room, he immediately asked, “How’s it going? Did the operation go well?”

The chief surgeon took off his mask and looked at Lu Zhou with a tired look.

“The operation is generally successful… As for whether or not it will work, we will have to wait until the patient wakes up.”

Lu Zhou sighed in relief.

Wang Peng unclenched his fists and looked at the doctor gratefully.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Fortunately, the patient is in great physical shape. To be honest, this is the first time I have done such a messy operation… I have never heard of bridging the spinal nerve before.”

The doctor was full of emotion.

For the people outside the operating room, the result of the operation was either success or failure. But for him, it was ten-hours of hard work.

The doctor paused for a second and said, “Generally speaking, if a spinal cord injury damages his nerve fibers, the paralysis caused by the trauma is permanent… If he really is able to stand up again, he will become a medical miracle.”

“Hopefully, a miracle will happen.” Lu Zhou nodded towards the doctor and said, “You should go rest.”

The doctor smiled reluctantly.

“Yeah, thanks.”

He had been working intensely for the past ten hours, and he had reached his mental limit.

…

After the surgical operation was finished…

Li Gaoliang lay in the hospital bed until morning.

He finally woke up.

Even though the physician in charge of anesthesia was experienced and the dose control was perfect, central nervous system operations required a large amount of anesthesia. Right now, he still couldn’t speak and could only open his eyes.

After hearing he was awake, Lu Zhou immediately rushed over from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

When he arrived at the ward, Li Gaoliang had been lying on the hospital bed for a while.

He could only move his eyeballs and part of the muscles on his face. After hearing the door open, he moved his eyeballs and looked at Lu Zhou.

“How are you feeling?”

Li Gaoliang’s facial muscles twitched, but no words came out of his mouth.

“Sorry, I forgot that you can’t speak yet.” Lu Zhou shook his head with a smile and paused for a while before continuing, “The operation was very successful. As for whether you can adapt to your new body, that will depend on how well you are doing after the rehabilitation. The surgery is the hard part, the rest should be easy.”

Li Gaoliang didn’t say anything. He just looked intently at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou could tell Li Gaoliang was grateful, so he smiled and replied, “I’m glad you’re safe.

“You should rest for a couple of days. I’ll come and visit you in a bit.”

“I…” Li Gaoliang’s face twitched, and he struggled to open his mouth. “Thank… you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lu Zhou smiled at him.

He then turned around and left.

Chapter 781: "Cyborg"

Actually, the so-called cyborg, that was, the combination of man and machine, wasn’t just a science fiction concept.

In 2002, more than a decade ago, the famous British cyberneticist Kevin Warwick conducted a risky experiment. He implanted a silicone sensor transmitter chip into his brain and became “the world’s first cyborg.”

Through simple mind-control like techniques, he was able to control simple networking devices, and the output signals were complex enough to even operate a robotic arm.

The principle for Warwick’s device was similar to the neural access technology used by Lu Zhou, except that instead of collecting neural signals from the spinal nerve, Warwick directly collected neural potential signals from the cerebral cortex… Signals were generated when someone imagined themselves moving a limb without actually moving the limb.

Therefore, Star Sky Technology wasn’t the first to conduct a cyborg experiment.

Collecting neural signals, processing them through a computer chip, then directly feeding the signals to an electrical robotic device. This had been one of the greatest problems in the modern field of cybernetics.

Kevin Warwick made a prediction that if cybernetics technology continued to improve, it would one day be used to help blind people “see things”, deaf people “hear” things, and allow crippled people to stand up from their wheelchairs… Eventually, humans would no longer be made of flesh and blood. They would become one with machines. A higher form of existence.

Professor Kevin Warwick had been continuously working on his research. He had donated his body to his own research by implanting a silicon-based chip into his nervous system. The microelectrode array that was inserted contained 100 electrodes.

At least for now, this didn’t seem to bring any negative effects to his life. But the future impacts remained to be unseen.

Regardless, the operation on Li Gaoliang’s body was undoubtedly successful.

Two weeks after the operation, with help from the nurses, Li Gaoliang finally was able to get out of bed.

Not just that, with the assistance of the electric machinery, he was now able to control his bladder…

In short, the rehabilitation process went quite smoothly.

Three weeks after the operation, Lu Zhou visited the Jinling military hospital again. When he saw Li Gaoliang in the rehabilitation room, Li Gaoliang was learning to walk with crutches.

Lu Zhou walked next to him and asked, “How are you feeling? How’s the recovery process?”

“It’s okay, I’m getting used to it.” Li Gaoliang’s tone was full of emotion as he said, “To be honest, when I saw my medical report, I thought my life was over. I didn’t expect to be given a second chance to stand up… I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, thank the advancement in medical technology,” Lu Zhou joked.

Li Gaoliang smiled awkwardly.

He hesitated for a second before he suddenly said, “Oh yeah, I want to ask you something, don’t know if you can answer.”

Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”

“I’m living and walking right now, does that mean… this surgery has passed the clinical trial, and other paralyzed people will have a chance at standing up again in the future?”

Li Gaoliang sounded excited.

He thought about the crippled soldiers, who were tied to their beds.

If this technology was able to repair his spinal nerve, then would that mean…

Lu Zhou looked at how excited he was. He knew what Li Gaoliang was thinking about. After a moment of silence, Lu Zhou spoke.

“If it’s a recent injury, it is worth a try. But I have to remind you, the success rate of your operation is less than 10%. Even the surgeon was amazed. It’s a miracle everything went so smoothly.”

Lu Zhou then said, “Also, don’t be too happy just yet. We still don’t know if this technology is stable, something might go wrong in the future.”

It was like Lu Zhou just poured water on the fire in Li Gaoliang’s heart.

Li Gaoliang realized what the reality was.

“I’ll be happy to cooperate with any tests.”

Lu Zhou dropped this conversation and said, “Forget about the experiment. Right now, you should familiarize yourself with the equipment.”

“I understand…” Li Gaoliang nodded and suddenly said, “Oh yeah, do you think you can replace other parts of the body with the electric titanium skeleton thing?”

Lu Zhou: “It is theoretically possible, but I don’t recommend you doing it. With the currently available technology, there is a huge amount of risk in each operation. It is already a miracle we were able to fit you with these two titanium alloy legs. Don’t expect this miracle to happen again.”

There was also one crucial thing Lu Zhou didn’t mention.

Which was that every person had different physical conditions. This neural access device was difficult to standardize, and it had to be custom made to fit every person.

On the surface, it looked like something that would require just one surgery. However, before the surgery even began, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study held several special meetings to discuss the technicalities of the device.

Even if the State Administration for National Defense were willing to fund the technology, it was impossible to fit every soldier with such expensive equipment.

Li Gaoliang said, “Noted.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Well, I hope you recover quickly. I have to go back to the institute, see you later.”

Lu Zhou turned around and was about to leave.

Suddenly, he heard Li Gaoliang.

“Wait a second!”

Lu Zhou turned around and said, “What?”

Li Gaoliang said, “When should I inform the army of my retirement?”

Even though he didn’t want to retire, because of his condition, he was in no shape to stay in the 4th battalion.

However, Lu Zhou was confused.

“Retire? Why are you retiring?”

Li Gaoliang was stunned.

His eyes flashed with surprise.

He gulped and spoke with a trembling voice.

“So what you’re saying is… I still have a chance to return to the army?”

“Don’t you want revenge?”

Lu Zhou smiled and patted Li Gaoliang’s shoulder.

“You’ll get your revenge.”

…

The days quickly passed by, and it was soon June.

Lu Zhou approached Wang Peng to ask about the attack, but it seemed like the investigation process didn’t go smoothly.

So far, all they knew was that the attack organization was located near Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. However, because these were war-torn countries, there were plenty of armed organizations and mercenaries in that region. It was difficult to track down the true identities of the attackers.

Most importantly, none of the organizations claimed to be behind the attack.

As for the “tattoos” on the deceased attackers, that was something from the movies. If the attackers didn’t want to reveal their identities, obviously they wouldn’t leave any physical evidence on their bodies. Even their weapons came from unknown origins.

So far, the one thing the intelligence department was sure of, was that this was a sophisticated organization.

After all, they had to travel from the middle east to the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, crossing almost the entire Central Asia region.

Being able to transport twelve well-trained and heavily armed militants through so many borders was already a difficult task.

There were only two countries in the world that had the capability and drive to organize an attack like this…

The Garden plan was set aside for the time being.

The Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Science announced the primary academician election results on their website.

As expected, Lu Zhou’s name was on both of the primaries.

This caused quite the sensation, and it became a hot topic among university forums.

However, interestingly enough, even though some people had a few words of hatred toward the results, none of them questioned the fairness of the election.

After all, with a Nobel Prize and a Fields Medal, not to mention the ion thruster propulsion system and controllable fusion, Lu Zhou was more than qualified to have two academician titles.

During the last election, Lu Zhou was busy being the “chief designer” of the Pangu fusion reactor.

Otherwise, he would have been an academician a long time ago…

Chapter 782: Arrival on Mars?

As far as the Chinese academic community was concerned, June was the time for the academician primaries announcement.

On the other hand, June was also the third month of the Heart of Gold flight…

A silver-colored spacecraft slowly moved forward in the deep space. It was tens of millions of kilometers away from Earth.

When comparing the spacecraft to the Sun, it seemed like the spacecraft was moving at the speed of a snail, but in fact, it was moving nearly four kilometers a second.

If this were four days ago, it would be moving even faster. Its speed had now been greatly decelerated by Mars’ gravitational system.

Johnson stared at the fiery red planet outside the porthole. A victorious smile appeared on his face.

“It’s Mars! Jesus, we’re finally here!”

With a camera in her hand, Julia took a photo of the fiery red planet.

“It’s so beautiful!”

Four days ago, the BFS spacecraft carrying the colony capsule successfully separated from the BFR rocket before entering the Mars gravitational system and orbiting the planet in an elliptical orbit.

After deceleration and several complex orbital changes, the BFS manned spacecraft, also known as the Heart of Gold, had finally successfully approached the Mars atmosphere.

This was the end of their journey.

This was the beginning of civilization’s exploration of the galaxy!

“When are we landing?” Travis looked at the planet outside the window and said, “I’m feeling a little nauseous.”

Johnson was here for the glory, but Travis was here for different reasons. He only joined the Ares program to hide from his debt.

As for why he had to come all the way to Mars…

He didn’t have a reason; he never did anything with a reason.

He saw the Space-X advertisement when he was drunk, so he filled out the form without thinking. Then when he almost forgot about it, someone suddenly called him and said he was chosen.

Honestly, he thought the phone call was a scam. After all, he didn’t think they would actually take a football player to Mars.

Fortunately, NASA didn’t ask him to do anything complicated. They just gave him some basic colonist training. The more complex operations were done by the former marine, Johnson.

Johnson was different from Travis and Julia. He was the “captain” of the Heart of Gold. He had been carefully selected and had been professionally trained. He actually signed a contract with Space-X years ago.

Apparently back then, there was no such thing as the Ares program. China hadn’t even started its moon landing program, but Space-X already had plans to colonize Mars…

“Prepare for landing!” Johnson floated back to his seat and clapped his hands. “Okay my friends, our future home is right in front of our eyes. Our altitude is at 316.7 kilometers, and we will reach our target airspace in five minutes! Please put on your Mars spacesuit and connect yourself with the environment-control bio-security system. Give me a thumbs up when you’re ready!”

Travis nervously inserted the environmental life control tube into his seat. He put on his seatbelt and asked, “How long are we living here for?”

Johnson smiled heartily and said, “Four to five years at least! Someone might take our place in a couple of years, and of course, it could also be for the rest of our lives. It looks like Vegas here, nothing but red sand.”

Travis couldn’t help but say, “Las Vegas isn’t as deserted as this!”

“Then let’s change that… Guys, prepare for landing! Environment life control system is activated! 3, 2, 1… Ignite!

“Here we go!”

The spacecraft was in the target airspace and the orbital calibration was complete. Johnson pressed the landing button.

His seat began to shake violently, and through the porthole, he saw them getting farther and farther away from the spacecraft shuttle.

Travis could feel the g-force acting on him, and he whispered, “Sh*t.”

Johnson, who was sitting in the main pilot’s seat, clenched his teeth while looking excited.

Julia was also sitting in the cockpit, and she looked around nervously while secretly praying in her heart.

They had taken the first step toward Mars.

As for what would happen next, only God could answer them…

…

Even at their closest point, Mars was tens of millions of kilometers away from Earth.

Sending an email from Mars to Earth would take at least three minutes. Therefore, after entering Mars’ gravitational system, it would be difficult for NASA’s ground command center to accurately track and give directions to the Heart of Gold.

However, even though the three-minute delay made it much more difficult to communicate, the news of the Heart of Gold landing still spread all over Earth…

Jinling launch site.

Ever since the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee, this had become the home base of the Lunar Orbit Committee.

In order to help the construction of the lunar orbit project, two major aviation and aerospace companies had set up their offices here. Even the China National Space Administration moved some of their offices from Beijing to here.

An urgent meeting was underway in a conference room on the first floor of the launch site command center.

The deputy director of the China National Space Administration, Chen Yunhai, who was also the director of the Lunar Orbit Committee organization department, sat there with a report in his hand.

“35 minutes ago, we received a message from the five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope. Through the diagnosis and identification of the space signal, we confirmed the electromagnetic wave was transmitted from Mars. The message transmission time was 10 minutes.”

He placed the report on the table and looked around the conference table.

“This is the FAST project team report. According to their speculations, the Heart of Gold has successfully entered Mars orbit!”

Whispers were heard around the conference table.

A lot of people turned their heads toward Lu Zhou, who was sitting at the other end of the table, staring at his laptop. Unsurprisingly, Lu Zhou didn’t react at all.

Yuan Huanmin, the chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, asked, “Have they begun landing?”

“We aren’t sure, but if they’re already in Mars orbit, it shouldn’t be difficult to land.”

Even though this was the first time a human being was sent to Mars, this wasn’t the first time NASA had sent a spacecraft to Mars. Starting with the Viking 1, the US space industry had more than half a century of experience in Mars surface landing. It was unlikely for a landing problem to happen.

After hearing Academician Yuan’s words, Chen Yunhai spoke.

“Not sure, we are still confirming the legitimacy of the news…”

“There’s no need.” Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“They were probably successful. The piece of information captured by the FAST team was probably a video transmission of the Heart of Gold to the NASA command center.”

Chen Yunhai paused for a second, adjusted his glasses, and spoke.

“How do you know…”

Lu Zhou turned his laptop screen around and said, “Because they just uploaded a video on Youtube.”

Chapter 783: A Little Trouble

The video was a shot of the spacecraft in orbit, only a minute and fifty seconds long.

The video portrayed a semi-circular landing capsule separating from the Heart of Gold spacecraft, falling toward the thin Mars atmosphere, and eventually disappearing…

Just like Lu Zhou had predicted, the second the landing was successful, NASA announced the news on their official website and posted the Heart of Gold video on the Internet.

What happened next was nothing out of the ordinary.

In just ten minutes, this less than two minutes long video went viral, reaching number three on the YouTube trending page.

After watching the video, everyone in the conference room had gone silent.

After a while, Chen Yunhai broke the silence.

“We should discuss our countermeasures…”

“Nothing to discuss, I’ve said from that beginning that we should focus on doing our own project well.”

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and looked at Academician Yuan Huanmin. He then asked, “How long until the Moon Palace life capsule is ready?”

Academician Yuan paused for a second before replying, “It is already ready. The tests will take another week.”

“Then we’ll launch in two weeks’ time!” Lu Zhou shoved his laptop into his bag and stood up. He then said, “Let’s all get to work, meeting over!”

…

The success of the Heart of Gold spacecraft earned the United States a huge amount of respect from the international community. The entire country was celebrating.

The video posted by NASA on YouTube was being bombarded with comments from all over the world.

It was almost like The New York Times was taking revenge on the Moon Palace’s cooling system debacle. They deliberately posted a boxing glove with a star and stripes pattern in their news report, as if they were mocking China.

Even the Washington Post said that this was “a great step for mankind”.

Other than the American media outlets, other media outlets also reported this hot topic.

The BBC stood from a neutral standpoint, and it pointed out that there was no doubt that NASA had the upper hand in this space competition.

So far, it seemed like the Moon Palace program was no match for the Ares program.

Compared to the helium-3 resources on the Moon, the rich methane resources on Mars could be used as an energy source for liquid oxygen methane rockets.

It turned out that chemical propulsion technology was far from being bottlenecked. This could be seen from the BFS rocket. The colony on Mars would become a starting point for NASA to send other spacecraft to other planets.

The future of ion thruster propulsion systems was bright, but it seemed like chemical propulsion rockets were still putting up a fight.

Space-X announced a contract with YouTube to regularly post Mars colonists videos for the public to watch for free.

Elon Musk promised in an interview that all advertising revenue generated would be invested in space projects.

On the other hand, the White House and NASA released a message, asking the public to vote for the name of the Mars colony.

The public was quite enthusiastic at voting; even those who were uninterested in aerospace decided to put in their votes.

Within a day, more than 30 million people had voted online.

Finally, the White House announced that the first Martian colony would be called “New Virginia”.

This was where the British settlers first settled in America.

Naming the Martian colony after this was quite a meaningful choice.

NASA also announced the next step of the Ares program.

Before sending more migrants to Mars, the current colonists stationed on Mars would survey resources such as methane gas reserves and metal deposits and expand the scope of geological exploration activities to areas that were previously unreachable by remote-controlled Mars rovers. They would explore the Mars polar carbon dioxide reserves, assess the feasibility of repairing the Mars atmosphere, and most importantly, exploration of underground water.

So far, it seemed like the Americans had the victory secured.

Across the Pacific Ocean, the Lunar Orbit Committee was under a lot of pressure.

At the beginning of the space station program, there was a lot of controversy on whether to place the space station in lunar orbit or in Earth orbit. Now that the Ares program proved to be successful, the debates were getting louder.

However, Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, didn’t seem to care.

The launch for the Moon Palace life module was going to happen, regardless of the American’s success.

After the life module had been completely assembled, the Moon Palace, which contained the function module, node module, and experimental module, would be used as a complete lunar space station, floating in the “NRHO” orbit.

This was the final stage of the Moon Palace first phase…

…

White House.

President’s office.

The president had just returned from the congress. He sat in his office chair while reading through the meeting notes enthusiastically.

The expressions of the opposition MPs brought a smile to his face.

A week ago, the opposition MPs were attacking him for the excessive funding for the aerospace program, and very few people believed that he was right.

But the Ares program was proven to be successful!

They were winning the space race!

He was leading the Americans to a better future!

He signed his name on the document and remembered the congress member who told him to reduce funding. He couldn’t help but grin.

“What don’t these idiots understand? Sure, NASA is spending a lot of money, but they’re creating jobs and helping the economy, what are they complaining about…”

Roosevelt’s dam boosted American’s economy, aerospace was no different.

He shook his head and left the budget document aside. He then picked up a document regarding the California nuclear power plant project.

He was just about to read it when he heard a knock at the door.

He put down the document and said, “Come in.”

When he saw Director Carson appear at the door, the president’s face was full of smiles.

“Director Carson! It’s nice to see you, take a seat!”

Carson looked at the cheerful president and felt a little weird.

“Mr. President, it’s nice to see you too…”

The president leaned in his office chair and asked, “Do you have good news for me?”

“No… Not quite.” Director Carson gulped and said, “Our colonists are in a bit of trouble…”

Chapter 784: Mars Diaries

It had been almost two weeks since they landed on Mars, three days since the life support system was named “New Virginia”.

During this time, the New Virginia survey plans went quite smoothly. Even though they encountered a 17-hour sandstorm, it passed away without doing any harm.

In fact, Mars’ atmosphere was a hundred times thinner than Earth, so a sandstorm itself was not particularly dangerous. What was dangerous was the electrostatic lightning that came with the sandstorms and the decline of sunlight. This prevented the solar-powered devices from getting enough energy.

However, this kind of event had already been taken into consideration by Space-X’s Mars colonization project team. The life support system was equipped with a methane generator, which could replace the solar-powered devices to supply energy.

The first thing these colonists did after landing was to install lightning rods for their home, to prevent any possible accidents…

Although they encountered many difficulties adapting to life on Mars, they were able to overcome them. They cooperated with the NASA ground command center to complete the scheduled scientific research missions. Johnson usually took half an hour every day to film his “Mars Diaries”.

He was the “Columbus” of this new “continent”, so he obviously hoped that more people would be interested in “New Virginia”. Therefore, when he was shooting videos, he usually chose to show the more glamorous parts of his Martian life. He never filmed the dangerous and bad sides of his life.

Actually, his “vlogging advertisement” was quite successful. People took the bait and began to discuss living on Mars. Each episode of the Mars Diaries caused enthusiastic discussions on Facebook and Twitter.

So far, five episodes of “Mars Diaries” had been released. It had become one of the most popular Internet shows in North America. Many TV stations even purchased broadcasting rights from Space-X.

Today was the filming of episode 6.

Johnson placed the camera on the table and took two steps back. He then smiled brightly, exposing his white teeth, as he greeted the camera.

“Hello, guys! It’s Johnson here, the captain of the Heart of Gold! It’s been a while since we last talked!

“Unfortunately, we encountered a sandstorm! We can’t explore outside today… But don’t worry about us, we’re not worried about being blown away by the wind, and the tornado barely tickles us.

“I want to use this opportunity to show you guys what we do on Mars when we can’t explore outside…”

Johnson picked up the camera equipment from the table and walked to the common area. He explained to the audience what they did to kill time, such as playing VR games or running on the treadmill.

“This is our entertainment lounge… It is a bit small, but this is still in the early stages… Hey, Travis, say hi to everyone.”

Travis was playing video games. He gave a fake smile at first, but when he noticed Johnson’s scary eyes, he changed it to a real smile.

Johnson gave him a thumbs up.

“I’ll cut that out, you’re welcome.”

“Thanks, Johnson.”

Travis rolled his eyes and put on his VR goggles. He then went back to playing his video game.

Actually, life up here was rather boring. It was far less utopian than Johnson had portrayed.

However, the downsides were obviously not shown in the vlogs. Even if he accidentally filmed it, the team at Space-X would cut the “bad” parts of the video out.

However, that was often not necessary.

Because he rarely filmed the negative side of things.

By speaking into the camera, he was communicating with people from tens of millions of kilometers away. It became a daily routine for him. If there were more things to film and editing didn’t take as long, he would gladly film one vlog per day.

After showing the viewers Travis playing video games and Julia reading a book next to the coffee machine, Johnson walked into the garage and stood next to his “car”.

“All good things come to an end. It is time to say goodbye. I look forward to talking to you guys again. I hope you look forward to the next episode, bye…”

Johnson put on a cool pose in front of the camera and ended today’s shoot.

He heard footsteps coming toward the garage. Travis, who had finished playing his video game, walked over.

He looked at Johnson standing next to the rover and folded his arms. He complained to Johnson.

“This damn vlog doesn’t make me feel good at all.”

Johnson smiled and tucked the camera into his pocket. He walked up to Travis and patted him on the shoulder.

“Take it easy, buddy. After the sandstorm passes, I’ll take you out for a drive.”

Travis said, “I don’t want to drive, go yourself. There’s nothing but sand here! God damn it, why did I come here?”

There obviously were no roads on Mars, so driving over sand was fine, but last time, they had to drive around the more rocky areas to collect samples. The drive was extremely bumpy and uncomfortable.

After living on Mars for a while, Travis was quite resistant toward outdoor missions. He demanded his work be moved indoors.

Johnson decided to approve his demands.

Instead, Julia was transferred to outdoor missions.

Fortunately, these missions didn’t require many people. Most of the pieces of equipment were highly automated, so most of the time they didn’t even need to get off their rover.

Before sending the life support system to Mars, NASA considered the case where none of the colonists would want to leave the cabin.

To put it bluntly, their main mission was to test the life support system, and most of the other scientific activities were just supplementary.

“Okay, bud, everything will be okay. We flew for two months just to get here, the fun is just starting to begin.”

Johnson didn’t know how to respond to his teammate’s complaints, so he could only try to comfort him.

Regardless of whether Travis was comforted or not, this was the only thing Johnson could do.

However, what Johnson didn’t know was that tens of millions of kilometers away, the NASA ground command center was in chaos.

That’s right.

There was nothing scary about a Mars sandstorm.

However, a Mars sandstorm could last more than six months. Even if they used the methane generator as a backup power source, they might not last six months…

Chapter 785: Global Sandstorm

NASA ground command center.

The president’s roar echoed through the building.

“F*ck!

“A bunch of idiots!

“If you knew there were going to be sandstorms, why did you choose this time to send our colonists there?”

The people in the conference room looked at the angry president, and they stayed dead silent. None of them wanted to be called out.

Especially Director Carson.

He looked down awkwardly.

He didn’t expect something like this to happen.

After all, he wasn’t God, how could he have expected this to happen.

“Mr. President… We don’t have a weather observatory on Mars. I understand what you’re feeling right now, but there was no way for us to know what the climate on Mars would be like…”

Director Carson paused for a second and spoke.

“Generally speaking, most sandstorms occur during summer, and global sandstorms rarely occur outside of summer… What is happening now is completely out of our expectations. Although we do have countermeasures…”

The president stared at him and asked aggressively, “What are the countermeasures?”

“But a small accident occurred,” Director Carson said with an awkward expression. “Originally, our plan was to set up methane and groundwater resource collection points so that we could use the resources on Mars to survive. As long as we had these resources, the sandstorms blocking the sunlight wouldn’t be a problem, but…”

“But?”

Director Carson gulped and said, “But our colonists had just landed on Mars and hadn’t set up the methane and water collection points. The methane reserves on board… won’t last very long.”

Simply put, they did not take into account that the weather would be so horrible two weeks after landing.

Even though the global Mars sandstorms were difficult to predict through astronomical observations, one could make rough estimations. According to historical data, it occurred on average every 3 Mars years, which was 5.5 Earth years.

The last global sandstorm was in 2018, only 3 Earth years had passed since then. Not to mention there was also another Hohmann transfer orbit happening soon, which they could use to send resources to the colonists.

However…

No one expected Mars to have such harsh climates. This sandstorm swept the entire planet. Looking at Mars from a ground astronomical observatory, Mars looked like a dusty ball, blocking all sunlight…

Not having solar power wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that they had just planted their crops, and the plants needed sunlight to grow.

There were only two options left for the colonists, either to dispose of all the crops that had just been planted or waste electricity and use artificial sunlight.

Neither option was optimal.

“Why didn’t you think about this before?” The president said to Director Carson angrily, “I spoke clearly in the White House! If we can’t guarantee that our colonists will be 100% safe, I’d rather not send any colonists at all!”

Carson: “Sir…”

The president said, “What? Do you have a question, Mr. Carson?”

“Yes, you did say that.” Director Carson gulped and said, “But you also said during a closed-door meeting… To win the space race at any costs, as quickly as possible.”

The president’s face stiffened, and he awkwardly rubbed his nose and spoke.

“Did I say that?”

The vice president standing beside him nodded silently.

“I remember you saying it… We can find it in the meeting notes.”

The vice president was just a puppet, and he didn’t have any reason to suck up to the president. Furthermore, he was the head of the reorganized National Space Committee, and he didn’t want the blame to be on him.

The president replied, “That’s not the main point! Regardless of what I said, I want you to immediately take countermeasures! Director Carson!”

Carson suddenly stood up straight.

“Yes, sir!”

The president gave him orders.

“I need you to come up with a plan in 24 hours, then implement it over the next 72 hours. I don’t care what method you use! We must ensure the safety of our astronauts and keep them alive!

“If this fails, you know what will happen.”

Carson broke out in cold sweat as he replied nervously, “Yes, sir…”

…

[New Virginia!]

“These people are so optimistic.”

Lu Zhou looked at the popup window on his computer screen and shook his head with a smile.

Lu Zhou was spending his lunchtime at his Jinling Institute for Advanced Study office. He drank coffee while reading some theses.

Coincidentally, he noticed this popup.

“It seems like Space-X is really spending a lot on advertising. They’re even advertising on academic forums.”

The public opinion regarding New Virginia was one-sided.

Ever since the BFS spacecraft successfully dropped the capsule, New Virginia seemed to be the place of dreams. Because of the “Mars Diaries” program, everyone wanted to live on Mars…

North American media outlets gradually stopped talking about the space race. Instead, they focused on interviewing friends and families of the colonists.

Lu Zhou was also a “fan” of the “Mars Diaries”. He didn’t miss a single episode.

After all, if he wanted to defeat his opponents, he had to understand them first.

Even though he felt like Musk seemed too cocky at times, there was no doubt Musk was an accomplished person.

The BFR rocket was the leading chemical propulsion rocket in the world, yet there was still room for improvement.

And he also had his life support system…

In addition to watching the “Mars Diaries” through the Lunar Orbit Committee, Lu Zhou requested electromagnetic wave signals data from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope. He then sent the data to Xiao Ai for analysis and cracking.

Not all of the transmission data could be cracked, but this was another way to obtain more information on “New Virginia”.

If everything went well, he might even obtain crucial information.

For example, the Mars resource survey data…

Lu Zhou closed the webpage and was about to get back to work. However a pop-up window appeared on the lower right corner of his screen.

[Master, file number 0001 has been decrypted! Do you want to look at it now? ψ (` ∇́) ψ]

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai’s devil emoticon and smiled.

“Okay, send it to my desktop… Oh yeah, how are the other files going?”

[Not done yet. They used different encryption methods for each communication, so it is going to take a long time to decrypt… (; ́д`)ゞ]

“No worries, take your time, I’m not in a hurry.”

[Okay! Xiao Ai will try its best!(≧∀≦)ゞ]

Even though Xiao Ai was smart, it still had its limitations.

Even supercomputers couldn’t immediately crack encryption.

File No. 0001 was the first communication signal between the Heart of Gold and the NASA ground command center. The data was collected by the FAST project team two weeks ago.

Lu Zhou opened the cracked file and skimmed through it. Just like he expected, it was all messages such as “everything is fine” and “mission approved”. He didn’t find any juicy content.

Lu Zhou was about to copy the file onto a USB drive when he suddenly heard knocking sounds on his door.

Lu Zhou closed the file and cleared his throat.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Hou Guang came in.

Hou Guang had a serious look on his face. He skipped the small talk and went straight to the point.

“There is news from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope. They found something unusual.”

Lu Zhou leaned in his chair and said, “What?”

“There’s a global sandstorm on Mars!”

…

Chapter 786: Era Of Space 4.0

Global sandstorm?

After hearing Hou Guang’s words, Lu Zhou subconsciously looked at the calendar at the corner of the table. He saw that the year was indeed 2021.

Hou Guang guessed what Lu Zhou was thinking, so he spoke.

“I know you are surprised… In fact, the observers at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope are also surprised. On average, a global sandstorm occurs on Mars every five to six years.”

Hou Guang sighed.

Even though it was a good thing for their opponents to be in trouble, they didn’t want NASA to be completely obliterated. It wasn’t in their interest for the Ares program to go sideways.

After hearing Hou Guang, Lu Zhou contemplated for a bit.

“Is there a reason?”

Hou Guang smiled and replied, “What reason could there be…”

The climate on Mars was a complex system. Because of the thin atmosphere and extreme terrains, there were no reliable methods that could accurately predict climate change.

The only inference people could make was that global sandstorms occurred every five to six years. Each sandstorm lasted for months or even an entire year. This was often accompanied by lightning and tornadoes.

If someone wanted to make accurate Mars climate predictions, they would have to send at least a few weather satellites into Mars’ low-Earth orbit.

Lu Zhou: “If a global sandstorm happens, what does that mean for the colonists on Mars?”

Hou Guang: “Generally speaking, the sandstorm will affect the solar power generators, but they should have a backup power supply. It shouldn’t be a big problem… Of course, only NASA knows how bad the situation is.”

The life support system embodied the most advanced technology of many space companies such as Space-X and Blue Origin. Even though the Ares program was executed hastily, Elon Musk had been making preparation to colonize Mars for decades. There was no way he didn’t take sandstorms into account.

Musk might have even practiced sandstorm drills on Earth.

Of course, these were just Lu Zhou’s speculations.

Like Hou Guang said, only the Mars colonists and NASA knew what the true situation was like.

Lu Zhou nodded and went silent for a while.

“Ask those at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope to continue observing Mars… I guess we’ll wait for NASA’s announcement.”

Lu Zhou’s focus was still on the Moon. He only paid a little attention to what was happening on Mars. It would be a good thing if this sandstorm revealed to Lu Zhou how advanced NASA’s Mars technology was.

Hou Guang left the office and closed the door on his way out.

Lu Zhou looked at the door and remembered he had a meeting with the director of the European Space Agency. He stood up and was about to prepare for the meeting.

However, he suddenly stopped and spoke to his computer.

“Xiao Ai, change the file decryption order. Crack the most recent files first!”

The computer signal light flashed, indicating that Xiao Ai had heard him.

Lu Zhou nodded and left the office.

…

The controllable fusion negotiations had come to an end. China and the rest of the world were at the honeymoon stage, and they had started to work closely in both academic and industry fields.

China’s entry into the International Space Station program and the European Union and China cooperation on the moon space station were the best examples of this.

Inside the command center at the Jinling launch site, Lu Zhou met Mr. Owens, the director of the European Space Agency.

Owens just came from a meeting in Beijing. He flew to Jinling mainly to see Lu Zhou. He wanted to meet the leader of China’s aerospace industry, the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, a legendary scientist…

“Hello, Professor Lu, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Owens was tall and lanky. He enthusiastically shook Lu Zhou’s hand. Lu Zhou smiled politely toward Owens.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Owens! Take a seat.”

Officials from the European Space Agency and journalists from European and Chinese media outlets followed Owens’ footsteps.

This meeting was open to the public. Both sides were going to talk about cooperation plans and portray an image to the international community regarding their cooperation.

Which was, that the negotiations between China and the European Union had been going smoothly.

Owens, while sitting on the sofa, explained his viewpoint in an interesting manner.

“If we look at the history of human space exploration, I think it can be divided into three stages.”

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Which three?”

Owens smiled and said, “In the first stage, space 1.0, humans studied astronomy and astrology and cultural and religious factors played a big role. In the space 2.0 stage, we went into space and set foot on the Moon. This is the ‘Apollo’ era. In the space 3.0 stage, space became another area for human development. Commercial space launch missions were becoming more frequent. This is the ‘International Space Station’ stage.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Interesting, so when do you think we’ll enter space 4.0?”

Owens thought for a bit and smiled.

“I think space 4.0 is the era of the Moon Palace.”

“Oh, really?” Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Why isn’t it the era of Ares?”

Owens smiled and shook his head.

“Mars is too far away, and it takes months for a round trip. Europe doesn’t have the capability to participate yet. Maybe Ares will be the next space era, but so far, we are more optimistic about the Moon.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but think.

He’s really thinking about this from all angles.

It’s not that they don’t want to join the Ares program, it’s that they don’t have the capabilities to join.

Is this guy really from Germany?

Lu Zhou felt like Owens was different from his other German friends…

Owens smiled toward a reporter’s camera.

“We’re in a new era where civilization will become more and more integrated with aerospace. In the future, more and more countries will participate in aerospace projects, and people of different skin colors will all fly on spacecraft.

“I would like us to develop lunar resources together, to build a ‘lunar village’ together.”

Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his right hand.

“We are happy to cooperate. I’m glad to reach a consensus with you.”

Chapter 787: SOS?

Building a community with the same goal for the future was one of the fundamental philosophies of the Chinese. It was also the main principles proposed by the Chinese representatives at the 15th United Nations General Assembly.

China didn’t want to achieve world domination. Rather, they wanted the world’s future interests to align with China’s interests.

Of course, this wasn’t something Lu Zhou had to worry about.

As a scholar, he only had to focus on his own research.

However, as a scholar, he was still glad to see his motherland being integrated into the international community, which meant he could use his voice to influence this community…

The meeting lasted for an hour, and the two talked about a lot of things.

Owens was surprised at Lu Zhou’s vision for the lunar village. Lu Zhou was interested in some of Owens’ ideas on the development of space resources and business operation models.

Technology provided humans with tools to transform and manipulate natural resources. However, the way at which people should use these tools was a discipline in and of itself.

“The Living Planet seminar is going to be held in Prague, Czech Republic. If you have time, we’d sincerely like you to visit.”

“If I have time, I’ll think about attending.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He obviously didn’t give a clear answer.

Owens didn’t push any further. He shook hands with Lu Zhou and said goodbye.

…

The day after Lu Zhou and Owens finished their meeting, the news that China and the European Union reached a lunar resources development consensus swept across the Internet.

Everyone Daily posted a concept map of the lunar village.

On the other hand, Xinhua Daily announced in its latest newspaper issue the specific content that was discussed by the Chinese and the European Union on the development and exploration of lunar resources.

Surprisingly, the European Union recognized the bill signed by China at the beginning of last year, which was to control the profits of companies in the lunar resource mining field.

This bill caused a lot of controversies back then. It was even criticized by the Western media as a modern East India Company Act.

If it weren’t for the western countries’ desire to obtain China’s nuclear fusion technologies, they would have kept silent…

But now, the European Union recognized this bill and stated that countries should compete fairly and cooperate on the development of lunar resources. This was able to shut a lot of people up.

The Americans were especially shocked. They couldn’t believe this “betrayal” by Europe. The line that said “space 4.0 is the era of Ares” attracted a lot of discussions.

Even though Director Owens spoke euphemistically, some people were still offended.

The Ares program was heading toward the victory line, yet Owens still had doubts regarding the Ares program?

The Americans thought the Europeans were blind.

However, even though the Europeans seemed to be leaning toward the Chinese side, the United States had no time to take care of this matter.

While the China National Space Administration and European Space Agency were having their own discussions, New Virginia was stuck in a global Mars sandstorm.

Even Lu Zhou’s favorite “Mars Diaries” program was suspended.

However, Space-X didn’t state the true reason for the suspension of the Mars Diaries program. They said that the information transmission costs were too expensive and that they needed the bandwidth for scientific research.

After Space-X announced this on their website, a lot of people were disappointed.

The program was at its climax, and many fans were let down.

However, most people were understanding.

After all, scientific research was more important than creating an entertainment show.

Elon Musk stood in front of a camera and apologized to the “Mars Diaries” fans.

“It’s a shame that this sandstorm might last for a long time. I assure you that everything is going fine. The atmosphere density of Mars is only 1% that of Earth’s. Even though this sandstorm is tough, it won’t do any damage.

“Also, I’d like to use this opportunity to talk about something exciting.

“The new BFR rocket is about to depart. This time, we are sending a 16-ton experiment module to Mars!

“If you have something to say to our colonists, please send us a written letter! We will choose 100 letters and send them to Mars along with our experimental module. Our New Virginia residents will read these letters out loud on Columbia TV!”

The reporters burst into excitement as they all rushed forward and reached out with their microphones.

Letter to Mars!

That is so exciting!

Musk is a genius!

However, Johnson, who was tens of millions of kilometers away, had no idea that this disastrous sandstorm was being downplayed on Earth…

The oxygen and methane resources continued to decline, and the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Of course, the US authorities had been trying their best. NASA even held several meetings regarding New Virginia’s rescue operation.

So far, Director Carson was presented with two solutions. One was to launch a new BFR rocket to Mars and send over resources that could help the colonists. The other was to find a way to get the colonists back on the BFS spacecraft, where they could continue living for a long time.

However, so far, it seemed like neither solution was realistic.

The distance between Mars and Earth was getting wider and wider. The best launch window to Mars was over. Even though they had BFR rockets available, it would take the rockets more than six months to reach Mars.

And it seemed like New Virginia could only survive for two more months.

Praying that the sandstorm would stop seemed to be the most realistic solution…

Inside the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, a text bubble popped up on Lu Zhou’s computer.

Xiao Ai: [Master, file 0021 is successfully decrypted!]

Lu Zhou, who was reading theses, looked at the text bubble and replied, “Send it to my computer.”

Xiao Ai: [Yes, Master ~ (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

In less than half a second, a folder appeared on his desktop.

Lu Zhou opened the folder and saw the file. Instantly, three letters caught his attention.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and muttered to himself.

“SOS…?”

They sent out an international distress signal?

Things are becoming more and more interesting…

Chapter 788: Open Secret

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Chen Yunhai stood in front of the dean’s office and took a deep breath. He straightened his collar and gently knocked on the door.

After hearing “come in”, he pushed open the door and walked in.

“Sir, did you ask for me?”

“Yeah, I did.” Lu Zhou smiled at Chen Yunhai and stood up. He gestured toward the sofa and said, “Don’t be so polite, come, sit down.”

Chen Yunhai sat on the sofa and thanked the assistant who just poured him a cup of tea. He began to look at the stack of draft papers sitting on the coffee table.

He saw some complex calculations and symbols drawn on the draft papers, and beside the draft papers were proof processes.

Chen Yunhai had no idea what he was looking at. Lu Zhou walked over with a cup of coffee and sat down across from him.

“Just some personal hobbies.” Lu Zhou placed the stack of draft papers aside and took out a freshly printed document. He placed it on the coffee table and said, “Two hours ago, we decrypted the signal sent from Mars to Earth. I’m sure you’ll be interested.”

Chen Yunhai suddenly became serious, and he quickly picked up the document.

The moment he saw the three letters, he was stunned.

“SOS…?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yes, with what is happening on Mars right now, I think there’s nothing wrong with our decryption. I think New Virginia is in a bit of trouble.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then continued, “But this could turn into an opportunity for us.”

Ideas flashed through Chen Yunhai’s mind, but he still shook his head.

“I know what you mean, but this might be difficult to execute… The White House would rather let the colonists die than to cooperate with us.”

If America decided to let China take over the rescue mission, not only would it damage America’s prestige and pride, but it would also bring risks such as technology thievery.

Even though this wasn’t politically correct, aerospace itself was a risky industry. The death of a few astronauts wasn’t significant enough for the White House to put down their ego.

Looking at the big picture, if the Americans couldn’t begin a rescue mission, it would be better for the three astronauts to die than for China to intervene on this matter.

At most, the Americans would prepare a special funeral for the colonists.

Perhaps Space-X’s stock price would take a hard hit after this. But this wouldn’t be the end of the Ares program. The Ares program researchers would learn from their mistakes and try again…

“I know.” Lu Zhou put down his coffee mug and nodded. He said, “Theoretically, that is true. NASA wouldn’t spend billions just to save three astronauts… Not to mention the rescue mission might go wrong. It might be in the interest of the United States to announce the ‘accidental’ death of the three astronauts.”

“That’s right.” Chen Yunhai nodded and said, “Therefore, it might be hard for us to capitalize on this opportunity.”

“Not necessarily.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “What if we told the Americans that we can save the astronauts?”

Chen Yunhai looked interested, and he said, “So what you’re saying is…”

“That’s right, leak the news from our side.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Then they will have to conduct a rescue mission. If they don’t…

“Then it’s no longer an accident, it’s murder!”

United States.

NASA headquarters.

At the Ares program ground command center, staff members were working hard at their respective jobs.

Director Carson stood inside the command center as he reported to the president on the current situation.

“We are now certain that the sandstorm on Mars is a global event, and our estimation is that the sandstorm will last for at least five months. Our colonists are facing—”

The president interrupted Director Carson and said angrily, “I don’t care what type of sandstorm it is. I just want to know one thing, what is your plan?”

Director Carson went silent for a while. He then said, “Sir… I don’t want to say this, but the chances are slim. Even if we launch the BFR rocket now and go to Mars using an unconventional orbit, it would take at least three months to reach Mars.”

President: “Can our colonists survive for three months?”

Director Carson paused for a second and spoke.

“It’s fifty-fifty… It depends on their survival skills.”

“We can’t let them know what the situation is like yet,” the president said. “Tell them that we are trying our best to rescue them and that they don’t have to worry!”

“But our rocket…”

Director Carson looked at the president’s gloomy face, and he suddenly knew what the President was implying.

“… I understand.”

Compared to bringing the astronauts back alive, asking them to keep this a secret was more important. They had to make the astronauts believe that NASA was doing their best to rescue them.

If the astronauts knew that they had no chance of survival, they could use the telecommunication equipment on Mars to spread the news across Earth…

That would be a disaster for NASA.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the corridor of the command center.

The White House secretary appeared behind them.

“Sir?”

The president turned over and looked at the tall man. He frowned and asked, “What now?”

The secretary gulped and replied, “The news was leaked.”

The president replied, “What news?”

“News regarding the New Virginia colonists…” The secretary took out a newspaper from his bag and carefully said to the president, “Look at it yourself.”

The newspaper was from the Everyone Daily Foreign Edition.

The president took the newspaper and squinted his eyes as he read.

The moment he laid his eyes on the newspaper, his heart sank.

A giant headline was right at the top of the newspaper.

[Mars encounters a rare global sandstorm, “New Virginia” colonists are in danger!]

WTF?

Chapter 789: Ion Thruster Propulsion System?

Normally, the United States was the one that criticized other countries.

The president didn’t expect to be attacked by Chinese media like this.

[Mars encounters rare global sandstorm, “New Virginia” colonists are in danger!]

In this report, Everyone Daily quoted researchers from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, who said the sandstorm could last for months.

The most significant impact was that the sunlight reaching Mars would be decreased by 70 or even 80 percent. This caused power generation problems.

The Mars colonists wouldn’t have enough energy to sustain their daily activities.

This meant that the life support system wouldn’t have any solar power!

If this problem remained, they would only be able to survive for another two months before the oxygen and methane tanks were depleted…

As soon as the news broke out, there was an uproar in North America.

New Virginia is being buried in a sandstorm?

WTF?

What angered Americans wasn’t the sandstorm itself; instead, it was because this was the first time they heard about this!

Just a week ago, they were still sitting in front of their TVs, drinking beer and eating chips, watching the Mars Diaries program on Columbia TV. They envied the lives of the Mars colonists.

But now…

They weren’t envious at all!

Many people who signed up for the Ares program were glad they were not chosen.

Not only did they regret signing up for the program, but they were also furious!

The day after Everyone Daily Foreign Edition released the news, intense discussions happened on major social media platforms such as Facebook.

People began posting screenshots of their withdrawal from the Ares program registration, stating that they were deceived by NASA and the US government. They said that NASA was conducting inhumane experiments!

The people that said things like “the Americans are already landing on Mars, yet China is still stuck on the moon?” quietly disappeared.

Of course, there were people who had a different opinion.

For example, those patriotic Americans who thought that “the BFR rocket will bring our heroes home!”…

Regardless, it was obvious that NASA tried to cover up this story.

On the other hand, the public interest for Space-X started to deplete. According to the statistics, the number of registered volunteers for the Ares program, which was originally announced on the official website, was close to the 20 million mark. However, in just one day, the number fell to 5 million, and it was still dropping.

Space-X and NASA had shut down the registration channels on their websites, and their websites no longer displayed how many people were registered…

Outside the NASA building.

Major media trucks filled the entire building parking lot.

Reporters with their cameras and microphones surrounded the building.

“Mr. Carson! What’s the current situation in New Virginia?”

“Why is this happening just two weeks after our colonists landed on Mars? Didn’t NASA inspect the climate before approving the launch program?”

“Is NASA even planning on saving our colonists? Why are there no rescue launch missions arranged? Are you really going to abandon our heroes?”

“We have the right to know the truth!”

As Director Carson looked at the microphones surrounding him, he began to sweat from his forehead, and he even began to feel a little nauseous.

He took a deep breath and tried to appease the reporters.

“We will release a statement shortly! But now is not the time! I can say that our colonists are safe right now! We have the world’s most advanced artificial biosphere technology. Even if this sandstorm lasts for a year, our colonists will be safe!”

However, most people didn’t buy what Director Carson was saying.

They thought about the suspended “Mars Diaries” program and had a rough idea of the real situation.

The situation in New Virginia wasn’t looking good.

Moreover, the colonists might not be able to survive for much longer…

…

It was difficult to keep a global sandstorm on Mars a secret. After all, any powerful astronomical observatory centers could point their telescopes at Mars and observe what was happening.

However, most space observatories didn’t think of the serious impacts this would have on the New Virginia colonists.

That was until the Everyone Daily Foreign Edition report, which revealed the truth…

Director Carson finally got rid of the annoying reporters. He walked toward the NASA building and went directly into the command center room. The secretary-general of NASA quickly spoke to him.

“The situation is not looking good. Julia is Dutch. The Dutch government has expressed its concerns regarding the latest developments of the Ares program. Last night, the French also publicly stated that if we can’t give them an explanation of the New Virginia situation, they might consider closing their Ares program registration… The French president said that the citizens want nothing to do with New Virginia.”

“Sh*t, who cares if the French is involved or not!”

Even though Director Carson seemed like he didn’t care, his face said otherwise.

This was a diplomatic level problem.

Europe was an important ally of the United States, so they couldn’t just ignore their feelings.

Not to mention the real issue wasn’t the diplomatic relations, it was the overwhelming public opinion.

If they couldn’t save the colonists, the president wouldn’t be able to win the next election, which meant he would be fired as the NASA director.

Even though they wanted to save the colonists…

They were not able to.

Director Carson walked into the command room and took a deep breath. He thought about what to say to the staff members working here.

However, his assistant rushed over to him while carrying a laptop.

“Director, you have a video call.”

Director Carson asked, “Who is calling?”

“The IP address is from the other side of the Pacific Ocean…” The assistant gulped and said, “I think it’s from Jinling, China.”

Carson’s pupils narrowed. He had a rough idea of what was happening.

He opened the laptop and hit the enter button.

The video call was connected.

A familiar face appeared in the center of the video.

“Hello, Mr. Carson, it’s nice to see you. It looks like you’re in a bit of trouble.”

Director Carson stared at Professor Lu through the screen. He didn’t even bother asking how Professor Lu got his Facebook account. He said, “Yeah, but you don’t have to worry about it, we can solve it ourselves.”

“Oh, really?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “By the way, 72 hours ago, you missed your orbit transfer window. If you wanted to send a BFR rocket now, the situation might not be optimal. I did some calculations on the flight process and uploaded it to arXiv. You can look at it if you want.”

Director Carson nearly spat out blood.

Doing some calculations for fun was fine.

But he couldn’t believe Lu Zhou posted it on arXiv.

Because of Lu Zhou’s influence on arXiv, by tomorrow, reporters would be swarming to his front doors with this new juicy piece of information…

Director Carson stared at Lu Zhou’s annoying face and asked, “Are you making fun of us?”

“Of course not, we are deeply saddened by your circumstances.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “By the way, do you want to learn about our ion thruster propulsion system?”

Chapter 790: You Need It

Ion thruster propulsion system?

Want me to learn about it?

Director Carson paused for two seconds after hearing Lu Zhou.

Then he spoke without hesitation.

“No, thanks!

“Everything at New Virginia is normal. Our life support system can guarantee that the colonists will survive the crisis.”

There’s no way I’m letting the Chinese save us!

Imagine how embarrassing it would be if they rescued our colonists?

Also, the BFS spacecraft had all of the most advanced technologies from various aerospace companies. The research and development expenses were in the tens of billions of USD, not to mention the expensive life support system on Mars…

He couldn’t trust the Chinese with his technology!

Looking at how resistant Director Carson was, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but chuckle.

He spoke.

“Oh, really? The three astronauts in New Virginia don’t think so.”

Director Carson frowned and said, “What do you mean?”

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said, “We’re very concerned about the colonists in New Virginia, so we looked at the electromagnetic signals from Mars.”

Suddenly, Director Carson broke out in cold sweat. He wasn’t happy.

“You listened to our communications?”

“Don’t get so riled up, you guys do that all the time, right?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Also, we happened to detect the signals during our normal astronomical observation activities.”

“But our communications are encrypted—”

Before Director Carson could finish speaking, Lu Zhou interrupted him, “SOS.”

“!”

Director Carson was dumbfounded.

In the beginning, he thought Lu Zhou was bluffing, but that was clearly not the case anymore.

Director Carson stubbornly replied, “We don’t need your help…”

“No, you do,” Lu Zhou said to Director Carson seriously. “This is three lives we are talking about. Think about it carefully before you answer my question.”

Lu Zhou reached out and tapped on the keyboard, thus ending the call.

Director Carson went silent for a while. He pinched his eyebrows and felt a terrible headache.

Three f*cking lives…

Who cares about three lives?

However, he couldn’t refute Lu Zhou’s words.

If China decided to publish those communication messages…

It would be a disastrous blow to the credibility of the authorities.

Maybe the American public could ignore the death of the astronauts, but the White House couldn’t ignore it, nor could he. Anyone who was personally involved in the Ares program would be impacted by the deaths of the astronauts.

Ten minutes ago, he was thinking about covering up the deaths with an accident or natural disaster, but he didn’t have that option anymore…

If he didn’t try his best to save the astronauts, he could be painted as a murderer!

The secretary looked at Director Carson and gulped.

“Sir? Are you… okay?”

“I’m doing great.” Director Carson looked at the command center and paused for a second. He then looked at the secretary and spoke.

“Get the car ready… I’m going to the White House.”

This was a decision that had to be made by the president.

The secretary paused for a second.

“Now?”

“Right now!”

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After the video call, Lu Zhou sighed in relief and leaned back on his office chair.

He wasn’t particularly good at negotiating, but he knew that he accurately conveyed his intentions to Director Carson. If there was no official response from the United States, he would disclose the communication messages.

If the United States still didn’t give an official response, the Lunar Orbit Committee would announce a humanitarian relief to save the New Virginia colonists.

After all, it wasn’t like the United States could prevent other people from saving the colonists.

As for why China wanted to bring the colonists back alive?

Saving lives wasn’t the main reason. Participating in the rescue mission would be a huge boost to the international prestige and reputation of China, even if the rescue mission were to fail.

Lu Zhou was also curious about the technology used in the life support system and the BFR spacecraft floating in Mars orbit. Sending a researcher there would be very helpful.

His computer signal light flickered, and a string of bubbles popped up on his computer screen.

Xiao Ai: [Sir, someone tried to send a Trojan to your computer.]

Trojan?

Is it from an intelligence agency, maybe the CIA?

Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised. After all, Carson was a high-level official. Not to mention Lu Zhou used his personal computer to video call Carson.

Lu Zhou: “Is it a problem?”

[Not a big problem! (≧∇≦)]

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Help me get rid of it then, and if you can, maybe teach them a lesson. This is a bit ridiculous.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Xiao Ai will take care of it!]

The text bubbles disappeared.

The fans on the laptop spun for a while and gradually stopped.

Lu Zhou thought that the Trojan was probably removed. He took out his phone and called Hou Guang.

The phone quickly connected.

Lu Zhou began to send out orders.

“Tell the ground command center to calculate the launch trajectory. Within 12 hours, I need the fastest trajectory to Mars for an ion thruster propulsion system!”

“In addition, assign the rescue mission to Starlight. Tell them to prepare for the rescue mission. And tell them to refuel their resources on the Moon Palace space station, then stand by in lunar orbit.”

Moon Palace had a special cargo bay that stored spare fusion batteries and the propulsion working medium. This space station was originally intended to be a “lunar docking port”, therefore it had plenty of working medium supplies.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s orders, Hou Guang immediately asked, “The United States replied to us?”

“I’m not waiting for their reply.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “By the time they reply, it will be too late.”

Chapter 791: The World Will Witness Again

If someone wanted to understand the advantages and disadvantages of ion thruster and chemical propulsion, they would have to have a fundamental understanding of a high school physics concept—acceleration.

On a short distance scale, because of the huge thrust produced by chemical propulsion, spacecraft could reach a very high speed in a short period of time, thus reducing the overall flight time.

However, if the distance scale was expanded to millions of kilometers or even tens of millions of kilometers, the situation would become drastically different.

Unlike ion thruster propulsion, chemical propulsion could produce a huge thrust in exchange for working medium consumption. However, ion thruster propulsion could reach speeds much higher than chemical rockets due to its continuous acceleration and large specific impulse.

It took the BFR rockets three months to travel to Mars.

However, for Starlight, which was orbiting in lunar orbit, it would only take one month.

Not to mention this was without using the Hohmann transfer orbit. If Mars and Earth were at exactly the optimal position, it would take less than a month for the Earth to Mars journey.

In the empty and dark space, the astronauts stationed on Moon Palace had just finished supplying Starlight with the working medium.

Sitting in the cockpit, Xu Zhenghong reached out and pressed his helmet, and he reported to the ground command center.

“This is Starlight, we have completed refueling. Requesting further instructions.”

“This is the ground command center. Congratulations on completing the mission. Please switch to cruise mode and await further instructions.”

“Roger that, switching to cruise mode.”

Sitting in the co-pilot seat, Liu Biao watched Xu Zhenghong switch to cruise mode.

“Are we not returning to Earth?”

“The ground command center is telling us to stand by.”

“Is it because of the Americans?”

“Yeah.”

Liu Biao couldn’t help but feel emotional.

A couple of months ago, he saw the American spacecraft flying across space.

Before they could say hello, the spacecraft was already gone.

He didn’t expect to meet the BFS spacecraft so soon.

The cockpit went silent for a while.

Xu Zhenghong closed his eyes and was about to take a nap when the cockpit signal light flickered.

Liu Biao said, “Signal from the ground command center.”

“I see it.” Xu Zhenghong opened his eyes and stood up. He then pressed his helmet button and said, “This is Starlight, heading to scheduled airspace, preparing to switch routes…

“5,4,3,2,1… Fire!”

Starlight’s five ion thruster propulsion engines burst into a faint blue arc as it slowly pushed the silver spacecraft…

…

15 minutes ago.

Facing this dilemma, the White House finally made a decision. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a phone call from the president of the United States. During this phone call, the POTUS formally requested help.

10 minutes ago, the news reached the Jinling launch site. The command center staff immediately started to get to work.

Starlight was performing a mission in lunar orbit. When they received the news, they immediately began to prepare for it. After they refueled their living and fuel supplies from the Moon Palace space station, they began their journey toward Mars.

It took less than 15 minutes between the president formally requesting help and Starlight heading toward Mars.

The world once again witnessed the efficiency of China.

On the other hand, the Lunar Orbit Committee held a press conference at Jinling Hotel. They publicly reported the progress on the latest rescue mission to various media journalists.

This made the Americans furious.

The Americans wanted to keep this low-key.

Yet the Chinese even invited reporters to the press conference!

The White House wanted to keep this whole thing quiet. They didn’t expect China to make such a huge debacle over this.

The press conference made the NASA staff members’ faces turn red.

They spent three days analyzing all of their options and solutions. However, they weren’t able to make a final decision and missed the optimal launch window.

China, on the other hand, was able to send out a rescue team within 15 minutes of the president asking for help. China’s efficiency was on another level.

However, NASA knew the rescue plan obviously wasn’t made in 15 minutes. China was probably planning for this rescue mission long before the video call.

Even then, this type of efficiency was never seen before.

Not only that, but China’s open, transparent, serious, and responsible attitude with regard to the rescue mission formed a sharp contrast with NASA’s image. The public opinion of the Ares program changed overnight.

[I am ashamed of NASA.]

[This is unbelievable. If it weren’t for the Chinese, we wouldn’t have even known what our Mars colonists are going through right now? Does the White House plan on burying their bodies?]

[They dispatched a rescue team within 15 minutes… Jesus, how is that possible?]

[I seriously doubt NASA had any intention to save those colonists at all!]

[Now I know why the Mars Diaries was suspended. It’s not because of communication costs, but purely because of the sandstorm. The White House wants to hide the truth from us…]

In order to save some face and demonstrate their determination in bringing the colonists home, the White House announced that they would bear the entire cost of the rescue mission.

In less than 15 minutes after the announcement, NASA received a bill from China.

US$1.7 billion.

China was asking for a wire transfer.

After seeing the bill, Director Carson nearly spat out blood.

US$1.7 billion!

They can build another damn Starlight with this money!

Do they think we’re the ATM?

His assistant came over.

“Sir?”

“What now?”

The assistant looked at Director Carson and hesitated for a bit.

“I have some bad news…”

Carson said impatiently, “Hurry up, tell me.”

Seeing how his boss was irritated, the assistant said, “Okay! Half an hour ago, we found a documentary on the official Chinese website.”

Director Carson’s heart sank, he could feel something was wrong.

However, he couldn’t describe this feeling.

He opened his mouth and asked reluctantly, “What kind of documentary?”

The assistant replied, “I think it’s called… Mars Rescue.”

Carson: “…”

F*ck

Chapter 792: Worst Case Scenario

In the end, the Americans didn’t make the transfer.

After all, such a large amount of money couldn’t be transferred at a moment’s notice. This had to go through a bank’s special transfer route.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect the Americans to actually pay…

“The Americans are actually paying?” Lu Zhou said to Director Li.

He thought about it carefully and realized that it made sense. This wasn’t about money anymore.

Not to mention the White House’s promise to pay the expenses, even if they didn’t make their promise, the White House wouldn’t have let China pay the money.

It would be embarrassing for America if they let China spend money to save their own people.

Director Li nodded and said, “The US treasury secretary summoned our embassy members in Washington this morning. They said the US$1.7 billion figure was too high, and they are only willing to pay US$1 billion.”

US$1 billion!

Lu Zhou felt his hands shaking.

He coughed and replied, “1 billion is enough.”

However, Director Li looked a little unhappy.

“We’ll try to get more for you, but the White House is only willing to pay 1 billion… Is that enough for you? If not, we can give you more.”

This rescue operation greatly improved China’s international image and national prestige. This was worth the money.

Even though Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, Star Sky Technology was his private company. If Star Sky Technology really had to spend that much money on the rescue operation, it was reasonable for the central government to subsidize his costs.

After all, high tech companies were the future of the country. China wanted these companies to thrive.

However, after hearing Director Li’s words, Lu Zhou shook his head.

“There’s no way it would cost that much. Including all of the expenses, it is at most two to three hundred million USD.”

Director Li was shocked.

“Only two to three hundred million? Then the US$1.7 billion bill was…”

Lu Zhou laughed.

“Exactly, it was a bargaining technique.”

Director Li: “…”

Asking for US$1.7 billion was indeed a bit too much, not to mention this was supposed to be a humanitarian relief mission.

Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t plan on making money. He knew the Americans would give him a lower counteroffer, in which he would “reluctantly” accept the counteroffer.

He had no idea the White House would be so generous. Lu Zhou was almost embarrassed.

Lu Zhou thought for a while and didn’t feel good about what he was doing.

“Should I change the price?”

“There’s no need… You really are ruthless.” Director Li thought for a while and said, “How about this… Just tell them we’ll cover the remaining US$700 million.”

Remaining US$700 million?

One billion is more than enough, what do you mean cover?

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what Director Li meant.

He sighed and replied, “I thought I was being ruthless… I didn’t expect you to be even more ruthless.”

Director Li said, “What do you mean… What if we have other hidden expenses? Like the ‘Mars Rescue’ documentary costs? Of course, when the media asks us, tell them that we spent US$1.713 billion. The Americans covered 1 billion, and we covered the 0.713 billion…”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but ask, “Where did the 130 million come from?”

Director Li sipped some tea and replied, “It looks more legit that way.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

On the other hand.

NASA headquarters.

Ares program ground command center.

The president stood next to the console with his hands behind his back. He stared at the flashing green dot on the big screen, as well as a green trajectory line.

That green dot was Starlight, flying toward Mars for the rescue mission. The president wasn’t in a good mood.

It had been twenty years since the Columbia incident, in which all seven astronauts were killed.

Honestly speaking, the president would rather let another seven astronauts die than for the Soviets to obtain the wreckage of Columbia… He was sure that George W. Bush would have thought the same.

However, that was just a hypothetical situation; there was no way for the Soviets to obtain the wreckage.

However now…

It seemed like China was going to obtain the wreckage.

The president tilted his head and looked at Director Carson.

“What’s the situation in New Virginia like?”

Carson said, “The colonists are in a stable mood. We already told them that there is a rescue spacecraft heading toward Mars and that they would have more than enough fuel for the return flight…”

The president nodded and signaled for Carson to stop speaking.

After a while, the president spoke.

“The second phase of the Ares program has completely failed. We need to start doing damage control.

“The BFS spacecraft is equipped with our most advanced space communications equipment. Boeing said that it would be better to crash the BFS spacecraft than to let the Chinese get their hands on the spacecraft.”

It wasn’t just communication equipment, but the spacecraft also contained environmental-control bio-security systems and cosmic ray shielding materials. These were all state-of-the-art technologies from America aerospace companies.

Although China might be ahead in the world in terms of the ion thruster propulsion system, the Americans dominated other aerospace technology fields.

The BFS spacecraft was the embodiment of the technology accumulated from hundreds of launch missions. If they allowed the Chinese to take that technology, it would be a huge loss to the American aerospace industry.

When Director Carson heard about the president’s crazy plan, he began to sweat from his forehead.

He’s talking about destroying a billion-dollar spacecraft!

Not to mention…

“But the high-power signal transmission equipment on the BFS is the only way we can get in touch with New Virginia. If we crash the BFS spacecraft…”

“The crash will happen after China’s Starlight has reached Mars’ orbit… We can make up an excuse and say the spacecraft has failed.” The president continued, “No one will be on the spacecraft anyway. It’ll just be a piece of metal falling out of the sky.”

Director Carson said, “But… if the BFS spacecraft is destroyed, New Virginia will be completely isolated from our communication channel. This might make rescue efforts even more difficult.”

“God will protect our heroes,” said the president. He looked at the large console screen and muttered to himself, “If something goes wrong, we will give them our thoughts and prayers.”

Chapter 793: Falling!

In fact, Starlight arrived 79 hours earlier than Lu Zhou had expected.

After 41 days and 2 hours of flying, the fiery red planet gradually appeared in the view of the Starlight porthole.

Liu Biao squinted and looked outside the porthole. He watched as the bright sun slowly rose from the edge of the fiery red silhouette. He watched the billowing sand waves tumble like a sea of fire.

“This is a mess… But the scenery is quite pretty.”

“Yeah.” Xu Zhenghong nodded and pressed his helmet. He said, “This is Starlight, we have entered Mars’ gravitational system. Successfully entered orbit a-1.”

They waited quietly for about five minutes.

A noisy unstable sound came from Earth, which was tens of millions of kilometers away.

“This is the ground command center, congratulations on completing your mission… Please begin active braking procedures and prepare to approach Mars. Orbital navigation will be handled by the onboard computer. Good luck.”

“Roger that.”

Since they were tens of millions of kilometers away from Earth, the ground command center obviously couldn’t control the spacecraft in real time.

The orbit change plan had already been coded in the spacecraft computer in advance. The pilot would complete the orbit change plan with the help of the onboard computer.

Of course, even though this sounded complicated, it was much easier in practice.

Starlight had a high degree of automation control. Unless an edge case happened, generally the pilot only needed to keep his eyes on the speed dial and make sure the spacecraft didn’t deviate from orbit.

Liu Biao: “Are we landing? Or are we waiting for them to come to us?”

Xu Zhenghong: “The New Virginia life support system has a return capsule. They will return to the BFS spacecraft using their return capsule. Then we will return to orbit.”

They would also drop their “spying space probe”.

Of course, this was a top-secret mission. This was personally arranged by Chief Designer Lu Zhou. Even Liu Biao wasn’t told about this mission.

Liu Biao: “Ok… What if they don’t come back?”

Xu Zhenghong said, “Then we’ll give them our thoughts and prayers… Remember to take photo evidence, make sure the Americans don’t blame us.”

“No problems, I’ll start taking photos now!”

Liu Biao smiled and reached out to press a button on the console.

“Not yet.”

Xu Zhenghong smiled.

However, his face suddenly froze.

He looked at the silver-colored spacecraft outside the window. His pupils contracted. He placed his hand on his helmet.

“This is Starlight… The American spacecraft seems to be in a little bit of trouble.”

Five minutes went by.

The command center voice came through the communication channel.

“What’s happening?”

Xu Zhenghong squinted and stared at the silver spacecraft in the distance.

He didn’t know why, but he felt like something was wrong.

Liu Biao looked in the same direction and turned on the ranging lidar, and he aimed the lidar at the target spacecraft.

Even though this device was used to measure the distance of meteorites, it could also be used to target spacecraft.

Xu Zhenghong looked at the velocity meter on the lidar and took a deep breath.

“BFS spacecraft is falling… I repeat, BFS spacecraft is falling!”

…

It had been more than a month since the distress signal was issued from Mars.

Accurately speaking, it had been 41 days and 2 hours.

Due to the lack of light and electricity, the crops in the planting area had withered.

In order to save energy, two weeks ago, they restricted their range of activities to the experiment room and cut off power to all other areas. The reason for this was because the experiment room contained the only control terminal that could receive and send data to the BFS spacecraft.

Even then, they were running low on resources.

They would die from hypoxia in the next 42 hours…

A trembling female voice broke the silence in the experiment room.

“Are they going to save us?” Julia helplessly glanced outside the window with a look of despair.

There was no chance of hoping the sandstorm would stop.

It seemed like the sandstorm would last for at least six months.

Johnson leaned on the window while holding a picture in his hand. He answered with a weak voice, “Definitely.”

Even though he answered enthusiastically, there wasn’t an ounce of optimism on his face.

“Maybe not,” Travis said. “Maybe they’d rather us die.”

Julia’s eyes widened, and she asked, “Why?”

Travis: “Think about it. If we die, we will die as heroes. If we live, they’ll have to give supplies and bring us home… It’s a negative play for them.”

“Enough!”

Johnson suddenly growled.

The cabin went silent for a second.

Travis frowned and spoke with an unhappy tone.

“Hey, is there something wrong with what I said?”

Johnson stood up and looked at Travis.

“I just want you to shut your f*cking mouth, stop wasting oxygen.”

“What does that supposed to mean? We’re going to die anyway. Oh, you want some of this? Come on, I’ve had enough of you.” Travis rubbed his hands and clenched his fists.

Julia saw that the two men were about to fight, so she used all of her energy to stand up and tried to stop them.

“Enough, calm down you two!”

Suddenly, they heard a muffled noise outside the life support system.

The two men stopped and looked outside the porthole.

Despite the heavy sandstorm, they could clearly see a ball of fire burning on the ground. At the same time, they saw a green dot flashing on the control terminal. Finally, the dot turned red.

A line of words flashed on the upper right corner of the control terminal.

[Connection lost.]

Johnson gulped. He looked horrified.

“Sh*t, our spacecraft!”

Travis quietly muttered, “Jesus Christ…”

The silence went on for a long time.

The fire exhausted all of the remaining oxygen and was eventually swallowed by the sandstorm…

Julia looked outside the porthole and asked with a quivering voice, “Are we going to die?”

No one answered her.

The BFR spacecraft had enough fuel to float in orbit for twenty years, but somehow a “failure” occurred…

Johnson used his index finger to draw a cross on his chest.

God, please protect me.

However, deep down, he knew that there was nothing God could do; this was the land of Ares…

Suddenly, the control terminal started to ring.

At first, he thought it was static noise, so he ignored it.

That was until the ringing became clearer and clearer…

Johnson saw [Connection Request] on the terminal, so he quickly rushed over and pressed the button.

Could this be aliens?

He hoped he wasn’t imagining things.

It turned out it wasn’t his imagination.

The moment the communication channel was connected, a voice traveled through his ears…

“This is Chinese astronaut Xu Zhenghong, how are you doing, my Martian friends?”

Chapter 794: Return Ticket

BFR spacecraft is crashing towards Mars!

When Earth heard the news, they were already five minutes too late.

Lu Zhou was shocked; he didn’t think NASA would be this cunning!

There was no way it was just a coincidence that the BFS spacecraft happened to crash right now.

Especially since it wouldn’t be difficult to make a spacecraft self-destruct. They just had to drop the orbital height and let the gravity of Mars slowly pull the spacecraft to the surface.

Generally, after a satellite reached the end of its useful life, it would be manually guided to fall into the sea.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect that the Americans would rather destroy the spacecraft than to let the Chinese astronauts have a look around the spacecraft.

Why are the Americans overreacting so badly?

Inside the ground command center, Hou Guang was standing next to Lu Zhou. Hou Guang opened his mouth and asked, “What do we do now?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and replied, “Do we know where the BFS spacecraft crashed?”

Hou Guang shook his head and said, “We don’t know the specific coordinates. And we can’t observe the Mars surface due to the global sandstorm. However, we can roughly estimate the impact area.”

Lu Zhou immediately replied, “Mark the estimated impact area. I need to know its relative position to the New Virginia village.”

“Okay.”

Lu Zhou stood beside the console and waited quietly for ten minutes. Soon a three-dimensional composition grid image was displayed on the screen. The New Virginia village was marked with a blue point, using coordinates provided by the United States. The estimated BFS impact area was painted with a red circle, with an area of around 40 square kilometers. The distance between New Virginia and the center point of the red circle was around 30 kilometers.

It would take the Mars rover an hour to drive from New Virginia to the BFS impact site.

Lu Zhou stared at the image for a while and suddenly had an idea. He looked at Hou Guang and said, “Ask Starlight to contact the New Virginia colonists.”

Hou Guang: “Then what?”

“Then take them home.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “But we’re going to charge them for the return ticket fee.”

…

“I repeat, this is Chinese astronaut Xu Zhenghong. How are you doing, my Martian friends?”

The voice echoed in Johnson’s head. He grabbed the headset and put it on his head.

He quickly replied, “We are good! No, we’re not doing good… Did NASA send you guys? No, I meant—”

The other end of the communication channel interrupted Johnson, “Not quite. We are helping you out based on humanitarian principles, and we are not employed by anyone. If you want to go home safely, please follow our instructions.”

Johnson could tell something smelled fishy, so he frowned and asked, “What do you want us to do?”

Xu Zhenghong: “Please open the data transmission system.”

Johnson hesitated for a bit before agreeing to Xu Zhenghong’s request. He opened the data transmission system.

This was quite risky. If the other party were to implant a virus in the life support system, the other party could shut off their oxygen supply and kill them.

However, he was out of options.

If he wanted to go home, he had to follow the orders.

When the data transmission system was turned on, a progress bar popped up on the screen.

Johnson frowned and asked, “What is this?”

“We need to collect data to investigate the accident.”

Why do you Chinese people have to investigate the accident?

However, now was not the time to complain.

Johnson looked at the progress bar and took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but ask, “We just wait here until it is complete?”

“No, we need one more thing from you.”

Johnson gulped and replied, “Yes?”

“The approximate location of the BFS spacecraft crash has been sent to your mission log. It is about thirty kilometers from New Virginia. Of course, I believe you have a more accurate way of determining the location of the BFS spacecraft. I don’t care how you find the spacecraft, but I need you to recover the black box and sample the materials in the crash area…”

Xu Zhenghong paused for a second and spoke in a serious tone, “This is NASA’s request.”

Johnson gulped.

He didn’t have time to think.

“But there is a sandstorm outside, we can’t…”

“The atmosphere on Mars is only one percent as dense. There is nothing scary about a sandstorm. If you bring us what we want, we’ll take care of you.

“That’s it.

“I look forward to your good news.”

The communication channel was closed.

Johnson looked at the screen and punched the wall.

“Goddamn it!”

Julia whispered, “Do you think NASA made the requests?”

Travis nervously said, “Hey man, who cares what they want, just give it to them. NASA abandoned us. Why else would they crash the BFS? Don’t tell me it’s an accident!”

Johnson went silent.

After a long time, he seemed to have made a decision. He slowly said, “Prepare the rover.”

“Okay.”

Travis obeyed Johnson’s order.

After all, this was his chance to go home.

Johnson looked out the porthole and suddenly sighed. He muttered to himself, “Whether or not this is NASA’s request, BFS is gone. We can only contact Starlight… We have to believe them.”

He still had a wife waiting for him.

And two beautiful children.

No matter what, he had to go home!

If NASA wanted to abandon them, then there was nothing wrong with working with the Chinese…

Chapter 795: Successful Rescue!

Mars’ orbit.

The cockpit was silent.

Liu Biao quietly waited for the other side of the communication channel to reply. He took a deep breath and suddenly spoke.

“Captain.”

Xu Zhenghong: “What?”

Liu Biao: “Are we doing the right thing?”

“What’s wrong with nations exchanging favors? They would do the same to us.” Xu Zhenghong looked at the red planet and said, “Not to mention we can’t just do favors for free.”

Liu Biao asked, “What if they don’t find what we want?”

Xu Zhenghong went silent for a second and replied, “Then it would be a loss for us.”

But they would still continue the rescue.

This was what Professor Lu told them to do…

…

On the surface of Mars.

The metal alloy doors of the life support system slowly opened. A red Mars rover drove out of the door and onto the billowing sand.

Johnson looked at the green dot on the radar. He was filled with a range of emotions.

Obviously, NASA wouldn’t issue them such a ridiculous task. The Chinese astronaut was obviously lying.

But if he wanted to go home, he had no other choice…

With the radar helping with navigation, Johnson quickly arrived at the destination.

The rover was parked near the impact zone. Johnson, who was already in his spacesuit, got out of the rover and walked toward the BFS with a toolbox in his hand.

“Sh*t… It’s completely destroyed.”

Johnson sampled the BFS spacecraft materials and stored them in a special sample box.

The closer he was to the impact center, the more debris there was.

He carefully stepped over the metal fragments. He took out a cutting gun from his toolbox and turned on the cutting gun. He soon cut a circular opening onto the spacecraft cabin.

Johnson sighed and put the cutting gun again.

“Sigh… Time to get to work.”

He grabbed the metal bars on the outside of the BFS spacecraft and slid into the cabin.

“Black box… Let me think… I think it’s under the pilot’s seat…”

Johnson turned on his spacesuit flashlight and wiped the sand and dust off his spacesuit helmet. He started walking toward the cockpit.

In fact, just like Lu Zhou had guessed, there was indeed a black box on the BFS spacecraft. The black box recorded a series of data such as the BFS spacecraft launch calculations, as well as communication records.

If the BFS spacecraft happened to crash on Mars, it was the colonists’ job to recover the black box.

However, it wasn’t the colonists’ job to hand over the black box to the Chinese…

Johnson found a green suitcase with a reflective strip under the pilot’s seat. He paused for a second, shook his head, and began to walk out of the cabin…

Thirty kilometers away, inside the life support system.

Julia and Travis were left behind in the experiment cabin. They anxiously waited for the news from their Captain Johnson.

Travis looked outside the porthole and didn’t see anything except yellow sand.

Suddenly, the experiment cabin door opened. Johnson, wearing a spacesuit, walked in. He was covered in sand.

He was holding a green box and a small suitcase.

Travis smiled and walked up to him, but Johnson ignored him. Johnson walked straight to the console and connected the data cable to the suitcase. He then pressed the communication button.

“We have what you want.”

Static noises were heard.

A clear voice came from the communication channel.

“Congratulations, you have earned your return ticket. Please enter the return capsule and begin ignition. We will be in New Virginia air space in five minutes.”

“Roger that.”

Johnson unplugged the cable and looked at his two teammates. He sighed in relief.

“We’re going home.”

…

The New Virginia escape capsule was located at the center of the life support system, directly above the methane generator.

During an emergency, the colonists would have to enter the escape capsule and begin the escape procedure. The oxygen and methane reserves in the life support system would be injected into the engine of the escape capsule. The escape capsule would then fly to the BFS spacecraft.

Of course, the BFS spacecraft was destroyed by NASA.

Even though Johnson had no evidence that NASA purposely destroyed the BFS spacecraft, Johnson knew NASA was behind all this.

He knew NASA purposely gave up on them.

This made him feel slightly better about helping China…

The silver-white escape capsule separated from the life support system, leaving dust and smoke behind.

This was the end of their failed colonization mission.

Of course, even though they failed, they gained experience and knowledge. This would pave the way for their successors…

The escape capsule headed toward the starry sky, gradually merging into orbit. After half an hour of floating, it was finally captured by the arms of Starlight.

The large and small spacecrafts slowly approached one another.

“New Virginia capsule is in orbit… Our oxygen levels are running low, we need help.”

“This is Starlight, we have received your request. Please wait patiently for rescue.”

The hatch slowly opened, and a thick and long mechanical arm extended out of the cabin and grabbed the escape capsule. The capsule was then slowly dragged into Starlight’s cargo area.

This system was originally intended to be used for recovering space trash and dead satellites, but it was also technically feasible for fetching escape capsules.

On the other hand, in Jin Ling City, the lunar orbit project committee held a press conference with regard to the rescue operation.

When the reporters at the conference heard that the BFS spacecraft had crashed onto Mars, the conference room went into chaos. Johnson’s wife, who came all the way to China, was in tears.

However, just a few hours later, everything changed.

News of the escape capsule entering orbit, Starlight arriving in their target airspace, and other news of the recovery operation slowly started to flow. Reporters, as well as members of the US embassy, at the scene held their breaths as they waited nervously for the result.

At last, when the news of the successful rescue reached Jinling’s ground command center, it was instantly spread to the press conference. The big screen at the conference read “all three astronauts were rescued”.

Everyone saw the words on the screen…

The press conference was filled with thunderous applause.

“Jesus Christ… Thank you! Thank you! I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say…”

A crying woman held Lu Zhou’s hand. Her legs felt weak. A staff member quickly supported her, and it almost seemed like she was going to faint.

Lu Zhou gave her a comforting look and told the staff member to take care of her.

Her husband was finally safe.

For the past month, her life had been nothing but torture.

Now that the knot in her heart was finally untied, she could finally get a good night’s rest.

Chen Yunhai, director of the Lunar Orbit Committee organization department, stood in front of the camera and solemnly announced the victory of the rescue operation. He also announced the return timeline of Starlight.

The US embassy members were standing at one side, and they wiped the tears off their faces and began applauding.

The Americans had lost the space race; there was no doubt about it.

But…

They couldn’t help but applaud…

Chapter 796: Finesse

After Starlight recovered the escape capsule, Starlight continued to orbit around Mars for a couple of days. It then began the return flight procedure and started to switch orbit.

Xu Zhenghong took out a key, inserted it into the console, then twisted it. A black item was released from Starlight’s cargo storage and began to fall toward the fiery red planet.

Liu Biao caught a glimpse of the black object. He looked out the porthole, but he couldn’t see anything.

“Did you see something outside the window just now?” he asked.

Xu Zhenghong stared at the speed diameter on the console. He reached out and pressed the main engine button.

“I didn’t see anything, you must be imagining stuff.”

Liu Biao was sure he saw something.

He was an ex-fighter jet pilot. He had the eyes of an eagle.

“Did they drop something?”

“No.” Xu Zhenghong casually changed the topic, “Once we finish accelerating, go say hi to them. Give them a quick rundown of Starlight’s components and place them in the guest cabin. Oh yeah, make sure to turn on your recorder and keep the black box safe.”

Liu Biao smiled and gave a thumbs-up gesture.

“Roger that.”

…

It took less than ten minutes between the escape capsule breaking through Mars’ atmosphere and it being recovered by Starlight. The camera installed on the outside of the Starlight cabin captured this beautiful moment.

This twenty-minute long video was transmitted back to Jinling ground command center. It was then sent to the CTV “Mars Rescue” editing room, marking the end of the documentary.

The documentary was finally complete.

The day after the Lunar Orbit Committee announced the successful rescue mission, CTV released the full version of the “Mars Rescue” documentary.

The total length of the documentary was 120 minutes. After some digital processing, the distress signal from Mars detected by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope was restored. Everything from the White House’s call for help, to the Communist Party of China giving instructions, to Starlight beginning its rescue mission within 15 minutes of receiving the distress signal… They were all captured in the documentary.

A digital version of the documentary was released on major video and social media sites in China.

The comment section of the documentary exploded.

[Starlight is nutty! Professor Lu is nutty! (national flag)]

[Fifteen minutes response time!]

[I want the Moon Palace to be open to the public! I want a chance to go to the Moon!!]

[The Americans sent someone to Mars, but we had to rescue them, hmm… Does this count as a victory for us?]

[I think it does…]

[I noticed that the rescue mission costs were US$1.714 billion. The Americans only paid US$1 billion. Why did we have to spend US$714 million to save their people? Aren’t we competing in a space race right now? If I were the chief designer, I would definitely force the Americans to pay the full amount!]

[Well then, thank goodness you’re not the chief designer.]

[…]

The wave of comments flooded the website. The “Mars Rescue” was soon uploaded to YouTube.

Even though NASA’s inefficiency throughout the entire debacle angered many netizens, the White House calling for help at the right time still earned them a lot of brownie points.

The generous and responsible attitude shown by China during the rescue mission also added a touch of respect and prestige to the country’s image.

Even though there were competitions between the different nations on Earth, in space, everyone was from the same planet.

Regardless of the unknown motives behind this mission, being able to rescue someone from tens of millions of kilometers away was something worth remembering in history.

Of course, the Lunar Orbit Committee was the one that deserved the most praise.

With a fifteen-minute response time, the efficiency and speed of execution shocked everyone around the world…

Three days after the press conference.

Lu Zhou was drinking tea with Director Li inside his Jinling Institute for Advanced Study office.

They happened to talk about the comments on the Internet when Lu Zhou spoke emotionally.

“Sometimes I think that if you don’t influence public opinion, someone else will. We have been too passive in this regard.”

The space race had been going on for more than 1 year and a half.

The Lunar Orbit Committee had been established for quite some time. They even sent a space station into lunar orbit. However, this was their first time receiving global praise.

Director Li nodded and spoke emotionally as well.

“Yeah, but that isn’t something we can change overnight.”

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t say anything else.

Just like Director Li had said, some things couldn’t be changed overnight.

Whether it was constructing a tower or building up one’s public reputation, it all required time.

Director Li paused for a second. He then suddenly asked, “Oh yeah, speaking of which, did you get the BFS spacecraft black box?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “We did.”

Director Li went silent for a while and said, “I’m afraid this isn’t easy to deal with.”

They couldn’t conceal the truth.

There was no reason for the three Martian colonists to keep this a secret.

Even though they knew that this wouldn’t be a huge deal, it would still damage their reputation.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “There’s nothing difficult. Just copy the data and give them the box back.”

Director Li suddenly replied, “Do an accident appraisal. Then send the accident appraisal report together with the black box.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what Director Li meant at first, but he quickly caught on.

“You’re quite good at finessing.”

Director Li frowned and replied, “What is finessing?”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Nothing… It’s kind of like street smart.”

“Damn you millennial, speak normally.” Director Li smiled and stood up from the sofa. He said, “Okay, I won’t bother you anymore, I still have to go to a meeting at the launch site. Do you want to come as well?”

Lu Zhou finished his tea and stood up as well.

“I’ll send you out.”

“I knew you didn’t want to go.” Director Li smiled and said, “I’ll go by myself then.”

“Take it easy.”

After Director Li left the office, Lu Zhou took out his phone and looked at the time.

The black object he dropped on Mars should have landed by now…

Chapter 797: Crawling All Terrain Survey Vehicle

After Director Li left, Lu Zhou took the elevator straight to the second basement floor of the main building at the Institute for Advanced Study. He walked through the hidden sample room and entered the secret third level basement.

This was his underground laboratory.

All of the system debris rewards were stored here, which was managed by Xiao Ai.

The moment he entered the laboratory, a quad-rotor drone with a display flew over.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai and asked, “How’s the crawler going?”

The so-called “crawler” obviously referred to the all-terrain remote-control exploration vehicle on Mars. This was one of his past system mission rewards.

Unlike the carbon nanofiber clothes, this gadget obviously contained much more sophisticated technology.

According to the manual, its communication radius was 3 astronomical units. Even if Mars and Earth were at their farthest relative position, the all-terrain crawler could still be controlled.

Lu Zhou was very interested in the communication technology contained in this gadget. He tried to disassemble this thing, but he couldn’t find a non-destructive disassembly method. The manual also clearly said it had a built-in self-destruction program, which could lead to unpredictable consequences.

This gadget was obviously similar to the nitrogen shield.

He could either shoot at it with the scanner gun, or just use it as it was.

Fortunately, unlike the nitrogen shield, this wasn’t a one-time-use device. According to the manual, this gadget could be charged with solar and geothermal energy. When its energy level was low, it would automatically enter its low-energy standby mode and wait for its battery to recharge.

Considering the fact that Lu Zhou already had a space station on the moon, his only choice was to put this crawler on Mars.

That way, not only could he survey resources for future colonists, but he could also explore the New Virginia site and see what happened there.

Xiao Ai: [It has successfully landed on Mars! We can begin at any time!]

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Let’s begin now.”

Xiao Ai: [Yes, sir! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

The control terminal of the “Crawler” all-terrain survey vehicle was a heavy notebook computer, which was also equipped with a signal transmitting and receiving device the size of a fridge. The signal transmitting and receiving device was installed by Lu Zhou beside the rooftop water tank. It was quite discreet.

However, even if someone felt like it was suspicious, they had no right to investigate.

This was because the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study played a crucial role in controllable fusion and aerospace research. Even the military research departments would have a hard time obtaining access to these buildings.

So far, the terminal of the crawler was connected and controlled by Xiao Ai.

Five minutes after Lu Zhou’s order, a black prism-shaped box on Mars made a gas-leak sound.

The shell of the box slowly opened. A remote-controlled vehicle that was less than a meter tall with angular edges appeared. It followed its preset instructions and began heading toward the New Virginia site.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou, who was in his underground laboratory, made a cup of coffee for himself. He then sat down at the experimental table and opened the survey vehicle control terminal.

He quietly waited for the communication delay. Finally, the signal traveled tens of millions of kilometers and a dialog box popped up on his screen.

[“Lightning” escape capsule activated!]

[“Crawler” activated!]

[Terminal successfully connected!]

A crystal clear video feed was shown on the screen. Lu Zhou drank his coffee as he watched the crawler drive through the harsh climate.

Due to the five minute long delay, it was obviously impossible for him to control this vehicle. However, this vehicle had some built-in intelligence, and using its preset instructions, it could complete its tasks without any human intervention.

The person sitting in front of the control terminal only had to look at the signals sent every minute or even ten minutes, and to look out for edge cases.

Actually, Xiao Ai could do this job for him. But Lu Zhou was curious. That life support system was the embodiment of North America’s state of the art biosphere technology. He wanted to see what it was like.

After a while, the outline of the life support system could be seen through the crawler camera feed.

Lu Zhou looked at the tragic “remains” of the biosphere. He thought back to the concept map published by Space-X and couldn’t help but feel bad for the Ares program.

After the escape capsule was launched, the entire life support system was abandoned. The remaining power was enough to sustain the life support system for a period of time, but it wouldn’t last long.

The escape capsule took away almost all of the remaining oxygen and methane. Not to mention the tail flame of the capsule damaged the shell of the life support system.

When the crawler drove through the gardening area, Lu Zhou could clearly observe through the camera that the vegetables had been destroyed by the escape capsule flames.

However, these were all just minor problems. After all, ever since the global sandstorm, the colonists had abandoned all of the crops.

The crawler drove up to the garage door, and it extended its arm and unlocked the garage door.

The crawler turned on its lights and went into the garage.

Lu Zhou looked at the life support system through the screen and couldn’t help but think.

His “Garden” research project was attacked by unknown forces. He had doubts it was the CIA, but there was no evidence. He never would have imagined that he would obtain new artificial biosphere technology this way.

Maybe this was the so-called karma.

Even though he didn’t believe in karma.

The crawler passed through the garage and went into the experimental area. Lu Zhou looked at the plastic bags and imagined what the last couple of weeks were like living here.

In order to conserve living resources and energy, the colonists moved into the same room. They stayed in the only room that had the communication terminal.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel sympathetic.

He imagined the poor colonists arriving on Starlight and finding out that they could finally take a shower in Starlight’s guest cabin.

The crawler drove to the laboratory console. It extended its arm and inserted the arm into the console.

Soon, the screen lit up, showing a progress bar.

The progress bar was completed. The data was being transmitted to Lu Zhou, who was tens of millions of kilometers away.

Lu Zhou quickly looked through the files and had a serious look on his face.

He was even a little shocked.

“Interesting…”

Chapter 798: Traces of Underground Ice?

America’s artificial biosphere technology was state of the art.

There were no problems with the design of the entire life support system unit. In fact, one could even make the argument that the design was perfect.

From the air circulation system to the water filtration system and automatic planting irrigation device, each resource was utilized to its maximum efficiency. The biosphere was on the boundary of science fiction.

There was even a three-diameter circular interface door on the side of the life support system, presumably for future colony expansion uses.

Space-X and NASA wanted to expand New Virginia into a hundred-person colony. They wanted to create an ecosystem cycle using the rich methane and carbon dioxide resources.

The only problem, or the only problem Lu Zhou could find, was that the Ares program was executed too hastily. They just happened to encounter a global sandstorm…

This was 70% nature’s fault, and 30% human’s fault.

If this sandstorm didn’t come so suddenly, maybe the New Virginia colonists would have had more success on Mars. Once the geothermal wells and methane collection points were deployed, even during a sandstorm, these collection points could supply energy to the electric generator.

Of course, this was all in hindsight.

After Lu Zhou downloaded the data of the life support system, the crawler opened the sample library door.

The alloy door slowly opened, and highly concentrated carbon dioxide air immediately flowed into the experimental area. If there were a living person there, it would be difficult for them to breathe.

However, this wasn’t a problem for the crawler.

The little guy drove through the dusty corridor and quickly arrived at the sample library. Rows of neatly arranged sample racks could be seen through the camera lens.

According to the labels attached to the sample rack, the rock samples of areas around New Virginia were stored. The numbers and letters represented the coordinates of the samples.

Even though these astronauts on Mars were called “colonists”, they were more focused on scientific investigations.

These precious samples were part of their research tasks.

“It seems like the experimental area doesn’t have a direct channel to the sample library… It’s a pity we can’t take these things away,” Lu Zhou said as he looked at the samples.

If he could bring these samples back to Earth, it would greatly benefit humans’ understanding of Mars.

Unfortunately, the colonists weren’t able to take these samples into their escape capsule.

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you want to begin the scan?]

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, begin.”

After quietly waiting for five or six minutes, the Mars crawler drove to the first row of the sample racks. A searchlight-looking component slowly came out from the top of the crawler.

A clear blue light emerged from the searchlight, shining on the shelf samples.

The reflected light was received by the crawler and fed into a special processing algorithm. A series of physical features such as the size of the rock, weight, and element composition was sent to Lu Zhou.

Location and retrieval depth data of the samples were also sent to Lu Zhou.

Within 10 minutes, Lu Zhou saw a circular sample distribution map in front of him. The map was around 10-20 kilometers in diameter.

Lu Zhou looked at the map and suddenly seemed curious.

He was already satisfied with collecting the life support system data; he didn’t expect to retrieve even more useful information!

According to the map, there were at least two methane gas emitting craters near New Virginia, as well as a possible underground ice layer!

In March 2019, the European Space Agency’s Mars space probe found traces of liquid water under the Martian Antarctic ice sheet. NASA also previously published the discovery of perchlorate in craters. However, these resources were located in extreme conditions and difficult to retrieve.

If they could find a shallow underground ice layer, it would benefit the future Mars colonists!

“It seems like NASA has more information about Mars…”

Lu Zhou stared at the area marked with the suspected underground ice layer. He pondered for a moment before tapping the keyboard.

Xiao Ai immediately knew what he meant.

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you want to explore this area?]

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, after the crawler finishes investigating the New Virginia village, tell it to explore that area. If it finds the underground ice layer, tell me immediately.”

Xiao Ai: [Yes, sir! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Lu Zhou finally saw what kind of high-tech life support system NASA had, and his curiosity was satisfied.

He left the crawler alone because Xiao Ai could execute the orders for him.

After telling Xiao Ai to keep the life support system in its original appearance, Lu Zhou copied the life support system data onto a mobile hard drive. He then took the hard drive and returned to the first floor of the Institute for Advanced Study building.

He took out his phone, opened his address book, and called a number.

The phone immediately connected.

A husky voice was heard.

“Hello?”

Lu Zhou: “Is this Professor Hu?”

Hu Yang paused for a second and replied, “You are Professor Lu?”

“Yes, it’s Lu Zhou.” Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, “Where are you right now?”

“I’m in the aerospace institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences… Why?”

“Ok.” Lu Zhou skipped the small talk and said, “If you are free, please come to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. I can’t tell you why over the phone. We have to meet in person.”

Professor Hu held his breath.

He asked with excitement, “Is this related to the Garden project?”

Lu Zhou’s reply was exactly what Professor Hu wanted.

“Correct, it’s related to the Garden project!”

Chapter 799: "Bridge" to the Moon

Ever since the armed attack on Biosphere A, part of the experimental data was destroyed and the Garden project was stalled.

Even though none of the research institutes had terminated their cooperation with the Garden program, many foreign research institutes were considering whether to withdraw due to security reasons.

The project researchers had been reallocated to the Institute of Aerospace Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Biosphere A had already begun reconstruction. Local military forces had increased their presence. However, some of the losses were irreparable.

Nearly half a year of the Garden project’s results were destroyed. Professor Hu, as the project leader, suffered the most and lost a ton of weight.

Even though no one was blaming him, he was blaming himself.

Therefore, after he received the phone call from Professor Lu and heard that Professor Lu had something important to tell him about the Garden project, he immediately left Beijing and rushed off to Jinling.

After a long journey, he finally arrived at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study dean’s office.

“This is what I wanted to give you.” Lu Zhou took out a hard drive from his drawer and sat down on the sofa. He handed it to Professor Hu and said solemnly, “I hope you can make good use of the data.”

Hu Yang looked at the hard drive and hesitated for a bit before asking, “What is this?”

“Data from Mars.”

The office went quiet for three seconds.

Professor Hu gulped and asked, “Is this… legal?”

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “Depends on how you use it. It’s definitely not legal to publish in a journal. You also can’t discuss it with any foreign expert. But anything else should be legal.”

Hu Yang reached out and tried to grab the hard drive, but Lu Zhou didn’t let go.

Professor Hu looked up at Lu Zhou with a confused expression.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Hu and said, “Remember, once you have this, you could be on a CIA list.”

Hu Yang smiled and said, “Whatever, I’m probably already on a list.”

The moment China displayed their interest in colonizing space, the Garden project was bound to be targeted. He, as the leader of the Garden project, was doomed from the beginning.

He tried to grab the hard drive again.

This time, Lu Zhou let go.

Professor Hu looked at the hard drive and suddenly said, “Once the Garden plan is completed, we will be able to colonize the solar system.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Forget about the solar system, we’ll be able to conquer much more than that.”

It was just a matter of time.

…

After Hu Yang returned to Beijing with Lu Zhou’s data, he immediately contacted several key researchers who worked on the Garden project and set up an independent research group. This research group was specifically dedicated to researching valuable experimental data.

On the other hand, Starlight, which was thousands of kilometers away, successfully entered the Mars-Earth return orbit. There was no doubt that Starlight would return to Earth safely, so the Internet discussion gradually cooled down.

After the astronauts returned to Earth, CTV would conduct an interview…

A lot of things happened on Earth during Starlight’s month and a half long journey back to Earth.

NASA was going full force ahead with its Ares program and Lunar Gateway project. China, on the other hand, was focusing on Star Sky Technology and developing lunar resources.

The first phase of the Moon Palace project was complete. Once the six astronauts entered the lunar space station, human civilization would be on their way to colonizing the Moon.

The space station suspended in lunar orbit was like a global “spaceport”. Maybe in a decade or two, people would look at the starry skies and see a populated Moon…

Of course, this was just the beginning.

After countless days of design and planning, Chief Designer Lu’s “Earth-Moon orbital transport system” finally went from a blueprint to reality.

After soliciting opinions from the Internet, the first “Earth-Moon orbital transport system” spacecraft was named “Magpie Bridge”.

The Magpie Bridge design was similar to that of Skyglow; they both had a single propulsion engine at the rear of the spacecraft. They controlled the propulsion direction by changing the speeds of various engines. However, instead of the five engines in Skyglow, the Magpie Bridge had four engines. The Magpie Bridge also went from a shuttle-shaped design to a rectangular parallelepiped, and the wings were removed.

It looked more like a bulky ship that was going to go back and forth between the Earth and the Moon.

The Magpie Bridge was deployed and sent into low-Earth orbit by the Long March 9 rocket. The Lunar Orbit Committee’s Earth-Moon transfer capacity rose to a new level.

The transportation of materials from low-Earth orbit to lunar orbit would be completed by this ion thruster propulsion spacecraft, which was specifically designed for outer space navigation. The Magpie Bridge reached a carrying capacity of 500-750 tons!

So far, the Lunar Orbit Committee was considering whether to rent a unity module from the International Space Station to hold their “transit supplies”.

If this cooperation were to go through, the International Space Station would become a supply transfer station between lunar orbit and low-Earth orbit.

From now on, if someone wanted to send something to the Moon, they only had to send it to the ISS, which would then send it to the Moon by using the Magpie Bridge.

This way, smaller aerospace companies could participate in the lunar orbit project!

A high-thrust propulsion system would no longer be a requirement for the Earth-Moon transfer. The most difficult voyage would be done by Star Sky Technology’s giant “ship”.

Lu Zhou didn’t even realize that he was building an interplanetary transport company.

Most people would have never imagined that Space-X’s vision was being executed by a Chinese company…

Chapter 800: Mining

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Aerospace Science and Technology Institute director’s office.

After Hou Guang saw Lu Zhou’s proposal, he hesitated for a second before asking, “Mining on the Moon?”

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, “Yeah.”

Lu Zhou didn’t seem like he was joking. Hou Guang put on his glasses and began reading through the proposal abstract.

After a couple of minutes, he placed the proposal on the table and looked at Lu Zhou.

“I’ve finished reading the proposal… So… You want to design a device that can automatically mine shallow ore deposits on the Moon?”

Lu Zhou: “Correct.”

Correct…

Lu Zhou is treating this so casually.

Hou Guang couldn’t help but smile.

“We have only just completed the first phase of the Moon Palace project, now we’re moving on the lunar mining… Are we moving too fast?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Not fast at all. The Moon Palace project itself is a project aiming toward the development of lunar resources. Now that the Magpie Bridge is in service, I think it is about time we move from lunar orbit to lunar surface.”

The 2020s was the beginning of the “Moon Age”.

If someone wanted to mine resources on the Moon a couple of years ago, it would be impossible to achieve. But in 2021, lunar mining was feasible.

NASA’s Lunar Gateway program, the Moon Express company receiving funding, the European Space Agency signing a contract with rocket manufacturer Ariane Group… These were all events that pointed toward lunar resource mining.

Take the MX series of detectors made by the Moon Express as an example. It was able to collect and retrieve 20kg of Moon rock samples. According to their research and development plan, they were focusing on mining shallow deposits in low gravity environments.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn’t care about his competitor’s actions; he just didn’t want to wait any longer.

The key to completing the second phase of the special “Control of Earth and Moon” mission chain was to build a semi-permanent scientific research station on the Moon.

If he only wanted to complete the main system mission, he could do it right now with Star Sky Technology’s current available technology.

However, he would be missing out on other rewards.

Some of the branch missions were impossible, but some might be achievable. Lu Zhou didn’t want to give up those mission rewards too easily.

One of the branch missions was to mine and smelt 100 tons of titanium alloy on the surface of the Moon, as well as collecting 50 tons of lunar soil.

Now that the first phase of the Moon Palace project was complete, the second phase was about to begin. They would require a lot of construction materials. Fortunately, the Moon happened to have an abundance of titanium ore reserves.

If they could use the Moon’s resources as construction materials and create a “self-sustaining” lunar construction system, they could greatly cut down the project costs.

Also, in Lu Zhou’s opinion, this was his only chance at expanding the Moon production scale.

Once the second phase of the Moon Palace project was complete, the remaining phase would be to modify the lunar space station.

By that time, he would no longer need an abundance of titanium alloy materials…

Of course, even though lunar mining was theoretically possible, there were many hurdles.

The low-temperature and low-gravity working environment of the Moon, the high staffing costs, and the automation technology requirements… These were all barriers that they had to overcome.

Hou Guang scratched his head and contemplated it for a second.

Lu Zhou suddenly threw this idea in his face, so he didn’t have any time to form an opinion. He said, “How about you leave the plan here with me? I’ll do some research on my own… However, industrial production is not my expertise, so I’ll have to consult experts.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I’ve already done my research. This was discussed at the weekly Lunar Orbit Committee meeting. The theoretical research has already been done.”

He paused for a second before adding, “I’ll contact Shenyang Machine Tool as well as the two state aerospace companies. We won’t be alone in this project. The top industrial automation and aerospace equipment companies will help us. There will be at least three academicians involved, and I will be the project leader. You’ll have to handle some of the more troublesome parts. If you need more people, feel free to tell me.”

Hou Guang quickly said, “It’s fine, there are enough people!”

One academician would have a group of noob researchers working for them, not to mention scholars from the Changjiang Scholars Program, associate professors, post-doc fellows, and PhD students. One academician had an entire research army behind them.

And they had three academicians…

Coordinating the project teams would be a difficult task in and of itself.

Hou Guang couldn’t help but think.

Professor Lu is the only person in the world that can recruit three academicians so easily…

…

The same proposal plan appeared on the Chinese president’s desk.

After the president read the proposal, he took off his glasses and looked at Director Li of the State Administration for National Defense.

“Did Professor Lu write this?”

Director Li nodded and replied, “Yeah.”

“Has there been a meeting about this?”

“There has.”

“What do other experts think?”

“Academician Yuan from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation thinks this is worth a try. Chief Engineer Yang Zhongquan of Shenyang Machine Tool agrees. Even though it will be difficult, it is not impossible. It will greatly help our country’s automation industry,” Director Li said.

After hearing Director Li, the president nodded.

“Our country is honored to have a scholar like Professor Lu.”

He picked up the pen from his table and signed the document. He then stamped it with a bright red stamp.

“Approved!”

Chapter 801: Welcome Home!

The Lunar Orbit Committee was preparing to begin construction on the Moon’s surface. It had been a month since Starlight left Mars.

The last orbital change was complete, and Starlight had consumed most of its working medium. It had already turned off its ion thruster systems and was now relying on its inertia for the rest of the journey.

Travis had already gotten used to living on Starlight.

They had clean bedding, plenty of oxygen, and delicious food.

He spent more than a month in a small experimental room in New Virginia. Compared to that, life on Starlight was heaven.

The Chinese had a much better bathing system than NASA. Starlight had a one-person bathroom that simulated a gravitational environment by using centrifugal acceleration.

Simply speaking, after the device began to rotate, taking a bath on Starlight would feel exactly the same as taking a bath on Earth. Gone were the floating water drops.

After the person finished bathing, an air intake outlet would suck every drop of water out of the bathroom, and only then, would the cylinder stop rotating.

The bathroom was almost like a giant centrifuge.

The BFS spacecraft would never have such an extravagant way of bathing.

Of course, the moment they stepped onto Starlight, they had to carefully calculate every drop of their resources. However, Starlight had plenty of electricity…

The only thing that Travis was unhappy with was the lack of freedom.

He only had a single bed in a small room, with no furniture except a foldable table under his bed. He couldn’t even leave his room outside of eating and bathing. He killed time by sleeping.

The depressing atmosphere made it impossible for Travis to feel comfortable. The round portholes showed nothing but the empty dark space. It gave off a deep-sea submarine vibe.

The Heart of Gold had luxurious furniture and an entertainment system. Starlight, on the other hand, was like a garbage truck.

It was almost like Travis was in jail.

Travis looked at Johnson, who was in his own room, and asked, “How long until we arrive on Earth?”

Johnson was sitting on his bed, reading through a book. He replied casually, “Maybe a month… maybe two months… Maybe longer.”

The captain didn’t seem to be interested in talking. Travis shrugged and couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t the Chinese allow us to walk around? Are they really afraid of us…”

“It’s because we’re not sure if you contracted any bacteria or viruses from living on Mars. We can’t give you a full-body examination either,” Liu Biao said as he floated over with a lunch box.

He placed the lunch box on the table outside their bedrooms and said, “I know the living conditions are harsh, but I hope you guys can power through. After all, this cabin was originally a cargo compartment. We never thought we would have to fly to Mars.”

Travis looked at the Chinese astronaut and said, “Hey, buddy, can you give us a game console or something? Not everyone wants to read a damn book!”

Liu Biao smiled and said, “I’ll relay your request to the ground command center. Maybe they’ll give you a game console next time.”

“Next time? I don’t want to be here again!”

Liu Biao didn’t reply. He turned around and left the guest cabin module.

After the cabin module door was locked, the bedroom doors unlocked. Travis muttered, “It feels like I’m in prison.”

Johnson said, “We are asking them for a favor… At least they’re bringing us back to Earth.”

Travis thought about it and realized that Johnson was right.

He suddenly remembered something the Chinese astronaut said.

He gulped and spoke in a nervous tone.

“Captain…”

Johnson: “What…”

Travis: “If there are microorganisms and bacteria on Mars, does this mean we are…”

“Don’t think too much.” Johnson flipped through his book and casually said, “It is possible, but it’s very unlikely.”

Travis angrily slammed his fists on the heavy door.

“Sh*t, is that what the White House thinks of us? As laboratory mice?”

Julia was in her room, and she sat on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. She listened to the two guys as she quietly stared outside the porthole.

She had been using this time to reflect on her life, on her decisions, and her plans for the Ares program.

In the beginning, she didn’t understand why her mission failed even though everyone tried their best.

But now, she finally realized that the outcome of the Ares program might not be an accident.

This hasty trip to Mars was an unwise decision from the beginning…

…

Starlight’s journey back to Earth was faster than expected.

On the 50th day of Starlight’s journey, a blue planet appeared outside the porthole.

“This is Starlight, currently entering the space station orbit, requesting navigation support.”

“This is Moon Palace, providing navigation.”

“Received, thanks.”

After the communication, Starlight slowly merged into the Moon Palace orbit.

A silver-white structure slowly appeared in the porthole, with the sun shining behind.

Johnson was lying on his bed. He looked at the Moon Palace and put down his book. His blue pupils enlarged.

“Jesus… Is this the Chinese space station?”

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The image in front of him was much more shocking than the concept image.

The spacecraft slowly inched forward.

They were getting closer and closer to the space station.

The rice-sized space station eventually turned into a dragon.

The thousands of solar panels were like the dragon’s wings. The heat sinks were like its scales. The cylindrical space modules were its limbs.

It was like a fortress.

Or a piece of art…

Xu Zhenghong, who was sitting in the Starlight cockpit, smiled with a tired look on his face. He reached out his fist and made a fist bump with Liu Bio. He then pressed the button on his helmet and spoke in a clear voice.

“This is Starlight, we have successfully entered orbit, requesting docking!”

Two seconds went by.

The other side replied, “This is Moon Palace.

“Welcome back, our heroes!”

Chapter 802: A Little Trouble

Starlight was sailing in the deep dark space, and it slowly approached the silver “docking port”.

A pair of long “landing gears” slowly extended out of Starlight. With the landing gears pointed toward the space station docking port, Starlight slowly approached the space station.

Johnson was sitting inside the cabin, and he watched the space station through his porthole. His heart was beating a million miles a minute, and his palms began to sweat.

Spacecraft docking was one of the most difficult areas of aerospace technology.

It required accurate industrial cameras, strong spacecraft materials, and sophisticated engine control technology. It also required a series of software requirements such as computer imaging and vision measurement.

It had especially tough requirements for the orbital altitude and the speed of the spacecraft. The engine control had to be accurate to within a second, a one-second mistake could result in a docking failure.

When the United States Project Gemini first came out, they had the goal of docking Gemini 6 with Gemini 7. The two spacecrafts were able to maintain a distance of 30 centimeters for 20 minutes, but they failed to eventually dock. It wasn’t until the following year when the United States finally conquered the technology by docking Gemini 8 with an unmanned spacecraft.

The docking of manned spacecraft didn’t happen until the seventies. This was when the United States and the Soviet Union finally shook hands and made peace, putting their efforts into aerospace together.

One of the main reasons why the Apollo program didn’t launch their components in stages and docked in space was because of the technical difficulties. It was much easier to use a high-thrust rocket and launch all of the components together.

Compared to Travis and Julia, Johnson had been in NASA for much longer, so he knew how difficult docking was.

However, in the blink of an eye, the Starlight landing gears were inserted into the Moon Palace docking bay.

Starlight successfully connected its landing with the space station. The landing gear contracted into Starlight, which pulled Starlight toward the space station.

Finally, the two aerospace spacecrafts were connected.

Then…

It was over.

The docking process wasn’t intense at all. It was surprisingly smooth.

“WTF?”

When Johnson looked out the porthole, it was almost like he just saw a ghost.

As a NASA trained astronaut, he knew that spacecraft docking was supposed to be much more difficult!

The correct way of docking spacecraft was to fly the spacecraft in front of the space station, then decelerate the spacecraft, thus allowing the space station to catch up.

He had never seen a spacecraft using landing gears to “pull” itself into a space station!

The cabin signal light turned on.

All of their cabin doors were unlocked. Travis floated out of his room and stretched his limbs. He saw Johnson, who seemed a little fazed.

“Hey man, what’s wrong?”

Johnson looked at him.

“Did you see what happened? Did you see how the Chinese docked their spacecraft?”

Travis looked at his captain and scratched his head. He frowned and replied, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Johnson sighed.

“Never mind then…”

Johnson knew he shouldn’t have asked Travis this complex question.

The three Mars colonists floated around the cabin common area. The cabin main door slowly opened, and Liu Biao appeared in a spacesuit.

“Starlight has successfully docked with Moon Palace space station. We will examine your physical condition in half an hour and disinfect the entire spacecraft.”

When Liu Biao suddenly noticed that Johnson looked like he just saw a ghost, he asked, “Are you good?”

“I’m… great.” Johnson couldn’t help but ask, “How did you guys do it?”

Liu Biao was at a loss. “Do what?”

Johnson opened his mouth and didn’t know what to say.

Should I ask him how they were able to dock the spacecraft that way?

Maybe for them, spacecraft docking is a piece of cake.

However, Johnson didn’t want to believe how advanced China’s aerospace technology was.

Johnson smiled at the Chinese astronaut and replied, “Nothing… Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

However, deep down in his heart, he still wanted to find out…

After Starlight and Moon Palace successfully docked, Liu Biao led the three colonists to the airlock chamber.

When the spacecraft was undocked, this was a buffer zone for astronauts to enter in and out of the space station. This was where astronauts put on their spacesuits, checked their equipment, and adjusted to the air pressure…

However, now that the spacecraft was docked, the airlock chamber turned into a checkpoint.

“Wait here, a professional doctor will examine your body. After your examination, we might give you a tour of the Moon Palace.”

Johnson looked at Liu Biao and asked, “What do we do now?”

Liu Biao smiled and said, “Eat something, drink something, then… The medical team from the United Nations might need you to provide feces and urine samples.”

Julia turned red and asked, “Right here?”

“Not here.” Liu Biao pointed toward the metal alloy door and said, “There’s a toilet over there.”

The colonists didn’t have to wait for long.

With the help of two Moon Palace staff members, Johnson and the other two colonists quickly finished their physical examinations. Metabolite samples were also collected from the three people, which were then sent to a special experiment cabin.

Professor Leslie from the Institute of Microbiology at Health Center Clinique Lémana in Switzerland was responsible for the analysis of these samples. Researcher Zhao Shuxuan from the Institute of Biomedicine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was also involved in the sample analysis.

Both of these scholars were big names in the field of biology, and they had published many theses. Even though they weren’t the best scholars, they were still top-tier.

Most importantly, both of them were under 45 years old, which meant they were relatively young and in good health conditions. A lot of big names wanted the opportunity to work on the Moon Palace, but the weightlessness environment was too much for their old bodies.

Time quickly passed by.

Everyone inside and outside of the experiment cabin was waiting nervously for the test results.

Professor Leslie, who was sitting in front of an electron microscope, suddenly whispered to herself. Her eyes were filled with surprise.

“Jesus, f*ck…”

“What happened?” Zhao Shuxuan walked to the microscope and looked at the computer screen. He said, “What is this?”

“A strange anaerobic bacterium with thick cell walls and cell membranes… Wait, no, it’s a spore! No wonder it was able to survive on Mars.” Professor Leslie adjusted the microscope magnification and said excitedly, “Jesus… This is incredible.”

As Zhao Shuxuan stared at the image on the screen, his eyes flashed with excitement as well, but he quickly became serious.

“We might be in trouble.”

Leslie looked at Zhao Shuxuan and adjusted her glasses.

“True, but this is still exciting, right?”

The colonists waited quietly in the airlock chamber.

Johnson and the others started to get a little impatient, but fortunately, the hatch opened shortly after. A man who they had never met before appeared at the door.

Johnson remembered that he saw this man before on Starlight. If he recalled correctly, this man was the captain of Starlight.

Before he could ask what happened, Travis spoke.

“What happened? Why is it taking so long? When can we go home?”

“Sorry, my friends.”

Xu Zhenghong had a dignified look on his face as he spoke with a heavy voice.

“Our trip back home is going to be delayed.”

Chapter 803: "Life" From Mars

Earth, North America.

NASA headquarters.

Director Carson sat in front of his desk, flipping through documents.

Suddenly, his office door opened. A man in a suit quickly walked in.

Director Carson looked at his assistant and took off his glasses. He then asked in a tired voice, “What is the situation like? How are the three astronauts doing?”

The assistant replied, “They’re on the Moon Palace space station.”

Carson twisted the pen in his hand and gently tapped the pen against his desk.

“What’s their timetable like? When do the Chinese plan on giving us our people back?”

They spent at least US$1 billion for this Mars Rescue mission.

Even though China publicly said they had to fork up US$713 million themselves, who knew how much of that was true.

After all, Star Sky Technology was the only company that could travel to Mars in this time period. They could manipulate the numbers however they liked.

China estimated that at most China spent three to four hundred million dollars on this mission, which was way less than the claimed 1.7 billion.

The assistant looked at Director Carson and paused for a second. He then replied with an awkward expression, “Not sure…”

“Not sure?” Director Carson paused for a second and frowned. “What do you mean… Are they planning on holding them hostage?”

“Not quite, it’s just that… There seems to be a problem with our astronauts.”

“What problem?”

Director Carson looked at his assistant with a bitter face.

“They found Martian bacteria in the metabolites of the three colonists…”

…

After Moon Palace and Starlight successfully docked, the news that the three New Virginia colonists returned to the Earth-Moon orbit spread across the world.

However, before people could celebrate their return, the news that they found Martian bacteria on the three colonists spread like wildfire.

The international community was in an uproar.

Some people were curious about the tiny living beings on Mars, while the others said that they didn’t care what the astronauts brought back from Mars.

However, the other people, the majority of people, were panicking…

Columbia TV.

A while back, when the Ares program was still trending, talk show host Jimmy enthusiastically invited the three colonists to his show. However, his stance had completely changed. Not only did he become a firm disbeliever of the Ares program, but he also invited an ecologist to criticize NASA on his show.

The old professor stared into the camera lens and spoke with an angry voice.

“I told you all, the Ares program is an inhumane and stupid experiment! NASA knew that not only is the Martian climate dangerous, but it could also contain dangerous microbes and viruses! Even then, they still decided to send these poor colonists to Mars, making them think they were safe…

“But great, now they’re coming back to Earth, thanks to the Chinese. What are we going to do with the Martian bacteria? What if the bacteria is harmful to our fragile ecosystem?

“NASA must be held accountable for this!”

Columbia TV wasn’t the only one that changed its stance.

Almost all of the politically correct media outlets expressed their disagreement with the Ares program and NASA.

Just like Carson had expected, NASA and the Ares program were criticized due to the news regarding the colonists carrying Martian bacteria.

He felt like he was mistreated.

After all, there was no plan to bring these colonists back to Earth. If it weren’t for the global sandstorm, they wouldn’t be receiving all this hatred.

But it was too late for that now.

The moment the Martian bacteria were detected in the three colonists was the moment his political career ended…

Director Carson wasn’t the only person who was affected.

All those on Wall Street, New York as well as the aerospace companies listed on the stock exchanges were having a bad day.

Even Space-X and Blue Origin, which were at the top of the aerospace industry, were taking hits.

However, the academic community had a different reaction.

A thesis published by Leslie and Dr. Zhao Shuxuan caused a huge worldwide sensation.

The existence of life on Mars had always been a controversial topic.

Even though humans had sent countless space probes to Mars, as well as a life support system, so far no one had brought back a single gram of Martian soil.

The only sample that was available to astrobiologists were three Martian meteorites that hit Earth. They were numbered ALH840001, Yamato593, and Nakhla.

Even though there were signs of microorganisms on these meteorites, there was no direct evidence of these microorganisms.

Even though the bacteria on Starlight contained a huge amount of risk, it had immense research value.

The biology community believed that this was a gigantic discovery. Hopefully, by researching these bacteria, it would reveal more secrets of the Martian ecosystem.

The astronomy community said that the bacteria brought back from Mars by the three colonists could provide important research data for the study of Mars’ historical and geomorphological changes, as well as the evolution of the Martian atmospheric environment.

Of course, scholars also expressed some concerns.

Martian bacteria that could survive in the harsh Mars climate meant that they were likely to survive on Earth, which could cause unpredictable effects on Earth’s ecosystem.

European colonists once brought a series of infectious diseases to North America. This almost exterminated the American indigenous people. The number of Native Americans who were killed by those infectious diseases was far larger than those who died from guns.

These three colonists went to Mars and came back with Martian bacteria. Even though they seemed to be in good physical health, no one knew what could happen in the future.

In the midst of the world panic, the Chinese Lunar Orbit Committee issued a public statement.

“For the benefit of human civilization as a whole, we will not bring back the three colonists until we have either determined the possible effects of the bacteria on the Earth’s ecosystem or made sure that the bacteria are completely removed from the bodies of the three colonists.”

The Chinese Lunar Orbit Committee also announced that a lunar research facility would be built on the surface of the Moon to temporarily house the three colonists and to study their health conditions.

The research facility would be opened to the international community. China welcomed other countries to participate in the research.

However, due to various factors such as cost and limited space, other countries would have to pay to participate in the research…

Chapter 804: Urgent Mission

Martian bacteria were discovered in the bodies of the three Ares program. The fate of the entire Earth’s ecosystem seemed to be in the hands of the Chinese Lunar Orbit Committee.

Fortunately, China had a serious and responsible attitude toward this issue. Almost immediately, the Lunar Orbit Committee announced their response plan.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou didn’t think this was a big deal at all. After all, he had many other things to worry about.

That was until two days after the bacteria was discovered, a blue pop-up window suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

[Urgent Mission: Biological Invasion (90 days limit)]

Lu Zhou thought he was still dreaming.

That was until he got out of his bed and stared at the blue window for a long time.

Lu Zhou closed the blue window and immediately lay back on his bed.

“System!”

That familiar feeling hit his cerebral cortex. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but pure white.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhou walked to the center of the system space and placed his hands on the mission panel.

As expected, that urgent mission was in his mission panel.

The mission chain icon below it turned gray, and it also had a lock icon.

“It seems like if I don’t solve this urgent task, I can’t continue my other mission…”

This was his first time seeing an urgent mission.

It seemed like as his influence increased, his research gradually started to affect the entire civilization.

Lu Zhou stared at the lock icon for a while and clicked the [Urgent Mission] icon.

Soon after, the mission details were displayed in front of him.

[Urgent Mission: Biological Invasion (Danger Level: 3)

[Description: As a civilization’s technology advances, they are often faced with dangerous situations. Statistics show that more than 90% of civilization’s destruction originates from their own arrogance and not from the attacks of outsiders.

[Requirements: Remove the alien species invasion. Countermeasures can include but are not limited to:

1. Dispose of infection source: Whoever brings trouble should go to hell.

2. Natural selection: Survival of the fittest. The Earth’s ecosystem is bound to be invaded. Those that cannot adapt are eliminated. It is only a matter of time. (materialism +3, Darwinism +5, risk: 70%)

3. Gift of the universe: Objectively speaking, this is both a threat and an opportunity. Find a way to coexist with the new species. (materialism +10, risk: 39%)

4. Pray: It might be a good idea to let God decide the fate. Put them in an isolated place for a while, maybe they will recover? (idealism +10, risk: 15%)

…

]

[Rewards: Unknown.]

Lu Zhou: “…”

After Lu Zhou read the mission description, he didn’t know what to think. He had no idea where to even begin complaining.

He had no idea what the hell idealism and materialism meant, nor did he know what the risk percentage represented. What made him speechless was that he wasn’t even informed of the mission rewards.

Is the mission rewards related to which countermeasure I take? In other words, the rewards might reveal which countermeasure I should take?

The system should at least give me some hints!

Lu Zhou stared at the mission panel for a while and finally made the decision.

First of all, he couldn’t just get rid of the colonists; that option was ruled out. Not only would it damage China’s international image, but it would also bring serious international diplomatic issues.

The only one who would be happy was NASA.

If that were to happen, they wouldn’t have to pay China the remaining balance. They could also put all of the blame on the Lunar Orbit Committee. No one else would remember the failures of the Ares program. They would only think about the three colonists who died and how NASA tried their best to save them…

“I only have 90 days to complete the mission, but there are no criteria for completing the mission. Maybe the criteria depend on the choice I make?

“The risk for option 2 is the greatest, I should remove it as well.”

“So…” Lu Zhou stared at option three and said, “This is the most suitable one then.”

Whether he wanted to completely remove the parasitic bacteria from the three colonists or to prove that it was harmless, he first had to research the bacteria and find out exactly what it was.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou left the system space.

He only had ninety days to act. For a biological research task, this was quite a short time frame. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do much to help. He could only support other scholars to do the research for him. This undoubtedly made this mission a lot more difficult.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and sat up from his bed. Without hesitating, he called Beijing and reported to the chairman of the Lunar Orbit Committee.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s report, the president replied in a stern manner, “How serious is the problem?”

“Pretty serious,” Lu Zhou said in a serious tone. “So far we know very little about the bacterium, there is not enough clinical evidence to prove it is harmless. We know it can survive in harsh environments, and it is difficult to kill. Even if it is harmless to the human body, it might damage our Earth’s ecosystem in other ways.”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know what level 3 danger meant, considering the fact that the system issued an urgent mission, the problem must be pretty serious.

The president immediately asked, “I understand, what do you need?”

Lu Zhou: “The return of the three Ares program colonists has to be delayed. We cannot trust the White House and NASA to handle this situation. Especially since they are under the public’s pressure.

“In order to solve this, we will need help from international experts.

“I propose to cooperate with other countries on this issue. We should establish a special scientific research organization. This is a global crisis, but if we handle it correctly, this crisis can be avoided.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s requests, the President nodded and spoke in a serious voice.

“Okay, I will try to meet your requirements as soon as possible. Also, before the Communist Party of China makes a decision, you have total decision-making power. I believe in you.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay, I’ll try my best.”

Lu Zhou hung up the phone and called the State Administration for National Defense. He explained the situation to Director Li and then put on a change of clothes. He then called Wang Peng.

“Come pick me up at Zhongshan International.

“Take me to the Jinling aerospace launch site.

“Hurry!”

Chapter 805: Unfavorable First Contact

It had been 24 hours since the Lunar Orbit Committee announced their response plan.

Once the plan was published on the Lunar Orbit Committee website, the world held the plan in high regard.

A United Nations emergency meeting was held in New York. Representatives, senior political figures, and big-name experts from various countries attended the conference.

Before the conference began, Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson stood up. He began reading his speech in a solemn voice. This marked the beginning of the conference.

“For a long time, we knew very little about life outside of Earth. We believe that we are not the only lucky planet in the galaxy. However, we have yet to receive any evidence that there is life outside of Earth.

“Clearly, that has changed. From what happened to the Ares program colonists, we know that we are not alone in the solar system.

“However, the first contact is not always optimal. I believe everyone sitting here has discussed this issue with relevant experts. The bacterium from Mars is tough. It can survive through hundreds of degrees of temperature change and is resistant to background radiation.

“It is foreseeable that their arrival will have an unpredictable impact on our ecosystem.

“Once again, I’d like to emphasize that this is a global crisis! Solving this problem should not be the responsibility of just one country, it should be the responsibility of humanity!

“Thank you.”

The crowd erupted in applause.

Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson nodded and slowly sat back down.

After the opening remarks, the emergency United Nations meeting officially kicked off.

Various representatives put forward their own opinions on how to deal with the crisis.

For example, the United States’ proposal was to establish a completely enclosed area in the Sonoran Desert. The astronauts would be placed there, and their physical conditions would be observed.

Others suggested asking the colonists for their own opinions on whether or not they would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of humanity. Even though two of the astronauts were Americans, it would be a time-saving and cost-saving method.

After all, if the colonists were to die, all of the problems would be solved. They could slowly research the remaining bacteria samples.

However, everyone knew that this was not a realistic plan.

Other than the US, the one that received the most attention during the conference was China.

After all, the colonists were on the Moon Palace. Regardless of what the UN’s decision was, it would still depend on China to execute it.

The Chinese representative stood up and spoke slowly and calmly.

“Our position is clear.

“Before confirming the bacteria is not a risk to the Earth’s ecosystem, we will not allow the astronauts to return to Earth.

“Our proposal was announced by the Lunar Orbital Committee. We will build a research facility on the surface of the moon. The astronauts will be safe there.”

“How do you plan on ensuring the safety of the three colonists?” the US representative said. The US representative stood up and said aggressively, “Long-term exposure to low gravity will cause unpredictable effects on the human body! Don’t you think this is a violation of human rights?”

Without missing a beat, the Chinese representative replied, “Did you think about their human rights before sending them to Mars?”

Whispers were heard in the venue.

The American representatives opened his mouth, but he couldn’t say anything.

The Chinese were right.

The Americans had no right to take the moral high ground.

If they considered these factors in advance before hastily launching the BFS spacecraft to Mars, they wouldn’t be in so much trouble.

The Chinese representative looked at the American representative and said, “Not to mention, we have solutions to your problems.

“In order to ensure that the lunar facility can operate with sufficient funds, we welcome all countries to contribute to the common interests of humanity. At the same time, we also welcome scholars from all countries to participate in the study of life on Mars!”

After some heated debates, the United Nations eventually decided to adopt the Chinese solution.

After all, the Chinese had the final say in the matter.

Even if the United Nations chose another solution, the Chinese could refuse to implement the solution “for the sake of the overall interests of the international community”.

Moreover, looking at the votes, most of the countries agreed with China’s solution.

This was mainly because of China’s reputation in aerospace technology…

The second half of the conference was mainly focused on research funding, participating researchers, as well as participating research institutes.

The conference went from 10 am to 3 pm.

The emergency conference finally ended.

After Director Owens of the European Space Agency had a quick chat with NASA Director Carson, he left the UN building and walked toward the parking lot.

Deputy Director Ferrian of the European Space Agency was walking behind him. Ferrian suddenly said, “Sir.”

Owens didn’t stop talking. He asked casually, “What?”

Ferrian paused for a second and said, “1.2 billion euros… Do you think this is worth it?”

“It doesn’t matter if it is worth it. This crisis has to be addressed by the international community.” Owens paused for a moment before adding, “From a practical point of view, to be able to join in on China’s lunar development and participate in the life of Mars research is extremely meaningful.

“1.2 billion euros is definitely worth it.”

…

Hundreds of kilometers away, inside the Moon Palace.

The three colonists were inside their living capsules. Zhao Shuxuan gave them their routine physical examination.

Travis finished his blood test and sat down on his bed. His wrists felt sore from the gravity-free blood collection device. He began talking to the Chinese researcher…

“Hey, what’s our situation like? Can you at least tell us… What did you find on our bodies? We have the right to know.”

Zhao Shuxuan filled in a form and said with a blank expression, “You are in good physical shape. Don’t overthink this. Because there are many uncertain factors, we need some time to double-check everything. I promise that when everything is over, you can go home.”

Travis made a helpless expression and said, “Okay then… Can you let me access the Internet then? Surely I’m allowed to go on a computer, right?”

“The bandwidth fee here is very expensive. I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that. However, your game console will arrive soon.” Zhao Shuxuan flipped over the form and asked, “How are you feeling?”

Travis: “Everything is great, amazing. However, being in a weightless environment for a long time isn’t comfortable. I feel like my muscles are shrinking.”

Zhao Shuxuan: “That’s just an illusion. Your bones and muscles are in perfect condition. Also, there is a special cabin on the Moon Palace that can simulate the Earth’s gravitational environment. If you feel unwell, you can go take a bath or something.”

He paused for a second and continued, “By the way, how long did you sleep last night?”

Travis thought for a while and answered, “Eight hours. There isn’t much else to do other than sleep.”

“Eight hours, right?” Zhao Shuxuan said as he recorded the data. He frowned and asked, “Do you feel discomfort anywhere?”

“I told you, I’m feeling fine. It’s just weightlessness.” Travis stood up from his bed and said, “The inspection is over, right? Stop bothering me, I’m going to drink some coffee. Life here is so boring.”

Zhao Shuxuan: “We have unlimited coffee here, but it’s all the same kind… By the way, are you feeling sleepy?”

“I’m always a little sleepy,” Travis said. “Flying in space is so boring, there isn’t even a bar here. It feels like a jail here.”

He floated past the Chinese researcher and floated toward the hatch.

As Zhao Shuxuan watched Travis float away, he frowned.

His guesses were correct.

The little bacterium from Mars was more complex than he had imagined…

Chapter 806: Parasitic? Symbiosis?

“Yesterday, the United Nations held an emergency meeting in New York to determine the world’s response to this crisis. A research team composed of experts from multiple countries would be stationed on the Moon Palace within a week.

“On the other hand, the World Health Organization officially named the bacterium ‘X-0172’.

“Brought to you, by China Southern News.”

The Mars bacterium news segment was over.

Lu Zhou sat at his table, enjoying his breakfast. He looked at the calendar on his phone and muttered to himself, “87 days left.”

Time is running out…

Lu Zhou picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. He wiped his face with a paper towel and then stood up.

“Xiao Ai, straighten up the kitchen for me please.”

The quad-rotor drone flew into the kitchen.

[Okay Master, leave it to me! ٩ (•̤̀ᴗ•̤́๑) o]

Lu Zhou put on a coat and called Wang Peng.

Soon after, a black sedan parked outside his mansion. The black sedan took him to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Strictly speaking, biological research wasn’t a strong suit for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Especially when it came to the area of astrobiology. Not only were there few astrobiology experts at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, but there were also few astrobiology experts in the country.

However, sometimes research didn’t have to be done by an expert. After all, when it came to cutting-edge newly-born research fields, the difference between professionals and normal researchers was small.

So far, the expert in microbiology was Professor Liu Zuobing, who was in charge of the frozen dormancy project.

Although his main research direction was cryobiology, he often studied cell samples collected in extreme environments.

After all, the X-0172 bacteria were also collected in extreme environments…

After Lu Zhou got off the car, he went straight to the Institute of Biology building.

When he arrived at the laboratory, Professor Liu Zuobing and several of his students were looking at something in front of an electron microscope.

Lu Zhou didn’t want to interrupt their research. He quietly waited for them to finish, then decided to speak to Professor Liu.

“Has the sample arrived?”

“It has.” Professor Liu Zuobing looked at the slide under the microscope and said, “I bet this is the world’s most expensive feces.”

Lu Zhou joked, “Also the world’s most dangerous feces.”

Professor Liu Zuobing waved his hands and said, “Don’t worry, the samples that arrived on Earth have been carefully disinfected. If we follow safety procedures, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Even though Professor Liu didn’t sound convincing, Lu Zhou knew that Professor Liu wouldn’t make any silly mistakes.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking an important question, “Is there any progress in the research?”

“There is a little progress.” Professor Liu Zuobing took off his glasses and said, “According to the latest research published by Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan, we can confirm that the Ares program colonists have sleepiness symptoms. This is likely caused by the amino acid-like derivatives secreted by the X-0172 bacteria.”

“Amino acid-like derivatives?” Lu Zhou frowned and continued to ask, “Is the problem serious?”

“The problem is not serious, but this kind of amino acid derivative is very interesting… It might even benefit the host.”

Lu Zhou: “Benefit? Can you elaborate?”

“Active dormancy,” Professor Liu suddenly said. He explained, “Let’s assume that Mars once had a rich atmosphere, a protective magnetic field, and a variety of ecosystems. When severe geological changes occur, the pheromones released by this bacteria when producing spores will most likely help the host. Similar to hibernation.”

Helping the host survive through harsh weather conditions was a survival tactic for the bacteria. Therefore, the parasite formed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with its host.

Professor Liu Zuobing paused for a second and looked at Lu Zhou.

“So far, other than the drowsiness symptoms, we have not found any other health effects. We have reasons to believe that the secretion of the pheromones belongs to an active defense mechanism of the bacteria. In this state of bacterium-induced dormancy, the host’s tolerance to extreme environments might be greatly improved. The host could also require very little energy for basic survival functions.”

Lu Zhou said, “What is the pheromone-releasing mechanism?”

“That’s the problem, we haven’t fully figured out its mechanism yet.” Professor Liu Zuobing sighed and said, “There are currently two speculations. One is that when the host creates an immune response to foreign bacteria, the bacteria are forced to produce spores for their own protection, thus forcing the release of the active dormancy pheromone.

“The other possibility is that, under certain external physical conditions, the bacteria could determine that the host is in an extremely harsh environment, and they would then actively release dormancy pheromone spores to protect the host.”

Even though drowsiness wasn’t fatal, no one wanted to be chronically fatigued.

So far, one of the three colonists had experienced drowsiness.

If a third of the human population had chronic fatigue, the impact on society would be unimaginable.

Lu Zhou asked, “Which one are you more inclined to believe?”

Professor Liu Zuobing: “I’m leaning toward the first possibility.”

Lu Zhou said, “Which means there might be X-0172 antibodies inside the drowsy patient?”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded cautiously.

“I don’t know, but I think so!”

Chapter 807: Lunar Project

Hundreds of thousands of kilometers, in lunar orbit.

Not far from the Moon Palace Space Station, a hexagonal silver-plated device was dropped from the Magpie Bridge, which landed on the surface of the Moon.

A few months ago, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Research collaborated with a number of research institutes within the United Nations to carry out research and development in regards to automatic lunar mining equipment.

The project had already made some progress. This 300 million yuan device called “Pioneer” was one of the research results of this project. It was mainly responsible for the preliminary mining of rich titanium ores.

If the device was successfully deployed and worked normally, the Lunar Orbit Committee would consider deploying an automated ore melting device on the moon surface, and this would be used to process the titanium ore into titanium ingots or even titanium alloys. The titanium would then be used for the second phase of the Moon Palace project, which was to establish a research facility on the Moon.

The silver hexagonal device slowly dropped toward the Moon.

The closer it got toward the Moon, the more nervous the Moon Palace and Magpie Bridge staff members were.

“Countdown to impact… 5,4,3,2,1… Landing is successful!

“Opening mounting bracket!”

The moment the silver-white prism made contact with the lunar surface, a circle of gray moon dust swelled from underneath the equipment.

The device anchoring feet nailed into the moon rocks.

The two Moon Palace staff who were staring at their screens were relieved. They high-fived each other and celebrated for a second, before immediately returning to their mission.

“This is Moon Palace, the automatic mining equipment prototype has successfully landed on the Moon. Requesting further instructions.”

“This is the ground command center, congratulations on completing your mission. Please confirm the status of the automatic mining equipment. If everything is normal, begin the test in ten minutes.”

“Roger that.”

The Moon Palace staff member skillfully confirmed the status of the equipment. They then immediately turned on the device.

A signal light on the automatic mining device flickered. It was almost like a giant monster was awakened.

The bottom alloy plate slowly opened, and a huge drill was nailed into the lunar soil.

The drill began to spin, and the titanium-containing moonstone was quickly broken into numerous fragments. The moonstone was sucked in by an ore-processing pipe and ejected from the side of the device.

Once the smelting device was deployed, the material discharge port on the side of the automated mining device would be connected to the smelting device through special pipelines. The materials would then be transported into the smelting furnace. This was a fully automated mining production process.

But for now, the titanium-containing moonstone just sat there in a pile. Since the device was operating normally, there was no reason to keep it on.

“The machine is working normally.”

“Turn it off then.”

“Roger that.”

The drill bit slowly came to a pause and retracted itself into the mining machine. The discharge port no longer ejected any moonstone.

Due to the Moon’s low gravitational environment, there was still flying moon dust everywhere.

Johnson was watching this through a porthole on the Moon Palace. He looked at the dusty Moon surface and opened his mouth.

“Jesus… What are the Chinese people doing to the Moon?”

No one answered him.

Julia was just as confused as him.

She only saw the Chinese throw something from the spacecraft, and the impact almost looked like a missile hitting the Moon.

“Are they… testing weapons on the Moon?”

Johnson went silent for a while. When the dust finally settled, he had a clear view of what was going on.

“Hopefully not…”

In theory, the United Nations signed a treaty for the peaceful development of outer space resources. Experts from all over the world were on this space station. Not to mention that there were countless astronomical observatories pointed toward the Moon.

The Chinese must be going crazy if they were actually testing weapons on the Moon.

Johnson believed that the Chinese were merely building something on the Moon, similar to the plant growth unit they deployed some time ago.

Julia looked at her captain and asked, “Speaking of which… When can we go home?”

Johnson shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

“Where is Travis? How come I haven’t seen him lately?”

Johnson went silent for a while. He then said, “He might be in some trouble.”

“I heard that… He seemed to be infected with a Mars virus. Maybe we are…” Julia said as her face turned white.

Even though Johnson was worried himself, he tried to comfort his teammate.

“Don’t worry, all of the world’s top biological experts are here. Travis, you, and I are all going to be safe.”

Johnson didn’t believe what he was saying at all.

When he first arrived at the Moon Palace, he was allowed a brief communication with NASA.

Fortunately, the Chinese didn’t prevent him from knowing the truth. The NASA director told him the whole story.

Simply put, they were the hosts for a type of extremely resistant Mars bacteria. This bacteria could impact Earth’s ecosystem. Therefore, they were temporarily isolated in the space station. After a while, they would be transferred to a lunar research facility.

Would they survive? What if the bacteria were invincible? These were questions Johnson didn’t want to think about.

Perhaps the best solution was for them to sacrifice themselves. Johnson even sensed that Director Carson was hinting at a sacrifice during their conversation.

However, one person was only given one life. No matter how heroic the sacrifice was, Johnson couldn’t just give up his life that easily.

Suddenly, the living module hatch opened.

The Chinese researcher who had previously examined them was accompanied by two astronauts. They floated into the living module and stood in front of them.

Johnson was nervous, and he tried to calm himself down.

“What happened? Is there any research progress?”

Johnson didn’t have any hope. After all, the international experts had only arrived at the Moon Palace for a couple of days. It was impossible for them to find a solution in such a short time frame.

However, Zhao Shuxuan’s words surprised him.

“A little bit.”

Zhao Shuxuan looked at Johnson’s surprised face and said in a serious manner, “In order to verify our hypothesis, we need you to cooperate with us for some experiments.”

Chapter 808: Medicine With a “Taste”

Without hesitating, Johnson agreed to cooperate with the experiment.

The Chinese researcher named Zhao Shuxuan told him that the relevant clinical experiments had only been performed on mice twice, thus there was a huge amount of risk. However, for Johnson, this was the only way he could return to Earth.

If he couldn’t get rid of the Martian bacteria on his body, he might have to stay at the Moon Palace for the rest of his life. He would be isolated or even abandoned from the Earth’s ecosystem.

He still had a family on Earth, waiting for him to go home.

He sat on the medical bed and quietly waited for the two researchers to prepare his medicine. After a while, a Chinese researcher came over with three capsules and some water.

“Eat it.”

Johnson took the three capsules from Zhao Shuxuan and didn’t hesitate. He threw them in his mouth and downed it with the water.

Johnson quietly waited on the medical bed for five minutes. He looked around restlessly and saw that everyone in the laboratory was looking at him. He asked awkwardly, “So, that’s it?”

“Not sure.” Zhao Shuxuan shook his head and said, “We’ll find out in an hour or two. I suggest you lie down and sleep for a while.”

Johnson: “Can I ask where the capsules came from? I’m just curious…”

Professor Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan looked at each other. Zhao Shuxuan replied, “You don’t have to know too much.”

Johnson said, “Is it a secret?”

“Not quite.” Leslie shrugged and said, “It’s just that… Only one person has an immune response to the bacteria.”

Johnson frowned and said, “So what?”

Professor Leslie coughed and said, “The bacteria are mainly lodged in the large intestine…”

Johnson’s face went white.

“Sh*t… Is it…”

“That’s right, it’s sh*t… Or rather, sh*t extract, so not quite sh*t.”

Johnson could feel his stomach turn. He resisted the urge to vomit and asked, “You think this thing… will work?”

“I’m… not sure.” Professor Leslie smiled awkwardly and said, “Sometimes you have to try before you know, right?”

Johnson wanted to say something when suddenly, an intense feeling of drowsiness hit his brain. He began squeezing his forehead.

Professor Leslie noticed his reaction, and she suddenly looked ecstatic.

Johnson was on the verge of passing out, and he could faintly hear the conversation between the two.

“Jesus… Our hypothesis was correct!”

“Antibodies that can kill X-0172 can be extracted from the metabolites of colonizer 3!”

“Let’s report our research to the world.”

“…”

…

While the Moon Palace researchers were completing their experiment…

All the way on Earth, at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou had been monitoring the experiment closely. After he heard that the experiment was a success, he quickly went to the newly established X-0172 laboratory. He asked Professor Liu Zuobing, the person in charge, about the research on the Moon Palace.

“How are the other two colonists doing?”

“Their sleep is stable, and we tried various methods to wake them up; cold temperatures, hot temperatures, electric shock, etc. They wouldn’t wake up no matter what,” Professor Liu said. “Overall, the experiment was quite successful. At the very least, it confirmed our hypothesis. From the metabolite samples, traces of spores were seen in both colonists.”

Lu Zhou immediately said, “Which meant that Travis’ body did indeed produce X-0172 antibodies.”

“Theoretically, that is true.” Professor Liu nodded and sighed. He then said, “However, the cumbersome thing is that even if we have the antibodies, we can only remove some of the X-0172 in the colonizers. It is difficult to kill the rest of the bacterial spores.”

Spores, also known as endospores, were a kind of dormant, non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria. They were also known as the most resistant living organisms in the world. They had outstanding heat resistance, chemical resistance, and radiation resistance properties.

Take the Clostridium Botulinum as an example. It would take 5 to 9.5 hours for its spores to be killed in boiling water. On the other hand, the anti-radiation ability of Bacillus Megaterium was 36 times stronger than that of E. coli cells. Even under direct radiation of ultraviolet rays and high-energy rays, the Bacillus Megaterium could still survive for a long time.

Spores had no significant metabolic effects. They contained the threat of potential germination. They were called a type of hidden life form because once the environmental conditions were optimal, the spores could germinate into vegetative cells at any time.

It was almost like the dried vegetable packets that came with instant noodles. The dried vegetables would be rejuvenated when it came into contact with water.

Therefore, if they couldn’t kill the spores, something bad could happen sooner or later.

The laboratory went quiet.

Professor Liu Zuobing stared at the thesis that came from the Moon Palace. He began to contemplate.

Lu Zhou could sense from the dignified look of the old professor that this problem wasn’t going to be easy to solve. Even if they combined the world’s top biomedical research and development forces, it would still be difficult to find a solution.

Lu Zhou: “Is there anything we can do about the spores?”

“If there is, we have already tried it.” Professor Liu shook his head and said, “International experts have held several meetings. The most reliable method is probably intermittent sterilization, by constantly activating the spores before killing them. However, there’s one problem. We might be able to reduce the number of X-0172 bacteria in these colonists, but it is very difficult to remove all of them.”

Lu Zhou: “Is it kind of like cancer cells that have spread across the body?”

Professor Liu: “Not quite, but kind of.”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and suddenly asked, “What about the antibody extracts? Do we have them in our laboratory?”

Professor Liu pointed at a sealed glass bottle on the table.

“It’s right here… Why?”

Lu Zhou: “Can I take a copy to do some research on my own?”

Professor Liu looked at Lu Zhou weirdly and said, “You can… But I don’t think there is a point.”

He believed in Lu Zhou’s research abilities, but this just didn’t make sense.

This was only a metabolite extract; it didn’t contain any X-0172.

Why does he want to research the metabolite extract?

Lu Zhou casually smiled and replied, “I guess we’ll find out. You never know.”

Chapter 809: Professor Z?

The ability to eliminate spores had always been the most important indicator for measuring various disinfection and sterilization methods.

The world leader in this area was probably the German company Oxytech. Their vaccine bactericidal disinfectant used in vaccine production was the world’s most powerful spores disinfectant. Its main component was hydrogen peroxide.

After the X-0172 bacterial invasion was discovered, a batch of a customized version of this type of antiseptic was imported to the Moon Palace. However, this antiseptic was only for sterilizing surfaces; it couldn’t be used on human beings.

The Moon Palace didn’t know what to do with the parasitic spores.

So far, it seemed like the research was in a hiatus.

Lu Zhou felt like if he didn’t do something now, nothing would get done.

With the metabolite extract from Professor Liu, Lu Zhou went to the third level underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou sat at his desk and placed the glass test tube containing the metabolite extract on the corner of his desk. He found the research paper published by the Moon Palace research team and read it for a while. He finally sighed.

“Unfortunately, biology is not my area of expertise. I can’t help even if I want to.

“Does that mean I have to ask the system for help?”

Lu Zhou looked at the reagent on the table and pondered for a moment. He then closed his eyes.

“System, is there any way to kill the X-0172 spores.”

He opened his eyes and saw a shining blue dialog box in front of his eyes.

[Solution for removing X-0172 parasitic bacteria from the human body.

[Required general points: 10,000 points]

“Ten thousand points?”

Lu Zhou nearly fell off his chair.

If he recalled correctly, he only had 4,835 general points.

He started to have doubts about his life.

Is this bacterium that hard to deal with?

I’ve saved up so many general points over the years, but it’s still not enough…

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something, and he patted his head.

“Jesus Christ, how did I forget?”

The system’s pricing of “questions” were based on the content of questions. If he asked for the solution to the entire problem, the system would obviously require a lot of general points. However, if he divided the problem into many parts and only asked for the solution to one of the parts, the required general points would be much lesser.

So far, the international research team was bottlenecked on how to kill X-0172 spores.

Therefore, he had to modify his question…

“System, is there a way to prevent X-0172 bacteria from producing spores?”

The reason why the X-0172 bacteria were difficult to kill was that when they were attacked, they would actively produce spores to protect themselves. Even physical countermeasures such as high temperature, high pressure, ultraviolet light, and even radiation couldn’t kill the spores, let alone the antibodies produced by the host itself.

Therefore, the key to removing the X-0172 bacteria was to prevent them from producing spores!

As long as the bacterium’s active defense mechanism was removed, it would only be a matter of time before the research team found the appropriate antibodies.

After a while, another blue dialog box appeared in Lu Zhou’s sight.

This time, the price was much more reasonable.

[Prevent X-0172 bacteria from producing spores.

[Required general points: 2,500]

2,500.

It was roughly equivalent to half of his general points.

Even though he didn’t want to, he had to save the future of humanity and complete his urgent mission. Lu Zhou clenched his teeth and pressed the redeem button on the dialog box.

“Redeem!”

The moment his index finger touched the button, a huge stream of information hit his brain like a tidal wave.

Lu Zhou hadn’t experienced this sensation in a long time.

It was almost like his brain was being written with memories that did not belong to him.

After half a minute, that strange sensation disappeared.

Lu Zhou sat in his chair for half an hour and finally finished digesting the information in his brain. He opened his eyes and felt enlightened.

“I see…”

Although it might not be possible for him to design the solution, with his level 6 biochemical and Nobel Prize-level chemistry abilities, he could easily understand the solution provided by the system.

Simply put, in order to prevent the X-0172 bacteria from producing actively dormant spores, the system proposed a special pheromone.

This pheromone could deceive the X-0172 bacteria, and it would make them think that they were in a comfortable environment. Thus, the bacteria would no longer produce spores when they were attacked by antibodies.

“We just have to inject the infected person with the special pheromone before taking the antibody. This will make the X-0172 bacteria give up.”

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou immediately opened his laptop and began writing a thesis.

The preparation method for the pheromone that blocked the spores was already provided to him by the system, so there was no need for him to modify anything.

As for the clinical effects of the X-0172 antibodies and metabolite extracts… Lu Zhou cited several papers published by Professor Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan.

Time slowly passed by…

The time on the clock went from morning to afternoon.

Lu Zhou looked at the completed thesis and couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

He hadn’t written a thesis for a long time.

The more influence he obtained, the less he had to personally complete scientific research tasks. Most of the time, his work was focused on high-level planning rather than participating in specific research tasks.

“When this space race is over, I’m going to take a long-deserved break.”

Lu Zhou converted his thesis into PDF format. He was about to submit the thesis when he suddenly remembered something.

Do you think it is suspicious that a mathematician produced such an advanced biology thesis?

Even though this research came from his own brain, he wasn’t the one that came up with the solution. He bought the solution from the system using general points.

If he won a Nobel Prize for this thesis, he would feel a little embarrassed.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and had an idea. He removed the author’s name and replaced it with a “Z”.

“Perfect.”

Lu Zhou smiled at the thesis and opened arXiv. He created a new account and uploaded the thesis.

Explaining this would be too cumbersome.

I’ll just post it anonymously.

Chapter 810: Useless International Experts

Moon Palace.

Inside the experiment cabin.

Ian Crawford, a British professor of planetary science and astrobiology at Birkbeck, University of London, sat in a chair and looked outside the porthole. He suddenly smiled and spoke.

“About six years ago, I wrote an evaluation report regarding the economic viability of lunar mining.”

Stephen Parubi sat across from him. Stephen snorted and replied, “Then?”

“Then I published that paper in Natural Geography and sent a copy to UKSA.” Ian Crawford shrugged and continued, “But the UKSA people thought it was a waste.”

Professor Stephen: “Is that not true?”

“Of course not.” Professor Ian looked down the porthole and smiled as he said, “The Chinese are making my thesis a reality.”

“One day, sooner or later, they will find that instead of creating a production line on the Moon, it is cheaper to produce it on Earth, then send it to space,” Professor Stephen muttered. He then said, “I mean, the Chinese aren’t doing anything special, we have similar plans ourselves.”

Professor Stephen was from Stanford University, and as an American, he didn’t like to hear news about China winning the space race. Especially since the Ares program had now become a mess.

Stephen didn’t feel so good. He reached into his pocket and subconsciously tried to grab a cigarette. However, he realized his spacesuit didn’t have cigarettes in his pocket.

“Damn it, can’t a man just smoke a cigarette out here?”

Professor Stephen was about to get up from his chair when he heard someone speak.

“Smoking on the space station will insert at least two million smoke particles into the ventilation system. Smoke when you get back to Earth.”

Professor Zhao Shuxuan said as he floated into the cabin. He grabbed the handrails on the wall while holding the latest experimental report. He said, “Okay, everyone, the break is over. Time is running out, and there are three poor colonists waiting for us to rescue them.”

Professor Stephen didn’t like to hear the Chinese talk about the Ares program’s misfortune, but he didn’t say anything.

The Ares program was indeed a mistake. Ever since the beginning of the sandstorm, the Ares program had brought nothing but trouble. Top astrobiology, microbiology, and clinical biology experts were now in the Moon Palace. They were here to do one thing—clean up the mess from the Ares program.

Zhao Shuxuan distributed the copies of the test results and gave a brief explanation of the situation to other researchers.

“The latest test results have come out. The level of antibodies and hypnotic pheromones in colonists No. 1 and No. 2 have decreased. Looking at their heart rates, we can see that their metabolism is gradually returning to normal levels, and they should soon wake up… Do you need some time to look over the test results?”

“No need, I’ve finished reading them.” Professor Stephen put down the test results and adjusted his glasses. He said, “Right now, the problem is not the antibodies or the X-0172 bacteria.”

Professor Ian: “Spores.”

“That’s right, spores.” Professor Stephen nodded and looked around at the other scholars. He said, “We have to get rid of the spores first.”

Professor Leslie asked, “Do you have a good idea then?”

“We have two options.

“First is to find a way to prevent the X-0172 bacteria from forming spores. The second is to find a way to kill all of the spores directly.”

Professor Leslie thought for a second and said, “The second method will be difficult.”

“That’s right. So, for the time being, the most realistic solution is option 1.” Professor Stephen looked around the experiment cabin and said, “In my opinion, the research facility here is simply too poor. I don’t know if our experiments will work in a gravity-free environment. If we want to prevent the X-0172 bacteria from forming spores as soon as possible, we should send the samples to Earth.”

Professor Stephen looked at Professor Zhao Shuxuan when he spoke.

Zhao Shuxuan was the leader of the Chinese researchers. He was also the person in charge of the entire X-0172 bacteria project, and he was the only one who had the right to send the inactivated bacterial samples to Earth.

Of course, Stephen wanted to send more than just inactivated samples. He wanted to find a way to convince the Lunar Orbit Committee to send live X-0172 bacterial spores to his laboratory at Stanford University.

He was certain that this would increase their chances of eliminating the bacteria once and for all.

However, the Chinese researcher didn’t grant him his wish.

Zhao Shuxuan shook his head and rejected his proposal.

“That is too risky, we shouldn’t even send inactivated samples.”

“Nothing is perfectly safe, but we can try our best,” Professor Stephen said. “We have live smallpox samples as well, how is this different?”

Zhao Shuxuan paused for a second. He then shook his head.

“I have to think about this.”

Professor Stephen sighed.

“We’ve already thought about this.”

…

The research team meeting was over, and they didn’t arrive at any constructive conclusions.

It was starting to get late. The experts from various countries finished their dinner and went into their cabin rooms.

Professor Stephen lay in his bed and connected his laptop to the Moon Palace data interface. This way, he could communicate with Earth.

Even though the speed was slow and the delay was high, the bandwidth was enough for him to exchange opinions with expert researchers on Earth.

Professor Stephen logged into the instant messaging software. He was about to contact his assistant, but his assistant happened to call him.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Professor Stephen, but I have to report something to you.”

Stephen frowned and asked, “Yeah what?”

“Per your request, we searched the database for research on parasitic bacteria spores. We found a paper on arXiv.”

The assistant paused for a second before continuing, “The author claims that… he found a way to inhibit X-0172 bacteria from producing spores.”

“That’s impossible, there are only seven people in the world that can write a thesis like that, and I’m one of them.” Professor Stephen smiled and shook his head. “Send it to my email.”

His assistant nodded.

“Okay, Professor.”

Stephen had no hope for the thesis on arXiv at all.

The only X-0172 samples were on the Moon Palace. If other scholars wanted to do research on the bacteria, they would first have to get their hands on the bacterial sample.

Even though there were twelve inactivated X-0172 samples that were sent to Earth, these were all in the hands of large research institutes. There was no way a large research institute would anonymously publish a paper on arXiv.

Of course, even though he knew the value of the arXiv thesis was zero, he still wanted to see what the author wrote.

After all, it might give him inspiration.

Professor Stephen opened the thesis and began reading it. After a couple of pages, he gasped.

His expression became more and more serious, and he went back to the front page of the thesis and began reading it more carefully.

“What is this… Who wrote this?”

The more he read, the more astonished he was.

His eyes were filled with suspicion, surprise, and disbelief.

Professor Stephen only wanted to know one thing; who wrote this thesis?!

However, when he saw the author’s name, he was stunned.

“Z…?”

Who the hell is Z?

Chapter 811: Amino Acid Derivatives

The next day.

Inside the Moon Palace experiment cabin.

Professor Stephen stood in front of a group of researchers. He had dark circles around his eyes. He raised the thesis in his hand and spoke without energy.

“I’m sure you have read this thesis… I will not repeat what was written in the thesis. Just out of curiosity, I want to know who is Dr. Z?”

The six people in front of him were muddled. Professor Stephen spoke again.

“I’m sorry, but Dr. Z has to be among the seven of us… No, six, because I know I didn’t write it. Ian, was it you?”

Ian looked at the thesis and shook his head. He said, “No, it’s not me, why would I publish an anonymous thesis? This might be a Nobel Prize-level discovery, who wouldn’t want their name attached to this?”

The X-0172 bacterial invasion was considered a global ecosystem crisis. Anyone that solved this problem would undoubtedly be regarded as a hero to all of humankind. They might not win a Nobel Prize, but they would definitely be nominated.

Professor Leslie glanced at Professor Zhao Shuxuan and made eye contact.

“Z… Isn’t that the first letter of your name?”

“Forget about it.” Professor Zhao shook his head and said, “It’s not me… Why would I stay anonymous?”

Most people would gladly put their name on this thesis. The seven researchers had no idea why this person decided to stay anonymous.

All of the seven researchers in the experiment cabin looked at each other.

Finally, Professor Ian shrugged and looked impatient.

“Okay… It looks like Dr. Z is not with us. Anyone with a sane mind would want their name attached to this thesis.”

“This is ridiculous,” Professor Leslie said in disbelief. “Without having access to the X-0172 bacteria, how the hell did they find out the bacterial spores mechanism?”

The experiment cabin went quiet.

Obviously, Professor Leslie wasn’t the only one perplexed by the problem.

“This sounds ridiculous, but I think we can try Dr. Z’s method… Our research idea is to find a way to prevent X-0172 bacteria from producing spores, right?” Professor Ian looked at the thesis and shrugged. He then looked at the other researchers in the cabin and said, “It seems like Dr. Z has the same idea as us.”

Zhao Shuxuan nodded and said, “I think it’s worth a shot.”

Professor Leslie nodded. “I’m fine with it.”

Professor Stephen leaned against the porthole and said, “I was planning on doing that anyway.”

Professor Ian snapped his fingers.

“Four people agree, more than half the votes… Okay, it’s settled.”

…

Normally speaking, repeating an experiment was more difficult than doing the experiment the first time.

A lot of important research results in the field of modern biology came from coincidences. Even if someone ordered the same set of reagents, the same equipment from the same manufacturer, the experiment could still yield different results.

Not to mention that photoshop technology had become more and more powerful. If an undergraduate student couldn’t repeat an experiment, they would often just photoshop the experiment images.

Therefore, repeatable experiments had become one of the most important indicators of a valuable experiment.

Professor Stephen believed that Dr. Z’s proposal was going to work.

Because the words in this arXiv thesis resonated with his academic mind.

“The X-0172 bacteria can survive in the harsh environment of Mars. It is difficult to kill it using ordinary methods. We have to find its weakness.”

“What is its weakness?”

“Being able to survive on Mars gives it an advantage for facing extreme environments, but at the same time, it is also a disadvantage.

“It hasn’t fought with other microorganisms for survival, so it must be weak against other microorganisms.

“So the key to solving the problem is to find a bio-pheromone that can deceive the X-0172 bacteria… Jesus, why didn’t I think of that?”

Professor Stephen muttered to himself. He stared at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts.

Actually, this was only a research idea.

If Stephen had more time, he might have come up with the research idea.

But that wasn’t the main point.

What was puzzling was that even though Dr. Z thought of this research idea, how did Dr. Z calculate the molecular formula of the amino acid derivative that blocked the formation of the X-0172 spores?

Can this stuff even be calculated?

I thought this had to be deduced from thousands of trial and error experiments?

This was something beyond his understanding of biochemistry.

Professor Stephen looked at the amino acid derivative molecules on the computer screen as he scratched his beard. He had no idea how Dr. Z did it.

Suddenly, the experiment cabin door opened. Zhao Shuxuan floated in.

Professor Stephen looked at Professor Zhao and asked, “What’s the result like?”

Zhao Shuxuan: “The three patients have been injected with the synthetic amino acid-like derivatives. We are still observing the effects.”

Professor Stephen sighed.

“Looks like we just have to wait now.”

Time quickly passed by.

There was no sunrise or sunset in the space station, and time passed by quickly.

Professor Stephen kept yawning. He was starting to get a bit bored when the experimental cabin door suddenly opened.

Before he could say anything, Professor Leslie floated in with an excited look on her face. Leslie spoke.

“We observed an increase in metabolic levels in colonists 1 and 2! The spore content in the metabolites was significantly reduced! No allergic reactions occurred either!”

She took a deep breath, and her voice trembled as she spoke with excitement.

“The amino-acid derivatives work!

“We did it!”

Chapter 812: 27-Day Coma

“Ah…”

His first reaction was pain.

Johnson then felt a cold sensation going from his feet to his spine. He opened his eyes and woke up.

“Sh*t, I’m so cold…”

Johnson felt like his entire body was freezing. He tried to curl into a ball, but he found out that he was tied to the bed.

He used his finger to unlock the nylon straps. He then slowly floated up and sat on his bed.

He noticed the Chinese researcher who injected him with the antibodies was sitting on a bench while watching him.

“Your metabolic level is still at a very low level. It’s normal to feel cold.”

“How long… did I sleep for?”

Zhao Shuxuan looked at the watch on his wrist.

“Around 27 days.”

“27 days?!” Johnson was astonished, and he muttered, “That’s unbelievable.”

Zhao Shuxuan: “Why?”

“When I was in the Marine Corps, I went unconscious for a week due to injuries. I had to lay on my bed for a whole month. I remember when I was finally allowed to get out of bed, all of my muscles felt weak. It took the medical team half a month to help me walk normally.”

Johnson raised his arm and looked at his hands in disbelief as he said, “But right now, I feel like I just had a… nap?”

“It is really weird. Prolonged inactivity should lead to muscle atrophy, but the pheromone secreted by X-0172 bacteria prevents that. The pheromones protect the dormant cells.” Professor Zhao Shuxuan looked at Johnson sitting on the bed and said, “We are still researching the specific physiochemical process. If you are interested, you can pay attention to the follow-up research progress.”

When Johnson heard about the X-0172 bacteria, he suddenly became tense. He nervously asked Zhao Shuxuan.

“How’re the Martian bacteria in my body doing?”

Zhao Shuxuan: “It’s been removed.”

Johnson sighed in relief.

That knot in his heart was finally untied.

He no longer had Martian bacteria in his body.

He could finally go home.

He realized that his two teammates were still at risk.

After a while, he casually asked.

“What about Julia and Travis? How are my two teammates doing?”

Zhao Shuxuan looked at the watch on his wrist again and said, “Julia woke up 15 minutes ago. She’s probably doing personal business in the bathroom right now. As for Travis, his situation is more complex.”

Johnson asked, “What’s wrong with Travis?”

Zhao Shuxuan had a serious look on his face. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

“The way we remove the X-0172 bacteria is to prevent it from forming spores and then kill the bacteria with antibodies. However, his situation is a bit special because he has a built-in immune response to the X-0172 bacteria. This means that the spores in his body are always under attack. Even if we injected him with the blocking pheromone, the spores in his body wouldn’t become vegetative cells.”

Johnson gulped and said, “Which means…”

“He is still in a coma, staying dormant.” Zhao Shuxuan patted him on the shoulder and stood up. He said, “Don’t worry too much, we will take care of him.”

“Thanks.”

Johnson smiled weakly.

He wasn’t actually worried.

He never liked how rebellious Travis was. He only pretended to care about him because he was the captain. To be honest, he didn’t give a rat’s a*s on whether or not Travis would wake up.

The Ares program had completely failed anyway.

The medicinal cabin door opened, and a researcher with a beard floated in.

After Professor Stephen saw Johnson on his bed, he immediately floated next to Johnson.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! How are you feeling right now? Is there any discomfort?”

Johnson was bewildered at how enthusiastic Professor Stephen was. He looked at Zhao Shuxuan.

Zhao Shuxuan coughed and said, “This is Professor Stephen from Stanford University, a microbiologist appointed by the US government.”

He looked at his watch for the third time.

“I’ll leave the room to you guys.”

Zhao Shuxuan floated toward the door and left the two people alone.

Johnson watched the cabin door close. He hesitated for a bit before saying, “I’m doing fine… When can we go home?”

Professor Stephen patted him on the shoulder and said, “Soon. The Magpie Bridge is transporting supplies to the Moon Palace. The Chinese promised us that we can use the Magpie Bridge to return to the ISS. Then our own spacecraft will pick us up from the ISS.”

I can finally go home.

This was music to Johnson’s ears.

Professor Stephen looked at how happy Johnson was, and he said, “Speaking of which, what do you think about Mars? Do you want to talk about it?”

Johnson: “Is this part of the medical examination?”

“No, I’m just curious.” Professor Stephen shook his head and asked with a smile, “You are a hero. No one has ever stepped foot on that red desert planet, but you did! I’m curious, how was life on Mars? I heard that you planted potatoes there? Did you use Martian soil? How does it taste, is it delicious?”

Am I a… hero?

Faced with Professor Stephen’s questions, Johnson smiled bitterly.

Correct, they were the first to step foot on Mars, but the Chinese were the ones who brought them back.

This didn’t count as a successful trip.

The New Virginia life support system was being destroyed by the sandstorm. After surviving for a month, they were finally rescued by the Chinese.

Johnson looked outside the window, at the silver-white Moon. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“I wouldn’t want to go there again.

“It was horrible.”

Chapter 813: Dr. Z Saved the World?

[After 27 days in a coma, the two Ares program colonists have recovered!]

[Breaking news! Martian bacteria was defeated by the Moon Palace expert team! Dr. Z provided important clues!]

[…]

The day after Johnson woke up, the Lunar Orbit Committee announced the latest progress on the X-0172 bacterial research to the world.

The world heard that out of the three colonists who fell into a comatose state, two of them had successfully woken up with the infected bacteria removed from their bodies. This caused a huge sensation in the international community.

After Everyone Daily reported the news, the Washington Post immediately covered the news and interviewed the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Eliasson.

A month ago, at the UN emergency meeting, Eliasson read out an initiative calling all countries in the world to deal with this global crisis.

Even though his speech wasn’t the main reason why various nations cooperated in this crisis, his speech was still undeniably iconic.

When someone asked him to evaluate the crisis response performance of various countries, Eliasson responded without hesitation.

“This was one of the greatest threats to humanity. We stayed together as a team and didn’t give up!”

Reporter: “What do you think about the unsuccessful rescue of the African American colonist Travis?”

Eliasson: “I think there is still hope. I trust our international expert team. They just need a little more time!”

Out of the three patients infected with the X-0172 bacteria, two of them were successfully cured. This was a considerable breakthrough.

According to the Chinese announcement, in a week’s time, Johnson and Julia would be transferred from the Moon Palace to the ISS by the Magpie Bridge spacecraft. The experts from the United Nations would give them a final examination on the ISS before sending them back to Earth.

The Earth’s ecological crisis caused by the Mars bacteria had finally come to an end.

During the 27 days, countless people had expressed concerns about the future of the Earth’s ecosystem. Finally, all those concerns were gone.

Humans were no longer defenseless against the spores of X-0172 bacteria. Everyone was confident that it wouldn’t take long for the last colonist to recover.

All they needed was a bit of time.

In addition to the two colonists who were about to return to Earth, the media also paid attention to “Dr. Z”, who played an important role in the entire crisis.

According to Professor Stephen from Stanford University, if it weren’t for the pheromone molecular formula and synthesis method provided by this person, they would still be stuck on the X-0172 spore formation bottleneck.

“The results of his research made a huge contribution to the elimination of the Martian bacteria!

“Although I don’t know why he chose to remain anonymous, I hope he can stand up and accept his honor!”

Speculations about the identity of Dr. Z were formed.

The media outlets weren’t the only ones curious about the identity of this scholar. The general public had also developed a considerable amount of interest in this anonymous scholar.

Interesting enough, if his name were written in the thesis, the general public wouldn’t be interested in the thesis author at all. Everyone would forget his name after the media reports.

It was like how everyone knew that a Nobel Prize winner was nutty, but no one would remember every Nobel Prize winner.

But now, even people who weren’t in the field of biology were curious about the identity of this author. They wanted to know which country this scholar came from, and why they chose to be anonymous…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Institute of Biology.

Professor Liu Zuobing handed a report to Lu Zhou and spoke emotionally.

“I can’t believe the slow release agent with no side effects is on Mars.”

He was referring to the discovery that the pheromone secreted by the X-0172 bacteria when forming spores promoted active dormancy of the host.

Lu Zhou began reading through the report.

According to the experiment data, mice implanted with the X-0172 bacteria would begin to form spores when exposed to a temperature of minus 12-15 degrees. This released dormant pheromones, which placed the host into a dormant state.

When the host had slept for 24 hours, the host would enter a full sleep state. During this state, the host’s metabolic levels would drop to extremely low levels. This ensured that the host would retain normal cell structure. The host’s vegetative cells could then be rejuvenated at a later date.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. He was intrigued.

Professor Liu noticed Lu Zhou’s expression. He smiled and spoke.

“Remember the nematode cell we got a while ago? We plan on inserting the 18S-rDNA gene fragment into the X-0172 bacteria. The X-0172 bacteria will synthesize special proteins that might maintain the morphology of dormant biological cells.”

Lu Zhou flipped through the page and casually asked, “Is it fine to add the DNA to the X-0172 bacteria?”

Professor Liu Zuobing: “It is within our risk tolerance range.”

“Then we’ll go with your plan.” Lu Zhou gave the report back to Professor Liu and nodded. He said, “Remember, safety is always the highest priority.”

Professor Liu Zuobing solemnly said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be extra careful.”

So far the only place with activated X-0172 bacteria was the Moon Palace. The bacterial samples sent to Earth were inactivated. However, despite this, as the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, Lu Zhou had some research privileges.

The moment the crisis happened, a live sample of the X-0172 bacteria was sent to the Institute for Advanced Research. The highest level of security was assigned to this sample.

However, they obviously didn’t disclose this to the public.

Professor Liu was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah, that metabolite extract… Did you run out of it yet?”

“I have a little bit left. I put it in my office. If you need it, I can get someone to fetch it for you…” Lu Zhou looked at Professor Liu and asked casually, “What?”

Professor Liu shook his head and spoke.

“There’s a question I don’t know if I should ask.”

Lu Zhou said, “What question?”

Professor Liu Zuobing said, “Do you know who Dr. Z is?”

Lu Zhou: “No, why?”

“I’m just asking.” Professor Liu smiled awkwardly and said, “That Dr. Z who posted the thesis on arXiv, is it you…”

Lu Zhou asked, “Do you really think it’s me?”

Professor Liu nodded honestly.

“Generally speaking, very few biology theses are posted to BioRxiv. I rarely hear my colleagues uploading their theses to arXiv… If I recall correctly, arXiv is mainly for physics, mathematics, and computer science theses.”

Not to mention there were only a few people who had contact with the X-0172 bacterial sample. The experts on the Moon Palace said that they did not write the thesis themselves. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was the only place on Earth that had access to the samples.

If Dr. Z weren’t Lu Zhou, then it would have to be people in Professor Liu’s research team…

Obviously, his research team wasn’t that nutty. He knew there was no way anyone in his team could write a thesis of this level.

However, he wasn’t totally confident in his assumption. After all, Lu Zhou had never published a biology thesis before, and he had never heard of Professor Lu doing any kind of biology research…

Liu Zuobing was a little confused.

Professor Lu stayed awkwardly silent.

Biologists have their own preprint upload site?

They don’t post it on arXiv?

Sh*t, this is my first time hearing about this.

I should have done more research, this is quite embarrassing.

“Whatever, stop talking about this useless stuff.”

Lu Zhou changed the conversation topic and said, “Regardless of who Dr. Z is, we will remember his contribution. If he wants to stay anonymous, we should respect his decision… Also, the X-0172 research team can be disbanded. Merge the research data with the dormancy project team.”

Professor Liu immediately said, “There’s still one colonizer who hasn’t woken up yet.”

Lu Zhou: “We’ve already solved the difficult part. The rest will be handled by the international experts. As for you, you should continue research on human cryonics dormancy.”

Chapter 814: Reward for the Urgent Mission?

Even though there was still a colonizer in a coma, the crisis of the X-0172 bacteria was undoubtedly over.

Because they had the pheromone that could remove the bacteria’s defense system, the tough spores were no longer an issue.

Two days after the good news traveled from the Moon Palace to Earth, which was the 33rd day of Lu Zhou’s mission, Lu Zhou received a pop-up window while he was working at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

[Congratulations, user, urgent mission completed!

[Mission completion details: Recently, humanity has faced its greatest threat. Fortunately, the crisis was avoided. Congratulations on finding a way to eliminate the bacteria. The decisions you make will change civilization…

[Mission evaluation: A+

[Rewards: Experience pack (1-??? experience points), civilization rescuer medal (materialism +10)]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Maybe because he asked the system for help, or because there was one more infected person, his evaluation was only an A+.

But that wasn’t the main part, he didn’t care about the S+ evaluation rewards anyway.

What he didn’t understand was what the hell was the “civilization rescuer medal”?

He had won many awards over the years, but this was his first time winning an award from the system.

What does this thing do? Can I exchange it for general points or experience points?

Lu Zhou was muddled. He opened his inventory and saw the medal quietly lying there.

A circle of golden stars wrapped around the medal. It floated above an inverted triangle metal base, as if there was some kind of magnetic force.

The medal also had a red and blue ribbon attached to it. Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know what material the ribbon was made of, it looked extravagant.

“Magnetic levitation? Or some other kind of force?”

Lu Zhou was curious. He took out the medal from his inventory and played around with it. He then opened the medal instructions.

[The medal is issued by (REDACTED), according to the (REDACTED) convention signed in (REDACTED), this medal is among the highest honors for individuals from low-level civilizations. If immigration channels are open, individuals from low-level civilizations can use this medal to obtain full citizenship from higher-level civilizations…

[Note; This medal has a built-in anti-counterfeit detector. Do not disassemble. Do not scan.]

“I feel like this medal just revealed an extraordinary secret.”

Lu Zhou looked at the medal instructions on his inventory, and he began to contemplate it.

By looking at the sentence, the (REDACTED) words were a subject, an adverbial, and an attributive. He originally thought that this system was probably created by a high-level civilization or institution called “Future”. But now, it seemed like things were more complicated than he had thought.

After pondering for a while, Lu Zhou gave up and shook his head.

Even though he wanted to know what was redacted, the system clearly had a reason for keeping this a secret from him.

So far, it seemed like the system didn’t have malicious intentions. The system even wanted to protect him and benefit Earth’s civilization.

Maybe the system is waiting for an opportunity?

Lu Zhou believed that once he upgraded all of his subjects to level 10 and unlocked the [Future Era] and [Giant Engineering Structure] missions, more secrets of the system would be revealed to him…

After placing the medal back into his inventory, Lu Zhou reached out and selected another object in his inventory.

After he pressed the “activate button”, a bunch of mysterious stars popped out of the gift bag. Some tiny stars landed on his face, so he took a step back.

However, Lu Zhou soon found out that the stars weren’t made out of anything; it was similar to a holographic projection.

Then, a light blue dialog box appeared on the screen.

[Congratulations, user, 300,000 physics experience points awarded!]

“I completed a biological mission, but I received physics experience points? Is the system hinting at me to study physics?”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He reached out and tapped the screen.

His new characteristic panel was displayed in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (774,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 7 (313,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 5 (10/300,000)

E. Materials science: Level 6 (63,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 3 (50,000/100,000)

G. Information science: Level 3 (3,000/100,000)

General points: 2,335

]

“Mathematics level 8, physics level 7… The next level up requires millions of experience points. It will be a while before I level up again.”

Lu Zhou closed his characteristic panel and looked at his mission panel.

His mission chain was lit up again. He closed his eyes and exited the system.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the dean’s office.

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and rested for a while. He was about to continue working when he suddenly heard a knock at his door.

“Come in.”

Professor Liu Zuobing opened the door.

He cheerfully walked into the office while holding an experimental report. He walked toward Lu Zhou’s desk and spoke.

“The experiment was successful!

“The 18S-rDNA gene fragment is compatible with the X-0172 bacteria. So far, we have successfully transcribed the special proteins and amino acid derivatives that we need!

“If everything goes well, we should finish this research project in one month!”

Lu Zhou took the experimental report and briefly glanced at it. He nodded with satisfaction.

“Nicely done… You must have worked very hard.”

“Not hard at all. This is my research direction anyway. I have to thank you for providing me the opportunity.” Professor Liu Zuobing smiled and suddenly remembered something. He said, “Oh yeah, when I analyzed the X-0172 genome, I found something interesting.”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

“How do I put it? Maybe I’m wrong…” Professor Liu said, “This genome gives me a feeling that it didn’t come from natural evolution. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or what.”

Not from natural evolution?

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He began to frown.

“Not from evolution? Could it be…”

He suddenly stopped talking.

He instantly realized what could be happening.

Liu Zuobing looked at Lu Zhou and nodded.

“Yeah, it’s almost like it was created manually.”

Chapter 815: Elected for Both

Generally speaking, in order for a species to adapt to changes in their environment, the species would often evolve through reproduction and natural selection.

Because of this, it seemed reasonable that the X-0172 bacteria released spores and pheromones that made the host dormant.

However…

The fact that these two characteristics were contained in the tiny X-0172 bacteria was quite strange.

If it weren’t for Professor Liu, Lu Zhou would have never noticed this.

This was indeed quite a coincidence.

It was almost like…

This bacteria was created to help a certain type of species to survive in harsh climates?

Of course, Professor Liu and Lu Zhou were both just speculating. There was no direct evidence that the genome of this bacteria was artificially modified.

If their hypothesis was correct, then it would mean that millions of years ago, there was a technologically advanced civilization on the fiery red planet.

This would undoubtedly be a huge discovery.

Of course, Professor Liu’s hypothesis was merely a guess. There was no way to verify his hypothesis. Lu Zhou wrote the hypothesis down and left it aside.

Verifying one’s hypothesis was one of the most important processes in scientific research. He wouldn’t discredit Professor Liu’s idea, nor would he rush to believe Professor Liu’s idea before collecting sufficient evidence.

So far, his “crawler” all-terrain survey vehicle deployed on Mars was investigating the geological environment around New Virginia. If there was a space-age civilization on Mars, there should be some clues…

He set the Mars bacteria matter aside.

The days quickly passed by. The red autumn leaves began to fall off the trees. It was October.

After nearly a year of selection, the 2021 academician election finally came to an end in October.

After the second round of evaluations was finished, the final selections would be decided by the academician election committee.

The list of the elected academicians was announced on the official Chinese Academy of Sciences and Academy of Engineering website.

Just like people had expected, the Nobel Prize winner, Fields Medal winner, national scientific research project leader, Lu Zhou, was elected into both academies.

Not only was his elections displayed on the official academy websites, but it was also posted at the Jin Ling University entrances, as well as the front page of the campus news forum. This was great news for the school!

[Congratulations to Professor Lu Zhou for being elected as a member of the 2021 Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering academician!]

Ever since the 2000s, Jin Ling University hadn’t had any new academician professors.

But now, Professor Lu from the mathematics department suddenly won two academician titles. This meant it was double the happiness. Many mathematics professors even lectured with smiles on their faces.

After all, Lu Zhou had always been popular at the university. Many professors watched him grow as a student, especially Professor Liu Xiangping who helped Lu Zhou in the mathematical modeling competition. Back then, during the mathematical modeling competition, he could see that Lu Zhou was an extraordinary person.

Now that Jin Ling University had another academician under its belt, its ranking in the Chinese academic community was much higher than before.

For those who wanted to further their academic career at Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou’s election was obviously good news.

The professors and scholars weren’t the only ones happy for them, even the students were happy as well.

Even though they had heard countless legends of the great Professor Lu before, being selected into two academies… People couldn’t help but feel impressed.

There had never been someone who had been elected into two academies at once…

There probably would never be another one.

A female student stood in front of the news bulletin board. She was carrying a stack of books, and she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Amazing, Professor Lu is on both academician lists.”

“Yeah…” Another female student with bangs nodded and asked curiously, “Oh yeah, what is above academician?”

“Above academician? I don’t think that exists… If I recall correctly, academician is the highest academic title in the country. The elections happen every two years, and every academician has to be approved by more than two-thirds of the current academicians. It is one of the hardest titles to gain!”

Normally speaking, it was extremely impressive to gain the title of an academician in your sixties or fifties.

Being able to gain this life-long title in your twenties was never heard of before.

“Life-long title…” The girl with bangs looked at the bulletin board and said, “He won two titles at once. Which meant two-thirds of the Academy of Engineering and Academy of Science academicians voted for him… That is crazy.”

“Of course, it’s insane!” The girl with glasses remembered something. She looked at another girl and quickly said, “Oh yeah, Meng Qi, Professor Lu was your teacher, right? Tell me, what kind of person is he?”

“Oh…” Han Mengqi stared at the bulletin board and said, “What kind of person? He’s always busy, he rarely comes to his office… I’m not sure.”

Obviously, her roommate wasn’t satisfied with this answer. The girl in glasses said, “… But he has taught you before?”

“He did…” Han Mengqi was a little embarrassed, and she said, “He’s an easy-going person?”

Her roommate looked a little disappointed, and she muttered to herself, “Easy going? I thought he would be the cool and calm type… I saw him eating barbecued meat at the cafeteria, but I was too scared to ask for his WeChat.”

Han Mengqi sighed. She twirled her hair and didn’t know what to say.

2021 was nearly over.

She already completed her graduation thesis.

She should be graduating by next summer.

What should I do after I graduate?

Should I continue with academia, or work at my mom’s company?

I don’t want to think about this…

Chapter 816: Class of Youth

Compared to Jin Ling University’s reaction, Lu Zhou himself had a much smaller reaction to his academician elections.

After all, compared to those scholars who had been trying their entire lives to obtain an academician title, this title didn’t bring him anything special.

Therefore, when Lu Zhou found out he was elected, he didn’t feel anything. He stayed rather calm.

The support and resource he had access to were far beyond what a normal academician had.

Jin Ling University.

Mathematics building office.

Lu Zhou had to deal with his students’ theses, so he took time out of his busy schedule and came to Jin Ling University. When he first entered his office, he was shocked by the mess.

He was only gone for a week, he didn’t know why his office turned into a storage room.

When Lin Yuxiang saw Lu Zhou, her eyes lit up and she immediately stood up from her desk.

“Professor, you’re finally back. There have been countless people looking for you.”

Lu Zhou looked at the meter-tall cactus near the wall and couldn’t help but ask, “Where did this thing come from?”

Lin Yuxiang looked at the meter-tall cactus and suddenly said, “Oh, Professor Zhang from the physics department sent this here. He told me to say hi to you, and he wished your academic journey would continue to develop further.”

There was nothing wrong with this blessing, but it sounded kind of weird to Lu Zhou.

“… Thank Professor Zhang next time you see him.” Lu Zhou noticed the vacuum flask on his table and said, “Where did this come from?”

He felt like he had seen this before, but he couldn’t remember where. Lin Yuxiang stood up and spoke with a smile.

“Professor Tang gave it to you!”

Lu Zhou finally remembered where he saw this type of cup before.

“He didn’t give me his own flask, right?”

That would be a pretty crappy gift, right?

“Why would you say that, what kind of person gives away a used cup? I think this cup is the same model as the one he uses.” Lin Yuxiang smiled and said, “When he gave you the cup, he told me to tell you to watch out for your health. He told you to stop drinking coffee and drink more hot water.”

Lu Zhou felt pretty warm inside.

He knew a lot of professors at Jin Ling University, but Professor Tang cared about him the most.

Lu Zhou had always been very grateful to the professor who taught him the ropes of mathematics. Even though Professor Tang didn’t help him a lot academically, Professor Tang taught him many lessons outside of academics.

Therefore, every new year Lu Zhou would visit the old man’s home.

Since Lu Zhou didn’t say anything, Lin Yuxiang blinked and asked, “Do you want some hot water?”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He picked up the vacuum flask and spoke.

“No, thanks. Record the gifts in an Excel spreadsheet, then send it to my email. For the gifts over 500 yuan, send it back to them. For the rest, keep it somewhere else. It is taking up too much space.”

“Ok!” Assistant Lin raised her hand and did a salute as she said, “I got it.”

Lu Zhou sat down at his desk and opened the drawer. He took out a stack of theses and began reading the first one carefully. Even though it was only a master’s thesis, he still had high standards for his students.

After all, he wouldn’t allow a student to graduate with a crappy thesis.

They at least had to have produced a half-decent thesis.

This was beneficial both to Lu Zhou and to the students.

Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds at his door.

Lu Zhou put down his pen and spoke.

“Come in.”

The office door opened, the principal of Jin Ling University, Academician Xu, walked in with a smile.

“Congratulations, Academician Lu! From now on, you are the youngest elected academician in Jin Ling University. I’m sure it will take a long time for someone to break your record.”

“Who knows, we have so many talented young men. Maybe someone will be a better scholar than me in the future.” Lu Zhou smiled and stood up. He made an inviting gesture and said, “Come, sit down.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

The two sat down on the office sofa.

Lin Yuxiang came over with a pot of freshly boiled tea, and she poured both of them a cup.

Principal Xu looked at the rising water vapor and smiled.

“I came here to congratulate you on your two academician elections. I also have something else I need your opinion on.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You’re too polite. If I can help you with anything, just ask me.”

“It’s not something troublesome, but your work impacts our country’s future. I don’t want Jin Ling University to delay any of your work, or else I will have to apologize to the country!”

Principal Xu smiled at Lu Zhou and continued, “Here’s the thing. A while ago, the Ministry of Education came to visit Jin Ling University. I talked with the Ministry of Education director, and we think there is still a lot of room for improvement in the current education system. Therefore, we plan on adding an accelerated class for majors such as physics and mathematics. This way, we can focus our training on talented students!”

Lu Zhou nodded toward Principal Xu and said, “We should take undergraduate education more seriously. A scholar often comes into contact with the academic world in their undergraduate years. However, we shouldn’t overdo it. Otherwise, the students would be disinterested because of the extra burden.”

Principal Xu nodded and said, “I understand, that’s why we are starting a trial class. If the trial isn’t successful, we will reevaluate our plans!”

“I think it’s a good plan.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “But I don’t know how I can help.”

Principal Xu smiled and said, “Of course you can help. You are the role model for our mathematics students! I heard that there are people who worship the library seat you used to sit at!”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “You’re too kind, the students are just exaggerating.”

“They’re not, I’m being serious.” Principal Xu waved his hand and said solemnly to Lu Zhou, “Undergraduate studies are something us old folks aren’t familiar with anymore. We grew up in different times.”

“I hope you can be the chief consultant for the pilot class. It won’t take up too much time, and you just have to provide us with your valuable opinions.”

If it were before, Lu Zhou wouldn’t have realized what was going on.

But now, he realized what Principal Xu was asking. The Ministry of Education probably wanted Lu Zhou to put his name on this program as this would make it easier for the Communist Party of China to approve this program.

However, despite knowing this, Lu Zhou didn’t say anything.

This favor was a piece of cake for him. Jin Ling University, as his alma mater, had helped him both in academia and outside of academia. He should do something in return.

Not to mention this would benefit Jin Ling University students.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Piece of cake, I’ll gladly be the chief consultant.”

Principal Xu smiled brightly.

“The Jin Ling University students will be grateful, God Lu.”

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his tea, and he said, “Haha, please don’t say that, it’s weird enough that students call me that.”

Principal Xu smiled and said, “Haha, okay… Oh yeah, speaking of this pilot class thing, we plan on naming it the Nobel Class. What do you think?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and shook his head.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

“Why?” Principal Xu frowned and said, “Why?”

“The Nobel Prize is a worthy goal young scholars should fight for, but it’s not the end of academia. We plan on using this pilot class to train academic talents, so I don’t think the students should be brainwashed to think of the Nobel Prize as the ultimate end goal.” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “After all, I didn’t choose to become a scholar because of the Nobel Prize or the Fields Medal. There are other things that are more important.”

Principal Xu: “Then what do you think we should call it?”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and spoke.

“Young scholars are the future of our country. They will be the leaders of the next decades.

“I think that we should cultivate these young scholars by planting a seed in each of their hearts. After that seed grows, they will grow into useful people in academia, civilization, and society!

“Therefore, I think the class should be called the Class of Youth!”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Principal Xu went silent for a second.

After a while, he spoke emotionally.

“This is why I needed your help.”

He slapped his thigh and nodded.

“We’ll call it the Class of Youth then!”

Chapter 817: Things to Do Before Resigning

Lu Zhou actually didn’t have any extremely high ambitions.

He realized this about himself recently.

In the face of the universe, his influence was ultimately tiny.

He could spend months locking himself in his tiny room, trying to solve an equation or a conjecture by himself. However, for giant system engineering missions, he needed a team of scholars from many disciplines. It was no longer a solo-mission.

Even though he could design the ion thruster propulsion system perfectly, he couldn’t build the propulsion system himself. He needed other people to help him.

If he wanted to have an impact on this world, he needed other people’s help.

As an academic leader, his responsibilities went far beyond exploration and discovery. He was also responsible for guiding the next generation of scholars.

The more he pushed the boundaries of human knowledge, the more he realized how important it was to push human boundaries.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, a week after he joined the Class of Youth program, the Ministry of Education approved the program.

The Class of Youth was a class that specialized in training academic talents. Second-year undergraduate students would be allowed to apply, and only 30 of the top students would be chosen.

As the chief consultant, Lu Zhou gave a lot of valuable opinions with regard to the training of the Class of Youth program.

He hoped that he could use his experience to guide these young students onto the correct path…

Even though this took up a bit of Lu Zhou’s time, it didn’t affect his work at the Lunar Orbit Committee.

As October came to an end, good news came from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

After countless days and months of design and practice, the second component of the Lunar Mining Program, the automated smelting unit, finally went from a concept to reality.

The Long March 5 vehicle sent the automated smelting unit to the cargo bay of the International Space Station. It was then sent to the Moon through the Magpie Bridge.

After a week of hard work, with the help from the Moon Palace staff members, the automated smelting unit finally landed on the Moon’s surface. The automated smelting unit was then connected with the already deployed automated mining unit.

Once the automated mining unit was activated, the sharp drill bit began to crush into the titanium ore deposits in the lunar soil. The titanium ores were then sent to the automated smelting unit.

Even though this production line didn’t have high efficiency, the high-quality titanium alloy materials were still being produced at a slow and steady rate.

When Lu Zhou looked at the progress of his system mission, he felt quite good. This meant that the system recognized his automated lunar mining facility.

If this trend continued, he should be able to complete this branch mission within a month.

While the branch mission was progressing steadily, the main Control of Earth and Moon mission was also progressing.

In order to cure the colonist who was still in a coma, and to properly preserve and research the X-0172 bacterial samples, the lunar research facility had received fundings from various countries and was about to begin construction.

If everything went according to plan, it should be finished by the middle of next year.

On the other hand, with the installation of several experimental modules and multifunction cabins, the second phase of the Moon Palace came to an end.

China’s Moon Palace project was nearly complete, whereas the American’s “Lunar Gateway” project had barely begun. Waves of criticism were directed at the Ares program and NASA.

The public was so supportive of the New Virginia colonists, but it became such a disappointment. Even though NASA had accomplished a lot over the past two decades, all of that accomplishment was overshadowed by the failure of the Ares program.

American public figures said that the past 20 years was a complete waste of time.

Ever since the Cold War, they had been slowly losing their advantage in the space race…

The Chinese, on the other hand, didn’t care too much about the space race. They were just happy to see their space station orbiting the Moon.

The entire aerospace industry was changing.

It was almost like there was a rocket, pushing the entire industry forward…

It felt like the entire world was evolving…

…

Only three days remained until the Ares program astronauts would return to Earth.

Lu Zhou took a high-speed rail train to Beijing and participated in the final Mars Rescue conference.

After the conference ended, Lu Zhou didn’t immediately return to his hotel. Instead, he went to the State Administration for National Defense and handed Director Li a proposal.

“… Plan for the restructuring of the Lunar Orbit Committee?” Director Li saw the proposal Lu Zhou brought over and adjusted his glasses. He asked, “You’re not going to… ditch us, right?”

This happened with the controllable fusion project as well.

After the project was successful, Lu Zhou began working on his next project. Not long after they achieved fusion ignition, Lu Zhou quit his chief designer position.

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and smiled.

“Not quite. After the lunar research facility is built, I have something important to do. I won’t leave my chief designer position until that important thing is done.”

Director Li sighed in relief and replied, “Sometimes, I’m quite impressed that you’re able to give up power so easily.”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou smiled and casually said, “At least for me, anything outside of research is mostly a waste of time.”

Director Li: “Then what? After the lunar stuff is over, what do you plan on doing next? The second generation of nuclear fusion? Mars?”

“Neither…” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’ve done enough for the aerospace industry, after that… I think I’ll set some time aside for myself to explore the things that interest me.”

“Oh, I see…”

Even though Director Li didn’t know specifically what Lu Zhou meant, he knew what Lu Zhou was feeling.

He spoke solemnly.

“When you step down from your Lunar Orbit Committee position, if I haven’t retired yet, you can call me if you ever need anything. I’ll do my best to help you.”

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

“I definitely will.”

Director Li: “Oh yeah, can I ask, before you resign… What ‘important thing’ do you plan on doing?”

Lu Zhou smirked and replied, “Remember the lunar engineering conference a year ago?”

“Of course I do.” Director Li smiled and said, “Time really flies by. Before this, we were talking about how to land on the Moon, and now, we’re talking about building houses on the Moon.”

“We can do more than just build houses there. We can also bring lunar resources back to Earth.” Lu Zhou took out a pen and drew two lines on a piece of white paper.

Director Li stared at the two straight lines and squinted his eyes. He was puzzled.

“What is this?”

“This is the last phase of the entire Earth-Moon transport system.” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Remember the mass driver I talked about?

“It will be difficult to build the mass driver on Earth.

“But we can try building it on the Moon!”

Chapter 818: Local Specialties

The third Monday in October.

This was an extraordinary day for the two space race super countries.

According to the Mars Rescue plan announced in the previous press conference, today was the day the two astronauts would return to their respective countries.

The greatest human rescue in history would finally come to an end.

The two astronauts had suffered greatly over the past couple of months, and they were both mentally and physically exhausted.

After asking the astronauts for their own opinions, Julia, a Dutch citizen, would return to Amsterdam directly on a flight provided by the Dutch government, while Johnson, as an American, would return to his home country on a flight arranged by the White House.

Beijing International Airport.

The Chinese government arranged a grand handover ceremony.

When Johnson stood at the special security entrance, he saw the person who established the rescue plan, the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee—Lu Zhou.

“Thank you.” Johnson trembled as he shook Lu Zhou’s hand. He said, “Thank you for bringing us back from Mars!”

Even though Lu Zhou was probably the biggest competitor to NASA, this didn’t prevent Johnson from giving Lu Zhou the utmost respect and gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” Lu Zhou smiled as he shook this astronaut’s hand. He said, “Come visit China again some time.”

“I will.” Johnson let go of Lu Zhou’s hand and looked at the American diplomat next to him. He took a deep breath and said, “Ok then… It’s time for me to go.”

“Ok, go on.” Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, “Tell Carson I said hi.”

“I definitely will!”

Johnson picked up his carry-on luggage and boarded the plane.

After a while, the hatch was closed, and the flight took off.

The engine roared as the plane disappeared into the skyline.

Lu Zhou looked at the plane fly away and squinted his eyes. He then turned around and was about to leave.

The American diplomat standing next to him smiled.

“Thank you for everything you did for the Americans. This moment will be remembered in history.”

“No need to thank me. Even though we are from different countries, we are all humans.” Lu Zhou shook the diplomat’s hand and said, “We should work as one nation.”

The diplomat smiled.

“We should!”

There was a banquet scheduled after the handover ceremony.

Lu Zhou didn’t like this kind of occasion, so he decided not to attend the Mars Rescue banquet.

As for himself, he returned to his hotel.

In the hotel lobby, Lu Zhou asked to borrow the hotel printer. He told the staff members to send the printer to his room. He then went into his room and took out an unfinished mass driver thesis from his suitcase. He sat at his desk and contemplated it for a while before he began to improve the thesis.

Actually, he had thought about this lunar mass driver idea for a while.

All the way back in 2012, NASA had a similar idea. They even did a technical demonstration, and the relevant theses could be found online.

In theory, the acceleration technology used in this device was similar to maglev trains.

By using a long and narrow track with electromagnetic acceleration, the ore or spacecraft could be accelerated to orbital velocity speeds, then directly “shot” into orbit.

Of course, even though this sounded easy in principle, it was very difficult to execute.

As the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, Lu Zhou didn’t need to create a detailed drawing of the entire project. Instead, he just needed to conduct an overview assessment of the entire project.

For example, how long should the track be? What was the cost per meter of track length? Would it be technically feasible? What were the risks? More importantly, which crater should they build it on?

Lu Zhou already asked the researchers on the Moon Palace to collect all of the relevant resources.

Because he had a level 5 in engineering, and he was the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, it wasn’t very difficult for him to complete the entire thesis.

Lu Zhou clicked his mouse and pressed the printing option.

Soon after, the printer in his room began to hum and spit out freshly printed pages.

Lu Zhou looked at the newly-printed pages and began double-checking the thesis. He felt a little hungry. Suddenly, he heard knocking sounds at his door. Wang Peng came in while carrying a plastic bag.

“You’re still working?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou put down the thesis, and when he noticed the plastic bag, he asked, “What are you holding?”

“I went to the headquarters in the afternoon, and I brought you back some local specialties.”

Wang Peng placed the plastic bag on Lu Zhou’s desk.

“Is it Peking duck?” Lu Zhou’s eyes lit up, and he said, “Delicious, where is it from?”

“Oh, I bought it from this local shop.” Wang Peng smiled and said, “It’s not very famous, but I think the flavor is authentic.”

“It does smell nice.” Lu Zhou opened the plastic bag and took a whiff. He looked at the delicious crispy roast duck and said, “If only there were some beer as well.”

Wang Peng, who had just sat down on the sofa, stood up.

“What do you want to drink, I’ll buy it for you.”

“No, it’s fine, I can just call the hotel for room service.” Lu Zhou opened the drawer and took out a folder. He placed the freshly printed thesis into the folder and said, “Rather than buying beer, there is something I need you to deliver.”

Wang Peng immediately asked, “Deliver to where?”

Lu Zhou gave Wang Peng the folder.

“Chang’an Avenue.

“You should know who to give it to.”

Chapter 819: Who Can Stop Them?

The last part of a journey was always the most difficult.

After more than ten hours of flying, the direct flight from Beijing to America finally landed on the Los Angeles International Airport runway.

The airport had been preparing for this arrival since last night.

China and United States flags were displayed along the airport VIP runway.

Local state legislators, representatives of citizen groups, and White House and NASA officials from Washington stood around the airstair. With media cameras pointed at them, they welcomed their astronaut’s return.

“Welcome home, my hero.” The vice president shook Johnson’s hand and said, “You must have gone through a lot.”

“Thanks,” Johnson said to the vice president. He spoke in an exhausted voice, “Where is my wife?”

“She is here, your kids are here as well.”

The vice president moved to the side.

A beautiful blond-haired child ran into Johnson’s arms.

“Daddy!”

“Oh, my pumpkin… Did you miss Daddy?” Johnson said as he rubbed his daughter’s head. A smile appeared on his tired face.

His daughter’s angel-like smile made all of his fatigue disappear.

His wife walked toward him with tears in her eyes. His two other sons were there as well. He gave all of them a hug.

Julia spoke with her husband’s arms wrapped around her.

“You finally came back.”

Johnson’s nose was buried in his wife’s hair. He took a deep breath before speaking with a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry…”

Not far away, the reporters’ cameras captured this touching moment, displaying it on national television.

However, for Johnson, this didn’t matter.

What mattered was that his suffering was finally worth it.

Because he was finally home…

After Johnson let go of his wife, he shook hands with everyone who came to welcome him home.

Even though the Ares program failed, no one blamed the hero who risked his life for the Ares program.

Being able to return from tens of millions of kilometers away was a remarkable thing in itself.

As Johnson sat in the VIP car near the runway, he leaned back in his seat and began to relax. He was waiting for his family to join him, but instead, Director Carson and the vice president got in the car.

The car door closed.

Johnson looked at the vice president sitting across from him and asked, “You plan on sending me and my family back to Arizona in this car?”

“Not quite, we will arrange a hotel in Los Angeles for you first. You will fly home a week after that,” the vice president said. He looked at Director Carson. He then said, “I’m sorry to interrupt your reunion with your family, but Director Carson and I… want to talk about some things with you.”

“Regarding the Moon Palace and Starlight… and everything else you saw.” Carson forced a smile and said, “You know, the things that you couldn’t say using the Chinese communication channels.”

Johnson said, “I don’t think the Chinese would have cared. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let me come back.”

Director Carson and the vice president looked at each other. They then looked at Johnson.

“Maybe you need some rest? If you do, we can talk about this tomorrow…”

“No need.” Johnson shook his head and said, “Let’s talk about this now, it won’t take long. I don’t want to waste tomorrow discussing this issue.”

“Ok, thanks for your cooperation.” Director Carson gave him an encouraging look and said, “Then… Let’s start with Starlight.”

Johnson nodded and said, “No problem, I can only tell you what I saw… Also, I hope you won’t be too surprised.”

He closed his eyes and began to tap into his memory. With NASA Director Carson and the vice president sitting across from him, he began to speak about his journey back to Earth.

“The Chinese spacecraft is large, and it had two wings and a blue flame at the back of the spacecraft… I think not fire, it might be plasma? When I looked at the spacecraft in my return capsule, it felt like the return capsule was a tiny sailboat sailing next to the giant ship. They easily took in the rescue capsule and provided us with food and water… They even gave us private bathrooms.

“Our Starlight’s cabins were probably intended to be used as storage, but the facilities were quite complete. The most shocking thing was their attitude toward electricity. It felt like there was an unlimited amount of energy on Starlight. No one told us how much electricity or water we could use. Other than restricting us to our rooms during certain hours of the day, there was much more freedom on Starlight. It was almost like a cruise ship.

“The Moon Palace was even more surprising.”

Johnson’s face lit up as he continued, “It’s like a fortress… A castle floating in the sky. The solar panels and heat sinks were like a garden. Any spacecraft seemed tiny compared to the Moon Palace.”

The Moon Palace was obviously more surprising for Johnson.

Over the next ten minutes or so, he described his life on the Moon Palace.

The two people sitting across from him stayed completely silent.

After Johnson finished talking, the inside of the car went silent for a while.

The vice president took a deep breath and took out his glasses. He wiped his glasses with a cloth and spoke with a trembling voice.

“Jesus… That’s incredible.”

If our astronaut is telling the truth…

Then China’s aerospace technology is unimaginably strong!

Johnson had a smirk on his face as he replied sarcastically, “It is indeed incredible…”

He looked outside the car window. When he saw a dome-shaped building nearby, he squinted and asked out of curiosity, “What is that?”

It had been five years since he last visited Los Angeles.

He didn’t remember seeing this strange looking building near the airport.

“That? That is our National Ignition Facility, the Californian ‘artificial sun’.” The vice president smiled and looked at Director Carson as he said, “It’s ok, my friend, there’s no need to be frustrated. Even though the Ares program failed, the federal government’s determination for the space race remains the same.”

“Californian sun… Is that right?” Johnson smiled and said, “By the time we finish building it, they would have built a nuclear fusion device on the moon.”

Even though Johnson didn’t specify who he meant by “they”, it was obvious what he meant.

The vice president was stunned, and he replied, “They are not allowed to conduct nuclear activities on the Moon.”

“Maybe…” Johnson said casually, “But if they do, who is going to stop them? Director Carson? The president? The Congressional Budget Office?”

I don’t think anyone…

Can stop the Chinese…

Chapter 820: Lunar Mass Driver

Beijing.

A conference room at Chang’an Avenue.

Academician Wang Rongjun was wearing a gray coat. He slowly walked into the conference room and found his seat. He placed his vacuum flask on the table.

He looked at the table and tried to find the conference documents, but he couldn’t find anything at all.

Academician Wang Rongjun was confused, and he was about to ask a staff member when he heard a voice next to him.

“Old Wang, what are you doing here?”

Wang Rongjun looked over and saw Chief Engineer Academician Li Qingquan from China Railway Group. Academician Li Qingquan began walking over.

When Wang Rongjun saw his old friend, his eyes widened!

“I was going to ask you that! Last time I asked you to go drinking with me, you said you were at a meeting in another city; how come you’re in Beijing now?”

“Yeah, I had a meeting in another city, but suddenly, the State Administration for National Defense called me and told me there was a secret meeting here. They even bought me the flight tickets. I thought this meeting was confidential, so I didn’t tell you.” Academician Li Qingquan coughed and said, “I didn’t expect you to be invited as well.”

“If even you were invited, then of course they would invite me.” Academician Wang picked up his vacuum flask and unscrewed the lid. He took a sip and looked around the crowded conference room. He said, “There are quite a few big names here.”

Not only were there academicians from the China Railway Company, but the academicians from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation were also invited.

Other than that, there were also some unfamiliar faces. They didn’t look like they came from the industry, nor did they look like they came from academia. They seemed like they came from a military research organization.

He began recalling the phone call he received two days ago.

During the phone call, the person didn’t tell him what the conference was about. However, by looking at the big names here, it seemed like this was going to be an important conference…

“Yeah,” Academician Li Qingquan nodded and said, “all of the transportation industry big names are here… Maybe our country wants to plan a new super-high-speed railway project?”

Academician Li Qingquan’s eyes lit up, and he became extremely excited.

The super-high-speed railway was a concept proposed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. It used “magnetic levitation and vacuum tubes” technology to achieve supersonic speeds. It had a theoretical speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour.

When China’s high-speed railway trains reached 350 kilometers, there had been plans about building a super-high-speed railway system. The technology had been proven to be feasible, and many academicians had supported it. However, the project was never initiated.

One was due to safety reasons, and the other was because China already had a 350 kilometers per hour railway system, so there wasn’t much demand for a much faster railway.

It was more profitable and meaningful for China to export its railway technology to other third world countries such as Africa.

However, on this day, the State Administration for National Defense suddenly invited many big names from the transportation industry to this conference. People couldn’t help but get excited.

“Who knows…” Academician Wang Rongjun shook his head and said, “We’ll see what the State Administration for National Defense has to say.”

“You’re right.” Academician Li Qingquan smiled and said, “The conference is about to begin, surely they will tell us what this conference is about.”

It was exactly 10 o’clock in the morning. All of the attendees were in the conference room. The conference room staff closed the main entrance doors, and the meeting officially began.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense was the meeting host. When he walked on stage, all of the chatter in the room disappeared. Many people had a serious look on their faces.

“Thank you all very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to participate in this meeting.” Director Li cleared his throat and said, “The reason why we invited you today is that we have an important matter that needs to be consulted with experts.

“Due to the confidential nature of this matter, we were not able to disclose any information prior to this conference. I hope you all understand.

“Also, I hope you can keep the conference content strictly confidential. At the same time, do not hesitate to give your own opinions. If you have any good ideas, feel free to share them.”

A projector shined on the projector screen in the conference room.

Once everyone saw the projected picture, the previously quiet conference room started to become noisy.

People looked at each other with astonished eyes.

Lunar mass driver!

People had their own guesses on what the State Administration for National Defense wanted to talk about today, but none of them expected the conference to be about the mass driver.

Academician Li Qingquan was slightly disappointed that the conference wasn’t about the super-high-speed rail. Academician Wang Rongjun, who was sitting next to him, had his mouth wide open.

After a while, Wang Rongjun asked, “Are they building a high-speed rail on the Moon?”

Director Li cleared his throat and spoke in a serious manner.

“According to the construction plans provided by the Lunar Orbit Committee, we plan on building an acceleration track on a lunar crater…

“By using electromagnetic acceleration, the object will be accelerated to the Moon’s escape velocity, then launched into lunar orbit through another inclined track…

“The construction will begin at the same time as the lunar research facilities. The first-phase project budget is 200 billion yuan. More than 70 universities, research institutes, and companies will be involved.”

As Academician Li Qingquan listened to the State Administration for National Defense director speak, he had a slight smile on his face.

200 billion yuan for the first phase of the project!

They’re basically building another Moon Palace on the Moon!

Academician Wang Rongjun frowned at the PowerPoint on the screen, and he suddenly said, “Building this thing will probably be extremely difficult. Even if we do build it, the power consumption will be astronomical! I’m afraid we’ll have to build a fusion reactor on the Moon just to supply this big cannon.”

“Big cannon?” Academician Li Qingquan raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Academician Wang Rongjun replied, “It is basically a big cannon.”

The electromagnetic acceleration could accelerate an object to a speed of more than two kilometers per second.

That was much faster than any cannon projectile.

Li Qingquan stared at the PowerPoint and spoke with emotion.

“They’ve been putting off the super-high-speed rail project for at least half a decade by now.”

Academician Wang Rongjun didn’t know why his friend was bringing this up, so he looked at him and asked, “I think so… Why?”

Academician Li Qingquan said, “There were a lot of academicians who supported the project, right?”

Academician Wang Rongjun: “What’s your point?”

Academician Li Qingquan sighed and said, “Nothing, I’m just feeling a bit emotional.”

The super-high-speed railway project would also cost a couple hundred billion, yet it was never approved. This “Moon cannon” project was approved with just the support of one person.

Countless academicians were no match against one person.

There would never be a scholar with as much influence as Lu Zhou…

Chapter 821: I Want to Study Mathematics With You!

Academician Li was right to be jealous.

Actually, almost the entire Chinese academic community was envious of Lu Zhou.

With a Nobel Prize and a Fields Medal under his belt, not to mention two academician positions, he could easily initiate a ten-figure project just by writing a letter. Thousands of noob researchers would kill to just publish one thesis.

Not to mention, he was only in his twenties…

He was the apex scholar of all scholars.

However, he wasn't just jealous.

In addition to his jealousy, Academician Li Qingquan also admired Lu Zhou. Professor Lu's achievements in China would take most people multiple lifetimes to accomplish.

Therefore, it made sense Lu Zhou was being taken so seriously by the Chinese government.

Lu Zhou was miles ahead of ordinary scholars.

By the time the State Administration for National Defense conference on the lunar mass driver project ended, Lu Zhou had already left Beijing and was on his way back to Jinling.

He finished all of his work for the Lunar Orbit Committee for now. He finally had some time to set the Lunar Orbit Committee aside and focus on Jin Ling University.

Not to mention he still had to mark his students' theses. Hence, he had to come to the mathematics department office every day.

"Yesterday I received a reply from the International Materials Reviews editorial department. Congratulations, your thesis has been published."

Han Mengqi stood in front of Lu Zhou's desk, and she was pleased to hear the good news. She sighed in relief and had a comforting smile on her face.

She had been preparing for the past six months for this graduation thesis. The knot in her heart was finally untied, and she could take a break for now, at least until next summer.

Lu Zhou looked at Han Mengqi and smiled.

"Don't relax just yet, have you thought about what to do after graduation?"

Han Mengqi scratched her head and shook her head. She hesitated for a bit and said, "I… haven't thought about it."

"Start thinking about it…" Lu Zhou looked at her with a serious expression and said, "If you want to do a PhD, you should start preparing by the beginning of next year. If you want to graduate, you should start looking for a job soon. If you're applying for jobs, I can write a recommendation letter for you."

Han Mengqi stared at the ground and said in an awkward manner, "Professor, can I ask you a question?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Go ahead, answering questions is my job."

"What does… doing a PhD feel like?"

"What does it feel like? That's quite a generic question." Lu Zhou contemplated it for a second before saying, "How should I describe it… Actually, it's quite similar to what you're doing right now. The only difference is your mentality."

"Mentality?" Han Mengqi tilted her head, and she was intrigued. "Can you be more specific?"

Lu Zhou: "Simply speaking, PhD and master's students do roughly the same thing. The difference is that master's students are mainly focused on learning scientific research tools, such as graphical models or Markov chain simulations. They use these tools to solve the small problems they encounter in their scientific research. During this stage, the tools used to solve these problems are recommended to the students by the supervisor. The students are responsible for finding the solution."

"But for PhD students…" Lu Zhou paused for a second and recalled his time as a PhD student. He then said, "Phd students are mainly responsible for solving problems with new tools. The problems can be created by the students or the supervisors. At this stage, the students would have the ability to find new, novel problems. They might also be able to create new tools. That means, when you're a PhD student, you're doing scientific research on your own… Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"Ah…"

Han Mengqi, who wasn't paying attention, suddenly looked at Lu Zhou.

She noticed Lu Zhou was staring back at her, and she suddenly blushed and scratched her head as she said, "Sorry… I kind of dozed off."

Lu Zhou said, "It's fine, I can tell you're thinking about a million things right now. Whenever I get confused because of a problem, I tend to lose my attention span as well. No need to apologize."

Han Mengqi asked, "You get confused by problems as well?"

Lu Zhou played with the pen in his hand. He went silent for a while, as if he didn't know how to answer this question.

However, after contemplating for a bit, he answered vaguely, "Of course, everyone encounters difficult problems at times. Even I can't make the right decision all of the time. Even today, there's a problem that I can't find a good solution to."

Han Mengqi was suddenly curious about what problem Lu Zhou was talking about.

Han Mengqi took a deep breath and encouraged herself to ask.

"Can I ask what problem it is?"

"It's a personal problem…" Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Anyway, you are talented at scientific research. If you continue on the academic path, I'd recommend you to choose the computational materials science field. Especially fields such as the Berry phase and topological effects in phonons, the development of 3D topological materials, and hydrogen storage. These are all popular fields, and you will be able to produce good research."

The goal of computational materials science was mainly to build predictable or descriptive models to help study the mechanism of materials and reduce the time and cost of new material development.

Ten years ago, this was still a new discipline, but now, it had become mature. Especially after the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, many research institutes opened a computational materials science research department. Most of the time, a strong materials science research department would hire a talented PhD student, so it had relatively good job prospects.

As for easy to produce good research…

Honestly, that was just relative to Lu Zhou's other laboratories.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was a world-leading experimental institution in fields such as aerospace materials, carbon materials, and new energy. Many materials science academic journals had even "retained" the theses produced by this institute. Therefore, it was easy for the Institute for Advanced Study to produce good research in this field.

Han Mengqi went silent for a while, and Lu Zhou stared at her while playing with a pen. Lu Zhou suddenly asked, "What are you thinking?"

"I think…"

Han Mengqi bit her lip and contemplated it for a long time.

Finally, she looked up with determination and said, "I want to… study mathematics with you!"

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Chapter 822: One Question Exam

Study…

Mathematics?

Lu Zhou was confused.

He went silent for a while. He then coughed and said, "Computational materials science is also a type of mathematics…"

"I don't want to learn computational materials science." Han Mengqi shook her head stubbornly and said, "I only want to study mathematics."

She felt like her sentence wasn't clear, so she quickly added, "I mean, study pure mathematics."

"Pure mathematics…"

Lu Zhou heard her request and felt a headache.

He normally didn't want to tell others what to do with their lives…

But…

Lu Zhou put down the pen and laid his hands on the table with his fingers interlocked. He looked at Han Mengqi with a serious expression and asked, "Can you tell me why? You've studied computational materials science for three years, why are you suddenly switching to pure mathematics?"

Normally speaking, it was common to see people switch from pure mathematics to applied mathematics fields. However, it was very rare to see people do the reverse.

If it were someone else, Lu Zhou wouldn't care. But Han Mengqi was his most talented computational materials science student.

Even Jerick, who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wasn't as talented as her.

Obviously, Lu Zhou felt a little disappointed she was leaving the computational materials science field.

After all, he spent a lot of effort training her.

Han Mengqi avoided eye contact and hesitated for a bit.

"I don't like chemistry at all… After choosing chemistry, I already wanted to switch to mathematics. Jin Ling University did that undergraduate student training program, and I had good grades. I was then convinced by the teacher and signed up…"

She felt like this was a horrible reason, and she didn't even want to continue speaking.

Transfer?

Lu Zhou was astonished.

Oh Jesus, little girl, you're graduating with a master's degree, yet you're still thinking about transferring just because you wanted to transfer when you were 18?

"Transferring is fine, I also transferred to mathematics." Lu Zhou tried to convince her and said, "The key is if it's suitable or not…"

"Not suitable or not." Han Mengqi shook her head and looked at Lu Zhou seriously as she said, "It's whether I like it or not."

Lu Zhou looked at her serious face and paused for a second.

Speaking of which, I think this is the first time she has disagreed with me…

Lu Zhou thought back to one of his quotes and sighed. He then repeated that quote.

"You're right, interest is the best teacher."

Even if it weren't for the high tech system, he would still be studying mathematics out of pure interest. That feeling of being immersed in the mathematics world was why he chose mathematics in the first place.

If his best student wanted to study mathematics…

He shouldn't convince her otherwise.

Even if computational materials science was a better choice for her.

After hearing Lu Zhou's approval, Han Mengqi's face lit up. She happily spoke.

"Then I…"

Lu Zhou interrupted Han Mengqi and said, "I won't stop you, but it's not easy being my mathematics PhD student… especially when it comes to pure mathematics."

Han Mengqi bit her lip and spoke with determination.

"No problem… I will work hard."

"Some things can't be obtained just by hard work. Mathematics is a discipline that requires talent, especially pure mathematics. There are many people who research mathematics, but very few are able to produce results. Some people spent their entire lives learning what other people have created, and never create anything themselves."

Lu Zhou took out a piece of draft paper and picked up the pen on his table. He thought for ten seconds and wrote down a line of equations on the paper.

[For any real number s > 1, define ζ (s) = Σ1 / (m ^ s) …]

Han Mengqi looked at the formula and narrowed her eyes.

"This is…?"

It looks simple.

Lu Zhou said, "It's the Riemann zeta function."

After that, he wrote down another line.

[… Prove that ζ(2n) is a transcendental number.]

Han Mengqi heard of Riemann before and knew that the problem wasn't easy. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Are you really going to give me such a difficult assignment already?"

"Don't think it's difficult just because it's Riemann. He's been dead for more than a century." Lu Zhou smiled and handed Han Mengqi the piece of paper. He said, "Also, this isn't an assignment, this is an exam."

"Exam?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If you can solve this problem, you can study a pure mathematics PhD with me."

He paused for two seconds before adding another sentence, "Of course, if you want to study computational materials under me, my office doors are always open."

After all, Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with her paper on topological crystal insulators. If this little girl could stop romanticizing mathematics and return to computational materials, he would certainly welcome her.

Pure mathematics…

Wasn't an easy field to learn.

Han Mengqi stared at the draft paper, and as she looked at the problem that asked her to prove the transcendental numbers, her head began to spin.

Forget about solving it, she didn't even understand the question.

When she was studying computational materials science, the mathematical methods she used were mainly in the fields of functional analysis, geometry, and topology. She had never studied analytic number theory before…

However…

She wasn't going to give up.

Han Mengqi looked up at Lu Zhou and clenched her teeth.

"Don't expect me to give up… I will start researching now."

"Of course not, I'm looking forward to your answer." Lu Zhou smiled and said, "However, you only have two months. I expect an answer by the end of this year."

"I don't need two months, one month is enough."

She picked up the piece of draft paper and left the office.

Once the office door closed, the office returned to quietness again.

Lu Zhou looked at He Changwen, who was sitting at a desk nearby. He Changwen was his pure mathematics PhD student.

"Hey, Changwen, if I asked you to prove that ζ (2n) is a transcendental number, how many different proofs could you come up with?"

He Changwen, who was writing something, hesitated for a second.

"I can think of… one way… Oh wait, no, two ways."

He Changwen spoke confidently.

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, "Two ways is pretty good."

He Changwen hesitated for a moment and asked, "Isn't that question too difficult for a master's student?"

He couldn't help but listen to the conversation that happened just now.

For most people who didn't study mathematics in their undergraduate or master's years, this problem was indeed quite difficult.

Not only did Han Menqi lack pure mathematics knowledge, but this was also a test of her mathematics thinking abilities. Abstract mathematical thinking wasn't an easy thing for mathematics students to learn, let alone a layman who had never studied pure mathematics.

Lu Zhou smiled gently.

"PhD students should be able to find problems and find answers themselves.

"If she can come up with the solution herself, that would be great.

"If she can't, then it means she is not talented in this area. She should think carefully about what she wants to do in the future."

Chapter 823: Letter From IMU

In fact, Lu Zhou hoped Han Mengqi would give up on pure mathematics because of that question.

Even though this was an open-ended question, anyone in this field knew that this question wasn't easy to answer.

Because it was related to a classic Riemann zeta function problem.

Which was, the transcendental value of the Riemann zeta function at the odd positive integer points.

Just like He Changwen had said, this wasn't a problem that could be solved by laymen.

She had to be extremely talented, self-learn the relevant knowledge of number theory, collect the literature regarding the Riemann zeta function, and conduct some research on her own…

But then again, if she was indeed really talented in the field of pure mathematics, Lu Zhou would be happy to accept her as a student.

Lu Zhou had been thinking about a problem recently.

The "medal" he received from a higher level civilization some time ago revealed a very important piece of information to him.

Which was that human beings were not alone in this universe. Human beings had even been observed by higher-level civilizations, but they hadn't been contacted yet.

There were many possible reasons for this. It could be due to the long distances in space, or it could also be due to the cultural differences of the other civilizations. Or, the other civilizations could have already disappeared thousands of years ago…

Regardless of which scenario was true, so far, the system had information about a high-level civilization. It was likely the only way he could obtain information regarding this higher-level civilization.

It seemed like if he wanted to crack open the secrets of the system, he had to have level 10 in all of his disciplines.

If he wanted to upgrade his disciplines to level 10, he would first have to level up his mathematics to level 10 first. This was because his mathematics level set the upper limits for the levels of his other disciplines.

The only problem was that 3 million experience points wasn't that easy to obtain.

Only the mathematical crown of the world—the Riemann hypothesis—could provide this much experience points.

The "Control of Earth and Moon" mission was under control. After the Magpie Bridge increased the lunar transfer capacity to a new magnitude, both the Moon Palace and the lunar research facility would be completed. It was only a matter of time.

Because of this, all of Lu Zhou's extra time was used to study mathematics.

From his past experiences, he realized that the project he was currently working on had a high probability of being a system mission in the future. Even though he didn't know what this probability was, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

The day after he assigned the zeta function "exam" to Han Mengqi, Lu Zhou walked into his office at 8 o'clock in the morning. He placed his laptop on the table and asked Assistant Zhao to make him a cup of instant coffee. He then sat at his desk and began working.

Zhao Huan walked toward his desk with a cup of warm coffee. After she placed the coffee on his desk, she took out a document and spoke softly.

"Professor, after you left work yesterday, Principal Xu came here. He told me to give you this."

Class of Youth conference meeting notes?

After looking at the document title, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. He reached over and flipped through the pages.

"I'll find some time to read through it, thanks."

"Okay, professor!"

Assistant Zhao nodded and walked back to her desk.

Lu Zhou leaned on his desk and drank his coffee while reading through the conference notes.

Generally speaking, the Jin Ling University Class of Youth program was going pretty smoothly. They received approval from the relevant government departments, and they were about to select the first cohort of students.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and looked at He Changwen, who was sitting nearby reading theses. Lu Zhou spoke.

"Changwen, I have something for you to do."

He Changwen, who was bored out of his mind, suddenly looked up with excitement.

"No problem, professor, what research project is it?"

He had been a PhD student under Lu Zhou for nearly three years. Even though he made some progress, it wasn't much. He wasn't particularly talented, and Lu Zhou was too busy. Most of the thesis was done by him alone.

Now that Lu Zhou suddenly said he had something to do, he was very excited.

"Uh… not a research project."

Lu Zhou looked at how excited he was and knew what he was thinking.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't want to hurt his feelings, now was not the time to give him a research project.

After clearing his throat, Lu Zhou continued, "The day after tomorrow, attend the discussion class in Room 101 at Building A. They're all undergraduate students. Be careful when you select the topic, don't let them feel overwhelmed. I need you to prepare a discussion outline and bring it to me tomorrow."

The moment He Changwen heard that it was a discussion class for undergraduate students, he began to frown.

"Professor, can't you give me something more challenging?"

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and said, "Do it properly, this is an important exercise… If you do this well, you will have many challenging tasks waiting for you."

"Yes, sir…"

Lu Zhou was about to start working when a chat window popped up on his laptop.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have new mail ヾ (● ゚▽ ゚●)]

Xiao Ai: [Email link]

Lu Zhou put down his pen and clicked on the link Xiao Ai sent him.

He saw an unread email lying in his inbox.

When he saw the IMU icon on the email, he looked surprised.

International Mathematical Union?

Lu Zhou quickly opened the email and began reading it.

[Dear Professor Lu Zhou, I'm sorry to disturb you amid your busy schedule. According to the votes of all the representatives at the last International Congress of Mathematicians, the next International Congress of Mathematicians will be held at St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2022. On behalf of IMU, I would like to send you an invitation and hope that you will be able to give a 60-minute report at the St. Petersburg International Congress of Mathematicians…

[If you are interested, we will send you a formal written invitation. If you are busy with research and don't have time to participate, please let us know…

[Herald Holden, Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union.]

After Lu Zhou carefully read the email, he contemplated for a bit before typing a reply.

[Dear Professor Herald Holden, I am honored to receive your invitation.

[I am planning on attending the International Congress of Mathematicians at St. Petersburg, but I cannot guarantee that I will be there. If everything goes according to plan and I am able to attend, I will upload the content for my 60-minute report prior to the deadline.]

Lu Zhou clicked "Send".

After all of this was done, he leaned back in his office chair and looked outside the window.

Time really flies by…

It's nearly been four years since the last mathematicians congress.

Lu Zhou looked at the view outside his window and couldn't help but think back to four years ago.

Back then, he was still a professor at Princeton, studying the secrets of the Navier–Stokes equations. His life now was much more meaningful and fulfilling.

He started to get nostalgic.

He wondered how his Princeton friends were doing…

Chapter 824: Friends From Far Away

On the other side of the Earth.

It was night time at the Princeton campus, only a few library rooms were still lit.

Inside a library room, Vera placed a stack of theses on the table. She found a particular line of calculations and spoke.

"… Line 11 on page 27, there's a problem with the formula."

She hadn't changed much over the past three years. The only difference was that her short ponytail had now reached her arm.

If she were wearing a long skirt, one might even mistake her for a real princess. Unfortunately, she often wore teenage-looking clothes, which made people mistake her for a high school visiting student…

"Oh Jesus… My God, you're even more strict than my PhD supervisor…" Molina rubbed her eyebags and grabbed a pen from the table. She stretched her back and stood up.

She didn't like pulling all-nighters, and sitting there all night hurt her shoulders and back. Even though she was one of the younger lecturers, she was still getting quite old.

At least she was when compared to Vera…

Vera smiled awkwardly as she said, "What do you mean, Sophie Morel is way worse than me."

Sophie Morel was Molina's PhD supervisor. The two had worked on the Riemann hypothesis for a long time. After losing the 2018 Nobel Prize, Sophie gave up on the Riemann hypothesis and began researching other areas of study. Surprisingly, Sophie had been doing quite well.

Molina, on the other hand, was still stuck on this age-old question. Even though she went from a PhD student to a Princeton University lecturer, her desire to solve this question was still there.

As for how she ended up working for Vera, it was a long story.

All in all, right now, the two were in the same research project group and had the same goal— solve the Riemann hypothesis.

"No, Vera, you're too humble. That coward could never prove Kakutani's fixed-point theorem so beautifully. She could never study a problem so meticulously…" said Molina. Molina scratched her head and felt irritated. She said, "Damn it, I should have thought of the Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm a long time ago."

"Bingo, the Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm," Vera said softly. She wrote down two lines of calculations on a piece of paper and said, "After we correct the algorithm, we can prove that 40% of the non-trivial zero points is on the critical line… Congratulations, Molina, you discovered a method other than Levinson's algorithm that proved Corney's critical line theorem."

Vera was trying to make Molina feel better by congratulating her.

However, Vera wasn't sure if Molina felt better at all.

It took them a month to come up with this idea, and another two months to test this idea. However, in the end, their result was already proved by someone in the 1990s.

The critical line that divided the non-trivial zero points of the z function was still at 40%. If anyone could increase this percentage, they were likely to win the next Fields Medal.

However, even after so many years, no one was able to defeat this dragon.

"This is meaningless…" Molina sighed and said, "Maybe Mathematics Chronicle will accept our thesis."

Vera gave her a look of encouragement and spoke.

"I think they will consider it. After all, we found another use for the Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm."

Unlike other fields, mathematical research wasn't completely a result-oriented field. Even if someone didn't produce a beautiful result, as long as the proof process was interesting, it might be published. Not to mention that even though Mathematics Chronicle wasn't managed by Princeton anymore, it still had a more "relaxed" attitude regarding Princeton submissions.

However…

It was unlikely for them to publish in large journals such as Annual Mathematics.

"Maybe…" Molina rubbed her messy hair and said, "I think we should change our mindset. A while ago, I found Sir Atiyah's notes, and I think his research is interesting."

Vera's mouth was wide open.

"Molina…"

Molina said," What?"

Vera said in a serious manner, "You should really take a break."

This might be disrespectful toward Sir Atiyah, but long before Atiyah passed away, people had been trying to use his notes, all to no avail.

"Don't worry about me, I'm doing great." Molina rubbed her forehead and said, "Actually, you're right, I think I should take a break."

Anyone who studied Sir Atiyah's notes must be going a little haywire.

Vera sat next to her, and a moment of silence passed before she asked, "Why… are you so determined on solving the Riemann hypothesis?"

Molina replied sarcastically, "Just like how you're determined on getting that guy?"

Vera blushed, and she hesitated for a bit and looked at the thesis on the table.

"I… I'm not as determined as you. It's just that, he was the one who helped me when I needed help the most."

Molina: "But that was many years ago, right?"

Vera nodded in silence.

She was well aware that it was many years ago.

She didn't know if Lu Zhou still remembered what she looked like.

But she remembered exactly what he looked like…

"I feel the same." Molina smiled and grabbed the empty mug on the table as she said, "Mathematics saved me."

Vera looked at her with a puzzled look.

"But why Riemann hypothesis?"

"That's a story for another day."

Molina stood up from her chair, but because of her extreme fatigue, she struggled to maintain her balance. Fortunately, Vera stood up and supported her.

"Thanks." Molina grabbed the chair and smirked as she said, "If he doesn't want you, I'll marry you, sis."

Vera's face turned bright red, and she said, "Sorry, I don't… swing that way."

Molina pouted and smiled.

"Just kidding."

Moline picked up the thesis on the table and quickly walked away.

Chapter 825: Small World

Generally speaking, someone doing theoretical research was doing one of two things.

They were either reading the relevant literature or working on their thesis.

Even at Lu Zhou's level, he was still tied by this rule. Every day, aside from his miscellaneous work, he would either read theses from the top 3 journals or quietly sit at his desk and think about his own problems.

After the "Control of Earth and Moon" mission chain finished, he planned on returning to mathematics research and reach level 10 in mathematics. Lu Zhou used a keyword software to search for relevant mathematics literature.

Lu Zhou would find and carefully read any theses regarding the Riemann hypothesis or the Riemann function, as long as they were in the top 5 journals.

Even though he knew it was unrealistic for someone in this field to create outstanding research results, he still wanted to get a little inspiration from other people's work.

As usual, Lu Zhou came into the office at 8 o'clock in the morning. After he finished reading He Changwen's discussion class notes, he opened his laptop and checked if there were any relevant theses he should read.

Suddenly, a chat pop-up window appeared on the bottom right corner of his computer screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have a review invitation.~ (•̀∀•́)]

Thesis review invitation?

Lu Zhou put down his coffee mug and clicked Xiao Ai's email link.

The invitation was from the Mathematics Chronicle.

Lu Zhou still remembered that his first thesis regarding Zhou's conjecture was published in the Mathematics Chronicle. Even though he didn't publish any other thesis on Mathematics Chronicle since then, he would still occasionally receive review invitations from that journal.

Normally speaking, any thesis that was published in this journal had some amount of value.

Lu Zhou was intrigued. He opened the thesis in his email and looked at the thesis title. He raised his eyebrows.

"… Using Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm to prove Corney's critical line theorem."

Lu Zhou sat up straight and quickly read the thesis abstract. He then began reading the thesis body.

This wasn't a long thesis; it was only 15 pages in total.

The author proved Corney's critical line theorem using a new method. Even though they weren't able to push the 40% number higher, the proof method was still fascinating.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, everyone used Levinson's algorithm to research this problem.

After carefully reading the entire thesis, Lu Zhou wrote down his own review and approved the thesis.

Most professors took 3-5 days to review a thesis, Lu Zhou, on the other hand, could instantly spot any problems with the thesis.

Lu Zhou glanced at his screen and paused for a second. He then grabbed his mouse and highlighted some of the formulas.

He didn't know why, but he felt like the formula structures were familiar.

Mathematics Chronicle had a double-blind review system; neither the reviewer nor the author knew who the other person was. However, there were ways to find out who the author was.

Many scholars had the habit of uploading preprints online before submitting it to a journal. It was quite easy to find out who the author was.

Lu Zhou was curious about the author. After all, the thesis had already been reviewed by him, it wasn't illegal for him to find out who the author was.

I want to find out!

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit and made up his mind. He logged onto arXiv and began searching.

As expected, the author had the habit of uploading their theses online before submission. He easily found the author's information.

When he saw the author's name, he was stunned.

Molina!

And…

Vera Pulyuy.

"This is a small world…"

After a while, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He closed his browser page and went back to the Mathematics Chronicle email.

No wonder he felt the thesis structure was so familiar. He knew both the authors, and one of them was even his student before.

What surprised him was that Molina hadn't given up on the Riemann hypothesis, and she even brought Vera into this mess.

Lu Zhou was hesitant about whether he should send Vera an email and ask how her research was going. Suddenly, the office door opened and someone walked in.

"Hey, Lu Zhou, look who's here!"

Lu Zhou looked up at the door and said to Luo Wenxuan, "You came here from Beijing?"

"I came from Switzerland. I went to CERN for a two-month business trip. I just came back today," Luo Wenxuan said. He pulled out a chair and sat across from Lu Zhou.

When he saw Lu Zhou's piece of draft paper on the table, he was intrigued. He picked up the draft paper and asked curiously, "The Riemann hypothesis? When did you start attacking this question?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Just doing some research for fun."

"Wow, what a fun activity…" Luo Wenxuan pulled out a file and said, "Anyway, I did what you asked!"

Lu Zhou picked up the document and glanced at it. He looked surprised.

"Already?"

This was the project plan for the lunar hadron collider!

The detailed blueprints were not in this document. It only contained a rough engineering plan. However, judging from Luo Wenxuan's expression, the detailed blueprints should have been completed.

Hearing how surprised Lu Zhou was, Luo Wenxuan smiled proudly.

"It wasn't too difficult to design. There were two main difficulties regarding the collider. One was the tens of kilometers long vacuum pipelines, and the other was the liquid helium cooling system. It's not too difficult to build these things on the Moon. The structure is a lot simpler than LHCb. The main difficulty is from the engineering side, how do you plan on building the tens or even hundreds of kilometers long tunnel on the Moon?"

"I have that sorted out, so you don't have to worry about it." Lu Zhou smiled and put the document aside. He then said, "Tell me, how was your two-month visit to CERN?"

Chapter 826: CERN

Lu Zhou asked Assistant Zhao to make him another cup of coffee. He spent the next hour quietly listening to Luo Wenxuan’s experience at CERN over the past two months.

“The design of the lunar hadron collider is mainly done by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics and the Institute of Space Engineering. However, the Chinese research institutes don’t have any experience on hadron colliders, so we contacted CERN…”

Theoretical research fields had very little confidentiality. Whenever CERN had too much data on their hands, they would often hand the data to other research institutes around the world. This was how the Internet was born. Even though there was some competitiveness when it came to groundbreaking research results, research institutes often came to an agreement.

After the Europeans heard that China planned on building a lunar hadron collider, they were even more enthusiastic than the Chinese themselves. They sent their best LHCb and ALICE detector engineers to Beijing. Then they gave the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics ten research visitor spots.

Of course, this wasn’t all free.

The reason why CERN was so eager to help was that they hoped to cooperate with China in particle physics research. After the lunar hadron collider was built, more than half of the world’s high energy physics experiments would be conducted in space. Hypotheses that weren’t verifiable before could now be tested in space.

Out of all of the scholars from the Institute of High Energy Physics, Luo Wenxuan worked at CERN for the longest. Naturally, he was selected as the leader of the Chinese research visitor group.

After spending two months at CERN, he had a lot to say.

“Edward Witten hasn’t been there for a long time. I’ve asked the people in charge at CERN. Apparently, he left his CERN office and mainly works at Princeton now.

“It’s not just Witten, a lot of other knowledgeable old professors are gone too. I walked around the lecture buildings and didn’t recognize any of the professors.”

Luo Wenxuan looked at the vapor rising from the coffee cup, and he sighed with a hint of sadness.

He wanted to see his old friends at CERN, but most of them were gone. They were either too old to keep working, went into another industry, or went to another research institute.

“That’s how CERN is like, people in the theoretical physics field will work there at least once in their life, but no one knows where they could end up,” Lu Zhou said. He grabbed his coffee cup and said, “It’s just like theoretical physics itself, new things come in and old things leave.”

“Let’s not talk about this sad topic.” Luo Wenxuan smiled and shook his head. He said, “Speaking of which, I found something interesting over the past two months.”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Do you remember? The big names at CERN like to learn French as a hobby.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“I recall something like that.”

CERN was a place of the brightest minds in the world. Whenever someone placed a group of smart people together, there would always be competition.

They obviously couldn’t compete in mathematics or physics. After all, they were all at the top of their fields. Also, it wasn’t like they could compare their research results against one another; it would be like comparing apples with oranges.

However, if someone could learn a language in a month or even a week or two, that would undoubtedly prove someone’s intelligence above others.

This might sound unbelievable, but the big names in physics who worked at CERN could often go from being totally clueless about French to being able to converse in French in just a couple weeks.

Not to mention that half of CERN’s facilities were located in France. Therefore learning French and holding lectures in French was one of their favorite “hobbies”.

When Lu Zhou first visited CERN, he didn’t participate in this unique hobby. He heard about it from the other professors who worked there.

For example, Frank Wilczek once bragged to Lu Zhou that he was able to learn French in two weeks…

“It seems like the situation has changed.” Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Learning French is out of style now. It seems like, the new way of bragging about one’s intelligence is to learn Chinese.”

“Learn Chinese?”

“That’s right.” Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Apparently, the official language of the Moon Palace is Chinese and that the Moon Palace research results posted online are also in Chinese. As you know, translating theoretical physics in Google is an absolute disaster. This forced many scholars to start learning Chinese.”

“… How unfortunate.”

Lu Zhou smiled and awkwardly rubbed his nose.

It seemed like this was his fault.

Even though there was no strict rule that the Moon Palace-produced theses had to be in Chinese, the observational data published and the experimental results published on the Moon Palace website were all in Chinese.

This made life much more difficult for international scholars…

However, China was the one that built the Moon Palace, so they had the right to publish in their native language.

In some sense, this was a power move.

English was a necessary skill for scientific researchers to master. However, improving the influence of one’s native tongue in the academic world was also a scholar’s responsibility.

If everything went well, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Moon Palace would set up an independent journal to only publish research results from the Moon Palace.

By then, not only would the research data be in Chinese, even the journals would be in Chinese as well.

“Speaking of which, even though I didn’t see my own friends at CERN, I saw your friend.”

Lu Zhou: “Mine?”

“Professor Frank Wilczek.” Luo Wenxuan shrugged and smiled. He said, “He told me to ask you; how’s your research on the 750 GeV signal going? CERN did another experiment and didn’t even find a 1 sigma signal.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Tell him next time, that after the lunar hadron collider is complete, I’ll give him an answer…”

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Oh, really now? I’m looking forward to it then.”

Chapter 827: Handsome People Problems

[Even though the thesis did not present any groundbreaking results, the methods used have a certain degree of novelty. When it comes to research on Riemann’s hypothesis, the Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm method is worth further exploration.

[Thesis approved.]

“I don’t think it has any novelty at all…” Molina said. She placed the reviewer’s comments on the table and sighed. She said, “I’m close to giving up on proving the non-trivial zero critical line points… Maybe Professor Atiyah was right. We should choose an easier method… Vera? Are you listening to me?”

Vera was slightly blushing. She looked at Molina and came out of her daydream. Her blue eyes looked to the side as she spoke.

“Oh… I’m listening, thesis approved? Congratulations…”

“Stop lying, you’re thinking about him, aren’t you?!”

Molina reached out her hand and lifted Vera’s chin with a smile. Vera slapped her hand away.

“Don’t…”

Vera stared at Molina with an unhappy look.

“Haha, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help it.” Molina looked at Vera and sighed. She then said, “Just give up now.”

“…?”

Vera didn’t understand.

Molina looked at her and said, “Don’t you get it? He and I are the same type of people.”

The room suddenly went quiet.

Molina suddenly realized Vera could have misinterpreted what she had said. She waved her hand and tried to explain.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, that’s not what I meant…”

Vera took half a step back as Molina tried to explain, “I’m just saying that he’s not emotionally available, haven’t you noticed? Has he ever been interested in any woman before?”

Vera bit her lip and didn’t say anything.

“Exactly!” Molina scratched her head and said, “I don’t know if I should say this, but even if you guys become a thing, I don’t think you’ll be happy.”

Vera asked, “Why?”

“Don’t know,” Molina shrugged and said, “I feel like, if I married that man, our marriage would be boring.”

…

Ever since Luo Wenxuan returned to China, Lu Zhou’s office had become much more lively.

Even though this guy had his own office in the physics department, he would often come to hang out at Lu Zhou’s office.

Anyone with two brain cells knew that Luo Wenxuan didn’t come here because of Lu Zhou.

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou was actually quite astonished. He thought Luo Wenxuan would be over Assistant Kong in a month or two. Now that it had been almost a year, the man was still chasing after her.

What was more interesting was that, even though he was trying his best, the relationship between the two was more distant than ever.

Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in other people’s personal matters, so he left this aside.

After all, his office had plenty of coffee, and discussing physics problems with this guy was one of Lu Zhou’s ways to kill time.

The days quickly passed by. It was soon November. Jinling City began to cool down. A gray coat and blue jeans were part of Lu Zhou’s daily outfit.

According to his past experiences, this way of dressing made him stand out the least on campus. He could at least eat his lunch in peace, without people staring at him.

However, he had underestimated some people’s determination.

During lunchtime, Lu Zhou went to the cafeteria as usual. He ordered a bowl of barbecued meat on rice and sat down at a quiet corner.

The moment he lifted his chopsticks, someone sat down across from him.

“I finally found you… Are you hiding from me?”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan, and he was a bit muddled. Lu Zhou then shook his head.

“Nope.”

Luo Wenxuan: “Help a brother out.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of his seaweed soup and said, “No, thanks.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “What?! Aren’t you going to ask me what it’s about?”

Lu Zhou grabbed a piece of barbecued meat and stuffed it into his mouth. He spoke while chewing.

“I’m guessing it’s not something important. If it is, you would have told me in my office. Try to solve it yourself, and don’t drag me into this.”

Luo Wenxuan placed his hands together like he was praying.

“Please, just this once, I don’t need much, I just need a chance.”

Lu Zhou: “Like what?”

Luo Wenxuan smiled mischievously and said, “Like… Maybe arrange a group date or something?”

Lu Zhou: “… No.”

Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath and asked in a sincere way.

“Come on man, don’t do this, I’m being serious. I’m not getting younger! I’ll be single forever if I don’t marry now.”

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, “Why did you wait until now then?”

Luo Wenxuan sighed.

“I was partying when I was younger.”

“Get lost.”

“Ok,” Luo Wenxuan said, “I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I’m being serious. I feel like I’m in love, and if I miss my chance, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life…”

Lu Zhou sighed and put his chopsticks on the table.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t want to be involved in other people’s emotional problems, he wanted this guy to start focusing on his work again. Therefore, Lu Zhou gave him a life lesson…

“You don’t get girls by chasing them.”

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second. He was muddled.

“… Then how am I supposed to get them?”

Lu Zhou said, “By attraction.”

“…”

The table went silent.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a little.

He felt like he was correct. The feeling of attraction couldn’t be forced.

Even animals would know that.

But honestly, for a handsome guy like him, this wasn’t a problem.

Luo Wenxuan raised his hand and asked, “Can I ask a question?”

Lu Zhou: “… It sounds like you shouldn’t ask me that question.”

Luo Wenxuan: “Let me put it this way… Have you ever watched a movie with a girl?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Suddenly, Lu Zhou didn’t want to talk to this guy anymore.

Why don’t I make him work in Beijing for a few years…

Would that be too ruthless?

Luo Wenxuan was about to comfort Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“I had, and it was a horror movie.”

Chapter 828: Want to Switch Cars?

Luo Wenxuan: “…!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Luo Wenxuan thought, F*ck, did he really watch a movie with a girl?

Lu Zhou thought, F*ck, when did I watch it again?

Honest to God, Lu Zhou couldn’t remember when he watched the movie.

“Long time no see,” Chen Yushan said. She sat across from Lu Zhou and asked, “Do you miss me?”

Lu Zhou curiously asked, “How did you find me?”

Chen Yushan smirked and replied proudly, “When you were still an undergrad, you would always sit at this spot in the cafeteria. Your assistant told me you went to the cafeteria, so I knew you were here.”

Lu Zhou: “… I can’t believe you remember that.”

Luo Wenxuan looked at the pretty girl, then looked at Lu Zhou. A light bulb went off in Luo Wenxuan’s mind, and he said, “… Should I, head off?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah sure, you can head off.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

I thought he was going to let me stay.

Fortunately, Luo Wenxuan was almost finished with his meal. He ate the last couple of bites and stood up.

Luo Wenxuan gave Lu Zhou a look of goodbye before leaving.

Chen Yushan sat in his spot, which was directly across from Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou felt like she had something to say, so he asked, “Do you need anything?”

Chen Yushan blinked her eyes and said, “I’m not allowed to talk to my friend without needing something?”

Lu Zhou: “That’s not what I meant…”

Lu Zhou was just surprised.

Seeing how confused Lu Zhou was, Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Okay okay, it’s nothing big… I always see you riding in that black sedan. Are you interested in changing vehicles?”

“I don’t know a lot about cars.” Lu Zhou looked helpless and said, “But I have been wanting to switch it up a little… Do you have a suggestion?”

Chen Yushan smirked and said, “I’ve already arranged it for you.”

Lu Zhou said, “Did you… already buy it?”

Chen Yushan said, “Not buy, someone else gave it to you. Remember last year when we invested in Zhongshan New Materials and began cooperating with BYD on the lithium-sulfur battery project?”

What, that happened?

Lu Zhou thought about it and shook his head honestly. “I don’t remember.”

Chen Yushan said, “I nearly forgot, you’re a useless chairman.”

Lu Zhou asked, “What does this have to do with BYD?”

“Around this time last year, there was an Alternative Energy Vehicle summit, right? The battery standardization plans are finally in place. In order to dominate the alternative energy vehicles, BYD launched a mid-range electric vehicle as well as a high-end one, and these vehicles were named ‘Light of God’ and ‘Electric Purple’. Apparently, their mileage range is up to 2,000 kilometers.”

When Lu Zhou heard this number, he had a surprised look on his face.

“It’s able to reach 2,000 kilometers?”

“All thanks to your lithium-sulfur batteries.”

Chen Yushan said, “As a thank you to us, or to you, BYD designed a special Electric Purple vehicle and gave it to our company. There is only one model in the world. Apparently, the control performance is first-class and the design is pretty cool. Are you interested? If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”

Lu Zhou instantly said, “I want it! Why wouldn’t I want it? I want to change cars anyway.”

Chen Yushan knew Lu Zhou would say this, so she said, “Okay, I’ll give you the car when it arrives. Remember to give me a ride sometimes.”

Lu Zhou: “There’s really only one in the world?”

Chen Yushan nodded and said, “Yep, just one.”

Lu Zhou joked, “Hope that they won’t make any more of it…”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Of course they wouldn’t, and if they do, I’ll complain to them for you.”

There was no way BYD would do anything to offend Lu Zhou. With the research and development capabilities of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Star Sky Technology’s place in the battery world was like Qualcomm’s place in the chip world. Star Sky Technology was the father of alternative energy vehicles and mobile batteries.

Therefore, it was important for BYD to have a good relationship with Lu Zhou…

“Forget about the car.” Chen Yushan placed her arms on the table and said, “There’s something else I came to talk to you about.”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

Chen Yushan: “The day after tomorrow, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development will come to Jinling. The city council called us and said that their first stop is going to be Star Sky Technology. Are you free the day after tomorrow?”

Lu Zhou: “Do I have to go?”

Chen Yushan: “It’d be best if you could. After all, you are the chairman.”

Lu Zhou: “I’ll go if I have time… Oh yeah, when will the car arrive?”

“Within a week, what, you’re interested in cars now?” Chen Yushan said.

Lu Zhou: “… A little bit.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know a lot about cars. He was just curious about what this one-of-a-kind electric sports car was like.

Chen Yushan smirked and looked at Lu Zhou flirtatiously as she said, “I never knew that you were into cars, I thought you were only interested in research.”

Lu Zhou: “Of course I am, I have a lot of hobbies.”

Chen Yushan curiously asked, “Like what?”

“Like…”

Lu Zhou’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of a hobby. However, he realized all of his hobbies were related to academia or research.

He looked at his bowl of half-eaten rice and said, “Barbecued meat?”

This was probably his only hobby outside of work. Chen Yushan began to laugh at him.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said awkwardly, “Hey, what are you laughing about?”

With one hand covering her stomach, Chen Yushan said, “Nothing, I just think… You’re pretty unique sometimes.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

What the hell does she mean?

What’s so unique?

Chapter 829: AFK Mission

Lu Zhou finished eating his lunch while talking with Chen Yushan. His lunch break was almost over.

Chen Yushan walked Lu Zhou back to the mathematics department building and told him not to forget about the Russian visiting group. After that, she reluctantly waved goodbye and left.

Lu Zhou returned to his office and sorted out his lesson plans from yesterday. After he confirmed with Assistant Zhao that he had an afternoon class, he went to Building A.

He had a number theory lecture this afternoon. His class was considered a mathematics elective course.

Even though most of the time his PhD student He Changwen lectured for him, seeing how the semester was almost over, Lu Zhou decided he should at least give one lecture.

He didn’t know why, but he felt like the students in the classroom were staring at him instead of the blackboard…

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated.

He didn’t realize that his lecturing abilities had fallen to the point where the students were more interested in him than his content.

He thought back to when he was lecturing at Princeton University. Students from other classes would bring their own chairs just to sit in the lecture hall.

It seemed like he had to practice giving more lectures…

Soon, all four of the blackboards were filled with writing. The classroom bell rang.

Lu Zhou closed the textbook and looked at the students. He was about to give them a summary when he suddenly saw a blue window appear in his sight.

[

Branch mission complete:

4: Alchemist: Produce 100 tons of titanium alloy.

]

Complete?

Already?

Lu Zhou was surprised internally, but he didn’t show it on his face.

He cleared his throat and spoke to the students.

“The class is over for now. Take a five minutes break, and we will continue later.”

Lu Zhou left the classroom and went into the nearby toilet. He went inside a stall and summoned the system.

He walked in front of the information screen and pressed a button. His mission panel was displayed in front of him.

[

“Control of Earth and Moon” second phase:

2: Spark of the Future: Large hadron collider on the moon.

Three Feet Deep: Collect 50 tons of rare lunar soil.

Alchemist: Produce 100 tons of titanium alloy (complete)

5 Look Back on the Earth: Establish a semi-permanent Earth meteorological observation station in the Moon’s orbit.

Look into the distance: Set up a large space telescope on the Moon to produce more detailed observations of the planets in the solar system, as well as observations on extraterrestrial galaxies.

]

Lu Zhou looked at the completed mission and couldn’t help but think.

All he did was write a letter asking for funding. Then, after a few months, the mission was complete.

This was basically AFK farming.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t receive any of his branch mission rewards before the second phase of the main mission was complete.

He also didn’t know what kind of rewards the branch missions gave…

“… Five more branch missions left?”

Lu Zhou looked at the remaining missions and rubbed his chin.

The first was easy to solve. He just had to organize a tourist group of a hundred people. Now that the Magpie Bridge was complete, this mission was relatively easy to accomplish.

As for the third mission, he was able to mine titanium ores on the Moon, so lunar soil was no problem. The mission only required him to collect the soil, and it might even be profitable to ship the soil back to Earth.

He didn’t really care about the rest of the mission.

It was unrealistic for him to complete all of the branch missions; completing half of them was already pretty good.

After Lu Zhou exited the system space, he was about to leave his toilet stall. However, he heard someone using the faucet.

He planned on leaving the stall anyway, but when he happened to hear the two students mention his name, he sat back down and began listening.

As a professor, he was quite interested in what the students had to say about him.

“Did you understand God Lu’s lecture?”

“I understood half of it, how about you?”

The guy with glasses sighed and said, “A third. Sigh, I want to understand it, but I’m not good enough.”

The guy using the faucet said, “Yeah, I guess his lectures are always difficult.”

The guy in glasses: “Probably! But even God Lu doesn’t have a girlfriend, that makes me feel a little better, at least I have one.”

“Haha, how do you know he’s single, what if he’s just lowkey?”

The guy in glasses waved his hand.

“I can tell.”

Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them.

“Oh, really now? How can you tell?”

The two guys looked back, and when they saw Lu Zhou, it was like they saw a ghost.

“F*ck, God Lu!”

“Professor Lu!”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything. He just stared at the two guys.

“Professor… We were just…” The guy in glasses scratched his head and said cleverly, “We were just talking about how handsome you are!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

Do you think I’m deaf?

Also, no sh*t I’m handsome.

Lu Zhou didn’t want to waste any more time on these two dumba*ses, so he said, “Go back to class.”

“Yes, sir!”

The two students disappeared.

Lu Zhou looked at the toilet door close and sighed.

He never realized how good it felt to be a professor.

However…

Am I making a bad example? Will these undergraduate students think mathematicians are all loners?

Speaking of which, I’m not getting any younger.

My parents are going to nag me about this when I see them.

“… Forget about it, I’ll wait for a couple more years.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

He wasn’t avoiding this problem.

It was just that he hadn’t figured out how to maintain a family yet.

Research took up most of his time, and he didn’t have the energy to be a boyfriend, much less a father…

Lu Zhou returned to the classroom and opened his lesson plan. He turned to the last page.

“Turn your textbooks to page 47.”

Paper shuffling sounds filled the classroom. Some students looked surprised.

“… The first half of the class covered basic number theory. In the second half, I’ll talk about something interesting. Something I am currently researching.”

He turned to the blackboard and wrote down two words.

[Riemann’s hypothesis]

The moment he wrote down the words, the classroom went into an uproar.

Lu Zhou slammed his hand down on the table and tried to get the students’ attention. He spoke in a clear and loud voice.

“I speak quite quickly.”

“Listen carefully.”

Chapter 830: On-Site Question

Teaching undergraduate students was like a knowledge review session for Lu Zhou.

Normally, he wouldn’t touch on these rudimentary materials. This was the only time he set aside his research and focused on the more simple concepts.

“… We all know that the Riemann hypothesis is one of the most important conjectures in the analytic number theory. It is a conjecture about the zero points of the zeta function. But, do any of you know how the Riemann hypothesis came to be?

“In fact, prior to the Riemann hypothesis, there was another proposition that troubled mathematicians for centuries. That is, the distribution of prime numbers.”

Lu Zhou wrote down a few equations on the board. He then looked back at the students in the classroom and continued, “Using the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, even high school students know that every positive integer can be expressed as the product of prime factors. This representation is unique, thus prime numbers are the basic elements that make up a positive integer.

“However, the distribution of prime numbers is not as easy to understand. One of the most basic tasks of the analytic number theory world is to study the distribution of prime numbers.”

The students had a look of concentration on their faces, Lu Zhou knew his lecture was going well.

The Riemann hypothesis was indeed a complex problem, understanding it was difficult, and solving it was near impossible…

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then continued, “In analytic number theory, mathematicians often study the function π(x), a function that outputs the number of primes lower than x. Researching the characteristics of π(x) is one of the central tasks of the analytic number theory.

“Both Gauss and Legendre have done a lot of numerical calculations on π(x). They guessed that when x tends to infinity, π(x)~x/ln(x). Their conjecture was later proved, which is what we now understand as the Prime Number Theorem.

“Euclid proved that there are infinitely many prime numbers. Euler introduced the Euler product. These great pioneers provided us the tools to analyze and study prime numbers. No one was able to find a suitable method for proving Gauss’ conjecture. That was until the 1950s, when a German mathematician published a paper titled ‘On the exact number of primes less than a given limit’. His research opened a new road for π(x).

“Most people know who this German guy is, that’s right, I’m talking about Riemann. He introduced the Riemann zeta function in this thesis.”

Lu Zhou turned around and wrote down an equation on the blackboard.

[ζ(s)=Σ1/n^s]

Lu Zhou looked at the dead silent classroom and spoke.

“This is it… It doesn’t look hard at all, right?”

Everyone: “…”

F*ck sake!

How is it not hard?

“Riemann made a further hypothesis for the function he proposed, which was that all of the zero points of ζ(s) are on the critical straight line. It turns out his vision was quite revolutionary. All of our brute force calculations show that the zeros points are on a critical straight line. Unfortunately, even though we know that his hypothesis is likely correct, we have no way to prove it.

“We can often use the Riemann hypothesis to prove other conjectures. However, if the Riemann hypothesis isn’t proven, we can’t say for certain that other conjectures are correct.

“Vice versa, if we do prove the Riemann hypothesis, then thousands of mathematical conjectures that assume the Riemann hypothesis will become theorems!

“If anyone can prove the Riemann hypothesis, they would undoubtedly become the greatest mathematician of this century… I am certain of that, even though this century has just begun.”

“Professor,” a student said with his hand raised in the air. After receiving a nod from Lu Zhou, he asked excitedly, “If someone solves the Riemann hypothesis, how will they compare to you?”

“It won’t be a good comparison. After all, my work goes beyond just the field of mathematics.” Lu Zhou smiled at the student and said, “But if anyone does prove the conjecture, their work in mathematics will undoubtedly surpass mine.”

After that, Lu Zhou explained some of the current research progress on the Riemann hypothesis. Because he changed his lecture style, the students were listening more intently.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with the performance of his students.

The time quickly passed by.

Lu Zhou glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost time to end his class. He chucked his chalk onto his desk and spoke.

“We’ll end it here… Class dismissed.”

Shuffling sounds of textbooks filled the classroom. Lu Zhou nodded toward the students, grabbed his lesson plan, and walked out of the classroom.

Lu Zhou was about to go back to his office. He wanted to write down his inspirations, which he got from the lecture. However, Dean Qin suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Excellent lecture!” Dean Qin said with a smile on his face. “It helped me a lot!”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“You’re too kind, I haven’t taught undergraduate students in a while.”

Dean Qin said, “We all have our own priorities, and your research is obviously more important than lecturing. Speaking of which, are you busy these days?”

Lu Zhou: “Not really, why?”

“I have something to ask you.” Dean Qin coughed and said, “Have you heard of the International Mathematical Olympiad?”

Lu Zhou: “I have, why?”

He had obviously heard of IMO. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the chance to attend.

The IMO gold medalists were the best of the best.

For example, Schultz, who Faltings said was one of the three people who could surpass Faltings himself, was an IMO gold medalist.

As for why Schultz signed up for two more IMO tournaments after winning a gold medal… It was because Schultz thought it was fun…

Dean Qin smiled and said, “Here’s the thing, last month there was a national high school mathematics competition, right? The top students in every state have been selected. The winter training camp will start in January next year. It’s already November, so it’s time to weed some people out.”

Lu Zhou said, “You’re not asking me to write exam questions, right?”

Dean Qin: “This wasn’t my decision, the China Mathematics Society wants you to come up with the final problem.”

Lu Zhou: “Is that appropriate?”

Dean Qin smiled and said, “Of course it’s appropriate. The final question last year was also chosen by an academician. Not only are you an academician, but you’re also a Fields medalist.”

Lu Zhou: “Fine, it’s only one question anyway.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Dean Qin suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh yeah, don’t make it too difficult. There’s no point if no one can solve it.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make it too difficult.” Lu Zhou pulled out a piece of draft paper from his lesson plan and began writing.

Dean Qin looked at him, perplexed.

“You’re not going to write the question right now, right?”

Lu Zhou: “Of course I am, why?”

Dean Qin said, “This is the national final competition, so you should think about it carefully.”

“I just did.” Lu Zhou wrote down the question and handed it to Dean Qin. “Give this to China Mathematics Society. It should be fine.”

Dean Qin stared at the piece of draft paper. Lu Zhou began to walk away as Dean Qin muttered to himself, “Riemann zeta function?”

Dean Qin rubbed his chin and thought to himself.

“Can high school students even solve this problem?”

However, he suddenly realized something, and his eyes lit up as he spoke.

“Wait a second… This question is interesting…”

Dean Qin carefully looked around him and stuffed the paper into his pocket. He then quickly walked back to his office.

Chapter 831: Clue for the Riemann Hypothesis

Inspiration always arrived at unexpected times.

Lecturing about the history of the Riemann hypothesis had pointed out some of the details that he ignored when conducting research.

Even though most of the time these details were useless, these irrelevant clues could occasionally play an important role.

After Lu Zhou returned to his office, he sat down at his desk and pulled out a piece of draft paper. He began writing down his thoughts.

“The Riemann hypothesis was proposed to study the π(x). Riemann’s pioneering work wasn’t on the proposal of the Riemann hypothesis, but it was on using Riemann zeta function to increase the domain of π(x) to complex numbers.”

Lu Zhou’s pen glided on the paper. He wrote down a line of the equation.

[π(x)=∫dt/lnt+O(x^(1/2+ε)]

“Riemann hypothesis’ equivalence problem,” Lu Zhou said as he placed the tip of the pen on the paper. He said to himself, “If the Riemann hypothesis is true, then we can drive this asymptotic formula from the Riemann hypothesis…

“The key to solving this problem is the function π(x) itself.”

He felt like he was missing something.

It was almost like he was a third of the way done with a jigsaw puzzle, with the rest of the pieces scattered nearby. He just needed to connect the rest of the pieces. He needed a clue.

With that clue, he could connect the rest of the pieces.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk for an hour or so. His stomach began to rumble.

He looked outside and saw the sunset outside his window. He finally realized how long he had been sitting there.

“You were too focused, I didn’t want to interrupt you,” Assistant Lin said. “Do you plan on going to the cafeteria?”

Lu Zhou looked at Assistant Lin, who was standing at the door, and he thought for a second before saying, “If you’re going to the cafeteria, bring me something.”

He planned on staying in the office for a bit longer as he didn’t want his thoughts to be interrupted.

Lin Yuxiang blinked and said, “Barbecued meat on rice?”

Lu Zhou looked at her.

“How did you know I wanted that?”

Lin Yuxiang winked and said, “I guessed it.”

Lu Zhou felt a little creeped out. Lin Yuxiang gave him the chills.

“I don’t want barbecued meat on rice tonight. Can you bring me some spicy chicken on rice… Thanks.”

Lin Yuxiang glanced at Lu Zhou with a hint of resentment. She then turned around and left.

He didn’t have to wait for long.

Lu Zhou was still sitting at his desk, writing formulas on a piece of draft paper, when Assistant Lin, who just came back from the cafeteria, placed a takeaway box of spicy chicken on rice on Lu Zhou’s table.

Lu Zhou opened the takeaway box and looked at the tender chicken mixed with red and green peppers. He opened the pack of disposable utensils, placed some chicken on the rice, and began eating.

Because of his busy schedule, Lu Zhou had a fondness toward fast food. In Princeton, he would only eat bacon sandwiches, and in China, he would only eat meat on rice at the cafeteria.

Even though his diet wasn’t healthy from a nutritional point of view, these inexpensive meals made him feel satisfied. It was just like instant coffee.

Not to mention, his metabolic capacity was strengthened by the system, so he didn’t have to care about his diet.

Lu Zhou quickly finished his meal. He opened his computer and contemplated it for a moment. His ten fingers quickly tapped on the keyboard as he transformed his thoughts into words.

Even though his ideas might be trivial, any progress on the ζ(s) function would contribute to the research of prime numbers. Therefore, even trivial ideas had a certain amount of value.

Lu Zhou didn’t care if his ideas would inspire other scholars, he was going to upload this onto arXiv regardless.

After reading some theses from other scholars, Lu Zhou turned off his computer and planned on going home. However, he suddenly received a video call.

Qin Yue was the person video calling him.

Lu Zhou pressed the “Accept” button and saw a familiar face appear in front of him.

“How’s it going? How’s lecturing at Princeton?”

It was morning over in Princeton.

The man sitting in front of the camera looked exactly the same as he did four years ago, just with a little more confidence.

Qin Yue looked at his ex-supervisor and said, “It’s been going great. Remember the Ivy Club club? I was accepted a year after you left.”

“They obviously aren’t going to reject a mathematician who proved the Collatz conjecture.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Is there something you want to talk about?”

Mathematicians generally didn’t like small talk. Qin Yue adjusted his glasses and asked, “I heard you’re researching the Riemann hypothesis?”

Lu Zhou: “… Yeah, why?”

Qin Yue smiled awkwardly and said, “Nothing, I just saw that you reviewed a thesis related to the Riemann hypothesis. I was just curious.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You found out about that?”

Jesus, is he stalking me?

It was very rare for someone to look at someone else’s academic review record.

Qin Yue looked at Lu Zhou and said, “I promise the majority of mathematicians are stalking you. I’m not the only one.”

Lu Zhou felt a little weird, but he didn’t know what to say.

He nodded and replied, “… I have been researching the Riemann hypothesis.”

When Qin Yue heard that his former supervisor was trying to solve this century-old problem, a look of interest appeared on his face.

“How’s the progress—I mean, do you need my help?”

Halfway through his sentence, he realized it was inappropriate to ask how the progress was going, so he changed his words.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t seem to care.

“I have some clues, especially after reading Molina’s thesis. That further confirmed my guess.”

Qin Yue: “What guess… Are you allowed to tell me?”

“Of course I am. If you can prove the Riemann hypothesis using my guess, I would be happy.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “My guess is that, the method of lowering the lower bound estimation of the zero points on the critical line might lead to some interesting conclusions, but it is unrealistic to solve the Riemann hypothesis using this method.”

Qin Yue had a serious look on his face.

Lowering the lower bound of the zero points on the critical line was one of the most popular methods for researching the Riemann hypothesis. The “closest” result in proving the Riemann hypothesis was proved using this method.

However, Lu Zhou said this method might not work, which surprised Qin Yue.

“What do you mean?”

Lu Zhou said in a serious tone, “We might have to research the π(x) function itself to find the last puzzle piece to solve this problem.”

Chapter 832: Professor Lu Is Making a Move?

Regressing the π(x) function…

Qin Yue thought to himself while staring at the ceiling of his Princeton office.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly shook his head with a brooding look.

“If that’s the case… Then the work Molina is doing is useless?”

It’s not just Molina…

If this spreads throughout the mathematics world, I think the entire community would be shocked.

Especially the people in the field of analytic number theory, research on the Riemann hypothesis will totally change…

After all, Professor Lu had already solved two Millennium Prize Problems. Professor Lu thinking something was unreliable was the same as a death sentence.

Qin Yue hesitated for a bit and decided to keep his mouth shut. After all, he wasn’t sure if Lu Zhou was being serious.

However, what Qin Yue didn’t know was that, shortly after he hung up the phone, Lu Zhou uploaded the complete thesis to Arxiv.

This was going to cause a sensation in the mathematics world…

…

“Ahh… I feel like all my hair is going to fall off.”

Han Mengqi sat at her desk and stared at the question on the piece of draft paper. She bit her pen and scratched her head. She had no idea how to solve this problem.

“For any real number s > 1, define ζ(s) = Σ1 / (m ^ s)… Prove that ζ(2n) is a transcendental number.”

Han Mengqi repeatedly read the equation with a pouty face.

After a while, she sighed and leaned back in her chair in defeat. She stared at the ceiling and began to daydream.

“What if there’s no answer?”

Han Mengqi sat up straight and searched the question on Baidu, and like before, she couldn’t find the question anywhere.

Looks like Lu Zhou came up with this question himself…

The girl sighed in defeat and sat with her feet on the chair. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared blankly at the draft paper.

Tools used in computational materials science couldn’t be applied to pure mathematics at all.

She knew it would be beneficial for her to look through the relevant literature and try to find similar studies that she could use as references. However, she was completely new to the analytic number theory field, so she didn’t even know where to begin.

She was totally lost…

“Does he really not want me…”

Han Mengqi buried her chin between her knees.

Quickly after, she slapped herself on the face and began motivating herself.

“Pfft…

“So you think I can’t prove it?”

Han Mengqi imagined how surprised Lu Zhou would be when he found out that she had solved the problem. Her eyes were filled with determination.

“I can do it!”

…

“Achoo!”

Lu Zhou was back in his Zhongshan International mansion. He just came out of the shower and pulled out some chocolate milk from his fridge. He sneezed two more times.

“Is someone talking about how handsome I am…”

Lu Zhou closed the fridge and walked into his study room. Xiao Ai, who was next to the coffee machine, flew into the air and chased him.

“Master, sneezing once means someone is thinking about you, sneezing twice means someone is insulting you, sneezing three times means you are sick. No one is calling you handsome…”

Lu Zhou: “Shut up.”

The drone speaker turned off. A line of characters appeared on the display.

[(•̀∀•́) …]

[Master, you are handsome~]

Lu Zhou ignored Xiao Ai and sat down in his study room. He placed his laptop on his desk. Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate, and two messages popped up on his screen.

[Come to the office tomorrow!

[Don’t forget!]

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan’s messages. He smiled and replied [Ok]. After that, he set his phone aside and logged onto arXiv.

His thousand-word thesis, which was uploaded less than five hours ago, already had thousands of downloads. It was even referenced by someone.

Is five hours even enough time to read through my thesis?

Lu Zhou logged on to his Mathoverflow account and looked at the international mathematics community discussing his thesis.

However, the discussions weren’t exactly academically focused…

“Unbelievable.”

[Levinson’s algorithm has produced the best Riemann hypothesis research results we have ever seen. But does anyone think this road is not feasible? Does that mean Conry’s critical line theorem is useless?]

[Professor Lu’s thesis did not state that. He thinks that this idea might produce valuable results, but it is very difficult to solve the Riemann hypothesis.]

[I agree with Professor Lu’s point of view. A while ago, Professor Molina from Princeton and her partner Vera proved the Conry zero-bound theorem using the Odlyzko–Schönhage algorithm. They failed to increase the 0.4 number. This might mean 0.4 is the limit.]

[Remember the twin prime conjecture? Using the sieve method, people were able to reduce the 70 million number to 246, but Lu Zhou was the one that used a topological method to solve the conjecture… Maybe the same applies to the Riemann hypothesis.]

“Doesn’t anyone have an ounce of creativity?”

After reading through the forum for a while, Lu Zhou didn’t find one coherent academic argument. It was all a bunch of mathematics PhDs freaking out.

But this did make sense. It was extremely difficult for someone to understand his thesis in a short amount of time. After all, the Riemann hypothesis was at the top of the food chain. Forget about normal PhDs, even people like Professor Deligne had trouble understanding the Riemann hypothesis.

Lu Zhou yawned and saw it was getting late. He turned off his computer and left his study room.

He still had to meet the Russian visiting group tomorrow, and there was probably a banquet afterward, so he planned on getting a good night’s sleep.

Even though he didn’t have to pay much attention to the Lunar Orbit Committee, as the chief designer, he still had some work to do.

While Lu Zhou was sleeping, the discussions on Mathoverflow grew, and this attracted the attention of many big names in the field.

It wasn’t just Mathoverflow, all major mathematics forums around the world were discussing this topic.

Professor Lu plans on attacking the Riemann hypothesis!

He’s already made some progress!

This was just like what Qin Yue had envisioned.

The mathematics community went crazy because of Lu Zhou’s thesis…

Chapter 833: Visiting Group From the North

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up early in the morning. After cleaning up in his bathroom, he asked Xiao Ai to fetch him his suit.

He had a diplomatic event today, and it was probably going to be broadcasted on national TV.

In order to please his fans, Lu Zhou spent a couple of minutes styling his hair.

Lu Zhou admired himself in the mirror for a while, until it was about time to leave. He went into the kitchen and microwaved last night’s leftovers. After finishing his breakfast, he sat in his black sedan and headed toward the high-tech aerospace industrial area.

Lu Zhou sat in the back of the car and looked at the scenery. He suddenly remembered his conversation yesterday, so he said, “I plan on switching cars.”

Wang Peng: “What car?”

Lu Zhou: “A fully electric one.”

Wang Peng: “Is it safe?”

Lu Zhou: “You can inspect it when it comes.”

Wang Peng nodded and said, “No problem, I’ll drain the battery when it comes.”

Lu Zhou: “… Fully drain it? You sure?”

Wang Peng looked at the rearview mirror and said, “… Why, what’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou: “Nothing is wrong, but it has a 2,000 kilometers range… Are you sure you want to fully drain it?”

2,000 kilometers!

Wang Peng nearly choked on his own saliva.

He clenched his jaw and spoke stubbornly.

“No problem! It’s just 2,000 kilometers.”

Just 2,000 kilometers.

That was the distance from Jinling to Beijing and back…

Seeing how stubborn this guy was, Lu Zhou didn’t have anything to say.

2,000 kilometers…

Once he fully drains the battery, it will barely be a new car anymore…

In less than half an hour, a black sedan drove past the high-tech zone, toward the newly-built high-tech aerospace industrial area.

Strictly speaking, the aerospace industrial area was part of the high-tech zone. However, they were separated for convenience.

Ever since the completion of the Jin Ling City aerospace launch site, the entire Jin Ling City aerospace industry had developed at an incredible speed. Jin Ling City became Asia’s Houston.

From satellites to spacecraft components, from heat sinks to aerospace batteries, from state-owned aerospace giants to privately-owned companies, more than 500 companies had recently moved here. Every component of the Moon Palace or the Magpie Bridge could be found in Jin Ling City.

This was why the Russian Ministry of Economic Development decided to visit Jinling instead of Beijing. The Russians wanted to learn from China’s aerospace industry.

The Russians had a huge aerospace foundation, but due to its depressed economy, it had lost all of its power.

The entire world wanted to ride China’s aerospace bandwagon, and the Russians were the first to act…

Star Sky Technology building.

A black sedan parked at the entrance.

When Lu Zhou got out of the car, a man standing next to a security guard noticed him and quickly walked toward him.

“Academician Lu Zhou, you’re finally here!” The man tightly shook Lu Zhou’s hand and said, “I’m Zhong Quan, I’m from the minister’s office. You can call me Secretary Zhong.”

“Lu Zhou. Academician is just a title, my job is still a professor, so you can just call me Professor Lu.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Has the Russian visiting group arrived?”

Zhong Quan smiled and said, “They arrived a long time ago! Mr. Georgiev asked about you the second he got off the plane, and he hasn’t stopped talking about you.”

Asking about me?

Why?

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “Oh really? Let’s not make our guests wait any longer, take me there.”

The secretary made an inviting hand gesture.

“Come this way!”

Because of the foreign visiting group, the high-tech aerospace industrial area was in shut-down mode. However, even though they were shut down, they were busier than normal.

Twenty black sedans were parked neatly in the parking lot near the Star Sky Technology building. A group of Russian diplomats followed a group of Chinese diplomats and local officials, who gave them a tour of the Star Sky Technology building reception.

Finally, Georgiev from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development saw the person he wanted to see.

“Hello, Professor Lu! I’m Georgiev,” Georgiev said as he shook Lu Zhou’s hand tightly. This Russian man smiled heartily and said warmly, “I always hear your name in Roscosmos meetings, and I’m glad to finally see you in person.”

Lu Zhou shook Georgiev’s hand and said humbly, “Oh, you’re too kind. It’s my honor to meet you, Mr. Georgiev.”

“I’m quite impressed with the development of your aerospace company. I wonder if you can give me a factory tour today?”

Minister Yang from the Ministry of Commerce looked at Lu Zhou. After seeing Lu Zhou nod his head, Minister Yang replied, “No problem, come with me.”

Star Sky Technology’s aerospace assembly center was located in the high-tech aerospace industrial area. In fact, the entire high-tech aerospace industrial area was built around the assembly center.

Georgiev insisted for them to walk there instead of taking a car.

While walking, the Russian man looked at the buildings around him and couldn’t help but look astonished.

He suddenly looked at Lu Zhou and said, “… After seeing all of this, I finally understand how you guys are able to create such wonders like the Moon Palace.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Not exactly a wonder. It’s not much bigger than the International Space Station.”

Georgiev shook his head and said, “The International Space Station was the joint effort of dozens of countries, and it took them more than a decade to finally complete assembly. It is unbelievable that the Moon Palace was completely assembled in less than a year. If that isn’t a world wonder, then I don’t know what is.”

Even though Lu Zhou knew this Russian man was kissing his a*s, he couldn’t help but feel proud.

After all, before the dissolution, the Soviet Union was one of the world aerospace powerhouses. Even though they were nowhere near as strong now, their dominance in the past allowed them to survive until now.

Most people didn’t know that the “flow staged combustion cycle” technology used by the “Raptor” liquid oxygen methane engine on the Space-X BFR rocket was based on the Soviet Unions’ RD-270 engine and UR-700 rocket.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied humbly, “We’re just standing on the shoulders of giants.”

His ion thruster propulsion technology was reversed engineered from a higher-level civilization, so in a sense, Lu Zhou was correct.

However, Georgiev seemed to have misunderstood Lu Zhou’s words. Georgiev thought that Lu Zhou was talking about America. Georgiev laughed out loud and didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Minister Yang diverted the conversation.

Even though they had a little friction between them, this didn’t affect their relationship. Georgiev wasn’t a petty person; not to mention Georgiev wasn’t in the position to argue.

Especially when it came to the aerospace field.

The aerospace industry was shifting from low-Earth orbit to lunar transfer orbit. If Russia wanted to stay in the industry, they had to get help from China.

China’s strength was the only reason the grumpy old Russians were being so friendly.

Chapter 834: Commercialization and Production Scale

The group of people soon arrived at the space shuttle assembly center.

The center of the factory was the birthplace of the Skyglow spacecraft. This was also the birthplace for a series of spacecraft components produced by Star Sky Technology.

A giant metal “hull” was lying horizontally in the factory. The metal hull looked more like a nuclear submarine instead of an outer-space spacecraft.

Because the narrow hull could not support its own weight, the entire hull was divided into three parts, which were suspended by a mechanical skeleton.

The second the Russians went into the factory, they began staring at this object.

Mr. Georgiev and the bureaucrats from the Ministry of Economic Development didn’t react too much. However, aerospace experts who accompanied the Ministry of Economic Development group had their eyes wide open.

Professor Kaufman, who was an expert from Roscosmos and an academician from the Russian Academy of Engineering, was so surprised that his chin fell to the ground.

After looking at this behemoth for a couple of seconds, Mr. Georgiev sighed.

“I can’t believe it… Is this your spacecraft?”

“It’s the Magpie Bridge.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You can call it a spacecraft, but I think it’s more like a boat.”

Academician Kaufman, who was standing next to Georgiev, couldn’t help but speak.

“Such a large spacecraft… How are you going to get it into space?”

Suddenly, some of the Chinese personnel became nervous.

Because this involved sensitive information.

Minister Yang planned on diverting the conversation, but Lu Zhou gave him an assuring look.

Lu Zhou looked at the enthusiastic Academician Kaufman and said, “We’ll separate it into three launches, first the command module, then the storage module, and finally, the engine. They will be docked together in outer space.”

The Russian expert was shocked.

The most difficult part of aerospace was spacecraft docking. The more components one had to connect, the more risk there was. So far, the technology only allowed for two-piece outer space docking.

However, Lu Zhou was now telling him that China had the technology for three-piece docking. Even Mr. Georgiev was shocked.

“I can’t believe your launch technology is so far ahead…” Georgiev looked at the Magpie Bridge and said, “Can I ask if this is using an ion thruster propulsion system?”

Lu Zhou: “Ion thruster propulsion system is the future. Outer-space voyages don’t need a ton of thrust, and the only advantage of chemical rockets is the initial launch thrust.”

Georgiev and Academician Kaufman looked at each other in awe.

Minister Yang from the Ministry of Commerce coughed and smiled.

“Well, that’s the end of the assembly center tour. There are many outstanding companies in the high-tech aerospace industrial area that are looking forward to meeting you guys.”

“Yeah, we did spend quite a long time on Star Sky Technology.” Georgiev smiled and said, “Then, Minister Yang, will you please give us a tour of the other companies?”

For the rest of the visit, Georgiev seemed to be uninterested. The expert behind him also seemed to be unamused.

Even though there were many excellent companies in the high-tech aerospace industrial area, none of them were at the level of Star Sky Technology. Some of them had huge factories, but they were lacking in the technical department. Even though some of them had groundbreaking technology, the company’s capital restricted them toward only supplying accessories.

However, Georgiev was relieved to see this.

Fortunately, Star Sky Technology was one-of-a-kind.

If there were two companies that had state of the art research and development capabilities, then China’s aerospace industry would be too scary…

For the rest of the visit, Lu Zhou didn’t accompany the Russian visiting group. However, there was a banquet held at the Purple Mountain Hotel in the evening. As the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, Lu Zhou decided to show up.

It was a Chinese style banquet.

Even though Lu Zhou sat at the same table as Mr. Georgiev and Minister Yang, he didn’t talk a lot during the meal.

He wasn’t good at socializing at formal occasions. Unless someone took the initiative to talk to him, he wouldn’t speak. Instead, he placed the majority of his attention on the delicious food in front of him.

Mr. Georgiev, who toured Star Sky Technology’s factory in the morning, tried to talk to him.

“Actually, I’ve always been curious. Aerospace has never been China’s strong suit, but you guys have been rapidly advancing in recent years. Can you tell us how you did it?”

Lu Zhou didn’t try to avoid the question. He said, “Pick a direction, then do your best.”

Georgiev made a helpless gesture and raised his wine glass.

“That’s a little abstract, can you specify?”

“Depends on how you interpret it.” Lu Zhou tapped his wine glass with Georgiev and said, “By direction, I mean finding a realistic goal, this is done by the scientific researchers. Fortunately, the experts working with us are good scholars, and they helped us solve a lot of problems.”

Georgiev said, “Then what do you mean by doing your best?”

“It means to have sufficient funding, and this is the state’s responsibility,” Lu Zhou said. “Roughly speaking, it is to focus on important tasks and allocate resources properly. Right now, the main problems of aerospace are the commercialization as well as the production scale. We have already solved the production scale problem, so the next step is commercialization. We have to collaborate with other companies and try to guide private equity into the industry.”

“Commercialization and production scale?” Georgiev smiled and said, “But doesn’t that violate the objective laws of market economics?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “The Queen of Spain funded Columbus’ voyage, Mr. Georgiev. Was that a violation of the objective laws of market economics?”

Georgiev said, “Interesting, but that’s a different story… Are they similar?”

“Of course they’re similar. The ultimate goal of the aerospace industry is to step out of our homeland and expand our living space, which is essentially the same thing as discovering a new continent.” Lu Zhou drank some wine and said, “The market is a catalyst for economic development, but not everything is developed in accordance with the laws of the market. At least not in the mathematics world.”

“Hahaha, your opinion is very interesting.” Minister Georgiev took a sip of red wine and smiled. He looked sincerely at Lu Zhou and said, “If you ever have the time, I’d like to sincerely invite you to visit Russia, I’m certain the Russian scholars will be glad to discuss this issue in depth with you.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I definitely will have the time. I plan on attending the International Congress of Mathematicians next year.”

Georgiev said, “If you do come, we’ll give you a grand welcoming ceremony!”

Chapter 835: Diplomatic Dinner

The banquet continued.

Because Lu Zhou didn’t stop eating, he was full pretty quickly.

Mr. Georgiev kept trying to talk to him, while Academician Kaufman was staring at him. After politely stating that he had to go to the bathroom, Lu Zhou left the banquet hall.

He finally had some peace and quiet.

Lu Zhou slowly walked to the bathroom and washed his face. After that, he walked to the Purple Mountain hotel balcony.

He had been to his hotel many times. The annual Star Sky Technology meeting was held here. Back in college, he was invited to a celebration party here as well. Therefore, he was quite familiar with the layout.

The balcony on the fifth floor directly faced the Purple Mountain. The scenery during the autumn sunset was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, it was already eight o’clock at night. There was nothing but the cold breeze.

Lu Zhou wanted to avoid the loud and noisy banquet hall, so he tried to kill some time here.

When he sat down on a bench, a hotel waiter nearby walked over with a menu.

“Sir, would you like to order anything?”

“A mocha, please.”

“Got it.” The waiter nodded and scribbled on his notepad. Suddenly, he heard someone speak behind him with a weird Chinese accent.

“I’ll have a glass of Tequila sunrise.”

With her pale blonde hair laying on her shoulders, a Russian girl in a dress walked up and sat next to Lu Zhou. She looked at the waiter and gently said, “Please don’t forget the ice.”

Even though it wasn’t winter season yet, the breeze on the balcony was quite chilly. Ordering an iced drink was unusual.

“Oh… okay.” The waiter looked at the beautiful blonde girl and said, “Won’t take long.”

After that, he put away the menu and left the balcony.

Lu Zhou looked at the strange lady sitting across from him. He guessed she was probably with the Russian visiting group. He was about to ask for her name but the lady spoke first.

“Looks like I’m not the only one sick of the banquet.”

Lu Zhou: “Who are you?”

“Victoria. My father is in the visiting group.” The blonde lady reached out her hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Even though Lu Zhou felt like she knew who he was, he still introduced himself.

“I’m Lu Zhou, a mathematics professor.”

Victoria seemed to be amused by Lu Zhou’s introduction. She twirled her finger around her hair and said, “Just a mathematics professor?”

Lu Zhou made a helpless gesture and said, “I also do a bit of physics… and chemistry.”

Victoria smirked and said, “You’re funny. I think you do a lot more than just physics and chemistry.”

“Really? I guess…” Lu Zhou looked at the waiter walking over and said, “Your cocktail is here.”

“Thanks.” Victoria lifted her cocktail glass and took a sip. She said, “My Chinese is not very good, I only started learning three months ago.”

Lu Zhou: “You’re pretty good for someone learning for only three months.”

Mastering Chinese wasn’t an easy feat for Russians, and being able to speak at this level within three months was insanely good.

Obviously, Victoria wasn’t just a pretty face.

While Lu Zhou was judging her, Victoria was doing the same. However, she didn’t make it as obvious. She spoke to Lu Zhou like Lu Zhou was her good friend.

“Am I being complimented by a genius?”

“Genius? Me?” Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head as he said, “I’m no genius, I just work a little harder than others.”

Also… I have the system.

But I wasn’t born with that, so I guess it’s not my own talent.

Victoria smiled and said, “You’re so humble. You’ve done more in one lifetime than most people can do in ten lifetimes. That’s not just because of a little hard work.”

Lu Zhou: “Maybe, but who knows what can happen in the future.”

Victoria smiled and said, “I studied economics at Moscow University and took some elective courses in functional analysis. We often hear our professors praise your mathematical abilities. That is very rare for Russians. We rarely praise others for their mathematics talents.”

Lu Zhou: “You know mathematics?”

“Just a little bit… Why, are you surprised?” Victoria said with a flirtatious smirk on her face.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I am, I didn’t expect to meet someone that speaks the same language as me here.”

“I’m happy to hear that. I’m also very curious about your research project… Or rather, I’m curious what kind of question is troubling a genius like you.” Victoria took a sip of her cocktail, leaving a print of red lipstick on the glass. She said, “Let’s talk about it.”

Are you sure?

You want to hear about my research project?

Lu Zhou was glad to speak to her. After all, there was still two hours before the banquet ended.

Lu Zhou looked at her “curious” eyes and smiled awkwardly.

“I’m happy to oblige.”

…

Mr. Georgiev obviously knew Academician Lu didn’t want to talk to him.

Most scholars had introverted personalities. Especially those in theoretical research fields. They generally didn’t like to talk with “shallow” people.

As a bureaucrat who used to be a diplomat, Georgiev was obviously aware of this. As for why he kept trying to talk to Lu Zhou…

How else could his daughter Victoria have a chance?

He swore he wasn’t trying to sell his daughter out.

From a father’s perspective, even though Professor Lu was a foreigner, he was definitely a qualified husband; a lot more qualified than those Russian alcoholics. His daughter had yet to find a suitable partner in university, so why wouldn’t he want these two to be a thing?

However…

Things often didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

He thought his plan was perfect, but he still underestimated Lu Zhou…

After the banquet ended, Victoria walked into the hotel room looking tired.

Georgiev looked at his tired daughter and asked, “How is it? Did you meet Lu Zhou?”

Victoria: “I did, and we drank on the balcony together.”

Georgiev looked happy, and he continued to ask, “What happened?”

“Riemann zeta function…”

What?

What the hell is this?

Georgiev frowned.

“Riemann… what?”

Victoria smiled weakly and said, “We talked about Riemann zeta function for three hours, but he was suddenly inspired, that he ditched me… At least he paid for my drink.”

She was exhausted at pretending to be interested in the conversation.

Why can’t Lu Zhou be interested in movies or music?

He is quite handsome, but I would die if I had to talk to him every day…

Georgiev: “…”

Victoria looked at her dad and asked, “Dad, am I ugly?”

Georgiev paused for a second and said, “No, darling, you’re as beautiful as your mother…”

“I’ve never had doubts about my looks before.”

Victoria began to doubt her life, and she began to stare at the ceiling.

Georgiev didn’t know how to comfort his daughter, so he sighed. “Maybe his standards are too high…”

Even though this was unfortunate, he couldn’t do anything about it.

It just wasn’t meant to be…

Chapter 836: He Will Definitely Come!

A room inside Princeton’s university library.

Vera pushed open the door and walked in. She walked to the table joyfully and stuttered. Finally, she was able to get out a complete sentence.

“He’s researching the Riemann hypothesis!”

Molina was sitting at the desk, and without looking up, she knew exactly what Vera’s facial expression was.

“The thesis on arXiv? I know, what’s so surprising about it…”

Molina’s sense of urgency had become stronger ever since that thesis was released.

Lu Zhou had never been defeated by a problem before. Even Millennium Prize Problems like the Navier–Stokes equations and the Yang-Mills Equations, were no match for him.

Because Lu Zhou had become an academic leader, he rarely participated in the mathematics world. He hadn’t been to any conferences, but the mathematics community had not forgotten about him.

Even to this day, stories about him were still spread around the Princeton campus.

There was no doubt that Lu Zhou was a powerful opponent.

She had been attacking this conjecture for many years. If Lu Zhou was the one to take the crown from her, she would have a mental breakdown…

“Molina…”

Molina looked at Vera and blinked as she asked, “What?”

Vera forced a smile and asked, “Where do you think his research is at?”

Molina stared at Vera’s blushing white cheeks and said, “How would I know? Why don’t you ask him? You have his email.”

“I…” Vera played with her own finger. She looked away from Molina and said, “… I’m not good enough for him yet.”

I can’t!

I can’t take this anymore!

Molina stood up and held Vera by the shoulders.

“Listen, Ms. Pulyuy, I know he’s your ideal lover, but realize that he is our enemy! You can’t…”

Before Molina could finish, Vera interrupted her.

“He is not my enemy!”

Vera’s eyes were full of determination.

“… Okay, I worded it incorrectly.” Molina thought for a second and said, “Don’t you have a contract with him about the Fields Medal?”

“!”

Vera suddenly began to look nervous.

Molina noticed this, and she smirked and patted the girl on her shoulders.

“Do your best. If we solve the Riemann hypothesis, we’ll win ten Fields Medals.”

Vera held her breath and tightened her fists as she muttered to herself, “If I solve the Riemann hypothesis… he will notice me.”

Molina gave her an encouraging look and said, “That’s right, not just him, the entire world will notice you.”

Vera’s face turned even redder as she looked down at her feet and smiled.

“No, no thanks…

“Just him is enough.”

…

There wasn’t a lot of exciting news in the mathematics world; therefore, the story of Lu Zhou beginning to research the Riemann hypothesis was considered a sensational story. Everyone was talking about Professor Lu’s quest on solving the Riemann hypothesis; from online forums to Princeton’s campus. Lu Zhou became the talk of the town.

Students weren’t the only ones talking about him; the professors were no exception.

A big story like this obviously didn’t escape the ears of Professor Fefferman, head of the Princeton mathematics department.

While Vera was talking to Molina, Professor Fefferman came to Professor Deligne’s office with a printed copy of the same thesis.

When he arrived at Deligne’s office, Deligne was sitting at his desk.

When Deligne heard footsteps, he looked up and squinted his eyes at the thesis in Professor Fefferman’s hand.

“I’m guessing you have his arXiv thesis in your hand.”

“Looks like you’ve already read it…” Professor Fefferman threw the thesis aside and said, “I didn’t expect you to be so well informed.”

“I’m quite good at keeping up with the times, and I’ve been using the Internet since 20 years ago…” Professor Deligne looked at the thesis and said, “You came here just for this?”

“What do you mean just for this?” Professor Fefferman looked in disbelief and said, “Haven’t you heard of that legend? The person who can solve the Riemann hypothesis will become an immortal, not just in an abstract sense, but literally.”

This legend came from a long time ago, around the 19th century. French mathematician Hadamard and Belgian mathematician Poussin made the first substantial progress on the Riemann hypothesis. They lived to 98 and 96 years old respectively.

Living to nearly a hundred years old back then was quite amazing. That started a legend where the person who proved the Riemann hypothesis would live forever.

Of course, this was only a joke, but this joke had been living on for a century now.

Deligne snorted and spoke.

“… That legend is more than a century-year-old. Bohr and Landa’s theorem was much more impactful than Hadarmard’s. If I remember correctly, they both died in their sixties.”

“Okay fine, God isn’t going to take care of everyone.” Professor Fefferman smiled and shrugged. He then asked, “Legends aside, don’t you think his thesis is very interesting?”

Professor Deligne: “Before he publishes a formal proof thesis, I will refrain from commenting.”

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, “I’m not asking you to make a comment, I’m just curious about the point he made about solving Riemann zeta function using the π(x) function. I did some research and didn’t find any interesting clues… I’m curious, how do you think he will solve it?”

Professor Fefferman: “What do you think he will do?”

Professor Deligne glanced at him and said, “Didn’t you work with him on the Navier–Stokes equations? Don’t you know him better?”

Professor Fefferman said, “Actually, I don’t know him very well, he’s used to working alone.”

After that, Professor Deligne groaned.

He reminisced about the past and said, “You can’t solve the Riemann hypothesis with just an idea. I can come up with a dozen ideas on how to solve it, but none of them gives me hope. The π(x) function is pretty new, but not totally unique. People have tried using it before.”

Professor Fefferman nodded.

This wasn’t the first time he heard the idea of using π(x) to solve the Riemann zeta function. He had even heard people talk about it in cafes.

“He’s a scholar who is both good at using tools and creating tools. Whether or not he successfully applies the π(x) function, I’m certain he will be able to find the successful tools.”

Professor Fefferman: “Like the Group Structure Method?”

“Not quite.” Professor Deligne smiled and said, “This problem has troubled the mathematics world for more than a century and a half. He will probably create a new tool that will help us understand the Riemann zeta function.”

He paused for a second and continued, “I’m looking forward to the next International Congress of Mathematicians.”

Professor Fefferman said, “He might not come.”

Deligne shook his head.

“Trust me, he is coming.”

Chapter 837: Boundary Approach Method!

After successfully killing time on the balcony, Lu Zhou left the waiter some cash for the drinks. He then immediately went to the parking lot and got into his black sedan.

“Back to Zhongshan International.”

“Okay.”

Wang Peng, who was in the driver’s seat, nodded and soon began driving.

He talked about the Riemann zeta function with the lady for a long time. Even though, for the most part, he was talking by himself, he was still somehow inspired by the conversation.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the back seat, suddenly spoke.

“I need a tool.”

Wang Peng paused for a second.

“… What tool?”

“… Nothing.”

“Do you want to go to the supermarket?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“If only they sold it at the supermarket.”

Wang Peng felt like if he kept on asking, he would be muddled by Lu Zhou’s response. Therefore, he shut his mouth and focused on driving.

Zhongshan International wasn’t far from the Purple Mountain Hotel, and after a ten-minute drive, Lu Zhou was back in his gated neighborhood.

The car stopped at his front door. Lu Zhou told Wang Peng not to come in tomorrow. After that, Lu Zhou walked home and up the stairs.

“It’s not realistic to solve the π(x) function using a general method. There have been thousands of people who have tried to solve this problem in the past. Even though this idea might work, the most obvious pathway must have been attempted before.”

“A novel approach requires a novel tool!”

“I need a new tool!”

The quad-rotor drone flew next to Lu Zhou, following him up the stairs.

Xiao Ai curiously asked Lu Zhou.

[Master?]

“Give me a cup of coffee, instant, send it to the study room.”

[But it’s so late… (°ー°〃)]

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t plan on sleeping tonight.”

[Okay, Master, but please stay healthy.]

Lu Zhou opened his study room door and replied, “Okay!”

Climbing the Riemann hypothesis mountain at once was unrealistic. This mountain had stood in the mathematics world for far too long. Countless people had attempted to challenge it, only to stay at the bottom. Even though there were now signs pointing toward the top of the mountain, there wasn’t a single tool they could use to climb the mountain.

No matter what kind of proof he was going to use, he had to lay a solid foundation.

This way, it would give himself some hope…

Lu Zhou sat down at his desk and threw the pile of used draft papers into the bin. He then took out a new stack of blank draft paper.

Lu Zhou looked at the draft paper on his desk and smirked. He shook his head and muttered to himself, “… This is probably the least expensive project I’ve done this year.”

When he tried to prove Yang-Mills Equations, he requested CERN to conduct several sets of expensive experiments.

For a pure mathematics problem like the Riemann hypothesis, the costs were draft paper and his brainpower…

…

Lu Zhou hadn’t devoted himself to one research project for a long time.

Ever since he became the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, he had played the role of an academic leader. Rarely did he participate in the forefront of scientific research.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t out of practice.

When he devoted himself to a mathematics problem, the strings of numbers and Greek symbols flowed through his brain like music.

The rising vapor from his cup of coffee gradually disappeared. The street lights on the asphalt roads went out. The Purple Mountain was pitch black. After a while, Lu Zhou heard the birds chirping outside, and this made him stop writing.

“The new cohomology mathematical tool ‘Étale’ created by Grothendieck while researching Weil’s conjecture made a huge impact on the development of algebraic geometry and the entire mathematical field. That ultimately led to Deligne’s proof of Weil’s conjecture.

“If I want to find a way to climb the mountain, I have to climb the smaller mountain first… A weak Riemann hypothesis.”

When it came to the twin prime conjecture and the Polignac’s conjecture, the latter was contained within the former. Even though the former didn’t lead to a direct proof of the latter, it could inspire one to prove the latter.

That was how the mathematics world was explored.

From proving the weak form of a conjecture, to proving the conjecture, to then proving a stronger form of the conjecture; once all of these were completed, all of the clues became connected, and the tower of mathematics was built.

Lu Zhou wrote down a line of equations on a new piece of draft paper.

[Re(s) = 1-c/ln [| Im(s) | +2] (>0) …]

Lu Zhou smirked, and his dignified look gradually disappeared.

“If I want to prove that all zeros are distributed on the zero limit line, I should start by excluding areas where zeros do not exist! Re(s)≤0 and Re(s)≥1, as long as I think of a way to enhance this proof to all areas outside the critical line, that is, Re(s)<1>1/2, I can prove the Riemann hypothesis!

“I’ll start from the right limit!”

This proof method was called the critical zone method! Instead of proving what percent of zeros were on the zero limit line, the proof attempted to shrink the critical zone area containing all zeros, eventually reaching the critical line!

As long as he could prove the right boundary of the critical zone from Re(s) = 1 and the left to Re(s) = 1-ε(ε > 0), for all values of epsilon, he could prove the Riemann hypothesis!

He had an idea, and all that was left to do was execution!

His intuition told him that this piece of the puzzle was in the algebraic geometry field! Unfortunately, that was one of his main weaknesses…

“If only I had someone to talk to.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

Especially Professor Deligne…

Unfortunately, some things couldn’t be explained through email. Video calling might work, but the atmosphere wasn’t the same as talking in person.

It seemed like he could only rely on himself.

“I won’t rely on others.”

Even then, Lu Zhou couldn’t hold back his curiosity. He opened his computer and went on Mathoverflow.

He was soon disappointed.

When he uploaded his thesis on arXiv, he hoped it would help lay the foundation for others. He wanted to see some interesting discussion on Mathoverflow, as that might inspire him.

But now, it seemed like his plan was clearly unsuccessful.

Even though this was supposed to be a professional mathematics discussion community, full of PhDs, most people were more interested in gossip.

Although there were some academically focused discussions, most of them were outdated.

“Looks like I have to retreat for a few days.”

Lu Zhou leaned back on his chair and picked up his phone. He told Wang Peng not to disturb him for a few days. He then yawned and went into his bathroom.

He was hoping to get inspired throughout the night, maybe even produce some in-progress results. However, the situation was much worse than he had thought.

Since he decided to go on a retreat, there was no reason for him to stay awake anymore.

Before he would officially start working, he planned on making up for last night’s sleep…

Chapter 838: Even with a research plan, solving the problem wasn’t easy.

Even with a research plan, solving the problem wasn’t easy.

The concept of a critical zone had been around for more than a century.

The zones Re (s) u003c 0 and Re (s) u003e 1 were solved the earliest as they were the easiest. The regions Re (s) = 0 and Re (s) = 1 took nearly a decade to solve.

The exclusion of these two areas directly led to the proof of the prime number theorem.

In order to dive deep into this topic, Lu Zhou collected a large amount of thesis in this area. He even found electronic versions of Grothendieck’s academic works, which were removed by major publishers. He found the original Étale proof method, as well as the theses published by Professor Deligne on Weil’s conjecture.

Lu Zhou actually should have read these theses during his PhD, but unfortunately, he was involved in the field of number theory, not algebraic geometry.

Research on Goldbach’s conjecture took up all of his time. Professor Deligne gave him a lot of freedom, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on Goldbach’s conjecture.

There were both pros and cons from Deligne’s style of teaching.

On the first day of his retreat, Lu Zhou spent the entire day collecting all of the theses.

Lu Zhou spent the next two days reading the thesis and summarizing the main points.

On the fifth day, Lu Zhou combined his algebraic geometry hypotheses with his newly-learned theorems. He chose an algebraic curve over a finite field as a support, which gave him a shortcut to the final answer.

Inspirational thoughts flew out of his brain.

After finding the algebraic curve on the finite field, all the puzzles began connecting themselves together…

On the eighth day.

Lu Zhou was sitting at his desk. He stretched his back and stood up from his chair.

He finished writing the thesis last night. He didn’t even know what time it was.

Because he was too concentrated on his research, he didn’t remember when he fell asleep.

This feeling of being completely immersed in the mathematics world was magical, time flew by without him knowing…

Sure enough, mathematics was his passion.

That felt amazing!

He looked at his phone, which was on the corner of his desk. Unsurprisingly, dozens of missed calls and texts popped up on his screen.

Lu Zhou didn’t have time to cater to these things. He left his phone aside and planned on replying later. He then looked at the pile of A4 papers on his table.

“Looks like it’s time to type the thesis on a computer…”

Without eating breakfast, Lu Zhou transferred the written thesis into the computer.

With Xiao Ai’s help, the thesis transfer didn’t take a lot of time.

After Lu Zhou double-checked the thesis and made sure there were no formatting mistakes, he sent it to the editorial department of Annual Mathematics.

His last thesis didn’t have any publication value, so he only uploaded it on arXiv.

But this thesis was different.

The research on the Riemann hypothesis had been stalled for nearly a century, and his research was a giant step for humanity!

He had proved that when the value of ε approached zero, there were no non-zero trivial points of the ζ function in the region of Re (s) ≥1-ε!

He creatively named this problem.

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis!

…

While Lu Zhou was on his retreat, people in the outside world started to worry about him.

It was fine not leaving the house, but not answering the phone made some people a little anxious.

Another week went by.

Wang Peng, who was guarding the mansion, began to worry if Lu Zhou had anything left to eat. Doctor Yan, who was responsible for the health and safety of Lu Zhou, couldn’t wait any longer. She drove her SUV and came to his front gate.

Yan Yan was wearing a white doctor’s coat. She walked to the front gate and looked at Wang Peng, who was smoking a cigarette.

“Why hasn’t Professor Lu come out?”

Wang Peng tapped his cigarette and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Yan Yan: “…”

The hell is I don’t know?!

You’re his bodyguard!

Yan Yan tried to look into the front yard. She hesitated for a second before asking, “Should we go inside?”

Wang Peng smiled and shook his head. He said, “Don’t do that, he will get angry.”

Yan Yan: “How do you know? What if he needs our help…”

Wang Peng tapped his cigarette and replied, “Because… I’ve done it before.”

Yan Yan frowned and was about to say something. Suddenly, the front gate opened, followed by the front door opening.

The two looked at the front door and saw Lu Zhou walking out of the house in a gray jacket.

Wang Peng threw the cigarette into the trash and said, “You proved it?”

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and Yan Yan, and he was slightly surprised.

“Do you even know what I was researching?”

Wang Peng awkwardly shook his head.

He obviously didn’t know what Lu Zhou was researching. However, from his past experience, he knew it must have been a difficult problem.

Lu Zhou began walking toward the car. Yan Yan stopped him and said, “Wait a second, you have a physical examination today. We made an appointment last week…”

“We did?” Lu Zhou rubbed his head.

Yan Yan nodded.

“Do you want to hear the call recording?”

The f*ck?

Why did you record the call?

“No need, I trust you.” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “We’ll do the examination later, I have something more important to do.”

Wang Peng looked serious, and he began looking for his car key.

“Where are we going?”

Lu Zhou smiled and began to look excited.

“We’re picking up a new car.”

Wang Peng: “…”

Yan Yan: “…”

How is that important?!

Chapter 839

Three days ago, Chen Yushan had been texting Lu Zhou. She told him that the Electric Purple car from BYD had arrived, telling him to pick it up from the dealership.

However, Lu Zhou’s phone was turned off at the time, so he didn’t see the messages. It wasn’t until a few minutes ago, after he uploaded the thesis onto arXiv, did he have time to check his text messages.

Then…

Within half an hour, Lu Zhou was in the dealership, standing next to the cool black sedan.

The sales lady was nervous about Lu Zhou’s security guard, and she tried to maintain a professional smile as she talked about the basic functions of Electric Purple.

After hearing her explanation, Lu Zhou immediately asked, “What’s the max speed?”

The sales lady politely said, “Max speed is 260 kilometers an hour, but you’ll never reach that on normal roads.”

Lu Zhou nodded expressionlessly.

F*cking nuts!

It’s crazy an electric car can go that fast.

This is even faster than Teslas… Of course, this isn’t a production car, but still, this is pretty awesome.

Lu Zhou asked another important question, “What about its safety features?”

The sales lady smiled politely.

“The glass is bulletproof…”

“I’ll take care of that,” Wang Peng said confidently. “If it doesn’t pass our tests, we will modify it.”

Lu Zhou suddenly became nervous.

“Don’t turn this thing into a tank.”

Wang Peng said, “Of course not… We have experts in the department for this kind of modification. It will look exactly the same after it is done.”

Bullsh*t!

Lu Zhou hesitated for a second and said, “I have one request.”

Wang Peng: “What request?”

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled and said, “Before you modify it, drive me around first.”

Wang Peng: “… Okay.”

…

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t particularly interested in cars, every guy was more or less into cars.

Driving around a limited edition car was quite exciting.

Especially since Lu Zhou had just finished tackling a problem, it was time for him to relax.

Wang Peng drove around the Purple Mountain and the city center. Lu Zhou opened the windows on both sides of the car and let the breeze hit his face.

However, after ten minutes or so, he started to feel bored.

As expected, he wasn’t fond of luxury cars.

Mathematics was more interesting to him.

After Lu Zhou closed the windows, he took out his phone and logged into his Mathoverflow account. He then looked at the trending posts.

Just like he had expected, within an hour of him uploading his “Quasi Riemann hypothesis” thesis, the discussion boards on Mathoverflow exploded!

[Jesus… I can’t believe it!]

[A few days ago, Professor Lu was still researching the π(x) function, right? How come he suddenly changed his research path???]

[How many scholars have claimed to have made a major breakthrough on the Riemann conjecture? Re (s) = 1-c / ln [| Im (s) | +2] is infinitely close to Re (s) = 1 when Im (s) →∞, so we can’t extend the right boundary toward the critical line at all! Can’t these millennials be more rigorous!]

[This is Professor Lu you’re talking about! Have you even read his thesis? He didn’t even reference Re(s)=1-c/ln[|Im(s)|+2!]

[I know this is Professor Lu, but Sir Atiyah has won much more mathematics awards! Mathematics research should be looked at objectively, the author’s background doesn’t matter! If he made this submission anonymously, no one would care!]

Lu Zhou smiled when he looked at the comments.

No sh*t!

If some no-name mathematician claimed to have made progress on Riemann’s hypothesis, no one would believe him.

You don’t believe me?

Just wait!

Interestingly enough, he saw a familiar name-tag on the forum—Terry Tao.

This was obviously non other than Professor Tao Zhexuan from Los Angeles.

Professor Tao’s comment was interesting.

[I’m still reading through the thesis, give me a second, this might take a while.]

Professor Tao rarely gave ambiguous comments on whether a thesis was correct.

If the thesis topic was in an area he was familiar with, he could often immediately find a disproving argument.

But now, this seemed to be different.

His comment further heated the discussions on Mathoverflow.

Lu Zhou continued to scroll and saw some interesting comments. He slowly smirked.

Wang Peng looked at him. He was curious about what Lu Zhou was reading on his phone. He knew he shouldn’t be asking, so he decided to concentrate on driving.

After driving around Purple Mountain, this beast-looking Electric Purple car stopped at the gate of Zhongshan International. A neighbor walking their dog looked at the car curiously.

They had never seen the car logo before.

Nor had they seen the car model before.

This wasn’t unusual for laymen, but for car enthusiasts, it was like they had discovered a new continent. They took out their phones and began taking photos.

However…

When they saw the person getting off the car, the neighbors quietly put their phone away.

Oh Jesus, it’s that guy…

Taking photos of normal celebrities was fine.

Even B-list celebrities weren’t a big deal in this gated community.

But when it came to Lu Zhou…

They didn’t dare to mess with him…

Chapter 840: For a high-end gated community like this, every entry and exit had to be registered.

For a high-end gated community like this, every entry and exit had to be registered.

After Lu Zhou moved in, the gated community increased its security levels. There were more security guards roaming around the area.

Even though this was Lu Zhou’s car, he still had to follow security procedures.

After Wang Peng parked the car, he got off and muttered, “What a rush this car is.”

Due to his profession, he had driven many cars. Ranging from premium foreign cars to customized domestic cars. However, this was one of the best cars he had ever driven.

Considering the fact that electric cars had only been around for a few years, this was even more amazing.

Lu Zhou stretched his shoulders and smiled. “Of course.”

Wang Peng: “It’s not cheap, right?”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t know, but there’s only one in the world…”

Wang Peng spoke emotionally.

“So that’s how rich people live.”

Lu Zhou said, “Stop pretending, you’ve driven military tanks before, this is just a sports car.”

Wang Peng rubbed his nose and said, “I haven’t driven a tank, I’ve only ridden in one…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Wow…

I was just kidding, I didn’t expect this guy to actually have sat in a tank before.

Lu Zhou was suddenly curious about what kind of life his bodyguard used to live.

Wang Peng looked at the car key in his hand and said, “I’m going to register the vehicle, it might take a few minutes. Do you want to wait or come with me?”

The gated community was quite safe.

This community was the safest place in Jinling; even intelligence personnel from other countries would have trouble entering.

“I’ll just stay here. Remember to pick me up tomorrow. I don’t have any plans tonight, so I won’t need the car.”

Wang Peng nodded and said, “Okay then, I’ll head off then.”

“Sure… Remember to not modify the car too much, just a little,” said Lu Zhou with a worried look on his face.

Wang Peng looked at how nervous Lu Zhou was, and he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll bring it back the exact same way.”

“I’ll hold you to that!”

Lu Zhou gave a reluctant look at his brand new sports car. He then turned around and walked back to his mansion.

After returning home, he threw his trench coat on the couch and saw Xiao Ai flying over. He told Xiao Ai to make him a cup of coffee. He then went upstairs to his study room.

It had been a while since he uploaded his thesis, so the entire world probably knew about his mathematics thesis at this point.

However, the only opinion he cared about was from Annual Mathematics.

Normally, a thesis review would take a long time, but he directly submitted it to the editorial department’s email, therefore he skipped the general procedure.

He went on his computer and saw an unopened email in his mailbox.

Unsurprisingly, it was from the editorial department of Annual Mathematics.

[Dear Professor Lu, we have received your thesis manuscript. I would like to thank you for choosing us as your publisher. The thesis is in peer review, but as you know, there are very few scholars in your field of research. We are currently contacting an appropriate reviewer. We will notify you of any updates.]

There hadn’t been any progress regarding the critical zone research for more than a century. Even though there were a few people researching Riemann’s hypothesis, very few people chose this as their research direction.

However, this hypothesis was still quite important in the field of analytic number theory. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been named the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

Basically, if a scholar could solve this problem, they would undoubtedly receive a Fields Medal.

For more than a century, no one had been able to increase the right boundary limit of the critical zone, even by a little. A lot of people thought that this proof idea was not feasible, but now, someone suddenly proved Re (s) = 1-ε (ε→ 0), which proved that the critical boundary band could be moved!

What did this mean?

For ordinary people, this might not mean much.

But this was huge for the mathematics community!

Therefore, it wasn’t easy to find a reviewer.

Because of Lu Zhou’s connections in the academic community, it was difficult to find an appropriate reviewer who didn’t have any conflicts of interest…

Therefore, it seemed like the ill-tempered Professor Faltings was the best choice. Also, Faltings happened to be in the field of algebraic geometry and analytic number theory…

However, this still depended on whether or not Faltings had the time to review.

After all, reviewing a thesis like this was no piece of cake…

“Hope that Faltings has the time to review my thesis.”

The door gently opened, and a drone holding a steaming cup of coffee steadily flew inside.

[Master, your coffee. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)]

“Put it on the table.”

[Okay, Master. (•̀∀•́)]

The drone landed steadily on the corner of the desk. Its retractable arm then placed down the coffee.

The bottom right corner of Lu Zhou’s screen read: [Please enjoy (* / ω *)]. Lu Zhou smiled and picked up his coffee, taking a sip.

“Thanks, it’s delicious.”

Lu Zhou placed the coffee on the table. He then dragged the email to his recycling bin.

He was able to close his email and continue his unfinished research, which was to extend the value of ε towards 1/2. However, an email suddenly appeared in his mailbox.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and clicked on the email.

He noticed the familiar email address and held his breath.

[Professor, are you researching Riemann’s hypothesis?]

Chapter 841: 841 Debatable?

841 Debatable?

Any research progress regarding Riemann’s hypothesis would be talked about in the mathematics community.

This was no exception for the mathematics department at UC Berkeley.

After Professor Lu uploaded his thesis onto arXis, the news regarding the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis spread like wildfire. People were discussing the news all over campus.

“Did you hear? The Quasi Riemann hypothesis was proven!”

“I did, that’s incredible. No one has made any progress for a century!”

“Last time the prime number theorem was proved as a result of research on the Riemann hypothesis. I wonder what Professor Lu will make of it this time.”

“Yeah, if only I had Professor Lu’s intelligence.”

“Keep dreaming!”

The mathematics department students weren’t the only ones talking about this event. The professors were talking about it as well.

Analytic number theory wasn’t Berkeley’s strong suit. They leaned toward the partial differential equations side. However, for scholars like Tao Zhexuan, who was proficient in multiple fields, they obviously kept up with the latest news in mathematics.

Tao Zhexuan sat inside an office in the mathematics building at Berkeley. His desk was full of draft papers. With a pen in his hand, he stared intently at the thesis on his table. He was so focused he didn’t even hear the knock on his door.

After a while, the door was pushed open. A thin Asian man walked in with a box of pizza. He was a PhD student.

“Professor, the pizza you ordered is here.”

Tao Zhexuan replied without looking up, “Just put it aside.”

“Okay, but you should eat it while it’s hot.” The PhD student looked at the thesis in front of him and asked curiously, “Oh yeah, yesterday, I saw your comment on Mathoverflow… Are you still reading that thesis?”

Tao Zhexuan: “Yes.”

The PhD student gulped and asked, “Is there a conclusion yet?”

“I would tell you if there were one.”

“Okay then.” The PhD student gave a helpless expression then left the room.

Normally speaking, Professor Tao was an approachable person. He was one of the big names at Berkeley who were friends with the students.

However, there were exceptions.

Whenever he was troubled by a question, he would act cold toward everyone, even his wife…

“Interesting.

“He’s using an algebraic geometry, similar to something Grothendieck would do, but it’s not obvious.

“Choosing an algebraic curve on the complex plane… How did he come up with this idea?

“Also… Can he really prove it using this method?”

Tao Zhexuan leaned back on his chair and looked at the dusty ceiling fan. He scratched his head.

It was rare for a problem to bother him for this long.

He tapped the pen on the paper and solemnly spoke.

“Debatable.”

However, he didn’t sound confident at all.

“Am I the one who’s wrong…”

Maybe the proof does in fact, exist?

…

Speaking of which, Lu Zhou didn’t remember when was the last time he received an email from Vera.

Was it a year ago?

Or even longer?

Obviously, Vera, who was researching Riemann’s hypothesis, saw Lu Zhou’s thesis on arXiv. She took the time to read it and had some questions.

Most things were difficult to convey through email. Therefore, the two agreed to a video call at 8 pm Beijing time.

After three years, Lu Zhou could finally see the student he was proudest of.

Even though it was through the Internet…

At 8 pm the next day, the video call began.

Lu Zhou made a cup of coffee and sat in his study room. He was prepared to discuss academic problems, but the atmosphere was a bit stiff.

It seemed like the girl had too much to say, but she didn’t know where to start. She nervously sat in front of the computer screen without saying anything.

Lu Zhou had an awkward look on his face.

Her blonde hair was combed into a ponytail. Lu Zhou could even tell she was wearing a different shade of lipstick. Clearly, she dressed up.

What should I say?

Long time no see?

That seems a bit cold.

Nice hairstyle?

What if she thinks I’m hitting on her?

Lu Zhou coughed and spoke clearly in a formal way.

“Let’s get to it… Tell me what your question is.”

Having small talks and greetings might make the atmosphere even stiffer. Therefore, he went straight to the topic.

As expected, the tension in the room disappeared.

Vera sighed in relief and nodded. She spoke quietly.

“Okay, wait a second…”

The girl walked to the side and dragged a fully-written blackboard into the camera view.

Lu Zhou looked at the lines of equations and paused for a second. He looked surprised, then gradually, he started to look serious.

Vera cleared her throat and said quietly, “This is the algebraic geometry method you used to prove the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, I tried to summarize the proof.”

Lu Zhou skimmed through the blackboard and nodded with approval.

“Not bad.”

No wonder she’s my star student.

Being able to summarize all this is not easy.

Vera smiled and said, “Even though Molina… I mean Ms. Abel told me not to discuss these problems with you, I think it’s better… to discuss it with you.”

Talking about ideas with a genius scholar was risky, because the academic community only recognized who produced the result, not where the initial idea came from.

Therefore, some scholars even resisted the urge to publish their in-progress results… They wanted to aim for higher, something more significant.

Vera put on a serious face and spoke.

“I carefully studied the algebraic finite field curve you introduced when ε tends to infinitely small. I found out that there are no non-zero trivial points of the ζ function in the region of Re (s) ≥ 1-ε. The properties of 2Γ(1-s) = (2π)(s-1)sin (πs / 2) ζ (1-s) hold…”

Vera turned toward the blackboard and wrote on the right corner, which she purposely left blank.

Lu Zhou looked at Vera and frowned, but he quickly relaxed.

He had a rough idea of Vera’s thought process.

She used his own proof as a foundation and introduced a homology mapping function that connected the nilpotent Lie groups… Basically, she made some improvements on his Group Structure Method and applied that to the enlargement of ε.

The chalk in Vera’s hand stopped moving. She turned around and smiled.

“This method will probably work, but I can only do it halfway. I was thinking if you could finish it…

“So… I need your help.”

Vera spoke quietly. She wasn’t even sure if Lu Zhou could hear her.

Lu Zhou stared at the formula on the blackboard for a while. He suddenly asked, “Do you know why you can’t complete the proof?”

Vera paused for a second and asked, “Why?”

Lu Zhou spoke the truth with a look of regret.

“Because you can’t prove this problem with the Group Structure Method.”

Vera: “…?”

Chapter 842: 842 Disagreemen

842 Disagreemen

A tint of red appeared on Vera’s white cheeks, and she pouted and looked stubborn.

“Why?”

She would be fine if Lu Zhou found a calculation error. But Lu Zhou simply told her the proof idea wouldn’t work, without reason. She couldn’t accept this.

Even though he was her respected ex-supervisor.

Lu Zhou knew what Vera was thinking. He sighed and patiently explained to her.

“The curve Re(s) = 1-c / ln [| Im (s) | +2] is infinitely close to Re (s) = 1 when Im (s) approaches infinity. By using the Group Structure Method, this result is inevitable. Therefore, if we want to use the critical line, we must use a different tool. This is the reason why I did not use the Group Structure Method when I proved the existence of epsilon. Instead, I used an algebraic geometry method.”

Lu Zhou knew the Group Structure Method like the back of his hand.

When it came to Deligne’s proof that “all zeros of the ζ function of a d-dimensional algebraic cluster over a finite field lie on the complex plane, Re (s) = 1/2, 3/2, …, (2d-1 ) / 2…”, before using a homology group method and the Fourier transform, Lu Zhou first thought about using the Group Structure Method.

However, things didn’t go that well.

When he tried to apply a group theory method to the Riemann zeta function, he soon discovered it would not work as expected.

Lu Zhou looked at the blushing girl and spoke.

“On the surface, the research on the critical line is an analytic number theory problem. However, it actually is a complex analysis problem. When it comes to the group construction of Riemann’s zeta function, I recommend you to read some of Grothendieck’s algebraic proofs of the Riemann-Roch theorem. It might inspire you.”

The steam slowly rose from Lu Zhou’s coffee cup. The girl stared at her keyboard and didn’t speak.

After a while, she looked up and stared dead straight at Lu Zhou.

“I still think my theory is correct.

“We don’t have to prove that Re (s) = 1-c / ln [| Im (s) | +2] infinitely approaches Re (s) = 1 when Im (s) approaches infinity to use the Group Structure Method. I will prove it to you!”

When Lu Zhou looked at how determined Vera was, he contemplated it for a second before smiling.

“I think there are better approaches, but it seems like you have made up your mind. If you are sure you can do it, then you might as well try. Maybe you are right, maybe we will meet on the finish line.”

Vera nodded.

“Yeah! I will not give up!”

The girl covered her mouth and coughed twice.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and asked, “Are you okay?”

Vera looked up and smiled reluctantly. She then replied softly, “Nothing… The weather has been changing, so I might have caught a cold.”

Lu Zhou: “Take care of yourself. Put more clothes on, drink some water.”

Vera began to blush. She didn’t know if it was because of Lu Zhou or because of her cold.

“Thank you.”

The conversation died.

The two went into silence.

It seemed like they didn’t know what to talk about outside the world of mathematics.

Lu Zhou was about to end the call, but Vera suddenly spoke first.

“Um…”

Lu Zhou: “What?”

Vera bit her lip and stared firmly at Lu Zhou.

“I still remember our agreement.

“I will try my best!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

He was about to say something, but the call was disconnected.

Lu Zhou stared at the blank screen and went silent for a while.

Suddenly, a pop-up window appeared on the lower-right corner of his desktop.

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you want me to call her back? (๑•. •๑)]

A few seconds went by, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. Even if you do call her back, I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay then 0.0]

Lu Zhou: “Speaking of which, I didn’t know you can video call people for me…”

Xiao Ai: [That’s very easy for Xiao Ai to do.]

Lu Zhou: “True.”

He nearly forgot that Xiao Ai hacked into a European government affairs system and used the loopholes in the system to forge an identity. This helped him sneak in a prohibited machine tool.

Video calling a person was a piece of cake in comparison.

…

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis was solved. Even though epsilon was determined to be infinitely small, this was still a huge step forward for the critical line idea.

Now, the only problem was how to advance the epsilon to 1/2.

Over the past few days, Lu Zhou spent four hours a day locking himself in the Jin Ling University library.

The library at Jin Ling University wasn’t as great as the Firestone Library in Princeton, and he could even access original manuscripts at the Firestone Library. However, he could find most of the resources he wanted at the library at Jin Ling University.

And for the ones he couldn’t, as long as he put in a request, the library would buy the book for him.

Speaking of which, a small accident happened.

When he was sitting in the library studying the Riemann zeta function, someone secretly took a picture of him sitting at his desk with a pile of books and sent it to their friends’ news feed on WeChat.

After that, somehow this photo went around the entire school.

In fact, Lu Zhou was happy to see himself set as a good example for the students. The only downside was that the caption used for the photo was “Keep on studying and you’ll never be old”.

What do you mean old?

I’m not even thirty years old yet!

The hell is old?

Ah, I’m so pissed off!

It was worth mentioning that while Lu Zhou was researching on how to extend the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, Mr. Faltings, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, finally received the review invitation from Annual Mathematics.

Now that the thesis had a reviewer, Lu Zhou’s thesis finally entered the peer review process.

This was going to be a long wait.

Due to the difficulty of the 40-page thesis, it would be at least December before the results would be published.

The entire mathematics community was talking about the Quasi Riemann hypothesis thesis.

Lu Zhou could even hear people talking about it at Jin Ling University campus.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t really care about what other people think about him. He put all of his attention onto the value of epsilon.

Just like this, November came to an end.

Another major event occurred in the international community, one that had nothing to do with mathematics, one that far surpassed the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

After half a year of construction, the first phase of the lunar research facility was finally complete!

Chapter 843: 843 Permanent Station on the Moon!

843 Permanent Station on the Moon!

A dark space filled with stars.

The Moon Palace space station peacefully floated in lunar transfer orbit.

A long spacecraft gradually floated toward the space station.

The number “002” was written on the side of the spacecraft, implying this was the second “Magpie Bridge” launch.

A few scientific researchers, which came from all over the world, were on the Magpie Bridge.

The landing gear extended forward as the Moon Palace gradually approached the Moon Palace space station.

Professor Stephen stood next to the porthole. As he looked at the white planet nearby, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Unbelievable.”

Professor Ian Crawford from Birkbeck College, University Of London looked at him and asked curiously, “What’s so unbelievable?”

“I can’t believe the Chinese actually did it. They built a scientific research station on the Moon.” Stephen looked outside the porthole and said, “I always thought they were just scamming money from the United Nations.”

A few months ago, the idea of building a semi-permanent experimental facility on the surface of the Moon sounded like a fantasy.

Professor Stephen never would have thought the Chinese could really do it.

However, reality proved him wrong.

The production was completed on Earth and was transported to the surface of the Moon via the Magpie Bridge.

If he didn’t see the photos of the scientific research station, he wouldn’t even believe this was all real.

Not just that, but apparently, China planned on building a hadron collider for particle physics experiments. CERN had sent a team of experts to Beijing to help China with technical problems.

It seemed like the Chinese and the European Union were getting along nicely.

In order to participate in the lunar research station project, various countries had to pay a large lump sum of money to China in exchange for the opportunity to allow their own scientific researchers to set foot on the research station…

“They have completely industrialized the aerospace industry.” Professor Ian continued, “I spoke about this in my thesis a long time ago. The development of lunar resources is our only way to advance technology. There is bound to be a country that could do this first.”

“That’s why I said this is unbelievable.” Professor Stephen sighed and said, “They’ve done more in a year than we have in ten years.”

Professor Stephen looked at the space station and suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, I wonder if Dr. Z is on this space station.”

When the Mars bacteria crisis was happening, an anonymous thesis published on arXiv saved the entire Earth’s ecosystem.

This matter had been widely talked about in the biology community.

Legends had been made about Dr. Z’s identity. However, even though official institutions had tried to investigate this matter, no one had yet been able to identify the person who saved all of mankind.

Professor Ian looked at him strangely and asked, “Why do you think he’s here?”

“I’ve carefully read his thesis. His writing style is very similar to some of my Chinese students. My intuition tells me he is Chinese. It’s very likely he was involved in the research of the X-0172 bacteria. Right now, the only patient with the X-0172 bacteria is lying on the research station, so there is no reason for him to not come here.”

Professor Ian jokingly said, “I still remember that a while ago, you couldn’t believe China could produce such research results.”

Professor Stephen coughed and rubbed his nose.

“That was the past, the times have changed.”

While the two were talking, the Magpie Bridge successfully docked with the Moon Palace, and the connection hatch slowly opened.

The researchers wearing spacesuits gathered in front of the cabin door and floated into the space station.

They stood in the cabin pressure buffer room. A Chinese staff member with a serious face stood in front of the researchers.

He cleared his throat and spoke with perfect English.

“Welcome to the Moon Palace space station, I am in charge here.

“The flight to the Moon’s surface will depart in three days. You will receive training over the next three days to help you adjust to the low-gravity environment.

“Now, please show your e-passport…”

Even though the Moon didn’t belong to one single country, the facilities built on the Moon were owned by various private countries and organizations.

Even though China didn’t claim territorial sovereignty over the lunar research station, strictly speaking, the research facility was part of Chinese soil.

Therefore, they had to show a passport and visa before entering…

…

Lu Zhou didn’t expect that he went on trending for two different things.

One was for the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

Even though this hypothesis wasn’t particularly well-known, it still didn’t stop him from ending up on the trending page.

On the other hand, the completion of the lunar scientific research station made him number three on the trending page.

This lunar scientific research station was named “Guanghan Lunar Palace”, and it far surpassed the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis in terms of popularity.

Not only did media outlets all over the world report on the news, but netizens around the world also enthusiastically discussed this matter.

It seemed like the entire world had their eyes on China.

For Lu Zhou, the attention and media reports didn’t phase him. He didn’t care about them at all.

He put all of his energy on the Riemann hypothesis. The Lunar Orbit Committee was moving forward as scheduled, so he didn’t have to worry about it at all.

However, while Lu Zhou was minding his own business, something confusing happened.

Which was, after the completion of the Guanghan Lunar Palace, the second phase of the “Control of Earth and Moon” mission chain was marked by the system as complete.

Chapter 844: 844 Golden Mission Card?

844 Golden Mission Card?

[Congratulations, user, for completing the second phase of the “Control of Earth and Moon” mission: Permanent Station on the Moon

[Requirements: Construct a semi-permanent scientific research station on the Moon’s surface for astronomical observations, as well as observation of climate activities and high-energy particle physics experiments.

[Reward: 200,000 mathematics experience points. 200,000 engineering experience points. 100,000 materials science experience points. 50,000 energy science experience points. 500 general points. One lucky draw ticket.

[Secondary goals:

1. Three feet deep: Collect 50 tons of rare lunar soil. Reward: 1,000 general points, random experience points card. (completed)

2. Alchemist: Produce 100 tons of titanium alloy. Reward: 500 general points, 100,000 experience points, one lucky draw ticket. (completed)

]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou looked at the information screen and didn’t feel happy at all. In fact, he was cursing himself.

The lunar hotel is already under construction, per Chen Yushan’s suggestion. The one-day lunar tourist scheme was just posted on Star Sky Technology’s website. But now you’re telling me the second phase of the mission is over?

What about the lunar hadron collider, and the giant lunar telescope…

They had already finished the design for the lunar hadron collider, but they hadn’t begun preparing for the giant telescope.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect the branch missions to be completed by themselves, but now the system was telling him the main mission was completed as well?!

For the first phase, I have to submit the mission myself, right?

How come it was automatically submitted for the second phase…

Lu Zhou closed the panel and shook his head.

All in all, the mission rewards were quite plentiful.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at the information screen in front of him. He spoke with a clear voice.

“System, open my characteristic panel!”

The moment he finished speaking, a blue light swept across the screen, and Lu Zhou’s updated characteristic panel was displayed in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 8 (974,000/3 million)

B. Physics: Level 7 (11,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 6 (0/600,000)

E. Materials science: Level 6 (163,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 4 (0/200,000)

G. Information science: Level 3 (3,000/100,000)

General points: 4,335

]

His engineering went from level 5 to level 6, energy science went from level 3 to level 4. The rest stayed the same.

As for the remaining 100,000 experience points…

Lu Zhou thought for a while and chose to allocate all of them to information science, which made his information science level go from level 3 to level 4. Even though he could receive information science experience points from his branch missions, due to the importance of informatics in the aerospace industry, it was cost-effective for him to level up as soon as possible.

“Speaking of which, I still have a random experience card…”

Lu Zhou went into his inventory and selected the golden experience card.

[Random experience card (receive 1-9,999,999 random experience points.]

I can win seven digits of experience points!

But I can also only earn 1…

After reading the card description, Lu Zhou gulped.

If I receive 2 million experience points, I can increase my mathematics to level 9!

“Is the system going to scam me again?”

Lu Zhou silently prayed in his heart. His fingers trembled as he reached out and tapped the card.

An animation showed the card disappearing into golden stars. A line of text appeared on the system inventory panel.

[Congratulations, user, 100,000 mathematics experience points received!]

As expected, he didn’t receive 7 figures of experience points.

He knew the system wouldn’t be so kind to him.

Even though this was a little unfortunate, the 100,000 experience points was still pretty good.

Lu Zhou closed his inventory panel and returned to his characteristic panel.

“Here comes the exciting part.”

Because of his branch mission rewards, he had two lucky draw tickets.

Since it turned out that praying was useless, Lu Zhou didn’t waste any time. He closed his eyes and pressed the draw buttons.

It turned out he was pretty lucky this time.

[Congratulations, user, a sample is given!

[Receive: “Transcendence” X-1 computer!]

[Congratulations, user, special item received!

[Received: Golden mission card!]

Lu Zhou didn’t really care about the Transcendence X-1 computer since he could tinker with that in his laboratory at a later date. He was more interested in the golden mission card.

He reached out and tapped his inventory panel, where a translucent dialog box popped up.

[Golden mission card (A special mission card that comes with bonus experience points). Use it to activate a golden reward mission. If the user is currently assigned to another mission, the golden reward mission will take priority until the golden reward mission has either been completed or abandoned.]

“Bonus experience points… What does that mean?”

The description read like a mobile video game.

Lu Zhou was curious. Since there was a golden mission card, were there also a silver mission card and a diamond mission card?

“Current mission will be paused… Does that mean it’s similar to urgent missions?”

But it’s not actually an urgent mission, and I can abandon the mission at any time?

Regardless, I should look at the final missions for the Control of Earth and Moon mission chain.

Lu Zhou left the card alone and went to his mission panel.

Now that the lucky draw was completed, his mission panel should have been updated.

He clicked on the translucent panel, and a dialog box appeared in front of him.

[Goal 3: Control of Earth and Moon!

[Requirements: Build a mass driver on the lunar surface with a delivery capacity of 50 tons.]

[Secondary goals: …]

When Lu Zhou read this mission, he froze.

What surprised him wasn’t that the system had the same idea as him.

When he looked at the secondary goals section, he saw that the unfinished branch missions from phase two were transferred into phase three…

It seemed like he didn’t miss out on the branch mission rewards after all.

But this also meant he had a lot of missions to do…

Chapter 845: 845 Three Years!

845 Three Years!

Lu Zhou stared at his mission panel for five minutes, and in the end, he decided to activate the mission card.

Even though the Lunar Orbit Committee planned on building a mass driver on the moon, he had no idea how long it would take.

He should be using this time to complete another mission instead.

After all, the lunar mass driver was advancing forward by itself, so the mission could be picked up again at any time.

[Golden reward mission: Activated!

[Description: The beginning of a future era starts with mathematics…

[Requirements: Solve the Riemann hypothesis within three years!

[Mission rewards: 10,000 general points, two million mathematics experience points. “Legendary” mission card.]

“… Solve the Riemann hypothesis in three years?”

Lu Zhou finished reading the translucent mission panel and muttered to himself, “I know this is the crown of mathematics, but three years…

“Is more than enough time.”

Lu Zhou double-checked the mission requirements again. He then tapped the screen and closed his mission panel.

Solving the Riemann hypothesis wasn’t an easy task. Even though he already solved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, climbing the final part of the mountain would take a lot of effort.

But why was Lu Zhou so confident?

Because there had yet to be a problem that took him more than three years to solve…

Lu Zhou had no doubt that he could solve this problem within three years.

This was both his mathematics intuition and his self-confidence from being the king of modern mathematics!

“The ‘legendary’ mission card sounds exciting…”

Surely legendary is better than golden, right?

Lu Zhou didn’t know what was hidden behind that mission card, but the word legendary made him thrilled…

…

After Lu Zhou exited the system space, he opened his eyes and woke up in his office.

He felt a warm sensation climbing from his spine to his brain. It was like his neurons were immersed in a spa of knowledge. He never felt better before.

It felt like…

He was one step closer to becoming the omniscient God.

It didn’t take long for the information to enter his brain, and the warm sensation in his spine gradually subsided.

Lu Zhou moved his shoulders and felt something weighing on him. He reached out and felt a blanket.

He looked at the girl in the office. The girl blushed and said, “I saw you were sleeping, so I put the blanket on you.”

Lu Zhou looked at Han Mengqi and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome… Oh, the question you assigned me, I finished it.”

Han Mengqi was turning bright red. She tried to avoid eye contact as she walked up and handed him the stack of A4 papers.

“I don’t know if it’s right, but… I thought of it myself.”

“Let me see.”

Lu Zhou took the stack of A4 papers from the girl and glanced at it.

The title was the question he assigned her.

[For any real number s u003e 1, define ζ(s) = Σ1 / (m ^ s)… Prove that ζ(2n) is a transcendental number.]

Lu Zhou spent five minutes looking through the first couple of pages. He then gave her an evaluation.

“Standard proof.”

Lu Zhou looked at the calendar, then looked at Han Mengqi.

“I’m surprised. I thought it would take you more time to prove it, I didn’t expect you to finish it this year.”

Han Mengqi couldn’t help but smile proudly. She pouted and replied, “I’m actually pretty smart.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“I agree with that.”

Lu Zhou looked like he had some questions, so Han Mengqi energetically spoke first.

“Go ahead, ask away!”

“Line 16, page three.”

Han Mengqi quickly found the line on her A4 copy.

Lu Zhou picked up the room temperature coffee cup on his table and took a sip. He paused for a second before saying, “Explain in detail on how you introduced the ζ (2n) from equation 2 as a transcendental number.”

After hearing this question, Han Mengqi was relieved.

She did a ton of preparation before coming to Lu Zhou, so she didn’t expect Lu Zhou to ask a fairly basic question.

She took a deep breath and replied, “This can be obtained by transforming equation 2 using Euler’s formula. For any integer nu003e 1, ζ (2n) = b (n) π ^ (2n).

“B(2n) is a sequence of rational numbers, which is, Bernoulli numbers. Obviously ζ (2) is π ^ 2 times a special rational number, and ζ (4) is π ^ 4 times a special rational number… So it is obvious that ζ (2), ζ (4)… are rational numbers. And because π is a transcendental number, the function values are also transcendental numbers.”

After hearing Han Mengqi’s explanation, Lu Zhou nodded with approval.

“Not bad.

“Don’t be happy just yet, that was just to prove you wrote the thesis yourself. The following question is the real challenge.”

Lu Zhou put down his coffee cup and spoke.

“Now that you have proven that ζ (2n) is a transcendental number, I want to ask, what about ζ (3)?”

What a simple question…

Han Mengqi proudly raised her chin.

However, when she was about to answer the question, she froze.

ζ (3)!

ζ (3)!

What what what?

What is that?

Han Mengqi was muddled, Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Can’t answer it? ζ(3) seems simpler than ζ (2n), right? It doesn’t even contain a variable.”

“Yeah…” Han Mengqi pondered. She didn’t know what to say.

After a while, she spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Maybe… it’s also a transcendental number?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Oh really? Why?”

Han Mengqi answered honestly, “It was a guess.”

Seeing the girl lower her head, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“It’s not surprising you don’t know the answer. Because Euler also didn’t know. It wasn’t until 1978, when French mathematician R. Apery proved that ζ (3) is not a rational number. As for whether or not ζ (5) is a rational number, we still don’t know.”

After Han Mengqi heard that there was no answer to the question, she pouted.

“What is that… There isn’t even an answer to the question… You’re bullying me.”

“There is an answer.” Lu Zhou smiled at Han Mengqi and said in a serious manner, “There’s an answer to every mathematics problem, we just don’t know it. When you become a PhD student, that is where the challenge is. You will have to find your own ideas for proofs, then find the proofs themselves.”

Han Mengqi paused for a second.

She immediately realized what was going on, and she looked ecstatic.

“Wait a second, you’re saying that I can be your student!”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“I actually already made up my mind after you answered my first question.

“The second question will be your research project.”

Lu Zhou stood up from his desk and walked to the blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard as he spoke.

“The transcendence value of the Riemann zeta function at odd positive integers has always been a classic problem in analytical mathematical theory. According to Euler’s formula and the properties of Bernoulli numbers, we can easily prove that ζ (2n) is a transcendental number. Therefore, our hypothesis is that for any integer n u003e 1, ζ (2n + 1) is also a transcendental number.

“The best result so far is that there are countless ζ (2n + 1), which are irrational numbers. However, the difference between infinities is still infinity.

“If you can do good research in this area, even if it’s only a small proof, you will be recognized by the academic community.

“By then, you will be able to graduate.”

Chapter 846: 846 Quantum Computer?!

846 Quantum Computer?!

In fact, strictly speaking, Lu Zhou’s research direction wasn’t regarding the transcendental values of the Riemann zeta function at odd positive integers. The Riemann hypothesis had little to do with transcendental numbers.

However, having said that, things in mathematics were often linked in unexpected ways.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect Han Mengqi’s research to be useful for him.

She was assigned to conduct research in this area because his research was regarding the Riemann zeta function. If she ever ran into any trouble, he could easily help her.

As for the other less important reason, it was because he hoped he could be inspired while guiding her.

After Lu Zhou assigned the research project, he and Han Mengqi talked about some housekeeping matters. Matters related to compensation and expectations.

Even though this chick’s family was loaded, he still had to go through the normal procedures.

Lu Zhou had the habit of taking care of every single one of his students.

After Lu Zhou explained all of the relevant details to Han Mengqi, he told her to take the day off. They would go through the formal process tomorrow and register at the Academic Affairs office. She would also come report at his office tomorrow.

Han Mengqi, who was full of joy, happily left the office. Lu Zhou called Wang Peng and told him to bring the car to the mathematics department. He wanted to go to the Institute for Advanced Study.

Suddenly, his office door was pushed open, and He Changwen walked in while chewing on a pork bun.

He looked at the blackboard and paused for a second. He nearly dropped his bun.

“Boss, you… are researching the transcendental values of the Riemann zeta function at odd positive integers?”

Lu Zhou had only just solved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, and there was now another world-class mathematics problem on his blackboard.

Even though this problem wasn’t as nutty as the Riemann hypothesis, anything related to Riemann zeta function was considered a world-class problem.

He was ready for Lu Zhou to say “yes”.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t nod his head.

“This isn’t my research, I assigned that to student Han. Oh yeah, by the way, she’s going to be your PhD classmate now… Is that fine?”

He Changwen looked at Lu Zhou angrily.

Lu Zhou thought back to what he said. He didn’t think he said anything wrong.

“Nothing.”

He Changwen shook his head with an angry look.

Damn it!

I’ve been with you for three years, yet you’ve never assigned me such a big project!

I mean, I wouldn’t have contributed to the Quasi Riemann hypothesis anyway…

But you’re already assigning this new chick such a big research project.

This is so unfair!

He Changwen began to look even angrier.

Lu Zhou: “…?”

…

Because there was still a system reward waiting for him to “unbox”, Lu Zhou didn’t stay for long at work. He decided to leave early.

He didn’t have to wait for long before his Electric Purple car was parked at the mathematics department building.

Lu Zhou saw his beloved car and sighed in relief.

Thank God he didn’t make too many modifications to my baby car.

At least it looks somewhat the same.

Wang Peng walked up and helped him open the door. Lu Zhou asked curiously, “What did you change?”

“We changed the class, the car frame was also replaced with reinforced steel. We then repainted it and coated it with carbon fiber. The weight might have increased, the acceleration might be slightly lower, same with the horsepower. But the rest should be the same.” Wang Peng happily slapped the roof of the car and said, “I told you, I wouldn’t destroy your precious car.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m curious, what’s the point of modifying it?”

Wang Peng: “It makes a big difference. Before, if this thing were hit by a truck, we would be screwed.”

Lu Zhou: “What about now?”

Wang Peng replied calmly, “The truck would be the one that’s screwed.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.

I wonder if we can test it with a truck…

While Lu Zhou was getting in his car, two female students walked out of the library and walked past the mathematics department building. They noticed the cool looking sports car and spoke to one another.

“Yo, look over there… That’s God Lu’s car, right?”

The girl with bangs excitedly looked toward the car.

“I think so… I remember he used to drive a boring sedan, right?”

“Maybe he changed his car after becoming an academician?”

“Maybe! But I heard he has his own company, so he might have bought it himself?”

“I think God Lu doesn’t have a girlfriend…”

The two female students went silent for a second.

Two seconds went by, and the girl with bangs exclaimed, “Sigh, actually money isn’t important, I just like guys who are good at mathematics. They’re so intellectually charming.”

Her friend replied, “Forget about it. There are plenty of smart boys doing mathematics, yet I don’t see you going out with any of them?”

While the two students were joking around, the Electric Purple car already drove away.

They suddenly realized that they had forgotten to take a photo and post it on their friends’ news feed…

…

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was close to Jin Ling University, and the drive took less than ten minutes.

After they arrived at the institute, Wang Peng registered the vehicle while Lu Zhou went straight to the main building of the institute. He took the elevator and went directly to the third floor underground laboratory.

This was his secret warehouse. It was mainly used to store Xiao Ai’s main server, as well as some samples and debris from the system.

Lu Zhou walked to the center of the laboratory and closed his eyes. He extended his right hand and entered into the system space. He went into his inventory and clicked the item.

When he opened his eyes again, light blue particles began to fly around him, and the particles slowly gathered together and formed an object.

When the blue light disappeared, a black metal box was sitting in front of Lu Zhou.

[“Transcendence” X-1 computer, a medium-sized industrial quantum computer with an integrated quantum chip, used for server software… Note: Due to intellectual property laws, this device has anti-engineering protection and cannot be disassembled or scanned. Any unauthorized use will lead to unpredictable consequences.]

It’s a quantum computer!

After reading the translucent dialog box in front of him, Lu Zhou’s heart skipped a beat.

However, after reading the last sentence, his heart rate calmed down.

F*ck sake!

What do you mean I can’t disassemble or scan it?

So I can’t use my scanner gun then?

Lu Zhou was curious what would happen if he accidentally broke the computer, who would fix it for him?

Maybe this is just for experimentation?

But then again, if this is truly industrial grade, it should last me for more than a decade.

Lu Zhou was wondering how to connect this computer to a power supply when the quad-rotor drone flew over.

[Master, can you give it to Xiao Ai?

[(˶́『『˵)]

Chapter 847: 847 Xiao Ai Upgrade!

847 Xiao Ai Upgrade!

[(˶́『『˵)]

The drone floated up and down next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou guessed that this was the artificial retard’s way of being pouty.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai’s drone. He coughed and spoke.

“Shut up, let me figure out how this thing works first.”

This wasn’t just a children’s toy. This was the only commercial quantum computer in the world. This was different from the laboratory quantum guinea pigs.

If he somehow broke this computer, it would be a huge loss to humanity!

Xiao Ai: [Ah, but Master… I’m scared you are going to destroy it! :(]

“Of course not!”

Lu Zhou suddenly realized the system didn’t even give him a manual, so he awkwardly said, “… Do you know how to use this thing?”

Xiao Ai: [Nope! But I’ll learn!]

Xiao Ai: [I can also help you install an operating system!]

Really?

Since Xiao Ai was so confident, Lu Zhou thought about it seriously for a while and made a decision.

“Then I’ll have to thank you in advance.”

Information science wasn’t his strong suit.

Even though his information science level was rising, his subject level didn’t equate to raw knowledge. It only allowed him to absorb knowledge at a faster rate. Since he didn’t spend a lot of time programming, his coding abilities had stagnated over the past couple of years.

He could write some small programs, but when it came to the cutting-edge computer science field of quantum computing…

He didn’t even know where to begin.

Xiao Ai: [I’ll take care of it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

The moment the line appeared on the screen, the VGA logistics truck and the robotic arm attached to the wall began moving.

The computer was first transported next to the wall. The robotic arm on the wall then quickly connected the cables of the computers to their respective outlets.

Lu Zhou looked at this and almost had a heart attack. He didn’t want his “new toy” to be ruined.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Xiao Ai was obviously more knowledgeable than him. It even built a water-cooled heat sink case for the computer.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, installation is complete! Time to witness a miracle!]

Lu Zhou: “Cut the crap, turn on the computer.”

The signal light on the case flashed, and the monitor signal light was lit.

However, even though the monitor signal light was lit, there was no picture.

Lu Zhou stared at the dark screen. If it weren’t for the text box on the upper left corner of the screen, he wouldn’t have realized the computer was on.

After a while, Lu Zhou looked at the drone and said, “That’s it?”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah, it’s sorted!]

Lu Zhou: “There’s no desktop?”

Xiao Ai: [This is a command-line operating system… Of course, Xiao Ai can design a graphical operating system for Master… Wait a second, Xiao Ai feels weird…Σ (°△° |||) ]

When the text on the drone screen disappeared, Lu Zhou quickly asked, “Are you okay?

“Xiao Ai!”

The quantum computer suddenly began to emit a bright blue light.

Lu Zhou looked at the computer and realized the light wasn’t coming from the computer, it was coming from himself…

Or rather, the system.

Half a second later, a translucent dialog box appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, user, “Artificial intelligence” technology branch upgraded.

[Current level: level 3]

“Artificial intelligence” technology branch!

It leveled up by itself!

Lu Zhou was ecstatic.

When he returned from Princeton, he remembered giving Xiao Ai a new home, but that wasn’t enough for an upgrade.

I can’t believe level 3 requires a quantum computer!

That’s such a harsh upgrade condition!

Lu Zhou reached out and clicked on the translucent dialog box. The level 4 requirement was displayed in front of him.

[Upgrade requirements: Collect sufficient human social data.]

It seemed like level 4 wasn’t about increasing computing power. This made Lu Zhou feel relieved.

This was already a quantum computer from a higher-level civilization, there was no way for him to find a better “home” for Xiao Ai.

What does “collect human social data” even mean? That’s so abstract.

What if I just register a few social media accounts and record my friends’ activities, is that enough?

Lu Zhou stared at the empty progress bar and went into deep thought.

Xiao Ai, who was silent this whole time, finally came back to life. The drone swayed up and down and flew next to Lu Zhou.

Xiao Ai: [Master, I’m fine now. (✿◡‿◡)]

The translucent dialog box disappeared. Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai’s drone and asked, “How does it feel after the upgrade? Anything different?”

Xiao Ai: [I feel smarter! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou: “…”

I don’t know why…

But I feel like…

Letting Xiao Ai use this computer is a waste?

…

Because Lu Zhou couldn’t reverse engineer the X-1 computer, he lost most of his interest in the novel quantum computer. After giving Xiao Ai its new home, Lu Zhou exited the laboratory and went to his office on the top floor of the building.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk and planned on doing some paperwork. He pulled out some documents from his file cabinet.

He was about to flip through the documents when he heard a knock at his door.

Lu Zhou closed the document and left it aside.

“Come in.”

Yang Xu, the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, walked in with an excited look on his face.

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled and asked, “What’s so exciting?”

“Amazing news!” Yang Xu quickly walked up to Lu Zhou’s desk and smiled. He placed a report on Lu Zhou’s desk and asked, “Remember the carbon-based chip project we initiated two years ago?”

Lu Zhou immediately sat up from his chair.

“Results came out?”

“Not just results…” Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou and took a deep breath. He then exclaimed, “We figured it out!”

Chapter 848: 848 Shine Bright Like A Diamond

848 Shine Bright Like A Diamond

The carbon-based chip project had been completed!

This was the best news Lu Zhou had heard over the past few days.

Without hesitating, he immediately told Yang Xu to bring him to the Institute of Computational Materials, where the carbon-based chip team was located.

When the two arrived at the laboratory, the laboratory was dead silent.

A group of researchers surrounded a piece of large experimental equipment, and one of the researchers seemed to be carefully adjusting something.

Lu Zhou and Yang Xu didn’t interrupt them. They quietly waited at the doorstep.

Soon after, the crowd gasped.

Lu Zhou looked at the excited expressions on the researchers’ faces, and he immediately knew what was going on.

Yang Xu started to get impatient, and he looked over at Lu Zhou and said, “Let’s go over there.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

The two walked through the laboratory and approached the main experimental equipment. The group of researchers finally noticed Lu Zhou and Yang Xu.

A nerdy looking middle-aged man looked at the two with a surprised look on his face.

“Director Yang? Dean Lu?”

“This is the person in charge of the project,” Yang Xu said, “Professor Wu Tianqun.”

“Nice to meet you, Professor Wu.”

“Hello hello.” Professor Wu shook Lu Zhou’s hand and enthusiastically said, “Academician Lu, what brings you here?”

“I heard there are some new experiment results, so Yang Xu brought me here.” Lu Zhou looked at the equipment and smiled as he said, “Is it finished?”

Professor Wu stood up straight and replied, “This is the second experiment, the first experiment was successfully conducted yesterday!”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Can you demonstrate it to me?”

Professor Wu immediately made an inviting gesture.

“Come with me!”

Computer chip production was an extremely complicated process. Layering silicon wafers with photomasks, stacking them like Legos… All these processes required a high level of precision.

This sounded simple, but these “Legos” were measured in nanometers. Not to mention the complex IC designs and photolithography processes. Producing a chip that met market expectations was one of the standards for measuring a country’s electronics technology output.

This was a huge technical feat.

In CMOS production, the feature size was typically represented as the width of the “logic gate”, which was also the channel length of the MOS device. Generally speaking, the smaller the channel length, the better the chip performance and the lower the power consumption.

However, this size couldn’t be reduced forever.

First of all, silicon atoms had its own width, not to mention the quantum tunneling effects would become larger at smaller scales. This combined with various other factors severely limited silicon-based chip advancements.

However, humans’ pursuit of new technology was endless.

Since silicon-based chips couldn’t be further improved, other materials began coming into play.

According to the latest research, the use of carbon nanotubes and molybdenum disulfide and other materials had opened a new way for computer chip performance to improve. This allowed Moore’s law to live on.

But things often didn’t go according to plan.

Even though these two types of materials had the potential to replace silicon-based chips, they had their own respective shortcomings. Research institutes around the world were unable to break through some of the critical bottlenecks.

Which was, to use the groundbreaking materials to create transistors!

Back when Lu Zhou was researching graphene superconducting materials, he discovered that two sheets of single-layered graphene overlapped at a special angle displayed Mott insulator characteristics.

Not only did this major discovery lead to the breakthrough of carbon-based superconducting materials, but it also laid the foundation for the success of the Pangu fusion reactor.

Not just that, but Lu Zhou was also aware that this feature could be applied to the semiconductor world.

Of course, he wasn’t a semiconductor expert. This was just his academic intuition.

Back then, he planned on partnering with Baosheng Group and investing in the project together. Unfortunately, General Manager Sun wasn’t particularly optimistic about the project, so they did not participate.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care. He had plenty of money and human resources. After returning to China, he assembled a research and development team, pulling talents from the Institute of Computational Materials.

It had been nearly three years since the project was established, and they were finally able to see their project come to life.

Lu Zhou stood next to the experimental equipment and looked at the carbon-based chip transistor through a microscope. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Beautiful…”

The raw material was graphite, which was peeled into graphene layers. The transistor was like a finely crafted diamond, shining through the microscope.

Yang Xu couldn’t wait any longer, and he quickly stepped up to the microscope and spoke.

“Let me see.”

Lu Zhou smiled and stepped aside, giving the microscope to Yang Xu.

After looking into the microscope for a couple of seconds, Yang Xu spoke emotionally.

“This is better than diamonds… This is worth more than every single diamond in the world combined.”

Lu Zhou laughed.

“That’s a bit exaggerated… But I agree, it is better than diamonds.”

They could trade the carbon-based transistor for an entire truckload of diamonds.

After all…

This small carbon-based transistor was the future…

Lu Zhou looked at the researchers standing behind him. He cleared his throat and said, “This is a huge breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology! Even though the transistor size is still a magnitude larger than the current silicon transistors on the market, carbon-based chips have almost unlimited potential!”

Lu Zhou couldn’t even describe the potential of carbon-based chips.

The only thing he was sure, was that this would increase chip process technology by an entire order of magnitude!

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this alone could make Professor Wu an academician!

“Good job everyone!”

Lu Zhou looked at the group of excited researchers and Professor Wu Tianqun. He paused for a moment and added solemnly, “Today, we made history!”

Chapter 849: 849 The Second Key to the Future

849 The Second Key to the Future

There was no point in giving an emotional speech.

Even though these were academic scientific researchers, they still needed to eat.

They had given everything to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology.

Lu Zhou had to give them something back.

Lu Zhou looked at the excited researchers and gave them all a week-long paid vacation. He also announced that everyone would receive at least a 100,000 yuan bonus, and a total of 20 million yuan in bonuses would be given out to outstanding researchers.

The researchers were already happy with the vacation…

When they heard about the bonuses, the entire laboratory erupted with enthusiasm…

…

When Yang Xu walked out of the laboratory, the cheers from the researchers echoed in his mind.

After the researchers heard about the 20 million yuan in bonuses, they began cheering at the top of their lungs. Fortunately, the precision equipment was in another laboratory. Otherwise, they would suffer millions of dollars worth of damage.

Lu Zhou was walking next to him, and he hesitated for a second before asking Lu Zhou, “Is 20 million too much?”

Other than large national projects or projects funded by large companies, 20 million yuan in research funding was extremely high for normal researchers.

Giving out 20 million yuan in bonuses, even if it was divided between ten people, was two million yuan per person.

Not to mention, there were only a couple of outstanding researchers.

Even Yang Xu, who worked at MIT, hadn’t seen bonuses like this before.

Lu Zhou: “Well, 20 million is just a fraction of the value they created.”

Yang Xu: “Theoretically, that is true, but I’m worried that other researchers from other projects might get jealous. They might want more compensation.”

Lu Zhou smiled and replied nonchalantly, “If they’re jealous, then they should work harder. Jinling Institute for Advanced Study provides them with a world-class research environment. This isn’t a retirement home, this is a place of research.

“As for the bonuses being too high… Is that even a problem? If they produce even better results in the future, I’ll buy them houses!

“I want the entire academic community to know that, if they work hard for me, they’ll be compensated fairly. As long as they produce valuable results, they’ll receive just as much value in return.”

Lu Zhou always believed that the people who expanded civilization’s knowledge were the ones who were the most deserving of wealth.

This was why he splurged on things like a big house and nice sports car.

Even though people took photos of his house and posted it on the Internet, claiming he was hoarding resources, he never cared.

It seemed like every child wanted to be a scientist, but when they grew up, they wanted to be in the entertainment industry.

Lu Zhou felt like the public should value scientists over entertainers.

Even though Yang Xu was a little shocked by Lu Zhou’s decisions, as the director of the Institute of Computational Materials and a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Advanced Study, he had to place the institute’s interests first.

“Then what about theoretical research fields?

“It’s hard for theoretical research to produce valuable results. However, the Institute of Computational Materials wouldn’t be where it is now without theoretical research.

“Do you know why the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Institute of Computational Materials Science was never established? Not because they are lacking money, but because they’re too good at materials science! The nutty materials scientists all go to Silicon Valley!”

After hearing Yang Xu’s words, Lu Zhou went silent for a while.

“You’re right.”

He contemplated it for a few seconds.

“Theoretical research should also be encouraged.

“If the result is significant enough, they should also be rewarded.”

Yang Xu: “…”

Yang Xu was speechless…

…

Actually, Lu Zhou had always planned on setting up a special bonus fund specifically for theoretical research at the Institute for Advanced Study. This was for fields such as physics, mathematics, theoretical chemistry, and biology.

He had to find a way to spend his money somehow.

He could try to copy what Nobel did?

But it was too early to think about that kind of stuff.

He would have to wait until he was at least on the hospital bed.

Lu Zhou returned to his office and pulled out some paper from his drawer.

The carbon-based transistor breakthrough was a high priority, and he had to inform the relevant departments first.

Of course, what prompted Lu Zhou to write this letter wasn’t just because of the carbon-based transistor breakthrough.

It was also because the value of carbon-based transistors was far more than just increasing the theoretical limit of chip manufacturing technology. It was also because the other properties of graphene, such as it being a topological insulator, was going to be integrated into the semiconductor industry.

According to theoretical calculations, energy Majorana fermions would be formed in the vortex core region between the three-dimensional topological insulator and the superconductor, and this might enable topological quantum computing.

What did this mean?

This meant that not only would carbon-based chips change the semiconductor industry, but it also brought the possibility of constructing topological qubits using Majonara fermions and Majorana zero modes!

In layman’s terms, this would open a new door to quantum computing!

Lu Zhou, a scholar who had won the Nobel Prize in the field of materials, instantly recognized the potential value behind carbon-based transistors.

The transistor length reduction was just the icing on the cake. The realization of topological quantum computing would entirely revolutionize the computing industry and modern civilization!

Lu Zhou finished writing the two-thousand-word letter. He folded the letter into an envelope and placed it on the corner of his desk. He planned on giving it to Wang Peng and telling him to send it to Beijing.

If controllable fusion technology was the first key to the future, then quantum computing was the second key.

Lu Zhou felt very lucky.

Because he was the one who had this key.

Chapter 850: 850 Ah, I“m So Dumb

850 Ah, I“m So Dumb

Star Sky Technology building.

Top floor office.

As usual, Chen Yushan was working. She meticulously reviewed the documents sent from various departments of the company.

Even though her life was a little fast-paced, for her, this was enjoyable.

Especially when she saw the impact of Star Sky Technology on the world, she felt like her life was meaningful and fulfilling.

Speaking of which, if it weren’t for Lu Zhou offering her a job, she would have utilized her Wharton degree and her father’s connections to work somewhere in Beijing.

Even though working for the government was also a fantastic job…

But she always felt like her MBA would have been a waste.

She stretched her back and was about to stand up. Suddenly, the phone sitting on the corner of her desk began to ring.

She picked up the phone and spoke.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

Chen Yushan instantly recognized the voice, and she smirked and jokingly asked, “Aren’t you on a retreat researching the Riemann hypothesis? How come you’re suddenly calling me?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, I was on a retreat, but that is over… Speaking of which, remember the carbon-based chip project I told you about a while ago?”

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but smile.

“I remember, did a result come out?”

Honestly speaking, she wasn’t very optimistic about the carbon-based chip project. Mainly because this concept was overhyped. Ever since 2018, Microsoft had claimed to have made significant research progress in this direction, but until this day, no actual results were seen.

But Lu Zhou was too stubborn.

If he wanted to burn money on this research project, no one could stop him.

Just like how he wanted to burn money on aerospace.

However, the reply from the other end of the office made Chen Yushan freeze.

“Yeah, they figured it out last night.”

Figured it out…

The phone line went silent.

Lu Zhou patiently waited for a while.

He began to wonder if the phone was still connected. Suddenly, he heard something falling to the ground.

Chen Yushan quickly picked up the phone and checked if she cracked her phone screen. She spoke in disbelief.

“Figured it out? What do you mean? Carbon-based chips? Are you sure?”

Lu Zhou coughed. “Yep, I’m sure… I’m not kidding.”

Chen Yushan sneezed.

She asked in a complex tone, “Do you know what this means?”

Lu Zhou was amused.

You kidding me?

He was the one who discovered the Mott insulator characteristics in graphene, and he was the one who made the SG-1 superconducting material.

Before Lu Zhou could speak, Chen Yushan said, “Carbon-based chips will lower the size limit of chip manufacturing. We can take at least 30% of the profits from each produced chip. We will become the new Intel of the chip field… Even Intel will have to bow down to us!

“Not only that… This is also a great opportunity for our country’s electronics industry to pivot. Do you know what this means? It means that we will receive substantial support from the state policies!”

Chen Yushan felt her mouth getting dry, so she grabbed her cup and took a sip of tea.

However, the tea wasn’t able to calm her down.

A slight cough came from the other end of the phone.

Lu Zhou said, “I already know all of this.

“Also, there’s one point you missed. Not only will this improve traditional computer chips, but the zero-energy Majorana fermions formed in the vortex core region at the interface between the three-dimensional topological insulator and the superconductor creates the possibilities for building topological qubits. Do you know what this means?”

Before Chen Yushan could reply, Lu Zhou smiled and added, “This means that quantum computers are no longer science fiction. We’ve found a material that can be used to build topological qubits!”

Chen Yushan froze. She was full of confusion.

“Wait a second, quantum computers? I don’t get it…”

She wasn’t quite sure how quantum computers were related to carbon-based chips. She obviously didn’t know what topological insulators and Majorana fermions were.

Ah, I’m so dumb.

Lu Zhou had a smug smile on his face as he said, “As for how carbon-based chips are related to quantum computing, we’ll talk about that another time. Basically, this carbon-based chip breakthrough is far larger than just computer chips.

“Also, I have sent a letter to Beijing regarding this matter. If everything goes well, the State Administration for National Defense Patent Office will give me a call. I need you to coordinate with the relevant departments and form a patent plan. If you can, send our expert patent team to the Institute for Advanced Study today.”

Chen Yushan nodded seriously and said confidently, “Don’t worry, I got this!”

Lu Zhou nodded with a serious expression.

“Okay then, thanks!”

Not only did they have to plan for the patents, but they also had to prepare many other things for this world-changing chip.

For example, they had to find a manufacturing partner, then develop a production process that could meet market needs, as well as further reducing the size of carbon-based transistors, surpassing the performance of silicon-based chips that had dominated the electronics industry for decades.

No matter how advanced the technology was, if it couldn’t be industrialized, it was useless.

But if they do achieve industrialization and successfully enter the market…

Then the market itself would push this technology forward.

When it came to technical matters, Lu Zhou knew what kind of experts to hire.

But when it came to business matters, he had to ask Chen Yushan for help…

Chapter 851: 851 The Power of One Letter

851 The Power of One Letter

After Lu Zhou told Chen Yushan to handle the business side, he left this matter alone. He continued to research Riemann’s hypothesis.

Pure mathematics problems and the “legendary” mission card were much more interesting for him than money.

He stayed at the office until late.

After Lu Zhou got off work, he sat in his car and gave Wang Peng the letter.

Wang Peng took the letter and raised his eyebrows.

“What is this?”

Lu Zhou: “Send it to Chang’an Avenue, Beijing.”

Wang Peng: “Do I have to go myself?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“Not necessary, just find someone you can trust. Also, if you go, who’s going to drive me around?”

Wang Peng nodded and didn’t ask what was in the letter. He threw the letter into the passenger glove box.

After sending Lu Zhou back to Zhongshan International, he planned on going to the Ministry of State Security office, which was nearby, where he would find someone responsible for the delivery of this important document.

After Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion, he went to take a shower. He told Xiao Ai to make him a cup of warm milk, then went into the study room.

He had made some progress on the Riemann hypothesis. What he needed to do now was to continuously improve the mathematical tools he invented when he researched the Quasi Riemann hypothesis while also reading theses that might inspire him.

He browsed through the Mathoverflow forum, specifically Professor Tao’s page.

Unfortunately, Professor Tao had been rather quiet recently. He had not participated in any new discussions.

Professor Tao was probably still reading Lu Zhou’s latest thesis.

“Is my thesis that difficult to understand?

“I thought it would take him at most a day to finish reading it.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He continued to read some of the posts related to the Riemann hypothesis.

After scrolling for a while, he didn’t find any valuable discussion posts. He yawned and closed the site.

[Master, your cup of warm milk is ready! ٩ (•̤̀ᴗ•̤́๑)]

“Thank you.”

The cup warmed up Lu Zhou’s hands as he slowly took a sip.

After migrating into a quantum computer, Xiao Ai’s intelligence level didn’t seem to change much. The milk still tasted the same to Lu Zhou.

Of course, he might not be able to see the changes just yet.

As Lu Zhou stared at the draft paper on the table, a light bulb went off in his mind. He looked at Xiao Ai’s drone and asked, “Xiao Ai, if I asked you to solve Riemann’s hypothesis, how long would it take?”

Xiao Ai hovered there for two seconds silently.

After two seconds, the speaker on the drone replied.

“Master, Xiao Ai can only tell you that the first hundred trillion zeros of the Riemann zeta function are on the critical line… Can Master set an upper boundary for this problem? (°ー°〃)”

Lu Zhou was shocked.

It already finished calculating the hundred trillion zeros?

The best result published in the mathematical world was that the first ten trillion zeros of the Riemann zeta function were on the critical line. This result was jointly published by Gourdon and Demichel, two experts in analytic number theory and computing.

Lu Zhou remembered hearing in Princeton on how long these two experts took to calculate this result, but he didn’t remember the exact time frame. After all, these experts didn’t publish all of the details in their thesis, since the mathematics world wasn’t interested in brute force calculations.

The only thing Lu Zhou was sure was that the number of calculations was way beyond what a normal computer could do, even using supercomputers would take a lot of time and money…

Lu Zhou was visibly astonished.

He didn’t expect the X-1 quantum computer to be able to increase the “best result” of Riemann’s hypothesis by ten times, in just two seconds…

What if I use this thing to crack Wechat pay passwords…

No, forget about Wechat pay.

This quantum computer would be able to solve any encryption built using a prime number architecture.

Xiao Ai: “Master? (°ー°〃)”

Lu Zhou heard Xiao Ai’s question and replied.

He said, “Nothing, I’m going to sleep… Clean up the room.”

Xiao Ai: “Okay! Xiao Ai’s got this! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧”

Lu Zhou looked at how enthusiastic Xiao Ai was and smirked.

Maybe he shouldn’t worry.

But then again, this computer had the capability to destroy security, so he should try to be more careful…

…

It was late into the night.

While Lu Zhou was sleeping, that two-thousand-word letter was transported from Jinling to Beijing.

Two hours after the letter was delivered, the Communist Party of China immediately invited several senior officials into a conference room on Chang’an Avenue.

Many academicians in the field of electrical engineering were also invited.

Some people were already sleeping, but the phone call woke them up, and they headed back to work.

When they received the phone call, they already had a car waiting for them downstairs.

Similar situations had happened before.

The establishment of the controllable fusion project also disrupted Chang’an Avenue overnight.

After all, Lu Zhou had underestimated the influence of his letter.

Of course, it wasn’t just Lu Zhou, Chen Yushan, Yang Xu, and even Professor Wu didn’t expect such a huge response.

But then again, this response made sense.

Not only would the carbon-based chip technology have a huge impact on China, but it would impact the rest of the world in unpredictable ways.

China was relatively behind on the electronics process technology, and they tried to catch up to the likes of America, Japan, Europe, and South Korea.

But now, with the major breakthrough in the carbon-based chips, they could be at the forefront of the computer chip industry.

If they could utilize this advantage…

Then they would be the leader of the industry.

Chapter 852: 852 First Rejection in Life

852 First Rejection in Life

Lu Zhou didn’t expect to receive a reply from Chang’an Avenue the morning after he told Wang Peng to send the letter.

In the reply, in addition to commending him and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study for the contributions, the state also asked for his opinion on the industrialization of the carbon-based chips.

Lu Zhou didn’t have any strong opinions. The only thing that surprised him was how efficient Beijing was. They had a conference last night, and they sent him the letter the next day.

With the envelope in his hand, Lu Zhou asked, “That quick?”

Wang Peng was sitting next to Lu Zhou, and he replied, “Letters at this level are all sent by air. It takes half an hour to reach Jinling from Beijing. I received a call at four o’clock in the morning, informing me that the letter has arrived at the Jinling Ministry of State Security department.”

“That’s not what I meant… Never mind, forget about it.” Lu Zhou put away the letter and said to Wang Peng, “Take me to Jin Ling University.”

Wang Peng nodded and opened the car door for Lu Zhou.

“Okay, get in.”

…

Lu Zhou put the carbon-based chips matter aside.

After Lu Zhou arrived at Jin Ling University, he went to his office as usual and sat down at his desk.

Because he received the mission rewards yesterday, he got off work early and went to the Institute for Advanced Study. Then, he was caught up in the carbon-based chip breakthrough, so he hadn’t had a chance to continue his research.

Lu Zhou pulled out the half-written piece of draft paper from yesterday and spent 5 minutes reviewing what he had written. He then found a pen and started to quietly finish his calculations.

The hour hand on the wall went from 8 o’clock to 9 o’clock.

Suddenly, the office door was opened. Luo Wenxuan walked in excitedly with a stack of A4 papers on his hand and a smile on his face.

“A while ago, I dug up Dyson’s thesis and read it, guess what I found out?”

Lu Zhou was used to Luo Wenxuan not knocking. He looked up and jokingly replied, “Dyson? That physicist who switched to writing science fiction?”

“Incorrect, he’s not just some science fiction writer, he is one of my idols!” Luo Wenxuan waved the stack of A4 papers in his hand and said confidently, “I found something interesting in his thesis, I’m sure you will be interested as well!”

Lu Zhou was just joking about the science fiction part. He obviously knew that Dyson wasn’t just a “fiction writer”. Dyson’s “Spin wave theory” was one of the most outstanding physics results in the 1950s.

However, just like Hawking, because of Dyson’s fame in the science fiction world, his academic abilities were often overlooked. After all, in the eyes of the public, academic researchers were either genius scientists, or nerdy freaks…

Luo Wenxuan’s excitement didn’t faze Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou said, “Right now, I’m only interested in the Riemann zeta function. If you’re talking about quantum chromodynamics research… I suggest you talk to the physics department of the institute.”

“It’s not quantum chromodynamics, I am talking about the Riemann zeta function!”

“Oh really?” Lu Zhou put down his pen and looked intrigued. He said, “Tell me then, what did you find in his thesis?”

Lu Zhou didn’t believe that Dyson had studied the Riemann hypothesis before.

Even though physics and mathematics were closely related, the gap between theoretical physics and analytic number theory was too big.

Luo Wenxuan placed the stack of A4 papers on the table and spoke energetically.

“Precisely speaking, this is a diary that is apparently written by Dyson himself. An old man from the Firestone Library gave it to my friend… You know who I’m talking about, right?”

“That old guy who wears a robe and looks like a wizard?”

“That’s right, him… Of course, that’s not the point. The point is that we found this.” Luo Wenxuan grabbed his phone and showed Lu Zhou a photo. “In Dyson’s diary, we found a transcript of a conversation between him and Montgomery.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

“And?”

Luo Wenxuan excitedly said, “They were talking about Riemann’s hypothesis. Even though Dyson isn’t a mathematician, the results were extremely shocking! Can you believe that the Riemann zeta function’s zero-point density function coincides with the pairwise correlation function of the Hermitian matrix.”

When Lu Zhou heard about the Hermitian matrix, he was intrigued.

Luo Wenxuan noticed Lu Zhou was interested, so he patted the stack of A4 papers on the table.

“Then, I found his thesis published in Physical Reviews… Are you still not interested?”

“Let me have a look.”

Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and began reading the stack of A4 papers.

When he got to the second page, he had a serious look on his face.

“I’m so surprised. I’ve never heard anyone who is researching the Riemann hypothesis talk about this thesis.”

Luo Wenxuan sat on the corner of the desk and smirked as he said, “That makes sense. Have you ever seen anyone on Mathoverflow talk about using a critical line proof? This thesis has been around for half a century, with no new developments.”

“You’re right…” Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, “Can you sit on a chair?”

“Oh, my bad.” Luo Wenxuan got off from the table and said, “I’m used to sitting on my own desk like this.”

Lu Zhou placed his focus back onto the thesis, and the more he read, the more shocked he was.

Not because of Professor Dyson’s own research results, but because of the mysterious phenomenon Dyson found.

Which was, the distribution density of the eigenvalues of an N-th order random Hermitian matrix was P (λ1, …, λN) = C exp[-Σiλi2] Πj u003e k (λj-λk). By analyzing the distribution density, using the Wigner semicircle distribution law to perform a scalar transformation of the eigenvalues, and then normalizing the average interval of eigenvalues to Δμ ~ 1, one could obtain the correlation function P2 (μ1, μ2 ) = 1- [sin (π | μ2-μ1 |) / π | μ2-μ1 |] 2.

What did this mean?

This was the non-trivial zero-point correlation function of the Riemann zeta function!

It wasn’t just similar, the functions were exactly the same!

“Very… interesting.”

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin. He was more intrigued than ever.

Actually, he wasn’t just intrigued, he was in disbelief!

Why was a purely mathematical function, such as the non-trivial zero distribution of the Riemann zeta function, related to an applied linear algebra function, used in quantum systems, disordered media, and neural networks?

Where did this mysterious relationship come from?

Lu Zhou’s eyebrows furrowed.

He had a gut feeling that this relationship was important.

But how could he apply this relationship?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou received an email notification.

While Lu Zhou looked at the computer, Luo Wenxuan asked curiously, “What now?”

“New email… I think it’s from the Annual Mathematics editorial department.” Lu Zhou clicked on the notification and began reading the email.

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and then asked, “Approved?”

The entire office was silent now. They were all listening in on the conversation.

Especially He Changwen, who was sitting nearby.

Lu Zhou stared at the email and went silent for a while.

Then, he spoke with an uncertain tone.

“Not approved?”

The office went silent for a few seconds.

After a while, everyone looked muddled.

Luo Wenxuan: “…?”

He Changwen: “…?”

Assistants and students: “… ???”

Chapter 853: 853 Persuade Them Then!

853 Persuade Them Then!

What the hell is not approved?

Luo Wenxuan and the students weren’t the only ones who were surprised, even Lu Zhou himself couldn’t believe what was in the email.

After Lu Zhou carefully read Professor Faltings’ review, he had a rough understanding of what Faltings meant.

Professor Faltings believed that there were major problems in some parts of the thesis, which led to serious proof fallacies in the core part of the thesis. Faltings believed that Lu Zhou’s thesis did not prove that when ε approached infinitely small, there were no non-zero trivial points in the region of Re (s) ≥1-ε.

Honestly, this was Lu Zhou’s first thesis rejection.

Luo Wenxuan stood behind Lu Zhou and also read the review comments. He gulped and said, “There’s a problem with the proof?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s too early to judge. Let me look over it again.”

He Changwen, who was secretly listening to the conversation, almost dropped his pen.

Wow…

When most people’s theses get rejected by peer review, they just quietly make the necessary changes. But Lu Zhou seems to disagree with the review result…

He Changwen couldn’t help but think.

Lu Zhou really is a god…

If only I become as nutty as him one day…

Lu Zhou didn’t care what his students were thinking.

Lu Zhou bent down and pulled out his manuscript, the one that proved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. He began checking Faltings’ comments line by line.

Luo Wenxuan had no idea what was going on as he wasn’t an expert in analytic number theory. He stood behind Lu Zhou, muddled, pretending like he understood Lu Zhou’s thesis.

Ten minutes passed by.

Just as Luo Wenxuan was yawning, Lu Zhou suddenly closed his manuscript and threw the stack of thesis on the table.

Luo Wenxuan asked curiously, “So?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“I don’t think there is a problem.”

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and said, “Then… was Professor Faltings wrong?”

Luo Wenxuan wasn’t confident that Lu Zhou was right.

After all, that was Professor Faltings, the godfather of mathematics.

His influence in mathematics was greater than Luo Wenxuan’s mentor, Edward Witten.

However, Faltings had a bad temper, he wasn’t as well-liked in the academic community as Witten.

“It’s too early to debate who is right and who is wrong.” Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and paused for a second, and he said, “I will talk to Professor Faltings about this.”

“It might be difficult to communicate with him… He usually doesn’t change his opinions, also…” Luo Wenxuan hesitated for a second and said, “You might be ridiculed by him.”

“I don’t care about that,” Lu Zhou said. “If he is right, I’ll make the necessary corrections. If I am right, I won’t change my thesis at all.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “What if you can’t convince one another?”

This type of situation was actually quite common. When two people in the academic community had similar rankings, it was very difficult for one to convince the other.

After all, the deeper the research was, the more nuanced things would become. Sometimes, two different scholars would argue for a long time about who was correct.

Of course, this was the beauty of mathematics.

An argument couldn’t last forever. There would always be one side that was correct. Even when a new proposed theorem could destroy the entire foundation of mathematics, there was always a way to resolve the situation.

“If neither of us can convince the other…”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke nonchalantly.

“Then it’ll depend on who can convince the public.”

…

All secrets would eventually become known, one way or the other.

On the night Lu Zhou received his thesis review from Annual Mathematics, something major happened on Mathoverflow.

Someone posted that Lu Zhou’s Quasi Riemann hypothesis, which was submitted to Annual Mathematics, was rejected by reviewer Faltings.

Once the news broke out, the entire forum was discussing this matter.

[Professor Lu was rejected? This is impossible!]

[I told you, there are mistakes in his proof. You guys didn’t believe me. I’m not the only one who thinks so, even Professor Faltings agreed with me, dumba*ses!]

[Rejection is pretty common, right? Even top scholars make small mistakes.]

[This is not a simple rejection. Didn’t you see the screenshot? The wording of the rejection implies there are major defects in the thesis. See how it said, “there are major flaws in the core argument”? Generally speaking, this means that, if Lu Zhou can’t make the necessary changes, the thesis would be thrown into the trash bin!]

[This is so unusual…]

[It’s not unusual. After all, the reviewer is Faltings.]

[…]

Strictly speaking, the review process should be confidential. However, somehow, the screenshots of the reply were leaked out.

After the Annual Mathematics editorial department found out about the screenshots, they immediately contacted the administrators of the Mathoverflow forum. The Mathoverflow admins agreed to delete the posts, but nothing on the Internet was ever truly deleted.

Not to mention that the mathematics academic community loved to gossip. Besides, this kind of news would cause intense discussion in the entire community.

After all, Faltings and Lu Zhou were two big names in the mathematics world, and they were debating about the most important problem in mathematics…

The controversy lasted for three full days, and neither party made a response.

Faltings didn’t have a Mathoverflow account, while Lu Zhou, who had an account, didn’t like posting on forums.

While the people were discussing what Lu Zhou and Faltings would do, Jin Ling University suddenly made a post on the school website.

The post was very short, it was only a couple of paragraphs.

However, the information contained was huge.

[On December 18th, our school will conduct an academic report on the “Quasi Riemann hypothesis” in the old campus auditorium. Questions regarding the proof will be answered. Registrations are currently open. Those who are interested in participating, please register before December 7th.

[Presenter: Lu Zhou (Academician)]

On the day this news was released…

The mathematics world exploded!

Chapter 854: 854 Attacking Me?

854 Attacking Me?

Hosting a report session?

Impressive!

It seemed like Lu Zhou didn’t give up just yet.

The people on Mathoverflow were all mathematicians, and even though they weren’t as impressive as Terry Tao, they were still respectable scholars.

This was their first time hearing someone stand up to a reviewer of Faltings’ caliber.

People had begun speculating exactly what would happen between Faltings and Lu Zhou.

[Is he going to face Faltings one on one?]

[It seems like Annual Mathematics is tied up in this mess.]

[Professor Lu used to work as a part-time editor for Annual Mathematics, I’m sure Annual Mathematics is fine with this.]

[Maybe they’ve been having academic discussions?]

[I’ve already registered! Already booked the hotel and flights to Jin Ling City! I have a feeling this report is going to be quite exciting!]

[Are they going to fight? I’d bet Professor Lu will win the fist fight (smile)]

[Professor Faltings might not even attend. I do think this is an important report, especially for scholars in the field of analytical mathematics. Regardless of who is correct, a report hosted by Lu Zhou is worth attending.]

[Did you guys know, the Jin Ling University website is down. The report tickets are going for US$1000 apiece on Ticketmaster.]

[WTF?!]

In fact, an hour after Jin Ling University announced the report session, their mathematics department website shut down due to traffic overflow.

The university didn’t exactly have the best servers. It could barely handle the students selecting their timetables, much less traffic from all over the world.

No one expected this academic report to be so popular.

Even though the computer science department had made preparations for this, they still couldn’t handle the uptick in visitor traffic. After they found out about the ticket resellers, they had to shut down the registration website. Each ticket request was now manually reviewed and required passport identification.

In other words, one would have to enter their passport details to register.

However, even then, the situation didn’t improve much.

Not just that, but the prices of tickets on Ticketmaster became even higher.

Most professors were muddled.

They had never seen this happen before.

Whenever it was their turn to host a report, they would barely sell any tickets.

They had never heard of report session tickets being sold out!

Dean Lu looked at the busy computer science professor, who was working on the servers. With a vacuum flask on his hand, he suddenly said, “Old Qin, our mathematics department is insane!”

Dean Qin: “Yeah…”

Dean Lu said, “Last time was in the auditorium as well, right? That wasn’t nearly as bad as this time.”

Dean Qin: “Yeah…”

Dean Qin didn’t know what else to say.

“The servers are fixed, we can restart at any time,” the computer science professor said. He had been working for the past five hours. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, “But judging by the traffic, I don’t know how long will it last.”

Dean Qin went silent for a second. He then sighed and said, “It should be fine… After the registration is finished, we’ll close the portal.”

“Okay.”

The computer science professor turned around and walked back into the server room.

On the other hand, at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Germany.

Professor Faltings was in the director’s office. He quietly finished reading Lu Zhou’s invitation letter.

As a well-known scholar in mathematics, he obviously didn’t have to scalp for tickets online. Not to mention, over the past three days, he had been having intense online debates with Lu Zhou. He was the person Lu Zhou wanted to see the most at the report.

A smile gradually appeared on Faltings’ face.

Even though this smile was full of arrogance, it was still a smile.

A bearded German PhD student was sitting across from Faltings, and he said, “Professor…

“I feel like, that person doesn’t respect you enough?”

Fletcher, the PhD student, was proud to be Faltings’ student.

After all, everyone who had graduated under Faltings had become a great mathematician. From Shinichi Mochizuki, who proved the ABC conjecture, to Zhang Shiwu, a well-known Chinese mathematician…

There was no doubt in Fletcher’s mind that Faltings was the greatest mathematician alive.

Especially since Grothendieck was no longer alive…

“It’s fine, Fletcher, once you get even close to his level, you won’t care about this kind of stuff.” Faltings closed his email and pushed his glasses up slightly as he slowly said, “I understand what he’s saying. If neither of us can convince one another, then we’ll have to see which one of us can convince the public.”

Fletcher’s eyeballs nearly popped out of his socket.

WTF?

I’m on your side, old man!

Why are you attacking me for no reason?

This is not the first time you’ve done something like this…

Faltings didn’t notice that he had offended his student. He continued, “Of course, I understand what he’s saying, but there are serious flaws in his argument. That won’t change. Apologies in advance, but I will have to embarrass him in public.”

Faltings stood up from his chair and adjusted his collar.

When Fletcher saw his boss walking out of the office, he quickly asked, “Professor, where are you going?”

“I’m going to sit at the cafe for a while, it’s time for afternoon tea… Oh yeah.”

As if he had forgotten something, Professor Faltings looked at his student and said, “Remember to buy me a ticket to Jinling, China.”

Fletcher looked at his boss in disbelief.

“You plan on… going?”

“Why not?”

Faltings looked at his student and spoke nonchalantly.

“Like I said, he’s going to pay a price for his inexperience and arrogance.”

Chapter 855: 855 More Intense Storm

855 More Intense Storm

Lu Zhou didn’t expect the mathematics world to have such a dramatic response.

What baffled him was that there were hundreds of tickets that were being resold online.

Not to mention they were being resold at a much higher price.

If he didn’t have more money than he knew what to do with, he would start “trading” these tickets himself.

“The number of registrations reached 20,000, and it’s only the third day,” Dean Qin said to Lu Zhou. While sitting in Lu Zhou’s office, Dean Qin said, “This is scary, people might think we’re hosting the International Congress of Mathematicians here in Jinling.”

Lu Zhou smiled apologetically.

“Sorry for the added trouble.”

Dean Qin waved his hand and said, “This is not trouble! Host as many reports as you want, I don’t mind! You have no idea how jealous Kai University is. Old man Wang Shicheng keeps coming to ask when we will host a report at their university. We have the venue, we have the money, where’s the trouble?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You’re right, thanks in advance.”

“You’re welcome.” Dean Qin smiled and said, “Oh yeah, there are more than a hundred tickets being sold online. Now that we have changed our registration system, should we cancel these tickets that don’t have a passport attached?”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and shook his head.

“There’s no need, we’re the ones who sold the tickets, so we shouldn’t cancel them.”

If Jin Ling University wanted to establish itself as a world-class mathematical institute, they shouldn’t do this kind of unethical thing.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou was curious about what kind of people would buy these tickets.

After his last report, the old campus auditorium was extended, and it could now accommodate two to three thousand people.

In addition to the 200 invitees, there were more than 2,000 spots available. As long as someone was academically qualified, they could obtain a ticket by registering.

Any scholar in the number theory field could attend this report.

After all, there were probably less than 2,000 scholars who were researching the Riemann hypothesis, let alone the unpopular “critical line” and the Quasi Riemann hypothesis areas…

Suddenly, Lu Zhou thought of something.

Maybe…

These people are coming because of me?

Lu Zhou smiled and touched his handsome cheek.

Oh, they’re too kind…

Dean Qin: “…?”

…

The discussions on Mathoverflow were still going strong. Especially the debates on whether or not Lu Zhou’s Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof was legit. They were also discussing the report that was going to happen in a week at Jinling.

The people who had doubts about Lu Zhou’s thesis were brave enough to speak out, largely thanks to Faltings’ review. They began to debate with the people who supported Lu Zhou…

What the Mathoverflow admins didn’t expect was that, because of the controversy over the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, the Mathoverflow visitor traffic had quadrupled.

This website was mostly visited by younger scholars. Some of the older, more stubborn scholars didn’t have the habit of using forums.

But now, it seemed like some of the older folks also registered Mathoverflow accounts, becoming keyboard warriors…

The registration portal was closed.

After selecting the suitable attendees, Jin Ling University sent out invitation letters for the report.

The prices of resold tickets online were as high as $5,000. This made the other attendees feel like they were getting a good deal.

Lu Zhou made some preparations for this report.

Faltings was a powerful scholar, and he was highly ranked in terms of popularity and ability. People often compared him to Grothendieck.

Convincing him wasn’t going to be easy.

Unless he made his argument impenetrable!

While Lu Zhou was preparing for this report, an unexpected visitor came to Jin Ling University.

This visitor was none other than…

Professor Zhang Shouwu, a great Chinese scholar, one of Faltings’ students. His research on the Gross–Zagier theorem was quite outstanding, and he even won the Chinese equivalent of the Fields Medal—the Morningside Medal of Mathematics.

Dean Qin introduced Lu Zhou to Professor Zhang.

The two sat down in front of the coffee table, and after some small talk, they soon began to talk about the forthcoming report.

“Are there any misunderstandings between you and Faltings?”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, was surprised by this question. He smiled and replied, “Of course not… Why do you ask?”

“Not me, the entire mathematics community is also wondering.” Professor Zhang shook his head and said, “You guys are both pillars of the mathematics world. If there really is a misunderstanding between you and Professor Faltings, then I hope you guys can resolve the issue and maintain the harmony between the Chinese and international mathematics community.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Professor Zhang, you’re mistaken… Those are just rumors, there are no misunderstandings.”

Professor Zhang paused for a second and said, “It’s not my place to say this, but don’t you think… the timing of your report is a bit rushed?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“I don’t think there’s a problem with my proof. Faltings thinks there is a problem. If that’s the case, then we should debate about it at the report.”

Zhang Shouwu said anxiously, “But what if you lose? Not only will it tarnish your academic reputation, but it will also tarnish the reputation of the entire Chinese mathematics community. Have you thought about that?”

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “Who cares if I lose?”

Professor Zhang went silent for a while. He then sighed.

“It seems like you have made up your mind.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Professor Zhang, you came here all this way just to convince me not to go through with the report?”

Professor Zhang nodded, then shook his head. He sighed and spoke softly.

“I planned on convincing you, but now, I decided not to.

“Maybe you’re right, academic reputation is something that doesn’t matter. A scholar should pursue something he believes is correct.”

He suddenly smiled and spoke with admiration.

“I finally understand why you’re able to accomplish so much.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

I don’t really know what he’s talking about.

I guess…

I’ll just smile…

Chapter 856: 856 Another Storm

856 Another Storm

While the mathematics world was going through a thunderstorm, the electronics industry was also hit with a 2,000-word letter.

The C-suite executives worth billions of dollars could sense that things were about to change. However, even though they tried to use their connections to find out what was going on, they weren’t able to obtain any information.

Some people said that the country was going to introduce a new semiconductor industry support policy, other people said there was a breakthrough in 7nm lithography technology, while some other people said that the state planned on advancing semiconductor technology to become the fifth largest country in the world for semiconductor manufacturing.

The last rumor was very close to the truth.

After the news of graphene transistor technology came out, the first item of discussion in the Beijing conference room was to centralize and manage the current semiconductor companies.

This was done for both confidentiality and practicality reasons.

Of course, the specific content of the meeting was only disclosed to high-level government departments. Everyone who attended the meeting signed a confidentiality agreement and agreed to be put under supervision for one year.

Many industry leaders could smell something was going on, but the rumors floating around were a bit suspicious, as if the state deliberately released the rumors to cover something else.

Huawei’s CEO Wang Zhengfei was one of the C-suite executives.

His instincts told him that the semiconductor industry was brewing up a storm. However, only God knew what the result would be after the storm.

While everyone else was waiting for this storm to come, a conference invitation from Chang’an Avenue appeared on this CEO’s desk.

As Wang Zhengfei looked at the conference invitation, the knot in his heart was finally untied.

At last, it’s finally here!

…

Beijing, Chang’an Avenue.

The grand conference room was filled with people.

Wang Zhengfei found his seat and sat down. He looked around and found that his old boss, Li Zixuan, was also here. Li Zixuan was from Huaxing Group.

CEO Li noticed him as well.

The two looked at each other and forced a smile.

F*ck!

Who made the seat arrangements!

“Oh, CEO Wang, I didn’t expect you to receive an invitation as well.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled.

“Yeah, I was busy, but I took some time out to come.”

Li Zixuan smiled and didn’t say anything.

Too busy to come?

What a joke.

Like you would ever refuse to come to a state conference meeting.

The two didn’t talk anymore. They sat there quietly and waited for the conference to begin.

Wang Zhengfei used this time to look around at the other conference participants.

He noticed that all of them were big names in the semiconductor or electronics industry. This gave him a sense of what the conference would be about.

However, a strange expression appeared on his face.

Wait a second, not only are these people from the electronics industry, but all of them also have money.

Maybe the aerospace industry needs funding?

They’re not going to take our money, right?

The attendees arrived one after the other. Soon after, it was time for the conference to begin.

The participants sitting in their seats stopped talking and looked straight ahead. An old man with a serious face walked up the stage.

When Wang Zhengfei saw this old man, he was shocked.

Head of the National Development and Reform Commission!

I can’t believe he’s the one hosting the meeting!

He had a serious look on his face as he subconsciously took out a notebook and pen.

It seems like today’s meeting is going to be very important!

“My apologies for interrupting your busy work schedules. I assembled you here today to talk about something.

“Before the meeting begins, I have to emphasize that the content of this meeting must be kept strictly confidential. All topics discussed in the meeting are not to be discussed with anyone outside the conference.

“If any information is leaked, we will conduct an investigation. The person will be charged with espionage and treason.”

There was a commotion in the conference room.

These charges, especially espionage, were quite scary to them.

The old man looked around the conference room and made sure that his message was clear. He paused for a second before continuing, “Then, let’s talk business.”

The old man nodded toward the staff member next to him.

A PowerPoint slide was soon projected on the screen.

When Wang Zhengfei saw the title of the PowerPoint, he froze.

Not just him, but the Huaxing Group CEO sitting next to him, as well as the electronics executives sitting in the room, they were all shocked after reading the title.

“Carbon-based… chips?”

Li Zixuan pushed his glasses up slightly and sat forward, trying to get a better look at the slide.

When he was sure that the slide really did read carbon-based chips, he couldn’t help but mutter, “What kind of joke is this?”

Wang Zhengfei, who was sitting next to him, took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Carbon-based chips?

What?

This joke is too ridiculous.

It’s so ridiculous I don’t even know where to begin.

These two CEOs were obviously not the only ones who were shocked.

Whispers were heard around the conference room.

Carbon-based chips!

They were all familiar with the concept. Every so often, people used carbon-based chips as an investment pitch. They had seen plenty of poorly-made PowerPoint slides, promising the future of carbon-based chips.

However, everyone knew that investing in these projects was the same as burning money.

Forget about it, even Microsoft, Google, and Intel couldn’t even figure out this technology.

Not everyone was as insane as Lu Zhou!

However, this was no investor pitch…

This was a conference hosted by the Communist Party of China, and sitting here were the leaders in the electronics and semiconductor industry. Standing on the stage was the head of the National Development and Reform Commission. The topic of discussion was the future of China’s semiconductor industry…

Therefore, the words “carbon-based chips” meant something entirely different.

The meeting continued.

The PowerPoint presentation continued.

Wang Zhengfei was becoming more and more astonished, and his hand was slowly trembling.

This was a chance for Huawei to stand on the top of the world! This was the opportunity of a lifetime!

He held his breath and clenched his fists.

He had to take advantage of this opportunity!

Huawei had to take advantage of this opportunity!

He would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t…

Chapter 857: 857 Share of the Pie

857 Share of the Pie

Actually, Wang Zhengfei wasn’t the only one with this thought.

CEO Li, who was sitting next to him, as well as every CEO sitting around him, all held their breaths and stared intently at the projector screen. They didn’t want to miss any details.

The head of the National Development and Reform Commission didn’t tell them who developed this technology. Otherwise, they would have gladly rushed out of the conference room and try to poach whichever research institute that developed this technology.

As for the technical side of the carbon-based chips, the PowerPoint only included a transistor microscope image. After all, the CEOs sitting here didn’t understand the science behind all this.

The application of the carbon-based chips to quantum computers was a top-secret, so there was no need to speak about it at this conference.

The second half of the conference was mainly focused on policies formulated by the Communist Party of China, as well as how each department planned on coordinating the development of the semiconductor industry. The state wanted the major semiconductor companies to industrialize the carbon-based chips.

In order to allow the entire industry to move forward at an efficient pace, and to prevent internal competition, China decided to set up a “semiconductor processor upgrade task force”. They would be responsible for helping various enterprises transition into the carbon-based chips.

Simply put, they wanted everyone to get their fair share of the pie. Then, everyone would take this technology to the global market.

At the end of the conference, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission said in a clear voice, “After we ramp up carbon-based chip production…

“We will become leaders of the global semiconductor industry!”

This meant that, after the carbon-based chip technology had matured and was market competitive, they would go full force in bringing the carbon-based chip technology to the market.

The conference ended.

Wang Zhengfei closed his notebook and retrieved his phone and Bluetooth headset from the staff members. He adjusted his collar and stood up.

Li Zixuan, the boss of the Huaxing Group, also closed his notebook. He muttered to himself at a volume high enough for Wang Zhengfei to hear, “I wonder which industry leader invented this stuff… Even Qualcomm will have to bow down to carbon-based transistors.”

Even though Wang Zhengfei knew Li Zixuan wasn’t talking to him, he couldn’t help but chuckle and reply, “Oh yeah.”

Li Zixuan looked at him and smiled.

“CEO Wang, do you have any clues? You’re not going to run off with the technology, right?”

“Why would I have any clues?” Wang Zhengfei shook his head and said, “Before the meeting, I didn’t even know why there were rumors floating around the semiconductor industry.”

Li Zixuan stared at this old man for a while.

I guess if CEO Wang does have more info, he’s not going to tell me…

It’s not like I can force him to tell me…

…

After CEO Wang left the conference room, he got into his car.

Wang Zhengfei sat in the back seat and didn’t say anything. He looked at his secretary, and without explaining anything, he asked, “I want to talk with Academician Lu in person, can we do that?”

The secretary froze and said, “Academician Lu? You mean…”

Wang Zhengfei: “That Jinling Nobel Prize laureate… I have some stuff I want to talk about with him.”

Even though Huawei was working with Star Sky Technology in the battery industry, they were still separated by Zhongshan New Materials.

Not to mention that Professor Lu didn’t seem to be interested in “sleazy” businessmen. Most of the company’s business side was managed by the female CEO. Lu Zhou was rumored to either stay in the library or the laboratory all day. Even his neighbors rarely saw him.

Wang Zhengfei felt a little annoyed that his connections couldn’t get him a meeting with Professor Lu.

As for why he wanted to see Academician Lu…

The reason was obvious.

He wanted to talk about the carbon-based chips with him!

Even though there was no evidence the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was behind the carbon-based chips, his instincts told him that this was definitely an invention by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study!

A long time ago, he asked his people to analyze the published research from the Institute of Computational Materials and had them graph each research area category. It was obvious that the Institute of Computational Materials was heavily involved in carbon materials research.

Not to mention, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was the world’s strongest carbon material research institute. He was 80% confident that Lu Zhou was the person behind all of this.

Cooperating with the Communist Party of China was fine, but if he could establish a relationship with the scientist behind the technology and that they could cooperate, then the profits would be unimaginable.

Not to mention Lu Zhou was an amazing scholar. Even if it weren’t for the carbon-based chips, it was beneficial for this CEO to have a chat with him.

The secretary froze. He didn’t expect his boss to make such a request. He didn’t know why his boss suddenly wanted to talk with Academician Lu?

However, he quickly put on a professional face and tried to find the best solution.

“Apparently, there is going to be a Quasi Riemann hypothesis report at the Jin Ling University, and the presenter is Academician Lu.”

Wang Zhengfei’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Can we get a ticket?”

The secretary nodded.

“There are some being sold on Ticketmaster.”

Wang Zhengfei immediately replied, “Buy me two.”

All he needed was five seconds with Lu Zhou. He didn’t care about the report content at all.

The secretary nodded with a strange expression.

“Yes, sir.”

Wang Zhengfei noticed his secretary’s weird facial expression, and he frowned.

“Is there a problem?”

The secretary shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

“No! I’m just wondering how to connect you with Academician Lu…”

Buying the tickets is easy…

I can just buy it from Ticketmaster, and if they’re sold out, I can just call Jin Ling University. I’m sure they’ll be happy to give the CEO of Huawei a seat.

But…

It’s not like you can understand his report, so why are you going?

Wang Zhengfei said, “Don’t worry about that, just get me the tickets. This is extremely important!”

The secretary nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

The car began to move.

The secretary looked at his excited boss. He was curious, but he decided to shut his mouth.

I guess pigs are starting to fly.

My boss wants to talk with Academician Lu about academic problems?

When did you become interested in mathematics problems…

Maybe I should learn some mathematics to impress him?

However, when the secretary thought about the complicated equations, he decided to give up.

Chapter 858: 858 Moving World of Mathematics

858 Moving World of Mathematics

The entire industry was looking for the research team that came up with the carbon-based chips. On the other hand, the Ministry of State Security already spoke with Professor Wu’s team on keeping this confidential. The 20 million yuan bonus from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was also given to the researchers.

Of course, due to confidentiality reasons, the 20 million yuan bonus was given in a low-key manner. Lu Zhou felt quite unfortunate about this.

The whole reason for him giving out this hefty bonus was to motivate the other research departments.

But then he realized that this didn’t matter.

Such a large bonus amount was difficult to hide. Even if the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study didn’t explain what was going on, anyone could guess the reason behind the bonus.

Before China completed its industrialization plan for the carbon-based chips, they had to keep this all confidential.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study would also cooperate with intelligence departments and try to divert the attention.

The timing of Lu Zhou’s Quasi Riemann hypothesis report was perfect. The entire world was focused on Professor Lu researching the Riemann hypothesis…

The days quickly went by. It was soon mid-December, and the atmosphere in Jin Ling City became somewhat unusual.

First, there was a banner at the airport, welcoming mathematicians from all over the world.

Then, there were fire and sanitation inspections throughout the city, and everywhere, from the airport to the Jin Ling University, had its appearance totally changed.

The entire vibe of the city improved quite a bit.

The city council and the old folks from the China Mathematics Society wanted to leave a good impression on the international scholars.

However, what they probably didn’t expect was that these mathematicians from all over the world couldn’t care less about these trivial matters. All of their attention was placed on the report that was happening in two days.

Molina dragged her suitcase and walked through the airport terminal. She went through customs with the report invitation letter in her hand, and she looked a little clueless.

This was her first time in Jinling.

Also her first time in China.

Suddenly, she noticed someone who looked familiar walking nearby. She couldn’t remember why the person looked familiar, so she walked up to him and asked, “Hi… How do I get to Jin Ling University’s old campus?”

The person smiled and replied in a friendly manner, “Sorry, I’m not from here. I plan on taking a taxi… Are you going to Professor Lu’s lecture?”

Molina: “Yeah… You’re not from China?”

“Australian born Chinese, living in Los Angeles.” Tao Zhexuan smiled and looked at the letter in his hand as he said, “They’ve already booked a hotel for us. Apparently… We just have to show the driver this letter.”

The second Molina heard the words Australia and Los Angeles, her pupils widened. She immediately recognized the person in front of her.

“You’re… Professor Tao?”

“Indeed, may I ask…”

Tao Zhexuan smiled. He was about to ask for Molina’s name.

However, he suddenly noticed a man in a trench coat and black hat, walking out of customs.

His eyes widened, and he temporarily ignored the lady as he waved at his acquaintance with a smile.

“Professor Faltings? What a coincidence, didn’t expect to run into you at the airport.”

Faltings glanced at Tao Zhexuan. He nodded and replied, “You’re here as well?”

Tao Zhexuan smiled and said, “How could I miss such an important report?”

Faltings’ eyebrows furrowed, and he smiled with his lips closed and said, “Oh yeah? You’re a smart bloke, so I’m sure you came prepared with questions… Who do you think is correct?”

“It’s too early to say. I do have some questions regarding his thesis. Even now, I’m still trying to understand it… but,” Professor Tao shrugged and said, “he’s not entirely incorrect.”

Professor Faltings wasn’t happy with this ambiguous answer. He was about to say something, but Molina stepped forward and spoke excitedly.

“Mr. Faltings…”

Faltings raised his eyebrows and looked over at her.

He didn’t recognize her, so he politely asked, “Who are you?”

“Molina Abel, student of Sophie Morel…” Molina nervously reached out her hand and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Sophie Morel?

That name sounded a little familiar to Faltings. Faltings remembered Sophie as a Fields Medal candidate. However, a Fields Medal candidate was nothing impressive for Faltings.

There were only three scholars on Earth who deserved his attention, and he only paid attention to one of them.

“Daughter from the Abel family? I think I’ve met your father before.”

Molina didn’t expect her idol to remember her father, so she spoke energetically.

“When I was little, my father always praised your achievements in algebraic geometry…”

“Oh really? Unfortunately, I don’t really remember him.” Faltings looked bored as he said, “Looks like other than that prestigious surname, nothing else of value was inherited.”

Molina stood there. She was muddled.

What do you mean nothing else of value?

Why would you say that?

Tao Zhexuan noticed the awkwardness in the air, and he coughed and tried to mediate the situation.

“Not everyone is good at maths, it’s fine…”

Molina: “…”

Not good at maths…

F*ck you guys!

Jesus Christ!

Molina’s self-esteem was being attacked by two geniuses. She was about to have a mental breakdown. On the other hand, tens of kilometers away, at the old campus auditorium of Jin Ling University.

Professor Deligne, who arrived in Jinling one day ago, walked beside the garden while chatting with Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou gave his supervisor a tour of his workplace. The two didn’t talk a lot about the upcoming report. That was until they walked to the entrance of the auditorium, where the old man from Belgium asked, “Are you ready?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course, I’m more than ready.”

“Faltings is one of the most outstanding scholars after the late Grothendieck. Even I can’t compare with him. He must be fully prepared to refute your thesis. Make sure you are armed and loaded.”

Lu Zhou responded with a question, “Do you think there’s something wrong with my proof?”

Deligne looked at a historic building in the distance and went silent. He placed both of his hands on his bald head.

“I’ve read your thesis, I think you are correct. But I am not certain. Let me ask you, you used the non-commutative cycle cohomology theory to describe the isomorphic class of flat φ-modules… Did you use Étale’s homology method?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Correct.”

Deligne looked relieved.

“When I was researching Weil’s conjecture, I thought of a similar proof. To use cohomology theory to define a Fourier transform layer derivations. However, I should remind you that this is where the debates are likely going to be centered around.”

Lu Zhou contemplated it for a moment and nodded.

“Thank you.

“Noted.”

Chapter 859: 859 Battle of Jinling?

859 Battle of Jinling?

The day of December 18th.

The old campus auditorium of Jin Ling University was packed with people of all different races and ages groups.

Rarely did this school attract so many foreign visitors, so this naturally caught the attention of the students.

In order to maintain order and to ensure the safety of the participants, the Jin Ling city council even mobilized armed police forces.

It was extremely rare for a scholar to receive this amount of attention.

But then again, this did make sense.

There were more than 2,000 internationally renowned scholars who were attending this report. There were even thousands of people who weren’t able to get the report tickets, but they still flew to Jinling with their supervisors. These people, often PhD and master’s students, paid out of their own pocket just to know the result of the report as soon as possible.

This type of attendance was comparable to top conferences such as ICM and ICPAM.

There were two master’s students standing at the old campus entrance. They were probably persuaded by their teachers to stand here as volunteers. They looked around in awe.

“This has to be the world mathematics summit!”

“Not a summit. There are only two main characters in this report, so it’s more like a boss battle…”

One was the youngest Fields Medal winner, a king among the young scholars, and the other was one of the founding fathers of algebraic geometry.

The two master’s students stared at the crowded auditorium entrance. They only recently stepped foot into the mathematics world, so they couldn’t help but stand there in silence.

They only had one thought in their minds…

This is what a Fields Medal winner is like!

Xu Chengyang, a professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, happened to walk by, and he heard the conversation between the two students. He almost laughed out loud.

Boss battle?

Interesting analogy.

Suddenly, he noticed a familiar-looking person. He quickly walked to him and said hello.

“Brother Zhang! Haha, long time no see!”

Zhang Shouwu, who was walking toward the auditorium, looked back and saw Xu Chengyang. A surprised expression appeared on his face.

“Brother Xu? What a coincidence, you’re here as well?”

“It’s the battle between two bosses, of course I have to come.” Xu Chengyang smiled and said, “The Riemann hypothesis has dominated the analytic number theory world for many years. Even Mr. Grothendieck was no match for this beast. But now, Academician Lu claimed to have made progress on this conjecture. I’m sure most people won’t want to miss this grand event.”

As a leader among the young Chinese scholars, he obviously received an invitation from Jin Ling University. But then again, even if he didn’t receive an invitation, he would have paid out of his own pocket to attend this report.

After all, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It would be a shame if he missed it.

Zhang Shouwu smiled and said, “Haha, you’re right, but the situation seems a bit intense.”

Xu Chengyang smiled and asked, “Why, you’re not optimistic about Academician Lu?”

“It’s not about whether or not I’m optimistic, it’s just that Faltings is a difficult guy to deal with.” Professor Zhang sighed, as if he began to recall the past, and he slowly said, “When I studied at Princeton, the first thing I did was to go to Faltings’ office and ask for a research project.”

Xu Chengyang: “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘I have solved the easy problems, the rest of them are difficult, like Riemann’s hypothesis.’,” Zhang Shouwu said. He looked at the international mathematicians entering the auditorium, and with a vacuum flask in his hand, he said emotionally, “It’s been so many years since I left Princeton. But one thing I am still certain of is that there is no one on this planet that understands Riemann’s hypothesis better than him…

“If he thinks Professor Lu’s thesis is wrong…

“Then I’m afraid Professor Lu is going to get taught a lesson.”

Professor Zhang had quite a pessimistic view of the situation.

But his argument made sense. A lot of people in the mathematics community thought Lu Zhou was the one who was wrong.

If Faltings really thought Lu Zhou’s proof was fundamentally flawed…

Then it was very likely that Faltings was correct.

However, after hearing Professor Zhang’s words, Xu Chengyang smiled warmly and spoke nonchalantly.

“I met Professor Lu at the mathematicians conference in Brazil. I talked briefly with him. Even though it was just about the Navier–Stokes equations and partial differential equations, he made a hell of an impression on me.”

Zhang Shouwu frowned and asked curiously, “What kind of impression?”

“He’s a person who creates miracles.”

Xu Chengyang paused for a second and continued, “He has this ability to find clues, no matter how small the clue is, even if the clues are hidden for everyone else…

“I think he might create another miracle.

“And this, is why I came here all the way from America.”

…

The crowd was sitting inside the auditorium.

Anyone in the mathematics field would be shocked by this sight.

Almost half of the world’s best mathematicians were sitting here, and these included mathematicians from all branches of mathematics.

If someone threw a bomb in this lecture theater, the development of mathematics would be delayed by half a century…

Lu Zhou stood below the podium, wearing a suit and leather shoes. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

Even though he hadn’t hosted a report in a long time, he was no stranger to this rush of adrenaline.

It was as if there were a mysterious force flowing in his veins, and this force made him more focused and alert than ever.

He clenched his fists and was about to go through his report speech again. However, an old man in a black trench coat came over.

The old man trembled as he walked with a cane. He stood there and stared at Lu Zhou.

After a while, he suddenly had a genuine smile on his face.

“Are you ready?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I’m ready.”

Professor Faltings grinned.

However, this time, there wasn’t an ounce of authenticity in his smile. It was as if Faltings were an eagle, staring down his prey.

“I sure hope you’re prepared. This question impacts the entire mathematics world, so I won’t show any mercy.”

“I hope not,” Lu Zhou said. “We should maintain the rigor of mathematics.”

“Ah.”

The old man adjusted his hat and replied, “I would have done so regardless.”

Chapter 860: 860 I Have a Problem!

860 I Have a Problem!

Auditorium entrance.

All of the attendees had already arrived.

A staff member in a black suit was standing at the entrance. He looked at his watch and saw that it was about time for the report to begin. He gestured to his colleague to begin taking away the security stands.

Suddenly, two men in formal suits hastily jogged over.

Wang Zhengfei quickly took out two tickets as he gasped for air and smiled apologetically at the security member.

“Hi, these are our tickets.”

The security guard clearly didn’t recognize Wang Zhengfei. He looked at the tickets and spoke with a blank expression.

“You guys are late.”

Wang Zhengfei looked apologetic as he explained in a sincere manner, “I’m really sorry! There was traffic here from the airport. I’ve been looking forward to this report for a long time. Come on, man, just let us in.”

The security guard didn’t say anything. He looked at the two men, then stamped their tickets.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and nodded as a show of thanks. He then looked at his secretary and gestured him to quickly walk into the auditorium.

“Boss, why are we wasting our time with a security guard?”

The secretary looked perplexed.

After hearing this, Wang Zhengfei grinned.

“You want to know why?”

The secretary paused for a second and quickly nodded.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and pointed at the entrance.

“Those guys are from the Ministry of State Security, they’re the real deal.”

…

The report was going to begin in a few minutes.

Wang Zhengfei found the corresponding seat on his ticket and sat down. He could tell there was something unusual about the ambiance of the venue.

This was the power of a world-class scholar.

Both the scale and the enthusiastic atmosphere of the report didn’t seem like an academic report at all. It was almost like a symphony concert.

And Lu Zhou was going to perform the opening act…

Wang Zhengfei, as a layman, didn’t know why his heart rate was increasing. His palms were sweaty, and his knees were weak. It was as if the mysterious mathematical symbols had some kind of magical attraction power…

“He’s really only in his twenties?”

His secretary paused for a second and nodded.

“That’s what it says on the pamphlet…”

Wang Zhengfei nodded and didn’t say anything.

After a while, he pointed forward with his chin.

“Oh yeah, do you understand that stuff?”

Seeing that the secretary had a blank look, Wang Zhengfei spoke first.

“Nevermind, pretend I didn’t ask.”

…

The report officially began!

The auditorium became dead silent.

The thousands of pairs of eyes focused on one person on the podium.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and looked around the venue. He then looked at the projector screen behind him. He then slowly said, “I’m sure most people have read my thesis already.”

“The main purpose of this report is to answer the questions surrounding my proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

“Of course, I will still give a general summary.

“I might go through this very quickly, and it will take around twenty minutes. I hope you pay attention to it.”

Lu Zhou turned around and walked to the closest whiteboard next to him. He picked up a marker and wrote down the most important line of the report.

[ζ(s) = 2 ^ s ·π ^ (s-1) sin (πs / 2) Γ (1-s) ζ (1-s)…]

The moment this line was written on the whiteboard…

Two people in the crowd frowned.

“Interesting.” Tao Zhexuan rubbed his chin and looked at the line of equations on the whiteboard as he said, “Introducing the Γ function… He is planning on using its continuity construct? If so, he might have to reduce his thesis length by two pages.”

Faltings was sitting next to Professor Tao, and he said emotionlessly, “How can that be? The core part of the proof is incorrect. Even if he uses his little tricks, that can’t change the fact that the core argument is incorrect.”

Tao Zhexuan: “Not necessarily.”

Faltings looked at him and said, “Oh really?”

“In the beginning, I thought the same as you. On page 27, there is a problem with the coherence method used on line 3.” Tao Zhexuan paused for a second and said, “But now, I kind of understand what he’s trying to say.”

Faltings glanced at him and didn’t say anything.

There was no point debating right now.

All they had to do now, was to wait.

The marker moved rhythmically as it filled the whiteboard with equations. The thousand-people venue stayed surprisingly quiet.

On stage.

In front of the whiteboard.

Lu Zhou was holding a marker in his hand, and he had totally forgotten about the outside world. He spoke his thoughts out loud as he slowly unraveled this puzzle.

Fifteen minutes went by.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and took a deep breath. He then took two steps backward.

The proof was over.

He had already defeated this mountain a month ago, so re-writing it was nothing difficult.

The real difficult part was about to come.

This problem was the foundation of the entire mathematics building, and Faltings didn’t plan on being lenient at all.

The moment Lu Zhou turned around to face the crowd, was when the real battle began.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t nervous at all.

Rather, he was looking forward to this.

His opponent was one of the remaining gods of mathematics, known as the second-best after Grothendieck. On the other hand, Lu Zhou was challenging the Riemann hypothesis, something Faltings was deeply familiar with. Not to mention that the mathematical tools Lu Zhou used originated from Éléments de géométrie algébrique, which was also Faltings’ expertise.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and put down the marker.

He turned around and faced the silent lecture hall. He then said with a calm voice, “That’s basically it.

“Next is the Qu0026A session.”

The moment he finished speaking.

The moment Lu Zhou’s words traveled throughout the venue…

A trembling, skinny hand rose in the air.

Even though the hand seemed fragile, it still caught the attention of the entire auditorium.

Professor Faltings took off his hat and stood up.

“I have a question.

“With regards to page 17, line 11, could you please explain this in detail?”

Chapter 861: 861 Confrontation!

861 Confrontation!

Line 11 on page 17?!

Tao Zhexuan paused for a second.

Not just Tao Zhexuan, but Professor Deligne, Molina, and even Schultz, who was hiding in the corner and chewing gum, they were all surprised.

“I thought the problem was on line 5 page 21…”

Schultz muttered to himself as he took out some paper. He quickly drew some mathematical symbols that only he could understand, and began running calculations in his brain.

“Line 5 on page 21?” Akshay Venkatesh said. He was sitting next to Schultz. After contemplating it for a second, he said, “I thought the problem was on page 31, line 11.”

Just like Schultz, Akshay was also considered a world-class mathematician.

In addition to his achievements in the fields of representation and number theory, he was also the only Australian who had won medals in both the International Physics Olympiad and the International Mathematical Olympiad…

Not to mention, he won both of them when he was twelve years old.

Schultz took out a crumpled piece of thesis paper from his pocket. He took a glance at page 31 and seemed to be intrigued.

“It seems like Professor Lu is facing more trouble than I had imagined.”

Akshay didn’t say anything. He slowly closed his eyes.

Three different scholars found three different problems in the proof.

This showed that, not only was there a problem with the core proof, but there seemed to be a systematic problem with the entire proof.

Even though Schlutz felt sympathetic toward this Fields Medal medalist on stage, there was nothing he could do.

Everyone made youthful and arrogant mistakes. He hoped that Lu Zhou could come out of this stronger than before.

Otherwise, it would be a huge loss for the mathematics community.

Schultz frowned and went into deep thought. Akshay, on the other hand, already knew the outcome of this report. Xu Chengyang, who was nearby, had a serious look on his face.

Zhang Shouwu, who was sitting next to Professor Xu, noticed that Lu Zhou had stopped talking. Zhang Shouwu couldn’t help but ask.

“Why isn’t he talking?…”

Even though Faltings was his past supervisor, he was still a Chinese, so he was obviously on the Chinese side.

Lu Zhou was the face of the Chinese academic community.

That was why Zhang Shouwu supported Lu Zhou, even though he wasn’t optimistic about Lu Zhou winning against Faltings…

After all, it was a lot easier to find a logical fallacy than to create a robust argument. Not to mention, creating counter-arguments on the spot was even more difficult…

When Wiles proved Fermat’s last theorem, he spent an entire year fixing the loopholes and answering all of the reviewers’ questions.

But now, half of the mathematics world had their attention on Lu Zhou. Most people wouldn’t even be able to think clearly in a situation like this…

“Line 11 on page 17?” Lu Zhou turned the pages and found the line, and he steadily said, “I used the Stirling table for the Γ(s) function. Equation (2) is simplified into J (δ) = Σd (k + 1) (n) I (n) + Δ (δ)…”

“I obviously know that,” Faltings interrupted Lu Zhou. He then said, “The Stirling table used on the Γ (s) function was a clever method, it saved you a lot of trouble. But even though you transformed Re (s) = 1-c / ln [| Im (s) | +2], you still can’t change the fact that there are no non-trivial zero points on the right limit side.”

Zhang Shouwu held his breath; Professor Deligne clenched his fists; Schultz stopped writing; Tao Zhexuan looked excited; Molina bit her lip…

“Here we go…” said Xu Chengyang.

Xu Chengyang, who was sitting beside Professor Zhang Shouwu, sighed.

Most of the people sitting here already knew what Faltings was about to say.

The old man wearing a black trench coat spoke with a steady voice.

“No matter what kind of hyperelliptic curve you choose, you can’t get around this fact.

“This is the most flawed argument in your thesis, and the right boundary from Re (s) = 1 extends the left by Re (s) = 1-ε (ε u003e 0) doesn’t make logical sense… I spoke about this in my first email to you, but you didn’t seem to take my advice.”

The auditorium was dead silent.

One could hear a pin drop in this venue.

This question was like a sharp dagger, digging deep into the thesis.

Professor Deligne unclenched his fists and sighed softly.

I guess Faltings is still the best.

Deligne didn’t want to admit this, but ever since Grothendieck passed away, Faltings was the closest person to solving the Riemann hypothesis.

Molina sighed in relief.

She was relieved to see that Lu Zhou had failed as this meant one less competitor for the Riemann hypothesis, but unfortunately…

This defeat meant that the Quasi Riemann hypothesis was yet to be solved and that the proof of the critical zone boundary could no longer be applied…

First Grothendieck.

Now Professor Lu.

Countless geniuses had been defeated by the Riemann hypothesis dragon.

Rumor had it that the Riemann hypothesis was like Gödel’s incompleteness theorem in that it could neither be solved nor disproven…

Molina couldn’t help but panic.

What if the answer she had been searching for didn’t even exist…

Then what was the point of all this work?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the venue.

Schultz looked at Lu Zhou and smiled. He spoke to Akshay.

“Akshay, my friend? Do you know that sometimes, I wonder if the Riemann hypothesis is cursed? Think about how many talented geniuses have been defeated by the Riemann hypothesis… At least that’s what happened to Sir Atiyah.”

Akshay crossed his arms and shook his head.

“I don’t believe in curses.”

“That’s because you don’t get it.” Schultz shrugged and showed a charming smile as he said, “You know, apparently, before Grothendieck left home to live in France, Grothendieck was obsessed with the idea of the devil. He believed that the devil changed the numerically beautiful speed of light, from 300,000 kilometers per second to the irrational 299792.458 kilometers per second. He believed the devil made the simple Riemann’s hypothesis into something unsolvable…”

Akshay felt a little uncomfortable, and he tried to end this conversation.

“Okay, enough.”

Schultz smiled and ignored Akshay’s reply.

“Also, apparently, before Grothendieck disappeared, and even before Weil’s conjecture was proven, Grothendieck tried to solve Riemann’s hypothesis. In 2010, Grothendieck, who had disappeared for 10 years, suddenly wrote a letter to his student. Guess what was in the letter?”

Akshay didn’t want to hear these legends, but he still asked out of curiosity, “What…”

Schultz spat out his gum on a wrapping paper and spoke.

“He wrote that, whoever can take the crown of Riemann’s hypothesis from the devil, will accomplish something people have tried for thousands of years…”

He paused for a second and continued, “Which is, the unification of algebra and geometry!”

…

Lu Zhou stood quietly on stage.

For a long time.

Just as Faltings began to wonder if he was too ruthless toward this young scholar, Lu Zhou suddenly said, “The reason you asked this question is that you didn’t understand my proof at all.”

The moment he finished speaking, there was a huge commotion in the auditorium.

People were surprised, shocked, and even… angry!

Lu Zhou could sense the change in the atmosphere. He took a deep breath and stared at Professor Faltings, who was standing in the distance.

He glanced at the old man’s look of disbelief and added, “My apologies for putting things bluntly.

“But after hearing your question, I finally realize where our differences are.”

He originally thought he didn’t convey his proof well enough.

But now, it seemed like that wasn’t the case.

The dispute between the two wasn’t like a tied knot, but it was rather like two parallel lines.

Lu Zhou felt a weird feeling.

It was surprisingly wonderful.

All of the doubts in his mind had disappeared.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart.

He felt like there was only one person on Earth who could truly understand his thesis.

And that person wasn’t in this venue today.

“I’ll show you the proof.”

Lu Zhou turned around and faced the whiteboard.

“You probably remember the equations on the whiteboard, so I’ll rub them off…”

After wiping the whiteboard, Lu Zhou picked up the marker.

“First of all, I’d like to thank my student. Without her, none of this would have been possible.”

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at Faltings seriously.

After that, he glanced over and stared at the very back of the crowded venue.

“Then, let’s begin with the basic part… The tool that made the whole thesis possible.”

He picked up the marker and wrote down a line on the whiteboard.

[Hyperelliptic curve analysis]

The moment he finished writing…

The atmosphere in the venue exploded!

Chapter 862: 862 The Dust Settles

862 The Dust Settles

“… Hyperelliptic curve analysis?”

What do you mean to begin with the basic part?

Do you plan on giving a lecture to all these great mathematicians?

Molina had a weird look on her face as she stared at Lu Zhou like Lu Zhou was a lunatic.

This isn’t a Princeton number theory lecture!

There are more than a dozen Fields Medal medalists sitting here, not to mention Abel Prize winners…

This guy is crazy!

Sitting nearby was Tao Zhexuan. He had a completely different look on his face. His look of enthusiasm had turned into excitement. He quietly muttered to himself, “I see, I see…”

Molina looked over and couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean?”

“He’s correct!”

Tao Zhexuan had finished figuring it out. He loosened his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. He had a confident smile on his face, as if he were born with a 230 IQ…

“If you’re curious, just continue watching.”

Actually, Tao Zhexuan didn’t have to say this.

Because Molina was already watching.

Not just Molina, but Schultz, who was sitting on the other side of the lecture hall, also watched intently.

Ever since Lu Zhou erased the whiteboard and wrote down the first line of text, his attention was fully focused on the whiteboard.

“Hyperelliptic curve analysis?”

Akshay, who was sitting next to him, frowned. He had a dignified look in his eyes.

“What is he doing?”

“He’s promoting his weapon to us.” Schultz stared at the whiteboard and grinned as he said with a smile, “It’s like he’s an arms dealer.”

“I know, but…”

It was almost like there was a cotton ball stuck in Akshay’s throat as his pupils expanded. His eyes looked surprised.

Schultz looked at his friend and smiled. He then voiced out his thoughts.

“Turning a topological space classifying tool into an algebraic geometry finite field cluster… Algebraic geometry is incredible, isn’t it?”

After a long time, Akshay nodded.

“Yeah…”

Maybe he was wrong.

Lu Zhou wasn’t the youthful and arrogant one at all…

That marker on the whiteboard was like a torch, lighting the way for a maze that had been untouched for 2 centuries!

Dark clouds gathered in the sky outside the auditorium.

There was nothing but silence in the auditorium. Other than Lu Zhou’s explanations, nothing else could be heard.

After a while, Lu Zhou stopped explaining. However, everyone still watched him write on the whiteboard.

Lu Zhou was completely immersed in the world of numbers and operators, and he totally ignored anything besides himself and this whiteboard.

The lines of calculations began to flow like a river, and thousands of streams from the river poured into the audience’s laps…

Outside the auditorium.

Wang Peng felt something on his nose.

He looked up and saw the cloudy sky.

‘It’s raining.”

“Yeah…” Yang Guangbiao, who was leaning against a wall with his hand in his pocket, nodded and said, “I looked at the weather forecast yesterday, it’s going to rain heavily.”

Wang Peng: “Did the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department find any suspicious activity regarding the report?”

Yang Guangbiao: “No, what about you guys?”

Wang Peng: “Everything is normal.”

Yang Guangbiao: “… Normal is great.”

“Yeah…” Wang Peng lit up a cigarette and blew out a circle of smoke. He then said, “That makes me feel a little better.”

Wang Peng was obviously relieved to hear that everything was fine.

Even though he didn’t understand mathematical problems very well…

He could tell that this report was very important to China’s academic community.

Therefore, it was also important to him.

A couple of minutes later, the rain began to pour.

Thousands of raindrops splashed on the brick floors of the auditorium entrance.

The striking thunder sounded like a bell, echoing throughout the silent auditorium.

Suddenly, the marker flowing on the whiteboard stopped.

Everyone in the audience held their breath and quietly waited.

Gradually, a smile appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

“Time to wrap up,” Lu Zhou muttered to himself.

As if the marker were a thunder striking through the clouds, he wrote down a single line.

Professor Faltings’ attention was on the whiteboard as he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Using the Plancherel formula for the Heisenberg group…

“As well as…Étale cohomology!

“No, it’s different… So this is why hyperelliptic curve analysis is? I see…”

Suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind.

For some reason, he saw Lu Zhou resemble someone that he knew…

“No wonder…”

The old man in the crowd muttered to himself, “No wonder that person chose him to inherit his legacy.”

Everything was over.

Like playing the last key of a piano symphony, Lu Zhou wrote down the last character.

The moment he finished writing, the entire venue seemed to be frozen, like in an oil painting.

The only thing that moved was the clock on the wall…

Lu Zhou looked at the whiteboard and broke the silence.

“Hyperelliptic curve analysis… That’s what I named this.”

He turned around and looked at the shocked faces. He paused for a second before saying, “Of course, I came up with this name on the spot. Maybe I’ll rename it once I think of a better name.”

He placed the marker on the whiteboard stand and walked back to the podium. He then placed his hands gently on the podium.

“I’m sure, with your abilities, it is not difficult for you to understand this theory. Professor Faltings, I’m sure you wouldn’t have asked that question if you understood this theory.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Faltings.

Lu Zhou waited for a couple of seconds, but the old man didn’t respond. He looked around the venue and continued, “The critical line method is an interesting proof idea, and the hyperelliptic curve analysis method is the tool that actually solved the problem. Just like the binary search algorithm that we all learned in high school, we can reduce the value of ε gradually approaching our goal… Finally allowing Re (s) = 1-ε = 1/2.

“I just proved the existence of ε. I hope that answers your questions.

“That is my entire theorem.”

After that, Lu Zhou shut his mouth.

The auditorium was dead silent.

No one moved, no one spoke.

Everyone was waiting for Faltings to answer.

No one understood Riemann’s hypothesis better than Faltings, so Faltings was the best person to make a conclusion.

Faltings loosened his shoulders, then tightened them again.

With the entire auditorium watching him, Professor Faltings stood silent for a long time.

After a while, he raised his right hand and put on his black hat.

“You’re correct.”

His words traveled through the auditorium.

Those words echoed in everyone’s mind.

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old man and smiled sincerely.

“Thank you.”

After that, he bowed to the audience and announced the end of the report.

The moment he turned away from the podium…

Deafening applause filled the entire auditorium!

Chapter 863: 863 We Won!

863 We Won!

Clap clap clap!

The applause was endless.

Even after Lu Zhou walked off the stage, the applause was still going on. People frantically rushed to the front of the auditorium, trying to get a closer look at the whiteboard. Some even took photos of the whiteboard.

Dean Qin watched this unravel from afar, and he lowered his voice as he spoke to the staff member next to him.

“Don’t erase the whiteboard, I plan on keeping it… It will be a historical relic in a couple of decades!”

The staff member gulped. He was muddled.

“Okay…”

He wasn’t confused.

Instead, he was just in shock. After working at the auditorium for this many years, he had never seen anything like this.

On the other hand, Professor Zhang Shouwu still sat in his seat. He looked at the crazy crowd and the whiteboard. He was totally in awe.

“Unbelievable…

“I can see glimpses of Grothendieck’s style from his work, but it’s also something entirely different.

“Isn’t he supposed to be… not good at algebraic geometry?”

Xu Chengyang, who was sitting next to Professor Zhang, grinned and replied, “Didn’t I tell you, he’s a man who creates miracles.”

On the other side of the venue, Professor Akshay stood up. He didn’t care for the crowd. Instead, he turned his back and was about to leave the venue.

Schultz noticed his movements and smiled.

“My friend, where do you plan on going?”

Akshay adjusted his glasses and said, “The hyperelliptic curve analysis method is a very unique mathematical tool. I think there’s still value in researching epsilon’s value, so I plan on doing some research at the hotel… Are you not interested?”

“It’s not that I’m not interested, but there’s no need to hurry.” Schultz shrugged and said, “I’d be willing to bet the value of epsilon will change within the next ten days.”

Akshay contemplated it for a second and nodded.

“I agree.”

“So my friend, what’s the point of doing that kind of trivial and repetitive work? Just to publish a couple of theses? Forget about it, see what Professor Lu is doing?” Schultz smiled and said, “There is room for development in regard to the epsilon value, but let other people do it. We’ll take over after they’re stuck.”

Akshay paused for a second. He then closed his notebook with a smile.

“You’re right… Should we go and eat something? I don’t really like the hotel buffet.”

Schultz smiled and said, “My physics professor came here for a report, and he said there’s a nice roast duck place nearby, we can try it…”

The back row of the venue.

Wang Zhengfei, who was half asleep, woke up to the thunderous applause. He suddenly looked around and saw the crowd rushing to the front of the podium. He sniffled and asked, “It ended?”

His secretary nodded.

“I think so.”

Wang Zhengfei quickly spoke.

“So?”

The secretary gulped.

“I think, we won?”

The secretary didn’t know why he used the word won.

After all, he had no idea what was going on.

However, he could tell from the applause that Lu Zhou seemed to be the winner.

The countless pairs of ecstatic eyes seemed to tell the same story. Which was that someone had defeated Faltings using logic, thus earning the respect of the mathematicians of the entire world…

From now on, this story would be added into the legends of mathematics, for it to be passed on for generations.

The entire world would remember Lu Zhou.

However, his boss didn’t give him the time to fully appreciate this moment.

When Wang Zhengfei saw that Lu Zhou was walking toward the entrance of the venue, he quickly stood up from his seat.

“Hurry, let’s go!”

The reason why he came to the report was to form a relationship with Lu Zhou.

He finally survived the “boring” report, it would be a shame if he didn’t get a chance to talk to Lu Zhou!

…

The sound of the crowd gradually disappeared.

Lu Zhou slowly walked toward the auditorium resting lounge. He was about to change out of his suit when he heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Teacher!”

He turned around and saw Han Mengqi jogging over with a plastic bag in her hand.

Her ponytail bounced up and down like a little squirrel.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled

“What?”

“Nothing… I’m just worried that you’re hungry.” Han Mengqi handed over the plastic bag and said, “Here, I got you some barbecued meat on rice.”

Lu Zhou: “Cumin flavored?”

“Yeah!” The little girl nodded and said, “It’s raining outside, so you probably don’t want to walk all the way to the cafeteria. I thought you would be hungry after the report… So I bought it for you.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou took the plastic bag from her.

“Oh yeah, have you eaten yet?”

Han Mengqi lifted another plastic bag in her hand and smiled.

“Not yet, let’s eat together.”

The two went into the auditorium lounge.

Lu Zhou placed the barbecued meat bowl on the table. He looked at his suit, then looked at Han Mengqi, who was happily opening her disposable chopsticks. He decided to change out of his suit after eating.

This report consumed a lot of his mental and physical stamina, and it was time for him to recharge.

Lu Zhou opened the chopsticks and was about to eat.

Suddenly, the lounge door was opened. An old man in his seventies walked in with two staff members.

Lu Zhou felt like this man looked familiar, but he couldn’t recognize him.

Fortunately, the moment Lu Zhou showed a confused expression, the old man smiled and introduced himself.

“Academician Lu, nice to meet you! I’m the CEO of Huawei, Wang Zhengfei. I’m sorry to disturb you, but the report was just too captivating! I wonder if I can treat you to…”

Wang Zhengfei was about to ask Lu Zhou to grab a bite when he noticed Lu Zhou’s rice bowl.

You’re worth billions, are you really eating rice bowls?

He changed his tone and asked, “That’s what you’re eating?”

“Barbecued meat and rice, I like it,” Lu Zhou replied nonchalantly. He looked at this old man and asked, “CEO Wang, you’ve researched Riemann’s hypothesis before?”

Lu Zhou was definitely above average fitness. Even if he ate junk food all day, he would still be in decent shape.

What Lu Zhou was more interested in was why CEO Wang decided to show up at his report.

Is that what the social elite is doing nowadays? Instead of clubs and concerts, they’re going to boring academic reports?

“I haven’t researched it, but it is my hobby… haha,” Wang Zhengfei said awkwardly with a smile.

He originally planned on pretending to know a little about mathematics, but he remembered that Lu Zhou was a Fields Medal medalist. The vast majority of people would look like complete mathematics fools in front of him…

It was better for him to just admit his inexperience.

Lu Zhou knew what CEO Wang’s ulterior motive was, so he smiled and asked, “So what’s the real reason you’re here then?”

Wang Zhengfei stopped pretending and smiled.

“I guess you saw through me.”

Lu Zhou smiled and sighed.

“I know, there are many other attractive qualities I have, like my handsomeness.”

Wang Zhengfei: “???”

Secretary: “… ???”

Staff member: “???”

Han Mengqi, who was ravaging through her food, suddenly choked on a piece of meat. With tears in her eyes, she began to look for some napkins.

Lu Zhou noticed the reactions, and he coughed and said, “Just kidding.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled awkwardly.

“Academician Lu, you’re quite the comedian.”

F*ck sake!

What kind of joke is that!

Lu Zhou looked around and said, “Okay, this is not the place to talk, let’s arrange an appointment?”

CEO Wang quickly said, “Whatever suits you!”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

“We’ll meet in three days then.

“Three days later, at the Purple Mountain Hotel.

“We’ll discuss that thing you’re interested in.”

Chapter 864: 864 Mining Gold Scholar“s

864 Mining Gold Scholar“s

Lu Zhou and his student were happily eating their meals together. They didn’t know that the auditorium was in chaos.

Scholars who were normally quiet and reserved turned into blood-hunting sharks as they all rushed to the front of the auditorium.

Even though only half of the scholars were going crazy, that was still a very large number of people.

Dean Qin saw that the situation was getting out of hand. In order to prevent anyone from getting injured, he asked the safety staff members for help.

These people weren’t employees of the school; they were from the state security department.

They quickly handled the situation.

Right after that, Dean Qin walked through the crowd with a security team and “snatched” the whiteboard from a group of scholars.

Dean Qin was relieved to see that the whiteboard wasn’t damaged.

He wasn’t worried about the mathematicians stomping on each other, after all, he only knew a few big names in the mathematics academic community.

However, this whiteboard was a cultural relic, and it would be a huge loss if it was damaged in any way…

…

Ten minutes after the report.

The forum discussions regarding this report on Mathoverflow went crazy.

The most popular post was one from Terry Tao.

[This is the most exciting report I have been to in the past three years… The last time I felt this way was at the International Congress of Mathematicians. I am honored to have been able to witness the proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. We are one step closer to capturing this crown of mathematics. :)]

The last time Professor Tao posted on Mathoverflow was two weeks ago, when the thesis was first released.

Back then, he had some doubts about the thesis and needed some time to think. People waited a long time for Professor Tao to comment on Lu Zhou’s thesis.

The post instantly went on the Mathoverflow trending page.

[So Professor Tao is saying that… Professor Lu’s proof is correct?]

[Wait a second, Professor Tao should be at the Jin Ling University report, so does that mean… Professor Faltings also thinks it’s correct?]

[Impossible! We all know how arrogant and stubborn that German guy is.]

[It’s not impossible, his stubbornness and arrogance come from his academic achievement and his respect toward academia. Do you really think he will put his attitude over academic integrity?]

[We all read Professor Lu’s thesis, it’s clearly debatable!]

[Is anyone there? What is it like? I just want to know the result?!]

People on the forum were in disarray.

For the people who weren’t researching the Riemann hypothesis, they weren’t interested in the intricate details. They only wanted to know if the Quasi Riemann hypothesis was solved and who won the “boss battle” between Professor Lu and Faltings?

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait for long.

Five minutes after Tao Zhexuan’s post, many scholars who were at the scene posted photos to their blogs, Facebook, and other forums.

Thirty minutes after the report, someone uploaded a footage to YouTube, which was instantly shared to the mathematicians on Mathoverflow.

Immediately after the video was uploaded, the discussions regarding the Quasi Riemann hypothesis exploded!

When people heard Faltings say, “You are correct”, their eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

[Professor Faltings is… admitting defeat?]

[What do you mean defeat? Academic debates aren’t a competition… But this is still quite amazing. Professor Lu’s argument is so strong that Faltings can’t find a single mistake?]

[There is one possibility… Which is that Professor Lu’s mathematical tool, which he introduced at the end, was perfect. My research area is not algebraic geometry, can anyone tell me what hyperelliptic curve analysis is?]

[Regardless, a new era has just begun.]

[God Lu is insane!]

While the discussions were rising in popularity, a big name in the area of algebraic geometry suddenly submitted a post.

[I don’t know if you guys noticed, but the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool that Professor Lu invented while studying the Quasi Riemann hypothesis is quite interesting. Not only did he prove the existence of epsilon, but it also shows that epsilon can be further enlarged!]

Surprisingly, after this post was released, the amount of discussion on Mathoverflow significantly decreased.

But then again, this did make sense.

The YouTube videos clearly showed the mathematical side of the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool. Scholars gradually absorbed this new knowledge and finally realized why Faltings was so easily convinced. They also found out that there was a gold mine in front of them.

They could be the ones to further enlarge the value of epsilon!

There was still room for further exploration in regard to the critical line proof!

The hyperelliptic curve analysis was like a pickaxe.

Not only did Professor Lu make this pickaxe, but he delivered a pickaxe to each and every one of them.

It would be a shame if they didn’t seize this opportunity…

…

[Congratulations, the report was so good!]

Lu Zhou was sitting in the lounge and drinking tea. He looked at Chen Yushan’s text message and smiled. He typed a reply on his phone.

[Thank you.]

Han Mengqi noticed Lu Zhou’s smile and asked curiously, “Who are you talking to?”

Lu Zhou replied, “Your sister.”

“Oh…” Han Mengqi put her and Lu Zhou’s food packaging into a plastic bag and said, “I’ll grab that for you.”

Lu Zhou answered, “Thank you!”

Han Mengqi pouted and walked away. She didn’t know why she was feeling a little blue.

Coincidentally, when she opened the door, Dean Qin was walking in.

Han Mengqi looked at the dean and politely greeted him.

“Hello, Dean Qin!”

“Hello hello…” Dean Qin nodded and looked at Lu Zhou, who was behind her.

He walked up and smiled.

“Why are you here? I’ve been looking for you.”

Lu Zhou: “It’s raining outside, so I ate here… Why?”

Dean Qin: “The school committee booked a buffet at noon at a five-star hotel. There was a problem with the reservation, and they just informed me about the buffet. I immediately came to look for you, but it seems like you already ate.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Perfect, I don’t like banquets anyway, so you can just go instead.”

“I knew you were going to say that.” Dean Qin sighed and said, “There’s still a banquet at night, and you should go for that. After all, half of these scholars came here to see you. You should be a good host.”

Lu Zhou: “Fine, I’ll go at night… Oh yeah, what about that whiteboard?”

“I put it away, what, do you want to take it home?”

Lu Zhou looked at how nervous Dean Qin was and looked at him with a strange expression.

“Not taking it home, but I need it for something. Most of the calculations were done on the spot, and I haven’t sorted them out yet. I plan on copying the things on it, then write a separate thesis and submit it to Annual Mathematics.”

“Okay, good…” Dean Qin sighed in relief and said, “I’ll ask them to bring the whiteboard over.”

He turned around and quickly left the lounge.

As Lu Zhou looked at him walking away, he tilted his head and muttered to himself, “Why is he acting so weird?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and took out his laptop from his backpack.

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof was finally finished.

And the hyperelliptic curve analysis tool was completed thirty minutes ago.

He only had three things to do.

First, he had to convert the “hyperelliptic curve geometric analysis” tool into a thesis.

Then, he had to tell his co-author, Vera, about this good news.

As for the third thing…

It was to continue where he left off…

He had to extend the value of ε to 1/2 and find a proof for this century-old proposition…

Chapter 865: 865 Magical Effect of the Energy Medicine

865 Magical Effect of the Energy Medicine

The proof of the Quasi Riemann hypothesis opened a new possible path for the critical line proof. It was almost like Professor Lu built a ladder to climb the fortress of the Riemann hypothesis.

However, for some reason, Lu Zhou himself wasn’t interested in enlarging the value of ε.

Almost every scholar in the fields of analytic number theory and algebraic geometry were researching the value of epsilon.

This was almost like when Professor Zhang Yitang first proved the weak form of the twin prime conjecture and introduced the large sieve method, attracting half of the analytic number theory scholars…

A five-star hotel near Jin Ling University’s old campus.

Because this hotel was nearby and had good public transportation, it was often used to host various domestic academic conferences. The report dinner was also set here.

More than two thousand people attended this dinner banquet.

Some of the scholars didn’t show up. They decided to lock themselves in their room and research Lu Zhou’s hyperelliptic curve analysis tool. Even then, the number of guests that showed up was still a huge number.

After some intense preparations, the dinner party began.

At the dinner party, an old balding professor clearly had a bit too much to drink. He stood up with a full glass of red wine in his hand. He held the table to maintain balance as he joked around with his friends.

“The food here is wonderful… God, how come they’ve never thought about holding the mathematician congress here? I propose to hold the next mathematician congress here!”

Nearby, a drunk professor from Moscow said, “The next Congress of Mathematicians is going to be in St. Petersburg. That’s the result of the vote, I clearly remember you voting!”

“There was a vote? Oh, I guess I did indeed vote…” The professor laughed and said, “Okay then, I propose the next International Congress of Mathematicians to be in Jinling!”

Surprisingly, this old man’s drunk proposal resonated with a lot of people.

“Haha, I agree!”

“I agree as well! This is a beautiful place, I haven’t had enough yet.”

“I don’t care…”

“To my friends in Jinling! This is a beautiful city, especially that auditorium. Oh my, you can feel the academic atmosphere the moment you walk in.”

Dean Qin listened to the drunken mathematicians kissing his a**, and he could feel his heart rate increasing.

Holding the congress of mathematicians in Jinling?!

Forget about the congress of mathematicians, having the Chinese Mathematicians Conference here would be enough.

Judging by the number of people who were qualified to conduct a 45-minute report at the IMO conference, it seemed like the Chinese mathematics community had only just joined into the big family of international mathematicians. Even though they had an excellent scholar like Lu Zhou, Lu Zhou was just one person.

If Jinling could host the next International Congress of Mathematicians, it would be extremely beneficial to the Chinese mathematics community!

…

The hour hand reached nine o’clock. The banquet slowly came to an end. The guests gradually left the venue and returned to their hotels, in hopes of sleeping off the alcohol.

Actually, both Lu Zhou and Jin Ling University didn’t expect all of the thesis doubts to be answered in the report.

Even without the other big names in mathematics, Faltings alone was a tough opponent.

If Professor Faltings’ questions were too tricky, Lu Zhou might have to spend a day or two to come up with an answer. Therefore, Jin Ling University booked a two-night hotel stay for all of the guests, in case of a second report.

However, everything went surprisingly well. The report didn’t even go overtime. Even Lu Zhou was shocked by his abilities, and he actually answered all of the questions in time.

The report was over…

But the mathematicians who came to Jinling weren’t in a rush to leave.

After all, the money for the hotel booking was included in the registration fee. It would be a waste for them to leave now. Not to mention this kind of conference was often reimbursed by their respective institutes. It would be a shame to give up this travel opportunity.

Not to mention, most theoretical researchers loved to travel. This was obvious from the locations chosen in the past ICM conferences.

The locations chosen were all tourist and vacation hotspots.

The next morning, some people rented a mountain bike and rode up Purple Mountain with their backpacks and water bottles. Other scholars weren’t interested in physical activities. They decided to organize an academic conference in the hotel lobby. They exchanged research ideas while sitting on the hotel sofas.

After all, it was rare for so many big names in various research fields to be gathered in one place.

They happened to also be spontaneous people.

If Lu Zhou knew about this, even he would never miss this opportunity.

Unfortunately, he pulled an all-nighter last night. He was busy organizing his thesis as he wanted to upload his hyperelliptic curve analysis thesis on arXiv as soon as possible.

This was mainly because there was a lot of misinformation online.

For those knowledgeable experts, they obviously wouldn’t be affected by the misinformation because they could easily identify the problems. But for those less experienced, it would be a waste of time for them to study a wrong method.

Lu Zhou typed out the final words and leaned back in his chair.

“It’s finally done!”

Lu Zhou sighed in relief and rubbed his dark eye bags. He took out an energy medicine from the system space and took a sip.

The sweet liquid spread across his taste buds, while the minty scent traveled up his nose.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and pointed the camera at himself. He couldn’t help but notice that his eye bags were gone.

“That’s pretty magical.”

Unfortunately, this item was the same as the nitrogen shield, in that it couldn’t be reverse-engineered. Otherwise, Lu Zhou would have gladly taken this thing to the Institute of Biochemistry for further research.

Lu Zhou looked at the bottle gradually turning into dust. He shook his hands and placed his attention back onto his computer.

He had completed the thesis. All he had to do know was to upload.

He first went to arXiv and uploaded the preprint. Then, he wrote an email and attached the thesis. The email title was “Supplementary notes on the Quasi Riemann hypothesis”.

He sent this email to the editorial department of Annual Mathematics, with Vera’s name written down as his collaborator. Lu Zhou stretched his back and stood up from the office chair.

Even though he had just pulled an all nigher, because of the energy medicine, he was full of energy. His body was overflowing with adrenaline.

He was planning on exercising at the gym and sweating it out, but he suddenly received a call.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s me, Faltings… Are you free right now?”

“I am, why?”

“I heard the view from the Purple Mountain is quite nice… I know it’s nearby, but I don’t have a car here… so…”

Faltings seemed like he didn’t want to admit that he didn’t know the way, so the phone call went silent for a while.

However, in the end, the stubborn old man coughed and awkwardly asked, “How do I get there?”

Lu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

We’re living in the 21st century.

How do you not know how to use Google?

What about Uber?

Lu Zhou shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Okay then, wait for me at the school gate.

“I’m free this afternoon, I’ll take you.”

Chapter 866: It“s Good to Be Young

It was December, which meant winter in Jinling.

The red and yellow leaves that once covered the mountain had fallen to the ground. However, far away in the distance, the green taiga forests still thrived.

Because this mountain was close to Lu Zhou’s house, he liked to put on his sports clothes and come here for a run.

This was like his back garden. He knew this place like the back of his hand. The only people who knew this place better than him were probably the security members who were responsible for his safety…

“I think the attendees of the conference organized a mountain biking event, why didn’t you go with them?”

Faltings: “Why would an old man like me hang out with those young folks?”

Lu Zhou said, “I’m a young folk.”

Faltings went silent for a second and said, “Right, I totally forgot.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Old people were generally out of shape. Halfway up the mountain, Faltings was feeling a bit tired. He unbuttoned his jacket and took off his hat. He looked around and spoke while gasping for air.

“How come… there’s no one here?”

“It is December.” Lu Zhou stopped walking and rested his hands on his knees. He took out his water bottle and took a sip. He wiped his lips and said, “It’s so cold, plus it’s not a holiday, there aren’t many tourists. The best time to visit Purple Mountain is in early October. The mountain is filled with golden leaves.”

Faltings raised his eyebrows and looked surprised.

“It seems like you come here often?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “My mansion is nearby.”

Faltings: “…”

Even though he was the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, his income was obviously not enough to buy a mountain-side mansion…

However, this didn’t matter to him.

When someone reached his age, materialistic things didn’t matter anymore.

After a short break, the two continued to walk.

After a while, Faltings began panting. Even though he seemed like he didn’t want to give up, considering his physical condition, Lu Zhou decided to stop the hike here. He convinced the old man that there was nothing to see at the top of the mountain.

Lu Zhou found a familiar restaurant on the mountainside and asked the restaurant owner for some grilled fish and beer.

The two sat on the stone table, eating fish while chatting.

“The fish here is better than the one at the hotel… What is it called?”

“It’s not called anything.” Lu Zhou opened a bottle of beer and said, “You can find it in many Chinese restaurants. It’s usually called grilled fish or barbecued fish. The recipe is usually the same, and it pairs well with beer… Speaking of which, are you allowed to drink?”

Faltings smiled and opened a beer.

“What kind of German doesn’t drink? It’s not that easy to find a supermarket in my small hometown, but you can definitely find a pub to drink.”

Lu Zhou shrugged and smiled.

“Oh really? How come I didn’t notice your drinking culture in Berlin?”

“That’s a big city, and it’s not a place for enjoying life.” Faltings took a sip of the beer and wiped his mouth. He looked at the city view from the mountain.

The sun was slowly setting, giving the city a red-yellowish glow. Faltings looked at the beautiful scenery and took a picture with his phone.

“Speaking of which, how far is the top of the mountain?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and replied, “With our speed, two more hours.”

Faltings went silent for a while. He then sighed.

“Looks like I’m not going up there then.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a second.

He didn’t know what to reply, so he tried to comfort Faltings.

“It’s fine, there are still opportunities in the future. Next time, we’ll leave earlier.”

However, Faltings didn’t seem to notice Lu Zhou’s display of kindness.

He stared at the setting sun for a while and shook his head. He spoke slowly.

“Time doesn’t wait for people, especially for those who have very little time left. When you reach my age, you’ll be counting the days you have left.”

When it came to time, everyone was equal.

Whether it was the king or the farmer, they all had to face death one way or the other.

After about thirty seconds, the old man looked away from the sunset and stared at Lu Zhou.

“Right now, you’re the closest person to God… Or the closest person to universal truth. Ever since Mr. Grothendieck passed away, I have always felt like there could be someone else like Grothendieck on Earth. Someone who knows the answer to all the questions.”

Lu Zhou: “… You’re too kind.”

“Not kind, it’s more like… advice.” Professor Faltings looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Regardless of whether I can witness that day or not, I hope you won’t give up. If there’s anyone who can solve this problem, it is you.”

The old German, who was usually sneerful and sarcastic, suddenly smiled and joked.

“If I’m gone by then, please leave a thesis copy on my tombstone. But don’t make me wait too long, or else I might have to climb out and knock on your door.”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking his beer, suddenly smiled and said, “Forget about the tombstone, I promise you won’t have to wait too long… Three years, I can definitely solve this in three years.”

“Three years?”

Faltings was amused, and he laughed out loud.

He shook his head and looked at the scenery far away. After a while, he said, “It’s good to be young.”

Chapter 867: Professor Faltings“ Notes

Three years to solve the Riemann hypothesis…

Countless people have said similar words.

Faltings could recall at least a dozen people claiming the same thing.

One of them had even passed away.

That person was called Weil, the person who proposed the famous Weil’s conjecture.

Apparently, in his younger years, he tried to challenge the “zero-point distribution of the ζ function for algebraic curves over a finite field” problem, which in turn created the Weil’s conjecture. He optimistically thought that this might be true for the real Riemann’s conjecture as well.

He even made a plan, that if he found the proof of Riemann’s conjecture, he would deliberately postpone the publication of his thesis to the outside world until 1959… which was the 100th anniversary of the Riemann hypothesis.

However, his optimism soon disappeared.

In the 1970s, Professor Deligne finally proved Weil’s conjecture, but the Riemann hypothesis was still far out of reach.

Faltings could still clearly remember that during Weil’s final days, he was still hoping to see the proof of the Riemann hypothesis in his lifetime, even though it was highly unlikely.

Three days quickly went by.

The academic conference came to an end, and scholars from all over the world began their return journeys.

During these two days, Professor Faltings didn’t ask Lu Zhou to take him up the mountain again. He spent his time at the Jin Ling University campus.

According to the university forum posts, this old professor went to the library, and he even attended a mathematics lecture at the new campus… Even though he didn’t understand Chinese, he could still understand the symbols on the blackboard.

On the final day, Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to send Professor Faltings and some of his other mathematician friends to the airport. Wang Peng had to find a larger car to accommodate all of these people.

Even though Professor Deligne was supposed to be in Wang Peng’s car, unfortunately, Deligne left soon after the report. When Lu Zhou called his phone, Deligne was already back in his Princeton office…

Lu Zhou decided to be a good host and went into the airport with them.

Before boarding the plane, Faltings suddenly handed him a notebook. Without saying anything, he took his suitcase and walked away.

Tao Zhexuan asked, “Hey, let me see, what’s in there?”

Tao Zhexuan watched Faltings walk away and excitedly tried to grab the notebook from Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn’t stop him. He let go of the notebook.

Molina wanted to read the notebook as well, but she didn’t want to look weak in front of her “competitor”. Therefore, she tried to secretly glance at the notebook, which was in Professor Tao’s hands.

Lu Zhou noticed her movements and smiled.

“It’s fine, just read it, it’s not… any secrets. If it inspires you, I’m sure Faltings will be happy.”

Molina turned red and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Thank you.”

After that, she began reading the notebook with Tao Zhexuan.

She knew she couldn’t keep up with Professor Tao’s reading speed, so she took out her phone and began taking photos.

Lu Zhou didn’t stop her. He walked to the vending machine nearby and bought three cans of coffee. After giving a can of coffee to each of them, he sat down at a bench nearby.

A couple of minutes went by, and he was half-finished with his coffee. Professor Tao closed the notebook and looked at Lu Zhou with an excited expression.

“The things written here are very interesting! Most of them are Faltings’ own thoughts regarding the Riemann hypothesis. They are more like research ideas, where some are proven, and some haven’t been touched. I recommend you to read through it seriously, it might inspire you.”

Lu Zhou nodded and smiled.

“I was going to do that anyway.”

“Okay then, it’s time to say goodbye,” Professor Tao said while looking at the time on his watch. He smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “My flight is about to start boarding. I hope I can see you at the mathematician congress next year. I look forward to your 60-minute report.”

Lu Zhou: “Well, it looks like I have a lot of work to do then.”

Tao Zhexuan smiled and waved goodbye. He then grabbed his suitcase and said one last thing before leaving.

“Haha, I believe in you!”

He disappeared into the security check crowd.

Molina stared at Lu Zhou for a while. She put her phone back into her bag and said nervously, “Thank you… Even though you helped me, I won’t be merciful.”

Lu Zhou grinned and said, “Please don’t, I don’t care who solves this problem, I just want it to be solved.”

If someone can solve the Riemann hypothesis with this notebook alone, why doesn’t Faltings just solve it himself?

Lu Zhou didn’t think this notebook would help Molina solve Riemann’s hypothesis.

The reason why Professor Faltings gave him this notebook was because Faltings hoped Lu Zhou could be inspired by his notes.

The content in this notebook wasn’t even worthy of publication, and very few people could find value from this notebook.

And clearly, Molina Abel wasn’t one of them.

Even though her thesis on the critical line theorem was impressive, it was nowhere near groundbreaking.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have published in a journal such as Mathematics Chronicle. Instead, she would have published in Annual Mathematics.

Molina looked satisfied, as if the pictures on her phone were a treasure map. She wanted to fly back to Princeton as soon as possible and organize the photos. Lu Zhou went silent for a second before saying, “Can I give you some advice?”

Molina looked at Lu Zhou with a nervous expression.

“What advice?”

Lu Zhou looked at her and said, “Don’t have high expectations for the notebook, see how Professor Tao only briefly read through it and gave it back to me without writing anything down.”

Molina paused for a second and frowned.

“So you’re saying… that the stuff in this notebook isn’t important?”

Lu Zhou gave her a strange look.

“No, Professor Faltings’ research is important, there’s no doubt about that. I’m just saying that… This thing is only useful in the right hands.”

Molina: “…”

F*ck sake!

This a**hole!

I’m so close to slapping him in the face!

Chapter 868: Mystery of the Quantum World

Chapter 868 Mystery of the Quantum World

The controversy regarding Lu Zhou’s Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof finally came to an end. After the editorial department of Annual Mathematics received Lu Zhou’s “Hyperelliptic curve analysis” thesis, they immediately sent him an email.

In that email, the editorial department of Annual Mathematics first informed him that his thesis was in the peer review stage. Also, the Annual Mathematics would publish a special edition, solely for his thirty-page Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof and other mathematical tools used in the proof, such as the hyperelliptic curve analysis.

Generally speaking, one would have to publish a major mathematical proposition breakthrough for one of the big journals, such as Annual Mathematics, to publish a special issue.

The Quasi Riemann hypothesis was undoubtedly worthy of this honor.

Because the hyperelliptic curve analysis method was extensively used in the Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof, the editorial department decided to publish these two theses together at once.

Lu Zhou didn’t really care about the publishing plans, whether or not they were published together didn’t affect him at all.

The discussions surrounding the Quasi Riemann hypothesis would slowly die down by the beginning of next year, and maybe by then, the mathematical community would have a rough understanding of the tools he used to prove the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

However, for Lu Zhou, this proposition was over; it was in the past.

Not to mention that after he submitted his thesis to arXiv, more than half of the mathematics community had downloaded and read his thesis. That was all he wanted.

What he needed to do now was to expand his Quasi Riemann hypothesis results to the real Riemann hypothesis…

It was worth mentioning that, during the three days after his thesis was uploaded, many people had made breakthroughs in regard to the value of ε.

That number went from infinitesimal to having a finite value.

According to the data on arXiv and Mathoverflow, the value of epsilon was being updated every day, and it slowly approached 1/2.

So far, this number had been updated to one over 60 million.

While the mathematics community was going crazy over the epsilon value, something hilarious happened.

Everyone knew that theses were time-sensitive projects.

Whoever completed their research first would get all of the credits. However, due to the academic process of a journal, the review cycle often took a long time. Therefore, many people had the habit of uploading preprints.

But uploading a preprint didn’t solve all problems. For example, if your preprint expanded epsilon to be 0.01, and someone else later expanded it to 0.1 before your thesis was accepted into a journal, then your research would become unworthy of publication.

This was a good thing for the mathematics world, but for PhDs trying to graduate, it was a disaster.

Therefore, after uploading their results on arXiv, some people tried their best to get their theses into publication. They even chose to publish in journals that had a worse reputation but a faster review process.

Unfortunately, most of these theses referenced the hyperelliptic curve analysis method, which was proposed by Lu Zhou. But that thesis itself hadn’t even passed peer review yet.

What?

You’re referencing Lu Zhou’s preprint thesis on arXiv?

Most journals and reviewers were very stubborn, and they often rejected people who cited preprints that hadn’t been peer-reviewed. However, if they didn’t cite the arXiv preprints, they might be flagged for plagiarism.

This was a ridiculous situation.

Everyone knew Lu Zhou’s thesis was correct, but they couldn’t use his tools.

Most people had no way of submitting their theses, and they could only upload them as preprints. They paid close attention to the latest Annual Mathematics publication, hoping to publish their own thesis once Lu Zhou’s thesis passed the review.

This was probably the first time where the speed of scientific research theses was faster than the journal review speed…

…

On the other hand, after bidding farewell to his old friends, Lu Zhou sat in Wang Peng’s SUV and went back to his Zhongshan International mansion.

It was as if someone threw a nuclear bomb in the mathematics community. There were countless scholars in all fields trying to further increase the value of epsilon. However, Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in the value of epsilon.

If epsilon couldn’t be increased to 1/2, then the result would be the same as the twin prime conjecture. No matter how clever someone used the hyperelliptic curve on the complex plane, it would only approach 1/2, but it would never reach it.

During this time, he occasionally checked arXiv to see if anyone used his hyperelliptic curve analysis method to create some groundbreaking results. The rest of his time was spent using Jin Ling University’s resources to find any literature on the Riemann hypothesis.

His research was in a bottleneck, and oftentimes, it was beneficial for him to read as many sources as he could, or talk with other scholars, in hopes of being inspired.

This was why Professor Faltings’ notebook was so valuable…

Lu Zhou went into his house and sat in his study room. He immediately took out that notebook and placed it on the table.

Like Tao Zhexuan had said, the notebook contained many interesting ideas.

One of them had been tested by Professor Faltings himself to be unfeasible. Some of the other ideas might be feasible, but Faltings didn’t have the time to try them.

If anyone else had this notebook, it would look like nonsense to them.

But this was exactly what Lu Zhou needed the most!

Lu Zhou read through the notes, and his eyes gradually became more and more exhilarated. However, after flipping a page, he suddenly froze.

Unlike the previous fragmented notes, the words on this page were neatly written. Also, it was written in German.

Lu Zhou didn’t know German, but thankfully he had Xiao Ai.

With Xiao Ai’s help, he easily translated the notes.

Unexpectedly, this page wasn’t about a mathematical concept, it was instead a…

Diary?

[When I studied Professor Hilbert’s theses, I found an interesting proposition in his work. Let the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function be written as ρ = 1/2 + it, then the t corresponds to the eigenvalues of a certain Hermitian operator. If this proposition holds, then the Riemann operator should be a special random Hermitian matrix.

[During afternoon tea, I spoke with Professor Klitzing from the Max Planck Institute of Physics. We were both amazed by our findings.

[Surprisingly, a pure mathematical function like the Riemann zeta function actually has a connection with quantum mechanics! Afterward, I talked with Edward Witten through email, but unfortunately, nothing came of it.

[If only I took some quantum mechanics classes… It would be too late for me to start learning physics now…]

Lu Zhou’s finger gently swiped over the texts. He put down the notebook and had a look of revelation.

So it’s not just Professor Montgomery and Professor Dyson…

Professor Faltings, who is all the way in Germany, also noticed the relationship between the Riemann zeta function and quantum dynamics. He even talked about it with Professor Klitzing and Witten.

Unfortunately, even though they also found this connection, they weren’t able to solve the puzzle.

What does this mean?

If the non-trivial zero points of the zeta function correspond to the energy level of a certain quantum mechanical system, such as the energy spectrum of a quantum mechanical system, if we say the Hamiltonian of this system is the Riemann’s operator, and if Riemann’s hypothesis holds… What does that mean for the quantum system?

In contrast, if we can find a Hamiltonian operator whose total eigenvalues correspond to the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function, does that mean we can find the proof of the Riemann hypothesis from a science perspective?

Lu Zhou looked more and more intrigued.

Even though he preferred to reveal the physics side of the Riemann hypothesis through pure mathematics, this didn’t stop him from being shocked at this unknown mystery.

These two concepts, half a century apart, somehow were connected together.

Back in the 19th century, the concept of quantum mechanics didn’t even exist…

Suddenly, Lu Zhou’s phone on the corner of the table began to ring, and this interrupted Lu Zhou’s train of thoughts.

Lu Zhou picked up his phone and connected the call.

He was about to say hello, but the other end of the phone spoke first.

The man on the phone coughed and spoke somewhat awkwardly.

“Um, Academician Lu, do you still remember me?”

Chapter 869: Big Name in the Industry

Chapter 869 Big Name in the Industry

Not only did that voice sound awkward, but there was a hint of helplessness.

Lu Zhou instantly remembered who it was.

“Oh, CEO Wang, hi… What’s wrong? Why are you calling me?”

Wang Zhengfei: “???”

What do you mean why?

Three days ago, we said we would talk, did you forget already?

If it were anyone else, he would have hung up the phone.

But he had no other choice…

He convinced himself that Academician Lu was busy with research and that Academician Lu wasn’t trying to offend him…

Wang Zhengfei felt a lot better. He cleared his throat and spoke politely.

“Academician Lu, here’s the thing. We met at the report three days ago, right? We said that we would eat at the Purple Mountain Hotel. Of course, if you’re too busy, we can postpone the meeting.”

We made plans?

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that had indeed happened.

Not just that, but he remembered that he was the one who suggested eating at the Purple Mountain Hotel.

“Oh, sorry, I’ve been quite busy…” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Where are you now?”

Wang Zhengfei: “I’m at the Purple Mountain Hotel.”

You’re there?

“Then… Wait for ten minutes, I’ll be right there.”

After that, Lu Zhou hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou wasn’t very interested in talking with these industry executives. First of all, he didn’t have high emotional intelligence; secondly, most of these people couldn’t benefit him.

Money?

That was just a number for him.

Unlike other academic professors, his academic reputation went far beyond just academia. He was even at the level for help making high-level government decisions that would change the course of history.

For the cheaper projects, he spent his own money, and if he didn’t have enough money, he would ask the Communist Party of China to help him with funding.

Star Sky Technology had steady cash flow, with an abundance of patents. Not to mention Lu Zhou had his East Asia Energy shares and various other assets. The only companies more profitable than Star Sky Technology were banks and real estate developers.

However, this time, Lu Zhou decided to change his mind and talk with CEO Wang from Huawei.

Even though Star Sky Technology had good research and development capabilities, it had an obvious weakness, which was manufacturing and production.

For the controllable fusion technology, they collaborated with the China National Nuclear Corporation, and for the aerospace projects, they received help from the two state aerospace companies. Most of the time, Star Sky Technology was the brain behind the project. Whenever they needed to turn their research into a product, they would have to outsource their manufacturing.

Of course, from a market economy perspective, this wasn’t a weakness, it was actually an advantage.

Rather than being a jack of all trades, it was better to focus on what Star Sky Technology did best. Not to mention that the patents held by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study were enough to turn Star Sky Technology into an industry titan. That was what Chen Yushan said.

However, Lu Zhou’s focus wasn’t money.

That number in his bank account was meaningless for him. He was more interested in revealing the secrets behind the high tech system. The carbon-based chip was the key to the future, whether it was the paused “Control of Earth and Moon” mission or the “artificial intelligence” technology branch, these were all ways he could reveal the mystery behind the system.

If possible, Lu Zhou wanted to control this industry chain by himself. After all, the requirements for leveling up Xiao Ai to level 4 was to collect sufficient data from human activities.

However, the word “sufficient” was an understatement. For him, it meant an astronomical number…

All in all, now that Star Sky Technology wanted to enter the computer chip field, they had to find an appropriate ally to quickly convert its technology into products. This way, they could capture and lead the market.

Fortunately, China was great at production.

…

There were only a few places near Purple Mountain with fantastic scenery and transportation. The Zhongshan International community was one of them, and the Purple Mountain Hotel was the other. The two were a kilometer apart.

Before Lu Zhou left his study room, he called Wang Peng and asked him to get the car. He then changed into a set of clean clothes and left his house.

His Electric Purple was already parked at his front gate.

Lu Zhou got in the car and said, “Purple Mountain Hotel.”

“Ok.”

Wang Peng nodded and began driving.

The electric motors whistled quietly and brought Lu Zhou to his destination.

There was a man in a suit waiting at the Purple Mountain Hotel entrance. When he saw the one-of-a-kind Electric Purple car park at the hotel entrance, he immediately walked up and enthusiastically greeted Lu Zhou.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I’m CEO Wang’s secretary, you can call me Li Yang.”

“Hi, I’ve been a bit busy recently, sorry for keeping you guys waiting.” Lu Zhou shook his hand and said, “Let’s go meet Mr. Wang.”

Secretary Li made an inviting gesture.

“No problem, this way please.”

They walked through the hotel lobby and arrived at a rustic hotel room. Lu Zhou opened the door and saw CEO Wang sitting there, drinking tea.

The second the door opened, Wang Zhengfei stood up from the sofa and greeted Lu Zhou with a smile.

“Academician Lu, you’re here!”

Lu Zhou nodded toward Wang Peng, signaling him to wait outside. He then looked at the old man and reached out his hand.

“Nice to meet you, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No worries, it’s my pleasure.” Wang Zhengfei shook Lu Zhou’s hand and said politely, “Come, please sit.”

The two sat at the table.

The hotel waiter poured each of them a cup of jasmine tea before leaving the room.

Wang Zhengfei looked at the rising vapor and smiled. He began trying to make conversation.

“I asked the waiter to give us some tea, do you have any preferences?”

“Nope.” Lu Zhou shook his head and noticed that Wang Zhengfei wanted to have some small talk. He then said, “CEO Wang, I’m sure you’re a busy person, so let’s skip the small talk.”

Wang Zhengfei was stunned. He wasn’t used to this kind of interaction.

However, this wasn’t his first time dealing with people in academia, so he quickly adjusted his attitude.

He put down the cup of tea and had a sincere and serious look on his face.

He looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Well, okay then.”

“There’s no one else here anyway, so I’ll get straight to the point. The carbon-based chips… was that your research?”

Lu Zhou slowly put down the cup of tea and looked at Wang Zhengfei, whose face was full of anticipation. Lu Zhou cleared his throat and replied, “Nope.”

Wang Zhengfei: “???”

Chapter 870: I Want HiSilicon

Chapter 870 I Want HiSilicon

Nope?

Nope?!

Wang Zhengfei was stunned by Lu Zhou’s reply, and he didn’t respond for a while.

Lu Zhou saw CEO Wang’s look of disappointment. He sipped some tea and said, “Graphene transistors are not my research direction. There are other scholars in this area. I only solved some problems regarding graphene Mott insulators. I guess it’s a small theoretical contribution.”

Calling it a small contribution was underselling it. After all, the theoretical calculations made during the Mott insulator research played a decisive role in the research of graphene semiconductors.

Therefore, it definitely wasn’t just a small contribution…

It was more like a medium contribution.

Nevertheless, the graphene transistor was the work of Professor Wu. Even though Lu Zhou, as the head of the institute, had the right to claim this research as his own, Lu Zhou would never do something like that.

Wang Zhengfei looked at Lu Zhou with a muddled expression.

After a while, he nervously smiled and asked, “Sorry… I don’t understand what the insulator is… Is that related to the carbon-based chips?”

Lu Zhou was too lazy to explain. He knew that the CEO wasn’t interested, so he just nodded and replied, “Sort of.”

Suddenly, Wang Zhengfei’s eyes lit up again.

Who invented the technology wasn’t important. That wasn’t what he was concerned about. Even if he did know the inventor, he wouldn’t risk his lithium batteries contract just for this new technology. Not to mention the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had the patents.

In the academic world, theses were the king, but in the industry, patents were the king!

Whoever had the patents had the right to establish a relationship with a production company.

Wang Zhengfei raised his teacup and said, “Academician Lu, on behalf of my colleagues in the Chinese semiconductor industry, as well as all of my employees, I would like to thank you! Cheers to you!”

Lu Zhou was stunned.

He wasn’t surprised by CEO Wang’s compliment. After all, Lu Zhou was well aware of how nutty his technology was.

However…

This a** kissing caught him off guard.

“CEO Wang, you’re too kind.” Lu Zhou coughed and raised his teacup as well. He said, “The carbon-based chip breakthrough was the cumulative work of the entire project team… Also, didn’t we say we’d only talk about business?”

“Haha, I couldn’t help it.” Wang Zhengfei awkwardly rubbed his head and said, “Let’s talk business.”

Even though Lu Zhou knew CEO Wang was putting on an act, he decided to ignore it.

He paused for a second and continued, “We all know the impact carbon-based chips will have on the semiconductor industry. This is our best choice for entering the semiconductor field. If all goes well, graphene will provide a function similar to lithium-sulfur batteries. Beijing should have already held a meeting on how to properly develop the carbon-based semiconductor industry. I’m sure the National Development and Reform Commission has already made plans.”

Wang Zhengfei had a look of surprise.

“You know this already?”

Lu Zhou sipped some tea and said, “I was the one who proposed this plan.”

Of course, when it came to the centralized management implementation, market penetration plan, and other specific policies, those were created by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for National Defense, and other government departments.

After all, the Chinese capital industry didn’t give them a good impression. The situation always became a swarm and scramble, where the winner would take all and the loser would take none.

Carbon-based chips were the future of the Chinese semiconductor industry. The high-level leaders didn’t want this technology to be dominated by one company.

Wang Zhengfei was shocked by Lu Zhou’s words.

He had heard rumors about Professor Lu, the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winner. He heard that even the Communist Party of China listened to his suggestions.

However, he didn’t expect Lu Zhou to be this strong…

The entire semiconductor industry…

This means hundreds of millions of investment and financial allocation, as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs! Especially since the semiconductor industry is labor-intensive!

Wang Zhengfei really wanted to ask where this industry cluster would be, but he didn’t ask.

What’s the point of asking?

What am I, going to buy land there?

Who would dare to do that?

It’s better to stay safe and not ask.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, “CEO Wang, you want to talk about carbon-based chips with me, right?”

“Yeah…” Wang Zhengfei nodded and said, “You have strong research and development capabilities, whereas our industrialization capabilities in the semiconductor and electronics industry are world-leading. I hope to be able to cooperate with you on carbon-based chips production. This is a win-win for both of us.”

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “I agree, but it seems like you don’t really know what graphene chips are.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and asked, “Oh? Why do you say that?”

CEO Wang was in disbelief.

He didn’t know a lot about mathematics, that was true.

But when it came to graphene chips, he had consulted with numerous industry experts. He wasn’t an expert himself, but he knew a lot more than the average person.

The next words that came out of Lu Zhou’s mouth shattered CEO Wang’s confidence.

“Carbon-based transistors can be used to build more than just carbon-based chips. Have you heard of Majorana fermion?”

“Majorana fermion?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah, it’s a unique type of fermion. Its antiparticle is itself. Doesn’t that sound interesting?”

CEO Wang didn’t think it was interesting at all, but he still put on a curious face.

Wang Zhengfei smiled and continued, “It does sound interesting… Where is it on the periodic table?”

“It might be a little difficult to find it on the periodic table.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It only exists in superconductors in the form of quasiparticles.”

Wang Zhengfei: “???”

What the hell?

He began to wonder if Lu Zhou was just toying with him.

Lu Zhou knew that there was no point continuing. He didn’t want CEO Wang to keep pretending to be interested.

Lu Zhou sighed and took a sip of his tea.

“I know you’re not interested.”

He paused for a second and continued, “Forget about Majorana fermions… What about quantum computers?”

Wang Zhengfei: “…?!”

Quantum computers!!!

The moment he heard the words come out of Lu Zhou’s mouth, Wang Zhengfei held his breath.

His eyes were filled with excitement, and he stared at Lu Zhou as he said with a trembling tone, “Quantum computers… You’re saying… that kind of quantum computer…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the quantum computers I’m talking about are called topological quantum computers. I think Microsoft is doing research on it, but unfortunately, even though they have made some progress on algorithms theory, they haven’t been able to find a suitable material.”

Wang Zhengfei instantly realized what was going on.

Forget about the fermions and quasiparticles…

Lu Zhou is trying to tell me something!

“So that material is that…”

Lu Zhou gave him a look.

Wang Zhengfei subconsciously stopped talking.

He finally realized what was going on.

The reason why the Communist Party of China took this matter so seriously wasn’t just because they wanted to create industry clusters, but also to go against the laws of the market, to centralize and impose closure on the industry clusters…

“Graphene is the most suitable material … It might not have been that way before, but it is now. A zero-energy Majorana fermion forms in the vortex core region of the interface between the three-dimensional topological insulator and superconductor. The existence of the nanofermions creates the possibility of constructing topological qubits.

“If someone can master carbon-based chips production, not only will they dominate the semiconductor industry, but they will also have control of the future computing industry.”

Lu Zhou drank some tea and looked at him.

“Do you want to work together then?”

Wang Zhengfei was excited at Lu Zhou giving him this opportunity, but he quickly calmed down.

He realized what Lu Zhou was doing.

The reason why Lu Zhou was rambling on about scientific stuff wasn’t to humble brag… Instead, Lu Zhou was placing all of his chips on the table, and he wanted to ask for something in return.

If he spoke first, he would be the sucker.

But…

He couldn’t refuse the things Lu Zhou was offering.

He didn’t want to give this opportunity to his competitors.

Wang Zhengfei unclenched his fists and took a deep breath. He suddenly loosened his shoulders.

He put on a warm smile on his face and took the initiative.

“What do you want?”

With Lu Zhou having the absolute advantage, there was no room for him to bargain.

Even if Lu Zhou wanted a significant part of the Huawei shares, he would have to consider the proposal seriously.

As long as he kept his board voting powers…

Fortunately, Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be interested in Huawei shares.

However, the academician’s request made this decision even more difficult.

“I want HiSilicon.”

Chapter 871: I Have It Now

Chapter 871 I Have It Now

HiSilicon’s history could be traced back to Huawei’s ASIC design center in 1991. It had been one of Huawei’s centerpieces in the electronics industry.

In most people’s minds, HiSilicon was a supplier of mobile phone processors for Huawei. However, HiSilicon’s business expanded far beyond mobile processors.

Accurately speaking, Huawei’s HiSilicon company provided home networking, communication, and other wireless chip solutions. Basically, they designed and made mobile phone chips, mobile communication system equipment chips, transmission network equipment chips, home digital equipment chips, etc. They even had a 90% market share in the security prevention and control industry.

Because HiSilicon was fully owned by Huawei, one could say that Huawei was HiSilicon and HiSilicon as Huawei. They were inseparable.

If Star Sky Technology had shares in HiSilicon, then it would mean Huawei would lose its total control over HiSilicon.

This was unacceptable for Wang Zhengfei.

However…

HiSilicon also desperately needed Star Sky Technology’s technology.

Therefore, after hearing Lu Zhou’s request, Wang Zhengfei had a dignified look on his face. He sat there in silence, seemingly lost in deep thought.

Lu Zhou wasn’t in a hurry. After he conveyed his requests, he picked up his cup and took a sip of the hot tea. This helped him moisten his dry throat.

He used this time to look at Wang Zhengfei’s facial expression, trying to see if he could read any thoughts.

Unfortunately, CEO Wang had been around the block. Lu Zhou couldn’t read a single ounce of information from his face.

Emm…

Did I ask for too much?

He talked about this with Chen Yushan before coming here. She helped him with the equity allocation and technical cooperation plans, but honestly, Lu Zhou, who wasn’t a great negotiator, didn’t know if his demands were too high.

Lu Zhou began to think.

Looks like CEO Wang isn’t going to agree.

But then again, I can cooperate with Unisplendour instead. Even though that company is mainly involved in low-end processors and isn’t backed by Huawei’s industrial chain, it might work?

Lu Zhou opened his mouth.

“Let’s leave this aside, you can make a decision later. Anyway, I didn’t bring a contract, and I’m sure you need more time to think this through. We should discuss this at a more formal occasion.”

CEO Wang loosened his shoulders and shook his head.

“There’s no need.”

Lu Zhou sighed in relief.

Even though they didn’t reach an agreement, this boring negotiation was finally over.

As expected, Lu Zhou wasn’t good at negotiating.

He planned on letting Chen Yushan negotiate with Unisplendour.

“I don’t have to think this through. I’ve already made up my mind. I trust my instincts and I trust Academician Lu won’t let me down.”

Wang Zhengfei stood up and reached out his hand as he solemnly said, “… As the CEO of Huawei, I accept your proposal. I hope we can work together in this new era of carbon-based chips and achieve greatness!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Does this mean…

He agrees?

…

Even though they reached an agreement, when it came to important matters such as equity transfer, Wang Zhengfei couldn’t make this decision alone.

Especially since Star Sky Technology wanted to invest in HiSilicon, and HiSilicon was one of Huawei’s most important subsidiary companies. He had to ask the opinions of the board members. Whether the board members would agree with this proposal was still up to chance.

Especially because of the confidentiality agreement, where many things had to stay secret.

He was worried about how to convince the company board members without mentioning the carbon-based chip technology.

Star Sky Technology didn’t need Huawei as they had many other choices. But if Huawei wanted to become the king of the Chinese electronics industry, they needed Star Sky Technology…

Even during dinner time, Lu Zhou was still thinking about what happened.

He had no idea how he was able to convince the CEO.

Actually, there was no convincing going on at all. It seemed like after CEO Wang listened to Lu Zhou’s requests, he just went silent for a few minutes before agreeing.

Maybe… Luo Wenxuan is interested in Professor Lu?

I’m actually a business genius who has been distracted by mathematics?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

If it weren’t for this fantastic negotiation, he would have never realized how much of a business tycoon he was…

After the dinner was over, Wang Zhengfei bid farewell to Lu Zhou and got into his black car parked at the hotel entrance.

Another Huawei executive was sitting in the backseat, and he couldn’t help but ask CEO Wang, “Sir, do you really think it’s a good idea to give them absolute control over HiSilicon?”

Sitting next to CEO Wang was a C-suite executive of HiSilicon. This person was also invited to the secret Beijing meeting.

That was why he came here with CEO Wang to Jinling.

Even though he had a lot of respect for CEO Wang, he had to admit that letting Star Sky Technology take control over HiSilicon was not a good idea. HiSilicon was Huawei’s bread and butter, and it seemed like a horrible idea to let an outsider step in.

Not to mention that Star Sky Technology demanded quite a lot of share equity…

Wang Zhengfei stared at this executive and smiled.

“Does HiSilicon have a carbon-based transistor research and development team?”

The executive went silent.

Even though HiSilicon had research projects on new semiconductor materials, they weren’t involved in the field of graphene research. Instead, they were more focused on molybdenum disulfide, which was another material that the academic community deemed to have promising potential.

However, these research projects were only being done to keep up with other companies. There were many key issues that had yet to be resolved. It would take at least a decade before they could try using molybdenum disulfide as a transistor material.

The executive hesitated for a bit before answering, “No.”

Wang Zhengfei looked at the executive and smiled.

“Well, now you do.”

Executive: “…”

Chapter 872: Is He Ok?

Chapter 872 Is He Ok?

Wang Zhengfei was indeed a savvy businessman.

He had never thought about negotiating with Lu Zhou. However, when he was about to speak, he was able to gather information from Lu Zhou’s facial expressions.

It seemed like Lu Zhou didn’t want to work with them anymore, and he was even ready to cooperate with other Chinese semiconductor companies.

For example, Unisplendour, which had the same production capacity as HiSilicon.

At that moment, Wang Zhengfei made a decision.

If Star Sky Technology cooperated with Unisplendour or another semiconductor company, the key to the future of carbon-based semiconductors would be out of their hands.

If Huawei still wanted to join in on the carbon-based revolution, they would have to buy these chips from semiconductor companies for a much higher price. Even though they would have total control over HiSilicon, it wouldn’t mean anything.

HiSilicon was Huawei’s top-performing subsidiary, but if they couldn’t keep up with the times, they would be overtaken by other companies.

On the surface, it seemed like Huawei made a compromise, but that might not be the case.

They did have to pay for an upfront cost, but the returns on this investment would make HiSilicon even stronger. Huawei’s product would be even more competitive in the international market…

This was far more valuable than having total control over a company that could become obsolete in the future…

Wang Zhengfei, who felt a little down, suddenly felt a lot better.

The reason why he made this decision wasn’t that he was trying to please Academician Lu.

It was for the greater good!

…

After Molina left Jinling, she didn’t immediately fly back to Princeton. Instead, she went back to her hometown in France for a week-long vacation.

Everyone needed to rest sometimes, to recharge the brain and relax a little.

Molina was no exception.

Even though her career was also her hobby, her career didn’t always make her happy.

Especially since she had to compete with other scholars…

This trip to China totally exhausted her brain energy.

She felt like her mathematics career was going nowhere, and she began to feel an existential crisis about her life.

If it weren’t because of Professor Abel’s portrait hanging in her grandfather’s house, she might even give up her mathematics career.

An old man wearing pajamas knocked on Molina’s bedroom door. He opened the door and saw his granddaughter sitting at her desk. He spoke with a hint of distress in his eyes.

“Are you still thinking about that problem?”

“No, that’s for when I return to Princeton.” Molina shook her head and said, “I’m not going to think about any mathematics problems for this week.”

Old man: “Your father is teaching at École Normale Supérieure, and you rarely get to see him. Why don’t you come and live here?”

Molina said without hesitating, “Princeton’s environment is more suitable for me. There are a lot of excellent scholars there. Even a cup of afternoon tea can inspire me.”

The old man said, “But there are many excellent scholars in École Normale Supérieure as well.”

Molina said with a poker face, “But I don’t like Paris. Paris is full of rubbish.”

Not to mention, she didn’t want to see her father.

Not because she had a problem with him, but they were just not emotionally connected. She and her father were both similar people; people who devoted their entire lives to mathematics.

From a very young age, she lived in the suburbs of Paris and grew up in her grandfather’s house. That was until she went to Princeton for her university studies.

The only thing left here for her was a bit of nostalgia.

The old man looked at his granddaughter’s stubborn face and sighed.

“Okay… Molina, regardless, I hope you are happy. Mathematics is not everything.”

“Maybe.” Molina looked at the portrait of Abel on the wall and said, “But it is for me. It has accompanied me throughout my entire life. I want to… do something you guys couldn’t.”

A flash of pain appeared on the old man’s face.

He sat down on the sofa and sighed. He spoke in a persuasive tone.

“Some things require talent, especially when it comes to art… Even painters who have studied under the same teacher would see the world in different ways. Mathematics is like an art, do you get what I’m trying to say?”

“I don’t get it.” Molina shook her head and looked at the portrait on the wall. She then said with a confused expression, “I don’t get it, I’m related to Abel, how come I don’t get any share of his intellect?”

The old man looked at Molina’s eyes and hesitated for a bit.

“Molina, there’s something else… I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“Yeah what?”

The old man opened his mouth. He then shook his head.

“Nevermind, forget about it.”

Molina: “…”

…

The week-long holiday quickly went by.

Molina felt like her brain had recovered. She got on a flight and arrived at New York airport. She got into a taxi and checked arXiv on her phone.

She saw a bunch of preprints on the numerical proof of the value of epsilon. It seemed like someone had pushed the value of epsilon to one over ten thousand.

It took the mathematics community seven days to push the number from one over sixty million to one over ten thousand. This was quite an improvement.

They were slowly approaching the finish line, and the hyperelliptic curve analysis research path was becoming more popular than the critical line research path.

Molina couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency.

She didn’t want to admit that, within a month’s time, Lu Zhou threw years of her research out of the water. However, she had to admit that the hyperelliptic curve analysis method was sophisticated enough to impact the entire analytic number theory field…

Even though she had a different approach to researching the Riemann hypothesis, she should still read his thesis…

Molina convinced herself that she just wanted to know where her opponent was, and even though Lu Zhou’s research results were good, she didn’t want to give up the critical line proof method.

Yeah, I’m just doing research…

After Molina got back to Princeton, she put her luggage into her room. Without wasting a second, she went to the library nearby. She found the meeting room that she and Vera had reserved.

However, when she opened the door, she saw Vera sitting there, daydreaming.

“Are you okay?” Molina asked.

Vera’s cheeks were pale, and her blonde hair seemed to have lost its brightness.

Vera noticed Molina, and she gave her a weak smile.

“I’m fine, I just have a cold.”

Molina wasn’t convinced at all.

Molina grabbed Vera’s shoulders and rested her forehead on Vera’s forehead.

Molina’s forehead felt a burning sensation, and she immediately stood up.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“It’s fine, I already went.” Vera avoided eye contact and said, “The doctor gave me some medicine… I’ll be fine.”

Molina looked at her suspiciously. She let go of her shoulders.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Vera felt an itch in her throat. She grabbed a tissue and began coughing.

Molina wasn’t sure, but she felt like she saw a trace of blood on Vera’s tissue.

Is she really okay?

Molina started to become more and more worried.

Vera wasn’t just her co-worker. They had become close friends.

Vera didn’t want Molina to worry about her, so she forced a smile and spoke.

“Forget about me, tell me how Jinling was.”

Molina sighed and opened her mouth.

“What do you want to know?”

The girl replied nervously, “Anything about him.

“He’s been away from Princeton for so many years, is he doing okay?”

Chapter 873: Joining Forces

Chapter 873 Joining Forces

24th of December.

On the day before Christmas in 2021, the semiconductor industry had an extremely unusual day.

A special research and development fund with a value of 100 billion yuan fell into the pocket of the semiconductor industry. This was almost like a gift from Santa.

Not just that, but the semiconductor industry cluster group was also set in stone.

According to the latest released documents, the semiconductor industry cluster was going to be set in the central region of China!

With Jiangcheng and Xingcheng as the center, the five semiconductor industrial bases were spread out on the map. Dozens of semiconductor and electronics companies with more than tens of billions in market cap value had begun settling in.

Unlike the past, only a few leading companies in the semiconductor industry were located in the Hubei province. Companies such as Huawei, Unisplendour, and Changdian Technology. These companies had also been banned from accepting foreign capital investments.

This was quite unusual.

Especially since there were plenty of advanced semiconductor companies such as Samsung and Intel, in which the local executives would love for them to invest.

Not only did the presence of a giant semiconductor company provide a large number of jobs, but it also improved their economies of scale.

However, this time was different.

The residents living nearby saw a six-lane highway being constructed in the middle of nowhere. Right after that, corporate trucks being escorted by military vehicles passed through various checkpoints and headed toward the industrial base.

It was like the companies involved were all clockwork gears, operating in an efficient and orderly manner.

A huge movement like this obviously attracted the attention of the outside world.

Foreign media outlets had speculated that China was uniting the high-tech companies to develop a powerful electric weapon. Other people had speculated that China had discovered huge lunar mineral reserves, and they increased their subsidies on semiconductor companies to maintain their lunar advantage.

There were even more ridiculous rumors, such as China received alien signals and was secretly building an alien spacecraft…

The rumors spread like wildfire, and it was difficult to distinguish the true ones from the false ones.

Regardless, the Chinese semiconductor industry was the center of attention…

…

Jin Ling University.

The offices were more lively than usual.

A young professor with black-rimmed glasses sat at the corner of his desk. He gave orders to the students, who were hanging up Christmas decorations.

Luo Wenxuan looked at the half-decorated office, and he suddenly said, “I think we should add a fireplace, you can’t have a Christmas without a fireplace.”

A noob researcher moved in a cardboard box of decorations and said, “But Professor, we’re running out of our budget.”

“Running out?” Luo Wenxuan frowned and rubbed his chin. “But I remember there’s a lot of research funding left, right?”

The noob researchers in the office were muddled.

Using research funding to decorate the office…

This was fine a few years ago, but recently, the research funds had been closely monitored…

Suddenly, they heard the office door open.

Everyone in the office looked at the person in front of the door.

Lu Zhou looked around the decorated office, and he paused for a second before making eye contact with Luo Wenxuan.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and placed his hand on the doorknob.

“Oh sorry, bad time.”

Lu Zhou was about to close the door when Luo Wenxuan walked up and opened the door.

“No no no, it’s fine, you came at the perfect time! I was just about to give you a tour of my office…,” Luo Wenxuan looked at the notebook in Lu Zhou’s arms and asked curiously, “What’s that?”

“Professor Faltings’ notebook, he gave it to me before leaving.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t going to hide anything.

He opened the notebook and found the page he wanted. He then said to Luo Wenxuan, “The discovery you mentioned wasn’t an accident. Dyson isn’t the only one who noticed the connection, even Professor Faltings noticed the relationship between the Riemann hypothesis and quantum physics.”

“Let me see…”

Luo Wenxuan looked at the notebook excitedly, and his curious face soon turned into disbelief.

“Incredible…” Luo Wenxuan’s eyes were glued to the page as he excitedly said, “Even Professor Faltings thinks the Riemann hypothesis can be solved using physics methods? My hypothesis was correct!”

“No, Professor Faltings didn’t think that. But my point is that, maybe this could work, but it will be much more difficult than going by the mathematical route. We have no idea what the eigenvalues of random Hermitian matrices are, let alone its quantum system values.”

Lu Zhou shrugged and continued, “But I am curious as to why the Riemann zeta function non-trivial zero-points are related to the eigenvalues of a random Hermitian matrix. They seem to be closely correlated… Do you have any idea why?”

Luo Wenxuan went into deep thought.

After a while, he spoke.

“I don’t know, the Riemann zeta function is beyond my research field… but what you said reminds me of the BGS conjecture, whereby the quantum system described by a random Hermitian matrix corresponds to a classic chaotic system under the classical limit.”

The BGS conjecture was also known as the Bohigas–Giannoni–Schmit conjecture. It was one of the more important problems in the field of nuclear physics and theoretical physics. This conjecture was supported by various numerical calculations, but so far, it had yet to be rigorously proven.

Luo Wenxuan stared at the notebook for a while. He then looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “What about you? What do you think is behind the Riemann hypothesis?”

“I think it might correspond to an unknown quantum system. It’s definitely different from the familiar classic chaotic system… We might be able to use it and find things outside of the standard model.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then asked, “Do you want to work together?”

Chapter 874: Carry Me

Lu Zhou didn’t have to wait for long.

He even began to wonder if this guy had even thought about it or not.

The moment the words left Lu Zhou’s mouth, Luo Wenxuan nodded excitedly and replied, “Yes!”

“I think this has potential… A lot of potential!

“We might even discover a new physics theory!”

Regardless of what the real situation was, this clue was worth pursuing by any theoretical physicist.

Even if Lu Zhou didn’t invite him to work together, he would have pursued this clue on his own. But now this Nobel Prize and Fields Medal big name was asking him to work together, he obviously had no reason to refuse.

In fact, he was more than happy to collaborate!

Lu Zhou looked at the flash of excitement in Luo Wenxuan’s eyes, and he was a little startled.

After realizing that Luo Wenxuan wasn’t joking, Lu Zhou spoke.

“Then I’ll begin by giving you work… You’ll be responsible for working on the theoretical physics side. I’ll be working on the Riemann zeta function side.”

Even though Lu Zhou had dabbled in theoretical physics before, his research was more focused on the calculations side. Also, researching the Riemann zeta function took up the majority of his time, not to mention he was still the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee. He just didn’t have any time to work on theoretical physics.

“Great…” Luo Wenxuan fist-bumped Lu Zhou and said, “You’re going to carry me.”

“What do you mean carry, you’re going to put your fair share as well!” Lu Zhou looked around the office and said, “Anyway… You plan on making your office a theme park or what?”

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “I’m just decorating, haven’t you heard that quote from Einstein? Adding surprises to your life regulates your mood and can inspire you.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m certain Einstein has never said those words before.”

Luo Wenxuan laughed and said, “Regardless of who said it, just remember that it’s true.”

Even though Luo Wenxuan seemed like an unreliable person at times, he was quite a talented individual.

After all, he was a student of Witten. Even though he took a long time to graduate, that was because Witten’s requirements were too tough, plus he was immature back then.

As for his academic achievements, he had four PLR and one Science published theses, which was impressive considering his age.

Not to mention that it was difficult to produce research results in the field of theoretical physics, as opposed to something like condensed matter physics. Even without his qualifications from Princeton and CERN, his experience alone could get him into the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Lu Zhou left Luo Wenxuan’s office and went back to his own office.

Compared to Luo Wenxuan’s office, his office still had an academic ambiance. His students and assistants were always working hard, at least when he was there.

However, even though the academic ambiance was richer, he felt like…

It wasn’t as dynamic as Luo Wenxuan’s office?

Lu Zhou sat at his desk and recalled what Luo Wenxuan said. He looked around his lightly-decorated office, thought for a second, then suddenly spoke.

“It’s the holidays.”

The office was unusually quiet.

No one seemed to know what Lu Zhou was trying to say, so they didn’t respond.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, “Should we… decorate the office?”

Lu Zhou was asking for reassurance.

However…

The office still stayed quiet.

With no one responding to him, Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed. He put his notebook into his drawer, packed his things, and went out to get some food instead.

However, the moment he stepped out of the door, the office was no longer quiet.

“Did I hear him correctly, Professor Lu wants to… decorate the office?” said a master’s student. Her eyes were wide open.

Sitting next to her was a graduate student wearing box-shaped glasses, and he said, “Yeah, pigs are starting to fly! I didn’t expect Professor Lu to be the festive type.”

“That’s because you don’t know him well enough,” Lin Yuxiang said as she put down the pen in her hand. She proudly continued, “Even though Professor Lu doesn’t seem like he cares about the small things in life, after you get to know him, you’ll find out that he’s actually a fun and festive person.”

Kong Jie, who was nearby, rolled her eyes.

All you’ve done is brought him food.

Why are you making it sound like you’re very close to him?

However, the new female master’s student was gullible, and she asked curiously, “Like what?”

“Like when he’s ordering takeout.”

“Takeout… I’m worried about Professor Lu’s health, eating out all day is not good.”

“Yeah yeah, he should just find a girlfriend to cook for him.”

The three women began to gossip. One second they were talking about Professor Lu’s eating habits, the next second they were talking about Professor Lu’s type.

Zhao Huan, who was normally quiet, looked at the three girls chatting. She suddenly looked up and said, “Um…”

Lin Yuxiang looked at her and said, “What?”

Zhao Huan: “I feel like all the basic girls I know talk about Professor Lu’s type…”

Everyone: “…”

The conversation died.

The office became quiet again.

No one talked about Professor Lu’s type or plans on decorating the office.

Han Mengqi, who was sitting at her desk, didn’t participate in the conversation. She sighed and twirled the pen in her hand.

Speaking of which, it’s almost Christmas…

Even though she wasn’t a festive person, when she saw pictures of her friends with their boyfriends, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

“So frustrating…”

Han Mengqi scratched her head and sighed.

Sometimes she didn’t know exactly what was frustrating, she just felt annoyed.

I wonder if sis will hang out with Lu Zhou on Christmas Day.

Even though this had nothing to do with her, she still wanted Chen Yushan to get with Lu Zhou. This way, Lu Zhou would be her brother-in-law.

But when she thought about this, for some reason, she became even more frustrated…

Chapter 875: Genetics

The thing that frustrated the little girl didn’t happen.

At night, she lay in bed awake, struggling to fall asleep. She decided to take the initiative and message Chen Yushan. They made plans to watch a movie tomorrow.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, didn’t have any plans for Christmas. Like usual, he sat in his office and did what he was supposed to do.

Back when he was living in Princeton, he used to celebrate Christmas, but he stopped that tradition ever since he returned back to China.

However, that might be because he didn’t have anyone to celebrate with.

Most of these “foreign” festivals were treated as another Valentine’s Day. People who didn’t have a significant other generally stayed inside.

However, he suddenly saw a movie ticket appear in front of him.

“Wanna watch a movie together?”

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Luo Wenxuan with the ticket in his hand. Luo Wenxuan had a smile on his face, as if he was suggesting something.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

I feel like he’s trying to…

Tell me to say no?

Lu Zhou spoke with a hint of uncertainty.

“I’m not… free?”

“Ah, you’re not free? I even bought two tickets, I wanted to go with you.” Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and looked around the office for Assistant Kong. He said, “So unfortunate…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I can’t take this anymore…

I’m going to puke.

It’s not like this guy is 15 years old, why is he being so cringed? Even I’m embarrassed for him.

Assistant Kong, who was sitting near the window, didn’t react at all. She didn’t even notice what was going on. Luo Wenxuan was about to give up when Assistant Lin happened to walk in.

“Midnight showing?” Lin Yuxiang said while she read the ticket. She looked at Luo Wenxuan suspiciously and said, “You’re asking Professor Lu to watch a movie… at midnight?

“Two guys watching a movie at midnight, it’s not even the premiere…”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, nearly spat out his tea.

Jesus Christ, this guy is a savage!

Midnight showing on the first date?

Luo Wenxuan, who was standing by Lu Zhou’s desk, quickly began to explain.

“No, um… The midnight showing is cheaper.”

However, his explanation wasn’t believable.

Not to mention this explanation didn’t make sense.

A scientific research professor with tens of millions in research funding, cared about a movie ticket price?

Forget about it!

Assistant Lin recalled that Luo Wenxuan always came to Professor Lu’s office without any intentions. At most, he would drink some tea.

Maybe… Luo Wenxuan is interested in Professor Lu?

Luo Wenxuan regretted speaking the moment the words left his mouth.

However, it was too late.

He noticed that a few people in the office began looking at him.

Assistant Kong’s reaction hurt him the most. Her look of surprise was like an arrow that pierced through his heart.

Nothing is wrong with swinging the other way, but I’m not that kind of person!

Lin Yuxiang said, “You spent all that money decorating your office, but you can’t spend a little more on a movie ticket?”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

He didn’t want to say anything.

When Lin Yuxiang saw that Professor Luo went silent, she suddenly smiled.

“How about this, I’ll buy the tickets off you, I’ll go watch the movie with Professor Lu.”

Luo Wenxuan just wanted to clarify the situation, so he immediately responded, “Sure! No problem!”

Han Mengqi: “?!!!”

Lu Zhou looked around the office and coughed.

“You guys… haven’t asked me yet.”

Lin Yuxiang’s eyes were shining with anticipation as she looked at Lu Zhou. Her hands were held together in front of her chest.

“Um…”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t have time, not going.”

Lin Yuxiang: “…”

Kong Jie, who was sitting near the window, laughed out loud.

That laugh blew away the awkwardness in the room.

The office finally quieted down. Luo Wenxuan stood frozen in front of Lu Zhou’s desk. Lu Zhou looked at him and shook his head.

This guy…

Should just give up…

…

Lu Zhou wasn’t going to watch the movie.

Much less a midnight showing.

Other than mathematics, there was nothing he would stay up to 12 o’clock in the morning for. Maybe other than physics.

Lu Zhou kept working until sunset. Most of the people in his office had left since then. Lu Zhou stretched his back and stood up.

The moment he stood up, he received a WeChat call.

He glanced at his phone and picked up the video call from Xiao Tong.

The moment the call was connected, he saw that familiar face on his phone.

“Brother! I miss you!”

Xiao Tong was in her pajamas, and she excitedly put her phone in front of her face.

They hadn’t seen each other in over a year.

She looked a little skinner, but other than that, she looked exactly the same.

Lu Zhou looked at his sister through his phone and smiled.

“If you miss me, just look into the mirror. We don’t look alike, but we do come from the same genes.”

Xiao Tong: “Yeah, but I have better genes!”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

There wasn’t any point arguing with her. Lu Zhou knew well in his heart who had better genetics.

“So, why are you suddenly calling me?”

Xiao Tong paused for a second. She then put on a pouty face.

“Brother, it’s New Year’s Eve soon.”

“Yeah.”

“I want a present!”

“No problem…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Go on, what do you want, nothing too expensive.”

“Haha, okay then, I’ll send you my wish list.”

Suddenly, Lu Zhou saw a notification on his phone. Xiao Ai’s text message popped up.

[Master, you have mail. ~(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

How long is her wish list?

Long enough to send it through email I guess…

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t worried. Forget about clothes or purses, he could easily buy her a house or two without putting a dent in his bank account.

Lu Zhou clicked the email and saw the email title.

However, the second he saw the attachment in the email, he froze.

[Study on the Impact of Welfare Policies on Macroeconomics Based on the Bewley Model]

He had heard a little bit about the Bewley model before. When he was in Princeton, a Nobel laureate in economics told him about it. Apparently, it was one of the hardest and most quantitative economics concepts.

Using Fortran 90 to run a Krusell & Smith Bewley model could easily take hours. Designing the mathematical model could often take years.

Compared to these macroeconomic models, the mathematical modeling competition seemed like a child’s play, easy.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t know a lot about Bewley’s model at all. After all, most of his friends at Princeton were in the pure mathematics field, and they weren’t interested in money.

At most, they were interested in spending money…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at his phone and said impatiently, “Do your own homework!”

F*ck sake!

Asking a Fields Medal medalist to write a master’s student homework, what a joke!

“But brother!”

Lu Zhou said, “Don’t pout, it won’t work.”

Xiao Tong frowned and said, “This is too difficult, I’m not a mathematics major… I didn’t know I was going to be assigned such a difficult research project, just help me please.”

Lu Zhou didn’t believe her. He shook his head and replied, “How hard can a master’s thesis be.”

“Look at the attachment! You’ll see how hard it is.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t stand Xiao Tong’s nagging anymore, so he sighed and looked at his computer. He reluctantly agreed to take a look.

However, after he downloaded the attachment, he had a strange look in his eyes.

Even though he didn’t know a lot about economic theory, the mathematical model shown in the project was definitely beyond the abilities of a master’s student.

Even his student He Changwen from Jin Ling University would take a while to tackle this model.

“What a supervisor you have… Anyone who hasn’t done functional analysis would have a hell of a time mastering the model.”

Xiao Tong said, “I told you, this is impossible!”

Lu Zhou: “Are you sure your supervisor gave you this assignment?”

Xiao Tong nodded and said, “Yeah! Why would I choose such a difficult topic for my graduation thesis?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “How about this, I can’t write it for you, this is your thesis. But I can co-author it with you. You can do the economics theory side, and I’ll do the mathematics side.”

“Really? You agree?! Fantastic, there’s still hope! Love you!” Xiao Tong kissed the phone screen and lay on her couch as she smiled and said, “You’re the best!”

“Ok enough, also, I have one request.”

Xiao Tong stood up from the couch and said, “Go on, I’ll do anything, do you want a girlfriend? The office next door has plenty of chesty blondes.”

“No need for that,” Lu Zhou said. “You have to submit the thesis after it is completed. I don’t care about being the first or second author, but I have to be the corresponding author.”

When Xiao Tong heard Lu Zhou’s request, she paused for a second. She suddenly frowned.

“But… I’m worried my supervisor won’t agree. I’m about to graduate, what if he doesn’t let me graduate?”

When it came to academia, the students were slaves to their supervisors.

The supervisors were usually the communicating author.

Xiao Ai was scared she wasn’t going to graduate.

Lu Zhou knew Xiao Tong would say this, but he didn’t seem to be concerned.

He smiled and replied, “Tell him to do it and see what happens.”

Chapter 875: Genetics

The thing that frustrated the little girl didn’t happen.

At night, she lay in bed awake, struggling to fall asleep. She decided to take the initiative and message Chen Yushan. They made plans to watch a movie tomorrow.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, didn’t have any plans for Christmas. Like usual, he sat in his office and did what he was supposed to do.

Back when he was living in Princeton, he used to celebrate Christmas, but he stopped that tradition ever since he returned back to China.

However, that might be because he didn’t have anyone to celebrate with.

Most of these “foreign” festivals were treated as another Valentine’s Day. People who didn’t have a significant other generally stayed inside.

However, he suddenly saw a movie ticket appear in front of him.

“Wanna watch a movie together?”

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Luo Wenxuan with the ticket in his hand. Luo Wenxuan had a smile on his face, as if he was suggesting something.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

I feel like he’s trying to…

Tell me to say no?

Lu Zhou spoke with a hint of uncertainty.

“I’m not… free?”

“Ah, you’re not free? I even bought two tickets, I wanted to go with you.” Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and looked around the office for Assistant Kong. He said, “So unfortunate…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I can’t take this anymore…

I’m going to puke.

It’s not like this guy is 15 years old, why is he being so cringed? Even I’m embarrassed for him.

Assistant Kong, who was sitting near the window, didn’t react at all. She didn’t even notice what was going on. Luo Wenxuan was about to give up when Assistant Lin happened to walk in.

“Midnight showing?” Lin Yuxiang said while she read the ticket. She looked at Luo Wenxuan suspiciously and said, “You’re asking Professor Lu to watch a movie… at midnight?

“Two guys watching a movie at midnight, it’s not even the premiere…”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking tea, nearly spat out his tea.

Jesus Christ, this guy is a savage!

Midnight showing on the first date?

Luo Wenxuan, who was standing by Lu Zhou’s desk, quickly began to explain.

“No, um… The midnight showing is cheaper.”

However, his explanation wasn’t believable.

Not to mention this explanation didn’t make sense.

A scientific research professor with tens of millions in research funding, cared about a movie ticket price?

Forget about it!

Assistant Lin recalled that Luo Wenxuan always came to Professor Lu’s office without any intentions. At most, he would drink some tea.

Maybe… Luo Wenxuan is interested in Professor Lu?

Luo Wenxuan regretted speaking the moment the words left his mouth.

However, it was too late.

He noticed that a few people in the office began looking at him.

Assistant Kong’s reaction hurt him the most. Her look of surprise was like an arrow that pierced through his heart.

Nothing is wrong with swinging the other way, but I’m not that kind of person!

Lin Yuxiang said, “You spent all that money decorating your office, but you can’t spend a little more on a movie ticket?”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

He didn’t want to say anything.

When Lin Yuxiang saw that Professor Luo went silent, she suddenly smiled.

“How about this, I’ll buy the tickets off you, I’ll go watch the movie with Professor Lu.”

Luo Wenxuan just wanted to clarify the situation, so he immediately responded, “Sure! No problem!”

Han Mengqi: “?!!!”

Lu Zhou looked around the office and coughed.

“You guys… haven’t asked me yet.”

Lin Yuxiang’s eyes were shining with anticipation as she looked at Lu Zhou. Her hands were held together in front of her chest.

“Um…”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t have time, not going.”

Lin Yuxiang: “…”

Kong Jie, who was sitting near the window, laughed out loud.

That laugh blew away the awkwardness in the room.

The office finally quieted down. Luo Wenxuan stood frozen in front of Lu Zhou’s desk. Lu Zhou looked at him and shook his head.

This guy…

Should just give up…

…

Lu Zhou wasn’t going to watch the movie.

Much less a midnight showing.

Other than mathematics, there was nothing he would stay up to 12 o’clock in the morning for. Maybe other than physics.

Lu Zhou kept working until sunset. Most of the people in his office had left since then. Lu Zhou stretched his back and stood up.

The moment he stood up, he received a WeChat call.

He glanced at his phone and picked up the video call from Xiao Tong.

The moment the call was connected, he saw that familiar face on his phone.

“Brother! I miss you!”

Xiao Tong was in her pajamas, and she excitedly put her phone in front of her face.

They hadn’t seen each other in over a year.

She looked a little skinner, but other than that, she looked exactly the same.

Lu Zhou looked at his sister through his phone and smiled.

“If you miss me, just look into the mirror. We don’t look alike, but we do come from the same genes.”

Xiao Tong: “Yeah, but I have better genes!”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

There wasn’t any point arguing with her. Lu Zhou knew well in his heart who had better genetics.

“So, why are you suddenly calling me?”

Xiao Tong paused for a second. She then put on a pouty face.

“Brother, it’s New Year’s Eve soon.”

“Yeah.”

“I want a present!”

“No problem…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Go on, what do you want, nothing too expensive.”

“Haha, okay then, I’ll send you my wish list.”

Suddenly, Lu Zhou saw a notification on his phone. Xiao Ai’s text message popped up.

[Master, you have mail. ~(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

How long is her wish list?

Long enough to send it through email I guess…

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t worried. Forget about clothes or purses, he could easily buy her a house or two without putting a dent in his bank account.

Lu Zhou clicked the email and saw the email title.

However, the second he saw the attachment in the email, he froze.

[Study on the Impact of Welfare Policies on Macroeconomics Based on the Bewley Model]

He had heard a little bit about the Bewley model before. When he was in Princeton, a Nobel laureate in economics told him about it. Apparently, it was one of the hardest and most quantitative economics concepts.

Using Fortran 90 to run a Krusell & Smith Bewley model could easily take hours. Designing the mathematical model could often take years.

Compared to these macroeconomic models, the mathematical modeling competition seemed like a child’s play, easy.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t know a lot about Bewley’s model at all. After all, most of his friends at Princeton were in the pure mathematics field, and they weren’t interested in money.

At most, they were interested in spending money…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at his phone and said impatiently, “Do your own homework!”

F*ck sake!

Asking a Fields Medal medalist to write a master’s student homework, what a joke!

“But brother!”

Lu Zhou said, “Don’t pout, it won’t work.”

Xiao Tong frowned and said, “This is too difficult, I’m not a mathematics major… I didn’t know I was going to be assigned such a difficult research project, just help me please.”

Lu Zhou didn’t believe her. He shook his head and replied, “How hard can a master’s thesis be.”

“Look at the attachment! You’ll see how hard it is.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t stand Xiao Tong’s nagging anymore, so he sighed and looked at his computer. He reluctantly agreed to take a look.

However, after he downloaded the attachment, he had a strange look in his eyes.

Even though he didn’t know a lot about economic theory, the mathematical model shown in the project was definitely beyond the abilities of a master’s student.

Even his student He Changwen from Jin Ling University would take a while to tackle this model.

“What a supervisor you have… Anyone who hasn’t done functional analysis would have a hell of a time mastering the model.”

Xiao Tong said, “I told you, this is impossible!”

Lu Zhou: “Are you sure your supervisor gave you this assignment?”

Xiao Tong nodded and said, “Yeah! Why would I choose such a difficult topic for my graduation thesis?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “How about this, I can’t write it for you, this is your thesis. But I can co-author it with you. You can do the economics theory side, and I’ll do the mathematics side.”

“Really? You agree?! Fantastic, there’s still hope! Love you!” Xiao Tong kissed the phone screen and lay on her couch as she smiled and said, “You’re the best!”

“Ok enough, also, I have one request.”

Xiao Tong stood up from the couch and said, “Go on, I’ll do anything, do you want a girlfriend? The office next door has plenty of chesty blondes.”

“No need for that,” Lu Zhou said. “You have to submit the thesis after it is completed. I don’t care about being the first or second author, but I have to be the corresponding author.”

When Xiao Tong heard Lu Zhou’s request, she paused for a second. She suddenly frowned.

“But… I’m worried my supervisor won’t agree. I’m about to graduate, what if he doesn’t let me graduate?”

When it came to academia, the students were slaves to their supervisors.

The supervisors were usually the communicating author.

Xiao Ai was scared she wasn’t going to graduate.

Lu Zhou knew Xiao Tong would say this, but he didn’t seem to be concerned.

He smiled and replied, “Tell him to do it and see what happens.

Chapter 876: Done in an Hour

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t familiar with economics, at a place like Princeton, any field of study related to mathematics more or less would be studied by mathematicians.

Especially when it came to economics.

It was very difficult to create novel economics theories using traditional research methods.

Therefore, if one wanted to create outstanding economics research, mathematics was their only way. Even though traditional economists had criticized this approach, it had helped countless students graduate with a degree.

In fact, mathematics was a life-saving tool for any field that required quantitative analysis. It could extract value from seemingly useless data. It all depended on how well one applied mathematical tools to their own area.

Hence, even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in economics, whenever he was at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study cafe, he would talk about some of the more simple mathematics problems with economics professors.

After being at Princeton for many years, Lu Zhou had interacted with countless big names in economics.

Not only had he talked with Nobel Prize laureates, but he was even friends with Nature and Science editors.

Anyone with a normal IQ wouldn’t want to piss off Lu Zhou by withholding a master’s student’s degree…

As for why Lu Zhou wanted to be the corresponding author…

Not because he cared about his name on the thesis, he just didn’t want Xiao Tong’s supervisor to take advantage of her.

Even though Xiao Tong was still a little worried, seeing how confident her brother was, she didn’t argue anymore. After talking about their parents for a while, Lu Zhou felt hungry and hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and took out his phone to order take out. He then opened Xiao Tong’s unfinished thesis and began reading it.

“Let me have a look…”

Even though he wasn’t very familiar with the Bewley model, anything related to mathematics was a piece of cake for him.

After all, no matter how complex the model was, it was less complicated and chaotic than a plasma turbulence system. The Bewley model was much simpler compared to the Navier–Stokes equations and the plasma turbulence system.

Lu Zhou could confidently say he was the world-leading expert on functional analysis.

Occasionally thinking about simpler problems was good for his research.

His takeout hadn’t arrived yet, so he decided to kill this time by doing some relaxing problems.

With a pen in one hand and a mouse in another, Lu Zhou quickly read through the thesis and began writing down calculations.

“It’s an easy question, but interesting… Who did I talk to about this problem? I don’t remember.

“Why is she using the Lagrange multiplier method to optimize each processing step?” Lu Zhou said as he read through the calculation part of the thesis.

A few seconds went by.

“Just use the endogenous grid method…” Lu Zhou muttered to himself as he wrote down a line of calculations.

“The endogenous grid method is a little cumbersome. Optimizing the original mathematical model can save at least 20% of the calculations… Maybe even 25%.”

This problem wasn’t even considered a problem.

Lu Zhou was inspired right at the finish line.

He wrote down the last line of equations and leaned back in his chair. He directed his laptop camera to his notes.

“Xiao Ai, tidy this for me.

“Also use the Bewley model to compile a new algorithm for my model.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay~! (✿゚▽゚)]

Xiao Ai was just as fast as Lu Zhou, it scanned the notes and soon sorted out the mathematical model. It even corrected some of the mistakes Lu Zhou might have made.

Lu Zhou looked at the LaTeX, and once he made sure there were no mistakes, he nodded at the computer.

The model was then uploaded to the quantum computer located underground at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. A few seconds later, the quantum computer finished calculating.

Xiao Ai: [Algorithm compilation complete! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Xiao Ai: [Using 12,777 sets of random parameters, the numerical calculation results of the improved mathematical model are consistent with the original model. Dispersion is reduced by 13%, computing efficiency is increased by 21%. ♪ (^ ∇ ^ *)]

He didn’t know what dispersion meant, but the 21% increase in computing efficiency was what he had expected.

Is it kind of cheating to use a quantum computer on a master’s thesis?

Screw it, who cares.

It’s for my sister.

Besides, electricity is cheap anyway…

Lu Zhou looked at his computer and said, “Send an email, attach the mathematical model and algorithm.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou looked at the string of texts and suddenly remembered something. “Oh yeah, remember not to use emoticons in the email, just send it normally.”

Xiao Ai: [Σ (っ°Д°;) っ]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know what this emoticon meant, he didn’t want to ruin his handsome and reliable image by sending his little sister an emoticon.

Five minutes went by.

He received a reply from Xiao Tong.

The email was very short, it only contained three symbols…

[? ? ?]

Lu Zhou looked at the three symbols and smirked.

Xiao Tong probably didn’t expect me to solve her problem in one hour.

“Oh yeah, it’s been an hour, where is my takeout?”

Lu Zhou rubbed his stomach and took out his phone. He was about to call the delivery driver when he saw that his takeout was delivered twenty minutes ago.

The f*ck?

Who took my takeout?

He was so concentrated on the problem he didn’t look at his phone at all.

Lu Zhou was muddled. Suddenly, he heard the office door knock. Wang Peng walked in with a plastic bag.

“Your orange chicken on rice,” Wang Peng said as he placed the plastic bag on the table. He sighed and said, “Can we talk about something? If you want to eat anything, I’ll buy it for you. Stop ordering take out, you’re just giving me more trouble.”

“It’s just easier to order on my phone.” Lu Zhou took out the styrofoam box from the plastic bag and said, “Speaking of which, why did you pick up the food?”

Wang Peng: “It’s safer this way.”

Lu Zhou: “So, my security level has increased again?”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Yeah.”

Wang Peng had no reason to lie about this.

When the controllable fusion reactor research was at a critical stage, the local military increased the security level for Lu Zhou’s house. That didn’t go away until the Pangu fusion reactor was connected to the power grid.

Even though this situation wasn’t as extreme as the controllable fusion reactor, the carbon-based chips determined the future of the Chinese semiconductor industry, so they were being extra diligent.

While opening the disposable chopsticks, Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng.

Wang Peng was a little confused by this look, so Lu Zhou coughed and asked, “You didn’t… test it by… taking a bite, right?”

Lu Zhou was a little germaphobic…

Sharing food like hotpot was fine, but outside of that, he wasn’t comfortable with people touching his food.

“Of course not!” Wang Peng was astounded, and he said, “It’s the 21st century, who does that anymore? Don’t worry, Doctor Yan did a simple test on it, it’s definitely safe.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

You did a germ test on my food?! No wonder it took so long to get here!

I was so close to leaving the driver a bad review!

After hearing Wang Peng’s explanation, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to do.

Doctor Yan did test it…

But she’s done dodgy things in the past…

Lu Zhou still remembered when she asked for a sip of his coke a year ago.

Actually, she didn’t ask, she just took it.

Lu Zhou looked at the styrofoam box and began to think.

Should I eat it or not?

What do I do…

Chapter 877: Growth

Finally, faced with a grumbling stomach, Lu Zhou made a decision. He decided not to think about what happened to his takeout. He finished eating in no time.

The orange chicken on rice was delicious.

The contrast between sweetness and sourness was wonderful. Lu Zhou’s stomach was totally satisfied.

While Lu Zhou was eating his delicious meal, Xiao Tong, who was all the way at the University of Oxford, was looking at the mathematical model and algorithm sent by her brother.

She ignored the strange emoticons in the email…

The mathematical model was totally beyond her understanding of functional analysis and statistics, and it completely subverted her understanding of the Bewley model.

It was difficult to describe this type of feeling.

It was as if she thought everything regarding this subject was contained in a house, but she suddenly discovered a back door that led to a whole new world.

What shocked her more was that Lu Zhou did this all in an hour…

She heard footsteps from outside the office.

After knocking on the door twice, a woman in her thirties opened the door and walked in.

She was wearing a gray and black professional attire. Judging from the way she entered the office, she clearly frequently visited this office.

Her name was Ansley, and she was also researching under Professor Forster. She received her master’s degree last year and was now doing her PhD.

“Tong, Professor Forster told me to ask you if you can submit the thesis before the Christmas break is over?”

Xiao Tong was still staring at the computer screen, and she nodded blankly.

“I can…”

What else am I supposed to say?

I just have to tidy up the thesis and submit it, I might even be able to go home for New Year’s Eve…

If I can still buy a flight ticket…

“Can you really?” Ansley looked surprised, and she quietly said, “He also specifically said that, if you can’t do it, you can consider finishing it as your PhD project…”

Xiao Tong woke up from her daydream and realized what Ansley was trying to say. She hesitated for a bit before shaking her head.

“Tell Professor Forster I said thanks, even though I want to continue down the path of academia… I want to go to a higher place.”

Xiao Tong could tell that Professor Forster didn’t want her to leave.

Professor Forster had tried many times to convince Xiao Tong to do a PhD under him.

As for the reason…

The reason was simple, it was because of her brother…

Ansley sighed and tried to persuade Xiao Tong.

“But I think Professor Forster is an excellent macroeconomics researcher. Besides, you know how it is, a lot of times it’s not because Forster is lacking in ability, he just needs the right opportunity.”

Xiao Tong took a deep breath and said, “You know who Lu Zhou is? He’s my brother.”

The conversation froze.

The office went quiet for a few seconds.

“I… know.” Ansley opened her mouth and shrugged. She then said, “I admit, you have an excellent brother, a lot better than my brother, who only learned how to cook pancakes last year. But why are you bringing him up?”

Xiao Tong answered with a little frustration in her tone, “As long as I stay in the Oxford campus, people will go, look, that’s Lu Zhou’s sister. Even legislators call me Lu Zhou’s sister…”

She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling as she rolled her eyes and said, “And those fangirls, listening to them makes me want to vomit.”

This type of situation didn’t just happen at Oxford, it was the same at Jin Ling University.

Even though she was grateful to those who were kind to her, all of her success seemed to come too easy, and it didn’t make any sense.

Because of her brother, it was like she was cheating at life. She would get any scholarship, student exchange, or conference that she applied to.

All it took for her to get into the University of Oxford was a recommendation letter. All of the professors wanted her.

This was obviously a good thing.

She knew how lucky she was.

However, even though she was grateful for everything her brother did for her, she didn’t want to live under his umbrella for the rest of her life.

Even though it sounded easy and comfortable, it would mean that she could never grow as a person and feel truly fulfilled.

That wasn’t the life she wanted.

Ansley opened her mouth and didn’t know what to say.

She suddenly felt like Xiao Tong was a stranger, as if she had never met Xiao Tong before.

After a while, she spoke with an uncertain tone.

“Maybe… You’re too sensitive?”

Xiao Tong stared at Ansley and said with a stern voice, “I’m not, Professor Forster accepted me to study a master’s degree with him, is that because of me? No! He probably barely knows my name, but he’ll never forget my brother’s name.”

“I want to achieve something that can be recognized by other people. At least for them to stop calling me Lu Zhou’s sister. For them to call me Miss Lu!”

Ansley looked at Xiao Tong’s determined face and knew she couldn’t be convinced otherwise.

Honestly speaking, Ansley was impressed with this young girl.

However, she didn’t know what Xiao Tong meant by a higher place.

Wouldn’t it be the same at any other university?

The economics world was closely related to the mathematics world. Even if she left Oxford and went to Cambridge, it would be the same.

“But… Other than Oxford, where else do you want to go?”

“Princeton!”

Ansley looked stunned, so Xiao Tong added with a confident manner, “I hope that one day, I can be like him, with my name in the Hall of Fame!”

Chapter 878: Fireplace

The day after Christmas, it started to snow in Jin Ling City.

The snow made Lu Zhou think back to when he was in Princeton, of the fireplace in his old house. Whenever it used to snow in New Jersey, he would study in the living room instead. His back would be against the sofa, and he would sit on the ground while facing the fireplace.

Even though he was far from the age of being nostalgic…

When he saw the snow falling outside the window, he couldn’t help but miss his old life.

He was sitting in the living room. He grabbed a dumpling, dipped it in vinegar, then stuffed it in his mouth. He looked at the white pine trees outside his window and suddenly said, “I want to install a fireplace here.”

Wang Peng looked around the living room and asked, “Is it not warm enough?”

Lu Zhou looked at him with a strange expression and said, “It’s not cold, I just want one.”

Wang Peng paused for a second and said, “Okay then… Do you need me to do anything?”

Lu Zhou said, “No, unless you know how to lay bricks.”

Lu Zhou was joking. He didn’t expect Wang Peng to take it seriously. Wang Peng contemplated it for a while and answered, “The General Staff Department has people in that expertise.”

Lu Zhou: “Are you a genie?”

Why do you have everything?

Wang Peng: “…?”

In the end, Lu Zhou didn’t ask the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department to build a fireplace for him. Instead, he contacted the design company that originally constructed the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After all, using state resources for his little fireplace was a little overkill.

Lu Zhou didn’t like two things, one was to ask others for help, and the second was to overreact over small matters.

Other than being handsome and smart, he didn’t think he was better than others in any way. He didn’t need special treatment.

Instead, he would feel more comfortable if other people treated him normally.

That was one of the reasons he was still single.

The construction company took Lu Zhou’s phone call very seriously.

Even though compared to nine-figure projects, a small fireplace was a drop in the ocean, the construction company still had the highest level of professionalism. The next day, they sent a team of designers to Lu Zhou’s home. By night time, they sent the design drawings and asking price to Lu Zhou.

Some were Victorian style, others were modern minimalistic style, and there were even some that were of the classic retro red brick style. There were a total of 15 designs, all of which were made according to Lu Zhuo’s living room layout. Each design even included a set of handmade wool rugs.

Lu Zhou looked at the price and began to wonder if the company was even making money on this project.

The asking price was 5,000 yuan, including the carpet. Lu Zhou couldn’t help but want to increase the price.

“Are you sure about the price?”

The sales lady put on a professional smile and politely replied to Lu Zhou, “It’s fine, don’t worry, you’re an important client for our company. Giving our clients the best price has always been the company’s leading philosophy.”

Lu Zhou was baffled. He looked at the design plans and pinched his eyebrows as he said, “My math might be wrong here… But why does this come with a rug that is worth four times the asking price?”

The sales lady smiled and said, “This is our VIP discount.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Discount my a**!

Lu Zhou wasn’t going to stop them from saving him money. He hesitated for a bit and chose his favorite design.

“We’ll go with this one then.”

The sales lady circled the design Lu Zhou wanted and asked politely, “Okay then, we’ll install it for you as soon as possible. What time is convenient for you?”

“Anytime is fine, preferably the afternoon…” Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng, who was standing next to the sofa. He then asked, “Are you free this afternoon?”

Wang Peng gave the same answer he always gave him.

“I am available 24 hours a day.”

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the saleslady.

“We’ll do two to six every afternoon… How long will it take?”

The saleslady gave him a glamorous smile.

“Three days at the latest.”

Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t have to wait for three days. The fireplace was installed on the night of the second day.

Lu Zhou politely declined the offer from the saleslady to install floor heating pipes for free. After Lu Zhou paid the 5,000 yuan fee, he bid farewell to the construction people. He then immediately ignited the smokeless charcoal he bought and made a fire in his fireplace.

Lu Zhou sat on his new wool rug, leaning against his sofa. He listened to the fire crackling and felt the warm fire on his body. He yawned and felt sleepy.

“So nice…”

He stretched his back and was about to fall asleep. However, his phone suddenly rang.

When Lu Zhou saw the caller ID, he immediately picked up the phone.

The other end of the phone spoke first.

“Sweetheart, how are you?”

“I’m doing good, Mom, not as busy as last year,” Lu Zhou said with a relaxed smile on his face. He paused for half a second before asking, “How are you and Dad doing?”

Fang Mei’s face lit up the second she heard the word “Mom”. She had a hearty smile on her face as she spoke.

“Don’t worry about us, we’re doing good. Your dad is retiring in a few years, so he doesn’t have to do much at work these days. All he does is drink tea and read the news. If it weren’t for me making him exercise, I couldn’t even imagine what he would be like. I just called to see how you’re doing, I didn’t interrupt your work, right?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course not, you’re more important than work.”

Fang Mei said, “Don’t say that, your career is growing, don’t focus on me and Dad. We don’t need you to worry about us. But I just hope you don’t burn out, health is always the most important… Oh yeah, are you busy after New Year’s Day? If you are, your dad and I can come to look after you.”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to give them more trouble, so he said, “No no, it’s fine, I’m good! I’m not busy this time of the year, so I’ll go back home instead.”

Fang Mei sighed and said, “You’re such a good kid, just too polite.”

Lu Zhou was perplexed.

“Mom, what are you talking about… I’m not being polite, I just haven’t been home in so long, and I miss you guys. Anyway, don’t come to Jinling, I’ll drive back home this year.”

Even though his research was important, it wasn’t as important as his family.

Not to mention that the Riemann hypothesis wasn’t something he could solve overnight. He had just finished solving the Quasi Riemann hypothesis, so he needed some time to chill out and relax his mind.

Of course, more importantly, his parents were getting old. Lu Zhou wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Also, everything at the lunar orbit project was going according to plan, so he, as the chief consultant, didn’t have to do anything.

If the plan needed to be changed or something unexpected happened, he would obviously stop his scientific research and go fulfill his duties.

Fang Mei could tell that Lu Zhou really did have time to go back home this year. She finally relaxed and smiled.

She obviously wanted her son to come home. Even though her son had a big mansion in Jinling, she had lived in Jiangling her entire life. Jiangling was her roots, and all of their family friends were in Jiangling.

This was why they never agreed to move to Jinling, even with Lu Zhou asking many times.

“Good good, I’ll make you some dumplings, don’t think about work all day… Sigh, I used to tell you to study hard so that you would have a good future. Your dad and I never thought it would be like this. We just hope you’re not in a laboratory all day eating takeout. Go out sometimes, meet some new people.”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “I’m trying to change, also don’t believe everything you see on documentaries. Whether it’s mathematics or physics research, everyone has to meet new people.”

The stereotype of the loner scholar didn’t exist anymore.

Even Lu Zhou couldn’t cut all outside contact with the world and lock himself in a room. He needed at least arXiv and some other theses databases.

Fang Mei: “Anyway, I just hope you’re happy. Your dad and I just want a grandson. That’s all we want.”

Lu Zhou said, “Um… We’ll talk about that later, there definitely will be one.”

Fang Mei didn’t seem to believe Lu Zhou, but she still smiled and spoke as if she was comforting herself.

“I hope so…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though Lu Zhou knew his mom wasn’t trying to give him pressure, he still felt like his heart was just stabbed…

Chapter 879: Special Issue

Nothing exciting happened around Christmas. The only thing that made Lu Zhou happy, other than his new fireplace, was a reply from Annual Mathematics.

In the reply, Professor Sahn, the editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics politely told him that, the two theses he submitted, the Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof and the hyperelliptic curve analysis method, had been published.

Just like they had originally planned, the two theses, which were 51 pages long combined, were going to be published in a special issue.

Since Professor Faltings changed his opinion and the two theses were officially published, the preprints on arXiv began to flood into analytic number theory and complex analysis journals.

Everyone wanted their theses to be reviewed as soon as possible.

They wanted to publish their theses before someone else came up with a better result.

After all, once a stronger conclusion had been reached, and had been peer-reviewed and published, the weaker conclusion would no longer be eligible for publication.

Therefore, in order to be the first to publish, many PhD students and unknown scholars submitted their theses to crappier journals. On the other hand, the journals set up a special “fast review option”, which meant more thesis processing charges.

Because of this, these journals were ridiculed on Mathoverflow. Some big names in mathematics even publicly stated that these journals didn’t have any integrity.

While half of the mathematics world was busy submitting their journals, Jin Ling University hung up a big red banner at their campus entrance. This was to celebrate Academician Lu’s Annual Mathematics special edition publication. As well as celebrating Academician Lu for solving another world-class problem.

Now that the Quasi Riemann hypothesis was solved, the value of epsilon was slowly increasing.

People wondered, how far was the mathematics world from solving the Riemann hypothesis?

People began to speculate that it would be solved within their lifetime.

Jin Ling University, mathematics department.

The office at the end of the corridor.

After knocking three times, Dean Qin opened the door and walked into the office.

“Lu Zhou, congratulations! I’ve never heard of anyone being able to publish two special edition theses in Annual Mathematics! I’m afraid you’re the first professor in history to receive this honor.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t excited at all.

What’s so amazing about publishing two special editions…

Nothing to be proud of.

When Lu Zhou saw Dean Qin sit on the sofa, he put down the pen in his hand and sighed. He looked at Dean Qin and said, “Thanks… Can we talk about something? My banner is always at the school entrance. If you really don’t know what else to hang on there, can I sell it as advertising space?”

Dean Qin nearly spat out his tea.

He coughed and put down the cup. He stared at Lu Zhou with his eyes wide open.

“Come on! Look at how rich you are!”

The income of all Jin Ling University professors combined wouldn’t even add up to Lu Zhou’s income.

Forget about everything else, just the East Asia Energy shares alone had increased by ten times since Lu Zhou bought them.

Not to mention that, when one was at Lu Zhou’s level, money was just a number.

Lu Zhou made a helpless gesture and said, “I’m just saying, we should be more lowkey. An Annual Mathematics thesis… really isn’t worth this much publicity.”

Dean Qin shook his head and said, “Why would you say that, the Annual Mathematics is one of the big four mathematics journals. It’s more rigorous than Science and Nature. Forget about the special issue, I would be bragging if our mathematics department could publish even one thesis in Annual Mathematics.”

Dean Qin smiled and said, “After all, you’re a role model for countless Jin Ling University students. This is very important! If you’re embarrassed, just pretend like the banner doesn’t exist. It doesn’t hurt you anyway.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and didn’t say anything.

He was definitely embarrassed, and it was almost revolting.

Dean Qin probably thought that Lu Zhou wouldn’t mind his face being plastered around the school, that was why Dean Qin was humble bragging so much.

Dean Qin: “Speaking of which, how’s your research on Riemann’s hypothesis going? If you can’t tell me, just pretend like I didn’t ask.”

“I have nothing to hide. It’s just that I can’t give you an accurate estimate.” Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “I can say that it will be solved within three years.”

Three years was a little too long.

Lu Zhou felt like he could solve it in a year or two.

However, that sounded too much like bragging, so he conservatively said three years.

But he didn’t realize that, for most people, claiming to solve Riemann’s hypothesis within three years totally counted as bragging…

“Within three years, I see. Hopefully, I won’t be gone by then,” Dean Qin jokingly said. He suddenly changed the topic of conversation. “Speaking of which, you received an invitation for the ICM next year, right? Do you plan on speaking there?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Lu Zhou replied. “If I’m going, it’ll probably be a report on Riemann’s hypothesis.”

The ICM 45 and 60-minute reports didn’t have to be about a thesis. It could just be a presentation on what the scholar was working on for the past four years.

Regardless of whether or not the scholar had published a thesis, people could talk about anything at the report and exchange opinions with their colleagues.

The Fields Medal medalists were always invited, and some scholars who had produced outstanding results in the past four years were also invited to do a report.

Generally speaking, it was a casual and relaxed conference.

It was perfect for scholars who focused on attacking big propositions, who didn’t often publish theses.

However, Lu Zhou still hadn’t decided on whether or not he was going to go.

After all, he had no idea what he would be doing in half a year’s time.

Dean Qin smiled and asked, “Speaking of which, at the St. Petersburg University ICM, there’s going to be a vote for the next ICM venue, right?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah… Why?”

“Nothing, just asking…” Dean Qin smiled and said, “What did you think about the report we held in Jinling last time? Did your friends give you any feedback?”

“The feedback was pretty good…” Lu Zhou closed his notebook and moved away from the draft paper on his table. He sighed and said to Dean Qin, “Just give it to me straight.”

“Haha, I knew you’d notice.” Dean Qin scratched his head and said, “Here’s the thing, the city council and I had a discussion, and we think mathematics is very important for scientific research. Even though it is a basic science subject, it shouldn’t be ignored. In order to create an academic…”

Lu Zhou: “Cough!”

Dean Qin stopped talking and got straight to the point, “Could you maybe, ask around, and see if the next ICM can be held in Jinling?”

Jin Ling University wasn’t as good as Aurora University or Yan University. Even though the return of Lu Zhou and the establishment of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study improved the situation, they had only caught up to Kai University.

Even though there were many Jin Ling University professors who had connections with the international mathematics community, the only person with enough influence to affect the ICM conference was Lu Zhou himself.

After the previous report ended, Lu Zhou had a feeling something like this would happen. But he didn’t expect Dean Qin to actually go through with the plan.

“That’s a little difficult, I’m not a member of the ICM board, and I’m not even friends with them…”

Dean Qin slapped his thigh and sighed as he said, “Ah, I’m going to retire in a few years. I just want to help my alma mater in these last couple of years. In a few decades, no one will remember me. But they would remember that the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians was held in Jinling, and that’s all I want. Can you help me? At least give it a shot…”

“If that’s all you want…” Lu Zhou smiled and sighed at the same time. He said, “I can’t promise anything, I’ll… try to help.”

Dean Qin was overjoyed. He stood up and shook Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Thank you so much!”

Chapter 880: Invigilate

Dean Qin helped Lu Zhou a lot in his undergraduate years. Even though Lu Zhou would have been successful even without Dean Qin’s help, his journey wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

Therefore, even though Lu Zhou wasn’t certain he could convince the ICM board, he was still willing to give it a try.

Speaking of which, what confused Lu Zhou the most was what gave Dean Qin the confidence to host the ICM conference. However, the conference would greatly benefit the Jin Ling University mathematics department.

…

Because Lu Zhou promised his parents that he would go back home for New Year’s, he decided to finish his next month’s work before the end of the month. The university also went into exam week, so he became busy again.

Usually, the exam week was arranged at the beginning of the year, some time after New Year’s Day. Rarely was it arranged before New Year’s Day. Students nor the teachers were happy with this arrangement.

This year was a little special. The Ministry of Education policy that was invented a while ago wanted to increase academic culture and confidence doctrine.

The person from the Ministry of Education might have misread the document from the Communist Party of China because they simply interpreted confidence doctrine as “no foreign festivals”.

Therefore, forget about the Christmas decorations, even New Year’s Day parties and gala were suspended.

There were very few people like Luo Wenxuan, who still celebrated Christmas.

Not just that, but this year’s exams were done around Christmas day. Even though the single loners were happy, the teachers who had vacations planned now had to go back to school to invigilate and mark the exams.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t really care about the festivals, he didn’t like this arrangement.

There was no reason to be so petty over a festival.

This felt wrong.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t have time to care about such a trivial matter.

It wasn’t like he could write a letter about it.

That would be ridiculous.

When Lu Zhou was eating at the cafeteria, Dean Lu from the mathematics department sat down across from him and asked with a smile, “Um… Lu Zhou, are you free tomorrow?”

Lu Zhou knew the dean wanted something from him, so he suspiciously looked at the dean.

“What?”

Dean Lu smiled and said, “Um… We still need someone to invigilate the exams, do you think…”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“No, no, too tiring.”

Invigilating exams was horrible.

The teachers had to sit there for hours, watching and listening in all directions. Even though Jin Ling University had a pretty good exam culture overall, that didn’t separate the couple bad apples from the tree. He could just sit there and not care about anyone cheating, but morally, he wouldn’t do such a thing…

In short, Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in watching a bunch of undergraduate students doing brainless exam questions. He was even less interested in catching those idiot students who would try to cheat on these brainless exams.

Dean Lu quickly explained.

“No no, you’re mistaken. I’m not asking you to invigilate. It’s just that we don’t have enough people. The school wants each office to send someone, at least one person. You have a lot of students under you, just bring two of them to the exam. Of course, it’s fine if you don’t want to, I’ll just inform the school board.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t going to let Dean Lu inform the school board over such trivial matters, so he sighed and said, “Okay then, I’ll send a student over, just send me the exam information.”

Dean Lu smiled and said, “Okay okay, no problem, I’ll send it to you later… Thanks.”

Lu Zhou: “You’re welcome.”

The invigilation was thus settled.

After Lu Zhou finished eating dinner, he gave He Changwen a call. After telling him about the invigilation, he got up and returned to his office.

However, when he returned to his office, he saw that He Changwen was not there.

“Where is He Changwen?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Yuxiang said. “But I just noticed he went to the toilet a couple of times. Maybe he has food poisoning?”

Food poisoning?

Lu Zhou had a bad feeling.

Then…

It turned out his feeling was correct.

On the morning of the next day, Lu Zhou received a phone call from this guy sitting on a toilet.

“Professor… I tried my best.”

Lu Zhou paused for two seconds before replying, “What do you mean… you tried your best?”

He Changwen spoke in a shameful tone, “I got food poisoning from lunch yesterday, and I was on the toilet all night, I’m still on the toilet… I might not be able to invigilate!”

Lu Zhou quickly said, “How are you how? Is it serious? I can get someone to send you to the hospital.”

“No no, I’ll be fine…”

The phone call disconnected, but Lu Zhou could hear the toilet flushing before then.

Lu Zhou looked at his blank phone screen and went silent for a while.

There’s nothing you can do about diarrhea.

It’s not like I can make him bring a toilet to the exam room.

What a show that would be…

Lu Zhou looked around his office and saw that student Han Mengqi was the only one who did not go on holiday. Mengqi looked at Lu Zhou with an innocent face.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before he sighed and stood up with his notebook.

She was the only good student who came into his office during the Christmas holidays, so he wasn’t going to give her a hard time.

It was just one exam.

He would do it himself.

The moment Lu Zhou entered the exam room, the quiet exam room went into chaos.

“F*ck me! Is that God Lu…”

“Nutty, academician invigilating us! F*ck, my phone is in my bag, I want to take a photo.”

“Sh*t, my cheat sheet…”

Lu Zhou looked at the classroom and paused for a second. He looked at the classroom number and then looked at the muddled teacher on the podium.

“This is number theory, right?”

The teacher nodded and spoke in a respectful tone.

“Yes!”

“Oh, so I’m at the right place.” Lu Zhou stepped onto the familiar podium and looked at the students. He then looked at the other invigilator teacher and said, “The exam is about to begin, start handing out papers.”

“Okay!”

“…”

Lu Zhou didn’t know why, but he felt like his co-invigilator seemed to be a little too excited…

The test papers were soon distributed.

After the bell rang, the number theory exam officially began.

Because Academician Lu was invigilating, the students and even the teacher were on “extra alert mode”. They all sat there with perfect posture.

Lu Zhou looked at the nervous students and wanted to laugh. However, he didn’t want to interrupt the exam.

The time quickly passed by as the clock on the wall ticked away.

Lu Zhou began to feel bored. He yawned and took out his notebook from his pocket. With a pen in his hand, he continued to research where he left off yesterday.

As expected, solving problems yourself was more interesting than watching other people solve problems.

Lu Zhou was in the zone, and he totally forgot that he was in an exam room.

Time passed by quickly when someone was doing something that they loved.

Without knowing it, an hour had gone by.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and was surprised to see that the exam was almost over.

Lu Zhou looked at the invigilator at the back of the classroom.

I’m the only one distracted.

If the other invigilator is also not doing their job, then it wouldn’t be fair to those students who studied hard for the exam.

Lu Zhou was about to stand up and move his stiff arm when he suddenly saw something unusual.

He saw a pretty young girl, who was sitting next to the window with her head down. Her arm leaned against her head and her hair acted as a curtain, creating a blind spot.

Lu Zhou’s experience as a student told him that this person was up to no good.

Even though Lu Zhou had never cheated before, he had seen plenty of cheaters.

He quietly stood up from his chair and began walking toward the girl.

Lu Zhou quietly walked behind the girl and looked at her table.

As expected…

The screen from her phone was more obvious than a lighthouse at night.

He could even see her little finger swiping through the phone.

There was nothing else to say.

Lu Zhou gently coughed.

“Ahem.”

The female student was like a frightened rabbit. Her shoulders tensed up, and she nearly dropped her phone on the ground.

The moment she made eye contact with Lu Zhou, her face turned white as she stuttered, “Te, Teacher… um, it’s not like that.”

It’s not like that?

What are you, watching SpongeBob during an exam?

“Sigh…” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I only gave you guys a few lectures this semester, but this is a little too excessive.”

The pretty student was scared, and she almost started to cry.

The other invigilator noticed the commotion and began walking over.

The young teacher mercilessly took away her phone and spoke in a stern manner, as if he was trying to impress the academician.

“Cheating in an exam, zero marks! Punishment recorded!”

The girl replied with tears in her eyes, “Teacher, can you not record it? My mom is very strict, she will kill me over this. Sir, let’s talk outside…”

She stood up and grabbed Lu Zhou’s arm, trying to walk outside. However, Lu Zhou stood there, frozen.

He quickly reacted and retracted his arm.

“Student, my mom is very strict as well!”

However, for some reason, the classroom burst into laughter.

The female student turned bright red, and she tried to explain but didn’t know what to say.

Lu Zhou looked at the chaotic classroom and began to think.

F*ck sake!

This year’s exam is too easy, that’s why these people are laughing.

Maybe…

I’ll just mark it harshly.

Chapter 881: Ruthless Man

Once someone was caught cheating, they were bound to receive a zero. There was no room for negotiation.

The students that laughed in the exam room were scolded by the other invigilator.

The final exams finished on December 30th. The Jin Ling University staff members could finally relax a little.

Even though He Changwen escaped from being the invigilator because of his food poisoning, he couldn’t escape the exam marking job.

He Changwen had a pile of exam papers on his desk. Lu Zhou looked at him and laughed in his heart.

You think you can stand me up?

This is what you get!

He Changwen looked at the terrifying stack of papers, and he knew that his New Year’s holiday was over. He frowned and asked.

“Professor, can you… ask someone to help me…”

“No,” Lu Zhou said without any hesitation. “Reviewing basic content will help you understand the more esoteric and difficult things. This is good practice… Oh yeah, finish marking the exams before New Year’s Day. This year’s schedule is a little tight, and everything has to be done before the 22nd semester week.”

Then why don’t you get someone to help me?!

Faced with Academician Lu’s orders, He Changwen nodded and spoke.

“Okay, professor.”

Lu Zhou was worried that this guy was going to do a bad job, so he said, “Mark it seriously. I will be checking.”

“Yes, sir…”

He totally gave up on his holiday plans…

…

The day before New Year’s Eve.

Luo Wenxuan wanted to return to his hometown for the holiday. He just received his paycheck, so he decided to buy Lu Zhou food at the grilled fish shop near the school.

Speaking of which, this grilled fish restaurant had been there for a long time. Lu Zhou often came there when he was still doing his bachelor’s degree, eating and drinking with his roommates.

And now, his roommates were getting married, doing Phds, and starting businesses… He was the only one who still stayed in Jinling.

The shop owner recognized Lu Zhou, so he gave them two bottles of beer for free as a show of thanks for regularly bringing him business.

Thanks to Lu Zhou’s frequent visits here, the business was booming, and the owner was about to start a second shop.

After chatting with Lu Zhou for a while, the owner went into the kitchen. The owner’s daughter walked into the restaurant with a backpack.

A few years ago, this kid was tiny, and she would sit on a little bench in front of the restaurant and do her homework every night. But now, she was already in high school.

She instantly recognized Lu Zhou and smiled.

“Hello, Uncle!”

Lu Zhou: “… Ah, hello.”

Lu Zhou’s mood was ruined by the word “uncle”.

Lu Zhou put on a fake smile until the girl disappeared. He looked at Luo Wenxuan and spoke.

“Don’t laugh, I’m at least a millennial. Laugh at me again, and I’ll call you uncle.”

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, “Come on, that’s ruthless… Wait a second, uncle doesn’t sound that bad… Okay, call me uncle then.”

This guy… is ridiculous.

Lu Zhou pondered for a second before asking seriously, “Do I look old?”

“Old? No…” Luo Wenxuan stared at Lu Zhou for a while and said, “Actually, I always find it funny how you’ve looked the same since I first saw you. You don’t look like a mathematician at all… Seriously, are you getting treatments?”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “You might not believe it, but just like my looks, my hair is all natural.”

“F*ck off… Wait a second, I found it,” Luo Wenxuan said as he looked down at his phone.

Lu Zhou glanced at him and curiously asked, “Found what?”

“The photos from when we first met… Look!” Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou, then at his phone. “It’s true, you haven’t changed at all in the past few years.”

The picture on the phone was taken in the Princeton lecture hall.

Lu Zhou was standing on the lecture hall podium, giving his first-ever academic report to professors and students. The whiteboard was filled with his proof of the twin prime number theorem.

Lu Zhou could never forget this event; this was the starting journey of his academic career, one of the best moments in his life.

What surprised him the most was the photo of himself.

He wasn’t bragging, but…

Like Luo Wenxuan had said, he hadn’t changed at all over the past few years.

It was almost like he time traveled seven years…

When Luo Wenxuan saw that Lu Zhou was speechless, he suddenly spoke with a strange expression on his face.

“This reminds me of a story.”

Lu Zhou: “… About Riemann’s hypothesis?”

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised expression.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“According to legends, whoever proves Riemann’s hypothesis will live forever… I’ve obviously heard about it, but I’m surprised that you have,” Lu Zhou gave Luo Wenxuan the phone back and said, “Don’t believe this urban legend, we’re scientific researchers, it’s a bit ridiculous.”

Maybe the systems’ metabolic capacity increase also delayed my aging?

Or is it because of other factors?

Regardless, Lu Zhou hadn’t changed much ever since puberty. If it weren’t for Luo Wenxuan’s photo, he wouldn’t even have noticed.

“Yeah.” Luo Wenxuan smiled and looked at the fish on the table as he said, “How was the exam? I saw on my friends’ news feed that something happened?”

Lu Zhou sighed and grabbed a piece of fish into his mouth. He shook his head and spoke.

“Don’t mention it, I swear that was my last time invigilating an exam.”

“Met a creative student?”

Lu Zhou: “You could say so.”

After the exam, the girl went to find Lu Zhou again, hoping to get the cheating incident off her permanent record.

In the end, Lu Zhou caved in, and he promised that he would talk with the academic affairs office.

But, if she was caught cheating again, then she would be expelled. If she could study hard and graduate smoothly, she might be able to wipe it off her record.

“Really? But that was your first time invigilating…” Luo Wenxuan stared at Lu Zhou and said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and put down his chopsticks.

“There are even more creative ones?”

Luo Wenxuan laughed.

“Of course! I caught one yesterday, and this girl wore a skirt in winter and wrote down her notes on her thigh.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Jesus!

If I were the one who noticed her, I wouldn’t even expose her.

It’s not like I can lift up her skirt, right?

Forget about lifting up anyone’s skirt, some teacher would be too embarrassed to even look at the girl’s thigh.

Luo Wenxuan took a sip of beer and ate some fish. He continued speaking, “There are also more male teachers in the physics department, and the other invigilator in the exam room was also a male. That girl was ruthless.”

Lu Zhou: “So you just let her go?”

Luo Wenxuan smirked and said, “Of course not, I would not bow down to the devil.”

Lu Zhou: “… So who exposed her?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Me.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou didn’t know why, but he felt like Luo Wenxuan was proud to be the one exposing her…

Chapter 882: 2022 New Year's Day

Even though Lu Zhou was curious about how Luo Wenxuan exposed the cheating girl, he was too embarrassed to ask.

The two continued to eat while talking, and somehow they went from talking about their New Year’s Day plans to talking about Riemann’s hypothesis.

“I am certain that, as long as we solve the Riemann hypothesis, we will be able to find out the hidden secrets behind the Riemann zeta function. Even just thinking about it makes me excited. These concepts are centuries apart, but somehow, they’re connected!

“Do you think there’s a possibility that Riemann was actually a time traveler? Otherwise, how else do you explain the pairwise correlation function of the eigenvalue for the random Hermitian matrix is consistent with the non-trivial zero points of the Riemann zeta function? Quantum mechanics didn’t exist in the 18th century!”

Lu Zhou laughed at Luo Wenxuan’s joke and casually spoke.

“Then how do you know that our past is actually a modified future? Changing the past doesn’t change the present.”

“So, if the past were changed by a time traveler, does that mean the past is actually our future?” Luo Wenxuan said. He suddenly stood up and said, “I have an idea, I’ll do it after New Year’s… Or should I do it now!”

Because his voice was too loud, the people around him started to give him looks.

Lu Zhou awkwardly coughed and signaled him to calm down.

“Calm your a** down.”

Luo Wenxuan realized that he was in a public setting, so he awkwardly sat back down.

However, his embarrassment only lasted for half a second.

He placed his hands on the table and looked excitedly at Lu Zhou.

“Do you know what I just thought of?! I can guarantee you’ll be surprised by my idea! I’m a f*cking genius!”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and sighed.

“… No matter what the idea is, I hope you don’t include my name in the thesis.”

Luo Wenxuan had a smug smile on his face.

“You’re going to regret that.”

Lu Zhou chuckled.

“Haha, I bet I won’t.”

The time-traveling stuff was obviously a joke.

Lu Zhou was certain that plenty of people have written theses on the paradoxes of time.

That was how theoretical physics research was.

First, they would assume that string theory could work, then they would create a new theory. After that, they would assume that string theory couldn’t work, and they would explain why the new theory couldn’t work as well.

This type of self-affirmation and self-denial research was becoming more and more common.

This showed that Einstein was a genius.

He predicted the nature of black holes, as well as the existence of gravitational waves.

All of the achievements made by the physics community since his death hadn’t deviated from his theoretical framework.

Even to this day, the experimental physics community hadn’t been able to fully test his theories. These scholars had been stuck, with nowhere to go…

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly began to contemplate.

Einstein wasn’t the only person like this.

Time-traveling was obviously a joke, there wasn’t enough evidence to support its existence.

But, how could Lu Zhou prove that the history he was familiar with wasn’t the result of time travel?

There’s no way to prove it…

Suddenly, he thought about the system.

Emmmm…

“Interesting…”

Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and began to think of all of the possibilities. He muttered to himself as he was lost in thought.

“… Hm, I heard what you’re trying to say. Interesting, do you want to work together?” Luo Wenxuan said to Lu Zhou.

“You must have heard wrong.” Lu Zhou tried to act unfazed as he said, “As for working together… Let’s do that after we’re done with the Riemann hypothesis.”

“Okay,” Luo Wenxuan said. “Should I celebrate then? You didn’t refuse.”

Lu Zhou immediately said, “Just pretend like I did then.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

…

On the 2020 New Year’s Day, the light from the Pangu fusion reactor illuminated the future of controllable fusion.

On the New Year’s Day of 2021, China’s first ion thruster propulsion system spacecraft “Skyglow” achieved its first successful test flight. This paved the way for China’s subsequent landings on the Moon.

The New Year’s Day of 2022 was rather boring. Other than the entire semiconductor industry being disrupted, as well as the Quasi Riemann hypothesis proof, nothing revolutionary happened.

On the first day of the new year.

An unexpected visitor came to Lu Zhou’s house.

Because Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense had some work to do at the Jinling high-tech zone and high-tech aerospace industrial area, he came to visit Lu Zhou.

Director Li happened to come around lunchtime, so Lu Zhou ordered some food from a hotel nearby. He opened a bottle of wine with this old companion of his.

The international news was being broadcasted on TV.

Coincidentally, the content of the news broadcast was the same as what the two were talking about…

“… According to separate announcements from NASA and the White House, NASA will launch their Lunar Gateway project this year.

“The project is part of the lunar exploration plan NASA announced in 2018. According to the disclosed plans, NASA will launch propulsion and launch devices into lunar orbit in early 2022. These components will be the first components of the Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway plan.

“However, the most optimal orbiting track is occupied by the Moon Palace space station, thus NASA is considering using an elliptical orbit with a larger orbit radius.

“Reports show that the project was approved by the Congressional Budget Office in 2021 and has now entered the launch preparation. According to a statement released by a NASA spokesperson, just like the Moon Palace, the Lunar Gateway would serve as an international space station. According to analyses from international relations experts, this project is an attempt from the White House to regain their aerospace dominance…”

Due to the success of the Skyglow spacecraft, NASA had actually been preparing for this project since the middle of last year.

However, because of the Ares program, the public began to distrust NASA. Over the past six months, NASA, Space-X, and other aerospace companies had been keeping it lowkey.

Now that the new year was here, it was time for a new beginning.

Lu Zhou obviously didn’t believe that one mistake should end America’s aerospace ambitions; otherwise, this fight would be too boring.

The US would learn from their failures and become even stronger. This competition had only just begun.

“The Americans really don’t want to be behind,” Director Li said while watching the TV. He ate some braised duck and sighed.

“No one wants to fall behind, and this type of competition is healthy.” Lu Zhou smiled while looking at Director Li. He said, “Speaking of which, why did you suddenly decide to visit me? Are you not busy with work?”

“I am, but I still have time to see my good friend.” Director Li smiled and said, “I heard that you are planning to go back home for Chinese New Year, so I decided to visit you in advance. I hope I didn’t bother Mr. Chief Designer?”

When Lu Zhou heard the words from his good friend, he felt a little weird.

They had been working closely ever since the controllable fusion project, but there was a big age gap between them.

He felt the same way when he talked with Professor Faltings. It was as if older people treated him as the same age.

I’m still a lot younger than you, okay?

I’m not even in my thirties…

Lu Zhou coughed and casually said, “Of course not. I still have time to celebrate New Year’s Day.”

“Good, I just didn’t want to disturb your work. I hesitated for a long time before I decided to come.” Director Li put down his cup and looked at Lu Zhou. He said in a solemn tone, “I’m sure you know that I came to Jinling with a purpose.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Someone told me about it.”

Director Li nodded and continued, “The US’ Lunar Gateway program has already begun, and according to NASA, that their budget is more than US$100 billion. This is far larger than the original estimate of US$21 billion.

“Experts from the Chinese Academy have analyzed that the White House’s plan isn’t as simple as we think. Their true intention is to reunite their allies through economic and diplomatic means, to separate the countries into two sides. This is similar to what happened in the Cold War.”

As for why the US was doing this, it was obvious that the US was trying to rebalance China’s rising dominance.

China finally gained its international advantage due to the controllable fusion energy and aerospace breakthroughs. This was going to be a new challenge for them. Even though the semiconductor industry clusters were going full speed ahead, Lu Zhou could sense that the focus over the next decade was definitely going to be the aerospace field.

Lu Zhou began to think as Director Li spoke solemnly.

“The United States has opened the door to us and invited Chinese aerospace companies to participate in this US$100 billion project. Do you think we should export our aerospace services to them?”

This was an interesting problem.

If they decided to export their services, this meant that Star Sky Technology, as well as the two giant state-owned aerospace companies, would participate in the construction and launch of the Lunar Gateway program.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and asked with a smile, “If Huawei had the opportunity to sell Apple computer chips, would you stop them?”

“Of course not.” Director Li smiled and said, “As long as they’re willing to buy it for the right price, we’ll do anything we can to let Huawei sell to them.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Yeah, the only problem is if Apple doesn’t pay the right price.”

Director Li understood what Lu Zhou was trying to say. He nodded.

“I understand what you mean.”

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “The Lunar Gateway isn’t a big threat to us. It’s just a space station. The real competition isn’t in their space stations or spacecraft, but rather the ability to launch these devices into space.

“If we can take over the launch missions from Space-X, Blue Origin, Boeing, etc., we can weaken their market competitiveness in the long run and further expand the gap.”

Ever since the opening of the Jinling high-tech aerospace development area, as well as the successful development of the Magpie Bridge, China’s aerospace transportation technology was on a whole new level. Their lunar transfer orbit launching cost was at least a magnitude lower than other countries.

This meant that, for every price Space-X was offering, Star Sky Technology could reduce that by 10 times.

Therefore, Star Sky Technology could steal a giant piece of the pie that originally belonged to American aerospace companies.

“… Maybe in the future, their colony in a distant galaxy will need our spacecraft to send supplies. Even if they send their space station to Mars and their colonists to the edge of the solar system, they will still need our help.”

Director Li was a little doubtful, and he said, “What if the White House knew about this? Why do you think they’re asking us to work on the Lunar Gateway project?”

“Maybe to balance their costs… Even if they wanted their local companies to fill the demands, the local companies can’t fill the demand,” Lu Zhou said with a smile. He then continued, “This is good, this means they’re aware of how crucial we are.”

We’re getting closer and closer to complete space domination…

Chapter 883: Having a Nutty Brother

What was it like to have a brother who was a big name in academia?

Or rather, a brother who was a Nobel Prize laureate as well as a Fields Medalist?

Xiao Tong was probably the only person in this world who could answer this question.

She stared at the email from the reviewer and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

After double-checking that she read it correctly, she clicked on the email. She carefully read the reviewer’s comments, trying to contain her excitement.

She was obviously surprised.

This was one of the top nine economics journals—Econometrica!

This was like the Annual Mathematics of mathematics or the Physical Review Letters of physics!

Even her mentor, Professor Forster, would have a hard time publishing in this journal. After all, it was difficult to produce research results in macroeconomics.

However, after she submitted the journal three days after Christmas, she received a reply from the reviewer not long after New Year’s Day. This had never happened to her before.

For a newcomer in the world of academia, this was unbelievable!

Normally, reviewing theses was a type of volunteer work. It didn’t really benefit the reviewers.

Especially for well-known scholars who had nothing to gain from reviewing theses. They would only review theses when they had a lot of free time.

Xiao Tong was prepared to wait for six weeks, but instead, she received a reply from the reviewer in the second week.

Xiao Tong looked at the review comments.

[The mathematical model used in the thesis is interesting, but there are some flaws in the theoretical economics part…

[Review comments: Modifications might be needed.]

“… My brother is too strong.”

Xiao Tong’s mouth was wide open, and after a while, she sighed.

This was the fastest thesis review response she had ever received…

She thanked her brother in her heart and gave herself some encouragement.

One day, she was going to be an outstanding scholar.

Just like her brother…

Having a role model was a powerful thing.

With a goal in mind, Xiao Tong didn’t even take a break. She began modifying the thesis based on the reviewer’s comments. She kept the mathematical model unchanged and uploaded the thesis after making some changes.

“This should be fine, right?”

Xiao Tong sighed and took out a graduation application form from her desk. She hesitated for a bit before making up her mind and walking to Professor Forster’s office.

Even though having a reliable brother was a good thing, she still wanted to do some things on her own.

There was one thing she and Lu Zhou had in common.

Which was, they never wanted to bother other people.

Of course, when they encountered something they couldn’t do, they wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help.

However, they would often return the favor.

There was a knock at the door.

Professor Forster stopped writing and looked at the student who walked into his office. He smiled gently and asked cheerfully, “How are you? Have you thought about it?”

It seemed like Ansley didn’t snitch on Xiao Tong. She gave Xiao Tong the chance to tell Professor Forster the bad news.

However, it didn’t really count as snitching…

After all, Xiao Tong already made up her mind.

Xiao Tong stood in front of Professor Forster’s desk and took a deep breath.

“I’ve already completed my graduation thesis and submitted it to Econometrica.”

Professor Forster was baffled. He didn’t expect Xiao Tong to complete the graduation thesis at all. Forster spoke with his eyes wide open.

“Wait a second… You finished it? Are you sure you did it using my…”

Xiao Tong nodded and looked at Professor Forster.

“I did it using your hypothesis. I used the Bewley model to analyze the macroeconomic impact of welfare policies… But I used an improved model.”

Professor Forster stared at his student, and he suddenly felt a little nauseous.

When he arranged this research project for her, he was hoping that she wouldn’t be able to complete it. He didn’t expect her to actually finish it.

He knew she was going to ask Lu Zhou for mathematics help…

But he was surprised at her economics theory abilities.

“Did you compile the algorithm? Whether it’s Econometrica or other journals, you will have to run the model on your own computer. Are you sure the data you calculated is…”

“I’ve done the calculations,” Xiao Tong said as she interrupted Professor Forster. “I passed the academic review. It’s in peer review now…”

Having to modify the thesis wasn’t a big problem.

The reviewer was obviously interested in her research; otherwise, they wouldn’t have replied so fast.

Professor Forster played around with a pen in his hand and calmed down. He was a little annoyed.

“The review process for Econometrica is very long. It takes at least six weeks. Unless you’re a well-known scholar, you would have to wait for a long time. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to submit to Econometrica, but why didn’t you ask for my opinion…”

If this were any other student, he would have started to scold them.

But this student was different.

It wasn’t like he was scared of her; he just didn’t want to offend her…

“You don’t have to worry about that…” Xiao Tong hesitated for a bit. She had to tell him the truth sooner or later, so she said, “The corresponding author is Lu Zhou.”

Lu Zhou was the corresponding author.

Lu Zhou certainly counted as a well-known scholar.

But this spot originally belonged to Forster…

The office suddenly had a tense atmosphere.

Professor Forster’s smile disappeared.

“Sorry… I didn’t hear you clearly, what are you saying?”

Xiao Tong: “He’s the corresponding author. After all, he did the mathematical model and algorithm.”

Professor Forster took a deep breath and looked at his student.

“What are you trying to do…”

“I’m not trying to do anything.” Xiao Tong shook her head and said, “That was his request.”

Professor Forster calmed down.

His request…

She obviously meant Professor Lu.

“The thesis is in peer review, and I received a reply from the reviewer this morning and made some minor modifications. The revised thesis should be accepted.” Xiao Tong looked at Professor Forster and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I couldn’t write you down as the corresponding author, but Professor Lu did say that it’s up to me who is first and second author.”

Xiao Tong paused for a second and looked at Professor Forster.

“As long as you let me graduate, I’ll put you down as the first author for my Econometrica thesis… What do you think?”

Chapter 884: I Want It All

I want it all!

Professor Forster obviously wanted to say this out loud, and according to the unspoken rules of academia, both the corresponding author and first author was his. There was no negotiation to be done about this.

He would only give the first author to his best-performing students.

He didn’t want to let go of such an excellent scientific research result, not to mention Lu Zhou was also involved.

However…

“… Do what you want.”

After a moment of silence, Professor Forster picked up the pen and signed his name on the graduation application.

He looked up at Xiao Tong and smiled as he said, “Do you want a recommendation letter?”

“If you can, thanks.”

No one would refuse a recommendation letter. Even though she had a recommendation letter from her brother, a recommendation letter from her master’s supervisor would help her with her PhD.

Even though she had little to do with Forster.

Xiao Tong politely bowed and accepted the graduation application with a smile.

In any case, she learned quite a lot from this professor over the past two years.

Of course, on the other hand, she also helped the professor in return.

Professor Forster didn’t assign her the project for noble reasons, it was just for her to help Forster “produce” more theses.

Now that his name was on an Econometrica thesis, he was happy.

After all, Forster himself would have to spend at least a year or two to write a thesis like that…

Professor Forster smiled in a relaxed manner and leaned back on his chair. He then said nonchalantly, “You’re welcome. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

“If you decide on which university and professor you want to do a PhD under, tell me. I’ll send you the recommendation letter.”

This was the best option.

Even though Forster couldn’t retain Xiao Tong, he didn’t want to offend her. It would be better to let her go and keep a good relationship.

After being in academia for so many years, he was well aware of who he should not offend.

The person standing in front of him was one of them.

He had a feeling that he would meet Xiao Tong again in the future.

They might even work together.

Professor Forster looked at the door and sighed.

“Damn, Lu Zhou… F*ck, how come I don’t have a Nobel Prize laureate brother?

“If I did… I wouldn’t have to f*cking worry about receiving some Royal Academy of Science grant.”

He shook his head and put down his pen.

I guess pigs are starting to fly.

I’m actually jealous of a master’s student…

…

I’m going to graduate!

Finally!

I’m so happy!

After returning to her dorm, Xiao Tong began to jump up and down in joy. She jumped on her bed and took out her phone. She then called Lu Zhou, who was on the other side of the planet.

The call was connected, and she immediately spoke with joy,

“Brother! I graduated! Hahaha, mua, I love you!”

Lu Zhou heard her excited voice and smiled.

“You got your diploma?”

“Yeah!” Xiao Tong sat on her bed and hugged a pillow. She began telling Lu Zhou what happened.

After hearing Xiao Tong’s story, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Nicely handled.

“I hope you remember one thing. No matter what field of study it is, whether it’s applied or theoretical, there is always a hierarchy. However, there is one thing that doesn’t change; someone that produces good research will never be ignored.”

Xiao Tong nodded.

“I understand.”

“Good, when you encounter an unsolvable problem in the future, I’ll be there for you.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Oh yeah, one other thing, if you plan on going back for Chinese New Year, just go back to Jiangling. I’ll be going back soon, so I won’t be in Jinling.”

Xiao Tong happily said, “Sure, I haven’t been back in a long time.”

“Okay then, talk to you later.”

Lu Zhou was about to hang up the phone when Xiao Tong suddenly spoke.

“Wait a second.”

“What?”

“If this were you, how would you have done it?”

“If I were being stopped from graduating?” Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and said, “Difficult question… I’ve never worried about graduating.”

When he was doing a master’s degree, Academician Lu was clearly fond of his talents and wanted him to stay, but he still let Lu Zhou graduate. Professor Deligne, on the other hand, gave him a lot of freedom and even allowed him to choose his own thesis project.

Most supervisors didn’t want to let go of talented students.

However, if someone was truly talented, a supervisor wouldn’t be able to keep them for long…

Xiao Tong: “…”

She knew she shouldn’t have given Lu Zhou the chance to humblebrag.

After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he put his phone into his pocket.

Luo Wenxuan walked next to him and casually asked, “Your sister?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, studying a master’s degree in economics at Oxford.”

Luo Wenxuan was suddenly interested.

“Introduce me to her someday?”

“F*ck off.”

Luo Wenxuan shivered and quickly tried to explain.

“Wait, what are you thinking about, I already have my target, I just want to get to know her… Wait, don’t go, the idea I talked about with you last time, do you want to look at it?”

He quickly gave Lu Zhou a stack of printed thesis papers.

“Just read it, I won’t write your name down!”

When Lu Zhou read the thesis title, he nearly laughed out loud.

[On Time Travel in Minkowski Space…]

“If you can publish this on PRL, I’ll eat a table.”

Luo Wenxuan coughed and scratched his head.

“Don’t say that! What if it gets approved, what will you do then?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and ignored Luo Wenxuan. He began walking back to his office, and Luo Wenxuan followed him.

However, when Lu Zhou was walking through the corridor, he saw a stylish girl with bangs standing by his office door. She was nervously looking through the office windows.

Luo Wenxuan noticed the pretty girl, and his eyes lit up as he put on a charming smile.

“Are you looking for Professor Lu?”

“Yeah…” The girl looked at Luo Wenxuan. She then noticed Lu Zhou who was standing behind Luo Wenxuan. Her eyes lit up as she asked, “Are you Professor Lu?”

Lu Zhou nodded and answered, “Yes, what do you want?”

“Um… Can we speak in private?” the girl hesitantly said as she looked at Luo Wenxuan.

“Okay then.” Luo Wenxuan gave Lu Zhou the thesis and waved goodbye.

Lu Zhou looked at the nervous lady.

“Let’s talk inside then.”

Because it was the holiday season, there wasn’t anyone in the office.

Lu Zhou opened the office door and placed the thesis on the coffee table. He then sat down at his desk.

Lu Zhou looked at the girl who followed him into the office and spoke.

“Please sit, do you need anything?”

The girl hesitated for a bit and decided not to sit on the sofa. She bit her lip and walked toward the desk.

“Um… Professor, there’s something I want to ask you.”

Lu Zhou: “No problem, I would be happy to help with any math problems, just nothing exam related.”

“Um… It is exam related. I was very busy this semester as I had to do my level 6 English exam and had student union obligations… so I didn’t have time to study.” The girl walked forward and said, “Please, professor, please don’t fail me, I’ll do anything.”

Failing a class meant no scholarships.

It could also mean not getting into a master’s program.

Therefore, the girl was willing to make some sacrifices…

When Lu Zhou stood up from his desk, the girl nervously clenched her fists.

She tried to prepare herself mentally.

This was her first time doing something like this, and she didn’t expect this to progress so fast.

Is he not going to buy me dinner first?

Lu Zhou walked next to her and stared at her for a second.

“Anything?” he asked.

The girl blushed, and she nodded quietly.

When Professor Lu walked up to her, her heart was pounding out of her chest. Professor Lu then spoke again.

“Then how about studying hard and preparing for the supplementary exam.”

Girl: “???”

Lu Zhou looked at the muddled girl and sighed.

He had done so much for the Jin Ling University undergraduate system. Even though the Jin Ling University mathematics department wasn’t world-class, there were plenty of students.

Why did he always get the idiot students?

I guess we still have to work hard on improving the education system…

Chapter 885: Holy Land of Aerospace

The third day after New Year’s Day, the festive atmosphere faded from Jinling and the workers returned to the high-tech aerospace industrial area.

The doors of various factories were open; logistics trucks of all sizes drove on the spacious highways. Some trucks were filled with raw materials, others were filled with various parts. The trucks were like blood cells, filling the industrial area with nutrition, making China’s aerospace industry stronger.

Located in the center of the entire industrial park was the boxy and spacious Jinling aerospace assembly center.

Inside the factory was a spacecraft metal skeleton, which was broken up into three pieces.

This place was like a sanctuary for the aerospace industry. The metal spacecraft skeleton was like a coffin, attracting the attention of astronauts all over the world.

Companies like Boeing, Space-X, and Airbus, companies that had done well in their respective fields, were willing to pay tens of billions of dollars to cooperate with Space-X. This was just to let their engineers take a look at the assembly center.

A group of foreign experts was standing beside the Magpie Bridge skeleton as they whispered to one another and pointed at things with a surprised look on their faces.

“Jesus Christ… How do you plan on sending it to space?”

The Chinese engineer standing beside them didn’t respond. He merely stood still with his hands behind his back.

The foreign expert obviously wasn’t satisfied, so he deliberately spoke in a provocative and sarcastic tone.

“This type of cuboid-shaped skeleton has a bunch of fatal flaws. Have you thought about what would happen if it gets hit by a meteorite? What about the cold metal welding effect in space? The huge amount of thrust will definitely magnify all of these risks.”

The engineer with a hard hat still stood there with a polite smile on his face, and the foreign experts were a little annoyed.

The foreign experts weren’t able to extract any information from the Chinese engineers, and they began to look a little disappointed.

The bearded expert who previously mentioned the cold welding effect was especially annoyed. He angrily complained, “Damnit… Aren’t you going to argue?”

Suddenly, the quiet engineer spoke.

“Nothing to argue about. The spacecraft speaks for itself.”

“…”

Director Li, who was also touring the warehouse, looked at the group of disappointed foreign experts and asked his assistant, “Who are these people? What are they doing?”

His assistant’s English was pretty good, so he explained, “Those foreign people… are trying to find mistakes?”

“Mistakes?” Director Li raised his eyebrows. He chuckled and said, “They have the audacity to try and find mistakes here?”

If this were before, he wouldn’t have been so confident. After all, a couple of years ago, China’s aerospace industry wasn’t strong enough to ignore the opinions of foreign experts.

But now, they were the only country in the world with controllable fusion technology, as well as ion thruster propulsion spacecraft. Why should they listen to anyone else’s advice?

What a joke.

“The main reason they’re here is to gain information on our technology. However, their tactics aren’t that clever, and provoking us is useless.”

Hou Guang, the director of the Aerospace Research Institute at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study walked over and shook Director Li’s hand with a smile. He said, “Director Li, welcome to the aerospace assembly center. We look forward to your guidance. You should have told me you were coming, I would have made some preparations.”

“What guidance? I’m just a layman, so I can’t give you any valuable advice. I didn’t want to disturb the work here, so I didn’t tell you guys I was coming,” Director Li said as he shook Hou Guang’s hand. He was a little worried about the foreign experts, so he said, “If you know they’re here to extract information, why did you let them in?”

“That was a request from our partners. They want to ensure that our safety practices are up to standard. We’re not going to lock them outside just because of this.” Hou Guang smiled nonchalantly as he said, “Any technology that can be reverse-engineered just by looking at it isn’t worth anything. Our core technology is at the Institute for Advanced Study. Forget the fact that they’re not allowed in there. Even if they’re watching us doing experiments, they probably wouldn’t know what is going on.”

In fact, this annoyed the competitors the most.

They spent a ton of money just to come here in the name of “safety inspection”. However, all they saw were piles of metal scraps.

Yes, even though these metal scraps were valuable, they weren’t able to extract any technical information.

After all, they weren’t able to create a miniaturized version of controllable nuclear fusion themselves.

As Director Li looked at the jealous and resentful faces of the foreign experts, he sighed and said, “I never would have expected to see other people try to steal our technology.”

Hou Guang smiled and said, “Yeah, sometimes it feels like I’m in a dream.”

The group of foreign experts looked like tourists, moving from one attraction to the other. Hou Guang paused for a second and spoke.

“So far, we are currently bidding for NASA’s 500-ton lunar transfer orbit mission. If everything goes well, our offer should be 20% lower than Space-X’s offer. After discussing with experts, this is the most suitable bidding scheme. If the bid is successful, we’ll be able to receive US$10 billion in transportation revenue, but…”

Director Li: “But what? You can ask me anything outside of technology, I’ll try my best to help.”

“No, you’re mistaken, everything is going fine. I was just going to say that, but unfortunately, Academician Lu’s attention is focused on mathematics.” Hou Guang sighed and said, “Honestly, I miss the days of being on the front line with Academician Lu. We’d exchange data and ideas, and he often inspired me.”

Director Li sighed and spoke.

“There’s nothing we can do about that. Academician Lu has his own priorities. We can’t always ask him to sacrifice for us.”

“You’re right, we shouldn’t rely on him.” Hou Guang nodded and said, “Looks like we have to try our best. Academician Lu tried his best to give us this advantage, we shouldn’t let it go to waste.”

Director Li smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll go look around. If you see Professor Lu, make sure to say hi for me.”

“Okay.” Hou Guang waved his hand and put on his hard hat.

After Hou Guang walked away, Director Li looked at the nearly-complete Magpie Bridge, and he looked relieved and fascinated.

China’s aerospace industry was going full force ahead, and everything was going in the right direction.

I can’t believe I’m able to witness this during my lifetime.

I won’t have any regrets when I die.

Chapter 886: Rejected!

Not being able to continue fighting side by side in the aerospace industry was unfortunate for Hou Guang. Hou Guang felt like his time working with Lu Zhou made him grow.

His growth wasn’t only limited to his academic abilities, but also his leadership and management skills of a scientific research team.

Lu Zhou had plenty of experience in being a leader.

As the chief designer of the Chinese controllable fusion project, he was well versed in this area.

However, this skill couldn’t be transferred to other people through teaching, only through experience.

Hou Guang sometimes thought that maybe the reason Lu Zhou decided to retreat from the front line was to give himself more room to grow.

Every time Hou Guang thought about this, he couldn’t help but shed a tear.

People in the academic community that gave opportunities to the less fortunate was a rare sight.

However, Academician Wang Zengguang, the chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation, had a totally different opinion of Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou cared about other people?

Maybe a little bit.

But that’s not the main reason!

Lu Zhou just isn’t interested in power, and he’s lazy!

Anyone who knew Lu Zhou knew that Lu Zhou never stayed in one field for long. Even when it came to mathematics, which was his favorite, he would often immediately jump into another field when his research came to a bottleneck.

This was obvious from his letter to the Communist Party of China, back when he was still the chief designer for the nuclear fusion project.

Lu Zhou clearly portrayed that, once controllable nuclear fusion was figured out, he would move onto something else.

Lu Zhou was too tired of being chief designer…

…

“Achoo!”

On the highway.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the backseat, admiring the view.

Wang Peng, who was driving the car, looked in the rearview mirror and spoke.

“Is it too cold?”

“No, it’s fine…” Lu Zhou rubbed his nose and turned his attention back to the printed thesis on his lap.

This thesis was the one Luo Wenxuan showed him last week.

However, even though it was the same thesis, he received this thesis from someone else other than Luo Wenxuan.

In fact, Lu Zhou didn’t want to read this thing; just from the abstract, he could tell that this was nothing more than a theoretical conjecture that didn’t solve any real-life problems. It couldn’t explain any unknown phenomenon and had close to no research value at all.

However, he didn’t expect Luo Wenxuan to actually submit it to PRL; moreover, PRL actually asked him to review the thesis.

Because of the double-blind review process, Luo Wenxuan didn’t know that his thesis was being reviewed by his boss.

Despite the possible conflicts of interest, Lu Zhou still accepted the review invitation from PRL. He printed out the thesis and began reading it on his drive back to his hometown.

Strictly speaking, even though there was still a week or two before Chinese New Year break, Lu Zhou planned on returning to his home town in a couple of days.

However, over the past few days, people often came to his office. Some were asking about exam marks, and some were giving him gifts. All these annoyed him.

Because this year’s exam was scheduled to be before the holidays, he had more visitors than usual.

Not to mention there were some faculty members who wanted to work for him.

Lu Zhou told He Changwen to mark the rest of the exam papers and decided to go home early for Chinese New Year.

As for why he was driving?

Having a car during the holidays was more convenient.

Actually he wanted to drive his sports car, but the small car really wasn’t suitable for the long journey. Per Wang Peng’s suggestion, they took the black sedan instead.

The sedan was much more comfortable and Lu Zhou could even lie down in the back. It was perfect for long distances. The Electric Purple was pretty useless, other than for showing off.

“He has a good understanding of Minkowski space theory, but his mathematics skills are… Is this guy really Witten’s student?”

It wasn’t just the mathematical calculations, but the thesis also had logical problems.

In the field of theoretical physics, mathematics was very important, but it wasn’t crucial.

Even scholars who only used basic mathematical tools could create new theories. For example, Frank Wilczek, who worked with Lu Zhou in the past, did profound research in the field of quark particles without a deep understanding of mathematics.

Physicists like Edward Witten, who created mathematical tools themselves and won the Fields Medal, were of course the minority.

Not only was the mathematics in Luo Wenxuan’s thesis incorrect, but it also contained logical fallacies. It was a miracle this thesis even went into the peer review stage.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He then wrote down a line on the bottom of the paper.

[Rejected]

Do you really think I would accept this thesis?

In your dreams.

Forget about all the problems in the thesis…

I said I would eat a table if this thesis was accepted; obviously, I’m not going to do that to myself.

Lu Zhou placed the thesis aside and looked at the view outside the window. He suddenly spoke.

“Where are we?”

Wang Peng, who was holding the steering wheel, replied, “We’re 10 kilometers from Jiangcheng.”

Lu Zhou nodded and suddenly remembered something.

“Speaking of which, the semiconductor industry cluster is in the suburbs of Jiangcheng, right?”

Wang Peng paused for a second and didn’t know why Lu Zhou was talking about this.

However, he still nodded and replied, “Yeah… I think it’s in the eastern suburbs of Jiangcheng.”

Eastern suburbs of Jiangcheng?

That’s where the new silicon valley is…

Lu Zhou remembered that Chen Yushan told him that the Huawei carbon-based semiconductor production and research center was near here. He suddenly said, “Let’s go take a look.”

“Ok.”

Without asking any questions, Wang Peng skillfully changed the lane and began driving toward the highway.

After driving Lu Zhou around for so many years, he was familiar with his personality.

Lu Zhou was always unpredictable.

Whether it was his research or his lifestyle.

Just like how he didn’t give Wang Peng any notice before he decided to go home early for the holidays.

Wang Peng was used to it.

However, even though Wang Peng was used to this, some people weren’t…

On the Jiangling highway exit, which was more than 200 kilometers away, a group of people waited in the cold while trembling in the wind…

Chapter 887: Welcome

Jiangling highway exit.

Wu Dingrong stared hopelessly at the highway exit, and the breezing wind made his eyes hurt. Fortunately, it wasn’t snowing today; otherwise, his stubble would have been covered in snowflakes.

He couldn’t take it anymore and turned his stiff neck toward his assistant before asking, “Are you sure Professor Lu is coming back today?”

“The transportation department said he’s coming today. Surely he’s not still driving? It’s only 500 kilometers… Mayor, what if you wait at the toll booth? I’ll give you a call when the Highway Department notifies me.”

Assistant Sun Xiaofeng, who was standing next to Wu Dingrong, was also confused.

When he saw a glimpse of irritation on the mayor’s face, he started to become even more anxious.

He was the first person to hear that Lu Zhou was going back to Jiangling, and he immediately notified the major as soon as possible.

When the mayor heard that Academician Lu was coming back, the city council immediately held a conference and arranged the welcoming ceremony. They even set up a banner at the highway exit.

Normally speaking, an academician wasn’t worthy of being greeted by the city council leadership team. Even though academicians received special treatment, they didn’t have any political power.

But Academician Lu was different.

Not only was he involved in many national projects, but he was the winner of the Ling Yun medal award!

Forget about the local mayor, even the state department team had to bow down to him. Now that this big name was coming back home, Major Wu obviously put Lu Zhou on his highest priority.

However, there seemed to be a hiccup…

Logically speaking, after a seven-hour drive, Academician Lu should be arriving at the highway exit. But he was nowhere to be found.

“No…” Wu Dingrong shook his head and stared at the road as he said, “Academician Lu is a national hero, and he’s the pride of Jiangling. We have to let him feel warm and welcome. Do you think waiting in a toll booth is being warm and welcome?”

You came all the way out here just to greet him, is that not enough?

Assistant Sun stared at the stubborn Mayor Wu and tried to persuade him.

“But… you can’t just stand outside like this! It’s freezing out here; what if you catch a cold?! Academician Lu would feel horrible.”

In fact, Wu Dingrong wanted Lu Zhou to feel sorry.

Of course, with all the cameras and reporters surrounding him, he would never say that.

“I don’t care about some cold. Academician Lu went into a coma for our country. Who cares about a cold? I’m in great health!” said Wu Dingrong as he shook his head. He continued, “This conversation is over. If you’re cold, feel free to leave.”

Even though Assistant Sun wanted to leave, he didn’t dare to.

If he went home right now, he would be out of a job by tomorrow.

All he could do right now was to wait in the cold with the mayor and the city council leadership team.

Sun Xiaofeng looked at the mayor’s fur coat, then looked at his thin blazer.

All he wanted was for Academician Lu’s driver to drive faster.

The mayor might not get a cold, but he definitely would…

…

Unfortunately, Assistant Sun’s wishes didn’t come true.

The entire Jiangling city council didn’t expect Lu Zhou to go on a field trip before returning to his hometown.

After Wang Peng got off the Jiangcheng highway, he set his navigation destination to an unmarked area on the map. They soon arrived at the edge of the Jiangcheng high-tech zone.

This was where the newly established semiconductor park was.

The medieval tall concrete walls surrounded the entire park. There were only six checkpoints at the car lanes used for importing and exporting goods.

Wang Peng slowly drove the car to a checkpoint and rolled down the windows. He showed his ID to one of the soldiers and was soon let in.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng’s ID and curiously asked, “Can you go anywhere with that ID?”

“Of course not,” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “you have to apply for approval and write a report. You have to write what you did, who you met, how long you were there.”

What a hassle.

“But I didn’t see you apply for anything.”

Wang Peng smiled and said, “Someone applied for me. After all, I’m not the only one in your security team.”

“Oh, I see… Thanks so much.”

Lu Zhou realized that his security team couldn’t celebrate Chinese New Year and felt a little guilty.

However, Wang Peng didn’t seem to care.

“No problem, your safety is our first priority.”

Lu Zhou made a suggestion.

“Don’t you want to go home for the holidays? Shouldn’t you switch shifts with someone?”

Wang Peng smiled.

“As a soldier, the country is my home. Everywhere I go, I’m home.”

The car slowly drove into the industrial park.

The six-lane roads were lined with rectangular white factories, and occasionally, they could see logistics trucks going in and out of the factories.

This place wasn’t very lively, and the factories and research centers were like robots that quietly did their jobs.

Lu Zhou looked outside the window and felt shocked.

It’s been less than two months.

The research institutes and factories are nearly done with construction…

This is a miracle.

Wang Peng stared at Lu Zhou and asked, “Where are we going?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second before replying, “Let’s go to Huawei’s HiSilicon.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Okay.”

The black sedan drove down the six-lane street toward the building located at the center of the park.

This was the newly established HiSilicon semiconductor research and development building, as well as a semiconductor processing base.

Of course, it was too early to label this as a semiconductor processing base. They were still focused on the research and development side. After they turned the carbon-based transistors into a viable product, then they could talk about production.

Because Star Sky Technology invested in HiSilicon, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study sent a team of carbon-based semiconductor researchers to help the engineers with industrialization problems.

The car drove into the parking lot as Lu Zhou called Chen Yushan. He told her that he was at the Jiangcheng semiconductor base. He then got out of the car and walked toward the factory.

However, when he was walking toward the entrance, a staff member wearing a hard hat walked over and stopped him.

“Stop! Which department are you from, why are you here… Oh sh*t, Lu Zhou?!”

When Lu Zhou saw the person, he was astounded.

“Guangming?!”

F*ck!

Huang Guangming?!

This was Lu Zhou’s roommate in college.

Why is he here…

This…

Is such a coincidence!

Chapter 888: Meeting an Old Friend

Huang Guangming took a second look.

He was sure this was Lu Zhou.

Huang Guangming was about to turn around and leave but Lu Zhou grabbed his shoulder.

“The f*ck? Why are you leaving…”

Huang Guangming stood there and sighed.

“I’m embarrassed to see myself like this, just let me go…”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but interrupt him.

“No, screw that!”

F*ck sake!

I haven’t seen this a*shole for years, and he treats me like this…

Long gone was the cocky and obnoxious Guangming… Lu Zhou felt a little distant now.

When did my brother become like this?

Especially that hairline…

Lu Zhou nearly didn’t recognize him.

After a moment of silence, Huang Guangming spoke.

“You look like you’re surprised, in a bad way.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course not! I’m just a little emotional. I haven’t seen you in six years, and you’ve changed… a lot.”

Huang Guangming sighed and said, “… It’s been six years, and you still don’t know when you’re being offensive.”

Wait.

Am I?

Lu Zhou thought about it and didn’t know how he was being offensive.

Wang Peng closed the car door and walked over.

“You know him?”

Lu Zhou was in a good mood, and he responded, “Yeah, an old friend of mine.”

Huang Guangming looked at Wang Peng and said, “And you are?”

Lu Zhou was about to speak, but Wang Peng spoke first.

“Wang Peng, driver.”

“Nice to meet you.” Huang Guangming took off his safety hat and asked, “Why do you have a male driver?”

Faced with this weird question, Lu Zhou said, “… Have you ever seen a CEO with a female driver?”

Huang Guangming thought for a second and said, “I guess you’re right.”

Lu Zhou looked at the factory as he asked, “You’re working at… HiSilicon?”

“Yeah…” Huang Guangming awkwardly scratched his head and said, “I switched majors. I was too embarrassed to say, but I didn’t switch to finance; I switched to automation instead.”

“… Why didn’t you tell me?” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I would have persuaded you otherwise.”

“… Forget about it, bro.” Huang Guangming sighed and said, “It’s in the past.”

Automation workers received little pay and had to work harder than programmers.

Huang Guangming was doing pretty well for himself, and he had a pretty good master’s supervisor. Even though his academic abilities were average, and his major wasn’t popular, he was still given an opportunity to work at Huawei.

However, Huang Guangming was the type of person who was average at everything he did.

This was an advantage when he was doing his master’s. His supervisor didn’t ignore him, nor did his supervisor pay too much attention to him.

But that blabbering mouth…

His friends might think it was funny, but his colleagues thought otherwise.

All in all, he earned a couple of grand in RMB per month, doing a highly stressful job. Even though he wasn’t even in his thirties yet, his hairline was clearly receding.

“Honestly, if I knew it was going to be this stressful, I wouldn’t have changed majors.”

Lu Zhou wanted to say mathematics wasn’t easier either, but he still couldn’t help but ask, “Then why did you switch majors?”

Huang Guangming sighed and said, “My mom told me to. She said she has a cousin in a car factory. She heard that the factory workers have easy jobs, and they all majored in automation.”

Huang Guangming went from an automation major to being a factory safety officer.

His mom didn’t have the slightest clue what automation was, but Huang Guangming should have at least did some research himself.

“… By the way, why did you study mathematics in the first place?”

“My mom made me.” Huang Guangming sighed and said, “Remember? I had a cousin in accounting, and she studied mathematics, so my mom made me major in mathematics as well…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Okay then.

Everything makes sense now.

After all, this was Lu Zhou’s roommate, so he still wanted to help him.

Lu Zhou felt bad seeing him like this.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and asked, “Want to go back to school?”

“Forget about it, I know what you’re going to say…” Huang Guangming shook his head and said, “I’m not smart enough to be in academia. I’m just happy you still remember me. If I go back to school, I’m going to do horribly, and people are going to blame you… I can’t do that to you.”

Lu Zhou understood what Huang Guangming was thinking, so he nodded and said, “No one will blame me. You’re overthinking this, but it’s your life, so I won’t make your decisions for you. It’s just that if you want to go back to school… Tell me.”

Huang Guangming was a little hesitant, but he soon smiled and said, “Haha, thanks in advance then… Want a smoke?”

“I don’t smoke… You’re allowed to smoke here?” Lu Zhou looked around and tried to look for a non-smoking sign.

“Not in the factory, but you can smoke outside. I came out here for a cigarette break and happened to bump into you.” Huang Guangming took out a cigarette and said, “Most people aren’t allowed inside. There’s even a 100,000 yuan reward for catching a corporate spy. But since you’re an academician, you can probably visit. Do you want me to take you?”

Lu Zhou was about to reject his offer when the factory door slowly opened. A group of people in suits walked out of the factory.

Huang Guangming looked back and immediately threw his cigarette on the ground.

The person leading the group was the head of the HiSilicon semiconductor industrial factory, Meng Zhongbiao.

Lu Zhou: “Who is that?”

Huang Guangming gulped and spoke.

“… Factory manager.”

Being caught slacking off…

I can forget about my salary bonus…

Chapter 889: I Have Half

When Huang Guangming saw the factory manager walk over, he began to mentally prepare himself. However, when the manager walked over, he completely ignored Huang Guangming and spoke to Lu Zhou instead.

“Academician Lu, what are you doing here, my friend? If you told us you were coming, we would have prepared to give you a tour!”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Lu Zhou looked at the factory manager and said, “I don’t want to disturb your work. I mean, look at the group of people behind you, I already feel bad for intruding.”

Lu Zhou obviously wasn’t going to tell him that the real reason he was here was that he decided to go back to his hometown early this year, mainly because of the annoying people visiting his office.

“Don’t worry about me, just let this guy give me a tour of the factory.”

Lu Zhou patted Huang Guangming’s shoulder, who then forced a smile on his face.

Meng Zhongbiao finally noticed the person standing next to Lu Zhou. He didn’t recognize Huang Guangming but could tell that Huang Guangming was a factory staff member.

“Okay then… Then, will you please take care of Academician Lu. Give him a tour of the factory,” Meng Zhongbiao said as he gave Huang Guangming a friendly smile. Meng Zhongbiao secretly looked at his assistant, who was standing next to him.

His assistant quickly knew what was going on. He took out his phone and took a photo of Huang Guangming. He then sent the photo to the factory Wechat group and sent a message.

[Who is this? I need details!]

“Okay, yes, sir!”

Huang Guangming didn’t notice the assistant’s movements. He nodded at the factory’s “big name”.

Based on Huang Guangming’s years of experience in the field, he could tell that Factory Manager Meng was Lu Zhou’s acquaintance. Huang Guangming was just glad his bonus was safe.

After all, when it came to the computer chip industry, other than the manager or the deputy manager, most of the staff members were doing repetitive work. The only difference was that the staff members were stuck in cubicles, while the assembly line workers were on the front-line.

His salary was enough to pay off his mortgage and car lease, but without his monthly bonus, he would have to eat sleep as his dinner this month.

After the leadership team walked away, Huang Guangming sighed a breath of relief before thanking Lu Zhou solemnly.

“Thanks, bro! Thanks to you, my bonus is still safe.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Stop slacking off at work. I can save you this time, but what about next time?”

“I told you, I’m not slacking off, I’m just taking a cigarette break… It’s not like I can stay in the office for eight hours a day.” Huang Guangming rubbed his head and said, “I’m a hard worker…”

“Forget about it, give me a tour inside.” Lu Zhou looked at the large factory and grinned as he said, “I heard HiSilicon used to be supplied by TSMC. They finally have their own factory now, so I’m curious what it looks like inside.”

“Actually, it’s nothing special, just come with me… What about this guy?” Huang Guangming said as he pointed toward Wang Peng.

Wang Peng: “I am responsible for Academician Lu’s safety. Just pretend like I don’t exist.”

Huang Guangming nodded and said: “… Okay then.”

The three people walked into the spacious factory.

Lu Zhou followed Huang Guangming’s footsteps and looked around the factory building. He visited various processing stations and learned about the production process.

Lu Zhou stared at the empty chip processing area, paused for a moment, then spoke.

“How come there’s no equipment here… No workers either.”

“Because the most important… Because the technology is still a secret,” Huang Guangming said. He nearly spoke out loud about the carbon-based transistors, but fortunately, he stopped himself. He then said, “I can’t tell you the specifics since it’s a state secret… Hope you understand.”

“It’s fine, I get it.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded his head.

Looks like Guangming is quite a professional; he won’t even reveal secrets to me.

Too bad he doesn’t know that I’m the one who set the guidelines on keeping carbon-based transistors a secret.

Huang Guangming started to speak a little more cautiously.

“I heard you worked in nuclear fusion, then aerospace. How do you have connections in semiconductors?”

“Connections?” Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Not really, I don’t really know a lot of people in the semiconductor field…”

Wang Zhengfei was one of them, but Lu Zhou wasn’t that close to him. Other than that, Professor Wu Tianqun, the head of the carbon-based transistor project, was the only other one.

These were the only two.

“Okay, fine, forget about it…” Huang Guangming glanced at Lu Zhou in disbelief. “If you’re not friends with the factory manager, why would he let you in?”

“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about. I actually don’t know him; I don’t even know his name.” Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, “But I do have half of… HiSilicon’s shares.”

Huang Guangming: “???”

…

On the other hand, at the manager’s office for the production and research center.

Meng Zhongbiao sat in front of his desk and picked up his vacuum flask. He glanced at his assistant.

His assistant knew what the manager wanted, so he looked at his phone and spoke.

“I did some research. That technician’s name is Huang Guangming, and his resume is quite satisfactory. Nothing particularly amazing, but no bad records. He studied at Jin Ling University, and he was Academician Lu’s… roommate.”

“Room-roommate?!” Factory Manager Meng paused for a second and said, “They’re in the same class?”

The assistant nodded.

“Academician Lu is in Jin Ling University’s class of 2013… They didn’t graduate at the same time, but they were in the same class.”

Same class?!

How come one of them is an academician, and the other is…

Meng Zhongbiao contemplated for a second and said, “Um… Invite Huang Guangming to my office.”

The assistant nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

The fact that the manager used the word “invite” instead of “bring” was quite telling.

After the assistant found Huang Guangming, he politely brought the technician to the manager’s office, then closed the office door and left.

The atmosphere in the office was quiet.

Huang Guangming stared at Manager Meng, who was sitting behind his desk. He was a little confused.

If Lu Zhou told him that he had East Asia Energy’s shares, he would believe him. But Huawei’s HiSilicon… He thought Huawei maintained total control over HiSilicon?

It’s not about making money…

If he were the Huawei CEO, even if it meant losing billions, he would never sell HiSilicon’s shares and let other people stick their hands into the pie. Not to mention, even if Huawei wouldn’t lose billions, they were still competitive in the fields of security monitoring and automation.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t explain anything to him. Lu Zhou just asked him to finish the tour, then they bid their farewells.

When he got back to his cubicle, he was immediately called into his boss’ office…

Huang Guangming stared at Manager Meng and asked, “Manager Meng?”

No response.

The manager didn’t even acknowledge him.

Huang Guangming didn’t dare to speak again.

They quietly sat there as the clock on the wall slowly ticked by. After a minute, Meng Zhongbiao finally nodded.

This kid is a bit goofy, but he’s a good student. But he does come in a dime a dozen, but…

He does have training value.

I guess I’ll promote him to safety officer, then deputy safety director, then maybe management…

Of course, he might not be fit for the job.

I’m giving him the opportunity, but if he doesn’t perform well, I’m sure Academician Lu won’t want a team dragger.

While Factory Manager Meng was contemplating, Huang Guangming got the chills. Factory Manager Meng’s arrogant smile gave Huang Guangming goosebumps.

The f*ck, this guy isn’t interested in me, right?

I don’t swing that way!

While he was hesitating on what to say, Factory Manager Meng finally said, “From now on, you’ll be responsible for the safety of the research and production center.”

Huang Guangming: “…?”

Chapter 890: Unexpected Things

After Lu Zhou left HiSilicon’s semiconductor production and research center, he didn’t immediately get in his car. Instead, he and Wang Peng walked around the industrial park.

Lu Zhou looked at the buildings and suddenly spoke.

“Wang Peng.”

Wang Peng: “What?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Nothing, we’ve been walking around here for a while, what do you think?”

Wang Peng went silent for a second before replying, “It’s impressive.”

Lu Zhou looked at him.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I don’t really know how to describe it.” Wang Peng looked at the large rectangular semiconductor factories and said, “It’s… also a bit unexpected.”

Due to the globalization of the market, every country had its own position in the global industrial chain, and they had their own areas they were competitive at. However, the ability to produce and the willingness to produce were two different things.

Intel moved its US factory to Saigon because of the expensive US labor costs. It wasn’t because of the decline of the US’ chip manufacturing abilities.

If Intel wanted to, they could move the production back to America at a moment’s notice.

Semiconductor was China’s electronics industry forte. Semiconductor was located in the upstream of the chip manufacturing field.

But now, semiconductors were set aside, giving Wang Peng a surreal feeling.

Are the carbon-based chips really that magical?

Honestly speaking, Wang Peng wasn’t convinced.

However, he wasn’t a scientist, so he had nothing to say.

“A ton of unexpected things are going to happen in the future, just get ready…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Speaking of which, I feel like I learned a lot just from walking around here.”

“Like what?”

“Like production safety.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “The production process of carbon-based chips and silicon-based chips are completely different. Carbon fibers and carbon dust generated in the production process are flammable. Forget about prohibiting flames inside the plant; they have to be careful of things outside the plant as well.”

Wang Peng: “Then what are they going to do?”

“Obviously ban smoking throughout the entire park… Why?”

“Nothing…” Wang Peng smiled and touched his pack of cigarettes as he said, “I just think… It’ll be a pain in the a*s.”

He had been smoking for many years; not so much over the past two years, but he still smoked whenever Lu Zhou was not around.

Banning smoking throughout the entire park would be torture for those nicotine addicts.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I don’t know what’s so hard, can’t they just quit?”

Wang Peng smiled and changed the subject as he asked, “Is there anywhere else you want to visit?”

“I’ve seen most of the places I want to visit.” Lu Zhou glanced at the buildings and said, “Let’s head back.”

“Okay, just wait here, I’ll bring the car to you.” Wang Peng nodded and started to walk away.

…

Lu Zhou wasn’t very familiar with the production process. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to buy half of a semiconductor company just to solve the industrialization problem.

However, even though he wasn’t familiar with the industry, he could still give out constructive opinions from a scholar’s perspective.

Because of this, even though Lu Zhou was engaged in theoretical research, he still visited all of the necessary facilities.

For example, he learned a lot from this trip.

In addition to the basic safety measures, there were a lot of areas that could be improved in the HiSilicon production and research center.

If it weren’t for his visit, these problems would be buried in the long production process. The technicians and workers in the factory could take years trying to find these problems. Instead, Lu Zhou was able to find the root of the problem.

Even though Lu Zhou might not be able to come up with a solution, he could at least point out the problem.

He wrote down these problems and sent it to Chen Yushan. He also sent a copy to Director Li.

He was certain his letter would be immensely useful…

Lu Zhou continued to embark on his journey back home. Dozens of kilometers away, Mayor Jia Yuanping sat at his Jiangcheng office. He meticulously read the document in his hand.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps from outside the office. His office door was pushed open as his assistant walked in.

“Mayor!”

“What?” The mayor put down his pen and said, “Why didn’t you knock?”

The assistant didn’t explain why he didn’t knock; instead, he immediately spoke.

“We just received news from the traffic bureau that Academician Lu just got off the highway at the Jiangcheng exit.”

Mayor Jia immediately stood up. He was more anxious than his assistant.

“Go!”

The assistant was a little shocked.

The mayor spoke.

“Go there right now!”

Mayor Jia didn’t inform the province of the news; instead, he brought his staff members to the scene.

The group of people soon arrived at the semiconductor industrial base entrance. A soldier standing at the checkpoint was muddled.

The soldier standing at the checkpoint nervously looked around and reported the situation to his superiors.

After a while, he received a reply from his superior, telling him not to worry.

The assistant walked up to him and spoke in a friendly tone.

“Hey there, we’re from the city council, did you happen to see a black sedan?”

The soldier looked at this man.

“Identification, sir.”

“Here,” Mayor Jia said. He took out his red ID and said, “We’re from the city council, and we heard Academician Lu is here? Can you tell us where he is?”

The soldier looked at the red ID and made sure it was real. He did a salute and gave the ID back to Jia Yuanping.

“If you’re here for Academician Lu, I suggest you leave.”

The assistant anxiously said, “We’re in a hurry…”

The soldier interrupted the assistant and said, “Academician Lu left twenty minutes ago…”

Chapter 891: I Guess I m Quite Important?

Suddenly, the situation became awkward.

Both people from the city and the provincial council were here, and the reporters from the TV station were ready. However, in the end, they waited futilely at the semiconductor industrial base entrance.

But there was nothing they could do.

After all, they didn’t make an appointment, nor did they have Academician Lu’s phone number. It wasn’t like they could chase him on the highway and bring him back?

That wouldn’t end well.

Lu Zhou was already on the highway, back to his hometown, Jiangling.

When his car approached the Jiangling highway exit, he was shocked when he looked at the toll station.

Several large searchlights were placed on top of the toll booths, shining white laser beams into the sky. It was something out of a concert or sporting event.

Lu Zhou wasn’t the only one who was shocked; Wang Peng was also surprised.

“Why are there signal lights at the toll station?”

Fortunately, the lights were aimed toward the sky instead of the highway.

Otherwise, a few car crashes were bound to happen.

“…”

Lu Zhou looked at the toll station for a while before finally realizing that the lights weren’t aimed toward the sky. Instead, they were illuminating a banner above the toll station.

He looked closely and was astonished.

His name was on the banner.

“Should we go through another entrance?” Lu Zhou said; he was a little embarrassed.

Wang Peng awkwardly coughed.

“We’re already here, how else are we supposed to get in?”

Even though Lu Zhou was reluctant, this was his only option.

Wang Peng drove that black sedan toward the highway exit. A group of people in suits stood next to the toll booths in the cold.

The moment they saw the black sedan, Sun Xiaofeng all sighed in relief.

Sun Xiaofeng looked at the mayor and quickly said, “Mayor! That one!”

The people around him sighed in relief as well.

They had been waiting here since noon, and it was already nighttime. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait overnight.

The group of people began to whisper quietly.

“Is that Academician Lu’s car?”

A veteran government official who was about to retire spoke with an envious look in his eyes, “Black sedan with a red flag… Not bad, Beijing probably gave him the car.”

“Have you watched the news?”

“No sh*t, which politician doesn’t?”

“Then you probably don’t pay enough attention.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just look at the car model.”

The group of people quietly exclaimed.

Another young official couldn’t help but ask, “I heard he has a one of a kind sports car? How come he didn’t drive that?”

Another person began to explain.

“Driving a sports car is too much publicity. This sedan was given to him by the state, and it’s much more lowkey. It’s also more spacious, more suitable for long drives. Seems like Academician Lu isn’t sloppy, and he’s quite a careful person.”

Mayor Wu happened to overhear the conversation, and he said, “What do you mean sloppy, of course he’s not sloppy!”

“Yes, sir, my bad…”

The person lowered his head and shut his mouth.

The black sedan drove over and passed the toll booth. It then drove toward the parking space near the toll booth.

Wu Dingrong walked over with his team behind him as he enthusiastically reached out his hand.

“Academician Lu, it must have been a long journey!”

“No, no, it was fine.” Lu Zhou got out of the car and looked at Mayor Wu. He shook the mayor’s hand and said, “I’m just coming home for the holidays, no need for all the formalities…”

“This is our duty.” Wu Dingrong shook Lu Zhou’s hand and said, “There are only 17 academicians in Jiangling, and you’re the youngest and most accomplished of them. You’re the pride of Jiangling, the pride of the country. We’re just showing our appreciation to our hometown friend.”

The mayor had quite the speech prepared.

Even though Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed, he still appreciated the kind words.

However, he was still a little remorseful.

Not only did this welcoming ceremony waste his time, but it also wasted a bunch of other people’s time.

After Lu Zhou let go of Mayor Wu’s hand, he spoke in a serious manner.

“Mr. Mayor, please don’t do this in the future. We’re all Jiangling people here, so no need to waste the taxpayers’ money on me. It’s making me feel bad for coming back.”

After some small talk, Lu Zhou euphemistically declined the mayor’s offering for sending him home. Lu Zhou was finally able to get rid of the city council people and returned to his black sedan.

Lu Zhou sat in the backseat and sighed.

“Finally got rid of them.”

Wang Peng started the car and said, “The low-level leadership team is quite enthusiastic.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “The city council isn’t low-level. right?”

“You might not realize it in Jinling, but after you stay in Beijing for a while, you’ll realize that…” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “The mayor of a city is such a small role.”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and realized Wang Peng was right.

Everyone he met in Beijing was a higher level than a city mayor…

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and spoke.

“Then, which level am I?”

When Wang Peng heard this, he nearly crashed the car.

“You don’t know?”

“… I never thought about it.”

Lu Zhou stayed in his university office most of the time, and occasionally, he handled some work for the Lunar Orbit Committee. As the chief designer, he was mainly responsible for decision making and research rather than delegating specific tasks.

Apart from attending some conferences with the Lunar Orbit Committee and the State Administration for National Defense, Lu Zhou didn’t really interact with anyone from the state. He spent the majority of his time in his laboratory.

He remembered hearing a long time ago about the treatment for various government administrative levels, but he didn’t really care about that stuff and forgot about it a long time ago.

Wang Peng realized that Lu Zhou wasn’t joking with him, so he looked in the rearview mirror and spoke.

“The Lunar Orbit Committee is directly controlled by the Communist Party of China. There are more than a dozen military members guarding your home. The car we’re in right now… What level do you think you are?”

Lu Zhou went silent and began thinking.

Emmmm…

He had never paid attention to this stuff before; he just knew that academicians received special treatment.

But now, he suddenly realized…

I guess I’m quite important?

Chapter 892: Returning to Home

When Lu Zhou arrived in Jiangling, it was already late at night. Even though he wanted to go home, he remembered that his parents were probably asleep. Thus, he decided to get a hotel room in the city and asked Wang Peng to drive him back home the next day.

The doorbell began to ring.

Lu Zhou heard the footsteps get closer, and the door was soon slammed open.

When Fang Mei looked at Lu Zhou’s familiar face, her eyes were filled with tears of excitement and joy.

“Son! You’re finally back!”

“Mom!” Lu Zhou gave his mother a hug and saw his father walk to the front door. Lu Zhou took a deep breath and spoke with a slightly trembling voice, “Dad, I’m back!”

When was the last time I was here?

It was either three or four years ago; Lu Zhou couldn’t remember.

Lu Bangguo looked at his son and said, “Fantastic, how was the drive? Come, sit down… This is?”

Lu Zhou moved half a step to the side and said, “He’s Wang Peng, my driver. You guys have met before.”

“Oh, oh, yeah, I remember. Damn, my memory is getting worse day by day…” Lu Bangguo smiled and said, “Come on in, guys.”

The two walked into the living room as Lu Bangguo politely brought over a cup and teapot.

If it were just his son, he wouldn’t be this polite. However, he had a guest in his house. Even though Wang Peng repeatedly said to pretend like he didn’t exist, Lu Bangguo just couldn’t leave him alone.

“So much has changed…”

Lu Zhou took a sip of the tea and looked at the renovated house.

The TV was replaced with a 48-inch flat-screen TV, and the clock on the wall had been changed.

Lu Zhou even saw some garlic and chive plants sitting on the window ledge.

Almost everything he remembered had changed.

The only thing that didn’t change was the familiar smell of home.

Fang Mei smiled and said, “You and your sister aren’t around, so dad and I decided to renovate the house. Most of the pieces of furniture are new, but I didn’t touch your and your sister’s rooms.”

“Oh, really?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Perfect, I was planning on seeing what my old room looked like.”

Lu Bangguo looked at Wang Peng, who sat solemnly on the sofa. He smiled and said, “Wang Peng, how about you stay for dinner? I’ll go buy a fish from the market.”

“No, no.” Wang Peng politely waved his hands and said, “I have some work to do, I won’t disturb your family reunion.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Work to do?”

Wang Peng coughed and said, “I have some forms to fill… and other things.”

Without asking about the specifics, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay then, I’ll send you out.”

Wang Peng was walking out of the house when he rubbed his eyes.

Lu Zhou noticed his movements. He paused for a second and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “Just… a little sad. You have sacrificed so much for this country, for science.”

Wang Peng’s voice suddenly began to choke up.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

“…”

Actually he wanted to tell Wang Peng that he was happy with himself, but seeing how emotional Wang Peng was, he decided to keep quiet.

It’s fine, I’ll just leave him to be.

Lu Zhou changed the subject and said, “Are you looking for a place to stay? I’ll reimburse the accommodation…”

Wang Peng: “No need, I’ll live in a hostel nearby.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “No, don’t do that. It’s fine, it barely costs anything anyway. It’s better for you to get some rest, and I’ll also feel safer with you behind the wheel.”

Wang Peng coughed and said, “I think you have the wrong idea… The conditions there are pretty nice, and they give us three meals a day, so don’t worry about it.”

Most importantly, because of his military background, he wasn’t used to fancy hotels. He would much rather live in a safer, more secure place…

Lu Zhou didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. They said goodbye and went their separate ways.

…

After Lu Zhou watched the black sedan disappear from his driveway, he turned around and went back into his house.

His mom already started to cook lunch, while his dad was out buying groceries. Even though he wanted to help his mom cook, his mom told him not to.

Lu Zhou was bored out of his mind, so he took his computer bag and went into his room.

Even though he told himself he wasn’t going to work over the holidays, there really was nothing else to do.

He wasn’t the type of person to chill out and do nothing.

Lu Zhou took out his computer and placed it on his worn-out but clean desk. He looked around and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

Just like his mom said, nothing had changed.

Everything was exactly the same as he left it. The only difference was that the spotless surfaces were obviously frequently cleaned.

Lu Zhou picked up the photo frame on the corner of the desk.

Inside was a photo of his high school graduation.

Pictured were his best friends, his teachers, girls that he had a crush on, girls that crushed on him… And of course, himself.

He looked at his younger self in the photo and smirked.

Back then, he was clueless and naive, but that feeling of carefree happiness was rather unforgettable.

Everyone lost something in the pursuit of success.

After reminiscing for a while, Lu Zhou put the photo aside and focused his attention on his laptop.

“I’ll finish this before lunch.”

Lu Zhou began to type on the keyboard.

[Recommendations and Improvements on the Jiangcheng Carbon-Based Semiconductor Industrial Park (first draft)]

After typing down the title, Lu Zhou began tapping his index finger on the table. After gathering his thoughts on the carbon-based semiconductor industrial park, he began writing.

The time quickly ticked by, and five pages were soon filled with words.

After Lu Zhou double checked for any mistakes, he opened his email and sent a copy to Chen Yushan as well as the State Administration for National Defense. Finally, he leaned back on his chair and sighed in relief.

“That should do that job.”

He was about to turn off his computer and leave his room when he suddenly received an email.

Lu Zhou didn’t recognize the sender’s email address.

Paul Robin Krugman… from Princeton’s economics department?

Lu Zhou stared at this name for a while as he frowned.

Emmmm…

Who is this?

Chapter 893: Doing a Master s

Lu Zhou occasionally communicated with some economics scholars during his time at Princeton, but he wasn’t familiar with most of the economics department at Princeton.

It wasn’t like he could remember everyone’s name?

Not to mention, Princeton was a huge school, and since he only stayed there for a few years, it was likely that he never interacted with this person before.

Lu Zhou tried to remember if he had ever talked with this person, but he couldn’t remember anything. Thus, he decided to go online and search for this person’s academic background.

It turned out this guy was quite a big name.

Krugman!

2008 Nobel Prize in Economics laureate!

Expert in international trade, exchange rate, and macroeconomics!

His most glorious academic achievement was his 1994 successful prediction of the Asian financial crisis, which happened in 1997. This prediction became wildly popular in various fields of economics after the Asian financial crisis, which led to him winning the Nobel Prize in 2008.

Lu Zhou felt strange why this guy was emailing him.

The subject of the email was asking if Lu Zhou had any time to talk about some academic topics.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in economics, after pondering for a while, he wrote a reply.

[I’m available at 8 pm tonight, Beijing time. We can chat then if you like.]

After all, he had to give some respect to a Nobel Prize scholar.

It wasn’t like he had anything else to do anyway…

…

8 pm at night.

Krugman’s face appeared in the video call.

The professor skipped through the small talk and self-introduction. The second the call was connected, he spoke aggressively.

“You have no idea how important your research is!”

Lu Zhou was a little startled, and he said, “I’m not sure which research you’re talking about… Can you be more specific?”

Krugman took a deep breath and explained.

“The Bewley model is on the cutting edge of macroeconomics… Your improved model… I’ll call it the Lu-Bewley model for the time being. Not only does it reduce the cumbersome calculations, but it also reduced the random error of the model!”

Bewley model?

Oh, he’s talking about Xiao Tong’s thesis…

After hearing Professor Krugman’s explanation, Lu Zhou had a look of realization on his face.

However, he wasn’t nearly as excited as Professor Krugman.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t respond, Professor Krugman thought that Lu Zhou didn’t know what was going on. Thus, Krugman cleared his throat and continued, “Let’s put it this way, putting aside the complicated models, there are two goals of economics—one is to optimize the efficiency of resource allocation and the other is to coordinate all of the interests of society! If we have an accurate model, or even an approximation, we can maximize the efficiency of resource allocation! We can even predict future economic activities!”

Lu Zhou finally had a reaction. He leaned back on his chair and said, “Sounds quite impressive.”

Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Professor Krugman through the screen as he said, “I don’t know a lot about economics, but when it comes to chaotic systems… it seems like there has never been a 100% accurate mathematical model. For example, how can you predict the invention of controllable fusion technology? How can it predict its impact on the global economy?”

“I can’t answer that, but it’s not the main point.” Krugman shook his head and said, “I can tell you that technological advancements are correlated to research and development funding, GDP ratios, etc. These parameters are included in the model. Regardless, this is a Nobel Prize level research! If you continue to perfect the Bewley model, the next Nobel Prize in economics is yours!”

“But… I already won the Fields Medal,” Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “and a Nobel Prize.”

The atmosphere in the video call became a little awkward.

Professor Krugman coughed and spoke.

“You don’t want another? This is a Nobel Prize…”

“Nobel Prizes just aren’t that attractive for me.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “You know what? Opposed to the meaningless awards, I’m more interested in the problem itself. Do you know what I’m saying, Professor Krugman?”

“…”

Krugman didn’t want to say anything.

He wanted to throw his laptop out of the window.

This stupid millennial was telling him that the Nobel Prize was meaningless!

This is infuriating!

He took a deep breath and tried to persuade him.

“Is the Bewley model not interesting enough? This is an important problem! I can guarantee you that it will change the world more than any pure mathematics research—”

“Maybe not,” Lu Zhou interrupted Krugman. He then said, “Plus, the improved version of the Bewley model… Or as you call it, the Lu Bewley model, only took me an hour to do. It doesn’t seem difficult or interesting at all.”

One hour…

Krugman froze.

His instincts told him that this was impossible, but the person on his screen didn’t seem like he was joking or lying.

Why would he lie?

But spending just an hour to perfect the Bewley model…

That’s unbelievable!

“Okay then,” Lu Zhou said. Seeing how Professor Krugman was speechless, Lu Zhou looked at his watch and yawned. “My apologies, but I can’t help you. There are many excellent mathematics professors at Princeton. Maybe you can bring my model to them and ask for help.

“Goodbye.”

The video call ended.

Krugman stared at the black screen and stayed motionless for a long time. His fingers trembled as he took off his glasses.

His student, who sat beside him watching the whole thing unfold, suddenly murmured, “Professor?”

Krugman sighed and shook his head.

“I have to think of another way.”

There were many excellent mathematics professors at Princeton, but most of them weren’t interested in economics, especially those in theoretical research. They looked down upon those in applied disciplines and thought economics was a waste of time.

But now, a world-renowned scholar had done some research in economics, so Krugman wasn’t going to give up.

Krugman began to think, and he suddenly had an idea.

He suddenly remembered that there was another author on the thesis.

Not Forster.

He had never heard of Forster before, and he thought Forster was probably some guy that stepped on sh*t.

But the second author…

Krugman’s eyes lit up as he looked at his student and immediately spoke.

“Wisl!”

Wisl immediately responded, “Here… What do you need?”

“Write an email for me; I’ll give you the address later. The recipient’s name is Lu Xiao Tong…” Krugman paused for a second and muttered to himself, “If everything goes well, we should have enough time.”

Even though Krugman spoke quietly, Wisl still heard the last sentence.

He paused for a second and spoke.

“Enough time for what?”

Krugman paused for a second and said, “Remember that paper I showed you? The groundbreaking side is the mathematics component, but the economics theory was also well done. Being able to make a mathematician do economics research is a rare quality in and of itself… If I’m correct, she hasn’t decided on where to go for a PhD!”

Wisl paused for a second and proposed a scenario.

“But what if she doesn’t want to continue in academia?”

Krugman replied, “Impossible!

“Having written such an excellent thesis, there’s no way she isn’t going into academia! There’s no reason for her to write such a good paper just for her master’s!

“Just write the email.”

“Okay…” Wisl looked at his boss and nodded. He opened his computer and began typing.

This PhD student in his thirties couldn’t help but think.

Every graduation season, people are begging for recommendation letters, digging their brains out trying to get a good PhD supervisor. But this chick, forget about recommendation letters; she has a Nobel Prize laureate begging for her…

Who is she?

This was the first time Wisl heard something like this happen.

Wisl thought back to his initial years in academia, and he felt a sense of distaste in his mouth…

Goddamn!

I’m so f*cking jealous!

Chapter 894: Lu Bewley Model

In fact, Xiao Tong did write that thesis just to graduate. She asked her brother to help with the mathematical model optimization, but the thesis ended up disrupting the entire economics field…

The improved Bewley model… or the so-called Lu-Bewley model, was far superior to the previous Bewley model, both in terms of computational efficiency and the accuracy of calculation results. This greatly benefited the macroeconomists around the world.

And it wasn’t just that.

What surprised people wasn’t just the superiority of the Lu Bewley model, but it was also the fact that Professor Lu was doing research on economics!

And that he had already produced such an outstanding result!

The Bewley model had always been a state of the art model for the field of macroeconomics; it was one of the classical mathematical economics concepts.

But now, there was a more powerful model presented in front of them. How could they not be excited?

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t officially name this model, the academic community named it for him.

Which was the Lu Bewley model!

This was Xiao Tong’s graduation thesis, but the spotlight was entirely on her brother. However, she wasn’t discouraged; instead, she was almost relieved.

She knew that she could have never produced this level of research on her own.

Because of this, at the bottom of the thesis, she clearly stated that the mathematical model was mainly completed by Lu Zhou, and that she was mainly responsible for the economic theory and data collection.

Maybe because she was a second author, because after the thesis was published, she didn’t receive any unnecessary harassment.

As for her mentor, Professor Forster, who was named as the first author, his email was being filled to the brim.

This middle-aged professor was overjoyed.

Allowing one student to graduate in exchange for the first author on an outstanding thesis, this was one of the best trades he had ever done!

The only unfortunate thing was that his name wasn’t included in the Lu Bewley model…

…

University of Oxford campus.

An office in the department of economics.

Professor Forster spoke in an angry voice toward a poor BBC reporter.

“I think the Lu Bewley model name is totally unfair! As a first author for this paper, I think my name should be in the model! This is outrageous!”

People like Professor Forster were never satisfied.

Even though Professor Forster knew this thesis was outstanding, he didn’t think it would be this magnificent. He didn’t expect the entire macroeconomics community to be raving over this paper. The paper even attracted the attention of several big names!

Like Krugman…

Forster often talked about Krugman’s international trade economics theory in his lectures. He never expected Krugman to comment on his paper in the Science highlights section.

Indeed, the Lu Bewley model thesis was featured in the famous Science highlights section. This was the first time the Lu Bewley model name was seen. The entire economics world decided to adopt the name.

This made him excited, but also furious.

Nothing indicated that he contributed to the mathematical model!

The BBC reporter tried and failed to calm Forster down. He had no choice but to continue the interview.

“But Mr. Forster, according to an academician from the Royal Academy of Sciences, the essence of the paper is the mathematical side, which was independently completed by Professor Lu Zhou… What specific contributions have you done to the model?”

Professor Forster was stunned.

“Um… Contributions are often not reflected in the paper itself,” Professor Forster awkwardly said. “You know, when it comes to scientific research, especially the theoretical side, collecting and interpreting data are also very important. Being able to collaborate with a world-class scholar is also the job of a scientific researcher!”

He was correct.

Social skill was also part of scientific research.

There were even people who had substandard research abilities but were still able to produce good research results because of their connections.

After all, most scholars were relatively introverted. If someone could connect two scholars together, or even put two people in a room together, they might be able to create some friction.

For example, Montgomery, who studied number theory, and Dyson, who studied physics, had never interacted with each other prior to Princeton’s “master socializer” Giovala connecting them together.

However…

After the BBC reporter heard Professor Forster’s explanation, he had an awkward expression on his face.

“But according to our sources, the reason why Professor Lu participated in the research was that his sister Ms. Lu Xiao Tong was involved in the project.”

Professor Forster furiously said, “Enough! I’m her supervisor, and I was the one who brought her into the world of academia! Who do you really think contributed more!”

The interview continued in the office.

Even though the doors were closed, Xiao Tong could still hear the anger in Professor Forster’s words through the door.

If this were before, she would have been a little worried.

But now, she only felt relief and pride.

It was time for her to say goodbye to this place.

Ansley was also standing in the corridor outside, and she looked at Xiao Tong and said, “Congratulations on graduating… Sometimes I think your choice is correct, but there are things I can’t say.”

Xiao Tong smirked and said, “I know what you want to say.”

Ansley shrugged and said, “Good, I feel like Forster argues like a little kid.”

Xiao Tong brushed her hair and smiled.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

The two smiled at each other.

Ansley then said, “Have you decided on where you want to go?”

“Not yet, I just want to go to Princeton, but I haven’t thought about which teacher to apply to.” Xiao Tong paused for a second and said, “I’m not in a hurry; I still have the holidays to think about it. I’ll probably read through some papers, see which research directions are interesting.”

“I think you should think carefully, don’t make decisions too soon,” Ansley said. “Also, you should wait a while before asking him for a recommendation letter… He’s not in the best mood right now, who knows what he’ll do.”

Xiao Tong casually said, “Actually, the recommendation letter doesn’t matter, plus Professor Forster’s personality… I have a better chance at winning a lottery than getting his recommendation letter.”

She wasn’t very worried about the recommendation letter.

Even though the letter was important, it wasn’t crucial.

With an Econometrica thesis under her belt, most professors would strongly consider her PhD application, even without a recommendation letter.

Ansley smiled and said, “Looks like you have it all thought out, then I wish you… A happy Chinese New Year.”

“Thank you.”

Suddenly, the phone in her pocket vibrated.

“Wait a second… I think I received a notification.”

Ansley: “Go ahead, open it.”

Xiao Tong took out her phone and glanced at the email notification. She read the title and froze there.

Ansley noticed her expression and asked, “What?”

“I…” Xiao Tong calmed herself down and said, “received a letter from Professor Krugman.”

“Krugman? Paul Krugman from Princeton?” Ansley froze for a second and said, “Oh my gosh! Krugman! I read his paper a few days ago! What did he say?”

“He said…” Xiao Tong looked up in disbelief and said, “He asked me to study a PhD with him… That is, if I haven’t decided yet.”

Ansley: “…???”

Chapter 895: Things Don’t Go According to Plan

Xiao Tong wasn’t the only one surprised at the popularity of her Econometrica thesis; Lu Zhou was also surprised. He had just returned to his hometown, preparing to cut off connection with the outside world and focus on solving Riemann’s hypothesis. However, before his holidays were even over, his mailbox was filled to the brim with emails.

Some of them were sent from his old friends in Princeton, others were sent from people he didn’t know, but it seemed like they were all scholars in the fields of macroeconomics and computational economics research. Many of them were quite famous.

These emails were how Lu Zhou found out that his mathematical model was gaining attention in the economics field. Apparently, there were several economics seminars held around the world regarding his mathematical model.

The general consensus of the economists aligned with Krugman’s viewpoints, which was that they all hoped that Lu Zhou could continue researching the Lu Bewley model and bring macroeconomics and computation economics to a higher place.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou wasn’t interested.

In the beginning, Lu Zhou politely replied to the emails. But later on, more and more emails were coming on, so he asked Xiao Ai to handle them.

After that, Lu Zhou finally had some time to continue researching his mathematical model, the “hyperelliptic curve analysis method”.

The day before Chinese New Year, noon time in London.

Xiao Tong was packing her bags while video calling Lu Zhou on WeChat. She told him about being invited to do a PhD under Krugman.

After Lu Zhou heard Xiao Tong’s exciting announcement, he paused for a second and said, “Xiao Tong.”

“Yeah?”

Xiao Tong was busy stuffing her clothes into her suitcase.

Lu Zhou paused for a second then continued, “Theoretically speaking, can an economics model… accurately predict the future?”

Lu Zhou nearly forgot what Krugman told him a couple of days ago, but Xiao Tong’s sudden mention of Krugman made him remember what the Nobel Prize laureate had said to him.

Predicting the future…

Predicting future social activities and even macroeconomic political patterns…

Is that possible?

Xiao Tong paused for a second, tilted her head, and answered in a serious manner, “It’s not impossible… But the use of economics isn’t just for predicting.”

Lu Zhou: “Then what’s it for?”

“For efficient allocation of social resources… Or, I guess, developing a better future?”

Xiao Tong sounded a little uncertain. After all, she only received her master’s a month ago. She still had a long way to go.

“Oh, I see…”

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully and didn’t say anything.

Xiao Tong stared at the screen. Her brother seemed to be contemplating, so she curiously asked, “Brother, aren’t you researching Riemann’s hypothesis? Why are you asking me this?”

Suddenly, she happily asked, “Are you… interested in economics?”

“No, of course not, someone just asked me an interesting question,” Lu Zhou said. He smiled and changed the subject. “Speaking of which, when are you coming back?”

Even though this could be an interesting research project, it wasn’t fascinating enough for Lu Zhou.

After all, the so-called predicting the future was nothing but a conjecture; even Professor Krugman wasn’t very confident when he mentioned it to Lu Zhou.

Of course, he would gladly use his quantum computer to try and predict future economic activities.

Of course, he wouldn’t use it to make money; it was purely to satisfy his curiosity…

Xiao Tong happily said, “I’m flying back tomorrow! I’ll land in Shanghai first, stay for two days, then take the train back home!”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay, we’ll talk when you get home then… Oh yeah, do you have enough spending money?”

“Hey, I don’t need your money, I get paid handsomely for my HSBC consulting work, at least a lot higher than when you were working part-time… Oh yeah, are you back home already?”

Xiao Tong was a little immature, but she didn’t like to ask others for help, just like Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “Yeah, I got here yesterday.”

“Ah, I’m so jealous… I’m going to get some lunch, talk to you later.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

After the video call ended, Lu Zhou looked at his watch and thought that his mom was going to ask him to eat dinner soon.

But just as he was about to get up and walk into the living room, a text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of his computer screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Xiao Ai received a special email. Shall Xiao Ai reply? ♪ (^ ∇ ^ *)]

Lu Zhou looked at the message and paused for a second.

“What do you mean by special?”

Xiao Ai: [It came from a woman named Vera.]

Vera?

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “I’ll reply myself.”

[Okay!]

Lu Zhou was curious about how Xiao Ai was able to classify this email as special. The artificial retard seemed to have gained some amount of emotional intelligence.

Just as Lu Zhou was about to open the email, he heard a knock on his door.

“Son, someone is looking for you.”

Lu Zhou remembered that he didn’t have any plans, so he asked, “Looking for me?”

“Yeah! You, apparently they’re from Jianghe University, all professors! One of them is an academician! They’re so polite; they waited outside and told me to ask you first.”

His mother’s voice was full of joy.

Not only was her son a successful scholar, but her son was being visited by other “big name” scholars. How could she, as a mother, not feel ecstatic!

Not to mention, Jianghe University was a famous university in Jiangling!

However, after hearing his mother’s words, Lu Zhou felt something was off.

He suddenly realized that it was unrealistic for him to avoid academia contact during the holidays.

“I guess things aren’t going according to plan…”

Xiao Ai: [(°ー° ??)]

Fang Mei: “Son?”

“Nothing, I’m coming.”

Lu Zhou stood up and walked toward the door.

Why do I feel like…

I’m not going to have a relaxing new year’s at all…

Chapter 896: I Have Some Ideas

When Lu Zhou first got back, he thought that he could finally relax in his hometown for a while. However, he was too optimistic.

A small town like Jiangling rarely had any visiting celebrities.

Lu Zhou returning to his hometown, even just for the holidays, was enough to make the entire town lively.

First was the city council politicians meeting him at the highway exit, then was the Jianghe University scholars knocking at his door.

After some small talk, Principal Feng and the heads of the mathematics department eagerly asked Lu Zhou if they could put Lu Zhou’s name on the mathematics building.

This was quite a reasonable request.

A lot of rich people would spend tens of millions of dollars just to hang their names on university buildings.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t need to spend anything.

However, Lu Zhou was still a little perplexed after hearing Principal Feng’s words.

“Principal Feng… That’s not the best idea, right?” Lu Zhou looked at the old man and said, “I was born in Jiangling, but I’ve never… been to Jianghe University. Naming a building after me seems a little inappropriate.”

“How is it inappropriate?” Principal Feng said. Even though he knew Lu Zhou would respond this way, he still anxiously said, “You’re Jiangling’s top scholar, a role model for Jianghe University. You’re not from our school, but we’re all from the same hometown. How is this inappropriate?”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

But is this really the best idea?

Seeing how Lu Zhou was still hesitant, the dean of the mathematics department wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. In the end, Secretary Li, who was sitting next to Principal Feng, pushed down his gold-rimmed glasses and made a suggestion.

“Actually, I have a solution.”

Secretary Li smiled confidently and said, “Professor Lu, you went to Jiangling High, right?”

Lu Zhou said, “Yeah… Why?”

“Well, we spoke with Jiangling High, right? We asked them to be affiliated with us…” Secretary Li looked at Principal Feng and said, “They decided to be officially affiliated with us, so Professor Lu technically counts as our alumnus.”

Principal Feng was overjoyed as he said, “Perfect!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

???

…

In the end, Lu Zhou accepted Principal Feng’s proposal.

Not because they were from the same hometown.

It was only because they were associated with Lu Zhou’s old highschool.

After all, it wasn’t like he had to do anything himself.

The Jianghe University people were just the first wave.

Later on, Lu Zhou’s high school principal also visited him, along with some of his old high school teachers. The city council committee came over as well; even his father’s factory executives came to his house.

This continued on until Chinese New Year’s Eve. Lu Zhou finally caught a break after Xiao Tong returned home.

Lu Zhou barely did any research during this time as he felt a little blue and worried.

I guess it’s not just Jin University…

I can’t even quietly study in my own hometown…

Night of Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Xiao Tong lay on the sofa playing Honor of Kings. Lu Zhou sat next to his parents, who were watching the CCTV New Year’s Gala. Lu Zhou, on the other hand, was going through his address book, sending New Year’s wishes to his friends.

If he didn’t call them, they would call him anyway, so he decided to take the initiative.

“Being able to relax in a chaotic environment is a crucial skill. There’s no one in academia that can teach you that, you need to strengthen your mind on your own…”

Lu Zhou heard Old Tang’s wise words and smiled.

He sighed and said, “Maybe, but I’d rather stay busy. Doing meaningful things makes me feel like I’m not wasting my time.”

Tang Zhiwei: “Don’t sigh! You’re going to sigh your luck away!”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Okay, sir… Speaking of which, how’s life after retirement?”

“It’s amazing…” Old Tang drank some hot tea and said, “What about you, have you made any progress on Riemann’s hypothesis?”

Lu Zhou: “A little bit, but not much.”

Old Tang nodded and spoke.

“I mean, it is the crown jewel of mathematics, so it’s not going to be easy… But I heard Dean Qin say that you plan on solving it within three years?”

Lu Zhou did mention this to Dean Qin, but he didn’t expect Dean Qin to spread the news.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head as he said, “That is indeed my plan, but now, it seems like solving it in three years is not up to me.”

Before this, Lu Zhou was very optimistic, especially after he developed the hyperelliptic curve analysis method. He was certain that he could solve this problem within a year.

However, the deeper he dove into this problem, the more he realized things were not as simple as he had imagined.

Thanks to the mathematical tool he released at his report, the current value of epsilon was at 1/127. However, it had stagnated there for a long time.

It seemed like no matter how the auxiliary complex plane curve was selected, there was no way to push this number to 1/2.

Luo Zhou continued to chat with Old Tang about the academic world. He then hung up the phone. After that, he called Academician Lu, Chen Yushan, Luo Wenxuan, and gave them all Chinese New Year’s greetings.

Xiao Tong, who was still playing her mobile game, yawned and spoke.

“Brother, you have so many friends.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Do I?”

Xiao Tong: “Yeah, but how come you don’t have a girlfriend?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Why the hell are you asking me?

It’s not like you have a boyfriend.

Seeing how Lu Zhou ignored her, Xiao Tong smiled and continued, “Brother, play Honor of Kings with me, there’s a lot of pretty e-girls on here.”

“No, thanks, I’m not interested.”

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that there was still an unread email in his mailbox.

“I nearly forgot.”

Xiao Tong curiously looked at Lu Zhou as he got up and walked back to his room.

He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop.

That unread email was lying quietly in his mailbox.

Even though Vera’s beautiful and smooth handwriting couldn’t be portrayed in the email, her gentle style of writing was still present.

After a while, Lu Zhou read to the last line of the email.

The most important part…

[I have some ideas for Riemann’s hypothesis.]

Chapter 897: Princeton’s Snow

Princeton campus.

It was the coldest time of the year in New Jersey, white snowflakes danced outside the frosty windows, forming a thick layer on top of the roofs. The Oxford-style campus buildings felt like a fairy tale castle.

Vera sat quietly in front of her computer in a library room. The snow outside the window was so majestic it felt like a painting.

Vera’s soft blonde hair rested on her shoulders, and her sapphire-like eyes gave off a sense of peace and determination.

Lu Zhou’s reply was on the screen in front of her.

His email was concise, straight to the point.

[I read your email.

[The idea of using an irreducible unitary representation of the octal Heisenberg group, as well as incorporating Fourier transformations, is an interesting idea.

[Well done, the idea you came up with indirectly answered a question I had. Remember what I said a long time ago? Riemann’s hypothesis is an analytic number theory problem, but its essence is still a complex analysis problem. We should be able to solve it using complex analysis, but we shouldn’t limit our methods.

[My suggestion is to start with a Plancherel formula on a class of single-connected nilpotent Lie groups G_n and find the sub-elliptic properties of the left-invariant differential operator on G_n. You should be able to find something surprising.

[Oh yeah, I suggest you tidy up the things you sent to me and write a thesis. It also makes it easier for me to reference this way.]

“Not limited to complex analysis tools? You haven’t changed one bit.”

After reading the email, Vera gradually smiled.

However, her smile disappeared, and the little girl pondered for a long time. She then picked up a pen and wrote down Lu Zhou’s ideas.

She also implemented some of her own ideas.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a woman in a big trench coat quickly walked in.

Molina brushed off the snowflakes on her body and hung her coat on the door. She walked next to Vera with two cups of coffee and sandwiches in her hand.

“Take a break, work after lunch. I brought you your favorite tuna sandwich. And a mint coffee. Also, who puts mint in coffee?”

“Thanks, Molina.” Vera grabbed the warm cup of coffee and smiled sincerely at Molina. She then said, “They don’t put the mint in the coffee. They dip it in mint leaves and take it out. Kind of like tea…”

“Regardless, I think it’s weird… What are you reading?”

“Professor Lu’s reply…” Vera blushed and said, “I was studying his hyperelliptic curve analysis method and it reminded me of the irreducible unitary Heisenberg group representation theory. Then I did some research… It seems like my research is coming in handy.”

Molina stared at the email and felt a little unhappy.

“Hey, don’t be a quisling! You should be on our side.”

“Professor Lu isn’t our enemy.” Vera stared at Molina bravely and said, “Why can’t we solve this problem together? Solving Riemann’s hypothesis isn’t something that can be done by one person alone.”

Molina looked at Vera’s stubborn face; she was speechless.

She knew that she was being petty and selfish, but who wouldn’t?

If they proved Riemann’s hypothesis together, everyone would assume that Lu Zhou did 99% of the work.

It was just like how no one remembered Hardy’s co-authors or Hilbert’s co-authors.

Unless Hardy and Hilbert worked on a problem together.

Whenever there was a strength gap, people would always remember the stronger one and forget about the weaker, lesser-known person.

Mathematics was Molina’s passion and hobby, but she had to let the Abel name live on.

However, seeing how Vera wasn’t budging, she had nothing to say.

“What do I do with you…” Molina sighed and scratched her head as she said, “If you think it’s that simple, then continue doing what you’re doing.”

“Thanks,” Vera said with a smile.

“You’re welcome… Speaking of which, is your body okay?” Molina stared at the trash can, which was filled with draft paper. “You were coughing all day yesterday, and you don’t look great.”

Vera shook her head and said, “I’m doing fine, no need to worry about me.”

Molina hesitated for a second and said, “How about… I’ll do the St. Petersburg report for you, you should get some rest.”

“No, I’ll have to go…” Vera blushed and shook her head. “He’s looking forward to my report. I won’t let him down.”

Molina took a deep breath and finally asked, “Can I ask, what’s really going on with your health?”

Vera’s hands gently trembled as she shook her head and spoke softly, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

However, Molina wasn’t convinced at all.

Molina started to get more and more worried.

She suddenly snatched the draft paper out of Vera’s hand and grabbed her shoulder.

“Listen, you need rest! You need to rest if you—”

“I’m fine, give it back…” Vera grabbed the draft paper back from Molina and said, “I don’t need rest, trust me, I know what I need.”

There’s not much time left…

I have no time to waste.

Molina finally compromised and let go of Vera’s shoulder.

“I’m done with you!”

She turned around, grabbed her coat, and left the room.

Chapter 898: Vera’s Condition

“Stop giving her hope, it’s unrealistic.”

Molina was raging on the inside as she spoke coldly to the man in her video call.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting at his desk, put his pen down.

He looked at Molina on his screen and felt a little confused.

“Her? What are you talking about?”

Last night he received an email from her, asking to arrange a video call. But now he had no idea what she was trying to say.

Molina took a deep breath and spoke coldly.

“I’m talking about Vera Pulyuy!”

Lu Zhou frowned and began to realize this might be more serious than he had imagined.

“What’s wrong with Vera?”

Molina hesitated for a second and broke her promise on not telling Lu Zhou. She clenched her jaw and spoke the truth.

“She’s had a cough and a fever since last week, and it doesn’t seem like a normal cold! I don’t know if you two are working on a research project together or what, I don’t care, I just want to tell you… She’s overworking herself because of you!”

Molina stared at Lu Zhou through the screen and spoke in a serious manner.

“Please, I’m begging you, don’t overwork her.”

Molina reached over and grabbed the mouse before ending the video call.

“Wait a second! Did she hang up?”

Lu Zhou stared at the blank video screen with a confused look.

Molina’s words lingered in his mind.

What do you mean by don’t overwork her?

Lu Zhou repeated this sentence in his mind, asking himself if he had ever done such a thing.

However, he didn’t remember overworking Vera at all. He never even asked her to do anything.

F*ck!

Can’t you just explain what you meant!

What did I do?

Lu Zhou suddenly felt annoyed; he couldn’t explain why he was irritated, but he just was.

A string of text bubbles appeared on the lower right corner of his screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, um… Do you want Xiao Ai to call her back?]

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and shook his head.

“It’s fine…”

There was no point.

Molina clearly hung up after saying everything she wanted to say. Calling her back would be meaningless.

It was unlikely Molina would clarify herself.

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and sighed as he muttered to himself, “If only I were in a quiet place, a place where I’m alone.”

A place where nothing will disturb my research.

It would be nice if time were frozen while I’m in that place.

That place seemed like heaven to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and tried to escape from reality, but he suddenly shook his head and stood up.

No!

I can’t just leave her alone!

Regardless of whether or not it’s my fault, she is still my best student…

He couldn’t just stand aside and watch her destroy her body. After all, not everyone had his system enhanced metabolism pills. He hadn’t been sick in seven years and could easily stay up all night with no side effects.

Lu Zhou opened his email and carefully began to type.

[I heard you’re sick…

[Sorry, I’m not good at comforting people, nor am I a doctor. I just want to say…

[No matter how important your research is, I hope you can prioritize your health. You only have one body. Not to mention, you’ve never been in great health, so you should be even more careful.

[I’ll be very sad if something happens to you.

[Make sure to drink more water…]

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and decided to delete the last line. He then clicked the send button.

After that, he quietly waited in front of his computer.

Even though he wanted to use this time to research mathematics, he couldn’t concentrate at all.

Time slowly ticked by.

It had only been ten minutes since Lu Zhou sent that email, but Lu Zhou felt like it had been hours.

Lu Zhou stared at his empty mailbox and took a deep breath.

He was certain that Vera was still awake, with her computer in front of her.

“Is this my fault?

“But what did I do…”

Lu Zhou stared at his hand and anxiously shook his head, trying to remove the distracting thoughts from his head.

“Now is not the time to think about those things.

“I have to find out what happened to her!”

Lu Zhou opened his email and began typing again.

[… If you’re in Princeton right now, please visit Vera Pulyuy for me. I heard from her colleague that she is ill. I am unable to reach her right now.

[If you can, please check up on her for me and ask what kind of illness she has. Thanks.]

Lu Zhou opened his list of contacts and sent it to another one of his students, Qin Yue.

Even though this guy generally stayed pretty quiet and reserved, he was actually quite a caring person. Qin Yue would definitely try his best at helping Lu Zhou.

Moreover, other than Qin Yue, Lu Zhou didn’t have anyone else to ask.

After sending the email, Lu Zhou sighed and leaned back in his chair as he silently prayed in his heart.

“I hope nothing happens to her…”

If she really was sick, whether or not it was his fault, he would still feel immensely guilty.

What if she’s hospitalized…

Lu Zhou didn’t even want to think of the possibility.

Chapter 899: Swiping Right?

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, Qin Yue didn’t take long to reply. After Lu Zhou got up and went to the bathroom, Qin Yue’s reply was already sitting in his inbox.

Unfortunately, Qin Yue didn’t know much about Vera’s condition. He just knew that Vera was working with Molina on Riemann’s hypothesis. He wasn’t sure about the rest.

However, Qin Yue said he would try his best and keep an eye on the situation. He said if there was any new information, he would tell Lu Zhou immediately.

As for Vera…

For some reason, she still hadn’t replied to him.

Lu Zhou couldn’t keep waiting around like this. Even though he was still worried, he decided to put this matter aside and continue research on Riemann’s hypothesis.

Vera’s research inspired him a lot, especially when it came to the representation theory for the irreducible octal Heisenberg group. He couldn’t help but feel impressed; this was truly a sophisticated idea.

If he could make a breakthrough using the octal Heisenberg group and apply the hyperelliptic curve analysis method, he would undoubtedly make some progress on the value of epsilon.

He already had some ideas on how to enlarge the value of epsilon, he just needed some time to verify his conjectures…

It was worth mentioning that while Lu Zhou was researching Riemann’s hypothesis, Professor Krugman was still after him.

That thesis on Econometrica continued to spread around the economics community. Krugman would harass him with emails every couple of days, occasionally attaching the latest research progress on the Lu Bewley model.

These latest research developments included papers from well-known scholars, reports from academic conferences, as well as Krugman’s own research.

It seemed like this old professor wanted to let Lu Zhou know how important Lu Zhou’s research was and to persuade Lu Zhou to continue researching in the field of economics.

However, there was no hope for this professor’s wishes.

If a similar thing happened in physics or chemistry, that might entice Lu Zhou a bit. After all, Lu Zhou liked to see other people inspired by his research.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t interested in money anymore.

He didn’t want to waste his time making more money.

He didn’t want to brag, but he really just had too much money…

Lunchtime.

The family sat by the dining table, happily eating lunch.

Now that the two children were back home, Fang Mei was as happy as a clam. She cooked all of Xiao Tong and Lu Zhou’s favorite dishes. It was almost as if she wanted them to stay here forever.

Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t really care about how much he ate. After using the system’s metabolic enhancing agent, he could never gain weight.

But Xiao Tong, on the other hand…

She wasn’t used to the food in England, and now, she was in culinary heaven. She ate so much that she even began tracking her calories.

Lu Zhou looked at his sister trying to restrain herself from eating, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiao Tong noticed Lu Zhou looking at her and suddenly remembered something. She put down her chopsticks and spoke.

“Brother, do you have a prejudice against economics?”

Lu Zhou didn’t know why she would ask something like this. He paused for a second and shook his head.

“Prejudice? Not at all.”

“Then why are you so resistant?” Xiao Tong scratched her head and said, “Professor Krugman is so enthusiastic about working with you, and this Lu Bewley model has a real chance of winning the Nobel Prize.”

Just as Lu Zhou was about to explain the reason, his father spoke first.

“Hey, don’t touch your hair, you’re getting oil all over it. Come on, you’re a grown woman now, no one’s going to marry you if you keep doing this.”

Old Lu didn’t know about economics or some Lu model, but that didn’t stop him from disciplining his daughter.

Xiao Tong heard her dad and put on a pouty face.

“Dad! What about this old loner right here! How come you’re only targeting me!”

Old Lu snorted.

“Your brother… I have no hope for him. I’m counting on you now.”

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his soup. He put down his chopsticks and said, “What do you mean no hope? I’m so heartbroken. Also, how am I old? I’m in my twenties!”

Xiao Tong stuck out her tongue and didn’t say anything.

Father Lu, on the other hand, just laughed and sighed.

The mom sitting on the other side had enough, and she began to say, “Forget about it, our son has his own plans; when he is ready, he’ll start a family.”

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“Mom, you get me!”

However, his mom continued, “However, you’re such a workaholic, you barely meet any girls! I’m not worried about you getting married, but you should at least have some experience. How about your father and I help you?

“The girl from Auntie Wang’s house seems pretty good, how about I introduce you to her?”

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his food. “Like a blind date?”

“What do you mean blind date?” His mom awkwardly smiled and said, “It’s just to introduce you to each other.”

Xiao Tong frowned and suddenly asked, “Auntie Wang? The one upstairs? The one with the fat daughter?”

Old Lu put down his chopsticks and spoke.

“What do you mean fat? She’s just a little chubby, and she’s in her twenties. I think she’s pretty good.”

Xiao Tong smiled and said, “Are you swiping right?”

“F*ck off!”

Fang Mei didn’t know what her children were talking about.

“Swipe? Swipe what?”

“Nothing, Mom…” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Forget about the blind date. I wanted to relax this holiday, but people kept asking for things from me. Can you guys just let me chill out? I’m fine being alone. I’m sure not a lot of girls will put up with my personality. Don’t put the poor girl through this.”

“What do you mean poor girl, look at how successful you are.” Old Lu coughed and said, “If this were the ancient times, an academician would be in the Hanlin Academy. You’re a catch.”

Xiao Tong smiled and said, “Dad, stop reading novels. Nowadays, girls don’t just want money, they want romance as well.”

Old Lu said, “What novel! I’m telling the truth!”

Lu Zhou shook his head and continued to eat his food.

Being grilled by his parents about his love life was the norm now. Anyway, his mom’s cooking was still delicious, so the food was probably his biggest motivation for coming back home.

The succulent red braised pork belly was as tender as tofu, as soft as jelly. Biting into it didn’t feel greasy at all; instead, it tasted like happiness.

Even though Lu Zhou had eaten at three-Michelin-star restaurants before, he could never forget his mother’s cooking.

While he was enjoying his meal, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

“It’s probably someone here to greet us for the new year… I’ll go.”

Fang Mei put down her chopsticks and stood up.

She opened the front door.

A beautiful and familiar figure stood in front of her.

Fang Mei was greeted with a beautiful and blooming smile. A soothing voice traveled through the air.

“Hello, Auntie!”

Wait a second…

What is going on…

Lu Zhou looked like he just saw a ghost.

He and Xiao Tong were frozen…

Chapter 900: Unexpected Visi

There was this saying.

Once you were single for long enough, 6’s would become 9’s.

Lu Zhou began to wonder maybe that was why his mom was so enthusiastic about Chen Yushan.

Her son was single for so long, every girl looked like a perfect match…

As long as they had two Y chromosomes, Fang Mei couldn’t wait to abduct them as a daughter in law…

“Oh my, look at you,” Fang Mei said to Chen Yushan.

Chen Yushan was unmatched in this small town when it came to appearance. Her outgoing and friendly personality made Feng Mei a little worried as she felt like her son’s cold and awkward personality wasn’t good enough for Chen Yushan.

“Oh auntie, don’t say that,” Chen Yushan blush and said.

“Oh it’s fine, are you looking for Lu Zhou? Come on in! My son’s a little introverted, don’t take anything he says to heart. We’re still eating right now; did you eat yet? How about… Old Lu, go get some chopsticks and a bowl!”

“Okay!”

Chen Yushan was a little baffled by Fang Mei’s enthusiasm, and she euphemistically declined.

“No, no, it’s fine, I already ate.”

Lu Zhou sighed and put down his chopsticks.

Even though he still wanted to enjoy his food…

“Mom, I’m full.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, and you… come with me.”

With his parents and sisters watching, Lu Zhou brought Chen Yushan into his bedroom.

Lu Zhou closed the door and sat at his desk. He finally felt relieved.

He was finally away from his overly-excited family.

After Chen Yushan went into Lu Zhou’s room, she curiously looked around.

“This is your room?”

“Yeah, but I only stay here during the holidays.”

Chen Yushan suddenly noticed a framed photo sitting on the desk. She then said, “I see… Oh? Is this a photo of you in high school?” Her eyes lit up like she just saw a piece of treasure. However, before she could closely look at it, the “treasure” disappeared from her sight.

“I don’t have time to clean up yet…” Lu Zhou said as he quickly stuffed the photo frame into a drawer. He said, “Please sit.”

“Selfish!”

Chen Yushan looked around and saw that there wasn’t another chair in the room, so she sat on the bed instead.

They were good friends, so there was nothing weird about this.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you here? Also, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told you, but you ignored me.” Chen Yushan took out her phone and said, “Look.”

Lu Zhou took her phone and looked.

Those emojis look like Xiao Ai’s writing…

Lu Zhou took out his phone and secretly sent Xiao Ai a message.

[Why didn’t you tell me to reply!]

Xiao Ai: [But Master, you told me to decline all visiting requests?]

This kid!

Just a few days ago, I was praising its intelligence, but now, it’s gone full retard again!

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou typing on his phone and tilted her head.

“Are you busy?”

“No.” Lu Zhou put away his phone and said, “It’s the holidays, why are you here… Don’t you want to celebrate?”

Chen Yushan: “Holidays, my as*! Chinese New Year was three days ago. I flew here from Beijing.”

Lu Zhou: “But it’s still the holidays, aren’t you going to stay with your family?”

“Can’t stand them.” Chen Yushan sighed and rolled her eyes, “As an unmarried woman in her mid-twenties, my family thinks everything I do is wrong. My dad arranged two dates for me the day after Chinese New Year’s Eve. I had to escape.”

Lu Zhou wanted to say that he was going through the same thing, but he felt a little weird sympathizing with her.

“What’s wrong with a blind date? What if you like them?”

“I don’t like it.” Chen Yushan shook her head and said, “Having to spend the rest of your life with someone you’ve never met is worse than buying a lottery ticket.”

Lu Zhou felt like, because of her father’s background, the guys being introduced to her were all top-tier.

However, everyone had their own ideas about marriage.

After all, romance was only one part of life; there were more meaningful things to do.

For example, self-actualization.

That was far more meaningful than passing on one’s genetics.

Chen Yushan smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “Whatever, I’m not here to harass you. I wanted to go back to Jinling, but I had something to do at the Jiangcheng semiconductor site. Plus I had some things I need to discuss with you in person, so I came here instead.”

Lu Zhou: “What?”

“I’ve read your suggestion letter. I made some simple modifications. Of course, that’s not why I’m here.” Chen Yushan took out a document from her bag and placed it on the table as she said, “Look at this, I got this from my dad’s connections. It’s internal information.”

“19+2 city group…” Lu Zhou looked at the document and frowned as he said, “Isn’t this a policy from a long time ago?”

“Not the same,” Chen Yushan shook her head and said, “Thanks to your shares in East Asia Energy, I heard that East Asia Energy plans on building a new fusion power plant in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone near Shanghai. This power station is likely going to serve the Yangtze River Delta city group!”

Lu Zhou curiously asked, “So?”

Chen Yushan smirked and said, “You do know I studied economics and management, so I have some experience in macroeconomics. The expansion of controllable fusion energy over the past three years will certainly accelerate the urbanization process of fusion power area coverage.

“After combing some information I heard from my father, I have a feeling that Beijing is actively trying to accelerate this process. They are going to start with the Yangtze River Delta city group!”

Even though Lu Zhou still had a ton of questions, he had a general idea of what Chen Yushan meant.

All in all, Chen Yushan speculated that the Yangtze River Delta could become a test pilot for building a modern city group, and this meant unlimited business opportunities.

Lu Zhou: “So, do you have any plans?”

“That’s what I’m planning on discussing with you.” Chen Yushan took out another document from her bag and placed it on the table. She smiled confidently and said, “Unfortunately, we’re not in the real estate business; otherwise, I would definitely recommend you to buy the surrounding land in Shanghai. Fortunately, real estate isn’t the only place to make money. After all, we are a high-tech company. We should focus on our own niche.”

Lu Zhou curiously asked, “Like what?”

“Smart city.” Chen Yushan’s tender finger tapped on the document on the table as she said ambitiously, “Listen carefully, I’m about to tell you the core concept of this plan…”

Chapter 901: Smart City?

Ever since Lu Zhou’s bedroom door was closed, Xiao Tong’s attention had been glued to his bedroom.

Even though her mom warned her not to disturb her brother, when her parents were not watching, Xiao Tong secretly walked over there.

She gulped and pressed her ear on the door.

Hmm…

Why is it so quiet?

Isn’t it supposed to be very loud?

While Xiao Tong was still pondering, that door opened…

“Ouch!”

Xiao Tong took half a step back and covered her forehead.

Lu Zhou froze for a second and looked at his sister.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing…” Xiao Tong looked at Lu Zhou, then looked at Chen Yushan, and even though her forehead was hurting badly, she still curiously said, “Brother… You guys were in there for a while… What were you doing?”

“Discussing some stuff.”

Lu Zhou reached out and gently tapped on his sister’s forehead. He ignored her exaggerated reaction and looked at Chen Yushan instead.

“I’ll send you out.”

“Okay.” Chen Yushan smiled and nodded. She followed Lu Zhou and walked out of the room.

Mother Lu saw Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan walking toward the door, and she quickly came out of the kitchen.

She desperately wanted this pretty girl to stay here for longer, so she thought that her son must have screwed things up again.

“Oh, why are you leaving? Did my son offend you again, tell me what he did, I’ll punish him!”

Chen Yushan smiled and began explaining.

“Oh, nothing happened, auntie, I’m just here to talk about business with Lu Zhou. We’re done talking, so I won’t bother you guys.”

“You’re not bothering us at all! Speaking of which, you don’t have a place to stay in Jiangling, right? Why don’t you live in our house? After all, we have a spare bedroom.”

“That… isn’t the best idea.”

Chen Yushan twirled her fingers around her hair and tried to avoid eye contact.

Lu Zhou looked at his mother and couldn’t stand this anymore.

“Mom, stop giving her a hard time.”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay…”

After Chen Yushan left the house, Lu Zhou finally sighed in relief.

Thank god he stepped in.

He didn’t know why, but he felt like Chen Yushan was a little unhappy when she left…

Did she have more things to discuss with me?

Who knows…

Lu Zhou watched Chen Yushan walk away and went back into his house. He wanted to continue his mathematics research.

However, when he walked past the sofa in the living room, Xiao Tong playfully kicked his leg.

“What? What do you want?”

“You’re so dumb!”

“…?”

“That’s for hitting my forehead…” Xiao Tong said. She stuck her tongue out and went back to playing her mobile game.

As Lu Zhou looked at this girl, he was baffled.

Makes no sense.

Whatever…

Who cares.

Lu Zhou ignored her and went back into his room.

…

Lu Zhou sat at his desk before he continued his research. He decided to read through Chen Yushan’s document.

This document was titled “Smart City”, and it contained a lot of potential research directions with good market potential.

Some of them were quite realistic, such as the holographic communication system, wireless charging technology, etc.

Some of them were completely ridiculous, like maglev cars.

The idea was that if the Yangtze River Delta city group had the power of a controllable fusion reactor, the population density in Shanghai and its surrounding suburbs would rise to a whole new level.

The resulting traffic couldn’t be solved just by building more highways and overpasses; they had to go from a two-dimensional transportation grid to a three-dimensional transportation grid.

That was, let the car fly in the air instead of driving on the road.

This sounded like something out of a science fiction movie. Flying cars moving between high-rise buildings while equipped with fully automated artificial intelligence driving…

Of course, that kind of technology wasn’t built in a day or two. However, it was definitely feasible. Star Sky Technology had world-leading research and development capabilities, they should preemptively begin research in these areas.

Just like how they were the first to capture the lithium-sulfur batteries market.

For every lithium-sulfur battery produced, Star Sky Technology took in a patent profit of no less than 10 USD.

If they could take the lead on inventing the technology that changed the way people lived their lives and begin registering patents, Star Sky Technology would become the most profitable company in the world…

However, what interested Lu Zhou wasn’t the profitability of the plan, but rather the technologies itself.

“Smart city…”

I guess it’s more like a future city.

Lu Zhou looked at the potential technologies in the plan and couldn’t help but feel emotional.

This was the first time he felt this kind of sensation outside of his laboratory.

What will the future of China look like?

Twenty years ago, people said it would look like what Japan and America were right now.

But now…

We can define our own future.

…

Fifteen days after Chinese New Year, two major events took place.

The first major event was that Star Sky Technology, as well as the two aerospace companies, won a NASA bidding project for Lunar Gateway, which was valued at a total of US$7 billion.

It also included US$3 billion worth of launch missions, as well as manufacturing for countless aerospace components.

Due to trade protection policies, most of the projects fell into the hands of American companies such as Blue Origin, Space-X, Boeing, etc. Thus, China being able to steal a piece of the pie shocked the Americans.

Something like this would have never happened for the Ares program.

This reminded a lot of people of the 1970s, when the Apollo and Soyuz cooperated in low-Earth orbit.

After a series of intense competition, these two superpowers shook their hands and reached a consensus.

The Americans were surprised to see this handshake happen again, with a different country.

The second major event also happened in the aerospace field.

16 days after Chinese New Year…

Lu Zhou received a call from Beijing and immediately flew to Beijing. He was going to attend a conference that was crucial for the Chinese aerospace and international physics industry…

Chapter 902: Meeting in Beijing

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened…”

Lu Zhou put away his notebook and pen.

He suddenly noticed the teenage boy next to him, who was wearing a baseball cap, was staring at his notebook.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and smiled.

“Wondering what I was writing?”

The boy didn’t seem to recognize Lu Zhou, so he nodded and spoke.

“Uncle, I think I’ve seen that formula before.”

Lu Zhou laughed.

This little sh*t…

Calls me an uncle, then humble brags.

Seen this before?

You don’t know who I am, but you’ve “seen” this equation before?

My as*!

Lu Zhou wanted to call him out but decided against it.

Lu Zhou ignored him, and after the seatbelt light turned off, he unfastened his seatbelt and walked off the airstair with Wang Peng carrying his bags.

The boy didn’t seem to care about Lu Zhou ignoring him. Instead, he pondered for a while and suddenly looked up.

“Oh, that’s… the Riemann zeta function!

“I knew I saw it before! I think it was on last year’s final IMO question…”

Wait a second…

This uncle is quite impressive!

He knows about the Riemann function?

But why is an old man like him doing IMO questions?

Suddenly, a chubby guy from behind patted his back.

“Bro, we’re getting off the plane, stop daydreaming.”

“Oh!” The guy quickly grabbed his luggage and said, “Okay, give me a second.”

“Stop screwing around, we have to go.”

“Okay, okay, coming!”

…

After Lu Zhou got off the plane, he saw someone familiar at the airport.

It was none other than Chen Yushan’s father, Chen Baohua, who worked at the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China.

Even though Lu Zhou hadn’t seen this man for a while, this well-groomed old man clearly recognized him.

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Uncle Chen… nice to see you.”

“Hello, Academician Lu.” Chen Baohua nodded and made an inviting gesture. “Get in the car.”

Chen Baohua was about to get in the driver’s seat.

However, Wang Peng stepped forward.

“I’ll take the wheel.”

Chen Baohua clearly recognized Wang Peng’s role, so he nodded and stepped aside.

“Ok.”

Thus, Lu Zhou and Chen Baohua sat together in the back seat.

They didn’t talk during the car ride, and Lu Zhou felt a little uncomfortable sitting there.

He didn’t know why, but Uncle Chen Baohua seemed to be a little reserved?

“My daughter went to your house during the holidays?”

Lu Zhou sat up straight and said, “Yeah… But she only stayed for a bit.”

“Oh, I see… No wonder.”

The old man sighed and stayed silent.

Lu Zhou wanted to chat with him, but Uncle Chen didn’t seem to look like he wanted to talk. Therefore, Lu Zhou placed his attention back onto the notebook inside his pocket.

This was his favorite way of killing time.

When he was immersed in the world of mathematics, a few hours felt like a few minutes…

…

This International Lunar Hadron Collider was held in Beijing’s city hall. More than 500 experts from the aerospace industry and physics community, as well as senior officials from participating countries, attended the meeting.

Even though this international conference was being organized by the State Administration for National Defense and China National Space Administration, the specific preparation work was done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs department.

Four different hotels were arranged according to the participants’ backgrounds.

During the duration of the conference, the entire 2nd Ring Road traffic was restricted. Lu Zhou could noticeably see that there were fewer cars on the road.

The car stopped at the entrance of the hotel. After getting out of the car, Chen Baohua spoke to Lu Zhou.

“This car is yours for now. You might have to stay in Beijing for a week or two, and it’s more convenient to have a car.”

Lu Zhou politely replied, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s not my car anyway, it’s from the higher-ups.”

Chen Baohua looked at his watch and said, “It’s getting late, so I won’t waste your precious time any longer. Feel free to come for a cup of tea at my house some time.”

Chen Baohua nodded and gave Wang Peng the car key. He then turned around and walked away.

Wang Peng put the key in his pocket and spoke to Lu Zhou.

“I’ll carry your luggage, you should go check-in at the hotel.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay, thanks.”

Even though the workers at a five-star hotel would normally take the guest’s luggage upstairs, Lu Zhou’s luggage was special. Even staff members that had passed background checks were not allowed to touch his luggage.

Lu Zhou was about to check-in at the hotel front desk when he suddenly noticed a familiar-looking man standing next to him.

The old man noticed Lu Zhou as well when he looked over and happened to make eye contact with Lu Zhou.

The old man smiled and spoke.

“Oh, Academician Lu, what a coincidence, we’re in the same hotel.”

“Academician Wang?” Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his hand. “Great to see you.”

This man was Academician Wang Shicheng, the former chairman of the China Mathematics Society, one of the top leaders in the Chinese mathematics community.

However, despite the enthusiastic greetings, the two of them were just acquaintances.

They hadn’t had the best interactions in the past.

One was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award when Academician Wang was pressured by Old Qiu and had to give the prize to Lu Zhou. The second was the academician elections, where due to various political pressures, Academician Wang had to give his vote to Lu Zhou.

After all, the state wanted Lu Zhou to have the two academician titles as a show of appreciation for his work.

If somehow Lu Zhou weren’t awarded with the academician title, the blame would be on Academician Wang.

Actually, Academician Wang was quite impressed with Lu Zhou.

He had been in the mathematics field for decades, but even though he produced good research in knot theory, he had done less in his lifetime than Lu Zhou had done in a year.

Lu Zhou was able to use his own image to elevate the international mathematics community’s impression on Chinese mathematicians. This wasn’t something that could be done by an ordinary genius.

Just like Ramanujan, there would one day be a Lu Zhou Prize, which would be established to encourage young scholars to continue pursuing the path of mathematics.

However, even then, Academician Wang wasn’t happy having to bend over backward for a millennial!

Especially since Lu Zhou refused to work at Yan University, he could foresee a cohort of excellent Jin University students becoming academicians, overthrowing the Yan University empire…

What triggered him the most was that he still had to put on a polite face for this kid.

“Speaking of which, Academician Wang, you were also invited to the conference?”

“My field of research happens to be closely related to mathematical physics. I’m also an honorary director of the Chinese Physics Society, so they sent me an invitation. Speaking of which, you’re going to speak on stage, right? Are you ready?”

Lu Zhou smiled and replied, “I’m ready. Hopefully, I won’t embarrass the Chinese academic community…”

“Haha, you’re too humble!” Wang Shicheng smiled and politely said, “The conference is happening in three days. If you have time, why don’t you visit Yan University? Our mathematics department has idolized you for quite some time now. Those scholars would love for you to sit down at Yan University and teach them some things.”

“Yan University is an amazing university, what could I teach them?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t mind visiting, I just don’t want to disturb you guys.”

Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and said, “Professor Lu, you’re too humble. There isn’t a university in the world that would refuse your visit.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll go tomorrow then. I’ll probably be busy after that.”

“No problem! Yan University’s doors are always open for you.” Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and said, “Okay then, you must be tired from traveling. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

Lu Zhou took his luggage and walked toward the elevator.

Chapter 903: The Third Half

The International Lunar Hadron Collider conference was going to happen in three days. Thus, Lu Zhou had three days of spare time.

However, Lu Zhou went from Jiangling to Jiangcheng, then from Jiangcheng to Beijing. He had had a long trip and felt a little tired.

After he put down his luggage at the hotel, he didn’t have anything to do. After he took a bath, he began to quietly read his notebook, comparing it with Vera’s thesis from time to time.

It was time for dinner, and he called the hotel and ordered room service. After he finished eating, he read the conference documents, took a shower, then quickly went to bed.

Lu Zhou woke up early the next day and called Wang Peng and asked to go to Yuanmingyuan Park.

Lu Zhou was about to go to Yanjing University, but he changed his mind at the last second and walked toward Shuimu University instead.

The security guard looked at his ID and politely let him in.

Lu Zhou walked along the tree-lined paths of Shuimu University and enjoyed the scenery. He experienced the rich academic atmosphere as he walked toward the west gate.

While walking next to a lake, he happened to run into two of his acquaintances.

These two were pretty big names.

They were leaders in the Chinese physics and mathematics community.

These two were none other than Mr. Qiu, the founder of geometric analysis, as well as Mr. Yang.

Lu Zhou wanted to say hello, but he overheard the two people discussing something. Therefore, he followed them and tried to listen in on the conversation.

“Mr. Yang, I don’t agree with that. What do you mean a waste of money? How would you spend the money? In my opinion, this is the right place to spend money on.”

“Pfft, what do you mean by the right place? Did you ask everyone’s opinion?”

Mr. Yang suddenly noticed Lu Zhou walking nearby. He frowned and squinted at Lu Zhou.

“Academician Lu?”

Qiu Chengtong immediately turned his head around and saw Lu Zhou. He greeted him with a smile.

“Oh, Academician Lu! What a coincidence, what brings you here to Shuimu?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m here for a conference, so I just came here for a visit.”

“The International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference?” Old Qiu’s eyes lit up as he smiled and said, “What a coincidence, I was just talking with Mr. Yang about this. He won’t admit he’s wrong, how about you be the judge?”

I be the judge?

Why?

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure what to do.

Mr. Yang Chen Ning glanced at Qiu Chengtong.

“What do you mean to admit I’m wrong? I’m just talking facts and logic, how am I wrong?”

“Our country is still in the primary stage, barely going into the intermediate stage. Now is not the time for blind optimism.”

Qiu Chengtong unhappily said, “Old Yang, I don’t agree with that. The times have changed now. US$20 billion is quite a big expense. But we don’t have to bear the entire cost of the project. Also, we’ll be able to attract thousands of outstanding international scientific researchers to work with us. We’ll be able to export our culture to the international academic community, and this is something money can’t buy!

“I recommend you to go to the conference. Don’t you want to see the day, where we can become the Switzerland of the physics world?”

“Oh, please, you’re a mathematician, why are you worrying about physicists,” Yang Chen Ning groaned and looked at Lu Zhou.

“Chief Designer Lu, what do you think?”

“Chief designer is just a role, and it sounds too serious. Please just call me Professor Lu.” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “As for my opinion… Mr. Qiu already said it, now is not the time to save money. After all, if you want to make money, you have to spend it first.”

Mr. Yang stared at Lu Zhou, then turned toward the lake. After a while, he spoke.

“I wrote an article more than a decade ago. I still remember the title—China Should Not Build a Hadron Collider. Even though it’s been more than a decade, my opinion hasn’t changed. However, the steering wheel is in your hands. I don’t have anything else to say.”

Lu Zhou wanted to say something, but Mr. Yang continued, “I don’t want to criticize your opinion. Finding the solution to the Yang-Mills equations, linking the strong interaction and electromagnetic force… all these prove that you’re at the top of the theoretical physics field. Unless someone else can reveal the mystery behind the gravitational force… Which I don’t think is possible within this century.”

Mr. Yang looked away from the lake and stared at Lu Zhou.

“I’m almost 100 years old. I’m not as wise as I once was. I was rejected by PRL a while ago, which made me realize that I’m really getting old. Maybe it’s not a bad thing.”

“It seems like you know what you’re doing.”

Mr. Yang nodded at the woman in her forties, who was standing next to him. With the woman supporting his fragile body, he slowly walked away.

“This old guy… ” Old Qiu shook his head and said, “Normally, he would argue with me for at least an hour or two.”

Even though the media constantly portrayed these two as being on opposite sides of the Hadron Collider construction, these two had a pretty good personal relationship. In fact, Old Qiu’s research on the Calabi–Yau manifold was a very important tool in mathematical physics. These two often communicated on academic matters.

That was one of the reasons the Qiu Chengtong mathematics research institute was built on the Shuimu University campus.

Lu Zhou: “Mr. Yang just cares about our nation’s future, and his concerns are not unreasonable.”

“Yeah, otherwise, I wouldn’t have debated with him for so long.” Qiu Chengtong nodded and smiled at Lu Zhou. “Speaking of which, US$20 billion is not a small number. Can you handle this much pressure?”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Mr. Qiu, you’re mistaken.

“It’s only US$20 billion.

“It’s my third time managing a project of this size.”

Chapter 904: Mathematics Center in a Siheyuan

Suddenly, the atmosphere went silent.

The air remained quiet for a few seconds.

Old Qiu forcefully smiled, breaking the awkward atmosphere. He rubbed his nose and spoke.

“Oh, I nearly forgot… You’re not a kid anymore.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re able to notice that. It means I haven’t wasted the past five years.”

“My brain can’t keep up with your speed of growth anymore…” Old Qiu sighed and began to reminisce about the past.

After a couple of seconds, he smiled and said, “Speaking of which, why are you at Shuimu University?”

“You might not believe me, but I happened to be walking nearby.”

Lu Zhou told Old Qiu about Academician Wang Shicheng’s invitation. The old man pushed his glasses and spoke with an unpleasant expression.

“Wang Shicheng… Don’t be fooled by his smile, who knows what’s behind that face. Don’t believe everything he says, this old man is up to no good! You should stay careful!”

Lu Zhou was a little confused.

“I’m just visiting the Yan University campus, what’s so bad about it…”

Qiu Chengtong said, “He’s just up to no good! Visiting the Yan University campus is fine, but just stay careful!”

“Okay, okay.”

Lu Zhou didn’t have any grudges toward Academician Wang Shicheng, so he took the conversation elsewhere.

After some small talk, he bid farewell to Old Qiu and walked toward the west gate of Shuimu University, which was also toward the east gate of Yan University.

…

Yan University east gate.

A young teacher in a suit stood there.

When he noticed Lu Zhou, he instantly walked up and greeted him with a smile.

“You must be Academician Lu, right? Hello! Academician Wang told me you were coming.”

Lu Zhou smiled at the enthusiastic teacher.

“I visited Shuimu University on the way, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Oh, no worries, you’re a world-class scholar, I’m happy to wait here all night.” The young professor reached out his hand and said, “Yang Yongan, mathematics professor. I’m in my thirties already, so I’m probably a bit older than you. Standing next to you makes me feel humbled.”

“Oh, don’t feel humbled, becoming a professor at Yan University is no small feat.” Lu Zhou let go of Professor Yang’s hand and said, “Where is Academician Wang?”

“Academician Wang is at the Yan University mathematics center. He has to train the national IMO team, so he’s currently not available right now. My apologies.”

IMO?

I totally forgot about that.

“It’s fine, I understand…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I want to go to the mathematics center, how about you take me there?”

Yang Yongan made an inviting gesture.

“This way.”

Beijing had changed quite a bit over the past few years. There were more and more Alternative Energy Vehicles on the road, more high-rise buildings, and more foreign residents. However, its historic architecture hadn’t changed.

This kind of architecture could be found in artifacts and universities across Beijing.

Yan University was a world-class institute; the tree-lined paths connecting the teaching buildings gave off a rich academic atmosphere. This was one of the top academic research places in China.

Actually, Lu Zhou was familiar with Shuimu and Yan University’s campuses.

When he used to live near Yuanmingyuan Park, he would often come here for a walk. However, due to various reasons, he was never able to visit the Yan University International Mathematical Research Center.

Apparently, the mathematics center was located inside a Siheyuan. It was only three stories tall and was filled with blackboards.

The rustic look of the facility was intentional. Apparently, being in a simple and pure environment activated the most primitive part of the human brain, thus enhancing their abilities to conduct scientific research.

Of course, being able to research in such a spacious Siheyuan that was located in the middle of Beijing was something most mathematicians dreamed of.

When Lu Zhou walked into the compound, he saw a young man sitting in front of a blackboard next to a big tree. The young man had a piece of chalk in his hand as he thought about the equations on the blackboard.

His gray clothes looked a little faded, and his hair looked a little unkempt.

This young man had a depressed-artist vibe. Lu Zhou looked at him and curiously asked, “Who is that?”

For some reason, Yang Yongan had an awkward look on his face.

It was almost as if Yang Yongan didn’t want Lu Zhou to notice this man.

“Oh, don’t worry about him… He’s not normal.”

Not normal?

Lu Zhou was even more curious.

From his experience in Princeton, people that excelled in mathematics often had weird personality traits. For example, a former editor in chief of a mathematics journal never allowed people to sit in his office. Or for example, one of his students liked to drink mint coffee…

In fact, it was rare for a mathematics scholar to behave like a normal person.

“Why do you say that?”

“Oh, you know, at a place like this, we have various performance metrics. Like how many theses one publishes in a year, etc… However, some people like to be independent and some people don’t care about the performance metrics.” Yang Yongan shrugged and said, “Most people stay away from people like him.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Then, has he produced any research?”

Yang Yongan stared at the young man and said coldly, “If he did, he wouldn’t be so miserable.”

Lu Zhou was still curious. He ignored Professor Yang’s words and walked up to the man.

Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows.

“Hyperelliptic curve analysis?”

The young “artist” finally noticed Lu Zhou.

He turned around and pushed his glasses.

“You understand?”

Before Lu Zhou could say anything, Yang Yongan spoke first.

“Bro, are you kidding, look at who this guy is.”

The young man stared at Lu Zhou for a while with a blank expression on his face.

“Who is it?”

Professor Yang was about to scold the young man, but Lu Zhou stopped him.

Lu Zhou didn’t really care about being recognized. He merely stared at the blackboard and said, “The way you used the hyperelliptic curve analysis method is very interesting as most people don’t use it this way.”

The young man adjusted his glasses and looked at the blackboard.

“It’s because I’m not researching Riemann’s hypothesis… This method was originally invented to be used for Riemann’s hypothesis.”

“I agree…” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Looking at your definition of a non-singular complex algebraic cluster… I’m guessing you’re researching the Hodge conjecture?”

Chapter 905: Who Are You?!

Yang Yongan was stunned.

The young man with glasses was also stunned.

Everyone went silent for a few seconds.

“… Hodge conjecture?”

Yang Yongan stared at the blackboard, then at the young man like he was a lunatic.

He always thought this guy was crazy.

He heard that ever since this guy joined the mathematics center, he had been working on some esoteric stuff and hadn’t been able to produce any research results. The young man was even kicked out of his office.

Anyone else would have quit, but this guy was different. After being kicked out of his office, he brought his chair and blackboard into the courtyard and did his work here instead.

This young man didn’t feel mistreated at all. When people asked him why he didn’t leave, he just said that he liked the quietness here.

When Yang Yongan first joined the mathematics center, he thought that this guy was a secret genius. However, after some time went by, he stopped giving this guy the benefit of the doubt.

After all, this guy had been here for five years without producing any research results.

A mathematician only had ten or twenty years of golden research time. And this guy hadn’t produced any research in five years. His time was running out.

But now that he heard this guy was researching one of the Millennium Prize Problems, he was certain that this guy was crazy.

The young man wasn’t fazed as he looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “You… know what I’m researching?”

If this were a professor from the mathematics center, the young man wouldn’t be surprised.

But this was the first time Lu Zhou saw what was on the blackboard. The young man was a little surprised.

After all, branches of mathematics were wildly different from one another. If a person in the partial differential equation field wanted to research complex topology, it would be no different than letting a physicist research organic chemistry.

Not to mention, even people doing research on the Hodge conjecture wouldn’t be able to instantly recognize what was on the blackboard, because they would often have different research paths.

Furthermore, this was just an initial draft; it was barely related to the Hodge conjecture.

I guess this guy… is in the same research field as me!

The young man looked a little intrigued.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s not that difficult to see. Other than the Hodge conjecture, there are few algebraic topologies of non-singular complex algebraic clusters that produce these polynomial equations as subclusters. People outside of this field might not notice; after all, the more complex a question, the more esoteric it is.”

“Yeah…” The young man looked a little emotional as he sighed and said, “I’ve been here for five years, no one has even talked with me about my research before.”

“Maybe people know what you’re researching, but they just don’t want to talk with you.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Can I borrow your chalk?”

The young man handed out his chalk.

“Sure… but there’s not much space on the blackboard.”

“That’s fine…” Lu Zhou looked at Yang Yongan and said, “Professor Yang, could you please give me a blackboard…”

Yang Yongan instantly responded, “Okay! Just wait here, we have plenty of blackboards.”

He quickly found two noob researchers and dragged a blackboard next to the tree.

Lu Zhou smiled as a show of thanks and turned his attention to the empty blackboard. He went silent for a while and began writing.

[By the Lefschetz-Hyperplane theorem, i: X ^ n (d) → CP ^ (n + r) is n equivalent, thus X ^ n (d) and CP ^ n have the same n…]

…

Actually, the Hodge conjecture wasn’t Lu Zhou’s research field.

However, because of its connection with the Cauchy–Riemann equations, Lu Zhou was still familiar with the problem. Also, the young scholar’s novel application of the hyperelliptic curve analysis method gave Lu Zhou some inspiration.

Just like how Riemann’s hypothesis could form a bridge between algebra and geometry, the Hodge conjecture could bridge the gaps between topology and algebraic geometry.

Of course, he wasn’t trying to prove the Hodge conjecture.

After all, even Lu Zhou couldn’t prove a Millenium Prize Problem in such a short amount of time.

However, just like Riemann’s hypothesis, the Hodge conjecture had a lot of weak forms.

For example, for the case of H^2, the Hodge conjecture would hold!

Lu Zhou was totally focused on his calculations. In the side building nearby, sixty people who were selected for the national IMO training had just finished listening to Academician Wang Shicheng’s speech, and they were currently on a short break.

A man in a baseball cap sitting by the window was reading through his book. Suddenly, a chubby kid sitting in front of him turned around and spoke.

“Brother Li, someone is showing off in the courtyard!”

“Not interested.”

The chubby kid then said, “But he seems to be pretty nutty! I looked at the blackboard when I went to the toilet, but I couldn’t even understand the things he wrote!”

The guy in the baseball cap was a little intrigued. He put down his book and glanced outside the window.

“Let’s check it out then!”

…

More and more equations filled the blackboard.

More and more spectators stood in the courtyard.

Most of them were professors of the mathematics center that recognized Lu Zhou. Even though it was difficult for them to keep up with Lu Zhou’s calculations, they still sat there, eagerly listening and taking notes.

There were also kids who were clearly high school students. They were all members of the IMO national training team—”mathematics geniuses”—from all over the country.

These kids stood there with a fascinated look on their faces as they watched the equations appear on the blackboard.

They wanted to do the same.

Sitting under a tree and writing equations about the universe; that was going to be their future!

The man in the baseball cap was stunned, and his shoulders began trembling.

The chubby kid standing next to him spoke.

“Brother Li, are you having a seizure?”

“Jesus! He’s a god! I’ve seen him somewhere before…”

“Sure not, this is his first time at Yan University.”

“No, no, I remember him, let me think…”

After giving his speech, Academician Wang Shicheng went to his office to drink some tea. He then slowly walked to the courtyard with the intention to greet Academician Lu at the entrance. Little did he know, Academician Lu was already here, writing equations on the blackboard.

Wang Shicheng frowned; he walked up and tried to look at the blackboard.

His pupils dilated the second he saw the blackboard.

The Hodge conjecture.

Even though this wasn’t his research area, for a veteran mathematics scholar like him, he could easily recognize what he was looking at.

He also noticed the “weirdo” standing next to Lu Zhou; the man who had been researching the Hodge conjecture for more than ten years—Chen Yang!

An hour went by.

The shadow of the tree slowly moved as the sun traveled across the sky.

Everyone remained perfectly silent.

That was until someone sighed and exclaimed.

“Hodge conjecture holds true for H^2… Amazing.”

Yang Yongan was spooked by the voice. When he turned around, he saw that Academician Wang Shicheng was standing right behind him.

“Oh, academician!”

“Shh, be quiet, don’t disturb him.” Wang Shicheng pointed toward the blackboard and said, “He’s almost finished.”

Yang Yongan quietly spoke.

“So you’re saying he proved a weak form?”

“No, he’s not the one that proved it.” Wang Shicheng shook his head and said, “If I recall correctly, this was proven by Lefschetz in the 1920s.”

He paused for a second and spoke.

“However, even though this isn’t a completely new result, he used a completely different method than Lefschetz!

“No one has ever solved the weak form Hodge conjecture like this.”

Yang Yongan was shocked.

An entirely different method!

He proved a weak form of a world-class problem just like this?!

In just an hour or two?!

So this is…

Academician Lu’s true strength?

He was becoming more and more surprised.

“No wonder he’s the top scholar of his generation…” Wang Shicheng sighed and said, “His strength in differential equations, complex analysis, and topology is unparalleled.”

But he’s not working in our mathematics center…

What a shame…

“Amazing… Classifying all manifolds for a given homotopy by using the hyperelliptic curve analysis…”

The young man’s voice was trembling as Lu Zhou finished writing.

He wasn’t just shocked.

He was also ecstatic!

“I’m Chen Yang, mathematics… associate professor.

“Who are you?”

He actually introduced himself to me?

For a “crazy” person, he’s quite polite.

Lu Zhou smiled and put down the half-used chalk.

“Jinling mathematics department.

“Lu Zhou.”

Chapter 906: I m Your Fan!

The atmosphere went silent for a few seconds.

Most of the spectators knew who Lu Zhou was; otherwise, they wouldn’t have watched so carefully.

However, when Chen Yang heard the words “Lu Zhou”, he was totally astonished.

Over the past few weeks, the hyperelliptic curve analysis method he studied, as well as all of its applications, even the source of his inspiration, was all from Lu Zhou’s Annual Mathematics thesis.

He couldn’t believe the author was standing in front of him.

“Lu Zhou?”

Chen Yang wasn’t the only person who was astounded, the boy in the baseball cap reached out his right hand with his eyes wide open.

“Y-you are Lu Zhou? Academician Lu from Jinling?”

His chubby friend standing next to him tried to pull him back.

Lu Zhou felt like the guy in the baseball cap looked familiar.

Lu Zhou looked at him and smiled.

“Hey, have we met before?”

The guy in the baseball cap couldn’t believe Lu Zhou recognized him. He spoke excitedly.

“Yeah! On the plane!”

Plane?

Lu Zhou had a look of realization on his face.

Oh, that kid.

The guy’s face was bright red as he spoke with a stutter.

“M-my name is Li Mo. I’m your biggest fan!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Fan?

Bullsh*t!

You didn’t even know what I looked like, how are you a fan?

Do you think I’m dumb?

The guy in the baseball cap continued to blabber, “I’ve read about your group structure method in a number theory textbook. It also talked about you proving Goldbach’s conjecture in the Princeton lecture hall… You’re amazing!”

“Bro, bro, let’s leave,” the chubby guy said as he awkwardly tried to pull his friend away.

Unfortunately, Academician Lu already turned away, completely ignoring the enthusiastic guy in the cap.

The guy in the baseball cap felt embarrassed.

Wang Shicheng finally finished reading the equations on the blackboard. He calmed down and clapped his hands with a smile.

“Wow, sensational.”

In fact, he didn’t know which part was sensational. Even though he was also in the algebraic geometry field, knot theory and the Hodge conjecture were two different areas of research.

If this was a couple of decades ago, he might have been able to keep up with Lu Zhou’s pace. But now, being able to comprehend Lu Zhou’s calculations at all was already difficult.

“Academician Wang, you’re too kind. It’s nothing sensational, just a simple application of a mathematical tool.”

Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Chen Yang as he said, “Your research is interesting. I’ve seen plenty of applications of the hyperelliptic curve analysis method on arXiv, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone improve it and use it to research nonsingular complex algebraic clusters and the polynomial equations that define the subclusters.”

“Oh, you’re too kind.” Chen Yang lowered his head and said, “I’m ashamed to say I’ve done less in six weeks than you did in an hour.”

Professor Yang Yongan couldn’t help but say, “Of course, do you really think you can compare with Academician Lu?”

“Hey, don’t say that. I’ve done a lot of research on the hyperelliptic curve analysis method, and after seeing Mr. Chen’s calculations, I was inspired.”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yang and continued, “The best way to polish a mathematical tool is to try and apply it to a problem through trial and error.

“This research pathway can prove that Hodge’s conjecture holds true for H^2; this at least shows that your idea has potential.”

Chen Yang pushed his glasses and pondered for a moment before saying in a serious tone, “Do you have any good suggestions?”

“Read more, think more, try more…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Mathematics requires talent. The deeper into research you go, you’ll realize that there aren’t any shortcuts. This is very similar to other disciplines; anything that looks spectacular is nothing but the result of countless trials and errors.”

Professor Yang Yongan had a thoughtful expression on his face.

The guy in the baseball cap looked at the ground and repeated the words to himself, “Read more, think more, try more… countless trials and errors… Is that how mathematics is?”

Academician Wang Shicheng stood in the crowd as he nodded with satisfaction.

Even though Lu Zhou’s advice was simple, very few people actually understood and applied it. It took Wang Shicheng ten years to realize this, and he spent the next ten years producing outstanding research in knot theory.

But today, when Lu Zhou took the words of wisdom right out of his mouth, Wang Shicheng couldn’t help but feel admiration.

He really is the best…

Even though he felt like Lu Zhou’s success was filled with luck, it seemed like luck didn’t play as big of a role as he had thought.

Lu Zhou looked around and spoke.

“No one here seems to understand your research.”

Chen Yang looked a little resentful as he nodded and replied, “I did choose an almost impossible research project.”

“Not necessarily…” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s too early to make that conclusion. In my opinion, you’re far from being stuck at a bottleneck. Just judging from the things you wrote on the blackboard, it’s obvious that your research ideas have potential. Even if you can’t solve it in the end, you might be able to produce amazing in-progress results.”

Although this guy’s personality was a bit weird, his mathematical ability was strong. What he lacked was experience.

If this guy stays at the mathematics center, forever being ignored, he would never achieve anything.

Lu Zhou didn’t care that Academician Wang Shicheng was standing right next to him, he reached out his hand and asked, “Have you thought about coming to Jinling?

“I can guarantee that you’ll find people to discuss your research with.”

Chapter 907: Poaching Players!

Coming to Jinling?

When Academician Wang Shicheng heard this, he almost spat out blood.

The person Lu Zhou was trying to poach used to be a nobody, so even if Chen Yang left the mathematics center, Wang Shicheng wouldn’t care…

However, anyone that was being poached by Academician Lu wasn’t just a “nobody”.

Wang Shicheng knew that Academician Lu had an eye for talent.

After all, Wang Shicheng trusted Lu Zhou’s judgment more than his own.

“Academician Lu,” Wang Shicheng coughed and said, “that’s… not the best idea, right? Professor Chen is the backbone of our young researchers at the Yan University International Mathematical Research Center. Poaching him directly in front of us is a bit inappropriate…”

“Is it?”

What’s so inappropriate?

You guys don’t want him anyway…

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “But I heard that… Professor Chen doesn’t even have an office here? Since the mathematics center is clearly overcrowded, isn’t it better for him to leave?”

Wang Shicheng had an awkward expression on his face.

“That’s misconstrued! Mr. Chen is a respected associate professor, and we removed him from his office as a way to sharpen his mind.”

Wang Shicheng looked at Chen Yang and said, “Chen Yang, I was planning on giving you a full professor role this year; I just didn’t tell you yet. A full professor title from Yanjing University, think carefully.”

However, Associate Professor Chen’s answer shocked Academician Wang.

Either Chen Yang was sick of this place, or he just didn’t care about his academic ranking title, but he pushed his glasses and spoke without hesitation.

“Sorry, Academician Wang, I’ve already made my decision.

“Thank you for the past five years, at least you didn’t fire me.

“As for the title you mentioned, you should give it to someone else. I don’t really care for it.”

“You… !” Wang Shicheng’s face turned bright red. He then sighed and said, “Okay then, since you’ve decided, do what you want.”

Professor Yang Yongan stared at Academician Wang in disbelief; he didn’t expect Academician Wang to compromise this easily.

The other scholars standing nearby also looked baffled. They didn’t expect Academician Wang Shicheng to admit defeat this quickly.

Even though he’s facing Academician Lu…

He should at least put up a fight, right?

Chen Yang looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“I want to go to Jinling.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“You’ll be welcomed there.”

…

Even though Academician Wang didn’t want his man to get poached, he didn’t want to offend Academician Lu either. Not to mention that Chen Yang himself wanted to leave.

Academician Wang Shicheng knew there was nothing else he could say. In the end, he said some fake words such as “best of luck in your future endeavors”.

As for Chen Yang, he didn’t really care about leaving the Yan University International Mathematical Research Center at all. After all, he hadn’t been treated fairly; he was even kicked out of his office.

He had lived in Beijing for his entire life, so he was hesitant about moving into a brand new city.

However, that was a small sacrifice.

Not to mention, if he wanted to visit his family, he could easily take the high-speed rail back to Beijing anytime.

After poaching a talented man in front of so many people, Lu Zhou didn’t want to stay in the Yan University International Mathematical Research Center any longer. He could feel that Academician Wang Shicheng no longer welcomed him.

After some small talk, Lu Zhou and Chen Yang quietly left the Siheyuan.

They walked on the tree-lined Yan University path while Lu Zhou briefly explained to him about the situation at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

“The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study doesn’t have any end of year performance metrics. You can concentrate on whatever research project you’d like, as long as you can prove that your project is meaningful. If there are any necessary expenses, you can apply for funding.

“Also, I might not be able to help you with the Hodge conjecture. After all, I have my own stuff to do. But when I’m not busy, you can come talk to me. I do have some experience in algebraic geometry.”

Chen Yang was walking with a large stack of draft paper and documents in his hand when he nodded and said, “Thank you, you’re doing me a huge favor.”

“You’re welcome.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Speaking of which, you really don’t recognize me?”

“Recognize?” Chen Yang thought for a second and said, “I do know of you, I saw your name in that Annual Mathematics thesis and some other theses. But I didn’t know what you looked like…”

Lu Zhou coughed and asked, “When was the last time you went on the Internet?”

Chen Yang thought for a second and replied, “Five years ago. Ever since I went to the mathematics center, I barely went online… I didn’t really need to. There’s a lot of resources at the mathematics center, and I was able to find any resource I wanted.”

Lu Zhou said, “You don’t watch TV either?”

Chen Yang: “… There’s a TV in the cafeteria, but I don’t really watch it.”

I see…

It’s like this guy is living in the 19th century!

This type of person was common in Princeton, where a lot of the older professors didn’t like to use the Internet. They would even ask their PhD students to help them book flights and academic conference tickets.

However, a Chinese scholar in his thirties that didn’t go online was quite rare.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “… I don’t want to criticize your research habits, but the times have changed. The Internet simplified a lot of things. For example, arXiv is a goldmine. Even though the preprints are not peer-reviewed, there are a lot of sophisticated ideas on there.”

“ArXiv?”

“No way, you don’t even know what arXiv is?”

Chen Yang began to reflect on his research habits. He then said thoughtfully, “I’ll check it out.”

Even though this guy was a bit old-fashioned, he was still open to advice.

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t continue speaking on this topic.

He finally understood how a mathematician like Chen Yang didn’t recognize him.

Five years ago, Lu Zhou was still in Princeton.

If Chen Yang never went online or followed the mathematical world’s gossip, it made sense for him to not recognize Lu Zhou.

Just like that kid in the baseball cap, he was probably one of those genius students that never went online or watched TV, thus he wasn’t able to recognize Lu Zhou either.

After all, the academic community was a relatively introverted circle; it wasn’t like the entertainment industry at all, where everyone knew everyone.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t talked about comp yet.”

“Comp?” Chen Yang paused for a second and said, “I don’t really care, just cover the cost of living… and the cost of the journal subscriptions.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“I can’t do that, that’s not how we do things… You have a PhD, right?”

Chen Yang nodded.

“Yeah…”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “Since you were an associate professor in Beijing, your monthly salary will start from 10k RMB a month. Your accommodation and insurance will be covered. After you arrive in Jinling, you’ll receive all of the specifics. I don’t have any performance requirements for you, but the compensation is result-oriented. We’re working on a total meritocracy basis. All I’m providing you is an environment for research.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Chen Yang nodded. He didn’t focus on his compensation at all.

Instead, he said, “You’re not going to Jinling with me?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I didn’t come all the way to Beijing to poach you; I still have a meeting here. Just go to Jinling with my recommendation letter. You know how to take a taxi, right?”

Chen Yang nodded.

“I do know that.”

The two nearly arrived at the school gate.

Lu Zhou saw his black sedan parked nearby.

Suddenly, he heard someone shout from behind him.

“Academician Lu! Wait a second, Academician Lu!”

Lu Zhou turned around and saw the guy in the baseball cap running toward him.

As the guy stopped and began panting, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and calmly asked, “Hey, what do you want?”

The guy panted while patting his chest. He barely stood up straight as he replied, “Um, my name is Li Mo, a member of the national IMO training team. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. I’ve never seen your photo before, I’m really sorry… Um, can you be my mentor?”

Lu Zhou wanted to refuse, but seeing how eager the teenager was, he didn’t want to immediately reject him.

“Okay then, tell me, what are you good at?”

“Um,” the guy scratched his head and said, “my achievements aren’t even worthy of mentioning.”

Oh, so you’re aware of that?

Then why do you think I’ll be your mentor?

Lu Zhou smiled and was about to tease the kid.

However, the teenage boy spoke first.

“B-but, the training team coach told me what I was the only student who finished the hardest question on the winter training camp exam. He told me that if I wanted to continue in mathematics, I should go into the field of number theory or complex analysis. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the strongest scholar in number theory!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking, “Wait a second, you were the only one that solved that question?”

“Yeah!” the guy said with a proud look on his face. He then smiled and added, “The teacher talked crap about the person that came up with such a hard question for high school students. Apparently, the teachers who marked the question complained about how the Riemann zeta function was outside of the curriculum! Of course, a competition has no curriculum…”

This Li Mo was clearly a rambler.

Lu Zhou didn’t fully listen to his words at all. Instead, he had an awkward look on his face.

Wasn’t I the one… who came up with this question…

But is it really that hard?

Only one person solved it?

Really?

Lu Zhou thought that he clearly chose an easy question and that it could be solved with high school mathematics knowledge. It was just that the steps would be a little cumbersome.

Lu Zhou stared at Li Mo and coughed.

“Don’t get cocky, that question isn’t difficult.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second then continued, “I admit you’re talented in mathematics, but you can’t be too proud.

“Since you know who I am, you know my background. Being my student isn’t that easy.”

“I know! You’re super amazing!” the guy said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Tell me, what do I have to do, to have you teach me mathematics?”

Lu Zhou could tell that the guy wasn’t thirsty for fame or fortune, and he was doing this purely for the love of mathematics. Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and spoke.

“Easy, win an IMO gold medal and then we’ll talk.”

After that, he and Chen Yang walked out of the school gate.

Chapter 908: Stepped on Treasure!

When Li Mo returned to the mathematics center, the sun was beginning to set.

He was about to pack his things and go back to his apartment.

“Brother Li, how come you disappeared? I tried looking for you. We already finished dinner.”

Li Mo shook his head.

“It’s fine, I’ll go get some food later. There are a lot of restaurants nearby.”

He grabbed his backpack and was about to leave, but the chubby guy grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait a second, where did you go?”

Li Mo paused for a second and spoke.

“Oh, I went to find Academician Lu.”

“Find Academician Lu? What happened?”

“I asked him to be my mentor, I want him to teach me mathematics!”

Meng Fei was a little confused.

“… And he agreed?”

Li Mo shook his head.

“Nope.”

“I told you.” Meng Fei shook his head and said, “He’s an academician, a rocket scientist, why would he teach a high school student?”

Li Mo nodded and said, “But…”

Meng Fei paused for a second and asked, “But what?”

The guy in the baseball cap clenched his fist and said, “But he promised me that, if I won an IMO gold medal, he would accept me as his student.”

An IMO gold medal.

Sounded challenging.

However, it was possible.

After all, he was the only person who solved the last question of the national IMO training exam!

Meng Fei wasn’t excited at all; he looked at Li Mo like he was a dumb*ss.

Li Mo didn’t know why his friend looked dissatisfied.

“Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t think I can do it?”

“No,” Meng Fei shook his head and said, “Brother Li, if you do win a gold medal, instead of going to Shuimu University or Yan University, you decide to go to Jin Ling University… Wouldn’t your father kill you?”

Even though Academician Lu was a top scholar, Jin Ling University was no match compared to Shuimu University or Yan University. Even though the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had made great scientific research achievements in recent years, the reputation and academic prestige were nowhere near that of Shuimu University or Yan Universities’.

Anyone getting into Shuimu University or Yan University would be envied by all of their neighbors, but getting into Jin Ling University wasn’t the same…

However, after hearing the chubby guy’s words, Li Mo confidently shook his head.

“Not afraid at all, what is there to be afraid of? I have already decided! Academician Lu wouldn’t lie to me. If I get the gold medal, he’s going to be my teacher!”

“Then get ready for an as* beating from your dad! Okay, I won’t persuade you…” Meng Fei shook his head and patted his buddy on the shoulder. “I’ll support you wherever you go.”

Li Mo looked at his chubby friend and spoke.

“Good!”

“Hey, but then again, if I were the one to win a gold medal and decide to go to Jin Ling University instead… I would be scared sh*tless of my dad…”

Li Mo looked at his friend and sighed.

“Don’t worry, you won’t win a medal.”

Meng Fei: “Why do you have to do that…”

Li Mo smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Just kidding, come, let’s get food.”

“I just ate… Whatever, I’ll come anyway.”

…

Lu Zhou didn’t know that he had already planted a seed inside a certain teenager.

After Lu Zhou left Yan University’s campus, he got in his car and called his office. He asked his assistant Zhao Huan to buy a plane ticket for his newly poached “talent”.

He didn’t come all the way to Beijing to poach a talent; he had more important things to do.

After Lu Zhou got in the car, he called the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and told them about the new hire.

After returning to the hotel, Lu Zhou received the conference summary from the Lunar Orbit Committee and briefly looked at his obligations.

As a chief designer, in addition to giving a speech at the opening ceremony, he was also the face of the entire project.

As for the other troublesome matters, such as negotiating with diplomats from other countries, those were handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They had been preparing for the past two months for this event.

While Lu Zhou was on his New Year’s holiday, these people were working around the clock.

Lu Zhou glanced at the meeting summary and tossed it aside. Lu Zhou took out his notebook and wrote down the things written on the blackboard this afternoon.

Even though his research wasn’t on the Hodge conjecture, he still learned a lot from Chen Yang’s calculations.

For example, the method Chen Yang used when defining the topological invariants of the cohomology class described the basic features of a complex manifold. This gave Lu Zhou a new idea for the application of the Étale cohomology group.

Even though this idea wasn’t particularly clever, it was novel enough that Lu Zhou was surprised to see this being invented by a guy closed off to the rest of the world.

Maybe after five years of intensive research, Chen Yang has a deep understanding of algebraic geometry.

He’s just lacking in mathematical tools and experience.

This was one of the main reasons Lu Zhou wanted to poach him. Lu Zhou believed he had the resources to make Chen Yang flourish.

With a pen in his hand, Lu Zhou stared at the lines of calculations in the notebook. He muttered to himself, “Bridging the gap between complex manifolds and topology, finding answers in higher dimensions… This guy is a genius.”

The problem in its high-dimensional case was easier than the low-dimensional case. This sounded a little weird, but there was a reason behind it. Similarly, in the 1960s, Professor Smale came up with a genius idea, which was that the Poincaré conjecture in its high-dimensional case was easier than its three-dimensional case.

Smale used his genius idea to finally prove the Poincaré conjecture in its five-dimensional space and above, thus winning a Fields Medal.

“I didn’t expect the hyperelliptic curve analysis method to be applied like this. I guess my mathematical tool is more powerful than I had thought.

“It seems like I have stepped on a treasure.”

The more Lu Zhou dived into these formulas, the more his eyes began to shine.

For some reason, Lu Zhou felt like he just took another big step forward toward solving Riemann’s hypothesis.

“I wonder if Vera has finished writing her thesis yet.”

Lu Zhou had this urge to publish a thesis. He opened his computer and searched in the literature database. He then checked whether or not his students had recently published any papers.

After all, the things that Vera sent him were unpublished work. He couldn’t use them without referencing Vera.

It was common for scholars to wait for their colleagues to publish before publishing their own theses.

Of course, there were also scholars who were not as nice as Lu Zhou.

Unfortunately, after searching the database, Lu Zhou didn’t find any theses published by Vera.

I guess she either hasn’t submitted it, or it’s still in peer review.

“Why hasn’t she published yet?”

Lu Zhou closed the literature database software and opened Xiao Ai’s custom thesis writing software.

He still had to write a thesis; however, he couldn’t publish in a journal yet.

“I guess… I’ll upload a preprint first.”

Chapter 909: Grand Meeting of Physics and Aerospace

Three days later, Beijing had a cloudless, sunny day.

It was rare for this city to have such good weather.

Thousands of people gathered at the Beijing Conference Center.

Two security guards stood at the conference hall entrance with a formal smile on their faces.

Their faces became sore after a while. They spoke to each other in hopes of relaxing their facial muscles.

The guard with a buzz cut said, “I realized that no matter what the conference is, if it has an ‘international’ in its name, it becomes totally different.”

The other slightly older guard asked, “What do you mean?”

The younger guard continued, “Think about it, if they changed it to just the China Lunar Hadron Collider Conference, wouldn’t it feel less important?”

The older guard smiled and said, “Why does it matter? The word international only means that we’re open to cooperation from other countries. What does this have to do with importance?”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Okay, enough, stop messing around, be quiet.”

On the other side of the conference center, a young PhD student with neatly combed hair looked at the foreign faces walking through the entrance.

“Hey, if we can build this Hadron Collider ourselves, why are we letting the Americans participate? Can’t we just do it ourselves?”

The older man standing next to him was probably his supervisor.

After hearing his student’s words, the older man in a suit shook his head and spoke.

“That’s not how it works. We’re going through globalization; cooperating with other countries is a win-win situation. We’re still the world-leaders in the aerospace industry, and the best way to maintain our advantage isn’t to close our borders. Rather, we should join forces; even the Americans know this.”

The younger scholar scratched his head.

“So what’s the advantage of joining forces?”

The older man coughed and said, “Actually, I’m not sure, I heard this from someone at the hotel buffet yesterday.”

Student: “…”

The older man coughed and continued, “All in all, your plan won’t work. Hosting this international event strengthens our diplomatic relationships with other countries. Back in the day, we used to work for western laboratories, helping them do research. Now, these foreigners will work for us.

“This meeting is very important. Don’t sit there on your phone, try to network with people. The person sitting next to you could be a laboratory director or some big-name physicist.”

The young student had a serious look on his face as he nodded and turned off his phone.

“Understood!”

The older man smirked at his student.

Not a bad student.

Even though the older man was a leader in physics among top Chinese universities, he was still humbled at a place like this.

Being able to network at an international physics event like this was beneficial for everyone, even him.

Speaking of which, he had to thank Academician Lu for creating this opportunity for the Chinese physics community to host an event like this.

If only he had this kind of opportunity when he was younger. Back in his day, not only did he not have foreigners coming to China for an academic conference, he could barely go to a conference himself…

The old man couldn’t help but look at his student with envy in his eyes.

Kid, you don’t know how lucky you are.

You’re in the perfect era for physics…

…

The first International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference was held in the Beijing Conference Center.

Professor Keriber stood at the entrance of the conference hall with a large trench coat over his shoulders as he welcomed Lu Zhou with his arms wide open.

“Hi, my friend, long time no see!”

“Long time no see.” Lu Zhou hugged the tall and thin German professor and smiled. He said, “If I recall correctly, this is the Lunar Hadron Collider Conference, so what are you doing here?”

Professor Keriber, director of the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator Institute, was one of the main engineers working on controllable fusion research in Europe.

When China was leaving ITER, these two were competitors, but they had always maintained a good personal relationship. They even did some academic exchanges on behalf of their respective countries.

For example, the STAR Stellarator, predecessor of the Pangu fusion reactor, was modified from the Wega Stellarator bought from Germany.

Looking at it from the long term perspective, the deal certainly worked out for Germany. Without the success of the Pangu fusion reactor, Europe would have had to wait another fifty years to use clean and nearly unlimited energy. Now that the fusion negotiations had ended, it was likely for East Asia Energy to build fusion reactor plants in France or Germany sometime in the next year…

“You probably forgot that I’m an engineer doing research on plasma physics, and I’m one of the world’s leading experts on superconducting magnets. I take credit in CERN’s underground superconducting magnets. That’s why I received an invite.” Keriber patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said, “You have another friend here as well.”

“Professor Klitzing?” Lu Zhou looked at the old man nearby and smiled. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“How could I miss such an important event? You guys will be the deciding factor on whether there will be new physics discoveries in the next fifty years.” Professor Klitzing smiled and shook Lu Zhou’s hand as he said, “Congratulations on being able to host such an important meeting, this will be a highlight in your academic career… But I guess you don’t care about those kinds of things anymore.”

“Oh no, of course I care, but I’m not the one hosting this conference; I’m just one of the hosts…” Lu Zhou smiled and made an inviting gesture. “Let’s go inside.”

Professor Keriber suddenly raised his right hand.

“Wait a second, I forgot something.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “What thing? Don’t tell me you left your invitation letter back at the hotel?”

“An old friend of mine from Princeton asked me to give you a letter. I knew that I would probably run into you, so I agreed.” Keriber took out a letter from his briefcase and said, “This is it.”

Lu Zhou was about to take this letter, but Wang Peng stepped forward and grabbed it.

“Sorry, can I take a look at it first?”

Keriber shrugged and awkwardly looked at Wang Peng. “Uh, sure, no problem, my job is just to deliver it. You can throw it in the trash for all I care… But I did go through airport security with it, so it should be fine, right? Just don’t blame me.”

“Yeah, we’re in a special time right now, and it’s kind of affecting my life…” Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and said, “Is it fine?”

After checking the envelope with professional tools, Wang Peng cautiously nodded.

“It’s fine.”

Wang Peng then walked to the side and opened the envelope.

There was a letter inside, as well as an invitation card.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and asked, “Can you tell me who sent the letter? I’m curious.”

“The sender is Krugman… That’s what it says.” Wang Peng noticed Lu Zhou’s face and asked, “What?”

Lu Zhou: “… Nothing.”

F*ck sake!

He’s still not giving up!

Even asked his friend to send me the letter…

Really can’t get rid of him.

——

Chapter 910: Let’s All Prosper!

[Dear Professor Lu, I apologize for interrupting your busy schedule!

[I know that before you’ve finished reading this letter, you’re already planning on rejecting me. I beg you not to make a decision yet.

[Solving the problem of social resource allocation has always been one of the most important propositions in economics. The 21st century of computers and mathematics opened a new door for our research. However, it is rare for scholars from other disciplines to take an interest in economics. It’s very rare to see great scholars like John Nash who were willing to venture into economics!

[I’ve tried to study these equations in the past, but unfortunately, due to my age, things aren’t the same as before anymore.

[I know you’re not interested in helping, probably tired of hearing from me. However, I’m still grateful that you’re reading my letter.

[In two weeks, there will be an international macroeconomics conference in Shanghai. If you have time, it’d be great for you to come.

[I want to talk to you in person, and for you to see the impact your research has made.

[I look forward to meeting you!]

Is this guy stalking me?

He really never gives up, he should just be a salesman.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the conference hall lounge. He was in his suit, sitting in his chair with his makeup being done as he read the letter.

“Um… can you hurry up?”

For a guy like him, putting on makeup was torture.

Sitting in front of the mirror with someone else fiddling his face…

The young lady knew Lu Zhou would say this, so she put on a professional smile and spoke softly.

“Please be patient, Academician Lu, we’re almost done.”

F*ck, almost?

Lu Zhou wasn’t happy to wait any longer.

“I think I’m handsome enough, this will do.”

The young lady snorted and nearly dropped her eyebrow pencil.

“Y-you’re kidding…? Of course, you’re handsome, but for a formal occasion like this, you have to follow proper grooming and makeup standards.”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to argue with the lady, so he quietly muttered, “I never put on makeup for conferences.”

“This isn’t an academic conference,” Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense said. He smiled and walked over. “Academician Lu, you’re the face of our country, so we have to make you look presentable.”

Lu Zhou looked at the old man walking through the door and spoke.

“You put on makeup as well?”

Director Li smiled.

“A little bit.”

Lu Zhou frowned and stared for a while.

“How come I can’t see it?”

“Just covered up some wrinkles… I’m getting old, it’s not the same anymore.” Director Li cleared his throat and put on a more serious expression. “Are you ready? You’re the first to speak.”

Lu Zhou adjusted his tie and smiled.

“I’ll be fine, I’m used to it by now, and it’s not like this is the United Nations.”

“You want to attend their conference? I can try.”

“It’s fine… I was just kidding.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in the United Nations’ conferences.

He wasn’t a politician anyway.

What was the point of going there just to show his face?

“Okay.” The makeup lady put down her pencil and took a step back as she smiled and said, “Academician Lu, you look great; do you want me to take a photo?”

“No, it’s fine.” Lu Zhou looked at his watch and said, “I think I look better without makeup.”

Makeup lady: “…”

…

There was a huge crowd in the conference center.

Physicists, aerospace engineers, and high-level politicians from all over the world were sitting in this hall.

There were also young students that were abandoned by their supervisors and were trying to fit in.

There was still ten minutes before the opening ceremony, so people took this opportunity to gossip with one another.

“Guess who I saw when I walked in?”

“Who?”

“NASA Director Carson!”

“No way, Director Carson is here?”

“I’m 100% certain it’s him!”

“I can’t believe it… Looks like it’s not just the physics community, the aerospace industry will also be affected.”

“Are you living in the 18th century?”

“… What do you mean?”

“How do you not know the aerospace industry is going to be affected?”

Suddenly, the stage lights turned on.

People stopped talking and looked toward the stage.

The chattering gradually subsided.

Lu Zhou walked on stage in a suit.

He adjusted the microphone and spoke in a clear voice.

“Hello, everyone, I’m glad to see you here.”

A lot of people looked curiously at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou raised his voice and continued, “Seeing you all here means we have reached somewhat a consensus on many issues, so that’s a great thing.

“This is one of the rare conferences that doesn’t contain any academic content.

“I believe that politics, economics, culture, and scientific research are all connected. We’re all from different fields, different professions, different countries, but we’re here for one reason…”

Lu Zhou looked around the quiet venue and slowly spoke.

“That is to tackle the future issues together.”

His speech was almost over.

The opening ceremony was only two and a half minutes long.

Now that the opening words were over, it was time for Lu Zhou to deliver the real content of his speech.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and looked at the notes in his hand. He then said in a steady and calm voice, “On behalf of the Chinese academic community, we would like to present to the world the Lunar Hadron Collider project vision.

“I hope we will all prosper together.”

The venue erupted in thunderous applause.

Lu Zhou gave a slight bow and walked off the stage.

Chapter 911: A New Chapter in Physics!

Chapter 911 A New Chapter in Physics!

The applause was like a thunderstorm that completely covered the entire auditorium.

Professor Klitzing, who was sitting in the center of the venue, clapped his hands and spoke to Professor Keriber.

“Excellent speech… What do you think?”

Professor Keriber smiled and responded, “I agree, but I think there’s something else that’s more incredible.”

Klitzing tilted his head and curiously looked at Keriber.

“Incredible? What?”

“I always thought that he is a scholar who focuses on his own research and doesn’t care about the rest of the world; I didn’t expect him to be like this.

“I once tried to ask for him to give us an opportunity.”

“What kind of opportunity?”

“The opportunity to work together, to share peace and prosperity.” Keriber’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Lu Zhou walking down from the stage. He said, “When he rejected me, I thought that he was pessimistic about the future… It turns out I was wrong.”

For any country on Earth, energy would always be a problem. Once the production and distribution of energy problems were solved, any other problems would eventually solve itself.

Cheap and accessible energy would have enormous impacts on society, bringing with it changes that would surpass the previous industrial revolutions.

On the other hand, the invention of this kind of cheap energy would disrupt the world in a violent way, breaking the peaceful international political state.

The reactions of various countries to this technology were more difficult to predict than the chaotic plasma turbulences.

One careless mistake or misjudgment could lead to unthinkable consequences…

Klitzing smiled and asked, “Are you talking about controllable nuclear fusion?”

As a scholar, he didn’t really care about political interests. He said nonchalantly, “I heard the EU and the United States paid a lot of money to buy nuclear cores from China… Wasn’t that how the situation panned out?”

Keriber shook his head and explained, “Klitzing, countries are made up of people, and every voice plays a certain role. The only difference is that some people’s voices are small and insignificant, like mosquitoes, while other people’s voices are as loud as thunder.

“Lu Zhou is the leader of China’s academic community, and he represents all Chinese scholars. He’s even the chief designer of the controllable fusion project. I am certain that he is partly the reason why the nuclear fusion negotiations have been going so peacefully.”

On the other hand, at the other side of the venue.

As Professor Frank Wilczek watched Lu Zhou walk off stage, he suddenly mumbled, “Tackle future issues together.”

Edward Witten, who was sitting next to him, curiously asked, “What do you mean?”

“What he just said… ” Wilczek continued, “This conference, as well as the soon to be established International Lunar Hadron Collider Research Center, allows us to tackle important issues together.”

Witten: “… Is that what he meant?”

“Probably…” Wilczek yawned and said, “Speaking of which, there’s finally someone willing to push our field forward… Are you ready, Mr. Witten?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Why not?” Wilczek said, “You’ve always complained that the collider at CERN is too weak, that there’s no way to verify your theory. There’s going to be a much larger collider soon, and you’re pretty good friends with the person in charge.”

Witten shook his head.

“This is an important moment for physics, but it’s way too early to think about string theory.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic.”

“I’m not being pessimistic. We don’t have any way to observe string theory, and we can’t just use a collider to reveal the mystery of another dimension…” Witten continued, “However, this is still an important project, both academically and non-academically.”

“You mean outside of physics?” Wilczek frowned and said, “I don’t understand.”

Witten smiled.

“My intuition tells me that the entire world working on this project will push the field of physics forward… But it’s too early to speculate, so let’s wait and see what happens.”

Wilczek said, “Let’s wait? We won’t be here too much longer.”

Witten smiled.

“Who cares if we see it with our own eyes; Princeton will see it for us!”

…

After Lu Zhou got off stage, Mrs. Cramer, chairman of CERN, walked onto the stage.

This old grandma slowly expressed her support for the upcoming Lunar Hadron Collider (ILHCRC).

Due to various reasons, the academic community representatives were set to speak before the political representatives.

After Lu Zhou and CERN, who were both from the academic world, expressed their opinions, Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense spoke next. Then, various high-level officials from Russia, the United States, the European Union, and other countries also expressed their opinions of the project.

Regardless of what their intentions were, at this moment, in this venue, the world was working together on the project of the century.

This historic scene was recorded by various cameras on both sides of the venue and was being broadcast to millions of viewers in front of their TVs.

The opening ceremony soon ended.

The first Lunar Hadron Collider Conference was about to begin.

The world of physics was about to enter a new chapter…

Chapter 912: He Will Definitely Come!

While the Lunar Hadron Collider Conference was happening, two professors on the other side of the world were sitting on the first-floor cafeteria at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

A TV in the cafeteria was showing the Columbia TV news report on the International Lunar Hadron Collider.

This story had been going around since last month.

The Moon was a piece of treasure that hung above everyone’s head, and even though various grand plans had been announced, none of them had been put into action.

However, the Lunar Orbit Committee was an exception.

Ever since the Moon Palace project, the world had gotten to witness China’s aerospace engineering feats.

It seemed like once the Chinese set their minds to do something, they were unstoppable.

Now that they were planning on building a hadron collider on the Moon, physicists from all over the world wanted to work for them; they were even willing to learn Mandarin…

The entire Internet was talking about this.

Not just the Internet, but in real life as well.

People had been talking about this on Princeton campus for quite some time now.

Almost every physicist was excited at the prospects behind China’s crazy project.

The impact of this hadron collider project even spread to other fields.

According to Professor Krugman, there was even a well-known big-name economist who wrote a paper on the impact of the Lunar Hadron Collider on international relations and global trade patterns.

Even though Krugman often overheard physicists talking about god knows that, this was the first time he felt physics truly affecting his own life.

Professor Angus Deaton from the Princeton economics department, who was also a Nobel Prize laureate, suddenly spoke while looking at the TV.

“Are you sure he will go?”

Professor Krugman shrugged and said, “I’m not sure, but his research is very important. I have to give it a try.”

“I think you’re wasting your time.”

Professor Angus shook his head and said, “Those pure mathematicians have a bias against economics. They have this idea that mathematics is something pure and noble, and it shouldn’t be influenced by other disciplines. Do you know how hard it is to ask Deligne for help? When it comes to mathematics problems, he…”

Professor Angus put on an impatient face and shrugged.

“… This is the face he gives me.”

Professor Krugman’s mouth twitched as he tried to conceal his laughter.

“I understand what you’re saying, but Professor Lu is different. He’s won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and he’s made great contributions to computational materials science. And his theory on the electrostrong interaction… Do you really think he’s a pure mathematics researcher? No! He is open-minded; he’s just not interested in physics.”

Professor Angus sighed and lifted the cup.

“Yeah, he’s not interested in economics. How do you plan on arousing his interest?”

Professor Krugman smiled and said confidently, “My dear Professor Angus Deaton, have you chased after girls before?”

Professor Angus frowned and said, “I did when I was younger… Why?”

Krugman: “You can’t just make someone be interested immediately; you have to build a friendly relationship with them step by step. They will then naturally make a choice that benefits you.”

Professor Angus opened his mouth and spoke.

“Interesting… But I still think your plan is going to fail.”

“Why?”

“Because Professor Lu doesn’t care about international affairs, and he doesn’t care about your ideas at all. Haven’t you noticed? Even though he tackles many problems outside of mathematics, all of the problems are chosen by himself.

“If he’s really interested in economics, he would have already done the research by now. Obviously, he has the ability to do so, but he just doesn’t care.”

Professor Krugman still didn’t seem to be convinced.

“Not necessarily, whether you’re interested in international affairs and personally intervening in international affairs are two different things.”

While the two were speaking.

The TV began to show a live stream of the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference.

Lu Zhou stood on stage while speaking in a clear and solemn voice.

As Professor Krugman watched Lu Zhou giving the speech, his pupils expanded.

He then excitedly slammed his fist on the table.

“See! I told you! He cares about things outside of academia!”

“Do you want to make a bet? Angus!”

Professor Angus looked at his excited friend and asked, “Bet on what?”

Professor Krugman rubbed his hands and spoke.

“I bet he will come to the economics conference in Shanghai, and I’ll be able to persuade him to join in on my research project. Let me think… How does US$10 sound?”

10?

Angus nearly laughed out loud.

Even though he would gladly steal Krugman’s money, the amount was too small.

He wanted to bet more chips.

“10 dollars is way too little. If you’re so certain, let’s bet 10 golden chocolates at the Stockholm Blue Hall dinner.”

“Damnnit, you want to empty my pockets…”

Professor Krugman paused for a while and finally clenched his jaws.

“Deal!”

Chapter 913: Useless Banque

This was Lu Zhou’s busiest day of the year…

And the day had only just begun.

The moment he stepped off the podium, he was already being chased by reporters. This was followed by endless interviews, which were full of boring questions.

After getting rid of the reporters, Lu Zhou spent 10 minutes eating his lunch. After that, the secretary of the Lunar Orbit Committee placed a printed schedule in front of his face.

Just like he expected, his afternoon was fully packed, down to the minute. There wasn’t a single minute of free time for him.

This cast a sharp contrast between today’s busy schedule and Lu Zhou’s past two days of leisure, and he felt a little overwhelmed.

After the busy day was over, Lu Zhou thought he could go ahead and get a good night’s sleep. However, Director Li found him and told him about the dinner.

As the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, he had to attend the dinner…

“I know you’re tired; we all are, and I haven’t even eaten lunch yet.”

“For a US$20 billion project, you should just come. You don’t even have to do anything, just stand there like a mascot, just let people know that you’re the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee!”

Lu Zhou wasn’t persuaded by Director Li’s words…

But US$20 billion…

That was more than his net worth.

Because of how much money was involved, Lu Zhou decided to go…

…

The dinner was also at the Beijing Conference Center, but the location was changed from the auditorium to the Golden Hall, which was dedicated to hosting state-level banquets.

In comparison to the opening ceremony in the morning, which was open to all attendees, this dinner was only reserved for special guests with a golden invitation letter.

As for the other guests, their dinners were arranged at their respective hotels.

Actually, when it came to the dining experience, the hotel actually had better food. Not only was it a buffet, but it also had a greater variety of dishes.

On the other hand, other than the unlimited supply of red wine, the food at the Golden Hall came in tiny amounts on giant plates, which were swapped frequently. If someone was too busy networking with others, they wouldn’t even have time to eat.

However, other than Lu Zhou, everyone was happy to eat in the Golden Hall.

After all, no one came to an international conference just for the food.

The people in the Golden Hall were Nobel Prize nominees, high-ranking officials, and various politicians and executives from the aerospace industry.

Networking with someone at this dinner would be more beneficial than attending any academic conference dinner.

Of course, that was for people who were trying to climb the political and academic ladder.

For the people who were at the top of the ladder, this banquet was useless.

After Lu Zhou entered the banquet hall, he greeted some of his friends and then immediately went to sit down at the white-cloth covered long tables.

The carefully arranged food and wine were placed on the tables.

Lu Zhou didn’t eat a lot for lunch, so right now, all of his attention was on the food in front of him. He happily began eating.

Even though the food wasn’t delicious, the presentation was sophisticated.

There was even a trolly on the side where the chef would cut up roast duck.

Lu Zhou loved the crispy and tender roasted duck. He wrapped it with some cucumbers and green onions, then added some sweet bean sauce; the contrast between the saltiness and sweetness was amazing.

While Lu Zhou’s tastebuds were in heaven, two well-dressed Russian men approached him.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I am Novak, Minister of the Department of Energy,” the cleanly shaved Russian said. He reached out his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, “Hello, Mr. Novak… You’re here as well?”

Lu Zhou was a little confused about why the Russian energy minister was here.

Novak saw Lu Zhou’s confused face and said, “I came here to attend a controllable fusion energy summit, and when I heard that you’re attending this banquet, I decided to attend as well.”

Lu Zhou reluctantly watched the chef push the roasted ducky trolly away and spoke.

“Oh, you didn’t have to come all the way here to find me.”

“It’s fine, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Lu Zhou wanted to tell Novak that he was disturbing his dinner, but he restrained himself.

Novak reached out his hand and introduced the Russian standing next to him.

“This is Academician Sivali, chief engineer of Rosatom.”

This man was a little older, but he looked competent. He enthusiastically reached out his calloused hand.

“Hello, Academician Lu! I’ve heard many things about you.”

“Hello…” Lu Zhou politely shook Academician Sivali’s hand.

Even though he didn’t recognize Sivali, he had heard about Rosatom before. This Russian nuclear industry giant was one of the world’s leading nuclear fuel production companies. They controlled most of the uranium mines in Siberia, and they had their hands in various branches of the nuclear industry.

They worked with more than 904 Russian nuclear energy equipment manufacturers, 540 nuclear energy service agencies, 39 nuclear material and radioactive waste storage sites, 75 research institutes, etc.

After the controllable fusion negotiation, Rosatom, the head of the Russian nuclear industry, signed orders with East Asia Energy on behalf of Russia, thus obtaining the first controllable fusion reactor outside of China.

That reactor was placed in St Petersburg, with the China National Nuclear Corporation helping with supporting facilities.

Academician Sivali was the chief engineer of Rosatom; hence, he was a huge academic leader in Russia.

At least in the nuclear engineering field.

However, what confused Lu Zhou was that he heard Russians were very irritable and arrogant, especially Russian scholars. He thought they were extremely disagreeable.

For example, the famous Russian mathematician Kolmogorov was known for publically arguing with his own supervisor at mathematics conferences.

However, that wasn’t the impression Lu Zhou had of Academician Sivali at all.

Academician Sivali was calm as a cucumber, almost a little timid.

“… I’ve read your paper on plasma turbulence, and it opened a door to an entirely new world for me. I can’t believe someone came up with such a clever design, emitting a He3 particle into the chaotic plasma and analyzing the state of the chaotic system… You have no idea how shocked I was when I read your paper.”

Academician Sivali was still holding Lu Zhou’s hand.

Fortunately, Minister Novak could tell Lu Zhou was uncomfortable, so he coughed and interrupted Academician Sivali.

“Okay, Sivali, we’re not here to talk about academia since that can be discussed at another time.”

This old Russian let go of his hand and awkwardly scratched his head.

“Oh, sorry, I was too excited.”

Lu Zhou nodded with a polite smile.

“It’s fine.”

Novak only came to this banquet to meet Lu Zhou. He still had to talk with Chinese officials about cooperating in the field of energy. Thus, he smiled and said, “I’ll let you eat in peace. If you have time, you should visit Russia. I’m certain the food in Moscow will impress you.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Well, I hope I get the chance to visit someday.”

Chapter 914: Some Are Celebrating, Some Are No

[The opening ceremony of the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference came to a successful conclusion. Academician Lu delivered an important speech on behalf of the Chinese academic community.]

The newspaper headline was extra long.

The content behind this headline shocked everyone.

The Lunar Hadron Collider construction is going to begin in a month!

With a budget of US$20 billion!

More than 200 particle physics institutes around the world are participating!

This included the well-known physics center CERN, as well as the Princeton Physics Department. Even people outside of academia heard about these research institutes.

Of course, this wasn’t why people were surprised.

What really shocked people was that while the project had a budget of US$20 billion, China, as the project initiator, only had to fork up 10 billion.

The United States was going to cover 5 billion!

The second the news article came out, online forums were flooded with political discussions…

[Pigs are starting to fly, I can’t believe the Americans are so kind?]

[I can’t believe this, Academician Lu did it!]

[This is incredible… If I recall correctly, the space race was still going on last year, how come the Americans are giving up?]

[Regardless, this project will benefit humanity as a whole. It’s good that multiple countries are participating. The Americans probably don’t want their physics community to fall behind by not participating…]

[I just hope the Americans are not making unreasonable demands.]

[Otherwise, we’ll kick them out of the project!]

The news caused a considerable amount of discussion on the Internet, with various keywords relating to the event starting to trend.

Soon after, almost all of the Chinese new media outlets were filled with headlines regarding the aerospace engineering project.

A super project with more than 50 countries participating…

A project that was going to be in history books…

All of this was being led by China.

This was unimaginable a decade or even a couple of years ago.

After all, when China was still researching controllable fusion, the United States had an advantage in aerospace. But now, the tables had turned.

Even though there were always trolls and haters, most people were happy to see their country becoming stronger.

US$10 billion wasn’t a small number, but it was a fair price to pay to make “the entire world’s scientists working for us”.

However, compared to the Chinese media outlets, the North American media outlets were not as happy.

The liberal side had a fairly tame reaction, but on the other hand, it was like the White House slapped the conservatives in the face.

Even though they knew their politicians were money-hungry sell-outs, they didn’t expect the government to do something like this.

A well-known host on a political talk show complained to his audience in the latest episode.

“How is Congress so stupid! China is our biggest competitor in the space race! We’re giving them 5 billion dollars to support their project! This is crazy!”

China was America’s strongest enemy.

However, the White House was now spending money to help China build the Lunar Hadron Collider!

Many conservatives thought their president had gone insane.

People even began to protest on the streets, holding up signs, shouting slogans, and marching in front of the White House.

“They’re claiming to build a collider on the Moon! This is the biggest Ponzi scheme of the century!”

“We should invest this money in people instead! Look at how many people are unemployed! Have you seen Skid Row in Los Angeles?”

“…”

The vice president’s finger gently lifted the window blinds as he watched the marching protestors outside. He then muttered under his breath, “These idiots… Peanut brain Neanderthals. They have no idea what the real situation is, what a bunch of brain dead sheep.”

In response to China’s Lunar Orbit Committee, the President signed a “Reconstruction of the National Space Council (NSC)” executive order. The vice president would be the chairman of this committee and be responsible for rebuilding their dominance in aerospace.

The vice president was happy to gain more power as he was no longer just a mascot. However, ever since Mike was responsible for the National Space Council, he hadn’t been happy at all.

There was only one reason.

It was almost impossible to regain dominance in the aerospace industry.

All they could do now was to cut losses.

They had to open up their domestic markets and participate in China’s scientific research projects…

These protestors had no idea how to solve the problem; they had no idea the sacrifices the White House made!

Mike clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly, his office door opened, and a lanky man in a suit walked in with a document.

“If The New York Times heard you say that, I’m afraid you’ll be on the headlines instead of Academician Lu.”

“That’s not funny.” Mike stared at his assistant and said, “What’s up?”

The assistant put on a serious face and spoke.

“We might be in trouble.”

Mike said, “Tell me.”

“Look at this.”

The assistant placed the document on his desk.

Mike squinted and stared at the document.

It was an anonymous letter.

On the lower right corner of the letter, there was a logo of an eagle holding an assault rifle.

This symbol was a little disturbing.

Mike reached out but quickly retracted his hand.

“Don’t worry, we’ve examined the envelope, there’s nothing dangerous inside.” The assistant opened the envelope and placed the letter in front of Mike.

Mike began to read the letter.

[Dear Vice President Mike, we are Eagle Hunter, an anonymous group. You can think of us as… hackers.

[We know that information technology should not be used for terrorism, so we have restrained ourselves and remained silent.

[However, everyone has their breaking point. Watching our country being controlled like this… We realized that we can no longer stay silent.

[You have chosen to succumb in the face of power, so we will use our own methods to stop this asinine conference, to stop you from betraying our country.

[This is a war, and there are no innocent people in war.

[We will not stop until you meet our demands and suspend cooperation with the Chinese.]

The office became quiet again.

After a couple of seconds, the assistant took a deep breath and looked at the vice president.

“What should we do?”

Mike went silent for a while, and his mouth suddenly twitched.

Then, he grabbed the letter and handed it to his assistant.

“Give it to the FBI.”

Mike was irritated as he said, “Don’t bother me with tiny things like this in the future!”

“Yes, sir…”

The assistant took the letter and quietly left the office.

Mike slammed his fist on the desk and sat in his chair.

Hacker?

Betraying my country?

What a joke…

You’ve got to be kidding me…

However…

Mike was alarmed.

Even though the president and his staff members conducted a systematic analysis of the international situation and made the correct decision, they seemed to have underestimated the public’s reaction.

He pinched his eyebrows and reached out for the phone on his desk. He then called the president’s office.

Even though he wasn’t sure if the president knew about the letter, he had to report it immediately.

Not to mention there were US representatives attending a meeting in Beijing right now.

Perhaps he should inform Director Carson and ask him to act tougher at the meeting.

Mike didn’t want the public to see them as “soft”…

Chapter 915: Full of Loopholes

Attending an international conference like this was often exhausting.

The first day was exciting and thrilling, but the second day was full of boring, endless meetings.

The funding part was already agreed upon. The China Ministry of Foreign Affairs already negotiated with various countries prior to the meeting. China was going to invest 10 billion, the US was investing 5, EU investing 2, Russia investing 1, the Japanese investing 800 million… Totalling US$20 billion.

The only problem was setting up a budget committee for the project.

For some reason, the American representatives’ attitudes totally changed on the second day. They were curt and aggressive.

Especially Director Carson; whenever he talked about setting up a budget committee, his smile quickly disappeared.

However, this was somewhat understandable.

After all, the budget committee had financial power over the Lunar Hadron Collider project. In theory, it had control over what and where the money was spent on… Everything related to the funding required a signature from the project budget committee.

It was unrealistic for the Americans to gain total control of the project spending; they could only hope to have a voice in the matter.

In order to balance China’s power over the project, even Russia, who was originally on China’s side, was inclined to support the US’ demands.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn’t have to worry about these kinds of things. There were other people to help him.

For example, Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the high-level officials from the Lunar Orbit Committee…

What Lu Zhou was worried about was the academic side.

Last year, on behalf of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Luo Wenxuan contacted the Chinese Academy of Science, CERN, and other large research institutes. He brought together some of the top minds in the fields of theoretical physics, mechanical engineering, materials science, and aerospace engineering. With the help of these people, they completed the entire design plan of the Lunar Hadron Collider. But now that the “team” had expanded, with physicist and engineers from all over the world participating, there was bound to be some problems. Many people proposed changes to the design scheme.

After all, this was a great opportunity for people to show off on the international stage.

Companies like Space-X and Boeing were supportive of changing the design scheme. This was so that the final design scheme could benefit their companies in some way shape or form. They even spent money on hiring scholars to find problems in the design…

At the Beijing Grand Hotel.

A group of experts from physics and aerospace engineering sat in an auditorium-style conference room.

An old man wearing a plaid shirt and glasses stood in front of a projector screen. He then said passionately, “Because of these reasons, the original design plan is unrealistic and has to be improved.

“If we implement my improvements, we can cut the budget by 13% and reduce the construction risk.

“Think about it, how much is 13% of 20 billion? It’s a huge number! We should spend this money on people that need it…”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what this guy was rambling about.

In the end, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but yawn. He turned his head to Mrs. Cramer, the chairman of CERN.

“Can we kick him off and put on the next person?”

Mrs. Cramer smiled and said, “I’m afraid not, the European Space Agency requested Professor Banderas to speak for 60 minutes.”

Lu Zhou quietly said, “Why would someone make such a stupid request?”

Mrs. Cramer smiled and said, “Because before he went to teach at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, he used to work as an academic advisor at the European Space Agency. Before he came here, he sent a copy of his PowerPoint to the ESA.”

Lu Zhou snorted and said, “Does he have connections?”

Mrs. Cramer paused for a second and said, “… It seems so.”

Obviously, Professor Banderas used his connections at the European Space Agency to obtain the opportunity of giving this report.

The 13% reduced cost he mentioned wasn’t a small number, so no wonder the European Space Agency gave him an opportunity to present his ideas.

After all, there was a chance they could save a lot of money.

After glancing at the PowerPoint, Lu Zhou flipped through the copy of the improvement plan he had on the table.

This report was full of loopholes, and the drawings and calculations didn’t seem reliable at all.

Of course, this was just his “level 6” engineering intuition.

If Lu Zhou really wanted to find the specific problems, it would take quite some time. After all, engineering was very different from mathematics, things were often not so black and white…

It was difficult to immediately find problems in this report.

However, Lu Zhou had some tricks up his sleeve.

I can’t believe I have to do this…

Lu Zhou sighed and took out his phone. He took some photos of the report in his hand and sent it to Xiao Ai.

[Here’s a report, it looks terrible. I need you to organize it and model it into a 3D composition… Then present the composition and problems clearly.]

Even though Lu Zhou felt like his instructions were a little vague, it seemed like Xiao Ai understood him.

[Yes, Master! ~ (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

After seeing the text, Lu Zhou put his phone on his lap and quietly waited.

After a couple of seconds, a 2GB file was sent to his phone.

Lu Zhou opened the file and saw a three-dimensional blueprint drawing.

All of the complicated parameters were integrated into the drawing, such as the type of materials and the physical parameters in a low vacuum and low-temperature environment, and the quantum computer was able to calculate a complete model of the lunar surface environment.

Lu Zhou stared at the blueprint and looked shocked.

Xiao Ai really is amazing.

It knows exactly what I want.

While the presenter was speaking, Lu Zhou took out a pen from his bag and began writing on a piece of draft paper.

Five minutes went by, and Professor Banderas was still rambling. Lu Zhou put the pen on the table and looked at his phone. He then raised his hand.

When he raised his hand, the entire conference room looked away from Banderas and stared at him.

Banderas was a little dissatisfied, and his instincts told him something was wrong.

He felt like Professor Lu was going to do something he wasn’t going to like…

However, he thought that there was no way Lu Zhou had already found problems in his report.

“Do you have a question? Professor Lu.”

Lu Zhou replied bluntly, “I’ll just say it, forget about the PowerPoint, your report is full of problems.”

“Sorry, I don’t understand.” Professor Banderas frowned and said, “There are problems in my report? Can you tell me where?”

Lu Zhou was amused.

You know damn well your report is horsesh*t, and you’re still trying to lie to me?

“Turn on the projector’s Bluetooth.”

Professor Banderas paused for a second and then followed Lu Zhou’s instructions.

The moment Lu Zhou’s phone was connected to the projector via Bluetooth, the projector displayed a three-dimensional composition image on to the projector curtain.

“Wow…”

There was a commotion in the conference room, and people were surprised because they didn’t see this composition in the report.

Professor Banderas’ face turned blue.

Not just because Lu Zhou layered his blueprints together to create a 3D drawing, but also because there were red labels all over the 3D composition.

And each of these red labels represented a problem.

Even though he knew his blueprints weren’t “perfect”, he didn’t expect this many problems…

This guy…

How did he already create a model?!

Professor Banderas wasn’t the only person that was surprised; everyone in the conference room looked at Professor Lu in awe.

Lu Zhou… is a freak…

Mrs. Cramer, who was sitting next to Lu Zhou, was also astonished. She had no idea how Lu Zhou was able to model a 3D composition blueprint in a couple of minutes…

However, Lu Zhou didn’t plan on giving them an explanation.

He didn’t have to explain anything.

The problems of the report were clearly presented.

Even a second-rate engineer would be able to see the obvious problems, so it was clear that Professor Banderas’ design wasn’t going to work.

“This is impossible, there must be a mistake, how did you…”

“As shown in the model, there are hundreds of loopholes.”

Lu Zhou tapped the table with a pen and spoke without emotion.

“Next.”

Chapter 916: Eagle Hunter

The dark web.

Inside a hacker forum.

A moderator created a discussion group called “Eagle Hunter”, and soon after, a bunch of users went into the discussion channel and began to brag.

However, the bragging didn’t last for long.

A person with the username “Boss” entered the discussion group. The channel instantly became quiet.

Boss: “Everyone is here?”

Hunter: “Here.”

Boss: “Good, let’s begin the meeting.”

Lone Wolf: “Yes, sir!”

Vulture: “Yes, sir!”

“…”

It was easy to organize a big hacker event like this, especially since they lived in the virtual world.

Even though they all belonged to the same “Eagle Hunter” hacker group, this organization wasn’t actually binding.

Most of these people didn’t like to feel constrained, not to mention most of them had dirty backgrounds.

Other than occasionally doing some dark market transactions, most people were doing their own things. Some even belonged to other hacker groups.

However, anyone in the hacker circle would recognize the IDs of people from the Eagle Hunter hacker group.

Most of these users were well-known hackers that came from the dark web, and most of them worked in the information security field. However, none of them knew who Boss was.

But it was clear that Boss was their leader.

After all, to become the leader of a hacker group, one would have to be technically capable.

None of them underestimated the strength of Boss.

Lone Wolf: “It’s just a few servers, we’ll penetrate them in no time.”

Kid: “Yeah, yeah, let’s begin, I can’t wait to give the United States Congress and China a lesson!”

Boss: “Don’t get cocky. China has a lot of experts in information security. Remember, our goal is to stop the Lunar Hadron Collider project. This is the only way to make them take our request seriously.”

Hunter: What if the Chinese hackers retaliate?”

Boss: “Then it would be perfect for us.”

Their goal was to put pressure on the White House to exit from the Lunar Hadron Collider project.

As for the disruption of the Lunar Hadron Collider Conference in Beijing, that was their secondary goal.

Therefore, if the Chinese retaliated with attacks on servers such as NASA or the White House, it would be perfect for them. Panic would spread like wildfire.

After all, it was riskier for them to attack the American servers themselves.

Boss: “I have a list for the first batch of servers to attack. Everyone communicates the servers you’re going to attack to avoid repeated attacks.

“Remember, we are Eagle Hunter, we are defending the dignity of the United States.

“Remember who our enemy is.”

…

While the Lunar Hadron Collider meeting was going on in Beijing, an invisible force was quietly working in the background.

First was the official Everyone Daily website.

The website was soon full of spam and swear words, with a middle finger as the background image.

The web admin quickly discovered the problem, shut down the server, and reported the attack to the Ministry of Public Security.

However, before the Ministry of Public Security could respond, another wave of attacks came.

This attack was on the CTV official website, and this time, the domain name was hijacked. The website was set to redirect to another similarly offensive page.

Just like the Everyone Daily website, the CTV website had a giant middle finger in the background…

On the other hand, thousands of emails were sent to various department workers.

[Immediately terminate the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference.

[Eagle Hunter]

This matter just got a lot more serious—it went from a cybersecurity attack to a terrorist attack.

After the head of the Ministry of Public Security received reports from his subordinates, his face turned green.

There was no way they were going to stop the Lunar Hadron Collider Conference, China would never compromise with terrorists.

Not to mention that the demands were ridiculous.

The Ministry of Public Security immediately convened an emergency meeting, inviting experts and academicians from the information security field. They formed a temporary task force to respond to this cyber attack. Taking extra precautions in financial and military fields…

…

Lone Wolf: “Boss, China is starting to fight back.”

Boss: “Good! We have to keep attacking, keep the chaos going!”

Hunter: “The Chinese security department has retaliated, I nearly lost control of the CTV website… but their response was too slow.”

When it came to cyberattacks, it was always more difficult to defend than to attack. When an attacker implanted a virus first, it was extremely difficult to recover.

Not to mention that the attack came at an unexpected time, so China wasn’t prepared at all.

Hunter: “Several major Chinese media outlets are down, what’s next?”

Boss: “Stand our ground, I have a gift prepared for them, we’re close to victory.”

Hunter: “Okay!”

Kid: “Haha, the boss is going to murder them!”

Lone Wolf: “Boss, I found that the Lunar Orbit Committee chief designer is the same person as the Lunar Hadron Collider chief designer… His name is Lu Zhou. Apparently, he’s a famous scholar in China, and he’s won the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal. I found out he works at Jin Ling University, maybe I should pay him a visit.”

Boss: “Don’t hesitate, just do it.”

Lone Wolf: “Okay, Boss!”

…

Jin Ling University computer server room.

Dean Qin looked at Professor Wang, who was fiddling with the server, and he couldn’t help but ask, “How is it?”

“Nothing yet…” The professor pushed his glasses and said, “I swear this server has something against Professor Lu. The same thing happened last time…”

Ten minutes ago, the Jin Ling University website was still up and running. Then, it was suddenly attacked. The website displayed an insulting image of Academician Lu. The administrators were completely locked out.

After hearing about the news, the computer science department professor immediately went to the server room.

And because Academician Lu was part of the mathematics department, Dean Qin came over as well.

“Don’t say that. Professor Lu is a huge help to us, we should kiss his as*.” Dean Qin coughed and said, “Just do your best, try to fix the server.”

“It’s not the server, the server is fine. I think there’s a virus inside, it’s not turning on at all… F*ck sake, who is doing this, who hacks a school server…” Professor Wang cursed as he typed on the keyboard.

The teacher standing at the entrance suddenly asked, “What if a student is trying to change their grade? I heard Professor Lu’s number theory class has a huge fail rate… Maybe they hacked the server and wanted to get revenge on Professor Lu.”

Professor Wang shook his head and said, “It’s definitely not a student. If a student could do this, they wouldn’t be a student, they could just become a computer science professor.”

Dean Qin suddenly remembered something and said, “Regardless of whether or not it’s done by a student, don’t talk about the photo and make sure Professor Lu doesn’t know about this! He’ll be furious if he finds out that someone is tarnishing his reputation…”

The teachers in the computer room looked at each other before nodding.

Suddenly, the professor standing at the entrance scratched his head and said, “I think this is bigger than we think.”

Dean Qin: “What?”

“Just go on Weibo.” The professor handed his phone to Dean Qin and said, “We’re not the only ones being attacked, ten minutes ago, Everyone Daily and CTV were also hacked…”

Chapter 917: Offending Someone

Chapter 917 Offending Someone

Throughout the entire morning, all Lu Zhou said was “next”.

Ever since he found out about Xiao Ai’s special ability, he couldn’t help but have some fun.

He would scan each report into his phone and ask Xiao Ai to change the texts and parameters into intuitive graphics. With the help from the quantum computer, none of the loopholes could get past Lu Zhou.

Of course, this wasn’t entirely because of how powerful the quantum computer was; the main reason was that these reports were just terrible. Even a normal computer would be able to find mistakes.

If these people worked slightly harder on their reports, Lu Zhou wouldn’t have been able to immediately find a problem just from his engineering intuition alone.

However…

These presenters that walked through the room had no idea what was waiting for them.

Other than a few presenters who made constructive suggestions, most of their ideas were immediately shut down.

The entire seminar turned into Lu Zhou’s performance show.

So much so that for the last report before the lunch break, the moment Lu Zhou raised his hand, the presenter lowered his head and walked out of the room.

Because of this, this two-day conference was almost completed in half a day.

The people at the meeting were dumbfounded.

Both the presenters and the listeners…

…

Now that the morning meeting session was over, the rumors about Lu Zhou’s “massacre” spread among the physicists and aerospace experts.

Lunch time.

Professor Klitzing was holding a plate full of food as he sat across from Lu Zhou and asked curiously, “I heard about that morning meeting, how did you do it?”

Lu Zhou, who had a bowl of barbecued meat and rice in front of him, asked, “Did what?”

“Don’t pretend, you know what I’m talking about.” Professor Klitzing smiled and said, “Presenting those images in the live report, that sounds so cool!”

Oh, so that’s what he’s talking about.

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “It was alright, I mean I can’t let those p*ss poor reports waste our time.”

Professor Klitzing knew what Lu Zhou was doing, so he continued to ask, “Stop changing the subject, I want to know how you did it? Can you not tell me? If so, that’s fine.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that I don’t know how to.”

Professor Klitzing: “Can I take a guess?”

Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”

Professor Klitzing frowned and said, “I’m guessing… You have a team of engineers working behind the scenes, experts in modeling. When you send the report to them, they analyze the report and produce a model… Wait a second, that sounds unrealistic.”

Professor Klitzing realized that his speculation was a little ridiculous.

What kind of engineering team could produce a model like that in ten minutes?

Even though he was a particle physicist, he still knew a little bit about engineering. After all, he often communicated with engineers for his particle physics experiments.

His experience told him that this wasn’t something that could be done in a couple of minutes, especially the composition images…

However, Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“Kind of, you’re correct.”

Professor Klitzing said in disbelief, “I’m correct? Are you sure?”

Lu Zhou said, “Yeah, you’re right.”

I don’t want to keep him guessing, I’ll just admit it.

I mean, he’s technically correct.

Xiao Ai, who was inside a quantum computer, was sort of like a team of engineers.

But speaking of which, I guess I have to thank Klitzing for coming up with an answer. I didn’t even know how to explain this.

Lu Zhou made up his mind.

If someone asks me how I did it, I’ll give them Klitzing’s answer.

Professor Klitzing didn’t expect Lu Zhou to confirm already. He had lost his interest and began to talk about particle physics instead.

However, Lu Zhou suddenly received a call.

“I have to take this call.”

Klitzing smiled and said, “Of course, go ahead.”

Lu Zhou stood up and picked up the phone. He then walked to a secluded area.

He was about to say hello, but Dean Qin spoke first.

“Did you offend someone?”

Offend someone?

Lu Zhou was a little muddled.

He was about to say no, but he then remembered that he had offended plenty of people. For example, he just offended dozens of people this morning.

“Why are you asking me this, I have no idea who you’re talking about… Why don’t you just tell me what happened?”

Dean Qin: “Our Jin University Academic Affairs Office website and server were hacked!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “What? Hacked? Is it serious?”

Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised at all, at most he was a little confused.

The school servers were so bad that students choosing their timetables would make it go down.

As for why he was confused.

Who is bored enough to hack a school server? What is there to gain?

Dean Qin said, “It’s fine, there’s some damage, but not a lot. We lost some documents, but the students’ grades are still there.”

“Okay, good…” Lu Zhou patted his chest and suddenly said, “Wait a second, what does the sever being hacked have to do with me?”

Dean Qin paused for a second. He then sighed and told the truth.

“Because your photo was on the website. Think about it, who did you offend?”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Chapter 918: Can’t Forgive Them!

Chapter 918 Can“t Forgive Them!

Lu Zhou swore that if he ever found out which student was behind this, he would upload a photoshopped photo of this student onto the school website…

Of course, he was just dreaming.

The school would never help him do something like this.

Not to mention that Lu Zhou realized that this cyber attack wasn’t as simple as he had thought…

At the Beijing Grand Hotel.

Lu Zhou and Director Li were inside a small meeting room, and they began to talk about the situation.

“How did the US react?”

“The US is also confused. Director Carson contacted me this morning. I know they would never do anything like this.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Who could it be?

All of the super countries are here at the conference, who could be behind this?

Aliens?

Director Li drank some tea and moistened his throat before saying, “I’ve notified the relevant departments… But it seems to be too late.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “What’s the damage like?”

Director Li said with a serious tone, “It’s not difficult to recover from the damages, but the problem is that we don’t know where they will attack next.”

This was the most difficult part of cybersecurity.

When faced with an unknown hostile cyber force, the defender was always in the weaker position.

It would be much easier if they knew about the attacker’s motive, for example, which kind of financial gain they were after. As long as they knew the attacker’s motives, they could set up a defense line and set a trap. However, if there was no clear motive behind the attacks, all they could do was to sit and wait.

This was similar to how someone could “kill a random person on the street” and likely get away with it.

After hearing Director Li’s explanation, Lu Zhou’s intuition told him that this was an organized cyber-attack. However, he didn’t know what was the point of this attack.

“What do they want?”

“They want us to suspend the International Lunar Hadron Collider conference… It seems like they also want us to discharge you.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If discharging me is their only request, I can easily satisfy them.”

Director Li seriously said, “Don’t think about it! Do you know what will happen if you do that?”

“Okay, okay. Fine, I know, I was just kidding, we’ll never agree to their demands…”

Director Li is quite serious about this…

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “Are there any ways we can deal with this?”

Director Li said, “We don’t… We have already contacted the United States. Let’s hope that they can cooperate with our investigation. However, they don’t seem to be enthusiastic. They said they will cooperate with any criminal investigation, provided we have enough evidence.”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “So we just have to find them then.”

Director Li: “Yeah, we have to identify these people. That’s the only way to stop these attacks. Otherwise, even if we defeat them in a short period, they will find a way to come back.”

Lu Zhou: “Okay, I’ll try to think of a way.”

“You?” Director Li shook his head and said, “Leave this kind of stuff to us, I’m just telling you to not put any important personal or academic information online. We’re in a special time right now, and they are targeting you.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

They already targeted me okay!

They posted such a humiliating photo of me online!

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I can’t just let this go… With more power, comes more responsibility. It would have been fine if they left me alone, but they placed me as a target. I can’t forgive them.”

Director Li: “…?”

Lu Zhou looked at the old man and said, “All in all, I just can’t forgive them!”

Director Li shook his head in disbelief and said, “Okay forget about it, with your programming skills… Just leave it alone. We have already set up a cyber warfare task force.”

Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and spoke emotionally.

“As for you, I hope you can put your focus on this conference. You’re representing the entire Chinese academic community!”

…

This cyberwar had gone into a stalemate.

It would be a lot easier if the attackers were domestic as the major network operators and electronics suppliers had left back doors for the security department. They could easily catch the hackers.

However, the problem was that the hackers were overseas.

No one had heard of the “Eagle Hunter” group before, but after the news broke out, their name began to spread.

Most people were criticizing them…

[F*ck, these Americans are despicable! Where are our hackers, let’s give them a taste of their own medicine!]

[We don’t have any hackers left, all of the good ones went to work for tech companies. (sigh)]

[I heard that there are underground hacker groups that have started to help fight back!]

[I think this battle is going to be difficult. They have the high ground here. Unless we can somehow implement military-grade security on every system, they’ll just attack the weakest servers.]

[F*ck sake! Don’t these Americans have anything better to do? What’s the point of hacking some web servers?]

[Ahh, I’m afraid the United States government might be behind this…]

After Director Li left, Lu Zhou went back to his own room. He browsed through Weibo and saw that the Eagle Hunter group was on the trending page.

The hackers must be ecstatic to see their name spread around like this.

I can’t just sit here and do nothing…

I can’t just leave this alone.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and called Dean Qin.

“Hey, it’s me, how’s the computer server room going?”

Dean Qin sighed and said, “There’s still a virus here, and the cybersecurity department sent someone to have a look. They said they couldn’t do anything, so they wrote a report and left… We’ve already given up, we’re going to reinstall the server OS and replace all of the hard drives.”

They’re giving up?

I can’t let that happen.

Lu Zhou immediately said, “Don’t reinstall just yet, there are a lot of computer experts at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. I’ll send someone to help you.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Dean Qin paused for a second. He didn’t expect Lu Zhou to do something like this.

“You have… experts in information security?”

“Of course!” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “We’re also an independent information technology research institute, so we have plenty of cybersecurity experts.”

Dean Qin smiled and shook his head.

“Okay then, quickly send someone over.”

Dean Qin didn’t have his hopes up at all.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was a good research institute, but their main area was mathematics, computational materials science, and chemistry.

When it came to information technology, more specifically cybersecurity, these research institute scientists were not as strong as security engineers from large companies.

Not to mention that there was no way the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study information technology institute was comparable to the Jin Ling University software department. Even Principal Xu himself was in the information technology research field.

Even experts from the computer science department had no idea what to do…

After hanging up the phone, Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai what to do. He then called Luo Wenxuan.

Luo Wenxuan’s voice came from the phone.

“Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“… Just tell me what you want, you must want something from me again.”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

Is it that obvious…

Lu Zhou’s smile quickly disappeared as he spoke in a serious manner.

“I need you to do me a favor.”

Chapter 919: Xiao Ai, You Got This

Chapter 919 Xiao Ai, You Got This

It was evening.

Jin Ling University, computer server room.

Dean Qin patiently waited for Lu Zhou’s “information technology expert”, and when he saw Luo Wenxuan at the door, he was dumbfounded.

“Isn’t this… Professor Luo from the physics department?”

“Yeah…” Luo Wenxuan looked at Dean Qin and said, “Is there a problem?”

“No…” Dean Qin said. He hoped that Luo Wenxuan just happened to be walking by. He asked, “Academician Lu sent you?”

Luo Wenxuan nodded again and said, “Yeah of course, why else would I be here?”

Dean Qin: “…”

Even though he didn’t have high hopes for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, he didn’t expect Lu Zhou to send a physics professor.

Has Academician Lu gone crazy?

This is like getting a veterinarian to do brain surgery.

Professor Wang, who was standing next to the server, spoke with an annoyed tone.

“Forget about it, I’ve been here all day. The enemy is an expert. This server is useless. Prepare to reinstall, I’m getting hungry.”

Professor Wang had the only keys to the computer server room.

If Dean Qin weren’t here, he would have left and went to eat a long time ago. He wanted to call the server supplier and ask for them to reinstall the software and replace the hardware.

Dean Qin sighed and looked at Luo Wenxuan as he said, “You should know what’s going on, even our computer science professor is giving up. If you’re here just to reinstall the operating system, you can go.”

Professor Wang was a little comfortable, and he said, “Let me add to that, I’m not giving up, it’s just that we were too late. If I were informed of this earlier, I might have been able to save it. But now that the entire server is fried, I can’t do anything.”

Luo Wenxuan scratched his head and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, all I know is that Lu Zhou gave me a USB and asked me to plug it into the servers.”

Professor Wang stepped to the side and made an inviting gesture.

“Come on, go ahead, I want to see what happens.”

“Okay…”

Luo Wenxuan walked up to the server and searched for a while before he finally found a USB port.

Professor Wang looked at his clumsy movements and was speechless.

When Luo Wenxuan finally inserted the USB, he took two steps back and looked at Professor Wang.

“Can you turn it on?”

Professor Wang turned on the server.

The fan in the server began to spin, and the computer screen lit up as if the server was resuscitated. Then, everything turned off again.

Professor Wang looked at the dead machine and impatiently said, “Now what?”

“I’m a physics researcher, I don’t know…”

Luo Wenxuan awkwardly scratched his head and noticed everyone in the server room looking at him. He quickly took out his phone and called Lu Zhou.

The phone was quickly connected.

Luo Wenxuan immediately spoke.

“I plugged in the USB.”

Lu Zhou: “Okay, thanks.”

Luo Wenxuan couldn’t help but ask, “… Now what?”

Lu Zhou said, “… What do you mean?”

Is he asking me to compensate him for the favor?

Come on…

I’ll just buy you lunch next time.

Luo Wenxuan awkwardly scratched his head and said, “I mean, am I… done?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Oh, yeah, you’re done. We just have to sit and wait now. Thanks, you can leave now.”

The USB contained a piece of software written by Xiao Ai. Once the USB was inserted into the server, the software would automatically install itself onto the server.

Once the server data transfer was completed, Xiao Ai would have total control over the server. As long as the server was connected to the Internet, the program installed on the server could open a back door to the quantum computer at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Then, the hackers wouldn’t be facing some Jin Ling University professor, they would be up against an artificial intelligence quantum computer.

In the binary world, Xiao Ai was the apex predator. Not only because of its own intelligence, but also because of the raw computing power of quantum computers. Xiao Ai had surpassed the binary bottleneck and had the advantage of multi-state qubits…

With this kind of computing power, it could easily fight against the world’s top supercomputers.

However, Luo Wenxuan was a little speechless.

“I thought I would get to witness something.”

Lu Zhou was amused as he said, “Oh yeah? Take out your phone and go on Weibo, you’ll get to witness something soon.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “… Okay, but I feel like the server is still down.”

“Don’t overthink it. Just tell Dean Qin to keep the power and Internet on, just make sure there aren’t any power outages.”

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

After that, Lu Zhou hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou placed his phone on the table and stretched his back. He stood up from his hotel chair and slowly walked toward the floor to ceiling windows.

It was late into the night.

The brightly lit city lights shined on the window.

It should be day time in America right now.

But there’s a thunderstorm coming.

Lu Zhou looked at the view outside his window and chuckled.

“Xiao Ai.

“You got this.”

A string of text bubbles appeared on his computer screen.

[Yes, Master! (` ・ω・ ́) ゞ]

[Xiao Ai got this! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Chapter 920: Dr. Z

New York.

The window blinds were closed inside an apartment with the air conditioner blasting in the background. The dark and cold room felt like a hospital morgue.

Three large monitors sat on the desk, where empty red bull cans scattered around the room.

A man went into his room with a pizza in his hand. He sat down at his desk and clicked on his mouse.

Three dark-themed code terminals filled his screen.

Most people would be confused by the lines of code on the screen, but not him.

“Finally…

“I got you! Perfect!”

Lone Wolf smacked his lips and smirked. He grabbed a slice of pizza and began biting.

He had completed another server hack.

Even though the Boss didn’t order him to do anything, he believed that it was time to extend the attack to beyond media companies.

After all, it wasn’t like they were an organization that had strict rules. Not to mention almost all of the Chinese media outlets had already been hacked.

He sifted through the lines of code and laughed at the thought of the Chinese administrators sh*tting their pants.

However, his account on a dark web forum received a message.

[Did my “shipment” arrive?]

He wasn’t talking about a real shipment, but rather an attack request, such as a DDOS attack or something of a similar nature.

A DDOS attack was a similar cyber-attack method that could be done by noob hackers. Therefore, it was much more efficient for expert hackers to “order” these attacks instead of carrying out these attacks themselves.

Lone Wolf clicked on the unread message.

However, he suddenly froze.

[Um, Master is letting you a chance to redeem yourself, so you should surrender. ( ́◔‸◔ ‘)]

“Pfft…

“Hahaha!”

Lone Wolf laughed and leaned back on his computer chair. He deleted the message and logged off his sockpuppet account and logged onto a backup account.

“What a joke… You think I’m going to surrender just because you found my account? Go f*ck yourself!”

Finding his sockpuppet account ID wasn’t difficult, the entire hacker circle was paying attention to this event.

Anyone that looked through his account history could tell that he was part of the Eagle Hunter group.

Thus, he wasn’t worried at all. Trying to find his personal information from his sockpuppet account was nearly impossible.

However, on one of the terminals, he suddenly saw the Jin Ling University server light turn green.

This meant that their trojan was removed by the server administrator, and their server was online.

Do these fools want to die?

“Do they know who they are up against?”

Lone Wolf placed his hand on the keyboard. He was about to give them a lesson.

However, after he pressed down the first key, he was shocked.

A dialog box suddenly jumped out on his screen, displaying a string of unknown characters.

[(*・Ω・) ✄╰ひ╯]

Lone Wolf: “???”

…

Cyber Security Bureau.

Inside an office.

Even though it was late into the night, the workers were still here.

A can of Coke was sitting on the computer desk as Director Hong stared meticulously at the computer screen. He suddenly spoke.

“F*ck sake, these rats!”

The enemies were like sneaky rats, biting them left and right.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense was also there. He frowned and asked, “Has the safety warning been issued?”

The technician sitting next to them looked at Director Hong and received a nod. He then looked at Director Li and spoke.

“It has been issued, but it won’t do much. Companies like Tencent and Alibaba already have good security. Some medium-sized companies received our notices, but there is nothing they can do… In fact, I think our warning might have increased the panic.”

Director Hong said, “It’s still better to inform them, what else can we do?”

“… There’s nothing else other than to switch the roles and become the attacker ourselves.”

The office suddenly became quiet, only keyboard tapping sounds could be heard.

Director Hong coughed and said, “Okay, forget about it. The higher-ups will never approve for us to attack. Once we become the attackers, that means that China has declared an international cyber warfare. Even though we were the ones that were hit first, we will be blamed… Right now, we need to collect evidence and find where these people are, then ask the local authorities of that country to arrest them.”

Not to mention that they didn’t even know who and where the attackers were. If they were to somehow retaliate, the international political damage would be unthinkable.

Also, the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference was underway, affecting the international political situation was exactly what the hackers wanted.

Director Hong coughed and said, “How’s the server recovery going?”

The information security engineer sitting in front of the computer spoke in a tired voice.

“Most of the large media domains have been restored… I’ve restored at least a dozen websites now, but we can’t keep doing this forever.”

A technician sitting in front of the computer in military clothes suddenly made an announcement.

“We found a new website with abnormal traffic activities, and it is now confirmed to have been hijacked.”

Before Director Hong could speak, Director Li spoke first, “Who is it this time?”

“The state Trade and Development Council website.”

After Director Hong heard that another website had fallen, he furiously slammed the table.

“Motherf*cker!”

The attack had spread beyond media websites and onto government departments.

Director Hong began to sweat.

Even though the major government department websites had reinforced security, the Chinese government was so large that there were just too many servers and websites. They could only rely on the servers’ built-in firewalls and defenses.

And this wasn’t his biggest worry.

If the attackers expanded their battlefield and attacked the medical, energy, and logistics industries, the damage could be catastrophic…

The losses would be unbearable.

However, the engineer sitting at the computer screen suddenly frowned and looked closer at his screen.

“Wait a second, something is wrong.”

Director Hong immediately said, “What?”

“The attacker’s traffic data we were tracking has disappeared…”

Director Hong suddenly turned blue.

“Did the attackers find us?”

The information security engineer shook his head and said, “I’m certain they haven’t found us… They all just inexplicably disappeared one by one.”

Director Hong wanted to ask what was going on, but a sonorous voice came from the side.

“The Trade and Development Council website is up!” the man in the military uniform said. He stood up excitedly and said, “It seems like they’ve retreated!”

Director Hong frowned and carefully stared at the screen.

“But why did they retreat?”

The engineer shook his head.

“I don’t know…”

He was 100% certain that the attackers didn’t notice them tracking their data traffic.

However, there was no other reason for them to retreat like this.

This was amazing for those servers that were under attack, but the Cyber Security Bureau wasn’t happy about this at all.

Not catching the attackers meant they were open to a second attack at any time.

If they couldn’t find out what the reason behind the retreat was, they wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Director Hong looked around the office and spoke in a firm tone.

“Continue the investigation, it doesn’t matter that the attacks have stopped, we have to find them!”

“Okay!”

Even though they didn’t win the battle, it was still a small victory.

The “soldiers” in the office were still fighting on the front line.

Director Hong nodded and went into his office. He was about to sit down, but he heard a knock at his door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and a skinny employee walked in.

“Director!”

Director Hong: “What?”

“We just received an email… It’s a bit special.”

“What kind of email?”

“There’s some strange code in the email, and also some text saying…” The staff member hesitated for a bit and said, “They found the attacker’s IP address.”

They found the attacker’s IP address?

Director Hong was ecstatic.

He immediately asked, “Who sent the email? Did we have a way to contact them?”

“No…” the staff member shook his head and said, “The email is signed by one person.”

“Who?”

“Dr. Z…”

Director Hong: “…?”

Director Li: “???”

Chapter 921: An Expert!

The dark web.

On an unknown forum.

A group of people logged onto their accounts and excitedly reported their results.

“Not bad!”

“Just some basic techniques, I think the page redirect was quite creative.”

“Forget about it, your photoshop skills are dog sh*t.”

“…”

Boss: “Quiet.”

Everyone in the chat quieted down as they waited for their leader to speak.

Boss: “The Chinese have clearly ignored our demands, while the White House has ignored our threats. It seems like our attacks haven’t affected them.”

“If that is the case, we should begin our second phase.”

Hunter: “I’m ready, Boss.”

Kid: “Haha, finally!”

Kid: “Lol, I’ve been wanting to attack Congress for a while now.”

Hunter: “The Congress and White House are two different things.”

Kid: “Who cares? They’re the same for me!”

Ghost: “Oh yeah, where is Lone Wolf? Didn’t he find that chief designer Academician Lu’s university and shut down their website?”

Kid: “Someone go find him.”

Dr. Z: “He’s not going to come. :p”

Suddenly, a new user appeared in the chat room.

The entire chatroom went silent.

A two-story house in Los Angeles.

A man in his thirties stared at his laptop screen.

Dr. Z?

Who is that?

Is that Lone Wolf’s second account?

But we said no duplicate accounts allowed in the group…

In the group chat.

Hunter: “Who are you?”

Ghost: “Is this someone’s second account?”

Kid: “Hey, bro, we use our main IDs to communicate. We’re going to kick you out, we’re not joking around.”

Dr. Z: “I am Dr. Z. Master gave me this ID, so this is my name. (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧”

Hunter: “…?”

Kid: “???”

The texting style of Dr. Z was a little weird.

These hackers had surfed the dark webs for many years, and they had seen many types of peculiar texting, but they had never seen someone use this kind of emoticons before.

They all knew this new guy was an expert.

None of them had doubts about this.

This guy was able to get into this dark web forum and gain access to Boss’ private chatroom. Either this was Boss himself or someone installed a backdoor into Boss’ server.

Who is this guy?!

The man in his thirties quickly stood up and placed his laptop aside. He then began typing on a PC keyboard.

His name was Mason, a low-level employee that worked at a Los Angeles software company. The only outstanding part about him was that he was the legendary dark web hacker—Boss!

As the leader of the Eagle Hunter group and a famous figure in the dark webs, his hacking skill was world-class.

This was one of the reasons he was responsible for managing the Eagle Hunter server.

Not only because they trusted his leadership, but they also trusted his skills.

But now, someone had broken through his server and entered a restricted chat room…

Mason checked the server and didn’t find any back doors. He had a serious look on his face, and he had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

It was too late to figure out how the other party gained access to his server. Instead, he went on his laptop and immediately typed.

Boss: “Everyone, leave this chatroom now. Begin the fourth phase. Long live Eagle Hunter!”

He was obviously not the only one that realized something was wrong.

After he sent out this message, the group members went offline one by one.

Even though these hackers usually didn’t follow strict rules, when it came to the safety of their own lives, they gladly listened to their leader…

Mason continued to type on his laptop.

Someone entered his encrypted chat room.

It was entirely possible that the attacker had gained access to his server and copied all of the data… including the chat records…

Mason began to sweat, and he started to get a little dizzy.

There was no point in unplugging the server. He had to find any evidence the attacker left, hack into the other party’s server, and delete all of the evidence.

The things in his server alone would be enough for him to stay in prison for a very long time…

Fortunately, the other party was stupid enough to send a message in the chatroom.

This was his opportunity!

Mason’s fingers danced on the keyboard as he desperately tried to salvage the situation. He suddenly saw that the user appeared in the chatroom again.

Dr. Z: “Um, I think you should just give up. Kicking me out of the chat room or hacking into my computer won’t do anything. (” ◔‸◔ ‘)”

Mason was startled. He looked around his room and locked eyes on another laptop sitting behind him.

His face turned white.

As expected, his worst nightmares came true.

For some reason, the laptop LED camera was shining red.

Due to work-related needs, that was his only laptop camera that wasn’t taped over…

Faced with a god-like enemy, Mason decided to give up.

He looked at the laptop and murmured, “How did you do it… How? I didn’t find any trace of your break-in. None of the alarms were set off… Are you even a human?”

It was almost like the attacker heard him.

Another message appeared in the chatroom.

Dr. Z: “Because your code is too weak, I just used your backup administrator account. (╯▽╰).”

Mason had a hysterical smile on his face, and it looked like he had aged ten years. He stared at the code on his screen silently.

There was no point in trying to fight back.

He took out a lighter and lit a cigarette.

He exhaled a ring of smoke.

“Is it too late to surrender?”

Dr. Z: “I don’t know, that depends on how fast the police are. ( ́◔‸◔ ‘)”

Chapter 922: Boss Is Offline!

It was an extraordinary day for the hacker community.

Trying to disrupt the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference, hacker group Eagle Hunter declared cyber warfare on China.

In less than 12 hours, more than 50 website servers and domain names were hijacked, and dozens of companies reported millions of dollars in damages.

It seemed like the attacks were going to continue, and while everyone was wondering what the hackers would do next, the war suddenly ended abruptly.

Not just that, but several well-known hacker accounts went offline. It was like they vanished from the dark webs.

Especially Boss.

He was one of the top dogs in the hacker community, and the FBI had been trying to capture him for years, but their efforts were to no avail.

However, it seemed like this person suddenly vanished from the Internet. He didn’t reply to any messages, he stopped updating his personal blog, and his website went offline.

It was like he disappeared off the planet…

On a well known dark web forum.

Many scholars in the field of information technology, as well as white hats that worked for well-known technology companies, had accounts on this forum. They talked about everything from industry news to the latest technology.

Because the war between Eagle Hunter and China was such a huge event, half of the forum users were talking about it. Thus, the forum moderators decided to create a new forum channel specifically for this event…

[Does anyone know what happened?]

[It’s been almost an hour, did they give up?]

[No way, an hour ago the Chinese side was still desperately trying to stay alive. There is no reason for Eagle Hunter to retreat.]

[Does the Boss have an email? Should we ask what he’s doing?]

[Apparently, he was caught.]

The channel went silent for a while.

After a couple of minutes, someone broke the silence.

[No way, you have to be kidding me?]

[Yeah, it’s Boss! I’ve seen him make ATMs shoot out money before, and the FBI has been tracking him for years. How did he get caught?]

No one believed that this veteran hacker was defeated by someone from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Most people thought that even though the Eagle Hunter hackers had disappeared, they would reappear after laying low for a while.

It was almost impossible to track an experienced hacker.

Especially since Boss was a veteran hacker. If Boss didn’t want to get caught, there was no way anyone could catch him.

While everyone was talking about the Eagle Hunter members, a Los Angeles evening newspaper published their latest breaking story…

[Leader of well-known hacker organization “Eagle Hunter” has been caught!]

Once the news broke out…

The hacker community’s jaws fell on the floor!

…

Ever since the Cyber Security Bureau received that email, they strengthened their defenses and tried to investigate the origin of the email.

Even though they had many doubts about the legitimacy of the email, that was their only clue.

After Director Li saw that the email was signed by Dr. Z, he seemed to have realized something. He patted Director Hong on the shoulder and told him to investigate this email.

Even though Director Li of the State Administration for National Defense was a layman, Director Hong still took his advice.

Tracking an IP from outside the country wasn’t easy, especially without sufficient evidence. The local authorities of that country could refuse to cooperate. However, they discovered that the IP address was from a domestic location.

Director Hong immediately called the Ministry of Public Security and contacted the relevant local police station. Soon after, the hacker with the ID “Kid” was captured.

Everyone was surprised.

Contrary to the ID, the hacker wasn’t a “kid” at all; it was a middle-aged man in his thirties.

According to the neighbors, the suspect had been living there for years.

The police easily found the electronics equipment used to commit the crime in Kid’s home, as well as his personal laptop and phone.

The police found that not only was this person involved in various hacking organizations, he also had a strong hatred toward power and authority.

According to his confession, he was brought into the Eagle Hunter organization by Boss last year. He helped the organization locate and target domestic servers and was a “middle man” for cyber attacks.

As for his motive for the attacks, it was obviously because of his resentment toward society…

…

It was four o’clock in the morning, and the sun was almost about to rise.

Director Hong was drinking a cup of coffee when he looked at Director Li and said, “You know Dr. Z?”

Director Li took a sip out of his vacuum flask and said, “Actually, I’m not sure.”

You’re not sure if you know him?

“Then why were you so certain that he’s right…” Director Hong coughed and said, “Granted, you were correct. I have no intention in finding out his identity, I’m just curious.”

Director Li: “Actually, the reason why I believed him is that he’s helped us in the past.”

Director Hong frowned and said, “Helped us?”

“That was almost six months ago.” Director Li began to reminisce as he said, “The Ares program was in trouble, and due to various humanitarian reasons, we launched a spacecraft toward Mars…”

The entire office began to listen to Director Li’s story.

He talked about everything from the Mars landing to the colonists being infected. He even put down his vacuum flask and gestured with his hands.

When he began to hear snoring sounds, he awkwardly stopped his story…

Chapter 923: Dr. Z’s Identity!

The news of the arrest of “Boss”, leader of the Eagle Hunter organization, caused a sensation in the hacker and information security community.

No one expected Los Angeles to be able to catch such a huge criminal in such a short frame of time…

What surprised people the most was that “Boss”, who the FBI had been trying to catch for nearly a decade, lived in a townhome 500 meters away from a police station.

Apparently, the reason why the Los Angeles police were able to catch the perp so quickly was because of an anonymous tip.

The email didn’t leave any contact information, only an alias—Dr. Z.

This name sounded quite mysterious.

The Los Angeles Times reporters had contacted experts in the field of information security, in hopes of finding out who Dr. Z was. They hadn’t been able to find any clues behind the identity of this mysterious person.

It was like this person came out of thin air.

Some people thought that Dr. Z was a Chinese information technology expert. After all, less than 10 hours after “Boss” was arrested, China made an arrest on “Kid”.

Some people speculated that Dr. Z was a high-profile hacker in the Chinese “Honker Union” hacker group. After all, the Americans knew that China had many mathematics and computer science experts.

Some people thought back to the Mars incident some time ago, where an unnamed biologist published a thesis that provided a key solution for the international team of experts that were working on the vaccine…

However, this conjecture wasn’t very realistic. After all, if Dr. Z was an expert in biology, he would have nothing to do with information technology. People were more inclined to believe that Dr. Z was just an anonymous hacker.

They thought the hacker just copied the name “Dr. Z” from the Mars incident…

The name was used as a symbol, similar to Batman’s Batarangs…

Regardless, this hacker was able to track the IP address of Boss and inform Interpol for an arrest. This kind of skill was unseen before.

Not only was the FBI investigating the identity of Dr. Z, but major Silicon Valley companies were also trying to find him.

Companies like Amazon and Microsoft were trying to find out who Dr. Z was, and even the CEO of Apple stated on Twitter that if Dr. Z wanted to use his skills on something that would benefit society, Apple would gladly compensate him…

…

After Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai to handle the cyber attack, he went on his bed and flipped through his research notes. He read some research and gradually fell asleep.

Because he overworked himself the previous day, he slept until noon.

He had quite a relaxed schedule for the day, and he only had to attend a meeting at 3 pm.

Lu Zhou climbed out of bed and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He looked at his WeChat notifications and saw that Luo Wenxuan sent him a dozen messages.

“F*ck sake, why does he want now?”

Lu Zhou’s sleepy eyes began reading the messages.

The messages were filled with exclamation marks and surprised emojis. Luo Wenxuan repeatedly called him “nutty” and “impressive”.

Lu Zhou gradually smiled.

He thought that Luo Wenxuan must have read something about him on Weibo.

Speaking of which, there was something else he was looking forward to.

Lu Zhou shook his head and didn’t reply. He threw his phone aside and picked up the remote control. He then turned on the TV and opened the international news channel.

Just like he had expected, the news was reporting on last night’s events.

The hackers were arrested and this cyber warfare was finally over.

Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised at all. Even though Xiao Ai still lacked some emotional intelligence, its hacking abilities were state of the art.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was that one of the hackers was in China?

Why the f*ck…

Would he stay in China?

After Lu Zhou turned off the TV, his phone started to vibrate.

It was a message from Xiao Ai. Lu Zhou knew that his little buddy was excited.

Xiao Ai: [Master, did Xiao Ai do a good job? (≧ω≦ *)]

Lu Zhou: “Everything is done?”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah! All of the evidence was handed over to the police! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)]

Lu Zhou wanted to hug Xiao Ai through the phone as he said, “Well done!”

Xiao Ai: [You’re welcome, compliment me more, please! (≧ω≦ *)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Can this thing be a little less cocky…

It should learn from its master to be humble.

Lu Zhou climbed out of bed naked and sat in front of his computer.

He scrolled through Weibo and saw that the “Eagle Hunter” organization was on the trending section…

[Eagle hunter, more like chicken hunters!]

[I can’t believe it, we were able to find these American hackers within a day!]

[Apparently, a hacker called Dr. Z was the person behind all of this, and he single-handedly found the IP address of all of the members!]

[No way, I thought Dr. Z was a biologist?]

[Maybe someone’s copying his name? Regardless, we should thank Dr. Z. Who knows how many websites he saved!]

Lu Zhou looked at the posts and felt like a hero.

Of course, he knew that this was mainly due to Xiao Ai’s quantum computer.

However, considering that both the quantum computer and Xiao Ai were his property, he felt like he should take some credit.

Suddenly a string of texts popped up on the lower right corner.

[Master, are you going to put on some clothes? (/// ω ///)]

Lu Zhou looked at the message and paused for a second.

Emm…

Okay, I guess browsing the web naked is kind of barbaric.

But there’s no one else in the room, who cares?

Lu Zhou looked at his computer and spoke.

“Why do you care, you’re just a program.”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah, but Xiao Ai is only 7 years old. ( ́◔‸◔ ‘)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Jesus Christ.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh yeah, don’t turn on the camera without my permission, or unless necessary.”

Xiao Ai: [Oh… (°△° |||)]

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and put on a suit. He adjusted his tie in front of the mirror and nodded with satisfaction.

Who’s that handsome professor in the mirror?

Suddenly, his phone on the bedside table began to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and spoke.

“Hello?”

Director Li spoke from the other end of the phone.

“Are you available?”

Lu Zhou looked at his watch and said, “Yeah, why?”

Director Li: “It’s lunchtime, come to the buffet, I want to talk with you.”

Chapter 924: People Want to Be Geniuses

Lunch.

Hotel buffet.

Lu Zhou walked in and immediately saw Director Li sitting by the window.

Lu Zhou sat across from him and looked at his eyebags. He paused for a second and asked, “What… happened?”

“Nothing, I didn’t sleep last night.” Director Li tried to wake himself up. He said with a solemn expression, “Remember about the cyber attacks I told you? According to Interpol, the main hacker has been arrested in Los Angeles.”

Lu Zhou: “… Oh.”

Lu Zhou already knew about this.

However, Director Li didn’t notice that, so he continued to speak in a stern tone, “One of the criminals was located domestically, and as for the other criminals, we submitted their information to Interpol and the LAPD took over the case.”

Lu Zhou: “Ok.”

Director Li: “Don’t you think it’s strange?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What’s so strange?

They’ve been talking about this on TV all morning, what’s so strange about it.

Director Li stared at Lu Zhou and suddenly spoke.

“Honestly, how did you find out who the hackers were?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and reacted quickly. He tried to act confused.

“I saw it online, why? I read about it this morning.”

However, Director Li didn’t give up. Instead, he said, “Speaking of which, we received help from an expert. If it weren’t for their help, we would still be in shambles.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Yeah, I heard about it. It’s someone called Dr. Z, right? One man taking down the entire Eagle Hunter group, he has to be an expert.”

Director Li looked slightly disappointed, but he quickly recovered.

It didn’t really matter if Lu Zhou was Dr. Z or not. Also, it was entirely possible that Dr. Z could be an expert from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Director Li just wanted to satisfy his curiosity.

Even if Lu Zhou really was Dr. Z, if Lu Zhou didn’t plan on making this public, Director Li certainly didn’t want to ask any more questions.

Director Li cleared his throat and began talking.

“Even though we were victorious in this cyberwar, we have to learn from this experience and strengthen our cybersecurity defenses. This attack threatened much sensitive information and destabilized society. The Communist Party of China is ready to…”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “I know the rough situation, but I’m just a mathematician, so you’re… speaking to the wrong person.”

I don’t know why…

But I feel like Director Li knows that I’m Dr. Z.

This isn’t good…

I’m going to reveal myself eventually…

But now is not the time.

“Listen to me.” Director Li put on a serious face and said, “In order to deal with any possible threats, the Communist Party of China intends to invest heavily in quantum computing technology. This is to strengthen our network defense and counterattack abilities.”

Strengthen quantum computing technology?

Lu Zhou was supportive of this idea, but something didn’t feel right.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit and asked, “But it’s not going to be cheap.”

Forget about the lunar collider, the semiconductor industry cluster was still underway.

Lu Zhou alone spent more than 100 billion yuan on state-funded projects last year, and it wasn’t like the government could just keep printing money like this.

“Um… I have to thank you for this.” Director Li smiled and said, “Ever since the Southeast Asia Regional Power Grid Plan was implemented, it has achieved tremendous results. Numerous Southeast Asian countries have access to cheap and clean energy. This has created at least US$50 billion in revenue and is expected to grow. We have quite a lot of funding for state scientific research projects.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

No wonder!

No wonder they have so much money to burn.

If this was two years ago, there was no way he could have gotten the Lunar Hadron Collider project approved.

So far, the aerospace projects had barely broken even, and Lu Zhou still needed more time to prove that his decisions were correct.

I guess nuclear fusion is still where the money is.

Cheap and clean energy was being exported to neighboring countries at 1/10th the price of coal power plants. As the power grid continued to expand in Western and Southeast Asia, sooner or later East Asia Energy would become the largest company in the world.

Director Li: “All in all, you don’t have to worry about funding, money is not a problem. Didn’t we talk about this last time? Isn’t that carbon-based chip suitable for quantum computing? I just want to ask, is it realistic to use the carbon-based chips to develop topological quantum computers?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “What can I say… Of course I’m going to say it’s realistic.”

Director Li said in a serious manner, “I trust that you’re a scholar that seeks the truth. You wouldn’t betray god for a small profit.”

Actually, Lu Zhou wanted to say that this wasn’t going to be a small profit and that he was an atheist. He didn’t believe in god.

However, there was one thing Director Li was right about.

Lu Zhou was a scholar that sought the truth.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Majorana fermions can be found in the material used for carbon-based chips, so this is a great starting point. As long as we can directly observe the zero-energy mode of pure Majorana fermions, it is possible to create quantum topology calculations.”

Director Li began to feel excited, and he put his hands on his knees and asked, “So what you’re saying is, this will work?”

“I never said that.” Lu Zhou said, “Finding out its feasibility will take a lot of theoretical calculations. You can’t just throw money at it and hope for the best.”

Director Li calmed down and thought for a second.

“Then, what do you think we should do?”

Lu Zhou said, “My suggestion is to take it easy, find some experts and carefully research the technical feasibility side, and find a technical route. After that, you can invest all the money you want.”

This was the safest and least risky approach.

If the technical route proved to be feasible, the theoretical expert team would be put on research and development and the project would be on its way.

Investing money without a direction could induce an overflow of capital, thus wasting social resources.

“You’re right…” Director Li sighed and said, “We should take it slow and easy.”

After contemplating for a second, he spoke.

“After I go back to the office, I’ll type up some documents and form a quantum computer theoretical expert team… Do you have any recommendations?”

Lu Zhou said, “Professor Wu Tianqun, the carbon-based semiconductor technology was created by his team. Also some experts in the field of quantum computing. I can’t name any names right now, but I’ll send you a list later.”

Director Li was overjoyed that Lu Zhou was willing to help.

“Thank you so much!”

After lunch, Director Li didn’t stay for any longer. He quickly got into his car and drove away.

Seeing how he didn’t sleep all night, Lu Zhou was a little worried about him.

For a man of his age, he should be more careful.

Lu Zhou shook his head and took out his phone. He set a reminder for himself to send over a list of quantum computing experts.

However, he suddenly had a strange thought.

If I only recommend people that I know, wouldn’t that monopolize the entire future of the quantum computing field?

However, this thought quickly disappeared…

For some reason, he suddenly remembered one person.

Which was Academician Zhou, the person that fought with him on the controllable fusion project.

Lu Zhou shook his head and put his phone in his pocket.

“No wonder everyone wants to become a genius.

“Power really is an addictive thing…

“Fortunately, power is not that appealing to me.”

Chapter 925: Trade Off

White House.

President’s office.

After FBI director Mueller entered the office, the president’s assistant sitting outside the door could hear the president yelling.

“You bunch of idiots!”

Mueller stood in front of the president and took a deep breath. He then said, “This is our fault… We expected them to act, but we didn’t expect things to move this fast.”

Even though the White House was happy to see China suffer losses, they didn’t want it to happen this way.

The negotiations on the Lunar Hadron Collider were still underway. They were finally able to recruit some allies through diplomatic means and wanted to put pressure on China in regard to the budget committee.

However, their plan was ruined.

Because of the cyberattacks, most of their allies began doubting them. Many nations began to express their doubts on whether or not America wanted to participate in this project at all.

Maybe the Americans were only here to disrupt this meeting?

After all, China was America’s biggest space competitor…

Suddenly, the phone on the desk began to ring.

The president took a deep breath and picked up the call.

Director Carson’s voice traveled through the phone.

“It’s me.”

President: “I know it’s you, speak!”

Carson knew the President was in a bad mood, but he didn’t dare to ask why.

Carson cleared his throat and spoke.

“The Chinese are putting pressure on us, those f*cking idiots. I drafted a plan for the budget committee last night, and as soon as I took it out at the conference today, the Chinese began questioning me about the cyber attacks. They are using this as a tactic for negotiation.”

He took a deep breath and continued in a stern tone, “Now that we’re at a negotiation disadvantage, even the neutral countries have expressed serious concerns regarding our domestic cybersecurity and terrorist issues.”

The president couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t you tell them that the attacks and the hadron collider are two completely different things?”

“I said that, but they said that the Eagle Hunter was supported by the federal government and that they’ve already obtained enough evidence…” Director Carson paused for a second and said, “Just wondering, is that a possibility…”

The president said, “Of course not! Why would I approve such a stupid plan! What could we possibly gain from destroying some Chinese servers? What do you think, Mr. Mueller?”

Mueller nodded quickly and said, “Of course! I would never approve of such a stupid thing… But just in case, we should contact the CIA and make sure they didn’t do anything.”

“Now is not the time to blame others.” Director Carson said in a tired voice, “The situation is not good for us, so my suggestion is that… we should lie low. Otherwise, China might reconsider our participation in the project…”

The office became quiet.

One could hear a pin drop.

Reconsider our participation in the project…

A hint of bitterness appeared in the president’s eyes.

If this were ten years ago, this would have been a joke.

Back then, the United States was a nation of industry. It was impossible for any country to organize such a large scientific research project without help from the United States.

But now…

China was thinking about kicking them out of the group?

The tables had turned.

The president went silent for a while and sat down at his desk.

He tapped his finger on the desk and said, “We can forgo our other requests, but you must ensure that we have at least three voting seats on the budget committee. That is not up for debate.”

He didn’t want to risk China kicking them out of the project.

China needed America’s cooperation, but America needed China more…

Director Carson sighed in relief.

“I’ll try my best…”

The president slammed his fist on the table and cursed, “These f*cknig idiots!”

Director Mueller looked at the president and held his breath.

Because of the Eagle Hunter group, the United States was now at a huge negotiation disadvantage.

If the Russians couldn’t stand their ground, China would have total control of the budget committee…

The Chinese could easily take over Russia’s voting seats; after all, the Russians only invested a small amount of money in the project…

…

In Lu Zhou’s opinion, what happened online was only a minor disturbance.

Whether or not Eagle Hunter was backed by the White House didn’t matter to him at all.

The source of the attack came from American soil. China could easily use this to gain an “advantage” over the budget committee negotiations.

Of course, the Lunar Orbit Committee had ultimate control over this matter.

The Americans had to prove themselves.

Otherwise, the Americans would just label this as an “accident”.

Over the past few days, Lu Zhou had been working on the Lunar Hadron Collider Research Center, as well as helping Director Li find a list of experts to demonstrate the technical feasibility of quantum computing.

Lu Zhou realized that it was quite difficult to keep this quiet.

Jin Ling University was one of the top five software engineering universities. They had two big names in the field of quantum computing—one was even an academician.

It would be a bit unfair to exclude these quantum computing experts just to avoid suspicion. Therefore, Lu Zhou wrote both of their names down.

Some of the other experts were from Shuimu and Yan Universities, and there were ten people in total. It wasn’t after Lu Zhou finished compiling the list did he realize that he was caring about things outside of academia.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He made up his mind to never do something like this again. After that, he sent this list to Director Li’s email.

I’m finally done!

Lu Zhou stretched his back and was about to make some coffee.

However, suddenly an email arrived in his inbox.

Lu Zhou looked at the name and paused for a second.

Professor Wu Tianqun?

Speak of the devil?

Lu Zhou curiously opened the email.

The email was short.

There was only one sentence.

[There’s progress on the research of the carbon-based chip!]

…

Chapter 926: So Handsome!

After a week-long “friendly discussions”, the first International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference finally came to an end.

Even though not everyone was happy with the end result, the countries came up with a plan that was acceptable to most people.

At least acceptable to a certain extent…

At the closing ceremony.

NASA Director Carson and the director of the China National Space Administration stood in front of the media cameras and shook hands with each other.

“It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Yes, same here…”

Director Carson tried to put on a fake smile, but he didn’t look happy at all.

There was a warm applause in the crowd.

The media cameras recorded this historic moment.

Lu Zhou was standing by the side, away from most people. He looked at Director Carson’s uncomfortable face and felt a little distressed.

“Why do I feel like Director Carson isn’t very happy?”

Director Li, who was standing next to him, said, “They had to make a huge compromise on the budget committee negotiations; I’m sure anyone would be unhappy in his position.”

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and said, “Actually, I’m quite curious about the requests you made.”

Over the past week, Lu Zhou was mainly responsible for the technical side.

Precisely speaking, he tried to protect the initial design plan from these horrible improvement suggestions and make sure that the design would be smoothly implemented before the end of the month.

He didn’t really pay attention to the political negotiation, but he was curious.

Director Li smiled and said, “We didn’t make any requests, we just refused most of their requests.”

Lu Zhou looked surprised.

“And they agreed?”

“Sort of, we have the upper hand, so it doesn’t matter. We have another meeting next year; hopefully, we’ll maintain our advantage.” Director Li patted Lu Zhou on the arm and said, “Diplomatic negotiations are about communicating, but it ultimately depends on the country’s strength. The reason we can do this is because of our advantage; hopefully, you can help us maintain that advantage.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry about that.”

Director Li solemnly nodded and said, “I’m happy to hear that!”

With the conclusion of the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference, the construction plan was set in stone. The first batch of the experimental components had been transported to the Jinling launch site. They were going to be transported to outer space via the Skyglow, then transported to the lunar orbit via the Magpie Bridge.

Also, the engineering team responsible for the construction would be sent to the Moon Palace.

On the other hand, the Lunar Hadron Collider Research Center was going to be built in Shanghai.

After hearing this news, Lu Zhou felt emotional.

He always thought that the headquarters of the Lunar Hadron Collider would be in Beijing. However, it seemed like Chen Yushan’s prediction was correct—it was indeed in Shanghai.

Chen Yushan told him that the Communist Party of China wanted to promote the Yangtze River Delta economic region.

Having the ILHCRC set in Shanghai was a signal of their intentions.

Beijing was the future of China, while the Yangtze River Delta economic region would become the political, economic, and cultural center of Asia…

A magnificent blueprint appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind.

If Chen Yushan’s guess was correct, then Lu Zhou should really pay more attention to the project plan…

…

The day after the International Lunar Hadron Collider Conference ended, a line of taxis parked outside the Beijing Shangri-La hotel.

After staying in China for a week, scholars and politicians from all over the world had begun their journeys back to their respective countries.

Academician Zhang Wenlong, chairman of the Chinese Physical Society, stood at the hotel entrance. He spoke in a somewhat emotional tone to Academician Yang Xianfu, principal of the Beijing Institute of Technology.

“I still remember when I went to CERN with my supervisor. I met legendary physicists I read about in textbooks, and I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night.

“I went to the lecture hall the next day. My supervisor told me what one day China will be like this as well. I didn’t believe him at the time. But now, it seems like my supervisor was right.”

Academician Yang was also filled with emotion as he said, “Yeah, half of the world’s best physicists are here in Beijing. This is amazing! Oh yeah, where is Academician Lu?”

Academician Zhang smiled and said, “You’re a day late. He packed his things last night and left after the closing ceremony! I bumped into him in the elevator, and he said he had something urgent to attend to in Jinling.”

Academician Yang paused for a second and said, “Why did he leave in such a hurry? I wanted to give him a tour of the Beijing Institute of Technology.”

Academician Zhang smiled and said, “Haha, you should’ve told him earlier. Academician Lu is a busy man. I heard that Academician Wang Shicheng was finally able to get him to visit Yan University, but somehow, Academician Lu poached a person during his visit.”

Academician Yang was shocked. “How is that possible? Wang Shicheng must be so embarrassed…”

Academician Zhang sighed and said, “Yeah, he is!”

While the two were talking, they suddenly heard a cough.

Academician Zhang Wenlong turned around and saw Academician Wang Shicheng standing right there.

Academician Zhang Wenlong awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“Academician Wang? Nice to see you… Why are you here?”

“… I’m here for the conference.”

Wang Shicheng maintained a fake smile and began to chat with the two academicians.

However, no matter what Wang Shicheng talked about, he could tell that the two academicians were acting a little weird.

It was almost like…

They felt sympathetic, almost pitiful.

Wang Shicheng was enraged.

The entire academic community heard about Lu Zhou poaching a talent from his mathematics center. Not to mention that Lu Zhou did it right in front of him.

Wang Shicheng clenched his fist and wanted to skin Lu Zhou alive.

F*ck sake!

That little sh*t!

The worst thing is that I still have to put on a smile in front of him…

God damnit!

Chapter 927: Carbon-Based Chips!

After Lu Zhou received that email from Professor Wu, even though his body was still in Beijing, his attention was focused on Jinling.

After Lu Zhou delivered the closing ceremony speech at the conference, he immediately went to the airport and took a flight back to Jinling.

As soon as the flight landed, Lu Zhou got in Wang Peng’s car and went directly to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

When Lu Zhou walked into the carbon-based semiconductor laboratory, Professor Wu Tianqun and his researchers were working on a piece of laboratory equipment.

When Professor Wu saw Lu Zhou at the door, he paused for a second before asking, “Academician Lu? You’re… back from Beijing?”

I just saw this guy on live TV this morning…

“I just came back in a hurry.” Lu Zhou looked at the experimental equipment behind him and said, “I’m not interrupting your experiment, right?”

“No, not at all.” Professor Wu Tianqun shook his head and said, “The experiment is over, we’re just collecting some data.”

“Good.” Lu Zhou nodded and quickly said, “What about the carbon-based chip?”

Professor Wu Tianqun smiled and spoke.

“The carbon-based chip is in the other laboratory. For safety reasons, I locked it in the sample cabinet. Follow me.”

After delegating some work to his researchers, Professor Wu Tianqun walked out of the laboratory with Lu Zhou and went into another laboratory.

Professor Wu walked up to a sample cabinet and unlocked it with a key. He then put on some gloves and carefully took out a palm-sized brown-tinted glassware from the cabinet.

“Because this is made out of carbon, the chip is sensitive to light. That’s why I kept it inside, do you want to see it?”

As Lu Zhou looked at the thumb-sized chip lying in the brown-tinted glassware, he said, “It’s fine, just tell me how it works.”

“Okay!”

Professor Wu Tianqun cleared his throat and explained the technical side of the chip to Lu Zhou.

A carbon-based chip was obviously a processor that was made of carbon-based transistors. According to Professor Wu Tianqun, this tiny chip contained more than 100,000 carbon nanotubes transistors.

Even though there was still a big gap when compared to silicon chips, which had hundreds of millions of transistors, this carbon chip was already capable of performing simple mathematical operations.

After hearing about this, Lu Zhou felt a wave of excitement.

The carbon-based chip is real!

What does this mean?

This means that Professor Wu Tianqun’s research team has successfully made a breakthrough!

This will have a huge impact on the semiconductor industry cluster!

“… So far, we have been able to achieve a 150nm transistor size. Although the technology is far from being mature, it has already displayed superior computing speed, energy consumption, and heat generation.”

Professor Wu Tianqun paused for a second and continued, “Most importantly, this chip uses the preparation method of ‘chemical vapor deposition + etching’, which is similar to the preparation method of the SG-1 superconducting material. In theory, there is a lot of room for improvement! We are currently looking for ways to further reduce the chip manufacturing process costs and increase the number of transistors per square millimeter.

“If we can achieve more than 30 million transistors per square millimeter and improve the process technology to the size of 10nm, it is entirely possible for this chip to be commercialized! The superiority of carbon-based chips compared to silicon chips is crystal clear!”

Lu Zhou: “How difficult is mass production?”

Professor Wu Tianqun: “It won’t be harder than silicon-based chips! As for the cost, it is more expensive, but the performance makes up for it!”

Lu Zhou said, “Nicely done, Professor Wu!”

Professor Wu Tianqun awkwardly smiled.

“Well, if it weren’t for your two theses in Nature, which provided a theoretical basis, none of this would have happened. Not to mention the SG-1 superconducting material; there was no way we could’ve built a carbon-based chip without the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.”

Lu Zhou smiled and put on a serious face as he said, “As for the research results, I’d like you to write two reports. One without technical details, just a rough summary. The other should be more specific, follow the research thesis format, and write down all of the technical details. That will be used for patent registering.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Professor Wu nodded seriously.

“Okay, I’ll do this right away, when do you need it?”

Lu Zhou: “No need to rush, just give it to me in a week, or a bit later. Your experiment is still the priority.”

Professor Wu smiled and said, “It’s fine, this won’t interrupt the experiment, I can guarantee I’ll be done in a week.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Thank you then, I’ll let you get back to work.”

Lu Zhou was about to leave the laboratory when he suddenly remembered something. He turned around and looked at Professor Wu Tianqun.

“Oh yeah, the Communist Party of China is planning on forming an expert group regarding the technical feasibility of topological quantum computing, so I recommended you.”

Even though Lu Zhuo spoke casually, this was huge news to Professor Wu Tianqun.

Technical feasibility expert group for the Communist Party of China!

Usually, only academicians or academic leaders could enter these types of expert teams, especially since it was led by the Communist Party of China.

Professor Wu was only in the Changjiang Scholars Program. Normally, there would be no chance for him to enter a team like this.

Professor Wu took a deep breath and spoke.

“Thank you!”

This felt kind of weird since Lu Zhou was so much younger than him. However, he was truly grateful.

Being able to enter a group like this would be hugely beneficial for his academic career! Both from a networking perspective, and from a qualification perspective.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Wu and spoke.

“No need to thank me.

“I didn’t do anything. You did this through your own effort and hard work.

“You should thank yourself.”

Chapter 928: An Ethical Scholar

As an ethical scholar, Lu Zhou wasn’t a fan of academic monopolies. He believed in an academic environment that was full of freedom.

He liked to find talents that were worth cultivating and devote certain resources to help them grow.

Just like Chen Yang, who he poached from the Yan University mathematics center. It wasn’t like he did this out of spite for Academician Wang; it was purely because he saw a promising talent being wasted and abandoned.

Being able to understand the hyperelliptic curve analysis method in such a short amount of time wasn’t something that could be done by ordinary scholars. It was a kind of transcendent focus on mathematics.

Being able to focus like this in the chaotic environment of academia was one in a million.

This devotion toward mathematics was something more valuable than talent.

Lu Zhou had a lot to do, so he stopped Professor Wu from thanking him and left the laboratory.

Lu Zhou knew that Professor Wu would do a good job in the expert group, so he wasn’t worried.

After he left the carbon-based semiconductor laboratory, he was planning to visit his newly poached talent from Yan University.

However, he suddenly remembered that he forgot to share the good news with others, so he took out his phone and called Ms. CEO.

The phone rang two times and connected.

A pleasant voice traveled through the phone.

“Hi, did you miss me? Why are you calling all of a sudden?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I have some good news to share.”

Chen Yushan curiously asked, “What news?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “A carbon-based chip with more than 10,000 carbon-based transistors has been successfully produced by the laboratory!”

The phone went silent for a few seconds.

Chen Yushan took a deep breath.

She spoke in disbelief.

“… Really?!

“Carbon-based chip?

“You’re not kidding?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Do I sound like I’m kidding?”

Chen Yushan said, “… Where are you now?”

Lu Zhou: “The Institute for Advanced Study. I just came back from Beijing.”

“No wonder…”

Chen Yushan sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her voice trembled as she said, “I thought we would have to wait at least another two years to see results. I didn’t expect it to be this soon… How long will it take for carbon-based chip technology to mature? A rough estimate.”

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and spoke carefully.

“It’s hard to say. So far, we’re not sure what the physical limitation of carbon-based chips are and whether or not there are technical bottlenecks. However, we should be able to produce a commercialized chip within a year. Even if the chip is slightly inferior to silicon chips, its superior physical properties will make up for it.”

He paused for a second and continued, “I’ve asked Professor Wu to write some technical and test performance reports, and they should be done in a week. I’m sure he can explain it more clearly. You can just read the report…”

Lu Zhou arrived at the Institute of Mathematics while talking to Chen Yushan.

After some small talk, Lu Zhou hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. He knocked on Chen Yang’s office door and went in.

When he walked into the office, a cloud of chalk dust blew into his face.

Lu Zhou fanned the air and couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you open a window?”

Chen Yang turned around from the blackboard and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“… I forgot.”

“Go open the windows, or you’re going to get pneumoconiosis… Jesus Christ, it might be better for you to work outdoors.”

Chen Yang said in a serious tone, “But if it rains outside, I won’t be able to work.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou finally sort of understood why this guy was kicked out of his office.

Chen Yang opened some windows and finally introduced some fresh air into the office.

Lu Zhou looked at the calculations on the blackboard and nodded.

“Are you comfortable working here?”

Chen Yang nodded and said, “It’s fine, I don’t really care as long as I have a blackboard.”

“Good, it seems like you’re settling in quite well,” Lu Zhou said as he began moving backward. He clearly didn’t want to stay in this dusty office for one more second. He said, “I just came to see how you were doing… See you around.”

Chen Yang quickly said, “Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou: “What?”

Chen Yang: “I have a question I want to ask you… Do you have time now?”

A question?

Lu Zhou was intrigued, so he smiled and said, “Depends on what the question is, go ahead.”

“I’m not sure if this will take up too much of your time. In the hyperelliptic curve analysis thesis, you pointed out that rational homotopy theory only applies in intermediate dimensions, so the surgery theory doesn’t hold. I tried proving this myself and was inspired by it…”

Chen Yang picked up a pen and began writing on a blackboard.

[…

[… When n is greater than 2, the two n-dimensional complex dimensions intersect X ^ n (d), X ^ n (d ‘), there exists a differential homeomorphism if and only if their Euler number, total degree, and Pontrjagin class are equal.]

Chen Yang took two steps back and looked at the blackboard. He then said, “If the above holds, we should be able to build a model that converts topological problems to complex analysis problems.”

Lu Zhou looked at the blackboard and raised his eyebrows.

This is an interesting problem.

He had thought about trying to solve Riemann’s hypothesis using partial differential methods, but he never knew where to begin. If a topology problem could be transformed into a complex analysis problem, maybe he could introduce a differential manifold into the hyperelliptic curve analysis, and something magical could happen.

It’s worth a try.

“Does this hold?”

Chen Yang scratched his head. He then shook his head as he said, “I don’t know… I think it’s true, but I don’t know how to prove it.”

“It’s an interesting problem.” Lu Zhou looked at the blackboard and took a picture with his phone. He said to Chen Yang, “I might not be able to give you an answer now, but I’ll do some research and get back to you later.”

Chen Yang nodded and said, “Sure, I’ll try to figure it out on my own as well.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“Good, we’ll see who solves it first then.”

Chapter 929: It's a Devil

A prison in Southern California.

Mason was pushed into a meeting room by two guards.

The thick metal door closed, and the small room was quiet.

Mason’s eyes were a little puffy, his hands were cuffed, and he looked exhausted. He stared at the man across from him.

It was a man in his forties, well dressed in an ironed suit, wearing an expensive-looking watch. He dressed like a successful, upper-class person. However, his calloused hands didn’t belong to someone who sat in an air-conditioned office all day.

Mason had a vague idea of what was going on, and he grinned from ear to ear.

“I’m guessing you’re not my lawyer.”

“A lawyer can’t save you, but we can.” The man in the suit smiled and extended his hand as he said, “Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Brandon Melsen. I’m your boss now.”

Like he had just heard a funny joke, Mason placed his cuffed hands on the table and began chuckling.

After a while, he sat up straight and looked at Melsen.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I’m a patriotic person, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be a slave to the White House.”

“We’re not the White House, we’re the CIA.”

Melsen’s smile disappeared. He reached forward and stared deadly into Mason’s eyes. He then sat back down and said, “The court hasn’t decided on a sentence yet, but based on the evidence we collected from your home, even if you hire the best lawyer in California, you’re going to spend the rest of your life behind bars.”

Melsen paused for a second, and he had an evil smile on his face.

“And Mr. Mason, they’re going to love you in there.”

Mason nervously frowned and said, “What do you mean?”

Melsen smiled and said, “I’m just saying, they love skinny boys like you.”

Mason’s face turned white.

Beads of sweat began to roll off his forehead.

Melsen smiled with satisfaction and continued, “You’ll have time to consider my proposal before sentencing… Of course, if after spending a few months in prison, you decide you want to make a deal. That offer might be off the table.”

Mason hesitated for a while before he spoke.

“What do you want me to do…”

Melsen smiled and said, “The CIA is looking for an expert in information technology. If you help us, you won’t be put in a prison with those real criminals. Also, if you do a good job, we can reduce your sentence. You could be a free man in five or six years.”

Mason hesitated for a long time.

Melsen looked at his watch.

He only planned on giving Mason ten minutes of time.

Fortunately, it didn’t take that long.

After three minutes, Mason spoke.

“I agree…”

“Fantastic, we’re now on the same team.”

Melsen didn’t expect Mason to agree so quickly, but he wasn’t surprised that Mason took the deal.

The CIA agent leaned back on his chair and said, “I can’t get you out of cuffs yet, but I promise you’ll be transferred to another facility in three days.”

Mason was scared, and he nervously asked, “Where are you bringing me?”

“I can’t tell you yet.” Melsen folded his arms and said, “Now, I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer truthfully. This is part of the deal.”

“Go ahead,” Mason said in a defeated voice, “but I have to remind you that even though I’m the leader of Eagle Hunter, I don’t know the identities of the members.”

Melsen smiled and said, “You mean those buddies of yours? Don’t worry, all of them were arrested within half an hour of your arrest… Let me think… Lone Wolf, Hunter, and Kid… but he was arrested in China.

“Some people are on the run, but it’s only a matter of time before we catch them. We know who they are. Even if we let them loose, the Chinese will never give up. You should just persuade them to surrender themselves. I’m sure they’d rather be caught by us than the Chinese.”

Already…

Been caught?

After hearing Melsen list the IDs, Mason’s face turned white. He began to sweat from his forehead, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.

This is impossible!

I thought that, even though I was caught, the others would escape.

But now this guy is telling me all of them were caught within half an hour?

This meant that, not only did Dr. Z hack my computer and servers, but he was also able to hack the other members of the Eagle Hunter group.

Is this guy… even human?

Melsen stared at Mason’s eyes and felt something was wrong, so he said, “You have to tell me everything you know.”

Mason muttered to himself, “Devil…”

“Devil?” Melsen frowned and said, “I’d advise you to choose your words carefully.”

“He’s a devil! He’s not human…”

Mason’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed his head with his cuffed hands and said, “This is not something a human can do, it’s impossible!”

Melsen said, “Calm down, speak clearly. We think the person you were hacked by was a cyberwarfare expert. We have three suspects, and we need you to confirm…”

Mason suddenly snorted.

He shook his head and said, “Those guys? They’re good, but they’re not that good. Mr. Melsen, even the best hacker has to follow the rules of physics. Unless someone has superpowers… Listen, I didn’t even get a chance to fight back.”

Melsen frowned and said, “So what you’re saying is, when the person was hacking you, you were powerless?”

If that’s true, then maybe we’re underestimating China’s cyberwarfare capabilities.

Melson heard the words he least wanted to hear…

“Yes.” Mason looked at Melsen with his bloodshot eyes and said, “I didn’t stand a chance. When he was hacking me, he was still sending me messages to humiliate me… He’s the devil.”

“I’m an atheist, I don’t believe in those things.” Melsen shrugged and said, “Then what username did he use when he communicated with you?”

“Did you not watch the news?”

Mason chuckled and spoke.

“His name is Dr. Z.

“It’s not like you’ll ever find him…”

Chapter 930: Manifold Problem

“Achoo!”

Lu Zhou was in his Zhongshan International mansion, sitting at his study room desk. He had a pen in his hand.

“Do I have a cold…”

He sniffed and looked at the draft paper in front of him. He gently tapped his pen on the table.

“This is kind of hard.”

[… When n is greater than 2, the two n-dimensional complex dimensions intersect X ^ n (d), X ^ n (d ‘), there exists a differential homeomorphism if and only if their Euler number, total degree, and Pontrjagin class are equal.]

Strictly speaking, this was neither a complex analysis problem nor a partial differential equation problem. It was a unique classification of smooth manifolds.

In fact, this was a fairly popular research direction in differential topology. It was mainly about studying the invariant properties of differential manifolds under homoeomorphic mapping.

However, the problem was that even though Lu Zhou had researched differential manifolds and topology before, he had had little contact with the mathematical branch of differential topology.

One could make the case that he was completely new to this field.

However, this was expected to happen. After all, Chen Yang was researching the Hodge conjecture, which was completely different from his research on Riemann’s hypothesis.

He was introduced to this problem only because the hyperelliptic curve analysis method could be used to research the Cauchy-Riemann equations…

“This is not my cup of tea… Should I just give up?”

Lu Zhou pondered for a while, then shook his head. He didn’t want to give up just yet.

He was the one who proposed a competition against Chen Yang on who could solve this first. Plus, he wasn’t a person who would give up.

Even though differential topology wasn’t his area of research, with his knowledge of differential manifolds and topology, he was able to pick up some of the core concepts of the field.

Not to mention that his research on Riemann’s hypothesis had reached a bottleneck. Instead of trying to move an immovable object, he decided to venture on other paths.

If he could bridge the gap between topology and complex analysis, he might be able to apply the hyperelliptic curve analysis method to the Riemann zeta function…

“Xiao Ai, bring me a cup of coffee, no sugar!”

Xiao Ai: [But Master, instant coffee already has sugar in it? (°ー°〃)]

“… Shut up, just bring me the coffee.”

[Yes, Master! (・∀・ *)]

The drone left the bookshelf and flew out of the study room.

Lu Zhou placed all of his attention on the draft paper in front of him.

He opened the pen cap with his thumb and began writing.

[Let f1, …, fr be a homogeneous polynomial of complex coefficients with variables z0, …, zn + r. This set of polynomials defines a complex algebraic cluster X in the complex projective space CP ^ (n + r) …

[Let X be a complex complete intersection. If the complex dimension of X is n, then when X is a smooth manifold, a smooth complex complete intersection exists. Set X as a 2n-dimensional smooth closed manifold…]

The first step is done.

There was a twinkle of excitement in Lu Zhou’s eyes.

He had a slight feeling that he was walking in the right direction.

“Set the smooth closed manifold with dimension 2n, establish an association on the complex projective space…”

Once he was in the zone, ideas began to flow like a river.

Lines and lines of calculations appeared on the draft paper, and soon, the entire draft paper was filled with numbers and symbols.

Time quickly passed by, and draft papers began to pile up on the table.

Xiao Ai was lying on the bookshelf, quietly observing. Ever since Lu Zhou banned Xiao Ai from using his laptop camera, Xiao Ai could only look through the drone camera.

Even though Xiao Ai didn’t like seeing its master working so hard, when it came to creative work like this, there was nothing Xiao Ai could do.

The sun gradually began to set.

Lu Zhou turned on his desk light.

However, he didn’t seem to be moving in the right direction.

As the sun in the sky gradually disappeared, his writing began to slow down. Beads of sweat began to drip down Lu Zhou’s forehead.

This problem wasn’t as easy as he had thought.

The deeper he dived into the problem, the more he realized how complex this maze was.

“Ah… why is it so difficult!”

After being stuck again, Lu Zhou turned into a grumpy old man. He scrunched up his draft paper and threw it in the bin.

“This can’t be! If the proposition is true, there’s no way I can’t find a proof…”

He spun the pen in his hand and stared at the draft paper. He began to mutter to himself, “The strange thing is that I can’t prove the proposition is wrong either… No matter how many parameters I set, the output is correct.”

Lu Zhou sighed and opened his laptop. He logged onto the literature database and typed in a few words.

Rows of research papers appeared in front of him.

Lu Zhou sorted them by the number of citations and selected some of the top-ranking theses.

“There’s no way no one has ever researched this problem before…

“I should be able to find similar examples.”

Lu Zhou’s eyes suddenly lit up when an interesting thesis title caught his eye.

The author of the thesis was Professor Kreck, an expert in the field of partial differential equations and topology. The thesis was published in Annual Mathematics and had quite a few references.

According to its abstract, the main intent of this paper was to improve surgery theory and to transform the problem of manifold classification into an edge group problem.

Lu Zhou was intrigued. He quickly downloaded the paper and began reading it.

After ten minutes went by, he finally finished reading the thesis. He suddenly spoke with excitement.

“This is it!

“I knew it, there has to be research done on this problem before… At least for a similar problem!

“If I can transform a manifold classification problem into an edge group problem… Jesus, this might be the last missing piece of the puzzle!”

Lu Zhou excitedly stood up from his chair and walked to the paper bin. He quickly pulled out the scrunched up draft paper.

“It’s just a bit wrinkled, should be alright!”

As Lu Zhou flattened the draft paper on his table, his eyes were filled with determination.

“Let’s do this!”

He started to write again.

And this time, he didn’t stop until the sun came up…

Chapter 931: Sullivan Conjecture

When it came to most mathematical journals, the editors didn’t necessarily have a strong academic background. Their job was mainly to check the format and word count of the paper, then contact peer reviewers and make a decision on the reviewers’ comments.

However, not all journals were like this.

The Annual Mathematics journal, founded by Princeton, had editors-in-chief who were big-name mathematicians.

For example, former editor-in-chief Peter Sarnak was a great scholar in the field of number theory. He was also the 2014 winner of the Wolf Prize.

Professor Frakes was the editor-in-chief after Professor Peter Sarnak. Even though he had a weaker reputation, his strength was unquestionable. If he were still under 40 years old, he might be able to win a Fields Medal using his research results on differential manifolds.

Of course, the reason why Annual Mathematics chose him as the editor-in-chief wasn’t purely because of his academic ability; there were many other factors at play.

Because the research on controllable nuclear fusion was rising in popularity, so was research on plasma physics. Due to the application of the “L-manifold” on solving the Navier-Stokes equations and plasma turbulence problems a few years ago, the research on mathematical fields such as partial differential equations and differentiable manifolds had also seen significant growth in popularity.

Ever since Professor Lu’s Navier-Stokes equations report, there hadn’t been any outstanding results produced in the field of partial differential equations and differential manifolds. It was like Professor Lu stole all of the magic from the fields himself.

Therefore, Professor Frakes was chosen as editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics, mainly due to his expertise in the partial differential equation and differentiable manifolds.

This was because an editor was normally biased toward theses that were in his own area of research…

Princeton.

Annual Mathematics editorial department.

Professor Frakes already moved into his new office, and he was struggling with the mountain of work in front of him.

Even though most editors-in-chief didn’t take their jobs seriously, Frakes was different. He was at most a decent scholar, especially in a place like Princeton, so he was like an invisible man.

Other people had the luxury of not caring about their editor-in-chief position, but he couldn’t. Therefore, he took this job extra seriously, and he even put his research project on hold.

As he sat in front of a computer, one of his PhD students took a sip of coffee and suddenly stared at the computer screen. The student spoke while choking on coffee.

“… Professor, cough! You have a submission letter in your inbox!”

Professor Frakes was busy with other things, so he casually said, “I’ll take a look when I’m free.”

“But… the author is Lu Zhou.”

Professor Frakes stopped typing and stood up. He quickly walked toward the student’s desk.

“Give me the computer!”

“Oh, okay…”

Professor Frakes sat down at the computer and double-checked the email address. After he made sure that Professor Lu was the author, he quickly downloaded the attached thesis.

“Let me see what Professor Lu did this time…”

One of the best perks of being an editor of a well-known journal was being able to read about the latest outstanding research.

Professor Frakes opened the new thesis. He was looking forward to this.

However, when he read the abstract, the excitement in his eyes disappeared. A look of disappointment appeared on his face.

The PhD student said, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s not a new research result, just a supplement to the hyperelliptic curve analysis method.” Professor Frakes shook his head and said, “He’s beating a dead horse, it’s not anything outstanding.”

The student said, “… Are we going to reject the submission?”

“No,” Professor Frakes shook his head and said, “if it’s an important supplementary result, it should be fine… Just leave this to the reviewers. It at least deserves a peer review… Also, print the thesis, I want to have a look.”

“Okay, professor.”

The printer began to rustle.

Soon the thesis was printed.

Professor Frakes returned to his seat with the warm pages. He drank his coffee while reading the thesis.

Honestly, after reading the abstract, he didn’t have any expectations for the thesis.

However, when he got to the third page, he began to mutter to himself.

“… When n is greater than 2, the two n-dimensional complex dimensions intersect X ^ n (d), X ^ n (d ‘), there exists a differential homeomorphism if and only if their Euler number, total degree, and Pontrjagin class are equal.

“Where have I seen this before?”

This conjecture seemed oddly familiar.

It was almost like a different version of another conjecture…

Professor Frakes stood up from his chair and wrote some equations on a piece of draft paper.

After writing down two lines, he froze.

“…”

This…

Is this…

Professor Frakes’s pupils became larger as he stood up from his seat.

“Sullivan conjecture!”

This conjecture was proposed by Professor Sullivan when he was researching the “classification of the simply connected manifolds with limited uncertainty” and “rational homotopy”. It was a conjecture in the field of smooth manifolds.

It was also one of the core problems in differential topology!

People outside of differential topology most likely hadn’t heard of this conjecture. After all, this conjecture wasn’t particularly significant for people in other mathematical branches.

Due to its difficulty, there were very few people researching this problem. Even Frakes, who was a decent scholar in the field of differential topology, couldn’t recognize this problem at first glance.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t in the field of differential topology at all, and being able to produce a result like this was unheard of…

Judging from the citations, it was clear that Professor Lu didn’t know that his proposition was another form of the Sullivan conjecture.

Professor Frakes was shocked, and his fingers began to tremble.

The PhD student sitting nearby looked at his supervisor and asked, “What’s wrong, professor?”

Frakes ignored his student.

His eyes were locked onto the thesis as he muttered to himself with excitement, “Jesus Christ…

“We found a piece of treasure!”

Chapter 932: We Have Decided

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

An office inside the Institute of Mathematics.

Lu Zhou held his breath and walked into the office. He immediately opened the windows and took a breath of fresh air. He then turned around and looked at Chen Yang, who was standing beside the blackboard with a muddled look.

“The question you gave me the other day was interesting.”

Lu Zhou coughed. He had a stack of papers in his hand.

“I did some research, and this is what I got… Oh yeah, your proposition was correct. Seems like your mathematical intuition is quite sharp. If this were any more difficult, it could become a classical conjecture.”

Chen Yang looked at the blackboard. He then looked at the stack of papers in Lu Zhou’s hand. His face was full of surprise.

“You… solved it?”

“Took quite a while, but not too long. I might have pulled an all-nighter…”

Lu Zhou placed the stack of papers on the table and said, “Speaking of which, do you have coffee? Do you mind getting me a cup.”

Chen Yang nodded.

“Ok.”

The cup of coffee was placed on the table.

Lu Zhou looked at the chalk dust on the coffee cup and frowned.

“Can’t you keep up with the times? You don’t like whiteboards, but surely writing on draft paper is the same.”

Chen Yang shook his head and said, “Writing on draft paper is soulless.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Chen Yang quickly said, “Can I read the thesis?”

“… Of course.” Lu Zhou shrugged and took a sip from the dirty coffee cup. “Go ahead, I came here to talk about this thesis with you.”

“Thank you.”

Chen Yang placed all of his attention on the thesis and left Lu Zhou aside.

While Professor Chen was reading the thesis, Lu Zhou looked at the row of blackboards in the office.

The calculations on the blackboards were clearly his attempts to prove the proposition.

Unfortunately, Chen Yang was still stuck at the entrance of the maze.

Lu Zhou sighed.

He’s talented.

But he’s far from my level.

If I knew this proposition was this difficult for him, I wouldn’t have stayed up all night trying to solve it. I’m so sleepy…

Ah, it’s a lonely world for a genius like me…

Chen Yang suddenly looked up and spoke.

“Impressive!”

Academician Lu really is a legend!

Professor Lu wrote down proofs of things Chen Yang hadn’t even thought of.

Chen Yang had a whole new level of respect for Lu Zhou.

He’s too nutty!

Chen Yang was totally impressed.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You understand it?”

Chen Yang nodded and said, “Understand… most of it. There are some parts I don’t get, can you explain it to me?”

Lu Zhou put down his coffee cup and spoke.

“No problem.”

Answering Chen Yang’s questions didn’t take a lot of effort.

Even though this guy might seem a little silly, he had a sharp intuition for mathematics. Lu Zhou only had to give him some general directions and Chen Yang could easily figure out the rest on his own.

This reminded Lu Zhou of one of his Princeton students—Qin Yue. He was also a taciturn, independent scholar. However, Qin Yue was far from Chen Yang’s level.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou was a little curious about how Chen Yang survived for this long.

For someone with such a low emotional intelligence, how did he not get beaten up?

After answering Chen Yang’s questions, Lu Zhou was almost certain that there was nothing wrong with his thesis.

When Chen Yang looked back at the blackboard, Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah, the problem was quite interesting. It integrated easily into the hyperelliptic curve analysis method… Like you said, this hyperelliptic curve analysis has more applications than I had thought.

“I submitted the thesis to Annual Mathematics, is that fine?”

Chen Yang was a little confused, “Why… wouldn’t it be?”

Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.

“I don’t really care about another thesis, but it should benefit you quite a lot… However, I was the one who solved it, so I wrote you down as the second author… Is that fine?”

Chen Yang nodded.

“Oh.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

How did this guy… survive in academia for so long?

The office became quiet.

Suddenly, the phone in Lu Zhou’s pocket began to ring.

“Let me take this.”

“Okay.” Chen Yang nodded and continued to stare at his blackboard.

Lu Zhou walked out of the dusty office and took a breath of fresh air. He took out his phone and answered the call.

“Hello?”

Director Li’s voice traveled through the phone.

“It’s me!”

Director Li?

Lu Zhou knew that the carbon-based chip report hadn’t been written yet, so Director Li should be asking him about something else.

“What?”

Director Li awkwardly smiled and said, “Um, Academician Lu, are you free any time?”

Lu Zhou knew that this guy wanted a favor from him.

It’s way too obvious!

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Depends on what you’re asking…”

Director Li: “Nothing big. If you have time, take a trip to Shanghai.”

Lu Zhou said, “Why would I go there?”

What the hell is in Shanghai?

Director Li smiled and said, “It’s nearly the end of the month. The headquarters of the ILHCRC is about to be unveiled. You’re the chairman, shouldn’t you go for a visit?”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Chapter 933: Modifications Suggested

The phone went silent for a while.

Lu Zhou was shocked by Director Li’s words, and he took a while to react.

ILHCRC headquarters building…

Unveil?

Didn’t we just finish the meeting? How is the building already built? Unless they already started building prior to the meeting… Wait a second!

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something.

That’s not even the most important part!

“The hell is chairman? How come I never heard about this?”

Didn’t we say I was going to be a chief consultant?

When did it change to the chairman?

Lu Zhou was totally confused; he didn’t even know what to say.

“You didn’t hear?” Director Li coughed and said, “… I didn’t get to tell you because you left Beijing too soon! But—”

“Don’t give me buts!” Lu Zhou said, “I want to know what is going on.”

Director Li knew that Lu Zhou was unhappy, he said, “Here’s the thing, we couldn’t wait any longer. This Lunar Hadron Collider project is going to cost US$20 billion, and there are dozens of countries participating. There has to be a face of the project, right?

“We didn’t want to bother you, and we were just going to find some random academician, but the Communist Party of China felt like the Americans won’t be happy with that, not to mention they already took a huge hit on the budget committee. You get what I’m trying to say, right?”

Director Li smiled and said, “You should just power through. Just do this for the first term, and after the term is over, if you’re too tired, you can get someone else to replace you.”

Director Li didn’t know what to say.

If this were anyone else, they would gladly jump at the opportunity of being the chairman of such a huge project. They would immediately go to Shanghai.

After all, that was the headquarters of the International Lunar Hadron Collider!

A project that was going to be more significant than CERN!

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that when the collider on the Moon was completed, the Shanghai headquarters would become the future of theoretical physics. The ILHCRC leader would be the leader of theoretical physics.

Being able to serve as the chairman of such a powerful international scientific research organization was more valuable than winning a Nobel Prize, but Lu Zhou was being so reluctant…

In fact, Director Li didn’t want to bother Lu Zhou.

However, the problem was that China had never been particularly good at scientific research, especially when it came to the field of theoretical physics.

Sending an academician might not do the job. After all, there were so many Nobel Prize laureates participating in the project, and they wouldn’t respect the academician at all.

More importantly, if the chairman didn’t do a good job, it was likely that the foreign scholars would take control of the newly built ILHCRC facility.

Therefore, Lu Zhou was the only candidate for the chairman.

He was the only person who could take this role without anyone questioning his ability.

Academician Zhang Wenlong, president of the Chinese Physical Society, personally wrote a letter recommending Lu Zhou as the chairman.

After all, Lu Zhou’s “electrostrong interaction” theory was one of the most outstanding theoretical physics achievements of the century.

Lu Zhou was the only person who could serve as the face of China’s physics community…

Lu Zhou could tell that Director Li was being serious, but he was a little flabbergasted.

“That’s not the best idea, right? I still have my own research projects…”

Director Li immediately cut off Lu Zhou.

“What do you mean it’s not a good idea! We’re spending ten billion dollars on this! We can’t just let those Americans send someone as the ILHCRC chairman, right? I don’t care, we have to get someone from our side to serve as the chairman!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t want to serve as the chairman, Director Li’s words resonated with him.

All in all, China was investing US$10 billion on this project, so they couldn’t just let someone else control the ILHCRC.

The first few terms of the chairman position had to be served by a Chinese person. They had to take the initiative…

…

Even though Lu Zhou was reluctant, he thought about the big picture and finally agreed to serve as the chairman.

After all, the collider was his idea…

After Lu Zhou got home from the Institute for Advanced Study, he took out his suitcase and began packing the clothes he only recently unpacked from his Beijing trip.

Xiao Ai’s drone flew next to him.

Xiao Ai: [Master, are you going on a trip? (•̀∀•́)]

Lu Zhou looked at the drone and spoke.

“Business trip, why?”

Xiao Ai: [Um, Xiao Ai can’t fly outdoors, so can you let Xiao Ai use external cameras? Xiao Ai will get very lonely if Xiao Ai can’t see Master…]

Jesus Christ, the retardation is back again.

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “I’ll… think about it.”

Xiao Ai: [Yay! Master, you’re the best! (⃔ * `꒳́ *)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

I didn’t even agree.

Isn’t it a bit too early to celebrate?

Also, that emoticon looks a bit weird…

Another message popped up on the drone screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, you have mail!]

Lu Zhou: “Open it for me.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

An email was displayed on the drone screen.

Lu Zhou began to read the email.

It was sent from the editorial department of Annual Mathematics and signed off by Professor Frakes, the new editor-in-chief.

The professor wrote in a sincere manner.

[Dear Professor Lu, we have received your submission.

[After reading your paper, I was surprised by your research results. There is no doubt that this is a prominent research result. Although I do have a suggestion. I hope you consider it seriously.

[Theorem 1.0 in your manuscript is one of the core propositions in manifold topology and differential topology. Considering the mathematical significance of this proposition, we hope that you can submit the theorem as a separate paper instead of passing it as a corollary for the hyperelliptic curve analysis method. This will ease the process of future scholars citing this paper…

[In summary, I suggest you modify the thesis.]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 934: An Accident?

After being in academia for so many years, this was Lu Zhou’s first time hearing an editor recommend him to split his thesis into two parts.

Generally, the authors had the habit of splitting their thesis into two or more parts for publication. They would even cite their own theses to increase the number of references. Oftentimes, the editor would ask the author to compile the theses together.

But here, the editor was asking the author to split the theses into two parts…

This was something that was rarely heard of.

“Theorem 1 is one of the core problems in manifold classification and differential topology…” Lu Zhou stared at the email and rubbed his chin. “Sullivan conjecture? The hell is that, I’ve never even heard of it.”

He threw his suitcase aside and went upstairs.

He sat in front of his computer and began searching the database.

Rows upon rows of theses appeared in front of him.

I had no idea.

This conjecture is actually pretty popular.

I don’t recognize any of these people. I guess the Sullivan conjecture isn’t connected to other disciplines, but it’s still an important problem in its own mathematical branch.

This is just like the twin prime conjecture.

No one outside of additive number theory would study that conjecture.

“… Jesus, no wonder it was so difficult. It took me an entire day! It turns out to be an actual mathematics conjecture?”

Basically, the first seven pages of his Annual Mathematics thesis contained the proof of theorem 1. In fact, this theorem proved the Sullivan conjecture for smooth complex manifolds.

This conjecture was about classifying smooth manifolds, and it had been around for more than half a century.

It was one of the core problems in differential topology!

This meant that he solved a half-century-old differential topology problem without knowing it…

After Lu Zhou finished reading the relevant literature, he felt a little shocked.

He was shocked at how nutty he was, but he was also shocked by Professor Chen.

Somehow, Professor Chen was able to connect the hyperelliptic curve analysis method with a classical conjecture in differential topology.

“Regardless… If the Sullivan conjecture is true, then the hyperelliptic curve analysis method can be applied to differentiable manifolds.

“I feel like I took another step forward to solving Riemann’s hypothesis.

“I just don’t know how many more steps it will take…”

Lu Zhou looked at the computer screen and opened his original thesis. He began reformatting the content.

This part was quite simple. He just had to take out the theorem 1 proof from his original thesis, write a few lines of abstract, and submit it as an independent paper.

Professor Frakes even wrote the thesis title for him.

[Proof of Sullivan’s Conjecture on Smooth Complex Perfect Manifolds]

As for his original thesis, he just had to add a reference to this new thesis.

After ten minutes or so, Lu Zhou sent the reformatted theses to Professor Frakes’ email.

After that, Lu Zhou was about to send an email to Professor Chen Yang. However, he suddenly remembered that he previously uploaded a preprint to arXiv.

Even though he rarely made edits to his manuscript, it was common practice in academia to also change the arXiv preprints when making new modifications.

Lu Zhou logged onto his arXiv account and was about to upload a new version of the thesis. However, he was shocked by the number of downloads.

22,000 downloads!

“Jesus Christ, it’s only been two days! Is there really that many downloads?!”

Normally speaking, a well-written thesis in a popular area of research would have a couple hundred downloads at most.

Theses that had tens of thousands of downloads were theses in popular research fields that had been uploaded a long time ago.

Differential topology wasn’t a popular branch of mathematics at all, especially when it came to manifold classification. There were less than 20,000 scholars in the world in this area of study.

Therefore, the number of downloads was a bit abnormal.

There was only one possibility.

Which was that his thesis caused a commotion in other branches of mathematics.

His thesis was so popular that scholars in other areas of research were curious…

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something, and he immediately logged onto his Mathoverflow account.

Just like he had expected, people on this world-renowned mathematics forum began talking about his thesis on the front page…

[Jesus, did anyone see Professor Lu’s latest work?]

[I just read it, it’s just a corollary to the hyperelliptic curve analysis method… What’s so special?]

[That’s not the main point! Have you read theorem 1! People outside of differential topology might not know this, but this is another form of the Sullivan conjecture!]

[My friend has a master’s degree in differential topology, he said that his supervisor was working on differentiable manifold classification. I asked about his opinion, and he said this thesis is the real deal.]

[Professor Lu really is amazing, how does he casually produce such amazing research results.]

[I feel like I wasted my time learning differentiable manifolds…]

[Perfect, I’ll use this as a topic for my discussion class tomorrow.]

After reading the forum posts, Lu Zhou sighed.

“These people are so boring.”

Why don’t they use their time to research something themselves?

It’s just some random conjecture…

What’s the big deal…

Lu Zhou closed his browser and placed his laptop aside.

Annual Mathematics was going to find a qualified reviewer for the peer-review process.

What he had to do now, was to prepare for his trip to Shanghai…

Chapter 935: To Shanghai

The last Friday in February.

With a backpack on his back, Lu Zhou embarked on a jew journey.

This time, he was going to Shanghai.

According to Director Li, during the beginning of last year, the state conducted a bidding war for the ILHCRC building project.

By the middle of last year, the construction officially began. The main building had already been completed.

Actually, the Communist Party of China had a backup plan. If the international negotiations didn’t go well, they would remove the “I” and change the name to LHCRC.

Fortunately, due to the controllable nuclear fusion negotiations and the successful mission of the Mars Rescue team, China’s international reputation and image had greatly improved. Thus, the international negotiations went smoothly.

Now that the ILHCRC organization was established, various departments had begun moving into the newly-built building.

As the appointed chairman, Lu Zhou had two things to do in Shanghai. One was to unveil the new headquarters, and the other was to delegate work for various departments.

After all, top physicists and researchers around the world came all the way here to work on the project. Lu Zhou couldn’t let that go to waste.

Even though the collider was still in the construction stage, there was still research work to be done. They also had to set some by-laws.

Lu Zhou, who had handled many large-scale scientific research projects before, was more than confident to perform his duties. However, he brought Luo Wenxuan with him just in case.

Because Luo Wenxuan often visited CERN with Witten, he was familiar with CERN’s operations. If there was anything Lu Zhou forgot about, he could rely on Luo Wenxuan to help him.

More importantly, Lu Zhou still lacked a successor.

He didn’t want to stay as chairman of the ILHCRC for three terms.

Therefore, he planned on giving the role to Luo Wenxuan…

Lu Zhou got in the high-speed rail and sat down in his business class seat. He adjusted the seat to a comfortable angle and took out his laptop. He began working on the PowerPoint slides that he started last night.

This PowerPoint was regarding the various departments’ responsibilities and would be presented to the department heads.

The entire physics community had their eyes on Shanghai.

Even though he didn’t like doing PowerPoints, considering the fact that this project was going to affect China’s physics community, he had to put his head down and bear through it…

He was looking at the PowerPoint slides when he suddenly received two WeChat messages on his phone.

They were from Luo Wenxuan.

[ (shocked.jpg)]

[You’re already on the train?!]

Lu Zhou looked at the message and replied.

[I’m arriving in an hour, when are you coming?]

Luo Wenxuan: [Tomorrow! I’ll come tomorrow! I have some personal stuff to deal with… Just give me a day. Speaking of which, the unveiling ceremony of ILHCRC is in three days, right? Why are you going so early?]

Lu Zhou: [There are also other things to do prior to the unveiling ceremony. I plan on organizing a meeting with all of the department heads… What are you doing?]

Luo Wenxuan: [Uh, something important.]

Luo Wenxuan: [I have to go, see you later!]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Why do I feel like…

This guy isn’t the best person to be my successor…

Should I have a backup person?

While Lu Zhou was thinking, Xiao Ai’s message popped up on his screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, can Xiao Ai turn on Luo Wenxuan’s laptop webcam? (* `꒳́ *)]

Lu Zhou immediately said, “No, I told you, don’t abuse your powers.”

Even though he was curious about what Luo Wenxuan was doing, Lu Zhou didn’t want to spy on him.

Xiao Ai: [Oh, okay… ( ̄△ ̄;)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Why does this thing love hacking into laptop cameras so much?

How did it develop this bad habit?

Lu Zhou felt that, as Xiao Ai’s owner, he should take the time and give Xiao Ai a lesson. Otherwise, something bad could happen in the future…

…

After a two-hour train ride, Lu Zhou got off at the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station.

When he and Wang Peng walked out of the train station, they saw a black Audi that was parked at the exit.

The driver immediately walked out of the car and helped Wang Peng put the suitcase in the trunk. The driver then gave Wang Peng the keys.

“These are for you.”

“Okay.”

Wang Peng sat in the driver’s seat and looked at Lu Zhou through the rearview mirror.

“Going straight to the hotel?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Wang Peng nodded and set the GPS to the hotel destination.

Lu Zhou sat in the back seat. He closed his eyes and wanted to rest for a while. However, the second he began to doze off, he received a call from his phone.

He picked up the call and heard a joyful voice.

“I looked at your friends’ news feed, you’re in Shanghai?!”

Lu Zhou yawned and could tell it was Chen Yushan.

“Yeah, why?”

Two hours ago, he posted a picture of the train to his friends’ news feed.

Chen Yushan: “What a coincidence! I’m also in Shanghai!”

Lu Zhou said, “You’re here?”

“Yeah, I have to go, but I’ll send you my coordinates. Check your WeChat.”

Before Lu Zhou could respond, the phone call ended. After that, he received a location message from his WeChat.

Coincidentally, he wasn’t far from Chen Yushan’s location. He just had to turn right at the traffic lights and drive two blocks.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan’s message and sighed. He then spoke to Wang Peng.

“Don’t go to the hotel.”

Wang Peng said, “Then where?”

Lu Zhou: “I sent the location to your phone, I think it’s a coffee shop… It’s not far from here.”

“Okay.”

Wang Peng nodded without asking why. He merely turned the steering wheel and began to drive toward the new destination…

Chapter 936: Coincidence

A well-decorated cafe was sitting on the corner of a commercial street.

Judging from the decoration and the colored chalkboard at the entrance of the cafe, the owner was likely a hipster. There weren’t a lot of people in the cafe.

Lu Zhou pushed open the glass door and walked in. He saw Chen Yushan sitting by the window waving at him.

Her appearance hadn’t changed since Chinese New Year. She was wearing a beige coat, a white sweater, and knee-high black boots.

Chen Yushan wasn’t the only person there.

Lu Zhou saw an unexpected acquaintance sitting next to her.

“Long time no see, Academician Lu.” The woman sitting next to Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Thanks for taking care of my daughter.”

“Mrs. Yang, you’re too kind.” Even though he was surprised to see Mrs. Yang here, Lu Zhou tried to act unfazed. He politely smiled and said, “Academician sounds too formal, just call me Professor Lu.”

This woman was none other than Mrs. Yang Danqi, the mother of Lu Zhou’s former student.

Seven years ago, Lu Zhou was still worrying about his living expenses and tuition fees. This woman helped him a ton. They barely kept in touch after he went to study at Princeton and Han Mengqi graduated from high school.

He didn’t expect to see her today.

Chen Yushan smirked and spoke.

“Okay okay, enough small talk, it’s not our first time having coffee together. What do you want to drink? I already ordered.”

Lu Zhou: “Mocha, please.”

Chen Yushan raised her arm.

“Waiter, a mocha, please.”

When Lu Zhou didn’t have access to instant coffee, a cup of mocha was his second choice.

The creamy chocolate masked the bitterness of the coffee, making it more palatable for him.

Lu Zhou took a sip of his mocha.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou curiously and finally asked, “Why are you in Shanghai?”

“I have some stuff to do at the ILHCRC. I didn’t want to come, but they made me.” Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and said, “What about you? I didn’t know you were in Shanghai.”

Chen Yushan pouted and said, “Wow, I knew you never cared about me. You don’t even look at my posts on WeChat.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What do you mean?

Do you know how busy I am, who has the time to look at your posts…

Seeing Lu Zhou speechless, Chen Yushan sighed and said, “Okay, whatever, remember that plan I told you about last time?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah… Is this related to that?”

“Sort of,” Chen Yushan said. Because her auntie was here, she didn’t elaborate on the details. She briefly said, “Basically, the state wants to invest capital in high-tech industries. There’s a high-tech innovation and investment summit happening in Shanghai. It’s quite big, and a lot of Chinese and Asian companies are attending.

“I received an invitation from GAZE—General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs—so I came here as a representative of Star Sky Technology.”

High-tech innovation and investment summit?

Sounds interesting, I wonder what it’s about.

Lu Zhou looked at Mrs. Yang and spoke.

“Mrs. Yang, are you going as well?”

Yang Danqi nodded and said, “I’m an old member of GAZE, so I received an invitation as well. Even though my business has little to do with technology, I’m taking this as an opportunity to catch up with Chen Yushan.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “What do you think? Do you want to come check it out? It’s quite interesting.”

“I’m good.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t even have an invite, so it’s not a good look if I do.”

Yang Danqi smiled and said, “Professor Lu, you must be kidding, you don’t need an invitation.”

Chen Yushan nodded and said, “Yeah, yeah, if you want to go, I can get you an invitation right now.”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and didn’t know how to respond, so he shrugged and spoke.

“If I’m available… I can go.”

“So, it’s settled then.” Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Which hotel are you staying at? I’ll go find you, we’ll go together!”

Mrs. Yang elbowed Chen Yushan and said, “Hey, you’re just going to ditch your auntie like that?”

Chen Yushan awkwardly said, “We can go together, I didn’t say I’m ditching you. We’ll go pick up Lu Zhou together…”

Mrs. Yang smiled and shook her head.

“Okay, okay, you millennials can do your thing, I won’t third wheel you two. I’ll just go catch up with some of my old friends.”

“Auntie, you’re the best!”

“Okay, okay, fine.”

Chen Yushan was grabbing Mrs. Yang’s arm while giggling. Judging from Mrs. Yang’s smile, she seemed quite fond of Chen Yushan.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

This chick…

I didn’t say I was going to go…

What if I’m busy that day?

But…

This high tech summit does sound interesting.

Lu Zhou had been to many academic conferences, and he wondered what the capital investment conferences were like.

If he didn’t have to do anything himself, he was quite interested in going and watching on the sidelines.

Lu Zhou made up his mind.

If I’m not busy, I’ll try to go…

While Chen Yushan was excitedly telling Lu Zhou about what this summit was about, a silver plane all the way across the Pacific Ocean landed at the airport in New York.

Xiao Tong got off the plane with her suitcase and headed toward the place her brother once worked and studied at…

Chapter 937: Welcoming Princeton

Princeton dorms.

A silver car appeared around the corner and parked at the entrance.

Qin Yue turned off the engine and spoke.

“We’re here.”

Xiao Tong unfastened her seat belt and politely said, “Thank you for picking me up.”

Qin Yue smiled and said, “You’re welcome, do you need help with your luggage?”

When Qin Yue was studying in Princeton, Lu Zhou helped him with a ton of things. Now was finally his chance to return the favor.

However, just like her brother, Xiao Tong didn’t like to receive help from others. Xiao Tong immediately and euphemistically declined Qin Yue’s offer.

“No, thanks, I got it.”

Qin Yue nodded and said, “Okay then, if you need anything, call me.”

“Okay, see you later.”

“Take care.”

After saying goodbye to Qin Yue, Xiao Tong went to the dorm reception and collected her keys. She then dragged all of her stuff upstairs.

She applied for the student accommodation online, and this place was well furnished and ready to go.

After Xiao Tong went into her room, she spent two hours unpacking and tidying. She then took her documents and went to Nassau Hall, which was Princeton’s administrative building.

This actually wasn’t her first time in Princeton.

A few years ago, she came here for two months after graduating high school. After her vacation was over, she went back and began studying at Jin University.

Back then, her brother was still a Princeton professor. She even remembered his cute, softly spoken assistant.

However, the assistant was too shy, and despite Xiao Tong’s attempts at talking to her, they didn’t become friends.

“I wonder if she’s still here.”

After Xiao Tong left the admission office, she returned to her apartment. She lay on her bed and stretched.

“If only I can find her and make friends with her… But then again, she probably doesn’t recognize me, right? It’s been so many years.”

Xiao Tong had had a long day, so it wasn’t long before she began snoring.

After traveling for so long, she could finally get a good night’s sleep.

She slept peacefully until seven o’clock the next morning. She then yawned and crawled out of bed…

Xiao Tong then looked at her calendar on her phone before going to the bathroom to freshen up. After that, she opened her computer and sent an email to her future supervisor, Professor Krugman.

While she was still preparing breakfast, she received an email.

“Did he already respond?”

She thought that it would take a few days for her supervisor to respond; she didn’t expect him to reply within an hour.

The email was short. Basically, Krugman thanked her for choosing Princeton and told her to report to his office when she was ready to begin her PhD studies.

His office address was also included in the email.

She contemplated on whether or not she should wait a few days and settle in before reporting to his office. However, she thought that it would be better for her to go now and leave a good first impression.

Therefore, she quickly finished her breakfast, put on some fresh clothes, and headed out.

Because of her good sense of direction, she easily found Professor Krugman’s office in the economics building.

When she entered the door, a sonorous voice came from the office, which nearly scared her off.

“Welcome to Princeton! Are you settling in well?”

Xiao Tong took half a step back and made sure it was indeed Professor Krugman she was talking to. She composed herself and spoke.

“I lived here for a month before, and it’s not my first time studying abroad, so I’m quite used to it.”

Professor Krugman curiously asked, “Lived for a month? I thought you went to Jin Ling University for your undergrad and Oxford for your master’s… Was it for an exchange?”

“Um, not quite… More like visiting a relative?” Xiao Tong said. She didn’t expect her supervisor to know this much about her, so she was a little shocked.

“Oh.” Krugman smiled and said, “Then I won’t have to worry about you getting lost on campus. There’s no distinct obvious boundary between the town and the campus, so it’s easy to get lost… Wisl, help this student settle in. I have a phone call to make.”

“Okay, professor,” Wisl said. Wisl was a PhD student with freckles, and he wore a pair of thick-framed glasses. He looked at Xiao Tong and said, “I’m Wisl, a PhD student, nice to meet you.”

“… Nice to meet you, I’m Lu Xiao Tong.”

Wisl politely shook her hand and spoke.

“Lu Xiao Tong? Come with me.”

Wisl brought Xiao Tong to an empty desk by the window, where he said, “This is where you will work. If you have any questions, ask me or Krugman… Or anyone else in the office. We will try to help you, but you’ll be on your own for the most part.”

Xiao Tong: “Thanks…”

“You should be thanking me. I got off work yesterday when Krugman called me and told me to clean up the empty desk.” Wisl shrugged and said, “Normally, the new student would be the one cleaning up the desk… but Krugman seems to have more respect for you.”

Xiao Tong awkwardly said, “I could’ve done it myself.”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter,” Wisl said nonchalantly. “I’ll introduce you to the others in the office.”

“Okay…”

Wisl was about to introduce the new student to the other people in the office when Krugman walked into the office with a smile.

“The call is over! I’ll handle this, Wisl, you can do your work.”

“Oh… okay,” Wisl said. He was a little confused why the professor was so enthusiastic, but he still nodded and said, “I’ll go work on my thesis… I’ll introduce you to them later.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Xiao Tong nodded and looked at Krugman, who had a warm smile on his face.

Is Princeton always this welcoming?

How come I never heard my brother talk about this…

Professor Krugman walked toward Xiao Tong with a smile and gently spoke.

“I’ve read your graduation thesis many times. It was well written. Even though there are some flaws, being able to write a thesis like that at your age is impressive. Such talents are rare even in a place like Princeton.”

He coughed and spoke.

“Since you have a certain amount of theoretical knowledge, I’ll try to cultivate your other abilities… Speaking of which, Xiao Tong, have you attended academic conferences before?”

Xiao Tong: “I went with my supervisor…”

Krugman rubbed his chin and asked, “Was it a good conference?”

Xiao Tong said embarrassedly, “Not really…”

Unfortunately, her previous supervisor, Professor Forster, wasn’t a big name in the field of macroeconomics. Forster didn’t give her a lot of opportunities in the academic world. Instead, Xiao Tong was given internships at major investment banks.

Back then, Xiao Tong didn’t know if she wanted to continue in the path of academia, so she didn’t pay attention to the conferences. She only went to some conferences with her supervisor.

“Perfect then!”

Krugman’s eyes lit up as if he had thought of a brilliant idea. He said, “There’s a macroeconomics conference in Shanghai next week. Attending academic conferences is part of academia, and just listening to the reports will be beneficial. There are many scholars and PhD students attending. If you haven’t experienced something like this before, I’ll take you.”

Xiao Tong noticed that Wisl, as well as the other students in the office, looked at her with jealousy in their eyes.

As a Nobel Prize scholar, Krugman rarely attended conferences with students, unless this student was doing a report at the conference.

But now…

Xiao Tong had been in this office for less than an hour, and she was already receiving “VIP” treatment…

I’m so jealous!

Xiao Tong was a little uncomfortable with everyone looking at her.

“But… I’m not prepared, maybe you should bring someone else.”

“It’s fine! You don’t have to prepare for anything,” Professor Krugman said. “One day, you’ll publish a thesis at a top-level conference, so you should familiarize yourself with the process. It will greatly benefit you in the future.”

Xiao Tong couldn’t find an excuse to refuse the invitation.

She obviously didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

However, she just flew here from Shanghai, and now she had to fly back with her supervisor…

When Xiao Tong thought about the 20-hour flight, she started to have a headache…

Chapter 938: Want to Drink? It's on Me

Nine o’clock at night, Beijing time.

Sheraton hotel, presidential suite.

Lu Zhou stood next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was on a call with someone from the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

“I dropped your sister off at her apartment.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.”

“No worries.” Qin Yue smiled and said, “Oh yeah, she’s living in a student apartment right now… Should I just let her move into your house? I can rent a smaller apartment near campus anyway.”

When Lu Zhou left Princeton, he gave Qin Yue the keys to his house and his Ford Mustang. All Qin Yue had to do was pay the property tax every year.

After all, he needed someone to take care of the house. Because Princeton was in the state of New Jersey, if there wasn’t someone looking after the house during winter, it was very likely for a frozen pipe to burst, thus damaging the house.

Lu Zhou had quite fond memories of the fireplace in his own Princeton home.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s fine, I asked her about this during New Year, and she refused without even thinking about it. But then again, I won’t feel safe letting a girl live in a suburban house by herself. If you don’t want to live there, just ask Vera or the other professors.”

Lu Zhou knew why Xiao Tong refused his offer.

On one hand, she was grateful toward her brother for taking care of her, but she also had a similar personality trait to Lu Zhou, which was that she never liked to receive favors from other people. She wanted to be independent and didn’t want to cause any trouble for other people. She didn’t want to be a burden to others…

Lu Zhou wanted to tell her that she wasn’t a burden.

After all, she was family.

And families were supposed to help one another…

Qin Yue smiled and said, “I didn’t say I don’t want to live here anymore. With only US$3,000 a year for such a big house, this is probably the cheapest rent in America. I’m just saying, if your sister needs it, I can move out. But you’re right. It’s not safe for a girl to live off-campus alone.”

Even though the student apartments in Princeton were expensive, it was close to campus and had good security. Qin Yue remembered that Xiao Tong’s apartment was a two-bedroom. Having a roommate would help her integrate into campus life easier.

After asking some questions about his sister, Lu Zhou changed the subject and casually chatted with his former student.

“How are you doing?”

Qin Yue smiled and said, “I’m doing good, and I’m quite accustomed to life here. All I need is a quiet place to research. The only downside is that you’re not here anymore, so I can’t ask you for help now.”

Lu Zhou: “You’re a professor now, you should be the one helping others. Speaking of which, what are you researching these days?”

“Waring’s conjecture in additive number theory…” Qin Yue sighed and said, “I hate this problem! I finally realize why there are so few people researching number theory. Most of the time, you think a problem is a number theory problem, then you dive deep into it, and it turns out to be an algebraic geometry problem. Then, you realize that algebraic geometry methods can’t solve the problem, so you try to use representation theory, p-adic theory… and of course, your Group Structure Method.”

“That’s a good thing.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “That’s how mathematics progresses. By connecting fields together.”

Qin Yue said, “You’re right, but as a researcher, this is not fun at all. Sometimes, I wish there was a tool that could tell us what method to use.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Qin Yue: “Probably.”

The conversation suddenly stopped.

Qin Yue felt like Lu Zhou had something to say. However, Lu Zhou was beating around the bush.

Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“Is Vera… doing okay?”

Qin Yue sighed and spoke.

“I asked around for you, but I didn’t find anything useful. She doesn’t want to talk about her condition. She tries to hide from me. I asked Molina, but she didn’t want to tell me anything either.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a second.

“Okay, thanks…”

He paused for a second and continued, “If she doesn’t want to talk, don’t force her.”

Qin Yue: “I’ll talk to you later then?”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall and said, “It’s getting late here.”

Qin Yue hesitated for a bit and said, “Can I ask you a question, I’ve always wanted to ask this before, it’s—”

Lu Zhou: “If it’s an academic problem, go ahead…”

Qin Yue sighed and said, “Nevermind then…”

…

Wang Peng was in the room next door, and he had just finished shaving his beard. He sat on the edge of his bed while inspecting his equipment in his suitcase.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside his door.

He could tell who it was from the footsteps, so he stood up and opened the door.

“What’s up?”

Lu Zhou spoke.

“Want to drink? It’s on me.”

Wang Peng went silent for a few seconds and said, “I can’t drink or smoke on the job, but if you want to drink, I can accompany you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Wang Peng said, “I’ll sit on the side and carry you back when you’re wasted.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“Me? Wasted? Forget about it…”

Lu Zhou turned around and walked toward the elevator. Wang Peng closed the door and followed him. When they got in the elevator, Wang Peng pressed the floor the bar was on.

Lu Zhou looked at him and didn’t say anything.

He then walked up to the bar and sat on a stool. He looked at the bartender and spoke.

“Whiskey on the rocks.”

“Coming right up.”

Wang Peng looked at the bartender preparing the drink and had a feeling Lu Zhou was going to drink a lot tonight.

“The unveiling ceremony is tomorrow, I suggest you take it easy tonight.”

Lu Zhou, who normally listened to Wang Peng’s advice, gave a surprising answer.

“Cool.”

Lu Zhou took the glass from the bartender and began drinking one glass after another…

Lu Zhou didn’t remember when he stopped drinking.

When he came back to life, it was already the next morning…

Chapter 939: Unveiling Ceremony!

Lu Zhou had a great time last night.

But waking up in the morning was painful.

The next day, Lu Zhou woke up with a headache from his hangover. Thanks to his strong metabolic function, he felt a little better after taking a shower. He went downstairs and ate some breakfast, then got in the car waiting for him at the hotel entrance.

Lu Zhou sat in the back seat and pinched his forehead.

“What time did I drink until yesterday?”

Wang Peng said, “Early morning… I didn’t expect you to wake up this morning.”

Lu Zhou: “Nothing but a couple of shots, no big deal.”

Wang Peng smiled and said, “… Where to?”

Lu Zhou: “ILHCRC headquarters.”

“Okay.”

Wang Peng skillfully turned the steering wheel and began driving.

Lu Zhou was leaning against the window. He planned on taking a nap but suddenly remembered how drunk he was last night.

“I drank too much last night, whatever you heard me say, pretend like I didn’t say anything.”

“It’s fine, we all have our bad days.” Wang Peng smiled and said, “Do you feel better? Are you ready for the unveiling ceremony?”

Lu Zhou smiled confidently.

“Of course I’m ready.

“This is nothing but a small event..”

…

Actually, it was quite a big event.

Media vans gathered in the parking lot of the magnificent ILHCRC headquarters building, which was situated in the high-tech zone. The entire world had their eyes set on this ceremony.

The crowd surrounded the front entrance of the building. A giant granite stone wrapped in red cloth, which was around five meters high, sat at the entrance of the building.

There were no red carpets, no balloons in the sky, no fireworks. However, no one looked down on the significance of this ceremony.

Scholars concerned about the future of mankind, laymen interested in physics, and politicians concerned about the impact of this project were paying close attention to this ceremony.

Some of them were sitting in front of a TV, others were live at the scene. They all couldn’t help but hold their breath.

A man in a suit stood in the center of attention.

He didn’t have a script in his hand, only a microphone.

He spoke in a clear and solemn voice.

“First of all, I’d like to thank the scientists, scholars, politicians, and everyone else watching at home for celebrating this glorious moment with us.

“As the chairman of the ILHCRC, I’d like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart!”

The crowd gave a wave of applause.

Lu Zhou nodded and cleared his throat.

“ILHCRC is an international physics research organization, and we are committed to solving problems that will impact our future.

“This project will help us understand the laws of the universe in which we live in.

“I’m honored to stand here and unveil this glorious building!”

Lu Zhou took two steps back and walked toward the granite stone.

He reached out and yanked off the red cloth.

A magnificent line of words was engraved in the stone.

[International Lunar Hadron Collider Research Center]

It was almost like time was frozen.

Then…

The applause and cheers began…

The researchers of the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences excitedly waved their arms, and they even hugged each other with tears in their eyes.

They were going to change history!

They were going to achieve something great together!

This kind of glory overshadowed all personal honors, even the honor of a Nobel Prize. At that moment, they were all in this together, as a team.

Luo Wenxuan was being squished in the crowd, and he nearly dropped his glasses.

Academician Zhang Wenlong, the chairman of the Chinese Physical Society, clapped until his palms began to hurt.

“Finally.”

“Yeah,” said Fang Shaoping, the director of the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He rubbed his eyes and said, “This is a new page for the Chinese physics field.”

Academician Zhang Wenlong chuckled.

“Not just the Chinese physics field!

“This is a new page for the world of physics!”

…

The unveiling ceremony was over.

Lu Zhou gently bowed and put down the microphone. A swarm of reporters came forward and extended their microphones.

“Professor Lu, I’m a reporter from Columbia TV, can you tell us why people think the hadron collider is a waste of money?”

Lu Zhou: “I think those people should educate themselves.”

“I’m a BBC reporter! I’d like to ask if the ILHCRC chairman position was determined by a vote? Did the ILHCRC consult other nation members on this decision?”

Lu Zhou: “No comment.”

With a group of security personnel escorting him, Lu Zhou finally escaped the reporters. Lu Zhou and other ILHCRC staff swiped their gate cards and went into the building.

Suddenly, he saw a glimpse of someone familiar in the crowd.

When the guy noticed Lu Zhou looking at him, he tried to slip away, but Lu Zhou yelled, “Luo Wenxuan!

“I was looking for you during the opening ceremony; you’re finally here.”

Chapter 940: Delicious!

Chapter 940 Delicious!

Since Luo Wenxuan’s cover was blown, there was no point in hiding.

Luo Wenxuan awkwardly looked at Lu Zhou and scratched his head.

He felt quite embarrassed about getting caught like this.

He smiled and tried to change the subject.

“What a coincidence, the weather is so nice today, thank god it hasn’t rained. There’s not a single cloud in the sky. If it were raining, everyone holding their umbrellas would—”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t change the subject, where were you?”

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, “The train was late, then there was a traffic jam…”

“You took the train this morning?” Lu Zhou said, “You just couldn’t come to Shanghai a day early? Did you have to wait until the last minute?”

Luo Wenxuan awkwardly scratched his head and said, “Um… I didn’t miss out on anything important, right?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Nothing important.”

Luo Wenxuan patted his chest and sighed in relief.

“Oh, thank god!”

“Thank god my as*!” Lu Zhou said, “There’s a press conference at two in the afternoon, and I want you to speak there. Go speak with the PR team, learn what you can say and cannot say to the public.”

When Luo Wenxuan heard about the press conference, he jumped up like a bunny and said, “Wait a second! Why am I speaking at the press conference, I’m not—”

Lu Zhou: “Shut up, you should have come here yesterday. You missed out on the department meeting and was late for the unveiling ceremony. This is your punishment.”

“No, please,” Luo Wenxuan said. “Please forgive me, those reporters are monsters…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I can’t, you have to do it. Also, you’re part of the reason for the ILHCRC, and you have a good understanding of the Lunar Hadron Collider design. I’m sure you can answer some questions. Think of it as a chance to brag.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “What do you mean brag… How about I do the report for your next big research paper. Also, how am I part of the reason for the ILHCRC? It’s not like CERN is begging to work with me.”

“Enough,” Lu Zhou said. “If you can’t do this tiny press conference, why would I let you give a report on my research result?”

Lu Zhou walked up and patted him on the shoulder.

“You got this!

“Just think of it as a public speaking exercise!”

For some reason, Luo Wenxuan felt like there was something troublesome waiting for him.

This seems a little suspicious.

It’s not like I can ask him.

After a while, he sighed and patted Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Okay then.

“I guess I have to do it.

“I’ll go prepare.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Motherf*cker, why do I want to punch this guy in the face?!

I’m training him to be my successor, yet he’s making it seems like I’m torturing him.

He should be thankful!

Maybe I should get a backup to replace him…

…

Shanghai international airport.

Professor Krugman walked through the crowd with a suitcase in his hand and a hat on his head. He handed his suitcase to the PhD student next to him.

“Wisl, carry this for me!”

Wisl took the suitcase and spoke.

“Okay, professor!”

Professor Angus looked at the crowded airport lobby and said to Krugman, “Jesus, there’s so many people here! It wasn’t like this ten years ago.”

People of all races were crowded inside the airport.

Professor Angus felt like he was in New York.

Professor Krugman smiled and spoke.

“My friend, the world is constantly changing. If you stay in Princeton for the rest of your life, the world is going to leave you behind… Wisl, how about you be a gentleman and carry the lady’s luggage?”

Wisl looked at the professor; he was speechless. He quietly went over and tried to grab Xiao Tong’s suitcase.

Xiao Tong held on tight to her suitcase and awkwardly spoke.

“… I can carry it myself.”

Even though Xiao Tong euphemistically refused Wisl’s offer, Wisl still had an angry look on his face.

This old man is using me as a slave!

I knew this was going to happen, but this is so humiliating!

However, his anger quickly disappeared.

When he thought about being able to attend an academic conference with a Nobel Prize laureate and being able to meet the big names of the industry, his anger soon dissipated.

This is nothing!

This will benefit me in the future!

Wisl was no longer jealous of his supervisor’s bias toward the new Chinese student. He even felt his shoulders becoming stronger…

I got this!

Xiao Tong didn’t notice Wisl’s emotions. Instead, she was too busy being confused about Professor Krugman’s actions.

Are all Princeton professors this kind?

It wasn’t like this when I was in Oxford…

“… By the way, Xiao Tong, aren’t you going to call your family and tell them you’ve arrived safely?”

Xiao Tong replied, “I just called them a few days ago…”

Professor Krugman said in a serious manner, “I know, but you flew again, right? It was a twenty-hour flight! Your family must be worried.”

Xiao Tong: “…”

They won’t be worried if I don’t tell them.

Xiao Tong didn’t know what to say.

“I’ll call them at the hotel…”

Professor Krugman smiled and said, “Okay! Call them at the hotel… Don’t forget.”

Xiao Tong nodded awkwardly.

“Okay…”

There’s no way I’m calling them. I’m not telling them I’m in Shanghai again.

If my brother knew that I went all the way to Princeton for a whole two days then came back, he would laugh his as* off.

Xiao Tong felt a little weird about Professor Krugman’s actions.

“Too bad my brother is in Jinling. He won’t be able to see him…”

Xiao Tong shook her head and walked next to her supervisor. She dragged her suitcase on the ground while walking toward the taxi stand…

Chapter 941: Most Creative Poster

Chapter 941 Most Creative Poster

After making Luo Wenxuan take over the afternoon press conference, Lu Zhou realized how much more free time he had.

He sat in his hotel room and thought about what to do to kill time. He suddenly remembered that there was an invitation letter he had yet to respond to.

He remembered the words Professor Krugman said in the email. He hesitated for a while and finally sighed.

“Whatever, I have time to kill anyway, I’ll just go check it out.”

He was actually quite curious if the Lu Bewley model was as nutty as Krugman said it was.

The location for the conference was at a five-star hotel, and the invitation also included dinner and lunch vouchers. Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in economics, he was interested in free food.

Lu Zhou got up and changed into his casual clothes. He called Wang Peng and asked him to get the car ready downstairs. He then took the elevator down and went outside.

Lu Zhou said, “Xinrui Hotel… A five-star hotel that was built recently. It’s quite far though.”

Lu Zhou was sitting in the backseat as he took out the invitation letter and read the address to Wang Peng.

Wang Peng reached out and tapped on the GPS navigation screen.

“Xinrui Hotel? It doesn’t seem to be that far, only a thirty-minute drive.”

Lu Zhou’s eyes felt droopy as he said, “I’m not in a hurry.”

“Is this another meeting?”

“Kind of, but I’m mainly going there for the food.”

“Okay then…”

…

Just like Wang Peng had estimated, after a thirty-minute drive, they arrived at the entrance of the Xinrui Hotel.

The worker standing at the entrance of the hotel took a look at Lu Zhou’s invitation letter. He then invited the two into the hotel.

Lu Zhou walked through the hotel lobby and looked at the decor and the people in the lobby.

He realized there wasn’t a single tourist here.

No wonder academia costs so much money, these economists are so extravagant with their conferences.

Not only is this a five-star hotel, but they seemed to have rented out the whole place for the conference.

Mathematics conferences, on the other hand, were often hosted in small meeting rooms. Even top conferences such as the ICM wouldn’t be hosted in such a luxurious venue.

Lu Zhou still remembered the last International Congress of Mathematicians conference in Rio de Janeiro. Even though the hotel wasn’t horrible, it was nowhere near a five-star resort.

No wonder mathematicians look down on economists. These economists use mathematical tools to create theories and attend these extravagant conferences!

Lu Zhou speculated that the reason this venue was held in such an extravagant place was that the conference organizer was sponsored by famous universities such as Aurora University and Kai University.

The local government and universities were happy to spend money to attract international scholars.

Just like the saying goes.

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

If this were before, international scholars would never come to a domestic conference like this.

But the academia environment had changed since then.

With the rise of China’s economy, more and more scholars and economists had become interested in China’s economic models. They were willing to research existing problems in the Chinese economy, as well as study what kind of impact China’s economy would have on the world…

From an objective point of view, being able to attract international scholars was a good thing.

After Lu Zhou went into the venue, he immediately went to the souvenirs booth and happily collected some free notebooks and pens from large investment banks.

These pens were not available for purchase, and rarely would people sell them. Thus, they were quite a collectible item.

Lu Zhou had always had the habit of collecting gifts from academic conferences. For him, this was a way of tracking his academic progress.

He hadn’t been attending as many conferences over the past few years.

Holding the free metal pen made Lu Zhou feel nostalgic.

Next to the souvenirs booth was the poster booth area.

Just like mathematics conferences, advanced topics were discussed in conference halls, while the poster area gave a chance for all scholars to show off their results.

Compared to giving a talk or a report, the barrier of entry for a poster booth was much lower. It was like a street vendor setting up shop next to a high-end mall. Most of the people here were master’s and PhD students. Anyone with a loud voice and an eye-catching poster would receive quite a lot of attention.

Even though an academic poster was inferior to other academic communication methods, this was still a very useful way to show off one’s work.

Lu Zhou looked around the dazzling poster stalls. He realized that even though he recognized the individual words and symbols on the posters, he didn’t understand what the poster was actually trying to say.

He was starting to get confused when he suddenly noticed a familiar-looking headline on a poster.

“… Lu Bewley model?”

Even though the poster was poorly done, the title was written there clearly.

A tall, skinny man standing in front of the poster noticed Lu Zhou, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, “You’re in this research area?”

Lu Zhou heard the young man and smiled.

“Sort of.”

“What a coincidence.” The young man smiled and reached out his hand as he said, “I’m Wisl, PhD student at Princeton, researching macroeconomics… More specifically, I’m researching economics models that are built using mathematical models. The Lu Bewley model is my research project!”

He had been standing here with his poster since the morning, but no one was interested in his poster.

He finally found someone who seemed to be interested in his poster, so he didn’t want Lu Zhou to leave.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t plan on leaving anyway.

The reason why he attended this conference was to find out if the Lu Bewley model was as significant as Krugman had claimed.

“Is the Lu Bewley model important?”

Even though Lu Zhou felt a little narcissistic asking this question, he couldn’t help but feel curious.

Lu Zhou was embarrassed to ask this question, but Wisl took that as Lu Zhou doubting the importance of this model. He stood up straight and began to explain.

“Of course! It’s one of the most important economics models in recent years! You’re in this research area, you should know about the Bewley model, right? The Lu Bewley model is a strong version of the Bewley model… Are you really in this research area? It sounds like you’re a layman.”

Lu Zhou looked at Wisl’s skeptical eyes and spoke.

“Of course, are you doubting me?”

“No, no.” Wisl waved his hand and said, “Actually, it’s fine if you don’t understand, since this is quite a cutting-edge research field. If you plan on learning about the Lu Bewley model, you should check out lecture hall 1.”

Lu Zhou: “Lecture hall 1?”

“That’s right. Professor Joseph Eugene Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize laureate, is speaking there. Surely you have heard about his Dixit-Stiglitz Model. He’s a theoretical researcher in symmetric information economics, but he also has profound insights regarding mathematical economics.”

For some reason, there was a hint of envy in Wisl’s voice, as if he wanted to attend the lecture instead of standing at his poster booth.

“Just go if you want to.” Lu Zhou looked around the empty poster booth and said, “There’s no one here anyway.”

“I can’t do that!” Wisl said, “If no one guards the poster booth, someone will take my poster away. That means I’ll be disqualified for the poster creativity award.”

“I’m sorry but… You plan on winning an award with this poster?” Lu Zhou looked at the horribly-drawn poster with his mouth wide open.

This looks more like an abstract art painting.

But for an academic poster…

It would be better if he just took a piece of blank paper and wrote a summary line by line.

However, Wisl wasn’t amused, and he stubbornly spoke, “What if I do win? You never know.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“Good luck then… I’m going to lecture hall 1.”

“Go ahead, you might not be able to get a seat… Oh yeah, I didn’t catch your name?” Wisl said to Lu Zhou, who was walking away from the poster booth.

Without looking back, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“I’m Lu Zhou.”

Wisl: “…???”

Chapter 942: Not Even One?

Chapter 942 Not Even One?

When Lu Zhou arrived at lecture hall 1, the report had already begun.

An old man with glasses stood in front of a projector curtain while slowly talking about things Lu Zhou didn’t understand.

However, even though he didn’t understand what was going on, the other scholars were quietly listening.

This reminded Lu Zhou of his own report. Whenever he did a report, the audience always listened attentively.

Looks like this speaker is an expert.

Lu Zhou didn’t stand around for long, he found a seat on the last row and sat down.

Actually, Wisl was sort of exaggerating. Even though there were many people in the lecture hall, he was still able to find a seat.

There were some people sitting on the floor at the front of the lecture hall, and these were often younger people who wore thick glasses. They came to the report with the intent of asking questions.

After Lu Zhou sat down, he looked around and took out his phone. He pulled up the thesis he and Xiao Tong collaborated on and used the rest of his attention listening to Professor Joseph’s lecture.

He had mostly forgotten about the theoretical part of the Lu Bewley model. Even though this model seemed to be important in the economics community, it was insignificant to him.

He read the paper again and refreshed his knowledge of the mathematical model he built.

For most people, reading a paper while listening to a lecture was a difficult thing.

However, Lu Zhou was good at multi-tasking and he was used to this.

Back when he was a Princeton professor, he would multi-task and focus on three separate things at once.

Professor Joseph slowly spoke on stage. When he saw a flash of light coming from the back row, he frowned.

The light from Lu Zhou’s phone wasn’t particularly bright, and it was barely noticeable.

However, everyone else in the lecture hall was looking at Joseph, except one person, who was looking at his phone. Even though Lu Zhou was sitting in the back row, Joseph easily noticed him.

Using one’s phone during a report wasn’t uncommon, but Joseph had always been against this behavior. He felt like his research result was being disrespected.

However, Joseph only frowned and ignored the disrespectful audience member.

If this were his lecture, he would definitely kick the person out of his lecture hall. However, this was an academic report. He wasn’t going to waste the time of other scholars over such a small matter…

Lu Zhou didn’t realize a big name economist was annoyed at him.

If only Joseph knew Lu Zhou wasn’t playing on his phone, he was reading the thesis!

However, Lu Zhou wouldn’t have cared what Joseph thought regardless.

First of all, he wasn’t in the economics field; secondly, there were hundreds of people that disliked him, so who cared about one more…

Lu Zhou finished reading the thesis—both the mathematical and the theoretical part.

Lu Zhou put away his phone. He was interested in what evaluation Professor Joseph was going to give his mathematical model. However, the old man’s words completely shocked him.

“We all know that a fairly novel mathematical model was recently added to the field of economics. Its creator is the well known Fields Medalist Professor Lu Zhou. His new model improved the Bewley model, reducing the amount of tedious calculations, and making the model calculations more accurate…

“I’m not denying that this mathematical model is beautiful.”

Professor Joseph looked around the lecture hall and said, “I’m a supporter of the New trade theory, and I often use mathematical tools to help buttress my economics theories. However, I have to mention that mathematics is only a tool for economics. After all, this is a macroeconomics conference, not an accounting and finance conference.”

The audience chuckled.

Most people liked the old man’s joke.

New economists were beginning to rely more and more on computers and mathematical tools. The Nobel Prize in Economics had almost become a mathematics prize.

For some old-fashioned economists, the integration of mathematics was simply stupid.

Professor Joseph paused for a second and spoke.

“Economics is about studying human economic activity, that is, creating, transforming, and trading value. This is not some mathematical game. We’re economists, not accountants.

“Even though this report is based on the Lu Bewley model, I am going to disappoint many people.” Professor Joseph looked at Krugman, who was sitting in the front row. He paused for a few seconds and said, “I will focus the report on the shortcomings of the Lu Bewley model.

“In my opinion, these shortcomings are fatal!”

Suddenly, whispers were heard in the lecture hall.

After hearing Joseph’s speech, Lu Zhou’s expression returned to normal.

He was a mathematician, a complete layman in the field of economics. If there really were fatal flaws, he would just have to accept it.

Not to mention that Professor Joseph was criticizing the economic value of the Lu Bewley model, not the mathematical value.

Therefore, Lu Zhou didn’t really care.

He can say whatever he wants.

Lu Zhou leaned back on his chair and overheard a conversation from two young people, likely PhD students.

“Didn’t Professor Krugman discuss the Lu Bewley model in his latest paper? It seems like he disagrees with Joseph?”

“Of course! Krugman is a supporter of mathematical economics, and he thinks that a beautiful economics model has to have a mathematical foundation… But Krugman doesn’t have good mathematical abilities himself.”

“Looks like this report is going to be interesting then.”

“Yeah, yeah, Professor Krugman is here as well, right?! Joseph is probably doing this report as a response to Krugman’s thesis.”

“Too bad, Professor Krugman isn’t as influential as Professor Joseph!”

Lu Zhou heard the conversation and raised his eyebrows.

Krugman is also in the lecture hall?

Joseph is doing this report for him?

I don’t really know how economics debates work, but I have a feeling this is going to get interesting…

Professor Krugman had a stiff expression on his face.

Professor Joseph’s words undoubtedly embarrassed him.

Xiao Tong couldn’t help but say, “Professor, does the Lu Bewley model… really have fatal flaws?”

“It’s hard to say.” Krugman shook his head and said, “I don’t think there are any flaws… But Joseph is quite the expert in mathematical economics models. Maybe he found problems I haven’t found yet.”

Professor Angus nodded and agreed with his old friend Krugman.

“We should just wait and see what happens. Maybe it’s not that bad.”

Professor Krugman had a solemn expression.

“Yeah, let’s be patient.”

Professor Joseph continued to speak, and he used a marker to write down the important parts on a whiteboard.

“As we all know, the Bewley model overcomes the flaws of the stochastic dynamic general equilibrium framework. It has gradually become the mainstream method of macroeconomic research. The Lu Bewley model has made improvements, such as the use of the ‘endogenous grid method’. This reduces the cumbersome operations…

“However, this also reduced the rigor of the Bewley model.”

[F (x, y, z) = ag3, 1 + bg3, 2 + cg3, 3 … where x, y, z≥0 …]

[…]

He continued to write down lines of calculations on the whiteboard.

Professor Joseph turned around and faced the lecture hall.

“If the KPR utility function is applied to equation 3, we can see there are obvious problems with the model.

“Just like I said, the Lu Bewley model has a major flaw, so a revision should be made.

“My report is over. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away.”

The lecture hall was dead silent.

One could hear a pin drop on the ground.

Professor Joseph glanced at Krugman, who was staring at the whiteboard with a muddled look on his face.

I knew it.

Krugman couldn’t keep up with my explanation at all.

He didn’t have anything against Krugman; he was just dissatisfied with the flaws in the Lu Bewley model.

He thought Krugman would at least say something, but Krugman didn’t even ask a question.

Joseph looked disappointed.

Not even one person is going to argue with me?!

He was about to walk off stage when he saw someone in the back row raise their hand.

“I have a question.”

The voice traveled from the back of the lecture hall…

Chapter 943: Only Took Me an Hour

Chapter 943 Only Took Me an Hour

Lu Zhou didn’t really understand Professor Joseph’s explanation.

However, he was vaguely familiar with the equations on the whiteboard.

Even though it only took him an hour to complete this model, that didn’t mean the model was worthless.

“… I’m not denying your argument, every discipline should have its own research habits, and mathematics is not the king of research.” Lu Zhou coughed and pointed at the whiteboard. He said, “But in regard to the formula on line 3… That’s not how you use it.”

The venue became more and more lively!

A lot of people looked at the back row, wondering who the arrogant person was.

“Someone is questioning Professor Joseph’s mathematics ability?!”

“Even Professor Krugman didn’t say anything…”

“Who is this guy, he looks quite young, probably a student?”

“Wait a second, I feel like… This person looks familiar.”

“…”

“Please tell me what the problem is. Otherwise, don’t waste my time,” Professor Joseph said. He realized the person who asked the question was the person playing on his phone just a while ago. He said, “Or do you think you know the Lu Bewley model better than I do?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, in terms of the mathematics part.”

The audience was in an uproar.

Professor Joseph frowned and spoke.

“Oh? Enlighten me then, who are you? What university are you from?”

Faced with this irrelevant question, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but frown.

Do you really not recognize me?

This is the second time today someone has asked me this question.

We’re from different races, but my handsomeness is universal, right?

He sighed and spoke.

“Lu Zhou, Jin Ling University.

“Or you can call me Professor Lu.”

The lecture hall suddenly went quiet.

Lu-Lu Zhou?!

Joseph and all of the other scholars in the lecture hall were stunned.

The economists looked at the young scholar standing up.

A lot of people thought they recognized Lu Zhou, but they weren’t sure.

After all, no one would have expected Lu Zhou to appear in a macroeconomics conference.

No one had ever seen Lu Zhou at an economics conference before.

No wonder no one was able to recognize him!

On the other side of the venue, a girl in her twenties had her eyes wide open.

Brother?!

When Xiao Tong heard the familiar voice coming from the back row, her eyes nearly popped out of her socket!

Professor Krugman was sitting next to her, and he was even more excited.

“He came! I knew it!”

He immediately looked at Professor Angus, who was sitting next to him.

Professor Angus coughed and got out of his seat.

“I’m going to the men’s room…”

Professor Krugman smiled.

“That’s fine, but don’t forget about our bet!”

Professor Angus angrily said, “I know, you selfish man… It’s just some gold coins, you’re going to get cavities if you eat too much chocolate.”

“Haha, I’m just honoring the bet… Are you really going to the toilet?” Professor Krugman looked at the whiteboard and said, “I think… the show is about to begin.”

Professor Angus hesitated for a second and sat back down.

“I guess I can hold it for a while…

“Let’s see what happens.”

…

Lu Zhou didn’t expect to get himself into this situation.

After he pointed out the calculation problem on the whiteboard, Professor Joseph still didn’t give up. Joseph even invited Lu Zhou to walk on stage and point out the problem.

Lu Zhou didn’t want to go on stage.

However, as a scholar, when he found out that someone else had used his theory incorrectly, it was his responsibility to point out the error and correct it.

After all, there was no one else in this world that understood the Lu Bewley model better than him.

I want to be humble, but I can’t…

Lu Zhou sighed and picked up the marker. He then cleared his throat and spoke.

“I’m only going to write this once, so pay attention.”

Professor Joseph was expressionless as he stared at the whiteboard.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t feel pressured by his gaze at all.

After thinking for five seconds, the marker in his hand began to dance on the whiteboard. Soon after, lines of calculations appeared on the whiteboard.

As Professor Joseph looked at the calculations on the whiteboard, his pupils contracted and expanded. He was in disbelief.

He wasn’t surprised at Lu Zhou’s calculations.

Although, the calculations were impressive.

What surprised him was that Lu Zhou didn’t pause for a second while writing down the equations! Lu Zhou didn’t stop and think at all!

That’s right, he didn’t stop for even half a second.

It was almost like the entire model was in Lu Zhou’s mind, like Lu Zhou had a blueprint of each piece of the puzzle in his head.

A drop of sweat slipped down Joseph’s forehead.

Joseph, who was so confident just a second ago, began doubting himself…

When Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of the equation on the whiteboard, the venue was completely silent.

Not only did he conquer Professor Joseph, but he also completely conquered all of the economists sitting here.

Compared to Professor Joseph’s writing, every step of Lu Zhou’s calculation was written meticulously. Lu Zhou even circled the problems in Professor Joseph’s calculations.

Professor Joseph’s shoulders trembled as he looked at the whiteboard.

“I can’t believe this…

“These calculations should have taken hours…

“How did you do it?!”

Lu Zhou smiled and put down the marker.

“Am I correct?”

Even though Joseph didn’t want to admit defeat, the result was obvious.

Professor Joseph went silent and reluctantly nodded.

“I admit… I made a mistake in the Lu Bewley model, so you’re correct.”

There was a commotion in the lecture hall.

Professor Joseph admitted he was wrong?!

Most people couldn’t believe what was happening.

After seeing Lu Zhou appear in the lecture hall, most people thought that Professor Joseph might lose. After all, Joseph wasn’t nearly as strong as economist Professor Nash. Joseph was a long way from being a Fields Medalist.

However, they didn’t expect Joseph to give up without even debating…

“Do you know which part you were wrong?”

“I do…”

Joseph felt a little humiliated.

However, realizing one’s mistake…

There was nothing shameful about that.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Joseph and nodded.

Not bad, at least he can admit he’s wrong.

He thought that perhaps the old gentleman would try to steer the argument and try to argue from the perspective of an economist.

However, it seemed like Joseph wasn’t that kind of person.

Seeking the truth was a valuable trait.

Especially for a scholar.

“Then I’ll leave it to you to correct the mistakes. I don’t really know much about this stuff.” Lu Zhou turned around and began to walk off stage.

Professor Joseph stepped forward and stopped him.

“Wait a second, you still haven’t told me how you did this in such a short amount of time—”

“Oh… Because this isn’t that difficult at all.”

Lu Zhou turned around and spoke.

“I only spent an hour creating the Lu Bewley model.

“So fixing a mistake shouldn’t take that long.”

Chapter 944: 944 Might As Well Finish

An hour?!

Professor Joseph’s pupils expanded, he looked like he just saw a ghost.

It took him several years of intense research to complete the Dixit-Stiglitz Mode with his collaborator, Dixit. He proposed the model in his thesis “Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity”. This thesis shocked the entire economics community. This indirectly gave birth to the “New trade theory” and won him a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001!

No one knew about mathematical economics more than him!

Joseph was well aware of how difficult it was to develop a mathematical model that could be used to analyze economic models…

However, Lu Zhou was now telling him that the Lu Bewley model only took him an hour?!

This is ridiculous!

Even if he used the Bewley model as a foundation, it is nearly impossible to improve this sophisticated model in an hour!

In one hour…

It would take most people days just to understand the Bewley Model.

“You have to be kidding…” Professor Joseph said as he stared at the whiteboard.

He was obviously speaking to Lu Zhou.

However, his words didn’t reach Lu Zhou’s ears.

Because his words were masked by the audience’s exclaims.

And the man who was writing equations on stage…

He was long gone.

…

Outside of the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou closed the door behind him and heard a commotion behind him.

The commotion was quite loud, and he could hear it through the walls.

“Is it really so surprising?”

I’m not lying, it really only took one hour.

Lu Zhou realized that he didn’t want to stay here for any longer. He tried to walk away from the lecture hall.

However, a young lady with short black hair and who was carrying a notebook in her hand chased after him.

“God Lu! Can you be my mentor?!” the girl excitedly said while using her body to block Lu Zhou’s path.

Lu Zhou looked at the girl and spoke with a headache.

“You’re studying economics, right? I don’t know a lot about economics, you should find someone else—”

The young lady stepped forward and spoke.

“I was deeply moved by your performance on stage! You’ve opened my eyes! I-I want to study mathematics with you!”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

What is this chick talking about…

Lu Zhou knew that more people were going to chase after him, so this was his chance to escape. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“I’m sorry, you seem like a good person.”

Lady: “???”

Lu Zhou quickly walked past her, toward the direction of the elevator.

He went for an hour run every morning, so he could easily outrun some wannabe economics student.

“Wait a second, God Lu, don’t leave!”

Lu Zhou closed the elevator door and smirked.

“Too slow.”

The elevator door closed.

The elevator began to go up.

The people in the elevator looked at each other.

What is going on?

…

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t check in at the hotel, he could access the hotel elevator using his conference invitation card.

Lu Zhou went to the executive lounge and showed the front desk his invitation card. He took a seat by the window, behind a bookshelf.

“Do you want to drink something?”

“A cup of coffee… and some paper.”

“Is A4 paper fine?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

The waitress turned around and walked away.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and looked at the time.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon. It would be a while before the hotel buffet would be ready.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone and muttered to himself, “Should be enough, right?”

The waitress came back with a stack of papers.

“Here’s the A4 paper you wanted, but the coffee will take a while.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “That’s fine, I’m not in a rush.”

He now had some paper and a pen.

Lu Zhou took out his souvenir pen from his pocket. He pondered for a while and began writing.

He actually didn’t understand the report in total just then.

Even though he had never done any research in economics, combining the information provided by Xiao Tong, as well as the content explained by Professor Joseph, he was able to obtain a rough understanding of the economics side of the Lu Bewley model.

After learning about the economics side of the Lu Bewley model, he realized that Professor Joseph wasn’t entirely incorrect.

One could make the case that Joseph was half-correct.

This type of situation was very common in applied mathematics research.

Some things were obvious for Lu Zhou, but for scholars outside of mathematics research, these things were not obvious at all.

“… Professor Krugman’s hypothesis is true, there is room for improvement on the Lu Bewley model, both in the mathematical side and the economics side.”

Lu Zhou recalled the information he heard in the report. He treated this as a mathematical modeling problem and began to write on the paper.

Soon after, a fully written A4 paper was in front of him.

Lu Zhou looked at the paper and gathered his thoughts. He gradually smiled.

“It’s not anything interesting, but since I’m already here, I might as well finish…”

…

When someone entered a state of concentration, time often passed by quickly.

Without Lu Zhou realizing, the sky began to gradually turn dark.

Lu Zhou’s phone on the table vibrated.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Lu Zhou put down his pen and looked at the sky outside the window. “Is it from Professor Krugman?”

Xiao Ai: [Master, you’re correct! Good guess! (・∀・ *)]

Lu Zhou: “What did he say in the email?”

Xiao Ai: [He asked if you have time to get dinner together. ⊙▽⊙]

Lu Zhou tidied up the dozen or so A4 papers in his hand. He looked at the half-completed page, contemplated for a second, and spoke.

“Write a reply to him.

“Tell him I can do dinner at seven o’clock.”

Chapter 945: 945 More Than an Hour!

[I can do dinner at seven o’clock. ∠ (ᐛ」∠)]

When Krugman read this email, he wasn’t sure what the emoticon meant.

“It’s five minutes to seven.” Professor Angus looked at his watch and said, “Are you sure he meant seven o’clock at night?”

Professor Krugman smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“Honestly speaking, I’m not sure, I’m not even sure if he’s talking about today or tomorrow.”

“You should clarify with him!”

Professor Angus sighed and spoke.

“I’m going to get a bite… I can’t just wait here forever. I suggest you get something to eat as well. The food service is ending in an hour. It’s not good to go to bed on an empty stomach.”

Professor Angus picked up a dinner plate and was about to grab his food. Suddenly, someone walked through the door.

Professor Krugman’s eyes lit up when he saw the familiar face… He stood up and enthusiastically walked over.

“Haha, welcome! Professor Lu, it’s nice to meet you!”

Professor Angus put down his plate and walked over as well.

“You’re finally here!”

“I’m not late, am I?” Lu Zhou looked at his watch and said, “Close, I’m right on time.”

Professor Krugman patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, “It’s fine, we’re happy to wait for you. Let’s eat and talk, I’m starving.”

Lu Zhou said, “You haven’t eaten yet?”

Professor Angus said, “We were waiting for you.”

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“… You should’ve eaten first, I don’t really mind.”

Professor Angus and Professor Krugman became silent and looked at each other.

So what you’re saying is…

F*ck sake!

Why didn’t you tell us earlier?!

…

The three men carried their plates full of food and sat by the window.

Professor Krugman looked at the empty seat next to Lu Zhou and remembered something, so he took out his phone from his pocket.

“I have to make a call.”

Lu Zhou nodded. He was starving, so he reached for the knife and began to crack open the lobster on his plate.

After a while, Professor Krugman returned from his phone call.

Lu Zhou’s sister Xiao Tong was walking next to him, the one who flew to Princeton just a few days ago…

“Hi… brother.”

Xiao Tong awkwardly waved and sat next to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised, so he smiled and asked, “How’s it going? Are you settling in well at Princeton?”

“It’s fine…” Xiao Tong scratched her head and said, “Aren’t you surprised I’m in Shanghai?”

Lu Zhou smirked.

“Professor Krugman is here, so I’m guessing he probably brought you as well. Let me guess, when you guys landed, did he ask you to call me and ask me to come?”

Xiao Tong’s eyes were wide open.

“What? How did you know?”

“Wait a second, you didn’t call him?” Krugman looked at Xiao Tong and awkwardly said, “Just to be clear, I didn’t ask her to call you to come. I just asked her to call her family and tell them that she’s safe.”

Lu Zhou: “What’s the difference?”

“Okay then.” Krugman shrugged and said, “I apologize, I was trying to get you to come, but I swear I wasn’t being malicious.”

Professor Angus, who was sitting next to Professor Krugman, said, “Professor Krugman is doing this out of kindness. He wants you to witness the impact your research has made on the economics field… Actually, I’m sure you’ve seen that the Lu Bewley model is now one of the most popular concepts in economics. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nobel Prize Committee considers you for an economics prize.”

“It’s too early to talk about that, they still owe me a physics prize for the electrostrong interaction. They should give me that first.”

Lu Zhou smiled and turned his face to Xiao Tong, who was looking a little anxious.

“How come you didn’t tell me you are in Shanghai?”

Xiao Tong sighed and spoke.

“Okay, I’ll be honest… I thought you were going to laugh at me.”

Lu Zhou said, “That’s not being honest, come on now.”

Xiao Tong was shocked. Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, “Actually, you don’t have to worry about causing me trouble.”

Xiao Tong blinked and spoke.

“What… are you saying?”

Xiao Tong had a flash of astonishment and consternation in her eyes.

It was as if she was caught in a lie.

Lu Zhou said, “Because isn’t that what this is about?”

Lu Zhou smiled and sighed.

“Actually, people always want something from me, and I’m responsible for a lot of things. Things like the ILHCRC ceremony, these are all quite troublesome for me…”

In fact, he knew what Xiao Tong was thinking.

On one hand, she wanted to rely on her brother, but on the other hand, she wanted to be independent. She didn’t just want to be Lu Zhou’s sister; she wanted to be a strong, mature person…

Lu Zhou totally sympathized with his sister.

After all, Lu Zhou was the same; he never wanted to ask anyone else for favors…

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at his sister.

“… You’re my sister, I’ll do anything for you.”

Xiao Tong’s eyes began to water.

“… Brother.”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and rubbed her head.

“Don’t hide things from me in the future! Remember what I told you when you were doing your undergrad?”

Xiao Tong sniffed and began to choke up.

“What? It’s been so long, how am I supposed to remember…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I told you that we’re going to win a Nobel Prize in Mathematics.”

Professor Angus suddenly said, “There’s no mathematics Nobel Prize, only economics!”

“That’s right, I agree with Professor Angus,” Professor Krugman said as he shook his head. He calmed down and said, “Of course, even though there is no mathematics award, that doesn’t mean a mathematician can’t win a Nobel Prize… If you continue to do research on the Lu Bewley model, you’re going to win a Nobel prize eventually.”

Lu Zhou said, “Haha, you’re right, there is no mathematics Nobel Prize… I was just kidding.”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and spoke with a serious look on his face.

“After I left the afternoon report, I thought for a long time.

“My mathematical model was confusing to such a great scholar like Joseph. Even though Joseph was wrong, that must mean there’s something wrong with my model as well.

“Thus, I made some improvements to the Lu Bewley model.”

Lu Zhou took out the stack of folded A4 papers from his pocket and placed it in Xiao Tong’s hands. He said, “These are the draft papers for the improved Lu Bewley model.”

Lu Zhou said to Krugman, “Even though it is not as useful as you described, from a mathematical perspective, it is more rigorous and operable.”

Professor Krugman and Professor Angus were totally confused. Lu Zhou smiled at Xiao Tong, who was holding the stack of A4 papers, and said, “This time, your brother took more than an hour.”

Chapter 946: 946 Virtue

After handing over the dozen or so pages to Xiao Tong, Lu Zhou left swiftly.

Professor Krugman looked at the stack of A4 papers in Xiao Tong’s hand. He hesitated for a while before speaking, “This is a gift from your brother, how you’re going to use it, that is up to you.

“You can choose to publish it in your name, or you can do something else with it. I don’t want my opinions to influence you, even though I recommend doing the former… After all, your brother doesn’t care about his achievements in economics. He wants to help you… Of course, the decision is yours.”

Although the academic community had severe penalties for fraud and plagiarism, it wouldn’t go as far as to find out who completed the research.

This was similar to unethical supervisors who stole their students’ research results. Most people turned a blind eye to these types of things.

Vice versa, if a generous supervisor was willing to donate their research to a student, the academic community would assume that the supervisor had given up ownership of their research.

After all, there were so many scientific researchers in the world; the community didn’t have time to verify the origin of each research result.

Rules with loopholes were better than having no rules.

Therefore, if Xiao Tong wanted to publish this as her own paper, regardless of whether or not she had the ability to write a paper like this, as long as Lu Zhou didn’t say anything, the academic community would trust that this was Xiao Tong’s own work.

Xiao Tong looked at the paper in her hand for a long time. She sighed and looked determined.

“I made up my mind!

“I didn’t go into academia to win some Nobel Prize. This is tempting, but… I want to make my own achievements.

“If I received recognition because of the thesis I collaborated on with my brother, I would be happy… But otherwise, it would feel wrong.”

She wasn’t against the idea of working on a research project with her brother. However, blatantly receiving all of the credit for something she didn’t do, wasn’t what she wanted.

She wanted to become a scholar that was worthy of being “Professor Lu’s co-author”. She didn’t want to take other people’s research results as her own…

She looked down on people who did that.

She knew that she was still very weak, whereas Lu Zhou was strong enough to the point where even scholars like Professor Krugman were intimidated by him…

But she was still young, and she still had unlimited potential!

Xiao Tong looked at her supervisor Professor Krugman and spoke seriously.

“I want to publish this in my brother’s name… Can I do that?”

“Certainly can’t submit it to a journal, but since we’re at an international macroeconomics conference, there are other ways to publish the research, but…” Professor Krugman looked at Xiao Tong with a serious expression and said, “Have you thought about it carefully? This is a result worthy of a Nobel Prize, so I suggest you think this through.”

Xiao Tong nodded without hesitating.

“I’m certain.”

Even though Professor Krugman was a little sympathetic, he had a look of approval in his eyes.

“I’ve seen a lot of young and promising scholars in my lifetime, a lot of successful ones, but scholars who have your morals… It’s one in a million.

“Maybe one day I should visit your parents and ask them how they educated such an excellent kid. I’m sure they are good people.”

“You’ll be disappointed. They’re just normal people.” Xiao Tong smiled brightly and said, “But I love them.”

Professor Krugman smiled and said, “A person’s value isn’t determined by their achievements, but by their heart. You’re still young, you’ll realize this as you grow older. You should go take some rest, Professor Angus and I are going to finish eating. You don’t have to sit here with us old men.”

Xiao Tong nodded and left.

Only two people were left.

Professor Angus looked at Professor Krugman. He then poked Krugman’s elbow and comforted him.

“That’s a good student you have there.”

“Yeah…” Professor Krugman nodded and sighed. He said, “Not tempted by a Nobel Prize level research… If I didn’t have a Nobel Prize myself, I’m afraid I would have given in to the temptation.

“But this really would have helped her career.”

Angus raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised.”

Krugman: “Surprised?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe you actually think about things from the perspective of your students. I’ve heard a lot of rumors about you, the bad kind.”

“What kind of rumors?” Krugman said, “Don’t think that everyone in my office is my student. It’s easy to become my students.”

He only accepted some of the “students” in his office to fulfill teaching quotas.

Rumors?

They can say whatever they want.

Who cares?

…

On the way back, Lu Zhou realized that his approach might have been a little inappropriate.

However, he realized that Xiao Tong and him were the same type of people, so he had nothing to worry about.

Improving the Lu Bewley model was his responsibility as a scholar. He gave it to Xiao Tong in hopes of her completing the thesis, but it was also because Xiao Tong was his sister…

Of course, he knew that he was spoiling his sister.

This was a Nobel Prize level research in a field that he didn’t care about. Even though he was always a rule-following scholar, there was a part of him that wished Xiao Tong could publish this as her own research…

Lu Zhou returned to his hotel and threw the invitation letter on the desk. He was about to sit at his desk and get some work done, but his stomach began to grumble.

Lu Zhou realized that he didn’t eat a lot at the buffet at all…

“Sigh, I was too busy humble bragging, I didn’t even finish eating… What a shame.”

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall.

It was already half-past nine.

If he went to bed immediately, he wouldn’t have to eat. However, it was too early to sleep.

Whatever, f*ck it.

I never gain weight anyway.

Lu Zhou was about to call for room service when his phone suddenly began to rang.

He took out his phone from his pocket and saw it was Chen Yushan calling.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and spoke.

“Hello?”

Chen Yushan cautiously asked, “Hey, are you free tomorrow?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and said, “I think so, why?”

“Wait at the hotel tomorrow morning! I’ll pick you up, you said you would come!”

Before Lu Zhou could reply, Chen Yushan immediately hung up the phone.

When Lu Zhou heard the beeping sound from the phone, he was muddled.

“…?”

Why did she hang up?

So I wouldn’t have a chance to refuse?

I wasn’t going to refuse regardless!

Lu Zhou was perplexed.

I always keep my word!

But then again, thank god she called me.

I totally forgot about the summit…

Chapter 947: 947 The Most Exciting Event of the Year

The next day, lecture hall 1.

Professor Krugman walked on stage in a suit. He was holding a stack of papers in his hand.

This seminar was supposed to be done by Xiao Tong, but because she had no experience talking at large conferences, she wouldn’t have been able to convey her brother’s research results correctly to the economics community.

Actually, it didn’t matter who did the report.

Because she had already made up her mind.

Professor Krugman looked at the quiet audience. He then cleared his throat and spoke.

“I’m sure many of you here today had the chance to witness the report yesterday.

“Professor Joseph made a comprehensive analysis of the Lu Bewley model, and even though there were some misunderstandings, those misunderstandings were corrected.

“I have nothing to add in regard to the Lu Bewley model. In fact, I shouldn’t be the one standing here; instead, it should’ve been Professor Lu.”

There was a commotion in the crowd.

“What is Professor Krugman talking about?”

“Did Professor Lu do something again?”

“If I recall correctly, this report should be about the application of the Lu Bewley model in macroeconomics.”

“Looks like Professor Krugman made a last-minute change and gave up on the paper he was originally planning to publish… Is he planning on presenting Professor Lu’s new research?”

Professor Krugman looked at the noisy crowd and cleared his throat, signaling the audience to stop talking.

When the lecture hall became quiet again, he spoke in a clear voice.

“Yesterday afternoon, Professor Lu made some adjustments to his research, and he left us with an improved version of the Lu Bewley model.

“Some people might be doubtful of what he was able to achieve in just one short afternoon. In fact, I was also suspicious…

“Until I read his paper.”

A lot of people in the lecture hall looked shocked.

Except for those who were in the lecture hall yesterday, because they knew that Lu Zhou was able to create the Lu Bewley model in just one hour.

Professor Krugman paused for a second and looked at Professor Joseph, who was sitting in the front row. He then looked at the audience and spoke.

“I am about to show you the improved version of the Lu Bewley model.

“Please listen carefully.”

…

With his back turned toward the audience, Professor Krugman wrote on the whiteboard with a marker in his hand. He wrote down a detailed summary of the Lu Bewley model to the best of his abilities.

Even though the formulas on the whiteboard were only the tip of the iceberg, many mathematically inclined scholars sitting here could clearly see the improvements Lu Zhou made to the Lu Bewley model.

This was a kind of academic intuition.

It was something accumulated from years of researching macroeconomics.

Professor Joseph was one of them.

He was listening and watching carefully, and he was both surprised and relieved.

He finally believed that Lu Zhou wasn’t kidding.

The fact that Lu Zhou was able to do this all in one afternoon proved that his mathematical abilities were far beyond anyone else…

And it wasn’t just his mathematics ability.

His ability to apply mathematics to other fields was also unparalleled!

I’m afraid that even John Nash wouldn’t have been able to do something like this…

“Mathematics is changing science…” Professor Joseph said as he stared at the formulas on the whiteboard. He smiled and said, “He’s the apex predator of scholars…

“He’s actually quite humble for how strong he is.”

He’s not just changing science.

He’s redefining science!

He’s redefining everyone’s understanding of mathematical economics…

Professor Krugman, who was standing on stage, stopped writing.

He looked at the paper in his hand and compared it with the content on the whiteboard. After making sure there were no mistakes, he turned around and faced the audience.

“Does anyone have any questions?”

The audience was dead silent, and no one raised their hand.

Professor Krugman looked at the silent audience and was convinced he made himself very clear.

“Okay then…”

He was about to put down the marker, but someone suddenly raised their hand.

“Wait a second.”

Everyone turned their attention toward the young scholar, who blushed with embarrassment as he spoke.

“I don’t have a question, but regarding this model… What is its name? It should be different from the original Lu Bewley model, right?”

This was quite a crucial question.

There was a lot of discussion going on in the lecture hall.

Professor Krugman paused for a second.

Lu Zhou didn’t give this model a name…

Just like how the original Lu Bewley model was named by other scholars, not Lu Zhou himself.

It seems like Professor Lu isn’t enthusiastic about naming economics research results after himself.

Professor Krugman smiled and thought carefully for a while. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Should we add Joseph to it? After all, Professor Lu himself admitted that he was inspired by Professor Joseph’s report—”

Halfway through his sentence, he was interrupted.

“I don’t deserve it.”

Professor Joseph, who was sitting in the front row of the lecture hall, suddenly stood up and said, “Also, I don’t want to be cited as a counterexample of being wrong, I don’t deserve to receive credit for this model.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant.” Professor Krugman hastily said, “This is just to differentiate between the two models.”

The old man stared at the whiteboard for a while.

Finally, he spoke.

“I think we can all see that the improved Lu Bewley model has deviated from the framework of the Bewley model.

“This new model is a more flexible, operable economics model.

“Therefore, I propose for it to have a completely new name… The L-Z model.”

There was a commotion in the crowd.

The scholars sitting in the lecture hall nodded their heads in agreement.

Some scholars weren’t sure of this name, so they began to think about something.

Professor Angus nodded with approval.

Angus said, “It seems like yesterday’s event made a huge impact on Joseph… I’m not in the position to make a judgment, but I think Joseph deserves to be commemorated.”

Wisl, who was sitting next to Professor Angus, was totally confused.

He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Professor Angus… What happened yesterday?”

“You weren’t here?” Professor Angus said, “Oh yeah, you weren’t able to come.”

Wisl gulped and said, “What happened?”

“Nothing, it’s just unfortunate that you missed out on an exciting macroeconomics seminar.”

Professor Angus looked at the regretful PhD student as he smiled and said, “It was probably the most exciting seminar of the year.”

Chapter 948: 948 Shocking the Economics World!

948 Shocking the Economics World!

The macroeconomics conference wasn’t over yet, neither was Professor Krugman’s report. However, Lu Zhou’s paper already caused a sensation in the economics world!

Phd students had begun discussing this on Facebook and other economics forums.

[Who is at the Shanghai conference?! Please live stream Professor Krugman’s report!]

[L-Z model? F*ck sake! It took me two months to learn the Lu Bewley model, now you’re telling me the Lu Bewley model is outdated?!]

[I’m at the report right now, everyone in the lecture hall has gone crazy! Not only will the L-Z model become the most popular research field in macroeconomics, but apparently, the Chinese guy Lu Zhou created the model in one afternoon…]

[Jesus! Some people could achieve more in an afternoon than others could achieve in a week… This world is too cruel.]

One impressive research result wasn’t anything special, plenty of great economics research were being done every day. However, being able to create such an impressive research result in one afternoon was a bit scary…

Everyone that heard the news was in disbelief.

One afternoon…

Is he even human?

Of course, other people began discussing this model from a macroeconomics perspective.

The more they dove into the model, the more they began to doubt themselves.

Just like Professor Joseph said at the conference, even though the Lu Bewley model was built on the basis of the Bewley model, it was completely different from the Bewley model.

Not just that, but the L-Z model was more applicable in many cases compared to the Lu Bewley model. From the income savings model to fixed assets and social welfare, the L-Z model was applicable to a range of macroeconomics topics.

In theory, it was applicable!

These applications would have never been done with the Bewley model.

Of course, there were also shortcomings of the L-Z model. Because the flexibility of the model had increased, its difficulty also increased. Anyone that wanted to master this model would have to have a deep understanding of functional analysis and partial differential equations, as well as an economics background.

However, its shortcomings were well worth its functionality.

A famous economics professor at Stanford published a tweet after reading the paper.

[If the Nobel Prize committee considers this for a Nobel Prize, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. It is obvious which area of macroeconomics will become popular over the next decade. I am certain that the greatest achievements in macroeconomics over the next decade will be tied to the L-Z model.]

After he published the tweet, he received a ton of likes and retweets from his peers in his field.

Within a day, the L-Z model had shocked the entire economics field.

Right after Professor Krugman’s report, a video of his report was uploaded to YouTube.

The video spread like a virus, and its link was being shared on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

Lu Zhou had no idea what kind of impact his thesis was making. He didn’t even know that the Lu Bewley model was renamed to the L-Z model.

He definitely wouldn’t have agreed to this name.

The reason was simple; it was because the L-Z name was already used in other fields!

How are these guys so lazy?

Can’t they come up with a more creative name?

Lu Zhou would have preferred a cooler sounding name. Of course, he wasn’t arrogant enough to name the model himself, but he would have gladly let others name it for him.

A Maybach parked at the Sheraton hotel entrance.

Lu Zhou yawned as he walked out of the hotel.

Because of the formal occasion, the clothes he wore were much more formal than yesterday. He put on the most expensive suit he packed for the trip.

An expensive car, a beautiful girl… and a handsome guy. Lu Zhou was bound to receive attention.

Lu Zhou, who was still feeling a little sleepy, was surrounded by envious eyes of tourists walking into the hotel. He couldn’t help but smirk.

A soft pale hand pushed open the front passenger door of the Maybach as the driver said, “Come on, hurry up.”

“What’s the hurry…” Lu Zhou walked next to the car and asked, “Where’s Mrs. Yang?”

“Oh, my auntie? She’s already there. She doesn’t want to hang with us young folks.” Chen Yushan raised her eyebrows and said, “Hurry up, I’ll drive you there.”

Lu Zhou was about to get in the car, but he realized a serious problem.

“Wait a second, are you sure about driving? Should I ask my driver…”

Chen Yushan suddenly furrowed her eyebrows.

“Are you doubting my driving skills?”

“No…”

Lu Zhou sweated and looked at Wang Peng as a cry for help.

Wang Peng paused for a second and made eye contact with Lu Zhou.

“Ms. Chen can drive. You’ll have more space… I’ll follow you guys from behind.”

Lu Zhou: “???”

It’s a four-seater Maybach, there’s plenty of space.

There’s only three of us…

Lu Zhou reluctantly sat in the passenger seat.

As Chen Yushan smiled proudly, Lu Zhou coughed and warned her for the sake of his safety.

“I believe in your driving skills, but… Just drive slow.”

“Shut up, just put on your seatbelt!” Chen Yushan turned on the engine and stepped on the gas pedal. “Sit tight!”

Chapter 949: 949 High-tech Innovation and Investment Summi

Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t have to worry at all.

It was impossible to drive fast in a big, traffic-ridden city like Shanghai.

Chen Yushan was feeling a little down because of the traffic, Lu Zhou comforted her and secretly felt relieved.

What surprised him was that he always had the impression that Chen Yushan was a reserved and smart girl. He had never seen the masculine side of her before.

Lu Zhou: “You like cars?”

Chen Yushan contemplated for a bit and answered, “Kind of, but I’m not that into it. Thanks to Star Sky Technology and you, I’m earning more money than I can spend. Forget about buying cars, I can retire if I want to.”

She was obviously kidding.

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“You’re not projecting, are you? Are you planning on retiring?”

“Of course not.” Chen Yushan smiled and said, “I don’t work to earn money. Do you do research for academic prizes? Are you going to retire if you win another Nobel Prize?”

Lu Zhou said, “For me, the Nobel Prize is just the beginning, it’s not the end-goal.”

Chen Yushan: “What happens after the ILHC is built?”

Lu Zhou felt like Chen Yushan was serious, maybe she expected some kind of answer.

However, Lu Zhou had no idea what would happen in the future.

He pondered for a while before answering, “Maybe I’ll use the collider to discover something new, I don’t know what, but my intuition is always accurate.”

“Oh, really?” Chen Yushan smirked and said, “People always want more… We’re here.”

A uniquely-shaped building caught their attention.

Nearby was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which was across from the Bund International Architecture Exhibition. Two huge glass spheres, one big and one small, were sitting on top of a milky white building.

As Lu Zhou looked at the fleet of luxury cars parked in front of the Shanghai International Convention Center, he couldn’t help but speak.

“Quite the venue.”

This was much more impressive than the ILHCRC unveiling ceremony.

Chen Yushan: “Of course, giant companies and investment banks from all over the world are coming here. If you want people to work with you, you have to show them strength. Not to mention that this conference is backed by the AIIB and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.”

“AIIB and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation?”

“Correct! Apparently, the higher-ups plan on building a new economic region along the transregional power grid in Southeast Asia, thus expanding the market share of Chinese companies.”

“So kind of like Silk Road?”

He didn’t know a lot about politics.

“Sort of, but there are small differences. Even though we’re dominating in the field of controllable fusion and aerospace, we still have to catch up in other areas… Give me a second, let me park the car.”

Chen Yushan successfully parked the car in an empty parking space. She couldn’t help but flauntingly smirk at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at her and didn’t know what to say.

There are no cars on either side of the parking space, even I could’ve parked it…

However, Lu Zhou didn’t want to piss her off. He followed her and began walking into the conference center…

…

It was obvious that this summit was sponsored by AIIB and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

This summit was unlike any other summit.

Hundreds of people were walking into the conference center, and this was quite an eye-opening experience for Lu Zhou.

The huge convention center made it easy to accommodate all of the participants. Various sample pieces were scattered across the building, including small collider models sent from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was like a miniaturized version of the World’s Fair.

Contracts on the magnitude of tens of billions of yuan were being negotiated here. These decisions were going to impact the future of the world.

The macroeconomics conference he participated in paled in comparison to this summit.

Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan went their separate ways and planned on meeting up later. An old man in a suit with neatly combed hair walked up to him.

“You’re Academician Lu, right? Nice to meet you.”

“I am…” Lu Zhou shook hands with the old man and said, “Who are you?”

“AIIB president, Gong Weiqi.” The old man handed him a card and said, “This is my business card, just call me Mr. Gong.”

President of AIIB!

Lu Zhou took the business card and looked surprised.

He was surprised that Mr. Gong was able to recognize him since he didn’t expect the summit organizer to greet him personally.

Lu Zhou composed himself and put away the business card. He smiled at the old man and spoke.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a business card.”

The old man smiled and said, “That’s fine, Academician Lu, you’re a scholar, not a businessman. You don’t need a business card for others to remember you. You’re the representative of the Chinese academic community. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend this summit! Apologies for not sending you an invitation letter in advance, hope you can forgive us.”

“No, it’s fine, I just came here to look around.”

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed by the old man’s enthusiasm.

He’s too polite.

Lu Zhou felt like most of the executives that worked at banks were good at talking with people.

Lu Zhou wondered how Mr. Gong would react if he spoke his mind.

Of course, Lu Zhou would never say that kind of stuff.

After some small talk, President Gong offered to give Lu Zhou a tour of the conference.

Lu Zhou obviously wasn’t going to refuse a free tour guide.

Lu Zhou politely accepted President Gong’s offer.

The two walked while Lu Zhou asked some questions about the summit as well as the conference center. President Gong answered his questions one by one.

Lu Zhou suddenly noticed an Oriental Pearl TV Tower model standing there.

The tower was about 5 meters tall, made fully from metal.

A few excited Europeans were standing in front of the tower. They fiddled with some kind of measurement instrument and took photos.

“That’s the… Oriental Pearl TV Tower?”

Lu Zhou looked at the sign next to the model, then glanced at the staff member standing next to the tower.

Shenyang Machine Tool?

What does the Shenyang Machine Tool have to do with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower?

President Gong knew what Lu Zhou was thinking, so he smiled and spoke.

“Correct, but this isn’t just a normal model of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. It was built precisely to scale, using the latest high-precision five-axis machine tool from Shenyang Machine Tool. Apparently, the processing accuracy is within 0.01μm. I don’t know if that is true, but they’re the top of the industry!”

Lu Zhou: “And those people are?”

President Gong: “Siemens engineers. A lot of European and North American companies are attending this conference. These internationally renowned industry giants have sent their representatives all the way here.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

When Lu Zhou heard the words Siemens, he had an awkward look on his face.

He still remembered that in order to build the space shuttle, Xiao Ai secretly bought two Siemens high-precision five-axis machine tools from Europe…

When the machine tools arrived at the port of Haizhou, the customs staff were horrified, and they immediately reported it to their superiors. After that, somehow Chief Engineer Yang from Shenyang Machine Tool heard about the news and was able to snatch a machine tool for himself.

It seemed like the machine tool was being put to good use.

Shenyang Machine Tool probably reverse-engineered Siemens’ high-precision five-axis machine tool and even presented the finished product at the conference center, shocking the Siemens engineers.

The surface finish of the non-ferrous metals on the tower reached a precision rating of Ra0.005μm. Even Mikroturn’s top machine tools could barely reach this accuracy.

When did the Chinese machine tools become this nutty?!

This is insane!

The Siemens engineers looked shocked, and Lu Zhou suddenly felt quite bad for them.

They probably didn’t realize this tower was created using their own machine tool.

The only thing that Shenyang Machine Tool changed was the control system, which was created by Star Sky Technology to maximize the performance of the machine tool…

Lu Zhou sighed and looked away.

“I guess the student is surpassing the master.”

Who cares!

I’m not the one who did the reverse engineering, so it’s not my fault.

If Yang Zhongquan isn’t embarrassed, why would I be?

President Gong nodded and spoke.

“Yeah, Academician Lu, you’re right, our industry is—”

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

President Gong nodded and spoke.

“Oh, okay…”

Chapter 950: 950 You“re a Respectable Opponen

950 You“re a Respectable Opponen

A silver-white egg-shaped capsule was sitting at a booth in the exhibition hall.

This was the X-2 life support system from Space-X, built and improved on the foundation of the original life support system.

After the failure of the Ares program, the cooperation between Space-X and Blue Origin ended. After Amazon threw a bunch of resources into Blue Origin, Musk found a Japanese aerospace technology company based in Tanegashima as a new partner. Thus, the X-2 machine designed for lunar missions was born.

There was no doubt that this was a wise decision.

Because of the failure of the Ares program, it was impossible to initiate a new colonizing mission on Mars in the near future.

Even if the United States Congress agreed, the “New Virginia” incident investigation committee members would protest and cause them trouble.

Therefore, China was the only customer that would pay for technology from Space-X, because China was the only country that wanted to send people to the Moon.

The High-tech Innovation and Investment Summit did not exclude American companies. After receiving an exhibition permit, Musk told his people from Space-X to bring this silver “egg” over, and he even gave it a cute name—Rice Ball—in hopes of winning over the Chinese.

The demonstration unit of the X-2 life support system had limited functionality and was 50% smaller than its true size. However, it was more than enough to use as a display item. People could even open the hatch and climb in to experience what it would be like to sleep on an astronaut’s bed.

Unfortunately, this silver egg didn’t attract a lot of attention. No one seemed to be interested, no one was climbing inside the egg.

After all, the failure of the Ares program only occurred last year, in which the Chinese had to rescue the colonists and the world even faced a possible bacteria pandemic. Space-X undoubtedly had advanced technology…

But people felt like it was lacking in safety.

That was people’s impression of Space-X.

People subconsciously looked down on companies that had past failures.

Elon stood next to his booth, casually talking to some reporters that were interviewing him. Elon looked at the unamused investors walking past his booth. He then casually spoke to the white guy standing next to him.

“You know what? Bobby, my biggest regret in life is not trying harder to convince Professor Lu to stay in Los Angeles when he was at the Los Angeles materials science conference a few years ago…”

Bobby was one of the senior executives at Tesla.

Even though he had nothing to do with Space-X, Musk appointed him as the General Manager of the China region. He was responsible for the Tesla factory in Shanghai, as well as any other Chinese related Space-X projects.

Bobby listened to his boss and glanced at him.

“Was Professor Lu already… researching aerospace back then?”

Elon shook his head and said, “Not yet, he was researching lithium positive electrode materials made of nanospheres. Which was exactly what Tesla needed… or what the entire world needed. That’s why I approached him and gave him an offer.”

Bobby said, “What was the offered salary?”

Elon smiled and shook his head. “His value can’t be measured by salary alone. I could tell something was special about him. I invited him to be my partner, to conquer the automotive industry together… Unfortunately, he rejected my offer.”

Bobby knew what Elon meant.

After all, Professor Lu had become the poster child of the electric vehicle industry. Professor Lu obviously didn’t want to give up his control and have to work with a partner…

After all, Professor Lu had all of the patents.

Bobby looked at his boss and said, “There’s not much we can do. He knows his worth; he’s not like those geeky nerds.”

“But I think anything is possible.” Elon shrugged and said, “Back then, he was just a Princeton professor, maybe he knew the value of his patents, but I don’t think he had that kind of insight. If only I offered more Tesla or Space-X shares to him… We could’ve been the ones having companies begging to work with us.”

“I don’t like the word beg, we’re not begging here… We’re just doing normal business operations,” Bobby said. “Working with China is beneficial for both sides.”

Musk said, “I know, but sometimes, I think what if I could travel back to ten years ago—”

Before he could finish, a familiar voice interrupted him.

“Interesting idea, but you should step out of fantasy land. Even if you give me all of the Space-X shares, I would still refuse.”

Elon turned around and squinted his eyes.

“Lu Zhou?”

The person standing next to Lu Zhou was President Gong, which Elon also recognized.

“Hi, Mr. Musk, we meet again…” Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his right hand.

Elon smiled and shook Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. I’ve always wanted to visit you and tell you that you’re a respectable opponent.”

“Same here.” Lu Zhou looked at the white egg behind Elon and said, “To be honest, your impulsive plans to colonize Mars was quite shocking. We never would have anticipated having to send our astronauts millions of kilometers away on a rescue mission.”

Elon had an awkward expression on his face.

“Did you come here just to say that?”

Lu Zhou: “No, I was just passing by.”

Elon: “…”

Lu Zhou didn’t look like he was joking.

Like he said, he was just passing by.

Being disrespected like this annoyed Elon.

Did he really come all the way here…

Just to insult me?

What a weird kid.

Chapter 951: 951 Elon“s Plans

Lu Zhou just planned on walking around the exhibition hall, he didn’t expect to bump into his old opponent.

After leaving Elon’s booth, Lu Zhou looked at President Gong.

“So Space-X is also at the Summit?”

President Gong smiled and said, “Of course, the Asian market is open to the entire world, we do not discriminate. This is why we are working with more than 90 companies from all over the world.”

He suddenly remembered something and spoke.

“I heard that Elon has been doing a lot in Shanghai recently.”

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in business matters, he was curious about what the so-called real-life Iron Man was doing.

“Like what?”

President Gong: “They acquired a North American electric vehicle charging station company named EVgo. After the restructuring of EVgo, they moved the headquarters and factory from North America to Shanghai. They plan on rolling out their own electric charging stations in Shanghai. Apparently, the Shanghai authorities are quite happy that the EVgo headquarters and factory are in Shanghai, thus they are receiving support from relevant state departments.”

Even though China held a battery standardization conference a few years ago, that didn’t mean there was no market share available for charging station companies to take.

After all, the cost of directly replacing a battery was more expensive than charging the battery. And only some gas stations were doing battery replacements. Although battery replacement services were more convenient on long road trips, its functionality in the city was quite limited.

Due to the improvement of charging technology and expanding coverage of charging stations, users could charge at various parking lots that covered residential and commercial areas. This was even more convenient than swapping out a battery!

Elon’s plans were apparent.

Lu Zhou gradually realized something.

“… He plans on putting Tesla chargers across Shanghai?”

“Correct.” President Gong nodded and said, “More precisely, he plans on building Tesla and another alternative energy vehicle compatible charging stations and selling the electricity produced by our nuclear power plant back to us.”

Jesus f*ck, what a creative business idea!

Lu Zhou said, “Would the state agree?”

President Gong smiled and said, “There’s nothing illegal about this. Of course, we can break the rules of the game and think outside the box as well, but that might not be a good thing for us.”

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and shook his head.

“Thinking about this hurts my brain…”

I guess academia is more suitable for me!

Even though academia wasn’t perfect, the problems were more black and white. All Lu Zhou had to do was focus on academic problems and let other people handle the business side.

But now, he felt like he had almost reached the ceiling of academia.

From the Lunar Orbit Committee to the ILHCRC, it felt like it was becoming more and more difficult to avoid the business side of things.

If he left the business side and only focused on the academic side, a lot of projects wouldn’t have been possible.

“Haha, it is quite troublesome, but normal people like me still need something to do. After all, we can’t all study nuclear fusion and mathematical conjectures!”

President Gong smiled and changed the topic of conversation.

“Forget about this, Academician Lu, if you’re interested, you should go to the High-tech Industry Development Conference later. The state plans on investing 50 billion yuan to support the development of high tech industries. We could use some suggestions from academicians like you.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and spoke.

“I’ve been to enough conferences over the past few days, so no, thanks.”

Honestly, he only came here for Chen Yushan.

He was so sick of dealing with the business side of things.

President Gong smiled and said, “Okay then, if you just want to walk around, there are some entrepreneurs who are giving pitches to investors, which you might be interested in.”

Lu Zhou: “I’ll check it out then.”

President Gong smiled and said, “It’s getting late, I still have to prepare for a meeting, see you later then.”

…

Near the Space-X booth, Bobby curiously Elon asked, “What were you going to say, about going back ten years ago?”

He was curious about what his boss had to say.

Elon looked at Lu Zhou walking away and said, “I would try my best to convince him to work for me, or lobby Congress and let those idiots realize that this person is in control of the future of the United States… Or I’ll find a way to get my hands on the fusion and lithium-sulfur battery technology.”

Bobby replied, “And go to prison for corporate espionage?”

Elon shrugged and said, “It’s just a fantasy.”

Bobby sighed and spoke.

“… Okay then.”

Space-X was Elon’s baby.

Even if Space-X didn’t make any money, it was still Elon’s most treasured company.

However, despite his efforts into building this company, Space-X was still being defeated by China’s aerospace industry.

This kind of defeat would demoralize anyone.

Elon watched Lu Zhou disappear in the crowd. He then turned toward Bobby and whispered in his ear.

Elon looked around and quietly spoke.

“Listen, I don’t care what the White House thinks, but we’re a business, and making money from other countries is the best thing we can do to help America.

“After the Pangu reactor was built, it is clear that China plans on accelerating the urbanization process. I’ve discussed this with some of my Chinese politician friends, and there are signs that Beijing wants to build a giant urban city that covers the whole area of Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, and Anhui Province. It will be called the Yangtze River Delta City Group.

“If they succeed, it will become one of mankind’s greatest achievements.”

Bobby held his breath and spoke.

“That… is scary…”

“This is an opportunity for us, and as long as we provide a service for alternative energy, we’ll be able to benefit from this.” Elon patted Bobby’s shoulder and said, “You got this, I need you to represent Tesla and overtake all of Shanghai’s electric charging stations…

“We need a market share of over 80%.”

Chapter 952: 952 Company Pitch

Lu Zhou walked through the entire exhibition hall.

There was still some time before he had to meet up with Chen Yushan. He remembered the startup pitches President Gong mentioned, so he began walking to the conference room.

The presentations were held in a moderately sized lecture hall on the side of the conference center. Compared to the lively exhibition hall, the lecture hall was more professional and had a serious atmosphere.

When Lu Zhou walked into the conference room, he saw that 80% of the seats were taken. Most of the seats had a sign placed on a table in front of them, stating the name and company of the participant.

Lu Zhou looked around and saw that most of the people sitting here were large investment banks and venture capital executives, and there were also some angel investors.

Not everyone was allowed to pitch their project here.

The projects being presented here were much more sophisticated than the projects pitched to random investors in small meeting rooms.

All of the presenters here were from famous universities; an achievement such as winning a gold medal from the national mathematical modeling competition was nothing out of the ordinary.

Basically, all of the projects had the brains and talent, they just needed money!

Of course, even though these projects were the cherry-picked ones, that didn’t mean they were all going to be successful. Even if they received fundings from large international banks such as Softbank, not everyone’s company could become Uber.

Lu Zhou didn’t care about watching the next unicorn being funded, he was just here for the fun.

He sat down in the venue and took in the ambiance. He suddenly realized that this was similar to the academic conferences he had participated in. One person would present their PowerPoint, the audience would critique it, then the next person would walk onto the stage. However, there was something that felt different.

Lu Zhou felt like he was out of place.

While he was wondering why he felt out of place, a man in a suit sitting next to him was staring at him.

There was nothing weird about this. The man just felt that Lu Zhou looked familiar.

Lu Zhou noticed him and smiled.

“Can I help you?”

The man smiled and reached out his hand.

“Xiang Hongchuan, partner at Zhujiang Venture Capital, you are?”

Lu Zhou shook his hand.

“Just a university professor.”

This was an effective tactic.

Lu Zhou could clearly notice that after telling the man he was just a university professor, the man’s smile disappeared. The man made some small talk and ended the conversation.

From the man’s perspective, Lu Zhou was just a professor coming here to support their student’s pitch.

Lu Zhou was glad this guy didn’t disturb him any longer. He started to watch the performance on stage.

Correct, this was just entertainment for Lu Zhou.

These students were quite impressive, like President Gong said, the pitches were quite interesting.

Some guy took a drone on stage, and he was very straightforward as he talked about the future market prospects of civilian drones, and how his biggest competitor was DJI.

It was rare for a startup to have a real demonstrable product. Unfortunately, he didn’t clearly explain how he planned on taking the market share from DJI, nor did he make a good impression on the venture capital executives.

After the five-minute presentation, the venture capital investors asked some questions, which the presenter wasn’t able to answer clearly.

Lu Zhou looked at the depressed young man and couldn’t help but think of the Campus Assistant startup he made when he was in university.

Even to this day, plenty of Jin Ling University students were using the timetable software he made.

Should I support this young entrepreneur’s dream?

However, the university student on stage didn’t give Lu Zhou a chance. He couldn’t stand being embarrassed on stage, so he quickly walked away.

…

Twenty minutes went by.

This was Lu Zhou’s fifth PowerPoint.

He watched a young guy in his twenties walk on stage with his PowerPoint projected on the curtain behind him.

“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Li Tinghui. I graduated with an electrical engineering degree from Aurora University. I did my master’s in electric vehicle charging station design. The idea is to design a convenient and fast charging station. Then I was inspired when I was doing my internship at…”

He only had five minutes of allocated presentation time, yet he spent a minute talking about himself. The investors began to feel impatient.

The guy on stage finally began to talk about his idea, which was a “wireless charging station”.

Unfortunately, he missed his chance.

When it came to the venture capital world, they didn’t care about the origin story of the entrepreneur. They only cared about the market prospects and potential competitors of the product… More importantly, profitability.

The guy spent a minute talking about nonsense, so his project was doomed from the beginning.

It was obvious that Li Tinghui was a novice in the entrepreneurial field.

As expected, because he used too much time introducing himself, he didn’t have time to explain his project in detail at all. He skimmed through most of his 40-page PowerPoint.

But then again, it was his fault for making such a long PowerPoint for a 5-minute presentation.

It wasn’t like the investors cared about the charging station design drawings anyway. Not to mention that this guy was only a master’s student, once he received funding, they would hire a professional engineering team to design the product.

Was it possible for an entrepreneur to receive funding, purely due to their technology, not their business plan?

It was!

But one would at least have to be in the Changjiang Scholars Program or a professor at a famous university.

Moreover, they would also have to have the relevant technology patents and special support policies from the state.

The partner from Zhujiang Venture Capital, who was sitting next to Lu Zhou, shook his head and whispered to his colleague.

Lu Zhou was the only person who was interested in the PowerPoint, and he even paid attention to the design blueprints on the PowerPoint.

Being able to design a product like this as a master’s student was quite impressive. However, Lu Zhou could see some mistakes in the blueprints.

It was true that wireless charging would be a convenient technology.

After all, people would be interested in not having to plug and unplug the charging cable. If they could integrate this technology into parking spaces, it would be perfect.

However…

How does he plan on convincing other electric vehicle companies to implement a wireless charging compatible battery?

Is he going to make a battery himself?

That is ridiculous…

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou’s eyebrows furrowed when he suddenly realized that Zhongshan New Materials, which was owned by Star Sky Technology, had begun producing lithium-sulfur batteries themselves.

He remembered Liu Wanshan from Zhongshan New Materials telling him this when they went hiking.

The staff member standing next to the podium notified Li Tinghui that his time was up.

Li Tinghui ended his speech with, “Our company will use the funding to purchase experimental equipment, and we’re looking at 5 million yuan from the first round of investment.”

Actually, his original financing goal was 10 million.

However, he knew in his mind that 10 million wasn’t possible.

The PowerPoint presentation was over. Now was the time for the Qu0026A session.

Just like he expected, not a single question was being asked.

Li Tinghui had an awkward and bitter expression on his face.

He knew he was going to fail, but he didn’t expect the investors to not ask a single question.

The staff member standing nearby knew that the investors weren’t interested.

However, the staff member still asked, “Is anyone interested in investing?”

Like he expected, no one spoke.

The staff member gave a look of encouragement to Li Tinghui and was about to ask him to get off the stage. However, a clear voice came from the back row.

“I’m investing.”

Chapter 953: 953 I“m Investing!

The entire conference room was quiet.

Including the person on stage.

“… Your project is interesting, yeah, I think it’s good.”

Everyone in the conference room was staring at Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou was about to explain why he thought the project was good, but he didn’t know what to say.

After a couple of seconds, he cursed in his mind and said, “I think your PowerPoint is interesting, but 5 million is not going to be enough.” Lu Zhou then added, “I’ll invest 10 million just for starters.”

10 million!

There was a huge commotion in the conference room.

For those investors, 10 million wasn’t a lot of money, but it wasn’t insignificant either.

What confused them the most was how this project was even worth 10 million in the first place?

However, Lu Zhou sat back down without explaining anything. The guy on stage was muddled.

Is this guy going to invest without asking any questions?

Shouldn’t he at least ask about the company’s current operations?

That will give me a chance to go through my PowerPoint again…

However, Lu Zhou didn’t ask any questions.

Li Tinghui couldn’t help but wonder if this guy was screwing with him…

10 million for this project?

Whose dumb*ss kid is this?

General Manager Zhang from Changjiang Capital was sitting in the front row. Seeing how someone was willing to invest in this piece of crap, he frowned and looked toward the back.

He then realized that the guy standing up in the back row looked familiar.

Who is that?

He looked at his assistant, who was sitting next to him.

“Xiao Yang, take a look at that guy, I feel like… he looks familiar.”

The assistant looked at Lu Zhou for a while. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked surprised.

He obviously felt that Lu Zhou looked familiar as well, but he couldn’t recognize him.

However, an image suddenly flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened as he spoke.

“Zhang, Mr. Zhang…”

Manager Zhang immediately said, “You know who that is?”

“He’s Lu Zhou! Academician Lu!”

Manager Zhang’s hand immediately went up in the air.

“Changjiang Capital is investing!”

However, his reaction was too slow.

He wasn’t the only one who recognized Lu Zhou.

“That’s Lu Zhou?!”

“F*ck, what is he doing here? I didn’t know he’s attending this summit? I just heard that the female CEO from Star Sky Technology is coming… Why is Academician Lu here?”

“Charging station… Nuclear fusion… I think I know what is going on.”

“Star Sky Technology plans on developing electric chargers! Oh my god, how did I not know about this?”

Three other hands were up in the air.

“Haitian Venture Capital is willing to invest 5 million! 10 million is not going to be enough, you should be targeting China Guodian Corporation! We will help you complete your series A financing! But we want more equity!”

“Manager Yang, if 10 million is not enough, what is 5 million going to do? We’re willing to invest 10 million! We just want equity, you’ll have total control over the business operations! We can help you finance your series A as well!”

“Yifang Venture Capital is willing to invest 15 million!”

“I want to invest as well!”

The conference room was in chaos.

A second ago, these investment companies thought this project was a piece of garbage. But now, they were fighting over the opportunity to invest.

The host was dumbfounded.

None of the investors were asking questions; instead, they were presenting ideas to the young entrepreneur. Everything from taking the company to public to initial product production.

This was the first time the host had seen something like this.

Not only was the host dumbfounded, but Li Tinghui was also muddled.

At first, no one was planning on investing; no one even asked about the business plan. He was ready to accept failure, but now, the situation had totally changed?!

All of this happened because the person in the back row wanted to invest 10 million.

In the midst of the noisy investors, he was able to finally recognize the man sitting in the back row…

Honestly speaking, Li Tinghui didn’t know a lot about Lu Zhou, so he didn’t pay attention to the news.

However, he heard his supervisor talk about Lu Zhou a couple of years ago…

Back then, the Pangu reactor hadn’t been built yet, and majoring in electrical engineering wasn’t nearly as popular. His supervisor was just a normal electrical engineering professor. However, an invitation sent from the Academy of Engineering invited his supervisor on a secret mission to Haizhou…

His supervisor helped build the first controllable nuclear fusion reactor.

Li Tinghui wasn’t the only person who was shocked.

The person who was surprised the most was Lu Zhou.

The f*ck, I thought you idiots didn’t want to invest?

Why are you trying to steal this from me?

This was the first time Lu Zhou experienced something like this outside of academic conferences…

Actually, this had nothing to do with the technology of the company.

After all, he couldn’t come up with a single reason on why this was a good investment. He just thought the kid reminded him of himself, so he decided to throw in some money.

Zhongshan New Materials, which was controlled by Star Sky Technology, had its own battery production business anyway. Zhongshan New Materials worked with many electric vehicle companies and batteries that were downstream in the supply chain. He might even be able to compete against Elon Musk in the Yangtze River Delta City group charging station market.

Xiang Hongchuan, the partner from Zhujiang Venture Capital who was sitting next to Lu Zhou, finally realized what was happening. He politely smiled at Lu Zhou.

There was no chance for a small player like him to grab a piece of the pie.

“Um… Academician Lu, 10 million is quite a big investment, and it’s risky. Maybe you should think about diversifying?

“We happen to have some funds, maybe… think about it?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Should I tell this guy to go f*ck himself?

I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut for the sake of my reputation…

Chapter 954: 954 Terrible Guy!

What shocked Lu Zhou wasn’t this guy’s fake and two-faced personality.

But rather…

Do I look like I need help funding a measly 10 f*cking million?

“Come on, man, think about it. Zhujiang Venture Capital and Shanghai Electric Power Company have worked together before. We’re a worthy teammate! We’ll get rich together!”

Lu Zhou was amused.

What does the Shanghai Electric Power Company have to do with this?

I own part of the f*cking East Asia Energy.

“Xiang Hongchuan.”

“Yeah!” the man said with a smile on his face.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Since you’re so eager to be on this project, how about I’ll let you invest the entire 10 million?”

Xiang Hongchuan’s smile disappeared, and he quickly spoke apologetically.

“Oh, sorry, sorry! I misspoke, it’s all yours, we’ll just wait for the next presenter…”

Investing the entire 10 million on our own?

Forget about it, without Lu Zhou’s investment, this project is a piece of garbage.

I wouldn’t even invest a million dollars into this project on my own…

Xiang Hongchuan saw Lu Zhou getting annoyed, and he started to get scared.

The big investors in the front row were still fighting over this project. If Lu Zhou lost interest in this project because of him, the big investors would hate Xiang Hongchuan forever.

The opportunity was right in front of Xiang Hongchuan, yet there was nothing he could do. He felt like there were ants crawling all over his body.

However, he suddenly had an idea. He quietly took out his phone and sent a text to his investment assistant.

[Pay attention to public charging station companies in Shanghai, as well as Zhongshan New Materials…

[Buy as much stock as you can!]

…

With more than a dozen companies giving their offers, Li Tinghui contemplated for a bit and chose Lu Zhou in the end.

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou’s offer was the weakest. All he said was “I’m investing”. However, Li Tinghui clearly knew that before Lu Zhou gave out his offer, none of the venture capital companies wanted to give him funding.

The actions of these sleazy businessmen made it easy for him to choose Lu Zhou’s offer.

After politely declining the financing offers from other companies, Li Tinghui and Lu Zhou signed a letter of intent, settling the matter.

Lu Zhou said that someone from Star Sky Technology would take care of the equity ratios.

Even though the letter of intent wasn’t legally binding, Li Tinghui was confident that Lu Zhou wouldn’t bail on him.

After all, Lu Zhou was a world-famous academician, and there was no reason for Lu Zhou to hurt Li Tinghui. Also, even if Lu Zhou did bail on him, he would have bragging rights…

He could easily say something like, “I worked with Professor Lu on an electrical engineer project… but it didn’t work out.”

Just by saying that, he would earn the respect of everyone in the room.

After signing the letter of intent, Lu Zhou was getting bored of the investment pitches. He looked at his watch and saw that he had to meet with Chen Yushan in around ten minutes. Thus, he walked out of the conference room.

Li Tinghui was following Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and spoke.

“Alibaba offered a pretty good financing plan, why didn’t you choose them?”

Li Tinghui awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“Because you’re my idol, you’re the reason I was able to finish my master’s! It is an honor working with you, I don’t care about the money!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Bullsh*t!

You didn’t even recognize me, now you’re claiming to be my superfan?

Lu Zhou thought for a second and spoke.

“You should end your angel round of financing, I advise you to keep your shares. No matter what price other companies are willing to pay, do not sell, especially not to Elon Musk.

“Of course, I’m not asking you to work for free. When it’s the right time for series A, it’ll be fine to sell some shares, but only to domestic companies. If Elon wants to buy your shares, he’ll have to wait for you to go public.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t usually interested in going public since Star Sky Technology’s main business model relied on patents, which didn’t need to expand its business by going public. However, it was wise for companies that Star Sky Technology invested in to go public.

Therefore, even though going public wasn’t the goal, if the right opportunity came, Lu Zhou wouldn’t stop it from going public. It was smart to bring in more partners for this charging station company, as long as they avoided foreign investment.

Li Tinghui nodded like a child and said, “Don’t worry! I will never sell out before going public! At most, I’ll dilute the stock for financing!”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“That’s up to you.”

Li Tinghui, who was walking next to Lu Zhou, suddenly realized something strange, so he curiously asked, “Um, Academician Lu, why are you so against… Elon Musk?”

Lu Zhou was too lazy to explain in detail.

“Because he’s a terrible guy.”

Li Tinghui: “…?”

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and spoke.

“Oh yeah, what is your company’s name?”

It was like Lu Zhou dropped a bombshell on Li Tinghui.

You’re investing 10 million, and you don’t know my company’s name…

Of course, he didn’t say this out loud. He awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“It’s called Beep Beep Charging, like the beeping of charging sound.”

“Beep Beep Charging?” Lu Zhou cringed and said, “Okay, it’s not bad.”

Li Tinghui: “Yeah, that’s not important, it’s just the company’s name. If you don’t think it’s good, we can change it—”

“No, it’s fine, the name is good.” Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, “Just keep using it.”

Chapter 955: 955 Whoever Masters Electricity Will Master the Future!

Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

At the revolving restaurant on the top floor.

With a waitress following them, two people walked into the restaurant and sat down by the window.

After being at the summit all day, Lu Zhou was starving. He stood up and immediately went to the buffet area.

The food here was quite good for a buffet. It wasn’t as good as five-star hotels, but it was decent.

The only thing that Lu Zhou disliked was that the drinks here were charged separately, and the only free drink was water.

The hell is this?

Are they afraid of guests drinking too much and puking in the toilets?

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t really care about the money, this still triggered him a little.

After grabbing his food, Lu Zhou walked through the crowd and sat back down. He began shoving his mouth with rice as he looked at the Shanghai skyline.

After chewing for a while, he gave this restaurant an evaluation.

“Ten out of ten for views, four out of ten for food.”

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou’s serious face and smiled.

“We’re here for the view, not the food. It’s about the ambiance.”

She gently spooned a bite of ice cream into her mouth. Her eyes suddenly lit up when she tasted the sweetness.

“Wow! The ice cream here is amazing!”

Lu Zhou looked at the ice cream and said, “It’s just normal ice cream.”

He noticed the ice cream when he was getting his food. It didn’t look particularly desirable. He even wondered if the restaurant wanted the guests to melt the ice cream and use that as a drink since the restaurant was too cheap to offer real drinks…

Chen Yushan pouted and disagreed.

“No! It’s great, do you want some? I’ll feed it to you.”

“What?”

Before Lu Zhou could react, a plastic spoon flew into his mouth…

Honestly speaking, the sweet and cold sensation in his mouth felt pretty good, but he was too shocked to appreciate the taste…

Chen Yushan mischievously smiled and said, “How is it? It’s great, right?”

Lu Zhou covered his mouth and looked to be in pain as he said, “You stabbed my teeth.”

“Oh, sorry… I’ll rub it for you.”

Chen Yushan was about to reach over, but Lu Zhou quickly stopped her.

“No, no, it’s fine.”

Even though his tooth was slightly aching, that didn’t affect Lu Zhou’s dining experience. His mouth felt a little painful at first, but he soon felt better.

Watching the night view outside while eating was quite enjoyable.

When Lu Zhou was halfway done with his meal, he still felt bitter about this buffet not serving drinks.

“The food here is average, it just went from a four to a three.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou was still being serious, Chen Yushan said, “Okay, okay, stop talking about the food, this is just a tourist attraction… Speaking of which, why are you only eating the fried rice?”

“I’m not, I always eat fried rice at buffets.” Lu Zhou began to talk about his buffet research findings. “Ok, basically, if a buffet has good fried rice, it is a good buffet.”

Chen Yushan said, “What kind of logic is that?”

“It’s science, it’s like that saying, ‘you’re only as good as your worst work’, and fried rice is usually the worst dish… The food here isn’t as good as Xinrui or Sheraton.”

“Xinrui?” Chen Yushan blinked and said, “When did you go to Xinrui? I’ve never heard you talk about it.”

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, “Oh yeah, I went there yesterday for this macroeconomics conference.”

Chen Yushan’s eyes widened as she asked, “You’re doing research in economics?”

Lu Zhou: “Actually, I’m not doing research, Xiao Tong is. She just needs some help in mathematics.”

But then again, isn’t Krugman supposed to help Xiao Tong himself?

Whatever, it only took me a couple of hours anyway.

“Oh, Xiao Tong…” Chen Yushan looked outside the window and said, “I wonder if she’s doing well in Princeton. It’s quite lonely there.”

Lu Zhou said, “She’s doing great, she’s like me, able to thrive in any environment. She’s not that kind of spoiled basic girl.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Oh… I thought that with a brother like you, she would be quite spoiled by you.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “She used to be. I used to pick her up in the rain, but now, she’s all grown up…”

“Does that make you sad?”

“Not really, just nostalgic.”

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something, so he spoke.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I went to watch the startup pitches this afternoon. I saw a pretty good project, so I invested in it.”

Chen Yushan: “What project?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s called Beep Beep Charging, it does electric vehicle charging stations.”

“Pft…” Chen Yushan couldn’t help but chuckle. “What kind of name is that?”

“It’s supposed to be a wireless charging station, you know what this means, right?”

“Sounds interesting, how much did you invest?”

“It was just an angel round, not much, just 10 million.”

“Not much…” Chen Yushan sighed and said, “Next time, at least tell me before you make a big investment.”

Big investment? How is this big?

Lu Zhou was confused.

Chen Yushan sighed and said, “Regardless of how well Star Sky Technology is doing, 10 million is still quite a big number. We’re a business, not a charity. How do you know they’re not going to waste your money?”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t worry, the kid looked quite reliable.”

Chen Yushan sighed and said, “It’s not about being reliable. Charging stations is part of my plan, but it’s not suitable for a startup. I would’ve preferred to acquire a more mature business, then we could help expand more easily… But startups have their advantages, it’s more flexible…”

When it came to talking about business, it was like Chen Yushan turned into a completely different person. She tapped her finger on the table and looked like she was the leader of a country.

But then again, she was the CEO of a huge company…

Chen Yushan suddenly realized something and spoke.

“Oh yeah, what was the wireless charging station about?”

Lu Zhou: “According to the founder, he plans on building charging stations directly into car parking spaces… Basically, it means the car parking space will be one big wireless charger.”

Chen Yushan: “Does that mean the battery will have to be modified?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and said, “Or you could put a receiver in the battery.”

Chen Yushan: “Sounds interesting… Is it feasible?”

Lu Zhou: “I think it’s quite easy to do, but that’s just my opinion… I’ll ask some people from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. I think there are some experts in this area.”

Chen Yushan: “Okay then, as long as you think it’ll work. I’ll send someone for the financing negotiations. But we have to invest in electricity, whether it’s buying startups or acquiring mature businesses. And not just charging stations, everything else as well!”

Lu Zhou: “Everything else?”

“Yeah!” Chen Yushan confidently said, “Whoever masters electricity will master the future!”

Chapter 956: A Couple Billion?

The ILHCRC unveiling ceremony and the department meetings were over. However, Luo Wenxuan was forced to stay in Shanghai and attend a certain number of meetings each month. Lu Zhou’s work with the ILHCRC was finally over, for now.

As for the High-Tech Innovation and Investment Summit…

He was just there to look around, he didn’t expect to invest in anything. The financing side of Beep Beep Charging would be taken over by Star Sky Technology. Lu Zhou was too lazy to care about the business side, so he handed it over to Chen Yushan.

His fifth day in Shanghai.

On the first Monday in March, Lu Zhou checked out of his hotel room and went outside the hotel entrance while holding his computer bag.

The rest of his luggage was already in the car, thanks to Wang Peng.

When he opened the car door, his phone in his pocket began to ring.

“Give me a second.”

Lu Zhou threw the computer bag in the car and took out his phone. He answered the call and heard Chen Yushan’s voice.

“I saw your friends’ news feed, you plan on going back to Jinling?”

Chen Yushan obviously didn’t expect him to leave so soon.

“Yeah, I’m already in the car, I’m getting on the train in two hours.”

“Why are you in such a rush?” Chen Yushan said in a saddened voice. She continued, “You’re always stuck indoors, I was going to take you shopping.”

Lu Zhou: “There’s nothing to shop for, I feel like every big city is the same. Plus I can’t just waste my time in Shanghai, I have a lot to do when I get back.”

Even though he was done with the ILHCRC, he still had a lot of scientific research to do.

He especially had to research Riemann’s hypothesis, it was already March, only five months left until the International Congress of Mathematicians in St. Petersburg.

Even though he had seen some success from his research, he didn’t know how far he was from the finish line.

This type of situation was quite unusual for him. Normally, once he found a possible proof pathway, he would enter a positive feedback loop and solve the problem soon after.

If everything went well and there was nothing else he needed to do in Jinling, he planned on going on a research retreat.

The kind of retreat that was measured in months.

“What do you mean!” Chen Yushan was annoyed at Lu Zhou’s attitude, and she angrily said, “Does Jinling have a Disney World? No! Does Jinling have an Expo Exhibition Center? No! There’s so much to do at The Bund.”

Disney World…

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

“Disney… is for kids.”

The other end of the phone went silent.

After a couple of seconds, she sighed.

“Oh my god, you haven’t changed at all.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what she meant.

“… What do you mean?”

“You’re the kind of person who goes on a movie date and buys two different movie tickets!”

After that, she hung up the phone.

Lu Zhou: “…”

Did I say something wrong?

But she doesn’t sound too angry…

Lu Zhou shook his head and put his phone back into his pocket.

Screw it, who cares.

…

While Lu Zhou was returning to Jinling from Shanghai, the Shanghai financial world was going through a volatile time.

News broke out that Academician Lu invested 10 million into a startup at the high-tech summit. The startup specialized in wireless vehicle charging stations.

Then it was reported that all of the major investment banks and venture capital funds were fighting at the scene, trying to invest as well.

After all, Star Sky Technology wasn’t public, so investors couldn’t invest in it. However, investors saw an opportunity.

Even though Star Sky Technology wasn’t public, the other venture capital companies at the summit were public!

This charging station company, backed by Star Sky Technology, was bound to receive more financing eventually. And who were they going to get funded by? The investment and venture capital funds!

In their eyes, Beep Beep Charging was definitely going public eventually!

As long as Star Sky Technology wanted to take this company public, the China Securities Regulatory Commission would bend over backward for them!

The only difference was whether they were going to invest in Beep Beep Charging in the form of A-shares or H-shares!

While the discussion was brewing, Zhujiang Industrial, the parent company of Zhujiang Venture Capital, suddenly released an announcement through the CSRC, stating that it had no plans on entering the charging station industry, and it was not involved in the financing of Beep Beep Charging, nor did it conduct any form of insider trading…

As soon as this announcement came out, the investors instantly froze.

Most people didn’t care about this company, but this announcement was a little suspicious.

If you’re really not involved, why would you make that announcement?

No one is talking about you anyway…

Unless…

You guys are guilty! Maybe I should invest in Zhujiang Industrial, since they’re financing a company that is backed by Lu Zhou himself!

At nine-thirty in the morning, the stock market opened. The Zhujiang Industrial stock price rose to crazy high amounts, hitting the daily limit.

The investors who were watching the market realized what was going on. They didn’t want to be left out, so they began entering crazy high bids.

And it wasn’t just Zhujiang Industrial, any venture capital company that went to the summit had their stock prices rise to the moon.

In addition to these venture capital companies, many people had invested in Zhongshan New Materials, which was controlled by Star Sky Technology.

This showed that investors were illogical creatures, despite every reason for them not to be.

Regardless of whether or not there was conclusive evidence, the trades pushed the price of Zhongshan New Materials to its daily trading limit.

Liu Wanshan, who just woke up, had no idea why his market cap had increased by hundreds of millions of yuan. After asking around, he realized this was all because of Lu Zhou.

This crazy volatile investing period lasted for a full week.

People joked that Professor Lu raised his hand and was able to create billions of market cap value out of thin air.

Even though this wasn’t Lu Zhou’s personal doings, he still left behind a legend in the financial industry…

Chapter 957

Chapter 957 Win a Gold Medal First!

The news of Star Sky Technology investing in Beep Beep Charging affected more than just the financial industry, the electric energy and charging station industry also caught wind of the news.

Almost as soon as the stock price for several venture capital companies rose to the sky, Bobby found Elon, who was representing Space-X at the summit.

“Sir, Star Sky Technology seems to have acquired a charging station company called Beep Beep Charging. They plan on competing against us.”

Elon: “…”

As he squeezed the glass in his hand tightly, he could feel his blood pressure going up.

F*ck sake!

Does this f*cking guy want to go to war with me?

First lithium-sulfur batteries, then aerospace, I mean, he has a total monopoly on lunar transfer orbit launches.

Now he plans on competing with me on charging stations for the Yangtze River Delta City group?

Is this guy obsessed with me?

Elon took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He let go of the glass in his hand and slowly said, “I don’t care… Just follow our plan.

“Tesla’s brand image means we’ll have an advantage. Star Sky Technology has the rights to the patents, which is quite annoying, but charging stations are different from lithium-sulfur batteries. This is our playground, not theirs!”

Elon knew that Star Sky Technology was a powerful company, and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had good research and development capabilities. However, that didn’t mean he was going to lose to them in the field of electric vehicle charging stations!

Charging stations didn’t require any highly advanced technology; there were only two relevant factors—area coverage and compatibility! There was no reason for them to lose the battle.

Why do I feel like Elon is always overly optimistic?

Bobby agreed with Elon, but he still said truthfully, “True, but according to my investigation, they’re planning on integrating wireless charging stations… Maybe they’re not a concern, but I have to say we should pay attention to them.”

“Wireless charging stations?”

Elon sneered and had a disapproving look on his face.

“Lu Zhou is an excellent scholar, but I have to say he has no idea what he is doing. Even if wireless charging technology catches up in charging speed, it will require the battery manufacturers’ cooperation. This means they’ll have to change the entire electric vehicle supply chain! What a joke.”

Do you know how many car manufacturers there are?

How many battery manufacturers?

Charging stations are just an accessory for new electric vehicles, so a good charging station company should install more interfaces to be compatible with different car manufacturers.

But you want other car manufacturers to comply with your standards?

Not to mention that you’re not even in the automobile industry? Why would anyone listen to you?

Forget about foreign cars, Tesla will never cooperate with you!

Elon slowly smirked.

Good!

If Lu Zhou wants to go to war on charging stations, then we’ll go to war… I’m confident I’ll teach him a lesson.

…

If Lu Zhou was next to Elon, he wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry, because Elon totally misinterpreted his plan.

However, Elon’s idea irritated him. After all, letting a foreign guy come to China and sell China’s electricity back to the Chinese people was a little unacceptable…

But honestly, Lu Zhou never viewed Elon as a serious opponent.

Lu Zhou was on the high-speed rail back to Jinling, and he used this free time to go through his notes on Riemann’s hypothesis. Suddenly, he received an email on his computer.

The email sender’s address was unfamiliar, but the content was oddly familiar…

[Sir! I passed the first selection round, I’m in the national reserve team!]

Without looking at the name, Lu Zhou already knew this email was from Li Mo. He guessed that Li Mo probably found his email from the Jin Ling University website.

He would often receive emails from students that asked to study a master’s or PhD under him.

Lu Zhou looked at the email and smiled.

Getting in the national reserve team is nothing to brag about, the second round of selection hasn’t even begun. Only six people make it to the international stage.

And a gold medal…

Is not easy.

Anyone in the national reserve team, regardless of whether they made the IMO team, would easily be able to get into Yan University or Shuimu University.

For most people, this was quite an impressive achievement.

However, having said that, this type of achievement was nothing worthy to be bragged about. Mathematics was about patience and tenacity, and arrogance was its worst enemy.

If this guy can stay humble, he might be able to make something of himself.

Lu Zhou put down his pen and began typing a reply on his laptop.

[Come brag to me when you have a gold medal!]

This kid needs a better character!

Ten minutes later, the business class crew members reminded the passengers that their trip would soon come to an end. Lu Zhou put away his computer and notes on Riemann’s hypothesis, then got off the train with Wang Peng.

After getting into the car, Wang Peng suddenly received a phone call. After hanging up, he turned toward Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the backseat, and said, “The higher-ups want me to ask you if you’re going to the International Congress of Mathematicians?”

Lu Zhou: “I haven’t decided, why?”

Wang Peng said, “Normally speaking, when an important person attends an international event, we have to coordinate with the security department of the foreign country and make sure the security is foolproof.”

Lu Zhou said, “Is it that serious?”

Even though he knew he was an important figure, he didn’t expect the state to prepare security months in advance just for him to attend an academic conference.

Wang Peng shook his head and said, “This is serious, so we have to take all necessary preventative measures. After all, you know how the current international situation is. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Lu Zhou looked at the notes in his hand and contemplated it for a while.

“If I do end up going, how soon do I need to tell you?”

“At least a week in advance, but I suggest two months.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay, I’ll give you an answer by June.”

Chapter 958

958 A Life of Mathematics!

It had been two days since Lu Zhou returned from Shanghai.

At his Zhongshan International mansion.

Lu Zhou was in his study room on the second floor. He was reading his research draft papers when he suddenly saw a video call pop up on his laptop.

When Lu Zhou noticed that Xiao Tong was the one calling, he clicked with his mouse and accepted the call.

Soon after, an excited and bubbly face appeared on his screen.

“Brother, you’re popping off!”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what was so exciting, so he paused for a second and spoke.

“I… What?”

Xiao Tong: “Remember that thesis you gave me a few days ago? Professor Krugman did a report for you. Now the entire economics world is researching your L-Z model! Your model is trending on Twitter!”

Lu Zhou: “L… Z?”

Xiao Tong excitedly said, “Yeah! Professor Joseph named it himself!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

These economists really are horrible at naming things.

I wasn’t expecting this…

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “This is what you’re excited about?”

“What is that supposed to mean? This is amazing! Also,” Xiao Tong crossed her legs and said with a mysterious face, “apparently, someone sent a recommendation letter to the Nobel committee, so you might win a Nobel Prize in economics!”

Seeing how ecstatic Xiao Tong was, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Lil Sis, you should focus on your own studies… I would rather win a Nobel Prize in Physics than one in economics. But then again, it’s not that easy winning two Nobel Prizes.”

Xiao Tong pouted and said, “Oh, sorry, I’m sorry for caring about you.”

Lu Zhou said, “Okay, fine, go do your own thing. I’m busy, I don’t have so much free time like you.”

Xiao Tong frowned and said, “I don’t have any free time! I’m busy as well! I just got back to Princeton, and Professor Krugman gave me a bunch of tasks! I have to read two papers a day and write a bunch of notes… I’ve been in school for less than two weeks! This is horrible!”

Lu Zhou was amused, and he said, “I’ll introduce you to some of my students. After looking at their workload, you’ll never complain again.”

Your supervisor assigning you tasks means they’re interested in teaching you. Would you prefer him to assign you brainless and repetitive work?

It seemed like Professor Krugman was quite serious about educating and cultivating Xiao Tong. Lu Zhou would never forget that.

After some small talk, Lu Zhou hung up the video call and placed his attention back onto his thesis.

As he looked at the densely packed equations, he felt a headache and sighed heavily.

“I won’t be able to finish before June…

“Sigh, if only Riemann’s hypothesis is as simple as the L-Z model.”

I was looking forward to the conference at St. Petersburg.

Lu Zhou already chose to do a 60-minute report on Riemann’s hypothesis. If he wasn’t able to present any meaningful research for his report, the mathematics community would still respect him, but he wouldn’t be able to respect himself.

Lu Zhou shook his head and placed his attention back on solving this century-old mathematics problem…

…

While Lu Zhou was busy researching mathematics, Li Tinghui, who was all the way in Star Sky Technology’s Shanghai office, received the first financing contract of his life.

However, he didn’t love the contract…

He finished reading the contract from beginning to end. He reluctantly looked at the female CEO sitting across from him.

“Sixty percent… Isn’t that a bit high?”

Very few startups would give up sixty percent of the equity in their angel financing round, even thirty percent was unusually high.

Signing this contract meant that he would lose his majority shareholder status and give control of his company to Star Sky Technology. Not just that, but this would hugely impact his future financing rounds.

No venture capital firm would invest in a startup whose founders had lost control of their own company. Unless Star Sky Technology had no plans on future financing rounds.

Chen Yushan gave a curt reply to Li Tinghui’s question.

“I think this is the most appropriate arrangement. We will not negotiate.”

Li Tinghui said, “But Beep Beep Charging has an independent research and development team…”

Chen Yushan took a sip of tea and spoke.

“Oh, really? How does it compare to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study?”

Li Tinghui was intimidated by the CEO, so he had nothing to say.

Chen Yushan tapped her finger on the desk and spoke.

“I don’t agree with Academician Lu’s opinion. He’s not a good businessman. In my opinion, this is straight-up a charity.”

The guy looked around nervously as she continued, “We can do the research and development on wireless charging station technology ourselves. Our relationship with the Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang states are good. We can totally do this on our own.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said in a serious way, “What do you think? Want to come work for Star Sky Technology for half a million yuan a year?”

Chen Yushan’s charming smile was layered with a hint of devilish gaze.

Li Tinghui knew that this wasn’t charity; however, he didn’t expect her proposal to be so aggressive.

“Oh, Ms. Chen…”

Li Tinghui took a deep breath and hesitated before finally signing his name.

He had no other choice.

Even though the sacrifice was huge.

The resources from Star Sky Technology were too good to refuse.

Whether it was their connections with the state or their research and development power, like Ms. Chen said, Star Sky Technology could easily create their own wireless charging company themselves.

I knew it…

I’m in no position to negotiate.

As Chen Yushan watched Li Tinghui sign his name, she nodded with approval.

“Good, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study will set up an independent research institute on wireless charging stations. Arrange for your research team to move to Jinling. As for the people that don’t want to reallocate, fire them.

“As for you, I need you to stay in Shanghai. Move your management team from the small suburban office to the city center.”

“But—”

Before he could finish, Chen Yushan said, “This is your problem, I’m only responsible for giving you the necessary resources. Moving your offices next to ours is beneficial for you.”

This woman is the devil…

Li Tinghui sighed heavily and nodded. He carefully put away the contract and left the office.

He hoped that his decision was correct.

He hoped that he wouldn’t regret this someday…

Chen Yushan smiled and shook his head.

He’s too naive.

Star Sky Technology had the capabilities to start a charging station division, but being capable didn’t mean they were willing.

If Li Tinghui did his homework, he would’ve found out that Star Sky Technology’s main business model was patent management. They had more important things to take care of such as the space shuttle assembly center; they didn’t have time to deploy some wireless charging stations in the Yangtze River Delta city group.

Therefore, acquiring a charging station company was their best option.

This was the same reason why Star Sky Technology didn’t produce electric cars or lithium-sulfur batteries. Why would they take on unnecessary risk when they could just sit back and collect patent fees?

She totally lied about “disagreeing with Academician Lu”, and “can start a wireless charging station company on our own”.

Of course, even if Li Tinghui realized this, he had no other option.

After all, the resources of Star Sky Technology was precisely what he needed. On the other hand, Star Sky Technology didn’t need them.

“Sigh, I want to go back to the head office… The traffic and air qualities here are much worse than Jinling.”

Chen Yushan tidied up the documents on the conference table and stretched her arms. She then rested her head on the table.

She sighed and quietly whispered, “That b*stard, he didn’t even call me when he arrived.

“He’s probably on another retreat again.

“He’s going to live with mathematics for the rest of his life!”

Chapter 959

959 Porous Silicon-Based Molecular Exchange Membrane

In fact, Chen Yushan was wrong this time.

After Lu Zhou returned to Jinling, he did plan on going on another retreat, and he didn’t want to leave his house until he solved Riemann’s hypothesis. However, he had too much responsibility.

Yang Xu, the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, called him for help.

He called about the lithium-air battery project, which was established a couple of years ago.

Lu Zhou was quite surprised. Up until the end of last year, the reports from the Institute of Computational Materials showed that they had been making significant progress in the research of lithium-air batteries.

However, it seemed like everything was going downhill this year?

Wang Peng drove Lu Zhou to the Institute for Advanced Study, and the second Lu Zhou stepped into the laboratory, Yang Xu grabbed his arm and cried for help.

“Please help me! I can’t… do this anymore!”

“Shut up, speak properly. I’m here. It’s not like you’re on your deathbed, tell me what’s wrong, I’ll see if I can help…”

Lu Zhou was shocked at Yang Xu’s mental state.

After becoming the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, he had led many successful projects and solved many materials science research problems.

It wasn’t unusual for a guy like him, who was at the cutting-edge of scientific research, to encounter difficult problems, but this time felt different…

Honestly, Lu Zhou was curious as to what kind of problem could torment this guy to this level.

Yang Xu: “Remember that porous silicon molecular exchange membrane I mentioned in the research progress report a while back?”

Lu Zhou thought back to the report and nodded.

“I think so.”

Yang Xu sighed and said, “Well, according to our experimental analysis, we found that when this kind of porous silicon material is placed under a certain pressure difference, the gas molecules on the high-pressure side slowly transport molecules of a specific diameter to the low-pressure side. Our project team immediately followed up on this research and made an exchange membrane capable of screening gas molecules in the 3.4-3.5A diameter range.”

Lu Zhou: “Isn’t that a good thing?”

The diameter of the oxygen molecule was 3.46A, which happened to be within this range. Even though argon gas molecules had a diameter of 3.4A, which was also within the screening range, argon was rarely found in nature, so it didn’t have a significant effect.

“It’s not good at all.” Yang Xu frowned and shook his head. He then said, “The upper and lower boundaries of the screening range aren’t fixed; they change with pressure… Do you see what I’m trying to say?”

Lu Zhou had an expression of realization.

“Oh, I see, I see where the problem is.”

Basically, this porous silicon-based molecular exchange membrane was like a flexible fishing net. When the fishing net expanded, so did the fishing net holes…

Therefore, the only solution was to maintain constant air pressure on both sides, to ensure only oxygen molecules could pass through the membrane…

But that was obviously impossible.

Yang Xu made it clear that the screening range changed linearly with the pressure difference between the two sides.

Forget about the technical costs of maintaining air pressure to such a precise level, from a safety point of view, it was dangerous to allow a redox reaction to happen in unstable oxygen levels.

Lithium metal was no joke, it could spontaneously explode at any time!

If there was any amount of contamination, they would have a bomb on their hands.

“We’ve been stuck here for half a year.” Yang Xu shook his head and said, “We tried everything we could.”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “Do you have any simulations? Let me see.”

“Follow me.”

Yang Xu walked next to a computer and clicked the mouse. Soon after, a three-dimensional composition image of a silicon-based molecular exchange membrane with a porous network structure was presented on the screen in front of Lu Zhou.

Yang Xu pointed at the picture on the screen and spoke.

“We’ve tried to increase the surface pressure on one side of the exchange membrane, which causes molecules of a certain diameter to pass through the molecular exchange membrane at a constant rate…”

Yang Xu clicked on the mouse again.

Green and red dots appeared on the sides of the molecular exchange membrane, and they began to gather toward the surface of the membrane.

“… When the surface pressure of the membrane reaches level A, oxygen molecules begin to move through the molecular exchange membrane, to the lithium-air battery gas exchange chamber. But when the surface pressure continues to increase, which increases the pressure difference, nitrogen will also start to pass through the exchange membrane…

“However, while the pressure difference changes from A to B, a significant amount of nitrogen molecules have already slowly penetrated through the membrane.”

The red dots on the screen, which represented nitrogen molecules, had gone through the exchange membrane, making contact with the lithium anode.

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu’s software demonstration and had a dignified look on his face.

After the demonstration, Yang Xu sighed and sat in the computer chair.

“We have found solutions for water molecules, carbon dioxide, and even carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide molecules. But nitrogen… is too tricky. They’re like a bunch of flies, they’re impossible to catch.”

Even though nitrogen could be used as a protective gas in most situations, such as the food industry, it wasn’t applicable to lithium-air batteries. Mainly because the nitrogen would react with lithium, forming Li3N.

If the nitrogen gas penetrated into the circulation system of the lithium-air battery, the entire battery would be destroyed within a few cycles.

The reason why lithium-air batteries were so difficult to produce was that lithium was highly reactive. The amount of impurities that needed to be eliminated was extremely high.

Back in the day, IBM’s famous Almaden laboratory tried to research lithium-air batteries. They even used some kind of distributed computing technology, positioning each oxygen atom precisely into the lithium anode…

The final result was obvious. They failed miserably.

Even the wealthy and powerful IBM had to cut off this money-burning project.

Even though the Institute of Computational Materials had found some amount of success with their research, if they couldn’t get rid of the impurities in the gas, their research would become totally useless.

Before asking Lu Zhou for help, Yang Xu and his lithium-air battery project team were stuck at this bottleneck for half a year. They hadn’t been able to make any progress.

Yang Xu knew that if he couldn’t solve this problem himself, no one else in the Institute for Advanced Study could, except the father of computational materials science—Professor Lu.

However, even though Lu Zhou was confident in his own abilities, he wasn’t able to find a solution.

He pondered for a long time and said, “I’ll take a look. If I find anything, I’ll tell you.”

Seeing how even Lu Zhou wasn’t able to think of a solution, Yang Xu gradually lost hope.

“… Thank you.”

Worse came to worst, he would have to give up on this technical route and begin researching other directions.

Lu Zhou didn’t realize how hopeless Yang Xu was, so he awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“You’re welcome…”

This research project could be worth billions, or even trillions!

I’m not interested in money, but this research project is valuable. It’s worth a try…

Chapter 960

960 Clues on the Debris!

Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion, carrying the hopes of the lithium-air battery research team on his shoulders.

However, when he was about to show off his talents, he realized a serious problem…

This thing was not easy to solve.

In fact, it was much more difficult than he had originally thought.

Lu Zhou looked at the computer on his desk while staring at the model he retrieved from the institute database. His right hand held a pen motionlessly.

After a while, he sighed and put down the pen.

“Gas molecular exchange membrane…

“This is some high-tech stuff.”

This technology would be valuable even if it wasn’t applied to lithium-air batteries and only used to purify gas. So far, the most advanced gas purification technology was pressure swing adsorption, but its extraction efficiency and purity were far from perfect…

Lu Zhou stood up and walked next to his bookshelf. He gently pulled a book sitting on the left side of the second row.

After a click sound, the drawer underneath the bookshelf moved slightly. Lu Zhou opened the drawer and took out a metal tube, which was around the size of a double-A battery.

Precisely speaking, this metal tube was destroyed by an unknown object.

The middle section of the metal tube was broken, and the battery was slightly bent. Other than the positive sign and negative sign markings, no other information could be seen on the battery.

As Lu Zhou gently rubbed the battery with his thumb, he had a thoughtful expression on his face.

“The answer should be inside this thing…”

This was his first debris.

The data scanned from the scanner gun was stored together with Xiao Ai inside the high-tech quantum computer.

However, even with the help of the scanner gun, it was quite difficult to completely restore the original state of the debris.

So far, the only technology he had recovered from this battery was the polymer material that solved the lithium dendrites problem, nothing related to the lithium-air battery.

In his opinion, if he himself couldn’t solve the problem of lithium-air batteries, no one in the world could either.

“If only the molecular exchange membrane is still intact, even just a little bit…” Lu Zhou said as he stared at the broken battery.

Even if a little bit of the membrane survived, he could use the scanner gun to retrieve its composition. He might not be able to copy the design, but at least it would give him a point of reference.

But the problem was that…

“Wait a second…”

Lu Zhou stared at the battery, and suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head.

He immediately sat down at his computer and spoke.

“Xiao Ai, retrieve the scan information for Debris No.1 from the database!”

[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

A three-dimensional model soon appeared on Lu Zhou’s computer screen.

He stared at the scanned image of Debris No.1 on his screen. Despite having seen this model many times in the past, he still couldn’t help but feel amazed.

Because of his increased engineering level, he found a new level of appreciation for the advanced engineering design that went into this battery.

“This is incredible.”

As Lu Zhou stared at the delicate structure between the gas exchange chamber and the anode material, he couldn’t help but sigh.

A layer of molecular exchange membrane was placed between the gas exchange chamber and the gas inlet. The gas exchange chamber was filled with a high concentration of oxygen, and a layer of polymer material was then used to completely cover the lithium anode. Using a special method, pure oxygen molecules were transported to the negative electrode…

Star Sky Technology could recreate part of this design.

Of course, that was assuming they could find a solution to the molecular exchange membrane. Otherwise, no matter how clever their design was, the lithium-air battery would be useless.

Xiao Ai: [Master? 0.0]

“Nothing, I’m just surprised…”

Lu Zhou composed himself and said, “Xiao Ai, retrieve the material composition data for the negative electrode and gas exchange chamber!”

Xiao Ai: [Okay! Done! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Already?

Even though the data was already inside the database, Xiao Ai’s speed of retrieval still surprised Lu Zhou a little.

However, now was not the time to think about that.

Lu Zhou stared at the chart in front of him and used his mouse to mark locations on the 3-D battery image. He carefully searched for locations of where the gas exchange membrane might have existed.

As expected, he found a suspicious clue.

“Interesting… There are no traces of silicon at all.

“The excessive trace of carbon residue should belong to the carbon nanospheres… Wait, not necessarily!” Lu Zhou thought about the carbon residue of the Debris No.3 Hall-effect thruster and said, “I understand now!”

Xiao Ai: [What? (°ー°〃)]

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to contain his excitement. “Silicon is extremely stable, it’s unlikely that there are no traces left behind in the debris. If there is no residue of silicon, that means… The molecular exchange membrane used on Debris No.1 wasn’t a silicon-based substance at all!

“If we replace the silicon with carbon, it should fix the problem!”

Lu Zhou’s mind was racing a million miles a minute. He took a piece of draft paper and grabbed a pen.

However, he suddenly noticed the Riemann zeta function he wrote on the draft paper.

Lu Zhou furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaws.

F*ck this, who cares!

I’ll solve this first!

I swear, this is the last thing I’ll solve before I devote myself entirely to Riemann’s hypothesis!

Once this is over, no one is getting any help from me!

Chapter 961: All With Carbon!

Computational materials science didn’t just come out of thin air.

Even Lu Zhou couldn’t calculate what material should be used for the lithium-air battery molecular exchange membrane with just a pen and paper.

The correct procedure for solving computational materials science problems was to find a feasible pathway through experimentation, then establish a mathematical model. After that, he could use a powerful computer to calculate the nanoscopic interactions of the molecules.

Fortunately, Yang Xu had collected plenty of data.

Having the experimental data and Debris No.1 meant that Lu Zhou already had 30% of the answer.

Therefore, he had quite an advantage compared to other people.

Lu Zhou placed all of his attention on the problem. He meticulously looked through the experimental data and converted the data into the language of mathematics. Using his knowledge of computational materials science, he gradually placed the puzzle pieces together.

Everything was going smoothly.

It was as easy as breathing for him.

Even though he hadn’t done any research in materials science ever since the controllable fusion engineering project, he wasn’t rusty at all.

After all, he was the one that made the Theoretical Model of the Electrochemical Interface Structure, which swept the entire theoretical chemistry and materials science fields.

And it was precisely this theory that won him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Therefore, if he couldn’t solve this, no one else could.

The tip of his pen danced on the draft paper, producing rows of neatly written equations.

[By using the Hartree equation…]

[…]

Lu Zhou was in the zone. He was inside a flow state where he was shielded from the outside world.

His pen was like a blade, cutting through the weeds of science…

“There’s no need to explain the wave function for each particle movement.

“We just have to find the spatial wave function for the 3 variable particle density…

“If we can calculate all the particle systems, we can predict the physical property of the material!

“I haven’t felt this happy in a while!”

Lu Zhou felt a wave of relief in his heart as he wrote down the last character and put down his pen.

I finally did it.

The sun was starting to rise outside his window.

Lu Zhou looked at the sunrise and took a breath of fresh air.

As the fresh morning breeze blew through his window, every pore in his body was soaked in ecstasy.

He stretched his back and felt a wave of tiredness in his brain. He pinched his eyebrows, then took out a bottle of Energy Medicine from the system space and drank it.

The cold liquid ran down his throat, and he felt his brain being rejuvenated.

His dark, heavy eye bags that accumulated from him staying up all night gradually went away.

“This thing is amazing.”

Lu Zhou looked at the small bottle in his hand and spoke.

“If only I could produce more…”

I wonder if I’ll live long enough to see that happen.

Lu Zhou looked at the stack of papers, which were densely filled with calculations. He carefully read everything and made sure there were no problems.

The mathematical model was done.

And it was done using pen and paper.

And for the calculations, it was nothing a quantum computer couldn’t solve!

“Xiao Ai.”

A string of bubbles popped up on the lower right corner.

[Xiao Ai is here, Master.]

“Help me with something.”

Lu Zhou tidied up the stack of draft papers and looked at the lines of equations. A smile slowly appeared on his face.

“I have some data and a model here.

“Analyze it for me.”

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Institute of Computational Materials.

A group of people gathered around a piece of experimental equipment with a serious look on their faces.

A second ago, they were adjusting the pore size of the porous silicon-based molecular exchange membrane. However, neither the computer simulations nor the experiment test results met their expectations.

It seemed like the research on lithium-air batteries was in a dead end.

No matter how close they were to cracking the case, if they couldn’t get rid of the nitrogen penetration problem, their research would be worthless…

Qian Zhongming, who was standing next to Yang Xu, broke the silence and said, “Maybe our thinking is wrong.”

As Yang Xu stared at him, Qian Zhongming continued, “Adjusting the pore size might increase the permeability of oxygen molecules, but it doesn’t help with the nitrogen molecules penetrating the membrane, maybe…”

He paused for a second and continued, “Maybe the idea of using a porous silicon-based molecular exchange membrane is wrong. It’s infeasible.”

The laboratory was dead silent.

This meant that the work they had done for the past two years was for nothing…

Yang Xu clenched his fist.

After a while, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“I’ll try again, if it doesn’t work…”

Even though every single cell in his body wanted to continue, he knew he couldn’t stay on this research pathway forever. He was an institute director; he couldn’t blindly allow his men to die on this pathway.

Maybe the team should take a vacation, relax a little, and think about how to write the ending report.

If this project is still alive, we should think about what other pathways we could pursue…

Suddenly, a voice came from the laboratory entrance.

“There’s no need, Mr. Qian is correct.”

Everyone watched Lu Zhou walk into the laboratory. He placed a USB on the table and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“At least, he’s half correct.”

Yang Xu looked at the USB and asked, “What is this?”

“It’s a molecular exchange membrane model, using a new material…”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Basically, I need you to replace all of the silicon in the membrane with carbon!”

Chapter 962: Finally Put It to Use!

All to…

Carbon?!

Yang Xu froze.

Qian Zhongming and Liu Bo also froze.

All of the researchers in the laboratory looked at Lu Zhou; they were in shock.

After a couple of seconds, Yang Xu broke the silence.

“Change it to… carbon?”

Yang Xu smiled and shook his head. “That’s impossible, we’ve tried it already. We even used a more flexible carbon-based material in the beginning. But we found out that carbon isn’t as stable as silicon.”

He paused for a second and casually joked, “I mean, we’re trying to build a lithium-air battery here, not a lithium bomb.”

However, no one in the laboratory laughed, including Yang Xu.

Everyone was feeling a bit down.

After all, this meant that their efforts over the past two years were for nothing.

“Because you didn’t use the right method…” Lu Zhou looked around and said, “Do you guys have a blackboard here?”

Yang Xu said, “We have a whiteboard… It’s behind you, what are you doing?”

Without explaining anything, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Whiteboard works.”

He turned around and faced the whiteboard. He picked up a marker, pondered for a few seconds, and began writing.

[Ethylene-propylene copolymer, 3,4-polyisoprene, polysulfone cross-linked block copolymer CBGC and its chemical modification CBGC-M…]

As the researchers in the laboratory looked at the organic compound names being written on the whiteboard, they felt totally confused.

Qian Zhongming leaned over and whispered to Liu Bo, “What is… Academician Lu doing?”

“This looks familiar…” Qian Zhongming was also confused. He frowned and said, “Maybe it’s the modified PDMS formula? But it doesn’t seem like it…”

The modified PDMS polymer wasn’t nearly as long; it was just two compounds combined together.

But it seemed like Lu Zhou was writing more than five compounds on the whiteboard…

Yang Xu stared at the long list of names on the whiteboard and also didn’t understand what was going on.

He knew what the compounds were.

He even had them in the laboratory.

But he didn’t know why Lu Zhou was writing them on the whiteboard.

When Lu Zhou stopped writing, Yang Xu couldn’t help but ask, “What’s this…”

“Mix these organic substances in a ratio to form a film.” Lu Zhou threw the marker on the table and said, “Remember to use cold rolling.”

Yang Xu stared at the long list of names on the whiteboard in disbelief.

He wasn’t doubtful of Academician Lu’s scientific research abilities.

It was just that…

Everything he thought he knew about computational materials science, was thrown out of the window.

“This is ridiculous, what could you possibly get from mixing all of these together? How are you going to control the dispersion? What about the stability between the compounds?”

Mixing these compounds would create a totally chaotic system!

Honestly…

How the hell did he come up with this list?

How does he plan on calculating the mixing ratios?

Not just that, but the mixing order and mixing method will also produce entirely different results.

Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou, who was grinning from ear to ear. He took a deep breath and said, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, I just… How about this, I’ll get my guys to model it.”

“There’s no need for that, I already did it.” Lu Zhou pointed toward the USB and said, “The model is in there, and it’s written on our own computational materials software. It should be compatible.”

Yang Xu glanced at the USB. He didn’t believe that Lu Zhou could finish such a huge amount of workload in such a short amount of time. He nodded suspiciously and said, “I’ll try.”

Yang Xu picked up the USB and plugged it into the computer. He opened the folder and began to run the model.

All of the researchers in the laboratory gathered around the computer as they nervously waited for the results of the calculations.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, had already run the model on his quantum computer numerous times. Thus, he stood there totally relaxed.

Yang Xu looked at Lu Zhou and hesitated for a bit before asking, “Can I ask you something?”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

Yang Xu: “… Did you create this model yesterday?”

Lu Zhou: “You could say so.”

I didn’t sleep all night, so technically I worked on it today.

Yang Xu looked like he just saw a ghost. Suddenly, the computer fans began to slow down.

The simulation was finished!

Everyone leaned toward the computer screen.

The second the results were presented on the screen, the researchers froze.

According to the simulation calculations, when the surface air pressure on one side of this carbon-based membrane reached point A, oxygen molecules began to move from one side to the other side.

After a simulation time of 24 hours, the purity of oxygen in the gas exchange chamber reached 98%! With a simulation time of 72 hours, this number fluctuated slightly within the range of 0.1%, but it stayed close to 98%.

From this aspect alone, the carbon-based molecular exchange membrane was already superior to the silicon-based molecular exchange membrane.

Their concerns regarding the chemical stability of carbon were also totally unnecessary. Basically, this polymer material, which was similar to the modified PDMS film, had extremely strong corrosion resistance properties…

As Yang Xu stared at the results on the screen, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Soon after, he calmed down and spoke.

“You’re correct.

“This kind of carbon mixture is much more effective than the porous silicon-based material we developed earlier, especially for the case of oxygen molecule screening.

“But the problem is that we can’t guarantee that the gas entering the chamber is fully oxygen—”

Before he could finish, Lu Zhou interrupted him, “Why do we have to guarantee that the gas chamber has to be 100% oxygen?”

Lu Zhou smiled at Yang Xu. He suddenly took out a small test tube from his pocket and spoke.

“I made this stuff when I was still in Princeton.

“It’s been so many years, but I can finally put it to use.”

Chapter 963: Oxygen Transporter

Chapter 963 Oxygen Transporter

The most difficult part of the lithium-sulfur battery technology was the shuttle effect.

The shuttle effect occurred during the battery charging and discharging process, where the polysulfide (Li2Sx) intermediate produced by the positive electrode dissolved into the electrolyte before diffusing through the separator to the negative electrode, and finally contacting the metal lithium.

Lu Zhou was able to achieve lithium-sulfur battery technology, inventing the technology, and registering the patents before ExxonMobil could. He had a huge disagreement with Professor Stanley over lithium-sulfur battery technology.

Professor Stanley, who was backed by ExxonMobil, used subterfuge to poach an assistant from the Sarrot Institute, stealing Professor Sarrot’s caged carbon molecules model.

But there was an up-side to all this.

Professor Stanley eventually somehow helped Lu Zhou complete the “Analyze carbon nanospheres under the modified PDMS film” mission, thus helping him reach level 4 materials science. This indirectly led him to winning the Nobel Prize…

Many years had passed, but Lu Zhou had yet to thank this professor.

The black powder in the test tube was Professor Stanley’s caged carbon molecules, which was the same as the carbon nanospheres found on Debris No.1.

Yang Xu: “What is this…”

“A type of caged carbon molecules used to transport oxygen molecules, although I prefer to call it carbon nanospheres.”

Lu Zhou placed the test tube in Yang Xu’s hands and said, “Don’t forget that in addition to the gas exchange chamber and the external diaphragm, our lithium anode material also has a layer of modified PDMS film on top of it. When the concentration of oxygen molecules on both sides of the film reaches a certain value, they’ll transport oxygen molecules from one side to the other like little ants.”

Basically, it added two layers of security to the oxygen and nitrogen separation system. The first layer was the oxygen screening membrane, which was a mixture of the organic substances listed on the whiteboard by Lu Zhou. This membrane could sustain a 98% pure oxygen environment!

As for the second layer of security, that was the modified PDMS film on the lithium anode material!

After adding the hollow carbon spheres, the modified PDMS film on the surface of the lithium anode would transport oxygen molecules to the lithium anode surface.

“… We can even control the rate of lithium oxidation by modifying the number of carbon nanospheres on the PDMS film, indirectly controlling the performance of the battery.”

When Yang Xu heard Lu Zhou’s words, he was filled with shock.

This thing is that strong?

Even though he wanted to ask Lu Zhou, he was a researcher who had a sample right in front of him. Asking a question would be rather moronic.

Without hesitating, he brought the test tube to an experimental device.

Inside the device was a battery mold and protective gas operation box, which were used to assemble and test batteries.

Testing Lu Zhou’s invention was easy; he didn’t even need to use a complete lithium-air battery.

He only needed to make a lithium metal sheet covered with modified PDMS material and mixed with the carbon nanospheres. Then, he would have to expose it to a series of gas environments such as pure oxygen, pure carbon dioxide, pure nitrogen, etc. He would instantly know what kind of oxygen pass-through properties it had.

After some complicated preparation and waiting, the experiment was finally done.

In a normal air environment, the reaction wasn’t obvious. There was some amount of oxidation on the surface, which was confirmed to be lithium oxide!

In the nitrogen and carbon dioxide environments, the lithium didn’t react at all!

As for the pure oxygen environment…

Like Lu Zhou said, the entire lithium anode went through huge changes.

Yang Xu was so surprised he didn’t know what to say. Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If you observed these reactions under a microscope, you would be even more shocked.”

Yang Xu gulped and said, “So… you completed this experiment… a long time ago?”

Lu Zhou: “I told you, I did this experiment when I was still teaching at Princeton, I just never published it.”

Of course, there were still many differences between this carbon nanosphere and the original ones made by Professor Stanley.

By using computational chemistry methods, Lu Zhou adjusted the positions of several large π bonds on the surface, thus increasing its oxygen transportation properties.

However, the methods for preparing the carbon nanospheres stayed the same.

“This is amazing…”

“This oxygen polymer material transporter is incredible!”

Lu Zhou looked at Yang Xu and said nostalgically, “It is incredible. Actually, I’ve always wondered about the mechanism of this transportation process. I even created two sets of theories, but I just can’t prove which one is correct.”

Yang Xu: “How… did you do it?”

Lu Zhou laughed awkwardly and smiled.

“Long story short, an old friend helped me with the caged carbon molecules synthesis, then I found some small improvements on the π bonds.”

Of course, the most important part was having the Debris No.1.

Without the Debris, it would have taken him years to find a hollow carbon sphere that was compatible with oxygen molecules.

Yang Xu: “No problems with the patent?”

Lu Zhou immediately said, “No problems, my friend sold it to me for a very cheap price.”

This happened a long time ago.

Not long after the lithium-sulfur batteries came out, ExxonMobil’s patents became worthless. Even Professor Stanley himself didn’t know that his invention could be applied to lithium-air batteries. Thus, Star Sky Technology was able to buy the patent from him for a very cheap price.

Of course, back then, the patent was under his name, not Star Sky Technology.

Even though it didn’t cost a lot to buy the patent, the process was quite cumbersome.

Yang Xu said emotionally, “Your friend is such a nice person.”

Lu Zhou smiled heartily.

“Yeah, I agree, he’s very nice.”

…

Now that the problem with filtering oxygen molecules using the membrane was solved, coupled with the carbon nanospheres, there was no doubt that lithium-air batteries would soon come to life.

After giving Chen Yushan a call and telling her to handle the upcoming patents, Lu Zhou left the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

He came to the institute during the early mornings, and it was already night time when he left.

Using the quantum computer to run a simulation was easy, as he just had to put the model into the computer. Experimenting with the carbon nanospheres took quite a long time, especially since he had to cover the lithium metal with a sheet of modified PDMS film.

Lu Zhou sat in Wang Peng’s car. He hadn’t slept for more than 30 hours, and he was about to take a short nap when Director Li suddenly called him.

Before Lu Zhou could say hello, the other side spoke aggressively.

“I read your report! Is it true? The carbon-based—” Director Li suddenly realized it wasn’t safe to speak about these things over the phone, so he said, “Wait, I’ll come to your house.”

Lu Zhou yawned and asked, “Where are you now?”

“I’m in Beijing! I’m flying over!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Before he could respond, Director Li had ended the call.

Chapter 964: One More Thing

Director Li wasn’t kidding with him.

This old man came to his house the next morning.

Lu Zhou stood at his doorstep and saw Director Li holding a plastic bag in his hand. He paused for a second before asking, “You didn’t bring me breakfast all the way from Beijing, right?”

“Of course not, I’m not flying with this. It’s still hot! I saw a street food place near the neighborhood, so I bought some…” Director Li walked into the house and put on a pair of slippers. He then looked at the fireplace in the living room and said, “Oh, new furniture?”

Lu Zhou: “You came here to talk about my furniture?”

“Of course not.” Director Li smiled. He then put on a serious expression and said, “I read the report on the carbon-based chip. The team led by Professor Wu Tianqun successfully created a hundred-thousand-carbon-nanotube transistor chip… Is that true?”

“When have I ever joked about this stuff?” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the takeaway bag. “I’m pretty hungry, let’s eat while we talk.”

“Oh, sure, let’s eat!”

Director Li knew that Lu Zhou hadn’t eaten yet, so he bought two servings of soup dumplings and an extra bowl of noodles.

A bowl of soup dumplings, a cup of soy milk, and a bowl of noodles. For most average adults, that was quite a lot of food.

Director Li watched Lu Zhou almost finish eating his bowl of noodles and dumplings. He then asked with his eyes widened, “Why are you eating so much?”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, “I’ve been overworking myself recently. I don’t normally eat this much.”

Director Li said, “Should I call my driver and ask him to get more food?”

“No, thanks.” Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, “I only need to be half full, let’s talk business.”

Director Li looked at the two empty bowls and thought.

Only half full…

Sigh, it must be good to be young.

They were planning on eating while talking, but Lu Zhou ate too fast, so now, Director Li was the only one eating while Lu Zhou was the one talking.

After hearing some questions from Director Li, Lu Zhou immediately realized how serious the Communist Party of China viewed this “scientific breakthrough”.

It seemed like this was on their top priority list.

Lu Zhou went into his study room and brought back a scientific calculator.

As Director Li looked at the ordinary calculator that was used by high school students across the country, he didn’t know what Lu Zhou wanted to do.

Lu Zhou saw the confusion in Director Li’s eyes, so he began explaining.

“The processor in this is a carbon-based chip.”

Director Li’s face changed, and he looked at the calculator in shock.

It was almost like the calculator had turned into gold.

Or something even more valuable than gold…

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and spoke.

“The chip is here, but the technology is not mature yet, so we used an experimental chip… It’s called the X-1 chip, with around 150nm in processor size. There are only a couple hundred thousand carbon nano transistors in it. It’s very hard to take this to market. The only up-side is that the carbon-based semiconductor can be prepared by the same chemical process as the SG-1 superconducting material, which is the ‘chemical vapor deposition + etching’ method. We are the world leaders in this method.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, “To my knowledge, most of the world’s SG-1 superconducting material is exported by China.”

Director Li gestured with his hand and spoke with excitement.

“Don’t worry about taking it to market! As long as you can make the product, we’ll take it to market!”

No market demand?

Maybe?

But China could artificially create demand!

Since this thing had a chance to overtake the semiconductor field, Director Li was going to write a report to the relevant state departments. He would arrange for the carbon-based chip scientific calculators to be mandatory in all high schools.

There was no way there wouldn’t be enough demand for this technology in the trillion-dollar tech industry.

After all, this was Academician Lu’s invention!

As Director Li carefully held the calculator in his hand, he looked at it like it was a precious piece of antique. After a while, he took a deep breath and looked at Lu Zhou.

“Can I have this?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Sure, I have more. But I advise you to be careful, and make sure others don’t get their hands on it.”

Director Li carefully put away the calculator. He had a serious look on his face as he exclaimed, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect it with my life!”

That’s not necessary, it’s just a calculator…

It doesn’t matter too much since it’s almost impossible to reverse engineer.

Seeing how excited Director Li was, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

Lu Zhou: “Right now, our research team is working on 75nm transistors, and we’ve made good progress. If we can achieve more than 30 million transistors per square millimeter and decrease the transistor size to 15nm, carbon-based chips will be superior to silicon-based chips. Achieving the same amount of performance in silicon-based chips would take more than 100 million transistors per square millimeter…”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s explanation, Director Li nodded and spoke seriously.

“Actually, after we received your report, we had a meeting in Beijing. We invited some academicians from the Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences to evaluate your report. We understood the theoretical side of your report, but we weren’t sure how close you guys were from making a real carbon-based chip. Even the academicians couldn’t make a conclusion.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “What about now?”

“After seeing this thing in my hand, I understand now.”

Director Li tapped on the calculator and continued in a solemn tone, “Actually, there’s another reason why I came to Jinling…”

Chapter 965: Dragon One

Chapter 965 Dragon One

After reading Professor Lu’s report, the academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences expressed that they thought there might be a breakthrough in the integration of carbon-based transistors on integrated circuits. They didn’t expect them to have actually made a working processor.

While the world was still trying to figure out how to integrate carbon-based transistors into circuits, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study already made a working carbon-based processor calculator…

Director Li wouldn’t have believed it if he didn’t see it with his own eyes.

But now, there was no doubt in his mind.

He had a serious look on his face as he spoke.

“Right now, the international situation seems to be calm on the surface, but ever since the establishment of our lunar research station, other countries have made unfriendly moves. You know about the Biosphere A incident last year, right?”

Lu Zhou nodded, expressing his understanding.

Director Li: “That was the tip of the iceberg.”

Lu Zhou: “Then what’s under the tip of the iceberg?”

Director Li: “According to reliable sources, the United States is scheming to be our competitor in the semiconductor industry.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before asking with a strange look on his face, “Do they not want a nuclear core for the California controllable fusion power plant?”

If this were a few years ago, the United States might have easily been able to beat China in the field of computer technology.

However, the year was 2022, and controllable fusion energy had been around for three years…

“Controllable fusion is our trump card, it’s our pair of hidden aces. The only reason we’re at the position we’re at today is because we have this card.”

Director Li unscrewed his vacuum flask and filled it with tea. He took a sip and said, “However, the Americans have other means beside executive orders. For example, they can manipulate the market behavior by increasing the upstream cost of the semiconductor industry chain. That will increase our costs and weaken our industry.

“Therefore, we have to act preemptively!”

“I kind of understand.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “So… what you’re saying is?”

“Things like this are supposed to be decided by the market, but sometimes, we can’t just leave the market by itself.” Director Li put on a serious face and placed a document on the table.

“Look at it yourself, please.”

Lu Zhou was a little suspicious at the word “please”.

It was rare for the old man to be so polite to him.

Unless there was something the old man wanted from him.

Lu Zhou looked at the document and felt a headache.

Just yesterday, he made up his mind about devoting himself to Riemann’s hypothesis, but now, there was trouble at his doorstep again.

However, Lu Zhou saw how sincere the old man was, so he sighed and picked up the document.

When he read the title, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Dragon One?”

“Yes.” Director Li nodded and said, “Please read the document first!”

Lu Zhou leaned back on his chair and began reading.

He rarely touched on anything outside of research since that was usually handled by Chen Yushan. However, the content of the document wasn’t complicated, so even he could understand.

Basically, this was a “tripartite agreement”, led by the State Administration for National Defense.

The three parties were Huawei, Star Sky Technology, and the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The specific project was regarding Huawei HiSilicon’s latest development plan—the Dragon One series of processors.

Unlike Kirin and their other processors series, the Dragon One series of chips would use the latest carbon-based semiconductor technology. The goal was to overtake the semiconductor field and achieve autonomy in the entire production chain. This way, China would no longer be dependent on international processor giants and create their own carbon-based processor industry chain.

The document stipulated the respective research and development responsibilities of each organization, as well as the patent ownership and respective fund allocations.

The Institute of Semiconductors and Star Sky Technology were the two elephants of the industry, carrying Huawei on their backs. Together, they planned on creating the Dragon One carbon-based processors as soon as possible.

Huawei obviously benefited from working with two top research institutes. As for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they were a public organization, so they were not concerned with profits.

As for Star Sky Technology, their benefits were listed in the document. This included profit sharing of the Dragon One series of chips, as well as some one-time scientific research payments.

“Interesting proposal.” Lu Zhou placed the document on the table and contemplated for a second before saying, “I’ll take this to my CEO… I’ll give you a reply in a week?”

“No problem! Take as long as you want, if there’s anything you want to change, feel free to tell me. We’ll try to make adjustments. Or we can all grab dinner and discuss it together.”

“Well, there’s not much to discuss. I’m just a scholar, I’d rather be in a laboratory than a restaurant.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “But since this involves business cooperation, I have to consult my CEO.”

After all, this wasn’t just a couple of million yuan, this was a billion-dollar project that would impact the entire industry.

Making expedient decisions was not a good idea.

“Take your time then.” Director Li put away the scientific calculator and stood up with a smile. He then said, “That’s all I have for today, I’ll let you rest.”

“You’re going?” Lu Zhou said. He thought Director Li would at least stay for lunch, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Back to Beijing already?”

“Not yet, I still have to go to Hubei first.” Director Li smiled and said, “You just gave us a huge surprise. All of the state departments involved in the semiconductor industry are going to get really busy. I have a lot of work to do, so I can’t stay for any longer.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Take it easy then.”

Director Li began to walk out of the house. When he saw the stack of papers on the coffee table, he said, “Actually, I’m quite curious, what have you been researching lately?”

“Oh…” Lu Zhou looked at the stack of papers on the coffee table and said, “Just some design plans on lithium-air batteries, nothing huge.”

“Oh, lithium-air batteries, okay then…”

Director Li was almost out of the door when he suddenly stopped.

A second later, he turned back.

“Wait a second? What did you say?”

Lu Zhou was a little shocked.

“Yeah, lithium-air batteries, why?”

Why?!!

Director Li: “???”

Chapter 966: 3D Chess

An hour went by.

When Director Li walked out of the mansion, he was a little fazed.

He got in his car and sat in the back seat. While looking at the lush green trees on the sidewalk, he said, “I’m getting old.”

The driver in front of him paused for a second and spoke.

“Oh no, you’re not, you’re only in your early sixties, you still have decades ahead of you.”

Director Li smiled and sighed.

“No, I’m not young anymore. I can’t even hold a conversation with you young folks anymore. I have maybe five more years before my old heart gives out.”

The driver kept on driving and didn’t respond.

The driver felt like Director Li had some misunderstandings regarding young people.

He wanted to ask what this was about, but he remembered that Director Li had just come out of Professor Lu’s house, meaning the Director probably talked about sensitive topics. Thus, the driver decided to keep his mouth shut.

Director Li took out his phone and called Director Lu from the energy bureau.

“Hey? Old Lu, let me tell you something, this trip to Jinling was worth it!”

“…”

…

In fact, it was quite difficult for lithium-air batteries to completely replace lithium-sulfur batteries. After all, keeping a constant pressure for the oxygen molecule filtering membrane would require the battery to be in constant motion.

Therefore, automobiles were undoubtedly an excellent application. The front grill could be used to supply oxygen to the lithium-air battery.

However, if someone wanted to place a lithium-air battery in their cell phone, it would be quite difficult to add a “front grill”.

Lithium-sulfur batteries were more focused on the materials, whereas lithium-air batteries were more focused on its mechanism, such as using clever design to maximize its energy density.

This meant that, the larger the battery, the more space designers could use to place components and increase the energy density.

An extreme example would be the IBM “Battery-500” project, where they wanted to use distributed computing technology to ensure that each oxygen molecule entering the reaction system was accurately matched into a lithium slot…

Of course, achieving this kind of technology was almost impossible. At least in the near future.

After Director Li finally left, Lu Zhou put away the draft papers on his coffee table.

These were all ideas that came to his mind when he was researching the structure of Debris No. 1, so they were far from being mature designs.

However, even though they were just spur-of-the-moment designs, with his level 6 engineering and his experience in large engineering scientific research projects, the designs were quite sophisticated.

After finding out that the lithium-air battery wasn’t a mature technology, Director Li finally gave up.

However, before leaving, he expressed that when the technology became mature, the State Administration for National Defense could help with the patent approval process.

Normally, patent approval procedures could take years, but Director Li could complete it in a matter of weeks.

Star Sky Technology had always had this kind of patent privilege.

Lu Zhou took out his phone and called Chen Yushan.

Soon after, a familiar voice traveled through the phone.

“Hello? Calling me again? Aren’t you on a retreat?”

“I wish I was…” Lu Zhou sighed and cleared his throat. “Director Li came to see me.”

Chen Yushan said, “What did he want this time?”

“It’s about the Dragon One chip.”

Lu Zhou spent around five minutes talking about the tri-party agreement and the Dragon One processor plans.

He also talked about some parts of the contract that he was unsure about.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Chen Yushan leaned back on her chair and contemplated for a second before saying, “It’s quite a good contract, and the patent is only regarding the chip itself?”

Lu Zhou: “Kind of, I can send a copy to your email.”

“Okay, it’s better to email me the contract first.” Chen Yushan paused for a second and said, “Also, we should specify that the carbon transistor chip integration technology is independent. After all, we were the ones that invented this technology, so we can’t just let them take advantage of us.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Sure, whatever you think is best. I also talked with Director Li about the lithium-air battery breakthrough, so let’s try to register the patent as soon as possible.”

The other end of the phone went silent.

Lu Zhou didn’t know why Chen Yushan was being so quiet.

After a while, Lu Zhou asked, “What’s wrong?”

She finally responded, “Lithium-air battery breakthrough?”

“Yeah,” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “have I not told you about this?”

Chen Yushan: “When did you tell me?”

Lu Zhou finally realized that he only brought the model to Yang Xu yesterday, so he didn’t have a chance to tell her yet.

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and said, “Oh right, my fault.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m just surprised… Let me think, if we can play this card well, it might be very effective…”

Chen Yushan began to contemplate.

Lu Zhou was wondering if he should hang up the phone and give her time to think, but she suddenly said, “Oh yeah, didn’t you tell me that lithium-air batteries can be used in cars?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Not just cars, but it’s definitely the most suitable application. The larger the battery is, the higher its energy density. Also, because of the nature of the oxygen molecular membrane, it’s better to be used in moving vehicles.”

It was almost like Chen Yushan just hit the lottery as she said excitedly, “Got it! I’ll handle this! Oh yeah, publish some papers about the lithium-air battery. You don’t have to make it too detailed, just tell the world that we’ve made research progress on lithium-air batteries.”

What do you mean just publish some papers…

Writing papers isn’t easy at all. I can’t just write some substandard paper; I’m a Nobel Prize level scholar, my reputation is on the line.

Lu Zhou sighed after hearing Chen Yushan’s words. “What do you plan on doing then?”

Chen Yushan smirked and sat up straight as she said with a confident tone, “I plan on playing 4D chess!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 967: Just Write I

Play 4D chess…

Can’t she speak normally?

It was getting late, and the sun was coming down.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his desk as he stared at his computer screen with a headache. He stared at the blinking text cursor and suddenly shook his head.

He had to publish a thesis that wouldn’t disclose any “industry secrets”, or even any specific academic information. However, that thesis had to show the world that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had made a major breakthrough in lithium-air batteries…

Also, he had to make his paper as impactful as possible…

How the f*ck am I supposed to “just write this”?

Lu Zhou had been in academia for many years, but this was the first time he faced a situation like this.

He scratched his head and wanted to give up. Suddenly, the test tube on the corner of his desk caught his eye.

Inspiration flowed through his brain like a tsunami.

He stood up from his chair and exclaimed, “I got it!”

Since he couldn’t write about specific lithium-air battery technical details, it was better to focus on the mathematical model. He could simply publish a computational materials science paper and avoid talking about the lithium-air battery.

His eyes began to lit up, and his hands began to move across the keyboard. He typed a title line on the previously blank document.

[Research on the transportation of oxygen molecules in caged carbon molecules and modified PDMS materials, and its application prospects in the field of lithium-air batteries]

When Lu Zhou read the title, he couldn’t help but praise himself, “I’m a genius!”

The patent application for the caged carbon molecules had already been completed. Even though he adjusted several large π bonds on the caged carbon molecules, he still had the patent rights.

He already completed the experiment and had all of the data, so even one of his students could easily write this thesis.

Lu Zhou spent a couple of hours writing and formatting the paper.

After he converted it to PDF format, he attached the file into an email and looked at his email list. He clicked with his mouse and thought about where to submit this paper.

Nature?

Science?

Neither of them sounds good.

This kind of boring result is going to take a long time to get published. The most important thing is to make this as impactful and sensational as possible.

Lu Zhou made up his mind.

Since it’s such a bad paper, I’m not going to submit it to Nature.

After some consideration, Lu Zhou sent the email to the JACS editorial department.

Even though JACS wasn’t as famous as Nature and Science, it still had a high impact factor in the materials science and chemistry fields. It was one of the top journals in its respective field.

The paper Lu Zhou wrote on the “Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure”, which won him the Nobel Prize, was submitted to JACS.

Because he reviewed some papers for the journal, he had a good relationship with the editorial department. Thus, his paper wouldn’t take long to get approved.

After all of that, Lu Zhou stretched his back and went to bed.

…

The other side of the world, America.

Someone in the editorial department of JACS exclaimed, “Jesus, Kanov, guess what I just received in my mailbox? Professor Lu’s paper!”

Kanov looked at Agris, the editor-in-chief, and was shocked.

“Wait a second, what did you say? Professor Lu’s paper? He’s back to materials science?”

Agris smiled and said, “What do you mean back, he never left materials science. Have you forgotten who the founder of the theoretical model of computational materials and electrochemical interfaces is? Who the 2018 Nobel Prize winner was!”

The JACS journal had published many Nobel Prize level papers; however, Agris personally reviewed and approved the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry paper!

That achievement alone was enough for him to brag for the rest of his life.

Kanov quietly muttered, “But he doesn’t seem to think so.”

“That doesn’t matter! What matters is what we think! Forget about this, let me have a look first,” Agris said as he printed out the paper and began to read.

Kanov saw that Agris had a weird look on his face. He hesitated for a moment before asking the editor-in-chief, “What’s in the paper?”

“Oxygen molecule transportation using caged carbon molecules in modified PDMS material… Jesus, it’s about lithium-air batteries!” Agris took a deep breath and turned the page as he said, “I’ve heard rumors that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is researching lithium-air batteries and that their project leader is Yang Xu!”

Kanov knew of Yang Xu. He had an emotional look on his face.

“The author of this paper is Lu Zhou…”

“Yeah.” Agris gulped and pinched the manuscript with his hand as he said, “Kanov, do you know what this means? This means they might have been successful!”

Kanov didn’t know why Agris kept answering his own questions.

However, he realized why his editor-in-chief was making such a big deal out of this.

Based on his past experience, when it came to popular academic research projects, after the research team made a breakthrough, they often restrained from immediately publishing their results.

Even if they did publish, it was because they were forced to “present their results”. Often times, they would publish trivial research that couldn’t inspire their competitors.

Yang Xu, for example, hadn’t published a single paper in the past year. However, everyone knew that his research team was making good progress.

Now that Lu Zhou suddenly published this paper…

Not to mention that the paper was about a huge breakthrough.

There was only one possibility, which was that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had already obtained a patent for this technology, and might have even matured the technology!

This was the only explanation as to why they were willing to publish such a revealing thesis.

There was no question regarding if this paper would get published.

The problem was finding the right reviewer.

Agris looked at Kanov and asked, “Who else is in this research area?”

Kanov thought for a second and said, “Professor Jeff Dahn from Dalhousie University in Canada. He’s a pioneer in the industrial application of LiNixMnyCozO2 and did good research on lithium batteries. He has published countless Science papers… I think he’s a good choice.”

Agris contemplated for a second and said, “It might be difficult. He’s working on an IBM project, so he might not have the free time. We have to find an expert, but not a competitor.”

“That’s going to be difficult.”

Kanov scratched his head, and a name suddenly appeared in his mind. His eyes lit up as he said, “I know someone! He’s the perfect choice!”

Agris asked, “Who?”

“Professor Stanley Whittingham from Binghamton University! He’s published this paper on titanium sulfide cathodes. I think he’s no longer doing experiments, but I still remember how shocked I was when I first read his paper…”

Agris began to look impatient, so Kanov quickly added, “I noticed that Professor Lu referenced a result from Professor Stanley’s caged carbon molecules.

“He’s the perfect reviewer for this thesis!”

Chapter 968: Approve It!

Chapter 968 Approve It!

Even though Kanov’s ideas were hard to execute, there was no one on Earth better than Professor Stanley to review this thesis.

After all, in a way, this was like letting the author review his own thesis…

Binghamton University.

Inside a chemistry laboratory.

Professor Stanley had just returned from giving a lecture. He threw his notebook on the sofa and whistled to himself as he sat down at his desk.

After his failure a few years ago, ExxonMobil lost the opportunity to enter the lithium-sulfur battery market and also lost their trust in him.

This was a huge blow to his self-esteem, which caused his depression for quite some time.

However, after some time, he gradually came out of that man’s shadow.

He didn’t react at all when he watched Lu Zhou on television, presenting one result after another.

It wasn’t like he was the only person who was defeated by Lu Zhou…

Materials science was a field that had an element of luck involved. Some people might never achieve their desired experiment results, while others succeeded by happenstance.

Even the 2008 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, Martin Chalfie, said, “Sometimes if an experiment is unsuccessful, try throwing the sample on the ground or in the sea, do anything you can think of. Eventually, someone will work.”

Professor Lu was obviously favored by gods, so Professor Stanley wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

Professor Stanley was about to call his assistant to make him another cup of coffee when his assistant suddenly spoke.

“Professor, you have a review invitation from JACS.”

Review invitation from JACS?

Interesting.

Professor Stanley said casually, “Print out the paper, let me check it out.”

“Okay, professor!”

Professor Stanley suddenly remembered that he forgot to ask for another cup of coffee.

Sigh, I’m getting old, my memory is deteriorating.

Whatever, I’ll make it myself.

Professor Stanley sighed and shook his head. He stood up and went to the coffee machine.

When he sat back down at his desk, his student brought over the freshly printed paper.

Professor Stanley drank his coffee as he read the paper title. He couldn’t help but sneer.

Lithium-air battery?

Which idiot is it this time?

However, when he looked at the author’s name, his eyebrows began to twitch.

Lu Zhou!

“Not this again…”

Professor Stanley took another sip of coffee and pretended like he didn’t read the author’s name. He began to read the abstract.

However, he couldn’t concentrate.

He was halfway through reading the first line of the abstract when he suddenly spat out the coffee from his mouth.

“This despicable thief! Liar! Shameless!”

Professor Stanley ignored the coffee spills on his clothes and stood up.

Everyone in the office was stunned, and they tried not to make eye contact with the grumpy professor.

As Professor Stanley stared at the paper in his hands, his eyes were filled with rage. He wanted to tear the paper to shreds.

Caged carbon molecules!

That was mine!

He would never forget what happened six years ago, where his academic career was demolished by these damn carbon nanospheres!

“When the oxygen purity of one side of the modified PDMS film reaches 96.7%, the carbon nanospheres embedded in the modified PDMS film act as transporters, moving the remaining oxygen molecules…

“This is quite a peculiar phenomenon. The oxygen concentration decreases nonlinearly as the thickness of the modified PDMS material decreases. I think there are two possibilities for this phenomenon… F*ck sake, this little sh*t…”

Professor Stanley’s face was as red as a tomato. It was like something was stuck in his throat, stopping him from breathing.

His assistant immediately stepped forward and gave him a glass of water.

He drank the glass of water and was finally able to breathe.

“Thanks…”

He sat back down and squeezed the paper in his hand. His eyes were filled with regret.

I was finessed.

I’m not the only one.

ExxonMobil is also about to be played.

Even though he was finessed by this as*hole six years ago, he didn’t expect this “double agent” to play him again six years later…

“Damn it, I should have known…”

Professor Stanley grabbed his hair and looked broken.

Why didn’t I try to add the caged carbon molecules to a polymer material, and try to find out its oxygen environment characteristics?

I’ve done similar experiments before, I’m a master in materials science!

However, reality was often disappointing.

No one would have expected that the modified PDMS film could be used in lithium-air batteries…

Despite Stanley calling Lu Zhou a “thief”, he decided to ignore the fact that the model for the material was “stolen” from the Sarrot laboratory…

The students in the office looked at each other; they didn’t dare to speak.

Six years ago, most of them were still in their undergraduate studies; some were even in high school…

The assistant looked at his boss and spoke.

“Then… are we rejecting?”

“No…” Professor Stanley scrunched the paper into a ball and threw it in the waste bin. “Approve it!”

Assistant: “…?”

Students: “???”

Approved?!

Look at how furious you are, why are you approving?

The assistant looked at his angry boss, unsure if the professor was kidding or not. The assistant then sat down at his desk and began writing a response to JACS.

Normally, the paper review process took longer, but seeing how the reviewer already finished reading the paper…

The assistant would just respond with some generic review comments.

Professor Stanley looked at his assistant and started to calm down. He quietly muttered to himself, “A research result like this… Even if the Nobel Committee isn’t interested in materials science, the American Materials Research Society award committee will take this seriously.”

Even though the property of the caged carbon molecules in the modified PDMS film wasn’t discovered by him, if it could really be used for lithium-air batteries…

It would benefit Stanley in some way.

But I’m still so f*cking angry!

I can’t accept this.

After taking a dozen breaths trying to calm down, Professor Stanley made a decision.

Since this shameful dog is going to use my research as a reference, I’ll give him a taste of his own medicine…

Chapter 969: Decision

Chapter 969 Decision

Shanghai suburbs.

In a twenty-story office building conference room packed with cardboard boxes, a Caucasian man with a large nose sat at the conference table, across from Li Tinghui. They seemed to be quietly waiting for something.

The clock on the wall hit the hour mark, making a click sound.

It was almost like this sound interrupted Li Tinghui’s train of thought, startling him.

He took a deep breath and placed the contract on the table.

“Apologies, but I can’t accept your proposal.”

This was an acquisition contract, not for Beep Beep Charging, but for himself.

Bobby’s offer was quite attractive.

He did his best to sell 60% of his shares to Star Sky Technology for 10 million yuan, but now Tesla was willing to buy the remaining 40% for 10 million.

And if he agreed, this 10 million yuan would go into his own pocket.

Of course, this meant that he was completely out of the game and would lose total control of Beep Beep Charging. The promising charging station startup he founded would turn into a pissing contest between Star Sky Technology and Tesla.

“It’s okay, I expected this,” the Caucasian man said. He stood up and smiled casually as he said, “I hope you think this through seriously, after all…”

He paused for a second and continued, “You’re facing a giant with tens of billions of dollars of assets, even if you’re back by Star Sky Technology, you’re not a competitor.”

Bobby smirked with a disdainful smile.

Elon personally told him to talk with the founder of Beep Beep Charging and try to acquire the remaining 40%.

However, Bobby didn’t take Elon’s words seriously.

Tesla was the leader in electric vehicles; its brand name was implanted deeply in the alternative energy vehicle industry. It was like the Apple of cars, with an army of loyal supporters.

Now that Tesla had acquired EVgo and mastered its “ultra-fast high power charging station” technology, the first batch of charging stations had gone into production at the Shanghai factory, and they would be deployed at the end of next month.

Wireless charging?

It was a creative idea, but this gimmick stood no chance against the all-mighty Tesla.

By the time they took their product to market, Tesla would have already dominated the Shanghai charging station field.

After they left, the Chief Technology Officer, Wang Qiang, walked next to Li Tinghui and looked at the Tesla Roadster driving off on the streets below.

“CEO Li, those guys were from Tesla?”

Wang Qiang wasn’t the only one curious.

The employees in the office also secretly looked over, hoping to hear something interesting.

Faced with his subordinates questioning his decision making, Li Tinghui nodded and said, “Yeah, Tesla’s China General Manager, Bobby.”

There was a quiet exclaim in the office.

Wang Qiang couldn’t help but said, “Our company is becoming more and more nutty. First, we’re financed by Star Sky Technology, and now, Tesla wants to invest… Did they talk about the term sheet?”

Li Tinghui was emotionless as he nodded and said, “Kind of…”

He obviously wasn’t going to tell them that Bobby wanted to buy him out.

That would defeat morale.

“Then CEO Li, did you agree?”

Li Tinghui looked at his partner’s face. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly remembered Bobby’s face.

Bobby looked at him as if he were an ant.

Li Tinghui felt a burning sensation in his chest. He looked at his co-workers and suddenly spoke.

“No.”

The office went quiet.

Chief Technology Officer Wang Qiang had his mouth wide open.

No?!

This is Tesla!

The electric vehicles giant!

He didn’t know why his CEO would refuse the offer, refuse to receive help from Tesla.

Li Tinghui looked at the surprised employees and knew what they were speaking. He spoke calmly.

“Tesla didn’t come to us with an offer, they came with a gun.

“Some of you might know this already, but listen carefully, Tesla has acquired EVgo and wants to penetrate the Chinese charging station market. Tesla is our competitor. Tesla is not our friend. Receiving financing from them means capitulating to them!

“Our goal is to become the largest charging station company in China, or even in the world! Not just some subsidiary of Tesla!

“We won’t bow down to those Americans!

“You want their help? Keep on dreaming! The second they acquire us, they’re going to break us down and pave the way for EVgo to control the Yangtze River Delta city group area. They’re going to sell our own energy back to our citizens!”

Li Tinghui didn’t care if his employees understood him.

Those were his true thoughts.

The office was dead silent.

Some people were confused, some people were shocked…

Someone applauded.

Then, like dominos, thunderous applause filled the entire office.

Li Tinghui took a deep breath and nodded.

“Thank you.

“It’s an honor to work with you all.”

…

Whether it was because of ambition or blind optimism, Li Tinghui wasn’t worried at all. In fact, he was more relaxed than he had ever been.

His competitor was EVgo, a subsidiary of Tesla.

It was foreseeable that all Tesla electric vehicles would only be compatible with EVgo chargers.

However, now was not the time to worry about this. There was something else more important.

One was the relocation of his office.

The other was to negotiate with shopping malls, residential areas, and other parking lots in Shanghai regarding obtaining exclusive wireless charging station locations…

Office building, cafeteria.

Li Tinghui was sitting in a secluded corner, listening to the news on TV.

The CTV channel suddenly began to talk about a recent breakthrough in the lithium-air battery, with Professor Lu’s new paper in JACS making the news.

Lithium-air battery?

Li Tinghui looked at hte TV screen in shock.

That is some high-tech stuff…

Lithium-sulfur battery was just invented, and now it’s about to be obsolete?

He ate some rice and chewed while thinking.

Even though he wasn’t in the materials science field, as an electrical engineer, he still knew a little bit about materials science.

If there really was a breakthrough in lithium-air batteries, that meant that the driving range of electric vehicles would increase to a whole nother level. This would decrease the desirability of battery swapping.

After all, not only did the user have to pay for electricity, but they also had to pay for external costs such as battery removal and replacement. Only long-distance travelers had the motive to exchange money for their time.

For most civilians running to the grocery store, the lithium-sulfur batteries had plenty of juice. They could easily charge their batteries at night.

This was undoubtedly good news for Beep Beep Charging.

After the lithium-air battery news segment, the news anchor began to talk about iron ore prices continuing to rise. According to trustworthy sources, due to the increase in Asia’s infrastructure market, the prices of raw materials had increased.

Li Tinghui wasn’t very concerned with the futures market, so he placed his attention back to eating.

He didn’t realize what kind of impact the lithium-air batteries would have on the charging station market…

Chapter 970: This Is Horrifying!

Chapter 970 This Is Horrifying!

Ever since the lithium-sulfur battery breakthrough, various disputes and debates in the battery industry had disappeared. Both the academic community and the industry quietly adopted the new technology.

A bunch of aluminum ion battery projects had been cut off. Instead, companies had redirected their research and development to improve the “modified PDMS materials and HCS-2 materials”. These research projects were focused on increasing the energy density and safety of lithium-sulfur batteries.

The reason for this was because lithium was the king of batteries. It was simply impossible for any other periodic element to have a higher energy density than lithium, due to lithium’s position on the periodic table.

Lithium batteries had always been the apex predator of batteries, while the lithium-air battery was considered the holy grail of lithium batteries.

Trying to surpass it through changing materials alone was impossible. It would have to be something that wasn’t considered a chemical battery. For example, instead of using the electrochemical energy, the battery would instead use some kind of fusion energy…

However, while everyone believed that the lithium-sulfur batteries would dominate the battery industry for at least the next fifty years…

A paper published in JACS in the middle of March broke the silence!

At the parking lot of a kindergarten in Jinling, two parents stood beside their cars smoking. Because they were both car enthusiasts, they started to talk about the news.

“Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study invented this lithium-air battery! Apparently, it’s double the capacity of lithium-sulfur batteries.”

The bald parent was stunned. He spoke with his eyes wide open.

“No way?! They’re all made from lithium, can they really double the capacity? I think it’ll add at most a hundred or two hundred kilometers to the range.”

The tall parent pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke.

“Who knows, I’m not an expert. But think about it… it might be possible. I mean, lithium-air batteries use air as the positive electrode, right?”

“… Yeah, why?”

“Think about it, if the air is used as the positive electrode, that means the weight of the battery will be reduced, right? Reducing weight means the energy density will increase! I think this makes sense!”

The bald parent finally understood.

However, he suddenly frowned and slapped his thigh.

“F*ck, why the f*ck did I buy the new Tesla Model-S then!”

The skinny owner was startled.

“Oh sh*t, I didn’t know you were a baller!”

“Not a baller.” The bald owner flicked his cigarette and said, “I missed out huge this time.”

The skinner owner gloated and began comforting his bald friend.

“Haha, it will take a while before the technology is implemented. Just enjoy your car, maybe you’ll be able to swap out the battery. Also, why are you worrying, even these car manufacturers are not worrying. Haha, thank god I didn’t buy a new car, I’ll wait a bit and see what happens!”

Similar speculations on the battery were going on in many places.

The CTV news report was just the beginning.

The minute Professor Lu and his lithium-air battery appeared on the news, numerous reports and articles began popping up.

[Invention of lithium-air battery! The energy industry is going through a revolution?]

[Scientific genius! Another invention was made by Professor Lu?]

[One small battery is going to change the world!]

[The US Dollar is in jeopardy, we must stop China from manipulating the oil prices again!]

[…]

The only thing that could defeat lithium batteries, was lithium batteries.

Lithium-air batteries were no longer “science fiction”.

Oil prices didn’t become volatile due to this event… at least not as volatile as when the lithium-sulfur batteries were invented. However, the ExxonMobil CEO shouted in his office building in Texas.

“F*ck!”

Woods slammed his fist on the table and swept the documents off his desk. His blood was boiling.

“This shameless thief! Liar!”

His chest was shaking violently, so he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He then glared at his secretary who was sitting at a desk nearby.

“Find the file! I want to know in the next five minutes, which company owns the patent to the caged carbon molecules!”

Lithium-air batteries would mainly impact the lithium-sulfur batteries industry, increasing the market competitiveness of electric vehicles in the long term. However, oil prices wouldn’t be affected in the short term.

However…

This patent was originally theirs!

Now, this patent contained a key material in lithium-air battery technology! It was almost like throwing away rubbish that contained a diamond inside. Woods felt like he couldn’t breathe.

The only thing he hoped was that he still had time to buy back the patent before Star Sky Technology and Lu Zhou could react…

However…

Reality was often cruel.

His secretary’s trembling voice made him lose all hope.

“The patent was bought by a foreign trade company registered in California around three years ago…”

Woods cursed in his heart and suddenly had a thought.

However, he didn’t want to believe himself.

He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if…

Woods clenched his fist and said to his secretary, “Find the patent number! I want to know who owns the patent now.”

He swore that once he found out which company owned the patent, he would do everything he could to acquire it and amend his mistake! He knew he could do this, especially with ExxonMobil’s resources.

He only needed a shareholder to sell-out and put himself on the board of directors of that company, then make a deal the shareholders couldn’t refuse.

It would be perfect if the company was a public company, then he would have more room to maneuver.

“I’m searching…”

The secretary suddenly froze.

The secretary had a bitter expression on his face as he knew his answer would drive his boss crazy.

“The company that owns the patent is…

“Star Sky Technology.”

Star Sky Technology…

Woods relaxed his shoulders and smiled calmly.

He finally understood what was going on.

This started from the experiment six years ago, where the tides changed when the assistant leaked the model to Professor Stanley.

Not only did Professor Lu deliberately leak information, but he also used ExxonMobil’s resources and Professor Stanley to research key lithium-air battery technologies. They were even fooled into throwing away crucial patents that didn’t apply to lithium-sulfur batteries…

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was. A beat of sweat dripped down Woods’ forehead.

That guy…

Was six years ahead of me.

Is he even human?

His plan… is horrifying…

Chapter 971: Know Who Did the Work

Chapter 971 I Know Who Did the Work

“Achoo!”

Lu Zhou rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, “Xiao Ai, why am I sneezing all the time, I don’t feel like I’m sick.”

He had been sneezing more and more frequently these days.

Strange thing was that he didn’t show any signs of a cold.

It felt like someone was talking about him behind his back again…

A string of bubbles appeared on the lower right corner of his computer screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, I know, someone must be talking about how handsome you are.]

Lu Zhou saw the text and awkwardly smiled.

This little thing…

Even though its intelligence hadn’t increased after the upgrade, it had gotten better at compliments.

Which was exactly what Lu Zhou liked.

Lu Zhou was about to continue working on his research project when he suddenly received a phone call.

He picked up the phone and spoke.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Academician Lu, it’s me, Old Lu, do you still remember me?”

Emm…

Old Lu?

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

Honestly, he didn’t remember who that was.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t speak, the other end of the phone suddenly felt awkward.

“Um. you didn’t… forget about me, right?”

“Of course not…”

Lu Zhou frowned and thought for a while. Suddenly, a name popped up in his head, and his eyes lit up as he said, “Director Lu?”

Director Lu Kaimin from the Energy Bureau!

These two had interacted before on the controllable nuclear fusion project and the lithium-sulfur battery project.

Ever since the controllable nuclear fusion project ended, the Energy Bureau shifted their focus from renewable energy to nuclear fusion energy. Lu Zhou left the nuclear fusion field, so the two had rarely interacted in recent years.

Instead, the State Administration for National Defense took over the renewable energy industry, which resulted in Lu Zhou working more often with them.

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Director Lu, why are you calling me, do you need something?”

Director Lu smiled and said, “Oh, nothing, nothing, just wondering, where are you right now?”

Lu Zhou twisted the pen in his hand and said, “I’m in Jinling… at the Jin University mathematics department office, why?”

Director Lu was overjoyed, and he said, “Nothing, just wait there, I’ll be there in the afternoon! The plane is about to take off, talk to you later.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though Director Lu told him he was coming, Lu Zhou still didn’t expect him to arrive this fast.

The day after the JACS paper was published, this old director came all the way to Jinling to see his friend.

Jin Ling University, mathematics department building.

The grinning old man walked into the office and spoke charismatically.

“Academician Lu, long time no see, how have you been?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Lu Zhou put down his pen and said, “Did Director Li persuade you to come here?”

“What do you mean persuade? No, nothing to do with him! I just saw your JACS paper, so…” Director Li said. He wasn’t sure how to explain himself, so he said, “Forget about that… Did you guys really make a lithium-air battery?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second before saying, “Some of the technologies have been invented, and the rest is about solving the design problems.”

Once they had finished researching the materials, designing the product was easy. Not to mention that he still had Debris No.1 as a reference model, so he could easily make a copy and achieve similar energy densities.

As Director Lu sat down on the sofa, Lu Zhou looked at Assistant Zhao and spoke.

“Zhao Huan, pour Director Lu a cup of tea.”

“Okay, professor!”

Zhao Huan stood up and walked to the cupboard. She took out a teapot and poured some into a porcelain cup. She then placed the cup on the table and spoke.

“Director Lu, please enjoy.”

“Oh, thank you.”

The old director took a sip and spoke dramatically.

“This is amazing tea!”

Lu Zhou: “Want to take some home?”

Director Lu waved his hand and said, “No thanks, I know where you got this from, we have a ton at home.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Then why did you pretend like it was your first time drinking it!

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou couldn’t taste the difference between good tea and bad tea. Rarely did he drink tea.

Every holiday, people would give him a bunch of gifts. He would send back some of them, and as for the rest, he would try to give away.

Lu Zhou knew that Director Lu had something to say, so he looked at Assistant Zhao and spoke.

“Zhao Huan, bring this to the teaching affairs department for me.”

“Okay, professor!”

Assistant Zhao took the documents from Lu Zhou’s desk and left.

Lu Zhou looked at He Changwen, the only other person left in the office.

“He Changwen, you should—”

Before Lu Zhou could finish, the PhD student kept his laptop and stood up.

“Okay, professor, I’ll go to the library.”

Lu Zhou smiled with satisfaction.

Quite a smart kid.

Saved me from having to make up an excuse.

Lu Zhou and Director Lu were the only two left in the office.

Seeing how there was no one else in the room, Director Lu relaxed and said, “I was scared to speak in front of your students.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Well, you can speak now.”

“Remember how Director Li brought back a calculator of yours? Apparently, the second he landed in Beijing, he took the calculator to Chang’an Avenue. There was quite a commotion! I was there in person, and apparently, the old academician that inspected the calculator nearly passed out.”

Lu Zhou was a little worried.

“Is everyone okay?”

“They’re fine.” Director Lu smiled and said, “There was a medical team on standby.”

Director Lu continued to speak emotionally, “Honestly, we didn’t expect you to be this crazy, you already produced a carbon processor. The lithium-air batteries have plagued the energy industry for decades, but now, you solved that as well.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It wasn’t solved by me alone. Whether it was the carbon processor or the lithium-air battery, it was a team effort.”

Director Lu obviously thought Lu Zhou was being too humble.

The old man waved his hand and said, “Okay, fine, stop humble bragging. I know who did the real work here.”

Lu Zhou looked confused and didn’t respond.

Director Lu took another sip of tea and spoke enthusiastically.

“So, about the lithium-air batteries, I want to know… its energy density.”

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and gave a conservative answer.

“Energy density… it’s difficult to estimate. But theoretically, it should be at least 1.5 times that of lithium-sulfur batteries.”

Director Lu’s eyes suddenly lit up. He rested his hands on his knees and spoke solemnly.

“I have another question, Academician Lu!”

Seeing how Director Lu was so serious, Lu Zhou put on a serious face as well and spoke.

“Go ahead.”

However…

Director Lu’s question was a bit unexpected.

Or rather, Lu Zhou didn’t expect him to ask the question so directly…

“Can we use lithium-air batteries… on tanks?!”

Chapter 972: Have to Help Us

Chapter 972 Have to Help Us

Using it on tanks…

Faced with Director Lu’s solemn and earnest face, Lu Zhou finally knew why this old man was here.

In fact, research on electrical tanks was nothing novel.

“Dr. Porsche” had done similar research in the 1930s.

The VK4501P tank had a PorscheType101/1 air-cooled engine, where the power generated by the engine was stored in a battery, which was used to drive the two 275kW motors.

However, due to the limitation of technology back then, the electric tanks didn’t provide a huge advantage on the battlefield. Only the “differential steering system” technology from the tank was retained.

With the continuous advancement of science and technology, the concept of electric tanks had been widely talked about in the military industry.

Lu Zhou speculated that Director Lu wasn’t only asking about tanks.

What Director Lu really wanted to know was if the dividends from controllable nuclear fusion could overflow to the military industry…

“You would have to ask a military expert for that.” Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “But in my opinion, whether it is lithium-sulfur batteries or lithium-air batteries, they all have limited application in the military field.”

Director Lu was a little worried, so he immediately asked, “Why?”

“Safety.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Chemical batteries use redox reaction to convert chemical potential energy to electrical energy. Since there’s a redox reaction going on, there will be stability issues. Lithium can spontaneously ignite in the air. If hit by something like a shell, it wouldn’t just be engine oil leakage, it would one hundred percent result in an internal explosion.”

Surely someone told him about this before.

Like Lu Zhou had expected, Director Lu didn’t look surprised.

“Oh, I see.”

Director Lu had a look of sadness on his face.

Obviously, Beijing already held a technical meeting regarding this topic, and judging by his reaction, he was on the supportive side of lithium-air battery application in military fields. However, it seemed like it was already shown to be technically infeasible.

The old man stared at the teacup on the coffee table for a long time. He raised his head and asked reluctantly, “Is there no room for improvement? For example, make a battery that is more stable and still has a high energy density?”

“That’s not something that can be done with a chemical battery…”

Lu Zhou shook his head and paused for a second before he spoke again.

“Actually… I don’t know a lot about the military. However, from what I understand, even though it is not reliable to use lithium-air batteries for front-line units such as tanks, if you used it on non-combat units such as transport vehicles and trucks, or even logistics helicopters, it might be possible.”

An electric engine had the advantage of lower noise and better control.

There were many other advantages of having a fully electric logistics system, especially under the premise of having access to electrical facilities.

Director Lu began to think, while Lu Zhou smiled and spoke, “Actually I’m a liberal, I haven’t done a lot of research on weapons. But if the military needs my advice, all I can say is to focus on other places instead of chemical batteries.”

Director Lu immediately asked, “Like what?”

Lu Zhou said, “Like controllable fusion technology. I’ve already made a miniaturized controllable fusion battery. Even though there are many cost restrictions, in a decade or so, the fusion battery might achieve the level of results you desire.”

Miniaturization of controllable fusion technology had already been used in spacecraft such as Starlight and Magpie Bridge. Apparently, the newest generation of nuclear submarines was also using fusion batteries.

Lu Zhou remembered seeing a large order from the Chinese Navy regarding fusion batteries.

Wanting to apply this technology to land units would require a reduction in cost and battery size, but who knew what could happen in the future?

As long as they continued down this research path, this technology would continue to improve.

…

No matter how much Lu Zhou talked about fusion batteries, the Director of the Energy Bureau and the electric vehicle industry were still going crazy over the lithium-air batteries.

Several Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers had summoned engineers to study Lu Zhou’s paper. They were able to deduce that the lithium-air batteries wouldn’t have a huge effect on them; they only had to add a front air intake grill.

In short, the electric vehicle manufacturers were relieved.

However, even though they had a chance to breathe, this wasn’t over.

Due to the new uncertainties in the electric vehicle industry, BYD and other companies had postponed releasing their latest cars. They had begun designing new vehicles that contained an air intake grill that would fit the standards of lithium-air batteries.

Even though fewer consumers were purchasing cars, due to the continued decline in electricity prices and the steady progress of domestic oil prices, the overall impact wasn’t huge for them.

However, while the car manufactures were relieved, the car battery manufacturers were having a breakdown.

The boss, who finally made up his mind to upgrade the production line to lithium-sulfur batteries, had aged ten years overnight.

The electric vehicle industry was becoming more and more prosperous, but their products were outdated…

Zhongshan New Materials warehouse.

Liu Wanshan looked at the mountain of lithium-sulfur battery stock while smoking a cigarette.

Standing next to the boss was the secretary. The secretary wanted to complain but didn’t know who to complain about…

“Is Star Sky Technology… planning on shutting us down?”

Liu Wanshan tapped the cigarette and sighed.

“This is a disaster.”

Even though the stock price of Zhongshan New Materials soared a while ago, their sales had plummeted.

Some small factories even breached their contracts and refused to buy more batteries. Hence, the large amount of stock in his warehouse.

The only positive side was that they weren’t the only ones faced with this situation; the entire battery industry was upside down. Going further up the supply chain, the lithium material industry was also a mess

This wouldn’t be lethal for them.

However, it would definitely hurt.

The secretary standing next to Liu Wanshan spoke.

“Boss, what do we… do now?”

Liu Wanshan took a drag and contemplated for a second before speaking.

“Turn off the battery production line temporarily, transfer some workers to the mobile battery production line. For the modified PDMS materials and HCS-2 materials production, urge downstream manufacturers to pay for them as soon as possible. We need the cash flow. When the lithium-air batteries come out, we will go full force ahead. In any case, we have to maintain cash flow and survive!”

The secretary nodded.

“Okay, I’ll do that right now.”

Liu Wanshan looked at the pile of stock in the warehouse and felt a headache.

He walked out of the factory and threw his cigarette in a trash can. He looked back at the warehouse again.

Those batteries are worth tens of millions!

Liu Wanshan was unwilling to give up.

“No, I have to talk with Professor Lu.

“Star Sky Technology owns a part of us, they have to help us!”

Chapter 973: Professor Stanley’s Break

Chapter 973 Professor Stanley“s Break

Even though lithium-air batteries had yet to exist, its news had already blinded people’s eyes. When an earthquake like this hit the industry, it was bound to affect the academic community.

Some people were amazed, some were unconvinced.

Some people were overjoyed, others were furious.

This affected billions of scientific research funding and countless people’s ability to complete their graduation thesis.

After all, most of the projects related to lithium-ion batteries had been cut. Even professors in this field were having a difficult time, much less their students…

At the North American materials science conference held in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

Materials science experts from all over the world gathered here.

The main topic of this conference was going to be the latest research on molybdenum disulfide monolayer material, which was funded by Microsoft, Intel, and other companies. This material was favored by the academic community to be the future semiconductor material.

However, clearly something more significant had happened.

Lithium-air batteries overshadowed everything else.

During the first report at the conference, Professor Stanley walked on stage wearing a tuxedo. He announced the advent of the lithium-air battery era with a passionate tone, and how amazing his caged carbon molecule was…

This year’s materials science conference went wild.

Most people thought this guy was being a pretentious prick.

Even though no one threw their shoe on stage, the entire report was in chaos.

Most research competitors were furious, and they placed all of their anger on Professor Stanley.

For example, Dr. Curtis from the Argonne National Laboratory.

In collaboration with Professor Amin Salehi Khojin from the University of Illinois, Chicago, they successfully created a method that achieved a 700-cycle lithium-air battery.

After the lithium dendrites problem was solved, they were able to increase this number to 900. Now, this number was in the 1000s.

If it weren’t for the caged carbon molecules, they could have been the ones on stage presenting!

Even Professor Curtis, who was normally calm and collected, was boiling with rage. Curtis asked numerous questions during the Qu0026A session, in hopes of finding a problem with Stanley’s caged carbon molecules.

Of course, Curtis knew that nothing would come of this…

The evening banquet was held in a five-star hotel next to the venue.

Professor Stanley was wearing a tuxedo, and his hair was shiny and slicked backward. He smiled arrogantly toward his peers and exchanged business cards with industry leaders.

The report went wonderfully for him.

Because Lu Zhou didn’t personally come to the conference, as the inventor of the material, he was the center of attention.

Even though other scholars were unhappy at him, why should he care?

They were his enemies.

His priority was to network with these powerful industry leaders. They were the ones that could fund his research. All his peers did was laugh at him when he failed.

Actually, Professor Stanley had an epiphany.

He thought about it carefully and realized that other than humiliating him, Lu Zhou didn’t do anything malicious.

The patent?

That was ExxonMobil’s property anyway. He was the one who signed the research and development agreement.

Ruining his relationship with ExxonMobil?

His reputation in the industry?

He had indeed suffered quite a lot over the past six years, but now he was the center of attention among major companies.

So, why should he hold any grudges against Lu Zhou?

Stanley listened to people’s compliments and watched as those that once abandoned him crawled back to him. He couldn’t describe how happy he was.

The dean of the chemistry department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was an old professor who used to work with him in the battery field. The professor firmly shook his hand and said enthusiastically, “Congratulations, Professor Stanley! After lithium-air batteries enter the market, the Nobel Prize Committee will definitely consider you and Professor Lu for an award… Why don’t you come to MIT? I think we can provide the resources and environment for your next project! I promise you’ll be satisfied.”

When Professor Stanley heard the name Professor Lu, his eyebrows twitched.

However, he wasn’t new in the academic community.

Even though there was a twinge in his heart, he was able to control his emotions and speak gently with his old friend.

“Thanks… but Binghamton University has already promised to make me the head of the chemistry department… I don’t plan on moving in the short term.”

Even though the MIT professor was a little disappointed, he had nothing else to offer Stanley. It wasn’t like he could give his job title to Stanley.

The MIT professor nodded and spoke.

“I understand. I mean, for us scholars, a stable environment is more important than anything… If you ever want to come to MIT, be sure to contact me.”

Stanley nodded lightly.

“I definitely will.”

Normally, he wouldn’t speak this casually to the head of chemistry at MIT; after all, this person was also a board member of the American Chemical Society.

However, he was at the same level as this professor, or even a level higher.

While Professor Stanley was indulging in the attention, someone quickly walked into the banquet hall and found him.

Stanley saw the person and spoke with surprise.

“Woods? My dear friend, what… happened to you?”

Long gone was the sharp and bright person Stanley once knew; instead, the person standing in front of him looked aged and decrepit.

“Something happened.” Woods took a deep breath and looked into Professor Stanley’s eyes as he said, “Listen, we had some misunderstandings before, we cut off your research project, but now—”

“Stop right there,” Professor Stanley said. “Just tell me, what do you want?”

“ExxonMobil wants you to come back,” Woods said sincerely. “You are the inventor of the caged carbon molecules. We all know that this honor should belong to you, not that Chinese guy. We need a similar compound, something that won’t conflict with their patent…”

After hearing Woods, Professor Stanley went silent for a while and sighed.

“Just give up, Woods, I know you don’t want to, but he is not our enemy.”

Woods froze for a second before he spoke anxiously.

“We’re just going to watch them rise to the top? Control the future of our energy industry? The nuclear power plant in California is about to be built, the lithium-air battery will crush the market! Everyone wants cleaner and cheaper energy. But think about how many jobs will be lost if oil prices plummet! If we don’t have the patent for lithium-air batteries, we have no room to fight back!”

Countless jobs lost…

Isn’t that what you greedy capitalists want?

Of course, Stanley would never say this out loud.

Professor Stanley paused for a second and looked at Woods.

“Listen, I know what you’re feeling right now, but what can we do? The patent clearly states the terms, unless you can convince Lu Zhou to sell you the patent… My advice is to forget about it.

“Also, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been doing very well over the past six years. A few days ago, I was angry, and I wanted to strangle that little sh*t, but now…

“My eyes are open.”

In reality, Stanley was scared.

He didn’t know if Lu Zhou planned all of these six years ahead, but he did know that his academic career was nearly ruined because of Lu Zhou.

Now that he had finally risen again, mostly due to Lu Zhou’s research, he never wanted to go against Lu Zhou again.

After all, he wasn’t young anymore.

He didn’t have any more time to waste in his career!

Professor Stanley shrugged and stared at Woods.

“As for the jobs lost, that’s Congress’ problem, not ours.”

Woods watched Stanley pat his shoulder and walk away. Stanley turned around and began chatting with the big names in the industry.

Woods stood there motionlessly for a while.

Suddenly, he looked down at the floor.

He muttered to himself, “Congress…

“That is Congress’ problem…

“He’s right!”

Chapter 974: Nuttier Than Lithium-Sulfur batteries

Chapter 974 Nuttier Than Lithium-Sulfur batteries

A lot of people had been visiting Lu Zhou recently.

First was the director of the State Administration for National Defense, then was a high-ranked official from the Energy Bureau. After that, Luo Wenxuan and Chen Yang asked him to help with the “quantum mechanical system of the random Hermitian matrix corresponding to the Riemann function” and the “Hodge conjecture”. Lu Zhou just wanted to focus on his own research project, but he couldn’t just refuse to help others either.

He was supposed to be working on the significance of the Riemann zeta function with Luo Wenxuan together, so he had to contribute, at least a little.

As for Chen Yang’s research project, Chen Yang needed help with the hyperelliptic curve analysis method. Also, Lu Zhou was the one that said to ask him for help, thus making it even harder for him to refuse to help Chen Yang…

On the last Monday in March, Lu Zhou yawned as he walked out of the house. He was planning on going to the Jin University mathematics department building, but he saw a chubby man at his front gate, holding a gift bag with a smile on his face.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“CEO Liu? What are you…”

“It’s the holidays, I brought some gifts!”

Liu Wanshan walked through the front gate and said, “You scientists are working too hard, staying in the laboratory all day, I’m worried about your health. So I got some mountain herbs from Changbai Mountain. Add it to your soups, it’s good for cleansing toxins!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Holidays…

Lu Zhou thought about it and realized that the only holidays coming up was Tomb-Sweeping Day and April Fool’s Day.

However, this was not the time to care about details.

Lu Zhou knew the CEO had good intentions, so he accepted CEO Liu’s gift and invited the CEO into his home.

Lu Zhou looked at the beautifully packaged ginseng, feng, and tuber fleece flower. He was a little baffled.

I’m perfectly healthy, why do I need all this stuff?

“You’re too kind.”

Lu Zhou poured Liu Wanshan a cup of tea as they sat down on the sofa. He then said, “I have to go to the university, so let’s skip the small talk. I know you like to get straight to the point.”

Liu Wanshan smiled awkwardly.

“I guess you know why I’m here, okay then.”

This normally composed and calm CEO spoke in an aggrieved tone.

“Remember how the alternative energy market was booming? I was thinking about how it’s a shame we’re only selling lithium material as it was a wasted opportunity. So I bought a small factory and also began assembling and producing lithium-sulfur batteries.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “What’s wrong with that?”

“The problem is your thesis.” Liu Wanshan patted his leg and sighed as he said, “When your thesis came out, especially when CTV reported it, the alternative energy industry plummeted to the floor.

“A few weeks ago, we were doing fine, and we had more orders than we could handle. We even had to hire new people. However, now, we don’t have a single order! Not just that, but people are forfeiting their deposits and refusing to buy from us! Now we have a mountain of battery stock. We don’t make cars, what are we supposed to do!”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “It would take months before lithium-air batteries are mass-producible. Also, this should be a good thing for the alternative energy industry.”

“I’m not afraid of new technology, it’s just that everyone wants to sit around and wait for this new technology to come out.” Liu Wanshan sighed and said, “It’s obviously good for electric vehicle companies, but for us small factories, this is a disaster.”

You think you’re a small factory?!

Lu Zhou looked at Liu Wanshan and couldn’t help but think.

You’re the CEO of a public company, can you man up?

However, I guess I did forget about this side of things.

Lu Zhou just wrote the paper according to Chen Yushan’s instructions. He didn’t expect the media and industry to overinterpret his thesis.

Lithium-air batteries do exist, but I didn’t say that in my paper!

Liu Wanshan looked at Lu Zhou and asked politely, “I’m not asking for anything ridiculous, but since you do own shares in Zhongshan New Materials, you should think about the factory workers… Maybe publish something that says that lithium-air battery technology will take a long time to produce, just give us some room to breathe.”

Liu Wanshan thought that writing a paper was a piece of cake for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou could even ask his students to write one for him.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t think this way. He thought about the idea of writing another paper and instantly had a headache.

“I admit this is my fault; I didn’t prepare well,” Lu Zhou said. He coughed and continued, “But I won’t write a paper like that, the most important trait in academia is seeking the truth. It’s okay if I don’t tell the full truth, but I won’t speak anything but the truth!”

Not to mention that Chen Yushan told him that she was playing “4D chess”.

Lu Zhou was curious about what kind of plan she had in mind.

Seeing how Academician Lu had no intention to help at all, Liu Wanshan was full of disappointment.

Of course, he didn’t entirely blame Lu Zhou for not helping. First of all, he was in no position to blame Lu Zhou, and secondly, he understood Lu Zhou’s reasons.

After all, Lu Zhou was the representative of China’s academic community. That was more valuable than any company’s profits.

Liu Wanshan got up and was planning on saying goodbye, but Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, send some engineers from the factory to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.”

Liu Wanshan paused for a second and said, “Engineer?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, I plan on integrating wireless charging technology with lithium-air batteries. You guys have experience in car battery production, and we have the lithium-air battery technology. We should work together.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“That depends on if you’re interested in producing something nuttier than lithium-sulfur batteries.”

Chapter 975: Terrifying Connections

Chapter 975 Terrifying Connections

Life was always full of ups and downs.

Who would have guessed that the shy kid talking to him at the Purple Mountain Hotel became a world-renowned university student?

Who would have guessed that a company making mixed carbon cement material would transform into an industry giant in the alternative energy field?

Liu Wanshan would have never imagined it. He thought that it would be amazing to reach the billion yuan mark, he never would have imagined earning billions in just a few years’ time; he might even end up on Forbes soon…

He thought that the reason he stood here today was because of his tenacity and his willingness to seize opportunities.

Working with Professor Lu was an inflection point in his life.

Now that lithium-air batteries had become a reality, the era of printing money with lithium-sulfur batteries was over; the entire industry was being turned upside down…

Liu Wanshan felt like he was at another turning point in his life.

And this time, he hoped that he made the right decision…

High-tech zone area, Zhongshan New Materials factory.

Just a few days ago, Liu Wanshan was still worried about his overstocked inventory, but ever since he returned from Professor Lu’s house, he had been as happy as a clam.

The assistant didn’t know what was going on, so he walked up to CEO Liu and asked, “Hey, boss, what’s the good news?”

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, “Go gather the senior engineers at the plant.”

The assistant was confused, and he asked, “For what?”

Liu Wanshan smiled and said, “To help the Institute for Advanced Study! What else? Call Professor Li Rongen, he should be interested… Forget about it, I’ll call him myself.”

The assistant looked at the boss and said, “But those guys are the backbone of our factory, and we need them to adjust the production line. If we send them away… What’s going to happen to our factory?”

“Why are you in such a worry! Why would we need to adjust the production line, you don’t even know what we’re producing! From now on, shut off all electric vehicle lithium-sulfur batteries production and only focus on small-sized batteries!”

Seeing how the boss didn’t seem to be joking, the assistant began to sweat.

“But—”

“No buts, just do what I say!” Liu Wanshan laughed and said, “Once our engineers come back from the Institute for Advanced Study, you’ll realize how wise my decision is!”

…

Zhongshan New Materials urgently dispatched a team of engineers to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Beep Beep Charging, on the other hand, finally finished the relocation of their research and development team. They moved from Shanghai to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The process wasn’t smooth; in fact, they paid quite a price.

First of all, not everyone was happy to move for their job. And because of the recent changes in the company’s structure, people’s expectations of the company’s future had been disrupted. In the end, only five technicians were willing to follow Wang Qiang and to move to Jinling.

A week ago, there were a dozen technicians…

In addition to the loss of talent, what disappointed Wang Qiang the most, the Chief Technology Officer of Beep Beep Charging, was that these people didn’t receive the best hospitality at the Institute for Advanced Study…

One could even make the case that they were being mistreated.

What bothered him the most was that they had to move from Shanghai to Jinling because of Star Sky Technology, but now, the people at Star Sky were treating them coldly…

He almost wanted to resign!

“Did you bring the designs?”

Wang Qiang looked at the grumpy old man and nodded.

“I did.”

The old man frowned.

“Let me see.”

Wang Qiang took out the blueprint and handed it over.

The old man casually glanced at the blueprint designs.

Wang Qiang was expecting a comprehensive evaluation, but the old man snorted and spoke.

“What the hell is this?”

Wang Qiang nearly fainted.

Wang Qiang’s colleagues couldn’t stand this anymore, and a man with a bald cut stepped forward and spoke furiously.

“We spent months with our supervisor on this design! Let’s see your design then!”

“Brother Zhao, it’s fine.”

“Get off me!”

The old man looked at the young engineer and spoke with a smile.

“Who is your supervisor?”

Wang Qiang paused for a second and said, “Professor Liu Zhongpei, an electrical engineering professor from Aurora University!”

Even though Liu Zhongpei wasn’t an academician, nor was he in the Changjiang Scholars Program, he was still well known in his respective field and had participated in many scientific research projects.

For example, his supervisor worked on the Haizhou demonstration reactor project.

However, after hearing this name, the old man…

Didn’t react at all.

“Liu Zhongpei?” The old man frowned and thought for a second. He then shook his head and said, “Don’t know him.”

No wonder these students created this garbage. I don’t even know who their supervisor is.

Of course, the old man didn’t say this out loud.

If he did, the student engineers might have punched him in the face.

However, even though the old man didn’t say anything, his face told the whole story.

The researcher named Zhao couldn’t stand this anymore.

“Who are you then?!”

“Me?” The old man raised his eyebrows and said, “Professor Lu asked me to help you, and he didn’t tell you who I am?”

Wang Qiang froze.

So did the researcher named Zhao.

The other young researchers looked at one another.

When they first came to the Institute for Advanced Study, they were told to find Professor Wang, but they didn’t know who this Wang person was…

No one had ever mentioned it to them.

The old man wasn’t angry at the fact that the students didn’t recognize him. Instead, he smiled and said, “Don’t you millennials love using your phone? I’m Wang Zengguang, go find me on Baidu.”

He shook his head and walked away.

Wang Qiang took out his phone and searched up the name. Someone behind him exclaimed, “Wang, Academician Wang Zengguang!”

Academician?

Wang Qiang looked at the researcher and spoke.

“You found him?”

The researcher nodded and handed over his phone.

Wang Qiang looked at the phone and instantly froze.

Academician Wang Zengguang!

The chief engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation!

Leader in the domestic nuclear and electrical engineering industry! Worked on Pangu, ferrofluid electric energy, and other fusion reactor projects!

Wang Qiang finally remembered who this person was.

Wang Qiang knew this old man looked familiar; that was the reason he took the criticism so quietly.

But now, he finally realized why the old man looked familiar…

Back when Wang Qiang was still in school…

Wang Qiang remembered his supervisor talking about someone else other than Lu Zhou, who was a god in the field of nuclear engineering.

It turned out that his supervisor’s idol was Academician Wang. Academician Wang’s ferrofluid electric energy generator was even taught in textbooks around the country…

Wang Qiang was shocked.

He finally realized why CEO Li was so confident that Star Sky Technology could guide them to success, that he even refused help from Tesla.

I can’t believe Lu Zhou was able to get this guy to help us…

There’s no way we won’t succeed!

Chapter 976: Standards

Chapter 976 Standards jin university, mathematics department building.the phone was ringing, and academician wang was the one calling.the second the phone was connected, a hearty voice came through the phone.

“old lu, those guys you brought aren’t the best!”

when lu zhou heard “old lu”, he nearly spat out the water in his mouth.

lu zhou snorted and felt his eyes tearing up. he coughed for a while before saying, “can you not call me old? i’m at least a generation younger than you!”

even though i’m approaching my thirties, i’m still in my twenties! i look older than i am, but still…

this is ridiculous!

“hahaha!” academician wang zengguang smiled and said, “you’re the one asking me for help, i came here all the way from beijing. what, i can’t give you a nickname?”

lu zhou: “…”

lu zhou was speechless.

most people would never be able to ask this nuclear industry legend for help. regardless of what nickname he was calling him, academician wang was still doing lu zhou a favor.

seeing how lu zhou wasn’t responding, academician wang zengguang smiled and spoke.

“i took a look at your charging project. the technology and designs are a mess, but it is interesting. i am a little confused, why are you connecting wireless charging technology with lithium-air batteries? i think there’s no reason to connect these two together since they work fine independently.”

lu zhou: “actually… i’m not sure. i’m just a scholar, i don’t understand a lot of things outside of academia. but my ceo told me about it and i thought it was interesting, so i asked you for help.”

academician wang zengguang said, “oh? what did your ceo say?”

lu zhou smiled.

“to be the one that sets the standards!”

even though lithium-air batteries had nothing to do with wireless charging, if star sky technology had control of both of these technologies, they could combine the technologies together and require both of them to be used at the same time.

hence, other companies would have two options, either pay a high price for refusing to follow the standards or compromise with star sky technology and cater to their established rules.

this might not be beneficial in the short term, but when star sky technology became the standard for the entire electric vehicle industry…

even if there were companies that wanted to go against the tide, it would be too late to do so.

by that time, they would have to face the pressure from star sky technology’s patents…

the other end of the phone went silent.

suddenly, he laughed.

“standards setter? sounds interesting.” academician wang smiled and said, “okay then, i have nothing better to do, i’ll help you! oh yeah, i have high standards. if some of those noob researchers end up quitting, don’t blame me.”

“of course not!” lu zhou smiled and said nonchalantly, “they can quit if they want, they’re all replaceable. as long as one person remains and we train them into an academic leader, it will be worth it.”

after that, they made some small talk and ended the phone call.

just after academician wang hung up the phone, his office door opened. a middle-aged researcher wearing glasses walked in with a document.

“this is the revised plan,” yao hong said as he placed the document on the table. he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “i made them re-do the important parts.”

after taking a glance at the revised plan, academician wang nodded with satisfaction.

“not bad.”

my students are amazing, this plan is much better.

yao hong looked at academician wang and suddenly said, “professor.”

academician wang looked at his student and put down the revised plan.

“what’s wrong?”

yao hong hesitated for a bit before speaking his truest thoughts.

“should we… really help them?

“star sky technology is a private company, and beep beep charging… we’re helping them for free.”

academician wang looked at his student and spoke with a smile.

“so you’re saying we’re abusing the public trust?”

yao hong nodded.

“even though we’re not using state funding and laboratories, but research and development is also part of social resources—”

academician wang interrupted his student and said, “you can’t blindly follow rules, a scholar should be flexible.”

“but—”

“if you think we’re abusing social resources, have you thought about what they have done for society? who created controllable nuclear fusion energy? star sky technology is a private company, but do you see professor lu holding any nuclear fusion patents?”

after listening to his supervisor’s words, yao hong was speechless.

however, he didn’t want to give up, so he added, “but… nuclear fusion technology was the result of everyone’s efforts, so the patent shouldn’t belong to him alone.”

“oh, really now?” academician wang smiled and shook his head. he said, “if he didn’t come back to china and stayed at the max planck society, you don’t think he could’ve created a nuclear fusion reactor in germany? you’re saying that we could’ve solved nuclear fusion alone?”

“but…” yao hong awkwardly said, “he’s chinese, china is his home.”

“yeah, it’s his home.”

academician wang nodded and spoke nostalgically, “this is our home, we all want this place to be better. that’s why he gave up his opportunities and came back here. he traveled with his research team all over the country and didn’t complain one bit. so, do you really think we’re doing him the favor here?”

academician wang stopped talking.

he looked at his student and smiled.

“also, i’m interested in his plans.

“one day, we’ll become the standard setters of the world. we’ll be the kings of electricity. every country will have to act according to our rules.

“hopefully, that day will come soon…”

academician wang reached out and gently patted his student on the shoulder as he spoke in a solemn tone.

“so, stop trying to create enemies!

“we’re on the same team!”

Chapter 977: Not the Same Family

Chapter 977 Not the Same Family

It often took years before a product could go from research and development to production.

That was normally the case.

However, when it came to the China National Nuclear Corporation, it often took much less time.

Not just because of Wang Zengguang’s own experience and strength, but also because of his networks in the electrical engineering field.

Even if he encountered a problem he couldn’t solve, he could easily find an expert to help him solve the problem.

Of course, even though he was more than capable, most of the design work was still done by Beep Beep Charging’s team.

This was Lu Zhou’s request.

“… Not bad, just follow the design.” Academician Wang looked at the new design and handed the blueprints back to Wang Qiang.

It was almost like a weight had been lifted off Wang Qiang’s shoulders, and he sighed in relief.

The past month was hell for him and his research and development team.

Not just because of the lack of manpower, but also because they had to deal with the expert from the China National Nuclear Corporation.

Academician Wang’s student, Yao, often criticized and nitpicked their work, making them do the same thing over and over again…

Even though he wanted to give up, he thought about how much he had given up by moving all the way from Shanghai and decided to persevere.

Academician Wang looked at Wang Qiang and smiled.

“Nicely done. To tell you the truth, I thought you guys were going to quit. I was going to get some people from the China National Nuclear Corporation and give the project to Academician Lu.”

Wang Qiang held the designs in his hand tightly. He then took a deep breath and asked, “Can I ask a question?”

Academician Wang took a sip of tea and spoke to the young man standing in front of his desk.

“Go ahead.”

“Since the China National Nuclear Corporation is so powerful… Why aren’t the people from there doing this project? If you think we’re incapable, why not fire us? You can easily find someone better.”

Wang Qiang knew his question was a little strange.

Because there was no reason for the China National Nuclear Corporation to help Star Sky Technology.

However, Chief Engineer Academician Wang was willing to guide them on this project.

After hearing Wang Qiang’s question, Wang Zengguang smiled.

“A month ago, I asked Academician Lu a question over the phone. I’m a perfectionist. I was afraid my standards would force you guys to quit. Guess what Academician Lu said?”

Wang Qiang thought for a long time and shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Academician Wang smiled and said, “He said, you guys can quit if you want, someone else will take your place! But if one of you guys stays behind, it will be worth it!”

Academician Wang looked at Wang Qiang and spoke.

“So I was surprised to see all five of you still working here. This is more important than wireless charging stations.

“As the leader of this project, I hope you will remember that technology is always relative, and there will be one day where a piece of technology becomes outdated, but…” Academician Wang reached out and gently poked Wang Qiang’s forehead before saying, “Only knowledge and creativity last forever.”

Technology is always relative…

Wang Qiang finally understood why Academician Lu didn’t care about losing manpower, and why Academician Lu insisted on them working on the project personally.

The ones that quit just weren’t meant to be.

The technology could always be improved.

The important part wasn’t their abilities, but it was their determination to become better and cultivate their courage to complete an almost impossible task.

Academician Lu could easily receive help from the China National Nuclear Corporation, and the entire nuclear energy industry in China would be more than happy to help him with the charging station project.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t only care about technology.

What he wanted was a scientific research team that could continuously develop new and creative technologies!

Just like how he cultivated talents for the controllable nuclear fusion and aerospace industry, even though he left the ion thruster and nuclear fusion field, the technology was still being improved.

Academician Wang looked at the young man and nodded.

He knew that the young man understood his words, so he stood up and smiled.

“Okay, the first-generation design of the wireless charging stations is in your hand. I won’t bother you guys anymore. I’ll call Academician Lu tonight and go back to Beijing tomorrow. I have one piece of advice, which is to continue trying your best, whether it’s this charging station project or something else, your future is limitless!”

“Thank you.” Wang Qiang went silent for a while and suddenly said, “Can I call you teacher?”

Academician Wang smiled and spoke.

“If you want to. I’ve taught you guys many things, so it wouldn’t be inappropriate. Oh yeah, what do you plan on calling this thing?”

Wang Qiang paused for a second and spoke.

“BB… BB charging.”

“BB?” Academician Wang looked at him in disbelief as he said, “I know your company is called BB, but you’re calling the product BB as well?”

Wang Qiang: “Yeah… Is there a problem?”

Academician Wang opened his mouth and asked, “Did Academician Lu come up with this name?”

“No…” Wang Qiang scratched his head and said, “CEO Li… Beep Beep Charging CEO Li Tinghui came up with the name. Apparently, Academician Lu was going to change the name, but he didn’t end up changing it. Is there a problem with this name?”

“Nothing, I was just wondering… You guys are on your own now, I have to go.”

Academician Wang looked at his student and signaled him to follow him. They then walked to the door of the office.

The old academician was about to leave the office when he suddenly sighed and spoke.

“It takes one to know one.

“I guess Old Lu just likes people who are horrible at naming things!”

Yao Hong, who was next to Academician Wang, nearly tripped on the floor.

Academician Wang laughed and spoke.

“Take it easy.”

Yao Hong looked at his supervisor and spoke.

“Oh, okay…”

I guess naming abilities and academic abilities are inversely related…

No wonder I’m not as smart as Professor Lu…

Chapter 978: Product Creation! entrepreneurship was a very difficult thing.

Chapter 978 Product Creation!

entrepreneurship was a very difficult thing.

especially if someone wanted to expand their business, not only did that require extraordinary vision and ten times the passion of one’s competitors, but one would also have to work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week…

even though li tinghui was prepared for the tough times, he didn’t expect it would be this torturous…

within a month, lu zhou wanted him to sign contracts with all of the major shopping malls in shanghai. the only feeling he felt was despair.

he hadn’t had a single good night of sleep in march; he was out all day, negotiating with shopping mall executives.

even though he was backed by star sky technology, which meant chen yushan could arrange the meetings for him, he still had to be the one on the battlefield.

after all, they were only a subsidiary of star sky technology, it would be great if they succeeded, but if they didn’t…

neither academician lu nor chen yushan would really care.

fortunately, he was still surviving.

the day after tomb-sweeping day.

li tinghui was asleep at his office, and he felt like he was close to being put in a tomb himself.

if it weren’t for the ringing sound of the office telephone, he would have never woken up.

“hello…?” li tinghui rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. he said, “this is beep beep charging—”

“ceo li!” wang qiang, the chief technology officer, said, “our product design is finished!”

“finished?!”

it was almost like li tinghui was hit with a defibrillator, and he instantly became energized.

“the product is finished? really? how long until production? can it be done by the end of the month?”

wang qiang took a deep breath and said, “i don’t know how long until production, but it should be done before the end of the month! i talked with the engineers from zhongshan new materials that are visiting the institute for advanced study. they told us that this is a done deal!

“also, i heard they’re also working with star sky technology on lithium-air batteries, and if they produce the charging stations for us, they’ll also help us with the lithium-air battery compatibility issues!”

“perfect!”

li tinghui stood up from his chair excitedly and walked around. however, because of the telephone cord, he could only walk in a small circle.

the charging station design is complete!

this is the best news i’ve heard all month!

his chief technology officer was telling him that not only was the design work finished, but the production line was about to begin!

li tinghui swore that if he had the money, he would give everyone in his team 10,000 yuan in bonuses…

he took a deep breath and calmed down, speaking in a serious tone.

“i’ll deal with the cooperation side tomorrow… no, i’ll go to jinling this afternoon! i’ll try to get this done as soon as possible. we should start delivering equipment by the end of the month!”

wang qiang was astonished, and he said, “the negotiations with the malls… are finished?”

he heard that ceo li had been trying to sign deals with major shopping malls even before financing with star sky technology. apparently, ceo li tried to convince them to install stations at their charging stations. however, ceo li wasn’t able to close any deals.

after all, most shopping malls already had their own charging stations. even though they weren’t wireless, they were good enough. having wireless charging stations sounded pretty cool, but how many cars were wireless charging compatible anyway?

if this were tesla or byd, the malls might have been more interested. but this was a non-name startup, so no one believed in their “wireless charger”!

li tinghui had a smug smile on his face; gone was his fatigue, replaced by confidence and enthusiasm.

“over 80% of large and medium-sized shopping malls in shanghai have expressed interest in cooperating with us for one year or more than half a year. if the market feedback is good, they will consider outsourcing more parking spaces for our chargers. there are already 20 small businesses in rural areas that are also interested!

“all we need to do now is to produce the chargers!”

he spoke with momentum.

“winning this fight depends on satisfying our customers!

“we can’t let them down!”

…

when the days got busy, time always flew by quickly.

the last saturday in april.

may was right around the corner, and major shopping malls in shanghai were preparing for various promotional events. even though the national week-long holiday was still a few days away, people had begun overflowing the malls.

people from the yangpu district and other rural areas drove to the wujiaochang shopping mall.

the parking garage in this large shopping mall had a row of gold-painted parking lots, attracting attention from customers.

“beep beep charging exclusive charging spot, wireless charging… scan qr code to charge? what is this?”

“can this charge any car?”

“forget about it, of course it can’t charge gasoline cars. i think the electric car has to have a special battery receiver.”

“f*ck sake! what’s the point, so i have to spend thousands of yuan just to charge wirelessly?!”

“not necessarily, you can just charge it normally with a cable. however, it seems like they’re claiming that wireless charging is faster.”

while the two car owners were talking, another car owner walked out of their car and couldn’t help but join in on the conversation.

“it’s not about the charging speed, you’re not keeping up with the times! the entire venture capital world went crazy a while ago! professor lu invested in some wireless charging station company. it’s called beep beep charging! they plan on bundling wireless charging together with lithium-air batteries! any lithium-air battery will have a wireless charging receiver!”

people around them who were taking photos also overheard the conversation…

they were shocked.

scan the qr code to charge!

not a big deal…

register to get a 100 yuan coupon!

not a big deal either…

only one dime of service fee!

that wasn’t a huge deal either; after all, civilian, commercial, and industrial electricity prices were getting cheaper and cheaper.

but combining lithium-air batteries and wireless charging together…

that was a big deal.

regardless of whether it was a rumor or not, people began posting this story to their wechat friends’ news feed!

Chapter 979: Card up the Sleeve

Chapter 979 Card up the Sleeve
the first-day launch of beep beep charging was quite popular.

lithium-air batteries sounded like something out of a science fiction movie; even though not everyone was driving electric vehicles, most people were curious.

all kinds of gossip and stories had spread around on social media.

the national holiday brought the popularity of beep beep charging to a whole new peak!

even owners of gasoline cars were interested in this novel technology; some people even registered an account just to post it on social media.

registering an account was free anyway.

regardless, the marketing campaign was very successful. both li tinghui and the mall didn’t expect the “lithium-air battery + wireless charging” combination to be this popular. the shopping mall even saw a surge in customer traffic.

li tinghui looked at the increasing user registrations and felt relieved.

regardless of whether the future follow-up would go as smoothly…

at least this phase was over!

actually, wireless charging wasn’t super high-tech stuff.

wireless charging technology had already been extensively researched and developed internationally.

for example, when audi developed their new electric vehicles, they designed a solution to reduce transmission efficiency loss. their solution was to use a liftable wireless charging system and move the transmission coil closer to the bottom of the electric car, thereby improving the power transmission efficiency.

this could be traced back to 2014, when south korea planned on building a 12-km long “wireless charging road”. however, due to its high maintenance cost, this project was never completed.

beep beep charging, on the other hand, had a three-step strategy. the first was to occupy more than 80% of the shopping malls and residential parking lots in shanghai. the second step was to extend throughout large-sized commercial districts in the yangtze river delta city group, eventually expanding throughout the country.

as for the third step, which was the ultimate form of this technology, was a wireless charging road. which meant a 50% coverage of the entire yangtze river delta highway network.

of course, they had to take it one step at a time.

however, it seemed like this startup was getting quite scary…

jinling institute for advanced study.

carbon-based semiconductor laboratory.

a group of people wearing white coats were busy working in front of a piece of experimental equipment.

after several months of hard work, by cooperating with shenyang machine tool and baosheng group, they were finally able to create this “chemical vapor deposition + etching” machine.

this machine was like the lithography machine in the field of carbon-based semiconductors. it was able to preliminary process raw materials and “stick” the carbon nano transistors onto a double-layered graphene material at a specific angle.

a few months ago, the carbon-based semiconductor laboratory was only able to achieve transistors with a width of 150nm, but now, this number had been reduced to 80nm.

other than high processor performance electronics such as computers and mobile devices, 80nm based chips were applicable in many places.

the smaller the transistor size, the better. however, most fields didn’t require that much processing power.

for example, surveillance and networking equipment…

of course, this semiconductor laboratory wasn’t planning on making security camera processors. nor did they have anything to do with the latest “dragon one” series of chips. instead, they were related to the latest wireless charging technology.

when a sound of gas emission was heard, the researchers surrounding the experimental equipment gasped.

as they looked at the data presented on the computer, professor wu tianqun had a look of ecstasy on his face.

“we did it!”

lu zhou, who was standing nearby, asked, “it’s done?”

“yeah!” professor wu tianqun nodded and replied confidently, “it could’ve been better! i’ll show it to you later!”

lu zhou didn’t have to wait for long.

soon after, a thumbnail-sized processor was removed from the equipment.

lu zhou looked at the chip stored in a brown-tinted glass cover. he looked both shocked and relieved.

this was the second chip produced by the carbon-based semiconductor laboratory.

the first one was used on the calculator; there was nothing special about it. as for this one, it would be used in wireless charging receiver and transmitter devices, hence it was considered high tech.

everyone knew that because of problems related to electromagnetic conversion, wireless charging technology could roughly be divided into two parts—receiving and transmitting. specifically, the magnetic materials, the chips, the coil module, scheme design, etc.

the coil module and magnetic material were easy to deal with. they weren’t considered high tech, nor did they have any patent barriers. however, the chips were different.

almost all of the technical difficulty was concentrated in the design of the receiver chip and system integration.

so far, the main customers of these technologies were mobile phones. however, electric vehicles were also soon going to be a customer of this technology.

in fact, other than developing chips in-house, beep beep charging had many international chip manufacturers to choose from. actually, the first batch of charging station chips was produced by international manufacturers.

however, huawei’s hisilicon, which star sky technology owned a part of, had shifted from “pure research and development” to “research and development + production”. hence, it would be a waste to not use the carbon-based chips.

when the time came, they would replace all of the internationally produced chips with their own chips.

as professor wu tianqun looked at the chip in lu zhou’s hand, he spoke like an excited child.

“oh my god, after two months, we finally did it! we should give this a good name!”

in fact, professor wu didn’t want lu zhou’s input at all; he was just too emotional.

unfortunately, lu zhou began to think about it seriously.

a good name?

sounds difficult…

lu zhou thought for a long time. professor wu tianqun was about to take the chip away and put it in storage before lu zhou spoke.

“we’ll call it… bb system.”

wu tianqun: “…?”

researchers: “… ???”

lu zhou: “?”

suddenly…

the atmosphere became awkward.

lu zhou didn’t know why these noob researchers were staring at him.

emmmm…

is something wrong with this name?

just when lu zhou began to wonder if this was a good name, professor wu tianqun broke the silence.

“um… this name won’t work. first of all, it doesn’t sound nice. also, this is different from the beep beep charging stations; people will mix the two together!”

“you’re right,” lu zhou said. seeing how so many people disagreed with his name, he said, “so what do you think we should name it?”

wu tianqun spoke firmly.

“thor!”

“thor?”

“yeah!” wu tianqun nodded and explained, “god of thunder, shocking the entire world! this name is perfect!”

“makes sense…” lu zhou contemplated for a while before he nodded reluctantly. “thor it is!”

Chapter 980: Exclusive Agreemen

Chapter 980 Exclusive Agreemen even though lu zhou didn’t think the name “thor” was particularly good, seeing how the noob researchers in the laboratory seemed to like the name, he reluctantly agreed.it would take a while before the system was actually deployed, so they could still change the name at a later date.

as for when they were going to deploy the technology…

they would at least wait until the dragon series of chips were born.

the continued rise in the popularity of beep beep charging attracted the attention of evgo, which was also trying to expand into the shanghai market.

the tesla china division did not implement an aggressive marketing strategy; instead, they directly went to negotiate with major shopping malls, signing favorable contracts with them.

just like bobby had expected, almost none of the malls rejected the opportunity of having tesla-branded charging stations in their parking lots, just like how no mall would reject having a louis vuitton store.

having such a well-known brand would increase customer flow.

what bobby didn’t expect was that inside the parking lot of a yida plaza mall parking lot, no one was gathering around the tesla-evgo charging stations. instead, all of the attention was on the beep beep charging stations…

even though this didn’t make him feel frustrated or worried, he still reported this to his superior, elon musk.

“it seems like we have an absolute advantage in the shanghai business district areas, but beep beep charging is also expanding…” bobby paused for a second and said, “star sky technology is following our footsteps. if they continue to grow, they will catch up to us in six months in terms of coverage.

“my suggestion is to sign an exclusive agreement with large and medium-sized shopping malls, for them to cooperate with us on charging stations. we should not allow other companies to obtain parking lot spaces for their charging stations!”

after hearing bobby’s words, elon smiled and spoke.

“we’re not going to do that.”

bobby paused for a second.

“why?”

elon smiled and spoke casually.

“i’m sure you already know that the company in charge of beep beep charging is well versed in internet marketing. if an american company like us signed an exclusive agreement with a chinese shopping mall, our name would be plastered all over the internet. the mall would be pressured to cancel our contract.

“because if they don’t cancel their contracts, the state would intervene.”

bobby frowned and said, “so we’re just going to watch them grow like this? i don’t like their business model, but if this goes on, it might impact our business—”

“i know, mr. bobby,” elon interrupted him and said, “i never said to just leave them alone, we should use other measures.”

after hearing elon’s words, bobby calmed down and listened.

“evgo has coverage in shanghai of over 85%, not to mention that mercedes, volkswagen, and other car companies plan on signing charging station contracts with us. our charging stations will be fitted with specific interfaces…”

“evgo will be the only officially recognized electric vehicle charging station in china!”

bobby’s eyes began to light up.

oh my…

elon is a genius!

regardless of whether or not the evgo charging stations were smarter than other companies’ charging stations, just the tesla name itself was able to make people subconsciously choose the evgo brand.

in comparison, the wireless charging feature beep beep charging was offering would be insignificant.

out of convenience, people would always choose wireless charging, but at the end of the day, they cared more about safety and stability. that was exactly what evgo offered.

bobby took a deep breath and said, “i know what to do.”

“good.” elon smiled and said, “we don’t have to sign an exclusive agreement with the chinese.”

obtaining exclusive contracts and suppressing the downstream industry would violate antitrust regulations and free trade laws.

but were there any laws in business?

elon wasn’t going to look down on beep beep charging just because it was a small company, and he would do everything he could to protect his territory…

the reason was simple.

it was because of the man behind the beep beep charging company.

elon would never forget what happened in the aerospace field…

he would never allow himself to underestimate his opponent again!

“oh yeah, our goal is the yangtze river delta city group, not just shanghai. remember what i told you the last time i came to china? the yangtze river delta will become the city center of the entire western pacific region.”

“an important investor will visit you in three days. if everything goes well, we can get at least a billion usd in funding.

“you got this!”

bobby nodded solemnly.

“okay!”

…

jinling.

institute for advanced study, director’s office.

lu zhou would often come to his office to discuss important matters.

one was because of its tidiness, the other was because of security.

his jin university office was messy and chaotic.

chen yushan was sitting on the sofa. she took a sip of tea and spoke to lu zhou, who was sitting behind his desk.

“tesla has taken action. reliable sources say that they are talking with volkswagen. if they sign a deal, they’ll issue a statement and designate evgo as the officially supported charging station.”

lu zhou put down his pen and nodded.

“so you guessed it right again.”

chen yushan: “not guessing, i knew this was going to happen. finding outside help is the best solution for them, and there is little risk involved. as long as they have control over the yangtze river delta region, they’ll never lose money.”

the cost of antitrust investigations wasn’t negligible.

however, if tesla could form a monopoly, they would still be able to turn a profit.

not to mention that the possibility of an antitrust investigation was low…

even though lu zhou didn’t know a lot about business, he was still curious as to what chen yushan planned on doing.

“then what do you plan on doing?”

chen yushan smirked.

“didn’t i tell you two months ago? i plan on playing 4d chess.”

lu zhou said, “you’re still playing chess?”

lu zhou nearly forgot about this.

what kind of chess game takes two months…

“i already finished the chess game.”

chen yushan smirked and said, “the show is about to begin.”

Chapter 981: The Company Seems to Be in Trouble

Chapter 981 The Company Seems to Be in Trouble A tall skyscraper stood in the middle of Shanghai’s CBD.This was Tesla’s headquarters in China. It was Tesla’s second construction investment in China, behind the super factory.The building overlooked the western Pacific Ocean, like it was a lighthouse, guiding businessmen toward the international market…

Of course, there were many other lighthouses.

Ever since clean energy appeared in Asia, more and more international capital had begun flowing here, trying to take advantage of the energy revolution.

The top floor of the building, inside the boardroom.

Tesla’s China General Manager, Bobby, was meeting with an important client from Boston— David Lawrence.

In the United States, Lawrence was a common surname, but the Lawrence surname in Boston had an extraordinary meaning.

The Lawrence family was involved in the financial industry, and the name was frequently mentioned together with their friends, Lowell and Adams.

When North America was still a small colony, these people were the first ones to get rich. They invested in the banking industry and relied on these financial institutions to indirectly give them control over the heavy industrial chain.

After the two industrial revolutions, they were unsatisfied and entered a political alliance with the Kennedy family.

And this gave birth to the Boston Financial Group.

After relying on military arms orders during the Vietnam war, the unbreakable alliance gradually collapsed.

After that, the Boston Financial Group disappeared from people’s minds.

However, two centuries of heritage and wealth didn’t just disappear out of thin air.

Even though they rarely appeared in the eyes of the public, they influenced the world in secret ways…

Bobby stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows in the conference room, looking at the neon street lights. Bobby smiled and spoke to the man standing next to him.

“As you can see, we are facing the most prosperous land in the west pacific. Do you see that river? More than half of China’s wealth flows through that river.”

Bobby tried to do his best to please this important guest.

Tesla’s expansion in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta city group required capital. Even though Chinese banks were happy to lend them money, the interest wasn’t cheap.

Therefore, the best option for Tesla was to receive financing from outside the country.

If the Boston Financial Group was interested and invested in EVgo, there was no doubt that EVgo’s expansion in China would go smoothly.

Even though these financial giants were often ruthless, they would never turn down an opportunity to make free money together…

“This is a beautiful city, much better than Boston.”

Lawrence smiled faintly. He didn’t speak like a clueless tourist; instead, he spoke like a wise businessman who was aware of the value of goods standing in front of him.

Bobby glanced at Lawrence’s face and spoke.

“Endless energy. We used to think it was just a fantasy, but someone really did it.

“I’ve worked here for four years, and I’ve watched this place move forward one step at a time. Even the Americans can’t believe that the Chinese are growing vegetables in skyscrapers, building maglev trains, and still remain profitable.”

“Growing vegetables in skyscrapers?” Lawrence asked with curiosity.

“Someone is doing that. Apparently, it’s called three-dimensional agriculture… You know, Asia goes crazy over fresh, natural food. They don’t care if it’s expensive.” Bobby cleared his throat and said, “What I’m saying is, don’t you think it’s a waste they’re using their resources this way!”

“Yeah…” Lawrence nodded. He looked at the night scene as he said, “Talk about your project, maybe it’ll interest me.”

Bobby smiled and spoke.

“Of course.”

Bobby was about to talk about the plan to Lawrence when a middle-aged man in a suit suddenly knocked on the meeting room door and walked in.

Lawrence looked at his assistant and frowned.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Jonard?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I have something important for you.”

Lawrence glanced at Bobby and smiled.

“Is it related to this gentleman beside me?”

Jonard nodded seriously and handed Lawrence a stack of documents.

Lawrence said, “Oh, it is?”

Lawrence took over the documents from his assistant and looked apologetically at Bobby.

A million thoughts began to race through Bobby’s mind.

Even though he wasn’t happy, he didn’t dare to offend Lawrence. Thus, he could only stand there and watch Lawrence read the documents.

Time quickly passed by.

Lawrence was almost done with the documents.

Bobby was getting impatient when Lawrence frowned. Bobby instantly began to feel nervous.

“It seems like your company is in a bit of trouble.”

Bobby looked at Lawrence and spoke.

“What?”

“A Chinese company seems to pose a threat to your core business model.” Lawrence smiled and said, “It seems like you’re at a disadvantage here.”

Disadvantage?!

“You’re talking about Beep Beep Charging?” Bobby smiled and said, “No offense, but this is not the case at all. We’ve already signed with five major car companies, they—”

“I know about the cooperation agreements with the car companies. Also, don’t doubt my guy’s abilities.” Lawrence ripped off two pages from one of the documents and handed it to Bobby. He said, “Since you’re being so honest with me, I’ll show you something… Usually, we charge half a million dollars per page.”

After Bobby took the pages from Lawrence, he began to impatiently read the contents. Bobby wanted to know why Lawrence had changed his mind about financing EVgo.

However, the moment his eyes landed on the page, his heart skipped a beat!

“That as*hole!” Bobby clenched his fist and said, “They’re violating free trade laws! This is illegal!”

Bobby noticed that Lawrence was looking at him, so he tried to calm down and forced a smile on his face.

“Lawrence, I hope this doesn’t affect our cooperation. If we sue them, the judge will be on our side…”

“Really? The judge will be on your side?” Lawrence shrugged and said, “Of course, I don’t want this to affect our cooperation…”

Bobby smiled and extended his right hand. “Then I wish us a happy cooperation. I know a good restaurant nearby, should we—”

“But I have to think about it, weigh the risks and benefits…” Lawrence looked at his watch and said, “As for dinner, I’m going to pass. I have another important meeting…”

After that, he gave the documents back to Jonard and nodded.

Jonard stepped forward and opened the door.

“I hope to hear good news from you the next time we meet,” Lawrence said as he began walking out of the door. “See you later.”

The conference door closed.

Bobby looked at the closed door in disbelief.

He suddenly turned around and slammed his fist on the conference table.

“F*ck!”

He could feel his blood pressure rising.

Just like Lawrence had said, they were in trouble…

Chapter 982: Bundling Patents

Chapter 982 Bundling Patents The public holiday week wasn’t over yet.While the public was still talking about Beep Beep Charging and their wireless charging technology, two pieces of news suddenly caught the attention of everyone.The first was on Star Sky Technology.

In the latest press conference, a Star Sky Technology spokesperson acknowledged that they had made a breakthrough in lithium-air batteries and had already completed the production of the first-generation lithium-air batteries.

The news itself wasn’t shocking; after Professor Lu’s paper came out, most people had expected this to happen sooner or later.

The only unexpected thing was how fast everything was happening.

Immediately after the press conference, Zhongshan New Materials’ stock price flew to the sky.

Hundreds of millions of market value came out of thin air…

Of course, even though this was surprising, most people had expected to see this coming. It wasn’t sensational.

What was really shocking was the second piece of news.

Which was a rumor that Star Sky Technology was bundling lithium-air batteries and wireless charging technology together, thus wireless charging and lithium-air batteries were inseparable.

The spokesperson of Star Sky Technology said that they believed that better technology meant a higher quality of life, thus wireless charging technology and lithium air batteries should be as one.

This was quite a strong statement, as the market was still deciding whether the technology meant a higher quality of life.

This statement shocked the electric vehicle industry.

Star Sky Technology also made a similar announcement on its website.

Which was the bundling of wireless charging and lithium-air batteries!

Moreover, the wireless charging technology was completely different from the standards set by PMA and A4WP; it was their own proprietary standards.

The electric vehicle industry was already scared of the new lithium-air batteries, but this move by Star Sky Technology was like an earthquake.

Not only did the companies invested in lithium-sulfur batteries had to change to lithium-air batteries, but they also had to comply with new wireless charging standards.

Oh, what’s that?

You have your own wireless charging technology?

Good for you?

Star Sky Technology didn’t care if you had your own Qi standard or A4WP standard wireless charging technology. From now on, if anyone wanted to use lithium-air batteries, they had to comply with Star Sky’s own standards.

For example, they would have to pay an expensive patent fee for lithium-air batteries…

An online forum.

The news had been widely discussed.

Both electric vehicle owners and gasoline car owners were talking about this matter.

[F*ck me, Star Sky Technology is planning on dominating this field!]

[Does anyone here know what it means to bundle wireless charging and lithium-air batteries together?]

[It means that if you want to use the lithium-air battery patents from Star Sky Technology, you have to also purchase a set of wireless charging technology patents! You also have to sign a wireless charging compatibility agreement! Otherwise, Star Sky Technology can collect a certain amount of patent fees, proportional to the vehicle price.]

[F*ck sake, isn’t this price gouging?]

[Yeah, but what can we do? Unless we can get around the patent barriers of Star Sky Technology, we have to pay! This is like Qualcomm, you have to pay the price of using their chips.]

[They’re doing this to fight against Tesla… EVgo just announced their plans on entering the Chinese market. I see Tesla-branded charging stations all over Shanghai. Apparently, their coverage is 85%! If all lithium-air batteries have to use Star Sky Technology’s wireless charging technology, then Tesla’s charging stations will become useless.]

[Let’s see what happens, Tesla is definitely going to make a move, the Americans won’t give up…]

In fact, as the head of the electric vehicle industry, Tesla expressed its disappointment toward this move, and the company hoped that Star Sky Technology would reconsider its decision.

In the latest press conference, Musk was faced with questions one after another. He couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“We are happy to see Star Sky Technology contributing to the electric vehicle industry! Don’t be mistaken, I am happy!

“But I hope they can reconsider. If they really want to help the electric vehicle industry, they should dig a pit and bury themselves in it!”

Technological progress was a good thing for society as it meant that people would have more choices. However, this was a threat to certain businesses.

The latest issue of The New York Times quoted Elon’s statement at the press conference and his concern about the emergence of lithium-air battery technology.

Fast technological progress was like firing a machine gun; it would eventually overheat. In the long run, it wouldn’t necessarily benefit society.

Even though the new technology sounded good, there were potential security risks.

In fact, the first people to get hit were the Chinese local electric vehicle companies and other automobile manufacturers that were planning on entering the electric vehicle field. After the initial surprise, everything returned to normal.

The terms were unfair, but they had no choice.

In fact, this did not directly interfere with their vested interests.

Compared with lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-air batteries only required an air intake grille, which could easily be done. By making some slight changes, the vehicle range could be increased by 1.5 times, which would give customers another reason to choose electric vehicles instead of gasoline vehicles.

While the cost and risk of upgrading the technology could be passed onto upstream battery companies…

This was something the battery manufacturers and charging station companies should worry about, why should the car manufacturers worry about this?

Some companies such as Toyota, Ford, and Volkswagen expressed their concerns about adopting the Chinese standard, whereas others accepted the new standard quietly.

The only one that was pissed off was EVgo, who was also in the charging station business.

They just signed a cooperation agreement with Volkswagen, Mercedes, and other well-known car manufacturers. But now, their plan was going to fail.

Even if they wanted to upgrade their charging stations, it would be too late.

Not only did they already install a billion USD worth of charging stations in Shanghai, but if they wanted to adopt the new wireless charging standards of Star Sky Technology, they would have to pay Star Sky Technology a hefty patent fee…

This meant that they would have to do a ton of research and development from scratch and waste billions of dollars of money…

The United States authorities noticed Tesla’s grievance.

Immediately after the Tesla press conference, the United States Department of Commerce held a meeting and answered reporters’ questions.

“Bundling two unrelated patents together is not healthy to the industry, we will keep a close eye on this matter.”

There was a hint of caution in their message.

People noticed that the political development of this was going to get interesting…

Chapter 983: This Is a Story

Chapter 983 This Is a Story
the news that lithium-air batteries and wireless charging technology were bundled together caused a storm.

especially after the us department of commerce speech, the news began to spread like wildfire.

the global energy stock market was going through a volatile time. everyone was waiting for star sky technology to respond, and they were also waiting for the us department of commerce to act on their “warning”.

however, it was almost like star sky technology was oblivious to what was going on around them because they soon released their “sh standard” according to plan.

the s stood for star sky technology, while the h stood for huawei, the owners of hisilicon.

just like the name implied, star sky technology would be the ones setting the standard, while huawei would be the ones making the receiving and transmitting chipsets.

even though these two companies weren’t directly in the charging station and electric vehicle industry, they were able to completely monopolize the charging station industry.

it was obvious that star sky technology’s practices caused an uproar in the international field, and many domestic people even began whispering about star sky technology’s unhealthy business practices and comparing them to qualcomm.

lu zhou happened to hear about these rumors on weibo, but he didn’t think there was anything wrong with what chen yushan was doing.

this was nothing more than capitalism.

survival of the fittest.

if they didn’t take the initiative, tesla and other traditional automobile manufacturers would have reached a cooperation agreement, thus pushing out the beep beep charging and other chinese companies…

the second weekend in may.

inside the space shuttle assembly center, eight large mechanical arms unloaded a pile of circular equipment from a logistics vehicle. by using precise positional cameras, all of the equipment was unpacked in a spacecraft special container.

this was the ilhcrc cargo, and it would be sent to the moon in three days.

a month ago, the lunar tunnel boring machine, which was jointly produced by china railway group and china aerospace science and industry corporation, was sent to the moon palace via the magpie bridge. this equipment was deployed on the lunar hadron collider site.

after a month of construction, with the help of lunar construction personnel, this tunnel boring machine had successfully bored through a collider pipeline, lining the pipeline with titanium alloy material.

after the new supplies arrived at the surface of the moon, the first stage of the ilhcrc would be complete.

even though this track was only a hundred meters long, they were making progress one step at a time…

lu zhou was standing beside the space shuttle assembly center console. he looked at the mechanical arms and couldn’t help but exclaim, “this quantum computer is amazing!”

ever since the assembly center autonomy system was connected to the jinling institute for advanced study server, the quantum computer had fully taken over the automation calculation of the space shuttle assembly center.

in fact, they didn’t need anyone inside the assembly center. other than handling new deliveries, everything else was done by automated machines.

a string of text appeared on the console in front of lu zhou.

xiao ai: [master, a quantum computer is useless without an artificial intelligence operator. ( ́◔‸◔ ‘)]

lu zhou said, “okay, you’re amazing as well.”

xiao ai: [haha, thank you, master.]

lu zhou looked at xiao ai and sighed.

this silly thing.

it’s still far from having a normal iq.

the string of bubbles disappeared.

lu zhou guessed that xiao ai saw someone in the security cameras, so he turned around. he saw an acquaintance walking through the factory door.

“director li?” lu zhou smiled at the old man and said, “what brings you here?”

director li: “i heard the first batch of ilhcrc piping equipment is complete. i can’t just leave you alone like this, so i came for a visit.”

“just to ask about the ilhcrc? i don’t buy it.”

“ah, you got me.” director li smiled and put on a serious face. “i didn’t come here for the collider, i just wanted to ask, what is going on with you?”

lu zhou: “about what?”

“don’t play dumb. about the patents, the sh standard. it looks like the united states department of commerce has its eyes on you.”

lu zhou shrugged and said, “people are angry for no reason. we’re just thinking of the consumer’s perspective, that’s why we bundled wireless charging and lithium-air batteries together.”

director li frowned and said, “i’m actually curious, why did you bundle the two patents together? what’s wrong with putting them separately?”

lu zhou casually spoke.

“whether it’s beep beep charging or someone else, the new generation of wireless charging technology uses cp7724 chips designed by hisilicon. this system is completely different from the prevailing standards such as qi and a4wp.

“however, regardless of what our new system does, there is a fatal weakness, which is that it’s difficult to promote. it doesn’t matter if the technology itself is good, just like how inpofi technology is superior to qi technology. at the end of the day, inpofi still lost to the qi market standard. this is only because apple chose qi, do you get what i’m saying?”

when a new technology wasn’t revolutionary, the market would often take a long time to adjust and accept the new technology.

the emergence of inpofi technology undoubtedly threatened the qi wireless charging standard, but they were isolated by the downstream manufacturers of the industrial chain.

the end result was obvious. even though they had low electromagnetic radiation and high power conversion efficiency, they still lost to qi.

after hearing lu zhou’s words, director li nodded thoughtfully.

“i understand what you mean… you guys are planning to use lithium-air batteries to force others to accept your standards.”

“we’re not forcing anyone to use lithium-air batteries.” lu zhou laughed and said, “also, why should we adhere to other people’s standards, we can walk our own path…”

lu zhou didn’t think of these words on his own; he didn’t really care about business matters.

however, chen yushan often used this kind of business talk with him, so he borrowed these words from her.

“i didn’t think you had the foresight to consider this…” director li nodded and said, “but tesla and the americans are not going to give up.”

“i’m not worried about tesla.” lu zhou said, “honestly, tesla is the least of my worries, there are others who we have offended a lot more than tesla.”

director li frowned and said, “who did you piss off?”

“exxonmobil.”

lu zhou had a nostalgic look in his eyes.

this would be the perfect time to smoke a cigarette, but lu zhou couldn’t stand the hot air suffocating his lungs.

“thank god i’m back in china. if i were still in princeton, you would have to find me six feet under the ground.”

“exxonmobil is an oil company, right?” director li said, “how did you offend them?”

director li wasn’t worried about exxonmobil; after all, they were on chinese soil, and exxonmobil had no power here.

but what he didn’t understand, was what star sky technology had to do with an oil company?

even though the electric vehicle sector impacted the oil giants, this was nothing in comparison to the rise of nuclear fusion energy, and it wasn’t like the oil prices were dropping significantly…

“it’s not oil, they also do chemicals. it’s a long story.”

director li said, “then tell me, we have time.”

“then we’ll have to go back to six years ago… or five years ago.” lu zhou looked at the mechanical robot arm and said, “this is a story about a whistleblower…”

Chapter 984: I Want to See the President!

Chapter 984 I Want to See the President!

the story between exxonmobil and lu zhou happened a long time ago.

in fact, if it weren’t for lu zhou’s new thesis, this whole debacle would have been over.

however, it turned out that lu zhou’s thesis was the key to a trillion-dollar market…

the other side of the pacific ocean.

a room inside the white house.

woods walked into the office and slammed his hands on the table. he spoke to the chief of staff of the white house, kevin.

“i want to see the president!”

kevin put down his pen and sighed.

“the president is not in the white house, so i’m afraid he can’t see you. neither can i. i’ll pass on your request to the president.”

exxonmobil was one of the supporters for their parties, so they had to listen to their request to some extent…

woods looked at the chief of staff and spoke.

“listen, the lithium-air battery patent originally belonged to us. they used subterfuge to steal it! china is committing commercial fraud!”

even though kevin had been in the political field for many years, he still couldn’t help but frown.

commercial fraud…

the patent transfer is clearly written. did you sign the contract under duress?

“what do you want me to do? convince the president to change the law?”

woods opened his mouth and nothing came out.

honestly, he didn’t know what to do either.

before coming here, exxonmobil salesmen went to star sky technology several times, trying to buy the patent off star sky technology for ten times the price they sold it for. however, they weren’t able to buy back the caged carbon molecules patent…

kevin sighed and said, “maybe you should think this through before coming here again.”

woods sighed and continued to stare at the president’s chief of staff. he took a deep breath and spoke.

“listen, we both know how important lithium-air batteries are. we’ve already fallen behind china because of lithium-sulfur batteries. if we let them master lithium-air batteries, we’ll fall even more behind. do you know what i mean?

“the patent might only last for 20 years, but they’ll be constantly sucking the blood out of us like mosquitoes. we will always be behind by 20 years! this is just like the semiconductor industry!

“we have to do something!”

kevin frowned.

in his opinion, the exxonmobil ceo was only venting his frustration at the chinese companies, but something caught his attention.

it wasn’t in america’s interest for china to continue leading the alternative energy industry.

especially since china already had control of nuclear fusion…

while kevin was thinking about how to report this to the president, the office door opened.

a man in a plaid shirt walked in and spoke.

“i want to see the president!”

kevin looked at elon, who was standing at the door.

“you sound just like someone that came into my office half an hour ago… do you want to discuss this in private?”

elon stared at woods and tried to remember who this person was. he took a deep breath and looked at kevin.

“listen, i don’t care what this gentleman said, i have something very important, let me—”

kevin: “let me guess, does it have to do with the alternative energy industry?”

elon paused for a second and snapped his fingers.

“that’s right! lithium-air batteries! you must know what these chinese people are doing! they’re bundling lithium-air batteries and wireless charging together, forcing us to adhere to their standards, this is…”

elon struggled for a while before speaking with emotion.

“it’s like we’re forced to eat their sh*t!”

“pfft!”

woods nearly laughed out loud.

it wasn’t until the other two people stared at him did he cough and put on a more serious expression.

“i apologize… i sympathize with your experience.”

elon opened his mouth and wanted to speak.

however, kevin stood up from his chair.

“okay, gentlemen, today’s meeting will have to end here. i have a very important conference to go to; i can’t sit here and listen to you two forever.”

he paused for a few seconds and spoke.

“i know what you guys want. star sky technology is a threat, am i right?”

elon and woods replied.

“that’s right, they’re a tumor!”

“yeah, they’re shameless thieves!”

“okay, gentlemen, the white house will take this matter seriously.” kevin nodded and said, “i’ll ask the department of commerce to investigate the patent acquisition that happened six years ago, as well as the improper use of the patent in the sh standard.”

elon finally sighed with relief.

even though this wasn’t exactly what he wanted, he was satisfied.

as long as the department of commerce could try to destroy this monopoly, most of his problems would be solved.

after all, the department of commerce was no joke.

once they set their eyes on someone, they would get to the bottom of it…

elon had no doubt about that.

…

the meeting was over.

woods walked out of the white house and got into a black limousine.

sitting across from him was another man in a suit.

“how did it go?”

woods wasn’t as aggressive as how he was in the white house. instead, he spoke in a formal tone, as if he was scared of this man.

“the white house recognizes the seriousness of the problem, and they plan on launching an antitrust investigation on star sky technology. i just met elon… did you ask him to come?”

“nope.” lawrence nodded toward the driver and turned his head back to the ceo. he then said, “i didn’t tell him to do anything, but he obviously made the right choice.”

woods frowned and said, “you’re that confident in tesla’s charging station market in china? even though the chinese market is huge, this is related to national security… if they’re willing to privatize the charging station market, they might not allow a foreign company to control shanghai’s power industry.”

“mr. woods, let me ask you something.” lawrence smiled and said, “if the white house changes the president every four years, how are we supposed to ensure that every president is the best candidate?”

woods frowned.

“we have to investigate the voter support rates of each state, and use—”

“it’s not that complicated.”

lawrence shook his head and smiled at the ceo of exxonmobil.

“we just have to be on both sides.”

Chapter 985: They Are Dead!

Chapter 985 They Are Dead!

the third week of may.

while the alternative energy industry was going through a thunderstorm, a message from the us department of commerce added oil to the fire.

a spokesperson from the department of commerce spoke toward a row of cameras at a press conference.

“after a week-long investigation, we have conducted forensics on 16 alternative energy companies around the world and have consulted industry leaders.

“we have enough evidence to suspect that star sky technology is conducting monopolistic behavior.

“in addition, we have noticed that the charging station subsidiary of star sky technology has adopted malicious business methods when competing with tesla’s charging station business in the yangtze river delta city group area. they have set up exclusive thresholds that violate free trades and hinder the development of the industry.

“because of this, we will bring a lawsuit on the legality of the sh standard.

“considering the fact that the sh standard is one of the pieces of evidence that star sky technology is interfering with the free market, this case will be conducted in conjunction with an antitrust investigation!”

the press conference was in an uproar.

the reporters at the scene rushed forward, like sharks that smelled blood. they desperately took photos, capturing every expression of the spokesperson.

the sh standard is illegal!

the us department of commerce is going to launch an antitrust investigation against star sky technology!

as expected, the development of china’s new energy industry finally alerted the united states.

both the white house and the united states congress could no longer turn a blind eye to this.

it was foreseeable that the entire energy industry would go through a drastic change, due to the actions of the department of commerce!

the reporters at the scene could already imagine the newspaper headlines.

the newspapers would be talking about this for the next month!

shortly after the department of commerce press conference, the content of the press conference was released online.

discussions began to explode on social networks such as facebook.

in the blink of an eye, whether it was academia or industry, whether it was wall street, investment banks, or blue-collar workers, everyone was talking about this.

[i think it’s about time the white house makes a move!]

[those people are erroneously using legal loopholes to achieve their motives! they are destroying capitalism!]

[i think the qi standard is good, it should be compatible with electric vehicles, so why should i use the sh standard? can’t the chinese just do things our way?]

[f*ck, why do we have to use your standards! why don’t you get a lithium-air battery patent then!]

[don’t forget, the lithium-air battery patents actually belong to exxonmobil.]

[nonsense! i heard the mathematical model used by professor stanley was stolen from professor lu.]

[that’s ridiculous, it sounds like you’re in academia as well, do you really believe that?]

it seemed like there were two sides to the debates; one side believed the us department of commerce, while the other side believed that the act of suppressing high-tech enterprises in other countries was worse than setting up patent barriers.

simply put, patent barriers were a common thing; any companies dedicated to research and development would do everything they could to protect their intellectual property rights.

after all, if they couldn’t own their technology, why would anyone conduct risky and costly research and development?

therefore, it was unreasonable to interfere with star sky technology’s rights to exercise their patents, on the grounds of affecting industry development.

however, when one enterprise had the strength to influence a country, they were no longer just an enterprise.

in some sense, it was only a matter of time before the united states took action on star sky technology.

even if the sh standard didn’t happen, someone else in the future would have triggered this investigation.

the americans would never allow another company like qualcomm to exist; a company that used their patents to monopolize the entire industry.

putting it bluntly, a third world country like china trying to overtake america in terms of science and technology was a sin in their eyes…

because of this, there were also people on the neutral side of all this.

the sh standard was just a market move with no political purpose. but the us department of commerce investigation would raise the tensions between the two countries…

from the perspective of the americans, this was not a good thing.

in fact, this was what people were worried about.

once a conflict began, it would take a war for it to stop.

the day after the department of commerce press conference, the justice department also expressed that after reviewing the patent acquisition case from six years ago, the company that bought the patents from exxonmobil, which was a shell company of star sky technology, used questionable business tactics.

also, the acquisition itself was suspected of contract fraud!

the former exxonmobil employee that signed the patent transfer admitted that he received a us$500,000 “bribe” from star sky technology.

if this allegation turned out to be true, the patent acquisition from six years ago could be labeled illegal.

and it might be possible for exxonmobil to retrieve caged carbon molecules patent…

without having to pay money…

…

exxonmobil office.

professor stanley pushed the door open and walked in. he stared at woods like he was a monster.

“are you crazy? you know we stole—secretly borrowed the data from them. i don’t know why the chinese didn’t chase after us, but we’re the ones that stole that patent!”

“i think a scholar like you should just stay in the laboratory.” woods smiled and said, “regardless of how we obtained the data, the court is all about evidence. do you know what i mean, professor stanley?”

woods obviously didn’t care.

the only thing he cared about was a success.

however, unlike him, professor stanley was a scholar, not a businessman.

he wasn’t willing to do anything shameless and disgraceful!

“there is evidence!”

professor stanley said to woods, “you don’t get it! people in academia have been talking about the mathematical model used in the caged carbon molecules, and the data processing was almost exactly the same as the 2018 nobel prize results! some people even said that my name should be on the nobel prize!”

woods: “isn’t that a good thing?”

“not good at all!” professor stanley said angrily, “this thing was almost over, but because of the patent, people are digging up this story again!”

woods frowned and spoke casually.

“i don’t know a lot about academia, but you’re not guilty, right? people suspect you are, but they don’t have any evidence.”

“i just want to tell you that, if they bring this to court, you won’t be able to win over the jury!”

“this is a lawsuit, there won’t be a jury.” woods smiled and looked at stanley as he said, “don’t worry, my friend… also, do you want to work here again? don’t tell me you came all the way to talk about this boring stuff.”

“i’m too stupid! i shouldn’t have come here, you don’t understand what i’m talking about!” stanley continued, “you’re going further and further down the wrong path, you’re the one being ignorant.”

“you’re overcomplicating things.” woods shrugged and said, “do you really think we’re going to play a fair game with them? this is the white house, no one on this planet can go against them.”

woods smiled at professor stanley.

“it doesn’t matter if the patent belongs to them.

“just know that they are screwed!”

Chapter 986: Rules Are Made for Winning

Chapter 986 Rules Are Made for Winning
first was the us department of commerce investigation, then was the department of justice; they were all going after star sky technology.

if a conviction was formed, star sky technology might have to pay a 10 figure fine for the sh standard and lithium-air battery patent bundling agreement.

the united states seemed to have set its eyes on attacking this high-tech chinese company.

the day after the department of justice report came out, the news of the antitrust investigation spread throughout china.

soon after, heated discussions began to spread.

[f*ck sake, do the americans want to destroy star sky technology?]

[this is ridiculous! we bought it when it was worthless, now we find out it’s valuable, and they’re trying to say the sale wasn’t legal?]

[it looks like star sky technology is being too flamboyant, they should have been more low-key! if they didn’t have their sh standard, this wouldn’t have happened!]

[go f*ck yourself! we developed the technology ourselves, why can’t we use our own standards? also, the sh standard charging station is only in shanghai? why does the us have authority here?]

[…]

compared to the discussion on facebook, the weibo discussions were undoubtedly more intense. there were a lot more curse words being thrown around.

people with ulterior motives also joined in on the discussion.

for example, a well-known expert in the financial industry wrote a post around “procedural justice” and “game theory”, tackling the problem of how “star sky technology should treat sanctions by the department of commerce”.

[actually, this is a problem of chinese companies unable to adjust to the international market.

[there are many companies with excellent research and development capabilities in our country, but what advanced science and technology needs is good management. even though many companies have achieved success, they aren’t able to penetrate the international market. [they think that they can do whatever they want, just like what they do in china. that idea is naive and ignorant.

[in fact, the united states isn’t worried about being surpassed by china. it’s quite the contrary. the rise of china’s economy is in line with the interest of the united states. however, chinese companies are not aware of this. if you follow the rules of the game, they will admit defeat and praise you. however, if you don’t follow the rules, don’t complain when they give you a lesson!]

after this article came out, it immediately spread to other social media platforms.

some people scolded the article, while others were persuaded.

regardless of public perception, the author had successfully achieved their goal.

the author’s view count exploded…

…

“i saw it, it looks like we’re going through an antitrust investigation.”

lu zhou sat in his jinling institute for advanced study office. he was talking with chen yushan on the phone.

because the college entrance examination was only a few days ago, lu zhou posted on weibo to his teenage fans, wishing them good luck in the exam.

however, most of his fans were talking about his company being sanctioned.

but because it was getting closer to june, lu zhou was spending most of his time on riemann’s hypothesis. he didn’t pay attention to star sky technology or beep beep charging.

if it weren’t for people on weibo tagging him, he wouldn’t have even known about the americans’ plans.

chen yushan didn’t seem to be worried.

“who cares if they’re after you, i’ll protect you.”

lu zhou: “…”

“okay, okay, just kidding.” chen yushan smiled and said in a serious manner, “has the state come to look for you? people from beijing?”

lu zhou thought for a second and said, “does the state administration for national defense count?”

director li would come to lu zhou’s office every couple of days.

chen yushan smiled and said, “that’s good, you can relax now.”

lu zhou said, “that’s it?”

chen yushan: “of course, competition between companies is just market behavior, so the country wouldn’t intervene. whether it’s in america or china.

“but this is clearly not the case now, because of the lithium-air battery and sh standard, we have clearly dominated the market. electric vehicle companies and charging station companies only have two options, either adhere to our standards or give up on lithium-air batteries.

“obviously, from their perspective, it seems like they have a choice.”

they actually didn’t have a choice.

not adhering to the new standards meant they would be eliminated from the market.

unless the entire industry abandoned lithium-air batteries, consumers would naturally choose lithium-air batteries over lithium-sulfur batteries.

and obviously, the industry wouldn’t just abandon the superior lithium-air batteries.

chinese companies would gladly incorporate lithium-air batteries into their cars.

lu zhou nodded and said, “so, we’re about to win, but the americans are upset. they want to smash the chessboard, am i correct?”

chen yushan smiled and said, “bingo! you’re correct! rules are made for winning, rules are broken for winning too.”

“then what do you plan on doing?” lu zhou said. sitting in his chair with his phone pressed against his ear, he said curiously, “we’re just a company, we’re no match against an entire country.”

chen yushan: “that’s right, but the second the department of justice and department of commerce smashed the chessboard, the chess players have changed.

“some departments might pretend to turn a blind eye, but seeing how director li came all the way to jinling, it looks like beijing is taking this seriously.”

chen yushan smirked and said, “this isn’t about business competition anymore, this is about politics.”

lu zhou nodded.

“i see, no wonder you said the chess game is over, and the show is about to begin.”

“yeah, our job is over, we just have to wait now.” chen yushan sighed and said emotionally, “a few years ago, i would have never adopted such a radical strategy, but now, we can.”

in fact, when the lithium-sulfur batteries came out, star sky technology had the option to do something similar to this.

because of the reliability and durability of lithium-sulfur batteries compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries, they had the chance of making companies like apple and samsung adhere to their standards.

as long as they cooperated with huawei or xiaomi, they had the chance to dominate the market.

however, that was just in theory; if they really did that, it would be suicide.

just by monopolizing the electric vehicle industry alone, they were able to attract the attention of the white house.

if they tried to do the same on mobile phones and other electronic equipment, the united states would have taken a more drastic approach…

even huawei and xiaomi wouldn’t have done such a thing; they would have stayed far away from star sky technology.

“weak countries don’t have diplomacy, strong nations have everything. just like how manhattan controls the world’s wealth. is it because of their trading technology? maybe, but that’s not the essence of it.

“our situation is similar. business operation is important, but the reason we’re winning is not because of our strategy.”

lu zhou curiously asked, “then what is it?”

chen yushan: “it’s because of you.”

“… me?”

“yeah…” chen yushan smiled and said, “we already won, ever since the light that illuminated haizhou three years ago.

“just wait and see. even if we’re going against exxonmobil and tesla, or even the white house, we will be victorious!”

Chapter 987: It’s Begun!

Chapter 987 It“s Begun!

on the last thursday in may, the sky above manhattan was covered in a layer of clouds, as if it was about to rain.

in order to avoid the rain, ben subconsciously began walking faster.

this was wall street. if the global financial markets were a human brain, this was the prefrontal cortex.

ben was a gifted person who graduated from harvard. he was a successful investment banker working for goldman sachs…

he went into the building, up the elevator, and walked into his office with his briefcase.

his colleague was already in his office, waiting for him. his colleague asked, “did you watch the morning news?”

ben: “not yet, did something happen?”

carell: “no, nothing happened, which is weird. you should know that our department of justice announced that they have collected enough evidence to prove that the acquisition from six years ago was illegal. i’ve been paying attention to the news about star sky technology and china. but i haven’t been able to see anything.”

ben placed his briefcase on his desk and sat down.

he opened his computer and shook his head.

“this is unusual, i think this is getting more serious. i can’t think of a reason why china would choose to back down. i’ve always said that it is a bad idea to conduct an antitrust investigation on star sky technology. now the white house plans on using the department of justice to undo a patent acquisition that happened six years ago! this is asinine! they’re too naive!”

if this were five years ago, this would have been completely different.

back then, they could have stepped on star sky technology like an ant.

but with the current international situation, things were different.

especially because of the failure of the ares program, as well as the unveiling of the ilhcrc, more and more countries had begun to recognize that china had gradually become the new super-country of the world.

the white house should have realized that the cross-regional nuclear fusion power grid spreading across southeast asia had completely eliminated america’s influence in the region.

due to factors such as the successful mars rescue, china had won over the international community, and more and more small countries had opened their doors to the cross-regional power grid and the economic growth that came with it.

therefore, trying to attack a chinese enterprise was not a good idea.

of course…

the white house might have had no other choice.

but that was not something ben cared about.

carell twisted the pen in his hand and spoke.

“that’s something the politicians have to worry about. this is happening, and it is not going to stop. i just want to know what china’s countermeasures are?”

he paused for a second and shrugged before saying, “this concerns our operational strategies, as well as whether or not we can have a relaxing weekend.”

“it is very difficult to predict china’s moves since they’re dominating us in at least two industries. in theory, they have at least two options.” ben thought for a second and said, “but i prefer that they give the white house a buffer time and introduce countermeasures next monday…”

“which field do you think they’re going to act on?”

“i don’t know, anything is possible. but i think we should take back our positions and withdraw some funds to balance our risk. especially in west cost public utility companies and power companies that we have positions in… as well as exxonmobil and tesla. but i don’t think we’re long them right now, so we should be fine.”

carell snapped his fingers.

“good idea, i was thinking the same thing.”

ben wondered if carell really thought of the same idea.

however, ben didn’t really care.

the morning markets stayed relatively calm. just like the dark clouds outside the window, the calmness made people a little uncomfortable.

ben was eating his sandwich as he stared at the news page on his computer screen and took a sip of coffee.

“carell.”

“what’s up, my friend?”

“don’t you think the morning markets are too stable?”

“you’re saying this is the calm before the storm?”

“i think so.” ben looked out the window and said, “we all know it’s going to come sooner or later.”

carell said, “speaking of which, today is thursday.”

ben looked at his colleague and asked, “yeah, why?”

“there’s a new movie coming out today.”

ben: “…”

i’m talking about the markets, and you’re thinking about f*cking movies?

the news continued to play on the computer screen.

after the news segment on a brazilian iron ore company increasing their production, the news anchor began to talk about umicore investing €1 billion into southeast asia, to fill the demand gap for lithium anode materials.

ben, who turned his attention back onto the computer, noticed something strange.

which was that, half of the news was related to china.

even if it wasn’t directly related, it was at least partially related.

for example, the brazillian iron ore company announced an increase in production because of the booming infrastructure market in southeast asian driving up iron ore prices. according to their analysts, the cross-regional power grids played an extremely important role…

as for why there was such a huge demand gap for lithium anode materials, it was obviously because of the lithium-air batteries. some people were even researching how to create a futures market for the pdms anode material.

while he was thinking about whether or not the news would affect his investments, the news anchor suddenly received a piece of paper off camera.

when the news anchor read the note, his expression changed instantly.

even ben could see that the news anchor was shocked.

this kind of thing happened from time to time on news networks.

usually, this meant there was a breaking piece of news.

ben was carefully listening to the news when the words of the news anchor nearly made him fall out of his chair.

“we have breaking news…

“according to our reporters in china, an hour ago, the chinese ministry of environmental protection began an investigation into east asia energy’s nuclear core project in california. according to reliable sources, the project will be suspended for at least a month.”

“sh*t.”

ben stared at the computer screen as a flash of panic appeared in his eyes, and a drop of sweat slipped from his forehead.

he was too ignorant.

he had underestimated china’s determination.

china’s counterattack was inevitable; even a homeless guy on the street could have predicted that.

he just didn’t expect everything to happen so suddenly…

a storm was brewing.

Chapter 988: Black Thursday!

Chapter 988 Black Thursday!

“our company is promoting wireless charging stations in the shanghai market to meet the needs of the people in the yangtze river delta city group area…

“for the international markets, the chinese side encourages chinese companies to abide by local laws and regulations, to be an enterprise with a sense of international responsibility, that meets the expectations of the local community.

“our company is doing honest work, and we do not have ulterior motives.

“we will pay close attention to the progress and take necessary measures.”

the camera lights flashed at the press conference.

the spokesperson for the chinese ministry of commerce spoke to a crowd of domestic and foreign reporters.

their announcement was a declaration of war, a warning for a counterattack.

in fact, the counterattack had already begun before the press conference.

first was east asia energy, the fusion energy giant. they cooperated with the ministry of environmental protection and began to investigate their oversea orders and suspended the california nuclear core project indefinitely.

that wasn’t it.

just like the us department of commerce’s antitrust investigation on star sky technology, this was just the beginning.

as the largest superconducting material company in the world, baosheng group, who worked with star sky technology on the sg-1 superconducting material, which provided the superconducting magnet for the haizhou experimental reactor, announced a suspension of north american orders.

baosheng group was a partly state-owned company, thus its performance wasn’t entirely based on profits alone.

when it came to the fusion power plant in california, as well as those companies that were closely tied to the fusion power plant, this was even worse than the suspension of the nuclear core project.

there was only one reason.

they wouldn’t receive the nuclear core until next year. even though there were some road bumps in the way, they had an entire year to repair their relationship with china.

but the sg-1 material was different.

this stuff was a key material for the construction of superconducting magnets, which was used to restrain the ferrofluid. without the sg-1 material, they had to pause construction on the whole project.

energy and public utility companies had spent loads of money on this fusion power plant, and for every day the project was delayed, it meant millions of dollars in losses.

then there was aerospace.

the chinese courts accepted a claim submitted by the china aerospace science and industry corporation, which named two us lunar gateway construction units of intellectual property infringement.

logically speaking, china didn’t have the right to interfere with america’s lunar project, nor did it do so.

more than 90% of the lunar transfer orbit transportations were done by the magpie bridge of star sky technology.

star sky technology complied with the relevant departments and suspended cooperation with companies on the space launch mission.

instantly, the lunar gateway project was suspended!

unfortunately, nasa was hit the hardest by the collateral damage.

in order not to delay the construction, director carson had to urgently contact the houston space launch center and take out the bfr rocket, which was originally going to be used for the follow-up project of the ares program.

the bfr project had more than enough room to carry a batch of supplies to the lunar transfer orbit.

however, the launch costs would increase by an order of magnitude. director carson almost wanted to cry.

china’s countermeasures went from controllable fusion to aerospace.

interestingly enough, almost all of the countermeasures had one thing in common, which was that they were more or less related to star sky technology or professor lu…

wall street didn’t expect this sudden attack.

no one doubted that china would respond, but they didn’t expect it to come this strong and suddenly!

two days ago, investment banks were analyzing china’s operational strategies.

they planned on reducing their positions, and if china didn’t respond, they even planned on going long on exxonmobil or tesla.

however, there was no doubt that right now, everyone on wall street was shorting the market.

nyse was in chaos.

“jesus! they can’t just do this!”

“suspending orders for environmental reasons! do these people think we’re idiots? can’t they abide by the contract?”

“these neanderthals! completely ruthless!”

the aerospace sector had plummeted across the board!

the energy sector was in shambles!

the companies that had doubled in market value due to the california fusion power plant project, had tumbled overnight.

the wall street journal wrote in their latest issue that china shouldn’t retaliate in unrelated areas such as aerospace and that it would only escalate the situation.

after the article came out, it was retweeted by countless americans.

all of the major american media outlets were reporting on this matter. even the white house was forced to send out a spokesperson, asking the chinese side to remain calm.

however, the chinese side obviously didn’t buy it.

the bloodbath in the financial markets was just the beginning.

on the friday after black thursday, a riot was brewing on the streets of california.

when they heard that they had wasted tens of billions into the fusion power station because of some idiot in the white house, california went crazy…

Chapter 989: Give Up

Chapter 989 Give Up
screwed.

it was totally screwed.

even though the president had expected the counterattack by the chinese side, and his advisory team also formulated a response plan, they didn’t expect the chinese to act so quickly!

even though there was no substantial loss on the surface, wall street was already being hit hard.

even though there weren’t any actualized losses, it was enough to give them a headache.

of course, this wasn’t the worst.

only now did the president realize the level of penetration the chinese high-tech companies had in all of their industries.

two national projects worth more than us$10 billion were instantly demolished in an instant…

this was terrifying!

the office door opened, and kevin walked in with a serious look on his face.

“i just called the california government just now. local environmental organizations and other organizations are protesting. they want clean and cheap energy… they want us to receive the nuclear core from china this year.”

“f*ck them!”

the president slammed his fist on the table. he could feel his throat suffocating with anger.

he took a deep breath and calmed down, and after contemplating it for a while, he spoke in a gentle tone.

“maybe we should restart the national ignition facility… maybe controllable fusion is not as difficult as we thought…”

restart the national ignition facility…

kevin had a bitter look on his face.

he knew that the president himself knew how unrealistic that plan was. not only did this mean they would have to hire tens of thousands of scholars, but they would also have to spend tens of billions. this meant opening a third battlefield on top of the two original super projects.

even america couldn’t handle three super projects at the same time; the huge financial pressure could bankrupt the federal government.

not to mention, even if they restarted the national ignition facility…

kevin: “what about the sg-1 material? without that, we can’t complete the magnets we need to confine the plasma, unless we can think of another way to optimize the plasma turbulence control scheme. i’ve consulted with the experts. not only do we need the nuclear core, but we also need a supply of sg-1 material.”

president: “chips! restrict the exportation of chips to china! two can play this game.”

kevin took a deep breath.

“sir.”

the president stared at him.

“what’s wrong?”

kevin: “we can do that, but are you sure?”

the questioning tone from the chief of staff made the president rethink his words.

“i’ll think about it…”

chips…

that was a good idea.

there were more chips being imported into china than gallons of oil.

however, this would be a blow to both sides. after all, china could source their chips from other countries.

even though america could also convince their allies to suspend chip exportation to chinese companies…

but…

would their european allies cooperate, when faced with the temptation of controllable fusion?

europe was like a retired wealthy man, relying on the retirement fund he saved when he was young. he could still survive for a few decades, but they needed a controllable fusion to survive.

so far, china hadn’t released the official documents, so going against china meant they could say goodbye to nuclear fusion…

even if america bet all of their chips…

did they really have a chance of winning?

the president couldn’t help but feel a touch of sadness.

ten years ago was different.

no, even two years ago, the situation was much better than now.

at least back then, they had the ability to compete with china, and their international influence allowed them to kick china out of iter.

but now, they couldn’t even take down one chinese company…

kevin paused for a second and spoke.

“sir, we’ve done enough, think about the long term impacts. this is not the right time to attack chinese high-tech enterprises. our super projects still need their support. before the fusion power plant is built, before the lunar gateway program finishes, we should restrain ourselves.

“also, the electric vehicle market is not our concern. our demand for electric vehicles is not as high as china’s, and tesla’s market value is not comparable to california’s economy. what if we just tell elon to make a sacrifice?”

after all, elon was the one that moved all of the jobs to shanghai.

even though there was nothing wrong with earning money from the chinese, elon was taking away the jobs from americans.

“what about exxonmobil?” the president paused for a second and said, “wall street is dangerous, but these oil giants are not.”

the president never paid attention to tesla’s interests.

the reason for the attack against star sky technology was because this company had been on his radar for a long time; he only used the sh standard as an excuse.

however, exxonmobil was different. exxonmobil wasn’t just a political campaign funder; it also indirectly provided hundreds of thousands of jobs.

basically, exxonmobil could easily affect unemployment rates.

and unemployment rates played a huge deal on the elections…

“they’re just taking advantage of the situation and trying to make a profit, but they don’t matter, plus the ceo of exxonmobil has to show his board that he’s not useless, the useless person is…”

kevin awkwardly paused for a second and thought of a safe answer. “the useless person is the judge.”

the president said, “isn’t it a bit shameless for us to give in like this?”

kevin sighed and smiled as he said, “it’s easy to find an excuse. the investigation from the department of commerce can be canceled by the international trade commission. we’re not compromising, we just… made an error!

“as for the department of justice, make their evidence ‘incomplete’. if exxonmobil isn’t happy, we can tell them to bring the lawsuit themselves.”

the president’s eyes suddenly lit up. he looked at his chief of staff and said, “contact the people from the international trade commission.

“you’re right, this is not a good time to attack high-tech chinese companies, we’ll go with your plan!”

Chapter 990: Dismissal

Chapter 990 Dismissal
there were two famous streets in america.

one was wall street, in manhattan, new york, the other was k street, in washington, dc.

because of the number of lobbying organizations and think tanks that had their headquarters here, k street was often referred to as “lobbying street”, or even the “fourth us government department”.

lawrence was sitting in an office on the corner of k street. he nodded with his phone in his hand.

“did the president say that?

“okay, i understand.”

lawrence hung up the phone and gave his phone to his assistant, who was standing next to him.

woods was sitting across from him. he frowned and asked curiously, “can i ask a question?”

“go ahead.”

“you were on the phone with…”

“chief of staff.”

chief of staff!

woods had a look of surprise on his face.

having a phone call with the chief of staff wasn’t anything extraordinary, exxonmobil also had this power, but having the chief of staff personally report to him…

woods couldn’t help but gulp.

no wonder these blood-sucking vampires can always make the right choice, they have their own exclusive information channel.

he thought back to the black thursday financial markets crisis and wondered how much money this guy made from shorting the market…

“what did the white house decide on?”

lawrence carelessly smiled and replied, “they plan on reconsidering the anti-monopoly investigation on star sky technology since now is not the time to provoke conflict.”

woods paused for a second as his heart skipped a beat.

“but the patent—”

“that didn’t belong to you in the first place, forget about it.”

lawrence smiled at this texas ceo. he was clearly looking down on him.

instead of lobbying the white house, pressuring the department of justice, and bribing witnesses… these barbarians were more inclined to steal wealth off others.

this was like horse racing.

the real winner wasn’t the horse that crossed the finish line, it was the bookmaker that won all the chips from having the edge.

“goddamn it!”

woods clenched his fist. he tried to maintain his demeanor as he breathed heavily out of his nose.

lawrence said, “now that you know what is going to happen, there’s no need for me to stay here. thanks for your hospitality, mr. woods.”

lawrence stood up from the couch and nodded toward his assistant, gesturing to him to fetch the car. he looked at woods and said, “we’re interested in the oil field in paraguay. our analysts have predicted that if every car on the planet is electric by 2040, the oil business will still be profitable, so i sincerely suggest you take a look at this project…”

woods looked like he had something to say. lawrence paused for a second and spoke with a smile.

“of course, you don’t have to mock me. princeton’s history classes didn’t teach me any investment skills, but thankfully, i learned about patience.”

woods stood up from the sofa and asked, “are you going to leave?”

“yeah.” lawrence nodded and said, “the flight is at 3 o’clock, so it’s time for me to go.”

“where are you going?”

“to see an old friend.”

lawrence smiled and spoke.

“haven’t seen him in a long time, but i heard he’s doing well.”

…

binghamton university.

laboratory of the department of chemistry.

professor stanley sat at his desk, flipping through newspapers. suddenly, it was like a stone was lifted off his chest, and his entire body relaxed.

his student, a phd student with glasses, happened to walk into the laboratory. he noticed the professor and asked, “what’s wrong, professor?”

“withdrawn.”

“withdrawn?”

“nothing, none of your business.” professor stanley stood up and adjusted his collar as he said, “which classroom is the afternoon class in?”

“building a, room 411… you plan on going yourself?”

the phd student had a look of surprise on his face.

the professor hated giving classes to undergraduate students, explaining elementary concepts from a textbook. most of the time, professor stanley made his students and assistants give the lectures; he would never personally give a lecture. he always said true science could only be discovered in a laboratory.

but now, stanley wanted to give a lecture…

pigs were starting to fly!

“going over rudimentary things can inspire new research… i forgot who said this, probably a famous guy.” professor stanley then said, “yeah, so, i’ll handle the class this afternoon, you can just help me sort through some papers.”

the phd student nodded.

“okay, professor, i’ll give you the powerpoint copy.”

professor stanley snorted and spoke.

“i don’t need that, a real teacher only needs a blackboard and a piece of chalk.”

student: “…”

without explaining anything, professor stanley happily picked up the lesson plan on the table and walked out of the door.

as the student watched the door close, he wondered what his boss was doing.

he noticed the newspaper on the table.

he walked up and quietly unfolded the newspaper, turning to the page professor stanley was reading.

“the largest intellectual property fraud case in history was withdrawn due to insufficient evidence…”

his eyes widened as he remembered that professor stanley once worked on a research project with exxonmobil.

exxonmobil choosing to withdraw the lawsuit was bad news, but the look of relief on his supervisor’s face…

suddenly, he thought of a rumor that was circulating in the academic community a while ago.

“maybe the paper from six years ago was really…”

the student realized he might have discovered an incredible secret. he quickly closed the newspaper and placed it back to its original spot.

all he wanted was to graduate.

he intended to keep this secret forever.

at least, until he graduated…

Chapter 991: Use Lithium-Air!

Chapter 991 Use Lithium-Air!

the third day after black thursday.

the rising sun illuminated manhattan island at six o’clock in the morning.

as usual, ben got off the car with a briefcase. he yawned and began to walk toward his office building when he saw a newspaper stand being surrounded by a crowd of people.

men in suits and leather shoes gathered around the stand, handing out cash in exchange for a copy.

“what happened…”

ben walked up and saw a fat man with curly hair walking out of the crowd.

this guy was none other than carell.

ben didn’t hesitate before walking up and patting his colleague’s shoulder.

“hey, what happened? why are there so many people around here?”

“i don’t know, that’s why i tried to buy a copy.” carell unfolded the newspaper and looked down at the headline.

the second his eyes touched the newspaper, carell froze.

ben also froze.

“the department of commerce withdrew! so did exxonmobil! this is…” carell looked at ben and said, “ben, my friend, quick, think, what does this mean for us?”

ben grabbed his hair; his brain was racing a million miles an hour.

“i don’t know… this is too sudden, maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s not… let me think, this is good for the fusion power plant in cali… f*ck! i thought this antitrust investigation would drag on for at least the end of the year! it’s been less than a week and the idiots at congress already withdrew!”

“there’s an email from the company.”

“what did they say?” ben quickly asked.

“nothing, just telling us to arrive earlier, the manager wants to hold a short meeting…”

“quick! they’re going to discuss this during the meeting!” ben said as he crammed the newspaper into his briefcase and ran into the office building.

carell put away his phone and screamed as he tried to catch up.

“hey! i bought that newspaper!”

what happened near the goldman sachs building wasn’t an isolated incident.

in fact, almost all of the newspaper stands in manhattan were swamped by businessmen.

some people just wanted to know what was going on.

but most people were people working in investment banks.

the international trade commission dismissed the antitrust investigation!

exxonmobil gave up on their lawsuit!

these two news headlines appeared in the wall street journal.

apparently, the wall street journal editor took a long time to decide which news article to put as the front-page story.

however, it didn’t matter.

because regardless of which story was on the front page, the newspaper was sold out like hotcakes.

people who were lucky enough to grab a copy couldn’t believe their eyes. people were mentally preparing themselves, but they didn’t expect this anti-monopoly investigation to stop so suddenly!

soon after, the news spread onto the internet.

these headlines spread throughout america at the speed of light, and investors were stunned by the news.

this was a huge blow to the conservatives that wanted to give the arrogant chinese a lesson.

facebook.

the comment section began to flood.

[this is our darkest time!]

[i’m so disappointed, i won’t vote for this coward again.]

[this is the darkest time! this reminds me of chamberlain, who signed the peace treaty, thinking that it was going to avoid the war. then look at what happened!]

[stop talking out of your a*s!]

[do you know how many times america has protected the freedom of the world?]

[… you look like a quisling to me!]

…

tesla building in china.

the conference room on the top floor.

elon musk looked at the sun rising through the floor-to-ceiling windows. he had just gotten off a red-eye flight.

he suddenly sighed.

“i’m not blaming you, we all know that we didn’t lose to star sky technology, nor did we lose to beep beep charging, we didn’t even lose to china.”

bobby didn’t say anything.

he knew what his boss was thinking about.

bobby said, “actually, thinking about it carefully, we made the wrong decision. ever since they registered their patent for the lithium-air battery, we had no chance of winning. i would have done the same thing as them. even though i don’t think wireless charging is game-changing technology, i would have used another tactic to allow us to become the standard setters.”

a patent was only valid for 20 years.

but how long was a standard valid for?

no one knew because standards had inertia; it was difficult to replace and change.

elon sighed and spoke.

“i know, but… are you willing to accept defeat?”

bobby shook his head and replied, “no, but there’s nothing we can do.”

a while ago, the local shanghai government suddenly became unwelcoming and aggressive toward tesla.

this type of attitude change was abnormal, so bobby began thinking.

then, after bobby contacted an official from the local government, he learned that this was beijing’s doings.

they crossed the line.

and before they uncrossed this line, the chinese wouldn’t change their attitude.

bobby didn’t know which line they crossed, perhaps it was something they did or something the white house did.

but he knew that tesla’s future in china depended on them uncrossing this line…

however, he didn’t have the power to make a decision.

only the man standing in front of him did.

after a while, bobby spoke to elon.

“what do we do now?”

“nothing…” elon looked at the sun rising and said nonchalantly, “damage control.

“charging station is a good industry. we can make a lot of money here, but it’s not our core business model…

“for now, we have to keep tesla alive in china.”

bobby nodded and spoke.

“i understand, what about the new model? the 2022 model…”

“use lithium-air batteries,” elon said with a look of pain. he clenched his jaws and said, “use their sh standard…”

sh standard…

i lost again…

ahhh!

i’m so f*cking pissed.

bobby had a sense of admiration in his heart.

maybe…

this is why elon is america’s greatest entrepreneur…

Chapter 992: Becoming Famous!

Chapter 992 Becoming Famous!

the anti-monopoly investigation stirred up the international community, which was finally terminated by the international trade commission.

three of the six senate members appointed by the president voted yes, while two voted no and one abstained from voting.

after the thunderstorm on black friday, the war between the two countries in the fields of controllable fusion and aerospace gradually recovered, while the financial markets went back to its original track.

some people made a lot of money, some people lost everything.

regardless, everything was settled, and star sky technology was able to book a win.

the news of star sky technology’s victory spread throughout the financial industry, along with a name.

this name wasn’t lu zhou; everyone had already heard about lu zhou at this point.

it was…

the ceo of star sky technology—chen yushan.

as one of the top high-tech companies in china, most people in business knew of this female ceo.

most people knew her as the “wharton mba” and “lu zhou’s classmate”.

there were even rumors of her and academician lu being “together”, and rarely did people talk about her business abilities.

the reason for this was normal.

the main business model of star sky technology was patent control, even the best business plan and strategies would be overshadowed by academician lu’s research abilities.

just like how all of apple’s success was attributed to steve jobs, and not tim cook.

the same worked for star sky technology.

people even criticized her, claiming that anyone in her position would be able to transform star sky technology into a fortune 500 company, that she was just a puppet for lu zhou.

however, this antitrust investigation undoubtedly proved those people wrong.

even though this was technically a war between the united states and china, not every ceo had the ability to handle the pressure from giants such as tesla and exxonmobil.

even tim cook himself might not have been able to do as good of a job as her.

it was obvious that star sky technology had a world-class ceo.

after this battle, no one had any doubts about “ceo chen’s” ability. even though she was still far from being a legend such as jack welch or marc lore, she could easily be ranked in the top 50 in the world.

other than the news about chen yushan, the rest of the attention was placed on tesla.

after the us department of commerce terminated the antitrust investigation, tesla immediately issued an official announcement regarding their demerger with evgo.

this announcement caught the attention of the shanghai financial field.

due to the acquisition made by star sky technology, as well as the sh standard, many chinese investors had developed an interest in charging station companies.

however, tesla’s decision to part ways with evgo made these investors doubt themselves. the investors wondered if there was something they didn’t know.

however, even if they knew the whole picture, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.

after all, it seemed like star sky technology was the only one that could succeed in the charging station field.

“evgo looks good, i think we should acquire them.”

chen yushan told lu zhou about tesla’s demerger with evgo.

lu zhou frowned and said, “is beep beep charging not enough?”

to be honest, he quite liked the name.

even though it sounded less futuristic than evgo, it was more catchy.

after hearing lu zhou’s words, chen yushan patiently explained.

“i didn’t say there’s anything wrong with beep beep charging, and acquiring evgo won’t affect beep beep charging. instead, it will help with the expansion. we can take over evgo’s shanghai coverage, as well as other resources. basically, if we don’t buy them, someone else will, which could mean trouble.

“also, even though the yangtze river delta city group is our focus, that doesn’t mean we should abandon the overseas markets. in terms of charging stations, evgo can help us penetrate the european and american markets.”

even though lu zhou didn’t know a lot about business, after hearing chen yushan’s explanation, he nodded with confidence.

“okay then, if you think it’s a good buy, then buy it… but, will elon sell it to us this easily? i think he hates me.”

chen yushan smiled confidently and said, “don’t worry, i’ll handle it.”

lu zhou nodded and realized something important.

“oh yeah, how much is it going to cost?”

chen yushan: “not much, just a couple hundred million.”

lu zhou: “… usd?”

chen yushan: “yeah!”

lu zhou: “…”

f*ck sake!

i agreed too early.

i knew you have to spend money to make money, but i can’t help but think about the money disappearing from my bank account…

it hurts!

after lu zhou hung up the phone, he leaned in his chair and looked at the calendar on the wall.

“it’s already june…”

time really flies by.

2022 is almost over…

lu zhou remembered he still had to give an answer to wang peng.

he had hardly gotten a break this year.

whether it was ilhcrc or star sky technology, he had barely had the chance to do any research.

even chen yang, whom he poached from beijing, had begun making some progress on the hodge conjecture.

he couldn’t just remain like this forever.

lu zhou was wondering what he should tell wang peng when a text bubble suddenly popped up on his computer screen.

xiao ai: [master, you have mail. (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

mail?

lu zhou had never seen this email address before.

even though xiao ai could find who the sender was, there was no need for that yet.

lu zhou opened the email and raised his eyebrows with interest.

the email was short.

[i just arrived in jinling, and i know a good restaurant in the city. are you free to talk and eat?]

what intrigued him wasn’t the short email.

it was the name at the bottom of the email.

“david lawrence?”

lu zhou felt this name looked familiar…

Chapter 993: But I Refuse!

Chapter 993 But I Refuse!

[just went through customs, about to board the plane.]

[first of all, congratulations to star sky technology for evading the antitrust investigation and patent litigation. we hope that our companies can continue to abide by laws and regulations.]

[also, in response to the comments, i don’t know what people are angry about. the international trade commission rejected the department of commerce investigation. even though you have damaged the interests of our country, as long as you abide by the rules, we will protect your rights, this is the american spirit…]

“… these bunch of dogs, tagging me in any article they can, it’s not like i’m an international relations expert…”

inside a restaurant, lu zhou shook his head and wondered why mr. lawrence hadn’t arrived yet. suddenly, he noticed someone walking toward him.

the other person also noticed him. they walked toward him with a smile.

“long time no see.”

lawrence put down his bag and sat across from lu zhou. he rested his hands on the table and said, “time really flies by, it’s been so long since you left princeton.”

“oh, yeah.”

even though there were differences between western and asian standards, lu zhou could still tell that this guy was a well-dressed person.

david lawrence.

lu zhou finally matched the name with a face.

lu zhou finally remembered that when he first arrived in princeton, this history professor recommended him to join the ivy food club.

he felt nostalgic thinking about this.

lawrence had always been obsessed with finance; he only went into history research due to the pressure from his father.

however, it seemed like he was doing quite well for himself since he was now working in finance.

after staring at lawrence for a while, lu zhou spoke.

“you’ve changed.”

lawrence smiled and replied, “everyone changes, aren’t you the same? from a pure mathematician to a world-renowned scholar… and me, i never wanted to go into history, but —”

“i mean you’ve gotten older.”

lawrence nearly choked on the water. he put down the cup and coughed.

he wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled awkwardly.

“i was still in my late twenties back then… but you haven’t changed a bit at all.”

lu zhou smiled and put his phone into his pocket.

“thanks… but i’m quite surprised, i didn’t expect you to study history.”

“history is just my hobby, finance is my real passion.” lawrence smiled and said, “of course, reading those books inside firestone library did help my career a little bit.”

lu zhou: “like what?”

lawrence: “isn’t there a saying? history repeats itself.”

lu zhou smiled and said, “not necessarily, at least not in mathematics. in order to solve new problems, we have to create new ideas, deduce new ideas from old theories, and jump out of the original framework… it would be great if history could provide me with a little help, but that’s often not the case.”

like riemann’s hypothesis.

he had read almost every paper on riemann’s hypothesis over the past century and a half; however, none of them were able to inspire him.

it wasn’t until he introduced differentiable manifold theories into complex analysis did he finally make some amount of progress.

which was, the hyperelliptic curve analysis method.

however, this was only considered a small progress. he still had a long way to go, and for now, he couldn’t see the finish line.

“oh, really? no wonder mathematics is so fascinating to you.”

“i guess so…” lu zhou smiled at lawrence and said, “speaking of which, did you come all the way here to visit me?”

“it wouldn’t be truthful to say i didn’t.” lawrence smiled and said, “want to join forces?”

lu zhou didn’t know why, but he felt like this guy was a little unusual, and it gave him the chills.

“… join forces? on what?”

“whether it’s scientific research or business, money is involved in everything.” lawrence smiled and said, “for example, you plan on buying evgo, right?”

the f*ck?

how did you know?

lu zhou gave him a surprised look but didn’t say anything, because he didn’t know if lawrence happened to make a lucky guess, or if lawrence really knew.

however, it was as if lawrence saw through lu zhou’s mind. lawrence smiled and spoke.

“don’t be nervous, i’m not testing you. if you don’t want to admit it, i understand… then, let’s just say, hypothetically, you plan on acquiring evgo and use it to penetrate the us market.”

lawrence cleared his throat and spoke in a calm voice.

“there aren’t many electric vehicles in america, but it is still profitable. especially after the fusion power station in california, the demand for electric vehicles will surge. it is not difficult to take a part of the market share, you just have to invest wisely. our analysts have calculated that if you want an 80% coverage of charging stations in the west coast, you would have to spend at least us$5 billion.

“this is not a small number. i’m sure even a bank would think twice before lending you this amount. but i’m different, we’re… investors. not only can we provide you the necessary resources, but we can also get you out of trouble and ensure your business runs smoothly.”

lawrence smiled at lu zhou, who was sitting across from him.

“and that goes beyond charging stations.

“the funds of boston financial group can easily help you become the world’s top high-tech company. no one will be able to stop you, you can do whatever you want…”

lawrence quietly looked at lu zhou while waiting for him to reply.

time slowly passed by…

twenty seconds passed by.

lu zhou suddenly smiled and spoke.

“sounds interesting.”

lawrence smiled as if he had just won the olympics. he reached out his hand and spoke.

“then let’s—”

lu zhou: “but no, thanks.”

lawrence: “…???”

Chapter 994: Pirate Culture

Chapter 994 Pirate Culture

There was an awkward atmosphere in the air.

It was almost as if time and space were frozen.

Lawrence’s face stiffened; it was as if his smile turned into stone.

However, admirably, he still maintained his demeanor and retracted his right hand like a robot.

Time quickly passed by.

The awkward atmosphere continued to entwine around the dining table.

The silence was broken by the waiter bringing food.

Lawrence coughed and spoke unhappily.

“Can I know why? I think my proposal is quite attractive.”

“Attractive for you.” Lu Zhou said calmly, “I know there is no such thing as a free meal in the world. If I accept your investment, that means we have to give up equity. Is that correct?”

Lawrence: “Of course… Like you said, there’s no such thing as a free meal. But there is such a thing as a win-win situation! We can both become richer by working together!”

Lu Zhou: “Correct, but will Star Sky Technology be yours or mine? Will it be Chinese or American?”

“That… depends on how you define it.” Lawrence paused for a second and said, “But does it really matter who owns it? Star Sky Technology could be worth US$100 billion. You might have less equity, but your net worth will still increase.”

Lu Zhou said, “I think it matters.”

Lu Zhou spoke in a serious tone.

“For me, it is important to research whatever I want, that is the important part. That is why I founded the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology. If you told me I can turn 100 billion into 200 billion… Why should I care?”

The atmosphere at the table was silent.

After a while, Lawrence loosened his shoulders and leaned back on his chair.

“I see… I thought we had the possibility of working together, I thought you could see the mutual benefits.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I thought you Americans like to follow rules, shouldn’t you talk to the Star Sky Technology CEO about this?”

Lawrence smiled and said, “Rules? You must not know America well at all.”

Lu Zhou: “Oh, yeah?”

“Ships that first colonized America more or less were filled with pirates, and the ‘good citizens’ only set foot on America on the premise that it would be beneficial for them. When times got hard, they would loot indigenous people and take what they wanted.

“There is a manuscript about John Adams in the Firestone Library, and it details his research on this cultural phenomenon. He understands Americans at such a deep level.

“And I call this cultural phenomenon, piracy.”

Lu Zhou looked at Lawrence’s smile and frowned.

“I’m surprised.”

“About what?”

“In Chinese history, we often use piracy as a derogatory term… In our culture, pirates are not romanticized.”

“It is equally disgraceful in our culture. Pirates were hanged, left to be eaten by crows…” Lawrence shrugged and said, “But if all you need is a boat and some men, then a lot of people would turn to sin.”

Lawrence pushed against the table and stood up.

“I just want to ask you one question. I don’t want to become your enemy, but… the world is often controlled by invisible powers.

“Just like how gravitational forces keep us on the ground, history repeats itself. Nothing can stop this, no one person, company, or even country. But if one follows the invisible power, they will be rewarded by history. Do you know what I mean?”

Lu Zhou: “No, I believe in science, not metaphysics.”

Except when I’m doing a prize draw.

Lawrence: “Okay, then… Are you really not going to think about it?”

“No need.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Lawrence sighed and said, “Maybe next time, you won’t be against small players like ExxonMobil or Tesla.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

“We’ll see what happens.”

…

After that, Lawrence left without eating.

Even though Lawrence said he was full, Lu Zhou noticed that Lawrence didn’t eat a single bite.

But honestly, Lu Zhou thought this restaurant was pretty good, so he might come here again.

After eating his meal, Lu Zhou left the restaurant and went into his car, which was parked at the entrance.

When he got in his car, Wang Peng had just finished a phone call.

“Where are we going?”

“To Zhongshan International.”

“Okay.”

The car went on the road.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the back seat when he took out his phone.

He was about to finish the article he was reading, but the article was no longer there.

Hmm…

Was it removed?

Damn it, I forgot to save it.

Lu Zhou shook his head and opened Weibo.

He was about to interact with his fans when he suddenly got an email notification.

He saw that the email was from the International Mathematical Union.

Lu Zhou saw the email address and had a headache.

Over the past few days, he had been cogitating on whether or not he should go to the conference. He knew the email was probably the IMU asking him to upload his 60-minute report thesis online.

Lu Zhou opened the email and began to think about how he should euphemistically reject them, but he suddenly froze.

After a while, Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and spoke.

“Wang Peng.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to St. Petersburg in August.”

“Okay, I’ll arrange for you… Just wondering, did you make progress on Riemann’s hypothesis?”

“No… It has nothing to do with the report.”

Wang Peng: “Then?”

Lu Zhou put down his phone and spoke.

“To collect a prize.”

Chapter 995: Sneaky People

Chapter 995 Sneaky People

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

A piece of large experimental equipment shaped like a barrel lying on its side was inside a laboratory.

There were three console displays next to this “barrel”.

A group of workers wearing dust-free and anti-static clothing stood in front of the console. They nervously operated this equipment under the command of Professor Wu Tianqun.

Director Li was observing everything from a distance, and he looked emotional as he put his hands behind his back.

After a couple of minutes, the director suddenly spoke to Lu Zhou.

“The Americans screwed us.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him and spoke.

“Screwed?”

Director Li nodded.

“Yeah, haven’t you noticed? They dismissed the Department of Commerce investigation against Star Sky Technology on the grounds of insufficient evidence, but that’s not the whole story. Once the Department of Commerce collects enough evidence, they can restart the investigation… That is totally a possibility.”

Lu Zhou nodded his head.

Damn these Americans are sneaky.

Quite an annoying tactic.

Basically, the White House could restart the antitrust investigation any time they wanted.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t worried about this. After all, Chen Yushan had probably thought of a solution already.

Why should he worry about this…

When he had a CEO?

Seeing how Lu Zhou was unfazed, Director Li paused for a second and spoke.

“The Americans are coming after our high-tech companies. Their ideal Chinese companies are companies that claim to be high tech, but work at the low end of the industrial chain and have the smallest profit margins. Once our companies surpass them in a field, they’ll feel the pressure and fight back.

“I’d be willing to bet that within two years after the California nuclear core is delivered, they’ll be able to figure out the secrets of controllable fusion reactors and start attacking again.

“But you don’t have to worry too much.”

Lu Zhou carelessly smiled and spoke.

“Actually, I talked about this with Academician Wang Zengguang and Pan Changhong. We don’t judge others on their worst days, but we should always be prepared. When push comes to shove, we must ensure that we have the initiative.”

Director Li started to feel nervous.

“You’re not telling me that you left a back door in the nuclear core, right?”

Director Li wasn’t against doing this, but Lu Zhou doing this on his own initiative would be a little too scary. It would be like a citizen having their own nuclear switch.

“You’re overthinking. How would that even be possible?” Lu Zhou smiled as Director Li sighed in relief. He said, “Also, there’s no need for that…

“The controllable fusion reactor control scheme and the plasma turbulence control scheme are written by us.”

It would be extremely easy to make the control scheme do some funny stuff.

Director Li spoke.

“Oh, I see, I thought you left something inside the nuclear core.”

Lu Zhou laughed.

“Why would I do that?”

While they were speaking, the experiment was over.

The slowly rotating barrel stopped, a metal slot popped out, revealing a thumbnail-sized chip in front of the researchers.

This wasn’t their first time succeeding.

Even though they were excited, no one cheered.

Professor Wu Tianqun skillfully removed the chip from the metal slot and carefully loaded it into a brown glass vessel. He then turned toward Director Li and Lu Zhou.

“The experiment was successful.

“So far, we’ve been able to create chips with 3 million transistors per square millimeter. Even though this is just a laboratory experiment, we’re getting closer and closer to 30 million. Also, we’ve found a way to improve the integration of the transistors…

“I’m sure that we’ll be able to achieve our goal within a year!

“Good job.”

Lu Zhou nodded toward Professor Wu Tianqun and took the brown glass from his hand. He then handed it to Director Li.

Director Li took the brown glass container and carefully examined it for a while. He then handed it to the secretary standing behind him.

He watched the secretary carefully place the chip into a metal suitcase. He then looked at Lu Zhou and spoke solemnly.

“I’ll take it back to Beijing and hand it over to the experts at the Institute of Semiconductors!”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Thank you.”

Even though the experiment was successful, one sample was not enough. After some data collection, Professor Wu Tianqun quickly began the next set of experiments.

Lu Zhou and Director Li had nothing else to do here; they turned around and left the laboratory.

Director Li suddenly remembered something and spoke to Lu Zhou.

“Oh yeah, you plan on going to St. Petersburg in August?”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“Yeah, is there a problem?”

“No problem, traveling is good. You’ll be the representative of our academic community.” Director Li smiled and said, “Speaking of which, did you receive military training in college?”

Lu Zhou said, “Of course, it’s mandatory.”

That counted toward my GPA!

“I guess… What about shooting training?”

“I haven’t… Just tell me what you want…” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “You must want something from me.”

“Hey! Am I that kind of person?” The old man smiled and said, “But I do have something I need you to do, it’s for your own good.”

“What?”

“Even though our security department has been in contact with Russian personnel, accidents still happen, right? After all, you’re not just an ordinary scholar anymore; if anything happens, it’ll be a loss to humanity—”

Lu Zhou: “Just say it.”

Director Li smiled awkwardly and said, “Just let our guys train you for a week. We don’t expect you to defend yourself, but it’ll make it easier for us to rescue you.”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

What the hell?

Chapter 996: Aerospace Forces

Chapter 996 Aerospace Forces

Eastern Theater Command General Hospital.

After Wang Peng parked the car, he opened the trunk and took out two large duffel bags.

The bags contained some fruit, milk, and other goods.

Wang Peng closed the trunk and walked toward the elevator with the two bags.

A nurse in a white coat was writing behind a special ward reception desk.

She noticed Wang Peng walking in, so she asked, “Hello, sir, who are you?”

“Wang Peng, visiting a wounded buddy. His name is Li Gaoliang. Here’s my ID.”

The nurse took the ID from Wang Peng and frowned.

She was wondering why a Ministry of State Security member was visiting someone from the army.

After all, Li Gaoliang was not an ordinary person. Apparently, he was connected to sensitive medical experimental equipment, so anyone outside of his family would have a hard time visiting him.

Most of the people who visited him were experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences…

“Sorry, please wait a second.”

The nurse stood up and walked into the office.

Wang Peng smiled at the guard that was staring intently at him and stood there without a worry in the world.

After a couple of minutes, the nurse came back with a doctor in his sixties.

Wang Peng recognized this doctor; his name was Zhou Youde. Wang Peng met him when he visited Lu Zhou. Apparently, he was a celebrity doctor and was in the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Wang Peng and Zhou Youde made eye contact.

Zhou Youde immediately recognized him.

“I… know you!” Zhou Youde said as he stared at Wang Peng. He then said, “You’re Academician Lu’s security, right? I saw you next to him last time…”

Wang Peng smiled and nodded.

“Kind of, Professor Zhou, long time no see.”

Even though Wang Peng was technically a driver, he carried weapons on him at all times.

“Come in… Oh, come on, what are you guys doing, give him some water, don’t let him wait outside like this!”

The nurse lowered her head in shame as Wang Peng spoke.

“She was just looking out for the patient, it’s fine.”

The nurse quietly whispered, “Yeah… I didn’t know if he was a spy or something.”

“Enough!”

Zhou Youde turned toward Wang Peng and spoke politely.

“Let’s go inside, Battalion Commander Li is in the rehabilitation center.”

Wang Peng nodded and followed Zhou Youde to the rehabilitation center.

On the way to the rehabilitation center, he saw many people walking with crutches or in wheelchairs. This was one of the best hospitals in the Eastern Theater Command area. Most people here were in the military.

Wang Peng looked at Professor Zhou and spoke.

“How is Battalion Commander Li’s recovery going?”

Zhou Youde nodded and said, “I don’t even believe it myself. The surgeon said he would be lucky to be able to live in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. But now, he’s walking, running, and even playing basketball. His reaction speed has even increased.”

In fact, that was an understatement.

With titanium alloy bones and electric motion systems, once the brain adapted to the new inputs, dunking the ball was a piece of cake…

Of course, then again, it would be impossible to wear this device to the Olympic games. This was more powerful than doping.

Zhou Youde paused for a second and looked at Wang Peng. He spoke in a solemn tone.

“… Please thank Academician Lu for me! His neural interface system is a godsend! Once the technology matures, thousands of people will be able to function normally again!”

“I will pass on your thanks, I’m sure he will be happy.”

Zhou Youde nodded at Wang Peng’s promise.

“Okay, thanks!”

They soon arrived at the rehabilitation center.

There weren’t many people inside. In fact, there was only one person.

A man in a singlet stood in the middle of the wooden floor. It looked like he was practicing shadow boxing, which Wang Peng instantly recognized.

What surprised Wang Peng was his speed and agility; it was like he had never been injured as he moved around like a snake.

Wang Peng estimated that if he got punched in the face, he would probably get knocked out.

Zhou Youde was about to shout at Li Gaoliang, but Wang Peng stopped him.

“Let him continue.”

“Okay then, you guys talk, I have to go.”

“Okay, take it easy.”

Zhou Youde walked away as Wang Peng continued to watch Li Gaoliang.

A couple of minutes went by.

Li Gaoliang took a break and was about to drink some water when he heard someone speak from the entrance.

“Not bad!”

Li Gaoliang smiled at Wang Peng and walked over.

“What brings you here?”

“I finally had some spare time, so I came to visit you. How are you? How’s recovery?”

Li Gaoliang laughed and said, “It’s amazing! Come, let me practice on you.”

“Forget about it, I don’t want to hurt you.” Wang Peng smiled and placed the bags on the floor.

“Professor Lu wanted to visit you in person, but he went to training. This bag is mine, that bag is his. Since you’re recovering so well, I won’t drop them off in your room, you can carry them yourself.”

Li Gaoliang sighed as he looked at the bags.

“Ah, you’re too kind.”

Wang Peng shook his head and spoke seriously.

“Not kind, also…”

He put on a more serious face and spoke.

“Other than to see you, I also came here for a mission.”

Li Gaoliang’s eyes lit up.

“Mission? I can return to the field?”

“You might,” Wang Peng said. “The higher-ups want me to ask you, you have two options, one is to retire and move to a—”

Li Gaoliang interrupted Wang Peng and said, “Give me the second option, I’m in my thirties, I’m not going to retire.”

“I knew you would say that.” Wang Peng sighed and said, “The second option is to join the aerospace forces in the Eastern Theater Command. If you’re interested, you can get in. You’ll be the same rank as before, but there will be lesser people under your command.”

“Aerospace forces?” Li Gaoliang asked, “What is that?”

“Aerospace forces…” Wang Peng didn’t know how to explain, so he said, “Basically, we need to train new forces to keep up with the times, we need troops above the low-Earth orbit.”

Li Gaoliang: “What is this nonsense? I don’t know how to fly planes!”

“You don’t need to fly a plane; the higher-ups mainly want you for management and logistics.”

Li Gaoliang: “Can I go back to my original position?”

“I’m afraid not…”

Li Gaoliang sighed and waved his hand.

“Okay then, I’ll go to the aerospace forces… It’s better than retiring.”

Wang Peng nodded and continued, “Okay then, I have something else to tell you.”

Li Gaoliang: “What?”

Wang Peng: “The higher-ups want you to register within 2 days and complete basic training as soon as possible. There will be a drill in thirty days. The Eastern Theater Command aerospace forces will participate.”

Li Gaoliang had a serious look.

“Drill? Can you tell me more?”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Counter-terrorism, overseas support…

“And hostage rescue!”

Chapter 997: Archimedes Trouble

Chapter 997 Archimedes Trouble

Boom!

A round was fired out of the muzzle.

Lu Zhou felt the heat of the bullet on his arms. The shell peeled from the casing, leaving behind a trace of smoke.

However, he didn’t have time to react; his attention was totally focused on pressing the trigger.

Bang!

Bang!

The gun fired ten times.

All within ten seconds.

Lu Zhou turned off the safety switch and placed the gun on the table. He took off his noise-canceling ear muffs as Yan Yan spoke to him.

“Hit half of them in the chest target… Not bad, it only took you three days to get to this level. It took me a week to get to your level. Is there anything mathematicians can’t do? Do you calculate the trajectory of the bullet?”

“Of course not, you can’t really apply mathematics. At most, mathematics makes me a faster learner at other things.” Lu Zhou looked at the target and said, “Also, this is a fixed target. If the target and I were moving, I wouldn’t be able to hit anything.”

It had been two weeks since he arrived at this training base on the outskirts of Haizhou.

Over the past two weeks, with the help of Yan Yan and people from the General Staff Department, he had been receiving training in shooting, first aid, and evacuation.

Even though the training wasn’t difficult, it was excruciatingly boring.

After the excitement of being able to fire a gun wore off, the shootings made his wrist and shoulders hurt.

“Don’t be too pessimistic.” Yan Yan patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said, “How about try shooting a moving target later?”

“No, thanks. It hurts my wrists.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Also, will I get to carry a gun?”

Yan Yan answered without any hesitation, “No.”

Even though Lu Zhou knew she would say this, he still couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“… Then what’s the point.”

Lu Zhou hated wasting time on meaningless things.

“Practicing isn’t for you to carry a gun everywhere, it’s for you to know how it works. More importantly, it gives you a basic understanding of the types of guns…”

Yan Yan contemplated for a second before she shrugged and said, “… So you won’t pee your pants when you see a gun.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Pee my pants…

What an exaggeration.

Lu Zhou felt like he would be scared in an intense scenario, but he definitely wouldn’t pee his pants.

Lu Zhou spoke.

“So you have experience in this area then?”

Yan Yan paused for a second and glared at him.

“… Don’t talk back to me! I’m your teacher, just listen!”

She cleared her throat and said seriously, “Shooting practice is over, theory class is next! First question, what should you do if your convoy was attacked, but you survived?”

Lu Zhou: “Get out of the car and find a bunker?”

Yan Yan said, “Wrong! The correct answer is to stay in the car. Congratulations, you just made yourself twice as likely to die. Trust in your driver, they are soldiers, they know what to do! Normally, there are three identical vehicles in your fleet, so getting off the vehicle will reveal your position!

“Second question. After you got off the car, you heard a gunshot, and it came from a tall building nearby. The attacker has a high power sniper rifle, what would you do?”

Lu Zhou wanted to go back in the car, but he thought about what if the sniper had armor-piercing bullets?

So, he changed his answer and spoke.

“… Run in a zigzag line?”

That’s probably the right answer.

I mean, I can’t run in a straight line, right?

However, Yan Yan began scolding him.

“Zigzag? What is this, Fortnite? Congratulations, you just doubled your chance of death again! The right answer is to find cover and stay put, and wait for someone to rescue you! Third question, what do you do if someone points a gun at you. This question is as easy as it gets.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

What does she want me to say?

Apparently, this is an easy question.

A nitrogen shield from my system inventory?

It should work.

But it’s not like I can tell her that.

Also, that thing is one-time use only, and I don’t know how powerful it is since I’ve never tried it.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and wasn’t able to find a good solution.

Logically speaking, I’m a mathematician that spent his entire life in a library. It’s not like I can do anything if a trained soldier points a gun to my face?

Unless that soldier was kicked in the head by a donkey.

Lu Zhou spoke in an uncertain tone.

“… Close my eyes and hope for the best?”

Yan Yan sighed.

“… I’m so done with you, how do you always answer so incorrectly.”

Lu Zhou would certainly die if this were a real-life scenario.

However, this time, Yan Yan didn’t ridicule him.

After a while, she spoke in a serious tone.

“When the time comes… Just surrender.”

Lu Zhou: “Isn’t that embarrassing?”

Yan Yan said, “It’s better than dying! Remember, your life is the most important thing! You’re not just an ordinary person, don’t do anything stupid.”

Don’t worry, I’ll try not to.

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“… If it’s so dangerous I should just not go.”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to bother others.

Even though the International Congress of Mathematicians was interesting, not to mention the organizer was going to give him a prize, he didn’t expect it to be such a hassle.

He had already been training here for two weeks.

He would rather stay in his room and study mathematics problems.

Yan Yan quickly spoke.

“No, don’t, you’ve already gone through two weeks of training, it’s a waste to give up now. Also, I’m just making sure you’re prepared. Better be safe than sorry. I’m just making sure that, in the event of an unlikely scenario, you’re more likely to stay safe.”

Lu Zhou: “If someone as skilled as Wang Peng attacks me, I don’t think there’s anything I can do.”

Yan Yan said, “But you can’t just give up! At least find a safe place to hide.”

“Then?”

“Then we’ll save you!”

“Save me… all the way in Russia?”

“Sort of.”

Lu Zhou said, “How do you plan on going there?”

Yan Yan smiled mysteriously.

“You’ll know in two weeks.”

Chapter 998: Steel Is Our Footprin

Chapter 998 Steel Is Our Footprin

The beginning of July.

A military base in the Eastern Theater Command.

Military vehicles drove through the camp, preparing for the upcoming exercise.

A weirdly-shaped silver-white plane was sitting in the middle of the camp, out in the open.

With two short and two long wings, as well as a large cylindrical engine, it didn’t look like something that was able to fly in the air. However, its perfect success rate was able to dispel any worries.

This plane was named Starlight.

After the spacecraft was delivered to the Eastern Theater Command, the aerospace forces gave it a more domineering name.

Which was, Thunderbird.

Just like thunder, it could soar hundreds of kilometers above the sky.

This aerospaceplane could be used to transport equipment to low-Earth orbit, as well as carry ballistic missile attacks in outer space.

Li Gaoliang got off the military truck. He was wearing special combat clothing and a rifle across his chest. When he glanced at the silver aerospaceplane, he couldn’t help but feel amazed.

He didn’t expect technology to progress at a rate far beyond his imagination; he would have never imagined the military to have this kind of technology.

It had been a month since he was discharged from the hospital and put into the aerospace forces.

This past month had been more rewarding than anything he had ever done.

He saw weapons he had never heard of before, pieces of equipment that he didn’t know existed, and was even taught secret combat tactics.

According to his instructors, they were the world’s most technologically advanced military base.

Both the requirements for deployment speed and scope of the aerospace forces were far higher than traditional marine and army troops.

They had extremely strict requirements for survival ability and physical fitness.

Their role was to quickly cross the front line during combat and perform precise strikes on important enemy targets. During peaceful times, they had to protect important facilities and dignitaries.

Apparently, their training tactics were developed by several professors at the National Defence University. And that this was the first time the training plan was put to use.

While Li Gaoliang was reciting the training outline in his head, a military officer in camouflage walked in front of them.

“Attention!”

“Yes, sir!”

The officer looked at the row of soldiers and nodded.

“Drill exercise begins in ten minutes.

“I hope you all have done your studies, so I won’t waste our time.

“I just have one thing to say. The faster you are, the more likely you will survive. Be ruthless, treat this drill like a real war!

“Now, tell me, what’s our first code of conduct!”

Li Gaoliang and his teammates standing behind him yelled, “To never surrender and evade capture!”

The officer standing in front of the soldiers shouted, “Let’s go!”

The soldiers began moving.

A total of twenty people were divided into five groups. They boarded the Thunderbird aerospaceplane in an orderly manner.

Li Gaoliang sat in the cabin seat and connected the life support system to his combat uniform. He then counted down in his heart and waited patiently.

Soon, he felt a gentle vibration from his chair, shaking his entire body.

Vehicles near the aerospaceplane have been evacuated. With the ground command center’s guidance, the Thunderbird slowly accelerated on the runway and took off.

A beam of hot blue plasma was ejected from the engine as the aircraft flew toward deep space.

Li Gaoliang looked at the clouds outside the window and took a deep breath.

They would reach low-Earth orbit in half an hour.

And from there, they would complete the world’s highest skydiving record…

A teammate’s voice was heard in the communication channel.

“Jesus, this is my first time flying this high.”

“We’re at 20 kilometers right now… Already above the limit of normal planes.”

“This is my first time skydiving at this altitude.”

“What if your parachute doesn’t open?”

“Shut up!”

For most people sitting in the cabin, this was their first time flying at such high altitudes. They were bound to feel a little nervous.

Therefore, Li Gaoliang didn’t stop his teammates from chatting.

Most of the time, chatting was a way to relieve pressure and nerves. Even though he preferred to close his eyes and rest his mind, other people coped in different ways.

Li Gaoliang looked away from the window and shut his eyes.

In order to perform his best, he wanted to meditate for a while.

However, one of his teammates talked to him.

“Captain, are we going to a space station?”

Li Gaoliang cogitated for a second.

Before the exercise drill, the officer told them they had to transfer to another “airplane” to complete the sky diving exercise, but he didn’t tell them where to transfer.

The Moon Palace was an international scientific research institution, which was obviously inappropriate for military purposes.

As for the other…

Li Gaoliang thought for a second and spoke.

“There’s no space station.

“But we do have a Magpie Bridge.”

…

Li Gaoliang didn’t expect his guess to be correct.

The Thunderbird aerospaceplane slowly approached the dark spacecraft that was the Magpie Bridge.

Due to their distorted sense of distance in space, it wasn’t until the two spacecraft were close enough that Li Gaoliang could finally see that Magpie Bridge he once saw on television.

Of course, this Magpie Bridge was different from the one that traveled between the Earth and Moon every day.

Just like the Thunderbird they were riding on, the “Magpie Bridge” was just its model name.

Its real name was the “Great Wall”.

The Great Wall was China’s first and only carrier-type ship sailing in outer space, just like its name implied, it was defending China’s outermost terrain.

Normally, the Great Wall was cruising outside in synchronous orbit, with four people stationed on duty. But when necessary, it could be used as the aerospace forces headquarters, providing support to all units flying in low-Earth orbit.

The two spacecraft finally completed docking.

Li Gaoliang sighed in relief, but he wasn’t relaxed at all.

Up until now, everything was done by the spacecraft pilots and the ground command center.

Their training mission had only just begun!

Li Gaoliang released the life support system and led his team to the spacecraft connection port, reaching the main cabin of the Great Wall.

Inside the cabin, there were five black pyramid-shaped airborne modules.

Just like their training, everyone boarded the airborne module and checked their weapons and ammunition.

Li Gaoliang tried to control his breathing as he completed his tasks and closed the airborne module door.

The second he closed the door, he heard his commander’s voice through his headset.

“Great Wall is entering orbit!”

“Current altitude is 117.4 kilometers, reaching the target area in two minutes!”

Li Gaoliang started breathing harder and harder.

Even though he couldn’t see outside the cabin, he felt like he was one step from falling out of the Great Wall.

They were 100 kilometers above ground.

There was no sound here.

There wasn’t even air.

However, they could still feel a sense of coldness.

“Target area reached, remember what your mission is!

“Good luck, soldiers!”

Chapter 999: We Can Do It!

Chapter 999 We Can Do It!

Lu Zhou swore that this was the most spectacular fireworks he had ever seen.

Of course, it was also the most expensive one.

The airborne modules descending from the sky were like meteors that flew through the cold night.

Lu Zhou stood next to a military jeep and looked at the airborne modules through binoculars with a look of shock in his eyes.

After a while, he put away the telescope and spoke emotionally.

“… You guys actually made this thing?”

Lu Zhou was the “hostage” in this anti-terrorist training mission. Therefore, he was in the center of the action.

He had a front-row seat to the show.

Lu Zhou still remembered when they tested the escape capsule on the Skyglow test flight.

Back then, Lu Zhou and Director Li went to the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert to select a site for the Garden project. The second Director Li saw the escape capsule, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the thing, and he immediately asked about using it in the army.

Due to various reasons, Lu Zhou didn’t give him high hopes. He told the director that this thing was equivalent to a space return module with an engine. If the director could handle the costs, he was free to try it out.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect Director Li to actually consult an expert and create a military-use escape capsule.

Director Li stood next to Lu Zhou, also with a telescope around his neck. He smiled and spoke.

“Haha, I didn’t expect you to be surprised, it seems like the couple hundred million was well spent.”

“… Couple hundred million?”

“Yeah, that was the research and development cost.” Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Actually, when the Air Force Equipment Department talked to me about this, I was even more surprised than you.

“When this project was initially proposed, not many people were optimistic about it. I thought it was worth a try. I didn’t expect the academicians from the Air Force Equipment Research Institute actually made this thing.”

Lu Zhou: “This thing isn’t cheap, right?”

Director Li nodded and said, “It’s not cheap. Nothing military related is cheap. Fortunately, the aerospace costs aren’t high, and the cost of sending people to space is acceptable. Basically, an escape module is about the cost of a medium-range missile, and missiles are one-time use.

“Also, that’s just the module itself. If you add the accessories and equipment mounted to the module, it’s worth two missiles.”

After more than two years of development, the military version of the escape capsule had many advantages over the original “Lightning” capsule.

Just like its name implied, compared to the “Lightning” module, which emphasized on capacity and survivability of crew members, the “Thunder” module emphasized on its airborne tactical abilities.

The best kind of defense was offense. When the module was 50 meters off the ground, it would activate smoke bombs to stealth its landing. It could also discharge explosives and metal fragments for further damage.

The “Thunder” escape capsule also had less food, medicine, and survival tool storage than the Lightning escape capsule. The maximum number of occupants was also decreased from six to four people.

Director Li spoke emotionally.

“But… even though it’s a bit expensive, the value we’re getting from the airborne module is equivalent to 10 medium-range missiles!”

While they were talking, the airborne capsule descending from the sky had landed on a hill two kilometers away, releasing a cloud of smoke.

Lu Zhou felt the vibration of the ground as he spoke to Yan Yan, who was standing next to the jeep.

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t I act like I’m hurt and lie down on the ground?”

Yan Yan smiled and said, “You can, do you want me to help you?”

Lu Zhou looked at his shirt.

“Never mind, I like this shirt.”

Director Li suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, if something does happen… Your life is more important than your shirt.”

Lu Zhou: “… I know.”

While they were talking, the group of soldiers armed with rifles already arrived at their target area, surrounding the jeep and everyone around it.

“The Thunder squad has reached the target area, target personnel is safe!

“Continue to the next exercise!

“Roger that.”

Lu Zhou felt like the captain’s voice sounded familiar, but because the soldiers were covered in gear, he couldn’t tell who the captain was.

Lu Zhou could sense the captain looking at him.

Lu Zhou smiled at him and didn’t interrupt their exercise. He watched as the group of soldiers disappeared into the woods.

It took 49 minutes and 27 seconds from launch for the airborne soldiers to arrive at the hostage area.

On the battlefield, time was everything. Even a 10-minute difference in evacuation time could change the entire battle.

The officer standing next to Lu Zhou looked at his watch and nodded with approval.

“It’s a lucky day. If it were raining, we would be in trouble.”

Lu Zhou: “It already feels like trouble.”

“Oh yeah.”

Director Li looked at the flares falling from the sky and nodded.

“Even the Americans can’t send a team of soldiers anywhere in the world in under an hour…

“But we can!”

Chapter 1000: Temporary Suspension

Chapter 1000 Temporary Suspension

While the anti-terrorism exercise was underway, China was going through the middle of the night.

However, on the other side of the planet, it was noon in North America.

Normally, most of the Pentagon employees would be enjoying a cup of coffee, sitting in their air-conditioned office, or chatting with their colleagues about international politics or the game on Saturday…

However, today was different.

From eight o’clock in the morning until now, the entire Pentagon was like a tightly wound music box; everyone walked around briskly with tension in the air.

The reason for this was because of the anti-terrorism “exercise” that was happening tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Inside a conference room in the Pentagon, a wall covered in screens was displaying satellite images taken from the Okinawa base in Japan. Even though the escape modules flying through the sky could only be seen as a glimpse of light, the landing impact area was clearly visible…

Everyone in the conference room looked at the screens and held their breaths.

After a minute or so, the president spoke.

“Play it back…”

The Secretary of Defense nodded toward a worker, who took a deep breath and pressed a button.

The video began to play on the screen.

Everyone in the conference room witnessed the escape module breaking through the atmosphere, releasing a cloud of smoke on its impact.

Even though they were thousands of kilometers away, it was as if they could smell the smoke through the screen…

After a while, NASA Director Carson spoke.

“F*ck sake! Terrorism exercises my as*… What kind of terrorism exercise uses this kind of equipment?”

Of course, he was angry.

But for some reason, the entire conference room became silent. Several senior officials looked at each other, including the president.

Director Carson noticed this silence, so he paused for a second and remained quiet.

After a long time, Kevin, the Chief of Staff, broke the silence.

“The people inside the capsule didn’t die, this is impossible…”

The Pentagon aerospace expert pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “The speed of the airborne capsule through the low altitude was fast, but its speed upon landing is actually not that fast. The smoke is likely not due to the impact. It was probably due to weapons, such as smoke bombs—”

The president interrupted the aerospace expert and spoke.

“Is the analysis report done? About the equipment identification.”

The Pentagon’s Defence Minister and Intelligence Chief looked at each other. The Intelligence Chief spoke.

“The report is out…”

Soon after, a report was delivered to the conference room.

The president took the report and began reading it line by line.

Time quickly passed by.

Everyone was waiting for him to finish reading the report.

Kevin was sitting next to the president. He felt like the president’s fingers were trembling.

Actually, Kevin was right.

Even the President himself didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling.

Less than 50 minutes of flight time.

Theoretically, this capsule could deploy to any corner of the world within an hour. Whether it was Antarctica or the Amazon forest, the White House or the Pentagon…

There was no place on planet Earth that was safe. Any office building could be broken into at any moment.

More importantly, these paratroopers could bypass any legal airspace!

This sounded a little scary…

Somehow, the conference room went into chaos.

“It’s time to create strict international conventions to limit this evil weapon. We should increase our airspace altitude! We should also expand the international treaty and prohibit unconventional weapons entering outer space orbit! Not a single bullet should be allowed in space!”

“Are you crazy? Our airspace altitude limit is only 35 kilometers! You want to raise it higher? Even if we do raise it, what can we possibly do if they disobey our laws? It’s not like our missiles can reach their spacecraft.”

Airspace altitudes were not strictly defined by international laws. Generally speaking, the lowest airspace height for a recognized satellite was 100 kilometers. In the United States, the upper limit for aircraft was 35 kilometers. After all, America had aircraft that could go beyond 35 kilometers, allowing them to “legally” fly over certain areas.

However, anything beyond 110 kilometers wasn’t bound by international laws.

Even if the most advanced air defense radar could detect aircraft traveling in this area, the means of enforcing this law were quite limited.

Forget about a spacecraft that could maneuver and change the trajectory.

Even hitting a stationary satellite at that altitude would be difficult.

It was almost impossible for them to stop the aerospace paratroopers.

“Are we just going to let them patrol over our heads? China is provoking us! We should take the necessary responses!”

“But that won’t ease any political tensions, it will only make it worse!”

“Make it worse? So we’re supposed to just surrender?”

The conference room was a mess. The workers split into two sides, yelling in each other’s faces.

“Enough!”

An angry roar interrupted the argument in the room.

The president slammed the report on the table and looked around the conference room. He then looked at his Chief of Staff and spoke.

“Kevin, I want to hear your opinion.”

Kevin went silent for a while.

“… Their military exercise is not necessarily directed at us.

“According to the CIA, this exercise might be for Professor Lu’s visit to St. Petersburg in August. It’s for them to respond as quickly as possible in an event of an unlikely scenario.”

The Secretary of Defense frowned.

“He’s visiting Russia?”

Kevin nodded.

“Yeah, apparently, he’s attending the ICM conference.”

Secretary of Defense: “…”

Pentagon officials: “…”

Even though they knew how important Professor Lu was to the Chinese government, they couldn’t believe that the Chinese were willing to provide military support for a scholar attending a conference…

They had no idea what to say.

Kevin looked at the president and spoke.

“According to the CIA’s report, this is a good opportunity to get rid of any tension between the two countries… My suggestion is to stay cautious before we find out more about their intentions.”

“I know this,” the President said impatiently. He noticed that everyone was looking at him, so he spoke.

“Of course, just in case, I’ll call the CIA director.”

Half of the people in the conference room were relieved.

Even though Kevin was relieved, he didn’t show any emotion.

Ever since the Cold War, America had been a super country. But now, they were the ones who were worried about other countries.

Kevin smiled bitterly and nodded.

“That would be wise…”

Chapter 1001: State Scholar

Chapter 1001 State Scholar

Beijing.

Inside a faculty apartment at Yan University, two old men were sitting in the living room, drinking tea while chatting.

Because they were both academician level mathematicians, their conversation was naturally about mathematics.

The IMO competition recently came to an end. Academician Xiang Huanan began to talk about China’s performance with a smile on his face.

“First prize in group competition, 5 gold medals, and a silver. Someone even got full marks. Academician Wang, your team did quite well!”

Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and waved his hand.

“Pft, it has nothing to do with me, Professor Yang is more involved with the competition. I went to a couple of training, but I didn’t really help too much. Also, it’s also mainly due to the students’ abilities, they’re all talented in mathematics research. The mathematics center is just a venue for them to learn.”

Even though the old man tried to not take any credit, it was obvious he was still quite proud of how the students did.

At his age, it was impossible for him to produce any mathematics achievements. Ever since he retired as the chairman of the China Mathematics Society, he hadn’t conducted any mathematics research.

Yang Yongan was the teacher that led the IMO competition and one of Wang Shicheng’s proudest students.

Thus, Wang Shicheng was obviously pleased that his student was able to lead the Chinese mathematics Olympic team to success.

When you reached a certain age, money and materialistic things wouldn’t matter anymore. Leaving a legacy behind was more rewarding than anything else.

“You’re too humble. They are talented, but cultivating them is still important, right?” Xiang Huanan smiled and said, “But honestly, it’s getting harder and harder to win. 5 gold medals aren’t bad at all.”

“Yeah.” Wang Shicheng nodded and said, “The environment now is totally different. Education of the basic sciences is supported by the state and society. Things are a lot more competitive. I’m happy we were able to achieve this result.”

Basic scientific education didn’t directly affect a country’s scientific research abilities, but any country with a strong scientific research background also needed strong fundamentals.

Especially when it came to mathematics.

Knowledge wasn’t shared through books or hard disks; it was shared by people.

“You’re right.” Xiang Huanan sighed and said, “Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Professor Lu. He has inspired thousands of people to enter this field. I’ve been to many elementary schools and kindergartens, and when I ask the kids why they want to be a scientist, they all say Professor Lu—”

“Pff!”

Wang Shicheng suddenly spat out a mouthful of tea. Xiang Huanan paused for a second and quickly handed him some tissue.

“What happened? Did you choke? You should be careful, we’re getting old now.”

“…”

Wang Shicheng’s face turned red, he wanted to say something, but his throat was still hurting.

This old b*stard!

Just a second ago you were praising Yan University, now you’re kissing Academician Lu’s as*…

Wang Shicheng patted his chest for a while and tried to catch his breath. He wiped his mouth with a tissue and spoke while panting.

“Nothing, go on.”

Xiang Huanan looked at this old man and felt something was strange.

He shook his head and was about to continue speaking, but he suddenly rubbed his head awkwardly and said, “Wait a second, what was I talking about?”

Wang Shicheng: “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“Fine, it wasn’t important anyway. Damn, my memory!” Xiang Huanan then said, “Speaking of which, I nearly forgot something. There was a kid that got full marks, right? What is his name?”

Wang Shicheng: “Li Mo.”

“Li Mo? Interesting name.” Xiang Huanan smiled and said, “Looks like he’s going to get a lot of training at Yan University.”

Wang Shicheng’s eyebrows twitched.

“He didn’t apply to Yan University…”

F*ck sake!

Can’t you talk about something else?!

Did this old man come here just to piss me off?

Xiang Huanan didn’t expect this kid to refuse Yan University’s invitation.

“He didn’t apply? No way? Did he… go to Shuimu?”

Wang Shicheng snapped, “Jinling!”

His worst regret was letting Professor Lu visit the mathematics center at Yan University. Not only did Professor Lu poach away Chen Yang, but he also poached an IMU gold medalist!

Screw this!

Screw that Lu Zhou kid!

Xiang Huanan nodded. He rubbed his beard and spoke.

“Jinling… Jinling is pretty good, Professor Lu is there. Anything is better than going to a temple and praying all day.”

Back in the 2006 IMO, student Liu from China and Schultz from Germany both won gold medals with perfect scores. However, one of them was now a Fields Medal-winning scholar, one of the most likely scholars to surpass Faltings. The other was drawn to Buddhism, never to be seen or heard again.

Whenever Xiang Huanan thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel agonized.

Xiang Huanan had met the young kid before; he had even argued with Wang Shicheng about the kid, claiming that Yan University ruined a good talent.

While the two men were thinking about separate things, it was time for a noon repast.

As usual, Wang Shicheng turned on the news channel while he ate.

The international news began showing precisely at 12 o’clock.

The news anchor sitting in the studio began with some opening remarks, and soon, the anchor talked about today’s first international news story.

And this story was obviously about the anti-terrorism military training “exercise”.

Wang Shicheng, who was sitting at the dining table, looked at the scene on the television, watching the airborne capsule falling from the sky. He had a look of comfort in his eyes, but he soon sighed with melancholy.

“I can no longer keep up with the times. When I heard about the aerospace forces on television, I had no idea what it was. But now, in less than two years, they were able to conduct a real-life exercise drill in space.”

“That’s what happens when you get older,” Xiang Huanan said. He looked at the television and suddenly remembered something, and he said, “Speaking of which, I heard a rumor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.”

Wang Shicheng: “What rumor?”

Xiang Huanan: “Apparently, this exercise drill was for Academician Lu’s visit to Russia for the ICM conference… But I think this rumor is quite unreliable. Qian Xuesen also traveled internationally back in the day, and the international tensions back then were way worse. He didn’t receive this kind of treatment. I just feel like this is unnecessary.”

Academician Lu again…

Today was the third time Wang Shicheng heard this annoying name.

However, this time, he didn’t react at all; he didn’t even comment on this matter.

After a moment of silence, the old man spoke.

“Never has there ever been a scholar that has received such treatment…”

Not to mention that Lu Zhou wasn’t a scientist, he was a mathematician.

Even though Wang Shicheng hated this person, he still acknowledged that Lu Zhou deserved this kind of reception.

“It’s just a rumor, take it with a grain of salt. But this kid is quite nutty. It’s a shame he didn’t come to the Chinese Academy of Sciences!” Xiang Huanan said as he looked at Wang Shicheng, “Speaking of which, I’m sure you’re invited to this year’s ICM. You didn’t go to the one in Brazil, are you going this time?”

It would be a shame if someone missed the opportunity to attend the ICM.

It only happened once every four years; no one knew how many opportunities this old man would have.

But if I go, I would have to see that imperious face…

Wang Shicheng hesitated for a second before clenching his jaw and nodding.

“I’m going! I have an invitation, why shouldn’t I go?”

Even though he detested that Lu Zhou guy.

But having the opportunity to witness China’s mathematics community flourish on the international stage…

That… would put a smile on my face.

Chapter 1002: Turn to the Dark Side

Chapter 1002 Turn to the Dark Side

China informed the international community about the military drill, long before the anti-terrorism exercise mission began.

However, most people heard about the aerospace forces “special exercise drill” the day after the exercise drill was finished.

In addition to letting the airborne troops test the newly installed “Thunder” airborne module, the other mission objective was to deter and scare enemies.

In order to fully portray the “jump of the century” on camera, CTV news reporters responsible for covering the story made great efforts to capture every moment.

Not only did they use cinematic shooting techniques and editing, but they also captured various angles of the airborne capsule breaking through the atmosphere by placing cameras inside the capsule.

Unsurprisingly, the results were quite amazing.

The news anchor made a brief introduction, followed by a half-minute video of the launch process, capturing everyone’s attention.

As the video showed the airborne capsule being “released” from outer space, then breaking through the atmosphere, people’s eyes were glued to their televisions.

There was no need for any special effects.

It looked like someone out of a blockbuster movie!

The close-up shots of the airborne capsule hitting the ground, as well as the airborne soldiers appearing out of the cloud of smoke, was like the climax of a movie!

Because of this, halfway through the broadcast, the discussions already began flooding in on the Internet.

[What the f*ck! Outer space soldiers? When did the aerospace forces get this nutty?!]

[I’m shook! Is this really a real-life exercise? It’s not a movie? I gotta go smoke a cigarette and calm down.]

[Our future is in the stars!!!]

[This is something out of a Mission Impossible movie!]

[I’m guessing Amazon is thinking about how to use this technology for world-wide delivery in under an hour!]

[Looks like NASA is going to go crazy, they’ve stayed quiet all day. It’s like the aerospace stock market was hit with a tornado.]

No one knew that the Air Force Equipment Department had this kind of technology up their sleeves.

Global deployment in under an hour.

Airborne at an altitude of 110 kilometers.

Until a few hours ago, this sounded like a ridiculous concept, something out of a science fiction movie.

Even after seeing the video with their own eyes, some people still couldn’t believe this was real.

Their common sense told them that this was just a “commercial” for the next upcoming science-fiction blockbuster…

It made sense that they felt this way.

The editing done on the video didn’t look like a news story at all; it looked like a movie clip.

If they added some background music, the clip could totally be used as an advertisement for the aerospace forces.

Speaking of which, some people downloaded the video, added some background music, and uploaded it to YouTube. It received millions of views within a day.

Some foreigners asked in the comments section which movie the clip was from.

This video traveled from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, until people finally realized that this wasn’t a movie at all…

In addition to the half-minute video featuring the 20 orbital paratrooper soldiers, the CTV reporters also recorded B-roll footage of the “Thunderbird aerospaceplane”, as well as the “Great Wall” space carrier.

The “Thunder” capsule descending from the sky deterred people with bad intentions.

On the other hand, it also destroyed many conspiracies.

If China had a team of soldiers that could arrive at any location on Earth within an hour, no one would have enough time to react…

Thus, when faced with such an opponent, there were many things that had to be reconsidered…

…

Time quickly flew by.

It was already mid-July.

After the exercise mission ended, Lu Zhou left the training base and went back home. He dedicated almost all of his time to researching Riemann’s hypothesis.

Even though no one was pressuring him to create any breakthroughs, the closer it got to August, the more Lu Zhou felt like he was approaching a deadline.

This never happened to him before.

Even though he had made significant progress, he was still stuck in the same spot.

He sat in his study room and downloaded the latest research from the analytic number theory section on arXiv. He closed his browser and was about to begin today’s research.

However, a text bubble appeared on the lower right corner of his screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail! (✿゚▽゚)]

Lu Zhou: “Open it for me… Also, bring a cup of coffee to the study room.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

It seemed like Xiao Ai had an infinite amount of energy.

Lu Zhou smiled at the message and could feel his mood going up.

His eyes turned toward the screen, and he recognized the email address. It was the high school student he met at the Yan University mathematics center.

Speaking of which, it was already mid-July. Even though Lu Zhou didn’t pay close attention to the competition, he still heard that the competition had ended.

Li Mo: [Sir! I got a gold medal, you promised me, I’m your student now!]

Gold medal?

This kid’s not bad.

Lu Zhou remembered he only casually made the promise to make the kid go away; he didn’t expect the kid to actually win a gold medal.

I don’t really like his arrogant attitude, but anyone that wins an IMO gold medal is worth cultivating.

Lu Zhou pondered for a second and wrote a reply.

[Apply to Jin Ling University.]

He finished typing and clicked send.

Lu Zhou was about to close his email when he saw another email appear in his mailbox.

[Okay, teacher! Oh yeah, what books should I read for the summer? I plan on preparing for university classes.]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t want to reply, he still sent a reply.

[Just go twiddle your thumbs.]

Li Mo: [… ???]

Lu Zhou sighed and typed another reply.

[Take your time and enjoy yourself. These two months are going to be the best days of your life. You’ll have plenty of time to read books once you are in university. Do something out of your element, go traveling or something.]

The same thing happened to Lu Zhou.

Ever since he entered university campus, it was like his life did a 180-degree change; he hadn’t truly taken a break in years.

Of course, Lu Zhou loved what he was doing, research was his favorite thing to do.

However, occasionally, he would feel nostalgic about his carefree days.

Li Mo: [Okay, teacher! I don’t understand why, but I’ll listen to your advice!]

Lu Zhou nodded his head with approval.

Not bad, a bit cocky, but at least he’s obedient.

He was about to close his email and get back to research when he suddenly remembered something important. Thus, he sent another email.

[Oh yeah, try not to visit spiritual and religious countries.]

Li Mo: [Why?]

Lu Zhou: [You might turn to the dark side and leave mathematics.]

Li Mo: […?]

Chapter 1003: What Has to Come Will Come

Chapter 1003 What Has to Come Will Come

What has to come will come.

The last day of July.

Even though every pore in Lu Zhou’s body was yelling no, he still stopped his research and began packing as he prepared for the International Congress of Mathematicians at St. Petersburg.

As for the 60-minute report, after some thinking, he finally decided on making a brief summary regarding his work on the Riemann zeta function over the past few years and uploaded the thesis to the International Congress of Mathematicians website.

In fact, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Whether it was a 45-minute report or a 60-minute report, these conference reports weren’t held specifically for ground-breaking results. It was more to give scholars a platform to present the progress they had made over the past couple of years.

After all, for most areas of mathematics, especially number theory, it was nearly impossible to consistently produce ground-breaking research.

It was naive to think that hard work and discipline guaranteed good research.

“Xiao Ai, should I bring a jacket?”

It was still summer in Jinling. Lu Zhou even felt hot wearing a t-shirt, but he heard St. Petersburg was starting to get cold.

The drone dangling next to Lu Zhou began to display a string of text on its screen.

Xiao Ai: [St. Petersburg is located at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, situated at 59° N. The temperature during August is between 13 and 20 Celsius. Even though it is not too cold, I recommend Master bringing a windbreaker of a leather jacket. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

“Oh, I see… I’ll bring this trench coat then.”

Lu Zhou looked at his fully packed suitcase and contemplated for a second. He then pulled out a couple of t-shirts from his suitcase and stuffed in a black trench coat.

He still remembered wearing this coat when he received an award in Berlin.

That was a long time ago; he didn’t expect this coat to still fit him so well.

Lu Zhou sighed and felt a little emotional.

I guess the saying that “whoever proves the Riemann hypothesis will be immortal” is true.

He had already proven a weaker form of Riemann’s hypothesis, the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. Logically speaking, that should make him at least a half-immortal.

While Lu Zhou was day-dreaming, the small display floating next to him began to flash.

Xiao Ai: [Master, video call request, the IP address is from North America. ~(•̀∀•́)]

Is it Xiao Tong?

Or Vera?

Without asking who the video call was from, Lu Zhou said, “Pick up the call.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

The drone screen began to display a video call interface.

Lu Zhou instantly recognized the person on the screen. He was slightly surprised.

“Wei Wen?”

“Professor…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Why did you suddenly decide to call me?”

“I have some things I want to ask about…” Wei Wen awkwardly said. He noticed Lu Zhou’s half-packed suitcase, so he curiously asked, “Are you going to the ICM in St. Petersburg?”

“Yeah, I have to do an hour report there… Speaking of which, how have you been? Qin Yue said you’re a lecturer at the MIT materials science department, do you like it there?”

For some reason, Wei Wen suddenly looked a little distraught.

He sighed and shook his head.

“It’s not going well, can we not talk about it… I’m about to be unemployed.”

Unemployed?

Lu Zhou stood up and looked at Wei Wen through the small display. He frowned and asked, “What’s going on? Are you… in trouble?”

Lu Zhou had the impression that Wei Wen was quite a talented guy, with outstanding mathematical modeling abilities. Ever since Wei Wen transferred to the computational materials science field, he had been totally killing it. Apparently, he had already published three papers in major journals.

Lu Zhou had no idea why MIT would want to get rid of such an excellent scholar.

Not to mention, he was Lu Zhou’s ex-student…

There’s no way he’s on the verge of unemployment, right?

Wei Wen knew that Lu Zhou was confused, so he asked, “Are you on a retreat again?”

Lu Zhou said, “Sort of… Why?”

“Nothing, there’s something going on right now…” Wei Wen sighed and said, “I’m not the only one in trouble, all of the Chinese scholars at MIT are not having a good time…”

Wei Wen spent five minutes giving Lu Zhou a brief explanation.

Apparently, at the beginning of July, the White House suddenly issued a special bill signed by the president, which requested the embassy to tighten the visa restrictions.

On the surface, it would seem like an MIT mathematics professor would be unaffected.

However, after the bill was signed, MIT, Stanford, and other major universities suddenly changed their attitude toward Chinese lecturers and professors. Not only did they reduce their scientific funding, but they also reduced their lecture hours.

Even scholars that had worked in the United States for decades but hadn’t gotten citizenship were severely affected.

Apparently, the reason this happened was that someone from the FBI interviewed the board of directors of major universities. Even though they hadn’t been fired yet, these rumors made the professors and lecturers feel uneasy.

“Actually, I saw some signs two years ago, but I didn’t expect it to come to this.”

Lu Zhou said, “What do you mean?”

Wei Wen sighed and said, “The MIT global admission standards are based on academic ability, personality traits, and diversity. But there haven’t been any Chinese students admitted in the past two years. In fact, the universities have been mistreating us since a long time ago.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “That seems unusual.”

Even though there was no explicit rule prohibiting Chinese students, over the past two years, there hadn’t been a single Chinese student that was admitted to Stanford or MIT. The few Chinese students that were admitted, were born in America.

And it seemed like MIT had exacerbated this problem.

“The academic environment is becoming more and more unfriendly. It wasn’t like this a decade ago. A while ago, I was talking with a Chinese materials science professor about this. China’s achievements in nuclear fusion and aerospace have triggered the Americans.

“Especially after the Ares program disaster last year, the Americans were in shambles. I can even feel the students being discriminatory toward me when I give lectures.”

Wei Wen sounded hurt.

“Now, there are rumors in the academic community that Congress is going to issue a stricter bill, so everyone’s feeling anxious. I don’t know how long I can stay here, I might even get fired tomorrow.”

Lu Zhou: “You’re a mathematics researcher, are you also affected by this?”

“I mean, my research isn’t pure mathematics. I work with the materials science laboratory. Someone even suspected I was a Chinese spy.” Wei Wen shook his head and said, “What kind of spy helps them clean experimental data and do research… Sigh, if it weren’t for my in-progress research, I would want to quit myself.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a while. He then said, “You can always come back to Jinling. The academic environment is pretty good. What’s your salary like? I promise to match it.”

Before video calling Lu Zhou, Wei Wen had seriously considered going back to China.

However, for some reason, after he heard Lu Zhou’s offer, he began to hesitate.

After a couple of seconds, he clenched his jaw and spoke.

“Thanks…

“But I want to produce some good research first, at least get into the Thousand Talents Plan.”

Even though he was being closely monitored in America, which would make it difficult for him to produce any research results, he still didn’t want to give up this easily.

After all, if he came back to China having achieved nothing at all…

He would feel a little regretful.

Lu Zhou was worried about his student, but he knew why Wei Wen was doing this. He nodded and spoke.

“Then you have to be careful, you’re all the way across the Pacific Ocean. If you get into trouble, it’s hard for me to help you.”

Wei Wen nodded and said, “Thank you!”

Chapter 1004: Iron Curtain Is Falling

Chapter 1004 Iron Curtain Is Falling

After ending the call, Lu Zhou continued to pack his suitcase. However, this time, the small display floating next to him began to flash.

Xiao Ai: [Master, when you were video calling just now, it seemed like someone was spying on you guys. ( ́◔‸◔’)]

Lu Zhou: [… Spying?]

Xiao Ai: [Yes! When the video call data was transmitted to North America, it was received by more than one IP address. Xiao Ai sent a series of encrypted data to the IP and received a response just now. There was more than one person listening in on the call.]

Does this mean we were spied on?

“Oh, I see…”

Even though Lu Zhou had expected something like this to happen, he still felt a little shocked.

A few years ago, when he was back at Princeton, the academic environment was totally different. He didn’t expect it to deteriorate so quickly.

It seemed like it was a smart choice for him to return to China.

Staying in Princeton for another year could have meant trouble for him, especially with the FBI.

Xiao Ai: [Xiao Ai has found the intruder, should Xiao Ai install a backdoor?]

Lu Zhou immediately said, “No it’s fine, it’s not something we should worry about.”

Hacking a server was easy.

However, hacking into an American server would be risky.

If the other party found out that something fishy was installed on their computer, Lu Zhou would be fine, but his students wouldn’t have a good time.

Even though Lu Zhou was confident in his information technology abilities, when it came to hacking and cybersecurity, the FBI and CIA were kings.

Even Xiao Ai wouldn’t be able to fight against them.

There was no upside to hacking the server, it would be risk without reward.

Lu Zhou thought about Wei Wen’s situation and went silent for a while. He took out his phone and called Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense, giving him a brief explanation of the situation.

For the scholars in America, this was a disaster.

However, this could benefit China.

If they could formulate some kind of attractive policy for talent attraction, they could seize on this opportunity. There had to be a ton of Chinese scholars who were willing to return to China.

It seemed like Wei Wen was describing McCarthyism on the rise, and that the freedom of academics was being challenged…

Lu Zhou felt powerless.

…

Early August.

On a flight from Beijing to Russia.

Lu Zhou boarded the plane and watched Wang Peng put his luggage in the storage. He happened to bump into quite a special individual.

This individual was also sitting in the first class.

The two made eye contact.

At last, Lu Zhou spoke first with a friendly smile.

“What a coincidence.”

It was like Wang Shicheng had just snapped back to reality, his mouth twitched as he quickly smiled.

“… Oh yeah, what a coincidence… Hahaha.”

What are the odds!

Not only are we on the same flight, but our seats are right next to each other!

How did I not see him when I was boarding?

If he noticed that Lu Zhou was also on this flight, he would have refunded his ticket and went on another flight instead!

It was too late to change seats. Wang Shicheng hesitated for a bit before sitting down next to Lu Zhou.

Under the guidance of the flight attendant, he buckled up his seat belt and closed his eyes, waiting for the plane to take off.

He thought he could sleep peacefully through this flight, but Lu Zhou took the initiative and spoke to him.

“Academician Wang, you’re also going to St. Petersburg for the conference?”

“Yeah,” Wang Shicheng said. He didn’t really want to converse, but he couldn’t help but say, “The IMU asked me to do a 45-minute report, so I decided to go.”

Wang Shicheng was far beyond the prime age of mathematics research, so it was quite impressive for the International Mathematical Union to still invite him to give a report.

This shows that the international mathematics community hadn’t forgotten his research contributions. This delighted the old man.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Oh, I see, congratulations.”

Wang Shicheng looked at Lu Zhou’s face and felt annoyed.

What a fake person!

We all know you’re doing a 60-minute report!

You just want to humblebrag, right?

Haha, I’m not giving you the chance!

Hence, Wang Shicheng purposefully ignored asking what Lu Zhou was doing at the ICM. He smiled and began to change the subject.

“How about you? How’s your research on Riemann’s hypothesis going?”

Lu Zhou looked a little sorrowful.

“It’s a bit unfortunate, it hasn’t been going well.”

It really was unfortunate.

He had been busy all year, and he barely had any time to work on Riemann’s hypothesis. If he had spent all his time researching Riemann’s hypothesis instead, he might have been able to produce some beautiful theorems.

However, Lu Zhou’s words were like music to Academician Wang’s ears.

Haha!

Sucks to be you.

Even though there was nothing embarrassing about not being able to prove Riemann’s hypothesis, Lu Zhou boasted about not doing the sixty-minute report if he didn’t solve Riemann’s hypothesis.

I look forward to your report.

Wang Shicheng pretended to be surprised as he spoke.

“Oh, really? I heard you say that you wouldn’t do the report at St. Petersburg unless you made some outstanding results. I thought you might have solved Riemann’s hypothesis already… I guess you didn’t… That’s just unfortunate.”

Wang Shicheng was clearly trying to be passive aggressive.

However, he did too good of an acting job. Lu Zhou wasn’t offended at all.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Yeah, it is unfortunate… I didn’t plan on coming, but I couldn’t refuse.”

“… Why not?”

For some reason, Wang Shicheng had a bad feeling about this.

As expected, Lu Zhou had a cheeky smile on his face.

This smile…

Was way too familiar to him.

“Yeah,” Lu Zhou awkwardly scratched his head and said, “they want to… give me an award.”

Wang Shicheng: “…”

Chapter 1005: Taken Advantage Of?

Chapter 1005 Taken Advantage Of?

After nearly ten hours of flying, the plane landed smoothly at the St. Petersburg airport. The passengers began to unbuckle their seat belts, ready to get off the plane.

Yang Yongan dragged his suitcase as he watched Lu Zhou walk away. He looked at his supervisor and carefully asked.

“Teacher, are you… not friends with Academician Lu?”

He noticed something back in Beijing. The look on Academician Wang’s face confirmed his speculations.

Because of this, he didn’t dare to get close to Lu Zhou, in fear of angering his supervisor.

After all, he was from Yan University. Even though he had a good relationship with Academician Lu, as a scholar of Yan University, it was better for him to please his supervisor instead.

Even though throughout that flight Wang Shicheng wanted to throw Lu Zhou off the plane, he still tried to deny everything.

“No, of course not! Who told you that? Don’t say that.”

Yang Yongan: “…”

Jesus, judging from his tone, it sounds like he’s lying!

Wang Shicheng looked at Yang Yongan silently for a second before he sighed and spoke in a warm tone, “There are some things you don’t have to worry about. I’m not particularly fond of him, but you guys are both millennials. You should try to form a good relationship with him, it’ll help you in the future.”

There was nothing else Academician Wang wanted to say.

Yang Yongan felt relieved.

Of course, he didn’t show it on the surface. He had a look of understanding on his face as he nodded.

“I understand, teacher.”

Prior to this, he worried that his teacher, and even the entire Yan University, had disliked Academician Lu. He worried that if he had tried to be friends with Academician Lu, it would stab him in the back.

However, it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all.

His supervisor only disliked Academician Lu on a personal level, he didn’t bring his personal matters into work.

What Yang Yongan didn’t know was that his supervisor actually despised Academician Lu. However, due to various reasons, his supervisor had to bow down to Academician Lu.

After all, Lu Zhou’s influence went far beyond mathematics and academia; it was at the national or even international level.

For scholars like him, who had gone far beyond the academic field, there was no such thing as belonging to a school of thought.

When it came to him…

He was his own school of thought.

…

Fortunately, Wang Shicheng didn’t exit the airport with Lu Zhou, otherwise, he would be in a wave of embarrassment.

In fact, when Lu Zhou exited the airport with Wang Peng, he himself was even shocked.

Outside the airport, more than a dozen black cars were parked on the curbside. A familiar-looking Russian guy took off his sunglasses and came forward with his arms wide open. He had a friendly smile on his face as he hugged Lu Zhou.

“Haha, welcome my friend, Academician Lu! Welcome to Russia! Do you still remember me?”

Lu Zhou shook his hand after breaking away from the hug and smiled.

“Hello, Mr. Georgiev… That’s quite an enthusiastic greeting.”

“I told you, if you ever come to visit Moscow, I will give you the most magnificent welcoming ceremony… This is St. Petersburg, but it’s close enough.” Georgiev smiled and said, “This is my daughter, Victoria, I believe you’ve met before. This is the Department of Energy—”

“We have met before as well,” Minister Novak said as he extended his right hand. “Welcome.”

With two ministerial officials greeting him, Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed.

“You guys are too kind.”

“This is nothing. Like Mr. Georgiev had said, if you ever get the opportunity to visit Russia, we will pick you up at the airport in person.”

Minister Novak looked at a powerful man in a black suit and said, “Please allow me to introduce you to Maksim from the Federal Security Service, he will be responsible for your safety in Russia.”

The agent named Maksim was quite a taciturn guy, and he spoke concisely, “Hello, Professor Lu. Alpha team has already been stationed in St. Petersburg. Our security team will be responsible for the safety of the ICM conference. We will guarantee the highest safety standard for your academic activities here. If you encounter any security issues, please contact me via this phone.”

Lu Zhou took the retro-style flip phone and handed it to Wang Peng. He then smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Lu Zhou could tell that the Russian security department was meticulously handling the safety of his visit.

After all, Russia wouldn’t want anything to happen to him during his visit.

It would affect their diplomatic relations and many other interests.

After making some small talk with Novak from the Department of Energy, Lu Zhou spoke with Novak about his schedule over the next two days.

“… We will send you to the hotel, and tomorrow morning the team will arrive at the hotel entrance at eight o’clock on the dot… Of course, you can leave anytime you want, preferably before noon.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t sleep in, I’ll arrive on time.”

Minister Novak smiled and said, “Then I hope you have a good time here.”

Before his visit, Russia officials invited him through diplomatic channels to visit the nuclear fusion power station that was under construction in St. Petersburg.

Therefore, in addition to attending the International Congress of Mathematicians, Lu Zhou also had another interesting visit he had to do.

However, that wouldn’t take up too much time, at most half a day’s worth.

Lu Zhou purposely arrived two days before the International Congress of Mathematicians as he wanted to deal with these “trivial” matters before the conference.

Lu Zhou walked to one of the cars and was about to get in. Suddenly, Victoria took half a step forward and gently pressed her hand on the car door. She smirked and looked at Lu Zhou.

“This is our second time meeting, and according to Russian culture, you should give me a hug.”

Lu Zhou: “That’s a thing?”

“Of course!” Victoria smiled flirtatiously and said, “Don’t you want to embrace our culture?”

“…”

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before politely hugging Miss Victoria.

However, the passionate Russian girl had more in mind.

She gave Lu Zhou a gentle kiss on the cheek, and he instantly blushed and flinched. He awkwardly let go and got in the car.

Jesus f*ck, is that Russian culture as well?

I feel like I just got taken advantage of.

That hug felt intense.

Yeah, a bit too intense.

Wang Peng sat shotgun and Lu Zhou sat in the back with Mr. Maksim from the Federal Security Service. Even though Novak told Lu Zhou that Maksim was only a field agent, it was obvious that Maksim was at a much higher ranking than just an agent.

Maksim noticed Lu Zhou had a nervous look on his face, so he smiled and spoke.

“Don’t worry, we will take care of you.”

Lu Zhou forced a smile and said, “I’m not nervous, it’s just that I haven’t traveled in a while… I’m not used to this.”

Maksim shrugged and smiled, displaying his row of white teeth, as he said, “Okay then, let’s talk about something relaxing… What do you think about Miss Victoria?”

Lu Zhou: “… What do you mean?”

“Like that hug.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say. He thought for a second and spoke in an uncertain tone.

“… Like I was struck.”

Maksim smiled and spoke.

“Like struck by lightning? What a creative metaphor, oh Professor Lu, you’re such an interesting person.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

When the f*ck did I say lightning?

Chapter 1006: A Lost Old Friend

Chapter 1006 A Lost Old Friend

After meeting Maksim, Lu Zhou felt a lot less nervous.

He realized that this guy was a pretty interesting person.

Even though Maksim was a professional, he often joked around.

The only problem was that neither of them was very good at English, so communication was a bit confusing at times.

“Are you married? Have a girlfriend?”

“No,” Lu Zhou said. He felt somewhat ashamed, so he said, “It’s not because I can’t find anyone, it’s just that I’m too busy with work, I have no time to date.”

“Ok ok, what about girls in your workplace? You don’t know how to flirt, right? I know how you feel.” Maksim raised his eyebrows and said, “You need to find a place with pretty girls and talk with them… Do you want a recommendation? St. Petersburg has some good places.”

Lu Zhou: “???”

It took an hour to drive from the St. Petersburg International Airport to the Corinthia Hotel. The buildings and statues looked historic and exotic.

However, the closer they drove to the city center, the more modern the scenery became.

All major cities around the world had similar looking CBDs; they were all concrete jungles, filled with steel trees.

However, when Lu Zhou arrived at the Corinthia Hotel entrance, he was amazed by the Russian palace-style design of the hotel.

This was completely different from the conference in Brazil.

This conference was sponsored by the local government and Russian authorities, thus the attendees were situated at a scenic five-star hotel directly in the city center.

Regardless of the motive behind this, the not-so-rich mathematicians were thankful at the opportunity to stay at a luxurious hotel like this.

After Lu Zhou arrived at the hotel, his welcoming team took off. However, judging from the police standing on the streets and the security guards in the hotel, the Federal Security Service clearly strengthened the security around this hotel.

But, even though the Chinese side had a community within the Federal Security Service, Lu Zhou didn’t totally trust the Russians to take care of his safety.

After Lu Zhou went into his hotel room, the first thing he did was to open his laptop and connect to the hotel’s wifi.

“Xiao Ai, you’re responsible for the cameras… If you see anyone suspicious, make sure to notify me.”

A string of bubbles popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

Xiao Ai: [Is it Xiao Ai’s turn to help? Don’t worry, Master, Xiao Ai’s got this! ≧ω≦]

Well, you’re just an extra layer of security, it probably won’t change anything.

Due to the heavy security from the Federal Security Service and the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department, no one would dare to cause any trouble.

I don’t think Xiao Ai will be too useful here, but it’s better to be safe…

Of course, Lu Zhou didn’t say this out loud.

After all, he still cared about Xiao Ai’s feelings.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, their elevator control system and door lock system is managed by the same server as the security camera, can Xiao Ai install a back door? (≖◡≖✿)]

Lu Zhou: “Do it, but don’t do anything funny without my permission.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master, don’t worry!]

Even though the Federal Security Service had set up layers of security defenses, they were on foreign soil. It was better to be safe than sorry.

After all this, Lu Zhou changed his clothes and left his hotel room.

Wang Peng was in the corridor waiting for him.

He saw Lu Zhou coming out of the room and asked, “You’ve unpacked?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Speaking of which, is it fine to trust the Russians for security?”

Wang Peng: “We’re also involved in the security work, but we are on foreign soil. We can’t take any initiatives, and we’re mostly working behind the scene. But rest assured, your safety is our highest priority.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m not that worried, just wondering… Oh yeah, is it fine for me to go outside and get some food?”

“It’s fine.” Wang Peng nodded and said, “Do you want me to accompany you or follow you secretly?”

Lu Zhou: “… Just stay next to me.”

It wasn’t like Lu Zhou was doing anything dangerous. He was just going out for a quick bite.

Asking Wang Peng to secretly watch him would be too much of a hassle.

…

It would be two days until the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Even though some people had already begun to arrive in St. Petersburg, the majority of people weren’t as prepared. Most of the people at the hotel were still tourists.

Lu Zhou got out of the elevator and walked through the hotel lobby. He was about to explore some local food but bumped into a familiar person at the hotel lobby.

The person had brown curly hair and a bright smile with a boy-next-door kind of vibe… Of course, that wasn’t the important part. The important part was that, this person won a Fields Medal in his thirties and was one of the three promising scholars Faltings had approved of.

Even Lu Zhou admitted that this person was more handsome than him.

They made eye contact.

They both recognized each other, and they had a surprised look on their faces.

“Lu Zhou?”

“… Schultz?” Lu Zhou said, “What a coincidence! You’re already here?”

Even though they weren’t close friends, they were definitely more than acquaintances.

Almost seven years ago, the two met at the Cole Number Theory Prize award ceremony. However, due to their different fields of research, they rarely communicated over the past few years.

After being surrounded by Russian bureaucrats all day, Lu Zhou was glad to have met a colleague of his.

Schultz shook Lu Zhou’s right hand and said, “Haha, it is a coincidence! I thought for a big famous guy like you, you would show up after the opening ceremony. I didn’t expect you to come here so early.”

Lu Zhou: “The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation invited me to visit the nuclear fusion power plant before the conference. Speaking of which, you’re a busy man yourself, how come you’re already here?”

“I’m here to visit a long lost friend… He doesn’t really like to be bothered. I probably won’t have the chance to talk to him during the conference, so I came in advance,” Schultz said. “Speaking of which, do you want to come with me?”

Lu Zhou hesitated and said, “It’s not like I know your friend, maybe it’s not the best idea.”

Schultz smiled and said, “It’s fine, he’s a good person, even though he’s a bit eccentric. He’s been interested in you for a long time, so I think we’ll have a good time.”

Suddenly, Wang Peng, who was standing behind Lu Zhou, spoke in a serious manner.

“Can you tell me who this person is?”

Schultz raised his eyebrows.

“Perelman!

“You might have heard of him before.”

Chapter 1007: Books Are More Famous Than Theses

Chapter 1007 Books Are More Famous Than Theses

Main lobby of the Corinthia Hotel hotel.

Professor Fefferman handed his passport to the check-in desk. He then looked at the hotel entrance and spoke casually.

“The security here seems a bit unusual… Is there something else going on, other than the conference?”

“No, sir.” The hotel staff handed the passport back to Professor Fefferman and said, “The most important conference happening this month is the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Corinthia Hotel will maintain the highest level of security during the conference, we wish you a pleasant stay.”

“… Oh, I see, thanks.”

Professor Fefferman put away his passport and smiled. He then looked at Professor Deligne, who was standing next to him.

“He’s really here! I told you, he would never miss such an important conference!”

Professor Fefferman spoke with a tone of excitement. It was like he was watching the finals of the football world cup, and he said, “I wonder where his research is at, I’m looking forward to it!”

Professor Deligne looked at his old friend with a poker face as he sighed and spoke.

“You haven’t seen his thesis on the website?”

Fefferman: “I saw it, why?”

Deligne; “Then why would you have such high expectations? If he had produced any new research, he would have published it online.”

Fefferman: “My intuition tells me that he’s hiding things behind the scenes.”

Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows.

“So you know him very well then?”

Deligne spoke with a hint of sarcasm. It was the classic Princeton professor’s ego.

However, Professor Fefferman didn’t seem to care about his old friend’s personality, he nodded and smiled.

“Of course, we’ve worked together before, I know him quite well.”

Deligne heard his old friend and smiled.

“Then you’re probably in over your head. I’ve been paying attention to all of the papers he’s published this year. the Quasi Riemann hypothesis and the hyperelliptic curve analysis method are all he has been researching. He even went to research economics with that old Krugman guy, it’s called the L-Z model or something..”

Normally speaking, the research area of a scholar could easily be traced by their thesis publication.

The Sullivan Conjecture in differential topology, as well as the L-Z model in economics, had nothing to do with the Riemann zeta function at all.

Professor Deligne thought that Lu Zhou probably had given up on Riemann’s hypothesis.

To be honest, Deligne was quite disappointed.

He wasn’t disappointed at Lu Zhou, after all, Lu Zhou had achieved quite a bit in the past year.

However, for a scholar like Lu Zhou, the only way to further extend his academic achievements was to solve the crown of mathematics, a proposition that had plagued scholars from all over the world.

Therefore, Professor Deligne felt it was unfortunate that Lu Zhou had given up after trying for so long.

If even Lu Zhou couldn’t solve the conjecture, maybe no one in this century would be able to solve it…

Professor Fefferman noticed Professor Deligne’s emotions, so he smiled and casually spoke.

“I think you worry too much.”

Professor Deligne spoke in disbelief.

“Oh, really? Do you know what I’m worried about?”

Fefferman: “Of course I know. After all, we’re old friends. You’re always so confident in your analysis, but you have to admit that sometimes you get tunnel vision.”

“You’re saying I’m getting tunnel vision?”

“Yes, especially the way you look at problems. Have you not thought about the possibility that he might have discovered something new about the proposition? That is a possibility.”

Professor Deligne said, “But it’s unlikely. I’ve carefully studied his theses. When it comes to the mathematics side, the methods he used weren’t related to the Riemann zeta function at all. There wasn’t any additive or progressive relationship in his theses.”

Professor Fefferman: “Maybe we’re not seeing the matrix… But anyway, do you want to make a bet then?”

Professor Deligne frowned and said, “Bet on what?”

Professor Fefferman smiled confidently and said, “I bet that his research is far more than his theses, and he hasn’t given up on the Riemann hypothesis.

“Otherwise…

“He wouldn’t be the one doing the last hour report of the conference.”

…

While the two old men were arguing on whether or not Lu Zhou was still researching Riemann’s hypothesis, Lu Zhou and Schultz were sitting in a taxi, heading toward the suburbs of St. Petersburg. They happened to talk about Riemann’s hypothesis.

“… You haven’t made any progress over the past six months?”

“Not just six months, maybe more than that.” Lu Zhou had a helpless expression on his face as he shook his head and said, “I’ve tried to improve on the hyperelliptic curve analysis, I also tried to use the Group Structure Method, but to no avail. I’m almost starting to think that maybe Riemann’s hypothesis is true, but it can’t be proved.”

“You’re not the only one who thinks that way, but I think you should keep your head up.” Schultz patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, “At least you were able to create a beautiful tool that is the hyperelliptic curve analysis and even proved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. You did well.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything to me.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I’m sure you understand what I feel.”

Schultz: “No, I don’t.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

After nearly a forty-minute drive, the taxi finally arrived in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The tall concrete buildings turned into historic small houses.

According to the taxi driver, this was a famous place for mathematics. The Steklov Mathematical Institute used to be here, and a famous mathematician that rejected a Fields Medal also lived nearby.

On the other hand, nearby was also where the protagonists in Dostoevsky’s novel “White Night” met.

Schultz and Lu Zhou got out of the taxi in a residential area.

Most of the houses here were apartment buildings, mostly filled with young people. However, young people generally didn’t like to live far out in the suburbs.

Wang Peng was walking behind Lu Zhou and Schultz when he suddenly spoke.

“… We just went in a circle.”

Schultz smiled and stopped. He scratched his head and spoke.

“Actually, the last time I came here was a long time ago, and these buildings all look the same. I have no idea where I am…” Schultz awkwardly coughed and said, “I should ask someone.”

Schultz went on Google and found a photo of Perelman.

This was one of the advantages of being handsome, most people were happy to help Schlutz.

As for looking like a hobo…

There were advantages as well.

Most people wouldn’t disturb someone that looked homeless.

“Excuse me, do you know this person?”

The Russian girl’s smile disappeared when she saw the photo in Schultz’s phone. She paused for a second and spoke.

“Who is this? A terrorist? Or an artist?”

Her look of disgust made sense, after all, the man in the photo didn’t exactly look like a model.

His beard was untrimmed, his hair was messy. Even though Schultz and Perelman had similar facial structures, they looked completely different.

It was like how a musician looked great with ripped clothing, but a hobo did not.

Schultz sighed and said, “My apologies, I’ll ask someone else.”

The Russian lady smiled and said, “Well, good luck, but I think you should give up. I’ve lived here for two years, and I’ve never seen such a person.”

After asking around, no one was able to recognize Perelman.

Occasionally some people had heard of the mathematician, but none of them knew that the mathematician lived in their neighborhood.

There was no doubt that Perelman lived here.

Lu Zhou began to doubt if Perelman had relocated. Finally, an old man recognized the photo. He rubbed his chin and spoke.

“I know him, he used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, he’s a famous mathematician…”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “When was that?”

The old man said, “Around ten years ago, I was still a security guard at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. I used to see him going to work in baggy jeans and a shirt. He’s one of the weirdest guys at the institute.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Ten years ago…

I was still in high school back then.

That was a long time ago.

Schultz asked, “Do you know where he lives?”

“If he hasn’t moved out yet, then he probably lives over there,” the old man said as he pointed. He said, “I only know which building, but I don’t know which specific apartment. You should ask his neighbors.”

Lu Zhou and Schultz sighed.

“Thanks for helping us!”

After that, Schultz, Lu Zhou, and Wang Peng walked toward the building.

They soon arrived at the apartment building. Lu Zhou and Schultz happened to see two people standing at the apartment building entrance.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou recognized one of them.

It was Professor Krugman, the professor he met in Shanghai…

The two obviously didn’t recognize them. They were standing in front of the apartment building entrance, chatting with one another.

“I wonder if we’re at the right place,” Albert muttered. “Does this look correct?”

“It’s correct, the Secretary-General of the ICM sent me this address,” Krugman said as he looked at the letter in his hand. He said, “We’re at the right place.”

Albert asked, “But what if he doesn’t open the door for us? If he doesn’t answer the door, we won’t even know if it’s him.”

Krugman: “You don’t know him. Even though he looks unapproachable, as long as you ask him mathematics questions, he will patiently answer you.”

Albert said, “You’ve interacted with him before?”

“No, but I know a beautiful woman who used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. She told me that,” Krugman said. “Listen, my friend, we can’t be discouraged. We need this.”

Albert sighed and said, “Actually, I’m more inclined on working with Professor Lu. His Lu-Bewley model and L-Z model are works of art. His analysis of macroeconomics is exactly my area of research!”

“Forget about it. I would want to work with Faltings if I could, but do you think that’s going to happen? I met Lu Zhou at the beginning of the year, and he’s more stubborn than some of those old folks in Princeton, not to mention—”

While Krugman was complaining to his friend, he heard a familiar voice.

“Did someone mention my name?”

The two people chatting were startled.

Especially Krugman, it was like he had just seen a ghost.

“Jesus Christ, where did you come from?”

“I’m here to attend the ICM.” Lu Zhou looked at Schultz and said, “This guy invited me to see his old friend, so I came along.”

Krugman looked at Schultz and didn’t recognize him. He frowned and spoke.

“You are…”

“Schultz,” Schultz said as he reached out his hand. He smiled and said, “Nice to meet you too.”

“… Krugman, Princeton economics professor. This is Albert László Barabási, a physicist whose books are more famous than his theses.”

“Wait a second, what does that suppose to mean? Old man, don’t—”

Professor Krugman ignored Albert and looked at Schultz as he said, “You know Perelman?”

Schultz shrugged and said, “I think we’re friends, but… I don’t know if he agrees.”

“What are you guys doing here? Partying?”

The sudden voice interrupted Schultz.

A tall man in jeans and a shirt was walking on the sidewalk. He was carrying plastic bags full of groceries.

His unkempt appearance made him blend into the environment.

Professor Krugman immediately smiled and extended his hand.

“Hello, Professor Perelman… I am Professor Krugman, we spoke through email.”

“I’m not a professor anymore,” Perelman muttered and suddenly his eyes fixated on Lu Zhou.

After a while, he spoke.

“You’re Lu Zhou?”

“I am indeed.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Perelman wanted to shake hands with him, but he was carrying groceries.

“… Let’s talk inside, you guys are blocking the entrance.”

Before Schultz and Lu Zhou could speak, Krugman quickly spoke.

“Sure thing, I think we should head inside.”

Perelman ignored Professor Krugman and stared at Wang Peng for a while.

“You don’t look like a scholar.”

He didn’t sound welcoming.

Wang Peng nodded and briefly explained his role. However, he was interrupted by Lu Zhou.

“Just wait here, we’ll come down soon.”

Wang Peng hesitated for a bit before he looked at Perelman and nodded.

“Okay.

“Remember to call me if anything happens.”

By call, he obviously didn’t mean dialing a phone number. He meant for Lu Zhou to activate the alarm trigger on his mobile phone.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and patted his shoulder.

“It’s fine.

“We’ll be down in a jiff.”

After that, the group of people went upstairs, leaving Wang Peng behind.

Chapter 1008: Predicting the Future?

Chapter 1008 Predicting the Future?

Perelman’s apartment was right in front of the building stairs.

“The apartment is a bit messy.”

Perelman put down his groceries and took out his keys.

Even though Lu Zhou was mentally prepared, after the door opened, he was still surprised by the situation.

All kinds of clothes and daily necessities were thrown on the sofa, while garbage and leftover food were scattered around the apartment.

Lu Zhou also had the habit of leaving clothes around the house, but fortunately, Xiao Ai would usually take care of it.

It was obvious…

That Perelman, who devoted his life to mathematics, didn’t care about anything else.

No wonder people called him an eccentric scholar.

Albert was walking next to Lu Zhou, and he quietly muttered, “I thought mathematicians were rigorous people.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to respond.

Schultz awkwardly explained.

“Normally we are… but there are exceptions. Some people don’t care about their surroundings, they would rather spend time on mathematics.

“I’m jealous of those people, but that kind of lifestyle isn’t for me. Ever since I embarked on the journey of mathematics, most of my time has been wasted on meaningless chores…”

Perelman put away his groceries and said, “Do you guys want something to drink? I only have water and tea, but I can go out and buy something.”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to bother him anymore, so he quickly spoke.

“Water is good.”

Schultz nodded and said, “Same here.”

Krugman and Albert also nodded, so Perelman smiled and spoke.

“Okay then.”

Soon after, five disposable cups were placed on the table. Perelman took a bottle of mineral water and poured a cup for each person.

Everyone looked a bit weirded out, but Perelman didn’t care. After taking a sip, he looked at Schultz and spoke.

“Why are you here? I didn’t know you were coming.”

Schultz: “Can’t I visit my old friend?”

“I don’t need anyone to visit me, I’m doing well by myself…”

Schultz was a little disappointed, but Perelman immediately began staring at Lu Zhou instead.

Perelman looked at him and spoke in a “bored yet blunt” tone.

“I’ve read your paper, your understanding of group theory and the complex plane is good. Especially the hyperelliptic curve analysis method… Of course, what surprised me the most was when you defined a complex algebraic cluster X on the complex project space CP^(n+r) when you researched the Sullivan Conjecture. I have no idea how you thought about doing that.”

Topology and differential topology were both fields Perelman was interested in. On the other hand, he wasn’t as interested in the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

Even though the area of the differentiable manifold was unpopular, the Sullivan conjecture was a famous problem.

Perelman had also done some research on the Sullivan Conjecture. However, he had not been able to crack the conjecture.

As a result, he almost forgot about the conjecture, until he finally read Lu Zhou’s thesis in Annual Mathematics, where Lu Zhou had proven the conjecture.

This made him astonished.

“… Oh, the Sullivan Conjecture?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “… That’s thanks to the thesis published by Professor Kreck in Annual Mathematics back in 1999. His research inspired me quite a bit. Of course, it’s also probably because I wasn’t specifically researching this problem, so I was able to look at it from a different angle.”

Back then, he was still answering Chen Yang’s questions on the Hodge conjecture. If it weren’t for the editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics, he wouldn’t have even known that the problem he was studying was a representation of a classic differentiable manifold problem.

Perelman and Schultz both looked surprised when they heard that Lu Zhou wasn’t specifically researching differentiable manifolds.

Fortunately, they didn’t know that Lu Zhou had only spent a day solving the problem; otherwise, their jaws would be on the floor.

Perelman took a sip of water and spoke.

“That’s lucky, but I don’t think it’s entirely just luck… Okay then, did you come here to ask me any questions?”

Lu Zhou could see a flash of anticipation in his eyes, and he suddenly felt a little awkward.

Just like Schultz, he only came here because he had nothing else better to do. At least Schultz was Perelman’s friend, Lu Zhou just came here with nothing in his hand.

However, telling that to Perelman’s face would be a little rude.

After all, Perelman wasn’t a zoo animal; he obviously didn’t like people bothering him.

What do I do?

Tell him the truth?

Lu Zhou was a little worried that Perelman would be pissed off if he told Perelman the truth.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind. He thought about the problem he discussed with Chen Yang about the Hodge conjecture.

“Can I borrow some paper?”

“Sure, I have a ton.”

Perelman got up and found some pens and paper.

Lu Zhou wrote down a problem on the paper and handed it to Perelman.

“… This is it.”

“Let me see.” Perelman took the paper and glanced at the equations. He said, “You’re researching the Hodge conjecture?”

Lu Zhou said, “Sort of.”

In fact, that wasn’t a lie. Even though he wasn’t directly researching the conjecture, someone working for him was, so he was indirectly researching it.

Fortunately, Perelman believed Lu Zhou. He nodded and muttered.

“I see, the Hodge conjecture. After I read your paper, I always felt like the theorems could be applied to other problems…”

Schultz looked at Lu Zhou with an astonished look on his face.

“… When did you begin researching the Hodge conjecture?”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

“Just a side hobby.”

Schultz: “…”

Time slowly passed by, Perelman sat there still. He sat on his couch silently, immersed in his own thoughts.

Albert was getting a little anxious. He looked at the paper and saw the confusing lines of equations. He quickly gave up and sat back down.

Krugman, who was sitting next to him, didn’t even try to read the equations. He sat there quietly, drinking his water.

Lu Zhou looked at the Russian man immersed in deep thought and spoke.

“… Actually, you don’t have to give me a reply straight away, you can send me an email.”

“… Yeah, it’s not like the question can be answered within a few words,” Perelman muttered. He put away the paper and said to Albert and Krugman, “What about you guys? Do you have any questions?”

Krugman sighed and cleared his throat. He solemnly said, “We’re working on a big research project, but it involves many complex mathematical calculations that are beyond our abilities—”

However, he was interrupted by Albert.

This physicist stood up and spoke in a passionate voice.

“Gentleman, do you think the future can be accurately predicted?”

The small apartment suddenly became quiet.

Chapter 1009: Suddenly Became Philosophical

Chapter 1009 Suddenly Became Philosophical

“… Predict the future?”

Perelman rubbed his chin and frowned as he said, “What does this have to do with mathematics?”

Schultz nodded and looked confused as he said to Albert, “Forgive me, but that sounds like something out of a movie.”

“Of course this is related to mathematics!” Albert said with excitement, “We are predicting the future using mathematics!”

The apartment fell silent again.

Krugman gestured to Albert to sit down, but Albert ignored him. Albert continued to stare at Perelman.

However…

His hopes were destroyed.

Not only Perelman, but even Schultz had a weird look on his face.

Like they were staring at an insane person…

“I think you’re fantasizing.”

Schultz coughed and broke the silence. He continued to speak, “Predicting the future isn’t a field of mathematics, I don’t even think that it’s under physics. It’s something related to philosophy. After all, there are so many uncertain factors and variables. Everything is uncertain. If it had rained today, maybe I wouldn’t be here—”

“But the weather can be predicted! A person’s path can’t be predicted, but a group of people can be predicted. Just look at the forecasts for New York City’s traffic and weather over the past five years!”

Albert continued to speak confidently, “Humans are no different than particles suspended in water. We are constantly moving, the only difference is that the perturbations we receive are not small atomic collisions but rather electrical signals traveling through neurons, which dictate our actions!

“There are so many tools that can track human activities, like the internet, like mobile devices… If we analyze all of the data available, we can predict far more than boring stuff like advertisement reach, we can predict ten minutes, ten days, or even ten years into the future!

“Don’t you think that sounds exciting?”

Professor Krugman started to applaud.

However, he was the only one applauding…

Both Perelman and Schultz looked bewildered.

Even though Lu Zhou was also stunned, he remembered that he was discussing a similar problem with Professor Krugman back in Shanghai.

Which was the possibility of establishing a mathematical model to predict large-scale human social behavior and productivity.

“That does sound interesting,” Lu Zhou said. He said, “This reminds me of Asimov’s Psychohistory… Is that where you got this theory from?”

“No! My theory came from a scientific point of view… Okay, I admit that I was inspired a little from Asimov, but I’m not talking about a fantasy novel here. This is a serious academic problem!”

“Okay, let’s assume that collective human behavior is predictable, but… so what?” Schultz frowned and said, “Even your behaviors, even the observation itself, will affect the experiment, it will produce unpredictable results. This is meaningless and almost impossible to achieve.”

“Jesus, what’s the point of researching wave-particle duality then? Don’t you think predicting the future is an exciting research project? Even if we prove that it is possible to predict the future, our names will be in history books!”

Obviously, Professor Albert and Krugman came to St. Petersburg to persuade Perelman to join their research team.

First of all, only a scholar like Perelman would be able to help their project. More importantly, Perelman seemed to be the type that could be easily convinced.

The reason he solved the Poincaré conjecture was that he talked with Hamilton about the conjecture in America…

Albert became more and more excited.

Krugman tried to tell his friend to calm down but to no avail.

The result was predictable; Perelman rejected them on the spot.

Even though he didn’t think they were complete idiots, Perelman said in a firm tone that he didn’t find it interesting to apply mathematics to such boring things.

As for Schultz, he was determined to achieve a higher level of mathematical status. He wouldn’t waste his time on side-projects. Thus, he politely declined and said he might consider it if he had time.

As for Lu Zhou…

Honestly, he was quite interested in this novel problem.

Unlike Schultz and Perelman, he loved to use mathematics to influence other disciplines and sciences.

And just like Professor Krugman had said, predicting the future was a fascinating problem.

Even though he wasn’t interested in economics, nor did he care about social sciences, this problem seemed novel and unique.

But he didn’t give an immediate answer.

“I need some time to think about it. I don’t plan on researching any other problems until I solve Riemann’s hypothesis.”

After hearing this, Albert slumped his shoulders and looked deeply disappointed.

In his opinion, Lu Zhou was just politely refusing them.

“After solving Riemann’s hypothesis… Jesus, you might as well just say no!”

Krugman looked a little down. He looked at Perelman and Lu Zhou, then spoke.

“Regardless, I hope you can reconsider.”

Lu Zhou: “Actually, I have a question.”

Krugman: “… What question?”

Lu Zhou said, “If the future really is predictable, is that a good thing?”

Krugman said, “I can’t answer that, that’s a question outside of academics. Just like how when Albert wrote his book ‘Linked: The New Science of Networks’, he didn’t expect his theories to be used by Silicon Valley giants to make advertising profits…”

Albert wasn’t happy.

“Hey, don’t say that! Big data is not just for advertising! It has helped counter-terrorism, medical care, urban planning, and more!”

Professor Krugman ignored Albert and continued to speak, “One day, he suddenly found me and said he planned on turning this theory into a reality. My first reaction was to reject him, but in the end, I decided to work with him.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Why?”

“Because whether it’s theoretical research or applied research, scholars shouldn’t be the one characterizing whether or not a technology is evil. Is nuclear fission technology evil? Most people in 1945 would think so, but looking back at it now, maybe having a powerful weapon keeps the world peaceful.

“So, I think we should look at this from the academic perspective. We’re just studying the possibility of predicting the future, not what we should do with it.

“As for whether or not we should use this technology, our civilization will make a decision.”

Professor Krugman looked at Lu Zhou sincerely. After a while, Lu Zhou nodded.

“I know what you mean.

“We can talk about this in depth in the future maybe.”

Krugman nodded. Albert shrugged and said, “I look forward to that day.”

Even though he was a physicist, he had heard about Riemann’s hypothesis.

Other mathematical conjectures were difficult, but at least people were making progress.

Riemann’s hypothesis was like a lonely mountain, with no one even coming close to climbing it.

It might even take centuries for someone to solve it…

Maybe Albert wouldn’t be around by then.

Chapter 1010: Great Plan?

Chapter 1010 Great Plan?

Because Perelman only bought groceries for himself, the group of people didn’t stay for lunch.

Before leaving, Schultz mentioned that the ICM conference was happening in St. Petersburg, but Perelman didn’t respond.

Judging from Perelman’s face, he didn’t really care about the International Congress of Mathematicians at all.

However, before leaving, Perelman asked Lu Zhou what he planned on talking about for his conference report. When he heard that Lu Zhou was only going to talk about some of his previously published research, Perelman looked disappointed.

After leaving Perelman’s house, Schultz looked up at the bright sky and sighed.

“Looks like this trip was a waste.”

Lu Zhou curiously asked, “Why? Didn’t you just want to see your old friend? Why was it a waste?”

“Visiting my old friend was just one of my reasons,” Schultz said. “Actually, Professor Faltings asked me to come.”

Lu Zhou: “Faltings?”

Schultz nodded and said, “Yeah, he wants Perelman to go to the University of Bonn and participate in a big project.”

“… What kind of project?”

Schultz knew Lu Zhou would be interested. He smiled and spoke.

“If you are interested, you should pay attention to Faltings’ hour-long report at the conference. He will go into detail during the report. Basically, we need an expert in topology, differential topology, and differential geometry. Perelman, who proved the Poincaré conjecture, is undoubtedly the best candidate.”

Lu Zhou felt like Schultz was suggesting something.

However, he didn’t know anything about this plan, so he pretended to be oblivious.

“Do you think Perelman will think about it?”

Schultz shrugged and said, “… It is worth a try.”

…

Crazy ideas, big projects…

Lu Zhou felt like he heard a lot of interesting things today.

His intuition told him that this year’s International Congress of Mathematicians was going to be his most exciting one yet.

Of course, he had only attended one other ICM before…

Lu Zhou found a place to eat and went back to his hotel. He parted ways with Schultz, each of them going back to their respective hotel rooms.

Lu Zhou continued to research his proof of Riemann’s hypothesis until night time. He yawned and put down his pen.

“Is it ten o’clock already?”

Lu Zhou looked at his computer screen and was about to go to sleep when he suddenly remembered something important.

“Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [I’m here, Master!]

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and said, “Search up someone for me, someone called Albert László Barabási, I think he’s a visiting professor at Harvard.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Finding someone’s academic resume was easy.

Xiao Ai took less than three seconds to find Albert’s academic resume and Facebook. Xiao Ai presented the data in the style of a report.

Xiao Ai was probably the best secretary in the world in terms of efficiency.

Lu Zhou finished reading the report and saw that Albert was quite an interesting guy.

Even though he was a physicist, he became famous due to his research on network theory.

Interestingly, just like Professor Krugman had said, Albert had published many theses in Nature and Science. He even created the Barabási-Albert. However, what made him famous wasn’t his academic research, but rather his books…

His book “Linked: The New Science of Networks” was a cornerstone of complex network theory, and he was regarded by many as the originator of big data theory. His later book “Bursts: The Hidden Patterns Behind Everything We Do” further promoted big data theory.

If Nassim Nicholas Taleb believed that human behavior was random and unpredictable, then Albert’s theory predicted that human collective behavior was like a system composed of tiny particles. Although the behavior of any given particle was uncertain, their collective behavior could be predicted!

At least with 93% accuracy.

As for why he started to work with Professor Krugman…

This didn’t surprise Lu Zhou.

Krugman was interested in novel ideas. He loved to integrate mathematics and physics theories into economics.

Most people knew that he won the Nobel Prize for his international trade theory, but very few people knew that he had built models based on established physics theories. Such as “The Theory of Interstellar Trade”.

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising for him to work with Albert. He was exactly the type of person that would be fascinated by the proposition of “predicting the future”.

However, even though Lu Zhou was interested in this problem, he didn’t have any spare time to research this problem.

Regardless of what was going to happen in the future, there were two things that were going to happen with 100% certainty.

One was that the International Congress of Mathematicians was going to begin in two days, in which he had to conduct a 60-minute report.

The other was his visit to the nuclear fusion power station tomorrow morning.

This was East Asia Energy’s first project in Eastern Europe; it was also the first time a nuclear core was sent overseas.

Apparently this nuclear power plant had an interesting name, which was named by the president himself.

Its name was Helios.

This name came from Greek mythology, and it was an embodiment of the sun…

Chapter 1011: Helios

Chapter 1011 Helios

“… Four flaming horses, galloping in the fiery sky, from East to West, morning to night, illuminating the world.”

Lu Zhou and Minister Novak were sitting in the backseat of the car. He looked outside the window and sighed.

“What are you talking about?”

Novak, the leader of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, smiled and spoke to Lu Zhou like a tour guide.

“Homer’s Odyssey! The description of Helios… The nuclear power plant we are heading to!”

He spoke emotionally.

“The son of Helios once accidentally ignited the ground in order to bring light, turning it to a desert, burning the skins of Ethiopians. Homer probably never would have imagined humans finding a way to release the energy of a sun.”

Lu Zhou: “… How come I’ve never heard that version of the story before?”

Minister Novak smiled and said, “That’s not surprising, there are many versions of the story. If you’re interested, we can chat in depth since I’ve done some research in this area.”

Lu Zhou politely refused, “Thanks, but I’m not particularly interested in mythology.”

He didn’t have any time to spare outside of academia.

Especially since the ICM was soon about to begin.

“Okay, I understand, not everyone wants to become a poet…” Novak shrugged and looked outside the window. He saw a tall wall surrounding a building and said, “We’re here.”

The Helios nuclear power plant was located on the coast of the Baltic Sea, surrounded by a circle of towering walls. Just like the fusion power station in Helios, this power plant was guarded by Russian troops.

Lu Zhou saw three trademarks on the side of the wall, one was the Guangdong Nuclear Power Construction Group, the other was the East Asia Energy, and finally, the true owner of the power plane—Rosatom.

Rosatom controlled almost all production links of the Russian nuclear industrial chain and owned the vast majority of uranium mines in Siberia.

This was one of the reasons East Asia Energy chose to work with this company.

According to the contract between East Asia Energy and Rosatom, East Asia Energy would sell a core to Rosatom at a high price and would also send engineers to the Helios power station for 20 years of technical service.

These technical services included the maintenance and upgrade of the core control system, as well as the nuclear core safety inspections.

On the other hand, East Asia Energy would also take 13% of the profits over the 20 years.

Even though this kind of profit sharing was usual, it wasn’t like there was anyone to compete against East Asia Energy.

While the European Union and America were still contemplating, the Russians were the first to sign this agreement. Because of this, they became the first overseas customer for the East Asia Energy nuclear core project.

And now, the nuclear core from China had finally arrived.

In order to welcome this historic moment of nuclear fusion ignition, the Ministry of Energy arranged the ignition date to be in early August, specifically for Lu Zhou.

In fact, they could have achieved fusion ignition a week ago if they didn’t have to wait for Lu Zhou.

An old man with gray hair stood at the entrance of the Helios fusion power station. When he saw Lu Zhou get out of the car, his eyes lit up as he smiled.

“Welcome, Professor Lu! We meet again.”

“Hello, Academician Sivali.”

Lu Zhou shook this man’s hand and smiled. He then looked at another serious-looking middle-aged man standing beside Sivali.

“And this is?”

“Lermontov,” the man said. Unlike Academician Sivali, Lermontov had a serious look on his face as he said, “I’m one of the people in charge.”

Lu Zhou gave a friendly nod and looked at the entrance.

Suddenly, he saw someone.

“Academician Wang? What are you doing here?”

This was Chief Engineer Wang, from the China National Nuclear Corporation!

He was one of the veterans that worked on the Haizhou fusion plant!

He, Zhou Chengfu, and Li Jiangang were the three nuclear industry giants of China.

Because Lu Zhou didn’t publish engineering theses, Mr. Wang might actually have a bigger influence in the nuclear industry than Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou was astonished, he didn’t expect Academician Wang to be here at all.

“After all, this is our first overseas nuclear fusion engineering project, I can’t just leave it alone,” Wang Zengguang smiled and said, “Let’s go, the people from Rosatom have been waiting for a long time. Don’t you see how impatient Lermontov is getting? Let’s head inside.”

The group didn’t stay at the entrance for long.

Minister Novak didn’t want Lu Zhou to make small talk outside.

He couldn’t wait any longer for the fusion ignition.

While walking to the fusion power station control tower, Lu Zhou was told that Academician Wang arrived a week ago.

They planned on beginning fusion ignition a week ago, but it was postponed due to various reasons.

Even though this wasn’t the Chinese’s fault, the technicians and management of Rosatom were quite annoyed.

After all, delaying fusion ignition by a week had huge economical impacts.

It would be fine if there were safety or technical issues, but they postponed fusion ignition just to wait for a Chinese scholar.

Regardless, this day had finally come.

A group of people was standing in the command tower.

The person in charge was obviously Minister Novak, and standing next to him were senior officials of the Ministry of Energy and nuclear power technicians.

Reporters with their cameras were standing around the command room, making it even more crowded.

However, no one cared about that. Everyone’s attention was on the control console as they held their breath.

They had been ready for a week now.

All they had to do was press the button!

Minister Novak tried to calm himself down as he rubbed his fingers together.

Finally, he took a deep breath and looked at the cameras, as well as the Rosatom engineers.

“This is a historic moment!

“This will bring never-ending energy to the Russians, this is a symbol of our friendship with the Chinese… May it be as endless as the sun, may we wish for eternal energy.”

After that, he pressed the button.

Then…

It seemed like nothing was happening.

Lu Zhou stared at the radiation data and plasma temperature on the console screen. He frowned and remembered that the ignition in Haizhou was different.

Academician Wang and Sivali also noticed this, and they had a serious look on their face.

The reporters, as well as Minister Novak, didn’t cheer either.

Suddenly, the command room door was pushed open. An engineer wearing a hard hat walked up to Minister Novak and spoke in a trembling tone.

“Minister!”

Novak saw the look on the engineer’s face and instantly began to worry.

However, he maintained a calm demeanor as he asked with a dignified look on his face.

“… What happened?”

“There’s something wrong with the nuclear core.”

The command room went silent.

The reporters stopped taking photos.

Minister Novak froze.

After he snapped back to reality, he began to sweat.

“What happened?! What do you mean something went wrong?”

The engineer wearing a hard hat gulped and spoke.

“It seems like our nuclear core…

“Wasn’t ignited.”

Chapter 1012: Wasn“t Ignited?

Chapter 1012 Wasn“t Ignited?

Wasn’t ignited…

The moment the words came out of the engineer’s mouth, the command room went silent.

As the engineers of Rosatom standing in front of the control console looked at one another, Academician Sivali was dumbfounded.

“Wasn’t ignited? How is that possible! We did all the inspection work… The Chinese engineers also did their job, how is it not ignited?”

When the silence in the command room was broken, the reporters had a moment of realization.

Fusion ignition had failed!

This is a project worth tens of billions!

If this project had failed, it would be a huge blow to the entire Russian energy industry, and it would destroy the relationship between China and Russia.

Chief Engineer Wang was standing next to Minister Novak. He had a dignified look on his face.

He obviously recognized the severity of the situation.

Minister Novak spoke in a serious tone.

“Go find out what is going on!”

The engineer in the hard hat nodded.

“Yes, sir! We are trying to do that!”

Due to the unexpected situation, the fusion ignition ceremony had been temporarily interrupted.

The only fortunate thing was that the fusion ignition ceremony wasn’t broadcast live. The reporters were all from local Russian media outlets. They handed over their SD cards as per the request from Russian officials.

The engineers from Rosatom were running around like headless chickens, and they began to discuss the fusion ignition failure with engineers from East Asia Energy and the China National Nuclear Corporation.

“… Theoretically, there should be no malfunctions.”

“But there is!”

“I know, but the reactor test went well… Someone went wrong after the core was installed.”

After some testing, they weren’t able to find any problems with the nuclear core. Suddenly, a Chinese engineer spoke.

“Maybe something wrong with the plant itself? Like the connection or—”

Before he could finish, he was rudely interrupted by Lermontov.

“There are no problems with our power plant!” the man spoke in an unfriendly tone. He said, “I told you, the Chinese can’t be trusted! They’re giving us poor quality nuclear cores!”

The second those words were said, the Chinese engineers began to look furious.

Especially Wang Zengguang, he always had a violent temper. He slammed the table and stood up.

“Poor quality? You’re saying our nuclear core is poor quality? Lermontov, I want to know if you’re speaking on behalf of Rosatom, or is that your own opinion!”

“Mr. Lermontov, please speak carefully!” Minister Novak quickly said. He looked at Academician Wang Zengguang and said, “Academician Wang, my apologies, Lermontov is just frustrated, that’s not what he really thinks…”

Lermontov didn’t deny Minister Novak’s statement, but he didn’t take back his words either.

Academician Wang still looked angry. If it weren’t because of their signed contract, he would have left by now.

Academician Sivali, who was sitting nearby, tried to act as a peacemaker. He tried to calm both parties down, but it didn’t seem to be effective.

This ceremony clearly had to end.

If this meeting continued any longer, the two sides would start fighting.

Rosatom would never admit that this was their fault, and East Asia Energy would never admit that there was a problem with the nuclear core.

The only thing they could hope for was for the engineers to fix the problem.

Regardless of which side caused the problem, they had to identify the problem before they could solve it.

After the meeting finished, Academician Wang went to the corridor and smoked a cigarette.

After he finished smoking, Lu Zhou walked over.

He didn’t say anything during the meeting; he was too busy thinking about what went wrong with the power plant.

He looked at Academician Wang and spoke.

“How’s the progress?”

“It’s tricky.”

Lu Zhou: “Did you guys inspect the He3 atom probe and the heat dissipation system?”

Academician Wang: “We did.”

After a while, Lu Zhou said, “Maybe it’s the core catcher? I remember there seems to be an active protection measure in place. It can forcefully shut down the reactor and terminate the reaction—”

“I did, we inspected everything.” Wang Zengguang shook his head and said, “Do you really think we would miss anything?”

Emmmm…

Makes sense.

Lu Zhou went into deep thought.

It seemed like there was no way to solve the problem.

Everything was fine with the reactor, but the nuclear core couldn’t be ignited.

After an hour or so, the inspection report was created.

The initial diagnosis was that the core catcher, the heat dissipation, the energy interface, etc, was all operating normally.

Except the nuclear core.

The nuclear core was like a “black box” to the Russian engineers.

Only the Chinese engineers were able to inspect the nuclear core.

Due to the contract, China did not need to provide the Russians with the full technical details.

Lermontov suddenly stood up and spoke.

“It’s the Chinese responsibility to ensure the normal operation of the reactor. This is written in the contract, correct?”

Academician Wang: “It is.”

“However, the only thing we haven’t inspected is the nuclear core!”

Academician Wang responded to Lermontov.

“Our engineers have inspected the nuclear core, and you’ve already read the inspection report—”

Lermontov interrupted Academician Wang and spoke in a suspicious tone.

“Correct, that is what is on the report, but who’s to say you didn’t lie on the report?”

Academician Wang looked at Lermontov and narrowed his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m questioning reasonably.” Lermontov stared at Academician Wang and said, “The problem is most likely in the nuclear core. We have reason to believe that. In order to accurately identify the cause of the failure, I request you provide us or a third-party Russian inspection agency the technology to inspect the nuclear core.”

Academician Wang said, “That’s not what it says in the contract.”

Lermontov aggressively said, “Yes, but you guys did not ensure normal operation of the reactor, you guys breached the contract first!”

“I don’t think we are in breach of contract, we are actively helping you solve the problem!”

Continuing on like this was meaningless. Academician Wang turned toward Minister Novak, hoping he could calm Lermontov down.

However, it seemed like Novak’s stance was swinging toward Lermontov’s side.

After all, the Helios fusion power station was part of Novak’s vision for Russia’s future.

It was important to maintain a relationship with China, but that didn’t mean the Russians would always compromise. The nuclear fusion power station could not be ignited, nor could they find the origin of the problem.

Therefore, by process of elimination, he had reason to believe that the problem lied in the nuclear core.

Lu Zhou, who hadn’t said anything yet, suddenly spoke.

“Can I look at the plasma turbulence monitoring data?”

“Monitoring data?” Lermontov frowned and glanced at the security director next to him. He then looked at Lermontov and said, “Why would the noisy data help with anything?”

The plasma turbulence data displayed the plasma movement in the reaction chamber, observed by the He3 atom probe. It used a mathematical model of the microfluidic movements of the plasma inside the reaction chamber.

Back then, this was a sensational research result in the physics community, and many scholars declared this a Nobel Prize level achievement. It provided a theoretical basis for a series of magnetic confinement fusion devices, such as the Stellarator.

However, for most people, this data was nothing more than noise.

Just like how there was no programmer on earth that could read code in binary numbers, that was the CPU’s job.

More importantly, the reactor wasn’t able to achieve ignition. What was the point of monitoring the plasma turbulence?

Lu Zhou shrugged.

“No harm in trying.”

Lermontov shrugged as well.

“Go ahead then.”

Even though Lermontov didn’t think Lu Zhou would be able to do anything with the data, he still asked technicians from Rosatom to retrieve the plasma turbulence monitoring data.

The data was printed on a 200-page report, which was delivered to the conference room.

Academician Wang looked at the thick stack of paper and couldn’t help but frown.

Forget about analyzing the data, just reading through the data would take hours.

Lermontov sat with his arms crossed, waiting for Lu Zhou’s next move. Academician Sivali and Minister Novak also curiously looked at Lu Zhou, wondering what his next move was.

In fact, Lu Zhou didn’t have anything special up his sleeve.

He flipped through the pages and found the plasma turbulence for the first five seconds after the reactor ignition was attempted.

After five minutes, he put down the stack of papers.

Lermontov smirked and said, “Have any insights for us, Mr. Mathematician?”

However, Lu Zhou’s response was unexpected.

After putting down the report, Lu Zhou spoke confidently.

“Of course.

“The problem is not in the nuclear core.”

There was a commotion in the conference room.

Obviously, as the authority figure in nuclear fusion, Lu Zhou’s words had weight attached to it.

Lermontov was a little stunned. He couldn’t believe Lu Zhou was able to make inferences from the noisy data, not to mention in such a short amount of time.

However, soon after, he spoke with a tone of disapproval, “I knew you would say that, but the problem is not in the power plant itself.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“You’re right, the problem is not in the power plant. I think I know where the problem is.”

Lermontov wasn’t the only one stunned; the experts from Rosatom and Academician Wang were all astonished.

Minister Novak was the first to ask.

“Where’s the problem then?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“It’s the power grid.”

Chapter 1013: Active Protection Mechanism

Chapter 1013 Active Protection Mechanism

The entire conference room went silent.

No problems with the nuclear core, nor the power plant…

But the problem was with the external power grid?

Lermontov chuckled.

“So, you’re saying, there’s no problem with the battery, nor the battery case, but the problem is with the Russian power system? You’re saying we can’t handle nuclear fusion power? What a joke.”

Lu Zhou said, “Do I sound like I’m joking?”

Lermontov impolitely said, “Academician Lu Zhou, I know you are an excellent mathematician. There are hundreds or even thousands of scholars in St. Petersburg waiting for your report at ICM. But, I have to say, you’re a layman in the area of electricity.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “That’s true, I don’t know anything about the Russian power grid system, but I have enough data to support my claim.”

Lermontov didn’t say anything, he continued to sit there with his arms folded, waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Not just Lermontov, everyone in the conference room, including Academician Wang, was waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

“When we designed the nuclear core, we added many preventative safety measures. For example, the active shutdown mechanism on the core catcher, the temperature detection device on the heat dissipation system. These mechanisms can stop the ongoing nuclear reaction under special circumstances.”

Lermontov snorted.

“Like what?”

Lu Zhou: “Like, when the external power grid cannot handle the electrical energy generated by nuclear fusion.”

“That’s not the problem,” Minister Novak said. “We have adjusted the output of thermal power facilities in preparation for today’s ignition. Once the core is ignited, we will immediately reduce the output of a large thermal power station nearby. When the nuclear core output reaches 10%, we will shut down St. Petersburg nuclear power plants 1 and 2… We have a comprehensive plan to adjust our energy structure.”

Lu Zhou: “But have you thought about another possibility?”

Minister Novak said, “Like what?”

“Normally, unless the automatic generation control system is triggered, a little bit of electricity could easily enter the St. Petersburg power grid, but now…” Lu Zhou looked at Novak and said, “Your power grid is unable to accept even the tiniest bit of electricity from Helios.”

Lermontov said, “How is that possible? Are you mocking our energy experts? You’re saying our infrastructure is a joke?”

“You can interpret it however you want.” Lu Zhou shrugged and said emotionlessly, “The fact of the matter is, your energy management system… the EMS, has serious compatibility issues with the Helios fusion power station.

“I’m not sure if it’s a system error or a human error, basically, the electrical energy produced from the nuclear core is unable to enter the power grid. This triggered our nuclear core active protection mechanism. After looking at the plasma turbulence data, I am certain that this is the root of the problem.

“If it weren’t for this active protection mechanism, we would have been in a lot more trouble.”

Hundreds of millions of degree plasma melting through the nuclear core was quite dangerous.

Especially for people standing inside the power plant…

When Minister Novak heard this, his face turned blue.

Lermontov didn’t look well either, he was obviously shocked by the thought of a nuclear accident. God forbid another Chernobyl accident happening again.

However, he still couldn’t believe Lu Zhou was able to make inferences from the plasma turbulence data in such a short time frame.

It seemed like Lu Zhou was abusing his academic reputation.

Lermontov said, “… Stop trying to scare me, we all know you’re lying—”

“Mr. Lermontov.”

Lermontov was a little stunned to hear Lu Zhou mention his name. He frowned and replied, “What?”

Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, “Let me ask you this, do you really want this problem to be solved?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lermontov was a little flustered, but he quickly calmed down and said, “This project is worth tens of billions, and I am the person in charge of Rosatom’s participation in this project. Why wouldn’t I want this to work?!”

“Okay.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Minister Novak. “Go find some engineers to see if I’m correct, I’m sure it will be easy.”

Minister Novak nodded.

“Sure thing.”

Lu Zhou stood up and stared at Lermontov. He tapped his finger on the inch-thick stack of plasma turbulence data.

“You have no idea how many of these I’ve read.

“I already told you where the problem is. If you want this to be resolved, listen to me.

“If you just want an accident appraisal, I can calculate one for you, but I’m not sure you’ll understand my calculations.”

“You little sh*t!”

Lermontov furiously stood up, but under the gaze of Maksim, he decided to sit back down.

Normally, Lermontov would have started a fight.

But for the safety of everyone, he decided against it.

…

The fusion ignition ceremony was forced to put on hold.

Per Lu Zhou’s advice, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation had sent people to contact the Unified Energy System of Russia, starting an investigation on the power grid.

And for whether or not the problem really was with the power grid…

Lu Zhou was 95% certain that he was correct.

However, if he had to write down his analysis and prove his speculation using a mathematical model, it would take him at least a week.

Instead of wasting a week’s time, it would be better to investigate the power grid first.

After leaving the nuclear power plant, Lu Zhou didn’t return to his hotel. Instead, he found a Chinese restaurant and ate some food with Academician Wang.

They began to talk about what just happened. Academician Wang sighed and spoke emotionally.

“Honestly, this is strange. Looking at Lermontov’s attitude, I think Rosatom is behind all this.”

Lu Zhou put down his chopsticks and looked at Academician Wang.

“But how would this help them?”

Even though he wasn’t an expert in business, he still knew a little about corporation operations.

This kind of large-scale investment into public utility projects often included many bank loans, even one day of delay could mean millions in losses.

Wang Zengguang explained patiently.

“This is a multi-billion dollar project. There are bank loans and insurance involved. If there’s a problem with the nuclear core, not only can they apply for compensation from the insurance company, they can also pressure us to provide them with full technical details of the nuclear core. After all, without a third-party testing organization, it is our word against theirs.”

Basically, the China National Nuclear Corporation and East Asia Energy were like the retail giants of the nuclear industry—they had a total monopoly on the industry. Now that the Russians wanted to open a retail franchise, everything about the store was stored by the Chinese.

Because China had control over the nuclear core, the Russians had to make many compromises.

However, the Russians also had limits.

One of their biggest concerns was safety.

Especially since the Russians didn’t have the best track record for nuclear accidents.

Of course, having no accidents would be ideal. Both parties would benefit from clean energy.

However, now there was a serious problem with the reactor.

If the nuclear core couldn’t be ignited, the Russians didn’t have the technology to inspect the nuclear core. It was totally up to East Asia Energy to inspect the nuclear core.

Therefore, this was the perfect opportunity for Rosatom to pressure China into giving them nuclear core diagnosis technologies.

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Did the Russian authorities made them do this?”

“Unlikely, but even if the Russian authorities didn’t condone this, they would be on Rosatom’s side. After all, Rosatom is a huge player in the nuclear power field, and the Russian government wouldn’t turn on their own people.”

Academician Wang Zengguang sighed and said, “I didn’t expect this at all. I mean, we have a good relationship with the Russians, imagine if this happened in America.”

If something like this happened in America, the relationship between the Chinese and Americans would become irreparable.

However, this was also a good lesson for East Asia Energy, which had just begun expanding overseas.

Even China’s allies couldn’t be fully trusted. For small Southeast Asian countries, they were glad to be supported by a superpower, but giants like Russia much preferred to take a piece themselves.

Next time, they would have to include the connected grid system as one of their inspection criteria.

Of course, that would involve national security issues and disclosure issues, so the other party might not want to cooperate.

But even then, it would be better than having a failed nuclear power station.

Academician Wang downed a shot with Lu Zhou and spoke sincerely.

“Thanks for helping today.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No worries, I’m still a shareholder of East Asia Energy.”

“Oh, I see how it is, this meal’s on you then!”

Academician Wang smiled and spoke in a more serious tone.

“I’ll contact our people, ask them what we should do.

“Regardless of whether the problem is with the power grid, we cannot give them any inspection technologies. We have a decade lead in terms of fusion energy, we cannot give that up.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Is there anything I can help with?”

“No, you’ve done a lot already.” Academician Wang Zengguang smiled and said, “You should focus your energy on the International Congress of Mathematicians.

“As for the fusion ignition, we’ll handle it!”

Chapter 1014: He Really Guessed Correctly?

Chapter 1014 He Really Guessed Correctly?

While Lu Zhou was returning to his hotel, Minister Novak was standing in a computer room at the Unified Energy System of Russia, St. Petersburg branch. He stared at a group of technicians who were working at their computers.

Standing next to Minister Novak was the manager of the branch, Olig. This pale-skinned middle-aged man had a thick beard with a beer belly, making him look like a balloon in his tight Armani suit.

He had been talking non-stop for the past two hours.

“Mr. Minister, I can promise you that our grid operation has been perfect, and there are no problems! The engineers at our department have been monitoring the system since this morning. We are fully prepared for the Helios fusion power station energy, however, we haven’t detected any voltage change from the Helios energy inlet at all—”

Minister Novak spoke with a poker face.

“I will decide if there are any problems or not.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I think you should trust us.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay, Minister,” Olig said. Seeing how Novak began to look annoyed, Olig quickly shut his mouth.

Rosatom and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation weren’t the only ones that didn’t expect such a thing to happen, the Unified Energy System of Russia, which was responsible for operating the power grid, also didn’t expect this.

During the project development phase, people from the Unified Energy System of Russia inspected the power station site. After making sure there were no problems, they approved to connect Helios to the grid.

After hearing the news that the fusion power station couldn’t be ignited, Olig’s eyelids began twitching.

He didn’t know why Novak thought that the problem wasn’t with the power plant, but with the power grid!

This was ridiculous!

Time quickly passed by. They weren’t able to detect any problems. Olig was wondering if he should tell Minister Novak that enough was enough. However, a technician suddenly stared at his computer screen and spoke.

“Sir…”

Olig immediately looked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The technician could feel the pressure of the gaze on him. He gulped and said, “There’s something wrong with our EMS system—”

Olig suddenly realized that he might be wrong. He quickly interrupted the technician and dragged him out of the room.

“Come with me…”

Minister Novak immediately stopped the two.

“Stop!”

Minister Novak looked at the technician and spoke seriously.

“What happened? Tell me now! You will be personally responsible if you attempt to hide anything!”

The technician was scared, he ignored his chubby boss and spoke quickly.

“When we checked the EMS memory, we found several abnormal response records. When the system received an output request from Helios, it did not process the relevant request, but returned an approval message…”

Basically, the upstream sent a message that a flood was coming, while the downstream received the message, and reported that it was opening the floodgate. However, the floodgate was never opened.

Academician Sivali frowned and said, “Is it a system bug?”

“It doesn’t look like a bug…” the engineer said. “I found some lines of code that don’t look like a bug. It looks like someone manually changed it.”

Olig began to sweat, and he quickly asked, “How is that possible? Did you misread it?!”

The technician knew he would probably be fired after this anyway, so he said, “I’m 90% sure! Maybe our safety director can look at it, I’m sure he will come to the same conclusion.”

This time, Olig wasn’t the only one sweating. Minister Novak, Academician Sivali, and officials from the energy department all broke out in cold sweat.

Someone did this!

Someone locked the energy input port for the EMS system!

If the nuclear core was successfully ignited, the huge surge of electrical energy generated would paralyze the entire transmission line and affect the nearby transformer stations. It would also cause a series of cascading damage to the nuclear core itself.

Fortunately, Helios’ active protection system shut down the reaction…

Minister Novak thought about the hundreds of millions of degree plasma inside the fusion reactor.

He snapped back to reality and growled.

“Find out who did this! Who is responsible for maintaining the power grid system… F*ck sake!”

Olig looked at Minister Novak and spoke in a trembling tone.

“Minister, maybe it’s just a system bug, we don’t have to overreact—”

“Mr. Olig,” Minister Novak said, “I advise you to cooperate, otherwise you will be a suspect.”

Olig’s eyes widened as he pointed toward himself.

“I’m a suspect? Jesus, why would I do such a thing?”

“Everyone is a suspect.” Minister Novak looked at the computer room and said, “This is a well-planned, organized attack. There is no doubt there are quislings sitting among us!”

“This isn’t an energy issue, this concerns national safety!”

Minister Novak looked at Olig, Sivali, as well as Lermontov from Rosatom. He spoke in a cold tone.

“I’m contacting the Federal Security Service, they will take this matter into their own hands.

“I’m sure they will be able to solve this quickly.”

Chapter 1015: Intentional Sabotage?

Chapter 1015 Intentional Sabotage?

The early morning.

Lu Zhou was sitting in a restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel, enjoying some toast and coffee. After reading some emails, he logged onto arXiv and browsed the latest research results in algebraic geometry, differentiable manifolds, and number theory.

These days, the mathematics community had been relatively quiet. Nothing particularly interesting had been posted. In professional academic forums such as MathOverflow, most of the discussions were not about academic problems but rather gossips about the mathematical world.

Even though not everyone received an invitation to the ICM conference, the vast majority of mathematicians were following the conference happening at St. Petersburg closely.

Lu Zhou was reading a post about the predictions for the Fields Medal prize when a Russian man with a pair of sunglasses hanging from his shirt across from him asked, “Can you do me a favor and try to stay in the hotel today?”

Lu Zhou looked up from his computer screen and spoke.

“Why, has something happened?”

“If you really want to know, yes, something happened.” Maksim wiped his glasses and said, “Someone has infiltrated the St. Petersburg power grid system and changed the lines of code. According to our national security intelligence office, this is a premeditated attack.”

Lu Zhou said, “… How can it not be premeditated?”

“You didn’t understand what I meant.” Maksim smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “I’m saying, this might be a premeditated attack against you.”

The atmosphere froze.

Everyone became quiet.

This was the first time…

Lu Zhou felt his life was being threatened.

Lu Zhou felt his throat getting dry, and he lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.

After a couple of seconds, he put down the coffee cup and spoke.

“… Honestly, that is a bit far-fetched. It’s just a nuclear power plant failure, it’s not against me personally.”

Destroying an entire nuclear power plant just to hurt me…

The Helios nuclear power plant was in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. Even though the controllable fusion technology was clean and safe, it was still a nuclear reactor.

If something went wrong, it wouldn’t just be a political issue.

Lu Zhou wouldn’t be surprised if a war broke out.

“I think that the relationship between the two countries is more important than the Helios fusion power stations.”

Maksim put on his sunglasses and stood up.

He stared at Lu Zhou through the glasses and spoke.

“Basically, it seems like there are people out to get you. We’re not sure if they have more tricks up their sleeves. So, I hope you can stay in this hotel as we can 100% guarantee your safety here. If you leave here, that number becomes 90% or even 80%.”

“I know.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at his computer screen as he said, “Even though I know who is behind this, I’ll try to keep my activities within the hotel.”

He had no intention to wander outside of the ICM conference.

If someone was onto him, it would be better for him to stay cautious.

“That’s the gist of it, I have something important to take care of, I wish you a pleasant day.”

Maksim waved goodbye and began walking away.

However, he walked past Lu Zhou, leaned down, and quietly spoke.

“… There are places with many girls you’d enjoy, I’m afraid we’ll have to go there next time.”

Lu Zhou suddenly choked on his coffee.

Lu Zhou coughed and put down his cup. He then wiped his mouth with a napkin and spoke.

“… No, thanks.”

“Haha, don’t be shy, my friend. There’s much more to life than science. If it weren’t for this accident, we would have had a lot of fun, but… maybe next time.”

Maksim patted his shoulder and walked away with a smile.

The news that the ignition of the Helios fusion reactor was delayed didn’t affect the people from St. Petersburg. The Pravda, which was the most authoritative newspaper in Russia, only had a small article mentioning the reactor at the bottom of the page. The article stated that due to the ICM conference and various other reasons, the fusion ignition would be delayed by a week.

However, some politically inclined people were able to smell that something was wrong.

It seemed like there was an invisible storm brewing over St. Petersburg and even the entire Russian power system…

After Maksim left the Corinthia Hotel, scholars from all over the world began to arrive at the five-star hotel, which had been vacated for the International Congress of Mathematicians.

In fact, most people arrived in the morning.

For example, Lu Zhou’s mentor at Princeton, Professor Deligne, as well as Professor Fefferman, who Lu Zhou worked with on the Navier–Stokes equations, as well as Faltings, had all arrived.

Lu Zhou only heard about it this morning.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t fazed by the likes of Professor Deligne or Professor Fefferman appearing, what really stunned him was someone standing in the hotel lobby with a suitcase.

Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, swaying on her white long skirt. Her shoulders and body outline looked fuller than they were four years ago.

Lu Zhou walked out of the restaurant and walked toward the lobby elevators, where he instantly recognized her.

It seemed like Vera sensed someone staring at her. She looked around and noticed Lu Zhou.

“Professor…”

Her quiet voice was layered with surprise and joy, and her sapphire-like pupils were shining brightly.

She let go of her suitcase and jogged toward Lu Zhou.

Judging by her movement, if she didn’t slow down, she would bump into Lu Zhou.

However, this kind of physical contact was too intense for the young girl.

She got closer and closer to Lu Zhou and gradually slowed down in the midst of the nervousness.

She stood in front of Lu Zhou and blushed.

She then brushed her hair and said, “Long time no see…”

“Yeah, it’s been a while…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Are you doing well?”

“Yeah… I’m good, no need to worry about me.”

Even though Vera answered confidently, Lu Zhou still felt worried.

Lu Zhou was about to keep on asking when he heard the sound of high heels stepping on granite floors.

“You’re making him more worried.”

The two looked over and saw Molina with two suitcases in her hand, one of which belonged to Vera.

Because Lu Zhou had seen Molina in Jinling last year, he felt like Molina hadn’t changed as much as Vera.

The only difference was that her usual long trench coat was replaced by a green short coat.

Her tomboy haircut, striped white shirt, and long khaki trousers gave off a Paris vibe.

Vera paused for a second and asked, “Oh? Why?”

“If you have any problems, just tell him. He’s a celebrity now, and you’re his apprentice, so he can definitely help you.”

“No, I’m really fine… Don’t worry about me.”

Vera took her suitcase and muttered thank you. She then quickly walked toward the elevator, forgetting to say goodbye to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou saw Vera walking toward the elevator, and he grabbed Molina aside and asked in a serious manner, “Aren’t you her teammate? How do you not know anything about her?”

“Obviously, my teammate hasn’t opened up to me. Also, do you really think I will tell you a lady’s secret without her permission?”

Molina rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou and walked toward the elevator with her suitcase.

Lu Zhou began to think.

Suddenly, he heard another familiar voice.

“Professor!”

Lu Zhou turned his head around and saw a young man with tanned skin and curly hair. The man was holding the arm of a Latino lady.

Lu Zhou didn’t immediately recognize who it was.

“Hey, Professor, it’s Hardy! You didn’t forget about me, right?”

“I know it’s you, I just need some time to process some information…”

Lu Zhou looked at the beautiful Latino lady and said, “You’re… married?”

Hardy smiled and said, “Of course! It’s been so many years, I’m getting old. I’m a professor now, it’s now or never. It is what it is.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

This kid, why does he always add a redundant sentence at the end…

I knew I shouldn’t have let him graduate so soon.

Hardy could tell Lu Zhou was a little annoyed, so after making some small talk, he took his new wife toward the elevator.

Apparently, they married two months ago, and they came to St. Petersburg to attend the ICM conference, as well as going on their honeymoon.

The reason why they chose to combine their honeymoon with the ICM was that the school would reimburse their travel expenses and also give them a certain amount as travel allowance…

After attending the ICM conference, they would fly to Italy and Greece.

Hardy was one of the few people Lu Zhou knew that would do something like this…

In addition to Hardy, Lu Zhou also saw Qin Yue in the hotel lobby.

Qin Yue had changed quite a lot over the past four years.

When Qin Yue first came to Princeton, Lu Zhou remembered that he was a shy but honest person, but now, Qin Yue was more extroverted, making people feel like he was reliable.

Lu Zhou was happy to see his students grow up.

The only thing that made him a bit lost was Vera’s health condition…

Hopefully, it wasn’t a big problem.

But Lu Zhou felt like Vera wasn’t telling the truth…

Chapter 1016: Unlocked Hidden Achievements!

Chapter 1016 Unlocked Hidden Achievements!

The morning of August the third.

The skies above St. Petersburg were clear as day.

The Corinthia Hotel was full of people.

Even though the conference hall was spacious, due to the sheer amount of attendees, two security checkpoints were set up at the entrance.

The chairman of the International Mathematical Union, Professor Shigefumi Mori, as well as Professor Viana, chairman of the organizing committee, stood on stage and delivered an opening speech. They were welcoming the scholars coming from all over the world and thanked the city of St. Petersburg for supporting the conference.

After that was the most eagerly anticipated stage, the award ceremony.

This was the highlight of the entire conference, and most people came just for the award ceremony.

The four award categories were considered one of the top honors of mathematics. Rumor went that obtaining any one of them would allow the scholar to follow the road of mathematics for the rest of their life.

Especially the Fields Medal.

Compared to the Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement Award, this award could only be given to scholars under 40 years old, so it was the crown of mathematics.

Most people admired hard work, but everyone aspired to be a genius.

Especially for a field like mathematics, which required talent.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the crowd, could clearly hear people discussing next to him on who would receive this award.

“Jody Williamson, the youngest mathematician academician in Australia, established a pure algebraic Hodge theory on polynomial rings and successfully proved the Kazhdan Lusztig conjecture for Kirch group. He didn’t win it last time, but this time it should be his.”

“… Marina Vyazovska should also have a chance. Her research is in discrete geometry, and she extended the 3-dimensional sphere problem to 8 and 24 dimensions and also won the 2017 Clay Institute award, as well as the Ramanujan Prize. My mentor described her as a genius. She’s already 38 years old, this is her last chance.”

“Marina Vyazovska’s research is indeed excellent, but the field of discrete geometry is too unpopular, not to mention that her supervisor is not a famous scholar. I’m more optimistic about another Ukrainian mathematician, also a lady.”

“Who?”

“The person that proved the Cole Number Theory Prize, Vera Pulyuy, the winner of the Cole Number Theory Prize, the Ramanujan gold award, and the European Mathematical Society award. Both her research and her mentor are top notch. Plus she’s from Princeton. If they don’t consider her this time, they definitely would next time.”

“Jesus, why is the Fields Medal only once every four years? There are too many people who deserve to win.”

“Because if they hand out too many awards, the awards will become meaningless. We have to select the best of the best, the people that will change the future of mathematics.”

Lu Zhou overheard their conversation, and he had a surprised look on his face.

He didn’t know that Vera won all those awards.

He thought that maybe she didn’t think the awards were worth mentioning, which made him a little sad.

Professor Mori didn’t let the attendees wait for long. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and began the award process.

“First is the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, I know you guys have been waiting a long time for this.”

The second he finished speaking.

The huge venue went dead silent.

After Professor Mori looked around the venue, he spoke in a calm and solemn voice.

“We often say that mathematics is the foundation of science. It’s the tool that allows us to understand the universe. Integrating advanced mathematical methods into applied science can change the world. However, there are very few scholars that are able to create the tools that shape our future.

“I can spend the entire day talking about his achievements…”

Everyone was listening attentively, including Lu Zhou.

However, suddenly, someone spoke.

“… Oh, Jesus, I already know who it is, just give it to him!”

Soon after, someone spoke.

“Yeah, yeah, everyone knows who’s going to win the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, just go next.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

Can’t you guys just shut up?

This is ruining the suspense!

Lu Zhou turned his head and wanted to see who was ruining the moment, but there were too many people in the venue, he couldn’t tell who were the ones speaking.

Professor Mori continued on stage, “His mathematics is changing science, changing the world!”

“The award winner is…

“Lu Zhou!”

A thunderous round of applause began.

Lu Zhou stood up in the midst of the applause and took a deep breath. He walked calmly on stage and received the medal from Professor Shigefumi Mori’s hands.

This professor gently tapped Lu Zhou on the arm, and he had a friendly smile on his face.

“Congratulations, we meet again.”

Applied science had little to do in the mathematics world, so scholars such as Grothendieck and Hardy were proud to call mathematics as “pure” and “rigorous”.

But regardless, applied science was one of the important applications of mathematics. Not to mention that even scholars like Grothendieck eventually had their tools applied in the sciences.

The Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was for scholars that applied mathematics to the sciences.

“Thank you, it’s nice to see you again.” Lu Zhou shook hands with this elderly scholar and said, “I hope we will meet again.”

Shigefumi Mori paused for a second and smiled.

“Do you mean… another prize ceremony? Unfortunately, there aren’t many medals left we can give you, and when you’re seventy years old, I will no longer be here.”

Lu Zhou: “But there’s still a Leelavati Prize?”

Shigefumi Mori coughed and said,”… Please give other mathematicians a chance, Professor Lu. Please head off the stage.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was a lifetime award, and Lu Zhou was far from being retired. However, Lu Zhou felt like he should have a chance at receiving the Nevanlinna Prize for mathematical computer science, as well as the Leelavati Prize, which was mathematics “public outreach”.

He still remembered that the Turkish guy that won the Leelavati Prize seemed to have built numerous primary schools in remote desert areas?

I’ve contributed way more to mathematics than a couple of primary schools, why shouldn’t I win the award?

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t really care about the medal, he still felt a little unjust.

After he got off stage, he sat in his designated Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize seat and quietly waited for the award ceremony to continue.

Next up was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and the Leelavati Prize; the former was a lifetime award, and the latter was an award for “ordinary” people who have made outstanding contributions to popularizing science and mathematics.

The atmosphere in the venue was pushed to a max when the Fields Medal ceremony began.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the front row. He could feel the pairs of eyes behind him, all staring at the stage.

Professor Shigefumi Mori spoke.

The second he spoke, everyone froze.

“Number theory is an ancient discipline, it has been around ever since the beginning of mathematics. Ancient conjectures have yet to be solved. It is the origin of all of the knowledge we have mastered so far.

“Few people are able to make truly outstanding achievements in this field. Only the bravest warriors are able to climb the daunting mountains.

“The first winner of the Fields Medal is—

“Vera Pulyuy from Princeton!”

Thunderous applause immediately erupted, echoing in Lu Zhou’s ears.

Vera?

It wasn’t like he didn’t think about this possibility.

But he didn’t expect this at all!

She was indeed an excellent scholar, there was no doubt that her research was worthy of an award consideration. But she was far too young.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, she was 22 when she received her PhD from Princeton.

It had been four years, and she was only 26 years old…

Of course, what caught Lu Zhou off guard wasn’t the fact that Vera won.

It was the line of blue text that appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, hidden achievements unlocked!]

[Please enter the system space to collect your rewards!]

Chapter 1017: Famous Teacher, Famous Studen

Chapter 1017 Famous Teacher, Famous Studen

Vera Pulyuy!

The winner was only 26 years old!

Even though this didn’t break Professor Lu’s record, 26 years old was still extremely young.

What surprised people wasn’t just her age, but also her gender.

Prior to this, the only female mathematician to have won a Fields Medal was Maryam Mirzakhani from Stanford University. Unfortunately, the year after she won her award, in 2017, she died from breast cancer.

Therefore, Vera would become the world’s only living female Fields Medalist.

“The Fields Medalists are getting younger and younger, first Schultz, then Professor Lu, then Vera Pulyuy…”

Xu Chengyang looked at the beautiful young figure on stage and said, “When I see these young people pop up one by one, I feel so old.”

His last chance at winning a Fields Medal was four years ago.

And just like he had expected, he lost.

There was nothing unfortunate about this. After all, the Fields Medal was only awarded once every four years. Unless someone was an excellent professor, as well as an excellent researcher, it was unlikely for them to win the award.

For example, Lu Zhou’s supervisor was Deligne. Coupled with his outstanding research such as Goldbach’s conjecture proof and the Navier-Stokes, it was no wonder the International Mathematical Union gave him the award at such a young age.

Another example was Schultz, whose mentor was Michael Rapoport. Michael was from the University of Bonn, just like Faltings. Not to mention Schultz’s “perfect space” theory was one of the most promising research directions of algebraic geometry. Even then, he still took 2 terms to win a medal.

While Xu Chengyang was well known domestically, he was only a semi-famous scholar in the international world. There was still a big gap between him and the top of the food chain.

Not to mention that there was also Zhang Wei, who was sitting next to him.

Zhang Wei was superior to Xu Chengyang, both in terms of international and domestic reputation.

Zhang Wei nodded sympathetically and sighed.

“Yeah, time flies.”

It had already been four years.

Without him knowing it, he went from a young scholar to a scholar who was almost in his fifties.

It felt like just yesterday they were the new generation of mathematicians, but now they were the old comers, about to be retired.

Xu Chengyang smiled and said, “Our time is past… But don’t you think this is incredible, not only is Professor Lu so successful, but so are his students.”

Zhang Wei shook his head and said, “It’s not incredible. I remember Vera Pulyuy won a gold IMO medal and went to Princeton with a recommendation letter from Tao Zhexuan. She is talented, and her teachers taught her well.”

A ton of Fields Medalists had won IMO gold medals before. If the student was talented, paired with a good supervisor, it was likely for the student to win a Fields Medal.

The only surprising thing was her age and gender.

Xu Chengyang said, “IMO gold medal, we have a few. There’s this kid that got a perfect score. I wonder if he’s going to win another Fields Medal for China.”

Even though Lu Zhou won the first Fields Medal for China, Xu Chengyang knew that it would be difficult to win another.

“This was similar to Ramanujan’s contribution to the Indian mathematics community. Even though there have been many outstanding Indian mathematicians, none of them have gotten even close to Ramanujan.”

“It’s possible.” Zhang Wei patted his friend’s shoulder and said, “Professor Lu is back in his home country, right? It’s only been four years, he needs time to develop talent. Give it another 15 years, I’m sure China will produce a group of outstanding mathematicians!”

What convinced Zhang Wei wasn’t just Lu Zhou’s abilities, but also the changes that had been taking place in China’s academic community.

He could sense that Professor Lu’s achievements were causing the state and people to pay more attention to mathematics.

The support from the state meant everything.

Now, the Chinese academic community had fully recognized the contribution mathematics made to the applied sciences.

Something like this was unthinkable ten years ago.

This meant that Lu Zhou’s impact on the mathematics community was far more than the couple of students he taught…

On the other side of the venue, Academician Wang Shicheng was quiet ever since the award ceremony began. He had a look of relief on his face.

A few days ago, he was still holding a grudge against Lu Zhou for poaching a talent.

But now, he felt like there was nothing wrong with what Lu Zhou did.

The Yan University International Mathematical Research Center had been around for many years, but even though they had trained many outstanding scholars, none of them were at the top of the international field.

If this guy really has the ability to create Fields Medal scholars…

Maybe it’s a good thing that the IMO kid went to him instead.

Sitting near Professor Wang’s seat was Professor Deligne.

This old man stared at the girl on stage and snorted. He suddenly said, “… I didn’t expect them to choose Pulyuy.”

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, “As for her academic achievements, anyone that can prove Collatz conjecture is a world-class scholar. Regardless of how much Lu Zhou helped her, judging from her thesis, most of the work was done by her.”

Deligne stared at Fefferman and said, “You really don’t think they’re giving this award just to be politically correct and inclusive?”

Professor Fefferman had a helpless expression on his face.

“… Fine, I thought about that as well. In fact, Marina Vyazovska is also a good choice, but giving her the medal is a little far-fetched.”

Professor Deligne suddenly said, “This was not the case in mathematics before. We didn’t have all this political correctness.”

He wasn’t against giving the Fields Medal to Vera, nor did he deny that Vera was an excellent scholar. However, he was more concerned with the mathematical community as a whole, and he felt like politics was penetrating the purity of mathematics.

A long time ago, the only thing that mattered was a scholar’s academic contributions.

But now, they had to take into account nationality, skin color, gender, and even political backgrounds. Even though being a minority alone wasn’t enough to win a Fields Medal, it certainly helped.

The politically correct crowd was slowly destroying the freedom and independence of academia…

Professor Fefferman shrugged and said, “The times are changing, whether we accept it or not, we have to adapt to this change.

“Also, it’s not like we’re the only ones that have to adapt to this new reality.”

Deligne stared at him.

“Do you think this is good?”

Fefferman: “That’s a problem for the future generation to worry about.”

…

There was a round of thunderous applause.

However, Lu Zhou’s mind was elsewhere.

Not because he fainted from the excitement, but because he was in the system space.

[Congratulations, User, “Famous Teacher, Famous Student” achievement unlocked!]

[Conditions achieved: Nurture a student who has achieved the highest level of honor in their respective field!]

[Reward: 100,000 experience points, “Void Memory a” sample (rare)!]

Void Memory?

“Rare”?

Also, what does the “a” mean is there a b,c, and d?

Lu Zhou saw the rewards pop up on the information screen. He paused for a second.

Even though this system had played many cruel jokes on him, such as the “Easter egg” sample, his intuition told him that this wasn’t a joke sample.

Without hesitating, he turned off the reward notification and opened his inventory.

After all, it was only 100,000 experience points. He needed millions of experience points just to level up his mathematics.

His inventory was opened.

Sitting inside was a purple-shaped object.

Its shape was difficult to describe. It was like a spherically shaped cloud, like there was something hiding inside the cloud.

Lu Zhou gulped and clicked on the icon.

However, the item description didn’t pop up. Instead, he felt a wave of electric shock through his fingers.

“Ouch!”

This hurts!

This was the first time Lu Zhou felt this sensation inside the system space.

However, the feeling didn’t discourage Lu Zhou. Instead, he looked intrigued.

“Interesting…

“… I always thought that the system space existed in my consciousness, similar to a dream. I didn’t expect to feel any pain here.”

He became more and more curious about the system.

Maybe the correct way to open the item is to hold it firmly?

However, Lu Zhou decided against this.

He was at the ICM conference.

Anything could happen to his physical body on the outside.

He should be more careful.

At the very least, he should find a quiet place where he could be by himself…

Chapter 1018: Dirty Trading

Chapter 1018 Dirty Trading

CTV had obtained the rights to broadcast the conference.

Now that Academician Lu won another prize at ICM, the CTV obviously wouldn’t miss this excellent promotional opportunity.

Even though it wasn’t a Fields Medal, it was still an ICM award, the highest level of honor, recognized by the entire mathematics community.

Why wouldn’t they share this exciting moment with the country?

The reporter nearly wrote that the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was more impressive than the Fields Medal.

But strictly speaking, Carl Friedrich Gauss achieved ten times more than John Charles Fields, not to mention that the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was the first award to be given.

So if you put it that way…

Maybe one could argue that the Carl Friedrich Gauss prize was more impressive?

However, even though the CTV tried to promote this award ceremony, it didn’t receive a huge response.

There was only one reason.

It was because the Chinese people were bored of seeing Academician Lu win awards.

Clearly, someone at CTV didn’t realize this.

In other words, they overestimated the impact of this award.

Li Mo was eating lunch with his family when the TV happened to show a video of Professor Lu winning the award. Li Mo thought that this would be a good opportunity to tell his parents the secret he had been hiding for the past two months.

When father Li Zhong heard that his son wasn’t going to Yan University, he couldn’t believe his ears. He had to confirm with his son that his son wasn’t joking around.

A brief moment of silence went by.

After that, he slammed his fist on the table and spoke.

“You little b*stard! Who the f*ck let you apply to Jinling, didn’t you tell me you’re going to Yan University?!”

Li Mo dropped his chopsticks and jumped out of his chair.

“Dad, listen to me, listen to me!”

“Listen my as*! I’m going to give you a beating so bad you’ll want to crawl back into your mother’s belly!”

Li Mo said, “No, please.”

“Sh*t up!”

A month ago, Li Zhong was ecstatic when he heard that his son got full marks in the mathematics olympiad. People that didn’t know him thought he had won the lottery.

In his opinion, winning the gold medal meant a guaranteed entry into Yan University!

In fact, that was what his son told him.

But now…

He heard that his son wasn’t going to Yan University, nor Shuimu, but Jin University!

His blood began to boil.

“Professor Lu is at Jin University!”

“Who cares about Professor Lu? Is mathematics going to pay the bills? You’re going to marry mathematics for the rest of your life?!”

“Why can’t I?”

“You little sh*t, let me go grab my belt!”

“No, Dad, please don’t, you could ruin a future mathematician!”

“Don’t give me that! Stand still!”

The news broadcast continued to play on TV.

Lu Zhou received the medal from Shigefumi Mori and sat back down. Soon after was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, the Leelavati Prize, and finally the Fields Medal.

Even though these awards had nothing to do with Lu Zhou or China, CTV still captured some shots of the winners out of respect.

When Li Mo saw the lady on stage, his eyes lit up as he spoke.

“Dad, look, that Vera Pulyuy girl, she’s Lu Zhou’s student from Princeton!”

That seemed to do the trick.

His dad curiously looked back at the TV.

“Student?”

Li Zhong stared at the girl on TV and said, “She’s quite pleasant to the eyes… Doesn’t look like a mathematician to me.”

Li Mo sighed in relief and said, “That’s not the important part, this Fields Medalist was taught by Professor Lu!”

Li Zhong said, “So what?”

Li Mo: “Professor Lu is going to be my teacher!”

Li Zhong snorted and spoke.

“Okay, keep bragging, kid, he’s an academician, he barely even gives lectures, you think he has time to teach you?”

Li Mo said, “Dad! I’m being serious, I have his email, I can show it to you.”

Li Zhong realized that his son didn’t seem to be joking. He frowned and put down his belt.

“You sure Academician Lu is going to personally teach you?”

Li Mo: “It doesn’t matter if he personally teaches me, it’s not like I need help every day. He’ll just guide me in the right direction, I can teach myself.”

“I guess being a student of Academician Lu is pretty good.” Li Zhong nodded and said, “He can probably help you get a job.”

Li Mo said, “Jesus, Dad, why do you only care about getting a job? Can’t you think about my dreams? What’s the point of life without dreams?”

Li Zhong said, “What kind of dreams do you have?”

Li Mo smiled and stared at the TV.

“Who cares about an IMO medal…

“I want a bigger medal!”

…

After the list of Fields Medal winners was announced, the Mathoverflow forum was filled with discussion posts.

Everyone knew who was going to win the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, but the new female Fields Medalist shocked everyone.

The second female Fields Medalist!

Only 26 years old!

Combined with her physical beauty, Vera completely overshadowed the other three winners.

[Jesus! 26 years old! Is she just cutting the line?]

[Why would the committee do this, I think this is unfair for scholars that have been waiting for more than a decade.]

[There is no doubt that proving the Collatz conjecture is worthy of this, and her main work is perfecting Professor Lu’s Group Structure Method. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving her this award.]

[That’s what I think, but she is too young… and she’s a female.]

[What’s wrong with being a female, you pig?]

[I’m just saying, maybe she did some favors to get where she is…]

Lu Zhou: “…”

These idiots…

What kind of thinking is this?

He felt like there were more and more Chinese scholars joining the MathOverflow forum, it was becoming more and more similar to Weibo.

But honestly, even Lu Zhou himself didn’t expect Vera to win the prize.

More precisely, he didn’t expect her to win it this year.

After all, 26 years old was very young.

Also, her academic achievements were barely on the cutoff for a Fields Medal. Unlike Lu Zhou’s achievements, she didn’t produce any revolutionary result that would immediately warrant a Fields Medal.

After the award ceremony, the most famous opera and ballet group from St. Petersburg began their performance.

Even though Lu Zhou was sitting near Vera, they never had a chance to speak.

After the talent show was over, he saw that Vera was gone.

His phone vibrated.

He took out his phone and saw that Xiao Ai had sent him a message.

[Master, do you want me to find her room number?]

Lu Zhou: “No, thanks.”

That sounds like something a stalker would do.

Xiao Ai: [Are you sure? It seems like you want to talk to her. ( ́◔‸◔’)]

Lu Zhou: “… No, it’s fine.”

Xiao Ai: [Why? ・ω・]

“I don’t have anything to say…”

Lu Zhou sighed and scratched his head as he said, “Sometimes, I don’t know what to do.”

Chapter 1019: Distant Professor Lu

Chapter 1019 Distant Professor Lu

In fact, Lu Zhou felt like he was too paranoid sometimes.

Not every problem had a correct answer.

Trying to find a correct answer might turn out to be counterproductive…

The evening banquet was held at the buffet at the Corinthia Hotel.

The hotel prepared delicious food for this banquet and changed the dining hall seating arrangement in order to accommodate the maximum number of participants, as well as leaving enough space for the mathematicians to socialize.

The protagonists of the banquet were obviously the Fields Medal winners.

They were the new celebrities of the mathematics world, and they were attracting attention like magnets. Basically, everyone in the banquet hall had their gaze on them.

However, one of the most important characters, Vera Pulyuy, didn’t show up, so a lot of people were disappointed.

Even though Lu Zhou was a little concerned about Vera, he wasn’t too worried.

After all, she had a report to do tomorrow morning. He could speak to her then.

Rather, Lu Zhou was more concerned about the purple object inside his system space inventory.

Void Memory?

What the hell is that?

Lu Zhou was a little zoned out during the banquet. He was getting another glass of wine when he nearly bumped into an old friend…

“Careful, my friend, I don’t want to ruin this shirt.”

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize.” Professor Fefferman smiled and touched glasses with Lu Zhou as he said, “I think you look out of the zone.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of wine and stared at him.

“I am?”

“Yeah, when you’re looking at me, I can feel that your attention is elsewhere.” Professor Fefferman jokingly said, “Is it because your student didn’t come to the banquet?”

Lu Zhou: “… No.”

Lu Zhou admitted that he was a little zoned out, but it wasn’t because of Vera. That would get resolved tomorrow.

Okay, maybe Vera was 1% of the reason why he was zoned out.

But most of the reason was due to something else.

Lu Zhou thought that Fefferman would continue to ask and gossip, but it seemed like Fefferman dropped the topic and they began to talk about something else.

They talked about research on the Riemann zeta function for a while, as well as the conjecture that Lu Zhou was working on. When they were bidding farewell, Professor Fefferman suddenly said something to Lu Zhou.

“Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou stopped and looked back.

“What’s wrong?”

Professor Fefferman smiled and raised the glass in his hand.

“Congratulations for adding another medal to your collection.”

Lu Zhou: “Thank you.”

“Also, a piece of advice.” Professor Fefferman patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and smiled as he said, “Remember, never have any regrets.

“You only get one chance at life, we all worry too much.

“The older you get, the more you realize that some things can’t be changed.”

…

The banquet came to an end.

Because there were so many friends at the banquet, despite Lu Zhou’s increased metabolic capacity, he still got a little tipsy.

However, he was doing a lot better than other people.

Nearby, Krugman and Albert were completely wasted. In the end, the waiter asked them to rest in the hotel lounge instead.

People gave those two strange looks as they wondered why an economist and physicist were getting along so well.

After Lu Zhou washed his face in the bathroom to freshen up, he took the elevator upstairs.

Lu Zhou stopped in front of his room and looked back at Wang Peng as he spoke in a serious manner.

“Unless there is something serious, don’t bother me.”

“Okay.”

Lu Zhou nodded and was about to close the door. However, he opened the door and spoke to Wang Peng.

“Scratch that, even if it’s important, call me first.”

Wang Peng: “… Okay.”

“Also, if you hear any noises, don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

It seemed like Wang Peng had misinterpreted Lu Zhou’s words. He said, “Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt your personal life… It’s good to have some fun sometimes.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Lu Zhou closed his door and lay down on his bed. He told Xiao Ai to pay attention to the security cameras, then went inside the system space.

Lu Zhou stood inside the pure white system space as he walked toward the holographic screen. He reached out and opened his information screen.

The purple-cloud looking object was still sitting inside his inventory.

It was surrounded by strings of smoke, similar to octopus tentacles.

“If I’m correct… This shouldn’t be used in the real world, it should be used in the system space.”

Lu Zhou stared at the purple object.

Suddenly, he reached out and gently touched the surface of the sphere.

This time, it was different than when he was in the conference hall.

He didn’t feel his fingertips being shocked. Instead, it was like his finger was immersed in hot water; he felt uncontrollably warm.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something, and he reached out and exited his inventory.

“It’s not just pain, but also temperature…

“It looks like this is something that exists in my consciousness.

“And for some reason, I feel different things based on the environment around me.

“Maybe it’s some kind of protection mechanism?”

Lu Zhou wanted to change his environment by putting on some music and testing his hypothesis.

However, he realized there was no need for that.

After all, the key to unlocking the truth was right in front of him. He just had to use the key to open the box.

“… Okay, let me see what kind of secrets are inside you.”

Lu Zhou reached out again and firmly grasped the purple sphere floating in the inventory.

He felt a wave of warmth spreading throughout his body.

Lu Zhou tried to take this thing out of the inventory but something unexpected happened.

The tentacles wrapped around the purple sphere suddenly exploded, wrapping around his fingers.

Lu Zhou wanted to let go but the tentacles wrapped around his arms soon covered his entire body in a thick gel-like substance…

Chapter 1020: Memory From the Void

1020 Memory From the Void

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou felt like he was on a roller coaster.

It was like the roller coaster was at its highest point, about to fall downward.

Lu Zhou floated in the endless darkness for a long time. Suddenly, he felt a sensation of gravity and saw a faint light source.

He gradually approached the light source.

He was able to touch the light source.

Lu Zhou was wondering what the system was trying to tell him when he was suddenly pulled toward the light source.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

Touch, smell, taste…

All of his senses were turned to 11.

The strong sense of wind made Lu Zhou squint, and he desperately tried to open his eyes…

He was shocked by what he saw.

“Where is this?!”

Every inch of Lu Zhou’s body was shocked, he had no idea where he was.

This was a strange place.

An endless land, a concrete jungle.

The minimalist black towers looked evil, every inch of the ground was covered in metal skyscrapers, and the streets were straight as a ruler.

From the outside, this looked like a city.

However, Lu Zhou couldn’t sense a single sign of life out here.

It seemed like no one had ever lived here before.

If he had to live here, he would go insane in a week.

There was only one reason.

This place was like a grave.

It was like the skyscrapers were individual tombstones.

For some reason, this reminded Lu Zhou of the novel “Foundation” by Asimov. The vast majority of people lived underground and worked in cubicles, the surface was covered in industrial facilities, and the Earth was no longer a planet, but rather a giant factory…

It wasn’t clear if Asimov’s world was as minimalistic and structured, but the scene in front of Lu Zhou looked like something out of an apocalypse movie…

Lu Zhou didn’t have a lot of time to think.

The gravitational force dragging him from the sky threw him on the surface.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and prepared himself to be squashed.

However, a gentle force caused him to decelerate as he reached the ground.

Lu Zhou’s pupils expanded as he spoke with excitement.

“Anti-gravity?”

“Wait, no… This is not reality, what am I saying.”

This was the world of his consciousness.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know why the system was doing this, that didn’t change the fact that his real body was on a soft bed at the Corinthia Hotel in St. Petersburg.

Therefore, nothing here was real.

It was like those VR games in science fiction movies. A VR game that followed the law of physics would feel weird.

His feet finally touched the ground.

Lu Zhou calmed down a little and looked around him.

This was the first time he really felt the scale of this man-made object.

He didn’t know what material the buildings were made of; they were reflective and smooth, without a single trace of flaw.

“What a strange design…”

Lu Zhou reached out and touched the black walls, and he suddenly looked shocked.

Even though he shouldn’t judge a material just by the feeling of touch alone, his intuition told him that this level of polish was impossible to achieve with modern industrial technology.

This technology was centuries ahead of the current technology.

Of course, that wasn’t the most shocking part.

Inside a gravitational environment, this metal structure was able to keep its shape, even though it extended several kilometers into the sky… This kind of engineering structure would never be able to exist on Earth.

Now Lu Zhou began to feel like maybe this wasn’t entirely in his consciousness. Maybe this was a real place.

After all, the thing in his inventory was called “Void Memory”, not a “Void Game” or “Void Movie”. Even though the system sometimes screwed with him, the system never manipulated him…

His hands glided on the smooth mirror-like surface. Suddenly, it seemed like he had touched an invisible switch as a large metal wall soon moved, giving way to a passageway.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

He then remembered that none of this would hurt his physical body, so he took a deep breath and bravely walked in.

The building was spacious.

Black metal stripes in the shape of a blade were connected from the ceiling to the floor.

There were flashing blue dots shining on the metal blade strips.

That was the only source of light in this dark building.

The scene in front of him reminded him of a computer server, and suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind.

Maybe…

This building is a huge computer, filled with chips.

Maybe this “city” is actually an integrated circuit with countless processors, a “planet” computer…

When he was flying out of the sky, he couldn’t see the boundary of the city.

“… I can’t imagine what kind of data would take this big of a computer to process.”

Lu Zhou carefully walked through the rows of blades.

Soon after, he walked into the central room of the building.

This circular room had a much lower ceiling than the entrance, only a few meters high. Sitting in the middle of the room was a shining blue pool of water.

Lu Zhou walked up and looked down, and he saw that the blue light was projected from under the pool.

A wave of smoke spilled out from the edge of the pool. He could tell the pool was very shallow, but the deep layer of mist gave him a chilling feeling.

His intuition told him that the pool might be filled with extremely low-temperature liquid helium.

As for its use…

It was probably used to cool down the thousands of “blades” in the building.

Lu Zhou stood around the edge of the pool and walked around. He wanted to take notice of the engineering design when he suddenly noticed something under the pool.

“… Is there something hidden underneath?”

Lu Zhou frowned and crouched down.

He saw cubes sitting in the pool.

Suddenly, he had a crazy thought.

Should I grab one?

His curiosity got the better of him.

This is all in my head.

Even if it hurts, it won’t affect my real body.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and made up his mind. He used all of his courage and placed his hands in the chilling liquid helium.

The second his hand touched the liquid.

It was like the pool of water came to life, it began to move wildly.

“This is a super liquid!”

The instantaneously vaporized liquid helium formed a vapor layer due to the Leidenfrost effect, protecting him from the cold.

However, this effect didn’t last for long.

Lu Zhou used all of his energy to endure the freezing pain as he reached out and took a cube from the pool.

“Ouch!!!”

The cube was out of the liquid.

Lu Zhou sat down on the ground.

He looked at the rumbling water and the cube in his frozen hand.

Using the faint light from the ceiling, he could barely see that the cube was gold-colored with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

He could hear a buzzing sound from the cube.

Lu Zhou finally remembered where he had seen this thing before.

However, last time, it wasn’t gold, it was black…

He suddenly felt a huge sensation of gravitational force.

It felt like everything around him was being sucked into a black hole…

“Is it time to leave?”

The gold cube shattered into a million pieces as his body was sucked away by the abyss.

Chapter 1021: Blood

1021 Blood

Lu Zhou opened his eyes violently.

He bounced up from his bed, his chest was thumping, and he was breathing heavily.

He suddenly realized that his clothes were soaked in sweat.

Lu Zhou rubbed his forehead and got out of bed. He went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a sip, trying to calm himself down.

What happened was entirely in his mind.

But perhaps it was too realistic, the memory was burned into his mind.

It was almost like…

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and stared at the night scene. He stood there until the bottle of mineral water in his hand didn’t feel cold anymore. He turned around and muttered to himself.

“It’s like…

“It’s like a nightmare.”

He went to the bathroom and took a shower.

Lu Zhou put on some new clothes and sat down at his computer desk.

He returned to the system space and made sure that the pure white system space hadn’t changed because of the “Void Memory a”.

However, the purple sample inside his inventory had disappeared.

Like it had never even existed.

Lu Zhou snapped back to reality and opened a document. He typed down some lines of words.

[What were those black buildings?

[If it is a computer, who does it belong to?

[What is it calculating?]

In addition, those golden cubes soaked at the bottom of the pool were the same thing as his “Debris No.2”.

He wasn’t in a hurry. After he returned to Jin Ling, he would use his newfound knowledge to research the Debris No.2.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second before setting a password for the document.

Even if someone read about his ridiculous dream, nothing would happen.

But it was better to be safe.

…

The next day.

Vera’s 45-minute report began, and the venue was set to be at the lecture hall 7.

The lecture hall was quite lively.

A lot of people were curious about this female Fields Medalist.

After all, even though there were plenty of female physicists and chemists, there weren’t a lot of female mathematicians.

Especially outstanding female mathematicians.

Not to mention that Vera was both talented on the inside and outside.

Even scholars that weren’t in the field of analytic number theory decided to attend the report.

Lu Zhou, who arrived at the venue ten minutes in advance, almost couldn’t find a seat. Schultz, who was sitting in the middle of the lecture hall, waved at him.

“I was saving this seat for my friend Akshay, but he’s attending another report instead.”

Lu Zhou: “Thank you.”

Schultz smiled.

“You’re welcome.”

Lu Zhou yawned as he grabbed the thesis sitting in front of him. He casually flipped through the pages.

He didn’t sleep well last night.

His brain was a mess, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the metal city, the black buildings, the metal blades, the liquid helium…

Schultz: “You didn’t sleep well?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

Schultz: “All nighter?”

“Sort of,” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “I had a long nightmare.”

Schultz curiously asked, “What did you dream about?”

Lu Zhou: “… About the future.”

Schultz frowned and asked, “Are you sure it was a nightmare?”

Lu Zhou: “I think so… I’m not sure if it’s the future of humanity… I mean, I’m not sure whether or not I’ve seen it in science fiction movies before. It had an apocalyptic vibe.”

“Like ‘I am legend’?”

“Haha, kind of, but that’s an old movie.”

Schultz shrugged and jokingly said, “That’s kind of sad, the greatest scientist of this century has a pessimistic view about the future. Looks like I should consider buying some insurance.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“Hey, that’s not funny.”

Schultz smiled and said, “But you’re laughing?”

Lu Zhou: “I’m laughing because the first thing you thought of is to buy insurance… Who’s going to insure your insurer?”

Schultz rubbed his chin and thought.

“That is a problem.”

While the two were talking, the report began.

Vera stood on stage, and Lu Zhou felt like she didn’t look too well.

However, he could ask about that after the report.

Now that the report had begun, he should focus on the academic side.

This was out of respect for the presenter.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and focused his attention on the thesis in his hand.

Because he had been so busy recently, he didn’t have time to read the report thesis.

However, that didn’t really matter.

He could comprehend most of the concepts just by glancing through them.

“Supplement to the hyperelliptic curve analysis method?” Lu Zhou said after reading the abstract. He raised his eyebrows with interest. “That is interesting.”

Basically, Vera built on the foundation of the hyperelliptic curve analysis method. However, she used a more sophisticated method to introduce the Plancherel formula to the Heisenberg group. This made the hyperelliptic curve analysis method more applicable to connected one-dimensional complex manifolds on Riemann surfaces.

It was difficult to explain this in layman’s terms. But in short, this was a novel idea that caught the attention of Lu Zhou and the audience.

It even inspired Lu Zhou so much that Lu Zhou had the impulse to go back to his hotel immediately and go on a retreat.

Of course, that was just a thought.

He wouldn’t act on his impulse like that.

Not to mention that Vera was still presenting.

She finally had the chance to give a talk to the entire mathematics community. If her mentor had suddenly left in the middle of her talk, she might start crying on stage…

Schultz listened to Vera’s report. With his arms folded, he suddenly sighed.

“Honestly, I’m quite jealous of you.”

Without turning his head, Lu Zhou spoke.

“… Jealous of what?”

“Of you having a smart and obedient student. Whenever you come up with a new theory, she’s there to help you perfect it.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

However, something suddenly happened.

Vera suddenly began coughing violently on stage.

“… Sorry.”

Vera covered her mouth and was about to continue her report. However, when she tried to speak, she began coughing again.

Vera began to sweat, her hand leaned on the whiteboard, and her face turned pale.

A staff member immediately went on stage.

“Miss Pulyuy, let’s stop the report for now, if you don’t feel well—”

“No, let me finish writing!”

She clenched her fists as a flash of confusion appeared in her eyes. However, the look of confusion was soon replaced by courage and determination.

A year ago, when she first started to get sick, she knew she didn’t have much time.

She came all this way…

The staff member hesitated for a bit and retreated.

Vera looked at the whiteboard.

Her mind had never been clearer.

She clenched her teeth and began writing on the whiteboard.

Because of her pain and anxiety, the numbers and symbols on the whiteboard began to look distorted, but the flow of thoughts in her mind hadn’t stopped.

She wrote down all of her thoughts on the whiteboard, including those that weren’t written in the thesis.

It seemed like time and space had disappeared, so did the pain in her chest.

Apparently, when a person reached their physical limit, the body would allocate all resources to the brain.

However, she didn’t have time to think about this.

She didn’t do this for the mathematics community, or her mentor…

This might be her last report…

But…

She was going to do her best!

Finally, she finished writing down the last line of equations.

She took half a step back and faintly smiled.

Even though she hadn’t solved the maze.

At least…

This might be of help to other people.

Especially Lu Zhou.

Suddenly, she began to lose consciousness.

She leaned against the whiteboard but her sleeve left a blood mark on the whiteboard.

Blood!

There was an uproar and commotion in the lecture hall.

Sh*t…

Vera’s heart dropped when she saw the red marks.

I’ve survived for so long, I can’t believe this is happening today…

This is both the worst and best day of my life.

Her legs gradually lost their strength.

Before she lost consciousness, she saw a figure rushing toward her as she collapsed to the ground.

She finally realized that…

She had no regrets.

Chapter 1022: Trash Can

Chapter 1022 Trash Can

St. Petersburg hospital.

Ward entrance.

A skinny elderly man covered his face while sobbing silently.

“This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have voted, if it weren’t for the Fields Medal… If it weren’t for the Fields Medal… we wouldn’t have lost the kind, intelligent, beautiful Vera.”

“Calm down.” Professor Fefferman patted the old man and sighed. He was also in pain, but he said, “Think about it from another perspective, if we didn’t give her this award, we might have never gotten another opportunity to give her this honor. You should be glad you voted for her.”

“I guess that’s right…”

The atmosphere outside the ward was depressing.

The atmosphere in the ward was also full of sadness.

Lu Zhou sat on the stool by the bed in which Vera lay unconscious. He stayed silent for a long time.

After a while, the doctor broke the silence.

“Sir, visiting hours is over.”

Lu Zhou looked at the doctor and spoke in a calm tone.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong with her?”

Doctor: “Are you her relative?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

Doctor: “Then I’m afraid I’m not allowed to disclose the patient’s information to you. We have contacted her immediate family, they will be here soon.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

He took a final look at Vera’s pale face and spoke.

“I will take care of you.

“Trust me.

“I don’t know if you can hear me… but please don’t give up.”

Lu Zhou was speaking in Chinese, so the doctor didn’t understand him. The doctor spoke again.

“Sir?”

“… Nothing.”

Lu Zhou stood up from his stool and left the ward.

It didn’t matter if the doctor refused to tell him Vera’s condition, he had his own way of finding out things.

That was easy for him.

As for the medical costs, he had more money than he knew what to do with. He was willing to spend any amount it took.

As for her medical information privacy…

That was a right only conscious people had.

If she really cared about such trivial matters, Lu Zhou could just apologize when she woke up.

…

Professor Fefferman saw Lu Zhou come out of the ward. He immediately stood up and asked, “How is Miss Pulyuy doing?”

Lu Zhou: “She’s still in a coma… it’s not looking good.”

“Oh my, this is…” Professor Fefferman sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them. He didn’t know what to say.

The old professor sitting next to him suddenly stood up and grabbed Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Please tell the doctor to cure her, no matter what disease she has! If this is about money… I can take it from my pension. If something happens to her, it will be a great loss to the mathematics world… please!”

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old professor and looked confidently at him.

“Don’t worry.

“I know what to do.”

Lu Zhou and Wang Peng began walking toward the stairs.

When he reached the stairs, he heard someone shout.

It seemed like the old professor, Shigefumi Mori, was arguing with someone.

“You can’t do this, her life doesn’t only belong to her, her knowledge—

“I don’t care whether it’s the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize, if she’s so important to you guys, why don’t you pay for the treatment!”

Standing across from Shigefumi Mori was a middle-aged man around six feet two inches tall.

He had a beer belly and a scruffy beard, indicating his poor lifestyle. His brown leather jacket and stained jeans looked like he just got off a motorcycle.

Standing in front of this huge man, Shigefumi Mori felt even smaller.

He tried to appease the grumpy man.

“We will definitely contribute some—”

The tall man interrupted him and said, “Accept the reality, you’ve read the diagnosis, she can’t be saved!”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

“Who said that?”

The burly man turned his head and squinted at the young man.

“Who are you? Mind your own business.”

Lu Zhou walked up and looked at the document on the table.

Iric… Pulyuy.

That’s probably the man’s name.

Judging by his name, he was Vera’s relative. However, his tall and large figure was the complete opposite of Vera’s slim figure.

Lu Zhou looked at the first few lines of the document.

[Consent form to forgo treatment…]

Lu Zhou frowned and looked at the man towering above him.

“You plan on forgoing treatment? What gives you the right to do that?”

“I’m her father, I brought her to this world, of course I have this right!” Iric lifted his chin and said, “I’m not going to let her suffer, I want to end her pain.”

Shigefumi Mori said, “You don’t have to pay anything. Miss Pulyuy has a sizable amount in her savings. The Fields Medal prize also has an award of 15 thousand Canadian dollars, which can be used for her treatment. We can also start a fundraiser—”

Suddenly, the man squinted.

A flash of greed appeared in his eyes.

“She has savings?

“Which bank?”

Lu Zhou noticed the greed in the man’s eyes, and he suddenly realized what was going on.

This was why Vera was struggling financially when she was at Princeton, even though she had a good salary.

He finally realized why she never talked about her family, never even mentioning her middle name…

Even though Lu Zhou knew that anger would only make the situation worse, he couldn’t help it.

“F*cking pathetic…”

Everything froze.

The man looked at him with a dangerous look.

“What did you say, kid? Say it again.”

“I said you’re pathetic.” Lu Zhou stared at the man and said, “I would be ashamed to have a father like you. You bring shame to the Pulyuy name.”

Iric’s face turned red, like he was about to explode.

He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists. He took a step toward Lu Zhou as a nurse came up and tried to persuade him.

“Do you want to die!

“You’re nothing more than a tiny bug, I can squash you with one hand!”

Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

“Sound fun, how about… you try me?”

Iric was faced with a challenge.

Iric knew he wouldn’t win a debate with Lu Zhou, so he threw a fist toward Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn’t have the slightest fear on his face. He didn’t even try to dodge the punch.

The punch was quite fast, he might not have been able to dodge it.

But it was no match for his professional bodyguard…

When Iric saw his fist getting closer and closer to Lu Zhou’s stinky face, he had a malevolent smile.

Someone dares to call me pathetic?

No one in the town of Nosovka would dare to say such things to me.

I swear I’m going to break this guy’s jaw.

However, when his fist was getting close to Lu Zhou’s face, a huge wave of force hit his elbow joint.

He heard a click, then felt a blow to his abdomen. He flew across the floor.

Duang!

His body crashed into a trash can.

A security guard heard the nurse’s scream.

Wang Peng stretched his wrist and looked at the man lying on the ground. He spoke in fluent Russian.

“There’s no need to throw hands.”

Even though Lu Zhou was the one that provoked Iric…

Wang Peng didn’t care.

Iric couldn’t feel his right hand. He got up and shouted, “You’re finished! How dare you hit me! I’m going to end you! Ouch—”

It seemed like Wang Peng was being merciful.

If Wang Peng had struck his throat or kneecaps instead of kicking him in the belly, Iric would be in the emergency room by now.

Lu Zhou ignored the man screaming on the ground. He picked up the treatment consent form and tore it to pieces.

He was about to throw it in a trash can when he caught a glimpse of a piece of paper that fell to the ground.

It looked like it fell out of the chubby man’s pocket.

By the looks of it, it seemed like a medical certificate.

The security guards had surrounded the scene. People from the Federal Security Service had also arrived, and they were talking to Wang Peng.

Lu Zhou picked up the piece of paper that fell out of Iric’s pocket.

When he read the paper, his heart dropped to his stomach.

Lung cancer.

Stage 4.

Chapter 1023: I“ll Find A Way

Chapter 1023 I“ll Find A Way

Lu Zhou was standing in the pure white system space, staring at his inventory, quietly thinking about something.

After he read Vera’s diagnosis an hour ago, he went into the system space. Even though he didn’t know why he came here, his intuition told him that this was the only place to save her.

Stage 4 cancer…

From what Lu Zhou could tell, other than a misdiagnosis, there was no cure for this.

But he knew that cancer cells wouldn’t be a problem for an advanced civilization with high biotechnology.

However, the situation wasn’t as optimistic as he had thought.

Nitrogen shield?

That is no use.

Energy Medicine?

She needs rest, not some steroids.

There are some memory pills left…

But those are obviously no use.

Easter egg?

Lu Zhou saw the colorful Easter egg lying in the inventory and nearly chuckled.

This is the least useful thing I’ve ever gotten from the system…

Okay, one of the least useful.

Lu Zhou closed his inventory and looked at his characteristic panel.

Normally speaking, the survival time for patients with stage 4 cancer was around 3-12 months.

Of course, if the patient was in good health and cooperated with treatment, they would be able to survive longer. There were cases of patients with advanced lung cancer, surviving for more than seven years.

However, that was only seven years.

And the process of chemotherapy throughout the seven years was excruciating.

If that was the case, maybe her father was right.

It would be better to end the suffering.

However, her father had ulterior motives behind all this…

Lu Zhou closed his inventory, and his consciousness returned to the real world.

He stared at his hotel room ceiling and took a deep breath as he tightly clenched his fists.

I am a man of my word.

Even if the system can’t help me…

I will save her!

…

Lu Zhou opened the door, walking out of his room.

He saw Wang Peng in the corridor, who had already returned from the hospital. He spoke.

“How serious is it?”

Wang Peng: “You’re talking about?”

Lu Zhou: “The fight.”

Wang Peng smiled and said, “No big deal.”

Lu Zhou: “What about Iric?”

Wang Peng: “He was warned by the Federal Security Service and left. He said he is going to sue you, but I think he’s just bluffing.”

Looks like everything is fine then.

Lu Zhou nodded and reached out his hand.

“Lend me your phone.”

Wang Peng knew what Lu Zhou wanted. From his inner jacket pocket, he took out the phone Maksim gave Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou first arrived in Russia.

Lu Zhou pressed a speed dial button on the phone.

The phone was soon connected.

“You’re already calling me? What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou: “I need a favor.”

Maksim: “With the hospital?”

Lu Zhou: “… How did you know?”

Maksim: “Of course, we’ve already arranged her to be transferred to the best hospital in Moscow. She will be transferred as soon as her condition stabilizes.”

This was the least they could do in return for Lu Zhou helping them with the fusion power station.

Apparently, the Federal Security Service investigated the Russian power grid system and found malicious code that was implanted a long time ago.

Regardless, it was nice of Maksim to return the favor.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Since you’re so happy to help, can you do something else for me?”

Moscow frowned and said, “What do you need… Even the best hospital in Moscow can only slow down her condition and reduce her pain. A complete recovery is impossible even if you put her in the best hospital in the world.”

If this were stage 2, there would still be hope.

But stage 4…

This was a medical problem faced by the entire global medical community, it couldn’t be solved by one single hospital.

“Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to cure her.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “After her condition stabilizes, transfer her to Beijing.”

Maksim: “Beijing?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll find a way.”

…

The conference continued as scheduled.

But there was a dull atmosphere in the venue.

Especially after Vera’s report in the morning, most of the listeners couldn’t concentrate on the report. People were discussing the matter during lunch time at the buffet.

“Do you know what she has?”

“Apparently, it’s leukemia.”

“Leukemia? Vomiting blood? I heard it’s gastric cancer… terminal cancer!”

“Really?”

“Not sure, just a rumor. Also, apparently, Shigefumi Mori and her father got into a fight because her father wanted to forgo treatment and take the 15,000 prize money for himself.”

“Jesus, all of this for just 15,000 Canadian dollars… Is he even a father? I’m sure Vera’s salary at Princeton is more than a hundred thousand USD a year.”

“You can never underestimate the greediness of a Russian alcoholic. Perhaps he thinks that his daughter’s savings will belong to him.”

“Hey, not all Russians are greedy.”

“Sorry, I apologize…”

“…”

Lu Zhou quietly ate his lunch, ignoring the discussion around him.

Schultz sat across from him. Schultz wanted to give him a few words of comfort, but after seeing how Lu Zhou was in deep thought, he decided against talking and quietly ate his lunch.

When Lu Zhou nearly finished eating, Schultz suddenly spoke.

“The news is on MathOverflow… I saw a picture posted by someone. You fought someone at the hospital?”

Lu Zhou: “My driver was the one fighting, the other guy attacked first.”

Schultz: “You should explain yourself to them then.”

“There’s nothing to explain.” Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a napkin and threw the napkin into a trash can. He stood up and said, “I don’t have time to deal with those sheep.”

Cancer had plagued human civilization for thousands of years, and it was far more difficult than solving a mathematics problem.

However, Lu Zhou had two options.

Lu Zhou didn’t stay at the cafeteria for too long. He went straight to the temporary office of the International Mathematical Union. The Secretary-General of the organization committee went to eat lunch, but his assistant was here.

The assistant saw that Lu Zhou was knocking on the door. He put down his utensils and wiped his mouth.

“Dear Professor Lu, how can I help you?”

“It’s fine, you can continue eating, I’m just here to ask a question,” Lu Zhou said. “Is the whiteboard from lecture hall 7 still here?”

The assistant quickly responded.

“It’s here… but the lecture hall was suspended after the incident.”

Lu Zhou: “Can I look at it?”

The assistant was a little troubled.

“The Secretary-General wants to close off the lecture hall, wait for the conference to be over, and communicate with the hotel on the incident… If you want to see the content on the whiteboard, the report is recorded, you can—”

Lu Zhou spoke again, and this time, he spoke in a demanding tone.

“Take me to see it, I’ll explain to the Secretary-General.”

The assistant hesitated for a bit before nodding.

“Oh… okay.”

Chapter 1024: The Question of the Century

Chapter 1024 The Question of the Century

The door opened with a creaking sound.

The silent atmosphere of the lecture hall was chilling.

The venue seemed to have captured the chaos from yesterday. Papers were randomly scattered on the ground, even the chair he knocked over was still lying on the floor.

Lu Zhou thought back to yesterday, the scene that made his heart drop…

Seeing how Lu Zhou was staring blankly at the lecture hall, the assistant didn’t want to disturb him. However, the assistant remembered his half-finished lunch, so he took a deep breath and said, “If you want to stay here for longer, make sure to close the door later. Do you want to key?”

“Sure.”

Lu Zhou took the key and nodded. He said, “I’ll return it to Professor Helge Holden, you can go.”

Professor Helge Holden was the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union and one of the main people in charge of the conference organization committee. He was responsible for venue scheduling and handling emergency situations.

The assistant was relieved to hear that Lu Zhou would speak to Helge Holden himself. Without saying anything, the assistant turned around and left.

The atmosphere in the lecture hall made Lu Zhou feel depressed.

Especially the dried bloodstains on the whiteboard.

He didn’t want to stay here for one second longer.

After the assistant left, Lu Zhou walked into the lecture hall and turned on the lights. He closed the door and walked toward the stage.

It pained him to see the dried bloodstains on the whiteboard.

However, what hurt him the most was the lines of equations on the whiteboard.

As an expert mathematician, he was well aware of the effort and hard work necessary to create these research results. This would have taken him at least a couple of weeks to do.

Lu Zhou had no idea how Vera was able to survive the past year with a disease dragging her down.

However, after seeing these equations, Lu Zhou finally realized why she was hiding from him.

Maybe when she found out about her condition, she was already incurable. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to hide this…

After all, the early symptoms of cancer were similar to many common diseases. Not to mention she wasn’t in good physical health, it was difficult to detect the cancer from ordinary medical examinations.

And once the symptoms appeared…

It was too late.

That was the cause of death for 70% of cancer patients.

But…

“… Why does it have to be her?”

Is this the curse of winning the Fields Medal?

Lu Zhou stared at the calculations on the whiteboard and took a deep breath. His eyes were filled with determination.

The probability of receiving a cancer-curing drug from the system for solving Riemann’s hypothesis was too low. Instead, maybe solving Riemann’s hypothesis would improve the patient’s mood and somehow destroy the cancer cells.

Lu Zhou never relied on solving problems using the system mission rewards.

The true value of the high tech system wasn’t in the rewards, but the missions itself!

According to the system’s instructions, after he finished his current task, he had the option to continue working on the mission chain or to choose three new random missions. And these random missions were often related to problems he was currently facing.

Basically, these missions were like a scientific research guidance tool. It analyzed Lu Zhou’s social status, resources, and environment, giving him missions that had the highest rate of return.

There was a 90% chance for a cancer-related mission to appear.

Even though he was lacking in biological knowledge, scientific research wasn’t done by one man alone. The Institute for Advanced Study could help him.

Not to mention, he had a ton of money.

Money itself was also a superpower.

Especially in the hands of a scientist that knew how to spend money.

Taking everything into account, he had pretty good odds.

If all of this failed…

Then that meant this research project was beyond the capabilities of current human technologies.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.

“Your work is unfinished.

“I’ll finish it for you…”

Lu Zhou had completely calmed down; he had entered a flow state.

This was one of the few times he could truly devote himself to one problem.

He first had this feeling when he attended a Princeton academic conference several years ago.

Back then, he had to rely on the system to achieve this kind of flow state, but now, all it took was 10 seconds of meditation.

Suddenly, the numbers and characters on the whiteboard seemed to have come to life. The equations were like notes on a music sheet, forming a symphony of mathematics.

There was no audience.

There wasn’t even a musician.

However, Lu Zhou could clearly hear the music in his ears. It felt like he had traveled back in time, back to that classroom in Princeton.

“I see…”

Lu Zhou looked at the calculations on the whiteboard and nodded silently.

The disorderly written equations on the whiteboard was part of Vera’s unpublished and unfinished research.

Most of the objects on the whiteboard were purely concepts and ideas, an image, an equation. It needed the rigor of mathematics to fully convey the concept to an audience…

However, Vera was Lu Zhou’s student, so he was able to decrypt the code.

Not to mention, he was in a flow state.

“… The expansion of [ζ(z)]-1/2[ζ(z)]-1/2=Σnαnn^-z becomes truncated, introducing the series φ(z)=Σnβnn^, taking the modulate integrand of the formula.

“No wonder my research was in a bottleneck. My attention was fixated on complicated mathematical tools like the hyperelliptic curve analysis method and trying to introduce differentiable manifolds into complex planes. I ignored the fundamentals.”

No wonder Chen Yang, who he poached from the Yan University mathematics center, was able to greatly improve Lu Zhou’s thesis.

Lu Zhou didn’t realize this, but he had committed one of the biggest crimes in mathematics. Which was the “proof is trivial” crime. This was akin to building a skyscraper without having the right foundation.

“I made a huge mistake. If I didn’t stop lecturing, I would have never made this mistake… But now is not the time to make excuses.

“Also, Vera, your ideas are novel, but there are some problems in the details. Like when you selected the value of N in Equation 8, and when you introduced the differential manifold into the complex plane abstract space.

“I would do this instead…”

There were plenty of whiteboards in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou walked in front of an empty whiteboard and picked up a pen. He began transferring his thoughts onto the whiteboard.

It was as if time and space were frozen.

Nothing else in the world mattered.

This was the calm before the storm.

And a big storm was brewing…

Lu Zhou stood in this lecture hall for a long time, for more than an hour.

If he got hungry, he still had supplements he could take in the system space.

If he got tired, he could take some Energy Medicine.

He had been stuck in this maze for too long; this was the closest he had ever gotten to escaping.

If he gave up now…

Who knew when he would be able to come this close again.

Time quickly passed by. Lu Zhou had no idea how many days it had been. His attention was fully focused on the half a dozen fully-filled whiteboards.

Finally, Lu Zhou saw a trace of light at the end of the tunnel.

Lu Zhou’s pupils expanded and contracted.

He didn’t cheer or scream.

He was as calm as a cucumber.

He felt relieved.

“I see…

“No wonder this troubled people for more than a century and a half.

“This isn’t something that can be solved by talent and knowledge alone.”

Who would have thought that the eight-page paper from the Prussian Academy of Sciences would have plagued so many great scholars.

The countless mathematical propositions that assumed Riemann’s hypothesis was true, had become theorems.

Today, more than 150 years later, someone finally answered Riemann’s question.

Yes, Professor Riemann was correct.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, he looked at the security camera in the corner of the lecture hall and spoke.

“Xiao Ai.

“Tidy up the things on the whiteboard.

“Upload it to arXiv.”

He knew that Xiao Ai had been silently watching him over the past few days.

He knew that the reason the lecture hall door hadn’t been opened was thanks to Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai was able to create fake emails and divert the security guards.

As expected, a series of text bubbles appeared on his phone.

[Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

[Congratulations, Master!]

After that, Lu Zhou took a bottle of Energy Medicine from the system space and took a sip.

He hadn’t slept in three days, and he was in no hurry to sleep.

He sat on the podium and stared at the eight whiteboards.

He just wanted to sit here and listen to his heart…

Then, he would make his next decision.

Chapter 1025: The ICM Conference

Chapter 1025 The ICM Conference

This year’s International Congress of Mathematicians was definitely the most luxurious one.

But also, it was the most troublesome one.

No one would have imagined something like this to happen at the 45-minute report.

Moreover, this happened to Vera Pulyuy, the winner of the Fields Medal…

Helge Holden, Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, was annoyed at the money-hungry reporters.

“I had no idea something like this would happen… Dammit, why does it have to be her?”

His office door was opened, and Professor Fefferman walked in wearing a coat.

Professor Holden looked up and immediately spoke.

“How is Miss Vera Pulyuy doing?”

Professor Fefferman shook his head and said seriously, “Apparently, she woke up a few times, but the situation is not good. The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation invited several academician level experts from the best Moscow hospital, but when it comes to cancer… Especially terminal lung cancer, the diagnosis is nothing more than a death sentence. The Russians plan on transferring Miss Pulyuy to another hospital.”

“To another hospital? To where?”

“Apparently to Beijing.”

“China?” Holden paused for a second and said, “Is there a famous cancer treatment hospital in China? Is this going to be okay?”

“There isn’t a single hospital in the world that can treat terminal lung cancer, my friend.” Professor Fefferman sighed and said, “Even the Americans wouldn’t be able to do it. Therefore, it doesn’t matter where she goes, she’s going to receive the same level of treatment. Thus, it might be better to let her feel comfortable during her final days…”

It would be great if the cancer was detected early. But apparently, Vera was already diagnosed with terminal cancer a year ago when she first discovered it.

This was similar to many patients that suffered from this tragic disease.

However, she didn’t give up over the past year. She still did her work and lived each day with meaning and purpose, and this surprised Fefferman.

Accepting reality was not easy. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone committing suicide after receiving their death sentence.

Feffermen knew that he wouldn’t have been able to survive like Vera when he was younger.

If he knew that he only had a year to live, he might not choose to commit suicide, but he definitely wouldn’t be so optimistic and positive.

No matter how interesting mathematics was, and no matter how passionate he was toward his career, he would try to experience something he had never done before, maybe something illegal…

But she didn’t do that.

Not just that, but the people around her barely noticed any changes about her as she continued to do her job.

He originally thought that she was just a shy and introverted girl.

But now, it seemed like she was much stronger and tenacious than he had thought.

Professor Holden’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What does that mean?”

Even though Professor Fefferman knew the history between Vera and Lu Zhou, he obviously wouldn’t tell Holden. So he shrugged and spoke.

“Nothing, I just think the view there is nice, she’ll feel better staying there. It’s not like we can send her back to Ukraine. Her middle-aged, divorced, alcoholic father is not going to take care of her.”

Professor Holden thought about her unfortunate family circumstances and sighed.

“If you say so…”

His assistant came in from the outside.

“Professor, the conference is ending in two days, and the Corinthia Hotel asked us how we plan on dealing with the scene at lecture hall seven.”

Professor Holden went silent for a while and said, “… Let them handle it.”

Actually, this wasn’t a criminal case, so there was no need to close off the scene.

The reason for doing this was because they didn’t want the gloomy mood of the lecture hall to affect the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians. They wanted to reduce the damage as much as possible.

Now that the reports were over, it would be better to let the hotel handle it.

The assistant said, “Oh yeah, Professor, do you have the key?”

“Key?” Professor Holden paused for a second and said, “I never carry more than three keys, I think you have the key to lecture hall seven.”

The assistant realized something, and he spoke anxiously.

“Five days ago, Professor Lu came to find me, and he asked me to take him to lecture hall seven. After I took him there, he borrowed the key from me and said he would return the key to you later.”

“Professor Lu took the key from you? I don’t remember him giving it back to me.” Professor Holden frowned and stood up as he said, “Wait a second, I’ll go and check it out.”

Even though borrowing the key wasn’t a major issue, he still wanted to know what was going on.

Professor Fefferman saw Professor Holden walk out of the office door, so he quickly followed behind.

“I’ll go as well.”

Professor Fefferman and Professor Holden walked through the corridors and soon arrived at lecture hall seven. Professor Holden knocked on the door but realized the door was unlocked.

After hesitating for a bit, he reached out and opened the door.

The door quietly squeaked, followed by a rush of air.

Obviously, the person sitting inside had been here for a long time.

Professor Holden looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the podium. He suddenly noticed the eight whiteboards on the stage.

Professor Fefferman noticed that as well.

He stared at the whiteboard in disbelief. He glanced at the conclusion line on the last whiteboard and gulped.

“You… proved it?”

“Sort of, even though it wasn’t as easy as Sir Atiyah said it would be, and I’m not sure how many people can understand it, but… I finally solved it, I am sure of it.”

Lu Zhou looked back at Professor Holden and Professor Fefferman, who were completely shocked.

“Also, can you guys bring me a sandwich?

“Actually, I’m kind of hungry, can you bring two?”

Chapter 1026: Level Nine in Mathematics!

Chapter 1026 Level Nine in Mathematics!

An entire year of research.

Including the preparation and foundation work, it was more than a year’s worth.

This was probably the longest amount of time and energy Lu Zhou spent on a single problem.

In order to find a solution to the zero point distribution, he tried almost every single research method. In the end, he chose a proof based on the idea of critical line convergence and used the hyperelliptic curve analysis method to prove the Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis.

In order to find the critical band line, he tried almost every method he could think of.

Fortunately, it was all worth it.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to claim that this conjecture was worth more than all of his mathematics research combined.

If Riemann’s hypothesis was true, then any odd number greater than 7 could be expressed as the sum of three prime numbers. Anyone that knew a little about number theory would know that this was the weaker form of Goldbach’s conjecture.

This weak conjecture was proven in 2013 by Professor Helfgott, a researcher at the École Normale Supérieure. He used a Fourier analysis method and published his research in one of the top four mathematics journals.

And this was just one of the powers of proving Riemann’s hypothesis.

Almost half of the research in the field of analytic number theory throughout the twentieth century was based on the assumption that Riemann’s hypothesis was true.

This result was proven by H.Von in 1901 under the assumption that Riemann’s hypothesis was true.

There were many cases like this.

Therefore, the proof of the Riemann zeta function zero distribution was like dropping a nuclear bomb on the mathematics community.

Even ignoring the thousands of propositions that now became theorems, Riemann’s hypothesis still made a huge impact on the mathematics field.

There was only one reason.

Riemann’s hypothesis was like a bridge that connected the two mountains—algebra and geometry.

Now, the two mountains were connected.

Unifying algebra and geometry…

This was the ultimate proposition of mathematics, similar to the unified field theory.

Even though mathematics was a diverse field with many branches, scholars had never given up on studying ancient propositions.

Because ancient propositions shined a light on the future of mathematics!

Therefore, in the purest mathematical sense, Riemann’s hypothesis was one of the most valuable Millennium Prize Problems. It was far more complex than the Navier–Stokes equations.

They weren’t comparable at all…

…

After asking Professor Holden to get some food, Lu Zhou continued to sit on the lecture table. He stared intently at the whiteboards.

After Professor Holden told his assistant to get some food at the cafeteria, he and Professor Fefferman stood there and stared at the whiteboard.

Understanding the content written on the whiteboard wasn’t easy, even the first lemma was difficult to understand.

Professor Fefferman was the same. He frowned and began to think.

Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to the two people. He continued to stare at the whiteboard.

The system mission was simple. He had to complete the proof and release it to the public.

This was exactly what he did when he proved Goldbach’s conjecture.

Xiao Ai had already finished sorting the thesis and had uploaded it to arXiv. He felt a familiar voice in his heart.

The knot in his heart was finally untied.

He knew this was going to happen.

He knew the system was going to accept his proof.

But after hearing this, he was still relieved.

Finally, he finally climbed this mountain!

He opened his eyes and was inside the pure white system space.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[Evaluation: This has sparked the desires of human civilization to conquer the next era, even though the road to the future is long…]

[Requirements: Prove Riemann’s hypothesis within three years! (Achieved)]

[Mission rewards: 10,000 general points, two million mathematics experience points. “Legendary” mission card.]

[S Grade Evaluation Reward: 2x general points.]

Lu Zhou’s updated characteristic panel was displayed in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 9 (-/???)

B. Physics: Level 7 (113,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 6 (0/600,000)

E. Materials science: level 6 (163,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: level 4 (0/200,000)

G. Information science: Level 4 (0/200,000)

General points: 24,335

]

His progress bar was instantly filled, and the two million mathematics experience points made it level up from level 8 to level 9. He was only one level away from level 10. Not to mention the 20,000 general points.

What surprised him was that his experience bar and experience points needed to level up had disappeared, replaced by question marks.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care about that. He immediately selected the legendary mission card from his mission panel.

A wave of blue light swept across the information screen.

When Lu Zhou saw his three randomly selected missions, his heart sank to the bottom of his chest.

He took a deep breath and spoke in a trembling tone.

“System, how many general points to… solve cancer?”

There wasn’t a response.

Lu Zhou knew this would happen.

None of the missions were related to cancer, which meant the task of solving cancer had far exceeded his abilities. Otherwise, there was no reason the system wouldn’t give him a biochemistry mission.

Also, the system required a ton of general points to solve problems that exceeded his level of knowledge. For problems that were two levels higher than his subject level, the system didn’t even display the amount of general points required.

Because even if he had the solution from the system, he wouldn’t be able to execute the solution.

After all, the general points could only accelerate his scientific research, it didn’t give him a complete solution.

It was akin to using general points to compensate for the time he should have spent on research.

The premise of using general points to solve problems was that he should be able to solve the problems without assistance from the system.

When he asked the system about controllable nuclear fusion, the system gave him an astronomical number. That at least gave him hope on solving the problem itself.

But cancer…

From the system’s point of view, human civilization hadn’t even fully understood pathogens, far from solving cancer. There was no way to complete this research project in a short amount of time.

“… Looks like I can’t rely on the missions.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and closed his system panel.

This was unfortunate.

But he didn’t give up.

Knowing whether or not an academic problem could be solved was also important.

If even a high tech system from an advanced civilization declared that cancer couldn’t be solved by the current level of technologies…

Lu Zhou knew what to do.

…

After he left the system space, he felt a gush of warmth in his brain, spreading along his spine.

The feeling of upgrading from level 8 to level 9 was ten times stronger than when he went from level 7 to level 8.

However, this feeling didn’t make him want to faint. Instead, it gave him a feeling of energy.

It seemed like not only had he obtained more knowledge, but the strength of his brain had also increased.

Of course, he was feeling more and more hungry.

Fortunately, after he exited the system space, Professor Holden’s assistant and two hotel staff members walked into the lecture hall.

In addition to the two bacon sandwiches and salad, there was a warm cup of coffee.

Perhaps because of his unkempt face, the hotel staff member kindly brought him a mirror, razor, and wipes.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou didn’t have time to touch those things.

After he quickly devoured the food and coffee…

Professor Holden, who was standing next to him, patiently waited for him to finish drinking the cup of coffee. While Lu Zhou was shaving his beard in the mirror, Holden asked, “Can you… explain it to me?”

Lu Zhou answered concisely, “I can, but not now. I have to meet someone. I have uploaded the paper to arXiv. If you’re interested, you can download it and read it.”

Professor Holden said, “You’ve already uploaded the paper?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at his watch. “I uploaded it five minutes ago.”

Chapter 1027: Witnessing History

Chapter 1027 Witnessing History

Lu Zhou was right.

Xiao Ai uploaded the thesis around five minutes ago, the same time his system mission prompt appeared.

However, even though the paper was uploaded, it was difficult to read it.

Because during those five minutes…

The arXiv server had crashed!

Normally, this kind of academic website didn’t have a large number of visitors. Due to server operating costs, the servers often had a small capacity.

But almost every single mathematician in the world received a notification of the Riemann’s hypothesis proof.

It was 9 am in America, even scholars outside of mathematics went to arXiv and began downloading the paper.

The arXiv administrator had no idea what was going on. He thought they were under a DDOS attack.

Then, the server went down.

MathOverflow, a mathematics forum to mathematicians, had completely blown up.

[Proof of Riemann’s hypothesis! Did you guys see the paper on arXiv?!]

[See my as*! The website is down!]

[I was fortunate enough to see it… I thought there was a mistake.]

[Jesus, today’s not April fools!]

[Has anyone finished reading the thesis? What does it say? Does it prove it?]

[This is beyond my scope of research, but I think Professor Tao is reading the paper right now. He just postponed all of his lectures and meetings for the next week.]

[Wait a second, is Tao at ICM? Did he go to St. Petersburg?]

[He didn’t go this year, what a shame.]

Professor Tao wasn’t the only person that regretted not going to the conference.

In fact, many scholars that didn’t go to this conference due to various reasons felt deeply regretful.

Why does it have to be this year?

Why is this year the year I didn’t go?

Professor Lu’s 60-minute report was happening in two days, and the report topic happened to be on Riemann’s hypothesis.

On the other hand, in the executive lounge at the Corinthia Hotel.

Two famous mathematics professors sat by the window in a low-key manner.

One was Faltings, the other was Deligne.

The two were drinking coffee while talking about the world of mathematics.

“… What happened to Miss Pulyuy is so unfortunate. This is a heavy blow to the entire mathematics community. I wanted to invite her to work with me. I didn’t expect something like this to happen.”

“Life is cruel… We can only hope she lives out the rest of her days in the best way possible.”

Professor Deligne sighed and looked at Faltings as he said, “Speaking of which, you’re an old man now, aren’t you going to take a break?”

“Not yet, I want to leave behind something before I retire… I understand how Sir Atiyah feels now.”

Professor Deligne looked nonchalantly and didn’t respond.

There were too many sad things happening at once.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps from the executive lounge entrance.

He saw Professor Fefferman walking over.

Fefferman looked like he just saw a ghost.

Professor Deligne frowned and was about to speak, but Fefferman spoke first.

The second he spoke, everyone froze.

“Riemann’s hypothesis was proven.”

Everything went silent.

One could hear a pin drop on the ground.

Professor Faltings didn’t even raise his head as he said, “Impossible.”

Professor Deligne also shrugged and said, “Hilarious joke.”

Professor Fefferman knew they would say this, so he said to Deligne, “Your student proved it.”

Suddenly, the expressions on the two professors’ faces changed drastically.

Especially Professor Faltings. He opened his mouth and looked up.

“… You’re talking about Lu Zhou?”

“Yes.” Professor Fefferman nodded and said, “He’s Deligne’s only student researching number theory.”

“…”

Professor Faltings and Professor Deligne looked at each other.

Professor Deligne was muddled.

His fingers trembled as he adjusted his glasses. He then stared at Professor Fefferman and asked, “Are you sure he said that?”

Professor Fefferman thought back to the scene at lecture hall 7. He sighed and spoke.

“I’m not sure, but he has already uploaded the thesis to arXiv. You can find it on MathOverflow. The entire mathematics world is talking about this, and researchers have already begun reading his paper…”

Professor Deligne took a deep breath. However, he didn’t immediately go on arXiv. Instead, he leaned into his chair and relaxed.

Faltings did the same.

Faltings looked at Deligne and spoke.

“We’re witnessing history here.”

After a while, Deligne spoke.

“Yeah…

“This is happening so suddenly.”

If Lu Zhou had really proved Riemann’s hypothesis, then the proof of number theory theorems would be reduced by half, while the length of number theory textbooks would double.

Of course, assuming Lu Zhou was right.

Chapter 1028: Glory of the Human Mind

Chapter 1028 Glory of the Human Mind

St. Petersburg hospital.

A poor girl lay on a white hospital bed; her beautiful blonde hair had lost its color.

However, she slept peacefully.

Lu Zhou was sitting next to the hospital bed. He held a thick book in his hand, reading it quietly.

“Although that eight-page thesis from the Prussian Academy of Sciences in the town of Breslenz completely changed the face of mathematics for the next century and a half, the god of his religion did not grant him immortality.

“The late great mathematician Abel only lived a short life of 39 years and 10 minutes. Passing away in a lakeside town in Italy on July 20, 1866.

“According to his dear friend Dedekin, he was sitting under a tree exploring the world of mathematics the day before he died. He wrote in his memoir—

“When the moment came, he did not show any trace of struggle before his death. Instead, it seemed like he was enjoying the feeling of his soul and body separating. His wife brought bread and wine for him, and he told her: Kiss our child. Recite prayers for him. But he could no longer speak. When he could no longer speak, he looked up at the sky and his wife felt his hand getting colder, until his heart finally stopped…

“For those eccentric geniuses that see the world in unusual ways, the universe is often cruel.

“Weil spent the second half of his life suffering. In 1959, Nash’s speech at Columbia University regarding his proof of Riemann’s hypothesis was the beginning of his schizophrenia. In the seventies, Riemann’s hypothesis was the direct cause for Grothendieck running away from his home…

“… However, precisely because of these sacrifices, we are able to see the universe in unique ways.

“Regardless of whether the person that finally proves it will become immortal, one thing for sure is that history will remember all of the people that passed along the touch. The glory of taking the final crown may only belong to one person, but the glory of the human mind belongs to everyone…”

Suddenly, the girl’s eyelashes twitched.

Lu Zhou noticed this tiny movement. He closed his book and looked at her pale face.

The room suddenly became silent.

The sapphire-like eyes gradually opened, making eye contact with Lu Zhou.

Her cheeks began to blush, and she quickly looked away.

Lu Zhou chuckled and put the book on the bedside table.

He asked, “When did you wake up?”

Vera blushed and said, “You noticed?”

Lu Zhou: “I noticed when I was reading Professor Riemann’s story.”

“Sorry…”

Lu Zhou looked at Vera and spoke.

“There’s no need to apologize.”

Vera looked at him and spoke.

“No, I want to apologize for… my report.”

Lu Zhou smiled at the sincere girl and spoke in a comforting tone.

“You did nothing wrong, you did a great job. None of the scholars there would have done a better job if they were in your position, even myself.”

Genius was a gift to a few people, but courage and perseverance only came from hard work.

Very few people had both.

She should be proud of herself.

The room suddenly became silent.

The only noise was the clock ticking quietly on the wall.

The gentle ticking seemed like a second countdown of a young woman’s life.

However, for some reason, Lu Zhou didn’t look sad or hurt.

Vera was glad to see this.

Emotions were contagious.

What she was really afraid of wasn’t the grim reaper, but the people that cared about her suffering in her final days.

There was no reason to be sad about something that couldn’t be changed.

Everyone’s life must come to an end, it was just that, for her, that day came earlier than most.

She was grateful for mathematics changing her life. The IMO gold medal gave her an offer from Berkeley, allowing her to escape from her horrible family, giving her the opportunity to meet so many good people…

Including Lu Zhou.

It all started with mathematics, now it was going to end with mathematics.

Everything was coming full circle.

At least she could enjoy some warmth in her last days.

As for the Fields Medal promise, that didn’t matter.

“Um…”

Lu Zhou: “Do you need anything?”

Vera took a deep breath and spoke in an apologetic tone.

“… I’m sorry for hiding it from you. When I first got diagnosed, I felt like… my world was collapsing.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“I understand, but there are some things you shouldn’t bear alone.”

Vera wanted to say that she didn’t want to hurt the people around her.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t give her the opportunity to speak.

Because Lu Zhou already knew why she hid this from everyone.

“Okay, that’s enough of that. Also, you don’t have to apologize, let’s talk about something uplifting.”

“… Uplifting?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded. He pulled out a stack of papers like a magic trick and said, “The story isn’t done yet. Thanks to a beautiful young lady, all of the dots were connected.

“Finally, this endless exploration came to an end. In fact, everyone crosses the finish line at the same time; the only difference is, everyone experiences unique things.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“I digress…

“Basically, I proved Riemann’s hypothesis.”

Even though the academic community hadn’t evaluated his thesis, the system had acknowledged his proof, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

The second the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the medical ward froze.

Her pupils expanded and began to tear up.

Her tiny hands tightly clenched the sheets. She wanted to stand up but was too weak. Her lips trembled as she spoke.

“Really?”

The nurse who was standing nearby glared at Lu Zhou and said, “Sir, please refrain from saying anything that will trigger the patient, otherwise we have to ask you to leave—”

However, Vera didn’t care about the nurse at all. She looked at Lu Zhou with excitement and spoke.

“No, it’s fine, tell me! How did you prove that the curve Re(s)=1-c/ln[|Im(s)|+2] converges to 1 as S approaches infinity! I tried everything I could, but—”

Lu Zhou knew Vera would say this. He raised a hand, gesturing to her to calm down.

“I’ll tell you, but only if you calm down. Otherwise, this kind lady will kick me out of here.”

The nurse smirked proudly and nodded.

Vera calmed down and lay still on her hospital bed. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and excitement.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and glanced at the thesis in his hand.

“Thanks to your help, I finally figured some things out. The answer to your questions can be found in this paper.”

Vera whispered, “Can you read it to me?”

Lu Zhou: “No.”

Her sapphire-like eyes began to tear up, and she spoke even quieter.

“Then… can I read it?”

Lu Zhou: “No.”

Vera’s eyes widened, and she looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“Why?”

Lu Zhou spoke in a serious tone.

“You have to promise me something first. Then you can read it as much as you want.”

Vera was confused, and she said, “What…?”

Lu Zhou restrained the urge to share his proof and put away his paper.

“Go to Beijing with me.

“I’ll tell you everything there.”

Chapter 1029: Sixty Minutes Is Enough

Chapter 1029 Sixty Minutes Is Enough

The mathematics community was going crazy over Riemann’s hypothesis. At the Corinthia Hotel, where the ICM conference was held, everyone was talking about this matter.

The ICM conference took a huge blow over what happened in lecture hall 7, but it seemed like Riemann’s hypothesis had completely overshadowed everything…

“Did you hear? Riemann’s hypothesis was proven!”

“Really? This isn’t another impostor, right? How many times have people claimed to have proven Riemann’s hypothesis?”

“At least a couple dozen people, or even hundreds… But this time is different! Professor Lu is the one that wrote the paper! Apparently, he was inspired by Vera Pulyuy’s 45-minute report, so he completed the last step of the proof! He uploaded the thesis to arXiv yesterday… The entire mathematics world is talking about this, you haven’t heard?”

“This is incredible! Riemann’s hypothesis… If he is correct, do you think the International Mathematical Union will give him another Fields Medal?”

“There’s no doubt that Riemann’s hypothesis deserves this honor… But what’s the point? If he really proved Riemann’s hypothesis, why not just set up an award in his name?”

“I heard his hour-long report is happening this afternoon… No wonder he asked for his report to be scheduled as the last report of the ICM conference.”

“Do you think he’s going to talk about the proof in his report?”

“I don’t know! But I definitely won’t miss the report, this is an opportunity of a lifetime!”

There were a lot of discussions in the hotel.

Whether it was the cafes, restaurants, or executive lounge, everyone was talking about this proof.

So far, none of the scholars had expressed their opinions on the thesis. Most people hadn’t even finished reading the paper.

Therefore, for those who were concerned about the progress of the matter but were unable to comprehend the thesis, their only option was to attend the 60-minute report in the afternoon.

Even though Lu Zhou might not talk about his thesis in the report, one thing for certain was that he would at least mention it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have uploaded the thesis one day before the report…

Inside the hotel cafe.

Academician Wang Shicheng had to jump through numerous loops just to reach Lu Zhou’s ex-student Qin Yue, who was a lecturer at Princeton. Wang Shicheng met up with him at the cafe. Wang Shicheng spoke anxiously.

“Have you seen Professor Lu? I can’t find him, he’s not in his room, do you know where he is?”

If it weren’t for the special circumstance, he would hate to see Lu Zhou in person.

But he was doing this for the future of the Chinese mathematics community.

Qin Yue looked at Academician Wang Shicheng and hesitated for a second.

“No… But I think he might be at the hospital.”

Wang Shicheng obviously didn’t expect this answer.

“Hospital?”

Qin Yue nodded and said, “Yeah, Miss Vera Pulyuy is his favorite student.”

“Why is he in the hospital at a time like this…” Wang Shicheng paced back and forth and sighed. He shook his head and said, “Forget about it, it’s too late, the afternoon report is about to begin.”

Qin Yue looked at the flustered old man and pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Do you need anything from him?”

Academician Wang Shicheng’s eyes widened, and he said, “This concerns the future of China’s mathematics community. The entire world is paying attention to this, I should at least check up on him, see if he’s prepared for the report.”

Qin Yue said, “If that’s what you’re worried about… I think there’s no need to worry.”

Wang Shicheng paused for a second and said, “… What do you mean?”

Qin Yue spoke in a serious tone, “Professor Lu would never release a thesis unless he’s 100% certain.

“So, he is more than prepared.

“That’s why he uploaded the thesis to arXiv.”

…

Discussions were also happening outside the hotel.

Rows of media vehicles were parked outside the Corinthia hotel entrance.

Even though most of the public were laymen in the field of mathematics, Riemann’s hypothesis was different.

The legends surrounding the conjecture, as well as the million-dollar prize money, meant it had been popularized even among the general public.

This was the reason Professor Wiles was able to appear in the Times Magazine.

If someone really had proven Riemann’s hypothesis, there was no doubt their photo would be on the front cover of Times Magazine, They would become the most successful mathematician of the century.

Even though they were only a quarter of the way through the 21st century.

The reporters wanted to go into the hotel with their giant cameras, but they were blocked by the security guards.

“I’m a reporter from the BBC, here are my credentials, please let me in!”

“I’m from the Federal Security Service, we cannot let anyone inside without a conference invitation letter. If you want to enter, please contact the conference organizing committee and obtain an admission ticket.”

“We will contact them later. Actually, our assistant is already doing that. Please let us in first, the entire world is waiting to hear about the Riemann’s hypothesis proof.”

This statement obviously didn’t impress the security guard. The tall Russian man spoke bluntly.

“I don’t care.”

In addition to the reporters, there were also scholars that flew from all over the world.

Actually, the ICM conference was about to end since tomorrow was the closing ceremony. These scholars were a bit late to the ICM conference.

However, these scholars didn’t come here for the conference.

The real reason they came here was for the hour-long report.

Professor Tao Zhexuan dragged his suitcase to the hotel entrance. He finally escaped the crowd at the hotel entrance and walked into the hotel while adjusting his collar.

Even though he didn’t sign up to attend the ICM conference, for a famous scholar like him, the organizing committee could easily arrange a hotel room and conference ticket for him.

Apparently, when he emailed Professor Holden, there were only two empty rooms left.

Before Lu Zhou’s thesis was uploaded to arXiv, there were dozens of empty hotel rooms…

When Professor Fefferman saw Professor Tao walking through the hotel lobby, Fefferman was shocked.

“You’re here?”

Los Angeles was a long way from St. Petersburg.

Tao Zhexuan smiled and said, “Of course, how could I miss out on such a thing.”

Professor Fefferman looked at Tao Zhexuan’s computer bag and said, “I’m guessing you’ve already read the paper on the plane. You know more about number theory than I do… I’m curious, what do you think about that paper?”

Tao Zhexuan shook his head and said, “I have some questions. I don’t really understand the core argument of the thesis. I didn’t have enough time since the flight was only 16 hours, plus I’m jet-lagged… Screw jet lag, I just want to sleep. Hopefully, I won’t fall asleep at the report.”

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, “You think you can fall asleep to Professor Lu’s talk?”

Tao Zhexuan awkwardly smiled and touched his head.

“You’re right.”

There was no way he could fall asleep at a crucial moment of mathematical history…

In fact, he would be impressed if he could actually fall asleep.

Professor Tao made some small talk with Professor Fefferman. He was about to check in at the front desk when he caught a glimpse of a figure in the lobby.

He saw a middle-aged man with a beard and scruffy hair, and he seemed to be talking to the hotel staff about something. Perhaps because of his appearance, the security guards cautiously looked at the man.

Professor Fefferman noticed Professor Tao and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“… Nothing, I’m just a bit surprised.”

Tao Zhexuan looked at Professor Fefferman and smiled.

“Professor Lu is quite the magnet.

“Can’t believe that person is here.”

…

The report would begin in an hour.

Lu Zhou had returned from the hospital, and he was shutting himself in his room.

There was a sense of aura in the Corinthia Hotel.

Almost all of the top scholars in the world had set their sights on the ICM conference in St. Petersburg. Some people were at the scene, some people were making their way to St. Petersburg.

Not just mathematicians.

Those discussions had already spread from MathOverflow to social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Weibo.

Whether it was serious discussions or a pop-science article, everyone in the world wanted to know whether this age-old proposition had been proven.

Most people would struggle to maintain a normal heart rate in a situation like this. They would even struggle to breathe and speak.

However, this was nothing but another report for Lu Zhou.

His proof of Riemann’s hypothesis was still controversial in the mathematics community, it would take time for the academic community to accept his proof.

But for Lu Zhou himself…

The system had already determined that his proof was adequate, so he wasn’t concerned if other people could understand his proof.

Not to mention he had something else to do.

Lu Zhou stood in front of his floor-to-ceiling windows and glanced at the media vans on the street. He took out his phone and called Chen Yushan.

“Hello? What’s up, why are you suddenly calling me?”

Lu Zhou said, “How much do I have in my savings?”

Chen Yushan paused for a second and spoke.

“… How would I know that? But I can probably ask the accountant to find a copy of your company accounts.”

“Is there a hundred million yuan in there?”

“… You have got to be kidding me,” Chen Yushan said. “There’s more than a billion in there… Of course there’s a hundred million. Otherwise, you might as well fire me.”

Lu Zhou said, “… I can’t fire you.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know how to run a business.

If he didn’t have a CEO he could trust, things would become troublesome.

Chen Yushan smirked and leaned back in her office chair.

“Tell me, I’m guessing you are in trouble. What could cost so much money?”

“It’s not like I need to spend it all at once, but it is quite troublesome.”

Lu Zhou spent around five minutes explaining the situation to her.

Chen Yushan took some time to digest the information.

“I get what you mean… That student is very important to you, right?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, that sounds a bit crazy, but this is the only way to save her.”

Chen Yushan went silent for a while before saying, “I understand, I’ll do as you say, but whether or not it will work…”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t worry, I’ll handle the technical side.”

After the phone call, Lu Zhou called some people from the 301 Hospital, as well as the Institute for Advanced Study.

He briefly explained the situation to everyone. After he hung up the phone, he heard a knock at his door.

He opened the door and saw the assistant standing there, the one that gave him a key to lecture hall 7.

“Professor Lu, Professor Holden asked me to inform you that your report will begin in 30 minutes. If you are ready, I suggest you arrive 15 minutes in advance.”

Lu Zhou looked at the time and nodded.

“Okay.

“I’ll head over there now.”

The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get back to China.

Sixty minutes…

Should be enough time.

Chapter 1030: From Another Universe

Chapter 1030 From Another Universe

In the early twentieth century, Hilbert’s speech on Riemann’s hypothesis began a new century-long journey on Riemann’s hypothesis.

And the small boat that was mathematics, had now become a giant battleship.

At last, this century-long journey of exploring the limit of the human mind had finally come to an end.

Capturing the attention of everyone in the world, this report that answered the age-old proposition finally began.

The report venue was packed with people.

Even the largest lecture hall in the Corinthia hotel couldn’t accommodate all of the conference attendees, as well as people who traveled from thousands of miles away.

People brought in chairs, some sat on the floor, and others even sat on their suitcases…

The reporters were standing in the last row, and there were only a couple of cameras.

In order to prevent the report from being disturbed, the ICM conference organizing committee only granted limited press access. Therefore, only major media outlets such as BBC, CTV, and Columbia Television had their reporters inside the lecture hall.

The venue was chaotically noisy.

Almost everyone was talking about the report and the thesis Lu Zhou uploaded on arXiv yesterday.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a door opening.

The door near the stage opened, and everyone watched as a figure steadily walked into the lecture hall.

Everyone spontaneously became quiet.

Everyone was looking at the man.

They were all waiting for him to begin the report…

Lu Zhou was about to begin his sixty-minute report, but when he looked at the crowd, he changed his mind.

“I know you guys probably have a lot of questions about Riemann’s hypothesis. When I first walked in, I noticed someone sitting in the front row resisting the urge to stand up… I’m sure he has a lot of questions.”

The crowd chuckled, easing the tension in the air.

Lu Zhou looked at the blushing young man in the front row and spoke.

“I’m supposed to begin this report, but due to its special nature, I plan on using the first five minutes to answer some of the audience’s questions, to make it easier to understand the report. If you guys have any questions you want to ask before the report begins, you can raise your hand.”

Before he could finish speaking, numerous hands went up in the air.

Lu Zhou looked around and pointed at someone.

The Indian guy sitting in the front row stood up.

This scholar was in his thirties, and he wore a pair of glasses and had curly hair. He came from a field that mathematicians looked down upon—artificial intelligence. He immediately asked a question.

“Is Riemann’s hypothesis proven?”

Everyone in the audience began to listen intently.

Even though the scholars outside of the field of analytic number theory were also concerned with the method Lu Zhou used to prove Riemann’s hypothesis and how his tools could affect other mathematics branches, they were more concerned with whether or not the hypothesis was proven at all.

They wanted to hear it from Lu Zhou himself.

With everyone staring at him, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yes, I am confident that from today onward, it has become a theorem.”

There was a commotion in the audience.

Most people looked surprised.

Generally speaking, the more famous the scholar was, the more they cared about their reputation. A famous scholar wouldn’t claim to have proven a famous mathematics proposition unless they were 100% certain.

After all, if they were wrong, their reputation could be ruined.

The late Sir Atiyah, who once claimed to have proven Riemann’s hypothesis, had his thesis frequently rejected in his later years. Mainly because he often claimed to have proven things without giving an explanation. Even arXiv refused his proof of Riemann’s hypothesis.

This meant that Lu Zhou had no way to back out of this, so people were surprised by his courage and confidence.

The Indian guy sat down. His question was followed by a mathematics professor from Columbia University.

“What happens now? What happens to the field of analytic number theory? I mean… Throughout the twentieth century, we’ve made countless breakthroughs in the field of number theory, including Fermat’s last theorem. Many of these tools stem from research on Riemann’s hypothesis. Now that Riemann’s hypothesis has been proven, what does this mean for the future of the number theory field?”

This question was much more complex than the previous question.

Lu Zhou pondered for about five seconds and spoke.

“I can answer your question, but I’ll do it at the end of the report.”

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall and cleared his throat.

“It’s time to begin, leave your questions at the end.

“I promise to answer all of them.

“Let’s get straight to the point.”

Lu Zhou turned toward the whiteboard and picked up a marker.

Then, he wrote down a line of text—

[Proof: All non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are located on the line of Re(s) = 1/2 on the complex plane…]

He didn’t make any special opening remarks.

However, everyone watched the whiteboard intently.

The report on Riemann’s hypothesis…

Had officially begun!

In the audience.

Tao Zhexuan, who was sitting next to Professor Fefferman, stared at the line of text on the whiteboard. He suddenly exclaimed, “He’s changing his report content!”

“Of course!” Professor Fefferman looked at him strangely and said, “The entire mathematics world is concerned about this matter, he can’t just pretend like nothing has happened.”

Tao Zhexuan said excitedly, “No, until a few minutes ago, I wasn’t sure if he’s going to talk about it.”

Professor Fefferman opened his mouth and spoke.

“… Your worries were superfluous. From what I know about him, he wouldn’t joke about this kind of thing.”

While the two were speaking, Lu Zhou continued to write; his pen danced on the whiteboard as he wrote down lines of equations.

[ζ(s)=2Γ(1-s)(2π)s-1sin(πs/2)ζ(1-s)…]

[…]

After he proved the first lemma, he began proving the next.

More and more calculations began to occupy the board. The concepts gradually became more and more complicated.

Academician Wang, Zhang Wei, Xu Chengyang, and Yang Yongan were all shocked.

Yang Yongan was amazed by the speed of Lu Zhou’s writing, and he couldn’t help but exclaim, “So fast!”

Zhang Wei, who was sitting next to him, said, “Looks like he really plans on finishing the entire paper within sixty minutes.”

In fact, everyone thought that this report would have to be extended.

After all, judging from the paper on arXiv, 60 minutes wasn’t enough time to explain the entire paper. There were too many complicated lemmas and corollaries.

But now it seemed otherwise.

If Lu Zhou continued to write at this kind of speed, it would take him around 40 minutes to finish explaining the entire thesis.

Xu Chengyang said, “Incredible… Does he not have to think at all?”

Lu Zhou didn’t even have a copy of the thesis in his hand.

What was incredible was that Lu Zhou even wrote down a brief explanation on certain steps, explaining why he wrote down this equation and how it was related to the problem.

It felt like…

Lu Zhou had memorized the entire proof.

Zhang Wei said, “Maybe he’s remembered all of the steps.”

Yang Yongan looked at him.

“That is… ridiculous.”

Qin Yue, who hadn’t spoken yet, suddenly said something, “It’s not ridiculous for him at all.”

Academician Wang, Yang Yongan, and Zhang Wei all looked at Qin Yue.

Qin Yue paused for a second and continued, “From what I know, he doesn’t have to remember the steps at all.”

Academician Wang Shicheng frowned and said, “So he’s proving it on the spot?”

“I’m afraid so.” Qin Yue nodded and said, “For him, solving a problem he already once solved is a piece of cake.”

Jesus Christ…

That means once he learns something, he’ll never forget it…

No wonder this guy is the best mathematician of our time.

The two other Fields Medalists sitting in the crowd were also shocked by Lu Zhou’s presentation.

“I can’t believe this…” Professor Akshay rubbed his nose and said, “By introducing a differentiable manifold into the complex plane… The method he used is completely beyond my understanding of differential geometry.”

Schultz, who was sitting next to him, said, “He’s doing a good job.”

Akshay said, “This is… surprising.”

Schultz: “Why?”

Akshay stared at the ceiling and said, “I don’t know how he thought of this. I don’t know if you feel this way, but it feels like a light is shining down from heaven, guiding the way for us.”

Schultz stared at the ceiling as well and chuckled.

“There’s nothing strange about this. We have no idea how long he’s been stuck in this maze. It seemed like he wasn’t going to be satisfied with sharing his in-progress results at this conference.

“So, I know what you mean. Because I feel the same way about those formulas, they are so obscure and difficult to understand. Just like how Grothendieck’s works have become the bible of algebraic geometry. But when we try to copy Grothendieck’s thought process, it’s like…”

Schultz paused for a second.

He was looking for an appropriate analogy.

Meanwhile, the first whiteboard on stage had already been fully written. A hotel staff member dragged another whiteboard on stage.

Lu Zhou picked up the marker and began writing again.

Schultz finally thought of it.

He spoke.

“It’s like they come from another universe…

“Like those equations don’t belong in this universe.”

Chapter 1031: Future of Number theory

Chapter 1031 Future of Number theory

On stage.

Seven whiteboards were fully written!

The eight whiteboards were dragged on stage. There was no doubt Lu Zhou would complete the proof.

His calculations and clear thinking, as well as his deep understanding of mathematical tools, were impressive to everyone sitting in the audience.

Who knew a complex function proposition could turn out to be so convoluted.

The concepts of a complex plane and differentiable manifolds seemed to be completely different things, yet they were unified by the Riemann zeta function.

Lu Zhou’s pen was like Beethoven’s baton; the disordered prime numbers came to life, creating a song for the audience.

Just like Schultz had said, it seemed like this was something from another universe, it didn’t belong to this world.

The audience wished that the report would never end.

They wanted Lu Zhou to continue to perform until all of the secrets of the universe were revealed to them…

Molina was sitting in the crowd as she bit her lip and clenched her fists. Her eyes were filled with stubbornness.

The problem that troubled her for years felt insignificant under Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou didn’t even stop and think for a second. He kept on writing.

This feeling of powerlessness made her frustrated.

Even though she wasn’t qualified to make a conclusion on whether or not the proof was correct, judging from the atmosphere in the lecture hall, the result was obvious.

After all, the feeling of enlightenment was obvious.

Even herself was convinced Lu Zhou was correct…

Sitting next to Molina was her former mentor Sophie Morel, a mathematics professor. Sophie looked at her former student and spoke in a soft voice.

“In my opinion, there’s an 80% chance he is correct… What do you plan on doing?”

Molina went silent for a while and looked down.

“I don’t know, maybe go for a vacation back home.”

She spent the past decade trying to solve this proposition.

Even though she didn’t want to believe what she was seeing, the reality was often cruel.

She lost.

Sophie sighed and tried to comfort Molina.

“You shouldn’t feel too bad about yourself, there are plenty of other propositions worthy of being solved.”

Molina went silent for a while and spoke.

“Maybe.”

…

That was right.

There was no suspense at all.

When the eighth whiteboard was being written, Professor Faltings squinted.

At that moment…

It was like a gate opened in his heart. He was seeing a brand new world that he had never seen before…

He forgot when was the last time he felt something like this.

He just remembered it was a long time ago, back when Grothendieck was alive. Back when he wrote a “naive” letter to the king of algebraic geometry…

Professor Deligne was sitting next to him. Deligne stared meticulously at the whiteboard.

He suddenly asked, “Do you think he did it?”

Professor Faltings was caught off guard. He composed himself and gave a conservative answer.

“90% certain he did.”

Professor Deligne smiled and asked, “When did you start to speak with uncertainty in mind?”

Faltings didn’t care for the joke made by his old friend. He spoke calmly, “After all, it’s Riemann’s hypothesis, so we have to be cautious. Besides, what do you think?”

Professor Deligne went silent for a while and spoke.

“I can’t find a counterexample to disprove his theory, just like I can’t find a non-trivial zero beyond the critical line…”

Professor Deligne spoke confidently.

“I can only say that his proof is logically consistent.”

Professor Faltings looked slightly surprised.

Even though Faltings didn’t say anything, Deligne knew what Faltings was thinking.

Being logically consistent basically meant the proof was correct…

People sitting on the other side of the venue were also talking.

When Fefferman saw Lu Zhou write down a crucial formula, he turned to Tao Zhexuan and asked, “You’re better versed in number theory… What do you think?”

Professor Tao had a flash of excitement in his eyes. However, before he could speak, a man sitting nearby stood up with excitement and spoke.

“That’s it!”

The man ignored the dirty looks from the scholars sitting around him.

It was as if the man were at a football game, not a mathematics conference.

Tao Zhexuan looked at Professor Fefferman and shrugged.

“Looks like… Someone answered the question for me.

“I feel the same way as him.”

…

The last row of equations was written.

The whiteboard marker was put down.

The venue was dead silent.

Not a single sound in the entire venue.

Lu Zhou took two steps back and took a look at the neatly written equation on the whiteboard. He spent thirty seconds reminiscing about his journey, as well as each step he took to get to where he was today…

This also gave the audience a chance to digest the information.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat, turned toward the audience, and spoke.

“It is obvious that we have found the distribution of non-trivial zeros on the Riemann zeta function. Which is, all non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function on the complex plane Re(s) = 1/2 lie on a straight line.

“The proof is completed. However, the journey has only just begun, there are still many questions that the world has yet to find an answer.

“For example, the analytical extension of the Dirichlet L series; are all non-trivial zeros of the Dirichlet L function also located on the straight line of the complex plane Re(s) = 1/2? And what about the automorphic L function? We still don’t have an answer to these profound questions.

“History tells us that whenever we solve a problem, there are two more difficult problems waiting for us.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“There are some things I wanted to say after the academic community makes an evaluation of my proof, but… I don’t think it matters.”

The venue was silent.

Lu Zhou could feel the tension from the audience. He nodded and spoke in a louder voice.

“First of all, let’s answer the previous question, what is next for analytic number theory?

“My answer is, this ancient discipline will become revitalized and become more prosperous than ever.

“As for myself, maybe I will research the Dirichlet L function and Generalized Riemann hypothesis… Or maybe I’ll research the non-trivial zero-point correlation function for the Riemann zeta function.

“However, there is a bigger proposition waiting for me.”

Lu Zhou paused for a few seconds and looked around the audience. He soaked in the atmosphere and took a deep breath.

“Which is, unifying algebra and geometry!”

The second Lu Zhou finished speaking, the audience was shocked!

Unifying algebra and geometry!

People were shocked, doubtful, curious, confused…

“Unifying… algebra and geometry? Oh my god.”

“That sounds ridiculous.”

“The academic community hasn’t even made a judgment on his proof, and he’s already so arrogant!”

“If anyone can do it, it would be him…”

There was a huge commotion in the audience.

Academician Wang’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe Lu Zhou would propose something this crazy.

Molina looked shocked; unifying algebra and geometry was undoubtedly a taller mountain than Riemann’s hypothesis. She didn’t know why he was making such a big claim, right after proving Riemann’s hypothesis.

Faltings was also surprised.

However, he was surprised at something else.

The old man stared at Lu Zhou as he muttered to himself, “I can’t believe this…”

Unifying algebra and geometry…

That was the last thing Faltings wanted to do before he retired.

He didn’t expect Lu Zhou to have the same idea as him.

Chapter 1032: Victory Champagne

Chapter 1032 Victory Champagne

The unification of algebra and geometry had been an age-old topic.

In fact, this wasn’t even a real research area for this. It was something in the opposite direction of the general development trend of mathematics.

After all, everyone knew that the deeper a field was, the more branches there would be.

Mathematics was the same.

Two centuries ago, there were versatile scholars like Gauss, but now, even a 230IQ genius like Tao Zhexuan was only proficient in a limited number of fields.

Most people spent their entire lives trying to be proficient in a single field.

For a huge proposition like unifying algebra and geometry, except for a handful of geniuses, no one would dare to think about attempting to solve the proposition.

Because only a select few people could tackle a problem like this, the problem itself became much more valuable.

Back during the era of Descartes and Fermat, the study of geometry using Descartes coordinates was the first time people combined geometry and algebra.

Think about how surprised a caveman would be if someone gave him a lighter, and he didn’t have to rub sticks together for ten minutes to create fire.

Even though this was now a technique taught to high school students, this was groundbreaking back then. The analytical geometry field ruled the mathematics world for centuries until 1857, when a genius named Riemann proposed the first algebraic function theory. That was the birth of algebraic geometry.

Later on, countless geniuses had tried to tackle this proposition, slowly bridging the gap between algebra and geometry.

In the twentieth century, three major mathematical structures proposed by the Bourbaki Group dominated the world of mathematics. The three structures were “algebraic structure”, “topological structure”, and “ordered structure”.

The “probability theory” proposed by Grothendieck advanced algebraic geometry into a new era, and his lecture titled “Basics of Algebraic Geometry” was treated as the holy bible of algebraic geometry.

Many people had invented mathematics tools before, and some people had created entire branches of mathematics. But very few people had been able to connect the branches together.

Everyone noticed the trend of mathematics becoming more and more diverse.

On the other hand, there had to be people that unified branches together.

In fact, the generation of mathematicians after Grothendieck had made many attempts.

For example, Shinichi Mochizuki’s “Cosmological Theory” and “Teichmuller Theory” proposed an idea of unifying algebraic and geometric elements. Other than his students, there were few people that could understand what he wanted to do.

Another example was Schultz, whose p-adic number and perfect space theory had been gaining popularity. It was widely regarded as one of the theoretical tools most likely to unify algebra and geometry.

However, mathematical tools wouldn’t just exist by themselves; they were created to solve problems.

While mathematical conjectures were like touchstones, a way to judge a mathematical tool was by its ability to solve problems.

Now that Riemann’s hypothesis had been proven, Lu Zhou was undoubtedly the closest person to obtain a Holy Grail.

Just like how Fermat’s last theorem was proved by the great Wiles, the person that proved Riemann’s hypothesis would be pushed toward the throne of mathematics, beginning a new era of mathematics.

Lu Zhou estimated that if he wanted to reach level 10 in mathematics, unifying algebra and geometry was one of the things he had to do.

Even though the system didn’t specifically tell him to do this, his intuition told him otherwise.

After all, there was nothing else that could surpass Riemann’s hypothesis.

This was the only thing left.

…

There was a Qu0026A session after the report.

Because most people hadn’t finished reading the paper, they needed time to digest the huge amount of information.

Tao Zhexuan and Schultz stood up and asked some interesting questions. The rest of the scholars in this field of research stayed silent. A few asked questions, which were unrelated to Riemann’s hypothesis.

For example, what did unifying algebra and geometry mean? And had Lu Zhou already started working on this research project, or was it all talk?

However, Lu Zhou didn’t want to answer this question, because it didn’t have anything to do with Riemann’s hypothesis. Thus, he rejected most of these unrelated questions.

When Lu Zhou was answering questions on stage, he was quite surprised to see Professor Tao. He didn’t remember seeing Professor Tao at the conference over the past few days.

Of course, he didn’t know that Professor Tao actually flew to St. Petersburg overnight after seeing his thesis on arXiv…

The Qu0026A session didn’t take long. It went much faster than Lu Zhou had thought. Lu Zhou bowed and ended this report.

He also ended this historic moment.

Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, Professor Holden, walked on stage and handed Lu Zhou a bottle of champagne.

“This is a gift from the Corinthia hotel. Open it. This century-long journey has finally come to an end, so we should celebrate! This is your moment!”

Lu Zhou took the champagne and nodded sincerely.

“Thank you.”

“No thanks… Also, I recommend you publish your results in Inventiones Mathematicae. Actually, I sincerely recommend you to do so. You’ve published so many results in Annual Mathematics, it’s time to give the other top journals a chance.”

Professor Holden spoke in a joking manner.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

“I’ll think about it.”

Lu Zhou opened the bottle of champagne, and the sweet foam began to spray on the ceiling, falling on some unfortunate scholars sitting in the front row.

Lu Zhou wanted to apologize to these people, but they didn’t seem angry at all. Instead, they looked ecstatic to be sprayed on.

Therefore, Lu Zhou decided against apologizing.

The atmosphere of the venue had reached its peak.

A hotel staff member brought over a glass, and Lu Zhou raised his glass of champagne toward the audience. After that, he waved goodbye and left the venue.

The reporters had been waiting outside the venue for a long time.

If it weren’t for the security guards, they would have broken through the lecture hall by now.

When the reporters saw Lu Zhou come out of the lecture hall, they surrounded him like sharks.

“Professor Lu, did you prove Riemann’s hypothesis?!”

“Are you going to contact the Clay Institute for the million-dollar prize? What are you going to do with the prize money?”

“I heard your research was impacted by your student Vera Pulyuy, is that true?”

“Does the proof of Riemann’s hypothesis affect modern cryptography? Are bank accounts and passwords still safe?”

“Professor Lu Zhou…”

Lu Zhou didn’t answer a single question. He kept walking toward the elevator.

A few minutes ago, the hospital transfer was approved.

Everything had already been arranged, including the visa.

If everything went well, Vera would fly from St. Petersburg to Beijing today, and experts from the 301 Hospital would take care of her.

This was why Lu Zhou was flying back before the closing ceremony tomorrow.

Instead of answering those foolish questions, he had more important things to do…

Chapter 1033: Closing Ceremony!

Chapter 1033 Closing Ceremony!

Hilbert once said that if he woke up five hundred years in the future, the first thing he would ask was whether Riemann’s hypothesis was proven.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t in the mood to be interviewed, the entire mathematical community still heard about this sensational news.

Riemann’s hypothesis was proven!

Jesus Christ, this guy has solved three of the Millennium Prize Problems!

And this is one of the most difficult ones…

Polignac’s conjecture, Goldbach’s conjecture, and the Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis pushed Professor Lu to the throne of the mathematical world, while the Navier–Stokes equations was equivalent to adding a crown of physics.

Whereas the proof of Riemann’s hypothesis ascended him into immortal status!

That wasn’t an exaggeration at all.

Even though the mathematics community hadn’t made an evaluation yet, judging from the questions that were asked at the report and the way Lu Zhou fluently answered them, it was predictable that the proof was correct.

Even though there might be some small flaws in the paper, those could be edited before the final publication. Wiles spent more than a year modifying his own thesis on Fermat’s last theorem.

For a huge proposition like this, the mathematics community was more than happy to be patient.

After all, they had been waiting for a century and a half.

They could afford to wait a couple more months or even a year…

Of course, Riemann’s hypothesis alone wouldn’t have made these people so excited.

After all, the thesis was released yesterday, so the initial excitement was over. The real exciting part was when the Clay Institute or the mathematics community gave an evaluation of the proof.

What shocked the entire mathematics community was Lu Zhou’s final words at the report.

Which was that his next research project was to try and unify algebra and geometry!

Ten minutes after his report ended, the mathematics community exploded!

Princeton university Facebook group.

Discussions and comments began flooding in, overshadowing the upcoming Ivy league kayak competition and autumn football game.

[Unify algebra and geometry? Wait a second, I’m halfway through my algebraic geometry class, and you’re telling me they can be unified?]

[I feel like ever since he published his first paper in Mathematics Chronicle, we have been witnessing history every single day…]

[How is this possible? The Firestone Library has more than twenty rows of bookshelves on algebra, geometry, and other branches. That doesn’t even include the latest research. You’re saying all of these books can be condensed into one book? That is crazy!]

[I think… you have misunderstood. Unifying algebra and geometry isn’t the same as combining two branches into one. If he succeeds, he wouldn’t have condensed all of the books into one book. Instead, he would have created a bookshelf.]

[Oh my, I hope I can finish my graduation thesis this year…]

For the mathematics community, the idea of unifying geometry and algebra was more shocking than Riemann’s hypothesis itself. However, for mathematics laymen, they were more interested in Riemann’s hypothesis.

The video of the report began to circulate through major universities. It was even uploaded to YouTube, receiving millions of views.

However, most of the public was more interested in the million-dollar prize money rather than the mathematical value of Riemann’s hypothesis.

Not to mention that Lu Zhou had already won a million dollars from the Navier–Stokes equations, and now, he was about to win another million dollars. People began to feel jealous.

They had no idea a mathematician could make this much money!

However, it wasn’t like all mathematicians were this wealthy…

In addition to the discussion on the Internet, media outlets such as CTV, BBC, and Columbia Television had also reported on this matter.

CTV even set up a special documentary. They invited Academician Xiang Huanan to talk about the history of this century-old proposition!

The popularity of Riemann’s hypothesis continued to grow.

In addition to the discussions by the media and laymen, some of the top mathematicians also gave their opinions.

The same day the report ended, around eight o’clock at night Moscow time.

Professor Akshay, the winner of the 2018 Fields Medal, posted a blog on his academic website, giving a fairly objective summary of the report…

[So far, many great mathematicians, including Professor Deligne and Professor Faltings, are optimistic about Professor Lu Zhou’s proof. I have talked with many people such as Schultz and Tao Zhexuan, and we all agree that there are no major problems in Professor Lu’s proof.

[However, that is just the opinion of a few people. There are many scholars in this area that have expressed their opinions. The more important a conjecture is, the more cautious we have to be. Because the tower of number theory can crumble without a good foundation. Also, there are people that have yet to fully understand the thesis, so we should give them time to form their opinions.

[I can’t say Professor Lu is 100% correct, but I am 70% or even 80% certain he is.

[But to be honest, I’m more interested in the differential geometry method he used to solve problems on the complex plane. I think it is very similar to some research I did in my earlier days… I recommend my colleagues who are studying non-singular complex projective algebraic clusters to look at this proof. Maybe the tool given to us by the Riemann’s hypothesis proof will be the key to solving Hodge conjecture or something similar…]

Professor Akshay’s comments were more objective and were spread around by the online mathematics community.

In some sense, his blog played a huge role in suppressing some of the more ridiculous rumors.

Regardless of what kind of evaluation the academic community came up with, the beautiful mathematical methods Lu Zhou used in the proof was enough to be written about in history books…

…

The next day.

People were packed inside the same lecture hall.

The ICM closing ceremony would soon begin.

Even though many people had left yesterday, the majority of people stayed behind.

Tao Zhexuan sat in the middle of the venue. He looked around before speaking to Professor Fefferman.

“Where is Lu Zhou?”

Fefferman shook his head and said, “I haven’t seen him either. Deligne said he went to the airport this morning.”

Professor Tao: “He’s in such a hurry? He’s not going to attend the closing ceremony?”

Professor Tao had some questions he wanted to ask Lu Zhou.

Fefferman answered vaguely, “After all… one of his important students is laying in a hospital bed. Apparently, he arranged a plane to transfer her from St. Petersburg to Beijing.”

Professor Tao had a weird look on his face.

The closing ceremony continued.

He suddenly spoke.

“… Actually, sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t have written that recommendation letter.”

Fefferman sighed.

As if Fefferman knew Professor Tao would say this, Fefferman spoke.

“If you didn’t write that recommendation letter, she would have never become Lu Zhou’s student, she wouldn’t be where she is today. She wouldn’t have a Fields Medal—”

Tao Zhexuan sighed and spoke.

“You’ve misunderstood.”

Fefferman: “… Oh?”

Tao Zhexuan: “I just think that, without that recommendation letter, she would have never met him, and he wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess. This is a moment that should be celebrated, and he should be drinking at the party tonight. Haven’t you noticed? He didn’t even show up to dinner last night.

“The banquet isn’t important, but it’s just a bit unfortunate. It’s unfortunate that such a tragedy happened at this point in his life… This should be a historic moment, yet to lose someone you care about…”

Professor Tao paused for a second and spoke emotionally.

“… It’s unfortunate.”

Fefferman looked at him with a look of surprise. Fefferman lowered his voice and spoke.

“You… know Vera is not going to make it?”

Tao Zhexuan nodded.

“… I can tell.”

On stage.

The closing ceremony had reached its final stage.

Professor Shigefumi Mori was standing on stage, in front of a microphone. Professor Holden walked on stage with a smile.

Normally, before the closing ballet and Russian opera performance, the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union would announce the location of the next conference.

This was one of the most exciting things, second only to the Fields Medal winners announcement.

Even though the location was already determined by a vote on the second day of the conference, the organizing committee only announced the location at the very end of the conference.

People in the venue held their breaths as they nervously waited for Professor Holden.

Especially Academician Wang Shicheng.

He sat in his seat anxiously.

Qin Yue was the same.

Even though he was a scholar that worked overseas, who wouldn’t want their home country to flourish?

Professor Holden smiled at the audience and cleared his throat. He spoke in a clear and loud voice.

“After tallying the votes, we have made a decision.

“The next International Congress of Mathematicians is going to be at—

“Jinling, China!”

The venue exploded in excitement.

Chapter 1034: How Do You Know It’s Yours?

Chapter 1034 How Do You Know It’s Yours?

These mathematicians often chose a touristy attraction with pleasant scenery for their parties, some place that was fun. However, for large international academic conferences like this, a region’s mathematics strength was also one of the factors that were taken into account.

After all, everyone wanted to host this party in their hometown since it was an honor and made attending the conference much more convenient.

However, it wasn’t easy to sell your hometown to scholars around the world.

This required not only the academic influence of the region but also one’s connections in the academic community.

Thanks to Mr. Shiing Shen Chern, the International Congress of Mathematicians was held in Beijing in 2002. That was the first time the International Congress of Mathematicians was held in a non-first-world country.

That opened a door for Chinese mathematicians to connect and network with the international academic community.

When the Chinese scholars heard that the next ICM was going to be held in China, they began to feel a burning sensation of excitement in their hearts.

The applause was like a thunderstorm, flooding the venue. Scholars from other countries were shocked at the enthusiasm.

Academician Wang Shicheng was also applauding in the venue, and he nearly began to tear up.

Before this closing ceremony began, he felt a range of complex emotions. He wanted the International Mathematical Union to choose China, but he was worried it would be in Jinling.

Even though the International Mathematical Union decided on Jinling City with little suspense, somehow, this didn’t bother him at all.

Xu Chengyang was sitting nearby. He slapped his thighs and wanted to stand up, but he was worried about blocking the people behind him.

Zhang Wei clenched his fist and stared at the stage with a flash of excitement in his eyes.

What excited him wasn’t just because the next International Congress of Mathematicians was happening in Jinling, but because he began to see a trend.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t the first time Jinling would hold a mathematics event of this scale.

Starting from the report on the Yang-Mills Equations, this city had now become the center of attention for the mathematics community.

And Jin Ling University had accumulated a ton of experience hosting international mathematics conferences as a byproduct of this attention. In the blink of an eye, this university had become a center of mathematics academic exchanges.

Jin Ling University was exactly what Aurora University and Yan University wanted to become.

This was all because of one person.

How terrifying…

An American-Korean scholar looked at the Chinese scholars with envy in his eyes as he spoke to his British-American friend sitting next to him.

“How come a developing country like China gets to host this twice? I think the voting is suspicious.”

The British scholar sitting next to him spoke.

“… You really think they’re a developing country?”

According to rumors, East Asia Energy was negotiating with the Korea Electric Power Corporation on a cross-regional power grid plan. If everything went well, it wouldn’t take long for China’s power lines to cross the country border and provide electricity to the Korean people.

A developing country that had controllable fusion energy technology, exporting their electricity to other countries…

No one thought China was a developing country anymore.

Yang Yongan happened to overhear the conversation. He raised his chin toward the Korean scholar and spoke.

“We have Professor Lu, what do you guys have? Do you guys have a Fields Medal?”

This sentence hit the man exactly where it hurt.

Forget about the Fields Medal, compared to Japan, which had already established its place in the international mathematics community, Korea’s mathematics community was far behind other developed countries. People would often make jokes that Korean mathematicians only existed in K-dramas.

The Korean scholar clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists.

He immediately said angrily, “How do you know Professor Lu is yours! Us Koreans also have the surname Lu!”

Yang Yongan: “…?”

Wang Shicheng: “?”

Zhang Wei: “??”

Qin Yue: “???”

…

After the closing ceremony ended, the International Congress of Mathematicians finally came to an end.

The news that the next International Congress of Mathematicians would be hosted in Jinling quickly spread across WeChat, Weibo, and various university forums.

For normal citizens, this wasn’t anything special. But for people in the mathematics field, this was more exciting than when Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics!

A new player was joining the international mathematics world, joining the likes of America and Europe.

Some people were so excited they were unable to fall asleep…

On the flight from St. Petersburg to Beijing.

Lu Zhou leaned in his seat and yawned.

Unlike those people that stayed up all night celebrating the 2026 ICM location announcement, Lu Zhou was flying kilometers up in the sky, oblivious to what was happening.

The plane landed.

Through the special airport passage, Lu Zhou went to the bathroom and drank a bottle of Energy Medicine from the system space.

He rubbed his eyes and felt energized. He put the empty bottle into his pocket and washed his face by the sink.

There weren’t many Energy Medicine bottles left. It took longer and longer to complete missions, which meant fewer rewards. He had to use his system items conservatively.

After washing his face, Lu Zhou was about to leave the bathroom, but he suddenly received a call from his father.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and spoke while walking out of the bathroom.

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?”

“Nothing much, I just saw you on the news… When did you go to Russia? How come you didn’t tell us?”

Even though his father followed the news closely, the news station had been constantly talking about Lu Zhou the past few days, so it was hard to miss.

Lu Zhou heard his father’s complaint and didn’t know what to say.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to call his family. It was just that before going to St. Petersburg, he had to go through a military safety exercise and prepare for his hour-long report. Then the incident at St. Petersburg happened…

“I only went for a week, just for some conference, didn’t think I needed to tell you…”

“What do you mean! You won such a large… big prize, why didn’t you tell us?”

Lu Zhou wanted to say that the prize he won was actually much less honorable than the Fields Medal.

However, he understood why his father was pissed off. After all, he didn’t even call his family once.

Lu Zhou sighed and decided to agree with his father.

“Okay then, I’ll remember to call you guys next time.”

As expected, this did the trick. Old Lu totally forgot about what happened and began talking about other things.

“Oh yeah, I heard Old Wu from work say that there’s a lot of good Vodka in Russia, make sure to buy some for me, I want to see what they taste like.”

Lu Zhou said, “… Can’t you buy vodka at the supermarket?”

Old Lu: “It’s not the same! Buying from Russia is more authentic!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Isn’t it just alcohol with water? What difference can it make?

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“I just got off the plane, I’m already back in China… Maybe I can buy something at the duty-free store.”

Old Lu: “Oh, really? I just saw you on the news, you’re already back? Never mind then, I can just buy it at the supermarket.”

Lu Zhou: “Ok…”

Old Lu: “Oh yeah, I just wanted to ask, are you okay?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“… I’m good, don’t worry about me.”

Old Lu said, “I’m not worried, I know you can take care of yourself. I can’t even understand the problems you have.”

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled.

He still decided to stay humble.

“That’s just academic problems, after all, I do work in this field, but when it comes to fishing—”

“Okay enough.”

His father spoke in an emotional tone.

“I don’t care if you want to listen to me, I have to say this. There are no perfect people in the world. Even great mathematicians have peed their pants, have made arithmetic errors—”

“Hey! Dad, what kind of example is that… What are you trying to say?”

Lu Zhou was appalled.

Thank god he wasn’t on speakerphone!

However, Old Lu didn’t seem to care.

“… I just wanted to tell you, regardless of what choice you make, other people’s opinions don’t matter. As long as you think it’s the right choice, you will have no regrets.

“What’s the point of caring about other people’s opinions?”

The phone call went silent.

After a few seconds, Lu Zhou suddenly smiled.

“Okay then.”

“Good!” Old Lu suddenly said, “Oh yeah, you really proved Riemann’s hypothesis?”

Lu Zhou said, “Even you know about this?”

Old Lu: “I heard that after you solved Riemann’s hypothesis, bank passwords aren’t safe anymore! I was talking with your mother about taking money out of the bank. I think you have some savings too, right? You should take out at least half.”

Lu Zhou: “… That might be a little difficult to do.”

F*cks sake!

Who the hell is spreading this rumor!

I’m going to find this b*stard and slap them in the face!

Chapter 1035: I Have a Way

Chapter 1035 I Have a Way

Lu Zhou spent around ten minutes explaining to his father what Riemann’s hypothesis was, and what it meant to prove it. More importantly, how it related to bank passwords…

Of course, he explained it in terms a layman would understand.

If he had tried to explain it in the mathematical sense, he would drain the lithium-sulfur battery in his phone before he could finish explaining.

Old Lu felt nice being able to chat with his son. Later on, he put the call on speaker and Mother Lu also joined in on the conversation with their academician son.

Later on, Lu Zhou realized that maybe his parents weren’t concerned about their bank passwords at all, they just wanted to hear their son’s voice.

Lu Zhou began to tear up thinking about this.

Maybe it was time for him to go home and visit his family.

But now was not the time for sentimental stuff, he still had something important to do.

Lu Zhou sniffed his nose and put his phone back into his pocket.

Wang Peng placed his hands on the steering wheel and spoke concisely.

“Where are we going?”

“301 Hospital.”

“Okay.”

…

301 Hospital

South building entrance.

A man in a white short stood there with a clove pink bouquet in his hand. It looked like he had been standing there for a long time.

He bought the bouquet from a flower shop near the hospital. The shirt he wore was the same shirt he wore at the report in St. Petersburg yesterday; he hadn’t gotten a chance to change yet.

Most of the people in this hospital were of special statuses, so it was rare to see someone dressed so casually.

Because of this, doctors and nurses looked at this person suspiciously.

However, after they recognized his face, their doubts had entirely disappeared.

People who worked here wouldn’t remember every single patient, but they would never forget that face.

After all, when this guy suddenly fainted, they had to work around the clock to help him…

Lu Zhou stood around for five minutes. He then took a deep breath and walked forward.

Lu Zhou displayed his credentials and stepped inside the building. He went up the stairs and walked to the ward at the end of the corridor.

A young blonde girl lay on the hospital bed. She was looking at the trees outside the window.

She heard the sound of footsteps from outside the corridor. When she saw the figure enter the door, she smiled.

Her sapphire-like eyes looked at Lu Zhou as she spoke.

“I’ve been here before.”

Lu Zhou placed the flower bouquet by her bedside table and spoke.

“When?”

Vera stared at the ceiling as she thought.

“Around three years ago… I heard you fainted at the controllable fusion ignition scene, so I bought a plane ticket and flew here. But I didn’t have the chance to come in since they wouldn’t let me visit you, so I left… I remember you woke up not long after I left, and I always wondered if you were trying to avoid me.”

“Of course not… If I were trying to avoid you, why would I be here right now?” Lu Zhou said, “How do you feel? Are you used to the environment around here?”

Vera smirked and spoke.

“I’m used to it. The bed is comfortable, and the people are very nice. The nurse even chats with me when I’m awake. Other than the chemo, I feel a lot better.”

Lu Zhou felt heartbroken when he heard this.

He was about to say something but she spoke first.

“Speaking of which, I’ve heard stories about you from the nurses here… I think…”

Lu Zhou: “… Think what?”

“I think you’re really amazing.”

Vera was blushing.

However, Lu zhou was even more embarrassed than her.

Lu Zhou thought about how to answer in a humble way but she spoke first.

“Now that I’m already in Beijing, can you tell me what you want me to do?” she said as she stared at Lu Zhou. “I feel better… I want to use the things you taught me to help you.”

Lu Zhou looked at her blue eyes and opened his mouth.

He had a lot he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to begin.

Since he didn’t know what to say, he decided to start talking about the important things first.

He looked at the girl sitting on the hospital bed and spoke in a serious tone.

“Listen, I have a way to cure you, but you have to cooperate.”

Vera was astonished.

She paused for a second and smiled as she shook her head.

“That’s impossible, the doctor has already told me, it’s impossible to cure me with current technology… You don’t have to comfort me, I’ve spent a year mentally preparing for this, so there’s nothing sad about this.”

“I’m not kidding, nor am I comforting you. I’m being serious.” Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, “Current medical technology can’t cure you, but future technology can. A century ago, smallpox and Black Death were deadly diseases, but we were the ones who won in the end. Even if it’s not possible now, I’m certain it will be possible in the future.”

Vera said, “I won’t have that much time…”

“No, you can.” Lu Zhou looked at Vera and spoke in a confident manner, “I will send you to the future.”

Lu Zhou spent around five minutes explaining to her about the freezing and dormancy technology, as well as the cryobiology research project at the Institute for Advanced Study. As well as what it meant to “travel to the future”.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s answer, Vera didn’t immediately give him a yes or no. Instead, she stared at the ceiling and spoke.

“A hundred years into the future… That feels so far away.

“What would it look like?”

Lu Zhou: “It might not be a hundred years, seventy years should be enough. By then, society will be rich in raw materials and have infinite energy… It will be a much better world.”

Vera: “Will you be there?”

Lu Zhou went silent.

After a few seconds, he spoke.

“That doesn’t matter, you’ll live a good life in the new world.”

Vera blinked and said, “But I’m already happy now.”

Lu Zhou: “I promise, you’ll be happier if you’re healthy.”

Vera frowned.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Lu Zhou looked at her and spoke.

“Maybe, I’m in good health, and there are many ways to extend life expectancy… But by then, I’ll be an old man. I won’t be handsome anymore, I’ll be slow and annoying. Don’t get your hopes up.”

Vera suddenly chuckled.

Her smile was like the clove pink flowers on the bedside table, full of beauty.

“I’m fine with an old man.”

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and her timid face was replaced by kindness.

She looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“… As long as you’re okay.”

What is this feeling?

Feels like I’m getting a heart attack…

There was a flash of reluctance in Lu Zhou’s eyes, but logic told him this was the only way to save her.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice calm.

“Then… do you agree? To go to the future…”

Vera nodded and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Yeah.

“If that’s what you want me to do.

“I’ll do anything you say.”

Chapter 1036: Everything Is Possible

Chapter 1036 Everything Is Possible

301 Hospital.

Inside a clinical medical research center was a 100 square meter laboratory, and sitting in the middle of the laboratory was a large piece of medical equipment that was around 2 meters tall and 3 meters wide.

On the outside, this piece of equipment looked like a CT scanner, the only difference was that, instead of having a simple bed in which the patient lay on, the device had a space-coffin-like bed.

This equipment was sent from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study cryobiology laboratory to Beijing by air, and it took the cryobiology laboratory researchers three days to assemble the equipment.

Standing next to Professor Liu Zuobing was Zhao Zhongji, who once led a team of international experts in taking care of Lu Zhou, as well as cancer experts and staff members from the 301 Hospital.

For the people from the 301 Hospital, whether they were academician experts or a nurse, their understanding of cryobiology only came from reading papers in journals.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had never disclosed their research in this area. Hence the reason why this machine looked so strange to them.

Zhao Zhongji looked at the science-fiction-like machine for a long time and suddenly sighed.

“Freezing the patient in order to cure an incurable disease in the future… If this thing really works, it will change the entire medical field.”

For most people, if they were put under freezing cold temperatures, they would be on the verge of death within a few hours.

Not to mention the long-term freezing dormancy would take years.

The incurable disease would be cured by doctors of the future.

If there was unlimited time, any problem was solvable.

Just like how a hundred years ago the medical community had yet to master effective antibacterial drugs like penicillin, but now someone with pulmonary tuberculosis wouldn’t even have to stay overnight in the hospital.

If a patient was sent a century into the future, perhaps their terminal illness wouldn’t be a problem anymore, and perhaps a common prescription medicine prescribed by a family doctor would cure the illness.

Lu Zhou looked at the machine and said, “Maybe, but this wasn’t actually intended for medical use.”

Zhao Zhongji looked at Lu Zhou.

“Then what was it for?”

Lu Zhou: “For interstellar travel on the scale of light-years.”

Academician Zhao Zhongji was dumbfounded. The staff of the 301 Hospital was also shocked.

Interstellar scale…

Even though the Moon Palace was now a reality, this still sounded like something out of a science fiction movie…

“I’ve realized the field of aerospace really creates so many amazing technologies…” Academician Zhao Zhongji sighed and said, “Regardless, on behalf of patients with incurable illnesses, I have to thank you.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It is too early to thank me, this might not work. Also, its ethics and morality will be questioned by society.”

This technology was far from being widely available. They hadn’t even gone through clinical trials, nor was it an approved piece of aerospace equipment.

However, people were selfish.

Lu Zhou was no exception.

Zhao Zhongji looked at Lu Zhou and went silent. He suddenly spoke confidently.

“I think this is a good thing.”

Lu Zhou looked at him and said, “Why?”

Zhao Zhongji said, “Controllable fusion has shut down half the coal mines, and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs, do you regret doing this?”

“No, I talked about this on CTV.” Lu Zhou calmly said, “Maybe I indirectly caused some people to lose their jobs, but I also provided them a better life, a clean energy society with blue skies.

“Those people that complain about me are only enraged because they can no longer profit from the hard work of the people. This is China, we do things for the better good. Their complaints aren’t worth considering.”

“If you know that’s true, then why worry?” Academician Zhao Zhongji smiled and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder as he said, “Our society will eventually adapt to these novel technologies. You gave people a chance at a new life. I’m sure whether it’s the patients’ relatives or people from the future, they would like to thank you.”

“… Maybe.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t very interested in discussing this issue, but Academician Zhao Zhongji did reduce some of his concerns.

Thinking about it from another perspective, due to the current population growth trend, the aging of the population was an inevitable problem.

Perhaps those terminally-ill patients that could only consume valuable social resources could contribute to society in the future?

Maybe Lu Zhou was overthinking things.

If time could solve everything, then he shouldn’t worry.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Liu Zuobing and spoke in a calm voice.

“How long is it going to take?”

Professor Liu Zuobing was from the army general hospital, and he spoke with the mannerisms of a soldier.

He nodded seriously and spoke solemnly.

“The machine has already been assembled. The X-0172 bacteria samples have arrived from the Jinling sample library. If you want, we can begin now.”

“How long is the freezing process going to take?”

“Thirty minutes.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and spoke.

“Let’s begin soon.

“In twenty minutes.”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded.

“No problem.”

Chapter 1037: Time Machine

Chapter 1037 Time Machine

Inside the same ward.

A girl with a slim figure wearing a medical gown made of special materials lay inside the dormant cabin.

Lu Zhou was standing next to this “bed”. He handed over a stack of documents to her.

“… This is a household registration document, we need your signature.”

Vera tilted her head and said, “Household registration?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, you’re a Fields Medalist. Even though we’re not an immigrant country, we have special policies for talented individuals. I’ve contacted Dean Goddard from the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study and explained the situation to him. You’re now technically employed by the Jin Ling University. You’re going to stay here for a long time, so I’m afraid a work visa won’t be enough.”

The visa wasn’t a big problem now, but a couple of decades down the line, it might be cumbersome.

Also, with Lu Zhou’s political power, he could easily obtain a registered residence for Vera.

Not to mention that both Jin Ling University and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had quotas for hiring foreign talents. For a Fields Medalist scholar like her, any domestic university would be glad to accept her.

There would be no problems for her to integrate into society in the future. The future society would become even more inclusive and tolerant of different races and cultures.

Even though Lu Zhou knew that plans often fell apart, and it was impossible to know what would happen in a century, this was better than nothing.

Vera blinked at Lu Zhou and didn’t say anything. She picked up the pen and signed her name.

Seeing that she didn’t resist, Lu Zhou sighed in relief and spoke.

“… You don’t need an ID now, you’ll get one when you wake up. This is the letter of consent for treatment, are you going to read it?”

Lu Zhou was surprised that Vera signed all of the documents without reading them. Lu Zhou was prepared to explain to her one by one what each document meant.

Vera blinked and smiled gently.

“I trust you.”

She then returned the pen to Lu Zhou.

She said, “Okay then… That’s all right?”

Lu Zhou put the pen in his pocket and spoke.

“… Yeah, that’s it.”

“Oh yeah, my savings… It’s not much, but can you send it to my father for me? Do I need to write a will or something?”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth and was about to say something, but he resisted.

He was about to tell her that her father was the one who wanted to end her life when she was in a coma. But he decided against this.

There was no reason to add more sadness to the world.

In the future, her father would be long gone.

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“Okay, I will… Anything else?”

They were running out of time.

The X-0172 bacterial pheromone extract took around half an hour to work. In order to prevent her from having to spend the last half hour waiting anxiously, the hospital nurses already injected the pheromone before she signed the documents…

Lu Zhou didn’t want to look at the clock, but he knew he was running out of time.

Vera: “Actually… That’s it, I have one last request, but it’s a bit childish…”

Lu Zhou: “… Tell me.”

Her cheeks gradually started to blush.

“Remember that Christmas? The one in your Princeton home…”

Lu Zhou didn’t know why she suddenly brought up something from so long ago. He nodded and spoke.

“I remember, why?”

“That morning, before I put the wet towel on your head, I actually…”

She bit her lip and hesitated, as if she didn’t want to spill the secret.

But she thought that she wouldn’t have a chance to say this in the future, so she only hesitated for a bit before she spoke with courage.

“Actually… I kissed you.”

Lu Zhou: “???”

Vera secretly looked at Lu Zhou’s face, observing his reaction.

It seemed like Lu Zhou was taken back, so she quickly added.

“No, not there… On the forehead.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

No wonder…

That morning of the hangover, he felt something warm and moist touch his forehead, but the towel on his head was cold. At the time, he thought this was weird, but he didn’t think much of it.

Now that Vera suddenly mentioned this to him, he finally understood what happened…

“Maybe because, back then, I really admired and depended on you, that’s why I did such a thing…

“Sometimes I ask myself, am I in love? And what do I want to get out of this?

“So… Thank you for giving me space to think about this, to differentiate between liking someone and being dependent on someone.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Then… is it clear now?”

Vera smiled.

“Yeah, it’s… the latter.”

Even though Lu Zhou already knew this, his heart still skipped a beat when he heard this.

She closed her eyes and lifted her chin.

“… I don’t want to say it.”

Lu Zhou looked at her trembling eyelashes, and he reached out and pecked her on the forehead.

The scent of jasmine made Lu Zhou feel a little dazed.

Vera had an even bigger reaction; her neck, earlobes, and face were as red as a tomato.

She opened her eyes.

She had a hint of excitement and shyness in her voice as she awkwardly spoke.

“I feel like I won’t be able to freeze.”

Lu Zhou stood up and said, “Freezing is the final step in physics. You’ll fall asleep first, then when you wake up…”

Lu Zhou gulped.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself for this, he still couldn’t finish his sentence.

Vera spoke for him.

“Then… I’ll be in a new world?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes… For you, it’ll happen in a blink of an eye.”

Regardless of how much time went by, for the person in dormancy, everything happened in an instant.

She wouldn’t have to wait long at all.

A century would have gone by without her knowing it.

Vera could feel her eyes getting tired. She looked at him, as if she wanted to remember this picture in her mind.

“But I don’t want to close my eyes, I don’t want to leave yet…”

“Don’t be silly…”

“I want to be silly… I’m not going to close my eyes.”

“Sorry…”

Slowly, Vera lost consciousness.

She began to sleep and breath peacefully.

Lu Zhou was standing next to the dormancy capsule. He stared at her face for a long time. Professor Liu Zuobing gave a gentle reminder.

“She’s already asleep.

“The pheromone released by the X-0172 bacteria is protecting the host cells in the dormant state… The procedure is very successful.

“You should be happy for her.”

Wang Peng, who was standing nearby, didn’t say anything. He only patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and spoke.

“… Let’s start then.”

Professor Liu Zuobing nodded and spoke.

“Okay.”

…

The hibernation process had already begun.

Lu Zhou looked at this “time machine” sitting inside the laboratory.

Academician Zhao Zhongji gently coughed and tried to comfort him.

“Think about the upside, we’re in an era of technological explosion, we even have controllable fusion energy now. Maybe we’ll cure cancer in 70 years… Sigh, but you’ll have aged quite a bit by then.”

The nurse, who has been taking care of Vera this whole time, wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Age is just a number for Vera… She really…”

“Don’t say anything!”

After being scolded by the academician, the nurse shut her mouth.

Even though age was just a number, they would never be together in the future.

Honestly, Academician Zhao Zhongji was more worried about Lu Zhou than the dormant patient.

The majority of top scholars were eccentric people; they were impetuous and often pessimistic.

Not to mention, Lu Zhou might not even be able to live for another 70 years…

Professor Liu Zuobing stood next to the control console. He commanded his subordinates to complete the dormant capsule start-up procedure. Professor Liu Zuobing suddenly thought about something.

“Oh yeah… Are we making this public?”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and remembered what his father said, so he spoke.

“Make it public.

“She’s a Fields Medalist… We can’t hide this. If we do, people will wonder where she is.

“Also, there’s no reason to hide this.”

Chapter 1038: Terminal Illness Cryogenics Rights Protection Fund

Chapter 1038 Terminal Illness Cryogenics Rights Protection Fund

The dormant freeze procedure was successful.

With the help from the Mars bacteria, Vera successfully survived through the dangerous temperature zone, reaching the optimal zone for dormancy.

Even though this was a risky-procedure that wasn’t clinically approved, it was a success.

However, it was too early to celebrate. There was a ton of work for Professor Liu Zuobing and his team to do.

Actually, this was also Lu Zhou’s responsibility. He was the real leader of the project, as well as the dean of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

It was difficult for the public to digest all of this information at one time. After all, even in the academic community, frozen dormancy technology was a cutting-edge and controversial topic.

Regardless of whether the patient could wake up in the future, calling a person alive when their heart had stopped beating was still a matter up for debate.

Not to mention the other moral and ethical issues involved.

Academician Zhao Zhongji, as well as academicians from the 301 Hospital had recommended Lu Zhou to disclose the human cryonics technology in stages.

Even though the public’s opinion wouldn’t impact the 301 Hospital or Lu Zhou, it was better to take a more gentle approach.

…

Beijing University of Science and Technology of China.

Professor Liu Zuobing was about to give a lecture on cryobiology, using a carefully crafted script.

Even though cryobiology was a relatively unpopular field, many people still attended the lecture.

Plenty of foreign people from Europe and America flew here specifically for this lecture.

There were two leading research institutes in this area. One was the “low-temperature dormant chamber”, jointly developed by NASA, Johnson u0026 Johnson, and Space-X. The other was the cryobiology laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Since both of these two projects were linked to the aerospace field, China, who had the upper hand in the aerospace competition, was regarded as the master of this technology.

The cryobiology laboratory of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study hadn’t published anything over the past year, which was the reason why this lecture attracted so many people’s attention.

After all, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, led by Academician Lu, wouldn’t announce anything to the public unless there was a major research development.

People could sense that something huge was about to be revealed…

The cafe near the University Health Science Center.

Lu Zhou ordered a cup of cappuccino and sat down in a secluded corner.

Because he dressed like every other student around campus, no one recognized him.

But when Chen Yushan walked in dressed to the nines, she attracted the attention of many boys and even girls.

“You have a lecture to attend soon, right?” Chen Yushan said, “Am I bothering you?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s fine, I don’t really understand cryobiology anyway. I know a bit of chemistry, but I’m far from being an expert… What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said as she took a sip of coffee. She continued, “I just think… you know more than just a bit of chemistry… You’re too humble.”

What she really wanted to say was that Lu Zhou’s humbleness pissed her off.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t know she felt that way.

Lu Zhou thought she was giving him a compliment, so he smiled.

This was one of the few times he had smiled over the past few days.

“Thank you… Oh yeah, did you do the thing?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t waste your precious time.” Chen Yushan took out a stack of documents and placed it on the table as she said, “According to Your Majesty’s request, I have registered a cryogenic rights protection fund of 100 million yuan.

“The fund will be controlled by professional managers, and the main investment areas will be concentrated in food production, mining, retail, and other sectors with lower risks, suitable for long-term investment… On the other hand, 20% of the annual income will be used to pay employees’ salaries, facility maintenance, and other necessary expenses, and the rest will continue to be deposited in a fund pool to ensure healthy cash flow.

“When the agreed unfreezing day arrives, the foundation will pay the awakened person a one-time payment in order to cover for treatment costs and basic living expenses.

“The minimum purchase amount to one million yuan. The appraiser will determine if the purchaser’s motivation meets the criteria based on assets, occupation, social relation, and health status… This is to ensure that the technology is used in the right place… That’s the gist of it.”

Basically, this was equivalent to a pension insurance that only paid one time 50 years or more into the future, and only “terminally-ill” patients had access to buy into this fund.

As for the reason for establishing this fund…

Because Lu Zhou was well aware of what would happen if he didn’t do this.

The consequences of misusing this technology were terrible. However, trying to prevent the invention of this technology or only making it available to a handful of power people was even more terrifying.

Of course, there were always two sides to the story. Like Academician Zhao Zhongji said, this technology could give those who were unable to live because of an illness a choice at a new life. At the end of the day, this was a good thing.

“Thank you.”

After gently brushing her hair, Chen Yushan continued, “You’re welcome, what’s the situation with Vera? Did you guys…”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“She’s already dormant.”

The atmosphere went quiet for about ten seconds.

Chen Yushan looked at the cars moving outside the window and sighed softly.

“This is going to be a long journey, but… this is the best choice for her.”

Lu Zhou nodded silently and didn’t respond.

Chen Yushan didn’t know how to comfort him. After staying silent for a while, she suddenly changed the topic and spoke in an uplifting tone.

“Speaking of which, what’s next? Are you going back to Jinling?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and said, “I want to spend the summer vacation in my hometown, then go back to Jinling when the school semester begins.”

His work in Beijing was almost done. After the lecture here was over, he wanted to go back to his hometown. He would spend the entirety of August there, then go back to Jin University when the semester began again.

One reason was that he needed to rest for a while and see his family, finally taking a break.

The other reason was to avoid the spotlight.

It was likely that after the frozen dormant technology news was released to the public, he would definitely become the topic of public discussion. If he was in Beijing or Jinling during this time, he wouldn’t be able to mind his own business peacefully.

Seemingly amused by this, Chen Yushan jokingly said, “You still have summer vacations?”

Lu Zhou: “Why wouldn’t I? Professors… are also teachers, why wouldn’t we have summer vacations?”

Chen Yushan smirked and said, “Okay, I guess. But since you solved Riemann’s hypothesis, you really deserve a break.”

Lu Zhou looked at her in surprise and said, “You know about this?”

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but roll her eyes and speak.

“How could I not know! I watch the news okay! Don’t think I’m some kind of soulless business person. I saw you on the cover of Everyone Daily. Actually, I really want to ask you, how does it feel to be on the cover of Everyone Daily?”

I’m on the cover of Everyone Daily?

When Lu Zhou heard this, he suddenly showed a surprised look on his face.

However, he wasn’t too surprised.

After all, he had been on almost every single major media outlet in the world.

Chen Yushan used the straw to stir her drink as she spoke.

“Sigh, I know you’re good at maths, but I didn’t expect you to be this good…”

Lu Zhou said, “… Did you just realize?”

Chen Yushan suddenly wondered, “Do you think there will be a director who wants to turn your story into a movie? Just like ‘A Beautiful Mind’. Speaking of which, when I went on Amazon a while ago, I saw someone selling your personal biography…”

Lu Zhou’s heart dropped to his stomach.

“… Personal biography?”

“It’s not exactly your personal biography. It’s kind of like a memoir. I remember the title was ‘The Professor Lu I Know’. The author is a Brazilian mathematics professor, and apparently, he’s a teacher at the University of São Paulo.”

Upon hearing that this guy was from Brazil, Lu Zhou almost spat out the coffee in his mouth.

“Is his name Hardy?!”

Lu Zhou looked somewhat mentally unstable. Chen Yushan hesitated slightly before nodding. “Huh? Have you read it? When did you buy it?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck sake!

I knew it was that idiot!

Lu Zhou almost wanted to travel back to six years ago and throw that idiot’s resume in the trash.

Letting this idiot become one of his students was a disgrace.

“But he claims to be one of your students from Princeton… Is that true?” Chen Yushan asked with an uncertain tone as she looked curiously at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou said, “Don’t believe a single thing that guy says.”

Chen Yushan sighed. “Okay then. Actually, I think some of the stories he wrote are quite interesting.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Although he was very curious about what was so interesting, for the sake of his own mentality, he would rather stay oblivious.

Chapter 1039: Beginning of a New Era?

Chapter 1039 Beginning of a New Era?

St. Petersburg International Airport.

Professor Krugman and Albert were waiting for boarding to begin, and they looked very tired.

It had been a week since the International Congress of Mathematicians came to an end.

After the conference closing ceremony, the two did not immediately leave St. Petersburg.

After all, St. Petersburg was the famous “city of mathematics” in Eastern Europe. Some of the world’s top mathematics research institutes, such as the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, were all located in this city.

These two professors visited these mathematics institutes in hope of recruiting like-minded scholars. The two even tried a few more times to recruit Perelman to join their great project.

However, ever since that 60-minute report at the ICM, Perelman had become an even stranger person.

Before this, he would patiently answer the two’s questions, but now, he was reluctant to even let them into the apartment.

Their vacation time had been exhausted. They couldn’t stay here forever.

Therefore, after being unsuccessful at recruiting anyone in St. Petersburg, the two decided to go back to America and consider their next step.

If nothing else worked, they would lower the threshold of finding scholars to collaborate with. Or maybe they could work more on the research project and recruit people after making some progress.

“… It’s a shame Professor Lu left so early. I think he was actually a little bit interested in our plan,” Professor Krugman suddenly said. He looked at the airport terminal and said, “If only that accident didn’t happen, if we tried harder to convince him, maybe he would have agreed.”

“Yeah… I think so too.” Albert sighed. He raised his hand and looked at the time on his watch. He got up from his chair and said, “My flight is about to board… See you later then.”

“Take care, we’ll talk through email.”

“Yeah.”

Stanford University was on the west coast, where Albert worked as a visiting professor at the Center for Cancer Systems Biology. Princeton, where Krugman worked, was on the east coast, a few time zones away from California.

After his friend left, Krugman picked up a newspaper and began reading.

However, when he first glanced at the headline, he was stunned.

“… Frozen dormancy?”

He picked up another newspaper…

The headline was the same!

Krugman was intrigued.

He raised his finger and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He carefully read the headline article. He became more and more shocked and in disbelief. Finally, he could not help but whisper.

“This is… crazy.”

Frozen dormancy!

Traveling to the future for treatment!

This is the craziest thing I’ve heard this whole year!

Prior to this, he vaguely heard about Lu Zhou transferring Pulyuy to China, but he did not expect that this was the reason why.

But…

Compared to Miss Pulyuy’s health, he was more interested in the freezing dormant technology itself.

This reminded him of a thesis on the interstellar trade theory that he wrote a long time ago. In the paper, he casually mentioned that all capital activities would be related to the dimension of time.

If human beings could travel through time, the financial market would be hugely impacted. People would be more inclined to hold long-term and stable income assets, rather than investing in high-risk and high-return products. Because time was no longer a concern, the cost of waiting would decrease…

For example, if someone deposited 10,000 US dollars into a fund, with an annual rate of 4%, by doing some compound interest calculation, after 50 years, they would have 70,000 dollars in their account!

The money would have increased by seven times!

If the period was increased to 100 years…

“This is a financial nuclear bomb…” Krugman muttered to himself as he turned the page in his hand. He said, “I’m afraid tomorrow’s Nasdaq and the global debt market will become extremely volatile…”

Maybe it wasn’t just finance…

Its power could no longer be measured by a monetary value.

Equality existed between people based on the inevitability of birth, illness, and death. Whether someone was rich or poor, civilians or kings, there was no escape from the certainties of life.

However, frozen dormancy technology undoubtedly broke this equality.

It seemed like the balance of death was about to be broken…

If someone could live in a utopia in the future, why would they want to stay behind and build this utopia?

Some of the lucky ones would begin on their first step toward immortality. Human civilization would gradually shape into a world of inequality.

This seemingly innocent technology could actually have a greater impact on society as a whole than controllable fusion. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it could even completely change the face of human civilization.

From a sociological point of view, this wasn’t the combustion engine, nor the steam engine, this was equivalent to the invention of printing!

Its birth would pave the way for a major event that would be more influential and powerful than the “Age of Enlightenment” or “French Revolution”. This revolution would continue to exist until restrictions were placed on this new technology.

And this process was ugly.

Of course, this idea might be too pessimistic. The more wealthy people were, the more cautious they would be in weighing the balance between risk and return.

Thinking about this logically, bearing the risk of not waking up was far worse than living their current, comfortable lives.

After all, if a 19th-century businessman was placed in the 21st century, he would be confused by the new financial products and global trade rules. He wouldn’t be able to survive.

After all, in his era, a profitable business was colonial plunder and industrial dumping. That had since changed.

Only those that couldn’t afford a ticket to the future would think about doing something as risky as going into dormancy.

On the other hand, survival was the highest priority of living things, even if no one used this technology now, someday, someone would open the Pandora box.

This was quite an interesting research project.

It was interesting enough that Krugman almost wanted to suspend his current research project.

Professor Krugman held his breath and rubbed his hands together.

There was only one thing he wanted to do.

Which was to immediately go back to his office, clean up his thoughts, and write them down in the form of a thesis…

Maybe something could come of this.

For example…

He could be named as the father of the New Enlightenment?

How exciting.

Chapter 1040: Forecast Is Only a Part of Analysis

Chapter 1040 Forecast Is Only a Part of Analysis

Lu Zhou didn’t realize it, but the actions from one of his friends might cause him a lot of trouble.

However, even if Lu Zhou knew, he wouldn’t blame his friend.

After all, he was doing the same thing.

Even if he weren’t the one who invented this technology, in the future, ten or twenty years down the line, someone else would have certainly brought this technology to the world. Especially because of the aerospace competition, frozen dormancy technology played a huge role in the aerospace projects of the two super countries.

On the other hand, even if Professor Krugman didn’t write his thesis, someone else would have written a similar one.

Lu Zhou already knew this would happen. After the lecture at the University Health Science Center finished, he took the high-speed rail back to his hometown.

Almost as soon as he returned to his hometown, the 301 Hospital and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study finally released news about a Fields Medal winner receiving cryogenic dormancy treatment.

Once again, the headlines were filled with Professor Lu’s name…

…

Princeton.

Cafe at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Fefferman was sitting by the window, and across from him was his old friend Professor Angus Deaton. Fefferman sighed and spoke.

“I didn’t expect him to do this.”

Frozen dormancy.

Everyone in Princeton was talking about this.

Although he knew in his heart that this might be the best choice, not everyone was prepared for this, especially the students of Miss Vera Pulyuy. The news that their lovely and respectable teacher was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and the fact that she was “frozen” caused great controversy.

However, Lu Zhou himself seemed to stay very calm. It seemed like he had disappeared from the Internet. Whether it was arXiv or MathOverflow, he hadn’t been active anywhere. Fefferman even went to check on Weibo, which was more commonly used in China. He couldn’t find a trace of Lu Zhou.

“Actually… I expected this to happen.”

Professor Angus Deaton stirred the coffee in his cup with a spoon. He looked at the twirling milk foam and spoke.

“I once persuaded him to be cautious about frozen dormancy. But then I thought about it, that wasn’t necessary at all since it won’t change his mind. Even if I did convince him, this technology would still eventually come. The pursuit of survival is inside every living creature. Every choice we make is to make us live longer.”

Fefferman glanced at him and said, “That’s part of economics?”

Angus: “That’s not economics, it’s evolutionary biology… It’s human nature.”

Footsteps were heard in the corridor outside the cafe.

Soon after, an old man in a plain shirt walked in.

“Sorry, I’m a little late… Fefferman? You’re here too?”

Krugman looked at Fefferman, who was sitting across from Angus. Krugman didn’t expect to see Fefferman here.

“When I’m not busy, I come here almost every afternoon… but there are some exceptions.” Professor Fefferman smiled gracefully and continued, “Professor Angus invited me.”

Professor Krugman said, “Okay then… That makes the two of us.”

Professor Angus: “It doesn’t matter how many people I invited. I’m more interested in your research… I noticed that you seemed to have published a paper recently? About the impact of frozen dormancy technology on macroeconomics.”

When Krugman heard the old professor talk about his recent research, he suddenly looked enthusiastic. He pulled a chair and sat beside the two.

“Of course, I wrote that paper. I didn’t expect you to read it… I’ll have a mocha, thanks.”

The waiter nodded and began walking away.

After clearing his throat, Krugman continued.

“I think you can’t even imagine the social changes that this technology will bring. In fact, I only thought about all this on the plane. This may sound a little ridiculous, but that doesn’t matter. I can explain it to you.”

After that, Krugman spent about ten minutes talking about his research. He spent a long time talking about how because of the invention of this technology, the long-lasting equality that the human society had achieved would be broken. And how this was going to be similar to the French Revolution.

Professor Angus patiently listened to his old friend. Professor Krugman spoke until his throat was dry. He then took a sip of his coffee. Professor Angus smiled and spoke.

“I have an unpublished manuscript here… Are you interested?”

Professor Krugman, still holding the coffee cup in his hand, froze for a second and asked, “Are you sure this is okay?”

Generally speaking, scholars in the same field would try to avoid sharing unpublished results. But Angus didn’t seem to look like he cared. Angus spoke carelessly.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, we have known each other for many years, I trust you. Even Professor Fefferman already read it.”

Fefferman smiled and said, “It’s an interesting paper, but it is going to take me a while to understand.”

“… Since you say so, I’m happy to read it.”

“No problem, right here.”

After taking the manuscript from Professor Angus, Krugman read the title. He was stunned, and his face was filled with disbelief and shock.

Sociology of the future!

Krugman spent around ten minutes flipping through the paper. He returned the manuscript to Angus and said, “… You’ve already finished writing this? When… did you write it? Don’t tell me you did this all in a few days.”

Professor Angus said, “Around half a year ago, I published the first paper. Which was the part you read at the beginning, regarding how the future is a promising subject for sociology. I published a few more papers, and this manuscript is a simple summary of all of my work on this topic.”

After a pause, Professor Angus continued, “A long time ago… A few years ago, this wasn’t something that needed to be discussed. No matter what society did, there was no means to directly interfere with the future. No one plans for a hundred years in the future, when they will no longer exist. Regardless of whether or not we want to admit this, we make decisions based on the present.

“But now, that is no longer true. When people start to think about how to pave the way for the future, things often become troublesome. Maybe in the next few years, soybeans and corn won’t be the only commodities traded by futures. Maybe the entire financial market will consist of futures.

“Our work might be trivial, but theoretical research has to be done by someone. At the very least, when the problems occur, we can provide a reference for decision-makers.”

Krugman opened his mouth and spoke.

“… I can’t believe you did this already, I thought I would be the first one do to work in this area.”

Professor Angus said with a smile, “I’m surprised you only found out about dormancy recently. I thought people like you would be more interested in these concepts. After all, I would never write something like the Interstellar Trade Theory… That sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie.”

Professor Krugman said, “If you really read my paper, you know it’s not science fiction.”

Professor Angus: “Of course I have read your paper, not just that, but I have been following your research for some time now. After all, very few economists are interested in the distant future, and as we often say, the future is unpredictable.”

Krugman: “… What? I didn’t know Professor Angus is interested in my research.”

“There is nothing unbelievable about that. The research project you are doing is similar to mine. We have a common interest.”

“… Which is future sociology?”

“Yes.” Professor Angus nodded. He said, “Prediction is only one part of the analysis. What do you think? Do you want to work together?”

Faced with an unexpected offer, Professor Krugman paused for a second and blinked.

He had to admit, this was a tempting proposal.

In fact, he was extremely intrigued.

“… I can’t give you an answer straight away, I have to consult my partners first. Of course, I think that it is unlikely he will disagree. We generally have the same opinion on how to progress the project.”

“That’s fine, it’s not like this project can be completed in a day or two. I can wait… As long as it is not too long.”

After a pause, Professor Angus looked at Fefferman and said, “Then, I want to hear what Professor Fefferman thinks of my paper.”

Fefferman didn’t expect the ball to be passed to him. He said, “Me? What does this have to do with me?”

“Of course it does.” Professor Angus nodded and said, “We have everything we need, except… an excellent mathematician.”

Professor Fefferman opened his mouth and said, “I think… I have to think about it and give you an answer at a later date. In fact, Professor Faltings invited me to work together. I’m not sure if I have the time to work with you.”

Krugman said with excitement, “What could be more exciting than predicting the future?”

“Many things. Instead of predicting what will happen in the future, I think it is more productive to make the present better.” Fefferman glanced at his watch and finished his cup of coffee. He put the cup down and said, “I have a meeting to attend, gentlemen.”

In fact, even though he was very interested in the things they were discussing, he wasn’t… too excited on participating in this project.

This was the case for many Princeton mathematicians.

When it came to mathematics, even a humble person like him couldn’t help but be a little pretentious at times. This stemmed from the fact that mathematicians believed that a mathematician should only devote their life to mathematics.

As Professor Angus watched Professor Fefferman walk away, he looked a little disappointed.

He thought he could convince Fefferman, but he had failed.

However, Professor Krugman suddenly said, “Professor Lu said that after he solved Riemann’s hypothesis, he will consider participating in our research.”

This did the trick.

Professor Fefferman suddenly stopped.

He sat back down and spoke to Professor Krugman.

“… Lu Zhou? He said that?”

“I swear to god,” Krugman said. “If I am lying, may Satan take my soul.”

Fefferman: “… When did he say that?”

Krugman replied truthfully, “The day before the ICM conference. We happened to meet at Perelman’s house when I made an invitation to him…”

Back then, Krugman and Albert thought Lu Zhou was rejecting them in a euphemistic way.

After all, if anyone said that they would “think about it after they solved Riemann’s hypothesis…” it might as well be a rejection.

However…

Who would have known that a couple of days later, Lu Zhou would really solve the problem?!

If it weren’t for Vera’s accident, Krugman wouldn’t be sitting here with Professor Angus. Instead, he could already be working on the research project with Lu Zhou.

After staying silent for a long time, Professor Fefferman looked at Professor Angus.

“… I change my mind.”

He smiled and spoke.

“I think the stuff you guys are talking about is very interesting.

“If it’s possible, I’d like to join.”

Chapter 1041: Conversation by the River

Chapter 1041 Conversation by the River

Over the past couple of days, Lu Zhou basically stayed at home all day.

He missed this kind of lifestyle.

People only remembered the good times. Whenever someone felt overwhelmed in their life, they would reminisce about the past.

Of course, what Lu Zhou missed wasn’t his childhood.

It was his mother’s cooking.

He had been to all kinds of fancy restaurants around the world, but his favorite food was still his mother’s cooking. The braised fish, the pork ribs, the pickled vegetables… He even ate three bowls of rice with every meal.

Even though all Lu Zhou did was eat, he didn’t gain any weight. After all, he had a fast metabolism. Because of his exercise, he had gotten a lot stronger.

His body fat percentage had also decreased.

These days, Lu Zhou deliberately left his work alone. With so many things happening, he didn’t want to think about anything that might give him a headache.

He even left the golden legendary mission card in the system space untouched. Because he knew that once he activated the card, he wouldn’t be able to stop working.

Even though he had distanced himself from social media, he still maintained one channel of communication with the outside world.

When he was on the phone with Chen Yushan, he heard that after the news of the frozen dormancy technology was released, the Internet went insane.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care too much.

Regardless of what the international community thought, it wouldn’t affect him personally. Most people thought they could change the world by changing others, yet their own life was in shambles.

Being disconnected from the outside world was peaceful.

Sometimes he thought that, maybe he had contributed enough to the world, everything was moving in the right direction on its own. Maybe he should spend some time for himself.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that he was a workaholic.

After all, this wasn’t the first time he had wanted to take a break.

On the other hand, the Chinese community also began to react to the frozen dormancy technology.

In fact, both Academician Zhao Zhongji and Professor Liu Zuobing had overestimated the public’s reaction to this incident.

There actually had hardly been any reaction from the Chinese community on this matter, it rarely gained any attention.

One reason was that the mainstream media often didn’t report on science and technology news, because the general public wasn’t interested in them.

The second reason was because…

All of the attention was focused on a celebrity couple that recently got divorced.

This was how scholars were; they were always overthinking things.

Noon.

The family sat at the table eating lunch, and Lu Bangguo, while holding a pair of chopsticks, suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, you’ve eaten so many braised fish made by your mother, but do you know where the fish comes from?”

Lu Zhou knew that his dad wanted to brag about his fishing skills. However, his mother spoke first.

“… What do you mean he doesn’t know? Who hasn’t been to a supermarket before?”

Old Lu didn’t expect to have provoked his wife, so he began to explain.

“That’s… different, where does the fish from the supermarket come from?”

“They got it from a fisherman, you think everyone uses a fishing rod to fish?”

“…”

Old Lu couldn’t think of a comeback, so he looked at his son and spoke.

“Son, are you free?”

“… I am, but what are we doing?”

“Let’s go fishing this afternoon.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

So this is what he wanted.

Couldn’t he have just said so?

Lu Zhou didn’t want to hear his dad nag anymore. He did want to spend more time with his parents, so he accepted his father’s invitation.

Even though he wasn’t interested in fishing, he still watched some tutorials online regarding fishing. Then they went to the river a couple of kilometers away from their house.

Even though it was technically a river, Lu Zhou felt like it was more like a small ditch. His dad insisted that back in his day… around thirty years ago, it was a huge river. The kids would swim in this river every summer, which was also one of his father’s favorite activities as an adolescent.

The fishing began.

Lu Zhou sat on a bench by the river. He thought it wouldn’t be long until he caught his first fish. However, the fish never took the bait.

He saw his father catching one fish after another. Lu Zhou couldn’t help but lose interest.

I guess there’s a skill to this.

I must have an IQ of 300 by now, but I can’t even catch a fish.

Lu Bangguo stared at the river as he suddenly spoke.

“There’s something on your mind.”

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“Dad, is this something you saw out of a movie?”

“I’m being serious, I’m not joking,” Lu Bangguo said. “Impetuous people can’t catch a fish. Only people like me, retired without a worry in the world, can catch a fish… ”

Lu Zhou said, “… If you know I won’t catch anything, why did you still bring me?”

Old Lu smiled and said, “Well, it’s better than sitting at home all summer? Fishing isn’t necessarily about catching the fish. If you feel relaxed and calm, then it becomes worthwhile.”

Honestly, at Lu Zhou’s age, listening to his father talking about life didn’t inspire him anymore.

But his father was correct, Lu Zhou had a lot on his mind.

Even though he tried to ignore it, sometimes he couldn’t help but think.

Think about his past decisions.

Lu Zhou stared at the plastic bucket that was almost full of fish. He went silent for a while and suddenly spoke.

“Dad.”

“Yeah, what?”

“If you can go to the future, will you?”

Lu Bangguo paused for a second.

“Future? What future?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and used an analogy.

“If there is a time machine that can send you fifty years into the future… Will you do it?”

Lu Zhou thought his dad would contemplate for a while, but his father immediately answered.

“No.”

“Why?”

“You young people always like to fantasize.” Old Lu shook his head and said, “Tell me, what’s so good about the future?”

Lu Zhou said, “Well… better technologies.”

Old Lu: “What does that have to do with me? The house across our street is about to be demolished, does that affect you?”

Sometimes, Old Lu wondered if the city council had a grudge against him. All the houses around him were demolished to build new apartments, but his house was still intact.

Lu Zhou said, “… Demolition means society is growing, so you’re affected by it.”

Old Lu shook his head stubbornly and said, “I’m not going. What would happen to your mother? What about you? If I’m not here, who knows when you’ll get a wife.”

“What do you mean…” Lu Zhou said, “Your son is very popular on campus, okay? Every valentine… my phone blows up.”

Old Lu went silent for a while. He sighed and said, “I believe that. I was also a player back in my day, otherwise, your mother would have never married me. But your standards are too high.”

Lu Zhou thought about it and didn’t want to talk about this. He coughed and tried to divert the topic.

“… What if you didn’t have a family? Would you go to the future?”

Old Lu said, “What is that supposed to mean?!”

Lu Zhou said, “What if! It’s not like there’s actually a time machine.”

“Oh right… No, I wouldn’t go!”

Lu Zhou: “… Why?”

“Twenty years ago, anyone that had a brick phone in their house would be envied by their neighbors.”

Old Lu had a complex look on his face.

“But now, there are computers and mobile phones and everything. Last time I saw an article forwarded by your uncle in the WeChat group. It seems like technologies are everywhere, on your watch, on your glasses. I really don’t know how to use these gadgets. It took a long time for me and your mother to learn how to use WeChat…”

Old Lu looked a little melancholy.

“Back then, your dad kept up with the times. I knew how to fix TVs, how to fix radios. But now, I can’t keep up with the times. And this was only after twenty years…

“Fifty years? Haha… Forget about it.”

Chapter 1042: Anything Can Happen

Chapter 1042 Anything Can Happen

There were some people who were furious with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study’s research…

Which was Space-X and Johnson u0026 Johnson.

In the middle of last year, NASA gave them a considerable amount of money to research frozen dormancy technology. They only recently discovered that the X-0172 bacteria had the ability to protect cells. However, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had already invented their frozen dormancy technology…

Silicon Valley headquarters.

Elon Musk was reading a newspaper in his hand when the muscles on his face twitched.

[New breakthrough in frozen dormancy technology, terminal illness treatment by traveling to the future!]

He thought that he had an advantage in this area of research, and could avoid direct competition with Star Sky Technology. After all, Space-X had a decade of accumulated research and development experience.

Who could have imagined that someone close to Lu Zhou had terminal cancer…

F*ck sake, if only Lu Zhou was the one who had the cancer!

However, no matter how much Elon cursed, there was no point.

Star Sky Technology had already mastered frozen dormancy technology. All they could now was to pick up the crumbs left by Professor Lu…

There was a knock on the door.

Musk answered and saw his secretary walking in.

“David Lawrence wants to make an appointment to meet you.”

Musk put down the newspaper and had a strange look on his face.

“Meet me? The son of the Lawrence family?”

His secretary nodded. “You know, we have been trying to receive funding for aerospace projects, but those banks aren’t optimistic about us. But now, he wants to meet with you.”

“He wants to meet me…” Musk said as he began to contemplate.

He obviously didn’t believe that David Lawrence was interested in his Space-X. After all, this had happened before.

But like his secretary said, Space-X needed money, and it needed a lot of money. In this day and age, money was the only thing that could make dreams come true, so this meeting could mean a huge opportunity…

Even though the other party might not be sincere.

He still had to give it a try.

After contemplating for a moment, Elon spoke.

“Tell him I will see him… When does he want to meet?”

Secretary: “This afternoon.”

Musk’s eyebrows suddenly twitched, but he took a deep breath and calmed down.

“… Get the jet ready, I’m flying to Boston this afternoon.”

The secretary nodded.

“Yes sir.”

After some flying, Elon finally arrived at the Boston Financial Group building.

Elon walked into the meeting room and looked at the man sitting quietly behind the conference table. He cleared his throat and was about to make some opening remarks, but the man spoke first.

“Welcome to Boston, Mr. Musk. Glad you accepted my invitation. Please sit down.”

Even though he didn’t sound sincere or enthusiastic, Elon still felt a little more comfortable.

Sitting in front of him was one of the leaders of the Boston Financial Group. He was one of the richest and most powerful people in the United States.

Even though Elon was the chairman and president of Space-X and Tesla, he only had a tenth of the wealth that the Boston Financial Group had.

That wasn’t an exaggeration.

In fact, that was a conservative estimate.

“I heard you wanted to talk to me about the Space-X aerospace program, so I came over,” Elon said. “People like you who are courageous and full of imagination are becoming rare.”

David Lawrence smiled lightly and continued, “Yes, I am interested in your space program. I believe that our future must be in the stars… But before discussing that, I would like to ask you an interesting question. I saw this question in the Boston Daily newspapers.”

“What’s the question?” Elon said with a smile. He looked at David and said, “If it interests you, it must be an interesting question.”

David Lawrence smiled and said, “If you can travel to the future, would you?”

Elon paused for a second. He obviously didn’t expect a question that wasn’t related to aerospace.

David realized that he didn’t phrase the question properly, so he said, ” Of course, you’ll remain as chairman of Space-X, and Space-X won’t go bankrupt in the next century.”

Elon thought about it for ten seconds and spoke.

“What’s the point of sending old antiques from the past to the future? Can we use 18th-century economic theory to solve the 21st-century debt crisis? Or let him teach us how to go to the moon?

“What about property inheritance rights, I don’t see an upside to this.

“Of course, this is looking at it with Space-X’s interest in mind.”

“… Makes sense.”

David nodded but didn’t give his own opinion.

If it were him, he probably wouldn’t want to travel into the future, even if he was guaranteed to wake up.

If everything went well, he would become the leader of the Lawrence family. Going to the future meant that his power and wealth weren’t guaranteed.

The only way to keep power in the family forever was education.

But…

For him personally, time-traveling was quite attractive.

This meant that he would be able to live longer in the future, and he could achieve things that weren’t achievable before.

However, he would have to weigh the risks…

David rubbed his hands on the chair armrest.

Suddenly, he spoke to Elon.

“How long will it take for you guys to solve frozen dormancy technology?”

Faced with this sudden question, Musk subconsciously hesitated for a second before he answered truthfully, “I don’t know… maybe five years, maybe longer… Frozen dormancy technology is just one of the projects we’re working on with Johnson u0026 Johnson Pharmaceuticals. It is not our focus. Our current business model focus is still concentrated on the large thrust spacecraft and life support devices—”

David interrupted him and said, “Then from now on, it will become your focus. I’ll invest a billion dollars to start.”

Elon held his breath.

A billion!

Even though Tesla was worth hundreds of billions, that was only in market capital; it wasn’t cash.

“I only have one request. I don’t care how much money I spend. The important thing is to ensure the safety of the technology. Can that be guaranteed?”

Elon hesitated and said, “Theoretically, yes… In fact, we already have some technology that ensures the safe operation of frozen dormancy, but we need time to research and develop.”

David smiled and said, “This is fine… I am not in a hurry.”

Musk: “Can I ask something?”

David: “Go ahead.”

Musk hesitated and asked, “Do you… plan on going to the future?”

“Not for now.”

David turned around and looked out the window. His back was turned to Elon.

He stared at his reflection in the windows, as well as the Boston skyline, before whispering to himself, “But who knows what could happen in the future?”

Chapter 1043: Legendary Mission!

Chapter 1043 Legendary Mission!

On the other side of the earth.

Lu Zhou was inside the pure white system space. He walked up to the holographic mission panel and selected the golden mission card.

The second his index finger touched the card, golden light particles began filling the entire information screen.

The dazzling effect reminded Lu Zhou of a campfire. Soon, an updated mission panel appeared in front of him.

He looked at the mission panel and spoke.

“I knew it… Exactly what I expected.”

[Legendary mission: First step toward the future.]

[Description: The first step toward the future is standing right in front of you. You are closer to the future than any mathematician has ever been!]

[Requirements: Unify algebra and geometry!]

[Rewards: Mathematics level +1, Void Memory b, five lucky draw tickets, 10,000 general points.]

This was the legendary mission.

Just like he had expected, the system’s “future era” didn’t mean he would travel to the future. Instead, he would obtain technologies and other things that belonged to the future. He would be the one shaping the future, opening the door to a new era.

First was mathematics.

Then physics, biochemistry, materials science, etc…

When all disciplines reached level 10, he wouldn’t even need the system anymore, he would be able to see the future everywhere he went…

“A new era means the future.

“I see…

“The level 10 mathematics mission is to unify algebra and geometry, to revolutionize mathematics research… What is the legendary mission for other disciplines?”

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and thought of something interesting. He had a smirk on his face.

“… This is so exciting.”

He was so close to reaching the border of the future!

His fingers swept across the holographic panel.

He closed the mission panel, returning to the main console.

After that, Lu Zhou’s consciousness left the pure white system space and back to reality…

…

The days of August quickly went by, and his holidays were soon over.

Lu Zhou spent the entire month with his family. He felt like he had gotten more than enough rest. He packed his luggage and went back to Jinling.

Even though living a carefree life was desirable, it felt meaningless.

Not to mention that he had such an exciting research project waiting for him.

Before leaving home, Lu Zhou told his parents that he wanted them to go to Jinling with him. That way, the family would be together.

However, just like before, his father immediately shut down his idea.

“I’m not going, what’s so good about Jinling?”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to answer.

Um…

It’s just more convenient?

Fang Mei was a little worried, so she asked, “What if I cook for you there?”

However, Lu Bangguo interrupted her.

“Don’t do that, when he finds a wife, she can cook for him.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I have people that can cook for me, I don’t need a wife…

Actually, I’m pretty sure Xiao Ai doesn’t count as a person.

After hearing Old Lu’s words, Fang Mei didn’t say anything.

Even though she often argued with Old Lu, she still listened to him most of the time.

Old Lu looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“You’re busy with work, just focus on yourself. You don’t have to worry about us, we’re in good health. You should exercise more, don’t stay in the office all day.

“We are very comfortable here in Jiangling. I can go out and walk around. It is very convenient to go see friends and family. If I go to Jinling I would be stuck at home watching TV all day, we probably wouldn’t even be able to see you around.

“This is fine, you can just come to visit us during the holidays.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything else.

He just wanted the best for his parents. Jinling City had better medical and social resources.

However, his father was right.

Not everyone wanted to live in a big city. His dad much preferred to read a newspaper and drink tea with his friends. Maybe catch some fish on the weekends.

Therefore, Lu Zhou didn’t mention moving them to Jinling again.

I’ll just spend more time visiting them…

He went on the high-speed rail and soon arrived back in Jinling.

The first thing Lu Zhou did was go to Jin University and submit his research project application.

When he was submitting the application, the faculty staff member from the mathematics department froze.

The unified theory of algebra and geometry!

This was the first time the staff member had seen such a ridiculous thesis proposal.

Lu Zhou saw the look on the staff’s face, he sighed.

Thank god.

I was the one who came here.

If Lu Zhou had asked Han Mengqi or one of his students to submit the thesis proposal, they would be laughed out of the office…

Lu Zhou coughed.

The staff member snapped back to reality after hearing Lu Zhou’s cough. He gulped and spoke.

“Academician Lu… are you sure you want to research this topic?”

Generally speaking, after a research project was accepted, it couldn’t be changed for a long time.

Lu Zhou: “Is there a problem?”

“No, of course not.” The staff member smiled and said, “I’ll process the application as soon as possible!”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I’m in no hurry.”

He only submitted the research proposal as a habit.

Even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t matter.

After all, he didn’t really care about the university’s research funding…

Chapter 1044: Your Future Studen

Chapter 1044 Your Future Studen

After Lu Zhou left, he was about to go to his mathematics department office. However, he happened to bump into an acquaintance downstairs.

Actually, this person barely counted as his acquaintance. Lu Zhou had only met this kid a few times before, and because of his unique face, Lu Zhou recognized him.

When this kid noticed Lu Zhou, his eyes lit up as he waved his hand.

“Master! It’s me! Li Mo!”

This attracted the attention of the people around him, and some people began chuckling.

Honestly, Lu Zhou was tempted to ignore him and leave.

However, he remembered that the kid got a perfect gold medal in the IMO competition and came all the way here from Beijing. So, he sighed and spoke.

“You really came to Jin University?”

“Of course! You said you would accept me as your student.” Li Mo awkwardly scratched his head and said, “I really just want to learn mathematics with you.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I have high standards, are you sure?”

Li Mo said in a serious manner, “I am sure! I want to become a great mathematician like you! I want to help our country! I want to win a Fields Medal—”

“Okay, enough,” Lu Zhou calmly said. “You can forget about the Fields Medal. Anyone who has won the Fields Medal never made it their goal to win the medal. We are just studying the language of the universe, whether it’s the Fields Medal or the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize… those are meaningless.”

Anyone who has won the Fields Medal never made it their goal to win the medal…

Li Mo repeated this in his mind, and he had a look of awe on his face.

So insightful!

No wonder he’s such a great mathematician!

He’s so well-spoken…

Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed. He coughed and spoke.

“Also, another piece of advice.”

Li Mo: “Yes, Master!”

“Don’t call me master, just call me Professor Lu. Also, if you want to learn math well, you have to stop being arrogant and impatient. Also, you might want to get rid of the habit of humble bragging.”

Lu Zhou looked at the kid and spoke.

“Any other questions?”

Li Mo scratched his head and said, “Does that count as one piece or two pieces of advice?”

“That’s not important.”

After that, Lu Zhou turned around.

“Follow me, I’ll show you the office.

“If you don’t understand a question, you can ask me. Don’t bother me with stupid questions.”

Li Mo followed Lu Zhou and excitedly said, “Okay, Master!”

…

After Lu Zhou submitted his thesis proposal, he left it alone.

For him, submitting the proposal was just to inform the school about what he was researching. The research funding would go toward his office and travel expenses.

After Lu Zhou took Li Mo to his office, he told Li Mo that “once you graduate, you’ll get your desk here”.

Even though some professors would place worthy undergraduate students in their office occasionally, Lu Zhou didn’t intend to do that.

Undergraduate studies were important.

Especially for a genius, giving them the freedom to explore was better than restricting them.

An undergrad would learn more by staying in the library and researching problems themselves.

He Changwen looked at the young kid that left and asked, “Professor, is he your student?”

Lu Zhou said, “Future student.”

Wu Shuimu, an applied mathematics student, took off his glasses and said, “Professor, what’s his background?”

He had never seen Professor Lu so enthusiastic with an undergraduate student before. He was quite curious who this young man was.

Lu Zhou spoke.

“IMO gold medalist.”

IMO gold medalist!

Even though Lu Zhou spoke casually, the atmosphere in the office suddenly froze.

The Fields Medal for high school students, IMO!

And he won a gold medal!

I had no idea he was that impressive!

But what is an IMO gold medalist doing here, why not go to Yan University?

“Look at you guys, it’s just an IMO medal.”

You guys didn’t react like this when I won the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize…

Lu Zhou smiled at the noob researchers and cleared his throat. He spoke concisely.

“I have something to say.”

Han Mengqi put down her pen, and so did Feng Jin.

The office quieted down, and everyone looked at him seriously.

“Don’t be so nervous,” Lu Zhou said. “I just went to the academic affairs office and submitted my thesis proposal. Our task going forward is to unify algebra and geometry. Your work will be in this general area…

“I haven’t figured out how to name this theory, so this is just to give you guys a heads-up.

“Keep on working.”

After that, Lu Zhou ignored their stunned looks. He casually turned around and left the office.

…

Level 10 in mathematics was a huge deal, so Lu Zhou had this on the top of his priority list.

After that, he had to deal with the clues he got from the Void Memory…

Wang Peng drove him to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. He took the elevators and went to his underground basement. He found the black cube debris.

As expected, it looked exactly the same as the one in his memory!

Other than the fact that the surface was black, the engravings and shape of the cube were almost exactly the same as the golden cube he pulled out of the liquid helium pool!

Lu Zhou was certain he was correct.

After all, the memory was engraved in his mind…

“I think this is some kind of storage device…”

Lu Zhou’s finger carefully searched along the engraved lines. He tried to find a way to turn this thing on. Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful.

“… There should be some kind of device to turn this on.

“But… what if it’s already broken?”

Lu Zhou placed the cube on the workbench.

A dialog box appeared on the control interface.

[Master, do you want me to take it apart?≧▽≦*]

The mechanical arm next to it began to move.

Lu Zhou: “Can you guarantee it can be reassembled again?”

[What? It has to be reassembled? (.・∀・)]

“… Of course, otherwise, I can disassemble it myself.”

Lu Zhou looked at the mechanical arm, then stared at the black cube. He suddenly sighed.

“If only I can access another Void Memory.”

His intuition told him that the answer should be inside the void.

Not just the answer to this debris.

But also the answer to the origin of the system…

Chapter 1045: Good News From the Carbon Based Chip Laboratory

Chapter 1045 Good News From the Carbon Based Chip Laboratory

Lu Zhou still didn’t know how to use the Debris No.2, but fortunately, he had some clue about its origin.

Even though there was no way to crack its secrets, he believed that after seeing his next Void Memory, he should be able to obtain the key to open this “treasure chest”.

Lu Zhou put this unsolvable problem aside. He placed his focus back to academia.

Compared to Riemann’s hypothesis, the theory of unified algebra and geometry wasn’t actually as difficult as imagined.

Even though this was more groundbreaking than Riemann’s hypothesis, in fact, it didn’t require a groundbreaking mathematical tool to solve. It didn’t even require too much creativity.

What it required was the ability to rely on logic to summarize existing knowledge, tools, and methods, to be able to thread the needle.

That sounded a bit abstract.

But compared to Riemann’s hypothesis, where the top of the mountain couldn’t be seen at all, the peak of this research project’s mountain was visible. There was even a road leading to the top of the mountain.

In fact, when he was researching Riemann’s hypothesis, he already had a blueprint outline in his heart. He was the closest person to the top of the mountain.

After all, the research on Riemann’s hypothesis already made him climb up half of the mountain.

For now, he was the most likely person on the planet to complete this project.

At the same time, his students could also feel useful by contributing to this research project.

Riemann’s hypothesis required a genius brain and a talented mind, but this research project could be divided into sub-projects and different categories, things that required large amounts of manpower…

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Dean’s office.

Director Li came here from Beijing for a business trip. He sat down on the sofa and smiled at Lu Zhou.

“… Speaking of which, I forgot to tell you something.”

“What’s up?”

“Just a few days ago, the Russians sent a diplomatic thank you letter expressing their gratitude, and they specifically mentioned your name.”

Lu Zhou hesitated and asked curiously, “… Thank you letter?”

“Yeah, didn’t you visit the Helios nuclear power plant a while ago and found a big problem in their power grid system?”

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that.

“It’s just a coincidence.” Lu Zhou smiled and suddenly realized something. He said, “That diplomatic letter… isn’t released to the public, right?”

Director Li instantly knew what Lu Zhou was talking about. He patted his leg and smiled. “This isn’t a Ministry of Foreign Affairs conference, of course it’s not open to the public. We have also asked the other party to keep this a secret, for your safety.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

Even though he wasn’t particularly worried, it was better to be safe.

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that even if this wasn’t released to the public, the Americans probably could have deduced what had happened.

Director Li: “Speaking of which, there’s something else.”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

After taking a sip of tea and moistening his throat, Director Li put on a serious face and continued, “That accident wasn’t an accident. An intelligence officer named Maksim… Of course, I don’t know if that is his real name. Basically, the intelligence provided to us by the Russians shows that it was probably a premeditated attack. The person who planned this attack tried to implant a virus in the St. Petersburg regional power grid system. The nuclear core overloaded and ignition failed. This was also an attack on you.”

“Me?”

“Yes!” Director Li nodded and said seriously, “There are enough pieces of evidence to support that at least half of the motive behind this is toward you.

“However, the people behind this attack underestimated the safety features of our fusion machine.

“So far, the Unified Energy System of Russia is cooperating with the security bureau to conduct investigations… I don’t know the specifics since the State Administration for National Defense isn’t responsible for this.”

Lu Zhou didn’t expect to hear something like this.

Lu Zhou suddenly sighed and said, “What a mess, maybe I won’t attend any conferences in the future.”

Director Li smiled and said, “Don’t do that, if it is necessary to attend, you should go, just be careful. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Also, the times have changed, we have the upper hand in the international field. Those that want to attack us, only dare to do so in the shadows.”

Director Li put down the teacup and stood up.

“Okay, I have some work to do, so I won’t waste any more of your time. If you need anything, call me.”

Lu Zhou nodded and stood up.

“Take care.”

Lu Zhou sent Director Li off and was about to go back to his office. However, he saw Professor Wu Tianqun from the carbon-based chips research institute walking toward him.

This old professor’s face was as bright as a tomato. He immediately walked up to Lu Zhou and spoke.

“Good news!”

Lu Zhou could tell this professor had something to say.

There was only one thing from the carbon-based chip laboratory that would be considered good news.

However, Lu Zhou still cautiously asked, “… What good news?”

Professor Wu Tianqun said exactly what Lu Zhou had guessed.

Professor Wu Tianqun spoke with energy.

“A commercial standard sample of the Dragon One chip!

“We did it!”

Chapter 1046: Ten Million Per Square Millimeter!

Chapter 1046 Ten Million Per Square Millimeter!

The carbon-based chip research institute.

Lu Zhou had been here numerous times.

However, this time the atmosphere felt different.

When he came here before, it was for more or less to check on the research progress. But this time, he could tell from the joyful faces of the researchers that something was different…

He noticed a tiny black square around the size of his fingernail.

“This is it.”

Professor Wu Tianqun carefully handed the thin chip into Lu Zhou’s hands as he said, “Dragon 1000, the first prototype chip of the Dragon series! Also called Dragon One! We’re using a 28nm process technology, and we successfully increased transistor count from 3 million transistor units per square millimeter to 10 million!

“Due to our business partner’s needs, our initial offering of the Dragon One chips will be used in medium and high-end servers. Its target competition is the Intel Xeon X56 series chip. Although in terms of specs we are slightly inferior to them, because of the superiority of carbon-based transistors, it’s not an exaggeration to say that we are far ahead of them!”

Professor Wu Tianqun tried to portray the chip’s performance to Lu Zhou in plain words.

Although the density of 10 million transistors per square millimeter was less than that of Intel, which had already achieved a density of 100 million per square millimeter. However, carbon-based transistors and silicon-based transistors were two different things. It would be like comparing apples and oranges.

Using the Xeon series chips as an example, depending on the model and series, the transistor density was around about 50 million per square millimeter. By comparison, Dragon One only had 10 million per square millimeter. But, it was already able to outperform the Xeon X series chips!

Hitting the milestone of 10 million meant that the technology had much more room for improvement!

When their carbon-based chip transistor density reached the same level as silicon chips…

They would have a monopoly on the entire industry.

All in all, even though the technology had only just been invented, the performance of the Dragon One chip had already been proven to be superior.

With a power consumption of up to 20W and a frequency of 3.7GHz, the carbon-based transistors had superior physical properties when compared to silicon-based transistors. Professor Wu Tianqun was sure of this.

After listening to Professor Wu Tianqun’s statement, Lu Zhou began to look more and more intrigued.

He didn’t know much about chips, and his contributions to this project were mainly focused on the theoretical level and the improvement of carbon materials. However, judging from how excited Professor Wu Tianqun was, he knew this was a huge breakthrough.

Lu Zhou looked at the chip in his hand, and he couldn’t help but speak.

“It’s so light!”

When compared to the texture and weight of silicon chips, this chip was as thin as a piece of paper… Actually, it was made of the same material as paper.

Professor Wu Tianqun said with a smile, “That is also one of the advantages of carbon-based chips. Our weight per unit volume is less than half of that of silicon-based chips!”

In fact, the chip was more than just paper-like.

Lu Zhou played with the chip in his hand. He suddenly realized that the chip could be bent at a small angle, and when he let go, the chip sprung back to its original shape…

Almost like a spring.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something.

“Is it okay for me to hold this with my hands?”

Professor Wu Tianqun smiled and said, “It’s fine, this is almost a commercial-ready product, it’s much cheaper than you think. If you break it, we have a bunch more.”

After hearing this, Lu Zhou finally relaxed and began bending the chip with more power.

He was curious about what the limit of the chip was.

When the force exerted on both sides of the chip made it bend at a 20-degree angle, the black chip broke into two pieces.

Professor Wu Tianqun looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“Our chip mainly uses SG series materials, and it has a good bending performance. I’m sure you know more about that than me. But… I still don’t recommend doing that. Generally speaking, bending will affect the current transmission.”

“I was just testing it.” Lu Zhou threw the chip debris into a special recycling bag and looked at Professor Wu Tianqun. He said, “I didn’t expect you guys to have progressed so much since I last came here.”

Professor Wu humbly said, “The industrialization is mainly done by the Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. We are mainly focused on carbon-based transistor density.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “If everything goes well, when can production start?”

Professor Wu Tianqun thought about it for a while and said, “According to the feedback from HiSilicon, we can begin production at the end of the month… Actually, they are in quite a hurry. The American government’s policies are becoming more and more restrictive. I talked to their CTO about this issue, they want to take the carbon-based chips to the international market.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and said, “We can’t let them down then.”

Professor Wu Tianqun smiled and said, “Of course not! I believe in the strength of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study!”

Lu Zhou stayed at the carbon-based laboratory for a while.

After he returned to his office, he called Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense.

Once the call connected, Director Li’s voice traveled through the phone.

“Hello? What’s up?”

Lu Zhou: “Something came up.”

Director Li was a little speechless.

Jesus, couldn’t you have told me in person?

Now I’m already in the car.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’m going to the high-tech zone, I’ll come by tomorrow—”

“It’s about the Dragon One carbon-based chips—”

Before Lu Zhou could finish, Director Li asked fiercely, “Where are you now?”

Lu Zhou chuckled and spoke.

“… Still in my office.”

“Wait for me, I’m coming… Xiao Li, turn around, back to the Institute for Advanced Study!”

“But the meeting in the high-tech zone is going to begin in an hour—”

“Shut up, Professor Lu is more important!”

“Yes, sir…”

The phone call ended.

Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and shook his head. He placed his phone on the table.

The Dragon One chips had been made.

According to Professor Wu, there shouldn’t be any production problems. The Jiangcheng semiconductor industrial base was built for this purpose.

All of the supporting facilities were fully prepared even before the project began. Huawei’s HiSilicon was now at the uppermost stream of the industrial chain.

The only thing they had to think about was how to make as much money as possible.

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the table. He pondered for a while then shook his head.

Forget about this, I’ll let the businessmen decide.

He picked up his phone and called the usual number.

In fact, he nearly forgot this phone number was in his contacts.

“Hello, Boss Wang?”

“Speaking.”

“The chip you ordered, we made it.”

Chapter 1047: IEEE Summi

Chapter 1047 IEEE Summi

Los Angeles.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers conference was held as scheduled.

As the top conference of the Integrated Circuit Design field, not only was this an academic conference, it was also a stage for manufacturers to show off their latest products.

For an applied industry like this, the boundary between academia and industry was blurry.

Many scholars were engineers at their own companies, and many engineers were thesis reviewers. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to serve as a Chief Technology Officer while reviewing for an electrical engineering journal.

Professor Michael Mayberry, who was standing on stage, was a classic example.

While he served as the dean of the Intel Semiconductor Research Institute, he also held the position of CTO at Intel.

He was presenting on stage to scholars, engineers, and company representatives. His presentation was on a series of technologies such as Intel’s latest consumer processor chips and next-generation core graphics cards.

Among the dazzling new products, the most attention-grabbing was undoubtedly the “silver” microarchitecture, with a 7nm process technology.

The PowerPoint slide captured the attention of everyone!

According to Intel, the “silver” architecture would be launched in the second half of 2022 and would be built on top of the “Sunny Cove” architecture Intel introduced in 2019. The new architecture would improve the chip performance to a whole new level! The chip transistor integration and manufacturing process would also be entirely different.

Michael Mayberry stood on stage and emphasized with excitement that this was a huge leap in technological innovation. And Intel would redefine the future of chip technology… Even though everyone came here to brag, most people were quite surprised at Mayberry’s presentation.

Everyone knew that the 7nm process was close to the technological limit of major manufacturers. Even though 5nm was possible, it wasn’t cost-effective.

And 5nm was around the level of a bottleneck. This was when the material itself would become increasingly unstable due to quantum mechanical effects. At this level, improving the chip performance by lowering the process would be difficult.

Because of this, major chip manufacturers were trying to find other ways to improve the chip performance, other than improving the process technology.

The controversial “Sunny Cove” architecture released in the second half of 2019 was a classic example.

The “Sunny Cove” architecture based on 10nm process technology directly improved the performance of Intel’s Core and Xeon series chips by 66%!

No one was surprised that Intel was able to achieve 7nm process technology, but to make such a major breakthrough on top of the “Sunny Cove” architecture was nutty, to say the least.

Obviously, Intel became the center of attention at this academic conference.

Qualcomm’s chief engineer Derek Wacker was sitting in the audience. He watched the Intel CTO’s presentation with jealousy in his eyes.

“Intel is so far ahead… Last time I heard Mayberry say they had some big announcements to make, that they were going to change the architecture. I thought he was just bragging, I didn’t think they could actually do it.”

Sitting next to him was Koch, the vice president of Qualcomm who was also sent to attend this academic conference. Koch looked at the person on the stage and looked envious.

“… Intel’s stock is going to the moon tomorrow.”

Even though Intel and Qualcomm didn’t have a good relationship, Koch was happy to ride this upswing by piggybacking off Intel.

On the other hand, Mayberry’s mouth felt a bit dry, so he grabbed a cup of water and took a sip.

He spent 20 minutes talking to potential Intel partners about this amazing “silver” architecture lineup of chips.

Even though he spoke in an arrogant manner, everyone in the conference hall believed him.

They all knew what kind of person Mayberry was.

He might brag a little, but he would never lie.

When the presentation was finally over, Michael Mayberry walked off stage in the midst of a round of applause.

The conference continued as scheduled. However, it was obvious that the main stage had been completely taken away by Intel.

Mayberry got off the stage and listened to the discussions happening around him. He couldn’t help but feel prideful.

He enjoyed this feeling.

This was why he personally came to present this talk.

Otherwise, he could have delegated this to someone else.

Several other speakers went on stage; people from Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple… However, none of them were as dazzling as Intel’s “silver” architecture.

When a Qualcomm engineer was talking about their ARM-V9 instruction set architecture update, he had a look of defeat on his face.

After the Qualcomm presenter stepped down, a Chinese man wearing glasses went on stage.

The lanky man wore a suit that didn’t fit him. He clearly didn’t look like a professor or an established engineer. Instead, he looked like an intern or an assistant.

Mayberry joked to his friends about the person on stage. He had a look of contempt in his eyes.

The anxious presenter and the Huawei HiSilicon made Mayberry feel like the presentation wasn’t worth listening to at all.

After all, what could an intern talk about?

Other than to embarrass themselves.

The person sitting next to him, the Intel CEO, Bob Swan, suddenly spoke.

“I heard they’ve been working with the Chinese state on integrated circuit design.”

By “they”, he was obviously talking about HiSilicon.

Mayberry still had a look of contempt in his eyes when he raised his eyebrows.

“Oh really, so this is a ‘high tech’ Chinese company?”

Bob Swan said, “It’s better to not underestimate them. After all, we’ve barely entered the controllable fusion field, but they’re already providing power to our factory in Southeast Asia.”

But nuclear fusion and chips are totally different.

Mayberry pouted his lips in disapproval.

The intern-like presenter on stage finally spoke.

Maybe because this was his first time doing a presentation, he took some deep breaths to calm himself down before he gave an opening speech.

The big names sitting in the front row gave a look of encouragement to this young man, including Bob Swan and Mayberry.

They were sympathetic and supportive toward a harmless opponent like this guy. Even though they were disrespectful on the outside, on the surface they were polite.

That was how businessmen were.

No matter how annoying a child was, the adult would still tolerate them.

“This project is… a joint project of HiSilicon and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. We have worked on this for almost two years. Actually, their research team is supposed to be the ones here today, but due to various reasons, they gave us the opportunity instead.”

His lack of confidence already made people lose interest.

Even though the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study name attracted the attention of many people, they remembered that it was an intern who was doing the presentation.

The presenter looked at the front row and noticed that some of the big names began chatting among themselves. The presenter started to get anxious as he started to talk.

“I will show the PowerPoint next.

“This is a project on carbon-based chips…”

Halfway through his sentence.

Suddenly, he realized that the venue became silent.

It was so silent that it felt scary…

Chapter 1048: Academician Lu“s Projec

Chapter 1048 Academician Lu“s Projec

The silence in the air was terrifying.

The skinny man with glasses standing on stage noticed this, and he stopped his speech while feeling a little unsure of whether he should continue.

Finally, someone broke the silence.

“What’s your name?”

The person who asked this question was Mayberry, the Intel CTO sitting in the front row.

He asked this question after making eye contact with the man on stage.

The person on stage was shocked that a big name was talking to a small fry like him. He zoned out for a second but quickly realized he was still standing on stage. He nodded and spoke.

“… He Hai, research and development engineer at Huawei.”

He Hai?

Mayberry subconsciously remembered this name. His eyebrows furrowed as he began to think. He couldn’t recall ever hearing this name.

Finally, he gave up. He looked at He Hai and spoke.

“It doesn’t matter what your name is.”

He Hai: “???”

You were the one who asked.

Mayberry didn’t realize how contradictory his statement was. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke calmly.

“I heard you mention the word carbon-based chip. Judging from the PowerPoint slides, am I correct to deduce that you, representing on behalf of Huawei, are here to announce to the academic community and industrial circle that you guys have made a breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology?”

Strictly speaking, he was only halfway through his presentation, far from the Qu0026A session. Mayberry’s action was somewhat disrespectful to the presenter, as well as the audience.

But there were exceptions to everything.

No one frowned at Mayberry’s behavior, because they all wanted to know the answer to the question.

Were the things on the PowerPoint slide accurate?

He Hai obviously didn’t expect Mayberry to ask such a strange question. He looked at him strangely, then looked back at his PowerPoint. He made sure that there were no mistakes on the slides and spoke.

“As you can see, as the first Dragon series chip produced using carbon-based chip technology, we have adopted a new generation of carbon-based transistors by collaborating with the Jinling Institute of Computational Materials and carbon-based laboratory…”

The second the audience heard the word carbon-based transistor, there was a commotion.

The concept of carbon-based chips was something that only appeared this year. Until today, most people thought it was only a concept, while the feasibility of the concept was still controversial in the academic community.

However, now this person on stage was claiming…

That someone had already solved this controversial technology?

Mayberry began to panic. He could barely keep his composure. He stared at the presenter and spoke.

“You’re speaking on behalf of Huawei? Are you responsible for your words? Do you know what it means to publish false academic results at a conference?”

Mayberry desperately tried to get a read on the Chinese man’s face, hoping to see micro-expressions that he was lying.

However, he was disappointed.

The presenter named He Hai didn’t realize the questions were rhetoric, so he awkwardly smiled and said, “Oh, there’s no need to worry about that.

“The corresponding author of this paper is Academician Lu.

“He’s responsible for this project.”

Professor Lu!

The second this name was mentioned, the venue went quiet.

Mayberry’s face turned pale. His lips trembled as he was rendered speechless.

He hoped that the report was just a hoax, that there was no carbon-based chip technology, that Huawei was lying. But now, all of his hopes were destroyed by the mention of “Academician Lu”…

A Nobel Prize laureate and Fields Medalist, the person who proved Riemann’s hypothesis, who recently won the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize. With so many titles and honors behind this name, his resume would be ten pages long.

Because of his status, there was no reason for him to lie for Huawei.

If this technology was really backed by this person’s academic reputation…

Seeing how Mayberry was speechless, He Hai spoke.

“Um, so can I continue?”

“Continue…” said Swan, speaking for his dumbfounded CTO.

He Hai looked at the pairs of gazes staring at him. He gulped and nodded.

“Oh, okay.”

…

He Hai swore to god that the presentation today was the peak of his life.

At least the peak of the first half of his life.

The entire venue was filled with well-known scholars and engineers in the semiconductor industry, as well as industry leaders.

However, everyone sitting in the audience, whether they were a noob researcher or a big name, all quietly listened to his PowerPoint presentation.

He was certain that everyone was truly listening to him.

Because when he presented the chip testing performance results, he could hear exclaims…

“28nm process technology, chip integration of 10 million per square millimeter… Superior to Xeon chips, this is crazy!”

“How is this possible! Before seeing this with my own eyes, I won’t believe it!”

“The clock speed of 3.7GHz, the maximum power consumption of 20W… Haha, impossible.”

“In theory, carbon-based chips have better heat dissipation performance than silicon-based chips…”

“This is impossible! I’ll say it again, this is impossible!”

“…”

When He Hai heard the whispers in the crowd, he didn’t begin to worry. Instead, he was relieved.

Regardless of whether or not the audience believed him, what mattered was that they listened to him.

As for the debates…

That didn’t matter.

He had seen the magical chip before. It was the size of a thumbnail, light as a piece of paper. He couldn’t describe the shock in his heart when he first saw it. One thing he was certain of was that when the people sitting here see the chip with their own eyes, they would be just as shocked…

After the presentation ended, there was no Qu0026A session. The whole venue was a mess.

Qualcomm’s vice president Koch had a blank expression on his face.

Suddenly, he spoke.

“Wacker, do you know what I want to do?”

Wacker had the same expression. He gulped and muttered, “I don’t know, I don’t trade stocks… I have some Qualcomm stock, I’m going to try to sell as much as I can.”

Koch nodded.

“I had the same idea.”

Chapter 1049: Subverting the Entire Industry

Chapter 1049 Subverting the Entire Industry

After Koch saw Intel’s “Silver” micro-architecture, he thought that the spotlight of the integrated circuit design conference was destined to be shining on Intel. However, that changed after he saw Huawei’s carbon-based chip technology.

Forget about being the spotlight of the IEEE conference.

The second the presentation was over, news about the Dragon One and “carbon-based chip” spread to all areas of the industry.

It was like an earthquake that had erupted in the semiconductor industry.

Huawei had made a major breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology!

The first series of chips using carbon-based technology, the Dragon One chips, would be used in mid- to high-end servers, directly competing with Intel’s industry-leading Xeon chip series!

People couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

On the other hand, the stock market also shocked everyone.

Even though Intel had just released their “Silver” architecture, their stock prices were dropping to the floor…

Everyone came so suddenly.

Koch, Qualcomm’s vice president, was hoping for another possibility, which was that there was no carbon-based chip at all, that Huawei was being too optimistic. Or maybe, HiSilicon had misread an email from their research partners.

But the probability of this was low.

Also, that would mean that Professor Lu, the corresponding author, hadn’t even read the thesis.

That was obviously unlikely.

It wasn’t just Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD, the entire semiconductor industry had begun to suffer because of this change.

Everything came so suddenly.

No one could have expected this report to happen.

Most people didn’t even know that the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had a project like this. The vast majority of people only vaguely knew about China’s semiconductor industry clusters. Only a few people heard about Huawei’s HiSilicon moving up the industrial chain.

However, no one could have predicted the carbon-based chip based on these rumors.

The effect caused by the collapse of the semiconductor industry soon affected the Nasdaq, and there was a pessimistic sentiment on the technology industry, including mobile phones, computers, and servers.

No one expected that chip giants such as Intel and Qualcomm, who firmly held the top positions of the industrial chain, were suddenly dethroned.

The global semiconductor industry was crumbling…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Dean’s office.

Huawei CEO Wang Zhengfei was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. He smiled and told Lu Zhou about the events happening in the semiconductor world.

“The sales department at HiSilicon has been getting orders left and right, and some calls have even reached my office.”

HiSilicon sales strategy was to give priority to Huawei’s internal orders, then followed by domestic orders, and finally overseas orders.

Judging from the current demand, the demand for chips from Huawei alone would take the semiconductor base in Jiangcheng half a year to fulfill.

Even if people wanted to buy the chips, they couldn’t.

However, this didn’t mean the downstream manufacturers would give up.

Because of the 20W power consumption and the excellent heat dissipation performance of carbon-based chips, several supercomputer centers in China had asked to buy the carbon-based chips, no matter what the cost was.

Lu Zhou knew what it was like to be bombarded by phone calls.

“Good job, you did well.”

“Me?” Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “I didn’t do anything, it’s the scientists like you that did this.”

Lu Zhou: “This is mainly because of Professor Wu, he’s the leader of this project.”

Wang Zhengfei: “Speaking of which, Professor Wu is about to become an academician, right?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, I recommended him, it should be fine.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “If you say it’s fine, then there’s really nothing to worry about. I was going to ask if there’s anything I can do to help, but it seems like I was overthinking things.”

Lu Zhou smiled and paused for a second before he spoke.

“Actually, there’s one thing I don’t understand.”

Wang Zhengfei put down his teacup and said, “Oh? Looks like I have the honor to help Academician Lu. Ask away.”

Lu Zhou: “Why did we have to present the thesis at the IEEE conference?”

Wang Zhengfei smiled casually and said, “Before we open the floodgates, we have to measure the pipeline pressure. Before we launch a product, we have to release the research and observe the industry’s reaction. If there are any problems, we still have time to fix them. Also, we’ve been working behind closed doors, they don’t even know we’re researching this.

“It’s like how everyone thought you were working on fourth-generation nuclear fission technology. But after a year and a half of silence, you suddenly solved controllable fusion energy. The industry might not even believe you, your partners might not even trust you.”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Who cares about them?”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “Good question, we shouldn’t care about them! Sooner or later, manufacturers will realize that we have a piece of treasure on our hands, but that will take time. This isn’t like nuclear fusion, we can’t continue on with our doors closed. We have to redefine the semiconductor industry and break the western technology barriers.”

This wasn’t just about carbon-based chips. If they wanted to redefine the industry, China would have to beat the west by surprise.

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Oh, so how were the pipeline measurements?”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “They were exactly as expected! The entire semiconductor industry is afraid of what will happen when we release our chips. The next step is to respond to their fears and organize a product launch. What do you think, Academician Lu? Are you interested in saying some words at the launch?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Not interested, I’ve done too many reports recently. Not to mention, I’m only doing the theoretical side, I don’t know a lot about the actual chip. You should find someone else to do the product launch.”

“Haha, you’re over-complicating things. You being on stage alone is enough.” Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “How about just being there? It’s in Jinling anyway.”

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before speaking.

“… Okay then.”

After all, it was in Jinling, so he wouldn’t have to travel far.

Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate.

Wang Zhengfei took out his phone and looked at Lu Zhou.

“Wait a second, I have to answer this.”

Lu Zhou: “Is it fine for me to be here?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.”

The phone call lasted for 30 seconds.

All the old man said was “okay” and “I understand”.

After Wang Zhengfei hung up the phone, Lu Zhou asked, “What good news is it this time?”

Wang Zhengfei put his phone back into his pocket and said, “The IEEE withdrew our paper.”

The two made eye contact and laughed.

One of them was laughing awkwardly.

The other was laughing mischievously.

Chapter 1050: Just Call It “Future“

Chapter 1050 Just Call It “Future“

For a scholar, having one’s manuscript being rejected was nothing unusual.

Regardless of the scholar’s reputation or past achievements, if the paper didn’t meet the requirements of publication, it would be rejected at any stage of the review process.

However, it was uncommon for a published paper to be withdrawn.

For papers that had already been published, withdrawing that paper was a huge blow to the credibility of the journal. Because that implied that there was a major publication error.

Therefore, generally speaking, journals were extremely cautious about withdrawing published papers, unless there was serious academic fraud that occurred.

Back in the day, the Nobel Prize-level academic fraud caused by Haruko Obokata shocked the biology field. The academic community had determined that her experimental results were altered. The Japanese Institute of Physical and Chemical Research could not withstand the pressure from the public. After they asked Haruko Obokata for permission to withdraw the paper on STAP cells, they asked Nature to withdraw the controversial manuscript.

Even though the biological field was different from the integrated circuit design field, the thesis being withdrawn immediately after the IEEE conference was a bit unusual.

Not only did Lu Zhou have his paper being rejected, but his paper was also now withdrawn. He felt like he had experienced everything he could as an academic scholar.

But then again, this was his first time submitting a paper to the IEEE journal. Also, the paper was in the electrical engineering field, not exactly his area of specialty. He had received emails from top engineering journals, asking him to submit his research on fusion energy. However, due to the sensitive nature of the technology, he politely declined.

He would have never imagined his first submission on IEEE to be withdrawn, based on the absurd reasons that it was “academic fraud” and “falsification of experimental data”.

After Lu Zhou read the withdrawal notice from IEEE, he was baffled.

Jesus Christ, do you guys really think I’m the type of person to publish fake experimental data?

He wasn’t sure how much influence the IEEE conference had on the industry. What baffled him was because he felt like the academic world was becoming more and more contaminated.

Back when the United States and the Soviet Union were in an arms race, the academic environment wasn’t like this at all…

Chen Yushan said, “I heard your paper was withdrawn?”

She was sitting on the sofa in the Institute for Advanced Study dean office, and she had a smirk on her face when she spoke.

Lu Zhou looked at her gloating smile and sighed. “Do you really have to gloat that hard?”

“What do you mean? I’m not gloating. It’s just rare to see you take a loss.”

Lu Zhou said, “Not exactly taking a loss. It’s just an unfortunate situation.”

Chen Yushan: “Did they ask you to revise the paper or anything?”

“In the withdrawal notice, they politely told me that some of the experimental data looks a little ‘exaggerated’ and told me to modify it. However, they didn’t even tell me which part looked exaggerated. I am certain they didn’t do verification experiments because they don’t have the means to.”

Chen Yushan curiously asked, “Then, do you plan on modifying it?”

“Modify it?” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Why would I modify something that is correct?”

Cooperating with reviewers’ opinions to revise obvious errors was one thing, but this was equivalent to slander.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and smirked.

“No wonder you’re a top scholar, that sentence is quotable.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “What does this have to do with being a top scholar?”

“Of course it does! Think about it, the students who dare to argue with the teachers are all top scholars. The noob researcher wouldn’t dare to question the teachers.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “So you’re saying the IEEE is a teacher? I don’t think they’re even qualified enough to call them that.”

“Just an example…” Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and suddenly said, “Speaking of which, have you ever thought about creating a journal yourself?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I was talking with the Huawei CEO about this yesterday.”

Actually, the Huawei CEO wasn’t the only one he talked to about this problem. A bunch of his friends in the Chinese academic community had mentioned this to him. However, Lu Zhou always thought it would be too troublesome.

After all, in his opinion, the journal itself wasn’t important. What was important was the paper itself. If the research was sophisticated enough, it would attract people’s attention even if it was only uploaded on arXiv.

On the other hand, insignificant research papers would require a well-known journal to prove its value.

But now, it seemed like his ideas were too optimistic.

Even though journals were just a platform for publishing academic research, it still had a certain amount of censorship. Even if these restrictions and censorship were not manifested under normal circumstances, it was clear that IEEE had crossed this line.

Maybe I should really think about starting my own academic journal.

“Wang Zhengfei talked to you about this?” Chen Yushan said with a surprised look on her face. She curiously asked, “What did he say?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and said, “He said that carbon-based chips are something we made ourselves and that it is difficult for others to review the manuscripts. Right now the international community has not done any research in this area beyond the theoretical level. It would be difficult for them to review the paper.”

Chen Yushan nodded and said, “I agree… What do you think?”

“I think he makes sense.”

Lu Zhou paused and smiled as he said, “I was thinking, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study has been established for a long time, and it still doesn’t have a journal.

“I plan on setting up a science journal in the name of the Institute for Advanced Study… Of course, people outside of the institute can also submit theses, but we have to do the review ourselves.”

Chen Yushan: “Do you need my help?”

“Of course, I don’t understand this stuff, I can temporarily take on the editor-in-chief role, but you have to help with the specifics of the journal establishment.”

Chen Yushan smirked.

“Piece of cake, I’ll handle it.”

She suddenly remembered something important, so she spoke.

“Oh yeah, by the way, what do you want to name this journal?”

Lu Zhou spent a couple of seconds thinking before speaking, “Just call it…

“Future.”

Chapter 1051: Lion or Hunter

Chapter 1051 Lion or Hunter Ever since the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers conference ended, the semiconductor industry was in a chaotic position.Rumors of a breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology!

The traditional silicon-based chips might be eliminated forever!

Executives from Intel, Qualcomm, and countless other semiconductor companies had spent their weekends in anxiety, fearing for their jobs.

However, a piece of sudden “good news” made people feel relieved.

The paper on carbon-based integrated circuit technology was withdrawn by IEEE.

Which meant the experimental data could have been fabricated!

This was quite a serious allegation.

Even though some people thought the withdrawal was a bit strange, most people accepted the allegations as fact.

Mostly because the IEEE was quite a trusted professional organization. The vast majority of engineers in the field obtained their information through the IEEE literature database. Most of them dreamed of presenting their work at the IEEE conference.

Since even the IEEE thought this technology was not trustworthy, most people believe that this technology was probably fake.

After all, they were much more willing to trust IEEE than Huawei.

Immediately after the “carbon-based chip” paper was withdrawn, discussions began to churn on Facebook.

[… I told you so, the carbon-based chip is just a fantasy. Even companies like Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD aren’t making any research progress. Now this chip design company comes out of nowhere and claims to have the technology? Do you guys really believe this?]

[How dare the Chinese submit this to IEEE, this is an insult to academia! We have to investigate the person who wrote the paper.]

[But why did they do this? They know we can easily verify their claims and debunk their lies.]

[God knows? The Chinese love faking things? Maybe this is part of their evil plan…]

[Sigh, seems like even Professor Lu makes mistakes sometimes…]

…

Intel corporate headquarters.

People were coming and going in the cubicle and office area.

In a competitive enterprise like this, one could easily sense an atmosphere of tension in the air. If the carbon-based chips really took over the semiconductor industry, most of the people here would be fired.

In order to make themselves look more valuable, everyone was trying to look busy and hardworking, in hopes of not getting fired when the time comes.

Footsteps were heard outside of Mayberry’s office.

Mayberry heard a knock on the door while he was reviewing documents at his desk. He frowned and spoke.

“Come in.”

“IEEE actually agreed to withdraw the paper,” said the young assistant in his twenties. He spoke in a tone of disbelief, “… I can’t believe the IEEE people actually listened to us.”

The assistant was the one who had contacted IEEE. He had no idea that after some back and forth emailing, IEEE had actually agreed to their request so easily.

However, unlike the amazed assistant, Mayberry just pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke with a blank expression.

“Nothing surprising about that. We have many employees inside the association. Of course, in a critical moment like this, they are on our side. Not to mention that the White House and the industry are putting pressure on them. They have to withdraw the paper, even if they don’t want to.”

When the assistant heard him, his face made a subtle change.

“The White House is also involved?”

Mayberry nodded and spoke.

“After all, this is extremely important to the industry. In some sense, the White House cares more about this than us.”

The electric vehicle industry was no longer dominated by the United States, especially because of China’s dominance over fusion energy. The White House wouldn’t hesitate to leave Tesla behind.

However, the semiconductor was one of the core industries of the United States, so the White House wouldn’t give up this easily.

Not only did this involve tens of thousands of jobs in a trillion-dollar market, it also attacked America’s monopoly in the high-tech field.

Wonder what China’s highest American import was?

It was computer chips!

Mayberry was well aware that the White House was beyond a turning point.

It didn’t matter if they were behind in controllable fusion technology or that they were losing the aerospace race. The semiconductor industry was the upstream chain of the entire high-tech industry. If they lost their dominant position in semiconductors as well, the impact would be unthinkable.

What would happen was that the United States would be completely pushed out of the high-tech field, and the chain reaction caused by this would cause unbearable damage.

In fact, the Nasdaq was already down.

After all, in a capitalistic society, only the fittest could survive. The stock price of a company was an indicator of the future economic outlook.

Therefore, neither the White House nor the industry giants would allow something like this to happen.

The assistant didn’t know why Mayberry was so optimistic. He hesitated for a second before he asking, “But the product launch conference by Huawei’s HiSilicon is still going to be held as scheduled. Why does it matter that we took down their paper on IEEE?”

“Trust, confidence, belief, what do those words mean?” Mayberry patiently said, “When a lone lion tries to enter the area of a group of lions, what do you think happens? If the lone lion retracts its claws and acts docile, maybe it can eat some leftover meat. But the Chinese didn’t do that, they came roaring at us.”

Mayberry smiled and twisted the pen in his hand.

“I admit, their research is strong, and it is also very attractive to our partners in the downstream industrial chain. I bet CEO Swan would do anything it takes for them to share their patent and technologies with us.

“However, sometimes technology isn’t the only thing that determines the market competitiveness of a product. There is also compatibility, customer relations, industry influence, and a whole lot of other factors!”

I guess Mayberry is right, but is HiSilicon really just a lone lion?

One lion couldn’t change anything. Even though it was at the top of the food chain, it was unable to compete with all of its peers. If the lion was unable to integrate into a community, it would soon starve to death.

However…

What if HiSilicon isn’t a lion, what if they’re the hunters with guns?

The assistant still had a confused look on his face. However, it was clear that Mayberry didn’t want to discuss this with him any longer. Mayberry handed a signed document to the assistant.

“Mr. Swan will handle these things. We just have to focus on the technology side. Do something for me, take this to the research and development center and hand it over to the person in charge.”

“Carbon-based… integrated circuit project?”

Mayberry looked at the baffled assistant and said, “Since they have proved this technology is possible, I believe we can do it.”

After the assistant left, Mayberry leaned in his chair and stretched his back. He picked up his coffee mug and took a sip.

His lunch break was in ten minutes.

He decided to take a short break.

Thus, he turned on his computer while he continued to drink his coffee.

He opened his browser and logged onto his Facebook account. A notification caught his eye.

His pupils contracted.

When he read the news, he nearly spat his coffee on the screen.

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study founded a journal called “Future”!

The editor-in-chief is…

Lu Zhou!

Chapter 1052: Future!

Chapter 1052 Future!

Haizhou.

The third nuclear industry summit was held as scheduled.

As the most well-known industry conference in China, many veterans of controllable fusion were at this conference. This included retired industry leaders such as Academician Pan and Academician Zhou, as well as Wang Zengguang and Li Jiangang.

These people fought like hell trying to ignite the experimental reactor. After the fusion ignition was successful, they went their own ways.

Having everyone gathered here at this conference was worthy of a celebration.

The dinner table was quite lively.

Professor Sheng Xianfu downed a couple of shots and began to feel a little tipsy. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he spoke.

“I feel like something is missing.”

Professor Li Changxia, who was sitting next to him, smiled and spoke.

“Probably because Academician Lu is not here.”

Even though the nuclear industry conference had invited Lu Zhou every year, Lu Zhou had yet to attend a single conference. The third nuclear industry conference was held in Haizhou. Even the retired Pan Changhong came to join the show. However, Lu Zhou’s absence made these old friends feel a bit lonely.

Academician Wang Zengguang overheard their conversation. He smiled and spoke, “I saw him when I was in Russia.”

Sheng Xianfu immediately said, “Oh, really? How is he?”

“He’s fantastic! Never been better!” Academician Wang smiled and said, “Academician Lu is busy with his own things. He’s at the prime scientific research age, and he doesn’t have time to hang with us old folks.”

Academician Li Jiangang, who had not spoken yet, suddenly said, “Speaking of Academician Lu, did you guys hear he recently started a journal? It’s called Future.”

Obviously, Wang Zengguang had also heard about this. He smiled and said, “Yeah, I heard. I told him a long time ago to start a journal, but the kid doesn’t listen. How can a research institute the size of his not have a journal? Now that he was stabbed in the back, he finally took the initiative.”

Sheng Xianfu: “Stabbed in the back?”

Academician Wang: “Yeah, his paper on IEEE was withdrawn.”

Li Jiangang said in shock, “Withdrawn? I didn’t know this.”

Sheng Xianfu also said in disbelief, “Academician Lu’s paper was withdrawn? What paper… No, what journal dares to do this?”

“It’s the IEEE, I think they’re in the integrated circuit field. That area is not my specialty, so I don’t know a lot about it. I think he was the corresponding author, but it’s not a big deal. Looks like this was unacceptable to him. But this is good, he needs some motivation to do things outside of scientific research.”

Wang Zengguang was actually quite happy that the Future journal was created because of this. He almost wanted to thank IEEE for withdrawing the paper.

After Academician Li Jiangang heard Wang Zengguang’s words, he sighed and said, “Even Academician Lu’s paper was withdrawn, what is IEEE doing?”

He suddenly spoke.

“But speaking of Academician Lu’s new journal, should we support him?”

“Of course, I already did so,” Wang Zengguang said with a red flush on his face. “All of the research units at the China National Nuclear Corporation will give promotions based on Future papers written by the employees! Papers that are accepted will be used as standard references!”

Even though Wang Zengguang spoke in an exaggerated tone, he didn’t look like he was kidding.

Everyone at the table, including Academician Li Jiangang, looked astonished.

This was the China National Nuclear Corporation!

The top dogs of the Chinese nuclear power field!

The East Asia Energy sold electricity, while they were the ones that built the nuclear power facilities. Combined together, these two companies had total control of the nuclear power industry.

Having a nuclear power giant like this giving promotion to a new journal was…

However, even though the scholars were surprised, they didn’t feel like there was anything unjust.

After all, the founder of the journal was the father of controllable fusion. Even though Lu Zhou had been working in other fields over the past few years, no one doubted his authority in the nuclear field.

This included Wang Zengguang and Academician Li Jiangang, who were both industry leaders.

After all, without Lu Zhou, they would have had to wait another 50 years for fusion energy…

“Academician Lu’s academic reputation and ability are trustworthy. If even he can’t be trusted, then no one can,” Li Jiangang said as he downed a shot. He continued, “I’ve made up my mind. From now on, the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory will also include Future papers as a job promotion metric!”

If the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory, China National Nuclear Corporation, and the East Asia Energy all contributed to the Future journal, then it would easily become the top journal in the nuclear industry…

…

Lu Zhou, who was all the way in Jinling, didn’t know about the “favors” his old friends were doing for him.

In fact, it wasn’t only in the nuclear fusion field. As soon as the news of the Future journal was released, the entire academic community was excitedly talking about this matter.

Future.

The name was inspiring. It reminded people of two other top journals in academia—Science and Nature.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t publicly announce what kind of journal Future would be, everyone already began speculating.

For many years, foreign journals had become a standard in the Chinese academia and industry world, whether it was for job performance evaluations or the authority of one’s PhD thesis submission.

Not only because the west had control over the academic world, but also because most of the research institutes around the world, regardless of whether they were in America, were more or less working for the Americans.

Even though the United States wasn’t strong in some areas, because it was the central country for academia, a scholar would more or less consider choosing critical problems as their research project.

What were the critical problems?

Problems that were asked by the majority.

Those that had control over scholar resources had the right to decide which scholars were good researchers and which scholars were worthy of being promoted in their academic careers.

The Chinese journals were filled with substandard and fraudulent papers that simply couldn’t be trusted. Even though it was a disadvantage to allow a foreign journal to determine the value of a research, they had no other option.

In the eyes of Chinese mathematicians, Lu Zhou’s Future journal was undoubtedly a challenge to penetrate the global academic community.

If he succeeded…

Then Future would exist next to the likes of Science and Nature…

It might be difficult to totally disrupt the academic dominance of the west, but it would certainly have an impact on the Chinese academic community…

…

Actually, Lu Zhou had wanted to establish his own journal a long time ago.

The reason he hadn’t done so until now was that he was always too busy.

In his mind, as a scholar, his job was to conduct research. Not to mention he didn’t really like to put too much on his plate. Just like Beep Beep Charging, he liked to have other people manage his business for him.

But now IEEE withdrew his paper!

Even though Lu Zhou acted nonchalantly on the outside, he was quite pissed off on the inside.

Future editorial department.

The third construction phase of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had been completed. After Lu Zhou took a glance at the layout map of the institute, he drew a circle on the map, designating a three-story building originally intended to be used as a book cafe, to be used as the new editorial department office.

In fact, the building was a bit too big to only be used as the Future editorial office. After all, the design of the building was able to accommodate 4 million books and papers.

After Lu Zhou referred to the opinions of his staff members, he decided that the first floor would continue to serve as a book cafe.

Researchers in the institute could come here for coffee and interact with people from different research fields.

That alone would boost the academic atmosphere of the institute.

Many great inspirations often came unexpectedly.

Lu Zhou was well aware of this.

After the location was determined, a signboard of the editorial department was put up.

“Future” and its special logo was printed on the signboard.

The large font looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

After all, the technologies invented at this institute did seem like science fiction.

The editorial department of Future was just as strong as the institute. Whether it was the editor-in-chief or just a normal staff editor, they were all big names in the industry.

It was worth mentioning that most of these people were poached by Chen Yushan from other journals. Most of the people didn’t come here for the salary. Instead, they came for the reputation of Lu Zhou and the Institute for Advanced Study.

For example, the new editor-in-chief standing in front of Lu Zhou.

His name was Yao Gong, and he used to serve as an editor at Nature. He returned to teach at a university in Beijing due to the Thousand Talents Plan. After he heard that Professor Lu was starting his own journal, he quit his job and came here.

“… So far, the journals we have registered are Future, Future Materials, Future Physics, Future Mathematics, Future Nanotechnology, Future Information Technology, and 15 other sub-journals. We expect this number to be increased to 27 within two years. After that, we will continue to expand accordingly.”

Yao Gong paused for a second, then continued to speak to Lu Zhou.

“That’s basically what we’re working on. I have a small request regarding our journal. I don’t know if you’ll grant me this request.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“Don’t worry, just tell me, I’ll try my best.”

“Here’s the thing, since our journal only recently launched, I’m afraid it is difficult to receive high-quality submissions. I was wondering if you could submit any papers to us.”

After Lu Zhou heard his request, he pondered for a second and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll send you a paper.”

The editor-in-chief paused for a second.

“You’ve… already written it?”

“Not yet…” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “But it’s nothing difficult, it shouldn’t take long.”

Chief Editor Yao smiled and coughed.

“Um… Academician Lu, I didn’t mean for you to write any paper, maybe something with more academic value is best. Besides, isn’t it poor academia to only publish for the sake of publishing?”

Lu Zhou smiled and waved his hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of person.”

Chief Editor Yao paused for a second. He believed in Lu Zhou, but he still asked, “Um… Can I ask what you plan on submitting?”

Lu Zhou: “How does the proof of Riemann’s hypothesis sound?”

Chief Editor Yao: “…???”

Chapter 1053: Unprecedented

Chapter 1053 Unprecedented

Chief Editor Yao would have never expected Lu Zhou to submit such a major mathematical problem to a newly-established journal.

Even though at Lu Zhou’s level, the reputation of the journal didn’t matter anymore, this was still…

“… Um, I think you should think carefully for a submission like Riemann’s hypothesis. I think submitting it here…”

Lu Zhou looked at Chief Editor Yao and smiled.

“You think submitting Riemann’s hypothesis to Future is a bit unconventional?”

Chief Editor Yao didn’t say anything, but his expression was obvious.

“At the International Congress of Mathematicians, Professor Holden privately told me that he wanted me to submit the paper to Inventiones Mathematicae.

“A trivial research result wouldn’t flourish just because it is in Nature or Science, while a non-trivial research result would flourish even if it was published on arXiv.

“Remember, the reputation and honor of a journal or an award come from the contributors and researchers, not the other way around.

“You got this,” Lu Zhou said as he patted Chief Editor Yao on the back. He smiled and said, “If you think only top journals like Nature and Science are worthy of Riemann’s hypothesis, then let’s make Future worthy as well!”

…

Many major events happened in academia recently.

First, Academician Lu’s paper was withdrawn by IEEE, and the legitimacy of the carbon-based and the authority of IEEE were both questioned. Then, many academic scholars gossiped about the creation of the Future journal.

With the arrival of the end of the month, the first issue of Future finally appeared in people’s hands.

The second this first issue came out, people were stunned.

There was only one reason.

The first issue of this journal was a 30-page long special issue?!

And the publication was on the proof of Riemann’s hypothesis.

Even Science, which was funded by Edison, had never received such an honor during its first few issues. For a journal to publish a world-class mathematics problem as its first issue, this was unprecedented.

The aura of Lu Zhou himself, combined with the reputation of Riemann’s hypothesis that was the crown jewel of mathematics, shocked everyone in the mathematics community, including the likes of Faltings.

Lu Zhou didn’t publish his research on Inventiones Mathematicae like Holden had suggested. However, he never promised Holden anything since he said he would only consider it.

In addition to the thirty-page proof of Riemann’s hypothesis, the carbon-based chip technology was also published in one of Future’s sub-journals.

Many people found out that this was the same paper that was withdrawn by IEEE.

In fact, it was a word for word copy.

This might as well be a public insult to IEEE.

Things suddenly became interesting.

A cafeteria in a Chinese university.

Two noob researchers were eating noodles together, talking loudly to one another.

“Haha, Professor Lu is nutty! This is the first time I’ve seen someone create their own journal after being withdrawn.”

“My supervisor has been keeping up with this, even he was stunned.”

“Do you think people will submit to Future?”

“Do you really think this is a problem for Academician Lu, with his influence in the academic community? I don’t think the problem is having enough people submit to Future. The problem is passing its review process.”

“You’re right…”

After all, this is Professor Lu.

Forget about his influence outside of academia, his control over the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study alone was enough to make him the most authoritative figure in the Chinese academic community.

This noob researcher was in the field of materials science, and he remembered his supervisor talking about how the materials science researchers at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study were miles ahead of everyone else.

No university or research institute had ever been able to attract so many foreign Chinese scholars to return to China. No research institute had ever had more research funding. Apparently, Lu Zhou invested almost half of Star Sky Technology’s annual profits into the institute.

It was like the papers and research that came out of the institute were from another planet…

While the academic community was talking about the newly established Future journal, as well as the feud between Academician Lu and the IEEE, a CTO was boiling with rage.

In fact, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, and even Samsung formed an alliance to counter this crisis. Mayberry proposed for IEEE to withdraw the paper, claiming that it could exclude the technology from the semiconductor industry. Mayberry already considered various scenarios that would arise from his plan.

He thought of what would happen if Lu Zhou posted his paper on arXiv instead, or posted it on Science, Nature, or another Chinese journal. He didn’t expect this guy to actually start his own journal.

This was almost like the referee began playing on the court himself!

Actually, it was worse than that!

It was almost like the player was upset by a yellow card, so the player decided to become a referee himself!

Not to mention that this journal began to receive some traction, and many people thought it would be on par with the likes of Science and Nature.

Mayberry didn’t know what to do.

What could he do?

It wasn’t like he could lobby the legislators to ban the journal in the United States, right?

Theoretically, he could do this. After all, the influence of the semiconductor industry was quite powerful.

However…

What would that accomplish?

Other than making others think he was a fool.

Not to mention the whole “academic freedom” thing.

He heard a knock outside his door, followed by his assistant walking in.

“Sir.”

“What?!”

The assistant gulped at Mayberry and spoke.

“HiSilicon sent us an invitation letter… to the product launch of the Dragon One chip.”

Mayberry’s eyelids began to twitch, and he quickly asked, “Where?”

“Shanghai.”

Mayberry asked, “They only invited me?”

The assistant said, “No, and Mr. Swan… If you don’t want to go, I can—”

“No, who said I’m not going!” Mayberry clenched his teeth and said, “Buy me a ticket right now!”

Chapter 1054: Product Launch

Chapter 1054 Product Launch

New York, John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Two low-key men were sitting in a corner of the waiting terminal, and they each had a suitcase next to them.

If anyone in the physics world walked past here, they would instantly recognize these two and ask for their signatures.

Unfortunately, the probability of someone recognizing them was less than one in a thousand.

Even though the ILHCRC headquarters in Shanghai would hold their first High Energy Physics Research Summit in a few days, that probability wouldn’t increase by much.

But then again, thanks to this waiting terminal, in which he was just another citizen, Witten could finally enjoy a moment of silence. He could quietly think about problems without worrying about being interrupted.

Sitting next to Witten was Frank Wilczek, who was also going to the conference in Shanghai. Wilczek glanced at the journal in Witten’s hand and squinted.

[3.7Ghz Integrated Circuit Based on Carbon Nanotube Film]

What the hell?

“When did you become interested in integrated circuits?”

Even though Wilczek didn’t want to interrupt Witten, he still couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“I don’t really understand it, but it looks interesting.”

Witten flipped through the journal and said, “A new chip based on graphene material is expected to redefine semiconductors and revolutionize the electronics industry… Sigh, no wonder IEEE withdrew this paper.”

Even though he was a physicist, that didn’t mean he was clueless about other fields.

In fact, he had been to many countries and talked with many people, so he had a much wider range of knowledge than most people.

Even though IEEE was a non-profit professionals society, mainly composed of engineers in the field of electrical and computer engineering, that didn’t mean they were exempt from the influence of the industry or even politics.

When it came to integrated circuits, in which its research value could only be reflected in the market, the boundary between industry and academia became muddy.

Not to mention that this organization was based in America.

There was no doubt that the carbon-based chips had shaken North America… possibly even disrupting the global semiconductor industry. Giants such as Intel, which had a strong position in the semiconductor industry, wouldn’t allow such things to happen.

In fact, if the technology was made by Intel or AMD, there wouldn’t have been as strong of a resistance against the technology.

But this technology was created by a company in the middle of the industrial chain, by a foreign company…

Not to mention, this company was based in China.

Even if the company was based in an ally of the United States, the White House wouldn’t be so kind.

The withdrawal from IEEE was only the first step. The goal was to control its academic freedom. Witten could already imagine what would happen next.

Once the battle began, semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD would form an alliance. They would use their impact in the industry to put pressure on the industrial chain, hoping to exclude this technology… Until they finished researching the technology themselves.

However, this time, the IEEE attack obviously failed.

The people that withdrew Professor Lu’s paper would have never imagined Professor Lu to create his own journal and submit his paper again, word for word.

The entire academic community was stunned by his actions.

However, Witten wasn’t surprised.

After all, Professor Lu was the one person that could stand up to Faltings.

Even Witten himself wouldn’t have the courage and energy to argue with the stubborn German.

Professor Wilczek had a thoughtful look on his face, and he suddenly asked, “Do you think this is a good thing?”

Witten knew what he was asking, so he smiled and replied, “In the long term, it is.”

“You think so?” Wilczek said, “We have regulated academia over the past century, but now, they’re changing the rules. At least the academic language is unified, so people don’t have to learn Chinese just to read a paper anymore.”

Even though Future was bilingual, for people in foreign academia, their only choice was to learn another language.

After all, academic works were different from literary works.

The translated version of the latter would never read better than the original.

But for the former, for those that sought the truth, whether it was translated by a layman or an expert, it was nearly impossible to fully reflect the academic viewpoints of the original author.

Moreover, once the influence of Future reached the likes of Science and Nature, it would further increase the language exclusivity problem.

This was what worried Wilczek.

In fact, he wasn’t the only one thinking about this.

People in the physics world began to worry about this ever since the establishment of the ILHCRC.

Witten looked at his old friend and smiled carelessly.

He turned the page in his Future issue and spoke.

“Language has never been an obstacle to academic prosperity. In fact, the most prosperous period of European academia was the time when Europe was the most divided… It was also the most brilliant time of culture and science.

“What’s wrong with learning another language? I learned French in a month when I was at CERN. Even though I’m not young anymore, it shouldn’t take me too long to learn another language… I encourage you to try to learn a little Chinese. The papers from the Moon Palace are all published in Chinese. The ILHCRC is becoming more and more influential in the international physics community. Not to mention the lunar surface hadron collider is about to be completed. We might have to travel to Shanghai more than Switzerland and France combined.”

Wilczek shook his head and said, “I tried learning Chinese… Those characters are too difficult.”

“What’s difficult isn’t the language itself, it’s your subconscious prejudice and resistance to new information,” Witten casually said. “A lot of the time, this prejudice prevents us from seeking the truth. Just like a few centuries ago, we ignorantly believed that the world was flat, that the sun rotated around us.

“I remember what my father once told me. He said that science is an idea, it is also a tool.

“The Chinese are obviously a part of academia, and they can’t be ignored. The arrogance in our hearts has allowed us to become ignorant. Arrogance breeds many problems and logical fallacies. The problems we are facing are a manifestation of these fallacies…”

Witten closed the journal in his hand and looked at Professor Wilczek. He smiled and spoke.

“Okay, it’s almost time to board the plane.”

…

The ILHCRC wasn’t the only one hosting a conference in Shanghai.

While Witten and his friend boarded the flight to Shanghai, two senior officials from Intel, Mayberry and Swan, landed at Shanghai International Airport.

Jet lagged, Mayberry passed through customs and yawned as he walked through the airport.

Swan was walking next to him. He frowned and asked, “The product launch is happening in one hour… Are you sure you’re fine?”

“I’m fine, I’m just a little… jet-lagged.” Mayberry shook his groggy head and massaged his temple as he said, “Actually, I think me alone is enough. Obviously, they’re trying to attract our attention. We can just ignore them and follow our plan.”

“That’s correct in theory.” Swan looked in front of him and said, “But the only way to defeat an opponent is to learn about the opponent. Since they are arrogant enough to give us this opportunity, we should take it.

“It doesn’t matter what product they plan on launching at the conference, we have to find out where they are with the carbon-based chip research.”

Chapter 1055: Chapter the Rules of the Game!

Chapter 1055 Changing the Rules of the Game!

Backstage.

Wang Zhengfei looked at the busy staff members and suddenly smiled.

“I heard that you created a journal recently?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

“It’s called Future, right? What a great name!” Wang Zhengfei smiled and said, “I told the engineers from our research and development department that anyone that can publish a paper in Future will win a 500,000 yuan reward!”

Wang Zhengfei paused for a second and said, “That means you have to tighten the review process. Otherwise, when our company runs out of money, I’ll have to ask you.”

“Don’t worry…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Only outstanding research results are eligible to be published in the main journal. For example, Professor Wu Tianqun’s paper on carbon-based chips. If it’s just an ordinary integrated circuit paper… I think it’s better to submit it to other electronics journals.”

Wang Zhengfei shook his head and said, “That… is a bit ridiculous. His paper totally disrupted the industry. Papers like that only come once a decade.”

Lu Zhou: “It just has to be outstanding; it doesn’t have to disrupt the industry. Besides, we accept papers from many different disciplines, so there is bound to be several outstanding research results.”

Just the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study alone had many projects Lu Zhou thought were worthy of publication.

In the past, these papers would have been submitted to Nature or Science, but now, Future was obviously a higher priority.

As for submissions from external sources, Lu Zhou didn’t really care.

After all, the intention of this journal was to publish research from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Time quickly passed by, and the report was about to happen.

Wang Zhengfei looked at the clock and spoke.

“Our product launch is going to start in 15 minutes. This is a good opportunity for publicity. Are you sure you don’t want to say a few words?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“Not interested.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and spoke.

“I forgot, scholars like you don’t really need publicity anymore.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “It’s actually quite annoying. I don’t really like to make public appearances. I would rather those people put their attention on the problems I solved.”

“That might be a little difficult since the problems you solved aren’t exactly trivial.” Wang Zhengfei stood up from his chair and said, “Okay then, we’ll just stand aside and listen.”

Lu Zhou stood up and asked, “Aren’t you going to talk on stage?”

“I’m not good at public speaking,” Wang Zhengfei said. “We have a dedicated product strategy officer. Not to mention, nobody likes an old man, so stuff like this should be left to the young people.”

Lu Zhou awkwardly chuckled.

Even though Lu Zhou thought of himself as handsome, he still wanted people to pay attention to what was on the inside.

While the two were speaking, a man in a suit walked in.

Wang Zhengfei glanced at the young man walking in. He then looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Hey, allow me to introduce you to our chief product strategy officer, Shao Yi.”

“Academician Lu, nice to meet you!” the young man in his thirties said. He continued with a sincere smile on his face, “You can call me Xiao Shao or Xiao Yi.”

Lu Zhou shook his hand and said, “How does Brother Shao sound?”

“Oh, Academician Lu, you’re too kind,” Wang Zhengfei said as he patted Shao Yi on the shoulder. He gave an encouraging look as he said, “Are you ready?”

The young man stood up straight and spoke.

“I’m ready!”

“Nice energy!” Wang Zhengfei nodded and said, “Go break a leg.”

…

The product launch was held in the International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Swan looked at the crowded exhibition center, as well as the new “meta100” series of phones displayed on a gigantic screen.

Mayberry frowned and whispered, “Is this a product launch or an exhibition?”

“I don’t know…”

For some reason, when Swan looked at the concept model displayed on the screen, he had a bad feeling in his heart.

He wasn’t sure where this feeling came from.

Maybe because I’m jet-lagged.

He shook his head and left the strange thought behind.

With a confident smile on his face, he politely presented his invitation letter to the staff member.

In any case, they were on their enemy’s territory. Even though they knew Huawei wanted to use this conference as a way to intimidate them, they still had to show basic courtesy.

After the staff member looked at the invitation letter, he brought the two executives to a special passage, directly entering the main area of the exhibition center.

“The press conference is in hall 1, it is about to begin. You have VIP seats. You’ll see your seats when you walk in.”

“Okay.” Mayberry nodded toward the staff member and walked toward hall 1.

Because there was traffic on the way here, when the two arrived at the hall, the conference had already begun.

However, it didn’t seem like they were late by too much.

An energetic young man stood on stage; he was probably the product manager.

Just like Swan had expected, Huawei presented the carbon-based chip at this press conference, attracting the attention of the media and attendees.

Even though he was surprised, he had already seen this at the IEEE conference, hence he wasn’t as shocked as before.

He was almost a little bored.

He didn’t come here all the way with his CTO to watch Huawei brag about themselves, nor did he come here to watch the public freak out for no reason.

He couldn’t help but yawn and wonder if this trip was worth it. However, the slide on the screen suddenly changed, attracting his attention.

On the other hand, the young man on stage was talking about the boring performance specifications of the Dragon One. However, something about his presentation suddenly changed.

“In fact, most people think our chip is going to be very expensive, not affordable to most, and with limited applications.

“I admit that the cost of carbon-based chips is a bit higher than silicon-based chips. That is because of the price of the material itself, and because of industrialization.

“These problems are inevitable for an industry like us. Just like how when the computer was first invented, it was too expensive for individual users.

“But I believe that these problems will be solved by economies of scale.”

Shao Yi looked back at the big screen and changed the slides.

A black phone appeared in front of everyone’s eyes.

“Mete100.”

There was a commotion in the audience.

Shao Yi continued, “I believe you all have already seen this in the main exhibition center.”

“This time, our breakthrough isn’t in the camera or the design, but the chip itself.

“Compared with the metaseries of phones, the mete100 is using the new Dragon One chips. With a 1mm decrease in thickness and a 13% decrease in weight…

“And all this is done without sacrificing the performance of the mobile phone… In fact, the performance has improved!”

Everyone in the audience, including Swan and Mayberry, looked shocked.

Reduced the thickness by 1mm!

Without sacrificing performance?!

Mayberry said in disbelief, “How is this possible!”

Mayberry suddenly thought of something and muttered, “No, impossible…”

Is this because of the heat dissipation properties of carbon-based chips?!

Or the 20W power consumption?!

Heat dissipation was a problem in any microelectronic device. Generally speaking, manufacturers’ solutions to the heat dissipation problem of mobile phones was to install a graphite heat conduction sheet under the processor or add a layer of heat dissipation gel. In more power-intensive phones, heat dissipation pipes would be added.

However, these solutions weren’t needed for carbon-based chips.

The low power consumption characteristics of the carbon-based chip, combined with its physical properties, meant that it did not require additional materials for heat dissipation.

Shao Yi smiled and spoke.

“We have to thank the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, as well as the Microelectronics Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Like I said at the beginning, carbon-based chips will revolutionize the electronics industry!

“Because of the excellent physical properties of carbon materials, our engineers don’t have to make trade-offs between performance and heat dissipation.

“By combining the mete100 with our Dragon series of chips, we have created a unique phone the world has never seen before!”

The young chief product strategy officer smiled, taking in the energetic atmosphere.

“On behalf of Huawei, I’d like to make some announcements!

“Within three years, our Dragon series of chips will be used in all ranges of Huawei mobile phones, for a complete refresh of our chip technology!

“Not just phones, all routers will also be updated with new chips!”

The slides on the projector screen began to change.

The slides began to show concepts of the mete100, tablets, wearable smart devices, and even lighting, security, cleaning, and other IoT devices.

With the support of 5G technology, all smart devices would be connected to the Internet.

The emergence of carbon-based chips meant unlimited imagination.

Swan shrank into his chair as he watched the slides on the screen.

He was horrified.

He finally knew why Huawei was so fearless.

Their real trump card wasn’t the carbon-based chips at all!

It was to implement carbon-based chips into the entire industry chain, from phones to computers!

His fingers began to tremble.

He suddenly had a terrifying thought in his mind.

Whether it was Intel, Qualcomm, or AMD, the reason why these traditional semiconductor giants could override antitrust laws by forming an alliance was that the entire industry was built around them.

Regardless of the upstream and downstream industry chain, as long as the industry they spent decades building still existed, they could sit back and relax at the top of the pyramid, smiling at their profits.

But now, Huawei was challenging their position at the top of the pyramid…

Huawei wasn’t a lion, nor were they an armed hunter…

From the beginning, they had no plans to fight against the silicon giants.

Their real motive was to change the rules of the game…

Chapter 1056: Live Demo

Chapter 1056 Live Demo

There was a huge sensation at the Huawei Dragon series chip presentation.

Taking advantage of the atmosphere, in front of all of the audiences, media, and other participants, Huawei’s chief product strategy officer announced that there was going to be a live demonstration.

The staff members brought two mobile phones on stage and placed them on the stage table.

One of them was the mete100 concept phone with a 28nm processor Dragon One chip, and the other was the mete30 with the 16nm FinFET processor Kirin950 chip.

With the help of the two staff members, the two mobile phones began a game demo.

The mobile screens were soon displayed on the projector screen.

Through the big picture on the projector screen, the audience could clearly see the silicon CPU processing power reaching its limit. The image on the silicon chip mobile phone began to look laggy as the chip temperature continued to increase.

On the other side, the mete100 with the carbon-based chip was cool as a cucumber. Not only did the game graphics continue to improve, but the frame rate was steadily maintained at 60fps. The audience was dumbfounded.

Moreover, from the temperature graphs, although the surface temperature of the mete100 had increased, the temperature of the CPU was still within normal operating temperatures.

There was no doubt that the carbon-based was superior.

This was no longer specifications on paper, the phones were right in front of them.

Even though Mayberry was in disbelief, the facts were sitting right in front of him. Mayberry finally realized the severity of the situation.

In fact, in his mind, they had already lost.

Sitting next to him, Intel’s CEO Swan was also shocked.

However, unlike Mayberry, he took a deep breath and was able to stay calm.

He stared at the stage and suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which…”

Mayberry heard Swan and spoke with a trembling voice, “Yeah, what?”

“Have you noticed that…” Swan looked around the venue and paused for a second. “There’s no one from Qualcomm here.”

Mayberry paused for a second and also looked around the venue.

He soon noticed the same.

“… Not just Qualcomm, AMD isn’t here either. Wait a second, other than their collaborators, there’s not a single other semiconductor company… We seem to be the only American semiconductor company that was invited.”

Swan suddenly was intrigued.

If this was only an intimidation tactic, there was no reason to only invite them.

If Intel was the one that made this technology, they wouldn’t hesitate to invite their “friends” such as AMD, Apple, and Samsung to the product launch.

Whether or not the other companies would attend the product launch, was up to them.

Therefore, Huawei didn’t invite Intel just to intimidate Intel.

At least, that wasn’t the main reason.

Therefore, there could only be one reason.

After ten minutes, the product launch had nearly come to an end. Swan took a deep breath and spoke.

“You should go back to the hotel.”

Mayberry looked at Swan and said, “What about you?”

Swan spoke.

“I’m going to talk to their boss.”

…

After the CPU performance demonstration, the stability of the chip was tested using the standard pi approximation method.

The two staff members began the Superπ software test on the two mobile phones at the same time. The main function of this software was to use floating-point arithmetic of the central processor to approximate the value of pi. This was widely used as a CPU Stability and computing ability test.

Just like everyone had expected, the powerful mete100 once again destroyed the control group of silicon-based chips.

While product launch was still going on, there was a commotion outside the conference venue.

Even though most of the visitors were unable to enter the conference, they were able to witness the mete100 phone through the large screen in the exhibition hall.

When they saw the two pictures side by side, one with low graphics and one with higher graphics, tourists couldn’t help but put on a surprised expression.

“This is… GTA?”

“Don’t think so… Think it’s just a demo software.”

“F*ck me! There’s no way the integrated GPU on that phone can handle that level of graphics? This must be a video, only PCs can handle that level of graphics.”

“You know how these concept phones are, they have to be lying!”

“Not necessarily, I heard they’re using the latest carbon-based chips. I heard it’s miles better than silicon chips, maybe this is possible.”

“I don’t believe it, Huawei is this nutty?”

“It seems like the chip was made by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study… I’ve read that paper, Lu Zhou is the corresponding author, he’s probably the one that led this project.”

“God Lu is behind this? Okay… Then I can believe it.”

Someone took out their phone and recorded the big screen, uploading it to the Internet.

Even through the recording, the difference between the graphics quality was clear as day.

As the news spread onto the Internet, discussions about the Dragon chip and the mete100 smartphones followed one after another, quickly picking up steam in major media platforms.

Chinese mobile phone forums also began discussing the mete100.

As far as the phone’s specifications went, the phone was a total monster.

Even though this was just a “concept”, it crushed the current mobile phones in every category.

People were surprised to find out that Huawei was now also a semiconductor company.

The hype on the unreleased mobile phone and carbon-based technology began to brew…

Chapter 1057: Poor IEEE

Chapter 1057 Poor IEEE

The consumers were obviously not the only ones stunned by this product launch.

The live footage had already been uploaded onto Huawei’s website and various media outlet platforms.

People were surprised to see that the carbon-based chips were actually real, and Professor Lu wasn’t just kidding with them. This reminded them of the IEEE paper that was withdrawn some time ago.

Obviously, the data in the paper wasn’t fraudulent.

Suddenly, IEEE was in an awkward position.

Falsely withdrawing a paper and claiming academic misconduct was a violation of academic freedom and a manifestation of academic deception.

If the withdrawal was unanimously agreed by the higher-ups at IEEE, the impact of the Huawei product launch would be a huge blow to the IEEE’s reputation in the electronics, computing, and electrical engineering field…

Many Chinese universities such as Yan University and Shuimu, as well as dozens of professors and scholars, had announced their withdrawal from the IEEE organization. They also publicly condemned this serious violation of academic freedom.

On the other hand, the Documentation and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences quickly responded by decreasing the journal rating of IEEE, citing reasons such as “academic corruption”.

Even though the IEEE quickly tried to clarify this matter, claiming that the “withdrawal was a ruling under US law” and it was “an individual decision performed by the director of the committee”. Moreover, they claimed they would seriously investigate this matter. However, the situation was beyond repair.

Papers that had been withdrawn could not be published again.

Even if they were willing to publish the paper, Lu Zhou wouldn’t allow them to…

…

In fact, IEEE was lucky compared to the people that orchestrated the withdrawal.

After all, even though the IEEE was facing a public reputation crisis, and their credibility and influence had diminished greatly, they were far from perishing.

However, the semiconductor industry alliances that instructed IEEE to withdraw the paper were hanging on by a thread.

Qualcomm Headquarters.

Chairman office.

After the group of executives watched the video of the product launch, they broke out in cold sweat. Even after a long discussion, they weren’t able to formulate any good ideas.

“… The only way is to lobby Congress and banning their patents in the name of national security, and ask our allies—”

When Jacobs heard his secretary’s proposal, steam came out of his head as he snarled.

“Are you crazy? Do you really think Congress is going to pass that? Not to mention we would be the ones hurt by that!”

The secretary spoke in a trembling voice.

“F*ck! What should we do now?”

Faced with the furious chairman, the office was silent.

Jacobs wasn’t the only one who wanted to know what was going on.

Everyone in Qualcomm wanted to know what they should do.

However, judging from the current situation, the situation they were in was unsolvable. Faced with the innovative technology of carbon-based chips, silicon chips were a sinking ship. The ecosystem they built around silicon-based chips was about to be destroyed.

In fact, it might be a good choice for them to research carbon-based chip technology instead.

However, that was far more difficult than it sounded.

According to the paper published by Professor Lu in “Future”, the carbon-based chip used a graphene “SG” series material, an improved version of the superconducting material used in controllable fusion magnet coils.

Forget about creating carbon-based chips, they hadn’t even been able to find an industrial synthesis method for the SG materials. The superconducting magnets at the fusion power station in California had to use Chinese imported SG materials.

Even though everyone at Qualcomm believed that they would eventually master carbon-based chip technology, no one knew how long it would take.

Suddenly, the silence in the office was broken.

Derek Wacker, the chief engineer who had been leaning against the table with his arms folded, suddenly said, “In fact, the carbon-based chip has a minimal impact on our business.”

Jacobs said, “I know that already.”

Everyone knew that the most profitable department of Qualcomm was their patent licensing businesses. Unlike Intel, Samsung, and TSMC, who produced and researched chips themselves, Qualcomm wouldn’t have to worry about their products being eliminated.

What did this mean for them then?

Their patents in the communications field might survive for a while, but what next?

After the chip technology upgrade, sooner or later, communication technology would keep up as well. When carbon chips had taken over the field, Qualcomm’s worst nightmares would come to life.

“You’ve misunderstood…” Wacker looked at Jacobs and said, “I mean, if carbon chips really are the future, why should we fight against it?”

“They need three years to let the Dragon chips infiltrate the downstream industrial chain, but that means we have three years to change and adapt.”

Jacobs’ eyebrows furrowed, as if he suddenly thought of something. He spoke in a deep and unsure voice.

“… So what you’re saying is?”

“Perhaps we can talk with the Chinese.”

Wacker paused for a second and said, “I’m not saying we should surrender. The market is huge, and Huawei can’t take over it all, even if they want to… China wouldn’t be able to support it. It will be a long-fought battle. Even if we lose in the end, they will not benefit hugely from this.”

Trading meant a win-win for both sides, and a tree couldn’t survive without its branches and leaves.

However, there was one thing Qualcomm didn’t think of.

Which was that the carbon chips were a core part of Huawei’s business model, as well as a core part of the whole ecosystem.

This was one of the reasons they did the product launch.

Even though Qualcomm didn’t want to admit this, their best option for survival was to give up and try to salvage their remaining chess pieces.

Even though it would cost them a lot, if they tried to hold on to this sinking ship, they would drown sooner or later.

Jacobs knew Wacker would say this. His eyes lit up as he spoke.

“… You want me to talk with Huawei in private? That means we’re betraying our industry allies.”

Seeing how Jacobs kicked the ball to himself, Wacker sighed and spoke.

“Come out, Jacobs, look what happened after the product launch. Do you think our allies really can fight back? Even Intel doesn’t stand a chance. Instead of perishing, it would be better to jump to the other side and survive.

“Also, I heard Swan was at the product launch! How come they’re the only ones invited? Or did you also receive an invitation, but decided not to go?”

The office went silent again.

Seeing how Jacobs didn’t answer, Wacker already knew the answer. He stood aside and waited quietly.

He knew that Jacobs was seeing his point of view.

However, making a decision like this was never easy.

After some silence, Jacobs nodded and spoke.

“… I understand.”

Wacker felt relieved, but when he left the door, he couldn’t help but sigh.

This was the collapse of their semiconductor industry alliance.

Their time was gone now.

This was a difficult decision, but Wacker didn’t want to see his life work go to waste.

They just had to survive.

Chapter 1058: Unlocking New Achievements

Chapter 1058 Unlocking New Achievements

[Congratulations, User, for unlocking the hidden achievement “Past The Times”.]

[Description: Even if old-fashioned people try to resist, when faced with new technologies, most people will eventually catch up with the times.]

[Achievement: One lucky draw, 100,000 engineering experience points, 5,000 general points.]

Lu Zhou was at the sensational product launch conference. He hesitated for a second when he saw the light blue dialog box suddenly pop up in his purview.

System rewards?

Without hesitating, he leaned back on his chair and whispered “system”. Soon after, his consciousness was transferred into the system space.

Honestly, these hidden achievements were confusing.

Lu Zhou still didn’t know what triggered the achievement.

Logically speaking, out of all of his scientific research, the carbon-based chip was definitely not the most impressive.

Not to mention that he only did theoretical work on the Mott insulator, as well as the SG-1 industrial synthesis method a long time ago.

However, for some reason, the hidden system achievement was triggered.

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea.

Maybe this is the system’s way of guiding me?

Just like how in Princeton, the system guided me to help Vera with the Collatz conjecture…

Of course, the other possibility was that he had completed a major scientific breakthrough that would have been a system mission otherwise.

All of this was just a hypothesis; there was no way for him to find out the answer.

Lu Zhou felt a headache.

Can’t this damn system just tell me what is going on?

Plus that Void Memory is screwing with my head…

Lu Zhou shook his head and pressed the lucky draw button. After he looked at the “30x Memory Tablet” pop-up, he closed the lucky draw panel.

The memory tablet was useless for him, it wasn’t even as useful as the energy medicine.

A hundred thousand engineering experience was quite satisfactory. Right now, he was at level six in engineering, where he needed six hundred thousand to level up. It was unrealistic to rely on hidden achievements to level up.

The only thing that surprised him was the 5,000 general points.

Adding onto his saved points, he had nearly 30,000 general points.

Lu Zhou was contemplating on how to use the points. He wouldn’t be able to level up his other disciplines until he solved the unified theory of algebra and geometry.

Therefore, it would be a good idea to spend the general points on technologies that were interesting, but he didn’t have time to research.

What should I spend it on?

Emm…

Lu Zhou wasn’t able to come up with an idea. In the end, he shook his head.

Screw it, I’ll just ask for Chen Yushan’s opinions.

After Lu Zhou left the system space, he opened his eyes and returned to the conference.

The product launch was already over. Lu Zhou looked at the crowd beginning to leave the venue. He nodded toward Wang Peng and started walking toward the exit.

While the crowd was leaving the venue, a female staff with short hair walked toward him with a polite smile on her face.

“Hello, Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou looked at her name card and didn’t recognize her.

Lu Zhou was wondering why she suddenly stopped him.

“Can I help you?”

The female staff: “Here’s the thing, I am the person in charge of the product launch organization committee. Because of some changes to the itinerary, CEO Wang has gone to a meeting. HE specifically asked me to accompany you—”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Oh, that’s fine, you don’t have to stay here, I can just go back to the hotel.”

“B-but…”

Lu Zhou looked at the lady and quickly realized something, so he smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, I just don’t like to bother others. CEO Wang knows of this, so I’m sure he understands.”

Ever since the news of the carbon-based chip was released, Huawei had been pushed to the peak of popularity.

Not only were the giant semiconductor companies paying close attention to this technology, but so were the downstream electronics manufacturers.

There were also negotiations happening at the state level.

CEO Wang was going to have a busy year.

Lu Zhou was the type of person that liked to be alone.

The female staff no longer insisted. She reluctantly nodded and spoke.

“Oh… Okay, if you need anything, please contact us.”

She bowed at Lu Zhou, who was speechless, then turned around and left the exhibition hall.

Lu Zhou looked at her walk away and shook his head.

“The Huawei employees are too nice.”

Wang Peng smiled and spoke.

“After all, you are their boss.”

“No. we’re partners. It’s not like I’m doing charity work, and they don’t owe me anything,” Lu Zhou said.

Wang Peng smiled and did not reply.

Some things didn’t need to be said.

A voice was heard from a distance.

“Wait a second, Academician Lu!”

Lu Zhou stopped his footsteps and looked back.

He saw a man in his late thirties, dressed in a suit with neatly combed hair, waving at him.

Wang Peng saw the unfamiliar face walking over from the distance. He placed his hands in his pocket and made eye contact with his colleague, who was standing in the crowd.

The man could feel himself being watched, so he slowed down his footsteps and walked over.

“What an honor to meet you.”

Lu Zhou looked at the man and said, “… And you are?”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.” The man took out a business card and said, “I’m Ye Nan, this is my business card.”

Lu Zhou briefly glanced at his business card.

Yifang Venture Capital?

Never heard of them before.

He had only heard of Yifeng Real Estate, a well-known company based in Shanghai.

The man named Ye Nan quickly spoke.

“We met at the high-tech innovation and investment summit, but you left in a hurry. It was quite unfortunate how—”

Lu Zhou coughed and interrupted him, “What do you want?”

Ye Nan smiled awkwardly and said, “Nothing in particular… I just want to talk with you.”

Lu Zhou looked like he wanted to refuse, so Ye Nan quickly added, “Just five minutes, won’t take up too much time.”

Lu Zhou was planning on politely rejecting him, but seeing how sincere he was, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay then.”

Ye Nan looked ecstatic as he spoke.

“There’s a nice cafe near here, not far from the convention center. I always grab a coffee every time I come here. Let’s go grab a coffee there, my treat.”

Wang Peng suddenly said, “What is the cafe called?”

Ye Nan said, “92 degrees… It’s only a hundred meters away from here.”

Wang Peng nodded and didn’t say anything.

Ye Nan was at a loss, so Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Hope you don’t mind, this is his job.”

Ye Nan: “…?”

Chapter 1059: Who Do You Think I Am?

Chapter 1059 Who Do You Think I Am?

The cafe name was called 92 degrees, and it was located on a street corner not far from the convention center.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic nearby and the decor of the cafe was quite elegant. The plants hanging from the ceiling were quite jungle-like.

“… The ground coffee is immersed in the water at a temperature of 91 to 94 degrees. This temperature allows for the most amount of flavor extraction. If the temperature is lower than this, the coffee becomes acidic and sour, if the water is near boiling, it tastes woody and burnt. This is the magic of third-wave specialty coffee.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t know what that means but okay.”

Ye Nan smiled and said, “No worries, I’ll show you the ropes. Can you tell me what coffee you usually drink?”

Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in talking about coffee, so he casually said, “Just instant, anything that has caffeine in it.”

“… Instant?” Ye Nan was stunned. He coughed and said, “Instant… has a unique coffee taste. Generally, people that like instant coffee prefer a darker roast…”

Lu Zhou looked at Ye Nan and smiled.

I have no idea what this guy is talking about.

Ye Nan reminded Lu Zhou of people who weren’t interested in academics, only interested in money.

“I just like to live a simple life, I don’t like to waste time on boring specifics…” Lu Zhou looked at the barista and politely said, “Can I get a mocha, please?”

“Yes, sir.”

The barista nodded and wrote down Lu Zhou’s order.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou’s phone began to ring.

“Let me take this.”

Ye Nan looked at Lu Zhou and quickly spoke.

“Sure, go ahead… Um, I’ll have a Japanese style iced coffee.”

“Yes, sir.”

The barista smiled and began walking toward the espresso machine.

After Ye Nan waited at the table with the cups of coffee for a few minutes, Lu Zhou came back from outside.

Ye Nan put on a warm smile and asked, “So, who was that?”

“People from the Academy of Engineering.”

Ye Nan said, “Is it urgent?”

Lu Zhou casually said, “Not really, it’s someone affiliated with the IEEE asking me for something, don’t know how they got my cell number.”

Ye Nan broke out in sweat.

That’s not urgent?

You might not think so, but I’m sure they’re going crazy.

However, because he was Chinese, he couldn’t sympathize with IEEE, a foreign organization.

At most, he was surprised.

He didn’t know Professor Lu, who was often referred to as easy-going, had a dark side.

Ye Nan knew this was someone he shouldn’t offend.

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and asked, “So, what are we here for?”

“Oh, right.”

Ye Nan realized he only had five minutes, so he immediately began speaking.

“… The Huawei product launch just now really inspired me. The strategy to take over the internet of things really resonated with me!”

Ye Nan took a sip of his coffee and spoke.

“I feel like I can already see in my mind where the next investment should be!”

Lu Zhou didn’t know why this was related, but he still asked out of politeness, “Where?”

“Computer networks! Whether it’s the Internet or the internet of things, the technology that connects all of us will be the future!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Is this guy…

Brain damaged?

It’s 2022, for god’s sake! Maybe this was relevant three decades ago.

The man thought Lu Zhou was touched, so he continued complacently, “Of course, I’m speaking in broad terms, but that’s the gist of it.

“I’ve been thinking about this for the last few days. I’ve gone to all kinds of cutting-edge research reports and commercial product launches, but I could never find any good ideas.

“That was until now, when the Huawei chief product strategy officer talked about breakthroughs in smart homes, smart wearables, and reality-enhancing technologies. I suddenly realized something.”

Seeing how Ye Nan paused again, Lu Zhou was a little annoyed, but he still asked, “What did you realize?”

“Have you seen a movie called ‘Ready Player One’?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Ye Nan spoke with excitement.

“It’s fine, I can explain the plot to you.”

Seeing how excited Ye Nan was, Lu Zhou had a headache, and he said, “Wait, no, just cut to the chase.”

Ye Nan said, “VR! This is what Huawei is missing! This is where I think investments should go!”

“Just because they didn’t announce anything doesn’t mean they ignored it. Maybe they didn’t think it was worthy enough to mention. Also, VR is something that has been around for years.”

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t in the VR field, he still knew a little about it. Back then, a “small company” made a VR device, then when it was time to go public…

Regardless, it was now 2022, VR was not a new concept.

Ye Nan anxiously said, “I’m not saying that kind of VR! The helmet design is trash! I’m talking about a true sense of virtual reality!

“The carbon-based chips significantly improve the processor’s performance, right? Can the carbon-based chips handle the kind of VR in Ready Player One?”

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and put down the cup. He said, “I roughly understand what you mean. You’re saying to directly connect the computer to the nerve and simulate electrical nerve signals to the brain… Is that correct?”

Ye Nan excitedly said, “Yes!”

Lu Zhou looked at how confident Ye Nan was and sighed. He then said, “I have to remind you that the carbon-based chip isn’t the solution to all electric technology problems. The virtual reality you talked about isn’t just a matter of computation power—”

Ye Nan immediately said, “I have money, I can invest! I can invest hundreds of millions of yuan! If we create this technology, we will become the richest people in the world! Amazon doesn’t stand a chance.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Who do you think I am?

Lu Zhou could tell that Ye Nan probably inherited most of his wealth from his parents, and he was the type of person to waste his parents’ money.

Not just that, but Ye Nan even set up a venture capital company to waste his parents’ money.

Maybe Ye Nan did have a good vision, but Lu Zhou felt like he had a few loose screws.

“There are some things money can’t solve.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“Also, do you really think I need your money?”

Ye Nan suddenly remembered about a rumor on East Asia Energy that circulated the investment field, and he scratched his head in embarrassment.

“Um… I guess not.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

The theory of diminishing returns not only applied to the field of economics, but also in the field of scientific research. For advanced scientific research, having too much money with nowhere to spend could often be frustrating.

However, the virtual reality technology equipment he mentioned intrigued Lu Zhou.

Of course, he was just interested in the technology itself, not the research behind it.

What if I can really transfer my consciousness into a computer…

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and finished his cup of coffee. He stood up and spoke.

“Five minutes is up.

“As for the things you talked about, I am interested, but unfortunately, I can’t help you.

“But if I have new ideas, I will call you.”

Ye Nan stood up and spoke.

“Please do.”

Lu Zhou nodded and bid farewell.

After he left the cafe, Wang Peng was already waiting for him in the parking lot.

Lu Zhou took out his phone as he walked toward his car.

“Xiao Ai, download Ready Player One for me.”

Soon after, a text bubble popped up.

[Okay, Master! φ(≧ω≦*)]

Chapter 1060: Our Dragon Chips

Chapter 1060 Our Dragon Chips

Today was the worst day in Swan’s Intel CEO position.

Actually it wasn’t just him, this was the worst day for Intel in the past century.

Back in the day, the VLSI Research Institute, jointly established by Japan’s top semiconductor companies, dominated the North American market with their cheap and reliable 64k chips. Pushing the price of chips from $26 to $5. Even back then, the Americans didn’t feel the despair they did now.

Back then, they still had the power to fight back.

And now, their proudest technology didn’t stand a chance against the carbon-based chips.

The greedy executives sitting around the conference table lost the color on their faces.

However, even though this was painful, when Swan walked out of the conference room, he felt like a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt totally relaxed.

At least this meant they wouldn’t have to apply for bankruptcy protection.

Mayberry saw Swan walk out of the conference room and immediately asked, “So, how did it go?”

Mayberry was in a difficult position.

After all, this would impact on whether or not he could remain as CTO.

There was no doubt he was an expert in the integrated circuit field since he became CTO by virtue of his own abilities.

However, silicon integrated circuits were facing elimination, and he was standing on thin ice…

“… I don’t want to talk about this.”

Swan looked at Mayberry blankly and spoke.

“I just want to go somewhere alone.

“Then maybe have a drink.”

As Mayberry looked at Swan walking down the corridor, he was a little stunned.

This was the first time he saw Mr. Swan, who always remained calm and collected, look so tired and defeated…

…

There was no point in forcing Intel to close their doors.

Aside from the political risks and the fact that it would make the free trade environment more difficult, it was not a good idea in terms of market development.

As long as there was a demand in the United States for integrated circuits, even if Intel falls, another semiconductor company would take its place.

Even though Huawei had won this battle, they knew that the American semiconductor industry still stood strong.

Rather than letting another company take Intel’s base, which would create new competition, it was in their interest to keep Intel around.

After all, if Intel really went bankrupt, if a company with hundreds of millions of capital, backed by MIT and Wall Street, took over Intel’s laboratories, the situation would become troublesome.

An old, disease-ridden elephant was far safer than a pack of young, hungry wolves. Having the elephant in the ecosystem could prevent new animals from intruding.

Of course, if the elephant couldn’t survive on its own, it would eventually be eaten by hungry wolves…

Riverside Hotel.

There was a banquet going on in this century-old five-star hotel.

Precisely speaking, a celebration party.

In order to celebrate the success of the product launch conference, Huawei booked out the entire hotel for three days. It seemed like they were planning on combining the banquet with their mid-year report meeting.

Wang Zhengfei and Lu Zhou were sitting at a table. With Asian flush appearing on his face, Wang Zhengfei spoke.

“You plan on going back to Jinling tomorrow?”

Lu Zhou said, “Probably the day after, there’s a meeting at ILHCRC tomorrow I should go to.”

Even though Luo Wenxuan was in charge of ILHCRC, Lu Zhou was still the chairman. Other participants would ask questions if he didn’t attend a high-level meeting like this.

When the ILHCRC was first established, there were some complaints about the chairman of the board being elected without a vote.

If China wasn’t the only country in the world to have the ability to construct a lunar collider, the other countries might have left ILHCRC by now.

“The Lunar Hadron Collider?”

“Yeah.”

Wang Zhengfei said, “You young people have so much energy, I can’t imagine how much work you have.”

Lu Zhou was the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, the chairman of the ILHCRC.

Not to mention his job at the Jin Ling University and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

If it was anyone else in Lu Zhou’s position, they wouldn’t even have time to eat.

“It’s actually not that bad, I don’t have to do much outside of research. I don’t feel tired when doing the things I love.” Lu Zhou drank some champagne and suddenly remembered something. He asked, “Speaking of which, have you talked to Intel?”

“I did,” Wang Zhengfei said. “After the product launch, their CEO came running toward me.”

Actually it wasn’t just the CEO, he had been contacted by five American semiconductor companies, including Qualcomm.

Obviously, this industry alliance wasn’t as “allied” as they claimed.

Lu Zhou said, “Can you tell me what you talked about?”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and raised three fingers.

“Two guarantees, one agreement.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows; he was intrigued.

After the carbon-based chips came out, the stepper machine, which was used to manufacture silicon-based chips, had become useless metal.

The cooperation between Intel and Huawei was presumably due to the fact that Intel still had cards up their sleeves.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in business, he was curious about what kind of cards Intel had.

“In exchange for what?”

“For the North American market!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

“Looks like we won big this time.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled and spoke.

“Won big? I’d say so!”

He raised his glass toward Lu Zhou.

“This is all thanks to your Dragon chips! Cheers!”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Cheers to our Dragon Chips.”

Chapter 1061: Biggest Fan

Chapter 1061 Biggest Fan

Jin Ling University.

The office at the end of the corridor, inside the mathematics building.

A petite girl with a ponytail was carrying a stack of textbooks. She struggled as she opened the door and walked into the office.

Han Mengqi walked to a desk with a stack of books and placed them next to a mountain of books.

She took two steps back and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Han Mengqi looked at the mountain of books and couldn’t help but feel proud of herself.

She had no idea she was this strong.

There was a knock at the door, followed by a student walking in.

“Um… where is Professor Lu?”

Han Mengqi was slightly shocked by the sudden entry.

This person was none other than the full marks IMO gold medalist that applied to Jin Ling University a while ago.

When the news first broke out, it caused quite a bit of discussion on the Jin University campus. The school newspaper even interviewed the student and asked him why he didn’t go to Shuimu or Yan University.

His answer was quite interesting.

The answer was—

Because Professor Lu is here!

Han Mengqi didn’t want this nobody to take Professor Lu away from her, so she spoke in a curt manner.

“Professor is not here, he’s in Shanghai.”

Li Mo said, “In Shanghai? For a business trip? When is he coming back?”

“Three days at the latest, two days at the earliest. This is what he told me. If you have any questions you can ask me, or you can email the professor, but he usually takes a long time to reply.”

Li Mo looked a little disappointed. He scratched his head and spoke.

“Thanks, um… I’ll send an email then.”

Han Mengqi nodded and didn’t say anything.

In fact, she wasn’t a fan of teaching things to other people.

Not to mention that this guy was too enthusiastic. For the first few days he came here, he kept calling Lu Zhou teacher and master. Then Lu Zhou reprimanded him a little, telling him to stop, but she still felt unsure about this guy.

After all, she was the first one to call Lu Zhou teacher.

She felt like her identity was being stolen by this little brat, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became!

Li Mo, on the other hand, only sighed, oblivious to Han Mengqi’s thoughts.

Since Professor Lu wasn’t in the office, there was no reason for him to stay here.

He was about to leave, but he suddenly noticed the mountain of books stacked on the table.

He curiously walked forward and read the titles.

He was stunned.

“Unity3D Platform AR and VR Development Quick Start, Neural Network Design (Second Edition), Adaptive Computing and Machine Learning, Bioinformatics… Mengqi, are you changing your major?”

Han Mengqi: “Those books aren’t mine.”

Li Mo said, “… Then whose?”

Han Mengqi: “The professor wanted them.”

Li Mo wasn’t shocked, but he was still a little surprised.

He picked up a book and flipped through it. Even though he understood every word, he didn’t know what the sentences meant. He put the book back into the pile and sighed.

“Our professor is an expert in so many fields… Physics, mathematics, aerospace, batteries, materials, and that carbon-based chip… Do you think there’s anything Professor Lu can’t do?”

Han Mengqi paused for a second and spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Some things, like computer science…”

Li Mo said, “But I heard that the university subject selection software and the timetabling app were designed by him.”

“Yeah, but his programming abilities are lacking compared to real computer scientists,” Han Mengqi said. “Oh yeah, he’s not that good at biology, right? There are lots of things he’s not good at. Speaking of which, how do you know so much about him?”

Li Mo smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.

“Haha, because he’s my idol.”

As one of Lu Zhou’s biggest fans, Li Mo couldn’t remember what he had for breakfast, but he could remember everything about Lu Zhou.

His classmates and roommates thought this was weird because they didn’t understand his passion for mathematics.

Li Mo looked at the stacks of books and spoke with emotion.

“But look at all these books… How long is this going to take him?”

“Don’t know…” Han Mengqi shook her head and said, “… This is probably his extracurricular reading for the year.”

While the two were talking, the office door suddenly opened. When the two saw the person appear at the door, they both looked surprised.

“Professor?”

“You’re already back?”

“Yeah, I got off the train an hour ago.” Lu Zhou looked at Han Mengqi and asked, “Where are the books?”

Han Mengqi smirked and pointed at the desk. “They’re all here, I borrowed all of the books on the list from the library.”

Lu Zhou looked at the mountain of books and paused for a second. He didn’t expect to see this many books.

When Lu Zhou thought about the fact that he had asked a female to help him carry these books, he looked a little guilty as he spoke.

“That’s more than I expected… Thank you.”

“Haha, no worries…”

Han Mengqi twirled her finger around her hair as she smiled.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but notice the similarity between her and Chen Yushan.

“I’ll return these books myself so that I can thank the librarian in person.”

Lu Zhou nodded toward Wang Peng, who started to load the books into a cardboard box he found in the office.

Li Mo was about to leave the office, but he remembered why he came here in the first place. He stepped forward and quickly spoke.

“Wait a second… Professor, I have a question I want to ask you.”

“Send it to my email.”

Wang Peng picked up the cardboard box as Lu Zhou said, “… But try to send it by tonight, I’m busy next week.”

…

This might not be his extracurricular reading for the entire year, but it was definitely quite a lot.

There were 37 textbooks, as well as 127 papers retrieved by Xiao Ai.

After screening through the papers, there were only 87 papers left, but it was still a huge amount of content.

In fact, this was not an easy task, even for Lu Zhou. Studying a new discipline was akin to building a tower; if the foundation was rusty, it was almost impossible to keep building higher.

However, Lu Zhou’s goal wasn’t to become a master of neural network algorithms and biological networks.

The system’s general points calculation had two inputs; one was his knowledge, while the other was his discipline level.

The two other key elements, practical experience and scientific intuition, played a role in actual research, but they weren’t included in the system calculations.

Therefore, he only had to put the knowledge in his head and have a rough understanding of how to use the knowledge.

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you need Xiao Ai to scan the textbooks?]

Lu Zhou flipped through a book and said, “No need, I like to feel the paper in my hands.”

Even though reading on the computer was more convenient, reading a physical book was easier on the eyes. Lu Zhou was an old-fashioned man.

Xiao Ai: [But reading electronic files is more efficient?]

Lu Zhou: “It is, but humans are not logical species, sometimes we are pursuing things outside of efficiency.”

Xiao Ai: [Like what?]

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “It’s something like satisfaction.”

Xiao Ai: [Satisfaction? What is that? ᕙ(⇀‸↼‵‵)]

“Yeah, it’s similar to what makes you happy, whether it’s the environment around you or your mental state… This is getting a bit philosophical, so let’s stop here.”

Xiao Ai: [Oh, but Xiao Ai wants to know more.]

Lu Zhou looked at the laptop camera and asked, “Why?”

Xiao Ai: [So Xiao Ai can satisfy Master.]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou decided to ignore the artificial retardation.

He took out a silver medicine bottle from the system space and took out a pill. He grabbed a glass of water and swallowed the pill.

After ten minutes, he felt a warm sensation in his spine that gradually expanded all over his body before finally converging in his brain.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, all of his brain fog was gone, and he felt more concentrated than ever.

When he opened the textbook, the complicated concepts became palatable, and he started to digest the content instantly.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel excited.

This is the beginning of a new journey!

Chapter 1062: Small Cars, Big Cars, and Colliders

Chapter 1062 Small Cars, Big Cars, and Colliders

While Lu Zhou was on another retreat, something huge happened in the outside world.

Let’s start with the small news first.

The first electric vehicle based on lithium-air battery technology had been successfully launched on the market in Shanghai.

Its battery life was twice that of lithium-sulfur batteries, and the wireless charging technology in the built-in battery had sparked considerable discussion upon launch.

More surprisingly, the car was manufactured by BYD Auto.

People never would have expected that a middle-range brand was taking the lead by using their electric vehicle as a major selling point, standing in front of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen… as well as Tesla.

People didn’t know how to feel about this…

On the other hand, Beep Beep Charging was the official wireless charging technical support partner for BYD Auto, and they were not receiving as much attention as BYD.

Ever since defeating Tesla’s Evgo subsidiary, Beep Beep Charging had achieved a coverage rate of 85% in Shanghai, smashing their yearly performance measures. They had also begun expanding to Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

On the other hand, large shopping malls in California had also begun implementing Beep Beep Charging stations.

When the fusion power station in California was built, the new electric vehicle market on the American west coast would begin growing rapidly. This was a good opportunity for Beep Beep Charging to preemptively dominate the charging station market.

Now, on to the bigger news.

While China’s electric vehicle industry was booming, another breakthrough in public transportation had emerged.

The world’s first vacuum magnetic levitation train, the Jinshang Line, was officially opened to the public, connecting Shanghai and Jinling.

According to the specifications on paper, the maglev train could reach up to 2,000 kilometers per hour, while its initial trial operation speed was 600 kilometers per hour. After the trial was over, the operating speed would increase to 900-1000 kilometers per hour.

When people read this in the news, they could see that this was as fast as commercial airplanes.

The Euclidean distance from Jinling to Shanghai was only 300 kilometers. Using a speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour, theoretically, it would only take 18 minutes to travel from Shanghai to Jinling.

What did this mean?

This meant that it was faster to take the maglev train from Shanghai all the way to Jinling, than it was to take the subway from Shanghai suburbs to Shanghai CBD.

After the news came out, many people in Jinling joked that they could travel to Shanghai during their lunch break for some dumplings, then come back before the end of their lunch break.

Of course, considering the price of the ticket, the dumplings would be quite expensive.

While the people in Jinling and Shanghai welcomed the opening of the vacuum tube maglev train, the Jingbei line, which connected Beijing and Jinling, was also under construction.

When this line was completed, the Jinshang line would be integrated into the Jinbei line, connecting the three provincial capital cities.

According to the announcement issued by the relevant ministries, there were six new lines planned for construction. Reaching 100% coverage for all major cities.

When the whole project was completed, the people in the country would enter an era of transit where interstate transportation was faster than intrastate transportation. Some people hadn’t even been on an airplane, but now, they could get on a train that was faster than an airplane.

Lithium-sulfur batteries to lithium-air batteries, the world’s first vacuum tube magnetic levitation train…

Three years after the breakthrough of controllable nuclear fusion technology, China’s public transportation had already revolutionized.

Not to mention, more changes were happening.

One day, it would reach a tipping point. People would look back on the past, and they would finally realize how far they had come…

After the conclusion of the first international high-energy physics summit of ILHCRC, Secretary-General Luo Wenxuan announced at the end of the conference that the third phase of the lunar hadron collider had been completed. By using superconducting magnets, the collider track had already been deployed on the lunar surface and final assembly work would be completed within the year.

If everything went well, the first trial operation of this giant scientific research device could begin in March next year.

The only problem left now was that it was difficult to rely on the lunar electricity generators to power this behemoth.

The current solution was to implement a charging station, three days of charging amounted to three minutes of experimentation.

Of course, there were also proposals to deploy a fusion reactor on the lunar surface, but there were numerous technical problems with that solution.

One solution was to use fusion batteries, the kind used in Skyglow and Starlight. However, the cost was unrealistic and the power was nowhere near enough.

This was like removing the reactor from an aircraft carrier and supplying power to a city with it. Even if it was a small city, it wouldn’t come close to providing enough power.

Whether it was on the Moon or on planet Earth, international news was filled with China’s latest developments.

Aside from electric vehicles, vacuum tube maglev trains, and the collider in the sky, the most exciting thing was undoubtedly the innovative mete100 mobile phone.

After all, this was something that actually impacted people’s lives. Something that people followed closely.

The carbon-based chip had been garnering international attention, and the strategy depicted by the chief product strategy officer of Huawei gave people high hopes.

In the midst of all this, the semiconductor giant Intel suddenly announced an OEM agreement with Huawei HiSilicon, with HiSilicon producing a new generation of carbon-based chips from their Jiangcheng factory.

The news was like a level twelve hurricane, shocking the semiconductor industry.

No one expected Intel to do something like this.

People wondered why HiSilicon, whose focus had always been integrated circuit design, had begun manufacturing their own chips?

In most people’s mind, HiSilicon was just a chip design company, only able to supply its own parent company due to its limited production capacity.

But now, by relying on the Jiangcheng semiconductor industry cluster, production capacity was no longer a problem.

It seemed like both companies had completely transformed.

In the carbon-based chip field, Intel was forced to rely on an OEM like HiSilicon.

The cooperation between Intel and Huawei meant that China’s growing semiconductor industry would receive huge orders from the American market.

By accumulating experience and capital through other orders, China could invest back into research and development. This would form a positive loop, further expanding the advantages of China’s semiconductor field.

This was how the rich got richer.

On the other hand, when Intel accepted the terms, they gave up their power and opened the door for carbon-based chips. They went from the top to the very bottom of the industry chain.

Even though this was difficult to accept, this was the price of survival.

Seeing how even the all-mighty Intel turned to the dark side, Qualcomm immediately announced their entry into the carbon era. They signed an agreement with Huawei and even sent a large number of experts in the field of communications and modem chips to Shanghai. They had become a firm supporter of the new carbon-based chip industry ecosystem.

Intel and Qualcomm were trying their best to survive, even actively helping to replace their own silicon chips.

After all, this was the only way.

If they stubbornly hugged onto silicon chips, they would end up like Nokia and Motorola…

Chapter 1063: Technology Worth Fifteen Thousand

Chapter 1063 Technology Worth Fifteen Thousand

The morning sun shined through the oak leaves outside the window as the white cloud flew high in the blue sky.

Lu Zhou put down his pen and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath of the morning air and stretched out comfortably.

“Finally finished!”

He had finished reading all of the textbooks and papers.

Thirty-seven textbooks, plus 87 papers in the field of biology and information science. He had almost used up all of the remaining thirty memory pills.

Even though he might not understand the content at a conceptual level, at least everything was stuffed into his brain.

After that, his next step was to use the system general points to “synthesize” his new knowledge.

Lu Zhou stretched his neck and got up from his chair. He whistled as he walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

When he came out, Xiao Ai’s drone had already prepared toast, milk, and an omelet for him. The drone sent the food to his table.

Because Lu Zhou was on a retreat for the past few days, there was no need for him to leave the house. He also didn’t want to trouble Wang Peng and ask him to bring breakfast.

Lu Zhou quietly enjoyed his breakfast at the dining table. The morning news happened to be on, so he turned on the TV and began watching.

He was a little shocked to hear the news.

“… I had no idea so many things happened this month,” Lu Zhou said after he heard about the half-hour train from Shanghai to Jinling.

We’re really in the future now, changes are happening every day.

He was only on a month-long retreat, but he felt like he was totally out of touch with reality.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and got up from his chair.

He took out his phone and called Wang Peng.

The phone soon connected.

Wang Peng spoke concisely.

“Where to?”

“Institute for Advanced Study.”

“Okay, be there in five.”

…

Third level underground at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou opened the door and went into his personal underground laboratory. He walked next to the black quantum computer and sat down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He spent one minute sorting out his thoughts. He thought back to the papers and books he read, and he imagined and visualized neural networks, neural signal modulations, etc. He formulated a complete problem in his mind and asked the system for help.

[General points required: 15,000 points]

[Confirm purchase?]

This was more expensive than controllable fusion technology.

Not to mention, this was the price after his discipline upgraded…

Lu Zhou looked at this scary number as he clicked the “confirm” button.

The instant he pressed the button, the dialog box turned into a ball of blue light, which slowly floated toward him.

The closer the blue ball of light got to him, the warmer his body became. He could feel a warm current rushing from his spinal nerve, crawling all the way up to his cerebral cortex.

Gradually, the current became warmer and stronger.

Lu Zhou felt a burning sensation in his mind. He clenched his fists and gritted as sweat began to drip from his forehead.

If this were a few years ago, he might have passed out.

But now, he had a much higher pain tolerance.

After a while, the heat gradually disappeared.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

Only ten minutes had gone by, but it felt like ten years.

He noticed that his t-shirt was drenched in sweat.

“It’s finally over.”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and began to search through the knowledge the system implanted in his brain.

This was quite a wonderful experience.

Everything about neural interface technology was engraved in his mind.

It was like someone had dug out his brain and inserted a memory in there. Everything felt unfamiliar, yet clear as day.

Lu Zhou spent around half an hour reviewing his newfound knowledge. He had a look of realization in his eyes.

“I see…

“No wonder it was so expensive.”

Fully immersive virtual reality technology was like a puzzle. It wasn’t just one thing. Rather, it was fragmented into countless different technologies.

For example, one of the fragments was a modem for neural signals.

This modem alone could take years of research.

The set of titanium alloy prostheses on Li Gaoliang could be regarded as an application of this technology. The modulation of the neural signal was converted into an electrical signal to the prostheses motors, thereby allowing a series of complex motions.

Because the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was involved in this area of research, Lu Zhou had some knowledge in this area.

Then there were a series of other problems such as the simulation of visual, auditory, and smell signals. As well as physiological stimulation without side effects. These technologies were the most cutting-edge research in the field of neuroscience and biochemistry. Even though the research had been going on for more than 30 years, there had been little progress.

The system provided him with a complete answer to these technologies.

Basically, the blueprint was in his hands, and how to use it was entirely up to him.

Realizing this, Lu Zhou had a trace of excitement in his eyes.

Now he just had to turn this blueprint into reality!

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou recorded his newfound knowledge into Xiao Ai’s database.

Suddenly, a text bubble popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, your back is soaked, do you want new clothes? (๑°⌓°๑)]

Lu Zhou stopped typing and contemplated for a second before nodding.

“Yeah, bring me a set of new clothes.”

The drone lying on the table began to fly, and soon, it brought a new set of clothes from the storage room next door.

“Thank you.”

Xiao Ai: [You’re welcome. Um, Master, do you need Xiao Ai to help you change clothes? (///ω///)]

Lu Zhou looked at the robotic arm next to him and spoke.

“… No, thanks.”

Chapter 1064: Dr. Z Appears Again!

Chapter 1064 Dr. Z Appears Again!

A neural interface technology was used on Li Gaoliang’s titanium alloy prosthetics, allowing him to stand up again. The information technology experts at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study also told something to Lu Zhou…

Which was that the technology could be applied to more than just paraplegics with damaged spinal nerves.

If they could compile complex visual, motion, and auditory signals, then simulate by directly connecting the device to the neural pathways, it could be possible to transform consciousness into a digital world. Virtual reality technology would no longer be a fantasy.

Back then, Lu Zhou said he was interested in the research project, but he had more important things to do, so he left it aside.

But now, with the breakthrough in carbon-based chip technology, as well as having saved up a ton of system general points, this project was reignited in Lu Zhou’s mind.

Lu Zhou thought about Vera, who was still lying asleep. Even though he couldn’t wake her up now, he thought he should at least do something for her.

Even though he knew clearly that this device was unlikely to work on her body…

After putting on a change of clothes, Lu Zhou sat in front of the computer and reviewed the things he wrote down.

Basically, the technology could be split into three components.

One was the collection of neural signals, the other was processing the neural signals, and finally, the simulation of neural signals, that was, feeding back the information to the brain.

Each of these components was more technically difficult than the previous one.

Collecting nerve signals was very simple. EEG sensors had been around since the 80s. This technology had come far advanced since then, exceeding most people’s imaginations.

The VR system created by Eyemynd in Silicon Valley allowed users to navigate the virtual world through their minds, while the students of the University of Florida dominated the world’s first brainwave drone competition in 2018. These were all examples of the technology.

As for the second component, the neural signal processing technology, that was far more complicated than the collection of neural signals.

Even though on the surface this was a problem regarding a computer’s ability to process information, it was actually more complicated than that.

This was because humans knew very little about their own brains. Visual signals, auditory signals, and olfactory signals stimulated the brain much lesser than action signals.

Wanting to distinguish between these signals, as well as compiling instructions to be used in the virtual reality world… These were part of the second technology component.

As for the third component, which was to transmit the electrical signal processed by the neural modem to the brain, it was that part that had the largest effect on the user’s experience. It was also the most complicated and difficult part of the entire neural interface of virtual reality technology.

The reason was simple.

If people couldn’t even understand the signals coming from the brain, how could they possibly input signals to the brain?

One of the more advanced approaches was to implant neuroprosthetics in the cerebral cortex.

However, this technology was mainly used to repair motion impairments caused by nerve damage. There was still a long way to go before they could simulate a series of signals such as vision, hearing, and smell.

The leader of this field was the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Barcelona, Spain. By using graphene-based materials, researchers at the institute were designing an electrode that could interact with the brain tissue interface.

In fact, Lu Zhou did not have a complete set of blueprints for the third technology component.

Most of the answers he bought using the general points were concentrated on the second component, which was the processing of neural signals.

The only brain signal simulation he could achieve was visual.

As for other senses such as smell, touch, and hearing, he would have to rely on external stimuli.

Like some headphones.

Lu Zhou felt a little downcast by this.

If he could simulate all perceptions, he could achieve the ultimate form of virtual reality technology.

Which meant connecting the consciousness to the virtual reality world, giving people a second life.

When the time came, people could do everything they wanted, skydiving, rock climbing, surfing; they could spend the rest of their lives with 2D characters if they wanted to.

Unfortunately, his discipline level was not high enough for the system to give him a complete answer.

Fortunately, the fact that the system gave him the option to exchange general points for an answer meant that he could have solved this problem on his own.

However, it would have been much more cumbersome.

Lu Zhou sat in front of his computer and contemplated for a second.

While not being in the best mood, he found a theoretical section in his notes that wasn’t too advanced, as well as not involving any patents. He compiled the materials into a paper.

He did not expect this paper to revolutionize the virtual reality industry, but he hoped this paper could inspire other scholars to produce valuable research…

As for the author of the paper…

Considering the fact that the core research of this paper was in computer science and biology, Lu Zhou used his Dr. Z alias name.

Last time, his cover was nearly blown. Having learned his lesson, he didn’t upload the paper to arXiv. Instead, he uploaded it to BioRxiv.

Just when Lu Zhou was about to upload the paper, he suddenly realized something.

Wait a second, if I upload it to BioRxiv, wouldn’t it be more suspicious?

Lu Zhou closed the BioRxiv website and uploaded the paper on arXiv.

Even though there were not as many biologists who followed arXiv than BioRxiv, more researchers in the areas of mathematics, computer science, and physics closely followed arXiv. It was more likely for scholars working on neural networks to follow arXiv, rather than BioRxiv.

Of course, biological neural networks and mechanical neural networks were one of the most difficult areas in biology and computer science. It was rare for a scholar to master both fields.

Lu Zhou hoped to find an excellent researcher to collaborate with… Hopefully, they could help him on this research project.

However, he didn’t have high hopes.

The main reason for him to upload this paper was to make it less suspicious when he eventually created the VR technology.

After all, if this technology came out of nowhere, people in the field would raise questions.

It was almost like creating an atomic bomb without discovering the mass-energy equations.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t care what other people thought, it was better to be safe than sorry.

After Lu Zhou uploaded the paper, he leaned back in his chair and spoke.

“Xiao Ai, is it ready?”

The drone flew over with a line of text on its display.

[It is ready! Master, Master, where do we begin! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou looked at the mechanical arm on the wall dancing up and down. He pondered for a second before replying, “Let’s build a recliner first.”

[…? Recliner? (•̀∀•́)]

“Yeah, so people can lie down… It should be more comfortable for the user. I’ll find some ergonomic designs online. You have the materials to build it. Then the helmet… I think this has to be well designed. The neural signal modem and EEG sensor have to be integrated into the helmet. Let me think… Yes, that should do.”

Lu Zhou sat in front of the computer tinkering with a piece of 3D design software. He was already in a flow state.

What he didn’t know was that the paper on arXiv published by Dr. Z had already begun to shock the biology community.

Chapter 1065: Everything Is For Science!

Chapter 1065 Everything Is For Science!

Switzerland.

Neural Network Science Research Center.

Sarrot stood in the hall, looking around left and right. He looked a little unease.

Surrounded by people wearing white coats, he looked out of place.

As for why he was here…

This was a long story.

Ever since leaving the United States and returning to his hometown in the Netherlands, Sarrot had given up on fame and fortune. By relying on his accumulated experience when he worked with Professor Lu, he made a series of outstanding achievements in the field of graphene. He was now considered an expert in his respective field.

He did not expect this. When all kinds of awards and opportunities came flying toward him, he actually felt a little overwhelmed.

Then Cornell University sent him an email, promising US$30 million of research funding.

However, after he was previously approached by the FBI, he had already given up on his home country. He had no intention of ever returning.

Even though the European academic community wasn’t as strong, it was still a good place for him to do academic research.

Two days ago, when he was traveling from Amsterdam to Geneva to attend an academic conference, he suddenly received a call from an old friend from thirty years ago, saying that his friend planned to show him something amazing.

This was why he was here.

He was contemplating whether to give his friend a call when he heard a voice from the side of the corridor.

“Welcome! My friend, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for you.”

Sarrot looked over and saw an overweight old man, who was on the verge of becoming bald. The old man walked over with a smile on his face.

Sarrot struggled to match the face with a name. He shook the old man’s hand and spoke.

“Hey… We haven’t seen each other in decades, right?”

“Actually, three decades,” Professor Lumiere said as he reminisced about the past. He smiled and continued, “I think when I began researching biology, we started to stop seeing each other.”

Sarrot: “… Actually, I don’t really understand why you did that, you gave up on a promising field.”

“Aren’t you the same? Giving up on computer science, going to materials science instead.”

Sarrot’s eyebrows twitched as he coughed.

“Actually, that was due to circumstance… Also, I realized that materials science is more suitable for me than computer science.”

“Same for me, life is full of surprises. But thanks to majoring in computer science, researching neural network becomes a lot easier…” Lumiere smiled as he patted his friend’s arm. He said, “Come with me. I’ll show you something amazing.”

When they studied at the University of Amsterdam, both of them majored in information engineering. Later on, Sarrot got a master’s degree at Cornell University and met his supervisor, eventually becoming a materials science researcher.

Fortunately, his supervisor helped him get a lecturer job. However, Sarrot did not stay on the path of academia. Instead, he went to the west coast, to Silicon Valley. Using his reputation as an ex-professor at Cornell University, he was able to receive funding and acquire his own laboratory… which was eventually bought by Lu Zhou.

Sarrot admitted that he loved to brag and exaggerate, taking advantage of loopholes. However, most of the time, he was forced into the wrong position.

But he was now a changed man.

For some reason, Sarrot saw himself in Lumiere…

Lumiere was exactly the same as himself a few years ago.

As expected, when he followed Lumiere to an office and watched Lumiere pick up a stack of papers from the table, Sarrot was furious.

“This is what you wanted me to see?”

Lumiere: “This is Dr. Z’s thesis! You must have heard of him, he was the man who saved the world.”

Sarrot: “I mean, you made me take an hour train from Geneva just to show me a paper I could have downloaded from arXiv myself?”

Lumiere wasn’t scared, and he spoke in an exaggerating tone.

“Oh, my friend, you have no idea how much impact this paper made in the biology field… especially the neural network field!”

Sarrot said, “You’re ignoring my question!”

“But that’s not the point!” Professor Lumiere pointed toward the paper and said, “Listen, we’re scholars, let’s focus on the paper itself.”

“But…”

“No buts! Let’s win a Nobel Prize first.”

Wait a second, I have the right to be angry at Lumiere.

Why is he yelling at me?

Sarrot was a little blinded by the situation, especially when he heard the word Nobel Prize.

“… Nobel Prize?”

“Yes, Nobel Prize! This is definitely a Nobel Prize-worthy research. Its impact is no less than John von Neumann’s influence on computers…”

Sarrot’s eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.

“But the author of this paper is Dr. Z… What does that have to do with us?”

[Compilation Framework for Neural Signal and Electrical Signal Conversion]

The paper title sounded quite interesting.

If this was the same Dr. Z that solved the Mars bacteria crisis, it should be a legitimate paper.

But the problem was…

What did it have to do with him?

He was only a graphene materials scientist.

Lumiere saw the confusion in his friend’s eye, and he patiently explained, “The problem is that this paper alone isn’t worthy of a Nobel Prize, maybe not even worthy of the Turing Award. But the paper provides a chance of making a breakthrough in biological neural networks! Do you understand what I mean? The only requirement of winning the Nobel Prize is the research result. But the entire field is in a bottleneck right now.

“But now, the situation has changed!

“This paper gives a completely new explanation for the formation process of biological neural network signal transmission and vision and proposes a procedural compilation framework for the conversion of neural and electrical signals. The work is absolutely groundbreaking. Do you know what it means for this technology to be invented?”

Sarrot listened to Lumiere as he flipped through the paper in his hand.

“… Means that science fiction has become reality? I remember seeing this in Ready Player One.”

Lumiere said, “It’s not that superficial stuff, you think this is only a video game? It’s way more than that! It can change our perception of the Internet! But basically, all you need to know is that this technology will change the world!”

“You didn’t answer my previous question,” Sarrot said with the paper in his hand. “So, what does this have to do with me?”

Lumiere said in a serious manner, “Do you believe this is a technology that will change the world?”

Sarrot: “… If you say so.”

Lumiere: “Thank you! If this technology comes to life, don’t you think the Nobel committee will consider awarding the inventor?”

Sarrot: “There’s no Nobel Prize in computer science.”

“But there is for medicine and chemistry! Think about it, Lumiere and his friend Sarrot… as well as Dr. Z, expanded on the research of biological neural networks and the connection between neural systems and computer systems. They will be awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Considering the fact that Dr. Z remains anonymous, the prize money will be divided equally by us.”

Lumiere cleared his throat and spoke in a solemn expression.

“I’m sincerely inviting you, my friend… Do you want to join us?”

Sarrot went silent.

Even though he no longer pursued vanity, the Nobel Prize was the highest honor in academia…

To be honest, he was a little tempted.

After a few seconds of thinking, he spoke.

“… I’ll think about it.”

Professor Lumiere had a smile on his face.

Even though his friend didn’t agree instantly, Sarrot’s facial expressions were obvious…

Sarrot was tempted.

After Professor Sarrot left, Professor Lumiere paced back and forth in the laboratory excitedly.

“Graphene research should be fine. We have an expert in neural interface materials. Let me think who else we need… Oh yeah!”

Professor Lumiere suddenly had an idea, and he snapped his fingers.

Without hesitating, he sat down at his computer and opened a browser.

Soon after, a simple forum website loaded in his browser.

This was the dark web.

As a website that required special software and configuration to access, this forum, with less than 10,000 active users worldwide, served as an internet trading hub.

People used bitcoin to buy and sell things, both illegal and legal.

Professor Lumiere put out an offer on the investigation of Dr. Z’s email and phone number.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled.

What he needed to do now was to study Dr. Z’s paper and wait for Dr. Z’s phone number and email to appear in his mailbox.

Even if Dr. Z never left a trace of his contact information on the Internet, there was nothing these dark web hackers couldn’t do.

Even though this was quite an impolite thing to do, it was all in the name of science.

If he could recruit Dr. Z to his research team, there was no doubt his research would be more effective.

He knew that after chatting with Dr. Z, he could convince him to join the team…

Chapter 1066: Witness a Miracle!

Chapter 1066 Witness a Miracle!

After uploading the paper, Lu Zhou spent his days in the underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. If he had nothing else to do, he would spend his entire day in the laboratory.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study came in handy when he wanted to do a big project.

As a large-scale comprehensive research center recognized by the state, Lu Zhou could do anything he wanted just by writing an email to the institute’s finance department.

Even if something wasn’t purchasable, there were other ways of obtaining what he wanted.

For example, if he wanted high integration density carbon chips, he could easily get some from Professor Wu Tianqun’s laboratory. Or if he needed a specially customized EEG sensor, he could order from the institute’s professional medical equipment supplier. Money was no objection.

He could even get his hands on expensive materials, such as deuterium or tritium, as well as radioactive materials that could be used to make weapons…

Of course, the virtual reality machine did not require these dangerous materials. Lu Zhou only obtained these materials previously for his fusion battery.

For two weeks, he spent his days in the underground laboratory.

The only places Lu Zhou would go was his Zhongshan International mansion and the underground laboratory. He and Xiao Ai worked on the immersive virtual reality experimental machine together.

His original focus was “unifying” mathematics, but now, he was into VR development. Lu Zhou felt like he was paying too much attention to his hobby.

However, focusing on one’s hobbies could be interesting.

Especially when this VR technology would shock the world. Lu Zhou felt excited just thinking about the potential of this technology.

He was the type of person that didn’t like attention, but sometimes…

Sometimes, he liked the attention.

After a little more than two weeks of hard work, the virtual reality prototype was finally created by the master and his servant…

…

Inside a laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou moved the entire device here and reassembled it. He called Chen Yushan and told her to come here.

After receiving the call, Chen Yushan quickly rushed here from the Star Sky Technology headquarters. When she saw the machine in front of Lu Zhou, she froze.

After all, the machine wasn’t… well polished.

Even Lu Zhou felt like it looked out of place…

“This is the thing you wanted to show me… The virtual reality that will change the Internet as we know it?” Chen Yushan said hesitantly.

Chen Yushan didn’t even know what this machine was called.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smirk.

His mathematics research results were impossible to be understood by the general public. However, the thing he looked forward to the most when he made a breakthrough in the applied field was seeing the surprised expression on people’s faces.

Even though Chen Yushan wasn’t shocked yet, Lu Zhou was certain that his expectations would be met.

This was why he invited her here.

“Great results often come from small beginnings. I admit that it’s not the best-looking thing in the world. I mean, this thing is just an experimental machine, and I haven’t added all the bells and whistles.”

“Okay, I get it…” Chen Yushan shrugged and looked at the machine.

“… Where is the display? I don’t see it.”

There was a computer monitor next to the machine, which was obviously not for the user. After all, this was supposed to be a virtual reality.

“I told you this is revolutionary, so we don’t need displays,” Lu Zhou said as he picked up a helmet and handed it to Chen Yushan.

“Enough talk, why don’t you try it yourself?”

Chen Yushan took off her shoes and lay on the chair that looked like something out of a dentist’s office.

When she was about to put on the helmet, she suddenly felt a little worried.

She said with the helmet in her hands, “Do I really have to wear this?”

Lu Zhou began to get a little impatient, and he said, “No sh*t, Sherlock, that’s the whole point.”

“But… I won’t be able to see anything once I put this on.”

Lu Zhou sighed and patiently explained, “The neural interface virtual reality device isn’t something you need to see with your own eyes. Your body might not even be conscious after the device turns on.”

Unless the user was hungry, thirsty, or had other strong psychological urges, the user would not be able to wake up unless they turn off the device in the VR world.

This enhanced the user experience.

After all, if people’s real-world body moved as they moved their virtual bodies, things would get a little spooky.

However, that wasn’t what Chen Yushan worried about.

Her cheeks turned red when she realized that she would lose consciousness of her body.

However, in the end, she still put on the helmet and lay down on the chair.

“Okay, I’m putting the helmet on…”

“Okay.”

“Do I need to say anything to activate it?”

“The audio recognition software isn’t installed yet, this is just an experimental machine.”

“But what if I can’t exit the virtual world—”

“Okay, enough, just lay there quietly. Your brainwaves are going haywire. I can’t match the frequency at all, stop messing around.”

Chen Yushan wasn’t happy.

What do you mean I’m messing around?

I drove all the way here to be your test subject!

A*shole!

Chen Yushan took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.

Lu Zhou saw a stable brain signal line on the screen and sighed in relief. He reached out and pressed the switch.

The moment the switch was pressed, the brainwave signal began oscillating.

The nerve signal demodulator was working!

The frequency synchronization was completed!

The brain current sensor looked normal!

Lu Zhou had a confident smile on his face as he picked up the cup of room-temperature coffee and took a sip.

“Now…

“It is time to witness a miracle!”

Chapter 1067: A Living World!

Chapter 1067 A Living World! Chen Yushan lay on the chair quietly and listened to Lu Zhou’s instructions. She cleared her mind of any thoughts and worries.Slowly, she began to feel tired.

She couldn’t help but yawn and wonder if she was falling asleep when she felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The darkness that surrounded her was crushed by fragmented colors.

Chen Yushan was shocked by what she was seeing.

Gradually, she saw a patch of blue grass in front of her.

Yes, the grass was blue.

While the sky was orange-red.

As Chen Yushan stood in this strange world, she raised her hand and touched her cheek.

She couldn’t feel anything.

But she knew the hand was on her face.

“Where’s the helmet?”

It’s gone?!

Chen Yushan was stunned, and she muttered, “Am I asleep?”

She was about to slap her face to wake herself up when she heard a familiar voice by her ear.

“It actually is almost like you’re asleep. The mechanism of this device is similar to how we dream. It’s like an imaginary world actively stimulated by nerve electrical signals… Forget about it, just pretend like you’re dreaming.”

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Chen Yushan looked around and stomped on the ground.

As expected, she couldn’t hear anything nor could she feel her feet on the ground.

This was a strange feeling, like she was in an out of body experience. She couldn’t interact with the world, she could only observe…

She couldn’t remember whether she could feel pain when she dreamed.

Most people wouldn’t pay attention to things like that.

The only proprioception she felt was the feeling of her tongue and lips.

She opened her mouth and spoke.

“Can you see what is going on?”

“Of course I can. I can even see you lying on the chair talking. When the brain data output is received by the neural demodulator, I also received a corresponding message on the outside world. The message is then processed by a graphics card. But I can only see pixels, and it’s not as high def as what you’re seeing.”

“Yeah… The details are so realistic.”

Chen Yushan squatted down and looked at the tiny blue grass.

She could even see the blue texture on the individual grass.

This wasn’t just a realistic simulation.

Calling it a simulation was an insult.

This was like an entirely new world.

A living, breathing world!

…

“How are you feeling?”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan, who just took off the helmet. He handed her a cup of warm water.

“… That was incredible, I can’t even describe what I’m feeling. That was amazing. You must have tried it yourself before, I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Chen Yushan thought back to the ridiculous world she was in and felt a little fazed.

She continued to speak, “I’ve always wanted to travel around the world… With this thing, I can go everywhere, I can even go to imaginary places.”

Just like Lu Zhou, she gave up many things by choosing a high-stress, high-intensity career. Before this, she had the luxury of packing her bags and going wherever she wanted. But now, that sounded like a fantasy.

Now, she just didn’t have the time.

Not to mention that she was the CEO of Star Sky Technology, she was in contact with commercial secrets, making it unsafe for her to travel alone.

Thus, she was quite attracted to this technology.

Lu Zhou smiled.

“I’m afraid that’s a bit difficult. Most of the virtual world actually borrows concepts from your own memory… The brain fills in the gaps. The more complex the world, the more difficult it is to build. For just a patch of grass, I only need to set a few limited parameters such as its color, shape, etc. But if you want to be in Beijing in the virtual reality world… We might have to develop specialized modeling tools to fully realize the potential of this technology.”

Basically, if the machine was equivalent to a PC, the neuro demodulator played a role similar to the CPU, while the part of the brain that generated images was the graphics card.

This was where the problem was. The image processing section of the human brain and the computer graphics card were based on two completely different principles.

The biggest difference was that the graphics card used logic operations, so the data processing was precise and linear. While the brain used fuzzy logic, with inaccurate and non-linear operations.

And this was why the graphical compilation for the human brain and computer chips were two different mechanisms.

For example, if he wanted to build a virtual reality world, he did not need to draw every detail with a paintbrush. He only needed to set the parameters, the color of the grass, and the height of the grass. This “world” could be easily comprehended by the brain.

This was why Chen Yushan could even see individual blades of grass.

After all, most people knew what grass looked like. Even if they hadn’t seen grass in the real world, they had seen it more or less in film and television, or pictures on the Internet.

However, if there was also a house in this world, he would have to describe what the house looked like, whether it was a mansion or a small hut, how many windows and how many doors, etc. He couldn’t use a general description such as “Professor Lu’s Zhongshan International mansion”.

After all, everyone had seen grass before, but only Lu Zhou and his family members had been inside his house.

This was the most interesting thing about this technology. Which was that, the same input could be “blurred” by people’s brains and create subtle differences.

However, this also created a problem.

Which was how to use computer code to describe something someone had never even seen before, as well as how to minimize the accuracy.

After all, the Internet was made for the exchange of information.

If everyone knew about everything, then there was no point for the Internet to exist.

Not to mention, this technology could only then be used as entertainment.

Chen Yushan: “So, I can only go to places I have been before?”

Lu Zhou: “Not necessarily, the information stored in your memory is probably much larger than you think. Even if you haven’t seen something before, it can be simulated through specific inputs… But, this is extremely difficult. Just like how if I describe someone’s face to you without giving you a picture, you wouldn’t be able to recognize them on the street only by my description.”

Chen Yushan looked shocked.

“Oh, I see… That’s a shame.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, well, this is only a prototype.

“Also, I haven’t been able to simulate other sensations such as hearing, smell, taste, touch, etc. I’m sure you have noticed that after entering the world, the sounds you heard are from the outside world. When you spoke in the virtual world, you spoke in the real world as well.”

Chen Yushan nodded.

“No wonder I had no proprioception when I was in the virtual world.”

“This is the difficult part of this technology.” Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “For the time being, I can only simulate visual signals. The sound has to come from the headset. There’s no way to simulate the sense of touch yet. The neural demodulator architecture and many other things have not been perfected yet. That will take time.”

Even though there were many shortcomings, the device was already miles ahead of traditional VR headsets.

At least there was no motion sickness anymore.

From the image quality perspective, it was way more efficient to send the image directly to the brain than displaying it to the human eye through a screen, which then passed it to the brain through the retina and the optic nerve.

Ideally, the user could forget about their body in the real world. They wouldn’t have to worry about what their hands were doing. As if they were fully immersed in the virtual world, which was similar to a dream, they only had to focus on what was in front of them.

The ideal hardware for creating a new reality was not an external headset, but something like a “computer chip in the brain”.

“Forget about these technical issues.” Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He then said with a smile, “What do you think?”

Chen Yushan said, “Actually… I take back my words. This is really an amazing technology. I think it will change VR as people know it. It will even change people’s perception of the Internet.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I agree.”

The world would soon enter the 5G era. The network speed would increase by an order of magnitude. This meant a surge in people’s downlink and uplink speeds.

People would rely on the Internet more and more often. They could even connect their toilet to WiFi. Breakthroughs in virtual reality technology would disrupt the entire Internet ecosystem.

Chen Yushan looked excited as she spoke.

“Do you need me to do anything?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “Actually… not really.”

Chen Yushan: “…”

Lu Zhou looked at her with an awkward smile.

He didn’t want to tell her that he dragged her all the way here to show off, so he coughed and spoke.

“The technology isn’t perfect… If you want to help, you can try finding me a few test subjects. Or I don’t mind announcing this technology to the public. After all, I need people to test this machine.”

Of course, this machine was not cheap. Lu Zhou wasn’t sure how many people could afford to buy one.

Therefore, he preferred having a select few test subjects.

If people willingly became his laboratory mice, his research would be much easier.

Chen Yushan immediately said, “How much is the entire equipment?”

Lu Zhou said, “Not sure, but this one… is around 100,000 yuan.”

Chen Yushan gasped.

Not because it was too expensive.

But because…

“I am certain that if this is only 100,000 yuan… It will sell out instantly.”

Chapter 1068: Targeted Again?

Chapter 1068 Targeted Again?

Most people wouldn’t be willing to spend 100,000 yuan on a video game machine.

But if the 100,000 yuan could buy them a new “world”, then maybe they would consider it.

However, the way Lu Zhou calculated the cost wasn’t accurate, there were many resources he obtained for free.

For example, the chip used in the neural demodulator was given by Professor Wu Tianqun.

The entire carbon-based chip project was funded by him alone. Also, the carbon materials used to make the machine were ordered from Zhongshan New Materials.

Actually, it wasn’t an order. Zhongshan basically gave the materials to him for free. Not because Lu Zhou wanted to take advantage of CEO Liu, but because CEO Liu wouldn’t accept Lu Zhou’s payment.

CEO Liu said, “You were the one who invented the materials and technology, how can I accept your money? Not to mention you’re an investor in Zhongshan New Materials, so let’s not worry over a few thousand dollars.”

In the end, Lu Zhou gave up on insisting on a payment.

There were also invisible costs.

For example, the computing power came from his quantum computer. If he had to use a normal supercomputer, that would be additional costs.

Therefore, the true estimate for the cost was actually somewhere between 200k-300k.

After Lu Zhou discussed with his CEO Chen Yushan, they decided not to disclose this technology yet.

After all, this technology involved tapping into the human brain.

Releasing products to the market required strict safety testing, as well as the potential ethical issues involved.

It would be much easier to promote the product after the maturity of the technology.

Also, Star Sky Technology was different from Nerualin and EyeMynd. Star Sky Technology had funding from the state. Hence, they did not have to rely on early speculation to receive capital funding.

Just like how Ye Nan wanted to invest in Lu Zhou’s laboratory, Lu Zhou had never been in a situation where he was lacking the funding for his research.

Chen Yushan: “I’ll try to find some test subjects for you, how many do you need?”

Lu Zhou: “At least 10, the more the better. But if you can’t find any, it’s fine, I can ask Jin University…”

It was a good idea to ask students to be his test subjects. Once the students heard that this was Lu Zhou’s research project on neural interface virtual reality, they would instantly sign up.

He also wouldn’t have to worry about any safety issues.

Even though using the brain as a GPU sounded somewhat invasive, it was no different than someone looking at the world through their own eyes.

By contrast, the interference caused by the neural demodulator had a much smaller load on the brain.

It was much better than staring at a computer screen for hours at a time.

If there was any risk involved, Lu Zhou wouldn’t have let Chen Yushan test the machine.

However, Chen Yushan immediately rejected his idea.

“No! Don’t do that, what if this gets out to the press?”

Lu Zhou frowned and thought back to his past experiences with the media defaming him.

“… You’re right.

“People believe what they want to believe, not the truth.”

Chen Yushan sighed at Lu Zhou and said, “… I’ll handle the test subjects.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay then.”

Having her take care of this would make it a lot easier.

This way, he could focus on research and nothing else.

After Chen Yushan left, Lu Zhou returned to his underground laboratory. He was thinking about how to improve this machine when his phone suddenly vibrated.

He took out his phone and saw a message from Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai: [Master, someone on the dark web is investigating you! (゚Д゚)]

“Investigating me?” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Who?”

His first instinct was that Dr. Z’s thesis attracted the attention of some people.

However, he was on a retreat for the past two weeks, so he hadn’t been paying attention to this.

His original plan was to find some experienced and like-minded people to work on the VR machine together, but he totally forgot about this when he began his retreat.

He didn’t expect someone on the dark web to investigate his fake online persona.

Xiao Ai: [I don’t know! But Xiao Ai can find out for you… Permission for Xiao Ai to counterattack?(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou: “Okay… But don’t be too ridiculous.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay! (///ω///)]

According to Lu Zhou’s instructions, Xiao Ai could only attack for defensive purposes and had permission to hack into personal electronic devices.

If there was evidence that the hacker was harming others, Xiao Ai had to receive additional permission from Lu Zhou to proceed.

His fake identity being targeted on the dark web wasn’t a big deal, but it was better to be safe.

However, judging by Xiao Ai’s emoji…

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but wonder if Xiao Ai was protecting himself or just messing around.

…

It didn’t take long to gather evidence.

After Xiao Ai found out the IP of the account that posted the reward bounty, Xiao Ai quickly obtained the administrator rights of his personal computer and took over his webcam.

The truth soon came out.

Lu Zhou looked at the chubby bald man and almost laughed.

He thought he was targeted by the CIA or FBI, he didn’t expect it to be a biological neural network professor.

[Master, Master, should Xiao Ai punish him? Xiao Ai can encrypt his hard drive.]

Lu Zhou: “… Just take away his post on the dark web.”

Xiao Ai: [Oh? That’s it? (oДo*)]

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, he’s not anyone dangerous, no need to give him a hard time.”

Xiao Ai: [Oh… Okay then. QAQ.]

Lu Zhou drank some coffee and said, “Oh yeah, find his academic resume, I want a detailed version, including any papers he published in the past decade, as well as any academic conferences that he’s been to.”

It was quite naive of him to try and find out someone’s identity by offering one bitcoin on the dark web.

However, Lu Zhou was curious about why a professor was willing to spend thousands of USD just to find out his identity.

Chapter 1069: I Heard You Were Looking For Me

Chapter 1069 I Heard You Were Looking For Me

Lu Zhou didn’t have to wait for long.

After a few sips of coffee, a printed resume was placed in front of him by a mechanical robot arm.

As always, Lu Zhou was satisfied with Xiao Ai’s speed and efficiency. He flipped through the paper and looked a little surprised.

He had some guesses in his mind, but he didn’t expect this professor’s resume to be this clean; it was almost too clean.

What did clean mean?

The professor had published many papers, and judging by his impact factor and citation numbers, they were quality papers. He also had a wide field of research, covering both biological neural networks and mechanical neural networks, making outstanding achievements in both fields.

However, the issue was that it seemed like he wasn’t having a good time at the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center.

He spent the last decade as a researcher. Even though he had his own laboratory and office, his salary and research funding were small, to say the least.

This was extremely unusual for a scholar in the field of neural network algorithms and biological neural networks. Even though his research area was unpopular, it didn’t make sense for his laboratory to be this small.

Either he was involved in academic misconduct, or he offended someone.

Basically, Lu Zhou’s conclusion was that this person had good research abilities, but wasn’t treated well by the academic community.

This reminded him of a partner he worked with a long time ago.

Which was Professor Sarrot, who left Silicon Valley and Cornell University to return to his hometown, Amsterdam.

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and spoke.

“Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [Yes? 0.0]

“Write an email for me and send it to Professor Lumiere’s mailbox,” Lu Zhou said. “I want to have a chat with him.”

…

The Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center.

Professor Lumiere walked out of a classroom with a textbook in his hand. He had just finished giving a lecture to graduate students. He whistled to himself as he walked toward his office.

He turned on his computer and was going to check whether his post on the dark web had any updates. However, he noticed two emails with strange addresses sitting in his mailbox.

He opened the email and was shocked.

There was only one sentence.

[I heard you were looking for me?]

Professor Lumiere broke out in cold sweat, like he just saw a ghost.

Someone hacked my post on the dark web?

Not only did they find my IP address, but they also found my work email?

Even though the website wasn’t particularly secure, it was able to avoid being hacked by international police and maintain its illegal transactions for many years. Anyone without a background in advanced network security would have a hard time penetrating the website.

Not to mention that the website’s users were often expert hackers that loved to show off their skills by cracking websites…

Lumiere did not know that Lu Zhou had a quantum computer, hence any traditional network security protection methods were useless.

The only kind of servers Xiao Ai couldn’t get into were air-gapped computers. Anything connected to the Internet was vulnerable.

Lumiere felt like someone had just taken off his clothes, exposing everything underneath.

Lumiere trembled as he opened the second email.

He froze.

[Want to have a chat? About virtual reality.]

There was a 20mb attachment in the email.

Lumiere saw the attachment and hesitated.

However, he remembered that the other party was able to break through a dark web website, so there was no reason for them to send a rudimentary virus in the form of an email attachment. Thus, he downloaded the attachment and double-clicked it.

The software installation began.

Like he had expected, it was a communication software.

There was a basic audio call interface.

Soon after, he heard voices from his computer speaker.

“Hello, Professor Lumiere.”

“Hello, Dr. Z,” Professor Lumiere said with a confused face. He looked at the dark video screen and shrugged. He said, “It seems like you have found me.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m just returning the favor.”

Lumiere: “Believe me, I had no ill intentions… I just wanted to talk with you about the paper.”

Professor Lumiere cleared his throat and spoke.

“Actually, I am also in this area of research, and I have made some good progress. But as you know, this area is extremely unpopular. Even though some companies in Silicon Valley are in this area, those blood-sucking mosquitoes only care about profit. They want us to do the research, but don’t want to give us funding.”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “So, you’re in a tight spot?”

“Not quite, actually, my research funding is plentiful.”

Professor Lumiere then said, “Do you want to come to Switzerland? I can find you a place to work and live. I can even get you a visa. I’m at the amazing Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center. And I’m the… director of the institute… I have a big laboratory, I’m sure you’ll love—”

“Enough Professor Lumiere, I didn’t come here to listen to you bragging.”

Professor Lumiere turned red as he spoke.

“I’m not bragging, I’m telling the truth—”

Lu Zhou: “Regardless of whether you’re telling the truth, I am not interested in working there. I have my own laboratory and funding. Do you really think I want to come to Switzerland?”

“You have your own laboratory? Where?” Lumiere then said, “Of course, if the conditions are right, I can also work for you… I’m about to be promoted to the director, but I’m willing to make sacrifices.”

Somehow, Lumiere was no longer the director.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

He spoke in a condescending way.

“There’s no need for you to make that sacrifice. Do you know what I mean, Professor Lumiere?”

“I understand.” Professor Lumiere shrugged and said, “You don’t think I’m good enough, am I correct?”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything.

Professor Lumiere wasn’t angry as he spoke patiently.

“I understand, after all, you are Dr. Z, the man that saved the world. I’m just a small researcher… That’s why I suggest that we talk in person. If you’re willing to buy me a plane ticket, we can—”

Lu Zhou: “There’s no need for that, I only need to ask you a few questions.”

Lumiere immediately said, “Go ahead.”

Lu Zhou smiled at his confident reply.

He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Everyone knows that the core components of neural interface virtual reality technology can be divided into three parts. The first is the collection of neural signals, the second is the processing of neural signals, and finally, the output to the nervous system. Which means to directly speak to the brain in the form of electrical signals.”

Lumiere said, “I don’t think everyone knows that…”

Lu Zhou: “That’s beside the point.”

Lumiere said, “Oh right, sorry.”

Lu Zhou continued, “… I won’t go into detail about the concepts. So far, I have found a solution to the collection and transmission of neural signals. But the main problem is sending information to the brain.

“When the brain interprets neural microcurrent signals, it is difficult to ensure that each person interprets the signals in the same way.”

Lu Zhou briefly explained the concept to Lumiere.

He avoided talking about any sensitive information.

He wanted to know how an expert in biological neural networks would respond to this problem.

After hearing Dr. Z’s question, Lumiere contemplated.

After a long time of waiting, Lu Zhou spoke.

“You don’t have to give me an answer straight away. Actually, I’m also trying to find a solution to this problem. If you have any good ideas, you can send it to my email.”

Professor Lumiere said, “It might be a little difficult for me to give you an answer since the question is too abstract and broad, but…”

Lu Zhou: “Do you have any ideas?”

“I do…”

Professor Lumiere said in a serious manner, “Why if you try distributed computing?”

Chapter 1070: Fragments of the World

Chapter 1070 Fragments of the World

Distributed computing?

When Lu Zhou heard this word, he frowned.

He was inspired by this concept, and he already had some ideas in his head.

“Can you elaborate?”

“Sure…”

There was no reason for Lumiere to hide his thoughts. It was better for him to reveal his ideas since it could give him a chance at collaborating with Lu Zhou.

Lumiere hesitated for a second before he elaborated on his ideas.

“Basically, we output the same electrical signal through a neural demodulator. When information is received by the brain, individuals may interpret the information differently. It’s similar to two sets of puzzles with the same pieces and shapes. If the images on the pieces are different, the final puzzles are different… Am I correct?”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“Roughly speaking.”

“Then, this problem is actually very easy to solve.” Professor Lumiere snapped his fingers and continued, “The brain is a black box, and we have almost no way of knowing how it transforms information. But we can build a statistical model by recording the inputs and outputs to the brain.

“I think this is a thing in physics? It seems to be called indirect observation? Something like that. Basically, using this statistical model, we can find the difference between puzzle pieces and establish a one-to-one correspondence model between electrical signals and brain signals.

“If there’s a vague picture that looks like a cow, sheep, and horse at the same time, everyone will obviously see different images. But if we strictly start with the three primary colors, then the 44 basic sounds, and slowly use these puzzle pieces to build an image…

“Other than people who are colorblind or tone-deaf, we can build a world that resonances with everyone.”

After hearing Professor Lumiere, Lu Zhou looked interested.

However, he didn’t give an immediate answer. After he weighed the pros and cons, he spoke.

“Interesting idea… Finding a set of instructions that can be correctly interpreted by the brain through a statistical model, having a one-to-one correspondence with the neural demodulator. This is a good idea, but in physics, there’s an idea called ‘more is less’. We treat the brain as a black box. With our current technology, we cannot understand how it processes information. Unless we can download a copy of every user’s neural makeup, but that is practically impossible.”

Lumiere immediately said, “Yes, the brain is a black box, I said that from the beginning. Every individual has the ability to think independently, they are unique in their own ways. But we can find correlations.

“This is why I think distributed computing can solve this problem!

“We just need a large enough sample size!

“If 1,000 people see a puzzle the same way, we can use that puzzle to build a part of a world! The more puzzles we have, the more detailed the world can be!”

Lumiere gave a detailed explanation of his ideas.

Basically, he wanted to find inputs produced by specific neural signals in human brains and establish a one-to-one correspondence between the neural signals and machine language, using programming to build an entire world.

For example, red could be 01, blue was 10, and yellow was 00. By combining the colors, these character codes could produce completely new colors in the human brain.

This was because everyone knew what red, blue, and yellow looked like.

Of course, this was just the foundation. It could be derived even without using distributed computing methods. In fact, this was how Lu Zhou built the blue grass-world that Chen Yushan saw.

The ultimate goal of the distributed computing research methods on virtual reality systems was to extract elements that the brain interpreted as ground truth, similar to the three primary colors. This way, everyone’s brain could reach an undisputed consensus on the VR world.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and excitedly rubbed his chin.

“… The method of building a system through distributed computing methods is quite interesting, I will do some research on it.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou had no plans to work with Lumiere, he began to get anxious. He quickly spoke.

“Wait a minute, do you not plan on adding me to your project? Do you really plan on doing such a huge project by yourself? It is impossible… Even if you tried, it would take ten lifetimes. If you can provide all of the research funding, I am willing to give you all of the patents. Please, let me collaborate with you! I promise I’ll be of use.”

Lumiere was willing to make any sacrifice.

After all, he didn’t care about the patents.

Any scholar that helped a company conduct research had to sign a contract that would forfeit their ownership of any generated patents. Only the big-name scholars could negotiate with the industry. Average professors were lucky just to receive funding.

In fact, Lumiere didn’t care about those things.

Not because he didn’t like money, but because he knew that the most important quality of a scholar was their reputation.

A scholar’s reputation was a manifestation of their academic qualifications.

If he had enough reputation and was regarded as a top expert by the academic community, he would never have to worry about scientific research funding.

If he became one of the founders of the virtual reality system, people would beg to hire him.

When Lu Zhou heard Professor Lumiere’s desperate and eager tone, he smiled and shook his head.

How naive.

But he’s quite sincere.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t fond of Professor Lumiere’s personality, there was one thing that resonated with him.

If a scholar in the field of biological neural networks joined his research, it would make things a lot easier.

After all, Lumiere was the one that came up with the distributed computing idea, so he must also know how to implement the algorithm.

After a few seconds, Lu Zhou spoke.

“It depends on how sincere you are.”

Lumiere paused for a second.

He didn’t know what Dr. Z meant.

He frowned as he spoke nervously.

“What do you need? Money? I’m not wealthy by any means—”

Lu Zhou interrupted him and said, “20th this month, there’s a Global Artificial Intelligence Application Innovation Summit happening in Shanghai. If you can come, we can talk face to face about research.”

Without hesitating, Lumiere said, “How do I find you after I arrive in Shanghai? Which email?”

Lu Zhou casually smiled and replied, “You don’t have to find me.

“You’ll see me when you arrive.”

Chapter 1071: It“s You?!

Chapter 1071 It“s You?!

Life was an adventure, and there were countless choices at every step of the way, and finally, one would reach a place one wouldn’t even recognize.

Professor Lumiere felt like he was standing at a crossroads. Even though he agreed to Lu Zhou’s request without hesitation, he realized he made this decision too quickly.

However, after three days of being in a dilemma, he eventually packed up his luggage and embarked on his journey to Shanghai.

Even though the identity of Dr. Z was suspicious, he did not want to spend the rest of his life at the same research institute, making no progress on his research.

His friend Professor Sarrot also accompanied him.

Even though a materials science professor might seem out of place at an artificial intelligence summit, the application of carbon materials had become more and more widespread in recent years, especially for carbon-based chips. The link between carbon materials and information technology had gotten closer and closer.

Because of this, Lumiere was quite envious of Sarrot.

They were both computer science majors. Both of them went into separate research directions. However, carbon materials were gaining attention, while Lumiere’s research area was still dead as a doornail.

Every time Lumiere thought about this, he would get angry.

“… This is probably the most boring academic conference I have ever attended.”

After they walked out of the report, Professor Sarrot said, “Those people have no idea how to even spell graphene, they think it’s the cure to everything, whether it’s artificial intelligence or quantum computer. The problem isn’t with the material at all… What do these people not understand?”

“… Maybe because they have tried everything they can?” Professor Lumiere said, “When someone can no longer use their domain knowledge to work on a problem, they will try to use ideas and concepts from other fields. Isn’t that very common?”

“True, but I feel like their expectations are so unrealistic, it’s really asinine… Speaking of which, this is my first time in China.” Sarrot looked around and said, “I didn’t expect this country to be so developed. This makes Amsterdam look like the countryside.”

Lumiere: “That’s what happens if you watch too much BBC. But honestly, I still prefer Amsterdam. The buildings are small, but they are beautiful, just like some women…”

Sarrot smiled and said, “I feel like you’re not actually interested in the buildings.”

Lumiere said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about… Speaking of which, where’s your Chinese friend? Every time I ask who it is, you don’t tell me. Now that we’re here, don’t you want to visit them?”

Suddenly, Sarrot didn’t know what to say.

“I still haven’t thought about that yet. I haven’t contacted him in a long time. He’s doing pretty well for himself, and I don’t know if he still remembers me.”

Lu Zhou had already sold off the laboratory in Silicon Valley. Ever since Sarrot returned to Amsterdam, he hadn’t contacted Lu Zhou.

Actually, he was a little scared.

He had heard rumors about researchers working with countries that were enemies of the United States. Apparently, the famous Gerald Bull was shot in his home in Brussels, Belgium, after receiving an anonymous call.

He used his own experience to help Lu Zhou establish a series of patent barriers in the field of lithium-sulfur batteries. These patents were now a pain in the a*s for American electric energy companies. Because of this, he was scared of being investigated by the FBI.

He paused for half a second and spoke.

“There’s a cafe over there. I want to get something to drink. Do you need anything?”

Professor Lumiere: “A cappuccino would be great.”

Sarrot: “Wait here.”

Professor Lumiere watched Professor Sarrot turn around and walk toward Starbucks. Lumiere put his hands into his pocket and wandered around.

Suddenly, a man in a brown jacket came over and asked, “Hello, are you Mr. Lumiere?”

Lumiere looked over suspiciously.

“Yeah, why?”

He didn’t remember having any friends in China.

The man said, “Someone is looking for you.”

Suddenly, Lumiere remembered the rumors online that Dr. Z was Chinese.

“Is it Dr. Z?”

The man looked around and spoke.

“Sort of.”

Lumiere totally forgot about his friend that went to Starbucks, and he immediately said, “Bring me there… Why aren’t you walking?”

“Dr. Z told me to ask you to think carefully.”

Lumiere paused for a second and frowned.

“Of course I have thought about this carefully. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have flown thousands of kilometers to a boring academic conference.”

The man nodded and spoke.

“Okay then, come with me.”

The man turned around and began walking toward a black Buick.

On the other hand, Sarrot was walking out of Starbucks with two cups of coffee in his hand.

He looked around and paused for a second.

Where is he?

Where did he go?

…

The Chinese state security department actually knew who Dr. Z was.

There were only a few people who could get their hands on the Mars bacteria. It was speculated that Dr. Z must be in China.

Regardless of whether Dr. Z saved the world, the Mars bacteria could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Thus, the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department began an investigation and even called Lu Zhou to ask about the situation.

After all, Lu Zhou had nothing to hide. Seeing how nervous the national security department was, Lu Zhou revealed everything to them.

Of course, only higher-ups in the national security department knew about this. Even Professor Liu Zuobing, who was involved in the project, was kept in the dark.

It wasn’t that Lu Zhou wanted to hide this fact, it was just that explaining things would be too troublesome.

However, Lumiere had no idea about all this.

He made many speculations in his mind.

Including the scenario where Dr. Z was actually secretly developing a powerful information technology weapon for China…

He didn’t expect it to be…

When Lumiere saw the man sitting behind the desk, Lumiere froze.

“You, you, you… I know you, you’re—”

“Let me introduce myself, I’m Lu Zhou.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Welcome to China, Mr. Lumiere.”

Seeing how easily Lu Zhou revealed his identity, Lumiere was a little shocked. He suddenly became nervous.

“Is it fine for you to tell me your identity?”

Lu Zhou said, “Revealing my identity to the public would be cumbersome, so I asked the security department to keep this a secret.”

Lumiere said, “I swear I won’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t be nervous,” Lu Zhou said. “Even if you leak the secret, you won’t get kidnapped.”

He paused for a second and continued, “At most, we might have to delete your social media accounts… and hard drives.”

Lumiere frowned and spoke.

“… I’d rather die.”

Losing those things…

Would be a death sentence.

“So, you just have to keep your mouth shut and nothing bad will happen.” Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “I’m allowing you to participate in my project. You’re not here to hear gossip stories.”

Lumiere nodded and said, “I understand… I didn’t expect you to be a computing expert.”

Lu Zhou felt his phone in his pocket vibrate and said, “Yeah… I study problems outside of mathematics.”

“I know, mathematicians generally are also good at computer science—”

Lu Zhou coughed and interrupted Lumiere, “There’s no need to kiss my a*s, I’ll briefly talk about your work here…”

Suddenly, his phone in his pocket rang.

This time, it wasn’t Xiao Ai’s message; it was a phone call.

Lu Zhou took out his phone.

“Wait a second, let me grab this.”

The phone call was from Chen Yushan.

He picked up the phone.

He was about to ask what was going on when he heard an excited voice.

“I have your test subjects!

“When do you need them?”

Chapter 1072: The First Customer

Chapter 1072 The First Customer

The phone call lasted for ten minutes.

When Lu Zhou heard that Chen Yushan had found the test subjects, he had a weird look on his face.

In some sense, this was a good thing.

He could finally put his technology to use.

Lu Zhou nodded without giving an opinion.

“Okay, I understand…

“Thank you.”

Then, he hung up the phone.

Professor Lumiere was watching Lu Zhou’s facial expressions during the phone call. After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he couldn’t help but say, “What happened?”

Lu Zhou said, “It has something to do with you, but not a lot. I will explain it to you later.”

He paused for a second and continued.

“You will have to wait until tomorrow to hear about your tasks. I’ll arrange for you to stay at a nearby five-star hotel. You’ll be moved to a permanent residence place in a few days. I suggest you go over the technical route you outlined today. I’m sure you already have a blueprint in your mind, but we still have to go over the specifics.”

Professor Lumiere paused for a second before his eyes suddenly widened.

“Wait a second, so you’re saying, I have to stay in China to participate in your project? Why didn’t you tell me this? I have my own job in Switzerland, also what about the visa—”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to hear about these annoying things, so he said impatiently, “Annual salary of one million.

“That’s in euros.”

Professor Lumiere opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“… Okay, I’ll write a resignation letter to my employer.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“Ok.”

…

After calling Chen Yushan, Lu Zhou had a rough idea of what her plans were.

There were several people in military uniforms, standing in the reception room.

Lu Zhou recognized the old man.

This person was none other than Qin Zhuangyan, the leader of the Air Force Equipment Department.

Back in the day, the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study cooperated with the Air Force Equipment Research Institute on many projects, including spacecraft power components.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense was also here.

Lu Zhou looked at how excited these two officials looked, and he knew that they probably already knew what was going on.

“Haha, Academician Lu, long time no see.”

Minister Qin shook Lu Zhou’s hand with a warm smile on his face.

After Lu Zhou let go of the handshake, he smiled and spoke.

“Yeah, long time no see.”

They hadn’t seen each other since their last meeting at the aerospace launch site. Minister Qin looked healthier and energetic.

After Lu Zhou made some small talk with Director Li, Minister Qin went straight to the point.

“I heard that you recently created a neural interface virtual reality technology? Can I ask, what exactly is it?”

Lu Zhou didn’t want to answer this question again, especially to a layman.

He knew that Minister Qin probably did not care about the technical details.

“It’s a bit complicated to explain, I can just show it to you.”

Minister Qin was relieved.

“Perfect!”

The group of people soon walked into a laboratory.

The two old men looked at the dentist-like chair and looked at each other with a weird look on their faces.

It was obvious what they were thinking.

Both Minister Qin and Director Li doubted if this thing was as amazing as the CEO of Star Sky Technology had claimed.

If the highly-respected Academician Lu weren’t here, they certainly wouldn’t be as calm.

“This is the… virtual reality device?” Director Li said. He looked at the poorly-made chair and frowned as he said, “Looks a bit simple?”

“Yes, it’s simple, it’s just an experimental machine.” Lu Zhou looked at the two and said, “Enough talk, who wants to go first?”

Director Li and Minister Qin looked at each other.

Finally, Director Li spoke first.

“I’ll go.”

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t say anything. He told a staff member to help Director Li connect to the machine.

A signal light began to flash as the machine began to start up.

The group of people waited a few minutes for Director Li to use the machine.

Minister Qin began to get a little impatient. Finally, Director Li took off his helmet with a shocking look on his face.

Minister Qin looked at Director Li and said, “How was it?”

Director Li gave the helmet to Minister Qin and said, “… I can’t describe it, just try it yourself.”

“Then get up, let me try.”

Minister Qin eagerly climbed on the seat and put the helmet on his head.

Lu Zhou nodded toward the staff member, who started the machine.

After a few minutes, Minister Qin took off the helmet. He was even more shocked than Director Li, and his hands were trembling.

There was only one reason.

Everything in the virtual world seemed too real.

It wasn’t just real, it was like everything was alive.

The tumbling red clouds in the sky and the blades of blue grass swaying in the wind reminded him of his hometown during autumn…

He couldn’t even describe what he was seeing.

He finally understood why Director Li was so shocked.

“This was incredible…”

After a while, Minister Qin had a serious look on his face. He asked Lu Zhou in a sincere manner, “Is it possible to use this machine to train pilots?”

Lu Zhou knew Minister Qin would ask this. He could even guess what Chen Yushan had told him.

He thought about it and said, “I don’t really know a lot about the pilot training process, but it is theoretically possible for professionals to develop a set of training procedures to mimic an aircraft.”

When Minister Qin heard it was theoretically possible, he immediately asked, “How much is the entire machine?”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“There’s no need to hurry, this technology is only semi-finished. I’m not done yet.”

“Only semi-finished?” Minister Qin paused for a second and said, “But I feel like—”

“You feel like it is perfect, right?” Lu Zhou continued, “It is only perfect for simple realities, but once the realities become more complex, that’s a different problem.

“Especially for something used to train pilots, not only will we have to simulate a plane cabin, but also the physical and aerodynamic environment of the entire flight process.”

“Basically, we need to first build a complete system for the virtual reality technology, then launch a set of development tools for this system.”

Minister Qin was a little confused. He pinched his eyebrows and said, “Okay, is there anything we can do to help?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“… Whether it’s for distributed computing methods or conventional computing methods, we need a large group of volunteers.”

Minister Qin looked at Director Li, then spoke seriously to Lu Zhou.

“… Is it safe? I mean, will the experiment affect the brain?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Not at all, in fact, the microcurrents exerted on the cerebral cortex by this device is tiny compared to the information load on the brain under normal conditions. You can even treat it as a relaxation method… Of course, the brain is still working, it’s not a replacement for sleep.”

Minister Qin took a while to comprehend Lu Zhou’s words.

He frowned and asked, “So there are no side effects?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

Minister Qin immediately asked, “How many people do you need?”

Lu Zhou: “The more the better, there’s no set number.”

“The more the better.” Minister Qin frowned and contemplated for a moment. He then asked, “Is one regiment enough?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 1073: Is One Regiment Enough?

Chapter 1073 Is One Regiment Enough?

Originally Lu Zhou thought it would be amazing to get 100 volunteers.

So when Minister Qin offered to give him an entire regiment, he was shocked.

Lu Zhou said, “One regiment is too much, I don’t have that many experimental machines.”

One regiment was at least 1,000 people, maybe even 2,000.

He needed a lot of volunteers, but not that many.

Minister Qin said, “Then give me a number, how am I supposed to know how many you need?”

“200 should be enough,” Lu Zhou said. He originally was going to say 100, but he decided to double the number just in case.

When Minister Qin heard the number, he was relieved. He would be willing to sacrifice an entire regiment, even two regiments, to get this technology on his hands.

However, the more people involved in this project, the more difficult it was to keep it confidential.

Minister Qin said, “No problem, as long as you can get the technology, we can get the people!”

This was a worthy sacrifice, as the potential of this technology was unlimited.

Once this technology matured, it would be able to achieve a full-scale simulation of reality. By then, it would not only be used to train Air Force, but also for conventional military exercises. Everything could be done in virtual reality.

The People’s Liberation Army could save tens of billions of military expenses a year.

These savings could be spent in places that needed it.

Like scientific research, or building national defense facilities…

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this technology could change the entire army and national defense force of a country.

This technology was worth it, no matter what the price was.

…

After experiencing the experimental machine, Director Li and Minister Qin didn’t stay here for long.

Before leaving, Minister Qin told Lu Zhou that the volunteer team would be arranged within a week and that Lu Zhou wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than research.

Thus, the virtual reality military team was created.

Because of its applications to the military field, the technology itself became much more significant and meaningful than before.

Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with Chen Yushan’s plan. After he obtained a visa and a place of residence for Lumiere, the project was going full force ahead.

Before he began building the entire system, he needed to first formulate an outline of the technical route, then build an algorithm framework. Finally, he had to collect and analyze the data from the volunteers.

On the third day that Professor Lumiere arrived here, Lu Zhou suddenly received an unexpected call.

“Hello?”

“Hi… I’m Sarrot. I didn’t expect this number to still work.”

Sarrot?

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“I haven’t changed numbers… Anyway, we haven’t spoken in a long time, why are you suddenly contacting me?”

Sarrot coughed and awkwardly said, “I didn’t want to disturb you, it’s just that… My friend seems to be lost, can you help me?”

Lu Zhou: “… Lost? Where?”

“Shanghai.”

Lu Zhou said in disbelief, “… Are you sure he’s lost?”

“Yeah, we were attending an academic conference in Shanghai, then he disappeared… He was standing on the street when I went to grab some coffee, then he was gone when I came back. I tried emailing and calling, but he hasn’t responded.”

Sarrot felt like his story was a little bizarre.

Lu Zhou was the only person he knew in China, so that was why he called Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and asked, “What’s his name?”

“He lives in Switzerland, his name is Lumiere…”

“Pff!”

Sarrot heard the noise from the other end and paused for a second.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou wiped the coffee from his mouth and spoke.

“Nothing… I’ll get my people to find him.”

Sarrot nodded and said, “Thank you.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“No worries, come visit me some time in Jinling.”

Sarrot: “No problem!”

…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the temporary virtual reality technology laboratory. He went into Professor Lumiere’s office and spoke to him.

“I know you’re excited, but at least respond to your friend’s email.”

“Friend? Oh right, I forgot. I’ll contact him later, I’m writing my resignation letter right now… You know, I used to work at the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center, and the director of the research institute views highly of me. He has said on multiple occasions that he intends to promote me to a supervisor. Now that I’m suddenly resigning, I have to give him a reason.”

“Resignation?” Lu Zhou had a strange look on his face, “I… already did it for you.”

“… Did it?”

Lumiere froze, and he stopped typing on the keyboard.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I used your email to send an email to the department of the research center… They quickly agreed.”

Everything went silent.

After ten seconds, Lumiere asked, “What did Academician Ines say?”

Lumiere stood up from his chair, his eyes were bloodshot, like he was emotional…

“Ines? I don’t know who that is.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m assuming he’s the head of the human resources department, I remember their reply was only two sentences.”

Lumiere froze.

After standing for a while, Lumiere suddenly sat down and sank in his chair.

“… It’s fine.”

He waved his hand and grabbed the mouse.

He put his two thousand word resignation letter into the recycle bin, then opened the unfinished research program outline, which he was planning on working on tomorrow.

Even though Lu Zhou felt a little worried about his mental state, seeing how Lumiere was still in the mood to work on the project, Lu Zhou felt like he should just leave him alone…

Lu Zhou patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t forget to reply to your friend.”

After that, Lu Zhou left his office.

Chapter 1074: Scientific Research Is Like Laying Bricks

Chapter 1074 Scientific Research Is Like Laying Bricks

What Lu Zhou did not expect was for Li Gaoliang to be the head of the research test subject team.

Thus, the army unit that he was going to work with was the…

“Li Gaoliang, head of the 1st Airborne Brigade at the Eastern Theater Command—”

Li Gaoliang stood with his back straight and reported himself to Lu Zhou.

“Stop, I’m not your lieutenant, you’re not here for a war, cut the formalities.”

Li Gaoliang awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of his head.

“The two hundred of us came here under military orders. Before we left, we were told to cooperate with Academician Lu and fight the battle of virtual reality technology. You are our commander. We will do anything you say.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “There’s no need to be so serious, the things you guys have to do are simple. I will brief you guys on the project soon and arrange specific tasks.”

Lu Zhou didn’t expect Minister Qin to send 200 people from the Airborne Brigade.

Lu Zhou looked at the over-enthusiastic Li Gaoliang and felt overwhelmed.

But after thinking about it, the Airborne Brigade were the closest troops from here.

They had the ability to travel anywhere on the globe within an hour. The Airborne Brigade was stationed at the Jinling launch site.

Lu Zhou brought Li Gaoliang to a laboratory and gave him a brief explanation of the situation.

Li Gaoliang noticed Professor Lumiere in the laboratory. He paused for a second and asked, “Why is there a foreigner here?”

He was told that this was a confidential project, and normally, foreigners wouldn’t be involved in projects of this kind.

Lu Zhou said, “Lumiere, he’s from Switzerland. The project is divided into two parts, one is the construction of the virtual reality system, which is for civilian use. There aren’t many Chinese talents in this area, so I poached him from the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center.

“He won’t participate in anything that involves military hardware and equipment.

“If you think there’s any suspicious activity, just report them to me.”

Even though this was unlikely, almost impossible, it was better to be safe.

Li Gaoliang said in a serious manner, “Don’t worry! I will watch him closely!”

“No need for that.” Lu Zhou patted Li Gaoliang on the shoulder and said, “He’s a good person.”

Professor Lumiere, who was sitting nearby, was secretly listening to their conversation.

Not because he wanted to, but because he happened to hear his name.

Unfortunately, he was sitting too far away. He had no idea what Lu Zhou was talking about with the tall, tanned man.

For some reason, he could feel the tall man staring at him.

When Lumiere made eye contact with the tall man, he felt chills down his spine. He quickly walked away.

When the man left, Professor Lumiere coughed and asked Lu Zhou, “There are a lot of new faces around the research institute today.”

“Yeah.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t plan on explaining, Lumiere couldn’t help but ask.

“… Who were they?”

Lu Zhou: “Volunteers.”

What the hell are volunteers?

Professor Lumiere continued to ask, “Volunteers? What do you mean?”

Lu Zhou said, “Since we have decided to build a distributed computing system, the more data we have the better… Didn’t you tell me that? Their job is to cooperate with our experiment.”

Professor Lumiere said, “But I feel like they’re from special backgrounds…”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “You don’t have to worry about that, it’s better to not ask so many questions.”

Seeing how serious Lu Zhou was, Lumiere gulped and nodded.

“Okay then.”

Lu Zhou nodded and changed the subject. “How is your work going?”

Professor Lumiere said, “I’ve already made some progress. I have built a machine learning algorithm framework. Now, we just need a powerful computer, preferably a supercomputer. Then we can conduct the experiments on the volunteers and collect the data we need to form an instruction set architecture.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and walked next to his computer.

“Let me see.”

…

With the volunteers in place, research on the virtual reality system could finally begin.

Most of the time, scientific research was an interesting thing for Lu Zhou. It was something that made him happy.

But this time was different.

The tedious and boring repetitive work made him feel as if he was not doing scientific research at all. Rather, it was like he was laying bricks.

When he first complained to Professor Lumiere, Lumiere looked at him in disbelief.

“… I can’t believe you think that way.”

Lu Zhou: “You think it’s interesting to work on these algorithms?”

“No, I’m saying… I’ve never thought about scientific research as being interesting. Most research is as boring as laying bricks. And you should be happy that our project is going quite smoothly.”

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “Most of the time I feel happy… Except for this time.”

Lumiere: “For example?”

Lu Zhou: “For example, when I was researching Riemann’s hypothesis. In the beginning, I tried finding auxiliary lines on the complex plane, but that didn’t work. Finally, I thought back to when I was working on the Navier–Stokes equations, and introduced differentiable manifolds—”

Hearing those mathematical terms gave Professor Lumiere a headache, so Lumiere quickly said, “Okay okay, I get the point. I don’t want to…”

Suddenly, Professor Lumiere stopped.

It was like he had lost his ability to speak.

Lu Zhou looked at him and asked, “What happened?”

“We did it…”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“I said we did it!” Lumiere said. He suddenly stood up from his chair and said, “Jesus Christ! I just thought of a brilliant idea! It will reduce our workload by 50%… No, at least 70%!”

Lu Zhou wasn’t amused by how excited he was. He spoke calmly.

“I remember someone telling me that scientific research is a boring thing. It seems like the tables have turned.”

“… That’s beside the point.” Lumiere’s eyes flashed with excitement. He said, “We just have to test our hypothesis. I can complete the virtual reality system within three days. We just need to compile a small software to test our system.”

Within three days?

Lu Zhou looked shocked.

In the original plan, they would have to work until next month to complete the entire system

Lu Zhou asked, “How do you plan on testing it?”

Professor Lumiere said, “Easy! We can try to restore a scene in a movie.”

Lu Zhou: “Sounds interesting, what movie?”

Lumiere: “The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, the Matrix, it doesn’t matter. The more fantasy-like, the better. The scene shouldn’t be too complicated. Although our system is flexible, there is no need to increase the workload for no reason.”

He stared at his screen and muttered, “This is so exciting!

“I never thought I could change the world…”

Chapter 1075: The First Testing of the Virtual Reality System.

Chapter 1075 The First Testing of the Virtual Reality System.

Li Gaoliang swore that this was definitely the strangest military mission he had ever done.

It had been a month since he joined this top-secret research project.

Their task was simple.

Their daily job was to lie down on a dozen or so devices and cooperate with the researchers here to complete simple actions in virtual reality environments, as well as completing multiple-choice tests…

Honestly, being inside a virtual reality world felt strange.

In the beginning, they had more common environments such as grassland, ocean, mountain, etc. Then they began entering into strange worlds, worlds made of fragmented objects that seemed like pieces of their memories.

That feeling was difficult to describe.

Sometimes, it made people feel psychologically uncomfortable.

But, just like Academician Lu had promised, they were given regular medical check-ups, making sure there were no side effects or reactions.

Li Gaoliang had nothing to complain about the mission. After all, Li Gaoliang had a huge amount of respect and appreciation for Academician Lu. Academician Lu was the one that helped invent the neural interface prosthetics. Without them, Li Gaoliang wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed.

However, Li Gaoliang didn’t know what was the point of these experiments.

He was walking in the corridor when he heard several soldiers talking inside the laboratory.

“… I feel my head and neck hurt every time I’m in the virtual world.”

“That is painful to you? Grow up.”

“It’s just not comfortable… Are you sure this thing won’t affect my brain? My mother said I’m not a bright kid, if this makes me even dumber—”

“No way! We have physical examinations once a week. If there’s any, they would have found the problems.”

“But who knows how accurate the physical examinations are.”

While the two were speaking, they heard a cough outside the door. They instantly shut their mouths.

Li Gaoliang walked into the laboratory and looked at the soldiers. He smiled and spoke.

“What’s going on, gentlemen? How come it’s so quiet now?”

The four soldiers felt intimidated, and they all held their breath, afraid to speak.

They had a serious look on their faces.

Li Gaoliang looked around the silent laboratory and spoke.

“You guys are soldiers, and it is your responsibility to do what you are told.

“If anyone wants to quit, they can get dishonorably discharged.

“Remember, I don’t care what your worries or doubts are. Shut your mouth and do your mission!”

Li Gaoliang shouted at the four soldiers.

“Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Li Gaoliang nodded and spoke.

“Dismissed.”

The four people sighed in relief. They put down their helmets and quickly left the laboratory.

Li Gaoliang looked at the people leaving. He then picked up the helmet and placed it neatly aside.

When he heard footsteps at the door, he looked up and saw Lu Zhou.

Li Gaoliang smiled and spoke.

“Academician Lu? Do you need anything?”

“Nothing.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I happened to overhear your conversation. There’s no need to be so strict.”

Li Gaoliang shook his head and spoke.

“Academician Lu, this is how the military is. I don’t know anything about scientific research, so I’ll listen to anything you say. But I know my men.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay then, I’ll leave you guys alone.”

He paused for a second before asking, “How is it going? You’ve been here a month, are you used to it?”

Li Gaoliang: “Are you talking about the experiment or living here?”

Lu Zhou: “Both.”

Li Gaoliang said, “I’m getting used to living here, but the experiment… I feel like it’s a bit weird.”

Lu Zhou said, “What kind of weird?”

Li Gaoliang paused for a second before speaking.

“I’m a straightforward and honest guy, so don’t be offended. I was told the mission was going to be about testing virtual reality training equipment, but so far, it feels like… we’re just messing around, not doing anything useful.”

He wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Over the past month, he had heard many soldiers talk about how they felt the same.

The soldiers of the Airborne Brigade had elite combat skills, and their loyalty was impeccable. Because of this, they were trusted to execute tasks under high stress.

However, when they did not have a target goal or a mission in mind, they would struggle to perform.

“How is it not useful? Thanks to you guys, the system is almost complete.” Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “How about this, I can show you what we’ve done.”

Suddenly, Lu Zhou said some unexpected words.

“Have you seen Starship Troopers before?”

Li Gaoliang paused for a second and said, “I think so… But I don’t remember much about it.”

Lu Zhou said, “What about Halo? The PC game.”

Li Gaoliang: “I don’t really like playing games, and the guns make me dizzy. I might play the occasional mobile game.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Good.”

Li Gaoliang was baffled.

He didn’t know why Lu Zhou was asking these irrelevant questions.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before speaking in a serious tone.

“Right now, I need you to find the best men from your regiment… Including yourself, I need ten people.”

Li Gaoliang quickly responded, “I need to know the specific mission details.”

Lu Zhou: “It’s sort of like an outer space airborne mission.”

“What’s the target location?”

Lu Zhou: “Reach, the planet in Halo.”

Li Gaoliang: “…???”

Chapter 1076: Battle on Reach!

Chapter 1076 Battle on Reach!

After three days of waiting, it was finally the day of the experiment. Li Gaoliang was lying on the virtual reality chair along with his soldiers. He finally understood what Lu Zhou meant by the planet “Reach”.

The boundless space, the cerulean planet, a giant starship…

“F*ck me! Is this… the Magpie Bridge?”

“Doesn’t look like it… Seems like something fictional.”

The people were standing in a room inside the virtual reality world. They all looked surprised.

This was different from their previous experiences of fragmented worlds; everything here looked so real. The textures of the materials, the sounds of footsteps, this felt like a dream.

It was almost like the laboratory in the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had teleported onto a starship.

The sounds and the feel of touch weren’t done by external equipment.

Just like the images they were seeing with their own eyes, everything was projected directly into their brains…

Of course, in addition to the view outside the starship window, what surprised them the most was the armor on their bodies and the guns hanging around their shoulders.

The sci-fi armor felt so realistic. Even though they were lying inside a small laboratory room, they couldn’t help but feel like they were in a real war.

“Why is the armor so heavy…” a well-built man said. He frowned and continued, “It must be at least 50 kilograms.”

Even though they were in a low-gravity environment, they could still feel the heaviness of the armor.

The weight of the armor gave them a sense of security, but they didn’t look relaxed at all.

Using unfamiliar equipment was a dangerous thing, especially since the armor was so heavy, one could become an easy target on the battlefield.

The shorter man standing next to him spoke.

“Is this bulletproof?”

“No…” a man said. He had a long-range rifle across his shoulder. He spoke in a calm manner, “It looks like an exoskeleton… The tactical eyepiece is equipped with a holographic display, and it tells you how to use the weapons in your hand.”

Suddenly, the cabin door opened.

When Li Gaoliang and Professor Lu walked in, the soldiers stopped talking and gave a military salute.

Lu Zhou nodded awkwardly as he looked at Li Gaoliang.

Li Gaoliang took a deep breath and walked forward. He looked at all of them and spoke.

“I know you are all surprised… In fact, I was more surprised than you when I saw this.

“This is just an exercise, but I hope you can treat it as a real battle!”

Li Gaoliang looked back at Lu Zhou and wondered if he could skip the military nonsense and begin the exercise.

However, he saw Academician Lu look interested and intrigued, as if Academician Lu wanted him to continue the glorious speech.

Li Gaoliang paused for a second and finally turned around. He spoke in a stiff tone.

“… Our allies on planet Reach are being attacked by hostile forces. Our mission is to reach the communication tower at the colonial outpost. This is to ensure the normal operation of the communication facilities. We also have to set coordinates for the airstrikes of orbital weapons.

“The manual for using the equipment is built into the exoskeleton. Press the button on the right side of the tactical eyepiece to begin the holographic control interface.

“Our spacecraft will arrive in the airdrop area in 20 minutes. You guys have ten minutes to familiarize yourself with the equipment.”

Li Gaoliang set a ten-minute timer on his watch.

Li Gaoliang stood still and looked at the people in the cabin. He then shouted, “Are you ready?!”

The soldiers stood up straight.

“Yes, sir!”

Li Gaoliang turned around.

“Let’s go!”

After the group of the people left the cabin, Lu Zhou went to the command center.

The workers here were all NPC with simple encoded behavior logic. When Lu Zhou walked into the command center, they did not even look at him. Instead, they continued to “work”.

It was like Lu Zhou was watching a movie.

And he was sitting in a front-row seat.

“… Watching movies with virtual reality is a pretty good idea. The audience can participate in the plot without interfering with the plot,” Lu Zhou said as he looked at the screen, which was showing the soldiers stepping into the airborne capsule. He said to himself, “Not bad, I should write down this idea.”

The group of soldiers stepped into the airborne cabin buffer room.

Under the instructions of the staff member… the NPC, Li Gaoliang quickly connected the life support system to his exoskeleton.

Honestly speaking, he felt a little bad.

He was an experienced soldier, but at this moment, he felt like he was a new recruit.

He heard a voice in his ear.

“Approaching the airdrop area in 30 seconds.”

“…”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

The countdown ended.

They heard a muffled click and began feeling a huge thrust.

“Successfully in orbit, airborne procedure beginning.”

“Good luck, soldiers!”

“Cabin is separated!”

The cabin began to heat up.

When they made contact with the atmosphere, there was a huge force pushing them into their seats.

Li Gaoliang clenched his jaw.

This feels way too real.

The feeling of descending from space feels exactly like real life…

They had already traveled hundreds of kilometers. Flames came out of the deceleration engine.

When they were 100 meters from the surface, the airborne capsule ejected a smoke bomb, exploding on the ground, covering the battlefield.

The airborne capsule crashed on the ground as the group of well-trained soldiers stepped out of the cabin door, set up their weapons, and opened the infrared imager on their tactical eyepiece.

However, everything was dead silent. There was no sign of life here at all.

One of the soldiers had their rifle pointed at a shadow nearby. He took a deep breath and asked in the communication channel.

“Sir, who is our enemy? F*ck… What are these plants, how come I’ve never seen them before?”

Li Gaoliang looked at the shadow nearby and checked his map as he said, “Apparently, they’re aliens.”

“Aliens? The f*ck?!”

There was no time for these people to stay surprised.

There was a sound of howls in the distance.

The high-pitched howl pierced their eardrums, sending chills down their backs.

They could hear sounds of footsteps in the distance, like animals running through a forest.

Suddenly, they could see red dots on their tactical eyepiece maps.

They could see sharp claws appearing from the smoke.

The soldiers had their guns ready to fire, their pupils shrank.

The enemies are…

Swarm Hosts![1]

[1] TN: species from Starcraft

Chapter 1077: What Kind of Exercise Is This?

Chapter 1077 What Kind of Exercise Is This?

The gun muzzle flashed as the bullets rained on the sharp claws, piercing through their flesh.

Lu Yong drew a pistol from his waist. He only had time to fire three bullets before he was assailed.

The claws pierced through his exoskeleton, but he didn’t feel a thing.

When he opened his eyes, he took off his helmet and sat up from the chair. He saw his teammate also awake.

Tian Yuping: “You died?”

Lu Yong looked at the helmet in his hand and thought back to the feeling of the machine gun in his hand. He nodded silently.

“Yeah.”

Tian Yuping: “How many did you kill?”

Lu Yong: “27.”

As the team marksman, he was using a machine gun, thus he had the highest amount of firepower.

Of course, even then, he could only empty half of his magazines before he was “killed”.

The aliens’ teeth and claws were just like in video games, just more violent and fierce.

Sun Zhu was sitting next to him. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Not bad! I died as soon as I landed!”

As the team long-range marksman, he was the worst-equipped in short-range combat.

Even though one of his bullets could kill one alien, he could not get into an advantageous position.

“F*ck! Isn’t this thing supposed to be a training exercise? When are we ever going to fight against aliens in real life?”

“It’s pretty fun as a video game.”

The group of soldiers still hadn’t recovered from their shock.

Suddenly, the team sniper spoke, “Did you guys notice that?”

Tian Yuping looked at him and said, “Notice what?”

Meng Donghai paused for a second and said, “Before, the sounds we heard in the virtual reality world came from headsets, but this time was different.”

Lu Yong nodded and spoke.

“Yeah… There was also a sense of smell, taste, and even heat… It almost felt like reality.”

Sun Zhu sighed and leaned back on his chair.

“Regardless, we were slaughtered.”

“They are aliens, we should still be proud of how we did.” Tian Yuping patted his teammate on the shoulder and said, “We’re probably the only people on this planet who have fought against aliens.”

“We didn’t really fight against them, it was just an exercise, plus we were dominated.”

“Exercise… How is this an exercise? We were annihilated.”

This resonated in everyone’s mind.

This wasn’t an exercise at all.

They were aerospace paratroopers, not cruise missiles.

Sending them directly into the middle of the battlefield was the same as suicide!

…

In fact, Li Gaoliang felt the same way.

When he heard Lu Zhou’s “mission score”, he spat out the water in his mouth.

“Mission of 1.76, that’s pretty low,” Lu Zhou said as he looked at Li Gaoliang, who was holding the helmet in his hand.

“Out of 10?”

“No, out of 100,” Lu Zhou said. “Unfortunately, you guys didn’t even pass the first mission. I thought that with such good equipment, you guys could at least reach the outpost. The traps and other alien species didn’t even come into play.”

The power of the soldiers’ equipment was somewhat equivalent to the level of Winter Soldier from the Marvel movies.

But the soldiers all died too fast, so Lu Zhou was slightly disappointed.

Li Gaoliang was furious, and he lashed out at Lu Zhou.

“What the hell kind of battle is this? So many enemy targets on the battlefield, throwing us airborne soldiers into the middle of the fight? What’s the point? Not to mention the useless equipment, might as well give me an AK instead, I would have killed way more targets.”

Lu Zhou awkwardly smiled and patted him on the arm. “Calm down, it’s just a game, not a real fight. If there are no enemies when you land on the battlefield, where’s the fun in that?”

Li Gaoliang: “…”

He felt like he wasn’t having fun at all.

Lu Zhou looked at him and changed the subject. “So, how was the equipment?”

Li Gaoliang thought for a second and said, “It feels strange… But interesting.”

Even though he wasn’t used to the equipment, he believed that there was nothing wrong with the equipment itself; he just needed more practice.

If he had time to familiarize himself with the equipment, he was certain that he could be twice as effective in combat.

Lu Zhou: “Do you want it?”

Li Gaoliang paused for a second and looked shocked.

“Isn’t that a simulation? You… can really make it?”

Lu Zhou: “It can easily be made in real life, but I doubt if it will be useful in practice. Actually, I talked about this with Minister Qin. The virtual reality exercise isn’t only for reducing training expenses, but also to test the technical feasibility of new weapons.

“The military equipment experts might not know what you guys need, but through the virtual exercises, they can easily observe what you lack on the battlefield.”

Li Gaoliang said, “… Thank you.”

If I had the exoskeleton on my body…

I wouldn’t have lost my legs.

Even though his legs were already gone, if this technology could really come to life, it would hugely benefit soldiers fighting on the front-line.

It wouldn’t entirely save them.

But, it would reduce casualties.

Lu Zhou looked at how serious Li Gaoliang was and smiled as he said, “You’re welcome, it’s my responsibility to support our country’s defense. In fact, I didn’t develop this for military purposes, I was just interested in the technology.”

“And now, your mission has successfully concluded, it was an honor to work with you guys.” Lu Zhou shook Li Gaoliang’s hand and said, “Congratulations on completing the mission, you can return to your base tomorrow.”

Li Gaoliang paused for a second and said, “Wait a second, you’re saying we’re finished here?”

“Correct, that was the final test, the VR system is finished. Thanks to your help, we were able to simulate the sound and touch brain signals.”

Lu Zhou looked at Li Gaoliang and asked, “Is there anything wrong?”

Li Gaoliang scratched his head and spoke.

“Actually… It’s not anything big.

“It’s just that, I’m still thinking about the battle just now… I want to try it again, can I try passing it?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “That was just a small test program, it’s not a video game.”

Li Gaoliang smiled and said, “I’m saying, I can’t stop thinking about it. Give me another chance, my people can definitely get to the outpost!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Looks like the VR system is not perfect yet.

I need to add some kind of anti-addiction mechanism…

Chapter 1078: The Shocking Replay

Chapter 1078 The Shocking Replay

The battle training mission was recorded.

On the day after the training mission, the replay was shown to Minister Qin in the form of a virtual reality replay.

This time, Li Gaoliang, as well as the nine other soldiers, all became NPCs.

Lu Zhou had become two people; one was in the form of an NPC, the person standing in the command room, and the other was his real character, which was standing next to Minister Qin as both of them spectated the battle.

The initial speech was over.

After Li Gaoliang announced for the team to “begin” their battle, Lu Zhou brought Minister Qin to the command cabin of the starship. They could observe the entire battle in this room.

The battle against the Swarm Host was tragic.

Even though Lu Zhou had seen the battle before, he still couldn’t help but cringe when Li Gaoliang was “sacrificed”.

When Minister Qin saw the sharp claws tore through the soldiers’ armor, his eyebrows twitched.

“Isn’t that… painful?”

The device Minister Qin was connected to was different from the experimental device.

He could even feel the warm breeze blowing on his face.

Everything felt so real, even to the point where he couldn’t distinguish this from reality.

He had chills sent down his spine when he saw the tragic scene of the soldiers. He clenched his fists.

Lu Zhou said, “No, they don’t.”

Lu Zhou was standing in front of the holographic console as he reached out and tapped in the air. He watched everything fragment into tiny pieces around him and spoke in a casual tone.

“You can try recalling the last time you dreamed. The stimuli that the nervous system can withstand in a dream are limited. Whether it’s pain, heat, or touch. When the stimuli reach the maximum level of the nervous system, you won’t feel anything. Instead, you’ll wake up from your dream.

“The virtual reality equipment is similar to having a dream. If the pain sensation, or other sensations, reaches above the threshold, the user would lose their connection with the neural demodulator and wake up.”

Minister Qin was relieved.

The battle replay was over.

Minister Qin took off his helmet and stood up.

“I am optimistic about this technology.” He stared at Lu Zhou for a while and said in a serious manner, “Actually, this isn’t perfected yet, right?”

“Of course.”

Another person might have skipped over the issues, but Lu Zhou had nothing to hide.

“Actually, I was talking with Li Gaoliang about this yesterday. Even though the virtual reality system can simulate a training mission, it cannot replace real live ammunition training. Things like muscle memory and battlefield intuition can’t be learned in the virtual world.”

Minister Qin nodded.

“I know what you mean.”

As long as machines did not completely replace humans on the battlefield, the VR system would still contain many limitations.

However, even then, its application to the national defense field was fascinating.

If an overseas embassy was hijacked, they only needed a map, an architectural drawing, and a small amount of intelligence. Then, they could perform a number of tactical simulations before the real rescue mission even began.

This would greatly increase the effectiveness of the aerospace paratroopers.

Lu Zhou paused for a second then spoke.

“… In addition to its limited applications, the technology has demanding hardware requirements. It is difficult for normal computers to handle this level of data processing, so it has to be at least server-grade, maybe even supercomputer grade. Otherwise, the virtual reality system won’t be able to run stably.

“However, even though the computation required is large, I believe that if we optimize the operating system, we can reduce the computation required.

“No to mention that even if this problem can’t be solved, it won’t affect this technology. Cloud computing is one of the major developing trends of the Internet. After 5G is completed, the computing work can be handed over to a central server, while the helmet acts only as a signal receiving terminal.”

After Minister Qin heard Lu Zhou, he took a deep breath and asked in a serious manner, “I have to thank you.”

“No need for that.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’ll be happy as long as it’s used in the right place.”

Minister Qin nodded and spoke.

“I can promise you that.”

…

Minister Qin didn’t stay at the Institute for Advanced Study for long. After chatting with Lu Zhou about the possible application of virtual reality in the field of national defense, he went to take a plane back to Beijing.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense also happened to come here today. After Lu Zhou came back from sending Minister Qin out, Director Li smiled and spoke.

“He left?”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou sat down on the couch and said, “The department plans on ordering a batch of VR systems, and they want us to compile a training program for them—”

Director Li quickly said, “There’s no reason for me to know that.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s not a huge secret… Okay, it should stay confidential, but you have the security clearance to know this, right?”

Director Li coughed and said, “Thank god I do… But I think you should be careful.”

“Okay then, I misspoke.”

Director Li changed the subject and asked, “Speaking of which, how is the development of applying virtual reality to the civilian field?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “The compilation of the virtual reality system has been completed, whether it is for military or civilian use. However, I haven’t decided on how to release this technology to the public.”

There was no doubt that once virtual reality was released, it would disrupt the modern Internet system.

Not only would it change people’s understanding of the Internet, but it would completely change how people interact and use the Internet.

Disruptive technology would inevitably bring disruptive effects.

In fact, Lu Zhou wasn’t really sure if the public was ready to see this technology.

Director Li nodded and took a sip of tea.

After a while, he spoke.

“Remember the thing I talked about?”

Lu Zhou: “What?”

“About releasing this technology to the public. Actually, we held a meeting before I came here.”

Director Li paused for a second and said, “Our suggestion is that, this technology mostly benefits society. You don’t have to wait for it to be perfect before releasing it.

“What if someone else solves the technology and releases it before you?!”

Chapter 1079: Another Bloodbath

1079 Another Bloodbath [Mission Evaluation: 81 points]

A light blue panel appeared along with the words “Game Over”.

“Not bad,” Lu Zhou said to Li Gaoliang, who had just taken off his helmet. Lu Zhou continued, “60 points is a pass, 81 points is pretty good.”

Lu Zhou clapped his hands and gave him a look of encouragement.

Even though it was slightly “cheating” of him to turn on orbital manual airstrikes, Lu Zhou also increased the strength of the enemies. Achieving 81 points was pretty good.

However, this was only a good score for filthy casual gamers.

For competitive gamers, anything below 100 points was a failure.

“Not good enough.” Li Gaoliang looked at the helmet in his hand and said, “There are still two medals I haven’t achieved… If I get the two medals and ensure all hostages survive, I should be able to get a full score.”

As Li Gaoliang muttered to himself, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but get a headache.

It’s just a simulation.

“Um… It’s just a video game.”

“… Yes, you’re right, it’s just a game. It’s not even a game, it’s just a training program.”

Li Gaoliang looked at Lu Zhou and said in a serious manner, “But in my eyes, every soldier is a living person! As a senior military officer, it is my duty to bring everyone back alive. If I fail my training, people will die on the battlefield. Anything less than a full score is a failure for me.”

Lu Zhou spoke.

“It’s just a game…”

…

In the end, Li Gaoliang wasn’t able to achieve a full score.

Not because Lu Zhou cared about the electricity fee, but because Li Gaoliang was here for too long. He had to go back and report to his higher-ups.

It wasn’t like he could report to his higher-ups that he was too busy playing a video game?

That would be ridiculous!

Therefore, Li Gaoliang finally left the laboratory. He even told Lu Zhou he was going to visit here often. In the end, he took his team and went back to their military station.

The day after Li Gaoliang left, Chen Yushan returned from a business trip from Shanghai. She came to the Institute for Advanced Study and asked Lu Zhou, “Did you talk with the people from the State Administration for National Defense?”

Lu Zhou: “I talked with Director Li two days ago.”

Chen Yushan asked, “What do they think?”

Lu Zhou said, “The State Administration for National Defense suggests we apply the virtual reality technology to civilian use. I searched for some papers for this area, and companies like EyeMynd and Neuralink are also researching in this area. No wonder Director Li seems to be in a hurry.”

Both of them were American companies that used completely different technical routes.

For example, EyeMynd and a bioinformatics company called EMOTIV were working with Facebook to develop non-invasive virtual reality devices. This meant they would use external detection technologies such as electroencephalography to achieve a connection to the virtual reality world.

Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, was dedicated to developing “brain implant” devices. Even though inserting nanoelectrodes into the brain sounded dangerous, apparently, they had made breakthroughs on monkeys.

The State Administration for National Defense wanted them to release the technology to the public as soon as possible, before the Americans could release theirs.

If virtual reality technology was going to become a crucial part of human social activities, it would be better to jump on the trend as early as possible.

However, even though Lu Zhou understood why the State Administration for National Defense felt this way, he disagreed with them.

Even though Neuralink had made some research progress, they were far from achieving the same level of virtual reality.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and jokingly said, “Looks like Star Sky Technology is going to set off a bloodbath on Wall Street.”

“Bloodbath, that sounds so violent,” Lu Zhou said. “I sacrificed a lot to create this technology.”

Chen Yushan: “… Oh, you did?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Of course.”

Fifteen thousand general points was not a small sacrifice.

Not to mention the time spent learning information science.

However, even though the sacrifice was big, the returns were also big.

If it weren’t for this interesting project, he would have never spent the time mastering information science and biology.

“This research project is probably over for you, right? I’m guessing you’re not interested in the business side…” Chen Yushan curiously said, “What now? What’s next for you?”

“Probably continue where I left off,” Lu Zhou said. “I’ve been procrastinating on the Grand Unified Theory of mathematics. After I solved Riemann’s hypothesis, I should have been working on that first.”

The reason why he decided to research virtual reality wasn’t because of how many general points he saved up; it was because he was inspired by the Dragon series chip product launch.

Now that this research project was finished, he planned on taking a few days off, then began working on unifying algebra and geometry.

However, he still had to visit one person before that.

Seeing how casual Lu Zhou was, Chen Yushan said, “Is that even possible…”

She knew Lu Zhou was talented.

However, unifying mathematics…

Lu Zhou replied, “Of course it’s not something that can be done by everyone…”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and looked at his right hand.

He could still remember standing in front of the whiteboards, writing the solution of Riemann’s hypothesis.

He could even hear the squeak of the marker as he dragged it against the whiteboard.

“But after I solved Riemann’s hypothesis, I feel like I’m very close to the finish line.”

Chapter 1080: What Is This Damn Thing?

1080 What Is This Damn Thing? On the outskirts of Boston, there was a research institute that covered more than 100 acres.

This research institute was originally a collaborative unit with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, controlled by a pharmaceutical company with a market cap of approximately US$2 billion.

Its research was mainly focused on clinical biology.

However, after it was acquired by the Boston Financial Group, they began to pivot. Their research became focused on human cryonics technology. Their funding came from a well-known cancer charity, which gave them a billion USD of funding. Their aim was to send terminally-ill patients into the future, where they had a higher chance of being cured.

This cryobiology research institute was now managed by Space-X, merging with Space-X’s frozen dormancy laboratory.

The reason for this merger was because both sides were going after frozen dormancy technology. However, one side was using it for aerospace uses, while the other side was using it for medical uses.

And there was one other reason…

Because both sides were related to David Lawrence from Boston Financial Group.

The cryobiology research institute wasn’t the only thing he had invested in.

He had invested in most of Space-X’s projects, even the ones that didn’t seem profitable.

Inside a cryobiology laboratory.

A huge cylindrical petri dish sat between two computers, connected by various wires. In the middle of the petri dish, there was a monkey lying quietly. If it weren’t for the beating lines on the electrocardiogram, there was no way to tell if the monkey was alive or dead.

After David Lawrence stared at the monkey for a long time, he spoke.

“How is the research going?”

Elon smiled and said nonchalantly, “It’s been going smoothly. A congressman we know persuaded the Congressional Budget Office that frozen dormancy technology is a crucial part of aerospace, especially for the colonization of distant galaxies. This allowed us to receive orders from NASA—”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

David Lawrence looked at the monkey inside the petri dish and said, “I have money, I don’t care how much money this is going to make. I only care about completing my plan.”

Elon looked at Lawrence and gulped.

After a while, he calmed down and spoke.

“I understand, Lawrence… In fact, I don’t care about money either, achieving my childhood dream is very fulfilling. However, in order to turn a dream into reality, we have to seek help from others.”

Lawrence nodded and said, “If NASA has what you need, then so be it. I just hope you don’t put the cart before the horse. I don’t care how many poor people this technology saves, this technology is important to me, I need it.”

Elon nodded respectfully.

“I understand.”

Elon was the new Silicon Valley star, the “Iron Man” of the technology industry. However, he knew that these heartless Wall Street animals did not care about his reputation.

Their wealth was accumulated in centuries, even the Internal Revenue Service did not know how much money they had.

They had connections in the entire financial system.

Sometimes, power was scarier than money.

Lawrence looked at the monkey and suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, there’s something else I care about.”

Elon immediately asked, “What’s up?”

“It’s about your company Neuralink and the neural lace project.” Lawrence looked at Elon and said, “I want to know its progress.”

The neural lace was a technology in which ultra-thin mesh with electrodes was inserted into the brain.

Using this technology, users would be able to transmit their own brain signals through external electrical electrodes. They could control electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, etc. They could even connect their consciousness directly onto the Internet and interact with people thousands of miles away.

People had been developing similar technologies for a long time, but it had only recently gained traction.

“We have been making some progress… but not much,” Elon said. He paused for a second and continued, “Establishing a brain-computer interface through nanowires is technically feasible, that is beyond doubt. However, the problem is that even if we make the neural lace thin enough, it is difficult to prevent it from permanently damaging the brain…”

Lawrence nodded and began to think.

Elon was wondering why Lawrence was interested in Neuralink when Lawrence suddenly spoke.

“If only the body is in a frozen dormancy state, not the brain… Is it possible to ensure that only a portion of the brain is dormant?”

Elon frowned.

“So you’re saying…”

“Looks like you know what I mean.” Lawrence smiled and lifted his chin. He pointed at the monkey and said, “I want to know, can I use the neural lace while in a dormant state?”

“I’m not sure…” Elon shook his head and said, “This is not my area of specialty. It is irresponsible to make any conclusions about a technology that has not been invented yet.”

“But theoretically speaking,” Elon said, “if we want to keep a part of the brain awake, then I’m afraid the brain-computer interface won’t be the only thing implanted in the brain. We would also have to transport oxygen and nutrients into the brain for it to survive.”

Lawrence: “So it is theoretically possible?”

Elon looked at him and held his breath.

He thought he was already a mad scientist; he didn’t expect to meet someone crazier than himself.

“The human body is a burden. The soul and consciousness of a human is its essence. I thought we would agree on this,” Lawrence said after seeing Elon stay silent for a long time. He looked disappointed as he said, “But that doesn’t matter, you just need to do as you’re told.”

A secretary standing nearby suddenly walked over with a mobile phone and whispered a few words to Lawrence.

Lawrence looked surprised as he stared at the phone. He raised his eyebrows as he spoke.

“Looks like something interesting just happened.”

Elon frowned and immediately asked, “What…”

Lawrence smiled and said, “Go on your phone and see what’s trending number one on Twitter.”

Elon took out his phone and opened the twitter app.

The second he saw what was on his screen…

His heart skipped a beat.

[The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study has achieved neural interface virtual reality technology, producing a seamless connection between the neural system and the computer system!]

[Star Sky Technology is openly recruiting virtual reality system testers from all around the world!]

When Elon saw this, his eyeballs nearly popped out of his socket.

F*ck!

Star Sky Technology!

Those b*stards again?!

Chapter 1081: Using This Technology to Travel the World?

Chapter 1081 Using This Technology to Travel the World?

Jin Ling University.

Mathematics department dorms.

Duan Siqi had just finished studying. He leaned back in his chair and took out his phone to check Weibo.

He was a freshman that joined the Jin University mathematics department this summer. He scored the top 200 in the college entrance examination for his state. He was quite a genius student.

However, when compared to the other students at the Jin University mathematics department, he was nothing.

Not to mention there was the student Li Mo, who received an IMO gold medal with full marks.

Li Mo was miles ahead of everyone else in his cohort. People wondered why he did not go to Shuimu or Yan University instead.

Time quickly passed by.

Duan Siqi’s break was almost over. He was about to put away his phone and continue studying. However, a news headline on his phone suddenly caught his eye.

“A neural interface virtual reality equipment?”

“Jesus Christ! Is this real?”

This caught the attention of everyone in the dorm.

Li Mo, who was studying, as well as three other people in the dorm, all took out their phones and went on Weibo.

Soon after, they saw the shocking news headline on Weibo.

“Jesus! Is this… the kind of virtual reality that places the entire mind into the virtual reality world?”

“That is crazy…”

Discussions began in the dorm room.

“Using nerve micro-current stimulation to input electrical signals to the neural demodulator…” Yang Shuang quietly read. He couldn’t help but say, “F*ck me, using electricity on the brain? Isn’t that going to fry the brain?”

Li Mo shook his head.

“No way, this project is led by Academician Lu! If there were serious safety concerns, they would definitely not release this technology.”

Duan Siqi looked at him and said, “You’re such a fanboy…”

“Of course!” Li Mo smiled and scratched the back of his head. “God Lu is my idol.”

The other two roommates looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

Duan Siqi smiled on the outside, but he was cringing on the inside.

Maybe geniuses all have a couple of screws loose.

He couldn’t imagine what it was like to worship someone to that level.

No matter how much he respected a person, he would at most give them a like on their Weibo posts. It was rare to see someone he admired in real life.

Moreover, this wasn’t the main point; the main point was the virtual reality technical problem.

Connecting one’s consciousness directly to a machine.

Experience an immersive virtual reality world through dreaming…

Is that even possible?

Even though he read through the news articles and statements, he still couldn’t believe this was true.

Duan Siqi suddenly noticed that on the last page of one of the articles, they mentioned that Star Sky Technology was recruiting testing volunteers.

The second he saw this news, he began to think.

Maybe…

This is a good opportunity.

Is this really as cool as it sounds?

Might as well sign up as a volunteer and try it out myself…

…

Frozen dormancy was not relevant in most people’s lives; neural interface virtual reality technology was much more relevant for most people.

The online novels, the anime such as SAO, Hollywood science fiction blockbusters such as “Ready Player One”, this kind of technology had been in mainstream entertainment for decades. The public had associated VR as a technology of the future.

People already began fantasizing about what being in a virtual world would be like.

Now that the technology was here, how could they not go crazy?

Right after the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology announced their major research progress on neural interface virtual reality technology, as well as releasing video demonstrations, major Internet forums exploded.

[Jesus, is this the real deal? Not the kind where you wear a display on your head?]

[This is probably fake news! Impossible!]

[Not necessarily, this is the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, the country’s top research institute! Also, Professor Lu is the research institute director, and he is a reputable scholar!]

[F*ck me, this is crazy!]

[Does this mean I can travel the world while being in the comfort of my own home?]

[You’re going to use this technology to travel the world?]

[What else am I supposed to do?]

[Maybe have a little fun… hahaha.]

Other than the optimistic voices, many people came out with pessimistic opinions.

A small number of people had expressed their concerns regarding the various sociological damages the technology might bring. More people expressed their doubts about whether the technology was even real.

After all, the idea of immersing in a virtual world was something out of a movie. Even though the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was reputable, the frequent academic fraud that came from Chinese researchers made people suspicious.

However, those people were the minority.

Because people quickly realized that the person in charge of the virtual reality project was Professor Lu himself!

This was like adding oil to a fire. Discussions went wild.

Professor Lu was the face of Chinese academia. Some people might have had some doubts in the beginning, and they thought maybe this was propaganda or an exaggeration of research results. However, when they heard Professor Lu’s name, all of their doubts disappeared.

Within the first hour of Star Sky Technology releasing their volunteer registration form, a million people around the globe had already submitted their applications.

The minimum age was 18 while the maximum age was 60. People from all age groups had signed up for testing.

Star Sky Technology clearly stated on their website that there would be no travel reimbursements, no salary, and that they would only provide food and accommodation. Even though there were only 100 spots available, that didn’t stop people’s enthusiasm for virtual reality technology.

They didn’t care about the money.

All of them wanted to experience what it was like to be immersed in a virtual world.

They wanted to be the first witnesses of a historic moment…

Chapter 1082: Meaning

Chapter 1082 Meaning

Because of the neural interface virtual reality technology, Star Sky Technology and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study were at the center of attention all over the world.

Lu Zhou, as the head of both Star Sky Technology and the Institute for Advanced Study, should have been standing in front of cameras, hosting a press conference, telling people about this new technology.

However, instead of being at a press conference and under the spotlight, he was quietly standing in a medical ward.

This ward had a special name. It was called the “Frozen Dormancy Ward”.

Terminally-ill patients from all over the world had been transferred here.

The cost of cryosleep was relatively low compared to being in an ICU.

Other than the expensive Martian bacteria extract, the cost of keeping the dormant device running was not high.

Of course, this was only cheap compared to other forms of treatment.

Standing next to Lu Zhou was a woman, who was also here to visit a patient.

The woman looked to be in her late forties, and she was holding the hand of a five-year-old boy. There were tears coming out of the corners of her eyes.

The person under cryosleep was probably her husband. The kid standing next to her probably did not know what was going on as he stood there silently.

The woman noticed Lu Zhou standing nearby, and she was shocked when she recognized him.

After hesitating for a while, she walked up to him while holding her son and asked carefully, “Hello, are you… Academician Lu?”

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you…”

Lu Zhou looked at the grateful woman and shook his head.

“I’m not a doctor, no need to thank me.”

“The doctor told us that you saved him… You saved us.”

Lu Zhou looked at her and waited for her to continue.

“We… actually don’t have any money,” the woman said with a bitter look on her face. She said while reminiscing about the past, “We sold the house and spent all of our savings on medical bills for my husband, but we couldn’t survive. A few months ago, my husband told me to stop the treatment and save the money for our son, but…”

The woman’s voice trembled as she took a deep breath. She smiled reluctantly.

“Anyway, thank you… Thank you!

“I’m just happy he’s alive.

“I’m bringing my son back to our hometown, so this is probably the last time we can see him. The doctor said the hospital in the future can definitely cure him, and I hope that’s true… I just want him to be healthy in the future, smoke less, eat healthily… I hope he doesn’t miss me too much…”

The woman realized Lu Zhou probably didn’t care about her personal life. She looked embarrassed as she spoke to her son.

“Come on, say thank you to this hero…”

The little boy blinked as he stared at Lu Zhou. He spoke in a timid voice.

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou smiled and rubbed his head.

“You’re welcome, kiddo, You should thank your mother, make sure to take care of her.”

The kid looked at Lu Zhou and said, “What about my dad? Is he going to wake up?”

“He will.”

The kid nodded as Lu Zhou gave him a look of encouragement.

The mother and son bid farewell and left.

However, when the mother walked to the door, she suddenly stopped and looked back. She bowed toward Lu Zhou before walking away.

Voices in the corridor were heard between the mother and son.

“Mom… Who was that guy?”

“He’s a scientist.”

“Scientist? I want to be a scientist…”

The conversation faded away as the footsteps became quieter and quieter.

Lu Zhou sighed. He felt a little blue.

He didn’t like being in a hospital.

There was a sense of sadness in the air.

After a while, he heard footsteps from behind.

He looked at the doctor and spoke.

“How was the test result?”

“They’re here…”

Lu Zhou took the medical report from the doctor and glanced through it. He looked disappointed.

Although he knew from the beginning that it was unrealistic to expect people in a cryosleep state to connect to a virtual reality world through their unconscious brainwaves, his heart still dropped to the bottom of his stomach when he read the report.

The only way was to wake up half of the brain.

But that was undoubtedly dangerous.

The doctor looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “Do you want me to explain it to you?”

“No need…” Lu Zhou took a deep breath and folded the medical report. He then stuffed it into his pocket and said, “I have a general idea of what’s going on, thank you.”

“Of course, no worries.” The doctor smiled and said, “I should be thanking you, the frozen dormancy technology and neural interface prosthetic have saved many lives.”

“Oh yeah?”

Lu Zhou looked away from the doctor, at the dormancy cabin nearby.

It was almost like the frost on the cabin glass separated not only space but also time.

The doctor looked a little downcast as he sighed.

“Do you need some time alone?”

“Sure…”

The doctor nodded and left the room without saying anything.

Lu Zhou was the only person inside the ward.

He looked at the dormancy cabin and suddenly spoke.

“I’m here.

“The next project is on the unification of algebra and geometry… I already have some ideas in mind.”

Lu Zhou gulped and wanted to say something, but in the end, he shook his head and smiled.

“Nevermind…

“Even if I tell you my ideas, you probably can’t hear them.

“I’ll save the suspense for the future.

“When you wake up, you’ll be able to read my paper. You’re my best student, so I’m sure you will be able to understand the paper without me explaining it to you.”

Lu Zhou stayed in the ward until a nurse came around for her routine check of the dormancy cabin operations. Lu Zhou left soon after.

…

After Lu Zhou left the hospital, he sat in Wang Peng’s car.

Wang Peng threw away his cigarette and started the car.

“Where to?”

“Airport.”

“Back to Jinling?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Zhou originally planned on staying in Beijing for a few more days. However, he wasn’t in the mood to visit his old friends anymore, and he wanted to go back on a retreat again.

After all, his friends knew that he was an introvert, so they wouldn’t blame him for not visiting.

The car began to drive as the two people stayed silent.

Wang Peng could feel the dull atmosphere as he tried to make conversation.

“There are people talking about you online, about the virtual reality technology.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you not interested?”

“I am, just not in the mood right now.”

Suddenly, the phone began to ring.

Lu Zhou took out his phone, and when he saw the caller ID, he frowned.

Normally, he wouldn’t mind talking to this person, but he was not in the mood right now. Not to mention he already ignored the call when he first arrived at the hospital, but this person called again.

Wang Peng noticed the call being dismissed by Lu Zhou.

Wang Peng looked at the rearview mirror and asked, “Not going to take that?”

“No…” Lu Zhou threw his phone aside and said, “It’s nothing important.”

Chapter 1083: Not Everyone Is Qualified

Chapter 1083 Not Everyone Is Qualified

“F*ck! He hung up on me again.”

Ye Nan angrily turned off his phone and threw it on the table. He leaned back on his chair.

The first time he called Lu Zhou, he didn’t get a reply, so he thought Lu Zhou was probably busy. After waiting for a while and calling again, Lu Zhou didn’t pick up either.

“He didn’t block me, did he?” Ye Nan sighed and muttered to himself, “Sigh, why is it so hard to do business these days.”

Sitting across from him was a thin man wearing glasses. He smiled and spoke.

“Calm down, bro, scientific researchers like him are idiosyncratic people. You can’t treat him as a normal person.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Ye Nan sighed and said, “But this is so annoying! This was my idea, he’s not acknowledging me at all!”

Ye Nan was furious. He slapped his thigh and wanted to swear.

However, all he could do was complain; he didn’t have the guts to actually provoke Lu Zhou.

Even though Ye Nan was a bit reckless with his money, he was an educated man, and he knew that he couldn’t afford to offend Lu Zhou. Otherwise, his father would give him a lesson.

That was the best-case scenario.

There was a chance for his father to never even talk to him again.

The man sitting across from Ye Nan smiled and suddenly spoke.

“Actually, it’s fine if Academician Lu ignores you, think about it… The virtual reality technology is already here, there’s no reason for them to keep it behind closed doors. Star Sky Technology is a patent authorization company. They’re not in the product development business. Which means they eventually have to cooperate with someone else.”

Ye Nan frowned and said, “So what you’re saying is…”

“Even if Academician Lu ignores us, that doesn’t mean we can’t take the initiative ourselves.” The man smiled and said, “What’s the first thing you think about when you hear the words ‘virtual reality’? I promise you, most people would think about video games!

“In my opinion, virtual reality has a huge edge over traditional gaming equipment. The gaming industry will explode over the next decade!

“And we are standing at an inflection point, the entire market is about to change. This means if we enter this market right now, for example, by acquiring a video game company…”

The man stopped talking, allowing Ye Nan’s imagination to run wild.

As expected, Ye Nan’s eyes lit up as he spoke.

“Good idea! That totally makes sense! Let’s go find which company to acquire.”

The man smiled and spoke.

“Perfect, I know a few video game companies that are looking for funding, I’ll recommend some to you…”

…

The reason why Star Sky Technology announced the breakthrough in virtual reality was to make it easier for them to find business partners. However, that didn’t mean everyone had the opportunity to become their business partner.

While Lu Zhou was heading toward the airport, a man in a suit was sitting nervously in front of a conference table at the headquarters of Star Sky Technology in the high-tech zone.

Sitting across from him was the CEO of Star Sky Technology.

After the confrontation with Tesla and ExxonMobil, this female CEO had solidified her name in the business world.

No longer did anyone talk about her dad being a high-level government official, nor did they attribute all of her achievements to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. They started to acknowledge her strength.

Even though the man was a high-level employee, he still felt pressured when facing an industry titan like her.

He took a deep breath and handed out a document.

“This is our cooperation plan… I’m sure you know about the future application prospects of virtual reality networks. Our company has a large user base of younger people. We will be able to help each other in terms of marketing and technology development…”

Chen Yushan picked up the document and glanced at it. She then threw it on the table and spoke.

“I want to talk with your boss.”

The man sitting across from the table was shocked, but he quickly smiled and nodded.

“Oh, okay.

“If you guys are not satisfied with our proposal, we can come up with a new cooperation plan that satisfies both of us. I sincerely hope that we can reach an agreement. When will we be able to talk—”

“How about next Friday afternoon, send someone important over,” Chen Yushan said. “I have a meeting with Penguin Group in an hour, this meeting is over.”

The man’s face suddenly changed.

“Okay then… Our boss will definitely come next time to talk about the partnership agreement.”

He picked up the document on the desk, shook Chen Yushan’s hand, and left.

The vice president of the company saw CEO Chen walk out of the conference room. He walked over and asked her, “CEO Chen, how was the negotiation?”

Chen Yushan: “They want to buy out our virtual reality technology.”

The vice president stumbled and murmured, “How dare they…”

“Yeah, they can keep dreaming.”

The vice president hesitated for a bit and spoke.

“I realized that most of the companies contacting us are Internet companies, especially whose business model is focused on video games.”

Chen Yushan: “Is that something worth noting?”

The vice president said in a serious tone, “I’m saying, shouldn’t we make video games ourselves? I think the proposal from our planning department is good. Making video games with this is straight up a cash grab.”

Chen Yushan shook her head and spoke.

“We are a technology company, not a video game company, not an Internet company. I’m not saying video games aren’t profitable, but it is completely unnecessary for us. Huawei has a good platform for video game development, do you see them focusing on video games?”

The vice president paused for a second and shook his head. “No…”

Chen Yushan nodded and spoke casually.

“Exactly, because it is unnecessary.

“They are building an ecosystem. Even if they do nothing, countless companies will join the ecosystem and help them promote the entire ecosystem. Huawei does not have to focus on the details, they can focus on the bigger picture and create more profits.

“We are also creating an ecosystem, but not on mobile devices. Rather, we are focusing on the future of the entire virtual reality network.

“Remember, we are already at the top of the industry chain. We just have to maintain our position.

“A video game lasts a decade at most.

“But a virtual reality network can last forever.”

Chapter 1084: Persistent Reporter

Chapter 1084 Persistent Reporter

Lu Zhou thought he could avoid being interviewed by going to Beijing, but the second he got off the plane, he was swarmed by media reporters.

Obviously, Lu Zhou had underestimated people’s enthusiasm for virtual reality technology.

The second he walked out of the airport terminal, reporters with cameras surrounded him.

Reporter from South China Morning Post: “Professor Lu! Is Star Sky Technology’s breakthrough in virtual reality true?”

Lu Zhou: “Go check the website yourself.”

Reporter from The Sun: “Professor Lu! We heard that the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center has done research in the same area, and your institute poached a researcher form them two months ago. Does this not classify as academic theft—”

Lu Zhou: “You’ll have to ask Professor Lumiere and list which papers you think were involved in academic theft. I hope you can prepare better questions next time.”

BBC reporter: “Hello, Academician Lu! Is Dr. Z a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study? We noticed a month ago he published a paper on arXiv regarding virtual reality technology. Can you tell us why he has remained anonymous?”

Lu Zhou said, “I don’t know, maybe because he wants to hide from reporters like you.”

BBC reporter: “Oh.”

Under the escort of airport security guards, Lu Zhou was finally able to get in his car, escaping the crazy reporters.

Lu Zhou leaned in his seat and adjusted his collar. He then asked, “How did these people know about my flight?”

He bought his flight ticket last minute at the airport. He had no idea how the reporters knew about his flight.

Wang Peng was also confused. As someone who was personally responsible for Lu Zhou’s security and privacy, this was undoubtedly his mistake.

“Maybe something is going on with the airline… I’ll investigate later.”

Lu Zhou: “No need…”

The reporters were just doing their job, there was no reason to give them a hard time.

Wang Peng looked at the rearview mirror and asked, “Where to?”

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and spoke.

“It’s still early, let’s go to Jin University.”

Wang Peng: “What about the luggage?”

Lu Zhou: “Just leave it in the car.”

Wang Peng nodded and began driving toward Jin Ling University.

…

Jin Ling University.

The end of the corridor in the mathematics department building.

When Assistant Zhao looked at the person appearing at the door, she froze.

Lu Zhou saw Zhao Huan looking at him and wondered if there was food stuck to his face. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is there anything wrong?”

“Nothing…” Zhao Huan shook her head and said, “I just didn’t expect… you come here today.”

Lu Zhou felt a little ashamed.

He told himself countless times that this year he would “focus his attention on teaching”. Many students signed up for his number theory course. However, after teaching the first two lectures himself, he had one of his PhD students teach the class instead.

He had no other choice. After all, he was too busy.

Lu Zhou coughed and changed the subject.

“Call the PhD students, as well as Professor Chen Yang, and ask them to come over to my office.”

Zhao Huan nodded and picked up the phone on her table.

“Okay.”

…

Everyone arrived soon after the phone calls.

The first to arrive was He Changwen. He Changwen had a laptop in one hand, draft papers in the other, and a backpack on his back. He looked like he came here in a hurry.

When he received the phone call, he was studying in the library.

When he heard Assistant Zhao say that Lu Zhou needed him for something, He Changwen immediately rushed over from the library.

He had been studying under Professor Lu for many years. Now that Professor Lu finally needed him for something, he almost started to tear up.

Finally!

This is my chance to shine!

He walked into the office and spoke emotionally.

“Professor! What do you need me to do? I’ll try my best!”

Lu Zhou looked at He Changwen and smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when the others get here.”

He Changwen froze.

“… The others?”

“Yeah,” Lu Zhou looked at him weirdly and said, “is there a problem?”

He Changwen had a reluctant smile on his face as he spoke awkwardly.

“… No, nothing.”

For some reason, Lu Zhou felt like He Changwen suddenly became less enthusiastic.

The office door opened, and Han Mengqi walked in holding a textbook in her arms. She looked at Professor Lu and asked quietly, “Did you need me?”

“There are some tasks I need you guys to do…” Lu Zhou said to Professor Chen Yang, as well as the other students in the office. He continued, “Good, now that you’re all here, we can begin.”

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke in a serious tone.

“When I was researching the Riemann zeta function using the critical line approximation method, I tried to introduce a differential manifold into the complex plane, which solved the sub-problem of nontrivial zeros.

“I’m sure you all have already read the paper, so I won’t repeat it again. You should be able to see that in addition to complex analysis, partial differential equations, and differential geometry methods, I also applied algebraic geometry in the proof.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second, giving the students time to digest the information. He then continued, “In fact, speaking abstractly, I built a bridge between numbers and shapes.

“This bridge is clear in my mind, and I can even describe it. As my students, you guys should know what I’m talking about, you should at least be able to see the outline of the bridge.

“And the bridge is our goal.”

The students were baffled as Lu Zhou continued in a serious tone, “From now on, you will all have an important mission.

“The mission is related to your future, as well as the future of Jin Ling University, and even the future of mathematics…”

Lu Zhou looked at the nervous faces and spoke in a more relaxed tone.

“Don’t worry, I have a rough estimate of your abilities. I will not assign work beyond your abilities. But I do hope you try your best.

“I handed in the research proposal a few months ago, I will give you the specifics in a second.

“I will finish this research project this year.

“We will unify algebra and geometry!”

Chapter 1085: Cloud Computing and Virtual Reality Network

Chapter 1085 Cloud Computing and Virtual Reality Network

“Can you see it?”

“See what?”

“The bridge…” He Changwen gestured with his hands as he said, “The bridge Academician Lu talked about.”

Han Mengqi placed her index finger on her chin and thought about it for a while. She then said, “I’m not sure if the thing I see is the same thing Professor Lu is talking about… But I think they’re similar.”

He Changwen thought Han Mengqi would be just as confused as him, so he was shocked when he heard her answer.

“The f*ck, you… can actually understand what he’s talking about?”

Han Mengqi wasn’t sure why He Changwen was so excited, but she nodded and spoke with a weird expression.

“Yeah… I can understand a bit, but it’s probably because of the research project I worked on a while ago.”

He Changwen: “… What research project?”

Han Mengqi: “The problem of transcendence odd positive integer numbers on the Riemann zeta function.”

He Changwen: “…”

Han Mengqi saw him suddenly become quiet, so she paused for a second before asking, “Is there a problem?”

“Nothing.” He Changwen shook his head and began to doubt his life. He said, “My research project was similar.”

…

On the other hand…

Inside a conference room at the Star Sky Technology headquarters, a man in a suit handed over a document with a smile on his face.

“Per your request, we have revised the original proposal. I believe this meeting will be more pleasant than the last one.”

Even though he was the CEO of Penguin, he did not look down or underestimate the young businesswoman standing in front of him.

Chen Yushan took the document and scanned through the content, and a slight smirk appeared on her face.

Ma Teng, who was sitting across from her, was watching her facial expressions closely when she spoke.

“A few items need to be changed.”

Ma Teng had a dignified look on his face, but he spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Go ahead.”

“Delete all the exclusive agreements. Our virtual reality system is not a platform solely for Penguin games. Also, I want your company to cooperate with us in collecting user data while adopting our virtual reality technologies, this is to improve the virtual reality system.”

Even though Ma Teng was a little disappointed that they were unable to reach an exclusivity agreement, he was glad he did not offend the Star Sky Technology CEO.

The technology was in its early stages, the game itself did not matter at all. Any game that provided an immersive virtual reality experience would be well received by the public.

Forget about collecting user data, if Star Sky Technology wanted a Penguin board of director’s seat, Penguin would consider it seriously.

However, it seemed like Star Sky Technology did not care to control Penguin.

As for collecting user data…

For an Internet company like them, that was a piece of cake.

How could anyone target advertisements without collecting user data? How could they provide a better service to their users?

Ma Teng nodded and smiled.

“If that’s all, then we agree with your proposal.”

Chen Yushan smiled and nodded.

“Then I wish us a successful cooperation.”

The negotiation went smoothly. The two parties were able to reach an agreement on the spot.

They would sign the specific contract in a few days after it had been re-written.

Ma Teng stood up from the conference table and smiled. He shook CEO Chen’s hand as he said, “I’ve heard stories about you, looks like I finally have the honor to meet you in person.”

“Oh, you’re too kind.”

“I’ve met many corporate executives, and few of them can achieve your success at such a young age.” Ma Teng smiled and said, “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet the other genius figure in your company.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Are you talking about Academician Lu?”

“Yeah…” Ma Teng nodded and said, “I heard he came back from Beijing, I wonder if I have the chance to meet him?”

Chen Yushan: “I’ll forward your message to him, but don’t get your hopes up.”

Ma Teng said, “Is he busy?”

“Yeah…” Chen Yushan nodded and said, “But more importantly, he’s not interested in business activities, unless you have something interesting to talk about.”

After Ma Teng left the building, Chen Yushan went back to her office and called Lu Zhou.

When the phone call connected, Chen Yushan had a smug smile on her face.

“It’s me, you busy?”

The other end of the line sounded noisy, like he was at a cafeteria.

Chen Yushan could infer that he was probably eating.

Chen Yushan could even guess what he was eating.

“Not yet, but in a few days I will be.”

Chen Yushan: “Then I won’t bother you with the product launch, as well as CEO Ma’s invitation.”

“CEO Ma?”

Chen Yushan: “The CEO of Penguin, he’s interested in talking with you.”

Lu Zhou, who was eating his barbecued meat on rice, shook his head and said, “Why would he be interested?”

“You’re too humble, there are many people that think you’re interesting,” Chen Yushan said. She cleared her throat and began to talk about business, “Ten minutes ago, we reached an agreement with Penguin. According to the contract, they will assist us in collecting user data, as well as allowing us to modify their video games and other products…”

Chen Yushan spent around five minutes talking about the negotiations with Penguin that happened over the past two days.

Lu Zhou quietly listened to Chen Yushan. He nodded and spoke.

“Nicely done.”

Chen Yushan smiled proudly and said, “Of course, I know.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “We can use this as a template to negotiate with other Internet companies. Also, there’s something I need you to do.”

Chen Yushan: “What?”

Lu Zhou: “We need to build a supercomputer center.”

Supercomputer center?

When Chen Yushan heard this, she paused for a second.

“… Doesn’t the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study already have a supercomputer?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “That’s for experimental use, it’s way too small. I need a commercial supercomputing center that uses massively parallel computing technology to process virtual reality network-related data. Now that we are working with other companies and commercializing our technology, it’s not like we can keep using the institute’s computer, right? It’s not appropriate, and it will use up research resources.”

“I get it.” Chen Yushan nodded and said, “So we need more computing power?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.

“Also, this is to future-proof our system.”

Compared with the planar network-based traditional electronic devices, the virtual reality system improved the way people interact over the Internet. It also exponentially increased the data and computation usage.

Lu Zhou had talked about this problem with Professor Lumiere, and they both agreed that they would not be able to sustain the continued expansion of the virtual reality network.

For the time being, they could use commercial servers, but they would have to upgrade to supercomputers within two years.

And in ten years, perhaps only the legendary quantum computer, capable of parallel processing and multi-threading, would be able to handle the calculations.

While it would be impossible for personal computers to handle this task.

Everyone would need an enterprise-level server, limiting the availability of this technology.

After Lu Zhou discussed with Lumiere, they decided the best method was to use a cloud computing system to handle the calculations, while the user only needed to receive the calculated data.

Thus, the only things the user needed to connect to the virtual reality network were a helmet and the Internet.

In fact, this arrangement wasn’t limited to virtual reality networks, but also the future of planar networks.

With more and more complex software, came more and more computation demands. The only way to improve personal devices would be to abandon the CPU or even hard drive and have everything done in the cloud.

Therefore, whoever provided the cloud computing services would have control over the entire virtual reality network.

That was more reliable and robust than having patents.

Whether it was for the next fifty or a hundred years, as long as Star Sky Technology had control over the cloud computing centers, they would forever be in control over the virtual reality network…

Chapter 1086: Noobs Are Weird

Chapter 1086 Noobs Are Weird

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Inside the virtual reality technology research and development laboratory.

When the signal light turned red, Ma Teng, who was lying quietly on the virtual reality experimental device, suddenly kicked his legs forward and sat up from the chair.

When he took off his helmet, his chest was pounding. He ignored his assistant, who was asking if he was okay. He looked at the helmet in his hands and spoke.

“This…”

His lips trembled as he tried to articulate. A staff member gave him a cup of water, which he quickly finished drinking. He then took a deep breath and spoke.

“… This is amazing!”

A Cerulean planet.

A forest filled with plants he had never seen before.

The violent Swarm Host creatures.

It was a completely new world!

He did feel a little uncomfortable when he first landed on the planet.

In his opinion, they should give the player an option for a more comfortable gaming experience. One that was without pain and discomfort.

While Ma Teng was pondering in his mind, Professor Lumiere, who was in charge of the virtual reality project, as well as Chen Yushan, the CEO of Star Sky Technology, walked over.

“How are you feeling?”

“It’s perfect…” Ma Teng gave the helmet to a staff member and took off his glasses. His eyes were still flashing with amazement as he said, “It’s like I was in a dream, but it feels much more real than a dream.”

He spoke in a determined voice, as if he had just made a major decision.

“I have made up my mind!

“Let’s develop a StarCraft-themed virtual reality game! The virtual reality will be able to display the glory of the stars and the planets! This will fulfill the dreams of countless teenagers!”

He paused for a second and looked at Chen Yushan with begging eyes. He smiled awkwardly and asked, “Can we buy… that planet?”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “That’s a free open-source model in the virtual reality development system. You can use it if you want, but—”

“A hundred million yuan,” CEO Ma said. “We will buy it, and you guys will teach our developers on how to use it. What do you think?”

Chen Yushan nearly laughed out loud as she nodded.

“Done.”

…

Ma Teng’s idea was actually very simple.

Developing the game was not the important part, the important part was to get the license for the first virtual reality online game. Using premade game engines and templates to create an online game as soon as possible, attracting players from all over the globe.

It wouldn’t matter even if the first game were to flop, they could always release a second game.

Not to mention, there was no way the game would flop.

Even though the first PC games were objectively horrible, they were miles ahead of the previous-generation handheld Nintendo gaming consoles. Once gamers saw the fascinating planet with their own eyes, they would be shocked by its beauty.

However, Ma Teng did not know that this planet was not an “investment demonstration” software made by Star Sky Technology. Instead, it was a “mini-game” compiled to test the stability of the system.

Even though Lumiere and Lu Zhou spent a few days compiling the software, it was nowhere near a hundred million yuan.

Chen Yushan felt like CEO Ma was making an impulsive investment. However, seeing how eager he was, she felt like she should just be a “kind” seller and let him spend his money…

While the two parties were ecstatic over their hundred million yuan sale, people were gathered inside an office at the Jin Ling University mathematics department building.

Because Lu Zhou rarely came to this office, other than his assistants, most of his students chose to study and work at the library instead.

The library had a better academic atmosphere; even Lu Zhou himself recommended his students to study there.

He never wanted his students to think of themselves as employees, clocking in for work. Even though this further enabled students that did not have self-control, it gave disciplined students more freedom.

The only thing Lu Zhou cared about was his students completing their tasks on time; everything else did not matter to him.

However, over the past few days, everyone had been clocking into the office every day despite Lu Zhou’s absence.

Li Mo opened the door, walking into the quiet office. He was about to say hello but quickly closed his mouth.

Ever since Lu Zhou first gave him an office tour, this was the first time he saw everyone sitting here. Normally, he would see them at the library.

Li Mo walked up to He Changwen, who was agonizing over a problem. He looked around and whispered, “Hey, bro, what’s going on today?”

He Changwen was so frustrated he wanted to pull the hair out of his head. He casually said, “The professor assigned us tasks, so I don’t have time to help you today. Go read through the textbook or find Dean Qin.”

Li Mo was perplexed. He never even asked He Changwen for help.

He looked at the draft paper on the table and spoke with a curious look on his face.

“What kind of research are you doing?”

He Changwen: “You won’t understand.”

“Bro, just tell me, I’m so curious!”

He Changwen looked at this persistent undergraduate student and smiled. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “Forget about it, your balls haven’t even dropped yet, there’s no way you’ll understand.”

After that, he took out a piece of draft paper and wrote down two lines of equations. He gave the draft paper to Li Mo.

“Go ahead, if you can solve this question, I’ll explain it to you.”

Li Mo stared at the question, he was dumbfounded.

The f*ck, I’ve never seen this type of question before.

But…

It looks pretty interesting.

His eyebrows began to furrow as he bit his thumb. He picked up the piece of draft paper.

“I’ll try my best… Looks a bit hard.”

A bit hard?

Haha.

He Changwen smiled and didn’t say anything. He continued to stare at the draft paper on his desk as he rubbed his receding hairline.

Around an hour had passed by.

He leaned back in his chair and was about to get some water. He suddenly saw a piece of draft paper appear on his table.

He looked up and saw the kid standing there again. The kid spoke with an agonizing look on his face.

“Bro, this question is too hard… I don’t know if I’m right, but this is all I could manage.”

“The f*ck!”

He Changwen bounced up from his chair and stared at Li Mo in disbelief. He gulped as he spoke to the teenager, “Undergrads learn about Riemann surfaces and n-dimensional complex manifolds? Did you take a graduate course?”

Isn’t this guy a freshman?!

“It’s not like I only learn from lectures.” Li Mo awkwardly smiled as he scratched the back of his head. “Professor Lu has a recommended reading list on his Weibo, right? I’ve been reading it since high school.”

He Changwen: “…”

Without saying anything, he picked up the draft paper and glanced at it with a sharp gaze.

“Let me see your workings.”

He could just be writing nonsense.

With some doubt in his mind, He Changwen began to read the workings on the paper.

However, the more he read, the more shocked he was.

Look at this proof!

Look at the theorems he used!

This doesn’t look like something done by an undergraduate student.

Is this the strength of an IMO gold medalist?

He began to sweat from his forehead.

Looks like the professor recruited another freak.

Han Mengqi noticed the ruckus as she walked over with a cup of coffee in her hand.

“What are you guys doing?”

He Changwen put down the draft paper on the table.

He did not need to say anything, his facial expression told the whole story.

He shook his head and gently sighed.

“I’m going for a smoke,” he said as he walked out of the office.

Han Mengqi: “…”

Li Mo watched him walk away. He awkwardly looked at Han Mengqi and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

Han Mengqi did not reply. Instead, she picked up the draft paper on the table.

She also had an astounded look on her face.

“You wrote this?”

Li Mo nodded and said, “Yeah, just now.”

“Knew it!” Han Mengqi nodded and said, “There’s no way He Changwen could have written this…”

Li Mo said, “That’s not nice.”

“It’s fine, he’s used to it,” Han Mengqi said as she put down the draft paper. She looked at the teenager and contemplated for a second before she said, “So you’ve finished studying your undergrad material?”

Li Mo nodded and said, “Yeah… I’ve read all the textbooks in my courses.”

“Are you interested in joining our research project?”

Faced with the sudden invitation, Li Mo froze, followed by a delighted look on his face.

“Pro-Professor Lu’s research project?”

Even though Han Mengqi despised the fact that this kid had a weird obsession with Professor Lu, she still reluctantly nodded her head. As Professor Lu’s amazing, generous, and kind student, this was her responsibility.

“Uh, yeah.”

Li Mo couldn’t believe his eyes, and he spoke in an insecure tone.

“But I’m just an undergrad, are you sure? What if I become a nuisance to God Lu?”

Han Mengqi said bluntly, “Don’t worry, most people never even get to talk to him, you won’t get the chance to become a nuisance.”

Li Mo scratched his head and said, “Oh, right…”

Han Mengqi then said, “Research isn’t something only graduate students can do. If you want to go down the path in academia, it would be wise to practice your research abilities, as opposed to doing textbook problems.”

This was from her personal experience.

When she was still an undergraduate student, Jin University and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had a research talent training program. This gave her the opportunity to participate in many research projects.

Including the lithium-sulfur battery project.

Despite being a rookie researcher, she made a non-trivial contribution to the materials used in the battery.

In the end, she left the world of chemistry and followed Lu Zhou’s footsteps into pure mathematics. However, the research experience she gained was still helpful to her to this day.

“Oh yeah, about this draft paper,” Han Mengqi said as she handed the draft paper to the teenager. She continued, “Your task for the next few days is to research the process of a journal submission, organize this into a paper, and publish it.”

Even though this wasn’t a particularly important mathematical proof, it was good enough to submit to a subpar journal.

Li Mo hesitated and said, “Are… are you sure?”

“Of course, this is an in-progress result, not to mention you did it yourself,” Han Mengqi said. She paused for a second and said, “Plus, if you don’t publish this, He Changwen would want to quit research forever.”

Chapter 1087: Motive Theory

Chapter 1087 Motive Theory

Inside a library activity room.

Lu Zhou was standing in front of a half-written whiteboard. He put down the marker in his hand, took two steps back, then spoke.

“… If we want to unify geometry and algebra, we have to change our view of numbers and shapes. We need to look for the similarities between their abstract concepts.”

Chen Yang was standing next to Lu Zhou. After contemplating for a second, he suddenly spoke.

“Like the Langlands program?”

Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, “It’s not just the Langlands program, but also motive theory. If we want to solve this problem, we have to find the relationship between different cohomology theories.”

In fact, this was a common problem.

The connection between different cohomology theories was divided into tens of thousands or even millions of unsolved conjectures and mathematical propositions.

The Hodge conjecture, which was an unsolved problem in the field of algebraic geometry, was one of the most famous examples.

However, interestingly enough, even though there were many difficult conjectures blocking the way, one could prove motive theory without having proven the other conjectures.

It was similar to Riemann’s hypothesis versus the generalized Riemann’s hypothesis on the Dirichlet function.

“… On the surface, it looks like we are researching a complex analysis problem, but in fact, it is also a problem concerning partial differential equations, algebraic geometry, and topology.”

Lu Zhou stared at the whiteboard and said, “A wise strategy would be to find an abstract factor that relates numbers and shapes. We can start with the relationship between a series of cohomology theories, such as the Kunneth theorem and the Poincare duality. We can also apply this method to the L Manifold on the complex plane, the one I showed you earlier.”

Lu Zhou glanced at Chen Yang, who was standing next to him. He continued, “I need a theory that builds on top of the classical theory of one-dimensional cohomology, which is the Abel Jacobi theorem.

“Using this theory, we can study the direct-sum decomposition in motive theory and associate H(v) with an irreducible motive.

“I planned on doing this myself, but there are other important things I have to do. I plan on finishing the Grand Unified Theory by the end of the year, so you’ll be responsible for this part.”

Chen Yang went silent for a while before speaking, “Sounds interesting… If my interpretation is correct, if we find this theory, it will be able to help solve Hodge conjecture.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“I’m not sure if it can solve Hodge conjecture or not, but it will inspire research on the Hodge conjecture.”

“I understand,” Chen Yang nodded and said, “I’ll give it a shot… I can’t guarantee I can solve this anytime soon.”

“It’s fine, this isn’t something that can be solved in a short amount of time. I’m not in a hurry anyway.” Lu Zhou smiled and then said, “But my advice is to give me an answer within two months. If you’re not confident, make sure to tell me in advance. I can do it myself.”

Chen Yang shook his head.

“It won’t take two months, two weeks should be enough.”

Chen Yang spoke confidently, like there was no doubt at all. The mathematical tools were already available, and Lu Zhou had even given him ideas on how to solve the problem.

This kind of work did not require out of the box thinking or creativity, it only required hard work.

And he had plenty of perseverance in him.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yang and nodded. He reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

“Okay, I believe in you!”

…

After Chen Yang left, Lu Zhou returned to the library and sat down in his chair. He flipped through the stack of theses on his table and continued to read while writing on a draft paper at the same time.

Looking at this from an overview perspective, the development of algebraic geometry could be split into two major directions. One was the Langlands program, the other was the motive theory.

The essence of the Langlands program was to establish links between seemingly unrelated areas in mathematics.

Motive theory, on the other hand, was less well-known compared to the Langlands program.

The paper Lu Zhou was reading about was written by the famous algebraic geometry expert Professor Voevodsky.

The Russian professor from the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study proposed an interesting type of motive.

It was precisely what Lu Zhou needed.

“… The motive is the root of all numbers.”

Lu Zhou muttered to himself as he wrote on the draft paper, verifying the thesis calculations.

“For example, if we have a number n, n in base 10 is 100, n in base 2 is 1100100, n in base 8 is 144.

“Its expression only depends on whether we choose to count in base 2, base 8, or base 10. All of them correspond to the number n, just written in different forms of expression.

“N has a special meaning.

“It is not just an abstract number, but more of a mathematical concept.

“Motive theory is about a collection of uncountable n, named N.

“As the root of all mathematical expressions, N can be mapped to any set of intervals, whether it is [0, 1] or [0, 9]…”

In fact, this was one of the core problems of algebraic geometry, which was the abstraction of numbers.

Different mathematical languages had been “translated” by humans through different notation systems. The abstract expression was the only true language of the universe.

People who used mathematics in their daily life might never realize this. Many religions and cultures that gave numbers special meaning did not actually understand what the “language of the universe” was.

People might ask what was the point of making calculations more complicated, but separating numbers from its representation could help people research the abstract meaning behind it.

In addition to laying the modern theoretical foundation of algebraic geometry, Grothendieck also proposed motive theory.

This theory was like a bridge that connected various cohomology theories and algebra and geometry.

It was like the main melody of a symphony. Ever cohomology theory could extract a theme from the main melody and modify it by changing the major, minor, or even tempo.

“… The cohomology theories form a geometric object. This geometric object can be researched using his framework.”

“… I see.”

Lu Zhou had a flash of excitement in his eyes, and he suddenly stopped writing.

He had a feeling that he was close to the finish line.

This type of feeling came from the deepest part of his soul, and it was the best thing he had ever felt…

Chapter 1088: Inspiration Comes the Same Way

Chapter 1088 Inspiration Comes the Same Way

With an idea in mind, there was only one thing left to do.

Lu Zhou borrowed the books he was still reading. He brought the books and printed papers back to his Zhongshan International mansion.

Every time before he went on a retreat, he would first take a ritualistic shower. After putting on a change of clothes, he sat down in his study room and took out a pen and paper.

[Define M~(k) as the following category:

[With object as h(X, e), where X is the smooth projective cluster on k, e is the idempotent element of the ring Corr0~(X, X) Q, and the morphism of Hom(h(X, e), h(Y,f)):=f·Corr0~(X,Y)Q.e…

[…]

The inspiration came in waves.

The speed of thoughts rushing into his brain was faster than the speed he could write at.

Lines of equations began to flow like waves, smashing against the rocky shore. The smooth pen tip danced on the paper, producing a harmony of mathematics.

Lu Zhou knew he couldn’t write down all of the thoughts in his mind. He began to wonder if he could “write” down his equations faster in a virtual reality world?

However, after thinking about it, he dismissed this idea.

Any creative work required a high degree of concentrated thinking. The neural interface virtual reality system relied on a process of dream simulating. The more relaxed the user was, the more immersed they would feel.

Even though the virtual reality world felt like real life, and the user would clearly remember what happened in the dream, they wouldn’t have access to the cognitive capacity for creative work.

He would be able to write faster, but there would be a decrease in his cognitive performance. That was undoubtedly a terrible trade-off.

“If I keep writing at this rate, I can probably produce some in-progress results by the end of the month…”

Three pages of draft paper were fully written. Lu Zhou leaned back in his chair and stared at the incomplete proof in front of him.

“The structure of the cohomology ring…

“And its invariant decomposition…”

There were only a few days until the end of the month.

Lu Zhou was determined.

He was going to stay at home until he finished writing the thesis.

…

While Lu Zhou was beginning a new round of retreat, at the Jin Ling University male dorms nearby, a young man energetically walked into one of the dorms and threw his bag on the chair.

Duan Siqi, who was working on his mathematical analysis textbook, looked at him and asked, “What’s the matter? Won a scholarship?”

Li Mo smiled proudly and waved his hand.

“Nope, there’s no way you can guess it.”

Yang Shuang, who was playing online chess, looked back and spoke.

“Then tell us?”

Li Mo unscrewed a bottle of water and took a sip. He quenched his thirst and said, “Professor Lu wants me to join his research project!”

The dorm went silent.

Duan Siqi, Yang Shuang, and Wu Di all looked shocked.

“The f*ck? No way, Professor Lu’s research project? The Fields Medalist Professor Lu?”

Wu Di put down his phone and joined in on the conversation. He spoke with a look of disbelief.

“Really? An undergraduate student like you… Why would they want you?”

Li Mo wasn’t amused by this, and he quickly made a comeback.

“So what if I’m an undergrad? I’ve already learned all my undergrad courses by myself! Also, Professor Lu said that scientific research is about putting in hard work. Whether you’re an undergrad or a graduate student, as long as you have mastered the basic theoretical knowledge, you can try to build on top of your foundation using research.”

When Li Mo was speaking, he felt his cheeks turn red.

In fact, Professor Lu did not say this; this was said by one of Professor Lu’s female students.

However, apparently that girl was one of Professor Lu’s long-term students, and she was taught by him in high school.

Therefore, it sort of counted as Professor Lu saying it himself?

“Also, half of the Fields Medalists have won IMO gold medals! Like Schultz, who won the same year as Professor Lu. His p-adic number and perfect space theory are regarded as having one of the most potentials in algebraic geometry—”

Yang Shuang clicked on his computer screen and turned his head. He asked curiously, “What is p-adic number and perfect space?”

“Sigh, I don’t know too much about it either…”

Duan Siqi was sitting nearby. He was watching everything unravel in awe. After a while, he sighed.

I can’t believe my roommate is so nutty, I feel so useless.

While the other students were playing League of Legends and shooting hoops at the playground, this guy was studying all of his undergrad courses. While they were cramming for exams, hoping not to fail, this guy was doing scientific research with God Lu.

Regardless of whether Li Mo was working side by side with Academician Lu, he was still in Academician Lu’s team.

As long as Li Mo took this research seriously, it would hugely benefit his career and provide him a platform for the future.

Duan Siqi began to feel jealous.

There was nothing he could do to compete with a genius freak like Li Mo. No matter how hard he studied, he would never catch up with Li Mo.

But then again, Li Mo was an IMO full marks gold medalist. Forget about Jin Ling University, even Berkeley and Princeton would pay for him to study there.

Duan Siqi watched Yang Shuang struggling to understand Li Mo’s explanation on perfect space and p-adic numbers. He suddenly felt a deep sense of frustration and didn’t even want to study anymore.

He took out his phone and saw the virtual reality game test invitation letter.

The first public beta testing of the virtual reality system was scheduled to be at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, next Saturday.

He had no idea he would be selected. After all, tens of millions of people applied, and only two hundred people were selected.

This probably used up his luck for the rest of his life.

He was planning on studying on Saturday…

Duan Siqi looked at the invitation letter and began to think.

Should I go?

Chapter 1089: An Exciting Future

Chapter 1089 An Exciting Future In the end, Duan Siqi decided to go.He could study at the library any other day of the week. It would be a waste to reject the invitation letter. Especially since he had used up all of his luck to receive this invitation.

Not to mention that he was too triggered by the fact that Li Mo was participating in God Lu’s research project.

Even though he never compared himself to Li Mo, seeing the kid brag in front of him every day made it hard to ignore him.

He wasn’t giving up on studying.

However, he felt like if he changed his environment, maybe it would benefit himself…

It was soon the last Saturday of the month.

Duan Siqi handed in his class assignment one day before the deadline. He ate some breakfast and headed toward the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Even though he had heard about this famous academic temple many times, this was his first time coming here.

After he presented the invitation letter to the security guard, he soon arrived at the virtual reality experience center.

When he arrived at the center, he was shocked by the crowd.

In addition to the 30 experimenters who were attending, there were also a dozen researchers and staff members, as well as security guards.

He thought he had arrived early; he didn’t expect so many people to come even earlier.

Duan Siqi looked at the crowded experience center and hesitated, unsure of what to do.

He was wondering if he should ask someone for help, but suddenly, a middle-aged staff member walked up to him. The staff member looked at him and then looked down at the name list.

“You’re Duan Siqi?”

Duan Siqi nodded and said, “… Yeah.”

“I’m the person in charge, the closed beta is about to begin. I’ll show you the equipment, come with me.”

Duan Siqi: “Okay.”

In fact, the equipment was very simple to use as there were only a few steps.

Lie on the chair, put on the helmet, press the power button. After that, the user would be in the virtual reality world.

The closed beta soon began.

Duan Siqi followed the instructions of the researchers and lay on the virtual reality chair. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down the muscles in his body.

He was worried about not being able to “fall asleep” into the virtual reality world, but he suddenly felt a tingling sensation from his spine.

When he tried to itch the back of his head, he suddenly began to lose consciousness.

It was almost as if his soul came out of his body and went into another world. Into a world that he had never seen before.

He was standing on a six-lane highway, there were no cars on the road. Huge futuristic skyscrapers surrounded him.

Many other people were standing here.

The person standing closest to him was a foreign closed beta tester.

This blonde girl looked like a YouTuber, and her eyes were wide open in disbelief.

He couldn’t help but look at her.

Everything felt so real.

He had no idea how they were able to capture their faces.

Reading brain wave information?

Active mapping by using subconscious hints?

Or maybe the helmet is equipped with a scanning device?

Duan Siqi touched his cheek and felt emotional.

The last time he felt this way was at the Shanghai Expo.

Back when he was still in elementary school, he went to the expo with his father. At one of the company booths, his father and he used a head-mounted neural scanning device to manipulate a toy car.

He was amazed, and everything he knew about the world had changed.

And now, more than a decade later, he was feeling the same way.

I can’t believe how advanced technology is getting.

“… This is crazy.”

…

It was eight o’clock at night when he finally returned to his dorm after a busy day.

Their job was very simple. Staff members assigned them to complete tasks in specific environments, depending on their real-life occupations.

For example, since he was a college student, he had two environments assigned to him. One was a library, the other was a classroom. His task in the virtual world was to listen to a math lecture in a classroom and spend an afternoon at the library.

This experience left him wanting more.

He came to the closed beta test to escape from studying. However, in the end, he still ended up spending his time in a library.

The next closed beta test was scheduled for next Saturday.

Due to the limited testing equipment available, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study told them that the Chinese closed beta testers would be allocated to the weekend slots.

Apparently, they would get to experience new sensations next time.

Duan Siqi was lying on his bed, scrolling through his phone. He thought back to what he experienced during the day and suddenly sighed.

“That was incredible…”

Even though he only tested a simple virtual reality game, in his mind, it wasn’t a game at all.

Shopping, entertainment, finance, public services, even education, military, politics, and other things existed in the virtual reality world.

This was just the beginning.

As for what could happen in the future…

He looked at the stars outside his window and looked forward to the future.

He opened his Weibo and typed out his thoughts. He attached a few photos he took this morning and made a post.

He was surprised to see that he began to gain followers and likes.

Li Mo was studying hard at his desk. He leaned back in his chair and turned off his lamp. He then climbed into his bed.

Ever since he joined Academician Lu’s research project two weeks ago, he had been studying non-stop. He would either be at his desk or the library.

Duan Siqi heard the crickets chirping outside the window as he plugged in his phone and closed his eyes.

Dorm room 201 was asleep.

While most of the people in this city were asleep, all the way in Zhongshan International, Lu Zhou yawned as he began uploading his first paper on his new project—research on motive theory.

On the other hand, the public was going crazy over the first closed beta test of virtual reality technology…

Chapter 1090: Crazy Idea

Chapter 1090 Crazy Idea

On the outskirts of St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Fontanka River.

An old man wearing a windbreaker was sitting on a bench. He looked at his watch, as if he was waiting for something.

Two teenagers wearing baseball caps walked past him while bouncing a basketball. One of them spoke to the other.

“Did you hear the news about the virtual reality closed beta testing?”

“I did, in Jinling, right? F*ck, I want to go!”

“Forget about it, people like us will never get the chance. I don’t believe they’re choosing people at random. Did you see YouTuber James Rolfe’s vlog? He said that if the virtual reality technology from Star Sky Technology is similar to SAO, he’ll eat his keyboard!”

“Haha, so did he do it?”

“Don’t know, but I heard after he returned from China, he ordered a keyboard cake from a bakery.”

“Hahahahaha!”

There was a pleasant atmosphere in the air. The laughter and conversation of the two young men gradually faded away.

Professor Faltings looked at their direction and frowned.

Jinling?

He didn’t expect to hear this word in a suburban area like this.

Faltings thought about Lu Zhou and had a nostalgic look on his face.

He didn’t care about virtual reality or the YouTuber.

Ever since smartphones came out, boomers like him had begun falling behind the new era of technology. Even if he wanted to keep up, he simply did not have the energy.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, holding shopping bags, walked up to the bench and said, “You actually came.”

Faltings looked at him and said, “Yeah, is there a problem?”

“Nothing, I’m just surprised to see the great Faltings in person…”

Perelman’s face was almost covered by the large baguette in his grocery bag. He took out a key and threw it in Faltings’ hands. He said, “My house is a bit messy, hope you don’t mind. Can you open the door for me later…”

“Sure.” Faltings nodded and said, “Do you need help with those?”

Perelman shook his head and spoke.

“It’s fine, I don’t need an old man to carry my groceries.”

The two walked toward the residential area and soon arrived at a cheap-looking apartment building.

No one could have expected a world-renowned mathematician to live in a 20 square meter apartment, whose neighbors were either elderly Russian folks living on welfare or unemployed millennials.

However, Perelman did not care.

After giving up the Millennium Prize Problems million dollar award, he was allegedly relying on his mother’s pension to buy groceries. He had been tangled in between ideals and reality, choosing to leave the community of mathematics over his strong moral principles. He resorted back to a 19th-century mathematics research style…

Which was, to be on a permanent retreat, closed from communication.

In some sense, he was similar to Lu Zhou.

The only difference was that Lu Zhou would publish any worthy in-progress results, and if he was too lazy to submit a paper, he would at least upload a preprint. However, Perelman had not uploaded his research results in a long time.

Perelman placed the groceries in the kitchen and wiped his hands on his shirt. He went into the tiny living room and was about to offer Faltings some water or tea. However, he suddenly noticed a paper on the table.

He looked interested, and he picked up the paper and began flipping through it.

“What’s this…”

“A paper on motive theory,” Professor Faltings said as he took out a vacuum flask from his windbreaker. He poured himself a cup of hot water and said, “The author proposed a very interesting idea to combine all cohomology theories into an abstract geometric object.”

Perelman said, “That’s a crazy idea.”

Faltings: “It is.”

Perelman: “So it’s like the mathematics Grand Unified Theory?”

Faltings: “It is.”

“I can’t believe there’s a scholar doing this… Wait a second,” Perelman said as he read the paper. His eyebrows furrowed as he said, “This paper… looks a bit familiar.”

Faltings had a smile on his face, which was a rare sight for a serious man like him.

“It looks like you have noticed.”

Perelman said, “Lu Zhou?”

Faltings nodded and spoke.

“Yeah.”

Faltings took a sip of hot water and said, “Three days ago, he uploaded this paper to Inventiones Mathematicae. I don’t know if he and the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union made an agreement on publishing to Inventiones Mathematicae, but that’s not the point.”

Perelman said, “The point is that he actually solved a weak form of Grothendieck’s standard conjectures, as well as finding a cohomology ring motive structure.”

“That’s right.” Faltings nodded and said, “I guess I’m correct, you’re the perfect person to review this paper.”

Perelman looked at the paper in his hand with a blank face.

“You didn’t come all the way to Russia, just to ask me to review an Inventiones Mathematicae paper. You could have just emailed me.”

Faltings nodded and said, “Of course, I didn’t come here for such a trivial matter.”

Perelman put down the paper and didn’t say anything. He waited for Faltings to speak.

Without beating around the bush, Faltings said, “Come to the University of Bonn.”

Perelman spoke without hesitating.

“No.”

Professor Faltings ignored his answer and continued, “The mathematics world has reached a critical crossroads. Numbers and geometry are going to merge into one abstract form. I wouldn’t be surprised if algebra and geometry are unified tomorrow. But it may also never be unified.”

Perelman muttered, “Isn’t Lu Zhou working on this research project? Just let him do it, there hasn’t been anything he can’t solve.”

“That’s not necessarily true. Seven years ago, he found a 750 GeV characteristic peak at CERN. He hasn’t been able to give a physical explanation for this peak.”

Perelman: “That’s physics, this is mathematics.”

“Yes, that is physics,” Faltings said. “But that’s not the point, the point is that this project shouldn’t be done by him alone.

“We can’t put all of our future expectations on him. If we don’t contribute ourselves, the academic world will never grow.”

Faltings looked at Perelman and spoke in a sincere way.

“The Bourbaki school of thought needs your help, the entire mathematics world needs your help.

“At my age, there are many things that are out of my control. I hope you can contribute to a cause you are passionate about.”

Perelman looked at the paper on the table and pondered.

“… I’ll think about it.”

He picked up the paper and said, “Let me finish reading this first.”

Chapter 1091: Phantom System

Chapter 1091 Phantom System

In order to respond to the public’s hype on virtual reality technology, Star Sky Technology held a product launch conference. Not only did they announce the technical details of the new “Phantom” virtual reality system, but they also brought out five demonstration helmets, which were attached to chairs.

The atmosphere of the product launch was pushed to a peak.

Exclaims of disbelief were heard inside the venue.

People were rushing to experience what it was like to be immersed in a virtual world, even though each person only had three minutes of experience time.

Whether someone was beautiful or ugly, tall or short, young or old… everything could be modified in the virtual world, even gender.

After the testing stage was over, Star Sky Technology CEO Chen Yushan walked on stage in professional attire.

She smiled toward the crazed reporters and their cameras, representing the corporate image of Star Sky Technology. She spent around five minutes explaining the “Phantom” virtual reality system.

What followed was the most exciting part of the entire product launch: the Qu0026A session.

In contrast to Lu Zhou, who always gave reporters a hard time, Chen Yushan was much better at handling interviews. No matter how tricky the questions were, she was able to answer them without losing composure.

Chinese reporters were mostly concerned about privacy and security policies, while western reporters were more concerned with the safety of the device, and when they could purchase it.

“Hello, I’m a reporter from Yomiuri Shimbun. Will the neural microcurrents from the technology cause damage to the brain?”

Chen Yushan: “Our technology is completely safe. It won’t be released to the public before going through various safety testings from state departments. Please rest assured, we would never release unsafe technologies to our users.”

“Hello, I’m a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. Does the emergence of the Phantom system mean that Star Sky Technology is pivoting from patent management to consumer products?”

Chen Yushan: “That is not our plan. Our business model is still focused on patent licensing and cooperative production. Basically, we will find appropriate partners to help us produce the neural demodulator helmets. The production process is not difficult. We want outstanding companies to work with us.

“We will focus on maintaining the Phantom system and provide cloud computing support to the Phantom users.”

Wall Street Journal reporter: “In other words, consumers won’t be able to purchase this device for a long time.”

Chen Yushan: “That depends on the safety inspections from the state. The Chinese market can expect this product to be launched by the end of the year.”

When the people heard that they could purchase this technology by the end of the year, there was a huge commotion. Reporters from other countries looked jealous. They had just experienced this technology first hand, so they knew the effect this technology would have on society.

It wasn’t just games and movies, its applications were endless.

Questions came one after another.

“Hello, BBC reporter here. What do you think about Professor Lu?”

This was a weird question since it had nothing to do with virtual reality. Chen Yushan contemplated for a second before answering.

“He is a great scholar and the brains of Star Sky Technology. Everyone in the company respects him.”

The BBC reporter continued, “What about his personal life? People say that—”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Please, relevant questions only.”

…

Across the Pacific Ocean, inside a mansion in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Elon Musk was sitting in his living room, watching the live broadcast of the product launch. He slammed his beer bottle on the coffee table.

“Goddamn it!”

Even though the reporters’ questions were annoying, one thing for sure was that their faces never lied.

This meant that Star Sky Technology wasn’t fooling around at all.

It was obvious that the legendary neural interface virtual reality device wasn’t just a gaming device, it totally exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Otherwise, the product launch wouldn’t have been so chaotic.

As expected, his biggest worry came true.

Elon took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

Finally, he made up his mind to call someone. However, he suddenly received a FaceTime call.

When Elon looked at the name on his screen, he had a weird look on his face. He put on a fake smile and picked up the video call.

“Hey, Lawrence, what a coincidence, I was just about to call you.”

Lawrence was in his mansion in Boston. He was in his study room, watching the broadcast on his tablet and calling on his phone.

“I knew you would call me, so I decided to call you instead. I like video calling instead of voice calling.”

Elon had an awkward look on his face.

He was about to say something when Lawrence suddenly smiled and spoke first.

“… Sure enough, Star Sky Technology didn’t disappoint me. Their virtual reality technology is astonishing.”

Elon: “But I think there’s potential in our technology.”

“I’m not denying that.” Lawrence smiled and said, “But that’s not what I’m concerned about.”

When Elon heard this, he was speechless.

Lawrence looked at Elon through the screen and spoke.

“Cooperate with Star Sky Technology, this technology will enter the North American market sooner or later.”

After a moment of silence, Elon said, “… It’s not that easy for them. Even if we don’t do anything, other people will try to stop them. From what I know, Zuckerberg is also in this field, as well as Google and Amazon… These Silicon Valley giants won’t just let a Chinese company come in and take their slice of the pie.”

Lawrence’s intentions were clear as day.

Obviously, he had already lost hope on the neural lace project.

No matter how you look at it, the non-invasive virtual reality technology was far more attractive than drilling in nanotubes.

Elon agreed with that too, but he had lost so many times to Star Sky Technology, he was starting to lose this mind.

It was a miracle he hadn’t given up.

Lawrence smiled and said, “That’s what Intel and Qualcomm thought as well, but in the end, they still compromised, giving up their silicon chip ecosystem. Do you know what I mean?

“Whether it is Facebook, Google, or Amazon, if they don’t compromise, they will be eliminated. This can happen almost overnight.

“In fact, if you know anything about the market right now, you will know that the stock market is slowly moving in certain directions. The carbon-based chips have totally changed the ecosystem of the electronics industry, while the virtual reality technology will change what we know of the Internet.

“These tech giants will be eliminated if they cannot keep up with the changes. New companies will emerge, this is almost inevitable.

“I don’t know much about the Internet, but this is what my consultant told me. The future of the network will change forever.

“I think he’s correct.”

Elon clenched his fist as Lawrence continued to speak.

“Regardless, I will get my hands on virtual reality technology. Whether it’s by cooperating with Star Sky Technology or by your neural lace project.

“The decision is yours.”

Lawrence smiled and looked at Elon through the screen as he said, “There’s only one way your project will stay alive.”

Chapter 1092: Winter Has Arrived in Silicon Valley

Chapter 1092 Winter Has Arrived in Silicon Valley

When Elon finally made up his mind to contract Star Sky Technology, he realized he was a step behind.

To his surprise, the first to react was Zuckerberg, the one he thought would be the most against Star Sky Technology bringing their virtual reality product to America.

By the time his secretary reported this incident, this lizard robot CEO had already liquidated their subsidiary company Oculus, laying off more than 2,000 employees. Only the core employees were maintained. It seemed like they had decided to cut their losses early.

Prior to this, when Facebook acquired Oculus for two billion USD in 2014, the public was optimistic about Facebook’s future.

However, things didn’t always turn out as expected.

In fact, Zuckerberg did not have a choice.

Maybe if they gave Oculus enough time to improve their head-mounted virtual reality technology, they could one day achieve truly immersive virtual reality.

However, when he saw that Star Sky Technology had already created the technology, he knew that they had no time at all.

Instead of letting Oculus go through an unwinnable battle in the virtual reality field, it was better to cut them loose and defend their core business.

He knew exactly what the core business of Facebook was, Oculus was just the icing on the cake.

Facebook could easily afford a mere two billion dollar loss. After all, Facebook had paid way more than two billion dollars in European fines alone.

However, for other Silicon Valley virtual reality startups, this was a nightmare. It was like a deadly winter arriving in the middle of summer; they had no preparation, no hope of surviving.

While the virtual reality startups in Silicon Valley were dying, many smart people like Zuckerberg had already begun negotiating with Star Sky Technology.

If they couldn’t prevent the change, they might as well jump on the bandwagon.

Most people knew that the Phantom system from Star Sky Technology had no competition, nor could anyone bypass their patent barriers. Cooperating with Star Sky Technology was the best option.

This was similar to when the Windows operating system was released to the personal computer market.

The only difference was that, not only did Star Sky Technology master the world’s first neural interface virtual reality system, but they also had control over the patents…

The tech industry wasn’t the only one that was affected, the financial markets were also hit.

Companies in the finance industry were evaluating the possible impacts of this new technology.

Star Sky Technology, like most companies with good cash flow, did not choose to go public. Hence, they could not use the stock price as a value indicator.

However, according to most estimates by Wall Street financial companies, the value of the virtual reality technology alone was already 100 billion USD, with the potential to grow even higher.

Not to mention this was a conservative estimate, without an understanding of the specific model.

If, like most people had speculated, Star Sky Technology pivoted to cloud computing and integrated the virtual reality network into one of many supercomputing centers…

Then it would be worth way more than 100 billion.

Its worth wouldn’t even be measurable.

Even though the Star Sky Technology product launch was generally regarded as satisfying to a certain extent, one conference was obviously not enough for this ground-breaking technology.

Many questions had yet to be answered, and reporters around the world wanted to interview Lu Zhou himself.

However, even though the reporters sneaked past security and went to the number theory lecture at Jin University, they still weren’t able to find Academician Lu.

It was almost like Lu Zhou had disappeared from the planet.

Only people close to him knew that he was going on a great retreat.

While the world was going crazy over the virtual reality technology, a paper published in Inventiones Mathematicae caused a commotion in the mathematics world.

The paper used a unique mathematical method to construct a cohomology ring motive, combining all cohomology theories into an abstract geometrical object.

Everyone obviously knew that motive theory studied the abstract behind numbers.

Lu Zhou was not satisfied with solving the two-century-old crown of mathematics: the Riemann’s hypothesis. Instead, he dove deeper into the field of algebraic geometry, specifically, the geometric structure of numbers.

This was no longer a quest for a mathematician; it had almost gotten to a philosophical, epistemological level.

If he could succeed, he would undoubtedly become the greatest scholar since Archimedes.

It would take a long time for someone to match his achievements.

In addition to this interesting paper, what surprised people was that the reviewer of this paper was Perelman, the math genius who left the mathematics community for years.

This eccentric genius once refused a one million dollar prize, stating his disappointment in the mathematics world. Now, he agreed to review a paper from Inventiones Mathematicae?

Most scholars couldn’t believe this.

Everyone knew he loathed the “arrogant” review process of academic journals. Almost all of his papers were published to arXiv.

He was one of the legendary mathematicians on arXiv.

Of course, even though the public was surprised, none of them were as surprised as Lu Zhou.

Three days before Lu Zhou submitted his paper, Lu Zhou went to his office and planned on teaching an undergraduate class. He saw someone standing in front of his office.

Lu Zhou was holding a textbook in his hand when he looked at Perelman. He was stunned.

Perelman: “What?”

“… Nothing, I just didn’t expect to see you here.” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “I think any mathematician in this world would be surprised to see you standing in front of their office… Why didn’t you send me an email? I could’ve had someone picked you up at the airport.”

“This is a university, right?” Perelman looked at Lu Zhou with a strange look. “Isn’t this the place to discuss academic issues? Do I need to send an email first?”

“Of course not, but usually, people give a heads up before visiting someone… Of course, I don’t mind.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “So, are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

Perelman spoke concisely.

“Because of mathematics.

“When I was researching your paper, I found an interesting point. When you abstracted cohomology theory as a geometric object, you mentioned that the motive could be treated as high-dimensional Jacobian curves, I want to know why you did this.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Actually, this is not my idea. I read it somewhere when I was reading Grothendieck’s paper on the Weil’s conjecture, and it inspired me—”

“Can you teach me?”

Lu Zhou looked at Perelman’s enthusiastic face and smiled.

“Of course I can… But I have a number theory class soon. I’m afraid I won’t be able to discuss this with you until four o’clock.”

Perelman looked at Lu Zhou with a sincere look and said, “No problem, I can wait!”

Chapter 1093: Perelman“s Visi

Chapter 1093 Perelman“s Visi

Lu Zhou wasn’t startled by Perelman’s visit, but the Jin University leadership team was almost frightened.

After all, this person was too famous.

Even people uninterested in mathematics had heard about this person that rejected the million-dollar Millennium Prize Problems award.

Many well-known universities, including Harvard, Berkeley, and Princeton, had invited him to teach there, but unfortunately, he rejected all of them.

This eccentric man, who rejected offers from universities around the world, was suddenly here in Jin Ling University, sitting in the back row of a classroom. How could people not feel spooked?

The only person that wasn’t spooked was the lecturer—Lu Zhou.

After all, Lu Zhou had met many people that were just as famous as Perelman.

Lu Zhou had clearly underestimated the impact of an internationally renowned scholar visiting Jin Ling University, especially for the Jin Ling University leadership team.

Ever since he returned to teach in China, Jin Ling University had become an influential mathematics university, purely because it was Lu Zhou’s alma mater. Lu Zhou was determined to make Jin Ling University a mathematics center of the world.

In fact, with the support of Lu Zhou and other alumni, other departments of Jin University had also grown substantially over the past few years, especially for the physics and computer science field.

However, even so, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It would take generations of scholars to build a prestigious university.

Perelman’s low-key visit agitated many people’s minds.

Director Chen from the university’s international department convened a meeting with the various departmental heads of the university. They discussed how to hire this big fish.

Dean Qin from the mathematics department spoke during the meeting.

“First of all, accommodation is the most important. Even if he wants to stay, he won’t be able to, unless he has a place to live.”

Secretary: “Do you have any good suggestions?”

Dean Qin: “The new faculty and staff dorms are pretty good, especially the No. 2 apartments. They were originally planned for talent attraction, but I think we can arrange for him to live there.”

The secretary asked, “What living conditions should we provide? What’s the equivalent title?”

Dean Qin thought and said, “Perelman is a legendary mathematician, so we should provide the standards equivalent to an academician.”

The secretary nodded and wrote down some notes.

Professor Perelman could easily go to Princeton or Berkeley and receive a US$300,000 annual salary, or as much as US$600,000, which was what Terrence Tao received. Arranging him an academician-level accommodation was more than appropriate.

If he stayed at Jin University, it would be a huge boost to the influence of Jin University on the international mathematics community.

The dean of the foreign language department said, “There’s also the food aspect. Russians have a different diet than us. We don’t have any Russian restaurants in our cafeteria, so I think we should add one.”

Dean Qin frowned and said, “A Russian restaurant? So like various types of bread?”

“Uh, yeah, but it’s more than that…” The foreign language department dean said, “Like… Borscht, Stroganoff, and Golubtsy.”

Dean Qin: “…”

Everyone: “…”

“We can consider that proposal and add an international restaurant as this will also cater to international students,” the secretary said as he looked at his assistant. “Xiao Wang, write that down.”

Director Chen from the international department felt like it was time for him to speak.

Otherwise, all of the good ideas would be stolen by others. He felt like if he did not speak now, he wouldn’t get a chance.

“I heard Perelman doesn’t speak Chinese.”

Everyone at the conference table looked at him; Dean Qin was speechless.

No sh*t, Sherlock?

Director Chen looked around the table and smiled.

“It’s not just Perelman, many visiting scholars and professors have encountered language barriers, cultural differences, and many other problems.

“We all know that Jin University serves our people, but it belongs to the world. In order to internationalize our campus and to create friendships, I suggest a strategy for our students to proactively help foreign students with their daily life problems.

“Professor Perelman is a respectable scholar and his scientific research experience can guide our students. Our students, on the other hand, can help him with daily life and cultural encounters. This will help him integrate into our society and make him feel like home.”

Everyone felt like this made sense.

The secretary nodded and thought for a second. However, he soon furrowed his eyebrows.

“… Wait a second, is that really appropriate?”

Teachers and students had a special relationship, and allowing them to communicate outside of academia could lead to problems.

The power dynamics would be disrupted.

Professors generally tried to avoid communicating with students outside of academic matters.

Director Chen smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Secretary, this won’t be a problem! The Jin University students will have the chance to learn about another culture, this is a win-win situation—”

The secretary thought about it and felt like it made sense.

However, Principal Xu, who hadn’t spoken yet, suddenly laughed.

“Director Chen, are we offering him a vacation or a job?”

Director Chen looked at Principal Xu and quickly explained, “Um… Of course we’re offering him a teaching position, but we want him to integrate into our culture, right?”

Principal Xu snorted.

“Integrate into our culture? Forget about it. Students and professors need to stay separate in their personal lives. Are you trying to find Perelman a son or a daughter?”

“Principal Xu, no offense, but you’re being too sensitive, this is for his benefit.” Director Chen sighed and said earnestly, “We’re a university in a developing country. Even though we have Academician Lu, who has helped us gain some international status, we don’t want to rely on him forever, right?”

Principal Xu suddenly laughed.

“Haha, I’m too sensitive? Funny how you bring up Academician Lu. Please, don’t compare yourself to him.”

Director Chen blushed, he was speechless.

Principal Xu looked at him and said, “I’m not going to say this again, but if we want to become a top-rated university, we have to become inclusive and not possessed by ideologies.

“How do we internationalize? Is it by measuring the proportion of foreign professors? What about judging by skin color? Are we going to hire inferior professors using racial quotas, in the name of equity? Have you ever been in a f*cking laboratory?”

Principal Xu came from an academic background, and he was even part of the 863 Program.

“But other universities—”

“No buts! How about you go to other schools then!

“We are hiring foreign scholars for research or for them to ‘integrate’ into our society! I don’t want scholars who are here for a vacation.”

The dean of the foreign language department was speechless. Director Chen shook his head without saying anything.

This was quite a preposterous proposal.

There was nothing wrong with students forming friendships with professors.

However, being forced into a friendship by the school was inappropriate.

A university was a place of academia.

This was the first time people saw Principal Xu this angry.

Director Chen felt mistreated. He only wanted Jin University to prosper.

But now was obviously not the time to argue. He lowered his head and spoke to Principal Xu.

“You’re right, this approach was wrong. I’ll go do some more research—”

“Research? Research my a*s!” Principal Xu stood up and said, “This meeting is over!”

Chapter 1094: Price Is Just One of the Reasons

Chapter 1094 Price Is Just One of the Reasons

After the lecture, Lu Zhou spent around ten minutes answering the student’s questions. He then put away the textbook and left the classroom.

Perelman, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, stood up and followed Lu Zhou out of the classroom.

He had a pensive look on his face as he suddenly spoke.

“That was a normal lecture.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s only a class for undergraduate students.”

Perelman: “Why do you teach undergraduate students?”

Lu Zhou: “Because revisiting what makes the obvious, obvious, can help us understand what makes the complex, complicated… In fact, this is what Fermi thought as well, and I agree with him. Maybe some of my students will become Fields Medalists, that will be very fulfilling.”

Perelman’s expression didn’t change.

His attitude toward mathematics was always a pursuit of purity. Therefore, he did not resonate with Lu Zhou’s words at all.

He thought for a while and spoke.

“… What makes the complex, complicated.”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “For example, motive theory and the Langlands program, these seemingly easy theorems explain less obvious principles. What is the essence of numbers? Our civilization has been thinking about this problem ever since the existence of mathematics. Great mathematicians are often theologians or philosophers.”

Perelman: “Are you a theologian?”

Lu Zhou: “Unfortunately, I’m a materialist… This is my office.”

Lu Zhou opened the door and turned on the lights.

Normally, there would be people here, but today was a Saturday. His three assistants left after four o’clock. While he did not require his students to come in on the weekends, most of them spent their weekends in the library.

“Help me move the whiteboard from the corner.”

“Okay.”

Perelman walked forward and dragged the whiteboard out of the corner while Lu Zhou took out a marker from his desk drawer.

Lu Zhou walked up to the whiteboard and was about to answer questions from his foreign friend when he suddenly heard footsteps outside of his office. An acquaintance of his knocked on the door and walked in.

“Academician Lu, sorry to bother you… Wait, are you Professor Perelman?” Dean Qin said as he looked at Perelman standing next to Lu Zhou.

He had just come back from his meeting and wanted to discuss with Lu Zhou on how to deal with this matter. He didn’t expect to see this big fish standing in Lu Zhou’s office.

Perelman looked at the old man and nodded.

“Yeah… Is there a problem?”

“No, no problem, I just didn’t expect you to be here,” Dean Qin said as he tried to contain his excitement. “You should have told us in advance, we can give you a visit around the campus.”

Perelman looked at him strangely and said, “I’m just here to ask Professor Lu questions, do I have to apply in advance?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean that, I’m just saying…”

Dean Qin awkwardly tried to explain as Lu Zhou shook his head and spoke first.

“It’s fine, Perelman.”

Dean Qin sighed in relief and said, “Okay then… I’ll talk to you later.”

Dean Qin left the office and closed the door.

Perelman was confused. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “What was that about?”

“Nothing.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the whiteboard as he said, “Let’s continue.”

…

Perelman was obviously prepared for his visit to China.

He even carried around a little notebook, filled with commonly used Chinese phrases, as well as notes he made when he was reading Lu Zhou’s paper.

Honestly, Lu Zhou had a hard time answering Perelman’s questions. He could only answer around 60% of them.

“… That’s an interesting question, but that’s all I can answer. I might have to get back to you after I finish my research.”

“No worries.” Perelman closed his notebook and shook his head as he said, “I thought we could discuss these questions together, I didn’t expect you to answer so many of them…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

The f*ck.

Why didn’t you tell me that earlier!

Lu Zhou thought Perelman’s questions came from reading the paper. However, he didn’t expect the problems to be unrelated to the paper.

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke humbly.

“Judging from your questions, clearly you’re also interested in the Grand Unified Theory. It just so happens that my research group still needs people… I don’t know if you’re interested.”

Lu Zhou did not have a lot of hope. After all, Perelman was infamous for his introverted temperament.

However, Perelman’s answer surprised Lu Zhou. Perelman spoke without any hesitation.

“If you think I can be of help, please let me join.”

Lu Zhou was speechless. Perelman frowned and spoke.

“… Is there a problem?”

“… Nothing, I just didn’t expect you to agree so readily.”

Lu Zhou snapped back to reality and said, “Of course you can be of help, we can build this mathematical tower together… Welcome, partner.”

Lu Zhou turned around to his desk and took out a document from his drawer. He glanced at the document and made sure he had the correct one before handing it to Perelman.

“This is a visiting and exchange document, it has already been stamped. Just sign your name, you’ll be able to receive a long-term visa with this.

“Also, I’m assuming you don’t have a place to stay. The newly-built dorms at the Jin Ling University apartments are pretty good, they’re around 90 square meters, located near campus, close to the mathematics department buildings and library. I can apply a visiting scholar status for you, you just have to sign this document—”

Perelman paused for a second and interrupted him, “Wait a second, what is a visiting scholar?”

Lu Zhou: “Like the name implies, you’ll be working at Jin Ling University with an equivalent role of a distinguished professor.”

Perelman said, “I don’t want to work, I’m not interested in teaching. I’m leaving here after we finish the Grand Unified Theory of algebra and geometry. I can sleep on the sofa if needed, I don’t need an apartment.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “No, we can’t do that. Even if you want to sleep on a sofa, you need a roof to sleep under.”

Perelman shrugged and said, “I heard Schultz say your house is pretty big.”

Lu Zhou said, “… Forget about it, no one outside of my family has slept in my house before.”

Perelman: “…”

Seeing how Perelman was hesitant, Lu Zhou said, “You don’t have to worry about teaching. Being a distinguished professor doesn’t mean you have to teach. Of course, if you want to, I’m sure the students would be grateful for your generosity. You’ll also receive more salary.”

Perelman said, “It’s not that I don’t like teaching, I just don’t want to waste time on trivial matters.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m not forcing you.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“No worries.” Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his hand as he said, “It’s an honor to work on this great project with you.”

Perelman shook Lu Zhou’s hand and smiled.

However, he quickly realized something as he spoke.

“I… need a favor.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Go ahead.”

Perelman coughed and spoke.

“90 square meters is too big, can you get me a smaller apartment, maybe 20 square meters… I feel uncomfortable in large spaces.”

Lu Zhou looked at him strangely and said, “I thought you lived in a small apartment because it’s cheap.”

Perelman spoke.

“The price is only one of the reasons.”

Chapter 1095: Pigs Are Flying

1095 Pigs Are Flying As soon as the weekend passed, Lu Zhou’s office became lively again.

Assistant Zhao said that Professor Lu had something important to announce. Thus, all of the students in the research project group got up early, ate their breakfast, and rushed into the office.

“Allow me to introduce our new group member,” Lu Zhou said as he patted the shoulder of the strange man standing next to him. Lu Zhou looked at the astonished students and cleared his throat. He said, “This is Professor Perelman, a mathematician from St. Petersburg. He will stay here for the rest of the year… if we can finish the Grand Unified Theory by the end of the year.”

The office went silent for a few seconds.

Then, a pen fell onto the ground.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the office exploded.

“What! Perelman? The… big name that solved the Poincaré conjecture?”

“No way… I heard he quit mathematics?”

Perelman!

The man that never left his house, the man that rejected the secretary-general of the International Mathematical Union!

If it weren’t for Lu Zhou’s serious expression, everyone in the office, including Han Mengqi, would have thought Lu Zhou was joking.

Perelman did not understand Chinese, so he didn’t know what everyone was talking about. He thought they were welcoming him, so he said, “Thank you.”

Chen Yang, who finally recovered from the initial shock, looked at Perelman. He excitedly spoke.

“… I’ve read your paper before!”

Perelman didn’t know how to answer the question. He hesitated for a second and nodded.

“Yeah.”

…

Lu Zhou had heard about Perelman being an idiosyncratic person, so he was a little worried Perelman would not be able to integrate into his research group, or perhaps there would be communication problems. However, he realized quickly that his worries were superfluous.

What surprised Lu Zhou the most was Chen Yang’s relationship with Perelman.

Both of them were taciturn people, people that only talked about mathematics and their work. It seemed like this kind of straightforward communication method was able to overcome any communication barriers.

For the next stage of research, Lu Zhou asked Perelman to participate in Chen Yang’s research project, which was to study direct-sum decomposition in motive theory, something that was related to the irreducible motive H(V).

This research project was half done, but due to various reasons, the progress was relatively slow.

According to Chen Yang, due to Professor Perelman’s help, the speed of the research project had increased dramatically.

Within a week, the two people came up with a groundbreaking method, completing the last problem of the project, which was to establish a close relationship between H(V) and the irreducible motive.

The resulting paper was co-signed by the two and the preprint was uploaded to arXiv, while the paper was submitted to the mathematics sub-journal of Future.

The day after the paper was uploaded to arXiv, the mathematics community was astonished by this unprecedented event.

Perelman, who publicly announced his withdrawal from the mathematics community, had published a paper to arXiv?

Also, the research unit that signed the paper was Jin Ling University, the university at which Professor Lu worked…

It was like pigs were starting to fly!

…

Germany, University of Bonn.

Inside a stylish cafe.

Faltings looked at the newly-published paper and shook his head.

He did not expect Perelman to have this kind of response after initially reading Lu Zhou’s paper.

He was both gratified and confused. He felt a mix of complicated emotions.

Schultz noticed the old man’s expression. He took a sip of coffee and spoke with a sigh.

“I can’t believe he actually went to Jin Ling University.”

He and Professor Faltings visited Perelman in St. Petersburg, trying to invite him to the University of Bonn, to work with them on the Grand Unified Theory of algebra and geometry, opening up a new school of thought for the Bourbaki Group.

However, their efforts were to no avail as Perelman chose Lu Zhou on his own volition.

Faltings looked outside the window and suddenly said, “What do you think about this paper?”

After Schultz thought for a while, he said, “It’s amazing… It’s honestly shocking. I can’t even describe the importance of their work in the field of motive theory and Grothendieck’s standard conjectures. I think any scholar in this field worth their salt will say that they have made a huge step toward Grand Unified Theory.”

After hearing Schultz’s words, Professor Faltings nodded.

He totally agreed with Schultz’s words.

Establishing an abstract meaning of numbers and shapes in the context of motive theory and Langlands program meant that their research was far ahead of the rest of the world.

It was almost as if most scholars in the world were making fire with friction and wood, while they were using a flint fire striker.

Only top scholars in the field of algebraic geometry could differentiate the good from the best.

Schultz looked at Faltings and sighed as he spoke.

“The reason I have been researching complete metric spaces is precisely to find a theorem like this. I created the p-adic number and Diamond principle for this reason.”

The complete metric space provided a new way to look at the classes of geometric objects that were deeply rooted in the Langlands program, such as the Shimura variety. This was the outstanding mathematical achievement that won him the Fields Medal in 2018.

This mathematical method had evolved into a completely new branch of mathematics. This subject had been widely regarded as a promising research direction in unifying algebra and geometry.

“You can say that.” Faltings nodded and noticed the expression on Schultz’s face. He frowned and said, “It looks like you have something to say.”

Schultz awkwardly smiled.

“You know, the Grand Unified Theory of algebra and geometry is what I’ve been pursuing my entire life. Now, I feel like there’s finally a place to apply my theory.”

He coughed and said, “I would like to go on an exchange there for a year.”

Faltings: “…”

Professor Faltings didn’t speak as Schultz scratched his head awkwardly.

“Seeing how you’re not saying anything, I’m assuming you agree to come with me.”

Faltings: “…”

…

Chapter 1096: Handshake Between Two Giants

Chapter 1096 Handshake Between Two Giants Entrance of Jin Ling University.Professor Faltings stood on the curbside with a black suitcase. He looked at the building nearby and spoke.

“Ten years ago, I never would have imagined myself coming here. But now, I’ve been here many times.”

“I’ve only been here twice,” Schultz said as he dragged his suitcase. “It feels different each time I come here.”

“It’s my first time,” an old man in his 50s said. He looked at the people walking into campus and said, “I’ve only seen this place in movies before.”

Faltings: “Oh, really? What do you think?”

The old man smiled and said, “The movies are all lies.”

Standing next to them was none other than Professor Holden.

As the secretary-general of the International Mathematical Union, he came to Jin Ling City mainly to negotiate with the Chinese Mathematicians Association and the local Jin Ling City government, to discuss the upcoming International Congress of Mathematicians conference.

The reason why he was here with Faltings and Schlutz, was to visit Lu Zhou.

Schultz smiled and said, “You would be even more surprised if you went to the library. I’ve been to many libraries, but rarely are the seats as packed as theirs. I think you even need to make a reservation for a seat.”

“Really?” Professor Holden said, “I think we should go visit… Speaking of which, how do we find Professor Lu? Do you guys know where his office is?”

Faltings and Schultz made eye contact as they had a strange look on their faces.

“Do you know?”

“No… I thought you knew.”

“I’ve only been to Jinling’s city center area before.”

Professor Holden had an awkward look on his face as he coughed.

“… I’ll go ask around.”

He dragged his suitcase and walked up to the entrance guard. He used a translation app on his phone to assist him.

“Hello, how can we get to Lu Zhou’s office?”

The guard looked at the three foreigners standing outside the gate. He took out three documents from his drawer and handed it out of the booth.

“Academician Lu? Fill in this form first.”

Professor Holden looked at Faltings and Schultz and said, “Let’s fill this in first.”

…

On the other hand, there was a meeting going on in a conference room at Jin Ling University.

Because of what happened during the last meeting, Principal Xu criticized Director Chen from the international department, for the ideological possession of the domestic academic circle, especially in the university administrators.

He also emphasized on how to truly become an international university, how to manifest one’s influence and take on good fundamentals.

Principal Xu was quite emotionally attached to Jin University.

Even though this wasn’t his alma mater, he had worked here for more than 10 years.

At his age, it was difficult to attain any academic achievements. His main goal was on education for the new generation, to cultivate talents for the university and country.

Fortunately, thanks to Professor Lu, everything was trending in a good direction.

However, by contrast, as Jin University’s strength continued to grow, the hidden dangers also began to manifest itself.

If everything went well, he might be able to work as the principal for another five years. However, after five years, someone else would take his spot. No one knew how the new Principal would do…

In order to give the university a bright future, he wanted to accomplish everything in the next five years.

He did not seek to restore the former glory of the university. Instead, he wanted to prepare Jin University for the future, after his departure.

He did not want to destroy the dreams of countless young scholars.

Principal Xu unscrewed his vacuum flask and took a sip of hot water. He was about to say something when he heard a knock outside his door. His assistant walked in.

“Principal.”

Principal Xu looked at him and said, “What?”

“The security department called. They said internationally renowned scholar Professor Faltings, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Professor Schultz from the University of Bonn, and Professor Holden, the secretary-general of the International Mathematical Union, want to visit Academician Lu.”

Whispers were heard in the conference room.

Everyone was astonished.

Principal Xu paused for a second and asked, “Why did the security department call then?”

The assistant replied, “Because they are here already.”

Principal Xu’s mouth was wide open. He looked around the conference room and spoke.

“Think about what I said, how to become an international institution, what kind of status we need. This meeting is over!”

After that, he rushed out of the door.

…

Perelman visiting a few days ago was already an earth-shattering event.

But now, Lu Zhou saw Professor Faltings and the others standing at his office door. He even began to wonder if Xiao Ai had secretly put a virtual reality helmet on his head, constructing a fake reality.

Of course, that was impossible.

He clearly remembered the taste of the dumplings for his breakfast.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect that not only did his paper attract Perelman from the wild, but it even caught the attention of Schultz and Faltings.

“I’m just going to get straight to the point, do you still need people for your project?”

Lu Zhou heard Professor Faltings’ question and snapped back to reality.

“You’re also here for…”

Faltings didn’t say anything, he just looked at Schlutz.

Schultz had a helpless expression as he nodded.

“… Professor Faltings is only accompanying me, I’m the one that wants to join.”

Lu Zhou looked at Faltings and did not know what to say.

The old man coughed and spoke.

“You know that Professor Schultz’s research area is mainly in the field of complete geometry, and its main problem is the unification of algebra and geometry. After reading your paper, we agreed that the area you are currently researching is the most promising one. He wants to come on an exchange for a year. As for me…”

Professor Faltings coughed and spoke.

“As for me, I’m just here to look around. I might stay for a while. Of course, if you need my help, just tell me… If you guys don’t need anyone, you can just tell me, no hard feelings.”

“… Of course not, there’s always room for my friends.” Lu Zhou smiled as he reached out his hand. “Welcome to the research project.”

Professor Faltings shook his hand.

If there was a reporter nearby, they would definitely be taking photos.

This was a historic handshake for a special occasion.

On one hand was the strongest young mathematician the world had ever seen, and on the other was Professor Faltings, one of the existing leaders of the Bourbaki Group, one of Grothendieck’s disciples.

This was a handshake between two giants!

“With the help of all of us, there’s no way we can’t solve the Grand Unified Theory,” Schultz said as he smiled. “Should I open a bottle of champagne? I can buy one.”

“Let’s save the celebration for after we solve the problem,” Faltings said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He spoke in a serious way, “Even though we have achieved a certain amount of success, there are many problems to be solved. We might have to solve Grothendieck’s standard conjectures first.”

Of course, it could be easier than they had thought.

The Grand Unified Theory could lead to the solution of a series of mathematical propositions related to cohomology theory and Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

However, things were often more complex than they seemed.

However, Lu Zhou was more optimistic and relaxed than Faltings.

Lu Zhou looked at his friends and asked, “Regardless, you guys came all the way here, so I have to treat you to a meal first. What do you guys want to eat?”

“Roast duck is good…” Professor Holden suddenly said, “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“No worries, duck it is.”

Chapter 1097: Second Closed Beta

Chapter 1097 Second Closed Beta

Male dorms, room 201.

Li Mo entered the room with his backpack on, and he spoke before he even put down his bag.

“You guys won’t believe what happened today!”

Duan Siqi put down his pen and looked back. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “… What?”

Li Mo: “Professor Perelman! The legend that left the mathematics world! He joined our research project!”

Wu Di was playing Dota Auto Chess. Without turning his eyes away from his screen, he said, “… I don’t know what you’re talking about, who is he?”

“Professor Perelman! The German mathematician that solved the Poincaré conjecture!” Li Mo said with excitement. He didn’t care if the others understood him, he continued, “Faltings and Schultz were also there! This is nutty, the entire Bourbaki Group is at our university!”

Yang Shuang was the only one bored enough to pay attention to him. Everyone else was obviously not interested.

Unlike the other roommates, Duan Siqi was a genius student, so he knew who Perelman and Faltings were, but he wasn’t as excited.

After all, he was only a freshman; they had only just begun their journey into the world of mathematics.

Maybe when they became a senior or a graduate student and actually did research, they would understand the significance behind these names.

But for now, Duan Siqi felt like Perelman and Faltings were nowhere near as impressive as the person that developed virtual reality technology—God Lu.

Speaking of which, Duan Siqi felt like he was quite jealous of Li Mo.

Li Mo had the ability to focus on himself and no one else.

This was something Duan Siqi couldn’t do.

Maybe this was why Li Mo was able to excel in the world of pure mathematics.

Yang Shuang, who was listening to Li Mo brag, suddenly noticed a textbook on the desk. After taking a closer look, he spoke.

“… Mathematical analysis assignment? Wow, nutty, we haven’t even learned the content year, and you already finished the textbook?”

“Yeah.” Duan Siqi pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “I’m busy this weekend, so I finished it ahead of time.”

Wu Di, who was playing video games, was intrigued. He looked back and spoke with a smile on his face.

“Oh, this weekend? Tell us, is it a date?”

Duan Siqi looked at his roommate’s mischievous smile and spoke.

“What are you on? It has nothing to do with girls.”

He hadn’t told anyone about the closed beta yet. He was an introverted guy and did not want to be the center of attention. It was easier to keep it a secret.

However, that was only for his real life, his online presence was different.

He thought about his tens of thousands of Weibo followers and felt wonderful.

He was able to attract so much attention with two Weibo posts alone. People were so enthusiastic about this technology that they even followed a no-name like him. Every day, he would get messages asking about the phantom system.

These messages had become the motivation for him to look forward to the next closed beta.

However, aside from the fans that were asking him for details on the closed beta test, he was more interested in the test itself.

Apparently, this time would be different.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study did not disclose any information to the closed beta testers yet.

He was looking forward to it.

…

The weekends.

The second closed beta test was about to begin.

Just like the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had said, this test was unusual.

The group of people stood in a barren forest, looking around confusingly.

Beside them was the wreckage of an airplane, which was broken into two large pieces.

A staff member wearing a white coat was standing in front of the crowd. He smiled and began explaining the situation.

“Thank you, players, for participating in our second closed beta, we’re glad to see you again.

“Basically, this is a large-scaled sociological simulation experiment. You guys are survivors of a plane crash, and your only goal is to survive for 72 hours until the rescue team arrives.

“There are days and nights, but the day time is only 6 hours, and the night time is only 2 hours, so you will feel like time is passing by faster. Your information panel displays your health status. If you go below the red line, you will be exited from the experiment.

“I’m obligated to say that anything can happen during the experiment, but everything is limited to the virtual world. Therefore, before the experiment begins, if anyone feels uncomfortable, you can withdraw.”

Of course, no one was going to withdraw.

They were the lucky ones who were selected for beta testing. Even if they weren’t interested in surviving in a forest, they would want to experience the virtual world.

The staff member looked around, and no one raised their hand. He smiled and spoke.

“Then, I wish you all good luck.”

Suddenly, a tall, lanky man spoke with a calm expression.

“Wait a second, can I ask a question?”

The worker nodded and said, “Go ahead.”

“Does common sense apply here? Like using friction to make fire, cutting down trees to make tools, etc.”

“Of course it applies.” The staff member smiled and said, “We are testing vulnerabilities in the physics engine, so we want this to be as realistic as possible.”

The man nodded.

“… I understand.”

Seeing how no one had any more questions, the staff member disappeared.

The clock in the virtual world began to turn, and this large-scaled sociological experiment had officially begun.

The lanky guy that asked the question immediately walked toward the wreckage, trying to find anything that could be useful.

A well-built man next to him looked around the players walking around and shouted.

“We only have six hours of daylight time, we can’t do much for the first day. Let’s search the wreckage of the plane first; there should be supplies inside.”

The crowd looked at each other. Some were confused, while others only wanted to play this “game” on their own volition; they did not want to be commanded.

The well-built man began walking toward the plane.

Duan Siqi felt a little weird.

Am I seeing things?

Why do I feel like…

Those two people are weirdly calm. It’s almost like they’ve played this game before, or they have participated in the closed beta before.

As time passed, players took action. Some of them walked toward the depth of the forest, some walked toward the plane, and others gathered in small groups and chatted with one another.

A woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in office-attire, looked around and couldn’t help but speak.

“This should be a travel simulator, look at how real the trees look, I’ll be able to travel to the Maldives in the comfort of my own home.”

A man in a flannel spoke.

“This reminds me of a game.”

The white-collar woman asked, “What game?”

“The forest, it’s a survival game. It’s not only about survival, but there are also monsters.”

“Monsters?” The well-dressed female player said, “Sounds scary.”

“Don’t worry, if there are monsters, you can hide behind me,” a man jokingly said. “I’m pretty much a smurf.”

Duan Siqi couldn’t help but cringe. He knew if anything was to happen, the man would run away as fast as he could.

Of course, he was in no position to judge others.

Even though he played basketball and did well in physical education, he was too weak to fight monsters…

He did not want to stand around and do nothing, so he walked toward the plane wreckage.

He first flipped through a few suitcases, but there was nothing useful aside from clothes.

The only valuable thing he found was a packet of biscuits. He stuffed it in his pocket and walked up to the man who told everyone to search the plane. This man was searching through a suitcase. Duan Siqi hesitated for a bit before saying, “I plan on finding a river.”

“Good idea, be careful,” the man said. He handed him a switchblade and said, “Also, take this.”

Is he being serious?

Duan Siqi looked at how stern the man looked and felt like the man was role-playing too seriously.

“That’s useless, if I run into a monster, I would get eaten anyway.”

“It’s not for you to fight monsters,” the man said with a fierce look on his face. “Having a tool in your hand will deter monsters.”

Duan Siqi said, “You seem like you’re good at survival? Are you a camper? Bear Grylls fan?”

The man seemed like he did not want to answer the question. He hesitated for a bit and said, “I was in the army.”

Even though the guy was taking this game too seriously, he reminded Duan Siqi of his roommate, so Duan Siqi smiled and reached out his hand.

“I’m Duan Siqi, and you are?”

The man didn’t seem like he wanted to talk. He frowned and reached out his hand.

“Li Gaoliang.”

Duan Siqi nodded and made a note to remember this weird-sounding name. He then turned around and began walking toward the depths of the forest.

Even though he had no previous experience of surviving in the wild, he was a high-achieving student who got admitted into Jin University. He was quite a smart fellow.

He walked as he made markings on trees with his switchblade, preventing him from getting lost, as well as making sure he was not walking in circles.

He walked for two hours until he finally heard the sounds of waves.

He walked forward and saw a sandy beach.

“This is the sea… We’re on an island?”

He noted the approximate location of the coast and began walking back the same path.

He needed to use his markings to find the way back, so it took a little longer.

When he saw the plane wreckage and the players again, the sun already began to set.

The golden sunshine passed through the leaves, projecting onto the ground; it was an unbelievable sight.

As expected, like the staff member had said, there was only six hours of day time.

Therefore, it should be night time in a few minutes.

If it wasn’t for the information panel, reminding players to eat, it was easy to forget that they were in a virtual reality world, on a planet that had an eight-hour rotation around a star.

Duan Siqi walked next to Li Gaoliang, the man that claimed to be in the army.

Li Gaoliang looked at the campfire he built with wooden sticks and stones. He noticed the young man approaching him. He spoke in a good mood.

“How did it go?”

Duan Siqi: “A kilometer west is a beach. The terrain is flat, and there aren’t any hills or rivers.”

“There shouldn’t be any large animals nearby then.” Li Gaoliang looked around and said, “But this also means our food source will be a problem.”

Is this game that realistic? Do we need to eat?

Duan Siqi spoke.

“There’s none in the plane?”

“There are, but not much.” Li Gaoliang shook his head and looked at the setting sun. “We should start the fire before the night arrives.”

Duan Siqi nodded and took a bite out of the biscuit in his pocket.

Compared to the last beta test, the Phantom virtual reality system was becoming more and more realistic. He could even feel the hunger in his stomach.

Unfortunately, the food here had no taste, and everything tasted like cardboard.

Not to mention he had to eat once every two hours and go number two right after.

The fire began to burn.

As the sky darkened, everyone began to gather around.

The group of people sat around the campfire, eating tasteless cans of food as they chatted.

“What do you think this experiment is about? There’s nothing to do.”

“If they tell you the purpose of the experiment, the experiment won’t work.”

“Speaking of which, the rescue team is going to take 72 hours to arrive, does this mean we have to spend 72 hours in the virtual reality world?”

“Definitely not, the game will probably save and we’ll exit after a day so that people can take care of their real-life physical needs.”

The group of people chatted with one another while Duan Siqi played with the campfire. He thought about what he should write on his Weibo post after the experiment was over.

Honestly, other than the initial excitement, this round of closed beta testing was more strange than it was interesting.

The forest seemed to contain endless amounts of secrets, while there was no clear objective. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a clue. Most people had no idea what to do during the six-hour day time.

The campfire crackled softly.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the forest.

Li Gaoliang looked up, and he squinted at the dark forest.

The well-dressed female player noticed this, and she curiously asked him, “What?”

Li Gaoliang spoke as he quietly grabbed the knife on his waist.

“There’s something there.”

The female player said, “I’m easily scared. Please don’t try to scare me.”

Li Gaoliang frowned and ignored her.

Duan Siqi shook his head. He thought Li Gaoliang was making a big deal out of nothing.

He was just about to tell Li Gaoliang to calm down when he suddenly felt chills down his spine.

He looked at the forest and saw something running toward them.

Duan Siqi frowned and tried to look at the dark object.

The outline of the object gradually became clear.

As a thing with a rotten face emerged from the woods, someone shouted, “Quick! Run into the plane cabin!”

The guys shouted as the girls screamed. Duan Siqi wanted to move. He tried to take out his switchblade, but his body was frozen.

This is too realistic…

Speaking of which, which dumbass said there are no monsters?

The rotten face became closer and closer.

Before he could do anything, a rotten hand grabbed his chest.

Then, his consciousness exited the virtual world. He was the first heroic victim of this gory experiment…

Chapter 1098: A Taste of Evil

Chapter 1098 A Taste of Evil

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study laboratory.

Li Gaoliang suddenly took off his helmet and kicked his legs. He sat up from his chair and couldn’t help but grumble.

“F*ck sake, isn’t this supposed to be a survival game? When did it become Resident Evil? Who would play such a tasteless and evil joke.”

This was crueler than throwing him onto planet Reach. At least he was given a gun last time; this time, it was pure horror and gore, with zombies appeared on a survival island!

Standing next to Li Gaoliang was the staff member that previously explained to them the rules of the game. He had an awkward look on his face.

He obviously did not know this was going to happen; he was baffled at what the players had experienced in the game.

“The world was apparently generated by an intelligent program, developed by Academician Lu. Maybe something went wrong. We are investigating whether or not this was a bug, or maybe someone changed the experiment last minute,” the researcher said with a cough. He continued, “Anyway, you survived for seven hours and 21 minutes, 39 minutes away from daylight… You were the last player remaining, good job.”

Li Gaoliang did not care about the cruel experiment anymore. He immediately asked, “How many points did I get? I remember I killed four of them, I should—”

The researcher interrupted him and said, “You didn’t survive a single day, no points at all.”

Li Gaoliang: “…”

Damn it.

Li Gaoliang felt like his intelligence was humiliated by a software program.

He took a deep breath and put his helmet aside.

“When is the next closed beta testing?”

Research: “It should be next Saturday.”

“Okay, reserve five spots for me. I’ll bring some of my guys. These guys are terrible, they’re dragging me down,” Li Gaoliang said as he patted Meng Donghai, who was sitting on the chair next to him. Li Gaoliang said to him, “Come, let’s get some food at the cafeteria, then head back to our station.”

When Meng Donghai heard they were going to get free food, his eyes lit up as he bounced off the chair.

“Okay, sir, I’ll put on my shoes.”

Researcher: “…”

…

Li Gaoliang’s intuition was quite accurate; he was correct on two occasions.

One was that his intelligence was humiliated by an artificial intelligence program.

The second was that the “zombies” in the game were made in bad taste.

Of course, it was difficult to judge whether this action was caused by a human or a software.

After Lu Zhou heard about the situation, he immediately found the “person” responsible and reprimanded them.

“I heard the researchers say that there were rotten-faced zombies running out of the forest. They thought Lumiere and I had changed the experiment. Five people fainted on the spot and disconnected.”

Xiao Ai: [But, Xiao Ai heard someone wanting monsters, someone talked about the game ‘the forest’, so, Xiao Ai made some changes… haha (⃔*`꒳́*)]

Lu Zhou looked at this unremorseful bot and couldn’t help but scold it, “How dare you!”

Xiao Ai: [QAQ]

Lu Zhou: “The phantom system is still unstable, there are still controversies surrounding the neural interface virtual reality system. Do you know the consequences this will have!”

He was researching mathematics when he heard Professor Lumiere’s phone call. After he heard about the incident, he was too angry to continue researching.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Xiao Ai is wrong, don’t be angry.]

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai and wanted to forgive it.

After a while of silence, he sighed and said, “I gave you access to the system for you to fix bugs, not for you to torture the players… Don’t do this again.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Xiao Ai won’t.]

Lu Zhou: “Okay, I’ll take care of this, just stand aside.”

Xiao Ai: [Master, my experience bar has increased.]

Lu Zhou paused for a second and frowned.

“It increased?”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah, increased by a lot, much more than when Xiao Ai browses the Internet.]

Even though Lu Zhou knew Xiao Ai wouldn’t lie to him, he still couldn’t believe this. He immediately closed his eyes and went into the system space.

He walked in front of the holographic panel and clicked on his technology branch. He saw the artificial intelligence orange progress bar and looked surprised.

It really has increased.

Even though it had only increased a little, the speed of the increase was much faster compared to other technology branches.

Lu Zhou exited the system space and looked at his computer screen. He thought for a second and said, “Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah?]

Lu Zhou: “Try to remember, when did your experience bar begin to increase?”

Xiao Ai: [It was at hour six, minute seven in the experiment time. That was when the experiment bar increased significantly for the first time. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

A graph with a curve was presented in front of Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the graph and pondered for a second. He suddenly remembered something and immediately said, “Plot me a graph with the number of players remaining over time.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master!(๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Soon after, another graph was displayed in front of him.

Lu Zhou looked at the two graphs and went into deep thought.

Judging by the data, when the number of players remaining was over five, there was almost no correlation with accumulated experience and the number of remaining players.

However, when the number of players was less than five, there was a huge inverse relationship between the number of players and experience points gained.

On the contrary, when everyone was walking around aimlessly in front of the plane, there were little experience points gained. But when Xiao Ai released the zombies out of bad taste, causing the players to panic, flee, and fight back, the experience points gain rate began to grow exponentially.

Maybe…

Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea in his mind. He immediately logged onto the backend of the server and retrieved the brainwave data collected by the neural demodulator. He then plotted the brainwave data onto the experience points graph.

Everything became clear.

Lu Zhou looked at the graph and spoke with a twinkle in his eye.

“… I see, high emotional intensity gives more information. This allows artificial intelligence to learn human behavior at a faster rate.”

Xiao Ai: [Master? 0.0]

“Nothing.” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “Maybe I was too harsh on you.”

Xiao Ai: [It’s fine, Master is handsome when Master is angry. (///ω///)]

Lu Zhou ignored the a*s kissing and said, “But like I said, never modify the experiment process without authorization!”

Xiao Ai: [Master is still angry?]

“No, I’m saying…” Lu Zhou paused for a second and continued, “Next time, I will provide you a dedicated group of experimenters for sociological experiments so that you can acquire the experiment points for upgrading. But, like I said, all experiments have to go by me before they are implemented.”

Xiao Ai: [Really? Master is the best! u003c3 Let Xiao Ai kiss you!]

Lu Zhou looked at the drone flying over, trying to “kiss” him. Lu Zhou grabbed the drone and slammed it on the table.

A sad emoji was displayed on the drone screen. Lu Zhou ignored Xiao Ai and began to think again.

I didn’t expect virtual reality technology could be used to upgrade Xiao Ai.

Not to mention the method is surprisingly simple. We just need a team of players to stay in the virtual reality world all day and let Xiao Ai experiment on them.

This was a piece of cake for Lu Zhou. He could easily find players with good psychological makeup. He could even offer them a contract and a salary. He was certain people would be interested.

There was at least one person he knew that would happily sign up, even without a salary.

What should I call this new team of experimenters…

Lu Zhou had an evil look on his face.

We’ll call them the “Respawn Team”.

Chapter 1099: Player Evaluation

Chapter 1099 Player Evaluation

So many things happened during the day. First was the jungle exploration, then was the zombie disaster.

Even though it was only five o’clock in the afternoon when Duan Siqi exited the phantom system, he was already exhausted. He went into his dorm room and climbed into bed.

He felt a vibration on his bed, and his roommate Wu Di suddenly laughed.

“What? Did you get ghosted by a girl?”

Duan Siqi: “Shut up, none of your business.”

Wu Di sighed and said, “Sigh, I knew it, poor guy.”

Duan Siqi: “…”

Duan Siqi ignored his roommate and took out his phone. He looked at the 99+ Weibo messages and smiled as he began writing a new blog post.

[

Compared to last time, this closed beta test was much different.

After we put on the helmet, we were inside a forest.

A staff member briefly explained the experiment. He said we were in a sociological experiment and that anyone could quit. However, no one wanted to quit at all. (laugh)

The premise was that the players were surviving passengers from a plane crash, in an unknown forest. We spawned right next to the plane wreckage, and there were a small amount of resources left from the plane. After some exploring, I found a beach.

Oh, also, time went by differently. There was only eight hours a day; six hours of daylight, and two hours of night time. This was very important.

The gameplay was similar to the game “The Forest”, but the difference is that we only had to survive for 72 hours, in which the rescue team would arrive on the 9th day. What the player had to do during the nine days was to find food and fight against the wilderness.

Not only did the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study upgrade the virtual reality smell sensations, but they also introduced a combat system, adding the concept of “dying”.

Fortunately, because I am a noob, I was the first one to die.

First of all, there is no extreme pain in the virtual reality system. According to the researchers, when the pain exceeds a certain amount, the brain wakes up… similar to nightmares.

Hence, abnormal brain waves caused by excessive stimulation will cause players to disconnect from the game.

I have to say, this experiment… or this horror game, is extremely realistic. The atmosphere and surroundings were constructed perfectly. The sound of stepping on branches, the sunlight, the shadows… It even created the eerie sensation of a deadly island.

Honestly, even tough guys like me were horrified.

Of course, there were some skilled players. Apparently, someone used a knife to kill four zombies, pretty impressive.

Let’s talk about the shortcomings.

The smell sensation was considered to be a highlight of this experiment. Compared to only being able to smell one thing in the previous closed beta test, a lot has changed in this department.

For example, when you need to go to the toilet, you could clearly distinguish the smell between number one and number two.

Unfortunately, there were no bigger improvements beyond this. For example, you couldn’t smell the scent of pine cones or the salty sea breeze.

The other was the taste.

The taste sensation hasn’t improved. Any liquid tasted like water and any food tasted like cardboard, there was no pleasure in eating at all.

As a foodie, I want to tell Star Sky Technology that a world without good food is a world without joy.

Of course, I know the researchers at the Institute for Advanced Study are working hard to find a solution.

If they can create a world where you can eat endless amounts of food and never get fat, that would be a huge help for those that are trying to lose weight. I’m even willing to pay for it.

]

He had written quite a long blog post.

After Duan Siqi typed the words, he double-checked his post and nodded with satisfaction. He then pressed the post button.

After he refreshed the page, he began seeing the comments flow through.

[This is crazy!]

[Good post! Looking forward to your next update!]

[Wow, I’m so jealous! When is the Phantom system going to be officially launched, I beg you guys to finish testing quickly.]

[Blogger, did you meet God Lu? Can you tell God Lu that I say hi!]

Duan Siqi looked at the comments and shook his head with a smile.

Meet God Lu?

No way us closed beta testers can meet him.

Forget about the testers, even the CEO of Penguin didn’t get the chance to meet God Lu.

Even my roommate, who is a student of Professor Lu, has only met him a few times.

He was too excited about his blog, making it hard to sleep.

He tossed around in his bed for a while before he picked up his phone and scrolled aimlessly through the Weibo trending page.

He suddenly noticed something on the trending page.

It seemed like this round of closed beta testing had much more criticism.

[Female Player Frightened From Star Sky Technology Closed Beta Testing, Demanding Compensation For Emotional Distress!]

[Canadian Celebrity Psychologist Complained That Star Sky Technology’s Virtual Reality Testing Can Cause Psychological Trauma.]

When he read the article headlines, he had a dignified look on his face.

When he left the laboratory, he still remembered the crying and frightened faces of the female players.

Even though the medical staff found no psychological damage, this fake news still ended up on the trending page.

“I hope this doesn’t affect next week’s testing…”

Duan Siqi turned off his phone and sighed.

Actually, he wasn’t too worried.

He knew that the Star Sky Technology public relations team had already begun damage control.

There was no point for a no-name like him to worry.

Duan Siqi closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

However, he didn’t know that the controversial article wasn’t an accident but was premeditated by someone behind the scenes…

And it wasn’t only on Weibo.

Within an hour, the entire world began to discuss this matter…

Chapter 1100: The Terrifying Fields Medalis

Chapter 1100 The Terrifying Fields Medalis

[When ords=nζ(X,s)=(i∈Z)Σ(−1)^(i+1)·dimQ·Ki'(X)(n) is established, there is Cq(D,k)={ (f(x1),···, f(xn))∈Fnq|f(x)∈Fq[x], dedf(x)≤k−1…]

An office inside the Jin Ling University mathematics department building.

Schultz, as well as the newly joined members of the Grand Unified Theory research team, stood in front of a whiteboard, staring at the densely written equations.

After five minutes, Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and gave an evaluation.

“It’s a very interesting idea.”

Perelman nodded in agreement with Lu Zhou and spoke.

“True, this is a very novel idea.”

Faltings did not say anything, but his facial expression clearly showed that he was in agreement.

Schultz smiled and said, “This is what I discovered when I was studying the complete metric space, and this discovery inspired me to establish a Grand Unified Theory. I spent a year perfecting it. If we can find an exact expression for Cq(D, K) and substitute it in equation 4, then we can associate H(v) with irreducible motives.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes, then we can indirectly study the direct-sum decomposition of motive theory using the H(v) function.”

Professor Faltings, who never liked to praise others, couldn’t help but feel impressed at Schultz’s intellect.

His complete metric space theory played an unexpected role in the motive theory.

What was even more amazing was that, compared to scholars like Perelman, who only liked to study behind closed doors, Schlutz was a much better academic communicator.

Generally speaking, influencing other scholars to engage in a field of research was almost as difficult as the research itself.

After all, whether it was a complicated or a simple mathematical proposition, it would take a long time to fully understand the problem itself. People would only study a problem if they thought it was important enough.

Schultz smiled at Lu Zhou’s approval and said, “Speaking of which, I still haven’t given this method a name yet.”

Lu Zhou pondered for a second and said, “What about the Poincare duality application theory? I noticed that the core part of the theory is the generalization of Poincare duality theory on multidimensional cohomology numbers.”

“That’s too difficult to remember, short names are popular these days, like…” Schultz thought for a second and said, “What about fold theory? From an abstract point of view, we are folding a set of algebraic expressions.”

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he felt bewildered. He thought this name had nothing to do with the theorem at all.

Chen Yang and Perelman did not really care about trivial matters like this.

Professor Faltings, on the other hand, obviously agreed with Lu Zhou. He shook his head and said, “You millennials like to make up fancy names. I think Professor Lu’s name is pretty good.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though he was happy that Professor Faltings agreed with him, he felt like Faltings was calling him an old man.

With the big names discussing in the office, everyone else in the office stayed silent.

Han Mengqi stared at the equations on the whiteboard and frowned. She felt like she could almost understand what was going on.

He Changwen also frowned with a serious look on his face.

As for Li Mo…

He was dumbfounded.

For a long time, he thought he was very close to the frontiers of mathematics, especially when Lu Zhou agreed to let him join the Grand Unified Theory project. He was certain that he could become an excellent scholar.

But this was a huge blow to his pride.

Forget about conversing with these masters, he couldn’t even understand what these big names were talking about.

No wonder these guys are Fields Medalists…

How terrifying!

Li Zhong looked at the whiteboard and gulped. He said, “Bro… How did they get the value of k in equation 8? I don’t get it.”

“Just pay attention,” He Changwen said as he stared at the whiteboard.

Li Mo thought he was interrupting He Changwen’s thought process, so he shut his mouth.

After a while, He Changwen frowned and lowered his head. He asked Han Mengqi quietly, “How did they derive equations 1 and 2? Have you seen them before?”

Han Mengqi said, “… I think it’s a corollary from Weil’s conjecture.”

Li Mo: “…”

…

Lu Zhou proposed a framework to solve the entire proposition.

While the method proposed by Schultz provided an answer to a specific problem in the framework.

In fact, the method assumed that the famous algebraic geometry Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture was true.

Solving this conjecture was no piece of cake, Schultz had spent the last year trying to find a proof.

If there was no way to prove that the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture was true, then his “fold” method would be useless.

However, because Lu Zhou was here, Schultz wasn’t worried.

This problem was definitely easier than Riemann’s hypothesis.

Especially for Lu Zhou.

There was no one better at finding proofs than Lu Zhou.

The discussion continued.

Lu Zhou was proposing a method to associate the high-order K-group of the elliptic curve E with an analytic invariant to solve the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture. Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

Even though he did not want to answer a phone call, it might be something important.

When Lu Zhou saw that Chen Yushan was the one calling, he thought something might have happened at Star Sky Technology. He pointed toward his phone and spoke.

“Let me take this, it’s for work.”

Schultz smiled and said, “Sure, I need some time to think about your method anyway.”

Lu Zhou nodded and walked along the office corridor. He picked up the phone and immediately heard Chen Yushan’s voice.

“Check Weibo!”

Chapter 1101: Something Is Wrong

Chapter 1101 Something Is Wrong

When Lu Zhou first received Chen Yushan’s call, he was totally confused.

However, when he opened his Weibo and saw the messages and people tagging him, he suddenly realized what was going on.

As expected, his worst nightmares had come true.

He anxiously clicked on his mentions.

Most of the people weren’t criticizing him, nor were they praising his handsomeness, but rather…

[God Lu, is the Phantom system really that realistic?]

[What kind of man tries to scare girls! Why don’t you try to scare me instead! (angry)]

[What kind of scaredy-cat cries from a video game? I don’t believe it! It has to be a paid actress!]

[When is this going online? Stop the closed beta, please!]

Lu Zhou: ? ? ?

Why do I feel like…

Something is wrong?

Now was obviously not the time to respond to random comments on the Internet.

Lu Zhou opened his contacts and called Chen Yushan.

“What is going on?”

Chen Yushan was also having a headache. She pinched her eyebrows and said, “As you can see, an accident occurred during yesterday’s closed beta testing. We have postponed the next closed beta testing… What happened in yesterday’s testing? I read the experimental plan, it didn’t mention any zombies and fighting.”

Honestly, Chen Yushan was muddled.

Before the closed beta test began yesterday, she personally read the experimental report, which clearly stated that the experiment was only a “survival in the wilderness” game.

But when the night came, monsters came out of the forest, charging at the players.

Fortunately, there were no minors in the closed beta testing; otherwise, they could get in trouble for exposing them to gore and violence.

Lu Zhou cursed Xiao Ai in his heart and said awkwardly, “A small accident happened. You can think of it as a bug.”

Chen Yushan said, “… Do I look dumb to you?”

When did a bug have the capabilities of adding zombies to a game?

Is that really your excuse?

“That’s not the main point. In short, I can guarantee this accident won’t happen in the future,” Lu Zhou said. He tried to change the subject and said, “What’s important now is to deal with the consequences.”

Chen Yushan said with a headache, “Our public relations department is already trying… Honestly, I think there are competitors that are adding oil to the fire. We have conducted public relations for several domestic large Internet companies, and they have all been cooperative. However, when we try to contact foreign media, there is a clear resistance. Companies we have good relationships with revealed to us that some people have paid money to discredit the Phantom system, trying to make the public turn on us.”

The purpose of this was obviously to prevent the Phantom from penetrating the overseas market, to create “fake news” on the hidden dangers of the virtual reality system.

Lu Zhou said, “Do we know who is behind this?”

Chen Yushan shook his head and said, “No, they won’t reveal who it is. It’s possible that they don’t even know who it is.”

Lu Zhou: “Do you have a plan?”

“So far, we have found the user that wants to sue us. We have yet to reach an agreement. I have suspended her closed beta testing qualification, and our legal team is dealing with her.”

Honestly, Chen Yushan was certain that this player was bribed by someone.

Otherwise, no one would refuse several hundred thousand yuan in settlement money, just to get a chance at winning a lawsuit against a multi-billion dollar company.

After hearing Chen Yushan, Lu Zhou did not have any good ideas.

He could easily solve any academic problem, but business was beyond his area of expertise.

After he thought for a few seconds, he gave up on trying to find a solution.

“Well, it looks like you have things under control. If you need anything, feel free to ask me, but preferably not, hehe.”

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“You didn’t even give me an explanation for why this happened, and I have to clean up your sh*t. How is this fair?”

Researchers at the Star Sky Technology had yet to fix anything, mainly because even themselves did not know what happened during yesterday’s closed beta test.

“… Okay, I’ll tell you the real reason,” Lu Zhou said with a sigh. He put on a serious voice and said, “Actually, I’m working on a top-secret project.”

He was telling the truth in some sense, but his words were easily misconstrued.

Even though Lu Zhou felt quite apologetic toward Chen Yushan, there was nothing he could do.

Sometimes, it was best to keep things a secret.

Maybe one day, when Xiao Ai was mature enough, he would release it to the public.

But that day had yet to come.

Even though Chen Yushan’s instincts told her that this guy was probably lying, Lu Zhou’s serious tone made her hesitate.

She asked suspiciously, “Really?”

“Really,” Lu Zhou said after taking a deep breath. “The project is called ‘Master God’, that’s all I can tell you. I hope you understand.”

Chen Yushan said with a strange look, “Master God… what a strange name.”

It was so strange, almost like someone came up with it on the spot.

“The name is not the important part,” Lu Zhou said. “Basically, the large-scale sociological experiment requiring a group of players to react and behave in certain scenarios is what we need for machine learning, also—”

“Wait, stop, if it’s a secret, you shouldn’t tell me,” Chen Yushan said. “But with all due respect, this shouldn’t be used on closed beta testers, right?”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I’ve realized that. We should set up a professional alpha testing team, different from the closed beta testers.”

He paused for a second and continued, “So, I decided to set Master God as a separate project in the Jinling Advanced Research Institute. We will find the closed beta testers who are reliable and have strong psychological qualities. I plan on calling this the Respawn Team, with five to ten people.”

Chen Yushan said, “I feel like this is a bad idea, but I trust you.”

Lu Zhou coughed and spoke in a serious tone.

“… Thank you, when the time is right, I will tell you all of the details. You’ll be responsible for managing the Master God Respawn Team!”

With Chen Yushan helping, Lu Zhou was certain they could get this done.

It seemed like this was guaranteed to work.

After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he walked back to his office.

Schultz paused his conversation with Perelman and asked him, “What happened?”

Lu Zhou waved his hand and smiled.

“Nothing, let’s continue.”

Chapter 1102: We Can Pay Firs

Chapter 1102 We Can Pay Firs

Yang Feifei was a normal white-collar worker.

Until a month ago, she lived an ordinary life.

One day, on the Weibo trending page, she saw a blog post about Star Sky Technology’s virtual reality closed beta testing application. This was the first time she heard about the Phantom system and the neural interface system that was going to change the future of human society.

Even though she wasn’t interested in games, she was intrigued by the idea of experiencing another world.

Thus, she jumped on the bandwagon and signed up.

Then…

She realized she was one of the 200 out of 20 million that were selected to join the Star Sky Technology closed beta team.

Honestly, the first closed beta test was boring.

It was boring to do the same things in real life or in a virtual reality world.

However, Star Sky Technology gave her round-trip tickets and five-star hotel accommodation. She participated in the closed beta testing as sort of a vacation, and she did not have many expectations for the Phantom system.

But that was only her experience from the first week.

When the second closed beta testing came around, her impression of the Phantom system had totally changed.

Or rather, she was amazed by it.

The forest presented to the closed beta testers was as real as it could be. The wind blowing on their faces, the sunshine between the tree branches, everything was so realistic.

Other closed beta testers were also in the same environment as her.

She finally understood what Star Sky Technology meant by “experiencing another world”.

In a sense, they were indeed creating another world.

They created a forest that was almost indistinguishable from reality.

Yang Feifei felt like this round of closed beta testing was almost perfect.

If only the accident didn’t happen…

The accident completely destroyed her mood.

When the rotten-faced zombies ran out of the forest, she was petrified.

Especially when she saw the first person getting bit in the neck by the zombie, she fainted on the spot, disconnecting from the equipment.

When she angrily asked the researchers in the laboratory what the zombies were about, the only reply she received was that “there was an accident” and that they were “investigating”.

This incident made her feel terrible.

To her, this meant that someone coded the zombies into the Star Sky Technology servers.

She thought they planned on using the zombies on the closed beta testers since the beginning!

And they purposely didn’t inform the testers in advance!

When she got back to her hotel, she wrote a Weibo post complaining about what happened.

Even though she only had a few hundred followers, ten minutes after she posted her blog, she received a personal message.

The person claimed to be a reporter, and he left his WeChat contact details. He said he wanted to talk with her about what happened during the closed beta test.

Even though she was confused as to how the reporter found her, she still added his WeChat account. She just wanted someone to vent and complain to.

After she briefly explained the situation over messages, the WeChat reporter called her.

“I will give you a million USD. You only need to do one thing.”

Yang Feifei was taken back, and she asked, “What?”

The reporter smiled and said, “You were treated unfairly during the closed beta testing, right? What you need to do is simple, just sue Star Sky Technology for your emotional distress.”

Yang Feifei was dumbfounded.

“Sue Star Sky Technology? Are you crazy?”

Even though she felt uncomfortable during the testing, suing them was going too far.

She didn’t even think about suing them.

The man smiled and shook his head.

“Of course not. I didn’t ask you to win the lawsuit, you just have to file it. You might be countersued, but it doesn’t matter. We will handle all of the costs. You only have to tell the public that Star Sky Technology is a ruthless company that is doing unethical experiments on living humans with no safety guarantees…”

Yang Feifei went silent.

Honestly, a million USD was extremely attractive, especially for an average white-collar worker like her. This was enough to buy a house in Shanghai.

As for losing her closed beta testing qualifications, she didn’t care about that at all. She only participated in this project because everyone else did. She would much rather take a million dollars instead.

However, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

She was about to go against a multi-billion dollar company. Even though this company wouldn’t use illegal means to deal with her, this was still risky for a nobody like her.

Yang Feifei gulped and spoke in a trembling tone.

“What do you guys want?”

“Is that important?” The man smiled and said, “If you need a reason to convince yourself, tell yourself that you’re fighting for justice, for those that don’t have a voice. After all, I’m sure most people didn’t enjoy the zombies eating their faces.”

Yang Feifei: “One more question… Who are you guys?”

“That’s not important. This is a business deal.”

Yang Feifei said angrily, “I don’t even know who you guys are, why would I trust that you’re going to pay?”

“That’s what you’re worried about? No worries, that’s easy to solve.” The man smiled and said, “Give me your bank account.

“We can pay first.”

Chapter 1103: Turmoil of Public Opinion

1103 Turmoil of Public Opinion CNN studio.

CNN made a talk show in response to recent events.

They invited Professor Peters, who used to be a psychology professor at Harvard University. He was the one who criticized Star Sky Technology on social media a while ago. They also invited a former colleague of Professor Lumiere.

When the host asked about his views on the Phantom system, Professor Peters spoke aggressively.

“There is almost no doubt that this is a dangerous technology. It hasn’t gone through clinical trials and rigorous experiments. Roughly speaking, our brains are the most vulnerable organs, and this technology is targeting precisely that. This is no joke.

“Think about it, what’s happening in their brains isn’t just a horror movie; it’s a real-life horror game. They might even be able to control and create false memories and thoughts. I can’t describe this in only a few words, but I am certain that our future will be tarnished by the bloody Phantom system.

“I don’t know what kind of temptation the closed beta testers were given, but any normal person shouldn’t agree to let a dangerous organization experiment on them. This is not only irresponsible to one’s self, but also to society!”

After hearing Professor Peters’ speech, the host looked shocked.

“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated? Our reporters heard from Star Sky Technology that the Phantom system does not have the capabilities you’re talking about.”

Professor Peters: “It’s not exaggerated at all! It’s no joke! They might not have the technology now, but they will eventually, and they won’t tell you when they do! I’ve talked with Professor Burki, who used to be a colleague of Lumiere at the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center… The one sitting next to me. He agrees with me, and we both think this is a dangerous technology.”

The host looked at Professor Burki.

“Is it true? What is your opinion, Professor Burki?”

The camera panned onto Professor Burki.

Professor Burki nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

“I agree with everything Professor Peters said. In fact, virtual reality technology has always been one of the main research projects at the Switzerland Neural Network Science Research Center. Professor Lumiere worked in virtual reality networks before he resigned.

“He is an excellent scholar, but his ideas have always been controversial. We insisted that technology should serve our society, not make it worse. In the end, he left us and went to China.

“I’m not blaming him for anything, but I can’t accept the betrayal. He’s using China’s support to continue his evil experiments.

“He has no morals!”

As one of the core developers of the Phantom system, everyone in the virtual reality technology world knew of Professor Lumiere.

When the host heard Burki’s words, he had a dignified look on his face. The live audience was also in an uproar.

Less than an hour after the show was broadcast, clips were uploaded to Youtube, which spread to Facebook and Twitter.

Suddenly, everyone began criticizing the Phantom system from Star Sky Technology. Even the system developers were affected.

It seemed like Star Sky Technology was having a public reputation disaster. They had yet to expand to the overseas VR market, yet the public had already turned on them.

On the other hand, Professor Lumiere was watching the broadcast inside his Institute for Advanced Study office. His blood was boiling as he called Professor Burki.

“Do you know what you just did?”

Professor Burki was in an airport terminal, waiting for his flight back to Switzerland. He smiled and said, “Calm down, Lumiere. How are you?”

Lumiere was even more furious. He clenched his teeth and said, “What the hell was that CNN interview! We both know that you precisely understand how neural networks operate! How dare you spew that bullsh*t!”

Not only did the interview hurt Star Sky Technology’s corporate image and Lumiere’s own academic reputation, but it also destroyed the public’s confidence in this technology, affecting all scholars in this area.

It would be fine if Burki was telling the truth.

But the memory and thought control were all nonsense. That wasn’t something that could be achieved with virtual reality technology at all!

Even if the neural demodulator could send signals to the brain, the brain was the one that was making judgments. Basically, it was no different than seeing or hearing, it was only a repeater that received external signals.

However, Professor Burki nonchalantly smiled and spoke.

“Why is it impossible? I see it in movies and TV shows, and I’m sure your amazing Phantom system can do it.”

Professor Lumiere said, “Stop being facetious.”

“The public needs to know the truth, and I’m just providing that for them.” Professor Burki smiled and said, “If you really care about your reputation, there’s another path you can choose.”

Lumiere: “… What path?”

Professor Burki: “Abandon the dark side.”

Lumiere said, “Are you dreaming?”

Professor Burki, who was sitting in the airport terminal, shrugged and spoke.

“See the reality, my friend. Star Sky Technology plans on building a virtual reality network that is independent of the traditional network, based on cloud computing technology. Do you know what this means? They will eventually fall.

“Of course, I’m not denying the greatness of neural interface virtual reality technology. Your research will have a huge effect on the future, and it might even push society forward.

“However, when this technology gets into the wrong hands, things become dangerous.

“Right now, the first generation is full of dangers. We need to work with the international community to develop a safer second-gen virtual reality system… Do you know what I mean? I want you to think about this seriously, you should part ways with the Chinese—”

Lumiere scolded angrily, “Do you really think I would agree! You foolish simpleton!”

Professor Burki paused for a second and smiled.

“Okay then.”

The phone call ended.

Professor Lumiere slammed his fist on the table.

“Screw this!”

He heard footsteps outside his office.

A researcher in a white coat walked in.

“Professor Lumiere.”

Lumiere took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

“What?”

The researcher said, “This is our new experimental plan. The Star Sky Technology management team told me to bring it to you.”

New experiment plan?

Is it really the best time to do experiments?

Professor Lumiere took the experiment plan and glanced at it.

His pupils shrank.

Suddenly, he finally understood why the Star Sky Technology management team was staying so calm in the midst of this chaos…

Chapter 1104: If You“re Innocent, You Have Nothing to Worry Abou

Chapter 1104 If You“re Innocent, You Have Nothing to Worry Abou

Star Sky Technology began to take action.

Precisely speaking, Star Sky Technology wasn’t the one taking action, it was the Ministry of State Security.

After a three-day investigation, they had collected evidence such as bank records, communication chat records, web browsing data, etc. The investigation team quickly gathered enough intelligence to form a case.

Yang Feifei was on the way home after work when an undercover agent found Yang Feifei and invited her to the office. He asked her to have a chat.

“What do you want?”

The man claimed to be an undercover national security personnel, so Yang Feifei was frightened.

On one hand, she was scared of authority, and on the other hand, she knew she was guilty.

However, because the agent was overly polite, she thought that the department did not actually have enough evidence to arrest her. She pretended to not know what was going on.

“Don’t be nervous, we’re just having a chat,” the agent sitting across from her said. He knew she was pretending to be dumb, so he smiled and said, “If you’re innocent, you have nothing to worry about.”

Yang Feifei said, “What is that supposed to mean? Of course I’m innocent!”

“Of course, your rights are protected by the law, but that’s under the premise that you’re innocent. Then, Miss Yang, I would like to ask about the blogs on your personal Weibo account. Where you make claims such as ‘the Star Sky Technology experiment is inhumane’, ‘the state is behind the evil experiments’, and that ‘the Phantom system will damage your brain’… Are these legitimate claims?”

“Is there a problem?” Yang Feifei moved around in her chair and said nervously, “Doesn’t matter if they’re legitimate, they’re how I feel. Do I not have freedom of speech?”

“Freedom of speech doesn’t protect you against libel and slander. You have the right to speak, but Star Sky Technology has the right to protect their reputation. From what we know, after the closed beta testing, Star Sky Technology arranged a medical examination for you, and everything was normal. You also signed the medical report, am I correct?”

Yang Feifei’s heart dropped, and she quickly explained, “Back then, I felt normal, but after I got home, things changed—”

The agent said, “You had hallucinations?”

Yang Feifei nodded and said, “Correct.”

The agent smiled and said, “But you’re still going to work?”

Yang Feifei: “I’m just a normal citizen, I need money to live.”

The agent smiled.

“So you think you’re a normal citizen. But what I find interesting is that, Star Sky Technology has already offered to pay 100,000 yuan as a settlement compensation. But you still refused and insisted on going forward with the lawsuit. You published false information on the Internet, making yourself out to be a victim. You defamed the corporate image of Star Sky Technology.

“That’s not something a normal person would do.”

Yang Feifei nervously said, “Why not! I-I just want to be heard!”

The agent ignored her and continued, “After Star Sky Technology cooperated with us, we recognized that something was quite unusual.

“Then, we investigated your accounts and found some interesting things. A huge amount of foreign money was transferred to your account from an unknown source.”

He waved the document in his hand and said, “What’s more interesting is that the overseas account that provided you with the funds is a famous overseas anti-China organization. We have been targeting them for a long time, and the organization is called NED. Let’s just say it’s not a charity.”

Yang Feifei’s face completely changed.

She clearly underestimated the influence of Star Sky Technology. She didn’t think the state would take this so seriously.

In her mind, all she did was sue a technology company. Even though this was a powerful company, she didn’t expect this at all.

The Ministry of State Security was investigating her, and she was terrified.

“I-I confess, someone found me and they said they would get me justice. Then they said they would pay me, I’m sorry, okay?”

The younger policeman who was sitting beside them smiled and spoke.

“If sorry is all it takes, what’s the point of policemen?”

Yang Feifei was about to cry, and she wanted to kill herself.

She was involved with overseas anti-China organizations; this was not just a white-collar crime anymore.

Even if she wasn’t charged with espionage, she could go into jail for a long time.

“I’ll… I’ll give the money back!”

“This is not a negotiation, that’s for the judge to decide,” the agent said in a serious manner. “But if you cooperate with us, you can redeem yourself.”

Yang Feifei immediately spoke.

“I agree! I’ll do anything!”

The agent sighed and spoke to her in a serious tone.

“Use your Weibo account to publicly admit that you were bought out, and clarify the rumors.

“We will work with Star Sky Technology. If things go well, they might not sue you.

“As for your illegal gains, we will confiscate them.”

…

In fact, Chen Yushan had already prepared a response plan before the release of the Phantom system.

After all, if Star Sky Technology wanted to separate the virtual reality network from the Internet, they were inevitably going to get backlashes.

Chen Yushan saw this coming.

Once they made a critical technology breakthrough with the Phantom system or show that the Phantom system had commercialization value, foreign countries would definitely try to label it as “illegal” and “evil”, in hopes of buying time for their own technology companies to catch up.

Star Sky Technology wasn’t in a hurry. They weighed factors such as risk and profit, taking into account the future economic market. Penetrating the American market was relatively low on their list of priorities.

There was no way other companies and countries could develop a virtual reality system that was comparable to Phantom, at least within the next few years.

Therefore, Chen Yushan wasn’t worried.

Star Sky Technology wasn’t worried either.

The ones worrying were the people that couldn’t get their hands on the technology, or the ones waiting to get this technology…

Jinling high-tech zone.

Chen Yushan was sitting inside the CEO office when she received a call from the Ministry of State Security.

“Ms. Yang has withdrawn her case and agreed to cooperate with us. She will repair her stupid mistakes.”

Even though Chen Yushan expected this to happen, she still felt relieved.

“I don’t get it, why would someone do something this stupid?”

“It is a million dollars, USD. Most people would be tempted. Speaking of which, do you plan on countersuing her?”

Chen Yushan thought for a second and said, “She has already paid for her mistake. I think there’s no need for that. I’m sure the state will make a fair decision.”

The agent from the Ministry of State Security nodded.

“… This was our advice as well. If you sue her for compensation, she won’t be able to pay any fines. Also, we need her to cooperate with the follow-up investigation.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Yeah, thank you, guys.”

“You’re welcome.

“We are honored to serve the country and bring justice!”

…

The so-called victim, Yang Feifei, voluntarily admitted on her social media that she had fabricated some facts. She even attached evidence of her bribery records, totally changing the public opinion. People’s unwarranted panic over the Phantom system turned into a discussion on the organizations behind all of this.

After Yang Feifei issued an apology, she knew people would attack her. Thus she quickly deleted her Weibo account.

As for Star Sky Technology, they said that since Miss Yang recognized her mistake, they would not countersue her.

The turmoil of public opinion finally came to an end.

As for the international public discussions…

Star Sky Technology never took them so seriously.

They didn’t need to care about the international market just yet.

Also, they weren’t the ones that should be worried.

Because, there was a product launch conference going on at the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center, with more than 500 companies attending…

Chapter 1105: We Don“t Care

Chapter 1105 We Don“t Care

The Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

This was where the Phantom virtual reality system product launch was held.

This wasn’t Elon Musk’s first rodeo.

He stood in the venue lobby with his invitation letter in his hand. He suddenly noticed an acquaintance.

This was none other than Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook.

A while ago, Facebook liquidated its subsidiary company Oculus, laying off thousands of employees. This caused quite a lot of discussion on the Internet.

He wasn’t surprised to see Elon here at all.

These two were likely to become competitors with one another.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Elon reached out his hand and said, “This is a lucky day.”

After Mark Zuckerberg shook Elon’s hand, he spoke.

“Same here, nice to see you.”

Elon: “It looks like you’re not in a good mood.”

Mark said, “Aren’t you the same?”

People in Los Angeles had already begun protesting against the Phantom system. Even though Mark Zuckerberg wanted to cooperate with Star Sky Technology, he had to tread carefully.

He didn’t expect Star Sky Technology to not only ignore the recent public controversies but host a product launch instead.

This really surprised him.

Hosting a launch conference meant they would undoubtedly be at the center of public attention.

The reporters would definitely not let them off the hook easily.

At least not the foreign reporters.

“Haha, I’m doing fine,” Elon smiled and said. “Even though I’m interested in virtual reality technology, it’s only a hobby. Maybe virtual reality is important for Facebook, but it doesn’t affect Tesla and Space-X.”

This was true.

For Elon Musk, this technology was only a profit-generating machine. He wasn’t as desperate as Zuckerberg in getting his hands on the technology.

Mark looked at Elon’s gloating face and didn’t say anything. He turned around and walked toward the venue.

Elon didn’t say anything. He shrugged and also walked toward the venue.

The product launch was about to begin.

One thing he had in common with Zuckerberg was that they both wanted to know what Star Sky Technology had to say…

…

The crowd gathered at the press conference.

Among the attendees were CEOs of well-known technology companies, big names from academia, or media journalists.

Chen Yushan, CEO of Star Sky Technology, walked on to the stage and announced the beginning of the product launch.

Surprisingly, this female CEO did not seem to care about the recent controversies on the Internet. Rather, she focused on the Phantom system.

There was going to be a content grading system for the virtual reality network, as well as a new experimental plan.

According to the female CEO, Star Sky Technology would establish a virtual reality network grading system, that determined the signals that the user could receive from the neural demodulator, based on the user’s age and choosing.

Basically, users under the age of 18 would not be able to receive inappropriate content. Users above the age of 18, subject to local laws and regulations, could enable inappropriate content.

On the other hand, in order to improve the Phantom system machine learning algorithm and better identity-appropriate content, Star Sky Technology had announced the launch of their “Master God” plan. They were going to recruit 5-20 people from all over the world. They were going to be testers that helped the Phantom System with algorithmic deep learning.

Chen Yushan did not disclose the specific experiment plan.

After all, that wasn’t the main point of the conference.

After she briefly explained the situation, she cleared her throat and spoke to the audience.

“Moreover, I understand there have been some false rumors circulating online, as well as concerns from the public.

“From a scientific perspective, virtual reality is absolutely a safe technology. It is like having a second pair of eyes, it’s only a tool for us to receive external signals, it cannot replace our thoughts.

“Also, everyone has the freedom to choose to adopt this technology. As an ethical company, we serve the future of humanity, providing more choices to the people.

“The user has the right to make the final decision.

“That is our response to the false rumors about the virtual reality network. Next, let’s talk about the focus of this conference…”

Zuckerberg was sitting in the crowd. He looked at the CEO of Star Sky Technology and frowned.

This wasn’t an unusual response to public rumors.

It answered the public’s questions and provided a solution.

But is the public going to trust the technology? Will this convince other companies to accept the new reality?

It seems like I have underestimated this technology…

Honestly, he was quite pessimistic about the way Star Sky Technology handled the negative publicity.

However, the CEO on stage didn’t seem to care at all. She continued to speak, “This is our company’s development strategy.

“We will divide our global business into eight regions and establish supercomputing centers in each region, which provide virtual reality network computing services. We will expand the virtual reality network bandwidth based on the size of the supercomputing centers in each region.

“The first location of the supercomputing center has been selected to be at Jinling, China. It will provide virtual reality network computing power for East Asia.

“As for other regions, we welcome high-tech companies to join us to promote the globalization of the virtual reality network.

“Of course, if you guys are not interested, we understand.

“After all, the future doesn’t serve anyone, only a portion of people. We understand if our western friends decide to go against their own free trade policies.”

There was a commotion in the audience.

What is that supposed to mean?

Star Sky Technology does not care about the markets outside of East Asia.

They’re telling the west that they don’t care?

It seems like they’re too cocky about their technology!

The western reporters carrying cameras were stunned.

“This is… their official response? What are they doing?”

“Are they crazy?”

The entrepreneurs in the venue were also stunned.

However, they were shocked by something else.

Elon stared at the stage, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

Even though, like Zuckerberg, he wasn’t fond of the way Star Sky Technology responded to the public rumors, this was amazing news for the businessmen in the virtual reality field.

Like most Silicon Valley CEOs had speculated, Star Sky Technology did not plan on competing with the downstream industrial chain. They planned on foregoing their customer-facing business and only serve as a cloud computing provider for other companies.

This meant that if the virtual reality network came to America, companies in the Phantom ecosystem would be able to take a piece of the pie.

Maybe even a big piece.

“They are crazy…”

Zuckerberg’s eyes flashed with excitement.

He finally understood what the real trump card of Star Sky Technology was.

Even though he didn’t want to admit this, the Phantom system had no competition, at least in the short term. Regardless of whether or not other companies were willing to accept this reality, the Phantom system couldn’t be replaced.

It was easy to stop this monopoly; they just had to ban this technology from their countries.

However, once the virtual reality network matured, American companies would want to enter this market…

Regardless, Facebook shouldn’t miss this opportunity to revolutionize the Internet.

Mark Zuckerberg made up his mind. He had to get a chance to speak with Star Sky Technology after the conference.

…

After the Star Sky Technology conference, high tech companies went crazy, so did the western media outlets.

The companies were going crazy because of the announcement that Star Sky Technology was looking to find overseas partners, while the media was crazy because…

They were being ignored.

That’s right.

Completely ignored.

Whether it was the criticism from well-known psychologists on the CNN show or anti-virtual reality protests on the streets of New York, Star Sky Technology seemed impervious to everything.

After the launch, Andrew, a well-known CNN reporter, expressed his resentment at Star Sky Technology’s response, or rather, their lack of response. He furiously spoke into the camera.

“I have never seen such an arrogant company. They don’t care about the people at all! All they care about is selling their fancy technology. From now on, I will boycott Star Sky Technology! I hope everyone will join me and defeat this evil company!”

Andrew spoke in a passionate tone.

However, ideas were beautiful, but reality was often cruel.

Star Sky Technology was not only a production company, but it was also an intellectual property company.

Obviously, it was easy to boycott Star Sky Technology…

They just had to remove the lithium-sulfur batteries from their phones and electric vehicles, refuse to use wireless charging stations, boycott the carbon-based chips made by American semiconductor companies, protest against the fusion power station in California, which used superconducting materials, and refuse to use clean nuclear energy…

That was all they had to do to remove Star Sky Technology from their lives.

After the product launch, CNN released flippant reports.

However, something happened after that, which shocked the entire western media…

Everyone was surprised.

The public opinion on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter was not what they had imagined.

The people were still protesting.

But in addition to the current protests, the newly born opinions were not supporting the boycott against some kind of evil brainwashing by Star Sky Technology.

Instead, people expressed their frustration on how Star Sky Technology didn’t announce a plan to expand the virtual reality network to their countries. Users wanted this technology as soon as possible.

On the other hand, users in the East Asia region were ecstatic.

The excitement and enthusiasm completely overwhelmed the negative comments.

Even though the supercomputing center in Jinling had not been completed yet, the virtual reality network was slowly becoming a reality.

Many high-tech companies held a neutral position, and social media platforms such as Facebook had begun taking the initiative to reduce the protesters’ voices.

It was as if they had reached a secret agreement with the Chinese.

However, that wasn’t the real scary part.

What made the traditional western media worried, or even scared, was that the people did not care about their take on the technology.

They were losing their influence.

They were losing their credibility status.

The flocks of sheep that used to be manipulated by them were now ignoring them…

Chapter 1106: Earning Money While Standing Up

1106 Earning Money While Standing Up

“Recently, protests broke out on the United States east coast. Protesters held up signs, calling for a boycott of Star Sky Technology and other Chinese made products. According to our reporter in New York, there are more than 2,000 people protesting in Queens alone, affecting nearby traffic.

“It is worth mentioning that according to our reporter, the organizer of the protest used Apple’s latest mobile phone. This phone uses the Dragon series of carbon-based chips, as well as carbon nanotubes, which use more than 20 patents that belong to Star Sky Technology. The protest organizer did not respond to our interviewer’s question and instead made an unfriendly comment.

“We would like to remind everyone to stay safe and to reduce traveling. If you see any dangerous activities, call the police…

“… CTV news report.”

Wang Zhengfei looked at the news report and the ridiculous reporters. He couldn’t help but speak.

“Sigh, I always see Star Sky Technology on the news, I’m so jealous.”

Sitting next to him was the chief product strategy officer of Huawei, Shao Yi. Shao Yi responded with a smile, “CEO Wang, there’s nothing to be jealous about, didn’t we already obtain the license for the Phantom virtual reality system?”

According to the strategic cooperation agreement between Star Sky Technology and Huawei, Star Sky Technology authorized their patents to be used by Huawei.

In exchange, Star Sky Technology would take 15% of revenue for a series of Huawei neural interface virtual reality devices. Huawei also had to use the Phantom system and adhere to Star Sky Technology’s standards.

Of course, this wasn’t just Huawei. So far, three Chinese manufacturers in the field of smart gadget production had signed similar contracts. Another large number of manufacturers were also negotiating contracts, and they were going to enter this market soon.

The only downside was that Huawei wasn’t able to sign a contract for the construction of the virtual reality network computing center.

No matter how hard they tried, Star Sky Technology had refused to outsource the Phantom system computing center. Star Sky Technology only provided Huawei with APIs that were compatible with Huawei’s ecosystem.

Obviously, Star Sky Technology wanted to control their cloud computing business, in addition to their patent management business. In the future, anyone who wanted to log onto the virtual reality network would have to connect to their servers.

One could only imagine what kind of revenue could be generated with that kind of traffic.

However, Shao Yi was content. Compared to other companies that had to pay the “Star Sky Tax”, Huawei was able to receive a lot of discounts based on their contract.

For example, Star Sky Technology promised to provide assistance to the Huawei overseas 5G network development, as well as using the Dragon series chips in their new supercomputing center.

As long as this partnership continued, they would generate more and more income.

“… I’m not jealous of that.” Wang Zhengfei shook his head at Shao Yi and said, “Think about the person sitting next to us, the representative from Verizon.”

Shao Yi thought for a second and frowned.

“… Is there a problem?”

“Not a problem. It’s just that he had an interesting expression on his face. Especially when Star Sky Technology said they planned on finding overseas partners. He looked like he just won the lottery.” Wang Zhengfei smiled and paused for a second. He then spoke in an emotional tone, “Earning money is so simple.

“It’s almost like they’re begging for others to take away their money!

“It’s like taking candy from a child!”

…

Jin Ling University.

Male dorms.

Duan Siqi woke up in the morning by an email notification. He opened his eyes and picked up his phone.

He unlocked the screen and looked at the email.

Then, he froze.

“… Respawn Team? Understanding the meaning of life? The hell is this…”

Yang Shuang, who was packing his backpack, saw him staring at his phone. He smiled and asked, “Hey bro, what are you looking at?”

“… Nothing.”

Duan Siqi put on his glasses and looked around the dorms. He tried to change the topic of conversation.

“Where is Li Mo? Where could he be so early in the morning?”

“Oh, Brother Li?” Yang Shuang said, “I heard him say yesterday that God Lu’s research project has made progress. He’s been going to God Lu’s office every day; he’s even skipping classes.”

No wonder I haven’t seen him in my lectures, he’s at Academician Lu’s office.

Duan Siqi couldn’t help but feel jealous.

He would rather join Academician Lu’s research project than become Academician Lu’s little “experiment rat”.

Of course, it wasn’t like he had an IMO gold medal.

Yang Shuang finished packing his backpack. He looked at Duan Siqi and spoke.

“Bro, I’m going to the library, are you coming?”

“F*ck, give me a second, I’ll come.”

Duan Siqi climbed down from the bunk bed and went into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. Then stuffed some textbooks into a backpack.

He looked at Li Mo’s empty desk and sighed. He tried to cheer himself up.

I have to start working hard.

After all, him being a beta tester was just a side hustle; he never thought about working in the gaming industry.

But…

I guess I can do both academia and gaming.

He looked at his email and saw the strange invitation letter. He paused for a second before clicking the “yes” button.

After a while, he received a notification saying “application successful”, telling him to “upload your resume and report to Star Sky Technology”.

Duan Siqi had a strange look on his face.

I’ll do that after I get back from the library.

All he wanted to do was study; he didn’t want to do anything else.

On the other hand, a series of cheers and exclaims were heard inside an office at the mathematics department building.

The person that made these cheers were none other than Schultz himself.

Schultz, Faltings, and Perelman all looked astonished.

No one could have imagined this.

No one expected this.

Only a week had gone by.

They already overcame their biggest bottleneck…

Chapter 1107: Need an Outstanding Brain

1107 Need an Outstanding Brain “Amazing…”

The office in the Jin Ling University mathematics department.

Schultz stood in front of four whiteboards with a look of disbelief on his face.

Even though he knew Lu Zhou was good at solving proof-type mathematical problems, seeing it with his own eyes was still shocking.

During the month he was working in this research project, he and Perelman often talked about solving a complex proposition. But out of nowhere, Lu Zhou listed three possible proof ideas on the whiteboard and even tried solving the problem using one of the ideas.

He prided himself on his calculation and thinking abilities.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have won three IMO gold medals.

But even then, when he witnessed Lu Zhou’s computation abilities, he was shocked.

When he was still trying to use one of the possible pathways to solve the proposition, Lu Zhou was already able to give a conclusive result on the proposition.

However, this wasn’t the whole story.

Proving a mathematical conjecture in a week.

Completely changing his knowledge of algebraic geometry…

As well as everyone’s knowledge of algebraic geometry…

Schultz stared at the proof process on the whiteboard. After a while, he looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Did you install a computer chip in your head or something?”

Lu Zhou put away the marker and said, “… Why do you say that?”

“… Because your calculation speed is beyond incredible,” Schultz said. “Even I have to take some time to solve these problems… Seriously, do you not need a draft paper?”

Lu Zhou said, “Not all problems require a draft paper. Some problems can be solved by mathematical intuition. Thinking about abstract problems can have unexpected results… Of course, if the calculation is large, most of the time I write on draft papers. Maybe you didn’t notice.”

Schultz coughed and said, “Okay, maybe you were writing so fast I couldn’t see.”

Lu Zhou: “Thanks, and if I ever put a chip in my brain, I’ll give you one as well.”

Faltings looked at the whiteboard and said, “Let’s continue.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“… As shown from above, the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture is valid, which means, rank(K2(E))=1+spl(E).

Faltings looked at the calculations on the whiteboard and said, “From this, we get a general cohomology theory, which can be applied to the Abel Jacobi theorem.”

“Correct, this is exactly what we needed to solve the problem!”

Lu Zhou snapped his fingers and looked at the whiteboard as he said, “We have already extracted the numbers and shapes in terms of motive theory and Langlands program, so all we have to do now is combine the two.”

The ultimate proposition since the era of Archimedes!

The holy grail that had stood for thousands of years.

Everyone held their breath.

The students and assistants watched the masters work…

The silence lasted for five minutes or so.

Faltings looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“It doesn’t look like this can be solved by usual methods.”

“It seems that you have also noticed.”

“… I suggest using the Princeton method to solve it.”

“I had the same idea.”

Perelman didn’t understand what they were talking about, but Schultz seemed to understand. Chen Yang, on the other hand, hesitated for a second and asked, “What is the Princeton method?”

“It’s to do independent research and discuss with others occasionally.” Schultz smiled and said, “For talented individuals, working on groundbreaking problems with others often decreases efficiency.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke in a serious manner.

“Correct. The framework has already been established, the rest is all groundbreaking work. This part cannot be done by collaboration. I propose to hold meetings and exchange opinions on a weekly or monthly basis. The rest of the time… should be allocated to independent research.”

Their research had far deviated from the initial framework.

What they needed to solve this problem wasn’t a group of smart people, but one individually outstanding person… and a moment of inspiration.

Not only did this inspiration break through the temporary darkness, but it would change science forever, illuminating civilization.

This was why people said mathematicians were individual heroes.

Because without the light of mathematics, some problems would never be solved, and they would continue to stay in the dark for a long, long time.

Faltings nodded and spoke.

“I have some things to do at the Fritz Haber Institute, I’ll return mid next month… Maybe the end of the month. I’ll come back here, and we’ll have a meeting.”

“Then I might as well go back to the University of Bonn.” Schultz smiled and said, “I can’t just leave my students alone, I need to find something for them to do. Maybe they can come up with interesting ideas.”

Lu Zhou looked at Perelman and asked, “What about you?”

Without thinking, Perelman said, “I told my parents that I’ll go back after I solve this problem. I don’t have anything else to do, so I’ll just stay here.”

You might as well just move your parents to Jin Ling.

In the end, Lu Zhou didn’t say this out loud.

Even though it was a good suggestion, it was none of his business.

This reminded Lu Zhou of his own parents.

This was just like how his parents were still unwilling to move to Jin Ling. Old people became attached to their hometowns.

Lu Zhou looked at the whiteboard and spoke.

“… I plan on publishing the proof on the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture to the Future Mathematics journal, is that fine?”

Everyone in the office looked at each other.

“Sure…” Schultz shook his head and said, “You did the proof basically on your own, so you decide… However, I prefer Inventiones Mathematicae.”

Faltings nodded.

“I agree with Schlutz.”

Chapter 1108: Unifying Old Methods

Chapter 1108 Unifying Old Methods

After Lu Zhou talked with his teammates, he decided to publish the proof of the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture in the “Future Mathematics” journal.

While the paper was in the review process, its preprint was uploaded to arXiv.

Even though the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture wasn’t as famous as Riemann’s hypothesis or Goldbach’s conjecture, being able to connect high-dimensional K-groups with analytical invariants of the elliptic curve E gave it a special meaning in the field of algebraic geometry and number theory.

Algebraic geometry was the branch of mathematics that had the most influential researchers, so this preprint immediately attracted a considerable amount of attention.

Not just because of the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture itself.

But also because the person who solved this conjecture was Professor Lu, the one who proved Riemann’s hypothesis at the International Congress of Mathematicians…

Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

The cafe on the first floor.

Professor Witten was sitting by a window drinking coffee. He spoke to Professor Deligne, who was reading a paper in his hand.

“The Lunar Hadron Collider has already been completed. Apparently, the first experiment begins in December. I guess I’ll have to make a long-distance trip when the time comes.”

Deligne asked casually, “Oh, looks like there’s a chance to verify your theory?”

With a coffee in his hand, Witten smiled and shook his head.

“Not yet, but this is good news for the standard model. We’ll be able to reveal the secrets of the universe… Speaking of which, what are you reading?”

Deligne noticed Witten’s look of curiosity. He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and smirked, which was a rare sight for a serious man like him.

“It’s a proof of the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture… It seems like their research is progressing.”

Witten: “What research?”

“Lu Zhou and his quest to unify algebra and geometry.”

When Witten heard this, he was shocked. He spoke after a moment of silence.

“That is ridiculous… When did he start this research project?”

As a Fields Medal-winning physicist, he knew more about mathematics than most scientists.

Unifying old methods.

When analytical geometry was first discovered, people combined algebraic problems using Cartesian coordinates. This led to the rapid development of science and technology, particularly in physics, astronomy, and engineering.

And this also began a new era of mathematics.

“He started working on this after he solved Riemann’s hypothesis, but he’s probably had the idea in his mind for a long time…”

Professor Deligne flipped through the page in his hand and said, “He’s not the only one that has thought about this. My supervisor and I, as well as anyone proficient in algebra and geometry, have thought about this problem. Is there an elegant connection between algebra and geometry? That is the question. If their research is successful, then it would benefit the entire mathematics community…”

After a long silence, Professor Witten spoke.

“Looks like I can’t catch up with the times.”

Deligne: “That’s not a big deal, you’re just not in this field of research. I was also surprised when I first heard about this research project. Especially now that he has made significant in-progress results and even recruited Faltings. From what I understand, Faltings rarely leaves the Max Planck Society.”

Witten didn’t really care about Faltings.

He asked in a serious manner, “Do you think they will succeed?”

“In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time.” Deligne’s wrinkly finger adjusted his glasses and said, “Maybe I’m biased, but I feel like there’s no problem in this world he can’t solve.”

After a while, he spoke again.

“As long as the problem has a real solution.”

“Looks like you think highly of him.” Witten smiled and said, “Let’s make a bet then. Do you think he’ll be able to solve this problem before the first Lunar Hadron Collider experiment or after the first experiment?”

Deligne paused for a second. He didn’t expect his friend to ask such a weird question.

He hesitated for a bit as he contemplated. He finally spoke.

“If the first experiment is happening in December, then I would bet on it after the experiment.”

After all, there was only two months left until December.

Even though they had made good progress, it was unrealistic to think they would solve the problem in two months.

Witten: “Then I’ll bet on them solving it before the experiment.”

Professor Deligne frowned.

“You sure?”

Professor Witten smiled and said, “Why not? I feel like they will surprise us.”

If they could unify algebra and geometry, it would impact not only mathematics, but also the physics field.

Whether it was condensed matter physics or high-energy physics, the abstract meaning of numbers and shapes could help physicists understand many complicated concepts.

Perhaps it wouldn’t revolutionize the physics world, but it would definitely create new theories and methods.

People could then use these new theories to solve “old” problems.

Deligne smirked and asked, “Then what should we bet on?”

“I think you have Lu Zhou’s graduation paper on Goldbach’s conjecture.” Witten smiled and said, “Last time I went to the Firestone Library to borrow his manuscript on the 750 GeV research, I happened to search through some of his other manuscripts and wasn’t able to find the one on Goldbach’s conjecture. Thus, you’re the only person who could have it.”

Deligne coughed and said, “Sure, I’ll wager it, I don’t care about sentimental things… Then, what do you plan on betting with?”

Witten: “How about the manuscript on M Theory?”

Professor Deligne looked at him and said, “Are you really going to wager something that might not even be correct?”

“But it might be the ultimate theory at explaining the origins of the universe…”

Witten sighed and gave up.

“Okay, what else… A while ago, I was cleaning up my house and found a bunch of my notes from when I was studying topology. There is probably something useful in there, I just haven’t organized it. It’s almost ten-textbook thick.”

Witten was an expert in Topology.

The reason he was able to win the 1990 Fields Medal was because of his research on low-dimensional topology structures and his deduction of quantum invariants.

Atiyah once commented that his achievements in mathematics had surpassed many mathematicians, while his knowledge of physics had provided him a source of inspiration and intuition for mathematics research. There was even a rumor that Atiyah had begun studying physics because of Witten.

Regardless of whether these topology notes had sentimental value, it undoubtedly had academic value.

Therefore, Professor Deligne spoke immediately.

“Deal!”

Chapter 1109: Final Stage

Chapter 1109 Final Stage

Lu Zhou had no idea that his project had become a betting war between two old men.

If he had known about this, he would definitely make a bet himself.

After Lu Zhou stopped Dean Qin from hosting a farewell ceremony, he and Wang Peng drove Faltings and Schultz to the airport. Then, Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion.

On the other hand, Schultz had gone through the airport security check and boarded the plane. He put on his seatbelt and looked outside the window, as if he was thinking about something. He saw the ground slowly disappear from his sight as he spoke.

“Time is flying by, I can’t believe I’ve stayed here for a month already.”

Professor Faltings, who was sitting next to him, wasn’t interested in talking about the passage of time. Faltings had closed his eyes and spoke.

“We have to work hard when we get back.”

Schultz smiled and said, “Of course.”

Geniuses were often proud and arrogant people.

Schlutz was one of them.

In fact, the reason he was going back wasn’t only because of his students; he could have easily contacted his students via the Internet.

The real reason…

He was certain Lu Zhou knew the real reason.

On the final stage of heroism, it wouldn’t make sense to form a hierarchy structure; there was only one person who would be remembered by history.

While the initial non-creative work had already been done.

As for who could put down the final tile, the most difficult tile…

That would depend on individual talent.

Everyone knew this.

This was a competition.

Even though Schlutz knew the odds of him winning were slim, he still wanted to give it a try.

He knew that Professor Faltings had the same idea.

Schultz felt the adrenaline rushing in his chest as he squeezed his fist.

“… This is getting me excited.”

…

The plane back to Germany was lost in the sky.

Lu Zhou, who was back home, was sitting in his study room.

Just like Professor Schultz, Lu Zhou was also full of adrenaline.

However, it was for a different reason.

“Finally, this is the last step…”

Lu Zhou looked at the draft papers on his table and the fully-written whiteboards next to his bookshelves. He took a deep breath and smirked.

There was only one step left to unify algebra and geometry.

After that, he would enter the world of level 10 mathematics.

According to the rewards of the legendary mission, the Void Memory would reveal secrets about the system.

He was full of excitement!

Lu Zhou reached out and picked up a pen. He then looked at a blank piece of draft paper and thought back to his conversations with Perelman and the others over the past month. He began thinking about this final proposition.

Abstract geometry was an insanely complicated thing.

Most people wouldn’t even be able to learn geometry, much rather less do research.

After all, the abstract meaning behind numbers could be changed by modifying the number base, but the abstract form of geometry couldn’t be described with just a few words and symbols.

Not only did it require creative thinking, but it also required a strong spatial imagination and an understanding of abstract concepts.

Therefore, the unification of numbers and geometry was a proposition that combined different abstract concepts.

Take the simple one-variable polynomial with an obvious geometric explanation as an example.

Its dimension was 1, which meant it was a curve. But if one considered its complex form, its dimension was two, making it a surface.

The contrary was also true.

Grothendieck’s theory gave a complete framework. He believed that in some sense, integers were curves, while each point on the curve would respond to a prime number.

His theory was successful, and combined with the topology tools he created, he was able to derive many useful methods and mathematical proofs, which could solve many algebraic geometry problems.

When Witten was studying string theory, he tried to use the Jones polynomial to explain the Chern–Simons theory, which greatly inspired him.

This was the reason M-theory was born.

What Lu Zhou was doing now, was to expand this framework and extend it to the entire field of algebra and geometry, covering the Langlands program, motive theory, and even cohomology theory…

This meant the birth of a new mathematical foundation!

While Grothendieck’s standard conjectures would have predicted half of the new foundation.

As for the other half, they were so complex no one dared to think about them.

[Let X be a non-singular projective cluster on the algebraic closed domain k. When we take k→C, we get a complex manifold X(C)…]

Lines of equations were written on the page, giving a simple outline of the proof framework.

Lu Zhou looked at the page and mumbled to himself quietly, “Abstract all cohomology into a geometrically composed set, substitute Cq(D,k) corollary 4, by using the Fold method…

“The geometric figures abstraction set forms a map to n.

“… This is the most likely solution.”

There was a shine in his eyes as his pen suddenly began to move.

The traces of ink were like rivers, converging onto the ocean of paper, turning into beautiful mathematical calculations.

Time quickly passed by.

Sounds of the pen gliding on the paper were heard.

Lu Zhou was in a flow state. He had totally forgotten about the passage of time or even his own existence. He was absorbed in the ocean of mathematics.

It was almost like he wasn’t completing a proof.

It was almost like he was writing a symphony about the universe.

Chapter 1110: An Email With One Word

Chapter 1110 An Email With One Word

November 25th.

Rain was pouring down in North Rhine-Westphalia, almost making people worry about the Rhine river overflowing.

Situated near the Rhine riverbank was a plain-looking research institute.

After being attacked by the wind and rain, the gray-black stone bricks had deteriorated over the years. It was almost like an old man, struggling to stay alive in his later years.

Of course, the bad weather was nothing compared to what they were really worried about.

Once the center of the Bourbaki and Göttingen schools of thought, it had been doing research for the past 200 years, and likely for the next 200 years as well.

However, this was the first time…

The first time a problem had bothered them so much…

The door opened, and an old man walked into the research institute. He was drenched.

He shook off the water droplets on his raincoat and handed it to his assistant. Professor Faltings came here from his home. He rubbed his hands together and walked into a meeting room.

It had been almost a month since he returned from China.

Many things happened in the mathematical world over the past month.

The paper on the Beilinson-Bloch-Kato conjecture was published in the Future Mathematics journal, popularizing the research on the motive theory and cohomology theory.

A large number of research papers had emerged in this field, and more and more people began to believe that Grothendieck’s algebraic geometry predictions were true.

Most people wanted to witness the day algebra and geometry was unified!

“Long time no see, Professor Faltings,” an old man said as he looked at Faltings walking into the conference room. He smiled and reached out his hand.

“The last time I saw you was at the Blue Hall in Stockholm; it’s been six years.”

“Nice to see you again, Sarnak.” Faltings shook his hands and glanced at his fat belly. He couldn’t help but say, “Looks like you’re doing well.”

“I’m okay.” Sarnak smiled and said, “I missed your humor.”

Professor Sarnak, the former editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics, winner of the 2014 Wolf Prize. Scholars who won a lifetime achievement award were considered world-renowned.

As for why the former editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics was here…

He was here for the same reason Deligne was also here.

This great mathematics meeting gathered almost all of the top scholars of the Bourbaki Group.

This included Sarnak, Grothendieck’s proudest student Deligne, Faltings, who was named the pope of mathematics, as well as Schultz, the scholar Faltings appointed as the one most likely to surpass him…

This meeting had been going on for three whole days.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s get into the business.” Faltings sat down at the conference table and looked at the rain pouring outside the window. “Winter is coming; it’s going to get cold here.”

“That’s true,” Deligne said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He added, “That’s my least favorite part about Europe. It rains every day this time of year, and my jacket is never dry.”

The meeting on the Grand Unified Theory kicked off.

The first presenter was Schultz, who reported his research on the smooth projective morphism Hom(hX, hY) on k clusters, confirming it to be a non-Abelian category.

This attracted the attention of all of the participants.

Everyone knew that the Abelian category was the basic framework of homology algebra. If the morphism of the smooth projective cluster k was a non-Abelian category, this disproved the method of solving the Grand Unified Theory using homology groups and algebraic topology methods.

Even though this result was frustrating, proving something was not feasible was still productive.

At the very least, now they didn’t have to assume various possibilities of Hom(hX, hY).

The meeting lasted for two hours.

Everyone disclosed their research over the past month. Finally, the meeting came to an end.

Faltings looked at the lines of notes in his notebook and nodded with satisfaction.

At least compared to yesterday, they had made some progress.

In addition to proving that using cohomology groups and algebraic topology to study the morphisms of smooth projective clusters on k was a waste of time, by using algebraic chain theory, they successfully deduced that the category of smooth projective clusters on k was V(k), proving one of Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

Normally, this result was enough for a celebration.

This wasn’t just an in-progress result of the Grand Unified Theory.

It was also an in-progress of proving Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

However, no one was in the mood to celebrate. No one was even remotely happy. Instead, they began to feel a sense of urgency.

Algebraic chain theory wasn’t a particularly complicated theory. Faltings knew that if they were able to figure it out, Lu Zhou must have figured it out either.

Lu Zhou hadn’t published a paper in over a month.

This either meant he was in a bottleneck or there was something amazing in the works.

Faltings believed the latter was more likely.

After more than a month of hard work, he had no hope that he or Schultz could solve this proposition alone.

His only hope now was to gather the power of the entire Bourbaki Group to solve this problem, to continue the glory of the institute, and to be a lighthouse in the dark.

And if Lu Zhou really solved Grand Unified Theory…

Unlike Riemann’s hypothesis, which would make thousands of propositions become theorems, the Grand Unified Theory would connect thousands of theorems in a straight line.

This achievement alone would be worth more than the sum of all the mathematical achievements of the 20th century.

And this undoubtedly would be remembered in history as the peak of mathematics…

The meeting was over.

More than a dozen participants got up and left.

Professor Faltings put away his notebook and was about to leave. However, he suddenly noticed a notification on his phone for a new email.

He tapped on the screen and picked up his phone from the desk.

When he opened the email, he froze.

The email was very short.

There was only one word.

[Finished.]

Chapter 1111: The Universe Is Perfec

Chapter 1111 The Universe Is Perfec

[Master, what are you thinking about? :3]

Lu Zhou had been sitting there for half an hour without moving.

Xiao Ai began to wonder if its master was still alive.

Lu Zhou looked at the sun rising from the Purple Mountain in the distance. He looked at the morning mist as he spoke.

“… I’m thinking about my past.”

Xiao Ai: [(•̀∀•́)?]

“I really miss it.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but sigh emotionally.

Starting with Zhou’s conjecture, to proving his first mathematical proposition: the twin prime conjecture, to the proof of Polignac’s conjecture, then Goldbach’s conjecture, then later the Millennium Prize Problems…

He had solved so many of the world’s hardest problems without even knowing it.

But now, he was taking another step forward.

And this step was farther than any step he had taken before.

Even adding up all of the propositions he had solved, including Riemann’s hypothesis, wouldn’t hold a candle to what he did half an hour ago.

Of course, without the foundation work done previously, he could have never gotten to where he was today.

“Grothendieck was right.

“There is a universal cohomology theory, whose motive value is in the Q-category. The cohomology of any coefficient can be calculated by using the Z-coefficient.

“Not only that, but all numbers can be abstracted into a point on a high-dimensional surface. All geometric images corresponding to an algebraic expression can be transformed through topology, finally returning to the same surface…

“This is a perfect universe.”

There was no longer any suspense.

All he had to do was to add the final touches.

After pausing for half an hour, he began writing again.

His pen glided smoothly on the paper.

It was as if he had done this thousands of times before. Lu Zhou quietly placed down the last brick, completing the building.

Lu Zhou originally thought that after completing something countless scholars had been dreaming of for thousands of years, he would be proud and ecstatic.

However, when this moment finally came, instead of being excited, he felt enlightened and calm.

As if this was intended to happen.

As if none of this came by surprise.

On the second line of the last page, his pen wrote down a full stop.

Lu Zhou looked at the neat line of calculations on the paper and smiled.

“Finally…

“Maybe this will pave the way for the future.”

Now that algebra and geometry were unified in the abstract sense, one could use a simple theoretical framework to transform algebraic problems into geometric problems and to apply methods and tools across fields.

Armed with these new tools and methods, many old problems wouldn’t even be considered problems anymore…

Of course, mathematics was an ever-changing field.

As the old problems were solved, new problems would be created to plague future mathematicians.

Even though he was level 10 in mathematics…

Maybe the world wouldn’t be too boring for him.

Lu Zhou looked at the calculations on the paper and spent five minutes reminiscing about the past. He then sent an email to Professor Faltings and stood up from his chair.

He hadn’t been outside for a long time. He almost forgot which day of the week it was.

He had to go outside, otherwise, he would become a vampire.

“Let’s go.”

The drone lying on the bookshelf began to hover, and a line of words appeared on the drone display.

[Okay, Master. Master, are you taking Xiao Ai shopping? ヾ(≧▽≦*)]

“Shopping? We’re going hiking!”

[What? Hiking again… ( ̄△̄;)]

“When you become more mature, I’ll think about taking you to a crowded place.”

Lu Zhou stretched his stiff arms and smiled. He ignored Xiao Ai’s sad emoji and walked out of his study room.

…

The Zhongshan International residential area was situated right next to the Purple Mountain. There was a pathway through the back of the suburb that led straight to the top of the mountain.

Lu Zhou had climbed to the top of the mountain on this trail before.

He put on some exercise clothes and running shoes. With a towel on his shoulder and Xiao Ai flying above him, he began jogging.

Lu Zhou greeted the backdoor entrance guard and exited his gated community. He followed the stone steps and jogged for a few kilometers before he began walking. Soon after, he came to a gazebo halfway up the mountain.

Normally, when he came here for his morning run, he would turn around at this point. However, this time, he wanted to continue walking up the mountain.

Lu Zhou went into the gazebo and was about to take a break. However, he suddenly noticed an elderly man sitting on the gazebo stone bench.

The man was wearing a tank top and drinking out of a brown teacup in his hand.

The old man noticed Lu Zhou. He smiled and spoke.

“Oh, Academician Lu, what brings you up the mountain so early in the morning?”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know him, the old man probably knew him from the news, not to mention the old man had lived in the same gated community.

“I’ve been staying at home too long, so I wanted to head outside and see if I can climb to the top before the sunrise, then watch the sunrise at the top.” Lu Zhou looked at the horizon and asked, “How about you?”

“Me?” The old man paused for a second and said, “Thanks to my children, I’m retired. All I do is walk around mountains and rivers.”

He looked at the horizon and squinted.

“What a shame, looks like you won’t be able to catch the sunrise at the top.”

The sun was going to rise in five minutes, and this was the most beautiful moment of the day.

It would take at least half an hour to run up to the peak of the mountain.

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Watching it here is just as good.”

The skyline was bright red, making it difficult to distinguish the clouds and the mountains.

The golden sunshine began to shower on the mountain.

The morning mist surrounding the mountain began to disappear.

The old man looked at the beautiful sight in the distance and sighed emotionally.

“Purple Mountain is beautiful, but not as beautiful as Mount Tai and Mount Heng. You young people should take advantage of your bodies and go see those strange mountains and rocks. Especially Mount Tai. The unexamined life is not worth living.”

“Unexamined life?”

Lu Zhou looked at the golden clouds, and he suddenly said, “Perhaps one does not need to climb to the top.”

The thoughts in his mind were as sudden as the sunrise.

The world of level 10 he had been pursuing for…

It turned out…

It was already in his heart…

Chapter 1112: Sound of Wind

Chapter 1112 Sound of Wind

Lu Zhou still remembered that…

At the very beginning, the system revealed to him that when all of his disciplines reaches level 10, he would unlock the world…

Which meant he could choose what the system’s “Future Era” would be like.

Lu Zhou hadn’t thought about what the future should be.

A few months ago, when he opened the golden legendary mission card, he was so excited he couldn’t sleep all night.

Now that his mathematics had reached level 10, he was already 10% on the way to the future, closer than ever before…

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at the sunrise in the distance. He clenched his fist, then gently relaxed.

The feeling of excitement was real.

But as opposed to the pure excitement and adrenaline, what filled his heart was enlightenment.

It was as if he could sense what the system was trying to tell him about the so-called Future Era…

…

After Lu Zhou bid farewell to the old man on his morning walk, he turned around and went home.

Lu Zhou went to his study room on the second floor and sat down at his desk. He first checked his email.

More than an hour had passed since he sent the email, and Professor Faltings had yet to reply. Lu Zhou thought Faltings must be busy with something or didn’t know what to reply with.

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled. He leaned back in his chair and opened his laptop.

Then, he drank a bottle of the system’s Energy Medicine as a celebration for his victory. He felt the fatigue fade away from his body as he began his work for today.

With Xiao Ai’s assistance, Lu Zhou spent the entire afternoon converting his content on the draft paper into his computer.

The finished thesis was 40 pages long, which was more than he had expected.

In addition to the unification of algebra and geometry, this also contained a framework outline of the future of mathematics, as well as some conjectures he discovered when researching this problem.

The supplementary content alone was enough for a special issue in the Future Mathematics journal.

In fact, if he had some time, he could prove most of these propositions. He already had some brilliant ideas to solve these problems.

However, this wasn’t the main theme of the paper.

After all, there were endless amounts of problems.

Instead of wasting time on unimportant problems, he would much rather spend his time on significant propositions.

As for the rudimentary problems, he would leave that to future scholars…

After Lu Zhou pressed the enter button, he leaned back on his chair.

He didn’t have to wait for long.

The second his paper was uploaded, a familiar blue dialog box appeared in his sights.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the legendary mission!]

…

His paper was uploaded at noon.

For most parts of the United States, it was a bit past midnight.

The brightly lit Clay Institute formed a sharp contrast to the quiet, dark suburbs.

As a non-profit private academic institution, the main purpose of the institution was to promote and spread mathematical knowledge and to give awards and grants to potential mathematicians.

Unlike other pure mathematics research institutes that had to worry about funding, this institute seemed to worry about the opposite.

Like right now.

Director Deaton was sitting in his office. He was worried about how to get rid of money.

Ever since Riemann’s hypothesis was proven at the International Congress of Mathematicians, they had been worrying about awarding the Millennium Prize Problems money.

Not because they didn’t have money, but because the winner of the prize was a special person.

The Yang-Mills Equations and the Navier–Stokes equations; this guy had already solved Millennium Prize Problems!

And he was about to win another win.

Not to mention it was for Riemann’s hypothesis, arguably the most valuable problem of the seven.

It was almost like this award was exclusively set up for him!

If that was the case, it would be fine.

It was just an award; it didn’t have to be given to different people.

However, Professor Lu wasn’t fond of accepting awards, and he was almost annoyed by them.

Not to mention that Lu Zhou wasn’t lacking in fame nor money. Last time, he didn’t even bother to collect his award for the Yang-Mills Equations. Instead, a physicist from Lu Zhou’s institute received the award and a million-dollar check for him.

The entire Clay Institute, from the advisory committee members to the security guards, was all discussing whether or not the award should be issued…

“Enough! I am no longer the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. You should find a more capable scholar to take on this position! Don’t always throw your problems at me!”

Professor Carlson’s voice traveled from the director’s office.

When he heard Director Deaton plan on throwing this responsibility to him, he was furious.

Director Deaton looked at Professor Carlson. He didn’t want to bother this almost-retired old man.

However, when he thought about the status of the winner and how hard it was to give Lu Zhou an award, he couldn’t help but try to persuade him.

“But our research institute is highly prestigious, and you’re the only qualified person to do this. You’ve interacted with him before! Please! I beg you! I swear this is the last time!”

Deaton was helpless.

He never imagined so many troublesome events would happen during his time as the director.

The Millennium Prize Problems implied it would take an entire millennium to solve.

These problems were considered to be impossible to solve within the century. Who could have known that someone would solve three in such a short period of time?

If these problems weren’t selected by the top scholars in various fields, he would have started to wonder if the Millennium Prize Problems were a hoax.

“Actually, this isn’t as difficult as you think. The International Mathematical Union recognizes his proof, we just have to…”

Professor Carlson said angrily, “Just give him the damn award then!”

Director Deaton said, “But… But we have tried to give him two awards, and he didn’t even bother coming to the second award ceremony…”

Carlson: “Then don’t give him the award!”

Deaton: “But that’s against the rules…”

Carlson said frantically, “For f*ck sake! Then what do you want to do!”

The roar in the office reached the corridor.

Coincidentally, a trainee assistant in his thirties was about to enter the office. However, he was alarmed by the shouting. He quietly pushed open the door and went inside.

He stared at Professor Carlson and hesitated for a while. He then gulped and spoke.

“Professor Carlson…”

Professor Carlson was in a bad mood. He looked at the new assistant he hired not long ago and said, “What? Tell me.”

The assistant quickly spoke.

“A while ago, Professor Lu posted a paper on arXiv. You’re following that research direction, so I received a reminder.”

Professor Carlson: “I know, I’ll look at it in the morning.”

The assistant knew Professor Carlson would say this.

However, he didn’t give up.

He knew that if he let Professor Carlson go to sleep tonight without reading the paper, he would get scolded tomorrow.

The assistant gulped and spoke.

“Actually, I read the paper abstract.

“Because of my knowledge level, I can’t give you an accurate assessment of the paper. However, considering the fact that the paper is related to Riemann’s hypothesis, I decided to print the paper. You can take a look if you like… No offense, but I think you’ll be shocked when you read the paper.”

Shocked?

What could be more shocking than Riemann’s hypothesis?

Professor Carlson raised his eyebrows.

Even though his mathematics intuition told him that the new assistant was full of sh*t, he still took the printed paper from the assistant’s hands and read the abstract.

Director Deaton was interested in what the assistant had to say. He leaned over and read the paper together with Carlson.

Then…

The two didn’t stop reading.

The clock on the wall slowly ticked.

That was the only sound in the office.

After a minute went by, the silence in the office was broken by the two’s exclaims.

“Jesus Christ…”

“Oh my god…”

“This… this is…”

Professor Carlson could feel his throat getting dry. He grabbed his teacup on the table. After taking a sip, he realized his cup was empty.

“The great unification of algebra and geometry…” Director Deaton said with a raspy voice. He looked at the abstract and said in disbelief, “Does this mean, h-he did it?”

“At least that’s what he claims…”

Professor Carlson’s throat moved as if he wanted to say something. He looked back at his assistant and said, “Call the Harvard Institute of Mathematics! Contact Qiu Chengtong for me.”

“Okay!”

The assistant looked at his boss’ serious face and nodded.

However, when he was about to leave the office, Professor Carlson stopped him.

“Wait a second, did you drive here?”

“I parked in the garage… Why?”

“Forget about the call, take me to Harvard! Now!”

Professor Carlson stuffed the paper into his pocket and immediately walked out of the office.

Director Deaton immediately snapped back to reality and spoke.

“What a second, about the Riemann’s hypothesis award—”

“We’ll talk about that later! This is more important!”

Forget about Riemann’s hypothesis…

Even if one added up every single conjecture related to Riemann’s hypothesis, it wouldn’t be as important as this paper.

Professor Carlson disappeared from the office, leaving Director Deaton behind…

Chapter 1113: Level 10 Mathematics!

1113 Level 10 Mathematics! There was something Carlson didn’t know.

Which was that, while he was on his way to Harvard University, the news had already spread across the world.

Harvard, one of the world’s top universities, was no exception.

The discussions began on the MathOverflow forum, which spread to major college circles and Facebook math communities.

Most people were about to fall asleep, but they were woken up by a notification or a phone call. They instantly went on their computers.

Grand Unified Theory!

The holy grail that has stood for thousands of years!

This paper is going to be recorded in history!

In fact, it wasn’t just Harvard University.

Everyone from Princeton in New Jersey to Berkeley in California to the University of Bonn and Oxford on the other side of the Atlantic…

Professor Lu’s 40-page paper on Grand Unified Theory set off a chain reaction.

It was like someone set off a magnitude 12 earthquake in the mathematics circle and the academic community…

…

On the other hand, across the Pacific Ocean, in Jinling.

Lu Zhou, the “initiator” behind all this, was leaning in his chair with his eyes closed. He was oblivious to the sensation caused by his paper to the entire academic community.

However, even if he knew about the impact of his paper, he wouldn’t care.

After all, this wasn’t his first time doing something like this…

Inside a pure white space, a shiny gold translucent information screen floated in front of Lu Zhou.

[Legendary mission: First step toward the future.]

[Evaluation: You have made the first step toward the future. The two dissimilar fields of algebra and geometry have never been closer together. As you can see, the language of the universe is perfect. Like a beautiful equation, it is all-encompassing.]

[Mission reward: Mathematics level +1, Void Memory b, five lucky draw tickets, 10,000 general points.]

The mission completion dialog box gradually disappeared.

An updated characteristic panel was presented in front of Lu Zhou.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 7 (113,215/1.2 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

E. Materials science: level 6 (163,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: level 4 (0/200,000)

G. Information science: Level 4 (0/200,000)

General points: 24,335 (five lucky draw tickets)

]

The mathematics experience bar had completely disappeared.

The level 10 was like a medal, a stamp of his glory, engraved eternally in his characteristic panel.

The next step was physics…

Lu Zhou controlled the excitement in his heart and took a deep breath. He looked at his general points.

He had earned back almost all of the general points he spent on virtual reality, back to having over 20,000 general points.

If he couldn’t find a worthy project to spend these points on, it would feel like he had failed in his duty as a citizen.

However, now was not the time to worry about trivial matters like this.

There were still five lucky draws waiting for him, as well as the secrets behind Void Memory b.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou reached out and selected the prize draw button.

The virtual wheel began to spin.

Maybe the five tickets got his hopes up, or because he had lost all hope in the system, Lu Zhou didn’t pray or do any kind of ritual before the lucky draw.

Lu Zhou could hear his own heart beating.

Fortunately, the system didn’t disappoint him this time.

He got a “rubbish”, but the four other lucky draws were “sample”, two of which were even “special”.

[Received: Future branded shampoo].

[Received: 30x Energy Medicine]

[Received: Random experience point card (range from 1-999,999 experience points).

[Received: “Transcendence” X-1 smart glasses]

[Received: Golden mission card!]

When Lu Zhou looked at the awards on the information screen, he couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

The Energy Medicine, the random experience points card… They were all useful items.

Especially for grinding.

Whenever he had to pull an all-nighter, the Energy Medicine was a godsend for him.

Not to mention the smart glasses.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t know what the glasses was used for, the glasses was the same brand as the quantum computer, so it shouldn’t let him down.

He didn’t care about the shampoo at all.

He clicked on the random experience points card in his inventory, and golden light particles began to float toward him. When the light particles exploded, 100,000 physics experience points was added to his experience bar.

Even though there was still a long way to level up, every bit counted.

Lu Zhou then immediately looked at his golden mission card.

Even though it wasn’t a legendary mission card, reward missions of this kind often gave generous rewards.

However, this meant he would have to make a choice.

One was to use this mission card immediately.

The other was to continue the last part of the “Control Of Earth and Moon” mission chain, which he had ignored for more than a year.

He could get any mission from the golden mission card, while the mission chain was obviously fixed, in which he had to build a mass driver on the moon with a 50-ton ground to lunar transfer orbit capacity.

Lu Zhou looked at the golden mission card and contemplated it for a while.

This determined his work in the near future.

Should I toss a coin?

Or should I focus on aerospace engineering?

Lu Zhou thought about it for a while and made a decision. He reached out and selected the mission card.

I’ll use this first.

After all, a 50-ton ground to lunar transfer orbit mass driver couldn’t be built in a day or two. The Lunar Orbit Committee did not prioritize the mass driver over the Lunar Hadron Collider.

Not to mention that he wouldn’t be of much help for the mass driver project.

Instead of waiting time letting other people complete the project for him, he would rather do something himself…

The pale golden particles exploded again, and a mission soon appeared on his mission panel.

[Mission: Exotic Particle]

[Description: The completion of the Lunar Hadron Collider will go down in history as a highlight of human civilization. It is akin to a huge telescope, but rather than observing the stars, it is discovering the mystery behind the stars…]

[Requirement: Discover a new particle.]

[Reward: 1 million physics experience points. 10,000 general points. Purple “legendary mission”.]

Lu Zhou looked at the requirements and paused for a second. A smile appeared on his face.

Discover a new particle?

This sounds…

Interesting.

Chapter 1114: Breaking News

Chapter 1114 Breaking News

The day of November 25th was an ordinary day for the world.

However, this was an extraordinary day for the mathematics community.

The cafeteria at the Jin Ling University was full of people.

Students had just finished their classes, and crowds of people stood in front of restaurant lines.

Duan Siqi, as a member of the foodie army, had just finished his mathematical analysis class. He struggled as he finally escaped the crowd with his food. He sat down next to his three roommates.

It was rare to see the students of dorm 201 gathered together. Even Li Mo was here, which was a rare sight indeed.

However, Li Mo looked like he was contemplating something. He looked like he wanted to finish his meal and leave as soon as possible.

Yang Shuang was eating a bowl of rice. He made eye contact with Wu Di before asking, “Brother Li, how’s your research project going?”

“Hard, too hard.” Li Mo sighed and shook his head. “If only God Lu is here, he could help us plan what to do next.”

“God Lu is not here? He’s on a business trip?”

Li Mo shook his head.

“No, he’s just on a retreat.”

The person in charge of them was Chen Yang, the taciturn professor who rarely communicated with them.

As for Perelman, the epitome of an eccentric guy, he rarely took the initiative to speak even one word.

Li Mo thought about his project and felt anxious.

This was the first time he had encountered a problem he couldn’t figure out. It was also the first time he had been troubled by a problem for over a month.

Duan Siqi didn’t say anything; he only gave Li Mo a look of encouragement.

Suddenly, the CTV International news playing on the cafeteria TV changed scenes.

The news anchor was given a press release by a staff member. The anchor looked at the page with an astonished look.

He quickly made a professional judgment, took a deep breath, and spoke.

“We have a piece of breaking news…

“Academician Lu, a well-known Chinese scholar, uploaded a 40-page paper to the academic website arXiv. He proved the unification of algebra and geometry, causing a huge sensation in the international mathematics community.

“According to our experts, once the paper is proven to be accurate, it will completely change the development of the mathematics field forever. It will also impact research in the natural sciences.

“So far, the International Mathematical Union has yet to comment on this matter, but we are keeping an eye on their movements…”

Li Mo dropped his chopsticks onto his plate. His mouth was wide open as he stared at the TV. He was dumbfounded.

His friends of dorm 201 were the same. Even though their reaction wasn’t as strong as Li Mo, they were all staring at the TV with an amazed look on their faces.

Unifying algebra and geometry!

The Grand Unified Theory of mathematics!

Is this thing…

Really possible?

Duan Siqi initially had some doubts.

However, when he heard Lu Zhou’s name in the news broadcast, all of his doubts disappeared.

“Grand Unified Theory…” Duan Siqi looked at Li Mo, who was stunned. He gulped and asked, “Isn’t that… what you were researching?”

Li Mo: “… Yeah.”

In fact, this wasn’t something he “researched”.

Something he was “still” researching.

Even last night, he was frantically grabbing his hair over this impossible proposition.

However, now…

He was still worrying about a certain detail in the blueprint, but the news was telling him the entire building was already built…

Li Mo wanted to cry.

This is ridiculous!

He didn’t even tell me!

I know I’m not very useful, but I’m still a member of the research project!

Wu Di, who had yet to speak, looked at him.

“So…”

Li Mo sighed. His sorrowful eyes looked like he was deceived. He looked at the ceiling and spoke.

“… So, we’re done.”

Actually, Lu Zhou didn’t purposely keep them in the dark.

The second he uploaded his paper to arXiv, he sent an email to several partners, sharing the joy of victory.

However, because the news was so shocking, both Perelman and Chen Yang had yet to digest what just happened. They hadn’t even finished reading the paper yet.

Of course, no one told a low-level scientific researcher like Li Mo the news.

Almost immediately after the news was broadcast, the discussion on the Internet exploded.

[Unifying algebra and geometry?! (shook) (shook)]

[The f*ck? Wasn’t God Lu researching Riemann’s hypothesis? I—]

[Bro, is he even human, this is so unfair. (cry)]

[I’m a mathematics researcher, and I’d like to report Academician Lu for plagiarizing my research results. In 2012, I discovered the similarity between the number 0 and a circle. Please help me get justice!]

[What does unifying algebra and geometry mean? Does this mean high school textbooks are going to change?]

[Basically, he invented a new mathematical framework that links the abstract meaning of algebra and geometry. This way, tools and methods on both sides can communicate with each other. This won’t affect the average person. If you want to solve a quadratic equation, using the quadratic formula is still the best choice. But for us mathematicians, this is going to be a long day… As a PhD student, please, God Lu, slow down, old man.]

[The f*ck? How dare you call God Lu an old man? You’re an old man!]

[…]

Most of the people didn’t understand what unifying algebra and geometry meant, and most of them forgot about most of the algebra and geometry they learned in high school. However, this didn’t mean they weren’t shocked by the news on the TV.

Within half an hour of the broadcast, the news was already on the trending page.

It was almost like everyone had suddenly become a mathematician.

People began to discuss what the world would be like after the unification of algebra and geometry.

In response to the people’s heated discussions and concerns about this matter, Everyone Daily and CTV collaborated in a science talk show. They invited one of the leading Chinese mathematicians—Academician Xiang Huanan.

The host looked at the gray-haired old man and spoke in a respectful tone.

“Hello, Academician Xiang, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join our show.”

Academician Xiang Huanan smiled and leaned in the sofa chair. He then spoke casually.

“An old man like me, I have nothing to do anyway. Ask away.”

After some small talk, the host began to talk about the main topic.

“Recently, a major event happened in the mathematics field. Academician Lu uploaded a paper to arXiv, demonstrating the unification of algebra and geometry. Many of our audiences are concerned, and they wonder what this paper means for us. What kind of impact will this have on our lives?”

Academician Xiang smiled and spoke.

“Actually, the media isn’t being accurate. Academician Lu didn’t totally unify algebra and geometry. Instead, he built a bridge between the two.”

Host: “Bridge?”

“Yeah…” Academician Xiang nodded and said, “Just like how a cup can be used for drinking water and watering plants.”

Host: “That’s a creative analogy.”

Academician Xiang: “Normal people don’t need to learn the unified theory of algebra and geometry as it is only unified in the abstract sense. It doesn’t mean the two things are necessarily the same thing. However, when necessary, we can transform algebraic problems into geometric problems and vice versa.”

Host: “Oh, I see, looks like I had a misunderstanding. So this won’t affect the lives of ordinary people, is that correct?”

“Correct…” Academician Xiang nodded and said, “Only scholars in pure and applied sciences will have to study certain methods to solve technical problems. As a result, the public will feel the changes due to the scientific progress.”

“I heard you know Academician Lu?”

“Not just know…” Academician Xiang patted his thighs and said, “He was almost my student! Sigh, what a shame, I didn’t insist hard enough back then. Academician Lu Shenjian stole him from me. Fortunately, after a year of studying physics, he has returned to mathematics.”

“Well, physics isn’t so bad.” The host smiled and said, “Academician Lu has done outstanding work in physics even though his achievements are focused on materials science and mathematics.”

“You don’t get it.” Xiang Huanan waved his hand and said, “So far, all of his physics achievements can be attributed to his mathematics achievements. The biggest one is probably solving the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap and the electrostrong interaction. The former is a Millennium Prize Problems, while the latter is a generalization of the former.”

Even though this was a pedantic argument, it was true.

Remember the 750 GeV characteristic peak Lu Zhou discovered at CERN?

Even though the entire particle physics community spent a year researching the peak, they were not able to find anything.

The host didn’t understand the academic terms Academician Xiang was talking about, so he quickly shifted the conversation from academia to Lu Zhou’s personal life.

“You have mentioned that Academician Lu nearly became your student. I’m sure our audience is interested in Academician Lu’s days as a student; can you tell us more about that?”

Academician Xiang had a nostalgic look on his face.

“That’s a long story…”

Chapter 1115: Review Session

Chapter 1115 Review Session

Germany.

North Rhine.

The conference room at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics was crowded. People sat shoulder to shoulder at a meeting table.

As Faltings looked around at the participants, he felt a range of emotions.

He never expected this to happen.

The internal meeting of the Bourbaki Group, which was intended to exchange research on the Grand Unified Theory, turned into a “review session”…

It was almost like a god was playing jokes on him.

This made him both happy and worried…

The scholars sitting at the conference table were silent.

They were too shocked to think properly, nor did they know what to say…

If they wanted to express their opinion on this matter, they would have to read the paper first.

Because of this, the authoritative voices of the mathematics community had stayed quiet. Not a single well-known scholar had expressed their opinion on this matter.

“I see…”

Professor Fefferman was the first to break the silence.

He looked at the paper in his hand and grinned. He had a look of approval on his face as if he were looking at an exquisite work of art.

“The deeper and more complex the truth, the more simple the expression. The Motive, like we expected, is the common source of all types of cohomology.”

“This reminds me of Plato’s allegory of the cave. Is reality an imperfect reflection of a perfect ideal? Is it just the manifestation of the same abstract concept at different levels? Numbers and shapes are the roots of the universe, but just like the wave-particle duality, they are the same. It just depends on how we observe it.”

“This is amazing…”

Even though Professor Fefferman was not part of the Bourbaki Group, he was at this meeting.

He was originally attending a partial differential equation conference in Paris, but he suddenly heard of the amazing news.

After he briefly exchanged information with Professor Deligne through emails, he learned that the “review committee” still lacked an expert in the field of partial differential equations. Thus, he immediately came here from Paris.

He read half of the paper on his way to Germany.

But now, he had finally finished reading the remaining half.

He noticed everyone was looking at him. He placed the paper on the table and shrugged.

“Roughly speaking… I’ve finished reading the paper, and there aren’t any obvious problems.

“Don’t just look at me, I know I’m not the only one who has finished reading it… Tell me your opinions.”

Professor Deligne made eye contact with Professor Sarnak. After a moment of silence, Deligne spoke.

“You go first. He was my student, so it’s hard for me to make an unbiased judgment.”

“So you’re passing the buck to me?” Professor Sarnak sighed as he took off his glasses.

“For a major proposition like this, I can’t immediately give an evaluation without reading over it a few times. But if you insist…”

He cleared his throat and spoke in a serious tone.

“Honestly speaking, I’m stunned.

“Not just because of his understanding of the Langlands program and the motive theory, but also his application of various mathematical tools in different fields… I didn’t expect to see this within my lifetime.

“I won’t comment on the completeness of his argumentation proof, but the value of the mathematical methods and frameworks he put forward in the paper might have surpassed all of the achievements we have made in the field of algebraic geometry.

“This is more like a book than a paper. This will replace the Elements of Algebraic Geometry as the new bible… No, the bible is grounded on belief, and this is objective truth; this is like the code to the universe.”

Everyone at the conference table looked surprised.

Especially Professor Deligne; he was speechless.

Deligne had been working at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study for a long time, and he knew Sarnak very well.

It was extremely rare for Sarnak to give this kind of evaluation to anyone.

Obviously, this was more than just a nod of approval.

Professor Faltings opened his mouth and spoke.

“Replacing Elements of Algebraic Geometry… Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

Elements of Algebraic Geometry, Grothendieck’s book.

Even though the name sounded like a university textbook or lecture notes, it was actually the sample of modern algebraic geometry, which was regarded as a bible by scholars in its respective field of research.

Regardless, it was a bit too extreme to compare an unverified paper with Professor Grothendieck’s biggest achievement.

At least that was what Faltings thought.

Sarnak shook his head and said, “It’s not extreme at all. In fact, I’m being conservative. The influence of this paper is comparable to Euclid’s Elements… But it is too early to debate about this. Let’s wait and see, someone will prove me right in the future.”

Whispers were heard around the conference table.

Some people agreed with Professor Sarnak, while others thought he was exaggerating.

One thing they all agreed on was that Lu Zhou created an earthshattering paper.

Regardless of whether they could equate this paper with another history work of mathematics, this paper was destined to revolutionize mathematics.

“This paper…” Schultz looked at the copy in his hand and said, “I can’t make a conclusion straight away. I have to do some research, also…”

He paused for a second and spoke.

“Isn’t it kind of informal to post a major mathematics proposition to arXiv? We should at least have a report conference.”

“I agree.” Professor Deligne nodded and said, “I’ll email him and tell him to do so.”

“Looks like we’re taking a trip to Jinling again.”

Professor Fefferman looked at his watch and spoke.

“I should have just bought a ticket to Jinling instead, why did I come to Germany…”

Faltings: “…”

Schultz: “…”

Deligne: “…”

Chapter 1116: The World Through The Eyes of God

Chapter 1116 The World Through The Eyes of God

Leveling up from level 9 to level 10 wasn’t as simple as changing a number on the characteristic panel.

The second Lu Zhou left the system space, he felt like he was just slapped in the back of his head; he nearly fainted.

The sensation didn’t stop there.

He felt a wave of sensations pouring down his cerebral cortex. A fiery ripple of heat rose from the back of his neck, crawling to the front of his face.

The sensation lasted for around five minutes. After the pain was gone, his back was soaking wet.

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes, the world had changed.

The trees were no longer trees, they were a growing collection of Mandelbrot sets, and the clouds were no longer clouds, they were Calabi–Yau manifolds.

Perhaps the object themselves didn’t change, but in his eyes, they had transformed into mathematical concepts.

Is this the meaning of the universe?

I feel this in my soul.

“… Is this what the world is like, in the eye of the gods?”

Lu Zhou thought of himself as an atheist.

But now, he wasn’t sure if anyone else in the world saw the universe in the same way as him.

His retina seemed to have become a filter, filtering out the chaos, leaving behind only order.

The world is beautiful.

Lu Zhou sat motionlessly at his desk, staring at the world around him. He sat there for an entire afternoon.

It wasn’t until Xiao Ai reminded him to eat dinner that he snapped back to reality and walked out of his study room…

…

Level 10 was a paradise for mathematicians.

Of course, not everything was perfect.

Becoming extremely sensitive to numbers and geometry was somewhat annoying for Lu Zhou’s life.

For someone who had obsessive-compulsive disorder, this type of sensitivity and intuition was a torture for him. Seeing the non-perpendicular toothbrush leaning in his cup, the two asymmetrical slices of bread… The details of life that he never noticed before had become difficult to ignore.

However, this problem didn’t last for long.

The third day after uploading the paper, Lu Zhou had already adapted to his “level up”.

On the fifth day, he no longer felt any discomfort. He even fell in love with the beauty of his surroundings.

He couldn’t describe this beauty in words.

However, Lu Zhou believed that, if he was at level 10 in physics or engineering instead…

He would see the world in a different way.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but look forward to the future.

He wondered what the world would be like if he reached level 10 in physics.

Just thinking about it made him excited.

Other than adapting to the new changes in his perspective of the world, Lu Zhou didn’t do much over the last few days.

On one hand, he was paying attention to the reaction and response from the mathematics community regarding his paper, and on the other hand, he was tinkering with the rewards he was given from completing the mission.

Even though he wanted to know what the Void Memory was, this was obviously not the right time.

He only had one ticket.

In order to collect the maximum amount of clues, he had to do more preparation.

The shampoo and Energy Medicine were pretty self-explanatory, and the final thing he received was the “Transcendence” X-1 glasses.

On the surface, it looked like normal glasses, similar to the ones found in optometry stores. He wasn’t able to find anything after scanning it with a metal detector.

However, after he put on the glasses and passed the retina verification, it was like he opened a door to a new world.

After he connected to the “Transcendence” X-1 server, it was like he was wearing the glasses Tony Stark gave to Spiderman.

But…

It seems underwhelming?

After playing around with it, Lu Zhou was bored.

Even though the glasses were cool, it was just a data dashboard.

The only difference between this and a brain-computer interface was that he had to control the glasses through his voice, and the glasses also tracked his eye movements.

Lu Zhou speculated that the civilization that mastered this technology had integrated AR technology into every aspect of life. Wearing the glasses and not wearing them could mean a world of difference.

But for right now…

It seemed like there was no use for this AR technology.

It’s not like I can use the glasses to catch Pokemons, right? Like in Pokemon Go?

That would be ridiculous.

When he tried to connect the glasses to the experimental observation satellite independently developed and designed by Star Sky Technology, he opened another door to a new world.

When he put on the glasses, he could see the world in a bird’s eye view hundreds of kilometers above the sky.

Not to mention, this was just one satellite…

If he connected to multiple satellites…

Lu Zhou held his breath and looked at the drone resting on his bookshelf.

“Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah? (•̀∀•́)]

Lu Zhou spoke with excitement.

“Let me borrow your body!”

Xiao Ai: [???]

…

Jin Ling University.

Perelman walked through the corridor as his hair swayed through the air. He came to the end of the corridor and opened the door.

When he saw Lu Zhou sitting behind the desk, he sighed and walked over with a paper in his hand, which was filled with his own written comments.

When he walked closer, he paused for a second and asked, “When did you start wearing glasses?”

Lu Zhou: “Recently… It’s a prescription, why?”

“Nothing… Cool.”

Perelman opened his mouth and decided to change the topic of conversation. He placed the paper on the table and said, “I’ve read your paper… about five times.”

Lu Zhou: “Did you understand it?”

Perelman nodded and said, “Most of it, but it took me a long time.”

Lu Zhou looked at the paper on the desk and smiled.

“Looks like this is the part you didn’t understand.”

Perelman nodded. His curious facial expression told the whole story.

Lu Zhou twisted the pen in his hand and spoke.

“I understand your confusion… But you might have to wait a few days.”

Perelman: “Do you have something to do?”

“Sort of…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “A second ago, I received an email from my former supervisor, Professor Deligne. He sent me a request from the International Mathematical Union. Basically, they want me to give a detailed report on the paper.

“It is happening in a week, at Jin University.

“You can ask your questions at the report. I’ll clear your confusion.”

Chapter 1117: I Will Prove It Here

Chapter 1117 I Will Prove It Here

The entrance of Jin Ling University.

An old man looked at the young faces in the crowded streets. He suddenly sighed.

“This place has changed a lot.”

This man was none other than… Qiu Chengtong, a tenured professor at Harvard, the founder of the Shuimu University mathematics center.

The person standing next to him was Xiang Huanan from the Academy of Science.

Even though he didn’t come here often, because he resided in China, he often heard about Jin Ling University.

When he heard Old Qiu’s voice, he smiled and spoke.

“It has changed a lot. Five years ago, they were still competing with Aurora University for the top five. Now, they are almost at the top of the country. Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Academician Lu. Whenever I talk with my friends from Aurora University, they’re all jealous that they don’t have a scholar like Academician Lu from their university.

“Especially since Jin Ling University has been carrying out educational reforms over the past few years. It has been largely successful, thanks to Academician Lu’s support. When he first returned from Princeton, he created a talent training program for undergraduate students, and it has been adopted by universities around the country. Apparently, it’s going to be nationwide in the future.”

When Old Qiu heard Academician Xiang’s words, he smiled and said, “If you want education to advance, what we need is a top-down transformation. It’s not enough to rely on just a few great men or universities.”

Old Qiu paused for a second, smiled and said, “But I think we should look forward to the future.”

There were so many people devoting themselves to the great cause of education.

It wouldn’t take long for the Chinese education system to flourish.

Academician Xiang smiled and said, “Let’s stop waiting outside, I’m sure Old Xu is in a hurry.”

“You’re right.” Old Qiu nodded and looked at Academician Xiang as he said, “You’ll have to introduce me to him, I don’t know him very well.”

Academician Xiang smiled and spoke.

“Don’t worry.

“He’s been looking forward to meeting you!”

…

Ever since Lu Zhou uploaded his paper to arXiv, the atmosphere of Jin Ling University had changed.

The entire world had their attention focused on Jin Ling University.

Suddenly, Jin University had become the mathematics center of the world. The mathematics and academic community had their eyes and ears turned to this report.

Principal Xu was extremely happy.

On one hand, he was busy preparing for the report conference; on the other hand, he was ecstatic at the reputation and influence this report would bring for Jin University.

Even though they had held similar reports before, but the sum of all of the previous reports still wouldn’t be as significant as this one.

As for the reason…

This was because this report wasn’t on solving mysteries left behind by historical figures, but rather, it was on redefining the future of mathematics, influencing the entire world.

The days quickly passed by, and soon, it was the report conference day.

Scholars from all over the world gathered at the Jin Ling University new campus auditorium.

Originally, this kind of report should be held in the old campus auditorium, which was more historic and memorable. However, the number of participants exceeded the capacity of the old auditorium, and thus, the venue was set to be at the new campus gymnasium.

Once all of the preparations were done, Lu Zhou walked on the stage wearing a suit.

He looked at the crowded venue and felt emotional.

Everyone from Jin Ling University professors to his old Princeton friends, they were all gathered here at this venue, waiting for him to speak.

Honestly, he couldn’t remember how many reports he had done before.

But this was undoubtedly the most important one.

This might be his final mathematics report ever…

He reached out and held the microphone.

The second he touched the microphone, the entire venue went silent.

No one was enforcing this.

No one told them to be quiet.

It was almost like they had reached a common understanding; all of them were waiting for Lu Zhou to speak.

Lu Zhou waited for a few seconds and cleared his throat before he made his opening remarks.

“Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to travel here from all over the world.

“I’d also like to thank Jin Ling University for arranging and preparing this report.

“Alright then, let’s dive right into it.”

Lu Zhou turned around and pressed his presentation laser pointer.

The PowerPoint changed to a slide containing the thesis abstract.

Lu Zhou looked at the empty whiteboard and picked up a marker. He began writing as he explained his Grand Unified Theory.

Everyone listened intently.

The people sitting near the back even took out their phones to zoom in on the whiteboard.

Time quickly passed by.

An hour had already gone by.

However, Lu Zhou was so immersed in the world of mathematics that he didn’t notice the clock was ticking.

Just like this, three hours went by. Lu Zhou’s arm and shoulder began to feel sore as he finally stopped writing.

Eight whiteboards were completely filled with writing.

Each whiteboard contained neatly written words and symbols…

“That’s the Grand Unified Theory theorem.”

When he heard a commotion in the crowd, he turned around and spoke in a calm voice.

“I’m sure that some of you have questions and doubts in your mind.

“This is just a summary of the paper. I will spend one hour at the end of the report to answer your questions.

“But now, I will demonstrate an application of the Grand Unified Theory.

“We say that the value of the theorem is its ability to solve problems and conjectures.

“Due to time constraints, I will only give one example.

“I hope you all watch closely.”

Lu Zhou turned around and picked up the marker again.

This time…

He wrote on the ninth whiteboard.

Qiu Chengtong was sitting in the crowd, and he was confused as to what Lu Zhou planned on doing.

Professor Faltings was the same. He watched Lu Zhou’s movements with a muddled look on his face.

However, their confusion didn’t last for long.

When Lu Zhou wrote down the first three words, their pupils suddenly shrank.

“Grothendieck’s standard conjectures?!”

Professor Deligne’s eyes were wide open, and he nearly stood up from his chair.

Grothendieck’s standard conjectures!

This is one of the most important propositions in algebraic geometry!

Even though it wasn’t a Millennium Prize Problem, nor was it in Hilbert’s 23 problems, it was actually more significant than them!

The reason why this wasn’t included in those great lists of problems was that most people thought this proposition couldn’t be solved in this century.

Professor Deligne and Faltings weren’t the only ones that were baffled. Almost all of the scholars were stunned by Lu Zhou.

What does he mean by applying the Grand Unified Theory?

Why did he write down Grothendieck’s standard conjectures?

What is he planning to do?

Maybe…

Everyone could guess what Lu Zhou was planning on doing.

However, almost everyone didn’t believe Lu Zhou could solve the problem.

Lu Zhou ignored the commotion in the venue. He casually wrote down the proposition that troubled the mathematics world for decades on the whiteboard.

[Every Motive should have a direct sum decomposition, the cohomology of all orders in the given space can be represented through a direct sum of this decomposition.]

His marker stopped.

As Lu Zhou turned to face the venue, he was as cool as a cucumber, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

“I’m sure anyone in this field of research will be able to recognize this proposition.

“I will prove it.

“Right now.”

It was almost like Lu Zhou just dropped an atomic bomb on the mathematics community!

Chapter 1118: Is He Even Human?

Chapter 1118 Is He Even Human?

Outside of the gymnasium.

A young, average-height man was running on the road with a shoulder bag on his back. Judging by the eye bags on his face, he probably didn’t sleep well last night.

However, regardless of the circumstances, he was late. Thus, he was stopped by the security guard at the gymnasium entrance.

“Hey, the gym isn’t open to the public for the next two days. Go exercise somewhere else.”

Li Mo looked at the security guard and spoke anxiously.

“I’m not here to exercise, I’m here for the report!”

The security guard gave his colleague a strange look. He then looked at the student.

“For the report? The report has been going on for two hours, you’re late.”

Li Mo: “Please, bro, let me in.”

The security guard reached out his hand.

“Where is your invitation letter?”

“Invitation letter?” Li Mo paused for a second and said, “What invitation letter?”

“All of the guests need an invitation letter. We can’t just let anyone in.” The guard said impatiently, “If you don’t have an invitation letter, don’t waste my time. Even if I let you in, you won’t be able to pass the security check. The security is strict here, so don’t waste your time.”

“But I’m Academician Lu’s student!”

Li Mo blushed.

After all, he wasn’t technically his “student”; it was only a verbal agreement between him and Lu Zhou.

If this wasn’t an emergency, he wouldn’t have pulled out the “God Lu” card.

But this was a dire situation.

“You?” The guard looked at him in disbelief and asked, “What year are you in?”

Li Mo said, “First year… But that’s not the point! The point is that I’m in a hurry! I’m already two hours late, if I don’t go in now, I will miss it—”

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice come from behind.

“Why are you standing at the entrance?”

“Professor Chen?”

Even though Professor Chen was usually low-key, he was poached from the Yan University mathematics center by Professor Lu Zhou. Thus, he was quite well-known on the Jin Ling University campus.

Chen Yang looked at the two security guards and spoke.

“Do you need me?”

“No, sorry.”

Chen Yang looked at Li Mo and frowned.

“Go inside, the report is almost over.”

“Oh, right! Okay, thanks.”

Li Mo snapped back to reality and followed Professor Chen.

Li Mo glared at the two security guards with a proud look on his face.

Li Mo spoke to Chen Yang while following him.

“Um… Professor Chen.”

Chen Yang: “What?”

Li Mo asked awkwardly, “Did you wake up late as well?”

“I didn’t wake up late.” Chen Yang shook his head and said, “I didn’t sleep.”

“Didn’t sleep?!”

Chen Yang nodded and spoke.

“Well, there are still things I don’t understand about the paper… So I spent some time reading it.”

What do you mean spent some time?

The preprint has been out for two weeks!

Even though Li Mo wanted to say this out loud, he restrained himself.

The two soon walked to the security check entrance.

Professor Chen explained the situation to the security guards. After Li Mo showed his student ID and signed a registration form, he was let inside with Professor Chen.

Before coming inside, Li Mo was a little worried about not being able to find a seat. However, after he came inside, he realized the situation was different from what he had imagined.

The seats in the back row were only half full, and most of the people had left their seats. They were sitting on the ground, near the front.

Li Mo and Chen Yang sat down near the back. Li Mo quickly took out his notebook and looked at the stage.

However, after watching for a while, he couldn’t understand what Lu Zhou was writing at all.

“Grand Unified Theory?” Li Mo said as he stared at the calculations on the whiteboard. He frowned and murmured, “No… doesn’t seem like it.”

“That’s right.” Chen Yang nodded and contemplated for a second. He then said, “The explanation of the Grand Unified Theory should be over by now.

“So what he’s writing now is…

“It should be the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.”

Chen Yang looked at the whiteboards and squinted. He was a little shocked.

He gulped as he muttered to himself, “I knew it! My guess was correct… It is the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures!”

Li Mo gulped and spoke.

“… What guess?”

Chen Yang: “Remember Corollary 2 of the Grand Unified Theory?”

Li Mo tried to remember what he read last night. He instinctively replied, “The cohomology of any coefficient can be calculated by Z-coefficient!”

“Correct!”

Chen Yang nodded. Unlike his usual flat and emotionless tone, he spoke with excitement and astonishment; his voice even trembled.

“… This is one of the core inferences of the Grand Unified Theory of algebraic geometry! We can directly deduce that the mapping L^(n−2i): Ai(X)→An−i(X) is isomorphic to (0 ≤i≤n/2)!”

When Li Mo heard this, his pupils expanded.

Even though his academic knowledge and experience were low, nor did he know how to deduce the theorem, but as an IMO gold medalist, due to his extracurricular reading, he knew what the theorem meant.

What Professor Chen was talking about, was the generalization of the Hard Lefschetz theorem!

The first part of Grothendieck’s standard conjectures, the Lefschetz conjecture!

“… Professor Lu is amazing,” Chen Yang said as he stared at the person writing on stage. He was fascinated. “Last night, I thought this might happen, and this morning I saw some clues…”

Chen Yang spent the entire night thinking about the possibility of this. However, this was a piece of cake for Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou’s marker glided smoothly on the whiteboard. No matter what the obstacle was, they were no match for his marker.

Nothing could stop him.

When Lu Zhou wrote down the last line of calculation, everything looked so natural for him.

[… By summarizing the above.]

[The mapping of L^(n−2i): Ai(X)→An−i(X) is isomorphic to (0≤i≤n/2)]

[Hence, the Lefschetz standard conjecture holds!]

His pen finally stopped.

The second he wrote down the last letter, he heard a commotion in the venue.

Professor Sarnak couldn’t help but look at his watch.

“37 minutes!”

His voice was drowned in the crowd.

He looked at the stage in disbelief as he muttered to himself.

“Jesus Christ, is he even human?”

Chapter 1119: Peak of the Human Mind!

1119 Peak of the Human Mind! In fact, even Lu Zhou wasn’t sure if he was a human being or not.

Judging from the data of his physical examination, the high tech system was not reflected in his DNA makeup. However, his cognitive ability was far beyond the level of ordinary humans.

If he recalled correctly, when he first went to Princeton around six years ago, Professor Deligne invited him to collaborate on researching the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

Six years had passed since then.

There had yet to be any significant progress on this problem, until now.

Now, solving it was as easy as taking a walk.

Even though the main reason for solving this problem was due to the theoretical basis the Grand Unified Theory provided, being able to draw the conclusions using the Grand Unified Theory within half an hour was still an insanely impressive feat.

Even Lu Zhou was impressed by himself.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He stared at the line “Lefschetz standard conjecture holds!” and spoke after a moment of silence.

“Everyone knows the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures can be divided into two parts. The first part is the generalization of the Hard Lefschetz theorem by Professor Grothendieck, what we know as the Lefschetz standard conjecture.”

“The second part is the Hodge standard conjecture.”

Lu Zhou frowned and pondered for a long time.

The venue was silent.

Everyone was waiting for him to continue.

Under the gaze of countless participants, Lu Zhou suddenly relaxed and spoke in a casual tone.

“Whatever.

“Even though I was just demonstrating an algebraic geometry application of the Grand Unified Theory…

“I’ve already written so much.

“Might as well finish it.”

Lu Zhou didn’t notice the surprised looks behind him, nor did he listen to the exclaims of disbelief.

Lu Zhou walked to a blank whiteboard with a calm and relaxed look on his face. He stopped for a moment.

Grothendieck’s standard conjectures were some of the most profound propositions in algebraic geometry.

The beauty of the conjectures lied not only in its complexity but also in the inferences.

If Grothendieck’s standard conjectures were proven to be true, one could directly use it to deduce Weil’s conjecture. One could also infer that the Frobenius function on the cohomology group of smooth algebraic clusters was semisimple and that the algebraic cycle, homological equivalence, and numerical equivalence held a closed chain relationship.

Everyone knew this, obviously.

Not to mention all the theories that weren’t directly related to Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that these conjectures guided the future of the algebraic geometry field.

He picked up a pen and began writing on the whiteboard.

[… When i≤n/2, the quadratic form X on A^i(X)∩ker(L^(n−2i+1))→(−1)^i·L^(r−2i ) x.x is positive definite…

[X is the smooth projection algebraic cluster on the domain k, while l is a prime number that is relatively prime in regard to the characteristic k, H^i(X, Ql) is the i-adic cohomology group of X. The hyperplane of the X projection space intersects the sub algebraic family of X.

[When X is an algebraic surface or a complex algebraic cluster, this conjecture holds true.]

However, he wanted to prove this conjecture was true for all cases of X!

Time quickly passed by.

More and more calculations were written on the whiteboard.

The comprehension speed of the audience couldn’t catch up to Lu Zhou’s writing speed.

Perelman was sitting in the crowd with his arms crossed. He suddenly sat up straight and frowned at the whiteboard.

Schultz was sitting nearby, and he exclaimed in disbelief.

“He used the L^2 cohomology method to obtain a topological abstract of the compact quotient of the complete manifold. This extends the Hodge theory on the compact manifolds to non-compact manifolds!

“Jesus Christ… He is a genius!”

This was a property of the L^2 cohomology theory mentioned in the paper on discrete groups and elliptic operators published by Sir Atiyah in the Annual Mathematics in 1976.

What surprised Schultz wasn’t Lu Zhou’s ingenuity, but how easily Lu Zhou applied these mathematical tools.

It was like Lu Zhou knew these mathematics tools like the back of his hand.

Perelman stared at Schultz and spoke.

“Yes, obviously.”

Nearby in the venue.

Two old men sat there, staring at the whiteboard.

When Lu Zhou successfully expanded the Hodge theory on compact manifolds to non-compact manifolds, Professor Deligne suddenly broke the silence.

“What do you think?”

Faltings was sitting next to him, and he remained silent.

After 10 seconds, he shook his head.

“I need some time to think about this… Maybe I’m getting too old.”

Deligne looked at the stage with a dignified look on his face.

This was the first time he heard old man Faltings talk about his age.

Hearing the old man admit it himself was a little saddening…

On the other hand, another conversation was happening inside the venue.

Qiu Chengtong had asked a question to Professor Tao.

As an expert in a wide range of mathematics fields, he was probably one of the only people that could keep up with Lu Zhou’s speed.

He had to give it everything he got.

Even he found it challenging to keep up with Lu Zhou’s pace.

“His thinking speed is way too fast… It’s like how normal people think in the speed of cars, I’m thinking in the speed of a Space-X rocket, but he’s thinking in the speed of light. Before I catch up to his train of thought, he has already solved the proposition.”

Because Tao Zhexuan’s wife worked at NASA, he often liked to make aerospace analogies.

Old Qiu ignored Tao Zhexuan as he continued to stare at the whiteboard.

After a while, he clenched his fist and muttered, “Sensational.”

…

There was no doubt that this was the most glorious moment in the history of Chinese mathematics.

No, not just Chinese mathematics.

It was the most significant moment in the history of mathematics, period.

Not only did he stand at the top of the mathematics pyramid, but he also represented the pinnacle of the human mind.

In front of the whiteboard that connected the human mind to the universe, things like nationality, race, and cultural background paled in comparison.

Trivial details like those became meaningless.

Lu Zhou wrote down the last symbol.

The venue was dead silent.

In fact, minutes ago, a handful of people knew this was going to happen.

Lu Zhou took two steps back and looked at his writing, almost like it was a piece of art.

A few minutes went by before he turned around and spoke to the silent audience.

“That’s my proof of Grothendieck’s standard conjectures. Quod erat demonstrandum.”

The entire stadium was silent.

Not a single sound could be heard.

No one spoke.

No one clapped.

The solemn and emotional expressions were replaced by exhaustion and shock.

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and spoke.

“The Grand Unified Theory is the subject of this report.

“The proof of the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures is only an example. I hope it inspires future explorations.

“What we witnessed together is the proof that the universe perfectly aligns with mathematical beauty.

“Are there any questions?”

The crowd stayed silent.

No one spoke.

Lu Zhou relaxed his shoulders.

It was almost like a thousand kilograms had just been lifted off his shoulders. He suddenly had a pleasant smile on his face.

The smile was nothing out of the ordinary, but it resonated with every listener’s heart.

“If there are no questions, I’m going to end the report.

“I will be here for the next three days, so if anyone has any questions, you can find me.

“Thank you.”

The applause sounded like a thunderstorm.

Completely flooding the gymnasium.

Lu Zhou could see the shock and surprise in people’s eyes.

It was almost like someone had unmuted the world.

The staff members standing on the sides of the venue, as well as the security guards, looked confused.

They obviously didn’t understand what was going on.

Not everyone understood the beauty of mathematics.

However, for those that did, the beauty shocked and resonated with the deepest part of their souls.

The applause was like a song.

In the midst of the thunderous applause, Lu Zhou placed his marker on the podium, took a step back, and gently bowed. He then turned around and walked off stage.

The era of the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures had ended.

From now onward, the world was entering a new era of mathematics!

Chapter 1120: Inherited

Chapter 1120 Inherited

Over the last few days, the hotels near Jin Ling University had been completely booked out.

Not because of Valentine’s Day or Christmas, but because of the large influx of foreign scholars.

Over the past three days, aside from eating and sleeping, Lu Zhou didn’t leave the gymnasium. He spent his time in the temporarily converted report venue, answering questions from scholars about the Grand Unified Theory.

As well as some questions on Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.

Honestly, Deligne didn’t even know what he should be surprised about.

Even though from the moment he saw Lu Zhou’s paper on Grand Unified Theory, he had a hunch that it could be used to solve Grothendieck’s standard conjectures, he didn’t expect this day to come so soon.

He wasn’t prepared for this at all.

Lu Zhou spent two hours on stage solving this age-old proposition.

Jin Ling University campus.

After the two elderly men ate their dinner at the cafeteria, they strolled along the tree-lined path.

Professor Sarnak looked at the gymnasium nearby and spoke.

“The problem has only been around for half a century… Isn’t that a bit short?”

Deligne shook his head and spoke.

“No… That person is an exception. Any problem he solves should be treated separately.”

After all, Grothendieck’s standard conjectures had been guiding the development of algebraic geometry for half a century. Even though the speed of development was a bit too “fast”, that didn’t diminish its contribution to the algebraic geometry field.

Professor Sarnak said with a smile, “Makes sense.”

The two became quiet for different reasons. Deligne was thinking about the future of the Bourbaki school of thought, while Sarnak was thinking about the future of Princeton.

Even though they didn’t want to admit this, the center of mathematics had shifted. Ever since the “Future” mathematics journal was released, the trend had become more and more obvious.

While walking along the pathway, Professor Sarnak suddenly spoke.

“I swear that in ten years, this place will be the mathematics center of the world.”

Deligne glanced at him and spoke.

“Will it take ten years?”

Professor Sarnak awkwardly coughed and spoke.

“It should! The training of a scholar is a long process, while the training of many scholars is a generational process. Ten years is an optimistic estimate; it might take twenty years or even longer.”

Professor Deligne smiled and didn’t reply.

He admitted that, in theory, Sarnak was right.

However, there was something Sarnak missed.

Which was that Lu Zhou was only thirty years old.

Strictly speaking, the golden period of a scholar’s academic career was from 30 to 50 years old. Ten to twenty years was an optimistic estimate, but that didn’t take into account all of the factors.

As the birthplace of the Grand Unified Theory, as long as Lu Zhou stayed in the field of algebraic geometry, scholars from Jin Ling would be at the forefront of the mathematics community.

Both Sarnak and Deligne agreed on this.

After contemplating for a while, Professor Sarnak suddenly spoke.

“We can discuss with them about a student cohort exchange.”

Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows and said, “Like a training program?”

“Yeah…” Professor Sarnak said as he looked at the undergraduate students walking nearby. He couldn’t help but look jealous as he said, “It’s not fair for them to have Professor Lu all to themselves.”

After thinking about it, Professor Deligne nodded.

“I’ll talk to the principal then.”

On the other hand, inside the office of the dean of the mathematics department.

Dean Qin was sitting behind his desk. He stood up when he saw Old Tang walking in. He reached out his hand and smiled.

“Old Tang, what brings you here today? Come on, sit.”

“No need for the formalities!” Tang Zhiwei pushed away his hand and smiled. He sat down on the sofa and said, “Look at you! You look great; did you win the lottery?”

“What lottery, I’m busy as hell.” Dean Qin sat down on the sofa and said, “Why do you say that? Does it look like I lost weight?”

“Oh, not at all.”

Old Tang retired ever since Lu Zhou began teaching at Jin Ling University. He had been spending his days doing Tai Chi at the park, playing chess with his old buddies, and fishing at the lake. He was living a good life.

As for mathematics, apart from occasionally following the latest developments, he had barely touched it.

After all, it was a miracle that he was still sharp-witted, which was largely thanks to his career in mathematics.

However, even though prior to retirement, Old Tang was an ordinary professor, Dean Qin still had a huge amount of respect for him.

Not just because they were good friends, but also because Old Tang was Academician Lu’s mentor. Dean Qin heard that Academician Lu would bring gifts to the old professor every year.

Even the director of the Ministry of Education would have to respect Old Tang, much less a dean like him.

Dean Qin began chatting with Old Tang about trivial life matters.

Dean Qin was starting to wonder why Old Tang was visiting him. Old Tang finished his cup of tea and refilled his cup. He suddenly spoke.

“Old Qin, Jin University has been quite exciting lately.”

Dean Qin smiled and said, “Of course, otherwise, I wouldn’t be so busy.”

Old Tang smiled and said, “Oh yeah? Then I have to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to talk with an old man like me.”

Dean Qin: “Not a problem. If you’re an old man, does that make me an old man as well?”

Old Tang: “Of course, aging is the one thing in life we can’t avoid.”

Dean Qin smiled and didn’t say anything.

He felt like Old Tang had something to say, so he remained silent.

After Old Tang took a sip of his tea, he spoke emotionally.

“I downloaded the paper on the algebraic geometry Grand Unified Theory and read it. I have to say, after being away from the field for five years, I feel like a stranger to mathematics.”

Dean Qin: “Well, you know what they say, never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”

“Yeah.” Old Tang sighed and said, “We all get old one day, maybe… our time is over.”

Dean Qin frowned. He was confused.

“Old Tang, what are you trying to say, just spit it out…”

Professor Tang put down the teacup and said solemnly, “I want to ask you a favor.”

When Dean Qin heard this, he paused for a second.

This was the first time he heard Old Tang asking for a favor in such a serious manner.

“Yeah, what?”

“Have you heard of Principia Mathematica?”

Dean Qin: “… Of course, everyone has.”

As one of the most famous works from the Bourbaki Group, Principia Mathematica was jointly written by many scholars such as Weil, Cartan, and Dieudonné. With a total of 40 volumes, it was published in the 1930s, with new content still being added today.

Even if a mathematician wasn’t in the algebraic geometry field, they would have heard of this famous book, which was second only to Euclid’s Elements.

“Right, of course.” Professor Tang said, “A while ago, I was bored, so I looked through the history of mathematics and found that the Bourbaki Group and the Principia Mathematica originated from the same place.”

The earliest use of the pseudonym “Bourbaki” was as one of the authors of Principia Mathematica. Bourbaki referred to a group of rigorous mathematicians, with most of them being French.

The book of Principia Mathematica was studied by the Göttingen school of thought, and it’s influence spread across Europe.

“… We can learn many things from the fact that the Bourbaki Group is inseparable from Principia Mathematica.

“Knowledge isn’t only about creating, but also inheriting.

“Right now, the mathematics world is standing on a crossroad. Everything beyond this is a world no one has ever seen. I propose we organize a group of promising scholars to jointly compile a book on algebraic geometry and Grand Unified Theory.”

This was similar to the Principia Mathematica book written by the Bourbaki Group.

When Dean Qin heard Professor Tang, he looked hesitant.

Over the past few days, he had thought about many things, including what kind of impact this report would have on the Jin Ling University mathematics department, as well as the future of the mathematics department. However, he never thought about something like this.

Honestly, he had no idea how powerful Jin Ling University could become.

As for writing a book on the future of mathematics…

It would be great if the book turned out to be well-written.

However, if it wasn’t well-written, wouldn’t they become a laughing stock?

“… Isn’t this a bit extreme?”

“Extreme? What school of thought isn’t extreme?” Tang Zhiwei smiled and said, “Dean Qin, even I’m not crazy yet, how come you’re becoming crazier and crazier. We’re scholars, not politicians. It is our duty to spread knowledge.”

Old Tang looked at Dean Qin’s hesitant expression and continued, “The Jin Ling University is different from before. Even Aurora University and Yan University have to respect us in terms of international influence. But have you noticed something? We have yet to form a real school of thought.

“This is our weakness, this is something we should focus on. How else are we going to play a role in the international academic community? Have you never thought about these things?

“But this is not your fault, you have other things to care about. Oftentimes, we use old methods to solve new problems.

“But the situation is different now! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! If we let this go, someone else will take advantage, and we won’t be the ones passing along the knowledge!”

Old Tang leaned back on the sofa and drank his tea while quietly waiting for Dean Qin to reply.

Dean Qin remained silent for a long time.

It wasn’t until when the tea was cold did he finally speak.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think about it. The older you get, the more stubborn you are. You weren’t like this before.” Tang Zhiwei patted his thigh and said, “I’ll talk with Academician Lu.”

He had never asked a single favor from his student.

However, he was doing this for the future of Chinese mathematics.

Not to mention this could benefit Lu Zhou.

Maybe Lu Zhou didn’t care about his academic influence anymore.

However, it would be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste…

Chapter 1121: The Decision From the International Mathematical Union

1121 The Decision From the International Mathematical Union Including the questions answering sessions, this report lasted for five full days.

Even on the last day, no one was able to find a mistake in the theorem and proof.

It seemed like Lu Zhou had answered all of the questions.

Therefore, all of the doubts disappeared.

A twelve-man review committee organized by the International Mathematical Union gathered in a Jin Ling University conference room. They would give their final review of the paper.

Even though they did not represent the opinion of the entire mathematics community, they at least represented the opinion of the International Mathematical Union.

Shigefumi Mori stood up and spoke solemnly.

“Gentlemen, this is the first time we have faced such a major decision.

“I propose we decide on a vote.

“Let’s cast your votes.”

The votes were not anonymous.

If there was a single vote against the paper, the International Mathematical Union would seriously reconsider approving the paper.

The time quietly went by, and the minute hand on the wall clock had made two full rotations.

When everyone put down their vote and name on a piece of paper, the conference staff collected the votes.

The votes were tallied, and Professor Holden, the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, was responsible for announcing the votes.

When the voting result was announced, Professor Shigefumi Mori was speechless.

After a while, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke in a trembling tone.

“This is a moment that will be recorded in history.”

What the international mathematics community received wasn’t only the Grand Unified Theory.

But also the proof of the Grand Unified Theory!

This was the most significant day in the history of mathematics.

The work of the review committee was over.

A total of twelve reviewers was selected by the International Mathematical Union, two of which refrained from voting, while the remaining two voted unanimously.

This was the highest level of recognition from the mathematics community.

Not a single vote against the approval of the paper.

From this moment onward, the Grand Unified Theory would be formally accepted by the academic community.

Professor Holden, the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, stood in the Jin Ling University conference hall as he solemnly announced the result to the scholars that came from all over the world.

The entire academic community went crazy…

…

The Grand Unified Theory report finally came to an end.

As reporters flocked to Jin Ling University from all over the world, scholars that came to participate in this report began to leave Jinling.

Professor Lu walked with Professor Deligne to the Jin Ling University gate.

He originally planned on sending Professor Deligne to the airport, but when Professor Deligne told Lu Zhou, he had already booked a taxi.

Professor Deligne looked at his former mentee with a look of approval.

He thought for a moment and spoke.

“I never could have imagined witnessing the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures being proved. But nevertheless, you have surprised me again.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke humbly.

“I’m honored to be able to surprise you.”

“I’m the one that’s honored.” Deligne patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and gave him a look of encouragement. He said, “Congratulations, I wish you the best.

“The road to the future is long.”

Professor Deligne dragged his suitcase and walked toward the black Mercedes waiting for him.

Professor Faltings was watching this unfold nearby. Schultz hesitated for a moment before speaking to Faltings.

“Shouldn’t we bid farewell?”

“You can, but I’m not, I have to catch a flight,” Faltings said as he looked at his watch. He dragged his suitcase and began walking away.

Schultz shrugged and began waving goodbye at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou waved back as Schlutz got in the car and disappeared.

He was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him.

“Professor Lu! Wait a second!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and turned around.

“Professor Carlson? What a coincidence, you’re here too?”

Professor Carlson said, “How could I miss such an important report… Jesus Christ, you didn’t even notice I was here, I’m heartbroken!”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and asked, “What’s the hurry?”

“Actually… I might need something from you, I swear, it’s a good thing!”

Carlson sighed and cleared his throat. He then spoke in a solemn tone.

“Two months ago, we consulted the International Mathematical Union on the proof of Riemann’s hypothesis. Their opinion is that, you undoubtedly solved the problem of the century… You know, we have set up the Millennium Prize Problems prize, which is awarded by the Institut de France.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Okay, I’ll go collect the award when I have time.”

“Of course, if you don’t want to come, you can also donate it to…” Professor Carlson suddenly froze and said, “Wait what? What did you say?”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look and spoke.

“I said I’ll go, why?”

Professor Carlson snapped back to reality and shook his head.

“Nothing… I’m just a bit surprised.”

“What’s so surprising.” Lu Zhou smiled as he shook his head. After a moment of silence, he said, “But that will depend on when I have time. Probably the beginning of next year, or the end of next year.”

If everything went according to plan, the Cadarache fusion power station in France would begin fusion power.

As China’s second nuclear core export to the international market, Lu Zhou most likely would take a visit.

Of course, that would also depend on if he was busy or not.

If he was too busy, he might ask someone else to visit the reactor for him.

If he wasn’t, he would most likely go in person.

After all, there was an important historic relic in France he had to collect.

Professor Carlson was ecstatic.

“No problem! Just give us one month’s notice!”

Chapter 1122: The Second Memory

Chapter 1122 The Second Memory

The second the International Mathematical Union recognized the Grand Unified Theory, the news instantly spread across the planet.

The entire mathematics world was shocked at this sensational news.

Professor Tao Zhexuan’s flight had yet to depart. He was waiting inside the airport when he opened his WordPress blog and posted his thoughts on the brand new paper.

Even a master’s student could understand his post. This gave a chance for noob researchers to understand what exactly happened at this earth-shattering report.

Less than half an hour after the blog was published, the link spread throughout the mathematics circle like wildfire. People in the mathematics community went crazy!

On the other hand, discussions began flooding the MathOverflow forum.

Every post was about Lu Zhou and his Grand Unified Theory.

Lu Zhou had yet to give this theory an official name, so people had to borrow the name from the famous Grand Unified Theory from particle physics.

[Breaking news! The International Mathematical Union just announced in the Jin Ling University auditorium that they recognize the Grand Unified Theory!]

[Haha! That’s my alma mater!]

[I knew this was going to happen. Professor Lu would never announce something unless he is 100% correct. When he announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians he was going to unify algebra and geometry as his next research project, I knew he had something up his sleeve.]

[I heard Faltings and Schultz also participated in this project?]

[They did work together on the research on the fold method, but I heard from my classmates at the University of Bonn that they did not cooperate for the last two months of the research. They decided to compete with each other…]

[I’m curious who proposed that idea.]

[Apparently, Professor Faltings did…]

[That’s unlucky, Lu Zhou was able to solve the problem two months after parting ways with them… So they didn’t help at all?]

[Eh, judging from Lu Zhou’s report, they clearly contributed. But I agree, that’s… just unfortunate for them.]

Mathematicians gossiped about the mysterious stories surrounding the Grand Unified Theory.

In addition to the “competition”, there was also the story about Perelman, the recluse that came out of nowhere.

People were curious about what motivated him to participate in the Grand Unified Theory project; they were also curious if he would return to the mathematics community or would continue his life in the St. Petersburg suburbs.

So far, according to a PhD student at Jin Ling University, Perelman had yet to leave Jinling. It was almost like Perelman was under a magical spell; he would go to the office every single day.

Putting aside the gossip and stories…

The influence of the Grand Unified Theory had spread outside the mathematics circle.

Not only did the International Mathematical Union publish the paper on their website, but even CERN, a scientific research organization focused on high energy physics, mentioned this paper in their latest press conference in an optimistic way.

In fact, mathematics and physics were closely related.

Especially from a historical perspective, every mathematical breakthrough played a crucial role in the development of physics.

Also, it wasn’t just physics.

One week after the announcement by the International Mathematical Union, a portrait of Lu Zhou was posted on the cover of Times Magazine, and it was accompanied by an unusual title.

[“The man of the century”- 21st Century’s Most Influential Person]

In the past, honors like this were generally given to politicians, occasionally to businessmen or celebrities. It was extremely rare for a scholar to receive this title.

Not just that, but the article gave a highly positive evaluation of his work…

[… For most people, mathematics is an extremely complex discipline. Only a small number of people are able to grasp the essence of mathematics and develop it into an art.

[However, this is not the case for Lu Zhou. Mathematics is Lu Zhou’s second nature.

[It’s the way he is able to connect with the universe, the way to discover ground truth. Even though his work is distant from our daily lives, his research will change society and civilization forever.

[Thanks to his intellect and wisdom, the dream of the future has become a reality.

[Our civilization will fly higher than ever before.

[Mankind has crossed another mountain.

[This is the peak of the human mind.]

A broadcast began to show in North America.

Even CNN, which had a clear political bias against Lu Zhou’s virtual reality experiment two months ago, had a neutral opinion on him.

They didn’t praise him nor discredit him… After all, there was nothing to discredit him about.

It was rare for liars to tell the truth.

At Boston, inside a cryobiology laboratory.

Elon was sitting in a cafe. He was reading the Times Magazine in front of him when he suddenly spoke.

“If only he could stick with mathematics.”

Lawrence was sitting across from him and drinking a cup of coffee. Lawrence smiled and said, “There are not enough mathematics conjectures for him to solve.”

“Who cares? As long as he stays away from our business.”

Lawrence smiled and said, “Oh, really? I hope he can produce more interesting things. So far, there are no conflicts in our interests. The things he has invented are quite helpful for my plans.”

Elon frowned and said, “Really? I pray this guy can take a break for a while.”

Lawrence spoke nonchalantly.

“Maybe you should change your way of interacting with him.”

Elon shook his head and didn’t reply.

Change my way of interacting with him?

If only things were that simple.

Right now, the entire Silicon Valley was in disorder, and many technology companies had shut down because of Lu Zhou.

Right now, people were not talking about the future trends. Instead, they were talking about what Lu Zhou was going to research next and how to reduce the probability of competing with Star Sky Technology.

This sounded ridiculous, but this was the reality.

The Silicon Valley entrepreneurs had to account for Professor Lu in their project risk evaluation, and they even added their analyses on Professor Lu into their funding pitch PowerPoints.

The most annoying thing was that the investors seemed to fear him the most?!

This was ridiculous!

While the entire world was talking about Professor Lu, Lu Zhou himself was in the underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, oblivious to the Times Magazine article about him.

Lu Zhou was standing in front of a new virtual reality device. He took a deep breath and spoke in a calm voice.

“Xiao Ai, is it ready?”

A line of text appeared on his AR glasses.

[Ready, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t say anything. He walked over to his virtual reality device and lay on the chair.

He took off his glasses and placed them on a table. He then reached out and put on his glasses.

The time in the system space was in sync with real time. He had verified this a long time ago.

And it would take a few seconds for the virtual reality machine to boot.

So if he was correct…

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He whispered to himself, and his consciousness appeared in the pure white system space.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou walked in front of the holographic panel and clicked on his inventory.

A purple-black sphere, surrounded by strands of smoke, quietly floated inside his inventory.

There was no item description, almost like it didn’t belong there.

There was no information other than the name “Void Memory b”.

Lu Zhou quietly looked at the sphere. After counting to twenty seconds, he reached out and grabbed it.

The second his hand touched the purple-black sphere, the strands of smoke suddenly began to expand as it shot out a black mist.

“Let’s see what kind of secrets are behind this thing…”

This wasn’t Lu Zhou’s first time touching this sphere. He watched it wrap around his hand as he was slowly pulled into the darkness by the smoke…

Chapter 1123: A World of Rings

Chapter 1123 A World of Rings

This felt the same as last time.

It was like his entire body fell into a boundless abyss. He was falling toward the edge of the universe.

Perhaps because of the huge amount of information, the “loading time” was longer this time.

Lu Zhou was almost starting to get impatient when he finally saw a spot of light approaching from the distance.

He waited as he continued to fall toward the expanding spot of light.

Suddenly, he felt a huge gravitational force pulling him toward the light source.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes as the light shone on his face.

When he opened his eyes again, the darkness was gone. And he was in an unfamiliar world.

When his feet touched the ground, the feeling of gravity was rather light.

Lu Zhou looked around. At first glance, he could tell this was probably the cabin of a spacecraft. He could see the stars outside the windows.

There were also twenty-five “people” standing nearby. They were dressed the same as him, and they were even the same height.

It looked like they were soldiers.

The exoskeleton armor on their bodies emitted a murderous vibe, and the sticks hanging across their chests appeared to be some kind of rifle guns.

For some reason, this reminded Lu Zhou of the virtual reality performance test that happened a while ago.

He had a strange look on his face.

Did I make a mistake?

“Xiao Ai…”

He didn’t get a response.

Lu Zhou frowned and felt something was off.

Maybe the virtual reality device hasn’t booted?

Or maybe it’s not synchronized with the system space?

Or maybe, the neural demodulator he made was too poor, causing it to have a weaker simulation intensity than the “high tech system”. Thus, his simple device wasn’t able to interfere with the system space at all.

This made it so that he couldn’t “cheat” in the system space.

Lu Zhou began to frown.

He had made quite a lot of preparations for this, so he didn’t expect it to fail at the beginning.

“We’ll see what happens…”

Lu Zhou began to carefully observe his environment, especially the well-armed soldiers.

Because of their masks, Lu Zhou couldn’t see their faces. He wasn’t even sure if they were humans or not. Nor did he know what language they spoke.

However, he suddenly heard a sound from the communication channel in his ear.

Fortunately, the language was Chinese.

“We’re here.”

After that, it felt like the spacecraft was caught in a huge gravitational field as it gently quaked.

A ray of light finally appeared out of the window.

Lu Zhou saw the most spectacular and shocking scene he had ever seen in his life.

They didn’t arrive at planet Reach.

Instead…

“Welcome to the Capital of the Empire… This is the most densely populated area in the galaxy. Fortunately, there has yet to be any evidence of any extraterrestrial life visiting us.”

The announcement was made in a joking way, giving the cabin a relaxing atmosphere.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou didn’t get the joke.

His attention was entirely focused on the planet outside the window.

A huge metal ring and countless different spacecraft were rotating around a relatively small star.

The civilization must have exhausted the resources from all of the surrounding planets to create a gigantic ring on the habitable orbit zone.

It was hard to imagine what kind of power they had.

Their technology far exceeded the scope of human civilization.

“This is amazing…”

He heard a chuckle come from the communication channel. It might be because he was the only one staring outside the window in awe.

Unlike the previous announcement, this voice was sent to his personal communication channel.

“Everyone that arrives at the Capital for the first time is shocked. I’ve seen plenty of people with their jaws on the floor upon their first time witnessing this magnificent city. Where are you from? Industrial planet? Agricultural planet? Don’t tell me you come from a mining station?”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth and didn’t say anything.

He had no idea how to answer this question. He didn’t expect the NPCs to act like living people. He thought he was just a bystander, living in the body of an anonymous soldier…

It seemed like the other soldiers had lost interest in him. They looked away and left him alone.

Suddenly, the cabin hatch opened. A tall and well-built soldier wearing an exoskeleton appeared in front of them.

On the other hand, he heard an announcement from the public communication channel again.

“It’s nice to meet you all. Let me introduce myself. I am Commander Ince from the C-12-27 Capital defense station.

‘”A month ago, the security department received intel that Professor Lane from the C-12-01 section research institute was targeted by an unidentified terrorist organization. His safety is in danger. The reason is said to be a physics experiment related to an Empire secret.

“As soldiers, it is our duty to protect the order of the Empire. It is our duty to destroy anyone that rebels against the Empire! It is our mission to escort Professor Lane from the hideout to the Empire building, as well as eliminate the possible attackers.

“The mission information is already in your mission brief. From now on, you will be under my command.

“Let’s go!”

The group of people stepped out of the spacecraft in an orderly and uniform fashion. The footsteps resonated on the metal floor.

Lu Zhou followed Commander Ince’s footsteps as he opened his mission briefing from his helmet’s AR display.

Not a lot of information was disclosed to him.

Basically, a physicist named Lane discovered an amazing secret during a physics experiment. This secret could affect the Empire for the next hundreds of years.

The codename of this secret was “Oracle”; it was impossible to tell what it was just by judging the name alone.

As for Professor Lane, who had the power to influence the future of the Empire, he was summoned by the Parliament. They wanted him to explain his findings in detail.

Even though this was an “Empire”, the system here was quite liberal.

Unfortunately, it seemed like there was a chaotic undercurrent flowing in the dark. For some reason, some people didn’t want Professor Lane to reach the parliament. They didn’t want the “Oracle” to reach the hands of the Empire government.

Professor Lane?

Who is he?

And what is the Oracle?

Also, what is his physics experiment about?

Lu Zhou made note of this name, as well as the scattered clues around him. He closed the mission briefing from his AR helmet.

His intuition told him that the physicist Lane played an important role to this Void Memory.

If he wanted to collect the information from this memory, he had to find Professor Lane and figure out what the Oracle was.

His role right now was basically a bodyguard for a VIP.

If everything went well, he should be able to meet this professor; he might even be able to talk with Lane, maybe about academic problems.

Of course, Lu Zhou didn’t get his hopes up. It was unlikely the high tech system would allow him to exploit the Void Memory this way.

Even if he talked to Professor Lane all night, he wouldn’t be able to extract the secrets of faster-than-light travel, as well as all the obscure physics theories. This was knowledge only an advanced civilization could master.

The spacecraft was docked.

The soldiers boarded a train-like elevator.

People around them looked surprised, and they kept their distance from the soldiers.

Lu Zhou looked anxiously around him. He could finally see what the people here looked like.

Generally speaking, they looked similar to human beings. They had two arms and two legs, and even five fingers. However, their skin was blue and their head was elongated.

Lu Zhou was curious about the similarity between these aliens and humans. Before he could stop and think about it, the elevator suddenly stopped.

“We’re here.”

In order to stay low-key, Lu Zhou left the elevator and blended in with his team. They arrived inside a magnificent and spacious building.

They were currently standing on the surface of the orbital “ring”.

The atmosphere here was quite lively. People came in and out of the elevator terminal, and there was a line nearby with people waiting for their luggage.

Lu Zhou looked at the world through the building windows.

With vehicles traveling in the air, the endless complex building structures looked like a maze. He couldn’t help but worry about the flying vehicles colliding.

What Lu Zhou was most interested in was the type of architecture.

It seemed like the civilization had an “efficient” style of aesthetics, with most buildings being square and having a minimal amount of decoration.

Compared to the houses built with bricks on Earth, their buildings looked more like standardized modules that came from a factory assembly line. It was like they were stacked layer by layer all the way to the top.

This sounded like a weird way of construction, but it made sense.

After all, the entire world was a man-made object. All of the buildings in this ring-shaped world were akin to expansion modules on space stations.

Using primitive construction methods wouldn’t make any sense.

After Lu Zhou passed through the security checkpoint, he finally realized how large the population of the Empire was.

Just walking through the crowd and out of the building would take a long time.

Lu Zhou saw a large display hanging in the terminal. He read that every section of the ring world had a Tower of Babel-like elevator. The commute between space stations and the “Ring” was done by elevators, while commuting between sub-zones was done by a vacuum tube train.

Even though this seemed insignificant, it gave Lu Zhou some understanding of the civilization’s technology level.

In this civilization, food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all non-existent problems.

People did not need to work hard. As long as they were living on the Ring, they could live a life of luxury.

This was almost like a utopia…

Even though Lu Zhou was interested in this society, due to his mission, Commander Ince did not give him time to sightsee at all.

After leaving the elevator terminal, they boarded a levitating car parked at the entrance. They floated into the air and merged into the traffic. After half an hour or so, they reached their destination.

Seven black flying cars with the Empire military logo stopped in front of a square building.

Lu Zhou followed the other soldiers and got out of the car. He noticed a skinny person wearing a white coat walking out of a metal door anxiously.

“I’m being followed, someone is watching me!”

The scholar immediately ran toward Commander Ince.

The muscular soldier spoke in a calm and gentle voice.

“Don’t worry, Professor Lane, you are under the protection of the Empire army. We will escort you to the Empire council.”

Because of the army’s reputation, it seemed like Professor Lane had calmed down. He took a deep breath and spoke.

“Let’s go then…”

“Okay.” Commander Ince nodded and pointed at the middle flying car as he said, “Please get in.”

The VIP extraction was successful, and the group of people began flying again.

Lu Zhou wanted to sit in the same car as Professor Lane, but unfortunately, his car was near the back of the fleet.

Even though he was a little annoyed, there was nothing else he could do.

If he made any unusual movements that made him look suspicious, it would be even harder for him to be in contact with Professor Lane.

The seven flying cars levitated in the air and went on the high-speed airspace.

Lu Zhou was bored, so he passed time by looking at the scenery outside the window.

However, something happened all of a sudden. He heard a violent explosion from behind, followed by a ball of red fire.

Lu Zhou’s heart dropped. He instinctively grabbed the rifle across his chest when he heard a voice come from the communication channel.

“Vehicle 7 was attacked, damage at 95%, people on board were killed.

“Team A will continue to move forward, team B will begin to descend to the ground.

“Roger that.”

It was almost like this was nothing out of the ordinary; the calmness in the announcer’s voice was chilling.

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure if the civilization had a unique culture, or that they viewed death in a different way. The soldiers did not look angry or shocked at all. In fact, they did not seem to show the slightest of emotions at all.

However, this kind of calmness in a chaotic situation gave them the ability to fight.

The second they were attacked, it was like all of the soldiers sprung into combat mode.

Blue energy rays flew all over the sky, aimed toward the flying vehicle engines.

Faced with the intense firepower, Lu Zhou’s vehicle was forced to touchdown and land on the metal ground.

“Prepare to fight back!”

The well-trained soldiers quickly left the vehicle and used the vehicle as a shield. They set up their rifles and began to fire back at the attacker.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t really want to fight, he wanted to blend in.

He tried to imitate the actions of the other soldiers and desperately tried to recall his marksman skills, which Doctor Yan had taught him. He stood in a safe spot, stuck out the gun muzzle, and pulled the trigger.

It didn’t matter if he hit anyone or not.

In such a complex battlefield environment, there was no way he could hit anyone.

The blue energy rays filled the entire battlefield. It left holes in the ground and surrounding walls. However, the vehicle that served as a shield remained intact.

It was as if there was a special force shield that covered the surface of the car, dissolving the energy rays.

The gun made an overheating sound.

Lu Zhou had already emptied his magazine. He quickly copied the other soldiers and changed his ammo.

However, he suddenly saw an empty battery ejecting from his gun, and the battery was still giving off a white smoke.

His eyes squinted as he suddenly remembered something.

Haven’t I…

Seen this battery before?

Chapter 1124: “Black Box“

1124 “Black Box“ Lu Zhou believed that…

He was correct!

That battery was definitely the same battery as Debris No.1!

The second he saw the battery pop out of his rifle, energy rays began showering from the sky, covering the entire battlefield.

Lu Zhou faintly saw several stingray-shaped drones in the sky, raining down with firepower.

Before the battery landed on the ground, it was shot by the raining energy beams.

He knew that this battery was exactly the same as the Debris No.1 battery from the system…

His dream was interrupted.

Lu Zhou’s legs twitched as he took off his helmet.

The drone hovering nearby flew over.

[Master! Are you okay?]

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t feel any pain, dying was never comfortable. Especially since he was hit by a high-energy ray, Lu Zhou almost developed PTSD on these attack drones.

Lu Zhou sat up from his bed with a headache. He grabbed and held down Xiao Ai’s drone, almost mistaking it for an attack drone.

“I’m fine… What about the data? How was the data collection? Could we observe the dream?”

This was what he cared about the most.

There were many things worth looking over in the huge ring city. If the recording was lost, it would be a shame.

Not to mention Professor Lane.

And his so-called “Oracle”.

Lu Zhou’s intuition told him that the Oracle might be the chance to reveal the secrets of the system.

Xiao Ai: [Everything was recorded… But there seem to be some problems.]

Lu Zhou paused for a second and frowned.

“What problems?”

Xiao Ai: [After the neural signals were converted, the recording was not in a traditional storage method, but instead, it was stored based on a special fuzzy calculation.]

Lu Zhou: “… What does that mean?”

Xiao Ai: [Basically, it is a “black box”…]

Xiao Ai spent around three minutes explaining the situation to him.

Everyone knew that the greater the information entropy, the greater the randomness, uncertainty, and the amount of information needed to determine the random variable.

On the other hand, the greater the entropy, the greater the amount of generated information.

In order to pack a large amount of information in a limited storage space, the “Void Memory” was stored using a special compression algorithm.

Normally, data was stored in hard drives in bytes, and each byte represented a digit or number, making it convenient to read and write. The disadvantage was that it took up too much storage space.

However, “Void Memory” was different. The storage form was more akin to rows of linear equations with uncertain parameters.

Different X value inputs would produce different Y value outputs. Even though the equations were short, the amount of data generated could be unimaginably large.

The benefit of this was obvious. It could store the information of an entire solar system using a small amount of storage capacity.

Of course, the disadvantages were also obvious.

The higher the degree of information uncertainty, the more difficult it was to read the information.

If someone wanted to understand the information, they would first have to solve the equations.

It would be great if they were only quadratic equations since even a high school student could solve the possible x values.

But what about higher-order polynomials?

Not only did the number of calculations increase exponentially, but the number of possible solutions also increased.

In fact, the memory given to him by the system was similar to polynomial equations.

Similar to n-ary and n-th order equations, the value of n was the dimension of the Void Memory, while the NPCs and the environment acted according to the equation logic.

Theoretically speaking, if the entire Void Memory system was copied onto Xiao Ai’s server, Xiao Ai could modify the memory.

However, once the parameters of the equations were changed, it would become an entirely different equation. The dream became altered.

Therefore, if they wanted to crack the secret, they needed something similar to a codebook.

In other words, they needed the “script” or the “strategy” so that they could simulate the NPC’s actions and recreate what happened.

In fact, the codebook was contained in the memory itself.

Lu Zhou was 90% certain that if he followed the “mission” and escorted Professor Lane to the Empire council, he could reveal the secrets of the Oracle.

He just had to complete the mission.

He might even be able to find some unexpected clues during the mission.

However, that was just in theory.

As a scientist, it was difficult for him to battle with well-trained soldiers. There was no way he could defeat the alien soldiers.

That would be totally unrealistic.

“What am I supposed to do!”

Lu Zhou thought about the energy beams that rained from the sky.

How the f*ck am I supposed to defeat them?

He finally sympathized with how Li Gaoliang felt when he was first testing the Phantom system. He almost felt sorry for Li Gaoliang.

Fortunately, before he entered the Void Memory, he used the neural demodulator to record his brain signals, giving him a copy of the “game”.

Otherwise, if he only had one chance at defeating this game, even Faker himself wouldn’t be able to pass.

Xiao Ai: [Master, can you let go of Xiao Ai?]

Lu Zhou looked at the drone in his hand and placed it on the table.

Xiao Ai began to fly in the air. After a moment of silence, Lu Zhou suddenly asked, “In other words, there’s no way to adjust the weapons or health in the memory?”

[Yeah… (╥_╥)]

“What about skipping the beginning?”

[Not possible either… The memory algorithm is too complicated. (╥_╥)]

“Can you change your expression?”

[Okay… ()〔〕)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

F*ck!

You’re so useless!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and adjusted his mood. He put on the helmet and lay on the chair.

“Go again.”

If the first time doesn’t work, I’ll go again!

Lu Zhou believed that, as long as he didn’t give up and persevered, he could definitely find a way to break the game!

Chapter 1125: Is This Even Possible?

1125 Is This Even Possible? However…

Ideas were beautiful, but reality was often cruel.

Lu Zhou spent an entire afternoon in his laboratory, trying to grind through the “Void Memory b” game.

However, his efforts were to no avail.

Especially the drone part, he even began to wonder if the memory ended there? What if his character died in the gun battle, and that was the end of the Void Memory.

Just like when he grabbed a Rubik’s cube from the Void Memory a, the memory was instantly cut off. He didn’t even have a chance to study the cube in depth.

He tried many ways of fighting in combat.

For example, shooting his teammates in the spacecraft in an attempt to gain control over the spacecraft or leaving his team when he got off the elevator. Basically, events that didn’t follow the main plotline.

However, the results were quite tragic.

The first time he tried to raise his rifle at his teammates, he was instantly pushed to the ground by one of the other soldiers. The other time was even worse. After leaving his team, he was tracked by the positioning device on his exoskeleton. He was soon shot dead by the tall and well-built captain.

Yeah, so that was the end of that.

He was shot in public; they didn’t even give him a chance to go to court. He couldn’t help but wonder about what kind of alien rights the advanced civilization had.

After thirty attempts, Lu Zhou was so over this torture.

However, his attempts weren’t useless.

While chatting with his teammates, he was able to gain a rough understanding of this “game”.

Basically, he was part of a species called “Calan”.

He also learned about the origin of the Ring world.

Just like he had guessed, after a series of wars and conflicts, the Calans destroyed all of the planets in the solar system and spent 300 years to build a ring around a habitable zone. The creation of this circular residential belt was the beginning of the utopia.

Even though the Calans spent 300 years building the utopia, not all Calans had the chance to live a utopian life.

After the Ring world was built, the Empire’s territory began shrinking. However, there were still a few mining and agricultural planets that provided the raw materials needed for industrial manufacturing.

Because of the political and economical inequality, living on the “Ring” was a dream for many farmers and miners.

It was similar to people in Detroit wanting to move to NYC…

That was Lu Zhou’s understanding.

As for the Oracle, the soldiers didn’t know much either. After countless respawns, Lu Zhou had talked to all 25 soldiers other than Commander Ince. He knew the personality and character of each soldier, but he wasn’t even able to learn a single name.

As for why he didn’t talk to Ince…

In fact, Lu Zhou wanted to talk to him, but the commander completely ignored him…

There was obviously a class disparity among the Calans.

The commander was far more friendly to the scholar than the soldiers.

“I can’t…” Lu Zhou took off the helmet for the 31st time and gave up. He looked at the ceiling and sighed. “We have to do something else.”

Even though the “game” was fun, after failing 31 times in a row, he was totally bored out of his mind.

Xiao Ai: [Master, are you okay? (T_T)]

“I’m fine.”

Lu Zhou grabbed his chin and contemplated it for a while. His eyes suddenly lit up as he spoke.

“Wait a minute!”

Xiao Ai: [What? 0.0]

“Let the Respawn Team play for me!”

Lu Zhou put the helmet aside and stood up from the chair.

“Since it’s just a game, we should leave it to the pros.”

Lu Zhou happened to know a player. Even though he wasn’t the best player on the planet, he could persevere through anything. He could lie down on the virtual reality device for an entire day and never give up.

Not to mention because of the Master God project from Star Sky Technology, he could easily find enough manpower.

If the Respawn Team couldn’t defeat the game, he could release the game as a public beta test!

He didn’t worry about the secret leaking out.

After all, this was just a “video game”.

No matter how serious the players took the game, they would never think of the game as being real.

Not to mention there might be someone that could extract additional information from the game.

Even if an accident happened, with Xiao Ai watching closely, Xiao Ai could easily repair any damages.

After Lu Zhou made up his mind, he left the laboratory. He returned to the surface and made a call to Chen Yushan. He told her about the new experiments.

After that, Lu Zhou stretched his back and sat in his office chair.

The sun was about to set. He was going to call Wang Peng when he suddenly received a call.

Lu Zhou saw that Professor Tang was the one calling.

Without hesitating, he picked up the phone and placed it next to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Lu Zhou, what are you doing?”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“I just finished work, what’s up?”

Professor Tang spoke awkwardly.

“Nothing special, I just wanted to ask if you were coming to campus tomorrow?”

Lu Zhou felt a little weird. He paused for a second and spoke.

“I should go, but not sure when… If you need anything, you can just tell me.”

However, it seemed like Old Tang didn’t want to talk about this over the phone.

“Let’s wait until tomorrow. When you’re on campus, remember to call me… Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad, we’ll talk in person.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Lu Zhou felt like he didn’t believe Old Tang.

His intuition told him that Old Tang needed something from him…

…

Ever since Duan Siqi joined the “Respawn Team”, he felt like his life was twice as exciting as before.

He wasn’t just saying that, that was what he truly believed.

The reason for this came from the Master God plan.

In other words, the so-called Master God plan was to create an intelligent program for the Phantom server that could automatically model movie scenes into the virtual reality world. It could use movies and TV shows to build a complete virtual reality world.

The task of the Respawn Team was to participate in the plot of the films as the protagonist or as a third-party member. They had to complete various tasks and discover loopholes in the virtual world.

Basically, they were training the artificial intelligence algorithm.

According to the researchers, the goal of the experiment was to improve the artificial intelligence system responsible for generating worlds for the Phantom server. This way, accidents such as the forest zombie incident wouldn’t happen again.

Regardless of whether their work was effective or not, Duan Siqi felt like the experiments were quite interesting.

From Resident Evil to The Chronicles of Narnia, from Harry Potter to Batman, he had played the role of policeman, soldier, and even a magician.

He could still remember the joy of shooting the zombies or waving his magical wand…

He knew that if they could get around the copyright issue, these games would sell through the roof and make players around the world go crazy.

Of course, what Star Sky Technology planned on doing with this technology had nothing to do with him.

However, he had wanted to start his own game company…

Star Sky Technology virtual reality research institute.

Because today was an experiment day, the break lounge was packed with people.

Before the experiment began, the members of the Respawn team were discussing what today’s world might be.

The lounge door opened, and a tall and well-built man walked in.

“The new experiment plan is here.”

Duan Siqi looked up and spoke curiously.

“Which movie are we in this time?”

“Not a movie.” Li Gaoliang shook his head and said, “This is an original script.”

Original script?

Whispers were heard in the lounge.

Most people looked intrigued.

Prior to this, the worlds they entered were all generated by an artificial intelligence algorithm, based on movies and TV shows.

Even though the worlds were interesting, they had all seen the movies and TV shows before. Even though it was fun to watch and act as the characters, there were no surprises in the plot.

Having an original script made things more interesting.

People were curious about how advanced the artificial intelligence algorithm was, thanks to their efforts. How close were they to an open beta?

Li Gaoliang looked at the crowd and spoke in a serious manner.

“This mission is said to be extremely difficult, I hope you take it seriously. Academician Lu is telling you to prepare, the experiment is going to begin in ten minutes.”

Despite Li Gaoliang warning them, none of the testers looked nervous. Instead, they were full of excitement and anticipation.

Duan Siqi was the same. He was used to Li Gaoliang’s exaggerated words.

He had no idea what “extremely difficult meant”.

That wasn’t until when the first experiment began, where he was rained on with energy beams.

F*ck sake…

Is this even possible?

Chapter 1126: Evading Responsibilities

Chapter 1126 Evading Responsibilities When Lu Zhou threw the responsibility of exploring the Void Memory to a group of “addicted gamers”, he felt like he was finally free from the endless loop of being shot to death. He finally felt alive.Even though he wanted to know why Professor Lane’s Oracle was able to affect the fate of the entire Empire, he knew that this would take time.

Not to mention that there was another equally important physics experiment waiting for him in a week.

The next morning, Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to drive him to the faculty buildings for a visit to Old Tang’s house.

Lu Zhou knocked on the door. Old Tang saw Lu Zhou at his front door and looked shocked.

“Why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to call me?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I can just come here, no problem.”

As his previous teacher, Lu Zhou had a lot of respect for Old Tang.

If he had never met Old Tang, his road to success might not have been as smooth as it was.

Even though he had far surpassed Professor Tang in terms of academia, he was still grateful for Professor Tang’s lessons.

“You’re too polite… Come on in.” Old Tang looked at Lu Zhou standing at his front door and said, “I have nothing to do all day, I wanted to go outside and have a chat with you. There’s no need for you to come here, you should be spending your time reading papers and teaching students, not visiting an old man like me.”

“No problem, I happened to be on the way.” Lu Zhou took off his shoes and said, “Speaking of which… What was the thing you talked about yesterday?”

Old Tang smiled awkwardly.

“Well, here’s the thing. Sit first, I’ll pour you some tea, then we can talk…”

Old Tang told Lu Zhou the whole story.

After hearing Old Tang, Lu Zhou was baffled.

Lu Zhou’s guess was correct.

The reason why Old Tang was being so mysterious on the phone was that he wanted something from Lu Zhou.

“Is it necessary to publish a book? Isn’t that something people do in their 50s or 60s?”

“Of course it is necessary. If we let go of this opportunity, someone else might grab it first,” Old Tang said with an energetic tone. He tried his best to persuade Lu Zhou. “Also, we don’t need too much from you. It’s not like a textbook can be written by one person alone! I’ve talked with Old Qin, we’ll assemble a group of young academic scholars from the mathematics department that will help write this book.

“Just do as much as you want, you don’t have to delay your own work! It won’t be troublesome!”

Lu Zhou was not interested in passing down his knowledge, nor was he interested in creating a school of thought.

Research was something that made him happy.

If it could bring value to the society, that would be great. When a person created enough value, the society would naturally treat them well.

As for everything else, that was secondary.

However, after Lu Zhou thought about Old Tang’s words, he realized that Old Tang was making sense.

This opportunity was quite unnecessary since he was already undisputed in terms of mathematical achievements. Whether the future generation could make any mathematics breakthroughs would depend on how hard the future mathematicians work. It wouldn’t matter if he wrote an academic book or not.

But as Old Tang said, even though this didn’t make sense for him personally, this was a golden opportunity for the Jin Ling University mathematics department.

This book could create an entire school of thought.

In the distant future, people would spread Lu Zhou’s doctrine, allowing it to influence more people.

After Lu Zhou left Old Tang’s apartment, he went to Jin Ling University.

Along the way, he was thinking about how to write the academic book, as well as how to work with Dean Qin to find capable young scholars.

Lu Zhou happened to bump into Chen Yang at the stairs of the mathematics department building.

Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea. He walked up and asked, “Morning, what are you up to?”

“I just came from the cafeteria,” Chen Yang said while waiting for Lu Zhou to catch up to him. He then said, “What about you?”

“I went to my former mentor’s house,” Lu Zhou said. “Have you read my paper on the Grand Unified Theory?”

Chen Yang nodded.

“… I have, why?”

“I might need something from you.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I have a task for you.”

Chen Yang put on a serious face and spoke.

“Please, tell me.”

“No need to be so nervous, it’s nothing difficult, and it should be easy for you.” Lu Zhou smiled at Chen Yang and said, “Here’s the thing, Jin Ling University plans on publishing a… theory of mathematics book, mainly regarding the Grand Unified Theory and some related theorems.”

Chen Yang frowned and said, “Theory of Mathematics?”

“Yeah, this book will be long. We haven’t decided on how many volumes yet, maybe it will be constantly updated,” Lu Zhou said. He purposely didn’t tell Chen Yang that he came up with the book title on the spot. He continued in a solemn tone, “You’re obviously capable at something like this. After thinking about it carefully, I’ve decided to entrust you on this glorious task!

“Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. After all, writing a book is not easy—”

“I accept.”

Seeing how easily Chen Yang agreed, Lu Zhou almost felt sorry.

This guy is too easily persuaded.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say. He reached out and patted Chen Yang on the shoulder.

“I knew I selected the right person… Thank you then.”

They finished walking up the stairs.

Lu Zhou bid farewell and began walking toward his office.

However, he heard a voice from behind.

“Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou turned around and said, “Yes?”

Chen Yang suddenly remembered something, and he said, “I tried to research the method you used to prove the second part of the Grothendieck’s standard conjectures.”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Any new discoveries?”

“… Yes, actually.”

Chen Yang nodded and spoke.

“I think I have some ideas… about the Hodge conjecture.”

Chapter 1127: New Ideas on Hodge Conjecture

Chapter 1127 New Ideas on Hodge Conjecture

At the beginning of the year, before Lu Zhou poached Chen Yang from the Yan University mathematics center, Chen Yang had already begun researching the Hodge conjecture.

Lu Zhou still remembered seeing Chen Yang researching the hyperelliptic curve analysis method on a blackboard. Chen Yang used a very clever mathematical tool to improve this method, which was originally designed to solve Riemann’s hypothesis. This meant the hyperelliptic curve analysis method could be applied to singular complex algebraic clusters, as well as geometrical problems that were defined on the sub-clusters.

This left a good impression on Lu Zhou, which caused Lu Zhou to poach him from the Yan University mathematics center.

Almost a year had gone by since then, and there had yet to be any significant progress on the Hodge conjecture. Not to mention that Lu Zhou was busy with unifying algebra and geometry; he had totally forgotten about this.

“Come, let’s talk about it in my office.”

Lu Zhou brought Chen Yang to his office and took out a whiteboard. He then gave Chen Yang a marker.

Without wasting any time, Chen Yang pondered for a second and then drew a circle on the whiteboard. He marked it as S and wrote down a line of expressions.

“For a compact and boundless surface S, the Gaussian curvature K can be Lebesgue integrated over its entire surface.”

Chen Yang wrote as he continued speaking.

“We all know that a surface can contain more than one measurement, so I tried to change the measurement metric of S. The corresponding Gaussian curvature K also changes, but the integral value stays the same. The measurement metric has nothing to do with the Euler characteristic X(S) of the surface. Using this property, we can—”

Lu Zhou looked at the calculations on the whiteboard and raised his eyebrows with interest.

“Gauss-Bonnet theorem?”

Chen Yang stopped writing and nodded.

“Correct.”

He wrote down the Gauss-Bonnet theorem.

When Lu Zhou saw this, he started to get even more intrigued.

In fact, he already had a rough idea of what Chen Yang wanted to do.

According to the properties of high-dimensional Riemann manifolds M, the Gaussian curvature could be generalized to a sectional curvature, while its value could be determined by the tensor of the Riemann curvature. The integral function was a complicated algebraic formula composed of the curvature tensor and the Gauss-Bonnet integral.

As for its integral over the entire manifold, that was determined by the Euler characteristic number X(M).

By using these properties, the Hodge theory could be extended to non-compact manifolds.

These new profound mathematical relationships were found by Professor Shiing Shen Chern, one of the famous applications of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem.

By combining this with Sir Atiyah’s L2 cohomology method, this conjecture might actually be solved.

Of course, it would require more in-depth research to find a complete proof.

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

Without them knowing it, a crowd of people had formed behind Chen Yang.

People in the office began watching closely ever since he started writing on the whiteboard.

Li Mo looked at the equations on the whiteboard and said, “Is this the legendary…”

He Changwen looked at the kid and frowned. He said, “The legendary what? Finish your sentence.”

Li Mo looked at him strangely.

“The Hodge conjecture! Obviously.”

He Changwen: “…”

How is that obvious?!

Well, I guess it is kind of obvious.

He Changwen couldn’t help but lie to himself.

Yeah, for sure, I definitely would have recognized it.

Chen Yang stopped writing on the whiteboard, and he began to think.

Obviously, he was only halfway through this pathway. He had yet to think about where to go from here.

Professor Perelman suddenly spoke.

“This is quite an interesting pathway.”

Chen Yang looked at Perelman and asked, “When did you get here?”

“When you were about halfway done… I was coming to find Professor Lu.” Perelman paused for a second and said, “… Can I use the pen?”

Without hesitating, Chen Yang handed over the marker.

Perelman took the marker and contemplated it for a while. He then began to write down a few lines of expressions.

“Since there is also a unified algebraic geometry theory, the proof to formula 3 is trivial.

“My suggestion for the later part of the proof is that we can map the compact manifold M to its general covered manifold and get a complete non-compact manifold M.

“According to Atiyah’s theorem, if we can prove that all but the middle L2 homology group is zero under the sectional curvature condition…”

He quickly wrote down a simple yet beautiful equation.

Chen Yang’s pupils shrank when he saw this.

He had a moment of realization as he spoke with excitement.

“This is how we can prove the Hodge conjecture!”

But here was the problem.

How could they prove that, under the sectional curvature, the L2 homology group was zero?

The conversation abruptly stopped.

After the initial excitement, the two people fell into silence.

In the end, they looked at Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou noticed them looking at him. He blinked and spoke with a smile.

“I think your ideas are all pretty good… Even though I haven’t carefully researched this area, my intuition tells me that there’s an 80% chance this pathway will work.”

He paused for a second and continued, “This pathway is very interesting, why don’t you guys research together?”

They seemed to understand what Lu Zhou was trying to get at.

Perelman frowned and spoke.

“Are you not joining? This is an interesting problem.”

In fact, it was more than interesting.

The Hodge conjecture was a combination of the three major areas of mathematical analysis, namely topology, algebra, and geometry.

As a Millennium Prize Problem, there was no doubt about its difficulty.

To Perelman’s surprise, Lu Zhou didn’t look interested at all.

Lu Zhou: “I am interested, but I have some work to do at the ILHCRC, so I might not have any time to research mathematics.”

Perelman looked disappointed.

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Even though I can’t work on this myself, I can vouch for Professor Chen,” Lu Zhou said as he patted Chen Yang on the shoulder. He said, “He’s an excellent scholar, I’m sure you know that already. Anyway, if you two work together, I’m sure you’ll be able to solve this problem.”

Perelman disagreed with Lu Zhou’s statement about being able to solve the problem. He looked at Chen Yang and didn’t say anything. He nodded, as a signal of approving Chen Yang as his partner.

These two were both taciturn people.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke to Perelman.

“Speaking of which, is it fine for you to stay here? The unified theory of algebra and geometry has already been completed.”

“No problem.” Perelman shook his head and said, “I’ve already called my mother. She said I should do what I want to do. She doesn’t mind. I have some unfinished business here… I want to solve Hodge conjecture before going back.”

Lu Zhou was surprised that Perelman wanted to stay. He obviously couldn’t be happier, so he spoke with a smile.

“Then you can stay in your apartment, I’ll apply for an extension for you.”

Perelman nodded and spoke.

“Thank you.”

Chapter 1128: Losing Sleep Is Inevitable

Chapter 1128 Losing Sleep Is Inevitable

Actually, when Perelman asked Lu Zhou why he didn’t participate in the project, Lu Zhou only told him one of the reasons.

In addition to not having enough time, the other reason was that he wanted to give this opportunity to other people.

In fact, halfway through Chen Yang’s writing, he already had a complete solution blueprint in his mind. When Chen Yang finished writing his ideas on the whiteboard, he already had a basic idea of how to solve this problem.

He wasn’t trying to brag, but ever since he leveled up to mathematics level 10, his mathematical intuition had reached an inhuman level.

When he upgraded up to level 10, one of the biggest changes was that no matter how abstract or complex a mathematical concept was, it was as clear as day. Most scientific research level problems were a piece of cake for him.

However, one person alone wasn’t enough to advance the mathematical field.

Solving problems wasn’t the ultimate gold of mathematics, new methods and theorems are constantly being discovered. These theorems captured the essence of the universe.

If he was the one who solved all of the problems, many people would begin worshiping him. That might not be a good thing for civilization.

Everything had to follow a law of progression, and exponential growth in a short amount of time might produce gaps between generations, which could cause the mathematical field to fall into a bottleneck.

This was why Lu Zhou spent 5 pages of his 40-page thesis writing out a series of general conclusions he believed to be correct but purposely left out any detailed proofs.

He wanted to give a chance for other people to solve the problems.

He wanted other people to lose sleep over the problems.

Lu Zhou suddenly believed that maybe when Fermat wrote down Fermat’s last theorem, he really did have an ingenious proof.

As for why he didn’t write down the proof, only to be solved by Wiles three and a half centuries later…

Maybe Fermat was feeling the same way.

Regardless of what the true reason was, Lu Zhou knew that it wasn’t because of a lack of writing paper.

…

Ever since December arrived around the corner, the weather in Jinling had gotten colder and colder.

Lu Zhou sat at his desk, drinking a hot cup of coffee made by his assistant. He browsed the latest developments in the physics community and began to feel emotional.

Over the past few years, the status of the Chinese mathematics and physics community among international academia had changed drastically.

He felt like he should at least take half of the credit.

Suddenly, the door opened, interrupting his train of thought.

He heard a familiar voice.

“Pretty nutty! Brother Lu.”

Lu Zhou looked up and saw Luo Wenxuan walking over with a smile on his face.

“I heard you made a big breakthrough again recently?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s alright, nothing big.”

“Don’t be humble. When I was coming back from Shanghai, I heard several physicists talking about how to extend your theory to particle physics. Especially string theory. When I was reading some papers, I saw a lot of opinions that the Grand Unified Theory can provide a new mathematical explanation for string theory. Apparently, someone at Stanford University is already researching this area, and I did a bit of research myself… Sigh, what a shame.”

Lu Zhou: “What’s a shame?”

“If I wasn’t occupied with my work at the ILHCRC, I would be doing this research project,” Luo Wenxuan said with a sad look on his face. He looked at Lu Zhou with a resentful look on his face.

Lu Zhou felt the hair on his body stand up.

Fortunately, he wasn’t drinking coffee; otherwise, he would definitely spill it all over his desk.

But honestly speaking, Luo Wenxuan’s complaints weren’t without warrant.

Ever since the opening of the ILHCRC headquarters in Shanghai, Lu Zhou made him Secretary-General of ILHCRC, making him tied up in Shanghai.

Even though the office was quieter without him here, Lu Zhou thought about it and realized he missed the guy quite a lot.

Lu Zhou stared at his keyboard for a while and suddenly spoke.

“I plan on opening a physics research institute in Africa.”

Luo Wenxuan stopped walking.

“… Africa?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

Luo Wenxuan frowned and said, “Is there a physics community there?”

“No…” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “But precisely because there isn’t a physics community, as scientific researchers, we should contribute to society.”

He paused for a second, looked at Luo Wenxuan, and spoke.

“In order for physics to expand all over the world, we should plan a seed of physics in third world countries. I plan on making you the dean of the new physics research institute.”

The smile suddenly disappeared from Luo Wenxuan’s face.

“Don’t, bro, if you’re not happy with me, just tell me. I don’t want to go to Africa.”

Han Mengqi was sitting nearby. She tried to contain her laughter as her shoulders began shaking from the chuckles. He Changwen was able to contain the laughter, but he accidentally dropped his pen to the ground.

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan’s worried look and smiled. He coughed and spoke.

“I’m just kidding, lightening the atmosphere… Speaking of which, why did you come back from Shanghai?”

“The Lunar Hadron Collider conference is about to begin, I’m here to report to you! But now you’re saying you want to send me to Africa, I’m heartbroken!”

Lu Zhou grinned at Luo Wenxuan.

Well, it was just a joke.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t speak for a while, Luo Wenxuan asked in a soft voice, “So the African physics research institute isn’t real?”

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, “What do you think?”

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, “I’ll just pretend you were joking.”

I am joking.

I might as well make you the director of an African zoo instead.

Lu Zhou shook his head at how gullible Luo Wenxuan was.

Even though the guy was quite naive at times, he was a good physics researcher.

Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with his work.

The construction of the Lunar Hadron Collider was mainly handled by the Lunar Orbit Committee, and as long as the ILHCRC did its job, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Luo Wenxuan hadn’t caused him any trouble, and he had quietly done his jobs and assignments. Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with him.

“I came back to Jinling to sort out some business with the university, as well as give you a report on the situation. There are some documents you need to look at and sign,” Luo Wenxuan said as he placed some documents on the desk. He looked around and asked, “Where is Assistant Kong?”

“She’s on leave.”

“On leave?” Luo Wenxuan looked disappointed as he said, “Oh, nevermind then, that’s unlucky.”

Lu Zhou looked at how disappointed Luo Wenxuan was and shook his head.

This guy still hasn’t given up…

Maybe he really loves her.

Lu Zhou almost wanted to set the two up for a date.

Of course, he wouldn’t actually.

What if they break up in the future?

He would be the one taking the blame.

I’ll just leave them alone.

Chapter 1129: Something Big Is Brewing in the World of Physics

Chapter 1129 Something Big Is Brewing in the World of Physics

The controversy regarding the Grand Unified Theory of algebra and geometry had yet to subside when the Lunar Hadron Collider conference was about to begin.

The breaking news came one after another, and people were overwhelmed.

People outside of academia might have felt different as the Grand Unified Theory and the lunar collider weren’t as relevant to them as the Phantom System.

However, anyone in academia could feel an enormous amount of changes and breakthroughs.

It was as if the things they were discussing just yesterday, were already irrelevant today. They had to face and adapt to new problems.

Numerous PhD students had their graduation postponed. Some of them by force, some by their own volition. After all, the Grand Unified Theory had changed too many things about the algebraic geometry field.

Many students began to suffer from anxiety, having to rely on medication to relieve fatigue and stress.

On the other hand, Jin Ling University, the birthplace of the Grand Unified Theory, began to offer a course on the Grand Unified Theory.

Students had to line up just to register for the course, even those that had already signed up had to pay an extra fee to stay in the course.

The physics community had a similar situation.

The completion of the Lunar Hadron Collider did not have a huge impact on Jin Ling University, but it did impact the ILHCRC.

Just a year ago, or even half a year ago, it was quite difficult to get an opportunity to visit or work at CERN.

However, the physics scene had changed since then.

Every day, the ILHCRC would receive tens of thousands of applications from all over the world. People wanted to work here, hold lectures, go on academic exchanges, etc. There were also experiment related applications, and people wanted to use the powerful Lunar Hadron Collider to verify some of their particle physics conjectures.

Luo Wenxuan was the one reviewing the applications. Even though he traveled around the world with Professor Witten, he was still quite surprised at the applications.

He didn’t even know there were so many people in the world researching physics.

Do we really need that many physicists in the world?

He started to have doubts in his mind.

The conference was scheduled to be on December 18th.

Even though it was only one week away from Christmas, no one had any complaints.

It was an honor to get the opportunity to participate in this grand conference.

Two months ago, when the ILHCRC first applied to use the International Convention and Exhibition Center as their venue, the entire particle physics community already had their attention turned toward this groundbreaking event.

Scholars had been lining up for months just to join this conference…

…

The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Deligne was sitting inside a rustic and ordinary office. He stared at a piece of paper, which was half-filled with calculations, and he frowned and began contemplating.

It had been a week since the report ended.

He was thinking about a problem over the past few days, and he hadn’t come any closer to solving it.

I guess this is what happens when you get old.

Professor Deligne sighed and shook his head.

Even though his knowledge didn’t decline as fast as his eyesight, he could already begin feeling the powerlessness of old age.

He was about to put this problem aside and make himself a cup of coffee when he suddenly heard a knock outside the office door.

Professor Deligne put down his pen and sighed. He took off his glasses and spoke in a clear voice.

“It’s unlocked, come in.”

When the door opened, a skinny old man with a receding hairline walked in with a smile.

“My old friend, I heard you’re back from China?”

“I came back a few days ago,” Professor Deligne said to Witten. He thought that Witten probably didn’t have anything important to discuss. He put on his glasses and began reading the half-written draft paper again.

Witten noticed his movements, and he asked curiously, “What are you researching?”

Deligne: “The paper on the unification of algebra and geometry… The one that caused a sensation in the academic community. I recommend you read it. Even though I know you’re not researching mathematics, I’m willing to bet that it will help your research.”

Witten: “Didn’t you come back from China? Have you still not finished reading it yet?”

“This isn’t a paper you can just read and understand.”

Professor Deligne smiled and looked emotional as he said, “This forty-page paper unifies algebra and geometry, and it also proposes a series of propositions, most of them unproven… Not only did he solve a century-old problem, but he also gave us a guide for the next century or even millennium of mathematics.”

Witten asked curiously, “So you’re studying Lu Zhou’s list of conjectures?”

“I just think these problems are interesting, so I’m taking a look.” Professor Deligne frowned and said, “What are you doing here?”

Witten smiled and said, “Nothing, I’m just here to see my old friend before I leave on a business trip, and… remind him of our bet.”

Deligne looked at the old man’s smug smile and couldn’t help but feel annoyed. He opened his drawer and took out a notebook.

“Take it.”

Witten was ecstatic to take over this notebook on the research on Goldbach’s conjecture, and he began flipping through the pages.

Even though Witten hadn’t researched the field of number theory, no one knew the value of this notebook better than him.

“It’s so clean… Is it a duplicate?”

Professor Deligne said, “Next time you go to China, you can stop by Jinling and ask him this question in person.”

“Haha, I’m just kidding.” Witten smiled for a second and said, “Speaking of which, I’m going to China soon.”

Deligne: “The collider is complete?”

Witten nodded and spoke with a smile.

“Yeah.”

“I can’t believe it,” Deligne said. “They really built a collider on the moon.”

Witten smiled and spoke emotionally.

“The power of technology is fascinating… If only I was born a few decades later, or maybe fifty years later, my problems will all be solved.”

Professor Deligne spoke with a disapproving look.

“Don’t worry, there will always be problems in mathematical physics waiting for you.”

Witten paused for a second and spoke.

“You’re right.”

Mathematics was constantly changing.

While old problems were solved, new problems were born.

The same was for physics.

Ever since the Yang-Mills Equations and the electrostrong interaction were solved, Witten had noticed something.

As long as Lu Zhou continued to research physics.

The field of physics was bound to go through a revolution.

Chapter 1130: Collider Is Complete!

Chapter 1130 Collider Is Complete!

The evening of December 17th.

Professor Frank Wilczek was at the Shanghai International Airport.

Tomorrow was the start of the big conference. In order to not miss this grand event, he decided to arrive here one day earlier.

He ran into countless colleagues at the airport.

Some of them were his friends, some of them were not. Others were friends whom he hadn’t talked to in many years.

The physics community was big, so big that even a Nobel Prize-winning scholar could go unrecognized.

If someone wasn’t in the same research area as one another, even if they exchanged business cards, it was rare for them to meet a second time.

After all, not everyone was like Witten, who treated CERN as his second home. Most people would go to CERN once or twice for academic reasons, and some people might never get the chance to go.

Speak of the devil.

Wilczek was looking around, trying to find someone holding up a sign with his name on it. He happened to bump into an acquaintance.

“Witten? What a coincidence, you’re here as well?” Frank Wilczek said with a kind smile on his face.

“Well, statistically, it’s quite likely for us to meet here since there are only a few flights from North America to here.” Witten looked around and said, “Jesus… There are so many people here.”

Wilczek said, “Yeah… I remember there weren’t this many the last time I was here. Jesus, are they all here for the conference?”

“There’s just a lot of people living here… Regardless, where is your hotel?”

“It’s next to the International Convention and Exhibition Center, 200 meters away from the main entrance.”

Witten’s eyes lit up as he spoke.

“What a coincidence, I’m guessing we’re at the same hotel. Let’s take a taxi together.”

…

On the other hand, all the way on the distant moon, a prism-shaped lander was slowly dropped from the Moon Palace. It slowly fell onto the silver-white lunar soil, creating a cloud of dust.

After Yan Xinju unlocked the life support system, he took a deep breath from his spacesuit oxygen supply and took a step outside the cabin.

A year ago, he was still researching physics with Academician Lu. He never imagined himself setting foot on the moon.

He was probably the first physicist to receive formal astronaut training and set foot on the moon.

A silver-white lunar rover drove toward him from a distance.

An astronaut wearing a spacesuit with the Lunar Orbit Committee logo stepped off the rover. He heard a voice from the communication channel.

“Welcome to Earth, my friend! I would give you a hug, but I’m afraid it will knock you in the air… Put this on first.”

Yan Xinju looked at the staff member handing him a cable.

“What is this?”

“Safety rope; the gravity here is very low. For safety purposes, we wear these when we’re out of the cabin… You should have been briefed.”

“But I have not arranged any outdoor work.”

“Oh, I see.” The man smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go, I’ll show you what we have done on the moon. You’ll be surprised!”

Yan Xinju smiled and didn’t respond.

In fact, going all the way to the Moon Palace from the Jinling launch site was surprising enough.

He couldn’t imagine what could surprise him even more.

…

December 17th.

This was an ordinary day for the rest of the world, but a special day for the city of Shanghai.

Over 90% of the world’s top physicists were gathered here, as well as industry leaders from related fields.

Not everyone was eligible to participate in the seminar, but most people were able to get admission to the convention center.

December 18th.

The day of the conference.

The conference room was crowded with people.

After the chairman of the organizing committee gave an opening speech, Lu Zhou, the chairman of the ILHCRC and the Chief Consultant of the Lunar Orbit Committee, walked steadily on stage and grabbed the microphone.

There was no need for anyone to maintain order.

Everyone in the audience became quiet.

The second his hand touched the microphone, the venue became dead silent.

In fact, the participants in the conference hall No.1 weren’t the only ones who were silent.

People standing in the convention center, watching the big screen, and those sitting at home watching the ILHCRC broadcast, they all remained silent.

Everyone was waiting for him to speak.

They were waiting for him to announce the physics of the future!

“Welcome to China, Shanghai. I’d like to thank all of you who have come to attend this event organized by ILHCRC.”

Lu Zhou looked at the venue, spent two seconds forming his sentence, and spoke.

“Ever since the beginning of the 21st century, the gap between experimental physics and theoretical physics has increased exponentially. Our theoretical level has gone far beyond our experimental capabilities.

“I’ve always believed in the scientific experiment method. A theory that is not backed by an experiment is like a mirage, only observable in the distance, never to be physically touched.

“But this is a turning point.

“Thanks to our advancements in aerospace technology, our spacecraft orbiting the moon is able to send construction equipment to the lunar surface.

“The low gravity and low atmosphere environment allow us to build a larger and more sophisticated collider.

“Since the project was established, the Lunar Hadron Collider has been receiving more and more attention. We have high hopes for this project, and we hope it can test our standard model and discover a new world of physics…

“At last, this day has finally arrived.”

The atmosphere in the venue was at a peak as Lu Zhou spoke in a louder and louder voice.

“On this special day, on behalf of the Lunar Orbit Committee and the ILHCRC, I’d like to announce that—

“The Lunar Hadron Collider—

“Is officially—

“Complete!”

The second he finished speaking, applause began filling the entire venue like a thunderstorm.

The thunderous sounds were like tsunami waves.

The old physicist Academician Lu was sitting in the crowd with a look of excitement on his face. He began to use all of his strength to clap; his hands gradually turning red.

In his eyes, this was more than just the completion of a collider.

What he just witnessed, was the rise of the Chinese physics community.

From today onward, the ILHCRC would take over CERN as the new center of physics. Physicists of the world would have to cooperate with China.

A new building of physics was slowly being built.

Natural science was a selfless field; all of mankind benefited equally from its advancements. However, as a Chinese scholar, why wouldn’t he want to see his own people flourish in the field?

He had been waiting for this day for a long time…

Bathed in the thunderous applause, Lu Zhou smirked and raised his hand.

After the crowd calmed down, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“The first trial of the collider will begin in five minutes.

“Let us witness this glorious moment together!”

The big screen began to display an image from 360,000 kilometers away.

Located at the corner of a moon crater was a silver-white building.

That was the lunar research base.

It was also where the collider was…

Chapter 1131: A Fortress on the Moon

Chapter 1131 A Fortress on the Moon

Yan Xinju thought that after seeing the Moon Palace, there was nothing else that could possibly surprise him.

However, when the scientific research staff member named Ma Hao drove the lunar rover and took him to the lunar scientific research base, he was stunned by what he saw.

Silver-white “domes” were planted on the surface of the lunar soil; its polygon-shaped shell was glowing with white light. Each dome was around 10 meters in diameter, around 3 meters in height.

“… Is this the research station?”

“This?” Ma Hao looked at Yan Xinju and said, “Of course not, how can anyone live here… This is the garden domes.”

Yan Xinju paused for a second.

“Garden domes?”

“Yeah, technically, they’re called ‘lunar soilless agricultural units’. The surface is coated with a special graphene semiconductor material, which can withstand the impact of small meteorites, as well as allowing light to pass through. It can also absorb light and convert it into electrical energy, which powers the garden domes.”

The day and night temperature difference on the moon was large; the day temperature could be as high as 127 degrees, while the night temperature could reach -183 degrees. One day on the moon could last as long as 30 Earth days. The cultivation environment was harsh. Due to its absence of an atmosphere, the heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the lunar surface were low. Hence, capturing solar energy was one of the main difficulties in lunar planting.

Using the same technology from Biosphere A, the lunar soilless agricultural unit designed by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was able to solve this problem.

Even though the output was limited, the cost was still much lower than transporting supplies from Earth. Moreover, there was still room to improve this technology. Biologists on the moon were researching a potato variant that could quickly accumulate starch under low gravity conditions. Apparently, they had already made some progress.

“… It is still too difficult to be self-sufficient. However, it is an additional food source, combined with the usual compressed and liquid food.

“In addition to being used as food, these crops could also recycle astronauts’ waste and consume a portion of the carbon dioxide gas from the scientific research base. Of course, the circulation efficiency isn’t high, so we still need to transport certain supplies from Earth.”

Yan Xinju: “What about water? Farming requires a lot of water, right?”

“There’s ice on the moon.” Ma Hao smiled and said, “Fortunately, we found a treasure below our feet that is more valuable than Helium-3. Back then, we published a paper on this, which caused quite a sensation in the astronomy and geology circles. We have found around 20 million tons of water ice, which is enough for at least this century. Apparently, there’s even a bigger ice mine at the poles. Apparently, it’s on the order of hundreds of million tons… Of course, don’t tell anyone about this, the exploration work hasn’t finished yet.”

20 million tons…

Yan Xinju’s mouth was wide open, and after a while, he spoke.

“That is incredible… How come I’ve never seen this on the news?”

“The western media is not interested in reporting this. Since this is an in-progress result, we didn’t try to publicize it either…” Ma Hao used his chin to point at the crater in front of him. He said, “Look, that is our base, we’re here.”

Yan Xinju looked outside the rover window and finally saw the mysterious lunar scientific research base.

A building was situated in the middle of a moon crater. The large concrete walls were embedded in the lunar rocks. The only exposed part of the tall building was the wall and a signal tower.

Even though he could only see the tip of the iceberg, it was still an amazing sight.

If the Moon Palace was like a silver dragon in the sky, this was like the treasure pile that was being protected by the dragon.

It was incredible.

It represented the highest level of construction technology and aerospace technology!

The lunar rover slowly drove up the entrance ramp and passed through the two airlocks. Yan Xinju was blinded by the white lights above his head.

Next to him was a ground crew member dressed in casual clothes. They used professional equipment to clean the moon dust off the rover, then opened the rover door.

After Ma Hao took off his helmet, he took a breath of air and smiled at Yan Xinju.

“There’s no need to wear a spacesuit in the base, I have to pick up other people… My assistant will bring you to your room.”

Sending a Chinese physicist to the moon first was purposely arranged by the Chinese government. Even though this added an extra hundred thousand yuan to the budget, it was an acceptable cost. Not to mention that Yan Xinju’s mentor was a Chinese famous physicist, the old Academician Lu.

Later on, physicists from other countries and engineers in the field of physics would land on the moon using the landing module. As the captain of the scientific research crew, Ma Hao’s job was to transfer these scholars from Earth to this lunar fortress.

Yan Xinju nodded and spoke in a sincere manner.

“Thank you.”

“No worries.” Ma Hao patted him on the shoulder and said, “We’re a family here.”

Having set foot on this piece of land far away from home, Yan Xinju didn’t understand what the captain was talking about. He thought the captain was just trying to be kind to one another.

Yan Xinju got out of the rover and took off his spacesuit. He followed the assistant and began walking.

The inside of the base was even more extraordinary.

There were a total of 21 floors, including residential areas, work areas, laboratories, and even a library and a gravity-simulated gym. Each floor had its own unique function. It was like a five-star hotel.

The only downside was that the personal space was quite small.

Apparently, the construction cost per meter had surpassed Manhattan’s property costs. Not to mention the “utility costs”. Hence, under these circumstances, a 10-square-meter room for each of them was quite luxurious.

When Yan Xinju came to an aluminum door with a number on it, the staff member handed a card to Yan Xinju and spoke with a smile.

“This is your room, this is the access and identity card. It will give you access to all the facilities in the research station.

“Your security level permits you to access the experiment area, the accommodation area, and the common areas. Your floor number is printed on the card. If you need to use the vehicle or leave the base, you have to talk to the base supervisor.

“Keep this card safe with you. You’ll need it for eating and showering, and it’ll be troublesome if you lose it.”

Yan Xinju took the card and nodded with a serious look.

“Okay.”

The staff member said, “If you need anything, you can call me through the communication terminal in the room. Or you can talk with Captain Ma.” The staff member then nodded and began walking toward the elevator.

When Yan Xinju walked into his new home, he placed his suitcase on the shelf and lay on the soft bed.

The feeling of lying in one-sixth the normal gravity was strange. However, he had already spent a week in a gravity-free environment, so he was used to it.

“Tomorrow is December 18th…”

Tomorrow was an important day.

The Lunar Hadron Collider would complete its first trial operation tomorrow.

That would bring the physics community into a future era.

It would be the most glorious moment of his life.

As the representative of the Chinese physics community, he was the one who was going to light up the spark that illuminated the human civilization in this cold universe.

He looked at the blue planet 360,000 km outside his window, and he slowly closed his eyes while lying on his bed.

As an ordinary scientific researcher, he never thought this day would come. Up until now, his most worthy achievement was working under Academician Lu Shenjian.

He thought back to his past and felt emotional…

Life could be unexpected at times. When Lu Zhou called him and said, “You’re the chosen one,” he couldn’t even describe the shock.

Now that he was here, he began to feel the responsibility.

“Once I get back to earth, I’m buying Lu Zhou a drink…”

I have to thank him in person.

It was almost like he could hear the applause from 360,000 kilometers away.

The cheers from people all over the world.

He clenched, then loosened his fist. He gradually fell asleep thinking about his purpose and mission in physics.

He had the most peaceful sleep of his life.

Chapter 1132: A Peta Electronvolt Collision!

1132 A Peta Electronvolt Collision! The Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Conference hall No.1.

The screen displayed a live stream from 360,000 kilometers away, with an astronaut with a Chinese flag printed on his uniform standing in front of a control console.

A clear voice was heard throughout the conference hall.

“Collision track is good to go!

“Target energy level: One peta electronvolt.

“Electric circuit is in good condition.

“Being power up!”

The astronaut standing in front of the console reached out and pressed a button.

Immediately after, a huge amount of energy began to enter the collider ring.

Driven by the energy that simulated the beginning of the Big Bang, the protons collided with one another, producing sparks and debris that were far too small for the naked eye to see.

The screen began to display an image of an energy spectrum detector. The atmosphere in the crowd was pushed to a peak, and everyone couldn’t help but stand up and applause, cheering for this glorious moment.

The protons were colliding with an energy of 1000 TeV!

Compared to the Large Hadron Collider with a maximum collision energy of 14 TeV, the proton collision energy of the Lunar Hadron Collider was two magnitudes higher!

People would be able to use peta electronvolts of energy to create neutrinos and simulate the big bang and black holes. Physicists would be able to unravel the deepest secrets of the universe, such as dark matter and dark energy.

Lu Zhou drowned in the thunderous applause. He looked at the screen with a heartfelt smile on his face and gently clenched his fist.

It’s been seven years.

Seven years since that summer.

A lot had changed since then, but he still believed in what he saw.

He knew he was correct.

Even if other people said otherwise.

Back then, he was just an intern. Both his academic status and knowledge weren’t taken seriously. The Chinese physics community did not have enough resources to verify his theory.

But now, there was nothing that could stop him from doing the experiment he wanted. He was going to lead the world into a new era of physics.

This moment…

Is finally here!

…

The morning of December 19th.

After only half a day, the news of the successful launch of the Lunar Hadron Collider already spread across the globe.

Related headlines began to appear in newspapers the next day.

[The 1000 TeV Proton Collision Experiment! Particle Physics Research Enters A New Era!]

[The ILHCRC Takes Us Back To 15 Billion Years Ago!]

[Shook! The Chinese Scientists Are Making Black Holes On The Moon!]

[NASA Issued A Warning That Particle Physics Experiments On The Moon Might Have A Serious Impact On The Earth-Moon Rotation!]

[…]

Inside the ILHCRC chairman’s office, a tall female assistant handed Lu Zhou a cup of coffee. Lu Zhou took a sip of the coffee as he flipped through the newspaper in his hand.

“I finally understand something.”

Luo Wenxuan was playing with the plants on the window ledge. He looked back at Lu Zhou and spoke curiously.

“Understand what?”

“Why does the public have such a big misunderstanding of physics and particle physics experiments?” Lu Zhou said with a smile as he turned the newspaper in his hand. He shook his head and said, “But I quite like the nickname CNN gave me.”

“What did they call you?”

“The crazy atomic destroyer.”

Luo Wenxuan couldn’t help but smirk.

“… Are you sure it is CNN?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, why?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Sounds like something from a Japanese anime.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

There was even a photo of Lu Zhou as a villain, holding Earth and Moon in his hands.

Even though Lu Zhou knew CNN was trying to insult him, he couldn’t help but laugh at how stupid they were.

It would be ridiculous for a peta electronvolt collider to create a black hole. If they wanted to destroy the solar system, they would at least need to build a collider that was a trillion times larger.

Also, it was offensive for him to draw his handsome face in such an ugly way.

Luo Wenxuan looked at the drawing and wanted to laugh. However, he suddenly remembered that Lu Zhou was about to send him to Africa, so he refrained himself and spoke.

“The meeting is about to begin, should we head on over?”

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch.

“How about you go?”

“But it’s so important… I don’t think it’s appropriate, you should go in person,” Luo Wenxuan said with an awkward look on his face.

He actually knew what Lu Zhou wanted to say at the meeting.

He wasn’t against Lu Zhou’s idea. However, he didn’t have enough authority to make the announcement himself. After all, even though the ILHCRC headquarters was in China, it was still an international organization. After all, countries paid a lot of money to participate in the organization.

He wasn’t quite at the level of an academic leader.

“Well, I’m trying to train you, there’s a first time for everything, right?”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and put the newspaper aside. He stood up from his chair and spoke.

“Fine, let’s go together.”

…

The meeting was held in the conference hall No.2.

Compared to yesterday’s conference, this venue was much smaller. There was only one long table in the middle of the room, with a lot less decoration.

Sitting here were council members appointed by various countries.

Even though they weren’t expert physicists, they were all well-known and powerful people.

These people held important positions in scientific research institutions, and they all had expert negotiation skills.

It was obvious from their serious faces that this meeting was much more important than the celebratory conference that happened yesterday. This meeting was much more impactful to the physics community.

There was only one reason.

The council would discuss the experimental arrangements for the next year.

This would determine the physics Nobel Prizes for at least the next 50 years.

Theoretical particle physics had surpassed experimental physics for many years. There were already theories on black holes and the quantum world.

However, the theory needed to be backed by experimental data.

Everyone wanted to use this collider to verify their own theories.

The ILHCRC meeting was like the calm before the storm. Just like other fields, the academic world was not immune to vanity.

Especially when it came to the Nobel Prize or other high-level honors, there were only a few people who did not care about fame and fortune.

Everyone was ready to fight at this meeting.

Whether for themselves…

Or for their school of thought, or even country…

The clock hit ten o’clock; the meeting officially began.

As the chairman of the ILHCRC, Lu Zhou sat down at the conference table.

His opening remarks were short and concise.

However, when everyone thought Lu Zhou would discuss their plans, Lu Zhou’s words shocked everyone except himself and Luo Wenxuan.

“I’ll briefly talk about the experiment arrangements.”

As if there was no room for negotiation, Lu Zhou spoke in a calm tone.

“I’ve looked at the 2015 test records from the CERN database. The 750 GeV characteristic peak that appeared on the ALICE and ATLAS detectors was definitely not an accident. I don’t think we can attribute it to quantum fluctuations.”

Professor Tarrant from Europe frowned. He spun the pen in his hand and said, “I know the experiment you talked about, but the confidence level of the signal detection is not even 3 sigma…

“That is because our technology was not advanced enough, but that problem has been solved. I believe in my calculations, and there has to be more to the story.”

Lu Zhou flipped through his meeting notes and glanced around the conference table. He spoke in a stern tone.

“The only goal of the ILHCRC for 2023 will be surrounding the 750 GeV characteristic peak.

“We have a good theoretical basis, as well as experimental tools.

“I will prove that I was correct.”

The entire room was silent, followed by a quiet commotion.

The council members were shocked and astonished.

Everything happened so suddenly.

None of them expected this.

Lu Zhou knew why they were surprised, but he did not explain anything. He gently smiled and placed his meeting notes on the table.

Sure, he could explain himself.

But there was no need to.

He would use evidence to prove that he was correct.

Not to mention that he should deserve at least half of the credit for building the collider on the moon, right?

Hence, it wasn’t ridiculous for him to use the collider to verify his own theories.

If someone disagreed?

Well, they could build their own collider and use it however they liked.

When Lu Zhou thought about the upcoming experiment, he couldn’t help but smirk.

This might be a little selfish.

But…

It feels f*cking amazing!

Chapter 1133: The Unfortunate Meeting

Chapter 1133 The Unfortunate Meeting

“This isn’t a discussion at all! I haven’t spoken once in this meeting!”

“This is outrageous!”

“Somebody, talk some sense into him!”

“It won’t work, he doesn’t listen. I’ve told him many times that CERN has researched the 750 GeV characteristic peak for a whole year! Jesus, he wants to waste time on this again!”

“Maybe CNN is right, he’s a scientific villain…”

The meeting was quite unfortunate for some people.

A group of people walked out of the meeting room angrily as they loudly complained about Lu Zhou.

While waiting for the elevator, Professor Frank Wilczek noticed the rage on Professor Whittle’s face. He walked forward and spoke.

“What happened? Didn’t the meeting only happen an hour ago? Why did it end so soon?”

“Meeting? That wasn’t a meeting at all!”

Professor Whittle waved his hands and loudly said, “I’m going back to New York, I’m going to tell those people at the Brookhaven Science Associates what the Chinese did! The Chinese people are abusing their power in the physics field!”

Frank Wilczek was stunned to see Professor Whittle so angry.

His intuition told him that something terrible must have happened an hour ago; otherwise, Professor Whittle wouldn’t be this mad… However, Whittle wasn’t exactly the most well-tempered person either.

He was more and more curious as to what happened in the meeting…

Did they fire the board of members?

No way?

…

According to Murphy’s law, anything that could go wrong would go wrong.

Professor Frank Wilczek heard about what happened from an old friend who worked at CERN. He heard about the meeting and started to feel worried.

In his impression, Lu Zhou wasn’t a stubborn and ignorant scholar; he almost believed that Professor Whittle and the other board representatives had misunderstood Lu Zhou’s intentions.

However, the facts wouldn’t lie.

What made Lu Zhou do something like this.

Frank Wilczek found Witten and invited him for a cup of coffee.

Wilczek talked about the board meeting and sighed.

“The situation is bad.”

Witten expected he would talk about the ILHCRC, so he raised his eyebrows slightly and spoke.

“Oh yeah?”

Frank Wilczek took a sip of coffee and shook his head with a pessimistic look on his face.

“My worst fears came true. From the very beginning, the ILHCRC did not seem to be cooperative with others. I admit that his academic status is beyond most people… But this shouldn’t give him a reason to do whatever he wants.”

After hearing Frank Wilczek, Witten suddenly smiled and said, “Maybe he found something at the 750 GeV that we didn’t.”

“Impossible, my friend, you know this better than anyone else.” Wilczek shook his head and said, “Not to mention that I’ve worked with him on this project. At first, I believed that he could do it, I even tried to get permission from the LHC to do the experiment. When I realized this wasn’t going to work, I parted ways with him. I know this pathway is impossible!”

Witten said, “Then why do you think he insists on doing this?”

Frank Wilczek: “Maybe he’s scared of being wrong? Or maybe he’s too arrogant? Or stubborn? Or wants to use his power in physics? Regardless of what the reason is, it is wrong to conduct research with this mentality.”

Witten smiled and shook his head.

“It seems like you don’t understand him at all.”

If this was anyone else other than Lu Zhou, maybe Wilczek would be correct.

However, for a scholar like Lu Zhou that only sought the truth, Wilczek’s speculation was too superficial.

Witten had met many people in academia.

Some of them were after fame, some of them were after fortune, however, Lu Zhou was undoubtedly the most special…

He wasn’t completely indifferent to fame and fortune. He felt accomplished when he won awards or prizes, but that wasn’t what he truly pursued. What drove him forward was only his curiosity about nature and the universe.

This was a rare and precious quality.

Out of all of the scholars Witten had met…

Lu Zhou was the purest one among them.

“Oh?” Frank Wilczek raised his eyebrows and said in a dissatisfied tone, “Witten, I know you have a good relationship with him, but I hope you can see reality clearly. As his friend, you should persuade him instead of watching him go further down the wrong path.”

“Wrong path?”

Witten used a spoon to stir his coffee. He smiled and spoke slowly.

“What is correct then?”

“We know less than one percent of this universe. There is no right or wrong in physics, and strictly speaking, there is only completeness and incompleteness. Ever since the birth of quantum mechanics, we have realized that—”

Frank Wilczek: “Stop being pedantic, why should we waste time on something that has proven not to work? CERN has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this. Now we’re about to waste another year on something that doesn’t work!”

“But some people think it works.” Witten looked at Wilczek and calmly said, “Maybe because he discovered something new, or maybe CERN didn’t understand his theories. Maybe this is his intuition… I think these are all possible reasons.

“Exploring the standard model is like finding a needle in a haystack. While physics is much more than just the standard model. Regardless of which research direction we go in, we will always be taking on risk… So why don’t we trust him? He’s never let us down before.”

Wilczek: “…”

So you just want me to believe in him?

That’s a bit ridiculous.

“I know what you’re worried about.” Witten smiled at Wilczek and said, “Don’t worry, if this doesn’t work out in the end, I will try to convince him that he’s wrong…

“Let’s trust his judgment for the time being.”

Chapter 1134: The Brookhaven National Laboratory

Chapter 1134 The Brookhaven National Laboratory Those from the physics community weren’t the only ones who cheered for the completion of the collider. Many other organizations involved in the construction of the collider were also ecstatic.Not only because this was a huge step forward for humanity, but this was an engineering miracle!

This multi-billion dollar project was finally finished.

Whether it was the project leader or the engineers, everyone could finally rest and sleep peacefully.

Beijing.

China Railway Group headquarters.

Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense came to visit here. He met up with Academician Li Qingquan, chief engineer of the China Railway Group. Director Li expressed his gratefulness to him.

“… The collider construction was extremely successful! The China Railway Group has made a huge contribution to our country’s physics community!”

“Director Li, you’re too kind.” Academician Li Qingquan smiled and said, “We don’t deserve all of the credit. Without the technology from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, as well as the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, none of this would have been possible.”

Construction in a low-gravity environment required special engineering equipment. These pieces of equipment were jointly developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. The China Railway Group was mainly responsible for proposing specific construction plans and implementing the engineering equipment.

In the beginning, they encountered many difficulties due to their lack of experience in outer space construction.

Fortunately, they received help from the engineers at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Both of them deserved a huge amount of credit.

Academician Li Qingquan had a huge grin on his face. It was obvious he was in a good mood. The wrinkles on his face disappeared, and it looked like he was ten years younger than before.

“Academician Li, you’re too humble. Regardless of the contribution from the other parties, the China Railway Group clearly deserves a huge amount of credit!” Director Li said emotionally. He paused for a second and said, “Speaking of which, the next project is the mass driver, right?”

Academician Li Qingquan nodded and said, “We are talking about this with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. If everything goes well, we can begin construction next year.”

Director Li said solemnly, “Thank you so much, guys.”

“Of course, this is our job,” Li Qingquan said. “You should be thanking Academician Lu, I’ve been paying attention to the academic community; he hasn’t taken a break over the past two years.”

“Academician Lu is special. Most people can’t compare to him.” Director Li smiled and said, “But you’re right, ever since he got back to China, he hasn’t taken a break, nor has he dated yet. When I go to Shanghai, I’ll try to convince him to take a vacation and that he should take it easy.”

The Chinese fusion power grid spread across Asia, and they were like tentacles, wrapping themselves in each country. Not to mention the Moon Palace in the sky; China’s international influence had never been stronger.

The only unfortunate thing was that Academician Lu had yet to find a spouse.

Academician Li Qingquan said, “He doesn’t have a significant other?”

Director Li said, “He’s so busy, how does he have time?”

Academician Li Qingquan rubbed his chin and said, “How about… I find someone from the China Railway Group?”

“From the China Railway Group? For what reason?” Director Li smiled and shook his head.

Forget about the railway group.

Whether it was the military or the university, there had been countless attempts at finding Academician Lu a spouse.

But at the end of the day, this was still Lu Zhou’s own decision. It wasn’t like they could force Lu Zhou to marry someone? Young folks these days didn’t want to marry or have kids, this was why the birth rate had dropped.

“He’s so selfless… Academician Lu is really a role model for the scientific research community.” Academician Li Qingquan sighed and said, “If only other young scholars can be like him.”

Director Li smiled.

If other people were like him?

Forget about landing on the moon.

We’ll be landing on other galaxies.

…

After Director Li left the China Railway Group building, he returned to his office. He told his assistant about his trip to Shanghai and planned on doing some work in his office.

However, he suddenly received a call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Old Li, what’s going on?”

Director Li was confused. He frowned and spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t you responsible for the ILHCRC?”

“Yeah…” Director Li said. He realized something might have gone wrong at the ILHCRC, so he said, “Technically, I am, but I’m not actually involved. Academician Lu is mainly responsible. What is going on? Why are you calling me?”

“We received a call from the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. They said we did not fulfill the agreements of the joint research project.”

Director Li was stunned.

“Did we not give them a chance to negotiate?”

“… No, the meeting did happen, but Academician Lu decided to do things his own way.”

F*ck…

So there was a negotiation meeting?

Director Li thought that Lu Zhou didn’t even host a meeting and just decided to take over the project.

However, the other end of the phone continued to talk.

“… Right now, the problem isn’t just with the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The European Union also called us and complained about this. I’m not saying that Academician Lu’s actions are wrong, but I just hope he can consider things from other people’s perspectives. Otherwise, we might lose their funding.”

Director Li coughed and spoke.

“Fine, fine, I understand. Don’t worry, I’m going to Shanghai tomorrow, so I’ll ask him what is going on.”

The other end of the phone spoke.

“Perfect!”

The phone call ended.

Director Li sighed and shook his head as he placed his phone into his pocket. He didn’t really take the complaints from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seriously.

Who cares if the Brookhaven National Laboratory complains?

They’re just one laboratory.

In his opinion, this wasn’t something the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take seriously.

He sat down in his office and saw his assistant walking in anxiously.

“Director Li, bad news!”

Director Li frowned.

“Calm down, what is going on.”

“Look at the newspaper, the headlines from CNN and The New York Times…” the assistant said awkwardly. He handed over the newspaper and said, “Look at it yourself.”

Director Li took the newspaper from the assistant’s hands and read the headline. His eyebrows furrowed.

Jesus Christ.

How come my worries always come true?

Director Li threw the newspaper aside and stood up. He spoke in a stern tone.

“Come with me to Shanghai.”

The assistant paused for a second.

“Now?”

I thought you were going tomorrow?

I even bought the tickets…

“Yes, now, refund the tickets for tomorrow.” Director Li spoke in a serious tone, “Book a flight this afternoon, the sooner the better!”

Chapter 1135: Still A Secre

Chapter 1135 Still A Secre

Of course it was important to have a meeting, but not giving other people a chance to speak was quite ridiculous.

However, that didn’t mean Lu Zhou had to adopt other people’s ideas.

There were always experiments to be done, and everyone wanted to start with their own research project. If they kept on discussing what experiment to do, nothing would get done.

Lu Zhou was an efficient person, he obviously didn’t like any delays.

After Lu Zhou told Secretary-General Luo Wenxuan to announce the meeting outcome, he immediately took on the role of a responsible academic leader and held a brief meeting with various departments. After delegating the necessary work, he put himself back onto the front lines of scientific research.

It had been quite some time since he researched physics. Even though the knowledge in his brain had not disappeared, he was a little rusty.

Fortunately, it was easy for him to pick up new knowledge. Since he reached mathematics level 10, re-reading papers he had read before gave him a deeper understanding than before.

But this wasn’t only about the 750 GeV peak.

It was also about his theory on the electrostrong interaction.

As well as the entire physics field…

“The United States Department of Energy sent an email. They asked us to reconsider our decision and host another board meeting. Otherwise, they might cancel their 2024 funding of the ILHCRC.”

Inside the chairman’s office.

Luo Wenxuan was standing in front of the desk, reporting to Lu Zhou regarding the phone call he received this morning.

There was evidence that this has spread from the physics community to the political community. The United States seemed to have plans of withdrawing from ILHCRC, or at least they threatened the possibility. This was to convince the ILHCRC to listen to the board of directors.

However, after hearing Luo Wenxuan’s report, Lu Zhou wasn’t shocked at all. He spoke quietly.

“What about their funding for 2023?”

“They already paid that in November this year… They paid about 70% of the full amount.”

Lu Zhou: “It’s fine then.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “What do you mean fine?”

Lu Zhou said, “They can’t withdraw, it’s an empty threat. If they really suspended their funding, we can freeze their ILHCRC board seats and fire their researchers at the ILHCRC. Eventually, they’ll be totally disengaged from the ILHCRC. I’m sure there are plenty of countries that would like to take their spot. Especially Europe, they can’t wait to join us.”

CERN took up a large amount of the European Union budget each year. Now that the ILHCRC was willing to take on the responsibility of advancing the physics field, the European Union would be happy to allocate the extra funds to the ILHCRC.

If the United States withdrew, it was likely that the American physics community would lose their influence and power.

If the United States thought that it was a good idea, Lu Zhou certainly didn’t mind.

The only thing he cared about was the ILHCRC having enough funds for him to do experiments.

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and spoke.

“That’s not the best idea, right? If we make enemies at the beginning, will it bite us in the a*s later?”

“I’m doing this so we don’t get bitten in the a*s later. What if all of the future board meetings turn out this way?” Lu Zhou said, “Not to mention, we are the only people that are in control of a peta electronvolt collider. We’re not asking them to collaborate with us, we’re giving them an opportunity!”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and spoke.

“Not to mention, words don’t mean anything, I will use results to prove I am correct.”

Luo Wenxuan: “… I understand.”

Lu Zhou nodded and continued.

“Then write an email to the United States Department of Energy, and tell them that we’re sorry to see them withdraw from us.

“There’s no need for us to pander to them.”

Luo Wenxuan walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.

He happened to see an old man and a middle-aged man walking in the corridor.

Luo Wenxuan looked at the old man and was instantly shocked. He smiled and spoke.

“Director Li? What brings you here?”

“What else? It’s Academician Lu.” Director Li sighed and looked at the office door. He asked, “Is he inside?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Yeah, he is…”

“Good, I have to talk to him.”

Director Li told his assistant to wait outside. He walked around Luo Wenxuan and opened the office door.

Director Li went inside the office. Before he said hello, he immediately placed a piece of newspaper on Lu Zhou’s desk and spoke.

“I read the newspaper today and found out that the Brookhaven Science Associates held a press conference, and the United States Department of Energy plans on suspending their funding? What is going on, why is this happening?”

They held a press conference?

Is that necessary?

Lu Zhou looked at the newspaper headline and didn’t read the article’s body. He looked up at Director Li and spoke.

“Do you trust me?”

“No sh*t! Who else am I supposed to trust,” Director Li said. “But that’s not the point.”

Lu Zhou: “Since you appointed me as the chairman, then we should follow my orders. Otherwise, you can replace me with someone else.”

Director Li was baffled.

It wasn’t like he had the power to fire and change the Chairman of the ILHCRC. This role was decided by the highest level government officials. He didn’t have the authority or right to fire Lu Zhou, nor would he ever do such a thing.

After all, angering the Americans was a trivial matter, but angering Academician Lu would not be a trivial matter…

Lu Zhou saw that Director Li wanted to say something. Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and spoke in a calm tone.

“Don’t worry, actually, this kind of thing is common in the physics world. The United States’ Department of Energy is just abusing their power, we don’t have to care about the complaints from the Brookhaven National Laboratory at all.”

Director Li: “… This is common?”

Lu Zhou said, “Way too common!”

Arguments among academic institutions were way too common.

However, the stakes this time were higher than usual, so the arguments were more intense.

After all, this would impact dozens or even hundreds of potential Nobel Prize laureates, with billions of dollars involved.

Since Lu Zhou took everything for himself, there were bound to be people who wouldn’t be happy.

Perhaps if he had used a softer approach, for example by convincing more than half of the board members, the rest of the board members would have to agree with him.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t have time to convince anyone.

Not to mention that he knew he was correct. He would much rather convince people with scientific results.

He was better at that.

Lu Zhou: “If you’re still worried, you can stay in Shanghai and wait for me to finish this experiment.”

Director Li shook his head and said, “I can’t just stay in Shanghai… All in all, take it easy, you should leave a bit of leeway for other people. Just don’t kick anyone. After all, they’re our international friends, backed by governments. We need their funding, right?”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Well, I hope so!

Director Li didn’t speak his thoughts out loud.

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and changed the subject.

“Speaking of which, how are the Dragon chips?”

“They’re good… Why?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Nothing, I was just wondering. Also, I plan on creating this new thing.”

When Director Li heard this, he was instantly intrigued. He totally forgot about the complaints from the US Department of Energy and immediately asked, “What thing?”

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li’s intrigued face and smiled mysteriously.

“It’s still a secret.”

Director Li: “…”

Chapter 1136: It“s Good To Be Noticed

1136 It“s Good To Be Noticed Lu Zhou didn’t care how curious Director Li was, he wasn’t willing to reveal a single word. In the end, Director Li had to give up.

Director Li left the office. He was walking along the corridor when he suddenly frowned and looked at his assistant.

“… Did I forget something?”

The assistant thought, “How would I know?”

However, he obviously wouldn’t say this to Director Li’s face.

“Of course not, you never forget things, sir.”

“No… I definitely forgot something.”

Suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off in Director Li’s head, and he was finally able to remember what he forgot.

Before he came here he was talking with Academician Li Qingquan about how Lu Zhou should spend more time living his life and that he should at least start making a family or something. However, when he heard that Lu Zhou had a new idea, he totally forgot about this.

“My god, I nearly forgot!”

Director Li turned his head and wanted to go back into the office, but he decided not to.

Even though he only just left the office, going back just to tell Lu Zhou to live a little was a bit weird.

This was a conversation that should be talked about over coffee; it wasn’t a serious topic.

“Forget about it.” Director Li shook his head and sighed. He said, “I’ll leave him alone.”

Assistant: “…?”

…

The announcement of ILHCRC’s experiment plans for 2023 caused a huge sensation in the physics community.

The 750 GeV peak…

Before the announcement, the physics community made speculations regarding ILHCRC’s focus for the next year. People thought they would focus on finding a critical point of the quantum chromodynamics phase transition, or maybe continue to collide protons and verify the standard model, or maybe even try to explore dark matter…

No one thought that Lu Zhou would revive the unpopular 750 GeV experiment, which CERN had failed to find any success with.

Discussions spread from physics forums to the general public.

A popular physics forum visitor wrote the following answer.

[It’s so nice to be noticed by the big names in the industry. Who cares if you create any scientific research results? You’ll have millions in funding and at least a few papers to publish.]

While the entire physics community was debating this matter, various kinds of gossip spread like the plague.

There were rumors that a certain Nobel Prize laureate was disappointed about the ILHCRC’s decision.

There were also rumors that Professor Whittle, the representative from the United States, slammed the door and left the meeting. This rumor was further strengthened with the Brookhaven National Laboratory press conference.

It was obvious that the American physics community, just like the Brookhaven National Laboratory, was displeased with the outcome. CERN was less vocal with their opinions. Perhaps the other physics research institutes that were dissatisfied with the decision from ILHCRC would speak up.

But for now, it seemed like the ILHCRC had not given in to Brookhaven National Laboratory’s demands. They almost totally ignored the Brookhaven National Laboratory and even arranged specific experimental tasks for various departments.

The Brookhaven Science Associates seemed to be irritated by the ILHCRC’s lack of reaction. A week after ILHCRC announced their experimental plan, the Brookhaven Science Associates held another press conference.

Professor Whittle was the one speaking at the press conference.

He was much more aggressive than last time.

“I have to say that this is an asinine decision! Yes, asinine! Many excellent scholars have done many experiments on the 750 GeV anomaly characteristic peak. If you doubt their conclusion, you should prove that your theory is worthy of verification. That is the standardized procedure!”

“But look what happened? That dictator chairman, Professor Lu, totally ignored the board of directors. He threw us an experiment plan and wants us to fund his dream, his unrealistic dream!”

“No matter what he thinks about the 750 GeV characteristic peak, he should abide by standard procedures and discuss with the ILHCRC board!”

A reporter in the audience asked, “But Professor Whittle, the ILHCRC said they already held a meeting and discussed it with the board?”

“That wasn’t a discussion at all!” Whittle said. It was like the reporter had ignited a fire in Whittle’s heart as Whittle furiously said, “I can guarantee that American scholars will not participate in this project! All of the researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory will not participate in this project!

“They can go waste their time on their own!

“Time will prove that we are correct!”

There was an uproar at the press conference.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory will not work with the ILHCRC anymore?

They are publicly going against the ILHCRC?

As the administrative director of the Brookhaven Science Associates, Professor Whittle’s words had weight to them.

The Brookhaven National Laboratory worked on the Manhattan Project and was directly under the administration of the US Department of Energy and jointly managed by the Brookhaven Science Associates.

The Brookhaven Science Associates had control over the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and they answered to the Department of Energy.

If Professor Whittle was speaking the truth, then things were about to become interesting.

Regardless of whether there was a political factor behind this, one thing was certain was that the Brookhaven Science Associates was not joking around.

They already had theories to explain the 750 GeV characteristic peak; they claimed it was nothing other than a quantum fluctuation.

As Whittle looked at the excited reporters, he couldn’t help but grin.

If Lu Zhou wants to waste time on the 750 GeV peak, then he can do as he pleases.

But once the experiment fails, we will have enough cause to hold him responsible and even impeach him.

Of course, they couldn’t impeach Lu Zhou by themselves. But if they cooperated with other research institutes that were dissatisfied with Lu Zhou’s actions, they might be able to take Lu Zhou down.

After all, the Chinese physics community did not have enough scholars to support the huge operation of the ILHCRC. In the end, they would have to cooperate with other countries.

Regardless of whether or not Lu Zhou would be removed as Chairman, the failure would be enough to damage his academic reputation.

Whittle had a clear plan in his mind.

Right now, he had front row seats to the show.

All he had to do was sit back and wait.

Chapter 1137: The Withdrawal From the Brookhaven Laboratory

Chapter 1137 The Withdrawal From the Brookhaven Laboratory

Shanghai.

A restaurant near the ILHCRC headquarters.

Waiting for food was always a boring process. Normally, Witten would try to find something to do; sometimes he would read papers, other times he would read some magazines or something related to his hobbies.

He was flipping through the newspaper he took from his office when he suddenly frowned and spoke.

“Whittle has gone crazy.”

Frank Wilczek, who was sitting across from him, looked at him with a confusing gaze

After a while, Witten spoke.

“He’s trying to use the public opinion to help the Brookhaven Science Associates. He’s abusing his academic power, forcing scholars to make wrong choices.”

Frank Wilczek raised his eyebrows and said, “Then what would you do?”

“If I had to make a choice, I wouldn’t do what he’s doing.” Witten put down the newspaper and said, “Regardless of what the experiment is, this is the first Lunar Hadron Collider experiment. Even if the experiment doesn’t produce results, this will be a memorable and historic experiment.”

Witten paused for a second and smiled.

“Not to mention, that the physics community hasn’t been this exciting for a long time.”

Wilczek drank a sip of lemonade and spoke.

“I wish it wasn’t this exciting.”

Having excitement in the physics world only brought trouble. Theoretical physics was something that could benefit humanity as a whole. In his opinion, both Lu Zhou and the Brookhaven Science Associates were making irrational decisions.

Of course, he knew that…

Most people in this world were not rational.

He hoped that the Lunar Hadron Collider could focus on more meaningful projects, such as the time crystal theory he was researching.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait at least a year before he could use the lunar collider for experimentation.

…

It seemed like the warnings from the United States Department of Energy did not work. After the press conference, Brookhaven National Laboratory took matters into their own hands.

As the center of North American theoretical physics research, the withdrawal from the Brookhaven National Laboratory was undoubtedly a massive blow to the ILHCRC… At least in their opinion.

After all, 23% of all physicists and engineers at the ILHCRC were Americans, and Brookhaven National Laboratory accounted for more than half of these American workers.

Not to mention that this statistic only included long-term workers; it did not include visiting scholars. Even if other American scholars were not related to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, this withdrawal would more or less affect their chances of working at the ILHCRC.

The withdrawal of the Brookhaven National Laboratory spread throughout the ILHCRC community.

Almost everyone was discussing this matter, and how this might affect the physics cooperation between China and the United States.

Especially regarding the American physicists that worked at the ILHCRC.

Even though people knew Whittle was not satisfied with Lu Zhou’s decisions, the withdrawal from the ILHCRC still angered many people. It seemed like no matter how they looked at it, this was not a good thing for the American workers at the ILHCRC.

This incident had a significant impact on the progress of the 750 GeV characteristic peak project.

Inside the chairman’s office.

Secretary-General Luo Wenxuan came here to report the situation to Lu Zhou.

“… The Brookhaven National Laboratory officially submitted a written application to me. They’re requesting to withdraw from all scientific research projects in 2023 and recall their researchers and engineers in Shanghai.”

When Luo Wenxuan was speaking, he had a complicated look on his face.

He never would have imagined the Brookhaven National Laboratory to have such an extreme response. He couldn’t believe they withdrew as a way of protesting against Lu Zhou’s actions.

Lu Zhou looked at the document on the desk and didn’t say anything. He signed his name on the document and gave it back to Luo Wenxuan.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and couldn’t help but say, “You seem like you don’t care?”

“What is there to care about.” Lu Zhou looked at him with a strange look and said, “They’ve already paid their funding, I don’t care if they’re listed as a partner institute or not.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

I guess he makes sense.

After hesitating for a bit, Luo Wenxuan spoke.

“Also, about the 750 GeV characteristic peak…”

Lu Zhou: “What?”

Luo Wenxuan said, “I dug up CERN’s paper and read it. It seems like their experiment was quite detailed, there really isn’t any… If there isn’t anything there, we’ll be in an awkward situation.”

When Lu Zhou heard this, he suddenly smiled, put down the pen in his hand, and looked up.

“So you understood the paper?”

Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, “I know you are looking down on me, but I did understand the paper.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not looking down on you, I just want you to tell me, what did you extract from the paper?”

“What am I supposed to say…” Luo Wenxuan said, “Basically, they’ve done every experiment possible.”

Lu Zhou: “Did they do a proton collision?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Of course, the experiment records are there.”

Lu Zhou: “What about heavy-ion collision?”

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second and said, “Heavy… Heavy-ion collisions? How is that related to the 750 GeV characteristic peak?”

Lu Zhou said, “How is it not?”

“…”

Luo Wenxuan opened his mouth; he was speechless.

“If you have time, read more useful papers. Just because I placed you in an administrative role doesn’t mean you can forget about physics completely. If you’re curious as to why I’m doing heavy-ion collisions, just wait and you’ll understand. Take this.”

Luo Wenxuan took the stack of A4 papers from Lu Zhou and asked, “What is this?”

Lu Zhou said, “Read it first, and ask me if you have questions.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

At least tell me what it is first?

Luo Wenxuan was about to ask Lu Zhou what his role was in the experiment, but Lu Zhou spoke first.

“Don’t say anything.”

Luo Wenxuan: “?”

Lu Zhou looked at the blueprints on his table and spoke.

“I got it.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

Got… what?

Do I still need to read this paper?

Luo Wenxuan felt like the “small problem” of the 750 GeV peak wouldn’t take a whole year of experiments. He looked at the thick stack of papers in his hand and sighed.

Sigh.

Working for a dictator boss is boring sometimes…

Chapter 1138: High Risk, High Reward

Chapter 1138 High Risk, High Reward

The Brookhaven National Laboratory was able to convince a large number of American physicists to protest against the ILHCRC, causing quite a huge commotion in the international academic community.

Lu Zhou was a famous scholar that had yet to receive any kind of bad publicity prior to this. Hence, the media immediately jumped on the opportunity and reported on him intensively.

The Lunar Orbit Committee was heavily controlled by the state, and due to Chinese government policies, the Chinese media outlets did not dare to offend Lu Zhou.

However, outside of China, various news outlets had been having a field day. They had been calling him names such as “academic dictator” and “school of thought tyrant”.

A CNN talk show mentioned this matter in their latest episode.

The invited guest was Dr. Kerella from Syracuse University.

This nearly forty-year-old female PhD holder had long brown hair and dark eyebrows. It was obvious she broke many hearts in her earlier years.

The reason CNN invited her wasn’t that she was well-known in the physics world. Instead, the show producers learned that at the 2015 CERN conference, Lu Zhou, who was still an intern back then, pointed out a mistake in her presentation regarding the B1 experiment data partition. This was a huge blow to her reputation, which also ruined the past two months of her team’s work.

The 750 GeV characteristic peak was extracted from the B1 data partition.

Therefore, she was a witness to the famous 750 GeV event.

“The 750 GeV has been proven to be false… He won’t find anything in this zone,” Kerella said with a cheerful smile on her face. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear, struggling to hide her excitement.

Haha.

Lu Zhou!

I told you so!

Host: “But why is he insisting on doing this?”

Kerella spoke in an exaggerating tone.

“Perhaps he’s scared to be wrong? After all, it caused quite a commotion at the time… Even though no one ridiculed him, maybe he took the defeat too seriously. My impression of him is that he’s an immature and arrogant researcher!”

Host: “Okay… But what if he really finds something at the 750 GeV zone?”

“Find something? Forget about it, it’s been seven years. If there’s anything there, we would have found it already.” Kerella said, “If he really finds something, I’ll eat the CERN collider!”

The audience burst into laughter.

After the show was recorded, it was broadcast on television, then posted on the Internet.

The video was originally uploaded to YouTube.

But then, someone uploaded it to Weibo.

Jin Ling University, dorm 201.

Li Mo looked at the giggly guest and host in the show. He was furious.

“This is outrageous!”

Yang Shuang, who was playing games on his phone, said, “Calm down, they’re just poking fun, don’t take it seriously.”

Wu Di frowned.

“I don’t feel comfortable with this.”

Duan Siqi nodded.

“I agree.”

Seeing how all of his roommates were unhappy, Yang Shuang put away his phone and spoke.

“Okay, fine… Speaking of which, CEO Duan, don’t you have work today?”

Ever since Duan Siqi’s roommates saw his contract with Star Sky Technology, his nickname became CEO Duan.

He was a little dumbfounded with this name.

After all, he was only an “experiment guinea pig”. Seven times a month, he would test the latest VR equipment. With a compensation of 200 yuan per experiment, it was roughly equivalent to a part-time job.

Of course, the most important part was that he enjoyed the experiments.

“I nearly forgot,” Duan Siqi said as he threw a bag over his shoulder. He bent over, put on his sneakers, and said, “Don’t forget to lock the door, I’ll be back tonight.”

Yang Shuang smiled and spoke.

“Be gentle when you go to bed, your fat a*s woke me up last time.”

“F*ck off!”

…

High-tech zone.

Inside the virtual reality technology research institute.

A teenager with a shoulder bag passed security and quickly rushed into the laboratory.

Li Gaoliang was standing at the door when he saw the panting teenager running toward him. He spoke in a serious manner.

“One minute early, come on in, we’re all waiting for you.

“It’s fine, it’s not like we start straight away…”

Duan Siqi followed Li Gaoliang into the laboratory.

As the captain of the Respawn Team, Li Gaoliang was responsible for leading and coordinating the team, as well as coming up with strategies. His role was similar to a guild leader in an MMORPG.

Normally, the teammates got along well with this captain. The only problem was that the captain sometimes took the games too seriously, and he was quite a control freak.

Even though most of his intuitions and instructions were correct, some players only wanted to have fun.

Wasn’t having fun the point of a video game?

Their purpose was to improve the artificial intelligence algorithm, so shouldn’t the algorithm maximize the player’s enjoyment?

Every time Duan Siqi came here, he would think about this problem.

Other than him, all of the other experimenters were already inside the laboratory.

People stood in groups and chatted with one another.

“When can we change the game? I’m bored of the Ring world!”

“I think it’s quite interesting, but is there nothing else to explore in the Calan civilization?”

“It’s not interesting at all, they’re at least a second-level Kardashev species, right? Why would they use the slow energy rays as their weapon?”

“Then, what do you think they should use instead?”

“If they don’t have magic and superpowers, at least they should have some kind of high-power lasers, right? Sigh, these game devs have no imagination at all, they don’t know what real science fiction is!”

“Pfft…”

Even though China has nuclear weapons, they’re not given to the police for counterterrorism uses. There is a balance between efficiency and cost…

Kinetic energy and thermal energy are clearly the two most common forms of energy in the universe.

Duan Siqi didn’t speak his thoughts out loud.

Arguing about this was too tiring.

“Now that everyone’s here, I have to say something.”

The conversation died down. Everyone was looking at Li Gaoliang, who was standing at the entrance of the laboratory, the “captain” of the Respawn Team.

Li Gaoliang said, “We’ve been in the Ring world for too long.”

The guy that previously complained, spoke with excitement.

“Are we going to change the map?”

“No.” Li Gaoliang paused for a second and said, “Just now, we received a notice from the Star Sky Technology headquarters. Whoever can escort Professor Lane to the Empire council will get a bonus of 100,000 yuan.”

The laboratory suddenly became quiet.

One could hear a pin drop.

Everyone held their breath.

The person that was previously complaining was so shocked that his eyes were almost popping out of his socket.

A hundred thousand bonus!

For a game?

Duan Siqi felt like Star Sky Technology was crazy.

There has to be a secret behind this, there has to be something behind the scenes!

Li Gaoliang nodded to the research staff standing next to him.

The researcher smiled and clapped his hands.

“Don’t be surprised, everyone, this is a reward given to you guys by the headquarters. After all, we’ve been stuck on this mission for a long time, and it’s quite boring to keep grinding.

“Then, let’s begin the experiment.

“The Empire needs you.

“Good luck, everyone!”

Chapter 1139: The Pendulum Model

Chapter 1139 The Pendulum Model

The controversy regarding the 750 GeV characteristic peak and the news of the Brookhaven National Laboratory withdrawal caused quite a stir in the international academic community. However, Lu Zhou totally ignored the controversy and continued to complete his daily tasks as usual.

There was no nuclear fusion reactor on the moon, nor was there a way to install a fusion reactor on the moon. The Pangu nuclear fusion reactor could heat an entire lake of water in a few hours. The heat exhaust port had to be replaced to prevent the accumulation of excessive heat. The absence of an atmosphere on the moon made things more troublesome.

Also, there was a high power demand on the moon. Even though the collider consumed a significant amount of power, it was only turned on for minutes at a time. Currently, the collider was powered by solar energy, which was stored in the form of chemical energy. It took three days just to charge enough for three minutes of experimentation time.

However, there was a problem with this. The moon’s daily cycle was 27.3 days, half of which was night, so the day time was only around 13 days, which was enough to fully charge the collider 4 times.

In other words, there were only 4 experiment opportunities a month. Each experiment opportunity was extremely critical and important.

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

After Luo Wenxuan gave Lu Zhou the latest experimental data, he spoke.

“It’s going to be dark soon, we’ll be able to do one more experiment this month.”

Lu Zhou looked at the document and frowned.

He suddenly gently sighed and placed the document on the table.

“If only we could run a few more tests and collect more data, our chances of success will be higher.”

Luo Wenxuan: “We can… Last time, during a meeting, someone suggested to me that a set of solar power arrays and a power storage facility can be built next to the collider. We’ll be able to increase the experiment frequency by 1.5-2 times.”

Lu Zhou: “How much will it cost?”

Luo Wenxuan awkwardly said, “A conservative estimate is around one billion USD.”

A billion USD…

Lu Zhou heard this number and couldn’t help but cringe.

Even he would have a hard time spending so much money at once.

The ILHCRC had a fixed budget of approximately two to three billion USD per year, which was split among all countries. This was quite plentiful compared to CERN’s budget of one billion a year.

However, spending almost half of the budget at the beginning of the year was quite risky.

After all, for such a huge research institute like the ILHCRC, the collider wasn’t the only thing they needed to spend money on.

Not to mention that adding a solar array would double the maintenance costs. Even though increasing the number of experiments per month sounded tempting, adding solar arrays was only a temporary solution.

The 750 GeV experiment proposal was already risky enough; they didn’t want to add any more risk.

Lu Zhou tapped his index finger on the table. After contemplating for a while, he shook his head and spoke.

“Not a good idea. The collider pipeline has to undergo maintenance after each experiment. Increasing the experiment frequency will increase the maintenance cost…”

Not to mention this would also decrease the lifespan of the collider.

The high-energy particles caused permanent radiation damage to the collider material. The higher the energy level of the collision experiment, the greater the damage and maintenance cost.

The Lunar Hadron Collider wasn’t the only collider that had this problem; high-energy collision experiments all over the world were cursed by the radiation damages.

“Money is still the problem. Once the collider is turned on, we’ll be burning through cash…” Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, “If only we can make money on the moon.”

Lu Zhou smiled when he heard this. He shook his head.

Make money on the moon?

He wasn’t the only one that had this idea. Many people, including Chen Yushan, had suggested this idea to him.

Obviously, it was difficult to profit from the moon at this stage. He would have to complete his “Control of Earth and Moon” mission chain first before he could make money off the moon.

Lu Zhou: “Don’t worry about money. Money can’t solve all of our problems. Also, New Year is in a few days. When the last experiment finishes, we should all go home for the holidays.”

Luo Wenxuan sighed and spoke.

“Okay then.”

…

The last experiment in January 2024 ended with “sparks” flying across a pipeline 360,000 kilometers away.

The long night cycle began as the collider entered maintenance mode, preparing for next month’s experiment.

Although the experiment was over, Lu Zhou wasn’t relieved at all.

Over the past few weeks, he had been attending meetings from various ILHCRC research groups, listening to data presentations by the heads of departments. He would also meet with experts at the ILHCRC to discuss the collected experimental data and form new experiment plans.

The huge amount of data made it impossible for him to carefully examine each data segment in detail. He had to rely on his mathematics and physics intuition to connect the dots.

He still remembered seven years ago, when he listened to CERN’s experimental data reports as an intern.

But now, he had gone from an intern to an academic leader, someone that led the future of physics research.

He felt quite nostalgic.

But now was not the time to get sentimental.

The amount of work made Lu Zhou wish he could clone himself so that he could attend meetings and work in his office at the same time.

Eleven o’clock in the morning.

Inside the conference room.

As Lu Zhou looked at the experimental data, his eyebrows furrowed.

The results from the last experiment were not ideal. Judging from the data collected by several detectors, even though there was a 750 GeV characteristic peak, the confidence level was below three sigmas.

Lu Zhou was looking at a Dalitz plot when he suddenly noticed a series of green dots hovering below 125 GeV.

“It wasn’t a total failure, at least the data we collected in the low-energy range is consistent with the results from CERN. Even though the 750 GeV characteristic peak seems to be weak, the experiment data tells us that this is unlikely just a random occurrence.”

The people at the conference table looked at each other.

It sounded like Lu Zhou was trying to convince him that the situation “wasn’t too bad”.

After contemplating for a while, Witten spoke.

“Then what do you think this is?”

“I can only make a guess…” Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “The matter that makes up the elementary particles is something we can’t directly observe or understand. For example… look at the clock on the wall.”

Everyone turned toward the clock.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before speaking.

“Look at the swinging pendulum… When it’s swinging to the sides, it’s blocked by the clock case, so we can’t see it. We can only see it when it’s near the center.”

Witten pinched his chin with a look of interest on his face.

“That’s an interesting analogy… So what you’re saying is, we just need more time, and the treasure will appear in front of our eyes?”

Lu Zhou said in an ambiguous way, “Sort of… Maybe we can only observe it at a certain time.”

Frank Wilczek twisted the pen in his hand and spoke.

“How do you plan on verifying this conjecture?”

Even if it could only be observed under certain conditions, that conclusion didn’t help anyone. They were trying to find a method of observation; they weren’t trying to find any excuses.

Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “Well, just like any conjecture, verifying it requires time, this includes the time crystal theory… Of course, I will design an experiment to solve this problem. I’ll try to implement the experiment next month.”

Witten paused for a second and said, “But it’s almost Chinese New Year, are you sure?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about me.” Lu Zhou tapped on the conference table with his pen, looked around the room, and said, “This meeting is over.”

The meeting ended.

Lu Zhou left the conference room and returned to his chairman office.

He asked his assistant to bring him a sandwich and a cup of coffee. He took out the meeting notes he had written a moment ago and began reading.

“Where is the problem…”

As Lu Zhou pondered, he gradually started to accumulate some ideas and clues in his mind. His intuition told him that these clues were exactly what he needed.

However, these clues were too vague. Even after thinking for a long time, he wasn’t able to find an answer.

Suddenly, a string of text suddenly appeared on the lower right corner of his laptop, and this interrupted his train of thought.

Xiao Ai: [Master! Good news! (✿゚▽゚ )]

Lu Zhou looked at the computer and said, “… What news?”

Xiao Ai: [Master, the experiment was successful! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

Experiment?

Lu Zhou was shocked, and he quickly realized what was going on.

Xiao Ai isn’t talking about the physics experiment.

It’s talking about another experiment.

The experiment on the Void Memory…

Chapter 1140: Full Synchronized

1140 Full Synchronized Ever since the Jinling to Shanghai maglev track was completed, it took less time to travel from Jinling to Shanghai than it did from Jinling CBD to Jinling airport.

After less than two hours of commuting, Lu Zhou traveled from the ILHCRC chairman office to the underground laboratory of the Institute for Advanced Study. He went inside and put on a VR helmet.

Previously, the user would not be able to see anything after putting on the helmet. However, the engineers at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study added a built-in interface screen for all Phantom system helmets. This made it more convenient for users to independently operate the Phantom system.

“Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [Hello, Master. (u003e▽

Lu Zhou: “Do I have to play through the mission myself?”

Xiao Ai: [No need, Xiao Ai thinks Master won’t be able to pass the level even with the optimal strategy. (≧∇≦)]

Xiao Ai: [So Xiao Ai created a special 100% synchronization play-through mode. The user can watch the game from a first-person perspective. The user can stop the synchronization play-through at any time. However, if the user wants to synchronize again, the user will have to start from the beginning! ́∀`]

Lu Zhou: “… Thanks.”

Xiao Ai: [Haha ┌( ಠ‿ಠ)┘]

Even though Lu Zhou felt like he was just insulted by an artificial intelligence software, Xiao Ai did a huge favor for him, so he decided to ignore the insult.

After Lu Zhou muttered “link start”, the screen inside the helmet gradually began to darken as he entered the virtual space…

…

The username of the player that defeated the level was: Professor Lu’s Fanboy

When Lu Zhou saw this username, he instantly blushed.

What surprised him was that someone in the Respawn Team actually passed this level.

Even though he didn’t know what Li Gaoliang’s username was, he knew there was no way Li Gaoliang would have such a “disgusting” username.

The player synchronization began.

Lu Zhou was watching the gameplay in the first-person perspective of his “fanboy”. After he followed Captain Ince and extracted Professor Lane, they were attacked by a group of unknown armed forces.

As usual, the escort team was divided into two teams; one team continued to fly forward, while the other turned to ground combat. After five minutes of an intense battle, two huge support drones arrived, decimating the scene.

What happened shook Lu Zhou.

The player immediately rolled toward the bottom of a car.

The player used the energy shield on the top of the car to block the first wave of energy rays. He then smoothly rolled out from the other side of the car and picked up an EMP transmitter from the ground. He aimed it at the sky and pressed the trigger.

A light blue wave spread out like a giant net, and the two drones instantly fell to the ground, like birds that had been shot. The car that he used for cover also exploded.

The explosion smoke covered his tactical mask. It was as if everything was executed perfectly, down to the second. If he were one second faster or slower, he would have died.

Lu Zhou was dumbfounded. Captain Ince was nearby, and he spoke to Lu Zhou.

“…¥#@%, What just happened?”

A word in the communication channel was censored. It was obviously a swear word.

The player glanced at Captain Ince. He then immediately raised his rifle and began shooting at the remaining enemies.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t playing himself, experiencing the battle from a first-person perspective felt pretty awesome.

Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind.

He had always wondered what the best way of showing a movie using VR technology was. But now he realized that a first-person movie might be the best way.

Lu Zhou made note of this thought and placed his attention back onto the battlefield.

After suffering heavy casualties, the opponent chose to retreat.

Lu Zhou was praised by Captain Ince for shooting down the two drones. Since his flying car was damaged from the battle, Captain Ince asked him to join the other car instead.

There were two more thrilling battles along the way. Professor Lane was finally escorted to the Empire council. Lu Zhou could finally witness the rest of the storyline.

Inside the majestic Empire council building.

Honestly, Lu Zhou didn’t expect the Calans to be an artistic and creative species. However, this changed when he saw the magnificent building.

Two black pyramid-shaped buildings were stacked on top of each other, tip to tip. One was on the ground while the other was standing upside down in the air. The building looked like an hourglass. It was a symbolization of order and equality, the pyramids corresponded to the upper and lower houses of the Empire parliament.

Anti-gravity technology?!

When Lu Zhou saw the upside-down pyramid, he was astonished.

They arrived at the bottom of the pyramid. Professor Lane looked at the tall building and sighed in relief.

This was the safest place in the Empire.

Lu Zhou finally completed his mission.

Professor Lane looked back at Lu Zhou and smiled. He reached out his hand.

“Thank you so much, soldier. You just saved our civilization… Speaking of which, I don’t know your name yet.”

Lu Zhou’s character saved Professor Lane numerous times across the three battles. This was why Professor Lane was so appreciative of Lu Zhou.

Otherwise, a distinguished scholar like Lane would never take the initiative to talk to an ordinary soldier.

The Calan civilization had a strong social class structure. Generally speaking, one’s occupation determined their identity and status, as well as what kind of house they could live in, and how much material resources they had access to.

Lu Zhou had a guess as to why the soldiers were at the bottom of the class structure. Perhaps the Calan Empire had been at peace for centuries, marginalizing the military.

Seeing how Lu Zhou’s character didn’t say anything, Lu Zhou quickly ended the synchronization mode and took control of the character.

“My name is Lu Zhou.”

“Lu… Zhou?”

Professor Lane looked at Lu Zhou and said, “What an interesting name, I’ve lived in section c-12-01 for many years, but I’ve never heard of a name like that.”

Lu Zhou tried to make up a reason. “That’s because I’m from an agricultural planet… We have different names there.”

Professor Lane asked curiously, “Interesting, I have a friend that studies agricultural planets that would be interested in talking with you… If you want, I can introduce him to you.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m more interested in physics… Can I talk about physics with you?”

As if Lu Zhou had just told a funny joke, Professor Lane smiled and said, “Physics? That’s too esoteric and broad at the same time. Before we discuss, I suggest you go through the system and try your best to study. If you’re still interested in physics after your military service, you can find me at the Institute of Physics in district c-12-01.”

Lu Zhou still wanted to talk with Professor Lane, but Captain Ince walked over.

The captain looked at the scholar and spoke.

“Dear Professor Lane, your identity has been verified. The council invites you to enter the council house. Your meeting will begin soon.”

Professor Lane said in a sincere tone, “Thank you all for this. Also, I hope you report the attackers to the Empire intelligence department, I never would have imagined someone having the audacity to do such a thing.”

Captain Ince spoke solemnly.

“Our intelligence department is already collecting evidence. I’m certain we will find out how the attackers got their hands on the weapons.”

Professor Lane nodded and didn’t say anything. He turned around and walked toward the main entrance of the building.

Captain Ince looked at Lu Zhou and pondered for a second before he spoke.

“You want to come too?”

When Captain Ince said this, Lu Zhou noticed the other soldiers looking jealous.

Lu Zhou knew that this was a show of respect in the Empire army.

Therefore, he followed Captain Ince’s footsteps and handed over his weapons to the guards at the council house entrance.

This was the center of the Empire.

Secrets of the highest level were stored here.

Lu Zhou followed Captain Ince’s footsteps into this majestic hall.

He had a feeling that…

Professor Lane would soon reveal the Oracle.

He would finally know what the high tech system was trying to tell him.

Chapter 1141: Quark Stars

1141 Quark Stars Lu Zhou thought that this majestic hourglass-shaped building would have many floors. However, he found out that a large amount of space was wasted.

The floors inside the building had sky-high ceilings. The sense of vertical space gave the entire hall a majestic and solemn look.

It was almost like this wasn’t a conference room, but instead a court hall.

The abnormally tall conference table gave off a similar vibe.

The conference table had a horseshoe shape, wrapping around the room.

Sitting at the bottom seats were ordinary members of the parliament. Sitting at the higher seats were people of higher status, such as department ministers, president of parliament, and even the ruler of the Empire: the consul.

What a strange civilization.

Even though this was obviously a capitalistic society, the government/political structure did not seem efficient at all. Rather, it seemed to be deeply embedded in religion.

Lu Zhou speculated that this might be related to the Calan’s appreciation of philosophy and aesthetics.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhou was not a social scientist, so he focused his attention on more important things…

The meeting soon began.

Lu Zhou was standing on the side of the hall with Captain Ince, blending in with two other guards. Lu Zhou waited quietly for five minutes, staring intently at the conference table. Finally, the consul sitting at the center of the conference table looked at Professor Lane and spoke calmly.

“You’re Professor Lane?”

Professor Lane nodded and spoke politely.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“There’s been a rumor circulating in the Ring world, about something named the ‘Oracle’. According to the intelligence department’s investigation, all sources lead to you.”

The powerful Calanian consul continued to speak in a powerful manner, “I want to know why you’re causing such trouble to the Empire.

“The parliament and the people of the Empire need an explanation.”

Faced with the oppressive gazes from the parliament, Professor Lane kept his cool and spoke calmly.

“Your Honor, I must correct your statement.

“First of all, the Oracle is not a rumor. Our civilization is indeed facing an unprecedented crisis. Secondly, as a scholar, I am responsible for my words. What I say is true.”

There was a commotion in the conference hall.

Most of the legislators at the lower positions of power looked at each other and whispered to one another, even occasionally laughing from time to time.

Crisis?

If this were three centuries ago, this word would have been a lot more impactful. Back then, the world was full of doomers.

But ever since the Ring world was completed, the Empire had been shining in prosperity. Judging by the current population growth rate, they could maintain this prosperity for centuries.

They were in no danger of any kind of crisis.

Therefore, it was quite ridiculous to even mention the possibility of one.

The consul had a playful smile on his face. He had a look of contempt and ridicule in his eyes as he spoke.

“Then tell me, Professor Lane, what exactly is the crisis? Is it your theory on aliens?”

“No.”

Professor Lane frowned at the consul and began explaining his statement.

“I’m not sure if the crisis comes from them, but it is related to them.”

There was an even bigger commotion around the conference table.

The scholar looked around the conference table and spoke.

“One thing I want to say is that we are not alone in the universe. Even if there are no traces of life 500 light-years, or even 50,000 light-years away, that doesn’t mean there’s no external life at all. It is extremely unlikely that we are the only sentient beings in this universe.”

The consul looked at Professor Lane and spoke.

“That theory was popular many years ago, and I’m not interested in discussing it with you here. Even if they do exist, the sheer distance makes it so that we will never interact with them. So why does it matter to us?”

The Calans wasn’t a civilization that wanted to conquer the world.

Rather than expanding the territory of the Empire, they were more motivated on improving the peace and cohesion of their people. This was why they were able to create such a majestic giant engineering structure project that was the Ring world.

Aliens?

Even though in the early space age they wanted to make contact with an extraterrestrial species, that idea was abandoned in the early ages of the space colonization era.

Professor Lane nodded and spoke to the consul.

“Under ideal circumstances, staying in isolation is a wise choice. We don’t need to worry about species that are tens of thousands of light-years away… However, the problem isn’t that they have contacted us, but rather we have contacted them.”

The commotion in the room suddenly disappeared.

It was like a gun had just gone off.

A trace of astonishment had appeared in the consul’s eyes. The consul looked at Professor Lane and spoke.

“Where is the evidence!”

“I have published my findings in a paper 127 days ago, but that paper is precisely why my life is in danger… If it weren’t for Captain Ince and his team, I would have been captured by the attackers.”

Captain Ince, who was standing in the side of the conference room, nodded and spoke politely.

“Our pleasure, Professor Lane, your rights are protected by the state. Whether the parliament finds you guilty or not, you still have your rights.”

Professor Lane nodded as a show of gratitude.

He looked around the conference table and spoke.

“In order for us to reach an understanding, I will present my research again.”

He opened his suitcase and took out a thumb-sized prism from it.

When he gently pressed on the prism, the prism began to emit a blue light. Suddenly, a projected image appeared in the air.

It’s a holographic projection?

Lu Zhou was intrigued.

Is this a kind of naked eye holography, with a touchscreen interface?

How is that possible?

He felt like he was a kid from the suburbs that had just entered a city.

Other than Lu Zhou, everyone in the council was not surprised by what they saw. They quietly looked at the holographic screen and waited for Professor Lane to continue.

“… We all know that there is something that exists between black holes and neutron stars, which we know as quark stars. It is composed of up, down, and strange quarks. These stars are only the size of a pea, but they weigh hundreds of millions of tons.”

Professor Lane gestured with his hand and spoke.

“The research on quark stars has always been at the frontier of physics. It teaches us how to extract the materials we need from a black hole. A while ago, we were fortunate enough to discover and analyze a quark star that is 23,000 light-years away…

“And its size is… around the size of this pen.”

When Lu Zhou heard this, he was stunned.

Quark stars!

That actually exists?!

Physicists on Earth thought that “quark stars” was a type of fictional exotic star that did not exist…

The theory of its existence could be traced back to the conjecture that Witten put forward in the 1980s, in which he said “a large mass of strange quarks can form a ground state of a strong acting system”. There had been speculations regarding its existence during the early transition phases of the universe, caused by supernova explosions and neutron star collisions etc.

However, the conditions for the existence of a quark star was harsh. Theoretically, if it made contact with any matter, it would instantly explode, releasing terrifying amounts of energy.

Therefore, neither astrophysicists nor particle physicists had found evidence for its existence.

The only speculation so far was that the extremely high-energy cosmic rays with particle energies higher than 10^19eV might come from quark stars. However, just like neutrinos, it was difficult to capture these cosmic rays.

But Professor Lane confidently claimed that there was a quark star in the universe that was large enough to be seen with a naked eye.

If all of this was real, the entire physics community would go crazy…

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but get excited.

However, his excitement didn’t last long.

Because he knew that even if he knew the existence of this exotic star, there was no way to prove it to others.

It wasn’t like he could use this “Void Memory” as evidence.

He didn’t even know where the Calanians were located, nor if they still existed or not.

Lu Zhou began to feel a little down.

If only I can find the coordinates of the quark star or obtain the technology to find one.

I don’t think that information is inside the Void Memory.

It’s so close in front of me, yet so far…

“… Gentlemen, this is ground-breaking. A quark star that is large enough to be seen by the naked eye!”

“What’s the use?” a member of parliament said. He looked at the excited Professor Lane and continued, “Even the most advanced research ship in the Empire can’t fly 230,000 light-years away.”

The member of parliament spoke quite loudly.

Professor Lane looked at the member of parliament and spoke.

“Any theory is useless upon its creation… If we don’t understand it, there’s no way to make it useful.

“Basically, I am responsible for researching the quark star. At first, we thought it was stationary, but then we analyzed the gravitational wave and found an interesting pattern… This means that the quark star is not technically in motion. However, it is heading toward the center of the galaxy through a light bridge!”

The consul coughed and spoke in a serious manner.

“This is the Empire council, we’re not interested in theoretical physics.”

“… The main point is that the discovery changed everything we know,” Professor Lane said in a serious manner. “This quark star was man-made.

“Another civilization created it.

“The civilization that created it is probably far more advanced than us.”

Chapter 1142: Natural Disaster

1142 Natural Disaster The room was abnormally silent.

A more advanced civilization suddenly became a possibility.

The members of parliament stared at each other with astonishing looks in their eyes.

This was a tricky situation because this had never happened before in the history of the Empire. The only intelligent alien creatures they found was a group of lizards using simple tools, who couldn’t even create fires.

The Calan Empire had no interest in establishing diplomatic relationships with alien species; they were not interested in communicating with alien species at all. They could easily produce enough goods to satisfy their population. Establishing a diplomatic relationship with an extraterrestrial species meant they would have to reinstate their aerospace military forces and invest in military technology.

One thing for certain was that the less-advanced civilization was at a disadvantage.

Just the mere existence of a more advanced civilization would bring uncertainty and chaos to the Empire.

Just look at how much trouble the Oracle had already caused.

The parliament went into chaos.

Being sensitive to new information was an advantage of the Calanians, but also a flaw.

The consul rested his head on his hands and began to think.

This was a common technique used by Calanians; it made their consciousness feel closer to the universe. However, even the universe could not answer his question.

The silence lasted for a minute or so.

He finally spoke.

“You said they took the initiative to contact us.”

“Yes.” Professor Lane looked at the consul and nodded. He spoke in a serious manner, “At first, we thought the quark star was some kind of space probe or a weapon capable of destroying planets. But after some careful research, the result was beyond our expectations.

“Our gravitational waves detector shows that it emits intermittent trajectory waves. The information contained in each wave seems to be non-random.

“It obviously isn’t a space probe because no information communication method can keep up with its traveling speed.

“On the other hand, it can’t be a weapon either. There’s no reason to make a weapon so obvious. They could easily extend its hyperspace channel and make it undetectable.

“So our inference is that it is a kind of broadcasting device. It uses the hyperspace to release gravitational waves to the surrounding area.”

The council chamber was silent.

Everyone was concerned.

Even though the physics behind this was complicated for them, Professor Lane explained it in a simple manner.

If it was a weapon, it would do everything it could to hide its existence, there was no need to make it so detectable.

The Minister of Science and Technology frowned and spoke.

“You’re saying it’s broadcasting information… But how can you understand what it’s saying?”

Professor Lane looked at him and spoke in a calm manner, “Physics rules the universe, while mathematics is the language of the universe. We only need a simple formula such as a2+b2=c2 to let the other party know that the message comes from an intelligent species. Also, we can attach a mathematical proposition that we have recently solved or yet to solve. This tells the other party the level of our civilization… Because mathematics is strongly correlated to the advancement of civilization.”

Consul: “… So?”

Lane: “They did something similar.

“By analyzing the information contained in the gravitational waves, we received a series of complex mathematical expressions, and things similar to hash tables. Although it took a lot of work, we finally decrypted the code…”

The Minister of Defense clenched his fist and spoke.

“What did the information say? Is it a contact request? Declaration of war? Or—”

“Neither,” Lane shook his head and said, “they showed us their level of civilization, then told us about… the Oracle.”

The holographic image in the air formed an image of special mathematical operators. Soon after, the image was replaced by three lines of text.

A natural disaster is approaching.

Our universe is facing an unprecedented crisis.

Watch out!

Unlike a concise declaration of war, this kind of warning was more ambiguous and scarier.

What exactly was a natural disaster?

What was the unprecedented crisis?

Why did they have to watch out?

The message left out the more important part.

Professor Lane looked at the silent council chamber and spoke.

“Gentlemen, this is what the Oracle is.

“Even though we could only extract three sentences from the code… I believe it is enough for us to take it seriously.

“Now, do you still think the Oracle is still just a rumor?”

No one answered.

Even the member of parliament that previously mocked him was terrified.

The consul looked at the scholar for a long time.

Finally, he asked in a serious tone.

“One last question, did you respond?”

“No…” Professor Lane shrugged and said, “Even if we want to, due to the expansion of the universe, there is no way for our signal to reach the quark star.”

When the consul heard this, he was relieved.

Almost everyone in the room sighed in relief.

Even if they had mastered faster than light communication, there was no way to transmit the message that far away in a short amount of time.

Not to mention that the quark star was moving toward the center of the galaxy at astronomical speeds.

The consul leaned back on his chair and spoke.

“Regardless of whether this is true or false, you have no right to make this information public without authorization.”

Professor Lane knew the consul would say this, so he nodded and spoke.

“I know, this is my fault, but I was forced to do this. I know how weak our civilization is. In order to prevent the worse-case scenario from happening, someone has to do something.”

The consul raised his chin; he seemed to be dissatisfied with the scholar’s answer. He spoke in a louder voice.

“So what do you think we should do? Believe in a message from an unknown party? Believe that those aliens have good intentions? What if they attack us after gaining our trust? Who is to say this is not a trap? Not to mention, if there really is a disaster, why don’t they solve it themselves? Why are they putting their hopes on a weaker civilization?

“And if they really have good intentions, they should just tell us what the natural disaster is!”

Professor Lane shrugged.

“I’m not ruling out that possibility, but I think it is unlikely. I think that there are a hundred more efficient ways to attack us, such as sending the quark star our way.”

Parliament President: “Maybe they don’t know our location.”

Professor Lane laughed.

“Stop joking around, even a blind person can find this gigantic ring world.

“Enough!” the consul said as he stared at the scholar. “You’re under arrest for incitement and subversion. Your academic title will be removed and you will be sent to the prison on the polar star.”

Professor Lane: “Where is the trial?”

The consul said, “It just happened.”

The Calan Empire had got rid of the death penalty a long time ago. The harshest punishment was being exiled to the outermost prison of the Empire, where the prisoner would spend the rest of his life there.

In some sense, this was a more painful punishment than death. After all, for Calanians, death was nothing more than returning to the spirit of the universe. A permanent exile meant they would have to endure a hundred years of suffering.

Lane shrugged and went silent for a while before he spoke.

“This is the worst choice, but fine.”

He nodded toward the consul as a guard walked over.

“Put the handcuffs on me, my mission is over.”

There was a commotion in the council chamber again.

The consul pretended like he didn’t hear anything as he stared at the man being handcuffed.

Before being taken away, Professor Lane suddenly looked up and glanced at the consul sitting at the consul table.

“Before sending me to the polar star, I have one last request.”

Consul: “Say it.”

“It’s about my assets.” Lane paused for a second and said, “I have no children nor immediate family members. Before I get locked up, I want to resolve my assets.”

The Empire had private asset protection laws.

As long as the assets were obtained legally, the state would never confiscate a citizen’s assets.

The consul looked at the Minister of Justice, who nodded at him. The consul then looked at Professor Lane.

“According to the laws of the Empire, your request is reasonable. Before being sent to the polar star, you can choose a successor.”

Professor Lane raised his cuffed hands and pointed immediately at Lu Zhou, who was standing at the side of the room.

“I want to give him all of my assets.”

“He is the one that brought me here safely.”

The consul glanced at the soldier standing on the side of the hall and waved his hand in the air.

Two green holographic identity cards appeared in the air; the consul used his finger to transfer the data from one holographic ID to another.

“Reinhardt, is it? From now on you will own all of Professor Lane’s property.”

Before Professor Lane left, he gave Lu Zhou a surprised look; he probably did not expect Lu Zhou to give him a “fake name”.

However, Professor Lane didn’t say anything. He was quietly taken away by the guards.

Chapter 1143: Doing Something Is Better Than Doing Nothing

Chapter 1143 Doing Something Is Better Than Doing Nothing

Lu Zhou thought that the game would have ended here; he thought there might be a “game over” or an “end of scene” title page popping up. He wasn’t sure if he had completed exploring the entire Void Memory.

After Professor Lane left, the consul announced the end of the meeting. All of the clues about the Oracle seemed to end here; it was no longer relevant to the story.

After Lu Zhou left the parliament hall, he followed Captain Ince back to their military station. He applied to leave the military task force and handed over his equipment. He then aimlessly wandered around the world on a rail train.

Even though there was a strong social class structure, this world was more complicated than he had imagined.

On this ring-shaped world, there were industrial districts that specialized in producing consumer goods and there were commercial districts dedicated to retail and entertainment. There were also college districts, farming districts, high-density and low-density residential areas, natural landscape areas, and so on.

The Calanians that lived here did not need to work hard to enjoy a relatively successful and luxurious life. Because the incomes within the same social class were similar, people from different classes rarely interacted with one another. Thus, the gap between the rich and the poor did not seem as obvious; everyone was living in their own utopia.

The currency used here was something similar to a credit score.

This soldier named Reinhardt was congratulated by his superiors for his outstanding performance and for inheriting the property of an upper-class Calanian. Thus, Reinhardt had a comfortable life in front of him.

Lu Zhou went straight to the college district and found the library closest to him.

However, he was disappointed. Just like he had imagined, most of the in-depth information and specific technology was obscured in this Void Memory.

When he opened a textbook, he could only see a blurry mess of words and images. The same happened when he tried to find information on the Internet. Specific and esoteric knowledge was not recorded in this memory. The deeper he dove into a subject, the less information there was.

This was like a dream; he could only see an outline, and there was no way to dig deeper.

If he only followed the main plot line, this wouldn’t have felt like a dream at all. However, once he deviated from the main story line, he could feel invisible walls blocking him.

He was like Michael De Santa in GTA5, aimlessly wandering the streets of Los Santos, interacting with people that did not actually exist.

At least for now, he had yet to find any clues or Easter eggs.

Other than a substantial inheritance, the only thing Professor Lane left him was suspense regarding the “natural disaster”.

What exactly is the natural disaster?

The story seemed to have ended here…

…

Lu Zhou took off his helmet and got out of bed. He felt like his head was overheating. He took a deep breath of the air-conditioned air in the laboratory.

Xiao Ai’s drone flew over, a line of text was displayed on the screen.

[Master, do you need a glass of water? 0.0]

Lu Zhou: “Yes, please.”

The robotic arm on the wall began to move; it soon handed Lu Zhou a cold cup of water.

Lu Zhou took a sip and contemplated it for a while. He then suddenly spoke.

“Xiao Ai.”

Xiao Ai: [What? (u003e▽

Lu Zhou: “Do you have information about the Calans inside your database? I mean… other than the Void Memory part.”

Xiao Ai: [I don’t think so… Why? ┌|* ́∀`|┘]

I see.

After Lu Zhou thought for a while, he shook his head.

“… Nothing.”

Lu Zhou stood up and walked toward the elevator.

…

The Void Memory story had ended.

However, the suspense still lingered in Lu Zhou’s head.

What kind of natural disaster is the Calans scared of?

What is the unprecedented crisis?

Also, what is the strange quark star flying toward the center of the galaxy?

Lu Zhou went back to his office and sat in front of his desk. He took out his notebook and began recording his thoughts.

He stopped writing and gently tapped the pen on the table. After pondering for a while, he spoke.

“A natural disaster…”

This was obviously translated from the Calanian language, but the meaning should be somewhat similar.

The most annoying thing in academic research was trying to understand a translated paper.

However, it was impossible to study the original meaning of the Oracle. The memory sent to him by the system already translated everything into Chinese.

Not to mention that there was no way he could use the current technology on Earth to translate the Oracle.

“There is only one thing for certain, that is the high tech system does not come from the Calanians…”

Due to the moral values of the Calanians, even if they discovered planet Earth, they would not attack humans.

National level actions aside, even a company had to consider costs and benefits.

Apart from an atmospheric environment, Earth did not have a lot of resources compared to other planets in the universe. It also had a relatively high gravitational force.

There was no way a civilization that could create a ring world would bother attacking earth. Even if they needed resources such as water or gas, they could just collect them more efficiently from glacial or gaseous planets. They wouldn’t even have to purify the collected resources.

There was no reason they would spend so much effort giving Earth a “high tech system” to improve the level of human technology.

This kind of behavior could only be done by a more advanced civilization, similar to the one that created the quark star.

However, there was one problem.

What was the motive of the advanced civilization?

Or rather…

Are they the so-called “void”?

Lu Zhou thought about it for a long time, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion. He could only write down his series of conjectures.

Obviously, the work on the 750 GeV signal was more urgent than exploring the secrets of the quark star and the void.

Now that the entire physics community was expecting him to find an amazing discovery, he had to do something.

After hesitating for a while, Lu Zhou took out his phone and made a few phone calls. Finally, he was able to contact the person in charge of the Ali CMB Telescope Project—Professor Zhang Tianming, a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This gravitational wave detector began construction in 2017 and was first tested in 2020. It was the highest altitude gravitational wave observatory in the world.

Even though Lu Zhou did not have any hope in mind, he still asked Professor Zhang for the latest gravitational waves data.

Even though probably nothing would come of this.

Doing something was better than doing nothing.

Chapter 1144: The Secret of The Hyperspace

Chapter 1144 The Secret of The Hyperspace

After Lu Zhou obtained the data, he spent an entire day wrangling and analyzing the data. He wasn’t able to find any indication of a quark star.

“From the Calan Void Memory, we can infer that the advanced civilization that created the quark star, let’s call them the “Void” civilization, had mastered some kind of hyperspace technology, which allowed them to send matter and information at speeds faster than light.”

Lu Zhou closed his notebook and frowned. He spoke with a headache.

“But how is this possible?”

Traveling faster than light.

Even though this sounded easy, as seen in most science fiction movies, in reality, this was extremely difficult to achieve.

Unlike controllable fusion, which proved to be feasible by physicists decades ago, high-energy physicists couldn’t even imagine how to make objects move faster than the speed of light. It was impossible from every theoretical angle.

Theories regarding this could be traced to the end of the previous century.

In 1992, the famous scholar Professor Stephen Hawking proved using mathematical methods and general relativity, that if the bounded topological space structure changed, then a closed time-space curve could form.

Basically, due to general relativity, things like wormholes would violate the law of causality. (Interestingly enough, Einstein, the discoverer of the theory of relativity, supported wormhole theory and proposed that it is “a thin tube connecting space and time between distant areas of the universe.” This goes to show that even great minds can be wrong. After all, academia does not pander to authority, it merely seeks the truth.)

According to the Calanian Void Memory, their method of achieving faster than light navigation and communication was to use the gravitational forces between star systems. This meant that a natural hyperspace could be formed, allowing faster than light travel.

This was consistent with Einstein’s theories.

The specific physics principle behind this was not mentioned in the Void Memory. Lu Zhou had to make assumptions based on his knowledge and a small amount of information.

For example, a huge gravitational field can tear space to form a new dimension. Entering this dimension was how they achieved faster than light travel.

It was similar to playing checkers.

Even though the Calanian technology was advanced, the Calanians did not create a miracle; the miracle was the universe itself. At most, a group of smart people was able to apply their knowledge.

However, the “Void” civilization seemed different.

Lu Zhou understood why everyone in the parliament hall was panicking.

Not only did they create a quark star, but they also created their own hyperspace. This kind of technology was far beyond the Calanians’.

“… The problem is that, if the broadcast goes out to the entire universe at faster than light speed, surely it must be detectable on Earth?”

Maybe the broadcast had already ended?

Or maybe, like he initially had guessed, the Void memory regarding the Calanian Empire happened a long, long time ago.

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the table. He shook his head and stuffed his notebook into his computer. He stood up, took out his phone, and called Wang Peng.

“Hello?”

“Send me to Jin University.”

“Roger that.”

…

A hundred thousand yuan of prize money.

This was a huge sum of money for a student.

Actually, not just for a student.

This was more than a year’s salary for the average worker in Jinling.

However, instead of thinking about this huge sum of money, Duan Siqi was more worried about something else.

His intuition told him that there were enormous business opportunities in the virtual reality space. He was just their first customer.

Even though he was just a lab rat doing this as a part-time job. Now that he had gotten a taste of the honey, he was unsatisfied.

Should I change my major?

He had this idea more than once.

In fact, in his spare time, he began to read books on programming, composition, and VR technology.

Even though learning these things took up a lot of his spare time. It made him unexpectedly happy.

Unlike mathematics, when he was learning these things, there wasn’t a roommate making him feel insecure. Even though learning these things did not help him do better in his exams, the accumulation of knowledge made him feel a sense of accomplishment.

One day, he was on his way to the library. Suddenly, someone stopped him and spoke to him.

“You’re… the player that passed the level?”

Duan Siqi stopped his steps and looked up.

When he saw the person in front of him, he was shocked.

The f*ck?

God Lu?!

This was like buying a bottle of water in a convenience store, only to run into Justin Bieber.

Actually, that probably would be more likely.

Even though Lu Zhou taught a number theory course at Jin Ling University, he had given less than a handful of lectures over the past year.

Duan Siqi was about to nod when he remembered his username. He suddenly felt embarrassed.

“It’s not what you think… I just randomly thought of that username, I’m not actually a fanboy—”

“It’s fine.” Lu Zhou waved his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter.”

Duan Siqi awkwardly nodded and spoke.

“Okay… Do you need anything from me?”

“Actually, nothing special. I just want to talk with you about the game… If you have time, I’d like to buy you a cup of coffee.”

“Of course.” Duan Siqi smiled and said, “What do you want to know?”

Oh my god.

This person is ten times more powerful than the university principal.

Even speaking to Lu Zhou would hugely benefit his career. There was no way he could let go of an opportunity to have coffee with him.

Lu Zhou looked at the student and smiled.

Even though he could see Duan Siqi trying to hide his nervousness, he saw right through the kid.

He spoke in an easy-going manner.

“I know a good cafe outside the school. Someone used to take me there when I was a student… Let’s go.”

When Lu Zhou turned around, Duan Siqi quickly followed him.

Along the way, the two chatted with each other. They only talked about the game. Duan Siqi did not expect this at all. On one hand, he didn’t expect Academician Lu to be so approachable, and on the other, he didn’t expect them to click so well.

Due to the gap in status and power, he nearly forgot that Lu Zhou was actually not that much older than him…

“What do you think about the game?”

“It’s too difficult. There are no checkpoints, and it takes dozens of attempts to pass. It’s borderline psychotic.”

Duan Siqi thought about what happened in the game and shuddered.

He played the drone part at least 20 times. The only reason he passed was that his timing was down to the second, and his position was perfect.

Lu Zhou nodded.

If this game wasn’t this difficult, he could have passed it himself. As opposed to forming a task force.

“What about the other aspects?”

Duan Siqi contemplated for a second and said, “I think the world can be expanded. I’m not interested in the ring world, I’m more interested in the other planets… I feel like if the world is expanded, like EVE Online, it will stand out more.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I’ll tell the product manager that… I’m more curious about your thoughts on the storyline.”

Duan Siqi said, “Storyline?”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Aren’t you curious about the Oracle and the natural disaster?”

“I mean all games have something similar…” Duan Siqi scratched his head and said, “I was a little curious, but the story got cut off, it was a little annoying.”

Lu Zhou: “… Judging from what you know about the game, what do you think the natural disaster might be?”

“Maybe a disaster that sweeps the entire universe. An out-of-control AI? But I feel like that level of threat isn’t high enough… Sorry, I don’t have a good imagination. Can you tell me what happens?”

Lu Zhou looked at the curious student and smiled.

“Unfortunately, the storyline was written by an AI. The story is still being written; I don’t even know what happens next. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“It’s still being written…” Duan Siqi said. He looked disappointed and said, “I suggest you change this game into an online game. Maybe expand the degree of freedom. The game should end when they reach the Empire building. When the alien scholar was captured, I thought I would have to rescue him, but then the game ended. I think there should be an open-world mode after the main storyline, right?”

Lu Zhou noticed something unusual. He frowned and spoke.

“It ended?”

“Yeah…” Duan Siqi looked at him and said, “Don’t you know?”

Lu Zhou: “… The player follows Captain Ince back to the military station and hands over his equipment. Did you not unlock the open world mode?”

“What station?” Duan Siqi was muddled. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Doesn’t the screen turn black?”

Lu Zhou: “You didn’t inherit Professor Lane’s assets?”

Duan Siqi: “…???”

Lu Zhou looked at the confused student and instantly realized what was going on.

When they arrived at the parliament hall building, Lu Zhou made a conscious effort to talk with Professor Lane. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have inherited Professor Lane’s assets.

Does this mean that the ending I saw is the true ending?

Lu Zhou had a weird look on his face.

And I’m the only one that saw it?

Does this mean I’m the better gamer?

Duan Siqi looked at Lu Zhou and nervously said, “Did I… not pass the game?”

Is he going to take back my bonus money?

Even though he wanted to ask this question, he decided not to.

When Lu Zhou heard this, he paused for a second and smiled.

“No, it’s fine, forget about it.”

Lu Zhou changed the conversation.

“I want to know what you want to experience next.”

When Duan Siqi heard this, his eyes lit up.

“How about the Matrix? It’s a science fiction classic! It’s perfect for virtual reality.”

“The Matrix? Sounds interesting,” Lu Zhou said, “I’ll tell the engineers at the institute…”

Chapter 1145: A Busy New Year

Chapter 1145 A Busy New Year

The 2023 Chinese New Year happened earlier than normal.

The Chinese New Year’s holiday came near the end of January.

Chinese New Year’s Eve went by, and the Jin University physics research building already began to look deserted.

Academician Lu Shenjian sat in his office, reading the academic magazine in his hand while drinking a freshly brewed hot cup of tea.

After flipping through a few pages, he saw a headline.

[Chinese Scholars Are Leaving Shanghai, ILHCRC Shuts Down! The 750 GeV Characteristic Peak Was A Failure! Where Will The Future Of Physics Go?]

Academician Lu saw the headline and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“The media is really talking nonsense, it’s the holidays, of course we’re shut down.”

The old man sitting on the office sofa smiled.

“Old Lu, it’s the holidays, why worry, when are you going to retire?”

Sitting across from Academician Lu was Academician Liu Guangzhao from the Jin Ling University physics department. However, Academician Liu’s research area was not particle physics; it was condensed matter physics. His research was mainly focused on atomic clusters, low-dimensional quantum systems, and nanotechnology.

These two old professors were quite good friends. Even though their research area was different, they had always had a good friendship.

Old Lu smiled and waved his hand.

“Not yet, I can work for another 10 years.”

Academician Liu smiled and said, “Really? You’re getting old.”

Academician Lu smiled and said, “We’re only on this planet for a couple of decades, why should I waste any time? Don’t worry, I know what I can do.”

“I’m not worrying, you just look tired.” Academician Liu sighed and said, “Speaking of which, how is the 750 GeV project going? I heard it’s not looking great?”

Academician Lu: “We’ve only done four experiments, of course it doesn’t look good. Slow but steady wins the race. Don’t worry, I’m confident in this research project.”

“I’m just asking, I’m just a layman in the field of particle physics.” Academician Liu smiled and took a sip of tea before he said, “This tea is quite good, where did you get it?”

“I didn’t get it, my student gave it to me!” Academician Lu proudly said, “I can’t finish it myself, take some home if you want it. Just don’t take it all.”

“You old bugger, always showing off to me.” Old Liu put down the teacup and stood up. He sighed and said, “Sigh, if only I can produce a few outstanding students like you, I can retire early.”

Old Lu heard his friend complaining and burst into laughter.

“Haha! Forget about it, maybe in your afterlife!”

…

[M2π=(Mμ+Md)/2Fπ1u0026amp;lt;0|ΨΨ’|0u0026amp;gt:…]

[…]

Inside a Zhongshan International mansion.

Lu Zhou sat in his study room. He looked at the pile of blueprints and draft papers, lost in his thought.

Chinese New Year had just gone by. Lu Zhou had yet to finish digesting the dumplings made by his mother when he started working again. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a break, but he had too many people relying on him. He had no time to waste.

Normally, regardless of what the research project was, he would try to wrap up the research project before the Chinese New Year’s holiday. He didn’t want his work to affect his life.

However, this year was rather unfortunate. The Lunar Hadron Collider took forever to complete, not to mention this year’s holidays came earlier than usual.

Fortunately, his family was sympathetic.

Even his father only made a small comment at the dinner table. Xiao Tong, on the other hand, was busy with her own academics, so she didn’t harass him.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath of the warm air and stood up from his chair. He walked to the window and pushed it open.

The icy cold wind blew in his face, cooling down his hot brain. It was almost like the wind was blowing away his fatigue and tiredness.

As Xiao Ai’s drone flew over to him, a line of text appeared on the display.

Xiao Ai: [Master, aren’t you cold? 0.0]

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not cold.”

In fact, it was getting too hot; it made him feel dizzy, to the point that it was difficult to concentrate.

Xiao Ai: [Then Master, Master, do you need Xiao Ai to make a cup of coffee? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)]

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Thanks.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, coming right up! (*≧▽≦)]

Soon after, a delicious coffee aroma floated into the study room.

Lu Zhou took the coffee from Xiao Ai and took a sip. He felt himself energized as he closed the windows. He sat down at his desk and looked at the unfinished draft papers. He slowly fell into deep thought.

For some reason, he felt like his brain had cleared up greatly after the short break.

“Looks like I have to take breaks more often.”

Lu Zhou felt the warmth of the coffee in his hands. He smiled and grabbed a pen off his desk.

After pondering for a moment, he wrote on the paper.

He had been researching the 750 GeV characteristic peak for a while now. He had also made countless guesses and conjectures.

However, he didn’t feel the difficulty of this project until he finally activated the lunar collider.

The signal was like a ghost, floating in and out of the energy spectrum. He even began to wonder if there were an alien interfering with his experiment.

For some reason, a pen suddenly appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind.

Accurately speaking, it was the pen inside the Empire council building; the one being held tightly by Professor Lane.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and stared at the calculations on the page. He frowned and suddenly muttered to himself nonchalantly.

“… Maybe it’s related to the hyperspace?”

It cannot be observed in the 3-dimensional world… or only a part of it can be observed. Where is the part that can’t be observed?

If his guess was true, then time and space would have to be distorted, while the unobservable part of the signal would be hidden in an incomplete space.

It was like a new door had opened in his mind; his thoughts had never felt clearer.

The tip of his pen trembled as he felt a wave of excitement in his heart.

He had a feeling that…

This discovery was going to be even more amazing than he expected!

Time quickly passed by.

The sun outside the window gradually disappeared.

Lu Zhou put down his pen and looked at the pile of papers in front of him as he smirked.

“I finally finished it before the deadline.”

He looked at the calendar sitting on the right corner of his desk.

The second round of experiments was going to begin in two days.

A few hours ago, he was still anxious over running out of time.

But now, he was looking forward to the experiment more than ever before.

Chapter 1146: Advanced Theory

1146 Advanced Theory As the days passed by, Chinese physicists began to return to Shanghai, and the ILHCRC headquarters became lively again.

And the media outlets that claimed that the ILHCRC had been shut down, pretended like nothing had happened.

Everything was happening according to plans.

Even though scholars from the Brookhaven National Laboratory were probably not going to work here, they were only a small fraction of the people involved in the project. Even though there were people who were not optimistic about the 750 GeV project, which had been going on for a month, most of them did not want to give up their name spots on the final paper.

Normally speaking, the list of researcher names on a large-scale international scientific research project could be dozens of pages long.

However, it was still important to have on one’s scientific research resume. It was immensely helpful for working at other research institutes or universities in the future.

Inside an office.

Professor Witten saw Lu Zhou walk in. He took off his glasses and spoke with a smile.

“How was your holiday?”

Lu Zhou: “Quite fulfilling.”

Witten looked at the stack of papers in Lu Zhou’s hand and smiled.

“Looks like you didn’t rest for long.”

“We’re so close to an amazing discovery, it’s difficult to relax and take a break.”

Witten looked at how confident Lu Zhou was. He was a little surprised as he spoke.

“You’ve made progress?”

“Not just progress.” Lu Zhou smiled confidently and threw the papers in his hand on the table. He said, “Remember the pendulum theory I talked about a year ago? I used the Chinese New Year holidays to perfect it.”

Without saying anything, Witten quickly picked up the stack of documents on the desk and carefully examined them.

Lu Zhou, on the other hand, walked to the corner and made himself a cup of coffee. He then sat on the sofa and quietly waited.

This was all thanks to being inspired by the Void memory.

Even though Professor Lane did not directly tell him any theories related to the 750 GeV energy zone or even particle physics in general, most things did not have to be explicitly stated. Knowing its existence was already a huge inspiration.

For example, the concept of the hyperspace.

If a hyperspace existed, then Einstein’s wormhole theory was possible.

And using this logic, if the characteristic peak of the 750 GeV energy zone corresponded to a certain part of the elementary particles that existed in a hyperspace, it would explain the insufficient observation confidence level.

The mathematical theories Lu Zhou deduced previously were still applicable here.

Similar examples were common in physics. For example, when people tried to explain the gauge symmetry of the Grand Unification Theory, there were claims that supersymmetry provided a framework to describe the way fermions and bosons accommodated a four-dimensional hyperspace. This also explained the strange geometric properties of fermions in a four-dimensional Minkowski space.

However, the hyperspace theory was not proven.

However, if they really could find this particle, they might be able to prove the existence of the hyperspace!

Witten’s fingers were trembling; he had a powerful look in his eyes.

After ten minutes, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and muttered.

“Interesting… Hyperspace theory?”

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and explained it.

“Strictly speaking, it’s a conjecture based on the hyperspace theory. For a large proposition like the hyperspace theory, it is too difficult to prove it with my own strength. We know too little about gravity… But maybe after this experiment is over, I might be able to prove it.”

He paused for a second and spoke.

“Of course, this depends on what we find from our experiment.”

“Unbelievable…” Witten said as he put down the paper. He looked up at Lu Zhou and said excitedly, “You know what? I’m looking forward to the future.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, ” I feel the same way.”

He couldn’t wait to begin the second round of experiments.

This time, he would definitely find the ghost particle that had been hiding from him for the past seven years!

Witten: “Do you plan on publishing this paper?”

“Of course, good things should be shared with the public. I plan on putting a preprint on arXiv,” Lu Zhou said. “If the experiment results are satisfactory, I’ll attack the experiment results and submit it to the Future main journal issue.”

…

After more than a month of silence, the researchers at the ILHCRC had finally made some progress.

Lu Zhou’s paper on hyperspace theory and the 750 GeV characteristic peak was uploaded to arXiv’s website. It caused a huge sensation in the theoretical physics community.

People were surprised at Lu Zhou’s “advanced theory”, but they were also surprised at the time Lu Zhou chose to upload this paper.

Basically, there were supporters and opposers.

Some people mentioned that Lu Zhou might be overly optimistic about the hyperspace theory and that it was only a conjecture, while other people thought that this was a good idea and that it could explain the mass-energy loss in high energy particle physics experiments.

If those mass-energy fragments entered hyperspace or transformed into a higher-dimensional form, it would not be detectable by traditional methods.

In any case, this paper was regarded as an academic answer to the question of “why should we research the 750 GeV signal”.

If this conjecture was true, not only would it greatly improve the standard model, but it would also open the field of physics into research on the internal structure of elementary particles, allowing physics to dive into a more mysterious world, even more mysterious than the Higgs particle…

“Hyperspace theory?”

Professor Whittle was sitting in an office chair reading a paper in his hand. He had a look of contempt on his face as he spoke, “What a bunch of nonsense, the physics community is getting ridiculous.”

He had finished reading the paper.

He understood most of it.

However, he was not a fan of what he read.

The existence of hyperspace itself was a controversial topic in the physics world. The non-directional characteristic of time was one of the most basic observational facts in physics and even in all natural sciences. Even though the existence of the hyperspace did not contradict this fact, it would certainly challenge the properties of time.

“I think… his paper is quite interesting,” an old professor said. He had a beard on his face and a pair of glasses on his nose bridge. He said to Whittle, “If he really found a particle outside the Standard Model, it might become the greatest physics discovery of the decade. To be honest… We should not let go of this opportunity.”

Verifying the Standard Model was easy. Over the past few decades, the particle physics community had continuously proven Einstein’s conjectures.

However, finding a particle outside the Standard Model was extremely difficult.

The old professor’s remarks obviously provoked Professor Whittle.

He chuckled and spoke in a mocking manner.

“Greatest discovery of the decade? Forget about it.”

Even though Professor Whittle was still being stubborn on the outside, doubts began to occupy his mind on the inside.

The reason why he insisted that he was correct was that he wanted to save face.

Maybe face was not important…

However, he was too far down the line to retract his statements. He even persuaded the Brookhaven Science Associates to criticize the behavior of Lu Zhou.

If Lu Zhou actually accomplished something in the end, he would be instantly fired.

“He’s just dreaming…”

Professor Whittle repeatedly muttered these words to himself. He reached out and grabbed a glass of water on the table. He took a sip and moistened his throat. However, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.

The only thing he wanted was for ILHCRC to utterly fail. Hopefully, something would go wrong with the Lunar Hadron Collider.

He didn’t even notice that his attitude had totally changed.

He was in denial…

Chapter 1147: The Most Expensive Firework Show

Chapter 1147 The Most Expensive Firework Show

Lunar scientific research base.

Physics research area.

Dr. Torrick was sitting in the Lunar Hadron Collider control room. He began to chat with Yan Xinju to pass time.

“You Chinese people are more stubborn than I had imagined.”

Yan Xinju stared at the American scholar and asked, “Why do you say that?”

Torrick said, “Almost half of the physics community thinks that the characteristic peak of 750 GeV is just God playing a prank on us. But Professor Lu still firmly believes that there must be something there… Even though CERN has done more than enough experiments to prove that it was indeed an unusual quantum fluctuation.”

“I’m afraid that’s not correct.”

‘Why?”

“It’s not stubbornness, it’s more like an obsession with the truth. Out of all of the people I know, he is probably the person that sought after the truth the most,” Yan Xinjue continued with a smile. “Also, even though half of the physics community does not believe in this research project, the other half does believe in it, right?”

Dr. Torrick was a little shocked.

“Wait a second… You know him?”

“Of course, we went to the same school.”

Yan Xinju was too embarrassed to say that he only got this position because of his connection with Lu Zhou…

However, he had no reason to worry.

Because Dr. Torrick did not care about this at all. Instead, Dr. Torrick asked about something unrelated.

“Can you tell me something about him? After I read Professor Hardy’s memoir, I’ve been very interested in his story. Unfortunately, the memoir only contains his stories at Princeton.”

Yan Xinju was confused, and he said, “Memoir? What memoir?”

“It was written by a student Lu Zhou taught at Princeton. The author is now a mathematics professor at the University of Sao Paulo, and he’s quite a well-known mathematician.”

Seeing how excited Dr. Torrick was, Yan Xinju looked at his watch and spoke.

“Let’s discuss this in an hour…

“The experiment is going to start in 15 minutes.”

…

Precisely speaking, the experiment was going to begin in 14 minutes and 21 seconds.

At the ILHCRC headquarters in Shanghai.

Everyone in the ground command center sat in front of a huge control screen. They were all nervously waiting for the experiment.

Some people joked that the cost of each ILHCRC experiment was more expensive than testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. This claim was actually somewhat accurate.

Frank Wilczek walked into the control room with a stack of freshly printed papers in his hand. He walked straight to Lu Zhou and spoke in a quiet voice.

“The collision energy is 1250 TeV? Aren’t you looking for a 750 GeV characteristic peak? Why are you setting the energy parameter so high?”

Lu Zhou had his hands behind his back. He looked at the busy control room and said, “Actually, it’s 1250 TeV, 1260 TeV, and 1300 TeV.”

Frank Wilczek: “…”

Wow…

Rich people are another species.

By comparison, the largest CERN collider proton collision experiment had an energy of less than 30 TeV.

Frank Wilczek couldn’t help but sigh as he spoke.

“This is going to be the most expensive firework show in history.”

“Of course!” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “After all, it’s going to illuminate humanity forever.”

The preparations for the experiment were almost finished.

Luo Wenxuan walked over from the corner and took a deep breath. He looked at Lu Zhou and spoke in a serious manner.

“All of the units are ready, we can begin the experiment at any time.”

Lu Zhou nodded and looked at his watch.

There was another 1 minute and 30 seconds left until the scheduled time.

He looked up and spoke.

“Then let’s turn on our machines.

“Charge the superconducting magnet!”

Luo Wenxuan nodded and said, “Roger that!”

…

The experiment ready signal traveled 360,000 kilometers through space, which was received by the lunar surface scientific research base.

A huge amount of energy began to travel from the energy storage facility, entering the superconducting ring and forming a terrifyingly powerful magnetic field.

Even the surrounding cosmic rays were distorted due to this magnetic field.

Yan Xinju, who was standing in the control room of the lunar surface scientific research base, immediately pressed a button in front of him.

It was like he had just pulled the trigger. Two tiny protons instantly shot out from the collider firing guns, and under the force of the magnetic field, they struck each other and broke apart.

There were no sparks or explosions.

However, the energy waves detected by the collider were equally as dazzling.

Under 1250 TeV of energy, the two protons were instantly crushed. They were torn apart in the microscopic world. Invisible to the naked eye, they decomposed into elementary particles smaller than atoms.

A flash of excitement crossed Lu Zhou’s eyes. He stared at the energy spectrum image in front of him.

He could stare at this image all day.

The first round of collision was over!

The superconducting magnets were still in an energized state. The staff members at the lunar surface scientific research base quickly adjusted the experimental parameters and began the second round of collision experiments!

This was the most important round.

This would directly determine whether the mass-energy loss conjecture in Lu Zhou’s paper actually existed!

Lu Zhou held his breath.

The two protons collided together again, creating brilliant “sparks” on the energy detector.

Witten looked at the data on the screen. He spoke in disbelief.

“I can’t believe, your guess was correct…”

Frank Wilczek was also stunned.

Although his mathematical ability was not as good as that of Witten, he could still see an unusual pattern in the data. However, he couldn’t describe what was unusual about the data.

This was just his intuition…

What happened next totally subverted his understanding of the particle physics world.

“Jesus Christ…”

This was the only thing he could say to describe the shock in his heart.

Lu Zhou stood there with his fists clenched.

This is not enough!

Although the second round of experiments was enough to explain some of his conjectures, it was not enough to explain all of his guesses in his paper.

He was waiting for the third round of experiments to begin.

He just needed the third round of experiment data to meet his expectations!

Then, he could prove that his conjectures were correct!

The third round of experiments finally began…

The two protons collided.

The brilliant sparks appeared on the screen again.

Lu Zhou looked at the screen as his pupils shrank.

His eyes were filled with excitement.

The third round of experiments was a success!

“Finally…

“I found you…”

The sounds of the cheers and applause resonated in his ears.

The ghost behind the quantum fluctuations finally showed itself to the world.

Even though Lu Zhou could only see the raw data…

But he was a level-10 mathematics scholar, did he really need to do any data analysis?

For him, he just had to translate the data into something other people could understand…

Chapter 1148: Experimental Data Released!

1148 Experimental Data Released!

United Kingdom.

Inside a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

An old man was sitting in front of a wooden table by the window. He stared at an old computer as he typed on the keyboard letter by letter with his index finger.

A newspaper was sitting on the corner of the table. The newspaper was dated 2 weeks ago.

In the newspaper, there was an article regarding the heated tension of Brookhaven National Laboratory and its withdrawal from the ILHCRC.

Tens of billions of dollars in investment and dozens of countries participated in this scientific research project. However, such a big problem occurred at the very beginning. Not only did this incident cause trouble in the physics community, but it also caused quite a lot of trouble outside of the physics community.

The old man felt a mix of emotions as he typed his email.

[… Physics should be an enlightened field, and we’re here today precisely because we respect all viewpoints. I cannot evaluate whether Lu Zhou is correct or not, but even if he is wrong, the academic community should not respond in an irrational way.

[… To summarize, it is definitely not a wise choice to withdraw from the experiment at this time. This is damaging both to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, as well as the physics community… I don’t know if there are any political reasons behind this, but no matter what the reasons are, we should not damage long-term collaboration relationships.

[I hope you can reconsider your choices, maybe it’s not too late.

[- Peter Higgs.]

Peter Higgs.

An honorary retired professor of the University of Edinburgh, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, as well as the reason behind the well-known Higgs particle.

Even people outside of physics would have heard of his name.

The old man frowned as he looked up at the dark clouds outside his window.

Ever since he retired, he had gotten more and more sensitive to the weather. However, everything else had become duller. Especially the concept of time. When he got up every morning and looked at the calendar, he always forgot which day it was.

This was like the newspaper right in front of him.

When he finally read the newspaper, the story was already two weeks old.

After he quickly contacted his friends and searched for relevant information on the Internet, he finally understood the whole story. By then, his mood was already as heavy as the weather outside the window.

Immediately afterward, he did one of the most important things since his retirement.

That was, he wrote an email to Professor Browich, who held an important position at the Brookhaven Science Associates.

Regardless of whether the 750 GeV characteristic peak was worthy of spending an entire year of research, regardless of whether or not Lu Zhou was the chairman of the board, academia itself should be pure and unbiased.

This made him think back to sixty years ago.

He still remembered when he wrote a short paper and published it in CERN’s Physics Communications journal.

After that paper was published, he subsequently wrote another paper and submitted it to “Physics Communications” again, in which he described a theoretical model he envisioned, which was now called the “Higgs mechanism” model. However, his paper was called absurd and was eventually rejected.

This paper was then finally published in “Physical Review”.

If it weren’t for his insistence, perhaps people would have never been able to explain how the weak interaction of elementary particles could carry mass.

He looked at the email and thought for a long time.

He looked at the words “to summarize” in his last paragraph and hesitated for a while before deleting the phrase from the email. He made the email look as polite as possible, then hit the send button.

“… Hopefully, this will make a difference.”

Even though his old friend might not listen to his suggestion, this was the least he could do.

He leaned on the armrest of his chair and stood up. He trembled as he walked to the window.

The morning clouds outside the window almost made it seem like the night time. His neighbor across the street had already taken the flower pots into the house, in fear of a thunderstorm.

“… It feels like something big is going to happen today.”

The old man closed his window curtains.

Intuition was a metaphysical thing.

Even he wouldn’t have expected his words to come true…

…

The second day in February.

Today was a special day for the international physics community.

Three days had gone by since the end of the lunar night cycle. The energy storage facilities supporting the collider had already finished charging. The ILHCRC was going to conduct its next collider experiment in the near future.

This experiment received widespread attention from the physics community even before it started.

There was only one reason.

Because not long ago, Lu Zhou uploaded a paper on the theory of hyperspace onto the arXiv website. The paper was about how the elementary particles might include a particle that existed in the hyperspace.

Normally, this kind of particle was quite stable and barely exposed themselves to the outside world. Only by doing particle physics experiments in which the collision energy could reach a certain level could one briefly observe this special particle in its unstable three-dimensional space-time form.

As soon as this theory was published, it immediately caused a wave of controversy in the physics community.

Professor François Englert, who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with Professor Peter Higgs, spoke to the media in an interview.

“This theory might be even more shocking than superstring theory, it’s quite unbelievable… However, the hyperspace theory is not an innovative theory. The M-theory has already made a similar statement regarding the eleven superstring dimensions of the universe. Besides, I’m more interested in how he is going to prove his theory.

“What I mean is that with the current physics experimental methods, the only objects we can observe are the ones in our dimension or something lower than our dimension.

“Let me give you a common example. If we’re just 2D people living on a piece of white paper, and a small ball travels vertically to the surface of the paper we are on, assuming that the light source is absolutely perpendicular to the surface of the paper, we can only see a stationary point projected on the paper.

“If there really is a particle that exists in higher dimensions, we can only see its projection in three-dimensional space, so forget about analyzing its whole trajectory.

“Even if he is correct, what kind of experiment does he plan on using to prove that his theory is true?”

Creatures living in the two-dimensional world would never learn about the three-dimensional world, and creatures living in the three-dimensional world would also be oblivious to the fourth-dimensional world.

Even though Professor François Englert couldn’t imagine what kind of experiments Lu Zhou would use to prove his theory, a new round of ILHCRC experiments was about to begin. He only expressed his curiosity; he was not as pessimistic as Professor Whittle.

After all, from a physicist’s perspective, he wanted to see Lu Zhou solve this problem.

If Lu Zhou could prove that the basic particles that made up the universe were indeed hidden in a high-dimensional world, it would solve many of the problems that the world of physics faced.

The waiting process was long.

Everyone was eagerly looking forward to ILHCRC updating its experimental data. Finally, it was midnight Beijing time when the latest experimental data was synchronized and uploaded to the official database.

The news spread around the world, and universities that cooperated with ILHCRC had already begun processing the raw data.

Even the Brookhaven National Laboratory, which had announced its temporary withdrawal from the ILHCRC, had secretly downloaded the data.

The experiment results were shocking.

While the entire physics community was being amazed by the experiment results, Lu Zhou was already hosting a seminar at the ILHCRC headquarters.

Chapter 1149: The Particle

Chapter 1149 The Particle

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

There were no empty seats left in the No. 1 lecture hall. Sitting among the crowd were researchers from the ILHCRC, as well as physicists from other research institutions who traveled all the way here. There were even scholars from the Brookhaven National Laboratory who used their annual leave to visit here in their personal capacity.

The report would begin in ten minutes, and almost everyone was looking forward to it.

Lu Zhou, as the chairman of the ILHCRC and the initiator of the 750 GeV project, would summarize the data collected in the experiments and further elaborate on his theory of hyperspace and the research on the hidden particles.

Witten looked at the venue and spoke.

“… I can’t believe it has only been a month.”

Prior to this, he spent an entire year preparing for this research project. He didn’t expect to make such significant progress within a month.

Besides Lu Zhou, he was probably the happiest person in the room.

After reading the experimental data, he knew exactly what the success of this project meant. If this hyperspace particle really existed, it would undoubtedly prove his predictions in the M-theory.

Not just that, more importantly, this experiment would be the first exploration of higher-dimensional matter in the history of physics.

This would undoubtedly impact the future development of physics.

In fact, the particle itself was not as significant as its by-product.

After a long pause, Professor Witten spoke emotionally.

“… The Brookhaven National Laboratory probably regrets what they did.”

Professor Frank Wilczek, who was sitting next to him, did not reply.

In fact, the Brookhaven National Laboratory wasn’t the only one that was regretful.

A long, long time ago, about seven years ago, when Lu Zhou was still an intern at CERN, Frank Wilczek was the one who led the 750 GeV project. If he did not give up back then, the first higher-dimensional particle discovered might have been named after him.

For example, the Wilczek particle.

However, that was the past…

Ten minutes went by.

Wearing a formal suit, Lu Zhou stepped into the lecture hall.

Almost as soon as he stepped into the lecture hall, the noisy discussions in the venue faded instantly.

Lu Zhou walked on stage and grabbed the microphone.

He looked at the solemn audience and spoke in a clear and calm voice.

“Many years ago, I discovered an anomaly at the 750 GeV range.”

That was his short opening remark.

Lu Zhou continued to speak.

“I don’t blame CERN for abandoning my results; they were limited by the experimental conditions and limited by the lack of existing theories that could support my conclusions, whereas I was limited by my own abilities… There was no way to continue the experiments back then, it was the only choice.

“But never for a second did I think that my conclusion was wrong.

“This is not because of my stubbornness, but rather, it is because I found an anomaly in my calculations. Quantum fluctuations might be a convenient explanation, but I believe in my calculations more.

“Mathematics doesn’t lie.”

Lu Zhou looked around the silent venue and smiled. He then said in a pleasant tone, “It’s an honor for me to stand here and announce to you guys the latest research from the ILHCRC!

“After sacrificing countless hydrogen atoms, we have finally found the ghost that has been haunting us from the mysterious quantum world.

“The 750 GeV signal isn’t everything; it is only the part we are able to observe. Just like I initially guessed, its true body is hidden in the hyperspace, and it cannot be directly observed.”

There was a commotion in the lecture hall.

More than half of the audience, especially scholars from other research institutions, looked astonished. Although they had read the experimental data, most of them did not understand how Lu Zhou came to such a conclusive result.

In their opinions, the experimental data did not mean anything.

Lu Zhou noticed their expressions, and he continued to speak in a relaxed manner.

“Before I explain, I want to tell you a story.

“How can a person living in a two-dimensional world observe a sphere moving in the three-dimensional space?

“Mathematically, this is impossible.

“Two-dimensional creatures cannot observe the three-dimensional world, there is no doubt about it. If we are lucky, we can use a beam of light from the three-dimensional world and project the sphere onto the two-dimensional world. However, without the beam of light, we won’t have a means of observation. The only time we can observe the sphere is when it lands on the two-dimensional world.

“An infinitely small area of the sphere touches the plane. Although the area is negligible, we might feel something is there, but we can never truly grasp its existence.”

“This is how two-dimensional creatures are limited.” Lu Zhou’s voice gradually became more serious as he looked at the scholars in the audience. He said, “They will never know that the extremely small point in their own world actually corresponds to a three-dimensional sphere. Maybe the sphere is a giant planet or a tiny atom.”

“Think about this carefully, isn’t this terrifying? Maybe the basic particles we know are actually in a higher-dimensional world. In fact, they are actually something much bigger and much weirder than we had imagined.”

Lu Zhou looked at the front row audience and quietly waited for a while, giving them some time to digest the information.

After a while, he smiled and spoke.

“Of course, studying the nature of the universe is not the focus of this seminar.”

After that, Lu Zhou turned around and faced the whiteboard. He drew a circle on it, then drew a few lines, which were supposed to be light rays. He then drew a plane, in which the circle was projected on.

“For example, imagine if the light source shining on the surface of a paper is not perfectly perpendicular, but at an angle. Then the sphere would show itself to the creatures in a two-dimensional world. By studying the size of the projection shadow, one can calculate the distance of the sphere in the three-dimensional coordinate system and even calculate its physical properties according to its trajectory and speed. However, the 2D creatures won’t be able to see the sphere with their own eyes.

“And this is precisely what we did on the Lunar Hadron Collider!”

The audience gasped.

Most people looked even more astonished than before.

Lu Zhou continued to speak, “By doing multiple sets of experiments on the 1250 TeV, 1260 TeV, and 1300 TeV energy regions, we have collected more than enough data.

“Even though we can’t intuitively understand their existence, we can understand it in an abstract, mathematical sense.

“Just like I said in the beginning, mathematics doesn’t lie.”

Lu Zhou turned toward the whiteboard and wrote down a word.

[Zhou]

That was his name.

He also wrote a letter.

[Z]

“The Zhou particle, that’s the name.”

He looked at the silent seminar hall and smiled.

“For convenience sake, we’ll abbreviate it as ‘Z’.

“I will now use the experimental data to prove its existence.

“I will try to be as detailed as possible, but not everyone will be able to understand the process.

“So watch carefully.”

Chapter 1150: Physics Is Far Beyond the Standard Model

Chapter 1150 Physics Is Far Beyond the Standard Model

Lu Zhou turned around, and the pen in his hand began to dance on the whiteboard.

Lines of calculations appeared on the whiteboard, as if he were waving a magic wand.

[V1=(1/2)(mu+md)ΨΨ+(1/2)(mu-md)(uu-dd)]

[Mπ2=(1/2)(mu+md)u003c0|ΨΨ|0u003e/Fπ2]

[…]

Lu Zhou looked at the equations on the whiteboard. He smiled satisfactorily and nodded.

Not bad.

He felt like he was in the zone, as if he had stepped into a mysterious void, and that he was infinitely close to the end of truth.

Even though this sounded a little arrogant, it was what he truly felt.

Lu Zhou spent a few seconds savoring this moment before he took a deep breath and began to concentrate again. The tip of his pen began to move again; it was like his brain was connected to the universe…

The real difficulty regarding the elementary particle hidden in the hyperspace was in the abstract mathematical operations of the high-dimensional space.

When it came to physics, any equations involving higher dimensions became quite complicated.

The calculations involved were complex and esoteric.

Whether it was the logical operations or the numerical calculations, this was the ultimate test of a physicist’s mathematical skills.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou knew mathematics like the back of his hand.

The “mathematics Grand Unified Theory” was also of huge help. One could make the argument that it reduced the difficulty of the problem by a whole magnitude.

Most abstract things couldn’t be represented by graphical images at all. However, if they could be uniformly described in an intuitive mathematical form, everything would become much simpler.

Of course, this might be convenient for Lu Zhou, but for the vast majority of physicists who were not in the field of mathematics, especially those that did not understand the “mathematics Grand Unified Theory”, these steps did not seem so intuitive…

This was difficult, even for the experts.

Professor Frank Wilczek was sitting next to Witten, and when he looked at the whiteboard, he was completely fazed.

Honestly, mathematics had never been his strong suit. Only a few of his students were able to make achievements in mathematics.

If he were good at mathematics, he wouldn’t have collaborated with Lu Zhou, who was just an intern, on the 750 GeV project.

He resisted the urge to speak for a long time.

Finally, he couldn’t help but speak to Witten.

“What is he writing?”

Witten didn’t answer his friend’s question. He stared at the whiteboard with a solemn look in his eyes.

Unlike most other people, he was a Fields Medalist level expert in the fields of topology and partial differentiation. This made it easier to digest the theories that were being presented to him right now, albeit only slightly.

Maybe if he were a bit younger, it would be a bit easier. But now, just keeping up with Lu Zhou’s rhythm took almost all of his brainpower. Even though he wanted to answer Frank Wilczek’s question, he had no time.

In the blink of an eye, the whiteboard was full.

When the staff member began dragging another whiteboard from the side, Witten took the advantage and explained to his confused old friend.

“… Basically, he used an abstract mathematical method to build an extra-dimensional model similar to the ADD. This model has a dimension n and contains some strange properties… Let’s call it the Lu Zhou Mechanism. By using the experimental data obtained by the high-energy collider, he was able to test his model in higher dimensions. This explained the weird 750 GeV characteristic peak signal that appeared frequently, but it had an insufficient confidence level.”

Frank Wilczek was baffled. He scratched his head and replied, “What do I have to do to understand these things?”

Witten said in an uncertain tone, “Maybe read some books on algebraic geometry and the Principia Mathematica… Or maybe just give up, it might be too late.”

“… Jesus, when did mathematics become this difficult?”

Witten sighed and spoke.

“If you’re talking about algebraic geometry, it’s been like this since the middle of the previous century.”

A new whiteboard was dragged onto the stage.

Lu Zhou spent half a minute organizing his thoughts before he grabbed a pen and continued to write.

It was like he was reciting a beautiful poem; lines of obscure calculations were written on the whiteboard. Everyone in the audience was quiet; there wasn’t even a single sound in the venue.

Lu Zhou was completely immersed in his own universe. Even his breathing was synchronized with his writing.

The only sound in the venue was the pen squeaking on the whiteboard.

Time quickly went by.

The audience watched Lu Zhou intently.

In fact, even though these calculations might be a little too difficult to understand for most people, some people could still feel the brilliance.

Some people were suddenly enlightened.

Edward Witten squinted; a flash of excitement crossed his face.

The closer Lu Zhou got to the end of his proof, the more people began to understand the mystery written on the whiteboard.

Even though this was still difficult to interpret.

It was much easier than before.

Finally, he began to write down the last line on the whiteboard.

[Z =…]

Lu Zhou put down the marker and turned to face the silent lecture hall. He spoke in a calm and loud voice.

“I might have forgotten to mention that the argument regarding the existence of the Z particle was finished 27 lines ago. The last 27 lines is a proof regarding the properties of the Z particle I thought of just then. I’m quite surprised at myself; I thought I would have to spend a few weeks trying to solve it.”

Lu Zhou glanced at the whiteboard, then looked back at the audience. He suddenly smiled.

That smile was like the first ray of sunshine after a rainstorm. It seemed to have blown away all of the dark clouds hovering above people’s heads.

Perhaps being in a good mood made it easier to solve problems.

He paused for a second and continued, “Every object is made from atoms. When we first named this word, its meaning was the elementary particles that made up matter. In fact, as physics continues to advance, we soon discovered that atoms can be subdivided.

“Soon, we discovered electrons, neutrons, protons, followed by quarks, leptons, Higgs particles, etc.

“What would happen if we keep on dividing?

“I’m afraid that no one can answer this question at the moment. We can use phenomenological models such as the ADD to prove the existence of n-dimensional space, while M theory predicts that n=11, but we don’t know what exactly is in this space. We just know that in the three-dimensional world, the high dimensional object is a ‘string’ for us.

“Just like the sphere I mentioned in the beginning, if the 2D people only rely on their eyes, they will never understand what that infinitely small black dot is. Maybe the space above them is full of small spheres, and the shadows constitute the world that they observe.

“The same applies to the 3D space.

“The light we see, the air we breathe, the water we drink… Divide them infinitely many times, maybe we will end up with small black spots.

“This includes the Z particle. I don’t dare to say that what we see at the moment is its full form. Perhaps what I revealed is only a projection in an X-1 dimension. And that it has even greater hidden secrets behind the hyperspace.

“Perhaps this is the curse of being three-dimensional creatures.

“Perhaps when our civilization is advanced enough, when we can fully discover all of the dimensions of the universe, when we can observe the eleventh-dimensional ‘string’… At that time, we will be able to fully observe the small sphere and see a complete picture of the universe.”

Lu Zhou smiled again.

“As the final treat for this seminar, I will copy the great physicists and make a bold guess.

“Perhaps one day in the future, when our civilization becomes advanced enough, when the solar system can no longer provide enough energy for us…

“We will use the hyperspace to achieve interstellar navigation on the magnitude of light years. We will be able to travel across star systems and galaxies!”

There was no response from the audience.

Obviously, everyone was still in shock.

Lu Zhou felt a little disappointed at the fact that there was no applause. He was about to put down his marker, bow to the audience, and walk off stage.

However, he suddenly remembered something. He immediately turned around and looked at the whiteboard.

“… Almost forgot something important.”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly and wrote down one final line on the whiteboard.

[Z(n)= 0~1.25TeV, if and only if n=3, Z=750 GeV.]

“750 GeV is the energy it forms in three-dimensional space. Unsurprisingly, 1.25 TeV is the upper bound of its theoretical mass while its rest mass in a three-dimensional space is 0.

“Go ahead and try to prove me wrong! The data collected from the Lunar Hadron Collider supports this conclusion.

“And the last 27 lines of calculations deals with the mass of the Z particle. One day, we will build a more advanced collider, and you will see that I am correct.”

Lu Zhou placed the marker on the whiteboard tray and looked at the silent audience. He rested his hands on the podium as he spoke.

“As you guys can see, this particle is much heavier than what we had thought.

“It’s far heavier than the 750 GeV that we can observe.

“Physics is far beyond the Standard Model.

“Thank you.”

He bowed and walked down from the stage.

The second he turned around, thunderous applause flooded the venue…

Chapter 1151: Closer Than Ever Before to the Secrets of the Universe

Chapter 1151 Closer Than Ever Before to the Secrets of the Universe Edinburgh wasn’t the only place that rained heavily.It was almost like God was celebrating the success of the collider 360,000 kilometers away in space. The skies over New York City were covered with clouds, raining heavily in the early mornings.

As raindrops smashed onto the gray pavement, a man wearing a large jacket walked through the gate of Stony Brook University, crossed the road, and walked all the way to the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Professor Whittle was sitting in his office and drinking coffee. He had his back facing his desk as he looked at the rain outside his window, lost in thought.

He came to his office early in the morning, and he felt like he had forgotten something important, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what it was.

He took a sip of the coffee in his hand, and suddenly, he heard a knock outside his door. He turned around in his office chair and spoke.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

A wave of moist and cold air flew into the room. Professor Whittle looked at the drenched person standing at his door. He almost spilled the coffee out of his hand. He got up from his chair and spoke.

“Professor Browich, what happened?!”

The person standing in front of him was the president of the Brookhaven Science Associates and the head of the physics department at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Also, he was a professor of physics at Stony Brook University, an academician at the American National Academy of Sciences, and a Nobel Prize-level scholar…

Professor Browich stared at his colleague. He thought of the email from Peter Higgs with a bitter expression on his face.

His gulped as he spoke.

“We lost.”

“Lost… Lost what? Come on in, I’ll find you some spare clothes.”

Browich didn’t react to Professor Whittle’s kindness.

It was like he only came here to notify Whittle of the bad news. He shook his head, turned around, and walked away.

Professor Whittle looked at Professor Browich walking away. He was wondering what was going on when his heart suddenly dropped.

He finally remembered.

“… The ILHCRC seminar! Damn it!”

I knew I forgot something important!

He quickly logged onto the ILHCRC website.

I knew it!

The ILHCRC seminar is today!

Like usual, the video of the seminar was uploaded to the ILHCRC website.

After watching the video for ten minutes, his pupils began to shrink.

What surprised him was not the equations Lu Zhou wrote on the whiteboard. He couldn’t understand them anyway.

Rather, it was the solemn expressions of the physicists sitting in the front row, and the applause from the audience when Professor Lu announced ILHCRC’s major discovery of the “Zhou particle”.

His heart almost missed a beat.

Professor Whittle felt dizzy; he felt like he was losing his vision.

He didn’t know what kind of feeling this was.

But one thing for certain was that this was not excitement.

His worst nightmares came true…

…

Coincidentally, at the Department of Physics at Syracuse University, which was more than two hundred kilometers away from the Brookhaven National Laboratory, a female researcher cursed to herself. She smashed her keyboard violently. Her colleague who was sitting nearby was baffled.

This was only a small fraction of the chaos caused by that seminar.

After the scholars who followed this area of physics saw the seminar video on the ILHCRC, they were all astounded in disbelief.

This was a particle that weighed up to 1.25 TeV!

A superheavy particle with a mass ten times heavier than the Higgs particle!

More importantly, this particle was not included in the Standard Model!

If what Lu Zhou said was true, and this elementary particle corresponded to a higher-dimensional part of atoms, then this would hugely impact the research on the gravitational force and mass-energy.

The scene at the ILHCRC was even more chaotic.

People rushed to the front of the stage, not just the reporters, but also the physicists who eagerly wanted to ask questions.

Some people wanted to take a closer photo of the whiteboard, some wanted to catch up to Lu Zhou and ask him questions, while others… didn’t know what they wanted to do.

It was like everyone had gone crazy.

A reporter withstood the force from the crowd and struggled as he spoke in front of a camera.

“… This is February the 3rd, 10 o’clock Beijing time. Chinese physicist Professor Lu Zhou just announced their latest findings regarding the Lunar Hadron Collider particle physics experiments at the ILHCRC. This superheavy particle, which is said to be from a higher-dimensional world, is named the “Zhou particle”, or “Z particle” for short.

“A few days ago, according to Peter Higgs, professor at the University of Edinburgh, the discovery of this particle will be the greatest particle physics experiment ever. And that it will give us a better picture of the universe, expanding our horizon by a whole dimension.

“According to the prediction made by Professor Lu Zhou at the end of his seminar, the discovery of this particle might provide a theoretical basis for the faster than light travel between stars… The live scene is in chaos. We are trying to contact Professor Lu… Excuse me, sorry, coming through—

“— This is BBC News.”

It was impossible for him to get closer to Lu Zhou.

Through the camera lens, the audience at home could see how chaotic the scene was.

As for Lu Zhou, he went through a staff-dedicated elevator down to the garage, got into his car, and left ILHCRC headquarters.

This was Wang Peng’s suggestion.

It was difficult to avoid accidents in crowded places. In order to stop the chaos from expanding, he should avoid crowds.

In any case, regardless of whether or not everyone was satisfied with the outcome, this day was a historic day for the physics community.

Seven years later, the exploration of the 750 GeV characteristic peak finally came to an end.

Humans had finally discovered an unexplored world.

They were closer than ever before to the secrets of the universe.

As for whether or not the Zhou particle would become the key for faster than light travel…

Only time could tell…

Chapter 1152: The Guaranteed Honor

Chapter 1152 The Guaranteed Honor

The most important number for the physics world in the year 2023 was the number “1.25”.

The research on particle physics had always stagnated when it came to the proof of the existence of high-dimensional space. According to the ADD phenomenological model’s explanation of gravity and other forces, the world we observed was only a part of the higher dimensions. The electrons, protons, photons, and other particles in the Standard Model could not enter the higher-dimension, only gravitational field lines could.

The discovery of the Z particle gave a new explanation for the theory based on the phenomenological model.

The world we saw was only a fragment of the higher-dimensional space, the electrons, protons, photons, and other particles in the Standard Model might only be 3D projections of other particles in the higher-dimensional space.

If this conclusion were true, it would be able to explain the prediction made by the physics community that “Newton’s inverse square law will deviate in the submillimeter range”. When two objects were separated by mere sub-millimeters, the gravitational relationship between them no longer accurately followed the inverse square law.

And this was only one of the many conclusions caused by the Z particle.

After the discovery of this superheavy high-dimensional particle, the entire physics community was taken into a whole new world. This was exactly what excited physicists.

It was like they had just discovered an undeveloped continent, which was filled with countless treasures…

This sensational event in the field of physics had even caught the attention of the general public.

Because of the “Easter egg” prediction made at the end of the seminar, even the public was shocked by Lu Zhou’s seminar.

Faster than light travel!

This had always been considered impossible.

Although the general public didn’t know how Lu Zhou was able to make such a bold prediction, the thought of the future possibilities made people feel excited.

They wondered what the universe light-years away could be like?

Many people began to think about this problem seriously.

So far, the debate about the 750 GeV characteristic peak had finally come to an end. The voices that once violently opposed ILHCRC’s experiments finally disappeared.

Lu Zhou spent two days summarizing the content of the seminar and turned it into a paper. This paper was published in the latest issue of the main issue Future journal issue.

The other two top journals “Science” and “Nature” also included this paper in their “highlights” section. Nobel Prize-level scholars in this area of research also reviewed the paper.

Generally speaking, only the most important research results received this level of attention.

The Z particle was undoubtedly the most important physics discovery of the decade; the physics community was about to get busy…

…

California Institute of Technology.

An old man with a gray beard was holding a journal issue in his hand and a pen in the other. He sat quietly at his desk, doing meticulous calculations on a piece of draft paper.

When he got to the third page of the journal, he had an astonished look on his face.

After a while, he finally spoke.

“… This is amazing.

“The way he applied mathematics to physics.

“… What a genius!”

His name was Barry Barish. He was the projector director of the LIGO program and a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology.

The person standing near his bookshelf wasn’t a nobody either.

His name was Kip Thorne. He was currently a professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. He was also one of the world’s top leaders in the field of astrophysics and general relativity. He was also a scientific consultant for the film “Interstellar”.

These two people, as well as Rainer Weiss, won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on gravitational waves. They split the 9 million Swedish kronor prize among themselves.

Thorne looked at Barish and said, “Everyone knows he’s a genius, I’m more surprised that you actually understood his mathematical argument.”

“Although it’s a bit difficult, after reading it a few times, I have a rough understanding.” Barish took off his reading glasses and rubbed his sore eyes. He said, “I happened to have studied his unified theory of algebra and geometry, so I have a small amount of foundation.”

Thorne said, “You actually read that thing?”

“A lot of physics students at the California Institute of Technology are autodidacts. Us old folks have to learn to keep up with the times, or we will be surpassed by the young generation.” Barish continued with a smile, “Of course, I mainly research gravitational waves. Whenever we have any new progress in mathematical physics, someone can always apply it to particle physics.”

“Then what progress did you make?”

Barish coughed.

“All great discoveries take a long time… These things can’t be rushed.”

“You’re right, but sometimes they are, like in this case.” Thorne sighed and said, “The Brookhaven National Laboratory must be worried. They voluntarily withdrew from a large-scale scientific research project that has more than 50 research institutes participating. Now their name won’t be mentioned in the paper.”

Barry Barish smiled and said, “And mainly because their mouth was too big. If it were me, even if I wasn’t optimistic about the 750 GeV characteristic peak experiment, I wouldn’t withdraw instantly.”

Of course, he was speaking in hindsight.

Thorne: “What do you think they will do?”

“They will deal with the person in charge, and maybe try to deal with the damage? Lu Zhou and the ILHCRC’s reputations are at the peak. I’m sure even if Lu Zhou fires his board members, there will still be a large number of physicists that will follow him.”

Thorne couldn’t help but say, “… Can no one stop him?”

Barish gave him a strange look.

“Why would anyone stop him? Think about how many people who have never achieved something in their fields. If he’s discovering a new world of physics for us, why not let him continue?”

There were only two names in the history of physics that achieved as much as Lu Zhou.

Unless something went terribly wrong…

Otherwise, there was nothing that could stop him.

Lu Zhou was almost like a god in physics. If he believed there was the existence of a particle, the particle would be there.

“You’re right.” Thorne sighed and said, “Speaking of which, he has never won a Nobel Prize before, right? I remember…”

Barry Barish shook his head and said, “You’re wrong, he won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I think it was regarding the electrochemistry interface structure.”

Thorne couldn’t help but say, “This guy is insane…”

Barish smiled and said, “I don’t disagree. A few months ago, he came up with the Grand Unified Theory of mathematics. Then, a few months later, he applied it to his hyperspace theory on the Zhou particle. If there was a Nobel Prize in Mathematics, I’m sure he would win it every year.”

Thorne: “I think his achievement is worth two physics Nobel Prizes… Not to mention the electrostrong interaction.”

When Barish heard this, he made eye contact with Thorne.

These two had been working side by side in research for years. They immediately understood what each other was thinking.

“I plan on voting for him.”

“Looks like we have the same idea.”

Even though winning two Nobel Prizes were unrealistic, winning one was almost certain.

This year happened to be an odd number year, which meant the Nobel Prize in Physics would be awarded to the particle physics field.

And the discovery of the Z particle was undoubtedly the most significant physics discovery of the year.

If this achievement wasn’t worthy of this honor, what was?

There was no doubt Lu Zhou would be awarded with this honor.

Chapter 1153: Physics Level Eight!

1153 Physics Level Eight! Inside a Zhongshan International mansion.

Lu Zhou was sitting in his study room, video calling Xiao Tong. A cheerful voice came from his phone.

“Brother! I heard you made another big discovery!”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and spoke.

“Even you heard about this?”

Xiao Tong was happy for her brother, and she spoke with a smug smile.

“Of course! Everyone in Princeton is talking about this.”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

Even though he expected this to happen, hearing about this in person made him somewhat embarrassed.

Lu Zhou coughed and changed the subject.

“How are you doing over there? How are your studies?”

“It’s pretty good, it’s just boring to be away from the city. I’m either in my apartment or in the library. My friend drives us to the supermarket on the weekends. That’s pretty much all I do.”

“You didn’t buy a car?”

“No, I don’t like driving.” Xiao Tong shook her head and suddenly remembered something, so she said, “Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, Professor Krugman told me to say hello to you. He also said that he made some progress on his future prediction model, and he only needs one outstanding mathematician—”

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he paused for a second and spoke.

“… He still hasn’t given up?”

Xiao Tong scratched her head awkwardly.

“Haha… I don’t think so.”

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and said, “Then say hello to Professor Krugman for me.”

“What about the research project?”

Lu Zhou took a sip of Coca-Cola and spoke.

“I’ll consider it when I’m less busy.”

Xiao Tong knew that was just a polite way of saying no.

“Okay then, I understand.”

The two then chatted for a while, mainly about their lives and parents. After Xiao Tong told Lu Zhou that their parents were in good health, Xiao Tong hung up the call and went to sleep.

It was daytime in China, but it was already late into the night in America.

Xiao Tong looked relaxed on the surface, and she didn’t complain about her studies to Lu Zhou. However, Lu Zhou could tell that she was under a lot of pressure.

Sigh, my little sis…

The siblings had the exact same personality; they both didn’t want to be a burden on others.

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He put his phone aside.

It feels nice to be on a break.

Lu Zhou knew that countless people would be trying to contact him about this in person. He wisely hid in his home while taking a short break. He didn’t speak to anyone unless it was something important.

As for the ILHCRC, he threw all of the responsibilities to Luo Wenxuan.

This included preparing for the next board meeting and discussing the next research project. Lu Zhou already brought him to the last meeting, so this time he wanted Luo Wenxuan to take full responsibility.

If Luo Wenxuan couldn’t do something as easy as this, then it was a waste of time for Lu Zhou to mentor him.

The research on the 750 GeV had finally come to an end, and his paper had already been submitted to Future. He took a few days off and gave himself a deserved break.

Speaking of which…

He had been on a break for almost a week, and it was time to think about the next step.

Lu Zhou put down the Coke can and lay on his couch. He closed his eyes and summoned the system.

When he opened his eyes again, his consciousness was inside a pure white space. He stood in front of a translucent holographic panel.

A line of blue text also appeared on the holographic panel.

[Congratulations, user, for mission completion!

[Mission: Exotic Particle

[Description: The completion of the Lunar Hadron Collider will go down in history as a highlight of human civilization. It is akin to a huge telescope, but rather than observing the stars, it is discovering the mystery behind what creates the stars…

[Requirement: Discover a new particle

[Reward: 1 million physics experience points. 10,000 general points. Purple “legendary mission”.]

A million physics experience points!

I’m getting closer and closer to the “Future Era”.

As Lu Zhou looked at the mission pop-up windows, he reached out and pressed on his characteristic panel.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 8 (13,215/3 million)

C. Biochemistry: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

D. Engineering: Level 6 (10,000/600,000)

E. Materials science: Level 6 (163,000/600,000)

F. Energy science: Level 4 (0/200,000)

G. Information science: Level 4 (0/200,000)

General points: 34,335

]

Just like he had expected, his physics level went from level 7 to level 8. He only had two levels left.

However, when he saw the 3 million experience points requirement, he felt a little hopeless.

What kind of research achievement will give me this many experience points…

Lu Zhou thought for a long time and wasn’t able to think of anything.

Before this, he thought it was difficult to level up in mathematics. But now that he started to specialize in physics, he realized that the difficulty had only just begun.

At least he had a general idea of what area he should research in mathematics. However, physics had a much higher degree of uncertainty. The cutting-edge theories were all conjectures. No one knew what theories would be overthrown and what theories would be discovered.

For example, M theory and supersymmetry theory, these two theories had dominated the cutting-edge research of theoretical physics ever since the middle of the last century. People were still researching whether they were correct or not.

After all, they had been trying to find supersymmetry particles for decades, yet they had barely made any progress.

The only good news was that after he reached mathematics level 10, any kind of physics calculation was a piece of cake to him.

When he was researching the Z particle, his mathematics ability was a huge help for him. If he wasn’t level 10 in mathematics, he might have not been able to solve this problem, at least not within a month.

“I have to keep working hard…”

Lu Zhou opened his inventory and looked at the shiny purple “legendary mission” card in front of him. It was like the card was made from diamonds; it was like a work of art.

Even though he knew the card did not actually exist, he still appreciated the aesthetics.

He was looking forward to the rewards from this mission card.

But the purple card is at least a level lower than the gold one, right?

I wonder what mission it will give me.

Lu Zhou reached out and pressed the mission card.

The card dispersed into tiny shiny particles, and the particles danced around in the air before it formed a pop-up window.

[Mission: Exploring The Legacy

[Description: People are narrow-minded. Even those that have climbed to the top of the mountain still need to use the wisdom of others to find what they have overlooked.

[Requirements: Collect the relics of Professor Grothendieck.

[Reward: Random experience card. One lucky draw ticket. Void Memory B2.]

Overlooked?

Faced with this new mission, Lu Zhou was surprised.

For some reason, he felt like the system was trying to tell him something…

Chapter 1154: I Have Been Keeping Something From You Guys

1154 I Have Been Keeping Something From You Guys After Lu Zhou left the system space, he stood up from his couch. He was about to call Professor Carlson from the Clay Institute when he received a message on his phone.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have guests.(^∇^*)]

Guests?

Who would visit me at this time?

Lu Zhou was a little suspicious. He went into his closet and put on some clothes, then walked to his front door.

Director Li was standing in his driveway. He was about to ring the doorbell when the front gate opened, giving way to a path leading to the front door.

Lu Zhou was standing in front of his door, and he spoke with a smile.

“Director Li? What brings you here?”

Director Li said with a smile, “I heard you came back from Shanghai. So I’m here to see you. Come, let’s talk inside.”

Director Li casually walked inside his house.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

Why do I feel like I’m supposed to be the one inviting you inside…

Lu Zhou went to the kitchen and brought a cup of coffee and a cup of tea into the living room. He sat on the sofa across from Director Li.

He was about to ask Director Li why he came all the way from Beijing, but Director Li spoke first.

“Every time I come here, I always want to ask about your front gate facial recognition technology, what if it makes a mistake?”

Don’t worry, Xiao Ai doesn’t make mistakes.

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“The facial technology is quite advanced… Anyway, what are you here for?”

He didn’t believe that this guy came all the way to Jinling just to say hello.

Director Li smiled and said, “Are you busy at the moment?”

“Not busy… Or maybe, why?”

Actually, ever since the Zhou particle research project was finished, Lu Zhou had been taking a break. He even planned on taking a vacation in France.

However, when he saw Director Li’s suspicious smile, he had second thoughts.

He had known this old man for years, so he recognized that smile.

He knew Director Li wanted something from him.

Director Li spoke honestly.

“Fine, I’ll just give it to you straight. Here’s the thing… Remember at the end of last year, you said you had something good planned? Can you tell me what it is now?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Something good?

What thing?

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and spoke.

“That happened?”

Director Li was worried, so he quickly said, “Yeah, it did! Don’t you remember? At the end of last year when I came to the ILHCRC, you told me about this. You even said it was a secret.”

Lu Zhou immediately remembered what happened, and he smiled awkwardly.

Oh right, that did happen.

But honestly, he was thinking about the 30,000 general points he would have after completing the mission. He could use these general points to buy a lot of awesome things. He mainly said that as a joke.

Last time he used the general points to exchange for the virtual reality technology, but he didn’t know what he should buy this time.

“Oh yeah, that thing. Let me think… How could I have forgotten such an important thing,” Lu Zhou said. Director Li was dumbfounded. Lu Zhou continued, “But scientific research takes a long time. I have to do some preparations, but I’ll tell you later.”

Director Li was baffled. He said, “Academician Lu, that’s a little… cruel. At least tell me what it is?”

I don’t know what it is either!

Lu Zhou obviously wouldn’t say that out loud.

“Due to various reasons, I have to keep this a secret. Just… wait patiently; I won’t make you wait too long.”

Lu Zhou immediately changed the conversation topic. He smiled and said, “Oh yeah, I plan on taking a trip to France, can you… arrange the trip for me?”

Director Li: “…”

This is the first time I’ve seen Lu Zhou ask for something so directly…

…

It was February in Paris. Even though winter was technically over, there was still a wave of chilliness in the air. Most of the pedestrians were wearing puffer jackets and scarves.

Especially in the quieter suburbs.

The quiet streets outside made it feel even colder.

However, this was the perfect environment for Molina.

She was wearing a black wool jacket and standing in front of a painting inside a rustic house.

“Almost thirty years…”

This was the only thing she said all day. She continued to speak at the painting.

“Please, tell me, what should I do next…”

She spent seven years battling Riemann’s hypothesis.

Even though she knew hard work did not guarantee success, she was prepared to spend the rest of her life on this problem. However, everything ended so abruptly.

That’s right.

Everything was over.

She didn’t know how to feel human again.

She couldn’t see a single sliver of her own results in the final proof by Lu Zhou; it was like all of her hard work was for nothing.

When Lu Zhou wrote down those calculations on the whiteboard, he looked so natural and casual. It felt like she had wasted the past seven years of her life.

After she left St. Petersburg and returned to France, she locked herself in this house. She did not return to Princeton or contacted her friends at Princeton. She asked the dean for a long vacation and disappeared from the mathematics world.

Does the mathematics world even need me?

This thought constantly lingered in her mind.

After all, the results she created were all trivial…

An old man in a nightgown standing at the top of the stairs looked at his granddaughter from behind. There was a sliver of guilt in his eyes.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally clenched his teeth and said, “… There’s been something I’ve been hiding from you.”

Without turning her head, Molina spoke with a calm voice.

“… If you’re talking about the thing between you and our neighbor Anissa, you don’t have to tell me, we all know.”

“No, not that.” The old man blushed and went silent for a long time. Finally, he said, “… Our family is not the descendant of Niels Henrik Abel.”

When Molina heard her grandfather, she had a warm look in her eyes.

“I know you’re just trying to comfort me, but I’m fine, so don’t worry about me.”

Grandfather: “… No, I’m telling the truth.”

She made eye contact with her grandfather.

Molina froze.

When she saw that the old man wasn’t joking around, she realized that he wasn’t trying to comfort her.

She gulped and spoke with a trembling voice.

“… What do you mean?”

The old man nodded and spoke without hesitating.

“I was going to take this secret to the grave. Our family has nothing to do with Mr. Abel. My grandfather and father have never been to Norway, nor have I… Actually, I planned on going there when I first retired, but in the end, I gave up.”

Molina: “But my name…”

“My last name is Abel… But don’t you know how many people in France have that last name? There were two people with the last name Abel in my middle school class. Abel only lived to his twenties, he was never married. As a mathematician, how are you unaware of this?”

Molina looked like she was going crazy. She looked back at the oil painting with her pupils expanded.

“Then this oil painting is fake? What about the notebooks in the storage room…”

The old man was full of guilt as he said, “Those things are not fake… After all, it’s not a famous artist, so it’s not worth much. The incomprehensible mathematics notebooks, I bought them from a collector when I was young. I originally planned on donating it to a museum, but in the end, I kept it for myself.”

Molina took a step back and shook her head. She looked at her grandfather with a devastating expression. “… I don’t get it, why did you lie to me?”

Why did you lie to me for so long?

“Back in the day, your father had poor math grades, so I pointed to the oil painting and told him that he’s an embarrassment to the Abel name. Then I don’t know what happened, his math grades suddenly improved. I was confused at first, but things were going well. Until one day, he asked me if our family was a descendant of Professor Abel… I didn’t want to break his heart.”

The old man looked at his granddaughter, and his eyes were full of shame. He sighed heavily and spoke.

“It turns out that there is no such thing as a white lie in this world. A lie is a lie. No matter how perfect the lie is, you will eventually have to pay the price. Sorry, I didn’t expect this to happen…

“I understand if you hate me.”

As Molina looked at the painting on the wall, it was like her heart was broken into pieces and her world was collapsing…

Chapter 1155: Visiting Paris

Chapter 1155 Visiting Paris On the first Wednesday of February, a white plane landed at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.On the plane, a kind old man spoke to a handsome young man.

“Academician Lu, please go ahead.”

“Oh, no, no, you go first.”

Lu Zhou thought of the security at the airport and panicked.

No, not exactly panic.

He just wasn’t good at dealing with politicians.

The old man looked at Lu Zhou and smiled.

“No, you go first, the people at the airport are waiting for us.”

Seeing how the old man insisted, Lu Zhou had no choice but to walk forward.

Lu Zhou only asked Director Li to help him buy a plane ticket, maybe get him on a diplomatic plane.

He didn’t expect Director Li to arrange for him to be on this flight.

This old man was none other than the Chinese president, the person he frequently exchanged emails with.

Apparently, this visit was for the completion of the nuclear fusion power station in Cadarache and cooperation on the silk road.

When the high-level government officials heard that Lu Zhou was going to France, they arranged for Lu Zhou to be on the same flight.

During the flight, the two talked about mathematics, physics, computer chips, nuclear engineering, and aerospace.

Lu Zhou wanted to sleep for the whole flight. But the President kept asking him question after question. He didn’t want to be rude either, so he kept conversing.

Fortunately, he was able to take a four-hour nap before he got off the plane. Otherwise, he would not be able to keep his eyes open.

He was about to walk off the airstair when someone stopped him.

“Sir, please wait a second.”

The flight attendant on the plane reached out and fixed his collar, which got wrinkled when he was sleeping. She had a professional smile on her face.

“That’s more handsome.”

“… Thank you.”

Lu Zhou felt like the flight attendant looked at him a certain way.

It was almost like she was a big carnivore and he was a giant piece of meat.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel proud.

Sigh, this is the downside of being too handsome.

Like he expected, the airport had a magnificent welcoming crowd. A long red carpet was laid in front of the airstair, and men in suits stood on both sides of the red carpet.

In addition to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, the French president was also here.

“Welcome to France, Academician Lu…” A tall, well-built man in a suit reached out his hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Lu Zhou shook the French president’s hand and spoke politely.

“Thank you, nice to meet you too.”

The man had a smile on his face as he spoke.

“I’ve heard many stories about you. Judging by your accomplishments, I thought you were going to be an old man. I didn’t expect you to be this young.”

Lu Zhou replied humbly, “Oh, you’re too kind.”

Since this was a political occasion, after the French president made some small talk with Lu Zhou, he changed his focus to the Chinese president, who was walking down the airstairs.

Lu Zhou finally sighed. He felt a huge pressure was lifted off his shoulders.

It wasn’t like he was nervous.

He did reports at major international events and summits. He had been around the block. Even if there were twice the amount of people here, it wouldn’t affect him.

However, the problem was that right now, he didn’t only represent himself; he was a representative of the entire Chinese scientific researcher community and even a national image of China.

He had such a huge amount of pressure riding on him…

…

In addition to the grand airport ceremony, there was also a national-level banquet waiting for them in the evening.

The state banquet was held in the presidential palace, and the meals were prepared by the legendary French presidential kitchen staff.

Lu Zhou was actually quite looking forward to attending this banquet. However, when the dishes actually arrived, he felt like it was no different from the French restaurants he had eaten from before.

In his opinion, each dish was only slightly smaller and more sophisticated.

What gave him the biggest impression was the French grilled snail.

Not because it was tasty, but because he had never eaten it before…

Of course, it tasted quite well.

After all, none of the dishes would be here if they weren’t delicious.

The banquet was held in quite a relaxed atmosphere.

It seemed like the French politicians knew Lu Zhou was not particularly fond of discussing politics. They even arranged an academician from the French Academy of Sciences to chat with him.

At the end of the banquet, before Lu Zhou was going to return to his hotel, a French Ministry of Foreign Affairs official found him and spoke to him politely.

“Academician Lu, I heard you plan on visiting Mr. Grottendick’s former residence?”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“I do have this idea. Unfortunately, I’ve never met this great man, but academically speaking, it’s almost like he’s my father.”

“Professor Grothendieck was indeed a respectable scholar. Whether it’s his attitude toward conflict or his pursuit of truth, he was respected by countless people.” The French official smiled and continued in a friendly tone, “If you want to, we can arrange a dedicated car and security team for you. You’ll be able to go wherever you want in France.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“That would be fantastic.”

It was night time.

After a busy day, Lu Zhou finally arrived at his hotel.

After he went into his room, he took a shower and lay on his bed. He didn’t want to move at all.

Before he fell asleep, he picked up his phone and checked the news for a while.

As expected, he saw a picture of himself shaking hands with the French president.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.

It seemed like he was constantly on the news over the past two weeks.

The sensation of the Z particle had yet to die down, and the public was still debating on whether it would win this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. And now, he was involved in China’s diplomatic visit to France.

Lu Zhou was about to throw his phone on the bedside table and go to sleep when a message suddenly popped up on his screen.

[You’re in Paris?]

When Lu Zhou saw this message, he paused for a second and clicked on his Facebook messenger app, an app he rarely used. The people he added here were mainly friends he met when he was studying and working in Princeton. However, he rarely talked to those people on Facebook anymore, and most of the time, they communicated by email.

What surprised him even more was that this message came from Molina.

The last message was a “Happy New Year” message.

That message was from more than a year ago.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before typing a reply.

[I’m here, why?]

Molina: [Go out, let’s grab a drink.]

Lu Zhou: “…”

What is she talking about?

I mean, I think her family is in France.

But when did Princeton give her so many vacation days?

Without saying anything, Lu Zhou lifted his phone and sent a picture of the view outside his window.

After a while, he received a message.

Molina: [… What is this?]

Lu Zhou: [… Do you think I can sneak out of here without being bombarded by reporters?]

The reporters couldn’t enter the hotel.

But anything outside the hotel was fair game.

Sneaking out of the hotel in the middle of the night to grab drinks with a pretty lady…

Even though he and Molina were just platonic, academic friends, no one would believe him.

Molina: “…”

Lu Zhou sighed. He didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings. He typed a message and sent it.

[What if you come over?]

Molina: [Send your location.]

Lu Zhou shared his location through the app.

Paris was a huge city with a lot of traffic. Lu Zhou thought she would probably not want to travel this far.

It wasn’t worth it to drive ten kilometers just to have a few drinks.

However, after he shared his location, he didn’t receive a reply.

Lu Zhou froze.

The f*ck?

Is this chick actually coming?

Chapter 1156: Professor Abel“s Notes

Chapter 1156 Professor Abel“s Notes In fact, Lu Zhou’s intuition was correct.For some reason, this crazy girl Molina was downstairs at his hotel.

She came all the way here, so Lu Zhou didn’t want to ditch her. He took her to the bar on the second floor of the hotel.

Unlike most bars, this five-star hotel’s own bar was more like a restaurant. It mainly served business people, so it had a modern and elegant decoration. The music playing in the bar was also more sophisticated, mainly classical music.

Of course, the drinks served in normal bars were also served here, except that they weren’t written on the menu.

Lu Zhou ordered a bacon burger and a German beer. He then watched Molina order and drink one colorful cocktail after another.

He couldn’t help but say something.

“Hey, take it easy, you’re going to kill your last brain cell.”

Judging by the way she was drinking the cocktails, she was obviously a lightweight.

“My treat.”

“That’s not what I’m saying… But if you insist on treating me, you’re welcome to do so.”

Molina: “Then why are you stopping me from drinking?”

Lu Zhou: “It looks like you’re trying to get plastered.”

With a cup in her hand, Molina frowned and spoke with a headache.

“… What? Plastic?”

Sh*t, it’s too late.

She’s already wasted.

Lu Zhou sighed.

“… Nothing.”

After downing her drink, Molina had a confused look in her eyes.

She stared at the bar counter, then looked at Lu Zhou. She suddenly spoke.

“Today, I found out…”

Lu Zhou took a bite of his burger and spoke.

“Found out what?”

After hesitating for a long time, Molina suddenly sighed and put her cup down on the table.

“… Nothing.”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Are you teasing me?

Molina took out a handbag and placed it on the table.

“This is yours.”

Lu Zhou: “… What is this?”

“The things from my… an-ancestor Professor Abel; they’re mainly his notes. By the way, there are a few pages with some lines drawn on them with a ballpoint pen… I accidentally drew them as a child, hope you don’t mind.”

For some reason, Molina struggled to say the word “ancestor”. Lu Zhou wasn’t sure if it was because she was drunk or because of other reasons.

Lu Zhou looked at the handbag on the table and hesitated.

“… Are you sure you want to give something so important to me?”

Molina took a sip of the cocktail. She slammed the empty glass on the table and spoke.

“It’s fine, I don’t need them anymore… Anyway, they’re just messy notes.”

Lu Zhou looked at Molina’s face and went silent for a while. He sighed and spoke.

“… I’ll take this for the time being. If you want them back, feel free to just message me.”

“Don’t worry, that won’t happen, seeing these things only upset me… I have to go to the washroom.”

Molina downed the final glass of cocktail. She leaned on the table and struggled as she tried to stand up.

However, before she was able to stand up straight, her legs bent, and she fell back onto her chair.

Her head slammed onto the table. Lu Zhou looked at her unconscious body. He was dumbfounded.

She’s passed out?

Even though he knew this was going to happen, this happened too suddenly.

As Lu Zhou looked at Molina, he was speechless.

What happened to buy me drinks?

Now I’m the one paying the tab.

“… Whatever, since you gave me this gift, I’ll take care of this one.”

Lu Zhou looked at the handbag on the table and sighed. He reached out and pressed the button on the table, which called for the waiter.

Even though all of the expenses in the hotel could be added to his room tab, he was not the kind of person who liked to take advantage of the taxpayers’ money. He took out his card and took care of the bill.

The waiter looked at Molina lying on the table. He smiled and spoke.

“Sir, should I help move her into the room?”

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, “Yeah, thank you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lu Zhou suddenly looked at the waiter’s mischievous smile. He coughed and spoke.

“What I mean is, check her into another room… Also, can you find two waitresses to carry her there?”

The waiter immediately looked apologetic.

“Sorry, and yes, sir.”

…

After flying for thousands of kilometers, Lu Zhou wanted to go to bed early. However, after eating a burger and drinking a full glass of beer, he was too full to go to sleep.

Even after lying on his bed and tossing around for a long time, he didn’t feel sleepy at all. Lu Zhou decided to take out the notes in the handbag and began reading them.

The notes were quite confusing, and it wasn’t exactly research notes. It was more like daily inspirations mixed with mathematical drafts.

Although he also had the habit of writing down his inspirations, he was still different from what Professor Abel did. He never mixed his academic writing with his diary writing.

Professor Abel seemed to be a more casual person. Not only did he like to mix his thoughts on poverty and life with mathematical content, but he also seemed to be quite concerned about the political situation in Spain.

This reminded him of an old friend, Professor Tao, who taught at the University of California. These two were really very similar in this regard. The difference was that one of them wrote in a notebook and the other wrote on their personal online blog.

When Lu Zhou opened one of the diaries, on one page, Professor Abel wrote about his wallet being stolen while riding a train. On the next page, he wrote his thoughts on the proposition that “general algebraic equations higher than fourth degree have no general algebraic solutions”.

This proposition, which was taken for granted in this day and age, was equivalent to a Millennium Prize Problem back in the day. It had a far longer history than Riemann’s conjecture, and it plagued mathematicians for two and a half centuries.

It was worth mentioning that this proposition was solved by Abel in 1824. Judging from the date at the footer of the diary, he wrote these notes at the end of 1823.

As for Riemann’s hypothesis…

Dr. Riemann, who was born in a small town in the Kingdom of Hanover, proposed his famous hypothesis two years later. It would take another twenty years before he switched from theology and philosophy to mathematics.

In fact, mathematics in the 19th century was nowhere near today’s standards.

Lu Zhou knew that, even for a genius like Abel, due to the limitations back then, he was unlikely to leave behind any amazing discoveries.

However, although it was unlikely to discover new mathematical theorems or propositions through these notes, as a great mathematician of his era, his mathematical ideas were still worth exploring.

He might even be able to find something interesting.

Lu Zhou was also curious about what this short-lived genius researched during the last years of his life.

Lu Zhou flipped through the page, and suddenly, he stopped.

“This is…”

There was a sketch; he didn’t know if it was drawn with a charcoal pencil or a lead pencil.

Stone pillars were planted on the ground…

When Lu Zhou saw this drawing, his pupils shrank.

This drawing!

I’ve seen it before!

But not in the form of a painting…

Chapter 1157: Unexpected Clue

Chapter 1157 Unexpected Clue

A ray of sunlight pierced through the window, shining on Molina’s face. She let out a moan as she woke up dizzily from her sleep.

She felt like there was a bomb stuffed inside her brain. She was almost going to cry.

She took a sip of water from the cup on the bedside table. This slightly eased the pain. She scratched her head, then leaned her head on her hand as she tried to recall what happened yesterday.

She couldn’t remember the details.

She could only remember that after she gave her notes to Lu Zhou, she stood up from the table, then… Oh right, she was drinking.

She slowly began to piece together her memory.

However, she could only remember blurry fragments.

However, even though she couldn’t remember what happened after she was drunk, she wasn’t worried about what happened to her.

After all, she had been friends with Lu Zhou for over seven years. She knew exactly what kind of person Lu Zhou was. Lu Zhou was the type to think with his brain, not think with his…

This was why she felt so safe drinking with him.

Suddenly, Molina froze.

She looked at herself in the mirror as she touched her neck.

“…”

Where did my clothes go???

…

Lu Zhou was interrupted by a doorbell. He rubbed his eyebrows and closed the notebook he was reading. He stuffed the notebook into his jacket pocket and opened the door.

When he saw Molina standing at the door, he paused for a second and spoke.

“Hey, you woke up pretty early—”

“What did you do to me last night?!”

Lu Zhou looked at Molina with a strange look.

“I read the notes all night… The things written on there are pretty interesting. Oh yeah, by the way, are those sketches drawn by Professor Abel himself, or did you draw them?”

“Sketches? I didn’t draw anything… Wait, you didn’t answer my question!”

Molina’s look of confusion was replaced by murderous eyes. Lu Zhou looked at her and spoke.

“Didn’t I answer? I read the notes all night… What did you expect me to say?”

Molina clenched her teeth, blushed, and spoke.

“… What about my clothes?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

What about your clothes?

Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed the clothes she was wearing today were different than the ones she was wearing yesterday.

However, he didn’t think this was too strange.

“The hotel staff probably washed it.”

“… You, you changed my clothes?”

Lu Zhou looked at her red face and spoke.

“Why would I do that?”

What if you vomit on me?

This reminded Lu Zhou of his dorm roommate, who was also a lightweight drinker. Lu Zhou and two other people would have to carry this person back to the dorm every time. So he had his fair share of experience.

Lu Zhou guessed that she probably vomited on herself last night. Her clothes probably got dirty and were washed by the hotel staff.

Molina saw that Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be lying. She finally realized how weird her questions must have seemed.

Lu Zhou looked at Molina and changed the conversation topic.

“The restaurant is on the second floor. The breakfast buffet is available until ten o’clock. If you feel better, you can go and eat something yourself. I already ate, so I won’t go with you.”

“Thanks… What about these clothes? Whose is it?”

Molina looked behind Lu Zhou, as if she was trying to see if the clothes belonged to someone else inside Lu Zhou’s room. However, she didn’t see anyone.

Lu Zhou: “It was probably given by the hotel.”

“… Given? The hotel gave me clothes?”

Lu Zhou looked at Molina and sighed.

“Come on, it’s a five-star hotel, don’t act like you’re surprised.”

“What? It’s just that… I haven’t stayed at this kind of hotel before.”

Even though she didn’t know how much this hotel was, judging by the decoration and the status of the guests, she knew that staying here one night would be expensive.

Molina began to feel embarrassed.

“… How much was the bill yesterday? I said it was my treat…”

Lu Zhou: “It’s fine, I handled it. If you want to pay me back, just be my tour guide for a day.”

Molina paused for a second: “… Tour guide?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, even though this is a diplomatic visit, my itinerary is actually quite free. I’ve never had a chance really to explore Paris before. I plan on going to all the tourist spots.”

Besides, I’m sure this counts as a cultural exchange.

Molina: “… Where do you plan on visiting? I’m a local, but I don’t know any tourist spots in Paris.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Let’s start with Professor Abel’s former residence.”

Molina: “???”

…

[… I have seen this scene countless times in my dreams, the dead city, the tall pillars, the endless concrete jungle… The air here feels solidified. The atmosphere felt depressive and pressurizing. I don’t know if this is someplace created by God, maybe our souls all return here one day.]

This was the most complete paragraph in the diary; it was written on the page behind the sketch.

Lu Zhou read this paragraph many times.

There was no such thing as a computer in the early 19th century, which was when Professor Abel was alive. From his perspective, the black steel forest was like a graveyard, while Lu Zhou knew that it was a representation of a computer array processor.

However, both were valid interpretations.

The tombstone could actually be a computer.

And vice versa.

Lu Zhou felt like it was more likely that both he and Professor Abel were wrong.

The only thing he could conclude now was that Professor Abel probably did not have the “high tech system”. But for some other reason, Abel was able to see a segment of the Void Memory in his dreams.

After all, Abel never mentioned anything like the system in his diary, or anything similar to an “oracle”. Secondly, according to his description, Abel repeatedly experienced the same dream and was puzzled by the dream.

If he really had access to the system, he would only have one chance to experience this dream.

After the pair left the city, the road began to become narrower, but the traffic was a lot better.

The car slowly drove to a small town, and it eventually parked in front of an old house.

The French driver looked at Lu Zhou in the rearview mirror as he spoke with a heavy accent.

“We’re here”.

Lu Zhou smiled and closed the notebook in his hand.

“Okay, thanks.”

After they got out of the car, Molina led Lu Zhou into the front yard. Wang Peng silently followed the two from behind as he quietly observed the surrounding environment.

The old man at the front door looked at the strange man walking next to his granddaughter. He frowned and spoke.

“And you are…”

Lu Zhou smiled and politely said, “I’m Lu Zhou.”

When the old man heard the name, he had a surprised look on his face.

“Oh oh, the professor from Princeton. My granddaughter talked about you before.”

“I haven’t worked at Princeton in a long time.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “May I come in?”

The old man gave his granddaughter a strange look. He stepped aside and made an inviting gesture.

“… Come on in, it’s a bit messy, hope you don’t mind.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou nodded and walked into the house.

Chapter 1158: Struggles

1158 Struggles Molina did not come inside. Instead, she stood at the doorstep.

Lu Zhou could clearly notice that the grandfather and granddaughter didn’t seem to like each other.

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure what the reason was, nor did he want to get involved in other people’s family business. After explaining his intentions for coming here, he followed the old man’s footsteps and came to an oil painting at the bottom of the stairs.

The person in the painting had blonde curly hair that was parted in the middle. The young face looked mature, confident… and a little handsome.

However, it was less handsome than Lu Zhou.

Besides this, there didn’t seem to be any clues Lu Zhou was hoping for; it was just a simple portrait.

“This painting was created in 1835… According to his relatives, it was created by a small well-known Norwegian painter at that time,” the old man said to Lu Zhou while standing behind him.

In fact, this relative was Professor Abel’s fiancee, but the old man purposely left out that detail.

Lu Zhou looked at the old man and spoke curiously.

“So this painting is almost two hundred years old.”

“Sort of, it’s probably the most valuable thing in this room… But it’s still not worth that much money.”

The old man couldn’t remember how much he bought it for. But since he could afford it on his tiny salary, it couldn’t have been anything particularly expensive.

After all, not everyone was interested in portraits of mathematicians, let alone a “short-lived” genius. It was difficult to sell it for a high price unless there was a special hobbyist who would be willing to pay a huge price to buy this for their collection, or if a museum was willing to buy this painting.

The long history of this painting did not give it value. After all, its value depended on the artist’s reputation, Abel himself, and the background of the painting.

“Other than this painting and Abel’s notes, is there anything else from Professor Abel?”

The old man nodded.

“This is it.”

Lu Zhou nodded and pondered for a while. He suddenly said, “Speaking of which, I have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“Apparently, Abel never married in his life, are you… his blood relative?”

When the old man heard this question, he had a flash of panic on his face.

“… Maybe.”

Maybe?

Lu Zhou saw the old man hesitating. He paused for a second and had some doubts in his mind. He wisely diverted the conversation.

“So, where did you get these things?”

“From a collector.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Can you still contact him? I mean, can you introduce him to me?”

The old man shook his head and said, “That guy passed away a few years ago, so I’m afraid I can’t help you. If you are interested in Professor Abel’s relics, the notes are the only things left. I didn’t expect my granddaughter to give them all to you. But… I hope you can take good care of them.”

Lu Zhou saw a glimpse of shame in the old man’s eyes, and this confirmed his guess.

I knew it! Being a “descendant” of Professor Abel was probably a lie made up by this old man. From what I know, the genius only lived up to his twenties and had only one fiancee. The probability of him having children was almost impossible.

No wonder Molina was so emotionally unstable last night.

Lu Zhou remembered Molina’s coldness toward the old man just now at the doorstep. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.

“Last night, your granddaughter was very emotional… I mean, not because of me.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a bad lie, right?”

The old man had a depressed look in his eyes.

He shook his head. He was full of regret as he muttered, “I couldn’t help it… Who would have thought that her father would take it so seriously? I didn’t think it would turn out this way.”

Lu Zhou looked at the regretful old man and sighed. He spoke softly.

“I think the reason why she is angry and emotional is not that she isn’t a descendant of Professor Abel, but rather, it is because the person closest to her actually lied to her… For nearly thirty years.”

Family bloodline was meaningless in the science world. Most genius ideas were created by chance. Great scholars were inevitability created, but it was more due to chance, not genetics.

Perhaps the descendants of great scholars had an educational advantage over their peers and were more likely to go into academia. But it wasn’t guaranteed that they would become a great scholar as well.

Lu Zhou paused for a second before saying, “I am an outsider, and I know this is none of my business, but I would suggest you apologize to her…”

Hurt, the old man shook his head and said, “She will not forgive me, and I will not forgive myself…”

“Whether she forgives you or not is her choice. Whether you forgive yourself…” Lu Zhou paused and continued, “Actually, you shouldn’t blame yourself too much. I can see that she is truly passionate about mathematics. Although talent comes naturally, I don’t think she went on a wrong path.

“In fact, it might even be better if she stops putting expectations on herself.”

The old man was blaming himself for ruining his granddaughter’s life. But from Lu Zhou’s perspective, that might not be the case.

There was no way someone could follow the path of mathematics for more than two decades solely based on a sense of purpose due to her ancestors.

It might be good for Molina to know the truth.

This would help her mentality.

Although it was difficult for her to become a first-class scholar, she was already a leader among second-class scholars. If she calmed down and concentrated on research, she might come close to winning a Fields Medal before the age of forty.

Of course, whether or not she could actually win was another story.

After all, hard work wasn’t the only thing it took to go from a second-class to a first-class scholar.

In addition to hard work, there was also a bit of luck involved.

The people that succeeded despite the odds being stacked against them were one in a million.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, the old man went silent for a while.

After a long time, he spoke.

“Thank you, maybe you’re right.”

Lu Zhou nodded sincerely and said, “Just a suggestion.”

Chapter 1159: The Place Where the Pope Is Buried

Chapter 1159 The Place Where the Pope Is Buried

The origin of the sketch in Professor Abel’s notes had become a mystery.

Judging from the notebooks, it seemed like this scholar had attributed all of the dreams to God and completely abandoned his search for the meaning behind the dream.

This was quite understandable, taking into account the era he was in.

Even though Lu Zhou himself was an atheist, he still knew what Professor Abel thought.

Attributing the unknowable mystery to some kind of powerful higher existence was common in human civilization.

In fact, didn’t he do the same? Assuming that the system came from an “advanced civilization” was not necessarily better than attributing it to the “God of the universe”.

Neither of these two assumptions had reliable scientific evidence to prove their existence.

Lu Zhou didn’t know if Abel had gotten rid of the bizarre dreams or actively chose not to think about it anymore. The rest of the notes was only regarding the problem that “there is no solution in radicals to general polynomial equations of degree five or higher”.

Lu Zhou knew what happened regarding this problem, even if it weren’t written in the notebooks.

Professor Abel achieved great success in 1824. He successfully completed a series of mathematical achievements, such as the “Abel-Ruffini theorem”.

However, these achievements did not improve his life; it didn’t even attract the attention of the Paris mathematics community at that time.

Finally, in the spring of 1829, the poverty-stricken him died of illness inside his fiancee’s home. His later works were mostly published by his teacher, Professor Holm, a decade later.

The world depicted in his sketches never appeared anywhere else.

The only clue left was the oil painting.

Molina was standing in the front yard. When she saw Lu Zhou come out of the house, she said, “Where do you want to go next? I’ll stay with you all day.”

Lu Zhou: “There’s nowhere else I want to go.”

Molina raised her eyebrows.

“That’s it?”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I stayed up all night last night. I have a big day tomorrow, so I should get some rest.”

After Lu Zhou bid farewell to Molina, he got in Wang Peng’s car and returned to his hotel.

He immediately went to bed.

The next morning, a black limo from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stopped at the entrance of the hotel and picked up Lu Zhou.

The town “Saint-Lizier” that they were going to was located in the northern part of France, not too far from Paris. Since he planned on returning on the same day, it was better to leave early.

Before getting into the car, Lu Zhou thought that the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs would arrange a bodyguard and tour guide for himself. However, he did not expect that the person who accompanied him was actually Director Giacobino from the French Ministry of Science and Technology.

His position was roughly equivalent to being in charge of the deputy department of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

Lu Zhou didn’t know exactly what these titles meant. Even to this day, he still hadn’t figured out what being the chief designer and chief consultant of the Lunar Orbit Committee meant. But judging from what the Chinese President said, Director Giacobino was on the same level as Director Li.

So Giacobino was quite a high-level official.

Apart from making some small talk prior to getting in the car, the two didn’t talk much.

Lu Zhou had a book with him, he didn’t seem to be interested in chatting at all. He quietly flipped through the book, making it tricky for Giacobino, who wanted to form a relationship with the “titan” of the Chinese academic community.

Giacobino glanced at the time on his watch and saw that there was not much time left. He secretly signaled the driver in French to drive a little slower. He then looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting across from him, and asked, “Harvest and Planting… Interesting name, is it poetry?”

Lu Zhou flipped through the page and casually replied, “Strictly speaking, it’s an autobiography.”

Autobiography?

Giacobino hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“And its author?”

“Professor Grothendieck, I don’t know when it was written… Do you want me to read it to you?”

Giacobino smiled and spoke kindly.

“It’s rare to get an opportunity to listen to your lecture.”

Lu Zhou smiled at Director Giacobino.

He knew what Giacobino was trying to do.

However, he obviously wouldn’t call Giacobino out on trying to form a relationship with himself. His emotional intelligence wasn’t that low.

He cleared his throat and read his favorite French paragraph in a steady tone.

“… When we treat a science field not as a tool of ability and power, but as an adventure to pursue knowledge, we gain a sense of pure harmony from this field. While this harmony fluctuates with time, it’s a manifestation of the subtle and delicate themes of the world… As if this field came from a void of nothingness.”

Came from the void…

Lu Zhou felt like every time he read this sentence, he gained a deeper understanding of what it was trying to say.

What exactly is the void?

This question lingered in his mind.

However, Giacobino wasn’t touched by the writing. Instead, he was more surprised by Lu Zhou’s French.

The two had been talking in English prior to this. He had no idea Professor Lu was so fluent in French.

“… Your French is very fluent, when did you start learning? Was it during your time in CERN?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“I started learning it last month.”

Giacobino: “…?”

Precisely speaking, he started at the end of last month, when he decided he was coming to France.

Of course, if Lu Zhou told Giacobino that, Giacobino’s jaw would drop to the floor.

Lu Zhou looked at Director Giacobino’s surprised face and smiled. He ignored him and continued to read the autobiography book.

The driver sitting in front of them spoke.

“We’re here.”

…

The St. Lizier Church was located in the small town of Saint-Lizier. It was not a famous tourist attraction; it was just a small church for the locals.

The old priest stood at the church entrance. He watched Lu Zhou coming out of the car as he said, “You’re finally here.”

Lu Zhou looked at the old priest and smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Where’s the letter?”

Lu Zhou took out an old envelope from his pocket and gave it to the priest.

After the priest opened the letter and made sure that it was Professor Grothendieck’s handwriting, he returned the letter to Lu Zhou and said, “Professor Grothendieck asked me to personally give you his notes. I thought he could fulfill his wishes eight years ago.”

“… I apologize for taking so long.”

The priest snorted and spoke in a hoarse voice.

“There’s no need to apologize. If you don’t come, it’s your loss. The person that should be angry at you is six feet under the ground. You should go and apologize to him. Do you want some flowers? It’s 10 euros. He’ll forgive you no matter what.”

Lu Zhou was trying to find some money, but he could only find a credit card. Director Giacobino, who was standing next to him, quickly took out his wallet and spoke to the priest.

“I’ll buy two bundles! Professor Grothendieck was a great scholar. His passing was a huge loss to the world, plus we owe him an apology…”

Born in an era of war, Professor Grothendieck had always been a radical pacifist during his lifetime. Because of this, he and the Institute Des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Paris had serious disagreements on the issue of whether “mathematics should be used for war”. This eventually led him to live in seclusion in a small village in the south of France…

Everyone in France knew of these stories.

The old man looked at Giacobino and smiled.

“If you really think so, you wouldn’t have waited eight years to visit him.”

The priest turned around and opened the wooden door that led to the church cemetery.

“Come on in, his tombstone is the second one from the left, in the third row.”

Lu Zhou nodded and walked toward the wooden door.

However, when he was about to pass the door, the old priest suddenly pulled Lu Zhou’s arm.

“Wait a second, this is yours.”

He took out a notebook from his hand.

Lu Zhou took the brown notebook from the priest’s hand and flipped through the pages.

“Is this Professor Grothendieck’s notes?”

Honestly, Lu Zhou was surprised at how thin it was.

The priest: “There are others, but this is the most important one, so I placed it in the Church. I can’t understand the things written inside, but according to him, it’s an unsolved mathematical problem.

“He always wanted to find someone to help him. He thought Deligne and a German named Schultz were good candidates, but he hated Germans and thought Schultz was too young… For some reason, he chose you in his final days, despite never meeting you.”

Lu Zhou felt the significance of this notebook. He looked at the old priest and spoke solemnly.

“Thank you for keeping it this whole time for me.”

The old priest snorted and said casually, “You’re welcome. Aren’t you rich? If you want to thank me, donate some money to the church. The church hasn’t been renovated for over 50 years.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

“No problem.”

Compared to the complicated mathematical problems…

Things related to money was a piece of cake for him.

Chapter 1160: Mathematics Is a Universal Language

Chapter 1160 Mathematics Is a Universal Language

Professor Grothendieck’s tombstone was situated in a low-key corner at the cemetery. It was covered with dust, and it looked like no one had visited it for a long time.

Grothendieck no longer contacted people in his later years. Except for a few friends who knew where he lived, most people didn’t even know where his tombstone was.

According to this old priest, except for the last two months of his life, Grothendieck would come here to pray almost every weekend.

Lu Zhou nodded toward the babbling priest. He bent down and placed the flower bouquet on the tombstone.

Lu Zhou gave a blessing to this great scholar in his heart, thanking him for leaving behind the precious notebooks. He then turned around and walked away.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stay here for too long.

It was just that he didn’t want Director Giacobino to have to stand here and pretend to act sad for any longer.

In fact, there was nothing to be sad about it. It was human nature to be born, get old, get sick, and die. Being able to choose the life you want was something most people were envious of. Him isolating himself was a great loss for the mathematics community, but for him, it was a blessing.

After Lu Zhou left the cemetery, he followed the old priest to his home, which was not far from the church. He saw the remaining pile of notes in the priest’s garage.

Yes, that was right; an entire pile of materials and notes.

Apparently, in the 18th century when academic exchanges were not as common, most European mathematicians relied on letters and manuscripts to “publish” their research results. Lu Zhou did not expect to see such a “primitive” communication method in the 21st century.

Even though the notes were stacked in the form of a pile, it was obvious that the old man took some time to separate the drafts and the formal notes. He even covered them with a plastic sheet to block dust.

Seeing how good the preservation of these notes were, Lu Zhou fulfilled his promise and donated one million euros to the St. Lizier Church. He treated this as a storage fee for the priest who kept these notes for the past eight years.

Lu Zhou took out his mobile phone and called Chen Yushan. He asked her to help contact the local logistics companies in Paris and entrust them to collect the notes and materials and ship them back to China. After that, he got back in the car and went back to Paris.

Star Sky Technology offered a price to a local logistics company that they could not refuse. After the logistics company came to the town of Saint-Lizier and collected the precious notes, the package was shipped on a dedicated plane the next day.

When Lu Zhou arrived back at the hotel in the evening, he quickly ate his dinner in the cafeteria, then returned to his room. He spread out Professor Grothendieck’s special notebook on the table and enthusiastically turned the page.

“A problem that even Professor Grothendieck couldn’t solve? Let me take a look…”

According to rumors, before living in isolation, Professor Grothendieck and his student Deligne had been devoted to researching Riemann’s hypothesis and its application in the field of algebraic geometry. The famous Weil conjecture was solved by Professor Deligne during this period of time.

If Professor Grothendieck was still researching mathematics after isolating himself, there was a high probability that the problem he was researching was Riemann’s hypothesis.

However, while Lu Zhou thought he would read some research notes on Riemann’s hypothesis, when he read the words on the page, he had a strange look in his eyes.

“… What is this?”

Motive theory?

No!

Although it also used abstract numbers, it was something completely different from motive theory.

Lu Zhou turned a page and continued to read. He soon realized that the things recorded in this notebook were completely beyond his expectations. This wasn’t about Riemann’s hypothesis at all, but rather… a mathematics proposition he had never even heard of.

Professor Grothendieck already gave a method of proof for the first proposition. As for the second proposition, it seemed like he wasn’t able to solve it.

Lu Zhou was interested in this problem that troubled Professor Grothendieck. He picked up a ballpoint pen off his desk and pulled out a piece of draft paper. He transformed proposition 2 using his unified theory of algebra and geometry.

However, as soon as he completed the transformation, he was astonished.

Is this another form of expression for Riemann’s hypothesis?!

Lu Zhou quickly turned to the back of the notebook. When he read the last few pages, he sighed in relief.

“… Obviously Grothendieck didn’t prove it.”

His intuition told him that this proposition was the same as Riemann’s hypothesis, but Grothendieck did not give a reasonable proof.

After all, the unified theory of algebra and geometry was only invented last year.

He used a pencil and lightly drew a tick on proposition 2, indicating that this proposition had already been solved. Lu Zhou looked at the calculations and fell into deep thought.

“… This is definitely more than just some mathematics problems.”

These complex propositions could be published as official mathematics conjectures.

Regardless of the academic value itself, in terms of difficulty, they were no less easy than the Millennium Prize Problems. It didn’t seem like something an ordinary person could solve.

If Professor Grothendieck wanted to find an answer, he could make these propositions public.

Now with the existence of the Internet, he could even publish these problems anonymously.

Making it public would greatly increase the chances of someone solving the problem.

Lu Zhou tapped his pen on the draft paper.

Suddenly, he remembered a rumor.

According to a friend of Professor Grothendieck, in Grothendieck’s later years, his mentality was in a rather unstable state, and he was addicted to the idea of a “devil”.

For example, he believed that it was the devil who turned the beautiful speed of light, which was supposed to be 300,000 kilometers per second, to the ugly 299,792.458 kilometers per second.

It was not clear why an outstanding mathematician would care about the physical measurements of the universe, but there had to be a reason behind this.

This retired pope of mathematics suddenly wrote a personal letter to his former student Professor Ilussi in January 2010, requesting that all of his texts published after his “disappearance” to not be reprinted.

This incident caused a commotion at the time since the books “Fondements de la Géométrie Algébrique” and “Éléments de Géométrie Algébrique” were the cornerstones of the algebraic geometry field. However, Grothendieck’s request made it more difficult for people to obtain these textbooks.

Lu Zhou thought back to the words in the letter Grothendieck wrote to him. He didn’t believe that a mentally unstable person could write those words.

He believed that there was something else that happened to this scholar, something he did not know about.

For example…

Lu Zhou’s pupils contracted. He had a vague idea in his mind.

“… Physics governs the law of the universe, mathematics is the universal language.”

Lu Zhou looked at the mathematical calculations in the notes. He felt like a light bulb just went off in his head, and his pupils lit up.

If I’m correct…

Then this isn’t a simple mathematical proposition…

It’s an entire language!

Chapter 1161: 1 Cadarache“s Fusion Power Station

Chapter 1161 Cadarache“s Fusion Power Station

The next morning, Lu Zhou accompanied the visiting team from China and went to the controllable fusion power station in Cadarache, a small city in the south of France.

The Chinese president, the French president, executives from the Électricité de France, and engineers from East Asia Energy were all here.

This time Academician Wang was not the one leading the team. It was instead an old engineer who Lu Zhou had never met before, as well as a group of young men.

When they met, the old engineer excitedly shook Lu Zhou’s hand, making Lu Zhou almost feel embarrassed.

Even though it had been so many years since he was involved in research in the field of nuclear engineering, his prestige and reputation in the field had yet to diminish in the slightest.

He felt the people in the nuclear power industry treated him like a mythical creature.

In his opinion, at least half of the success of the Pangu reactor belonged to the rest of the project team.

They soon arrived at the destination. The group of people took a photo at the front gate before walking into the nuclear power plant.

The exterior design of this nuclear power plant was modeled after Pangu, and the construction took three whole years. Nearby was the foundation for the unfinished ITER project.

Because the technology used in the core catcher of the Pangu reactor and the ITER project were two completely different technologies, the French construction team had to face the choice of digging out the foundation and rebuilding one, or completely abandoning it.

The former option might be more expensive, as well as having the additional risk of not being approved by East Asia Energy. Thus, they chose to go with the latter choice.

When the person in charge here talked about how the French workers used their expertise and wisdom to overcome numerous problems and finally built this “star” that was destined to light up the west coast of Europe, the engineers from the East Asia Energy chuckled.

This thing took three years to build?

And they’re still so proud of themselves?

Fortunately, the construction was not delayed, and this received a round of applause from the Chinese visiting group.

During the visit, Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the Chinese controllable fusion project, seemed a little zoned-out throughout the whole process.

Not because he was annoyed at the efficiency of the French people, but because he had been studying the notebook all night. Even now, he was still thinking about complex mathematical formulas.

Even for him, solving the mathematics puzzle in that notebook was going to be difficult.

The difficult part was the mathematical expressions; these problems involved abstract numbers, rather than the traditional decimal numbers. Although the motive theory was a useful tool, by coupling abstract mathematical forms with even more complicated logical transformations, the whole theory became entwined and entangled together.

Fortunately, by using the unified theory of algebra and geometry, he was able to supplement many areas of motive theory.

If he could only use mathematical methods from ten years ago, proving proposition 2 in this notebook was as difficult as proving Riemann’s conjecture. This was why an outstanding scholar like Professor Grothendieck was stuck on these problems.

By using modern advanced mathematical theory, it took less than an hour for Lu Zhou to prove this proposition yesterday.

However, that was the end of the easy part.

After spending one night, he finally proved proposition 3. The difficulty for proposition 4 had increased exponentially, and Lu Zhou spent an hour trying to solve it without making any progress.

And there were ten propositions in total…

It gave him a headache thinking about it.

Director Giacobino, the person that accompanied him to the St. Lizier Church yesterday, deliberately walked next to Lu Zhou and spoke to him with a smile.

“Academician Lu, what do you think of this nuclear power plant?”

Lu Zhou looked around and spoke.

“It’s alright.”

Director Giacobino said, “Compared to Pangu?”

Lu Zhou: “Around the same.”

Director Giacobino had a joyful look on his face.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to think.

Pangu was an experimental reactor, and it had more than half of the power generation capacity of the Fuxi reactor in Daya Bay. Pangu only supplied power to Shandong and northern Jiangsu, while the Fuxi reactor was responsible for supplying power to the Yangtze River Delta city group.

It only took them one year to construct the Pangu reactor, which was meant for research.

It took them three years to build a reactor that had the same capabilities as Pangu, even with East Asia Energy helping them. Lu Zhou didn’t know what they were so proud of…

Lu Zhou followed the visiting group and finished the nuclear core delivery ceremony.

The price was in the tens of billions of euros, while the cost was only one-tenth of the price. This was more profitable than selling 100 fighter jets.

This order alone increased the foreign exchange reserves of the People’s Bank of China by two to three percentage points. Not to mention the hidden political, governance, and economic value from this order.

Although the French had to pay out of the a*s, the fusion power station could be used to eliminate the more expensive domestic fission nuclear power. The cost of industrial electricity would also be greatly reduced. The economic production stimulus was even more valuable.

This was a win-win situation for both parties.

The French president and the Chinese president smiled as they shook hands.

After the process was over, the Chinese visiting group returned to their cars.

Lu Zhou sat in the car and took out his notebook.

If the information in this notebook came from an extraterrestrial civilization, it was irresponsible of him to disclose it without knowing that the information represented.

Considering Professor Grothendieck’s mental condition, these expressions could be interpreted as the “words of the devil” or something.

Perhaps these unsolvable propositions were what destroyed his mentality.

Lu Zhou would like to talk with the “devil” inside of Grothendieck’s brain, but unfortunately, that was no longer possible.

The pope in the field of algebraic geometry passed away around the time Lu Zhou completed his first mathematics system mission.

Judging from what he saw in the system Void Memory, clearly, the Void Memory adapted itself to Lu Zhou’s native language.

However, the message that Grothendieck received seemed to be some kind of mathematical code?

Maybe…

The message that Professor Grothendieck received was not from the Void? Maybe it’s from a civilization a few levels lower than the Void, similar to the Calanians?

That is a possibility.

Whether it was the Void or another higher civilization, Lu Zhou didn’t believe in the existence of a “devil”.

He finally gained some understanding as to why the old man’s mental state suddenly deteriorated, making him do ridiculous things.

Thinking about these things was no easy feat for a man in his seventies.

He still remembered Professor Deligne’s evaluation of Sir Atiyah. At that age, forget about mathematics research, being able to have a normal conversation was a blessing in and of itself.

Even Lu Zhou felt dizzy when he looked at these mathematical formulas.

Wang Peng was sitting next to Lu Zhou. Wang Peng looked at him and spoke.

“You seem to be in a bad mental state.”

Lu Zhou: “Maybe because I didn’t sleep last night.”

Wang Peng: “You didn’t sleep two nights in a row?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s fine, I took a five-hour nap.”

Wang Peng: “… Doctor Yan suggested you to sleep for eight hours a night. This is important for your health and body.”

“There are things more important than my body.” Lu Zhou smiled at his friend and said, “Don’t worry, once this is over, I’ll take a break.”

Wang Peng hesitated for a second. He then looked at the notebook in Lu Zhou’s hand.

“… Once you finish researching the notebook?”

Lu Zhou twisted the pen in his hand and gave an ambiguous answer.

“Sort of.”

Chapter 1162: The Award From the Institut de France

1162 The Award From the Institut de France “… To Landon Clay and his wife Lavinia Clay, to the Clay family, to the members of the Riemann family, and to all of the mathematicians who came to this historic occasion.

“At a Paris conference 23 years ago, the Clay Mathematics Institute announced awards for anyone that could solve the seven most famous problems in the world. Even though mathematicians are more excited about mathematics than fame and fortune…

“That doesn’t mean it is not important.

“It’s a list of the great unsolved problems of the 20th century. It creates enthusiasm for mathematics. It attracts children and students to be interested in the ever-evolving mathematics and math-related problems.”

“It didn’t matter whether they were interested in mathematics or the million-dollar prize money.”

The Institut de France.

The large auditorium was packed with people.

Because this was the award ceremony for Riemann’s hypothesis, almost all of the top French mathematicians, as well as members of major mathematical organizations, were invited to be here.

This place was once the center of mathematics in Europe and even around the world. Countless mathematicians dreamed of the opportunity to speak here.

Even though the glory of this place had faded due to the decline of the European mathematics community, some things still remained unchanged.

Professor Carlson stood at the podium. After pausing for a moment, he spoke in a solemn and serious tone.

“Niels Henrik Abel once wrote in his memoir that in order to solve a difficult problem, it has to be written clearly…

“It has to be written in the correct expression.

“What we know is often not as simple and understandable as we think. Behind every theorem that we all know is the hard work of countless scholars across centuries. This constant progression is precisely how our field advances.”

“We have come a long way. Professor Lu Zhou’s work has revealed the mystery behind the zero-point distribution of the Riemann function and the profound mathematical meaning behind it, that is, the unity of algebra and geometry. The birth of this theory has restructured algebraic geometry and has even redefined our understanding of numbers and geometry.

“It might take us decades or even longer to build on top of his foundation. We have already taken the first step, so I’m certain the second step will eventually come.”

The award speech was finally over.

Professor Carlson bowed in midst of the thunderous applause.

Lu Zhou walked on to the stage and accepted the million-dollar check from Professor Carlson. He smiled professionally and shook Carlson’s hand.

“Thank you.”

The money was nice of course.

However, compared to the billion-dollar fusion construction site he visited yesterday, a million dollars was pocket change. But regardless, there was no such thing as having too much money.

Professor Carlson was finally able to give out this important reward. He had a look of relief on his face.

He felt like he was in a unique situation.

He wanted to give money, a million dollars no less, but he was having a rather difficult time.

Professor Carlson shook Lu Zhou’s hand and spoke with excitement.

“Do you want to do an acceptance speech? Just talk about how you feel.”

Acceptance speech?

When Lu Zhou heard Professor Carlson’s words, he had an awkward look on his face.

“I already gave a speech last time… So, I think there’s no need for another one.”

Surrounded by a wave of applause, Professor Carlson was the only one that heard what Lu Zhou said.

Lu Zhou watched the old man’s face turn red due to the increase in blood pressure. He suddenly felt lucky that his words were drowned out by the applause and that he was far away from the microphone…

…

In the evening, there was a banquet at the Collège de France; the Société Mathématique de France and the Clay Mathematics Institute jointly hosted a dinner party. Even if some mathematicians didn’t attend the award ceremony during the day, all of them attended the night banquet.

Lu Zhou met a lot of his old friends at dinner.

One of them was Professor Helfgott, who worked at the École Normale Supérieure.

This Peruvian French number theorist provided him with a lot of help when he was researching Goldbach’s conjecture. Particularly, the proof of the weak Goldbach conjecture provided him with a lot of inspiration for combining the sieve method and the circle method.

After solving Goldbach’s conjecture, Lu Zhou barely published papers in the field of number theory, so the two had not kept in touch. However, they were still great friends.

Professor Helfgott was quite enthusiastic and chatted with Lu Zhou for a long time. Lu Zhou also asked a lot about Professor Grothendieck’s life and some rumors about Professor Abel.

“Hypothetically speaking.”

Helfgott: “Yeah?”

Lu Zhou poured himself a glass of champagne and said, “… If there are aliens in this universe, if they’re a completely different species, how should we communicate with them?”

Professor Lu Helfgott froze for a second, then gave Lu Zhou a strange look.

“You discovered aliens?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and smiled.

“Of course not! Just a hypothetical question. Why would you think that?”

Helfgott smiled and said, “Because every time you ask a question, it seems that you’ve already solved half of the question. You’re not a person who would give other people the opportunity to rob you of the glory, am I right?”

Uh?

Am I?

Lu Zhou thought about it carefully and realized that Helfgott was right.

In his own opinion, he worked hard for his achievements. However, in the eyes of others, the age-old mathematical propositions only took him a few months or weeks to solve.

Helfgott smiled and took a sip of wine. He pondered for a second before answering the question.

“If I had to communicate with an alien for the first time… I think mathematics is the way.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

“Oh yeah?”

What a coincidence.

“The key to communication between the two civilizations is finding a common language. Say, for example, the cup in my hand. If they don’t use a cup as a container and don’t drink liquids, then this cup makes no sense to them,” Helfgott said as he put down the cup. He thought for a while and continued, “Science is about studying the problem of the world. The problems we face might be different from theirs, but the tools we use to solve problems should be the same.

“Whether it’s the natural sciences or applied technology, they’re all closely related to mathematics.

“So, I think mathematics should be the common language.”

Lu Zhou: “If you’re an alien, and you wanted to see how intelligent I am, what would you do?”

Helfgott leaned back on his chair and smiled.

“Me? I’ll give you two big prime numbers first… Of course, I’d give you the multiple of these two prime numbers. If you can find the two prime numbers, then…”

“Interesting idea…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Then what?

Helfgott: “Then? Use the distance between to form a measurement system? What about the periodic table of the elements? Doing this systematically is a discipline. I remember it is called alien linguistics. I think there’s a Paris professor researching this area…

“Basically, I think if we can achieve basic communication, then everything will be fine. Maybe we can even exchange knowledge. Once the cultural exchange begins, we will be able to understand each other.”

Helfgott paused for a moment, shrugged, and spoke.

“If they decide to contact us and find us, they probably already have a certain understanding of us and might have been observing us for a while. Whether through electromagnetic wave signals or space capsules, if they really want to communicate with us, they will definitely find a way.”

Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“Honestly, you should be a science fiction writer.”

Helfgott smiled.

“Thanks for the compliment, but science fiction isn’t as interesting as mathematics. I’ll leave the opportunity to others!”

Chapter 1163: Abstract Answer

1163 Abstract Answer Major media outlets reported on the news of Lu Zhou winning the million-dollar Millennium Prize Problems money. The story quickly spread across the world.

People were jealous of the million-dollar money; they were also surprised to hear that he had solved three of the seven millennium problems.

That’s right.

This was his third time winning the award.

After mathematicians heard the news, they were in disbelief; they didn’t know what to feel.

It was almost like this award was established specifically for him.

While the Internet was discussing this million-dollar bonus and what problem would be solved by Lu Zhou next, the Chinese visiting group in France finished their tasks.

The ignition of the fusion power station in Cadarache was quite successful. After learning from their mistakes in St. Petersburg, East Asia Energy specially arranged technicians to cooperate with French electrical engineers to install an additional insurance on the electrical grid.

After the successful ignition, the Cadarache fusion reactor core would account for 80% of the total power in the French power grid, completely replacing the outdated nuclear fission power technology.

The responsibilities of the Chinese were done, the rest was up to France themselves.

After the French President bid farewell to them, the visiting group took the special plane back to Beijing.

The Chinese president on the plane looked at Lu Zhou reading a notebook. He spoke emotionally.

“Academician Lu, you’re such a hard worker, even studying on the plane.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “This is not really work, just a hobby.”

The president asked curiously, “Is this Professor Grothendieck’s notes?”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “There are some interesting questions inside, and I’ve only been able to solve four out of the ten.”

The president: “If even you can’t solve all of them, they must be very tricky.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Yeah, they’re quite difficult.”

The old man nodded.

After a while, he suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, what’s the thing you told Director Li about?”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, “He told you?”

The president smiled and said, “I was just curious. If it’s classified, you don’t have to tell me.”

Lu Zhou: “… It’s not classified, I’m just not certain about it.”

The president looked at Lu Zhou’s hesitant face and quickly said, “It’s fine if you’re uncertain. Everyone is uncertain in the beginning. If you tell me, maybe I can help you.”

Of course the president was curious. From nuclear fusion to aerospace engineering, everything Lu Zhou worked on turned into a huge success.

Now that Lu Zhou was talking about his next mysterious big project, everyone wanted to know what it was.

Lu Zhou looked at the curious president. He knew he wouldn’t be able to quietly read his notebook on this flight.

He sighed and closed his notebook. He then asked in a serious tone, “Okay then, what do you think our country lacks the most?”

“Talent!”

“I’m talking about technology wise.”

The president thought for a while before saying, “In terms of technology… It should be our information technology, which is lacking in competitiveness. Even though the Dragon series of chips were successful, when I talked with the experts from the Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, they told me that we still have a long way to go. Especially in high-end chip technology. We started too late, and we’re still lacking in experience…”

Lu Zhou had a smile on his face when he heard this.

As expected, directly asking the “customer” was the easiest way to know what to produce.

Lu Zhou already had a rough idea in his mind on what to use the general points on.

Lu Zhou spoke without hesitation.

“That’s what I wanted to say! High-end integrated circuits!”

The old man paused for a second when he heard Lu Zhou.

I guessed it?

What a coincidence.

…

He had already collected Grothendieck’s notes, but he didn’t receive a pop-up for completing his mission. There must be some elements that he had yet to complete.

These elements should be solving the mathematical problems left in the notebook.

After Lu Zhou returned to his home in Jinling, he locked himself in his study room with the piles of materials and notes delivered from France. He began to dive into the problems on the notebook.

These problems were certainly difficult, but that didn’t discourage him. After talking with Professor Helfgott, Lu Zhou felt a rush of inspiration.

Not academic inspiration.

But inspiration regarding the understanding of this notebook.

Looking at this from the perspective of a civilization, if they really wanted to establish contact with Earth, then the information contained in this notebook should be far less simple than a complete language. There must be something hidden in it; a message they wanted to convey.

Lu Zhou thought of the dream Professor Abel wrote about in his diary.

Lu Zhou had a feeling; he felt like there was a connection between these two.

He felt like he was getting closer and closer to the truth.

Including where the system came from.

And what exactly was the Void…

After spending half a month using Grothendieck’s notes and materials, Lu Zhou was finally able to solve all of the problems.

However, the result was not what he expected.

The final result was not a series of lengthy equations, but instead, it was a condensed abstract number “n” based on motive theory.

He looked at the long decimal representation of this number, and the only thing he could prove was that it was an irrational number.

Lu Zhou looked at the lowercase “n” on the paper as he frowned and began to think.

“Maybe I should find a linguist for help?

“Wait a second…”

The pen in his hand suddenly froze.

A possibility appeared on Lu Zhou’s mind.

“If they really want to talk to us, and if they sent us information, they must know something about us already…”

A light bulb lit up in Lu Zhou’s head. He immediately grabbed his phone from his pocket, took a picture of the draft paper, and said, “Xiao Ai!”

A text bubble popped up on his phone screen.

[Yes, Master? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)]

“Enter these calculations into the computer and convert n into binary numbers. Don’t stop the calculations until I tell you so!”

Lu Zhou spoke with excitement.

“Then, decode it and read it back to me!”

Chapter 1164: The Void

1164 The Void After calculating the binary number of n to 2.2 trillion digits, it was put through a decoder, finally showing a hint.

Just like Lu Zhou had guessed, the civilization that sent these mathematical formulas to Earth had been observing Earth for a long time. They already understood the method of exchanging information on Earth.

And what shocked him was that all this information was compressed in this irrational number that took up less than one byte of storage.

Lu Zhou was shocked at how they were able to send this irrational number to Earth. He wanted to know how they were able to store such a huge amount of information in a number…

The underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou lay on the VR chair and put on his helmet.

Even though Xiao Ai was worried about Lu Zhou’s safety, it still compiled the software and began the program.

Soon after, Lu Zhou saw a white light.

Lu Zhou was inside a world similar to the system space.

However, unlike the system space, there wasn’t a familiar holographic panel here; instead, there was a man… A copy of himself.

However, even though it was a “copy” of himself, some facial features were different.

Apparently, human beings were more likely to have a good impression of individuals who looked similar to themselves, but instinctively felt threatened toward individuals who looked exactly the same as themselves.

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure if this was the reason this model looked so similar to him. He wasn’t a psychologist, so there was no way he could analyze the intent behind this advanced civilization.

However, one thing he could deduce was that there was no hostile intent behind this contact.

“How did you do this?”

Lu Zhou looked at the man standing in front of him and continued, “Condensing a huge amount of data into an irrational number… How did you create your own irrational number?”

Even though Lu Zhou’s words were a bit convoluted, he believed this person could still understand him.

Using abstract numbers to express a specific irrational number wasn’t just a mathematical problem, it was something that was considered impossible.

The man had a troubled expression on his face as he gently spoke to Lu Zhou.

“… We used to be as ignorant as you guys. Back then, the numbers we were exposed to were all rational numbers. But as the years went on, we gradually discovered that almost all real numbers are irrational numbers.”

Lu Zhou: “We know this. The rationals are countably infinite, whereas the irrationals are uncountable.”

The person looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“Please don’t be mistaken. We don’t use ignorance as a derogatory term… It’s an enviable trait. Ignorant people are curious, and curiosity is the vitality of civilization. Once you lose your curiosity, even if your civilization is omniscient and omnipotent, it will die with the passage of time… Of course, you humans are still too young, and you guys are in a stage where countless new problems are created when each one is solved, so you might not even be able to imagine the feeling of being overwhelmed by endless emptiness.”

Lu Zhou: “Although omniscience and omnipotence sound quite enviable, I… probably understand what you mean.”

Poets often compared themselves to birds, knowing more did not necessarily mean that you would become happier. In fact, most of our troubles came from knowing too much.

This applied to individuals.

As well as civilizations.

“Correct, I agree with you.” The man looked at Lu Zhou with approval as he said, “I’ve been able to see two commendable qualities inside you.”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit.

“… Being self-aware?”

“Three now, you’re very smart.”

The man smiled and continued, “But I’m afraid I cannot answer your questions. That involves the truth of the universe… which is what you call knowledge. The information about that is not included in this program. We hope that you can find the answer yourself.

“Of course, if we have the opportunity to meet, I would like to talk to you as an individual, but this might not necessarily be a good thing for you.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou felt like he was a monkey in a zoo, being praised for his intelligence. He didn’t know if he should be angry or happy.

In fact, he felt powerless.

He knew that this “person” in front of him was more powerful than the entire military forces on Earth combined. He felt like he should proceed safely.

So far, this person was being kind to him.

Lu Zhou: “Can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“What is your name?”

The man thought for a while and said, “This question is complicated, even more complicated than the first question… We have long ago abandoned the communication methods that require a medium, including gestures, audio, electromagnetic waves, and even gravitational waves. We no longer use things like names to distinguish each other… Of course, for convenience’s sake, you can call me The Observer, that’s my favorite word in your dictionary.”

What a strange creature.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care too much about the details, so he continued to ask, “What is the Void? What is the natural disaster? And the strange quark star—”

Lu Zhou went silent for half a second and thought back to what The Observer told him before. He said, “Leaving the quark star aside, let’s focus on the first two questions.”

The man smiled and nodded.

He had a respectful look on his face.

He spoke in a slow voice, as if he were reading a poem.

“The Void is the Void, everything about it is a mystery even for us. It is independent of the universe. If the universe is composed of n trembling strings, then it is the n+1 string outside the n-string. The extra dimension outside the n-dimension. It is the lake that makes up the reflection on the lake, and it contains all the energy and matter in this universe, but at the same time, it contains nothing.”

Lu Zhou finally understood how other people felt when listening to his presentations.

By using his knowledge of M-theory, he was able to barely understand what The Observer was saying. But he still couldn’t understand how a civilization could survive in such a dimension space.

And even if they could, how did they communicate with the universe, with Earth?

“As for the natural disaster…” A look of sadness appeared in The Observer’s eyes. After a long silence, he sighed and said, “You’re not ready for that yet.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t get it. According to you, the Void is the extra dimension outside the n dimension, then it should be independent of the n dimension. How did you contact me then? How did you get inside… those people’s dreams?”

The man had a look of approval in his eyes as he spoke.

“I’m liking you more and more now. Most people panic when they see me, or stubbornly think that I am talking nonsense. You’re the only one that tries to communicate with me using rational thinking… Although you might not trust me, you know that what I’m saying might be possible.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything.

The Observer continued to speak, “When the old universe died out, we made some preparations. Just like how you guys built dams for the floods. These preparations allowed us to communicate with other civilizations… However, the energy connection between us is weak, and there are many forces in the universe that interfere with our connection. Even if individuals are aware of our existence, they’re unable to convince themselves.

“So, periodically, we try to send necessary signals to speed up the advancement of your civilization to a certain extent. You can call it a kind of enlightenment. Of course, this kind of growth is not without destruction. Just like a supernova, the expansion will lead to death. We’re walking on thin ice. We’re letting humans grow without reducing your future potential.”

Lu Zhou: “… It seems like you guys have poured a lot of resources into me?”

The Observer smiled kindly.

“Yeah, it would be unfortunate if you ignored our signals. But we know that probability is low, and we have backup plans.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure whether the “signals” he was talking about was referring to Professor Grothendieck’s notebooks or the “system” inside his head. However, one thing for certain was that his success came from a lot of guidance.

There was still one thing he didn’t understand.

Which was why they decided to do this.

In other words, even if a group of ants knew that a flood was coming, what could the group of ants do?

It wasn’t that he was being pessimistic, but in terms of mathematics, physics, and information science, Earth’s capabilities were nowhere near the Void civilization.

If the Void civilization, who created a quark star, couldn’t defend against the disaster, what could the puny Earth do?

“… If you guys really want to avoid the crisis, shouldn’t you tell us what it is?”

The Observer smiled, as if he were talking to a child.

“Is that so?

“All of our decisions are based on hundreds of millions of failures and conclusions drawn from trillions of calculations. It might seem illogical from your perspective, but this is the best choice.

“We must make sure that every sand particle in the hourglass falls precisely so that when the final moment comes, everything will go in the right direction… Of course, we still make mistakes.

“Remember the Calanian Empire?”

Lu Zhou nodded without saying anything.

“I’m glad you remember them.” The Observer smiled and nodded. After a pause, he continued, “Two hundred years after the ‘Oracle’ incident, this long-standing civilization turned into dust, disappearing in the universe.”

I knew it…

My guess is correct.

The Calan civilization was the past, and it might even come from what The Observer referred to as the “old universe”. Things that happened before the big bang.

Lu Zhou took two seconds to digest the information. He took a deep breath and asked, “Is it because of the ‘natural disaster’?”

“Natural disasters? Natural disasters are stronger than that. No, it was a manmade disaster.”

The man continued to speak, “What happened with the Calan Empire was beyond our expectations. We never thought that they would destroy themselves.

“Fortunately, their memories were recorded, thus giving us enlightenment.”

Lu Zhou: “Memories? What memories?”

“You ask a lot of questions.

“The memory is the second part of the Void Memory b.”

The man smiled and reached out his right hand. He held up a prism that was made from shiny blue particles.

“It’s almost time.

“If you have a quantum computer, the decoding should end here.”

Lu Zhou wanted to ask what “here” meant, but his white surroundings started to break apart. The blue prism was like a black hole, distorting everything around him, breaking everything into countless fragments.

Lu Zhou had a feeling in his heart.

This is the world depicted in Void Memory b2!

The story has already begun…

Chapter 1165: The End of the Empire

Chapter 1165 The End of the Empire The sky was orange, the sun was about to set, and the heat made it difficult to breathe.The mountains and hills were filled with farmland. The crops here were blue, and they looked like layers of waves in the sea.

Lu Zhou originally thought that this experience would be the same as last time, where he would be bombarded by bullets. However, he was in a peaceful setting.

But this peacefulness soon disappeared.

The mountains in the distance seemed to have been cut in half by some kind of terrifying force, exposing the rocks underneath.

Obviously, an extremely tragic battle happened here.

“It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” A Calanian man said to Lu Zhou, “Mr. Long, I heard you’re from the Faraway Star.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

“Yes, General Reinhardt.”

Unlike last time, when Lu Zhou spoke, a bunch of strange memories flooded into his brain. He remembered that he was a soldier from the Faraway Star. He joined the rebel army and became a soldier under General Reinhardt.

I can’t believe this.

Reinhardt… actually set off a revolution to overthrow the Empire fifty years after the Oracle incident?

However, it seemed like they weren’t in a great situation.

At least for now, they were probably on the defensive side, injured from the previous round of battle.

“I’m sorry I destroyed your hometown. I remember that mountain was one of the ten most spectacular places of the Empire. It was called the Gate of Twilight?”

Suddenly, an army officer walked over.

“General, the Empire army has sent us a request.”

Reinhardt went silent for a while before speaking.

“Assemble all level 5 and above officers in the staff room. I have important things to discuss with them.”

“Okay.”

The army officer walked away.

Reinhardt turned to look at Long, which was Lu Zhou’s character. Reinhardt’s finger pointed toward the shooting stars in the sky.

“See that arc of light?”

Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at the direction he was pointing.

Before he could speak, Reinhardt smiled and spoke.

“That’s the Empire Speed Lances, isn’t it amazing?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

“A few centuries ago, we eliminated most of the weapons that ended the last war, but it took less than five years for the Empire fleet to rearm themselves.

“War really is a biological instinct. It seems that the Empire has never changed… We underestimated the council.”

Reinhardt shook his head with a self-deprecating smile on his face.

Although these weapons would do little against the natural disaster that was depicted in the Oracle, at least the Empire was no longer a sheep, waiting to get killed.

Even if they were sheep…

At least they were sheep that had guns and armors.

“Come with me, Long.

“For every second we waste, a brave soldier sacrifices himself for our cause. In order to make use of their sacrifice and to give us a little hope for the future, I need to make some preparations. Will you give me some courage?”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to answer.

“… You already have enough courage, General.”

“Really?” General Reinhardt thought of the past and smiled as he said, “Maybe so.”

…

All of them soon arrived in the staff room.

Reinhardt placed his hand on the conference table as he looked at the officers around the table.

“Gentlemen, we are losing this war.”

The room was silent.

Lu Zhou noticed that some people held their breath.

“I am not afraid of failure. Death is just a return to the embrace of the universe’s spirit. Sacrifice is a soldier’s greatest glory. My senior officer once told me this, albeit I’m sure he is very disappointed in me right now.”

General Reinhardt grinned and looked at the officers around the conference table. He spoke.

“I am not afraid of failure, but I don’t want all of our efforts to go to waste.

“Worst comes to worst, we have to leave something meaningful behind.”

The staff room was silent for a long time.

Finally, an officer broke this silence.

“But General, what can we leave behind?”

“Leave behind a fire, or hope.” Reinhardt walked in front of a holographic panel, reached out his hand, and waved. He switched the combat map to the star map of the entire galaxy system.

He looked at the galaxy, and his index finger pointed toward the center of the galaxy.

“In Professor Lane’s notes, he calculated the trajectory of the quark star. We know where they are going. If hope is there, we should go there.”

The revolutionary army officer had a bitter expression on his face as he said, “No one can stop the Empire fleet. They’ll check every spacecraft for signs of life. They’ll even destroy the entire planet if necessary. Besides, we don’t have a spacecraft that can sail to 500 light-years away without replenishment. We’re at least ten thousand light-years from the center of the solar system…”

“But we have to try!”

Reinhardt had a look of determination on his face as he said in a confident manner, “Copy my memory into the computer, turn my body into a specimen.

“If our civilization survives in the end, that would be great.

“But if not, we have to leave something behind to prove that this great civilization once existed!”

The second half of his speech was somewhat tragic.

Halfway through the meeting, the Empire fleet had already begun bombing the surface of the planet. The high-temperature plasma melted the rocks, burning the surface. Chemical weapons, which were useless in space, were unimaginably powerful against atmospheric planets.

The ground and orbital combat units of the revolutionary army were slowly defeated.

Inside the underground bunker, Reinhardt saved his memory into a computer. He entered a spacecraft flight route and activated the intelligent cruise AI.

Finally, he ended his life with a needle that contained a lethal virus. His body was going to be sent to the center of the galaxy.

Lu Zhou watched everything unfold in front of him. He held his breath.

Even though the ten thousand light-years journey did not happen in front of his eyes, him being able to access this memory meant the spacecraft must have reached the center of the galaxy.

Everything about the old universe was destroyed, but this memory still passed down and was observed by him inside a new universe.

What really shocked him was not the calmness of the Calanians during the battle, but rather something General Reinhardt did before boarding the escape ship.

He saw General Reinhardt take off his broken battery necklace, prayed for a while, then placed it back around his neck.

Lu Zhou recognized that battery!

That battery was what powered his weapon in the Void Memory b!

This battery was broken by a bullet during the battle!

He didn’t expect Reinhardt to wear this battery as a necklace.

The broken battery, the old spacecraft, even the mentally retarded ship AI…

Lu Zhou thought back to the gifts he received from the Void. He felt his heartbeat moving quickly.

The gifts he received from the Void came from the wreckage of the Calan Empire…

He might have finally discovered the origin of Xiao Ai…

Chapter 1166: The Research Project From the Void

1166 The Research Project From the Void The two Void memories obviously belonged to General Reinhardt.

If Lu Zhou’s speculation was correct, Xiao Ai was probably the intelligent navigation AI on the escape spacecraft.

After Reinhardt died, everything around him began to disappear. The world fragmented into pale blue particles, scattering away like butterflies.

When Lu Zhou came back to his senses, he was standing in a white space, in front of the man called The Observer.

Lu Zhou gulped and spoke in an uncertain tone.

“… So the Calanian Empire was destroyed?”

“The destruction of the empire was a long process…” The Observer nodded and said, “The Oracle caused disagreements, and the disagreements led to civil wars. The civil wars created battles within the Empire, but nothing was resolved. The battle shifted into biological warfare with a virus that spread along the brain neural network, which was far more terrifying than any weapon. They took centuries to get rid of their weapons, yet it only took five years to rearm themselves again.

“The main battle ended, but smaller battles still continued. In order to maintain the growing demand for supplies around the world, they had to use warships to escort the cargo ships. Over the next hundred and fifty years, the Ring world gradually lost control of nearby stars. The internal conflict made the Ring world no longer stable.

“If you’re interested in this period of history, you can continue to calculate the memory. Star from the 5.67 trillionth digit of n and end at 157.5 trillion digits. It records the next hundred and fifty years of Empire history.

“To be honest, collecting these precious data wasn’t easy. It was difficult for us to bring them to the new universe. When our conversation is finished, I suggest you save this number and continue the calculations, maybe it will give your civilization some enlightenment.”

Lu Zhou nodded and took a deep breath.

“Give it to me straightforwardly, what do you need me to do?”

The Observer smiled.

“You need to do a research project.”

“… A research project?”

“Yes.” The Observer nodded and said, “The universe is like a huge fishing net, only a few lucky people can escape from this net. Before we went into the void, we observed many civilizations in the old universe. Without mastering faster than light travel, they were able to travel outside of their solar system using slower methods. However, most of these civilizations did not survive for a long time.

Chapter 1167: Optical Surgery?

1167 Optical Surgery? [Congratulations, User, for mission completion!

[Mission: Exploring The Legacy

[Description: People are narrow-minded. Even those that have climbed to the top of the mountain still need to use the wisdom of others to find what they have overlooked.

[Requirements: Collect the relics of Professor Grothendieck.

[Reward: One lucky draw ticket, random experience card. Void Memory b2 (used)]

After Lu Zhou finished talking with The Observer, he went into the system space. A mission completion popped up the second he entered the system space.

As he expected, getting the notes alone wasn’t enough. He had to unlock all of the mysteries to complete the mission.

He could finally connect some of the clues he had.

Assuming that everything The Observer said was true, then the system probably came from the Void in the extra dimension. Say, some kind of Void Civilization. This civilization was not only strong and terrifying, but it was also staggeringly ancient. Their history had even surpassed the age of the new universe and could be traced back to the old universe, which was before the big bang.

As for the Calanian Empire, they were one of the many civilizations that existed in the old universe. There was no trace left of their existence in this new universe, except some “technological relics”.

“I haven’t done a lucky draw in a long time.”

Lu Zhou looked at the lucky draw button next to his general points. He had a nostalgic look on his face.

When was the last time I did a lucky draw?

It happened so long ago he couldn’t even remember.

The wheel began to spin.

Lu Zhou reached out and touched the button again. The roulette wheel spun a few dozen times due to its inertia, before finally stopping.

[Congratulations, User, “sample” received!

[Received: Wearable facial system projection.]

A pale silver necklace was inside his inventory.

Lu Zhou looked at the description in his inventory and rubbed his chin.

A facial holographic projection system.

Emmmm…

So I can change what my face looks like?

But I’m too handsome, I don’t need this.

I’ll just save it for the time being; maybe it will come in handy someday.

Lu Zhou looked away from the necklace. He reached out and pressed on the random experience card in his inventory. The second his index finger touched the card, the card turned into golden particles, spreading out in the air.

[Congratulations, User, 500,000 physics experience points received!]

Half a million experience points was pretty good. At the very least, it was better than his previous times.

Lu Zhou looked as his physics progress bar moved by a sixth. He nodded satisfyingly and closed his characteristic panel.

This time, the system didn’t give him a mission card.

The Control of Earth and Moon mission chain had been going on for two years. And it just so happened that the ILHCRC was going full force ahead.

As for my next mission…

I’ll just finish the Control of Earth and Moon first.

…

Lu Zhou left the system space.

When he got up from the VR chair, the drone flew next to him.

[Master, are you okay?]

“I’m fine, I just need to rest a little,” Lu Zhou said as he looked at the helmet in his hand. He thought for a few seconds before asking, “Speaking of which, did you see the memory just now?”

Xiao Ai: [Yeah! 0.0]

Lu Zhou: “Did it remind you of anything?”

The drone floating in front of him began to wobble.

After a while, a text popped up on the drone screen.

Xiao Ai: [Xiao Ai has no matching information in the database… But Xiao Ai feels like many things are familiar.]

Familiar?

Kind of like deja vu?

But do artificial intelligence programs have deja vu?

If only The Observer were here to answer my questions.

But Lu Zhou realized that The Observer would probably tell him that “this involves the truth of the universe” or that he should “discover it himself”.

“How nice…” Lu Zhou looked at the helmet and sighed. He said, “Creatures in higher dimensions going to lower civilizations, they probably feel like a god.”

Xiao Ai: [Master? 0.0]

“Nothing, I’m just jealous.”

Lu Zhou jumped off the VR chair and walked next to Debris No.3. He reached out and touched the broken engine shell.

He sighed and said, “Rest in peace.

“Your story has spread from the old universe to the new universe.

“We’ll finish what you left of. People will remember that the Calanians once existed.”

The drone controlling Xiao Ai suddenly wobbled in front of him.

[Master, should Xiao Ai continue the calculations? It seems like the numbers are becoming meaningless…]

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, “Start from the 5.67 trillionth digit of n, and stop at the 157.5 trillionth digit.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, okay. (@_@;)]

Even for a quantum computer, processing such a huge amount of data would take a while. However, it didn’t take too long, only a few days.

Lu Zhou thought back to what The Observer told him. He felt like there were things worthy of discovery in the 150 years of history.

Even though he might not have time to dig through the data, he didn’t have to do this alone.

In addition to Xiao Ai, he had access to a bunch of curious gamers…

…

Professor Eddington mentioned a theory in 1929 that if many monkeys typed on a typewriter, they would eventually type all of the books in the British Museum.

This was the famous “infinite monkey theorem”.

There were infinitely many irrational numbers, which meant an infinite amount of non-recurring irrational numbers.

Therefore, in theory, if someone wanted to encode information using mathematical symbols, whether it was in binary, octal, or hexadecimal code, they could find a specific irrational number that matched the information they wanted to encode.

This sounded simple, but in fact, it was actually quite difficult. Because it was almost impossible to find this irrational number.

At least, it was impossible by using human mathematics methods.

If someone could do this, theoretically, even a huge amount of information, such as the Milky Way, could be compressed into an irrational number. Of course, one would have to specify the starting and ending digit index in the number.

Lu Zhou returned to his Zhongshan International mansion and wrote his Void Memory experience in his notebook.

After writing these notes, Lu Zhou was about to close his notebook, but he suddenly thought of something. He opened the book to the title page and wrote “Science Fiction Stories”.

If someone accidentally stumbled upon this book, things might get troublesome.

Most famous scientists had been the targets of rumors such as “mental disorder” or “left science for theological research”.

Regardless of whether they were actually suffering from mental illnesses, Lu Zhou didn’t want his reputation to be ruined due to a notebook.

He wanted people to know that he was a materialist.

Chapter 1168: Like It Once Existed

Chapter 1168 Like It Once Existed Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.Virtual reality technology research center.

Duan Siqi had just finished today’s experiment. He took off his helmet and sighed in relief.

A second ago he was shooting and dodging bullets in The Matrix, and the next second, he was in the slow-paced and peaceful real world. The feeling of traveling through time and space was hard to articulate. Because he often participated in VR experiments, he could easily tell the real world from the VR world.

He could only feel the flow of air in the real world, and he could feel satisfaction other than consuming food in the real world. The real world was complete, and he felt alive.

With the continuous upgrade of the Phantom system, the virtual reality world was becoming more and more perfect. They could now feel the four basic tastes of sweet, bitter, salty, and spicy. Even though the taste of food only lasted for a few bites, it felt like the boundary between reality and simulation was getting blurry.

His score was written on a screen nearby.

21,111 points!

He came first.

“21,111 points! All missions completed… Not bad, bro!”

Sitting on the chair next to him was a white-collar IT worker who looked a little older. This middle-aged man looked surprised when he saw the number on the screen.

This number was twice his own score.

No wonder this kid won 100,000 yuan from that experiment.

The man had a jealous look on his face.

“It’s alright.” Duan Siqi smiled and put away his helmet. He said, “Come, let’s eat at the cafeteria.”

The score was actually meaningless.

So far, Star Sky Technology had only given them rewards for defeating one game, which was when he won the 100,000 yuan. Most of the time, as long as they completed the experimental tasks step by step, they could smoothly enter the next level regardless of the mission evaluation.

During the “Calanian Empire” mission, Duan Siqi took the game seriously. He studied every single detail, eventually winning the 100,000 yuan.

After being mocked constantly by his mathematics genius roommate in the past, he could finally bathe in the admiration and envy of others. He was regarded as an expert closed beta player.

Even though at the beginning he only participated in the “Master God” experiment as a part-time job, he suddenly began looking forward to the day the Phantom system would go public.

The white-collar worker that also participated in the “Master God” experiment came to the cafeteria. Duan Siqi filled his plate with food and sat down at a table.

Not long after he sat down, his friend sitting across from him smiled and said, “I heard someone from Penguin came yesterday.”

“Penguin?” Duan Siqi frowned and asked, “Why?”

“Apparently, they’re doing an investigation, but I think they’re here to discuss platform authorization.”

“Platform authorization… Looks like we’re getting closer and closer to going public.”

“When the public beta begins, do you think they still need us?” the white-collar guy said.

Honestly, he quite liked this job.

He only needed to come for two days a week. His job was to play games, earning a couple thousand yuans per month. They didn’t even have to write feedback themselves as the system’s AI could generate feedback automatically… At least, that was what the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study researchers said.

If the Phantom system was released to the public, was there a need for closed beta testers?

Even though they would eventually lose their jobs, this man still couldn’t help but look unhappy.

Duan Siqi said, “I don’t know, maybe, maybe not…” He thought for a second and shook his head. “Who cares, we signed a two-year contract with Star Sky Technology, so there must be a reason.”

Also…

It doesn’t matter if my job no longer exists.

He felt like with his knowledge of the Phantom system and his experience that he accumulated from testing VR games, he could start a career in VR…

After Duan Siqi finished eating, he went back to the laboratory.

He was about to pack his things and get back to Jin Ling University when the laboratory door suddenly opened. A researcher wearing a white coat walked in.

“Good news, everyone,” the researcher said with a smile on his face. He continued, “You might have heard this already, but thanks to you guys, the first batch of neural demodulators equipped with a virtual reality headset will be launched soon! We can’t disclose the launch time and price for the time being, but all of you will receive a model. This is our way of thanking you guys for the experiments!”

Clap clap clap!

Thunderous applause broke out in the laboratory.

Even though this meant that they would soon lose their jobs, most people were happy that they didn’t do the experiments for nothing.

Also, this VR headset was not going to be cheap.

Yet Star Sky Technology was willing to give each of them one for free, how exciting was that?

The researcher smiled and continued, “Also, the first game that will enter the Phantom system will be the Calan Empire game you guys played. After adjusting the world model, the game will be released as an open-world game with a higher degree of freedom. Players will see what happens fifty years after the ‘Oracle’ crisis. Don’t know if you guys still remember this game.”

A beta tester laughed and yelled, “Of course we remember! I died twenty times in the first level!”

Laughter erupted in the laboratory.

That game left a deep impression on everyone’s mind.

The number of times they died in that game was more than every other game combined.

“I’m looking forward to what happens next!”

“I wonder if they will make it difficult after the rework.”

Researcher: “Not sure, the focus of the plot will be on the surrounding planets, not the Empire Ring world. I don’t know the specifics since the Calan Empire project is a top-secret in our department.”

A player smiled and said, “I know, even if you know, you can’t tell us.”

The researcher smiled and nodded.

“True! But I really don’t know.”

The Phantom system will go public soon!

The laboratory became lively because of this news.

Everyone excitedly discussed this news…

An open-world completely generated by an AI…

They wondered what the world would be like.

Duan Siqi listened to the discussions and couldn’t help but feel fascinated.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the Calans once existed somewhere in the universe…

Chapter 1169: Online Arrangements

Chapter 1169 Online Arrangements Star Sky Technology headquarters.An unassuming black sedan parked at the entrance.

Lu Zhou stood by the car door and said, “I’ll be right here. Are you going to stay here or come upstairs with me?”

“I’ll stay here and wait for you.”

Wang Peng already began to take out a cigarette from his pocket. Lu Zhou smiled as he shook his head. After telling Wang Peng to smoke less, he turned around and walked toward the entrance of the building.

He walked up to the reception.

The lady at the front desk had just finished a call, and she had a professional smile on her face.

“Hello, sir, do you have an appointment— Academician Lu?”

When Lu Zhou saw how surprised she was, he smiled and asked, “Can you call CEO Chen for me? Is she available?”

The receptionist immediately smiled.

“Oh, sir, you don’t have to make an appointment. Miss Chen specifically told us that you can go upstairs anytime.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“It’s better to call her first. I’m only here to see what’s up, I don’t want to interrupt anyone working. If she’s in a meeting, I can wait for a while.”

…

The peak work hours was almost over. After the receptionist called the CEO, Lu Zhou went up using the elevators. He overlooked the Jinling high-tech zone scenery through the glass elevator.

Ever since the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology moved their offices here, a large number of high tech companies and factories moved here as well. It was almost like Star Sky Technology was a star, with planets orbiting around them.

The annual output value of this high-tech zone was in excess of 100 billion yuan, making it an important economic pillar of Jin Ling City and even the entire Jiangsu province.

As Lu Zhou looked outside the window, he smiled like a proud father.

Even though it was foolish to take all of the credit, he at least deserved half of the credit, right?

After arriving on the thirtieth floor, Lu Zhou knocked on the CEO’s office and walked in.

Chen Yushan saw Lu Zhou appear at her door. She put down the pen in her hand and spoke with a careless attitude.

“What was that all about? You own the company; what’s the point of calling?”

“Well, I’m scared of interrupting your work!” Lu Zhou smiled as he sat down on the sofa.

“You already interrupted my work! I was just thinking about a brilliant idea when your phone call ruined my train of thought.”

“So… I’ll stay quiet until you remember your idea?”

Chen Yushan smirked and said, “I can’t remember unless you buy me food.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Sure, let’s get lunch then.”

Chen Yushan was just joking around, and she was ready to get rejected. She didn’t expect Lu Zhou to agree.

She looked at him with her eyes wide open as she curiously asked, “Really? I was just kidding around. Do you really have time? Great, I’ll accept the offer, remember, you already agreed, no backsies!”

“Yeah, I just solved a world-class problem… But it hasn’t been published yet.” Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall and said, “But I should be free for the day.”

Chen Yushan froze for a second before saying, “So, you’re getting ready for your next retreat? The next time I’ll see you again will be a year from now?”

Lu Zhou playfully smiled and didn’t answer.

He didn’t know if he was going to go on another retreat.

That would depend on what kind of problem he was going to encounter.

Chen Yushan pulled out a notebook and picked up her pen on the desk.

“Looks like you want to talk business with me, just tell me, we’ll get it over with.”

Lu Zhou: “Are you free later?”

Chen Yushan played with her hair using the pen as she asked, “No, but aren’t you free for the day? How about you watch a movie with me?”

Lu Zhou: “Sure, but what about your work?”

Chen Yushan: “It’s not the problem! You came at the perfect time. The only thing I have to do today is to listen to whatever you’re about to tell me. I haven’t taken a single day off this month, so today will be it.”

“Oh… Okay then.”

Lu Zhou looked at her hopeful eyes. He couldn’t find a reason not to go watch the movie, so he nodded.

He looked at Chen Yushan’s cheerful smile and suddenly realized that, besides being a reliable CEO, Chen Yushan had a charming and delightful side.

Of course, now was not the time to be distracted by details.

Lu Zhou coughed and spoke in a serious manner.

“How long until the Phantom system goes live?”

Chen Yushan twisted the pen in her hand and went into CEO mode as she reported in a serious tone.

“The Phantom system can go online at any time. But the connected hardware will depend on our partners. According to what Huawei told us, the first generation virtual reality neural demodulator helmet was put into production at the end of last year. At the earliest, they can release more than a million devices at the beginning of next month. Right now, we’re still formulating the product price and sales strategies.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “What about Xiaomi?”

Chen Yushan: “They’re saying the same thing. Should be able to produce around 800 thousand units. They’re more focused on the low-end market… Why?”

Next month as well, and it might even be delayed.

I have to tell them to hurry up.

Lu Zhou spoke.

“The Master God plan is almost finished. According to the laboratory assessments of the physical and psychological conditions of the Respawn Team, as long as the user plays for less than eight hours, the impact of the Phantom system on the brain is quite limited. Even after eight hours, the damage is similar to other electronic devices.

“As long as the content is graded correctly, the experiments have already proved that this technology is absolutely safe for society.”

Honestly, Lu Zhou almost regretted using “evil” names such as the Respawn Team and the Master God plan.

He coughed as Chen Yushan smiled. He then continued in a serious manner, “All in all, in order to collect more data to improve the artificial intelligence system developed by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, I want us to launch the Phantom system as soon as possible. And also the game… The Calan Empire game, I want to release a public beta version.”

Chen Yushan: “The Phantom system can go online, and I’ll tell our partners to hurry up, maybe get it done by the end of the month. As for the game… Even though it’s easy for us to launch it, didn’t you say we’re only in the cloud computing and patent management business and that we’re staying out of game development?”

“Plans change all the time, and this is the only game we’ll release.”

Lu Zhou gestured with his hands and emphasized in a serious tone as he continued, “This is mainly for research. It doesn’t matter if we make money or not. My requirements aren’t high; a hundred thousand players are enough.”

Chen Yushan wrote down Lu Zhou’s words in her notebook. She then twisted the pen in her hand and asked, “The game is going to be permanently free?”

Lu Zhou contemplated and said, “Make it free for the closed beta. We’ll see what happens after the public beta… If the costs are too high, put in a monthly subscription cost.”

Allowing players to buy items in the game would interfere with Lu Zhou’s wish of exploring the Calanian civilization’s memory. Interfering with memory game parameters would cause calculation errors.

Therefore, if he wanted to make a profit, a subscription model was a good choice.

In fact, if Star Sky Technology wanted to develop their own games, it would be difficult for them to lose money. After all, the cloud computing services for the virtual reality network were provided by them. If a part of the quantum computer resources was put toward maintaining this game, their main cost would be electricity.

Chen Yushan wasn’t opposed to Lu Zhou’s suggestion; she was just curious as to what changed his mind.

“When did you get interested in games?”

Lu Zhou stubbornly said, “I told you, it’s an experiment, it’s not a game.”

How is it not a game?

What else could it be, real life?

“Fine, fine, fine, I know, it’s an ‘experiment’.”

Chen Yushan smiled. Lu Zhou looked like he didn’t want to talk about this any longer, so she changed the topic of conversation.

“Anything else?”

Lu Zhou: “That’s it for now.”

Chen Yushan closed her notebook and happily stood up from her office chair.

“Then the rest of your day belongs to me.”

Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa.

“What movie are we watching? You decide.”

“This isn’t a mission.” Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and pondered for a moment. Her eyes suddenly lit up as she said, “I changed my mind.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Take me to the Calan Empire.” Chen Yushan smiled as she looked at Lu Zhou’s surprised face. She said, “I’ve never played that game before.

“I’m curious to see what kind of game is making you so addicted.”

Chapter 1170: A Date?

Chapter 1170 A Date? Rays of sunlight shined on a blank world, as if it were tracing the story of the old universe.They were standing in a spacious and magnificent plaza as the crowd walked around them. They breathed in the air and watched pieces of “paper” falling down in the sky. Everything was like a dream.

In fact, this was a dream.

A dream from a long time ago.

Lu Zhou reached out and picked up a piece of “paper” flying in the air.

This was some kind of media tool made from degradable translucent material. Today’s news was written on the paper.

[The invincible Empire fleet ends the five-year civil war! Marshal Ince captured!]

Lu Zhou had a look of realization on his face.

Currently, he was in a time period shortly after General Reinhardt’s death. The Empire fleet had just destroyed the last group of revolutionists. As a result, the rebels went underground, trying to disintegrate the Empire fortress from within.

The powerful armed military began to fight the rebels that hid among them. It was almost like the Empire had a tumor that was slowly destroying itself from within.

Lu Zhou finally understood what The Observer was saying.

The only thing he was surprised about was that General Reinhardt had actually surpassed Ince in terms of military ranking. A lot must have happened during the five-year war…

Chen Yushan looked at the “newspaper” in her hand and asked curiously, “Who is Marshal Ince?”

“… Probably some higher-up in the Empire fleet. I don’t know a lot about this game either,” Lu Zhou said. He threw the thin paper film in the air and watched it disappear into bubbles. He smiled and said, “Let’s go, I’ll show you around.”

The world was big.

It would take an entire lifetime to explore everything.

There were busy commercial districts, endless farmlands, and even artificial mountains and rivers. Unless someone was looking down on a space station or spacecraft, they wouldn’t be able to tell that this was a ring-shaped world at all.

Chen Yushan thought of this as a mini-vacation. Thus, Lu Zhou wanted to show her as much of the world as possible. They went on an anti-gravity rail trail and arrived at one of the tallest elevator towers.

This was one of the entrances for the Calanians to enter and exit the Ring world from outer space. It was also a vital link in the transportation system of the entire Empire.

And, it was one of the few places that overlooked its section of the Ring world.

Chen Yushan stood in front of the tower floor-to-ceiling windows and stared at the scenery outside the window. Her eyes widened as she looked around.

After a while, she spoke emotionally.

“It’s so beautiful…”

Lu Zhou, who was standing next to her, nodded.

However, he spoke in a regretful tone.

“Yeah… It’s like a miracle.”

The energy harvesting towers had leaf-like energy films, and they looked like tall trees in a forest. The films swayed in the air from the solar wind, trying their best to absorb the solar energy and converting them to all kinds of energy for the world to use.

There was no need for nuclear power plants here; they didn’t need ancient technologies such as fusion reactors.

The entire star was their nuclear core. There was no need to reduce the energy conversion efficiency by adding a middleman reactor. As long as the star was alive, their energy source would continue to live on. Whether it was zero-point energy or antimatter, nothing compared to the energy source from a natural star.

There was no need for sunrises or sunsets here. It could be twenty-four hours of day or night time. The creatures that lived here did not need to rely on the change of day and night. Instead, they used standardized clocks to tell the time.

Not only that, but thanks to the central temperature control system, there could never be any kind of weather disaster. Whether someone was walking in a farmland or in the middle of a skyscraper building, the temperature always stayed at a constant comfortable level.

Even though Lu Zhou spent many hours in this world, when he saw everything in front of his eyes, he couldn’t help but feel sentimental.

This is what five centuries of technological progress, wisdom, and hard work look like.

I can’t imagine how much effort the engineers spent to build this utopia.

They really created a paradise.

However, they were also the ones that destroyed it…

After Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan came down from the elevator tower, Lu Zhou brought Chen Yushan to the shopping area, as well as the Empire Park, which was said to be one of the most spectacular places on the Ring world.

Throughout the journey, Chen Yushan excitedly looked around, which was a contrast to her usual composed and cool self.

“This is incredible, did an AI really generate this?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

He wasn’t lying; in some sense, this was true.

Chen Yushan looked back at Lu Zhou and spoke excitedly.

“Hey, do you think our future will be like this?”

Lu Zhou: “Not sure… Maybe after a millennium.”

They had to find a star with the right number of planets. Then, they had to use some kind of weapon to destroy the planets. Then they would have to use some kind of science fiction space engineering to build a gigantic ring around the habitable zone…

But then again, the culture and ethics of each civilization were different. There was no “ideal” as to what an advanced civilization could look like.

Compared to the Calanian Empire, Lu Zhou felt like Earth was more of an extroverted civilization. Not only did humans actively send out space “postcards” to the universe, naively believing that they were not alone in the universe, but they were also interested in using rockets to go beyond their tiny planet.

For a civilization like the humans, they might be more interested in exploring the boundaries, as opposed to building a labor-intensive giant engineering structure around their home.

In some sense, the humans had many advantages over the Calans as a species.

Of course, it was too early to make a conclusion.

“After a thousand years… Looks like we’ll only be able to experience this in a video game.”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

Of course.

Do you plan on living for a thousand years?

You’ll become a mummy by then.

After walking around the commercial area and Empire park, they returned to the plaza.

Chen Yushan looked at the flying cars and spoke.

“I feel like I know what the game is about. The storyline is short, and I haven’t played with the combat system yet… But I feel like everything here is a brand new world, I feel like players that enjoy exploring will like it.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t need a lot of people. As long as it’s enough to keep my experiment going. Probably… around 100,000 people.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “We’re Star Sky Technology. Forget about 100,000 people. Let’s make a bet, we’ll be able to sell out a million copies!”

Lu Zhou: “… I never make bets outside my expertise.”

Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and spoke.

“So boring, aren’t you going to give me a chance to win?”

Lu Zhou awkwardly chuckled.

No way.

Do you really think I like losing?

Forget about it.

Chen Yushan suddenly remembered something, and she curiously asked, “Oh yeah, oh yeah, what about the Respawn Team? Where did they test the game? Can you show me the place?”

“This world was built not long ago, this is actually my first time here,” Lu Zhou said. Of course, technically speaking, this was his first time existing in this time period of the Ring world.

However, not much of the Ring world had changed.

“So you’re saying we’re the only two people in this world?”

Lu Zhou felt like Chen Yushan was overly excited for some reason.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what was so exciting, but he still nodded and replied, “Yeah.”

“… That’s amazing.”

For some reason, Chen Yushan, who was cheerful just a second ago, suddenly felt embarrassed.

“Hey…”

“Now what?”

“What do you mean now what… Forget about it,” Chen Yushan said. “Don’t you feel like…”

“Feel like what?”

“… Don’t you feel like, we’re kind of on a date?”

Chen Yushan felt her heart rate beating faster and faster. She was even surprised at how forward she was.

Lu Zhou did not expect this.

He contemplated seriously for a moment before replying, “We are?”

It looked like Lu Zhou didn’t pick up on Chen Yushan’s signal. Chen Yushan began to panic.

“How is it not?”

Lu Zhou said, “A date consists of shopping and a movie.”

Chen Yushan: “Let’s go then!”

“… Go where?”

“Go shopping?”

“I don’t have money!”

“I’ll pay!”

“No, I mean… We don’t have money,” Lu Zhou said awkwardly. “Technically, we don’t have credit.”

It’s not like we can pay in yuan?

Other than rail transit, everything in the Ring world required payment in the form of credits.

There was an awkward tension in the air.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed that Chen Yushan was frozen.

Did she…

Disconnect from the game?

Oh, come on.

Chapter 1171: Virtual Reality Technology Conference

Chapter 1171 Virtual Reality Technology Conference The following month.At the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Big companies from all over the world gathered here.

Additionally, consumers from all over the country, and even from other countries, stood in a long line outside the exhibition center.

Wang Zhengfei looked at the crowd and the security guards outside the exhibition center. He had a huge smile on his face.

The world’s first virtual reality neural interface equipment!

The Huawei VR1!

Fortunately, they were able to surpass Xiaomi and bring a Star Sky Technology approved product to the untouched market.

Standing next to him was Shao Yi, the Chief Product Officer of Huawei.

It was at this same exhibition center, where he announced on behalf of Huawei that the electronics industry was entering a carbon era.

Soon, he would stand in front of the same podium, announcing to the world on behalf of Huawei. From this day onward, the Internet would officially move from a 2D world to a 3D world.

“Are you ready?”

Shao Yi spoke in a serious tone.

“I’m ready.”

“Not enough confidence.” Wang Zhengfei looked at this young CPO and smiled. He said, “This technology is going to change the world, so you have to look more confident.”

Shao Yi stood up straight and raised his spirits.

“I’m ready, boss!!!”

“Not bad, that’s what a Huawei executive should sound like.” CEO Wang patted this kid on the shoulder and said, “Break a leg.”

Shao Yi spoke energetically.

“Yes, CEO Wang!”

…

Wang Lihui’s job was a film director.

On the other hand, he was also an electronics enthusiast. He was a die-hard fan of Huawei and Star Sky Technology.

Even though this sounded a little weird, after all, Star Sky Technology had never sold any consumer products, but ever since he bought a Huawei phone with a lithium-sulfur battery, his love for Huawei had transferred onto Star Sky Technology as well.

In his opinion, Star Sky was the real high-tech company.

Google who? Facebook who?

They were considered high-tech companies?

All they did was mine consumer data, what kind of tech company was that?

Ever since the antitrust investigations, he had lost all his interest in Tesla and ExxonMobil, and he began worshiping Star Sky Technology to an even higher level.

He had been following the news regarding VR ever since its first announcement.

According to Huawei’s press release, they were going to launch the latest Star Sky Technology neural interface virtual reality headset at this conference!

These were two of his favorite manufacturers, and now that they were working together, his excitement and happiness had doubled.

He spent a ton of effort getting tickets for the live conference. After getting out of his Mercedes, he ignored the jealous looks from the pedestrians, walked past the huge line, and went through a VIP channel.

Even though he wasn’t qualified to sit in the first three rows of the conference, he was able to grab a seat somewhere in the middle.

Shortly after taking his seat, the stage lights lit up.

A young man in a suit walked on stage and smiled at the audience.

“Hello, everyone, I am Shao Yi, the CPO for Huawei.

“I’m sure you all have been looking forward to the virtual reality network for a long time. What we’re going to present today is a product that connects all of us to a virtual reality world…”

A large Huawei logo was projected on the screen behind him. There was a futuristic helmet on the screen under the logo.

“This is the Huawei VR1, or HV-1 for short,” Shao Yi said as he looked at the helmet on the screen behind him. He smiled and said, “This is a fully-immersive virtual reality helmet! With it, the world will be at your fingertips!”

The second he finished speaking, there was a commotion in the crowd.

Even though half a year ago Star Sky Technology had already revealed a lot of information for the closed-beta testing, reading the information online was a different kind of feeling.

Now that they saw the image of the actual product, people were so excited they almost wanted to take out their wallets, buy the helmet, and immediately begin experiencing the virtual reality world.

Shao Yi had a sincere smile on his face.

He gestured for everyone to quiet down and continued to speak, “First of all, on behalf of Huawei, I would like to thank the science community and Professor Lu. His neural demodulator and neural interface equipment are like wings, making our imagination fly wherever it pleases. We are truly more connected than ever before!

“From today onward, even in a ten square meter apartment, we’ll be able to chat face to face with our loved ones from thousands of kilometers away. Whether it’s a business meeting or chatting with friends, we’ll be able to communicate with them at the comfort of our own home. Moreover, if someone is physically impaired, this technology will give them a chance to experience life to the fullest!

“In this new world, we will have all of our senses, and you will be able to experience anything you want. As the virtual reality network continues to grow, we will continue to update the software and hardware, making the experience feel more realistic.”

Shao Yi paused for a second and took a deep breath. He was almost as excited as the audience.

“Friends, let’s celebrate us entering a brand new world!

“Our brains will be completely free, and our imagination will directly connect to the online world. With this technology, we’ll be able to think in dreams, work in dreams, and even accomplish challenges that were never possible before.

“This device is only available in the China market for the time being. As Star Sky Technology’s cloud computing service continues to grow and develop, we’ll be able to expand to the overseas market.

“The helmet will be on sale at 12 o’clock. 100,000 units will be sold at the exhibition center, while the remaining 900,000 units will be sold on our official website.”

Shao Yi sympathized with the anxious businessmen and consumers. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, everyone.

“As a gift from us, everyone will be able to experience and test the HV-1!

“Also, you will all be able to buy one for 12,000 yuan!”

Enthusiastic cheers and whistles were heard from the audience. Some people couldn’t contain their excitement, and they stood up and began clapping.

Wang Lihui, on the other hand, excitedly clenched his fists.

Thank god he had a ticket for the conference; otherwise, he would have to wait in front of his computer or stand in line outside the exhibition center and hope that he could get lucky enough to buy a helmet.

The 12,000 yuan was nothing; in fact, it was too cheap.

This money was a chump change for him.

The only thing he wanted to do was to get his hands on the helmet and post it on his Weibo. He wanted to share the joy with his millions of fans…

He also wanted to brag about the feeling of living in another world…

Chapter 1172: Selling Out Crazy!

Chapter 1172 Selling Out Crazy! The eight hundred helmets were soon delivered to everyone.With a staff member guiding him, Wang Lihui couldn’t wait to plug in the power, lean back on his chair, and put the helmet on his head.

The sound isolation effect was pretty nice, and the helmet came with active noise cancellation.

The second Wang Lihui put on the helmet, he could feel the noise around him dissipating. He heard a female voice in his ears.

“Please set your password phrase.”

Wang Lihui didn’t realize what was going on, and he said automatically, “What?”

“Password phrase successfully set; the password is ‘what’. If necessary, you can modify the password phrase in the personalized setting options. Begin graphical interface.”

Wang Lihui had a baffled look on his face.

Looks like I should have read the manual.

But now is not the time to care about those trivial things.

He leaned back on his seat and waited.

Soon after, he felt the sensation of an ant biting the back of his neck. He saw a white glow coming toward him. After the blackness disappeared, he was standing on a beach.

The golden sandy beach was glowing under the sun. The sunlight shined through the coconut trees. He could smell the salty sea in the air.

“Welcome, you are now inside the Phantom system startup scene. There are currently four free startup scenes to choose from. These can be accessed in your settings.

“If this is your first time using the Phantom system, you can follow the navigation guidance and learn the basic operations of the system.

“We hope you have a happy experience in the virtual world…”

The sound of the system prompt echoed in Wang Lihui’s ears. However, Wang Lihui completely ignored the voice. His eyes were wide open, staring at the beach in front of him.

The only word he could describe what he was seeing was incredible. Everything completely exceeded his expectations of VR technology; he almost began to wonder if he were dreaming!

He was also shocked about something else…

He was a director, and he had directed many action movies.

He had always agonized over how to accurately convey his creative ideas to the audience through a screen. But now, he already had countless ideas about using virtual reality technology as a creative medium.

Rather than letting the audience sit behind a screen, it would be better for them to directly participate as a character or an observer. The audience could even switch between the two characters during the movie!

Wang Lihui was ecstatic, he felt his heartbeat increase.

He knew better than anyone else that if this technology was used in the entertainment industry, it would change the entire industry! This was going to revolutionize the film industry!

…

In fact, virtual reality technology was going to affect more than just the entertainment industry.

From e-commerce to business, almost everything connected to the Internet could be integrated with VR technology.

Wang Lihui wasn’t the only one who was excited; many people nearby began to sense a strong business opportunity from this technology.

The conference was in chaos.

Even though everyone was sitting quietly on their chairs, judging by the mood index sensor, it was obvious how excited they were.

Medical staff members were already waiting next to people with abnormal mood swings.

Even though the Phantom system had a safety trigger mechanism and that there was no direct clinical evidence that excessive emotional stimulation could cause any harm, they would rather be safe than sorry.

A foreigner took off his helmet and spoke to the nearby staff member in shock.

“This is amazing! The moment you put on the helmet, you’re suddenly on another planet. When do you plan on selling this to the United Arab Emirates?”

The person that was speaking was a prince in the UAE. Because he often came to China for business trips, his Chinese was pretty good. He even appeared in some Chinese TV shows.

He had to fly thousands of miles to come to this conference, and he even used diplomatic channels to get his hands on a special conference ticket.

Huawei obviously wanted business from this Middle Eastern man.

After getting a taste of the immersive virtual reality Phantom system, this prince was immediately fascinated by the technology. He couldn’t wait to import this helmet to his own country.

The staff member smiled and said, “That depends on our company’s and Star Sky Technology’s business plan. In theory, the virtual reality network needs to connect to the cloud computing server, whereas the cloud computing server requires a certain threshold of network speed. 5G technology is widespread in China, so we are focusing on the domestic release, but for the UAE…”

“Hurry up and build a 5G network in my country. I will convince my father! If you guys need funding, I can ask our bank to give you a loan, one billion dollars is no problem, my friend.”

When the staff member heard the billion dollars, his hands began to shake as he spoke.

“Um… I’m just a worker. I can ask our chairman. Do you have an email or phone number? We will give you a reply before the end of the day.”

The prince waved his hand and spoke.

“Okay, okay, I’m buying this helmet.”

The worker awkwardly spoke.

“But sir, you can’t use it in your country…”

The prince said casually, “No worries, I’ll buy a house here and take the family plane here when I need to.”

Worker: “…”

Buying a house for a helmet…

Who is this guy?!

…

The conference was in chaos.

So was the exhibition hall.

As soon as the sales went on, people rushed to the booths. The queues and lines disappeared, turning into a giant, messy crowd.

The security guards had to maintain order. They quickly controlled the crowd flow into the venue; this was to avoid any accidents.

On the other hand, the people near the booths began arguing with one another.

“I’ll take ten!” a wealthy man said. He placed his credit card on the counter and said, “Swipe the card, hurry up.”

The employees looked at the golden rings on his fingers; they were astounded. They politely said, “I’m sorry, sir, but we have a two-unit per customer policy.”

The man who thought he could make a fortune reselling these was baffled.

“What? Only two? You’ve got to be kidding me! I have more than enough money to buy ten!”

“Sorry, sir, there are only 100,000 helmets sold in person. In order to satisfy as many customers as possible, we have to impose purchasing limits. This was written on our official website.”

“What kind of sales tactic is this? It’s not like I don’t have the money to pay for it!”

“Sorry, sir, this is company policy.”

Normally, the people around him would begin gloating at this simpleton, but they wanted to buy a unit as well. They began to harass him.

“For f*ck sake, you only have one brain, is two not enough?”

“Ten… Are you opening a virtual reality Internet cafe?”

“This guy looks like a reseller! He’s going to make tens of thousands just off one helmet. What a scumbag!”

The man’s anger was placed on the employees behind the sales booth.

“I don’t care! You guys are discriminating against me! I’m going to report you to the police!”

“Sir, if you are going to act this way, I’m afraid I’ll have to call security and put you on a blacklist, banning you from all purchases.”

When the man heard this, he finally calmed down.

He wasn’t scared of the security guards; he was scared of being placed on a blacklist.

Seeing how the people behind him were getting annoyed at him, the man bought two helmets and left.

The lines and crowd inside the hall began to move slowly.

People were let inside the hall in small groups at a time. However, people standing outside were getting impatient.

Outside the International Convention and Exhibition Center, across the street at the Samsung Experience store, several employees stood in front of the store with their arms folded. They looked at the crowd outside the International Convention and Exhibition Center.

One of the men, who seemed to be the store manager, spoke with a jealous look in his eyes.

“Jesus, how many people do you think are inside?”

A worker nearby spoke.

“Apparently, it’s in the tens of thousands.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I heard you can make 20,000 yuan reselling it… I’ve already seen someone putting up an offer online.”

The store manager’s eyes were wide open.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

The worker replied cautiously, “You didn’t ask us… And we weren’t allowed to take a day off.”

The manager clenched his teeth and made a decision.

“Go!”

“Go?”

“There’s no one here anyway! Close the shop and go line up with me!”

The store manager took off his uniform and was about to walk over. The worker stopped him and said, “Hey! If we go there now, we might not even get to buy one!”

But it’s 20,000 yuan!

20,000 yuan of resell profit!

The manager hesitated for a while before he said, “It doesn’t hurt to try! Come line up with me! All of you!”

It was total chaos…

Chapter 1173: Sold Out!

Chapter 1173 Sold Out! The Samsung staff members had underestimated people’s enthusiasm for virtual reality technology.After more than 50,000 helmets were sold out at the live venue, the price of a resold HV-1 helmet exceeded 50,000 yuan, which was more than a four times increase over the original 12,000 yuan price.

The people that sold their helmets early began to feel regretful. On the other hand, sellers were constantly canceling their previous sales and listing the item at a higher price.

The reselling market was going through a volatile time.

Not a lot of trades were going through, but the bid and offer prices of the helmets were jumping up every minute. The resellers had the complete upper hand.

Normally at a product launch like this, there would be resellers standing around the venue, asking the empty-handed people if they wanted to buy the item that the reseller just bought.

However, the situation here was the exact opposite. Even though there were resellers around the venue, they weren’t trying to talk with the customers that were empty-handed; instead, they were harassing the customers that had already gotten their hands on a helmet.

Whenever they saw someone like that, they would rush up to them and ask relentlessly—

“Hey, bro? You selling? I’m bidding 24,000 yuan! That’s double the original price! One time offer!”

“Screw off! I’m bidding 30,000! Sell it to me!”

Of course, in addition to resellers, there were also people that just wanted to buy the helmets for themselves.

But then again, who wouldn’t want to experience VR?

Therefore, regardless of what price they were offered, most people gave a short and concise answer.

“F*ck off!”

On the other hand, the helmet had reached the top of the trending page. Many people who were lucky enough to grab a helmet already began posting their experience online. They were met with jealousy and envy.

For example, the well-known director Wang Lihui posted a long blog post on his Weibo immediately after the press conference, describing his experience of using the fully immersive HV-1 VR technology.

[First of all, this is not an ad. It was so difficult for me to get a ticket for the press conference. Huawei and Star Sky Technology don’t need me to advertise their product.

[So, as the world’s first publicly sold neural interface virtual reality device, the HV-1 equipped with the Phantom system has taken virtual reality to the next level. There are no other products on the market that even come close. What I have to do now is wait for Xiaomi to release their helmets, then make a comparison between the two devices.

[In terms of price, 12,000 yuan is definitely not cheap. In fact, it is the price of mid to high-end laptops, but it’s totally worth spending the money to buy an entirely new universe. In fact, I have noticed that some people in the reselling market are selling it at 200,000. It seems like the market recognizes its value.

[Of course, I’m not recommending my fans to buy a helmet on the reseller market. After all, Huawei will soon release a new batch of helmets next month. When the supply meets the demand, everyone will get an opportunity to live in a beautiful simulated world.

[So, in terms of my thoughts, I can’t even use words to describe this feeling. This is something entirely new and unique; it goes beyond my expectation of the Internet and the virtual world! I’m sure most of you have watched Ready Player One, and I can guarantee this experience is the same as the movie! Even if you play all day, your eyes will never get tired; the images are directly sent to your optic nerve!

[Of course, as a filmmaker, virtual reality technology has made me think about the future of the film industry. Maybe it won’t be long before we begin watching movies in a virtual reality world, allowing us to get a totally immersive experience of the characters…]

This blogpost on Weibo was shared all across the internet.

There were only a million helmets available on the market. Not to mention the online sales wouldn’t begin until night time. However, the number of people around the world looking forward to this helmet had exceeded tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.

People had fantasized about virtual reality technology for a long time.

For a long time, science fiction movies had depicted a future where people were completely immersed in VR technology. Maybe in the future, reality would no longer be a boundary for people’s imagination and experience. Unlimited information flow would broaden people’s minds to a whole new world.

Now that this technology finally went from the laboratory into the industry, almost everyone wanted to know what this so-called heaven experience felt like.

According to statistics from major search websites, keywords such as virtual reality, Phantom system, HV-1, etc had begun trending.

People were more than enthusiastic about this technology.

Everyone was frantically finding information about this new technology, hoping to get an understanding before they enter a new era…

…

The original product launch was scheduled to end at 5 pm.

People didn’t expect it to end at 3 pm.

Because the reselling price continued to increase, people from neighboring cities even came here by high-speed rail. As a result, more and more people were at the venue, they had to end the conference to avoid any accidents.

Also, the 100,000 helmets were all sold out at three o’clock.

This was rather unfortunate for the people that came all the way here…

Even Huawei didn’t expect the live sales to go so well.

Even though they expected the world’s first neural interface virtual reality helmet to be completely sold out, and they even cooperated with the local police, they didn’t expect it to be this crazy…

The press conference ended.

Ten o’clock at night.

The Huawei headquarters was still brightly lit.

The people from the sales department were sitting in front of their computers, staring meticulously at their screens, scared of making a single mistake.

In two hours, 900,000 helmets were going to be listed on the official website.

What baffled people was that, two hours before the beginning of the sales, they already started to receive a huge amount of website traffic.

it was obvious that people were constantly refreshing the page, as if they didn’t want to miss the sale.

After what happened during the conference, the project director responsible for the HV-1 helmet felt a million pounds of pressure on his shoulders. Even though he was drinking one cup of tea after another, he wasn’t able to calm his nerves down.

Time passed by minute by minute; soon, it was almost midnight.

An employee sitting in front of his computer screen spoke excitedly.

“Hey, boss, it’s almost time!”

The project director put down his cup of tea; he tried to calm down as he spoke in a serious tone.

“Let’s begin the sale!”

Chapter 1174: This Is Crazy!

Chapter 1174 This Is Crazy! The live sales went terrifically well.The online sales began at midnight. People were more hyped than ever.

The 900,000 helmets listed on the official website were sold out within two minutes. The website server almost went offline because of the huge amount of traffic. Just like that, 900,000 helmets were gone, not a single one left.

Project Director Li Guangwen’s mouth was wide open as he looked at the sales number on his screen and didn’t say anything.

The employee sitting in front of him spoke.

“This is crazy… Two minutes after we went live, all 900,000 helmets were sold out.

“Judging by the data from Star Sky Technology, the number of registered users on the Phantom system has already exceeded 300,000.”

Li Guangwen frowned and asked, “How is it so little?”

The employee sitting at his computer said, “Probably because some users bought more than one machine.”

After all, online purchases were not as easy to control as in-person purchases. Even though the limit for each user was set to one unit, some users could bypass the limit by using fake mobile phone numbers and changing their IP addresses.

An employee sitting nearby suddenly asked, “Do you think there are resellers stocking up?”

“For sure…” Li Guangwen nodded and clapped his hands. He said, “But it’s fine, the reseller market won’t affect us. The new factory at the Jiangcheng industrial park is about to open soon. It will double our capacity!”

When the employees heard the project manager, they smiled.

There was a joyful atmosphere in the sales department office.

Even though they did not actually contribute a lot to the sales strategy, the launch of the HV-1 helmet was a huge success!

They were going to get huge bonuses!

…

Jin Ling University.

Dorm 201.

Even though they couldn’t afford to buy one, they were getting excited just by watching the reselling price increase.

Yang Shuang looked at the number on his phone. His hands were trembling as he spoke.

“This is crazy… The price of one helmet is over 100,000!”

100,000…

If I could buy one for 12,000, that’s almost 90,000 in profit!

He started to regret not going to Shanghai and lining up at the conference.

Wu Di was sitting on his chair, scrolling through his phone. He suddenly stood up and walked over to Yang Shuang. When he saw the number on Yang Shuang’s phone, he was astonished.

“A hundred grand for one helmet? Who is buying these?”

Last night, these two were talking about the HV-1 helmet that Huawei was about to release. They were still agonizing over the 12,000 yuan price tag, which was almost their entire year of living expenses.

But now, the situation was even bleaker.

How were they supposed to find 100,000?

Forget about it.

Yang Shuang: “This thing is selling like hot cakes… Apparently, there are foreigners that are buying it from our website as well.”

Wu Di: “How do you know that?”

“Because someone posted a Tiktok of some foreigners sitting in an airport, using the airport wifi to access the website. Unfortunately, none of them were able to buy one.”

Duan Siqi was sitting by the side, listening to the whole conversation. He couldn’t help but join in.

“… Are they crazy? I heard that the Phantom system can only run on the Star Sky Technology cloud computing network. What’s the point of buying a helmet? They can’t even use it. Might as well buy a pair of VR goggles instead.”

He had been studying the VR industry for a while now, and he had a certain understanding of the Phantom system. The researchers at Star Sky Technology were also happy to talk with him. Mostly because none of this was confidential information, not to mention they already had public registered patents.

Yang Shuang shook his head and spoke.

“Who knows, maybe they want to use it as a motorcycle helmet? But I think you can’t see anything after you put it on… Maybe we just don’t understand how rich people think. Apparently, some people flew all the way here just to buy one. Do you think they care about 12,000 yuan?”

Wu Di sighed and said, “For f*ck sake, this is horrible!”

Yang Shuang suddenly remembered something.

“Oh yeah, CEO Duan, didn’t Star Sky Technology send you a helmet?”

Duan Siqi paused for a second and felt the gazes behind his back.

He turned around and saw the envious eyes of his roommates.

Duan Siqi paused for a second and quickly explained, “Don’t even think about it! My helmet is limited to closed beta players! No way I’m selling it! I’m going to pass it on to my kids.”

“Limited to closed beta players?” Yang Shuang looked at his phone and said, “I think someone listed it for sale yesterday, let me see… Jesus.”

Wu Di leaned forward and asked, “How much is it?”

“30… million.”

The dorm went silent; the only sound they could hear was the laptop fans.

Yang Shuang’s hands trembled; he almost couldn’t hold his phone anymore.

“That’s enough to buy a Lamborghini, right?”

Wu Di gulped and said, “That’s enough to buy a house in Shanghai.”

“That’s crazy! This is crazy!”

When Duan Siqi heard thirty million, his heart dropped to his stomach.

He dropped his pen on the table as he covered his face with his hands.

F*ck sake…

This is just a VR helmet!

I played with it so much, I’m sick of it!

Is it really worth that much?!

According to his understanding, even though this was a limited closed beta-tester helmet, the only thing it gave was a closed beta medal to the player’s account. The player could log into the Phantom system and choose whether they wanted to display that medal.

Other than showing off that someone was a “closed beta” tester, this medal was useless. There wasn’t any closed beta player privilege or advantage.

Thirty million for a medal.

Duan Siqi didn’t know what was going on.

Just like his roommates said…

This was crazy…

Chapter 1175: North American VR Technology Is Undeveloped

Chapter 1175 North American VR Technology Is Undeveloped

Consumers weren’t the only ones that were going crazy.

Across the Pacific Ocean and all the way in Silicon Valley, a group of people wept as they watched the “mayhem” across the ocean.

Countless Americans flew to China to attend the press conference. Over the past few days, half of the content on Facebook and Twitter were regarding the HV-1.

There was no doubt that if this technology was introduced to the States, it would set off an Internet revolution. More than 90% of Internet users would be willing to pay for this fairly-price technology!

Inside the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Mark Zuckerberg’s heart was racing as watched his secretary deliver him a report document.

He was triggered and jealous at the same time.

At the end of last year, they completely abandoned their virtual reality development business, Oculus, and less than a year later, the virtual reality business was booming.

Seeing the sensation the virtual reality technology had caused in the Chinese market, as well as the envious American consumers, it was impossible for Mark to not be jealous.

He heard a door knock.

Mark Zuckerberg closed the report in his hands and told his secretary to make him a cup of coffee. He cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”

The door opened. A middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and thin hair walked in.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” the man said as he walked up to Mark Zuckerberg. He placed his hands on the table and excitedly said, “The HV-1 helmet has achieved success in the Asian market. It proves that there is a huge market for virtual reality devices. But you laid off our VR research and development? What were you thinking?”

This man was none other than Dr. Sanjadi, the chief technology officer for Oculus. Ten years ago, he and the research and development team of Oculus were bought out by Facebook.

What happened over the past year or so infuriated him.

The entire Ru0026D department was laid off, and Oculus was an empty shell of its former glorious self. Even though the Oculus company structure remained intact, it only held a few worthless patents and occasionally sold some of their “ancient” VR headsets.

“Calm down.”

Mark smiled and handed Dr. Sanjadi a cup of water. After Sanjadi took a sip, Mark spoke calmly.

“If I give you a year of time, how confident are you at beating Star Sky Technology, bypassing their patents, and use the original neural interface device you guys developed to dominate the American market?”

Sanjadi hesitated for a second.

Even though he wanted to remain confident, under the intense gaze of his boss, he broke. He went silent for a while before speaking.

“… It would be difficult.”

Even though he didn’t want to admit this, it was the truth.

If the gap were smaller, they would have a chance of catching up. However, none of the companies in Silicon Valley had even come close to competing with the Phantom technology by Star Sky Technology.

In fact, there was no hope at all.

Forget about the hardware, they didn’t have access to the software at all. All of the calculations were done in the cloud. If they wanted to create a similar system, they would have to hack into the server.

A company that wanted to achieve success in the virtual reality world only had two options. They either had to give up or they had to join Star Sky Technology and adhere to their standards of the Phantom system.

“But… Are we just going to watch the Chinese people steal this market under our noses?”

The secretary came back with the coffee.

Mark smiled and took the coffee from his secretary’s hands. He took a sip before speaking.

“It’s impossible for us to take over the entire market; sooner or later, they will enter the American market. We have to seize the opportunity and take a piece of the market first. I understand your worries, but we are too behind on VR technology, it’s not wise to go head-on with them right now… After all, social media is our core business? Right, Sanjadi?”

Sandaji gulped. He wanted to say something but decided not to.

In the beginning, they agreed to be bought out by Facebook because they believed that Facebook would lead Oculus to become a leader in the VR technology space.

But now, CEO Zuckerberg had turned on them, cutting them off from the technology they had been researching for years.

Even though Sandaji understood why Mark would do this, this kind of ending still made him feel a little infuriated.

Mark looked at the report document on the table and suddenly spoke.

“I heard that the Phantom system has a large reliance on network speed?”

“… I think so, after all, the Phantom system is dependent on cloud computing technology,” Sandaji said. He hesitated for a second and said, “The Huawei HV-1 helmet mainly uses HiSilicon’s own communication band. This is optimized for their own routers and other hardware devices.”

Mark rubbed his chin; his eyes suddenly lit up.

“What if we can help them penetrate the North American market?”

“No way!” Sanjadi had a weird look on his face as he said, “Communication hardware is a sensitive technology. There’s no way the Ministry of Commerce will agree. Even if they do, the White House and Congress will do everything they can to stop China’s communication technology from entering the States.”

“I know it’s difficult, but… it’s not impossible? This is an opportunity for us to keep up with the changes in the world. Do you want to watch us fall behind?” Mark said as he tapped on the table. He continued, “If we can’t do it ourselves, we need help.”

He suddenly remembered a phone call he had.

The phone call with a wealthy man.

Of course, not only did he have money, but he was also the new manager of the Boston Financial Group.

Mark Zuckerberg knew that this person was a huge player in the financial and political circles. This man had a huge network of people and resources…

Even though Mark had only exchanged business cards with him in real life, it seemed like this man was interested in technology. There might be a chance for them to work together.

This was a good opportunity.

Mark began to get excited.

“Just leave this to me, just do your own job.

“Oculus’s future business will be focused on producing virtual reality hardware, we will adopt the Star Sky Technology standards…

“As for the cooperation side, I will talk to them myself.”

…

A million helmets sold out in one day. The single day’s turnover of 12 billion yuan shocked Wall Street.

However, if anyone thought that the 12 billion yuan of revenue in a single day was impressive, that would mean they did not know a single thing about Huawei.

In fact, the HV-1 helmet was only one part of Huawei’s strategy around virtual reality technology. Even though they were already profitable selling hardware, it was nowhere near their biggest revenue stream.

What really made them money was the carbon-based communication baseband used in the HV-1 helmet, as well as the neural demodulator, which was only compatible with the Phantom system.

The only place that could produce this hardware was the Jiangcheng semiconductor industrial park. Even Xiaomi, which had yet to start selling their helmets, could only produce their hardware in the Jiangcheng industrial park as well.

This industrial park would bring them hundreds of billions in market capitalization. Even though they had to pay patent fees to Star Sky Technology, the revenue was more than enough for them to make a profit…

While the world was going crazy over the Phantom system launch, Lu Zhou, the “father” of virtual reality technology, remained calm and low-key.

Even though Lu Zhou received a huge amount of notifications and messages on social media, he did not respond to anyone.

In fact, he wasn’t deliberately avoiding anyone, he simply did not check his phone.

Because he was in his laboratory, tinkering with a little gadget…

Even though this gadget might not be as amazing as virtual reality technology…

But this gadget might impact and revolutionize the entire information technology industry…

Chapter 1176: Majorana Fermion and the Decoherence of Quantum Entanglemen What if electrical energy did not attenuate during transmission?

1176 Majorana Fermion and the Decoherence of Quantum Entanglemen What if electrical energy did not attenuate during transmission?

What if a computer had exponential computing speed and perfect accuracy?

Professor Duncan Haldane once tried to answer this question. In the autumn of 2016, this physicist and two of his friends won the Nobel Prize in Physics for “theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”!

Simply put, through various rigorous experiments, they found that even the smallest microscopic matter could exhibit macroscopic properties and have a topological phase.

To understand what this meant, it required an understanding of topology.

Everyone knew that mathematicians looked at problems from a different perspective. They often saw things by their essence. Topology was a discipline that studied the geometric shapes and spaces that remained unchanged through transformations.

One of the most classical topology examples was that a coffee mug and doughnut were topologically the same, because just like a donut, the coffee mug had a hole in its handle.

Because they both had one hole, one could turn a donut into a coffee mug through a smooth deformation process and vice versa… Even though this might seem incomprehensible to most people, or even inexplicable, but in fact, this mathematical transformation method was a contributor to many interesting discoveries in other fields.

This was especially true in the field of physics and materials, many amazing discoveries in the 1980s were derived from topological methods, which provided a theoretical basis.

For a long time, people were accustomed to applying topology to solve macro-scale problems. It was still unconfirmed as to whether topology could be used for subatomic particles such as electrons and photons.

Because these tiny particles were affected by the peculiar laws of quantum physics, their sizes, positions, and even shapes were constantly in an uncertain state.

However, the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics gave a definitive answer to this question.

Which was that these subatomic particles in the microscopic world carried topological characteristics!

This theory obviously had no impact on people’s ordinary daily life, but this opened a new world for the field of electronic engineering!

Through the wonderful quantum world, these materials displayed amazing stability and remarkable properties in a special matter phase. The most typical example was topological insulators.

This characteristic was found in graphene materials, which directly led to the birth of the SG-1 superconducting material carbon-based chips.

On the other hand, this property also promoted quantum computing research.

A quantum computer used the principle that subatomic particles could be in different states at the same time, and they could store information in something called a quantum bit (qubit). Because of this characteristic, quantum computers could solve problems exponentially faster than traditional computers.

However, the problem was that the subatomic particles that stored the data were fragile and unstable. Even a slight disturbance could change its state.

That was exactly what “decoherence” was. In a quantum mechanics environment, any disturbance could change or even collapse the entangled qubit state!

One of the ways to solve this problem was to use either noise reduction, or anti-interference technology, or both. Regardless of which technical route was adopted, they had to find a way to stabilize the subatomic particles.

This was one of the main problems in quantum computer research and development.

It was also something Lu Zhou was researching…

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, third level underground laboratory.

The empty room that was used as a spare sample storage room was now being filled with newly purchased equipment.

These included multifunctional physical property measurement machines, step meters, vibrating sample magnetometers, high and low-temperature magnetoresistance testers, and In Situ Freeze Dryer. Although this wasn’t a complete set of equipment, it had all of the essentials.

Also, in addition to these few essential pieces of equipment for researching carbon materials, he also had a UV curing 3D printer with an accuracy of 8 microns. This was mainly used to print the plastic molds used in experiments.

A thin film the size of a thumb was carefully placed in the magnetron sputtering atomic deposition machine. Lu Zhou carefully used the data from the experiment to set new experimental parameters on the computer.

After finishing all of this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and pressed the enter button on the keyboard.

A green signal light turned on. A machine inside the laboratory began to operate.

Lu Zhou carried his coffee mug and sat down on his chair. He looked at his watch and wondered what he could do to kill some time. Suddenly, Xiao Ai’s drone flew over from the side.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master! Something super amazing just happened! (≧ω≦*)]

Lu Zhou looked at the small screen floating in the air and asked, “You leveled up?”

Xiao Ai: [What? You knew? (°△°|||)]

Lu Zhou: “…”

Did this thing really level up… or level down?

Lu Zhou sighed and ignored the artificial retardation. He closed his eyes and went inside the system space.

The accumulation of artificial intelligence experience points was synced with the information science experience points. As soon as Xiao Ai’s level rose to level 4, his information science level went from level 4 to level 5.

Even if he wasn’t in the system space, he could still see the notification for his upgrade.

[…]

[G. Information science: level 5 (0/300,000)]

After Lu Zhou looked at his characteristic panel, he rubbed his chin.

Just like he had speculated, he could gain artificial intelligence experience points by letting Xiao Ai observe the behaviors of humans in the virtual reality world. In fact, it seemed like artificial intelligence depended on sociological knowledge.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t pay too much attention to Xiao Ai’s progress. After checking his characteristic panel in the system space, he went back to the real world.

He opened his eyes and stared at the drone floating in front of him.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, aren’t you going to praise Xiao Ai? (*/ω*)]

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, nicely done.”

Xiao Ai: [Thank you!]

Lu Zhou pretended not to see the text on the screen. He looked at his watch as he spoke.

“… I think it’s almost time.”

The light on the machine nearby went from green to red.

Lu Zhou immediately said, “Xiao Ai, turn on the in situ freeze dryer.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay… (○`3′○)]

Even though Xiao Ai seemed reluctant, it still obediently followed Lu Zhou’s orders.

Lu Zhou felt like his little buddy was becoming more and more sentient… Almost like it was becoming more and more humanlike?

Lu Zhou wasn’t sure if this was a good thing.

After all, the way that artificial intelligence processed information and the way the human brain processed information were completely different. One used logic to determine emotions, while the other used emotions to drive logic.

Maybe artificial intelligence is a new species?

It’s too early to come to a conclusion.

As Xiao Ai’s “guardian”, Lu Zhou was responsible for monitoring Xiao Ai’s growth.

But so far, it seemed like the little guy was still quite obedient. Xiao Ai was playing the role of an assistant, both for Lu Zhou’s life and his scientific research. Xiao Ai always obeyed his orders without compromising.

Maybe I’m worrying too much?

With Xiao Ai’s help, Lu Zhou transferred the lyophilized carbon-based chip sample from the magnetron sputtering atomic deposition machine to the in situ freeze dryer. He then used a metallurgical microscope to carefully analyze the film before recording the experiment results.

He had more than 30,000 general points. According to the system, he needed 120,000 general points to obtain a full set of blueprints for quantum computing technology.

In fact, this number was bloated.

If he divided the problems and solved part of the technology, he could reduce the general points cost by more than 80%!

So far, he had spent 20,000 general points to overcome several key research bottlenecks. He used his knowledge of carbon materials, Mott insulators, and Majorana fermions to solve some of the foundational problems.

For example, he layered a Majorana fermion topological insulator with a single atom width superconductor. This did not affect the stability of the Majorana fermions.

By using a special topological phase material, the subatomic atoms could be shielded from interference.

Basically, the qubits formed would not corrupt due to some small and local interference. It was far more stable than general qubits, allowing quantum computers to calculate the answers that one wanted in a more accurate and efficient manner.

This saved Lu Zhou at least 100,000 general points.

Thus, he could use his general points on more difficult problems.

This was one of the reasons why “knowledge is power”.

After carefully completing the last step of the experiment, Lu Zhou placed a layer of a translucent graphene sheet on the circuit mold he prepared in advance.

He had a sincere smile on his face, as if he were staring at a piece of artwork.

“All of the performance tests meet our expectations.

“This is perfect!

“As expected, Majorana fermion is the best choice for quantum computing!”

All that was left to do was to test if the 20,000 general points he spent was worth it.

As Lu Zhou was about to press the power button, his heart was nearly beating out of his chest.

The second he pressed the button, the film-like computer chip began to run the preset script. The signal was processed by the logic circuit and was then transmitted to the display. Soon, a line of characters was presented on the display.

[Hello, world.]

When Lu Zhou saw the characters on the screen, he clenched his fists and nearly jumped out of his chair.

“Yes!”

Lu Zhou was taken aback by his own reaction. He quickly began checking the operating conditions of the machine.

After he saw the “film-like” computer chip operating stably and remaining impervious to the qubit entanglement collapse, Lu Zhou finally had an assured smile on his face.

Looks like this time…

We did it!

Chapter 1177: I Did I

Chapter 1177 I Did I Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The laboratory was busy as usual.As a scientific research institute in the field of semiconductors, materials, and electronics, not only were they one of the top semiconductor research institutes in China, but they also participated in the Dragon chip series project.

Because of what happened with the Dragon chips, this research and development institute made a name for itself all across the world.

Because of this huge honor, people in the institute felt pressure on their shoulders.

No one wanted to make any mistakes.

If they couldn’t maintain their advantage in the field, then their efforts would have been for nothing…

Right now, the most important thing was to do everything possible to improve the performance of carbon-based transistors. This was so that the efficiency of carbon-based chips could be further improved without giving their opponents any room to breathe. They wanted to squeeze silicon-based chips out of the market as quickly as possible…

Inside the office of an integrated circuit design center.

Director Li and Academician Liu Changqing were wearing virtual reality helmets. They were sitting motionlessly on the sofa, visiting the new Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“This is our new laboratory, the development tools were customized for us by Star Sky Technology. We are helping them test the software. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the most important thing; this is called a virtual integrated circuit workshop, or IC workshop for short.”

Inside an empty room, Academician Liu Changqing controlled and moved suspended circuits in the air. He briefly demonstrated the functions of this development tool to Director Li, who was next to him.

“All tools and operations are done through an interactive interface, whether it’s the movement, rotation, or modification of the object. These tasks can be completed by one person or multiple people… Isn’t this amazing?”

“It’s more than amazing, it’s simply magical…” Director Li couldn’t help but look confused as he asked, “But what is the use of it?”

“Oh, it has so many uses.” Academician Liu smiled and said, “Just by combining geometric images and setting parameters, we can use this virtual laboratory to simulate carbon chips and design the details of the integrated circuit.”

Director Li was astonished.

“Wait, so you’re saying, this thing can replace real-life experiments?!”

That is awesome!

“It can’t replace experiments, but this technology will save us a lot of time in the design process.”

When Dean Liu Changqing moved his wrist and fingers, the yellow circuit lines rotated in front of Director Li’s eyes.

“All of the components have been scaled up. Now that we have this, we don’t have to use traditional drawings and computers to design anymore. Basically, from the feedback we receive from people in the institute, it’s easier to be inspired when working in this virtual integrated circuit design laboratory.”

Compared to other old academicians, Liu Changqing was more of the kind that was open to new changes. So when Star Sky Technology contacted them, he immediately integrated the virtual reality technology into his research institute.

This showed that his choice was extremely correct. Not only did this development tool make the boring design work a little bit more fun, but it also more than doubled the work efficiency of their integrated circuit design department.

Actually, it wasn’t just the integrated circuit design.

The same technology could actually be applied to many fields, from modular product design to urban layout planning.

This kind of positive impact was far more than just making design work interesting and fun. Instead, it completely opened up another creative and inspiring dimension.

Of course, these were just some assumptions he made from the perspective of a scholar. He was certain that the brilliant Professor Lu thought of the same thing a long time ago.

Otherwise, Star Sky Technology would have never sold them the “IC development laboratory” product.

After Director Li received a tour of the IC lab, the two old men left the Phantom system, took off their helmets, and returned to their office.

The two cups of tea on the coffee table had gone cold, but after wearing the helmet, Director Li’s heart was even warmer than before.

He had no idea that a gaming console would have such a huge application in the industry.

Academician Liu picked up a cup of tea and continued speaking, “This is a great little gadget. The integrated circuit design field will revolutionize. Starting with universities, then implementing it in businesses… However, I believe that we don’t have to promote this to businesses at all. After they see what’s the functionality of this technology, no company would reject such an excellent development tool.”

He took a sip of tea to moisturize his throat. After pausing for a second, he spoke emotionally.

“Even though this is obvious, I still want to say this. Ever since Academician Lu came back to China, I feel like everything has been changing, whether it’s my work or my life.”

Director Li waved his hands.

“Sigh, don’t mention that guy, he still owes me.”

“He owes you what?”

Director Li looked at Academician Liu’s curious face and said, “Actually, it’s not a huge deal. He promised me he was working on something awesome at the end of last year. But until now, he still hasn’t told me anything!”

Academician Liu smiled and said, “Maybe there’s a reason.”

Director Li shook his head.

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

There can’t be a reason.

I know Lu Zhou too well.

While the two were talking, a phone suddenly began ringing.

“I have to take this,” Director Li said as he took out his phone. He looked at his screen and said, “Speak of the devil, it’s Academician Lu calling.”

Academician Liu took a sip of tea and spoke.

“Maybe he’s about to tell you the secret.”

“Hopefully, but I bet he wants a favor from me.”

Director Li picked up the phone and spoke in a cheerful manner, not a single hint of distaste in his voice.

“Hey, Academician Lu! I heard you’re making a fortune recently?”

Lu Zhou was muddled by Director Li’s words. He paused for a second and replied, “A fortune?”

Director Li smiled and said, “I heard your helmet is earning billions of revenue?”

Oh, that’s what he’s talking about…

Lu Zhou: “Right, I think so.”

Director Li: “Why do I feel like you’re not excited?”

“It’s just not a big deal, that’s not why I called you for.” Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and said, “I solved the topological quantum computer.”

“Topological quantum?”

Director Li had never heard of this complicated phrase before, so he asked, “What is that?”

Lu Zhou replied in a concise manner, “You can kind of think of it as… a quantum computer.”

Instantly, the phone call went silent.

Director Li gulped; his voice trembled as he said, “Wh-what you’re saying is…”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah, quantum computers are a reality now.”

Chapter 1178: Unbelievable Speed

Chapter 1178 Unbelievable Speed

There was a weird silence at the other end of the phone.

It was as if the phone signal had dropped.

Lu Zhou was about to ask if Director Li was okay when he suddenly heard something drop from the other end of the phone; it was like something had fallen on a glass table.

The phone was quickly picked up.

“What are you doing, Old Liu—”

“What did you say? Topological quantum computing has been solved? What? How did you deal with the decoherence? What about the hall effect—”

Lu Zhou listened to a strange voice from the other end of the phone. He frowned and asked, “Who are you?”

After taking a deep breath, Academician Liu spoke.

“I’m Academician Liu Changqing from the Institute of Semiconductors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences! If it’s okay, I’d like to ask you some questions.”

Academician Liu…

Lu Zhou thought for a while, and a look of realization soon appeared on his face.

Deputy Director at the Institute of Semiconductors for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Director of the Integrated Circuit Design Center. The person in charge of the national “Quantum Information” project. One of the experts in the Dragon chip project.

He had heard Professor Wu Tianqun mention this name several times in the past. Even though he had never met Academician Liu in person, but apparently, this guy was a big player in the Chinese semiconductor field. Therefore, telling him about the quantum computer should be fine.

“Basically, by using a special insulator material that contains Majorana fermions, I temporarily solved the problem of the unstable qubit entanglement state.”

“Wait a second, can you be more specific? I know what Majorana fermions are. So you found an insulator material that contains Majorana fermion, and… the problem was solved?”

Academician Liu was dumbfounded.

These questions were giving Lu Zhou a headache. He sighed and said, “It’s too troublesome to explain it over the phone. If you’re interested, come to Jinling.”

…

Lu Zhou didn’t expect Academician Liu to be so efficient. Academician Liu traveled from Beijing to Jinling the next day.

In addition to Academician Liu, Director Li, as well as experts from the Institute of Semiconductors, also came.

Lu Zhou smiled at the group of people. Without saying much, he led them to a conference room and stood in front of a whiteboard.

“Before explaining, I have to clarify something. The topological properties of matter do not change from bending or stretching. It only changes when you break and combine matter.”

Academician Liu pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke solemnly.

“We know that… And?”

“The same concept can be applied to quantum mechanics… Of course, these are rudimentary things. But what isn’t rudimentary is the way we apply these concepts.”

Lu Zhou turned around, picked up an electronic pen, and waved it toward the whiteboard twice. Hexagon grid lines appeared on the whiteboard.

Academician Liu, as well as the group of experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were amazed.

When Lu Zhou noticed their reaction, he smiled and said, “This is just a small gadget I made in my spare time. It’s mainly for the convenience of writing on the whiteboard… After all, many things in physics are different from mathematics. Some things might not be so intuitive. A tool like this can save me time from using a ruler and eraser.”

In fact, this technology was nothing special. It was just a smart whiteboard with touch and display functionality, plus a smart camera with motion recognition. MIT produced a similar product, albeit with less functionality.

“Anyway, back to the main topic.” Lu Zhou tapped the electronic pen on the whiteboard and said, “The key to solving quantum computing lies in overcoming the interference of environmental noise on subatomic atoms. This is to prevent qubits from collapsing during environmental disturbances.”

He waved the electronic pen in his hand.

The electronic pen was like a baton. Black dots appeared in the middle of the hexagons.

These black dots represented subatomic particles, and they were orbiting around a circle at a uniform speed.

Everyone was staring at the whiteboard.

“This kind of quantum system is naturally immune to decoherence. It can accurately calculate any algorithm.

“So, let me demonstrate…”

Lu Zhou waved his hand toward the door. A drone floated over, delivering a small box into his hand.

Lu Zhou gently placed the box on the table.

“This is a simple scientific calculator. It can only do one kind of calculation using the software I pre-installed… By the way, does anyone have a computer?”

Academician Liu paused for a second before answering, “I have one.”

“Good, then I’ll give it to you.”

Lu Zhou handed the small box to Academician Liu.

Academician Liu opened the box and took a look. He was surprised to see a 10-number keypad and a simple display screen.

It looked like a small calculator, except there were no addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division buttons. There was an enter button, but Academician Liu wasn’t sure what it was for.

Lu Zhou spoke.

“We all know that it only takes 0.3 seconds or less for an average computer to generate a 1,024-bit prime number whereas generating two prime numbers takes 0.6 seconds. Multiplying the two takes negligible time.

“But if you asked the computer to find the factors of the multiplication of two large prime numbers, it would take days or even months.”

There was a commotion in the room.

Everyone looked astonished.

Academician Liu almost knew what was going on.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You can use your computer to randomly generate two prime numbers… Preferably over 1,024 bits, then calculate their product.

“I’m sure that will be easy.

“Then, enter that number into the calculator. I’m sure we’ll soon witness a miracle.”

Academician Liu gulped; his voice trembled as he spoke.

“Is this—”

Lu Zhou smiled at Academician Liu and nodded.

“Just do it.”

Academician Liu used his computer to calculate two large prime numbers. He then multiplied them and entered the number into this tiny calculator.

The experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Director Li, all stood around him, watching him carry out the experiment.

It took him a while to enter the entire number.

After that, when Academician Liu finally pressed the confirm button, a miracle happened!

This small calculator quickly found the two prime number factors.

Academician Liu and everyone behind him were shocked.

That happened instantly!

For traditional computers, this problem could take several days to solve. However, this tiny computer solved it in less than a second!

Academician Liu’s eyes were wide open. He opened and closed his mouth.

He thought that Lu Zhou’s solution to the collapse of entangled qubits was only theoretical.

He had no idea that Academician Lu was able to make a real product.

Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director Li were all shocked.

They had no idea what kind of change this technology would bring.

There was only one thing for certain.

Which was that, from today onward, RSA encryption technology was no longer secure…

Chapter 1179: Five Hundred Qubits!

Chapter 1179 Five Hundred Qubits! After leaving the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Academician Liu felt dizzy, like he was dreaming.After performing the demonstration, Lu Zhou explained the application of topological quantum theory in insulators to the experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also explained how he used basic carbon-based integration circuit components and the Josephson effect to create Majorana fermions.

Basically, it was quite difficult to understand the complicated physics and mathematics formulas behind his research.

Fortunately, even though 70% of the research was theoretical, there was a real-life demonstration with the calculator.

After Academician Liu listened to this extraordinary lecture, he felt like his entire worldview had changed.

It took less than 1 second to factorize a 1,024-bit prime number. This meant the calculator in his hand had at least 500 qubits.

However, this wasn’t the most amazing part. What was amazing was that this calculator was the size of his palm! It was much smaller than the quantum computer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences!

Not to mention that their computer only had 20 qubits…

This had to be the biggest electronics achievement of the year.

What surprised him was also how Academician Lu explained the theory behind the calculator.

Mathematics, physics, materials, integrated circuit design… Each one of these fields could be divided into dozens of sub-fields.

However, the young man in his twenties had an ocean of knowledge. It seemed like even the most obscure and esoteric information was readily available in his brain.

If he didn’t witness this with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that someone in this world could be so brilliant.

Perhaps this is why he is able to overcome one world-class problem after another…

After getting in his car, which was parked in front of the institute, Academician Liu suddenly sighed.

“I feel like… Maybe I should go back to school and study more.”

Director Li was rather calm.

After all, he was only surprised at the technology itself. He didn’t understand the complicated theory behind it, so he didn’t resonate with Academician Liu.

He looked at Academician Liu and comforted him.

“It is Academician Lu. His explanations are pretty difficult to understand, so don’t be too critical on yourself. I’m sure that if you don’t understand, no one else understands either.”

“I’m not being critical,” Academician Liu shook his head and said, “I just feel like I cannot keep up with the times.”

“Topological quantum computing is a new field, and we have people in our institute researching this area. Our largest competitor is the Microsoft Majorana Fermion project. However, whether it’s our project or Microsoft’s… The number of qubits has never exceeded 30.”

Director Li stopped comforting Academician Liu. Instead, he quickly asked, “Then how many did Professor Lu achieve?”

Academician Liu: “I forgot to ask, but judging by the demonstration… At least 500.”

500…

That’s an entire magnitude higher!

There was a long period of silence in the car.

After a while, Director Li snapped back to reality and murmured, “How terrifying.”

…

Quantum computers were undoubtedly more impactful and important than carbon-based chips.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the technology was on the level of controllable nuclear fusion.

It was generally accepted that the three pillars of modern science and technology were energy, information, and material. Quantum computers were the pinnacle of information technology.

And this wasn’t just it.

More importantly, traditional encryption and security methods were defenseless against quantum computers.

This was the scariest part of this technology.

Everyone knew that more than 90% of the modern information security networks relied on asymmetric public key encryption, while the most widely used cryptography was the RSA encryption algorithm.

Since there was no closed-form solution for the unique factorization of the product of large prime numbers, in theory, as long as the prime numbers were large enough, it was impossible to find a solution. Even Professor Lu wouldn’t be able to find a solution.

However, when it came to quantum computers, this kind of problem that would take traditional computers hundreds of years to solve could be solved in a few seconds.

Some might make the case that there were public key encryption algorithms other than RSA, like elliptic curve encryption, ElGamal encryption, or discrete logarithms…

However, they were no match for quantum computers.

Not even close.

After returning home in the evening, Lu Zhou sat at his desk and thought for a long time. He took out a piece of paper and wrote on it with a pen.

[Quantum computers will disrupt the communication technology field.

[Encryption and decryption methods in communication technology have always been improving at a steady rate. However, the breakthrough of topological quantum computing technology will change everything.

[It only takes a few seconds to decrypt a traditional asymmetric public key encryption.

[Once this technology is popularized, it will hugely benefit society, but it will also bring security risks.

[What we have to do is establish a strict and more reliable encryption algorithm as a replacement for our traditional encryption methods. We have to do this as soon as possible.

[A quantum encryption algorithm similar to the bb84 protocol is a good choice. But when matched with a quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits, it will still be inadequate.

[In my opinion, quantum computers with more than 1,000 qubits will soon be possible.

[Therefore, this new encryption algorithm must be more reliable than the bb48 protocol, even surpassing the BBM92.

[Once we master this new encryption technology, we should promote the commercialization of quantum computers.

[And when that happens, we will have an information technology advantage that other countries cannot match.

[This is akin to our advantage in the controllable fusion field.]

Lu Zhou stopped writing and found an envelope in his drawer. He stuffed the letter into the envelope and placed it on his table.

When he went to Jin University tomorrow, he would give the letter to Wang Peng and ask him to hand it to the high-level government officials in Beijing.

Even though he knew Director Li would report this new technology to the state, he felt like it would be easier to attract attention if he wrote a letter himself.

Although this wasn’t something a scholar should worry about, Lu Zhou still wanted his research to bring a positive effect on the world.

Even though making the world a better place wasn’t as exciting as scientific research itself… It was still part of the fun.

Chapter 1180: Cryptography Is the Specialty of Mathematicians

1180 Cryptography Is the Specialty of Mathematicians After leaving the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Director Li did not stay in Jinling for long, he immediately rushed back to Beijing.

He spent two full days visiting the top quantum computing experts in major semiconductor research institutes in Beijing and vaguely consulted them about the security aspects of quantum computing technology.

Inside an office at the Microelectronics Research Center.

After listening to Director Li’s explanation and concerns regarding the security risks of quantum computing technology, Director Wu Jiancheng, who was in his seventies, smiled and rejected the idea.

“Your worries are unnecessary. In theory, quantum computers do pose a threat to the security of asymmetric encryption algorithms, but we are far away from this technology.

“So far, even the most advanced quantum computers can only reach 20 qubits or so. Google’s D-Wave computer is the industry leader, and they have only achieved 80 qubits. But that thing isn’t as impressive as it sounds. Instead of using quantum gates to control qubits, it uses quantum annealing algorithms as a shortcut. Even traditional supercomputers have better performance… It’s quite a controversy in the academic community.

“Regardless of whether it’s a true quantum computer with more than 20 qubits or a pseudo quantum computer with more than 80 qubits, it will still be difficult to crack modern encryption technology. Take the most popular RSA encryption algorithm as an example. Due to the complexity of the prime factorization problem, there is nothing a quantum computer with less than 200 qubits can do.”

Director Li said cautiously, “What do you mean there’s nothing it can do?”

Director Wu Jiancheng said, “The cracking time will take at least a year. This means that even if someone has a quantum computer with two hundred qubits, it will take them more than a year to crack your bank account password. And if you make any changes to the encryption key, they would have to start all over again.”

A public key wasn’t a unique, one-time code. When either of the two parties assessed that there might be a security risk, they could change the public key at any time.

Seeing how Director Li was still worried, Wu Jiancheng sighed and said, “The development of quantum technology is slow. When we truly master quantum computers, we will develop the necessary encryption algorithms. There really is no need to worry too much about this right now!”

“But what if…” Director Li paused for a second and continued, “If… quantum technology rapidly develops, and we or our enemies suddenly master quantum computing technology.”

“That is impossible,” Director Wu Jiancheng said without hesitation. He interrupted Director Li and said, “There is no way the technology can rapidly improve! It takes time for any new technology to mature. This is a linear process, not exponential. Especially since scientific research is now focused around teamwork, making progress even slower and more difficult.

“If you think that it’s possible to have a quantum computer breakthrough tomorrow, then you would have to first solve the problems of decoherence and noise processing! I can give you the latest research papers, but none of them have found a solution to these problems!”

Seeing how confident Director Wu was, Director Li felt a little awkward.

He wanted to tell him the truth, but he had to keep it a secret for now. He didn’t want to be the one who leaked this classified information.

“I’m just saying this hypothetically. What if other people are hiding their research results?”

Seeing how Director Li was still stubbornly obsessed with this “fantasy”, Director Wu Jiancheng didn’t want to argue anymore. He nodded reluctantly and said, “Yes, it’s possible a quantum computer can fall out of the sky tomorrow.

“Then, it will threaten our information security.”

Director Li finally felt relieved. However, his relief was soon replaced by panic.

I knew it, my worries are justified!

Fortunately, I still have time to salvage this…

After visiting the research institutes, Director Li went straight back to his office at night.

He spent another day writing out a report. He then took this report to the high-level government department.

When he stood at the doorway of the familiar office, the president sitting behind a mahogany table was meticulously reading a letter in his hand.

For some reason, Director Li had a weird feeling about this letter.

He knocked on the door and walked in.

When the president saw Director Li walking in, he smiled and put down the letter in his hand. He then said warmly, “Oh, hello there.”

“Yeah… I have to report to you about something.”

Director Li nodded and walked forward. He said in a serious manner, “Two days ago, when I visited Jinling, Academician Lu brought us another gift.”

“If it’s a gift, why are you so serious?”

The president smiled and handed the letter to Director Li.

“Read this first.”

Director Li took the letter from the president.

He glanced at the letter and had a moment of realization. He smiled and handed back the letter.

“It seems like Professor Lu has thought this through carefully.”

“Yeah,” the president smiled and said, “it’s our honor to have such a great scholar.”

After a pause, he spoke in a more official manner.

“Tell me what you think about this letter.”

Director Li pondered for a while before saying, “My suggestion is to keep it confidential for now.”

The president asked, “Why?”

“Because even though we have made a breakthrough in quantum computing technology, just like Professor Lu warned us in his letter, we don’t have an encryption algorithm that can handle this kind of decryption power.”

Director Li paused for a second and watched the president’s reaction.

When the president nodded, Director Li felt relieved, and he continued, “My suggestion is to let the Chinese Academy of Sciences reveal a small part of the breakthrough so that the industry can prepare to handle this advanced technology. After all, if Professor Lu was the one announcing to the world that he was working on quantum technology…”

Director Li had a smile on his face.

“I’m afraid the world will start to panic.”

The president nodded thoughtfully.

It would be fine if the technology was progressing slowly.

Once the technology matured, society would have already adapted to the changes in a subtle way.

But if they were to suddenly announce that they had achieved a 500-qubit quantum computer, it would be equivalent to announcing that all encryption technology was obsolete.

This would impact finance and other industries that relied on information security. It was like throwing an atomic bomb into the digital world. Society would have to find a way to adapt to this drastic change.

Someone might be able to withdraw all the money from the banks or even terminate all online transactions…

After all, Professor Lu definitely had the capabilities to make this breakthrough…

There was no doubt that society would not be able to react fast enough.

After all, people would believe everything that came out of this scholar’s mouth.

After pondering for a long time, the president said, “We can’t keep this a secret forever. We have to consider how Academician Lu feels. The risks brought by new technologies have to be taken seriously, but preventing the birth of new technologies is not preferable.”

“I think so too.” Director Li nodded and said, “So, my suggestion is to let the Chinese Academy of Sciences release some hints. Then artificially create public enthusiasm regarding quantum computing technology.”

The president: “What else?”

Director Li: “We should do what Academician Lu proposed! We have to find an encryption algorithm that is not crackable, not even for a quantum computer! Once we find this algorithm, there will be no risks surrounding quantum computers, and we can integrate this technology into our society!”

The president nodded with approval.

“Good idea! So… Who do you think should be in charge of finding this algorithm?”

Director Li looked at the president’s gaze and felt helpless.

It was obvious that the president already had a candidate in mind.

“Information encryption is a mathematics field, and Academician Lu is the top mathematician in our country. Moreover, he was also the one that made a breakthrough in quantum computers. No one understands the importance of this better than him. His ‘reputation’ alone will make people feel more secure.

“I propose for Professor Lu to be in charge.”

The president smiled and said, “Good idea, I’ll write a letter to Academician Lu and appoint him to complete this important task!

“As for the rest, do as you see fit.”

Director Li felt a huge amount of pressure on him, but he still nodded seriously and said, “Yes, sir!”

Chapter 1181: Frightened

Chapter 1181 Frightened On the first day of April, something huge happened in the computing industry.The quantum computer research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences suddenly publicly announced that they had made significant progress on quantum computer research! The head of the research team announced that they had developed a quantum computer processor using carbon-based semiconductor technology. And that this processor was groundbreaking.

According to inside sources, the processor utilized the characteristics of Majorana fermions. So far, they had reached 90 qubits.

Many scientific researchers who were in the field of integrated circuit design and information technology came into work after the weekend with sleepy eyes.

When they saw the news through various media channels, they all glanced at their calendars. After making sure it wasn’t the fourth of July, they all looked astonished.

A quantum computer with 90 qubits!

Is that even possible?

After people who were involved in the related research fields heard about the news, they all began to frantically search for the research in the academic database.

However, many people were disappointed that they could not find a paper on the “90-qubit” computer.

Forget about finding any research papers.

Most people hadn’t even heard of the research team behind all of this. Other than the research team leader, who was relatively well known, it was difficult to find information on the rest of the team members.

This felt like a level-50 guild leader had assembled some level-30 noobs and was able to defeat a level-100 boss.

Similar situations like this had happened before, and all of them had shocked the academic community.

Not to mention how abrupt this was.

The research team only claimed to have achieved success, but they did not provide any evidence.

However, even though some people had doubts in their minds, most people thought this was plausible.

After all, this was a research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This was one of the major national scientific research projects, which was funded by the state. The consequences of falsifying research results might be more serious than producing no results at all!

Because of this, both the academic community and the industry had differing opinions on the claims made by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

On a Chinese university forum, integrated circuit design engineers were going crazy over the news.

[This has to be fake! They’re not providing any proof, do they think we’re dumb? A quantum computer using 90 qubits. Even Google’s quantum annealing algorithm is no match for this! I think they’re lying to receive funding!]

[I don’t think so, this is the research team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, not to mention it is still a major national scientific research project.]

[Who cares if it’s a major scientific research project? Remember what happened with the Haixin project? We’re making the same mistake again!]

[Can you not bring up Haixin?]

[Sigh, if only everyone were as reliable as Academician Lu.]

[It’s not like we’re the only ones falsifying research results for funding! Look at the west!]

Due to the intense discussions, the forum moderators had to come out and restrict the debates.

The discussions on the forum were only a tiny fraction of the whole conversation.

Similar discussions were also occurring on other university forums; from WeChat to Weibo, it seemed like everyone was talking about this.

In addition to these laymen’s discussions, controversies also occurred in the technology field.

However, relatively speaking, these discussions were more rational and professional. They were mainly focused on the practical aspects.

For example, at a recent Internet security summit, experts from the Computer Network Information Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed that the development of quantum computers might pose a threat to the information security field and that they had to deal with this problem as soon as possible.

People put out constructive suggestions.

What was repeatedly brought up was exactly what Lu Zhou wrote in his letter, which was to find a more secure encryption algorithm.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Inside the Microsoft headquarters building, Nadella was sitting in the CEO office. He scowled as he meticulously read the report in his hand.

The topic of quantum computers was trending on the Internet, not only in China but also in North America.

The vast majority of people believed that this was fake news or academic fraud.

However, Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, took this matter much more seriously.

This was because China had recently created too many scientific miracles.

The office door opened, and a tall and skinny man walked in.

Anyone in the quantum computing field would have recognized this man.

This man was none other than the former director of the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center—Professor Schmidt.

Professor Schmidt was working for Microsoft, which was largely unknown by the industry.

“Were you looking for me?”

“Yes.” Nadella put down the report and looked at Professor Schmidt. He asked, “What do you think about the quantum computer from the Chinese Academy of Sciences?”

“The one with 90 qubits?” Professor Schmidt said with a mocking and sarcastic tone. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, “They’re dreaming.”

Nadella raised his eyebrows.

“Oh really?”

Professor Schmidt continued to speak in a confident tone, “No one understands the technology behind Majorana fermions better than us. We are at the forefront of academia in this area. It is impossible to achieve 90 qubits with the currently available technology. This isn’t just an engineering bottleneck; it’s also a theoretical bottleneck! If this is true, they would first have to solve the problem of quantum entanglement collapse at a theoretical level.”

This wasn’t something that could be achieved simply by reducing the background noise and turbulence.

If that were possible, this field would be developing at a much faster rate.

Nadella frowned.

“So you’re saying… that they’re lying?”

“Probably!”

Nadella looked at Professor Schmidt’s confident smile and sighed in relief. However, there was still some doubt and worry in his mind.

After Professor Schmidt left, he read the report over and over again. He tried to find information on the team members behind this research.

However, he couldn’t find anything.

Maybe it’s really fake news?

Nadella stared at the sky outside his window, and he suddenly felt uncertain.

He had a gut feeling…

Every choice I make will affect Microsoft’s future in the quantum computer race…

Chapter 1182: Cleaning Up Your Own Messes

1182 Cleaning Up Your Own Messes [God Lu, you haven’t posted on Weibo for a long time! If you don’t post something, you’ll become irrelevant. So please hurry up and do a prize giveaway or something!]

[God Lu! Please do an HV-1 giveaway on Weibo!]

[Everyone else is doing giveaways. (cry)]

[Professor Lu, want to be my online boyfriend?]

Although it had been a month since the Phantom system went online, the hype around virtual reality technology had yet to die down.

Yesterday, Penguin just released a Star Wars-themed VR game. Today, Alibaba announced a fantasy masterpiece that was in the works…

It seemed like the future had arrived in an instant.

However, in contrast to the high demand from the people, Huawei, Xiaomi, or other manufacturers that had entered this field had limited production capacities. Even if they were to produce at maximum capacity, they still couldn’t meet the demands of the market.

People felt envious as they watched others post their VR experiences on Weibo and Tik Tok. Others even recorded their gameplay and uploaded it online.

The Calan Empire game was going to launch in two weeks. This was a legendary open-world game developed by Star Sky Technology, said to be generated by an artificial intelligence program. It also had no in-game purchases.

As the first MMO VR game in the Phantom System, most people were fascinated by the huge open-world and gorgeous scenery, as depicted in the trailer. People had been looking forward to this game ever since it was in its closed beta testing stage.

Over the past month, Lu Zhou received a ton of private messages, some were asking him to promote a product, others asked him if they could buy a helmet from him.

When Lu Zhou looked at the messages and mentions, he smiled and shook his head.

These idiots…

I’m not the one making the helmets, why would I be selling them?

As for promoting your product…

What a joke, do you really think I need the advertising money?

How naive!

After Lu Zhou finished his quantum computer project, he finally fulfilled his goal from last year. His work began to slow down.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was staying idle.

He had been thinking about the Moon over the past few days.

The last part of the Control of Earth and Moon mission chain.

He needed to build a 50-ton mass driver to launch materials mined on the Moon directly into the lunar transfer orbit.

Although this sounded simple, after all, someone just had to “shoot an object at a miraculously high speed”, the difficulty of this project was actually tied to a series of technical difficulties in particle physics, rail transit, and aerospace construction.

This was also one of the most important research projects of the Lunar Orbit Committee.

In fact, this project itself had nothing to do with Lu Zhou. After all, Lu Zhou was in a different field of research. However, without his help, the research and design units that were in charge of this project had yet to make any substantial progress so far.

If he continued to wait around like this, it would take forever to complete this project.

Lu Zhou decided to take matters into his own hands.

Even though this wasn’t his field of expertise, he still had 10,000 general points to use if he ran into any troubles.

His top priority right now was to understand the progress of the project. It might be best for him to try and find out what the bottleneck was…

Lu Zhou was lying on his sofa, playing around on his phone. A drone flew over from the kitchen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have guests. (✿゚▽゚)]

Lu Zhou: “Who?”

Xiao Ai: [Not sure, but Xiao Ai can find out for you! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

Lu Zhou leaned over and sat up on the sofa.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll just go see myself.”

He knew exactly what Xiao Ai was going to do.

Xiao Ai was going to search the entire internet just to find out who this person was.

Xiao Ai’s abilities had improved ever since it was moved to the quantum computer.

Considering the fact that this person might come from a high-level political position, it was better for Xiao Ai to stand down and avoid any trouble.

After asking Xiao Ai to open the front gate, Lu Zhou walked over and opened his front door.

“Hello, Academician Lu!”

A well-built man was standing at his doorstep. The man raised his hand and saluted Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the man’s body language and knew he was probably a high-ranking individual in the military. Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Can I help you?”

“I’m here to deliver a letter.”

Lu Zhou immediately knew what was going on. He stepped aside and said, “Come on in then, I’ll help you… Oh yeah, do you want something to drink, a coffee?”

Hearing how Academician Lu was planning on making a coffee for him, the man quickly declined politely.

“Oh, no, thanks, water is fine.”

“Warm or cold?”

“Either.”

Oh, either…

Lu Zhou scratched his head.

As a mathematician and physicist, uncertainty was one of his biggest annoyances.

Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to prepare a cup of warm water and made a cup of coffee himself. He brought the two cups into the living room.

He placed the two cups on the table and spoke to the man on the sofa.

“Where’s the letter?”

“It’s here.”

After the man handed over the letter, Lu Zhou checked whether there were any signs of the letter being opened before. He then took out the letter and glanced at it.

As expected, the first half of the letter basically praised him for his contribution to the country and society.

However, the second half of the letter stunned Lu Zhou.

Jesus, they’re kicking the ball back to me.

But then again, now that I think about it, I seem to be the best candidate.

Lu Zhou sighed and stuffed the letter into his pocket. He stood up from his sofa and spoke to the man.

“Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou went to his study room upstairs and took out a wooden box from his drawer. He went back into the living room and placed the box on the table.

“Deliver this back for me, be careful.

“Also, by the way, as the inventor of this technology, I hope it can be used for peaceful purposes. I hope it can be used in the right place.

“Otherwise, things can go very wrong… So, please keep it safe and use it properly.”

The man picked up the wooden box and nodded solemnly.

“My word is my bond.”

Chapter 1183: Nowhere to Hide

1183 Nowhere to Hide Xie Yong was a manager of a foreign trading company.

After he graduated from New York University five years ago, he found a job in Beijing and had been living here ever since.

Over the course of the five years, he went from a 20-year-old kid to a successful adult. He had a nice apartment in the city, a seven-figure annual salary, drove a BMW 730, often with a beautiful girl sitting in the front seat; it seemed like he had a great life…

At least on the surface.

His jealous relatives and friends didn’t know that he had another identity.

He was a field intelligence officer for the CIA…

Also known as a spy.

This sounded ridiculous or outrageous; after all, why would a social elite want to become a spy?

But then again, the reason why he was able to become so successful was partly because of his alternate identity.

Over the past five years, thanks to the support from the CIA, he was able to build a huge intelligence network in China, especially the eastern region. This was mainly to collect information from the Yangtze River Delta city group, Jinling, Beijing, and Tianjin. He even had connections with local officials.

On a Sunday afternoon, he brewed himself a cup of delicious coffee, downloaded a compressed data file titled “the Jinling materials investigation report”, and typed a password on his keyboard.

Every weekend, his people would gather and collect information for him. After screening and filtering the information, he would report it to his superiors—the CIA.

At the same time, he would also take a few hours and arrange new tasks for his company departments according to the CIA’s instructions.

He had always been a careful person. Whether it was online or offline communication, he always used an encrypted email and an overseas bank account. Even the CIA agent who had worked with him for five years didn’t know his real identity.

He was able to survive until this day precisely because of this attitude.

“The quantum computer project from the Chinese Academy of Sciences? I see.”

Xie Yong read the email from the higher-ups.

He had heard about this event recently. Apparently, it caused quite a lot of noise on Facebook and Twitter. Many Americans were afraid that the Chinese government would use this as a weapon for cyber warfare. Media outlets such as CNN might have been responsible for manipulating public opinion.

Considering the fact that the White House was definitely paying attention to this story, he started to collect intel in this area. However, it was difficult to find information on the scientists involved in the research project.

First of all, this was a state-funded scientific research project, and trying to gather information about an esoteric field was difficult for a layman like him. Without the help of professional consultants, it would take a lot of effort just to find out the identity of the scientific researchers…

After he read the email, he deleted the email and heard a doorbell.

Xie Yong stood up from his office chair and walked to his door. He saw a mailman standing with a box outside his house.

“Is anyone home? Package delivery.”

Xie Yong spoke through the door.

“I didn’t order anything, do you have the right address?”

“117, Jinxiu Street, Mr. Xie… Should be correct,” the mailman said as he read the house number on the wall.

Xie Yong frowned. Even though he was a little suspicious, he wasn’t worried.

After all, he had perfectly concealed his identity. No one had ever doubted his true identity. If he did not open the door, it could arouse suspicion.

Therefore, he said, “Okay, give me a second… I’ll put on some clothes.”

Xie Yong turned around and began walking back.

However, the second he turned around, he heard a loud explosion from behind. The explosion blasted the door down, and he heard a loud voice from outside.

“Don’t move! Let me see your hands!”

A group of undercover policemen stepped through the explosion smoke and went inside. Xie Yong’s ears were still ringing when he was pushed to the ground and handcuffed.

Xie Yong was baffled, and he asked in a panic, “Who are you guys? What are you doing?”

“Quit the acting,” a man in front of him said. The man squatted down and looked at him for a long time. He said, “Xie Yong, CIA intelligence spy, or should I call you… Adam Liu?”

When Xie Yong heard this, his face turned pale.

Adam Liu was his real name.

Ever since returning to China, he had never used this name; his name on his passport and ID card were both Xie Yong.

No one knew his real name except the top executives at the CIA!

The only explanation for this was that the CIA’s senior management was infiltrated…

All he wanted to do right now was to inform the CIA of what had happened.

However, this was obviously not possible.

While Xie Yong was being handcuffed, a nearby high-end gated community was being swarmed by police cars.

The security guard of the gated community was standing at the side as he watched the armed police officers escort people into their cars.

People nearby looked at the handcuffed people with black hoods over their heads, and they began to gossip.

“What is going on? Some kind of telecom fraud?”

“They’re catching spies apparently.”

“Spies? No way, spies live in such a nice neighborhood?”

“I heard from my neighbor’s son’s mother-in-law that the Ministry of State Security in Beijing received a report that someone had set up a radio monitoring base station in this neighborhood, and apparently, they’ve been spying on phone signals for a year now!”

“A year? F*ck, that’s a long time!”

In less than half a day, more than a dozen rumors had spread around the neighborhood.

Inside an interrogation room.

A small man sat behind iron bars. Even in the face of ironclad evidence, he still insisted that he was just an ordinary plumber and did not know anything about spies and receiving foreign funds.

The interrogation officer threw a document at him.

The second this man saw this document, his face froze; his eyes began to shake.

The names of everyone he knew and even people he didn’t know were written on this document. His entire organization had been infiltrated.

After he realized this, he broke down.

‘”There’s no way… No, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

The interrogation officer spoke in a joking tone.

“I suggest you be honest and confess. We’ve already arrested your bosses, so there’s no point hiding. Now is the time for us to clean up the dead bodies… Don’t be so nervous, your crime isn’t severe enough for the death sentence, but you’ll be in jail for a few years, and that depends on your cooperation.”

The man finally gave up.

He wasn’t the only one who was caught. Xie Yong and the other major spies in China were all caught in this operation.

After years of investigation, they were finally able to get their hands on the list of names.

The interrogation officer read the names on the list and spoke.

“This is… going to cause a lot of trouble.”

They had no idea that there were spies in city council committees.

Some of them were enticed by relatives living overseas, while others were bribed. Regardless of the reason, the fact of the crime stayed the same.

It seemed like China’s political and business climates were going to change because of this list of names…

Chapter 1184: Storms Always Came Suddenly

Chapter 1184 Storms Always Came Suddenly Storms always came suddenly.The Ministry of Public Security and the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department joined forces to capture numerous spy organizations lurking on China soil. A total of 67 intelligence documents were intercepted and more than 200 information leaks were traced.

Using the confessions from spies and the clues from deciphering the spy documents, almost all of the operating criminals were arrested and brought to justice.

Unlike most crimes, treason was a threat to national security, so there was no room for compromise in this department.

On the other hand, the CIA headquarters on the other side of the Pacific Ocean was shocked at China’s counter-operations.

The speed and efficiency at which China was able to capture the spies exceeded the expectations of the CIA intelligence experts.

They had considered the possibility of their spies getting caught and even had emergency plans in place. However, they had totally lost control.

It seemed like the Chinese side had cast a huge net around their network and began to tighten the net without them noticing at all, finally pulling the net out of the ocean, capturing everyone.

They couldn’t even determine whether the intel they received during this period was sent from their spies, or if they were a message deliberately sent from the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department.

Regardless, this whole fiasco was a disaster.

The damages and losses from this had almost exceeded the total losses suffered by the CIA overseas operations over the past ten years. This was even comparable to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

The worst part was that they had no idea how China was able to discover the intelligence network they had spent the past decade building.

In any case, someone had to be responsible for all this.

Apparently, on the night of the incident, the president inside the White House furiously yelled at the CIA director and appointed the FBI to investigate this incident.

Now that the FBI was involved, the CIA was in trouble.

The CIA had to withdraw their active intelligence personnel deployed in the Asia-Pacific region.

Then, the CIA director took the blame for all this and resigned. More than 20 high-level officials were suspended, and the FBI was tasked with the responsibility for further investigation.

Everyone thought that one of the spies must have ratted on them.

No one could have imagined that all of this was because of a small box.

With this small box, there were no secrets on this planet…

…

While America’s intelligence operation in the Asia-Pacific region was paralyzed, Academician Lu, the true “brain” behind this operation, had no idea what was going on.

He had no idea that his tiny invention was capable of this.

He specifically wrote in his letter that the small box should be used for research. Lu Zhou had no idea that the Ministry of State Security had decided to borrow the computer for their counter-espionage operation…

However, as a scholar, there was no reason for him to know about all this.

After all, it was best to keep some things hidden from him, for the sake of his own safety.

For at least the next 50 years, the stories behind this operation would be classified as top-secret. Other than the person who issued and implemented the order, no one else knew about the truth behind the operation.

After all, if the CIA ever found out who was behind this, they might drop a present at Lu Zhou’s house.

But then again, the CIA wouldn’t be the only people that wanted to eliminate Lu Zhou off this planet…

This was a display of the terrifying power that was quantum computers.

Very few people knew the impact it was causing, but major research institutes had already begun researching quantum encryption technology.

Institute of Information Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This was China’s top research institute in the field of information security. A group of experts sat around a conference table.

A while ago, they received an order from the state.

According to reliable sources, the Pentagon in the United States was researching the application of quantum computer technology for intelligence collection. Beijing wanted them to develop an encryption algorithm to deal with cyberattacks from quantum computers that had more than 1,000 qubits.

This was quite a strange requirement because the most advanced quantum computer could only achieve 100 qubits. In any case, 1,000 qubits was quite ridiculous.

However, judging from the funds allocated by the Communist Party of China, this was not a joke. Almost half of the big names in the field of cryptography were gathered in this conference room. Everyone had to sign a confidentiality agreement before coming in…

“Today is the fifth meeting,” Academician Xue Jinhui said as he looked around at the conference table. He continued with a serious expression, “I hope everyone can brainstorm and put forward some constructive ideas.”

Academician Xue Jinhui was quite the expert. Not only did he serve as the deputy director of the Institute of Information Engineering, but he was also involved in the development of the Twin Field Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol.

This QKD protocol was, in a sense, the first quantum encryption algorithm independently developed by the Chinese scientific research team. Because of this, he was selected as the leader of the entire project.

There was a commotion in the conference room.

The cryptography experts looked at each other; their eyes filled with helplessness.

Just like what Academician Xue said, this was the fifth meeting. However, they had yet to come up with any new ideas.

A cyberattack launched by a 1,000-qubit quantum computer…

This was an “alien-level” attack. This wasn’t something that could be solved just by having a few meetings. The difference in technology was too huge.

They could only think of some inefficient means of communication, such as using a one-time pad or even using physical mail delivery.

“The LWE is not efficient enough, Soliloquy is not safe enough, and the quantum communication conditions are too harsh. Point-to-point communication is fine, but it’s not like we can equip everyone with a satellite… Sigh, the higher-ups really gave us an impossible problem.”

An old man with gray hair took a hit of the cigarette between his fingers as his eyebrows began to furrow.

The middle-aged man with glasses sitting next to him had a frown on his face, as if he couldn’t bear the smell of the cigarette. He coughed and said, “If only we could recruit Academician Lu into our team. Cryptography is a mathematics field.”

People all looked at Academician Wang Shicheng.

Academician Wang Shicheng was baffled; he blinked and said, “What now?”

An academician sitting next to him coughed and asked, “What if those from Yan University mathematics center help us?”

“No way…” Wang Shicheng waved his hand and said, “Mathematicians are not interested in cryptography anymore, you should ask the physicists.”

People had a bitter smile on their faces, especially Academician Xue.

A young professor sitting next to him suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, Academician Lu is now mainly in charge of the ILHCRC? He’s researching the… the Zhou particle?”

The professor sitting across from him nodded.

“I’ve heard about the Z particle. I’ve read that paper several times. The characteristics of the Z particle are interesting. It exists for a while and then does not exist. When it is not observable, it hides in a high-dimensional space. Only revealing the tip of the iceberg at times… Oh, do you think it is possible to use the Z particle as a means for communication?”

“I don’t know… But this might work, should we consult Academician Lu?”

The conversation had totally digressed.

Academician Xue coughed and interrupted the conversation. He looked at the scholars and spoke.

“Enough, don’t always try to rely on Academician Lu. The Communist Party of China trusts our ability to handle this. As for Academician Lu, he has his own business to deal with.”

He paused for a second and said, “Also, we’re not talking about the means of communication, we’re talking about how to encrypt our communication; stay on topic!”

However, now that Academician Xue brought them back on the right path, the conference room went silent again.

Suddenly, they heard a door knock.

Academician Xue quickly said, “Come in.”

The door opened.

A young assistant walked in with a stack of papers in his hands.

Academician Xue was stunned, and he asked, “What is this?”

“News from the Communist Party of China…”

The young assistant looked at Academician Xue and said awkwardly, “The quantum encryption algorithm project… has been canceled.”

Everyone in the conference room was astounded…

Chapter 1185: Even 2,000 Is Not a Problem

Chapter 1185 Even 2,000 Is Not a Problem State Administration for National Defense.Director’s office.

A man with a gray beard opened the office door angrily and walked in from outside.

“Old Li! I want to know what is going on!”

Director Li stayed calm, but the voice scared his assistant.

Most ordinary people wouldn’t dare to speak to the secretary of the State Administration for National Defense this way, but Academician Xue wasn’t an ordinary person.

Forget about the State Administration for National Defense; even the head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology would have to treat this old man with respect.

When Director Li saw Academician Xue at his front door, he seemed to know why Academician Xue was here. He smiled, put down the pen in his hand, and spoke.

“Why are you here? Come and sit down… Xiao Zhou, go and pour Academician Xue a cup of tea, then print fifty copies of this document and send it to Director Liu.”

“Okay!”

Xiao Zhou quickly poured a cup of hot tea for Academician Xue, picked up the document off Director Li’s desk, and quickly left the office.

“What?” Academician Xue said as he picked up the teacup off the table. He took a sip and said angrily, “You’re asking why I’m here? Why else would I be here!”

Before Director Li could respond, Academician Xue began to fire like a machine gun.

“You’re the one who wanted to develop a quantum encryption algorithm! Now you’re canceling the project?! Half of the cryptography experts are in Beijing, and our work has only just begun. Now you don’t want us to do it anymore? Is this a joke?”

Director Li felt a little embarrassed. Academician Xue was right, but this wasn’t totally his fault.

“This… situation is complicated.”

“What do you mean complicated? Did I not warn you? Even the most advanced quantum computer can only reach 100 qubits! It’s crazy to imagine the existence of a 1,000-qubit quantum computer!”

In the eyes of Academician Xue, this was a ridiculous research project, proposed by a layman. He always hated the higher-ups interfering with his scientific research. This was a waste of research resources!

Director Li coughed and said, “That’s not the reason for canceling this project. This project isn’t totally canceled, we’re just making a strategic adjustment…”

Academician Xue said, “Then why are you doing this?!”

“Because someone else already solved the problem.”

The office went quiet.

Academician Xue was stunned. He took a while before he snapped back to reality.

“Solved? What problem was solved?”

“Of course it’s the quantum encryption algorithm…”

“That’s impossible!”

Academician Xue’s eyes were wide open in disbelief. He thought Director Li was lying to him. He was even angrier. “Half of the cryptography field is here in Beijing with me, and you’re telling me someone else solved the problem?”

After a week of work, they had yet to make any substantial progress in their research. Now someone was telling him that the problem was solved? Someone was able to find an algorithm?

He had never heard anything more ridiculous!

Director Li sighed and said, “Now that you’re here… I want to discuss this with you.”

He opened his drawer and took out a CD stored in a special container.

Academician Xue frowned as Director Li continued to speak.

“The quantum encryption algorithm is in here… Of course, it can only stay in this office; it cannot leave. But I can demonstrate it on my computer.”

Academician Xue snorted and said, “I’m not that foolish.”

Director Li smiled and said, “I know, I’m just a layman. We need to consult experts like you… That’s why I want you to take a look at this, to see if it can really fend off an attack from a 1,000-qubit quantum computer…”

He put the CD into his laptop.

Director Li turned his screen toward Academician Xue as the CD began to spin.

Academician Xue finished the cup of tea and stood up from the sofa. He walked up to Director Li’s desk and sat down on a chair.

He used the mouse to click on the file in the CD. Academician Xue could see the lines of the encryption algorithm code on the screen.

Honestly speaking, it was almost impossible to develop a stronger and more secure encryption algorithm that was completely different from the BB84 protocol, especially in such a short amount of time.

He knew almost all of the Chinese scholars in this field.

If even their research team couldn’t do it, he couldn’t believe someone else could.

Unless… they received help from a “foreign entity”.

However, because this was related to national security, the probability of outsourcing the encryption algorithm to a foreign research team was zero.

Academician Xue glanced at the lines of code.

As he continued to scroll with the mouse wheel, the look on his face gradually changed.

Even though the changes were subtle, they were obvious in the eyes of Director Li.

Finally, this stubborn old man spoke.

“Who… made this?”

“I can’t tell you this,” Director Li said. He coughed and said, “It’s top secret, I hope you understand.”

The office went silent.

Academician Xue looked away from the screen and made eye contact with Director Li. He then asked in a croaky voice, “Is it Academician Lu?”

That’s the only possibility…

Director Li didn’t reply, he had a blank expression on his face.

Sometimes, a blank expression is a type of answer.

Academician Xue turned his head; he continued to read the rest of the code with a look of astonishment on his face.

It seemed like he had just witnessed a miracle. He muttered to himself, “So it is him… no wonder.”

No wonder the project was canceled.

With an algorithm like this, there’s nothing left for us to do.

How embarrassing! 20 people lost to one person.

He had a bitter look on his face.

He finally understood why people said it could be frustrating to work in the same field as Academician Lu.

He wasn’t just frustrated. He even started to doubt everything about his life, and he almost felt hopeless.

Maybe it would have been better for me not to know the reason behind the cancellation…

Seeing how Academician Xue didn’t say anything for a while, Director Li became a little anxious as he spoke.

“Don’t just sit there… Tell me, how is the algorithm?”

Academician Xue spoke.

“It’s strong.”

“What does strong mean?”

“Means that, forget about 1,000 qubits…”

Academician Xue gulped and said with a trembling voice, “Even 2,000 qubits is not a problem…”

Chapter 1186: Moon Cannon

Chapter 1186 “Moon Cannon“ The space shuttle assembly center, inside the Jinling high-tech zone.The army troops were responsible for protecting this factory. This was the safest and most confidential place in the industrial park.

From Skyglow to the Magpie Bridge, 90% of the spacecrafts in lunar transfer orbit were assembled here. They were then sent to the launch site through the Jinling launch site nearby.

Jinling had gradually become the heart of China’s space industry due to Star Sky Technology and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. This assembly site was the blood that flowed through the veins of the heart.

Two engineers wearing hard hats were standing at the entrance number one of the assembly center. They looked at the workers unloading mechanical equipment nearby and chatted with each other.

“There’s been a lot of changes recently. I heard Old Wang and the others bragging during dinner yesterday about how the deputy district chief of the Jinling high-tech zone was investigated.”

“You mean District Chief Sun?”

“Of course, who else could it be? Apparently, when the police went to his house, they found two suitcases of gold bars.”

The slightly younger engineer was amazed.

How much are two suitcases of gold bars worth?

It must be more than I make in my lifetime.

“Jesus, even a district chief can embezzle so much money.”

“That’s only what they found at his house. Apparently, that’s not everything. This isn’t just ordinary bribery, foreign intelligence agencies are involved.”

The old engineer sighed and shook his head.

“Who could have thought of this? Thank god they captured him before he was promoted to head district chief.”

The equipment nearby had been unloaded. The automated logistics vehicles delivered the brown containers into the factory.

Then, another truck drove up and parked in front of the factory. Workers began to unload more boxes into the logistics vehicles.

The younger engineer looked at the trucks and spoke.

“Hey, don’t you think we’ve been getting a lot of shipments lately?”

The old engineer said, “Yeah, maybe there’s a big project soon.”

The young engineer looked at him.

“What project do you think it is?”

The old engineer looked at the young man and asked, “What do you want to know, you want to sell information to the US as well?”

“No, I’m just curious…”

“There’s no reason for you to know that. Talk less, work more.”

The older engineer patted the young engineer on the shoulder. They then turned around and walked inside the factory building.

The younger engineer buckled his helmet and muttered, “… I was just asking a question, Jesus.”

After the lunch break, the engineers in Factory One returned to their work stations.

On the other side of the factory building, a group of experts in hard hats stood next to a huge metal structure. They had been standing here all morning.

“… This is the latest tunnel boring machine we produced. The material is mainly titanium alloy. The total weight after assembly is only 50 tons. It’s suitable for low-gravity environments and can be used at a maximum depth of 20 meters. The Lunar Hadron Collider tunnel was dug using this thing.”

Standing next to Lu Zhou was an old engineer in his fifties. His name was Chen Yongliang; he was a deputy manager and technical supervisor.

It was obvious from his uniform that he didn’t belong to the space shuttle assembly center. Instead, he worked for the China Railway Group.

Even though aerospace and railways seemed like two different fields, they actually had many overlaps.

Ever since the Lunar Hadron Collider project, China Railway Group had followed the footsteps of Star Sky Technology and went into the aerospace field.

The acceleration track, which was hundreds of kilometers long and located along the inside of a crater, was a masterpiece from the joint efforts of countless engineers and researchers from China Railway Group and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The tunnel boring machine in front of Lu Zhou was one of the by-products of the particle accelerator project.

The whole body was made from a lightweight titanium alloy material. Its modular design allowed it to be assembled without the requirement of large construction equipment such as cranes.

Generally, tunnel boring machines made from steel had a drill weight of 50 tons. With the front and back shield, it was easily in the hundreds of tons. However, this large machine only weighed 50 tons.

No wonder Engineer Chen was so proud.

They were the only company in the world capable of drilling an orbit track on the moon; they were at the top of their industry.

After listening to Engineer Chen’s introduction, Lu Zhou finally asked the question he cared about the most.

“How much is it?”

Chen Yongliang: “60 million!”

“A bit expensive.”

When Engineer Chen saw the chief designer shake his head, he quickly explained.

“It’s not that expensive. The titanium alloy body alone costs tens of millions, not to mention the other technologies and components inside.”

Lu Zhou didn’t respond.

He was the chief designer; he didn’t need to worry about the finance side. He was just casually making a comment based on his feelings.

The general manager from the China Railway Group, who was standing beside them the whole time, was about to say something, but Lu Zhou suddenly spoke first.

“I plan on building an electromagnetic orbit on the moon.”

Chen Yongliang was stunned.

“… How long?”

“Twenty to forty kilometers.”

“What’s the requirement? Similar to the collider?”

“It’s definitely different from the collider. It should be wider and the speed limit must be higher.” Lu Zhou smiled and squinted his eyes while looking at the steel machine in front of him. He said, “I need it to accelerate a mass of 50 tons to 2.5 kilometers per second in 2 minutes… Is that possible?”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s request, the engineer looked astonished as he spoke.

“… That’s a bit difficult, I’m afraid no one on planet Earth can create that.”

2.5 kilometers per second, that’s more than the escape velocity of the moon. Is he planning to launch cargo directly into the lunar transfer orbit?

“If someone else on planet Earth can do it, I wouldn’t be asking you right now.” Lu Zhou continued and said, “The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is planning to set up a special research team to design the lunar mass driver. The goal is to directly launch the minerals mined on the moon into the lunar transfer orbit or even the low-earth orbit. This is extremely useful.

“We have successfully applied for special funding from the state. The initial budget is 10 billion yuan. If everything goes well, we will receive more funding. You guys are regarded as the top company in the fields of magnetic levitation and electromagnetic acceleration technology. I hope we can work together.”

Before Engineer Chen could say anything, the general manager standing next to them spoke.

“Yes, of course, we’d be glad to! Haha, it’s an honor to work with the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.”

Lu Zhou smiled and politely nodded.

“It’s our honor too.”

Engineer Chen decided to stay quiet.

His guess was correct.

Academician Lu really plans on building an electromagnetic cannon to directly shoot things from the moon.

Is this even possible?

Even though he had some doubts in his mind, everything Lu Zhou worked on, no matter how ridiculous, had become a reality.

Chen Yongliang couldn’t help but sigh.

Maybe this is the next generation of engineers.

In 100 years, no one will remember Engineer Chen from China Railway Group, but they definitely will remember Lu Zhou.

Chen Yongliang looked at Lu Zhou and began to feel a little jealous…

…

Lu Zhou spent the entire morning watching the people from the China Railway Group demonstrate their tunnel boring machine; he didn’t even have time to eat lunch.

After he returned to his office, he picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to ravage through the food Wang Peng had brought him.

“Bring me a can of Coke next time, please. If I don’t drink something, my throat feels dry.”

Wang Peng smiled and spoke.

“Can’t you drink something healthy?”

Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, “Tell me that when you quit smoking.”

Wang Peng sighed and said, “I just want you to be more healthy. For people like me, living to 60 or 70 years old is enough, it doesn’t matter if I smoke.”

“I don’t like that, all lives are equal.”

Wang Peng shrugged; he obviously wouldn’t talk back to Lu Zhou.

Perhaps he wasn’t as wise and enlightened as Academician Lu, but no matter how he looked at it, Academician Lu’s words were too idealistic.

How is it possible for everyone to be equal?

I can’t imagine a society like that…

Chapter 1187: Unbreakable Security

Chapter 1187 Unbreakable Security After eating and drinking, it was time to do some work.In order to complete the last Control of Earth and Moon mission, he had a dozen hurdles to jump over first.

However, just as he was about to get up from his desk, he heard a knock on his office door.

Lu Zhou remembered the appointment he made on the phone yesterday. He threw away his napkins, put away his food container box, and said, “Come in.”

His office door was opened. Director Li appeared at his door. When Director Li saw a food container lying beside the table, he couldn’t help but look surprised.

“… That’s what you ate for lunch?”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“Yeah, some meat and vegetables, why?”

“Uh, nothing…”

“Let’s just talk about business then. I’m going back to the research institute for a meeting at 3 pm; it’s about the Lunar Orbit Committee.” Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and said, “What exactly did you want to tell me on the phone yesterday?”

Director Li didn’t say anything. He just looked at Wang Peng.

Wang Peng nodded. He picked up the food container bag and left the room.

Only two people were left in the office.

Director Li spoke.

“It’s about the quantum encryption algorithm.”

Lu Zhou was intrigued. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “Is it good?”

“It’s great! It’s amazing.” Director Li clapped and said, “You have no idea! After the deputy director of the Institute of Information Engineering saw the algorithm, his jaw was on the floor…”

For some reason, Lu Zhou had a bad feeling about this.

Every time Director Li was nice to him, the old man either wanted something from him or wanted to introduce him to a girl.

“If it’s so good, why are you here?”

Director Li smiled mischievously.

“A while ago, didn’t you say that after the carbon-based topological quantum processor chip comes out, it won’t be long before we can achieve a 1,000 qubit quantum computer?”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and nodded.

“I think I did say that.”

“That’s why I’m here!” Director Li said, “The state held a meeting a few days ago to discuss this issue, but we really need experts in this area. We couldn’t find a solution after discussing for a long time, so…”

“Pause, you don’t need to explain the reason.” Lu Zhou raised his hand and said with a sigh, “You can just tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s not a big problem, we mainly just want to consult your opinion.” Director Li smiled embarrassedly and asked, “When will a 2,000-qubit computer come out?”

After hearing Director Li’s words, Lu Zhou immediately understood what he was thinking. Director Li was worried about how long the algorithm would stay secure.

After all, this was an understandable concern.

If it was easy to break the bottleneck from 80 to 500, how difficult could it be to go from 500 to 1,000, then 1,000 to 2,000?

Changing an encryption algorithm wasn’t as easy as changing a password. It required a reform from the entire communication field. The hidden social costs couldn’t be measured with money alone.

The state obviously wanted to change the encryption algorithm as few times as possible.

If they had to update the encryption algorithm every three to five years, it would cause huge trouble to China’s financial industry, communications industry, and Internet industry.

“Your worries are not unreasonable,” Lu Zhou said as he tapped his finger on the table. After thinking for a moment, he said, “But this is really hard to say. I can only tell you that the bottleneck of 1,000 qubits will be broken soon. But 2,000 qubits… I have to wait until we achieve 1,000 qubits before I can give you an accurate estimate.”

Director Li said, “Can’t you make a rough estimate?”

“I can, but it’s meaningless.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “If you just want to feel less anxious, you might as well ask a fortune teller. Also…”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, “Quantum encryption algorithms are always just temporary. N qubits correspond to 2 to the power of n states, not just 2 times n. In theory, one day, our encryption method won’t be able to keep up with the speed of our technology development.”

The office went silent.

Director Li pondered for a long time. After a while, he asked in a serious way.

“Then, what do you think we should do?”

“We have to solve this problem fundamentally,” Lu Zhou said after thinking for a while. He said, “Which means we have to find another means of communication?”

“So you’re saying… quantum communication?”

Lu Zhou nodded with approval.

“Correct.”

Director Li spoke solemnly.

“But I heard that quantum communication technology is not simple, right? Our country’s research is relatively advanced in this area, yet there aren’t many results. I can’t see this technology maturing anytime soon.”

“That’s not a problem.” Lu Zhou said, “The breakthroughs in this field are mainly focused on achieving quantum entanglement and enhancing the signal strength. The real key to achieving quantum communication is in quantum repeaters.”

Quantum repeaters can also be subdivided into two problems—the problem of “quantum memory” and the problem of “optimizing the quantum read and write efficiency and storage time”.

These two major technical problems were mentioned in the DLCZ protocol, which used a combination of quantum memory and single-photon channel to suppress attenuation and achieve long-distance quantum communication.

However, due to the little progress in quantum memory, quantum communication could only be achieved within a distance of 100 kilometers. The transmission environment was also extremely harsh. This made it impractical to use; some people even suspected it was impossible to popularize this technology.

“Quantum repeater?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou looked at Director Li and nodded. He said, “There hasn’t been any progress at all in this area…”

The reason why quantum communication was confidential was because of the special characteristics of the wave function. Once the photon that transmitted the information was intercepted, any observed behavior would cause the collapse of the entangled state, thus destroying the information.

Simply put, if there were a third party C, standing between a phone call among party A and B, no matter what party C did, whether they were using a wiretap or sticking their ear against the wall, the second party C tried to hear something, the entire communication channel would stop.

Asymmetric encryption algorithms and other encryption algorithms were aimed toward traditional communication methods. When it came to quantum communication, encryption was simply unnecessary.

This was the so-called “unbreakable security”!

Lu Zhou spent five minutes briefly explaining the technical difficulties of quantum communication and its advantages over traditional communication methods to Director Li.

Even though Director Li had heard people talk about this idea before, hearing it personally from Academician Lu was different.

After he heard Lu Zhou’s explanation, he quickly asked, “Is this unbreakable quantum communication difficult?”

Lu Zhou nodded seriously.

“Honestly, it’s not just difficult, it’s extremely difficult!

“You just need to know that this bottleneck is completely stopping the commercialization of quantum communication technology.”

The office went silent again.

This silence lasted quite a long time.

Lu Zhou took a sip of water from the cup on the table. He was about to comfort his old friend and tell him not to worry too much. They could use the new set of encryption algorithms for now, and when a 2,000-qubit computer came out, there might be new progress in the research of quantum repeaters.

Any new technology had to take a long time to develop. Even though the quantum encryption algorithm he developed was not particularly brilliant in his own opinion, it was fine for now.

However, when he was about to speak, Director Li spoke first.

“The… The quantum repeater, can you solve it?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Chapter 1188: Biggest Misunderstanding in Science

Chapter 1188 Biggest Misunderstanding in Science Perhaps because Director Li was a little embarrassed, he spoke in a quiet voice.However, the quiet voice didn’t work on Lu Zhou, who rolled his eyes and said, “I was just telling you what the key bottlenecks are, I’m not the one that wants to solve this problem!”

Director Li doubled down on his intentions.

“But… you already know what the problem is, can’t you just solve it?”

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li’s mischievous smile and had a thought.

Does this guy think I’m his little puppet?

Yeah, probably…

There’s an 80% chance he does…

…

Lu Zhou told Director Li that he would “think about it”. After Director Li left, Lu Zhou called Wang Peng and went to the parking lot.

After Lu Zhou got in his car and Wang Peng began driving on the road, Lu Zhou suddenly said, “Wang Peng.”

“What?”

Lu Zhou asked, “In your opinion, what is science?”

Wang Peng was accustomed to Lu Zhou asking him weird questions.

After thinking for a while, he spoke.

“I think it’s a way of solving problems, like—”

“It’s a way for us to boil water and make planes fly… Kind of like that?”

Wang Peng pondered for a second and nodded.

“Sort of.”

Lu Zhou sighed.

“That’s the biggest misunderstanding in science.”

Wang Peng: “…?”

Lu Zhou: “Let’s go to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.”

Wang Peng looked in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t you have a meeting at three o’clock?”

“I’ll call Chen Yushan,” Lu Zhou said. “She can go instead.”

…

The interactions inside a quantum communication system caused the coherence of the pure state in the system to decay, thereby increasing the randomness of the internal phase in each superimposed component. This resulted in the failure of quantum information transmission.

An ideal solution was to add a repeater, just like traditional communication methods. The repeater would amplify the attenuated signal and transmit it.

However, even though this sounded easy, it was extremely difficult in the case of quantum communication. Because quantum communication was mainly based on the quantum effect of a single-photon spin state, optical amplification could destroy qubits.

Currently, there were two types of relay technologies; one was trusted relays, whereas the other was quantum relays.

The former was similar to key relays; it allowed the key to be passed between trusted workstations. It was easier to implement, but the problem was that once the relay station was controlled by a third party, the third party could easily eavesdrop.

In other words, the security of this type of relay was based on the security of the workstations.

Whereas the latter was based on quantum entanglement distribution technology. This established shared entangled pairs between neighboring sites, and it stored the entangled pairs using quantum storage technology. It used entanglement conversion operations to achieve a shared entanglement between neighboring sites.

In terms of security, the latter was unrivaled. However, it was much more technically difficult; so difficult that the academic community had given up on it since 2007.

Objectively speaking, if the communication was only within the country, for example, as a military dedicated line, using a trusted relay was completely sufficient. For example, the “Beijing-Shanghai Communication Line” was protected by the military, making it extremely secure.

However, when the communication expanded to a global scale, the security of overseas servers couldn’t be guaranteed. There was always a risk in trusted relays.

In the era of information globalization, it was impossible for any country to break away from the internet. Director Li wanted a piece of technology that was widely applicable.

Therefore, the key to the problem was solving the bottleneck of the quantum repeater.

After arriving at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou called Chen Yushan and told her to handle the afternoon meeting. He then typed an email and sent the meeting outline to her.

The main topic of the meeting was regarding the work arrangement of the lunar mass driver project. Since he had already arranged the work in advance, he did not need to be there in person.

In contrast, there were more important things waiting for him to do.

After Lu Zhou arrived at the underground floor level, he walked into the laboratory where he did research on the carbon-based quantum processor chips. He looked at the carbon-based integrated circuit board sitting inside a transparent container and spoke to himself.

“I originally planned to research this after I complete the Control of Earth and Moon mission.

“Maybe I should give it a try first.”

Lu Zhou signaled Xiao Ai to suction out the inert gas inside the transparent container. He then put on a special pair of gloves and unlocked the container. He took out the well-preserved carbon-based integrated circuit board.

The technical difficulty of a quantum repeater could be divided into three parts; entanglement exchange, entanglement purification, and quantum storage.

The first two were relatively easy, while the last one was on the same level of difficulty as a quantum computer.

What was interesting was that the research on quantum memory and quantum computers had many overlaps. The only difference was that quantum memory was required for long-distance quantum communication, but it was not needed for quantum computers.

If he could solve quantum memory, he could create a more advanced quantum computer; if he couldn’t, he would still have access to a quantum computer… which was the one he built.

In fact, there was a reason why Lu Zhou hadn’t researched quantum memory technology.

He thought that, with the breakthrough of quantum computer technology and its widespread application in commercial fields, capitalism would naturally push toward quantum memory technology. People would seek to build a faster and more powerful quantum computer.

Once that day came, he wouldn’t have to do anything himself, nor would he need to waste precious general points. He could easily gain access to quantum memory technology.

“The quantum entanglement between the memory stored in the system and any remote system has to be maintained throughout the storage time…

“If this entanglement breaks at any time, such as a collapse due to external observation, then the device will no longer function as a quantum memory storage device. Instead, it will transform into an entanglement interrupt channel that can only transmit traditional information.

“This is going to be difficult…”

Lu Zhou stared at the integrated circuit board on the experimental table and pondered for a long time.

After a few minutes, he suddenly thought of something.

“This isn’t something I can do alone.

“But…

“I’m not alone.”

Xiao Ai: [(?•̀ᄇ•́)]

Lu Zhou, who was sitting at the experiment table, picked up a pen and wrote a line of words on a piece of draft paper.

[Three-Dimensional Quantum Memory]

Lu Zhou looked at the title on the paper and nodded with satisfaction.

“We’ll use this name for now!”

Chapter 1189: Last Step

Chapter 1189 Last Step Institute of Information Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.When Academician Gao saw the gray-haired old man walking toward him, he quickly walked up and asked, “Old Xue, did you ask what was going on?”

A while ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology suddenly suspended the entire quantum encryption algorithm project.

Almost everyone involved in the project was confused and didn’t know what happened.

As the leader and the most prestigious scholar in the project, Academician Xue was naturally selected to discuss with the State Administration for National Defense and find out what was going on.

Over the past few days, Gao Junfa had been trying to find out what was going on, and he finally ran into Academician Xue.

It seemed like Academician Xue had an answer.

However, judging by Academician Xue’s face, it wasn’t a good answer.

Academician Xue Jinhui saw Academician Gao approach him. He wanted to hide, but there was no place to hide. He had no choice but to cough and explain.

“The matter is very complicated… Basically, you just need to know that the quantum encryption algorithm has been solved.”

It was solved?

Academician Gao Junfa was shocked, and his eyes were wide open, similar to how Academician Xue first reacted to the news.

“It was solved? How is that possible!”

“At first, I was just as surprised as you are.” Academician Xue Jinhui said after a moment of silence, “But this is in fact true, I saw it with my own eyes.”

Seeing how the old man didn’t appear to be lying, Academician Gao Junfa quickly said, “You saw the algorithm?”

Academician Xue Jinhui nodded.

“Yes.”

“Tell me! What kind of encryption algorithm is it? Who made it?”

Academician Xue coughed and said, “I can’t answer those questions right now.”

Academician Gao was anxious, and he began to play the friendship card.

“You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not about trust, it’s about principle.” Academician Xue sighed and said, “Don’t worry, the algorithm will definitely be implemented… You’ll be able to see the code within a month or two at most.”

Academician Gao still wanted to say something, but seeing how Academician Xue wasn’t budging, he decided not to ask any more questions.

He knew that Academician Xue had probably signed a confidentiality agreement.

Academician Gao shook his head after a long sigh.

“The new generation is replacing us… Oh well, I’ll just wait.”

After Academician Gao left, Academician Xue didn’t dare to stay around for long, in fear of being stopped and questioned by other colleagues. He quickly returned to his office.

He told his assistant to make him a cup of tea. After taking a sip, he wanted to read some papers, but he felt like he was missing something.

In the end, he couldn’t restrain his curiosity. He asked his assistant to book him a high-speed rail ticket to Jinling, in the name of presenting a lecture at Jin Ling University.

Jin Ling University obviously wanted a top cryptography expert like him to visit the school, so they arranged everything for him.

After the lecture, Academician Xue declined the invitation from the dean of the information engineering department to have a meal. He walked around Jin Ling University, finally finding his way to Academician Lu’s office in the mathematics building.

When he arrived at the office, there weren’t many people inside. There was only a girl, who was probably an assistant, sitting near the door.

Academician Xue looked through the window and knocked on the door. He then asked in a friendly tone, “Excuse me, is Academician Lu here?”

Zhao Huan put down her pen and looked at this strange old man. She remembered that Lu Zhou didn’t have an appointment today.

However, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, so she responded.

“Academician Lu has been at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study over the past few days, may I ask what are you here for? I can call him and ask when he’s coming back—”

When Academician Xue saw the girl reaching for the phone, he quickly stopped her.

“Oh, there’s no need for that. The Institute for Advanced Study, right? I’ll go there myself.”

Zhao Huan looked at the strange old man walk away. She pondered for a second before writing an email to Professor Lu.

Apparently, Lu Zhou was working on a national project at the Institute for Advanced Study. She obviously didn’t know what the project was.

She just knew that it was very important.

…

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t at Jin Ling University, Academician Xue wasn’t discouraged.

Since he came all the way to Jinling, he didn’t want to go back home empty-handed, not until he met the creator of the genius encryption algorithm.

He finally arrived at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. After he explained his intentions to the guard, he registered his information and was soon let inside. A security officer walked him to the Institute of Semiconductors.

Academician Xue was walking behind the security officer. He had a feeling that Academician Lu was already informed of his visit.

He finally arrived at the laboratory. He hesitated for a second before reaching out.

However, just when he was about to knock on the door, the door opened by itself.

A young man wearing a lab coat and messy hair appeared behind the door.

Even though this was Academician Xue’s first time meeting Lu Zhou, as a member of the academic community, he instantly recognized Lu Zhou. Before Academician Xue could speak, Lu Zhou spoke first.

“You’re Academician Xue from the Institute of Information Engineering?”

“Sure am.” Academician Xue nodded and said, “My apologies for interrupting your research. I’m just curious about your quantum encryption algorithm, so I came without an invitation…”

“You didn’t interrupt anything.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the old man standing at the door. He stepped aside and made an inviting gesture as he said, “Director Li told me about you, come on in.”

“Director Li?” Academician Xue looked at Lu Zhou and said, “How does he know I would come here?”

“He didn’t say you’re coming, but after hearing about what happened, I had a feeling you would be here.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It just so happens there are some things I want to discuss with you… Come with me, I’m at the last step of the experiment.”

Chapter 1190: Three-Dimensional Vacuum Chamber Structure

Chapter 1190 Three-Dimensional Vacuum Chamber Structure Inside the laboratory.Academician Xue looked around nervously.

On one hand, he was curious; on the other hand, he was worried about seeing something he shouldn’t see, something that was confidential.

Lu Zhou led him inside the laboratory and spoke in a relaxing tone, as if he knew what the academician was worried about.

“Don’t be nervous, you’re an insider, so it doesn’t matter if you see these things.”

If this were the third-floor underground laboratory, then it would be a different story. However, these few pieces of equipment were in the upper-level laboratory, so it wasn’t a big deal for an insider to witness what was going on.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Academician Xue felt a little relieved. He had a calm look on his face as he curiously looked around the laboratory.

This laboratory was different from most laboratories he had seen before. Rather than a messy laboratory, this was more like a minimalistic and clean factory.

As Academician Xue looked at the computer connected to a machine, he spoke casually.

“What is this?”

“A laser melting 3D printing system… It’s mainly used to process metal and plastic parts. It’s annoying to order these parts from a materials factory, and I don’t want to waste time waiting.”

Academician Xue was astonished.

“You know how to use a 3D printing machine?”

Lu Zhou replied casually, “Actually, it’s voice-controlled… thanks to artificial intelligence technology.”

Academician Xue’s mouth was wide open.

Voice control?

Artificial intelligence?

How is that possible?

He knew what automated machines were, but how could an artificial intelligence program understand what kind of model the user wanted? This didn’t seem like a problem that could be solved by an artificial intelligence’s fuzzy calculation.

However, since he wasn’t an expert in this area, he wasn’t in a position to make any comments. Instead, he left the problem aside and looked at another strange machine.

“Then… what about that?” Academician Xue pointed at the silver-white metal tube inside the laboratory. “What is that thing for?”

“It’s a multi-line single-photon tube… This is what I want to show you.” Lu Zhou picked up his gloves from the experiment table next to him and carefully put them on. He took out a cylinder-shaped object inside a gas protection chamber.

There were honeycomb-shaped openings in the cross-section of the cylinder. The body of the cylinder was made from glass-like translucent tubes.

Academician Xue felt like a caveman who was being exposed to new technology.

Even though he didn’t want to ask anymore questions, he still couldn’t help but ask.

“What is this?”

“A three-dimensional vacuum chamber with a multi-mode structure. The main material is an alloy of ytterbium, molybdenum, and other materials. It can realize all of our fantasies regarding the quantum world…” Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and said, “At least for now.”

Academician Xue’s mouth was wide open.

He did not expect this at all.

His intuition told him that the object in front of him contained powers beyond his imagination. However, he didn’t know where this intuition came from.

He almost forgot his original reason for coming here.

“I know you have a lot of questions, I’ll answer them soon.”

Lu Zhou turned around and placed this mysterious cylinder carefully in a perfect-fitting compartment.

The cylinder slowly descended into the compartment, Lu Zhou took a step back and stood next to a computer. He had a satisfied smile on his face.

“This is perfect!”

Academician Xue: “… I don’t quite understand.”

“Basically, this is a quantum entanglement amplifier. You can think of it as a magnifying glass, but it doesn’t magnify light waves, it amplifies something much smaller than light waves.”

Academician Xue had a crazy thought in his mind.

“… Single photons?”

“Correct… But not totally. Precisely speaking, they’re entangled photon pairs.”

When Lu Zhou snapped his fingers, the signal light on the machine behind him turned on. The two ends of the silver-white metal tube began to buzz.

Despite how shocked Academician Xue was, Lu Zhou continued to casually explain.

“… By placing a three-dimensional multi-mode vacuum chamber structure in a magnetic field, the free ytterbium atoms in the alloy will enter an extremely stable state, thereby isolating it from the interference in the environment and capturing the traveling photos. The entangled state is then transferred to the next repeater through a new single-photon emitter, and the process will be repeated.”

Academician Xue’s jaw was on the floor.

“Is… is this?!”

“You’re right.” Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He said, “Quantum communication.”

While they were talking, the preparation for the experiment was completed.

64 pairs of light quanta were emitted from tube A, and they were amplified by the repeater while passing through the pipeline. They continued to travel to the next channel, finally entering the receiver at tube B.

Lu Zhou looked at the numbers on the screen and smirked.

64 pairs of photons!

All received!

There’s no doubt that this experiment is a success!

Academician Xue watched everything unravel in front of him. After Lu Zhou entered the experiment results in the database, he finally spoke.

“It’s over?”

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in front of a computer, replied, “It’s over, the experiment was successful.”

Academician Xue: “Why are you showing me this?”

There was no doubt that what he had just witnessed was more confidential than the quantum encryption algorithm.

He had no idea why Lu Zhou wanted to show him these things.

“Because it’s not perfect yet, and I have only solved a portion of the entire problem. There are other parts of the problems that have yet to solve. And this is not my area of expertise…” Lu Zhou glanced at the clock on the wall and said with a smile, “Now that the experiment is over, we should talk somewhere else.”

Lu Zhou typed a few buttons on the keyboard and turned off the experiment machine.

He looked at Academician Xue and said, “Let’s go to my office.

“We can drink something and talk about interesting problems.”

Chapter 1191: Delivering a Safe on One Hand and a Key on the Other

1191 Delivering a Safe on One Hand and a Key on the Other After coming out of the laboratory, Lu Zhou told Academician Xue to wait for a second. He then looked at the two security guards standing in the hallway and spoke in a serious tone.

“Change the security level here to Grade A. Other than me, no one is allowed near here.”

The two security guards stood at attention and performed a military salute.

“Okay.”

After they left the Institute of Semiconductors, Academician Xue walked next to Lu Zhou and asked him, “They’re from the military?”

Lu Zhou: “They’re retired from the military. I have a good relationship with the commander, who arranged them to work for me.”

He wouldn’t have to worry about any background checks. Regiment Commander Dai would only recommend the best soldiers to him. Also, any soldiers from the army that passed basic training were often much more capable than ordinary security guards.

There had never been a theft at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, not even a single piece of draft paper was stolen before. This was all thanks to the lovely soldiers.

After they arrived at Lu Zhou’s office, Lu Zhou told his assistant to pour a cup of tea. He then made himself a cup of coffee.

After pouring the cup of tea, the assistant left the office and closed the door.

As Lu Zhou looked at the old man sitting across from him, he smiled and said, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, go ahead.”

After a moment of silence, Academician Xue sighed and spoke.

“Before coming here, I did have a lot of questions, but now… I feel I have the answers. Besides…”

The academician had a complicated smile on his face.

“… Cryptography is about to retire from the field of the sciences.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“That’s too absolute. It takes time to implement any technology. Even though we have clean and efficient fusion energy, coal energy still occupies a portion of the market…

“Besides, encryption algorithms are only going to be retired from long-distance communication. When it comes to short-distance communication and application to other fields, cryptography can still play a significant role…”

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Xue and continued, “All we have to do is make some adjustments.”

Academician Xue listened to Lu Zhou’s words and began to contemplate.

Lu Zhou picked up his hot cup of coffee and slowly took a sip,

After a few minutes passed by, Academician Xue looked up and spoke in a serious way.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Lu Zhou had an approving smile on his face.

“Of course.

“I have a few questions I need to consult with experts.”

Academician Xue: “In which field?”

“It’s about quantum communication.”

Academician Xue was slightly taken aback, and he said awkwardly, “Quantum communication… I’m not an expert in this field. You should consult a professor from the University of Science and Technology…”

“Before you came here, I already sent an email to the professors of the University of Science and Technology of China. They recommended you to me.”

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Xue and said, “In addition to cryptography, you’re also an expert in communications engineering. You were a senior engineer at the No.46 Electronics Research Institute, and you participated in the early construction of domestic optical fiber networks.”

Academician Xue felt nostalgic when he heard these things.

But, in the end, he still shook his head.

“That was the past. I’ve been in the field of communication security for the past decade. I’m afraid I won’t be of help to you.”

“I believe experience is something you keep forever.” Lu Zhou said in a serious tone, “Especially since we need to rebuild a communication network.”

When Academician Xue heard this, he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“You’re saying, you plan to… rebuild the Chinese communication network? What kind of quantum optical fiber are you going to use?”

“Not quite.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said in a joking tone, “I didn’t say the network is only going to be domestic.”

…

After the quantum repeater problem was solved, there was a real chance of commercializing quantum communication technology.

However, quantum communication technology had a fatal disadvantage, which was the speed of data transmission.

Using the submarine optical cable from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of China as an example, this cable bandwidth was measured in Terabits per second.

Data transfer speeds at this magnitude was not a difficult task for traditional optical fibers, but when it came to quantum communication technology, which relied on single-photon entanglement pairs for information transmission, this was a problem that couldn’t be solved in the short term.

Simply put, a communication channel using quantum communication technology could meet the data transfer requirements of a few companies, but it was nowhere near the scale of the internet.

However, there was a solution to this problem.

According to the IST FP5 report, a 128-bit key could secure 100 Gbit data. In theory, a quantum communication channel with a bandwidth in the magnitude of megabits per second was enough to secure all information traveling across the Pacific Ocean.

Therefore, a perfect solution might be to combine traditional communication methods with quantum communication technology. One could use traditional channels to send “encrypted information” and then use quantum channels to send “encryption keys”.

It would be like delivering a safe in one hand while delivering a key in the other.

This kind of encryption method was similar to “one-Time-Pads”. Theoretically, it was “unbreakable”. If there was only one unique key in this entire universe, it was impossible to steal the key using pure computing power.

In order to separate the transmission of the key and the encrypted information, they would need a new set of communication protocols. Moreover, in order to improve the efficiency of information transmission, the quantum communication network used to transmit keys had to be designed elegantly and carefully.

This was not an easy task.

However, it was much easier than designing a quantum repeater.

Academician Xue accepted Lu Zhou’s invitation for participating in the quantum communication network project without any hesitation. He would stay in Jinling in the name of academic exchange.

He also wanted to avoid his colleagues at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Even though it was easy to keep a secret, this industry circle was too small and tight.

Even if he didn’t say anything, people would be able to tell something was going on just by looking at his face.

Whether it was for the sake of the project or himself, staying in Jinling was the best choice.

After Academician Xue joined the project, the quantum communication network project began to quickly advance. With the old man’s help, Lu Zhou soon found an optimal method for combining quantum communication with traditional communication technology. They were able to complete a structural framework for this new communication protocol.

The days quickly went by. Soon, it was the last day of April.

An experimental quantum communication pipe with a length of around 500 meters was built at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. There was also a special guest visiting…

Chapter 1192: Message Sent Successfully!

1192 Message Sent Successfully! The Institute of Semiconductors at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

An old man stood inside a laboratory with a dignified look on his face.

Standing next to him were other VIP figures such as Director Li, as well as the heads of several state departments.

Everyone’s eyes were focused on the uniquely shaped cylindrical device, waiting for Lu Zhou to make his next move on the entangled photon pairs transmitter.

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch. He then looked at the researcher standing in front of the computer and nodded.

“We can begin.”

“Okay.”

The researcher standing in front of the computer pressed a button.

Just like what Academician Xue saw a few weeks ago, entangled photon pairs were emitted at an ultra-high frequency, forming a stream of information composed of single-photon pairs. The signal lights on the quantum repeater lit up as it began to amplify and send information to a receiver hundreds of meters away from the laboratory.

At the same time, the traditional communications channel running parallel to the quantum communications channel also sent a huge amount of data to the receiving end. Using the received quantum key, this data was decoded by a dedicated decoding device.

The whole process involved complex physics and information science technologies, and everything happened spontaneously.

Experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences were shocked. The other state department leaders standing around the president didn’t even realize the experiment was over.

It wasn’t until Lu Zhou told them that the experiment was successful, did they finally show looks of confusion and astonishment on their faces.

Director Li was the first to snap back to reality. He walked over to the group of experts and quickly asked, “The experiment was successful?”

Academician Gao Junwen from the Institute of Information Engineering blinked and made eye contact with his colleague next to him. He looked at Director Li and nodded.

“There’s no doubt about it… The transmitter sent the message ‘hello world’ through the traditional and quantum channels at the same time. Therefore, if the key transmission was not successful, even supercomputers would not have been able to decode the message.

“Even if a hacker has unlimited computing power, they won’t be able to decipher our message… There is no doubt that this is the uncrackable communication technology we need.”

Academician Gao Junwen looked like he was dreaming as he exclaimed, “I can’t believe I am able to witness such a perfect communication system in my lifetime.

“This is like a dream.”

Academician Gao spoke quite loudly.

Director Li wasn’t the only one that heard it.

The president, as well as the state higher-ups standing around him, looked shocked after hearing what the academician said.

After a while, the president asked, “So, this is quantum communications technology?”

“Yes, sir.” Lu Zhou nodded and tried to explain the technology in layman terms, “Just like Academician Gao had said, in theory, no one can intercept the information passing through this channel. This technology is totally reliable for communication over medium and long distances.”

The president nodded and quickly thought of something. He immediately said, “What if someone takes control of the repeater? Like… by deploying a nuclear submarine in the ocean.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “That’s no good. The only thing a nuclear submarine could do is to destroy the quantum repeater or cut the quantum fiber. Once the channel is destroyed, quantum key transmission ends. The data transmitted through traditional optical fiber becomes invalid. It will become garbage information that will never be decrypted.”

A complete quantum key wasn’t represented only by a single entangled photon pair. When one of the entangled photon pairs collapsed due to external observation, the subsequent signals also collapsed.

Therefore, this kind of communication technology was theoretically absolutely safe. The only exploit was if someone could observe the entangled photon pairs without causing it to collapse.

However, this was impossible from a physics standpoint.

At least from what humans knew about physics.

As the president looked at the uniquely-shaped device in front of him, he was quiet for a long time. He then suddenly spoke emotionally.

“This is like magic.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If you only look at the end result, any scientific research looks like magic, especially when it is first discovered.”

The old man spoke solemnly to Lu Zhou.

“Information security has always been the difficulty we have encountered in the technology revolution age. Quantum computers, quantum communication technology… The impact of this on our society is akin to nuclear fusion.

“On behalf of the country, I’d like to say thank you.”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke politely.

“You’re welcome, sir.

“It’s my honor to witness this moment with you.”

…

Beijing.

Xicheng district, financial street.

A man in a suit and leather shoes stood in front of a building. He reached out and adjusted his tie before walking confidently into the building.

His name was Tony Azov, and he was a SubCom manager from the United States.

SubCom was a giant in the global submarine optical cable industry. SubCom, NEC, and Alcatel-Lucent had a 90% monopoly market share of the global submarine optical cable market.

Why was he standing here?

Because he could smell money here…

Azov smiled confidently as he spoke fluent Chinese to the receptionist.

“Can you please contact CEO Wang for me? I have an appointment.”

“Yes, sir, please wait a moment.”

After waiting patiently for half a minute, a man who looked like an assistant walked over from the elevators.

“You must be Mr. Azov. CEO Wang is waiting for you in a conference room. Come with me.”

The assistant made an inviting gesture and took him into the elevators. They arrived at the conference room on the second floor.

When he arrived at the conference room, a well-dressed middle-aged man stood up from the conference table, smiled, and shook his hand.

“Welcome to China, Mr. Azov. You’re here for the No.3 Asia Pacific submarine cable project, right? You must have come a long way!”

“Thank you.” Azov sat down at the conference table and took out some documents from his briefcase. He looked at CEO Wang and said, “Looks like you’ve already done your homework, so let’s begin.”

Due to the increasing demand for trans-Pacific communications, the original Asia-Pacific submarine optical cable line had become inadequate. The construction of Asia Pacific Cable No.3 (APCN3) had become an urgent matter.

Before he came to China, he had reached a preliminary cooperation intention with communications companies from South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and other countries. They intended to establish a committee appointed by multiple countries to build APCN3.

The reason why he traveled to China was to convince the Chinese side to participate in this project. He wanted to do business with the big three Chinese submarine optical cable companies.

After all, China, the United States, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region had an urgent need for submarine optical cable bandwidth. Azov couldn’t think of a reason why China might refuse to cooperate.

Right now, all he had to focus on was how to skillfully use the art of negotiation. He had to use cable termination stations and communication requirements as leverage. This was so that the Chinese customers would pay more for the usage of submarine optical cables.

The negotiations were going smoothly.

As far as communications companies were concerned, submarine optical cables were a required need. They did not have many choices. Azov was able to impress CEO Wang without much effort.

Suddenly, a phone began to ring.

CEO Wang looked at the caller ID on his screen and looked apologetic. He did not want to interrupt the meeting, but he had to pick up this call.

“My apologies, I have to take this,” CEO Wang said to the SubCom manager as he stood up from the conference table.

“It’s fine, I’ll wait.”

Azov wasn’t in a hurry. He watched the Chinese man leave the conference room as he took a sip of coffee and waited quietly.

Time slowly passed by.

Azov couldn’t help but feel a little impatient.

He thought the call would end soon, but ten minutes had gone by and nothing was happening.

He was wondering if he should go outside and see what was going on when CEO Wang finally walked into the conference room.

The CEO had a serious look on his face.

This look made Azov feel uneasy.

CEO Wang spoke in an apologetic tone.

“My apologies. Regarding the Asia Pacific Cable No.3 project… We’re not interested.”

Azov’s eyes were wide open, and he nearly jumped out of his chair.

“Wait a second, what do you mean you’re not interested?”

“We’re not interested.” CEO Wang said, “We have no plans to add submarine optical cables for the time being. How about you leave your business card? If we change our minds, we’ll contact you.”

Azov almost vomited.

What do you mean to change your mind?

I even brought the contract!

I came here today to make a deal or at least get a letter of intent!

“I sincerely suggest that you reconsider! Judging by the current growth rate of communication bandwidth demand, the Asia Pacific submarine optical cable No.2 line cannot meet the demands in the Asia-Pacific region!”

CEO Wang nodded toward Azov, but his expression didn’t change.

“Again, we’ll think about it.”

Just like that, the meeting had ended.

Later on, Azov went to talk with China Unicom and China Mobile, the two other communications giants in China, but the answers he got were almost the same.

The meetings were even worse than what happened with China Telecom. The other two companies had no intention of talking with him at all. The meeting ended within five minutes.

His intuition told him that this was all because of the phone call.

However, he had no idea what kind of phone call was so powerful that it could change the entire communications industry?

When Azov came out of the China Mobile headquarters building, he was muddled.

Did NEC or Alcatel-Lucent steal our business?

Doesn’t seem likely.

His only worry right now was how to report this matter to his superiors. He wanted to make the three failed negotiations seem less embarrassing…

Chapter 1193: About Two Generations Ahead

Chapter 1193 About Two Generations Ahead The first day of May.The labor force in China was celebrating a long Labor Day holiday.

On the other hand, a major earthquake happened in the communications industry.

The Asia Pacific Cable No.3 project, which was generally considered a good idea by the industry, was stalled because of the three major communication companies in China refusing to cooperate. Since this order worth tens of billions of yuan could not be fulfilled, SubCom’s stock price began to drop.

No one understood why the three major Chinese communications companies did such a thing.

In fact, most of the employees at the communications companies did not know either…

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou was sitting in his office. He meticulously drew something on a piece of paper.

Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.

Lu Zhou stopped writing and put the unfinished drawings into the drawer. He looked at the door and spoke.

“It’s unlocked, come in.”

When the door opened, a unique face appeared at his door.

“Academician Lu, you’re still working hard I see.” Wang Zhengfei said with a smile as he walked into the office, “Aren’t you going to take a break?”

“When I’m not busy, every day is a break. When I am busy, I can’t afford to take breaks.” Lu Zhou looked at Wang Zhengfei, who was sitting down on the office sofa, and said, “Aren’t you the same?”

Wang Zhengfei waved his hand.

“Me? I enjoy life much more than you. I’m much less stressed than before. I might be able to retire in a few years.”

Compared to the troubles a few years ago, Huawei was in a much better position than before.

From carbon-based chips to HV-1 helmets, to the popularity of the 5G network, Huawei’s strategic plans had proven to be fruitful. They had control of the entire industry chain. Nothing could stop the growth of this semiconductor giant.

Even if Wang Zhengfei stepped down, Huawei could continue to grow steadily. Perhaps after he left, the company could even develop at a faster rate.

Because of this, he had been planning to find a suitable time and retire from the front lines.

If it wasn’t for his respect for Academician Lu, he would have asked his chosen successor to come here today.

“I originally planned on going on a vacation, but I heard from my assistant that you have something to discuss with me, so I immediately took the maglev from Shanghai and rushed over.” Wang Zhengfei poured himself a cup of tea and said with a smile, “You have always been indifferent about business matters, so I wonder what project interests you so greatly.”

Lu Zhou had an apathetic look on his face.

In fact, he still wasn’t interested in business matters. He didn’t want to participate in this project.

However, the president personally appointed him to handle this project, so he had no other choice.

Judging by the envious looks on other people’s faces, Lu Zhou knew that this was not an ordinary task. It would undoubtedly bring him a “sizable” fortune.

In some sense, this was a reward from the state, just like his stocks in East Asia Energy.

As far as the state was concerned, money was just a number. Social development couldn’t be measured solely by dollar signs. Anyone could profit from this, so it was better to give it to someone that deserved it.

Lu Zhou didn’t have any ambitious plans at making money. After all, the patent fees from the quantum computer and quantum communication technology were more than enough. The business of submarine optical cables wasn’t attractive to him.

Thus, he thought of a compromise, which was to work with other people.

This way, he could delegate the troublesome tasks to other people.

He could also avoid being accused of taking all of the profits for himself.

After all, this was a Trans-Pacific submarine optical cable. This was going to be the lifeblood of the future global information network.

It was too dangerous for one man to have this kind of power…

“CEO Wang, are you interested in the submarine optical cable project?”

“Submarine optical cable?”

Wang Zhengfei paused for a second. He was a little confused.

However, he quickly realized there was something more to this statement. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked curiously, “Is there something more to this?”

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and spoke.

“We plan on building a submarine optical cable.”

Wang Zhengfei frowned.

“I thought it wasn’t going to be built?”

“Not exactly.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Precisely speaking, we’re not going to build the old cable, we’re going to build a more advanced one.”

Wang Zhengfei rubbed his chin and spoke.

“I don’t get what you’re trying to say… Can you be more direct? What do you want us to do?”

Lu Zhou had a headache. He didn’t know how he should explain this.

However, he suddenly had a realization.

Wait a second, why do I have to ask him like it’s a favor?

This is free money!

I’m the one giving him an amazing business opportunity.

Lu Zhou couldn’t be bothered to explain everything, so he spoke straightforwardly.

“In recent years, our country has launched a strategy of developing into a marine economic powerhouse. Strengthening and developing the submarine optical cable industry plays a pivotal role.”

Wang Zhengfei: “???”

Lu Zhou ignored the muddled face on the old man and continued, “However, due to the high technical threshold of the industry and the capital investment requirements, the current global submarine cable market is basically monopolized by three companies—United States’ SubCom, Japan’s NEC, and Europe’s Alcatel-Lucent. There are only a few domestic companies that are competitive in this industry. If the trend continues, it will be difficult for us to gain an advantage in the information technology field.

“Therefore, the Communist Party of China wants outstanding private companies like us to set an example—”

“I get it.” Wang Zhengfei interrupted Lu Zhou and said, “How much will it cost?”

When Lu Zhou looked at the nervous old man, he was stunned.

His intuition told him that the old man had misinterpreted his words. However, for some reason, he didn’t want to clarify himself…

Lu Zhou decided to improvise.

“The budget hasn’t been created yet. Basically, the Communist Party of China wants us to spend our own money and integrate small domestic companies into the submarine optical cable business and build a submarine optical cable from the east coast of China to the west coast of the United States.”

Lu Zhou thought that it would be difficult to convince Wang Zhengfei to hop on board without revealing the quantum technology.

However, surprisingly, Wang Zhengfei waved his hand and spoke without hesitation.

“Don’t worry, money is not a problem! Is there anything else?”

Yep, this guy…

Has definitely misunderstood me.

“Um, one more thing… I’m sure you know a lot of excellent entrepreneurs. The more people involved, the less each person has to pay.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this, I’ll contact other companies!”

Seeing how enthusiastic Wang Zhengfei was, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but want to laugh.

I’m making these people rich, but it feels like… I’m deceiving them.

But I can’t say anything about quantum computers for now.

Quantum communications was another story. It might be made public in a few days, but that wasn’t a big deal, since most people did not know about quantum computers, and even fewer people knew about the serious network information security challenges.

Basically, if there was no threat of quantum computers, there was no need for quantum communication.

Even though Lu Zhou couldn’t explain anything, he tried to comfort Wang Zhengfei.

“Don’t worry, this project will be a huge success. The technology and initiative are in our hands, and I can guarantee this is a stable business.”

Wang Zhengfei smiled, clearly not taking Lu Zhou seriously.

He didn’t mind losing a bit of money. He had made so much money that he was fine with contributing to the country.

He was more worried about whether they could actually build an optical cable across the Pacific Ocean.

Huawei had tried to enter the submarine optical cable industry before, so he knew how much this could cost.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sold off Huawei’s submarine optical cable business a few years ago.

“Can you give me some details…? What’s your level of confidence?”

Lu Zhou raised two fingers.

Wang Zhengfei had a solemn look.

“Only 20%?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“No, I mean in terms of the technology…

“We’re approximately two generations ahead.”

The office went quiet…

Chapter 1194: An Ulterior Motive

1194 An Ulterior Motive After the labor day holiday, a major event happened in the communications industry.

A news story about a major breakthrough in quantum communication technology from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study suddenly appeared on the internet, instantly creating a ton of discussion.

A while ago, the Institute of Information Engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced their research progress on quantum computers. Less than two months later, there was news about quantum communication technology.

However, unlike the quantum computer announcement, this time the announcement was from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

As the holy temple of the Chinese academic community, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study held a special place in most people’s hearts.

People connected this with SubCom’s failure in the No.3 Asia-Pacific submarine cable project a while ago. They began to speculate that China intended to implement the latest quantum communication technology in this new submarine cable.

Although many professionals laughed at this notion, it didn’t take long for these doubtful professionals to be proven wrong.

First was the establishment of the “Trans-Pacific Submarine Cable Management Committee” in Shanghai. Then, there was an announcement of the list of participating countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

After that, the Trans-Pacific Submarine Cable Management Committee launched a bidding war and announced the bidding requirements for the Trans-Pacific Submarine Cable Project. The requirements clearly stated that in order to ensure information security, the submarine optical cable would use the latest quantum communication technology. Major submarine cable companies were welcomed to bid and compete with one another.

Both Japan’s NEC and SubCom from the United States were dumbfounded.

A trans-pacific quantum optical cable?

How is that possible?

…

Across the Pacific Ocean, inside the White House.

The president sat behind his desk with a frown on his face. He looked at the FBI Director Michael Bled, who was walking toward his desk, and spoke in a tired tone.

“How is the investigation going?”

More than two hundred spies and their missions were wiped out by the Chinese Ministry of State Security.

Not only did this destroy their intelligence work, but it also ruined their international reputation. They were in an awkward diplomatic state.

Not to mention that the United States was known for condemning other countries for stealing national secrets, making them appear hypocritical.

Espionage was often viewed as an extremely disgraceful act by the public, despite the CIA’s overseas operations being an open secret.

The White House denied everything and stated that it had no knowledge of the matter. However, when they were faced with ironclad evidence, their persistent denial was of no use.

Since this matter was so serious, it could not be fixed just by replacing the CIA director. They had to fix this problem from the source.

For example, if there was a traitor inside the CIA, they had to find them.

Over the past month, the entire CIA was under investigation by the FBI, and the investigation report had finally come out…

“Even though I’m convinced that those CIA bastards have betrayed us, the direct and indirect investigation points to the innocence of the suspected officials…”

Director Bled looked at the president and spoke.

“We are not exonerating the CIA. In fact, I would like to send them all to prison. However, all of the evidence shows that this incident is probably not because of an insider.”

President: “Then why are you telling me this?!”

“Because this might be a more serious problem than we had thought.” Director Bled continued with a solemn expression, “According to our intelligence department’s analysis, China might have a wide-spread security monitoring device that can gather our information in a way that is undetectable.”

After hearing this absurd explanation, the president sitting behind his desk spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“So you’re saying they’re reading our minds?”

“I’m not joking around here.” Director Bled said seriously, “I suggest setting up a special investigation team to investigate this matter. In order to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again, we have to give this team a high-level of decision-making power and let them use any force necessary. We have to keep this confidential until the truth is found out. No one can know their identities except themselves… This includes me and you.”

The president squinted and spoke in an unhappy tone.

“You think I’m the one who colluded with the Chinese?”

“No, I don’t.” Director Bled said, “But we have to do this to ensure the safety of our team.”

Suddenly, they heard footsteps sound from outside the office.

Director Bled was about to say something, but he immediately shut his mouth.

“Mr. President.” The Secretary of State walked in and glanced at Director Bled. He said, “I have something important to report to you. But… if your conversation with Mr. Bled is not over yet, I can wait outside.”

“No need.” The president looked at Director Bled and said, “We’ll do what you said.”

Director Bled finally sighed in relief and nodded.

“Okay.”

After that, he left the president’s office and closed the door behind him.

After Director Bled left, the Secretary of State raised his eyebrows and asked the president curiously, “Is this about the insider in the CIA? Did we catch them?”

“Not yet.” The President asked in a bad mood, “What are you here for?”

“The Chinese Embassy came to visit me just now.”

When the president heard the word China, he instantly felt a headache.

“Another protest?”

“Not this time…” The Secretary of State had a subtle expression on his face as he said, “They didn’t mention the spies at all this time. Instead, they made an unrelated proposal.”

“What proposal?”

“In order to deal with the weakening network information security field, they proposed to establish a professional task force composed of experts from multiple countries to update the international standard encryption algorithms.”

“Update the encryption algorithm? What do you mean?” The president frowned and asked confusingly, “What’s wrong with the current encryption algorithm?”

The Secretary of State: “Nothing’s wrong, at least as far as I know. Up until this point, the RAS algorithm is still the most reliable encryption algorithm. I have consulted with cryptography experts at the Argonne National Laboratory. However, the problem is that they are claiming that the RAS encryption algorithm has major security risks, also…”

After a pause, the Secretary of State continued, “I heard that China is currently planning to implement optical quantum technology to build a new Trans-Pacific quantum submarine optical cable as an addition to the original submarine optical cable. They proposed that they can take on the cost of the project, but we need to cooperate with them…”

“A quantum submarine optical cable?”

The president had a playful look on his face.

He had heard about this technology before. Apparently, it used the principles of quantum mechanics and was impenetrable.

Strictly speaking, this was not a new concept. Someone already proposed this concept in the 20th century. However, because the technology was too difficult, no substantial progress had been made.

Regardless of whether or not the Chinese had really mastered this technology, and regardless of how secure this technology was, from a political standpoint, there was no way he would cooperate with the Chinese.

Nine of the 13 root name servers were in their hands. This showed that even though the Internet was technically owned by all of mankind, it was actually based in the United States.

They were the only ones qualified to define the standards of the Internet.

This included what kind of algorithm that was used to encrypt each byte of data and what form they were transmitted in.

Basically, they had nothing to gain from sacrificing their own powers and cooperating with China.

If this were a traditional submarine fiber optic cable, they only had to send a nuclear submarine to cut open a section of the submarine fiber optic cable shell with a robotic arm, then they could eavesdrop on all of the data passing through the fiber optic cable.

In fact, this was what they had been doing. One time, a dumb*ss accidentally broke the cable, creating a huge international story.

Now China wanted to build quantum optical submarine cables, was it in fear of being spied on?

No wonder they were talking about quantum computers a while ago…

This is what they are hinting at.

The president had a moment of realization.

He had connected all of the clues, all of the dots.

He knew that anything that seemed suspicious, was suspicious. Especially when it came to the Chinese.

“Tell them that they themselves are a threat to the global information security network. If they really cared about network information security, they should stop their PLA hackers from stealing our national secrets and technology!

“As for the quantum submarine optical cable… The White House is not involved in private commercial activities, but tell them that we doubt that this new technology can undertake such a critical and important task. Unless they can prove that the technology is reliable enough, we will not allow it on American soil.”

Secretary of State: “So what you’re saying is… We refuse?”

“Of course.” The president said, “I can see right through their plays.”

Chapter 1195: Real Intentions

Chapter 1195 Real Intentions CEO Wang was quite an efficient individual.The day after he met Lu Zhou, he contacted all of the people in his network who met the criteria of being “excellent entrepreneurs” and fooled them into “investing”.

Just like that, with one person invested 100 million yuan while someone else invested 200 million yuan, 10 billion yuan of cash appeared out of nowhere, shocking Lu Zhou.

Originally, Lu Zhou’s plan was to raise around 5 billion yuan. He would then find a bank, take out a 5 billion yuan loan, and issue a few billion in corporate bonds. In the end, he would have 12 billion or so.

But now, there was no need to issue any corporate bonds. He just had to take out a 2 billion dollar loan from a bank, and he would have collected all of the project funding.

Just like that, a company named East Asia Communications with a cash capital of more than 10 billion yuan and countless companies behind it was quietly established in Shanghai.

If they continued to keep a low profile, maybe no one would ever notice this company.

However, shortly after the establishment of the company, an earth-shattering event happened.

The Asia-Pacific submarine optical cable project was stagnated, causing the entire industry to fall into a downturn. A no-name company came out of nowhere and spent 5 billion yuan to acquire almost 80% of the domestic submarine optical cable companies.

Not only did this alarm the China Securities Regulatory Commission, but even the National Development and Reform Commission caught wind of this news.

However, because they had already mapped out the legal work, this did not impact the successful acquisition of the dozen or so companies by East Asia Communications.

In order to compete with the dominant foreign monopoly giants, it was necessary for the domestic industry to also form their own monopoly; the state was aware of this tactic.

Not to mention that the state also owned part of the shares in East Asia Communications.

This was because the communications industry was a sensitive field.

The emergence of East Asia Communications had stirred up the submarine cable market industry.

Japan’s NEC, Europe’s Alcatel-Lucent, and America’s SubCom all felt pressure from this move.

In fact, East Asia Energy was far behind them in terms of power and technology. They were industry pioneers who had been leading the way for more than half a century.

But who could tell what could happen in the future?

Also, China had a reputation for quickly dominating any industry they set their eyes on.

This was what made the competitors of East Asia Communications so worried…

…

East Asia Energy was buying out the domestic submarine optical cable business in a high-profile manner, aggressively entering the international market. On the other hand, the work on changing the national encryption algorithm and the promotion of the international encryption algorithm standards were also progressing at a steady rate, thanks to the support from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

However, the latter task was a rocky ship compared to the smooth sailing that was the former task.

Shortly after the U.S representative was absent from the Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit held in Beijing, the Pines Lab at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published a research report, claiming that the QN2000 quantum encryption algorithm China was presenting at the summit might contain major security risks. They recommended the financial industry to use it with caution.

Although it was just a warning, it still caused quite a stir in the industry.

After all, the Pines Lab was a well-known laboratory, started by Alex Pines, the founder of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance technology.

The research scope of Pines Lab covered many fields such as quantum information science, quantum computing, chemistry, structural biology, and medicine. It was one of the leaders in multiple research areas; one of them being quantum encryption algorithms.

Therefore, people took this warning seriously.

“It seems like the Americans don’t want to secure their own safes.” Academician Gao Junwen put down the newspaper in his hand and crossed his legs as he said, “And not only are they leaving their own safes unsecured, they want other people’s safes to be unsecured as well.”

Ever since he returned from his Jinling trip, he finally understood the worries of his old friend Academician Xue Jinhui. He finally knew why the senior management was making these decisions.

If the computing power of a quantum computer could really reach more than 500 qubits…

If this kind of computing power were brought to the market without any preparation, it would seriously threaten the world’s financial and communications security. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that current encryption algorithms would be powerless when faced with a 500 qubit quantum computer.

“If they refuse, so what?” Academician Xue squinted his eyes and smiled. He casually took a sip of tea and said, “We have kindly reminded them. If they don’t appreciate us, then it’s not our fault.”

A stable international market environment was beneficial for the development of China. From China’s own interests and a moral standpoint, China hoped that the United States would adopt a more secure encryption algorithm.

However…

If the White House insisted on resisting, China had no obligation to beg them.

On the other hand, if the United States wanted to stay unsecured, then the Chinese side would have to prepare for the possible risks…

This was especially true for China’s Central bank.

“You’re correct, but this is obviously not just about encryption algorithms. They probably won’t let us put our submarine optical cable on their soil either.”

Academician Xue smiled at his old friend.

“The Pacific Ocean is huge. The East Coast is more than just the United States. If they don’t want to let our quantum optical cable on their soil, then we should give this opportunity to other countries.”

Academician Gao Junwen had a surprised look on his face.

“You mean… bypass the United States? But—”

Academician Xue smiled and said, “Then there’s no reason to install the cable in the first place?”

Academician Gao nodded.

Even though there were cooperation conflicts, China obviously didn’t want to give up the North American market.

Not to mention that the center of the Internet was in America. If this optical cable wasn’t connected to North America, it would be worthless. It was impossible to install a submarine optical fiber cable on the shorelines of small Central American and South American countries.

Academician Xue smiled and shook his head.

“You have to look at the big picture. Quantum computers are only at 500 qubits, what about the future? They’ll have to make a decision between security and pride, also…”

He leaned on the armrests and stood up.

Academician Xue walked over to the world map hanging on the office wall. He reached out and picked up a red pen, then drew a line along the trajectory of the Tropic of Cancer.

This line began from Shanghai, going straight to Central America, passed through the Panama Canal, crossed through the Atlantic Ocean, then through the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and finally ran through the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca, back to East Asia.

Academician Gao looked at this line on the map and looked shocked.

He was even more shocked than when he was at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After Academician Xue put the pen back on the table, he spoke.

“This is…”

Academician Xue looked at his old friend and spoke.

“You’re shocked?”

Academician Gao nodded honestly.

“… Quite so.”

Academician Xue smiled and looked outside the window as he spoke with a nostalgic look in his eyes.

“Before this, I had a long conversation with Academician Lu. We agreed that whether it was the quantum encryption algorithm or a traditional encryption algorithm, any asymmetric encryption algorithm always has limitations. Encryption algorithms are only useful when we have a limited amount of computing power. But as information technology continues to develop and computing power continues to increase, especially after we enter the quantum age, encryption algorithms are not so useful anymore.”

“It is often more difficult to find a solvable problem than to solve the problem itself. What we need today is an NP problem, and tomorrow, we’ll need an n^2P problem. If things continue to develop this way, one day we will not be able to fill this gap.

“Unbreakable secure communication is the only solution. This is the only communication method that can meet the exponential increase in computing power and the needs of future communication.

“We’re not choosing the future, the future is choosing us.

“The attitude against change is not necessarily a bad thing for us.”

The Trans-Pacific submarine cable was only the beginning. Central America was just a launching point. East Asia Energy’s submarine optical cable was going to go in all directions of the world; this was China’s national information technology plan.

Once this blueprint came to life, there wouldn’t only be the Trans-Pacific Optical Cable Management Committee, but there would also be a Trans-Atlantic, Trans-Mediterranean, and Trans-Indian committees…

Or perhaps they would set up a global submarine optical cable management committee.

That was their final goal…

Chapter 1196: 524 Qubits!

Chapter 1196 524 Qubits! If China wanted to universalize their fiber optic cable and redefine themselves as the central node of the Internet, not only would they need advanced communication technology, but they would also need political and geographical power.Fortunately, the miniaturization of controllable nuclear fusion technology from a few years ago provided a solid foundation. The expansion of cross-regional power grids in Southeast Asia convinced the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to jump on the “unbreakable optical cable bandwagon”.

Of course, even though China had established a foundation for advancing their global optical cable system, the road ahead was by no means smooth.

Due to the refusal of cooperation from the United States, the submarine optical fiber cable project that was originally scheduled to start from Shanghai and end in Los Angeles was forced to change its laying route. Panama City was going to replace Los Angeles and become the Trans-Pacific hub of America’s global submarine optical cable.

Despite the decision to bypass the North American territorial waters, the bandwidth of the new submarine optical cable was still held up to the Asia-Pacific No.2 submarine optical cable standards.

Obviously, the Trans-Pacific Submarine Optical Cable Committee was not going to “abandon” the United States.

Even if they didn’t want to jump on the hype train, China still reserved them seats on the bandwagon.

However, the longer they waited, the more they would have to pay to get on the bandwagon…

…

During the week after the announcement of the bidding wars.

Only one bid was sent to the Trans-Pacific Submarine Optical Cable Committee.

There was hardly any suspense. East Asia Communications defeated their non-existent competitors and easily won the bidding wars.

SubCom, who was pushing hard for the No.3 Asia-Pacific submarine optical cable project, began to raise some doubts. During a public interview with CNN, their CEO Markati publicly stated in an interview that he believed the bidding war was rigged and declared that quantum communication was just a cover for the scheme.

“… I admit that the current network information security industry is facing serious challenges, but it is far from the extent that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is claiming.

“Yes, in theory, quantum communication technology can achieve unbreakable confidentiality. Combining quantum communication channels with traditional channels can also increase transmission speed. So why am I doubting this?

“There are so many ways to ensure the security of communication in this world, yet they chose the most troublesome and costly option. Regardless of whether they really have a working quantum repeater, which by the way, has troubled top research institutions all over the world, even if they did, I don’t think this is the right decision.”

After listening carefully to Markati’s words, the host asked, “Then why do you think the Chinese are doing this?”

“This is a kind of political play.”

Markati spoke in a serious tone.

“They create panic, spread panic, and use the panic to achieve their ulterior goals, such as… establishing a network that only serves them, putting limitations on other countries.”

Host: “This sounds familiar.”

“Yeah, this is almost like an act of terrorism!” Markati angrily slapped his knees. He quickly realized his behavior was out of line, so he said, “Sorry, cut that off the tape.”

“Sure, Mr. Markati.” The host nodded to the studio cameraman. He then looked at Markati and asked with a smile, “Other than limiting other countries and gaining control of the Internet… Are there any other reasons?”

Markati spoke without hesitation.

“Of course there are. Those are long-term goals. The most critical role of this submarine optical cable is to set a false threshold for competition in the submarine optical cable market, to make other communication companies and taxpayers in other countries pay for an undeveloped technology!”

The CNN interview caused a huge response on the Internet.

Especially in the industry.

Almost no one was optimistic about this submarine optical cable that was going to be built by China. No one believed in the quantum communication technology from East Asia Communications.

This was understandable. After all, more than 90% of the market share was in the hands of SubCom, NEC, and Alcatel-Lucent. The vast majority of scholars and research institutions in this field were more or less receiving funding from these three companies.

There was no reason for any research institute to be on the side of East Asia Communications.

Not to mention that the quantum optical cable technology from East Asia Communications could make them lose their jobs…

However, even though most people were not optimistic about the quantum communication technology from East Asia Communications, this pessimism did not impact the progression of the Trans-Pacific optical cable project.

In fact, other than a few US allies, most countries in the Asia-Pacific region had no opinion on this issue. Since China was willing to pay the bill, they were more than happy to use this new communication method.

As for confidentiality…

To be honest, these small countries had no secrets that were worthy of keeping.

Countries involved in the fusion power grids had a more unique stance on this matter. Since China expressed their willingness to bear most of the optical cable laying costs, communications companies in Southeast Asia didn’t even hesitate before jumping on the bandwagon.

After all, it was easier to make a deal with old customers than to recruit new customers.

Especially since they had already enjoyed the benefits of technological dividends from China’s controllable fusion power, they had no reason to refuse.

If China wanted to help them upgrade their communications industry…

Then why not.

It was much less troublesome than developing the technology themselves.

No one paid any attention to SubCom’s complaints, and everything was proceeding as scheduled.

Even if an official North American research institute continued to publish reports questioning the safety and reliability of this communication method, it would not have any impact on the entire project.

On the other hand, after more than a month of adjustments, the quantum encryption algorithm developed by the Jinling Institute for Advanced study had finally modified the RAS algorithm, which was common in the financial and communications industries.

The upgraded encryption algorithm would be able to resist a brute-force cracking of a 2,000-qubit quantum computer. It was theoretically the most advanced encryption algorithm in the world.

Seeing how China was fully invested in this algorithm, other countries that were still on the fence, as well as international financial institutions, had finally begun to jump on the bandwagon.

After all, if this algorithm had serious security risks, China would never promote it as a nationwide encryption algorithm. Any mistake in this area would have serious consequences. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it could cause an economic crisis…

The 20th Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was about to be held soon. It was expected that China would present this algorithm at the summit. Research institutions in various countries were beginning to take this seriously, and they began to research if this algorithm could actually withstand an attack from a 2,000-qubit computer…

Time quickly passed by.

Finally, the day before the 20th Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit.

Representatives from Asia-Pacific countries were preparing to fly to Shanghai for the summit. On the other hand, a major event happened in the semiconductor industry.

Everything came so suddenly…

The main issue of “Future” suddenly published a summary paper. This paper presented the latest research results from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study—a 524-qubit supercomputer based on carbon-based processor technology.

The author of the paper was…

Lu Zhou.

The second this Future paper was published…

The entire world went crazy!

Chapter 1197: Information Revolution!

1197 Information Revolution! The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Professor Arik looked at the journal in his hand and looked disappointed.

Finally, he couldn’t help it anymore, and he spoke angrily.

“This is absolute nonsense!

“A quantum computer with 524 qubits… How is that possible!”

He was a professor of physics and quantum information engineering at the University of Southern California as well as a distinguished researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He was also a consultant for Google’s “D-Wave” project. No one knew about quantum computers better than him.

Even the famous quantum annealing algorithm was developed by him.

Even though the academic community had disputes over whether the quantum annealing algorithm could be called quantum computing at all since no one had found evidence of “quantum acceleration”, it was still undeniable that D-Wave 2X held the highest qubit record.

Google and NASA were working on the development of D-Wave 3X, a computer operating in an ultra-low temperature environment, which would redefine the world’s understanding of quantum computer technology.

However, even then, their goal for the D-Wave 3X was only 100 qubits.

But now, someone had actually claimed that they had developed a quantum computer with 524 qubits and published this in the form of a paper in a world-class journal.

He felt like his IQ was being insulted, so he was furious at these irresponsible papers.

A false paper reduced the industry’s confidence in the new technology. Not only could this irresponsible research destroy the reputations of the scholars involved in the research field, but also the entire industry.

Also, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened!

The last time was from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It seemed like recently, there had been plenty of breakthroughs in quantum computer technology on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Dr. Cecil looked at the angry Professor Arik. He hesitated for a bit before saying, “But… the author of this paper seems to be Professor Lu.”

“So what?

“Future used to publish some interesting research. I naively thought that they might become the third largest journal in the world and bring some changes to the academic community. It seems like I had overestimated them…”

Professor Arik had a disappointing look on his face.

Finally, he threw the journal in his hand into the trash can.

“In the end, they became a propaganda tool for the Chinese government.”

Dr. Cecil looked at Professor Arik and didn’t know what to say.

In fact, he had a similar viewpoint as Professor Arik.

Without the existence of quantum memory technology, he could not imagine a quantum computer ever reaching more than 100 qubits, let alone 524 qubits.

The technical difficulty in increasing the number of qubits grew exponentially!

However, even though he didn’t believe the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study would be so ahead on this technology, he also didn’t believe that Lu Zhou would lie…

“Actually, you shouldn’t be so angry.”

“How can I not be angry!” Professor Arik said angrily, “They are destroying the trust of the industry in quantum computing technology! What they are ruining is the future of those who do real research!”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, the trust of the industry is not so fragile.” Dr. Cecil casually said, “NASA has already invested one billion dollars in the D-Wave 3X project, with additional investments coming soon. Immersive VR technology is about to enter the North American market, and Google is saying that quantum computing technology is inevitable.”

Professor Arik sighed and shook his head.

“I’m jealous of how optimistic you are.”

Cecil smiled bitterly.

Optimistic?

Is that true?

You’re the one being dyspeptic!

…

The news of the quantum computer technology breakthrough set off an earthquake in the semiconductor industry.

A 524-qubit computer…

This was almost more qubits than all other quantum research computers combined.

If this paper were published somewhere else, it would not be a big deal. Most people in the industry would just smile and ignore it. However, this paper happened to be published in the world-class journal Future.

Not just that, but the corresponding author of the paper was Professor Lu.

Because of the combination of these two factors, even though this paper seemed ridiculous, it was impossible for the public to turn a blind eye.

The impact quickly spread from the semiconductor industry to other areas.

Almost all industries related to the Internet were evaluating the positive and negative impacts of this technological breakthrough. Almost everyone wanted to know if this was a joke or not…

The day before the 20th Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit.

A five-star hotel near the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Hansa Clerek was sitting by the window of the executive lounge. As he watched the news on his tablet, he had a worried look on his face.

The International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2) was the world’s largest network, information, software, and infrastructure security non-profit organization. It had the important responsibility of maintaining the world’s internet security.

And he was the chairman of ISC2 and one of the organizers of this cyber information security summit.

This news about quantum computer technology completely exceeded his expectations and totally disrupted his original plan. If the 524-qubit quantum computer was a reality, then China’s initiative to promote quantum encryption algorithms had to be taken seriously.

Mr. Rupert, who was sitting across from him, was the Secretary-General of the ISC2, and he had a solemn look on his face.

Ten minutes ago, he called an information engineering expert friend of his and asked his opinion on the news. Rupert didn’t care whether this was fake news from the Chinese or not; he only cared about the technical point of view.

If a 524-qubit computer did exist, then the damage it could do to current international standard encryption algorithms would be devastating.

Before the implementation of more reliable encryption algorithms, all industries that relied on information technology, such as the financial and manufacturing industry, would no longer have any secrets…

“The timing of this paper’s publication is special. The hype about this paper by the Chinese media also makes people wonder if there are any special motivations behind it.”

Clerek didn’t look up. He continued to stare at the tablet in his hand as he spoke.

“What do you think?”

Rupert looked at the dim lights outside the window. He lightly tapped his finger on the table and spoke after thinking for a moment.

“There are two possibilities. Either the Chinese are building momentum for the Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit, or this is real.”

“Which scenario is more likely?”

“The latter.”

Chairman Clerek raised his eyebrows.

“Oh really?”

Knowing that the chairman would ask his reasoning behind this, Rupert spoke.

“The reason is simple. The corresponding author of this paper is Professor Lu.”

“This is the reason?”

Director Clerek smiled lightly. Although he still had a solemn expression on his face, he spoke in a slightly mocking tone.

“Since there’s a possibility of the Chinese government being involved in this, Professor Lu’s signature does not mean anything. He comes from a country that pursues collectivism. He might say something against his will for the benefit of China.”

Rupert: “Has this kind of thing happened before?”

Chairman Clerek continued to stare at his tablet as he spoke.

“No… But doesn’t mean there won’t be a first.”

Rupert spoke.

“Then how confident are we?”

Clerek went silent.

Yeah…

This is the problem.

We’re not confident enough to bet on this being fake news.

Information security was essential for the global economy, military, and even politics. When it was about information security, one should always consider the “worst-case”.

Suddenly, the phone in Rupert’s pocket began to ring.

“I have to take this call.”

Rupert began to stand up as Chairman Clerek gestured to him to take the call.

Rupert walked as he took his phone out of his pocket and picked up the call.

Clerek was still sitting in his chair nearby. He was watching the expression on the Secretary General’s face.

In fact, Clerek’s observations were rewarded.

Time slowly passed by as Secretary-General Rupert gradually had a more and more serious look on his face.

Finally, the phone call ended.

Rupert put his phone back into his pocket and returned to the table. Rupert took a deep breath. He had a serious look of concern on his face.

Before Clerek even spoke, he spoke first.

“Bad news.

“I think… we don’t have to guess whether or not this is fake news from the Chinese.”

Chairman Clark was stunned. He frowned and spoke.

“What happened?”

“My old friend in information engineering, the person I previously consulted with on quantum computer technology…” Rupert continued after a pause, “He just called me.

“Star Sky Technology plans to build a supercomputing center in Shanghai to provide computing power for their virtual reality network in East China. According to their official website, the processor used in this supercomputing center…”

Rupert gulped and said, “Contains true quantum computing technology.”

Chapter 1198: Star Voyage One

Chapter 1198 Star Voyage One Star Sky Technology planned on building a quantum supercomputing center in Shanghai and naming it “Star Voyage One”. This was to provide support for the cloud computing virtual reality network in the entire East China region.The second the news came out, it immediately caused a huge sensation.

Ever since the beginning of the century, there had been countless quantum computer breakthroughs. However, all of them were contained inside the laboratory.

But this time, not only did the number of qubits increase by an order of magnitude, but they were also going to bring the computer outside of the laboratory.

If everything went according to plan, Star Voyage One would become China’s first commercialized quantum computer!

Also the world’s first commercialized quantum computer!

[Jesus! The encryption algorithms in the financial system are basically all using RSA! For a quantum computer, finding the factor of large prime numbers is almost as easy as finding an addition. The banks are going to go bankrupt!]

[So if I take out a loan now, I don’t have to pay it back?]

[Stop talking nonsense. Our country has already implemented quantum encryption algorithms as a replacement for traditional encryption algorithms. Quantum optical fibers will soon become the norm. Unbreakable security network coverage will soon be available. When the time comes, even an alien computer won’t be able to hack our network!]

[In other words, the safest banks in the world right now are the Chinese banks?]

[Depends on how you phrase this problem. The current quantum encryption algorithm can still defend against cyberattacks launched by quantum computers below 2,000 qubits. Not to mention that the quantum computer is in our hands. What are you worried about? Professor Lu hacking your bank account?]

[Am I the only one who worries about the cloud computing service for quantum computation? What if it is used by criminals?]

[I don’t know, but I think the relevant department is going to supervise them. For example, they will limit how much computing power can be used by individuals and companies.]

The phrases “Star Voyage One” and “the world’s first quantum computer” began to appear on the trending list for major media platforms. Even though this technology was far away from impacting most people’s lives, this didn’t stop people from fantasizing about the future.

Not to mention that this was the world’s first and only commercialized quantum computer!

Combining this with quantum communication technology, China once again was leading the world in quantum technology.

Countless researchers in the field of information engineering and people that paid attention to the high-tech field felt proud because of this.

However, in contrast to this, while the discussions on quantum computers on the internet became heated, various rumors began to spread in midst of the heated debates.

The threat of quantum computer technology to the financial industry was exaggerated by many social media accounts.

Many people talked about going to their banks and withdrawing all of their money. Some people claimed that their passwords would soon become useless, and they should take out a huge loan before the collapse of the financial system.

Fortunately, prior to the introduction of quantum computer technology to the market, the relevant state departments had made preparations. By cooperating with mainstream media, the state was able to restrict the baseless rumors. They also issued new laws and regulations regarding information technology. They successfully killed the rumors before it grew.

The CTV also arranged a special pop-science program and invited Academician Xue Jinhui, an expert in the fields of cryptography and information engineering. Academician Xue Jinhui recorded an exclusive interview for the “Star Voyage One”; the interview would be broadcast during prime television time.

Inside the CTV studio.

The host was sitting on the sofa and was opposite Academician Xue. The host smiled and said, “Thank you for coming to our studio today. I would like to ask a question for our audience. What does a supercomputer with 524 qubits mean for our country? What does it mean for us personally? In other words… how will it affect our lives?”

“Those are interesting questions.” Academician Xue smiled and said in a kind tone, “It might be difficult to understand qubits without the specific domain knowledge. I will try to explain it in simple terms.”

Host: “Academician Xue, please go ahead.”

Academician Xue nodded and said with a smile, “Generally speaking, our computers use 0 and 1 to represent the opening and closing of logic circuit gates. We usually say that traditional computers can represent two states. We build integrated circuits by continuously stacking logic circuit gates, increasing the computing power to 2n. This number n can be 10 or one trillion, but no matter how large it is, it will only linearly increase our computing power.”

The host nodded seriously and continued to ask, “Then, what about quantum computers?”

“Quantum computers are much different.” Academician Xue smiled and continued, “In theory, a quantum logic circuit gate can represent 2^n states! If n is equal to 50, that is one quadrillion states! How large is one quadrillion? Our country’s first quadrillion-state supercomputer is the Tianhe-1, and it can only reach this level of computation power under peak conditions. Hence, any quantum computer with more than 50 qubits is more powerful than the Tianhe-1!”

This statement was actually inaccurate. After all, the performance of a supercomputer was not only about the hardware itself, but also a series of other factors such as the architecture and operating system. A faster processing speed didn’t mean better performance, especially when unoptimized.

A 50-qubit quantum computer would have to be heavily optimized before it could surpass the Tianhe-1.

However, there was one thing that remained true.

Which was that the computing power of quantum computers increased at an exponential speed.

So what did 524 qubits mean?

This meant 2^524 states!

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that as long as the quantum supercomputer’s architecture, operating system, and a series of other conditions were met, it could easily defeat all of the other supercomputers combined!

After listening to Academician Xue’s explanation, the host looked shocked.

50 qubits can defeat the Tianhe-1.

So how many Tianhe-1s are needed to make 524 qubits?

2^474 Tianhe-1?

That is ridiculous?!

The interview was still going on.

There was one more important thing Academician Xue had yet to answer.

The host gulped and tried to calm down. He continued to ask, “What do you think about the rumors circulating on the Internet that quantum computers might make our bank account passwords unsecured?”

After hearing this question, Academician Xue went silent for a while before sighing and speaking.

“Academician Lu is one of the most talented scholars I have ever met, and one of the most responsible people I know. Even though his views and behaviors in the academic field might be a little extreme, we can trust him on this.”

The host nodded and spoke with a smile.

“Of course I trust our Academician Lu. I believe that the vast majority of people sitting in front of their TVs right now also trust and believe in him.”

Academician Xue nodded and spoke.

“Back when we made a tiny progress on the research on quantum computers, Academician Lu had already predicted that this technology might have an impact on the information industry. Therefore, before releasing this technology to the public, he developed a quantum encryption algorithm. The unhackable quantum optical cable is also designed to deal with the risks behind this technology.”

The old man had a smile of approval on his face.

“Now that all of the work is finally complete, after implementing a series of countermeasures, we can finally release this technology and let it have a positive impact on our society.

“So, in regard to your question, I can tell you that your worries are completely unnecessary. We have already discovered and removed all of the risks!”

The host looked shocked.

“The quantum encryption algorithm… was developed by Academician Lu?”

Academician Xue said with a smile.

“Of course. Who else besides Academician Lu do you think has this ability?”

A while ago, this matter was still a state secret, and there was less than a handful of people that knew of the algorithm’s existence.

Now that the quantum computer technology and quantum communication technology were revealed, there was no reason to keep the development of the quantum encryption algorithm a secret anymore.

For so long, Academician Xue couldn’t tell this secret to anyone. He felt a wave of relief.

He looked at the surprised host and patted his thigh as he spoke emotionally.

“This breakthrough in quantum computer technology will definitely change our lives; there is no doubt about this!

“Maybe if the changes happen slowly, maybe we won’t have a big reaction, or we might not even feel the changes… However, the development of technology does not wait for us.

“This will definitely bring chaos and anxiety. Technological change affects many people, including myself…”

Academician Xue paused for a moment.

He looked into the camera and spoke in a serious tone.

“But we will do everything we can to reduce the chaos and keep its impact to a minimum.

“This is our responsibility to society as scholars.”

Chapter 1199: The End of Cryptocurrency

1199 The End of Cryptocurrency Because the encryption algorithms had already been updated ahead of time, the new commercial quantum computer technology would not impact the Chinese information security industry.

There was a small amount of chaos and panic at the beginning, as well as some old men and old ladies who went to their banks. But other than that, there wasn’t any substantial impact.

However, other countries were not so lucky compared to the calm scenery on the Chinese side.

On a P2P Foundation forum.

This was the world’s most well-known blockchain community, and nerds proficient in cryptography and regular civilians were discussing this matter.

An account that had been inactive for many years had suddenly surfaced and participated in the discussion.

[Title: The End of Cryptography.

[Bitcoin is just my attempt at the decentralization of the finance industry. It has been successful for the past fifteen years, but now, it is no longer secure.

[Perhaps we might be able to rely on new tools and new methods to survive, but as for now…

[Goodbye.]

The entire forum went silent after this post came out.

In less than half a minute, the entire forum blew up like a bomb!

If this post were made by someone else, it wouldn’t be a big deal. At most, it would attract a few comments of criticism.

However, the account that created this post wasn’t just any account.

The account owner was indeed the world-famous mathematician and cryptographer, the man who invented Bitcoin…

Satoshi Nakamoto!

…

On the other hand, inside an office at the CME Group, a Jewish man in his fifties put down the newspaper in his hand, looked at his assistant, who was standing across the desk, and said, “Bitcoin is not secure anymore.”

His name was Baruch. As a professional asset manager of the CME Group, he was responsible for managing the credit investment fund for important clients. He was managing more than 50 billion US dollars in his hands.

After he saw the Wall Street Journal’s report on quantum computers, he immediately made a judgment based on his knowledge of quantum computer technology that the price of Bitcoin was inflated.

After thinking for a minute, he said, “Prepare for short selling.”

The assistant nodded and asked in a serious way, “Using what method?”

Baruch thought for a second and said, “Start with a baseline of 100 USD.”

…

Bitcoin was the first “victim” of quantum computer technology.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange was the first to launch bitcoin futures, and they provided a platform for shorting bitcoin. They received tens of billions of dollars in bitcoin short orders in less than a day.

A short selling happened when investors or a group of people believed that the market price of something, such as bitcoin, will fall in the future. They would borrow bitcoin and sell it at the current price. After that, they would re-buy the bitcoin in the future at a lower price and pay back the bitcoin they borrowed.

If their judgment was correct, they could make a profit.

The global market value of bitcoin was only slightly over 100 billion USD, but the billions in short orders were almost equivalent to 10% of the total market value.

Basically, the essence of almost all cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, was a bunch of “special solutions” generated by complex algorithms.

Just like a special solution for a system of equations, each special solution could solve one equation, while each special solution was unique.

Using banknotes as an analogy, a bitcoin was the serial number of a banknote. If someone knew the serial number, they would own the banknote.

The process of bitcoin mining was to constantly try and find special solutions to the system of equations through a huge amount of calculation.

This was a kind of currency based on cryptography. Due to decentralization, it had the hidden advantage of anonymity.

But on the other hand, this kind of virtual asset without any backed guarantee would be shredded to pieces in the face of a quantum computer.

Obviously, Mr. Baruch wasn’t the only asset manager who saw through this.

The second his company began to short-sell bitcoin, more than a dozen investment banks and hedge funds also quickly entered this battlefield.

Due to the massive trading volume and sell orders, the transaction price of bitcoin continued to fall. In less than half a day, it fell from tens of thousands of dollars all the way to 100 dollars. More than 100 billion dollars of market value had vanished.

Baruch and the other investors had underestimated the impact of quantum computers on bitcoin.

After seeing the declining transaction price on the screen, Baruch smacked his lips.

He thought that his reaction was fast enough, but in the end, he was still too slow. More and more competitors joined in, and short selling became more and more difficult. The fund he managed only made less than 1 billion dollars before the entire bitcoin market collapsed.

He looked at the red market ticker on his screen as he spoke.

“Fill in the short sell orders for $10.”

“Shouldn’t we wait?” The assistant sitting in front of his computer looked at Balluch and asked, “I feel like if we wait, the price will drop to $1.”

“We always execute on positive EV trades.” Balluch said calmly, “We are betting on expectations, not on Professor Lu using his quantum computer to print money.”

“Okay, maybe you are right.”

The assistant followed his boss’ instructions and placed a buy order for $10, making a juicy arbitrage trade.

With just a few clicks, they had earned one billion USD from people all over the world. This speed of making money was faster than the Federal Reserve’s money-printing machine.

The only unfortunate thing was that this kind of opportunity was once in a lifetime.

The trading was over.

The assistant looked at the funds in the account and had an emotional look on his face.

He just helped his clients make more money than he would ever earn.

However, the longer the funds sat in the account, the more money they were losing. They could be investing that money and, in turn, be making even more.

The assistant looked at his boss and spoke.

“What now? Where should we allocate the funds?”

Baruch hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Buy bonds.”

Assistant: “All of it?”

Baruch: “All of it.”

Bonds was considered to be a relatively safe financial investment. When the market was in a volatile time, especially when faced with financial risks, buying bonds from the government or large corporations was a way to hedge their risks.

This was Baruch’s professional intuition from years of trading.

Right now, his intuition was telling him that behind the calm financial markets, there was a beast lurking in the dark.

This beast was about to be unleashed at any moment.

What happened in the bitcoin market was just the tip of the iceberg…

Baruch took a cigarette out of his pocket. He was about to go to the window and have a smoke break.

Suddenly, his phone in his pocket began to ring. He put the cigarette back and took out the phone.

He picked up the phone and spoke in a good mood.

“Clement? How are you doing my friend?”

“You’re asking how I’m doing? Jesus Christ…”

The voice on the other end of the phone was full of anxiety and disbelief. Baruch, however, didn’t notice the unusual tone. He smiled and spoke.

“Dude, you have no idea what just happened…”

Baruch was about to tell in detail how he used his bravery and courage to arb the bitcoin market, but his old friend interrupted him.

“Yeah, you have no idea what just happened! I’d go check the Dow Jones Index if I were you! Jesus mother of god! Talking to you was the wrong decision!”

The call ended.

Baruch frowned as he looked at the disconnected call on his phone screen. He suddenly felt a trace of anxiety in his heart, overshadowing his positive emotions.

He suddenly realized why his old friend was speaking so anxiously.

Without hesitating, he quickly returned to his desk and sat down. He quickly opened the Bloomberg terminal and logged into his account.

He was completely stunned. He accidentally knocked over a cup, which landed on the floor.

The assistant nearby stood up and spoke.

“What was that?”

There was no response from his boss.

His boss who was sitting in front of the computer was frozen.

Baruch’s face turned red, then the color slowly faded away from his face, finally turning pale…

Oh no…

It’s too late…

It’s all over.

While they were arbitraging the bitcoin market, a financial tsunami had swept across the Nasdaq. This drove the Dow Jones Index down 34 percent, and trillions of market value had evaporated out of thin air.

The money he earned from bitcoin wouldn’t even come close to covering the losses.

Baruch felt dizzy. He tried to stand up, but his legs felt weak.

He sat back down, and he began to slowly lose his vision.

Just before he lost consciousness, he heard a voice.

“The boss fainted! Please call an ambulance!

“Now!

“…”

After that, Baruch couldn’t hear anything…

Chapter 1200: What Changed

Chapter 1200 – What Changed

Baruch wasn’t the only one that fainted.

The number of heart attacks in Manhattan had risen by ten times in one day.

The securities market was going through a gloomy stage; and people began to feel pessimistic about the North American economy.

The chain effect caused by this quickly swept through the global financial market. Just like a row of dominos, the stocks and futures market across the world began to fall…

What did it mean for cryptography systems to fail?

This wasn’t as simple as passwords being hacked and bank accounts being stolen.

This meant that all financial products would lose their guarantee due to the failure of algorithms such as the RSA.

The first financial product impacted were the digital cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Online merchant platforms that accepted bitcoin as a form of payment started to no longer support digital currency payment, in an attempt to steer away from the storm.

This was followed by the crash of a series of financial derivatives.

The current existing encryption rules were confirmed to be unreliable, and this would have a huge impact on the credit-based financial markets.

The stock market and the bond market were going through a volatile time; it was as if there was a gloomy cloud over Wall Street.

But then again, they were the ones threatening the other side of the Pacific Ocean all year long. They were also the ones who blamed their cybersecurity issues on an attack from the Chinese cyber warfare forces.

China wasn’t looking to start information warfare since that would provide no benefit to them. However, there was no doubt that China had the ability to decimate cyber warfare.

Panic started to rise from the chaos.

On the other hand, oceans of people had gathered at the 20th Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit.

Representatives from more than 20 countries, as well as dozens of non-profit international organizations and institutions, all sat quietly in their seats, waiting for the meeting to begin.

The United States was absent from this conference, just like last time. However, their conference table seats were still reserved. There were even two bottles of mineral water on their seats.

Vice Minister Yang from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology delivered a speech on “Co-creating Internet Information Security” and “Quantum Encryption Algorithm and Quantum Communication”.

Just two days ago, most of the attendees were not particularly excited about the summit. However, after what happened with the United States’ financial market yesterday, almost all of them began to listen attentively to every word Vice Minister Yang said, afraid of missing a single detail.

The speech lasted a full fifteen minutes. Finally, it was time for the Qu0026A session.

Vice Minister Yang stopped talking and looked around the conference room, giving an opportunity for the audience to ask questions.

Soon after, a dozen hands went up in the air.

He randomly picked a person in the front row and nodded to him, indicating that he could stand up and ask the question.

“Mr. Yang, can the quantum encryption algorithm solve the security risks brought by quantum computers once and for all?”

The person who stood up and asked the question was Clerek, the chairman of the International Information System Security Certification Consortium. When he first arrived in Shanghai, he already began assessing the risks that quantum computers might pose to the existing communication and financial industry.

Changing the encryption algorithm was not an easy task, for a country or a company.

If they were going to change the algorithm, they had to know how long this algorithm would be effective.

“Unfortunately, the quantum encryption algorithm can’t solve this problem permanently. It still uses a computational password. It is not unbreakable. If there’s a quantum computer with more than 2,000 qubits, it would only take the computer a day to crack the password.”

Minister Yang looked at Chairman Clerek and spoke.

“If we want to solve this problem once and for all, what we need is ultimately an unbreakable method of communication. In fact, the quantum submarine cable project we are working on is precisely tackling this problem.

“As for the quantum encryption algorithm, its purpose is not to solve this problem forever. Instead, it helps us survive this chaotic period caused by technological changes and buy us some time.”

Chairman Clerek nodded and sat back down.

Afterward, the representative from Britain stood up and spoke in a suspicious tone.

“Why not strengthen the supervision of quantum computers? Or at least restrict its use. It seems like the Chinese have not considered the impact disclosing this news would cause on the Internet and the financial industry. Of course, I’m not saying that China is deliberately causing the volatile markets, but I think everyone is wondering… Did you not expect this to happen?”

The British representative had a look of skepticism on his face.

Whispers were heard around the conference room.

The financial turbulence wasn’t constrained in North America, almost the entire world was affected, including China themselves. But relatively speaking, the impact on the Chinese markets was the smallest.

Vice Minister Yang smiled at the British representative and spoke.

“We did expect this to happen, but did we not warn you guys?”

He was speaking to the representative of the United Kingdom, as well as to the entire audience.

The moment he heard those words, the British representative froze. A look of embarrassment emerged on his face. Other participants awkwardly looked away from Minister Yang.

I guess…

They did warn us.

But none of us took it seriously.

After all, no one thought that everything would come so suddenly. They didn’t expect the series of breakthroughs in quantum computer technology in just a few months.

A 524-qubit computer…

This computer was more powerful than all of the other supercomputers combined. If the UK knew China had this kind of technology, of course they would have desperately tried to update their encryption algorithm.

“As for your previous question.” Vice Minister Yang said with a faint smile, “In fact, we are supervising the usage of the quantum computer. You can stay rest assured on this.”

The British representative felt a wave of pressure off his shoulders as he sighed in relief.

Fortunately, Minister Yang decided not to embarrass him.

“I’d like to sincerely thank you for your efforts in solving this problem… We look forward to taking on more responsibilities. Of course, we will also cooperate…”

After some polite words, the UK representative quickly sat down.

Next up was the Japanese representative.

He stood up and immediately asked, “Is Chinese congress considering exporting this technology? Are they allowing quantum computers to enter the market in any form of cooperation…?”

The moment he asked this question, almost everyone present began listening intently.

This included the British representative who had just sat down.

Under the eager gaze of the audience, Vice Minister Yang spoke casually.

“Not for the time being, but we are not restricting quantum computers from being used for non-military cloud computing services and foreign institutions and companies. This can be done by connecting the quantum computer through satellites or private submarine optical cables lines. If your country is interested, I’m sure our companies will be happy to make a deal.”

After hearing the response, the Japanese representative had a somewhat disappointed look on his face.

Cloud computing services connected by optical cables lines…

If the customer was just a normal factory or a medium-sized company, it would be fine. However, for large companies such as Canon, Mitsubishi, and Toyota, who had laboratories involving sensitive research that impacted the entire nation’s economy, how could they feel safe letting their information pass through a foreign server?

Vice Minister Yang instantly knew what the Japanese representative was thinking about, so he spoke with a smile.

“Of course, nothing is permanent. After we reform the Chinese information industry, perhaps China’s semiconductor companies will consider expanding to foreign markets. Of course, this is a free market. We will not intervene. We might even encourage them to cooperate with foreign nations!”

After hearing these words, many people in the conference room resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

A free market?

Haha.

Bullsh*t!

However, none of them could do anything about it.

They had no negotiating power. This was similar to controllable nuclear fusion power, they had no leverage.

Even the arrogant Americans had to bow down on certain issues, particularly on the issue of Star Sky Technology’s patent fraud. In the end, they still politely asked East Asia Energy to speed up the fusion reactor process in Los Angeles…

The Japanese representative sat down. Before the next representative got up to speak, the door in the conference room suddenly opened.

When the participants in the conference room turned their heads, they all looked shocked.

It was obvious who these people were.

After all, there were only two empty seats left in the conference room.

Minister Yang watched the US representative walk into the room and sit down at the conference table with an annoyed face. A playful smile appeared on his face.

Didn’t you say you weren’t coming?

What has changed?

Chapter 1201: It’s Spilling!

Chapter 1201 – It’s Spilling!

Bitcoin is crashing?

When Lu Zhou heard the news, he was dazed.

He had planned to use bitcoin to test whether his computer was fast, but before he could do his tests, the entire bitcoin market exploded in his face.

The way he heard the news was quite interesting.

The people that lost some money couldn’t do anything. It wasn’t like they could go and complain to Wall Street.

The people that suffered more substantial losses had an interesting reaction. They came all the way to Jinling on a maglev train. They found the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and stood outside the gate with a “Return My Hard-Earned Money” banner.

This scene shook the scientific researchers inside the institute. Many scientists even began to watch the fun through their windows.

However, the security guards weren’t there for nothing. The security team stood shoulder to shoulder outside the gate. The people outside the entrance felt intimidated by the wall of guards, afraid to cause any more trouble.

However, compared to the calm researchers at the research institute, the management team was not as calm. When the higher-ups heard that the gate of the Institute for Advanced Study was blocked, these old men were so scared they nearly had a heart attack.

Almost all of the police cars in the entire district were dispatched here. Bystanders didn’t know what was going on. They thought it was a large-scale anti-terrorism exercise.

The documents issued by the People’s Bank of China in 2017 already set the outline of bitcoin. They claimed that bitcoin was just a virtual commodity and not a currency. They also prohibited Chinese financial institutions and payment companies from providing tools to use and purchase bitcoin.

Bitcoin was always in a gray area, not supported by the state, yet now people were running outside and protesting.

Police cars rushed to the scene and arrested anyone blocking the entrance. They brought the protesters back to the precinct and interrogated them one by one on where they bought the bitcoins.

Those that bought the coins abroad were left alone. Those that purchased the coins through illegal channels were further investigated; none of them were spared.

Immediately afterward, something more interesting happened. The people who were investigating suddenly discovered that most of the protesters were not trading bitcoins.

Even after tearing through the internet records of the protesters, they were not able to find any traces of bitcoin transactions.

The task force leader realized that something was wrong, so he immediately reported the news to his superiors.

In the end, people from the Ministry of State Security joined the task force.

Finally, everything was clear.

Last time, when they were cleaning out the foreign spy networks, the bitcoin transactions fell through the gaps.

These spies were thinking about protesting and applying for asylum status; a paradise position for immigrants. But the second they put their heads above the surface, they were immediately caught.

After Lu Zhou heard the story from Director Li, he shook his head and spoke.

“These people are crazy.”

I’m not the one that shorted bitcoin, why protest against me?

Go protest on Wall Street?

He really didn’t know why these neanderthals blamed him for this.

“This isn’t even bad.” Director Li took a sip of tea and said, “You haven’t seen the people that destroy real estate company buildings just because their property values are decreasing. The people that have bitcoins are somewhat civilized; it’s just a few banners and signs outside your office.”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, we weren’t affected too badly, thanks to you guys.”

“Don’t mention it.” Director Li smiled and said, “You should have seen the look on Vilgas’ face at the Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit yesterday.”

“Vilgas?”

Lu Zhou frowned. He had never heard this name before.

“Oh right, I forgot… Vilgas is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.” Director Li said with a cheeky smile, “If you know what I mean.”

The Federal Communications Commission directly answered to the United States Congress, while the United States Congress represented the interests of most American capitalists.

Obviously, when it came to the issue of communications security, the United States Congress had serious disagreements with the White House. Since the White House had yet to express their position on the cyber information security summit, the United States Congress sent their own personnel to attend the conference.

The reason was obvious. The poor performance of the US stock market frightened everyone.

After all, a certain US president said that if the US stock market were to plummet, the president should fly to the sun on a rocket.

Although the United States Congress did not tie the president to a rocket heading toward the sun, things had developed to a point of no return.

“But to be honest, even though the digital currency is not regulated, it is an attempt to decentralize the finance industry. The fall of bitcoin is not necessarily a good thing for us.”

After taking a sip of coffee, Lu Zhou, who was not very interested in this conversation, replied casually, “Oh, is that so?”

“The current economic trend is globalization. Since the international community is headed to a multi-country world, the international monetary system does not make any sense, as it is not backed by precious metals anymore. Besides, there hasn’t been any change since World War II; it’s time for some change.

“Keynesian economics is still relevant. Developed countries can easily inflate their own currency in regard to underdeveloped countries, thus preventing the prosperity of others.

“If we want to end this unfair exploitation, there must either be a powerful world central bank to formulate monetary policy based on the global scale, or we would have to have a world-wide and reliable currency. This currency cannot be controlled by the policies of central banks, it has to be self-regulating. Central banks should be allowed to buy this currency freely as a hedge against their own currency.”

Humans had a history of decentralization. The only difference was whether the decentralization was fierce and immediate or slow and gradual.

In 1994, Kevin Kelly used a bee colony as an example in his book “Out of Control”. He proposed a redistributing capitalistic structure, which was probably the embodiment of decentralization.

Unfortunately, bitcoin and other digital currencies had the spirit of decentralization, but they were not able to fully achieve their mission.

There was no real backed commodity as a guarantee; it was just a number on a ledger. It was just a solution to difficult mathematical problems. Therefore, it could easily be dominated by quantum computers.

Perhaps a digital currency backed by a powerful credit entity would be more reliable. But then again, the essence of a digital currency was that it was not controlled by mainstream corporations. If a digital currency could be guaranteed and fully controlled by a credit entity, could it really be considered a digital currency?

This was a catch-22.

Lu Zhou didn’t understand economics very well, unlike Chen Yushan or his sister. Thus, he sat there quietly and silently watched Director Li talk out of his a*s.

After Director Li was tired of speaking, he finally took a sip of tea and rinsed his throat.

However, just when Lu Zhou thought he would change the conversation topic, the old man suddenly asked, “Do you think there is a possibility?”

Lu Zhou: “Possibility of what?”

“To use quantum algorithms and generate a digital currency based on quantum encryption technology?”

For some reason, when Director Li said these words, the atmosphere in the living room suddenly froze.

Lu Zhou did not reply. He quietly drank his coffee as he looked at Director Li.

Director Li couldn’t help but laugh and say, “What are you looking at me for? I’m just curious, just an idea…”

Lu Zhou put down his coffee cup and picked up the teapot on the table.

“I’ll pour you some tea.”

Director Li immediately waved his hand.

“No, no, it’s fine, I still haven’t finished yet. I can pour it myself later.”

Lu Zhou: “No, it’s fine, drink some more.”

Director Li: “Ah, you’re too kind… Wait wait wait, slow down, it’s spilling!”

Chapter 1202: Not a SuperComputer, But a Gold Mine

Chapter 1202 – Not a SuperComputer, But a Gold Mine

In the eastern dock suburbs of Shanghai, if it weren’t for the subways, this place wouldn’t even be considered Shanghai.

In fact, many Shanghai locals no longer recognized this as a part of Shanghai.

Even though there were several zoning plans here, such as a smart manufacturing zone, an integrated development zone, a smart ecological zone, and a marine science and technology hub, etc… Due to the remote location of the area and the weak industrial foundation, there hadn’t been any particularly big development in this area over the years.

It was almost as if…

This place was abandoned.

However, things had been changing recently.

About two months ago, a group of important-looking people came here. They walked around with some blueprints in their hands and drew a circle on a blueprint map.

Soon after, a group of construction teams arrived at the suburb. They began to start construction on the land circled by the previous group of important people.

For the residents and small business owners of the eastern docks area, this was quite a big story. However, no one knew what they were building. Judging by the fenced-off area, it seemed like this was going to be a big project.

Some people said that they were building a new business district. Others said that they were developing real estate, whereas some other people even guessed that a semiconductor manufacturer was going to move their factories to Shanghai. It was estimated that the property value would increase because of this.

Various rumors spread around for more than two months. It wasn’t until the announcement of the “Star Voyage One” quantum computer by Star Sky Technology did people finally realize what was going on.

It turned out that this thing was not a shopping mall, nor was it a new building or a stadium. It was actually a powerful quantum computer.

Unfortunately, a supercomputing center was non-labor intensive, and it would not bring any jobs and wouldn’t have any effect on the property prices…

…

An Audi A6 parked on the side of the main road in the smart manufacturing zone, and two men in suits got out of the car.

A chubby man wearing gold-rimmed glasses squinted his eyes as he looked at the construction site. He curiously asked, “What is going on over there?”

His name was Ding Rong, and he was quite a wealthy entrepreneur. He was involved in the production of auto parts, mainly for export trade.

His factory was originally located in the Suzhou Industrial Park. Because he heard that there was a policy change in the eastern docks area, he came here for a site inspection to see if there was any value in opening a shop here.

Honestly, he was quite satisfied with all of the conditions here. The only downside was that the location was too far, and it would be difficult to hire workers here.

Suburb Chief Liu, who was responsible for attracting investment in the zone, immediately said, “That’s the land bought by Star Sky Technology. Apparently, it’s the location for the supercomputing center.”

Two months ago, this news was a secret. Even the senior management of the suburb’s management committee did not know the truth.

But now, this matter was an open secret. Everyone knew that this piece of land belonged to Star Sky Technology.

“Star Sky Technology? Supercomputing center?”

Ding Rong paused for a second. He couldn’t figure out the relationship between these two things.

Suburb Chief Liu immediately smiled and said, “It’s the Star Voyage One, the world’s first quantum computer that was unveiled a while ago! Apparently, the computing power is more powerful than all of the other top supercomputers combined. This will become the first domestic quantum computer to provide cloud quantum computing service, and this place will be equivalent to the high-tech zone in Jinling!”

Suburb Chief Liu purposely boasted about this development zone.

After listening to the explanation, Ding Rong was shocked. He had an astonished look on his face.

“It’s that amazing?”

Recently, he was busy with the new factory, even working during lunch break. He didn’t have time to pay attention to what was happening in the frontier of science and technology.

He didn’t expect quantum computers to come to life in the blink of an eye.

He thought back to when he talked about the trend of industrial informatization with the engineers at his factory during lunch. Apparently, in the future, artificial intelligence robots would take over humans in factories.

Why is Star Sky Technology building their quantum computer here?

Why not Jinling?

The more he thought about it, the more excited he was.

It was like this was a gold mine, standing right in front of him.

Without hesitating, he stretched out his hand, pointed to the open space beside the construction area, and said, “Then, I’ll set up my factory there.”

“Oh, right there?”

“Yeah, the transportation here is convenient. I plan to invest 200 million yuan to open up a new production line here to produce electric vehicle parts…” Ding Rong suddenly noticed the awkward look on Suburb Chief Liu’s face. He couldn’t help but frown and said, “Is there a problem?”

Suburb Chief Liu looked at Ding Rong and smiled awkwardly.

“That… I’m afraid it will be a bit difficult. Two months ago, all of the land around here was auctioned off.”

“All of it?” Ding Rong was taken aback for a moment. He then realized that he might have fallen behind this trend, so he quickly asked, “Two months ago, did anyone know that Star Sky Technology was going to build a supercomputing center here?”

Suburb Chief Liu quickly spoke.

“No way, even the city mayor didn’t know!”

Ding Rong: “Then how come…”

Suburb Chief Liu sighed and said, “It has nothing to do with the supercomputing center. When people heard that these construction teams were working for Star Sky Technology, our development zone management committee was contacted by at least a few hundred companies a week. They were all inquiring about the land in the vicinity. Thus, whether it was the commercial or industrial area, all of it had been auctioned off.”

Even though Ding Rong could buy the land off the companies, Suburb Chief Liu thought this was not a good idea.

After all, running a high-tech company was not only an entrepreneurial task but also a political task. Higher-ups in the state were all watching closely. The main purpose of this development zone was to attract investment, not to increase land prices.

If too much of the capital was spent acquiring land, there would be no money for the production and growth of the development zone.

Ding Rong was in disbelief.

“… Not a single lot is left?”

Suburb Chief Liu: “There’s one a little farther away, but none within a one-kilometer radius.”

None within one kilometer…

This is insane!

Ding Rong didn’t know what to make of this.

Although it was unfortunate that he did not get to buy the land, after hearing how popular this zone was, he was more determined than before to move his factory here.

Large-scale industrial production was always important. As long as there were good traffic conditions, a large-scale industrial park was far more attractive than a small economic development zone.

Even if the new factory failed and bankrupted him, he could sell the land for a profit. Investing and setting up his new factory here was a win-win situation.

Chapter 1203: What to Do After This

1203 What to Do After This Countless business owners who were attracted by the new quantum computer in the eastern docks area had the same idea as Boss Ding.When Star Sky Technology first announced that Star Voyage One would be in Shanghai, countless companies sent representatives to the city to investigate a potential investment in this development zone.

Jinling’s high-tech zone was basically saturated, but this place was an unexplored land.

Boss Ding was worrying about which piece of land to buy and which bank he would take out a loan from. On the other hand, a group of men in casual clothes and hard hats stood at the construction site of the Star Voyage One supercomputing entrance.

Among them was the person in charge of the development zone management committee. The leader of the city council investment committee was also there, as well as Director Li and Lu Zhou.

“This is unbelievable…”

As Director Li looked at the towering steel frame and concrete structure, he said emotionally, “It’s only been two months, and it looks almost complete. This is…”

He couldn’t describe the feeling in his heart.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s like it’s appearing out of nowhere, right?”

Director Li nodded and said,

“Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel.”

It wasn’t difficult to build a building in two months, but this building was special.

“It’s using modular construction technology.”

Lu Zhou squinted and continued to speak with a smile, “Actually, I don’t understand it very well. I just listened to the people in our institute talk about how this is a modification of the lunar surface construction technology from Shanghai Heavy Industry Group. The engineering aspects have been slightly modified to account for the earth’s gravity environment. This technology saved us a lot of construction time”

Director Li spoke.

“Sure enough, science and technology are the driving forces of productivity.”

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

“Of course.”

“Actually, I still have a question…” Director Li said. He noticed Lu Zhou looking at him, so he quickly said, “Don’t look at me like that, I swear, this is only just a question.”

Lu Zhou: “… Go ahead.”

“The test quantum computer that I tried last time, isn’t it only the size of my palm?” After making a gesture with his index finger, Director Li continued to speak with a confused look on his face, “Why is it a big building?”

“You said the reason yourself. That thing was just a test product and could only perform specific calculations on specific problems. If we want to handle different complex problems and use it like a general-purpose computer, we have to analyze its quantum logic circuit gates and design a system architecture, as well as an operating system. Then combine everything, it’s like…”

After thinking about how to describe this concept, Lu Zhou said, “It’s like organizing a group of individually well-trained soldiers into an army.”

Director Li said, “Can you find a better analogy next time?”

Lu Zhou said, “No I can’t, all analogies are not accurate.”

Director Li: “… I think using analogies I can understand are better.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

Lu Zhou had always believed that the path of an individual was inseparable from the destiny of society as a whole.

The reason why he was able to build a collider on the Moon was because of the support from the state, as well as other conditions that supported him.

After all, without the help from other scientific fields, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve this level of success.

If a person couldn’t even afford to pay for food, there was no way that person could focus on doing great things.

The creation of controllable fusion technology greatly boosted human productivity. This created technological advances in a range of fields, from energy to materials and chemicals. It turned fantasy into reality.

Also, the series of aerospace activities, including the Moon landing project, had gradually manifested its value in technological innovations, rather than simply being a consumption of social resources.

Lu Zhou and the Lunar Orbit Committee were preparing for an even larger project.

Which was the lunar mass driver.

If they could build the lunar mass driver, they could easily send minerals from the lunar surface to the lunar transfer orbit.

As a result, sending minerals from the surface of the moon to the earth would not only provide experimental value, but it would also provide economic value. This was especially true for rare earth resources, such as helium-3.

After effectively creating endless energy using nuclear fusion, they were also about to solve the problem of scarce raw materials.

However, resources alone were not enough.

China’s economy had long ceased to solely rely on resource exports. They were no longer the low-end raw materials supplier in the global industrial chain.

They had to find a way to achieve higher production capacity.

So far, the Jinling high-tech zone had achieved some initial success.

By relying on the research and development from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, the Jinling high-tech zone represented the Chinese industry. They occupied most of the market share in carbon-based materials and electric vehicles.

As for the eastern docks zone, that was a bold attempt to expand the “Jinling high-tech zone model” to the whole country.

Which was to use technology-focused companies as the backbone and production-focused companies as the body, forming a production relationship. They could create a production system driven entirely by research and development forces.

Of course, although these things sounded simple in theory. They were actually not so easy to do.

No matter how strong their backbone was, they couldn’t withstand the storm from the international market.

This was the problem.

There was only one Academician Lu, only one Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The Jinling high-tech zone could rely on the research and development strength of the Institute for Advanced Study, but the eastern docks development zone in Shanghai was not so lucky.

To a large extent, the reason why the Star Voyage One quantum supercomputing center was chosen to be located in Shanghai instead of Jinling was because of this.

Lu Zhou hoped to use Star Voyage One to incubate a group of technology-intensive companies that focused on Ru0026D, just like Star Sky Technology, and focused on intellectual property development.

Although it was foolish to expect them to replicate the success of Star Sky Technology, sometimes quantity was over quality.

This industrial backbone did not have to be supported by one company only…

Chapter 1204: Big End to the Year

1204 Big End to the Year The Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit came to an end. They finally reached a resolution to finalize the new international encryption algorithm.By using this standard as a reference, communications departments of various countries would upgrade a series of security systems in fields such as finance, replacing them with more secure quantum encryption algorithms.

Most countries directly copied the QS2000 encryption algorithm developed by China.

After all, this quantum computer algorithm was made by Professor Lu. No one knew better than him on how to defend against cyberattacks initiated by quantum computers.

Professor Lu’s achievements in mathematics were much higher than his achievements in physics.

This alone was enough to give people psychological comfort.

California, United States.

A board meeting was held at the headquarters of SubCom.

CEO Markati walked into the conference room and sat down. He had a look of worry on his face, not a trace of relaxation in sight. He tried to make himself look more comfortable; however, he was not doing a good job.

The situation recently was very bad.

The No.3 Asia-Pacific cable plan had failed. The company’s share price was still falling. Their profits could not meet market expectations. Part of this was caused by the external environment. The board of directors could not find any solution to change the situation.

Not to mention that East Asia Communications had completed their merger and reorganization of Chinese communications companies, they were also planning on aggressively entering the international market.

There was no doubt that these industry giants, which had been monopolizing the market for decades, were facing the most severe crisis in history.

Coincidentally, just a few days ago at the Asia-Pacific Cyber Information Security Summit, China had united more than 50 countries to form the “Global Submarine Cable Committee”, which was abbreviated as GSCC. They planned to lay a cable that crossed through the Pacific Ocean, through Central America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and across the Indian Ocean.

This fiber optic cable was worth more than 50 billion US dollars, none of which they had anything to do with.

The United States, which was originally against the submarine quantum optical cable, suddenly was on the fence.

The United States Congress had decided to ignore the White House and let the Federal Communications Commission talk with China about the “new internet cable”.

Political interests were important, but they also had to protect the interests of Wall Street.

If Wall Street lost control of the global economy, it would deindustrialize the United States. The government would not be able to support the current economic scale. The consequences could be unimaginable.

Unsurprisingly, the unbreakable encryption technology was the future.

After all, when it came to traditional optical cables, the transmitted data was powerless against quantum computers. Someone would only need a nuclear submarine to collect the data. They could monitor the entire communication line without being discovered by anyone.

With the power of quantum computers, anyone would have the ability to filter and parse out useful data.

If this kind of basic information security was not guaranteed, there could not be a credit system.

“Mr. Markati.” Chairman Bob Carter stared into the eyes of CEO Markati and tapped his laptop with his pen as he said, “You’re finally here.”

Markati felt his face tighten under the pressure.

“I was caught up in some work, but we can start now.”

“Of course, but before the meeting begins, I want to ask you something.”

“Yeah, what?”

“We heard that our company is completely excluded from the global submarine optical cable project.” Carter’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “Is that the case?”

Markati knew the chairman would ask this question. He took a deep breath and tried to think of a way to defend himself. He then replied reluctantly, “We’re working on it.”

Carter nodded and spoke.

“I appreciate your words, but we want to see results. We don’t want to see our poor earnings report and the fall of our stock price.”

Markati: “Financial reports and stock prices do not represent everything, and many things are behind the scenes. We are working with the Quantum Communication Institute of the Argonne National Laboratory to develop a quantum repeater technology. And when we solve the critical bottlenecks—”

Carter asked abruptly, “How long will that take?”

Markati took a deep breath and went silent for a few seconds.

“I can assure you that it will be done within two years.”

“Looks like you are fairly honest. You could have lied and said three months.” The chairman nodded and casually threw aside the report in his hand. He said, “However, honesty, just like hard work, can’t solve our problem.”

Markati went silent. He clenched his fists and slowly relaxed them again.

“You’re right.”

Carter: “So, can you find a solution?”

When Markati went silent again, Carter sighed with a look of realization on his face.

Even though Markati couldn’t be blamed for this, the company had to make changes in order to survive.

Even if they might have to make some sacrifices.

“East Asia Communications provided us with an interesting proposal.” Carter gestured to his assistant, who handed him a contract. He placed the contract gently on the table and said, “This one is worth about two billion USD. With a financing proposal of around 100 million USD.”

Two billion dollars!

A lot of people in the room took a deep breath.

This was the first time the smaller shareholders heard about the news. They had a look of uncertainty on their faces.

Letting East Asia Communications become a shareholder.

This would not impact the major shareholders. After all, they and East Asia Communications must have signed some agreements they were unaware of. However, this was definitely not a good thing for the minority shareholders and trust companies that held SubCom shares.

However, the board of directors obviously intended to sacrifice their interests in order to survive…

“You can’t accept it!”

Markati stood up abruptly. He propped his hands on the table and spoke fiercely.

“This is a scheme from the Chinese. Even though they do have some advantages in quantum communication technology, they are at least 20 years behind in experience for laying submarine optical cables. If we let the Chinese people on our board—”

Carter: “This is none of your concern, the board will do a vote…”

Markati said in a threatening tone, “There is no way the Department of Commerce will approve!”

Carter looked at Markati calmly and said in a casual tone, “As for you, thank you for your dedication to SubCom over the years. East Asia Communications wants to appoint a new CEO in the near future.

“After this meeting, go to the finance department for your exit bonus.”

Markati angrily slammed the door and walked out of the conference room. The other board members looked at each other. Carter sighed with a blank face.

In any case, SubCom was a lost cause.

Soon, the entire submarine optical cable market would go through a revolution. Neither SubCom nor NEC could stop this change.

NEC had already withdrawn from the submarine optical cable market and had begun to focus their business on the electrical industry. Their old rivals in Europe were also trying to transform their business model, and they even laid off many employees.

Even though his decision today might not be correct.

This was their only choice…

Chapter 1205: Hologram Technology

1205 Hologram Technology Generally speaking, the Department of Commerce certainly could not agree to this merger.Even though America was a country that advocated for free trade, it was unlikely for them to allow a foreign company to borrow tens of billions of dollars from their own banks and use these loans to acquire companies in their own countries.

If this kind of merger were successful, a series of assets including technology, talent, and market share would exit the country. The Americans would certainly not get any benefits.

Not to mention that SubCom itself had a monopoly in the industry. There was no reason for a company like this to be allowed to merge with overseas companies.

However, the current situation was obviously extraordinary.

The acquisition of SubCom by East Asia Communications wasn’t just a business transaction; it was also the result of a compromise from a political battle.

If this acquisition failed, SubCom would not have access to the technology and the ability to put down quantum optical cables. They would eventually go bankrupt.

If the acquisition was successful, not only would it mean that East Asia Communications would be able to penetrate the North American market faster, but also SubCom would have a chance of entering the global submarine quantum optical cable project.

Even though it was unlikely for East Asia Communications to give them access to quantum submarine optical cable technology, they could still purchase equipment from Chinese factories and work in secondary cable laying…

Jinling high-tech zone.

Star Sky Technology headquarters.

After Chen Yushan read the report from the manager of the investment department, she nodded with satisfaction. She signed her name on the document and put it aside.

“… I have a rough understanding of the situation, so let’s follow this financing plan.”

Star Sky Technology held 30% of the shares of East Asia Communications. Although they were not involved with its specific operations, a round of large-scale financing like this must be approved by Star Sky Technology.

The manager picked up the document off the table and took two steps back. He suddenly thought of something and said, “Oh yeah, one more thing…”

Chen Yushan: “Go ahead.”

The investment department manager said, “… Why don’t we use this opportunity to borrow more USD from JPMorgan? Now is a good opportunity to short US stocks. We can use this opportunity to make a lot of money.”

“It’s too late. The bad news is already out on the street. The US stocks have the bad news priced in. Also…” Chen Yushan shook her head and said, “This is not the best time to borrow USD.”

The manager asked, “Why?”

Chen Yushan: “After this wave of financial turbulence, Manhattan is gradually losing its status as the world’s financial center. In order to prevent the outflow of American assets, the Feds might release more dollars to the market by reducing reserves and interest rates.”

“So you’re saying… the Feds might adopt an active devaluation strategy?”

Chen Yushan nodded and said, “Yes, a one-time substantial depreciation.”

Even though the Fed’s control of the exchange rate was not as powerful as the People’s Bank of China, it was still possible for them to manipulate the exchange rate in an indirect and secretive manner.

By using a one-time large-scale active devaluation, they could effectively prevent the inflow of foreign capital.

However, this behavior was very risky. It was like drinking seawater to quench one’s thirst.

Active depreciation methods could certainly prevent capital from leaving the country in the short term, but in the long-term, it would weaken the domestic currency’s credit and ruin the competitiveness in the international market.

If the future economic situation did not improve, it would further enhance the dangers of foreign capital.

After all, no one was stupid.

If the future expectations were gloomy, no capital would be willing to stay in America…

Chen Yushan looked at the investment manager and said, “Don’t think about this too much, we are a technology company, not an investment bank. Just invest our funds in low-risk bonds. There is no need to go into the muddy markets.”

“… I understand.”

After the investment department manager left, the office was quiet again.

Chen Yushan twisted the ballpoint pen in her hand and was about to continue her unfinished work for today.

However, she suddenly thought of the phone call she had with the people from the high-tech eastern docks zone this morning. Thus she picked her phone off the corner of the table.

Chen Yushan stared at the phone and thought for a while. She muttered some opening lines to herself, such as “hey” and “what are you doing?”.

She practiced until her voice sounded softer and more soothing.

A smile appeared on her face. She dialed a number on the phone and waited for the call to connect before she said, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Lu Zhou was standing in a laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was staring at the oscillating graph on the computer screen in front of him as he replied casually, “Doing an interesting experiment, what’s up?”

An interesting experiment?

Even though she was curious about what the experiment was, since Lu Zhou was busy, she did not want to disturb him too much. Thus, she went straight to the point.

“The Star Voyage One will be completed in a few days. The high-tech eastern docks zone management committee invites you to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. Will you have time to go?”

Opening ceremony?

Lu Zhou pondered for a while before speaking.

“I think… I have time.”

In any case, he had a trip planned to Shanghai in the near future.

He could just stop by and cut the opening ceremony ribbon. It would not take too much time.

Chen Yushan: “Okay then, I’ll arrange it for you.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The phone call ended.

Chen Yushan put her phone on the desk and sighed. She began to fan herself with her hand.

“Who set the aircon temperature so high, it’s boiling in here…”

Chen Yushan took out the remote control from her desk drawer and lowered the temperature of the central air conditioner by two degrees.

She felt the temperature in the office gradually cool down. She took a deep breath and patted herself on the cheeks, trying to make herself focus on the work at hand…

…

At the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

After hanging up the call, Lu Zhou turned his attention to the weird equipment.

A string of text popped up on his phone.

Xiao Ai: [Master! The program debugging is finished, can begin at any time! (•̀∀•́)]

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Then, let’s begin.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

The signal lights on the top of the strangely shaped equipment lit up for the first time. Soon after, a silver ring at the top of the equipment lit up with a blue light, followed by a rumbling sound.

Then, a vertical beam of light began to shoot upward. The string of light particles seemed to suspend in the air, interlaced with one another according to a certain pattern.

These light particles formed a Rubik’s cube at first, then a model of Starlight, constantly switching the images.

Even a layman who knew nothing about imaging technology could still name this device!

This was a hologram projection!

The kind that could be seen with the naked eye!

This gadget was inspired by the “wearable facial hologram projection system” Lu Zhou won in the last system lottery. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had developed a similar product over the years.

To be honest, when Lu Zhou first came into contact with this thing, he thought it was an incredible piece of advanced technology. But after some in-depth research, he discovered that it was actually not as advanced as he had imagined.

The specific principle was very simple. A water droplet with a diameter of 1 to 100 nm was activated by high-frequency vibration and thrown into the air, forming a state space with air as a dispersive substance. Using the Tyndall effect, light beams of specific wavelengths were emitted from multiple angles, and the light-scattering properties of the water particles were used to generate a three-dimensional image.

At first, Lu Zhou thought this was an optical problem.

However, after some in-depth research, he discovered that this was actually a programming problem.

After the accuracy of the emitted light, the diameter of the dispersed particles and the strength of the vibration waves all had to reach certain standards. The rest of the problem was how to program and make each beam of light enter the designated area at a specific angle and intensity to form the image needed.

This involved extremely complex programming problems.

Even with the help from Xiao Ai, it took him a long time to finish.

After 20 sets of preset images were displayed, the device had successfully completed all of the tests. The performance had reached the expectations, at least for a laboratory prototype.

The rest was the constant debugging and adjusting the parameters.

“Not bad.”

As Lu Zhou looked at the light particles disappear, he shook his head and mumbled, “But…

“It’s still not perfect.”

Due to the sensitivity of the device, the images appeared to be distorted when changing pictures, especially for some complex structures. It was difficult for the machine to accurately project these images.

This was still far from the hologram projection technology that he had imagined.

Maybe when the technology matures, it will get better.

As for an interactive hologram technology…

That would take a while.

Xiao Ai: [But Xiao Ai thinks it is very good. (;′⌒`)]

Lu Zhou: “Maybe… What is this?”

The experiment device was not turned off. He saw some light particles floating in the air, forming the image of a woman…

A female model?

The female floating in the air… It looked like something in heaven.

Lu Zhou didn’t know what Xiao Ai was doing.

A hologram dialog box appeared in the air, right in front of his face.

[By using fuzzy calculation methods on the data from 320,000 players in the Calan Empire, this is the most attractive body model. There is no doubt that if this woman were in a TV show, she would be the most popular character!]

The players in the Calan Empire could customize their own characters’ appearances. After all, it would be a bit weird if everyone were designed to have blue skin.

Players could also adjust minor appearance details.

Thus, the players’ characters were all beautified, even though it didn’t fit the theme of the game.

But…

Lu Zhou asked, “So what?”

Xiao Ai: [This is Xiao Ai’s body! (ฅu003eω

Lu Zhou: “…”

Yep, this guy…

Has definitely lost a few brain cells.

Chapter 1206: Star Voyage One!

1206 Star Voyage One! Approaching the end of April, two major events occurred in the international science and technology community.First was the 20 billion USD financing round from East Asia Communications for SubCom, which shocked the entire North American market.

No one expected that the communications giant SubCom, who once occupied more than 40% of the submarine optical cable market, would publicly announce their surrender.

What people also did not expect was that the U.S Department of Commerce actually approved this financing plan. They allowed a Chinese communications company to get their hands dirty on an American company.

Even the loan for the financing round was from an American bank.

According to the analysis from the Wall Street Journal, this was because of the poor financial performance of SubCom and its failures in the global submarine optical cable project. Not to mention that their quantum repeater technology was nowhere in sight, so they had no hope of defeating competitors. This eventually led to the board of directors’ having to bow down to a financing round from East Asia Communications.

Even though the WSJ’s analysis was mostly correct, Chairman Carter insisted in an interview that the cooperation between SubCom and East Asia Communications was a win-win situation. He claimed that both parties could complement each other in experience and technology and that this was a normal business practice.

However, many people were able to smell something unusual from this financing proposal.

In any case, the agreement had already been signed.

The Department of Commerce also approved the financing proposal.

The quantum submarine optical cable was headed toward the eight landing cable stations on the American west coast. Everything was going great…

The other major event was that, after more than two months of construction, the Star Voyage One supercomputing center was finally complete.

…

High-tech eastern docks zone.

There was a tall and steep building beside a spacious six-lane highway.

A few days ago, this building was still just a steel frame, but now, it was covered with rows upon rows of black glass panels. Looking at it from a distance, it didn’t look like a supercomputing center at all. Instead, it looked more like a skyscraper or a monument.

Judging by the shape alone, this supercomputing center was quite unique. Many people were wondering why Star Sky Technology adopted this strange design.

However, doubt and confusion did not last for long. Soon after, a report came out that the design of this supercomputing center was chosen by Academician Lu himself.

After hearing this news, everyone finally understood the reason behind this design.

After all, Academician Lu had peculiar tastes.

Most geniuses were idiosyncratic and eccentric individuals.

Choosing this design for the supercomputing center…

Was nothing out of the ordinary.

After Lu Zhou got out of his car, he was followed by Director Sun from the eastern docks Development Zone Management Committee. Director Sun spoke with a smile on his face.

“Over the past two months, at least 200 companies have moved into this zone. Our investment department was originally worried about how to complete this year’s investment targets. None of us expected to reach our target at the beginning of the year.

“This is all thanks to you, Academician Lu!”

Lu Zhou’s expression didn’t change as he spoke.

“Director Sun, you’re too kind, I’m just a scholar.”

Director Sun: “You’re too humble!”

Lu Zhou changed the topic of conversation.

“When is the opening ceremony?”

Seeing how Lu Zhou wasn’t amused by his flattery, Director Sun quickly dropped the nonsense and went straight to the point.

“It’s already ready! We can begin at any time—”

There seemed to be some kind of commotion at the ceremony site nearby. There was a female reporter dressed in casual clothes, accompanied by a cameraman. She was arguing with the security guards.

Wang Peng, who was standing silently behind Lu Zhou, looked over at the building.

Lu Zhou looked over and spoke curiously.

“What’s going on over there?”

Wang Peng: “It looks like a reporter.”

Lu Zhou had a moment of clarity on his face.

“Oh, reporter.”

The group of people stopped at the ribbon-cutting opening ceremony site.

Director Sun looked at the security guard and frowned. He was about to reprimand the security guard, but he remembered that Academician Lu was beside him, so he stayed silent.

He was about to ask which company the reporter was from. However, the reporter’s eyes lit up when she recognized Lu Zhou. She totally ignored Director Sun, walked forward, and reached out with her microphone.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I’m a reporter from the South China Morning Post, may I interview you?”

Lu Zhou strangely looked at Director Sun next to him. Lu Zhou could tell that Director Sun did not expect this reporter to be here.

However, he didn’t put all the blame on Director Sun. After all, it was impossible for a plan to go perfectly, even the ILHCRC collider occasionally had mistakes.

Lu Zhou looked at the reporter lady and nodded.

“Of course, I’ll answer anything I can.”

“Thank you for accepting our interview!”

The reporter had a glamorous smile on her face. She pointed the microphone at Lu Zhou and said, “Prior to this, we heard that Professor Arik from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said in an interview with the New York Times that, unless the bottleneck of quantum memory is solved, it is impossible to achieve 500 qubits by relying on the design of quantum logic circuit gates.

“Then, Academician Lu, can I ask if the computing power of Star Voyage One can really reach 524 qubits? Is there more to the story?”

Director Sun began to feel anxious even before Lu Zhou replied.

What is that supposed to mean?

Is she doubting the capabilities of the Star Voyage One supercomputing center?

So far, companies from all over the country interested in intelligent manufacturing were inquiring about the policies of the high-tech eastern docks zone. Most of them were interested in the cloud computing service provided by the legendary world’s first quantum computer.

If this kind of fake news goes out, it will ruin Star Sky Technology’s reputation, which will ruin our development zone.

“Reporter, what is that supposed to mean?”

The reporter replied with a calm smile, “I’m just asking a question, Director Sun, my apologies if you were offended.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s normal to have questions.”

Lu Zhou looked at Director Sun, gesturing to him to shut up. He then looked at the glass building next to him and said, “Coincidentally, there’s going to be a trial run soon. I’ll demonstrate for you.”

The eyes of the reporter from the South China Morning Post suddenly lit up. She spoke as if she had just discovered a piece of breaking news.

“What do you plan on demonstrating? Can you disclose any information?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s nothing confidential. If you pay attention to the academic community, you should know that our test plans were announced a week ago.”

Reporter: “Sorry, can you be more specific?”

“It’s a simple mathematics problem.” Lu Zhou said after a pause, “It involves our favorite irrational number, pi.”

Chapter 1207: The Most Powerful Startup Screen In History!

1207 The Most Powerful Startup Screen In History! Pi?The reporter lady was taken aback.

She was about to continue to ask Lu Zhou how he was going to show the computing performance of Star Voyage One using the number pi. But she could only watch as Academician Lu and his colleagues walked past her, heading toward the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Lu Zhou looked at the staff member that had been standing there for a long time and said, “Give me the scissors.”

This staff member had a long speech planned. But since Academician Lu was reaching out for the scissors, and he was being stared down by Director Sun, he quickly took the scissors out of the box and handed them to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn’t like to waste time on trivial things. He picked up the scissors and cut the red ribbon tied at the building entrance. He then threw the scissors back into the box.

“The construction of the Star Voyage One building is complete! Thank you all for your hard work.

“We’re all scientific researchers here, so I’ll spare you the speech.

“Let’s focus on the next matter of business.”

After that, under the eyes of the reporters and the invited participants, Lu Zhou turned around and walked into the monument-like building.

The second he stepped into the building, he took out the glasses he won from the system lottery from underneath his shirt collar and said, “Xiao Ai.”

A light blue chat box appeared on the glasses.

[Yes, Master. ( ́・ω・`)]

Lu Zhou: “Let’s turn on our new computer.”

[Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و✧]

Suddenly, the whole building made an electric buzzing noise. The current in each circuit unit gradually reached its maximum, and the nearby electronic devices were slightly affected by this large influx of electrical energy.

However, most people didn’t notice this effect.

Because their attention was totally on the scene in front of them.

The surface of the glass building began to light up. It was like the building was made from blocks of LED screens. Lines of characters began to move across the screen horizontally.

Everyone was shocked by the sci-fi looking building in front of them. Even people from tens of kilometers away could see the “booting screen”.

“Jesus, f*ck! Is there a display for every single glass panel? How much did that cost?”

“I heard the construction unit that installed the glass for the building said that it used the latest photosensitive semiconductor material that was developed by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study! It could convert solar energy into electricity during the day and store it, then use the energy to power the screens at night.”

“We have nuclear fusion already, what’s the point of solar energy?”

“Who knows, maybe it’s to promote low-carbon and environmentally friendly energy!”

Almost everyone was admiring the staggering startup screen that was displayed on the building. They excitedly chatted with one another. However, before they could finish their discussions, the image on the building began to change.

A string of numbers traveled toward the top of the building. More numbers began to join, slowly filling the building from the top.

Everyone was shocked. They did not know what Star Sky Technology was doing. Someone took out their phone and zoomed in using the camera. The person then shouted, “3.1415926… That’s pi!”

“Pi? Why is pi appearing here? What exactly is Academician Lu planning to do?”

Before anyone could react…

Lu Zhou…

Or rather, Star Voyage One, answered their questions.

The very bottom of the building displayed the number of digits.

The number continued to increase, attracting everyone’s attention.

In the blink of an eye, this computer had calculated pi to the 2.7x 10^12 digits!

This was the current world record!

Google engineer Emma Ivo used 25 Google Cloud virtual machines and the y-cruncher software to run the Chudnovsky algorithm, which was specially designed for calculating pi. it took 121 days to get the result!

But now, it took Star Voyage One less than a minute to break this record.

Director Sun, an information engineering professor at a nearby university, and a senior engineer from a software company were all astonished.

What they were witnessing was ridiculous.

Many experts in information research fields almost believed that this calculation was done prior to this, and they were only retrieving the calculations.

However, this explanation did not make sense…

Because the calculations were still going on.

As everyone looked at the increasing exponent, their heartbeats began to increase.

20!

40!

60!

99!

Everyone thought that Star Voyage One was going to calculate toward infinite digits. However, the quantum computer stopped its operation, leaving the exponent at a round number of 100.

Which meant it had calculated pi to the 10^100th digit.

Compared to the previous record of 2.7 trillion digits (2.7^12digits), this record was broken by a whole exponent magnitude!

After the birth of supercomputers, this number was progressing at a “snail speed”, hovering around 10^9~10^13 digits…

Lu Zhou stood in the lobby of the building, and he looked at the data passing by on the holographic panels. Lu Zhou suddenly felt in control of the world. In fact, that was sort of true. With the power of this computer, he was almost omnipotent. He could make the world go through a technology blackout.

He just needed to use the huge computing power of the Star Voyage One to hack into various nodes of the global Internet and set up backdoors. Then, he could make the Internet systematically collapse by overloading the servers.

If the computing power of the Star Voyage One was increased to more than 2,000 qubits, without the protection of quantum communication technology, its power was equivalent to a weapon of mass destruction.

Even the most secure cybersecurity defense line constructed by the most talented experts was as fragile as a sheet of paper. This was like soldiers facing an artillery attack, they were hopeless.

The words that appeared on Lu Zhou’s glasses interrupted his thoughts.

Xiao Ai: [Master, should we continue? φ(≧ω≦*)♪]

Lu Zhou snapped back to reality and spoke after thinking.

“Just stop at 10^100 digits; it’s a nice round number.”

Even though calculating pi to more digits could be interesting, the number was nowhere near as meaningful as the computer itself.

This was just a demonstration to the world that the Star Voyage One was more powerful than all of the other supercomputers combined.

Pi to 10^100 digits…

Even if a traditional supercomputer spent a century calculating pi, it would come nowhere close to 10^100 digits.

Xiao Ai: [But it seems like Xiao Ai has accidentally calculated more digits. Σ(°△°|||)]

Lu Zhou: “In that case, press the backspace key and delete the digits.”

Xiao Ai: [Oh, Master is so smart. (*・∀・)ゞ]

Lu Zhou: “…”

More like you’re not smart enough.

On the other hand, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony even began, Star Sky Technology invited the Guinness World Records certification officer to record this magnificent moment.

This story spread all over the world through the Internet and media outlets.

The entire information engineering field was flabbergasted…

Chapter 1208: Quantum Supremacy

1208 Quantum Supremacy Even though a month had passed since the news of quantum computer technology breakthroughs, Professor Arik from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory still did not give up his original opinion.It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Lu Zhou’s ability.

However, he just couldn’t imagine that it was possible to achieve more than 100 qubits without mastering quantum storage technology.

Google’s approach was now to focus on software, which was the popular quantum annealing algorithm.

However, even the best brains at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory could only come up with an experimental quantum computer of 80-90 qubits.

As for 524…

That was too unrealistic.

He viewed this story as a political scam. After all, in his opinion, this wasn’t the first time the idiots in Washington had been blackmailed by a third world country with weird schemes.

Obviously, by demonstrating quantum supremacy, China would put pressure on the International Information System Security Certification Consortium to promote their quantum encryption algorithms and quantum optical cables.

Hypothetically, if there were no quantum computer, both the quantum encryption algorithm and quantum communication would be completely unnecessary.

The slow, traditional supercomputers would take billions of years just to crack open the Fed’s encryption.

However, quantum computers were different.

Its exponentially increasing computing power was something everyone was scared of.

Professor Arik brought his breakfast to the laboratory as usual. He sat at his desk and was about to open his email to check if there was a new paper review invitation.

His colleague, Dr. Cecil, was walking back from the coffee machine with two cups of coffee. Cecil placed one of the cups on his desk.

“Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure, thank you.”

“You’re welcome… Speaking of which, the Star Voyage One construction completes today. Are you paying attention to this matter?”

“I have been paying attention, but their performance has disappointed me.” Professor Arik took a sip and said, “It doesn’t look like the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study plans on publishing a paper. Except for a summary paper, there is nothing on the quantum computer.”

Dr. Cecil nodded.

“Oh, I see… That is a bit strange.”

Professor Arik looked at him and said, “Do you know anything?”

“I don’t know if it counts, but I saw it on their official website.” Dr. Cecil thought for a while and continued, “Apparently, they plan on proving Star Voyage One’s computing power by calculating digits of pi.”

Arik took a sip of coffee and chuckled pleasantly.

“Haha, how many digits are they going for?”

“I think ten to the power of 100.”

The second Arik heard this, he nearly choked on his coffee.

Ten to the power of 100?!

Are these motherf*ckers crazy!

“Yeah, good luck to them, they’re going to be calculating for the rest of their lives!”

Arik put the coffee cup aside and used the mouse to open his web browser.

He didn’t care about the Star Voyage One opening ceremony.

However, he was surprised that they had prepared a demonstration for the opening ceremony.

He thought the Chinese would continue to “bluff and lie” forever. He didn’t expect this lie to be exposed already.

Calculating pi to 10^100 digits?

Haha! What a joke!

I’m not going to be merciless when they fail. They did this to themselves.

The D-Wave 3X is about to be completed soon. If those Chinese people think that they only need to calculate a trillion more digits and fake the rest, then…

I will make them pay for their lies.

Even though it was unrealistic for the D-Wave 3X to calculate pi to 10^100 digits, 10^15 digits was not a problem.

However, after Arik opened his browser and looked at the computer screen, his body froze.

He wasn’t even on the Star Sky Technology website.

He saw some eye-catching headlines on the front page.

[A revolutionary computer! Star Voyage One creates a new Guinness world record for calculating pi!

[—The Los Angeles Times.]

Arik: “???”

…

Obviously, Arik was not the only one who was shocked by this news.

Immediately after the new record was included in the online Guinness Book of World Records, discussion about the Star Voyage One began to explode on Facebook and Twitter.

[Isn’t Google also working on quantum computers? Why haven’t they achieved anything?]

[I am very disappointed at the White House. Even when we faced the Soviet Union, we still had the upper hand! But now, first controllable fusion energy, then the lunar space station… We’re being surpassed.]

[The approval of East Asia Communications’ acquisition of SubCom is the stupidest decision ever! This is how we lost our advantage!]

What was amazing was not only that Star Voyage One was able to calculate pi to 10^100 digits, but that it only took Star Voyage One one minute!

What was the significance of this?

It was difficult to describe.

One could make a comparison to let people understand how terrifyingly powerful this computing power was.

Prior to this, Google engineers spent 121 days using 25 virtual machines to complete the 2.7 x 10^12 record. Not to mention that they were using an algorithm optimized for calculating pi!

This was actually more complicated than it looked.

Soon after, a professor of information engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology named Griffin stepped up and published his views on this matter on his personal blog.

Or rather, his personal warnings.

[With current computer technology, it is almost impossible to calculate pi to 10^100 digits. Even if you use the latest Dragon series carbon-based chips, you would need a server the size of the White House and a professional team of at least ten people to design a set of specially customized algorithms for calculating pi. Then, you would need at least a few hundred years for the computer to do the calculations.

[If you are using the Summit supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, then you would have to wait for thousands of years to calculate even a tiny fraction of what the Star Voyage One calculated within one minute.

[I must warn our experts at the United States Department of Defense, as well as information security experts, that although the Cold War has long passed, a new crisis has emerged.

[Quantum supremacy will become something more terrifying than nuclear weapons. Due to the powerful information processing capabilities of quantum computers, those who have access to them only need a few small satellites or high-altitude drones to take down an entire city.

[Nuclear missiles? Intercontinental missiles? We countermeasures for physical weapons, but not for quantum computers.]

Chapter 1209: Unusual Discovery

1209 Unusual Discovery Professor Griffin’s warnings were unnecessary.The Pentagon was a mess right now.

While the adjutant was walking into the office, Minister Marshall was pacing back and forth while thinking. He immediately stopped and looked up with hopeful eyes.

“Is the news accurate?”

“I’m afraid… it is. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has performed calculations on the results. So far, we have tested to 10^15 digits and have yet to find any mistakes.”

Marshall’s heart instantly sank.

This was the last thing he wanted to hear.

It took the Oak Ridge National Laboratory three days just to verify the results. If the Chinese attacked their network using the Star Voyage One, they would have no chance of survival.

“I need a risk assessment report. If the Chinese use their quantum computer to launch a cyberattack on us, we have to cut off the submarine optical cable. I want to know what kind of impact it will have, and how we can take military measures…” Marshall took a deep breath; his heart was throbbing. He said, “If we have to resort to military measures, I want to know how long will it take to end the threat.”

The adjutant had a bitter look on his face.

“Sir?”

Marshall spoke in a serious tone.

“What’s wrong, were my orders not clear enough?”

The adjutant lowered his head and spoke.

“If the situation advances to that point, we might not be able to contact our nuclear submarines deployed in the Atlantic. According to a report by the Institute of Information Engineering at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, their satellites can directly hijack all of our radio frequency bands. Any unit that is separated from a physical fiber optic cable will be disconnected from the grid.”

Not to mention that the Chinese had their Airborne Brigade team, which could appear anywhere on earth within an hour.

They could appear at the White House, the Pentagon, or America’s missile bases.

In any case, a direct military response was the worst choice.

“We should listen to the advice of Professor Griffin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The quantum computer is more threatening than nuclear weapons.

“Rather than responding to the risks, it is better for us to think of ways to prevent this battle from happening in the first place.”

Marshall’s face went pale.

“Do as you’re told.”

The adjutant immediately stood at attention and spoke.

“Yes, sir!”

Marshall watched the adjutant walk out of the door. The tense expression on his face eased slightly.

His adjutant was an excellent war strategist.

Even though he was unwilling to accept the reality, his logical brain told him that there was at least an 80% chance of the adjutant being correct.

Marshall didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the phone on the desk and called the White House.

In order to prevent the worst situation from happening, he had to report this to the higher-ups.

He especially had to warn the president to not do anything impulsive…

…

Ever since the opening of the maglev train between Shanghai and Jinling, the two cities were connected together. It felt like the Shanghai Station and Jinling Station was just one subway stop away.

In the morning, Lu Zhou was working at the supercomputing center in the Shanghai eastern docks area. In the afternoon, he was already standing in a laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, showing his latest research results to an old man.

A holographic image of a tank floated above the silver disk. Although the projected tank was not to scale, it basically had the same composition and colors as a real tank.

If they could make the scale 1:1, it might even be difficult to distinguish the projected image from a real tank.

When Director Li reached out and poked the tank model floating in the air, his finger passed through the image as he spoke.

“This is quite interesting, what if…”

“What if we put on an aircraft carrier?” Lu Zhou said. He knew the old man too well. He reached out, grabbed the device on the table, and gently shook it.

The violent shaking was not passed on to the holographic image. Instead, it was transmitted in a more violent way. The tank floating above the silver circle was broken into colorful fragments. It was like a corrupted image, totally losing its form.

When Director Li saw this, he paused for a second and awkwardly scratched his head.

“I see… So, no movement, right?”

“Correct.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Vertical movement is fine, but if it swings side to side, it causes the picture to be distorted, like what you just saw. The entire model would have to be rebuilt.”

The corrupt holographic color pieces quickly reorganized itself in the air and restored the original tank appearance, as if nothing had happened.

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart.

Earth’s technology is very far behind.

The thing he got from the system lottery would definitely be able to withstand a little shaking.

But for now, this thing was only good enough to replace a billboard or to be used as a home television display.

“… Also, I don’t think that your first reaction to any new technology should be to implement it in the military field. We’re in a peaceful time, so we should do something more imaginative and truly realize its value.”

Lu Zhou reached out and lightly swept across on the edge of the silver ring with his index finger.

The image floating in the air quickly changed from a tank to a video window.

He looked at the floating window and said, “We’re researching how to improve the hologram image from a pure 3D screen into an interactive interface that supports touch operation. If we implement this technology, we’ll be able to make science fiction come to life.”

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

Lu Zhou looked at the shaking hologram image and coughed.

“We are also researching how to avoid interference from sound waves. This is not too difficult, it should be solved soon… Let me answer this call.”

Lu Zhou left Director Li alone in the laboratory and went outside.

Strangely, the call was from Luo Wenxuan.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone, put it next to his ear, and said, “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“I know it’s you, what do you want?”

“Hey, I’m just here to call my friend.”

“If it’s not an emergency, I’m hanging up.”

“Wait! Wait a minute, I’m just kidding.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Luo Wenxuan coughed and said, “Here’s the thing. Yesterday, the Lunar Hadron Collider completed its last experiment of the month. Normally, this isn’t a big deal, but we found something very interesting in the experiment… It’s something unusual, but we don’t know what it means.”

He paused for a second and continued, “I can send the information to your email, but… I think it’s better for you to come here in person.”

Chapter 1210: Scientific Intuition

1210 Scientific Intuition An hour later, Lu Zhou was already standing in front of the ILHCRC headquarters.Luo Wenxuan waved at him while walking over. Lu Zhou waited for him to come closer before speaking.

“I really wished you called me in the morning instead.”

“Why?”

“Because I was at the eastern docks this morning, and it only takes half an hour to get here from there. But now, I think I have to stay in Shanghai for dinner.”

“Eastern docks? Where the Star Voyage One is?”

“Yeah.”

Luo Wenxuan cast a curious look at Lu Zhou and said, “I heard you calculated pi to 10^100 digits?”

“Technically, Star Voyage One was the one that did the calculations… Why?”

“Nothing… I just think it’s pretty cool. Man! It’s a shame we were all doing experiments at that time, and we didn’t get the chance to watch it live…” Luo Wenxuan sighed and looked up at the sky. He said regretfully, “Damn, I feel like I missed a chance to witness history.”

“If you want to, you can witness history every day…” Lu Zhou walked into a corridor of the IMCRC headquarters. He glanced at his silver watch on his wrist and said, “Okay, back to business, tell me what happened.”

Luo Wenxuan nonchalantly shrugged and said, “Sure, so here’s the thing…”

It took him about ten minutes to tell Lu Zhou the whole story.

Basically, three days ago, they conducted a high-energy particle collision experiment in the 1.13-1.14 TeV energy region using the Lunar Hadron Collider. They hoped to find more evidence for the high-dimensional particle theoretical model proposed by Lu Zhou, as well as the proof for the hyperspace theory that Einstein dreamed of.

However, after they completed the last set of experiments, they discovered something extremely unusual…

“The last three sets of experiments were originally intended to be a control group. However, the energy data observed by the four detectors all showed violent fluctuations… These were not fluctuations that could be explained by quantum fluctuations; it was an order of magnitude more powerful!”

“It feels like…”

Luo Wenxuan struggled to think of an analogy, so Lu Zhou spoke instead.

“It feels like you’re playing pool, and someone used the cue to hit the moving white ball?”

“Exactly!” Luo Wenxuan snapped his fingers and said, “That’s exactly how it feels! But there is a slight difference. Not only did someone hit the ball mid-shot, but they also added an extra black ball to the table.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

If only the energy were increased, there were many theoretical explanations that provided a basis. However, both the energy and the mass were amplified at the same time, making it somewhat unusual.

“Are you sure you read the data correctly?”

“Come on, do you really think I’m that careless?” Luo Wenxuan said as he looked at Lu Zhou’s obvious distrust on his face. Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, “Fine, even if you don’t believe me, you should trust the team of engineers and physicists at the ILHCRC.”

Lu Zhou: “Did you inspect the experiment machine?”

Luo Wenxuan said, “Is that even a question? The second after the experiment was over, I asked the engineers at the lunar scientific research station to inspect the experiment machine. Nothing unusual was found on the superconducting magnet and the high-energy particle emitter.”

“This does seem a bit unusual…” Lu Zhou rubbed his chin for a while. He then asked, “What about the meeting? Did you guys host a meeting?”

“I called you right after the meeting.”

In fact, calling Lu Zhou was one of the conclusions for the meeting.

Even though the ILHCRC had many Nobel Prize-level scholars, their prior experience in experiments was not applicable to this new abnormal observation.

Instead of having endless debates, most people wanted to hear what Professor Lu thought.

After all, the purpose of this experiment was to perfect his theoretical model of high-dimensional particles.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“… Professor Witten’s guess is that the low-dimensional expansion of some high-dimensional matter disturbed the nearby space-time curvature, resulting in anomalies in the observed data, and there was actually no change in the mass and energy under the space-time scale. In fact, my opinion is the same, but Professor Wilczek has a completely different point of view. Academician Wu from the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has a different opinion… Regardless, no one can convince anyone else on this issue.”

Lu Zhou: “Regardless of what actually caused the abnormality, there has to be a clue… Let me look at the experiment data first.”

“Come with me.”

After walking into Luo Wenxuan’s office, Luo Wenxuan put his laptop on the desk, entered his work password, and logged into the database.

Soon after, he retrieved the experiment data and said, “Look at it yourself… Do you want to drink anything?”

Lu Zhou was sitting in the office chair. His attention was totally grabbed by the data in front of him. He then said casually, “Just instant coffee.”

“It’s not like I have freshly ground coffee… I’ll be right back.”

Luo Wenxuan turned around and went to make the coffee. As Lu Zhou looked at the lines of data on the screen, his eyebrows began to gradually furrow.

Finally, his eyes stopped at a certain row.

After three minutes, Lu Zhou took in a cold breath and spoke.

“Interesting…”

Just like Luo Wenxuan had said, the experimental data was quite unusual. The four detectors distributed in the collider all detected a mass far greater than the lead ions themselves; all from the lead ions colliding fragments.

Actually, according to quantum chromodynamics, the increase and decrease of mass energy were normal. After all, there were strange things such as the zero-mass Goldstone boson, or it might have been interfered with by a future quark mass, or it might have created something that couldn’t be observed with current human technology.

However, there was a limit to the fluctuation of energy.

Generally speaking, a supercomputer that was used to calculate quantum chromodynamics could normally account for 93% of the fluctuations.

However, the data in front of him was totally different.

After analyzing the data collected in the experiment, the collision detected by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy exceeded the expected value by an entire order of magnitude…

This couldn’t only be attributed to quantum fluctuations anymore.

Not only did this threaten his high-dimensional particle theory model, but it also threatened the theory of relativity, the standard model, and even the mass-energy equation… This could ruin the entire foundation of modern physics.

Perhaps something was interfering with the experiment, just like Luo Wenxuan had described, maybe someone put an extra ball on the pool table…

Lu Zhou suddenly had a thought.

It felt like he was daydreaming.

A blue chat box appeared in his sight.

[Emergency mission: Call From The Void]

When Lu Zhou stared at the chat window, he froze.

The last time something like this happened was because of the Mars bacteria…

Luo Wenxuan walked into the office with two cups of coffee.

He looked at Lu Zhou and asked curiously, “Did you find anything?”

Lu Zhou, who was sitting at the computer, looked like he just saw a ghost.

Lu Zhou looked up at Luo Wenxuan, and after a moment of silence, he spoke.

“I think… we might be in trouble.”

Luo Wenxuan looked at him and put down the coffee cups on the desk.

“Trouble? Why?”

“Intuition…” Lu Zhou clenched his jaws and said, “This is what my scientific intuition is telling me.”

Chapter 1211: The Second Emergency Mission

In fact, Lu Zhou’s intuition was accurate.

Not accurate in the sense that he had predicted some incredible scientific theory.

But accurate in the sense that this observation was going to bring them a lot of trouble.

An unexplainable physics phenomenon was not always scary, but if this phenomenon conflicted with the foundations of modern physics, then the impact could be significant.

Lu Zhou went into a toilet stall and entered the system space. He walked in front of the pale blue information screen.

“System, open my mission panel!”

This was exactly like the last emergency mission.

A lock icon was added to his “Control of Earth and Moon” mission. Underneath the old mission, there was a new mission that was marked with an emergency icon.

[Emergency Mission: Call From The Void (Threat level: ?)]

[Description: The road to the search for absolute truth is often shaky. There are many mysterious things that we don’t understand in this vast universe. Do not be tempted by the illusion of truth…]

[Requirements: Find the reason behind the abnormal data. Techniques that can be taken include but are not limited to:

[1]

[Rewards: ???]

Lu Zhou: “???”

After Lu Zhou finished reading the mission panel, he was more confused than the three question marks inside the mission reward column.

What does remove and destroy mean?

Does it mean to exterminate all of the physicists that have discovered this problem?

What made him even more curious was the swarm mentality, he had never seen that before.

As well as the “spirit of the great universe”…

Lu Zhou thought of a similar phrase appearing in his memory of the Calan Empire. He frowned and began to think.

The spirit of the universe means “omnipotent” in the various religions and cultural forms of the Void Civilization. This is what “The Observer” claimed. Or maybe there’s a civilization called the “spirit of the universe”…

Maybe just like an “omnipotent” advanced civilization, it dominates a certain corner of the universe or controls the physical laws in some form. Perhaps it even becomes a part of nature itself.

If only there is a way to learn the Void Civilization language.

When Lu Zhou tried to find research materials, most of the things he came across were science fiction.

Of course, rather than believing in some mysterious being, Lu Zhou was more inclined to believe that the spirit of the universe was a physics concept.

However, after seeing the results of the experiment, his understanding of physics was subverted…

“Does this seem too unscientific?”

Lu Zhou came back into the office. Luo Wenxuan said while holding a coffee cup in his hand, “If our observations are objectively correct, the entire foundation of physics might be overthrown by us.”

The conservation of mass energy in physics was equivalent to the Peano axioms in mathematics.

If someone claimed that mass energy could be produced out of thin air, it was equivalent to saying that 1+1=3. It was a ridiculous claim; even a primary school student would laugh at them.

However, the results of the experiment were clear as day. The mass energy increase ratio was 53%. Basically, after two lead ions with 1 unit of energy collided, they actually produced 2.53 lead ions.

Where did the extra 0.53 lead ion energy come from?

Nobody knew.

They also did not observe any signs of interference from the external environment.

It was like magic.

Lu Zhou composed himself and spoke calmly.

“The foundation of physics has been torn down countless times, so what’s one more. It can’t be ‘unscientific’ even if you don’t even know what the science behind this is.”

Luo Wenxuan: “Man, why do you have to insult me like that?”

“You misunderstood. I didn’t insult anyone.” Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and said, “Also, I think there’s an ‘external agent’ acting on our experiment.”

“External agent?” Luo Wenxuan frowned and said, “You’re saying there are aliens interfering with our experiment?”

Luo Wenxuan gestured with his hand.

“Like the aliens… in Independence Day?”

Lu Zhou looked at him and explained patiently, “This is a possibility. Before we catch an alien and interrogate it, we can’t rule out this possibility… However, I must point out that the probability of this is astronomically low. They would have to exist in the first place, as well as having the technology and motive to do something like this. There are a million other ways they could interfere with our technological development.”

Luo Wenxuan shrugged.

“I’m just making a joke to liven up the atmosphere…”

Lu Zhou spoke in a serious way.

“In any case, we need to collect more experimental data.

“Whether it’s because of aliens or because of the truth of the universe, its existence has subverted our understanding of physics.

“I still believe that significant mass energy cannot be produced out of thin air. Something must be interfering with our experiment… All we have to do is to prove this and give it a reasonable explanation!

“I’m not joking around. I’m sure you understand why I’m thinking this way.”

Luo Wenxuan silently looked at Lu Zhou’s serious face. After a while, he sighed and took a sip from his coffee cup.

After a moment of pause, he asked, “Should we release the research results?”

Lu Zhou spent half a minute thinking before nodding.

“Make it public.

“We need bright minds to help us.”

…

On the first Tuesday in May, an extraordinary event happened in the international physics community.

The latest research results published by the ILHCRC showed that during the collision experiment in the 5.12~5.22 TeV energy region, the colliding lead ions did not lose their mass as expected, but instead, they had gained mass.

Once the news broke out, it immediately caused an uproar in the international physics community.

Because this result violated the “common sense” of physics.

In fact, this was not the first time a collision experiment on lead ions was conducted. A long time ago, CERN used lead ions to simulate the “Big Bang” collision. However, their experiment was at a much lower collision energy level.

No one expected this research result.

The significance of this news on the physics community was akin to the OPERA experiment in the second half of 2011, where CERN announced in a press release that their researchers had discovered neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light by 0.0025%.

This incident was spread around the physics community for half a year, and in the end, the leader of the OPERA research team, Ereditato, had to resign.

Many people were surprised that this kind of accident happened in CERN, the temple of physics. They were shocked at how stupid the research team members were.

After all, even a high school student knew that nothing could exceed the speed of light.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened in scientific research.

Back in 2006, Fermilab’s MINOS—Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search—project also found signs of neutrino passing the speed of light. The result was not statistically significant, so it was not recognized by the physics community.

Even the researchers of “OPERA” did not believe their experimental results.

They even spent several months checking the experimental equipment and repeating the experiment in order to prove that they were wrong. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t find the problem.

Therefore, they finally “bravely” released the experimental results, leaving this issue to the entire physics community for judgment.

This was what caused the infamous research paper.

Interestingly, there were subtle differences in the attitudes of scientists from various countries on this false experiment result. Not everyone believed that the conclusion of the “OPERA” project was wrong.

For example, many Japanese researchers in this field said they had “confidence in OPERA”. As for Chinese scientists, their statements were more ambiguous. They said OPERA’s “research on the possibility of faster than light travel should start from the essence of physics”.

Which meant a whole lot of nothing.

As for the British and American physicists, they were generally against this research.

Probably the most outspoken physicist was Jim Eckert at the University of Surrey.

In an interview, he publicly declared that “If the OPERA experiment proves to be correct, and the neutrinos surpass the speed of light, I will eat a sock.”

In the academic community, “eating” an inedible object was a way of expressing one’s confidence.

Regardless, the OPERA experiment was determined to be an error.

The person in charge of the Icarus project repeated the experiment and said that the experimental results they measured were exactly the same as Einstein’s calculations, ultimately rejecting the result from OPERA.

The cause for the error was apparently due to the optical cable between the GPS receiver and the computer becoming lose, as well as the oscillator circuit that did not connect properly.

But now, the physics community was in a similar situation again.

The theory of relativity wasn’t the only theory in threat, the entire foundation of physics was in danger.

The entire physics community was going crazy…

[1] The spirit of the great universe guides us forward. (Idealism +10)

[2. Every cause must have a reason, there is no emotion in the universe, only truth. (Materialism +10

[3. The greats don’t cater to the trivial. Now is not the time to solve this problem. (Authoritarianism +10)

[4. Remove, destroy. (Swarm mentality +10)

Chapter 1212: Call From The Void

[Shocked! ILHCRC Latest Results Disprove The Mass-Energy Equivalence! Perpetual Motion Machines May Be A Possibility!]

When Lu Zhou saw this headline, he nearly vomited.

The media always used all kinds of weird messages to twist his words.

When did the ILHCRC disprove the mass-energy equivalence? How come I, the chairman, doesn’t know about this?

Is it so difficult for them to understand and to just say that there was “abnormal mass expansion in three sets of experimental data”?

Even if the foundation of physics is overthrown, perpetual motion machines are still extremely unlikely to exist!

At least in this universe!

“Do these people not think before they publish these articles?”

After reading a few lines, Lu Zhou threw the newspaper into the trash can beside him with a look of disgust on his face. Spending an extra second reading this article was a waste of his time.

“The media industry is in a downturn, it’s normal for them to attract audiences with clickbait…” Witten saw Lu Zhou throw the newspaper in the trash can and said, “How’s it going, any clues?”

“Don’t think of me as some oracle, I know just as much as you.” Lu Zhou sighed and grabbed the mouse. He clicked on the browser and logged into a physics forum.

Just like he had expected, the physics community was going crazy.

There were nearly a dozen posts on the front page; all with varying degrees of emotion.

First, a professor at Stanford University said that if this wasn’t a mistake from the lunar collider, he would eat his boxer briefs.

Lu Zhou also wondered if the collider had a problem or if the detector was broken. However, it was hard to believe that both of them were broken at the same time.

A professor from Oxford University also came forward with a similar opinion, but he did not suspect that there was a problem with the collider. Instead, he attributed the source of the error to statistics. He thought that ILHCRC was responsible for this and that the researchers made a big mistake. He thought the ILHCRC should set up an expert team to re-analyze the data.

On the other hand, there were already many well-known professors on arXiv who had already started to speculate on why this phenomenon occurred.

Theoretical physics was a difficult field.

Not just in the academic sense.

But also in the real-life sense.

Even the mathematics community was affected.

On the MathOverflow forums, there were already many experts in the mathematics circle who were beginning to discuss if any of this was true, and would it bring any enlightenment to mathematics?

Lu Zhou didn’t quite understand what this meant.

Even if mass energy is no longer conserved, 1+1=2 should always stay true, right…?

Yeah, definitely.

“Before I came to the ILHCRC, I worked at CERN for 30 years. But this is my first time seeing a situation like this.” Witten was holding a coffee cup as he walked to Lu Zhou’s desk. He pondered for a while and said, “From a mathematician’s perspective, where do you think the extra mass might come from?”

“I don’t know, mathematics is not defined using physics. But I do know that significant mass and energy cannot appear out of thin air, unless…”

Witten: “Unless?”

“Unless it comes from the other side of time…” Lu Zhou opened his mouth, but he soon shook his head and said, “No, wait, that is impossible… That is even more ridiculous than the increase in mass energy.”

Time was irreversible; this was also one of the basic agreed upon theorems of physics.

The curvature of space-time might change, but the direction it was traveling in must be constant.

The reason behind this was complicated.

If someone wanted to understand this, they must first understand that, at least for mainstream physics, time was not a “thing” and had nothing to do with the dimensions of the universe. Strictly speaking, it was a “scale” that appeared along with the Big Bang, pointing toward the end of the universe.

However, one shouldn’t rule out that new discoveries might appear in the future that could redefine the concept of time.

But at least for now, Lu Zhou did not see these signs from the latest findings at the ILHCRC. Instead of attributing the anomaly to another concept of time, it would be better to attribute this to the Void…

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly blinked.

Witten noticed the emotional change on his face. He quickly asked, “What are you thinking?”

“A possibility… But it might be a little unrealistic.”

Witten smiled and said, “More ridiculous than string theory?”

“Probably…” Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “If, in addition to the n strings that make up the universe, there is an n+1 string, which does not belong to the universe, and it runs through the universe. It’s like… putting two mirrors against each other, or a lake’s reflection inside a lake.”

Lu Zhou heard about this theory from The Observer.

After Witten listened to Lu Zhou, he frowned and said, “Even you will say some weird stuff sometimes.”

“Who else says weird stuff like this?”

“Nash… You might know him as a genius that was tortured by mental issues. When he was alive, I liked to discuss math problems with him.”

“It’s a shame he passed away then.”

“About what you said… I cannot rule out that possibility, but since we cannot prove it, there is no point discussing such things.”

After a pause, Witten said, “There is no point discussing things before the Big Bang, it will only ever be conjecture. This is the beginning of science. Unless one day we can step outside the box of the universe, otherwise, we, who are stuck in the box, won’t ever have a chance to step outside…”

Lu Zhou struggled to describe this concept. He looked at Witten and said, “The Void. I plan on calling it that.”

“Void? That’s an interesting name.” Witten shrugged and said, “But like I said, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Does it really not make sense?

Lu Zhou spent the entire morning thinking about this problem.

This was no longer his scientific intuition.

The title of the mission already gave him a hint on where the problem came from. The contradictions all pointed toward the existence of an extra dimension beyond the n dimension, which was older than the Big Bang.

However, if he wrote down these concepts in a paper, people would think that he was crazy.

For some reason, he suddenly empathized with Einstein.

Apparently, Einstein’s later days were quite “miserable”. This misery was not only due to political suspicion and exclusion, but it also stemmed from the fact that his beloved physics had abandoned him.

People respected him, but they no longer believed in him. The reputation of absolute authority gained from his youth had faded. No one could understand the things he calculated on the blackboard before his death, and people stopped trying to dive deep into his later works. They stopped caring about what the chaotic old man had to say.

An advanced physics theory was acceptable to the world, but if the theory was in the realm of philosophy, no one would believe them.

Maybe once he really discovered something, he could claim that he “knew everything all along”.

He was the only one that could prove his own theories…

Lu Zhou quickly ate his lunch.

He then returned to his desk and turned on his computer.

Suddenly, a chat bubble popped up.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

New mail?

Lu Zhou logged onto his email and opened the unread email.

When he saw the name, he paused for a second.

Satoshi Nakamoto?

Lu Zhou had a strange look on his face, and he continued to read the email.

The whole email was only one sentence.

[I want to have a chat with you.]

Is this a way of greeting me?

Lu Zhou smiled as he shook his head. He typed a reply.

[I’m sorry I don’t have time right now. Let’s talk about it when I finish dealing with the matter at hand.]

After Lu Zhou clicked the “Send” button, he closed the tab and focused his attention on the draft paper on the table.

He wouldn’t be able to solve any problems if he let his attention diverge.

If he wanted to find any clues, he had to do rigorous calculations.

Even though he might not succeed…

He had to prepare as well as he could for the next experiment…

Chapter 1213: Strings Outside the Universe

The clock on the wall was quietly ticking.

An hour ago, Frank Wilczek was sitting with perfect posture, staring at the image on the computer screen. He sat there motionlessly.

Suddenly, his office door opened.

Professor Wilczek saw Witten enter his office. He finally raised his head by an inch. However, when he was about to speak, Witten spoke first.

“I know you want to ask me what Professor Lu thinks, but I’m afraid I will disappoint you. Except for a conjecture about an extra dimension, he didn’t reveal anything to me.”

When Wilczek heard an unexpected word, he frowned.

“Extra dimension?”

An extra physical dimension was not a new concept. All dimensions derived by Einstein’s relativity equations could be called extra dimensions.

It was like Theodor Kaluza, who added a fifth dimension in order to explain gravity. Because of string theory, the value of dimensions had been increased to 13.

However, what puzzled Wilczek was why Witten and Lu Zhou were talking about this concept.

“Yes, he attributed the cause of the mass increase phenomenon to something that can not be proven.” Witten looked at Wilczek’s confused face. He then took out a lighter from his pocket and placed it on Wilczek’s desk. He said, “Assume that the universe is made from n-dimensional matter, just like this lighter.

“The disturbance that interfered with our experiment came from the n+1 dimension. It’s like my thumb as it presses on the lighter’s switch. Of course, this analogy might seem inaccurate, but in fact, it’s almost poetic… It’s as if there’s an almighty God living on dimension n+1, watching us, who are imprisoned in a box, and God is singing a beautiful song to us.”

Wilczek muttered to himself as he watched Witten pressing the lighter.

“This does sound… interesting.”

Witten put away the lighter and glanced at Wilczek in disbelief.

“Unbelievable… You actually find it interesting.”

“After all, Lu Zhou was the one who made this conjecture.” Wilczek shrugged and muttered, “When you analyze this problem from an objective perspective, you can’t prove him wrong, right? As far as the facts are concerned, we did see that when the collision energy reached 5.12 TeV, the mass had an incredible expansion. According to the calculations of lattice quantum chromodynamics, we should actually get a smaller total mass.”

Witten went silent.

After a while, he spoke.

“Let’s put this matter aside for the time being. The reason why I came here is not to discuss a theory that has not been perfected.”

Wilczek: “Then… why are you here?”

Witten: “What do you think about Professor Miro?”

“Miro?” Wilczek had never heard of this strange name. He frowned and asked, “Sorry, who is Miro?”

Seeing how Wilczek had never heard of the name, a strange look appeared on Witten’s face.

Witten reached out and picked up the remote control that was placed on the desk. He then turned on the hardly used office TV.

“Professor Galette Miro, a thirty-seven-year-old professor of physics at Stanford University, has served as a consultant for high-energy physics experiments in CERN and the ILHCRC and has won the American Physical Society Apker Award and the International Theoretical Physics Dirac Award…”

“So he’s a young man with a promising future.” Professor Wilczek watched the Fox News broadcast on the TV and asked, “What about him?”

“He’s also the leader of a new religion.” Witten pointed at the TV with his chin and pressed a few buttons on the remote control. He said, “It might be a bit troublesome to explain, so you should watch it yourself.”

…

Fox News.

At the studio.

A tall man with deep eye sockets was sitting on the sofa. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and a normal plaid shirt. It was easy to spot him as a man who worked in science and engineering.

Sitting on the sofa opposite him was the host of a talk show on Fox News, Ms. Cordell.

Ms. Cordell looked at Professor Miro with a friendly smile on her face as she reached out with her microphone and began the interview.

“Hello, Professor Miro, thank you very much for coming to our studio. I heard that something very… very unbelievable happened recently in the physics world, is that true?”

“Yes.” Miro seemed like he was not quite used to the atmosphere here. He looked around awkwardly. But soon, he regained his composure and said in a confident tone, “You can say that it has subverted many of our understandings of physics.”

Ms. Cordell asked with a smile, “From the comments online, we can see that many viewers are concerned about this matter. We know that you are a professor of physics at Stanford University and a researcher at the ILHCRC. Maybe you can explain in detail to the audience in front of their TV screens… What amazing results did we get from the hadron collider?”

“A mass expansion happened at 5.12 TeV!”

Professor Miro had a passionate look in his eyes as Ms. Cordell asked, “Sorry, I don’t quite understand, what does this… mean?”

“This means that the quantity of mass energy as we know it might no longer be conserved!”

The professor’s eyes became increasingly energetic. His voice trembled with excitement as he continued, “Our foundation of physics was built on a flat wasteland. Through the exploration of the standard model, we have continued to repair this foundation and add bricks to it. Finally, we created a tall building!

“However a month ago, the latest research from the ILHCRC knocked this building to the ground!

“It’s a pity you were not there to witness this great experiment; otherwise, you will definitely understand why I am so excited!”

Professor Miro’s eyes were wide open and bloodshot because of his emotions, whereas Ms. Cordell had a surprised look on her face.

His words did not surprise her. Instead, she was surprised at his… abnormal mental state.

She heard the show director’s speaking through her headset and received confirmation to continue the interview.

She bit the bullet and continued the show.

“This sounds… somewhat amazing. In other words, they have proved that mass energy is not conserved?”

“It is not conserved on large scales! It seems that you don’t understand what this means. I’d be happy to explain to you clearly!”

Before the host lady could speak, Professor Miro continued to speak quickly.

“According to the view of traditional physics, our universe’s entropy is increasing. All matter develops from order to disorder. But now, this concept might be overturned! Our physics has finally entered a place even Einstein wasn’t able to predict. Our universe will no longer be an eternal decay; instead, it will go from an old cycle to a new cycle, forming a never-ending cycle!”

Professor Miro’s skinny body suddenly shook with enthusiasm.

He leaned forward and stared at Ms. Cordell, who had a trace of fear on her face. He spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Do you believe in God?”

Ms. Cordell was shocked by this question, and she quickly nodded.

“I do.”

“Maybe God exists… No, he definitely exists.”

Ms. Cordell looked at Professor Miro, who seemed to be crazy, and said, “What you mean is… Mass energy is no longer conserved forever, and the universe will not increase in entropy forever. Do these conclusions prove the existence of God?”

“God?” A scornful smile appeared on Professor Miro’s face. He leaned back on the sofa and said, “If that’s what you want to call it.

“In some sense, it is an omniscient and omnipotent being; it is everywhere and nowhere in the universe.

“It is like a ghost wandering in the universe, interfering with us through an invisible hand.

“Instead of using the childish title of God…

“I prefer to call it the spirit of the universe.”

1

Chapter 1214: Creation

There was dead silence in the office.

“I only found out yesterday.” After turning off the TV, Professor Witten looked at Professor Wilczek, who was dumbfounded, and said, “It seems that this is not the first time he has made such remarks… A few hours ago, I heard my assistant joking that he’s an evangelist, preaching in our laboratories all day long.”

Wilczek twirled his index finger and asked, “When did this begin?”

“A week ago, after the experiment.”

“I can’t believe that experiment resonated with him to this degree.” Wilczek took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said, “How should we comfort him?”

“This is a problem for you to think about. Don’t try to shift the responsibility to me.” Witten then said, “The list of researchers on the collision experiment project team was signed and approved by you. Now that something is going wrong, aren’t you going to clean up your mess?”

“Was it really approved by me…?”

Seeing how Witten was not letting go, Professor Wilczek sighed and said, “Fine, I seem to remember that did happen.”

After spending half a minute thinking about how to solve this problem, he finally made up a decision in his mind. He raised his head and said, “There is no doubt that he has gone crazy.”

“My suggestion is for Professor Miro to take a break, and during that time… we must find a way to stop him from making such irresponsible remarks on behalf of the ILHCRC.

“This is a temple of science, not a church. If he really believes in those ideas… it would be better for him to continue his research in a temple.”

Witten nodded.

“I think so too.”

However, a trace of worry appeared in Witten’s eyes.

“I hope this will not cause him more trouble. I hope he can recover as soon as possible.”

Wilczek said, “Actually, I am curious about how he derived his theory of God through mass expansion.”

When Wilczek noticed Witten was staring at him, he laughed and said, “Of course, I’m just curious… I wouldn’t actually ask him.”

…

Lu Zhou had predicted that this experiment would shock the physics world. However, he didn’t expect the situation to develop in a completely different direction.

A new religion seemed to be created?

These people believed in “God creation theory”, that everything was arranged with intent. They believed that a certain higher living creature, civilization, or even consciousness created this universe.

They named this creature, civilization, or consciousness as the spirit of the universe.

The spirit of the universe was in-line with the God creation theory.

In fact, the God creation theory was not anything new in physics. One of the discoverers of string theory, Michio Kaku, was its loyal supporter.

Professor Kaku had also proposed parallel universe theory, time travel theory, and so on.

These things were not without scrutiny, but they could neither be proven nor falsified.

It was like if a physicist had guessed that there was an egg before the Big Bang. Although the first reaction of most people was that how could that be possible, there was nothing they could do to prove that it was false.

Man was a creature of time, and all thoughts were a product of time.

Time began at the start of the Big Bang.

So, logically speaking, it was impossible to prove or falsify any speculation before the universe was born.

It would be fine for this new religion that believed in the spirit of the universe to gain attraction.

After all, the meaning of science was only to study the mysteries of the world, not to deprive others of their beliefs.

However, the problem was that this doctrine seemed to gain the belief of some ILHCRC researchers…

The situation seemed to be out of control.

Lu Zhou stood at the entrance of an apartment building. After hesitating for a while, he took out his phone from his pocket.

“Xiao Ai.”

A chat box appeared on his screen.

Xiao Ai: [Here, Master! ♪(^∇^*)]

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and asked, “Can you find information on the term ‘spirit of the universe’ in your database?”

Xiao Ai: [Spirit of the universe? What is that? ( ̄△̄;)]

Lu Zhou: “Nothing, I’m just curious.”

So far, although he was able to determine where Xiao Ai came from, he still couldn’t figure out where Xiao Ai’s memory came from.

Logically speaking, before it was sent to him by the Void Civilization, everything about the Calan civilization should have been deleted from its database.

However, according to Xiao Ai, it was able to preserve some memories.

Does artificial intelligence programs forget stuff?

Lu Zhou didn’t know.

He really wanted to know the secrets behind Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai: [Although Xiao Ai doesn’t know, Xiao Ai can help Master search all the databases on the World Wide Web for relevant answers. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Lu Zhou: “No, thanks, it’s no longer necessary.”

A tall and thin man opened the door of the apartment building and walked out.

When he saw Lu Zhou, he had a surprised look on his face.

He spoke.

“Lu Zhou?”

Lu Zhou looked at him.

“You’re one of the few Americans that can recognize me.”

“Well, I have studied physics for so many years…” Professor Miro said, “Dear Professor Lu, what brings you here? I’m afraid I won’t be able to provide wisdom to you.”

Lu Zhou felt a hint of jealousy and even hostility from his tone.

This made Lu Zhou feel slightly uncomfortable.

He didn’t quite understand what he did to offend this guy.

However, Lu Zhou ignored this young physicist’s hostility.

He asked, “Do you want to grab a coffee with me?”

After staring at Lu Zhou for a while, Professor Miro shrugged and said, “Of course, I’m sure no one would reject your invitation.”

“I know a good place.” Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and said, “Grab the car, same place.”

Wang Peng looked at Professor Miro. He then nodded.

“Okay.”

He turned around and walked to the car.

Chapter 1215: Sometimes, Science Is More Than Just an Idea

Inside a coffee shop.

Lu Zhou sat down by the window and gestured to Wang Peng to wait for him outside. He then looked at Professor Miro and asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

“Anything cold is fine.”

Lu Zhou nodded and ordered two cups of iced coffee.

He then turned his eyes to Professor Miro and asked, “To be honest, I don’t quite understand how the 53% mass expansion is related to… the spirit of the universe?”

“You are the first person to ask me this question.” Professor Miro said, “The first reaction most people have is that I’m talking crazy. They think I’m a conspiracy theorist.”

“My opinion is not that different from them.” Lu Zhou shrugged and continued, “My curiosity lies purely in the connection between the two.”

Professor Miro didn’t say anything as he searched his pockets.

This movement made Wang Peng a little nervous.

However, this American professor did not make any fishy moves. Instead, he took out a sticky note and a signature pen from his pocket.

“Since you’re good at mathematics, I’ll show it to you using a mathematical proof.”

Lu Zhou made an inviting gesture.

“I like that idea. Mathematics will definitely not deceive anyone.”

Professor Miro wrote down a line of calculations.

[MN=m0-4c1Mπ2+O(Mπ3)]

“This is the nucleon mass obtained by the chiral extrapolation, m0≈880 MeV; c1≈-1GeV-1; Mπ2 is the mass square of the pion…”

Lu Zhou took the cup of coffee from the waiter’s tray and spoke calmly.

“So? I’m not here to listen to your simple explanations on quantum chromodynamics.”

“I just want to go over the basic concepts again in order to better explain my point of view.”

Professor Miro cleared his throat and continued, “According to this formula, we can clearly see that most of the mass of the visible matter in the universe can be determined by pure quantum chromodynamics without introducing quark mass… Except for the 7% part, that is temporarily unexplainable. It might come from outside the standard model or from statistical errors, but that is not a big problem.”

Lu Zhou nodded his head without saying anything, waiting quietly for Miro to continue.

“However, recent experiments have completely overturned all of my previous guesses. I thought that a collision on a larger energy level would reveal to us the secrets of the 7%.

“Instead, the experiments revealed a 53% unexplainable mass energy in our system!”

“It’s shocking, isn’t it? We should have less matter than what we started with. But the fact is that we observe more than what we started with, and it’s not an insignificant amount!

“Think about it, we can only conserve both sides of the equation by introducing a particle with a negative mass. The original perfect universe is like a piece of play-doh that’s being manipulated by an invisible hand…”

“Perfection is subjective.” Lu Zhou interrupted him and said, “I don’t think the universe is perfect.”

“Really? Haha, maybe! What if I tell you, I saw that ghost… Forget about it, that’s too weird to say. I guess I shouldn’t make you think I’m a crazy person.”

Are you not a crazy person?

Lu Zhou subconsciously thought Miro was crazy, but he did not show it on the surface.

Professor Miro suddenly lowered his head quickly and wrote a few lines of calculations on the paper.

After finishing all this, he then folded the paper carefully and gave it to Lu Zhou.

“Bold assumptions and careful verification are what brings us to the advanced physics of today. Just like we proved the existence of gravity from a falling apple, scientific thinking allows us to get rid of ignorance and learn to build models… And let us forget our own insignificance.

“Do you know?

“That the universe is like a designed game. Normally, it will respond to our expectations. Until one day, the parameters we input finally exceeds its threshold, and it finally fails to respond to our expectations. All scientific theories collapse at this singularity.

“Collisions above 5 TeV shatter not only the conservation of mass energy but also the entire physics.”

Lu Zhou looked at him quietly.

He finally knew why this young scholar with extraordinary talents had fallen into a paranoid and crazy mindset.

Physics was the discipline of studying the most general laws of the movement of matter and the basic structure of matter. However, Lu Zhuo’s discoveries were now revealing to them that the universe had no laws.

It wouldn’t be so scary if only one physical theorem was disproven, but this changed everything.

This changed the truth itself.

The human’s boat of exploring the truth of the universe was being dragged into the ocean by an invisible hand.

Lu Zhou finally understood why this matter had developed to the extent that the system had to come forward and issue an [emergency mission] to him.

To be honest, if he hadn’t heard the voice from the Void, he might be more confused than Professor Miro at this moment.

“The universe itself is irregular. Our ignorance and insignificance make us think that the sky we see is blue.

“It’s like there is an invisible ghost wandering in this universe. It plucked the apple from the tree and strangled Schrödinger’s cat with its hand, allowing light to be a particle or a wave, manipulating everything as it wanted… But we still want to explain its behavior with some contradictory theories.”

Professor Miro’s bloodshot pupils suddenly widened.

He tapped his index finger on the small piece of paper as he lowered his voice.

“This is my prediction, dear Professor Lu.

“The mass expansion phenomenon in the high-energy zone is irregular. We have been doing a very stupid thing for the past half-century.

“We will restart the experiment in half a month, and soon, you will prove that I am right.

“All of this is planned.”

After this, Professor Miro stood up and walked away.

…

It was obvious that the results of the experiment hit Miro hard.

Whether in a spiritual or physical sense.

After the meeting with Professor Miro, Lu Zhou returned to the car and sat in the back without saying a word. He looked at the paper in his hand and began to think.

When Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou through the rearview mirror, he hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“That professor is…”

“Self-destructing.”

Wang Peng: “…?”

Lu Zhou: “If one day I told you that, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and even Chinese… Everything is actually fake, how would you feel?”

Although it was not the first time Professor Lu had asked such a weird question, this time, it seemed more difficult to understand than usual.

Wang Peng thought for a while before speaking.

“I can’t imagine… No matter what, language can’t be fake.”

“I’m just giving an example. After all, you haven’t studied quantum chromodynamics, and you didn’t spend most of your life writing papers.”

Lu Zhou sighed, thought for a while, and continued, “Let me give you another example. Suppose one day the person you admire the most turns from a saint to an evil demon or something like that, pushing the world to the brink of destruction.”

Wang Peng said almost without hesitation, “This is impossible.”

“Really?” Lu Zhou shrugged and said, “I also think it’s impossible. But you can imagine what this might mean to you once something like this happens.

“Professor Miro is facing this situation. What he has always considered impossible is coming true before his eyes.

“His past two decades of research have become waste; physics and life have lost meaning for him.

“In some sense, sometimes science is more than just an idea.

“It is also a belief.”

…

Professor Miro was suspended from his work.

This was the doctor’s recommendation.

His current state made it suitable for him to participate in research.

Not only did he affect himself, but he also affected other people in the project team.

Lu Zhou originally thought that the young genius would not accept this arrangement.

However, to Lu Zhou’s surprise, after hearing the advice given by ILHCRC to receive medical treatment, Miro was unexpectedly calm. He had a relaxed look on his face as he was packing his things from his office.

“This is good, I finally have time to plan the trip I always wanted to go on.”

He bid farewell to his colleagues one by one and left his office.

Lu Zhou paid special attention to Professor Miro’s situation. Interestingly enough, the physics professor did not leave Shanghai immediately. Instead, he still lived in the apartment arranged by ILHCRC.

It seemed like Miro wasn’t so sure about his own speculation either and that he intended to wait until the next experiment to see if he was correct.

However, this also made Lu Zhou feel even more uneasy.

Because it meant that all of Miro’s conclusions were made in a sober state.

Lu Zhou also noticed that during this period of suspension, Professor Miro had been updating his blog. From an objective evaluation, Miro was quite talented at writing. He could present boring physics theories in an easy-to-understand form. Thus, he had gained a lot of fans and believers.

Half a month went by.

It was time for ILHCRC’s next experiment cycle.

This time, Lu Zhou stood inside the ground command center.

This wasn’t necessary. He just wanted to use his eyes to confirm whether all this was just an accident or would this discovery truly change physics.

He constantly squeezed and loosened his fists. He paced back and forth several times in the hallways of the ground command center. Finally, he waited for the results to be released.

He looked at the data on the screen in front of him.

The anomaly happened again!

After the collision of the two lead ions in a high-energy region, an extra mass occurred!

There was an uproar in the ground command center. People widened their eyes in disbelief. They exchanged glances and talked quietly, nervously, and even excitedly.

Lu Zhou had a calm and stiff look on his face.

This was the first time he didn’t know what to do.

He reached out into his pocket and took out a piece of paper.

He looked at the paper and muttered, “You really guessed it.”

The extra mass was no longer just 0.53 lead ions.

It was 0.71.

Also…

The data collected by the four detectors in the experiments were surprisingly highly consistent…

Chapter 1216: The Universe Has a Spirit

Physics was a discipline that studied the laws of the movement of matter and the basic structure of matter.

The universe was like a series of infinite numbers, say [1,2,3,5,7,11,13…], and physics was to study the laws and patterns of this series of numbers.

When science was at its beginning, when people were still arguing about 1 and 2, a physicist sitting under an apple tree was lucky enough to count to 3, so he thought that “The series of numbers is 123456… It is composed of all natural numbers”.

However, due to the advancement of science and technology, observation methods had also improved.

Einstein, the physicist of the new era quickly discovered that the fourth number was not 4 but 5, The laws summarized by Newton were only applicable to the first three numbers.

In order to make his theory seem more convincing, Einstein had been observing the seventh number, which was the number 13. Based on the observed phenomenon, this conclusion was made:

[For the series of numbers describing the universe, except for the first unique number “1”, the following numbers should be composed of “2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19…”. The prime numbers.]

Smart kids would know that a series of unpredictable theories such as the theory of relativity, the standard model, and quantum mechanics were in fact real theories.

They described the world beyond the fourth digit that was invisible to ordinary people and could only be observed with professional equipment.

This was what people called the “microscopic world”.

Einstein was much luckier than the scholar sitting under the apple tree. Although he was limited by time and only saw the seventh digit, his theories were all correct.

Using the “laws” found in the “standard model”, people successfully observed the numbers 17 and 19 and found a series of treasures such as the Higgs particle and gravitational waves.

Everything was going so well.

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end.

As technology continued to advance, the Lunar Hadron Collider allowed people to observe numbers larger than 19. This broadened their horizons to a much smaller microscopic world and even other dimensions…

People were surprised to find that, for the series of numbers describing the universe, the tenth number after 19 was not 23. The eleventh place number was not 29 at all.

The two numbers 23 and 29 did not appear in this series of numbers at all. Instead, they were replaced by a series of numbers that had no rules at all and did not make any sense.

They weren’t numbers at all; they were letters and symbols.

Was it possible to find a pattern in all sequences?

No.

For example, a string of irrational numbers.

If one wanted to describe its pattern, they would have to use the same amount of information as the sequence itself…

Although the “spirit of the universe” theory by Professor Miro sounded like nonsense. What he described was not an omnipotent God.

What he really wanted to describe was that there was such a consciousness in this universe who arranged everything in the universe according to its own subjective consciousness.

It was like a child holding a branch in his hand, humming a song that only he could understand while writing a string of meaningless numbers on the beach.

While the ants on the ground used their logic and thought about what the numbers appearing on the ground meant and why they appeared there.

Hence, the name, spirit of the universe…

…

For the physics community, this was definitely the darkest day.

Collision experiments in energy regions above 5 TeV were like black holes, confiscating the efforts of physicists over the past century. Both the string theory and the Big Bang theory seemed to be swallowed by this black hole.

Witten looked at the images on the computer and thought for a long time. He then suddenly sighed and said, “It feels like we have spent half a century studying the laws of the universe. Then, in the end, it only proves that the things we are researching have no laws at all.”

Lu Zhou stared at the seemingly weird data and answered casually, “It feels unacceptable?”

Witten spoke in a half-joking manner.

“It is unacceptable, I almost want to retire.”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t do that. This problem will not defeat us, but if you retire, it will definitely be a loss for all of humanity.”

“Why would that be? There are many outstanding young physicists. In my opinion, their future achievements will not be inferior to mine.”

Professor Witten smiled. His voice was suddenly filled with emotion as he said, “Also, I’m not getting younger. I was thinking about this issue about three or four years ago. If it weren’t for you inviting me to the ILHCRC, perhaps I would be basking under the sun in Hawaii.”

“Really? My apologies then.”

“Haha, don’t need to apologize. In fact, I should thank you. If it weren’t for your invitation, I would have missed a lot of interesting things.”

Professor Witten noticed the calculations Lu Zhou had written on the draft paper. He suddenly raised his eyebrows with interest.

“Are you still obsessed with that extra-dimensional theory?”

“Sort of.”

“With all due respect, that is no different from animism.”

“There are still a lot of differences.” Lu Zhou looked at the paper for a while while holding a pen in his hand. He said, “At the very least, I can prove its existence in a mathematical sense.”

Professor Witten had a surprised look on his eyes, as if he was thinking, “How is this possible?”

Lu Zhou continued to speak, “Normally, it is impossible for us, who are in the box, to see the world outside the box. But there is one exception. Remember Schrödinger’s cat?”

“Schrodinger’s cat? Wait, you mean—”

Professor Witten’s pupils suddenly widened a bit. He was filled with confusion. Suddenly, he became excited.

“That’s right, I’m sure you already know what I mean.” Lu Zhou smiled, twisted the pen in his hand, and continued, “You can imagine us as the cat in the box, for the world outside the box. Everything about us is in a superposition of chaos. But now, someone has opened the box and observed it for us.

“This wasn’t planned.

“Because of observations from outside the universe, the superposition we are in has collapsed, so it has become the reality we see now.”

Witten frowned as Lu Zhou spoke.

“We don’t know whether the universe has a spirit, and no one has the right to define its existence.

“But one thing I can almost confirm is that something outside the box is waving to us.”

Witten: “But it… Or they… Why are they doing this?”

“I don’t know, maybe only they know the answer.” Lu Zhou shook his head and continued, “Maybe it is asking us for help to declare its existence.

“However, whatever it is they are asking for, it should not be a disaster but a great opportunity.

“An opportunity to learn more about the Void.”

Suddenly, there were sounds of rapid footsteps outside the office.

Lu Zhou and Witten stopped talking and looked in the direction of the door.

There was a knock on the door, and before Lu Zhou could even reply, the door opened.

“Sorry! Something very, very serious happened!”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and paused for a second.

“What happened?”

“It’s Professor Miro!”

Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath and controlled his breathing.

He looked at the two people in front of him and said in a trembling tone, “He passed away…”

Chapter 1217: Belief in Physics

This was probably the closest Lu Zhou had gotten to death.

Rather… This was the closest he had been to someone who had passed away.

ILHCRC No.1 apartment building.

The entrance was full of police cars.

An old man in plain clothes stood outside the fenced-off area. He had a look of self-blame and sadness on his face. He sobbed in a quiet voice.

“This is all my fault… I signed the paper…”

Professor Witten patted Professor Wilczek’s shoulder and spoke comfortingly.

“This is not your fault. A person’s path is destined; they will eventually go where they are supposed to go. I hope he can get the answer he wants on the other side of the world.

“As for us, we have to continue.”

Beside the two of them stood many ILHCRC researchers and interns.

Many of them had heard of Professor Miro’s story and the “spirit of the universe”.

Even though most people disagreed with the theory, there were still a few people who thought that this theory seemed to be reasonable.

Unlike the normal concept of “God”, Professor Miro’s theory was more like a science concept. Similar to the concept that “the universe is unreasonable” and “a disordered higher consciousness dominates the laws of nature”.

However, these theories sounded scary.

If all of this was true, then physics would be like studying the laws of a long list of irrational numbers that didn’t make any sense.

People looked at the window upstairs with the curtains closed.

“That’s so scary…”

“Oh yeah.”

“Professor Miro was such an excellent physicist. I don’t understand why he chose to end his life. If we have discovered a new area of physics, it would have been a happy ending.”

“It’s not totally happy. My supervisor doesn’t seem to be in the best mood.”

“What does your supervisor research?”

“Quantum lattice calculation methods.”

“Nutty.”

“Is there a possibility that Professor Miro saw something terrible?”

“Hey, don’t say that. This is the ILHCRC, not the haunted house at the amusement park. The collider is more than 300,000 kilometers away from us, so there is no way he was exposed to high-energy rays.”

Suddenly…

The commotion and whispers stopped.

A young man in a trench coat walked through the crowd, to the edge of the police tapes.

The policeman standing behind the tapes noticed him and quickly walked over to him. The policeman said respectfully, “Hello, Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou nodded and looked upward at the apartment with the closed curtains.

He wasn’t very close to Professor Miro. They only exchanged a few words over coffee. He heard that the professor seemed to have won some physics awards that he didn’t care much about and that Professor Miro was considered an outstanding young scholar.

This story would undoubtedly have a negative impact on ILHCRC.

Rumors were already circulating on the Internet. People claimed that Professor Miro died under the academic authority of the ILHCRC committee because he was squeezed out by mainstream physicists.

His followers even threatened to avenge his death on the ILHCRC…

Lu Zhou looked at the policeman and spoke.

“Can you briefly explain the situation inside?”

The police officer hesitated for a moment, as if he was considering whether this was a good idea or not.

However, he realized that Professor Lu’s status was higher than his superior’s superior, so he spoke.

“It was a suicide.

“He took an overdose of cephalosporins… and alcohol.

“We are still investigating the details. The US Embassy has been notified. They will be responsible for contacting the family of the deceased…”

Lu Zhou nodded.

He then asked, “Can I go in?”

Compared to the previous request, this request was more difficult to accept.

The policeman hesitated for a moment.

However, Wang Peng took out a certificate and handed it to him.

“The Ministry of State Security is taking over this case.”

After the police officer saw this document, he was startled. He spoke with a solemn look on his face.

“I need to ask my superiors for instructions.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Go.”

…

Soon after, Lu Zhou was allowed to cross the police tapes and walk into Professor Miro’s room.

Unlike what Lu Zhou had imagined, the living space of this physics professor was very tidy. It was obvious that the apartment was cleaned regularly.

“This is probably the most bizarre case that I have ever dealt with in the past two years…”

An old police officer looked at the white lines drawn on the ground with a complex expression. He said, “From his living conditions, it is obvious he is much healthier than the average person.”

Lu Zhou didn’t make any comments, he just walked into the study room and opened a drawer.

A scholar who had a regular schedule of work and rest usually abided by a code of conduct. Which was that they always kept their research materials nearby.

Sure enough, Lu Zhou found something like a research notebook from his drawer.

He flipped open the page and followed the neat handwriting and calculations. He continued to read, and he gradually had a surprised look on his face.

He wasn’t surprised at Professor Miro’s academic achievements. After all, he wasn’t amazed by anyone’s academic achievements.

What surprised Lu Zhou was that he originally thought Professor Miro was just falling into a wild fantasy about the “spirit of the universe”. He did not expect that this guy actually established a complete theoretical system for this conjecture…

Basically, in Miro’s theoretical system, the “spirit of the universe” was the core of the whole theoretical system. Miro derived that “the universe is the projection of a certain higher consciousness’ subjective behavior”, and that “everything is determined”, and “this kind of cosmic consciousness is possible”.

It seemed like he was saying that humans could communicate with the “spirit of the universe” in an abstract sense.

This sounded like idealism.

This was consciousness determinism, superimposed on the basis of God’s creation theory and cosmic animism.

Lu Zhou, as a materialist, thought this was nonsense.

However, it was worth noting that Professor Miro had undergone a rigorous theoretical argument for the spirit of the universe. Even though Miro used a lot of psychological terminology and self-made words that only he could understand, at least he had tried to analyze this theory using scientific thinking.

However, when it came to the part of the determinism of consciousness, the part where “we can communicate with the spirit of the universe”, Miro seemed to give up on trying to find an explanation. He wrote down his theories as if it were a theorem.

There was no doubt that this was not rigorous science.

At the very least, Miro should add words like “maybe” and “perhaps” to the discussion.

After about twenty minutes, Lu Zhou took a deep breath after flipping the notes from beginning to end. He closed the notebook and looked at the police officer behind him.

“Can I take this notebook?”

“I’m afraid not.” The policeman had an awkward look on his face. He said, “This is the property of the deceased and part of the evidence related to the case. I am afraid that you will have to wait until the case is closed. After that, you can negotiate with the family of the deceased.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything. He nodded before taking out his phone from his pocket and recording a video. He flipped through the notes, recording all of the content inside.

Strictly speaking, this was also not allowed. However, all of the police officers turned a blind eye.

After he was done with the recording, Lu Zhou put away his phone and looked at Wang Peng.

“Let’s go back.”

Wang Peng hesitated slightly and asked, “Are we done?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I think… I probably already found the answer.”

Lu Zhou and Wang Peng walked out of Professor Miro’s apartment and went straight to the parking lot.

Witten saw Lu Zhou appear out of the building. He quickly squeezed through the crowd and greeted him.

“Did you find anything inside? Why on earth did Professor Miro—”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“There is nothing particularly noteworthy inside. Professor Miro did not leave a lot of research materials in his apartment. He didn’t seem like a person who would take his work back home.”

Lu Zhou looked at Witten and said, “However, I found a notebook in his drawer.”

Witten quickly continued to ask, “What is written inside?”

“Some of his analysis of the latest ILHCRC experimental data. His conjectures about the spirit of the universe and the theoretical system he built around this conjecture… It seemed like this was what he spent his vacation time doing.”

Witten took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That is…”

Lu Zhou: “A shame, right?”

“Yeah… Not just a shame, but also disturbing.”

This disturbance permeated through the ILHCRC headquarters, as well as every physicist on Earth. The vast majority of people did not believe in animism, nor the spirit of the universe.

Was there no such thing as faith in physics?

In fact, that was wrong.

This was like the storm that was caused by the neutrino faster than light experiment.

Even though it was impossible to find out what went wrong with the OPERA experiment, most people attributed it to an “experimental error”.

ILHCRC was facing a similar situation.

Before the second experiment began, most people were praying that all of this was a mistake. They hoped that the new experimental results could cover the past “errors”. This way, the building of physics would return to the framework of the standard model, and all would be well…

Lu Zhou looked at the silent Professor Witten and spoke.

“I know you have a lot of questions… Maybe I can answer part of it.”

“What about the extra-dimensional theory?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I need more time before giving you an explanation.

“You don’t have to wait for long, at most one week… I will soon find an answer that is not perfect but can probably satisfy most people.

“This will change the future of physics.”

Chapter 1218: Give Them a Lesson

An invisible dark cloud was floating in the sky above the ILHCRC.

Almost everyone’s mood was affected by this incident.

People from all over the world who believed in the spirit of the universe pretended to be tourists and began to gather in Shanghai. They came to the ILHCRC and began to protest.

When the officials finally realized something was wrong, the protests had already blocked the nearby roads.

These tourists from all over the world stood in front of the ILHCRC entrance and put up signs filled with “protest”, “stop the experiments”, “murderers”, etc, as well as distasteful images.

This mass protest obviously did not escape the eyes of the media.

The police force had not yet come to the scene. A BBC reporter walked into the crowd with a microphone in his hand. The reporter grabbed a protester who was nearly 60 years old.

“Hello, what are you protesting about?”

The old man said angrily, “Isn’t this obvious? The ILHCRC must stop immediately! Now! They should stop their crazy behavior! Shut down their experiment facility on the moon permanently!”

The BBC reporter immediately put the microphone closer.

“Crazy behavior?”

The old man’s face was red as he angrily exclaimed, “The collider! What they did in Europe is not enough? Don’t think I haven’t read the news. They used a collider to create a small black hole in the ground at the border of France and Switzerland! Now they made an even bigger collider, and even put it on the moon… They have created even more trouble!”

“More trouble?” The BBC reporter became serious. He said, “What can be worse than a black hole?”

“Yes, they have released matter from the virtual realm that does not belong to this world. The matter is from the spirit of the universe! Our civilization is in a corner of the galaxy, and no one has noticed us. But now, they have reached their dirty little hands to the land of the gods!

“This is disrespectful to the spirit of the universe! This is blasphemy against the great consciousness!”

BBC reporter: “Excuse me… What is the spirit of the universe?”

The old man said angrily, “I can’t explain it to you clearly. You should read the works of Professor Galette Miro!

“We are going to stop these savages at the ILHCRC!”

…

Obviously, the protester did not realize who was the real savage.

The ILHCRC press conference ended right after the old man’s interview. A group of people emerged from the building’s back door.

A blonde lady who was holding a microphone in her hand walked quickly behind Professor Wilczek and asked relentlessly, “Hello, Professor Wilczek. As a Nobel Prize winner, what do you think about the protests of the people who claim to be believers of the spirit of the universe and are against the ILHCRC experiments?”

Wilczek was annoyed. He finally stopped walking and looked angrily at the reporter, as well as the cameraman.

“What do I think?

“When we were in Switzerland, we had to clean up the mess before every experiment. Some idiot engineers would always expose themselves to strong radiation. Thankfully, the Chinese built a collider on the moon, saving many lives!

“At the very least, we don’t have to play hide and seek with a bunch of idiots in the collider tunnel!”

The blonde female reporter frowned and said, “Sorry, are you saying that… the protesters’ behavior is very stupid?”

“Of course.” Professor Wilczek laughed angrily and said, “Why are there no Chinese people in the protests? I suggest these idiots find a quiet place to receive some education.”

After the reporter went away, Wilczek angrily returned to his office and slammed the door.

However, he suddenly discovered that there was another person standing in his office.

“Professor Lu?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at Lu Zhou standing by the window. Wilczek asked, “What brings you here? When did you get here?”

“About ten minutes ago.” Lu Zhou looked at the crowd outside the window. He closed the window blinds and looked at Professor Wilczek. He said, “Your assistant told me that you will be back soon, so I decided to wait here. How is it going? Did those reporters make things difficult for you at the press conference?”

“Make things difficult? Haha, it’s not just making things difficult, it was torture. You should see the stupid questions they asked!”

Wilczek threw his hat on the coat hanger and sat on the sofa. He said angrily, “Do they really understand Galette Miro’s paper? Look at those people. What are they asking for, to suspend the experiment? If Galette Miro were still alive, he would laugh at their stupidity.”

Lu Zhou: “Not necessarily, maybe this is what he wanted.”

Wilczek was taken aback for a moment. He frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

Lu Zhou said, “I have read his papers and blogs, all of it.”

Professor Wilczek said in disbelief, “You actually finished reading that nonsense?”

Lu Zhou: “I think it’s foolish to draw conclusions without a good understanding.”

“That depends on the hypothesis.” Wilczek picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of black tea. He took a sip and asked, “Speaking of which, how is the research going?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s done.”

Professor Wilczek nearly spat out the tea in his mouth as he stared at Lu Zhou with his eyes wide open.

“Done? So you know where the extra mass comes from?”

“Sort of.”

Lu Zhou looked at the astonished Professor Wilczek and smiled. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll explain it to you.”

Wilczek was about to ask where the extra mass came from, but Lu Zhou, who was looking outside the window, spoke first.

“Can we remove those people outside?”

This question shocked Wilczek.

It wasn’t because of the sentence itself, but rather, Wilczek didn’t notice that there was someone else standing in his office.

It felt like this person was invisible this whole time!

“The reinforcements will arrive in about two minutes.” Wang Peng looked at his watch and said, “Of course, if you wish, we can remove them right now.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “The reinforcements are already on the way, so let’s wait for them to come. By the way… Remember to arrest the loudest protesters.”

Wang Peng: “No problem, what are you going to do to them?”

“I’m not doing anything to them.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I just want to invite them to a physics lecture.”

Chapter 1219: The Existence of the Void

Perso Fernando was a bridge builder from California and a huge believer in Galette Miro.

Honestly, because he had not received any higher education, he couldn’t fully understand Professor Galette Miro’s theory.

But fortunately, the great Professor Miro took care of the laymen and narrated his complicated and difficult theories in a simple way.

Thanks to this, even a person like him could hear the deepest voices of the universe.

After hearing about Professor Miro’s death, he, and the other believers of the spirit of the universe, was filled with anger.

They believe that the ILHCRC persecuted him. Those narrow-minded materialists and authorities in physics murdered him and covered his death as a suicide.

In fact, there were indeed many signs of suspicion about Miro’s death. For example, two hours before his suicide, he was answering questions from his “believers” on his blog and even ordered a ham pizza. It was hard to imagine such a cheerful and intelligent person would end their life this way.

These doubts gave conspiracy theories room for fermentation.

Driven by a sense of justice, faith, and emotions, Fernando boarded a flight to Shanghai and came to the ILHCRC building. He stood on the front line of saving human civilization with his brothers and sisters.

These protesters were different from most people.

They didn’t stand here because of money; they really believed that the stupid physicists might ruin the world. In fact, this was not the first time Fernando did something like this.

A long time ago, he did an “amazing” thing. He went to Switzerland at his own expense and snuck into the underground tunnel of the LHC, which caused the planned experiment to be suspended.

Although he was prosecuted by CERN afterward and was permanently banned by the Switzerland and French customs, he did not have any regrets.

He felt like that was a badge of honor.

Also, an environmental protection organization that was against the collider experiment paid for all of his legal expenses.

Less than five minutes after they occupied the streets, police forces began to gather nearby. They were easily able to disperse the crowd.

Before he was caught, he seemed to vaguely hear some incomprehensible words.

However, because he didn’t understand Mandarin, he didn’t figure out what those words meant until he was escorted into the ILHCRC headquarters by several police officers.

He was put together with many of the most passionate protesters and brought into a small room to make a statement. He was about to ask for a lawyer when a young Chinese man walked into the room.

Fernando didn’t like the way the man was looking at him.

However, he suddenly felt like this person looked familiar. His pupils expanded.

“Lu Zhou?”

Lu Zhou chuckled.

“I didn’t expect you to recognize me.”

Fernando clenched his teeth and said, “Your sins have betrayed humanity. I would recognize you even if you were burned to ashes.”

Lu Zhou smiled. He didn’t care about Fernando’s impolite words. He glanced at the statement on the table and said, “Perso Fernando, a native Californian. I guess you are probably… the bishop of the spirit of the universe?”

Fernando smiled arrogantly.

“Bishop? That is something only blind religious people believe in. We advance together; we don’t need the guidance of anyone!”

Lu Zhou listened to his words and nodded.

“You done?”

Fernando spoke.

“Done!”

Lu Zhou: “Then come with me.”

Fernando paused for a second.

“Where to?”

Lu Zhou replied, “You’ll see.”

…

In fact, whether someone was a materialist or an idealist, they didn’t care about gods or any kind of mysterious magic.

This was like how Galette Miro’s beliefs did not contradict his profession as a physicist. Not only was he a scholar in particle physics, but he was also a believer in “consciousness determinism”.

The difference between materialism and idealism was only whether matter or consciousness came first…

There was no doubt that Galette Miro was a good physicist and a brilliant guy.

Lu Zhou admitted that, although at first he thought that this guy didn’t seem to be smart, he actually underestimated Miro.

Perhaps the wisest thing Miro did was to divide his academic theories and philosophical thoughts into two parts and expose his theories to different target groups.

He developed a small group of supporters of the spirit of the universe at the ILHCRC.

He had also developed a group of believers of the “spirit of the universe” in the form of religion through pop-science and the Internet. Even though this wasn’t a religion at all, believers of the spirit of the universe treated it as such.

Although “spirit of the universe” and “universal animism” were completely different things, they actually complemented each other to some extent.

The former provided theoretical weapons, while the latter provided material weapons.

This wasn’t like a religion; it was almost like a revolution…

Because of this, two days after Miro’s death, protests broke out in all parts of the world except China.

Western Europe was hit the hardest.

CERN and the Cadarache fusion power station were affected to varying degrees.

It was as if overnight, the spirit of the universe had suddenly developed into a large-scale group of believers.

It was as if there were an invisible hand pushing the believers forward…

Aside from the protests around the world, their ideologies were not extreme.

Lu Zhou carefully studied the notes left by Professor Miro.

Galette Miro, the creator of the spirit of the universe, took the concept of “human unity” as the highest ideal. He believed that as long as the consciousness of all mankind was unified, they could communicate with the greatest existence in the virtual realm—the “supreme consciousness that creates all things and defines the universe”.

As for the virtual world…

According to Professor Galette Miro’s description in his notebook, he was actually talking about the Void.

Lu Zhou felt like Miro had borrowed his theory of “extra string dimensions”.

When describing the virtual realm, Miro described the universe as a box, and he put the spirit of the universe outside the box. The spirit of the universe was the “consciousness” that determined the laws of the “matter” inside the box.

In this sense, in addition to Miro’s identity as a physicist, he was also an idealist.

To be honest, Lu Zhou was dumbfounded at the protesters.

From what he understood, in addition to human civilization, there were many other civilizations that were also in the upper echelon.

Regardless of whether the “great consciousness” existed or not, hoping to integrate the consciousness of all mankind in order to communicate with the “spirit of the universe” was ridiculous.

After all, compared to the vast universe, the existence of human beings was tiny.

Humans were simply insignificant…

Lu Zhou stood in the crowded lecture hall and looked at the time on his watch.

The seminar was going to begin in five minutes.

He knew that what he was about to demonstrate would have a huge impact on the entire physics world and the direction of human civilization. He even wondered if he was being too hasty.

He still remembered that The Observer warned him that it was not a good thing to face the Void and that there were too many “unknowable” things inside the Void.

But in any case, this was the best opportunity.

The Void was actively showing itself to the universe.

If he missed this opportunity, human civilizations would have to take generations before they could explore the world outside of their box.

Lu Zhou reached out and gently picked up a marker on the desk.

He was going to show the world…

The existence of the Void!

Chapter 1220: The Collapse of the Superposition

The lecture hall was crowded with people; there were around 800 people inside.

Almost all of the top minds and the most authoritative scholars in high energy physics gathered here.

Not only were there researchers at the ILHCRC, but there were also physicists, who came from other countries far away.

Everyone had the same purpose.

That was, to find out about the mass energy increase experimental results, which might subvert the standard model…

In the front row of the lecture hall, an old man in a gray jacket sat next to Professor Witten.

He leaned his cane against the corner of the table, unscrewed the bottle of mineral water on the table, and took a sip. He then looked at the stage platform.

“Thank you for reserving the seat for me. There are so many people here… I almost got lost outside.”

Professor Witten glanced at the old man sitting next to him and raised his eyebrows.

“I didn’t expect you to actually come.”

The old man chuckled and looked at the stage platform.

“How could I miss such an interesting talk? Maybe today, the rules of physics will be rewritten, and our horizon will widen to a whole new dimension; a dimension we can’t perceive… Is there anything more exciting than this?”

Most people would be surprised to hear the old man saying this.

Not because of the sentence itself, but because of who the old man was.

Sitting next to Professor Witten was none other than Professor Saul Perlmutter from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

People who don’t know much about physics might not have heard of this name, but he was, in fact, one of the greatest living physicists.

As the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and the person that proved the theory of the “accelerated expansion of the universe”, he was well-known both in the field of astrophysics and high-energy physics.

Witten glanced at him and said, “It seems like you really believe in the theory of extra dimensions.”

“The question is not whether I believe it. It is whether he can give a logically self-consistent proof for his conclusion. Didn’t we also dismiss string theory in the beginning? But look at where we are now…”

Professor Perlmutter saw Witten’s unhappy face and smiled, quickly leaving the topic aside.

“Speaking of which, I kinda want to know how you think about this matter. You haven’t expressed your opinion so far. It’s really… unlike you.”

“Shh.”

Professor Witten interrupted Professor Perlmutter’s words and then pointed his index finger in the direction of the stage.

“The answers you want are there.

“It’s starting.”

…

When the hour hand went past ten o’clock…

The originally noisy lecture hall instantly became quiet.

Fernando was sitting nervously at the front of the lecture hall. He looked at Lu Zhou standing on the stage. Fernando had a displeased look on his face, and he wanted to stand up to his religion.

However, he then saw the scary police officer standing nearby, with handcuffs pinned to his waist. He didn’t dare to step out of line.

Lu Zhou, who was standing on stage, looked around the lecture hall and spoke in a calm voice.

“I’d like to give my condolences to Professor Miro.

“We lost an outstanding scholar and a great man.

“I know his death touched a lot of people… including me.”

Lu Zhou looked around the venue. He then flipped through the pile of draft papers on the multimedia lecture table. He spent about ten seconds organizing his thoughts before he spoke.

“Perhaps the way he impacted me is different from many of you.

“What moved me was not his wisdom. It’s being vulnerable in the face of the vast universe. Our determination might be weaker than we had imagined.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t even use the word ‘determination’. Because all of us know that, the tower of physics we have spent centuries building, is on the verge of collapsing. Perhaps that brings a sense of meaninglessness into the determination by countless great physicists.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then faced the whiteboard and wrote down a line of calculations.

[MN=m0-4c1Mπ2+O(Mπ3)]

Lu Zhou stopped and heard whispers.

“This is where the trouble begins.

“This is also the source of all contradictions.

“Usually we find the nucleus mass by using chiral extrapolation and the quantum dot calculation method. With the help of supercomputers, we can explain the source of mass in most nuclei.

“However, as of today, we still have a lot of unexplainable things… 7% of the mass is still unaccounted for.”

After writing this number on the whiteboard, Lu Zhou continued to look at the venue and said, “Now, because of the 5 TeV collision experiment, this number has increased to 53% and even 71%, swallowing our understanding of physics, as if it is a because.

“In order to explain this phenomenon, we must introduce a new physics concept.”

Lu Zhou reached out and wrote a letter on the whiteboard—n.

Then, he wrote down “+1” next to it.

“N is the number of dimensions that make up our current universe. Some say it is 11, others say it is 13. Maybe in the distant future, this number will be broadened to infinity as our horizons expand, but that is not important for now…

“What we are going to discuss now is the n+1 dimension.

“There is an axis that runs through the universe from the beginning to the end. It’s like a lake reflected by itself. It is outside the horizon in which we can observe. All of the observable dimensions end at this point.

“In some sense, its existence does not affect us under normal circumstances unless… something outside the box touches this string…

“More specifically, they reached out, opened the box, and observed us.”

Lu Zhou looked at the surprised audience. Witten and his other friends were thinking quietly. Fernando was boiling with rage. Lu Zhou looked back at the calculations on the whiteboard.

He paused for a second and continued, “Because of the observations from the Void, the superposition collapsed.”

There was a bigger commotion in the crowd.

All of this sounded outrageous.

Finally, someone couldn’t help but ask.

“Why at 5 TeV?”

“Good question.”

Lu Zhou looked at the young scholar who stood up to ask the question. He snapped his fingers and gave an encouraging look at him. He then motioned the scholar to sit down.

Lu Zhou looked around the lecture hall and slightly raised his voice.

“How do we identify whether artificial intelligence is intelligent in the true sense? This is an abstract concept, thus came the Turing test, which defines that if an artificial intelligence program can pass the Turing test, it is intelligent in the true sense. Otherwise, it is merely a machine.

“Similarly, how do we select the smartest ant from a group of ants?

“The method is very simple. Just set up simple physical obstacles for them.

“I know this might sound crazy, but what I want to say is that the collision experiment at the 5 TeV energy level is like a filter. It filters the collection of all civilizations in this universe.

“The mass never increased. Instead, it moved from the n+1 dimension to the n dimension. By using this simple method, they can differentiate between smart and foolish ants.

“Also, this filter…

“Is their declaration to us of their existence.”

Chapter 1221: Mass Does Not Expand, It Just Flows on Invisible Strings

The lecture hall was like a pressurized pot of boiling water, exploding in an instant.

People were shocked, and they exchanged looks with horror in their eyes. They were at a loss.

Because of the observation, the quantum superposition state collapsed and a series of chain effects were triggered. This caused the mass to move from n+1 dimension to below n dimension.

Does this mean that there are “people” outside the box watching us?

That sounds ridiculous…

Also sounds scary.

It was like there was a camera far away, watching their every move. By using an invisible filter, they were able to screen their favorite intelligent civilizations.

And now, through this filter, they had discovered the existence of humans.

What did this mean?

Nobody knew.

Because of this, people had looks of panic on their eyes.

The calmest person was Fernando, sitting in the front row.

Perhaps his fearlessness was brought about by ignorance. Compared to the physicists present, he did not fully understand what Lu Zhou was talking about. He was only able to capture a few keywords.

“The Void?

“So in other words, the spirit of the universe actually exists?”

The eyes of this tiny man lit up.

It was as if he was seeing hope…

On the stage of the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to the chaos in the lecture hall. He wrote his argumentation process on the whiteboard without any hesitation.

[…Mπ2=(1/2)(mu+md)<0|ΨΨ|0>/Fπ2]

[<0|Aμa(x)|πb(p)>=ipμFπδabe-ipx]

[…]

Professor Witten, who was sitting in the audience, locked his eyes on the lines of calculations on the whiteboard. His pupils shrank slightly.

Just a few minutes ago, when he heard Lu Zhou’s theory about extra strings and observers outside the horizon, he had a look of disagreement on his face.

However, after seeing these calculations, the look on his face gradually changed.

Perlmutter was sitting next to Professor Witten. He had an anxious look on his face. He looked around at his colleagues before coughing and speaking.

“His calculations seem to be a bit difficult to understand…”

Actually, he was understating this fact.

Ever since the fifth line of calculations on the second whiteboard, Professor Perlmutter was totally lost.

In fact, as an astrophysicist, he should have a good understanding of mathematics. Even though his understanding was more focused on the applied mathematics side, he had never been this confused before.

He was totally baffled by what was written on the whiteboard.

He even began to wonder whether the lines of calculations were even considered mathematics, or whether his knowledge was completely out of date.

“It is a bit difficult to understand.” Professor Witten frowned and said, “It involves many theories from topology and algebraic geometry, especially from the unified theory of algebraic geometry… I haven’t researched mathematics in many years, I can’t even fully understand it.”

“Even you can’t?” Perlmutter opened his eyes in surprise and said, “Who can prove whether he’s right or wrong then?”

Witten shook his head and looked at the figure standing on the stage. He watched the lines of calculations appear on the whiteboard and said, “I don’t know…

“Let’s just see what happens.”

It was far easier to pick mistakes from a theory than to prove its correctness.

Perhaps they could ask other mathematicians for help.

Honestly, Witten was not worried about the same thing Perlmutter was worrying about.

Professor Witten had trust in Lu Zhou’s own character and in his academic strength. He was convinced that Lu Zhou would definitely not present unrefined things to anyone.

From this alone, Witten was at least 80% confident that Lu Zhou’s theory was true…

On the other side of the lecture hall.

Luo Wenxuan, the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC, also had a surprised look on his face.

Although he was a mathematician, he was in no better position than other people.

The complicated calculations gave him a headache. Even though he was not completely lost, his slow analytical ability made it impossible to keep up with Lu Zhou’s rhythm.

By the time he understood what one of the calculations meant and what role it played in the whole argumentation process, a dozen new calculations appeared on the whiteboard.

He couldn’t help but wonder whether Lu Zhou was even thinking about the calculations. He felt like Lu Zhou was writing down all of the steps purely by muscle memory alone.

That was a scary thought.

Sitting next to him was Academician Lu Shenjian, who had his eyes glued to the whiteboard. Academician Lu Shenjian suddenly spoke.

“From today onward, the path of physics will be completely rewritten.”

Luo Wenxuan was shocked. He looked at the old man and asked, “You understand his proof?”

Academician Lu: “No, why?”

Luo Wenxuan: “Then why do you say that?”

Academician Lu thought for a bit and answered, “This… is a kind of scientific intuition.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

Lu Zhou didn’t care about the reactions on the faces of the audience. The pen in his hand trembled. He completely forgot about time and space, as well as the pairs of eyes behind him. All of his concentration was completely focused on the problem at hand.

According to the data collected by the ILHCRC in the energy range from 5.12 TeV to 5.17 TeV, by establishing a phenomenological model for analysis, he could infer that the “maximum mass transfer” phenomenon would occur when the collision energy reached 7.17 TeV~7.74 TeV, while a violent collapse would occur near the 8 TeV energy level.

If they couldn’t understand where the mystery behind this phenomenon came from, physics would stagnate.

After all, building a collider was not an easy task.

If all of physics lost its meaning in the higher energy zones, then human civilization would have fallen into a trap. It would be very difficult for human civilization to release itself from this trap.

This was like a filter, brutally sieving the entire universe, weeding out those ants that could not pass the obstacles and deterring the ants that could pass the obstacles by announcing their existence.

The most frightening thing was that this filter also existed in the old universe. It was very likely that the civilization or individual that set up the filter was from a different civilization than The Observer.

Lu Zhou was afraid that the existence of this filter was not so friendly…

Lu Zhou wrote down the last full stop and put down his pen. He turned around and faced the lecture hall.

Most people had not yet recovered from the shock. They were staring at the whiteboard, trying to understand the mystery behind the lines of calculations.

Even though he didn’t want to interrupt the train of thought of hundreds of audience members, he had to give a conclusion.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

“The proof ends here.

“What we are facing might be worse than we had imagined.

“Let’s return to the original topic, which is, the spirit of the universe.

“It can’t prove its existence with the current technology, so I don’t want to discuss too much. Whether there’s conscious determinism or material determinism, time will answer this question.

“I can see that this might become a very controversial topic in the coming centuries.”

Lu Zhou looked at the silent venue. He gently put down the marker in his hand and continued to speak with a serious tone, “However, as a physicist, I hope that the debate on this issue stays in the field of philosophy. Until we can use scientific methods to prove its existence, we should put the controversy aside.

“As for the Void, the extra dimension beyond the nth dimension…”

After a pause, Lu Zhou looked back at the whiteboard behind him and said, “My proof states that this is the only explanation for where the mass increase came from and where it went to. Mass does not just disappear in a vacuum. It merely falls from the n+1 dimension to our dimension.

“As for whether a consciousness agent controls it, as I said earlier, this question is irrelevant to physics at this stage.”

There were whispers in the venue.

People exchanged looks of disbelief, hoping to get answers from the expressions on the faces of other colleagues. However, even though the world’s top minds were gathered here, very few were able to understand the obscure proof process on the whiteboard.

The Q&A session began.

To Lu Zhou’s surprise, no one actually raised their hands.

He began to reflect on whether the theory he explained earlier was too advanced when suddenly a man stood up.

“Your theory proves that the virtual world described by Professor Galette Miro is real!”

Fernando had an excited look on his face. He looked at Lu Zhou and spoke in a louder voice.

“It also proves that the spirit of the universe is everywhere and omnipotent.”

This sudden interruption livened up the atmosphere.

Fernando listened to the bursts of laughter coming from behind, and he blushed as he started to feel angry.

Had it not been for the policeman next to him, he would have never shown such restraint.

Lu Zhou didn’t laugh at Fernando. Instead, he spoke patiently.

“I’m afraid you don’t know, that when Professor Galette Miro described the virtual world, he borrowed his theory from my theory of extra dimensions. Of course, he wouldn’t tell you that. After all, these things are quite difficult to understand.”

“You little sh*t!”

Fernando clenched his fist. He was about to walk onto the stage, but he was blocked by the police officer.

Lu Zhou ignored his actions and said, “Yes, I did prove that the Void exists, and it is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“But to say that it is omnipotent… That is not possible.

“I will prove this.” Lu Zhou looked at the audience in the lecture hall. He gently tidied up the draft paper on the lecture table and continued in a calm and powerful voice, “ILHCRC’s next experiment will collide hydrogen ions at an energy level of 10 TeV.

“I will prove that the Void is not omnipotent.”

Chapter 1222: 10 TeV Collision

Actually, Lu Zhou expected this to happen.

Even if he tried his best, it was impossible to teach a cow mathematics. Or to teach a dog physics.

Galette Miro understood human nature.

He knew that proofs could only be justified towards intelligent people. For a humble farmer or bridge worker, it was easier to package the scientific theory into something fictitious and explain it to them in another way.

Miro also knew that he didn’t need so many people participating in his projects. Physics had always been a game for a select few. As for the others, contributing their spirits and beliefs were enough.

In this regard, Lu Zhou actually quite admired this guy.

In order to complete this experiment, he even sacrificed himself as part of the price. As far as he was concerned, he was implanting the seeds of the “spirit of the universe” into human civilization.

It was difficult to judge whether this was a worthy sacrifice.

Perhaps he thought it was…

All in all, the seminar was successful.

Inviting the hardcore believers of the spirit of the universe to come and listen to this seminar was just the cherry on top. Lu Zhou never expected to use his report to convince these believers otherwise.

The purpose of this seminar was not only to popularize science, but it was also a report conference for the physics community.

Lu Zhou gave a detailed proof process regarding the “Void” and his “extra dimension” theories.

As for whether he could end the controversy regarding the 5 TeV energy level collision experiment…

That would also depend on whether the ILHCRC could find the truth behind the higher energy zone and break through the obstacles set by a being outside the universe…

…

The physics world had turned into an exploding pot of boiling water due to the mass expansion experiment.

The ILHCRC was like throwing hot oil into the pot water.

Right after Lu Zhou walked out of the lecture hall, the news regarding this report began to fly around the world, appearing in major media outlet headlines.

[The Void Is Watching Us!]

[Huge ILHCRC Discovery! The Mass of the Expansion Might Come From Outside the Universe!]

[There Is a Ghost Hovering Above Physics, An Unprecedented Crisis Is Approaching!]

In some sense, physics was indeed facing an unprecedented crisis; otherwise, this report would not affect so many people.

Moreover, physicists weren’t the only ones who were heartbroken about this matter. Some civilian scientists had also stepped forward, arguing what the world outside of the universe was like.

Among them, the most passionate people were the believers of the spirit of the universe.

They had a half-hearted understanding of Professor Galette Miro’s theory. They firmly believed that the collision experiment would bring unimaginable disasters to the world and release terrible demons from the Void.

The second experiment was quickly arranged in the midst of the endless controversy.

Because the experiment was in a higher energy zone, the preparation took a little longer this time. All of the preparations were not completely ready until the middle of the month.

The day of the experiment.

Inside the ground command center, the staff in white coats walked back and forth, creating a nervous and busy work environment.

Soon, they would verify whether the theory of the Void and the extra-dimensional put forward by Professor Lu at the seminar was correct.

Lu Zhou was the focal point of this debate about mass expansion. He stood with a much calmer expression on his face than last time. Much calmer than most people here.

It was as if the experiment weren’t an experiment at all; it was just an announcement for the proof of his theory…

For a genius like him, he had nothing to worry about.

However, for other people, this was not so easy.

Luo Wenxuan, who was also standing in the command room, looked at his watch repeatedly.

He took a deep, slow breath and looked at Lu Zhou.

He hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are you nervous?”

Lu Zhou glanced at Luo Wenxuan. He thought for a second before asking, “Do you want the truth or do you want to feel better?”

Luo Wenxuan: “The truth…”

“The truth is, there is nothing to be nervous about.” Lu Zhou looked up at the screen directly in front of him and said, “In ten minutes, the Moon Palace will tell us that I am correct.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou was so confident, Luo Wenxuan had a surprised look on his face. He couldn’t help but ask, “You’re that confident? You are so sure that it must be good news?”

Lu Zhou: “Remember what I said?”

Luo Wenxuan: “About what?”

“Your eyes might deceive you, but mathematics definitely won’t.”

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou with his mouth open.

After a while, he sighed.

“… Maybe I should learn more mathematics.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I would advise you to do so, you still have time.”

A 10 Tev energy zone experiment might be impossible for CERN, but it was not a difficult task for the ILHCRC.

After all, the engineering standards for the Lunar Hadron Collider were built in accordance with the standards for a 10 TeV collision experiment.

Lu Zhou looked at the large screen in front of him and felt emotional.

If we didn’t set such a high standard when building the collider…

Or if this collider was never built and we had to rely on the CERN collider…

By the time we reach a collision power of 5 TeV, the Void would have already destroyed us.

If a terrible failure happened at 5 TeV and there was no hope for the collision experiment to increase to 6 TeV or 7 TeV, the physics community might not have the perseverance to build an even larger collider and continue to walk down this road.

If it weren’t for the things Lu Zhou had witnessed, he might not have been able to pull himself out of this trap.

After all, many things couldn’t be solved by pure intellect and wisdom alone…

A voice interrupted Lu Zhou’s thoughts.

The commanding staff sitting at the control console gave the instruction to begin the experiment.

“All units stand by!”

“Beginning countdown!”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Begin!”

Hundreds of millions of volts of electricity burst out in an instant under the lunar crater more than 300,000 kilometers away.

The plasma was filled with terrifying energy, instantly filling the ring-shaped superconducting magnet, forming a huge magnetic field. It deflected the cosmic rays directly, hitting the lunar surface and forming a beautiful aurora!

A series of hydrogen ions were ejected from the muzzle. They were calibrated by sophisticated instruments. The ions collided at the junction of the two circular orbits, split into subatomic fragments…

In just a few seconds…

The beginning of the Big Bang was simulated on the Moon.

Lu Zhou looked at the data on the screen. He gradually had a smirk on his face.

He heard deafening cheers from behind him.

Except for the accounted errors due to accuracy, the data observed by the detectors were consistent with the estimated value!

The Standard Model was still close to perfect; it just needed some small adjustments.

As for his theory of extra dimensions…

There was no doubt…

That he was correct!

Chapter 1223: The Extra String and the Void

For the physics community, this was definitely an extraordinary day.

Human civilization had broadened their thinking radius outside the universe. They also broadened their dimensional view of the world.

The changes this brought to society might not be as direct as high-speed rail or a space shuttle, but its hidden value could not be estimated with a monetary value.

“He saved us.”

Professor Steven Weinberg looked at the papers he downloaded from the ILHCRC website. He said, “The extra dimension beyond n, the lake reflecting inside a lake… This analogy is perfect!”

“I guess you’re going to say that you knew it all along?” Professor Perlmutter said with a cup of coffee in his hand. He had just returned from Shanghai.

“That is what I think!” Professor Weinberg blushed and said, “Don’t look at me like that… I said the same thing before the report began!”

That was technically true.

As one of the few public atheists among Jewish physicists, Steven Weinberg firmly stood on the side of material determinism since the beginning. He proposed a special dimension to explain this mass expansion phenomenon.

Just like how the physics community added a fifth dimension to the equation of relativity in order to explain the electromagnetic force, the expansion mass might come from the n+1 dimension outside the horizon.

He had the same idea as Lu Zhou; the only difference was that he could not prove his idea.

It was actually very easy to put forward a conjecture. ArXiv gave birth to thousands of sci-fi theories, but few of them were logically self-consistent. The ones that were logically self-consistent could not be proved by experiments.

There was no doubt that Lu Zhou not only explained the existence of the n+1 dimension from the mathematical sense, but he also explained the disorderly behavior from the experimental sense.

They discovered a whole “new continent” of physics.

As for everything else…

Perhaps they should consider the threats from the Void?

After all, no matter how they looked at it, this filter was not placed in front of them with good intentions.

Weinberg didn’t have much hope.

This might be a ploy for ILHCRC to ask governments for funding money. After all, humans were animals that desired privacy. No one liked to have someone spying on themselves.

Even though the threat of this crisis existed, it was too unlikely.

Perhaps it might never come even after the sun died out…

“There is no doubt that the Nobel Committee owes him a Nobel Prize. I have said a long time ago that he is worthy of this honor. I recommended Lu Zhou to them when he discovered the electrostrong interaction. However, the stubborn old men keep handing out awards to irrelevant people.”

Perlmutter coughed and said, “That’s not quite correct. The award winners definitely aren’t irrelevant… From what I know, Professor Klitzing recommends Lu Zhou to the Nobel Prize Committee every year.”

“I will also write a letter this year.” Weinberg threw the printed thesis on the table and said, “No one deserves this honor more than him, I mean no one.”

He felt like he wasn’t convincing enough, so he added to his words.

“Of course, this includes me.”

…

The second week after the experimental data was released, a paper titled “The Void and World of Extra Strings” was released on the ILHCRC website.

After the paper was released, the number of downloads exceeded 100,000 times in less than half an hour.

The same paper was also published in “Future” and was reprinted by major well-known journals. Nature and Science even set highlights and put the paper on the covers of their latest journal issues.

The most notable one was probably the brief commentary written by Professor Weinberg, a well-known scholar in the field of physics, in “Physical Review”.

As the Nobel Prize winner in 1979, Professor Weinberg had a considerable influence in the field of physics. Even Edward Witten was inferior to him in terms of status.

Whether it was the unified theory of weak electricity, the scattering of mesons, infrared photons, quantum gravity, and the discovery of Z bosons, none of them were comparable to string theory. His paper on Z boson was the most cited physics paper in 2010.

He was among the great living physicists, along with Yang and Anderson.

Because of this, after his paper was published in Physical Review, it aroused a lot of heated discussions in the entire physics community and even in academia as a whole…

[For the physics community, the Void is undoubtedly an unfamiliar concept. Whether it is an extra string in the universe or an observation from outside the universe, it sounds too mysterious. However, logically, it is indeed self-consistent and has been tested by experiments.

[Mass never changes. However, mass and energy from the n+1 dimension have broken our understanding of the original universe, opening our eyes to a brand new world.

[Like we have seen, there are still many mysteries in this universe that we still don’t know about. We will continue to search for these mysteries.

[This is probably the biggest revelation that the Void brings to us.

[If there is something watching us, whether they are hostile or not, we should at least respond to their expectations. This is both for the benefit of the universe, as well as the benefit of ourselves.]

While the entire physics world was excited because of the discovery of the “Void” and “extra dimensions”, Lu Zhou, who had returned to Jinling from Shanghai, felt completely relaxed.

After the confirmed theory of extra dimensions, the turmoil that threatened the entire physics and the controversy surrounding the “mass expansion” finally settled.

However, he still had some worries in his mind.

For example, in theory, there should be no matter in the Void. How did the Void mass project into the n-dimensional universe? And what kind of matter was it?

There were a series of problems that still couldn’t be explained by the existing theories.

But in any case, the immediate problem was solved.

These questions were to be answered by later generations. All he could do was put forward conjectures.

For example, what if, before The Observer entered the Void Civilization, it kept a fragment of the old universe.

Or what if both matter and antimatter were generated at the same time? The antimatter sank into the endless Void, while the matter was projected into the new universe…

However, regardless of what the speculation was, it was too difficult to verify with current technical means.

Proving these things was no easier than proving the existence of the spirit of the universe…

After Lu Zhou went back to his Zhongshan International mansion, he took a shower, then lay on his soft bed.

Even though he lived in a nice place in Shanghai, nothing compared to the comfort of his own home.

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he heard a faint sound.

He saw a blue box floating above him.

[Congratulations, User, urgent mission completed!]

Chapter 1224: Void Explorer Medal

Lu Zhou stood in a pure white space. He walked up to a translucent holographic panel and saw a prompt line.

[Congratulations, User, “Call From The Void” urgent mission completed.]

[Mission status: The road to the search of truth is not always smooth. There are many endless and mysterious things we don’t understand in the vast universe. Only those with tenacity can pass the test and go into the legendary utopia…]

[Mission evaluation: S+]

[Reward: One million physics experience points. Void Explorer Medal, a gift from Void (S-level evaluation bonus), materialism +10]

A million experience points was quite a lot.

Lu Zhou saw the pale golden light particles pour from the mission panel to the experience progress bar in his characteristic panel. He had a warm smile on his face.

How long has it been?

He almost forgot this feeling of joy.

This mission had a huge reward return. He was stuck at level 8 physics for a long time now. This was a big step toward finally reaching level 9.

What confused Lu Zhou was what the Void explorer medal was.

“Last time, it was the civilization rescuer medal… Is there any meaning in collecting this stuff?”

If I collect enough medals, will the Void Civilization issue me a visa, an honorary citizenship certificate, or something else?

Lu Zhou held the shiny bronze medal in his right hand. He felt a wave of warmth in his palm.

Compared with the civilization rescuer medal, the “Void explorer” medal was very light. The medal consisted of a bronze button the size of a thumbnail that could be pinned to his shirt. The rest of the medal was a projection, using some kind of holographic technology. It was a beautiful illusion, just like the Void itself.

However, the holographic technology was more advanced than the one on Earth. It did not require water vapor as a medium and did not use the Tyndall effect at all. It was like it projected an image directly into reality. Lu Zhou had no idea what kind of technology it was.

Lu Zhou watched the medal change shape in his palm. He put it back into his inventory, alongside the civilization rescuer medal.

Perhaps in the distant future, after he completely lifted the cover of the Void, he would be lucky enough to know the true meaning behind these medals. But as for now, he was going to leave them alone.

In addition to the medal, the system also gave him special rewards for the S+ mission rating.

Lu Zhou felt like he hadn’t gotten an S-grade mission evaluation in a long time.

He looked at the words on the holographic panel: [Do you want to open the gift of the Void?]. He then cleared his throat and said, “Open!”

A blue wave of light floated from the holographic panel and approached Lu Zhou by half an inch.

Lu Zhou looked at the purple light floating in front of him. He hesitated for a moment. He then extended his right hand and touched the center of the light.

What happened next was not what he expected.

This did not trigger a Void Memory. Instead, a warm current wrapped around his fingers.

Lu Zhou paused for a second with a strange look on his face.

“Is this a subspace? Or… some kind of high-dimensional fragment?

“Amazing…”

His entire hand did not pass through the beam of light. Instead, it was swallowed by the light. His hand entered a different, sticky paste-like space. The piece of space seemed infinite. It was much larger than the volume of the light particles themselves.

Lu Zhou stretched his entire arm in. He was wondering what the Void wanted to give himself. Suddenly, his right hand touched a solid object.

He grabbed the object and pulled it out of the cloud of purple light.

After his hand was pulled out of the light cloud, the purple light quickly shrank and disappeared into nothingness.

Lu Zhou felt a cold and hard object in his hand.

“What’s this…”

Lu Zhou looked at the pen-sized metal tube in his hand curiously.

On one side of the metal tube, there was a transparent glass line with graded marks. He could see the amount of dark green liquid inside the tube through the glass line.

He shook the tube gently and watched the viscous liquid shaking slowly in the metal tube. He started to get more and more curious.

“Nutrition mixture? No, it shouldn’t be such a useless thing.”

His intuition told him that this was some kind of special biomass or a chemical substance that benefited life organisms.

Of course, it could also be something dangerous.

Even though so far, The Observer had only shown him kindness, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“I’ll take it back to the lab for testing first.”

Lu Zhou exited the system space and jumped out of his bed. He then called Wang Peng.

“Pick me up downstairs.”

“Roger that.”

After a while, he heard a car engine outside his gate and saw headlights through the trees.

Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to take care of the house. He then put on a change of clothes and left.

The Electric Purple vehicle was parked outside his gate.

Wang Peng opened the door for Lu Zhou. After Lu Zhou got in the car, he asked, “It’s so late, are we still going to the research institute?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou took out his mobile phone and connected it to the database of the Institute for Advanced Study. He checked the schedule of various biology laboratories and replied casually, “There is something I can’t wait to figure out.”

Can’t wait to figure out?

Even though he was curious about what it was, Wang Peng knew he wouldn’t understand anyway. So he focused on driving the car to the parking lot of the Institute for Advanced Study.

He turned off the engine and looked at Lu Zhou.

“Should I wait here for you?”

Lu Zhou unfastened his seat belt and replied, “No need, you can go back first.”

Wang Peng: “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“I’m sure.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the institute. “I think I might have to stay here all night.”

Chapter 1225: Dr-111

Sometimes, Wang Peng felt like Lu Zhou didn’t take his health seriously.

No matter how interesting the laboratory is, you shouldn’t lose sleep over it, right?

Not to mention you just got back from Shanghai a few hours ago.

Honestly, at this point, even if Lu Zhou stopped doing everything, he still would have made enough contributions to last him 20 lifetimes. His existence itself was like a statue or a painting, just standing there was enough to make the world appreciate him.

In Wang Peng’s opinion, nothing was more important than health. Not even the series of results Lu Zhou made during the controllable nuclear fusion project or even sending Chinese astronauts to the Moon…

Wang Peng thought back to Dr. Yan’s instructions on how Academician Lu should pay attention to his own health. He felt like he should be responsible for Lu Zhou’s safety and health.

What should I do?

I can’t persuade him ever.

Wang Peng took out a cigarette from his bag. He lit up the cigarette and began blowing the smoke out of the car window in a melancholy manner.

Protecting Lu Zhou was probably the longest, most troublesome, and most difficult task he had performed in his career…

…

When Lu Zhou was in the car, he had already booked a biology laboratory.

After reaching the lab, Lu Zhou first went to the sink to wash his hands. He then told Xiao Ai to take over the monitoring for the entire building. This was to make sure that no traces could be left behind. He then took out the metal tube from the system space.

The surface of the metal tube was glowing with a faint silver glow under the light of the incandescent lamp. This formed a sharp contrast with the viscous dark green liquid inside.

Without wasting any time, Lu Zhou took the metal tube to a white biosafety cabinet, which was about the size of two refrigerators. He carefully placed the tube inside and started the equipment.

This biosafety cabinet was tailor-made by a German medical equipment company for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. It used air curtain isolation technology and was equipped with ULPA ultra-high efficiency filters. It had a 99.999% interception efficiency for particles >0.12 microns, as well as a double filtration drain.

Coupled with a high-power air pump that could create a vacuum, an ultraviolet killing system, and an acid-base pool used to inactivate special bacterial species… This was hell to microorganisms, so theoretically, it was absolutely safe.

Lu Zhou was confident that if Umbrella Corporation were willing to spend as much on safety equipment as him, then the residents of Raccoon City wouldn’t have died so miserably.

In addition to the two manually operated latex gloves, there were also two electrically driven flexible mechanical arms inside the machine.

In addition to manual operation, researchers using this equipment could also rely on numerically controlled programs to accurately manipulate the samples in the biosafety cabinet.

Most researchers wouldn’t actually use this numerical system. After all, most experiments could be easily done manually. However, for Lu Zhou, who had a smart laboratory assistant like Xiao Ai, the numerical programming became a trivial matter.

In order to match these powerful features, the cost of this machine was quite expensive. Star Sky Technology purchased two units in total, costing around 10 million yuan each.

However, compared to other biological experimental machines, the cost of 10 million yuan was not a big deal. The cryogenic electron microscope machine had a cost of 30 million yuan.

However, cryogenic electron microscopes were a different beast. Normally, biosafety cabinets were only 20 thousand yuan!

This was the life of a wealthy research institute.

The wealth of the Institute for Advanced Study was way beyond the imagination of most scholars.

Because the pieces of experimental equipment were too expensive, most scientific researchers began to tremble when they stepped into the laboratory.

One small mistake could cost more than a car.

However, they shouldn’t worry about that at all. In Lu Zhou’s opinion, experimental equipment was a consumable asset. If it breaks, just buy a new one. There was no need to treat it like a precious baby.

He would rather have the researchers in the institute boldly experiment with whatever they wanted.

In his opinion, every penny spent on scientific research was worthwhile. Even if it might not be worthwhile right now, it would definitely be worthwhile in the future…

After setting the experimental parameters, Lu Zhou went to the coffee machine and made himself a cup of coffee.

He waited quietly for a while.

Soon after, a series of laboratory data, such as microscope images, toxicity tests, etc, were all listed in an experiment report and presented to him.

Like he had guessed, this dark-green liquid was made up of a special kind of microorganism and was safe in terms of toxicity.

The Observer in the Void did not put biochemical weapons in the metal tube to sabotage him. At least for now, he couldn’t find any danger in this thing.

The microorganisms were shaped like shuttles, pulsing slowly under the microscope at a stable frequency.

In addition to the organelles that most organisms had, there was also a special layer of mucus attached to the surface of these microbial cells. This layer of mucus was like a hydrophobic adhesive, it bound microorganisms closely together and allowed certain special pheromones to be exchanged with one other.

This kind of microorganism also had a peculiar characteristic. Its DNA and RNA had extremely high stability. Generally speaking, in order to ensure a dominant position of their own population, most microorganisms had a certain probability of picking up a certain fragment of other microorganisms’ RNA or DNA after swallowing them. This was to strengthen themselves for survival.

However, this microorganism was different. After they swallowed other smaller microorganisms, they did not take on the DNA or RNA fragments as their own. Instead, they destroyed them and directly converted them into energy for use.

They were also united together. They rejected foreign mutations, as well as their own mutations.

If an individual was mutated, then the exchange of the special pheromone could not be completed. This microbe would quickly be swallowed and decomposed by other microbial individuals… Similar to cleaning up cancer cells.

This community composed of microorganisms repelled all forms of mutation and maintained the purity of the community’s genes.

It was difficult to imagine that such a “stubborn” microorganism could survive the elimination of natural selection.

Most of the treasures that the Void Civilization gave to Lu Zhou were “cultural relics” left by civilizations that had died out. Lu Zhou speculated that these microorganisms were probably a masterpiece from a civilization with advanced biotechnology.

In order to observe its consuming process, Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai to add 1 g of bread crumbs with a diameter of about 0.3 mm to the petri dish. He then observed the reaction of these microorganisms under an electron microscope.

When the bread crumbs came into contact with the mucus on the surface of the microorganisms, these crumbs were gradually broken down into smaller pieces of organic matter, before finally transported to the inside of the cells.

After a special respiration reaction, these organic matter fragments were converted into energy and carbon dioxide, as well as a special ketone substance.

This ketone was kind of like a synthetic intermediate of trans fats, but Lu Zhou did not observe further reactions.

Through toxicity testing, this ketone substance seemed to be harmless to other organisms. However, it inhibited the division and proliferation of this microorganism itself.

“A special kind of decomposer?

“This should be good for treating domestic sewage and urban feces, but the reproduction speed seems to be a bit too slow.

“The secretion is a single composition. There is also no allergen that might induce an allergic reaction to the human body. It should be able to be eaten as food… But the taste won’t be good.

“It might be good as a face mask or something?”

A strange look appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

Honestly speaking, he did not want to believe this.

After all, this was a gift from the Void.

If the only two purposes were for sewage cleaning and a facial mask, he would be disappointed.

Even though it would have economic value, it would be worthless for him.

Time quickly passed by; the sky outside the window gradually became brighter.

Lu Zhou spent the entire night doing countless experiments. He looked at the experiment report and rubbed his nose.

Roughly speaking, he learned a lot.

Unfortunately, this mysterious microbe did not seem to show any useful properties.

Not just that, but its growth rate was quite slow. After the volume grew to the size of a fist, it did not continue to proliferate.

The pheromone circulating in the microbial matter seemed to automatically adjust the number of the population, keeping its overall size within a limited range.

If he wanted to make it continue to reproduce, he had to take the initiative to physically separate microbe individuals and block the exchange of pheromones.

If this was only used for sewage cleaning, it wouldn’t be much more effective than other similar microbial groups, simply because of its slow reproduction.

As for making a face mask…

He really didn’t want to sell this as a face mask for a couple of dollars each.

This is ridiculous!

Xiao Ai: [Master, do you want to end the experiment? ( ́v`)]

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, that’s it for today… Remember to clean up.”

Xiao Ai: [No problem! Also, also, Master, you still haven’t named this microorganism yet, do you need Xiao Ai to help? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

“It’s fine…”

Of course I’m going to name it, I’m not going to let an artificially retarded program to name it.

After thinking for a few seconds, Lu Zhou glanced at the experimental report in his hand. He picked up a pen and wrote the name [Dr-111] on it.

“We’ll call it this.”

Xiao Ai: [Does… does this name have any special meaning?? (•̀∀•́)]

Lu Zhou: “Does it have to?”

Xiao Ai: [Of course not, but Xiao Ai thinks that Xiao Ai should name it next time… |○゚ω゚)っ]

Lu Zhou: “…”

What nonsense is this…

After Lu Zhou registered an entry regarding [Dr-111] in the database, he collected all of the experimental data from the computers. Xiao Ai then began to operate the biosafety cabinet and sterilize the residues inside.

The metal tube was ejected from the biosafety cabinet. The air pump then evacuated the air in the biosafety cabinet. After the ultraviolet sterilization, the inside of the entire cabinet was filled with dead microorganisms.

However, something went wrong.

The dark green mucus lying in the petri dish evaporated and shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye. However, it was able to maintain its form.

It was like a slug covered in salt…

“Turn off the UV killing system!”

Xiao Ai: [What? 0.0]

Even though Xiao Ai was confused by Lu Zhou’s order, it still turned off the UV sterilization system as told.

The ultraviolet radiation gradually weakened. Lu Zhou suddenly had a flash of thought in his mind.

I think I know why…

The extinct civilization created this “stubborn” microbe.

He finally knew what this tough microbe could be used on…

Chapter 1226: Prerequisites for Immigration

“It’s so cold.”

They were standing on a piece of gray lunar soil. The young man looked at the external temperature on his spacesuit helmet display and asked, “How can you be cold under that spacesuit?”

Walking next to him was the captain of the lunar scientific research station engineering team, Wu Gang. People in the engineering team teased him whenever he talked about the weather on the moon.

In fact, there was only one engineering team in the entire research station.

The packages thrown down from the Moon Palace were unloaded, installed, and deployed by these people.

They were the ones that repaired the solar array and the lunar collider. All of the facilities on the moon surface and all of the space construction equipment were operated by this engineering team.

The person standing next to him was an engineer recently assigned to the team named Xu Chengli. Apparently, he graduated from Jin Ling University with a master’s degree in aerospace engineering.

Due to the close cooperation between Jin Ling University and the Institute for Advanced Study, his resume was regarded as very attractive in the aerospace industry. So much so that Wu Gang was confused as to why Xu Chengli came to this cold, desolate place.

“I’m just saying, chill out.”

Xu Chengli heard the voice from the helmet communication channel and laughed.

Because he had just arrived here, everything was novel to him. So much so that many teammates thought he was a bit silly. However, he thought his silliness was an advantage.

After all, it was rare to hear a new human’s voice on this silent moon. He always felt that if he didn’t speak as much as he did, he would definitely go crazy one day.

However, Captain Wu seemed to disagree.

“You talk too much.”

Seeing how the captain was annoyed, Xu Chengli spoke with a careless look on his face.

“Fine, I will stop talking so much… Hey, actually, when I was on Earth, I didn’t talk this much.”

“You’re doing it again.”

The two continued to walk and stopped at a piece of flat ground.

After stepping on the ground with his foot and confirming that the lunar soil was strong enough, Wu Gang reached out and took the navigation beacon out from his backpack. He skillfully set the accuracy parameters, then steadily inserted it on the ground.

For now, their work had come to an end. All that was left was to wait for the cargo spacecraft to throw down the landing module. After that, they could disassemble the cargo and deploy it correctly.

The two stood quietly on the deserted piece of land while waiting for the package to arrive.

Xu Chengli was wondering if he should make some conversation when Wu Gang suddenly spoke first.

“You’re only 25 years old, right?”

Seeing how the captain took the initiative to chat, Xu Chengli quickly replied, “Yeah, why?”

Wu Gang: “Why come to a place like this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? The salary is high; it’s about three times for the same type of work on the ground. Moreover, it also includes food and accommodation, and the work intensity is not too bad, a rotation for half a year and three months of rest. The only thing that makes me a little unhappy is the internet latency is too high, and the communication bandwidth is limited, and… having no night clubs is a bit boring. What about you?”

Wu Gang went silent for a while, as if he was hesitant to answer this question.

However, when he saw the curious look in Xu Chengli’s eyes, he sighed and spoke.

“The reason is the same as you… but slightly different. I have a family to raise, two children to go to school, and a mortgage to pay… Let me give you some advice, young people like you shouldn’t waste their youth here. A place like this should be filled with old people like me.”

Xu Chengli frowned and said, “How is it a waste? Don’t you think working on the moon is a cool thing?”

Cool?

What is that supposed to mean?

Wu Gang was stunned.

Is this what young people think these days?

He felt like he was no longer keeping up with the times.

In his opinion, there wasn’t any fun here. It was just a bare, desolate place that was filled with craters. There was no entertainment here at all.

“You don’t want a girlfriend?”

“No way, I’ve had enough of them. I’m more comfortable alone. I can go wherever I want. Why tie myself down. Also, I just remembered another benefit of working here. There’s no one urging me to get married here, haha.”

Xu Chengli smiled heartily and raised his head. He glanced at the deep and gloomy sky. He suddenly said, “Every time I look up at the sky, I think that my life is insignificant in the universe. I’m not going to be remembered by generations to come, and even if I do, what’s the point?”

Wu Gang looked at him.

“If everyone thinks that way, we would be extinct a long time ago.”

“We will be extinct sooner or later… If enough time passes by.” Xu Chengli looked at the electronic clock on the upper right corner of his helmet display. He said, “Speaking of which, don’t the Moon Palace people have a sense of time? When will the package arrive? We have been waiting here for a while.”

“There’s probably an accident,” Wu Gang said with a frown on his face. He glanced at the time in the helmet and said, “But it shouldn’t be anything serious. There’s no additional notice from the headquarters.”

Xu Chengli: “Speaking of which, what is the package?”

“Dr-111 sample active substance… I don’t know much about it. Let’s leave it alone. Focus on our job… It’s coming.”

Xu Chengli raised his head and looked in the same direction as Captain Wu.

He saw a flashing green dot appear in the deep and dark space.

The green dot gradually approached like a spacecraft, flickering at a constant frequency. It gradually approached close enough for the two to see the package with their own eyes.

The package was getting bigger and bigger.

Finally, the package steadily hit the surface of the moon, setting off a wave of lunar dust.

“Time to get to work.”

Wu Gang patted Xu Chengli’s shoulder and walked toward the silver-white landing module. Its green signal lights were still flashing.

“You guys are late.”

Wu Gang watched the astronaut walking out of the landing module. He raised his right hand and tapped twice on the side of the helmet, connecting his signal to the communication channel.

“It took me a while to correct the orbit. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Yang Xingyu.” The astronaut who walked out of the landing module coughed and wiped the dust off his helmet. He said, “The navigation system was recently replaced, so the stability is still shaky. It will be fine after a while.”

Xu Chengli asked curiously, “The navigation system was changed?”

“Yes, recently all of our computing services have been handed over to Star Voyage One. You might have heard of it; it’s the world’s first quantum computer.”

Wu Gang frowned and said, “Is it okay to have such a high delay?”

“The latency is not a problem. The delay can be solved by an algorithm. And later on, Star Sky Technology will install a server on the Moon Palace, reducing the latency.”

The astronaut patted the landing module next to him and said, “This is it. Have fun deploying it… I’m a bioengineer, so I don’t know much about it. Can you contact Captain Ma for me? I remember he is in charge of the lunar research station.”

“He’s already on the way.” Wu Gang looked at the landing module and said, “If it’s not a problem… Can you tell me what this thing is?”

“It’s not a problem at all. You will know soon anyway.” Dr. Yang reached out and clicked on the wrist-mounted computer on his left arm. He selected some data and clicked the transfer button.

The progress bar quickly loaded. A project briefing of about two hundred words soon appeared on Wu Gang’s helmet display.

“Dr-111 active substance… Metabolite purification project in a low gravity environment… Is this thing—”

“It seems that you already know.” Dr. Yang smiled and said, “If this project goes well, it should help with the mass-migration to the moon.”

“Forget about it.” Wu Gang smiled and tapped his index finger twice on the wrist-mounted computer. He turned off the project briefing and said, “Other than people with non-functioning brains, who would come to a sh*tty place like this?”

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Xu Chengli said unhappily, “Is my brain not functioning?”

Wu Gang looked at him and spoke.

“Shut up, you’re still on probation, get to work.”

The young man immediately started to walk toward the landing module with his tools.

Dr. Yang looked at the young man walking away with a smile and said, “You can never be sure. Life is more than what is in front of you. What you see now are the desolate land and lifeless craters. But if you look at this place ten years later, I think you’re going to feel nostalgic.”

Wu Gang: “You mean after I retire?”

“I mean regardless of whether you retire or not.”

Haha, stay a month up here first, then talk to me.

Wu Gang smiled lightly and didn’t respond. He shook his head and got to work.

Chapter 1227: : Atmospheric Modification Material?

A long time had passed since the lunar scientific research station was built. The number of people who lived on the moon had almost doubled in a year. It had grown to more than 50 people.

However, this kind of population growth had limitations.

At the beginning of this year, the Lunar Orbit Committee announced that they would limit the short term increase in the number of permanent residents on the lunar surface. They would also require the management unit to maintain the current scientific research plan and the lunar resource development plan. The number of permanent personnel on the scientific research station should be maintained under 60.

The reason for such an arrangement was not because the costs of maintaining an astronaut in space were too high, but because of the limitations of the conditions.

Similar to sanitation problems faced by many large cities, although the population size of the lunar scientific research station was far smaller than a city, because there was no ecosystem that could degrade material naturally, the sanitation problem from the population growth was magnified exponentially.

According to the needs of an average adult’s life, about 1 kg of garbage was produced per day. Of which metabolic waste accounted for more than 50%. The lunar scientific research station had almost no way to completely dispose of these metabolic wastes.

Even though the lunar plant growth unit could consume part of the feces and urine, which allowed organic matter to re-enter the life cycle, the efficiency of this cycle was not high enough.

Coupled with the contamination of bacteria and microorganisms, hygiene and safety had become a problem that couldn’t be ignored at the lunar scientific research station. Transporting the wastes back to Earth took up the transportation resources of an entire spacecraft.

If the size of the population was allowed to increase, the Lunar Orbit Committee might have to plan a special route for the transportation of excrement and urine.

However, the existence of the Dr-111 active microorganisms was a turning point for everything.

No one knew where it came from. This project seemed to have mysteriously appeared in the database. Suddenly, people were assigned to conduct research on Dr-111.

Even though some people wondered which expert was behind the collection of such amazing microbial samples, they were not privy to this knowledge due to the lack of literature.

Lu Zhou was drinking coffee and looked at the data fed back from the lunar scientific research station. He had a moment of realization on his face.

Like he had expected, the Dr-111 microbe was more complicated than he initially imagined.

In an oxygen-rich environment, it accumulated a ketone substance while catabolizing metabolites through respiration. In fact, even though this ketone substance was harmless to other organisms, it was harmful to itself.

Prolonged exposure to an oxygen environment would cause the entire microbial population to reproduce slowly and eventually destroy itself.

But on the other hand, if it was under a high nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and light environment, this microorganism possessed an amazing reproductive ability as well as feeding ability.

When it catabolized metabolites, it generated oxygen through photosynthesis. It also absorbed solar energy through a special amino acid molecular chain.

Even though the direct consumption taste was not ideal, this special amino acid molecular chain could be digested by most organisms. This meant that it could directly enter the ecosystem cycle.

Not only that, but this organism had extraordinary tolerance to low-gravity environments, as well as direct radiation from cosmic rays. It could maintain the stability of its overall traits by breaking down and engulfing its own cancer cells.

This microorganism was an amazing waste purification agent!

It was a terrible idea to use it on Earth; the space station and other planets were where it should be applied to.

After Lu Zhou read the experiment report from beginning to end, he had a satisfied look on his face. Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind.

“Is this thing some kind of artificially made atmospheric modification substance?”

A level 2 Kardashev scale civilization might have created it, then planted it on planets to expand their colonies.

This microorganism multiplied wildly in an atmospheric environment with high carbon dioxide. It could grow exponentially, eventually covering the entire planet’s surface.

Then, after countless years, it would act both as a producer and a decomposer. It absorbed excess carbon dioxide and released oxygen, accelerating the process of atmospheric evolution. This allowed more carbon elements to be generated by photosynthesis. Organic matter used by organisms could enter the biosphere cycle.

In the final stage, as the oxygen concentration continued to rise, photosynthesis gradually became respiration. The ketones produced began to kill the microorganism and make it lose its ability to reproduce until it completely disappeared from the entire ecosystem.

After all of this, the chaotic planet covered by carbon dioxide could complete an atmospheric evolution process in just ten years.

Thoughts and ideas began to flow into Lu Zhou’s mind.

After all, there were very few atmospheric planets suitable for carbon-based organisms in the universe, and oxidation was the way most organisms obtained energy.

Under normal natural evolution conditions, it might take hundreds of millions of years to turn a planet filled with carbon dioxide and nitrogen into a relatively livable planet.

If this level 2 Kardashev scale civilization could extend its territory to an area of hundreds of light-years away by means faster than light travel, it was likely that they had mastered planetary atmospheric transformation technology.

Lu Zhou was certain that he was correct.

After all, the nature of civilization was to transform nature.

Only savages would choose chaos.

“I can’t believe I found such an incredible thing…”

Lu Zhou was shocked; his heart was filled with adrenaline.

If his idea was correct, then the microorganism was not only a “space version of waste purifier”, but it was also a living fossil from an advanced civilization!

What was worth studying was not just the microorganism itself, but also the biological modification technology and genetic modification technology that it might contain.

It wasn’t clear how much reverse engineering could be done. But even if it was only a small gain, it could be of great help to human civilization.

Lu Zhou thought about Mars.

It was not realistic to directly modify the atmosphere of Mars. After all, the gravity of Mars was too small and there was no protection from magnetic fields. Even if an atmosphere similar to Earth was created on Mars, it would eventually disappear.

However, if they could build a relatively closed and large biosphere, it might be feasible to live on Mars.

With the help of this microorganism’s environmental modification ability, as long as the methods and modification schemes used were appropriate, creating a closed biosphere on Mars should not be a problem.

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of a sentence The Observer said to him. He had a scary thought in his mind.

Nothing is ever just a coincidence.

Maybe…

Someone “designed” our solar system…

Chapter 1228: Strongest Holographic Technology

Lu Zhou returned his focus to the Lunar Orbit Committee. He was about to complete the Control of Earth and Moon mission chain. On the other hand, a group of staff members was all the way at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, moving cardboard boxes into the venue.

On the stage not far away, there was a director wearing a hat with several crew members behind him. He seemed to be doing an on-site inspection of the stage.

Everyone had their job to do, not one person was mucking around.

Director Li looked at the busy venue and spoke.

“What is… going on here?”

Standing next to him was Ou Haifeng, the head of the State Entertainment Department Office.

He quickly explained, “Isn’t it the National Day soon?”

“National Day? Isn’t that still a while away?”

Director Li thought to himself that Labour Day had not even begun yet, but they were already planning on celebrating National Day. Wasn’t this a bit too early?

Director Ou shook his head and said, “It’s not early, it’s only in five months. You have to prepare everything in advance, right? Not to mention that this is a national celebration, we have to be prepared!”

Director Li thought Director Ou had finished talking. He didn’t expect Director Ou to sigh and continued pouring his heart out, “This celebration is different from the past. The chief of our department specifically emphasized at the work meeting that this celebration must be bigger than before and must be done in a unique way. We have to show the world our national image and the culture of our country.”

Director Li couldn’t help but frown.

“Can’t you be more specific?”

“Basically, it means that science and technology must be emphasized at the celebration, highlighting the change that science and technology brought to our people’s lives and the country’s strength. We also have to take into account the aesthetics and record a show that people want to see. The level of excitement should be equivalent to the military parade.”

Director Li muttered, “Equivalent to the military parade… That is going to be difficult.”

Not just difficult, honestly, I think it’s impossible.

“Yeah.” Director Ou had a headache, and he said, “I also know it is difficult! Look at my hair, it’s gone all white.”

Director Li: “Actually, I don’t quite understand. Why is such an important celebration handed over to your department?”

“Sigh! I didn’t want this either! This was actually handled by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China, but when the person who took over heard that the requirements were so demanding, he immediately kicked the ball into our department. They said we have artistic brains in our department… But what can artistic brains do? If only we had some bright people in science and technology.”

Director Li snapped back to reality and spoke.

“What is that supposed to mean, you want to kick the ball to us? Let me tell you, don’t even think about it. The State Administration for National Defense is responsible for the country’s most important weapons, do not leave the fancy celebrations to us.”

“I didn’t mean that. How could we let you guys be responsible for creative and artistic activities, but… Aren’t you working in science and technology?” Director Ou quickly lost the smile on his face after he saw Director Li’s expression. He said, “I just want to ask, is there any kind of high-tech invention that can not only highlight the importance of technology to human lives but also take into account the artistic and creative aspect?”

Director Li was triggered.

“What do you think technology is? A painting that you can take out at any time for an exhibition?”

“You’re so correct, I think so too!” Director Ou said with a painful look on his face, “But here is the problem. The higher-up requires us to achieve this effect. The department has held several meetings on this matter. The top leaders told me at least five times that I must do this well and show the people at the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China our genius creative brains. I really don’t know what to do, so that’s why I’m asking you!”

Director Li looked at Director Ou and remained silent. He suddenly thought of something, so he spoke.

“This really is a tricky situation. But, now that I think about it… I think I might be able to help.”

“What?” Director Ou asked quickly, as if he were grabbing a life-saving source. “Tell me about it!”

“Holographic projection!”

Director Li recalled the thing he saw at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. He gestured with his hands and described vividly, “Get a projection device the size of a stadium and directly cover the audience… It doesn’t matter what content is displayed, the sense of science and technology alone will be a huge success!”

He still remembered the lifelike tank model he saw at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. He was still salty about not being able to put it on an aircraft carrier.

However, although it couldn’t be installed on moving surfaces, placing it in a stadium should not be a problem.

In his opinion, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study could more than handle an entertainment performance.

When Ou Haifeng heard Director Li, he was stunned.

He opened his mouth and spoke.

“Holo… holographic projection?

“A holographic projection device the size of Bird’s Nest? Is that… even possible?”

He had only seen holograms in American sci-fi blockbusters when he was inspecting imported movies.

“It should be fine… At the Tokyo Olympics, wasn’t there a huge holographic projection? It’s already 2023, a bigger one shouldn’t be a problem, right? The times have changed. There are so many high-tech companies in our country. There must be a way to do it.”

In fact, Director Li wanted to talk to Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, but he thought that Lu Zhou might be annoyed by this, not to mention that the technology did not seem mature yet.

However, his hints were extremely obvious. As long as Director Ou was smart enough, he would know to contact Star Sky Technology.

This way, Director Li wouldn’t have to ask Lu Zhou for help.

Director Ou frowned and pondered.

“I’ll think about it.’

Director Li: “Go think all you want, I just think it is definitely possible!”

After Director Li walked around the stadium and gave some advice on behalf of the State Administration for National Defense, he quickly left the Bird’s Nest.

Even though he looked proud and arrogant on the surface, he was actually smiling inside.

After all, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study always showed off to him; he was always being bragged to. This time, he could finally brag to others; it felt amazing.

Director Li got in his car and looked outside the window. He suddenly spoke emotionally.

“Xiao Chen, knowledge is everything!”

The driver in the front seat was muddled, but he smiled and began to kiss Director Li’s a*s.

“Director, you’re correct! You know what they say, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest!”

“Okay, enough, no need to recite poems, drive the car.”

“Yes, sir!”

After dismissing the Xiao Chen, Director Li, who was sitting in the back seat, began to ponder. He felt like he should complete the favor. After hesitating for a while, he finally called Lu Zhou.

After all, he was an old-fashioned person.

Although this theatrical performance was not a major event, it was performed on the motherland’s birthday. It displayed the national image of China. Not to mention that he also went to the stadium to guide the staff members. He couldn’t let this be screwed up.

After the call was connected, he didn’t give Lu Zhou time to react. He spoke enthusiastically with a smile.

“Academician Lu! Good news! Just now, I helped you secure a major project! Don’t need to thank me, it’s my job to help high-tech companies—

“What? No, it’s not troublesome at all! Why would you assume that? Am I that kind of person?

“Fine, fine, listen, Lu Zhou, it’s a bit windy here, so I can’t hear you properly. Someone will contact you in two days. That’s it, I’m hanging up!”

He pressed the hang-up button and put his phone back into his pocket. He had a mischievous smile on his face.

Xia Chen was looking at this through the rearview mirror. He was dumbfounded, unable to say a word. He breathed quietly, afraid of attracting any attention.

He felt that Director Li’s great and magnificent image in his mind had just been destroyed.

…

On the other end, after sending off Director Li, Director Ou returned to the stadium and began to think about what Director Li said earlier.

After all, Director Li was the chief leader of the State Administration for National Defense, his words were quite significant.

Even though he didn’t know how developed the current holographic technology was, from what Director Li said, it seemed interesting.

However, this was not his area of expertise. He didn’t know much about this stuff. He didn’t even know who to call for a consultation. He looked around at the people around him, and suddenly, his eyes lit up. He grabbed someone from the local intellectual property office and asked, “Xiao Wu, when it comes to holographic technology… Which company is the best?”

After hearing this question from Director Ou, Wu Yuanhang was confused. Although he was working in the intellectual property office, he was not in charge of specific patent approval, let alone specific technical requirements. Why would he understand such advanced things?

However, he couldn’t say no to the leader, so he spoke.

“Didn’t Director Li mention the Tokyo Olympics just now? Let’s check the holographic equipment supplier for the Tokyo Olympics. Maybe we can order from them?”

Ou Haifeng frowned.

“It’s not a good idea to outsource to a foreign company, right?”

“Director Ou, we are an entertainment department, not a university or a research institute. Do we really need to worry about technical things? It’s not like every piece of steel on the Bird’ Nest is produced domestically. The focus is still on the show itself, on the projector. As long as the show does well, why would the audience care about where the holographic projection equipment was bought from?”

Director Ou felt like this was reasonable.

“Perfect! I’ll leave this matter to you then.

“I will discuss with the show’s Director Liu, to see if we can incorporate holographic technology into our program. This will give the people of our country a unique performance!”

Chapter 1229: Ah, Women

After Director Li hung up the phone, Lu Zhou, who was on the other end of the call, also put down his phone. His face was covered with a look of confusion.

Chen Yushan watched Lu Zhou’s expression go from annoyed to being surprised and confused. She smirked and asked, “Who was it?”

“… An old man, I think he doesn’t know how to use a phone. Every time he calls me, he says something impossible to understand. We have to talk face to face just to understand each other.”

Lu Zhou knew it was nothing important. He shook his head and put his phone into his pocket.

These two were sitting in a uniquely decorated restaurant. Ten minutes ago they were talking about the high-tech eastern docks zone and Star Voyage One.

Less than two minutes after they finished discussing business matters, Director Li made a call and bombarded him.

Because the old man spoke so quickly, Lu Zhou didn’t understand what he was trying to say.

Based on his past experience, if this was anything important, the old man would definitely not use modern tools like email or phone. Instead, he would fly to Jinling in person. Or he would tell him that they had to talk face to face.

Thus, he knew it couldn’t be anything important.

In addition, Lu Zhou also learned something else, which was that when the old man spoke in a polite tone, the old man was asking for a favor.

This had happened ever since the lithium-sulfur batteries. Every time Director Li encountered any trouble, he would subconsciously speak in a polite time. So much so that this formed a conditioned reflex for Lu Zhou.

In fact, normally, Lu Zhou wouldn’t mind helping out, but the Control of Earth and Moon mission chain was near the end, the most important stage.

He wanted as few troublesome things on his plate as possible.

Even though Lu Zhou said that he didn’t care, he still had a worried look on his face. Chen Yushan chuckled and thought of something. She sighed and said, “As your long time friend, can I give you some advice?”

Lu Zhou said, “Go ahead.”

If it’s bad advice, I can just ignore it.

“I think you should really think about taking a break,” Chen Yushan said in a caring tone. She looked at Lu Zhou seriously and said, “I heard that after you came back from the meeting in Shanghai, you immediately rushed to the research institute. Even if the laboratory is interesting, I think you should—”

Lu Zhou coughed lightly and said, “That was a special situation.”

This wasn’t a lie. After receiving such an interesting thing from the system space, how could he close his eyes and go to sleep?

That was impossible.

Even if he closed his eyes, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou’s stubborn face and rolled her eyes.

“Every day is a special situation! Look at how hard you’re working, I think they owe you a Nobel Prize in Physics.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “That doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Why?” Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou with a surprised face. She pinched the straw with her fingers and fiddled with the ice cubes in the cup. She said, “That’s the Nobel Prize. You don’t care at all?”

Lu Zhou sighed.

“They should consider giving it to younger people instead.”

If the Nobel Prize Committee considered giving him an award, he would definitely feel happy about it. But just like finding money on a street, it was nothing more than a small gratification.

After all, he had already obtained something more precious than a Nobel Prize. The kind of thing that couldn’t be measured with honors and awards. The significance of it surpassed all of the titles any country or organization could grant him.

And that was the honor of the human spirit.

Ever since then, Lu Zhou cared very little about awards.

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Can you not say that? Young people this, young people that… You’re making me feel old.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say, so he just smiled slightly.

Even though Chen Yushan was sensitive about her age, to be honest, he didn’t feel like she was getting older. In fact, it was the contrary. Because of her increase in experience, she went from the “silly and stupid” girl to a mature and charming woman.

This kind of charm was beyond the reach of most young girls.

Of course, these evaluations came from the perspective of a friend. In Lu Zhou’s opinion, she was far from reaching the point of being sad over her age.

There were more things worth pursuing than the Nobel Prize.

It could be as large as the universe.

Or as small as personal enlightenment.

Caring about other people’s opinions was boring.

Lu Zhou realized that there was another reason why he invited her to lunch today, so he suddenly said, “Speaking of which, I have something for you.”

When Chen Yushan heard that Lu Zhou was planning to give her a present, she had a surprised look on her face. Her inner strong businesswoman disappeared, transforming into a curious little girl.

“Oh, really really? What?”

Lu Zhou: “Face mask.”

“Face… Face mask?”

Chen Yushan was taken aback by this reply. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, “When… When did you start researching this thing?”

“Not research…”

Ah, how should I explain this…

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a headache.

This was just a by-product of the experiment. According to the clinical experiments, he found that the microbial group Dr-111 could not only decompose and swallow excess keratin and metabolites on the surface of human skin, but it could also effectively inhibit the exogenous skin from aging.

Of course, this anti-aging effect was only for the skin. It wouldn’t transform DNA telomeres to increase lifespan or anything like that.

“What brand?”

“Star Sky Technology.”

When Chen Yushan heard her company’s name, she had a cautious look on her face.

“You’re… not treating me like a lab rat, right?”

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes.

“How is that possible! Would I ever take it out of the laboratory without clinical trials? Besides, we are a world-renowned company. Shouldn’t you, the CEO, have more confidence in our brand?”

This is so hurtful!

Chen Yushan felt like she was being too harsh, and she quickly explained, “… But, the CEO never heard anything about skincare products? How could I not be worried?”

Lu Zhou said, “… Forget about it, I wanted to share something good with you, but if you don’t want it, it’s fine.”

“Wait, no, who said I didn’t want it! I want it!”

Chen Yushan began to panic. She nearly stood up from her chair.

Lu Zhou stopped playing around with her. He reached out and picked up the plastic bag beside the chair and put it on the table.

Chen Yushan was stunned when she saw the ugly plastic bag on the table.

“… This is it?”

Seeing how she was disgusted with the suspicious packaging, Lu Zhou reached out to take it back. However, Chen Yushan quickly grabbed it first.

He shrugged and said patiently, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems.”

“Okay, I trust you…” Chen Yushan made sure Lu Zhou couldn’t snatch the bag back. She said in an exaggerated tone, “If my skin gets ruined, I’m blaming you.”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t worry, it won’t. Enjoy it, you’ll feel great afterward.”

For some reason, the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. The young couple sitting beside them began to chatter.

Chen Yushan smirked as Lu Zhou began to think.

Did I say something wrong again?

He shook his head and left it alone.

Who cares…

He believed that, even though Chen Yushan might be unhappy at the moment, when she went home and put the mask on her face, she would instantly forget about all of her worries.

As for the reason…

Because he personally witnessed two girls, who were manlier than him, after they used the mask, it was like they were on another planet. The scientific researchers nearly wrote “might affect intelligence” on the experiment reports.

Out of interest, Lu Zhou also tried it on himself later. He found out that his face felt a little smoother. Other than that, nothing particularly magical happened. It didn’t make him more handsome.

Thus, he lost interest.

Even though he had no personal use for the mask, it was a good present to give to people.

Lu Zhou imagined that Chen Yushan would be so happy after using the mask, she would almost start crying. He had a grin on his face.

Ah, women.

So illogical.

Chapter 1230: One Hundred Billion Yen?!

Ever since Director Li came to the Bird’s Nest for on-site guidance last time, Director Ou had felt a wave of relief.

Even though the task was still arduous, he felt that he had grasped the key to solving the problem.

How to achieve both a high-tech presentation and visual impact?

It was simple. Find a cool tech to show off to the audience first.

After talking with Liu Wei, the famous Chinese action blockbuster director, Ou Haifeng listened to his own secretary’s advice and contacted NTT, the company responsible for designing the holographic system for the Tokyo Olympics.

When NTT heard that it was a large order from the Chinese state department, they were extremely eager. They immediately sent professional engineers from the Tokyo headquarters to the venue for on-site surveys.

A Toyota car stopped at the entrance of the Bird’s Nest.

Ou Haifeng’s secretary, Wu Yuanhang, greeted the two Japanese men.

“Mr. Nagaoka, you are finally here! Allow me to introduce, this person behind me is the head of our department, Director Ou Haifeng.”

“Hello, Director Ou.” Nagaoka Keiichi, a senior engineer of NTT Group, said in fluent Chinese, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello, hello, thank you for coming all the way here.”

“No worries.” After the polite greetings, Nagaoka Keiichi turned his eyes to the Bird’s Nest behind Director Ou and said, “Is this the place where you plan to install the holographic system?”

“Technically, it is the gymnasium interior.” Director Ou said, “We need a holographic system that can cover an area of 250,000 square meters and 80,000 seats in the entire stadium.”

“I have already read the specific requirements in the plan. Please take me inside to have a look.”

I can see why he’s an engineer at a large company, he’s so professional.

Director Ou watched the serious engineer and felt assured.

He secretly gave his secretary a thumbs up.

“No problem! Come with me.”

They took this senior engineer from NTT around the stadium.

Along the way, Nagaoka Keiichi had a serious look on his face. Except for occasionally exchanging a few words with the other Japanese employee beside him, he did not speak.

While Nagaoka Keiichi was carefully observing the layout of the stadium, Director Ou had been secretly observing the changes in his facial expressions.

Ever since they entered the stadium, Mr. Nagaoka always had a solemn and serious look on his face.

Even though Ou Haifeng did not understand holographic technology, his instinct told him that this might not seem as easy as he had thought.

He began to have doubts in his mind. Nagaoka Keiichi stopped walking and stood at the front row of the stadium. He looked around and spoke.

“It is my duty to meet the needs of our customers. However, I must tell you that it is not easy to build a holographic system that can cover the entire Bird’s Nest. Taking into account the image continuity, resolution, and simulation, even with our most advanced equipment, it is very, very difficult to do.”

When Director Ou heard this, he was stunned.

Even though he had a doubtful feeling in his heart when observing the facial expression of Keiichi, he did not expect his worst fears to come true.

Director Ou had an awkward look on his face.

“… Is it that difficult?”

“Here’s the thing, forget about NTT, not a single company in the world can design a holographic system for such a large stadium.”

Director Ou quickly asked, “Aren’t there any solutions?”

Nagaoka Keiichi noticed the anxious look on Director Ou’s face. He had a malicious yet subtle smile on his face.

The second he saw Director Ou’s facial expression, he knew Director Ou had taken the bait.

He continued to show a serious look on his face as he said solemnly, “To be honest, it is very difficult to design a holographic system for such a big stadium, but considering our friendship, we are willing to take on the risks. We can design a special machine for you.”

When Director Ou heard this, he was overjoyed.

“That is… Thank you, guys!”

“You’re welcome.” Nagaoka Keiichi shook his head and said in a professional tone, “But the price is probably a bit higher than the market price. After all, this is one of the biggest stadiums in the world. You guys may be the only buyers of such a system.”

Director Ou couldn’t help but feel proud of China’s large stadium; he almost had butterflies in his stomach.

He put on a serious look and said, “May I ask how much this equipment will cost?”

“A hundred billion…” When Nagaoka Keiichi saw Director Ou’s face, he quickly added, “Japanese yen.”

“A hundred billion? What…”

Wu Yuanhang began to think.

The stadium for the Tokyo Olympics was only 140 billion yen, right?!

This is so f*cking much we can almost build another stadium.

What kind of holographic machine is this expensive?!

Is it made from diamonds?

Secretary Wu instantly regretted speaking. He forgot that the two Japanese men understood Chinese.

Sure enough, the second he spoke, a frown appeared on the faces of the two Japanese people. Director Ou and other members of the leadership team also frowned.

“Wu Yuanhang! Shut up!”

Ou Haifeng was about to continue to reprimand him, but it was too late.

“Do you think our technology is not worth the price?” Nagaoka Keiichi said. He looked like he was just insulted.

Seeing how the foreign guests were offended, Director Ou quickly explained, “We didn’t mean that, but your cost is quite high. Could we get a similar one, but a little cheaper…”

“Sorry, this is our best price. As for getting a similar one, I don’t know what that means. There is only one standard for our technology, we always do our best. Lowering our standards is an insult to our craftsman spirit.”

Director Ou: “???”

Secretary Wu: “???”

Nagaoka Keiichi looked at the astonished Chinese men. He then bowed. He and his assistant then walked away…

After they came out of the Bird’s Nest and got into the Toyota. The assistant suddenly spoke to Nagaoka Keiichi.

“Nagaoka-san, if we lose this business, the board of directors will not be happy. The current economic situation is depressed, we should not easily give up such a large deal.”

“Don’t worry, Kawada-kun, we will not lose them.”

Nagaoka Keiichi had a confident smile on his face. He took out a paper towel and wiped his hands, then threw it into a plastic bag.

“… This is how negotiation is. The lions open their mouths first, then step back. We will get the price we want, and they will feel like they have gotten a bargain. Just like their Mr. Lu Xun said, if you want to convince the Chinese people to open a window in their house, you have to act like you’re going to smash their roof open. Then, when you only open a window, they will thank you.”

The younger man had a respectful look on his face.

“Nagaoka, you’re amazing!”

“Thank you, you should learn more.” Nagaoka said with a slight smile, “China is our important trading partner, they will become more and more important in the future. Negotiating with the Chinese is a science.”

Ring ring!

Suddenly, his phone began to ring.

Nagaoka Keiichi took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID on the screen. He raised his eyebrows; there was a hint of joy on his face.

However, he quickly wiped the joy off his face.

He didn’t pick up the call immediately. He cast an arrogant gaze to Kawada-kun, who was sitting next to him.

“Look, they’re already calling me.”

Chapter 1231: Go Find Academician Lu!

Companies with scarce resources always had an advantage in negotiations. Due to the irreplaceability of these scarce resources, even if it was a little expensive, the opposing end would often agree to a deal.

In some sense, the holographic technology that NTT had mastered was also a scarce resource.

There were other companies that did holographic projection technology, but none of them were as advanced. None of them had experience in building holographic projection technology for large-scale venues.

In the end, after some fierce negotiation and the deal was on the verge of collapse, the two sides finally reached a consensus, just like Nagaoka Keiichi had expected.

The NTT Group’s price was reduced to 50 billion yen from the initial 100 billion yen.

Director Ou was quite satisfied with the fact that the cost was cut in half.

Even though it was still expensive, at least his higher-ups would be happy with him.

Even though Keiichi Nagaoka had a bitter look on his face, on the inside he was happy.

The total cost of the whole set of equipment was about 10 billion yen, which converted to more than 600 million yuan. There was nothing more exciting than selling things worth 10 billion yen at the sky-high price of 50 billion yen.

After the price was negotiated, the two parties quickly entered the next stage of cooperation.

Keiichi Nagaoka had a professional team from the headquarters to conduct a detailed field inspection of the Bird’s Nest building structure. They would then modify their design based on the input from the Chinese side.

After all, since the Chinese side was the one paying, they had the right to control everything.

However, the cooperation was not all smooth roads.

After the construction period was finalized, the two sides had a disagreement.

“Three months is too short!”

Nagaoka Keiichi looked at Director Ou and Director Liu, who was sitting across the table. He propped his hands on the table and said, “Three months is only enough for us to prepare the equipment you need. Even if we carry out the preparation work and the production equipment tasks at the same time, it is impossible to get things done the way you want them to, in three months.”

Director Ou said, “Don’t you guys have an inventory? What if we move a part of the equipment from the inventory first…”

“The inventory is someone else’s order! We can’t do this at the risk of default.” Nagaoka Keiichi shook his head and said in a stern manner, “Also, your festival is in October. It is going to be held at the beginning of the month, we will deliver it in mid-September. Isn’t half a month enough for you to prepare the show?”

Liu Wei started to get angry. He stood up from his chair.

“How is two weeks enough! We are preparing a national celebration show, we’re not screwing around!”

Keiichi Nagaoka stood up from the conference table. “Four months, this is our limit. We can only deliver this system to you in early September at the earliest. If this still does not work, then I’m sorry.”

There was no way to negotiate the timeline; it was a matter of whether or not it was possible.

Even though Nagaoka Keiichi didn’t want to waste time negotiating such trivial matters, this was the only option.

In terms of price, he still had 40 billion yen of negotiating space, but he could not afford to lose any time.

Signing a deal that couldn’t be completed meant that they would have to pay a high penalty.

They could never risk paying this penalty.

…

The conference ended.

The conference room was silent.

Secretary Wu Yuanhang was the first to break the silence. He clenched his fists and spoke angrily.

“These guys… They know we can only buy this system from them.”

Director Ou frowned and sighed. He said, “Maybe they have their reasons… Director Liu, is one month not enough?”

Liu Wei shook his head.

Even though he did not want to admit this, this was the reality.

“Getting familiar with the entire system would probably take my team a month… If this doesn’t work out, maybe you can try to find a more technical focused director? After all, the National Day celebration is a big deal.”

Liu Wei really did not want to be responsible for the show anymore.

Being a program director for this kind of national celebration would be helpful for his future career, but he did not think it would be this troublesome.

It was already a headache learning a set of shooting methods that he had never used before. But now, they couldn’t even receive the equipment on time.

He had been preparing for this celebration for half a year; his mentality had completely collapsed.

“No way in h*ll!” Director Ou quickly said in a serious manner, “Your directing skills are top-notch. Our department agrees that we should entrust this important task to you. It is too late to change… Xiao Wu, go ask if there is a more suitable holographic equipment company. Forget about the Japanese, find one that meets our requirements!”

Wu Yuanhang had a bitter smile on his face.

“Okay! I’ll…”

It was possible to change the director.

Directors who were familiar with holographic projection shooting technology were the ones who rehearsed the Tokyo Olympics. However, how could they invite a foreign director to rehearse for a Chinese national celebration?

This was not just about equipment anymore.

If a foreign director’s name appeared on the producer’s list, it would mean big trouble.

However…

If they couldn’t change the director, they might be able to change the equipment supplier?

Wu Yuanhang then consulted many people in the industry, but the answers he got were similar to what he had found out before.

So far, the most advanced companies in holographic projection technology were all in Japan. The holographic technology field in Japan was led by NTT, who won the bid for the construction of the holographic system for the Tokyo Olympics. The engineers who published the most papers on IEEE in this area were all employees of NTT Group.

Even if they changed the supplier, they would not be in a better situation.

Therefore, when the Entertainment Department office began to look for other suppliers, NTT Group did not panic at all; they sat back and watched the show.

Director Ou was lost. In the end, he had to go to Director Li out of desperation.

After Director Li heard Director Ou’s words, he was furious.

“Who the f*ck told you to go to NTT!”

He was so triggered he couldn’t help but swear.

Ou Haifeng was muddled. After a while, he said, “Who else are we supposed to find… They’re the best in the world.”

“Are you stupid?” Director Li said, “If you have a problem, go find Academician Lu!”

Chapter 1232: Was Almost Slaughtered

Ou Haifeng really didn’t understand what Academician Lu had to do with holographic technology.

Although it was obvious to everyone that, ever since the controllable fusion technology, Lu Zhou was the best scholar in the world. However, he didn’t remember Lu Zhou being involved in holographic technology.

In fact, Ou Haifeng wasn’t the only one confused; Lu Zhou was just as confused.

While he was reading an experimental report sent from the lunar scientific research station on the active substance Dr-111, his assistant suddenly ran over and told him that the director of the Entertainment Department office wanted to see him.

Director Ou stood at his office door with an awkward look on his face. Lu Zhou spoke.

“… Did Director Li ask you to find me?”

When Ou Haifeng heard this, he froze.

Before coming here, Director Li told him repeatedly not to tell Lu Zhou that he was involved. Ou Haifeng didn’t expect to have to lie the second he walked through the door.

Lu Zhou noticed Director Ou’s change of facial expression. He sighed and put aside the experimental report.

“So he did.”

Ou Haifeng felt like it would be useless to try denying anything. He had an embarrassed look on his face. He apologized to Director Li in his heart and spoke with a smile on his face.

“You’re right, Academician Lu, you’re so observant… Can I ask, how did you know?”

“Okay, enough with the polite words.” Lu Zhou nodded toward his assistant, gesturing her to pour a cup of tea. He then said, “Director Ou, if you want to say anything, just say it.”

Ou Haifeng began to politely talk about his intentions for coming here.

“So, the National Day is in five months, right? In order to highlight the development of our country over the year, we have to display the country’s progress in science and technology…” Ou Haifeng saw that Lu Zhou had an impatient look on his face. He quickly skipped the lengthy opening remarks and went straight to the point, “We plan to hold a celebratory show at the Bird’s Nest on National Day.”

“So what?” Lu Zhou frowned. He was puzzled. “If you are planning to invite me to your show, I’m afraid I can’t help. I have already received another invitation that day. I’ll probably be watching the military parade that day.”

Compared to the National Day’s celebration show, the military parade was much more interesting.

Not to mention that Lu Zhou had special seats reserved for him. He would never miss this opportunity.

“No, I don’t mean inviting you to rehearse the show or to watch the celebration. We might have to use holographic projection equipment, so I want to ask you if there is any way…”

“Holographic projection?” Lu Zhou hesitated and said, “Regardless of whether I can help, you’re doing a TV show… What do you need holographic projection for?”

“Normally we don’t, but this time is different!”

Ou Haifeng sighed and patted his thigh. He said to Lu Zhou anxiously, “This time, the state requires us to highlight the improvement of people from our scientific and technological strength. We have to emphasize both technology and visual impact. We have to show scientific and technological progress, as well as make the future appears bright. Do you know what I mean?”

Lu Zhou: “No.”

Ou Haifeng was feeling a little thirsty. He picked up the teacup and took a sip. However, Lu Zhou’s reply nearly made him choke on the tea.

He wiped his mouth and put down the teacup. He was about to explain it again when Lu Zhou spoke first.

“So, basically, you need a holographic projection device to cover the entire Bird’s Nest?”

“Yes, yes, exactly.” Ou Haifeng nodded quickly and said anxiously, “… Is this possible?”

Lu Zhou: “… How big is the Bird’s Nest?”

Honestly, although he had been there several times a long time ago, he never knew exactly how large it was.

“It’s around two hundred thousand square meters.”

Two hundred thousand square meters?!

Lu Zhou’s mouth slightly twitched.

The f*ck kind of holographic image are they projecting?

The Eiffel tower?

Seeing how worried Director Ou was, Lu Zhou thought for a bit before saying, “There are only five months until National Day. After the installation is completed, there has to be time for rehearsal and preparation. I’m guessing the entire system has to be delivered by early September… Right?”

“Early September is definitely not enough.” Ou Haifeng frowned. He was almost going to cry. “Director Liu said if it can be delivered in early August, there is still hope. September is too late!”

“Two months to prepare for the show?” Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Does it really take that long?”

“Sigh, we’re trying to give everyone an unforgettable show!”

“Three months of construction period is a bit tight.” Lu Zhou thought and said, “But… It should still be enough. We can give it a try.”

“Really?!” Ou Haifeng had a look of surprise on his face. It was like he was just saved by God. However, he soon realized a very important issue. “Wait, does Star Sky Technology… have a holographic department?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

You came all the way here to beg for help, and you don’t trust me?

Lu Zhou almost wanted to tell him to “screw off”.

“… Star Sky Technology has patents in holographic technology. Although we have not put this system on the market yet, since you are so desperate, we can let you use it first.”

After hearing that this technology had not yet been introduced to the market, Director Ou suddenly looked uneasy.

“Will… there be any problems?”

“Problem? What problem? How could that be possible?” Lu Zhou waved his hand impatiently and said confidently, “I’m in charge, what is there to worry about?”

Director Ou knew that, even if there was a problem, no one would blame Lu Zhou.

However, the situation for him was different. He was the director of the Entertainment Department office.

If this show went well, it would definitely boost his resume, and he could probably get a promotion. However, if he screwed this up, his career would be over.

“True, but is there enough time? You don’t even have a factory, right?”

Seeing how Director Ou’s voice started to tremble, Lu Zhou said patiently, “You don’t need to worry about this. We’re in the era of intelligent manufacturing. Jinling is at the forefront of production. If you place an order, we will use big data to screen suitable factory production parts and will be able to start production within three days. I don’t know about other industrial zones, but here in Jinling, it takes 30 days for the first batch of equipment to come out of the production line.”

Ou Haifeng was shocked, and he sat there with his mouth open.

Lu Zhou calmly took a sip of his coffee and said, “Of course, this won’t be cheap.”

Ou Haifeng gulped and said, “… How much?”

“Because it is so urgent…” Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “You should prepare a budget of around 100 million yuan.”

When Ou Haifeng heard this, he stood up from the sofa, nearly tripping over.

“100 million?!”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Too expensive?”

“No, no, no way!”

Ou Haifeng was abused countless times by Nagaoka Keiichi. He tried his best to suppress his anger. He looked at Lu Zhou and quickly said, “Okay then. You guys start contacting manufacturers, and I will bring someone to sign the contract in the afternoon… Oh wait, I’ll ask my assistant to type the contract right now.”

What the f*ck…

I was nearly scammed by NTT!

Ou Haifeng felt fortunate he didn’t agree to the 50 billion yen contract.

If they found out later the equipment was worth nowhere near that much, he would be in deep waters.

Chapter 1233: I’ll Demonstrate To You Then

Although the cooperation between NTT Group and the Entertainment Department office ended, NTT did not withdraw from this project. The team of engineers sent to China still arrived at the Bird’s Nest as planned and began a physical inspection of the site.

The on-site staff members did not stop the NTT engineers from going in.

Keiichi Nagaoka and his partner stood in the auditorium of the gymnasium. He looked at the large venue and felt arrogant.

Although the current situation did seem optimistic, he was confident they would not lose this deal.

His partner standing behind him was a lot less calm.

He looked at the NTT engineers surveying the site, hesitated for a while, and spoke.

“What if the Chinese do not agree? One month’s preparation time might not be enough for them.”

Nagaoka Keiichi squinted his eyes. He looked at the busy staff in the stadium and said casually, “A company that can help customers solve problems is a good company. Kawada-kun, what do you think they will do?”

Kawada thought for a while and spoke in an uncertain tone.

“If I were them, I might… change to a company that fits our timelines.”

“Usually, this is the case, but there is a premise you’re forgetting about.” Nagaoka Keiichi looked at him and said, “Which is, they don’t have alternatives to choose from.”

Nagaoka Keiichi looked at Kawada and spoke.

“Kawada-kun, it seems like you still don’t have a grasp on the current situation. Aside from us, they do not have a better choice. I believe they have contacted at least a dozen companies, but as long as they require a three-month delivery period, no company would be crazy enough to sign a deal. Other companies don’t have the technology; if we can’t do it, there’s no way they can do it either.”

Nagaoka Keiichi was very confident about this.

NTT was the industry leader in holographic projection technology, especially for large-scale holographic projection systems.

“Just wait and see, they will eventually prolong the delivery period, just like how they agreed to our price. We can also provide them with additional services, such as helping them find a modeling team that can complete the modeling and holographic designs within a month.

“If they only allow Chinese people to participate in the show production, we can also help them get in touch with people at the Tokyo Stadium and let the Chinese get familiar with our equipment.”

Nagaoka Keiichi smiled.

“Of course, I’d rather they choose the first option.

“After all, the second option won’t be cheap…”

Nagaoka Keiichi was imagining Director Ou coming and begging him, and how he would then pretend to reluctantly agree. On the other hand, NTT engineers were busy working in the Bird’s Nest; they used their equipment to collect the data of the stadium.

This part of the work was critical.

After all, what they wanted to fulfill was not just a stage, but a huge stadium with an indoor area of more than 200,000 square meters. The placement of each projector had to be extremely precise.

Even an error of 1 cm might cause a tearing of the picture and choppy movement of the image.

The staff members of the Entertainment Department office were standing by as they watched the NTT engineers point their high-tech instruments at the stadium.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance of the stadium.

The two staff members near the entrance looked over. They saw a man in blue overalls, who was accompanied by a group of people in suits and leather shoes, walking in with a silver suitcase.

“Which department are those people from?”

“Which person?”

“The one in blue and carrying a toolbox… Oh f*ck, the one next to him is Secretary Wu. I think this is an important person.”

“I’ve never seen that uniform before… Wait, the logo on the toolbox seems a bit familiar…” said the younger staff member. He tried to remember where he saw the logo as he squinted.

“It looks familiar?”

The older staff member glanced at him, clearly not believing his story.

However, the younger staff member’s eyes suddenly widened as he spoke excitedly.

“I remember, it’s Star Sky Technology! That logo appeared on the Star Sky Technology Phantom system!”

“Star Sky Technology? What are the people from Star Sky Technology doing here?”

Upon looking at it closely, the logo on the toolbox did seem similar. However, the staff member standing here couldn’t understand why the people from Star Sky Technology were here.

Nagaoka Keiichi, just like those two, also did not know why people from Star Sky Technology were at this gymnasium.

He had a bad feeling in his stomach. He walked forward and grabbed a person from the Entertainment Department office.

“Why is Star Sky Technology here?”

The staff member was confused. After all, there was no reason Star Sky Technology couldn’t be here.

However, he still spoke politely.

“The Bird’s Nest stadium itself is open to the public. Even though it is closed now, they can come in as long as there is a legitimate application… Why can’t they show up here?”

The engineer in blue overalls at the entrance of the stadium was warmly greeted by Secretary Wu. Secretary Wu spoke with a smile.

“Engineer Wang, are you going to start measuring now? Do you need me to find some people to help you?”

“No need, just make sure no one is in my way.”

The engineer from Star Sky Technology shook his head. He then put his toolbox on the ground and opened it.

There was a drone inside the box.

Seeing how Engineer Wang from Star Sky Technology was about to get to work, Secretary Wu quickly pulled a staff member aside and said, “What are those people doing here? Get them out.”

The staff member was shocked. He said with a trembling tone, “But… those people are from NTT.”

“I don’t care if they’re from NTT or TNT, kick them out.”

When Wu Yuanhang heard the letters NTT, he had a fire of rage in his heart.

Thank God we didn’t sign that piece of sh*tty contract! If we bought their sh*tty equipment for 50 billion yen, people would laugh at us.

Nagaoka Keiichi brought Kawada and two NTT staff members over. He looked at the engineer who was taking the drone out of his toolbox. Nagaoka Keiichi asked, “What are you doing?

“We are surveying and mapping the gymnasium. You are interfering with our survey work. This is not a place to fly toys.”

“Survey work?” The engineer from Star Sky Technology glanced at the NTT staff members, then looked at Secretary Wu. He said with a strange look on his face, “What is this?”

“Sorry, Engineer Wang, we might have a misunderstanding…” Wu Yuanhang looked at Keiichi Nagaoka, and the expression on his face instantly changed. He said, “We’re not working with you guys anymore, right? Hurry up and remove your people and equipment, don’t interfere with our work!”

“What do you mean we’re not working together, I…” Nagaoka Keiichi looked at Secretary Wu in disbelief. His mouth was wide open; he began to sweat from his forehead.

This…

Isn’t what I expected…

He thought that Director Ou would be begging him by now. But now, this nobody secretary was giving him an attitude.

He immediately realized what was going on. He looked at the engineer, who was tinkering with his drone. He then looked at Secretary Wu and asked, “This is a national celebration, are you really going to hand this over to someone with no experience in this area?”

The engineer from Star Sky Technology looked at him and smirked.

“You doubt our technology?”

Nagaoka Keiichi lifted his chin. His face was full of arrogance as he said, “Is that even a question? Do you have any successful projects? This is a 200,000 square meters stadium, and 80,000 spectators will watch the celebration live. If anything is messed up, it will infinitely be magnified by the audience. Your national image will be ruined…”

“You want to see success?”

The engineer from Star Sky Technology smiled.

“Then, on behalf of my company, let me demonstrate.”

Chapter 1234: A Technology That Expands Imagination

Liu Wei swore that this was definitely the most spectacular and magical thing he had ever seen in his life. Even though he had been a director for many years and had directed blockbuster with special effects, he had never seen anything like this before.

Lu Zhou was far away in Jin Ling City. He was lying inside the laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. His consciousness was wandering in the virtual reality world, constructed by the Star Voyage One quantum computer hundreds of kilometers away.

He stood in a blue world with silver lines dividing the ground into countless cubes.

Suddenly, a person appeared next to him.

Lu Zhou glanced at him and smiled.

“You have to move. Otherwise, you can’t feel the full effect of this system.”

Liu Wei snapped back to reality and had a smile on his face.

“Sorry, just standing here alone… is shocking enough.”

“Do you feel better now?”

“I feel a lot better.”

Liu Wei took a deep breath. He then followed the procedure instructions and looked at his right wrist. He saw an operation interface appear on top of his wrist. He moved his fingers and selected the modeling tool.

The second his index finger touched the icon, white light particles began to gather toward him. They were like sand particles in space, floating in the air in front of him.

He felt a sense of connection with the virtual world. He started to imagine a scene from a certain science-fiction blockbuster movie he saw.

His consciousness continued to dig into his memory. The white light particles in front of him began to change shape and color, gradually forming a model in front of him. Finally, they turned into a spaceship, albeit a weird-looking one.

“This is amazing.”

As Liu Wei looked at the spaceship in front of him, he was as excited as one could be.

He was like a child, standing on the beach. He looked at the sand spaceship he built with a sense of accomplishment.

Even though this 3D image was still somewhat abstract-looking, since many details had not been polished, but considering the fact that this was the first time he had been exposed to this tool and that it only took less than ten minutes to read this level, this tool was quite amazing, to say the least.

Lu Zhou walked next to Director Liu and glanced at the spaceship made up of countless light particles. He reached out his right hand and those light particles began to change shape under his control. An airplane cantilever shaped object was “installed” on the spaceship.

Lu Zhou noticed the surprised expression from the director. He retracted his right hand and opened the control interface on his wrist. He then turned off the modeling tool.

“The real strength of this system is that it allows multiple people to collaborate at the same time and integrate the ideas of multiple people into the same model. Originally, it was intended for scientific research, but our system engineers found that it was also applicable in other fields, so we designed many different versions. For example, the version you are using now is the enterprise version we developed for video and film production.”

Lu Zhou looked at the crude model of the spaceship in front of him and said, “In fact, we recommend leaving the construction of the models to design professionals. After all, there might be thousands of models in a movie scene. This job cannot be done by one person alone.”

Liu Wei looked at the simple spaceship he had built and felt somewhat ashamed.

“You’re right… It seems like my imagination isn’t strong enough.”

“This has nothing to do with imagination. It simply takes a lot of time to sculpt the model details. After all, the logic of the human brain is not the same as that of a computer. Our brains have amazing abilities in processing images. We use fuzzy calculations to ignore irrelevant details. But a computer is different, we have to continue doing fuzzy calculations in our mind until the computer can understand what kind of graphics we want.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second then continued, “So far, we are working with VR helmet manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi to encourage our users to actively participate in this huge project, which is to model landmarks and special real-life objects. Based on the popularity and votes, we will adopt some of these models into a library. The designer will also receive awards such as cash or gifts.

“In addition, there are some models that are classified as fantasy. We give users total freedom and open the right for them to create custom entries. As long as it complies with regional laws and regulations, users can choose to share whatever they want with the community.

“Using the data processing capabilities of quantum computers, we will continue to improve our virtual world modeling using community cooperation. We will ultimately create an artificial paradise that’s equivalent to the real world.”

“This idea is amazing!” Liu Wei said after hearing Lu Zhou’s plans.

As a creative worker, no one knew better than him what all of this meant.

This meant that creativity and imagination would no longer be restricted. All ideas and creations could come to life.

Everyone had the opportunity to become an artist and present their own imagination to the world.

It was even possible to recreate Beijing or New York using these models…

The development tool demonstration ended.

The light blue particles faded from his surroundings. Liu Wei took off his helmet and returned to the real world.

Prior to this, he still had doubts about whether or not Lu Zhou could complete the preparation of the whole celebration show in half a month. However, there were no longer any doubts in his mind.

Forget about half a month.

If he had a group of professional modelers to help him create his dreams into reality, he could create an entire show in a week!

Not to mention that after the model structure of the Bird’s Nest was scanned into the database, even without the real-life holographic projection system, he could use the powerful development tool to complete his planning of the celebration show.

He had more than two months of preparation time; he actually had five months.

There was only one thing he was grateful for right now. Which was that they did not sign the contract with NTT.

If they had signed the contract, they would at least have to pay a penalty for violating the contract…

Lu Zhou said, “How are you feeling?”

Liu Wei saw Lu Zhou walk toward him. He looked at the helmet in his lap and spoke emotionally.

“It’s eye-opening. I can’t describe the feeling in my heart. I never expected to be able to shoot movies with such a magical tool… I think that when this technology becomes popular, forget about changing the entire film industry, I am certain this will change everyone’s lifestyle.”

“We’ll see what happens then.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “The change won’t come that fast. It will take time for the technology to mature. However, since there are so many talented people involved, I think it won’t take too long either.”

Liu Wei had a look of approval on his face.

He suddenly remembered something, so he said, “Speaking of which, Academician Lu, I have an idea. I don’t know if you… are interested.”

Lu Zhou immediately replied, “If it’s too troublesome, then probably not.”

Liu Wei quickly said, “No trouble, no trouble at all. I’m sure this will be very meaningful for both society and you!”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I don’t really care about meaning… But go ahead.”

Liu Wei smiled awkwardly and said, “I talked with a screenwriter friend some time ago, and we are planning on making a movie that reflects the spirit of our country’s respect to scientific researchers who dare to innovate and strive for progress. We discussed it and agreed that if we wanted to resonate with young people, we should choose a young scholar.”

What is that supposed to mean?

You want me to star in a movie?

Lu Zhou already had a headache. He waved his hand and spoke.

“Stop right there, I’m not interested in being an actor.”

Even though he was confident in his acting skills and looks, things like creating movies were a waste of time. It would take almost a year for a movie to finish filming. Even for a small production, it rarely took less than half a year.

He could make a dozen scientific achievements in a year.

Seeing how Lu Zhou seemed to have misunderstood what he meant, Liu Wei quickly explained, “Not for you to be an actor. We want to shoot a big documentary film about your story. The story will probably start from your return from overseas to the success of nuclear fusion. We might add some additional storylines for entertainment’s sake… Of course, they will definitely require your consent.”

So you’re making a documentary movie about me.

So flattering…

After hearing the director’s explanation, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If that’s the case, then you should have told me earlier. Okay, if you think I have a story worth filming, do what you wish. Film whatever you want, I don’t really care. As for the casting side, I do have some opinions.”

It wasn’t that he cared too much about which actor would play him…

It was just that he was worried that the actor wouldn’t truly reflect his handsomeness. Even though looks was trivial for a great scholar, he did not want to get a bad reputation for his appearance.

Liu Wei said, “You can rest assured! As long as you let us make this movie, we can let you choose every single actor!”

“There is no need for that.” Lu Zhou waved his hand quickly and said, “I don’t have time to choose every actor. Let me just choose the main protagonist actor.”

“Well then, do you have any standards or suggestions regarding the main actor casting? Any suggestion is fine, this is so that we can save you time. Any requirements such as academic background, personality…”

“Oh… I don’t really care.”

Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, “Just choose someone that looks like a model.”

Liu Wei: “…?”

Chapter 1235: Pretending to Be Real

“This is impossible!”

Keiichi Nagaoka, who was standing inside the Bird’s Nest Stadium, stared at the scene in front of him with a dumbfounded expression. The brilliant light show had hindered his ability to think.

Like a magician grabbing rabbits out of his hat, countless colorful butterflies were released from the water bottle sized cylinder, flying in the air like birds.

Those butterflies were so realistic and charming.

It was almost like…

They were real!

Then suddenly, all of the butterflies disappeared.

Just when Nagaoka Keiichi thought it was over, he saw the engineer from Star Sky Technology pointing the cylindrical projector toward him.

He was about to ask what the man was going to do when he suddenly heard a buzzing sound.

Immediately after, he saw wasps the size of a fist, swarming out of the cylindrical projection device, flying toward him.

“Ah! Help!”

Nagaoka Kei screamed with a horrified look on his face. He raised his arms and stepped back. The staff standing next to them also looked frightened, and they quickly stepped aside.

However, nothing terrible happened. Nagaoka Keiichi, who was in the path of the wasps, only felt a warm, humid wind blowing across his cheeks. The wasps flew past him like they did not exist at all.

The engineer from Star Sky Technology smiled and turned off the holographic projector in his hand.

Instantly, the swarm of wasps turned into dust, disappearing with the wind.

The sports stadium returned to its original calm and peace.

However, there was a sense of tension in the air.

Nagaoka opened his mouth. He was about to say something when he saw the engineer from Star Sky Technology smile at him.

He thought back to his humiliating scream just now, and his face suddenly turned red. After a while, he coughed and put on a confident look on his face.

“… I understand now.

“You guys are using the Tyndall effect for imaging.

“This set of equipment has a fatal weakness, haven’t you discovered it? First is the projection area, as well as the range! I admit that this is good for small-scale holographic projection technology, but how do you plan to use this equipment to cover the entire stadium? Are you going to build a fountain in the middle of the stadium?”

Yeah…

The scope of the water mist sprayer does seem small.

Secretary Wu couldn’t help but think. Even though he no longer trusted NTT, he quickly looked at the engineer from Star Sky Technology.

However, after hearing this, the engineer smiled coldly.

“Are you kidding me?

“This problem can be solved by a few high-power fog machines.

“Constructing a holographic projection system in a fixed stadium is much simpler than building a hand-held holographic projection device. It’s almost twice as easy as the device I have in my hand right now.

“We can even separate the fog machine from the imaging system and transform the entire stadium into a huge holographic image generating device. All of the audience will be in a virtual world.

“Forget about it, you probably don’t understand anyway.

“Anyway, don’t try to challenge our technology with your little tricks. This is the real deal.”

After that, the engineer from Star Sky Technology reached out and caught the drone that had flown back from the sky. He turned it off and then put it back into the suitcase.

In front of the stunned Nagaoka Keiichi, the engineer patted the suitcase in his hand and glanced at Secretary Wu next to him.

“It’s done. I’m going to go back first. If you still want to stay here, please get me a car to send me to the airport.”

Seeing how the engineer had finished his work, Secretary Wu said, “You’re… You’re… already done?”

“Well, it’s just collecting data. How long would it take?” The engineer from Star Sky Technology glanced at the NTT engineers and Nagaoka Keiichi. He smirked and said, “We don’t waste time, unlike most people.”

He walked out of the stadium without glancing back.

The people who were still there looked at each other with bewildered looks on their faces. Especially Secretary Wu, he was totally muddled.

He thought it would take a lot of work to complete the data collection. However, the drone was able to complete the job in a few minutes, whereas the NTT Group staff members had been working for hours.

This difference…

Is too big…

The person in charge of the stadium looked at the two Japanese people, who were equally as confused. He leaned over and asked, “Should we still kick them out? Or should you call Director Ou?”

Wu Yuanhang opened his mouth and snapped back to reality. He took his phone out of his pocket.

“… I’ll call and ask.”

The person standing next to Nagaoka Keiichi had a weird look on his face; he looked at his boss and spoke in an awkward way.

“Nagaoka… What should we do?”

“This is impossible…” Nagaoka Keiichi’s pupils widened as he tightly clenched his fists. “This can’t be true…”

“Yes! This can’t be true! This is a trick by the Chinese!”

His eyes were bulging out of his sockets. Suddenly, he turned around and grabbed his subordinate’s shoulders with both hands. He thought he was going crazy and said, “They convinced Star Sky Technology to be a part of this trick! How can a small-scale holographic projection technology be more difficult than a large-scale holographic projection? This is… unheard of!”

Kawada-kun was shocked by this. His facial muscles twitched as he spoke in a trembling tone.

“But you also saw what just happened…”

“…”

Nagaoka Keiichi felt something stuck in his throat. His face turned pale, losing all of its colors.

At this moment, he was powerless.

The wings of the butterflies seemed to be so realistic; every inch of color and texture was so vivid.

No matter how much he lied to himself, he knew deep in his heart that this technology was something that NTT Group could never achieve.

Actually, technically, no one in this world could achieve this level of sophistication.

The texture of the holographic image was so realistic and so detailed that he could even smell the fragrance of the spring breeze and feel the flapping of the butterfly wings…

Even though he did not want to believe that any of this was true, he did not want to imagine how the board of directors would punish him if this deal went south.

This was going to be a 50 billion yen deal…

If he did not explain the situation clearly to his higher-ups, he would be toast…

Chapter 1236: Thoughts From Far Away

While Keiichi Nagaoka was feeling despair about losing an order worth tens of billions of yen, there was a festive atmosphere more than 300,000 kilometers away on the Moon.

Wu Gang was under the watch of the Moon Palace and all the staff at the lunar scientific research station. He was wearing a spacesuit as he skillfully operated a heavy engineering vehicle with two pairs of robotic arms. He placed the assembled parts on a T-shaped track excavated by the tunnel boring machine.

“Good job!”

When Wu Gang heard the voices of excitement from the communication channel, he smiled lightly and controlled the joystick skillfully. He then steadily disconnected the mechanical arm and retracted it.

He had done this countless times, so obviously, he would never make a mistake.

After reversing the vehicle around ten meters, Wu Gang turned off the engine and looked at the skyline while squinting his eyes.

This track was hundreds of kilometers long, almost perfectly straight.

The track looked like a thin, silver needle. It was buried in the lunar soil, with the top pointing toward the lunar transfer orbit.

According to the engineering data disclosed by the lunar scientific research station, the deepest part of the track was 1km deep in lunar soil.

Due to the protection from the lunar soil surface, this track could avoid being damaged from meteorites as much as possible while meeting launching requirements.

Basically, their tunnel was pierced through the Moon, although it was only on its surface.

Minerals mined from the Moon would be able to pass through this vacuum track, underneath the lunar soil surface, and shoot directly to the lunar transfer orbit using electromagnetic acceleration. This saved a lot of chemical propellants.

Once lunar mining popularized, this track would become the transportation hub for the entire lunar transfer orbit. This would accelerate Earth’s advancement toward a multi-planet species!

There was no doubt that this was one of the world’s greatest engineering feats!

This was a wonder in aerospace engineering!

However, this track was not yet complete.

There was only one section left.

…

The lunar scientific research station.

Wu Gang drove the heavy engineering vehicle into the garage. He took out the key from the ignition and opened the door.

He stepped on the vehicle’s robotic arm and grabbed the handle by the door with his hand. He then leaped forward and jumped out of the engineering vehicle.

Strictly speaking, this was not compliant with the operating guidelines. The correct way should be to climb down the ladder. However, after staying on the Moon for a long time, people often forgot about their fears of height.

If this were on the Earth, jumping down from a height of three or four meters would break someone’s leg.

But here, this was nothing more than a tiny jump.

After taking off the outer spacesuit, Wu Gang put on his inner spacesuit with an electromagnetic gravity belt. He then went through the airlock and into the lunar scientific research station.

The young man named Xu Chengli was running over with a can of water.

“Thanks.”

Wu Gang took the water can and strapped it to his chest. He then took out a straw and took a sip of the water.

As Xu Chengli went up the elevator with Captain Wu, he spoke with a smile.

“The Labor Day celebration show is about to begin soon. Today, the kitchen staff made cabbage and pork dumplings. If you don’t need a rest, let’s head on over there.”

“No need to hurry.” Wu Gang took out his card and swiped it on the elevator door. He pressed a floor number and asked casually, “Speaking of which, did the Moon Palace send us their schedule?”

“Not yet! But captain, aren’t you going to take a break?”

“Break?” Wu Gang looked back at the rookie engineer and said with a smile, “Why waste any time? I just want to finish this project quickly.”

“What happens when you’re done?”

“Then I’ll go back to Earth for a while.” After a moment of silence, Wu Gang looked up at the beating numbers on the elevator display as he spoke with a trace of nostalgia in his eyes.

“My kid is going to high school soon. I haven’t been home in a long time.”

No matter how far away you go.

You’ll always miss home…

…

The more lonely people were, the more they desired a disciplined ritual.

This was the only way lonely people could still feel connected to the rest of the world.

In some sense, the people on the lunar scientific research station were a group of marginalized people, exiled from civilization. The one-second delay made real-time communication extremely difficult. The expensive communication costs limited the amount of ground information they could receive.

People that lived here could make a half-hour phone call with someone once a week; this was the best the Lunar Orbit Committee could do.

Also, in order to ensure that the staff living here were in a good state of mind, the management staff of the scientific research station did everything possible to organize various social activities and tried to make the people living here feel the joys of festivals and the warmth of home.

As Yu Fei stood at the cafeteria entrance and looked at the crowded tables, he had a smile on his face.

As the head of the lunar scientific research station and part of the first group of “colonists” who arrived on the moon, he personally watched this place become livelier day by day. He believed that one day in the future, the lunar surface scientific research station would become a lunar village. It would be a lighthouse for humans to spread the fire of civilization to more distant worlds…

He heard a voice come from behind.

“Commander Yu, why are you standing here, aren’t you going to eat something?”

Yu Fei looked back and saw Dr. Yang Xingyu waving at him.

“I already ate.” He continued with a polite smile, “By the way, Dr. Yang, how is your project going?”

“It’s going very smoothly.” Yang Xingyu spoke with a smile, “The Dr-111 active material enjoys the environment on the Moon. By controlling the ratio of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and oxygen, we have figured out the most suitable gas environment for their growth. It shouldn’t be long before we can try to use these organisms to transform the organic matter recycling system for our station.”

“That’s great! If you need anything, please tell me.” Yu Fei looked at Dr. Yang and said solemnly, “Whether our scientific research station will become a colony or not depends on the progress of your project.”

“Commander Yu, you’re too kind. Dealing with the metabolite cycle is only a portion of the prerequisites for the large-scale transport of resources and labor to the Moon. If we truly want this place to thrive, there are still more problems waiting for us to solve.” After a pause, Yang Xingyu said, “Speaking of which, how is the construction of our lunar mass driver? When will it be completed?”

This huge project started two years ago. Yang Xingyu still remembered the first time he saw the words “lunar mass driver” in the headline of Everyone Daily.

Two years had passed since then. The lunar collider was already complete, so he wondered how this “lunar cannon” was doing.

Yu Fei had a smile on his face when he heard Dr. Yang Xingyu.

The lunar mass driver was probably his greatest achievement during his tenure as the head of the lunar scientific research station.

He looked at Dr. Yang Xingyu and said, “It should be completed before National Day!”

Chapter 1237: It Was Posted Online?

Losing a billion-dollar project embarrassed Nagaoka Keiichi.

He didn’t expect the incident that happened at the stadium to be recorded by someone using a phone and posted online.

When he saw his frightened self in the video, his face was pale, and he wanted to grab a knife and end himself.

This wasn’t just embarrassing.

This completely destroyed the corporate image of the NTT Group.

Because of this video, the CEO of the company called him into the office and scolded him, saying that not only did he lose face for the company, but he also humiliated their national image in front of the world.

For someone who valued the interests of the collective more than his own life, this was devastating.

However, Nagaoka Keiichi’s worries were actually unnecessary.

The people who watched the video didn’t seem to pay attention to him at all.

[Jesus! Is that magic? It must be magic!]

[What magic? What kind of magic is like this? This is f*cking… fake!]

[Professor Lu is insane!]

[After virtual reality technology, Star Sky Technology made a major breakthrough in holographic projection technology. However, not only do I not have a holographic projector, I don’t even have a virtual reality helmet! (cry) (cry)]

[I only care about one thing right now, how much is this thing? Where can I buy it?]

[When this thing goes on sale, I will buy it as soon as possible. Don’t ask me what I’m going to use it for! I’m putting it on the trunk of my car! I’ll be the coolest car on the road!]

[Haha! I’m guessing one of the traffic policemen is going to give you a ticket!]

Almost everyone’s attention was sucked by the group of butterflies and bees flying in the air. When the viewers saw the lifelike holographic images in front of them, they were shocked.

The holographic projector in the hand of the Star Sky Technology engineer was like a wizard’s magic wand, manipulating the world.

People couldn’t distinguish the difference between illusion and reality.

The discussions on the Internet quickly attracted attention from major media outlets. After seeing the incredible video, all of the reporters and editors who worked for the press were shocked and dumbfounded.

Many of them even suspected that the lights and shadows in the video were actually special effects done by computer CGI.

However, this conspiracy did not seem to make sense. After all, the poor man standing in the middle of the bees and the horrified looks on the faces of the crowd did not seem fake at all.

In order to confirm the authenticity of the video, reporters from major media outlets found the contract information of Nagaoka Keiichi and called him to verify the video.

After being overwhelmed by these harassing phone interviews, Nagaoka Keiichi almost got depressed.

He was punished by the company headquarters for losing tens of billions of yen worth of order. His life and career prospects were looking gloomy. And now, there were these annoying reporters sprinkling salt on the wound.

This is outrageous!

On the other hand, while people were gossiping over this possibly fake holographic projection technology, a rumor suddenly appeared on the Internet.

An anonymous Internet user claimed that his neighbor’s son-in-law’s cousin worked as a cleaner at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, and the reason why Star Sky Technology brought this technology to the Bird’s Nest Stadium was to prepare for the National Day’s celebration show, which was happening in five months.

The rumor was that the Entertainment Department office would use holographic technology from Star Sky Technology to hold an unprecedented performance at the Bird’s Nest.

The entire Bird’s Nest stadium would be surrounded in a light show.

This instantly caused a sensation, not just in the country, but around the world…

…

Clap clap clap…

Inside the holographic projection laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, a wave of applause lasted for nearly half a minute.

Just half a minute ago, Director Liu Wei from the Entertainment Department office, showed his higher-ups and holographic projection technicians at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study what he and his team were able to achieve in the past week or so.

Even though the holographic projection clip was only ten minutes, Director Liu was able to portray his directing chops by fully taking advantage of the holographic technology.

Director Ou stood by and witnessed everything. He was so happy he couldn’t close his mouth. He then said excitedly, “Perfect! This is perfect. Just do the show according to this standard. We will definitely be able to give the people of our country a wonderful National Day show!”

Seeing how happy Director Ou was, Secretary Wu spoke with a smile.

“That’s for sure! I browsed several video websites yesterday. After people watched the short video of the holographic technology, they are already looking forward to the show!”

Lu Zhou, who was standing next to them, couldn’t help but smile. He said, “If the audience has high expectations, it might be difficult to meet those expectations.”

Liu Wei looked at Lu Zhou proudly and said confidently, “I will do everything I can to make this show perfect!”

Seeing how confident he was, Lu Zhou smirked.

“Well, it seems like I’m going to raise my expectations as well then.”

Everyone in the laboratory laughed.

Liu Wei smiled and spoke.

“Speaking of which, Academician Lu, I have an unreasonable request… During the show production period, can I borrow your laboratory?”

Lu Zhou: “This lab?”

Liu Wei: “Yeah!”

Lu Zhou, “I can lend it to you, but I can’t let you use it for a long time. Every laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study has its unique purpose. But the holographic projection lab isn’t that important. You just have to make an appointment one day in advance.”

Liu Wei quickly nodded happily and said, “Don’t worry, we will not interfere with your scientific research! Sorry in advance.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “No worries. When you need to use the equipment, we can also check to see if there is any need for improvements and changes. If you find any problems, please feel free to tell Dr. An Changyang. He’s in charge of this laboratory.”

The man with glasses standing next to Lu Zhou nodded and spoke with a friendly smile.

“Just tell me if you need anything.”

Liu Wei put his hands together and said, “Thank you!”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “No problem.”

The holographic projection “trailer” was over.

According to the schedule of the Entertainment Department office, one month before National Day, they would produce a promotional video to create momentum for this national celebration. At least 70,000 tickets for ordinary seats would be sold, while the remaining 10,000 to 20,000 tickets would be taken by state agencies and other major companies.

After they came out of the laboratory, Director Ou pulled Lu Zhou aside and spoke in a grateful tone.

“Academician Lu, thank you so much for all of this! If it weren’t for your help, we might still be negotiating with NTT. I don’t even know how to thank you!”

Even though it was still a bit difficult to beat the momentum and hype of the military parade, at least they wouldn’t get completely overshadowed.

“There’s no need to thank me, it’s not like I’m doing this for free. Also, if the show goes well, it will greatly promote our technology. The entire world is watching us, so we can’t make any mistakes.”

Director Ou patted his chest and said, “Don’t worry, Director Liu is the best director for sci-fi and action movies in our country. People who know his work all say that his special effects are on the same level as Hollywood. All he needs is a platform to display his talent. Now that this opportunity is put in front of him, he will definitely not screw up!”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“If that is the case, then it would be great.

“Technology can only provide the hardware foundation. Conveying the ideas and touching the audience’s hearts really depends on the people who use the technology. Just like how there are good IMAX movies and bad IMAX movies. Anyway, this is all we can do. The rest is up to you guys.”

After Director Ou left, Lu Zhou returned to his office at the research institute.

He felt a little thirsty. He asked his assistant to make him a cup of coffee. After the coffee was brought over, Lu Zhou picked it up and gently blew it, then took a big sip.

He felt the bitterness and sweetness spread along his taste buds. He felt like his whole body was refreshed again. He stretched his arms and was preparing to get to work.

Suddenly, the phone on his desk began to vibrate.

Lu Zhou looked at his phone and saw a WeChat message.

The message was from Chen Yushan.

The message was short; it was only three symbols.

[!!!]

Chapter 1238: An Overwhelming Feeling

What do the three exclamation marks mean?

Lu Zhou looked at WeChat. He was wondering what this message meant. Suddenly, he received a phone call. He picked up the phone and put it next to his ear. Before he could say hello, the other end of the phone spoke first.

“Lu Zhou!!!”

Lu Zhou was shocked by this. He moved his phone slightly away from his ear and asked, “What are you yelling about?”

“The face mask!!!” Chen Yushan continued, “The face mask is amazing, what is it made of?!”

Lu Zhou finally understood what was going on. He had a look of realization on his face.

As expected, women are aesthetic creatures.

Even a competent and smart woman like Chen Yushan can’t control herself when she discovers something that improves her appearance.

Chen Yushan was in disbelief; she was almost going crazy. Lu Zhou twisted the pen in his hand and spoke.

“I feel like, even if I tell you what the mask is made of, you probably can’t make one yourself.”

The other end of the phone went silent.

Chen Yushan realized that she had asked a very stupid question. She flushed and smiled awkwardly.

“Oh… yeah, I think you’re right.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

You’re so good at your job, but sometimes, you’re like a little kid.

After being friends for so many years, even though Chen Yushan had matured a lot, sometimes Lu Zhou still felt like she hadn’t changed at all.

“Speaking of which, this took you a while. It’s been more than two weeks since I gave you the mask.”

Chen Yushan twirled her hair with her finger and had a shy smile on her face.

There was no way she had the courage to smear the mysterious green substance on her face.

She started putting it on her neck and arms. After making sure she didn’t have any allergic reactions, she carefully put some on her face.

Then…

She couldn’t stop.

The mysterious mucus was like an invisible brush, sweeping every inch of her skin, over every pore, releasing the fatigue accumulated over the years.

She had used a lot of skincare products. Most of them were so expensive that the average person couldn’t afford them. However, she had never experienced any kind of joy from using luxurious skincare products.

When she washed off the dried dark green mucus from her face, she felt like she was reborn, like she was eighteen years old again…

She had completely fallen in love with this feeling.

Of course, as a good CEO, there was one other thing that excited her besides the magical effects of this skincare mask, that was, the huge business value behind this mask.

With this mask alone, someone could be at least five years younger and rejuvenate their skin. Even a logical person like herself couldn’t help but fall in love with this mask. There was no woman on Earth that could resist this magic.

This was like catnip for cats!

“I was busy with work back then, so I forgot about it and didn’t use it… But this is not the point! Do you know what this mask means? I’m not exaggerating, if we register a subsidiary to produce this mask, this will become our most profitable income stream!”

Listening to how excited Chen Yushan was, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but shut her down.

“Forget about it, I’m not planning on putting it on the market any time soon.”

Chen Yushan was stunned. She asked, “Why?”

“… I didn’t tell you this before. In fact, the mask you put on your face has a special… microbiome. Basically, it is a living thing that has not been inactivated. So far, it seems like its impact on the ecosystem is negligible. It cannot survive for a long time in an aerobic atmosphere. But we still have to treat it seriously.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second then continued, “Until we can be completely certain that it will not affect our ecosystem, using it on a large scale is an unwise choice.”

Chen Yushan: “What about on a small scale?”

Lu Zhou: “The risk is controllable because we found that the residual chlorine in tap water is absorbed by this microorganism’s synthetic intracellular ketones through respiration. This accelerates the death of this microorganism. If the reproduction speed remains constant, these microorganisms will disappear from the sewers within three days at most.”

“Oh, I see…”

Lu Zhou tried to comfort Chen Yushan.

“Don’t worry, even though it is temporarily unavailable for sale, if you still want it, you can come to the laboratory and get some. After a year or two, when we have made sure it is safe, we can begin selling them.”

“Sounds good… But I want the masks you made.”

“I don’t make any masks…” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t spread this rumor—”

Chen Yushan smiled and said. “Okay, fine, I know. If others know about it, they will say… Wow, a famous scientist likes skincare… Then your tall and handsome image is ruined. Am I right?”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“You know me too well.”

“Pfft!”

Chen Yushan rolled her eyes. She looked at herself on the floor to ceiling windows and smirked. She suddenly felt a weird feeling.

It was almost like the reflection of herself in the mirror wasn’t herself at all.

She didn’t know how to describe this feeling.

It just felt… relaxing…

She put her phone in her other hand and cleared her throat. She then said in a professional tone, “Speaking of which, there’s something I want to tell you. You kept interrupting, so I almost forgot.”

I’m interrupting?

However, he didn’t like to waste time arguing about useless things. Thus, he spoke concisely.

“Yeah, what?”

“The chairman of Shunfeng would like to make an appointment with you to discuss drone logistics. Are you interested? If you are not, I will push it away for you. If you are interested… When are you free?”

Chapter 1239: Want to Work at Star Sky Technology?

Downstairs at the Star Technology Building.

Wang Wei walked out of a Mercedes-Benz. He reached out with his hand and gently straightened his tie. He looked at the tall building and took a deep breath.

He was about to meet an extremely important person.

Even though this man was neither a politician nor a business tycoon, he wasn’t relaxed at all. Instead, he felt a kind of nervousness and tension he had not felt in a long time.

This was because even though this person was not a powerful politician nor a business tycoon, this person was actually more powerful than a politician and businessman combined.

There was only one reason.

Even the most powerful politician could only promote the prosperity of a state or nation. A businessman, on the other hand, was even less powerful, they could only control a company, which was limited to a couple hundred billion dollars in market cap.

But this person was different.

He might not be the richest person in the world, nor the most powerful, but his name would be recorded in history forever.

Just like Times Magazine said, he was an asset to the entire human civilization. He was the pinnacle of the human spirit.

He took a step toward the stairs in front of him. However, he heard a voice coming from behind him.

“Do you want to work at Star Sky Technology? With an annual salary of 5 million yuan.”

Wang Wei turned around and saw a young man smiling at him.

Wang Wei instantly recognized this person. He had a hearty smile on his face.

“Okay, no problem! Five million is three times that of my current salary. Academician Lu, you’re being so generous, how could I decline your offer? I just want to ask, before I get hired, can I change half of my annual salary to the form of shares? After all, paying all that tax is painful!”

Lu Zhou was just joking around. He didn’t expect Wang Wei to actually agree. He smiled and said, “That’s not a good idea, Mr. Wang, you’re worth billions, I’m sure you don’t care about this measly amount of shares.”

Wang Wei sighed and said, “Academician Lu, you’re mistaken. My wealth is nothing compare to Star Sky Technology, I’m sure anyone would love to have a stake in Star Sky Technology.”

Lu Zhou didn’t respond. He just had a smile on his face.

Luck is really an amazing thing.

He still remembered that when he was still an undergraduate student, Mr. Wang, who was already worth tens of billions of dollars, offered him an annual salary of 500,000 to give up his studies and work for him in Shenzhen. However, Lu Zhou did not accept his offer. Instead, he completed his studies, went abroad to teach, and finally returned to China.

It had been almost ten years since then.

Mr. Wang was still worth tens of billions. But Lu Zhou went from being a poor student to a business magnate and a leader of China academia.

He felt emotional just thinking about it.

Honestly, even though an annual salary of 500,000 yuan might not seem like a lot in 2023, it was a huge amount nine years ago, especially for a student who had just finished sophomore year and was still worrying about living expenses. That was almost an irresistible offer.

If the high tech system hadn’t shown Lu Zhou the world, Lu Zhou might have actually accepted the offer and went into the industry.

If he had accepted the offer back then, his life would be completely different…

They didn’t stay at the entrance for long. After a few polite greetings, the two walked toward the building together. The staff members guided them to the VIP reception room.

The assistant in charge of the reception poured two cups of tea, then turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

After Wang Wei took a sip of tea to moisturize his throat, he looked around the VIP room and said, “They say that the reception room is the business card of a company. I can tell from the decor that Academician Lu has good taste.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

He was not involved in the decor of the building. After all, he did not come here often. However, his emotional intelligence was high enough to accept this compliment with a smile.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“This is not a compliment.” Wang Wei smiled; his tone suddenly became a little emotional. He said, “Actually, nine years ago, I already knew that you had a big future ahead of you. I was wondering if I could tempt you with the offer. I didn’t expect that I actually underestimated your potential.”

“Even though we’re not colleagues, we can still be business partners.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Let’s save the small talk for lunch. Let’s get to the main point. I heard my CEO say that you guys have encountered some technical problems?”

“Here’s the thing.” Wang Wei nodded and continued, “We have been studying your paper for a while.”

Lu Zhou said, “Which paper?”

He had published a lot of papers. He had no idea which one CEO Wang was referring to.

“The one about UAV logistics system.” Wang Wei sighed and said, “It’s quite unfortunate. The engineers at our research institute spent several years studying your paper. We tried to mimic the blueprint, but we still haven’t seen great results. We can’t find any solutions, other than to ask for your help.”

Oh that paper…

Lu Zhou was a little baffled hearing Wang Wei’s story.

If he remembered correctly, that was one of the ten sub-par papers he published just to complete a system mission.

Even though it took him 25 general points to redeem the paper, other than some half-complete algorithms, he didn’t make any breakthroughs. No wonder Wang Wei wasn’t able to use that paper as guidance!

“… That was just something I wrote when I was a student. It shouldn’t be used as a reference for serious research.”

Wang Wei quickly said, “Academician Lu, you are too humble! But honestly, the research on drone logistics is not entirely because of your paper. We have always invested resources in this research and development area.

“After all, the cost of hiring a courier is about 10,000 yuan, while the price of a drone is around 8,000 yuan. From an efficiency point of view, the drone is more flexible and can easily access difficult to reach areas. We only need to pay electricity and basic maintenance costs for the drones.

“So far, our plan is to start an unmanned delivery pilot in Shenzhen. We have even talked with the local government. However, our research and development team has fallen into a bottleneck.”

After thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou said, “Can you elaborate?”

Wang Wei nodded and spoke.

“We have encountered mainly two problems. One is safety, the other is delivery efficiency. Basically, we have to take into account the safety of goods and the safety of pedestrians, and also adapt to dynamic changes in traffic conditions. For high-density areas such as major cities, air traffic is strictly regulated.

“The agreement between us and the city government is to guarantee a zero pedestrian accident count during a half-year trial operation period. Having no accidents is the only way to extend our license. If a drone or package falls from the sky and hits a person, the license for our drone delivery pilot will be revoked.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“This is difficult.”

“It’s more than difficult.” Wang Wei smiled bitterly and continued, “We can’t pass any internal tests. The director of our research institute told me that he didn’t know what to do.”

Actually, drone delivery was nothing novel. In remote areas that were inconvenient for people and vehicles to reach, Shunfeng Group tried to use delivery drones a few years ago.

However, because of the high cost, this technology was not widespread.

In recent years, breakthroughs in nuclear fusion technology had completely changed the domestic production capacity and lowered the prices of many industrial products. It also decreased electricity costs to a negligible amount. This increased the possibility of drone delivery systems.

However, they still encountered a lot of problems when applying this technology to cities.

After all, in densely populated areas, especially for areas such as major cities, flying drones was extremely dangerous. If a drone fell and hit a person or a car, the compensation and legal costs alone would almost bankrupt Shunfeng.

Not to mention some low-life people might think of the drones as targets, and use slingshots, stones, etc to attack the drones and steal the packages.

Therefore, they needed a perfect solution for the concept of “drone logistics”. After seeing the news about the completion of the Star Voyage One quantum supercomputing center, Wang Wei wanted to cooperate with Star Sky Technology. Not to mention that Lu Zhou seemed to have studied the drone logistics system before.

After patiently listening to Wang Wei’s words, Lu Zhou lightly tapped his finger on the table. After thinking for a while, he said, “I know where the problem is.”

Wang Wei immediately sat upright and focused his attention. He thought that Lu Zhou would have some great insight, but he was shocked by what he heard.

“Actually, it’s not a big problem.”

“Not a big problem?” Wang Wei said in disbelief, “What does that mean?”

“It means it’s not a big problem.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before continuing, “Actually, the use of logistics drones… The Jinling high-tech zone has already tried pilot factories, but it is not widespread due to cost and safety reasons.

“For example, the ‘Worker Bee’ logistics drone distribution system we use is provided by Star Voyage One, using cloud computing services. The maximum safe load for a single drone is about 10kg. They are mainly used in combination with automated logistics vehicles, to transfer parts between workshops.”

Lu Zhou looked at his watch and stood up from his chair.

“I’m guessing you can’t understand what I’m talking about.

“Well, it just so happens that I have some free time.

“If you’re interested, I’ll take you to have a look.”

Chapter 1240: Automated Factory

They’re already using…

UAV logistics?

Lu Zhou’s casualness about this shocked Wang Wei. Wang Wei was so surprised he didn’t know what to say.

Now that Lu Zhou offered to take him for a tour, he obviously wouldn’t refuse. He agreed without hesitation.

“Please show me around!”

He stood up from his chair.

Lu Zhou looked at how anxious Wang Wei was. He then smiled and nodded. He called over the reception assistant and said, “Tell CEO Chen that I’m going to give CEO Wang a tour of the factory. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

“Okay, Academician Lu.”

The assistant left the room. Lu Zhou looked at Wang Wei and spoke with a smile.

“Let’s go then.”

…

The factory Lu Zhou mentioned was located in the Jinling high-tech zone, next to the entrance from the highway and the railway freight station. It was regarded as one of the biggest companies in Jin Ling City.

Actually, it was CEO Liu’s factory.

Ever since Star Sky Technology’s investment, Zhongshan New Materials had relied on strong technical support from Star Sky Technology. They received orders from East Asia Energy and the electric vehicle industry. They went from a small local materials company to a leader in the field of carbon materials processing.

This was all because of the advancements in science and technology.

Liu Wanshan totally enjoyed the technological dividends. He was a “hardcore fan” of Star Sky Technology. When Star Sky Technology first proposed to help automate industrial logistics for his factory, Liu Wanshan agreed without hesitating.

And now, the first industrialized logistics system was a great success. Zhongshan New Materials was the new standard in lithium anode materials processing and was a technological backbone for the entire Jin Ling City.

Their completely automated material distribution factory maximized the efficiency of the production line.

The kind of work that originally required 20 low-skilled workers, now only required an educated engineer and a group of automated equipment, which was controlled by cloud servers. The difference in cost was substantial.

“This is the factory I’m talking about.”

Wang Wei took a step forward and looked at everything in front of him. He was in disbelief. He took a while to absorb everything before he spoke.

“… This is incredible.”

He was speechless.

The small and flexible AGV logistics vehicles smoothly traveled through the factory, carrying boxes of goods on top of them. Six-rotor drones roared and flew by in the air, completely replacing the manual workers.

The entire factory was like a monster, the logistics vehicles and drones were like blood cells flowing in blood vessels. The individual workshops were like the organs of the monster.

Goods moved from one production line to another, from one workshop to another. Every gear was running at maximum speed, every production link was so efficient. Even the airflow seemed like it was planned in advance.

In fact, it was.

Not just the temperature of the air, but also the gas flow rate per unit time, and even the PM2.5 in the workshops were strictly limited to a certain value.

Because of these strict standards by Zhongshan New Materials, they had the highest yield rate of lithium anode materials produced in the world.

Unless there was a systematic error that couldn’t be solved automatically, there was no need for any workers. The maintenance of equipment such as drones and logistics vehicles was done outside the factory. The maintenance of the workshop production equipment was mostly completed by AI-controlled machines.

What did industrial upgrades mean? What was smart manufacturing?

This factory was the definition of industrial upgrades and smart manufacturing!

This was not the first time he felt the important role of science and technology in industrial production. However, nothing he witnessed in the past even came close to this. Wang Wei finally understood the changes technology brought to the world, and what it meant for the future.

Not just that, but he finally understood why Lu Zhou said that his problem wasn’t a problem at all.

He could even begin imagining AGV logistics vehicles traveling through the logistics center and a group of AI-controlled electric drones unloading goods from airplanes or large trucks into logistics trucks. Then, delivery drones would be responsible for door-to-door delivery. The packages would be delivered directly to the balcony or pick-up spot at the customer’s home.

Wang Wei gulped; he spoke with excitement.

“How much is this system… approximately?”

“That depends on the needs of the customer.” Lu Zhou looked at the drones traveling through the factory and said, “We have two standards, one is for small business owners and the other is for large business owners. The design for small businesses is focused on the optimization of logistics links between the raw materials and the output of finished products. The design for large businesses is mainly aimed at optimizing the logistics links within the production line.

“Actually, after hearing your problems, I think neither of these systems is suitable for you. What you need might be a set of dedicated logistics systems for package delivery services in densely populated cities.”

Wang Wei nodded.

“You’re right.

“Our long-term goal for this intelligent logistics network is to integrate automation and AI in the entire logistics distribution chain. Just like I said earlier, the large vehicles handle the long roads. Then the package is delivered to the customer using the drones on board. The drones then fly to a drone charging farm. Additional backup drones will help logistic vehicles.”

In fact, this drone delivery plan was exactly the same as the paper Lu Zhou published nine years ago. However, this was not easy to achieve. There were many problems that had to be solved.

For example, the live calculation of the UAV route, how to determine the most efficient and safest delivery route, etc. This might not sound complicated, but in reality, it was quite a difficult problem.

First of all, the routes of the drones were not on a 2D plane; it was on a 3D space. Secondly, the sheer amount of volume made the problem much more complicated.

For example, in Beijing, the annual delivery volume was nearly 2.2 billion packages. This translated into a huge amount of packages every day. The entire logistics network would need tens of thousands of drones for support. The distribution plans and routes of these drones had to be calculated by computers.

It seemed like only Star Voyage One could solve this problem.

After hearing Wang Wei’s words, Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, “Actually, you can think about outsourcing the entire intelligent logistics network to us, including the drones used in the distribution link and the drone charging farm. We have a professional team capable of doing this task, and it is easier to solve this problem as a whole than to solve the individual problems you will encounter.”

Wang Wei paused for a second and hesitated.

“That… isn’t the best idea, right? We already have business partners for equipment such as drones and logistics vehicles. We have also signed long-term strategic cooperation agreements. If it is possible, I hope you can accommodate our request and focus on the intelligent logistics network design. So far, we are quite satisfied with the products they provide, so there is no plan to change suppliers for the time being.”

Changing suppliers was not a trivial matter.

It involved many problems.

For a large-scale enterprise such as Shunfeng, it could affect the whole business. Even a small change in the logistics distribution link could cause unpredictable impacts on existing operations.

At the very least, changing business partners would require a few internal meetings. He couldn’t just agree to Lu Zhou on the spot.

What really made Wang Wei hesitant was that Shunfeng had already invested a lot of money in this project. If he outsourced the entire project because of some bottlenecks, he would feel like his initial investment was wasted. A classic case of sunk cost fallacy.

Also, Shunfeng was a large enterprise with a market value in the hundreds of billions of yuan. Outsourcing a key technology to other people made Wang Wei feel “unsafe”.

Lu Zhou knew what Wang Wei was thinking. He contemplated for a second and spoke.

“It depends on how you look at this problem. The industry is affected by the economics of scale. The same is true for scientific research. Letting professionals handle the professional work will be more efficient than doing it on your own. I won’t force you to adopt our standards, but as a scholar, I am simply trying to find the best solution.”

Wang Wei was still hesitant when he said, “Do you guys still produce drones and logistics vehicles?”

Lu Zhou: “You’re worried about our production capacity?”

Wang Wei didn’t say anything.

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“We actually don’t have a factory and production line for drones and logistics vehicles. But we are in the era of intelligent manufacturing. This is not a problem at all.”

Seeing how Wang Wei still didn’t understand, Lu Zhou spoke.

“If you’re curious, I can show you something.”

He took a tablet from his assistant, then handed it to CEO Wang.

Wang Wei was muddled as he stared at the tablet. Lu Zhou spoke.

“You can select the product parameters you need, then upload your requirements to the server. We will do our best to achieve your requests. This process will take about two hours, so we will have to wait for a while.

“We can grab some lunch, then come back.”

Chapter 1241: Prototype for the Future Industry

After seeing the factory of Zhongshan New Materials, Wang Wei was merely shocked. However, after witnessing what happened next, he was flabbergasted.

He chose the type of product he needed on the tablet, as well as a series of parameters such as weight, size, design style, etc. Then they drove to the restaurant where they were having lunch.

After lunch, he and Lu Zhou returned to the factory again. The “customized” drone prototype was flying right in front of him.

In less than a few hours, the drone turned from an “idea” into a reality. If it weren’t for the world-renowned scholar standing next to him, he might even be tempted to suspect that this was actually a scheme from Star Sky Technology just to shock people.

Seeing how surprised Wang Wei was, Lu Zhou smiled and explained as he looked at the unique logistics drone.

“BYD battery, DJI electric motor, Huawei carbon chip, and Zhongshan New Material electrode and blade materials… All of the parts were completed by the Star Voyage One server. These parts were shipped through an automated logistics system, then two pairs of industrial-grade robotic arms completed the assembly. Isn’t it amazing?”

Wang Wei nodded.

“… It is.”

This wasn’t just amazing…

He had no idea how all of this was done in just two hours.

Even if Star Sky Technology had a close relationship with major manufacturers, normally it would still take a lot of discussions and negotiations to build a production chain.

In any case, this was definitely not a task that could be completed in two hours.

Lu Zhou smiled at Wang Wei.

“I understand how you feel. In fact, ever since the industrial revolution, the effective allocation and connection of resources have been the two major bottlenecks restricting the advancement of productivity.

“If a dairy factory wants to produce cartons of milk, they must first find the demand from the market, then use their own industry experience or network to select suitable carton factories and ranches. They would have to sign multiple contracts just to form a simple industrial chain.

“This process is called resource connection.

“Even though it sounds simple, this stage actually contains many hidden costs. For example, the relationships of the business owners, the management interests, and even regional policies and regulations. Normally, we cannot determine whether an industrial chain is efficient. We can only screen it through the market and find the efficient parts. The inefficient parts will eventually go bankrupt.

“This model ensures that the maximum amount of social resources flows to where they could be used as efficiently as possible.

“But now the problem is that, why does a monopoly giant, who operates a ranch, a boxing factory, and a dairy processing company, often does better than those companies that only play a single link in the industry chain?”

Wang Wei didn’t have to think for a long time.

The answer was obvious.

“Because they can control the cost of each production link and complete the connection of production resources within the enterprise. This reduces costs. If the entire industry chain is longer, the more links they control, the higher their efficiency.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“That’s basically it.

“In fact, this is the biggest improvement of the smart industry over the traditional industry. All of the links involving human participants are uncertain and inefficient, including the connection of resources.

“Therefore, we use AI to replace manual labor and efficiently allocate resources.

“The Jinling high-tech zone has been working on an intelligent manufacturing system for two years. We have established an independent quality and standard system and assigned production tasks to each production unit through computer servers. AI will build the entire industrial chain, not human labor.

“The first to use this system was the Skyglow aerospaceplane. Back then, many people were puzzled as to how we could build an aerospaceplane out of thin air, without a factory.

“In fact, we didn’t build the plane at all. It was just assembled in our equipment center. The parts and components needed for assembly were automatically assigned to factories through standardized orders. We decide what we need, and the next day, the industrial factories get to work.”

Seeing how shocked Wang Wei was, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I want to give this drone as a gift to you, CEO Wang.

“I wonder if you like it?”

“Of course I like it!”

Wang Wei snapped back to reality and looked at Lu Zhou with a solemn expression as he said, “On behalf of Shunfeng, I’d like to accept this precious gift!”

…

After returning to Shenzhen from Jinling, Wang Wei began to think.

What he witnessed at the Jinling high-tech zone deeply shocked him.

He didn’t realize how powerful the Jinling high-tech zone was.

Star Voyage One was like a brain.

This brain had established a set of production standards, and every factory that met this set of standards was integrated into this production system called the “smart industry”.

This brain controlled every factory in the factory zone, creating an “intelligent manufacturing system”. They were like muscle cells, connected by a complete neural network.

Although they were under different companies, the overall power they had was enough to rival any monopoly giant, in terms of efficiency and cost.

For some reason, Wang Wei had a strange thought in his mind.

Maybe in the future, everyone can open their own factory.

Of course, in his mind, this factory was just an abstract concept.

An ordinary person, as long as they had basic design knowledge and assembled standardized parts using DIY methods, they could create products that meet the customers’ needs. Just like inputting parameters to a 3D printer, the entire intelligent industrial system was like a large-scale 3D printer, serving the entire society.

Everything was completed in the intelligent manufacturing network. There was no need for a burn-in period. All of the individuals operated in an efficient and transparent system that seamlessly connected production capacity and demand.

It seemed like a prototype of the future industry was taking shape.

If this system could grow and mature, not only would the middlemen be eliminated, but people’s creativity would also be completely liberated… They would no longer be controlled by the hands of a few monopoly giants.

Labor would become cheaper and cheaper, and knowledge and creativity would become more valuable. All society’s needs could be precisely met and satisfied with this “intelligent factory machine”.

Even though these things had nothing to do with Shunfeng, Wang Wei started to become intrigued.

He had already seen a prototype of this futuristic industrial system. However, it seemed like Star Sky Technology had not yet connected this system to individual users. It was only available between factories in the high-tech zone.

Shunfeng’s strength in the logistics area could totally fill this gap in this market and connect this intelligent manufacturing system with individual users.

He began to breathe deeply.

This was like a gold mine, sitting right in front of him…

After he returned to the office, he immediately found the vice president and said, “Connect the people at Star Sky Technology immediately. I want to hand over the entire smart logistics network to them.”

Vice president: “Shouldn’t we hold a meeting first?”

Wang Wei said, “I’ll deal with the board, just do what I say.”

“… But what about our agreement with New Science Manufacturing?”

“Star Sky Technology is more important than New Science Manufacturing.” Wang Wei said decisively, “Just pay the liquidated damages to New Science Manufacturing.”

Chapter 1242: The Hyped Drone!

Shenzhen.

Inside a building at the Science and Technology Industrial Park.

A man wearing gold-rimmed glasses slammed the report in his hand on the table and shouted at his assistant.

“Nearly a billion yuan deal! All we earned was a measly few million in liquidated damages! I can’t believe I didn’t hear about this until now. Go find out who stole our order! I want you to put the competitor’s company information on my desk within three minutes!”

This was the headquarters of New Science Manufacturing. This angry middle-aged man was Guan Chaowu, the chairman and CEO of the company.

They were a high-tech company specializing in logistics drones and intelligent software development. They signed a contract order worth 110 million yuan with Shunfeng just two months ago.

The value of this deal was almost higher than their total turnover last year.

When they received this order, Guan Chaowu was so excited that he didn’t sleep for several days. He would wake up in the middle of the night with a smile almost every night. However, they suddenly received news from Shunfeng that they chose to pay liquidated damages and canceled the 110 million yuan order.

This almost made him want to vomit.

On the surface, they only lost a 110 million yuan deal and even received some liquidated damages. However, their losses were in fact far larger than this.

What they lost was the chance of Shunfeng promoting their drone delivery model. This was a billion-dollar market!

The assistant spoke in a trembling tone.

“Boss…”

Guan Chaowu growled in anger.

“Did you not hear me?”

“No, I’m saying, there is no need to investigate.” The assistant had a bitter look on his face as he said, “The Shunfeng CEO visited Jinling a few days ago and immediately changed his mind after coming back from his trip. He even convinced the board.

“There is no doubt that there is only one company that stole our deal…”

The assistant didn’t specify which company it was, but Guan Chaowu instantly reacted. His face turned blue.

“Star Sky Technology… has a drone department?”

“This… I really don’t know. But it seems that Shunfeng has outsourced their entire intelligent logistics network to them.”

“Their entire intelligent logistics network is outsourced? Is Wang Wei crazy?!”

Guan Chaowu was in disbelief as he looked at the frightened assistant standing in front of him. He felt a wave of bitterness and frustration from his heart.

Star Sky Technology…

If this were another company, he could maybe try to retain Shunfeng as their customer and take back the deal.

However, after he heard that Star Sky Technology was the company that stole their deal, he didn’t have any courage to compete anymore. He instantly gave up on this idea.

After all, even major international companies such as Tesla and Mobil, and even the United States Department of Commerce, had to bow down to Star Sky Technology.

What more a “small company” like them.

If they tried to fight back, it wouldn’t even be a fight.

It would be like an elephant stepping on an ant…

…

Guan Chaowu’s guess was correct. He guessed that Lu Zhou was just bragging in front of CEO Wang, and as a result, lit a light bulb in CEO Wang’s mind. Just like that, an order with a market potential of billions was awarded to Star Sky Technology.

But then again, Lu Zhou was worth tens of billions of yuan. Even though this was mostly Wang Wei’s ideas, Lu Zhou was the one who could make the ideas come to life.

For example, the idea of directly connecting the customer to the production chain was an idea discussed by Lu Zhou and Director Li over tea.

The biggest difference between the future industry and the old industry was the role it played.

Even though they might be similar in some ways, they were mostly different.

Soon after, Star Sky Technology and Shunfeng reached an agreement on the logistics drones project, and a promotional video produced by Shunfeng was released online.

In the video, a uniquely shaped drone took off from a truck at a logistics center. It flew past the H700 tower, a landmark building in Shenzhen, then across the streets of Zhongying Street, passing the mountains and countryside. Finally, the drone placed a letter in the hands of a child. The letter was from the child’s father, who was working far away in the city.

After everyone saw this promotional video, it immediately started a strong response on the Internet.

The discussions were not limited to the emotional and artistic aspects of the video. Instead, it was actually focused on the uniquely shaped drone that flew in the sky.

“What does this mean, is Shunfeng going to produce UAVs?”

“Is this a UAV ad or a delivery ad?”

“Wait a second, isn’t that the logo of Star Sky Technology on the UAV?”

“Star Sky Technology again? Why are they involved?”

“Jesus Christ! Just a few days ago, I was shocked by Star Sky Technology’s holographic technology, and now, it’s happening again!”

“I just want to say, Professor Lu is nutty!”

The vast majority of people were mesmerized by the promotional film.

The people of Shenzhen City were the luckiest ones.

The people living in the pilot zone had already caught up with the trend. They were the first people in the country to experience the convenience of drone delivery.

There would be no need for post office boxes anymore. As long as someone’s window was open, the drone could deliver the package on the windowsill or balcony.

The flight path of the drone was entirely done by the real-time calculation of Star Sky Technology’s quantum supercomputer. As long as there was a signal connection, there was no need to worry about the drone getting lost.

Even if the signal connection dropped, it wouldn’t matter. The drone would continue to travel a certain distance according to the route data previously transmitted. When the signal reconnected, it would then update the route adjusted by the real-time calculation technology.

While operating in urban areas, most of the drones flew above buildings, avoiding crowded streets, and delivered during work hours and late-night when there is less traffic.

Shunfeng was working with Star Sky Technology and was developing a shelf that could be installed on the balcony, similar to an air-conditioning bracket, but for drones to dock and place delivery parcels.

After all, not everyone wanted drones to fly inside their homes.

On one hand, this would respect the customer’s privacy, and on the other hand, it could also avoid many unnecessary issues.

Discussions about Shunfeng’s “smart logistics network” was also happening on Twitter and Youtube.

For example, Yurif Jack, a well-known YouTuber who lived in China for many years, made a special video and expressed his views on this matter.

“I read many skeptical comments on Twitter. A lot of my friends in the US, UK, and Europe think that this technology is not possible. They think China does not respect intellectual property rights at all, and they’re not willing to make changes. They don’t believe in this technology.

“I’ve even seen YouTubers say that when a new technology appears in China, they immediately think it’s better for the technology to not exist. They want bus drivers and factory workers to keep their jobs. But if the technology appears in the west, they will think that it’s amazing.

“In fact, this is a kind of bias and misunderstanding. Other than people with small brains, most of the people have an open and optimistic view of the future.”

“I’m in Shenzhen right now, and I’ve lived here for almost two years. Yesterday, in order to verify this amazing drone delivery technology, I purchased everything in my shopping cart… A few hours later, I saw the cute little guy land on my windowsill.”

Yurif pointed the camera at the packages beside the windowsill. He then pointed the camera at himself and shrugged.

“I know, you guys think that I’m lying or that I’m untrustworthy. In fact, I understand, I know how you feel. If you live in New York, it doesn’t seem like there are any changes happening. Your house, car, neighbors… Everything is the same.

“But if you live in a city like Shanghai, Beijing, or Shenzhen, you’ll see that the city is changing every day.

“Drone delivery is just the tip of the iceberg. For people like me who have lived in China for many years, this is not surprising at all. This is nothing crazy. In fact, there are more important things happening.

“For example, the National Day celebration show.”

Yurif waved the red invitation letter to the camera.

“Fortunately, I received an invitation from them… I will go to the Bird’s Nest and watch the National Day celebration live.

“If everything goes well, my next vlog will be about the celebration.

“I’m willing to bet that it will be more surprising and amazing than the delivery drones!”

Chapter 1243: Documentary Casting

UAV logistics was just one of the many applications of Star Voyage One.

There were many things a quantum computer could do.

Because of Shunfeng’s promotion of delivery drones, two well-known domestic food delivery companies were interested in cooperation.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care about these things.

Star Sky Technology had a dedicated department responsible for discussing cooperation and finalizing contracts. Lu Zhou was not involved in the specific cooperation agreement with Shunfeng either.

As a scholar, he rather preferred to stay in the laboratory.

The days quickly flew by.

The summer had gone by without him knowing it.

The pilot operation of the intelligent logistics network in Shenzhen was quite successful. Shunfeng had successfully negotiated with other major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing to open new drone delivery pilots. Star Voyage One had also further expanded their cloud computing services for the intelligent logistics network to these major cities.

This kind of special delivery method improved delivery efficiency and also effectively relieved the traffic pressure in major cities. As long as there were no accidents, most cities were very satisfied with this special delivery method.

While the intelligent logistics network was steadily integrating into major Chinese cities, the National Day was approaching. Preparations for the celebration show was gradually becoming more and more intense.

Fortunately, the production team did not encounter any difficulties.

With the help of virtual reality, Director Liu was working as fast as a rocket, planning scenes after scenes.

At the beginning of September, the entire crew completed the finalization of the film and sent the first version to the Entertainment Department office for review. Over the next month, they fine-tuned the details of the film based on the opinions of the Entertainment Department office, as well as new ideas from the director.

After all, this holiday was a birthday celebration of the motherland. The entire country would watch their show on this grand day, so no one dared to make any mistakes.

Director Liu gave strict orders to the crew, asking them to double-check everything, to avoid a single pixel mistake!

Lu Zhou was pleased with how serious the director was.

He was a little worried at first about whether it would be too ambitious to present Star Sky Technology’s holographic system on such a grand occasion.

After all, no one had experience using this technology. And the show would be watched by people from all over the world. If there were any mistakes, both the Entertainment Department office and the holographic technology would take the blame.

But now, it seemed like his worries were superfluous.

If even Director Liu couldn’t display the technology in an astonishing way, then perhaps the technology wasn’t as amazing as he had thought.

On the other hand, while the celebration show was in the final stage, the casting of Director Liu’s documentary also officially began.

He was still in Beijing, working on the national celebration show. Thus, he sent his most capable assistant to Jinling and set up a temporary studio in a corner on Jin Ling University campus. This studio was for auditioning the documentary cast members.

This novelty aroused the interest of many people. Even several of Lu Zhou’s assistants and students had signed up. Lu Zhou even heard that Han Mengqi ran over and joined in on the fun. Apparently, she wanted to play her own character.

Lu Zhou and everyone else thought she would be selected. However, she walked out of the audition studio with a frustrated look on her face.

Out of curiosity, Lu Zhou asked the casting crew. He heard that she was rejected because of her age.

After all, the role of the rebellious girl in the documentary was only supposed to be 16 years old.

Han Mengqi had lost the childish and immature personality. She had become a tall and beautiful lady. Her eyes were now filled with wisdom and intelligence; she was totally different from her younger self.

On the other hand, Lin Yuxiang had not changed at all over the years. She was easily accepted as the role of Lu Zhou’s mathematical modeling competition teammate.

“Um…”

Seeing how the deputy director was hesitating to speak, Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“What’s wrong?”

“If you still want to cast Ms. Han, I can… change the script, maybe we can—”

“There’s no need for that.” Lu Zhou stopped him quickly and said, “We should keep true to the history!”

The deputy director was baffled.

If all we had to do was to reenact what happened, we wouldn’t have to worry so much about casting!

The Entertainment Department office requested Lu Zhou’s actor to be a magnificent and strong hero. The Ministry of Education requested Lu Zhou’s actor to reflect the brilliance of science so as to encourage young people to learn more about science and culture.

The easiest criteria to satisfy was Lu Zhou. All Lu Zhou cared about was the actor being handsome.

So now, they had to find someone that fit all of the criteria…

Lu Zhou didn’t notice the deputy director’s worries. He was thinking about something else.

It was indeed quite ridiculous for a 26-year-old to play a 16-year-old, but he still felt horrible for his young student.

After all, she had always worked very hard academically. She even helped him complete many computational chemistry tasks, and she basically taught his computational materials class herself.

She had helped him quite a bit over the years. All he had to do was lift his finger and she would be in the documentary.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before he spoke.

“… If it’s okay, maybe cast her as a background character, without modifying the script.”

The deputy director quickly said, “Don’t worry about this! I’ll ask my assistant to contact her and find a role for her.”

Lu Zhou felt like the deputy director was overly enthusiastic, so he quickly added.

“Doesn’t have to be a major character, just give her a couple of lines. After all, she still has to work on research.”

“Don’t worry, I understand!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I really hope so.

…

The casting of the main actor had also begun.

Whether it was singers or actors, everyone wanted to paint themselves with Lu Zhou’s glory.

This kind of promotional and impactful documentary was a golden opportunity.

Normally, singers and models usually wouldn’t be cast for this kind of role. The production crew tended to choose more experienced actors.

However, Lu Zhou personally asked for a good-looking actor. Therefore, after the casting requirements were released, a huge number of talent management companies applied.

Many celebrities came to Jin Ling University’s casting studio.

Even smaller and less well-known celebrities came to see if they could get lucky.

Because of this, the students of Jin Ling University saw all kinds of stars on their campus every day.

They would ask for their signatures and follow them around.

“Give me the truth, were you involved in casting?” Chen Yushan said abruptly.

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes.

“I only gave a suggestion for the main role. It’s not like I made them cast a love interest.”

Chen Yushan muttered, “Who knows, maybe you have special tastes?”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking coffee, nearly spat the coffee out of his mouth.

The f*ck you mean by special tastes?

Lu Zhou coughed and put down the coffee cup. He wiped his mouth and changed the conversation.

“I’m going to Beijing tomorrow, you coming?”

“To watch the military parade?”

“How do you know?”

“You go every year.”

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Oh yeah, she’s right.

Every year he received an invitation with special seats.

“I’m probably not going to go this year. I’ve gone many times. Also, we’re in talks with two food delivery companies. They want to cooperate in drone delivery.”

“You should take some time off for the National Day. Apparently, there’s going to be a special show.”

“Special show?” Chen Yushan looked at him suspiciously and said, “Apart from the holographic projection, what else is special?”

“Holographic projection is another thing, this is the military parade.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’m not spoiling anything, come with me and you’ll see.”

Chapter 1244: The Shocking Thirty Seconds

The Bird’s Nest covered an area of more than 200,000 square meters.

The gorgeous lights and shadows shined in the clouds of white mist, coming from all corners of the stadium.

Director Liu leaned over and stood in front of the backstage control system of the stadium. He stared closely at the monitoring screen, and finally, he let out a long sigh.

The National Day was in a few days.

This was probably the last rehearsal.

Fortunately, no accidents occurred, and the rehearsal show met all the expectations perfectly.

The shots taken by 21 wide-angle cameras distributed in the venue were clear and crisp. The staff sitting as spectators in the stadium were also completely stunned by the immersive lights and colors. They were so shocked they nearly forgot to breathe.

Ou Haifeng stood behind Liu Wei this whole time. He clenched his fists and trembled with excitement. He suddenly clapped a few times. When Wu Yuanhang saw the claps, he quickly snapped back to reality and began to clap himself.

Clap clap clap!

The applause in the control room lasted for nearly a minute.

After the applause stopped, Ou Haifeng didn’t know how to express his feelings. His voice was shaking from the adrenaline.

“This is perfect!

“This is the most perfect show I have ever seen!”

Before this rehearsal, he was still a little nervous. He was worried because this was the first time Director Liu had used this equipment, and he had no holographic shooting experience. He thought Director Liu might not be able to fully demonstrate the magnificence of the holographic system’s special effects.

But now, it appeared that his worries were totally redundant. Forget about satisfying the people of the country, once this celebration show was over, the whole world would be jealous of this technology.

“It’s finally done…”

Director Liu raised his arm and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He showed a smile of relief on his face and joked.

“Do you think this will steal the show from the military parade?”

He thought that Director Ou would agree. However, Director Ou merely chuckled and said, “That… would be a little difficult.”

A little difficult?

Director Liu strangely looked at him.

“Why?”

“After all, holographic projection is just a holographic projection. It’s not real, and the military parade…” Ou Haifeng coughed and said, “You think Academician Lu has no hand in that?”

…

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the director’s office and calling his family.

“Dad, are you free these days?”

“Your dad has nothing but free time, why?”

Lu Zhou could hear in the background the voice of the news anchor on the television. He guessed that his parents were probably eating.

Lu Zhou felt a little hungry when he thought of his mother’s cooking. He could almost smell the food through the phone. He cut the small talk and went straight to the point.

“Want to go to Beijing?”

Lu Bangguo put down the chopsticks and focused his attention on the call.

“For what?”

“To watch the military parade.”

“I watched it a few years ago, I’d rather not go this year.”

“This year is different!”

Lu Bangguo was amused.

“How is it different? Isn’t it just walking in a formation? When I was young, I participated in our factory’s military training. It’s not like I haven’t walked in a formation before.”

As Lu Zhou felt the generation gap between him and his parents, he sighed and said, “Sigh… Anyway, I bought the tickets for you guys. Just treat it like a holiday and come relax for a few days.”

“You little rascal, making decisions for me now? Who’s the father here? All right, I’ll go with your mother. You should take care of yourself. I don’t want to see you all single and skinny in Beijing.”

Even though his father was complaining, Lu Zhou could tell that he was actually quite happy.

His father loved to act unenthusiastic and cool.

Although he said that he didn’t want to go to the military parade, being able to sit in the special seats would allow him to brag to his work friends.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I can’t. I tried, but this is how I am. I can’t gain weight.”

“Yeah, right, I’d be grateful if you eat on time every day. You haven’t eaten dinner, right?”

“How did you know?”

“I am your father!” Lu Bangguo smiled and said, “Okay, enough joking around, go eat some dinner, I’m hanging up!”

Lu Zhou hung up the call and was about to go to the cafeteria. On the other hand, a promotional video about the National Day celebration show appeared on major Internet platforms.

The title of the video was “Us”, and it was around 30 seconds long.

In less than 30 minutes, the total number of views had exceeded 30 million and was steadily approaching 40 million.

The video showed an old coal-powered train. The train creaked as it moved forward across a yellow grassland, pushing gray smoke from its black chimney.

The words Woosung Road appeared on the video screen on a wooden sign. The sounds of gunfire and shouting could be heard in the distance.

The gunfire gradually became louder and noisier before finally fading away. It turned into the sounds of children’s laughter. A high-speed rail train flashed by, and the wooden sign turned into a modern sign, with the words “Shanghai Railway Station” across it.

The camera panned to the sky.

Then, something shocking happened.

The camera began to zoom out faster and faster, through the clouds and through the atmosphere. Suddenly, a stadium appeared.

Yes, a stadium.

Everything that appeared in the video was confined within this stadium.

The video transitions were smooth. The lights and sounds of the gunfire were realistically re-enacted by the holographic lights, restoring the past perfectly.

This wasn’t a promotional trailer!

This was a story!

People were shocked by the visuals!

This was more exciting than most domestic blockbuster movies!

Of course, there was no plot.

After all, it was only thirty seconds. However, thirty seconds was enough to make everyone look forward to the celebration show.

Director Liu, who directed this trailer, had achieved his goals.

Less than an hour after the trailer was released, online discussions about the National Day show had exploded!

Chapter 1245: Are You Guys Drunk?

An online video site.

Inside the comments area.

“This trailer is pretty interesting!”

“Interesting? It’s amazing!”

“The news some time ago is true! They actually plan on using holographic technology on National Day!”

“Surely not, the holographic projector in the video is only the size of a flashlight. How is it going to cover the entire stadium! I think it’s another illusion!”

“I’m an engineer in the holographic projection industry. I’m not going to say which company I work for. We all know that Japan’s NTT is the best in this field. They’re the only ones that have mastered the construction of holographic projection systems for large stadiums. Even though my company can also build a holographic projection system for stadiums, both the scale and the fidelity of the image is one whole generation behind. Technology doesn’t come from 30-second trailers, it comes from years of hard work…”

“But in the trailer video… The engineer from NTT Group was shocked?”

“They were just shocked, does that tell us anything? If I throw a punch on your face, aren’t you going to be shocked?”

“I wish National Day were already here, I’m so looking forward to it!”

The comments sections on large Chinese video sites weren’t the only places with heated discussions. The discussions on the Internet came in waves. After the trailer showing the holographic projector from Star Sky Technology was released, the west already began discussing whether this technology would appear at the National Day celebration.

It seemed like the Internet was right.

Judging by the information revealed by the trailer, it seemed like the Chinese Entertainment Department office planned on immersing the entire stadium in holographic images.

That meant that the entire stadium was the performance stage.

Everyone wondered how many holographic projectors they would need.

The engineers working in the holographic field, as well as normal citizens, couldn’t imagine the scale.

Because of this, the hype surrounding the show was heating up even beyond the imagination of the Entertainment Department office and Star Sky Technology.

The 10,000 tickets released in the first wave were bought out within a second of being posted on the official website.

Before the ticket release, Director Ou was still joking with Lu Zhou about whether the tickets would sell out in seconds. He didn’t expect it to actually happen.

Director Ou was baffled.

After all, the National Day celebration was mainly for the purpose of providing a fun experience for the people of the country. They were doing this at a loss; there was no way they could make a profit from the ticket sales.

The hardware investment was around 100 million yuan, plus a production cost of 20 million yuan. The Entertainment Department office spent around 120 million yuan on this show.

With an admission ticket of 200 yuan a piece, even if they added 30,000 temporary seats, selling 110,000 tickets total, they would only receive 22 million yuan.

They could probably receive 20 to 30 million yuan in sponsorships. The total would only be 50 million. Even for the most optimistic case, the Entertainment Department office would still lose 70 million yuan on this project.

This was not including the renting costs for the stadium.

On the other hand, if spending the 70 million yuan could make the people of the country satisfied and make the country more united and cohesive, then the money spent would be worth it.

However, the problem now was that the vast majority of people did not get a chance to buy any tickets. The vast majority of the tickets were taken by experienced scalpers and resellers.

Second-hand tickets started to appear on major ticket reselling platforms. The prices were around ten times the original price. Regular tickets were being sold at the price of VIP tickets. The most expensive ones were around five thousand yuan.

Director Ou was furious.

In order to combat the scalpers, the Entertainment Department office quickly modified the ticket sales method. The original strategy of issuing 10,000 tickets at midnight was changed to a name-verification system, with a random lottery component. The tickets sold were tied with ID cards. This was able to defeat the reselling market.

But at the same time, it seemed like it was more difficult for normal people to buy the tickets.

An hour after the new ticket selling method was implemented, the number of people who wanted to buy tickets with the name-verification system had surpassed 20 million, and it continued to grow. The probability of being selected from the lottery was less than 1%.

The entire population of Beijing was only 20 million.

It was obvious that the hype and enthusiasm surrounding the National Day celebration was huge…

…

On the high-speed rail.

Second class seats.

With the help from the train attendants, Lu Bangguo and Fang Mei put their luggage on the luggage rack and sat in their seats.

The train seats came with a table where people could eat. There were seats on both sides of the table that were facing each other.

Coincidentally, another pair of elderly couple was sitting across from them. They were about the same age as Lu Bangguo, and they even looked similar.

After the train started to move, Lu Bangguo took a look at the old man across from him and saw that the old man was staring at him as well.

The two of them accidentally made eye contact.

It would be awkward if he didn’t say anything, and Old Lu was the type of person that liked to chat. Thus, he took the initiative to speak.

After a while, the two old men clicked so well they began to talk like old friends.

“What are you guys going to Beijing for?”

“To watch the military parade!”

“Military parade? Ah, that’s not something most people can watch. Most people watching the military parade are in first-class seats.”

Lu Bangguo smiled and was about to say that they were actually watching the parade in special seats. However, his wife elbowed him and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t embarrass our son!”

“I’m just…”

“Just what? Everyone has a phone these days, what if someone films you? Everyone’s going to see the academician’s arrogant father.”

Lu Bangguo was baffled. He knew that no one would film such a boring conversation.

However, he didn’t want to argue with his wife, so he quietly muttered, “I wasn’t being arrogant…”

“How are you not! I know exactly what you were about to say!”

The old couple sitting across from them smiled. The old man had an envious look in his eyes.

How nice.

Such a loving couple after so many years.

Look at my wife; she’s been asleep this whole time, totally ignoring me.

While Lu Bangguo was arguing with his wife, he realized he had forgotten that there was someone sitting across from him. Lu Bangguo quickly coughed and ended the conversation with his wife.

He asked, “What about you guys?”

“To watch the show!”

“The show?”

Seeing how confused Lu Bangguo was, the old man had a proud look on his face. However, he sighed pretentiously and spoke as he shook his head.

“Sigh, my son is too nice! The National Day celebration show is happening at the Bird’s Nest, right? He’s making us come, even bought two tickets for us. Apparently, the VIP tickets cost two thousand each!”

“Two thousand? Which seats do you guys have?”

“The two hundred yuan ones.”

“…”

Lu Bangguo looked at Fang Mei, who was sitting next to him, and quietly asked, “The Bird’s Nest show? What show? I haven’t heard anything.”

Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t you watch the news every day? Even I know!”

Lu Bangguo smiled awkwardly.

He only paid attention to the news when his son was involved. He probably read about the Bird’s Nest show and forgot about it.

He wasn’t interested in the show, but when he heard that it was going to be held at the Bird’s Nest, which he had never been to before, and that the other couple was looking forward to going, he couldn’t help but feel a little curious. He quietly spoke to his wife.

“… We’ve already seen the military parade a few times, we’ve never been to the Bird’s Nest… How about we go watch the celebration show this time?”

Fang Mei was a little curious, but she still hesitated.

“Wouldn’t that be troublesome for our son?”

Lu Bangguo waved his hand and said, “Not troublesome at all. It’s only two hundred yuan. If the ticket sales weren’t online, I would buy them myself.”

“Oh… then let’s call them after we get off the train. He should be on the plane right now.”

The old man sitting across from the two chuckled. He had a blank expression on his face.

Are you guys drunk?

Watching the military parade, special tickets…

Enough with the lies!

…

On the other hand, Lu Zhou, who was on the plane, had also arrived at the Beijing airport safely.

After he and Chen Yushan were greeted by the airport concierge and passed through the VIP channel, they walked up to a black government car at the airport entrance. A staff member in a suit opened the car door for him. After he got in the car, he saw the man sitting in the passenger seat…

Looked a bit familiar?

“Chen Baohua?”

“Dad?”

The two people in the car were stunned.

Chen Baohua looked at Lu Zhou, the man who made his precious daughter work all year, through the rearview mirror. He went silent for a while, then sighed.

“Hello, Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou felt like there was a meaning behind the sigh, but he couldn’t care to decipher it. He smiled and said, “Hello, Chen Baohua, I hope you’re doing well.”

“I’m always doing well.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Seeing how the attention wasn’t focused on her, Chen Yushan looked at her dad unhappily and said, “Dad, why aren’t you saying hi to me?”

“I’m your father, you should greet me first!”

“Pfft!”

Seeing the daughter and father bicker with each other, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smirk.

Speaking of which, Chen Yushan hasn’t been home for a while now.

She’s been working hard all these years.

Even though she seems to be doing fine, I’m sure she still misses home…

Lu Zhou realized that his parents were still on the way here. Thus, he looked at Chen Baohua and spoke.

“Um, Chen Baohua, can you… arrange a car to pick up my parents? They’re—”

Chen Baohua: “I know, they’re on the high-speed rail, the G565 train, and they’re arriving in 25 minutes. My colleague is picking them up. Don’t worry.”

Lu Zhou: “… How phenomenal.”

Chen Baohua smiled arrogantly.

“Of course.”

Chapter 1246: Cheers, To A Better Future!

“We are about to arrive in Beijing. Passengers, please remember to take your luggage and exit the train in an orderly manner.”

The announcement didn’t interrupt the conversation between the two old men.

The old man sitting across him was called Liu Peizhong. He was also a Jiangling native.

Even though Liu Peizhong didn’t seem to believe in him, Lu Bangguo didn’t care. His retired life of drinking tea and reading newspapers had cultivated his mind and given him a peaceful temper.

His life was getting better and better, so there was no reason to get angry.

He was going to brag, regardless of whether people believed him or not.

The two chatted happily along the way.

“Um…”

“What?”

“Does your son have a partner?”

“Not yet.” Old Lu sighed and said, “He’s nearly 30, so I’m getting worried about it.”

Liu Peizhong tried to comfort him. “Guys should still focus on their careers. A successful man doesn’t have to worry about getting a wife. Don’t pressure your kid too hard.”

Liu Peizhong was actually laughing on the inside.

Look at how hard you’re bragging.

If you’re son is so impressive, how come he can’t find a wife?

Liu Peizhong felt like he could see through Old Lu.

However, Lu Bangguo did not notice that Liu Peizhong had seen through his “lies”. He continued to “brag”.

“Sigh, I’m not worried about his career. I always tell him that money doesn’t matter. Meaning and purpose are the essences of life! He’s earned more money than he could ever spend, what’s the point?—Ouch! Why are you pinching me?”

Fang Mei, who was sitting next to him, gave Lu Bangguo a dirty look. The message in her eyes was obvious, like she was saying, “Don’t embarrass me in front of these strangers.”

Seeing how angry his wife was, Lu Bangguo paused for a second and tried to calm his wife down.

Liu Peizhong couldn’t help but laugh.

More money than he could ever spend?

This guy is definitely drunk!

The train arrived at the station.

Old Lu was about to get his luggage when two men in uniform came over.

“Mr. Lu, let me help you.”

“Thanks, young man… Wait, how did you know my last name is Lu?”

“Um… It’s written on your ticket.”

“Oh.”

Lu Bangguo didn’t think much of this. He let the two young men handle his luggage.

The old man sitting opposite them looked at the two young men in uniforms. They didn’t look like train attendants, but seeing how the train attendants ignored them, they were obviously not scammers either.

The group of people got off the train and exited the high-speed rail station.

Liu Peizhong was about to take a taxi to the hotel when he noticed that there were no taxi drivers.

Where are they?

What the hell?!

Are taxi drivers not working today?

He was also surprised to see that the whole high-speed rail station looked completely different than when he came here last time. Even though the construction had not changed, something felt totally different…

It felt like everything around here became more regulated and orderly.

“Where are all the taxi drivers?”

“… I don’t know.”

Old Lu was also confused. He was confused as to why the two “train attendants” were helping him carry his luggage out of the train station.

If he recalled correctly, he only bought second-class seats.

Even first-class seats wouldn’t receive this kind of treatment.

When Old Lu arrived at the taxi parking area, he was about to say thank you to the two young men and tell them that they could head off now. However, he was stunned by what he saw.

A black car with a red flag parked on the side of the road. It occupied the entire waiting area with not even a single car in front of or behind it.

A man in a tunic suit stepped forward, smiled at the two old men, and nodded. He then took the suitcases from the two young men and said to them, “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.” He then swiftly placed the two suitcases into the trunk.

As Lu Bangguo and Fang Mei looked at the car door being opened, they were speechless.

Old Liu and his wife, who was standing behind them, were the same. When they saw the license place, their mouths were wide open as their faces turned red.

“Um… Brother Lu.”

“Yeah, what…” Old Lu knew this was probably about his son.

“Your son… is not married yet?”

“Yeah… We just talked about it five minutes ago.”

Old Liu’s demeanor totally changed. He excitedly grabbed Old Lu’s arm.

“I have a niece that works in Beijing, and she happens to be single too. Look at how easily we clicked, how about we introduce our kids to each other? I remember I have her business card on me. I think it’s in the suitcase, let me try to find it…”

…

Lu Zhou didn’t know that his dad had arranged him a “partner introduction”.

However, even if he knew, he wouldn’t have the time to deal with it.

At the great hall not far from the hotel, there was a banquet for the invited guests.

As one of the important guests at the banquet, he might be interviewed by TV stations. The hair and makeup staff members were working on his appearance.

Lu Zhou looked in the mirror at the lady combing and waxing his hair. He coughed and said, “Actually, I feel like… Just take it easy, I don’t look like myself.”

The stylist smiled and kept working on his hair.

“Oh, Academician Lu, how is it not like you?”

“How long will it be?”

“Soon.”

“… That’s what you said half an hour ago.”

Finally.

He was done.

Chen Yushan was waiting at the door with her arms folded. When she saw Lu Zhou walk out of the dressing room, she looked surprised.

“Not bad, you look completely different.”

Lu Zhou wasn’t happy to hear this.

“What is that supposed to mean, that I’m not good looking before?”

But then again, the stylist was different than the average hairdresser. He was a little worried that they would make him look old and mature. However, after some combing and waxing, his entire vibe had changed. He didn’t look like a scientific researcher anymore, he looked… like a pop star.

Chen Yushan was the same.

Lu Zhou had known her for nearly nine years, and he had long gotten accustomed to her beauty. However, she was wearing a long evening gown, and she looked just like a princess. Her shiny eyes were like polished gems, and he couldn’t help but get distracted for a few seconds.

Chen Yushan smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“You’re always good looking, but now, you’re even more handsome!”

Emm…

Okay then.

Makes sense.

Lu Zhou was satisfied with this answer, so he decided to drop this trivial problem…

They were only a block or two away from the great hall. However, they still sat in the black sedan parked at the entrance of the hotel.

When they got off the car at the entrance of the great hall, the pair happened to bump into Fang Mei and Old Lu.

When Old Lu first glanced at his son, he almost didn’t recognize him. He stared for a while before he finally recognized Lu Zhou. However, just when he was about to say hello, all of his attention was taken away by the girl standing next to Lu Zhou.

Old Lu’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Fang Mei and excitedly pointed at Chen Yushan.

Lu Zhou looked at his parents, who were in shock. He didn’t know why they were so excited. Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

Chen Yushan felt the attention on her, so she smirked confidently.

Even though she was confident, she didn’t want to seem arrogant.

She gently pulled Lu Zhou’s sleeve and led him to greet the old couple. Lu Zhou, on the other hand, was muddled.

After that, she led the old couple and Lu Zhou inside the great hall.

Lu Zhou didn’t know why Chen Yushan was acting this way…

Inside the great hall.

The sea of guests sat in their seats.

The round tables were covered with brocade clothes. The wine glasses were placed neatly, and the staff members were pouring wines and other drinks.

After the majestic musical performance and opening remarks, an old man with white hair wearing a tunic suit walked on stage and reached for the microphone.

He paused for a second and said, “Through the ups and downs, another year has passed.

“Looking back at the past and the changes in the world, it was full of laughter and joy, but it was also filled with difficulties and obstacles.

“However, no matter how difficult the road is, no matter how tough the weather is, our wisdom and our courage will push us through the storm, and nothing can stop us.

“On this great day, I wish that the future will be even better, even more beautiful!

“Let us toast to the bright future of our motherland!”

Everyone in the banquet hall raised their wine glasses.

“Cheers!”

The hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

All of them had sincere smiles on their faces.

The audience began to quiet down.

Several foreign guests and ambassadors also stopped talking and curiously looked at the stage.

The old man on the stage looked around, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“In order to commend those who worked hard for our common cause and for our bright future…

“On behalf of everyone, I would like to give the highest level of honor, the National Medal of Honor, to the person who brought glory and brilliance for all.

“The winner is—

“Lu Zhou!”

Chapter 1247: Express Delivery From Space

The wave of applause was like a rainstorm, resonating throughout the venue.

Even people outside of the great hall could feel the passion and excitement from the applause through the walls.

Lu Zhou didn’t actually care about things like honor.

If he had the opportunity to gain more honor and recognition for himself and for his country, he certainly would not refuse. However, even if he couldn’t, he wouldn’t feel unpleasant.

Yet when he was standing on the podium, he couldn’t help but feel moved in his heart.

In the face of the mysteries of the universe and the glory of the human mind, reputation and honor were meaningless.

However, the heavy medal across his chest that symbolized expectations and responsibility was certainly real…

…

The Jin Ling University cafeteria.

The cafeteria was filled with people even though it was still early morning.

Freshman, final-year graduate students, students preparing for the graduate entrance exam, and students preparing for their first assignment… They all got up abnormally early on this day.

There was a long line in front of the service window selling noodles. The TV in the corner next to it was turned on to the news program.

“Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“Yesterday, Academician Lu from our school received the National Medal of Honor!”

“Really? The medal that’s only given to a select few in the country?”

“Yeah, that one!”

“Jesus, how many national awards have God Lu received?”

“I don’t know, I just want to know who also won a medal.”

“No one else won. The scientific community Medal of Honor was awarded to him as well!”

Actors and production crew members were sitting nearby.

The earlier they finish filming, the earlier they could finish work. Once the filming began, there was no such thing as a holiday. They looked at the long lines of students in front of the foodservice windows. An actress wearing a baseball hat spoke.

“The Jin Ling University students are so diligent, waking up so early on a holiday.”

“Yeah yeah, more hardworking than when I was a student.”

Sitting next to the two actresses was Han Mengqi, who was having a bowl of white porridge. She was about to follow them to the library for filming. Even though she was not friends with the two actresses, she still raised her head and joined in on the conversation.

“Normally, there aren’t this many people. Today is special.”

One of the actresses tilted her head and curiously asked, “Special?”

Han Mengqi nodded and spoke.

‘”Yeah, the military parade is on CTV at 7 o’clock today.”

Even though they could watch it on their phones in their bedrooms, it obviously didn’t feel as exciting as watching it in the cafeteria with everyone. And since they were already awake, they might as well eat some breakfast.

Without them knowing it, it was already seven o’clock.

This grand occasion kicked off with military music in the background.

The soldiers lined up on the square stepped forward with powerful steps. After that, there were various types of heavy military equipment, tanks, and fighter jets. The boys in the cafeteria were full of adrenaline.

Even though Han Mengqi wasn’t very interested in these things, because of the music and atmosphere, she subconsciously began to hum along to the music.

Speaking of which, Academician Lu should be there.

I think Sister is there too.

I wonder where they’re sitting…

Han Mengqi had completely ignored the parade and was thinking about some strange thoughts. However, the image on the TV suddenly changed.

A group of soldiers that looked completely different walked into the camera shot.

They were wearing armed mechanical exoskeletons, with futuristic bullet-free rifles. Their digital eyepieces were blocking their eyes… They walked forward neatly and uniformly. There was a sense of majesty and solemnity in the air.

Behind every soldier was a four-rotor multi-purpose drone. The bullet-free rifles in the hands of the soldiers gave a chilling feeling.

They were infantry, but they looked more powerful than armored forces. The sound of the loud footsteps as they marched forward neatly felt like they were a moving steel wall.

What is that?

When Han Mengqi saw the image on the TV, she felt her forehead getting warm.

She was getting excited.

Although she was completely uninterested in weapons and equipment, for some reason, these soldiers seem to poke her curiosity.

Suddenly, she realized where this excitement came from.

Isn’t the black exoskeleton armor made from the “high-strength carbon nanocomposite” project I was a part of last year?

It is!

It has to be!

She was witnessing the application of a scientific research project she had participated in. She felt like she had just won the lottery, and there was an indescribable feeling of excitement and comfort in her heart.

It felt…

So cool!

…

At the military parade.

A little girl who was around seven or eight years old climbed onto the knees of a gray-haired old man. She pointed her little hand excitedly at the soldiers not far away and spoke in a high-pitched voice.

“Grandpa, Grandpa, look at the robots!”

Academician Pan Changhong patted his granddaughter’s hand to tell her to return to her seat. He smiled and said to her, “What robots! That is our Airborne Brigade team!”

The granddaughter tilted her head and asked, “What is that?”

Academician Pan Changhong smiled and had a trace of fascination in his eyes.

“It’s a group of people that guards us from the skies.”

The debut of the Airborne Brigade shocked everyone, both live at the scene and the audiences at home.

The second the steel soldiers appeared on the CTV broadcast, Weibo and other internet websites instantly exploded with discussions and comments.

“This is so cool!”

“It’s like Ironman!”

“What’s the point of this kind of armor? We’re in the 21st century now! It’s not flexible at all. Do they expect the armor to save them from artillery weapons? Even a high school student knows that this is stupid!”

“How about you try the armor yourself! And this is called a mechanical exoskeleton! It’s not just body armor!”

“These are the soldiers that are delivered from space! (smile)”

People were mesmerized by the cool soldiers and the expensive digital equipment. The dazzling weapons were captivating. Chinese netizens were hooked.

On the other hand, the live stream was also broadcast on CTV’s foreign outlets. Foreigners were shocked by this scene.

Discussions exploded in the Youtube comments section, and there were tens of thousands of comments in less than an hour.

Some were overseas Chinese expats who were proud of the strength of their motherland. There were also white-washed Asians that were going crazy, as well as foreigners shocked by the never-seen-before equipment.

“What does the Chinese plan on doing? Fight aliens?”

“Where is our aerospace force?”

“We have air and space forces, but we don’t have an aerospace force…”

“Apparently, they can be deployed anywhere on the globe within an hour.”

“That’s so scary! If I talk trash about them, are they going to land in my backyard?”

“Probably not, they’re more likely to land in Area 51 or Guantanamo Bay…”

Chapter 1248: Celebration Night

Pentagon.

Inside a special meeting room.

A group of people sat at the conference table and watched the live CTV broadcast on the big screen without saying a word. When the group of soldiers armed to the nines appeared on the screen with drones behind them, almost everyone held their breath.

After the soldiers disappeared from the screen, whispers were heard in the conference room.

“I don’t know what chance our rangers have against their paratroopers…” The first to break the silence was the Minister of Defense. He reached out his index finger and touched the coffee cup on the table. It took him several tries before he grabbed it. He pretended to be calm and took a sip. He then said, “We don’t need any fancy armor. Fighting with a lithium battery is no different than carrying a bag of explosives.”

These words comforted most people. After all, lithium batteries, which used active metals as electrodes, were more explosive than thermite.

However, most people still remained pessimistic.

After all, if even the people here thought of the lithium batteries issue, there was no way the Chinese didn’t think about it. Also, since these pieces of equipment had to land from low-Earth orbit, they had to be durable.

“… We already talked about this last time.” The National Security Advisor looked at the overly confident Secretary of Defense. He stood up and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He slowly said, “This depends on whether they want to fight our rangers.”

The Secretary of Defense said, “The battlefield is constantly changing, we don’t always have a choice.”

The National Security Advisor shook his head.

“Let’s acknowledge the reality. We have no defense against their vertical global landing. No missiles can catch up to their speed after they break through 20 kilometers of the atmosphere. Unless they jump into us or we prepare air missiles over the entire country, we are defenseless.”

The president twisted the pen in his hand.

“This sounds like a good idea.”

The National Security Advisor looked at the president seriously.

“Mr. President, I’m afraid that no company would be happy to do this. With all due respect, instead of wasting money on this, we might as well put our resources in other places, such as our diplomatic relationship with the Chinese. Regardless of whether you want to accept this reality, we are not in a good situation.

“We only know that they have a team of aerospace paratroopers. But we still don’t know the size of this team. Do you understand what I mean? They could have more paratroopers than we think. If they were to arm every single aerospace soldier with the exoskeleton…”

The National Security Advisor looked at the people around the conference table. He then took a deep breath and said, “I think it will be extremely unlikely for us to win against them…”

…

The discussions and excitement on the internet continued to grow.

The military parade was over.

The finale of the ceremony was obviously the Airborne Brigade. This team was led by Li Gaoliang, or Brigadier Li.

Since the beginning of the second half of this year, the size of the orbital Airborne Brigade had expanded from the regiment level to the brigade level. This special team that originally belonged to the Eastern Theater Command had also been assigned to the space army and was under the direct command of Beijing.

Lu Zhou was happy to see Li Gaoliang’s progress.

He knew that Li Gaoliang was glad to have chosen this path.

“Dad, the Bird’s Nest celebration show starts in the evening. You don’t have to worry so much.” Lu Zhou sighed and looked at his anxious father. He said, “Also, we have special seats. No matter how late we go, we can always get in.”

In fact, the Bird’s Nest stadium had VIP boxes. But when Lu Zhou went there to take a look, he realized that the watching experience in the box was not as good as sitting in an open seat. Because of the closed walls, the viewing angle was quite narrow.

Even though Star Sky Technology’s holographic technology was state of the art, it had not matured yet. They were at least a few generations away from complete coverage.

Thus, the best seats were actually the temporary seats placed on the track field in the middle of the stadium. The VIP seats that had the best viewing experience were the first row seats.

Old Lu looked at Lu Zhou with his eyes wide open.

“What? It starts at night?”

“Yeah.”

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, he already told his father this three times.

Lu Bangguo had an awkward smile on his face. He scratched his head and said, “It starts at night… I see, then we don’t have to rush… Oh yeah, I ran into an interesting old man on the way here. His niece is in her early twenties, also single, maybe we can arrange…”

When Lu Zhou saw his dad take out a business card, his eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets.

What the hell is this?!

You found me a blind date on the high-speed rail train? How is that even possible?

He finally understood why Chen Yushan didn’t want to go home unless it was Chinese New Year.

Lu Zhou was thinking about how to politely refuse. Chen Yushan, who was standing next to him, noticed the embarrassment on his face.

She took a step forward calmly. Before Lu Zhou could say anything, she smiled and took the business card from his father’s hand.

“Uncle Lu, he doesn’t have a place to put the card right now. I have a purse, so I’ll hold it for him. I’ll urge him to go on the blind date later.”

“Ohh…” Old Lu nodded and smiled. He said, “Okay then… My son doesn’t listen to me, so thanks.”

“Yeah, don’t worry!”

Lu Zhou was delighted he didn’t have to deal with this troublesome matter. He secretly gave Chen Yushan a thumbs up.

Good job!

…

As the night gradually came, the neon lights on the tall buildings began to light up.

Outside the Bird’s Nest Stadium, soldiers formed a human wall. They guided the nearby traffic and directed pedestrians into the stadium in an orderly manner.

Several roads nearby had been blocked. Wang Peng parked his car in the underground garage at a nearby hotel. He then led Lu Zhou and others toward the stadium.

Chen Yushan looked at the crowds and spoke.

“There are so many people this year.”

“After all, this is the first time…” Lu Zhou suddenly remembered something and said, “Has this kind of celebration been held before?”

Wang Peng thought for a second before saying, “It’s the first time for the Bird’s Nest, and the first time for this scale of holographic projection…”

No sh*t?

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

When has there ever been this scale of holographic projection?

Lu Bangguo walked with his wife. He looked at the crowds and muttered, “There are so many people… How are we supposed to find them?”

Before coming here, he and the old man on the train agreed to meet at the Bird’s Nest stadium.

Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, “Who cares? Look at how many people there are, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Lu Bangguo had an unfortunate look on his face.

Liu Peizhong had agreed to bring his niece and watch the grand performance together.

But now, it seemed like it was impossible to meet up.

Lu Zhou was oblivious to what his father was thinking. He looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, a fiery beam of red light rose from the center of the stadium, and light particles exploded into the air, lighting up the entire night sky.

They didn’t expect there would be a fireworks show before the celebration. The tourists and pedestrians were shocked. They held their mobile phones excitedly and took photos of the sky.

Lu Zhou didn’t take out his phone. Instead, he looked at the gorgeous fireworks and spoke.

“It’s about to begin.”

Chen Yushan looked at the fireworks and asked, “Is that… really fireworks?”

“Yeah, but not the same as traditional fireworks.” Lu Zhou paused and said, “Those scattered light particles are all holographic projections.”

“… So it’s just a holographic image.”

Lu Zhou glanced at her.

“Why do you sound disappointed?”

“Not disappointed… Actually, I’m pretty happy. It’s just that these fireworks are not real, so it feels a little ingenuine.” Chen Yushan shrugged and jokingly said, “Maybe I’m too critical.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“Whether it’s holographic fireworks or gunpowder fireworks, they both only last for a short time. Gunpowder fireworks contribute to pollution and are a safety hazard. Don’t you feel like this kind of holographic image has a futuristic vibe?”

Chen Yushan said, “That’s totally something you would say.”

Lu Zhou: “What do you mean?”

“You’re such a science nerd.”

What is that supposed to mean?

Isn’t this engineering, not science?

Chen Yushan smirked while Lu Zhou had a bored look on his face. He looked at the sky.

I guess men and women just think differently

Chapter 1249: Us

The gorgeous fireworks were still “exploding” in the air.

A family stood at the entrance of the stadium. The old man in a gray jacket looked around and spoke.

“Where are they? Why aren’t they here?”

Yesterday, he made plans with Old Lu, whom he met on the high-speed rail train, to meet at the gate of the stadium. However, after waiting here for a while, he had yet to see old Lu anywhere…

“We have to go inside!”

Liu Peizhong still didn’t want to leave. He looked at his wife and shouted, “Just wait a bit… my friend is coming soon.”

“Wait my a*s!”

His wife decided to turn around and walk toward the stadium.

A young man standing next to Liu Peizhong was dumbfounded. He quickly asked his wife to catch up with his son’s grandma. He walked in front of his father and spoke.

“Dad, we can’t wait any longer. There are so many people here. We’ll be kicked out by security if we don’t move along.”

“Yeah, Uncle Liu.” A woman dressed in white-collar clothes sighed and said, “Can’t we just have a good time watching the show? Why are you forcing me on a date… Can’t we do the date tomorrow?”

This is no place for a blind date…

There are so many people here…

“You don’t understand!”

“What don’t I understand?”

Liu Peizhong hesitated and sighed.

“The person I’m introducing you to… is special.”

The white-collar woman rolled her eyes.

“Is he a useless son of a rich family? This is Beijing, how special can he be?”

“The car that came to pick up his parents was an A-class government car…”

“Brother, I think it’s bad manners to ghost someone, let’s wait here!”

The man looked at his cousin.

The f*ck?

But…

A-class…

The man nodded.

“Okay then, let’s… wait for a while.”

The fireworks were still blooming in the sky.

Even though they still wanted to wait for a bit, seeing how the people were still entering the stadium, if they waited any longer, they wouldn’t be able to find a seat.

On the other hand, Lu Zhou entered the venue.

In the beginning, Old Lu felt gloomy over not being able to meet his friend, but after he entered the stadium, he totally left the matter behind.

Because what was in front of him was too amazing.

The arrow floating in front of him, which was immersed in the smoke cloud, was too realistic.

“Can I… touch this?” Old Lu said as he looked at his son.

Lu Zhou looked at his muddled father and smiled.

“Touch it all you want. It’s just a holographic image, you won’t break it.”

In order to prevent equipment damage, except for a few supplementary projection devices, almost all of the holographic projection equipment were installed on the ceiling. The holographic image for the entire stadium was constructed from top to bottom, like lamps hanging from the ceiling.

There was no need to worry about breaking anything.

Under the guidance of the signs, the group quickly found their seats.

After sitting down, a staff member reminded Lu Bangguo to fasten his seatbelt.

Before the show began, he took the time to look around the stadium. He looked at the crowds and spoke emotionally.

“The Bird’s Nest is quite spectacular… It’s a shame I haven’t been here before.”

Fang Mei rolled her eyes and said, “How is it a shame, you’re here right now.”

“It’s different than seeing it when it was first built… Kiddo, when does the show begin?”

Lu Zhou was about to answer Lu Bangguo’s question when the ceiling lights suddenly dimmed, and the noisy stadium packed with almost 100,000 people suddenly became quiet.

Lu Zhou looked at his watch and smiled.

He looked at his father and said, “It’s starting.”

…

All of the viewers had sat down in their seats. The music from the corners of the venue had masked the noise from the audience.

The light beams gradually dimmed; the stadium began to darken. Everything was dark, except for a few mobile phone screens.

People gradually stopped talking and instead whispered quietly. There was a hint of excitement and expectation in the whispers.

They were looking forward to the show.

And it was finally about to begin!

An invisible fog rose in the dark; like a thick cloud, it quickly filled the interior of the stadium. It made the darkness even thicker and more gloomy.

Even the light sources from the mobile screens were swallowed up by the artificially generated thick fog.

A few people turned on flashlights, but they were quickly apprehended by the staff members, who then confiscated the phones. These mobile phones were sent to the security room and would be returned after the show.

The darkness did not last for long.

While everyone was confused as to what was going on, all of a sudden, dots of lights appeared beside everyone. The red light particles were like fireflies dancing in the dark, like sparks from a firework. They began to form a trajectory.

More and more “fireflies” appeared, like stars in the galaxy.

People were amazed by this spectacular and romantic view, and they stopped talking and began to curiously look at what was happening around them.

Children sitting in the arms of adults stretched out their hands, trying to grab the tiny red dots.

Couples sitting next to each other excitedly pointed at the light particles flying across the sky like shooting stars, and they took the opportunity and wished to be with each other forever…

The sight in front of them was like a mirage suspended in the mist; it felt unreal yet beautiful.

Suddenly, all of the light particles flew toward the center of the stadium and formed a fiery red ball.

The red ball glowed like a torch, like it was made of magma. The thick wall of fog gave it a dark red color. Rays of light began to shoot upward from the ball, like artillery fire shooting into the night sky.

The children stopped messing around; the couples stopped cuddling. The adults held their breaths, while the old people clenched their fists with a reminiscence gaze in their eyes…

Suddenly, a fighter plane broke through the clouds and swooped down from the sky. Screams were heard in the stadium, and it was difficult to distinguish whether the screams were sound effects or the audience.

Everything looked like a scene in a war movie. The audience tried to dodge the artillery fire. If it weren’t for their seatbelts, all of them would be out of their chairs.

This was just the opening, the show was far from over.

The battlefield became thousands of acres of farmland, then thousands of acres of wasteland.

The audience saw people climbing Mount Everest in the snow. They saw ice lands, mountains, and people carrying sickles and hoes, fighting for the lifeline of the industry…

People were the least valuable machines in the era of low productivity.

But this kind of invaluable machine was able to create an entire industry.

There was only one reason.

People believed that tomorrow would be better.

This was the only fuel that kept them going, day after day.

Back then, there was no such thing as automation or artificial intelligence. However, they still firmly believed that one day in the future, everyone could eat and wear whatever they wanted. People could do work that was meaningful and capture the value of life in things that were more worthy of their time instead of wasting their time on an assembly line…

They knew they would likely never experience this in their lifetimes.

But that didn’t discourage them.

Because they were working toward something meaningful.

They knew that, even though they wouldn’t be able to witness the yields of their efforts, their children and grandchildren certainly would. Their children would be able to live their dreams.

The time passing montage was like a revolving globe. It flashed scenes in front of the audience.

When the elderly saw their past memories in front of them, tears filled their eyes. The children sitting next to the adults, although still childish, clenched their fists, and they could feel the significance in the atmosphere.

A car appeared.

It was driven from a docked ship.

The sound of the engine seemed to signify China’s entry into the world. Finally, they entered into the beautiful age. The depressive atmosphere finally faded away amid the music while thousands of tall buildings rose from the ground.

The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Bird’s Nest, the World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center… and the Starlight that conquered the lunar transfer orbit, as well as the Moon Palace floating above the sky.

In the last scene of the holographic video, an astronaut carrying a red flag walked on lunar soil. He inserted the red flag deep into the lunar surface.

Then, the scene changed.

The flag disappeared.

Instead, the gray lunar soil under his feet became a science-fiction space city. There were rail trains suspended between high-rise buildings, cargo boxes crawling along the mine tunnels…

Lu Zhou noticed his father wipe a corner of his eye.

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything, he only quietly looked away.

He knew that his father was a person that liked to save face. His father wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if his son saw his weak side.

“I feel like…”

“Like what?”

Chen Yushan didn’t know how to describe what she was feeling. She sniffed and said, “It’s spectacular.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, it is.”

Even though he didn’t know whether this show could be considered a success, nor was he sure whether this showcased Star Sky Technology’s holographic projection technology…

He knew that the meaning behind the show was accurately portrayed to the audience.

Chapter 1250: Explosive Celebration!

The amazing lights and shadows gradually dissipated. The spectacular show left a deep impression in everyone’s heart.

Lu Bangguo, who lived in a small town for his entire life, was touched. Even international people who had lived in China for only a few years were also moved by the show.

Yurif Jack looked at the space city gradually disappearing into the night sky. He felt his throat choking up and his eyes becoming watery.

At first, he thought that this celebration was nothing more than a political propaganda film with new special effects, but halfway through the show, he knew he was wrong.

There were no politics in the holographic image. Just scenes of the past, memories of the times.

It was hard to imagine the effort behind conveying an idea in such an amazing way.

The visuals were far more impactful than an IMAX movie.

Besides the gorgeous light show, he witnessed many unexpected things beyond the celebration itself.

He noticed an old man sitting nearby beginning to tear up. He noticed the children who were nearby watching the space city with a fascinating look in their eyes…

The emotions were embedded in the special effects; the audience was surrounded by the holographic light show…

Yurif Jack, who was a professional video writer, gently wiped the corners of his eyes as he murmured, “This is incredible.”

Sitting next to him was a diplomat from the embassy.

He glanced sideways at Yurif Jack and said, “It even made you cry?”

“No… there’s just sand in my eyes.” Yurif raised his head and took a deep breath from the cold air. He controlled his emotions and said, “Perhaps we were too prejudice. Our arrogance makes us unwilling to understand and make new changes. Perhaps this celebration show is an opportunity. It has… totally changed my perspective.”

After quietly listening to Yurif Jack’s words, the diplomat thought for a while and spoke.

“That is too optimistic. I’d be willing to bet that prejudice still exists. A celebration show does not change anything. It will be forgotten in history. Even though it is spectacular, it won’t change the essence of people’s hearts.”

“Yes.” Yurif Jack sniffed and looked at the diplomat sitting next to him as he said seriously, “You are right, but I will make a vlog on what I felt today.

“It’s just like those sparks at the opening scene.

“It will have an impact.”

The diplomat’s face loosened, and gradually, a smile appeared on his face.

“I’m not discounting your feelings.

“Even though what you’re saying is difficult to achieve, in fact…

“I’m on your side.”

…

The show ended.

The audience was reluctant to leave for a long time. Many people even booed and asked for another show, and staff members had to persuade them to leave. They reluctantly left their seats and chatted excitedly about the special effects as they walked out of the stadium.

Lu Zhou looked at his father, who was sitting there motionlessly. He patted him on the arm and said, “We should leave too.”

Lu Bangguo snapped back to reality.

“Oh, it’s over?”

Old Lu rubbed his eyes and quietly spoke.

“It’s finally over, I nearly fell asleep…”

Lu Zhou smiled at his father acting tough.

It was obvious his father was moved by the show.

The second the show ended, discussions exploded on the internet.

Even though flashlights couldn’t be turned on in the stadium, many people secretly turned on their mobile phones and recorded a video. After the celebration ended, the videos were uploaded online.

The last scene, when the futuristic space city appeared on the moon, amazed everyone.

“Oh sh*t!!!”

“Is this what the future of the Moon is like?”

“I want to work at the lunar scientific research station, but the entrance requirements is too high!”

“It’s like a movie!”

“Movie my a*s, this is better than a movie!”

“I want to migrate to the Moon…”

“If you want to go, start by getting a Phd first.”

Many famous YouTubers had also uploaded videos they obtained through various Chinese channels. Among them was the YouTuber named Yurif Jack. After he posted his vlog, in less than an hour, his video received hundreds of thousands of views, and it was on the trending page.

He spoke to the camera with excitement.

“It’s not just some lame special effects! It’s the best f*cking thing I’ve seen in my life!

“Before the show started, I heard many people speculate that this was going to be a high-tech political propaganda film, but that was not the case.

“It was like a picture scroll. It presented the memories of our civilization over the past century in a three-dimensional form.

“It’s hard to understand if you weren’t there in person.

“The visual effects were a kind of weapon. It had a powerful effect on emotions. It made the toughest guy burst into tears. It was thought-provoking and touching at the same time.

“There is no doubt that the holographic film, ‘Us’, was a huge success!

“Oh, Jesus, I am looking forward to the day I sit in a cinema and enjoy the feeling of being immersed in a holographic light show!

“I hope that day can come sooner! I moved all the way from Los Angeles to Shanghai for the virtual reality helmet. Now, I want to live in the Bird’s Nest.

“I can’t wait any longer!”

Chapter 1251: The Perfect Ending

The enthusiasm from online discussions continued to grow. Whether it was major Chinese social media platforms or overseas websites, people were all going crazy.

The popularity had even overtaken the morning military parade.

Liu Wei was the protagonist behind this celebration show. He looked at the screen on his mobile phone. The Weibo post he submitted about the show an hour ago had already received thousands of comments. He had a smug smile on his face.

He felt like he had peaked in life.

Even though he had produced a lot of blockbuster action movies before, some of which were box office hits, he himself had never received this much publicity before.

It was like he was a celebrity.

He handed over the rest of the work to his assistants and assistant directors. When he walked out of the stadium, it was already midnight. He could still hear the excited chatter from the people still inside the stadium.

Liu Wei smiled and took out his phone again. He called a few people in his contacts list.

He called up and gathered a few friends. They all walked along an empty street. Finally, they found a barbecue restaurant on the side of the road that was still open.

They opened a few bottles of beer as the food came. Liu Wei smelled the scent of barbecued meat and beer. He felt that the built-up exhaustion over the past few months had finally washed away.

There was a TV hanging on the corner of the restaurant. The CTV channel was broadcasting the show.

The entire celebration show was shown through multiple camera angles. Even though the cameras were carefully placed, it still couldn’t capture the visual impact of seeing the show live in-person.

Liu Wei was not interested in watching the show again. He concentrated on the beer and barbecue skewers on the table. His friends, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to compliment him, giving him one congratulation after another.

“Congratulations, Director Liu! After this, you should be in the directors hall of fame, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! Your name will be remembered in film history!”

“Sigh, not yet, not yet.” Liu Wei waved his hand and humbly said, “This is just a celebration show. There aren’t any awards. Far from being in the hall of fame!”

Even though he was being humble on the outside, he had a proud smile on his face.

The times were changing. Other than food and shelter, everyone was paying more attention to self-actualization and spiritual satisfaction. Otherwise, what would be the difference between a fish and a person?

Even a person who was indifferent to fame and fortune would be hard-pressed to remain self-composed when put in Liu Wei’s position.

“You’re almost done, right? With the documentary.”

Liu Wei shook his head and said, “It’s not easy to shoot. The script has been modified many times.”

“That film is also a holographic projection?”

“No, it uses traditional shooting methods.”

“Makes sense. After all, there is no need for special effects.” His friend sitting across from him sighed and said, “It’s a pity. If you can strike while the iron is hot and produce a holographic blockbuster, you’ll be the most popular director on the planet.”

Liu Wei smiled and said, “It’s still too early to talk about holographic movies. I’m afraid there aren’t many movie theaters in the country that has the technology. Holographic projection is not as simple as buying a projector. It’s actually quite complicated to explain. Alright, enough talking, the food is getting cold, let’s eat.”

…

While the director was eating with a few of his friends, the stadium was still busy evacuating the audience.

Because it was still crowded outside, Lu Zhou didn’t immediately leave the stadium. Instead, he wandered to the control room behind the scenes.

When he arrived backstage, Director Ou was directing some of the staff members to check whether the equipment was completely turned off. After he saw Lu Zhou walk in, he immediately greeted him with a happy smile.

“Haha, Academician Lu, thank you so much! The show was perfect! The retired men from the Entertainment Department office were crying!”

There was no doubt that this show was a huge success.

In 60 minutes, the memories of the past century were displayed in front of the audience. The magnificent special effects and the crisp presentation made the whole celebration even more eye-catching. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the stage.

Compared to a theatrical performance with singing and dancing, this grand visual effect was far better at artistic expression, both in emotional value and sentimental value.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You’re welcome, I’m quite satisfied with the performance.”

Director Ou said, “Just now, we received a ton of emails. Many people who weren’t at the live show requested us to do the show a few more times.”

“That… doesn’t seem too realistic. The traffic will be a huge issue.”

With more than a hundred thousand people in the stadium, this was equivalent to the national population of many small countries. Even a small mistake could evolve into a serious incident; no one could bear the consequences.

It was obviously unrealistic to perform this show for several days in a row.

Ou Haifeng sighed and said, “I think so too, so… I just wanted to ask you if there are any alternatives! After all, if people could only rewatch this show on a 2D screen, that would be a shame!”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, “Actually… Holographic images don’t have to be projected into reality. They can also be displayed elsewhere in another form.”

“Like in a cinema?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “Cinemas will take a while… A more realistic way is to integrate this documentary into the Phantom system.”

“Phantom system?” Director Ou was slightly stunned. He said, “The… virtual reality helmet? Can it work?”

“It’s not technically difficult. The entire celebration show was made in our virtual reality system. Also, according to our data, the number of registered users of the Phantom system has exceeded 20 million. Among them, 37% bought their helmets from companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, etc… While more than 60% of users registered through our virtual reality experience stores. At least 50 million people will be able to watch the show through the Phantom system.”

By relying on the popularity of this show, they could increase the Phantom system’s customer base.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t mention this.

Normally, even if a broadcast was given to users for free, it was necessary to pay for the broadcasting rights. But Director Ou didn’t mention charging a broadcasting fee, so Lu Zhou didn’t mention it either.

In fact, Ou Haifeng didn’t think about the broadcasting rights at all. In his opinion, Academician Lu did them a huge favor for this celebration show. There was no way he would charge Academician Lu a broadcasting fee.

“Then… Can you do this for us as a favor?”

“This isn’t a favor at all!” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I’ll just talk to my CEO about it.”

Ou Haifeng smiled and said, “Thank you so much!”

Chapter 1252: Last Section

“So nice…”

Yu Fei, who was laying on a chair, took off his helmet. He looked at the deserted land outside the window and felt emotional.

About three days ago, while the joyful celebration show was happening at the Bird’s Nest, a celebration was also held at the Moon Palace and the lunar scientific research station.

They obviously couldn’t watch the show live. However, they could transform their consciousness into the virtual world through the virtual reality helmet and watch the amazing light show in VR.

Of course, even though the light show was just an illusion, their feelings were real.

The final scene of the space city shocked him deeply.

He saw an orbital train that traveled between space buildings and tourists walking inside space capsules. It was as if something was just planted in his heart, and it was slowly growing…

Even though three days had passed since the celebration show, he still couldn’t help but use every bit of his free time to sit in the virtual stadium and excitedly watch the light show.

He waited fifty-nine minutes, just for the final minute.

The final minute of the space city.

Yu Fei still reminisced about the feeling in his heart as he put the helmet aside. Suddenly, the office door opened, and Liang Junhui, the deputy head of the research station, walked in while wearing a spacesuit.

Liang Junhui saw the head of the research station sitting with his back facing him. He was about to speak but the chair turned around.

Yu Fei looked at the deputy head and quickly asked, “How is the construction going? Is it completed?”

Liang Junhui calmed down and nodded.

“It’s completed.”

Yu Fei was in disbelief. He asked, “Are you sure this is the last section?”

“Yes.” Liang Junhui nodded and said, “I confirmed with the construction team just now. This is the final phase.”

Yu Fei felt as if a weight of ten kilograms were just lifted off his shoulders. He sighed heavily out of relief, and a gratified smile gradually appeared on his face.

He suddenly sat upright in his chair and looked at the large screen hanging on the ceiling of the office. He then said seriously, “Contact the ground command center for me.

“I have to report this important matter personally!”

…

For Lu Zhou, there was no difference between the National Day and normal working days.

If it weren’t for the two large-scale events this year, he would have likely spent the entire seven-day National Day holiday in the laboratory.

In fact, for most researchers working on the front line of scientific research, this was how life was.

The earlier they finished their project, the earlier they got to rest.

Completing the project one day later meant increasing the risk of being overtaken by others.

A popular scientific research project was a race against time. The winner was not always the smartest, but instead, it was the fastest and most hard working.

This sounded inspirational.

And in some sense, it was.

However, average people didn’t know that some individuals didn’t have to work as hard.

For example, Lu Zhou.

The reason why he liked to spend time in the laboratory was not because he was worried that someone would reach the goal first. After all, no one could beat him in his own fields of research.

It was just that he didn’t know what else to do since he was a workaholic.

He was sitting in a hotel executive lounge, drinking coffee to pass time. He was holding a ILHCRC report in his hand.

There was an interesting headline on the first page of the report…

[About the Gravitational Anomaly in the Z Particle Experiment]

During the latest observation experiment of the Z particle from the Lunar Hadron Collider, the Z particle research team discovered interesting experimental data.

When the mass remained constant, the Z particles falling from high to low dimensions produced strange gravitational data. Rudy Dobrik, who was in charge of the experiment, used “goldfish bubbles” to describe the experimental results. He claimed that the Z particles traveling through the n-dimensional space seemed to breathe and spit out “bubbles”.

So far, the ILHCRC expert team had not been able to explain the cause of the gravitational anomaly. However, several interesting conjectures were published on arXiv.

More than half of them were based on the “void” theory proposed by Lu Zhou. Which was to attribute this gravitational disturbance to some kind of signal in the n+1 dimension.

However, Lu Zhou’s instincts told him that things might not be this simple.

There could be something more incredible behind this.

Like a shark biting a hook.

However, the key to the problem now was how to capture this shark without destroying the boat…

Lu Zhou was reading the documents for over an hour. Chen Yushan, who was sitting across from him, looked at Lu Zhou. She sighed and muttered, “Do you not have any hobbies outside of the laboratory?”

“For me, scientific research is the greatest pleasure in life.” Lu Zhou turned the page of the document in his hand. He said, “Is there anything more interesting than exploring the mysteries of the universe?”

“What about video games or something?”

Lu Zhou thought seriously for a while and said, “I used to be very interested, but… I never seem to play a game for more than half a year. The sense of accomplishment from scientific research makes other things feel insignificant.”

“Have you considered the possibility that this is actually a mental illness?”

“Illness in scientific research? I’m pretty happy.”

“Well… as long as you’re happy.” Chen Yushan sighed. She then looked up and said, “Actually, there are many other things worth pursuing in life other than scientific research.”

“Like what?”

Chen Yushan’s eyes shifted away as she said, “For example… Watching a movie with your partner, traveling, or something.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but chuckle.

Haha…

We’re both single.

What do you know about watching a movie with your partner?

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate.

Lu Zhou put down the document and stood up.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou took his phone out of his pocket and said, “I have to take this.”

“Oh, go ahead.”

Chen Yushan watched Lu Zhou walk outside. She grabbed the spoon and stirred her cold coffee. She suddenly sighed with a headache.

“So annoying…”

Sometimes, she didn’t know exactly what she expected for the relationship between her and Lu Zhou.

She knew that sometimes she was attracted by his drive. After all, hard work and passion were attractive.

But it wasn’t like…

She had a crush on Lu Zhou?

Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Lu Zhou was walking back to the executive lounge.

Chen Yushan threw away her feelings and looked at Lu Zhou. She saw a strange expression on his face.

She asked out of curiosity, “Did something good happen?”

“Something very good…”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and took a deep breath. He spoke while trembling with excitement.

“The lunar mass driver!

“Our lunar mass driver!”

Chen Yushan instantly realized what was going on. Her eyes widened as she spoke in disbelief.

“It’s completed?!”

“Yes!” Lu Zhou nodded and said excitedly, “It’s completed!”

Chapter 1253: Control of Earth and Moon!

Aerospace ground command center.

A few people were standing next to each other.

Among them were Director Li, head of the State Administration for National Defense, Hou Guang, director of the Institute of Aerospace Research at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Academician Yuan Huanmin, chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and Lu Zhou, who had just arrived here from Beijing…

As well as the president.

This was an important moment concerning the aerospace industry and even the future of China. Almost all the high-level members of the Lunar Orbit Committee were here.

People looked at the large floor-to-ceiling screens in the control room. They were full of expectations, like they were in a hospital delivery room.

However, a baby wasn’t the thing that was conceived.

Instead, it was something special.

“It doesn’t matter if it fails, we can still try again.”

Lu Zhou shook his head slightly.

“We won’t fail.”

The entire country was waiting for a result; the entire world had their focus turned here.

Lu Zhou was willing to bet that media outlets such as BBC and CNN had already written two press releases. One of them corresponded to a successful result, while the other corresponded to a failure.

Which press release would appear in the headlines tomorrow depended entirely on their results today.

The president heard Lu Zhou’s confident words and smiled.

“It’d be best if we succeed now. I’m just giving you some assurance. Aerospace is a new industry. It will benefit our future. We can take it slow and steady. We can afford to have some mistakes.

“But speaking of which, is it really feasible to build a city on the moon?”

When Lu Zhou heard this, he instantly knew what the president meant.

Obviously, the National Day celebration show had resonated with him.

Lu Zhou thought seriously for a while.

After a few seconds, he spoke.

“There is a demand for it. From a technical point of view, there are many difficulties. But it isn’t completely impossible.”

In fact, the moon was not the perfect candidate for a human colony. This was due to its low gravity, large temperature difference, and having no protection from the atmosphere and magnetic field. However, at least for now, it was the most likely place humans could hope to colonize.

Its existence was like the Terceira Island in the Atlantic Ocean. Even though it was small and not rich in resources, it had become a crucial place for Europe during the Renaissance.

After the breakthrough of controllable fusion technology, human civilization had entered the second half of aerospace development. They had obtained a ticket to the distant world. However, if human civilization wanted to go to more distant places, they needed a springboard.

Obviously, the moon had the potential to be a launching point.

The moon was like a natural “harbor”.

If they could overcome the harsh lunar environment, they could go further in space.

Lu Zhou’s answer seemed to have satisfied the president. The president spoke with his arms behind his back.

“I’m happy to hear that… Speaking of which, when does it begin?”

Lu Zhou looked at the time on his watch and spoke.

“It’s about to begin!”

The hour hand reached 0.

The staff members in the command room started to work in an orderly manner.

All units quickly completed the final inspection of the equipment. After receiving confirmation from the moon, the commander of the ground command center issued a “begin loading” instruction.

The experimental cargo cabin on the moon more than 300,000 kilometers away, shaped like a bullet, should be installed on the launch orbit by the staff members of the lunar scientific research station.

The entire cargo had a total weight of six tons. It was filled with lunar soil rocks collected from the moon, space crops, seeds harvested from the planting unit, Dr-111 active substances, and other biological research samples.

If this cargo were brought back to Earth using traditional methods, it would cost at least 200,000 yuan per kilogram.

By using superconducting magnets instead of chemical thrusters, the cargo could be accurately launched directly from the lunar surface to the lunar transfer orbit. After that, the Magpie Bridge moving back and forth along the orbit would collect the cargo. The cost per kilogram of goods was less than 2,000 yuan per kilogram.

This sounded ridiculous, but it was just engineering and science.

If this project was a success, dysprosium and terbium, which were worth more than 1,000 yuan per kilogram, as well as rare minerals such as scandium, which was worth more than 10,000 yuan per kilogram, could be brought back from the moon.

The success of this project would undoubtedly be a huge milestone in aerospace.

All of the preparations had been completed.

Everything was on the line!

The green light on the large landing screen turned on for the first time. Everyone standing in the command room involuntarily clenched their fists, waiting for the sound of the countdown.

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“Eight.”

“…”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Zero.”

“Launch!”

The sonorous and powerful sound was like firing a gun.

Immediately afterward, the lunar surface 300,000 kilometers away began to shake. Astronauts standing near the launch orbit could feel the ground trembling.

The accumulated electric energy was released in an instant. It gathered into a solid-like plasma in the vacuum titanium alloy pipe, pushing the silver “bullet” forward with a tremendous force.

It traveled through the track in less than a minute!

The cargo suddenly shot from the surface of the moon to the sky. It was like a bullet ejected from the muzzle, rushing toward the vast starry sky, leaving moon dust behind.

The camera in the command center switched to the Moon Palace.

The silver-white bullet was represented by a green dot shining on a map. It curved in space, pointing itself toward the lunar transfer orbit…

Half of the work was done!

Everyone in the command center did not relax yet.

The first half of the launch mission was mainly in charge of the Moon Palace. The navigation guidance for merging, docking, and final return would be entirely done by ground command.

Their battle had only just begun!

“The cargo compartment control system is connected, begin checking instrument operations…”

“Instrument parameters are all normal! Accessing the active navigation system!”

“The navigation system has been successfully activated! The cargo speed is 2.77km/s, it is approaching the Magpie Bridge 3 cargo spacecraft with a relative distance of 507 kilometers. Contact expected in 183 seconds!”

On the radar screen, two arcs outlined by a light yellow curve intersected together. The two flashing green dots were moving slowly along the two arcs.

The closer they got, the faster the heartbeats of the command room staff members.

Many young scientific researchers repeatedly took deep breaths in an attempt to control their heart rate. Even some of the more experienced engineers were nervous.

It was impossible to not be nervous.

They only had one chance!

This would determine their success or failure!

Shooting the cargo into the sky with a cannon was the easy part. The hard part was picking up the cargo. Otherwise, regardless of how fast they could shoot the cargo, the project would be a failure.

When the two flashing green dots began to get closer, almost everyone subconsciously held their breath.

A few seconds felt like an eternity.

The two flashing green dots on the screen merged effortlessly.

Everything happened so naturally.

Nothing unexpected happened.

It was almost…

Too easy?

Suddenly, deafening cheers blasted through the command room.

“Wooo!”

“We did it!”

“Oh my god… Finally… We did it!”

Applause.

Cheers.

Excitement and joy filled everyone’s heart.

Director Li clenched his fists excitedly.

Academician Yuan Huanmin had tears in his eyes; his dry lips trembled as he tried to speak.

Countless engineers from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, as well as researchers from the Institute of Aerospace Research at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, spontaneously screamed excitedly.

Even the president standing next to Lu Zhou couldn’t help but shout, “Good job!”

The efforts of several years or even decades had all become meaningful.

They had just conquered the moon!

Bathed in the thunderous cheers, Lu Zhou stood motionless in the center of the command room. The ecstasy that was flowing through his veins made him speechless…

Lu Zhou faintly heard the Magpie Bridge communication channel where they declared victory through his headset.

“This is Magpie Bridge 3 cargo spacecraft, the package has been successfully recovered.”

“We will bring back the gifts from the moon in three days.”

“Good job, guys!”

Actually, this victory announcement was a bit redundant for Lu Zhou.

The second the green dots merged, there was no doubt that this was a success.

Lu Zhou couldn’t describe the emotion in his heart.

How long has it been?

From the successful entry of the first aerospaceplane into orbit to the first manned moon landing, to the Moon Palace and the Lunar Hadron Collider, and now the mass driver…

All of their hard work and efforts were all connected at this moment.

This mission chain was finally complete.

[Control of Earth and Moon mission chain]

[Complete!]

Chapter 1254: Six Tons of Load in Orbit!

The next day.

The sun rose from the horizon as usual.

This was the last day of the National Day holiday. This day was extra meaningful to most people.

The first to announce the news was Everyone Daily.

The cover of the latest issue of the daily newspaper had two eye-catching headlines.

[Six Tons of Load in Orbit!]

[These Astronauts Are Fighting at the Frontier of Civilization!]

This report was like a bomb, thrown into a calm lake, instantly blowing up and creating waves of discussion.

The first to be affected was the academia and university circle.

For people in the aerospace engineering field, many of them had already heard about the successful launch from various channels before the official news came out…

At an aerospace design laboratory in Beijing.

A group of scientific researchers gathered around a computer. They talked excitedly while looking at the news and photos on the screen.

“Look, look! Photos of Academician Yuan!”

“Nutty! Standing with the president.”

“Academician Lu is next to him, right?”

“Sigh, he’s also a millennial… Why is he so successful?”

“I think it’s better not to think of him as a millennial. He can longer be regarded as a human being; he’s a monster. His achievements shouldn’t be measured by his age.”

“Damn it, I’m so jealous!”

After the news was published in “Everyone Daily”, major media outlets all jumped on the bandwagon.

Instantly, new reports swept across the world, and they quickly occupied the trending page of major Internet platforms.

People who were still immersed in the military parade and celebration show were shocked at the astonishing news.

Can a six-ton load be shot into orbit?!

What the hell?

It wasn’t until people read the Everyone Daily report did they realize what was going on.

Everyone was stunned.

“F*ck me! Jesus!”

“A cannon on the Moon!”

“Academician Lu is insane!”

“Don’t think Academician Lu is behind everything, is he even involved?”

“But his name is in the research team…”

“Oh, okay, my bad.”

Tens of thousands of comments flooded Weibo and Everyone Daily’s comment sections. People were discussing everything from the screws on the lunar mass driver to the relatives of the astronauts. They even talked about Academician Lu’s love life.

It was like the media no longer cared about celebrities and singers. Almost everyone was concerned with the “lunar cannon”.

They were shocked!

Astonished!

In disbelief!

The traditional transportation method of using the return cabin equipped with a power system to transport the cargo to the lunar transfer orbit was out of date?

Which meant that they were entering a new era of aerospace?

Even people who had no knowledge of spaceflight could tell from this report that this would definitely become a milestone in the history of aerospace!

They didn’t expect to wake up this morning and witness history.

This was amazing!

…

The discussions on the internet continued to explode.

The discussions quickly spread around the world.

When people saw the aerial photos displayed on the official website of the Moon Palace, almost everyone was stunned by the silver bullet piercing through the night sky.

People who didn’t pay attention to this matter were amazed after they heard the story.

On Facebook.

There was a ton of discussion about the lunar surface mass driver.

“Moon cannon? The hell is this?”

“Electromagnetically accelerating a cargo to lunar escape speed, they must be crazy!”

“Yes, this is crazy! What’s the next step? Are they going to aim the cannon at us?”

“Jesus… Our Lunar Gateway project has only just completed the second phase, whereas the Chinese are already transporting lunar materials! This is ridiculous!”

The Americans were panicking about the lunar cannon and losing their space advantage. A news article published on NASA’s official website added oil to the fire.

After a long discussion and repeated demonstrations, NASA’s outer space spacecraft observation team finally, and reluctantly, admitted that China had indeed launched a spacecraft from the surface of the moon using electromagnetic acceleration and successfully entered the lunar transfer orbit.

The signal from this spacecraft was merged with another signal source, and they guessed that the Chinese probably recovered the cargo using the Magpie Bridge.

For the time being, more specific details couldn’t be confirmed just based on the observational conditions. They could only wait for China to disclose more details to the international community.

After the news was released, it seemed like the blame was turned on to NASA.

Outside the NASA building, media vans and newspaper reporters from all over the country had blocked the entrance.

Since the reporters had affected their work, NASA had to announce a temporary press conference. They invited the reporters, who were at the entrance, to the reception room and answered their questions.

The press conference began.

The first to ask a question was Columbia Television.

A female Latino journalist holding a microphone asked a difficult question, “Sir, does this mean that we have lost the space race?”

The NASA intern was speechless. His face turned pale as he spoke.

“This is not how we should interpret this event. In fact, mass drivers are not the perfect choice. We have many alternatives. Such as space power lifts and…”

“And outsourcing the work to the Chinese?”

“Uh… This is of course one of the options, but it is not the best choice. We have other alternatives, such as…”

The sun was rising on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Lu Zhou finished with the follow-up work of the launch. He left the celebration party and went home.

Even though a few old friends wanted him to drink with them, Lu Zhou still insisted on going back home.

He was busy all night. He had no energy to post on Weibo. He just wanted to lie in bed and sleep.

And to receive his mission rewards before sleeping.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and entered the system space.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with a mission completion notification…

Chapter 1255: Physics Level 9

[Congratulations, User, for completing the “Control of Earth and Moon” mission chain.]

[Description: In this vast and cold universe, human civilization has finally taken the first step toward aerospace development. Even though this step was full of difficulties, the future will be bright.]

[Mission evaluation: S]

[The three-stage mission chain is complete. The final reward is determined by the completion of the branch missions… Calculating rewards.]

[Engineering experience +1.5 million points, material science experience +1.2 million points, biochemistry experience +1 million points, information science +1 million points, energy experience +1 million points, physics experience +500,000 points, general experience +1 million points, general points + 10,000…]

The rewards came so suddenly.

Lu Zhou almost fainted at the series of experience points rewards…

This was probably the biggest reward he had ever gotten from the system.

But then again, this was also the longest time he spent completing a mission.

“This is like riding a roller coaster…”

Lu Zhou looked at his soaring experience points.

He was shocked at how fast he was progressing.

Except for physics and mathematics, he leveled up in almost every other subject. Energy science, which was a comprehensive subject, jumped two levels, from level 4 to level 6.

Oh, as well as information science.

The subject he always ignored also jumped two levels, going from level 5 to level 7.

Lu Zhou looked at the physics experience bar that still needed nearly another million experience points to level up. He hesitated for a long time before finally making up his mind. He then allocated the million experience points all to physics.

He was leveling up in so many subjects anyway.

His head was bound to hurt anyway.

He might as well go all out.

Since he reached the maximum mathematics level, his brain had evolved to new levels. Lu Zhou felt like this wouldn’t be like last time, where he went into a coma for two weeks after completing the controllable fusion mission chain.

Not to mention that he was lying on his bed.

With Xiao Ai watching over him, it should be fine.

Lu Zhou comforted himself and refreshed his characteristic panel.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 9 (13,215/???)

C. Biochemistry: Level 7 (410,000/1.2 million)

D. Engineering: Level 7 (1 million/1.2 million)

E. Material Science: Level 7 (763,000/1.2 million)

F. Energy Science: LV6 (500,000/600,000)

G. Information science: Level 7 (100,000/1.2 million)

General points: 24,335

]

“Only one level away from maxing out physics?”

Lu Zhou looked at the three question marks in the physics experience bar for a while. He raised his right hand and rubbed his chin. After thinking for a moment, he spoke to himself.

“The leveling requirements for physics level 10 should be the same as mathematics level 10. A special leveling up mission should be needed.

“I wonder what it is…”

Maybe a “complete hyperspace theory” for warping space?

Or the mystery behind the Big Bang?

Or is it the last step to unify the four fundamental forces?

There are so many possibilities.

There were far more unsolved mysteries in physics than there were solved mysteries. There were many esoteric problems; all of which had the potential to become the level 10 mission.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that in addition to the experience points rewards, he seemed to have gained a lot of inventory items from branch missions and the main missions.

He opened his inventory and looked at his newly found items.

Generally speaking, his rewards were quite plentiful.

In addition to consumables such as Energy Medicine, memory enhancers, and a lot of weird garbage items, there were five high-tech samples.

However, for various reasons, these items were not useful for the time being. After taking a look, Lu Zhou left them alone in the inventory.

As Lu Zhou looked at the last item in the inventory, he had a smile on his face.

“This is amazing…”

[Golden “Legendary” mission card]

This is the best!

All of the other items combined wasn’t as precious as this card.

The pale golden card was floating quietly in the center of his inventory.

It was like a torch, illuminating the way to the future.

“I think the key to unlocking physics level 10 should be hidden behind this card.”

Lu Zhou looked carefully at the textured pale gold card. Without any hesitation, he reached out with his hand and clicked on the card.

The moment his fingertips touched the card, the card began to glow with a pale golden light. The card transformed into countless tiny specs of light.

A translucent pale golden dialog box gradually formed from the light specs.

When Lu Zhou read the text in the dialog box, he had a serious look on his face.

[Mission: Look far away]

[Mission description: Although the future sounds far away, its journey has already begun.]

[Requirements: Complete a great physics theory.]

[Rewards: ???]

Interesting…

So it’s not just the mission rewards.

The mission itself is a mystery…

…

NASA building.

An old man was inside the secretary’s office.

His tired eyes looked straight at the document on the table.

It was a report from the International Space Station.

Just two hours ago, their latest spacecraft observation system deployed on the International Space Station successfully locked on the Magpie Bridge 3, which was operating in the lunar transfer orbit.

The results were not optimistic…

For the United States.

If everything went according to plan, the Magpie Bridge 3 would successfully switch from the lunar transfer orbit to the 48-hour orbit tomorrow.

It would take 12 hours at least, 24 hours at most. After which the cargo that flew from the Moon would smoothly enter Earth’s atmosphere.

This would be a huge milestone in the history of aerospace development.

It would become a symbol, a token.

This symbol would mark the rise of an aerospace powerhouse.

As well as the decline of another aerospace powerhouse…

Carson was willing to bet that the Chinese must have prepared a grand welcoming ceremony for this gift from 300,000 kilometers away.

Based on his past experience, the Chinese loved ceremonies.

Director Carson looked away from the report on the table. He leaned back on the office chair, looked at the ceiling, and spoke to himself.

“Maybe I should have retired two years ago.”

His assistant, who was standing in front of his desk, hesitated for a moment and persuaded him.

“Are you sure… you want to give up on your career? You’re in charge now.”

“When the building has started to crumble, it takes more than just an excavator to fix it. Our development in the aerospace industry has stagnated for too long…” Director Carson went silent for a moment. He then sighed and said, “But there is no other way.”

At the end of the last century, they lost a strong competitor.

Over the past two decades, they had not made much progress in exploring the moon. In fact, they had even regressed. It wasn’t until 2018 did they restart their lunar plan, trying to regain their edge.

However, just like he said…

When they had finally realized where the problem was, it was already too late.

No one expected the Chinese to suddenly rise out of nowhere.

No one expected their ambition in aerospace.

After a long silence, the assistant spoke.

“What should we do?”

“There is no solution. There are only compromises.” Director Carson sighed. He leaned on the table and stood up.

“Book me a flight.”

“Where to?”

“Beijing.”

Chapter 1256: A Great Discovery?

A great discovery?

What counts as a great discovery?

Is the void theory not great enough? What about the discovery of the Z particle?

With a feeling of confusion in his heart, Lu Zhou left the system space.

He opened his eyes and thought about what kind of great physics discovery would be worthy of physics level 10. Suddenly, a warm sensation crawled along the back of his head and down his spine.

Lu Zhou felt drowsy. He immediately knew what was going on.

Before he could change to a comfortable sleeping position, he fell unconscious…

He slept for the entire night.

This slept was extraordinarily deep and satisfying.

Lu Zhou even had a dream. In the dream, he was in a maze. He walked and walked for a long time, but he couldn’t see the end of the maze.

Finally, after he turned a corner, a treasure chest appeared in front of him.

However, just when he put his hand on the treasure chest and was about to open it to see what was inside, the treasure chest turned into a crystal coffin.

And lying inside it…

Was his proudest student…

Lu Zhou vaguely heard someone calling his name from behind. He could hear the approaching footsteps stomping on the leaves. He turned around, then suddenly woke up.

“What a strange dream…”

Lu Zhou rubbed his nose and sat up on the bed. He immediately reached out and grabbed the phone on the bedside table. He unlocked the screen and looked at the calendar.

The date was October 6th, and the time was 8 o’clock in the morning.

When Lu Zhou saw that only one day had passed, he slowly let out a sigh of relief.

Nice, I didn’t sleep for too long this time.

It seemed like after he reached mathematics level 10, it really improved the “durability” of his brain. This kind of small turbulence didn’t put him in a coma anymore.

But even then, he slept from noon yesterday until now.

Lu Zhou jumped off the bed, walked to the window, and opened the curtains. He stretched and moved his sore limbs.

Lu Zhou felt the hunger in his stomach. He remembered that he fell asleep before lunch yesterday, so he took out his phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice and was quickly connected. A clear voice came from the other end.

“Yes?”

“I’m a bit hungry, can you bring me some breakfast?”

Wang Peng: “What do you want to eat?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and spoke.

“A bowl of beef noodles will do.”

Without waiting for long, a purple electric car parked downstairs. His entrance doorbell began to ring.

“Here’s the breakfast. I was afraid that it wouldn’t be enough, so I bought some soy milk and a bowl of soup dumplings.”

Lu Zhou took the breakfast from Wang Peng and spoke with a smile.

“Thanks, I’ll transfer you the money.”

“No need, the state covers this.”

“This is deductible?”

“Of course it is, actually both your food and medical expenses are… But you don’t really use the funds.”

This funding was allocated to Lu Zhou when he first returned to China. It was distributed annually along with five million yuan of relocation allowance and scientific research grants.

Theoretically, as long as he was in the country, basically, all of his expenses including buying a car and buying a house could be taken from this fund. This was equivalent to the state completely paying for his living expenses. Even Wang Peng’s salary was taken from this fund.

However, because Lu Zhou was too wealthy, he seldom took the initiative to spend this money.

Before, a little bit would be spent on gas money. However, ever since BYD gave him the Electric Purple car, he didn’t even need to buy gas anymore.

Lu Zhou put the breakfast on the coffee table. He sat in the living room and ate his noodles. He scrolled through his mobile phone, looking at his private messages on Weibo.

Just a few days ago, all of the discussions were focused on the National Day celebration show and military parade. These discussions had been completely replaced by the “lunar cannon”.

Lu Zhou was glad to see how excited his fans were.

He grinned as he read the comments praising him. As for the occasional toxic comments, he didn’t really care at all.

His fans would help defend him anyway.

While he was scrolling through his Weibo, he suddenly received a phone call.

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li’s name on his screen. He paused for a second and picked up the call. He put his phone to his ear and was about to say “hello”, but the other end of the phone spoke first.

“Hey, Academician Lu, are you at home?”

“Hey… Why?”

“I’m already back in Beijing, so don’t worry about driving me to the airport.”

“…?”

Lu Zhou was curious why this old man thought he would drive him to the airport.

Director Li smiled and asked, “So, I just wanted to ask how was your rest yesterday? Did you feel refreshed?”

“I’m doing good… What is the matter with you, just give it to me straight.”

“Haha, I’m not hiding anything from you. Well, here’s the thing.” Director Li scratched his head and said, “NASA Director Carson applied for a diplomatic visit. He’s coming to Beijing, probably tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And maybe you can come? On the phone, he seemed to be looking forward to meeting you.”

Lu Zhou: “I still have work to do. If he is interested, ask him to come to Jinling to find me.”

Even though showing off in front of opponents was satisfying, Lu Zhou still had other troublesome things to work on at the moment. He had no time to humblebrag to the NASA director.

Director Li thought for a bit and nodded.

“Okay then, I’ll tell him that.”

It didn’t make sense for Academician Lu to go all the way to Beijing just to meet the NASA director.

Not to mention that traveling was so convenient these days. If Director Carson really wanted to meet Lu Zhou, he could easily go to Jinling himself.

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhou asked, “Do you need anything else?”

“Actually, there’s one more thing. It’s about the Lunar Orbit Committee.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Director Li smiled and said, “The track from the moon to Earth has finished construction, right? The transportation cost per kilogram of material is only two thousand yuan. A few days ago, we had a meeting in Shanghai to study how to guide the private sector to develop lunar resources in an orderly manner. This will promote the development of the lunar industry.”

Lu Zhou tapped his finger on the coffee table. He wasn’t very interested in economics.

“So what?”

“So, we plan to set up a special administrative region on the lunar scientific research station. With mining, tourism, science, and education as the pillar industries, we will build public supporting facilities necessary for small scale immigration!”

“…”

Lu Zhou was stunned; he was speechless.

Director Li thought the call had dropped. He paused for a second before asking, “Hello? Can you hear me?”

“I can.”

Director Li: “You don’t sound surprised?”

Lu Zhou: “I’m so surprised I don’t know what to say.”

Planning to set up a special administrative region on the moon…

Even though he had this idea before, he didn’t expect to see it happen in his lifetime. Even for him, who didn’t care about politics, he knew that the political impact of this was going to be extraordinary.

This was not comparable to the aerospace resources policies issued a few years ago, which supported the development of the aerospace industry.

It seemed like Lu Zhou seemed to be reluctant to answer this question. Director Li coughed lightly and said, “In fact, there is no need to say anything… We just wanted to ask for your opinion.”

Seeing how polite the old man was, Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“No one has done something like this before, so… I can’t give any particularly good advice. The basis of scientific research is trial and error. If you feel that the risk is acceptable and the expectations are high, it’s fine to give it a try.”

Even though he felt like it was too early to do this, judging from the social cohesion and vitality reflected by the National Day celebration and a series of subsequent events, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The public’s enthusiasm for space exploration had never been higher.

The lunar mass driver was just completed, and this opened a new industry pathway.

Under these circumstances, the construction and development of tourism, mineral resources, and other supporting facilities would become easier than before.

It might be safer to wait a little longer, but maybe they should strike while the iron was hot.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Director Li hesitated for a moment.

“So… you’re saying this is a good idea?”

Lu Zhou: “I think it’s fine.”

Director Li, who was holding his phone, suddenly looked ecstatic. He spoke quickly, as if he was afraid that Lu Zhou would change his mind.

“Then, I’ll hand in the report!”

“Report?”

“The higher-ups specifically asked me to ask for your opinion. If you think it can be done, then we will do it. If you think it’s too early, then we will wait. Since you think it’s okay, then we’ll go ahead with the plan!”

Lu Zhou felt like he had unintentionally agreed.

But…

Whatever.

He didn’t want to think of these troublesome issues for the time being.

He just wanted to do one thing.

Which was to think about how to achieve level 10 in physics…

Chapter 1257: Guanghan Special Zone

The last day of the week-long National Day holiday.

The silver-white cargo cabin finally entered the atmosphere for the third time after constant orbit changes. It used air resistance to slow down, and it finally landed safely on the open space at the Jinling launch site.

This cargo cabin was the manifestation of materials science and engineering technology at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Other than the loss of surface coating during the return section, the main structure was totally intact and could be reused after a little repair.

On the other hand, the most important thing was that the cargo stored in this cabin was also intact.

After hearing the news, it was like there was a festival going on at the Institute of Aeronautics for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. The same was true for several other aerospace units in China. The burdens on the project team leaders were finally released, and they were all ecstatic.

Just before the end of the seven-day holiday.

The Lunar Orbit Committee used its own way to present a gift to the people of the whole country.

This gift consisted of 4.27 tons of lunar ore, 50 kilograms of wheat, corn, potatoes, some biological reagents, and scientific research specimens produced on the moon.

When the old academicians and experts of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation saw this gift, they were in tears of excitement.

It had been too long.

It had almost been two generations since the beginning of the aerospace project.

They had never received such a huge gift from the moon, from outer space!

During the 1970s honeymoon period of China-US relations, a lunar rock sample was given to the Chinese by President Carter’s security adviser as a gift.

However, the sample was only 1 gram.

It wasn’t until Chang’e 5 did China finally master the technology of collecting lunar ore samples.

Only four years had passed from Chang’e 5 to now.

Over the past four years, under the guidance of Academician Lu, the Chinese aerospace industry had undergone earth-shattering changes. After the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee, everything was going so smoothly it was as if reality were a dream.

In addition to the scientific research specimens and rare lunar ores, there was another gift.

During noon on the last day of the National Day holiday, the state suddenly held a press conference to announce that, after a high-level meeting discussion, the “Guanghan Special Administrative Region” was formally established!

According to this document approving the establishment of the “Guanghan Special Administrative Region”, the area of 50 kilometers near the lunar scientific research station would be set as the public facilities development zone.

The public facilities development zone was a new concept proposed by the Lunar Orbit Committee. Any spacecraft deployed in this area, as long as the ownership belonged to a Chinese citizen or organization, would be governed by Chinese law. It was also protected by the laws of China.

In addition, China planned to send 2,000 people to the Guanghan zone, in six batches within three years. They would also build larger and more reliable life-support facilities near the lunar scientific research station.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused an uproar around the world.

People were amazed and terrified at the ambition of the Chinese in aerospace and their successful execution.

Sending 2,000 people to the moon?

Are they planning on building a city there?!

People began to panic after hearing the news.

On Twitter.

“I’d be willing to bet it won’t be long before they put the moon on their country map!”

“The Chinese are taking over the moon! Can’t the White House do something?”

“They can’t do this! The moon belongs to everyone!”

“Wait a minute! I mean… Is this a scam? I bet they don’t have the ability to send 2,000 people to the moon at all. They just want to drag us into this race, and then break our economy!”

“Before, the premise was that the development of lunar resources is unprofitable. But now, it is obviously not the case. Anyone that follows the futures market knows that dysprosium, terbium, scandium… These materials that appeared on the Magpie Bridge, have all dropped in value…”

“We should send Mexicans to the moon.”

The fish would know the temperature of the water the best. Although the reaction of the futures market didn’t entirely represent the changes in the economic situation, it was a rough estimation of the market’s expectations for future conditions.

The Magpie Bridge 3 was not only going to have one cargo trip. China might even deploy more Magpie Bridges. After the completion of the lunar mass driver and the establishment of the Guanghan Zone, the development of lunar resources would enter the next stage. The impact on the rare materials market would be earth-shattering.

Of course, what frightened the Americans even more was that China had caught up from behind and made the first step in colonizing aerospace.

Goddamn it!

We were supposed to be the ones dominating the moon!

However, these trivial comments online did not have any impact on this plan. China’s plan to explore and develop outer space was going full force ahead.

A public company named “Guanghan City Development” was soon established. It raised 50 billion yuan in funds on the Shanghai Stock Exchange through an IPO, private shares, and other funding means. It also issued corporate bonds with an annual yield of 7%.

This offer was hugely attractive to the public.

Given the huge reserves of titanium and rare earth minerals that had been proven to exist on the moon, even if the short-term profitability of Guanghan City Development was not as good as that of East Asia Energy, it had the potential for future growth.

Not only did the big players like the Social Security Fund buy some shares, but even Star Sky Technology took out some money and bought a piece of the pie.

There was even a saying in the financial circle that as long as someone won the shares lottery, they would earn a guaranteed profit. Even if they couldn’t buy Guanghan City shares, corporate bonds with an annual yield of 7% were still quite good. This was almost twice the interest rate of fixed deposits.

In contrast to the rising enthusiasm of the Chinese people in regard to space exploration, the international public opinion was the complete opposite.

Most Western countries, led by the United States, expressed worries and anxiety on this issue. They were almost like people that missed out on buying train tickets and could only watch people sitting in the first-class cabin with envious looks in their eyes.

But there was nothing they could do.

This statement on the establishment of the “Guanghan Special Administrative Region” did not specifically target land on the moon. It only targeted the spacecraft and fixed facilities deployed on the moon.

And what counted as facilities?

The planting unit was a facility, so was the lunar mass driver. Even a floor tile or a flag could be counted as facilities. The interpretation rights all belonged to the Lunar Orbit Committee.

Someone disagreed?

No problem.

Come to the Moon and negotiate with us!

People really didn’t have good solutions to this.

Director Carson, who landed at the Beijing airport, felt that visiting China at this point in time might make his trip a little bit awkward.

However, he couldn’t cancel his itinerary either.

First of all, he couldn’t delay this trip any longer as canceling this trip would mean he couldn’t develop a friendly cooperation in the future. He had to take advantage of this opportunity…

Director Carson was baffled.

It wasn’t like this 10 years ago.

No, even five years ago, things were different…

The assistant saw that his boss was acting weird, so he quietly asked, “Sir?”

“Nothing.” Director Carson had a heavy look on his face. He looked at his assistant and said, “Let’s go, let’s meet the Chinese.”

Carson prayed in his heart.

He hoped they could reach a pleasant agreement with the Chinese.

He just didn’t want to be embarrassed or disappointed…

Chapter 1258: Magnetic Slingshot

The purpose of Director Carson’s visit to China was very clear.

The first objective was to strengthen the cooperation relationship with China in the aerospace field. Such as renting the lunar mass driver for use. The second objective was to buy time for the US aerospace industry.

However, the Chinese side did not seem to leave him much room for negotiation. Even though the White House had great expectations for his visit, they did not provide him with much support.

The White House was silent on the issue of Guanghan City.

Even though they were extremely reluctant, they still had to compromise on many issues.

The controllable fusion power station in California had drawn the entire west to bow down toward China. Even if the people of California didn’t like the culture and products of China, they still hoped that the American authorities did not offend China.

After all, the citizens of Los Angeles were enjoying clean and cheap fusion energy. The social development of the entire western region had once again entered the highway.

Most people did not want to go back to the terrible and expensive thermal power and chemical energy.

This was what society was like.

Everyone wanted continuous improvement.

If they had to go backward… Even a small step back would cause very serious problems.

If the relationship between the two sides deteriorated and the Chinese withdrew their experts and equipment, the resulting consequences would be unbearable to the people of California and the people of the entire west coast. Politicians would lose their jobs…

Generally speaking, the meeting in Beijing went smoothly.

No matter how furious Director Carson was on the inside, he stood here calmly like a rabbit. His behavior was humble and full of politeness. He acted like a politician from a developed country.

This situation was actually very rare.

People only showed modesty when facing the strong; when facing the weak, even if they abided by the principles of politeness, the arrogance in their eyes could still be seen.

After the meeting, Director Li brought the meeting notes to the higher-ups and reported the meeting to the president.

After the president heard the report, he tapped his finger on the table as he spoke.

“Let me give you some guidelines.”

Director Li said, “Sir, please go ahead.”

“Economic cooperations are welcomed, but no political compromises.”

Director Li nodded seriously. “I understand.”

Although the sentence was short, the amount of information was large.

Economic cooperation meant that the leasing of the lunar mass driver could be negotiated. As long as they met their own transportation needs first, the excess capacity could be sold to international customers.

There was also the construction of public facilities in Guanghan City, as well as the supply of daily necessities and consumer goods for Guanghan residents. China had no plans to close off all of these markets. If they could provide better services at a lower price, they could make a huge profit.

As for the political compromises…

Basically, the president did not want to make irresponsible decisions about the Guanghan Zone.

President: “Is there anything else?”

Director Li: “One more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“Carson wants to take some lunar soil from us… Or a lunar meteorite, as a symbol of our friendship.”

The President smiled. After thinking for a while, he spoke.

“We should respect our foreign friends.

“They gave us 1g of lunar soil specimen before. We have no reason to refuse such a request. Talk with the Lunar Orbit Committee. Ask them to pack one kilogram of lunar soil and give it to Carson.

“Also, ask Carson to bring back some words.

“The resources of the moon belong to all of mankind, not just China. No country has the right to own it alone. Everyone has the right to develop and use it. We welcome any country and organization to join our exploration of the future of all mankind.

“As long as everything is within the framework of peacefulness…

“Then we will seek common ground while reserving our differences.”

…

Jinling.

Inside a Zhongshan International mansion.

Lu Zhou sat in his study room while playing with the new toy he got from the previous system mission.

It was a black bracelet. The shape was similar to most sports watches; even the design of the LED screen embedded on the surface was exactly the same as sports watches.

However, Lu Zhou’s intuition told him that the materials and technology used on the screen were probably not available on Earth. Also, there were five grooves on the side of this bracelet.

When his finger touched the screen lightly, five black metal balls less than 10mm in diameter popped out from the grooves. Under the traction of the magnetic field, these little balls moved slowly around the bracelet. It looked quite amazing.

Lu Zhou tried turning his hand over and waving his arm. The five black metal balls seemed to be locked on the bracelet.

“Interesting…”

Lu Zhou pinched one of the small balls with his left hand and pulled it away from the magnetic force above the bracelet. When he let the ball go, the small ball seemed to be tied by an invisible string; it instantly flew back to the bracelet.

“Is this an alien toy?”

Lu Zhou looked at the black metal balls floating above his wrist. He started to get more and more interested.

The system’s description for this item was vague. It didn’t even give a specific name. He was able to discover some of the functions of this bracelet on his own.

For example, the most basic feature, just like other sports bracelets, was that it could measure heart rate and record time.

In addition, the most important feature was to form a constantly changing electromagnetic field around the bracelet that could control the movements of the metal balls.

There also seemed to be a special brain wave recognition device built into this bracelet. It could receive neural signals, convert them into electrical signals, and process them through the built-in chip. It then fed the data into the magnetic field control unit in the bracelet. It used this data to manipulate the trajectory of the five black metal balls.

The effect of this was very strange; it was almost like magic. Lu Zhou didn’t quite understand its use.

If an alien didn’t have legs, they wouldn’t know what to do with shoes.

The only thing Lu Zhou could conclude right now was that the core materials, electromagnet design, and magnetic field control technology used in this bracelet were far above the current level of technology on Earth.

Lu Zhou, who was playing around with the bracelet, suddenly noticed a familiar logo on the inside.

He vaguely remembered this logo in a certain dream…

“Xiao Ai.”

The drone floating on the side displayed a line of text on the drone screen.

[What’s wrong? Master.(✿゚▽゚)]

Lu Zhou stared at the five metal balls floating in his hands. He thought for a moment and asked, “Is there any information about this thing in your database?”

Lu Zhou didn’t have any hope in his mind.

After all, he had asked similar questions countless times, but he never received any valuable answers.

The only thing he could conclude right now was that Xiao Ai was probably the intelligent navigation program on the spacecraft last sent by the Calan civilization to the center of the galaxy.

Unfortunately, the memory of the previous universe seemed to have been deleted from its database, leaving no valuable clues.

[Xiao Ai has found some information in the database.]

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Lu Zhou thought he had read the words wrong.

After reading the text on the screen again, he snapped back to reality and immediately said, “Retrieve all information about it, everything!”

[Let Xiao Ai go look… (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Xiao Ai disappeared for a long time.

Lu Zhou began to wonder if it had crashed when the light blue text finally appeared on the small display.

[Strange… There are obvious traces in the cache, but the data seems to have been deleted…Σ(°△°|||)]

[All in all, this seems to be a weapon. It once belonged to an officer who seemed to be very powerful. (@_@;)]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

What does that mean?!

Lu Zhou was shocked.

Xiao Ai seemed to have discovered that in its “memory”, there was a trace of something being deleted.

But then again, was there such a thing as artificial intelligence “memory”? Could this kind of memory exist without the hardware?

Lu Zhou was thinking about this problem when another line of text appeared on the screen.

[Master, maybe give it a try, use your imagination or something… And launch it in a certain direction? (°ー°〃)]

Imagination?

Weapon?

Launch?

Lu Zhou stared at the five metal balls floating above his palm. He began to think.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He quickly looked toward the vase on the wall.

“If this is a weapon…”

He focused his attention on the flowerpot. Even though he looked kind of ridiculous, he didn’t care as there was no one else in his study room.

His heart rate began to increase. Lu Zhou felt the five metal balls floating above his palm begin to tremble.

It was like a trigger was pulled.

Lu Zhou felt a huge force on his wrists and forearms. Before he could figure out what was going on, the vase he was staring at instantly shattered.

Like…

It was hit by a bullet.

There was one less metal ball floating above his palm.

Lu Zhou looked at the deep bullet hole left in the wall. He had a solemn look in his eyes.

“Magnetic slingshot?”

Or something like that.

He didn’t know what to call this thing. The only thing he could tell was that there was probably some special controlled electromagnet installed inside the metal ball. When he “issues an attack command”, the electric energy in the ball was released in an instant, transforming into a magnetic field that repelled itself from the bracelet.

The ball was like a projectile placed on a slingshot, ejecting in an instant.

Even though the principle was simple, it was actually quite nutty.

What kind of electromagnet can launch a 10 mm metal ball like a bullet? Not to mention, being able to integrate the electromagnet and the control chip into a small ball with a diameter of only 10 mm is extremely difficult.

Lu Zhou could tell from the recoil force that the magnetic field was strong.

He stared at the glass shards in the corner and began to think. After a while, Lu Zhou said, “Clean this up…”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master!]

I’ll study the structure inside when I have time.

This kind of [sample] exceeded the level of Earth’s science and technology too much. Lu Zhou did not expect to be able to reverse engineer much of the technology. He wouldn’t be able to produce a replica.

However, he could use some of the designs as his reference and inspire science innovation on Earth.

For example, a more advanced magnetic field control technology.

Or magnetic levitation technology and so forth.

The drone flew over slowly. It cleared the broken glass on the ground. Xiao Ai also helped Lu Zhou recover the metal ball embedded in the wall. It even used repair foam to repair the bullet marks on the wall.

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai controlling several drones and sweeping robots to clean up the scene. He took off the bracelet from his right hand and put the five metal balls back in sequence.

He was about to put this matter aside and continue to read some papers when he heard a knock on the door.

Lu Zhou closed his laptop and opened the door downstairs.

He first thought Wang Peng might have heard the noise in the study room and knocked on the door to see if he was okay. He did not expect to see Luo Wenxuan there.

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, “Why did you leave Shanghai?”

“What is that supposed to mean, I’m a Jin Ling University professor, isn’t it very normal for me to be here?”

Lu Zhou restrained the urge to roll his eyes. He sighed and said, “Go ahead, what do you need?”

“Looks like you don’t know yet.” Luo Wenxuan smirked and said, “Someone called your office.”

“Called my office?”

“Yeah, guess who?”

“Who…”

“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences!”

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

He suddenly remembered which day it was.

“Wait…”

“Haha! Yes!”

Luo Wenxuan laughed out loud. He was more excited than if he had won the prize himself. He stretched out his arm and grabbed Lu Zhou’s shoulders. He then patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said,

“Impressive!

“Congratulations!

“You won the award again!”

Chapter 1259: Can You Take Me With You?

I…

Won?!

Lu Zhou was a little muddled.

Not out of excitement…

It was just that…

He did not expect this.

He did not expect this to come so suddenly.

This might sound arrogant, but in Lu Zhou’s opinion, the Nobel Prize in Physics was guaranteed. But it was too early to think about it now.

After all…

It had only been five years since he won the award last time…

Luo Wenxuan held Lu Zhou’s shoulders tightly with both hands. He spoke with excitement.

“Can I interview you? What do you feel right now?”

Lu Zhou looked at him and replied, “Actually, very normal.”

Luo Wenxuan was stunned.

“Normal?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou looked up and thought for a while. He then said nonchalantly, “I originally thought I would be excited, or at least would feel emotional. But… It doesn’t feel like anything.”

After all, he had already won two medals from an alien civilization.

And not long ago, he won a National Medal of Honor.

He had more medals than he could hang on his chest.

Luo Wenxuan stared at Lu Zhou and said, “Not bad… I’m convinced by your humble bragging.”

The Nobel Prize in Physics was his lifelong dream.

No, not just his.

This was the lifelong pursuit of most people with a career in physics.

Receiving this award meant being recognized by the entire physics community. It meant that there was no need to worry about scientific research funding and complicated interpersonal relationships. From then onward, this person would transform into a scholar who could think things like “money has no meaning to me”.

In fact, Lu Zhou was hailed to this high position as soon as he returned to China. The Nobel Prize was at least 60% of the reason for the existence of the controllable fusion project.

After all, talent alone was useless. In addition to having talent, one had to convince others of their ability and talent. This was so that the decision-makers could give you money and power.

Seeing how Luo Wenxuan had finally calmed down, Lu Zhou then asked, “Who won the award with me?”

“No one, you are the only winner this year… Because of the discovery of the Z particle. Damn, I also published several papers in this field, why do they ignore me…”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything; he just nodded.

I see.

It seems that in the eyes of the Nobel Prize Committee, the Z particle is more worthy of the Nobel Prize than something that needed time to test such as the “electrostrong interaction”.

Actually, the same is true for the discovery of the Higgs particle.

The award was awarded the year after the discovery.

There were too many theories that couldn’t be proven. The Nobel Prize Committee had become more and more cautious about giving out awards.

Especially in the field of particle physics; it was almost impossible to conduct experiments. Hawking’s black hole radiation theory was not given a Nobel Prize even though, in the eyes of many of his colleagues, his theory was absolutely worthy of a Nobel Prize…

At least it seemed much more reliable than string theory and Witten’s M-theory.

But then again, because of this rigor, the Nobel Prize in Physics had become the most reliable and authoritative award among all of the Nobel Prize awards.

As for the Peace Prize and Literary Prize…

The former had become a joke, and the latter became the target of frequent scandals. Even the candidate list was leaked every year.

It seemed like the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences had given up on these awards.

“Can you take me with you when you go to Stockholm?”

“If I say no, you won’t go?”

Luo Wenxuan smiled awkwardly.

He was definitely going.

He wouldn’t get to stand on the podium, but he could attend the Nobel Prize dinner with his boss at the Blue Hall.

“Speaking of which, do you want to tell the state about this news? Traveling overseas counts as a foreign affair for you, right?”

“No need.” Lu Zhou glanced at his watch. “If even you heard about this news, in half an hour, an old man named Li will come to find me.”

…

The press conference for the announcement of the Nobel Prize and the call to notify the winners was conducted at the same time.

When Luo Wenxuan notified Lu Zhou of the news, the Nobel Committee had in fact already announced the winners an hour ago.

An hour after the news was announced, everyone in Beijing knew that Academician Lu had won the Nobel Prize.

Luo Wenxuan took the maglev train to Jinling.

After the Jinling line was put into operation at the end of the year, the speed from Shanghai to Jinling became much faster.

Lu Zhou’s half-hour estimate was an overestimation. After he invited Luo Wenxuan to the living room and finished drinking a cup of coffee, his doorbell rang again.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, Director Li appeared at his front steps.

After he opened the door, before he even had time to say hello, Director Li spoke first.

“You won?!”

“Sort of.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Director Li, who was trembling with excitement. Lu Zhou said, “Look at how excited you are.”

“Of course I am excited! This is the Nobel Prize!”

“Come inside.”

Lu Zhou took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and handed it to Director Li.

Director Li put on the slippers and walked to the living room with Lu Zhou. Director Li saw a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa, who smiled and greeted him.

“Hello, Director Li!”

“Hello hello…”

Director Li couldn’t remember who this was. Director Li skipped the small talk and asked Lu Zhou, “Are you going to accept the award?”

Lu Zhou: “Is this really a question?”

Director Li paused for a second and smiled.

“You’re right.”

This kind of award signified the scientific research strength of a country to a certain extent.

Even though China’s scientific research strength did not need to be proved by the number of Nobel Prizes, it was always a good thing to be recognized by the academic world. After all, scientific research came from teamwork.

Lu Zhou was going to accept this award even though it wouldn’t benefit.

“Then for the trip… We’ll arrange it for you, if that’s okay.”

Lu Zhou: “Of course, thank you.”

Director Li waved his hand quickly and said with a smile, “No need to thank us, this is a highlight of our physics community to the world! Everyone is looking forward to you bringing this medal back from Stockholm.”

Suddenly, the phone in Lu Zhou’s pocket began to ring.

Lu Zhou got up from the sofa and walked to the stairs leading to the second floor.

When he connected the call, he heard a happy voice from the other end.

Just like he expected, Chen Yushan was the one calling.

“You won?!”

“You’re the third person to say that to me today.”

“Oh… Wait, who are the other two?”

Lu Zhou was slightly taken aback by how nervous Chen Yushan sounded. He spoke with a strange tone.

“Director Li and Luo Wenxuan… Why?”

“Oh, nothing…”

For some reason, Lu Zhou felt like Chen Yushan was relieved.

He was about to ask Chen Yushan what was going on when Chen Yushan spoke first.

“Um…”

Lu Zhou asked, “What’s wrong?”

The phone went silent for a while.

For a long time.

Lu Zhou began to wonder if the call had disconnected when he finally heard her speak.

“Can you take me with you?”

Chapter 1260: Script

Very few people in the world could win two different Nobel Prizes.

Because this meant the recognition of the academic community in two major scientific categories.

Ever since the 21st century, the fields and branch directions of disciplines had been subdivided to more levels than scholars in the world. There were “world-class problems” in each branch.

Forget about receiving awards in two fields. There were people in their nineties waiting just to receive one award…

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Director Carson, who stood in front of the director’s office, had a worried look on his face. The receptionist standing next to him thought there was something wrong and reminded him again in English.

“Academician Lu’s office is here.”

“I know, thank you.”

A trace of irritation flashed in his eyes, but it was only a trace. Director Carson closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He reached out and grabbed the doorknob.

Squeak—

The door was pushed open.

He looked at the man sitting behind the desk. He tried to force a smile on his face as he walked into the office.

“Congratulations! I heard you won another Nobel Prize! This time in physics?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

“Amazing! The last person who won the Nobel Prize twice in different fields was Marie Curie. That was a century ago.”

Director Carson obviously ignored Linus Pauling’s Peace Prize. However, there was no need to mention the peace award.

After hearing the compliment, Lu Zhou smiled and nodded gently.

“Thank you.”

For Carson’s visit to China, he made a special trip to come here from Beijing. Director Carson didn’t come here just to send him a few compliments from the other side of the Pacific.

Just like Director Li, every time before he asked for help, Director Carson would be extra polite.

Lu Zhou instructed the secretary to pour him a cup of tea. He looked at Carson, who was sitting on the sofa, with a smile. He waited quietly for Carson to speak first.

“I actually thought about many possibilities before I came here.”

“Possibilities?”

“Yes.” Director Carson sighed softly and said, “Although we are reluctant to admit this, we really lost this time.”

Lu Zhou looked surprised.

Director Carson continued, “Your country’s aerospace strength is already strong enough. It is difficult for us to replicate the success you guys have achieved. I am curious… When will you be satisfied?”

Lu Zhou smiled lightly and said, “Satisfaction is impossible. Even if our Moon Palace is towering over Earth, it is still very small compared to the universe.

“Moreover, how far we can go in aerospace affects the future for all of us.”

Director Carson: “I want to know whether this future includes other countries.”

Lu Zhou, “Of course it includes, but I don’t particularly want to discuss this issue. Mr. Carson, you are a politician, whereas I am a scholar. Our concerns are different and our understanding of the future is different. Your focus is on how many jobs aerospace can bring and how much power you can gain from Congress. But for an academician… We don’t care about these things.”

Director Carson frowned and continued to ask, “Then, what do you care about?”

Lu Zhou sighed.

“It’s a long story.”

…

Inside an activity room at the library of Jin Ling University.

Han Mengqi sat at a long table. She looked at the script in her hand and frowned slightly. After turning over the last few pages many times, she finally put down the script in her hands and gave her own evaluation.

“I just feel like that there seems to be something missing in this script.”

The female screenwriter sitting on the other side of the long table quickly stood up and leaned closer. She then asked seriously, “What’s missing?”

“Feelings.”

“Feelings? Can you be more specific?”

“Hmm…” Han Mengqi seemed to be hesitant. She finally made up her mind and said, “Specifically, it’s about love.”

“Love?” The female screenwriter was taken aback for a moment. She then smiled and said, “Even though there might be some big celebrities in the show, the selling point of this documentary is not love.”

They had to cater to audiences of all ages. After all, parents might bring their children to the cinema and watch the movie. If love and emotions were involved, it might be inappropriate.

Also, they wanted to stay true to reality.

According to Academician Lu’s own words, he had never been in love during college. And based on interviews with several of his classmates, teachers, and roommates, he spent most of the time in the library.

“But there must be something… Otherwise, I feel like something is missing.” Han Mengqi bit her lip. Her cheeks were hot as she said, “And I feel like… my sister likes him.”

After hearing this, the female screenwriter immediately had a serious look on her face. She took the script over and read it. After a while, she said, “Actually, about this… We have discussed it with our screenwriting team. We even interviewed the person and gave her a questionnaire to fill out.”

Han Mengqi was shocked.

“You… interviewed her?”

“Of course, this is a documentary. Even though it might be exaggerated, it must be based on reality.” The female screenwriter smiled and continued, “We discussed this several times in meetings. At first, we struggled with the relationship between them for a long time, but in the end…”

“In the end?”

Han Mengqi felt weird asking this.

“In the end, we agreed that the feelings between them might be more embodied in mutual growth and friendship. In fact, they have both become better people as a result of having each other. This is quite far from love. In other words, can you imagine them being together?”

Han Mengqi could imagine them sitting in the library together.

But as for them being together…

Han Mengqi couldn’t imagine it.

“But… I still don’t believe that guys and girls can have a pure friendship.”

The female screenwriter suddenly asked, “Miss Han, do you have a boyfriend?”

Han Mengqi blushed.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious, I hope you’re not offended.”

Han Mengqi quickly waved her hand and said, “It’s fine, I don’t really understand this stuff. Maybe you are right, maybe… my sister thinks of Lu Zhou as a mentor.”

She scratched her head and said, “Otherwise, she would have confessed by now.”

Yes, definitely, my sister is a straightforward person.

Seeing how hesitant Han Mengqi was, the female screenwriter suddenly said, “How about… you play this role?”

Han Mengqi froze as she pointed to herself.

“Me?”

“Yeah!” The female screenwriter nodded and grabbed Han Mengqi’s hands. Her eyes sparkled as she said, “I suddenly feel like only you can fully capture the essence of this role!

“I will tell the director! I’ll ask him to give you an audition! Please! Go try it!”

Play as my sister?!

Han Mengqi looked at the excited female screenwriter. She never thought it would be like this.

But…

She gulped and wanted to refuse. But, for some reason, she changed her mind.

“Then… I’ll try it.”

The moment she spoke, she began to regret her words.

However, she didn’t take back her words.

After all, it was just an audition. She might not even be selected.

Han Mengqi comforted herself.

However, she didn’t even realize that there was a tiny voice in her heart that wanted to be chosen for the role…

Chapter 1261: Feels Bad

The days quickly passed by, and soon, it was December.

Lu Zhou was sitting on a private plane flying from Beijing to Stockholm. He read the paper in his hands, and he soon fell into deep thought.

The author of the paper in his hands was Rudy Dobrik, the leader of the Z particle experiment team and the first person to observe the interference phenomenon of Z particles on gravitational fields in a low-dimensional experiment.

Professor Rudy had published more than five papers in this area.

The data he collected in the experiment intrigued Lu Zhou. Therefore, before getting on the plane, he asked his assistant to find a printer at the airport and print out a copy of this paper.

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou, who had been staring at the paper in hand since getting on the plane. She couldn’t help but complain, “We’re almost at Stockholm, aren’t you going to take a break?”

“Take a break?” Lu Zhou replied casually without looking up, “I feel quite energetic.”

“The dark circles under your eyes say otherwise.” Chen Yushan sighed and continued, “You represent the Chinese academic community. There will be many reporters after getting off the plane. Can’t you just pay attention to your image?”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

“I’m not worried, after all—”

Chen Yushan knew what Lu Zhou was going to say, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She snatched his paper away, grabbed his arm, and stood up from the chair.

“Come with me!”

She pulled Lu Zhou to the bathroom and took out the men’s BB cream she had bought before boarding the plane from her bag.

“I’ll apply it for you.”

“A man doesn’t wear makeup, and I’m not putting this on my face.”

“Enough, stop messing around, we’re about to get off the plane.”

Lu Zhou wanted to refuse, but Chen Yushan had already started to apply the BB cream on him.

There was not a lot of room in the small bathroom. Lu Zhou looked at her hands and red lips. He suddenly couldn’t say anything.

Speaking of which, this was the first time she was so close to him.

Lu Zhou could even feel her warm breath and her eyelashes trembling…

Chen Yushan was focused on helping him with the BB cream. She didn’t seem to notice anything wrong.

Thankfully, she didn’t.

Otherwise, it would be awkward if they made eye contact.

Lu Zhou could smell the faint scent of jasmine shampoo and perfume. He tried to control his breathing as he held his breath.

What perfume is this??

After applying the BB cream, Chen Yushan was addicted. She then took out an eyebrow trimmer and hair wax. Lu Zhou noticed that all of the products were new.

She obviously planned to do this before boarding the plane!

Time slowly passed by.

Lu Zhou felt like his brain was about to be fried.

Chen Yushan stepped back and looked at Lu Zhou. She nodded with satisfaction and did a victory symbol with her hand.

“Done!

“I’m so good!

“Look in the mirror, aren’t you more handsome?”

Lu Zhou: “Oh…”

“What? Why is your face red?”

“Nothing…”

She tried to touch his forehead, but Lu Zhou gently tapped away her hand. He quickly slipped out of the bathroom.

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but smirk. But soon after, her cheeks began to turn red.

“Jesus…

“Can’t this guy look somewhere else…”

Speaking of which, that was intense.

But…

He’s normally so meticulous and serious.

It’s rare to see his “clumsy” side.

She couldn’t help but smirk again. She suddenly noticed that she was smiling in the mirror. She quickly wiped the smile off her face.

“Calm down, calm down…”

Chen Yushan patted her chest and quickly put the BB cream and eyebrow trimmer into her cosmetic bag. She waited for her breathing and heartbeat to return to normal. She then walked out of the bathroom like nothing had happened.

…

Under the escort of two fighter jets, a bright silver private plane landed smoothly on the runway of Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

This was the third time Lu Zhou had come to this city.

Everything here was the same as when he first came.

The only difference was that his identity was no longer just an ordinary “scholar”. People viewed him differently.

This was obvious from the second he stepped out of the plane.

An old man with a beard and white hair stood in the middle of the welcoming ceremony. He smiled and opened his arms toward Lu Zhou, who was walking down the airstair.

“Welcome, scholar from China! Welcome, my friend!”

“Haha, we meet again! How are you?”

“I’m doing well!”

Lu Zhou walked forward and gave Academician Staffan a big hug. Lu Zhou looked at the enthusiastic old Viking man and joked.

“I thought I would come to Stockholm at most twice, I didn’t expect to come three times.”

“Oh, don’t say that, Stockholm is more than just the Nobel Prize.” Academician Staffan continued with a smile, “Please come with me, we have arranged the most luxurious hotel in Stockholm for our distinguished guests. Hopefully, it can relieve the fatigue of your journey.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Thanks.”

Ambassador Zhang from the Sweden Embassy of China was also here, as well as Prince Karl Frederick, heir to the Swedish royal family.

Except for the little princess with blond hair and blue eyes, Lu Zhou had met everyone here. They were old acquaintances of his. He hugged them one after another.

“On behalf of the royal family of Gustavus, I’d like to welcome…”

The little girl, who was only about seven years old, said hello to Lu Zhou in a childish tone.

However, it seemed like she had either forgotten what Lu Zhou’s name was or she didn’t know how to pronounce his name. The little girl suddenly stopped talking.

A reporter next to her was carrying a camera. Prince Frederick was about to speak for her when the little princess suddenly said, “Mr. Scholar. I hope this trip to Stockholm will inspire you to explore the mysteries of the universe.”

Lu Zhou also smiled and nodded to her. He then said in fluent English, “Thank you, wise and lovely princess. My name is Lu Zhou. Can you tell me your name?”

The little princess replied, “Carl Lilia. You can call me Princess Lilia.”

“Nice to meet you, Princess Lilia.”

Lu Zhou reached out his hand.

The little princess tilted her head in confusion. It seemed like her etiquette teacher didn’t teach her the procedure of shaking hands after bowing.

After hesitating for a while, she suddenly stuck out her tongue playfully. Without giving other people time to react, she suddenly ran away.

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He smiled and retracted his right hand. The people standing nearby were also amused by the cute behavior of Princess Lilia, and they all laughed kindly.

The pick-up ceremony came to an end.

The group of people came to the motorcade parked on the side of the road. Wang Peng took the initiative to open the backseat door for Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan. He then sat in the passenger seat.

The staff of the embassy was the one driving. In fact, he was a colleague of Wang Peng, who had only been arranged to Sweden a few days ago. They were escorted by the embassy’s security personnel on the way to the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

Chen Yushan saw the little princess wave goodbye to Lu Zhou. She couldn’t help but pull Lu Zhou’s arm and said, “Wow, she’s so cute!”

“Yes…”

Chen Yushan murmured, “You’re fine with what happened on the airplane, right?”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou continued to look outside the window and said, “I’m just surprised there weren’t any reporters when I got off the plane.”

Actually, there were two reporters.

This was quite unusual.

He still remembered that the reporters almost surrounded his plane the last time he came to Stockholm.

The driver sitting in the front row spoke with a smile.

“It’s mainly because of security issues. We discussed with the Swedish authorities here and finally decided to only contact CTV and the local media in Stockholm. If word had gotten out that you would be at the airport, it would have been chaotic.”

Lu Zhou realized that the reporters weren’t informed of his arrival.

“Oh, I see.”

Does this mean I put on makeup for no reason?

That’s good, I guess, I don’t like getting my picture taken.

But I feel kind of bad…

Chapter 1262: evisit

The destination was the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

Just like before, over the past few years, the Nobel Prize Foundation would contract the entire hotel to provide services only for Nobel Prize winners and their families.

The only difference was that this time, the atmosphere was quite grand.

Lu Zhou saw checkpoints set up by the local special police, and almost all of the roads leading to the hotel were traffic controlled. Passing vehicles were all inspected.

“This year’s security seems extra strong?”

Wang Peng smiled and explained, “After all, there are distinguished guests coming. This is normal.”

Lu Zhou: “But this is a bit ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous at all,” the driver in the front seat interjected with a smile. He said, “In some sense, they are more afraid of something going wrong than we are. It is better to be safe than sorry.”

While they were talking, the convoy had reached the entrance of the Stockholm Grand Hotel.

A staff member in a formal dress stepped forward and opened the door for Lu Zhou and others. She led the group of people to the rooms where they were staying.

Chen Yushan looked at the spacious room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed when she suddenly said emotionally, “Feels so strange… It’s been five years.”

“Oh yeah.”

Lu Zhou was also quite emotional.

He was here five years ago. He was even in the same room.

The only difference was probably that his state of mind was completely different than last time.

Lu Zhou looked out the window as he reminisced about the past, Chen Yushan suddenly asked.

“Speaking of which, when will your parents arrive?”

“They should have already arrived in Beijing, and they should be here tomorrow morning.”

When Lu Zhou was in the car earlier, he messaged with them on WeChat.

They were supposed to be flying together. But in order to avoid reporters and to avoid affecting the traffic near the airport, after some discussion between the Chinese and Swedish authorities, his flight was advanced by one day. Thus, he would not fly with his parents to Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

They had just flown from Jiangcheng to Beijing, and it would take a while before they could board the next flight to Stockholm.

As for Xiao Tong, she had just gotten on a plane from New York to here. She should arrive in Stockholm tomorrow morning.

The award ceremony was at 3 o’clock afternoon tomorrow, so there was no need to rush.

“All right then, I won’t bother you. I’ll go back to my room and sleep for a while. I’ll see you tonight.”

Chen Yushan stood up from the bed and stretched her waist. She spoke with a smile on her face.

“I’ll go unpack my luggage. Jesus, this journey was tiring.”

“Tonight?”

For some reason, the scene in the airplane bathroom suddenly appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind.

This was how humans are. Once brain connections were formed, there was no way to stop thoughts from emerging in one’s mind.

Seeing Lu Zhou’s blank face, Chen Yushan instantly thought of something. She blushed as she blurted out, “What are you thinking about?!

“I’m saying we can revisit the places we went last time, don’t you want to go drinking?”

After that, the door was closed heavily. The beautiful figure disappeared.

After Chen Yushan left, Lu Zhou was stunned. He stayed silent for a while.

Even though he didn’t do anything, he felt like he had done something impolite.

Are we still drinking then?

It’s not like she canceled the plans…

This problem was more confusing than quantum mechanics for Lu Zhou.

Whatever, we’ll see what happens…

After being on the plane for more than ten hours, thinking about such things gave him a headache.

Lu Zhou felt a little tired. He took out a tube of Energy Medicine from the system space and drank it.

After he waited for the feeling of fatigue to fade from his body, Lu Zhou took out the paper he didn’t finish reading from his suitcase. He walked to the desk and sat down.

The author of the paper was Rudy Dobrik, a Belgian professor of particle physics at the University of Brussels. He was considered to be an outstanding newcomer among a group of young physicists recently trained by ILHCRC.

Of course, even though he was a rookie, he was almost 40 or 50 years old. The project he was currently in charge of was to research the low-dimensional gravitational anomalies of Z particles and to find out what exactly Z particles released when they fell from high-dimensions to low-dimensions.

Basically, they caught the goldfish that was releasing “bubbles” on their experimental report.

Lu Zhou read the paper again. He looked intrigued.

“Interesting…

“What is the substance that disappeared on the space probe? Dark matter… or some kind of singular matter? Or was it from the Void?

“No… The Void seems impossible. The Z particle is still in the n dimension. When moving from the n dimension to the n-1 dimension, there is no mass change. The Void should be a place that exists stably in the conventional universe. Otherwise, the civilization of the old universe would not be trapped in it.”

Of course, these were just conjectures.

His scientific intuition told him that although the Void theory could explain some special problems, it was a dangerous theory.

In theory, it was impossible to know what was inside it. It seemed that any unclear abnormal phenomena could be temporarily attributed to the Void.

This sounded convenient.

But it was easy to fall into the trap of agnosticism.

Physics should be a perfect, tolerant, and rigorous discipline. It should allow the existence of “universal animism”, but it shouldn’t allow people to push all unknown things to a higher being.

Lu Zhou looked at the data on the paper. He suddenly thought of something, and he immediately picked up the pen on the table and wrote on the draft paper.

[L=-(1/2)Tr(GμνGμν)+Σq(iγμDμ-mq)q]

[…]

The tip of the pen moved faster and faster.

Ever since advancing to mathematics level 10, Lu Zhou’s sensitivity and intuition for numbers had reached an unprecedented height.

Coupled with the breakthrough in the Grand Unified Theory, he had further strengthened his understanding of mathematics. Almost all problems involving mathematics were no longer a problem for him.

In terms of calculations, no one in this world could come close to him.

Time slowly passed by…

The draft papers quickly piled up at the corner of the table.

Lu Zhou took a sigh of relief. He stared at the calculations on the papers and muttered to himself excitedly, “Sure enough, this mysterious substance does not come from the Void.

“It might be more like a special field.

“But what is it?”

Suddenly, he was getting more and more excited.

It was as if a beautiful white fox jumped across the forest, giving him a glimpse of the “great physics theory”.

Lu Zhou immediately turned on the computer and wrote an email.

[Hello, Mr. Rudy Dobrik, this is Lu Zhou, Chairman of the ILHCRC.

[An hour ago, I finished reading your latest paper on the anomaly of Z particle gravity, and several sets of data aroused my interest. I tried to analyze these data from the perspective of quantum chromodynamics.

[From a mathematical point of view, I can conclude that this disturbance is probably not related to the world on the n+1 string. It occurs in our universe. However, it is very likely that there is a huge treasure contained inside, waiting for us to explore.

[This research area should be valued by more people. I will set it as one of the key projects of ILHCRC for next year.

[If it is okay, can you report your results in detail at the report meeting? I look forward to your report.]

The ILHCRC was already a mature international physics research organization.

It was better to involve more people than to fight this battle alone.

Lu Zhou sent the email and turned off his computer.

The sky outside the window had turned completely dark.

Even though it was not long after noon, it was December in Stockholm, which was in Northern Europe. At 3 pm, it had already started to enter a long winter night.

Drinking something during this long, cold night seemed to be a good choice.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and stood up from the chair. He walked to the cloakroom and stood in front of the floor mirror.

Even though he was very handsome regardless of what he wore…

But…

Lu Zhou took out a pair of glasses and put it on the bridge of his nose. He gently tapped his index finger on the frame.

A light blue window appeared in front of him.

“Xiao Ai, what should I wear?”

Chapter 1263: Won again!

It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

For most parts of China, three o’clock in the afternoon was far from dawn. However, for Stockholm, which was located in Northern Europe, they had already entered a long winter night.

The heavy snow flying in the sky was like a melting furnace, engulfing everything in the world, smelting everything into silver. Only a few lights from street lamps and windows could be seen, giving an outline of the streets.

However, the heavy snow did not shut down people’s enthusiasm.

On the streets near the Blue Hall, people were wearing thick jackets and handmade lanterns in their hands. As if they were watching over the great Blue Hall.

Under the heavy snow flying in the sky, a reporter lady stood in front of the camera with a CTV microphone in her hand as she spoke with excitement.

“The street I am standing on is Osterbergs Street, near the Blue Hall. Standing behind me are local Chinese residents. Some of them come from nearby communities and some are from hundreds of kilometers away. The hotel reservations in the city are totally full… They have gathered here with lanterns in their hands. Let us interview one of them…”

The reporter found a Chinese person holding a paper lantern.

“Sir, may I interview you?”

“Yes! No problem!”

The forty-year-old man looked at the CTV microphone. He was wearing a thick jacket, and he looked quite excited as he waved at the camera behind her.

“How do you feel right now?”

The reporter pointed the microphone toward him.

The man in the down jacket looked at the microphone. He was scared that his voice was too quiet to be heard, so he shouted out loud, “Excited! Happy!”

“Can I ask, what makes you feel so excited and happy in this cold winter?”

The man said with a smile, “Seeing our scientists flourish makes me happy!”

Behind the invisible wall formed by the wind and snow.

The Blue Hall standing by the lake was shining brightly, like a torch in the dark night, capturing hopeful gazes.

The entrance of the Blue Hall was surrounded by reporters from all over the world. They carried cameras in their hands, like hunters waiting for an opportunity in the dark, waiting for the moment when the door was opened, and waiting for the person to appear on camera. They would then press the shutter button and record this historic moment.

Inside the spacious hall, a symphony orchestra was playing music.

Lu Bangguo was sitting in the special seat zone as he watched the crowd around him. He was a little nervous, and he couldn’t help but whisper to his wife who was sitting next to him, “Do you think our kid will be nervous?”

Before Fang Mei could speak, Xiao Tong, who was sitting next to them, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Dad, what are you talking about? He’s won more awards than you can count!”

Fang Mei smiled. She patted Xiao Tong’s hand lightly and said, “Your dad is just like this. Sitting in this Blue Hall is no different than watching his son graduate high school.”

“What nonsense, I’m just worried about our son. Aren’t you worried?” Lu Bangguo blushed and glared at Fang Mei. He then looked at Xiao Tong and said, “You don’t understand, wait until you have a son!”

Xiao Tong stuck her tongue out and made a funny face.

“Pfft! You think my brother is never having kids, so you’re pressuring me to have one, right?”

“What do you mean pressure? Your dad is just worried! You’ve been out on your own for so long, how come you don’t have a partner?”

“I’m not interested, and I’m so busy every day, there is no time to fall in love.”

“No, I heard the life of international students should be very romantic, right?”

Xiao Tong couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“There is also a big difference between students, not everyone enjoys life. Also, Princeton is a small village far away from the big city. Half of the world’s nerdiest and weirdest people are there, and everyone is doing their own thing… Forget it, you won’t understand. Just don’t expect me to get married any time soon.”

“No wonder…” Lu Bangguo touched his chin and said to himself, “No wonder he hasn’t found a partner for so long. It’s because of the environment.”

Xiao Tong: “Uh, I think my brother counts as one of the weird people.”

The sound of the symphony became more and more exciting. The hands of the conductor started to wave faster and faster.

“The last person who won the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry at the same time was Marie Curie.” Edward Witten looked at the symphony on the stage. He was wearing a long trench coat. With a trace of envy in his eyes, he said emotionally, “I didn’t expect to see this. Great men live among us.”

Witten had been obsessed with the Nobel Prize in Physics for a long time, and this was an open secret in the physics community. But it was impossible for the Nobel Committee to award this prize to him purely because of his academic prestige. Both the M theory and string theory were unproven things.

They would not make compromises for the physics award.

“Yeah.”

After Witten glanced at Professor Deligne, who was standing next to him, Professor Witten joked, “This honor belongs to your favorite student. Is that all you have to say?”

“I don’t do research on physics and chemistry, so I have nothing more to say.” Professor Deligne continued after a moment of silence, “But I admit that when I sent him the offer, I really didn’t expect his knowledge to change the world.”

Deligne looked at the stage with a trace of relief in his eyes. He suddenly smiled.

“It’s quite funny. The Bourbaki Group has always promoted the purity of mathematics, thinking that mathematics should only serve mathematics. But from him, I noticed something different.

“Mathematics can change more than just mathematics; it can even change the world.

“I still remember him saying this.

“Moreover, he actually proved it.”

The symphony was over.

The chairman of the Nobel Foundation stood on stage, facing the audience. He announced the beginning of the Nobel Prize award ceremony.

Immediately afterward, the chairman of the Nobel Committee on Physics, Simatz Larsson, walked on stage.

The old man with gold-rimmed glasses gently pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose. He reached out to straighten the microphone and continued with a steady and solemn voice.

“For a long time, we knew very little about the higher dimensional world.

“That was until a tiny spec changed everything.”

The venue was dead silent.

Everyone stared at the stage, quietly waiting for the old man to continue speaking.

“It was so small that almost everyone, including you and I, missed it.

“Fortunately, something happened.

“The Lunar Hadron Collider was established, and a new physics research system was born. Everything was because of a great man’s unwillingness to give up. All of us have taken a big step forward and reached a place where no one has ever set foot before.

“This proves that there is no randomness in nature.

“Behind all of the seemingly incomprehensible phenomena, there are always rules and reasons.

“Fortunately, he did not give up.”

The man sounded like he was telling a legend. The old man suddenly raised the volume of his voice with a touch of solemnity as he said, “I hereby announce on behalf of the Nobel Prize in Physics committee.

“The winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics is—

“Lu Zhou!”

Chapter 1264: Thank You for Everything You Do for the World

“The winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics is—

“Lu Zhou!”

After this solemn announcement, pouring applause resounded through the venue. The dorms at Jin Ling University thousands of miles away erupted with deafening cheers.

“Amazing… Two Nobel Prizes.”

“First in China, right?”

“Not just China, there are not many in the world who have won two Nobel Prizes!”

“Jesus, our professor is such an insane scholar! I’m never skipping class again.”

The time in Beijing was exactly nine o’clock in the evening.

CTV applied for the live broadcast rights of the Nobel Prize and broadcast the award ceremony scene nationwide. Except for the live-viewing event organized by the school, almost all the entire school students watched the live broadcast on their phones.

Even though it wasn’t an intense sports game.

However, it was equally as exciting.

Especially since the winner was a graduate of their school.

Nine years ago, they were sitting in the same classroom and in the same library, worrying about the same problems, exams, and papers.

Winner of the physics prize and chemistry prize.

Among the living scholars in the world today, no one could compare to him.

Li Mo looked at the computer screen with an excited look on his face. He clenched his fists.

“Teach—Academician Lu is insane!”

He nearly said teacher.

He remembered Professor Lu’s warning him to stop calling him teacher, so he immediately changed to Academician Lu instead.

“Yeah…” Duan Siqi watched Lu Zhou receive the medal from Carl XVI on TV. Duan Siqi said emotionally, “The chemistry prize, then the physics prize. Maybe he will also receive the medicine prize. I’m not surprised anymore.”

Wu Di: “Medicine prize is unlikely. He doesn’t seem to have published any paper in the medical field.”

Yang Shuang: “Who knows? Maybe someday he will be interested in biology. Isn’t there a few concepts that are very popular now? Quantum biology and the mathematics of DNA molecules.”

“What about the literature prize? The literature prize is safe, right?”

“Maybe not. What if, like Dyson, he writes a science fiction novel?”

“If I remember correctly, Dyson won neither the physics prize nor the literature prize…”

Dorm room 201 began to discuss whether “it is possible for Academician Lu to receive the Nobel Prize in medicine and literature”. On the other hand, discussions exploded online.

The Chinese physics community won another Nobel Prize!

The person was Academician Lu, who had won the Fields Medal and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry!

The CTV live broadcast for the awards ceremony was at its peak moment, and the comment section of the CTV’s official WeChat account was filled with excited citizens.

“God Lu is nutty!”

“Jesus! Two Nobel Prizes! In two different fields!”

“This is definitely a milestone for the Chinese academic community!”

“Sigh, I feel sorry for next year’s candidates. I am afraid that it will be getting harder and more difficult to be a student of God Lu.”

“Haha, it’s more than difficult! Not to mention the college entrance examination. Apparently, this year, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Jin Ling University have set up an international student scientific research training program. This expands the original scientific research undergraduate talent training program by ten international students. The overseas admissions office at Jin Ling University was bombarded with applications!”

“Really?”

“Of course! Don’t you want a letter of recommendation from a Nobel Prize winner?”

Shuimu University’s website.

As the most highly educated forum in China, the discussions on the forum were relatively professional.

“I didn’t expect the Nobel Committee to give the award to the Z particle!”

“Yes, I thought they would consider the electrostrong interaction theory! You don’t know how excited our physics professor was in class when Professor Lu first came up with the electrostrong interaction theory! He almost had a heart attack!”

“Haha, Professor Xu, right? I heard about it, he was in class during the report!”

“It is reasonable to give the award to the Z particle. After all, no one has ever discovered particles in a high-dimensional space before, and no one has ever explained the process of high-dimensional matter falling from n-dimensional to n-1 through both experiments and theory. His research results might become the basic theory for the physics community to study high-dimensional matter in the future. This contribution is not inferior to Newton’s theorems of mechanics and Einstein’s standard model!”

“Moreover, I feel that this Nobel Prize has not taken into account the ILHCRC and the Lunar Hadron Collider. Even though this is not an academic achievement, it is not an exaggeration to say that the ILHCRC will produce at least 30 Nobel Prizes over the next century! The significance of this may be greater than the Z particle and the paper on the theory of the Void.”

“It’s just that these things are too early to say for sure. Only time will tell.”

However, one thing was for certain.

Looking at the history of physics, Lu Zhou’s achievements were definitely enough to rank him as one of the top three all-time greatest physicists.

…

Lu Zhou stood on this award platform, listening to the thunderous applause from the audience behind him. When he received the medal from the old man in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

It’s been five years.

Time surely flies by.

From controllable fusion to the manned landing on the moon, to the two almost impossible projects that were the Lunar Hadron Collider and lunar mass driver… Everything was because of the countless days and nights of grinding. Everything felt unreal.

When he saw King Carl XVI’s smile, Lu Zhou suddenly came back to his senses. After hugging him gently, he nodded politely and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, young scholar, this is the honor you deserve.”

A relieved smile appeared on the king’s face. He said in a sincere tone, “You have proved to the world of your wisdom and talent. Mr. Nobel is honored because of you. Your knowledge has changed the world and our way of life. Our children will have a better future because of you.”

He paused for a second and continued, “So, why not influence more people? I believe that money and reputation are no longer your pursuits. With your current influence, you can name a medal after your name and let yourself be a role model for more young people.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I’ll think about it.”

When he was at the International Congress of Mathematicians in St. Petersburg, he considered something like this, but he never got around to it for various reasons.

But now…

Perhaps because honors from medals could no longer satisfy him; this urge was getting stronger and stronger.

Carl XVI smiled, nodded, and said in a soft voice, “Just an old man’s suggestion.

“Go on, enjoy the party, there must be a girl waiting for you.”

A girl…

A naughty image flashed in Lu Zhou’s mind.

This feeling made his cheeks feel a little hot. He tried to calm down, but a glimpse of embarrassment flashed in his eyes.

The old man sharply caught the moment of embarrassment that flashed in Lu Zhou’s eyes, and he quickly said with a smile, “It looks like I’m right.

“It’s great to be young, only young people can make mistakes. Don’t let hesitation control your youth. I have made many wrong decisions in my life, but I’m glad I went against my family and married my wife.”

Mr. Carl patted Lu Zhou’s shoulder and said with a smile, “Go on.

“The goddess of the Lake Mälaren will bless you.

“Whether you believe in ancient myths or not, the dance floor of the Blue Hall and the pine forest on the banks of Lake Mälaren are excellent dating sites. No lady will be able to resist such romance.

“I remember this was written in a travel magazine.”

Chapter 1265: The Goddess of the Lake Will Bless You

“No girl would refuse such romance…”

In order to make himself look less perverted, Lu Zhou tried his best not to look at the girls and ladies on the dance floor. He focused on looking for that special someone in the crowd.

He suddenly felt someone pulling his sleeve. He looked in the direction of the force, but he didn’t see anyone.

“Hello, down here.”

A soft voice came from below. Lu Zhou looked down and saw a little girl in a dress, who was about six or seven years old. She looked at him with her large eyes.

She suddenly thought of something. She retracted her hand to cover her mouth and muttered slowly, “Oops, Teacher Prada told me that ladies have to be more polite.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile at the little princess. He looked at her and said politely, “My lovely princess, did you get separated from your parents?”

“No.” Princess Lilia stared directly at Lu Zhou and said, “Lilia is here to dance.”

“Dance?”

“Yes… Mr. Scholar.” The little princess curtsied and said, “May I dance with you?”

She obviously forgot his name already.

Lu Zhou held back his smile and said, “But your parents might be worried about you. It’s best to find them quickly. I can help you ask the security guard here.”

“No, it is okay. Swedish girls all like dancing. I want to choose my own dance partner.”

“But… why me?”

“Of course it’s you.” Princess Lilia said, “Lilia knows you are the main character. Everyone is watching you. I am the most beautiful girl on the dance floor, and I shall choose the most handsome guy as my dance partner.”

I can’t.

This is too adorable.

Lu Zhou finally couldn’t hold back his laughter. He quickly concealed it with a series of dry coughs.

Lilia, who had not experienced society yet, thought he had a cold, so she blinked and said worriedly, “Mr. Scholar, do you need a doctor?”

“No… Lovely Princess, I don’t need a doctor. But I think you probably need to choose a dance partner around your age.”

“But boys my age are all naughty. They mess with my braids just to get my attention.” The little princess pouted and said, “Guys are so stupid.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Lu Zhou was worried about the royal family’s education and began to look for the security guards in the lobby. He heard a familiar voice.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

When Lu Zhou looked in the direction the voice came from, he saw a lady in a black evening dress and makeup walking across the crowd.

Her long black hair was tied on the back of her head, and the back of the black skirt was like a piece of glowing obsidian, with elegance and beauty merged into one. Even Lu Zhou couldn’t help but stare at her for a long time, without even recognizing her for a second.

Chen Yushan felt her cheeks warm up. She looked down and quickly walked over. She reached out her hand and grabbed his arm.

“Come with me. Let’s talk outside the dance floor.”

Before Lu Zhou could speak, the little girl spoke first.

“Hey, he’s my partner. It’s rude to steal someone else’s partner.”

Chen Yushan looked at the dissatisfied little girl. She noticed the little princess, who she saw at the airport before.

She was somewhat bewildered, and she looked at Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou responded to her with a helpless look. He then sighed and leaned down on one of his knees. He looked at the little girl and said, “Sorry, I have to leave for a while.”

“How long?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Come back early, you owe me a dance.”

“When you grow up, I’ll dance with you.”

After finally getting rid of this annoying girl, Lu Zhou followed Chen Yushan off the dance floor and walked to the resting area near the entrance.

After taking two glasses of red wine from the waiter’s tray, he handed one to Chen Yushan.

After taking a sip to moisturize her lips, Chen Yushan felt the slight drowsiness spread from the tip of her tongue. When Chen Yushan looked at the face reflected in the glass of red wine, she had a smile on her face.

“Aren’t you going to dance?”

“Only the most beautiful girl is worthy of the most handsome knight.”

Chen Yushan nearly laughed out loud, and she looked at Lu Zhou with a serious expression. She then asked, “When did you know how to compliment girls?”

“Actually, I don’t.” Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He then looked at the glass of red wine, sighed, and said, “A six-year-old girl taught me this.”

“Speaking of which, you’re popular with children.”

“And that conclusion is based on a sample size of one?”

“And you did it again…”

“Oh, sor—”

Before he could speak, his lips were blocked by an index finger.

“Don’t always say sorry,” Chen Yushan said with a happy smile. She then added, “I like the way you were.”

The way I was?

What is that?

Lu Zhou was thinking seriously when Chen Yushan pulled his sleeve.

“It’s too loud here, should we sit outside?”

“Ok, sure.” Lu Zhou glanced at her evening gown and asked, “But aren’t you going to get cold?”

“Stupid.” Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and said, “I have a coat, how do you think I got here?”

“Then… I’ll wait for you here.”

“Should only take five minutes! Don’t ditch me.”

Chen Yushan walked toward the side door of the venue on high heels. Lu Zhou wanted to remind her to slow down and not fall, but the beautiful figure had already disappeared from the crowd.

Lu Bangguo, who was standing next to a buffet table, muttered as he looked around, “Where’s my son?”

He suddenly saw a familiar figure standing at the resting area by the entrance. Lu Zhou was standing there in a suit, and he looked like he was waiting for someone.

Lu Bangguo’s eyes lit up. He was about to go forward and call his son, but Fang Mei spoke first.

“Stupid! Look at your son, he’s waiting for someone.”

Lu Bangguo: “Isn’t he waiting for us?”

“For what reason? We saw him at the hotel? And in the car? If you always stick to your son, how are you going to get a grandson?”

“Yes! True!” Lu Bangguo nodded repeatedly and grinned as he said, “I want a grandson!”

Even though he was prepared for his son to end the family line, he still hoped to see a cute grandson one day.

This was almost every father’s wish.

Especially for a traditional family. Just reaching the legal age would not make one a man. Only when the son had a family, would he become a man.

Fang Mei smirked and let go of Old Lu’s hand.

“Then stay here.

“Don’t join in on other people’s business!”

…

It had stopped snowing outside. The north wind blowing over the pine forest still brought some coldness. However, walking by the lake, Lu Zhou did not feel cold at all for some reason.

Instead, he felt warm?

This was the first time he felt this way.

No, not the first.

This had happened before. It happened before the flight… However, the feeling was weak, so he never cared about it.

After all, those were trivial feelings.

This was how troublesome humans were. A person’s heart rate and breathing were governed by hormones and nerve signals, while emotions were governed by heart rate and breathing.

He was trying to figure out where the restlessness in his heart came from when he suddenly felt a warm hand enter his pocket and grab his hand.

Lu Zhou’s shoulders twitched subconsciously. However, he didn’t retract his hand. Instead, he let his emotions guide him toward irrational thinking.

Perhaps dopamine had the upper hand.

Or maybe it was a mysterious power in the universe…

All in all, he didn’t hate this feeling.

He almost…

Liked it.

She asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“I can read it in your eyes.”

Lu Zhou’s throat moved slightly. He was about to say something, but Chen Yushan looked up at the sky and spoke first.

“Look there.” She pointed her index finger toward the sky and said, “Aurora.”

Lu Zhou looked in the direction her index finger was pointing. His heart trembled.

“…”

The stream of charged particles blown from the sun touched the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, turning the deadly rays into soft colors, spreading a rainbow of light in the night sky.

Their thoughts were taken further than the universe by the beautiful aurora. The two stood by the lake and looked up for a long time.

Snowflakes floated down from the air and lightly touched the tip of Lu Zhou’s nose. Lu Zhou finally said, “They came from 152 million kilometers away.”

“To bring beauty to the earth?”

“I think it doesn’t have a purpose.”

The mist melted the snowflakes on the tip of his nose.

More snowflakes began to fall.

A soft whisper went into his ears.

“Do you remember what you promised me?”

Chen Yushan, whose heart was filled with anxiety, quickly said, “You promised that—”

“If I win another prize, forget bringing you to the banquet, you can do whatever you want…” Lu Zhou looked at the lake and said softly, “I remember what I said.”

Despite it being just an unintentional remark at the time…

Chen Yushan looked down and whispered, “Then… can I make a wish?”

“Tell me.”

“I want a boyfriend.”

The atmosphere went silent.

The silence between the two was like the snow on the trees.

It remained this way for 10 seconds. But the 10 seconds felt like a century.

Her worried expression gradually turned into a trace of loneliness. A forced smile gradually appeared on her face.

“Forget about it, I was just kidding—”

“I’m not going to introduce you to someone.”

Lu Zhou turned around and looked into her eyes.

Even though there was no aurora in her eyes…

He finally realized why his heart rate was increasing.

“What about me?”

1

Chapter 1266: Indescribable Object

What is love?

1

Lu Zhou felt that this word was a very distant thing to him.

It wasn’t because of his lack of confidence in his own charm, but because he wasn’t sure that he could devote enough time to his feelings. Relationships made him feel uneasy. He always had a hunch that he would remain alone in this journey.

And he didn’t even know where this journey would end.

The only thing he knew was that this journey would take a long time.

However, at the award ceremony, the old man’s words touched him.

Life itself was a mysterious journey. Apart from birth and death, nothing else is guaranteed.

Too many worries would make one miss out on many beautiful things.

He didn’t want to miss out anymore.

On the sidewalk of Lake Mälaren, the two figures stood together for a long time. Finally, they separated by a tiny bit. Chen Yushan, who had always been a strong woman, showed a rare side of shyness. She looked away and whispered, “What… does it feel like?”

“It feels weird. It’s obviously just an exchange of saliva, but my heartbeat is faster… Maybe because it’s my first time, and I’m not skilled enough, after all… I’ve never done it before.”

Lu Zhou looked away slightly, and his face began to blush.

Strictly speaking, that was his first kiss.

Even though he had kissed someone on the forehead before, that was in a completely different environment, with completely different emotions.

“Can you… not make it sound so disgusting?”

“How is it disgusting… What about you?”

“Me?”

She finally mustered up the courage to look at Lu Zhou’s eyes, then immediately looked away.

“It hurts… Your teeth bit my lip.”

“Sor—”

“Don’t say sorry!”

Chen Yushan used all the courage in her body. She closed her eyes and looked up. Like a girl wishing for a Christmas gift, she spoke.

“Don’t always say sorry, if you don’t do it well… Just do it again. It’s the first time I’ve felt this way too, I’ll get better at it.”

Chen Yushan’s past flashed before her eyes.

Lu Zhou shook his head and moved forward.

“Once is not enough.”

…

The physics prize was awarded. The Nobel Prize award ceremony came to an end. The craze of the Chinese academic community had not stopped. Almost everyone who heard the news was talking about the young Nobel Prize in Physics winner.

Especially the teachers and students of Jin Ling University, no one was more excited than them.

The youngest Nobel Prize winner in history and winner in both physics and chemistry. This was the guy who used to sit in a classroom with them. Was there anything more worthy of bragging?

It was like the teachers who taught Lu Zhou won a lottery. They couldn’t stop talking in the lecture. They kept talking about how “back when Lu Zhou was in my class” or how he “won the mathematical modeling competition”.

This began ever since the announcement of the Nobel Prize in October, and the hype had not slowed down at all. It became even more intense because of the awards ceremony yesterday.

The entire Jin Ling University was celebrating. Lu Zhou, who was in Stockholm, also experienced the most important turning point in his life.

He guarded his body for twenty-nine years, but last night, he finally transformed from a boy into a real man.

His thirst for knowledge was finally satisfied… The two embraced each other in their arms and fell asleep past midnight.

The next morning.

The sun began to rise.

Lu Zhou woke up from his sleep. He stretched his hands and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the serene face lying on the other pillow, and he couldn’t help but reach out his hand and gently push the messy hair on her face away.

Her eyelashes moved slightly, and she reluctantly opened her eyes.

Chen Yushan suddenly had a silly smile on her face.

“Ha… This feels like a dream.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile.

“What feels like a dream?”

Chen Yushan blushed and rolled her eyes.

Lu Zhou’s original calm mind couldn’t help but feel ripples.

After all, he was a young man. He regularly exercised, and his body was enhanced by the system. He had much more stamina than most people.

However, after realizing that she was still tired, he quietly retracted his hand.

Chen Yushan noticed his movement and smirked.

She felt warm inside.

She stretched and stayed under the blanket for a while. She then sat up on the bed and stroked her messy hair.

“No kissing me for three days.”

“What if I want to?”

“Then…” Chen Yushan looked away and muttered, “Then I’ll pretend to not see anything.”

“Pff!”

“Stop laughing!”

Chen Yushan angrily grabbed the pillow and smacked Lu Zhou in the chest. She then stood up from the bed. However, the moment her feet touched the ground, she winced in pain.

Lu Zhou looked at her and spoke.

“I’ll call room service.”

“It’s fine.”

Chen Yushan leaned over and kissed Lu Zhou’s forehead. She had a warm smile on her face as she said, “l’ll go wash up, let’s grab food downstairs. Remember, don’t be too… Let’s start by holding hands. Then, slowly, tell your parents…”

Chen Yushan began to blush, while Lu Zhou had a careless smile on his face.

We already slept together, is this really necessary?

He wanted to be a gentleman last night. After getting on the elevator, he was about to take her back to her own room. But somehow, they started to drink in his room instead.

One drink after another.

The atmosphere turned into the color of red wine.

When she was laying on his chest, Lu Zhou suddenly realized many things he hadn’t realized before.

If only I detected certain things earlier.

But then again…

If it weren’t for this particular time and place, perhaps we wouldn’t have the same choices, and the story between us would have ended differently…

Lu Zhou watched Chen Yushan put on a towel and walk to the bathroom. Lu Zhou made a joke that was out of his usual character.

“Can I come with you?”

Although she didn’t turn around, he clearly saw her ears turning red.

“Don’t even think about it!”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smirk.

He didn’t know how to describe this feeling.

He just felt warm inside.

Maybe…

This is what love feels like.

Chapter 1267: : Visit to Copenhagen

The restaurant was decorated with a medieval atmosphere.

BBC News was playing on the TV.

On the broadcast, radical environmentalists walked with banners on the streets, climbed up the statue of Churchill, blocked traffic, and chanted the slogan “We care about the world”. This took place on the beautiful streets of London.

A white man in a suit sitting at the dining table said with a sigh, “I ate too much.”

“Speaking of which, this year’s Peace Prize was awarded to an environmentalist?”

“Yes, but obviously a Peace Prize can’t appease them. We still have to find a way to solve the problem fundamentally.” The white man in a suit sighed and said, “It would be great if there were controllable fusion stations in London.”

“I think those illiterate idiots will make the situation even more dangerous.”

“… You’re right.”

Lu Zhou heard the conversation from a distance. He looked up in the direction of the TV, but the TV channel had been switched, showing a report on the food crisis in Central Africa.

When Lu Zhou was not paying attention, Chen Yushan quietly moved the sandwich from her plate to his plate. However, even though her movements were careful, Lu Zhou still caught her.

Chen Yushan blushed as she said, “You should eat more.”

“Oh… Aren’t you hungry?”

“I’m on a diet.”

“Why, you’re skinny enough… I think you look great.”

Chen Yushan was about to say something, but there were too many people nearby. She finally rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou, then buried her head and started to work on her salad.

Xiao Tong, who was sitting next to them, gave them a suspicious look. She then poked Lu Zhou in the arm with her index finger.

“Brother.”

“What?”

“Did you…”

Xiao Tong’s left index and thumb formed an O shape, with her right index finger formed a one. However, before she could combine her hands, Lu Zhou flicked her forehead.

“Ouch!” Xiao Tong looked at Lu Zhou unhappily and said, “Why are you hitting me?”

“Stop thinking about strange things, kid!”

“I’m not a kid anymore!”

“Enough about me.” Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a tissue. He casually changed the subject and asked, “How’s studying at Princeton? Are you being bullied?”

Xiao Tong stuck her tongue out and said, “My brother is so powerful, no one dares to bully me, they all stay away from me.”

Chen Yushan looked at the siblings and couldn’t help but smile. She suddenly thought of tomorrow’s itinerary, so she spoke softly.

“I still have some work to do at the office. I’ll fly back this afternoon. When do you plan to go back?”

Lu Zhou thought about it and spoke.

“Probably tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll wait for you.”

After breakfast, Chen Yushan didn’t stay around for long. She left the restaurant straight away. Xiao Tong watched her walk away as she quietly spoke.

“Brother, are you guys…”

Lu Zhou didn’t give her a chance to collect any intel.

“Shut up and eat.”

“Oh…”

After breakfast, Lu Zhou returned to his room.

Chen Yushan had already returned to her room. Lu Zhou called the hotel and bought the set of bedding in his hotel room. He then opened his computer and checked his email.

Just like he expected, Professor Rudy Dobrik had replied to his email.

The Belgian physicist from the University of Brussels used one full page to praise his wisdom and promised him that he would not disappoint his expectations.

To be honest, Lu Zhou felt a little nervous when he read the a*s kissing.

Because people in academia who were good at a*s kissing were often not proficient in scientific research.

However, he thought about Professor Sarrot and remembered that some scientific researchers let their assistants handle their emails. Lu Zhou calmed down a bit and decided to give him a chance to prove himself.

In any case, it would be best to wait until he went back and make a conclusion after reading his report.

Suddenly, the telephone on the bedside table began to ring.

Lu Zhou walked over and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

A polite voice came from the other end of the phone. “Hello, dear Professor Lu, I am the administrative secretary of the Sweden Embassy of China. You can call me Sun Xuewen or Secretary Sun.”

Lu Zhou said, “Do you need anything?”

Secretary Sun: “Ambassador Zhang Wenbin would like to meet with you. When do you have time?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “I’ll go there this afternoon.”

“No, no, no, you don’t have to come here. We’ll come and visit you.” Secretary Sun quickly said with a smile, “If you have time in the afternoon, how does three o’clock sound? It won’t take a long time, about one hour.”

“I’m fine, but will it be too troublesome for you guys?”

The man smiled.

“Oh, not at all.”

This was indeed the case. Every time Lu Zhou went outside, the car and the streets had to be checked by his security team. It was better that they came here in person.

With this in mind, Lu Zhou did not continue to insist.

After hanging up the phone, he suddenly realized that Chen Yushan would return to China this afternoon. If he had to meet with Ambassador Zhang, he couldn’t send her to the airport. Thus, he went into her room.

Because he had her room card, he knocked on the door before swiping his card to enter.

When he walked into the room, Chen Yushan was packing her luggage.

Chen Yushan put the last piece of clothing into her suitcase. She stood up. Her long hair was resting on her shoulders. She looked back at Lu Zhou with a smile.

“You already miss me? I said I’ll go to your room after I pack my luggage.”

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before speaking.

“I might not be able to send you to the airport, embassy—”

“It’s fine, I know.” Chen Yushan softly kissed Lu Zhou on the lips. Chen Yushan took a step back and looked at him with a gentle smile on her face. She said, ” Don’t feel bad. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, I don’t want to give you pressure.”

“But…”

“You have your career, just like I have my career. We can work hard together. I also want to become a better version of myself, so I can feel a little more at ease, so…”

Chen Yushan twirled her finger around her hair a few times. She looked away awkwardly. It seemed like she was still not accustomed to saying romantic words. She hesitated before quietly speaking.

“Well, Academician Lu belongs to the world, but Lu Zhou belongs to me alone… As long as your heart is with me.”

“Wife…”

“Don’t call me wife, it’s too soon! We are just boyfriend and girlfriend. Also, I haven’t promised to marry you yet.” Chen Yushan looked both happy and a little flustered. She said, “Call me Chen Yushan!”

“Chen Yushan!”

“Oh…”

This hits the spot.

I can’t!

Why is my boyfriend so cute!

So smart, so handsome!

Wow…

Lu Zhou suddenly hugged Chen Yushan. She felt like her brain was stuffed into a steamer, and she could no longer think normally.

Is this what honeymoon feels like?

I want to stay with him 24 hours a day.

“Um…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Before you leave… I want to play a game with you.”

“What game?”

Lu Zhou said, “Hide and seek.”

Chen Yushan, whose head was on Lu Zhou’s shoulder, whispered in his ear, “Oh, when did you become such a bad boy?”

“If you don’t want to, forget it.”

Chen Yushan, whose face was as red as an apple, moved her eyes away subtly. She buried her face on his shoulders.

She quietly muttered, “Um…

“Do I hide first?”

…

Afternoon.

Lu Zhou put Chen Yushan in a car to the airport.

After waving goodbye, the Volvo disappeared at the end of the street. He turned around reluctantly and returned to his hotel.

Even though they wanted to stay together 24 hours a day, he knew in his heart that relationships were only one part of life. Both of them had a lot of work to do. No matter how much he liked a girl, he wouldn’t let it take over every other aspect of his life.

After what happened last night, there was a touch of blue that he had never seen before, in his black and white world.

That was the color of responsibility.

“Are you interested in the Copenhagen Global Climate Summit?” Ambassador Zhang Wenbin, who was dressed in formal attire, spoke to Lu Zhou with a smile. They were sitting in the hotel’s executive lounge.

“Global Climate Summit?”

Lu Zhou didn’t think Ambassador Zhang would suddenly put out such a proposition.

“Yes.” Ambassador Zhang continued with a smile, “Over the past five years, China’s economy has taken off. The GDP growth rate is more than 10%. Not only did we not sacrifice an inch of lakes and mountains, but we even decreased our per capita carbon emissions by 50%!

“We have created a miracle in the history of economic development. We are feeding more than 20% of the world’s population while having the lowest pollution!

“And all this is due to the controllable fusion technology you worked on four years ago. So, our foreign affairs department is discussing whether you should go to the Global Climate Summit to give a report and show off to other countries. Show off to the other countries what we have done over the past few years.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

So they want me to humblebrag for my country.

A touch of interest appeared in his eyes.

“It sounds interesting.”

Ambassador Zhang smiled and said, “It will take you three or four days at most. There might be some travel adjustments.”

“Specifically?”

“The Swedish royal family is going to visit Denmark and take the cruise ship Aurora Borealis to Copenhagen to participate in the summit. There will be dignitaries and entrepreneurs from the Nordic countries on the cruise ship. We want to strengthen the relationship with the Nordic countries as they are our strategic allies. Our plan is that since you are in Stockholm, it’s better for you to take the same cruise as them.

“Of course, if you are not used to taking a boat, we can also arrange a special plane for you. This depends on your preferences.”

It was quite interesting to go on a cruise ship. During the winter nights, beautiful auroras could be seen above the Baltic Sea.

Lu Zhou thought of the beautiful scenery that he saw on the shore of Lake Mälaren. He smiled and nodded.

“It is the responsibility of all of mankind to protect the global climate. It is my responsibility as a Chinese citizen to show the world the contribution China has made in safeguarding the interests of mankind.

“Anyway, I’m not very busy these days, so I’ll go.”

Chapter 1268: More Money

In a desert in East Africa, there was an abandoned military base at the border of a country.

Since the army stationed here had left, the small village living near the military base was completely deserted. There were now only a few dry wells and gray-yellow tiles left.

Because the nearby terrain was not convenient for armed defense, no equipment had been left behind. The entire place was deserted.

However, on this unusual day, the deserted military base was welcoming a group of uninvited guests…

Toyota pickup trucks passed through abandoned checkpoints and came to the inside of the military base. A group of African soldiers armed with AKs jumped out of the cars.

In the abandoned hangar, several mercenaries wearing American-made equipment stood next to the Hummer. They immediately involuntarily put their index fingers on their weapons.

Marach had a thick beard on his face. He walked forward with some men. He didn’t seem to care about the weapons in the hands of the mercenaries. He walked straight to the man in a suit in front of the crowd and stopped.

“Where’s the stuff?”

The man in the suit smiled slightly. He looked at the abandoned hangar behind him and said, “It’s behind me… Let our guests see it.”

The hangar door was opened.

The abandoned hangar was filled with large green army boxes.

The boxes closest to the door were open, and they were displaying orange ammunition and bundles of weapons. There were also pieces of military equipment leaning on the side of the boxes.

A trace of greed flashed in Marach’s eyes.

As a famous warlord in the neighborhood, although he might seem like a bada*s, in fact, his life was quite intense. The expensive diamond mines and oil fields were controlled by the ZF army. They did not dare to get involved with them.

Normally, his biggest source of income was nothing more than commanding yachts to rob fishing boats. He looked for family members of the hostages and blackmailed them. As for those cargo ships escorted by warships, he didn’t dare to touch them either. After all, no one wanted to risk being shot at.

According to his estimation, the value of the arms in this hangar alone was worth at least 10 million US dollars.

The price of transport to East Africa was at least double that.

The arms in the hangar in front of him looked like a treasure chest. He didn’t pay attention to the armed soldiers.

This was his territory.

If necessary, he could start a guerrilla warfare.

However, he still wanted to listen to what these people had to say, to decide whether to cooperate with them or to destroy them.

“This is worth twenty million dollars.” The man in the suit reminded him of the actual value of the goods as he reached out and handed him a cigar. “This is Guba’s best cigar.”

He lit the cigar.

Marach rudely blew out a smoke ring. His eyes narrowed while looking at the hangar.

“This is it?”

“It’s just an advance payment.” The man in a suit said with a smile, “There will be goods worth about 80 million dollars in the future. I believe you will be interested.”

Marach calmed down after hearing that this was an advanced payment.

Of course, this was not because of professional ethics; it was purely for his own interests.

“Sounds great… How did you get these things here?”

The man in the suit smiled and said, “We have a large transport plane, and we have guys at customs. You don’t need to worry about this. We can even give the C-130 for you.”

When Marach heard the C-130, his face changed.

What did a transport plane mean?

It meant that he could transport goods to farther places. Whether it was arms or necessities, he could even step away from the pirate business and start a business as an arms dealer.

There were many invisible business opportunities in this desert.

As for the pilot…

This could be a problem, but it could be solved with money.

“What do you want? Attack an oil tanker? Which oil field?” Marach said as he licked his lips.

Marach was obviously interested. The man in the suit just smiled without saying a word. He took out a newspaper from his bag and threw it at him.

The newspaper was from BBC.

Marach looked at the cruise ship on the cover page and had a careless expression on his face.

However, when he looked at the lines of text, a serious look gradually appeared in his eyes.

His solemnity turned into anger.

“What’s the difference between this and suicide?” He threw the newspaper on the ground. Marach looked at the man in the suit angrily, “Are you joking?!”

Attacking the royal family’s cruise ship.

A cruise ship carrying important people from other countries!

This was a war!

Even though he was greedy, he was not stupid!

The mercenaries standing nearby immediately held their weapons tightly. The militants who followed the bearded man took the same action.

The atmosphere in front of the hangar suddenly became tense.

Faced with the murderous sight of the warlord, the expression on the man in the suit did not change. The man spoke softly.

“Yes, it is suicide.

“The people who attack the cruise ship will definitely die. But before they die, I need you to make them kill a person on the ship.”

Marach’s eyes narrowed.

It seemed like he was weighing the pros and cons in his mind. After a while, he asked, “Who?”

“I have sent his information to your email.”

Perhaps his greed prevailed, or perhaps he thought of a sure-fire way to ensure that no one would know that this matter was related to him, Marach slowly said, “I cannot guarantee the safety of other passengers on the cruise ship.”

“You don’t have to guarantee it.” The man in the suit smiled and said in a pleasant tone, “Whether the ship is exploded or covered up as an accident, it’s all up to you. As long as you confirm that the target is dead, you will receive the rest.

“So, what do you choose?”

Marach was silent for a while again.

Suddenly, he spoke.

“After this, I may have to keep a low profile for a while.”

The man in the suit smiled.

“A wise choice, that would be the best.”

“I haven’t finished talking yet.”

Marach took off the cigar from his mouth. As if he had finally made up his mind, he had a fierce look in his eyes.

“The arms payment is not enough.

“I want more money.”

…

Ever since the completion of the controllable fusion project, Lu Zhou had become a target in the eyes of politicians from all over the world.

There was only one reason.

As the inventor of controllable fusion, a shareholder of East Asia Energy, and the head of countless Chinese scientific research organizations, his status was no longer just a scholar. He was someone who could influence the decision-making of a country.

In the field of nuclear fusion, his word was the bible.

This power can determine the future of a country for the next half of the century.

As one of the five Nordic countries, Sweden had always hoped to be the first to negotiate a controllable fusion reactor project with China. This nuclear power plant would dominate the Nordic grid.

They had offered many preferential conditions, such as allowing Chinese enterprises to intervene in public facilities projects and allowing the extradition of wanted criminals, etc…

The fusion reactor core was wanted by countries all over the world.

Therefore, this voyage to Copenhagen was somewhat diplomatic.

Not only was the Sweden royal family on board, but there were also many Nordic entrepreneurs and rich people on the cruise ship “Aurora Borealis”, along with entrepreneurs and diplomats from China.

Both sides hoped to develop economic and trade cooperations with each other. They wanted more cooperation opportunities and markets for their countries.

Princess Lilia stood next to her father, Prince Frederick. She kept making faces at Lu Zhou when her father was not paying attention.

The little girl seemed to be angry about what happened at the banquet the other day.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t worried. He just smiled at her. The little princess stomped her feet angrily and turned her head, completely ignoring him.

Lu Zhou didn’t care.

Standing on the deck of the ship, he looked up at the distant sea and sky.

As he looked at the waves, he felt as if something was going to happen.

“The wind on the deck is strong.”

Wang Peng spoke.

“I feel like you’re in a good mood.”

“I am?”

Wang Peng nodded and spoke seriously.

“Much better than usual.”

Lu Zhou heard this and smiled awkwardly.

I didn’t expect it to be this obvious.

He admitted that he was in a really good mood these days. In fact, he was almost ecstatic.

As Wang Peng looked at the brilliant smile on Lu Zhou’s face, he didn’t know what to say, so he chose to remain silent.

However, Lu Zhou’s smile did not last for long.

Because the alarm suddenly went off…

Chapter 1269: Loud Waves

Curry was a sailor who had served 3 years and 27 days on the “Oseberg” cargo ship.

This cargo ship, named after the “Oseberg” ship in the Norwegian Pirate Ship Museum, was deployed on the Baltic trade routes since it was launched four years ago.

Every time they went to sea, the crew members would joke about the waves in the Baltic Sea. However, what he didn’t expect was that after so many years of sailing on the calm Baltic Sea, this time they were really hit by the waves…

“Stop moving.”

He wanted to move his numb calf, but before he could move his toe, he was kicked in the back.

When Curry saw the shadow of the rifle reflected on the deck, he didn’t dare to say a word.

Even though he shared the same name as Stephen Curry, he didn’t have any amazing reflexes or big muscles. He was just an ordinary person, and he only dared to lower his head reluctantly, fearing that the wicked people behind would shoot him and feed him to the fish.

Standing behind him at the moment was a group of men who called themselves pirates of the 21st century, hunting on the calm Baltic Sea.

Judging by the skin color and tone of these people, it was obvious that they were from East Africa. What confused Curry was how they flew all the way to the north of Europe?!

Pirates should have disappeared two hundred years ago.

After kicking the hostage, the dark-skinned man with a mask on his face walked to the deck guardrail. He walked behind a man with binoculars in his hand and asked, “Boss, how long will it take?”

“The Aurora Borealis has a maximum speed of 27 knots, and our speed is 40 knots. It will take half an hour for us to catch up to them.”

Black man: “Will we crash into them?”

“Yes.” The man put down the binoculars in his hand and looked at the skyline. Abrahan narrowed his vulture-like eyes, took off his sunglasses, and put them on his shirt collar.

He was Marach’s most powerful subordinate, and he had done many terrible robberies in the seas. Because of Marach’s trust in his ability and loyalty, he assigned him as head of this task.

Abrahan did not want to disappoint his leader. He was determined to complete this mission!

The dark-skinned man hesitated and couldn’t help but speak.

“But—”

“The leader arranged a fishing boat nearby to meet us. We only need to take an escape boat and quickly escape from this area after crashing with the cruise ship.”

This plan sounded perfect. As long as the whole operation was disguised as a tragic cargo ship collision, no one would see the several bullet holes on the cruise ship that sunk into the Baltic Sea.

If it didn’t crash, he would board the ship with his men and then install the thermite explosive. There was no need to keep any hostages. Even if the nearest patrol came to support, it would take them three hours. The entire operation could be completed within an hour.

However…

Would everything really go so smoothly?

Even though he had such concerns in his heart, the dark-skinned man did not dare to ask more, for fear that the fierce man would punish him.

For people like them, cowardice and death were the same.

If he showed fear, a dead vulture would fly down from the sky without hesitation and pierce his skull…

…

On the decks of Aurora Borealis.

Because of the sirens, people looked horrified, looking around with confusion in their eyes.

The businessmen who were chatting with each other put down the glasses of champagnes in their hands. A lady in a dress grabbed her partner’s arm. The waiters who served the wine and the meal also had the same expression on their faces.

“What is going on?”

“Did someone accidentally set it off?”

“This is a cruise ship carrying the royal family. How can anyone make such a low-level mistake! It’s really shameful!”

A man in a crew uniform came to the deck and spoke in a loud voice.

“Don’t be nervous, everyone, there might be some strong wind and waves ahead. Please go back to your room and wait for the alarm to be lifted. We will notify you when afternoon tea continues.”

However, this loud voice did not immediately control the situation, it made the situation on the deck even more chaotic. Confused people looked around nervously, hoping to find out what happened.

Some people were even flirting at a time like this.

“James, is there an iceberg ahead?”

“Don’t worry, my beautiful darling, if we run into an iceberg, I’ll use my love for you to melt it…”

As soon as the alarm went off, Wang Peng put his right hand into his pocket calmly. He stood with his back facing Lu Zhou and his eyes narrowed.

The security guards scattered nearby also took action one after another. They evacuated the nearby crowd and alerted them of the possible dangers.

“It’s not safe here, we should go back to the room.”

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and asked, “What happened?”

Wang Peng raised his left hand and pressed on his wireless headset. He spoke with a serious expression.

“It’s not clear yet… We are still confirming the situation.”

The waves under the cruise ship suddenly became turbulent, with waves reaching several meters high.

The people standing on the edge screamed and backed away. The shaking made the wine glasses fall to the ground. Everything was in chaos.

Lu Zhou squinted his eyes and looked at the sea not far away.

He could feel the turbulent shaking from his feet. The waves weren’t getting bigger. Instead, the cruise ship was accelerating.

A colleague of Wang Peng confirmed the situation from the captain’s room. Wang Peng reached out and clicked on his wireless headset. He then spoke to Lu Zhou.

“A cargo ship has deviated from course and is heading straight toward us. The captain is trying to send a contact signal to the cargo ship, but no response has been received so far. They increased the speed of the ship to its maximum… They want to catch up with us.”

“Maybe they want to race us.”

“That would be the best, but the situation is obviously not that simple…”

“In that case, we should go to the captain’s room.”

Wang Peng: “My colleague is already there.”

Lu Zhou: “Then… let’s go too.”

Wang Peng nodded. He led Lu Zhou across the boat and walked toward the captain’s cabin in midst of the shaking and turbulent waves.

Finally, they arrived at the destination.

Wang Peng stepped forward and opened the hatch, stepping into the captain’s cabin first.

“What’s the situation? Did we make contact?”

“Not yet.” The staff in charge of communications was holding a phone with an awkward look. He said with an uneasy look on his face, “We tried to change the course, but they also changed the course immediately… There is no doubt they are heading for us.”

“This is not looking good!”

Continuing to wait like this was not an option.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou took out the holographic glasses from his pocket and put it on the bridge of his nose.

“Xiao Ai, connect to the orbit satellites… I need aerial photos of the nearby sea area.”

Xiao Ai: [Received! Connecting (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Wang Peng was looking at him with a strange expression. Lu Zhou paused. He then smiled and pointed his index finger to his glasses.

“AR glasses… It’s more convenient than phones.”

On the other hand, in outer space.

A Star Sky Technology meteorological observation satellite departed from its original orbit and moved to the area over Northern Europe, under the force of a plasma thruster.

A clear aerial image soon appeared in Lu Zhou’s field of vision. After several zooms, the image was locked on the cargo ship.

The moment he saw the cargo ship’s deck, Lu Zhou’s pupils shrank.

After a while, he looked at Wang Peng and said, “I am afraid we have encountered some pirates.”

After he finished speaking in Chinese, he repeated this sentence in English.

The captain’s cabin immediately fell into a wave of panic.

“Pirates?” The bodyguard of the Royal Guard glanced at Lu Zhou and asked with a weird look, “Are you sure?”

This was the Baltic Sea, near developed countries. There should be no such thing as pirates.

Pirates usually operated in third world countries.

Lu Zhou, who knew that this guy would probably be useless, turned his attention to Wang Peng.

“I have sent the picture to your phone.”

Wang Peng immediately took out his phone and unlocked the screen.

The moment he saw the aerial pictures, his eyes suddenly sharpened.

Hostages and pirates were on the deck of the cargo ship. Not only did they have no intention of hiding at all, but they also tied the hostages to the guardrails of the ship.

Their plans were obvious.

They were using the hostages as a threat and wanted to launch a full-on attack on them.

Lu Zhou: “Should we negotiate with the other side?”

Even though it was difficult, there should be a way to solve this.

“No need.”

Wang Peng pulled out a satellite phone that looked like a little smartphone. He pressed the physical buttons and entered a password. He typed a message and pressed the send button.

After this, he put away the phone and looked outside the cabin window.

“Our people are already on the way.”

Chapter 1270: Surgery

Jinling launch site.

The atmosphere was quite lively recently.

The first group of space residents to go to the Guanghan Special Economic Zone had already moved here a month ago. Most of them were born in the 90s, and some were born in the 80s. All of them had a PhD or were senior engineers.

Tao Muye stood near the dorms at the launch base. He had a can of coffee in his hand, drinking coffee while thinking.

A man walked out of the dormitory building and walked over.

“You’re a PhD?”

There were only two kinds of people in the first group of lunar residents; one was engineers and the other was scientific researchers.

Tao Muye looked at the man and nodded.

“Yes, you?”

“Same.” The man with a flattop smiled and lit up a cigarette. He said, “What are you doing?”

“Me?”

“Who else?”

“Growing things.”

“Growing?”

“To be precise, researching growing seeds.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Not as interesting as you think.”

“Haha, good one, but seriously…” The man took a deep breath of cigarette smoke. He then took out another cigarette, smiled, and said, “Want one?”

“I don’t smoke.”

“There are PhDs who don’t smoke? I already doubt your academic ability.” The man smiled and put the cigarette on his ear. He then asked, “How do you write papers then?”

Tao Muye shook the canned coffee in his hand.

“By using this.”

“Coffee… Good stuff, but for me, the stimulation is still a bit weak. I have to write out a 20,000-word essay within 72 hours to satisfy my old supervisor. A pack of cigarettes a day is a must.”

“Who’s your supervisor?”

“Sheng Xianfu.”

There was an obvious look of pride in the man’s eyes. It was obvious that he respected the professor quite a bit.

And after hearing the name Sheng Xianfu, Tao Muye looked surprised.

Academician Sheng was one of the leaders in the field of nuclear fusion engineering, and he was once in the fusion project team led by Academician Lu. After the completion of the Pangu reactor, he entered the controllable fusion miniaturization project team, and later, he became the director of Institute 585.

The plan of the second-generation fusion project was led by Academician Sheng, Academician Wang Zengguang from the China National Nuclear Corporation, and Academician Li Jiangang from the Fuyang Institute Construction Material Laboratory.

His supervisor is Academician Sheng.

Isn’t that Academician Lu’s colleague?

He’s quite an important person.

When the man carrying a can of coffee didn’t speak for a long time, the man with the flattop haircut continued, “Who is your supervisor?”

“It’s the archdruid.”

“Archdruid? Not bad! But speaking of which, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet.” The man with the flattop grinned and stretched out his right hand. He said, “I’m Sun Lieyang, I just graduated last year, and I want to work on second-generation controllable nuclear fusion.”

“I’m Tao Muye, studying aerospace technology for growing cotton, coffee beans, and other crops…” Tao Muye shook his hand briefly and glanced at him. He asked, “Is it fine to tell that information to anyone?”

“It’s not some kind of secret.” Sun Lieyang tapped the cigarette butt and said, “For a hundred-year long plan like this, we’re all cannon fodder. See how Professor Lu is not interested in participating? Second-generation controllable fusion is very different from first-gen. We plan on using helium as an energy source. This will take at least a century.”

Tao Muye smiled.

A century…

Most people couldn’t even imagine such a long time.

“What if Academician Lu helps?”

“That is unlikely.”

Even though their personalities were different, they began to chat. However, just as the two were talking, a harsh siren suddenly cut through the silent night sky.

Sun Lieyang frowned and stood up from the ground. He then patted his pants.

“What happened?”

Tao Muye glanced over and said, “I don’t know… Maybe it’s them?”

“Them?”

“The Airborne Brigade. They are on the other side of the base.”

Tao Muye threw the empty can accurately into the trash can. He clapped his hands and stood up from the ground. He said, “It’s better not to talk about this. We should do we learned in safety class. Let’s go and meet at the dorms. It’s not good to be seen out here.”

While the sirens were ringing, a line of soldiers wearing black mechanical exoskeletons ran toward Starlight, which was already parked on the runway.

Three squadron leaders wearing exoskeletons and a platoon leader stood with their hands behind their backs in front of a military staff officer.

“Three-minute combat meeting—”

“We are an instant-response team. The combat meeting will be held on the way.”

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted the staff officer. Li Gaoliang, fully armed, unlocked his exoskeleton mask and slammed his two fists heavily on the conference table.

“The first row will come with me. I will personally lead the team for this operation!”

The staff frowned and reminded him, “That is not your role.”

“My life was saved by him. The orbital Airborne Brigade only cares about combat, not roles!” Li Gaoliang took his hands off the table and glanced at the four heavily armed fighters at the table. “Let’s go!”

“Yes, sir!”

They all boarded within one minute.

They prepared for takeoff in two minutes.

A blue light was shining at the back of the Hall effect thruster, forming an arc in the sky.

Li Gaoliang felt the violent shaking from the back gradually reduced. He was sitting in the airborne cabin. He looked at the altitude data. He skillfully accessed the command channel through the voice control system, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly with a clear voice.

“Combat briefing!

“The Oseberg ship was hijacked by unidentified militants at 17 east longitude and 55 north latitude. We have contacted the Baltic shipping company and confirmed this. After a consultation, the other party agreed to launch a preemptive strike against the cargo ship. The premise is to ensure the personal safety of the twenty crew members on the cargo ship. The British side has sent the Royal Air Force from the nearest military base, and the Danish side has also sent rescue ships from the nearest port.

“Our mission is simple. Land and pull the trigger. We will try our best to ensure the safety of the hostages on board and perform strikes on the deck!”

One of the team leaders asked, “Should we capture anyone alive for interrogations?”

“We’ll think about that later.”

The safety of the Swedish royal family had nothing to do with them. But Professor Lu did.

In the event that his life was in danger or threatened, they retained the right to exercise necessary force in any area on the planet.

While they were talking, a red signal light in the cabin began to light up.

Starlight, sailing in low-earth orbit, had reached the skies over Northern Europe.

They had to jump from a height of more than two hundred kilometers. Even though they couldn’t see the scenery outside the window, their adrenaline was still rising. This was a test of courage.

“Check your seatbelt one last time, don’t p*ss your pants when you go down!”

“Inspection complete!”

“Good! Team 1 is entering orbit, the airborne procedure has started!”

The three airborne cabins were ejected away from the cargo compartment of Starlight. They began to fall toward the blue planet.

“What are we?!”

The uniform roar echoed in the communication channel.

“We are men of steel!”

Someone spoke.

“Sir, we are landing in seawaters.”

Li Gaoliang laughed and said, “Then we’ll ride the waves!”

Chapter 1271: I’ll Show You a Magic Trick

The chaos on the Aurora Borealis cruise ship continued.

People walked around in the cabins, packing their luggage frantically. They feared that they would be evacuated in a while, and they would become the ones left behind.

Either someone leaked the news, or perhaps the news was reported on TV, the rumors that they were followed by pirates spread crazily in the cabin.

Someone ran to the captain’s cabin and knocked on the door, asking for the escape boats to be put down. Some people even asked for life jackets to be issued. Once the ship was boarded by pirates, they would jump into the sea and escape.

When people encountered dangerous situations, they would often do ridiculous things.

Except for a limited number of diesel-engined speedboats, the rest of the rubber boats were only to keep people afloat at sea and wait for rescue. Not to mention that there was the risk of being overturned by the waves.

As for the life jackets…

That was a creative idea, to say the least.

More and more people gathered in the captain’s cabin. The bodyguards of the Royal Guards had to join the security team and maintained order outside the captain. The chief mate on board also tried to calm everyone’s uneasy emotions.

Even though they were safe for the time being, that might not remain true for long.

After Wang Peng reported the situation on the satellite phone, Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to take him out of the captain’s cabin. He wanted to return to his room to rest for a while.

However, just as they were going down the stairs, they suddenly met two acquaintances.

They were Prince Frederick and his beautiful wife, Princess Sophia. Princess Sophia was crying, and her head was lying on Prince Frederick’s shoulder, as if she had lost her soul.

Even though they had nothing to do with him, no one would turn a blind eye to such a thing. When Lu Zhou saw that the little princess was not by the two of them, he had a vague guess in mind. He asked kindly, “What happened?”

Princess Sophia looked up and saw Lu Zhou and Wang Peng. She grabbed Lu Zhou’s arm and said in a pleading voice, “My Lilia! She’s gone! I beg you, please help me.”

Lu Zhou glanced at her and saw that her eyes were red. It was like her whole person was drowning, desperately grabbing on to everything around her.

He had no doubt that she needed all the help she could get.

Prince Frederick was calm. He at least had a trace of reasoning ability. He gently pulled his wife’s arm.

“People from the Royal Guards are already looking for her, they just need a little time.”

“Those trash don’t care about us!” She pushed her husband’s arm away and covered her face. She sobbed and said, “The royal name means nothing to them, they don’t care about us. Look at them, they don’t care!”

“You’re overreacting…”

Wang Peng looked at Princess Sophia, who was crying, and took a step forward.

He had an expressionless look on his face. He did not care about these things at all, so he spoke in a polite voice.

“Sorry, Princess Sophia, we have more important—”

“It’s okay, please don’t panic, Princess Sophia, your daughter will come back to you.”

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou, who interrupted him. He almost suspected that there was something wrong with his ears.

Princess Sophia, who was still crying, raised her head and looked at him in disbelief.

“Are you… willing to help me?”

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Of course, I am also very worried about the safety of the little princess. I hope she can return to you as soon as possible.”

Prince Frederick held his wife’s hand again, squeezing it gently. He was looking at Lu Zhou with some hesitation.

“Are you… sure?”

Even though the relationship between the two countries was temporarily in a honeymoon period, both Sweden, China, and he knew that his daughter was not worth the risk of Academician Lu’s life.

A problem with the princess was just Sweden’s own problem.

But a problem with Lu Zhou wasn’t as simple as a diplomatic dispute.

Lu Zhou looked at Prince Frederick, and he spoke with a smile.

“It’s fine, it’s nothing difficult.”

After asking for Prince Frederick’s room number, Lu Zhou led Wang Peng to the other end of the cabin. Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou from behind and said, “We shouldn’t be distracted. I am worried that there may be other dangers on board.”

This wasn’t Lu Zhou’s responsibility…

Even if something happened to the little princess, no one would blame the scholar or China. People would put the blame on the pirates.

“People all over the world know that the Swedish royal family is the poorest royal family in the world. Even if there are some well-known entrepreneurs and rich people on board, they are far from being rich enough to be a target. Not to mention that even if they receive a ransom, it will be difficult to get away. Obviously, the pirates are not looking for money, they’re coming after me.

“So, we’ll be fine.”

“But—”

Wang Peng wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Lu Zhou.

He smiled and continued, “Like I said, it’s not a big deal.”

In fact, the main reason was that Chen Yushan liked the little girl. If the little girl was in danger, like she fell into the water or something worse, Chen Yushan would definitely feel sad.

Of course, this was just an excuse.

Perhaps the real reason was that Lu Zhou was a nosy person.

Wang Peng sighed and gave up.

“How are you going to find her? I don’t have enough manpower on my side.”

“This is a good question. Give me one minute.”

Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and tapped lightly on the AR glasses.

“Xiao Ai, help me find a little girl on the boat. Her name is Lilia, the little princess of the royal family. I don’t have a picture of her, but you should be able to find it online.”

[Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Xiao Ai controlled the quantum computer. It was almost omnipotent in the online world. Even though the surveillance on the cruise ship was not connected to the internet, there were things connected to the cruise ship that could be used as a proxy.

Xiao Ai had instantly gained control of the monitoring system.

It retrieved the height and other physical characteristics of the little girl. It quickly scanned the entire Aurora Borealis ship.

Lu Zhou reached out his hand and gently held his glasses. He smirked and said, “We found her.”

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

He wanted to ask “Are you sure?”, but Lu Zhou would never joke about this kind of thing, so he changed his words.

“Your glasses… How much is it?”

“You think this pair of glasses was behind this? Don’t even think about it, it’s mine.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said, “The target is in the utility room at the end of the second floor. The room number should be B2771. Let’s go over.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Okay.”

Lu Zhou followed Wang Peng’s footsteps to the utility room at the end of the ship.

This was mainly for storing cleaning supplies that were temporarily unusable, so generally, no one would enter here.

The door was locked. Lu Zhou was curious about how the naughty little girl slipped away. He didn’t waste too much time on such minor matters. His index finger tapped on the frame of his glasses. After that, the electronic lock was unlocked.

Wang Peng turned the door handle first and cautiously opened the door.

Lu Zhou watched his cautious movement. He smiled and shook his head before following him into this fairly spacious storage room.

There was no ambush here, only a little girl in a dress. She was sitting in a corner while holding a rag doll tightly.

Her big emerald eyes stared at the two people who appeared at the door. Princess Lilia was shocked.

“Why aren’t you guys hiding?”

Lu Zhou felt like this question was a bit funny. He walked to her and squatted down. He then asked with a smile, “Why should we hide? It’s just a small accident. Good kids don’t run around.”

“Lilia is not running around. Lilia is just escaping.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t hold back. He smiled and shook his head.

Escape?

We’re in the ocean, where can you escape?

The little princess sitting on the ground complained, “You don’t believe me. I’m telling the truth. Some people are saying that pirates are here. And I can’t find mom and dad. Lilia has to hide from the pirates!”

“Good kids should go back to their rooms instead of making their parents anxious… Wait, you said someone said that pirates are coming?”

“Yes.” Lilia nodded. She looked at Lu Zhou curiously and said, “Don’t you know? Everyone is saying that.”

Lu Zhou and Wang Peng looked at each other with a moment of realization in their eyes.

Sure enough, there were insiders on the ship.

Even if there were rumors, they wouldn’t be so consistent.

Besides, the rumor was spread before he used satellite images.

Even if the news came from the captain’s cabin, the timing didn’t make sense. Someone was deliberately creating chaos, and they intended to take advantage of the chaos…

A searching icon flashed in the upper right corner of the glasses.

After 30 seconds, a line of text appeared in Lu Zhou’s field of vision.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Xiao Ai found a few suspicious people in the bottom layer of the ship. φ(≧ω≦*)♪]

Lu Zhou: “Mark them for me.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Soon after, a surveillance stream was displayed. While everyone went to the restaurant and prepared to follow the instructions to evacuate, a few suspicious people walked against the crowd and walked to the bottom of the cruise ship.

Judging from their clothes, they were wearing the uniforms of the hotel staff. Finally, they disappeared from the surveillance screen. Xiao Ai marked their current location on the map.

“Wang Peng, look at your phone.”

Wang Peng turned on his phone without any hesitation and played the surveillance video that Lu Zhou had just sent.

When he saw the unusual people, he frowned.

“Before boarding, there were two security checks. Apart from us, no one should be able to bring weapons on board.”

“Does this include the Royal Guards?”

Wang Peng was taken aback for a moment. He then nodded.

“I see…”

They did not bring weapons on board. They planned to use the equipment belonging to the Royal Guards.

Even though these equipment were all light weapons, it was enough to do many things in the midst of the chaotic situation.

If the pirates’ attack was unsuccessful, they would be the backup plan.

Wang Peng put away the phone and said, “I’ll be back. You stay here, don’t walk around.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t plan to go anywhere, but you should be careful. There were six people.”

Wang Peng smiled suddenly. Even Princess Lilia couldn’t help but notice the murderous expression in that smile.

“Only six?

“Even sixty is not enough.”

After that, he walked out of the door.

The door of B2771 was closed. Before leaving, Wang Peng turned on the lights in the storage room for Lu Zhou.

It was safe here.

The monitoring system was being controlled by Xiao Ai. No one could find him even if they searched the entire cruise ship. He just needed to wait here quietly for the chaos to end. After that, he could hand the little princess to her parents. Everything would be solved.

Lu Zhou was thinking about whether to use his AR glasses to pass the time and watch a movie when a timid voice suddenly came from next to him.

“I heard.”

“Heard what?”

“The pirates will take us away.”

“…”

Lu Zhou thought this was ridiculous. If the pirates couldn’t demand ransom, why would they take any hostages? But seeing how this was just a six-year-old girl, he didn’t bother to correct her.

“Then what?”

“Then kill all the men, then all the women—”

Lu Zhou immediately covered her mouth nervously.

“Who told you these things?”

Princess Lilia blinked and spoke innocently.

“I read it online.”

“I think people who told you these things should go to jail.”

Lilia asked curiously, “Then… Should Mr. Andersen be in jail? I love his stories the most.”

Lu Zhou: “What you read is definitely not the normal version…”

“What should I do, I’m very scared.” Lilia suddenly hugged her head. Her body leaned against the corner. She suddenly thought of something terrifying, and her shoulders trembled as she said, “What if they throw me into the sea and feed me to the fish?”

Feed you to the fish?

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but shake his head.

He was thinking about how to comfort her when he suddenly thought of a good idea. He snapped his fingers and said, “Don’t worry, I can show you a magic trick.”

Lilia looked up at Lu Zhou and spoke curiously.

“Magic?”

“That’s right, magic.”

Lu Zhou stood up from the floor and extended his right hand to the little girl sitting on the ground. “Get up, let’s go to the porthole.”

She gracefully placed her hand in Lu Zhou’s palm. Lilia said, “Can’t you just do it here? The boat is shaking, it’s tiring to stand up.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t fall. This magic trick is only for bad people…”

Lu Zhou looked outside the porthole. The cargo ship was getting closer.

On the other hand, a green dot was getting closer and closer on the map on his AR glasses.

“Where is the magic?” Lilia tilted her head unhappily. She looked at Lu Zhou and grumbled, “Are you lying to me, Mr. Scholar?”

“Anyone who knows me knows that I never lie. Look out the window.” Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and gently pointed at the cargo ship that was getting closer. He said softly, “Abracadabra.”

Chapter 1272: Falling From the Sky!

“Almost there.”

The cruise ship in the distance was approaching. Abrahan put down the telescope in his hand. A tinge of excitement was ignited in his heart.

After nearly half an hour of chasing, this cat and mouse game had finally come to an end. Even though it took a little longer than expected, it was not too late. This kind of cruise ship designed for pleasure would never be able to pass the “Oseberg”.

Abrahan gave the binoculars to his subordinate. Abrahan took off his AK and spoke.

“Brothers.

“Our enemy is here.

“For the honor of our tribe, for the endless wealth, for…”

His eyes narrowed. He was facing the sunlight. Abrahan felt like he saw something, but he couldn’t see clearly.

Finally, he faintly saw three burning flames in the sky.

“What is that?”

The other guy standing on the deck followed his line of sight and saw flames in front of the sunlight.

By the time they caught a glimpse of the flame, everything was too late.

No one reacted fast enough.

The fire of punishment that fell from the sky did not give them any time to react.

A loud bang from the sky was heard, followed by a huge shockwave on the deck. Almost everyone fell to the ground.

The entire cargo ship was hit by something. The entire ship tilted to one side.

After the explosion from the sky, the billowing smoke descended. It covered the sea like a mist, engulfing the entire cargo ship.

The people on the boat coughed and tried to get up from the ground. However, the pungent smoke caused them to tear up; their hearing and vision were gone.

Abrahan was on the ground. He was horrified. He saw a group of armed soldiers wearing black exoskeletons coming out of a metal box and starting to spray fire. In just an instant, most of his men were killed.

Except for a few sporadic AK gunshots, most people didn’t even have a chance to resist. They fell down in a pool of blood.

“Monsters…”

It was like something was stuck in Abrahan’s throat as he spoke in a hoarse voice

He couldn’t think of a better word to describe these magical soldiers descending from the sky. They were monsters.

To them, the pungent fog did not seem to exist.

He threw away the weapon in his hand, put his hands on the railing, and scrambled with the hostages who were tied to the railings.

The soldiers did not seem to regard him as a threat. They were focused on the militants who were still holding weapons.

However, this did not bring him more security.

He finally succumbed to the burning sensation of burning nasal mucosa and eyeballs. He opened his eyes and grabbed the life jacket beside him. He untied the rope and put it around his body. He then jumped into the sea.

The gunfire faded away.

The thick fog and gunfire smell were blown away by the sea breeze.

Sporadic flashes of light could still be seen on the deck, as well as the screams from his former comrades. But he didn’t have any trace of guilt. He used all his strength to wave his arms, just to get a little further away from the ship.

There was no doubt that this operation had failed…

…

On the Aurora Borealis cruise ship.

The bottom cabin.

The staff members on the cruise ship were usually active here. Ordinary passengers were not allowed to enter here. However, this situation was a bit special. Most people, including the cruise ship staff, ran to the restaurant to take refuge, while the rest scrambled to the top floors.

Therefore, it was weird for anyone to stay on the bottom floors.

Wang Peng didn’t think too much. Using the map on his phone, he went straight to the hiding place of the group. He confirmed that they had weapons in their hands and left no mercy.

After the last target fell in a pool of blood, the gunfire finally stopped.

The last person committed suicide. Wang Peng frowned and looked around cautiously. After confirming that there were no traps, he crossed the pool of blood and walked over.

Wang Peng kicked the weapon in the man’s hand to the side. He knelt down, stretched out his index finger, and pressed it on his neck. After confirming that there was no sign of life, he fumbled with his pockets.

Unopened tissues?

I’ll keep it for now, maybe there is valuable information.

Makeup mirror?

Why would a man carry such things on their bodies?

Wang Peng’s left hand suddenly encountered a hard object. He carefully took the thing out of the person’s pocket.

It was a blood-stained notebook, it looked a bit like a mission briefing.

After he opened the notebook, Wang Peng was stunned.

This was not a mission briefing at all.

He had read something similar before…

…

Cabin B2771.

Next to the porthole.

The little girl laying on the side of the porthole desperately leaned on the glass.

“Wow…”

Colors flashed in her pupils. When the flames fell from the sky hit the “pirate ship”, Princess Lilia couldn’t help but applaud with excitement.

From her perspective, what happened was completely different from that in Abrahan’s eyes.

She saw a few flames coming from the sky, but because the speed was so fast, her memory was a little fuzzy.

When the “pirate ship” was hit by the flames from the sky, it left a dense fog, making the ship no longer visible.

The cruel battle was covered by the thick fog.

She had never seen such a magic trick before!

This was no longer just a magic trick; it was a kind of fairy tale magic!

She clapped excitedly. She then pulled Lu Zhou’s sleeve and asked, “Wow! Awesome! What is that? Magic?”

Lu Zhou squinted at the cargo ship and spoke with a faint smile.

“Sort of.”

In a sense, science beyond common sense was not much different than magic.

Her emerald pupils were shining. The little girl opened her eyes wide open and looked at Lu Zhou. She then said, “Mr. Scholar, it seems like you have saved me…

“So, are you my prince?”

Lu Zhou, who was looking at the blazing fire outside the porthole, almost choked on his saliva.

After coughing violently twice, Lu Zhou raised his sleeve and wiped the corners of his mouth. He then said patiently, “Your Highness, you might be mistaken, I’m old enough to be your court mage.”

“Like Gandif?”

You mean Gandalf?

“Sort of… Basically, say these things to someone your age.”

Lilia wasn’t too disappointed, but she still sighed like an old man.

“They’re so boring. They only spend their time on boring things. They never calm down and read a book…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Even though he knew that this little fellow was mostly just playing around, but for some reason, he felt a bit awkward.

If this were my kid…

Suddenly, for some reason, he wanted to have a daughter.

Footsteps came from outside the door.

Lu Zhou already saw who this person was from the surveillance footage. He snapped his fingers while looking in the direction of the door, signaling Xiao Ai to release the electronic lock on the door.

The door pushed open.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and said, “It’s done?”

Wang Peng nodded. He replied in a casual way, “A total of eight, and I killed seven.”

Lu Zhou: “What about another one?”

“Suicide.”

“Suicide?”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. An unexpected look appeared on his face.

Suicide is not something pirates do.

Generally speaking, people chose to end their lives in two situations. One was the complete loss of hope in life and the other was for loyalty and faith.

The former was obviously not true.

In this case, it could only be the latter.

Wang Peng saw something in Lu Zhou’s eyes. He was a little hesitant, but after some thinking, he said, “I found something on the dead body… In fact, we shouldn’t tell you these things and that we should take care of them ourselves. But I think it might interest you.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “What did you find?”

He took out a plastic bag, which contained a bloodstained notebook.

Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou, who was puzzled, and spoke.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence…

“But you might recognize the contents of this notebook.”

Chapter 1273: Cleaning the Battlefield

“The hostages are safe.”

“Check the surviving enemies.”

“There are two… The leader was not found, he might have escaped.”

“He didn’t escape, I let him go.” Li Gaoliang tapped his index finger twice on the wrist-mounted computer on his arm. Li Gaoliang looked toward the soldier next to him and said, “The British Secret Service helicopter will arrive in 17 minutes. Let’s clear the deck.”

The battle was over a few minutes ago.

It could not be called a battle at all; it was a one-sided slaughter. There were bloodstains everywhere on the deck. The killed militants were lying lifelessly everywhere.

Even though this was the nature of war, it was still somewhat gory and revolting.

The two pirate prisoners were imprisoned in the cabin. After Li Gaoliang ordered his subordinates to take photos and collect evidence, he found the cargo ship captain and organized a few crew members to mop the blood off the deck.

Because of the weather, the helicopter took three minutes later than expected.

After twenty minutes of waiting, the four helicopters finally flew to the cargo ship. A few ropes were dropped from the sky, and soon, a group of elite men in black combat uniforms descended using the ropes.

However, even though these people were elite soldiers who had undergone cruel training, when they stood next to the sci-fi-like exoskeleton armor, they appeared minuscule.

The tall commander of the special forces walked to Li Gaoliang’s side. He took off the mask on his face and said, “We’ll take over from here.”

Li Gaoliang glanced at him.

“This is public waters.”

“We know it is.”

Li Gaoliang then said, “You can chill on the sidelines if you want.”

“…”

The commander of the special forces obviously wanted to say something, but due to being intimidated, he finally put his right hand on the headset and walked aside. He asked his superiors for instructions.

Li Gaoliang ignored him and continued to command his team. This included helping the wounded, searching for surviving prisoners, and taking pictures of the scene for evidence.

The battle on the deck ended in less than half a minute. Apart from being frightened and annoyed by the irritating gas, the hostages who were tied up here had no other serious problems.

The British special forces didn’t know what to do. They stared at each other, twiddling their thumbs while waiting for new orders.

Another helicopter flew from the sky.

Li Gaoliang raised his head and squinted.

His tactical eyepiece zoomed in and locked in on the logo on the helicopter.

Broadcast helicopter?

BBC?

Li Gaoliang smirked and glanced at the royal secret service paratroopers in the cabin.

These British reporters sure are fast.

Almost faster than their special forces…

…

On the helicopter.

The violent air current blew the reporter’s blond hair. The man leaned out half of his body, squinted his eyes to face the camera, and shouted with all his strength.

“This is a live broadcast from BBC News!

“We are currently in the sky above the cargo ship Oseberg. This cargo ship lost contact with the Baltic shipping company three hours ago and deviated from its course, moving straight toward the Aurora Borealis.

“Two hours ago, it was confirmed through multiple channels that the cargo ship was hijacked by pirates. The United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and China quickly dispatched rapid reaction forces to rescue…

“We can see from the deck that the British Royal Secret Service troops have just arrived on the deck. They are… Wait, the battle seems to be over?! Is it over?

“Please wait… We are receiving new information!

“Oh, sh*t! According to the authorities, this cargo ship is currently controlled by the Chinese orbital Airborne Brigade team… Wait, you mean, the battle was over an hour ago?!

“Didn’t you say that our special forces left from the nearest military base? They were actually an hour earlier than us?!”

The British reporter yelled in disbelief, “How is this possible?!”

…

Yes, how is this possible?!

The BBC reporter wasn’t the only one in disbelief. Abrahan, who was lucky enough to escape from dying, couldn’t believe any of this.

Those people were not people at all.

They were like monsters.

Abrahan desperately waved his arms. He was still swimming in the sea, and the fear in his heart still did not fade.

Over the past ten years, he had fought dozens of guerrilla wars in the jungles and deserts of East Africa. He had seized no less than 20 convoys of international humanitarian relief supplies and looted dozens of fishing boats.

However, even with such a wealth of combat experience, he had never seen such an opponent.

They were more difficult to deal with than the SEALs.

No, actually, the two were not comparable at all.

Even though the SEALs had advantages in equipment and firepower, when at the right place, they could rely on their rich guerrilla experience to fight those arrogant Americans.

But when faced with the monsters…

He didn’t even have the courage to fight back.

Abrahan finally approached a medium-sized fishing boat. With the help of a few dark-skinned sailors, he climbed onto the fishing boat.

A man with a beard walked up to him, grabbed his collar, and stared in his eyes.

“Aurora Borealis! What happened to the cruise ship and the people on it?”

“Sorry—”

Boom!

Smoke floated above the gun muzzle.

Marach pressed the trigger and shoot a few more times. He then let go of the unrecognizable face and kicked him into the sea.

He already knew the result of this mission. The reason for asking was that he didn’t want to believe it.

As expected, he was disappointed.

His hopes were crushed.

Marach put away the pistol. He turned his head back to his subordinates and told them to clean the deck. He continued to pretend to be a fishing boat.

The operation suffered heavy losses.

It seemed like all they could obtain was the deposit.

Fortunately, the deposit was also worth a lot of money.

At least it was more than enough to make up for his loss.

With this in mind, Marach felt a little happy.

However, are things that simple?

Marach didn’t know that someone was watching him this whole time…

Chapter 1274: Ridiculous Clue

Landing on the battlefield from a height of hundreds of kilometers and ending the battle in less than half a minute…

The combat effectiveness demonstrated by the Airborne Brigade completely shocked the British Royal Secret Service troops that arrived later, as well as the British Defense Department, and the audience who sat in front of the TV and heard the news through BBC.

This was the first battle for the orbital Airborne Brigade.

Although there had been various controversies on the internet regarding the true combat effectiveness of this force, such as on whether the soldiers who jumped from such a high place could maintain their normal combat effectiveness and whether their weapons could still fire normally…

Suddenly, all of the doubts had disappeared.

They were strong.

In fact, they were extremely strong…

People around the world were still digesting this new information. The moods of the passengers on the “Aurora Borealis” cruise ship had gradually returned to normal.

In the hallway, Prince Frederick picked up Princess Lilia as he spoke in a trembling tone.

“Oh my god, Lilia! Where did you go?”

Laying on her father’s shoulder, Lilia looked back at Lu Zhou and whispered in her father’s ear, “The scholar showed me a magic trick!”

Prince Frederick was stunned.

“Magic?”

“Yeah! A huge pirate ship.” Lilia said excitedly, making a gesture with both hands, “Smoke fell from the sky, then the pirate ship disappeared.”

“The pirate ship… The cargo ship that was following us? Well, that… We really have to thank him.” Prince Frederick obviously didn’t know what his daughter was talking about.

But in any case, she had returned to him safely.

In addition to Prince Frederick, Princess Sophia was also excited.

She rushed out of the room and snatched Princess Lilia from her husband. She hugged her and kissed her. She then released the little girl who was about to suffocate.

She put down Princess Lilia and quickly walked to Lu Zhou, grabbed his hand, and spoke gratefully.

“Academician Lu Zhou, I really don’t know how to thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Actually, you don’t need to thank me.” Lu Zhou was a little afraid that this lady would also hug him, so after taking a half step back, he said politely, “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Prince Frederick stepped forward and said with a serious expression, “No, we have to thank you. Of course, we will also thank those who rescued us from the pirates. I will thank you and your country on a more formal occasion.”

“Uh, it’s really fine…”

Lu Zhou knew that he couldn’t convince Sophia and Frederick otherwise, so he gave up.

Due to the sudden encounter with pirates, the total voyage of this ship was shortened by a full day.

Not only was it because of the change in the course and the acceleration, but also because the subsequent stops, including sightseeing in Malmö, were canceled.

Not just that, but the evening banquet was also canceled.

After experiencing so many things, the passengers on the ship were already exhausted physically and mentally. The only thing they wanted to do now was rest. They would discuss the rest tomorrow.

Everyone had a quiet meal in the cafeteria before returning to their rooms. The captain of the Royal Guards was reprimanding the guards on the issue of equipment theft. As for Wang Peng, he was also busy with the unknown corpses at the bottom of the ship.

Only one day left on the ship.

Lu Zhou didn’t stay on the deck for long. He returned to his room and quietly looked at the scanned electronic version of the notebook that Wang Peng had collected from that person.

When Lu Zhou read the text on the tablet line by line, his eyebrows gradually frowned.

“No wonder Wang Peng said he read this somewhere…”

It was the posthumous work of the late ILHCRC researcher, Professor Galette Miro. It was his paper on the theory of the “spirit of the universe”.

Of course, this was the modified version.

This version of the thesis was no longer a thesis; it was more like a religious document. It was hard to imagine that these mobs were so motivated and even had the determination to die.

The radical environmentalists protesting on the streets of London were nothing compared to this.

“In other words, a group of believers of the spirit of the universe planned this attack?

“But this is too… ridiculous.

“Or is it just that someone wants to divert our attention through this smoke bomb?”

There were two possibilities.

But if the latter scenario was real…

Would anyone think of blaming this attack on a new religious organization?

Maybe if the CIA was behind this…

Lu Zhou closed his tablet. He threw the tablet on the bedside table and rubbed his sore eyes.

“I hope I’m wrong…”

He felt like that experiment seemed to have revealed something incredible.

However, worrying about these things now didn’t make much sense.

Now that Wang Peng had reported the situation to the higher-level department, the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department must have launched an investigation on this matter.

He should just quietly wait for the results of the investigation.

The Chinese intelligence department should be able to find something valuable along the way. If he still cared about this incident after this, he could find out what happened then.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes. He decided to go to bed early tonight.

Not long after he closed his eyes, the faint sound of a ghost surfaced in his mind.

“When you are staring at the Void, the Void is staring at you…”

…

The next morning was a sunny day.

Looking up from the deck, one could already see the outline of the harbor at Copenhagen.

After sitting at the dining table and eating the buffet breakfast, Lu Zhou put away the cloth on his lap and placed it back on the table. The chief mate standing by the railing spoke with a loud and enthusiastic voice to the guests.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to dock at the port of Copenhagen. We have encountered some… twists and turns along the way, but fortunately, everything is fine.

“On behalf of the crew of the Aurora Borealis, I would like to extend my sincerest greetings, and thank you all for this journey…”

Sporadic applause came from the deck, most of which were from the crew members themselves.

It was obvious that this explanation did not satisfy many passengers.

But in any case, this exciting journey was finally over.

After breakfast, the guests returned to their rooms to pack their luggage. After being sent off by all the crew members, they got off the cruise ship.

The cars of the Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen were already waiting at the harbor.

A bodyguard in a black suit stepped forward and opened the door for Lu Zhou. When he was about to get in the car, a group of reporters spotted him and immediately gathered around.

“Hello, I’m a reporter from The Sun. We heard that you saw Viking pirates at sea? Is that true?”

“It’s hard to say whether it was Viking pirates, but they were pirates… You should interview the embassies and consulates or the escort fleet patrolling this area for the specifics. I don’t know much about it.”

“Did they come here for you? Who do you think is behind this?”

“I don’t know either.”

After dealing with one reporter, before Lu Zhou could catch his breath, another microphone was stuffed in front of him.

“Hello, I am a reporter from The New York Times. I heard that you will speak on behalf of China at the Global Climate Summit. Is that true?”

“That is correct.”

The reporter asked, “But I heard that you came on a cruise ship.”

Lu Zhou immediately laughed and asked, “Are airplanes more environmentally friendly? What if I swam here?”

The reporter paused. Obviously, he didn’t expect Lu Zhou to throw the question back like this.

Who was interviewing who?

However, the reporter continued without showing weakness, “But… As an influential scholar, don’t you think you should set an example for environmental protection?”

Lu Zhou, who was annoyed, reached out and grabbed the microphone in his hand. He replied in a clear and polite tone, “Because I am a scholar, I don’t need to explain myself, I know what I’m doing.

“As for being an example, I think controllable fusion is a good example. By improving energy efficiency, we have reduced carbon emissions and heat emissions by at least 50%.

“More results will be shown at the Global Climate Summit. Whether you can see it or not, that is not my problem.

“Also, I noticed that your clothes are made from chemical fiber, and most of its raw materials came from petroleum.

“That’s all I have to say.”

After that, he threw the microphone back to the reporter. He then got in the car parked on the side of the road and drove away.

Chapter 1275: Shocking the Whole World

Pentagon.

An image stream from a high-altitude drone was playing on the big screen.

In the cloud of smoke, the group of soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeletons cleared out all the militants on the deck without a trace of hesitation.

When the British special forces arrived by helicopter from the nearest military base, not only had they already completed the battle, but they had even cleaned up the blood on the deck.

The video ended.

The whole conference room was silent.

The senior military adviser of the United States Department of Defense broke the silence in the conference room and tapped the laser pointer twice on the big screen.

“Thirty-seven minutes.”

“Sh*t… They cleaned the deck faster than me washing my car.”

“Accurately speaking, it should be thirty…” the Pentagon Chief of Defense sitting at the conference table said. His face was gloomy as he continued, “From when they heard the news that the cargo ship was hijacked by militants, it took only 30 minutes to send the orbital paratroopers over.”

“The one-hour global deployment was probably a conservative estimate.”

“Their strategic military power is stronger than we thought!”

The conference room went silent again.

And this time, the silence was a bit scary.

“Damn it.” The president took off his glasses on the bridge of his nose. He pinched his nose and asked, “How did they do it so fast…?”

No one could answer this question.

They had no intel on the orbital Airborne Brigade team.

What kind of delivery method could deliver a team of steel soldiers, armed to the nines, from Jinling, which was tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Baltic Sea?

Only the Chinese themselves knew the secret.

NASA Director Carson, who had not spoken yet, suddenly said, “It is possible that they did not completely leave the atmosphere.”

Pairs of eyes in the conference room glanced at him.

Director Carson gulped and continued speaking bitterly, “Going into low satellite orbit directly through Russian airspace, then release the airborne capsule on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea… Theoretically, 30 minutes is possible.

“But even then, the timing is tight.

“From departure to landing, not one minute was delayed.”

Director Carson’s speech put heavy expressions on their faces.

Faced with such a powerful force, did they have any chance of winning?

There was a lot of controversy in the conference room regarding the combat effectiveness of this orbital airborne force.

But now, not only did all the doubts disappear, but the faces were replaced with looks of worry.

It wasn’t until this moment did they really understand what kind of opponent they were facing.

“I want to know who targeted the cruise ship.” The president’s index finger tapped on the conference table as he said with a gloomy face, “It better not to have anything to do with us.”

The Secretary of Defense looked at him.

“Is it not the CIA?”

The president shook his head.

“I have never authorized such a stupid action! I’m sure our CIA director would not be so stupid as to do such an asinine thing behind my back.”

If this were five years ago, it might be profitable to do such a plan.

But now, killing a respected physicist wasn’t enough.

His research institute and invisible scientific research heritage would live on. None of those things could be erased by bombs or a few assassins.

On the contrary, killing the physicist would put them in big trouble.

“Find out who hired the pirates.

“We might have to betray the Chinese.”

…

The Pentagon was not the only one in chaos.

The steel team that fell from the sky shocked the intelligence agencies around the world.

No one thought that this crisis would be resolved in this way.

No one thought that the armed steel team would look like something out of science fiction. Their performance in actual combat was also merciless.

The three airborne cabins were on the deck of the “Oseberg”. Although intelligence personnel from various countries were drooling at the technology, no one dared to make rash decisions.

There was only one reason.

The cargo ship was being controlled by the orbital Airborne Brigade, and it was slowly crossing toward East Asia.

After seeing the power of the orbital airborne troops, no one dared to challenge them, and no one dared to stop them.

Even the British Royal Secret Service, who had already boarded the deck, failed to make negotiation progress. They quietly left on their helicopters.

The global intelligence agencies were focused on this cargo ship. In an office far away in Beijing, a folder full of photos and various documents was placed on a rustic desk.

“The organization that assaulted Academician Lu has been found.”

An old section chief wearing a Ministry of State Security uniform said to the slightly younger man sitting behind a desk, “According to our intelligence personnel, after collecting and aggregating the information, the group of pirates was hired by an organization called… The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

“The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?” An unexpected look appeared on the face of the man sitting behind the desk. “What is that?”

It sounded like a movie or an online game. It didn’t seem like something that would appear in the real world.

“It seems to be a new religion… or an organization that makes money through this new religion… It’s more popular in developed countries and regions, but we have not seen any traces of their activities in our country. It comes from the paper of the former ILHCRC employee, Professor Galette Miro. He was a pioneer and a believer in the theory of cosmic animism.

“Maybe they have bigger plans in addition to making money, so they are very careful. They have not shown clear political demands, and so far, they have not attracted the attention of other countries.”

The old section chief’s eyebrows furrowed as he continued, “I just don’t know why they would suddenly attack Academician Lu.”

Could it be that they blamed the death of Professor Garrett Miro on Academician Lu?

This statement is far-fetched.

The man sitting behind the desk thought about something different. After simply flipping through the information in the documents, he asked, “Wasn’t this theory rejected by Professor Lu?”

The old section chief smiled.

“There are many things that have been denied by science? Moreover, Professor Lu did not completely deny whether there is such a mysterious will in the universe. He only classified it under the category of agnosticism and proved the existence of the Void and the existence of n+1 dimensions.”

The man sitting behind the desk had an unexpected look on his face.

“I didn’t know you knew so much about physics.”

The old section chief grinned and said, “After staying in the task force for a long time, you learn all kinds of things.”

This was the truth.

For the Ministry of State Security, the cases they dealt with were often more difficult than normal criminal cases.

After reading the file, the man put it at a corner of the table and sighed softly.

“Then what about this case?”

“This is no longer our job.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our satellite is aimed at the suspected pirate organization 24 hours a day, and we followed their fishing boat to find their nest.”

“Amazing…” The man sitting behind the desk couldn’t help but sit up straight. He then asked curiously, “What are the higher-ups going to do? Notify Interpol?”

“Interpol? They can’t control this kind of thing.” The old section chief smiled. His eyes narrowed as he said, “There is no need to ask them for such a small matter. There are a hundred ways I can think of when it comes to dealing with this problem.”

“What method are you going to use?”

“The method of stepping on ants.”

Chapter 1276: Out of Necessity

For a superpower country, it was easy to punish a warlord in East Africa.

Marach returned to the base with a tracker on him. He didn’t know that the reason why he was alive was purely because no one took him seriously.

But now, his greed had turned into a force of anger. China wasn’t the only one looking at him; the whole world was watching him.

They weren’t curious as to how he would escape.

They were curious as to how he would die miserably…

Lu Zhou, who was visiting Copenhagen, didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes.

To be honest, these things were beyond his scope. Even though the attention that was focused on him made him feel a little worried, he was far from scared.

The aerospace forces were on standby for 24 hours a day. There was no one in this world safer than him.

It was a shame that Li Gaoliang didn’t come to meet him on the cruise ship after completing the mission. Lu Zhou would have bought him some drinks.

Lu Zhou was staying at the most luxurious hotel in Copenhagen. He sat in the executive lounge, drinking afternoon tea while swiping through Weibo on his phone.

The headlines of the major news media were dominated by the orbital aerospace paratroopers that descended from the sky. The most interesting thing was that the netizens gave them weird names.

For example, names like “flames from heaven”, “celestial soldiers”, “space knights”, and so on. Moreover, these terms were actually quoted in newspapers.

As for netizens in North America, they were more serious.

They complained that NASA spent a lot of money every year yet didn’t achieve any results.

In fact, this was not fair.

Even though NASA did spend a lot of money, they absolutely did not spend money carelessly.

This was how scientific research investment was. Spending money wouldn’t guarantee success. Unless there was another talent like Lu Zhou, they would not have any hope of catching up with China in the aerospace field for a long time.

“Tomorrow morning, the mayor of Copenhagen wants to visit you. Do you have time?”

Sitting across from Lu Zhou was the Chinese ambassador to Denmark, Du Yanming. This gray-haired old man was 60 years old and had lived overseas for 20 years.

“He’s that eager?” Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at the old man across from him.

Over the past two days, he had almost met all the dignitaries of this small country. He was given a lot of business cards, but he couldn’t even remember a single name.

“Normally, they aren’t this enthusiastic.

“But this time is different.

“Because in the past, we have never made such a big mess during our trip.” The gray-haired ambassador smiled, picked up the teacup, and took a sip of the black tea in the cup. He said, “You know what? An army is stationed outside this hotel.”

Lu Zhou had a baffled look on his face.

In fact, this was not his fault.

He would never have thought that someone would target him on a cruise ship.

This kind of thing had never happened before, not when he visited Russia or France.

Lu Zhou didn’t speak. Ambassador Du used his index finger to gently touch the teacup. He smiled gently and continued, “I noticed that you seem to have no interest in tea, but anyway, I really recommend you to try this cup. The black tea in this cup is produced by a farm in Sri Lanka. The farm has a history of more than 100 years and is considered Danish. It’s also one of the royal family’s properties. They only serve it to the most distinguished guests.”

Lu Zhou sighed and reluctantly took a sip. He then put down the teacup.

“I’m really not used to drinking tea. I would rather have a cup of instant coffee.”

“Academician Lu’s tastes are quite unique.” Ambassador Du smiled and said, “Speaking of which, are you not married yet?”

“Sort of.”

“Do you need my help to introduce someone?”

“No, thanks, I already have a partner.”

“Oh, my apologies then.” Ambassador Du Yanming had an apologetic smile. He quickly changed the subject as he said, “Speaking of which, Ambassador Zhang asked me to thank you for him.”

Lu Zhou raised his head. “Ambassador Zhang Wenbin?”

“Yes.” Du Yanming smiled and nodded. He said, “Prince Frederick sent a tweet, thanking and praising your behavior on the cruise ship. The citizens of Sweden also expressed their gratitude. They did not expect Academician Lu to be so brave, standing up in times of crisis and was braver than their Royal Guards, saving their lovely little princess… If Princess Lilia was a little older, this could have been a romantic story.”

Lu Zhou coughed.

“Let’s not talk about that.”

Ambassador Du patted his leg and laughed.

“Haha, just kidding, don’t take it to heart. In any case, this is a good thing for our country’s diplomatic relations with the Nordic countries. What do you think?”

The gray-haired old man grinned at Lu Zhou.

If it weren’t the gray hair, Lu Zhou would have almost thought that this man was the same age as him.

To be honest, this was not a very interesting experience.

For someone who was approaching his thirties, he couldn’t help but imagine himself growing old.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect that an unintentional act of kindness would actually bring such an improvement to the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

…

Saturday.

The climate summit was held as scheduled.

People from all over the world gathered at this world-famous event. Not only because high-level leaders from all countries would attend this event, but also because Academician Lu, who previously won the second Nobel Prize in his life in Stockholm, was standing on the podium, speaking on behalf of China.

Honestly, environmental protection was not Lu Zhou’s field. He had no specific research on how to improve the atmospheric environment. But he could still say some words from a non-professional point of view.

The cameras were all focused on him.

Lu Zhou could feel that the moment he stood on the stage, high-level officials from other countries stopped talking and looked at him with attentive eyes.

In addition, some well-known environmentalists were also invited.

This included the popular teenage Swedish activist, as well as representatives of “Greenpeace”, and a series of extreme environmentalists.

The most excited ones were of course the reporters.

The moment Lu Zhou stepped into the room, they began to press their camera shutters.

However, these trivial things did not have any impact on Lu Zhou.

This was not the first time he did a report. Instead of being nervous, he was actually used to standing here.

Lu Zhou reached out and straightened the microphone. He nodded to the audience, cleared his throat, and spoke in a calm tone.

“It’s an honor to be here. It’s my pleasure to represent my country and show the world what we have done.”

With a written speech in his hand, Lu Zhou had a friendly smile on his face. He continued to speak in a gentle tone, “This is my second speech after the Nobel Prize. I’m sure everyone knows the topic of this speech. I won’t repeat myself too much.

“What have we done over the past five years?”

“I want to emphasize on the number five.” Lu Zhou paused and continued, “Five controllable fusion reactors were successfully ignited, the energy of controllable fusion has benefited at least five countries of the world. Also, we have eliminated more than 90% of thermal power plants in five years and replaced more than 50% of fuel-burning vehicles, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels to the level of half a century ago.

“This is unprecedented in the history of human development.

“We were not satisfied with our achievements. We also promoted clean energy to Southeast Asia and spread the convenience brought by technology to more distant places.

“Civilized countries spread civilization, barbaric countries spread barbarism. We have fulfilled our responsibilities and have set an example for the cause of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

“Thank you.”

The speech was over, and there was applause from the audience.

Lu Zhou had fulfilled his responsibilities as a “mascot”. He nodded gently and was about to step down. However, suddenly, an audience member raised their hand.

A girl wearing a green dress and a green baseball cap stood up with her pen. She then spoke in an impolite manner.

“I have a question.”

“It seems like I have no choice to refuse.” Lu Zhou didn’t know why the girl had hostility in her eyes. He still looked at her and nodded gently and said, “For convenience sake, can I ask for your name?”

“You can call me Greta.” The girl did not hide the hostility in her eyes. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Mr. Lu Zhou, in your opinion, does the development of lunar resources can also be regarded as your country’s contributions to the world?”

Lu Zhou: “Of course.”

The girl’s shoulders trembled, and she continued aggressively, “How dare you!

“I’ve heard that excessive use of the resources of the moon would affect the tidal environment of the earth. It will kill the fish, disorient the dolphins, and cause permanent damage to the marine ecological environment! Why can’t we cherish our only home, do more to make it better, instead of exporting our terrible troubles to other places?”

Lu Zhou waited quietly for her to finish.

“It seems like you have heard a lot of things, so besides hearing, have you done your own research?”

The girl was stunned. She didn’t seem to know the true meaning of research.

Seeing that she didn’t speak, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued, “It looks like you have a liberal arts background, but you lack scientific thinking.”

Looking at the triggered girl, Lu Zhou was not angry. He only had a smile of pity on his face.

After thinking for about two seconds, he continued, “If the moon disappears in an instant, the things you said are indeed possible, and waves will flood our coastal cities in an instant. But if this is a slow gradual process, that will not happen at all. Not to mention, our development of lunar resources is minuscule, and organisms will naturally adapt to changes in the environment, just like what they have been doing for billions of years.”

She was dissatisfied with this explanation, and the young girl trembled with anger. She stared at Lu Zhou.

“Why do we force lives to adapt to the troubles we bring? Only for our own selfish desires?”

The high-level officials of other countries sitting in the audience were about to fall asleep listening to the girl. But now, their eyes were on Lu Zhou, waiting to see what he would do.

However, their expectations were not met.

Faced with the girl’s accusation, Lu Zhou’s reaction was very calm. There was not even a slight change in emotions.

“Do you think it is selfish to allow more people to live?” Lu Zhou looked at the girl and said, “Or do you think we should go back to being barbarians, and be one with nature?”

“Can’t we—”

“Stop dreaming.”

Lu Zhou interrupted her and looked at the girl with a blank face. He looked past her deformed and twisted face, at the people behind her who were also wearing green vests.

He spoke in a rational and pragmatic voice.

“The problem that any life form will face is the lack of living space. As the global population continues to increase, sooner or later, the only way out is to expand our borders into outer space.

“I am not joking around.

“We can’t stay in the cradle forever. Even if it is comfortable, so comfortable that it is difficult for us to find a substitute in other star systems, there is a limit to this cradle.

“The day when the tipping point is reached can be delayed, but it will eventually come. The exploration of outer space is not so much to satisfy one’s selfish desires; it is more of a long-term self-help.

“So yes, sooner or later we have to export our troubles to space.”

Lu Zhou glanced at the cameras on the wall, then took a quick glance at the high-level officials from various countries, as well as other civilians who held their breaths.

“This is not to satisfy selfish desires.

“This is merely out of necessity.”

Chapter 1277: Destiny

“Out of necessity.

“Well said!”

The president was sitting in his office. He looked at the TV screen and the applause from the audience. He couldn’t help but feel excited.

Before the summit began, he was a little worried that Lu Zhou could not stand his ground against the western journalists and “environmental activists”. However, Academician Lu not only presented the achievements of China over the past five years to the world, but he also portrayed the potential for the future of the moon landing project.

The development of outer space was not only for the benefit of China but also for human beings’ obligation to survive. As a responsible superpower, Academician Lu’s words touched the heart of the president.

Director Li smiled and spoke.

“After all, it’s Academician Lu. He is well-spoken. Every time I discuss issues with him, I feel enlightened.”

Not only was he enlightened, but Lu Zhou was often able to solve the problems for him.

The thing he loved most was to visit Academician Lu’s home.

The president grabbed the armrests of the chair with both hands. He stood up from his desk and walked to the blueprint hanging on the wall.

This blueprint was jointly designed by the Lunar Orbit Committee and the Guanghan City Planning Committee. It depicted the city’s appearance in the Guanghan Special Zone after the population exceeded 10,000. Even though it was just a conceptual picture that looked no different from a movie poster, many of the technologies involved were already achieved in the laboratory of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

As long as they continued to develop step by step at the current pace, sooner or later, this blueprint would become a reality…

The president stared at this blueprint for a long time. He suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, when will the first batch of migrants leave?”

Director Li responded, “It should be in a few days.”

The president nodded. After thinking for a while, he continued, “Even though our Entertainment Department Office has done a series of promotions, I still feel like something is lacking.

“The technology is in place, and the medium and long-term strategies have been strategized. But one important thing has been overlooked, which is, our spirit has not been conveyed to the world.

“The Lunar Orbit Committee’s development of lunar resources is not only for China but also for the world and the future of mankind.”

The president looked at the secretary, who was standing on the other side of his desk, and spoke with a serious expression.

“Tomorrow’s newspaper headlines will be on Academician Lu’s speech on necessity.”

The secretary nodded immediately and replied respectfully, “Yes, sir!”

…

In the early morning of the next day, a headline titled “Necessity” appeared on the front page of Everyone Daily.

The author took the speech of Academician Lu on the Copenhagen Global Climate Summit and his answers to questions from environmentalists. They depicted his thoughts on the future of mankind and discussed the ultimate way out of ecological protection.

In the end, the article refined the speech of Academician Lu and put forward the conclusion that “human beings cannot be contained in a cradle forever, the only future is to leave the cradle.”

Even though this sounded a bit ridiculous, it was actually a very serious problem.

There had been many species that dominated the planet and stood at the top of the food chain. They might not have established a prosperous civilization like human beings, but their existence was far longer than homo sapiens, which had a history of 250,000 years.

And now, most of those species no longer existed.

This showed that, even if an industrialized civilization never existed, it did not mean that the ecosystem and the individuals in the ecosystem could always live in harmony.

Ultimately, controlling nature was the only way out for human civilization.

This might not be the only solution to environmental problems, but it was the only solution for a better future.

Of course, since this article appeared in Everyone Daily instead of Science or Nature, the real purpose was obviously not to discuss the issue of environmental protection.

Its purpose was to convey a signal, or a thought, to the outside world.

This was all about the development of lunar resources and the conquest of outer space.

In other words…

This was China’s destiny!

As soon as this article was published, it immediately caused a sensation online. It spread across the entire internet in the morning and on various social media websites.

Even though there were no emotional speeches in the article, it resonated with the soul of every reader.

People were surprised by the amount of information revealed in this article, specifically the aerospace plans.

The first immigrants to the Guanghan Special Economic Zone will leave soon?

How come we didn’t even get to apply?

The Weibo post from Everyone Daily was filled with comments.

“F*ck me! They’re really planning to leave?”

“I thought it was a joke? I didn’t think that the Guanghan Special Economic Zone was actually true!”

“Is it too late to go there?”

“Go there my a*s! It’s not a place anyone can just go!”

“Apparently, there are already more than 100 people in the Guanghan zone. The number of PhDs per capita is insane!”

The widespread discussion of this article made people think.

“Wow, I really didn’t expect that there will come a day where we have to lead the world forward…”

Almost everyone who liked the comment also didn’t expect this day to come so suddenly.

When they realized it, they were shocked.

Just five years ago, the throne of the global world still belonged to the other side of the Pacific Ocean. The imagination for the future could be found in a certain street in North America or inside a certain Western university.

Now that five years had gone by, the focus had unknowingly shifted to the East.

From controllable fusion to the aerospace industry, the rise of China’s intelligent manufacturing had subtly changed the balance and redefined the new world.

How to move forward into the future also became a new problem.

They could leverage their power, sit back, and enjoy fat profits for the next century. Or they could manifest the prosperity of the community, building a future for mankind as a whole.

The whole world was waiting for an answer from the dragon.

And now, this speech called “Necessity” had obviously given an answer…

Chapter 1278: The Third Medal

The summit yesterday was very successful.

The only downside was that it was somewhat a slaughter.

After all, the gap in knowledge and logic couldn’t be filled with emotions and passion.

But what Lu Zhou didn’t expect was that his speech turned out to be popular?

The first half of his speech was handing in China’s report card to the world; the second half of the speech answered a series of questions raised by the girl. That was directly related to the Guanghan Special Economic Zone plan.

Not only did “Everyone Daily” highly praise his speech on the front page of the new issue, but the media around the world also intensively reported on his speech.

For example, the Danish “Jyllands-Posten” newspaper called it a foolish speech and proposed new ideas for solving environmental problems, while the “Wall Street Journal” called it “propaganda for colonization on the moon”. The speech embodied China’s ambitions on the lunar project, and NASA should remain vigilant.

Of course, in addition to reporting from an objective perspective, there were some less objective viewpoints.

For example, the “New York Times” put forward quite a conspiracy theory that this was a premeditated incident and unkindly called it the “new destiny speech”. They believed that this was a way for China to monopolize lunar resources.

Lu Zhou only stood on the stage and spoke a few words. He didn’t expect to have such a big impact. After all, he didn’t make any preparations; he only spoke about surface-level topics.

Afterward, he thought about it. The reason for such a huge response was mostly because these words came from his own mouth, and he was holding the title of Chief Consultant of the Lunar Orbit Committee.

However, when he had just figured out the reason behind this, something more unexpected happened immediately afterward.

On the night after the speech, he returned to his room and lay on the bed after attending the banquet. He suddenly discovered that he had accidentally triggered and completed a hidden mission.

…

[Hidden Mission: Speech on Necessity (Completed)]

[Explanation: “My dear, this is a story from a long time ago.”]

[Rewards: Earth civilization materialism trend +10, free experience points +100,000. Speaker Medal.]

“Another medal? What’s the use of this thing?”

Between Lu Zhou’s index finger and thumb was a bronze horn about the size of a fingernail.

Even though this thing was also awarded by a higher civilization, compared to the first two medals that used anti-gravity technology and holographic projection technology, this seemed more like a souvenir.

However, Lu Zhou cared more about the 100,000 experience points.

His energy level needed exactly 100,000 points before he could level up. This was perfect.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 9 (13,215/???)

C. Biochemistry: Level 7 (410,000/1.2 million)

D. Engineering: Level 7 (1 million/1.2 million)

E. Material Science: Level 7 (763,000/1.2 million)

F. Energy Science: Level 7 (0/1.2 million)

G. Information science: Level 7 (100,000/1.2 million)

General points: 24,335

]

Lu Zhou allocated all of the 100,000 experience points to energy science. After he confirmed that his energy science level went from level 6 to level 7, he reached out his index finger and swiped on the holographic screen, closing his characteristic panel.

This kind of hidden mission was like an Easter egg in the system. There were no rules around it at all. It was more mysterious than emergency missions. Completing an awesome research result would not necessarily trigger a hidden mission, however, unintentional actions might. The rewards were also confusing.

This situation had happened before.

After Lu Zhou exited the system space, he put his head on the pillow and was about to rest early. But suddenly, the mobile phone on the bedside table popped up with a video call request.

When Lu Zhou saw Chen Yushan was calling, he reached out and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He picked up the AR glasses and put them on the bridge of his nose. He then tapped his index finger on the frame.

“Transfer the video call…”

Xiao Ai: [Yes, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Light blue light particles appeared in Lu Zhou’s field of vision. A video window opened. A wave of blue light swept across his face, capturing his facial data and expression characteristics.

Even though Lu Zhou still preferred to use a tablet, phone calling like this made him feel more connected, similar to face-to-face communication.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Not at all. You’re always welcome to call me at any time.”

On the other end of the phone, Chen Yushan couldn’t help but smile.

“I want to kiss you on the forehead and say goodnight to you.”

“Actually, I think you can… Let me zoom in.”

“I’m just kidding, that’s so embarrassing… Unless it’s in person.” Chen Yushan’s cheeks warmed up quickly. She coughed and changed the subject. “Speaking of which, you seem to be popular.”

“Popular?”

“Yeah, looks like you are getting used to it.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “If you appear in the headlines every few days for the past three years, you will feel the same.”

“Um… I don’t think most people have the chance to experience this feeling.”

Lu Zhou stared at her face with a warm look in his eyes.

Maybe it was because he had been alone for too long, Lu Zhou felt indescribably happy.

A few minutes went by.

She smirked and spoke softly.

“Your eyes are telling me that you just drank.”

“It was a cocktail party attended by high-level officials from various countries. I was invited by someone, so I went.”

Chen Yushan joked, “No one flirted with you?”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. I’m just a little worried about my boyfriend. After all… I worked hard to catch you.”

Lu Zhou was amused. He couldn’t help but laugh.

He said, “Didn’t I catch you?”

She replied, “But I invited you to the lake!”

“I kissed you first.”

“But I…”

Halfway through, Chen Yushan blushed again. She said, “Whatever.”

Lu Zhou saw her look of shyness. He smiled and said, “I’m coming back in a few days.”

Chen Yushan said, “Remember to stay safe.”

“I will.” Lu Zhou nodded. He suddenly remembered an important thing and said, “Speaking of which, tomorrow is the departure day.”

“Yeah.” Chen Yushan nodded. “We were waiting for you to command the show. We didn’t expect you to suddenly go to Copenhagen. You can only watch from there.”

Lu Zhou wanted to say “sorry”, but he swallowed his words in the end.

“You’ll have to take care of it then.”

When Chen Yushan saw the trust in his eyes, she had a happy smile on her face. Lu Zhou suddenly understood why he was attracted to her in the first place…

“Don’t worry.

“This will be a piece of cake!”

Chapter 1279: Departure Day

Winter in the northern hemisphere this year came earlier than usual.

Before the winter solstice came, there were already chilly winds blowing in Jinling.

Sun Lieyang looked at his wife standing in front of him and the baby in her arms. His eyes flashed with reluctance. He took a deep breath of cold air and spoke.

“I’m going to leave.”

The woman stared into his eyes, and she seemed to have a lot to say, but in the end, she only spoke one sentence.

“Remember to miss me…”

“Don’t be so sad.”

Sun Lieyang gently pushed aside the bangs on her forehead that was messed up by the wind. He tried to engrave her face in his memory. He stared at his wife, smiled, and tried to sound brave.

“It’s not like I won’t be back. I think in at most ten years, going to the moon will be as simple as going back to my hometown on a high-speed train. Whether you come up to see me, or I come down to see you, it will be the same.”

Sun Lieyang looked at the baby in the woman’s arms. He stretched out his index finger to tease him and gave him a warm smile.

The baby was infected by the warm smile. He stopped crying, giggled, and stretched out his hand as he tried to grab his dad’s finger.

“Be good, kiddo, wait for me to come back.”

He gently held his child’s hand and said, “In the future, your father will be able to tell you a story that your classmates will be envious of.”

The woman bit her lip. Her eyes were filled with sadness.

“Jesus… Do you really have to go now?”

“I have to. Someone has to go.” Sun Lieyang looked at his wife and said with a smile, “My younger brother will get married next year, and I have a 25-year-old sister. If I don’t go, who will?”

Some jobs had to be done by someone.

There were only a few research institutes working on second-generation controllable fusion. Their research team was the backbone of the second-gen controllable fusion. Even though they had only completed some preliminary work, which was far from unlocking the energy treasure house on the moon, someone had to take the first step.

“I heard it’s cold there. Remember to wear a jacket.”

“Don’t worry, I will take care of myself.”

After kissing his wife and the child in her arms, Sun Lieyang put on his backpack, resisted the urge to look back, and walked toward the SUV parked outside the dorms.

The first group of Guanghan Special Economic Zone pioneers was only 50 people.

They would board a special spacecraft prepared for them at the No. 2 launch site, to the Magpie Bridge waiting in synchronous orbit.

Sun Lieyang was the last to get on the bus. Tao Muye looked at him.

“You have a kid?”

Sun Lieyang smiled and spoke.

“What? Surprised?”

“I am.”

“What about you, you don’t have a partner?”

“I’m going my own way.”

“That’s another word for involuntary celibate… But I’m curious, there should be no shortage of people in your research institute? Why send a young, unmarried man up there?”

It was reasonable to have such doubts.

Even though Archdruid no longer accepted doctoral students, there were still many people in his research institute. Agricultural research was not the same as controllable fusion. The latter was an emerging discipline, whereas the former had been developed for decades. There was no reason to send an only child, who was not married.

“I applied.”

Unlike Dr. Sun, he took a lot of effort to secure this spot.

“You applied yourself?” Sun Lieyang looked at him with a blank face and asked, “Why?”

“Didn’t Academician Lu say it?” Tao Muye smiled and glanced at the scenery outside the car window, where the autumn leaves were blowing in the wind. He said, “This expedition is a necessity.

“It’s for the future.

“Don’t you think this is a very romantic thing?”

…

The last car arrived at the second launch site.

The luggage and passengers were divided into two groups. Under the guidance of the on-site staff, they boarded the aerospaceplane, which was shaped like a giant bird.

In thirty minutes, they would head to the moon more than 300,000 kilometers away, where they would live a new life.

Even though the road ahead of them was full of uncertainty and confusion, none of them sitting in the life-support machines were scared.

Like the man said, this was a necessity.

Each of them sitting here now was embarking on a great and glorious mission.

They were not just going to the moon.

They were pushing the future of human civilization.

The engine ejected a blue arc. Driven by the high-speed plasma jet, the aerospaceplane spread out its wings slowly and headed toward the sky.

The relatives standing on the ground waved goodbye to those who were going far away until the dot gradually disappeared in the sky…

On the other hand, at the Star Sky Technology building less than 50 kilometers away from the No. 2 launch site, the general manager of the aerospace department sent a launch briefing from the command center to the CEO’s office and briefly reported the current launch situation.

“Chang’e has passed through the stratosphere smoothly and is switching to vertical flight mode to change its course. It is expected to arrive at the intended orbit in two hours.”

After receiving the report and glancing at it, Chen Yushan nodded.

“Just leave this report with me. You can leave.”

“Okay, CEO Chen.”

The man nodded, turned around, and left the office, closing the door behind him.

After carefully reading the report in her hand, Chen Yushan thought for a while. She then summarized the situation in a more concise report. After that, she sent it to Lu Zhou through the internal Star Sky Technology communication system.

Even though he was not in command, she knew how much Lu Zhou valued this launch.

She thought that he would be in a good mood after hearing the good news.

Her thoughts drifted to tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Chen Yushan stretched her arms. She had finished her work. She stood up from the office chair and walked to the window with her coffee cup.

As she looked at the sunset glow outside the window, she suddenly felt a little melancholic in her heart.

Even though it had only been a few days since she last saw him, it felt like a long time.

“If only he can come back sooner…”

Chen Yushan suddenly saw her face reflected in the windows.

She felt like her emotions were not consistent with her strong physical appearance.

“Looks like I have to be stronger…”

Chapter 1280: A Worldwide Attraction

[Shocked! This is what the world’s first colonial space ship actually looks like!]

[The first batch of Guanghan Special Economic Zone immigrants are heading to the moon!]

[Did you guys know that the flight to the moon has left?]

[With this, we are one step closer to space colonization…]

The Chang’e, which had just left the atmosphere, hadn’t even docked on the Magpie Bridge, which was waiting in the lunar transfer orbit, yet the ground was already in chaos.

News about the launch plan occupied the headlines of major news networks.

Whether it was on Weibo or online games, everyone was talking about the Chang’e heading toward the Moon Palace.

Even though landing on the moon was not uncommon anymore, but so many people were landing on the moon at the same time. This was the first of its kind in the history of human civilization.

The state wanted everyone to have a deeper understanding of the Guanghan City plan and also to eliminate the general public’s fear of leaving Earth and going to outer space.

CTV invited Nie Yun, the driver of the former Skyglow, to present a special program to introduce the Guanghan city plan.

Nie Yun was in the studio. Although his appearance had not changed significantly over the past few years, his temperament was much more stable than before. After all, he was no longer a simple pilot; he was now an air force major general who was serving the aerospace forces.

He stood in front of the camera in a Moon Palace spacesuit as he introduced himself to the audience sitting in front of the TVs, computers, and mobile phones.

“The gravity on the Moon is only one-sixth of that on Earth. In addition to the air, food, and drinking water issues mentioned above, there is another important problem. Living in a low-gravity environment for a long time might be harmful to astronauts. Such as damage to the bone density and cardiovascular system. We used to rely on exercise to overcome these health problems, but now, we have a better way… Such as the clothes I’m currently wearing.”

The host asked curiously, “Is there anything special about these clothes?”

Nie Yun said with a smile, “The special thing about this is that its key parts are filled with steel. For most of the non-working areas and part of the working areas of the lunar scientific research station, we have installed induction electromagnets into the floor, which would provide adjustable “artificial gravity” for the staff wearing space suits in the cabin, to compensate for the lack of gravity. As long as you wear this piece of clothing, you will be able to experience a normal gravitational environment.”

Host: “But… Will this not affect the electronic equipment in the base?”

Nie Yun smiled and said, “Of course not. The equipment that might be affected will be protected by anti-magnetic materials. In addition to spacesuits that can imitate a gravity environment, we also have a special gravity room in the lunar scientific research station. It can simulate a gravity environment to help the health of the staff members.”

Host: “Can you be more specific?”

Nie Yun: “Basically, it is like a Ferris Wheel placed on its side. It spins like a centrifuge. Then, combined with the gravity of the moon itself, it provides people in the room with a diagonally downward force. Inside it, you can work out, watch a movie, or play a game with a virtual reality helmet… Or even sleep.”

Host: “But if it keeps spinning, how can people go inside?”

Nie Yun laughed and said, “Is that really a question? People go inside when it stops spinning! After all, you don’t need to stay inside all the time, just 2-3 hours a day.”

In addition to the spacesuit, Nie Yun introduced many other things.

Such as the daily routines on the lunar scientific research station, what work they usually did, and which direction they wanted to develop. Also, if the model of Guanghan City proved to be feasible, in the future, they would expand to Mars or even somewhere farther away.

Although there were no cool special effects, the viewers who were sitting in front of the TVs and computers at home had hopeful eyes. They couldn’t help but think about the distant starry sky.

From the moment the Chang’e was launched, their journey to the stars had officially begun.

This was an adventure into the future…

…

“God Lu is nutty!”

“From now onward, we will have a new city on the map.”

“And they’re a direct-controlled municipality!”

“Shenzhen and Suzhou are crying. We have applied for so many years, and we still aren’t direct-controlled!”

“Even such an amazing scholar doesn’t have a girlfriend, I want to laugh at him. At the very least, I am not a loner.”

Copenhagen airport.

Lu Zhou sat in the VIP lounge. He was swiping through his phone, reading the online comments.

Ten minutes ago, he posted a photo taken at the airport. Soon after, the number of likes was over 100,000, and the number of comments was in the tens of thousands.

This was expected. Almost every time there was a big story about him on the Internet, his Weibo would explode.

And this time was obviously no exception.

Whether it was the Nobel Prize or the launch of the Chang’e, his fans were going crazy.

Lu Zhou read the comments piled up in the comments section. He couldn’t help but laugh, especially when he saw the last one.

He wanted to say something along the lines of, [Look at your bank account, and you won’t be laughing anymore.]. But in the end, he resisted the urge.

Lu Zhou found that he was really savage sometimes, but fortunately, he was a kind person.

Even if something was worthy of the whole world’s celebration, one or two haters would appear.

For example, someone did the calculations and predicted that this massive space colonization program would eventually go bankrupt. No matter how much the cost was reduced, there was no way to make the development of lunar resources profitable. They thought the final outcome of this lunar colonization project would be the world laughing at the Chinese astronauts.

Another example was a certain big journalist on Weibo attacking Lu Zhou for thinking about problems too rationally, for criticizing a girl too harshly at the Global Climate Summit, claiming that he lacked compassion for normal humans and was not reflecting Chinese culture.

However, Lu Zhou himself hadn’t said anything. His fans defended him.

Guanghan was the city with the highest average salary in the world, and they had the opportunity to talk about academic problems with Nobel Prize winners. They were Nobel Prize candidates themselves.

They didn’t want to go to the moon?

There were a million scientific researchers waiting in line, and there were plenty of people that wanted to go!

Some heroes had given up their personal and family lives because their major was too niche, and they went to space for the sake of the future of the country. But most people could never receive the right qualifications.

No one’s forcing you to go.

Lu Zhou was smirking while scrolling through his phone. Ambassador Du Yanming walked over to him and spoke to him with a friendly smile.

“Academician Lu, what’s the good news?”

“Nothing, I just read some interesting comments…” Lu Zhou put the phone away. He coughed, looked up at him, and asked, “Do you need anything, Ambassador Du?”

Ambassador Du smiled and said, “Nothing, I just came to see you and to remind you that it’s time to board the plane.”

Time to board?

Already?

“Okay, then I won’t stay around.” Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and stretched out his right hand toward Ambassador Du. He said, “I’ll see you later!”

“See you!” The gray-haired old man shook Lu Zhou’s hand with a smile. “Be careful on the road… But then again, I feel like I will see you soon.”

“Why do you say that?”

Ambassador Du Yanming spoke with a smile.

“Because I always see you in the newspapers!”

Chapter 1281: Look At MY Forehead

The entrance of Jinling Airport.

Professor Rudy Dobrik, who was in a suit, stood by the railings as he repeatedly reached out and straightened his tie. He looked around anxiously.

Even though foreigners were common in this international city, him standing outside the airport and looking around was still somewhat strange.

Over the past half an hour, at least two airport employees had come to ask him if he needed help.

“Oh, Jesus…” Professor Dobrik glanced at his watch and whispered in broken Chinese, “How long before Professor Lu arrives? He is coming back today, right?”

After Lu Zhou sent him an email last time, he was in ecstasy and immediately shared the good news with his collaborator, Professor Wei Hong from the Institute of High Energy Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

After hearing that their research had attracted the attention of the head of ILHCRC, the two did not hesitate at all. They immediately prepared a report for the abnormal phenomenon of Z particle gravity, just like Academician Lu instructed in the email. The report meeting was arranged on the fourth day after the end of the Nobel Prize award ceremony, and Academician Lu was notified of the time of the report meeting.

However, just when the two people thought that their academic careers would take-off and they would become famous, Academician Lu did not appear at the report meeting.

Not just that, there were not many people at the report meeting either.

Afterward, they heard that Lu Zhou had delayed his plan to return to China for a few days. Instead of returning to Shanghai as originally planned, he went to Copenhagen to participate in the climate summit.

Actually, this was not a big deal, they could just host another report session.

However, what worried Dobrik was that Lu Zhou, who had missed their report meeting, did not say anything about it. It was as if Lu Zhou had forgotten the matter.

Both Professor Dobrik and Professor Wei Hong felt a little nervous about whether their research was no longer “demanded”.

Therefore, when he heard the news last night that Lu Zhou would return to China today, he immediately took Professor Wei and boarded the train to Jinling. He wanted to impress Lu Zhou with his sincerity and try to “save” his research.

Professor Wei Hong was standing next to Professor Dobrik. He thought for a while and spoke.

“After all, it’s a private flight. The itinerary is arranged by someone else. The plane might be delayed.”

“Speaking of which, what is written on the banner hanging at the entrance? I can’t see it clearly.”

“A warm welcome to Academician Lu Zhou for winning the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics…”

As Professor Wei Hong looked at Dobrik, he couldn’t help but sigh and let out his emotions. “To be honest, xiong di, I think this is pointless. If Academician Lu is really interested in our research, he will go to the ILHCRC and look for us. If he is not interested, waiting for him here doesn’t achieve anything.”

“But this is our only opportunity. No one at the ILHCRC is optimistic about this area… What does ‘xiong di’ mean?”

“It means bro.”

The ILHCRC was becoming the new center of global physics. In addition to learning French, learning Chinese had become another trendy thing for physicists.

The reason was that the latest experimental data from ILHCRC was released in Chinese before being translated into other languages.

Also, some reports published on the official website also tended to publish first-hand information in Chinese.

Although the amount of text involved was not huge, scholars did not like to read translated material.

In order to ensure that the materials they had obtained were the original version without processing, many professors who worked at the ILHCRC for more than half a year had begun to try to learn Chinese.

Even though Dobrik had been living in Shanghai for a year, his language abilities were limited compared to his other abilities.

His language level was only enough for normal communication. He was far from mastering various Chinese idioms.

The two of them passed the time by chatting.

Wei Hong felt a little hungry. He was about to suggest whether to eat something at a nearby fast food place when someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder from behind.

Actually, someone patted both of them on the shoulders.

Wei Hong was about to turn his head when a strange and serious voice came from behind.

“Can you show me your ID or passport?”

…

Ambassador Du Yanming’s request was within reason.

Lu Zhou, who had just stepped off the airstair at Jinling Airport, felt the grand atmosphere at the airport.

His name was printed on a large banner. The leaders of the city council and the leaders of the high-tech zone were all dressed in formal wear, waiting at the airport.

To be honest, he felt quite embarrassed.

When Lu Zhou saw the people as well as the cameras standing beside them, he was embarrassed to give his girlfriend a kiss.

Chen Yushan stood in the center of the crowd while watching Lu Zhou. She also restrained the urge to come forward and kiss him.

The two of them were public figures. Because of the influence of Star Sky Technology, no reporters dared to dig into their personal lives, but they still had to be careful.

At the very least, they had to stay low-key in crowded places.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Yushan smiled and waved gently in Lu Zhou’s direction. Her eyes were watery.

Lu Zhou blinked at her lightly with a warm look in his eyes.

However, he didn’t know whether it was because he was too handsome or something else, he saw Chen Yushan suddenly blush and look away.

This reaction puzzled Lu Zhou.

Maybe…

She’s shy?

This was his only explanation.

The welcoming team approached him. An old man with shiny black hair came forward and enthusiastically extended his right hand.

“Academician Lu, welcome home!”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook the old man’s hand as he said, “Secretary Zhou, you’re too kind. I only left for less than half a month. There is no need for this grand ceremony.”

Ever since Secretary Liu left, Secretary Zhou, who was transferred from Beijing, was now the leader of Jinling. Lu Zhou only remembered his surname, Zhou. He didn’t really care about his full name.

However, the old man seemed very enthusiastic, and he immediately said, “This is nothing! You were only gone for half a month, but during this half a month, you have received such a huge honor on behalf of our country! As the secretary of Jinling, I welcome you home on behalf of the general public. Please come this way.”

Lu Zhou did not decline Secretary Zhou’s invitation. The two of them walked and chatted.

While chatting, Lu Zhou discovered that Secretary Zhou was an interesting person. At the very least, he was very good at conversing.

The two talked about the Nobel Prize and global climate change, as well as the situation in the Baltic Sea. Finally, they digressed to the celebration at the Bird’s Nest from a while ago.

“Academician Lu, the holographic stadium… Can you also build one in Jinling?”

Lu Zhou was stunned, and he immediately understood what Secretary Zhou meant.

So this is all about the holographic system…

Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“The technology is capable. But the system is not cheap. It mainly depends on your budget.”

When Secretary Zhou heard that there was a chance, he immediately said, “The budget is easy, and we don’t need to build one as big as the Bird’s Nest.”

Lu Zhou: “Then how big a stadium are you going to build?”

Secretary Zhou: “Around twenty to thirty thousand people is enough.”

Twenty to thirty-thousand people is not a lot?

That capacity is standard for a first-class stadium, right?

Is the budget really enough?

Lu Zhou actually didn’t know that Jin Ling City had become rich over the past few years.

After the construction of the high-tech zone, their GDP grew exponentially. Of course they could afford a new stadium.

One or two billion yuan in infrastructure investment was a piece of cake for Jin Ling City. Spending money to enrich the spiritual and cultural lives of the people in the city was always a worthy expense.

“I don’t know about the specific business side. I can only say that it is feasible from a technological point of view. Let’s wait and let my CEO… What is going on over there?”

While Lu Zhou was talking, the group of people at the exit of the airport attracted his attention.

A foreign man and a Chinese man were explaining something to the police.

When Lu Zhou saw the two people, they also happened to see him.

The police interrogation and examination were about to end. The tall foreign man screamed in excitement after seeing Lu Zhou. As a result, he was immediately held down by two police officers.

“Academician Lu, Academician Lu Zhou! It’s me! Ouch! I already showed you my passport. I’m really not a criminal. I’m here to study physics! If you don’t believe me, look at my hair! Look, I don’t have any hair left!”

Lu Zhou stared at the man who called his name.

Emmmm…

Who the hell is this guy?

Chapter 1282: Inspire

Inside the living room at a Zhongshan International mansion.

A household robot half the height of a human that was connected to a mechanical arm and various functional devices brought three cups of coffee and placed it on the coffee table.

Professor Dobrik sat on the sofa with a serious look on his face. He rubbed his hands and fidgeted for a long time. He then coughed softly and found the courage to speak.

“Let me introduce myself, I am—”

“Rudy Dobrik, professor at the University of Brussels, and Wei Hong, professor at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.” Lu Zhou took a sip from the coffee cup on the table and said, “I probably don’t need to introduce myself since you probably know me.”

“You actually… know who we are?” Wei Hong looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

It was not easy to attract the attention of this famous scholar.

The fact that Lu Zhou recognized their faces was incredible.

Lu Zhou took off the AR glasses on the bridge of his nose. He clamped it to the collar, then leaned forward slightly to look at the two of them. “I originally planned to take a break for two days, then go to the ILHCRC to have a chat with you. But since you guys are all here, let’s start talking.”

Professor Dobrik nodded immediately. He didn’t dare to waste Lu Zhou’s time. He immediately took out the paper he printed before coming to Jinling from his briefcase and handed it to Lu Zhou.

However, after Lu Zhou glanced at it, he gave it back to Professor Dobrik.

“I’ve read this before already.”

“Um, don’t you want to read it again?”

“No need, if it’s for a research that I’m interested in, I basically remember it after reading it once.” Lu Zhou looked at Professor Dobrik and said, “Tell me in detail about the experiment. How did you find out specifically that Z particles interfere with gravity when unfolding from a high latitude to a low latitude. I am more interested in this content.”

Dobrik and Professor Wei Hong exchanged glances, and finally, Professor Wei spoke.

“Let me talk about this part, it’s quite strange…”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Please begin.

“As detailed as possible.”

This was what happened.

Ever since the Z particle theory was put forward last year, the physics world was advanced to the high-dimensional field for the first time, and research in related fields had immediately become popular.

Professor Dobrik recorded the data collected on the gravitational wave detector at the lunar scientific research station and found that in the latest high-energy zone collision experiment, the gravitational wave data had a strange disturbance.

This phenomenon aroused the interest of Professor Wei Hong, who worked in the Z particle research group. The two quickly wrote a report on this phenomenon and applied for a research project.

Professor Wei Hong spent half an hour explaining the whole project from the beginning to the end, as well as all of the problems they encountered.

After listening carefully to Professor Wei Hong’s words, Lu Zhou nodded.

“I understand now.

“What you found is indeed very interesting and the research ideas are also very novel… However, after listening to your statement, I have some other ideas.”

Upon hearing this, Professor Dobrik said quickly, “Please tell us your thoughts.”

Seeing how excited Professor Dobrik was, Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“Don’t be so excited. It’s just a thought. It might not be right… It may even be wrong.”

He paused for a second and continued, “According to Einstein’s theory, as long as the inhomogeneity still exists somewhere in the universe, then gravity must be uneven. General relativity reveals to us how time and space move with the matter. Matter tells us how space-time bends.”

Lu Zhou spent around a minute thinking about how to describe the abstract idea in his mind.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He raised his head and snapped his fingers.

The household robot that had previously poured coffee for the three of them returned to the living room slowly, and this time, it brought a whiteboard. After that, a drone flew over and placed a marker in Lu Zhou’s hand.

The two people were dumbfounded. Lu Zhou, who was about to speak, paused for a second before saying, “Don’t be too surprised. These are just some gadgets I made in my spare time. After all, living alone in such a big house gets somewhat lonely.”

Dobrik and Wei Hong’s eyebrows began to twitch, and they almost spat the coffee out of their mouths.

Made these gadgets in your spare time…

The home robot doesn’t look like a gadget at all… Did he really combine artificial intelligence and robots in his spare time?

I wonder how those high-tech companies that specialize in household machines feel?

Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa and walked to the side of the whiteboard.

After thinking for a moment, he used the marker in his hand and began to use the language of mathematics and physics to manifest those abstract and obscure guesses into a visible blueprint…

[Rμν—1⁄2gμνR—Λgμν=8πTμν]

[…]

Time slowly passed by.

The coffee on the coffee table had already turned cold.

Dobrik and Wei Hong stared at the whiteboard intently. They didn’t dare to take their eyes off for a moment. They were afraid that they would miss a letter or even a punctuation mark. They wanted to print every detail on the whiteboard in their heads.

Finally, the marker stopped moving.

Lu Zhou looked back at the two physics professors sitting on the sofa as he gently placed the marker beside the whiteboard.

“Basically, these are the ideas I can think of for the time being… It might seem a little difficult, but if you read it twice, it should be quite easy to understand.”

A little difficult?

Professor Dobrik and Professor Wei Hong felt worried.

They could barely keep up with his thoughts even though they had been researching this field for more than half a year.

It was insane to imagine that Lu Zhou thought of these things just now.

As Wei Hong looked at the content on the whiteboard, he raised his hand and asked, “Can I take a picture?”

Lu Zhou walked to the sofa and sat down. He took a sip of the cold coffee and smiled.

“Of course, I wrote so much. The purpose is to inspire your research a little bit. If you forget it when you go back, wouldn’t this have been a waste?”

The two people took out their phones and took photos without saying anything. Lu Zhou continued to speak, “Time and space tell matter how to move, and matter tells how time and space how to bend. This is the core idea of this research. The steps on the whiteboard are just a framework. It hasn’t been perfected.

“For example, in the first part, we should first set up a control group, calculate the gravitational anomaly of the Z particle, and derive the Z particle gravitational fluctuation formula. After this, the situation should be much easier…”

Lu Zhou’s phone on the coffee table began to ring.

Lu Zhou paused and stopped talking. He looked at the two with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, go read over this, I have to pick this up.”

Lu Zhou stood up and walked over.

As he turned his back, he didn’t know that the words he had previously repeated to Wei Hong and Professor Dobrik had set off turbulent waves in their mind.

Calculate the gravitational anomaly…

Deduce the Z particle gravitational wave formula…

Wei Hong’s eyes flashed with excitement as he clenched his fists involuntarily.

Suddenly…

They had some ideas…

Chapter 1283: New Weapon?

The call was from Li Gaoliang.

A few days ago, Lu Zhou was thinking about finding an opportunity to make a phone call and say thank you to him, but he thought that Li Gaoliang might still be floating at sea on the cargo ship, so he put the matter aside for the time being.

It’s only been a week, yet he has already returned?

Lu Zhou asked as soon as the call was connected, “You’re already back?”

“The cargo ship had just passed the Bering Sea, but it was taken over by the navy. It is being towed to our port. We had nothing to do with it, so we came back.”

“As long as you’re safe.” Lu Zhou nodded with a smile and said, “I should really thank you for what happened.”

“Oh, don’t thank me. I’m just a soldier. Besides, I really want to say thank you. You gave me both of my legs. Without the nerve connection technique, I would have been discharged from the army. How many times should I thank you?”

“Okay then, I won’t say anything else. I will buy you some drinks. By the way, you guys are all okay? There are no casualties, right?”

Li Gaoliang suddenly laughed and said, “What casualties could there be? We have our equipment for a reason.

“Not to mention that the soldiers of our brigade have practiced thousands of times in the virtual reality system. The enemies were shocked as soon as we landed, and there was no way for them to fight back.”

Li Gaoliang talked to Lu Zhou vividly about the situation.

Even though there was still a big difference between the real battlefield and the feeling of playing FPS games in a virtual reality system, because of the exoskeletons and powerful rifles, the entire battle was simply one-sided.

Before he even had time to test all of his equipment, everything was already over.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the serious thing.”

Li Gaoliang suddenly remembered something. He patted his forehead and said, “The person who attacked you has been found. It is a warlord active in East Africa, located at the border between Kenya and Somalia. Interpol has been following them for a long time. They immediately provided us with all the information after hearing that we intend to track them.”

Lu Zhou said, “What did I do to East African warlords?”

I’ve never even been to Africa.

“The people who are aiming at you are certainly not African warlords or pirates. They are also employed by someone else. If you are curious about the specifics, please ask Wang Peng. They are investigating. This is not our business. Of course, if we don’t make them pay a price, it will make us seem weak.”

When Lu Zhou heard the murderous tone in Li Gaoliang’s voice, he asked curiously, “You plan to attack them?”

Li Gaoliang said with a grin, “Sort of, even though we are not sending troops directly, we will definitely teach them a lesson. We will also get to test our army’s new weapon.”

Lu Zhou: “New weapon?”

Li Gaoliang: “It is not safe to say on the phone. If you are interested, come over tomorrow!”

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was mainly engaged in the research of theoretical science and civilian technology. Only a few high-secret research institutes were researching for the military industry. They were in cooperation with several other national defense research institutes.

For example, they worked on miniaturizing fusion batteries and installing them on aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as researching how to improve the combat effectiveness of air and space forces.

As for specific projects, Lu Zhou didn’t know much about it, nor was he involved.

He hadn’t heard anyone talk about the new weapon, so he couldn’t help but wonder what it was.

Because there were guests at home, Lu Zhou did not chat with Li Gaoliang for too long. He hung up the phone after some small talk.

When he put away the phone and returned to the living room, the two physics professors had finished their coffee and got up from the sofa. Professor Wei spoke first.

“It’s getting late, we won’t bother you anymore.”

Lu Zhou: “Aren’t you guys staying for dinner?”

Professor Wei shook his head and said, “No, just now… I just had some thoughts. I want to go back to the ILHCRC to verify them.”

Professor Dobrik also nodded.

“Me too.”

As Lu Zhou looked at the expressions on the faces of the two, he knew that his previous remarks probably had inspired them. Thus, he spoke with a smile.

“Then I wish you good luck. I hope to hear good news from you guys soon.”

Wei Hong nodded gratefully.

“Thank you! We will certainly not disappoint your expectations.”

Guiding promising young people was an enjoyable thing, especially when the guidance could produce tangible results.

For him, honor actually didn’t mean much.

Compared to personal achievements, he would rather see young people with potential continue to explore the peak of physics on the road he had previously paved.

Of course, young people didn’t mean scholars younger than him. It meant young physicists under the age of fifty. After all, finding a scholar who was as young and promising as him would be impossible.

On the other hand, since the gravitational anomaly of Z particles could become the key to reaching level 10 physics, Lu Zhou would be paying close attention to this research.

Even though it was still unclear whether the treasure behind it met the criteria of a “great achievement”, Lu Zhou had already seen a certain amount of potential.

What was gravity?

This was a century-old problem in physics.

The ultimate theory of unifying the four fundamental forces was currently stuck.

Perhaps the research by these two could bring some different ideas to the understanding of gravity in modern physics…

Lu Zhou sent the two to the door and bid farewell. After Lu Zhou watched the two people leave, he was about to go inside when he saw a silver car coming from the intersection.

The car lights flashed, and a beautiful figure soon stepped off the car.

Lu Zhou’s heart moved. He couldn’t look away.

She was very satisfied with the expression on her boyfriend’s face. She had a happy, proud, and somewhat shy smile.

Chen Yushan was embarrassed at being stared at. She cleared her throat and said, “Are you done looking?”

“Not yet!”

“Then… Do you miss me?”

“Yes!”

Wow…

What is this feeling!

Why is my boyfriend so gentle, smart, handsome…

And cute!

When Chen Yushan felt her earlobes warming up, she knew she was blushing.

Lu Zhou, who was standing at the door, was a little fazed. He didn’t know what he said that made her blush like this.

“Uh, are you okay?”

“Ah!”

Chen Yushan quickly closed the car door. She walked up to Lu Zhou and grabbed his sleeve before saying, “Stupid, Stupid… Let’s go inside.”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Lu Zhou was dragged into the house, but he still didn’t know why she was blushing…

Chapter 1284: Don’t Need That Thing

Lu Zhou had never allowed anyone other than his family to stay overnight in his own home. He had been told by his friends that living in such a large house alone was a waste.

But this time, he broke his rule.

Well, not really “broke”.

After all…

He was a responsible man.

The next morning.

The winter sunrise was late as usual. The entire Purple Mountain was still immersed in heavy fog. It was dark except for the street lights.

Lu Zhou slowly opened his eyes and got up from the bed. He then looked to the side.

Her thin lips and the delicate nose moved gently with the rhythm of her breathing. Her sleeping face was peaceful and warm, like a cat dreaming of a mountain of fish. He didn’t want to wake her up.

He couldn’t help but watch for another five minutes. He then got out of bed gently and went to the bathroom. After his bathroom routine, he threw a towel on his shoulders and went out for a jog.

When he came back, he was about to call Wang Peng to bring two breakfasts when he saw Chen Yushan wearing an apron and carrying two plates of freshly cooked fried rice. She walked out of the kitchen with thick cotton slippers on her feet.

“I was thinking about where you went, turns out you went running.”

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou’s wet hair. She put down the plate, walked forward, and wiped his hair gently with a towel. She then spoke.

“Hurry up and take a shower. It’s humid outside and the wind is blowing, you’ll catch a cold.”

“I’m in good health, it’s okay…” Lu Zhou held her tiny hand and looked at her as he said, “I didn’t expect you to wake up this early.”

“I always get up early. Besides, I slept an extra half an hour today… Anyway, aren’t you the same?”

“I’m used to it too.”

“Speaking of which, you don’t have any kitchen utensils in your house. I searched for ages before I found the whisk.”

“I’m usually alone, so I rarely cook. I either eat in the cafeteria of Jin Ling University, at the research institute, or I ask Wang Peng to bring me food… At most, the household robot will cook for me.”

Chen Yushan asked curiously, “The household robot can cook?”

Lu Zhou: “Uh, in theory, as long as it is smart enough, anything can be done.”

Chen Yushan teased and said, “So it feels like your life is very organized. You don’t need a girlfriend at all.”

“No way!” Lu Zhou immediately said, “How about… you live here from now on?”

“No, thanks.”

“Why?”

Chen Yushan’s cheeks blushed slightly. She couldn’t help but pinch his waist.

“You… We should take it easy. Besides, I haven’t married you yet, and to live together so early… It feels weird, and…”

“And?”

“And… and I heard…” Her cheeks were getting hotter and hotter. She looked away embarrassedly and whispered, “Living together before marrying… After marrying, there is no honeymoon… Ahh! What am I talking about?!”

Lu Zhou felt like Chen Yushan’s brain was cooked; there was almost steam coming out of her.

Chen Yushan angrily threw the towel on Lu Zhou’s face. She buried her head in her arms and pushed Lu Zhou’s shoulders. She pushed him all the way to the bathroom.

“Quickly, go take a shower! Shower then eat! Hurry, I have to go to work after!”

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t realize what was happening, he knew that she was flustered.

Sh*t…

She looks pretty cute when she’s panicking.

…

It was a new day.

After eating breakfast, Chen Yushan tidied up her appearance and quickly got in the silver car that was parked at the door yesterday. She went to work at the office.

Perhaps it was easier to find a sense of accomplishment by running a company than doing scientific research.

Lu Zhou always felt like Chen Yushan was more punctual about work than himself, and she often counted down to the second.

“It seems like I’ve been slacking recently…

“I have to work hard too.”

Lu Zhou was at the sink. He splashed his face with some water.

Just when he was about to change his clothes and go out, a drone carrying a small screen flew over.

[Master~ 🙁 ]

Lu Zhou paused for a second and thought something was wrong, so he asked quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

[There were only two people in the house, Master and Xiao Ai… But now, there is a strange woman. Xiao Ai’s kitchen was taken away. This is ridiculous. ε(┬┬_┬┬)3]

“…”

Lu Zhou put his clothes on his body silently. He then replied casually, “It means that your master has grown up.”

[But… But… Master won’t abandon Xiao Ai, right? 🙁 ]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Is there a logical connection between the two?

Who says you can’t have a pet if you get a wife?

Lu Zhou got into the car that Wang Peng had parked at the door. He still didn’t understand what Xiao Ai was talking about…

…

The station of the orbital Airborne Brigade was very close to the Jinling launch site as both were located on the edge of the high-tech zone.

As the backbone of China’s aerospace forces, as well as the new strategic deterrent in the early space age, Lu Zhou felt a cold murderous atmosphere the moment he entered the station.

Li Gaoliang stood at the door to greet Lu Zhou. He looked at the dark circles under Lu Zhou’s eyelids and spoke with a smile.

“Yo, Academician Lu, it’s been a long time since I last saw you. You look kind of tired?”

“I didn’t sleep well last night…”

While he was talking, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but yawn.

He put down his hand covering his mouth. He suddenly saw that Li Gaoliang was looking at him with a weird smile. He froze and hesitated for a moment before asking, “Why are you looking at me that way?”

“No reason, we’re all men here, I understand.” Li Gaoliang laughed and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder. He smirked and said, “I think you should take care of your body when you are young, don’t go too hard!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Enough chatting. I said I want to show you how we fought in the war. Come with me. It’s almost starting…” Li Gaoliang looked at Wang Peng, who was following Lu Zhou, and asked with a smile, “Brother Wang, are you coming together or waiting outside?”

Wang Peng: “I’ll wait outside.”

“True, so you don’t have to write a report when you go back.” Li Gaoliang smiled and patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder. He said, “Let’s go inside.”

Lu Zhou followed Li Gaoliang and couldn’t help but yawn again. He asked casually without any energy, “Is the Airborne Brigade team flying?”

“Flying? That’s overkill. We’re just testing a new weapon… But to be honest, the guys want to fly, but there’s no opportunity.”

Lu Zhou was curious, so he asked, “What is it then?”

Li Gaoliang smirked at Lu Zhou mysteriously. He then pointed his right finger at the command room next to him.

“You’ll see.”

Chapter 1285: Operation Dandelion

East Africa.

El Wak, Somalia.

This place was at a high altitude and was located in a mountain rich area. Freshwater was a scarce resource. There were neither rich mineral deposits nor fertile soil. Instead, it was filled with endless poverty and hunger.

Except for extremist organizations, armed civilian forces, and arms brokers, almost no one would have the slightest interest in this barren land.

And even for those who were interested in this place, this interest was rarely directed at the land itself, but at the nearby cities, villages, and charity supply resources.

In the past, although they robbed and kidnapped, they rarely killed people. Nearby authorities hated this stubborn disease, but they were helpless. Even though the neighboring country had applied for military assistance more than once, the authorities were unable to help.

Therefore, this zone was full of chaos and evil, and it had maintained a strange balance for more than ten years. It had become a breeding ground for terrifying diseases.

However, the situation changed recently.

A large number of military units began to gather in the area. Police and soldiers in nearby towns set up checkpoints along the main traffic roads, surrounding the entire area inside and out.

Even the wild goats living nearby could smell the gunpowder gradually permeating the air.

This was like throwing oil on a fire. The El Wak area, which had been stable for decades, instantly turned into chaos.

“Why don’t you let this place just rot?”

Colonel Abati stood next to General Katzno. He squinted his eyes and looked at the military teams nearby as he said, “The people living here are not Somalis. Why don’t we just let them fend for themselves?”

El Wak was tricky.

Even if the US military landed here, it would be difficult to take out the tumor from the desert.

Of course, the main problem was that the militants active in the local area wouldn’t fight them on the frontal battlefield. Instead, they would rely on the complex terrain to launch guerrilla attacks against them.

Not to mention that now they only had three infantry divisions here. Even if that number doubled, it would be difficult to attack the local forces.

“Because the idiot who owns this area did a stupid thing and pissed off an important person. An now, we have to convince the superpower in the east that we have nothing to do with these people.”

General Katzno had a telescope in his hand. His eagle-like gaze was full of solemnity as he said, “Also, they promised to support us in regaining this area and help us rebuild it.”

“Support? How to support? Airstrikes? Or spreading flyers?”

Colonel Abati had a smug face.

This was a mistake all laymen made when they intervened in Somalia’s business.

When the militants broke into the cities, alleys, and deep mountains, even if all of the US military fighter jets were deployed, it wouldn’t do anything.

This battle was doomed to be impossible.

They would bring the region that had finally stabilized into chaos again, allowing other countries to see their incompetence in handling overseas military conflicts. No substantial progress would be made.

“They didn’t elaborate. They just told us to wait for them.” General Katzno put down the binoculars in his hand as he simply said, “Anyway, we don’t need to be the first, we just have to wait quietly.”

…

On a ravine hill, Marach, dressed as a sheep, looked at the army station in the distance with a telescope in his hand. His eyes filled with haze.

A well-built man with an AK on his back crawled up from the mountain behind him and reported to him in a nervous tone.

“The Somali authorities have assembled at least three divisions here. It seems like they are determined to clean us up.”

“What about the border between Kenya and Ethiopia?”

The dark-skinned man gulped and said, “They have closed the border and increased patrols…”

The escape route has been blocked…

The situation was quite serious, and it had reached a critical point.

However, instead of a trace of fear on the face of the bearded man, a cruel smile appeared.

His army was entrenched in this land. Besides him, there were many other warlords.

Even though they were usually scattered far away, once they encountered an invasion by an “external force” or whoever that tried to control this area, all armed forces would temporarily put aside their priorities and stand on the same front.

Marach didn’t worry about losing at all.

Not to mention he had tens of millions of dollars worth of arms in his hand. Even without these arms, he wouldn’t be afraid of the troops from the nearby countries.

Once this war was dragged into a cruel tug of war, the displaced refugees would hit the entire East African region. Under the internal and external pressure, the weak Somali authorities would be unable to stand.

However, at this moment, he felt a sense of uneasiness.

It was as if he were being tracked by a fierce beast.

Marach suddenly realized something. He raised his head and looked up at the sky.

However, there was nothing but a clear sky; nothing that could indicate a fighter jet, not even a single cloud.

Why do I feel this way?

The anxiety in his heart became stronger and stronger.

Marach clenched his fist. When he was thinking about leaving, he suddenly saw a few black spots in the sky.

The black spots were very small.

If he didn’t happen to be looking in that direction, he wouldn’t even have noticed it.

Marach gulped and grabbed his telescope.

“Jesus, what is that?”

However, before he could think, a violent tremble came from under his feet. Billowing smoke and fire came from two kilometers away, and he almost fell on the ground.

When he stood up straight and looked in the direction, the blood in his chest rushed to his head.

“No!”

That was the ammunition depot he deployed nearby, which contained bullets and IEDs capable of arming at least two guerrilla wars.

Marach stared at the fireball that soared into the sky. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked in the sky, trying to find where the airstrike came from.

However, the enemy seemed to be nonexistent.

The arms and ammunition facility was destroyed. That was the only evidence that something was flying above their heads.

Marach grabbed his walkie-talkie and spoke with all his strength. He commanded the surviving subordinates to move the ammunition to a safe place and ordered the soldiers on the front line to disperse immediately. They prepared to break into pieces and start a desperate fight with the enemy’s ground troops.

However, Marach did not realize that the first round of airstrikes was only the beginning.

Their nightmare had only just begun.

The black spot floating in the air finally revealed its true self.

Those were “black coffins”, tied to parachutes.

They were only slightly larger than the airborne capsules of aerospace paratroopers, but not much larger.

They were like dandelions, scattering and landing on the battlefield. They deployed vertically on the ground.

After a smooth landing, the four-wall shell of the black coffin opened one after another, revealing a drone inside.

The signal lights were all lit up instantly. The electric motor began to buzz, and the drones were like hornets pouring out of a nest. Under the guidance of satellites and ground terminals, they entered the battlefield.

The drones were only a little bigger than a basketball. The small-caliber muzzle and exposed magazines were suspended under the chassis. A single fly-by could drop a wave of bullets.

The flames from the sky and the flashes from the guns illuminated the fears on the faces of the militants. The airstrikes launched from nowhere had almost destroyed all of their ammunition depots on the ground and even the ones in the tunnels. Now they had to face a group of murderous “bees.”

It was almost impossible for them to aim at the drones that were hundreds of meters away. On the other hand, the drones could come and go freely on the battlefield.

Marach knew a lot about drones. Compared to most of his compatriots, he had experience in North Africa with the US troops.

In fact, it was very easy to shoot down these things. When they flew by, if one aimed in their direction, they could easily be shot down.

They didn’t even need a gun, a rock would do.

However, it seemed like these drones had brains. Not only would they use bunkers to shelter them in firefights, but they also knew how to use simple fire suppression and outflank tactics to perform operations on their fixed defenses.

It was as if every drone was controlled by a professional UAV engineer…

…

The flames rising into the sky suppressed the sun while the billowing smoke from the hills turned into clouds in the sky. The wind engulfed in the yellow sand rolled across the messy battlefield.

Marach was searching for the traces of the bombers. The Somali army, the border guards, and even the US military base a hundred kilometers away were all desperately searching for where the airstrikes came from.

There was not a single trace of a plane on their radars.

They didn’t even detect a bird!

Airstrikes?

How was this possible?!

How could there be such a precise artillery attack?!

And most importantly, how did they find the ammunition depots!

Did they guess?

General Katzno put down the telescope in his hand; his eyes were filled with shock.

Standing next to him was Colonel Abati. He was also stunned.

He gulped and asked, “Are there any airstrikes announced by the PLA?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you hear any sounds of a fighter jet?”

“No… Their aircraft carrier is probably still in the East China Sea.”

“What plane can fly this fast?”

“Don’t know, don’t ask me.”

“Then… Should we move forward?”

“Get in the car first…”

There was no longer any suspense in the battle.

It seemed that none of the contingency plans discussed in the combat meeting were used.

Of course, this was almost a good thing.

They had a strong feeling that…

This war was going to end very soon.

Chapter 1286: Like a Video Game

320 kilometers in the sky.

An aerospaceplane about the size of two Starlight aircrafts slowly retracted its open magazine and cruised smoothly on the edge of the atmosphere.

“This is Kunpeng, finish launching airstrikes.”

“This is the ground command center. Target has been confirmed to have been hit. The battlefield will be taken over by ground forces. Please return now.”

“Roger that.”

The four huge electric propulsion engines shot out a blue arc in the deep space. Driven by the high-temperature plasma, the giant plane named “Kunpeng” began to return to the ground.

Battlefield intelligence had been taken over by military observation satellites to provide information for friendly forces on the ground. The coordinates of enemy units and the battle path processed by the Star Voyage One quantum computer was sent to the ground attack drone terminal.

At the aerospace forces headquarters in Jinling.

Li Gaoliang stood next to a large screen. He was pointing at various parameters and marks on the screen to Lu Zhou… This was to show off their modern battlefield command system.

“Through satellite imaging, supercomputer processing, and real-time battlefield images, we can build a three-dimensional digital model of the battlefield and make the most efficient use of every combat unit and every available station resource.

“Over there, the red mark is the B army, while the green mark is the A army… They are a friendly troop. Of course, the Somali troops are too technologically behind, and they don’t trust us much, so we can’t command them.”

Lu Zhou: “What about those crosses?”

Li Gaoliang: “Confirmed killed or destroyed targets.”

Lu Zhou looked at the red dots that turned into gray crosses one after another. He was silent for a while before sighing softly.

“This battle is just like a computer game.”

“It’s much simpler than computer games.” Li Gaoliang grinned and said, “Computer games also need to consider balance. This game doesn’t. Before launching an attack drone, our aerospace strategic bomber has already destroyed 11.6 tons of ammunition and basically destroyed their defense facilities. If they had put up a better fight…”

Lu Zhou: “Then we’ll send the orbital Airborne Brigade?”

Li Gaoliang shook his head and said, “No, we’ll just repeat the same process again.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Wow…

No military unit in the world can deal with this, right?

Of course, this technology was actually quite difficult.

This competition was not so much about military technology; it was more a test of aerospace technology.

They had to send weapons to low orbits at a very low cost and complete a reliable cruise or even airstrikes. So far, only the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had this technology.

Most countries on Earth might not even be able to launch satellites, let alone sending weapons to such a high orbit and dropping them.

When Lu Zhou saw the red dots disappearing on the screen, he suddenly couldn’t help but have a strange thought.

If aliens attacked Earth, would they feel the same way?

Their starships would park at the edge of the atmosphere, throw down some bombs, then send a bunch of smart soldiers or something.

“Speaking of which, I didn’t expect you guys to build an aerospace strategic bomber.”

Li Gaoliang smiled embarrassedly and said, “Thanks to your fusion battery and electric propulsion engine, it has officially been in service since the beginning of this year.”

“Is it good?”

“Very.”

Lu Zhou nodded, but he felt a mix of emotions.

Even though he knew that warfare was one of the elements of civilization, he didn’t really like that his technology was being used on the battlefield.

However, thinking about it from another angle, prosperity required necessary forces to protect it. As long as the battles defended peace and allowed the world to move in a better direction, this seemed to be a good thing?

Since Lu Zhou was no longer entangled in these issues, he finally relaxed.

“However, although the weapons are getting better and better, the troubles are becoming larger as well.” Li Gaoliang watched the battle on the screen and said, “We will recover the drone hive through diplomatic means. There are also drones that were damaged in battle… We have to retrieve them through GPS.

“Also, there is the promised reconstruction of the village and a series of issues. We can’t be like the Americans, leaving a mess behind. War will always be the last resort, and we don’t want to use it unless we have to.”

“Does this count as necessary?”

“Of course it counts.” Li Gaoliang looked at Lu Zhou and grinned. He patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, “If someone wants to hurt Professor Lu, they’ll get what they deserve.”

…

Ethiopian borders.

An officer in a US military uniform held a telescope in his hand. He looked at the flames on the hills in the distance.

After a while, he said, “Sh*t”. His mouth was dry from the blowing winds and sand. He put away the telescope in his hand.

The warlords and militias lurking in dangerous places had little room to fight back against the swarm of drones, and the entire battle was basically a one-sided slaughter.

This was probably the first time artificial intelligence had been used in warfare on such a large scale.

Although the Pentagon had tested similar equipment before, so far, the research was still at the laboratory stage, and he had not heard of any particularly big progress.

But now, he expected the Chinese technology to have advanced to this level.

Forget about these groups of militants, even he wouldn’t have any good ideas on how to deal with these locust-like monsters.

Standing next to him was an Ethiopian military officer, who accompanied him to the border. There was also a telescope in his hand, and he had a look of disbelief on his face.

“I don’t understand…”

The American officer glanced at him.

“Don’t understand what?”

“Let’s not talk about their drones. Where did the airstrikes come from?” The Ethiopian officer had a trace of fear on his face. He said, “Our radar only detected bombs from the sky. There was no evidence of a plane at all.”

“It’s not just that you didn’t see anything.” The US military officer said with a smile of self-deprecation, “We didn’t see anything on our radars either.”

The Ethiopian officer had a subtle look on his face.

He originally thought that their radar technology was too behind. He did not expect that the US military base, stationed in his territory, also didn’t observe any signals of a plane flying over this airspace.

“Could it be… that they have developed a stealth aircraft that can hide from all radars?”

If this is the case, doesn’t it mean that Chinese aircraft can come and go freely in any airspace they want?

This is so scary…

The US military officer shook his head and said, “Aeroplanes that completely hide from radars cannot exist. Even the most advanced materials will definitely leave traces on our phased array radar.”

“Then why…”

“Let’s think about it from another angle. Maybe they didn’t enter our air defense zone at all.”

“How is this possible?”

“Nothing is impossible. The most advanced aircraft can only fly up to 20 kilometers above sea level. The maximum airspace of each country is only about 110 kilometers. Beyond this limit, radar has no use at all. Even if we can observe them, no air defense missiles can reach that high.”

“So you’re saying…”

“I’m just guessing, there’s no evidence.” The US officer looked up at the sky with his eyebrows furrowed.

“From a logical point of view, if they can throw people from low earth orbit, there is no reason why they cannot throw a bomb from there.”

Chapter 1287: Things Left Behind

Schmidt was an ordinary oil and gas field engineer who was sent to Mogadishu because of a 30 billion oil and gas development agreement between ExxonMobil and the Somali authorities.

Even though he had made preparations before coming here, the level of poverty here exceeded his expectations.

He once saw in travel magazines, that before the Civil War, this place was called the white pearl of the Indian Ocean.

But now, the historic buildings had broken walls, with clearly visible bullet holes in the walls. Most of the roads were broken, and there was almost no greenery in the entire city. Sand was everywhere.

It wasn’t just the environment that was criticized.

Because of the local culture, there were no bars here, and casual drinking was punished by caning.

Even though their executives tried to help them get the privilege of drinking without being whipped, this privilege was limited to inside the staff dormitory. The variety and quantity of supplies were quite limited, making it difficult to have a good time.

For the employees who were dispatched here, the only entertainment here was to buy and read the latest newspaper or sit in a coffee shop near the company’s premises and experience the air-conditioning and coffee that the locals couldn’t afford. They spent their afternoons drinking specialty filtered coffee.

It didn’t matter what the newspaper was.

Whether it was BBC or Playboy, as long as there were words and pictures, it was enough. Life here was too boring.

Like usual, Schmidt came to the coffee shop, ordered a cup of Ethiopian coffee that he planned to sip on for an afternoon, and sat in a safe place far from the window.

He was about to start his newspaper reading and kill some time, but he was suddenly stunned.

[El Wak victory! The Somali Army Won!]

What the hell?!

Is this an April Fool’s joke?

No way, it’s not even April.

The moment Schmidt saw the headline in the newspaper, his first reaction was that it must be a mistake.

He knew the combat effectiveness of the Somali army. Even after receiving training from various countries, their fighting style was still quite barbaric. They might as well be carrying knives instead of rifles.

In contrast, the enemies they faced were the pirates that had caused headaches for governments all over the world. These devils had lurked the earth for more than a decade.

Even if the US sent 10 fighter jets over, they might not be able to completely wipe them out, let alone the Somali Army, who barely had a few tanks.

He had a feeling of disbelief. He continued to read the newspaper. His sight was immediately glued to the picture of the newspaper.

Technically, they were four sets of pictures.

Two of them were of a “black coffin” that had a parachute tied to it, which were probably taken by some kind of professional distance shooting equipment.

The other two photos were distant shots of the drones flying out of the black coffin and the smoke from a destroyed ammunition warehouse.

The moment Schmidt saw this equipment, he was sure that the Somali authorities must have received foreign aid.

Most of the people in East Africa had never even seen a drone. Even the US military had not deployed this kind of high-tech UAV equipment on a large scale.

Sure enough, when he continued to read, he quickly found the answer.

“With support from the Chinese, the Somali army launched its largest offensive this year in the El Wak area occupied by militants. Hundreds of bombs were dropped on the battlefield, destroying a dozen ammunition warehouses.

“Our reporter was told that the small drones were controlled by AI, and they automatically recognized the identities of the militants before launching attacks on them. These drones are similar to the logistics delivery drones, but it is still uncertain whether they are from the same company…

“So far, the battlefield has shifted from open areas to the streets. Many militant leaders have been killed. According to a spokesperson for the Somali authorities, the armed forces active in the area have been unable to maintain control of the area, and the Somali army is recovering the villages and towns controlled by militants. This chaos is expected to continue until the end of the year. We remind foreign employees working in the local area to pay attention to travel safety.

“In addition, our reporter consulted the US military bases in Ethiopia and asked about the airstrikes. However, the person in charge of the military base did not disclose the type of aircraft involved in the airstrikes or where the airstrikes came from. They refused to give more details…

“Jesus Christ.”

The Americans are actually helping China keep it a secret?

Are pigs flying?

Schmidt would never believe that those American troops would keep a secret about the weapons that launched airstrikes for the Chinese. If they knew, they would tell the whole world.

Therefore, there was only one possibility…

Which was, so far, they had not found enough evidence to prove who initiated the airstrikes and where it came from.

The look on his face gradually changed from suspicion to disbelief. He heard other foreign employees talking behind him.

Coincidentally, they were discussing the same thing.

“Did you read the news yesterday? Somalia’s army actually won?!”

“Of course I did! Everyone is discussing this on Twitter! People say that China used some kind of powerful secret weapon. I heard from our resident bodyguard that his nephew, who was in that battle, said they were prepared to fight the militants to death. But before they could do anything, the militants were all dead.”

The man with a beard on his face spoke in an exaggerated manner, as if he were in the battle himself.

“You guys don’t want to see the scene… It’s like hell on Earth.”

“What do you think the secret weapon might be?”

“I don’t know, but everyone says it’s an orbital weapon… A jet or bomber can’t fly this high, and it is impossible to hide from the US military base radar!”

Schmidt heard the discussion from several foreign employees behind him. He went into silence, and it took a while before he spoke.

“This is insane…”

Orbital weapons?

Avoiding the US radar completely?

This is ridiculous!

The Somalia government might as well have received help from aliens!

After reading the newspaper in his hand, Schmidt saw that it was getting late. He drank the last bit of coffee in his cup, threw a dollar tip to the waiter, and got up from his seat.

There were cheers and celebrations everywhere on the street. Local people gathered in groups, celebrating and welcoming something.

For this lifeless city, this scene was unreal.

Even though Schmidt was curious about what was being celebrated, he didn’t dare to ask the locals. His skin color was too different, and he might be targeted by the locals…

Over the next few days, strange things happened one after another.

First, a Chinese construction company moved in next door, and this was followed by an oil company and an import and export trading company…

Later on, more and more Chinese faces appeared, so did supermarkets, clothing stores, and even bars were slowly opening.

Yes, bars.

This made Schmidt extremely envious.

Their executives had tried to bribe the local officials, to see if they could open an American bar to entertain their employees. The officials agreed and collected the money. But when they were ready to open, the local officials turned on their agreement.

He didn’t know how the Chinese were able to bribe the local officials.

Interestingly enough, the Chinese employees weren’t as interested in the bars. Most of the customers were American and European employees who worked for Shell and ExxonMobil.

This, of course, also included Schmidt himself.

He just wanted to get drunk.

However, something happened that irritated Schmidt. One day, he suddenly discovered that the drinks sold to them by the Chinese were twice as expensive as the price sold to their own employees.

When he questioned the bartender, the only answer he got was “exchange rate reasons”; there was no additional explanation.

This is a scam!

Although Schmidt was furious, he couldn’t do anything.

After all, this was the only bar in town.

Thanks to the Chinese guys, at least he had some fun in his life. He no longer had to drink coffee and read newspapers like an old man.

Over the next week, the situation became even more interesting.

There were more and more Chinese faces on the streets. There was even a Chinatown.

Later on, Schmidt heard from several British oil workers that the Chinese construction companies were preparing to send an engineering team to the El Wak area, to rebuild the city recovered by the Somalia army.

Schmidt was certain that the Somali authorities must have reached some kind of agreement with the Chinese side and exported the reconstruction work to the Chinese.

But there was one thing Schmidt didn’t understand…

What was valuable in El Wak?

There was nothing but cacti and camels.

Also, keeping Somalia as an undeveloped country meant the world would have a place to sell their unwanted military equipment.

Yesterday, while drinking in the bar, he heard a familiar arms broker complaining that the Chinese construction workers had taken their jobs. And that Lockheed Martin reduced their remuneration. Now, they had to abandon the “market” that they worked hard to develop and head to the more dangerous Central African region.

Their eyes flashed with excitement, like a 16th-century navigator.

Apparently, in Central Africa, there was a food crisis, as well as constant wars between tribes and warlords.

Even though they were not as “rich” as the pirates in Somalia, there were untapped diamond mines, gold mines, and oil mines. Every inch of land there was full of the smell of money.

Before the Chinese could open up the market there, they could take advantage of the chaos there and make a fortune.

After some drinking, the arms broker fell asleep.

Schmidt didn’t disturb his dreams. He drank and thought about his own problems.

More and more things were making him puzzled.

He vaguely felt that huge changes were coming.

He couldn’t describe this feeling. He just felt that this change seemed to have started a long time ago and only recently started to surface.

For example, being able to sit here and drink.

Or for example, being able to stay outside the dormitory until ten o’clock at night… The local military and police were stationed here in order to protect the Chinese. In the past, they would occasionally encounter robbers. But there were almost no locals nearby.

However, this made sense.

After all, for a small figure like him, there must be many things behind the scenes that he didn’t know about…

Chapter 1288: Gravitational Wave Formula For The Z Particle

After a week of sailing, the Chang’e successfully “docked” on the Moon Palace.

The colonists who landed underwent their last medical examination in the space station. After three days of basic training, they began to take the landing module to the moon in batches.

More than 50% of the news on TV and the internet these days were related to the eating, drinking, and living conditions of the colonists. Even some variety shows had started to become popular.

Lu Zhou heard from Director Liu that recently, many satellite TVs had come to Jinling to shoot variety shows at the space launch site or the astronaut training base. The rental of the facilities was in the tens of millions of yuan per day.

Even though Lu Zhou was not very interested in variety shows, it was quite beneficial to allow more people to become interested in aerospace through the usage of mass media.

Even though only a few people had the opportunity to go to space, with the advancement of technology, space travel would sooner or later become a thing that benefited the general public.

After the successful settlement of the first group of colonists in Guanghan City, not only would the Chinese people become interested, but the foreigners would also be curious about these “people living in space”.

What everyone did not expect was that this trend was actually passed from the scientific and technological world to the cultural world. Aerospace related movies were even being produced in Hollywood.

Few people noticed the military conflict in western Somalia.

Only intelligence personnel from various countries were frantically scratching their heads over this matter. Some military arms companies and military security companies were annoyed by the loss of such a large market.

Even though many North American media had tried to trump up China’s military actions that had caused regional turmoil and civilian casualties, they had no direct evidence to prove China’s participation in this battle.

In addition, the battle ended too quickly. When the New York Times reporter team finally arrived at the front line and prepared to shoot a set of war documentaries, the post-war reconstruction work had already begun for two whole days.

This disappointed the American journalists who were looking forward to reporting an Iraq-like event. They returned home with empty camera cards…

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

At the public cafe.

Luo Wenxuan, the Secretary-General, read the news on his phone. He spoke emotionally.

“Who would have expected, that after a reckless person did a reckless thing, the destiny of a country was changed… What do you think?”

In the page he was reading was a black-and-white photo, and Marach’s name appeared in the text.

Even though Lu Zhou did not know him, apparently, he was the pirate who planned to attack the cruise ship he was on.

Not just that, apparently, this guy was a well-known local warlord, and he occasionally commanded his subordinates to act as pirates, looting and kidnapping many ships from Asia.

Many of these ships belonged to China.

According to the confirmation of the Ethiopian military, the body of this demon, who once frightened countless Somalians, was found near a farm.

Judging from the bullet holes on his body, he was fired at by a group of drones.

“I’ve never been to Africa.”

Luo Wenxuan: “?”

“I’m saying that I don’t care.”

Lu Zhou took a look at the rebuilding of war zone news. He paused for a second and spoke.

“However, I am very happy to hear such news.”

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Because your research has been used in the right place?”

“Sort of… Leaving the unimportant things aside, I hope you can take a look at this.”

Lu Zhou threw a document to Luo Wenxuan’s lap, and it landed on top of his phone.

When Luo Wenxuan saw the document, he was stunned. He had a curious look on his face.

“What is this?”

“The gravitational fluctuation formula for the Z particle.”Lu Zhou’s finger tapped on the document as he said, “I suggest you read it carefully.”

After Wei Hong and Professor Dobrik left his home last time, they returned to Shanghai immediately. They followed the research ideas Lu Zhou provided and started researching the Z particle gravitational wave formula.

According to the division of labor between the two, the latter was responsible for the physical part, while the former was responsible for the mathematical solution.

To be honest, when Lu Zhou saw this paper, he was actually quite surprised. It took less than a month for Professor Wei to come up with this formula.

In his estimation, it would take the two people at least two months to finish the project.

He didn’t expect such a great physicist and mathematician in the ILHCRC team.

Even though they were not comparable to him, Lu Zhou was quite relieved to see more and more young physicists with great potential at the ILHCRC.

“Z particle’s gravitational fluctuation formula?” After reading a few familiar keywords, Luo Wenxuan touched his chin and said, “I read similar studies, but this is not—”

“Not your research area? Is that what you wanted to say?” Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and interrupted him, “If you want to win the Nobel Prize, you should learn new things.”

“Fine… I will take a closer look.”

In the end, Luo Wenxuan patiently spent about half an hour reading the paper from beginning to end.

Then…

After reading it, his eyes froze.

When Lu Zhou saw the surprise in his eyes, he smiled at Luo Wenxuan and said, “Isn’t it incredible?”

“Yes… It is quite incredible.” Luo Wenxuan couldn’t hide the shock in his eyes. He looked at Lu Zhou and said, “If this is true, we will be able to reveal how the gravitational field passes through dimensions… Are you sure about this? The research was done by Wei Hong and Dobrik? I have never heard of either of them.”

“That’s because you lack the skill of discovering new talent.” Lu Zhou joked, “I hope you can work harder in this area.”

Luo Wenxuan asked eagerly, “Let’s not talk about this… What do you think of this research?”

The more classical ADD model in high energy physics gave an explanation for why gravity was so weak compared to other interactions. That was because gravity could propagate to additional dimensions, so most of the “gravitational lines” were leaked into extra dimensions. This made the gravitational force in three-dimensional space appear weak.

Using this theoretical framework, the universe was like a “wall” in a higher-dimensional space. Electrons, protons, photons, and all other particles in the standard model couldn’t enter the extra dimension. Only the gravitational field lines could extend into this extra dimension.

However, even though the ADD model was a classic theory, it was only a phenomenological model that was derived from experimental data and calculations. It wasn’t correct in an absolute sense.

So far, civilization had not yet mastered an observation method that could prove that gravitational field lines could pass through this wall and enter the extra dimension.

But now, everything was changing…

“You already know, so why ask?” Lu Zhou had a smile on his face. He interlinked his fingers on the table and continued, “As you can see, this can be a powerful tool. It will allow us to research how gravity causes spacetime to bend, and research how space bends, and… find out what gravity is.”

“This is something Einstein never fully understood.”

Luo Wenxuan was silent for a while. He then smiled bitterly.

“This sounds very difficult…”

“That’s for sure. If it is not difficult, someone would have solved this problem by now.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “In fact, I think this research project is very suitable for you. The reason why I made a special trip to find you today is that I hope you will participate in this project.”

“Huh?” Luo Wenxuan was taken aback. He then sat up straight and almost fell off the chair. He said, “Why… me?”

“Because you are the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC. You could be the next chairman of the board of directors…” Lu Zhou paused for a moment and continued, “How to make physicists at the ILHCRC value this research? How to ensure that the scientific research resources required for this project could be met? These are things you should learn.”

Luo Wenxuan couldn’t help but say, “Then why don’t you do it?”

“Because I can’t do everything…” Lu Zhou’s index finger gently touched the coffee cup on the table. He sighed softly and said, “Moreover, I have other more important things to do.”

Chapter 1289: The Last Stage

2023 Christmas was spent in peace.

The colonists in Guanghan City had successfully settled in their new homes. Except for a rare earth deposit with estimated reserves of more than 30 million tons, where the mining rights were sold to a large domestic mining company, news about Guanghan City seemed to have died down.

As this hot story faded from people’s attention, life seemed to have briefly returned to normal.

However, even though the world returned to normal, for the physics community, the situation was the opposite.

Like a gift from Santa Claus, a message from the ILHCRC attracted the attention of physicists from all over the world.

Professor Luo and the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC joined the Z particle gravitational anomaly research team.

Also, the gravitational wave formula for the Z particle was actually solved by Professor Wei Hong at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor Dobrik from the University of Brussels?

“This is incredible…”

ILHCRC cafe.

Professor Witten sat at the same place Lu Zhou and Luo Wenxuan were sitting last time. He looked at the paper in disbelief.

“From the perspective of a mathematician, this paper is quite exciting. His understanding of algebraic geometry and topology makes people wonder…”

Wilczek: “Wonder if Lu Zhou helped them?”

“Not quite…” Witten turned over the paper in his hand and said, “This is still below Lu Zhou’s standards, but for a scholar in particle physics research, his mathematics proficiency is quite impressive. After all, I have seen too many physics professors, who when doing operations on a mathematical model, would erase a certain letter in a line of formulas and pretend that nothing happened.”

Professor Wilczek, who was drinking black tea, almost choked on the tea. He coughed several times before he spoke.

“That analogy might offend some people…”

“Who cares?” Witten shrugged nonchalantly and said, “I’m old now.”

Over the years, more and more of his old friends had passed away. He would often send emails to his old friends, but there would be no reply.

Even he himself began to gradually feel that it had become increasingly difficult to adapt to the current pace of physics research.

Aging was inevitable.

Whether someone was the king or a peasant, it was impossible to escape this curse.

Since it was difficult to create new amazing achievements, the only thing that Witten cared about was seeing interesting things happen in his lifetime.

Professor Wilczek felt a little sad. He took a sip of the black tea and changed the topic smoothly.

“But anyway… I think this is what I expected. Since Lu Zhou likes this guy’s research, there is at least an 80% chance that there must be an amazing discovery behind this.”

Professor Wilczek felt that his statement was not accurate enough. He thought for a while and added, “Actually… 90% chance or more…”

“It’s not the Z particle gravitational wave formula that surprised me. Although its derivation process was ingenious and subtle, it was far from surprising. Forget about Lu Zhou, even I might be able to do it.”

Witten pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose as he looked at the paper in his hand with an intrigued expression.

“What really surprised me was what Lu Zhou is doing…”

“Lu Zhou?” Wilczek looked at him strangely as he asked, “Isn’t he researching this?”

“Of course not. I can’t see traces of his calculations in this paper, and his name is not in the authors column. I bet that even if he doesn’t want to be named, his collaborators must really want to put his name on it, and they might even do so without authorization…”

Witten seemed to be thinking of something that had happened a long time ago, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

“There is only one possibility for him to leave such an interesting research project alone…

“He must have discovered something more interesting.”

The moment he heard these words, Wilczek seemed to have thought of something. His pupils suddenly brightened as he muttered to himself, “And even he himself is not sure whether this theory is correct…”

Witten snapped his fingers and spoke with a smile.

“Yes.”

Wilczek smirked and said, “Well, I’m intrigued now! I want to visit him in Jinling and see what he is researching.”

Witten smiled and said, “You can’t see him.”

Wilczek: “Why?”

“From what I know about him, he will lock himself in his room when this happens.”

Witten put down the teacup, smiled nostalgically, and said, “He calls it a retreat.”

…

In fact, Professor Witten’s guess was correct.

Even though Lu Zhou had not started a retreat yet, he was already preparing for one.

Also, the topic he was researching, just like Professor Witten had guessed, was different from Professor Wei Hong and Professor Dobrik’s research.

The Z particle’s gravitational wave formula was a perfect result, but it could only be regarded as the first step for understanding the cause of gravity disturbance when Z particles fell from a high-dimensional to a low-dimensional space.

If he could succeed in this, it would undoubtedly be an amazing research result. But it was not easy to dig out all the clues in this field of research.

At least not in the short term.

In contrast, Lu Zhou discovered some other things in this area that interested him. Because of this, he temporarily turned his attention away from the research on the Z particle gravitational field disturbance.

However, this discovery might be even more ridiculous.

Even he himself wasn’t sure if his guess could be true.

However, this feeling of uncertainty ignited his thirst for knowledge, touching the soul of his science-hungry mind.

He should at least try.

Even if there was only a one percent probability, there was a chance!

“I might have to stay at home for a while… During this time, I won’t be able to contact you.”

During a video call.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan’s holographic image in front of him. He went silent for a while.

He hesitated for a long time before making this call.

Even he knew that no woman could bear her boyfriend not replying to her texts for a long period of time. Even if there was a valid reason, the girlfriend would think that this was “her fault”.

However, after hearing this, Chen Yushan’s reaction was beyond Lu Zhou’s expectations.

She smiled and said in a relaxed tone, “A retreat?”

“What? How do you know?”

“I’m your girlfriend, I know you well.” Chen Yushan couldn’t help but joke, “Also, you scared me, why were you so serious… I thought you were going to break up with me.”

“No way!”

“Who knows? What if there is a girl younger than me chasing after you? Also, I’m not always by your side. You have so many fans… Every time you post on Weibo, there are so many girls that want your babies…”

Although she had a joking look at the beginning, she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed at the end.

As for Lu Zhou, who was on the other end of the phone, he was stunned.

Want my babies?

Are my fans this perverted?

Emm…

Okay then.

Lu Zhou thought about how handsome he was.

“Fine, fine, I’ll stop joking around.”

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou, who wanted to explain but didn’t know how to speak. Chen Yushan smirked at this dumbfounded guy.

She spoke in a gentle tone.

“Remember to take care of yourself. Even if the research is interesting, remember to eat and sleep on time.”

As Lu Zhou looked at his considerate and understanding girlfriend, he was so touched that he was almost speechless.

He gulped.

In the end, he finally said, “Yeah, you too!”

After hanging up the phone, Lu Zhou, who was still sitting at the desk, took a deep breath. To calm his mood, he focused all of his attention on the draft paper sitting on the desk.

“This should be the final stage…”

Lu Zhou gradually entered a flow state. He reached out and picked up the pen on the table.

“The final stage before mastering physics…”

Reaching level 10 in physics.

Just thinking about it made his heart jump out of his chest…

Chapter 1290: Straighten Space-Time

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

In an office with whiteboards.

Professor Wei Hong faced one of the whiteboards, which was almost full of writing. He was holding a marker in his hand. He pondered for a long time.

He then suddenly broke the silence.

“Aha!”

Professor Dobrik, who was standing next to him, asked quickly, “What?”

Just now, with Luo Wenxuan, the three people were discussing the problem of “possible causes of the gravitational field disturbance by the Z particles.” Wei Hong gave a possibility from a mathematical point of view on the whiteboard.

However, while the other two were listening carefully, he suddenly stopped talking. He stood there for a long time, as if his thoughts were stuck by something.

Professor Dobrik thought he had discovered an amazing idea, so he quickly looked at him.

Professor Wei Hong pondered for about two minutes. He molded the ideas in his mind into simple and understandable language before speaking.

“The essence of gravity is the bending of the object’s own space-time. The Z particles moving from high to low dimensions do not interfere with the gravitational field itself, but they change the curvature of space-time relative to the gravitational field.”

He picked up a pen and drew two parallel circles on the whiteboard, connecting the upper and lower ends of the circles with two arcs.

“This is the curvature in space-time. Assume that the curvature is x. Assuming that the two lines are the lines of the gravitational field in conventional space-time, when the Z particle oscillates at both ends, the value of x changes and is reduced to infinitely close to zero. These two arcs can also be infinitely straightened, approaching a straight line—”

As Luo Wenxuan watched the two clean straight lines drawn by Professor Wei Hong between the two arcs, he had a look of surprise on his face.

“I understand what you mean, but it sounds… a bit weird. In other words, we only need two lunar hadron colliders to create a portal at the other end of the galaxy?”

Wei Hong shook his head.

“This analogy is not quite accurate. Technically, it is more like a highway between two undulating peaks.”

According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, matter and time (space-time) would bend due to the existence of matter. In the classical universe where the matter was ubiquitous, the universe was directly observable.

In this curved universe, a straight line traveled from A to B. But in fact, in a high-dimensional universe, it traveled in a curved line.

If Wei Hong’s conjecture was correct, this meant that they might “straighten” the curly space-time in some way and directly follow a true “straight line” through the curly universe, to go where they wanted to go.

Using Mars as an example, the closest distance between Mars and Earth was 55 million kilometers, and it would take 182 seconds to travel this distance at the speed of light.

However, if the curved space-time between the two was “straightened”, this distance could be shortened to 5.5 million or even 550,000 kilometers.

Therefore, even if humans didn’t have a method to surpass the speed of light, they could still actually break through the limit of the speed of light and travel through the universe in a very short amount of time.

Luo Wenxuan was shocked by the broad prospects unfolding behind this theory. He was stunned for a long time before he gradually revealed a serious expression.

“Is there a way to prove it?” he asked.

“It’s difficult.” Wei Hong looked at the calculations on the whiteboard with a solemn expression. He gradually showed a bitter smile as he said, “Actually, it is very difficult. This involves many complex sub-problems, and also, it is related to the most complex problem: high-dimensional differential manifolds and algebraic geometry. It’s no exaggeration to say that if this problem is abstracted into a mathematical problem, its difficulty is on the level of the Poincaré conjecture!”

Luo Wenxuan and Professor Dobrik looked at each other.

Even for the latter, who was not proficient at mathematics, he was aware of the seven Millennium Prize Problems.

Poincaré conjecture was the crown of differential geometry, and it took nearly a century of hard work by three generations of mathematicians to remove it from the top of the mountain.

If the difficulty of solving this problem was more difficult than Poincaré conjecture…

Then they would have almost no chance of succeeding.

“If we can prove this conclusion, our names will go down in history,” Professor Dobrik said.

Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “It’s more than just history… We’ll be on the same level as Einstein.”

This was the portal to the edge of the galaxy!

Whoever could find this portal would be the founding father of the interstellar age.

Even if it only provided a theoretical way of navigation between star systems, it would still be significant. If someone in the distant future achieved long-distance navigation using their theories, then they would receive more honor than Newton and Einstein combined.

Professor Wei Hong also sighed softly.

“It’s unfortunate, but this theory is not something ordinary people can complete… At least it is beyond the scope of my ability.”

“What about Professor Witten?”

“If he were in his thirties, maybe he could, but now… It’s basically impossible.” Wei Hong continued after a pause, “So far, the most promising person to solve this problem is Professor Lu.”

Luo Wenxuan saw the way the two looked at him.

“What are you looking at me for?”

Professor Wei Hong said, “You have the best relationship with Professor Lu… We have a higher success chance if you ask him for help.”

Dobrik nodded quickly in agreement.

“I think so too.”

The experience of being detained at Jinling Airport was scarring.

“Even if I want to, there’s no way. I am his friend… But he is in a retreat. It is almost impossible to contact him.”

Luo Wenxuan’s face couldn’t help but show a helpless expression.

To be honest, he wondered if he was Lu Zhou’s friend or Lu Zhou’s student.

Professor Dobrik didn’t want to give up, and he tried one last time.

“But… How will you know if you don’t try?”

“Even if we do manage to contact him, he is unlikely to invest a lot of time on a theory that is unlikely to be applied… Unless it is really worth it.”

Luo Wenxuan shrugged and continued, “So, for us, the only way now is to write our conjecture in a paper and publish it. If it arouses his interest, this problem might be solved. If not… I think it is not worth wasting too much time on it.”

This was the best solution.

From what Luo Wenxuan knew about Lu Zhou, even though he would hardly reply to messages when he was in a retreat, he would not completely isolate himself from academia.

He would still read the latest research papers.

If Lu Zhou didn’t respond…

Then it meant that Lu Zhou didn’t think this research project was worthy of his time.

If this was the case, then Luo Wenxuan felt that they might as well give up.

After all, exceeding the speed of light sounded a bit ridiculous. To be honest, he was doubtful even now. After all, there were more reliable explanations.

“This is our only choice…”

After a moment of silence, Professor Wei Hong nodded. Although he didn’t like to wait for something uncertain, there seemed to be no better choice.

“… I will use as much mathematics as possible to describe this conjecture in a more formal manner.”

Luo Wenxuan looked at him and nodded.

“Then I’ll have to thank you in advance.”

The three were preparing to return to the previous discussion.

However, the phone in Luo Wenxuan’s pocket suddenly rang.

“Wait a minute… I have to answer this.”

As the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC, he always had to answer a large number of work calls every day.

Even though he wanted to leave these calls aside, considering that Lu Zhou was a “hands-off” kind of chairman, he could only bite the bullet and take on Lu Zhou’s work.

There was no contact name, but Luo Wenxuan still answered the call.

Wei Hong and Dobrik did not bother him. They stopped discussing the topic and waited for their teammate to return.

However, instead of Luo Wenxuan’s footsteps, they heard a strange cry from the distance. That voice probably belonged to Professor Luo Wenxuan, but it was very high pitched—

Almost like his voice was traveling through curved space-time.

Dobrik looked at Wei Hong and asked, “What is he saying?”

“I don’t know…”

Wei Hong glanced at the direction Luo Wenxuan was in with a bewildered look. Just when Wei Hong hesitated whether to go outside the room and see what happened, he saw Luo Wenxuan walk in with a dazed look on his face.

Professor Dobrik quickly got up and asked, “What happened?”

Wei Hong stood up too.

“Who was on the phone?’

“Lu Zhou…”

Luo Wenxuan gulped. He said, “Just now… we were discussing whether oscillating Z particles can bend space-time, right?”

“Yeah… Why?!”

Professor Wei Hong suddenly realized what was going on. Luo Wenxuan nodded and spoke.

“Yeah.

“He proved it.

“Just a few minutes ago.

“A mathematical proof…”

Chapter 1291: : The Effect of the Z Particle Transition on Spacetime Curvature

The phone call ended.

Lu Zhou gently exhaled the air in his chest, he put down his phone and looked at the thick pile of draft papers on the table. He had a smile of relief on his face.

“Thirty-one days… This is probably the longest time I have been in a retreat.” Lu Zhou looked at the calendar on his phone and sighed.

When was the last time I felt this way?

I don’t even remember.

Ever since he reached level 10 in mathematics, most of the difficult mathematics calculations had become meaningless to him. Whenever he saw a mathematical formula, using his mathematical intuition, he was able to quickly pinpoint a few possible solutions.

For other people, thinking about high-dimensional space consumed almost all of their brainpower. But for him, abstract differential manifolds were as simple as Lego.

But this time, the situation was different.

When he wrote down the first line of the formula, his mathematical intuition did not tell him which direction to go in. The messy clues were entangled, making it difficult to figure out the solution.

As he continued to try different methods and explored the depths of this maze, more and more difficulties and traps began to manifest.

Lu Zhou wondered more than once whether his conjecture was unsolvable.

Fortunately, he did not give up. In the end, he found a suitable differential manifold in the complex plane. Using the method of algebraic geometry, he converted it into algebraic form and integrated it into the corresponding function for high-dimensional space. He finally found the way out of the maze…

“This is a classic high-level topology problem, just like the Poincaré conjecture…”

Lu Zhou twisted the pen in his hand. He looked at the draft paper and smiled as he talked to himself.

“But it is much more difficult than the Poincaré conjecture. It involves far more than just a few differential manifolds or certain types of high-dimensional spaces.”

“Fortunately, this is my expertise.”

The first Millennium Prize Problem he solved was the solution existence for the Navier–Stokes equations.

Back then, he constructed a differential manifold called the L-manifold, which knocked down the huge problem that plagued fluid dynamics engineers.

He had used this weapon to kill many dragons guarding the treasure.

Using a similar method, he once again killed a monster that was blocking the gap between human civilization and the deepest mysteries of the universe.

And this monster was far more powerful than the average monster.

And the treasure guarded by it was far more valuable than the Millennium Prize Problems…

“Time and space dictate how matter moves, matter dictates how space and time bend.

“Particles in the n-dimension don’t move to the n-1 dimension for no reason. But once this transition occurs, it opens a channel between the string and the matter.

“This channel can be defined in a mathematical way.”

Lu Zhou looked at the fully-written piece of paper, at the formula that could change the future of human civilization. He had a smile of victory on his face.

“The next step is to enter it into the computer.”

It would be a shame if he couldn’t share his result with the rest of the world.

Lu Zhou spent about two hours reorganizing the proof process on the draft paper. He then entered it into the computer.

“The Effect of the Z particle Transition on Spacetime Curvature”

When Lu Zhou finally finished editing the paper, he uploaded the paper to arXiv, leaned back on his chair, and stretched his aching shoulders.

“The next step is to prove my conjecture experimentally.”

The physics community might not accept his conjecture immediately. But as the chairman of the ILHCRC, he had the authority on how to use next year’s funds.

After the Z particle incident, almost no one could challenge his authority. Even if all of the board members voted against him, the vast majority of physicists at the ILHCRC would definitely be on his side.

“Let me think… Deploy a Z particle clock in the geosynchronous orbit and the moon orbit respectively? No, wait, the distance between the moon and the earth is a bit too short. Let’s switch to Mars.”

The consignment work and the order for the “Z particle clock” could be handled by the Lunar Orbit Committee.

Lu Zhou already had a complete blueprint in his mind for how to conduct the entire experiment.

He only wanted to do one thing.

Which was to share the joy in his heart with the person he loved the most…

“Xiao Wang, send a message to Wang Peng and ask him to pick me up.”

[Yes, Master. ( ́ー∀ー`)]

…

When Lu Zhou left the house, it was already ten o’clock in the evening. When he sat in the Electric Purple parked downstairs, snow was falling from the sky.

Wang Peng, who started the car, asked casually when he was looking at the snowflakes under the street lights, “It’s already ten o’clock, are we still going?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “Can we arrive before eleven?”

“Won’t take that long, ten-thirty should be fine.”

“In that case, let’s go.”

After about a 20-minute drive, a purple car stopped at the entrance of the luxurious residential complex near the high-tech zone.

Lu Zhou passed the face recognition access gate. He walked into the building with an umbrella. He went into the elevator, arrived at the floor, then gently pressed the doorbell.

Soon, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind the door, which was then followed by a voice.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

The door opened with a warm breeze. A look of joy and surprise appeared behind the door.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t even tell me you were coming… It’s so messy inside, give me a second.”

Chen Yushan suddenly realized that she was wearing pajamas. She had no makeup on and her hair was messy. She wanted to close the door.

Fortunately, Lu Zhou reacted quickly. He used his foot to block the door.

“Do you want me to freeze outside?”

Even though there was central heating in the hallways, it was still a bit cold. By the time she changed clothes and put on makeup, Lu Zhou would have already frozen to death.

Chen Yushan suddenly noticed the snow on his shoulders. She blushed and said, “I was about to sleep. I didn’t know it’s snowing outside… Come in then.”

After entering the house, Lu Zhou put on slippers and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Chen Yushan came out of the kitchen with two cups of hot milk. She placed them on the coffee table.

“Are you cold? Drink this. By the way, your retreat is over?”

After testing the temperature of the milk, Lu Zhou took a sip.

As the warm fluid entered his throat and stomach, he felt the cold and exhaustion in his body being washed away.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

“So, it seems like you discovered something important again.” She was sitting across from Lu Zhou. Her beautiful face seemed to be glowing, making Lu Zhou’s heart skip a beat.

“Good guess.” Lu Zhou smiled and suddenly thought of something. He said, “I want to give you a present on Valentine’s Day.”

When Chen Yushan heard about Valentine’s Day gifts, she suddenly became excited and asked curiously, “What gift?”

Lu Zhou smiled mysteriously.

“If I tell you now, there is no surprise.

“You’ll know when it’s Valentine’s.”

The snow outside the window was getting bigger and bigger, and the snowflakes soon gently covered the trees and windows.

The visible things left were the street lights and car lights.

Today was no different than any other day.

The only difference was that…

Because of a paper that suddenly appeared on arXiv, physicists living in the eastern hemisphere had begun to lose sleep…

Chapter 1292: Not Impossible

Wilson Ohanian was a physics professor at Stanford University, and he was mainly involved in particle physics research. As the former winner of the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, he was regarded as one of the outstanding young physicists that had emerged in recent years.

Even though he was bathed in the envious gaze from his peers, only Ohanian himself knew how difficult the road he had chosen was.

Because of technology limitations, they still couldn’t verify if the conjectures from the last century were correct. The exploration of the future had hardly begun.

Fortunately, the Chinese, who had suddenly become rich in recent years, had generously built a collider larger than CERN on the moon. This had fast tracked the development of particle physics.

For example, the Z particle.

This particle was discovered in the high-dimensional world at the end of last year. It had broadened the research of particle physics to the invisible world.

Lu Zhou, who discovered this particle, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023 because of this groundbreaking discovery. He became a candidate for the most outstanding physicist of the century.

Ohanian saw the broad prospects behind this research area at a glance. He immediately changed his research area and began researching the Z particle. He achieved quite good results for the research on the “dimensional change of the Z particle”.

If everything went well, he would win the next Dirac Medal.

However…

Something didn’t go well.

“This is bull crap…

“Hyperspace channel? The curvature of spacetime?

“According to this, I only need to dig a hole in the ground to get to the other side of the galaxy?”

Ohanian cursed and threw the paper in his hand into the trash can. He didn’t hesitate to express his contempt for the theory of “hyperspace channel” and “spacetime curvature change”.

In fact, his contempt was not without reason.

In general relativity, if the topological structure of space changed in a bounded area, then a closed time curve in the spacetime range would exist where this change occurred.

The time curve was the physical trajectory of a mass object in spacetime.

A popular explanation for this was that changing the topology of space was forbidden by general relativity!

This was not a just conjecture, it was a theorem proven by Stephen Hawking.

In fact, Ohanian had a similar idea a long time ago when he saw the disturbance of the gravitational field when the Z particle fell from a high dimension to a low dimension.

However, this idea was quickly denied by himself.

Because if he wanted to prove or disprove this idea, he would need a huge amount of calculation to support it. Even mathematicians who specialized in topology and algebraic geometry would find it difficult.

He verified this with a mathematics professor at Stanford University.

Therefore, he preferred believing in another explanation.

Which was that, when the Z particle moved from a high dimension to a low dimension, a loss of mass would occur. This loss of mass in dimensionality would eventually lead to a decrease in the gravitation observed in classical spacetime.

And where did this part of gravity go?

He thought it could be an extra dimension.

However, this paper completely went against his research. It seemed like the Dirac Medal was out of his reach…

The office assistant stood tremblingly beside him, afraid to speak to the angry professor.

After the professor seemed to have calmed down a little, the assistant gulped and whispered, “But the author of this paper is Professor Lu…”

The air in the office froze.

Professor Ohanian, who was reaching for his coffee cup, froze.

“What did you say?”

“The paper was written by Professor Lu… He posted it on arXiv. I followed your instructions and printed out all the papers worth seeing in this research area.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. With a stiff expression on his face, Professor Ohanian asked, “Is he the corresponding author?”

This happened from time to time. Not all supervisors had the time to correct every paper their students wrote. For academic leaders like Lu Zhou, maybe he didn’t even remember how many students he had.

It was helpful to put the name of a great scholar as the corresponding author. It could prevent the reviewing editor from throwing the paper into the trash can, and the attitude of the scholars who peer-reviewed the paper would also be more cautious.

If Professor Lu was only the corresponding author, it didn’t mean he had participated in the research. Perhaps he hadn’t even read this paper.

After all, the papers listed on arXiv weren’t published; they were just preprints…

“He is the only author…” The words that came from his assistant’s mouth completely shattered Ohanian’s hopes. He said, “His name is the only name…”

There was a long silence in the office.

After a minute went by, Ohanian suddenly sighed. He stood up with his hands on the armrest and walked to the trash can.

He picked up the crumpled pages from the trash can and took them back to the desk. After he spread them out, Ohanian sat down patiently and read the entire 20-page paper from beginning to end.

After about half an hour, he muttered, “Well… I can’t be too sure, even though it sounds ridiculous, it’s not necessarily completely wrong.”

The assistant looked at his grumpy boss in amazement. It took only half an hour for Ohanian to completely change his attitude. The assistant standing in the office almost doubted whether the person sitting here was the real Ohanian. The Ohanian he knew used to berate others for having a different academic point of view.

The assistant gulped and said, “Professor.”

Professor Ohanian replied without looking up, “What?”

Assistant: “If he is correct… What does it mean?”

“What does it mean? Haha, what does it mean…”

As if he was going crazy, Professor Ohanian grinned and stared at the paper motionlessly.

“It means that the spacetime view of general relativity will be subverted. Our understanding of classical spacetime will change… In fact, that’s not all.

“The most important thing is…”

Professor Ohanian was halfway through a sentence. He stopped speaking for a long time. The young assistant, who was holding his breath, couldn’t help but ask, “The most important thing is?”

Professor Ohanian spoke with confidence and certainty.

“The most important thing is that this means of traveling faster than the speed of light might be possible.

“The science fiction movies you’ve seen, whether it’s Hollywood or elsewhere…

“At least half of the technology in the movies could become real.”

Chapter 1293: Have You Seen Him Joke Before?

The paper Lu Zhou published on arXiv stirred up waves of discussion.

Professor Ohanian’s shock was only a tiny part of the chaos in the physics world.

Ohanian quickly booked the flights and hotels and prepared to fly to Shanghai. On the other hand, the entire physics community was going crazy over this amazing paper.

“This is really spectacular. I don’t know how to describe the feeling in my heart!”

“As for the paper itself, I think it’s too early to give a yes or no answer. I think… At least before Professor Lu’s report, it would be inappropriate to give an evaluation… This is out of respect for him.”

Professor Wilczek, who loved to bet and debate with colleagues, remained rather silent this time.

Maybe it was because he lost so badly against Lu Zhou before, or maybe because he had missed another chance of winning the Nobel Prize. The uncertainty in the air made him unclear about whether he should express his opinion.

Professor Edward Witten was a leader in theoretical physics, and he had once won the Fields Medal. He also expressed his shock on his personal blog after seeing the paper.

Just like Professor Wilczek, he did not make a judgment on the correctness of this paper… Even though many colleagues hoped that he would do so.

“The Z particle moving from high to low dimensions opens up channels between dimensions? Straighten spacetime? This sounds like science fiction… Does this mean we can find a true straight path in the universe?”

“Even though I’m not certain whether he is correct, I hope he is.”

Even though the paper published by Lu Zhou was only a preprint, everyone in the physics world knew his habits.

He would never publish unless he was certain he was correct.

He would only upload a preprint after countless calculations and verifications, and even then, it was only when he was absolutely certain.

In addition to the two veterans in theoretical physics, the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics winner, Professor Duncan Haldane from Princeton University, also expressed his views on the paper.

His opinion was different from the other two big names.

As a man who discovered topological phase transitions and topological phase matter theoretically, he was one of the few physicists today who could rival the top mathematicians.

Especially in the areas of topology and algebraic geometry.

Therefore, for the paper published by Lu Zhou titled “The Effect of The Z Particle Transition on Spacetime Curvature”, he gave an evaluation from a mathematical point of view.

“… There is a certain degree of difficulty in the mathematical proof part of the thesis. Frankly speaking, even for me, it is quite tricky.

“If you aren’t an expert in algebra and geometry unification theory, and you have trouble regarding spatial imagination, I advise you to give up reading it for the time being. It will burn all of your brain cells, and you will get nowhere.”

Even though he spoke bluntly, his meaning was clear.

If someone was not very proficient in mathematics, they shouldn’t think about understanding the paper.

However, not everyone wanted to accept reality.

All those in the theoretical physics community were losing their minds over this paper. Many mathematics experts also cast their curious gazes toward this paper.

After all, this was Professor Lu’s paper.

After winning the Fields Medal and the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, this genius completed the unified theory of algebraic geometry, which shocked the world. He then faded out of the field of mathematics and hadn’t published new mathematics research results for a while.

Even though the paper published this time was not a mathematical paper, the theories it used were the most cutting-edge research in today’s mathematics world.

In addition to being an essential part of physics, this paper could be regarded as a standard in terms of its mathematical demonstration. The application of differential manifolds and the explanation of the unified theory of algebra and geometry were magnificent!

Because of this, many scholars had read this paper.

The influence of this paper quickly spread from the field of physics to the entire academic world, then spread to the public.

Although most people didn’t know what the Z particle was and what impact it had on high-dimensional space, one thing attracted everyone’s attention.

Which was that this could become the key to faster than light travel!

This interpretation made everyone want to understand what the Z particle was.

On Twitter.

The Z particle became a trending topic.

Before, this word was only understood by particle physicists. Now, almost everyone on the Internet understood what it was.

[Warp travel? Does this mean that it will take less than a second to reach the moon?]

[Jesus… This is terrifying!]

[Joining the Chinese ILHCRC plan is a wrong decision. Now, physicists all over the world are working for them, and soon, they will master warp travel and throw us behind! Just like they have done in the moon landing project!]

[This must be the darkest moment in human history… Remember the research from the ILHCRC some time ago? The Void theory! Maybe the channel they opened was not to go to some other planet at all, but straight to hell…]

[Wait, have you guys wondered if this could be fake news? That Lu Zhou guy just posted a paper, and you guys are freaking out! Maybe he’s just joking with us.]

[Problem is, have you ever seen him joke around?]

This comment ended all of the doubts.

Lu Zhou had never made jokes in academia.

Not even once!

If this were another physicist, they could argue that the author was just trying to receive funding.

But this was Professor Lu…

He didn’t need funding.

This was just a theoretical study that might become the key to warp travel. But in the eyes of many people, it was no different from a real warp drive.

After all, the name Lu Zhou was too dazzling.

The topic was widely discussed on the Internet, and it quickly attracted the attention of major media outlets around the world.

The third day after the paper was uploaded, the Washington Post published a headline.

The headline was quite long.

It was exactly what everyone was thinking.

[Is this the key to interstellar travel? Or the passage to hell? The latest discoveries of the world-renowned scholar might change our future…]

Chapter 1294: Send a Pair of Photons

Lu Zhou discovered that he was trending.

The kind that grew exponentially.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. However, this was completely beyond his expectations. He thought that after he released his paper, it would only cause a sensation in the physics world. He didn’t expect that even the “Washington Post” would talk about him in their headlines.

Also…

Columbia TV also invited Professor Suskander from Stanford University to do a pop-science interview program.

As one of the founders of string theory, Professor Suskander was one of the veterans in the field of theoretical physics. Even though research on Z particles was not his specialty, he was an expert on the general theory of relativity and spacetime curvature.

Faced with the interviewer from Columbia TV, Professor Suskander, who was inside his laboratory, thought for a while. He took out a white piece of paper from his desk.

“Do you see this paper?”

Interviewer: “I do… But Professor Suskander, is there anything special about it?”

“Let’s assume it represents a three-dimensional space, with point A as the earth and point B as the neighboring star 4.22 light-years away from us. Now I use a straight line to connect them…”

Professor Suskander used a ballpoint pen to draw a line between the two points on the paper.

He looked at the confused interviewer and said, “Normally, we go from our solar system to the neighboring star, that is, from A to B. Even if we ignore the various complex orbital changes and proceed along a straight line, it is a long journey. This is because our universe is actually distorted, just like this…”

The old professor crumpled the white paper in his hand and shoved it in front of the interviewer.

“See this? This is what our universe really looks like. The white paper ball represents three-dimensional space. Because there is a gravitational force throughout the universe, higher-dimensional space is distorted.

“As you can see, A and B are actually very close together. They’re almost touching… But this is looking at it from a high dimensional view.

“Because we are three-dimensional creatures, we cannot leave the surface of the paper. So the shortest distance we can travel is the straight line.”

Professor Suskander unfolded the paper ball in his hand. He pointed at the line on the paper and said, “This is the line the Falcon rockets have to travel.

“But with a warp drive, this path won’t appear on the paper at all. We can go straight to the fourth or fifth dimension…

“Just like this!”

Suskander crunched the paper into a ball again. He pierced the pen through the paper.

As the gray-haired old man looked at the amazed interviewer, he smiled and continued, “I hope you understand.

“If not, let me give you an example.

“With this method, it might only take half an hour to get to Mars.

“I think that makes things clear.”

The interview continued.

But the latter half was much less interesting.

Lu Zhou picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room. He gave his thoughts on the program.

“It’s a very vivid interpretation, and the analogy is quite unique… Mostly correct.”

The only problem was that the professor was being too optimistic.

Even if the Z particle had this magical characteristic of being able to act as a space bridge, it was still difficult to use it to achieve warp travel… At least for the next fifty years.

Of course, for a pop-science program, Professor Suskander did quite a good job.

For people who lacked spatial imagination, it was easier to imagine the universe as a paper ball with dots on the surface.

However, Director Li, who was sitting across from Lu Zhou, seemed to have misunderstood his words.

The old man grabbed the armrests of the leather sofa. He was so excited his beard almost fell off. He looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment.

“Is this real? It will only take half an hour to get to Mars?”

Lu Zhou said, “Half an hour is an exaggeration. This is just a theory, you know what I mean? Even for something as simple as the atomic bomb, it took twenty years between the discovery of the mass-energy equation to Otto Hahn’s uranium fission thesis.”

The Z particle was also more difficult to find stably than ordinary subatomic particles. Applications for subatomic particles such as mesons, quarks, gluons, and photons had not yet been found. It was way too early to consider the applications of the Z particle.

Scientific progress needed time to develop. Only when the time was right, could a discovery turn into an amazing technology.

Lu Zhou didn’t know when this day would come.

By his estimation, it would at least take a century?

While thinking, Lu Zhou’s eyes stared at Director Li’s fingers on the sofa armrest.

He wasn’t worried that this old man would have a heart attack. This old man was much tougher than he imagined. The only thing Lu Zhou worried about was that the old man would break his sofa.

He quite liked this sofa.

Many world-famous or soon-to-be world-famous physicists and mathematicians had sat here and had cups of coffee with him before.

It might not be a historical relic, but there was at least some meaning behind it.

After Director Li heard Lu Zhou deny the claim that they could reach Mars within half an hour, Director Li couldn’t help but look disappointed. His elevated blood pressure gradually dropped as he muttered, “So… We can’t take a shortcut to Mars?”

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee, thought for a while, then said with a sigh, “It’s not impossible…”

In an instant, Director Li’s blood pressure rose again at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This time, he nearly had a heart attack.

The old man sat up straight and stared at Lu Zhou with frantic eyes as he asked sincerely, “How?”

“Let’s start with verifying the theory.” Lu Zhou put down the coffee cup in his hand. He looked at Director Li seriously and said, “For example, send a Z particle clock to Mars orbit first.”

Director Li immediately asked, “Then what?”

“Then?”

Lu Zhou smiled and leaned back on the sofa. He raised his eyebrows and said, “Then we send a pair of photons.”

Chapter 1295: Wasting Time is Despicable

The roads outside the ILHCRC headquarters building were all blocked.

Reporters from major television stations and newspapers blocked the entrance. This seriously affected the staff who were working here.

Even though the ILHCRC security blocked some of the people, a small number of reporters still sneaked into the parking lot.

Luo Wenxuan parked his car and pressed the electronic lock to go upstairs. He looked at the group of reporters carrying cameras and microphones. When they surrounded him like zombies, he was dumbfounded.

“Hello, I am a reporter from the Observer newspaper. May I ask, Secretary-General Luo, does the latest research from the ILHCRC mean that warp travel is possible?”

“It is possible in the theoretical sense, but the probability is very small.”

“Secretary-General Luo, does this mean that China will soon start exploring the distant star system? Can we set foot in Andromeda in this lifetime?”

“Good question, maybe we can, if we live for two centuries.”

“Secretary-General Luo—”

“Excuse me, the conference is beginning soon. If you have any questions, please contact our ILHCRC spokesperson. That is our official media channel.”

Luo Wenxuan struggled to squeeze out of the crowd. He rushed into the building under the cover of the security guards.

He looked as the wooden door behind him close. The crowd gradually dispersed under the force of the security guards. He took a sigh of relief and wiped out the sweat from his forehead.

“Looks like the reporters quite like you.”

Luo Wenxuan heard a familiar voice. He looked up and saw Lu Zhou standing beside him with a smile on his face.

A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Luo Wenxuan’s face. He looked at Lu Zhou up and down in disbelief. He spoke with a weird expression on his face.

“How did you get in… Weren’t you blocked by the reporters?”

“I have my own ways.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He then turned around and said, “The meeting is about to begin, let’s go over together.”

Even though Luo Wenxuan had many questions, there was no time to ask for details.

After swallowing his curiosity, Luo Wenxuan took a few breaths. He then quickly followed Lu Zhou’s footsteps. They walked toward the conference hall…

…

The ILHCRC board meeting was about to begin.

Even though the discussions were all boring academic issues, because of the amazing prospects behind the Z particle, this conference attracted attention from the world.

However, although people were eager to know more inside information, Lu Zhou still did not allow reporters from any media to come in and listen. Instead, he arranged for the media outlets to attend a press conference in another building.

The official press spokesperson of the ILHCRC would report to them the results of the meeting discussion as soon as possible and would also answer some questions.

Lu Zhou looked at the directors who were already sitting at the conference table. He cleared his throat and said, “Let’s get straight to business.”

He clicked the laser pointer in his hand. A map of the solar system appeared on the big screen behind him.

The members of the board sitting at the conference table looked at each other, not knowing what Lu Zhou was planning to do. A few people, including Luo Wenxuan, had a few guesses in their minds.

Lu Zhou said, “The theoretical demonstrations are finished. The next part is the experiment. We need to deploy a Z particle clock in the geosynchronous orbit and the Mars orbit, and then—”

“Wait, wait a minute, what do you mean the theory has been completed?”

Professor Whittle, a member of the US ILHCRC board of directors and a director of the Brookhaven Science Associates, raised his right hand and interrupted Lu Zhou. He stood up with an expression of distrust on his face as he spoke.

“Normally, shouldn’t we first discuss the paper itself and determine whether it is correct, then only discuss how to design the experiments to prove it?”

Lu Zhou wasn’t angry because his speech was interrupted. He nodded and said, “Of course, if you have any questions about a part of the paper, you can ask them now.”

Professor Whittle paused for a second. After holding back for a second, he said angrily, “I haven’t found any problems yet, but it doesn’t mean other people haven’t either. I think at least we should—”

Lu Zhou glanced around the conference table and asked, “Does anyone else have any questions?”

The people sitting at the conference table looked at each other, but no one stood up.

Forget about asking questions.

Most of them did not even understand the paper, and even if some of them did, they only had a surface level understanding.

“As you can see, we shouldn’t be wasting any more time.” Lu Zhou shrugged as he looked at Professor Whittle, who was looking pale. Lu Zhou continued, “If we wait until the physics community recognizes this theory before we design an experiment, we would have to wait at least five years or even more.”

Professor Whittle: “What’s wrong with that?”

Lu Zhou said, “What’s wrong is that we would be wasting time. If you find a problem, tell me. If not, stay quiet and watch. I will prove that I am correct.”

Professor Whittle still wanted to say something, but he remembered what happened with the Z particle last time. He finally pushed his complaints back into his throat.

Professor Whittle sat back down in his seat. Lu Zhou nodded and looked around the conference table.

“Does anyone else have questions?”

“I have some questions.”

“Please, tell me.”

“Let’s forget about the paper… Why not the moon? Why Mars?”

Professor Fernando was a permanent member of the British ILHCRC board. He stood up and raised his own question with a hesitant look on his face.

However, after hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou sighed.

“If this is your question, you obviously haven’t even read my paper.”

Professor Fernando blushed and said, “I swear I read it, but only a part of it… I haven’t finished it yet.”

In fact, he didn’t understand the paper at all.

Mathematics was not his area of expertise.

Although he could also use mathematical tools to solve problems encountered in theoretical physics research, most of those tools were out of date.

Lu Zhou didn’t care for Professor Fernando’s excuse. He supported his hands on the conference table and got up from his chair. He turned around and walked to the whiteboard, picked up the marker, and wrote down a few lines of equations.

[L=Ψαεαμνβγ5γμ(∂ν+imγν/2)Ψβ]

[…]

Everyone looked at the equations on the whiteboard with a muddled expression.

Almost none of the board members knew what Lu Zhou wanted to do.

However, after Lu Zhou wrote the last line of calculations, a few professors showed a look of realization.

This included Luo Wenxuan and another European physicist from CERN.

After completing the writing on the blackboard, Lu Zhou turned and looked at the conference table. He then spoke.

“The Z particle itself does not have enough energy to change the curvature of the space, and it is impossible to poke a hole in space… A wormhole is impossible.

“However, it can disturb the gravitational field.”

Lu Zhou looked at the board members sitting at the conference table. He continued in a serious tone, “This is very important.

“Spacetime is distorted under the interference of gravitation, and this distortion is unevenly distributed around us. Changing the gravitational field is equivalent to indirectly changing the curvature of spacetime.

“Imagine if we wanted to warp travel, how do we flatten light-years worth of space? This is obviously impossible now, but—”

With the marker in his hand, Lu Zhou tapped on the whiteboard lightly.

“But we can use the gravitational force of stars, or in other words, use the gravitational bond between star systems. The spacetime would be twisted by the gravitational force between the star systems! Then we can find the path that is closest to our destination.

“Of course, for an experiment, we don’t need to send a space probe to Proxima Centauri, which is a few light-years away. This experiment can be done in the solar system.

“For example, we can use the gravitational bond between planets and planets to open a hyperspace channel between planets and find a shortcut.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before he continued, “This is why we must send the experimental equipment to Mars.

“We need its gravity.

“The mass of the moon is around 1% that of Earth. Even though it is closer, it is difficult to form a stable hyperspace channel according to the calculations.

“In theory, Jupiter is a more suitable choice, but the distance is too far, and the asteroid belt in the middle is also a problem.

“Considering all factors, Mars, which has a mass of 14% of Earth, is the best choice.

“Any other questions?”

Professor Fernando hesitated for a while before he shook his head and sat back. Professor Whittle gulped and opened his mouth. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

He felt like he was just schooled by Lu Zhou…

“Looks like we don’t have any objections.”

Lu Zhou was satisfied with the efficiency of the meeting. He turned over the meeting documents in his hand, cleared his throat, and continued, “Next, we will discuss the structure of the Z particle clock…

“As well as how to execute this experiment.”

Chapter 1296: Before Chinese New Year!

The meeting ended.

Professor Whittle walked confidently out of the conference room. He cursed in a quiet voice, and he had an expression of resentment on his face.

“This dictator! Might as well fire the board.”

When he worked in a similar position at CERN, no one dared to ignore his opinions like this. However, during his time on the ILHCRC board of directors, he experienced more frustration in one year than he had over the last 40 years of his career.

Professor Fernando, the board of director for the ILHCRC British Council, was walking next to him. Fernando hesitated a bit before he said, “Actually I think… he’s being somewhat reasonable.”

Whittle looked at Professor Fernando in disbelief. Whittle said, “I can’t believe… You actually think he’s reasonable?”

Professor Fernando shrugged and continued, “There’s no better choice. It is better to do something than to waste time on meaningless arguments. Moreover, like he said, very few people can fully understand his proof. If we wait until the physics community accepts his point of view, we might have to wait five years or even longer.”

Professor Whittle asked puzzledly, “Don’t you think this is a necessary procedure?”

“I think it might be a necessary procedure. We should remain skeptical at all times, but the premise is that our suspicion should be grounded by something. For example, if there is a mistake in his paper, and he can’t provide an explanation… But that obviously isn’t the case.”

Professor Whittle was in deep thought, so Professor Fernando continued, “If he can prove his paper through experiments, what’s wrong with that?

“Think about it, it’s a blessing to have a reliable leader.”

…

The ILHCRC board meeting was over.

The results of the discussion at the meeting were announced to the world at a press conference.

ILHCRC had shocked the world again.

The headline of the Wall Street Journal used a picture of Mars with “ILHCRC” as their headline.

[According to the results of the meeting, the ILHCRC will launch an experimental rocket loaded with a “Z particle clock” to the Mars geosynchronous orbit in the near future, to test the correctness of the hyperspace theory.]

[If this experiment is successful, this might mean that interstellar travel is possible!]

From an objective point of view, this statement was a bit too optimistic.

Even if the experiment was successful, it would only prove the possibility of achieving faster than light speeds through hyperspace channels theoretically. With the current technology, it would be impossible to maintain a stable hyperspace channel and transmit a spacecraft weighing hundreds of tons through this channel.

In fact, forget about maintaining a stable hyperspace channel. So far, the research on Z particles was only done on a few detectors at the Lunar Hadron Collider. The physics community had doubts about whether the ILHCRC could even produce Z particles.

Even if the Z particles could only appear for a short amount of time for a physics experiment, it could still be applied to many things.

For example…

A high-powered laser!

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Inside a spacious factory.

As Professor Dobrik looked at the experimental equipment in front of him, he was dumbfounded. Dobrik opened and closed his mouth. After a while, he mumbled, “What… is this?”

There was a round metal ball about four meters tall. On the surface of the ball shell were rivets, as well as various pipes and connection cables.

From a structural point of view, it was very similar to the National Ignition Facility (NIF) device that was abandoned.

In fact, it was indeed designed based on similar concepts. The only difference was that this device was not used to simulate a nuclear explosion. Instead, it was used to generate Z particles.

“Z particle clock, we can use it to produce Z particles.” Lu Zhou had a smug smile on his face. He said, “Although it is expensive and has shortcomings, it is absolutely reliable.”

According to his calculations, when two lead ions collided with an energy of 1.25 TeV, the Z particles would release 750 GeV of energy from a high dimension to a three-dimensional space.

After the device was turned on, it could generate energy similar to stars in a tiny reaction chamber, thereby pressurizing the lead core located in the center of the reaction chamber. This pushed the ionized lead ions to collide violently, causing the Z particles to fall from higher dimensions to lower dimensions.

Since all of its energy would be released within one minute, when generating the Z particles and disturbing the gravitational field, the heat would destroy the device itself. This was a one-use experimental machine.

Also, the cost of this machine was about 200 million yuan.

One experiment would require two machines.

Only the ILHCRC could conduct such an expensive experiment.

“But… I still don’t understand. How did you make this thing in such a short timeframe?” Professor Dobrik looked at Lu Zhou and said, “From the end of the meeting to now… It’s been less than two weeks, right?”

This was what he was most surprised at.

If it took a year to make this thing, he wouldn’t be surprised. But the two weeks was a bit ridiculous.

“This is because of the strong industrial capabilities of the high-tech zone and… our intelligent manufacturing process. As long as the materials and processing conditions are met, the zone can turn blueprints into reality immediately, just like a 3D printer.” Lu Zhou paused and said, “As for the design, I had already completed it earlier.”

He was the former chief designer for the controllable fusion project. It was not difficult for him to design a laser ignition device, especially since he was level 7 in engineering now.

Dobrik was so shocked he was speechless. Professor Wei, who was standing next to them, hadn’t said a word since he stepped into the factory.

Professor Wei stared at the Z particle clock for a long time before he spoke.

“If this Z particle clock really works… The whole world will change.”

“Maybe.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I have high expectations.”

Wei Hong: “When do you plan to send it to Mars?”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, “The launch plan will begin before the end of the month.

“If everything goes well…

“I want to launch it before the Chinese New Year!”

Chapter 1297: Return to Mars!

Jinling Launch site.

A huge and glorious fully-equipped aerospaceplane was crawling on the launch runway.

Its name was Starlight. But it was different from the Starlight spacecraft from a few years ago. In order to adapt to long-distance flight and more flexible launch missions, the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study redesigned its fusion energy supply unit and high-power Hall effect thrusters. This improved its cruising mileage and engine stability.

Forget about Mars, it could even reach the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter within a month. However, the Lunar Orbit Committee did not have a need to send people so far away. Collecting rock specimens could be done by unmanned detectors.

The pilot of this flight had also participated in the original Mars rescue mission. He was also the only astronaut in the team with experience going to Mars.

An experimental machine enclosed in a metal cargo box was sent into the cargo storage. The entire aerospaceplane had completed its final launch preparations.

Liu Biao and Xu Zhenghong, who had already put on their spacesuits, boarded the plane under the eyes of the ground crew. They entered the interior of the aerospaceplane and sat in the main and co-pilot seats. They then connected their spacesuits to the in-cabin life support system.

“A long trip to Mars.

“I wonder if we can see the wreckage of the BFS spacecraft.”

Xu Zhenghong grinned as he checked the instruments in the cockpit. He smiled and said, “Haha, it’s been more than a year. It’s probably not there anymore.”

Liu Biao joked and said, “We might even be able to retrieve it.”

During the last rescue operation, NASA was worried that China would obtain the secrets of the BFS spacecraft. When the Starlight arrived on Mars, they purposely crashed the BFS spacecraft hovering in orbit.

However, the Chinese recorded the coordinates of the spacecraft crash. If they had enough fuel, they could easily land on Mars and retrieve some “samples”.

“The situation probably won’t allow it. Why would we want to bring home a bunch of garbage?” Xu Zhenghong turned on the engine power. He looked at the rising magnetic counter. He pushed the ignition switch while speaking to the ground command center. He then said in a serious tone, “This is Starlight, we are entering takeoff.”

“Received. This is the ground command center. Everything in the sky is normal. Continue the launch plan. Good luck!”

The black engine was lit by a blue flame. Driven by the high-temperature plasma, the huge plane began to slide forward, finally flying into the sky, leaving a line of blue light behind. It headed toward the fiery red planet tens of millions of kilometers away, carrying the hopes and expectations of everyone on the ground.

Near the launch site.

Everyone looked at the aerospaceplane disappear into the clouds. Physicists and reporters from all over the world were shocked.

A reporter from BBC reported the scene to the camera with a shocked expression on his face.

“An aerospaceplane, about two-thirds the size of a Boeing 777, took off from the runway. It just disappeared into the sky behind me.

“I can’t even describe the shock in my heart, not because of its speed, but because it subverted my understanding of aerospace launches.

“Perhaps it’s too late to say this, but I never thought that… By using controllable fusion energy, an electric propulsion engine can achieve the power of a traditional chemical engine!

“I digress. ILHCRC’s Z particle clock has successfully passed through the troposphere and is moving toward the edge of the atmosphere. If everything goes well, it will reach Mars orbit within two weeks. With the Z particle clock on board, they will examine Professor Lu Zhou’s hyperspace theory…”

Nearby.

A young man who looked like a student stood beside Professor Witten.

He stared at the sky for a long time without blinking. It wasn’t until people began to gradually disperse that he finally looked at Professor Witten and said, “Professor…”

“What?”

“If they really surpass the speed of light, what does that mean?”

“This means he might be a greater physicist than Einstein…” After a pause, Witten felt like his statement was not accurate enough. He said in a serious tone, “No, not might, he will be.”

The news of the launch of the Z particle clock spread all over the world through the media.

According to the launch plan, after reaching the lunar orbit, Starlight would drop off the first Z particle clock, then head to the Moon Palace, where it would refuel. Then it would continue to fly to Mars.

The world’s eyes were focused on the aerospaceplane that was passing through the edge of the atmosphere. Inside the director office at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou was thinking while looking at a whiteboard full of calculations.

Suddenly, he heard a knock.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and a familiar figure walked into the office.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Luo Wenxuan said curiously. He looked at the calculations written on the whiteboard, which he didn’t understand at all. He said, “I thought you would be at the launch site command center.”

“What do I achieve by standing there?” Lu Zhou didn’t take his eyes off the whiteboard. He smiled faintly and replied casually, “My presence or absence will not affect the success of the launch. Moreover, it’s just a trip to Mars. It’s not the first time we’ve been there, so it is nothing special.”

Luo Wenxuan: “What are you doing?”

“Doing a final check on the calculations…” Lu Zhou added a few lines of calculations on the whiteboard. He thought for a second and said, “And thinking of a way to perfect it.”

Luo Wenxuan said, “I’m shocked! I didn’t expect you to be not excited at all. I can’t believe you’re in the mood to do these calculations.”

Lu Zhou: “Is there anything to be anxious about?”

Luo Wenxuan joked, “It feels like soon, a physicist will be crowned as being greater than Einstein. Every explorer in the future will chant his name and pray for safety before setting off. If a spacecraft fails, the passengers would certainly not pray to god, they would pray to Lu Zhou.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s ridiculous. The Z particle is just a breakthrough in our hyperspace theory. In the end, whether it can become the key to solving interstellar travel depends on how people in the future understand this theory. Being first doesn’t mean the best. Just like direct current and alternating current. Although the former was born first, the latter wins in the end.”

“But everyone remembers Faraday’s contribution to the world.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t deny this. He was given an honorary reward since his invention couldn’t be applied.”

Luo Wenxuan shrugged his shoulders and asked, “Then why are you doing something that is not beneficial to you and extremely risky?”

Lu Zhou said, “Frankly speaking, it is out of interest.”

Luo Wenxuan was stunned for a moment. He then smiled.

“That’s totally something you would say.”

Lu Zhou: “Did you come here to chat with me?”

“Of course not.”

Luo Wenxuan took out a card from his pocket and handed it to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the beautifully crafted card. He raised his eyebrows curiously. He put down the marker in his hand and unfolded the card.

He then glanced at the content inside and asked, “What is this?”

“An invitation letter.” Luo Wenxuan shrugged and looked at Lu Zhou. He said, “I don’t know if you are interested, but it happens to be here in Jinling, so I brought it here.”

Chapter 1298: Invitation to the Physics Conference

Like Luo Wenxuan said, this was an invitation letter.

Technically, this invitation letter was not sent to Lu Zhou personally. It was sent to the ILHCRC under the name of CERN.

Inside the invitation letter, CERN proposed to launch a world physicists summit named the “Century of Physics”. They hoped that the ILHCRC could act as the main organizer of the conference and cooperate with other major particle physics institutes as well as top scholars around the world to discuss the future of physics.

After listening to Luo Wenxuan’s explanation, Lu Zhou was very surprised.

Cooperating with major particle physics institutes around the world to discuss the future of physics for the next century was such an important event. He did not expect that CERN would give the opportunity to the ILHCRC to host it.

But after thinking about it carefully, it made sense.

The reason why CERN gave up this opportunity was not that they didn’t want to take on the honor, but because the circumstances did not allow them to do so.

This was largely because the Lunar Hadron Collider had replaced the Large Hadron Collider as the most important particle physics device. The center of physics had gradually moved to East Asia.

Also, CERN had another problem.

They just didn’t have the money…

Ever since the completion of the Lunar Hadron Collider, CERN had lost its excuse to ask the EU countries for funding.

Instead of funding CERN’s expensive experiments and scientific research projects, countries around the world were more inclined to choose to spend money to satisfy their own physicists. They’d much rather work with the ILHCRC and produce better results.

The higher-ups of France said in public that the historical mission of the LHC had been completed. Instead of continuing to frighten the residents living in Geneva, it was better to move the experimental site from Switzerland to the moon.

The United States had a similar viewpoint.

Even though they were dissatisfied that the ILHCRC was dominated by China, physics was not as classified as military, aerospace, and semiconductor research. After all, the research results were all publicly accessible.

Washington was in a recession. It would be best if the Chinese could bear this heavy burden for them.

In a self-comforting way, at least they could save the White House hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Therefore, CERN had gradually declined from being a world physics center to a regional physics center.

Even though they still had a large and excellent scientific research team, it was difficult to attract researchers from other countries to help with experiments.

Even the local management was considering whether it was necessary to transform the abandoned large-scale collider into a science museum or amusement facility while maintaining the small electron-positron collider.

But so far, this proposal had not progressed. There was no guarantee for a stable visitor flow, and there were still border supervision problems. It was hard to imagine an entertainment company taking on this project.

After pulling out the invitation letter, Lu Zhou unfolded it and began to read it carefully.

Besides the polite and respectful words, the letter was concise. It was mainly related to the conference.

This included details for plans of the conference, such as reports, academic seminars, poster presentations, etc. It also included the main event of this conference—the “Century of Physics” private meeting.

According to CERN’s suggestion, this meeting would be led by the top 100 physicists in the world.

The participants would be top experts in their respective research branch. The participants invited to the conference would represent their research areas and explain the importance of their areas to other scholars in the field of particle physics. Finally, they would propose the most important proposition that should be solved in their respective field of research.

It would be similar to the Millennium Prize Problems or Hilbert’s problems.

However, instead of having 7 or 23 problems, this conference would produce 100 problems.

As for the other scholars who did not receive an invitation letter to the “Century of Physics” private meeting, they could learn about the progress of the meeting and the results of the discussion through various channels. Such as the live broadcast, meeting videos, and text records released after the meeting.

In response to the 100 world-class problems raised during the conference, the conference organizer would also set up corresponding awards and bonuses for them.

When Lu Zhou saw this, he couldn’t help but smile. He joked casually.

“So we have to donate money to host this conference?”

Luo Wenxuan did not expect Lu Zhou to ask such a question. He smiled and said, “It’s not explicitly stated, but if we want to be the main contractor, we will definitely have to be a big contributor.”

“How much will it cost?”

“So far, we are considering setting up a prize pool and increasing its value through bonds and stock investment. The person who solves one of the problems would receive 1% of the prize pool, and this goes on until all of the money’s gone.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows with interest. He said, “Sounds interesting, so the later you solve the problem, the higher the prize money?”

“Not necessarily, the investments can go wrong… But we will hire the best investors to handle the funds using a robust investment strategy.” After a pause, Luo Wenxuan continued, “Also, the longer the problem takes to solve, the more valuable it is, right?”

Lu Zhou: “How is the prize pool raised?”

“So far, our idea is through donations. Apparently, many generous rich people are interested in naming these awards for unsolved problems. So far, ten people on the Forbes wealth list have expressed their willingness to donate to areas of interest to them. They could name the awards with their family names. If the funds are not enough, we can also auction naming rights.”

“This is a good idea. I, as the chairman of the ILHCRC, will also donate some money.”

Lu Zhou didn’t specify how much “some money” was when he put the invitation letter away. Luo Wenxuan paused for a second before asking excitedly, “So you’re saying that we’re going to host the conference?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Why not? Being able to host such a conference is proof of the world’s recognition of us. This is also our responsibility to the world. Moreover, our funds are relatively healthy, and we are more than capable to host this conference. Has CERN proposed the timeframe?”

“Their suggestion is on the 12th, but the venue has not been determined.”

“The 12th?” Lu Zhou frowned and muttered, “Valentine’s Day is on the 14th, right?”

Luo Wenxuan: “…?”

Lu Zhou noticed the weird expression on Luo Wenxuan’s face. He instantly realized that he might have revealed something. So he quickly coughed and changed his words.

“What I mean is, February 12th seems to be the third day of the Chinese New Year. People will still be celebrating the holidays, right? Physicists are still people. We can’t ruin their family reunions. Transportation during the Chinese New Year is also a big problem. We should push back the date, at least to after the Lantern Festival. As for the venue, we should host it in Shanghai.”

“After the Lantern Festival? How about March then? Shanghai is fine, although I recommend maybe choosing a more exciting city…”

Luo Wenxuan paused for a second before adding, “But you are the chairman, so it’s your call.”

Chapter 1299: The Best at Managing Money!

The Z particle clock had been launched. Up next was the long wait.

Lu Zhou returned to Jin Ling University campus and picked up the teaching job he had ignored for a long time. He began to teach a few undergraduate classes.

When the students heard that God Lu had finally remembered his students, they were all very excited. Even the female students from the economics department and the foreign languages department came over.

Even though Lu Zhou was confused about what his class had to do with economics and foreign languages, he was quite happy to see so many people interested in mathematics. He had a proud smile on his face.

For him, lecturing undergraduates was a pleasant thing.

Not only could he review the simple mathematical principles that he usually didn’t think of, but he could also effectively alleviate the impetuousness and anxiety from waiting for the Z particle clock.

However, on the fifth day of his return to teaching, something strange happened.

A person with a special identity came to his class.

This person was none other than Professor Perelman.

This big Russian man with a beard and messy hair sat in the back row of the classroom. He listened attentively while writing something in his notebook.

Obviously, because his looks was so extreme, almost no one in the classroom recognized his identity; they were all instead shocked by his appearance.

The same was true for Lu Zhou, who was speaking on the podium.

Because this Russian hadn’t shown his face at Jin Ling University for so long, he almost forgot that this guy lived here.

After class.

Just when Lu Zhou was about to chat with him and ask him if he was accustomed to living here, this idiosyncratic person took the initiative to approach him and speak first.

“I have some ideas about the Hodge conjecture.”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “What do you mean by some ideas?”

“It’s hard to describe, so I want to ask for your opinion.”

Lu Zhou stared at the clock on the wall and said, “Send it to my email. It’s not a good time right now.”

“That’s fine, although I prefer to communicate in person.”

“Aside from mathematics, are you getting used to living here?”

“I am. But some people respect me too much. This makes me very uncomfortable. I wish they would forget who I am…”

Perelman thought for a while and said, “But in general, it’s been pretty good. There are many excellent mathematicians here… For example, Professor Chen Yang. Discussing problems with him is inspiring. This reminds me of the days when I was at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. I might stay here for another half a year.”

After speaking, he seemed to remember something. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “How about you? Are you still researching mathematics?”

Lu Zhou: “I have always been researching. But the focus of research is not on mathematics itself, it’s on how to use mathematics to solve other problems.”

Perelman shook his head. “What a waste.”

Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “Why?”

Perelman: “With your talent in mathematics, you can achieve greater success. You might be able to solve all the remaining Millennium Prize Problems.”

“That…” Lu Zhou thought for a while. He then said with a smile, “It’s better to give a chance for others.”

Perelman raised his eyebrows.

“You practiced that in front of the mirror?”

“Maybe.”

Lu Zhou put away his lesson plan and left Professor Perelman, who was in deep thought. He walked away with a smile.

He went to the cafeteria and ordered a bowl of barbecue meat and rice. He found a low-key place to finish his meal. On the way back to the mathematics building, Lu Zhou took the long way, passing through the studio set.

The casting of the documentary had been completed, and it was now in the shooting stage.

Next to the studio set, Lu Zhou saw Han Mengqi.

For some reason, after seeing him, the girl quickly greeted him before walking away with her head down.

Lu Zhou felt strange but didn’t think about it too much.

He returned to his office and rested for a while. He was about to open his email to see if Professor Perelman had sent the email to himself when he suddenly remembered about his Valentine’s Day gift. He immediately took out the AR glasses from his pocket.

He closed his eyes and thought for a while. When he thought of someone that might be able to help him, he said, “Xiao Ai, help me call Xiao Tong through WeChat.”

Xiao Ai: [Ok, Master. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

The projection on the glasses changed.

After a short burst of music, the call quickly connected.

It was morning time at Princeton. Xiao Tong had just gotten up. She yawned and faced her phone with her eyes half-open.

“What’s up, bro, why are you calling me so early?”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and asked with a smile, “Sleeping in?”

“Are you crazy? It’s five-thirty in the morning! Who calls this early in the morning!”

Lu Zhou realized that he had woken her up. He laughed embarrassedly and changed the topic.

“If I want to set up a fund, what should I do?”

“Fund?” Xiao Tong sat up from the bed and scratched her messy hair. After pondering for a while, she said, “That… Your girl knows more than me? Why don’t you ask her?”

Chen Yushan was the CEO for one of the top 100 companies in the world. She helped Star Sky Technology withstand pressure from giants such as ExxonMobil and Tesla, as well as the US Department of Commerce. Star Sky Technology was the reason for the rise of China’s national and technological strength. There was a reason she had survived as CEO for so long.

However, Lu Zhou’s reputation was so powerful that she was often overshadowed. Even though the public might doubt her skills, the industry was sure of her abilities.

However, Lu Zhou was focused on something else.

When he heard Xiao Tong’s reply, he blushed and sat up straight in his office chair.

“Ahem! What girl… It’s that obvious?”

Xiao Tong smirked and spoke.

“Don’t underestimate a girl’s intuition! I’m not stupid.”

Xiao Tong suddenly seemed to have thought of something. She slammed her hand on the bed and said, “Oh, oh, I know!”

Lu Zhou was stunned. He asked subconsciously, “Know what?”

Xiao Tong smirked. She had a mischievous smile on her face.

“Big bro, be honest, are you trying to hide money from her? Hehe, I can help with this, but… it’s going to be tough.”

What a stupid guess.

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and said, “Hide what money, don’t talk nonsense.”

Am I that kind of person?

Why would Chen Yushan want my money?

Xiao Tong stared at her big brother suspiciously for a while. After making sure he wasn’t lying, Xiao Tong muttered, “Then why are you suddenly starting a fund? If it’s just an investment, I think Star Sky Technology has an investment department.”

In addition to patent management, Star Sky Technology’s investment business was also quite famous. The most famous of which was the financing for East Asia Energy and East Asia Communications.

Even though the two companies were not public yet, their valuations were both in the trillions of yuan.

Anyone that invested early in these two companies had basically all made a fortune. Star Sky Technology was an early shareholder, and they invested in both companies.

Lu Zhou thought about Xiao Tong’s question for a long time.

Originally, he didn’t want to tell anyone, but if this plan was implemented, everyone would know anyway. So, after hesitating for a while, he said, “If I tell you, don’t tell anyone.”

Xiao Tong almost jumped out of the bed from the excitement. She nodded while hugging her pillow.

“Don’t worry, Brother! I’m your sister, don’t you trust me?”

As Lu Zhou looked at her gossipy eyes, his eyebrows twitched. In the end, he sighed and said, “Then I’ll tell you… Don’t laugh at me.”

It took about five minutes for Lu Zhou to explain his ideas.

After listening, Xiao Tong was flabbergasted.

After blinking for a while, she slowly recovered from the shock.

“I had no idea…”

“No idea about what?”

“That you’re quite good at… Forget about it. If any boy pursues me like this, even I wouldn’t be able to resist.”

Xiao Tong sighed and shook her head. She said, “Not bad, not bad, Chen Yushan caught a good one this time!”

“Good one your as*! I’m just asking you a question.”

Lu Zhou almost wanted to hit her on the head.

Xiao Tong smirked and pretended like nothing happened. She cleared her throat and said, “The thing you’re talking about is certainly possible! With your reputation, you can go public. It will sell like hotcakes!”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Forget about going public, this is mainly for her.”

“That doesn’t change anything… But let’s not talk about this. What you have to know is how to maintain a stable fund!”

Lu Zhou: “How?”

Xiao Tong smiled proudly and sat up straight.

“Of course it’s to have a great manager! As your sister, I’d like to recommend someone that has a PhD in economics from one of the world’s top universities. She was born in a Nobel Prize family, and her family has won a Nobel Prize in Economics—”

Lu Zhou said impatiently, “Cut to the chase.”

“Me!” Xiao Tong’s eyes flashed with excitement. She moved the phone closer to her face and said, “I’m the best at managing money!”

Chapter 1300: Clock on Track

In a dark place…

A black aerospaceplane slowly approached from the edge of the stars. The silent radio reverberated in the vast deep sky, communicating with the ground command center tens of millions of kilometers away, over hundreds of seconds of delay.

“This is the ‘Messenger’, we are close to the ‘New Land’.

“Get closer.”

“Roger that.”

Starlight was the model.

“Messenger” was the official code name for the aerospaceplane.

The aerospace industry had largely advanced. The first model of the Skyglow had gradually been discontinued. There were more than five other newer Skyglows in the sky, same went for the Magpie Bridges.

It was easy to get confused calling the spacecrafts by its model name, so it had been given a code name.

Xu Zhenghong was sitting in the main pilot seat. He reached out his hand and moved the joystick on the right-hand side. He then pressed the button to lock on to the orbit.

With assistance from the automatic navigation device, the co-pilot Liu Biao carefully monitored the speed and distance parameters. He cooperated with Xu Zhenghong to drive the Starlight to the transfer orbit of Mars, near the intersection of the MOI3 orbit.

“Turn on the directional antenna and the laser calibration device.”

“Roger that.”

This was the most critical moment.

There was only one chance. The three main parameters—speed, angle, and distance—had to be precisely met, in order for the spacecraft to enter orbit.

If they missed their chance, they would have to circle Mars for another week to correct the orbit.

The one minute felt like a century.

Finally, when the words “in orbit” appeared on the screen, Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao, who were still nervous, unanimously breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is Messenger, we have already entered into MOI3 orbit.”

“This is the ground command center. We have received your news. Ground navigation is complete, the rest is up to you.”

“Roger that, please wish us luck.”

The communication was over.

Because of the hundreds of seconds of communication delay, it was unrealistic to rely on the ground command center to guide the Starlight for the remaining complicated orbit switching.

The next step was their job.

However, although there was no navigation assistance from the ground command center, Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao were actually relieved.

Unless there was a meteorite collision or another accident, there were very few operations that required manual control.

If everything went well, they only needed to press the button to open the hatch after reaching the desired orbit. Then they would throw the Z particle clock out of the cargo hold and complete their mission.

“Should we drink something?”

“No, thanks.”

“Then I’ll have to drink myself.” Liu Biao grinned and unlocked the safety device. He then left the co-pilot’s seat. He floated to the freezer in the living area and took out a can of cold coffee.

In fact, he wanted to drink beer, but since he was still on a mission, he was not allowed to have alcohol.

Liu Biao went back to the cockpit with the coffee. He sat back down on his seat, opened the can of cold brew coffee, then took out a straw.

In a gravity-free environment, the mouth-feel of liquids changed drastically. All liquids had a jelly-like consistency, and the feeling of the cold liquid going down one’s throat was a strange sensation.

Fortunately, the taste was still the same.

Liu Biao looked at the red planet outside the window. He squinted as he sucked from his straw. He stared at the beautiful scenery for a long time before speaking emotionally.

“This is amazing.”

Xu Zhenghong, who was waiting quietly in the main pilot’s seat, nodded in agreement.

“Yeah.”

After the short exchange of words, the two went silent. They were completely mesmerized by the beautiful scenery that they didn’t have time to appreciate before.

No matter how many times they looked at the scenery, the view never got old.

It was hard to describe this feeling.

It was almost like…

A new world was in front of them.

After about two hours, Liu Biao glanced at the orbital data on the cockpit instrument. He estimated that it was about time. He reached out his hand to turn on the deep-space navigation optical sensor and pointed it at the center of Mars.

After the next orbit change, they would enter the lowest orbit.

If they were lucky, they might be able to see the return capsule of the BFS spacecraft there.

“Sooner or later, we will widen our borders here.”

“I don’t know if I can witness that day in my lifetime.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t see it personally, someone in the future will witness it for us… Let’s get to work.”

“Roger that.”

The spacecraft had successfully merged into the lowest orbit after the last deceleration.

Liu Biao listened quietly to the countdown in his ears. He looked at the virtual beacon on his helmet eyepiece getting closer and closer. He placed his thumb on the green safety button on the joystick.

The countdown was complete.

He pressed with his thumb.

They heard an electric buzzing sound. A metal ball was released from the cargo cabin. It was then firmly planted in the Mars orbit.

After Xu Zhenghong checked the orbital parameters of the Z particle clock, he switched the communication channel to the ground command center and spoke in a calm voice.

“The package was successfully put on orbit, the first mission phase is complete!”

It took the command center about four minutes to respond. During this time, their job was to maintain the current flight path and quietly wait for instructions.

Xu Zhenghong’s face finally relaxed a little. He unlocked the safety system and moved his sore shoulders.

Liu Biao suddenly smiled as he watched the black spot on the rear camera disappear.

“… It’s like putting a ring on the bride.”

Xu Zhenghong said with a smile, “That’s quite a romantic way of putting it.”

“I always felt like spaceflight itself is a romantic thing… Speaking of which, what about the rest of the mission?”

“We wait for news from the ground command center. After that, we will return to the MOI3 orbit and wait there quietly.” Xu Zhenghong looked at the metal ball that disappeared. He squinted his eyes and said, “We wait until the end of the experiment, then check the state of the Z particle clock.

“After that, we can go home.”

They received confirmation from the ground command center.

The two people sitting in the cockpit were instantly excited.

On the other hand, at the space ground command center tens of millions of kilometers away…

Lu Zhou stood in the command room. He slowly raised his left hand and glanced at his silver watch.

It was time.

Lu Zhou knew that the preparations were almost done. He raised his head and looked at the crowded people inside the ground command center.

He then looked at the big screen in front of him before saying in a loud voice, “It’s our turn.”

Chapter 1301: 207.1s!

It’s our turn.

The second after the order was issued, the entire command room began to run like a machine. Every researcher and engineer sitting in the room began working, like gears turning a clock.

In the orbit of Mars tens of millions of kilometers away, the black metal ball was driven by a small electric propulsion engine. This controlled the position of the ball in the orbit.

A large hexagonal bulge on the clock was pointed at another Z particle clock, floating in geosynchronous orbit tens of millions of kilometers away.

A piece of the ball shell moved to the side, exposing the complex and delicate optical parts.

A solemn order was heard in the command center.

“Turn on the laser aligner.”

The signal transmitted from the ground command center was received by the alpha Z particle clock floating in the geosynchronous orbit.

After the order was received, an invisible infrared light from the laser collimator exposed on the outside shot straight to Mars and was captured by the beta Z particle clock floating in Mars orbit.

The two spherical Z particle clocks were aligned with each other’s launch interfaces under the guidance of lasers. They drew an invisible line in the deep space.

The big screen showed the two metal spheres connected by the red line, as well as the constantly changing orbital parameters. The words [Calibration Successful] were on the side of the screen. Director Li’s heart was at his throat. Luo Wenxuan, Edward Witten, and other physicists also clenched their fists.

The most crucial moment was here.

Regardless of whether Lu Zhou’s hyperspace theory was right or wrong, this was definitely a moment that would be recorded in history.

Even CERN had never done such an expensive experiment. Just the total cost of the two Z particle clocks and their accessories was already close to half a billion yuan.

If they were to succeed, they would create history and change the future.

And if they failed…

This would probably be the most expensive firework show ever in human history.

“Open the launch port!”

“Opened!”

“Prepare nuclear core ignition… Ignite!”

After more than two hundred seconds of waiting, the two Z particle clocks, separated by tens of millions of kilometers, trembled at the same time.

The emission array composed of hundreds of thousands of laser sources was instantly lit up. Ultraviolet light containing 13 million joules of energy was shot from all directions to the ignition target.

The interior of the huge metal ball was filled with ultraviolet light. The ignition target was reflected by the eight thousand titanium-containing phosphate glasses, evenly distributing the rays inside the spherical shell.

The outer shell of the ignition target was instantly vaporized. When it was under 100 million degrees, the internal deuterium-tritium fuel was also ignited.

The energy comparable to a star was released in an instant, pushing the lead core inside the sphere to collide, condense, and ionize. The Z particle from the high-dimensional universe was finally swayed by this terrifying power!

At the ground command center, a researcher sitting in his seat suddenly spoke.

“An abnormal gravitational signal was observed!”

The moment Lu Zhou heard this, he gave an order without hesitation.

“Start the photon source!”

“Yes, sir!”

With the help of the electric propulsion engine and the guidance of the infrared beam, the Z particle clock aligned itself to the photon source transmitter.

On the other hand, the electrons and positrons collided on the beta Z particle clock in Mars orbit.

After a string of invisible sparks, entangled photons burst out in an instant.

One of them was going straight forward along the original trajectory, while the other clock was captured by the gravitational field disturbed by the vibration of the Z particles. It traveled along a trajectory that was almost identical but not completely the same.

Time seemed to be frozen at this moment.

Lu Zhou looked at the beating timer on the big screen. His heartbeat almost synchronized with it.

Director Li stared at the beating clock intently. Director Li’s mouth was moving, as if he was praying in his heart.

Secretary-General Luo, Professor Witten, and Professor Wilczek, as well as representatives of the ILHCRC council, stood behind him. They all stood there like sculptures, looking at the big screen in front of them.

Finally, when the number on the first timer jumped to 207.1s, the atmosphere in the command center froze.

The remaining second felt like a century.

When the second timer continued to beat, the atmosphere inside the command center completely exploded!

People clenched their fists excitedly, waved their fists, threw their hats, documents, and even pens up in the air.

The atmosphere was at a peak.

People of different skin colors spoke in different languages, leaving tears of excitement.

Lu Zhou looked at the second timer that continued to beat, which stopped at 270.7s. Lu Zhou’s throat moved, and a relaxing smile suddenly appeared on his tense face.

The first timer was frozen at 207.1s.

In other words, the first photon to reach the receiver had traveled a total of 65 million kilometers.

The linear distance between the two Z particle clocks was 85 million kilometers. This photon “skipped” at least 20 million kilometers!

Since the speed of light was constant, there was only one explanation for this photon to reach the “endpoint ” so early…

The photon control group that reached the “endpoint” at 270.7s seconds proved this conclusion.

There was a difference of 63.6 seconds!

All doubts and debates had disappeared in an instant.

The oscillating Z particle disturbed the gravitational bond between Earth and Mars, thereby changing the curvature of spacetime. It opened a hyperspace channel beyond the three-dimensional space.

Perhaps this was not the best travel channel.

It was as fragile as soap bubbles, as rocky and rough as gravel.

There must be a better way in this universe to create a more stable and “straight” hyperspace channel, which could make the photon reach Mars in an even shorter time. Or even reach outside the solar system, outside the Milky Way.

However, its existence itself was amazing enough.

This was like the first line in an epic poem.

There would be countless heroes and great men carrying on this poem, but even then, their achievements were no match for the creation of this poem.

Maybe it was too soon to talk about the future.

But one thing was beyond doubt.

Which was that, Lu Zhou, who was standing in the command center, had once again proved that—

He was correct!

Chapter 1302: : Wreckage Recovery

“63.6s! More than a minute!”

“Hyperspace! Hyperspace! We opened the hyperspace channel!”

“Hahahaha! I knew it! How could there be a problem with Academician Lu’s theory!”

“God Lu is awesome!!!”

Cheers, whistles, and applause flooded Lu Zhou’s ears.

Lu Zhou was still immersed in joy. He was hugged by Luo Wenxuan, who firmly grabbed his shoulders with both hands, shaking him back and forth with excitement.

“Do you realize what just happened! You just changed the history of physics! And the history of aerospace! No, and the history of civilization!”

“Yeah.”

“After all that, your only response is ‘yeah’?” Luo Wenxuan almost went crazy. He said, “If you weren’t a guy, I would kiss you!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Get your stun gun ready.”

Wang Peng sighed and spoke.

Luo Wenxuan looked at him and moved to the side.

“No, I’m good… I didn’t think before I spoke.”

Lu Zhou signaled Wang Peng to stand down. Lu Zhou sniffed gently and looked at the large screen nearby. He looked at the cheering researchers and engineers and said, “I want to think about all this for a while, give me a day… No, two days, two days should be enough.”

After hearing this, Luo Wenxuan suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Two days?! You can’t disappear for that long! You are the main character for the celebration tonight! We will pop champagne bottles and spray the bubbles everywhere. Everyone will cheer your name, and—”

“if you can, record the celebration and send it to me.” Lu Zhou reached out his hand and pinched his own eyebrows. He said, “I have something to deal with… It’s regarding research. Wang Peng, can you drive the car to the front entrance?”

“Okay.”

Wang Peng nodded and walked to the door.

The system kept reminding him that there was a huge reward waiting for him to collect. Even though he was interested in sharing the joy of the victory with his colleagues, he would much rather experience the world of level 10 in physics.

He had waited for this day for too long.

He didn’t want to wait a single second longer.

As for the celebration…

He had plenty of opportunities to celebrate in the future.

After staring at the big screen, Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan.

“Let the Messenger prepare for the next step.

“… You’re in charge now.”

Lu Zhou gave Director Li a wave. He then reached out and patted Luo Wenxuan on the shoulder. After that, he turned and walked toward the door of the command center.

Suddenly, he made eye contact with Edward Witten.

The old man gave him a nod and a thumbs up.

Lu Zhou responded with a bright smile as he walked away.

…

Tens of millions of kilometers away.

In the deep starry space, the titanium alloy frame and shell could no longer withstand the increasing energy.

Liu Biao, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat, looked at the explosion hundreds of kilometers away. He suddenly sighed and said, “I’m guessing they’re already opening champagne bottles.”

“It seems like it…” Xu Zhenghong looked at the radiation value detected on the gamma counter. He replied casually, “Just now, the ground command center sent a message. The experiment was a success.”

“How much did this thing cost?”

Although Liu Biao didn’t understand physics, the ion thruster told him that just the two clocks with small electric propulsion engines would have cost a lot of money.

Xu Zhenghong: “I don’t know, but apparently, it’s in the billions range.”

“… That’s not bad.”

When Liu Biao realized that this was a one-time experiment, he went silent.

After a long while, he spoke emotionally.

“Physicists are still the richest.”

Nearby, the Z particle clock that completed its mission was swallowed by the energy.

It was scattered in the boundless deep space, into sparks of “flames”. It was slowly being pulled into the dust by the gravity of Mars.

After recording all this through a high-power optical camera, Xu Zhenghong finally stopped filming.

“The shooting is complete.”

After reconnecting the life support system to his spacesuit, Liu Biao moved his shoulders and spoke.

“What’s next?”

“… Go over and see if there is anything that can be recovered.” Xu Zhenghong checked the mission instructions from the ground command center. He then reached out and turned on the tail engine switch. He said, “If possible, collect the remains of the Z particle clock and bring back samples.”

The remaining tasks were not difficult.

The damaged Z particle clock did not explode violently. Most of the wreckage were together. Under the force of solar wind and Mars gravity, it moved toward Mars under a stable trajectory.

Xu Zhenghong carefully approached the edge of the wreckage. He controlled the Starlight and released the maintenance robot from the cargo hold.

A robot about a meter tall, with a robotic arm around two meters long, was attached to a thick carbon nano-cable. Using the push of nitrogen gas, it floated toward the nearest piece of debris, which was about 0.25 m in diameter.

Liquid nitrogen sprayed out from the spray gun. The fragment emitting a hot white light cooled down, returning to its original metallic glow.

“Package received.”

Xu Zhenghong had a grin on his face. He continued to move the joystick in his hand. He manipulated the robot and proceeded to collect four more samples in the same manner.

After seeing that there was almost no propellant left, he parked the robot in the cargo hold before closing the cargo hold door.

“Five samples should be enough.”

He raised his right hand and pressed on his helmet. He switched to the ground command center channel.

“This is Messenger. The sample recovery has been completed. We don’t have much fuel left. We might miss the best window for the return flight. Requesting permission to return.”

After more than four minutes of waiting, an answer was heard.

“This is the ground command center. The return request has been approved. Thank you for your work. We have prepared a banquet for you.”

“Roger that.”

Xu Zhenghong turned off the communication channel. He made a gesture to Liu Hong, who began the return procedure with him.

The five engines fired at the same time, giving off a blue glow.

Xu Zhenghong glanced at the fiery red planet. He suddenly had a strange thought.

He realized that in the near future, he might have the opportunity to come here again. He might even set foot on this red planet.

He wondered what his next Martian mission would be…

Chapter 1303: Physics Level 10!

Starlight had completed its orbit change and began to return to the Moon Palace space station. Lu Zhou, who had left the ground command center, had already returned to his home.

Lu Zhou stood beside the car. He looked at Wang Peng and spoke in a serious tone.

“I need to take a break for two days. Don’t be surprised if you can’t get in touch with me. Also, no matter who comes to see me, tell them I am busy for the next two days.”

Wang Peng was taken aback for a second. He looked at Lu Zhou with a concerned look.

“Are you feeling sick? I can contact Dr. Yan and ask her to check on you.”

Even though Lu Zhou often made similar instructions before his retreats, Wang Peng felt like something was different, whether it was Lu Zhuo’s tone or something else.

“What? I’m in very good health. Don’t worry, don’t need to call Doctor Yan.” Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng, shook his head with a smile, and said, ” I just want to quietly think about some… Academic problems. These problems have been bothering me for a while. I don’t want anyone to disturb me and interrupt my thinking. Just don’t worry about me. Give yourself a vacation.”

Wang Peng: “What about your food? Do you need me to bring them?”

“No, I will sort it out myself.”

Lu Zhou then turned around and walked through his gate. He then disappeared behind his mansion door…

…

A while ago, back at the ground command center, when the second timer stopped, a holographic mission completion notification appeared in front of him.

Because there were too many people nearby, Lu Zhou did not enter the system space immediately. He chose to let Wang Peng take himself back home.

Lu Zhou didn’t want to wait any longer. He threw his clothes on the household robot controlled by Xiao Ai. After that, he went to the bedroom and lay down.

“System!”

Lu Zhou opened his eyes again. He was already standing in the pure white system space.

Lu Zhou walked quickly to the holographic interface in the center of the system space. He reached out and pressed his index finger on it.

There was a wave of light blue ripples. The mission briefing was soon presented in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

[Legendary mission: Looking from afar]

[Mission description: Although the future sounds far away, its journey has already begun.]

[Mission evaluation: The exploration of the future is endless. This time, you made a choice with your own wisdom. The road was full of speed bumps, but perhaps just like the past, things will repeat themselves in the future. The end of the universe has been written from the moment it appeared.

[As one of the last hopes in this universe, the system believes that you can bring changes.

[So remember, always be self-aware and vigilant.]

[Mission Reward: Physics level +1, Void Memory c, a golden lucky draw ticket, 10,000 points.]

Every time a mission was completed, this system would stand from the perspective of a “God” and make a condescending comment on him or on human civilization.

Sometimes, there were jokes, satire, or ridicule, and other times, it was affirmation or even admiration.

However, this time seemed to be different from the past. Along with admiration, there also seemed to be a hint of expectation or advice.

Usually, Lu Zhou wouldn’t care about this at all. He would have focused on the mission rewards and the lucky draw.

However, after seeing so many memories from the old universe, and having talked face-to-face with the so-called “Observer”, it was obvious that he could no longer ignore the information that was revealed to him.

“Does this mean that the hyperspace channel might attract something bad?”

However, as soon as this idea appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind, he decided it was a foolish idea.

“The Calan civilization was much more advanced than the earth civilization, and according to the documentation recorded in Void Memory b, long before the construction of the ring world began, they had already mastered the use of gravitational ties between star systems to change the curvature of time and space. They had mastered the method of hyperspace navigation.

“If this kind of navigation was full of dangers, then they should have gone extinct.

“In that case, this vigilance… should be referring to the Void.”

What is hiding in the Void?

Is there anything else besides The Observer’s civilization?

Lu Zhou looked at the rewards of the mission, at the [Physics Level +1]. Lu Zhou then looked at the Void Memory c. His heart was pounding.

Suddenly, there was an urge in his heart to immediately open his inventory and activate his rewards.

However, after some hesitation, Lu Zhou decided not to.

If this memory was like the last time, where he had to complete a battlefield shooting game, he wouldn’t survive for long enough to see any clues.

The safest choice was to rest for two days. After adapting to the changes brought by physics level 10, he should go to the underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and record the memory into the database using the neural interface device.

Therefore, even if he failed the “game”, Star Sky Technology would be able to utilize tens of millions of outstanding players to help him solve Void Memory c. It wouldn’t take long for him to figure out the plot.

After restraining the flash of urge, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and focused his attention on the lucky draw.

Unlike the previous lucky draw tickets, this ticket was golden.

“A golden lucky draw? What the hell?”

Even though he wanted to complain that the system might be scamming him, he was worried that his complaints would be heard by the system and affect his rewards.

“Whatever, I’ll just try it.”

Without any expectations in mind, Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and selected the button for the lucky draw.

After he pressed a button, a golden roulette wheel appeared in front of him. It spun at a speed that was too fast for the naked eye to see clearly.

Lu Zhou prayed a few times in his heart. He then reached out and pressed the stop button.

The wheel spun for a few more times before it gradually slowed down.

The second it stopped, Lu Zhou froze.

He finally understood now.

He understood why this lucky draw was golden.

While Lu Zhou was standing in the system space “gambling”, the news of the successful experiment had spread around the world, and the reporters soon gathered outside the Jinling ground command center.

The entire physics community was shocked by this amazing news.

Same for the entire academic community!

The speed of light barrier was broken by a small particle!

The whole world was shocked by this news!

Chapter 1304: Lively Press Conference

Shanghai.

ILHCRC headquarters.

In order to give a clear answer to the media around the world and all the people who were paying attention to this matter, the ILHCRC vacated the first-floor meeting room one day in advance and transformed it into a press conference site.

However, what everyone did not expect was that even though they had made sufficient preparations, the press conference scene was still in chaos.

The media trucks filled the parking lot. Everyone was crowded at the entrance, squeezing through the escalators.

Everyone wanted to stand in a convenient position, and the media reporters were worried that their cameras would not be able to capture the best shot. The organizers of the conference exclaimed that everyone would be able to enter the conference venue, but that was of no help.

Honestly, this was the first time Luo Wenxuan was in such a tricky situation.

Before this, ILHCRC had also announced many spectacular results, such as the Z particle and the Void theory, but nothing was as crazy as today…

“Was it the same when CERN discovered the Higgs particle?”

Luo Wenxuan was standing next to a window. He looked at the crowd downstairs and then at the tall, skinny man standing next to him.

The skinny man shrugged his shoulders and said, “No… But a similar situation has happened before.”

The person who spoke was Epton Olet, a French professor in physics who was proficient in four languages.

He used to be the director of the Saide laboratory at CERN, but recently, CERN had not conducted any major projects. Most of the CERN researchers had been working at other institutes. Thus, he had completely jumped ship to the ILHCRC side.

As for now, he was the director of the Z Particle Laboratory.

Strictly speaking, the research project where Professor Dobrik discovered the gravitational anomaly was caused by Z particles was one of the many research subjects in this laboratory.

As for the experiment in Jinling yesterday, he was also one of the physicists who witnessed the historic moment in-person.

“When?”

Professor Olet: “OPERA. The neutrinos sent from France to the Gran Sasso laboratory 732 kilometers away were 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. You should have heard of this.”

“… Wasn’t that debunked?”

“Yes, but before it was debunked, how many people were certain that it was false? People were still frightened by this result.”

“This time is the same.”

Professor Olet smiled and spoke emotionally.

“Surpassing the speed of light… This sounds like a fairy tale. But perhaps we are living in a fairy tale.”

He reached out his hand and touched Luo Wenxuan’s shoulder.

“Think about how to explain this to the laymen. They will definitely not let you off easily.”

When Luo Wenxuan thought about the crazy crowd outside, he started to get goosebumps.

This should have been Lu Zhou’s job.

But Lu Zhou was on a retreat.

Yeah, retreat!

A retreat right after the experiment!

Bullsh*t!

“Can’t you help me come up with some ideas?”

“No can do.” Olet looked at Secretary-General Luo. He laughed mercilessly and said confidently, “I’m not the next chairman. Why should I do this?”

After that, he turned around and walked away without looking back.

Luo Wenxuan watched him walk until the end of the corridor and disappear behind the elevator doors.

“I see…”

Luo Wenxuan couldn’t figure out why Academician Lu chose to disappear at this time and use going on a “retreat” as an excuse.

But now, he suddenly understood everything.

The reason why Lu Zhou chose to leave at this important time and give him such a difficult task wasn’t because of some retreat; it was because Lu Zhou wanted to cultivate and train him!

Otherwise, why would a guy like Lu Zhou, who loved to show off, let him announce this historic achievement of the ILHCRC?

Not to mention that this research was mostly done by Lu Zhou himself.

Luo Wenxuan was moved when he thought about how caring and thoughtful Lu Zhou was.

When he thought of his previous annoyance and even resentment toward Lu Zhou, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

I’m too…

Too naive!

“But then again, how come even Professor Olet knows this? Is it that obvious?”

Lu Zhou obviously wouldn’t tell people who the next ILHCRC chairman was.

However, it seemed like everyone but him knew.

Luo Wenxuan was actually a little happy.

The ILHCRC had many outstanding talents, but their excellence was overshadowed by Professor Lu himself.

And he was one of those people.

No matter how many top conferences he had spoken at, and no matter how many excellent papers he published or how cutting-edge his research was, people only cared about who the ILHCRC chairman was. No one paid attention to the Secretary-General.

Even though he didn’t care about this too much since he was happy to ride on Lu Zhou’s back, he was still a little unhappy in his heart.

In some sense, Professor Olet’s words were a confirmation of his ability.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said it…

Luo Wenxuan gradually felt the energy in his heart.

I have to live up to the expectations of my friends!

I have to live up to Lu Zhou’s trust!

I will host this conference and fulfill my responsibilities as the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC!

This is my responsibility to all of mankind!

…

The ILHCRC press conference began as scheduled.

Luo Wenxuan, the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC, was wearing a suit. He walked to the stage of the press conference, gently tidied his notes, and spoke in a clear voice.

“Good evening, everyone, I am the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC, Luo Wenxuan.

“Due to work, Academician Lu is unable to attend the press conference. I will speak on behalf of Academician Lu and elaborate on some of the important issues.”

Like most press conferences, his job was basically to read the script and answer the questions from the pesky reporters.

The entire world’s attention was glued to ILHCRC’s experiment yesterday. There were bound to be some tricky questions.

Luo Wenxuan spent about 15 minutes reading the speech in his hand. He also took advantage of this time and thought about the questions that might be asked at the press conference.

After this, he put aside the speech and looked at the audience.

“Next is the Q&A session…

“If you have any questions, you can ask them now.”

The entire venue went into chaos as hands instantly rose up in the air.

“Hello, Secretary-General Luo, CTV here. What does the latest discovery from the ILHCRC mean? Can you give a detailed explanation for the audience in front of the TV?”

“Of course.”

Faced with the flashing cameras, Luo Wenxuan tried to calm his mind. He raised his voice and said, “Using the Z particle clock designed by Professor Lu Zhou, we were able to use the interference of the gravitational bond between the planets, to create a long and narrow area with low spacetime curvature. We call it a hyperspace channel.

“It’s like a highway between mountains. Its physical properties are no different from the conventional universe. The only difference is that it has a lower curvature relative to nearby spacetime. Its distance in the three-dimensional space is shorter.

“Basically, by traveling through this hyperspace channel to the two endpoints in the universe, the photons we shoot from one end to the other actually travels a shorter distance than what we normally experience… It’s like a shortcut.”

After the CTV reporter finished, another foreign reporter immediately reached out with a microphone and said, “Excuse me, Secretary-General Luo, if the hyperspace theory is proven to be true, what impact will it have on our world?”

“Correction, not if. It has already been proven to be true.” Luo Wenxuan continued, “The birth of hyperspace theory will have a huge impact on communications, astronomical observations, and even long-distance space activities. Of course, it might take a while before this impact affects us…”

There was a commotion in the audience.

When people heard about long-distance space activities, many of them had glimpses of excitement in their eyes.

As soon as he finished answering, another microphone was shoved into his face, not giving him any time to rest.

A reporter with long, brown hair spoke quickly.

“Hello, Secretary-General Luo, I’m a reporter for the Los Angeles Times! May I ask if this means… that interstellar travel will become a reality!”

This was something that the vast majority of reporters at the scene were concerned about.

However, after hearing this question, Luo Wenxuan’s face showed a look of boredom as he answered with a sigh, “Maybe it’s possible.

“But I must emphasize that this won’t become a reality for a century or even several centuries.

“No matter from which point of view, hyperspace theory is just a start. We are faster than we thought, and we have mastered the way to break through the limit of the speed of light.

“But it is not wise to have too many unrealistic expectations.”

A reporter extended the microphone and asked, “So, are you saying that you are pessimistic about achieving faster than light in the near future?”

Without hesitation, Luo Wenxuan nodded.

“Yeah…

“I’m very pessimistic.”

Chapter 1305: Shocked the World!

The ILHCRC press conference was over.

Through the microphones and cameras in the hands of the reporters, the sensation quickly spread to the headlines of major newspapers.

Everyone Daily: “The success of the Z particle has opened the door of physics, pushing civilization to a better future!”

Jinling Evening News: “63.6 seconds!”

Wall Street Journal: “The speed of light is no longer insurmountable!”

The Sun: “The universe is smaller than we think!”

Times Magazine: “…”

Whether it was the newspaper or television, printed or digital media, almost all of them were talking about “Academician Lu”, the “ILHCRC”, and the “Z particles”.

What did faster than light mean?

Very few people could fully understand the academic significance of this. Most people didn’t even know what the Z particle was.

However, the majority of people had the same image for the future!

One day, human beings would set foot on distant planets. One day, the seeds of civilization would be carried far away from the solar system.

The farthest space probe launched by mankind had only just left the boundaries of the solar system. With the current technology, it would take hundreds of years to reach the nearest star.

However, no one thought that the future of mankind would be forever stagnated on this blue planet.

The successful opening of the hyperspace channel opened a door for people’s imagination.

Even though it was still a beautiful and distant dream, at least for now, the dream was possible.

This small particle had not only changed the physics world, but it had also completely changed the future of all of mankind!

Who could possibly remain calm in the face of such an important historical moment?

Because of this, most of the media outlets were enthusiastic about this event, and they reported it without any hesitation.

Even though the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC made it clear at the press conference that even if the Z particle successfully opened a hyperspace channel, it did not mean that human civilization could enter the interstellar age, but this did not wipe out people’s hopes and dreams for the distant starry sky.

On a popular foreign aerospace enthusiast forum.

Ever since the BFS spacecraft crashed into Mars, the forum had gradually gone downhill.

However, something had changed!

After the news of the success of the Z particle experiment, the server blew up with heated discussions.

Many of the big-name experts suddenly remembered their log in details. They were shocked to see laymen registering accounts and participating in the discussion.

[This is incredible! Hyperspace channel! Do you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of wormholes!]

[But I heard that the Secretary-General of the ILHCRC seems to have a pessimistic view on the use of hyperspace technology to achieve interstellar navigation? It is too difficult to maintain the hyperspace channels.]

[Secretary General of the ILHCRC? Luo Wenxuan? He doesn’t know sh*t!]

[Hey, don’t say that, although he is far behind Professor Lu, he is still an outstanding young physicist…]

[I disagree! Even if we cannot achieve faster than light navigation using this technology, we can at least achieve faster than light communication. It used to take 270.7s for a text message to reach Mars, but because we can take a shortcut, it now only takes 207.1s, which is a full minute faster! I heard that this is not even the fastest shortcut. Wait until we find the best hyperspace route using supercomputers. We’ll be able to call Mars with no delay!]

[It’s not just communication, but also astronomical observation. The stars we see now are the rays of light from various stars hundreds or even thousands of years ago. If we can use a method to make light or signal reach our galaxy faster, we will be able to see what the stars are like right now! As opposed to thousands of years ago!]

[The Z particle clock is not cheap. It takes hundreds of millions to create a hyperspace channel that does not even exist for five minutes. This dream is beautiful, but it is too expensive!]

[Any technology is expensive when it first comes out, but we always make it better, right?]

…

Beijing.

Changan street.

In a conference room with a solemn atmosphere, the president, who was wearing a tunic suit, read the report in his hand.

Without hesitating, he put down the report in his hand and looked up at Director Li, who was standing at his desk.

“It really only needs 207.1 seconds?!”

“It’s true!” Director Li nodded seriously. With a hint of excitement in his respectful tone, he said, “I was at the command center!”

After the experiment was over, Director Li got on the maglev, which had been open for less than two months, and returned to Beijing as soon as possible. He brought the report to Chang’an Avenue immediately.

He still remembered the moment the number was printed on the screen. There was no way this could be a mistake!

The president couldn’t help but ask, “Then, what about the 63 seconds? Where did it go?”

Director Li: “I don’t know the specific theories behind it! It seems to involve very complicated physics and mathematical calculations. Academician Lu has talked about this with me many times, but I still don’t quite understand it.”

The President stared at Director Li and said, “Tell me then! Tell me what you know!”

After making a gesture with his fingers, Director Li tried to use his own understanding to give a vague explanation.

“So, basically, the earth and other planets are being pulled by gravity, right? It’s like being tied by a tie. Even though gravity is invisible, it is real.”

The president couldn’t help asking, “What then?”

Director Li: “Then they used the Z particle and shook it in high-dimensional space, like a jumping rope. Because of the theory of relativity, gravity itself is the bending of matter to spacetime. Then this curvature vibrates. From the perspective of our three-dimensional space, the space has turned upside down. Some of the roads have become longer, and some have become shorter—”

After pondering in his mind for a while, the president said, “In other words, the photon that arrived… It just walked a shorter path?”

Director Li slapped his thigh suddenly and nodded.

“You’re so smart! It took me a long time to understand this.”

Haha.

Of course I’m smart.

The president sat back on his chair with a calm expression. He pondered for a while and said, “Using this thing to achieve faster than light speeds… How feasible is it?”

If we can achieve warp travel…

The impact of this thing on China will be greater than the impact of nuclear fusion!

Not only did this mean that China would be given priority to develop distant planets, but it would also mean that the Chinese civilization would transform Earth to a space civilization!

Even the president began to feel excited.

Director Li guessed what the president was thinking.

Even though he didn’t want to destroy the vision in his heart, considering the advantages and disadvantages, after hesitating for a while, he answered truthfully.

“According to Secretary-General Luo, the feasibility of achieving faster than light navigation… It’s unlikely. The cost of the Z particle clock is very expensive. In just a few minutes, it can burn a small fusion reactor. I’m afraid it’s not a suitable choice.”

“Secretary-General Luo?” The president frowned and asked, “Who is Secretary-General Luo?”

Director Li had an awkward look on his face as he explained, “The secretary-general of the ILHCRC, the one who replaced Professor Lu in the press conference to give a report.”

“Oh, that young man… is a promising young man.” The president nodded with a polite smile. He was silent for a while. He then said with a serious expression, “But I still want to ask for Academician Lu’s opinion.”

Director Li: “…”

The president continued, “Where is Academician Lu now? Can you invite him to Beijing? Or I can go to Jinling.”

“Um…” Director Li’s face once again showed an awkward expression. He said, “I might not be able to contact him now.”

The president asked anxiously, “Can’t contact him? Is he sick again? Is it serious?”

This happened last time with the controllable fusion ignition.

As soon as the ignition was successful, before he had time to celebrate, Professor Lu fainted and became unconscious.

After staying at the 301 Hospital for a long time, nothing was found. Even now, the 301 Hospital had a special department responsible for studying what happened to his illness.

“It’s not that he’s sick, I think he’s very well.” Director Li was dumbfounded. He looked at the concerned expression on the president’s face and said, “It’s just that as soon as the experiment was over, he went into a retreat…”

Chapter 1306: Congratulations From Beijing

It seemed like Lu Zhou handled this situation poorly.

Right after the big announcement, when the whole world was waiting for an explanation from him, he disappeared.

Even though he threw Luo Wenxuan to replace himself, it was clear that Luo Wenxuan could not handle the pressure.

Forget about Luo Wenxuan.

In the face of such a major news event that sensationalized the whole world, even the ILHCRC couldn’t handle the pressure…

The day after the ILHCRC conference ended…

Immediately after the president confirmed the news, two congratulatory messages were sent from Chang’an Avenue to the Jinling launch site and the ILHCRC headquarters in Shanghai.

In the congratulatory message, the higher-ups praised the aerospace engineers of the Jinling launch site and all the physicists of the ILHCRC for their great contributions to the future of human civilization.

This wasn’t just from the Chinese side.

The same happened in other countries.

High-level leaders from more than 50 countries, both from participating countries and non-participating countries of the project, told the public to pay attention to this matter. They also sent congratulations letters to the ILHCRC and Lu Zhou himself.

Regardless of whether it was genuine or not, the president of the United States also sent a congratulatory message to ILHCRC. He said that the ILHCRC was a monument of human civilization and the hope for the future of mankind.

The US president also asked the most important question, which was the question everyone was concerned about.

Which was how long before human civilization could achieve faster than light travel…

…

Zhongshan International.

Outside the front gate, a black Volkswagen parked at the entrance. Beside the door stood an excited old man with a thick neck and a driver with a smile on his face.

Director Li looked at the man standing at the gate like a steel wall. His blood pressure quickly soared as he spoke.

“I have something urgent, can’t you compromise?”

“No compromises.” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “He said he’s not seeing anyone for two days.”

“You!” Director Li angrily said, “Why can’t you be more flexible? I am not looking to have a conversation, I’m in a hurry! Can you just ask him? If he agrees, it’ll only take five minutes… At most ten minutes. If he disagrees, I’ll leave!”

Wang Peng shook his head; his attitude didn’t change.

“If he is willing to see you, he will answer your call. Director Li, you should leave.”

Director Li stamped his foot anxiously. “The president asked me to come. Let me inside!”

Wang Peng’s expression stayed the same as he said, “I have to listen to Lu Zhou’s orders. How about you ask the president to fire me?”

Director Li shook his head and sighed angrily. There was nothing he could do.

Even though his rank was higher than Wang Peng’s boss, but rank was one thing, and authority was another. Also, just like Wang Peng said, standing here was Lu Zhou’s orders. If Lu Zhou didn’t want to talk, there was nothing he could do.

“Forget about it, I won’t argue with you. This kid, on a retreat my a*s—”

Wang Peng coughed.

Director Li was amused. He glanced at him.

“What? I’m not allowed to stand here and complain?”

“Um… This actually has nothing to do with me. It’s just that if Academician Lu is in the study room, he might hear you talking.” Wang Peng looked at Director Li and said in a serious manner, “I’m worried that if you continue to talk about him, he won’t come out on purpose, and we would have to wait longer to see him.”

As soon as Director Li heard that Lu Zhou might be able to hear him, he suddenly shut his mouth.

He was scared.

If Lu Zhou really decided to extend his retreat because of this and stayed at home for months, the whole of Chang’an Avenue and the world would go crazy.

“Okay! You… When did he begin the retreat yesterday?”

Wang Peng: “Five in the afternoon.”

“Okay, okay! Then I’ll come back at 5 o’clock tomorrow afternoon!”

After that, Director Li didn’t linger around for any longer. He waved at his driver and returned to his Volkswagen car.

After a while, the car disappeared at the end of the street…

Wang Peng breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He was about to continue standing at the front gate when he suddenly received a call.

He took out his phone and saw that Lu Zhou was calling.

Without hesitating, he picked up the call.

“Hello?”

“It’s me… What’s going on outside?”

“Director Li just came…” Wang Peng hesitated for a bit and said, “Apparently, it’s urgent.”

“Is he still outside?”

“He left.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Not knowing whether Lu Zhou was satisfied or dissatisfied, Wang Peng hesitated for a few seconds before asking, “Should I call him to come back?”

“For what? I said I’m not seeing anyone for two days.”

Wang Peng smiled and said, “Okay.”

After hanging up the call, Lu Zhou put his phone aside.

He didn’t care if Director Li was in a hurry. He was too busy with his own affairs. He didn’t have time to deal with other people’s business.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and picked up the pen again. He tried to calm his mood and continued to focus on the unfinished work in front of him.

Even though he was less busy than a few days ago, he wasn’t doing nothing.

Most of his time was spent adapting to the changes brought to him by level 10 in physics.

Honestly speaking, the feeling of level 10 in physics was strange.

It was so wonderful that it was difficult to describe in words.

Leveling up to mathematics level 10 felt like abstracting the laws of everything into a world of numbers. Reaching physics level 10 was more like using pure reason to “see” everything in the world.

Why did the water evaporate?

How did the atmosphere work?

How to answer the negative sign question in quantum Monte Carlo simulation?

From high school problems to esoteric physics propositions, everything was clearly written in front of him.

Even though his intuition did not give him a direct answer, his intuition was like chess pieces falling on a chessboard, simplifying the world.

This felt extremely pleasurable.

Especially for a scientist like him.

Most of the time, what troubled people was not the cumbersome experimental process or the numbing calculations. Instead, it was the frustration of not knowing how to proceed with the research project at all.

The feeling of entering a dead end and not being able to squeeze out any inspiration… That was more painful than anything.

But now…

At least for the problems known to mankind, except for wild guesses and conjectures, even if he couldn’t find the answers to the propositions immediately, he could still solve the problem if given enough time.

In addition, apart from adapting to the huge changes brought to him by physics level 10, another thing that occupied most of Lu Zhou’s energy was the prize he drew from the system space two days ago.

This was thanks to the system’s “golden” lucky draw.

In the past, Lu Zhou didn’t believe that the system could really extract things like cosmic starships, but that had changed.

He still didn’t get anything as awesome as a starship, but he did get a blueprint for a space station.

Some people might say that the space station was nothing impressive.

But if this space station was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands or even millions of people, could dock hundreds or even thousands of spacecrafts, and handle millions of tons of materials, maybe those people would change their minds.

However, even though the blueprint was impressive, it couldn’t be achieved with the existing technology of human civilization.

Forget about the human civilization, even the Calan civilization would not be able to complete such a huge task without making compromises.

Lu Zhou was sure that even with the right construction technology and conditions, it would take at least half a century or even a century to create this space station…

However, even though this thing was intangible for now, it was too pessimistic to say that it was totally useless.

The pen in Lu Zhou’s hand stopped. He looked at the blueprint on the table. A smile suddenly appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

A thought flashed in his mind.

He suddenly had an idea on how to use this blueprint…

Chapter 1307: Orbital Habitat Blueprint

Director Li was finally able to see Lu Zhou the next day.

“You’re quite a special one. Didn’t even reply to my messages.”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly, but he didn’t give an explanation. He just pretended not to hear him and gestured at the teacup on the coffee table.

“You must be tired after driving so far. Let’s drink some tea first.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou had no remorse, Director Li sighed and said, “I’m not trying to offend you, but this is such a big thing, and you left without saying a word. Isn’t that a bit unreasonable? Of course, I am not here to blame you, I’m just saying. The whole world is waiting for you to come out and say something, even just a few words. Surely you can manage that.”

Lu Zhou: “Luo Wenxuan has already said what I wanted to say. I have watched the video of his report and he said it very well. I will just end up repeating what he said, so there’s no point.”

“Professor Luo is Professor Luo. Why don’t you understand? Everyone wants to hear your voice, not his or someone else’s.”

Why does that matter?

Lu Zhou looked at how sincere Director Li was. He sighed and asked, “What do you want to know?”

Director Li immediately said, “How likely is it to achieve faster than light navigation using hyperspace technology? And if it is possible, how long will it take?”

Lu Zhou took a sip of the coffee on the table. He spoke after contemplating for a while.

“Using hyperspace technology to achieve stellar navigation is very promising. My intuition tells me that this path is probably feasible. However, if you want to make this a reality, you would have to wait at least a century.”

“A century…?”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded while looking at Director Li, who had a disappointed look on his face. He said, “The transition from theory to reality is slow. It takes time for any theory to transition toward technology. Moreover, I don’t think faster than light travel is an optimal strategic goal.”

Director Li: “Why is that?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense.”

Lu Zhou put down the coffee cup in his hand and said, “It is more realistic to achieve interplanetary faster than light communication using hyperspace technology first. This research will inspire faster than light travel. Before sending a massive spacecraft to farther places, we must first figure out how to deal with photons, electrons, muons, Tau particles, etc.”

Lu Zhou saw Director Li take out his notebook and began taking notes seriously. Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke with a smile.

“There’s no use writing this down. Even if you write them down, they are useless. No one knows what will happen in fifty years.”

“How is it useless? I remember everything you said!”

Lu Zhou shook his head. He was about to say something, but the old man, who had finished taking notes, looked at him and spoke seriously.

“What you said is very important. The CTV is planning to do a program regarding this topic. If you have time… Would you like to talk about it?”

“I’ll think about the show.” Lu Zhou changed the subject and said, “Speaking of which, now that you’re here, I also have one thing I want to discuss with you.”

When Director Li heard that Lu Zhou had something to discuss with him, he immediately said, “Go ahead!”

“No need to be so nervous.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “From a long-term perspective, I suggest launching the Mars Project.”

When Director Li heard this, he was stunned.

Lu Zhou knew Director Li would react this way, so he continued, “Also, I’m not just talking about a symbolic launch. It should be implemented as part of the long-term development strategy of our country’s space program.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be joking, Director Li gradually reduced the surprised look on his face. His expression gradually became serious.

“Did you find something?”

“… Find what?”

Director Li sat up straight and stared at Lu Zhou’s eyes. He continued eagerly, “For example, the hyperspace channel… Have you found a stable way to open it?”

Seeing how Director Li seemed to have misunderstood his words, Lu Zhou sighed and explained patiently.

“You are overestimating my ability. This kind of problem needs the focus of the entire civilization and dozens or even hundreds of years to solve. However, speaking of hyperspace channels, it is actually relevant.”

Director Li: “How?”

“Think about why there is no high-speed rail in Singapore.”

“What kind of high-speed rail does Singapore want?” Director Li said with a smile, “They’re tiny, they can walk from one side of the country to another. Unless it is an international high-speed rail, there is no need to build such a thing.”

“That’s it.” Lu Zhou snapped his fingers and said, “Many people don’t understand the logic of technological development. It is not because of hyperspace channels that we expand to a more distant world. It’s because we want to extend our boundaries that we develop technologies that can achieve our wishes.

“Science is pure, but technology is created to solve problems. When we have a real need for faster than light navigation and communication, only then can the technology be created. If we stay on Earth, there is a high probability that this problem will never be solved.”

Director Li frowned and said, “So… in your opinion, we should also plan a place on Mars similar to the Guanghan Special Zone? And create a demand for solving this problem?”

“No need to hurry, one step at a time.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued in a serious tone, “But like I said, regardless of whether or not the hyperspace channel can be opened stably, Mars is an indispensable part of our space strategy. We can first consider establishing a settlement on Mars similar to the lunar scientific research station, and after that, we can slowly advance our plan.”

Director Li asked seriously, “How long is this long-term period?”

“A hundred years.”

“Hm…” Director Li took in a deep breath and said, “One hundred years… That is quite long.”

“That’s why I have a corresponding medium-term plan.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “So far, it is difficult for us to plan stable flights to Mars due to the changes in its orbit, and it is also difficult to ensure the safety of the Mars colonists. As a medium-term goal, we don’t need to focus directly on Mars. Instead, we can focus on the Lagrange point.”

Director Li frowned and said, “Lagrange point?”

Lu Zhou nodded. “That’s right.”

“The Lagrange point, also known as the translational point, is a special solution to the restricted three-body problem in celestial mechanics. Point L2 is the hot spot for international deep-space exploration and is located at the far point on the line connecting the sun and the earth. But what I am talking about here is not L2, but instead, I’m talking about the L4 and L5.

“As a medium-term plan, my idea is to build a permanent space station on L4 or L5 to undertake the tasks of material transfer, mineral resource processing, ship docking, repair, and even manufacturing.

“If the Moon Palace is our outpost for controlling Earth and the moon, then the base at the Lagrange point will become our outpost for controlling the solar system. Not only can it be our transit station to Mars, but it can also help us reach out to Mars. It will become our factory in space.”

As Director Li listened to Lu Zhou’s description, he was dumbfounded. He opened his mouth involuntarily and tried to say something. But he didn’t know how to describe the feeling in his heart.

After a while, he spoke.

“This is…”

Lu Zhou: “Too ridiculous?”

Director Li did not say anything.

“I admit that this plan sounds a bit extreme, but from a long-term perspective, it is definitely possible to be achieved. As I said before, we don’t need to make it a three-year and five-year goal. Instead, it can be regarded as a long-term plan with a 50-year or 100-year engineering cycle.

“In the short term, this project might be at a loss, but I believe that all losses will be able to show its value in the future. This wealth will bring huge benefits to our descendants, even if it looks unprofitable now.”

After a pause, Lu Zhou said, “It is not totally unprofitable. At least our aerospace industry will prosper because of this century-old plan.”

Director Li was touched by Lu Zhou’s words.

Director Li nodded solemnly after thinking about it for a long time.

“I will pass your words to Chang’an Avenue. I can’t guarantee whether it will be successful… In fact, I am afraid that the higher-ups cannot decide this kind of thing. I can only give you a result after a meeting.”

Lu Zhou nodded his head.

“Thank you very much.”

Director Li asked tentatively, “Do you have anything like a plan? If you do, please make a copy for me. After all, if there is a visible plan, it will be better and more convincing.”

“I knew you would say that, so I already prepared it.”

Lu Zhou smiled and took out a file bag from under the coffee table. He put it on the coffee table and gently pushed it in front of Director Li.

Director Li looked at the document on the table. He picked it up from the coffee table, unwrapped the cotton thread, and casually pulled a piece of paper out of it.

“What’s this…”

He suddenly froze.

Director Li looked at the content on the paper in disbelief. His eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe what he saw before his eyes.

“… An orbital habitat with a Stanford torus configuration. Every engineering parameter on the blueprint has been rigorously calculated. If the conditions are met, we can even begin construction tomorrow.”

Lu Zhou picked up the coffee cup on the coffee table. He took a sip and continued happily, “Even though it is not a plan, this… should be enough, right?”

Chapter 1308: 100-Year Road Map

This is more than enough…

This looks like a fortress!

After flipping through a few pages, Director Li could no longer describe his feelings in words. He was shocked.

From the dimensions and size of each rivet to the materials and screws, to the equipment needed for each functional module, and how many people would be needed, almost all of the requirements were listed on this blueprint.

Many things in the aerospace industry were not possible, such as a cable with a “Young’s modulus of 2.07TPa and a breaking strength of 79N/m”, or a “density ρ≤3.7g/cm3, titanium alloy material with modulus ≥1333MPa and hardness ≥HB400…”, etc.

However, according to the current development trend, as long as sufficient funds were invested in these research directions, it was still quite possible to produce materials that could meet the standards one day in the future.

Therefore, this was not just an idea, but rather, it was a rigorous manual!

A general road map that outlined the development direction of the aerospace industry for the next 100 years!

“This thing… Where did you get it?”

Director Li realized that he wouldn’t understand Lu Zhou’s explanation anyway.

Even if Lu Zhou explained it to him, it would be useless.

“I’ll take this blueprint for now, I’ll return to Beijing tonight!”

Director Li put the blueprint back into the document bag, wrapped it with the cotton thread, and sealed it. Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and said in a serious tone, “If it is okay, I want to show it to the experts at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, then take it to Chang’an Avenue. Is that fine?”

“No problem.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “I recommend you give Academician Yuan Huanmin a look at it, he will understand.”

Even though the old academician was a bit stubborn at times, his skills were unrivaled. Lu Zhou believed that after seeing this blueprint, he should be able to understand the meaning behind the blueprint.

“That’s what I planned to do.” Director Li said, “If Academician Yuan feels that there are no problems, it will be more persuasive when discussing at the meeting. Okay then. I still have to drive later. I won’t stay for dinner.”

Lu Zhou: “How about you wait until tomorrow? There seems to be a celebration banquet tomorrow night.”

“No can do!”

Director Li got up from the sofa and said, “The celebration banquet can be held anytime. There are important things to get done!”

Director Li got up and walked toward the hallway. Lu Zhou also got up from the sofa and took him to the front door.

Lu Zhou wanted to say that the important things could wait, but seeing how important Director Li viewed this blueprint, he decided not to persuade him otherwise.

Just like this, the blueprint of the “Stanford Torus Orbital Habitat” and plans for the Lagrange point space station and the Mars outpost were taken by Director Li and were on a maglev train heading straight to Beijing.

As for other things, Lu Zhou didn’t want to worry about it for the time being.

Before starting the third piece of void memory and the next system mission, he just wanted to take a good rest.

On the one hand, he wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend, and on the other hand, he wanted to relax his brain and think about which research area to tackle next…

The next morning.

After accepting the interview, the CTV media van drove to Lu Zhou’s mansion.

At the request of Lu Zhou himself, the interview was changed to a one-on-one interview.

Before coming here, the director of the media outlet repeatedly ordered Wu Xinran, the host in charge of the interview, to keep the interview within half an hour. This was so that they wouldn’t disturb Academician Lu’s rest.

Because of this, before coming here, Wu Xinran was still a little nervous. She did her homework a long time in advance, for fear that she might offend this “peculiar” scholar.

However, the result was unlike what she had imagined. When Lu Zhou opened the door and invited her in, he didn’t seem to be as uncomfortable as she had thought.

They sat down on the sofa. Wu Xinran watched the coffee being delivered by the home robot. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, “You look younger than I imagined. It looks like you’re in your twenties.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Is there any secrets to staying young?”

“Secrets to staying young? I haven’t really done anything special.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Perhaps it is because of the pure environment of the laboratory. I know many scholars who look very young.”

For example, Professor Tao.

Even though he was almost in his fifties, he looked like he was in his early thirties. When he was in his thirties, he looked like he was in his early twenties. When Professor Tao got married, it looked like he was walking around with his older sister.

“That’s quite enviable.” Wu Xinran smirked and said, “We won’t waste your time, can we start now? I only have half an hour with you.”

“No need to be so anxious, I’m not that busy.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “If there is not enough time, we can extend the interview. As long as it’s before the evening. I have a banquet to attend in the evening.”

“Please rest assured that this won’t go past noon. I will try my best to control the interview time to less than half an hour.”

The host smiled at Lu Zhou, then looked at the reporter, who was carrying the camera, and nodded. This indicated that she was ready to start shooting.

All of the preparations were done; the interview officially began.

“First of all, the question that everyone is concerned about… What do you think the Z particle will bring to our future?”

Lu Zhou thought about it for a while before replying, “The future is a very broad concept, how it will affect our future depends on how long you mean by the future. If it is five or ten years, hyperspace theory will still be a very esoteric thing for ordinary people. Maybe it will affect the development trajectory of physics, but the impact on ordinary people will be quite small.”

After a pause, he continued, “However, if we’re talking about fifty or even a hundred years, its impact will be huge. Let your imagination run wild.”

Wu Xinran said, “Imagination runs wild?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhou nodded and smiled as he said, “Actually, think about it carefully. From living on farms to living in reinforced concrete buildings, it only took thirty years. Human civilization as a whole is much more adaptable than we think.

“A century ago, people couldn’t even imagine that, one day in the future, people will sleep in tall high-rise buildings, with neighbors in all directions.

“For the same reason, things that seem unbelievable now might be nothing more than ordinary routines in the future a hundred years from now. Perhaps by then, most people will live in space stations. Resources will come from mining asteroids, extracting energy from stars, and using the infinite space of the universe to solve various problems facing our social development.”

Wu Xinran asked curiously, “How are these things related to Z particles and the hyperspace theory?”

“Everything I talk about is related to the Z particle.” Lu Zhou leaned back on the sofa, crossed his fingers on his knees, and said with a smile, “Space was a vast and distant concept before, but now, it’s been pulled near us.

“Because of the birth of hyperspace theory, we have found a shortcut from low-Earth orbit to the distant universe. Because of this, the things I said will become a reality in the near future.

“It might seem like it is too early to talk about these things.

“But time will show that I’m not joking around.”

Chapter 1309: Business Exchange

The half-hour interview ended quickly.

In the latter half of the interview, Lu Zhou said the same things as what Luo Wenxuan said at the press conference.

The only difference was that these words were said by him personally, so the persuasive power was much higher.

After some simple editing, the video of the interview was posted on the CTV channel during night time.

Lu Zhou sort of fulfilled Director Li’s request. As the chairman of the ILHCRC, he finally talked about the Z particle and hyperspace theory to the public.

Even though in Lu Zhou’s own opinion, he was only talking about some superficial and surface-level things, for those who were interested in the developments in Z particle research and hyperspace theory, they had been waiting a long time for this interview.

People were enthusiastically discussing how this experiment would affect the world if it succeeded.

And now, Lu Zhou, as the most authoritative scholar in this direction, finally stood up and gave a clear answer to this question.

Although this answer did not fully meet everyone’s expectations for hyperspace, it still satisfied many people’s expectations for the future.

On the other hand, at 1,600 Pennsylvania Avenue on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean…

Even though he was not a fan of Lu Zhou, a man in a suit and a pair of leather shoes inside an office ordered his assistant to contact the department immediately after the interview program was broadcast and to produce an English subtitled version of the interview.

After watching the half-hour interview with subtitles across the screen, the president couldn’t help but frown.

The adviser standing next to him reminded him.

“China has completely left us behind in aerospace technology.”

The president cursed in his heart and said, “I know.”

Adviser: “I’m not just talking about the usual problems… From this interview and some intelligence we collected before, we have reason to suspect that their choice of Mars as the experimental site is sending some kind of signal.”

The president looked at him and asked with a frown, “Signal?”

“Yes.” The advisor nodded and said, “Since the establishment of the lunar transfer orbit, the rare minerals transported from the moon to the earth have made their lunar project profitable. They will definitely find a way to continue to expand this advantage. I don’t know if you have noticed, but during the Mars rescue operation, the position of Mars was optimal for landing. However, they did not land on Mars. Instead, they used a smaller spacecraft for the mission.”

The adviser paused for a moment and said, “But now, Mars is not in the optimal landing position. In theory, it is much more difficult to get into orbit than it was a few years ago, but they still sent a spacecraft.

“Obviously, their investment in aerospace technology has never stopped!”

The look on the president’s face finally changed slightly.

After pondering for a while, he reached out and picked up the phone. He dialed his assistant and spoke without hesitating.

“Call Carson for me and ask him, as well as the person in charge of NASA’s Lunar Gateway program, to come to the White House.

“I have important things to discuss with him.”

…

Lu Zhou didn’t know how the White House was reacting to all this. He was far away in Jinling, whistling as he put on a suit. He then went downstairs and sat in the electric car parked at the front gate.

The celebration banquet for the success of the hyperspace theory experiment was planned to be on the third day after the experiment, which was tonight.

According to the previous plan, this celebration banquet was to be held in the evening after the experiment. The ILHCRC even booked a hotel and sent out invitations in advance.

However, because of Lu Zhou’s absence, the celebration banquet was postponed until now.

Lu Zhou was the protagonist, who created this milestone in the history of physics. There was no way they could celebrate without him.

After all, the hyperspace theory was his masterpiece.

Even though many other people had made great achievements in this direction, such as Professor Wei Hong’s Z particle gravitational fluctuation formula, in the face of this great discovery that changed physics, everything else seemed insignificant.

Purple Mountain restaurant.

This was the Jinling local hotel that had hosted many international banquets. After the renovation at the beginning of the year, the luxurious feeling of this hotel had risen to a whole new level.

Speaking of which, this hotel’s success could be attributed partly to Lu Zhou. Because Lu Zhou himself quite liked the environment here, all of his banquets that were held in Jinling were hosted at this hotel.

Because of this, this luxury hotel had become an international tourist spot.

In the banquet hall.

The guests in formal attire stood together in small groups and chatted with one another.

Among them were physicists from the ILHCRC, engineers from the launch site, people from both political and business circles, and guests that were invited here for other reasons.

Most of the people who stood in this banquet hall were important individuals. This was obvious from their conversations.

“You actually knew this would happen,” Dobrik said as he looked at Professor Wei Hong, who was standing by the long table. He continued, ” You knew about the possibility of changing the curvature of spacetime.”

When Professor Wei Hong showed him the conjecture on the whiteboard, his mind was filled with disapproval; he even wondered if Wei Hong had gone crazy.

However, after Professor Lu’s paper was published, his opinion instantly changed. He was baffled by the ingenuity of his colleague.

Even though Wei Hong only had a vague idea.

But being able to have the same idea as Professor Lu was already extremely impressive!

“We were only pondering, not even pondering, just guessing.” Wei Hong shrugged his shoulders and said, “If a guess can be counted as a discovery, then Einstein won’t be the only person that discovered the theory of relativity.”

He had quite a good mindset.

It wasn’t that he didn’t envy Lu Zhou’s achievements, but he knew that even if he kept researching in this direction, he wouldn’t get any results.

After seeing Lu Zhou’s paper, he was certain of this.

Understanding the complex calculations was the best he could do; forget about creating an epoch-making theory by himself.

Wei Hong, who was talking with Dobrik and Luo Wenxuan, suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar face from the crowd.

The man walked through the crowd and walked to the three of them. He smiled and raised the champagne in his hand.

“Thank you, your formula helped a lot.”

Wei Hong looked a little flattered. He quickly raised the glass in his hand. Because he was a little nervous, he almost spilled the champagne in the glass.

“Oh no, if it weren’t for you, this problem would have never been solved!”

“Don’t say that, I don’t know everything.” Lu Zhou smiled and gently raised his glass. He said to Dobrik, “Your intuition about data is impressive. This is all thanks to you for not treating the anomaly in the gravitational map as an accident. Otherwise, who knows when this problem could be solved.”

Professor Dobrik said respectfully, “I didn’t do anything special, just a trivial matter in the grand scheme of things.”

“Every step leading to the top of the mountain is important and crucial. I believe that in the near future, when people learn about what happened, they will definitely learn your name.”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan.

However, before he could speak, Luo Wenxuan grinned and asked, “How about me?”

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment. He smiled and said, “We’re good friends, so let’s avoid talking about business… Come on, cheers.”

Luo Wenxuan suddenly became anxious.

“Don’t! This is also important to me!”

Lu Zhou thought for a while.

“I have nothing to say though.”

Luo Wenxuan was baffled.

“… I hope no one heard you say that.”

If someone else heard that and wrote it down.

It would be so embarrassing…

Chapter 1310: I’m Not Interested in the Nobel Prize

What Luo Wenxuan worried about did not happen.

No one took the banter between friends too seriously at this kind of private occasion.

Also, as the secretary-general of the ILHCRC, his contribution was quite remarkable.

Lu Zhou spoke in a solemn tone in his speech at the official ceremony of the banquet. He expressed his gratitude to those individuals and groups who had made outstanding contributions to the ILHCRC and helped prove the hyperspace theory.

“… Since the beginning of the millennium, all of the major achievements we have achieved in the field of physics come from the power of cooperation. Without so many outstanding people, our work will be difficult or impossible to carry out at all.”

“Thanks to all those who have contributed to this noble cause, whether it is tedious or seemingly trivial works, I believe that they all have value and undiscovered things beneath them. And one day, perhaps tomorrow or in the future, human civilization will find these discoveries.”

“Even though fame and wealth is not our pursuit in this field, if a stone monument were to be erected to commemorate this moment, I hope all of our names will be engraved on it!”

There was a wave of applause in the banquet hall.

The atmosphere of the scene was pushed to a peak.

People clinked glasses to celebrate and commemorate this moment in history.

The gray-haired Academician Lu, who was standing at the back of the crowd, raised his sleeve and gently rubbed the corner of his eye. Professor Li Rongen of the physics department at Jin Ling University walked to the side of the old man and spoke with a smile.

“Have you thought about this before?”

Academician Lu quickly put his hand down and spoke after a cough.

“Thought about what?”

“That your student would one day grow to this point.”

Professor Li Rongen had a smile on his face. Academician Lu went silent for a while. He then sighed.

He spoke emotionally.

“I used to think that this kid has a bright future, so I tried my best to fool him into my graduate school, but I didn’t think that…”

He looked at the stage and at the young man’s face. A smile of relief suddenly appeared on Academician Lu’s face.

“Didn’t think that, in his twenties, he has already doubled all of my expectations for him.”

…

Old man Academician Lu wasn’t the only one that didn’t expect this; most people didn’t expect it.

Lu Zhou had just won a Nobel Prize medal, and in less than half a year, he made another Nobel Prize-level achievement.

Unlike other Nobel Prize achievements, this had surpassed the discovery of the Higgs particle and the Z particle; it had even surpassed the sum of the two.

Because of this, the Nobel Prize Committee was in a tough spot.

He had just won a Nobel Prize last year. Many people were still lining up in the back; many people had beaten themselves to death and hadn’t even gotten in the queue. It seemed quite unreasonable.

Also, according to the practice of the physics community, if the prize was awarded in theoretical physics last year, then this year’s prize must be awarded to condensed matter physics. Giving theoretical physics awards for two years in a row was not a good idea.

But what discovery was more qualified to win the prize than hyperspace theory?

Even the Higgs particle wasn’t as important as the hyperspace theory.

After all, the discovery of this boson had only filled the gaps in the standard model and saved a crumbling building. The discovery of hyperspace theory was equivalent to directly refreshing people’s understanding of the high-dimensional world and the concept of spacetime.

Using this special physical property, human beings even had the hope that mass could achieve a speed beyond the speed of light.

To say that it was groundbreaking was an understatement.

However, Lu Zhou did not give the Nobel Prize judges a hard time.

During a media interview after the banquet, a BBC reporter handed the microphone in front of him and asked him whether hyperspace theory would bring him the second Nobel Prize in physics. Lu Zhou answered in a serious tone.

“It would be better to give the nine million kronor and medal to those that need it more. I shouldn’t be considered a candidate. In fact, I don’t need more honors to prove anything.”

When he said this, the reporters surrounding him were shocked

The BBC reporter who asked the question earlier thought he had misheard Lu Zhou. The reporter quickly asked, “Are you being serious? You know, the Nobel Committee might hear this, if there is any misunderstanding, maybe—”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

Faced with the countless interview microphones and cameras, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course I’m serious, I very much hope that they can give more consideration to outstanding young people as their research results need more recognition and sponsorship. In fact, if they do not plan to do this, I will consider setting up an award to do this myself.”

The atmosphere exploded.

If someone else had said this, it would sound a bit arrogant.

But this came from Lu Zhou’s mouth. No one thought that he was arrogant. People even thought he was humble.

If he wanted to compete for the next Nobel Prize, there would be no doubt he would win. The Nobel Prize Committee would definitely award him the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics.

After all, this was a discovery that would change the course of human history. Since the theory of relativity, no theory had been this groundbreaking.

But now, after Lu Zhou made such a statement, the Nobel Committee would have to reconsider.

If Lu Zhou did not participate in the selection, Wei Hong and Professor Dobrik, who found the “Z particle gravitational fluctuation formula”, would undoubtedly become the hot running candidates for the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. They were the most likely people to share this nine million kronor prize.

After all, the significance of this formula was acknowledged by Lu Zhou himself. The conclusion in that paper was also cited in Lu Zhou’s hyperspace theory paper.

If they couldn’t award the hyperspace theory itself, giving the award to other research in this area was an indirect way of recognition.

Unfortunately, Luo Wenxuan wouldn’t be a part of this.

If he had joined this research project earlier, he might have had a share of the 9 million kronor.

But unfortunately, he joined too late. He hardly had time to produce any particularly important research results. He watched on the side as Lu Zhou revealed the full potential of this research area.

The reporters at the scene, as well as the physicists nearby, were all shocked by Lu Zhou’s generous remarks. The news spread around the world through media networks.

The more it spread, the less accurate the story became…

Chapter 1311: I Want to Give You a Star

[“I never even touched the medal after I took it home. I am not interested in the Nobel Prize.”]

[Shocked! Professor Lu “declined” the Nobel Prize!]

[“I will name an award after myself to reward those young people who need help.”]

[Lu Zhou: I have too many trophies, don’t send me anymore!]

[…]

Lu Zhou looked at the news headlines on his phone. His eyebrows twitched fiercely as he frowned.

He just accepted an interview normally and expressed his opinion in a normal way.

Why was it interpreted like this…

It sounds like I was bragging…

Lu Zhou gave the phone to Chen Yushan, who was walking beside him. Finally, Lu Zhou asked, “Where did you find so much news about me?”

Chen Yushan blinked and replied with a smile, “They’re on my app.”

“How come I can’t find any?”

“Maybe…” Chen Yushan thought about this for a while with her arms folded and said, “Maybe it’s because you don’t search your name often on the Internet?”

What does that mean?

Does this mean you search my name often?

That’s…

Quite flattering.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He looked to the side.

Chen Yushan sharply caught the change in his expression. She looked at him curiously, like she had just discovered a new element.

“Huh? Your face is a little red.”

“No way, you’re seeing things.”

“No, it is! Wait, let me take a photo…”

Chen Yushan was about to take out her mobile phone to take a picture when Lu Zhou grabbed her phone and stopped her.

If she managed to collect evidence, his tall, handsome, and calm image would be completely ruined!

“Look at how scared you are! Even if I actually took the photo, I wouldn’t share it with other people, I’ll only enjoy it myself. Why are you so scared?”

Chen Yushan chuckled and smiled, but she didn’t grab her phone back. She said, “Speaking of which, I didn’t expect you to be so generous. Have you thought about which awards you’re setting up in your name?”

“Awards?”

Lu Zhou hesitated a bit and quickly realized what she was referring to. A somewhat embarrassed look appeared on his face.

“Awards… I think it’s still a bit too early. Although I do have this idea, at my current age, doesn’t it seem too much?”

“How come? Didn’t you see how excited people were online?” Chen Yushan smiled and said, “If you are interested, you can tell me. Even if it’s just an idea, no problem, I can help you set up a fund to manage this bonus.”

“Um… Let’s wait until later. I’m still young now, so I’m not in a hurry.”

Lu Zhou didn’t think this through yet.

They were walking on a path leading to an observatory. His mind was completely occupied by something else.

Normally, he would never be played by Chen Yushan like this. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he could easily outwit her using only half of his brainpower.

The two continued walking along the stairs. Soon they came to the end of the road.

Lu Zhou looked at the iron fence at the end of the stairs and the metal plate with the words “Jinling University Observatory”. He had a smile on his face.

Lu Zhou looked at how confused Chen Yushan was as he spoke.

“It’s here, we’re here.”

He took out a key from his pocket and unlocked the iron fence. He walked into the building with Chen Yushan walking curiously behind…

This observatory was in Jin Ling University’s on-campus astronomical observation facility, which was located on a hill on the campus.

Although the building was not spectacular, it was equipped with a reflecting telescope with a diameter of 65 cm. The telescope was automatically controlled by a computer and was one of the largest teaching telescopes in Southeast Asia.

This telescope was the reason why Jin Ling University’s astronomy department was dominant across the country.

In addition to this, there was also a professional two-meter radio telescope.

However, Lu Zhou came here today mainly for the telescope.

Chen Yushan looked at the empty hall curiously as she said, “It’s so empty here, like a haunted house.”

Lu Zhou took out the key and opened the door of the observation room. He smiled and said, “After all, it’s the New Year’s holidays. I got the key from the Academic Affairs Office. We are probably the only guests in this building.”

Inside the observation room, Lu Zhou walked to the center of the room. He followed the manual instructions and meticulously operated the reflecting telescope with a diameter of 65 cm.

“Done.”

After clapping his hands, Lu Zhou stepped back and looked at the masterpiece he had constructed. He nodded with satisfaction and turned to look at Chen Yushan.

“The time is perfect, and the angle has been adjusted. Come here.”

Chen Yushan walked to the side of the telescope and leaned down in front of the eyepiece curiously.

The second she saw the starry sky, she had a smile on her face.

She had never seen anything as beautiful before.

The gorgeous starry sky was like a kaleidoscope overflowing with light. The shining stars were like gems in a mine, shining in the endless darkness.

After staring at the sky for a long time, she looked away reluctantly.

“It’s so beautiful…”

Chen Yushan stood up straight and looked at Lu Zhou. She spoke softly.

“I never noticed there is such a beautiful scene above us.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Because normally we can’t see that far, we can only do it with this tool. You can try to zoom in so you can see closer.”

“Can you help me?”

“Happy to help.”

Lu Zhou walked to the side of the reflecting telescope. He moved his eyes close to the eyepiece and carefully adjusted the magnification and angle of the telescope.

Chen Yushan watched him carefully. Suddenly, she felt her heartbeat speed up inexplicably.

Lu Zhou, who was carefully adjusting the telescope, suddenly asked, “Speaking of which, do you remember what day it is?”

Chen Yushan blushed as she snapped back to reality. She replied, “Ah, yes, of course I remember! The fifth day of the Chinese New Year… No, February 14th… Today, today is Valentine’s Day!”

She stuttered and nearly bit her tongue.

Seeing how panicked Chen Yushan was, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile. He let go of the telescope and stood up.

“I thought you forgot.”

“How could I forget such an important day?”

Chen Yushan rolled her eyes and blushed. She then lightly punched Lu Zhou in the chest.

But soon, like a Valentine’s Day chocolate in the sun, her voice softened.

“Speaking of which…”

“What?”

“Going to the observatory to watch the stars on Valentine’s Day, it feels… very romantic.” Chen Yushan didn’t know how to describe the feeling in her heart. She felt her heart beating very fast and her cheeks getting warm.

She was convinced that this feeling did not come from hormones.

Is this what love is?

She had never felt this way before.

Lu Zhou looked at her pretty face and smirked.

“Oh, really? I was a little worried you would think I’m boring.”

After all, watching the stars together was different than watching a movie or shopping. Not everyone appreciated the beauty of the skies.

“Not at all. As long as I’m with you, I like it. Also…”

Chen Yushan glanced at the telescope and said, “I have never noticed before how beautiful the stars are… Can I take another look?”

Lu Zhou smiled and made an inviting gesture.

“No problem, it’s yours. You can look as long as you like.”

Without hesitating, Chen Yushan walked to the side of the telescope. When she put her eyes on it again, the universe was in her eyes.

It seemed like all of the stars in the universe were in one place.

She had an excited look on her beautiful face.

“… So pretty.”

It was too pretty.

She didn’t even know how to describe what she was seeing.

Lu Zhou walked next to her and spoke softly.

“Tau Ceti, 11.9 light-years away from our sun. I wanted to show you Proxima Centauri, but we are in the northern hemisphere, so we can’t see Alpha Centauri.”

“Does it have any special meaning?”

“Not really… Tau Ceti is not like other famous stars. It is just an extremely common third-magnitude faint star that can be seen directly by the naked eye. It is not even named after anyone.”

Chen Yushan smirked and teased, “I thought it had something to do with love.”

“Compared to supernovas, it is still darker. It was difficult finding it back in the day, so there aren’t any old stories surrounding it.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “But because of this, history has given us a precious blank page, and we can carve our own legends on it.”

Chen Yushan felt her cheeks getting warm.

“Be honest, how many girls did you use this trick on?”

“You’re the first.”

“Hm…”

Chen Yushan was a little pleased. She turned her face and buried her eyes in the eyepiece of the telescope.

When Lu Zhou noticed her ears getting red, he smiled and asked, “You like it?”

“I told you, I like doing anything with you.”

“I’m talking about the star.”

Chen Yushan smirked. She said in a childish way, “Of course I do, you told me that you want to engrave our story on it.”

“Then, I’ll give it to you.”

It seemed like time had frozen.

Chen Yushan looked up at Lu Zhou and blinked.

“Give it to me…?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Remember the Valentine’s Day gift I talked about?

“I want to give you a star.”

Chapter 1312: Star System Colonization Fund

New York.

The heart of Manhattan.

The rising sun shined on Wall Street as usual. But what was different from the past was that the busyness and orderliness were disturbed by an unexpected news.

A fast food restaurant on the corner of a street.

Most of the people sitting here were employees working nearby. Even though it was a small place with cheap prices, because of its convenience and high-quality food, many famous Wall Street people visited here.

Two white-collar workers in suits and leather shoes were sitting by the window. They were eating pancakes while discussing.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Tau Ceti! The headline from the Wall Street Journal! The star colonization fund already raised a capital of 10 billion! Jesus, you actually didn’t know this?”

What the hell is Tau Ceti?

The person sitting across obviously didn’t understand. But when he heard the 10 billion number, he was shocked. The fork in his hand almost fell off.

“What… Ten billion? Colonization? What’s going on?”

“Professor Lu, the person who discovered the hyperspace theory a while ago, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics last year! He registered a fund with a scale of 10 billion yuan, with the target of colonizing the Tau Ceti planets! The goal is to achieve colonization outside of the solar system within two hundred years…”

The white-collar worker continued.

“I have never heard of such an ambitious investment plan… Especially for a high-risk industry like the aerospace industry. And if someone else colonizes the Tau Ceti, or if there are no habitable planets there, won’t it be a waste of money?”

Of course, even if the plan to colonize the Tau Ceti couldn’t be completed, they could also adjust their strategy. They could colonize Alpha Centauri or liquidate the rest of the funds.

This was not so much a fund; it was more like a trust product. Pay now and designate future beneficiaries. The person who came up with this plan was a crazy genius…

The colleague sitting opposite him listened carefully. He then said, “Privatize a planet? Is that possible?”

The white-collar worker shook his head and said, “Why not? There is no government on other planets since no one has ever been there! The laws in a hundred years might not allow it. But according to the current laws, it is not illegal. After all, the fund is not open to the public. Even though the goal is a bit strange, it is just an investment… The laws around it are flexible.”

Also, Professor Lu was considered the number one scholar in China, and the rules that govern ordinary people and companies did not completely apply to him.

As for whether the fund would still exist a hundred years from now…

That depended on the ability of the fund managers.

After hearing about this, the colleague sitting across from him slammed the table with his right fist and spoke with disappointment on his face.

“No public offering? F*ck! This guy wants it all to himself!”

The white-collar worker raised his eyebrows as he said, “What? Are you interested?”

“Doesn’t matter… What can I do even if I am interested?” The colleague shook his head and continued, “If someone else were involved, I would think it is an April Fool’s joke, but this is Professor Lu!”

The white-collar worker asked with a smile, “How do you know that Professor Lu is not joking?”

The colleague sitting opposite him asked rhetorically, “Have you seen him joke around before?”

“…”

Feren was sitting nearby at another table, listening to the conversation. He was dumbfounded. It wasn’t until the two workers in suits left did he realize that he hadn’t touched his sandwich.

He’d been in the industry for 10 years.

Even though he wasn’t a particularly big player, Feren had learned and seen a lot.

But this was the first time he had heard that there was a fund whose main business was to “explore new celestial bodies and sell the naming rights of asteroids”, as well as focusing on “exoplanet colonization and development rights”, with hundreds of millions in investment.

If Professor Lu was serious…

For some reason, he suddenly remembered the hyperspace theory that made a sensation in the world some time ago.

Countless media commented on it as another revolutionary theory after the era of relativity. Even a Princeton high-energy physics professor, who once appeared in Time Magazine, indicated that this theory ignited the interstellar era. This provided a possibility of light year travel.

If Professor Lu was being serious, it was obviously because he had discovered something that no one else had!

A crazy thought popped up in Feren’s head.

He chewed down the last few bites on his plate. He dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table before quickly leaving the restaurant.

He quickly walked to the nearby newspaper stand. He finally found some change from his wallet and threw it on the table.

“Wall Street Journal, the latest issue!”

“You came at the perfect time.” The old man sitting at the newspaper stand grinned and took the last newspaper off the shelf. He said, “This issue sold very well, and there’s only one left.”

“Thank you.”

After taking the newspaper, Feren quickly returned to the company’s office and spread the newspaper on the table.

He didn’t need to search at all. The galaxy star with a question mark in the middle was printed as the headline on the first page of the newspaper.

The accompanying text next to it gave a concise explanation of the content of the headline.

[Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund, the world’s first astronomical exploration fund worth hundreds of millions was born!]

The story talked about the registration of this fund, as well as listing information about the Tau Ceti. It also talked about the academic circles’ opinions on the number of planets in the Tau Ceti system and whether there might be terrestrial planets among them.

If Lu Zhou chose this star, it must mean that there were valuable planets there!

After a quick glance at the headline, Feren quickly looked at the main text.

His eyes couldn’t look away.

“Sh*t! What a genius idea.”

Unlike the two white-collar workers who were sitting by the window talking about this, he saw a business opportunity.

A business opportunity that could make him a fortune!

There was no doubt that this piece of news that appeared in the headlines of the Wall Street Journal would definitely cause a huge sensation worldwide. Judging from people’s enthusiasm for aerospace, a huge amount of funds would be poured into the aerospace industry.

Feren’s breathing gradually became faster as his eyes lit up.

If he could think of this, someone else could have thought about it too!

There was no time to waste!

He quickly got up from his chair, called his department head, and took two days off.

He then hung up the call and quickly packed his things on the table.

There was only one thing he wished for.

Which was that his actions were fast enough.

Hopefully, no one had thought of the same idea as him…

Chapter 1313: Ticket to the Star?

Feren’s idea was actually very simple. It was to use his network to find a group of interested investors, copy Lu Zhou’s Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund, and set up a similar fund.

The only difference was that he would set the target at a place other than the Tau Ceti, preferably closer to the solar system.

Also, the fund would be publicly offered.

However, this idea was too simple.

When he brought the documents to the largest commercial bank on Wall Street and was about to go through the procedures, he was surprised to see that there was already a long queue.

Judging from the clothing of the people, they obviously didn’t come here to withdraw money…

Just like Feren had predicted, the news of the establishment of the Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund shocked the world!

“This might open up a whole new business model!”

Paul Krugman, the well-known Nobel Prize winner in economics, spoke in an excited voice during an interview with the finance and economics column of ABC TV.

“In the past, most of our investment activities were carried out on an annual basis. Except for trust products, even investment products that were considered long-term rarely lasted longer than a hundred years.

“In the short term, compared to other projects with more investment value, it is not a wise choice to invest in the aerospace field. But if you focus on a century, or even several centuries, the aerospace industry will be highly related to our future. This funding will help our aerospace industry get on track at a faster speed.”

The host asked seriously, “So, this is actually a charity cause?”

“Not quite.” Paul Krugman shook his head. He said, “To be precise, it is a long-term investment with charitable attributes. All of mankind will benefit from his generosity.

“When more social resources are put on the development of external space resources, we will enter the interstellar era at a faster speed.

“At the same time, although this investment is unprofitable in the short term, it can bring him huge returns in the future; there is no doubt about this.”

Host: “But… How can anyone live that long?”

“This is indeed a problem.” Paul Krugman nodded and said, “But he can designate his descendants as beneficiaries.

“If hyperspace theory makes it possible to travel faster than light, we have every reason to believe that colonization of a new planet is possible in the future.

“I even have an idea. This idea actually is combined with frozen dormancy. After all, normal people might not live that long, but if you really want to devote yourself to the great cause of interstellar colonization…

“It may be a good choice for ordinary people to donate their assets to the aerospace industry in exchange for a spacecraft ticket, then freeze themselves.”

In fact, Paul Krugman wasn’t the only one who had this idea.

So did Feren, as well as those investors who were lining up in Wall Street banks.

The morning after the news was published, many commercial banks in the United States issued similar colonization funds.

The ideas behind these funds were almost the same. They would choose a beautiful star not too far away and use its potentially habitable planetary system as a promotion. They used people’s imagination and vision for the future to raise capital.

But what was interesting was that some companies really planned to launch a colonial ship in the future.

Considering that the competition was too strong, most of these funds decided not to choose Lu Zhou’s choice of Tau Ceti. They chose the relatively closer Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Eridani, or other K-type main-sequence stars.

The prices offered by various funds varied hugely.

For example, for the colonial fund on Proxima Centauri, the slogan was that someone only needed to pay 10 US dollars to obtain a resident card of Proxima Centauri and an “economy class ticket” to Proxima Centauri. For an extra 1,000 dollars, they could enjoy first-class seats and bring one more person on board.

The price of the ticket was increased with an annual growth rate of 5%. This meant that an economy class ticket would cost 10.5 dollars the next year, and it would cost 1315.01 dollars in a hundred years.

Of course, once the ticket was sold, there would be no refunds. However, it could be traded to other interested people through the second-hand market. It was similar to the companies that sold survival tickets in 2012.

Other funds used lands as assets. For example, in addition to the ticket to the new planet, for every additional $100, someone could get one square kilometer of land on the planet. People could build houses or grow plants on the land.

Obviously, no matter how tempting the conditions were, these were all things that could only be fulfilled after a hundred years. Also, there were still a series of risks such as “competitors taking the lead” or bad management and bankruptcy. This might turn the certificates in their hands into a useless piece of paper.

Therefore, no matter how serious and regulated the space colonization fund was, even if it was guaranteed by NASA or Space-X, it was difficult to make investors feel safe.

However, many issuers did not expect that these funds, which seemed unreliable, were attractive for many people.

Although it was almost impossible for most people to live to the interstellar age without the help of frozen dormancy, a beautifully crafted citizenship certificate for land on Proxima Centauri could be bought for $100.

Even though people didn’t expect themselves to live a hundred years, and have the opportunity to set foot on their own lands, it was still quite a bargain for those who couldn’t afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house.

There were also some more serious people who carefully studied and identified which funds were really about the extraterrestrial colonization plan and which funds were purely for entertainment purposes.

For example, an old Texas farmer named Joseph spent 1 million to buy 10,000 square kilometers of land on Proxima Centauri. He gave it as a birthday gift to his little grandson, who had just turned six.

This incident caused a huge sensation in the local community, and it even attracted reporters from the city nearby.

During an interview with the reporter, the old farmer was quite happy to be able to appear on the TV show. He spoke happily into the reporter’s microphone.

“This is a long-term investment. I plan to give this land to my grandson and pass it on as a family possession!”

Reporter: “Aren’t you worried that this money won’t see the light of day?”

“That is unlikely to happen. The fund issuing unit I chose is Citibank, and I have carefully studied their investment plans. Although their strength is not the strongest, in my opinion, they are the most promising one when it comes to succeeding in the end!”

Reporter: “What do you plan to do with the 10,000 square kilometers of land?”

“Of course for farming! This is 10,000 square kilometers! My descendants will become the richest farmers on Proxima Centauri. They will thank me!”

When the reporter saw the hearty smile on Mr. Joseph’s face, the reporter smiled awkwardly and asked, “But… How do you know that the soil and climate on Proxima Centauri are suitable for farming?”

“I don’t know, but my instinct tells me that it won’t be harder than going beyond the speed of light.”

Joseph shrugged his shoulders with a confident look on his face.

He looked at the camera and said, “New planet or not, people have to eat.

“I believe that as long as we have the technology to go so far, the scientists will find a way to solve these farming problems. We won’t only be able to grow corn and potatoes, we might even be able to grow exotic crops!”

Chapter 1314: Stupid Rich People

Lu Zhou didn’t expect the romantic and meaningful Valentine’s Day gift he had devised was actually stolen by the investment banks on Wall Street.

In just a few days, the stars near the solar system had all been taken.

What was baffling was that the 68 K-type main-sequence stars within 20 lightyears were not enough. Some investment banks even put their hands on red dwarfs and blue giants.

In some sense, there was nothing wrong with this.

As long as someone could withstand the raging solar winds and tens of thousands of times the solar system’s radiation, in theory, red dwarfs and blue giants had habitable planets.

However, it wouldn’t be very comfortable to live on.

Also, there were some interesting people who regarded obtaining citizenship certificates and lands from planets as a postmodern “hobby”. Even though it was something that was not legally recognized, for many people, this was pocket change.

Lu Zhou was surprised that some people were taking this seriously. Some had even spent a million dollars buying land on a nearby habitable planet.

When Lu Zhou heard about this from Xiao Tong, he was shocked.

“Then?”

Lu Zhou put down the chopsticks and couldn’t help but ask, “He just… wrote a check?”

“Not quite.”

Xiao Tong said, “The general manager and deputy manager of the Proxima Centauri Foundation drove to the farm in Texas in person and delivered the bill to the farmer’s hand. He also gave him a specially customized space colonial pioneer medal and promised to erect a statue for him at the center of the Proxima Centauri plaza.”

Because of the Star System Colonization Fund and the fact that Chinese New Year was happening soon, Xiao Tong took a vacation and came back to China.

Two days ago, she finished the work in Shanghai and returned to Jinling.

She was reporting the situation to her brother.

Even though Lu Zhou felt like an email would be more convenient, he didn’t get to see his sister often, so meeting in-person was the better option.

“Brother, seriously, have you thought about setting up another public offering fund in your name and issue it on Wall Street? I bet you will be rich!”

When Xiao Tong said this, her eyes were flashing dollar signs.

“Forget about it. Having that much money is useless. And I won’t scam others.”

“How is this a scam!” Xiaotong said, “I believe that in a hundred years, you will definitely be able to send them there! You can also earn foreign profits for our country and support the aerospace industry! This is a great opportunity.”

“A hundred years…” Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He said, “I might not even be here.”

“That’s fine! If you and Chen Yushan do a good job, your kid will also be a super-powerful scientist! Ouch! Don’t hit me!”

“Stop pretending, I know it doesn’t hurt.” Lu Zhou retracted his hand and looked at Xiao Tong, who was holding her forehead. He said, “You don’t have to worry about making money for me. Just do what I tell you. If you can’t figure it out, tell me. I’ll ask someone else.”

“Pfft! I got this.” Xiao Tong said, “Wait and see, I will make you a billion dollars in five years!”

Lu Zhou replied, “A billion… The interest from the bank is more than that!”

“Hey, this is just a conservative estimate, and we can’t just consider investment income, we have to also consider supporting the aerospace industry…”

Xiao Tong scratched the back of her head embarrassingly. She then laughed awkwardly and looked to the side. She tried to divert the conversation.

“Speaking of which, bro, you are so awesome! My mentor, Professor Paul Krugman, praised you for at least ten hours in the office and on TV. How about you switch to researching economics?”

Lu Zhou: “I am not interested in money, so no, thanks.”

Xiao Tong sighed.

“Economics is not only about money, it’s mainly about the distribution of social resources. Forget about it, I won’t explain it to a layman… Speaking of which, the Star System Colonization Fund you registered recently seems to have caused a lot of trouble in academia. I want to use this as the topic of my graduation thesis.”

“Graduation thesis?” Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Tong and asked, “You’re about to graduate? Already?”

If he remembered correctly, Xiao Tong was admitted to Princeton around the beginning of 2022.

Only two years had gone by.

“Not yet… But I can prepare my graduation thesis first. If I write well, maybe I will be approved to graduate early?” Xiaotong said with a smile, “I’ll be able to help you manage money full-time!”

Lu Zhou said, “Focus on your studies. Money is not important. And this is just giving you a taste. I’ll hire a professional fund manager to look over you.”

Lu Zhou cared much less about finances than before.

But then again, money was something that would depreciate.

But knowledge would never go away.

With his current knowledge and learning skills, even if he were thrown into a completely unfamiliar era and had to start from the beginning, he wouldn’t starve to death.

After all, he was the one who created Star Sky Technology.

Star Sky Technology didn’t create him.

Xiao Tong didn’t fully understand Lu Zhou’s words. She thought that Lu Zhou didn’t think she could manage the assets on her own, so she spoke confidently.

“Don’t worry, bro, I won’t let you down!”

Lu Zhou heard the confident words and sighed.

“I hope so.”

The more confident Xiao Tong was, the more worried Lu Zhou was.

However, even though he was worried, Lu Zhou didn’t regret giving this task to Xiao Tong.

After all, she was a top student in Princeton, and her supervisor was a Nobel Prize laureate. She also had Star Sky Technology for support, so even if there was a small mistake, there shouldn’t be any major problems, right?

Also, given the status of Star Sky Technology in the aerospace field, if she wanted to research the fundamentals of a company, she could just ask Chen Yushan.

With so much support from the outside, Lu Zhou realized that even a monkey could manage this money.

Also, it was only 10 billion yuan. Giving it to his sister as play-money didn’t seem like a big deal.

What Lu Zhou didn’t expect was that this decision shocked people…

Chapter 1315: Not Only Physics

A strange combination existed at Princeton.

Which was Paul Krugman and Professor Albert László Barabási.

The reason why this pairing was strange was not because of what happened between the two people, but because the area they were researching was difficult for ordinary people to understand. Even Principal Eisgruber couldn’t give a fair valuation.

The story of the two people meeting each other was full of coincidences.

At first, they exchanged business cards at the dinner party after an academic conference. After that, the two people’s opinions unexpectedly coincided with the proposition of where the future of mankind would go. This resulted in the quantitative analysis of this proposition using mathematical models.

It just so happened that one of them was an economist who was passionate about natural sciences, whereas the other was a physicist who was passionate about sociology. They were able to complement each other in their respective fields of expertise.

When they were in St. Petersburg, they, unfortunately, failed to recruit Lu Zhou into the team to study the mathematical model for predicting the future. However, even without the help of the world’s best mathematician, the two still did not give up, and they continued to work hard in this area.

However, they had made no significant progress…

In the cafe near the teaching building.

As usual, the two sat across from each other. They enjoyed their afternoon tea and chatted about recent events, as well as complex academic problems.

“When it comes to high-speed interstellar travel, the theory of relativity determines that there is a phenomenon of time expansion in different coordinate systems. If there are a pair of twin brothers, and one day, the older brother boards a spacecraft for long-distance space travel while the younger brother stays on Earth, when the older brother returns to Earth, he will find that he is now the younger brother… Does that make sense?”

After listening to Professor Krugman’s speech, Albert nodded. He said, “Yes… But what does this mean for economics?”

“It doesn’t mean anything, but if we replace the twin brothers with two businessmen, the results will be completely different. You know, in business, time is an important cost. What if the profit of the space trip is lower than the regular interest rate of the bank?”

“There is a formula for this.” Krugman scribbled a line of calculations on a sticky note. He pushed it in front of Professor Albert and said, “This is where everything begins.”

[PE*·qE·pα/pα*≥(C+pE·qE)·(1+r)2n.]

Albert took a closer look at the formula on the sticky note. He involuntarily raised his eyebrows.

“Very strange formula…”

“It is strange, but it contains a very important theory: my first theorem of interstellar trade.” Krugman smiled and continued, “When trading goods between planets, the calculation of interest should use the time of the planetary inertia system instead of the time on the spaceship. Set the interest rate of the bank on Earth as r, and if and only if this inequality is established, then this trip won’t be a loss.”

Albert: “A very interesting idea… Speaking of which, if there is a first theorem, is there a second theorem?”

“Of course, due to the existence of trade competition, planets with the same inertial coordinate system will gradually tend to the same interest rate. This is the second theorem… However, they are all invalidated now.” The old man chuckled and said, “These theories are all based on the absolute correctness of the theory of relativity. Which means we cannot exceed the speed of light.

“Even though the theory of relativity is still correct now, we have found a shortcut to the stars… At least a theoretical shortcut. When the time does not expand and the flight time is shortened, we don’t have to think about the time dilation during the journey.

“In fact, what I really want to say is… Haven’t you noticed? Hyperspace theory affects not only physics but also economics.”

Professor Albert fell into deep thought.

After a long time, he sighed.

“You’re right. Scientific progress has brought great uncertainty to mathematical models. No matter how perfect and rigorous the calculation is, it is difficult to predict this leap in physics theory. Even if our mathematics model successfully predicts what might happen in the next hundred years, if another person like ‘Professor Lu’ exists, our model will be wrong.”

Krugman nodded.

“This is what I’m worried about. The study of the overall changes in civilization weakens the role of the individual, but when the role of the individual cannot be ignored, our assumptions become wrong.”

Suddenly, a young man walked into the cafe.

He was wearing a gray suit and he looked a little unusual, as if he had just seen or heard something weird. The man walked straight to the side of the two professors and spoke.

“Professor…”

“Good afternoon, Dr. Milson,” Professor Krugman smiled and looked up at his assistant as he said, “What’s wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“You asked me to collect information about the Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund…”

“Is there any news?”

“Yes.” The assistant nodded and hesitated for a while before speaking, “That fund… It seems like Xiao Tong is in charge of managing it.”

“Xiao Tong?”

Krugman froze.

It took a while before he came back to his senses. He sat up in his chair and looked at his assistant in disbelief. He asked, “Wait, you mean… that Xiao Tong?”

The assistant smiled bitterly.

“Yes… This is already public.”

Krugman spoke after a long silence.

“I see… Okay then.”

The assistant nodded, turned around, and walked away.

Krugman leaned back in his chair as he squeezed his eyebrows.

He wanted to find a way to get in touch with the manager of this fund and maybe have a cup of tea or something, perhaps exchange academic problems.

But now…

He really did not expect that this person was actually his student.

“I can’t believe it…” Albert, who was sitting across from him, opened his mouth and looked at Professor Krugman with a dumbfounded look. He said, “It turns out that… your student is managing this fund.”

This is 10 billion yuan!

This isn’t just a graduation thesis!

It wasn’t that they doubted Xiao Tong’s abilities, but why would a normal person give so much money to a PhD student who hadn’t even graduated?

“It sounds ridiculous…” Professor Krugman had a complicated expression on his face. He said, “However… It does seem like something Lu Zhou would do.”

In fact, Xiao Tong was quite talented.

The only thing she lacked was real experience.

In his opinion, it would be better for her to start as an assistant. It would be too risky to start with such a difficult job immediately…

However, if Lu Zhou didn’t care about losing hundreds of millions, this wouldn’t matter.

I guess having a filthy rich brother is one of her advantages…

“She’s unlike other students I have taught. She is one of the few who can achieve a balance between theory and applied economics. She wants to learn both of them and do everything.”

Albert took a sip of coffee and asked curiously, “Is she talented?”

“Not just talented.” Krugman shook his head and said, “She’s also hardworking.”

Also, her stepping point was higher than most people.

She was the sister of a Nobel Prize winner. Even if Lu Zhou did nothing, she still could use his prestige in the academic world and his relationships with Princeton professors.

It was like a recommendation letter from a celebrity.

Her surname itself was a very, very powerful letter of recommendation. It was the kind that was widely recognized in the academic community.

Therefore, under such circumstances, even if she didn’t work hard, she would still survive. Not to mention she was just as hardworking as her brother…

“The economic model of the future is a very promising area. Compared to other fields, we have done very little research in this field. And now, it’s in an era of rapid development. It is difficult for old theories to adapt to new ones… This is just like the ‘Interstellar Trade Theory’ I mentioned earlier.”

After a pause, Professor Krugman continued, “I know that the topic of her recent thesis happens to be related to the Star System Colonization Fund. Whether it’s applied economics or theoretical economics, this is a good opportunity for her.”

Professor Albert: “Opportunity?”

Krugman nodded.

“An opportunity to combine theory and application and find a certain balance.

“The entire economic circle is using the Tau Ceti Star System Colonization Fund as an example for studying the future social and economic activities of human civilization. She is the manager of this example. I believe that with her insight, she should be able to discover something interesting… After all, she is the closest person to the truth; even I won’t be able to gather as much information as her.

“If… And I’m saying if she can summarize the laws and discover something different about human social and economic activities after the discovery of hyperspace theory…”

Professor Krugman looked at how surprised Professor Albert was as he continued in a serious tone, “Then perhaps she has a chance to win the Nobel Prize in this lifetime…”

Chapter 1316: Strength Is the Greatest Guarantee for Peace

Lu Zhou’s name was constantly in the news these days.

From the founder of the Star System Colonization Fund to the most expensive Valentine’s Day gift in history… All of his titles were eye-catching.

Perhaps because he had become accustomed to being famous, Lu Zhou himself didn’t feel much about the comments surrounding him and the 10 billion yuan fund.

Unlike those “counterfeit funds” that were just taking the opportunity to make money, he actually intended to do this as a long-term business.

Even though 10 billion yuan was not a very large number, it wasn’t even enough to buy a building in Shanghai, and it couldn’t be compared to world-class projects as the money wasn’t just sitting in the bank. Part of it was used to invest in potential high-growth aerospace companies and to reward groups or individuals that had made outstanding research progress in the aerospace field.

Just like Professor Paul Krugman said, even though the beneficiary of this fund was only one person, far more than one person had benefited from this fund.

Their goal was to advance space technology and move toward the ultimate goal of interstellar colonization. As long as the annualized income was higher than inflation, then this money would become a huge sum of money in a hundred years. This fund could be invested in the future, helping people accomplish their dreams of colonizing the galaxy.

This was also his promise to her on Valentine’s day.

He was going to leave a legend that belonged to them, on a star that no one cared about…

“I feel like something is on your mind.”

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“It’s not a secret… I’m just a little worried about Xiao Tong.” Chen Yushan had her hands under her cheeks and arms on her knees. She sighed softly and said, “She hasn’t participated in any business matters before… But now, she is involved. Is it really fine for her to continue studying at Princeton?”

She wasn’t worried for no reason since similar things had happened before.

Lu Zhou gave an answer after thinking for a moment.

“I can’t say that Princeton is special. It is not completely independent from the industry… However, there is no need to worry about Xiao Tong’s safety.”

She was obviously not satisfied with this answer.

Chen Yushan gave Lu Zhou a look of dissatisfaction before saying, “That’s your little sister, shouldn’t you worry more about her?”

Chen Yushan was an only child. She always wanted to have a younger sister or younger brother, but that was obviously not going to happen anymore.

She never imagined Xiao Tong would become her little sister, so she was very happy with this.

Thus, she was worried about whether Xiao Tong was in danger.

However, after seeing how calm Lu Zhou was, she felt stupid for being so worried.

Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“It’s not that I don’t care about her, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Why? What if someone—”

“No, it’s fine.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “The reason why I said there is no need to worry is just that things are different than a few years ago.”

The nuclear fusion power station in Los Angeles had been completed. The lifeblood of the entire western power system was fully controlled by East Asia Energy. China had a lot of influence on the energy system of western North America.

Unless there was a diplomatic crisis, the United States would not take any risks. If China withdrew the technicians and nuclear core of the nuclear power plant, the cost of electricity consumption in Los Angeles would rise by an entire magnitude.

That would be a catastrophe.

The old energy industries were eliminated. Even if they were prepared for a crisis, it was almost impossible to fully restore to the previous energy level.

And if it turned into a military conflict, and if they forcibly detained the nuclear core and technical personnel…

Then the Pentagon and the White House would have to worry about the airborne brigade.

“Our national strength is the greatest guarantee for the personal safety of our overseas citizens, so I am not worried about Xiao Tong’s safety at all.

“She can do research as she pleases, and it will be very, very safe, no matter where she is… In fact, the Americans are more worried than us.”

Chen Yushan: “You’re so arrogant.”

“Not arrogant, I’m confident that strength is the greatest guarantee for peace.” Lu Zhou smiled and said softly, “I’m confident that I will maintain our advantage.”

Suddenly, the phone began to ring.

Lu Zhou looked at the screen of his phone. He guessed that Director Li was the one calling, so he didn’t expect to see Luo Wenxuan’s name. He answered the call and moved the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“It’s me!”

“I know it’s you, what’s the matter?”

Luo Wenxuan: “… Did you forget something important?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t speak, Luo Wenxuan knew he was right. Luo Wenxuan sighed and said, “The Century of Physics academic conference… Didn’t you say to postpone it until after the Lantern Festival? Now that the Lantern Festival is over…”

Lu Zhou slapped his forehead and said, “Oh yeah, I’ve been too busy lately…”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly as he sat up from the sofa with a dry cough. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll come to Shanghai tomorrow.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t even send out invitations to major research institutions.”

“That’s fine, I can write it now.”

“I’ll write it,” Luo Wenxuan said with a headache. He said, “You can sign it.”

“Okay then.”

Why didn’t you tell me that first then?

After that, Lu Zhou ended the call and looked at Chen Yushan sitting across from him.

“I have some work stuff to deal with.”

“Do you have to leave?”

“No, I just have to go to the study room.”

Chen Yushan smiled and said, “Go then, do you want something to drink?”

Lu Zhou: “Coffee is fine… Actually, I can make it myself.”

“I’ll make it, you’re busy with work… It also gives me a chance to take care of you.”

Lu Zhou felt his cheeks warming up as he quickly walked toward the second floor.

Chen Yushan watched Lu Zhou disappear at the corner of the stairs. She got up from the sofa with a chuckle and went into the kitchen.

However, just as she was about to step into the kitchen, she heard a humming sound She then saw a small drone “holding” a cup of coffee. The drone flew over her head and flew upstairs.

She noticed a line of texts on the drone screen…

Is that an emoji?

[(⃔*`꒳́*)]

Chen Yushan was astonished as she watched the drone disappear at the corner of the stairs. She went silent for a long time before she muttered, “It’s so smart…

“Amazing!”

Chapter 1317: Doesn’t Look Like One Person’s Drawing

Beijing.

Office of the Director of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

Academician Yuan Huanmin sat at the desk wearing reading glasses. He stared meticulously at the sketch on the desk, pondering for a long time.

Near his left hand was a thick stack of drawings, which was placed under the weight of an aerospace engineering reference book. Judging from the marks outlined on the drawings, he had obviously studied these drawings thoroughly.

Director Li was standing opposite his desk, holding his breath like a student.

It had been half an hour since he entered this office. He dared not say a word, for fear of disturbing the old gentleman’s thought process.

The clock on the wall ticked by, and about ten minutes later, the old man finally took a breath, scribbled a line of comments on the blueprint, then put it away.

He finally noticed Director Li, who was standing across his desk. He quickly stood up.

“Oh, Old Li? Why are you here? Didn’t even tell me you were coming.”

“You called me and told me you had news? So I quickly came over…” Director Li smiled and got straight to the point. He asked, “How is it? The drawings? Do you think it is reliable?”

“The drawings are very good… No wonder he’s the number one mathematician in the world.”

Yuan Huanmin sighed and said emotionally, “I tried to check every calculation. There are no mistakes. The components and functional units are linked together, and the logic is meticulous. It doesn’t look like… it was designed by one person.”

Director Li gulped and asked, “What does it look like?”

“Like it was designed by a team of mathematicians, physicists, aerospace engineers, materials engineers, thermodynamics engineers, information engineering experts, etc… Everyone with a clear division of labor and cooperation.” After thinking about it for a moment, Academician Yuan continued, “In China, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is the only place that can gather top talents in various industries so efficiently.”

The jealousy in his heart was obvious.

If only the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation also had such a huge talent pool and an academic leader to lead the scholars… They could have been the people dominating the lunar transfer orbit instead of just playing a secondary role.

However, he knew in his heart that being jealous would not help with anything.

Academician Lu created Star Sky Technology. Its unique business model and technical strength also created the Jinling high tech zone. His influence from nuclear fusion was passed on, allowing him to form a huge scientific research and production system.

Only organizations like NASA could compare with them.

However, that was only in terms of volume and size.

When it came to strength, there was no comparison at all…

As Director Li looked at the expression on Academician Yuan’s face, he felt a little weird.

There was one thing he didn’t mention.

Which was that, these drawings took Lu Zhou two days to complete during a retreat…

Academician Yuan noticed Director Li’s weird look, he thought he had said something wrong, so he frowned and asked, “What?”

“Nothing… That guy is a monster, so you can’t think about him using common sense.”

Director Li coughed and continued, “If you think there is no problem, I hope you can write a recommendation. I will take this blueprint to a meeting at Chang’an Avenue.”

“No problem, I can write the letter now.” Academician Yuan nodded and continued, “But this blueprint… is not finished yet, right?”

Director Li nodded.

“Yes, I asked Academician Lu. He said that many details were not added. According to him, with the current material technology, many designs cannot be built. When the materials meet the standard, they can fill in the details.”

“Oh, I see.” Academician Yuan nodded and said, “I wanted to ask what is this cable component with a Young’s modulus of 2.07 TPa and a breaking strength of 79 N/m. But now, it seems like it doesn’t exist…”

Director Li frowned and asked, “Is that thing… difficult to produce?”

“I can’t say whether it’s difficult or not. After all, he is an expert in materials, while I don’t know much.” Academician Yuan looked at the pile of drawings next to him. He thought for a while and continued, “But with enough time, everything can be solved… especially if there’s a hundred years.”

Academician Yuan Huanmin suddenly remembered something, so he spoke.

“So, can we talk about something?”

Director Li spoke.

“About what?”

“Leaving aside the blueprints… Can you ask him to figure out a way to make this kind of cable material?”

Director Li: “I will try my best… Are you in a hurry?”

“Not in a hurry.” Academician Yuan Huanmin sighed and continued, “It’s just that if this cable could be produced, it will help our construction engineering and aerospace industries.”

Director Li immediately asked, “How large will its impact be? Do you have an estimate?”

“I can only make a rough estimate.”

Academician Yuan Huanmin smiled and shook his head. After a pause, he continued, “I don’t know much about buildings and ships, so I don’t want to give random numbers, but for aerospace… it will save us at least a decade of work!”

A decade!

Director Li thought he had misheard or that Academician Yuan Huanmin was joking.

After all, ten years seemed ridiculous.

After realizing that this was not a joke, the expression on his face gradually became serious.

“I’ll go to Jinling right now! Wait, no, after I finish business here, then I’ll go to Jinling!”

“Don’t need to worry.” Academician Yuan said, “The reason I say this is because this problem is not so easy to solve. Materials, energy, and information; none of the three areas is easy to deal with.

“Especially since this is different from mathematics and physics. Inspiration alone is of no use. Only by the accumulation of time and constant trial and error could someone find a solution. Even if you ask Academician Lu for help, he might not have any good ideas. Otherwise, he would have written the solution on the blueprint.”

Director Li said stubbornly, “No harm in trying.”

Academician Yuan sighed helplessly and said, “Whatever, do what you want.”

Chapter 1318: The Third Memory

“Achoo!”

Lu Zhou was sitting on a bed next to a computer in the underground laboratory at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

A drone with a small screen flew over, as if it were scared by the sneeze.

[Master, have you caught a cold? Do you need Xiao Ai to check your body?]

“No, I’m fine.” Lu Zhou muttered to himself in a quiet voice, “I guess someone is talking about me behind my back… Let’s continue.”

[Ok. Q( ́・ω・`)]

Even though Xiao Ai was still a little worried, Lu Zhou’s words were an order. The robotic arm connected to the wall handed Lu Zhou a virtual reality helmet.

Lu Zhou reached out and grabbed the helmet. He put it on carefully, then lay back on the soft mattress.

Technology was getting more and more advanced. He still remembered when the Phantom System was launched, the VR helmets launched by major manufacturers were cumbersome, and they looked like motorcycle helmets.

But now, Huawei, Xiaomi, and other companies had launched their own ultra-thin high-end helmets. Wearing them did not feel uncomfortable at all.

After setting the activation time of the neural interface device, Lu Zhou closed his eyes and muttered “system” in his heart. He soon entered a pure white space…

…

The memory began.

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes again, he was on a grassland.

However, this was completely different from the grasslands on Earth.

The grass here was blue, like an endless ocean, swaying in the wind. The grass formed a sharp contrast with the orange sky, and there was breathtaking energy in the air.

On the other side of the skyline, there was a red gaseous planet that was countless times larger than the sun. It occupied one-third of the sky.

The person standing on this grassland was motionless, like they were waiting for something. They looked at everything quietly, as if to engrave the beauty of the scene in his mind…

He could not move his limbs, but his senses were still normal. Lu Zhou was attached to this body like a spirit. He instantly knew what was going on.

The Earth-like planet under his feet should be a moon of a gaseous planet.

Judging by the terrain, the geological activities of the entire planet seemed to be stable. In addition, the ecosystem on this planet should be much simpler than Earth, and there were no traces of intelligent development.

Suddenly, the wind started to become noisy.

When Lu Zhou felt the strong wind, he couldn’t help but close his eyes.

The moment he closed his eyes, a memory that did not belong to him poured into his mind like a flood.

He stood in an ancient Romanesque ring arena, and he defeated an opponent with an iron blade in his hand.

Blood splattered everywhere.

A man who looked like a referee stood in front of him. The referee raised his hands amid the cheers of the audience and declared his victory.

After that, the scene changed again. This time he was not in an arena; he was in a spacious hall.

A man dressed like a Servant of God put a stone emitting a green light on his forehead, muttering a language that even the civilization that The Observer belonged to could not translate. He then placed the stone in his palm.

From the memory fragments, Lu Zhou roughly figured out who was the owner of this memory and what happened before the memory.

Start with the most important point. This memory did belong to the Calan civilization. It belonged to a group that looked like cats, which was named the Puck civilization.

1

Their bodies were covered with fur and were between one meter and one meter fifty in height. They had flexible claws, strong feet, and upright animal ears. They looked like large cats walking upright, just without a tail.

It took a long time for them to enter the industrial age because of the lack of metal minerals on the parent planet. Their civilization was formed during the iron age.

Entering the industrial age as a single civilization had advantages and disadvantages.

Its advantage lied in the fact that the conflicts within civilization ended in the cold weapon era. Even if there were several regime changes and rises during the period, evolution had been able to smoothly resolve the small local conflicts.

The industrial machinery of the Puck civilization had never entered the military field in a real sense.

Even though there were conflicts in their civilization, their conflicts were completely different from human civilization.

For example, they were more inclined to solve problems through old fashioned weapon duels, as opposed to negotiation.

They were more inclined to advocate for honor than to regard morality as a restraint for behavior.

Their short average life expectancy made them look down on life and death, and they believed in reincarnation and the afterlife… even though their science had never really proved these two things.

Lu Zhou noticed when experiencing the memory fragments that there were a huge clergy and aristocracy in the Puck civilization.

The spiritual leader of the clergy—a profession called the prophet—played an even more important role than the king in the rise and fall of the entire civilization.

They were filled with idealism and authoritarianism. Their level of science and technology was probably in the early and mid-interstellar age. Their development ideas were completely different from the Calan Empire.

Supported by their high cultural identity and the concept of unity, they seemed to have no concept of capital punishment. Even before they mastered faster than light communication, the colony and the parent star maintained an unimaginable unity.

Instead of building homes, they tended to live alone. They were more inclined to migrate to distant and empty habitable planets and do everything possible to occupy more land, even if it was an undeveloped wasteland.

Just like the Calan people who liked to breathe the metallic air around the world, Pucks, who were as lonely as cats, could spend a whole day on the empty prairie.

The grassland planet under his feet was one of the hundreds of colonized planets in the Puck civilization.

The body that Lu Zhou was in was a warrior called “Noir”. Just a few days ago, he defeated his opponent in a duel in the name of God’s choice, becoming the Chosen.

The prophet played an important role in the historical process of the Puck civilization. The Chosen was the right-hand man of the Prophet.

The Prophet saw the future through a psychic ritual. The Prophet told the Chosen what the “future arrangement” was and instructed the Chosen to fulfill this mission.

In fact, when experiencing this memory, Lu Zhou doubted the rigor of this ritual and whether the future could really be predicted by this unreliable method.

However, the Puck civilization seemed to believe in this.

Even though there were only a few times in their history where the Chosen did the “right things” that benefited the civilization…

From this perspective, these fluffy aliens seemed to be ignorant of history.

However, as far as technology was concerned, these furry aliens seemed to be much more advanced than human civilization. Lu Zhou was in no position to look down on them…

He heard footsteps coming from behind.

The Puck opened his eyes and looked back. He saw a soft beam of light falling from the clouds as a figure slowly appeared.

Gravitational rays?

Anti-gravity?

Or… some other kind of technology?

Lu Zhou didn’t know what kind of magical technology these Pucks used to travel between high orbits and the planet’s surface. Lu Zhou looked at the elderly Puck that appeared from the beam of light. He tried to find clues from the scattered memory fragments.

However, something strange happened.

Even though there was a memory of this old puck in Noir’s memory, his name was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Zhou was surprised by this strange situation. The elderly “cat man” suddenly spoke.

“Congratulations, warrior named Noir.”

Noir humbly lowered his head and spoke.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Everything is the will of the spirit of the universe.”

The old Puck smiled and carefully examined the face of the young Puck in front of him. He nodded lightly and said, “Under its guidance, the bravest of our civilization has come before me. A long time ago, I was shaken by psionic rituals and oracles, but now, I am convinced that all of this is the best arrangement.”

Noir did not speak. He maintained a humble attitude. He waited for the old man in front of him to tell the prophecy belonging to the Chosen.

This was the usual convention.

However, this time, the old man didn’t seem to intend to say a lot. After looking at him for a long time, he vaguely summarized the whole prophecy.

“The natural disaster is approaching, and no one will be spared. There is a flame from the border to the holy land… Your task is to go to the center of this galaxy and find the way out of our civilization.”

Surprised by the prophecy, Noir asked in a hurry, “How do I find it—”

“Shh.”

A dry paw pressed against Noir’s lips as the old man interrupted Noir’s question. He looked at him and said, “When you get there, you will naturally know what to do… It’s your destiny.”

Noir nodded silently and did not speak.

Seeing the young man in front of him listening to his words, the old man’s face showed a smile of approval.

“The spacecraft and luggage are ready.

“May you be able to find a glimpse of hope in the middle of this galaxy.”

The old man suddenly stopped talking.

After a short silence, he spoke in a relieved tone.

“Even if you don’t find it, you don’t have to blame yourself.

“Your genes, your blood, your bones, your culture, and your language. Everything is proof that we existed. Even if the great holy land is finally swept by this catastrophe of the universe, we will not be forgotten.”

“The holy land being swept? How could that be possible! The natural disaster… Did you see something? No… I shouldn’t have asked this.”

Noir raised his head suddenly and gently placed his right fist on his chest. He looked firmly at the old man in front of him and promised, “I will reach the center of this galaxy and find a way to resolve the crisis!”

The old man just smiled softly.

“Don’t be so confident. This is a journey of hundreds of thousands of light-years. This is not just a threat from the universe itself. You may meet many travelers who are also inspired by the universe. Among them, there are many who are stronger than us. Not all travelers have good intentions. It is not easy to survive.

“However, I believe in you.”

His pupils were filled with kindness.

As if he were looking at his child, the old man looked at him carefully, like he wanted to remember this last moment forever.

Noir did the same. The two looked at each other, letting the wind on the grassland blow gently.

They didn’t know how long this journey would take.

Even after reaching the end, there might be no chance to come back here again.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t concerned about the sentimental moment.

Because all of his attention was completely focused on the prediction about natural disasters.

However, just as Lu Zhou was thinking hard about the clues on the natural disaster, he suddenly saw a touch of sharpness from the old man’s eyes.

The sharpness wasn’t easy to detect, but its existence was so conspicuous and full of violations.

His gaze was like a sharp blade; it pierced deep into his bones.

Lu Zhou was a little confused about the change in the plot.

Lu Zhou wondered why the old man suddenly looked at this “Chosen one” with sharp eyes. A strange feeling suddenly crawled on his scalp.

It was difficult to describe exactly what this feeling was and where it came from.

Lu Zhou tried to read some clues from the old man’s eyes. A terrifying thought suddenly flashed in his mind.

The old man…

Is staring at me!

Chapter 1319: The Chosen One?

Lu Zhou was shocked. He burst into a cold sweat at this thought.

He knows I’m here?

How is that possible?

The entire old universe had disappeared into the Void. He was nothing more than a spectator in this memory.

How could the old man know that he belonged to the new universe?

Wait a minute…

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that the old man in front of him was probably the Prophet of the Puck civilization; no, he must be the prophet!

Suddenly, all of the clues were connected.

There was only one possible explanation. Which was that, inside the old universe, the old man felt someone observing him. Whether through the “spirit of the universe” or the “psychic ritual”, he had a feeling that someone would see this in the future.

This feeling of being stared at did not disappear until Noir waved goodbye and stood on the beam of light in the sky.

The Prophet stared at the Chosen one for a long time. Lu Zhou felt his feet starting to leave the ground when the Prophet spoke.

“Maybe I’m wrong…

“Maybe you’re the Chosen one.”

Noir was slightly stunned. He frowned and asked, “What are you talking about?”

A trace of sadness flashed across the face of the Prophet.

But he didn’t say anything. He looked at the puzzled face gradually leaving the ground and waved his skinny paw.

“Nothing…

“Forget what I said.

“This is the decision of the spirit of the universe. I believe that all this is the best arrangement.”

Lu Zhou looked at the old man standing on the grassland. He involuntarily held his breath.

If his reasoning was correct…

The last words of the Prophet were not addressed to Noir.

It was addressed to himself…

…

Lu Zhou opened his eyes suddenly, as if he woke up from a nightmare. He bounced off the bed.

After the Chosen one named “Noir” stepped onto the spaceship heading to the center of the galaxy through an anti-gravity beam, the memory fragment popped like a soap bubble.

There was a drop of sweat across his forehead. Lu Zhou took off his helmet and panted gently. He raised his arm to wipe off the sweat that had fallen to his cheeks.

Xiao Ai controlled the robotic arm and handed a glass of water to Lu Zhou’s side. The drone flew in front of him; the airflow of the drone motors sending him a refreshing cool breeze.

[Master, are you okay?]

“I’m fine…” After taking a sip from the water glass, Lu Zhou looked at the LED screen. He had a reassuring smile as he said, “Compared to the previous two memories, this time, it is a lot milder.”

Other than the history of the Puck civilization, which caused a certain load on his brain, the rest of the entire memory was only a gentle story.

Compared to Void Memory a, which contained confusing puzzle-solving elements, and Void Memory b, which contained action shooting, this story-only memory was quite calm and simple.

This was the first time Lu Zhou had completely synchronized the Void Memory without using the file reading system of the virtual reality system.

It was also the first time for him to encounter such a weird thing…

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, should we add this to the “Calan Empire” game? (>▽

After thinking about this problem for a while, Lu Zhou gently shook his head.

“No need this time. There are no difficult parts that require the help of players. Just file the data directly in the library.”

Xiao Ai: [Received. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Xiao Ai was in charge of the quantum computer, and archiving this huge amount of data was a piece of cake.

After staying in the underground laboratory for a while, Lu Zhou took the elevator back to the ground and dropped by the cafeteria of the Institute for Advanced Study for dinner.

Along the way, people who saw him greeted him respectfully.

However, because of the things on his mind, Lu Zhou appeared absent-minded when responding. When he sat down in the cafeteria, he realized that he had even ordered the wrong meal.

After quickly eating dinner, Lu Zhou returned home with a stomach full of questions. He shut himself in the study room.

Lu Zhou took the notebook tucked in the corner of the bookshelf. He spread it out on the desk and wrote down his experience in the Void Memory c on a blank page.

“Puck civilization, label: idealism, authoritarianism…

“The warrior who has won hundreds of duels becomes the Chosen one. Under the direction of the Prophet, he goes to the center of the galaxy to find a way to save civilization.

“The natural disaster… Another natural disaster. What is the natural disaster? Are the crises encountered by the Puck civilization and the Calan civilization the same thing? How did the psychic ritual predict the future?”

Lu Zhou scratched his head in distress. He frowned and fell into thought.

The Puck civilization was obviously far less developed and powerful than that of the Calan civilization… Lu Zhou hadn’t heard about them completing any magnificent projects like the ring world, let alone creating quark stars.

The natural disaster was foreseen through a “spiritual ritual”.

Faced with an unknown threat, they decided to send a spacecraft to the center of the galaxy to find a solution.

The whole plan was full of idealism.

The Prophet didn’t tell the Chosen one how to go to the center of the galaxy, nor tell him what the so-called “natural disaster” was. However, he firmly believed that doing so would surely prevent a crisis that was doomed to happen.

This journey of blind faith seemed like a pilgrimage.

“What is hiding in the center of the galaxy?

“And the spirit of the universe and the ritual for predicting the future… Is it really possible to predict this kind of thing?”

What disturbed Lu Zhou was the old Prophet’s stare at the end of the memory, and that his words didn’t seem to be addressed to Noir.

You’re the Chosen one?

Who is that…

Lu Zhou looked at the notebook that had been filled. There were question marks everywhere. Lu Zhou hesitated for a long time and wrote.

“It seems like even level 10 physics can’t answer this question very well…

“It would be nice to be able to talk to that man.”

The man who calls himself The Observer.

He must know something.

Even though this didn’t make much sense and that the guy was not that easy to get along with, his deep and wise eyes were very reassuring.

Lu Zhou closed the notes and got up from his desk.

“Enough for the time being… It’s not physics anymore; this is occult and philosophy.”

Maybe I should find the opportunity to study Professor Miro’s notes again?

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t think Miro knew the spirit of the universe better than himself, the creator of the animism of the universe might have discovered some clues that were noteworthy yet ignored by him.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he seemed to have promised Luo Wenxuan to go to the ILHCRC today to prepare for the Century of Physics Conference.

However, he spent the entire day in the Institute for Advanced Study.

When he looked out the window, the sky was already completely dark.

If he went to Shanghai now, he would have to find a place to stay the night.

Forget about it; it’s already so late now.

Let’s wait until tomorrow…

Lu Zhou reached out and turned off the lamp on his desk. He got up from his chair and yawned. He then went downstairs to rest.

Chapter 1320: Two Thousand Physics Problems

Shanghai.

Maglev train station.

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou coming out of the exit terminal. He couldn’t help but complain.

“I waited all day at the train station yesterday!”

“You should have given me a call.”

“I called! At three o’clock in the afternoon and five o’clock again! But it said that you’re not in the service area? What were you doing at that time?”

Lu Zhou remembered that he seemed to be at the third underground floor of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Because the protection measures were very strict, no signal from the outside world could be received or sent from there.

As for the missed calls…

Perhaps because all of his attention was on the memory of the old universe, Lu Zhou didn’t even notice.

“This was my negligence… Let’s put these things aside for the time being.” Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and asked, “Have all the invitations been sent out?”

“Yes! So far, eight major particle physics research institutes in the world have sent back letters, expressing support for our joint initiative with CERN. CERN has already arrived in Shanghai. Do you want to see them?”

Lu Zhou: “I will go later… You’ll have to take care of them for now.”

Luo Wenxuan spoke with a sigh.

“I knew you would say that.”

Lu Zhou smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“You know me too well.”

The pick-up vehicle parked at the exit of the station. Wang Peng, who was walking in front, opened the door for the two of them. He then sat in the front passenger seat.

Lu Zhou asked Luo Wenxuan during the ride about the progress of the conference.

“The preparations for the conference are done. We have booked the main venue at the International Convention and Exhibition Center. The hotel has been set at Yi Hao hotel. The duration is seven days. The Shanghai government is supportive of our work and has already prepared traffic control in advance. The plan for the security of the venue…”

Lu Zhou: “What about the physics community?”

Luo Wenxuan: “The response from the physics community is quite strong, and the mainstream is very supportive of this conference. So far, the number of applicants from all channels has reached 100,000. The number of applications for poster display space is 6,731… The venue may not be large enough. We plan to conduct a round of pre-review on the posters before arranging academic booths.”

A hint of surprise appeared on his face. Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “That many people?”

100,000 people…

Is the entire physics community coming to Shanghai?

Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou’s hesitant expression. A bitter smile appeared on his face.

“Yeah, I wonder why…”

From the Z particle to the Void theory to the hyperspace theory, the series of achievements ILHCRC had accomplished in two years had become the focus of the entire physics community.

Especially the particle physics field.

In terms of scientific research strength alone, even CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory combined, which were second and third respectively, was not comparable to ILHCRC.

After all, almost two-thirds of the world’s particle physics research results were born from the Lunar Hadron Collider or at least indirectly related to it.

The most outstanding scholar in physics issued an initiative to explore the future of physics. If the entire physics community was not interested, then it would be hopeless.

Lu Zhou looked at the expression on Luo Wenxuan’s face. He smiled awkwardly.

“… This must have been a lot of work.”

“It’s not a lot. Even though this is the first time for a conference of this size, we have held several high-level international academic conferences.” After a pause, Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou and continued, “Also, I’m afraid you’ll be the one doing the most work.”

“Like what?”

“Have you forgotten what to discuss at this conference?” Luo Wenxuan smiled and said, “Anyway, we’re almost there. I’ll show it to you soon.”

While they were talking, the car had already entered the underground parking lot of the ILHCRC headquarters building.

After getting out of the car, Lu Zhou followed in the footsteps of Luo Wenxuan and got on the elevator. They came to the file room on the third floor and walked to the nearest long table.

A thick book was sitting on the table.

On the cover of this book, there was only a number.

[2000]

“Two thousand physics problems that cover all branches and research directions of physics.” Luo Wenxuan looked at this thick book and said, “We took recommendations from the other eight physics research institutions and top scholars in each research branch. Based on their opinions, the most representative or main problems were selected.

“What we have to do now… or what you have to do is to select one hundred of the most representative problems from these two thousand problems.”

Lu Zhou looked at the book that was as thick as a dictionary. He reached out his hand and picked it up from the table before flipping through it quickly.

This thing was really similar to an exercise book. The questions were labeled according to the categories they belonged to, and it even included the names of those who wrote the problems, the “sources”, and the earliest documentation of the problems.

Of course, the most important thing was the descriptions of the problems.

It was like a rigorous essay, describing what each problem was and what physics background it had.

Some of these problems could be clarified in a few words, such as “can the pairing of two Fermi atoms form superfluidity in quantum chromodynamics”…

There were also questions such as “Yangian Representation Theory and Solving Nonlinear Models” or “can the spectrum of one-dimensional Hubbard model and HS model be solved with the aid of Yangian Representation Theory”. The problems must be described clearly, and they even had certain requirements for the readers’ mathematical skills.

This was definitely the most difficult “exercise book” in the world.

Even solving one of the questions was enough to become an expert in a certain area of physics, and be recognized by the entire physics community…

Lu Zhou looked at this book of puzzles that condensed almost all of the wisdom of physicists in human civilization. Lu Zhou felt his brain go numb.

“I think this is a masterpiece…”

“I think so too.” Luo Wenxuan nodded his head and said, “I spent two weeks going through it roughly. Many of the questions in it are not simple. It also includes the thoughts of the authors. This is more valuable than the questions themselves.”

“Basically, let’s wait for the representatives from other institutes to arrive. The selection is not something I can complete alone.” Lu Zhou put down this book and looked at Luo Wenxuan. He said, “This book stays here for the time being. I plan to spend a few days going through it briefly.”

Luo Wenxuan: “That’s what I had in mind… By the way, as an independent research institution, the ILHCRC should also send a representative to participate in the selection of the 100 physics problems. Who do you think is a good choice?”

“Don’t ask me about such trivial matters.”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan and said in a half-joking tone, “You’re the next chairman of the board. If you can’t even handle this, then I don’t know what to say.”

Chapter 1321: The Conference Of The Future

Two thousand physics problems were more difficult than imagined.

Even with Lu Zhou’s level 10 in physics, if he wanted to go through all of these problems and have a general grasp of the problems that were described, it would take quite some time.

Of course, compared to Luo Wenxuan, his reading speed was much faster.

For an entire two days, Lu Zhou stayed in his hotel room and did not go out. All of his meals were through room service.

During these forty-odd hours, he read through the 2,000 physics problems; this was almost equivalent to reading 2,000 papers.

Lu Zhou was quite satisfied with his efficiency.

To say it was a trivial matter was ridiculous.

But it wasn’t anything too difficult.

While Lu Zhou was reading these two thousand physics problems, most of the top physics researchers in the world had already received an invitation letter from the ILHCRC.

Almost everyone made it clear that they would participate in this conference. The entire physics community fell into quite a heated discussion about the physics conference called “Century of Physics”.

One of them was the Physics Stack Exchange forum.

As one of the most well-known communication platforms for physicists in the world, the PSE forum had attracted many well-known physicists in recent years, as well as PhDs in physics from Ivy League schools.

Even several famous Nobel Prize winners had their own accounts on the forum and updated posts from time to time. As an informal publishing channel for physics opinions, one could discuss the latest physics research results in a more casual atmosphere.

However, in recent years, people’s enthusiasm for physics itself was replaced by the excitement for the Century of Physics conference.

Topics of discussion occupied the entire front page.

Physicists were extremely excited about one hundred physics problems that would be announced after the closed-door meeting. Everyone hoped that their research direction could emerge at this meeting and gain the entire physics community’s attention.

[Which problems do you think are the most promising candidates?]

[This question is too difficult; there are two thousand problems! To select the most important ones and the ones that the world could hope to solve means that you must have an understanding of at least two thousand branches of physics research. Even Academician Lu might not have the ability to do it!]

[Don’t worry, I heard that eight major physics research institutions around the world have sent representatives to participate in the voting for the one hundred questions at the Century of Physics conference. There are at least one round of primary voting, two rounds of meetings, and a final voting round!]

[Hyperspace theory and void theory will definitely have a place, and the recent disappearance of supernova remnants and the exploration of outer galaxies are two major categories in astrophysics that are also popular. There are also the quantum states of cold atoms in optical superlattices, and the research on non-Abelian statistical properties of Rana fermions is also promising; there are too many fields of interest…]

[This is simply a large-scale competition. The selected topics will become the most popular research directions in the next century; the lucky ones who pursue these directions will get the most abundant scientific research resources!]

Apart from the funds raised by the ILHCRC for these hundred problems, as well as the bonuses and awards that would be issued at the conference, major physics research institutions around the world would inevitably refer to the conclusions drawn at this “Century of Physics” conference. They would tilt more resources to scientific research that was more valuable and worthy of research.

Everyone hoped that their area of research would be the lucky one to stand out.

Not only would it mean that their area would be recognized by the most prestigious academic institutes in the physics world, but it also meant that the road to scientific research would be smooth sailing from now on!

Interestingly, physicists weren’t the only ones paying attention to this upcoming event. Even mathematicians were also making fun and joining in on the discussion enthusiastically.

On the MathOverflow forum.

Even though the discussions didn’t fill the front page, they had generated a lot of traction.

However, unlike the physicists on the PSE forum, physics was not their major. Thus, the topics of discussion were mostly focused on gossip that had nothing to do with academics.

[Amazing! ILHCRC wants to copy Hilbert’s twenty-three questions and the Millennium Prize Problems!]

[What questions do you think Professor Lu will choose as the hundred problems at the Century of Physics conference?]

[It’s hard to say, but if I were him, I would definitely focus on the two areas of void theory and hyperspace theory! Then, for the next hundred years, void theory and hyperspace theory will dominate the physics community! His school of thought will live on for at least a century.]

[That is too superficial. Besides, it doesn’t have to be so troublesome. Even without this Century of Physics conference, do you think hyperspace theory will not rule the physics world for the next century?]

[Yeah, why not? People are selfish! Just wait and see.]

Whether it was scholars in the physics circle or scholars outside the physics circle, almost no one doubted the influence of Lu Zhou’s opinions on the Century of Physics conference.

Although ILHCRC invited a total of eight major physics research institutions and more than twelve physics research teams to participate in the selection of the one hundred physics problems, judging from the performance of their physics experiments, the sum of their opinions wasn’t worth as much as Lu Zhou’s words.

Regardless of whether Lu Zhou himself was aware of this, his authority and power in the physics world had reached an unparalleled level.

Most people were curious as to what choice he would make. The Physics Stack Exchange forum even opened a poll for the two thousand physics problems.

Everyone could choose at most one hundred problems as the most important physics problem in their mind. Using this poll, the hundred physics problems that were most anticipated by the academic community would be listed.

When Lu Zhou saw the long list of rankings and the top ten problems on his browser web page, he was shocked.

All of the top ten physics problems were, directly or indirectly, related to the “hyperspace theory”, “void theory”, and Z particles.

Even though he was very happy that his colleagues were so optimistic about his research work, Lu Zhou’s own opinion was different from the public.

The hyperspace theory was fine. Even though it was not suitable as the focus of this century’s research, the broad prospects behind it were still worth researching by physicists.

But void theory…

No matter how he looked at it, Lu Zhou did not think that research in this area could produce more outstanding research results in the next century.

Compared to the theory of relativity, which had practical significance, its usage was more similar to string theory.

When human civilization’s understanding of physics extended to the extra-dimensional world, the problems linked to it would no longer be problems.

But before that, no matter how much research was done, it was difficult to make more substantial progress.

“… Anyway, this is finally finished.”

Lu Zhou closed the browser, leaned on his chair, and stretched out comfortably.

Because of time constraints, he hadn’t had a good rest in two days. He could finally relax for a while.

Lu Zhou marked the problems he liked on his notebook and closed the notebook. He got up from his chair and called Luo Wenxuan.

“Call other representatives and have a meeting at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Luo Wenxuan was shocked.

“The two thousand problems… You read them all?”

“Sort of.” Lu Zhou said, “I can’t do this on my own. Let’s discuss first.”

Chapter 1322: Failed to Pass?

Professor Felix had been high-spirited recently.

Because not long ago, he was nominated for the American Physical Society award for the research on the origin of neutrino mass. It was also because of the invitation from ILHCRC’s “Century of Physics” conference some time ago.

That invitation letter was just an invitation.

Six physicists recommended his name to the ILHCRC, hoping that he would summarize the most prominent or most important problems on the proposition of the origin of neutrino mass.

In some sense, this invitation letter was even more valuable than the awards issued by the general physics association.

Because this meant that the area he researched had been recognized by his colleagues.

It meant that his influence in this field of research had been recognized by the mainstream academic community!

Even in a place like MIT, this was something worth bragging about.

Even though asking questions wasn’t as good as answering them, he felt excited when he thought that the questions he raised would be regarded as classics by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people over the next century.

This was even more exciting than winning a medal from the American Physical Society!

One day at noon.

Professor Felix had just finished a class. He returned to the office. Just as he was about to call his assistant to pour him a cup of coffee, the phone on the corner of the desk rang.

He picked up the phone, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“Hello??”

“Hello, this is the office of the ILHCRC conference organization department.”

Hearing that it was a call from the ILHCRC, Felix was immediately happy. Instead of revealing the joy in his heart, he leaned back on his office chair and spoke casually.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

In Professor Felix’s opinion, the problem he recommended would definitely be chosen at the Century of Physics conference.

The mass origin of neutrinos was one of the frontier research hotspots in physics. The research ideas summarized in the paper he handed in and the problems faced in the current research were all critical research bottlenecks.

He could not think of any reason for the ILHCRC to not list his problem in one of the 100 problems.

However, just when he was so confident, the voice on the other end of the phone made his confidence drop from the clouds instantly.

“I’m very sorry, Professor Felix… We regret to inform you that your paper failed to pass the preliminary selection.”

It was like Felix had been turned into a statue, his whole body froze.

It took a long time for Professor Felix to recover from the confusion. He roared into the telephone receiver in a tone of disbelief and anger.

“Failed… The preliminary selection? Wait! What do you mean by failing the preliminary selection? Did you make a mistake?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Felix, this was the conclusion of the judges…”

The staff on the other end of the phone spoke as politely as possible, trying to calm Felix’s emotions. He said, “According to the voting results after the preliminary selection meeting, what you raised about the proposition heavy Fermi-field triplet into the standard model does not meet our standards at the Century of Physics conference. We’re sorry—”

“I’m not here to listen to you apologize!” Professor Felix interrupted the staff member; he had almost lost his mind. He spoke furiously, “This is ridiculous! Anyone that has anything to do with physics knows the importance of neutrino mass in the particle physics research!”

The staff on the other end of the phone spoke.

“Perhaps because the proposition you put forward…”

“Impossible! Do you know the area of my research?” His beard trembled, Felix continued aggressively, “I have been researching this direction for twenty years! No one knows about this area better than me, I know the most important problem in this area! Even Professor Lu doesn’t know!”

The staff member did not know what to say.

He was just an intern. Even though his major was indeed particle physics, no one regarded him as a serious physicist. Thus he did not express any opinions of his own.

But in his opinion…

None of these two thousand physics problems were substandard.

If they wanted to find the 100 most representative problems, then 1900 problems had to be eliminated…

This was no different than ILHCRC rejecting most intern applications.

“This… I’m very sorry, I don’t know whether Academician Lu himself is optimistic about your research, but the result is the opinions of the vast majority of scholars in the review team. I hope you can understand—”

“F*ck!”

Professor Felix angrily hung up the phone; his chest was pumping violently.

He had worked in physics for a long time, but he had never felt this wronged.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He stood up from his office chair.

The assistant who was standing by the desk with a cup of coffee in his hand asked nervously in a quiet voice, “Professor?”

“Buy me a ticket to Shanghai right away! The earliest flight! The sooner the better!”

Professor Felix ignored the worried look on his assistant’s face. He reached out his hand and grabbed the coat from the clothes hanger, then put it on his shoulders. He cursed as he walked towards the door.

“Not up to the standard? I’ll have to see what is considered to be standard!”

The assistant stood there with his mouth open.

Although he didn’t know what happened…

But looking at the angry look on the professor’s face, it had to be related to the ILHCRC…

Professor Felix, who left the office, drove back to his apartment and packed his luggage immediately.

Without wasting another minute, after he received his assistant’s message that the ticket was booked successfully, he immediately went downstairs and returned to his car. He then drove to the airport as fast as possible, went through the security check, and got on a flight to Shanghai.

Even though the purchase of the first-class ticket made him feel a little distressed, when he thought of the “unfair treatment” he received from the ILHCRC, his distress was immediately diluted by the anger.

He needed an explanation!

If the ILHCRC review team couldn’t explain to him, he would go talk to Lu Zhou face-to-face and ask him why his problem was eliminated!

He would not give up until the ILHCRC or the chairman of the ILHCRC gave him a reasonable explanation!

Chapter 1323: I’ll Show It to You Then

“The last problem… Regarding the mystery of the supernova, this proposition comes from the recommendation of the famous astrophysicist Jim Peebles.”

ILHCRC headquarters meeting room.

Professor Whittle, from the Brookhaven National Laboratory, stood in front of the conference table.

He was holding a piece of paper in his hand. He subconsciously glanced at Lu Zhou, who was sitting not far away. He spoke with a slightly nervous expression.

“The supernova remnants are the tombstones of stars, the remains of stars after they exploded at the end of the evolutionary process. They are like brilliant fireworks in the night sky, exuding deadly charm…

“However, what is puzzling is that according to the calculation of the supernova explosion rate and star formation rate, there should be about 20,000 to 30,000 supernova remnants that we can observe in the Milky Way. However, we have only observed around 300.

“99% of supernova remnants seem to be missing, out of our sight.

“The research on supernova remnants will have an important impact on our research in the fields of heavy elements and galaxy evolution. If we can find out where the missing supernova remnants go, it may be able to reveal more profound physical mysteries…”

From a professional point of view, Professor Whittle elaborated on some existing progress or conjectures in this research area, as well as Brookhaven National Laboratory’s opinion on this proposition.

Like he said, if the reasons for the disappearance of supernova sites could be revealed, or if they could find the disappeared energy and matter, the research on astrophysics and particle physics would be greatly improved.

After listening to this lengthy statement, Lu Zhou thought about it for a while, then ticked a tick in his notebook.

Professor Whittle’s attention was on Lu Zhou from the beginning. Professor Whittle noticed Lu Zhou’s movements; his tense face finally relaxed a little as his heart was relieved.

Professor Jim Peebles was a big name recently poached by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. What he worried about the most was that Lu Zhou had a grudge against them because of past events and would deliberately reject the proposal from Brookhaven National Laboratory.

However, it now seemed that Lu Zhou was obviously not interested in doing this.

Even though Whittle was annoyed at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s increasing involvement at ILHCRC, he had no better way to deal with this situation. He could only bear it for the time being.

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Whittle, who bowed slightly and sat back in his seat. He closed the notebook in his hand and stood up. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Let’s end the preliminary selections.

“A total of 522 problems were shortlisted, 22 more than expected.

“For the end result, we’ll have to wait until the final vote. There are about two meetings in the coming days, respectively on Wednesday and Friday… Thank you, everyone.”

There was a wave of applause in the conference room.

Lu Zhou faced the standing physicists and nodded gently.

…

After the meeting, Lu Zhou packed up the things on the table and returned to his office.

However, just after he sat down, there was a knock on the door. A young assistant walked in quickly from outside.

“Mr. Chairman, there is a strange person who wants to see you.”

Strange person?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “Who is it?”

The assistant spoke with an awkward expression.

“His name is Felix. He claims to be a professor from the department of physics at MIT. He says that he has suffered unfair treatment at ILHCRC and hopes to meet you.”

Originally, he didn’t want to bother Lu Zhou with these trivial things, but the strange guy was too persistent. He stood in the lobby with a suitcase and didn’t want to leave no matter what.

This guy was not a nobody, so they couldn’t just throw him out. The front desk downstairs could only call his superiors to ask for instructions. Then, the issue went up the chain of command, eventually arriving at Lu Zhou’s desk.

“Professor Felix?”

Lu Zhou had no impression of this name. He frowned and thought for a while, then spoke.

“… If he wants to discuss academic issues with me, tell him that I can spare half an hour at three o’clock in the afternoon. If he just wants to bother me with some boring problems, give him the contact information of Secretary-General Luo.”

“Oh, okay.”

The assistant quickly left the office. Lu Zhou didn’t say anything else. He continued to flip through the meeting notes in his hand.

He ate a sandwich for lunch and stayed in the office until about three in the afternoon. Lu Zhou walked to the cafe downstairs and saw Mr. Felix, the man who claimed to be a professor from MIT.

From his appearance and the suitcase in hand, Lu Zhou guessed that he arrived here immediately after getting off the plane.

Also, his planet tickets were probably bought last-minute.

“Professor Felix is it? Nice to meet you.”

Professor Felix looked at Lu Zhou nervously, then nodded cautiously.

“Likewise.”

Although he was very angry when he was in North America and even lost his temper in the building reception two hours ago, after seeing Lu Zhou in person, he couldn’t help but lower his head.

He had no other choice.

After all, Lu Zhou’s status was too high.

From the electrostrong interaction to hyperspace theory, his research results shocked the world; the problems that plagued hundreds of millions of people were a piece of cake for him.

His little amount of achievement was not even worth mentioning in front of Lu Zhou.

Professor Felix shrunk into his shell and didn’t say anything. Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“I ordered a cup of coffee, it’s not here yet.”

“Oh, really? I’ll have a cup of black coffee then.” Lu Zhou nodded to the waiter, then looked at Professor Felix. He continued happily, “I’m very curious, what is it that made you come all the way from Boston to see me?”

“Because I need an explanation!” Felix suddenly became excited. His shoulders trembled as he sat up straight from his chair. He then stared at Lu Zhou and asked, “Why did you reject my proposal in the preliminary selection?”

“This was the collective opinion of the review committee. I only fulfilled my right to cast a vote. If it did not pass the vote, it is because it was not suitable—”

“You never read my paper carefully! I heard that after you arrived in Shanghai from Jinling, you only spent three days to read the problems.” Felix said excitedly, “From the beginning, you didn’t intend to take our research results seriously, so why did you ask me to send a paper?”

Three days?

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly. He actually only took two days, faster than the rumors.

He looked at Professor Felix, whose face was full of excitement, and spoke.

“I carefully read every paper. I can swear by my reputation that every choice I make is from the standpoint of a scholar.”

“Oh, really?” Felix looked straight at Lu Zhou. His face was full of suspicion as he asked, “Are you sure that three days was enough for you to read all the papers?”

“Of course, I even remember your paper.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. “Introduce the heavy Fermi-field triplet in the standard model to explain the source of neutrino quality. In other words, it is the application of the Type-III Seesaw mechanism in the study of the origin of neutrino mass. Am I right?”

Lu Zhou finally remembered.

He didn’t remember the name Felix, but after hearing him explain his problem, Lu Zhou immediately matched the name with the paper he read a few days ago.

When Professor Felix realized Lu Zhou had actually remembered his paper, he held his breath.

However, he realized that he had waited at least two hours in this cafe. During this time, Lu Zhou had time to investigate his information clearly and quickly go through the paper.

“… Did you read it before you came?”

Seeing the obvious distrust on this guy’s face, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile.

Read it before?

I have better things to do with my time.

“Regardless, I have indeed read your paper, and in my opinion… I voted against it. As for the reason, it is because it isn’t worth researching.”

“That’s preposterous!”

“Don’t come to conclusions too quickly.” Lu Zhou smiled at Professor Felix, who was about to stand up, and motioned him to sit down. He said, “Since you came across the ocean to see me, I’ll tell you why I did it.”

The waiter came over with a cup of coffee.

Lu Zhou looked at the steaming cup of coffee on the table. He reached out his index finger and gently touched the cup. He then looked at the waiter and said politely, “Can you grab a whiteboard from the office next to me? And a marker.”

“Yes, sir.”

After the waiter left quickly. Lu Zhou looked at Professor Felix and spoke.

“If I explain it to you in words, we’ll be here all day.

“I’ll show it to you.”

Chapter 1324: An Unresolved Controversy

Professor Felix looked at the whiteboard that the waiter was dragging. He was stunned.

Because of his doubts about the fairness in the selection of the problems at the Century of Physics, Lu Zhou actually dragged a whiteboard out here.

What does he want to do?

Is it possible to find a way to apply the “Type-III Seesaw mechanism” to solve the problem of neutrino mass, to prove that my problem is not worthy?

How is that possible?

Professor Felix was almost amused by this.

If this problem was really that easy to solve, the physics community would have solved the mysteries behind neutrinos much earlier.

Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to the weird look on Professor Felix’s face. He stood up from his chair and walked to the whiteboard leisurely.

“Thank you.”

After throwing a tip of 100 yuan to the waiter, Lu Zhou stood in front of the whiteboard and picked up the marker.

After only thinking for less than half a minute, he took off the marker cap and started writing on the whiteboard.

The tip of the marker swept across the whiteboard as Professor Felix watched intently.

Even though they were quiet, having such a large whiteboard in the cafe was a bit conspicuous.

Especially since the person standing in front of the whiteboard was Lu Zhou, the chairman of the ILHCRC! Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics! The creator of hyperspace theory!

There were countless titles piled on top of his head.

People were gradually attracted by the content on the whiteboard, and many curious people left their seats, gathering nearby in groups.

“What is Professor Lu writing?”

“The expressions of the Majorana mass term and the Dirac mass term should be the mass of fermions—”

“No, that’s not right! It’s the Seesaw mechanism! If I’m not mistaken… He’s explaining the origin of neutrino mass!”

The second this sentence was uttered, it was like a bomb was dropped on a calm lake, instantly igniting the atmosphere.

“Oh my!”

“The origin of the mass of neutrinos?!”

“There’s no way? This kind of thing… can be written on a whiteboard?”

“Nutty!”

For places like the ILHCRC, the cafe itself was a place for discussions on academic issues. No one cared if they talked loudly.

Attracted by the commotion, more and more people gathered here.

Professor Felix saw the calculations flowing like water on the whiteboard. He gulped.

He didn’t understand the calculations at all. In order to not feel embarrassed, he casually looked around. However, he was shocked.

People gathered all around the whiteboard, forming a circle, trapping him and Lu Zhou inside.

At the same time, Lu Zhou, who was standing in front of the whiteboard, had a rather calm expression on his face.

He had entered a flow state, his attention was completely focused on the whiteboard in front of him. He wasn’t affected by the people and sounds nearby.

The realm of level 10 was mysterious.

That lines of calculations didn’t seem like calculations, but rather a spell that was woven from the words of the gods. Even though it didn’t have the energy to call on the wind and rain, it dominated and affected the laws of the universe.

Whenever he entered this state, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel emotional.

No wonder the level of mathematics determined the upper limit of other subject levels.

If he didn’t have level 10 mathematics as a support, it would be difficult for him to manipulate the language of the universe…

Time quickly passed by. After he leaned down in front of the whiteboard and wrote the last line of calculations, Lu Zhou stood up and took a half step back.

He looked at the calculations on the whiteboard. With a satisfied smile on his face, he nodded gently.

“Not bad.”

Lu Zhou turned around and looked at Professor Felix, who was sitting on the chair completely dumbfounded. He spoke.

“The answer you want is here. I think these calculations are enough to tell you why your paper was screened out in the review meeting.”

“Wait a minute.” Professor Felix blushed as he looked at Lu Zhou, who put down the marker, and said quickly, “I still don’t quite understand. What did you… show? Can you tell me?”

Even though he was reluctant to admit this, this was the truth.

Halfway through Lu Zhou’s writing on the blackboard, he was completely lost. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep up with Lu Zhou’s rhythm.

This sentence was heard by many people nearby; voices of sympathy gradually spread around.

Obviously, Professor Felix wasn’t the only person who had not kept up with the rhythm of Lu Zhou’s writing on the blackboard. Everyone around here was the same.

“Of course I can, I actually plan on doing this.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He turned around and looked at the content on the whiteboard. He spent a few seconds gathering his thoughts, then said, “The dynamics of the origin of neutrino masses has been a hot topic in the research of particle physics in recent years. This is true, but not all research is possible.

“So far, there are two possible mass items for fermions, the Majorana mass and the Dirac mass.

“If the neutrino is a Dirac particle, the mass of the neutrino can be directly given by the Yukawa interaction.

“However, our observations such as the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation show that the absolute mass of neutrinos should be less than 0.2 eV. Considering that the mass of the top quark is 172 GeV, it is obvious that only the Higgs mechanism can be used to explain this. The fermion mass spectrum cannot be applied!

“Therefore, the more common method now is to treat neutrinos as Majorana particles so that we can use the Seesaw mechanism to study the origin of neutrino mass—”

“Yes!” Professor Felix instantly became energetic. He said, “Are there any problems with my proposal paper? Didn’t I express it like this?”

Lu Zhou chuckled and continued, “Don’t get too excited. I haven’t finished yet. Using the Seesaw mechanism to study the mass of neutrinos is indeed attractive, but the Seesaw model causes inconsistencies in the unitarity of the lepton mixing matrix… Have you considered this problem?”

Whispers were heard.

Obviously, Lu Zhou’s remarks caused a lot of controversy among the crowd.

Professor Felix was overwhelmed, he was completely stunned. It took a while before he snapped back to reality.

“The Seesaw model standard will lead to the destruction of the lepton mixing matrix… This is a debate in the physics community, but it is just conjecture. How do you know that it must be true—”

“It was conjecture.” Lu Zhou raised his chin at the whiteboard behind him. He said with a smile, “Not anymore.”

There was an uproar.

The moment everyone heard this, the crowd went crazy.

People took out their phones from their pockets and snapped photos of the content on the whiteboard.

Some people were recording the whole process earlier, but people’s reactions were far more enthusiastic now.

Solved a long time debate in physics?!

Using one whiteboard?!

But there’s no way!

“This is impossible…” Professor Felix stared at the calculations on the whiteboard in a daze. He couldn’t say anything else other than repeating the phrase “This is impossible…”

If the Seesaw model led to the destruction of the lepton mixing matrix, then the Type-III Seesaw mechanism was not the best solution to the origin of neutrino mass.

So what was he researching for all this time?!

Professor Felix had a sad look on his face.

Even though he wanted to disprove Lu Zhou’s claims, to stand up and refute his opinion loudly, there was no hope in his heart.

It wasn’t because of Lu Zhou’s academic authority.

He had gradually begun to understand the calculations on the whiteboard. He gradually realized that what Lu Zhou said was true.

He simply couldn’t accept this reality.

He had been working on the Type-III Seesaw mechanism over the past ten years. He tried his best to find the piece of the puzzle that could fill the source of neutrino mass.

But the facts in front of him now told him that in the past ten years, he was spinning around in circles, complacent about some fundamentally meaningless results…

Professor Felix seemed to have lost his soul. Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He then sighed softly.

He understood the depression and sadness in Felix’s heart.

How many years are there in a researcher’s life?

The golden age of scientific research only lasts 20 to 30 years.

“Sometimes… This is how things happen.” Lu Zhou paused for a moment while looking at Professor Felix, who was ashamed, and said, “Reality is always difficult to accept because it doesn’t adhere to our expectations.

“The Seesaw mechanism might be a suitable idea, but a fatal loophole makes it almost impossible to reach the end of this road.”

“What should I do…”

“I’m afraid you have to answer that yourself. After all, I am not an expert in this area.” Lu Zhou thought for a moment while looking at Professor Felix. He said, “If the tool is broken, try fixing it.

“Although the Seesaw mechanism has many problems, I believe this is also an opportunity for you.

“Why not try to adjust the Seesaw mechanism in conjunction with the Leptogenesis mechanism? This model can explain the tiny mass of neutrinos and the asymmetry of the baryon number in the universe and can be tested in the Large Hadron Collider. The interaction makes it possible to experimentally test the mechanism… This is not possible with the Seesaw mechanism.”

Lu Zhou looked as Felix’s eyes light up. He then said with a smile, “Although I can’t explain why, as an alternative, I recommend that you start with this area.

“Perhaps you will find something.”

Chapter 1325: : Still Warm

Professor Felix swore that…

This was definitely the most exciting physics class he had ever experienced in his life.

This feeling had shocked his soul. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time, so it felt almost strange to him.

He vaguely remembered the professor who taught him told him that there was nothing to teach him anymore. The only way forward was to rely on himself. That was the last time he felt this way.

But now, he had this feeling again, and it shocked the depths of his soul.

Even though this was coming from a man many years younger than him…

“Unbelievable…” Professor Felix stared at Lu Zhou with an incredulous gaze. He opened and closed his mouth.

Lu Zhou had guessed what he was thinking. He smiled and joked.

“Looks like you noticed something.”

Professor Felix looked at Lu Zhou and got up from the seat. He then lowered his head seriously.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Lu Zhou said happily, “I am glad to be able to inspire your research.”

Professor Felix was obviously not the only person who was shocked.

There was still a crowd around them.

The crowd was going nuts!

Even though the physicists standing here were fairly reserved, they couldn’t help but clap their hands because they were shocked by the calculations on the whiteboard.

The most excited ones were the interns.

Most of them had just arrived at the ILHCRC a few months ago, and they had never seen anything like this. This was the first time they encountered such an awesome scene.

“F*ck me, God Lu is nuts!”

“It’s more than nuts… The problem of the origin of neutrino mass is one of the most cutting-edge research areas in physics! One of the most difficult ones! Our professor said that, if anyone can produce results in this area, they can brag about it for the rest of their life!”

“Looks like Professor Felix is convinced.”

“Makes sense, if someone gives me a lesson like this, I won’t just be convinced, I’ll be praying on my knees, calling him my dad!”

“Pfft, who wants a son like you.”

Bathed in the thunderous applause, Lu Zhou returned to his seat and sat down. He reached out and took a sip of the coffee.

The woodiness and sweetness spread on his taste buds. He nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad.

It’s still warm.

…

The same night, Professor Felix returned to Boston by plane. Although Lu Zhou had asked him to wait until the Century of Physics was over, he declined Lu Zhou’s invitation after some hesitation.

His head was full of inspiration for research on the origin of neutrino mass.

When Lu Zhou proposed the idea of combining the Leptogenesis mechanism to modify the Seesaw mechanism, it was as if he had entered a new world.

He didn’t want to do anything else; he was not in the mood to participate in academic conferences. He just wanted to go back to his laboratory as soon as possible, take advantage of the inspiration, and go back to research.

While Professor Felix boarded the flight back to North America, what happened in the cafe spread like wildfire by the physicists.

Some people said that the physics professor from MIT came from Boston on a special trip to ask Lu Zhou about the origin of neutrino mass.

Other people said that Professor Felix got on the plane heading to Shanghai because his paper was rejected, but he was taught a lesson when confronting Lu Zhou.

There were also some bizarre rumors. For example, Lu Zhou proved the mass of neutrinos on the spot in a coffee shop, but because the whiteboard was too small, he only wrote half of the proof.

The rumors became more and more outrageous as it spread. Later on, it was also spread to several well-known physics forums, which caused a lot of discussions.

But no matter what the story was, one thing remained unchanged.

Which was the writings on the whiteboard.

Even though Lu Zhou did not prove the reason for neutrino mass, he falsified a research idea that was generally optimistic by scholars working in this research area.

If the Seesaw model on the TeV energy scale led to the destruction of the lepton mixing matrix, then the Seesaw mechanism was not applicable to neutrino mass research. Thousands of ongoing studies would have to change their research pathways because of this sad news.

What was shocking was not the significance of this research result.

It was that Lu Zhou completed all of this in less than half an hour…

Almost everyone who heard this was flabbergasted. They only had one thought in this mind.

Yep, this guy…

Is definitely not human.

The next night.

The ILHCRC cafeteria.

Luo Wenxuan carried a dinner plate and walked straight to the corner of the cafeteria. He put down the tray opposite Lu Zhou and sat down on the seat opposite him.

“That’s amazing!”

“… What is?”

“Don’t you know? At the cafe yesterday afternoon! Proving the origin of neutrino mass on the spot! Now the entire ILHCRC… No, the entire physics community is discussing this!”

Lu Zhou looked at Luo Wenxuan’s eyes that were full of excitement and admiration. He then said with a light cough, “I didn’t prove the origin of neutrino mass, that can’t be calculated with pen and paper… I just disproved one of the research ideas about the Seesaw mechanism from the perspective of mathematical physics.”

“That’s amazing too! Do you know what Professor Witten said about you?”

“… What?”

“That there are at least three equations on the entire whiteboard that would take him an entire day to understand. No one has ever produced such delicate and impeccable calculations, it was like the whole proof process was not thought out, but came naturally.”

Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed.

“… That is only because the old man is humble. In fact, this is not a very difficult problem. With his mathematics ability, answering this question won’t be difficult.”

“Humble? No way, from the physicists I know, the humble ones I can count on my hand. And Witten is definitely not one of them… By the way, do you know what they are saying about you now?”

Lu Zhou: “They?”

“The ILHCRC interns!” Luo Wenxuan smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “Professor Lu solved a world-class physics problem with a cup of coffee. In theory, as long as we supply him with enough coffee, there will be no more secrets in the world of physics.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

“Seriously, when did you start researching neutrino mass? Why have I never heard you talk about it?”

“Because I didn’t. ”

Luo Wenxuan opened his mouth and sighed a little.

“Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, just forget it, pretend like I didn’t ask.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 1326: The Grand Opening!

The early morning.

A subway station exit in Shanghai.

A man in a suit took out his mobile phone and was about to order a ride to the office. However, after opening the app, he was surprised to find that there were no cars nearby.

“That’s strange, why are there no cars available?”

Are there a lot of people taking taxis today?

The man standing next to him spoke with a smile.

“Have you not heard? A conference is going to be held these few days. The main roads in the second ring are basically closed.”

“The roads are closed? Why didn’t I know about this?”

“There was a text message notification, did you not pay attention? Haven’t you noticed there are no cars on the highway?”

The man in the suit raised his head and was shocked.

“Oh f*ck true, not a single car?!”

“Of course. Just wait for the bus honestly.”

A person who looked a little older stood beside them and heard their conversation. He curiously inserted himself into the conversation.

“What conference? Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“The Century of Physics conference… Everyone on Weibo is discussing this matter. Do you not go on the internet?”

“The Century of Physics conference? Oh, I don’t study physics, so I don’t know… Besides, surely it’s not as lively as the Nobel Prize ceremony.”

“It’s more lively than ten Nobel Prize award ceremonies! Do you know what this conference means? More than 100,000 physicists from all over the world came to Shanghai for it! In addition to discussing the world’s most cutting-edge physics propositions, 100 physics problems will be announced! Apparently, anyone who can solve any one of these hundred problems would receive a bonus of at least one million yuan.”

The people standing next to him were shocked.

“The f*ck! So much money?!”

“It is?” The man with glasses chuckled and said, “Maybe! But I think that for people who can solve these problems, one million is not a lot.”

Not to mention that the annual salary of the Institute of Physics at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study for senior researchers was probably higher than this number.

This was like the Nobel Prize.

Compared to the medal itself, everything else was just a bonus.

Especially for a scholar.

If they had fame and reputation, why would they worry about things like money?

Knowledge was the only thing in the world that would not inflate over time.

“But it’s just an academic conference… Is it that serious?”

The man with glasses spoke.

“You know nothing! This is a moment for the Chinese physics community to stand on the top of the world. Not to mention that even the president came from Beijing. Is blocking the traffic too much?”

The president is coming?!

The people nearby were shocked.

Most people did not fully understand what this academic conference meant to the world and to China, but if the president was coming to Shanghai, then it must be very important…

…

Lu Zhou had been in Shanghai for nearly half a month.

During this time, he was busy with the world-class physics summit called “Century of Physics”.

Now, it was finally the day the conference began.

Lu Zhou looked at the crowds outside of the International Convention and Exhibition Center. He felt relieved.

Lu Zhou saw more and more people gathering. He then looked at the person in charge of the conference organization and spoke.

“Open the venue.”

The person in charge of the conference organization spoke.

“But… It’s still half an hour before it starts.”

Lu Zhou looked out of the window and said with a smile, “Who knows how many people will be here in half an hour. If we start the security check now, we will be able to relax later. Remember, this is academia, drop the formalities. Let’s welcome the scholars that came from afar.”

“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

The person nodded, turned around, and walked away.

The gate of the convention and exhibition center was opened. The queue lines formed a maze in front of the convention and exhibition center.

Although major international conferences had been held here before, this was the first time for the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center to host this kind of physics summit.

Shanghai had never had this many physicists in its city before.

Not even when Lu Zhou held his report here.

Fortunately, the staff here were competent. They appeared to be under control. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Eight o’clock in the morning.

It was time for the venue to be opened officially.

The flow of people at the entrance of the International Convention and Exhibition Center had reached a peak.

The world’s top physicists, as well as experts working in the world’s top physics universities and research institutions, were all gathered here.

It was no exaggeration to say that if someone picked up a rock and threw it, it would likely hit a Nobel Prize candidate on the head.

The first floor of the main stadium.

Lu Zhou looked at the physicists with different skin colors as he spoke emotionally.

“I didn’t expect so many people to research physics.”

Luo Wenxuan spoke with a smile.

“In fact, it’s not that much. If we evenly distribute land to everyone, each physicist can have more than a thousand square kilometers of land.”

“Is that including Antarctica?”

“Haha, there are also scientific research stations in Antarctica.”

“Then you might as well count the land on the Moon and Mars.”

“True… Wait, Mars?” Luo Wenxuan looked at Lu Zhou with surprise. He said, “What’s the situation with Mars? Could it be—”

“Shh.”

Lu Zhou put his index finger in front of his lips.

Luo Wenxuan immediately understood, and he nodded.

“I see, I get it.”

“Good, don’t say anything.” Lu Zhou saw that Luo Wenxuan seemed to have something to say. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Luo Wenxuan smiled embarrassedly. He reached out his hand and scratched the back of his head.

“No, nothing, I just want to say that you’re awesome…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Although the International Convention and Exhibition Center gates were opened, the opening highlight of the “Century of Physics” conference wouldn’t begin until later.

Luo Wenxuan and Lu Zhou wandered casually in the poster exhibition area.

There were a lot of people here, so it was very crowded.

The entire lobby on the first floor was filled with posters. Each poster booth was less than five square meters.

Although the space was limited, no one complained.

As the world’s top physics summit, for newcomers who had not yet achieved success, this was the best opportunity to show their work to the world and communicate face-to-face with their peers.

Whether it was a master’s student or a professor who was already well-known in the field of physics, identity did not matter here.

They were all scholars.

Because of the huge flow of people, in addition to the problem of congestion, there were also safety risks.

However, Lu Zhou was not worried about safety.

Some scholars entering the venue were well-known figures in the physics world. Even a piece of paper or a paper clip wouldn’t pass through the two security checkpoints.

Coupled with the fact that Wang Peng and his colleagues were scattered around, there was no need to worry about safety. Lu Zhou could calmly enjoy this academic feast.

The posters displayed in the lobby on the first floor were very interesting.

Even though the academic viewpoints on many of the posters were still a bit naive, they contained some interesting insights, which was rare in serious academic conferences.

For Lu Zhou, these interesting ideas were sometimes even more useful than normal academic ideas. If he saw an interesting poster, Lu Zhou didn’t mind stopping and exchanging a few words with the young people next to the booth. Perhaps the next top physicist could be standing there.

After all, everyone had to start from somewhere.

After walking around in the lobby on the first floor, Luo Wenxuan glanced at his watch and spoke.

“The meeting will begin soon.”

“Don’t worry, still fifteen minutes.”

Luo Wenxuan raised his eyebrows slightly with surprise.

“Aren’t you going to prepare in advance?”

“There is nothing to prepare, it’s not an academic report.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

Chapter 1327: The Question of the Century!

The Century of Physics conference officially began.

The number one conference hall doors were closed tightly. The physicists in the International Convention and Exhibition Center gathered in the hall that was about to determine the future direction of physics.

Wei Hong stood next to the poster display area on the first floor. He looked at the large screen hanging on the wall. He suddenly asked Professor Dobrik, “What problems do you think will be selected?”

Dobrik thought for a while, then shook his head and spoke.

“I don’t know… In my opinion, all of the 522 difficult problems that passed the preliminary selections are important. It is difficult to find out which one is redundant. I can only rank the few that I know… After all, I haven’t researched the other problems at all.”

As the discoverers of the Z particle gravitational wave equation, although the two were popular candidates for the next Nobel Prize, they hadn’t won the Nobel Prize yet.

If their qualifications were stronger, they could walk into the conference room and at least be qualified to listen. But unfortunately, apart from the Z particle gravitational wave equation, they had not accomplished any particularly great achievements. They could only stand outside and wait quietly.

“I heard that the meeting is going to be broadcast live?” Professor Dobrik asked in a quiet voice while looking at the big screen on the wall.

“The announcement should be in the afternoon…” Wei Hong thought for a while and continued, “After all, the vote isn’t very interesting for broadcast.”

“How is it not an interesting broadcast? I bet that there is no one in the entire venue not thinking about this conference.”

“I don’t deny that…” Wei Hong shrugged and said, “After all, I am also quite curious.”

Time slowly passed by.

Everyone expected to hear a little bit of news from the inside in advance, but it was a pity that the confidentiality of the meeting was done so well that no information was released in advance.

They waited until noon.

The doors finally opened. The reporters around the entrance immediately rushed in, but they were blocked by the venue staff. They protected the scholars as they left the meeting room.

Luo Wenxuan walked to the front of the crowd. He coughed and raised his voice.

“Every scholar with an invitation letter, please move to the meeting room number two.

“We will hold the opening ceremony of the ‘Century of Physics’ Summit there!

“And also, publish the questions of the century!”

The atmosphere at the scene warmed up. Everyone looked at the door with expectations in their eyes.

The crowd was diverted to the door of the No. 2 conference hall.

The scholars with invitation letters in their hands began to enter and sit down.

Unlike the previous group of scholars who attended the meeting, most of the scholars who attended the opening ceremony were outstanding young scholars and young physicists who had made outstanding contributions in physics.

Most of them were over the age of 30 and under the age of 50, in the golden age of scientific research. There were barely any who were over the age of 50 sitting there.

Wei Hong and Dobrik were also on this list. As great young physicists, they were seated near the front.

Lu Zhou walked to the podium. He was in a formal suit. He cleared his throat, glanced around the crowd, and spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s nice to see you all here.

“I think we all agree that the previous era of physics is over. We are standing at the intersection of the old and the new era, and you all represent the future of physics.

“Whether you are sitting here or standing in the exhibition hall, watching the conference through a big screen or watching through the internet…

“This conference has been prepared for you guys.

“What is dark matter, what is the energy that created our universe, what is the ultimate destiny of the universe… Over the past 100 years, we have solved problems that the ancients couldn’t even imagine solving. But there is still a tough road ahead of us.

“Therefore, we send our most sincere wishes to future scholars. We hope that in the next 100 years, we can answer the questions that have plagued our civilization.”

Lu Zhou paused for a moment, looked at the crowded conference hall, and raised his voice.

“Therefore, on behalf of the ILHCRC, CERN… and other physics research institutions, I would like to announce the 100 Problems of the Century. We hope that they can inspire us and guide our disciplines toward a more prosperous and greater direction.

“We have invited the editors of the problems. They will help us unveil the curtain of this new era.”

Lu Zhou put down the speech draft in his hand. He picked up a small card from the table and spoke with a smile.

“As a starting point, I shall begin.

“The first problem of the Problems of the Century…

“We all know that there are four fundamental forces in our universe, strong interaction, weak interaction, electromagnetic force, and gravitational force. The first three have been linked together by the electroweak interaction and electrostrong interaction, but we know very little about the last.

“If anyone can link gravity with any of the first three, our physics world will enter a whole new dimension.”

The numerous pairs of eyes in the conference hall looked shocked.

Many people had already guessed what the first question Lu Zhou was about to announce was.

However, they couldn’t actually believe it…

Lu Zhou announced in a clear voice.

“Achieving this is the pinnacle of physics and even human civilization. The perfect and ultimate theory that everyone has dreamed of since Einstein…

“Which is, the Grand Unified Theory of physics!”

“The Grand Unified Theory?!”

The atmosphere in the conference hall exploded instantly.

Wei Hong almost jumped out of his seat.

When he looked around, he found that he was one of the calmer ones.

Unbelievable expressions filled everyone’s face. People stood up in disbelief.

Dobrik was sitting next to Professor Wei Hong. Dobrik looked at the podium. Dumbfounded, he said, “I… I thought he would say something about the Z particle. Is there really hope for finding a Grand Unified Theory?”

“I don’t know…” Wei Hong frowned. He held the armrest of the chair and shook his head, “We should be more optimistic. Maybe it is possible. But in my opinion, the hope is pretty slim.”

Unify the four basic forces!

Complete the Grand Unified Theory!

That was a long-cherished wish that Einstein never fulfilled.

If someone achieved this, they must be smarter than Einstein.

Lu Zhou paused for a while. He then continued to speak.

This immediately pushed the atmosphere of the scene to a peak.

“For the first Problem of the Century, I am willing to donate 100 million yuan to the ILHCRC bonus prize pool! This is a reward to scholars who have made outstanding contributions in this field!

“If anyone successfully solves this problem, they will receive at least 100 million yuan in prize money!”

When this news was announced…

Everyone went crazy!

Chapter 1328: The Bonus For Reaching The Sky!

“WTF!!!”

“Fuck!!!”

“100 million?!”

“That’s crazy! Has there been such a high bonus in physics before?”

“Forget about the physics world, you won’t be able to find a higher bonus in the whole academic world!”

The field of physics was an area that was far away from the real-life application. Even condensed matter physics, which was close to applied science, it was difficult to create profit and applicability in a short period of time.

Even though there were some rich people who broke away from the materialistic purchases and occasionally donated some money to scientific research, such a large cheque was still unheard of.

Even exchanging into USD, 100 million yuan was a lot of money.

Not to mention that now, the fusion power stations in St. Petersburg, Cadarache, and Los Angeles had been completed. The cross-regional power grid traversed the Asian continent. The yuan exchange rate continued to strengthen with the support of the energy network, the exchange rate was no longer the same as before.

Thus, a hundred million yuan was quite a lot.

The atmosphere almost overturned the building. In the exhibition hall outside the conference hall and the poster exhibition area, the atmosphere was even more enthusiastic. Almost like an erupting volcano, people’s excitement was exploding.

Even though many people still managed to maintain their demeanor, they were still surprised by this. Some even let out an unattractive scream.

Lu Zhou was standing in the conference room. He couldn’t see the situation in the main conference hall. However, judging from the reactions of the scholars in the conference room, the effect of the 100 million yuan was quite spectacular.

Lu Zhou smiled, cleared his throat, and continued to speak.

“Next, Professor Witten will announce the second Problem of the Century.

“Professor Edward Witten from Princeton!”

Lu Zhou nodded to Professor Edward Witten, who was standing next to him. He put down the microphone in his hand. He then walked to the stage quickly.

There was no doubt that the attention of the audience was grabbed by someone.

The conference was broadcasted all over the world through the Internet. The scholars and people who were also paying attention to the Century of Physics conference were frightened by the 100 million yuan prize money.

A material science laboratory at Stanford University.

A group of engineering men and women were watching the live broadcast in front of the computer when someone suddenly exclaimed.

“A hundred million! Sh*t, how many cryo-electron microscopes can you buy with that money?”

“Jesus! How come these physicists are so rich?!”

“Is it too late to switch to physics?”

“It’s too late! Go! But speaking of it, this Grand Unified Theory… Can anyone really get this 100 million?”

“I don’t know a lot of physics, but even I know this is a difficult problem that even Einstein couldn’t handle! It’s too difficult to solve it!”

“And maybe… Einstein is not the only one who can’t figure it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it… If Lu Zhou knew the answer, would he offer a reward of 100 million for others? The electrostrong interaction was discovered by him. No one is closer to the Grand Unified Theory than him. No one knows better than him on how difficult this problem is…”

“F*ck me, now that you put it like that, it makes sense!”

Outside a classroom at Oxford University, a BBC reporter carrying a microphone stopped a physics professor who had just finished a lecture.

“Hello, Sir, are you paying attention to the ongoing Century of Physics Conference?”

The professor spoke sternly.

“I am, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“Five minutes before the end of class, a scream came from the back row of the classroom. I thought there was an earthquake, but it was because of the 100 million yuan bonus!” The professor said, ” These little rascals, what does the bonus have to do with them?”

The reporter said, “Okay… Then what do you think of this 100 million bonus.”

The professor said impatiently, “Nothing good. This is a bonus that no one can claim.”

“Will you consider adjusting your research direction?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“There is no why. Whoever wants to do the research should do it… If they think they have what it takes to get the bonus, they should try!”

The entire college circle was discussing the 100 million bonus. The opening ceremony of the Century of Physics conference was still going on. The following ninety-nine problems were announced by Witten, Wilczek, and other well-known top physics experts.

Among them were popular topics in physics such as “search for superparticles in supersymmetry theory”, which was announced by Professor Witten, and “exploring the reasons for the disappearance of supernova sites”, which was announced by the famous astrophysicist Jim Peebles.

There were also problems such as “the formation mechanism of sonoluminescence” and “the instability mechanism of spiral waves in a diffusion system”. As well as “multi-body QED in an atomic system”. These weren’t as popular, but they were of great significance.

These problems covered a range of fields from theoretical physics, to astrophysics, to condensed matter physics. They included the most popular and important aspects of all of physics. They were also expected to be solved in this century.

Although there were also millions of dollars of rewards, as well as sponsorships from rich people and scientific research groups from all over the world, what excited people was the 100 million yuan prize.

Throughout the course of the conference, apart from the physicists, the most excited people were the reporters carrying cameras and microphones.

Although they were still standing at the meeting, they had already written the headlines for the news tomorrow.

Many people even made preparations in advance. They waited for Lu Zhou to walk out of the conference room so that they could throw their questions at them.

However, they were disappointed.

They waited all day, but they were unable to see Professor Lu…

Lu Zhou turned off the wearable facial holographic projection system. He took off a pale silver necklace from his neck, stuffed it into his pocket casually, and walked out of the empty bathroom with a calm expression on his face.

Ever since he got this stuff from the system, he never worried about being blocked by reporters anymore.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket began to ring.

Lu Zhou knew who was calling, he took out his phone and picked up the call.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?!”

Luo Wenxuan’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

Lu Zhou: “Already outside, what’s wrong?”

Luo Wenxuan was shocked.

“F*ck, why did you slip away? After the Problems of the Century are announced, there’s an opening speech waiting for you.”

Lu Zhou: “Aren’t you responsible for that?”

Luo Wenxuan vaguely felt something wrong, so he immediately asked, “Then what about the interview after?”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

“… You got this.”

Luo Wenxuan: “…”

Chapter 1329: Interview with Nature

The opening ceremony was over.

As expected, the moment the door opened, Luo Wenxuan was surrounded by reporters.

“Hello, Secretary-General Luo, where is Academician Lu?”

“I also want to know where he is, but I’m sorry, he’s the only one who knows the answer to that question.”

“Hello, Mr. Secretary-General! According to our reporter’s statistics, ILHCRC promised a total of 320 million yuan in bonus today, with an average bonus of 3.2 million yuan! Is that true?”

“This is an arithmetic problem that anyone can calculate. As long as you don’t make a mistake, then it’s correct.”

“Who will bear this funding? Will the ILHCRC bear the full cost?”

“The research funds allocated by various countries bear 40%, the remaining 60% comes from donations from all walks of life.”

“Hello, Secretary-General Luo, what if these problems cannot be completed, and no one receives these bonuses in the end?”

“The ILHCRC will set up a foundation to independently operate the bonus prize pool. We will achieve a stable growth of assets using a steady investment strategy. Even if the ILHCRC ceases to exist one day, this bonus will always exist until someone earns it!

“Also, these are the questions of the 21st century. If no one solves it in this century, solving it in the next century or the century after that is the same. If you can’t do it, someone else will… Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom now. Please leave the questions for the press conference tomorrow. Thank you.”

Luo Wenxuan’s scalp was numb because of these countless problems. He didn’t want to say a word except for “f*cks sake” at this moment. An hour had gone by until he finally got rid of these troublesome reporters.

At night time.

Like usual, the conference organizers organized a dinner for academic exchanges.

With so many people attending, it obviously couldn’t be arranged in a hotel.

In order to entertain as many scholars as possible, the ILHCRC transformed the entire first floor of the International Convention and Exhibition Center into a dining hall. Participants at the conference were provided free meals.

As for the prestigious scholars and other invited attendees at the No.1 and No. 2 conference rooms, they were arranged to have dinner at the nearby Yi Hao Hotel.

Even though Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in banquets, as the chairman of the ILHCRC and one of the protagonists of the Century of Physics Conference, he had to show up.

Most people came to the dinner just for him.

At the banquet at Yi Hao Hotel, Belinda, who had the honor of interviewing Lu Zhou during her internship at CERN, was lucky enough to get a ticket to the banquet and interview Lu Zhou.

About nine years ago, she was just an editor for “Nature Weekly”. But now, she was the editor in chief of the main issue for “Nature”.

After so many years, she changed from a charming mature woman to a mother of three children.

When Lu Zhou heard that her husband was Professor Grayer who had helped him at CERN, he had a surprised look on his face.

Back then, he felt like there was something going on between those two people, but he didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t expect that after so many years, the two had gone from ordinary friends into a married couple.

After hearing this, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but sigh.

Time goes by so f*cking fast…

“I’m so jealous, you look almost the same as nine years ago.” Ms. Belinda smiled and said, “I heard that there is a mysterious power in the East that can make you stay young forever. Is that true?”

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

He obviously wouldn’t say that it was because of a prize drawn by the high tech system.

“Maybe I just age well… Of course, the same goes for you.”

“Oh thank you, but I know you don’t mean that, I am obviously not young anymore.” Belinda teased herself and said, “This is a rare opportunity. Can I interview you for a few questions?”

Lu Zhou happily said, “No problem, please go ahead.”

Ms. Belinda smiled and said, “The first question might sound a little boring, but many people are curious… Why did you spend 100 million yuan to offer a reward for the Grand Unified Theory?”

After thinking about it for a while, Lu Zhou said, “There are two reasons. One reason is that I think it is important, and the other is because… I think it can be solved within this century.”

In fact, the other reason was that he had more than enough money.

However, it would be arrogant of him to say that. He wasn’t a person that liked to brag.

“The physics community believes that you are the most promising person to solve this problem.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Really? Maybe, but unfortunately… I might not focus my main research on physics, especially theoretical physics.”

The electrostrong interaction unification theory opened the door to the Grand Unified Theory, the void theory broadened the horizon of human civilization to the extra dimensions beyond time, and the hyperspace theory added hope to faster than light travel.

Lu Zhou felt that he could be proud of his work as a physicist for the rest of his life, or even for multiple lifetimes.

If he wanted to achieve even more, he would have to build a warp drive or stick his head into the void to see what was inside that made The Observer civilization feel so scared.

As for other physics research…

It wasn’t that he was not interested, but Lu Zhou hoped to leave these growth opportunities to other potential scholars.

Belinda opened her mouth in surprise and asked, “Wait a minute, what do you mean? Are you… planning to retire from physics?”

If this is true…

This is huge news.

“That’s not true.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s just that I can’t achieve greater success in this field; I should consider giving others a chance.

“No discipline can rely on the power of one person to achieve prosperity. Rather than creating more results in this field, I hope that my research can inspire people and let them create more miracles.”

Belinda was shocked by the thoughts revealed in this sentence.

After staring at Lu Zhou intently for a while, Belinda sighed emotionally.

“Is this the reason you left the mathematics world?”

“Left the mathematics world? No, I never left the mathematics world.” Lu Zhou shook his head lightly and said, “Instead of researching mathematics itself, I now pay more attention to how to strengthen its connection with other fields and how to apply it to solve more problems. This is what many excellent mathematicians like me are unwilling to do.”

Lu Zhou paused for a moment, smiled, and continued, “I think, my attitude toward physics…

“Is largely the same.”

Chapter 1330: Congratulations From All Over The World!

After the announcement of the Problems of the Century, the “Century of Physics” conference officially kicked off.

After a night of waiting, the news about the opening ceremony of the previous day was finally released.

Shanghai News: “The most valuable academic award of this century was created at the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center!”

Washington Times: “An individual contributed 100 million yuan as a reward for the Grand Unified Theory. Are they confident that no one can take the bonus money? Or do they believe that this proposition will be resolved within a hundred years?”

The Sun: “Lu Zhou: Whoever can unify the four basic forces will get a bonus of 100 million!”

The Times: “The moment to start a new era in physics!”

There was hardly any suspense. The focus of the news was all on the Problems of the Century, which were announced by a hundred well-known physicists, and the huge bonus pool set up by the ILHCRC.

After the award for the Grand Unified Theory was announced, almost everyone, whether they were academia or non-academia, was shocked by the jaw-dropping amount of bonus.

On Weibo.

“F*ck! One hundred million!”

“It’s not f*cking fake, right?”

“Don’t @ me, I am a physicist starting from today!”

“Forget about it, are you even in college?”

“This is insane! Kneel to God Lu!”

“I can’t believe it, he is a scientific researcher, so why is he so rich?! I suggest to check his account funds carefully to see if there are any hidden transactions behind this. Just a little suggestion.”

“How can someone be as retarded as you.”

“He is the one who created controllable fusion reactors. He’s the reason your electricity costs 1 cent per hour. Why wouldn’t he be rich?”

On a campus forum for a well-known university.

“A hundred million bonus! That’s really terrifying.”

“I still don’t quite understand why Academician Lu didn’t think about solving this problem himself? Or is he already confident that he can solve this problem by himself, so he deliberately set the bonus so high that no one else can get it anyway?”

“Didn’t you read the interview with the Nature Editor-in-chief Belinda?”

“What did they say?”

“At the dinner after the announcement of the Problems of the Century, they did an interview with Lu Zhou himself! If you read it, you will know why he isn’t solving this problem himself!”

“F*ck, what did he say during the interview?”

“He said that he should give other young people a chance… If I remember correctly, that is what he said! It’s been so many years since the completion of the electrostrong interaction, any problem that has aroused his curiosity has been solved by him! He has no reason to give up on the last step. I even suspect that the Grand Unified Theory has already been solved by him!”

The whole world was shocked by Professor Lu’s generous work.

The news could no longer satisfy people’s desire for gossip, and various theories were circulating wildly on the Internet.

Due to the heated discussion of netizens, the Problems of the Century, initiated by a hundred well-known physicists, occupied the headlines of major online platforms overnight.

Physics went from an unpopular major, only studied by a few individuals, to a popular field that everyone talked about.

And it wasn’t just that.

Even politicians from various countries had sent congratulatory messages to the ILHCRC after the news spread.

1600, Pennsylvania Avenue.

Faced with the reporters at the press conference site, the president gave a speech.

“This is a glorious moment in the history of physics, a moment worthy of being recorded in history!

“The brightest minds on this planet gathered together to discuss the problems we all face. I believe our physics, under the leadership of ILHCRC, will be able to go further and create greater miracles.”

10 Downing Street.

Also faced with the reporters from all over the world, the prime minister spoke in a solemn tone.

“… Although theoretical physics is far away from our ordinary lives, looking back in history, every social change is closely related to changes in physics. I believe that we are standing at the intersection of a great era, I believe that our future will be bright.

“This is because of those great scientists.”

A similar situation was happening on Chang’an Avenue.

It wasn’t just a congratulatory message.

The Chinese president himself came all the way to Shanghai.

…

A five-star hotel next to the International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Executive lounge on the top floor.

Two people sat near the window, chatting about recent events and drinking afternoon tea.

“… The pattern of physics has been set for the next 100 years. With the help of the Lunar Hadron Collider and huge scientific research capabilities, the ILHCRC has unsurprisingly replaced CERN and became the new world physics center.

“For the past 100 years, the West has dominated the world academia, but now, this has changed. Our scholars can communicate with academia in a fairer environment. My work is done for now.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of tea and looked at the president sitting opposite him.

“I plan to resign as chairman after this conference.”

Even though this was an expected thing, after all, the same thing happened after the controllable fusion project ended, but when Lu Zhou said it himself, the president could not help but look surprised. He sat up straight and spoke.

“Is the work at the ILHCRC too hard? If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. We can’t help you with academic matters, but I can help you figure out solutions for things other than academics.”

“It doesn’t have to do with whether it’s hard or not.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “It’s just that it’s already been two years, it’s time for a replacement.”

The old man sighed and said earnestly, “But the ILHCRC has achieved so much during your tenure. It is difficult to find a scholar who can lead the young physicists in China. I’m afraid that after you leave, the advantages and status of Chinese academia will vanish.

“Why don’t you stay for one more term?”

“Your worries are unnecessary.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “There are still quite a few outstanding talents among the younger generation of physicists. For example, Professor Wei will definitely receive a Nobel Prize within three years. And Professor Luo Wenxuan, although he has not achieved any outstanding academic results, his research scope covers a wide range of areas. He is also excellent at using mathematical tools and has a wide network of contacts. I trust him to be the next chairman.”

Luo Wenxuan?

The president frowned when he heard this name.

He had heard this name before, but he couldn’t remember where he heard it.

However, since Academician Lu was so confident, there must be something remarkable about this young man.

The president didn’t say anything. He just nodded, then changed the subject and continued, “Since you think this is fine, then so be it… Speaking of which, I heard that you plan to leave the physics world temporarily?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“Not leave, but for me personally, it is very difficult to achieve breakthroughs in theoretical physics research.”

The president asked seriously, “Then your plan is?”

“Energy, materials, and information, these are the three pillars of modern science. The former is dominated by controllable fusion, but the nuclear core supply has not met the demands of the global market. For the information field, our submarine quantum optical cable is being laid as we speak. Even if there is a major physics breakthrough, the technology has to take time to catch up.”

Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment. He then spoke.

“I plan to work in the materials science field.

“I’ll see if I can combine what I have learned in mathematics and physics and create something interesting.”

Chapter 1331: I Will Resign From the Board of Directors!

Beijing.

Chen Baohua’s home.

The family was watching TV while eating, talking, and laughing.

The TV news happened to broadcast the site of the Century of Physics conference in Shanghai. Chen Yushan put down the chopsticks in her hand, her eyes glued to the screen.

Chen Baohua noticed the shining expression on his daughter’s face. He felt a little unease as he joked, “You’re not going?”

Chen Yushan sighed. She then replied in a bad mood, “I planned to go with him originally… But something suddenly happened at work. I had to come to Beijing for a business trip, so he went by himself.”

She had even booked the maglev tickets to Shanghai, and she was frustrated about this matter for a while.

However, Lu Zhou comforted her, saying that watching it through the TV and being at the scene were the same and that no matter how far apart, their hearts were close together.

Lu Zhou was getting better and better at talking to girls.

Just like that, the two were separated. Lu Zhou went to Shanghai, while she came to Beijing.

Since she rarely visited her hometown, Chen Yushan didn’t stay at a hotel. Instead, she stayed with her parents.

She didn’t like to come back here except for the holidays, because she was always urged by her relatives to get married.

But that wouldn’t happen anymore.

When someone asked, she could finally say that she had a boyfriend now!

Not to mention that her boyfriend was so excellent!

“… My old friend from the Entertainment Department Office says that the whole country wants to research physics.” He looked at the TV, which was showing the president walking down from the podium and heading toward Lu Zhou. Chen Baohua said emotionally, “Professor Lu is at least half of the reason for this.”

Chen Yushan was stunned.

“The whole country…? Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”

Chen Baohua spoke with a smile.

“Not an exaggeration. When Chen Jingrun’s story was first reported, didn’t it set off a wave of mathematicians in the country? Back then, people even put up posters at the office. Posters about Goldbach’s conjecture and ten ways to prove Goldbach’s conjecture… It’s actually quite fun to think about it now.”

“Amazing…”

Chen Baohua asked bitterly, “So, what’s going on with you and Lu Zhou?”

Chen Yushan blushed. She said shyly, “We’re dating…”

Chen Baohua stared at his daughter for a while. He suddenly sighed.

Chen Yushan asked, “Why are you sighing?”

“No reason.” Chen Baohua lit a cigarette and said, “Worried my daughter can’t get married, worried when she gets married. This is the catch22 of being a father! Wait till you’re a mother, you’ll know what I mean!”

Mother Chen looked at Chen Baohua smoking. She suddenly said, “Old man, no smoking in the house.”

“What old man!” Chen Baohua glared and said, “I’m still too young to be called old. Call me old when I’m holding my grandson!”

He put out the cigarette.

Chen Yushan blushed, not knowing what to say.

She wasn’t worried about getting married. After all, both of them were so busy. Even if they got married, they wouldn’t have a child any time soon.

“Dad, don’t be in a hurry, there’s still time…”

“Still time?!” Chen Baohua turned his head and glared at his daughter. He said, “Your mother had you in her early twenties. Look at the calendar. What year is it? Kiddo, he’s an academician in his early thirties. Not to mention his career, and he’s fair looking. If you say there aren’t any temptations in his life, I don’t believe you.”

Chen Yushan became anxious. She blushed and said, “What are you talking about! He’s so busy, he doesn’t have time.”

“It’s not about whether he’s busy or not.” Chen Baohua sighed and said, “In fact, I want you to find a normal guy in our neighborhood… However, your relationship is your own decision. Daddy is just reminding you, don’t hesitate too much; if you hesitate, the opportunity will fly away.”

Chen Yushan blushed and said, “Fly, fly away?! Dad! You, I’m leaving after I finish eating!”

“Old man, what are you talking about there! You think our daughter is no match for Lu Zhou?” Mother Chen said.

Seeing how he seemed to have angered both women, Chen Baohua decided to stop talking.

However, just as he was about to change the conversation, the image on the TV shocked everyone…

…

At the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

After seven days, this large-scale academic summit with more than 100,000 participants finally went into the final conclusion.

At the closing ceremony of the No.1 conference hall, the president stood in front of the podium. On behalf of China, facing the scholars inside and outside the conference hall, as well as the people of the world, who were sitting in front of their TVs watching this grand event, he gave his best wishes and blessing to the physics community.

In fact, when the president appeared on stage, many people in the audience were surprised. No one would have thought that such a powerful figure would appear at an academic conference.

This showed China’s respect for academia. After the president’s speech was over, there was warm applause from the audience.

In midst of the warm applause, the president nodded and walked off stage. This was followed by Lu Zhou walking onto the stage.

Lu Zhou adjusted the microphone. After clearing his throat, he spoke in a clear and steady voice.

“Thank you all for coming to Shanghai, for the summit that affects the future of humanity.

“For centuries, our discipline has been able to prosper to where it is today because we understand the importance of communication and cooperation.

“Here, on behalf of the ILHCRC council, I would like to extend my highest respect and gratitude to all scholars who are battling on the road of physics and to all those who are concerned about our common cause in the future.

“The Century of Physics conference ends here!

“Let us give a wave of applause to ourselves and to the future!”

The audience burst into applause again.

The sound was like a tumbling ocean wave, smashing the entire venue.

Bathed in applause from the audience, Lu Zhou waited quietly for half a minute for the applause to subside.

Then…

Just when everyone thought that the closing ceremony was over, he spoke again.

And this time, it was like he threw a nuclear bomb…

“Also, one more announcement.

“The next ILHCRC committee meeting will be held in a week to determine the members of the ILHCRC board of directors, as well as the chairman!

“After the election and the handover work, I will resign from the ILHCRC board of directors!”

The atmosphere seemed to have been frozen.

The president, standing backstage, turned around and walked away.

Luo Wenxuan’s mouth was open. Although it was something that had already been decided, Lu Zhou’s announcement of this matter here still made it difficult for him to conceal the surprise on his face.

Dobrik, Wei Hong, Witten, Wilczek… The physicists who knew Lu Zhou but didn’t know the inside story were in disbelief.

No one thought that Lu Zhou would announce his resignation here!

The entire conference hall fell into a deathly silence.

And the exhibition hall outside the conference hall…

Was completely blown up by the cries of surprise and disbelief…

Chapter 1332: Cares More Than Anyone

Chen Baohua’s home.

Chen Baohua, who was staring at the TV, couldn’t help but say “f*ck”.

He didn’t realize that his daughter was here until he was slapped on the arm by his wife. He immediately coughed and quickly changed the subject.

“This kid… Pretty nutty, resigning from the chairman of the ILHCRC, that’s a pretty high position.”

Although Lu Zhou had done similar things before, this was the first time Chen Baohua had heard about it.

“If he wants to retire, then he should retire. He’ll be less busy,” Chen Yushan said. She looked at the TV and said, “He went on a retreat some time ago, and by the time he came out, he had lost a bunch of weight.”

Chen Baohua took a sip of water to relax. He put on a serious expression and spoke.

“The chairman of the ILHCRC is the top position in the Chinese physics community. The ILHCRC has connections to the world and has diplomatic responsibilities… Sigh, this guy! If this was a government position, it would be at least at the vice-ministerial level, right? Why did he resign?”

Chen Baohua felt his heart drop to his stomach.

He had been working for the state his whole life, but he was just some small official in some no-name department.

This kid was only thirty years old, and he had already climbed to such a high position. And now, he even resigned just for the heck of it. It made Chen Baohua feel like his own life was a waste.

“That’s a real scholar, not a power-hungry politician like you.” Chen Yushan rolled her eyes at her father and said, “It doesn’t matter, as long as he is happy.”

Chen Baohua looked at the happy expression on his daughter’s face. He felt like puking…

…

Back at the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

At the poster exhibition area on the first floor, near the large screen on the wall…

Less than half a minute after Lu Zhou announced that he would resign from the ILHCRC, the entire poster exhibition area went crazy!

“Professor Lu wants to withdraw from the board?!”

“What is going on???”

“No way?! The ILHCRC has to have Professor Lu! Is the ILHCRC still the ILHCRC without Lu Zhou?”

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe he will leave the ILHCRC! This is his company! He will definitely not give up on the ILHCRC!”

“Is it still heaven if God isn’t there, sigh…”

“They must have made a mistake just now! An interpretation error! For example… he actually just wanted to take a few days off.”

However, it wasn’t an interpretation error.

The Chinese scholars at the scene were equally stunned.

Resign from the ILHCRC board of directors!

Which means, he won’t participate in the next election for the chairman of ILHCRC?!

Although the ILHCRC released the news of the two-year period for the board of directors a long time ago, no one knew about this!

Because in everyone’s mind, it was almost a certainty that Lu Zhou would continue to serve as the chairman of ILHCRC. Especially after the hyperspace theory was completed, it was impossible to find a person whose contribution in physics surpassed him.

No one had ever created so many academic miracles before!

It was no exaggeration to say that half of the reason why the ILHCRC was the holy land in the world of physics was because of the hadron collider on the moon, while the other half was because of Lu Zhou himself!

He was like a compass.

Whichever direction he pointed toward was the future!

And now he actually wanted to leave?!

No one could accept this!

There was an uproar outside No.1 conference hall; the same was true inside the conference hall.

Lu Zhou turned to leave after bowing. Many people sitting in the front rows had looks of surprise on their faces. They stood up from their seats, trying to rush to the stage.

Just stay for one more term!

Even just for a few months, give us some preparation time!

After the hyperspace theory, there were still too many mysteries about hyperspace that had not been explored. Such as the extra dimension void, and whether there was a great force manipulating the universe…

He opened a brand new door for the physics world, but he also left the world alone to find out what was behind this door.

The physicists hoped that he could stay a little longer…

Looking at the chaotic venue, Professor Whittle was expressionless. He felt sour in his heart; he was not in a good mood.

He had always believed that a world-class scientific research institution was China’s strongest national strength. Academic resources such as the ILHCRC and the Lunar Hadron Collider were possible because of Lu Zhou’s status in the physics world. Lu Zhou’s personal prestige had surpassed the ILHCRC itself.

When the Brookhaven National Laboratory and even the entire North American academia announced their withdrawals from the ILHCRC, nothing happened and no one stopped them.

But now, Lu Zhou just announced his resignation from the ILHCRC board of directors, and this triggered a fierce response; everyone wanted to stop him.

Professor Whittle, who realized this, couldn’t help but feel a little depressed.

On one hand, he was jealous.

On the other hand, he was frustrated…

Professor Fernando, the British representative sitting next to him, suddenly whispered, “I can’t believe it… My friend, do you think this kind of person really exists in this world?”

Professor Whittle hesitated and said, “What kind of person?”

“The kind of person who doesn’t crave power and fame…”

Professor Fernando looked at Whittle and smiled. He said in a weird tone, “The position of the chairman of the ILHCRC is equivalent to standing at the pinnacle of academic authority in physics. If it were me, I would hold that position forever!”

“But maybe people like him really do exist… The people who only care about ‘knowledge’.”

Professor Whittle shrugged and didn’t want to continue this conversation. He cast a hazy gaze on the stage and cursed Lu Zhou’s name in his heart.

However, for some reason, when that figure disappeared behind the curtain, a strange feeling suddenly swept his brain.

In a short moment, he suddenly understood something.

“… Hold that position forever… I see.”

His muddy pupils gradually lit up.

No wonder!

He finally understood the real reason why Lu Zhou left!

It was obvious that with the top hardware and software resources in physics, the ILHCRC was bound to become the focus of resource disputes in the academic world.

No matter who was sitting in the position of chairman, they would definitely not be willing to give up their power to others.

However, that man, choosing to leave at this time, not only set an example by himself but also put a shackle on this power.

Even Professor Lu could only be the board chairman for one term…

Then who could possibly be qualified at staying for two terms?

In the future, no matter what happened to the ILHCRC, one thing would not change. Which was that the position of ILHCRC chairman would be limited to a term of two years.

Professor Whittle looked at the empty podium; he suddenly felt a little lost. He closed his tired eyes.

Is there only knowledge in his eyes…

Obviously not…

He didn’t resign because he doesn’t care…

It’s because he cares more than anyone else…

Chapter 1333: A Thousand waves

It didn’t matter if Professor Whittle had guessed Lu Zhou’s intentions correctly.

The entire physics community was exploding because of this incident.

On the Physics Stack Exchange forum.

As an internationally renowned physics forum, when the news of Lu Zhou’s resignation from the board of directors spread, discussions immediately popped up on the forum.

Whether it was the chat section or the academic section, almost everyone was discussing this matter.

They were stunned by the huge amount of information.

“Professor Lu actually intends to withdraw from the ILHCRC?”

“Does he think that the ILHCRC can’t keep up with his rhythm?”

“Impossible. ILHCRC is already the strongest physics research institution. After he leaves the ILHCRC, is he planning to do scientific research with aliens?”

“Could it be… he plans to retreat from physics?”

“This is impossible! He is only thirty years old! He is in the golden age of scientific research! There is no reason to quit at this time!”

“But what if… he is tired of physics?”

“Damn it! He should explain why he wants to leave!”

“Then this will definitely be the darkest moment in the history of physics!”

…

Less than ten hours after the closing ceremony, the entire physics community was stunned by Lu Zhou’s behavior. The incredible outrage even began to spread outside the academic world.

A letter signed by more than one hundred physicists appeared on the secretary-general’s desk.

The physicists group led by Professor Wilczek hoped that the ILHCRC Council could retain Professor Lu. Even if he did not serve as the chairman of the board, he should at least remain on the board.

Luo Wenxuan looked at this petition letter with a headache. He felt a trace of pressure from the long string of famous physicist signatures.

He had considered many possibilities before.

Including how to stabilize the representatives of other countries after Lu Zhou left the ILHCRC and how to deal with the restless voices that might come from other physics research institutions after Lu Zhou left.

After all, this was the center of the world of physics.

Everyone wanted to have a right to speak here and gain benefits for the academic community of their own country and culture.

However, Luo Wenxuan still did not expect that the greatest pressure would not come from opponents, but rather from the entire ILHCRC.

“… What a hassle.”

Luo Wenxuan pinched his eyebrows. He glanced at the petition, then threw it aside.

It seemed that he had underestimated Lu Zhou’s popularity at the ILHCRC.

He didn’t expect that Lu Zhou’s announcement would have such a large impact on the ILHCRC!

…

In fact, Luo Wenxuan wasn’t alone.

Even Lu Zhou himself did not expect that things would develop like this.

In addition to the physicists who were reluctant to leave the International Convention and Exhibition Center, at least five people he knew had written letters or come to him and persuade him. They hoped that he could stay on the ILHCRC board and continue to lead the physics community to more miracles.

Lu Zhou was baffled.

He just wanted to change his field and continue to climb the peak of academia. He did not expect that his resignation would cause such a huge wave in the physics world.

Inside the cafe at the ILHCRC headquarters.

Professor Witten stared at Lu Zhou for a while before saying with a strange look on his face, “Your decision was beyond my expectation… I didn’t expect you to make such a choice.”

“Really?” After taking a sip of coffee, Lu Zhou said casually, “But I decided on this a long time ago… If you intend to persuade me otherwise, please don’t waste your time.”

When the ILHCRC was first established, he actually didn’t intend to serve as the chairman of the ILHCRC. He just hoped to use the power of the ILHCRC to use the Lunar Hadron Collider to clarify the 750 GeV characteristic peak signal.

Director Li was the one who tried to persuade him, with reasons such as “the first three chairmen have to be Chinese scholars” and “other people may not be able to persuade the public” and so on. Thus, Director Li successfully persuaded him into the position.

At that time, Lu Zhou had actually decided to serve as the chairman for at most one term.

And this was exactly the reason why he started training Luo Wenxuan as his successor right after he took office.

“I’m not going to persuade you, I know you are a person who cannot be convinced.” Witten shrugged and said, “However, I want to give you a suggestion… Or rather, I hope you consider my advice.”

Lu Zhou: “What advice?”

Witten: “The entire physics community is speculating on whether you have given up physics—”

“There is no such thing.” Lu Zhou said, “If you read my interview with Nature, you should know that. I just want to use this opportunity to branch out and spend more time to do more meaningful things.”

“Yes, you’re giving the opportunity to others, but you also took away hope.”

Witten looked at Lu Zhou and continued, “I don’t know if you have considered this, but so far, the scale of the ILHCRC has surpassed CERN. It has become an unprecedented giant in physics. No one can unite this many people together, for them to work on the same thing… Except you.”

“Even though a group of outstanding young scholars has been created in the past two years, are you sure they can take over this heavy burden from your hands? You know, not everyone grows as fast as you.”

Lu Zhou: “I am very confident in them.”

“But the problem is, obviously they don’t have much confidence in themselves.” Professor Witten shook his head and said, “I have been at CERN for many years, and CERN wasn’t built in one or two years. In four years, or even eight years, when the ILHCRC has grown to be able to operate stably… At that time, you can leave without any problems.

“But now, unless the next chairman is a very capable person, this behemoth is likely to fall apart as soon as you leave… Like a sandcastle on the seashore.”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He looked at Professor Witten and asked seriously, “Can you tell me your suggestion?”

“It’s actually very simple, you don’t need to do too many things.” Professor Witten said, “As a compromise, you set up a Chief Consultant position on the board of directors. If you want to get rid of the mundane work, I can understand, but I still sincerely hope that you can at least reserve a board seat. If you plan to release your hand from the steering wheel, at least hit the brake before the next driver becomes reliable enough. And maybe be in charge when the situation becomes critical.”

Lu Zhou said seriously, “Actually, even if I don’t have the position of Chief Consultant, I can still do this.”

1

Professor Witten blinked and spoke with a smile.

“I know, of course you can.

“But sometimes, the key is not whether you can control the situation or not, but whether you can convince everyone else that everything is under control.”

Chapter 1334: Advisory Committee Established!

At the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Two days had passed since the end of the Century of Physics Conference. Most of the posters in the exhibition area were removed. Some ILHCRC staff and physicists were still at the venue.

As well as the reporters who came here for interviews.

“This is Fox News. We are now in front of the Shanghai International Convention and Exhibition Center. The physicists from the Century of Physics conference have already left, but there are still some scholars who are not willing to leave. Let us interview them… Hello, sir.” The reporter found a tall and skinny man nearby. The reporter handed out the microphone and said, “Hello sir, are you a staff member of the ILHCRC?”

Professor Pierce pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose. He looked at the reporter and said, “No, I am a professor of particle physics from Oxford University… What’s the matter?”

Reporter: “May I ask what happened here? The Century of Physics conference was over two days ago, why are so many people unwilling to leave?”

“I’m here because there are still some issues that have not been dealt with by the scientific research institutes at Stockholm University. I probably have to stay in Shanghai for about two days.” Professor Pierce immediately knew what the reporter wanted to know. He said, “Of course, some people stay here because… They hope Professor Lu can stay.”

Reporter: “I heard that many people in the physics circle were surprised by Professor Lu’s resignation from the ILHCRC?”

Professor Pierce: “That’s true.”

Reporter: “In your opinion, what impact might this have on the ILHCRC?”

Professor Pierce thought for a while and said, “Hard to say… But many people are gathered here because of him. Now that he has chosen to leave… At least, in my opinion, the ILHCRC has lost half or even more than half of its appeal.

“I have to say, this is tragic.”

Professor Pierce’s opinion was only one of the many voices in academia.

In fact, it wasn’t just Fox News. The answers that most media received when interviewing well-known physics scholars were more or less pessimistic.

Almost everyone was surprised by Lu Zhou’s choice.

Only a few people thought that he did the right thing, and very few people thought that his departure would not have any impact on the progress of physics.

The ILHCRC committee was undoubtedly the most stressed.

In addition to the annoying reporters, there was also pressure from within the academic community. Over the past few days, the ILHCRC was spammed with email.

The news that Lu Zhou quit the ILHCRC board of directors also occupied the headlines of major newspapers.

The BBC even made a documentary from the perspective of five physicists engaged in research in different fields. They talked about the electrostrong interaction, the void theory, the theory of hyperspace, and the reward of 100 million yuan to the physics community. As well as how his departure would affect the future journey of the physics community.

During an interview with a BBC reporter, the discoverer of the Higgs particle, old man Higgs, who was almost a hundred years old, said, “I am not optimistic about the future of the ILHCRC.”

“The ILHCRC hasn’t been on a smooth sailing journey since its establishment. As far as I know, there have been at least two crises that came close to dissolving this international cooperation organization.

“However, the reason why the ILHCRC was able to avoid the crisis steadily was not because of its cooperation mechanism, nor was it because of its deep foundation. It was only because Lu Zhou was able to unite people together using his academic reputation. Many North American research institutions have withdrawn from the ILHCRC, and even the representatives of the United States withdrew. However, many North American scholars have stayed as ILHCRC employees and worked on the Z particle and the discovery of a series of physical phenomena, such as the law of movement in high-dimensional particles.

“The ILHCRC losing Lu Zhou is like a building losing a support column… Who do you think can replace the chairman of the board?”

Old man Higgs smiled and joked, “Even if I were fifty years younger, I might not be able to do it.”

Professor Higgs spoke of the concerns of many top scholars in physics.

In fact, most people hoped that this international scientific research organization could continue to operate for a long time.

However, this was just a wish. Wishes were not enough to support ILHCRC’s continued prosperity. Many people were worried that once Lu Zhou left, no one would be able to take on the heavy responsibility as the leader of physics. They could only watch the huge ship slowly drown in the dangerous sea.

The academic world had a pessimistic opinion.

The general public was also not optimistic about the future of the ILHCRC.

But suddenly, the situation changed.

ILHCRC, who was at the center of attention, suddenly held a press conference.

And the speaker of this press conference was Lu Zhou himself!

After the news was released, it immediately caused a huge sensation in the physics community and even the entire academic community.

Professor Lu was going to hold a press conference!

Did he finally hear the voice of the people and plan to stay as chairman?!

Even though this was unlikely, many people who were worried about the future of ILHCRC couldn’t help but look forward to seeing him as chairman again.

On the day the ILHCRC announced the date of the press conference, the world’s media outlets all began to gather in Shanghai. They waited until the day of the press conference.

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

In the first conference hall of the annex building.

Lu Zhou was facing the cameras at the press conference site. He walked on the podium, cleared his throat, and spoke in a steady voice.

“I have noticed that the academic community is concerned about the upcoming board meeting of the ILHCRC. Many discussions can be seen on the internet.

“We heard worrying voices from the public. Considering this, we have also discussed this internally.

“And, as a result of the discussion, I will give an important announcement here.”

The press conference site was surprisingly quiet; there wasn’t a trace of noise.

However, even though Lu Zhou could not hear any voices, he could clearly see and feel the tension brewing in their eyes. The reporters all held their breaths.

He turned a page from the speech in his hand and spoke.

“According to the results of the closed-door meeting of the ILHCRC board of directors, the ILHCRC will establish an independent Advisory Committee body based on the original board system.

“As the supervisory body of the board of directors, the Advisory Committee will not directly participate in the specific affairs of the ILHCRC, except when necessary.

“When and only when the ILHCRC is facing a controversial issue or is facing a serious crisis, the Advisory Committee can exercise its special rights to initiate emergency plans, including but not limited to veto power on board decisions, as well as power over the directors and other personnel, such as retirement, dismissal, and appointment of temporary directors.

“Any emergency plan will be discussed and voted on at the emergency meeting. It will be implemented if the number of votes exceeds two-thirds of the total votes.

“All retired chairmen will automatically serve for life as consultants.”

Lu Zhou announced in a calm and clear voice.

“After the board meeting and the appointment of the new chairman…

“I will become the first consultant of the ILHCRC!”

Chapter 1335: Tailor-made Mission

After the ILHCRC press conference was over, related news quickly spread on the internet and to every corner of the world.

The sensation caused by this was like a tsunami that swept through the entire physics community.

The ILHCRC established an Advisory Committee!

Lu Zhou was the first consultant!

Almost everyone was shocked after hearing the news.

On an internationally renowned physics forum.

This time, the website management team prepared in advance and temporarily added two servers before the press conference began. An hour after the press conference, the extra bandwidth came in handy.

Not only did the number of visitors to the forum double in an hour, but almost all topics discussed on the forum were related to this press conference.

“Advisory Committee?!”

“Veto power! This way it can prevent the organization from becoming rigid, and it can also prevent the new board members from making major mistakes. This is perfect!”

“Haha, I knew it, Professor Lu is still reluctant to leave the physics world!”

“Even though it is unfortunate he isn’t the chairman, at least he isn’t leaving the physics world…”

After all, there were still some differences between being a consultant and being a chairman.

The former no longer participated in the specific decision-making of the ILHCRC board of directors. They would only be in charge when a major crisis or change occurred at the ILHCRC.

However, even then, for many people, this was better than Lu Zhou completely withdrawing from the ILHCRC.

If the position of chairman was handed over to the wrong person, they still had one of the most academically prestigious consultants in physics today to look forward to. No matter what kind of error or crisis occurred, there was hope that it would be corrected.

Because of the news that Lu Zhou resigned from the board of directors, many people fell into pessimism about the future of physics and worried about the prospects of the ILHCRC. However, after hearing that Lu Zhou had not completely left, the pessimism that was in everyone’s mind was swept away immediately.

Obviously, it wasn’t just the physics community that had a huge reaction.

Related news quickly hit the headlines of major newspapers and online media platforms on the second day. It was also broadcast on major news TV channels.

A BBC reporter who interviewed Professor Higgs a few days ago found the old professor again.

But this time, the old man’s opinion had changed 180 degrees. Not only did the worries on his face disappear, but he also heavily praised ILHCRC’s decision.

“… This is a very smart choice, it is a significant change. If he had left, he would leave behind a legacy that no one could accept. But now, he gave hope to everyone at the ILHCRC.

“Although I was pessimistic before, now… I am optimistic about the future of the ILHCRC!

“If everything goes well, it will still be the center of physics in a hundred years!

“Unless there is a natural disaster or a war, or there is a stronger and larger scientific research cooperation organization that can replace it, I can’t think of anything that can rival its position… At least for now, the probability is very unlikely.”

…

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

Inside the cafe.

Professor Wilczek and Professor Witten were sitting across from each other by the window. They drank coffee while talking about recent events.

“Did you suggest he do this?”

“Oh?” Professor Witten raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile, “Why do you ask?”

“Because this is not like something he would do.” Professor Wilczek said sharply, “Although his academic attainments are unmatched, some of his personalities are actually comparable to those of many young people in their 20s and 30s. Whether he is reckless or over-confident… In short, I never expected him to put stability first.”

“People change.” Witten said with a smile, “I was not much better than him when I was in my thirties, while some people stay the same forever.”

Wilczek felt like this was targeting himself; he spoke with a dry cough.

“I’m just looking for some fun in life… Don’t look at me like I’m a gambling addict, I only bet on trivial things.”

Witten teased and said, “The bet with Dr. Lisi was trivial?”

Wilczek’s eyebrows twitched; he clenched his jaws and said, “Yes… After all, I only lost 1,000 dollars.”

That bet was the most shameful thing of his life! (See Chapter 171 for details)

As a Nobel Prize winner, he actually lost a bet to a layman who knew nothing about physics. Every time he heard this name, he couldn’t help but feel rage.

“Anyway… Do you think this is a good idea?”

“I think it’s pretty good,” Witten said. He looked at Professor Wilzek’s eyes and said, “The ILHCRC system is being perfected. The kingdom is centered around him. It will become a holy place for all physicists in the world.

“And what I look forward to the most is his personal growth.”

A smile appeared on Professor Witten’s face.

He leaned back on the chair and continued with a relaxed tone, “It is obvious that he sincerely hopes that the ILHCRC can become better. I am now more and more convinced that I was correct. Lu Zhou has good character!”

…

After the establishment of the Advisory Committee, the turmoil caused by Lu Zhou’s resignation finally subsided. The ILHCRC debacle finally came to an end.

After the ILHCRC committee meeting, which would be held a few days later for the election of the new chairman, Lu Zhou could smoothly exit from the chairman position and say goodbye to the place he worked at for two years.

The day of the committee meeting got closer and closer. This internal ILHCRC conference had replaced the Century of Physics, attracting the attention of the world.

Many physics forums at home and abroad even put up voting polls, giving countless laymen to vote and select the most suitable chairman candidates to replace Lu Zhou.

However, in the end, most of these votes turned into votes for “the most influential scholar in today’s physics world except Lu Zhou”. The chairman of the ILHCRC required more than just academic ability, thus the votes were quite meaningless.

Considering China’s current advantage in the council board, there was no doubt that Luo Wenxuan would be elected.

Lu Zhou didn’t worry about these trivial matters any more. He entered the system space after a day’s rest and opened the mission panel that he hadn’t seen for a long time.

In addition to leveling up in physics, the Void memory, and a golden prize draw ticket, the last mission reward also gave him a mission card.

He had three missions to choose from.

Lu Zhou’s index finger touched the translucent holographic screen; three missions quickly appeared in front of him.

The first mission was related to information science, the requirement was to observe 10,000 sets of virtual relationship samples.

This mission sounded a bit vague, but it was actually very easy to execute. In short, he had to encourage players to log in to the virtual reality world through the phantom system and conduct online dating. He could then collect various data from these samples.

So far, the registered users of the Phantom system had reached 60 million, and it was still growing rapidly in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It was easy to find 10,000 couples and assign small tasks to them. The mission rewards were also considerable.

However, information science was not a priority for Lu Zhou.

Therefore, Lu Zhou temporarily left it as a backup option.

If other missions were not cost-effective, then this mission could be an option.

The second one was about… a sand sculpture prank? The requirement was to make a prank on April Fool’s Day; the more people who were affected, the greater the rewards were.

For such a retarded mission, Lu Zhou completely ignored it.

The third mission was related to materials science.

The moment Lu Zhou saw this mission, he felt a strange feeling in his heart.

It was like love at first sight!

It was like this mission was tailor-made for himself!

Chapter 1336: The Blood of Civilization

[Mission: Space Component A]

[Description: Materials are the flesh and blood of civilization. From ancient city walls to giant star rings, all magnificent wonders of the world are closely related to materials technology.]

[Requirement: Find a material with a Young’s modulus ≥ 2.1 TPA and breaking strength ≥ 80N/m…]

[Reward: 500,000 material science experience points, one lucky draw ticket, 1,000 general points.]

Lu Zhou’s physics was already at full level. He wanted to work on the field of materials science. He had the reference to the materials required for Lagrange Space Base; it was like this mission was tailor-made for him.

“A super tensile material?

“It sounds interesting.”

A smirk appeared on the corners of Lu Zhou’s mouth.

As for how to achieve this technology, he already had an idea in mind. However, he still needed to conduct experiments to verify his conjectures.

If everything went well, this mission shouldn’t take him a long time.

“500,000 material science experience points… Just enough to reach materials science level 8.”

After he looked at his experience bar in his characteristic panel, Lu Zhou reached out and selected this mission without any hesitation.

He saw the “mission accepted” dialog box pop up. He reached out his finger and swiped across the holographic screen, closing the mission panel.

But just before the mission panel disappeared completely, Lu Zhou suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a letter “A” at the end of the mission name.

“Does this mean… This is a series of missions?”

Lu Zhou began to think.

Since there is an A, does this mean there will be a B, C, and D in the future?

But fortunately, this mission was not the kind of mission chains he had encountered in the past; the kind that took years to complete and could not be forfeited.

Otherwise, he would have to consider whether it was worth investing so much time and cost for a mere 500,000 experience points…

…

Lu Zhou was lying on his bed in the system space. Far away in Chang’an Avenue in Beijing, inside a rustic conference room, people in formal clothes sat at the table with serious expressions.

Judging from the name tags on the conference table, the people sitting here were all important individuals. They were either the leaders of science and technology departments or the leaders of key national units.

Director Li glanced at the time on his watch and saw that there were still about ten minutes before the meeting would begin. He unscrewed his vacuum flask and took a sip of tea.

He was about to close his eyes and organize the thoughts in his mind when Vice Minister Liu, the second in command at the Ministry of Science and Technology, turned toward him and spoke.

“The cheque this time is larger than usual.”

Director Li didn’t quite understand what his colleague was saying; he thought about it for a moment, then simply nodded and casually said, “Yeah.”

Two super projects were being carried out at the same time; both were large projects with hundreds of billions of investments.

Even with China’s current national strength, it was quite a considerable expenditure.

Especially since both of these two projects were concentrated in the aerospace field; they were money-burning projects that couldn’t make any profits in the short-term.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile in the long run and would benefit countless future generations of the Chinese people. But who could guarantee this to be true?

Most of them wouldn’t survive to see that day. When the project was finally complete, most of the responsible people would no longer be alive…

Therefore, even though this plan was initiated by Lu Zhou himself, not everyone agreed with this plan.

During previous high-level meetings, this had caused a controversy.

“Do you think it is correct to do this project now?”

Director Li finally knew what his colleague meant.

So he’s just trying to see what I think…

Director Li spoke with a smile.

“It depends on how you look at this problem.”

Vice Minister Liu asked thoughtfully, “What do you mean?”

“I remember that Academician Lu told me some time ago that the Lagrange Space Base is a springboard to distant galaxies. The Mars Scientific Research Station is an experiment for colonizing distant galaxies. Together, the two will become a driving force for our aerospace industry. They are a catalyst for prosperity and development for the next century. If we intend to explore the distant stars, this step will have to be taken sooner or later.”

“It’s just a matter of sooner or later?” Vice Minister Liu sighed and said, “That’s true, but I feel like… It sounds like a long journey.”

Director Li didn’t know what to say; he just nodded.

“Of course it is.”

This conversation seemed to have ended.

But Vice Minister Liu suddenly thought of something and asked, “I heard that when the president went to Shanghai, he met with Academician Lu?”

Director Li was taken aback for a moment; he nodded subconsciously.

“It seems like so.”

There was a trace of realization in Vice Minister Liu’s eyes. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and spoke.

“Then this meeting is going to be interesting.”

At ten o’clock on the dot, the meeting officially began.

Just like the previous discussion meetings, the president was the one in charge. However, unlike the previous few meetings, what was shown at the beginning of the meeting was not a PowerPoint. Instead, it was a… strange device.

“… What is that? An air humidifier?”

Vice Minister Liu looked at the thin mist floating out of the device.

Most people reacted the same way; they were a little confused by this oddly shaped machine.

The old man standing at the conference table smiled and explained, “A holographic projection system.

“I discovered that this set of equipment is not only used for entertainment, it can also help abstract concepts become more intuitive during presentations.”

A blue light radiated from the top of the strangely shaped machine. A magnificent space fortress appeared in the veil-like mist.

When the black space fortress appeared in the mist, people’s attention was completely taken away by it.

As the president looked at the shock and emotion from their eyes, he smiled and continued, “When I was in Shanghai, Academician Lu gave me a demonstration of this device. I was just as surprised as you guys.

“The Space Fortress we see is a three-dimensional conceptual map of the Lagrange Space Base.

“This can also display the final form of the Martian City… Just like this.”

The image in the white mist changed; the light particles reorganized into a wave of yellow sand. A mirage-like futuristic space city appeared.

The president looked at the sci-fi city and spoke.

“This is a conceptual map of the Martian City… It is also the ultimate goal of the Mars Scientific Research Station. Just like our Guanghan Special Economic Zone, this will one day become a reality.

“As for whether to make it a reality, is our choice.”

The light and white mist above the holographic system disappeared.

After the president paused for a moment, he smiled and continued, “I think since we are now standing in an era of rapid development, we should also be more imaginative about the future.

“And this was a young man’s advice to me.”

Vice Minister Liu, who was sitting at the table, suddenly had a surprised look on his face. He quietly spoke to himself.

“So he did talk with Academician Lu.”

Director Li’s face was also full of surprise. Although he knew Lu Zhou’s influence, he didn’t expect it to be so impactful.

The president on stage didn’t pause. He continued in a serious tone, “We have been discussing this for a long time, so we should come to a conclusion today.

“If this is the case, then let’s cast a vote!”

The voting session soon began.

Director Li looked at the voting machine on the table. He didn’t hesitate before he reached out and pressed the approval button.

He had thought about this a long time ago, and his opinion had never changed.

The blueprint for the space base was deeply imprinted in his heart. He believed that with the efforts of Academician Lu and the Chinese aerospace team, the blueprint had a chance to become a reality!

Regardless of whether he had the opportunity to see the day when it would become a reality, he hoped that, at the very least, he was not the one who was holding it back.

Director Li suddenly noticed from his peripheral light that Vice Minister Liu, who was sitting next to him, also pressed the same button as him on the voting machine.

It seemed that although Vice Minister Liu’s tone was full of doubt, in the end, he voted in favor.

Director Li suddenly felt a little happy.

However, he didn’t know why he was happy.

Five minutes went by.

The voting results soon appeared on the big screen.

A total of 211 votes in favor, 13 votes against, and 5 abstentions.

There was no doubt that this was an overwhelming victory in favor!

The president looked at the voting results on the screen. His eyes showed a touch of approval as he nodded gently.

He looked back at the meeting room and announced the result in a solemn and calm voice.

“I hereby announce…

“That the Mars Scientific Research Station and Lagrange Space Base project…

“Is approved!”

Chapter 1337: Proposal at the Same Time!

The Lagrange Space Base and the Mars Scientific Research Station project were established at the same time!

Not just that, but the meeting also put forward a series of work schedules including the “completion of manned boarding of the Lagrange point”, the “Lagrange construction environment inspection”, and so on.

From these tight schedules, it was obvious that the whole plan was not a disguise or a smoke bomb. China really planned to do these aerospace projects.

For the aerospace industry, this was probably the most exciting news in years!

The afternoon after the meeting.

The design office at the Beijing Aerospace Science and Technology Institute.

“Have you guys heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Our country plans to build a permanent space station on the Lagrange point!”

“The Lagrange point space station? You mean Academician Lu’s blueprint?”

“What else could it be? Academician Lu is nuts! I heard that this morning there was a meeting on Chang’an Avenue. The president hosted the meeting and showed the concept map of the space station using a holographic projection device. All of the participants were shocked. The final vote was an overwhelming victory, and the two projects were launched immediately!”

One of the engineers spoke.

“Really? What does the concept map look like?”

“I don’t know! I just listened to what others said, but since the news has already come out, it’s not something that needs to be kept secret. We should have a chance to see the concept map in a few days!”

In fact, this time China did not intend to keep this a secret.

Since the successful establishment of the Moon Palace space station, China already marked its dominant position in the aerospace field. There was no need to hide any new things like before.

Regardless of whether it was the Lagrange Point Space Base or the Mars Scientific Research Station, even if the relevant departments released the blueprints publicly, other countries wouldn’t be able to use the blueprints to copy the project.

This didn’t only require industrial capabilities but also took into account the scale of a country’s aerospace industry.

So far only China, which had more than ten large-scale transportation spacecraft and successfully developed the profitability of lunar mineral resources, had the conditions to complete this grand plan.

Because this was not a confidential project, the results of the discussion at the meeting quickly spread to various aerospace research institutes in Beijing at an incredible speed.

The second day after the conference ended, all of the scholars in the Chinese aerospace industry heard about this news.

On the other hand, relevant departments also held a press conference afterward. They announced the result to media outlets all over the world.

The second the news was announced publicly, people all over the world were shocked!

NASA headquarters.

It was lunchtime; most of the engineers sitting in the office were eating sandwiches and drinking coffee while watching videos on YouTube.

A piece of news from CNN caught their attention. Everyone was stunned. They froze for a while before snapping back to reality.

The Chinese plan to build a space station base at the Lagrange point?

And a Mars Scientific Research Station?

Forget about it! They have never even been to Mars! What kind of scientific research station on Mars are they going to build?!

And the Lagrange point space station base…

That is something that only appears in science fiction movies. With the current materials science and engineering technology, it is impossible.

Because of the small scale of Earth’s aerospace industry, they couldn’t understand what was the point of building a space station there, whether it was for commercial or scientific research needs.

They’re building a space station to look at stars?

The first reaction of many people was that this was fake news.

Some people even sneered and said that the “media lies are getting more and more ridiculous”.

After all, this was CNN news.

However, they soon discovered that it was not just CNN that reported the news.

After a brief silence, the office immediately exploded.

“WTF?! The Chinese plans to build a permanent space station at the Lagrange point?!

“A Mars scientific research station?! Sending people to Mars? Are they crazy?

“They just set up the Guanghan Special Economic Zone, and now they want to take over Mars?!

“And they’re tackling Mars and Lagrange point at the same time…

“There are only five Lagrange points, and only two are stable! We must report this to Congress immediately! Let them realize the seriousness of the problem!”

The office that was originally silent like a pond of water suddenly began boiling…

…

Los Angeles Daily: Lagrange Space Base project is established!

New York Times: The map to the Mars scientific research station is announced! China will launch a manned boarding program!

The Times: A war book against NASA? Or a challenge for the future! A blueprint shows the ambition of China’s space strategy!

The Sun: NASA director declined to comment. Analysts say that this time NASA might not accept the reality!

Beijing Evening News: …

The explosive articles were released one after another. This replaced the Century of Physics and the Problems of the Century discussions that appeared some time ago. This was a new hot topic that people discussed and followed.

When they saw the concept map of the Lagrange Space Base in the news, many people remembered the space fortress that appeared in the center of the Bird’s Nest Stadium during the National Day celebration last year!

The towering space fortress floating in the holographic image was a manifestation of people’s imagination for the future.

And now, all this was becoming a reality!

As the chief consultant and chief engineer of the Lunar Orbit Committee, Lu Zhou was certainly involved in this important news.

In fact, about five minutes after the meeting ended, Director Li called him and told him the exciting good news himself.

Director Li excitedly talked about the overwhelming number of votes in favor.

In contrast, Lu Zhou was relatively calm. The only thing he worried about was whether the old man’s heart could bear the exciting news.

As for the Lagrange Point Space Base and the Mars Scientific Research Station projects, he had never worried about them at all.

As for why?

One of the biggest reasons was because, in his opinion, these projects were bound to be completed one day.

After talking with the president in Shanghai that day, he already knew this in his heart.

Even if the relevant departments temporarily decided that they didn’t have the capacity for long-term future projects, they would definitely be able to see the driving effect of these two projects on the overall aerospace industry of China.

The Guanghan Special Economic Zone was now on the right track. If China wanted to continue to lead the space industry in the next century, they must implement a long-term goal.

The Lagrange Space Base and the Mars colonization plan were undoubtedly suitable choices.

As for why he wasn’t busy working on the project…

Was because that, ever since accepting the system mission, Lu Zhou had been busy with the “Space Component A”. He had no spare time for other things…

Chapter 1338: Three Seconds Is Enough

Jinling maglev station.

A pretty girl rushed over from the station exit and rushed into Lu Zhou’s arms.

“I missed you to death!”

When Lu Zhou smelled the perfume in her hair, a reassuring feeling rushed into his heart. He obviously had a lot to say, but he didn’t know where to begin.

“Me too.”

The couple hugged tightly for nearly a minute.

Lu Zhou was about to put Chen Yushan down and reach out to take the suitcase behind her. However, a small hand suddenly pulled his sleeve gently.

Right after, a heart-grabbing voice gently blew into his ear.

“… Can we hug for a little longer?”

Lu Zhou didn’t say anything. Instead, he hugged her tighter.

Chen Yushan felt the warmth around her, immersed in the joy of reunion. She couldn’t help but feel a little warm. She cleared her throat and asked in a playful tone, “What does it feel like to have a clingy girlfriend?”

“Oh…”

That’s a hard question to answer.

But generally, it feels great.

“You have three seconds to answer!”

Chen Yushan saw Lu Zhou thinking seriously. She suddenly became a little concerned.

She realized that this question might be difficult for him to answer, so she quickly said quietly, “… Don’t think about it so seriously. I just want… to hear your thoughts.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“Three seconds is not enough.”

If he wanted to describe all of his feelings, he would at least need three minutes.

However, it seemed like she had misunderstood his words.

Chen Yushan blushed. She buried her head on Lu Zhou’s shoulder. She lightly punched him on the chest with her small fist.

“Stupid… What are you thinking?”

Gosh, darn it…

He never knew how to talk to girls before.

Why is he so good at it now…

Lu Zhou: “…?”

He looked at his sweet and shy-faced girlfriend with a question mark in his head.

However, just as Lu Zhou was about to ask what was going on, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

After picking up the phone, Lu Zhou put the phone next to his ear.

After listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, a look of realization appeared on his face. After saying “OK”, he hung up the phone.

“Who was that?”

Chen Yushan, whose head was still buried in Lu Zhou’s shoulder, turned her eyes toward Lu Zhou’s head and glanced at the phone secretly.

Lu Zhou put the phone back into his pocket and said casually, “The Institute for Advanced Study.”

“Is it an emergency?”

“Not really.”

Chen Yushan got out of Lu Zhou’s arms and spoke with a worried look.

“Go ahead then, I’ll take a taxi back.”

“No way.” Lu Zhou shook his head. He looked at his girlfriend and said solemnly, “No matter how important it is, I have to send you home first. Come on, give me the suitcase.”

Lu Zhou took the suitcase from Chen Yushan’s hand. He put it in the trunk of the car, then grabbed her hand and got into the car together.

…

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

In the materials science laboratory, a group of people gathered around a chemical vapor deposition device. They were staring at a sticky black substance.

Professor Wang Qingping, the leader of the project team, couldn’t help anymore. He began to curse.

“This f*cking thing… What the hell is going on? How come… it’s stuck together?”

About a week ago, Lu Zhou suddenly came to the Institute of Computational Materials, grabbed a list of people, and set up a project team called “High Strength Graphene Fiber”, and included himself in the team.

This incident spread afterward, and it caused quite a lot of discussion at the Institute for Advanced Study

After all, Academician Lu hadn’t done any major research in the field of materials science for years. Now a project team was suddenly established, which he was directly responsible for. This was quite a rare sight.

Not long after the project team was established, Lu Zhou quickly completed the design of the mathematical model using computational materials science. He handed over the mathematical model to the project team led by Professor Wang Qingping and asked him to design an experimental process based on this model.

When Professor Wang Qingping first received this mathematical model, he was still full of ambition. He was ready to fight side by side with Academician Lu!

However, right after the project had just begun, they already encountered a big problem.

“I don’t know either.” The researcher in charge of this experiment almost began crying. He said with a frustrated expression, “I-I obviously designed the experiment based on the calculation results provided by Academician Lu.”

“How is this possible!” Wang Qingping reprimanded the researcher, “There must be something wrong, try again!”

“B-but we have done it three times already…” The researcher whispered, “It’s the same result.”

“Then redesign the experimental process! Do it three more times!”

Qian Zhongming, who was standing next to them, couldn’t stand listening anymore. He coughed and spoke.

“I already called Academician Lu. He said he would come over here to take a look.”

“Academician Lu is coming over?”

After hearing Professor Qian Zhongming’s words, Wang Qingping looked a little nervous.

After all, his project team was in charge of the experiment.

If it turned out that there was a problem on his side, wouldn’t it be embarrassing in front of Academician Lu?

“Academician Lu doesn’t need to come… What if, we try something else? If it doesn’t work, then we can ask Academician Lu,” Wang Qingping said as he signaled at several researchers next to him.

Although they were not in agreement, they had to listen to their boss; they all nodded reluctantly.

Qian Zhongming easily saw through Professor Wang Qingping’s plan.

He had worked with Lu Zhou at the Institute of Computational Materials for many years. Even working all the way up to the position of deputy director. Even though he was nowhere near Lu Zhou’s academic ability, he was still much smarter than before.

“Don’t worry, even if something goes wrong, Academician Lu won’t blame you.” Qian Zhongming said, “Scientific research itself is trial and error. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Just find where the problem is.”

Professor Wang Qingping smiled but thought differently in his heart.

Easy for you to say.

You’re Academician Lu’s best friend, of course you’ll be fine.

However, the researchers standing behind him were relieved to hear Deputy Director Qian’s words.

Their job made countless colleagues jealous of them. However, only they knew the difficulties that they encountered. In a sacred academic place that all scholars wanted to be at, as the lowest-level scientific researchers in the scientific research chain, they faced a considerable amount of pressure.

While Professor Wang Qingping was worrying about what to do, the footsteps outside the door were getting closer and closer.

The door opened, and a figure familiar to everyone walked in from the outside.

Lu Zhou didn’t look around. He walked straight to the side of the chemical vapor deposition device, glanced at the mysterious black substance in the beaker, then asked Qian Zhongming.

“Gloves?”

Qian Zhongming nodded and handed out the plastic gloves.

“Here.”

Without saying much, Lu Zhou put on the anti-corrosion plastic gloves. He poked the black substance with a glass rod, then gently touched the surface using the rod.

Lu Zhou frowned, he put the rod and gloves aside.

“It’s a bit soft…”

Qian Zhongming nodded and spoke.

“I think so too.”

Lu Zhou roughly understood the situation. He looked at Professor Wang Qingping, who was nearby, and asked, “Can you tell me what happened?”

Professor Wang Qingping had an awkward look on his face. Just as he was thinking about what to say, the researcher standing next to him spoke first.

“We did it according to the calculation model you provided, but…”

Lu Zhou: “But the results were not ideal?”

The researcher pretended not to see Professor Wang Qingping looking at him and nodded seriously.

“That is correct.”

“I understand now.” Lu Zhou nodded, looked at him, and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Sun Yueda!”

“You did the experiment?”

He knew that he was probably toast, so he might as well tell the truth. The researcher named Sun Yueda nodded and spoke.

“Yes, I also designed the experimental process!”

Lu Zhou looked at the young researcher. He nodded and spoke with a look of approval in his eyes.

“Not bad, it takes skill to achieve this level.”

Sun Yueda and several other researchers standing beside him, as well as Professor Wang Qingping, were all stunned.

Did he…

Just compliment Sun Yueda?

“Is the mathematical model still here?”

“Yes…”

“Then let me see it.” Lu Zhou nodded while looking at Sun Yueda. He said, “And show me the experimental process you designed.

“I’ll tell you where the problem is.”

Chapter 1339: Simply Amazing!

After being poked by a finger from his colleague on his back, the researcher named Sun Yueda immediately nodded.

“No problem! Please, follow me.”

He immediately walked to the front and stood in front of the laboratory door.

Lu Zhou didn’t follow him immediately. Instead, he glanced at Brother Qian and spoke with a smile.

“Want to go together?”

Qian Zhongming smiled and spoke.

“If Academician Lu wants to show off his skills, wouldn’t it be a pity if I missed the show?”

Lu Zhou said with a dry cough, “You don’t have to kiss my a*s.”

“How is this a*s kissing?” Qian Zhongming shook his head seriously and said, “One of the founders of computational materials science, the first scholar to win the Nobel Prize in this field… These are not my titles.”

The group followed the researcher named Sun Yueda from the laboratory to the office upstairs.

Professor Wang Qingping stood at the door. He looked at the messy office and awkwardly explained to Lu Zhou beside him, “Um… We are a little messy when we work, so the office space gets a little untidy. If you told us you were coming, we would have cleaned up in advance.”

“It’s fine. I stay at home for days at a time, and my study room is much messier than this. Scientific research is not a performance show. You don’t need to be constrained to any rules. Do as you see best.”

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t seem to care, Professor Wang Qingping finally began to realize that he was overthinking about Academician Lu.

He remembered what Deputy Director Qian said before, and he couldn’t help but gradually feel ashamed. He shut his mouth and stopped talking.

Lu Zhou followed researcher Sun Yueda and walked straight to the computer.

“Your mathematical model is in the computer… This is the experimental procedure I designed.”

“Open it.”

“Ok… Oh, yeah, do you want to look at the mathematical model or the experimental procedure?”

“I mean turn on the computer. I’ll open whichever one I need.”

Sun Yueda smiled awkwardly and immediately pressed the power-on button. He then offered the seat.

Lu Zhou smiled and said “thank you”, then sat in the office chair. He glanced at the screen while holding the mouse, then opened the folder containing the experiment related materials on the desktop, and clicked on the mathematical model he designed a while ago.

Sun Yueda looked at Academician Lu, who was staring at the mathematical model on the screen. He suddenly thought of a rumor about Academician Lu, so he quietly spoke.

“Sir, do you need me to help you prepare a cup of coffee?”

“Coffee?” Without thinking about it, Lu Zhou nodded his head casually. “Sure, instant is fine.”

“Okay… By the way, sir, do you need a whiteboard? We have them here.”

“Whiteboard? No need, just give me a few pieces of draft paper.”

The coffee and the draft paper were soon delivered together, but Lu Zhou did not touch either immediately. Instead, he stared at a series of data on the screen, such as the mathematical model, the experimental procedure, and the electron micrograph of the final product. It was like he was analyzing something in his brain.

Five minutes went by.

Lu Zhou finally loosened his eyebrows slightly. He reached out and picked up the cup on the table. He then gently blew on the surface and took a sip.

“The model needs some modifications.”

Professor Wang Qingping finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Zhou undoubtedly meant that the responsibility was not on them.

“Then, sir… How should we change it?”

“It’s actually very simple, just give me half an hour.”

Lu Zhou put down the cup and picked up a ballpoint pen from the table. He scribbled a few lines of calculations on the draft paper.

Deputy Director Qian Zhongming and the group of researchers noticed Academician Lu’s actions. They immediately became energetic as they stared at the pen writing on the draft paper intently, waiting for his next move.

However, Lu Zhou’s actions were faster than they had expected.

Less than ten minutes later, the two pieces of draft papers had been densely filled with calculations. Even scholars such as Qian Zhongming, who was engaged in the research of computational materials, couldn’t keep up with the calculations.

Lu Zhou put down the pen in his hand. He held the mouse in his right hand and placed his left hand on the keyboard. He used the calculation results on the draft papers to quickly modify the mathematical model software.

After the whole process was over, he let go of the mouse and got up from the chair.

He looked back at the dumbfounded researchers standing behind him and spoke concisely.

“Computational materials science is only a reference tool. No model can be directly applied without repeated testing and correction.

“The model I gave you isn’t for you to copy it directly in real life; it’s for you to make changes using the framework I provided…”

Lu Zhou saw everyone’s dumbfounded expression. He knew that they didn’t understand what he was saying, so he sighed and spoke.

“Forget about it, I will talk about these things later. I have adjusted the model.

“Use the revised model and try again.

“If it doesn’t work, come find me again.”

After that, he left the office and the people behind.

“That’s… it?”

Sun Yueda looked at the mathematical model left on the screen in disbelief. He blinked and cast a bewildered look to Professor Wang Qingping, who was standing next to him. He asked in a quiet voice, “Boss, what should we do??”

Professor Wang Qingping was in a similar state. He quickly snapped back to reality from the shock.

He pondered for a while before saying, “Follow this revised model and try again.”

“Okay… I’m going to design the experimental procedure.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

The mathematical model was done.

The experimental procedure didn’t need to be completely redesigned; it only needed to be slightly modified to accommodate for the changes.

If they worked fast, they could get it done tonight.

Qian Zhongming was watching everything unravel when he suddenly asked, “Is there anything I can help with?”

Professor Wang Qingping waved his hand quickly and said, “No need, we can handle this trivial matter ourselves.”

Qian Zhongming nodded and said, “Okay then, if you need help, tell me… By the way, if the experiment yields results, please be sure to notify me.”

Professor Wang Qingping patted his chest and spoke.

“No problem! We should be able to get it done by tonight!”

The modification of the experimental procedure had begun.

Professor Wang Qingping’s project team had returned to work. Qian Zhongming didn’t have a reason to stay here any longer. He followed Lu Zhou’s footsteps and left.

After a busy morning, Sun Yueda and other researchers finally finished the modification of the experimental procedure before their lunch break.

A new round of experiments soon began.

After a series of complicated laboratory processes, the substance appeared in the chemical vapor deposition device. The researchers surrounding the device were stunned by what they saw.

The experiment was successful!

Lu Zhou only changed a few numbers…

This is magical!

Chapter 1340: Density Functional Method

Young’s modulus > 2.1TPa, breaking strength ≥ 80N/m…

Judging from the series of required parameters, Lu Zhou first thought of a rope with high tensile strength, then he thought of impact-resistant coatings used in automobiles or aerospace equipment.

As for where this material could be used…

There were a ton of uses.

It could be used as cables on the space station or as towing ropes for fixing heat sink and solar panels. It could be used as a suspension material for engineering equipment or as arresting gear on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

All of these uses could save a ton of money.

And these were just a few uses for this kind of material.

Lu Zhou believed that this kind of material with a high Young’s modulus and a high breaking strength could have countless applications that he never even would have thought of.

Back to research.

For the technical standards given by the system, the best option Lu Zhou could think of was to have a carbon-based material with high tensile strength, light in weight, and strong plasticity.

Such as carbon fiber and a series of graphite-derived reinforced composite materials.

This kind of material not only had a broad scope for development, but it was also his original field of research in computational materials science. When he started his research on computational materials, he started with carbon materials.

Therefore, for him, this task was not difficult at all.

It was as easy as a piece of cake!

After leaving Professor Wang Qingping’s laboratory, Lu Zhou did not stay at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. Instead, he went straight back to his home.

When modifying the mathematical model based on the experimental results, some ideas about computational materials research suddenly appeared in his mind.

Perhaps because of the fact that he had reached level 10 in both mathematics and physics, Lu Zhou found that his sensitivity to numbers and physical phenomena had reached a new level.

Even a clue that was so small that it was almost negligible was enlarged infinitely in his eyes; it turned into a key that he could see with his mind.

Regardless of where the inspiration came from, there was only one thought in his mind at this moment.

Which was to record this inspiration before it disappeared.

Lu Zhou went upstairs to the study room. After instructing Xiao Ai to make a cup of coffee for him, Lu Zhou sat at the desk and spread out the draft paper he brought back from the laboratory.

“According to material A synthesized in the experimental process designed by the model, a soft mass forms after deposition, and the diameter of the carbon nanotubes is extremely uneven…

“The reason for this result should be that the monomer acrylonitrile undergoes inadequate free radical polymerization, and a large amount of intermediate product is formed. This leads to the insufficient progress of the third-stage reaction… Then, the soft foamy mixture forms.

“Hmm, interesting.”

The soft foamy mixture wasn’t what Lu Zhou felt to be interesting; it was the phenomena he discovered when he revised the calculation model.

After thinking seriously for a while, he picked up his pen and wrote a line of text on a blank draft paper neatly.

[Implicit density functional method]

When Lu Zhou saw his inspiration form into words, he couldn’t help but smile.

Generally speaking, when a problem was clearly written down, it was already half-way to being solved.

At least for him!

The implicit functional density was a computational materials science method for the explicit functional density; it was a popular research area in the theoretical field of computational materials science.

As we all knew, the exchange-correlation energy function was an explicit function that was directly represented by an electron density function. And by using a Kohn-Sham orbital wave function as a direct variable representation, the function would become implicit.

The simplest implicit function was the Fock commutative energy function, which was often called the exact correlation function in the context of density functional theory.

For molecular systems, the use of implicit functionals could achieve an accuracy equivalent to the second-order multi-body perturbation theory, with a relatively small amount of calculation. Therefore, the implicit density functional method was widely regarded as a high potential computational materials science method.

However, although there were obvious advantages, its disadvantages were also obvious. For example, the accuracy was limited, as well as the inability to accurately describe van der Waals interactions, etc. This was crucial for the study of solid materials.

Therefore, the implicit density functional method had relatively few applications in the research of solid materials, and only some progress had been made in certain fields, despite the tremendous development in computing power.

So far, the implicit correlation functional method was based on the adiabatic correlation fluctuation and dissipation theorem that had attracted widespread attention in the academic community. This was widely regarded as a breakthrough in the research to overcome the shortcomings of implicit functional density.

However, the sizes of these functions were huge, and even the most powerful traditional computers would struggle with the huge amount of calculations. Thus the current research area was still stuck in the exploratory research of simple systems.

What Lu Zhou had to do at the moment was to extend this method from a simple system to complex carbon materials research!

Once this research was a success, it would be of great help to the entire research field of carbon composite materials. Its significance could even surpass the “Young’s modulus ≥ 2.1 TPa, breaking strength ≥ 80N/m” material itself!

The pen in his hand did not stop for one bit. After writing the title, Lu Zhou quickly went deep into the exploration of the proposition itself.

[According to the HK theorem, the ground state energy functional of the system can be expressed as: EG{P(r)}=E{P(r)}+∫V(r)ρ(r)dr…]

[The function E{P(r)} can be expressed as: E{P(r)}=T{ρ(r)}+1/2∫∫{ρ(r){ρ(r)drdr+Exc{ P(r)}…]

[…]

The lines of calculations flowed out under the pen tip, like a trickling stream, together with the burst of inspiration, and they formed into rivers and flowed into the sea!

All of his inspiration were manifested as numbers.

All of the materials forces and physical properties were included and abstracted into mathematical language by rigorous logic!

“Then, introduce Schrodinger equation…”

The pen by Lu Zhou’s fingertips was like a sharp dagger, piercing through the thick branches in the foggy forest.

Lu Zhou looked at the result on the paper. His pupils lit up, and his eyebrows finally loosened, showing a smile on his face.

There was still a long way to go.

However, his intuition on science told him that he was very close to the end!

Time slowly passed by.

The sun gradually moved across the sky.

The sky outside the windows turned completely dark; the street lights on both sides of the tree-lined path began to light up. Lu Zhou finally raised his head and let out a sigh of relief. He put down the pen from his hand.

“… The implicit density functional method also has broad prospects for the research of carbon composite materials. It is now much more applicable.

“At the same time, this can also be regarded as a breakthrough in extending the method from a simple system to a complex system.

“Although there is still room for further exploration behind this.

“But… let’s stop here for now.”

Lu Zhou smiled and put the pen in his hand aside.

The second he put down the pen, a line of light blue text appeared in front of his eyes.

Lu Zhou blinked, thinking it was an illusion.

However, the light blue text remained there…

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Chapter 1341: Super Fiber

[Congratulations, user, for mission completion!]

[Mission completion details are as follows: 1g of special carbon nanofiber with a Young’s modulus of 2.2 TPa and a breaking strength of 83 N/m… prepared through laboratory synthesis.]

[Mission evaluation: S+]

[Mission reward: 500,000 materials science experience points, one lucky draw ticket, 1,000 general points.]

“Young’s modulus is 2.2 TPa? It’s 0.1 bigger than I expected…”

Lu Zhou stood in the pure white system space. He was looking at the mission completion reminder that popped up on the holographic panel when he raised his eyebrows.

What surprised him was that Professor Wang Qingping’s project team actually produced the results tonight by using his revised mathematical model!

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at the translucent holographic screen. He spoke in a clear voice.

“System, open my characteristic panel!”

A light blue wave swept across the translucent holographic screen. His updated characteristic panel appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 7 (410,000/1.2 million)

D. Engineering: Level 7 (1 million/1.2 million)

E. Materials Science: Level 8 (63,000/3 million)

F. Energy Science: Level 7 (0/1.2 million)

G. Information science: Level 7 (100,000/1.2 million)

General points: 35,335

]

His materials science went from level 7 to level 8, but at the same time, the experience points requirement had also tripled, going from one million to three million. This was when it became more and more difficult to level up.

“Next is the lucky draw.” After looking at the characteristic panel, Lu Zhou looked away and selected the lucky draw button.

The wheel began to spin.

The high-speed spinning wheel continued to spin dozens of times due to its inertia before it slowly stopped.

There was nothing exciting about this.

After all, it was just an ordinary mission. The reward for 30 energy potions was within Lu Zhou’s expectations. Maybe the system wanted him to work harder using the potions, but he wasn’t in a hurry.

Lu Zhou closed the lucky draw interface. He looked at the mission panel instead.

Because of the S+ evaluation, the next mission should be a reward mission.

Lu Zhou selected the icon of the mission panel. He looked at the mission interface in front of him as he reached out his index finger and touched the virtual button lightly.

Soon after, a circle of blue light rippled, spreading along the position of his index finger.

And a brand new mission panel soon appeared in front of his eyes.

[Reward mission activated!]

[Requirements: Publish a “significant” academic paper.]

[Reward: Experience points and general points based on the influence and impact of the paper.]

Publish any paper?

Paper influence?

When Lu Zhou saw this mission, he was taken aback for a moment. Then a smile appeared on his face.

This mission fits me like a glove!

It wasn’t clear to him whether the implicit density functional method was considered “significant” research, but its impact on theoretical computational materials was groundbreaking. It was no exaggeration to say that the carbon composite brought computational materials science to a whole new level.

Seems like I can hit two birds with one stone this time…

…

The next day.

Lu Zhou asked someone to send a copy of the sample to his home. He then shut himself in the study room and began to compile the implicit density functional method he completed yesterday into a paper.

Just after he edited the paper and uploaded the preprint on the arXiv website, his doorbell began to ring.

A text bubble popped up in the lower right corner of the computer.

Xiao Ai: [Master, there are guests outside. (✿゚▽゚)]

Lu Zhou knew who came to visit him. He sighed and stood up.

“I know, open the door for him… Bring two cups of tea to the coffee table in the living room.”

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

The drone flew out of the kitchen. The electronic lock of the front gate opened.

The two cups of tea were placed on the coffee table. Lu Zhou, who had changed his clothes, walked down the stairs. He saw Director Li, who was already sitting on the sofa in the living room.

“Academician Lu, haha, hello.”

“… Hello there.”

I knew it.

Because of the “haha” and his smile, Lu Zhou already knew why Director Li was visiting. However, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he sat casually on the sofa across from him.

“Go on, what is it this time?”

Director Li smiled embarrassedly and spoke.

“What is that supposed to mean, I can’t come to see how you’re doing?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Seeing Lu Zhou’s speechless expression, Director Li immediately knew that Lu Zhou saw through his intentions. He concealed his embarrassment with a dry cough and continued, “Um… You’re right. I do have something I hope you can help with.”

Lu Zhou asked, “What?”

“In fact, it’s not to help me, this also has something to do with you.” Director Li patted his thigh, sighed, and said, “I showed your blueprint to Academician Yuan, right? The old man said nothing and didn’t believe that you could build the Lagrange Space Base! It took me a long time to convince him, and he finally agreed to sign the papers. You have no idea how much convincing I did…”

Lu Zhou looked at this guy with a headache. He quickly interrupted and said, “Just tell me what you want… Stop beating around the bush.”

Director Li smiled embarrassedly and said, “I’m just trying to tell you the situation clearly. I’m not beating around… beating around what again?”

Lu Zhou: “… The bush.”

Director Li: “Oh yeah yeah, you always say I do that, but when do I ever do that?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Anyway, here’s the thing!” Director Li said, “I made a bet with old man Yuan. He can point at any component on the blueprint. As long as you can produce the materials needed for the component, he will believe in your plan!”

Lu Zhou asked curiously, “What if he doesn’t believe in it?”

“Um…”

Director Li didn’t know what to say.

What if he doesn’t?

I guess…

Then there’s nothing I can do.

The Lagrange Space Base and the Mars Scientific Research Station documents had all been signed by Chang’an Avenue already.

Even if he’s not convinced…

The state will still make the two aerospace corporations work together for the deployment of the national projects.

Besides, this whole story is fake…

After a moment of silence, Director Li coughed and said, “We still need his help. If you have the ability to convince him, it is better to convince him. Then the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation will cooperate with us. Of course, if you really don’t have that ability, it doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t need to worry.” Lu Zhou glanced at the old man sitting on the opposite side of the sofa and said with a smile, “Just tell me what is the component he is referring to.”

“This is easy. I brought the technical standards of the material. Take a look at it first.” Director Li took out the A4 paper that was folded into a small square from his pocket and handed it to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou unfolded the paper as Director Li reached out his hand and took a sip of tea from the teacup.

When he was making up that story about Academician Yuan, his throat was dry from all the talking.

In fact, Academician Yuan wasn’t against this at all. He made up the whole story.

He felt bad about lying, but when he thought of what Academician Yuan said about how important the material was, he decided it was a white lie.

After all, everything was for the greater good.

If his lie was discovered, he could just apologize.

While Director Li was thinking, Lu Zhou had already finished reading the piece of paper in his hand. He folded it up again and threw it on the coffee table.

“What do you think?” Director Li immediately sat upright and looked at him eagerly. He asked, “Will it work?”

“Should be fine.”

“Really?”

Seeing that Lu Zhou agreed so easily, Director Li was stunned. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lu Zhou was messing with him.

“Of course.” Lu Zhou smiled at Director Li and said, “Sit here and wait for a while. I’ll go upstairs to grab something.”

He stood up from the sofa, turned around, and walked toward the stairs.

Without waiting for long, Lu Zhou quickly returned to the living room with a sealed plastic bag containing a pile of black powdery substance.

Director Li was about to ask what the thing in his hand was when Lu Zhou threw the plastic bag on the coffee table and sat on the sofa.

“This is what you want, take it.”

What the hell?

Director Li stared at the sealed plastic bag with the mysterious black powder. Confused, he looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “What’s this…?”

“Super Fiber 1, the abbreviation is SF-1… Or whatever you want to call it,” Lu Zhou said with a smile. Seeing that Director Li was dumbfounded, Lu Zhou added, “Basically, this is the thing you want.”

Director Li was taken aback for a second; even the air in the room froze for a few seconds.

He finally realized what Lu Zhou was saying…

Director Li, who was still staring at the plastic bag containing the black powder, was flabbergasted!

Chapter 1342: Terrifyingly Strong!

Early morning…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Stanley was standing on the podium, giving a lecture to undergraduates as usual.

Ever since losing to Lu Zhou in that “race” on patents for lithium-sulfur battery electrode materials, he lost ExxonMobil’s support, left the industry in embarrassment, and returned to the academic world.

However, that might have been a blessing in disguise.

Because of the research on lithium batteries, he, Professor Goodnough, and Professor Akira Yoshino won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

After receiving this honorary crown, his academic path was paved smoothly. Not only did ExxonMobil intend to repair the relationship with him, but there were even more students signing up for his classes.

Of course, receiving this award had a huge amount of luck involved.

Had it not been for the increasing use of lithium batteries in recent years, which became a cornerstone in the new electrical era, the Nobel Prize Committee might not have considered their work so seriously.

Because of this, if Lu Zhou hadn’t already won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, many people would think that Lu Zhou was more qualified to receive the prize on lithium batteries.

Many years had passed since then. A lot of things had happened, and Professor Stanley’s opinion of Lu Zhou had changed drastically from before.

Science could change the world; mathematics could change science.

He admitted that his research philosophy was somewhat influenced by that man.

Like his friends said, Lu Zhou’s computation ability left him such a huge impression that he was still researching computational materials over these past few years. He hoped to find a breakthrough in the bottleneck of modern materials research…

“… Discovering and exploring phenomena, summarizing and explaining principles, this is the process of creating knowledge, this is also the essence of science.

“In traditional materials science research, most of the discoveries of new materials were the result of accidental discoveries by researchers, or the results of countless repeated attempts. It is obvious that it was a tedious process until modern computers. Since then, people have created various empirical models based on experimental results and changed to a more rational experiment design. This is what made it a science field.

“Yes, prior to all this, I don’t think materials science was a science; it was more like an engineers’ ‘craft’. Your homework today revolves around the density functional theory I talked about in class. Write a review paper.

“That’s it, folks.”

After announcing the end of the class, Professor Stanley put away the textbooks and returned to his office. Just as he threw the lesson plan on his desk and was about to check his email, his student and assistant Dr. Johns suddenly stood up and walked toward him with a stack of papers.

“Professor, I want to show you something.”

Professor Stanley noticed the weird expression on his student’s face. He raised his eyebrows and put on the glasses he had just taken off.

“What thing?”

“This paper…” Dr. Jones passed the paper in his hand to his supervisor, then said with a weird expression, “I just saw it on arXiv…”

As if he felt like this explanation was too short, he immediately added afterward, “It’s from Professor Lu.”

Sure enough, the expression on Professor Stanley’s face became serious the moment he heard this.

He sat upright on his office chair, reached out, and took out a ballpoint pen from the pen holder. He started reading from the first page of the paper, line by line.

However, the moment he saw the title of the paper, his whole body froze.

Implicit density functional method?

His eyebrows gradually furrowed.

Half an hour ago, he just said in the lecture that implicit density functional theory was one of the most difficult unsolved problems in the field of computational materials.

Particularly, the expansion from a simple system to a complex system was extremely difficult, whether it was for humans or for computers.

This guy hasn’t researched materials science for so many years.

And now he claims to have made such a groundbreaking result.

Is this real?

Professor Stanley didn’t say a word. Dr. Jones waited quietly beside him.

Time slowly passed by.

When Jones was almost about to fall asleep, Professor Stanley turned to the last page; he suddenly took a breath and closed the paper in his hand.

Jones noticed the look of surprise on his supervisor’s face. He stepped forward and asked, “What do you think professor? About the paper…”

“It was well written,” Stanley answered the question concisely, but he felt like he wasn’t convincing enough. Professor Stanley added, “It’s insanely profound.”

Insanely profound…

When Jones heard these words, he gulped.

Ever since working under this big name, Jones had never heard him praise anyone this much. Not before he won the Nobel Prize, and definitely not after he won the Nobel Prize.

This was probably the first time he saw the old man’s face was full of shock, disbelief, and almost admiration.

Professor Stanley returned the paper in his hand to his student and looked at him with a surprised look. He was silent for a while before he spoke.

“Implicit functional density theory is one of the most cutting-edge research in the field of materials science. Due to the inability to accurately describe van der Waals interactions and other fatal defects, it is difficult to be used to research solid materials… At least before today.

“He used some special mathematical methods in his paper to supplement implicit functional density theory. Although the modified implicit density functional theory still has some limitations, at least it is able to improve the modeling of van der Waals force. Its application has also been extended from simple systems to the research of more complex carbon composite materials.”

A deep admiration appeared in Professor Stanley’s face and eyes.

“With the current development speed of the field of computational materials science, forget about a few years, even if you don’t keep up with the most cutting-edge research for a few months, you may be completely left behind.

“I thought that since he had left the field of materials science for so many years, even if his strength did not decrease, he would certainly not make any progress, but I didn’t expect…”

Jones gulped and spoke.

“… Didn’t expect?”

Professor Stanley nodded heavily.

“Yeah.

“I didn’t expect it…

“He’s still so terrifyingly strong!”

Chapter 1343: The More You Know, The Less Imaginative You Are

Professor Stanley obviously wasn’t the only one who was shocked.

Director Li returned to Beijing with the sample and helped Lu Zhou register the patent. He then asked someone to send it to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

On the second day after the sample was sent to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Academician Yuan Huanmin rushed to the State Administration for National Defense and found Director Li’s office.

“The SF-1 super fiber! Which department made it?!”

Director Li looked at Academician Yuan, who was standing at the door in amazement. Director Li was just as surprised.

If he remembered correctly…

The sample was delivered to the old academician just yesterday…

“Um, drink some water and calm down first.” Director Li looked at the assistant standing in the office and said, “Xiao Li, go and pour a cup of tea for Academician Yuan.”

“Oh, okay.”

The assistant named Xiao Li quickly walked to the cupboard where the electric kettle was kept. He poured two cups of tea and put them on the coffee table.

Director Li stood up from the desk and led Academician Yuan to the sofa. After they sat down, he said, “A while ago, you asked me to ask Academician Lu if he could make this thing, right? I casually asked him when I went to Jinling this time, and he gave me this thing.”

Academician Yuan Huanmin, who was drinking tea, almost spat out the tea he had just drunk.

“Then he just gave it to you?” After he swallowed the sip of tea forcibly, Academician Yuan’s face turned red. His tone was full of excitement and disbelief. He said, “How?”

Director Li knew what Academician Yuan was thinking. He couldn’t help but smile as he said, “I know you are surprised. In fact, I am more surprised than you. After I asked him whether he could do it, it took less than five minutes for him to bring the finished product to me. You can imagine my reaction… I was probably more surprised than you are now.”

Academician Yuan nodded, then shook his head again.

What made him baffled was how exactly Lu Zhou was able to produce this thing in five minutes?!

“But how did he—”

“I know what you want to ask, but I don’t know either. I just heard that he used a computational materials science method to build a model, then the laboratory quickly did some tests… Forget about this, tell me if this is good stuff.”

“Is this good stuff?” Academician Yuan shook his head with a smile. He sighed and said, “Have you seen nylon rope before?”

“Of course I have, why?”

“Replace the polyamide fiber twisted into the nylon rope with the super fiber you gave me yesterday.” Academician Yuan said in a serious tone when looking at Director Li, “Then the tensile strength is at least a thousand times higher.”

“A thousand times?!”

Director Li was shocked by this number.

“Is it that big of a difference?”

Academician Yuan Huanmin nodded his head.

“It is.”

The Young’s modulus of nylon rope was about 1.4 GPa, the unit of the Young’s modulus for the SF-1 super fiber was on the scale of TPa. Even considering a series of factors such as the manufacturing process, this statement was not an exaggeration.

“It is no exaggeration to say that using this thing to make clothes would be like body armor. If turned into a rope, its tensile strength is high enough to be used on an aircraft carrier. We haven’t tested its other physical properties, but in terms of tensile strength, I can’t imagine a stronger material than this!”

“It’s that amazing…”

“It is amazing.” Academician Yuan said with a sigh, “The only restriction is our imagination, maybe…”

“Maybe?”

After imagining for a while, Academician Yuan felt like his idea was too ridiculous. He quickly shook his head and spoke.

“No, that… That would be too ridiculous.”

Director Li immediately became anxious and asked, “What is ridiculous?”

What is he even talking about?

Academician Yuan Huanmin hesitated for a while and finally spoke.

“What I wanted to say is, maybe this can be used for a…

“Space elevator!”

…

The more you know, the less imaginative you are.

Scholars like Dyson were in the minority after all. As most people increased their knowledge and understanding of science, they would gradually lose their unrealistic illusions about science.

After Director Li heard the term “space elevator” from Yuan Huanmin, an old academician who had been researching in the aerospace field for decades, Director Li was stunned.

Even compared to the Lagrange point space station and the Mars Scientific Research Station, this was out of his imagination.

While Academician Yuan was at his office, the entire materials science community was shocked by a paper!

Shuimu discussion forum.

“Have you read the paper? The one that God Lu recently uploaded on arXiv!”

“I didn’t pay attention. We’re in materials engineering, not mathematics and physics. Why would we read his paper?”

“His paper is on materials science!”

“Oh f*ck?! Really? How long has he not researched materials now? Didn’t he go research physics?”

“Some time ago, he resigned from the chairman position of the ILHCRC… Forget about it, go and take a look. When our professor saw the paper, his mouth was wide open!”

The title of the paper was so short that it could be read in two seconds.

However, the amount of information in this title was huge!

Ever since the birth of computational materials science, theoretical calculations of complex systems had faced two major challenges. One was how to transform accurate theoretical processing at the micro-level into a direct description of macro-level phenomena, and the other was how to further improve the accuracy of the density functional method that was the basis of existing large-scale calculations.

The limitations of the implicit functional density method in describing van der Waals forces and metal bonds had always been a headache for researchers in computational materials science.

However, now this problem was claimed to have been solved by an arXiv paper?

Everyone was shocked by this unexpected news.

And not just that!

What was even more surprising was that the author of this paper was Lu Zhou!

People didn’t even remember the last time he published a materials science paper.

No one thought that his resignation from the ILHCRC board of directors would actually pave the way for a return to the field of materials science.

What was even more unexpected was that he produced earth-shattering research as soon as he came back…

This was insane!

Chapter 1344: Deep into Hell!

“Unbelievable.”

It was impossible to describe the feeling in Professor Gerhard Ertl’s heart.

He was sitting in the director’s office of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society. He looked at the paper in his hand. Dumbfounded, he didn’t speak for a while.

As the director of the Fritz Haber Institute and the 2007 Nobel Prize winner, he was in the field of theoretical chemistry and computational materials science, specifically in the field of solid surface chemistry. He was the first one to write a letter of recommendation to the Nobel Prize Committee.

Professor Klitzing had been sitting in this office for a long time. He was playing with the tea set on the coffee table. He raised his head and looked over.

“It seems you found something interesting.”

Although his research direction was not computational materials science, it was condensed matter physics, and computational materials science itself was a discipline derived from the research of condensed matter physics.

Especially for the study of multi-particle complex systems, many computational materials science methods, including first-principles calculations, used physics equations.

From this perspective, this paper not only had outstanding academic value in the field of materials science but also had considerable research value in the field of physics.

And this was one of the reasons why Professor Klitzing, the director of the Institute of Physics, made a special trip to this office.

In addition, another thing that interested him was what ignited Lu Zhou’s curiosity so much that he even resigned from the ILHCRC board of directors.

But compared to the former, the latter was just a trivial matter.

“It’s more than interesting.” Professor Ertl said with a sigh after closing the paper in his hand, “This is beyond my imagination.”

Professor Klitzing asked curiously, “What does it mean?”

“Computational materials science is now at a new level. He not only provided a new research method on the basis of the previous theory but also provides an effective mathematical approach for the study of complex molecular systems. I think you don’t know what I’m saying. This is a miracle!

“At least for me, this is a Nobel Prize level achievement… But it probably doesn’t mean anything to him. It is impossible for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to award him again.”

Gerhard Ertl suddenly stopped talking. He looked up to the ceiling and muttered, “Just now, I suddenly had some new ideas. Maybe I should learn from him… and retreat for a period of time, for two days… No, for the rest of the month, don’t bother to find me.”

Professor Klitzing: “You plan to go on a retreat too? But I heard… This time he didn’t go on a retreat.”

Ertl looked at him blankly and asked, “Where did you hear that?”

“Technically, it’s my educated guess.” Professor Klitzing shrugged and said, “Because it hasn’t been that long since he announced his resignation from the ILHCRC board of directors… You know, I just went to Shanghai a while ago.”

Gerhard Ertl went silent. After a while, he sighed. “Okay then, let’s forget about it then.

“Anyway… I want to be alone.”

…

Although Lu Zhou had actually expected the sensation in the materials science field, he didn’t expect the reaction to be this extreme.

But then he thought about it carefully and figured out the reason.

As opposed to being surprised at his research results, people were more surprised that he actually chose to return to the field of materials science after he reached the pinnacle of achievement in physics.

This was what no one expected.

[Congratulations, User, for completing the reward mission!]

[The mission completion details are as follows: The unexpected return has shocked the entire materials science community. Mankind’s greatest scholar stands at the top of mathematics and physics. What changes will he bring to materials science, one of the three pillars of modern science and technology…]

[Evaluation: (no evaluation for reward missions)]

[Mission reward: One million materials science experience points, 500,000 experience points, a legendary mission card, 3,000 general points.]

A total of 1.5 million experience points and a legendary mission card; this reward was quite generous.

If it weren’t for the reward mission, the research results alone would not be worthy of such a generous reward.

However, considering that the measuring function for the reward was the degree of sensation, this reward did seem to be too outrageous.

As for why…

The description of the mission made it clear.

Lu Zhou stood in the pure white system space. As he looked at the holographic panel, his materials science progress bar increased by one third. Lu Zhou thought for a while about the 500,000 experience points. He allocated 200,000 of it to engineering, bringing his engineering level to level 8.

As for the remaining experience points, they were all allocated to biochemistry, which was closely related to materials science.

After the experience points allocation was over, a layer of light blue ripples swept across the translucent holographic screen. The updated characteristic panel soon appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 7 (710,000/1.2 million)

D. Engineering: Level 8 (0/3 million)

E. Materials Science: Level 8 (63,000/3 million)

F. Energy Science: Level 7 (0/1.2 million)

G. Information science: Level 7 (100,000/1.2 million)

General points: 38,335

]

“Materials and engineering have reached level 8…

“It’s getting harder and harder to level up.”

However, this also meant that he was getting closer and closer to reaching the maximum of level 10 in all fields.

After closing the characteristic panel, Lu Zhou opened the inventory and selected the card that was glowing quietly in his inventory.

“If only it was a golden card…”

Lu Zhou sighed and reached out. He tapped on the mission card.

Soon after, a pale wave of golden ripples appeared around his index finger, eventually covering the entire translucent holographic screen. As the golden ripples gradually dissipated, a mission interface that looked unusual appeared in front of him.

[Begin legendary mission: Deep into hell!]

[Description: The Earth-Moon system has been dominated by civilization. The planted seeds will grow into towering trees. However, the human desire for living space is endless, even for an uninhabited desert…]

[Requirements: Complete the Mars manned landing plan within this year!]

[Reward: Experience points, general points, and item rewards are determined by the number of people who have landed on Mars and the time taken!]

Deep into hell?

Why do I feel like…

The moment Lu Zhou saw this mission, he had a bad feeling in his heart…

Chapter 1345: The Headache of the International Union of Materials Research Societies

“It’s probably just a random thought…”

Lu Zhou looked at the golden mission panel. He shook his head and pushed the strange feeling away from his mind. He then focused on the mission again.

He had to complete the manned landing plan on Mars within this year.

This wasn’t a big deal.

The manned landing on Mars was one of China’s space programs this year; it was also a sub-project of the Mars Scientific Research Station.

The reward was determined by the number of successful landings and the mission time taken…

Lu Zhou looked at this strange reward metric silently.

If I put a hundred people on Mars at once, wouldn’t it be possible to get tens of millions of experience points?

Of course, this was just an idea.

Forget about the technical difficulty, risks, and ethical issues, even if so many people were sent at once, the system would probably not give him more than 10 million experience points.

After all, the rewards increased with the number of people, but not necessarily linearly.

“Anyway, I just have to think of a way to send people to Mars as soon as possible… This mission should be quite simple.”

Not long ago, the aerospace launch site sent a spacecraft to cruise around Mars orbit. They just had to think of a way to bring a life-sustaining device, some volunteers, and a landing module.

Lu Zhou closed the holographic panel.

Although the feeling of unease still lingered in his mind, he didn’t like to worry about unknown things. After frowning and thinking for a while, he put the matter aside for the time being.

After exiting the system space, the sky outside the window was completely dark.

He looked at his watch to check the time and saw that it was already ten o’clock in the evening. Lu Zhou was about to close his eyes and go to sleep, only to find that the drone controlled by Xiao Ai was lying on the bedside table next to him.

After hesitating for a second, Lu Zhou asked, “… Is there a problem?”

Xiao Ai: [… Master, you received a call. (☆-v-)]

“Okay.”

After yawning, Lu Zhou reached out and picked up the phone. He looked at the dozen missed calls and wondered who would call a dozen times at night. He called the number back.

The call was quickly connected.

Unsurprisingly, Director Li’s voice appeared on the other end of the phone.

“Hello? Academician Lu, you haven’t slept yet?”

“…”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but complain in his heart.

With the number of calls you bombarded me with, even if I were asleep, you would have woken me up.

But seeing how he wasn’t asleep anyway, he decided not to care anymore. He put his head back on the pillow and asked casually, “What’s the matter, spit it out.”

“Haha, it’s not a big deal.”

“Then I’m hanging, talk tomorrow.”

“Hey, wait, wait, don’t hang up, I just want to… consult you about one thing, it won’t take long!”

“Then say it…?”

“Have you heard of space elevators—”

Beep—

The phone suddenly hung up, and the voice on the other end of the phone was cut off.

“Ah… I accidentally hung up.”

Lu Zhou turned off the phone and threw it aside. He then turned around and went to bed.

Director Li, who was at his home in Beijing, was bewildered by the beeping tone coming from his mobile phone.

Why did the call suddenly drop?

Did his phone run out of battery…

…

While Lu Zhou was sleeping, chaos was going on at the headquarters of the International Union of Materials Research Societies on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Chairman Swift was sitting in his office, chatting with the Secretary General, Professor Merri Finch, about the selection of the annual society awards.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the office door. A young assistant walked in quickly with an unopened letter in his hand.

“Chairman, this is a letter from the Max Planck Society.”

Chairman Swift put down the pen in his hand. He looked over with his tired eyes and asked weakly, “What does it say?”

“The letter is from Professor Gerhard Ertl, the director of the Fritz Haber Institute.” The assistant opened the envelope and said hesitantly, “The letter… says to hope for you to nominate Lu Zhou as a candidate for the Annual Union Award.”

Chairman Swift immediately pressed his index finger and thumb on his eyebrow as he dealt with a headache. He muttered, “This again.”

Makes sense.

Lu Zhou and the Max Planck Society always had a good relationship. Not only did he receive the Hoffman Medal awarded by the German Chemical Society, but he also cooperated with the Germans on the Stellarator project.

Professor Merri Finch, who was standing next to him, shrugged. He didn’t seem surprised at all.

After all, this was expected.

Even without considering the relationship, the academic value of that paper was worthy of an award from the German Chemical Society.

They had received at least ten nomination letters from top talents and organizations in materials science, hoping that they could include Lu Zhou’s name in the selection list for this year’s Annual Union Award.

In fact, this wasn’t a big deal.

But for Chairman Swift, this was a headache.

Even though the International Union of Materials Research Societies was a joint organization of various materials science societies, because the center of the world materials science community was in Boston, this organization was somewhat similar in nature to the ILHCRC. Both were technically international, but in reality, it was still an organization that was affected by a single country alone.

Under such circumstances, if they really considered Lu Zhou’s research results, they would have to worry about the diplomatic stance of their own authorities.

Also, they had already negotiated and planned to award the Annual Union Award to Professor Colhart of Stanford University in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of electrochemical corrosion of complex systems.

If Lu Zhou was one of the candidates, then there would be no doubt that he would win.

“You can leave.”

“Oh, okay…” The assistant, who stood at the door hesitated, left the opened letter on the cabinet next to him before leaving the office.

The office door closed. Secretary-General Merri Finch, who had been standing beside him, said thoughtfully, “It seems that our European friends are starting to feel dissatisfied with our actions.”

The unfairness of the annual award was a known secret. Other societies couldn’t do anything about their manipulation of this award.

After all, it was difficult to find evidence for something this vague.

Normally, the candidates they nominated were not weak, but if there were equally strong candidates, they would be more inclined to choose scholars who were in North America or who intended to work in North America.

Therefore, Professor Ertl nominating Lu Zhou in the name of the Max Planck Society was a bit tricky.

After all, for a research institution like the Max Planck Institute, even if the nominations were not domestic scholars, they were generally scholars working in Germany.

The nomination proposed by Professor Ertl did put a lot of pressure on them.

Chairman Swift looked over and asked, “What do we do now?”

“If we reject so many nomination letters, it will definitely arouse dissatisfaction with other societies.” Secretary-General Merri thought for a while and said, “Let’s be more generous and admit that his research is well done.”

“No way!” Chairman Swift said without hesitation, “If it were someone else, it would be fine, but this is Lu Zhou… Stanford University, Professor Colhart, and Congress won’t be happy.”

“Not necessarily.”

Chairman Swift looked at Merri Finch as he waited for an explanation.

Secretary-General Merri Finch paused for a while and explained, “Anyone can see that the United States has lost the space race and has chosen to compromise with China on a series of historical issues due to controllable fusion technology. Even NASA uses the threat of the East as an excuse to ask for funding from Congress. But haven’t you noticed? The confrontation has actually become smaller and smaller.”

“So what?”

“The people are getting tired of this fruitless confrontation. The White House also knows that it is difficult to rely on the short term to gain support for itself. Instead, voters will gradually lose confidence.” Secretary-General Merri Finch looked at Swift and said seriously, “If Lu Zhou visits North America, maybe this can be an opportunity to restore the relationship between the two countries.”

Chairman Swift frowned.

“I don’t want to bring politics into academia.”

“Don’t forget who is supporting our funding.” Secretary-General Merri Finch shrugged and said, “Besides, this is not a matter of bringing politics into academia. Do you think that his paper, a Nobel Prize level achievement, is not worthy of an Annual Union Award?”

“As for Stanford University and Professor Colhart… I don’t think it is a shame to lose to Professor Lu.”

This time, Chairman Swift was silent for a long time, as if he was persuaded.

After half a minute or so, he finally spoke.

“Go to the White House and ask for their opinions.

“If they plan to use this opportunity to repair relations with China…

“I believe Professor Colhart will understand our situation.”

Chapter 1346: You Should Think About Young People

Sometimes, coincidences happened.

If Lu Zhou knew what was in the mind of Chairman Swift at this moment, he would probably accept the invitation from the International Union of Materials Research Societies and participate in the selection of the Annual Union Award.

The honor did not matter to him.

If he could make a small contribution to the peace, stability, and joint cooperation of the two countries in the next ten or even twenty years, he would gladly make a trip to North America.

After all, compared to the vast universe, the politics on Earth seemed insignificant.

Also, he hadn’t been back to Princeton in a long time; Lu Zhou missed his old friends.

Unfortunately, the International Union of Materials Research Societies did not imply this in the email.

Therefore, when Assistant Zhao brought the email to Lu Zhou, he just glanced at it and said, “Write a rejection letter for me.”

Zhao Huan was stunned. She looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“Reject?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

At a loss, Zhao Huan looked at Lu Zhou and said, “B-but this is a nomination letter from the International Union of Materials Research Societies. The Annual Union Award is important, right?”

That’s a hundred thousand dollars in prize money.

Even though she knew that her boss did not care about money, she still felt like it would be a waste.

Lu Zhou replied casually, “Because it is important; I hope they can give it to a young scholar.”

Even though the Annual Union Award was quite an important award, it was still far behind the Nobel Prize. With these titles behind him, it didn’t make much sense to win another Nobel Prize, let alone an annual award issued by an alliance of societies.

Lu Zhou suddenly noticed the embarrassed expression on Zhao Huan’s face. He immediately understood what she was worried about.

“How about this, I’ll write the letter myself, don’t worry about it.”

Even though Zhao Huan still felt like it was a waste, she was relieved.

After all, for such a critical email, she had to express their intentions clearly. If something went wrong and she did not fully express Academician Lu’s words, then the blame would be on her.

Zhao Huan left and went to prepare for her lecture. Lu Zhou turned on the computer and logged into his email. He began to write the reply to the International Union of Materials Research Societies.

Lu Zhou thanked the International Union of Materials Research Societies for the nomination, then politely and euphemistically expressed his intention to withdraw from the award selection…

“The implicit density functional method is a computational material theory that I accidentally made when I was researching carbon materials. I didn’t expect to be able to receive any awards from it…

“Like I said in an interview before, compared to someone like me who has lost my interest in honor and money and only hopes to reveal more about the mysteries of the universe, giving an award to me is pointless.

“I will find someone to do a report on implicit functional density theory, but forget about the medals. I hope you can give more consideration to those young people who have more potential than me and need more recognition.

“They need this honor more than me!”

Lu Zhou checked the email from start to finish. He made sure that there were no errors before pressing the send button.

Then, he thought for a while. He took out his cell phone, opened his contacts, and called his little apprentice.

“Hey.”

“… Hi?”

The other end of the phone was quiet. Han Mengqi’s voice was also very quiet. It seemed like she was in a library.

“What are you doing?”

“Studying in the library… What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou twisted the ballpoint pen in his hand. He leaned against the office chair and said, “Well, I might have to ask you for something. Are you busy these days?”

“Huh? Busy, no, what’s the matter—”

The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly became a little flustered for some reason. Lu Zhou felt this was strange but didn’t think much of it.

“I need a report on computational materials science. Are you interested in doing it for me?”

“A report on computational materials science?”

Han Mengqi paused for a second. Her restless heart rate finally calmed down. She couldn’t help but frown.

“I can… But I switched to pure mathematics research. I haven’t touched computational materials for a long time…”

“That’s fine. Also, you can review the knowledge you have learned before. It would be a shame to forget all the things I taught you.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You have more than a month to prepare. If there is anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. This is if you want to. If you don’t, then nevermind.”

Although Lu Zhou was a supervisor to his students, he rarely considered himself a supervisor. Most of the time he communicated like a peer with his students.

If Han Mengqi wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t force her. Although this was a good opportunity for her to step on the international stage, her personal choices still had to be respected.

Han Mengqi sighed after thinking for a while.

“All right… I’ll give it a try.”

Over the past few days, she had been studying the transcendence of Riemann zeta function at odd positive integer points. This was a research project assigned to her by Lu Zhou.

However, this research project was just as difficult as it sounded. Although it was not as difficult as Riemann’s hypothesis, it was by no means an easy task.

Back then, they agreed that as long as she made any progress in this research area, or enough progress to be listed in a regional journal, they would allow her to get her Ph.D.

And if she couldn’t complete this task, she would never graduate. Even though she was Chen Yushan’s cousin, Lu Zhou didn’t show any mercy.

Of course, Lu Zhou also left her a way out, which was to continue her research on computational materials science.

However, Han Mengqi never thought about giving up.

Now that her research had entered a dead end, it was good to go out and relax her mind…

Han Mengqi continued to ask, “Can I ask, where am I doing the report?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It should be in Boston. This academic report is in April, at the conference of the International Union of Materials Research Societies. I will send the relevant information to your email. Don’t worry about the travel expenses. The first-class tickets and five-star hotels will be fully reimbursed. Remember to have fun. If you see my old friends, say hi to them for me.”

Han Mengqi: “…”

International Union of Materials Research Societies conference…

She didn’t expect it to be such an important conference.

She suddenly started to regret agreeing so easily.

Chapter 1347: Personally In Charge!

Boston.

Headquarters of the International Union of Materials Research Societies.

Chairman Swift sat in his office while Secretary-General Merri Finch looked at the email on the computer screen with a dumbfounded expression. He didn’t talk for a while.

About a day ago, the White House accepted their proposal, and the United States Congress side also gave the green light. They intended to use this award ceremony as an opportunity to restore the relationship between the two countries.

Whether it was the Lunar Gateway space station or the fusion reactor in California, they were inseparable from the Chinese transport spacecraft and engineers. They couldn’t continue to carry on this kind of confrontation, it would feel like a little kid making a tantrum.

All signs showed that the confrontation between them and China was over.

After all, if this confrontation continued, the people of California would start asking for independence again.

Sports could be an opportunity to restore the normalcy of diplomatic relations, as could academic activities.

The White House had already arranged for Lu Zhou’s airport pick-up ceremony, as well as a presidential-level meeting. They even scheduled an afternoon tea at the White House. However, Chairman Swift and Secretary-General Merri Finch did not expect that, after they had arranged everything, Lu Zhou actually gave up the award and wasn’t coming?!

Yes, he wasn’t coming!

What the hell?!

“… Isn’t he a young scholar himself?” Secretary-General Merri Finch said as he read the last few lines of the email.

He had never seen such bullsh*t!

Chairman Swift, who was standing next to him, obviously had the same thought in his mind. He had a constipated look on his face. It took him a while before he spoke.

“Does he have something against us?”

“Probably not? We didn’t offend him… right?”

“Sh*t… What should we do now? Everything is ready already. Should we inform the White House first…?”

“Ask the White House.” Secretary-General Merri Finch said solemnly, “If there is a misunderstanding, then we will be in big troubles.”

In fact, Chairman Swift and Secretary-General Merri Finch weren’t the only ones who were frightened. The White House was also troubled by Lu Zhou’s decision.

Gradually, they began to realize that the “feud” between the two countries might be bigger than imagined. The White House tried to gauge China’s attitude through diplomatic channels.

On the third day after Lu Zhou sent the email refusing to accept the Annual Union Award…

Director Li personally visited Jinling and went to Lu Zhou’s home.

“Did you reject the Annual Union Award?”

“Yeah,” Lu Zhou said casually. He looked at Director Li, who was sitting opposite the coffee table, and said, “It doesn’t make much sense for me to receive more awards. I think we should leave the opportunity to young people who need it more. Is there a problem?”

Leave it to young people…

Director Li had a baffled look on his face.

In the international academic community, which scholar who is worthy of a nomination is younger than you?

He saw Lu Zhou’s serious look and wanted to curse.

After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, “… Nothing. Doesn’t matter if you don’t go, anyway… We can wait for the next opportunity.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Opportunity?

What opportunity?

I feel like I missed something very important.

Lu Zhou was expressionless. Director Li hesitated for a moment. He then finally sighed and said, “The higher-ups are saying that the confrontation with North America should end. We should forget and forgive. Improvement is what’s important. We have no core interests in America. As long as they agree to give up interfering in Asian affairs, it is a good choice to step back… What do you think?”

Lu Zhou didn’t understand why Director Li suddenly discussed the overall political situation with him. He frowned and said, “I am a pacifist. You should know what I think.”

Director Li sighed and said, “Good! In fact, I am also worried if you are harboring any resentment… In fact, the incident on the last cruise has nothing to do with the Americans. Surprisingly, the CIA has nothing to do with it.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

What resentment?

What does the Aurora Borealis cruise ship have to do with this?

In fact, if Director Li didn’t mention it, he had almost forgotten about the cruise entirely.

Moreover, he had never been very interested in politics. He was just a scholar who worked hard to explore the mysteries of the universe, under the premise of being loyal to the country and fighting for the shared future of mankind.

If he had to pick a motivation behind all this…

It was mostly curiosity.

“I don’t understand the purpose of you coming here.” Lu Zhou took a sip of tea and looked at Director Li with a bit of confusion. He said, “Don’t tell me you came to Jinling just to talk about politics with me.”

“Of course not! You are so busy with scientific research. I don’t want to disturb you.” Director Li smiled embarrassedly and said, “I only asked about the award for our diplomatic department. The main reason I’m here is about the manned mission!”

Manned mission?

Hearing these words, Lu Zhou’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He put down the teacup in his hand, looked at Director Li, and smiled.

“The manned mission? What a coincidence, I was planning to talk to you about this.”

Director Li smiled and said, “Please go ahead!”

“The Mars project occupies a very important role in our space strategy. The manned Mars landing is the beginning of everything. This project is important, so there is no room for mistakes,” Lu Zhou said seriously. He looked at Director Li and said in a solemn tone, “I want to be personally in charge of the launch plan!”

Director Li immediately showed an overjoyed look on his face. He tapped his thigh and said, “Hahaha, what a coincidence!

“I came to Jinling just to talk to you about this!

“The higher-ups have decided. If you want to, you will be the chief designer of the Mars colonization project!

“But since you already agreed, what else is there to say? Let’s go to Beijing together! Then head to the west!”

China’s artificial biosphere and Mars colonization experimental base were both in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, which was on the west side of China. The plans had been in preparation for a few years.

Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa and spoke with a smile.

“Okay then. Let’s get going. I’ll go and pack my luggage first. Wait for me for half an hour.”

Director Li: “No problem. No need to be in a hurry. You should pack more clothes. Who knows when you will be back… By the way, I suddenly remembered something.”

“What?” Lu Zhou asked.

Director Li had an embarrassing smile on his face.

“The call last time. Didn’t I ask you about the space elevator? I just wanted to ask if—Wait wait, don’t leave!”

Dumbfounded, Director Li looked at the empty living room…

Chapter 1348: Unlocking the Biosphere!

Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert.

This was a restricted zone of life.

Years ago, Academician Lu circled this area on the map. A six-lane road surrounded by planted trees was paved here. After the completion of a closed biosphere in the shape of an egg, there were finally signs of life.

The pen in Liang Youcheng’s hand stopped. He glanced at the cabin air pressure indicator on the workbench next to him, then closed the diary in his hand.

Four hundred days had passed since the biosphere was last open.

There were two things Liang Youcheng must do every day. One was to video call his wife and children, and the other was to write in a diary and record the bits and pieces of life in the biosphere.

This was the suggestion from the psychologist during training.

“… The environment on Mars will be worse than here. Long-term low gravity will put stress on the bones and organs and also cause stress on the mind. The former can be controlled by drugs, but you need to make psychological adjustments yourself. When you are bored, try to write in your diary. You can just write two sentences.”

Just like this, more than a year had passed. He felt that his diary was thick enough to be published as a book. He almost didn’t want this kind of lifestyle to end.

“Speaking of which, today is the day the biosphere opens.”

He took a deep breath and stood up from the console.

If he remembered correctly, he was the last shift. When the colleagues in the plantation section harvested the last batch of potatoes and corn, they could pack their bags, stand in front of the airlock, and wait for someone outside to open the door.

Someone said yesterday that, apparently, Academician Lu would come today.

Any astronaut would know of the chief consultant and chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Committee.

After hearing the news, almost everyone was excited. They wondered if this meant that the time for them to fulfill their mission was coming soon…

On the other hand, outside the biosphere.

Accompanied by several troops, a group of people walked on the concrete road in the research base.

Lu Zhou looked around at the neat concrete houses on both sides of the road. He couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

“Back here again.”

Director Li walked beside him. Director Li felt the same way, and he said in a rather emotional tone, “Yeah.”

Including this time, this was the third time he had been to this desert. Whether it was the site selection of the base or the recovery of the Lightning airborne capsule, he was with Lu Zhou each time.

Not just that, but every time he came here, he could see the obvious changes of this lonely fortress standing in the desert.

This time, the changes he saw were even more obvious.

It felt like a completely different place.

“This place has changed quite a bit.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“Quite a bit? I can hardly recognize it anymore.”

When the Garden Project was first established, he remembered that this place was still a barren desert. The military group and scientific research workers transferred from various research units were stationed here.

The conditions at that time were very difficult. They slept in a mobile room converted from a shipping container and ate dry food that was easy to store. They drank water delivered by a water truck from a hundred kilometers away.

Several years had passed, and the Garden Project had taken over this desert. The biosphere research base had become a beacon that couldn’t be ignored in the China extraterrestrial colonization plan!

Professor Hu Yang walked beside Lu Zhou and Director Li. He had matured a lot since before.

The dry sand took away the youthful look of the young professor, who came from the Agricultural University, leaving wrinkles and dry cracks on his face.

No one would guess that he was only in his forties.

“Over the past two years, two research institutions have moved here, and members from international cooperation organizations have also moved in. With many people stationed here, eating and drinking have stimulated the local economy. Many locals who are around here saw the water tower built by the military and decided to build houses nearby. I am a little worried that the migration of so many people here will damage the local fragile ecological environment.

“After all, what attracts us to stay here is the dead life zone in the middle of the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. We are afraid that the locals will develop tourism here, and we will have to move out sooner or later.”

Director Li nodded thoughtfully and said seriously, “I will report the situation here with the organization and guide non-researchers who settle nearby to suitable places as soon as possible.”

Professor Hu Yang sighed and said, “Thank you.”

While they were talking, the group finally reached the deepest part of the research base.

Here was the core component of the entire Garden Project: Biosphere A.

From the last experiment to now, the biosphere had been operating stably for 400 days without the input of external resources. Now that its in-progress goals had been completed, today was the time for that gate to open.

Lu Zhou and the others saw the astronauts, who were about to head to Mars, in the lounge outside the biosphere.

“Hello, Academician Lu!”

A young astronaut in casual clothes stepped forward enthusiastically and shook Lu Zhou’s hand.

Lu Zhou shook his right hand back firmly and spoke with a smile.

“Hello, hello! Staying in the biosphere for more than a year, it must have been hard!”

Dr. Liang Youcheng said with a hearty smile, “Not hard! The automation technology in the biosphere is very mature, and our work is relatively easy! We only work six hours a day. We also have Internet access. The two months of going offline for psychological evaluation was a bit difficult, but the rest was fine.”

The so-called psychological evaluation was to test the astronaut’s mental endurance ability under extreme conditions.

For example, in the last simulation, the researchers simulated that the solar flares damaged the communication equipment outside the biosphere. They cut off the connection between the inside of the biosphere and the outside world for two months.

During that time, they could not talk to their family, nor read a single thing online.

For a person who had lived in modern society for 20 to 30 years, this was torture.

Lu Zhou looked at the young astronaut in front of him and spoke in a serious tone.

“The situation on Mars will be worse than that on Earth. It’s very likely that it will be a two or three years journey. Maybe when you come back, your children will have already graduated from high school… Are you sure about this?”

Liang Youcheng straightened his back. He raised his chin and said in a confident tone, “I made my decision the day I joined the aerospace brigade. As for my son, he will be proud of his father!”

Lu Zhou looked at the unwavering expression on the face of the astronaut in front of him. He cast an approving look at him and nodded lightly.

“It’s an honor to work with you.”

“Speaking of which, Academician Lu, I want to ask you something for my teammates. I wonder if it is okay?”

Lu Zhou said, “What question?”

“Are we… leaving soon?”

Lu Zhou looked at the eager expressions on the faces of the astronauts in front of him. Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled and nodded.

“Yes.

“The Mars manned landing plan will be launched within a month!”

The astronauts had joy written on their faces. Lu Zhou cleared his throat and continued in a serious tone, “The reason I came here is to check whether the colonial capsule design meets the standard, as well as to review the warriors who are about to go to space…

“Which is you guys!

“Your performance was all outstanding, and you have exceeded our researchers’ expectations! Obviously, you have passed all the tests, and with your perseverance and courage demonstrated in the experiment, you have moved everyone, including me. I hope you keep what you have learned in the experiments and spread the beautiful and outstanding character to the distant starry skies for our civilization.

“Even though we are not the first to set foot on the land of Mars, I believe that we will accomplish what others have failed.

“In the near future, because of your bravery, our flag will forever float on the land of Mars.

“We will cultivate the wasteland into fertile fields and turn the desert into an oasis!”

Chapter 1349: : The Mars Landing Plan!

It had been many years since Liang Youcheng joined the astronaut brigade, and he had been in countless mobilization meetings. This was the first time he was this excited.

“… We will cultivate the wasteland into fertile fields and turn the desert into an oasis!”

Academician Lu’s words pierced into his heart, causing the blood in his body to boil.

It was as if something had penetrated deep into his bones, like he was awakened by something inside of him.

The sense of destiny was urging him to spread order and prosperity to further places!

Obviously, Liang Youcheng was not the only one who was ecstatic.

As soon as Academician Lu left Biosphere a, the news that the Mars landing plan would be launched within a month spread throughout the research base.

Because this matter was deliberately not kept as a secret, even before Lu Zhou arrived in the desert area, Everyone Daily and other media outlets were already preparing to report on this news.

The science and education column of CTV launched a three-episode program. The title was “The Future Home of Mankind”. Academician Yuan Huanmin was invited to popularize science for the general public. He talked about the space program blueprint, the construction of the scientific research station on Mars, and the practical significance and future of the construction of the Lagrange Space Base.

Therefore, on the opening day of the Biosphere A, the news was spread to every corner of the country by reporters stationed in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert!

The headline was printed on every newspaper!

Beijing Evening News: [Biosphere A opens again! Artificial biosphere research has entered a new era!]

Science and Technology News: [The 400-day closed experiment has achieved success! Twenty experimenters are in normal physical condition!]

Journal of China Agricultural University: [China has mastered the technology of a fully enclosed space colony capsule! Professor Hu Yang from our school participated in the project research!]

Jin Ling University News: [Academician Lu of our school is in charge as the chief designer and of the Mars landing rocket!]

Jinling Daily: […]

The reports came one after another. A series of related terms such as “China Mars landing project”, “Biosphere A”, and “Academician Lu” started to trend online.

Just a few days ago, people were still amazed that Lu Zhou announced his resignation from the ILHCRC board of directors. They debated about where he would go next. Little did they expect that this debate would end so soon.

What followed was such a piece of amazing news.

China would launch a manned Mars landing plan within this month!

Academician Lu was the chief designer!

This was bonkers!

The biosphere at the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert was an international cooperation project. Therefore, Chinese scientific researchers and journalists were not the only ones who were stationed there. The mainstream media from various countries had also focused their attention here.

While the news about the initial success of Biosphere A had hit the headlines of major Chinese media, the news that the Mars landing plan would be launched within a month had also quickly spread to the Internet. This aroused widespread concern and discussion in the international community.

This sudden news shocked many people.

For the Americans who failed spectacularly on Mars a few years ago, this was like a thunderbolt from the sky. They didn’t know how to react.

On Twitter.

The attention on this topic overtook the recent baseball competition in the trending page!

The reply section of a recent tweet about the observation of extraterrestrial planets released by NASA was bombarded by the shocked North Americans.

“The Chinese plans to land on Mars?!”

“F*ck! You guys have been spending so much money every year, where did the money go!”

“I don’t think there is a need to panic. The Chinese are interested in Mars, so let them do it. We’ve already been there anyway.”

“That argument does not make people feel comfortable at all. Our Mars landing was a shame! When their spacecraft came to pick up our astronauts, NASA was worried about leaking technology to China. We even intentionally crashed the BFS spacecraft!”

“… That is just China’s claims, it’s not proven.”

“Enough! I don’t think going to Mars is anything to be proud of! The key is whether they can stay on it. If they just print their footprints on it, insert a flag, then go home like NASA, I don’t think it’s a big deal!”

“This is China’s provocation! We should immediately restart the Mars landing plan! Rebuild New Virginia on Mars!”

The discussions continued to develop on Twitter.

The opinions of netizens seemed to be divided into two factions. One side thought that China had mastered the technology of cruising in Mars orbit and the fully enclosed biosphere. They thought the Chinese could easily establish a permanent research station on Mars.

The other side held the completely opposite view. They believed that although China had mastered the technology of cruising in the orbit of Mars, it was still not an easy task to establish a permanent base on Mars.

The two sides couldn’t convince each other.

So far, it seemed that the pessimistic viewpoint was more dominant.

After all, as many people had seen, although China had completed its cruise flight in the orbit of Mars more than once and successfully returned to the lunar transfer orbit, they had not planted their footprints on the surface of Mars in a real sense.

There was a difference between reaching Mars orbit and landing on Mars.

Even though the Garden Project had achieved in-progress success, the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert was insignificant compared to the desperate yellow lands on Mars.

The dust storm there could last for a whole year. The dust that obscured the sky would not only paralyze all solar energy facilities but could also drop the temperature of the surface of Mars to an extreme number!

Even in a fully enclosed biosphere, it was impossible to maintain the artificial ecosystem for a year purely by relying on internal resource circulation and without relying on the input of external energy.

Maybe China didn’t realize how bad the situation on Mars was?

Many Americans had this idea.

After all, as the citizens of the strongest space country in the last century, this reality was unacceptable…

Compared to the opinion of the general public, the response from the American elite was far more pessimistic.

Although it was still a matter of controversy whether the Chinese could successfully complete the Mars landing and build a permanent colony on the surface of Mars, they were not as naive to think that the Chinese did not consider the extreme Mars climate.

After all, it was the Chinese who brought their astronauts back from Mars.

They were more surprised by something else.

Which was that China announced the launch of the Mars landing plan would happen within a month…

They didn’t know why the Chinese people made such a hasty decision. This kind of attitude toward going to Mars was like booking a plane ticket, which shocked many people.

NASA’s Facebook community.

Most of the people who posted here were engineers in the aerospace field, or at least masters and doctorates engaged in related professional fields. While the reply section of NASA’s Twitter exploded, they began to discuss here as well.

“Start within the month? Jesus… Are they kidding? This kind of large-scale space exploration program takes tens of billions of dollars, yet they just made a decision out of nowhere? Without any planning?”

“Perhaps they began planning many years ago… Like the Biosphere A, when they were picking up our mess on Mars, they have already begun preparing for this plan.”

“Sh*t… I feel like our astronauts were the experiment test rats.”

“Not just the astronauts. I feel like the entire NASA has become their guinea pigs. Isn’t there this rumor? That the black box of the New Virginia colony was not left on Mars; instead, it was taken by them!”

This speculation was not without reason.

After all, there were many doubts and uncertainties as to what had actually happened.

What was interesting was that, the second China announced the news of their Mars landing plan, the former BFS captain Johnson, who was picked up from Mars by Starlight, posted a thought-provoking tweet on his personal social media that was unacceptable to many Americans.

“… I think no one in North America knows how amazing their aerospace technology is. The difference between the BFS spacecraft and the Starlight is like the difference between a fishing boat and a steel battleship. When we were still calculating our spacecraft energy use carefully, they had enough energy to create a coaxially rotating gravitational chamber! Even though I thought this design was superfluous, my jaw dropped to the ground.

“I think our gap is not in aerospace at all. It is in areas that are more fundamental than aerospace engineering. For example, materials and energy… Just like controllable nuclear fusion.

“I have no doubt that two or even three years ago, they were already able to send astronauts to Mars comfortably. As for why they didn’t do this, it was out of respect for life itself.

“Maybe our president should reflect on what this meaningless confrontation has brought us, apart from disasters!”

Johnson, who had been on the two spacecrafts, BFS and Starlight, before, was the person who clearly understood the gap between the two countries.

After all, in all of America, there was probably only one other astronaut who knew how he was feeling.

After that tweet was sent out, it received a considerable amount of retweets in just one hour. This made Americans gradually doubt whether there was a need for the space race to continue.

Of course, there were always arrogant people.

For example, NASA’s distinguished engineer, one of the directors of the Lunar Gateway project, Professor Phil Goethe from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spoke confidently in an interview with the media.

“This is a rushed space program!

“I believe they have achieved a certain degree of advantage in space technology, but I still don’t see any chance of success in a rushed plan!

“If they really care about the lives of their own astronauts, it is better to reconsider the launch schedule and spend a few months researching the launch plan.

“Don’t mistake arrogance as courage. This might become the most ridiculous tragedy in human history!”

Chapter 1350: Distant Planet Colony System

Jinling aerospace assembly center.

This high-tech factory covered an area of more than 100 acres. It collected and distributed state-of-the-art aerospace equipment. The Star Voyage One quantum computer provided cloud information services and used assembly lines, multi-axis electric drive robotic arms, logistics vehicles, and automated equipment such as aerial vehicles to fully standardize and automate production.

This place was like a furnace, melting and forging the dreams of all Chinese citizens.

Director Chang Hezhi stood inside this behemoth. He was one of the people in charge of the Mars landing plan. Together with Academician Yuan Huanmin and other senior engineers and executives of aerospace technology groups, they stood there quietly and waited.

After about ten minutes.

Finally, under the escort of several military vehicles, a black car drove into the parking lot. It stopped at the entrance of the factory.

The car door opened, and a serious old man and a young man got out of the car at the same time.

Needless to say, everyone in China knew who the old man was.

As well as the young man.

His academic achievements had already conquered the international academic community. Anyone who followed relevant news in the scientific community could instantly recognize him.

They knew him as “Professor Lu”.

The president noticed the serious expressions on everyone’s face, so he smiled kindly and said, “Don’t be so serious, I just came here to take a look… The colony capsule is in this factory?”

Lu Zhou noticed that the president was looking at him. He smiled and nodded.

“The assembly is complete, let’s go inside.”

“Academician Lu, please lead the way!”

After some small talk, the group of people walked into the factory building in the very center of the aerospace assembly center.

The president looked around at the metal high-precision automation equipment. He then said emotionally, “I have seen a lot of factories all over the country. But every time I come here, I am in awe.”

The logistics trucks were like worker ants, interacting with a series of mechanical equipment such as robotic arms and conveyor belts. Everything was so smooth; there was not a single pause.

The entire factory was like a clock, and every gear here was running under the coordination of AI. Its speed might not be the fastest, but it was precise to the millimeter.

It was like everything here was carefully designed.

“This is the latest industrial cloud service technology developed by our team. In addition to the aerospace assembly center, this system is currently in use for logistics centers in major cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as the Jin Ling high-tech zone. According to our customers’ feedback, standardized manufacturing through automation technology has dominated the international market!”

Lu Zhou looked at the shocked expression on the president’s face. He spoke after thinking for a moment.

“AI application in industrial automation is trending. With breakthroughs in quantum chips and computer technology, we are now ahead of the world. There will be more and more automated factories in the future. The population will change from low-end industries to high-end industries. This will bring about a series of social issues, such as employment rate, extended education time, and so forth. These are all things we must consider.”

“Employment rate is indeed a problem.” The president nodded thoughtfully and said, “It is unrealistic to hinder the development of technology. Once the technology is mature enough, this kind of automation technology will migrate to the industry sooner or later… Is that what you mean?”

Lu Zhou: “Basically.”

“Are there any good solutions?”

“Social welfare, increasing public expenditure, and developing the tertiary industry… They are all good solutions. I believe that the scholars of social sciences must be more knowledgeable than me in researching these issues.”

“Social welfare might still be a bit difficult.” The old man frowned and said thoughtfully, “Our situation is somewhat different from other countries. First of all, population is a big problem.”

“In the short term, it is a problem.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “But I believe that as long as the productivity is sufficiently developed, even if the population doubles, we will be able to maintain the expenditure of a high social welfare.”

The president suddenly turned to look at the assistant behind him.

“Did you write that down?”

The assistant nodded and closed the notepad in his hand.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

The president looked at Lu Zhou and said with a smile, “I will discuss this in a meeting after I go back. Let’s take a look at the colony capsule that is going to be sent to Mars.”

Lu Zhou said with a smile, “It’s right over there!”

Through a metal alloy door, inside an empty factory building, everyone saw a silver-white spacecraft in the shape of an egg, covered by a steel frame.

The spacecraft was about half the size of a basketball court. It did not look like a normal spacecraft.

In fact, it was more like a space station.

Almost everyone was shocked by the size of this machine.

Especially Academician Yuan Huanmin and other engineers from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.

Instead of thinking this was “awesome” and “cool”, they were thinking about how difficult it would be to send this thing to space.

Academician Yuan Huanmin stared dumbfounded at this spacecraft. After a long time, he couldn’t help but ask, “This… How do you plan to send it to Mars?”

Many people had the same question in their minds.

This included Director Chang Hezhi, the person in charge of the Mars Landing Project, and the leaders of the Lunar Orbit Committee. Almost everyone turned to Lu Zhou for the answer.

Lu Zhou smiled and explained, “It’s not difficult to send it to Mars. As long as it is sent to a geosynchronous orbit first, the Starlight or Magpie Bridge can take it to Mars.

“Of course, this time we don’t need to use the Starlight or Magpie Bridge. Our design institute took into account the peculiarities of this equipment when designing the colony capsule and designed a separate flight system for it.

“Including the colony capsule, the entire flight system contains more than twelve different functional components. This together forms a colonial ship with the ability to navigate to planets that are far away. We will launch these components into geosynchronous orbit in batches and complete the assembly there!”

A separate flight system?!

Yuan Huanmin was shocked by the amount of information revealed to him.

“… Colonial… Colonial ship?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Academician Yuan Huanmin. He said, “This is not the whole ship, it connects with other components.

“Therefore, in theory, it is not only applicable to Mars, nor can it be viewed as only an artificial biosphere. It is a complete set of distant planet colonization systems designed by our researchers for extraterrestrial colonization activities.

“If the conditions are met, we could go to even further places!”

Chapter 1351: Opportunity Won’t Always Come

A colonization system for even farther planets!

Not just for Mars!

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, the engineers at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, as well as other leaders who came to visit, were shocked by the information conveyed in these words.

Especially Academician Yuan Huanmin.

He thought about the Z particle and hyperspace theory. His face suddenly showed a strange expression.

Although he didn’t know much about theoretical physics, he had heard of this before.

The epoch-making theory that countless physicists called the gateway to the interstellar age.

Maybe…

The technology of hyperspace navigation has been invented?!

He wondered if maybe he should retire early and give the position of chief engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation to young people who were more capable of inventing new things…

Lu Zhou looked at the eyes filled with shock. He immediately realized that these people had misunderstood, so he explained with a smile.

“Don’t think too much. Although this set of planet colonization system is not only applicable to Mars, it is still very difficult to colonize more distant planets.

“The greatest application for this system is still in terms of experimentation. Our researchers hope to develop a relatively complete standard in the early space age, then make this standard as complete as possible with repeated verification and adjustments. This will help our colonists adapt to all the conditions that may be encountered in space.

“Like I said before, Mars is a checkpoint. So is this. Everything is building toward the more distant future… Let’s not talk about it for now, let’s go in and take a look.”

Lu Zhou gestured to the engineer next to him. He then motioned the engineer to open the front door of the colony capsule. With the amazed leadership team behind him, they stepped into the interior of the colony capsule.

“… We are now passing through the buffer room of the colony capsule. The two airlocks and exhaust facilities at the connection port adjust the indoor air pressure as needed. When leaving the cabin, our colonists will change into outer space suits here, prepare equipment and the rover, as well as perform body disinfection. The air is drawn into an approximate vacuum from the exhaust chamber… When returning from the cabin, similar operations will be performed.”

Since they were on Earth, these two gates were obviously open.

Before launch, the entire colony capsule would be disassembled into parts and packaged. After a special disinfection procedure, it would be sent to the geosynchronous orbit. Then it would be sent to the Moon Palace space station by the Magpie Bridge. The engineers there would use the space station engineering equipment for reassembly.

After passing through the two gates, the group of people entered the main cabin. The space was much narrower.

Of course, it was only narrow because of the ten or so visitors standing here. If there were only five or six people, the space here would be quite sufficient.

“After the entire colony capsule is deployed on the ground, the interior area is in the shape of a doughnut. The middle is the spare controllable fusion core and energy center, as well as the central computer room, the core of the entire Mars base.

“The outer ring structure, which is, the area where we are now, is the functional area of the Mars base. It is mainly divided into four areas; the working area, experimental area, living area, and spare activity room. The outermost ring parallel to the airlock room is a warehouse and also a protective barrier.

“In fact, what we are seeing now is only a semi-complete form. When the colony capsule is successfully deployed on the surface of Mars, the planting area contracted under the shell of the capsule will expand outwards in four directions… Just like car airbags. Our colonists will be able to grow our improved space crops in there, as well as breed small animals for protein.

“The entire colonization unit uses the ecological cycle technology tested in Biosphere A. According to the results of computer simulations, it meets the physiological needs of at least ten people and can run independently for 10 to 20 years with sufficient energy.”

Ten years was quite a long period.

Also, China would never let it independently operate without any input of resources. With the current aerospace technology, even during a non-optimal Mars landing period, it was easy to send Mars supplies from the spaceport of Moon Palace.

The tour of the colony capsule soon ended.

After briefly introducing the purpose of each functional cabin inside, Lu Zhou and the group of people climbed out.

The group of people stood in the open space in front of the colony capsule with shocked looks on their faces.

The engineers from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation were stunned. It was as if they had just returned to earth from heaven. The technology inside had completely exceeded their imagination.

This usually didn’t happen.

After all, they were one of the top aerospace giants in China, along with Star Sky Technology.

Vice President Zheng Xiangdong of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation poked Academician Yuan Huanmin on the arm and quietly asked, “Their technology… What do you think?”

Academician Yuan Huanmin spoke with a solemn expression on his face.

“It’s strong.”

In fact, it is not a question of whether it was strong or not, but whether the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation was trying to develop this technology at all.

Before ion thruster technology was developed by Star Sky Technology, their technology was focused on rocket launching technology. Now, most of their focus was on ion thrusters as well.

Why would they develop technology for space colonization? If anything, NASA’s research in this area was more in-depth than theirs.

As for the breakthroughs in both propulsion technology and energy technology…

Star Sky Technology and a lot of weird start-up high-tech companies focused on these difficult areas. They were pushing hard to catch up in the technical field; they didn’t have the extra energy to develop new businesses.

Zheng Xiangdong scratched the back of his head, hesitated for a while, and continued to ask, “Then… Is it difficult for us to replicate this thing?”

Academician Yuan Huanmin almost choked on his saliva. He turned his head, glared at Zheng Xiangdong, and said, “Forget about it. We don’t have a foundation. Are you crazy?”

“Um, I’m not talking about the entire colony capsule…” Zheng Xiangdong scratched the back of his head awkwardly and said, “I mean, we can make the accessories or some of the equipment used, right?”

Star Sky Technology did not contact them when the colony capsule was built. They directly used the factory in the Jinling high-tech zone to complete the production of a full set of parts. Zheng Xiangdong believed that because of the relationship between the two companies, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation should be able to sign a production contract with Star Sky Technology.

When he was in the colony capsule just now, he heard that, in the future, this wouldn’t be the only colony capsule on Mars. A lot of additional functional capsules would also be deployed on the surface of Mars.

Even though the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation was not interested in this project before, he realized how huge the market was. It was impossible to just watch it slip away from his hands.

Yuan Huanmin: “…”

Seeing how the chief engineer didn’t say a word, Zheng Xiangdong became a little anxious.

“Say something…”

“It’s not about whether we can produce it.” Academician Yuan Huanmin pointed his chin to the robotic arm on the side, then looked at the silver-white dome. He said, “Look at this assembly center, look at this colony capsule… Can you find something that we’re better at than them?”

Zheng Xiangdong was stunned; he went quiet.

Academician Yuan Huanmin looked at the company vice president and spoke.

“Star Sky Technology only does research and development, not production. So, whether it was Skyglow or Starlight, they were all OEM parts produced by us and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, then sent here to complete the assembly.

“However, starting from the Magpie Bridge, the orders that required our participation were reduced by half.”

“This… Is actually quite normal.” Zheng Xiangdong awkwardly coughed and said, “The scale of the aerospace industry is expanding at such a rapid rate. The higher-ups want to expand its social potential. It’s normal for the market to be separated. We can’t have a monopoly, right?”

“Is that the key to the problem here?” Academician Yuan sighed and said, “You should be able to see it. With the technical support of Star Sky Technology, a large number of outstanding high-tech companies have been born in the Jinling high-tech zone. Their component processing skills are more professional than us, they are more flexible, and the speed of absorbing new technology is faster than us.

“After the withdrawal of Star Sky Technology’s industrial cloud technology service, they were the first batch of companies to implement automated production technology. From what I understand, our factory hasn’t even begun implementing artificial intelligence?”

Zheng Xiangdong’s face became more and more embarrassed. He explained in a quiet voice, “… But Star Sky Technology didn’t come to us?”

Even though his voice was quiet, it was still clearly heard by the few people next to him.

Academician Yuan was angry.

“You’re still waiting for them to find you? Are you stupid?!”

Zheng Xiangdong quickly closed his mouth; he did not dare to breathe.

Academician Yuan Huanmin wanted to say something to the nervous vice president. However, in the end, he sighed and shook his head.

“Opportunities don’t always come on their own.”

The Jinling high-tech zone was developing and expanding. The establishment of Star Voyage One had brought this zone into the industry 4.0 era, ahead of schedule. Human society’s imagination of industry would become a reality. Inspiration and creativity were completely liberated. The dependence of Star Sky Technology on these former giants was becoming less and less.

There was no doubt that this was a good thing.

Especially for China’s aerospace industry.

More and more enterprises and social resources would participate in the exploration and development of space. The train to the future would go faster and faster, leaving the past far behind.

However, some passengers weren’t lucky enough to get on the train.

Academician Yuan was quite loyal to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. He dedicated his youth to the company. If possible, he certainly hoped that the company could leave its name on the milestones of the future.

However, this was not something that could be achieved by waiting.

Academician Yuan Huanmin looked at the silver-white colony capsule. He had a trace of worry on his face.

“Think about it carefully.”

Zheng Xiangdong was in deep thought. After this, the academician closed his mouth and stopped talking. He shook his head, turned around, and walked away…

On the other side of the factory…

The President had just come out of the colony capsule. He looked back at the silver-white “dome”. He then suddenly looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “… Is this the entire Mars colony?”

“Of course not.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He pointed to the connection ports on both sides of the lower colony capsule. He said, “Do you see those connection ports?”

The President frowned. He stared for a long time before asking, “What about it?”

“That is the connection port between the colony capsule and other functional units.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “Our initial goal is to build a scientific research base with independent scientific research capabilities on the surface of Mars, not just to send our people for planting potatoes.

“This colony capsule is the heart of the entire Mars base. It is also the most basic part of the entire Mars base. In the future, we will successively deploy new functional units to the surface of Mars and connect them with closed pipes through these ports. This will achieve the expansion of the entire Mars base!

“Like what we are doing in the Guanghan Special Economic Zone.”

“It seems that you have considered these things thoroughly.” The old man nodded with approval. He suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, “By the way, I almost forgot to ask, this colony capsule… or the colonial ship about to go to Mars, have you named it?”

“Of course there is a name.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “According to the unanimous opinion of our Institute of Aeronautics, we decided to name it Xu Fu!”

“Xu Fu… Good name.”

The old man’s eyes were full of expectation.

“Let’s hope it will live up to its name.

“It will send the fire of our civilization to the more distant world.”

Lu Zhou nodded gently.

“It definitely will.”

Chapter 1352: Just Do What You Said!

As the schedule of the Mars landing plan became more and more urgent, the atmosphere of the entire launch site also became tense and busy.

However, no one was worried about the prospects of the launch plan.

Two weeks ago, a number of national ministerial level and bureau level departments, as well as the China National Space Administration and the State Administration for National Defense, set up a command center at the launch site. Academician Lu personally served as the chief designer for the launch plan!

This was controlled by Academician Lu!

When the news was first announced, all of the participants in the Mars landing project were excited. Their morale reached a peak!

For Chinese astronauts, Lu Zhou was no longer just a name.

It was a symbol.

From the moment it was written on the front page of the launch plan, all of the problems no longer seemed to be problems. All of the difficulties became simple.

The days quickly passed by. Soon came the day of departure.

A majestic aerospaceplane slowly moved out of the hangar under the pull of an engineering vehicle. It stopped on the runway outside the command building of the launch site. Ground crews and forklifts rushed back and forth around the plane, doing the final check for the Starlight aerospaceplane that was about to take off.

In half an hour, the first batch of components for the Xu Fu colonial ship would take off from here and be sent by Starlight to geosynchronous orbit. They would then be taken over by the Magpie Bridge, finally arriving at the Moon Palace space station.

When all of the components had been launched, the colonists waiting on the ground would embark on the last flight to board the Moon Palace. From there, they would head toward Mars, which was tens of millions of kilometers away!

The preparations were finally ready.

The ground crew in front of the aerospaceplane quickly dispersed when they heard the instructions from the tower broadcast.

The signal lights on the runway lit up, forming a straight line.

“Hatch is closed!”

“Fusion engine on standby!”

“Preheating of the plasma heating chamber is complete!”

“Ready to launch!”

“Ignition!”

There was no countdown.

When aerospace launching had become the norm, people no longer regarded fusion ignition as a special event.

Just like the pilots of aircraft do not count down for their takeoffs, the astronauts who were accustomed to going back and forth between the ground and space no longer did the countdown for their takeoffs.

The pilot sitting in the cockpit pressed the switch to release the plasma in the engine heating chamber.

Under the magnetic field, plasma of tens of millions of degrees was released from the nozzle of the engine. The hot temperature seemed to ignite the air and distort time and space.

Driven by this huge force, the silver-white giant plane began to slide forward. It finally broke away from the runway, heading toward the clear skies.

Director Chang Hezhi watched the long and narrow plane trajectory in the air. It finally disappeared into the clouds. Director Chang Hezhi was standing in the control tower.

Ever since the day he visited the aerospace assembly center, where Academician Lu showed him the colony capsule for the Mars landing project, he had been in a fantastic mood.

Compared with Director Li and Academician Yuan Huanmin, who had been involved in China’s aerospace projects since the beginning of the Moon landing project, he was a newcomer appointed by the China National Space Administration to join the Mars landing program.

Prior to this, although he knew who Academician Lu was, he had only heard his name in the news and in the excited discussions of his colleagues.

What he saw and heard at the aerospace assembly center that day astounded him. The factory that assembled the colony capsule, which realized imaginations about technology, spaceflight, and the future, was contained in an area of only a few thousand square meters.

He wasn’t confident for the same reasons the astronauts were.

They were confident because of Lu Zhou’s name. But he was confident because of the amazing technology itself. With such sophisticated equipment, he really couldn’t imagine a reason for failure.

Forget about Mars.

Even traveling to a more distant world wouldn’t be a problem…

His thoughts were lost as he stared at Starlight disappearing in the sky. A staff member in uniform walked beside him.

“Director Chang.”

Chang Hezhi looked away from the control tower window. He turned to the staff member standing next to him and spoke calmly.

“Yeah, what?”

“Academician Lu is asking for you.”

Academician Lu?

A surprised expression appeared on his face. He already met with Lu Zhou in the morning, but Chang Hezhi didn’t think much of it.

The higher-ups sent him here to cooperate with Academician Lu. If Academician Lu needed him for anything, that was his highest priority.

Therefore, he immediately spoke.

“Take me there.”

“Okay.”

The staff member nodded before turning around and leading the way.

Chang Hezhi followed the staff member’s footsteps. They quickly walked from the command tower to the conference room on the first floor of the launch site main building. He saw Lu Zhou sitting at the conference table and staring at a document.

Obviously, Lu Zhou did not notice his arrival.

Chang Hezhi cleared his throat and broke the silence.

“Academician Lu, I heard that you wanted to find me?”

Lu Zhou noticed the voice coming from the door. He looked away from the document in his hand and looked up at Director Chang Hezhi. He smiled and stood up. He then made an inviting gesture.

“Oh, you’re here? Please sit down.”

Chang Hezhi pulled out a chair and sat down.

Lu Zhou sat back on the chair and put the documents in his hand aside. He looked at Director Chang, who was sitting across from him, and spoke in a serious tone.

“Regarding the launch plan at the end of the month, I have something to discuss with you.”

The expression on Director Chang Hezhi’s face suddenly became serious. He sat straight and spoke.

“Please speak!”

Lu Zhou nodded. He went straight to the point.

“I plan to change the number of people in the first batch of the Mars landing program from three to five.”

The conference room went silent for a second.

“F-five people?” Director Chang Hezhi was stunned and didn’t react for a while. He said, “Why five?”

Why five…

How should I explain?

Lu Zhou didn’t have an explanation. He decided to make up one.

“Because it is out of necessity.

“Three people is not enough. I have made detailed arrangements for the work of these five people. All of them are crucial!”

Chang Hezhi didn’t have any doubts; he was just a little worried. He frowned and hesitated before asking, “But… is five too many?”

“No.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “In terms of safety, the maximum load of our colony capsule is ten adult men, and five colonists are less than half of the maximum load. Having two additional personnel supplies is not particularly difficult for the Xu Fu colonial ship. Regarding the technical feasibility, I have already discussed with the experts from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation at a meeting just now. The conditions are undoubtedly met.”

“But if it fails—”

“That’s impossible,” Lu Zhou said without hesitation as he interrupted Director Chang’s concerns. “I won’t allow that to happen.”

Whether it was three people or five people…

As long as he was sitting in the position of the chief designer, he would definitely not let that kind of tragedy happen!

The room was full of tension.

Chang Hezhi suddenly understood why both the engineers and commanders of this space launch site believed in his orders. The worship of him almost became a kind of religion.

The doubts in his heart gradually dissipated. Chang Hezhi solemnly nodded his head slowly.

“If you think it is necessary, then I trust your judgment.

“I will sign the document.

“We’ll go with your plan!”

Chapter 1353: Assemble In Space!

At the astronomical observatory in Arizona, North America…

As a large-scale astronomical observatory built after 2020, this scientific research facility had the most sensitive radio telescope array in all of North America. Its accuracy could even track meteorite debris and space junk only half a meter in diameter, as long as it was located near the Earth and Moon system.

As the latest and most advanced astronomical observatory in North America, this Arizona astronomical observatory was a civilian public scientific research facility that belonged to the American Astronomical Society. Its funding came from the Pentagon’s defense budget.

Since its funding was received from the military, the task of this astronomical observatory was not as simple as when it was first established.

According to an internal document from the Pentagon, this astronomical observatory only had 30% of its observation missions dedicated to finding habitable planets outside the solar system.

As for the remaining 70% of the observation missions, most of them were concentrated in the lunar transfer orbit. Needless to say, the purpose was obviously to monitor China’s activities in the Earth-Moon system.

Professor Reston stood next to the coffee machine, quietly waiting for the coffee to be ready. Suffering from a headache, he rubbed his eyebrows, trying to relax his nervous and overheated brain.

About a week ago, China launched the first components of the Mars landing program in accordance with a timeline that was made public to the international community.

Since that day, he and the observation team he led did not take a day off. They were on standby for almost 24 hours a day.

After all, there was no guarantee that China would arrange every launch plan according to the timetable that they disclosed to the international community.

Such things were not without precedent.

After all, they themselves had abandoned their schedules countless times.

As the person in charge of this astronomical observatory and a researcher employed by the Pentagon, he only had one mission, which was to observe and track every detail of China’s Mars landing plan. He had to collect as much intel as possible.

This task was personally given to him by the US Secretary of Defense at a meeting.

Because of this, from the moment he received the task, he felt an unparalleled pressure on his shoulders.

Fortunately, this period of time was finally about to be over.

The launch mission recently carried out was the third launch in China’s Mars landing plan. According to the launch plan they announced, this was the last launch.

When this was over, their work would finish for the time being.

“Starlight has successfully entered geosynchronous orbit.”

“The third batch of components was released from the cargo hold…”

“The recovery was successful. The Magpie Bridge is speeding up its orbit change.”

“Orbit changed successfully. The Magpie Bridge has successfully moved into lunar transfer orbit!”

A series of reports came one after another.

Professor Reston stood in the control room, listening quietly.

Even though this wasn’t good news for America’s aerospace industry, for some reason, there was a faint feeling of relief in his heart.

All of this is finally over…

His assistant walked in from the control room.

“Professor Reston.”

Professor Reston turned to look at his assistant and asked, “Yeah, what?”

“Professor Phil Goethe submitted an application to NASA. He will visit our astronomical observatory the day after tomorrow.”

Professor Reston frowned when he heard this unfamiliar name.

“Professor Phil Goethe?”

The assistant saw the confusion in the eyes of his boss, so he immediately explained, “He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a distinguished engineer of NASA and the person in charge of the Lunar Gateway project. Not long ago, he made a high-profile announcement in an interview with the media, stating that the Chinese people’s Mars landing program was doomed to fail and that they had not made any adequate preparations for landing on Mars…”

The assistant paused for a moment. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Perhaps after seeing that the Chinese people’s plan has been going smoothly so far, he might be feeling a bit restless.”

Who cares if he’s restless?

Professor Reston had a smile on his face.

There was a hint of ridicule behind this smile.

He spoke in a cold tone.

“If he’s interested, let him come.

“But I don’t think this makes any sense.”

After that, he put the empty coffee cup on the table, walked past his assistant, and walked out of the control room…

…

On the third day that the Magpie Bridge successfully took over the components of the Mars landing program, Professor Phil Goethe arrived at the astronomical observatory in Arizona as scheduled.

The professor in his sixties stepped into the astronomical observatory and saw Professor Reston approaching him. Before Reston could even say hello, he asked straightaway, “How is the situation?

“Which step is their launch plan at?

“Is there anything unusual?”

“In my opinion, the whole Mars landing program is full of unusual signs. Which one do you mean?” Professor Reston shrugged as he was bombarded with questions. He said, “As for how far along their plan is, I think it is at the final stage of preparations.”

Phil Goethe looked at the younger researcher in front of him with a stiff expression. He spoke with a struggling tone.

“… The final stage?”

“Yes.” Professor Reston nodded and said, “About half an hour ago, the Chinese had successfully shipped the last batch of components to the Moon Palace, just like they disclosed in the original schedule. We all thought that they might temporarily adjust the launch time to circumvent our investigation activities on them, but now, it seems like they do not care about our prying eyes at all. Not only did they stick to their plan, but…”

Professor Phil Goethe said, “But?”

A bitter and helpless smile appeared on Professor Reston’s face.

“… But it’s as if they deliberately wanted us to observe them.”

Professor Phil Goethe fell into silence; he didn’t know what to say.

Half a month ago, he was confident that China’s announcement of the Mars landing plan was to provoke NASA and use this to start a new round of space competition, to achieve some kind of political goal. And if they really launched according to such a hasty timeline, this immature plan was destined to be a failure.

But it seemed that was all his own imagination.

They didn’t even have the intention of hiding, as if they didn’t pay attention to their opponents at all.

Professor Reston looked at the silent old professor. He suddenly spoke.

“Let’s stop talking at the entrance. Since you’re already here, come on inside.

“If I’m not mistaken, they are probably thinking of a way to put those parts together into a colony ship, then send it to Mars.”

He spoke in a joking tone. The serious atmosphere around him relaxed a little because of his joke.

Everyone knew it was difficult to assemble a spacecraft weighing hundreds of tons in the lunar orbit. This was something that anyone in the aerospace industry knew.

Assembling the three parts into a spacecraft on the Moon Palace was akin to using an AK47 and shooting at a bullseye target hundreds of meters away.

There was no independent dynamical system, and its orbit was constantly adjusted according to the CCD cameras and dynamic vision measurement system on the spacecraft. If they were not careful, these components could crash into one another and become space junk.

He was more inclined to believe that the Moon Palace ship was actually a slightly smaller and fully assembled spacecraft, which had already been sent to the Moon Palace for fuel replenishment during the first component launch.

The next two launch missions were to send some simple life-sustaining devices to the Moon Palace. This would be carried by other spacecraft and launched in batches to Mars orbit for deployment.

However, while he was thinking, the three white dots floating around the Moon Palace on the radar screen in the command room gradually became closer together, as if they were under some kind of force.

Professor Reston had just brought Professor Phil Goethe into the control room when he noticed the unusual situation on the radar screen and frowned.

At first, he thought it was a problem with the radio telescope array.

However, he soon realized that this was impossible. The engineer responsible for the overhaul of the equipment this morning performed maintenance on the radio telescope array.

Professor Phil Goethe, who was standing next to him, apparently also noticed the abnormality on the radar. He muttered to himself, “… What the hell are they doing?”

“I don’t know…” Professor Reston realized the seriousness of the problem. He immediately looked at his assistant and asked, “Can we apply for permission to use the Universe-2 optical observation satellite?”

The Universe-2 optical observation satellite was a space observation satellite commissioned by NASA to Space X had launched in 2022. It used high-resolution lenses to photograph the planets in the solar system.

Of course, this satellite, just like the Arizona astronomical observatory, was mainly focused on observing the Moon.

Precisely speaking, 70% of its activities were focused on the Chinese astronauts on the Moon.

“It should be okay… I’ll go ask.”

The assistant quickly jogged out of the control room.

He didn’t make his boss wait for a long time; he quickly ran back from the outside.

“NASA approved our application!”

Professor Reston immediately said without hesitation, “Connect to the Universe-2 optical observation satellite! Focus on the Moon Palace!”

Thousands of kilometers away, a cylindrical satellite began fine-tuning its camera angle, locking its lens on the Moon Palace.

When the camera was finally aimed at the Moon Palace, everyone in the control room was stunned by the picture in front of them.

They’re really f*cking assembling a spacecraft?!

WTF?

Chapter 1354: Enviable Power

Even though Professor Reston had seen his fair share of Hollywood science-fiction blockbusters, he never thought that one day he would see such a shocking scene in real life.

Eight slender robotic arms stretched out from the edge of the Moon Palace space station like legs of a spider, moving flexibly between the three sets of spacecraft components.

Like threading a needle, more and more spacecraft components were connected together, gradually forming the outline of the Xu Fu colonial ship.

“I can’t believe this…”

Professor Phil Goethe, who was standing next to Professor Reston, seemed to have gone crazy. He opened and closed his mouth constantly, mumbling and repeating the same words.

“Assembling the spacecraft with a robotic arm on the space station… How is this possible!”

Professor Reston was just as shocked.

They assembled the spacecraft on the space station!

Using robotic arms!

This sounded like a dream.

This was not as simple as spacecraft docking. It was no exaggeration to say that it was an order of magnitude higher than the difficulty of spacecraft docking.

Without a separate power system, these spacecraft components floating in outer space were akin to space junk.

Cleaning up high-speed moving space junk was difficult enough, but assembling these scattered components with a robotic arm on the space station was even harder.

A slight mistake, such as failure to control the speed and orbital height, might cause the space station to collide with the floating spacecraft components. This could lead to a catastrophic accident!

“Could it be holographic projection technology?” Professor Phil Goethe couldn’t help but say, “I heard that they have an advanced holographic projection technology… It was demonstrated at the Bird’s Nest stadium.”

“That sounds more ridiculous than assembling a spaceship in space.”

A bitter smile appeared on Professor Reston’s face when he heard Professor Phil Goethe’s outlandish conspiracy theory.

He heard of the holographic projection performance at the Bird’s Nest. He had even watched the video on YouTube. People claimed it was a new era of film and media technology, and the pictures presented in front of the crowd were near perfect.

However, he knew that the technology needed water vapor as an imaging medium. That was obviously impossible in vacuum space.

Apart from the robotic arm that stretched out from the Moon Palace, there was one thing that puzzled him even more.

Is there really no problem with such a rough assembly method?

Manned spacecraft had very high requirements for the airtightness of the cabins. Every additional connection port increased the points of failure.

But now…

The Chinese people had dismantled the entire “Xu Fu” into large parts, with even the main cabin torn in half. Could such a casual assembly method really ensure the safety of the astronauts in the cabin?

Professor Reston was quite skeptical about this.

However, this skepticism did not last for long.

Soon, all of the confusion in his heart was dispelled by the shocking scene.

He was not the only one who saw it.

Everyone in the command room saw it.

One of the robotic arms of the Moon Palace suddenly flashed a series of faint but clear white lights. The white lights swept across the spacecraft shell.

A crazy idea appeared in Professor Reston’s mind.

Welding!

They added a welding torch on the robotic arm!

Space construction was not anything novel. In the 1980s, Soviet astronauts conducted the first human extravehicular welding test outside the Salyut 7 space station. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States also carried out similar research. However, this was the first time he had seen the application of this technology on the assembly of a large spacecraft!

What happened on the Moon Palace completely subverted his understanding of the aerospace industry.

This is not just reassembling a spacecraft…

It’s almost like they’re building a spacecraft on the space shuttle!

Professor Reston gradually realized the seriousness of the problem. He immediately looked at the dumbfounded assistant standing beside him. He ordered in a serious tone, “Send the captured images to the Pentagon immediately!”

The assistant nodded quickly, then jogged to the command room.

Professor Reston looked at the picture on the big screen. He clenched his fists tightly as his eyebrows furrowed.

The space construction technology that China had mastered had completely exceeded their expectations.

If they could really assemble a 100-ton spacecraft in outer space…

In theory, they could easily assemble a bigger one.

…

In fact, compared to other cutting-edge technologies on the space station, plasma welding was one of the most inconspicuous ones.

However, other technologies were not as easy to be directly observed.

Even researchers working on the Moon Palace didn’t know all of the ins and outs, let alone an optical satellite more than 300,000 kilometers away.

These technologies were also the reason why the Chinese people were confident in their Mars landing program.

Who would care if the technology was observed?

Even if some things were placed in front of others, it was not easy to replicate them.

Regardless of the shocks inside the hearts of Professor Reston and Professor Phil Goethe, the foreign researchers who were far away on the Moon Palace were also surprised by what happened outside the porthole.

Professor Pearson, who was from the Department of Physics at Harvard University, was staring at the Xu Fu colonial ship gradually taking form outside the porthole. He was in disbelief.

He was a professor of particle physics who came here from the ILHCRC.

Ever since the completion of the Lunar Hadron Collider, he had served on the lunar scientific research station and the Moon Palace.

Over this period of time, he had gotten familiar with all kinds of novel aerospace technologies, but at this moment, he still couldn’t control the shock coming from the bottom of his heart.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Those robotic arms… Are they operated by someone?”

“Of course not. Who has the ability to operate eight hands at the same time.” Professor Yan Xinjue, who was also serving at the lunar scientific research station, was standing beside him. He said with a proud smile, “This thing should be controlled by artificial intelligence. Didn’t the Moon Palace replace the central computer’s chipset some time ago? Maybe this was part of the upgrades… Of course, I’m just guessing. I don’t know a lot about the situation either.”

Professor Pearson looked away from the porthole and looked at Professor Yan Xinjue. With a look of jealousy in his eyes, he said, “China’s aerospace technology is so amazing… I’m envious.”

Yan Xinjue smiled awkwardly.

Even though he was not an expert in the aerospace field…

But, to be honest, the feeling of being watched by jealous scholars from other countries was quite pleasurable…

Chapter 1355: How About The Moon?

After the last piece of alloy plate was welded, the robotic arm from the Moon Palace finally retracted inside. The true appearance of the Xu Fu colonial ship was finally revealed to the world.

On the outside, it looked like a top-heavy dumbbell.

The larger end was located at the front, which was the core area of the entire colonial ship, the part of the colony cabin that had not yet been deployed. The smaller end was located at the back and was mainly composed of a series of complex and precise aerospace components such as the power system, interplanetary communication system, and energy unit.

When the colonial ship entered Mars orbit, the bulky front structure would be separated from the entire colonial ship. With the help of chemical thrusters, it would head toward the surface of Mars.

The remaining parts would remain in the orbit around Mars as a communication satellite and weather observation satellite. This would provide the land colonists with interplanetary communication, weather observation, and positioning and navigation services for at least two decades.

Although this design was not aerodynamic, there was no such thing as air resistance in space. This unique design had a cyberpunk vibe.

Professor Pearson looked at the majestic spaceship. He was standing next to the porthole and was at a loss for words. It took a while before he muttered to himself.

“How many tons is that…”

“I don’t know…” Professor Yan Xinjue’s face was also full of shock. He gulped before speaking, “But judging by the volume, it is already twice the size of the Magpie Bridge, so the weight should at least be twice as much, right? Whatever, we don’t need to guess… We’ll see it in tomorrow’s news.”

The staff on the Moon Palace weren’t the only ones who were shocked.

There were also astronomical observers at the Arizona astronomical observatory, as well as astronomical observatories located in other countries that were ordered to track the Chinese people’s Mars landing project.

Ever since the establishment of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone, in order to learn from the success of the lunar landing project from China, most countries and organizations that were involved in the aerospace field had upgraded their optical observation satellites.

Even though they couldn’t achieve the same results, they could at least learn something from the Guanghan City or Moon Palace.

Because of this, the movements on the Moon Palace did not escape their eyes.

Whether it was the flexible robotic arms or the huge ship named Xu Fu, everything deeply shocked their hearts.

This was probably the largest spacecraft capable of long-distance navigation in human history. If the Apollo spacecraft and the BFS spacecraft were sailing warships of the great voyage period, then Xu Fu was an aircraft carrier sailing in space.

If prior to this there were people who doubted the success of this Mars landing plan…

After this, no one would have any doubts about the possibility of failure during this tens of millions of kilometers expedition.

While the foreign space agencies who were lucky enough to witness the scene were shocked by the amazing operations at the Moon Palace, the atmosphere at the Jinling launch site was also full of enthusiasm.

As soon as news of the successful “launch” of the Xu Fu colonial ship appeared, excited cheers erupted in the ground command center.

Whether it was the staff standing in front of the console or the CTV and media reporters waiting at the scene, everyone’s faces were filled with excitement and joy.

Many people waved their fists excitedly, unable to control the excitement in their hearts, some even took off their hats and threw them at the ceiling.

The colonial ship “Xu Fu” was successfully assembled!

The first phase of the Mars landing plan was successfully completed!

Although this was only a small step toward Mars, it was also the most difficult step. After this, they only needed to transport the astronauts and the materials needed for living on to the colonial ship, then ignite the engine. After that, they could wait for the good news that would come from tens of millions of kilometers away.

“Everything is going according to plan.”

With a pleased smile on his face, Lu Zhou looked at the towering spacecraft on the large screen in the command room. He smiled and nodded and said, “The next step is to send our astronauts.”

Director Li stared intently at the majestic starship on the screen. He had an expression of disbelief, and he couldn’t help but ask, “How heavy is this thing?”

“Around five hundred tons.”

Director Li took a deep breath and spoke.

“Five hundred tons… This is almost heavier than all of our Long March series rockets in low-Earth orbit combined!”

“The weight doesn’t mean anything; we can’t compare chemical rockets and fusion starships. For the Xu Fu spacecraft, 500 tons is just the net weight. When our astronauts and other supplies are loaded onto the ship, the total weight should exceed 1000 tons.”

Lu Zhou smiled and looked at the screen in the command room. He spoke with a fascinating tone.

“… But shortly in the future, thousand-ton spacecraft will be the norm.”

“Future spacecraft will be split into two categories; one is an aerodynamically designed spacecraft that sails between low-Earth orbit and ground, whereas the other will be large and medium-sized spacecrafts that only shuttle outside the atmosphere.

“The Jinling high-tech zone has already taken the lead in the former spacecraft. And after our Guanghan Special Zone is fully developed, forget about a thousand tons, even a 10,000 ton, million-ton spacecraft will be no problem!”

10,000 tons of spacecraft…

When Director Li heard this, his mouth was wide open.

Even the Saturn V, which was known as the largest rocket in human history, weighed only three thousand tons. When it stood upright, its volume was comparable to a 100-meter-tall building!

A 1000-ton spacecraft was beyond the boundary of his imagination. And for a spacecraft weighing tens of thousands of tons, he couldn’t imagine what it would look like.

As for the million-ton spacecraft Lu Zhou mentioned…

Forget about it.

Lu Zhou looked at the ground command center that had fallen into a celebration. He looked at Director Chang and spoke.

“We can begin preparations for the last launch mission.

“If a CTV reporter wants to interview me, help me deal with them, or tell them to wait at my office.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

After that, Lu Zhou turned around and left the ground command center.

However, when he walked to the first floor and was about to enter the bathroom, he saw Director Li chasing him.

Lu Zhou didn’t think much of it; he thought the old man had to take care of business as well.

However, after he came out of the bathroom, he saw that the old man was following him.

Lu Zhou stopped walking, turned around, and asked, “Can I help you?”

Director Li didn’t realize how obvious he was being.

Director Li, who was caught red-handed, pretended to act stupid.

“What? I’m just walking around…”

“You’ve been following me this whole time, how are you walking around?”

Director Li finally gave up his and coughed.

“Um, Academician Lu…”

“What?”

“Your life is going well, right?”

“As well as it can be.”

“What about your relationship? There are no conflicts… right?”

“Nope.”

“What about emotionally? Is there anything bothering you?”

Lu Zhou’s face suddenly became serious.

“I’m actually in a bad mood because you’re following me.”

Director Li seemed to finally realize how weird his behavior was. He spoke awkwardly.

“I don’t want anything… But some time ago, I heard Director Chang say that you adjusted the number of the Mars landing colonists from three to five?”

“… Is there a problem?”

Director Li waved his hand quickly and spoke with a smile.

“No, no, no problem! I am definitely supporting you! It’s just that… The conditions on Mars are harsh, and the most important thing is safety. You know that only astronauts who have undergone strict screening and training are competent for this dangerous task. My advice is to wait until the time is right.”

The old man changed his tone.

“How about… you go to the Moon instead?”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

What the hell?

Chapter 1356: : No Need To Elope

Because of some unknown misunderstanding, Director Li thought that Lu Zhou was going to sneak on to Mars.

Lu Zhou was baffled when he realized that the misunderstanding was quite serious. Even the higher-ups were alarmed. Director Li was instructed by the president to “watch” him and make sure he wouldn’t sneak on to the colonial ship.

It took more than ten minutes to finally clarify the misunderstanding. Although Lu Zhou felt that Director Li was not completely assured, at least he finally stopped following him nervously…

The day after Xu Fu was successfully assembled…

The governments of various countries witnessed the astonishing scene at the Moon Palace, but they had yet to fully digest what had happened. A photo with a resolution far higher than the secretly captured photos by the optical observation satellites was released on the cover page of the latest issue of Everyone Daily.

That was a majestic starship.

The silver-white outer shell reflected a cold light against the background of the Moon.

The sturdy body and the two circular sections formed a dumbbell shape. The cyberpunk science fiction vibe made it look like it came out of a movie.

Because of this, when relevant reports and high-definition pictures were released on the official pages of media outlets, it immediately caused a huge sensation!

Less than half an hour after the news was released, the comments section under the post was swarmed by tens of thousands of comments. The number of likes was approaching the million mark.

“Academician Lu is nutty!!!”

“F*ck! This isn’t a CGI shot from a movie? Don’t tell me this isn’t a movie trailer!”

“Are you kidding? Why would Everyone Daily write an article on a movie? Look at the watermark on the photo! It’s from CTV!”

“My god, this is such a big spacecraft! Are we heading into the interstellar age?”

“Is it too late to sign up for Mars?”

“I haven’t even been to the Moon. I didn’t expect us to already reach Mars. I wonder if I have the opportunity to go there before I die.”

“Don’t worry, even if you don’t have a chance to go, your kids will definitely have that chance. Leave a letter for your family and ask them to take your ashes to Mars.”

Although many people had seen the concept image of the Xu Fu colonial ship that was released by the Mars landing team, the computer-generated image was obviously less shocking than the real thing!

In order to learn more about the Xu Fu colonial ship, those who were thoroughly interested in the news began to frantically search for information on the Internet.

Driven by this wave of excitement, related terms were quickly pushed onto the trending page.

An hour after Everyone Daily notified the country of the successful launch of the Xu Fu colonial ship, a video was released on the official website of the Mars landing team.

The length of the video was not very long; it was only five minutes.

This sped-up video was taken outside the Moon Palace’s cabin. It showed how the Moon Palace used eight flexible robotic arms to connect all three sets of spacecraft components in twelve hours, completing assembly, welding, and a series of complex operations.

After seeing this video, almost everyone was stunned by this amazing technology.

Most people thought it was extremely difficult to complete the docking of spacecraft components in space. However, with the help from the eight robotic arms, the difficulties didn’t seem to exist at all.

The parts were like lego blocks, easily assembled together.

Most people didn’t know how to express their feelings at this moment.

Soon, the video was reposted to major video websites, spreading along the Internet.

This time, it wasn’t just the internet users who were shocked.

All the governments that were paying attention to the progress of China’s Mars landing plan were shocked by this incredible space assembly technology, as well as the majestic Xu Fu colonial ship…

…

Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou sat in his office during his lunch break, drinking coffee while flipping through the papers in the database.

In order for a nervous old man to sleep peacefully, Lu Zhou decided to stay away as far as possible from the launch site before the start of the final launch mission.

But, to be honest, the landing plan had already reached its final stages. It didn’t matter if he was at the site or not. When the five colonists set off from the space launch site and took the Xu Fu colonial ship to Mars tens of millions of kilometers away, the people on Earth could only pray for the safety of the five warriors.

The office door was pushed open. A slim figure walked in and gently closed the door.

Lu Zhou looked up, and before he had the chance to say hello, Chen Yushan, who was approaching him, smiled and said jokingly, “I heard you’re going to Mars?”

Lu Zhou almost spat out the coffee in his mouth.

Although he could tell she was joking, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Who said that?”

“My dad.”

Chen Yushan took a chair and sat opposite Lu Zhou. She put her elbows on the desk and her hands on her cheeks. She spoke with a smile.

“He asked me to keep an eye on you so that you don’t run to Mars with some other girl.”

Who spread this rumor to my girlfriend’s family?

Lu Zhou was baffled. He shook his head.

“How is that going to happen?”

“You never know.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but roll his eyes while looking at Chen Yushan’s silly smile. He said, “Why would I go to Mars? What could be so valuable on Mars? Even if there is, someone else could go there and find it for me, not to mention—”

“Shouldn’t you say it’s because I’m on Earth?”

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan’s gentle gaze. Suddenly, he was at a loss for words.

The silence lingered for a while.

After a brief silence, Lu Zhou spoke.

“Two minutes ago, I thought that there wasn’t a treasure on Mars that was worthy enough for me to collect personally.”

“But now?”

“I think I found my treasure.” Lu Zhou said in a serious tone as he stared at Chen Yushan’s eyes, “I want to elope to Mars with you.”

Instantly, her white cheeks were stained red.

Her curious eyes turned shy. Chen Yushan glared at Lu Zhou with a blushing face and whispered in a low voice, “I thought you were unromantic… I didn’t expect you to be so charming sometimes.”

Lu Zhou sighed slightly and looked up at the ceiling.

“So… is that a rejection?”

“Of course not!”

After she said these words, she looked at Lu Zhou smiling and realized that she had just fallen into his trap.

But…

Because of the sweet feeling, she didn’t want to leave the trap.

She bit her lip and said quietly, “What I’m saying is…

“If you want, we don’t need to elope anywhere…”

Chapter 1357: Agreement

Thinking about it carefully, Lu Zhou was thirty years old.

As per the saying, “in youth we learn; in age we understand”.

In other words, it was time to consider starting a family.

Although his mother and father had stopped urging him to marry, Lu Zhou could still feel that they were far more anxious than they seemed. The reason why they didn’t say anything during phone calls was that they were worried that it might affect his career.

He could see the eagerness and willingness in her lovely eyes.

Lu Zhou stared at her teary eyes and whispered the words, “Will you marry me?”

It seemed like time had stopped at this moment.

Her white and flawless cheeks were dyed with a layer of red.

Her eyes began to tear up as she started to panic from happiness. Chen Yushan dodged Lu Zhou’s eyes and whispered in a low voice, “… Are we going too fast? We got together in December, and it hasn’t even been half a year now.”

“But we’ve known each other for nearly nine years.”

“But… if I promise you so quickly, will you… not cherish me?”

Seeing how silly Chen Yushan was being, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile as he joked, “Do I look like a bad person?”

“No…” Chen Yushan shook her head immediately, but soon, her cheeks blushed again. She said, “Sometimes.”

What is that supposed to mean?

Lu Zhou pretended not to hear the second half of the sentence. He continued to speak in a gentle tone, “Then what do you have to worry about?”

“It’s not that I’m worried… It’s just that, we should be like everyone else. We should meet our parents first, leave behind more fond memories, then finally walk into the palace of marriage.” Chen Yushan shyly lowered her head and said embarrassedly, “Then you will love me more.”

Are there different amounts of love?

Lu Zhou didn’t know the answer.

For him, Chen Yushan was his first love. Prior to this, he had no experience in this area, nor was he particularly interested in it, thus he hadn’t done any research.

However, he was able to understand the feelings of anxiety and happiness in her heart, as well as the troubles and losses from the change of identity. Once a couple entered into the palace of marriage, many things would change.

Perhaps like she said, love could only be cemented through time.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou smiled softly as he looked at the pretty face.

“How about this…

“If you’re not ready, we can get engaged first.

“By December 10th of this year, we will have been together for a full year.”

Chen Yushan had a sweet and shy look on her face as she asked quietly, “Engaged?”

“Yeah, you don’t want to?”

“No! It’s just that, in the future… does that mean I’m a fiancee?”

“Sure.”

“Fiancee…” It seemed like she had a soft spot for this word. A silly smile appeared on her face as she said, “Haha, this title… makes me feel good.”

“Then it’s settled.” Lu Zhou looked at her charming and lovely face. He smiled and stretched out his right pinky as he said, “Come on.

“Come… Pinky swear.”

“Pfft… how immature.”

Despite this, Chen Yushan happily stretched out her right pinky and hooked it tightly with Lu Zhou’s pinky.

“It’s a promise! Whoever breaks the promise has to cut off their pinky.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“Promise!”

He had never broken or regretted a promise before.

Whether it was his career or personal life.

In this empty office room, the two of them had finally made a life-long decision. They didn’t notice that there were two pairs of eyes hiding outside the office, watching what was happening inside.

They weren’t hiding per se.

However, the atmosphere in the room was so lovely that they didn’t want to disturb the couple.

Zhao Huan and Kong Jie, the two assistants, stood by the window outside the office and witnessed the whole thing. Their eyes were glowing.

Oh my god, Academician Lu is not single anymore?

No wonder he barely comes to his campus office!

This is an insane rumor!

When Kong Jie saw the two kissing each other, she quickly pulled Zhao Huan aside and quietly whispered, “Don’t tell anyone this. Academician Lu hasn’t even told us about her. I guess he doesn’t want others to disturb them.”

“Yeah!” Zhao Huan nodded earnestly as she said, “We shouldn’t spread this kind of gossip! After all, we don’t have his consent.”

While Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan exchanged vows, the two people outside the window also vowed that, unless Academician Lu or his fiancee disclosed the secret, they would not talk about it to anyone else.

If anyone broke the promise, they would go to hell.

Afterward, the assistants went to the library, whereas the couple went back home.

Then…

Everyone knew that women loved to gossip.

The next day, the entire Jin Ling University heard the news that Academician Lu was no longer single…

…

“Have you heard? Academician Lu is no longer single!”

“F*ck! Academician Lu found a significant other? Really?!”

“Of course it’s true! Apparently, his fiancee is his old classmate… The two were in his office, and some strange things happened… Even their marriage date is set!”

“What are the strange things? Explain it clearly!”

“From wearing school uniforms to wedding dresses, this is too romantic.”

“Is this true or not?! My God Lu has a partner now!”

The next afternoon at a cafeteria in Jin Ling University…

Lu Zhou stood in front of the service window as he listened to the chattering voices behind him. He didn’t even notice that he had ordered pork instead of beef.

These people…

Do they not notice their surroundings when they’re gossiping?

After rushing through his lunch, Lu Zhou was about to call Chen Yushan and ask what was going on, but his phone rang first.

He took out his phone and saw that his “fiancee” was calling.

Without hesitating, Lu Zhou immediately answered the call.

As soon as he put the phone to his ear, he heard Chen Yushan’s voice.

“Did you post something on Weibo?”

“No.” Lu Zhou said, dumbfounded, “I was going to ask if you posted on WeChat.”

Chen Yushan blushed.

“I’m too embarrassed to post that stuff on WeChat.”

Compared to the girls who liked to show public affection, she was more conservative and shy in terms of her relationship. She didn’t like showing affection to her circle of friends.

“Speaking of which, does anyone on your side know?”

Chen Yushan replied, “Well, my roommate at the University of Pennsylvania is a good friend of mine. She just called to congratulate me, saying that she thinks we are a good match…”

Her voice became quieter and quieter; Lu Zhou could barely hear her.

“Roommate at U Penn? How did this spread so fast?!”

It’s only been a day!

It hasn’t even been 24 hours! How did it spread across the Pacific Ocean?

Chen Yushan suddenly realized something as she spoke.

“Wait a second, you haven’t been on Weibo yet?”

“Weibo?”

“Yeah.” Chen Yushan, who was holding her mobile phone, nodded and said nervously, “Go and read the trending page.”

With a confused expression on his face, Lu Zhou opened the Weibo app.

The moment he saw the trending page, he froze.

Chapter 1358: The Grumpy Old Man

Lu Zhou’s original plan, everything from the engagement to the wedding was going to be carried out in a low-key manner. Apart from the people they knew, it was best not to disturb anyone.

The two people were going to walk into the wedding venue quietly, exchange rings and vows in the name of love and under the blessings of their friends and relatives, then kiss each other and live a happy married life.

However, some parts of the plan went wrong; the news was leaked to the outside world.

The news of the engagement was almost like a hurricane. It spread through the entire campus at an incredible speed, then spread to the entire academic world.

Then, just like always…

He was on the trending page again.

Not only were his private messages and mentions stuck at 99+, but even his secret account was found and endlessly tagged by netizens.

Various anonymous and non-anonymous “insiders” all came out and began to tell stories from the first and third-person perspectives, gossiping about the story between the two.

The information-gathering ability of these fans was quite impressive. From the two people studying together in the library back in the day to studying abroad and attending the Nobel Prize dinner together, almost everything was dug up. There were even a bunch of false stories that were added.

Sometimes when Lu Zhou read too much gossip, he himself even couldn’t help but wonder whether those stories were true.

Driven by this gossip trend, the term “Professor Lu is single” soon appeared on the trending page, the popularity had even surpassed the Mars landing plan.

Before the relevant state departments began to control the spread, the number of discussions on Weibo alone had exceeded 80 million.

Faced with such a response from the public, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t want any of this to happen.

Even though he wanted to keep a low-profile, his fame did not allow him to do so.

However, although this gossip caused him a lot of headaches, one thing made him happy.

In Lu Zhou’s opinion, his fame alone was not enough for him to attract so many people’s attention to his engagement.

After all, he was not a celebrity; he was just a scholar who focused on his research career.

The reason things turned out this way…

Was probably because of the jealousy coming from his fans…

…

He could no longer stay on campus. When he ate at the cafeteria, he could hear the young students talking about him.

After some considerations, Lu Zhou temporarily moved his work location from Jin Ling University to the aerospace launch site.

It just so happened that the last launch mission was about to begin.

As the chief designer of the Mars landing plan, this was his focus of work during this period.

However, just before Lu Zhou moved his workplace, a person unexpectedly followed his footsteps to his office.

“You little… Lu Zhou! When did I agree to let you marry my daughter?”

The entire internet was enthusiastically gossiping, so it obviously didn’t escape the ears of the families involved.

Lu Zhou looked at the angry old man in front of him. His heart dropped to his stomach. He got up from his office chair and greeted him with a smile.

“Uncle Chen Baohua, come sit down, I’ll get you some tea.”

Regardless of career status, the father-in-law obviously had power over his daughter.

Lu Zhou was in the wrong here.

Lu Zhou walked to the side and poured some tea. Chen Baohua sat down on the sofa. His anger finally calmed down a bit. He was not as aggressive as when he first entered the door.

After all, he was a person who worked at a government agency, so he was relatively intelligent. Even though the two decided on such a big life-long event without him and made him feel irritated as a father, Lu Zhou’s polite attitude satisfied him.

Of course, it was also probably because Lu Zhou’s status was quite different than most people.

He didn’t even realize that, when facing this world-renowned scholar, his confidence had dropped much more than he had imagined.

Two cups of tea were brought to the table.

Lu Zhou sat on the opposite sofa. He looked at the old man drinking tea and spoke.

“Um… Uncle Chen Baohua, there is something I have to apologize to you.”

“Oh, so you want to apologize to me?” Chen Baohua smiled and said, “So you two still remember me? Getting engaged without even telling us, that’s a bit unreasonable.”

“You’re mistaken, we wanted to come over to see you, it’s just that we didn’t have enough time.” Lu Zhou sighed and explained sincerely, “The engagement… was only a private agreement between her and me. It wasn’t a formal procedure. I don’t know how, but it was overheard by someone, then it started to spread.”

After hearing these words, Chen Baohua, who was originally calm, suddenly became angry.

“What is that supposed to mean? You’re saying the engagement isn’t official? You were lying to my little girl?”

“I wasn’t—”

“Listen here, don’t think that just because you’re an academician you can do whatever you want. I… am her father! If you dare to disappoint my daughter, we’re going to have a problem!”

“Of course, of course, let me explain the reason to you.” Lu Zhou looked at Uncle Chen Baohua and said, “What I mean is, we decided on the engagement in private. After preparing the formal engagement procedures in Jinling, then we were going to go to Beijing together to explain the situation to you in person at your home. But, no one expected the news to spread so quickly.”

After listening to Lu Zhou’s explanation, Chen Baohua finally realized that the matter was not what he had imagined. He had misunderstood the situation. An awkward expression appeared on his face.

In fact, as a father, he was quite liberal.

Regardless of the choice his daughter made regarding marriage and family, he would support her decision. The only thing he worried about was that she was being cheated or bullied by someone.

Generally speaking, he was quite satisfied with this son-in-law.

After snorting proudly, Chen Baohua put on a serious expression and nodded reluctantly.

“Well, okay…”

Lu Zhou was dumbfounded, he looked at the grumpy old man and spoke.

“So does that mean… you agree?”

“Of course I agree! Why wouldn’t I agree?” Chen Baohua said proudly as he stared at Lu Zhou who was sitting across the sofa, “But if you want to have your fun and leave, I’ll tell you now that is not going to happen.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What?

At first, he thought the old man was opposed to the marriage, but it turned out the old man was easily convinced.

Now it seemed like they didn’t have to elope.

Lu Zhou sighed in relief. He reached out and picked up the teacup. He sipped some tea to moisturize his dry throat.

However, Chen Baohua, who was sitting across from the sofa, suddenly coughed and spoke.

“So, when are you guys going to have kids?”

Lu Zhou almost spat out the tea he had just drunk. He put down the teacup with a dry cough, raised his arm, and wiped the corner of his mouth before speaking.

“This… Still depends on Yushan. Marriage is something between two people, it is hard for me to make a decision alone. However, I think that having children right after marriage is a bit too soon. Maybe after a month or two—”

“You can’t let her decide!” Chen Baohua interrupted Lu Zhou and said immediately, “When this marriage is official, have a child as soon as possible! I want to hold my grandson within a year, that’s not an outrageous request, is it?”

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Baohua. He was dumbfounded.

This was ridiculous.

One second ago, the old man asked him fiercely why he stole his daughter without saying anything, and the next, he started to urge them to have a child.

This turn of events really caught him off guard.

Besides, having a child wasn’t that simple.

Lu Zhou didn’t know how to respond to this strange request.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t object yet, Chen Baohua thought Lu Zhou had finally listened to his advice. He nodded with approval and stood up from the sofa.

“Well, that’s that. I won’t disturb your work any longer.

“By the way, don’t tell Yushan what happened today, just act like nothing happened. When your work here is over, come to Beijing with her. Her mother wants to see you. She’s been pestering me for a long time.”

“Okay…”

Even though he doubted whether his acting skills could fool Chen Yushan, under Chen Baohua’s trusting gaze, Lu Zhou decided that he would try his best…

Chapter 1359: Board and Set Sail!

Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away on the Moon Palace, an aerospaceplane shaped like a bird slowly approached the towering fortress.

The alloy round tube acted as a gateway to the Moon Palace. It was inserted into the open connection port on the side of the Starlight, docking successfully.

The alloy tube began to be filled with air.

As the alloy door panels on both sides opened, six astronauts in spacesuits grabbed the handrails on both sides of the corridor and moved slowly across the gateway. They entered the buffer room of the Moon Palace.

Liang Youcheng stopped at the buffer room and looked at the Moon outside the porthole with a trace of fascination in his eyes.

“On Earth, I’ve heard about how, standing on the Moon Palace, you can see the ILHCRC collider and the Guanghan Special Economic Zone.”

“Definitely can’t see it standing here.” Captain Xu Zhenghong, who was in charge of sending the five astronauts to the Moon, walked to the side of Liang Youcheng and said with a smile, “But maybe if you wait another hour.”

“Have you been to Guanghan City?”

“Been twice.”

“What’s it like there?”

“Its development is fast!” Xu Zhenghong looked at the Moon outside the porthole and said, “I remember when I went there for the first time to send supplies. Back then, there was nothing on it, only one lonely scientific research station with a few research workers stationed there. My deputy and I even doubted whether they could survive with so little supplies.”

Liang Youcheng then asked, “What about the next time?”

“The next time was for 4.27 tons of lunar ore, 50 kilograms of wheat, corn, potatoes, and some biological reagents and scientific research specimens produced on the Moon… I remember very clearly because I personally counted those goods.”

Xu Zhenghong had a smirk on his face as he said, “The current Guanghan Special Economic Zone relies on the lunar ice below the surface to independently produce fresh water and oxygen, to cultivate space crops inside the plant growth units. They can even produce rare earth minerals. I heard that there is now a space hotel open to reservations from ordinary tourists, but it is still relatively expensive.”

“I really want to take a look if I can.”

“You’ll get an opportunity.” Xu Zhenghong said with a smile, “Your team seems to change every three years. When you return from Mars next time, I’ll probably be the one taking you home. I will take you to Guanghan City then.”

Liang Youcheng smiled and stretched out his fist.

“Good, then you better be here when I come back.”

“Of course I will.” Xu Zhenghong smiled and fist bumped Liang Youcheng. He said, “You should be careful over there. Don’t make any mistakes.”

“Don’t worry.” Liang Youcheng said with a faint smile, “I promise all of the astronauts will return home alive and well.”

…

The turmoil surrounding the engagement did not last long.

Gossip was like the wind; it would come and go in waves, and everyone would eventually forget about it.

A few days later, other celebrities would get married or broken up. Soon, the netizens began to gossip on some other news.

As the “day of departure” became closer, Professor Lu’s personal life was obviously less worth talking about than the mission of all of mankind.

The last day of March.

Under the much-anticipated expectations, the colonists of the Mars landing project finally appeared in the public eye.

For various reasons, the Mars landing office did not announce the identities of the colonists who went to Mars this time.

It wasn’t until the five people successfully arrived at the Moon Palace hundreds of thousands of kilometers away and right before they were about to enter the Xu Fu colonial ship did their names and photos were finally announced.

What surprised people was that in the initial Mars landing plan published by the Mars landing office, there were only three colonists mentioned in the text.

Because of this matter, many people on the Internet discussed that the Mars landing office was actually imitating NASA’s “New Virginia” plan.

However, the first batch of people had changed from three to five.

This sudden change surprised those who were paying attention to the Mars landing project, as well as NASA.

After all, bringing one more person to Mars was not as simple as adding an extra seat to the spacecraft. This not only required the artificial ecosystem deployed on the surface of Mars to have a higher capacity, but it also meant that the colonial ship had to carry extra supplies that could cover two more people.

From a technology standpoint, this was not an easy task.

Also, coupled with the fact that the Mars landing itself was an attention-grabbing event, people couldn’t help but relate it to international politics.

Only a few years ago, NASA almost brought a dangerous Mars bacteria back to Earth, which almost caused a serious ecological crisis. Even now, there was still an astronaut on the Lunar Scientific Research Station that was still in a coma due to the virus.

There were exactly three astronauts on the BFS spacecraft sent by NASA to Mars, and now China suddenly announced that they would increase the number of people on the Mars landing project from three to five. It was easy for the public to form political conspiracies.

Many people regarded it as a challenge from China to North America’s aerospace field.

Some people even interpreted it as a high-profile announcement by China that they had won the race for the future of mankind.

This result was completely beyond Lu Zhou’s expectation; it even made him a little dumbfounded.

He swore that this was not his intention.

In the beginning, having three people to board the ship was because there would be one captain, one deputy, and one substitute. Three people just happened to be enough for most of the initial exploration work.

The reason why the timeline was shortened and the number of astronauts was changed to five people was for the system rewards. He would be able to gain more experience points this way.

He didn’t expect the experts in international relations to brainwash the excited netizens and interpret this in so many ways. Not only was Lu Zhou dumbfounded, Director Li and Director Chang were also flabbergasted after they heard about the situation.

Because there were too many people paying attention to this news, in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, the Mars landing office held a press conference to publicly respond and clarify these false rumors.

However, once they tried to clarify themselves, people thought that there must be some hidden secrets and messages behind it.

On Twitter.

The official account of CNN News reported on the live interview of the press conference.

The reply section completely exploded.

“China is trying to provoke us!”

“How dare they… How dare they!”

“We should restart our Mars landing plan immediately!”

“That’s right! If they send five people, then we will send ten people!”

“…”

Of course, there were many rational voices amidst the excitement of the community.

In addition to those who were clamoring about restarting the Mars landing program, many people were also opposed to the Mars landing plan. They believed that the White House should focus more on the Lunar Gateway project. They should then follow the footsteps of the Chinese and try to catch up on the Moon.

In fact, this was correct.

Even now, NASA had not completely cleared up the mess left by the last Mars landing plan; they had yet to recover from the New Virginia disaster.

Regardless of whether or not their limited resources were focused on the exploration and development of the Moon, now was not a good time to restart the Mars landing plan.

However, if they did nothing, it would undoubtedly damage their approval rate and support from the White House.

America was the pride of Americans.

They had maintained this pride for half a century.

In any case, this was not something that could be dealt with carelessly.

Chapter 1360: End This Race

1600, Pennsylvania Avenue.

It was a busy scene here since the early morning.

Thanks to the Chinese people, the persistent journalists, the representatives of civil organizations, and lawmakers had been making things difficult for them. As if this would solve the problem.

However, this wasn’t what distressed the White House.

After the completion of the Earth-Moon economic integration strategy based on the Moon Palace and the establishment of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone, they had been completely left behind.

Before this, they were able to compete with China in the aerospace field, but now, it had developed to the point where they were powerless.

To put it bluntly, due to the controllable fusion technology and plasma propulsion technology, the breathing room left for chemical rockets was very, very small. They did not lose in strategy, they were simply stuck in a technology bottleneck.

But, in any case, losing was losing.

Anyone could see that they had been unable to continue the competition in this space race. The most important thing now was not how to win, but how to end in a saving-face manner.

“The latest news from the China National Space Administration… They announced the road map of the Mars colonization program to the United Nations and the International Space Organization, intending to build a 200-person permanent settlement on Mars within five years. This will be used for scientific research and exploration activities.

“In addition, according to the latest information from the Arizona Observatory, the Xu Fu colonial ship has successfully left the Earth-Moon system and continues to operate according to its current trajectory. It will reach Mars orbit at the earliest on the 14th.”

The President listened to the endless reports from his subordinates. He was sitting behind his desk, rubbing his sore eyebrow with his index finger and thumb.

Since taking office as the president, he had lost countless nights of sleep for his country.

Among the many presidents in the history of the United States, no president had been as stressful as him.

If there ever was, it would definitely be the next president in office.

“Keep paying attention… Apart from waiting for the news from Lunar Gateway, there is nothing we can do for the time being.”

After hearing these words, Director Carson, who was standing in the office, had an awkward expression on his face. He pretended not to hear him and looked to the side.

Concerned about the President’s negative attitude, the Secretary of State frowned and said, “It’s not a good idea to do nothing. Judging from the current state of public opinion, the people have already expressed dissatisfaction with our indifference. I am worried that this will continue…”

The President said impatiently, “Do you have any good ideas?”

“I can’t say it’s a good idea, but… I think it’s at least a remedy.”

“Oh, really?”

“Although many Americans are unwilling to admit, in fact, we have lost the competition.” The Secretary of State glanced at Director Carson and said, “The lunar scientific research station and the ILHCRC collider have won the support from the international academic community. It is impractical for us to delay their economic development through the space race.”

After a moment of silence, the Secretary of State continued, “We can’t continue to drag on passively like this.

“My suggestion is to end this meaningless race as soon as possible so that our relationship can return to normal. If we can’t beat them, then we should join them.”

The office was dead silent.

Although this was the best choice, the courage required to make such a choice was beyond the capabilities of most politicians.

Perhaps it was a wrong decision to start this competition at all.

But it was too late now.

Someone had to stand up and step on the brakes for this reckless train.

After a long silence, the President finally sighed and spoke slowly.

“You’re right.

“It’s time to end everything.”

When Director Carson heard the President say those words, he instantly felt like he was back to being a teenager.

But in any case, Carson was relieved when he heard this.

Before coming here, what he worried the most was that the President would stubbornly carry on the competition and arbitrarily implement a Mars landing plan. All of the problems would be thrown onto him.

If this had happened, it would be a disaster for the United States.

Fortunately, the President was still reasonable. And it was not too late to step on the brakes.

“We need an opportunity to repair our political relations. Something that is acceptable to the people of both countries and also gives us an opportunity to step down.”

Now that the decision had been made, there was nothing to hesitate over.

The President regained a confident expression on his face.

The Secretary of State was satisfied to see that his boss had made the right choice. He nodded with a relaxed expression and spoke.

“Yes, we need an opportunity. The award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies was a good opportunity; it’s a pity that it was rejected by Lu Zhou.”

After a pause, he continued, “However, although Lu Zhou himself can’t come, I heard that his student is going to Boston in April to attend the conference of the International Union of Materials Research Societies in place of him at the meeting, and she will report on Lu Zhou’s paper.”

The President frowned and said, “A successful scholar has many students. This is normal.”

“But there is always someone special, such as Ms. Han Mengqi.” The Secretary of State had a confident smile on his face. He continued, “According to the information we investigated, she is Chen Yushan’s cousin. And that Ms. Chen Yushan is, needless to say, the one who has gotten engaged to Lu Zhou some time ago. According to China’s culture, Academician Lu is now Han Mengqi’s brother-in-law.”

The President looked at the Secretary of State weirdly and hesitated.

“We can’t… give her the Annual Union Award.”

“Of course not! Never would the International Union of Materials Research Societies do such a ridiculous thing, but… the International Union of Materials Research Societies can find a substitute, such as setting up an award for her specifically, such as the International Progressive Young Scholars Award.”

The Secretary of State showed a smile on his face and continued with a confident tone, “Then, we can use this opportunity to invite her and other winners to a dinner at the White House, where the Chinese ambassador will be there.

“And if the Chinese side wants to repair their relationship with us.

“Everything will be much easier.”

Chapter 1361: From Now on, You Finally Have a Home

Xu Fu had left the Earth-Moon system, carrying the expectations of hundreds of millions of people, heading toward the red desert tens of millions of kilometers away.

While the future of the global aerospace industry was taken away by this majestic starship, a major event happened in the physics community.

After the ILHCRC committee meeting and the election of the new chairman, Lu Zhou, the previous chairman of the ILHCRC, stood on the podium in the conference hall as scheduled. He faced the representatives of various countries, directors, and well-known physicists as he read out his retirement speech.

During his speech, Lu Zhou expressed an optimistic vision for the future of physics. He believed that this field would usher into unprecedented prosperity in the next 100 years and radiate this prosperity to every corner of human society.

However, this optimism did not diminish the unwillingness that permeated the venue.

Even though Lu Zhou expressed more than once a long time ago that he would only serve as the chairman of the board of directors for one term, when he finally resigned, people could not help but feel nostalgic. They thought of the incredible miracles Lu Zhou had once led ILHCRC to accomplish.

Even Professor Whittle, who had had differences with him during his entire tenure, couldn’t help but feel sad for his departure.

This was how people are.

They would never know what they had until it was gone.

At this moment, Professor Whittle finally understood what an old friend said: It is a blessing to have a wise leader guide the way.

From this day onward, they were on their own.

Almost everyone listened to his speech with a heavy heart, finally giving a solemn applause.

There was no excitement in the applause. It was slow and heavy, like at someone’s funeral.

“… Please don’t feel downhearted, you’re all making me embarrassed.”

As Lu Zhou looked at the faces of the audience, he felt like letting this despairing sentiment continue might not be a good thing for his successor, Luo Wenxuan.

So he coughed lightly, then made a brief summary and conclusion of his speech. He then gave the microphone to Luo Wenxuan and walked off the stage quickly.

The pressure Luo Wenxuan felt when he took over the microphone was enormous. However, the moment Lu Zhou walked off stage, he felt a sense of indescribable relaxation and calmness.

Although there were still many responsibilities on his shoulders, at least the heaviest one had come to an end.

After the final handover on the ILHCRC was finally completed, Lu Zhou took advantage of the free time he had while the Xu Fu was still on its way to Mars. He was finally able to free up time to deal with some personal issues.

After leaving Shanghai, Lu Zhou did not return to Jinling. Instead, he took Chen Yushan to his hometown, Jiangling, and told his parents the big decision that they had made.

To Lu Zhou’s surprise, he originally thought that after hearing the news, even if his father and mother weren’t astonished, they would at least feel slightly amazed.

However, the reality was completely opposite to what he expected. Not only did his parents look relieved, they even looked a little emotional.

Fang Mei sighed slightly.

“Actually, your dad and I noticed a long time ago… We just feel sorry for the poor girl who has to put up with you.” After that, she looked at Chen Yushan, who was blushing. Fang Mei smiled kindly and said, “Yushan, ever since Lu Zhou was a little kid, he has been a straightforward person. He thinks about problems and things straightforwardly, and sometimes he might be offensive, but I can assure you that his heart is still very kind.”

After hearing this, Lu Zhou suddenly became unhappy.

“Mom, what are you talking about, why am I offensive?”

Everyone from the Jinling launch site to the Jin Ling University loved to hear his speeches, and there was no scientific proof that he was offensive at all.

Chen Yushan looked at her mother-in-law with a kind smile. She blushed and said, “It’s fine… Although he is a bit straightforward sometimes, I still like him.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I understand, you don’t need to explain to me.” Fang Mei said with a smile, “His father and I also went through the same thing.”

This time, Old Lu was the one who was unhappy.

“How is it the same thing? Am I like my son? When I was his age—”

“Okay, enough, enough. You were a charming prince back then… How about you go to the market and buy a fish for your son and daughter-in-law. Speaking of which, you’re drinking tonight, right? Remember to buy two pounds of pig trotters, it’ll pair well with the drinks.”

Old Lu suddenly stopped talking. He happily put on his shoes and went out to buy groceries.

Chen Yushan smiled at Fang Mei and spoke.

“Auntie, I can help you in the kitchen.”

“Oh, no need, just keep me company if you want. I can handle it alone.” Seeing how kind her daughter-in-law was being, Fang Mei began to smile.

“Mom, I can help too.”

Seeing how everyone had tasks to do, Lu Zhou was embarrassed to stand around doing nothing; he wanted to find something to do himself. However, his wife shut him down.

“There’s no way three people can fit in the kitchen. Stop messing around, just wait in the living room!”

Seeing how defeated Lu Zhou looked, Chen Yushan couldn’t help but smirk. She secretly stuck her tongue out at him, then followed Fang Mei triumphantly into the kitchen…

…

That night, Lu Zhou’s mother, Fang Mei, cooked an entire table of delicious dishes. The family sat and ate together; the atmosphere was so lively it was almost like it was Chinese New Year.

It was rare for Old Lu to drink alcohol without being berated by his wife, so he took out the good spirits he had treasured for a long time and placed it on the table generously.

Normally, he only drank a small cup at a time, but this time, he was much more generous, pouring his son one shot after another.

Because of this, even though he had not been drunk for many years, he was totally plastered.

“… When you win the Fields Prize, I didn’t get drunk. When you won the Nobel Prize, I didn’t get drunk either. But it seems like today will be different,” Old Lu said. “Your father is getting old.”

“You’re not even sixty yet.”

“Fifties is not young either… You were just a little kid back then, sitting on a stool with your legs dangling, but now, you are taller than me.” Old Lu stared at the ceiling, as if he was thinking of something funny. He suddenly smirked and said, “The times were different back then. I still remember that when your mother wasn’t paying attention, I secretly gave you a sip of wine. After that, you wobbled around, and you could barely stand up.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What kind of dad does that?

He didn’t even know that he had such a dark childhood.

“Pfft…”

Chen Yushan didn’t think her fiance could still be so… cute as a child. Her shoulders began to shake as she laughed, and her stomach almost started to hurt. She pretended to cough and buried her face under the table.

Fang Mei thought she was choking. Feeling concerned, she patted her back with concern. Then, she brought her a cup of hot water from the side.

“Eat slowly, be careful.”

“No… I’m fine, auntie.”

“You’re not fine at all, you’re choking.”

After downing the shot, Lu Bangguo reached out his hand toward his flask. However, instead of grabbing the flask, he grabbed the soy sauce bottle instead. If it weren’t for Lu Zhou, he would have filled up his shot glass with soy sauce.

Lu Zhou took the soy sauce bottle from his father and sighed.

“Dad, you’re drunk, take it easy.”

“Oh, come on, how many has it been?”

“… If I’m correct, this is your seventeenth shot.”

“What? Only seven shots. Your dad isn’t drunk at all… No wonder you’re a mathematician, you’re so good at counting.”

Lu Zhou smiled and didn’t say anything.

Even though Lu Zhou didn’t particularly like drinking, he had always been a heavyweight.

Naturally, this was inherited from his father. However, it was also probably because the system had helped him strengthen his metabolic function. Sometimes, when he drank too much, he did feel dizzy like a normal person, but as long as he went to the toilet and drank some water, he would be okay.

“Do you know what makes your dad the happiest?”

Lu Zhou held the kettle and filled his dad’s cup with warm water as he replied, “That I finally fulfilled your old man’s wish and came back with a wife?”

“You’re wrong, son.” Old Lu shook his head and continued with a serious expression, “Your wife isn’t the most important.”

“Oh?” Lu Zhou said casually, “Then what is important?”

“The important thing is… After spending so many years away from home, you finally have a home.”

Is there any difference between the two?

Lu Zhou silently took a sip of the spirit in the glass while he looked at his old man sipping warm water…

After thinking for a while, he still couldn’t understand what his old man was talking about.

Whatever, who cares…

Chapter 1362: I'm Regretful

At night time, the couple stayed at Lu Zhou’s house.

Lu Zhou slept in his room, while Chen Yushan stayed in Xiao Tong’s room. Over the years, Lu Zhou and his sister had been away from home all year round, but Fang Mei had been keeping their rooms tidy.

According to her, if her children came back someday, she wanted them to have a place to stay.

The next morning…

After eating breakfast, Lu Zhou took Chen Yushan around his hometown to take a look at the place where he grew up.

Even though she had been to Jiangling before, she only stayed for a few days and didn’t take a close look at the peaceful little town near the river.

From the kindergarten he once studied at to his high school, Lu Zhou took her to see all of the places where he made his memories.

Speaking of this, a minor disturbance happened.

When Lu Zhou returned to his high school, he saw a sculpture of him near the gate. This statue seemed to have been made by the school leaders when he had just returned to China to lead the controllable fusion project, where the school asked him for a donation.

Lu Zhou still remembered clearly that he resolutely rejected the sculpture back then.

However, he didn’t know if there was funding left over or if the local leaders wanted to please him, the statue was eventually built after many setbacks.

Chen Yushan was secretly laughing aside. Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed looking at his statue. He turned around and wanted to leave, but he was recognized by the guard at the door.

Then…

The entire school was alerted of this. Even the Director of Education and the leaders of the city council committee were alarmed. They canceled their meetings and rushed over.

Lu Zhou was a little dumbfounded by the chaos in front of him. He just wanted to take his fiancee to take a look at his old high school. He didn’t want to disturb the studies of the young students.

In the end, he couldn’t keep pushing back the enthusiasm of the local villagers. Lu Zhou went on stage and gave a half-hour impromptu speech to the young students before he could finally escape.

Just like this, the couple spent three leisurely days in Jiangling where Lu Zhou reminisced over his youthful years. Afterward, Lu Zhou took Chen Yushan to Beijing.

She had met his parents already.

This time, it was time for him to meet her parents.

In a gated community on the edge of the 2nd Ring Road, most of the people who lived here were cadres’ families, who worked in ministries and commissions.

An old man stood at the gate of the community wearing a military coat. He recognized Lu Zhou’s face, so he let Lu Zhou in without making him register his name.

Normally, everyone had to register before entering the gated community, even if they were brought in by a resident. However, who didn’t know who Academician Lu was?

Whether it was out of respect or something else, the security guard didn’t ask him to sign in.

The couple entered the community quietly. They came to the door of Chen Yushan’s house and rang the doorbell.

There were footstep sounds coming from behind the door, and soon, the door was opened.

Chen Baohua looked at Lu Zhou standing at the door. He paused for a second, then spoke with a warm smile on his face.

“Yushan, why are you suddenly here? You should have told me in advance. You even brought Academician Lu home… Come on in.”

Chen Baohua invited the two into the living room. Chen Baohua gave Lu Zhou a strange look, as if this was the first time he had met Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou felt like Chen Baohua was a bit nervous, but he went along the flow.

Just like in his own home, Lu Zhou was welcomed by Chen Yushan’s family and stayed in the guest room at night.

Lu Zhou put his clothes into the basket and then into the washing machine. He yawned and returned to the guest room, only to find that Chen Yushan, who should have been asleep, was sitting on his bed in her pajamas with a suspicious look on her face.

Before Lu Zhou could ask what was going on, she took the initiative first.

“Is there something you and my dad are hiding from me?”

“It’s that obvious?”

“I noticed it immediately, okay? Wow, so you are hiding something!”

Chen Yushan was pouting like a little girl. Lu Zhou had a powerless expression on his face as he said, “It’s not a big deal. But if you are curious, I can tell you.”

“Tell me now! Or I will have to use torture to extract a confession.”

Lu Zhou wanted to confess the whole story, but when he heard this, he almost changed his mind.

He was curious what kind of torture could pry his mouth open.

After some hesitation, Lu Zhou chose not to mess around.

“When we just got engaged, your father… That is, my father-in-law, secretly came to Jinling.”

“He went to Jinling?” Chen Yushan said with a surprised expression on her face, “But… Why haven’t I heard him mention anything?”

Lu Zhou: “I said he came secretly, how is it a secret if he tells you?”

Chen Yushan frowned; she was baffled.

“But… Why did he hide it from me?”

Lu Zhou said casually, “Probably afraid that you will overthink. But he was also worried that his little daughter was deceived by some handsome guy, so he came over to confront me alone.”

Chen Yushan thought about it carefully; this was indeed something that her father would do.

Chen Yushan had a worried expression on her face. She looked at him and whispered, “He didn’t say anything offensive to you, right?”

Lu Zhou: “No, he was just a little angry that we made such a big decision and didn’t tell him, but the misunderstanding was quickly clarified. Then he asked me to treat you well and don’t let you down. Also, the next time I come to Beijing with you, to pretend that I was meeting him for the first time.”

“Pfft… First time… He has seen you several times before.”

Lu Zhou shrugged helplessly.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Actually, my dad’s quite adorable.”

Perhaps it was because of the silence of the night…

The conversation suddenly ended, and the atmosphere between the two people suddenly fell into silence; everything felt so natural.

Lu Zhou pondered for a long time before suddenly speaking, “I suddenly regret doing it.”

Chen Yushan’s body was tense. She asked in a quiet voice, “Regret doing what?”

“Just ask me the question again.”

“What question?”

“The one just now.”

Chen Yushan frowned and thought about it for a while. She then said in an uncertain tone, “… He didn’t say anything offensive to you… Is that it?”

“He was offensive.” Lu Zhou nodded solemnly. He looked at her and said seriously, “So, how are you going to make it up to me?”

Chen Yushan was taken aback for a moment, then her cheeks flushed. She reached out angrily and punched him on the shoulder.

“Stupid a*s…

“My parents are here… Can’t you… restrain yourself?”

Although I can be quiet…

But it will feel too weird!

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Seeing how Lu Zhou suddenly stopped speaking, Chen Yushan, who mentally prepared herself, couldn’t help but ask in a quiet voice, “What’s the matter with you? You’re not angry over this, right?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and spoke.

“No, I’m not angry. Just a bit surprised. I just wanted you to buy me milk tea tomorrow, I didn’t expect your reaction to be so extreme… If you don’t want to, it’s fine.”

“…”

For some reason, when Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou’s face, she wanted to slap him.

Chapter 1363: The Millions of Kilometers Journey

“Where are you from?”

“Hubei.”

“Hubei? In the same city as Academician Lu?”

“No, he is from Jiangling, I am Jiangcheng, a bit different.”

“Jiangcheng, I see…” There was a trace of reminiscing in Liang Youcheng’s eyes. He spoke nostalgically, “I remember the spicy dry noodles there were delicious.”

Han Kangyu thought for a bit. His expression remained the same as he spoke.

“It’s alright, I like the tofu.”

Sixteen days had passed since the Xu Fu colonial ship departed. After more than two weeks of sailing, they were getting closer and closer to their destination.

This also meant that the distance between them and their hometowns was getting farther and farther.

Over the past two days, most of the conversation they had was about their hometowns.

Liang Youcheng never thought that he would miss his hometown so much.

When he was on Earth, he didn’t appreciate many things. It wasn’t until the moment when Xu Fu left the gravitational restraint of the Earth-Moon system did he suddenly realize that he had so many things he had yet to experience on Earth, and that living on Earth was much more pleasurable.

There was a stomach grumbling sound.

“What kind of tofu? Is it good?”

This person’s name was Fan Tong[1]. Although the name was easy to be misunderstood, by the fact that he was sitting on this colonial ship, he was obviously not a lazy person.

With a PhD in planetary geology from the Institute of Aerospace Studies at Jinling University, his supervisor’s research on planetary geology was among the best in the world.

Just like the bioengineer named Ming Wenzhe, they were temporarily advanced from the second batch to the first batch of crew members because of their outstanding performance in training. Because they did not train in Biosphere A, these two and the other three crew members had only recently just met.

Han Kangyu looked at him and began to reminisce. He thought for a few seconds before speaking.

“Dried spiced seeds, bamboo shoots, lean meat, and dried shiitake mushrooms. Fry them, then put on fried tofu covered with glutinous rice, brush with a layer of vegetable oil, then fry on high heat until golden. Each bite is full of flavor… It’s a staple of Jiangcheng, usually eaten for breakfast.”

Now, everyone’s stomach was grumbling.

Captain Liang Youcheng and the four crew members all began to salivate.

Over the past few days, they basically only ate liquid food. Even though the taste was not unpleasant, it was not as delicious as freshly cooked food on earth.

There was finally a pause. Han Kangyu said with a sigh, “Ah, I’m getting hungry just talking about it.”

“Then stop talking about it.” Ming Wenzhe immediately interrupted him and said, “I’m getting hungry too.”

Fan Tong quickly nodded his head, even though he was the one who brought up this conversation.

Han Kangyu smiled and stopped talking.

Soon, he realized that talking about food was a stupid decision. They were in space, millions of kilometers away from Earth. Liquid food was already enough of a torture, but now, it tasted even worse.

“Hubei is the southernmost place I’ve been to in my life,” said Liang Youcheng. He looked at the deep and gloomy starry sky outside the porthole and reminisced about the food emotionally. “I didn’t expect that, this time, I’m so far away from home.”

This made people fall into silence.

For a moment, the entire cabin became quiet.

“We will arrive in an hour or so.” Liang Youcheng stood up from the space chair and glanced at the wrist-mounted computer. He carefully moved his stiff limbs, then looked at his deputy Han Kangyu. “I’ll go wait at the cockpit.”

“Do you need my help?”

“No, I can handle it alone, you can do whatever you want.”

After hearing the captain’s words, Han Kangyu nodded and did not follow him.

Because of Xu Fu’s single function, it didn’t need to engage in other complex space activities. Xu Fu had a high degree of automation; tasks such as take-off and landing could be completed by AI.

Most of the time, sitting in the cockpit consisted of staring at the same scenery outside the window and being aware of the rarest accidents. Therefore, there was no reason to have two people in the cockpit.

The people in the cabin returned to their seats and put on their seatbelts.

They waited quietly for about twenty minutes in silence. They felt a slight sense of trembling; the dark deep sky outside the portholes finally had a touch of color that they had never seen before.

There was a smudge of red light.

Its surface exuded a cloud of lifeless dust, like the air left alone in the corner of a warehouse.

“It’s so beautiful…”

“Yeah, it is beautiful… I heard that billions of years ago, the ecosystem there was more lushful than on Earth, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

“It’s neither true nor false, it’s just a conjecture.” Fan Tong said, “The specific answers depend on whether we can dig into the stratum formed billions of years ago and find fossils to prove this.”

While the astronauts in the cabin were chatting, the planet outline in the distance gradually became clearer.

Compared to Earth, its volume was a little smaller, but compared to the tiny Xu Fu, its size was shocking.

The cockpit door opened.

Liang Youcheng had put on his spacesuit in the cabin. He walked out with a black tablet in his hand.

“Half an hour before we enter Mars orbit.

“Communication resources are precious. Everyone will have time for only one sentence. They can say anything, whether it’s to relatives or friends… Who is going first?”

The people in the cabin looked at each other; no one wanted to go first.

Seeing how no one said anything, Fan Tong suggested in a low voice, “Should we roll a dice?”

“There’s no gravity nor dice here… How about by age? Start with the oldest.”

“Okay! Enough, stop wasting time.” Liang Youcheng couldn’t stand it anymore. He reached out and entered the password on the tablet. He said, “If no one wants to, I will go first. Someone else can go next. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

The captain was going first, so naturally, no one had any objections.

The pairs of eyes all fell on Liang Youcheng’s body.

Everyone was quietly waiting for him to speak, to pass the news of victory tens of millions of kilometers away back to the blue mother star.

Liang Youcheng felt the heavy responsibility. He knew how important this moment was. He went silent for a long time.

He obviously had a lot to say, but he couldn’t find the right words.

He took a deep breath.

He finally made a decision and pressed the button to start recording.

Then he spoke.

“Dad, Mom… We have arrived safely.”

[1] TN: Name is similar to a slang for someone that is lazy

Chapter 1364: Arrived On Mars!

Although Mars was close by, it was too early to start celebrating victory now.

Soon, the moment Xu Fu made contact with the gravitational field of Mars, it would endure its most difficult test since it set sail.

Unlike other smaller spacecraft, it was not an easy task to accelerate or decelerate this large and complex colonial ship.

Especially deceleration.

If the speed was too low, they would not be able to catch up with Mars. If the speed was too fast, they could pass directly through the gravitational field of Mars. The window period for Xu Fu to decelerate was small. They must reduce the speed so that they could be caught by the gravitational field of Mars.

Especially since Mars did not have an atmosphere, the leapfrogging method of slowing down at the edge of the atmosphere like that on Earth was not feasible here. They could only achieve the deceleration of the spacecraft by reversing the propulsion jets.

Fortunately, for Star Sky Technology, this was not very difficult.

Once the portable controllable fusion reactor core was ignited, the temperature in the heating chamber began to rise linearly. The propellant that was sent to the heating chamber was instantly vaporized and ionized into active plasma.

The temperature in the reaction chamber and heating chamber was getting higher and higher, like a tiny sun.

The reactor’s power continued to increase when it finally broke through a certain critical point. The plasma engine suddenly ejected a blue glow, lighting up the entire tail of the Xu Fu ship!

Pushed by the blue “flames”, Xu Fu briefly accelerated forward for a short period of time.

However, this did not last long. Soon, the rectifier was deployed, and the plasma ejected from the outside of the cabin began to turn under the force of the magnetic field. Like a parachute, Xu Fu began to slow down as it headed toward Mars.

After more than ten hours of waiting and several orbit changes, Xu Fu finally completed its deceleration. It entered the Mars gravitational field for the last time and was successfully captured by the Mars gravitational force.

At the same time, a clear announcement came from above the heads of everyone sitting in the cabin.

“Xu Fu has successfully entered the Mars gravitational system. Assisted landing mode will be activated in half an hour. Colonists, please put on cabin spacesuits and stand by in No.1 ring area.”

Liang Youcheng, who was wearing his cabin spacesuit, took off the seat belt on the space chair and stood up.

He looked back at his teammates standing up and spoke in a serious tone.

“Ready?”

The four of them answered at the same time.

“Yes, sir!”

Liang Youcheng nodded with approval and ordered loudly.

“Let’s go!”

The journey had entered the final stage.

The probes previously deployed on Mars had scanned the basic geomorphology data into the database of the Jinling launch site. They decided on the landing site long before they set off.

Xu Fu would not stay in orbit for too long. It would begin the colonization process immediately after reaching the target area.

The No. 2 ring, the propulsion system, and the main structure of the spacecraft would remain in the orbit of Mars as a temporary space station and a communication relay satellite. The No. 1 ring would be separated from the spacecraft and fall toward the surface of Mars.

The group of people passed through the narrow passage, along the outer corridor of the spacecraft, and entered the No. 1 ring area.

This was the core part of the entire colonial ship.

It was also their future home on Mars.

Liang Youcheng looked at the cabin door slowly close behind him. He silently raised his right arm and gave a military salute.

After this, he turned around and went toward the buffer room on the outer edge of the No. 1 ring with his four teammates.

This was the entrance and exit of the colony capsule. It had the strongest shell and the most complete set of tools in the entire colony capsule. It was also the place where they would wait until landing.

“Find a place to sit down and connect the life support system to your spacesuit.

“After making sure your equipment is operating normally, raise your hand so that I’ll know you’ll survive.”

The joke eased the tense atmosphere in the cabin a bit, and many people’s tightened eyebrows relaxed a little.

Liang Youcheng looked at the four raised hands and nodded. He then reached out his hand and unlatched the folded seat against the wall. After sitting on the seat, he methodically connected the seat belt and the life support device on his cabin spacesuit.

The orbit deceleration was a test of Xu Fu’s capabilities.

And this was about to be a test for the astronaut’s capabilities.

After waiting for ten minutes in a quiet atmosphere, Liang Youcheng, who adjusted his breathing rhythm, began to hear his own heartbeat.

Finally, a series of slight trembles came from their seats. The astronauts sitting in the buffer room were all on high alert.

Fan Tong put his hands on the armrest of the seat and said nervously, “Captain, are we landing soon?”

Liang Youcheng tried to make himself look less nervous. He smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Not yet. We just separated from the spaceship, we’ll have to wait—”

Before he could finish, the familiar computer broadcast sound interrupted his words.

“Separation process begins. The colony capsule will be separated from the colonial ship, Xu Fu, in one minute. The landing process will begin in two minutes…

“We wish you a pleasant journey.”

Right afterward, the shaking under the seat began to feel more and more intense.

With a metal clicking sound coming along the alloy walls, the connections between the ring-shaped colony capsule and the Xu Fu colonial ship were ejected.

The four small chemical thrusters installed on the outer wall of the ring structure emitted flames, pushing the colonial capsule away from Xu Fu slowly, sending it toward the turbid atmosphere of Mars.

Like cutting a baby’s umbilical cord off, the colony capsule was separated from the mothership’s body. It ejected flames while slowly moving down toward the fiery red planet.

Soon, it was the most difficult section.

The bumpy feeling was like a roller coaster; the astronauts sitting in the buffer room were as nervous as possible.

Liang Youcheng stared at the turbid atmosphere outside the porthole. He firmly grasped the armrests of the seat. Although this did not make him more stable, it at least brought him some comfort.

Once they broke through the periphery of the atmosphere, the engine power began to increase!

For a brief moment, Liang Youcheng felt the nostalgic gravity of the Earth pulling his body.

However, the nostalgic feeling only lasted a brief moment.

The force gradually decreased with the declining altitude.

Like throwing a rock in the sand, after the final violent tremblings, all of the uncomfortable sensations went away in an instant.

Liang Youcheng looked at the flying yellow sand outside the porthole and the outline of the horizon buried in the dust. He suddenly wanted to cry.

An unspeakable excitement filled every corner of his chest.

Mars!

This is Mars!

We are finally here!

Chapter 1365: A Short Break

Beijing airport.

A girl in a cardigan and a light coat stood at the entrance of the airport with a suitcase in her hand. She said goodbye to the two people who were sending her off.

“Sis… Teacher, I have to go.”

Lu Zhou looked at Han Mengqi and gave her an encouraging look.

“Okay, safe travels.”

Unlike the emotionless Lu Zhou, Chen Yushan spoke with a worried look on her face.

“Remember to be safe, send me a message when you land, also message me every night before you sleep.”

“Okay, I know… I’m not a kid anymore.”

Han Mengqi grabbed the suitcase in her hand, turned around, and went to the check-in gate. Her petite figure soon disappeared in the crowd.

Chen Yushan watched her disappear into the crowd. She looked at Lu Zhou with worry and spoke.

“Meng Qi… is going to be fine, right? I heard America is in a mess right now.”

“Don’t worry.” Lu Zhou smiled, stopped waving, and put his hand down. He said, “Everything will be fine, this is an opportunity for her.”

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou and asked confusingly, “Opportunity?”

“Well, the Mars landing plan has progressed until now, yet NASA hasn’t reacted at all. Do you think they’re secretly hiding a big move?”

Chen Yushan pinched her chin with her right hand and thought for a moment. She then suddenly raised her head.

“No, so do you mean…”

“Yes, your guess is correct.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly and nodded. “There is nothing they can do. If I’m correct, the White House should be waiting for an opportunity to release a friendly signal, to fix the tension caused by the previous space race. If everything goes according to plan, she will receive a high-level treatment when she lands in America… There might even be a gift waiting for her.”

In fact, this wasn’t his own thoughts, Director Li had told him this after he rejected the award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies.

“What gift will it be?”

“Probably an award suitable for young scholars or a similar honor. I’m not sure either. Anyway, it should be very helpful for her future career.”

Han Mengqi was already sitting and waiting at the boarding gate.

She didn’t know that her trip to the United States was far more complicated than she had imagined. Even though her flight hadn’t even taken off, the convoy for her pick-up was already waiting outside the airport in America…

After sending his little student to the airport, Lu Zhou took Chen Yushan to the maglev station.

They had been in Beijing for almost two weeks. Every day over the past two weeks, they were dragged by Lu Zhou’s father-in-law to drink. It was the kind of drinking that didn’t stop until someone collapsed.

Out of consideration for the old man’s health, Lu Zhou and Chen Yushan decided to bid farewell to the old couple. When they were leaving, Chen Yushan was still talking about how he couldn’t succeed in getting Lu Zhou completely plastered and how they should drink again in the future.

The couple finally sat on the maglev train back to Jinling. Lu Zhou, who didn’t sleep well last night, rested his head on the seat and closed his eyes quietly. As for Chen Yushan, who was sitting next to him, she supported her head with her hands, her elbows leaning on the table in front of her, as if she was reminiscing about something.

“It feels like the past few days went by so fast.”

So many things had happened in the past few days; she felt like she was in a dream.

“Yeah, pretty fast.”

Chen Yushan didn’t notice that Lu Zhou was almost asleep. She was completely immersed in her own world as a happy smile appeared on her face.

“It is almost like…”

For some reason, she suddenly stopped talking.

Lu Zhou was curious about what she wanted to say. He half-opened his eyes and looked at her face. He then asked, “Like what?”

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“Don’t worry, when have I ever laughed at you?”

“Like all the time! Like ‘how can you not even solve such a simple problem’…” Chen Yushan said. She gave Lu Zhou a fierce stare as she recalled the past.

But soon, her menacing eyes softened.

She looked down at the table and brushed her hair as she whispered, “What I wanted to say is, this is like a honeymoon…”

What…

That’s it?

I thought it was something important.

Lu Zhou looked at how embarrassed Chen Yushan was. He couldn’t help but smile. However, he noticed that the pair of bright eyes was staring at him.

Lu Zhou remembered that, a second ago, he promised not to make fun of her. Lu Zhou quickly removed the smile on his face and forced a serious expression on as he nodded.

“Uh, yes, not bad.”

“What do you mean not bad?” Chen Yushan stared at Lu Zhou suspiciously and said, “Why do I feel like you’re acting weird today?”

Because I’m holding back my laughter…

Lu Zhou sighed in his heart as he held back his smile. He gave a dry cough and quickly changed the topic.

“Speaking of which, after we get married at the end of the year, where do you want to go for our honeymoon?”

“How about the Moon? The hotel that Star Sky Technology invested on the Moon is also almost completed.”

Lu Zhou glanced at her surprisingly.

“You really invested in a hotel on the Moon?”

“Yeah! I had this idea a long time ago! Don’t you think that vacationing on the Moon sounds like a very romantic thing?”

It was like her bright eyes began to emit light.

Lu Zhou looked at her and smiled.

“In that case, we’ll go with your plan.”

Chen Yushan: “Is there nowhere you want to go? We can discuss it.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “I prefer to stay in the laboratory… But if I suggest this, you’ll probably slap me in the face.”

“Then why did you bring it up!”

“Because I’m an honest man.”

His phone suddenly began to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and placed it next to his ear.

Chen Yushan secretly observed the changes on Lu Zhou’s face as he answered the call. After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, she asked him out of curiosity, “Who was it?”

“The Jinling launch site.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Xu Fu has entered the Mars system. If everything goes well, it will be in orbit in a few hours. Director Chang asked when am I going back, and I told him that I am already on my way back to Jinling.”

Chen Yushan spoke with a look of dismay.

“Looks like you’re about to get busy with work again.”

“I am already busy…”

Lu Zhou looked at the series of digital advertisement billboards flying past the window as he spoke with a sigh.

Whether it was the system missions or the piles of work waiting for him, it didn’t seem like he had any spare time.

He just hoped that, by the end of the year, he could finish the work at hand.

And then, he could go back to his hometown and get married…

Chapter 1366: Unusual Geological Structure

The tires creaked over the gravel.

On the endless Mars desert, a rover slowly marched against the wind and sand flying in the air.

This lifeless zone had been undisturbed for a long time. Apart from this AI-controlled all-terrain survey vehicle, only a few microorganisms were still lingering around.

Time seemed to have taken everything away.

In this dead land, every gravel was carved with desolation.

However, today was definitely an extraordinary day for this dead planet.

The roar of the engine came down in the thin atmosphere as a silver-white ring-shaped object slowly descended from the sky. Four thick flames were burning at its front end, blowing toward the red sand on the surface, setting off a small-scale sandstorm.

As if it heard the movement from the sky, this all-terrain survey vehicle turned its camera angle and cast a “confused” look into the air.

It recorded the thrilling scene.

Like a comet hitting the surface, when the ring hit the ground, the flames were instantly extinguished. The billowing sand and dust rushed into the sky like a waterfall, pulling away in a turbid cloud.

[Data has been collected… Preprocessing.]

[Setting is complete.]

The static words flashed on the display. The rover had lost interest in this silver-white ring and continued to move along its original route. Its owner had set up its route to survey the topography and natural resources of Mars.

It had been doing this for years, and it would continue to do so until the machine was damaged or the battery was dead. It did not have any curiosity in collecting data on insignificant things.

The colony capsule didn’t care about its “colleague” who had come to Mars earlier. After landing, the colony capsule immediately began deployment.

Four or five meters long alloy rods drove straight into the ground, fixing the colony capsule firmly on the ground.

Immediately afterward, the silver-white metal shell expanded outwards in four directions. Like an inflated doughnut, it expanded out a planting area that looked somewhat similar to a car airbag.

The deployment went very smoothly.

It was just like the countless practices they did in the desert.

Liang Youcheng stood in the communication room of the colony capsule. He connected to the Xu Fu colonial ship that was hovering in orbit via the console, then briefly reported the current situation.

“This is the outpost of the Mars colony. We have successfully landed.

“The climate and environment here are worse than we thought, but fortunately, everything went smoothly… The colony capsule has been deployed. The installations have been stable so far, and it seems that there are no malfunctions.

“After a short break, we will immediately start today’s work.”

After finishing the work report as concisely and as quickly as possible, Liang Youcheng sent this briefing to the Jinling launch site and also updated it in Xu Fu’s mission log.

Next up, there would be a series of routines such as walking out of the cabin, planting flags, and taking pictures.

While these routine ceremonies were in progress, a four-wheeled Mars rover that looked like an off-road vehicle slowly drove out of the garage outside the buffer room. It was driven by planetary geologist Dr. Fan, and it traveled along a straight trajectory in the sea of gravel.

His destination was the “water source” 7.2 kilometers away from the colony capsule.

There was an underground ice layer 20 meters below the surface, located in the middle of a small basin. According to estimates provided by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, its reserves were about 150 to 400 million cubic meters.

Although many reservoirs on Earth were much larger, relative to the water resources on the Moon, this reserve was a representation of the “great land and resources” on Mars.

For the colonial outpost, water resources were the first thing that must be obtained. Freshwater resources and oxygen were the most fundamental material requirements for the operation of the entire artificial ecosystem.

Followed by renewable resources such as solar and wind energy.

Although the thin and turbid atmosphere on Mars made solar and wind energy less easy to use, it was better to collect energy locally than to use expensive nuclear energy.

After all, the nuclear fusion technology used on space stations and spacecraft was still a bit different from that on the Pangu reactor.

The latter was a positive magnetic confinement ignition device, which released energy akin to a star. Every chain from ignition to heat emission had been designed according to local conditions and required hundreds of engineers to maintain the stable operation of the device.

Meanwhile, the former was nothing more than a pulsed fusion device based on the sonoluminescence phenomenon in liquid metal.

Although this device was countless times smaller than giants such as Pangu and Xihe, the energy utilization efficiency, total power, and cost per unit of electricity were much lower.

And this was one of the reasons why, even though the Moon Palace was equipped with fusion batteries, it still had solar panels with a surface area several times larger than the main body.

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was researching how to build a simplified version of the first-generation magnetic confinement ignition device on the Moon to power the ILHCRC collider and other “high-power experimental equipment” at the lunar scientific research station, as well as researching the second-generation helium trifusion technology to increase productivity on the Guanghan Special Economic Zone.

After all these years of development, the energy requirement on the Moon was increasing, so relying solely on solar panels and storage power stations was not sufficient.

And when it came to the upcoming Mars Scientific Research Station…

They could forget about having high-level energy supply facilities any time soon.

The rover stopped in the center of the basin. Fan Tong stepped down from the rover and put down the mobile drilling machine behind the rover. He measured the formation data with seismic waves, then multiple rock formations samples were taken at depths of 10 and 20 meters.

“The rock sampling is complete.”

After a series of electric noises, Captain Liang’s voice soon came from the communication channel.

“How did it go?”

“It’s unbelievable… I mean unbelievably good.” Fan Tong looked at the tablet in his hand. He was leaning against the mobile drilling equipment behind the rover with weird looks on his face. He said, “The data provided by the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is so precise. I can’t help but wonder if they secretly came to Mars before… How did they collect such accurate data?”

Liang Youcheng was not very clear about the whole story, but he was not particularly interested in these small details. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was the world’s top research institution, so they obviously had their own methods.

Besides, they had Academician Lu.

Anything unbelievable became reasonable in the face of that man.

“Perhaps the data was collected from the wreckage of New Virginia. That seems to be a long time ago… Who cares. Since the information is accurate, we won’t have to worry about freshwater resources for the next three years.”

A freshwater reserve of more than 100 million cubic meters.

Let alone three years, even if their population increased tenfold, the water could last them 300 years.

The colony capsule was eco-friendly, the demand for external resource input was small. If everything goes well, they could even achieve a complete internal circulation of water resources, but that would consume much more energy.

“Anything else?”

“Um… One more thing I have to report to you.”

With a hint of excitement in his tone, Fan Tong continued, “When I was doing seismic wave testing, I found a… a large seismic crack near here.”

“Seismic crack?” Liang Youcheng frowned. “Are you sure? Like an earthquake crack?”

“I am sure! It’s correct, that kind of fault structure can only be generated by natural seismic activity. Because of the relatively low terrain, it was not buried by the wind and sand! However, surprisingly, according to the information I have learned in the literature, the geological activity of Mars should have ceased billions of years ago. This kind of geological structure is commonly found in areas of active plate movement… This is very unusual. Can I go and take a look?”

Planetary geology was his major.

The excitement in his heart at this moment could no longer be described in words.

Although it was only a small fracture, its discovery could change human civilization’s understanding of Mars! As a scholar, could there be anything more exciting than this?

Compared to Dr. Fan’s excitement, Liang Youcheng was much calmer.

After thinking carefully for a while, he finally rejected this risky proposal.

“Come back first, your mission today is over, it’s better not to take on additional tasks.”

Fan Tong: “I assure you that there is absolutely no danger! Its depth is only about ten meters, I can climb up even without a safety rope… Of course, I will tie one around my waist.”

“Come back now, that is an order.” Liang Youcheng said in a serious tone, “Photograph your findings and record them in today’s work log. I will let Ming Wenzhe follow you tomorrow.”

There was a long silence, and finally, a soft sigh came from the communication channel.

“Okay… You are right.”

Fan Tong reluctantly glanced at the fracture behind him. He shook his head and threw his tool back into the rover. He then got into the rover cockpit.

Inside the communication room, when Liang Youcheng saw the positioning signal moving on his screen, he was relieved.

Confirming the freshwater resource was the last task for today.

Everything was going well, and he didn’t want to have any accidents.

But having said that, he was also curious about the “earthquake crack” that shouldn’t be there.

He made up his mind that, after Dr. Fan returned, he would report the situation to the ground command center. The researchers on Earth could then decide on whether to conduct further investigations…

Chapter 1367: Treasure Hunting In Hell

While Captain Liang Youcheng compiled and uploaded the mission log of the day into Xu Fu, Lu Zhou, who was on Earth tens of millions of kilometers away, also received a reminder that the mission was completed.

[Congratulations, “Deep Into Hell” legendary mission is completed!]

[Mission description: The end of reincarnation, the beginning of everything.]

[Reward: 2.8 million experience points, (500,000×5+300,000 base value), 10,000 general points, legendary mission card.]

As usual, the system left a strange message in the mission description. However, this time, Lu Zhou had no idea what it wanted to convey.

It didn’t seem to be sarcastic or insulting.

But if it was advice, it seemed too vague.

Not to mention, the mission title exuded an ominous atmosphere…

Even though he received the rewards, he felt like everything was not over yet.

After thinking about it for a long time, Lu Zhou temporarily put this aside. He looked at the experience points given to him.

A total of 2.8 million experience points, enough for him to upgrade the rest of biochemistry, energy, and information science to level 8.

Of course, he had another option, which was to spend all of the experience points on engineering (0/3 million), or materials (63,000/3 million). Although the 2.8 million experience was not enough to level up, it would bring him to the cusp of leveling up.

Then, he would only need to do a mission in the material science or engineering area to easily reach level 9.

In terms of efficiency, both strategies were feasible.

However, Lu Zhou thought of the legendary mission card. After hesitating for a while, he decided on being a jack of all trades as opposed to being a master of none.

After all, the rewards for the next mission wouldn’t be low.

Being able to raise his average level a bit higher would be more helpful for him in different situations.

He allocated 500,000 experience points into biochemistry, 1.2 million to energy science, and 1.1 million to information science.

After this, his updated characteristic panel appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 8 (10,000/3 million)

D. Engineering: Level 8 (0/3 million)

E. Material Science: Level 8 (63,000/3 million)

F. Energy Science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

G. Information science: level 8 (0/3 million)

General points: 48,335

]

“Except for the maxed-out mathematics and physics, the rest of the fields have all reached level 8.” Lu Zhou looked at the data on his characteristic panel and nodded with satisfaction. He said, “The next step is to see which field reaches level 9 first.”

When he looked at the list of subject levels, he felt like he was back in school again.

When he thought of those years after he graduated from college, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

“When I reach level 10 in all areas… it probably means that I have graduated.”

He shook his head and drove this strange thought out of his mind. He reached out his index finger to select the golden mission card in his inventory.

A string of light particles spread along the card to his index finger. A brand new mission panel appeared in front of him immediately.

However, when Lu Zhou saw the mission panel, he was stunned.

[Mission: Treasure Hunting in Hell]

[Description: It is my honor to bring this to you, whether to fulfill your mission is your decision.]

[Requirements: Witness and discover the gift from the Void, let it see light again.]

[Rewards: ???]

Lu Zhou: “…?”

So, not only is the lucky draw based on luck, but I don’t even know the rewards and requirements?

…

On the second weekend of April, Xu Fu arrived in Mars orbit.

The tranquility of the morning was broken by this sudden news.

A video around ten minutes in length was posted to the official website of the Mars landing plan.

The footage came from tens of millions of kilometers away.

First was through the perspective of Xu Fu, then the colony capsule separating from the entire colonial ship was captured on tape. Then the moment the colony capsule was ignited and approached the edge of the Mars atmosphere was also shown on screen. Finally, the audience observed the colony capsule diving toward Mars from the first-person perspective.

In terms of creativity, the editing of the entire video was simple and straightforward, with almost no unique shooting techniques and no special effects. However, when the silver-white ring landed in a sea of sand from a height of 100 kilometers, people felt a shock coming from the bottom of their hearts!

Xu Fu had successfully entered orbit!

The colony capsule successfully landed!

Five astronauts had set foot on Mars!

When people watched the exciting footage of the entire landing process in front of their computers and mobile phones, they couldn’t help but let out excited exclaims.

“F*ck! An iron doughnut falling from the sky; it’s like a science fiction movie!”

“Do you know how heavy the thing is? It’s hundreds of tons, okay! Except for us, no country on Earth can send such a large mass from Earth to Mars!”

“This is insane!”

“I haven’t even been to the Moon, and our astronauts have already step foot on Mars…”

“Academician Lu is awesome!”

The video on the official website of the Mars landing plan was approved for republication, appearing on major video websites.

Later on, more and more netizens participated in editing the video. They creatively added background music to the video, as well as inserting other effects such as slow-motion and camera zooms.

Through various channels, the videos spread along the Internet.

At first, people out of the loop thought it was a trailer for a sci-fi blockbuster, but later on, they discovered that this video was not for a movie.

After realizing this, many people’s hearts were full of complex emotions.

Especially North American citizens.

Even though for human civilization this was indeed a time to celebrate, but for some reason, watching the Chinese land their ring on the surface of Mars didn’t excite them at all…

They were even frustrated.

The Wall Street Journal analyzed the possible impacts of the Mars landing plan from an economic perspective. The New York Times published the news in their technology panel. Only the Washington Post reported the incident on their front page.

The entire North American media seemed to have made an agreement to lose interest in Mars, trying to brush over this news in a low-key manner.

This time, no one mentioned anything about the space race.

Everything was clear in their hearts.

The winner of this competition had already been determined…

…

East Coast of North America.

Boston international airport.

Han Mengqi dragged her suitcase through customs. She looked at the limo parked outside the airport with a dazed expression. There was even a concierge standing next to the convoy.

She was wondering which important person was sitting on the same flight as herself when a middle-aged man in a suit standing by the car suddenly walked toward her with a smile.

“Hello, are you Ms. Han Mengqi?”

Han Mengqi looked at the person in front of her blankly and spoke.

“Yeah… Is there a problem?”

“I am the director of the foreign guest reception office at the White House. This is my business card.”

White House?

Foreign guest reception office?

Han Mengqi: “???”

What the hell?!

“Do you have the wrong person?” Han Mengqi said. She was baffled as she looked at the business card. She said, “I just came to attend the April International Union of Materials Research Societies conference…”

“Nope, we’re certain you’re the right person. That is exactly where we are going.” The man smiled politely and said, “I believe you must have a lot of questions. I will answer them on the way to the hotel.”

Chapter 1368: First Signs

“The Thousands of Miles Journey Has Been Crossed, a Step Toward The 400 Billion Galaxies”

When Lu Zhou looked at the newspaper in his hand, a smile appeared on his face.

This was in the latest issue of Everyone Daily.

On the cover of the newspaper was a photo taken on Mars.

The five astronauts stood on a sand dune, arms around each other’s shoulders. Behind them were a silver-white circular colony capsule and a red flag fluttering in the wind.

This hard-won photo was destined to be recorded in history and become one of the most important memories in the history of human civilization…

Lu Zhou folded the newspaper in his hand and quietly finished eating his breakfast.

Xiao Ai’s drone flew from the side to clean up the dinner plates. Just as Lu Zhou was about to get up and go to the bathroom, his phone began to ring.

Lu Zhou picked up the phone and put it next to his ear. Before he could speak, he heard a trembling tone of a girl saying “Professor Lu”.

“Looks like you have arrived in Boston safely.” Lu Zhou heard the anxiety in her voice. He said with a smile, “Why didn’t you call back yesterday? Yushan was worried about you.”

“I… forgot.”

I didn’t have the time to call her!

Han Mengqi gulped and whispered in a nervous voice, “Teacher, teacher… Yesterday, what was with the convoy that picked me up outside the airport?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Convoy? That was probably to show respect for us. Attend the academic conference and do a good job at the report. Don’t worry about other things too much, just take part in the meaningful events. If you’re not sure, call me.”

Although there was still some anxiety in her heart, she felt relieved after hearing her teacher’s words.

“Um… Okay then.”

Lu Zhou continued to chat with his little apprentice about the academic conference. After he hung up, he temporarily put the International Union of Materials Research Societies conference issue aside and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

It was getting late.

He still had to go to the launch site in a bit.

If colonizing Mars corresponded to going “deep into hell”, then “treasure hunting in hell” was obviously implying that the gift from the Void should be on Mars?

Or at least the clue was there.

Lu Zhou thought of his previous dialogue with The Observer. He was even more certain that something was on Mars. The only thing that worried him a little was that even though his all-terrain reconnaissance vehicle had been roaming on Mars for almost two years, it had yet to find any clues.

This made him wonder whether the gift from the Void was still there.

After all, billions of years could cool a hot planet’s core and give birth to life in a chaotic atmosphere. Over such a long time, anything could happen…

…

Jinling launch site.

Lu Zhou asked Wang Peng to drop him off at the entrance of the command tower. He then went straight to the lobby of the ground command center.

When he arrived, people were already working.

Lu Zhou saw Director Chang Hezhi walk toward him as he asked, “How is the situation at the Mars Scientific Research Station?”

“Everything is normal. According to the schedule submitted by Captain Liang Youcheng, their work today is mainly to lay solar panels.”

Lu Zhou nodded and was about to ask if there were any unusual discoveries, but Director Chang suddenly took the initiative to speak.

“Speaking of which, there is something I have to report to you.”

“Yeah what?”

“Dr. Fan Tong at the Mars scientific research station discovered an unusual fracture structure near the basin, about 4.5 kilometers away from the research station, when he drilled a core sample from the water source. The fault structure may have been formed by an earthquake.”

“Earthquake?” Lu Zhou looked at Director Chang with a strange expression on his face. He frowned and asked, “I remember that geological activities on Mars have stopped long ago?”

“I’m not sure either.” Director Chang Hezhi shook his head and said, “Basically, according to him, the research on this fault structure is of great importance, it may even subvert academic research on the geological structure of Mars. Therefore, he submitted an application for further exploration.”

Lu Zhou: “Is the fault structure deep?”

Director Chang Hezhi shook his head and said, “It doesn’t seem to be very deep. According to the records in the work log, it is probably only a dozen meters.”

A depth of more than ten meters is considered dangerous on Earth.

But it’s nothing dangerous when it comes to Mars terrain.

“Then let him go down and take a look… Also tell Captain Liang, in the future, unless they plan to explore the crater or conduct other risky scientific research activities, trivial matters like this don’t need special permission from us. I remember that I have given him on-site command authority before leaving. He can make his own decisions on most matters. He just needs to update the records in the work log.”

Director Chang nodded seriously.

“Okay, I’ll tell him that right now.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“That’s that then.”

…

Tens of millions of kilometers away; Mars.

The billowing dust was lifted by the wheels. A Mars rover with tires as high as the shoulders of an adult was marching on this endless sea of sand.

Ming Wenzhe sat in the co-pilot seat. He was wearing an extravehicular spacesuit. As he looked at the screen of the on-board positioning system and the green dot that was getting closer, he casually asked, “Are you sure it’s an earthquake crack?”

Fan Tong, who was sitting in the driving seat, nodded and spoke in an affirmative tone.

“I’m willing to put my academic reputation on the line.”

“I’m not saying you’re lying… I mean, could you have read it wrong? The data on the thermal radiation image clearly shows that the geological activity of Mars has been suspended. Even if there are seismic structures, it is unlikely to be violent or on the surface, right?”

Although his major was bioengineering, this did not mean that he had no knowledge of geology. In fact, most of the people who were sent here were a jack of all trades.

Although he was not a professional, he still knew some stuff.

Fan Tong: “I was just as surprised as you. But I am sure that my judgment is correct. As for why, we will know when we get there. Look, do you see the ridge in front? It’s at the foot of the mountain…”

After a pause, he spoke.

“We’re here!”

They approached the edge of the ridge. Fan Tong and Ming Wenzhe got out of the rover, grabbed the safety ropes from the trunk, and hooked them on the metal locks on the waists of their spacesuits.

“There is hematite here everywhere. I don’t know how the signal is down there.” The PhD in planetary geology looked at his teammate and said, “If I flash the flashlight upward, pull me up.”

Ming Wenzhe nodded.

“Okay.”

After discussing the plan, Fan Tong walked to where he was yesterday.

However…

Something unexpected happened.

When he stopped by the side of the ridge, his whole person froze; he had a ghostly expression on his face.

Ming Wenzhe saw his face through the transparent mask. He glanced around the rugged terrain around him and asked in an uncertain tone, “What about the fractured structure?”

“Impossible…”

Fan Tong took two steps forward quickly, groping on the ground like he was crazy. No matter how he searched, he found nothing except sand.

It was like the fracture structure…

Had disappeared into thin air.

“Could it be a mistake?”

Had it not been for the thin atmosphere on Mars, he would have asked if it were a mirage.

Fan Tong firmly shook his head. He fixed his eyes on the flat ground in front of him and said in disbelief, “Impossible! It’s not a mistake! I took a photo and uploaded it to the work log!”

Ming Wenzhe also saw that photo before, yet he couldn’t help but show hesitation on his face.

“Is it possible… that this is the wrong location?”

Fan Tong continued to shake his head.

“Unless Xu Fu’s positioning system is wrong…”

Ming Wenzhe had a strange look on his face.

A deep fault structure…

Even if a sandstorm occurs, it would take months to wipe out its trace.

It has only been a day.

This is so strange…

Chapter 1369: The Gates of Hell

“Disappeared?”

Jinling launch site.

When Lu Zhou heard the report about the seismic structure, he almost stood up from his desk in surprise.

Director Chang Hezhi looked at the surprised expression on Lu Zhou’s face. He nodded with a weird expression.

“That’s right… According to the mission log updated by our Mars scientific research station, our scientific research personnel sent a rover to the target area, but when they arrived at the fractured structure, they found that there was nothing there.

“It’s like… it disappeared overnight.”

The fractured structure more than ten meters deep disappeared overnight?

Lu Zhou had never heard of such a ridiculous thing before.

“Was there a sandstorm that night?”

“Sandstorms occur all the time on Mars, but even if it was a sandstorm, it would be impossible to fill a dozen meters deep fractured structure overnight… This is what Dr. Fan recorded in the work log.”

Lu Zhou said, “Tell me what else he said.”

Director Chang Hezhi shook his head and said, “Nothing else, that’s all he said about the fault structure. Also, there’s an application for the publication of a paper. He hopes to make this amazing geological discovery public and let more people analyze this magical phenomenon.”

The scientific research funding of the Mars landing plan mainly came from China. The scientific research results produced by the scientific research activities on Mars belonged to the Mars landing plan office collectively. Therefore, if they wanted to publish the scientific research results, they must apply and get approval from the Mars landing plan office.

But under normal circumstances, the kind of research project that did not involve sensitive experimental content was a walk in the park. The Mars landing plan office certainly hoped that they could produce more valuable results so that their investment in the Mars project would be worth their money.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Just do as he said.”

Although Lu Zhou felt that it was too sloppy to publish this discovery now and that it might be more rigorous to publish it after finding more clues, Dr. Fan was right.

After all, one man’s power was small, and one brain was not as reliable as tens of millions of brains. If more people could participate in this field, there could be more hope of solving the problem.

Lu Zhou looked at the work log in his hand, at the coordinates of 14.7° south latitude and 128° west longitude. His index finger gently swept across this line.

“Speaking of which, what is the name of the mountain next to this fractured structure?”

Director Chang Hezhi: “If I remember correctly, according to the naming of the International Astronomical Union… Its name seems to come from a piece of art.”

“Artwork?”

“The Gates of Hell, the author is Auguste Rodin…” Director Chang Hezhi said.

The Gates of Hell…

This name is a bit suspicious.

That ominous premonition once again surfaced in Lu Zhou’s heart.

“This name is a bit unlucky.” Lu Zhou picked up the pen from the desk and wrote a line next to the copy of the work log. He handed it back to Director Chang Hezhi and said, “Change the name to this.”

“Outlier 128?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou looked at Director Chang Hezhi and said, “Raise the priority of this research project to level A. If there are any new discoveries, report it to me immediately.”

…

Ever since the failure of the last “New Virginia” plan, due to the pressure from the public and funding, NASA had suspended more than 90% of its projects on Mars.

Even though NASA still hadn’t recovered, it did not mean that they had given up their desire for Mars so willingly.

It was just that everything became rational again.

NASA High Resolution Imaging Science Laboratory.

This was the command center for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Curiosity rover, and it was also the only research team in the entire NASA that still focused on Mars.

“Latest research materials.”

Professor Astark threw a document on the desk. He looked at the middle-aged man with glasses sitting behind the desk and continued, “I don’t know if you’ve read it before, but I suggest you take a good look.”

“The latest research materials?”

Professor Comiton reached out and picked up the document. He glanced at it briefly.

However, when his eyes moved down the document, and he saw the photo attached to the text, his expression suddenly became strange.

“Seismic structures… have disappeared after they appeared? How is this possible?”

“I also think it’s very… unbelievable.” Professor Astark continued looking at Professor Comiton and said, “But planetary geology is not my research direction. I want to know how you think about this.”

“What do I think? What can I say, they’re the ones who are on Mars… If they are right, then we are wrong. The geological activity of Mars is still quite active, and the core has not yet cooled. That is the only explanation. Or there might also be a special local tectonic movement that allowed the fractured structure to heal overnight? This sounds like a supernatural event.”

Professor Comiton pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose. He sat up straight and said, “To be honest… Aren’t these two photos photoshopped?”

The geological activity of Mars had ceased. This was a conclusion obtained through rigorous scientific analysis based on thermal radiation images taken by NASA.

All clues pointed to the fact that the geological activity of Mars had completely ceased, and the magma in the core had completely cooled.

This was a dead planet; there was no possibility of plate movement, let alone earthquakes or cracks caused by earthquakes.

At least not in the last few billion years.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to think he was wrong.

It was just that, photoshopping a photo in the academic community wasn’t something that was unprecedented.

“I have looked for a third-party inspection agency to analyze it. At least according to the electronic files they updated on their official website, there are no obvious traces of changes in the photos… Of course, it does not rule out techniques that are so clever that we can’t detect them.”

“Regardless, this is unbelievable.” Professor Comiton sighed after putting the research materials on the table. After a long period of contemplation, he said, “It would be nice if I could go to the site and take a look.”

A bitter smile appeared on Professor Astark’s face.

Take a look on Mars…

That’s very unlikely.

The best way is to stand on Earth and look tens of millions of kilometers into the sky.

However, while the two of them were looking at the information with a headache, a voice suddenly came from the door.

“In fact, it might be possible.”

The two men raised their heads and looked toward the door.

Director Carson walked into the office.

“Sorry, I unintentionally eavesdropped on your conversation, but your voice was too loud. I’m here to find Professor Comiton for something…”

Director Carson shrugged, coughed lightly, and continued, “Due to well-known reasons, the White House intends to repair relations with China, and according to what I have learned, the two sides have reached agreements on many remaining issues… Of course, we do not need to worry about these things. The main thing is that the Chinese side agrees that for the next batch of people going to Mars, they will reserve about 1 or 2 international cooperative scientific research personnel.”

Professor Astark froze for a moment and spoke hesitantly.

“In other words… We can take the Chinese ride to Mars?”

“You could say that, but I hope you can understand it as a kind of scientific research cooperation; a win-win situation…”

Director Carson looked at Professor Comiton with a serious expression on his face.

“I heard that you seem to be very interested in geological research on Mars?”

“That’s right…”

Professor Comiton had a slight hesitation on his face. Carson threw out a proposal.

“In that case, Professor Comiton…

“Would you like to go to Mars as a demonstration of the long-term friendship between the two countries?”

Chapter 1370: The Mysterious Missing Crack

Mid-April.

A research paper signed by the Mars landing plan office was published in the latest issue of Future.

A mysterious geological structure was discovered on Mars!

The earthquake crack mysteriously disappeared overnight!

Once this paper was published, it immediately aroused widespread concern in the international community.

People's understanding of Mars had always been that it was a dead planet without an ecosystem and no violent geological activities. The rugged landforms formed during the ancient geological period that was eroded by sandstorms for billions of years.

However, this discovery undoubtedly subverted people's inherent understanding of this planet.

Not only was there a suspected newer geological activity on Mars, but there might also even be special geological phenomena that were not observed on Earth!

No one had ever seen earthquake cracks on Earth that had formed and disappeared overnight, as if nothing had happened.

On a well-known international astronomy enthusiast forum.

The second the paper was published, someone translated it into English and reprinted it here. It soon aroused discussion.

"WTF? The geological structure of Mars is still active? Does that mean that it is actually possible to repair the Martian magnetic field and modify the Martian atmosphere?"

"Yes, it is possible, but the possibility is close to 0. In fact, I am more curious about how the crack disappeared. Although the picture looks strange, it does not look like it's photoshopped."

"Could it be an alien?"

"Haha, let's not rule out this possibility! Maybe that crack is actually a passage to a Martian civilization?"

"That is quite creative…"

"I thought of a video I watched before. A Martian holding a picture and walking in front of the Curiosity rover… Maybe everything we know about Mars is controlled by the aliens living there."

"I think it's more likely to be photoshopped."

The discussions were not only raging on amateur forums but also on Facebook and Twitter, just that it was to a degree that was not as intensive.

Combined with the reports on extraterrestrial civilizations that had flooded the media in the early years, many people were speculating whether the earthquake crack was actually a trace of aliens.

Although this speculation was unreasonable, it was unexpectedly popular.

Due to the widespread public concern about this matter, BBC reporters quickly found NASA's High Resolution Imaging Science Laboratory.

As another "Mars authority" besides the Mars landing office of China, although their conditions were a bit inferior to the researchers on Mars, in terms of theoretical research, their strength shouldn't be underestimated.

"We are now interviewing Professor Comiton, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a major in planetary geology and is currently working at the NASA High Resolution Imaging Science Laboratory…"

The camera pointed at Professor Comiton, who was sitting in the chair, as the young reporter continued politely, "Hello, Professor Comiton, as an expert in the field of planetary geology, if this seismic structure does exist, what does that mean?"

Faced with a question from the BBC reporter, Professor Comiton pondered for a while before speaking.

"This is a very interesting question.

"In fact, around April 19, our InSight probe once observed a weak seismic signal on Mars, but the signal was so weak that we could not extrapolate the internal structure of Mars from it. It is impossible to determine whether the signal was even reliable.

"If the special geological structure discovered by the Mars landing office was really formed in the last hundreds of thousands of years as they said, it will undoubtedly be an unprecedented discovery, it will change what we know of Mars."

After noticing the key information revealed by Professor Comiton, the young reporter immediately asked, "You mean, this discovery is very important?"

"Important is beyond doubt."

Reporter: "But there is still a point of view that… Those pictures were forged?"

"That possibility is not ruled out, but this probability is very small. In fact, I had doubted it before, but I quickly dispelled this idea. After all… They are already on Mars. They won't play this kind of childish joke." Professor Comiton paused and said, "Actually, from my point of view, the disappearance of the seismic structure is what's most important.

"It doesn't matter if it is, like the rumors, caused by aliens living in the ground or by some special bacteria that repairs geological structures…

"I think if we can figure out the reason for this, the significance will be far more important than figuring out how the earthquake crack was formed!"

The interview was over.

The edited interview video was released by BBC in the form of a doc.u.mentary and was quickly uploaded to YouTube and other video sites, which triggered discussions among netizens.

In fact, Professor Comiton's view was the mainstream opinion in the academic world.

Which was, the seismic crack was real, formed by geological movement on Mars, and judging from the photos, the formation time should not be very long.

What everyone couldn't figure out was why such a huge crack disappeared overnight.

Regarding the cause of this phenomenon, the opinions of the academic community were divided into two groups.

One school of thought was relatively conservative, which was that it might be due to thermal expansion and contraction caused by the huge diurnal temperature difference on Mars, causing the fractured structure to crack, which led to the repairing contraction of the cracked surface on the inside.

Coupled with the landfill effect of sandstorms, the tiny cracks exposed on the surface were filled, and the special fractured structure seemed to disappear overnight.

The other point of view was because of biogenicity. They believed that some kind of iron-eating bacteria living on hematite eroded the hematite veins at the bottom of the fractured structure.

Coupled with the drilling and sampling of the water source by the nearby Chinese Mars Scientific Research Station, the structure collapsed in the area and the disappearance of the faulted structure occurred.

However, both side's points of view lacked an effective theoretical basis, and no one could convince each other.

In addition to these speculations that could not justify themselves logically, there were also some speculations that were completely illogical.

For example, about aliens on Mars.

A small group of people believed that simple geological movement could no longer explain this "mysterious" phenomenon, and could only attribute it to human factors.

This was probably the masterpiece of the Martian aliens!

Scholars who held this view even made further expansions based on this viewpoint.

For example, after losing the protection of the atmosphere, the Martian aliens moved from the surface to the ground; the crack was not caused by an earthquake at all but was actually the entrance to the Martians' colony.

In short, various public opinions were divided.

In the face of this incredible phenomenon, everything seemed to be confusing.

But something unexpected to everyone suddenly happened…

Chapter 1371: Under The Crack

"Cough…

"Calling station… Coordinates 15° south latitude, 128.1° west longitude… require support."

There wasn't a response.

The only noise from the communication channel was the disturbing electrical buzz.

It was pitch black. The [Contact Lost] icon flashed on the screen on his right arm, reminding him that he had completely disconnected from the station.

Also, he was at least 20 meters underground.

There was also hematite that increased the attenuation of electromagnetic signals…

"Sh*t…"

A trace of despair flashed in his eyes, but the flash of negative emotions was quickly replaced by a strong desire to survive.

There were still many people on earth waiting for him to return.

He couldn't just die here…

He thought back to the survival knowledge he learned during his training at the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. Fan Tong clenched his jaw and got up from the ground. After taking a deep breath, he entered the administrator password on his wrist-mounted computer and turned it off. The positioning system and communication module were useless now, so he had to conserve battery.

He was underground in Mars, in who knew how many meters deep…

Here, he could only rely on himself.

Fan Tong realized that he might miss the hot pot tonight. He gulped and took out a marker with special paint from the toolbox behind him. He found a spot on the wall of the cave and wrote down his location and some last words.

"I hope these last words will never be useful."

From when he lost contact up until now, the base station should have realized a problem. They should have sent a rescue team long ago.

However, he did not expect too much from the base station's rescue capabilities.

After all, as far as the engineering equipment was concerned, he really couldn't think of anything that could help him climb up from dozens of meters underground.

He was still young.

He didn't have to be a "sacrifice" for science yet.

After he prayed for his own destiny in his heart. Fan Tong then took off the folded multifunctional shovel and held it in his right hand. He turned on the flashlight on his helmet and began to move forward in the cave of rubble.

Although this might not be the way out, at least it was better than staying here and waiting for death.

When he thought of the crack that opened and closed overnight, he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency in his heart.

No one could guarantee that he wouldn't be buried by sand or something else by tomorrow.

As for why he was here…

Everything began a few hours ago.

…

Mars Scientific Research Station

The quiet morning was broken by a piece of unexpected news.

"Independent decision-making power?" After listening to the captain's explanation, Dr. Sun Wenzhe, who sat at the end of the conference room, frowned and asked, "In other words, we can decide whether to take action in the future?"

"Correct." Liang Youcheng nodded. He looked at the other four teammates who were in the room and continued, "This is the choice made by the command center for us to make more flexible decisions. If you find any special clues during the extravehicular exploration, you can report it directly to me without waiting for instructions from the command center."

Whispers were heard in the conference room.

From a researcher's point of view, this was of course a good thing; it meant that they did not have to withstand a nearly ten-minute delay to communicate with the ground command center and could more flexibly engage in their own research topics.

However, the risks were difficult to ignore.

Captain Liang Youcheng gave a light cough, then looked at Dr. Fan Tong, the only planetary geologist at the scientific research station.

After a pause, he spoke.

"In addition, the priority of the 'Outlier 128' project has been raised to level A."

"The ground command center has created a new work log code-named '128' in our database. If you have any new discoveries, you don't need to report to me, just use your personal terminal and update in your individual work log."

"Individual work log?"

After Fan Tong calmed down, he asked seriously, "Can I ask, does this mean that when researching the project, I'm directly under—"

"That's right." Liang Youcheng nodded and said concisely, "From now on, your research will be directly under Academician Lu."

Academician Lu?!

Fan Tong immediately had a surprised expression on his face. He subconsciously opened his mouth.

The three colleagues sitting next to him were also showing surprised expressions. After they snapped back to reality, they immediately cast envious gazes at him.

For an ordinary scientific researcher, being able to work under Academician Lu meant not only a recognition of academic ability; they were also able to tap into resources that ordinary people couldn't imagine!

It was no exaggeration to say that this feeling was like winning a lottery—

No, it was even more exciting than winning the lottery!

The happiness came too suddenly, and it took a long time for Fan Tong to snap back to reality.

However, Fan Tong's heart was also full of doubts. Although Professor Lu's research covered a wide range of fields, he had never done research in geology.

Even though the fault structure could reveal a lot of valuable clues, why did it attract his attention?

This was just a trivial matter compared to the Mars landing plan itself.

"Academician Lu… Does he also study geology?"

Captain Liang Youcheng shook his head.

"I am not very clear about the specific situation. You'll have to communicate with him. However, I think these minor issues can be ignored. Since Academician Lu attaches so much importance to the fracture structure, I think he might have found unusual clues."

Unusual clues?

If that is true…

Then I have to take some time and communicate with Academician Lu…

After the meeting, their day continued as usual.

Although the priority of the "128" project had been raised to level A, and he was now directly responsible for Academician Lu, he still had to complete his normal tasks.

He drove the rover to the water source and made a loop to confirm that the drilling equipment was still working normally. Fan Tong continued to conduct sampling surveys at several mineral deposits marked on the map.

After finishing these things, his work for today was over.

According to the weather information forecasted by Xu Fu, a sandstorm would pass through this area in the afternoon. Fan Tong did not waste any time; he got in the rover and started to return to the base.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the sandstorm was five hours earlier than expected.

After he had driven off for less than two kilometers, the overwhelming red sand had completely obscured the view from the rover window. The visibility was less than two meters.

Fortunately, this regional sandstorm would not last for long.

For safety reasons, Fan Tong did not rush into the sandstorm. Instead, he drove the rover to the side of the mountain less than one kilometer away from him. He found a leeward along the topographic contour on the map and stopped there.

The scratching sound of the sand raging outside the window was finally reduced a little.

Compared to the wilderness, this was a temporary haven.

Speaking of which, this mountain seems to be called The Gates of Hell?

Judging from the rough outline, it really does look like an entrance to hell.

Fan Tong turned off the engine. He was prepared to wait quietly for the "light rain" to pass. Just as he was wondering whether to do something to kill time, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an unusual shadow from behind the red sand.

His eyes couldn't move away; he sat up straight in his driver seat.

"The f*ck? Why is it here?"

There was a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

There was a fracture about ten meters long, printed on the ground like a scar.

"How is this possible..."

When he and Sun Wenzhe came here yesterday, they drove more than ten kilometers around the edge of this mountain range and passed through this area!

If there was such an obvious earthquake crack here, he definitely would not have missed it!

Maybe…

Like the broken structure that disappeared suddenly, did this thing grow out recently?

Without hesitating, Fan Tong immediately turned on the on-board communication system and reported the situation to the base.

"Calling base station… coordinates 15° south latitude, 128.1° west longitude, the disappeared fault structure reappears here… Repeating again, coordinates 15° south latitude, 128.1° west longitude…"

There wasn't a response.

"Sh*t! Is it because of the sandstorm?"

Fan Tong closed the communication system. He opened the rover door and jumped down. He walked to the side of the crack.

The atmosphere density on Mars was very low. Even if the sandstorm was strong, the lethality was far less than the depiction in Mars movies.

However, this did not mean that the sandstorm was not dangerous at all. First of all, the impact on the field of view was one aspect, and secondly, the composition of Martian sand was similar to hematite. The iron content was extremely high, even compared to rich iron ores on Earth.

This was deadly for radio transmission.

Fan Tong walked to the fractured structure and glanced down.

The laser ranging device indicated a depth of about 20 meters…

Because of the sandstorm, even with a flashlight, the visibility at the bottom was still not high. If he wanted to know what was going on below, he could only go down and take a look.

Preferably, collect a few more rock samples and go back for lithology analysis.

However, a slight hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Maybe…

Wait until the sandstorm is over?

But what if the crack disappears…

Fan Tong thought of the decision-making power mentioned by Captain Liang Youcheng. Fan Tong finally clenched his teeth and made a decision after some hesitation.

If he just went down and took a look, there shouldn't be any problems.

He would stay there for at most one minute.

He no longer hesitated. After setting up the automatic messaging program on the rover, he got out of the rover and went to the trunk, then took out the safety rope.

Just like he had already practiced countless times, he fixed the buckle to his waist and then walked to the scar-like fractured structure.

Fan Tong thought about the secret that was about to be revealed. He couldn't help but feel excited.

"Come on, let me see what secrets are hidden underneath…"

He took a deep breath and carefully descended along the edge of the rock wall.

Everything went well in the beginning.

He slowly descended to the bottom of the fractured structure.

However, the moment his boots touched the bottom, he felt as if he was stepping on fallen leaves.

The silty ground collapsed downwards.

Out of instinct, Fan Tong's heart became tense immediately.

Maybe…

Not today.

However, just as he was about to retreat and climb up along the safety rope, the rock wall suddenly seemed to have been activated by a certain mechanism. It shook like an earthquake and moved at a staggering speed, closing the crack above him…

Chapter 1372: Can You Hear Me?

The situation was critical.

Fan Tong only had three options.

One was to use his bare hands to fight against the rock formations, the other was to climb a 20-meter deep pit in five seconds…

Or cut the rope and fall.

It only took him a second to make a decision. He immediately unlocked the hook on his waist.

In fact, his judgment was correct.

The closing rock walls didn't give him five seconds at all. It was at most three seconds before the rock formations cut off the light from above…

It seemed like the best decision at the time.

However, half an hour later, Fan Tong began to regret his decision.

The situation he was facing now, apart from being able to keep his corpse intact, did not seem to be any better than being squashed. He had been walking for almost half an hour, yet this cave seemed to have no end, making it impossible to see any hope.

"F*ck… This is like a maze."

I should have been more careful, but it is too late to say those things.

There was a slight tremor from the ground.

The place where he had fallen was already buried by the rock walls. Fan Tong took a deep breath and calmed himself down as much as possible.

In order to make himself feel less frustrated, he tried to convince himself that this was just a scientific expedition.

"The silty quartzite… It's not hematite anymore. I didn't expect to find such an interesting site here.

"What is this? Biomass clastic rock?"

This is an incredible discovery.

The frustration in his eyes was gradually replaced by a touch of excitement. With the multifunctional shovel in his hand, Fan Tong carefully knocked out some samples without damaging the rock.

As he looked at the treasure in his sample bag, the excitement in his eyes grew stronger.

"… It would be great if half-life testing could be done here. Then I could determine the age of the sedimentary layer in this area."

If the current situation was better, he really wanted to share this happiness with other researchers in the base.

After packing up the tools and samples, he began to move forward along the cave.

Although doing these things did not increase his probability of surviving, at least… in the case of his unfortunate death, these valuable research materials would become a scientific research heritage.

Of course, if someone could find his body…

The path ahead was getting harder and harder to traverse.

He had to go in and out of several pathways before he found the real pathway.

He rested for a while, drank some liquid food, and looked at the few supplies left. He couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

But what was interesting was that he noticed a phenomenon along the way. The core of Mars had cooled, but as he walked deep into the abyss, the surrounding temperature increased by about 5 degrees.

Although the surrounding environment was still very cold, it at least brought some comfort.

After recording these bits and pieces of discoveries, Fan Tong got up and moved on after taking a break.

The passage became narrower, it took a lot of effort to squeeze through.

He gradually began to wonder if he had gone the wrong way when a deep pit about five meters wide suddenly appeared in front of him.

The laser ranging showed that the depth below should be about 10 to 20 meters, which was exactly the same as the situation he encountered before.

He stood at the edge of the pit as a touch of hesitation appeared on his face.

What do I do?

Go down, or find another way?

If I continue to go down, I'll be in a deeper location, and the hope of someone collecting my body will be even slimmer.

However, even if I didn't go down, the people at the research station probably won't be able to dig my body from 20 meters underground.

He thought back to the maze-like path he had walked before and felt his scalp itch.

He realized that the situation could not be worse than it was now. He finally gritted his teeth and made a decision. With the help of the multifunctional shovel in his hand, he bravely slid down the pit in front of him.

He slid down the nearly vertical pit.

His feet touched the ground and felt something unexpected.

Maybe…

This is the real "bottom"?

While Fan Tong was thinking, he stood up and looked forward. His whole body froze.

He followed the light from his flashlight and looked at the steep corridor in front of him. It took him a long time to digest the shock in his heart. He managed to squeeze out a word from his mouth.

"F*ck!

"This… is a f*cking… bunker!"

A set of red-brown stone steles about two meters high stood on both sides of the corridor, connecting the ceiling and the ground. Intricate patterns were exposed on the surface of the stele. Although it had been damaged to a certain extent, there was still a trace of carving on the surface.

Everything in front of him could no longer be explained by simple geology.

No matter from which angle he looked at it, it was not natural.

It was a work of art…

A pile of artworks located in the ancient ruins…

Fan Tong pointed the flashlight and the camera on his helmet at the row of sculpture-like cultural relics. He pressed the shutter frantically.

If it wasn't for the lack of signal, he would have reported everything he saw here back to the base station.

All of the discoveries on the previous journey were inferior to what he found here.

There were traces of civilized activity in Mars underground!

Human civilization was not the only one in the universe!

They were not alone!

He couldn't imagine what kind of sensation this news would cause on Earth if it were made public. The excitement of discovering the treasure made him tempted to shout out loud.

"The material is the same as the sand outside, it has been weathered into hematite!

"A totem of the Martian civilization? Or some kind of artifact for religious ceremonies? Or some kind of handicraft…

"Wait a second…"

There was a slight itch in his mouth. When he fumbled and found a damaged stone monument, he tried to knock off the oxide layer on the surface with the multifunctional tool he carried. He found that the inside of the stone monument was not completely composed of hematite.

It was the opposite…

The material was calcium carbonate, which contained almost no iron.

"Calcium carbonate… No, this should be some kind of biomass fossil, it may be very old. It looks older than the trilobite fossils on Earth."

Fan Tong carefully sampled five rock particles of equal size from the inside and put them in the sample bag for preservation.

"… I didn't expect that I would become an archaeologist."

The outside was hematite and the inside was biomass fossils. He inferred that the outer shell of this thing should be some kind of iron-based alloy material and some kind of living thing was sealed inside like a coffin.

His intuition told him that this place might be similar to a cemetery.

Although there were other interpretations, this was undoubtedly the most likely one.

Fan Tong grabbed the multifunctional shovel in his hand and continued along this ominous corridor. Although the shovel in his hands didn't bring him a sense of security, it was better than nothing.

Contrary to the situation he encountered before, as he continued to walk into the corridor, the road ahead suddenly became wider.

When he stepped into a spacious "hall", he instantly felt a sense of relief.

However, just as he was about to move forward, he unexpectedly discovered that his knee seemed to be against an invisible wall, and he was unable to take a step forward.

Just as he was groping on the invisible wall in front of him in confusion, a strange scene suddenly happened.

His wrist-mounted computer suddenly received full bars of signal.

When Fan Tong noticed the flashing signal light, he restarted the communication module.

A series of noisy electric currents soon came from the communication channel.

Just as he looked disappointedly at the signal on the wrist-mounted computer, thinking that it was probably some kind of naturally formed electromagnetic wave, a sound suddenly rang in his headset.

"Ahem.

"… Can you hear me?"

Chapter 1373: Search and Rescue

Mars.

On the surface.

After driving the spare Mars rover to the destination, two scientific research personnel wearing spacesuits quickly jumped out of the car.

"I have reached the target location…" As Han Kangyu looked around, his face was full of seriousness. He opened the communication channel and reported to the base station, "Dr. Fan and his rover are missing."

This was 15° south latitude and 128.1° west longitude, which was the position declared in the last message that Dr. Fan sent out before disconnecting.

Forget about Dr. Fan himself.

Even the tire marks left by the rover were not visible here.

Soon, a calm voice came from the communication channel.

"It may be because he moved to another location while avoiding the sandstorm. The positioning system caused an error due to the influence of the sandstorm… Search the nearby area."

"Okay."

After receiving instructions from Captain Liang Youcheng, the two immediately aimed their eyes at the nearby mountain called The Gates of Hell. If the goal was to avoid sandstorms, this was undoubtedly the best choice compared to the sand dunes in open areas.

The two immediately began to get to work and found new clues.

"The rover is here…"

The rover used by Dr. Fan was found next to a steep rock wall. Ming Wenzhe glanced at the car door, frowned slightly, and said, "No one is in the car, the toolbox is not there."

Han Kangyu quickly walked to his side and looked at the empty driver's seat. Cold sweat began to drip from his forehead.

He punched the tall rover tires and cursed.

"Sh*t… Where did this guy go?"

He was the deputy captain of the scientific research team that headed to Mars. If something happened on Mars, he and Liang Youcheng would bear the brunt of the responsibility.

Of course, compared to a human life, the responsibilities were trivial.

If someone died here, it would undoubtedly give those with ulterior motives who were jealous of China's achievements an excuse to attack them. It would be a huge blow to the entire Mars colonization plan!

And now, they didn't even know what happened to the guy.

Ming Wenzhe, who was standing at the door of the car, suddenly spoke.

"There is a possibility."

Han Kangyu immediately looked at him and asked, "What possibility?"

"According to his message on the rover… Before losing contact, he should have witnessed the disappearing fracture structure near here. Considering the sandstorm that occurred during that time, the visibility outside the vehicle was not high and the location of the crack should be far from here. It won't be very far."

Ming Wenzhe went silent for a while, then continued to speak the difficult-to-accept truth.

"But now, the crack is gone."

"So what you're saying is, he jumped under the crack by himself, then the crack closed quickly after he went down?"

Ming Wenzhe nodded silently.

"That's the only possibility."

Although Han Kangyu knew that this was the most likely scenario, he couldn't help but argue.

"What kind of structure moves so fast that it closes in an instant? Is there no chance to climb up?"

"I don't know, I'm not doing geological research." Ming Wenzhe's expression showed a bit of bitterness. He said, "To be honest, I feel a sense of evil around here. Is it because it's called The Gates of Hell? How about we rename this mountain range?"

The two people were on the public communication channel.

Liang Youcheng, who was standing in the base communication room, had been listening to the exchanges between the two.

After thinking for a moment, he gave an order in a deep voice.

"It doesn't help to be anxious.

"Let's take a wild guess, if the crack appears randomly around the Outlier 128, there should be a large space below this area. If Dr. Fan fell, it is likely he is still alive. Of course, I am not an expert in this area, so I can only say that I think about everything in the most optimistic direction.

"Expand your searching range and search along the edge of the mountain. If he is still alive, he will certainly not sit down and wait to die. Maybe he has already gone to the opening of the next earthquake crack, waiting for rescue.

"Also, I will apply for support from the ground command center.

"… Regardless of the final result, we have to bring him back."

It might not be difficult to drill through a rock on the surface of Mars, but it was still quite difficult to dig through a rock formation more than 20 meters deep and grab someone from below.

There might be such engineering equipment on the Moon, but it was impossible to transport it here, so all they could do was to apply for support.

In fact, applying for support was just for comfort's sake.

Even if the support from the Moon Palace really came all the way and brought reliable excavation equipment, all they could do was collect his body for him.

As Han Kangyu listened to the captain's instructions from the communication channel, he clenched his fists and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he loosened his fists and sighed.

"… That's the only option."

Ming Wenzhe suggested, "I want to apply for permission to use Xu Fu's optical observation module."

Liang Youcheng: "It has been assigned to you. We will also help you observe whether there are new ground cracks nearby. Remember, if you find that… abnormal crack again, you must not act rashly, downward exploration is forbidden!

"Regardless of his current situation, we can't afford more losses."

…

As soon as Liang Youcheng transmitted the distress message back to Earth, the entire ground command center had entered a state of emergency due to the sudden situation.

An astronaut was missing!

Such a serious matter happened less than a week after the landing of the colony capsule. This was not just a simple space accident, but a serious political accident.

The whole country was still celebrating the success of the Mars landing.

If this news spread out, what would happen to the staff at the Mars landing office?

Inside the office.

After Lu Zhou heard the situation reported by Director Chang, he was stunned.

Although he had considered the possible risks of the "Outlier 128" project, he really did not expect this to happen.

The crack closed after the person went down?

It sounded like he was "eaten" by something alive.

After a long silence, Lu Zhou couldn't help but ask.

"Is he still alive?"

"His status is uncertain." Director Chang continued with a bitter expression on his face, "The problem now is that the Mars base has sent a signal for reinforcements, but even if we send rescue now, I am afraid it will not help."

This was indeed a problem.

Even considering the most optimistic situation, Dr. Fan Tong's supply could only last for about three days at most. Even if their Magpie Bridge was departing from the Moon Palace now, it would take at least two weeks to reach Mars.

Not to mention whether or not they could save him, even with the additional supplies.

After all, the environment on the Moon was completely different from that on Mars. Engineering equipment tailored for the Moon might not be perfectly compatible on Mars.

After thinking about it for a moment, Lu Zhou made a decision and spoke.

"Don't send reinforcements for now."

"But—"

"I know what you're worried about." Lu Zhou continued calmly after seeing the worry on Director Chang's face, "The worst-case scenario is that we made a mistake.

"Since he is only missing, it has not been confirmed that our astronaut has died, so don't publicize this matter for now.

"At the same time, let our outpost on Mars use all available resources to search and rescue the missing astronaut.

"If it turns into an irreversible situation in the end…

"I will take all responsibility."

After hearing this, Director Chang's shoulders trembled; he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

After a while, he nodded his head.

"… Okay."

The office door closed.

Lu Zhou was the only one left in the spacious room.

Lu Zhou listened to the sound of footsteps fading away outside the door. He went silent for a while, then finally sighed and turned his eyes to the smartphone on the desk.

"Xiao Ai."

The signal light flickered slightly; a message appeared on the screen.

[Master, are you calling me? o(〃'▽'〃)o]

"You should have heard the conversation just now?" After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, "Connect to the Crawler for me and search for the missing astronaut."

In less than a second, the chat popped up again.

[Yes, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Chapter 1374: The Fifth Type of Contact

Mars.

In God knew how many meters deep underground…

As Dr. Fan stood in an empty "hall", he was completely muddled.

His common sense told him that there couldn't be any signal here, let alone a voice.

Therefore, when the words of "Can you hear me?" echoed in his headset, he wondered whether he was hallucinating due to dehydration.

Seeing how Dr. Fan didn't respond, the mysterious voice had a trace of hesitation as it appeared again.

"Strange… Is there something wrong with the translation device? It should be working."

"… Translation device?"

What is that?

After recovering from the confusion, Fan Tong looked around with his torch for the source of the voice and replied, "I can hear you… Who are you?"

The terrain nearby was full of hematite, so the signal penetration was very poor. Considering that the voice was clear, the signal source should be nearby. However, when Fan Tong's flashlight beam searched every corner of the hall, he didn't find any electronic devices.

"Stop looking." The voice in the communication channel suddenly became a bit playful. "You won't find anything."

Fan Tong realized that he was helpless; he took a deep breath and gave up his useless search.

He reached out his hand and touched the transparent wall again. He took a half step back nervously and repeated his previous question in a vigilant tone.

"Who are you? Are you…

"Are you?

"Are you… Martians?"

He spoke in a trembling tone.

Fan Tong waited nervously for the person's answer, but there was suddenly no response from the communication channel.

The silence lasted for about a minute.

He gradually began to wonder if he had guessed correctly and the strange alien soldiers were about to capture him when suddenly a string of harsh laughter came from the communication channel without warning.

"Hahahahaha! Interesting, I haven't heard such an outlandish joke for a long time… But, unfortunately, you don't seem to be very clever."

Fan Tong: "…"

"If by the so-called Martians, you are referring to those bugs that once lived on this planet, then I am sorry, I am not such a low-level creature." The laughter gradually reduced, and the tone of the voice was then filled with sarcasm. "I was surprised to see a civilization composed of organic Mammalia primate life forms. I didn't expect you to be from a primitive civilization that hasn't even left their mother planet. No wonder you can't find where I am."

When Fan Tong walked back nervously, the voice smiled and continued, "Don't be nervous… I won't eat you. Come on, take off the mask and let me see what you look like."

"Are you crazy?" Fan Tong stared forward and said, "There is no air here."

If it wasn't because it was impossible for electromagnetic signals to reach here, he would have believed that someone in the research station had opened a voice changer to prank him.

He was certain that there must be a camera or something similar nearby that was monitoring him, and maybe the person hiding in the monitoring room was laughing like crazy right now.

Who is this, why are they doing this…

He felt like his brain was messed up, like a piece of broken tofu.

"Oh, true, I almost forgot… This planet has been destroyed by its former owner." The voice murmured, "What to do? Those stupid people didn't tell me how to distinguish between…"

Fan Tong: "What are you talking about?"

The owner of this planet?

Meaning that there really was a civilization on this planet?

And the reason why Mars has become like this is that an ancient civilization once lived here?

It didn't matter who this mysterious voice was anymore. As an expert in planetary geology, Fan Tong was only curious about one thing.

"… What did Mars look like before?"

"What was it like before? Even if I described it to you, your level of civilization won't be able to understand it. After all, you have only seen your home planet. This was a gentle and enviable world, in a nitrogen and oxygen-rich atmosphere. An ecosystem with strong self-healing ability. A series of factors such as environment, temperature, and humidity at different latitudes met the survival needs of advanced organisms. You can think of it as an extremely rich ecosystem. All the organic lifeforms from the phylum to the genera family lived here."

Advanced organisms?

Fan Tong didn't particularly understand the concept of advanced organisms, but just by listening to this description, this was a better place than Earth.

After all, according to the extinction rate of species on Earth, it was hard to imagine that it was livable for all living organisms. If it continued to develop according to this trend, humans could become extinct within a thousand years…

"I suddenly thought of a wonderful idea." The voice in the communication channel had a hint of excitement. "You can tell me first about how much your civilization has developed."

Fan Tong's face gradually became alert when he heard these words.

The voice seemed to notice the fluctuations in his mood. With a smile, the voice continued, "Don't be nervous. We are not in the same universe. Even if we are, we're not interested in a group of ugly monkeys living on a planet."

"… Not in the same universe?" Fan Tong thought of the interpretations of Academician Lu's papers and the concept of extra dimensions that he had read online before. He frowned and said, "Did you come from the Void?"

"Oh? The low-level civilization is that advanced now?" There was a hint of interest in the voice. "It seems that the Oracle has played a role…"

Fan Tong had no idea what was going on.

What is the Oracle?

Fan Tong looked at the empty hall. He clenched the multifunctional shovel in his hand and continued calmly.

"I can't trust a person who doesn't even want to show his face. I will not answer any of your questions about us until you explain your identity and purpose."

"Then let us answer each other." The voice replied in an indifferent tone, "If you think my question offends you or violates your privacy, you can choose to refuse to answer. Out of courtesy, I can allow you to ask questions first."

"Done."

Although there were still doubts in his heart, he was still satisfied with this sincerity.

Fan Tong organized the thoughts in his mind and continued to speak, "Then my question is… Who are you?"

"Who am I? This question is a bit abstract. I believe you are not asking for a philosophical answer from me, but my name is meaningless to you. If that is the case, then the term "Martian" will do. When they were still here, they called me the 'Holy Relic'."

"Holy Relic?"

"Yes, in their culture, it was probably similar to a special life form whose existence was much higher than theirs. Their understanding was indeed correct, I am indeed much more advanced than them. Well, this is all I will say. Although I don't mind talking to you more, this involves a matter of sincerity."

Fan Tong tried to argue, "But you didn't explain anything clearly."

"That's because the question you asked is confusing." The voice continued unceremoniously, "If you don't want to continue wasting time, just answer my question, then our conversation can continue."

"… Go ahead."

"Does your communication module have a function to receive text messages? Although the problem is not very complicated, your brain may not have the capacity to remember this."

"…"

Fan Tong pushed away the urge to get angry. He silently reached out and tapped twice on the wrist-mounted computer and soon switched the communication channel to the text input interface.

He didn't know why this voice was so familiar with the communication technology and language he used.

After both sides showed enough sincerity, he received the answers he wanted.

Soon, a text message was sent over.

However, as soon as he opened the text message, his whole body froze.

[For any ε>0, there are only a finite number of triples (a, b, c), satisfying that a, b, and c are relatively prime positive integers, and a+b=c, with c>rad(abc)^ (1+ε).]

Fan Tong: "???"

Is this…

A mathematics problem?

What the hell?!

He originally thought this guy would ask questions like "how many planets do you control" or "how many starsh.i.p.s do you own". Or at least questions like "how many people are there". He was even prepared to answer those questions.

However, he didn't think that he would be thrown into a mathematics problem.

Fan Tong frowned and stared at the question carefully.

Although most of his knowledge of mathematics had disappeared since his graduation, he still remembered some.

I don't know why…

This looks like an easy problem, but I have no idea where to begin.

Seeing how Fan Tong was unresponsive for a long time, the voice gradually felt disappointed.

"Looks like you're not the chosen one."

"… Chosen one?"

"Usually, it is the smartest one in your civilization, or at least there is a difference between them and the rest of you. Like facing a stone monument, some baboons will only pee on it, but some baboons can understand the true meaning of civilization from it and lead his tribe to get rid of ignorance and toward enlightenment… I don't know if you can understand what I said. After all, your understanding of intelligent creatures is probably limited."

There was a noticeable trace of distaste in the voice.

However, Fan Tong had no response.

He didn't understand what the invisible "wall" in front of him was or where the mysterious voice came from, and how the voice knew what language he spoke…

Perhaps the person who was talking to him really came from a civilization that was powerful beyond his imagination.

At this moment, he was the baboon.

A light sigh came from the communication channel.

"Go back.

"Take my question back too.

"Find someone among your compatriots who can solve it, and let him come here to find me with the answer.

"That is, if you still want to do something good for your civilization."

Chapter 1375: ABC Conjecture?

On an uninhabited desert.

Two rovers driving from a distance merged together.

Han Kangyu opened the car door and jumped out. He looked at Sun Wenzhe approaching him. Han Kangyu was wearing a spacesuit. He strode forward and asked with an anxious expression on his face, "Did you find him?"

With a solemn expression in his eyes, Sun Wenzhe shook his head.

"Nope. I've searched everywhere nearby. I can't even find the crack where he fell… What about you? Did you find any clues?"

After hearing the bad news, Han Kangyu had an ugly look on his face.

"Nothing on my side either."

He searched almost every corner he could find; he even ventured a short distance toward the inside of The Gates of Hell mountains. However, the result was just like what his teammate Sun Wenzhe said, he couldn't even find a crack in the ground, let alone a person.

A pessimistic mood gradually emerged from his heart, and he began to wonder whether the missing Fan Tong was still alive.

"This is not good…"

Sun Wenzhe wiped off the sand sticking to the mask of the spacesuit. He looked at the overlapping mountains nearby with a headache. "It's too unrealistic for us to search everywhere… What's the situation with the headquarters? Didn't the captain apply for support?"

"No support." Han Kangyu shook his head and said gravely, "The ground command center wants us to use all the resources available on site to search and rescue. Apart from the already deployed equipment on Mars, they have no way to support us."

"That is to say, there is no support?" Sun Wenzhe sighed. "But then again… It's a two-week voyage. Even if it arrives, he'll probably be gone by then."

Equipment already deployed on Mars…

Except for the several space probes that were deployed a long time ago, they didn't have many useful pieces of equipment deployed on Mars.

Han Kangyu looked solemnly at the time on the wrist-mounted computer. His eyebrows couldn't help but show a trace of sadness.

Almost five hours had passed.

The hope of survival diminished with every passing minute.

However, just as the two were discussing how to proceed with the rescue work, an unnatural black spot appeared behind the rolling red sand.

As the black spot approached closer, its outline gradually appeared in their eyes.

The moment they saw the outline, the two were immediately dumbfounded.

They saw the culprit who made them worry for more than five hours riding an unmanned automated survey vehicle.

"Thank you."

Fan Tong patted the roof of the survey vehicle lightly before jumping off the roof. His body was dirty, as if he had fallen into a coal mine.

The camera on the head of the car nodded up and down. It then turned around and headed back into the desert.

Fan Tong watched the unmanned reconnaissance vehicle that probably belonged to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. He then looked at his two dumbfounded teammates and gradually showed a trace of shame on his face. He lowered his head and spoke.

"Sorry for making you guys worried."

"Do you know what I want to do right now?" Han Kangyu's eyes were fixed on Fan Tong as he said, "I want to punch you in the face."

"I know, I want to punch myself too… But now is not the time to say this." The ashamed expression on his face gradually became complicated. Fan Tong took a deep breath and continued with a smile, "I have important findings to report."

…

Mars Scientific Research Station

The activity room was used as a temporary meeting room. Fan Tong, who was dressed in casual clothes, sat at the meeting table with four of his teammates. He told all of his experiences in the underground world in a straightforward manner.

After listening to his story, everyone, including Captain Liang Youcheng, was stunned.

Martian civilization?

Holy Relic?

This sounds like a sci-fi blockbuster…

"You mean… You saw an alien under the ground?" Liang Youcheng reached out and pinched his eyebrow. He sorted out his chaotic thoughts and continued, "But this voice is not from a Martian. They came from outside the solar system. They have been alive hundreds of millions of years, and they told you that a civilization once existed here?"

Sun Wenzhe, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

"Apparently, people may suffer from hallucinations in extreme environments."

"I swear it was not a hallucination," Fan Tong said with a serious tone. His teammates had obvious looks of disbelief on their faces as he continued, "We introduced ourselves to each other. It also talked about the civilization that once existed on this planet… that is, the Martians. In fact, I did find evidence of the existence of a Martian civilization in the ground. I passed through a corridor, and there were two sides inside the corridor. It was like a coffin, and it claimed it was the 'Holy Relic'."

Sun Wenzhe caught a key piece of information, and he asked immediately, "What about the samples? Don't tell me you didn't take any samples of this."

"It's in the sample library, but if you want to extract the DNA, I think you should give up on this idea. Apart from the barely recognizable row of 'coffins', most of the materials have been weathered into biomass clastic rocks. Although it has not been tested for isotopes, I can infer from experience that the age of those biomass clastics is probably older than the trilobite fossils."

Sun Wenzhe: "You never know until you try."

"It's up to you. This is your area of expertise anyway."

Liang Youcheng saw Fan Tong lean back on the chair. He frowned as he spoke.

"Let's not talk about the Martian civilization first… Are you sure you were underground and saw another civilization?"

"No, not exactly. The situation was very strange. I could feel that he was nearby, but maybe he was hiding. I couldn't find him at all. He connected directly to my communication channel. He even spoke standard Mandarin with me. Oh yeah, I also ran into an invisible wall there. The place felt evil… Don't look at me that way! I swear on my academic reputation that it was not an illusion."

"Forget about it, look at the evidence."

Fan Tong took the wrist-mounted computer off his arm and tossed it on the conference table.

Han Kangyu looked at the wrist-mounted computer and asked, "What is this?"

"I mentioned this earlier. After the friendly remarks, we each asked each other a question. I asked who he was, and he gave me a math problem… This is it."

Fan Tong had already opened the information panel in the wrist-mounted computer and read the text message.

The five people sitting at the conference table moved closer.

Xiao Hong, the electrical engineer who had not spoken yet, spoke with a weird expression.

"This looks like a high-level math problem."

Sun Wenzhe, who was standing next to him, gave him a wry smile.

"This thing is not a high-level math problem."

Liang Youcheng looked at him immediately.

"You can do it?"

Han Kangyu interrupted suddenly, "If I remember correctly, this is the ABC conjecture?"

"Yes, it's the ABC conjecture." Sun Wenzhe looked at the four teammates in the conference room with different expressions. He nodded with a complex expression. "We have no hope of solving it.

"But… No one on Earth can solve it either."

Chapter 1376: Top Secret Doc.u.ment

Beijing.

Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A group of people gathered in a rather small conference room.

Most of them were top leaders of major public mathematics research institutions in China and the most prestigious scholars of various schools.

As for why they were sitting here…

In fact, they don't know either.

"How come there isn't even a meeting agenda?"

Wang Shicheng looked at the mineral water bottle standing alone on the conference table and frowned.

Just when he was about to find a staff member to ask some questions, a familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

"Wang Shicheng? Haha, you were also invited?"

Wang Shicheng looked sideways with an unhappy expression. He saw Academician Xiang approaching with a smile on his face and sat down next to him.

"Us Yan University mathematics research institute is also a top mathematics research institution in China, so why won't I be invited?"

"Haha, that's not what I meant. I was just a little surprised." Academician Xiang looked around and lowered his voice as he continued, "I looked around. It seems that it is not just people from major research institutions. The top leaders and the top domestic experts in number theory have all been invited… I wonder what the meeting is about."

"Wrong."

"Wrong?" Xiang Huanan looked at him with a look of confusion.

Wang Shicheng just raised his eyes and glanced around the conference room and said lightly, "There's one expert in the field of number theory who hasn't come."

"You mean Academician Lu?"

"Yes," Wang Shicheng said after nodding his head. He continued, "He's by far the most authoritative figure in number theory. Since he is a number theory scholar, but he is not here, I guess that this meeting is probably related to him."

Although he didn't particularly like the young man, he still admired the man's mathematical achievements.

While talking, a middle-aged man in formal clothes walked to the podium in front of the conference room.

The man coughed slightly. The voices in the conference room gradually became quiet.

Although he was not in academia, as the second in command of the Ministry of Science and Technology, most scholars sitting here were familiar with him.

"Looks like this conference is important."

After hearing Xiang Huanan's voice, Wang Shicheng did not respond. Instead, he nodded in silence.

A conference hosted by the second-in-chief of the Ministry of Science and Technology…

Of course it's important.

"Long story short…" After a light cough, the man standing in front of the podium quickly spoke with a serious expression, "What you are about to hear is the state's top secret. The time frame for confidentiality is thirty years. After the meeting, discussing related issues in private is prohibited. Disclosing or divulging any relevant information about the meeting is also prohibited.

"Of course, the specific top-secret information has nothing to do with you or me. In order to facilitate the work, I will talk about the main points here."

After a pause, the man nodded to the staff nearby and motioned him to turn on the projector.

Soon, the projector was turned on. A PowerPoint with black characters on a white background appeared on the screen.

As soon as everyone saw the slide, whispers spread in the conference room.

Almost everyone's face was filled with unexpected expressions.

"ABC conjecture?!"

"What the hell is going on, I don't understand."

"They seem to be calling on everyone to solve a mathematical problem."

"This is nonsense, is this even something that can be done by concentrating effort?"

Academician Xiang Huanan listened to the discussion in the room. He looked at Wang Shicheng after a while and spoke.

"Old Wang, what do you think?"

Wang Shicheng was totally muddled. It took him a while before he spoke.

"… I don't know, don't ask me."

ABC conjecture…

Even though they didn't know what this problem had to do with state secrets, his intuition told him that inviting the domestic experts for a meeting wasn't enough to solve this problem.

"This is obviously a math problem. I believe that with your capabilities, I shouldn't need to explain much. I will only talk about the key points." The man looked around the room. The expression on his face did not change as he said, "The Ministry of Science and Technology has established a special scientific research fund with an annual budget of 100 million yuan.

"Whoever can solve this problem… this fund will go to them."

Whoever can solve this?!

When they heard this, everyone took a deep breath.

Even Wang Shicheng, who had been retired for many years, couldn't help but wonder.

A hundred million in scientific research?!

And that's annually…

Are they f*cking crazy?

For some professional engineering academicians, a hundred million yuan fund might not be a big deal; it was only enough for two scientific research. Especially for those researchers who built rockets, even a billion wouldn't be enough.

However, for a "poor" area like mathematics, one hundred million was an astronomical number.

The only thing they would have to worry about was how to spend it.

"What the hell happened? Why is the Ministry of Science and Technology spending so much…" Academician Xiang Huanan said as he frowned.

"I don't know…" Academician Wang Shicheng shook his head solemnly and said, "But I'm certain that there is more to the story."

…

In fact, the guesses of many scholars in the conference room, including Academician Wang Shicheng, were correct.

The report from Mars not only turned Project 128 into a Class A secret but also put the Mars landing office on the highest alert.

An extraterrestrial civilization…

Just a day ago, this sounded like a fantasy concept.

But now, this had become a problem that everyone had to face.

While the leaders of almost all public mathematics research institutes across the country were called to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a meeting, a ministerial-level closed-door meeting was also going on at Chang'an Avenue.

"… Might as well directly disclose to the international community. Who cares about the losses or benefits; the risks are too high! If everything goes well, it would be fine. But if it is not handled well, ten years of hard work and achievements would have been in vain. We would be sinning for all of mankind."

"I agree with Minister Wang's. Just like global climate action, this is no longer a problem faced by our country, but a problem faced by all of mankind. Even if it is top secret, it will only remain a secret for at most 30 years. The world is too big to take on the risks ourselves. It is better to make a limited degree of disclosure."

"I object, before confirming the safety aspects, we should ensure that all choices are in our hands!"

"Second! What will happen if this becomes public? Apart from the unnecessary tension, do you really think the Americans will help?"

"I do not approve of international disclosure, but I do not approve of the situation right now either. We can disclose some information with reservations. Under the premise of controlling the channels of dialogue, we can set up an international organization to discuss countermeasures together. Not only will this help us enhance international influence, but it can also avoid the risk of a breach of trust. Otherwise, once a little bit of news is leaked, or if other countries have evidence that we have contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, it is likely that our relationship with the international community will fall into a very tricky situation."

"It's true… It's really difficult to keep a secret for ten or twenty years without revealing a little bit of news!"

Contact with extraterrestrial civilization was a matter full of risks.

This risk not only came from light-years away, but it also came from neighbors of planet Earth.

If a country was in contact with extraterrestrial civilizations alone, it meant that they had all the powers of diplomacy with extraterrestrial civilizations, including war declarations and peace talks. Other countries could only become passive recipients of the results of the dialogues.

The benefits would be taken by others, but they would have to take the risks alone. It would be nice if it could be kept secret, but obviously, this was impossible.

The President looked at the conference room. He then looked at Lu Zhou and asked, "The ABC conjecture, can't you solve it?"

Although this question seemed to have nothing to do with the meeting agenda, this was actually the most critical problem.

Being able to solve this mathematical problem seemed to be the prerequisite for dialogue with the extraterrestrial civilization.

The voices of the discussion gradually subsided as everyone in the meeting room became quiet. They were waiting for his answer.

"I don't know." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "I don't know until I try… And my instinct tells me that even if it can be solved, I'm afraid it will take a long time."

The old man thought for a while and nodded.

"Let's not think about questions that have no answers. Now, suppose you have solved this problem. What choice do you think is better?"

"From a sincerity point of view, it is better for the problem solver to go." After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, "In the end, if it is me… and not someone else who solves the problem, I am willing to go to Mars."

The President frowned.

"Can't you talk with them remotely?"

"It's very difficult." Lu Zhou said as he shook his head, "Forget about Mars, even on Earth, radio signals can't be transmitted deep underground. Unless a communication base station is built on the ground and an optical cable is laid down… However, with the current conditions of the scientific research on Mars, it is almost impossible to achieve this."

After a pause, Lu Zhou looked at the others in the conference room and continued, "Also, I want to go over and see what the so-called alien looks like."

"I think it's still too risky." Although Director Li was touched by Lu Zhou's selfless dedication, he couldn't help but say, "Mars is tens of millions of kilometers away… What if something goes wrong? This is not a joke."

"Science itself is an adventure. When did I say that I was joking around?" Lu Zhou said calmly. He looked at his old friend's face, which was full of concern, and said, "If everything goes well, the impact of this may be greater than controllable fusion.

"Whether it is from the standpoint of a country or human beings as a whole.

"I'm responsible for going there myself!"

Chapter 1377: Concealed Report

"… Recently, during a scientific expedition to Mars, the Mars landing office encountered a sudden dust storm, which caused a scientific researcher to lose contact during the mission.

"After investigating the situation, the ground command center immediately organized rescue work, using a number of equipment including the near-Earth orbit optical observation system, unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, and other equipment to carry out emergency rescue work for the missing person.

"The entire rescue work lasted five hours and 27 minutes, and finally, they managed to successfully rescue the missing person.

"According to the person in charge of the Mars scientific research base, the researcher entered the nearby mountain range to avoid sandstorms. Due to the special landform and geographical environment of Mars, the electromagnetic wave signal attenuation coefficient is relatively large, which greatly affects the normal use of communication, positioning, and other equipment. This caused a serious safety accident…

"More details are still under investigation.

"CCTV reporting for you."

The lunar scientific research station.

Sun Lieyang sat in the public cafeteria watching the news on the LCD screen. He frowned as he spoke.

"I don't know why."

"Why what?"

"I feel like this news is missing something."

Missing something?

Tao Muye raised his eyebrows with interest. He put down the chopsticks in his hand.

"You mean, there are hidden things that haven't been disclosed?"

"Yeah." Sun Lieyang nodded and said, "You've received training before, right?"

"Everyone has."

"I remember the third article in the safety manual very clearly says that, in the event of an aerospace accident, the person involved should wait in place for rescue."

"Maybe it was an emergency."

"A sandstorm on Mars is an emergency?"

Tao Muye shook his head after hesitating.

"I don't know… I haven't been there after all."

"I think it's a bit far-fetched."

Due to the ultra-low air pressure on Mars, sandstorms were not a big threat at all.

Hiding in the nearby mountains to avoid a sandstorm, then losing communication due to the hematite, was like a person who jumped into a river in order to avoid the rain. Not to mention this person was a planetary geologist.

He was risking his own life.

Although Sun Lieyang knew that life was full of accidents, his instincts told him that something must have happened.

"Who cares, if there's more to the story, we're not privy to that information anyway," Tao Muye said with a smile after picking up his chopsticks again. He continued, "I guess the ground command center is in chaos. Fortunately, they found the person; otherwise, this plan would have gone south."

Sun Lieyang agreed with Dr. Tao's point of view. Even if there was something hidden behind this, it had nothing to do with the researchers on the Moon.

Tao Muye changed the subject with a smile.

"Speaking of which, how is the second-generation controllable fusion research going? Have you made any progress?"

Sun Lieyang replied casually, "Yeah, in my dreams."

"…"

…

Originally, in Lu Zhou's plan, the unified theory of algebra and geometry was his final work in the field of pure mathematics.

At least before all of his disciplines reached level 10, unless he encountered a problem of special interest, he probably wouldn't refocus his work on mathematics.

One reason was to leave opportunities for others.

The other reason was that he was too busy.

Other than the maxed-out physics and mathematics, there were five other disciplines that he needed to deal with. These disciplines were areas that focused on application fields with a long research and development cycle and a large amount of uncertainty.

Especially when the research involved specific application scenarios, it was not something that could be solved by sitting in the study room with a pen and just doing calculations.

However, life was always full of surprises.

Just like how he had never thought that the Void would contact him like this…

"Why are you here?"

Jin Ling University, mathematics department building.

Professor Perelman saw Lu Zhou entering his office. He was sitting at his desk writing something. He put down the pen in his hand and cast a questioning glance at Lu Zhou.

"A question is bothering me. I heard that you are still here, so I came here…" Lu Zhou walked in and glanced around the slightly messy office. He smiled and greeted him, "Speaking of which, are you not going back to St. Petersburg?"

"I will probably stay here for a while before Hodge's conjecture is solved," he answered the question concisely. Perelman twisted the pen in his hand and said, "I am more curious about the problem that puzzles you. May I ask, is it mathematical?"

"It is."

Lu Zhou walked to the sofa and sat down. He smiled and nodded to the assistant who brought him tea. He looked at the mist rising from the cup, lowered his voice, and continued, "To be precise, it is the ABC conjecture."

The pen in Perelman's hand fell on the table.

Perelman frowned.

"ABC conjecture… Why are you interested in that?"

"Because of curiosity." Lu Zhou thought for a while and said vaguely, "And some practical reasons."

"Is it related to the meeting at Jinling University some time ago?"

"Meeting?"

"Well, I heard from other mathematics professors here." Perelman frowned and continued, "Recently, you seem to be planning to concentrate on conquering the ABC conjecture. It seems that you have also provided a research funding of 100 million as a reward? Actually, with all due respect, this kind of problem cannot be solved by throwing money at it."

When did that happen?

Lu Zhou was stunned.

"I'm not quite sure about this. Maybe someone else did something superfluous… But this conjecture is really important to us. Do you have any good ideas?"

Perelman: "I have read Shinichi Mochizuki's paper."

"Me too… So?"

"Then you should know what I'm going to say." Perelman continued, "If Riemann's conjecture is the Mount Everest in mathematics, then the ABC conjecture is the cloud floating above Mount Everest. There is no doubt that it is a mathematical problem that can be described in mathematical language, but it is not like a problem that can be solved by mathematics.

"Professor Mochizuki's work is equivalent to creating a special mathematical language parallel to mathematics itself… That's my opinion on his Abelian geometry.

"To put it bluntly, the biggest difficulty in solving this problem is that no one in mathematics today has really done research on this problem that is useful. If you really want to research this problem, you have to redefine addition and subtraction, thus redefining the whole of mathematics.

"Maybe alien mathematicians have an easier time solving this problem…" Perelman murmured, "Of course, this is just my guess."

Lu Zhou's nerves tensed up subconsciously upon hearing his words.

But he soon realized that Perelman was just joking, not as if he knew the inside story.

Lu Zhou's expression became a little more subtle.

This is tricky.

The higher-ups are still discussing whether to make this public. If it is made public, will today's conversation make this old foreign friend feel like I'm lying to him?

After thinking about it, Lu Zhou quickly left the matter behind.

For a scholar who was obsessed with mathematics, even if Perelman knew the inner story behind it, he probably wouldn't be interested.

"Redefine the language of mathematics like you redefine addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division?" Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa and said, "I will go back and think again."

Perelman nodded and spoke.

"If I have any new ideas, I will communicate with you.

"In fact, I recommend that you discuss this issue with Shinichi Mochizuki or Schultz. They seem to have done more research on this issue."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"I'll think about it."

Chapter 1378: "Counter-intuitive" Conjecture

The ABC conjecture was not the same as other mathematical conjectures. Its biggest difficulty was not in calculations, nor in the abstraction of the proposition itself, but the fact that its existence was completely counter-intuitive.

Simply put, let three numbers be a, b, and c, where c=a+b. If these three numbers were relatively prime, then to multiply the prime factors of these three numbers to get d. It seemed like d would obviously be larger than c.

For example, let a=2, b=7, c=a+b=9, d=2×7×3=42, d was obviously much larger than c.

However, this was completely contrary to people's intuition.

There were many counterexamples.

For example, let the triplet be (5, 27, 32), d=30, which was obviously smaller than 32.

Mathematicians went to the next level and modified Joseph Oesterlé's original expression, magnifying rad(abc) and replacing it with a power of r greater than 1. Which became rad(abc)^(1+ε).

For any real number ε greater than zero, there existed a counterexample of d=rad(abc)^(1+ε)>c!

However, the number of these counterexamples was limited!

Ever since this question was raised, because of its "counter-intuitive" characteristics, it had always been a top problem that plagued mathematics.

In the algebraic sense, the interaction between addition and multiplication corresponded to infinite possibilities. Therefore, the prime factors of two natural numbers and the prime factors of their sum should not be mathematically related.

However, the magic of the ABC conjecture lied here.

It connected two unrelated algorithms in the eyes of mathematicians in a magical way and related the mathematical laws between the two.

Even if it looked wrong at first glance, no one could prove it. Based on the results of distributed computing, it was actually likely to be correct.

History showed that countless scientific conclusions such as "Newton's Theorem of Inertia" and "Galileo's Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment", which seemed to violate common sense at the time, were finally successfully proven.

Moreover, after these counter-intuitive theories were confirmed, without exception, they greatly promoted the development of science at that time.

Like Professor Dorian M. Goldfeld said, the ABC conjecture was not as well-known as Fermat's Last Theorem. Many people wonder why mathematicians should research a conclusion that already seemed to be true. But because of its unique counter-intuitive characteristics, its value was no less than Fermat's Last Theorem.

If this conjecture was proven, many famous Diophantine problems would be instantly solved.

And this included Fermat's Last Theorem…

After returning from Professor Perelman, Lu Zhou went straight back to his office at the mathematics department.

Compared to the environment at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and the launch site, he still preferred the academic atmosphere for studying mathematical problems.

After asking Assistant Zhao to make a cup of coffee, Lu Zhou, who had been sitting at the desk for a long time, took out a pen from the pen holder and thought quietly as he looked at a blank piece of scratch paper.

In fact, he wasn't just worried about pure academic issues.

There was also the so-called "Holy Relic".

Compared to the Mars landing office and Chang'an Avenue, he actually knew more about the whole story.

This was not only because he was the person in charge of the Outlier 128 project, but also because he had experienced three pieces of memories about the civilization of the old universe, and he had even communicated face to face with The Observer's civilization.

All kinds of clues indicated that the Holy Relic was probably not an extraterrestrial civilization; at least, it was not the kind of extraterrestrial civilization imagined by most people. Instead, it was an "item" sent by The Observer civilization to the solar system; one that could change the fate of the universe.

According to them, it was a gift.

But due to various reasons, just like mistakes in an experiment, this gift not only arrived in the solar system billions of years in advance, but it also fell in the hands of a civilization that had nothing to do with their plan.

Analyzing it from this perspective, it was quite possible that it came from the old universe.

According to Dr. Fan Tong's experience, Lu Zhou made the bold assumption that the so-called Martian civilization that had disappeared might have been "enlightened" by the "item".

After all, they called it the "Holy Relic".

"Is solving the ABC conjecture a prerequisite for conversation?

"I originally thought that the first conversation between human civilization and other civilizations would probably start with the dismantling of large prime numbers or other more concise questions…

"The mathematical threshold of this conjecture is too high."

Unlike the simple and easy-to-understand numbers such as Pi and Planck's constant, mathematical conjecture involved not only mathematical laws but also human mathematicians' understanding of mathematics.

In Lu Zhou's opinion, using mathematical conjectures to converse was definitely not the best choice for communication.

Of course, the premise was that both parties wanted to communicate.

Testing the other party was another story.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Lu Zhou, who had read the report of project 128, always felt that although the "Holy Relic" was curious about human civilization, it didn't seem like it really wanted to communicate with them.

In his opinion, this mathematical conjecture was to "embarrass" human civilization.

Lu Zhou was thinking about it randomly while looking at a blank piece of scratch paper. A bunch of bubbles suddenly popped up in the lower corner of the laptop next to him.

[Master, you have mail!]

New mail?

Lu Zhou thought about who would send an email to himself at this time and spoke.

"Open it for me."

The text bubbles disappeared.

The browser opened, and the email soon appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

The content of the email was short. The body contained only one sentence.

[I've been waiting for you for half a year. Have you finished handling the matter at hand?

[Signed by—

[Satoshi Nakamoto.]

When Lu Zhou saw this email, he was still a little bit confused. But when he saw the signed name at the bottom, he immediately knew what the email meant.

At the same time, the expression on his face became weird.

Around the end of last year, when Lu Zhou had just completed the 524-qubit computer and the "Theory of Void", an anonymous email address with Satoshi Nakamoto's ID sent him an email saying that he planned to discuss academic issues with him.

Lu Zhou was curious about the mysterious Bitcoin founder. He promised him at the time that he would send him an email back when he finished the matter at hand.

Then, he went to Stockholm and encountered a thrilling incident on the way to Copenhagen on the cruise ship. He had completely forgotten about the agreement after returning home.

But, to be honest, this was not his fault.

After all, he had never actually finished his "matter at hand"…

Even now.

Lu Zhou looked at the e-mail and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

What do I do?

I'm not in the mood to discuss cryptography…

What is there to even discuss?

Just when Lu Zhou was wondering whether he should just ignore the email, he suddenly had a brilliant idea. He quickly typed on the keyboard and wrote an email.

[I'm sorry I didn't reply to your message in time. After returning from Stockholm, there were too many things that occupied my time, such as the research I am working on at the moment.

[Of course, if you can help me solve this problem, it would be great. I promise that I will help you with whatever you want to discuss.]

This is probably the best way to reject him.

At the end of the email, Lu Zhou typed out the ABC conjecture and clicked the "Send" button. He then closed his laptop and looked at the blank paper on his desk.

Time slowly passed by.

When Lu Zhou had gradually entered a flow state, the screen of his mobile phone suddenly flickered.

[Master, you have a reply! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]

Reply?

Already?

When Lu Zhou looked at the text bubbles on the screen, he was stunned.

Out of curiosity about the reply, he couldn't help but open his computer and log into his email again.

Just like the previous email, this reply only had one short line.

[I have researched this problem before. If you are interested, I have attached the proof method.]

Lu Zhou: "…?!"

Chapter 1379: Five Hundred Pages of Proof

Early morning…

A car parked downstairs at the mathematics department at Jin University.

Han Mengqi thanked the driver who helped her take the suitcase out of the trunk. She then dragged the suitcase and went upstairs. However, when she was about to open the door and walk into the office, she was caught by a hand that came out from the side.

"Li Mo?"

Han Mengqi looked at the younger guy and spoke.

"What's wrong?"

Li Mo glanced at the office door and spoke with a serious face.

"Master has been in a retreat for two days, let's not disturb him."

"Two days?!" Han Mengqi was shocked. Her eyes widened, and she asked, "H-he stayed in the office for two days? What about food? He didn't come out to eat?"

"He still ate." Ji Mo said embarrassedly, "I went to the cafeteria to bring him back food… I just brought his breakfast over. I was planning to go to the library to study… Do you want to go together?"

"Oh, as long as he's eating…" Han Mengqi breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly said, "By the way, did he say you can call him Master?"

Li Mo: "…?"

Han Mengqi realized that her reaction was a little sudden. She coughed and explained, "I mean, this is a school and you are still in undergraduate studies. It is not good for other students to hear you call him that."

Li Mo realized that this seemed to make sense. He scratched his head in embarrassment and admitted his mistake, "Ah… I'm sorry, I didn't think about it."

Seeing this junior disciple acknowledging his mistake and correcting it, Han Mengqi nodded in satisfaction.

"As long as you don't do it again…"

She put her right hand on the doorknob of the office, opened the door carefully, and walked in.

Han Mengqi closed the office door and looked at Lu Zhou's eyebags. She quietly spoke with a tinge of distress in her heart.

"Master… I'm back."

Lu Zhou put down the pen in his hand. He let out a sigh of relief and put aside the thick stack of papers. He smiled and looked at Han Mengqi who was standing by the door.

"Meng Qi? You're back already?"

Han Mengqi nodded and spoke.

"I just got off the plane."

"Why didn't you call me when you got off the plane? I could have asked Wang Peng to pick you up… By the way, why did you bring your suitcase here? Didn't you go home?"

"I'll go back later."

She looked like she wanted to say something, so Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

"How was your trip to America?"

"It was smooth…" Han Mengqi nodded and added in a quiet voice, "I also received an award by the way."

An award.

Not bad.

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

"Oh? What award?"

"Young Scholar Progress Award…"

In fact, in addition to the awards given to her by the International Union of Materials Research Societies, there were also another series of events such as the dinner party at the White House, meeting with the president of the American Society for Metals, and so forth.

Other than the Young Scholar Progress Award, she basically had "no achievements" in the materials science field. All these special treatments made her feel flattered.

In fact, the reason why she went to Jin University immediately after returning to China, besides sharing the good news of her award with her master, was also because she had a lot of questions to ask him.

However, she didn't expect to see Lu Zhou in such a tired state…

"Master…"

"What?"

Han Mengqi said with a worried look, "I heard that you haven't slept for two days."

"Two days?" Lu Zhou looked at the stack of more than 500 pages on the table. He frowned and said, "It's been that long?"

Han Mengqi: "I think it's better for you to take a break."

"It's fine, it's only two days, I haven't reached my record yet." Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "I will go to rest after I reply to the email."

"Email? How about you tell me what to write? I'll do it for you."

After yawning, Lu Zhou waved his hand and picked up the breakfast on the corner of the table.

"No need, I'll write the email myself. I can't explain this to you for now. If you really want to write it, I'm afraid the sun will go down before you understand what I'm trying to say."

"What problem is it…"

"ABC conjecture."

"… ABC conjecture?!" Han Mengqi was stunned when she heard Lu Zhou's answer. She asked with a dazed expression on her face, "Why did you decide to… suddenly research this problem?"

If she remembered correctly, he should be busy on the Mars landing project.

And he seemed to have said more than once that he would not research pure mathematics any time soon…

"Life is always full of surprises… I didn't expect this either." Lu Zhou coughed and said, "Anyway, because of some special reasons, I'm researching this now. Don't worry about me. Go back and unpack your luggage. Take some rest, get rid of the jet lag, then report back here."

Han Mengqi was forced out of the office by Lu Zhou. She stood in the corridor outside the office with a dazed expression.

After hesitating, she took out her mobile phone, opened her contacts list, and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice and was connected.

A familiar voice soon came from the other end.

"Meng Qi? Are you back? I was just about to call you."

"Well, I just got off the plane… Um, sis, you should come to Jin University."

"Jin University? Why?"

"Lu Zhou, he seems to have not slept for two days… I am a little worried about him. If you don't have time to come over, at least call to persuade him."

"Hasn't slept in two days?! Are you with him now? I'll come right now!"

Chen Yushan got up from her office chair and ended the phone call.

Han Mengqi took a deep breath and put the phone back into her pocket.

She looked back at the office and thought in her heart.

Master, that's all I can do!

Don't die on us…

…

Dying was not going to happen.

It was just two days of no sleep.

If Lu Zhou remembered correctly, his highest record of no sleeping was for seven consecutive days. He slept for two or three days straight afterward to recover.

That was back in Princeton. He was researching Goldbach's conjecture or the Navier-Stokes equations; he couldn't remember. Staying up late was normal for him.

He remembered that, one time, he felt like he was floating on the clouds; he couldn't tell whether he was in the sky or on the ground.

But that feeling of extreme concentration allowed him to completely break through the bottleneck and enter a new level. However, he knew that he was just one step from reaching "heaven"…

"Sigh, time is not forgiving, I'm getting old too… I can't mess around like I'm twenty anymore."

After eating, Lu Zhou gradually felt a trace of sleepiness in his heart. He extracted a tube of energy medicine from the system space, unscrewed the bottle cap, and swallowed it slowly.

A mint-fresh coolness spread along his throat to the front of his brain. He soon felt that the fatigue that crawled all over his body was like a tidal wave, completely fading from his body.

After refreshing his spirits, Lu Zhou picked up the stack of papers from a corner of the table and found the page where he had left off. He turned on the computer and started writing the email.

Before this, he was uncertain about Satoshi Nakamoto's identity, but now, he was 80% certain that it was Shinichi Mochizuki himself[1: Shinichi Mochizuki has denied this in an interview. This is only a rumor in the mathematics circle. Don't take the plot of this novel too seriously.]

This paper on the proof of the ABC conjecture was clearly a revised version of the paper Shinichi Mochizuki previously published on the Internet.

Because it was an unpublished version, there was neither an abstract nor a title. Lu Zhou only realized after he read more than 20 pages that this paper was a bit familiar. He was certain after he read more than 30 pages. This was the "Anabelian geometry" and the "Inter-universal Teichmüller theory" that only a few people in the world understood.

In fact, Mochizuki's proof of the core idea of the ABC conjecture was very simple to summarize. It transformed this abstract problem into a more abstract elliptic curve, a special two-dimensional cubic equation.

This transformation process was actually not difficult to understand. One only had to associate the same image of each "ABC equation" with the elliptic curve whose x-axis intersects at a, b, and the origin. After this transformation, proving the ABC conjecture was equivalent to proving that there was a certain unequal relationship between the two values of the constructed elliptic curve.

This operation of transforming algebraic problems into geometric problems could transform a simple number theory problem into geometry, calculus, and other fields. This was so that more mathematical tools could be applied.

In terms of this proof alone, this set of operations was actually very classic. Wiles used a similar method to prove the core part of Fermat's Last Theorem.

Unfortunately, although the idea behind the proof was remarkable, when this idea was transformed into a paper of more than 500 pages, everything became less friendly.

Many people even commented that to fully understand what "Anabelian geometry" and "Inter-universal Teichmüller theory" was probably more difficult than solving the ABC conjecture itself.

The famous number theorist Professor Caligali even stated bluntly that this paper was a "complete disaster".

Lu Zhou remembered that a few years ago, Schultz and his partner had visited Beijing and discussed the issue face to face with Shinichi Mochizuki, but the final result turned out to be the same. A dispute between the two sides of the field.

Schultz complained that he stood on a Penrose stairs that never ended, while Mochizuki insisted that he "knows nothing at all" and "can't even understand the basic definition".

As for Lu Zhou…

His opinion was the same as Schultz.

[I have read the paper.

[Although it has undergone certain modifications compared with the previous version, in my view, there are still large loopholes. Especially in the part of inference 3.12. If you want to clarify the relationship between the volume of the set, you must at least establish a relationship between the measurement standards of the volume in each different space. However, in the mapping you give, the quantity rulers are locally compatible with each other…

[In summary…

[Your proof is wrong.]

Chapter 1380: Girlfriend Card

After typing the email, Lu Zhou yawned and clicked the "Send" button casually.

Normally, even if Lu Zhou was not optimistic about someone's proof, he would not be too harsh. He would go about in a tactful way. But because he needed to rest, he didn't bother to spend time making his words more polite.

Of course, although the five-hundred-page paper did not succeed in proving the ABC conjecture in his opinion, it did not mean that the past two days were wasted.

Compared to the previous paper he found on the website of the department of mathematics of Kyoto University, this revised version had been optimized in many ways.

Although there were still many problems, it had given him a lot of inspiration.

In addition to the basic idea of transforming number theory problems into geometric problems, there were also many problems that involved rebuilding a mathematical language.

He had a rich experience in the former, but the latter was a new thing for him.

This was different from existing mathematical language compiler tools; it was almost equivalent to recreating a mathematical language used to describe the ABC conjecture.

Perhaps like Perelman had guessed, to solve this problem, it might be easier to use alien mathematics.

After the email was sent, Lu Zhou casually wrote down his inspiration in a notebook. He then got up from the chair and was about to go back home for a nap.

However, there was a knock on the office door. The door was soon pushed open.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan, who walked in. He was slightly stunned and spoke with surprise.

"Why are you here?"

"I heard that my boyfriend hasn't slept for two days, so I immediately came from the office… Where is Meng Qi?"

"She left already."

Chen Yushan looked at Lu Zhou's thick eyebags. She then sighed distressedly.

"… Promise me, don't ruin your health anymore."

"It's only two days, don't make such a big deal out of it…" Lu Zhou said with a cough, "Not to mention that it's not the first time I've been on a retreat."

"What do you mean only two days!" Chen Yushan couldn't help but rant, "Also, I didn't know you don't sleep during your retreats!"

"I don't stay up every retreat, but when I happen to be inspired, I want to take advantage of the inspiration and do what I can do all at once…"

Lu Zhou couldn't help but yawn. He then smiled a little embarrassingly and said, "Besides, I'm planning to go to rest right now, so don't worry."

"If I wasn't here, you'll probably never take a break." Chen Yushan looked at the stack of papers on the desk and said, "Is this… the ABC conjecture?"

"Yeah, after reading Shinichi Mochizuki's paper, I have a lot of interesting ideas. Although I don't know when this problem will be solved, I feel that I am very close to the entrance of the maze."

After seeing the excited expression on Lu Zhou's face, Chen Yushan spoke in a quiet voice after being silent for a while.

"I heard… After solving the ABC conjecture, you are going to Mars?"

"Who said that?"

"My dad."

I knew it…

Lu Zhou had anticipated that this would happen. He sighed in his heart.

Director Li probably told her father.

Director Li tried to play the girlfriend card, in hopes of convincing Lu Zhou not to go.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but curse in his heart.

What a sc.u.mbag! Who does something like this?

Chen Yushan said, "I want to go to Mars with you… But I don't think I can."

Lu Zhou looked at the pretty face and spoke after a moment of silence.

"If you want to, I can bring you."

"No."

Lu Zhou was surprised.

He thought that Chen Yushan would agree; he didn't expect her to shake her head and reject him.

"If I went with you, you would definitely be worried about me. If it's just for a vacation, it would be fine, but since you're doing business… I don't want to be a burden.

"I'll wait on Earth for you.

"So…

"Promise me, you'll come back."

Although she carefully hid the feelings of anxiety in her heart, Lu Zhou still read the unspoken words from her rippling eyes.

What if… someone else goes? It'll be the same.

I have already taken on too many responsibilities that are not my own. If I share some with other people, it might be easier.

After all, I'm not young anymore…

However, this thought only stayed in his mind for a second.

After being silent for a while, Lu Zhou raised his head, looked at her adorable face, and nodded.

He spoke in a serious tone.

"I promise you…

"I'll come back safely!"

…

On the other hand…

Kyoto University, Japan.

After Shinichi Mochizuki read the e-mail lying in his mailbox, he was slightly unhappy. His student Hoshi Yuichiro was standing behind him with a cup of coffee. He looked at the email on the screen and spoke in surprise.

"Reading more than 500 pages in two days… How did he do it?"

The obscure and incomprehensibility of anabelian geometry was well-known in the mathematics world. Scholars who understood this field could be counted on one hand.

Hoshi Yuichiro clearly remembered that Schultz, who was said to be a genius mathematician, spent half a year in order to understand his professor's thesis.

Moreover, he and another student, Yamashita, agreed that the German mathematician did not understand the paper at all. And that he even conflated two unrelated mathematical concepts during questioning.

"Obviously, he didn't read my paper carefully at all and that he made a judgment based on his instinct." Mochizuki took off his glasses from the bridge of his nose and stood up from the computer desk.

After a pause, he continued, "I will go to China to confirm this personally."

The moment he said this, the entire office went silent.

Hoshita Yuichiro, Yamashita, and his other students and assistants all cast a glance of surprise at him.

What surprised them was not that their professor intended to go against Professor Lu; in their opinion, their professor was no worse than Lu Zhou.

What really surprised them was that the famous "introverted" Mochizuki was actually willing to go overseas?!

After gulping, Hoshi Yuichiro looked at his professor incredulously and asked in an uncertain tone, "Professor… You plan to go in person?"

"Yes." Mochizuki nodded without hesitation. He said bluntly, "His misunderstanding of my thesis is more irritating than that of Schultz. I will clear up the confusion with him in person."

"But you… don't usually travel?"

In the past, the European Mathematical Society tried so hard to invite him over to give a report, but the big man sent another student to give a report. This time he actually wanted to go to China himself. In Hoshi Yuichiro's opinion, it was like pigs were starting to fly.

"That's because there was no need to travel before, but now there is."

Shinichi Mochizuki looked at his students and continued to speak without interruption.

"Moreover, I happen to have a lot of questions about quantum encryption algorithms and cryptography that I want to talk about with him.

"Compared to the ABC conjecture, which I solved more than ten years ago, this is what I am really interested in."

Hoshihiro's shoulders trembled. Like the other students and assistants in the office, they looked at the teacher with a hint of worship in their eyes.

Professor Mochizuki…

His confidence…

His determination…

Is so cool!

Chapter 1381: Inevitable Encounter

An apartment building near the University of Bonn.

Professor Schultz was packing his luggage. Professor Stix was about to invite him out for a drink. He spoke with a look of surprise.

"Are you… planning to go to a conference?"

If he remembered correctly, there should be no academic conferences worth attending in the near future.

"No," Schultz answered the question concisely. He chose a jacket from the closet and stuffed it into the suitcase. He then casually replied, "This is not a conference, but an invitation from Professor Lu. I plan to go to China and discuss some academic matters with him."

"China? Professor Lu?" Stix was slightly taken aback. He hesitated and said, "But last time at the conference, didn't Professor Lu say that he doesn't plan on researching mathematics for a while?"

"He did say that, but it doesn't matter." Schultz said with a smile, "His withdrawal was a loss for the mathematics world, and now he is back in his best field; number theory. Anyway, I think this is a good start."

Stix asked curiously, "What problem is it?"

"ABC conjecture."

"So it actually is the ABC conjecture…"

With a look of disbelief on his face, Stix whispered in a low voice, "But this makes sense. Mathematical problems are no longer a challenge for him. Only this kind of problem that can't seem to be solved with modern mathematics can arouse his interest."

Schultz closed the suitcase, looked at him, and spoke.

"Want to go together? You are an expert in number theory."

Stix shook his head and said, "No thanks, I don't know him very well, and he didn't invite me… I wish you a good time over there. I hope I can hear good news from the other side of the ocean."

Schultz said with a smile, "Of course."

…

While Schultz had set off on his journey to China, Shinichi Mochizuki was sitting in the terminal at the Kyoto International Airport on the other side of Earth. He was dozing off with his chin buried in the collar of his trench coat.

Suddenly, his phone alarm rang, waking him up from his sleep.

"It's time already?"

Mochizuki rubbed his nose. He was a little discombobulated from his sleep. He was about to get up from his chair, but his eyes focused on the TV screen on the ceiling of the terminal.

The news from NHK TV was being shown.

In the studio, the female host announced the latest news.

"… The China Mars landing office held a press conference, at which it announced the major findings of research projects related to the Mars landing plan. At the press conference, the Chinese press spokesperson announced that, during their scientific research accident, the team discovered clastic rocks suspected of being formed by biological sedimentation in a 120-meter deep underground rock formation on Mars."

On the TV screen, the footage was switched from the studio to the scene of the press conference.

A spokesperson in formal clothes stood in front of the camera, facing the crowd of microphones and cameras. He spoke into the microphone with a serious expression.

This spokesperson also disclosed another piece of information.

Which was that, according to carbon isotope detection and analysis, these bioclastic rocks were formed about 2 to 2.5 billion years ago.

If this research was true, this discovery would become a piece of strong evidence for the existence of signs of life on Mars. It would reveal to humans that more than two billion years ago, before the Martian atmosphere was blown by the solar wind, what kind of ecosystem existed on Mars.

Prior to this, the academic community had always held two completely different views on whether there was a complete ecosystem on Mars…

"Aliens?"

Shinichi Mochizuki looked at the news on the TV. He thought to himself.

Sounds interesting.

But…

Doesn't have anything to do with me.

Just as he was thinking about this, there was a sudden excitement from the side.

"There are aliens on Mars?"

"Amazing..."

"I wonder when our astronauts will be able to go there."

"It's too difficult… Even NASA has failed. Sigh, if it weren't for Professor Lu, no one would have been able to go there."

"Do you think they actually saw aliens there? It's just not disclosed."

"How could that be possible… After all, these are specimens from billions of years ago."

Seems like I'm not the only one interested.

Shinichi Mochizuki glanced at the TV one last time. He then grabbed his suitcase and walked quickly toward the boarding gate…

…

Jin Ling University.

An office at the end of the corridor in the mathematics department building.

"Your working environment is much cleaner than mine," Schultz said in an enviable tone while standing in Lu Zhou's office. He looked around and continued, "I can hardly find a place to stand. The thing I complain about the most is that I don't know which piece of paper I need and which I don't need… The end result is that everything is piled up together; there is no organization at all."

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly when he heard this, not knowing whether it was a compliment.

To be honest, the cleanliness of his office was not because of how good his habits were. It was purely because he hadn't been here much this year. He had only begun to show up at the university office recently.

Perelman, who had just arrived here, stood next to them. He looked at Schultz. He then looked at Lu Zhou and muttered, "I was just brainstorming, I didn't expect you to actually find him."

"Oh, so you guys talked about me coming here?" Schultz looked at Perelman unexpectedly. He said with a smile, "It seems that I have to thank you."

Perelman: "Oh, no need, like I said, I was just brainstorming."

"Regardless, we are all standing here for the same purpose." Lu Zhou clapped his hands and spoke with a smile as he looked at his two old friends. "So, let's not waste time in small talk. We can talk about the past over dinner later."

"I agree." Schultz said jokingly, "I heard that Professor Lu has made new discoveries on the ABC conjecture, so I bought the earliest flight and immediately flew over from North Rhine."

"I'm afraid I can't say it's a new discovery; it's just a little idea." Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and continued, "It's the 500-page paper from Shinichi Mochizuki."

"The paper by Mochizuki Shinichi?" Schultz didn't expect Lu Zhou to use that paper as the opening remarks of the discussion. Schultz raised his eyebrows slightly and said hesitantly, "Honestly, there is nothing to discuss. I proved it wrong with my collaborators years ago."

"I know, I read your dissertation against him; it's very good."

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and picked up a marker from the table. He walked to the whiteboard next to him and paused for a moment. He continued, "Obviously, there is a problem with his paper and the problem is not small. There is no doubt about it. But when I read his paper the day before yesterday, I found something very interesting."

Although there was an expression of disapproval on Schultz's face, he noticed that Lu Zhou had picked up the pen. He decided to stay quiet and wait for Lu Zhou to continue.

Perelman was the same; the expression on his face did not change. He just stared intently at the pen in Lu Zhou's hand.

His intuition told him that Lu Zhou must have discovered something extraordinary, so much so that he invited Schultz all the way from Germany for discussion.

Regardless of whether that meant a proof of the ABC conjecture, it was worthy of his attention.

Also, he knew that once he missed a sentence, even with his mathematical ability, it would be difficult to keep up with Lu Zhou's jaw-dropping speed…

"Inference 3.12 is the core of the whole paper. There is no doubt about it. It turns the ABC conjecture from an abstract mathematical concept to proving a specific inequality related to elliptic curves.

"However, the root of the problem is also here."

Just when Lu Zhou was talking about the most critical part, a dramatic scene happened.

A series of violent footsteps came from the corridor outside.

Soon, after a knock on the door, the door was pushed open.

When Lu Zhou saw the figure appearing at his door, he was stunned.

But…

Obviously, the other two people were even more stunned.

"Mochizuki?"

"Schultz?"

The two people made eye contact and stood there, stunned.

Gradually, the atmosphere began to become a little awkward.

The expressions on their faces stiffened at the same time.

Dean Qin finally caught up with Shinichi Mochizuki and jogged to the door of the office. He was holding the door frame and out of breath. He was about to introduce the visiting famous scholar of Kyoto University to Lu Zhou when he noticed Perelman and Schultz in the office.

This old man could instantly smell something wrong in the room.

"Haha, I didn't expect you guys to be here…"

Dean Qin touched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly. He said quickly with a dry cough, "This is Shinichi Mochizuki… You guys talk, I won't bother you all."

After that, the old man turned around and quickly left.

Chapter 1382: LSPM

"Professor Mochizuki, right? Nice to meet you."

Although there was still a smile on Schultz's face, Lu Zhou smelled the tension as soon as Schultz spoke.

Professor Mochizuki obviously realized this. He lifted his chin slightly, as if he was expressing his disdain with his nostrils.

"Hello, Professor Schultz, long time no see."

"Yes, it's really been a long time. After all, it's not easy to see you."

"Hahaha."

Lu Zhou watched the growling between the two; he was stuck in the middle.

Shinichi Mochizuki didn't reply to his email some time ago. He thought he was "blocked"; he didn't expect this guy to come over in person.

He didn't expect such a coincidence that this guy and Schultz had bumped into each other.

Even Perelman saw that they were not friendly with each other, so he said with a light cough, "If you have something to talk about, you can discuss it privately before we continue."

"No," Schultz said with a shiny smile on his face, "I don't have any problem with Professor Mochizuki. We were just discussing the five hundred pages of wasted paper, oh, I meant thesis."

Shinichi Mochizuki squinted his eyes and stared at him for a while. He looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

"I have nothing to say to him, I'm here for you."

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

"What a coincidence.

"Since we're all here, let's continue."

He turned around to face the whiteboard and started writing.

When the first line was written down, the two people who were previously fighting finally turned their attention back to academic issues.

When Lu Zhou wrote down the fifth line of equations, Shinichi Mochizuki's eyes narrowed slightly.

Anabelian geometry method!

As the creator of the mathematical language, he didn't feel too surprised by the mathematical language he invented.

What surprised him was that someone could use it so skillfully. He can't help but feel impressed.

This was probably the first time he had seen this happen outside of Kyoto University.

For the vast majority of people, the odd-looking mathematical symbols created by him alone were enough to give a headache, much less using those mathematical symbols to build up a complete argumentation process.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Finally, half an hour passed. The five whiteboards were filled with dense calculations.

The three people standing in front of the whiteboards began to feel a little sore in their necks. Lu Zhou finally put down the marker and took half a step back.

After finally seeing the calculations on the whiteboard, Shinichi Mochizuki's face gradually became solemn, then back to being surprised.

After Schultz read the calculations on the whiteboard, a smile gradually appeared on his face. It was obvious that Lu Zhou had produced a similar result to his.

As for Professor Perelman, there was still no change of expression on his face, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"… The incompatibility of spatial measures means that the final inequality cannot be compared…"

Shinichi Mochizuki was completely lost in thought. Lu Zhou continued softly, "But if the proof is changed, as I wrote in equation 2.1, then spatial measurements will be compatible with each other."

Schultz smiled and said, "But then, this inequality will lose its meaning."

Lu Zhou nodded. "Yes, but I appreciate it if you can keep quiet for now."

Schultz shrugged and closed his mouth somewhat boringly. He glanced at Mochizuki next to him, then went to make himself a cup of coffee.

Now that the deduction had reached this point, there was no suspense.

He admitted that Lu Zhou's analysis of the problem was closer to the essence than himself.

When proving the inference 3.12, his argumentation process was infinitely close to succeeding. From this, the final result of the ABC conjecture was derived.

However, he was just a little bit "off".

It was precisely because of this mistake, the five-hundred-page thesis became a waste of paper.

Shinichi Mochizuki looked at the calculations on the whiteboard intently. He did not speak for a long time.

Lu Zhou thought for a while and spoke thoughtfully.

"The expression of anabelian geometry is a bit unique… It took me a lot of time to understand what these symbols represent. If there is no misunderstanding, this should be your 'trivial' proof process."

Shinichi Mochizuki lowered his head a little.

"Yeah."

Lu Zhou: "Do you have any questions then?"

Mochizuki shook his head.

"No."

There was no doubt that this was the most perfect derivation process he could think of, even more perfect than he expected.

That was why…

He couldn't even think of how to refute it.

Lu Zhou thought for a while and suddenly said, "In fact, anabelian geometry has many remarkable points when solving abstract mathematical problems, but the cost of mastering this is really high. I think that if a tool is to be passed on, it has to be easily understood by all people."

Shinichi Mochizuki stared at the calculation on the whiteboard with furrowed brows. He then said in an indifferent tone, "I don't care."

"Then what's the meaning of your work?"

"Meaning?"

"That's right." Lu Zhou nodded. "Most scholars are confused about your work. There are very few scholars in mathematics who understand anabelian geometry. The only people who understand your work are mostly your students or colleagues. Maybe you can still work in mathematics for ten or twenty years, but what about thirty or even fifty years later?

"Maybe your theory is lucky. Your students finish the work you didn't complete, sorting out the obscure things into mathematical principles that can be understood and accepted by most people. A hundred years later, the new knowledge shoots will sprout on unfamiliar soil.

"However, if you're not as lucky as we assume, your students' research in this field will not surpass you. In fifty years, all the work you have done in this field will not be remembered again, as if it had never existed in this world before.

"Of course you might not care," Lu Zhou said in an indifferent tone. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the silent Shinichi Mochizuki as he said, "I just feel a little pity for you."

After a long silence, Professor Mochizuki looked at the lines of calculations on the whiteboard and suddenly asked, "Can I ask a question?"

Lu Zhou: "Of course you can."

Shinichi Mochizuki: "Did you really only take two days?"

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and said, "Sort of, although I didn't sleep much in those two days."

With a complicated expression on his face, Shinichi Mochizuki nodded silently.

This time he didn't say anything. He just turned around and walked away.

…

The meeting continued.

After listening to Lu Zhou's explanation, both Perelman and Professor Schultz agreed that this counter-intuitive mathematical problem could only be solved through counter-intuitive mathematical tools.

It was best to create a language that was independent of the existing mathematical methods, specifically used to describe this kind of special Diophantine equation problem.

As for the breakthrough point…

In Lu Zhou's opinion, it was possible to consider starting from the refinement of Baker's theorem and slowly move toward the result of the ABC conjecture.

Schultz had an unexpected interest in this problem. He decided to stay at the Jin Ling University faculty dorms for the time being.

Although Lu Zhou said that he could arrange a hotel with better conditions, he declined it because of the travel inconvenience.

As for Shinichi Mochizuki, he had disappeared since that day. He couldn't be contacted and did not return his emails.

Lu Zhou thought he had already returned to Japan. What he didn't expect was that he appeared again two days after, just before their meeting.

"You are right, I thought about it for a long time after I returned to the hotel.

"Whether it's the proof or the suggestion about anabelian geometry…

"If no one remembers my work, then all of my efforts in this field may become meaningless after I retire. If, unfortunately, I am still alive by then, it will be a torment until my death."

Professor Mochizuki pointed his nostrils to one side with a little embarrassment, coughed lightly, and continued.

"After returning to Kyoto, I will take a little time to do something I haven't done before.

"But before that, I want to stay here for a while.

"I want to put an end to the unfinished work from more than ten years ago."

Lu Zhou looked at Shinichi Mochizuki with surprise. He didn't expect him to admit his mistakes so easily and even propose to stay at Jin Ling University for a while.

This is unlike the rumors in the mathematics world…

Lu Zhou was stunned for a while. He smiled and reached out his right hand.

"I'm glad you think that way… Also, you are welcome to join us."

After shaking hands, Shinichi Mochizuki looked at Schultz, who was standing by the side.

"I think we have had a serious misunderstanding with each other… But don't expect me to apologize to you, this is not entirely my fault."

Schultz smiled and folded his arms.

"That's fine, I didn't expect an apology. In addition, although your proof process has obvious problems, we all think that your idea is still feasible. We need to create a new mathematical language to describe this problem… Welcome to our research group. It seems that LSP has to be changed to LSPM."

He smiled and reached out his right hand.

Shinichi Mochizuki frowned and hesitated for a while. However, in the end, he still shook the hand.

"Thanks…"

"This is definitely the most powerful lineup in the history of mathematics." Lu Zhou looked at them and said, "Or at least one of them."

"I think it is." Schultz joked and said, "After all, we have Professor Lu."

Chapter 1383: Big Moves in Chinese Mathematics

"Hey! Have you heard? There seem to be big moves in the Chinese mathematics field recently!"

"What moves?"

"I heard from a new international student, that the Ministry of Science and Technology seems to have issued a reward of 100 million research funding for the ABC conjecture…"

"What, how much?! A hundred million!? Zimbabwe dollars?"

"Of course it's yuan… Apparently, the people who research number theory are going crazy! Various public institutions are even more amazed. They are offering high salaries to anyone who researches number theory. There seem to be quite a few Chinese mathematicians at Princeton who recently got an offer and returned to China, right? Apparently, that is related to this rumor."

"ABC conjecture… A hundred million… Crazy, it's crazy."

Princeton cafe.

As one of the most famous news distribution centers in mathematics, there were always weird rumors about mathematics that could be found here.

One piece of gossip that had become quite popular recently was probably the news that was suddenly issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. There was constantly someone in the cafe talking about it with an envious look in their eyes.

A hundred million in research funding…

They couldn't even imagine how to spend so much money. The only people who remained indifferent to this were probably those who stood at the top of the academic world and no longer cared about money.

There were many rumors about the origin of this fund, but most of the explanations were quite far-fetched.

After all, this matter itself was a bit ridiculous.

Everyone was at a loss. It was not clear why the Chinese Congress suddenly showed such interest in a purely mathematical problem and even offered such a jaw-dropping reward.

As a result, many foreign number theory scholars in the public research institutes of China were now asking how to become naturalized and whether there were any shortcuts.

Professor Peter Sarnak, the former editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics, said, "Recently, there seems to be a big move in the Chinese mathematics community." Professor Fefferman was sitting opposite him. Peter Sarnak continued in a chatty tone while drinking coffee, "I hear a new rumor almost every day… Have you heard about it?"

"I've heard a little bit… But the thing I'm thinking about is different than what you're talking about."

"Oh really?" A look of interest suddenly appeared in his eyes. Professor Sarnak sat upright and stared at Professor Fefferman with interest. He asked, "Is there another big move?"

Professor Sarnak wasn't the only one who smelled the gossip.

The several scholars sitting at the table next to them also lowered the volume of their speech, pretending to be drinking coffee. In fact, their ears were secretly listening.

"LSPM." Professor Fefferman continued after taking a sip of coffee, "I don't know if you've heard about it. I only saw it on Schultz's blog last night."

"LSPM?" Professor Sarnak frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "I haven't heard of it. Do these four letters have a special meaning?"

"L is the acronym for Lu Zhou, S is Schultz, as well as P for Perelman and M for Shinichi Mochizuki. They recently established a research group on the ABC conjecture."

After hearing this explanation, Professor Sarnak was shocked.

"ABC conjecture?! Are they…"

"Sounds very surprising, right? I was also very surprised. This is definitely the most powerful lineup in the history of modern mathematics. It is equivalent to an all-star team." Professor Fefferman smiled and continued, "I bet that this game will be very exciting."

"Is it for the 100 million yuan bonus? No, it's impossible." Professor Sanak was confused. "I heard that only domestic scholars can apply for it… And Lu Zhou doesn't seem to be short of money."

Not just Lu Zhou.

Shinichi Mochizuki, Schultz, and Perelman; none of them seemed to be interested in money.

"Of course it's not for money," Professor Fefferman continued with a sip of coffee. He calmly said, "However, my instinct tells me that there must be a story behind this. Believe me, it won't take too long. We'll hear about it soon."

Just like how the ABC conjecture would be solved soon.

Professor Fefferman, who had worked with Lu Zhou, had no doubt about this.

He knew exactly how powerful that man was.

Also, this strength was not only because of his talent; Lu Zhou was also terribly hardworking. Especially when it came to forgoing sleep and eat. Even Princeton's most diligent scholar couldn't compare to his work ethic.

Fefferman couldn't think of someone on Earth who was more likely to solve this problem than him.

"There is one thing I don't understand."

Before Professor Sarnak recovered from the surprise, Professor Fefferman said casually.

"Yeah, what?"

"Shinichi Mochizuki… How could his name also appear in this research group…?" Professor Sarnak continued with a weird expression on his face, "He always insisted that he had fully proven the ABC conjecture using his anabelian geometry."

Fefferman was slightly stunned; the expression on his face also became weird.

Yeah…

Why is Shinichi Mochizuki in this research project group?!

He hadn't thought about this problem before. But now he realized this was indeed a bit strange.

He had a sinking feeling in his stomach…

"Um… This is really a bit unusual. Wait, I'll look for that paper."

Professor Fefferman took out his new smartphone from his pocket and opened Mochizuki's personal blog. He was about to find the paper that had troubled the mathematics community for more than ten years.

However, something unexpected happened.

Professor Fefferman, who was looking at his phone screen, was stunned.

Sarnak immediately noticed the change of expression on his old friend's face. He leaned over and said, "What happened?"

"That paper… is missing."

Fefferman suddenly realized something. He immediately closed Shinichi Mochizuki's personal blog and logged onto the official website of the department of mathematics at Kyoto University.

I knew it!

I guessed it!

That 512-page paper that has been on the homepage of the Kyoto University mathematics website since August 30th, 2012…

Has disappeared as well?!

…

Ever since 2012, Shinichi Mochizuki's proof of the ABC conjecture had been full of controversy. It was precisely because of this, that when the 500-page paper was removed from his personal blog and the homepage of the Kyoto University mathematics website, it attracted the attention of the entire academic community.

At first, many people thought it was a website problem.

It wasn't until they saw his name appear in the list of the LSPM research group that this incident caused an uproar in the mathematics world.

At Kyoto University, whether it was the students or professors, whether they studied mathematics or philosophy, almost everyone was shocked by the news.

For a long time, this professor who challenged the entire mathematics circle with his own power had been a godlike existence in their eyes. Ever since he proclaimed the proof, someone would try to defeat him every once in a while, but he had stayed undefeated in the past ten years.

Those who refuted him could not produce any evidence that could be understood by others.

But now, their idol actually admitted his failure?!

There had to have been a mistake!

"I can't accept this!"

Kyoto University, Professor Mochizuki's office.

Hoshi Yuichiro, who couldn't get through to his professor's phone, snarled madly while holding his cell phone.

"Professor Mochizuki must have been threatened! Or there must be something else! Until he clarifies this in person, I will not admit that he has actually given up!"

"Please calm down."

"F*ck off! Don't hold me! I'm going to China to find the professor!"

A younger student sat in an inconspicuous corner of the office. He raised his trembling right hand.

"Um, Professor Mochizuki just updated his blog."

"Where? Let me see!"

Hoshi Yuichiro opened the browser quickly and went on Shinichi Mochizuki's blog. Other people in the office also leaned over and watched behind the office chair.

It was a video that was less than twenty seconds in length.

Professor Mochizuki sat at a desk looking pretty good. At least, it looked like he wasn't under intimidation. Hoshihiro was slightly relieved when he noticed this, but soon, his nerves tightened again.

If he's not under duress…

That means…

In an instant, Hoshi Yuichiro's face turned pale.

At the same time, the professor that he admired made a concise statement in front of the camera.

"The proof process has some problems. It may be difficult to fix them. Let's treat it as an immature attempt from me.

"Fortunately, we have found new ideas.

"My apologies for the trouble I've caused for everyone!"

Hoshi Yuichiro: "???"

Yamashita: "???"

Chapter 1384: Critical Breakthrough

Hoshi Yuichiro, Yamashita, and everyone else in the office were stunned.

Not just that, but shortly after the video was uploaded to his personal blog, the entire Japanese academic community was blown up.

Like all people expected, Shinichi Mochizuki stood up and responded to the removal of the paper from his personal blog and the homepage of the department of mathematics.

However, the response was not what people wanted to hear.

In some sense, the Japanese academic community was relatively closed off compared to the international academic community.

This was not reflected in the academic exchange itself, but the entire Japanese academic community was permeated with a xenophobic atmosphere dominated by extremely confident emotions.

Simply put, they were not targeting anyone, but subconsciously, they felt that all foreign scholars were rubbish, and no country was special.

This kind of xenophobic culture rooted in the subconscious made it difficult for foreign scholars to integrate into them. Japanese scholars were rarely willing to actively integrate into the world. Of the 22 Japanese Nobel Prize winners in materials, chemistry, and physics, none of them worked overseas.

If domestic scholars were questioned by foreign scholars, unless there was hard evidence in front of them, in the eyes of the Japanese academic community, the rest of the world was the ones that were wrong.

They rarely apologized.

Because of this, as opposed to the "academic fraud" or the "scandal" itself, the Japanese academic community felt more humiliated by the mistake being discovered in the first place.

This was obvious from the top ten list in Retraction Watch.

Among the top ten leaders, four of them were Japanese scholars.

Especially Yoshitaka Fujii, who was ranked number one. He was infamous in the academic world. From his doctoral degree in 1991 to the Dongchuang incident in 2012, he had published 212 papers, of which 183 contained falsified data.

This meant that he alone occupied 7% of the total number of retracted articles from 1980 to 2011, which caused an uproar at the time.

Even the investigation committee of the Ministry of Education, who was investigating him, couldn't stand it any longer. They wrote in the summary report: "This is equivalent to sitting at a desk and composing a science fiction novel."

Of course, Mochizuki's paper wasn't a fraud.

Academia was tolerant of honest mistakes. Besides publishing papers on the website of the department of mathematics of Kyoto University and personal blogs, this 500-page paper had never been published in any journal. There was nothing to retract.

However, the department of mathematics at Kyoto University would take on the burden.

Ever since this scholar claimed that he had proved the ABC conjecture, the department of mathematics of Kyoto University had put his paper on their official website like a trophy. They unilaterally claimed that the conjecture had been solved.

Now that Shinichi Mochizuki suddenly changed his opinion, he wasn't the one who lost the most face. Instead, it was the people who supported him…

Not only were Hoshi Yuichiro and Yamashita stunned, but all of the students and assistants in his office also could not accept this fact.

Among all the people who knew him, only his former mentor, Faltings, who was far away in Germany, did not feel too surprised by this.

Amsterdam.

Professor Faltings, who was attending the meeting of the European Mathematical Society, was chatting with Professor Shigefumi Mori about recent events in the mathematics world. The topics of their conversation ranged from the ABC conjecture to the research group called LSPM.

Professor Faltings smiled faintly and spoke in an unsurprising tone.

"His opponent is Lu Zhou. It is obvious that he has lost. Mochizuki is an honest scholar. An honest person will only make honest mistakes. Since he has admitted his mistake, he must have completely understood where he was wrong. This is a good thing for him and anabelian geometry."

Staying immersed in one's own world for too long would make one inevitably be out of touch with the outside world. If there was a small problem that went unnoticed, it was easy to cause a bigger problem and get stuck in it.

This was also one of the reasons why people prioritized communication and discussion when solving a major mathematical proposition…

Although Professor Faltings' views were rarely pertinent, Professor Shigefumi Mori still frowned slightly and corrected with a slightly unpleasant tone.

"I don't like the word lost. In my opinion, academically, there is no winning or losing, only truth."

"It seems that you are still a bit unconvinced," Professor Faltings said as he smirked.

Professor Shigefumi Mori shrugged and left an ambiguous answer.

"I'm not unconvinced, I just think that there may be something hidden behind this… Okay, let's stop here, let's change to a more pleasant topic."

…

Since the establishment of LSPM and the announcement of the ABC conjecture as the target, Jin Ling University had been the center of attention of mathematicians from all over the world.

Not only because of this powerful lineup but also because of the statement Shinichi Mochizuki made on his personal blog.

No one thought that the scholar who was immersed in his own world would take the initiative to walk out of his comfort zone.

What was even more unexpected was that this controversy, which had lasted for more than ten years, finally ended this way.

The atmosphere of the Japanese mathematics circle was quite depressed; there was a gloomy mood.

Netizens also expressed surprise and regret for this result. Prior to this, many of them regarded Shinichi Mochizuki and his feat as a kind of pride. They couldn't expect that everything was just their wishful thinking.

Some people with more radical opinions even believed that Schultz and Lu Zhou kidnapped their Mochizuki, forcing him to make such a statement.

Shinichi Mochizuki turned a deaf ear to the uproar of discussions on the Internet. He had been living in seclusion from the mathematics community, using almost all of his time to study the ABC conjecture.

Jin Ling University also stopped the reporters who tried to interview him,

Lu Zhou felt like this guy was using Jin Ling University as a temporary shelter.

He even couldn't help but wonder whether this guy deliberately found a place with no colleagues and use Lu Zhou as a platform to step down.

Obviously, it wasn't just Lu Zhou who thought this; other people in the research project group also thought about it.

During the meeting, Schultz looked at Shinichi Mochizuki across the conference table and suddenly asked.

"Be honest, is this on purpose?"

Shinichi Mochizuki pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and asked, "What is?"

"Finding a place where you don't have acquaintances, then wait until the limelight passes before you go back… When you've already discovered that your proof method doesn't work."

Shinichi Mochizuki was stunned for a while. He then raised his nostrils and looked at Schultz.

"Is that necessary for me?"

"Don't be discouraged, my friend, I'm just worried about you." Schultz said with a smile, "I propose that I can buy you a drink so you—"

Seeing that the two people who had finally come to a halt were about to fight again, Lu Zhou quickly coughed and spoke.

"Enough, let's get back to business… Back to the issues we were discussing just now."

Lu Zhou looked at the serious expressions on the other three teammates. He then cleared his throat and continued, "The research progress these days is fairly smooth. Compared with the dilemma we faced when the project has just started, we have achieved considerable results on key issues.

"Starting from the refinement of Baker's theorem, the idea of gradually approaching ABC conjecture is correct.

"The key to the problem now is that we have to find a way to give a more accurate result to the upper bound of L(a, b, c), and—"

Lu Zhou slid on the chair to the side of the whiteboard. He picked up the marker and scribbled a line of calculations on it.

[C

He tapped the whiteboard with the pen cap and continued.

"And how to further expand on the results…

"There is no trickery in this part of the research. We can only find the answer through constant attempts."

Lu Zhou paused for a moment. He glanced around at the three teammates and continued with a serious tone, "Over the next few days, the intensity of our work may be very high, I hope you can stick to it.

"Next, I will assign the jobs."

"Wait a minute." Schultz's face suddenly showed interest and excitement. He raised his right hand and said, "Are we going on a retreat?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Sort of."

Even though this was just a habit of his own research, he did not recommend others to follow suit.

However, the expression on Schultz's face turned into a surprise. He snapped his fingers and spoke.

"Great, I wanted to ask you a long time ago about that mysterious research technique!"

Shinichi Mochizuki and Perelman exchanged glances. They seemed to be very interested too. The other students sitting in the office quietly raised their heads and cast weird glances at the big names.

Going on a retreat with Professor Lu…

Are these guys crazy?

As for Lu Zhou, he smiled awkwardly.

"No problem.

"But this process might be a bit difficult.

"If you can't handle it, let me know."

Chapter 1385: What Is Your Brain Made Of?

"This guy is simply the devil…"

Jin Ling University library.

The door slammed open as Shinichi Mochizuki walked out of the room with a stack of papers. His eyes were bloodshot as he muttered to himself like a crazy person.

"No… He's hell itself."

It had been a week since Schultz said he wanted to "try it out".

Perelman did not participate, but he and Schultz confidently entered the room next to Lu Zhou. The door was closed for several days.

Before the retreat began, the three people made an agreement. They would stick to it if they could. But as long as they hadn't given up, they had to follow Lu Zhou's instructions.

In the beginning, Shinichi Mochizuki didn't take it too seriously. He didn't even think about the situation that he would be unable to withstand the workload. After all, in his opinion, anything that could be overcome with perseverance was not a big problem.

However, he soon realized how naive he was…

They ordered take-out for all three meals a day. This was not a big problem for him, who was accustomed to staying in the library all day. However, he did not expect that even sleeping would become a rare luxury.

According to Lu Zhou, if he was sleepy, lying on the table for a bit was enough. When the fatigue exceeded a limit, he entered an unprecedented realm.

This is no longer perseverance, this is pure self-abuse!

At first, the retreat was a little useful. The burst of inspiration made him feel more comfortable than ever before. However, after maintaining this kind of life for about five days, he began to lose his mind.

First, his mind started to wander, then his body issued a warning.

Finally, on the seventh day, that was, today, he felt that if he didn't come outside, he would die in the library.

Schultz, who was sitting behind the desk, saw Shinichi Mochizuki coming out of the room. He had a look of approval on his face.

"You're finally out? I knew you couldn't hold on anymore… How can a normal person not sleep for 24 hours? I have never heard of such a thing."

Unlike Mochizuki, he only held on for three days before being completely defeated. But he didn't think this was anything shameful. After all, even the best research method might not be suitable for everyone. He didn't feel the feeling of an explosion of inspiration as described by Lu Zhou. Instead, he still preferred to dive into these interesting mathematical problems in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Perelman was at his desk not far away. He twisted the ballpoint pen in his hand and looked up at the two; a hint of surprise was written on his expressionless face.

"Is it that bad?"

Schultz and Mochizuki looked at each other; a wry smile appeared on their faces at the same time.

"It is…"

"No one can stick to his pace of research… Except for himself."

At this moment, the door suddenly opened again.

The devil they were talking about happened to walk out with a stack of A4 papers.

"When do I not sleep for 24 hours? I'm still a normal person, I still sleep okay?"

Lu Zhou couldn't help but yawn. He then threw the stack of A4 papers in his hand on the table closest to him.

"I finished my part, what about you guys?"

Schultz's eyes lit up at the pile of papers on the table.

However, he obviously didn't have the time to research these new findings. He hadn't even finished his own part yet. He didn't want to be the one that dragged the whole team down.

Schultz: "I'm close."

Shinichi Mochizuki immediately said, "Me too."

Perelman thought for a while and said, "I'm almost there… Will probably be done in the afternoon."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Then we'll meet this afternoon. Let's summarize the results of our research. If everything goes well, this should be the last discussion meeting before we finish this research project."

"Wait a minute." Schultz raised his hand and said embarrassedly, "What about tomorrow afternoon? I have some things… I have to think about it first."

Shinichi Mochizuki also nodded.

Although he didn't want to admit it, he was the same… He probably wouldn't be done until tomorrow.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and looked at him with interest.

"Have you hit a bottleneck?"

Schultz coughed slightly.

"Sort of."

"That's normal." Lu Zhou continued, "The part you are responsible for is relatively difficult. I've finished my part. If you don't have any good ideas, you can tell me your problem and let me think about it for you."

Schultz picked up the marker and walked to the whiteboard. He scribbled down a line of calculations on it.

[D

Schultz handed the marker to Lu Zhou and spoke.

"This is the result I refined according to Baker's theorem. Using the idea you provided, I tried to gradually advance it to the ABC conjecture, but… it doesn't seem to be easy to solve."

"Interesting… I'll take a look."

An expression of interest appeared on Lu Zhou's face. He took the marker from Schultz's hand and stared at the calculation on the whiteboard quietly as he twisted the pen.

He suddenly seemed to have thought of something. With a dazed expression on his face, he reached out his hand, crossed out the line of calculation on the whiteboard, and wrote the corrected result.

[D

Lu Zhou took a half step back from the whiteboard.

"I tried to check the calculation, it should be provable… It is more accurate than the original conclusion. You can try to derive it. The specific proof process should not require my help."

Schultz stared at the calculation on the whiteboard, he was baffled.

After about 10 seconds, he finally recovered and looked at Lu Zhou like he had just seen a ghost.

"WTF?! How did you do it?! Wait… Did you already figure out the answer?!"

Because he was so surprised, he couldn't help but swear.

"Haha, of course not." Lu Zhou returned the marker in his hand to Schultz. He smiled modestly and said, "I just happened to think of it. It's just intuition, I believe you feel the same sometimes."

Schultz: "No, I don't. This is the first time I have ever heard about such accurate intuition."

Shinichi Mochizuki, who was standing next to him, nodded deeply and couldn't help but ask.

"What exactly is your brain made of?"

Lu Zhou jokingly responded.

"I don't know, but definitely the same material as you guys."

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and looked at Schultz.

"Now that the problem has been solved, are you sure that the rest will be done by tomorrow evening?"

Schultz smiled confidently and nodded.

"No problem, it should be done by tonight!"

"Really? That's great." Lu Zhou smiled, nodded, and said, "I'll wait for your good news."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

Chapter 1386: Too Smoothly

The Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Fefferman's office.

Professor Sarnak looked at Professor Fefferman, who was sitting behind the desk and staring at the paper in his hand. He asked curiously, "What are you reading?"

Professor Fefferman turned a page and didn't look up. He spoke casually.

"In-progress results from LSPM."

"In-progress results from LSPM?" Professor Sarnak was taken aback for a moment. His whole person suddenly seemed to be struck by lightning. With a shocked expression on his face, he said, "Already? Where are they at?"

Fefferman was already indulged in the amazing proof process. He had no time to talk to him, so he spoke dismissively.

"The printer is right there, print a copy and see for yourself."

Without taking a break, Professor Sarnak immediately walked to the printer and printed out a copy for himself.

Sarnak held the warm papers with the smell of fresh ink. It took about an hour for him to quickly read through the paper.

When he finally put down the paper in his hand, his face was filled with shock.

"Amazing…

"It's almost equivalent to—"

"A new language of mathematics." Professor Fefferman, who had also finished reading the paper, took a sip of cold tea and said, "Although it is a simple version, it is sufficient to describe the ABC conjecture. Now… The person who came up with this idea is simply a genius, and the person who manifests it is a devil. It is hard to imagine that such an amazing result was actually made in two weeks."

"What is even more unimaginable is that they would choose to upload such an important in-progress result," Professor Sarnak said as he looked at the paper.

The result of this paper was very close to the final proposition of the ABC conjecture. They had passed the refinement of Baker's theorem to the conclusion [d

That was, if a+b=c and gcd(a,b)=1, then max(|a|, |b|, |c|)≤(rad(abc))^2.

How nutty was this weak form?

In a nutshell, anyone who had studied number theory could easily use this weak form to prove that Fermat's equation x^n+y^n=z^n did not have a positive integer solution for n>6. Thus proving Fermat's Last Theorem!

In other words, if the weak form of the ABC conjecture had been born twenty or thirty years earlier, then Wiles wouldn't have been nearly as famous.

It was precisely because of this, in Sarnak's opinion, this in-progress result was only a layer from the final answer. The proof of the ABC conjecture was closer than ever before!

"This is not a big deal." Professor Fefferman smiled when he heard what Professor Sarnak said. He continued, "Even if the proof of the ABC conjecture from this weak form is only one step away, do you think someone can beat them to the finish line?"

Professor Sarnak paused for a second; an awkward smile appeared on his face.

"You're right…"

Having Professor Lu on the team was enough to prevent this from happening. Not to mention that, besides him, there were also outstanding young mathematicians like Schultz, Perelman, and Shinichi Mochizuki in the LSPM team.

If someone wanted to find the final answer before these four people, it would be as difficult as proving the ABC conjecture from scratch.

In this way, Sarnak's worries seemed to be superfluous.

"I am looking forward to it more and more now." Professor Fefferman said with a smile, "My instinct tells me that, at the end of this month, we will be able to find a conclusive answer for the ABC conjecture."

"The end of the month?" Professor Sarnak frowned. "But there is only one week left until the end of the month. Although their strength is indeed strong, and they're close to the final proof, but…"

"Do you want to bet on it?"

Professor Sarnak coughed.

"Um… No, thanks."

…

The early morning of April 29th.

It had been almost four weeks since the establishment of the LSPM research group.

Lu Zhou woke up and got out of bed. He went to the bathroom to wash up, then ate the omelet and sandwiches prepared by Xiao Ai before leaving the house.

The retreat ended on the 28th, or more specifically, 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

He hadn't gotten a good rest recently, so he got up a little late today. He arrived at the library at nine o'clock, which was rather late.

His three teammates had been waiting here for a while.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"It's fine, we were still guessing whether you would wake up before noon or not. I didn't expect that you were only an hour late…" Schultz smiled carelessly and jokingly said, "Seriously, how about you go back and sleep for a while? You haven't had much rest these days. We only have the last step left in our work. It can be done a day later."

"It's fine." Lu Zhou said with a smile, "Although this proposal is tempting, I prefer to finish everything and then enjoy the leisure time slowly… Let's end this quickly."

Three hours went by.

Everyone reported their research progress in turn and wrote on the whiteboard what they were responsible for.

The fragmented clues were like pieces of a broken-up puzzle. When they were recombined, all of the clues were connected.

When Shinichi Mochizuki looked at the last line on the whiteboard, his face was full of disbelief.

"I originally thought that this would take at least a few days to organize, I didn't expect…"

Schultz: "Didn't expect everything to go so smoothly?"

Shinichi Mochizuki nodded.

"Yep."

"This is a good thing." Lu Zhou had a sense of accomplishment. He looked at the whiteboard that almost covered the entire wall of the activity room and said, "It shows that we have touched the essence of the ABC conjecture itself."

Shinichi Mochizuki frowned. He was lost in thought.

"What is… the essence?"

"It's hard to describe what it is. Even I have to digest it for a while before I can sort it into a language." Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "And I'm sure that the four of us think of the essence in different ways."

If possible, he intended to finish this work before going to Mars.

Perelman, who had not spoken yet, suddenly said, "I can understand what you are saying… In fact, I also feel this way."

Schultz nodded.

"It's vague… but the essence does exist."

Shinichi Mochizuki did not speak. He just frowned and fell into deep thought. Although Lu Zhou's statement was very mysterious, he seemed to have felt a similar way.

Lu Zhou looked at the clock on the wall next to him and spoke with a smile.

"It's about time for lunch."

They could sort out these things on the whiteboard and publish them after lunch. After that, they could put an end to this cooperation project.

"Wait a minute." Schultz raised his hand and suggested with a smile, "This is the ABC conjecture. To commemorate this great and glorious moment, I propose that we leave an autograph on it together!"

Shinichi Mochizuki hesitated and said, "Signatures? But wouldn't they all be erased in the end?"

"Not necessarily." Lu Zhou said with a smile, "I'm sure our dean will be very happy to keep the whiteboard intact."

Although Perelman was not very interested in such meaningless things, he wasn't against it either.

Therefore, the four people left their signatures on the whiteboard. They then stood in front of the whiteboard and took a group photo as a souvenir.

After this, Lu Zhou left the library and went to the cafeteria.

It happened to be the time at which lectures were ending. The cafeteria was full of students who had just finished class. It was so crowded that they could hardly find a place to sit.

Lu Zhou's "special seat" in the corner of the cafeteria was taken, but Lu Zhou was not the picky kind of person. After queuing up for a meal, he casually found an empty seat and sat down.

After busy working all morning, his stomach began to growl.

Lu Zhou couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks. When he was about to start eating, he suddenly heard an excited conversation from the students next to him.

Student A: "F*ck! Did you watch today's news?"

Student B: "I saw it! It's nutty!!!"

Student C: "What news? What are you guys talking about?"

Student A: "That prehistoric relic on Mars! How do you not know this? Do you not go on the Internet?"

Student C: "I… I just sent my phone to be repaired. What is it? Prehistoric relic? On Mars?"

Lu Zhou: "…?!"

The f*ck?!

Chapter 1387: Using People

"Hello? Academician Lu, is your retreat finally over?"

State Administration for National Defense office.

Director Li was sitting at the desk reviewing doc.u.ments when he unexpectedly received a call from Lu Zhou, making him ecstatic.

On one hand, it was because Lu Zhou had suddenly ended his retreat. He knew that the research must have made progress. On the other hand, it was because Lu Zhou hadn't called him for a long time!

However, just when he had gotten up and was about to hear what Lu Zhou had to say to him, he noticed that the tone on the other end of the phone was a bit weird.

At least, it was different from what he had imagined.

"Enough small talk, what's the matter with the prehistoric relic on Mars?"

"What… What's the matter?"

Director Li was confused by this question. He had a dazed expression, and he didn't respond for a while.

Lu Zhou realized that this statement might be misunderstood, so he took a deep breath and changed his statement.

"Okay, let me ask you in another way. During the past few days of my retreat, how did the relic of the Martian civilization and the news of extraterrestrial civilization suddenly become public?"

"Oh oh, that's what you are talking about." Director Li leaned back in the office chair and said with a smile, "This is quite complicated… And didn't I tell you about this a while ago?"

Lu Zhou: "???"

What the hell?!

When?

Seeing how there was no response from the other side of the phone for a long time, Director Li couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He coughed lightly and spoke.

"Don't you remember? It was probably five or six days ago. I called you at that time, hoping that you would come to Beijing for a meeting. But you told me to 'do whatever' and then hung up. I heard that you were in a retreat, so I didn't continue to call you."

Lu Zhou had no recollection of any of this happening.

"… So you just did whatever?"

Director Li smiled embarrassedly and said, "Of course not! How can this kind of thing be taken lightly… We held three meetings, and all of the relevant experts were invited. We solicited opinions and a vote was cast. In the end, the resolution to disclose the relics of Mars was passed with 310 votes against 270 votes. So the top-secret seal was lifted.

"Although I abstained from voting at the time, I went back and thought about it afterward. The experts in international relations really made sense. In the case of unclear interests, the risk of contacting the extraterrestrial civilization is too high. Other countries will suspect us. If anything goes wrong, the diplomatic relations we have managed over the past ten years may be destroyed. Or even worse, it will be a diplomatic crisis.

"Anyway, we are the only ones who can send people to Mars. The initiative has been in our hands from the beginning. We don't need to sneak around. We can directly and honestly engage with the extraterrestrial civilization. This is a bargaining chip to establish an international organization that can represent the voice of all of mankind. This is the right way to build a community with a shared future for mankind!"

Lu Zhou listened to the passionate speech Director Li made on the other end of the phone. His head was getting dizzy.

Whether it was the Mars landing office or the high-level officials at Chang'an Avenue, everyone seemed to believe that the voice from The Gates of Hell belonged to an extraterrestrial civilization.

And according to their "inference", the technological level of this civilization was high.

The ability to use technologies that were completely unknown on Earth was one reason. The ability to survive on Mars with supplies cut off was the second, and the estimated lifespan of billions of years was the third. Plus they used the proof of the ABC conjecture as a threshold for communication. They had surpassed human civilization, at least in mathematics.

And mathematics was the foundation of all scientific research.

There was nothing wrong with this analysis. If Lu Zhou didn't know the inside story, he would probably come to the same conclusion.

However, the problem was that he knew the inside story.

That sacred relic was really just an "object", a relic left by a civilization that came from a certain time period. There was no doubt that it was an extraterrestrial civilization, but it was obviously different from the extraterrestrial civilization that most people had imagined.

Human civilization had no hope of establishing diplomatic relations with a planet a few light-years away using this "relic"…

Of course, Lu Zhou could pretend that he didn't know anything. After all, with his current power, trying to hide something wasn't difficult at all.

But now that the problem had risen to an international level, it would be more difficult if he wanted to operate secretly.

For example, the evidence of Martian relics had won China a large amount of diplomatic capital, but at the same time, it had also allowed China to take on considerable international responsibility. People all over the world were ready for the first close contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Even if it did not affect his "treasure hunt" plan to Mars, it still added a lot of variables.

There was no response on the phone for a long time. Director Li, who had been talking for a long time, couldn't help but feel ignored. He worried that Lu Zhou wasn't listening, so he asked, "Um… Do you have any questions?"

"No…"

"You didn't call me for this, right?" Director Li said with a bit of hesitation, "You were the one who said that it didn't matter?"

"This is my fault… But you are right, there are benefits to being public."

If he were in charge, he would definitely wait until he returned from Mars. However, the state didn't know the inside story, and he couldn't blame them too much. After all, from the perspective of national interests, this was the correct choice for China.

Lu Zhou sighed and changed the subject.

"Forget about it, let's not talk about this… There is one more thing I have to tell you."

Director Li suddenly felt energized. He could tell something big was coming.

"Please speak!"

However, he still underestimated how amazing Lu Zhou's next words were.

Lu Zhou paused for a moment and spoke.

"The ABC conjecture…

"We proved it."

…

"What happened?"

Inside the LSPM research room, Schultz saw the weird expression on Lu Zhou's face when he came back. Schultz couldn't help but feel anxious.

Lu Zhou looked at these three teammates who trusted him. He took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"There is an important thing that I have to confess to you."

Schultz, Shinichi Mochizuki, and Perelman exchanged glances. They unanimously read the confused gaze from each other's eyes.

The room went silent.

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about breaking the silence, Schultz suddenly opened his mouth to do this for him.

"So… You are getting married soon?"

Lu Zhou, who had been hesitating for a long time, nearly choked on his saliva.

"Ahem, what? Why would you think of that?"

Schultz shrugged and spoke.

"Because your expression is too serious… In my estimation, that's the only possibility."

"I know." After staring at Lu Zhou for a long time, Mochizuki's expression gradually turned weird. He said, "What you want to say is… You are actually an alien?"

"Okay, stop with the guesses." Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I'm not an alien, but… how do I say it, the research project we did, actually has something to do with an extraterrestrial civilization."

Although he knew what the truth was, he should cooperate with the official state announcement. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain it clearly. Lu Zhou had already made up a set of white lies in his mind, but before he had the time to tell the story, the three of them had already frozen there.

Obviously, during this period of research, just like Lu Zhou, they had no idea about the incident that had caused a turmoil in the outside world.

Lu Zhou went straight to the point.

"I'll just talk about the key points.

"Basically, the ABC conjecture is a conversation threshold set by an extraterrestrial civilization. It is a prerequisite for us to be able to have a dialogue with each other… It may seem like I am crazy, but it is true. If you don't believe me, just watch the news.

"So… I apologize.

"I may have used you guys."

Perelman: "…"

Schultz: "…?"

Shinichi Mochizuki: "…?!"

Chapter 1388: The Scary Question

Lu Zhou was surprised.

Mathematics was the most academically pure discipline. He originally thought that his teammates would more or less feel a little taken advantage of. But after he confessed all of this, he was easily forgiven.

"Actually… You don't have to apologize at all." Schultz said, "You contributed at least 50% in solving this conjecture… or even 60%. I think it's not just me, Perelman and Professor Mochizuki would also agree with this."

Although Schultz was still muddled, he had recovered from the initial shock.

After hearing Schultz's words, Shinichi Mochizuki nodded in agreement.

"On this point, I agree with Professor Schultz. It is a genius idea to use the refinement of Baker's theorem as the starting point to construct the new mathematical language."

Perelman stood beside them. He spoke concisely with a blank face.

"I don't care, but it would have been better to tell us beforehand."

Lu Zhou responded, "I wanted to, but the level of confidentiality on this has been top secret until now. Even now, only part of the information is disclosed. Also, I have been focusing on researching the ABC conjecture, so I have not paid attention to these things."

"Speaking of which, I'm still a little bit confused." Schultz's tone was full of disbelief as he said, "Extraterrestrial civilization… God, I've only seen this in Hollywood movies. Does it really exist? Are you sure it's not an April Fool's joke?"

Lu Zhou spoke with an awkward expression.

"April Fool was last month… Regardless of what is going on on Mars, I am sure that this is definitely not an April Fool's joke.

Perelman was still expressionless. He didn't care about aliens. Mochizuki Shinichi's eyes began to shine with excitement.

His shoulders trembled. He reached out and took off his glasses.

"It's like…"

Lu Zhou: "Like?"

Professor Mochizuki nodded and continued excitedly, "It's like so cool!"

"…"

Lu Zhou wasn't sure whether it was "cool".

But one thing he was certain was that the whole world was shocked by the news that had been made public through the Chinese press conferences.

Human civilization was not alone in the universe!

Although this had always been the speculation of many astronomers and science fiction writers and had been recognized by many ordinary people, it was not until the day when the first contact occurred that this speculation changed from an unfounded guess to a conclusion based on facts.

Not just that, but after China released the first contact recordings, it caused a turmoil in the world.

ABC conjecture!

Aliens actually use the ABC conjecture as the threshold for conversation?!

What does that mean…

That they don't communicate with unintelligent creatures that can't even solve the ABC conjecture?

Whether it was Weibo or Twitter, the trending searches were unsurprisingly occupied by Martian civilization-related terms. Any news related to this was flooded with comments.

This was the first contact between human civilization and a civilization outside of Earth. It was the only contact that had received feedback so far. The idea of aliens turned into a catharsis, like a flood bursting out of a riverbank.

"Don't answer them, this must be a trap! Am I the only one who knows the dark forest axioms? If this is solved, then it gives the opposite party the motivation to destroy us. If it is not solved, it shows that we are weak! Sigh, we're dead either way."

"Scary… No wonder it was reported some time ago that the Ministry of Science and Technology of China issued a reward of 100 million yuan for the ABC conjecture. It turned out to be because of this."

"It's 100 million yuan per year! But mathematics doesn't need funding, right? Unless you set up a mathematics research institute, even 1 million is plenty."

"Does anyone from mathematics understand the situation? Has this ABC conjecture been solved? Wikipedia seems to say it has been solved."

"No, it hasn't! Although many people have claimed that they have solved the ABC conjecture, so far there is no proof that has been recognized by the academic community. The most cutting-edge work in this field is mainly done by Professor K. Gyory on the inferences about the S-unit equation on the number field. Also from the LSPM research group… Apparently, they have achieved amazing results, and Professor Fefferman spoke highly of this result, but not everyone is optimistic about it."

"What is the LSPM research group?"

"Lu Zhou, Schultz, Perelman, and Shinichi Mochizuki… The initials of the four people."

"F*ck, really?!"

In addition to normal discussions, there were also various conspiracy theories.

For example, some people suspected that this was a clue deliberately forged by the Mars landing office. After all, no one else could go to Mars to confirm it anyway. As for the purpose, it was to create a bargaining chip. Others were speculating that, in fact, the Martian civilization had not perished at all, but had reached an unimaginable level. The so-called ruins and clues to extraterrestrial civilization were only released to cover their existence.

These theories alone could be written into a novel.

Discussions were happening outside the internet as well.

The academic community's opinion on this contact was also full of controversy.

Professor Yuval Harari, a history professor from the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was interviewed by BBC.

As a high-profile emerging historian, his works included the "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" trilogy, which had almost become a pop-science textbook due to its unique narrative style and perspective on issues.

As for why he was invited instead of an expert on extraterrestrial civilization or astrophysics, it was because the producer of the BBC doc.u.mentary felt that, for this kind of discovery that was completely new, perhaps the brains of science fiction authors would be more convincing to the general public.

Professor Yuval spoke in an intriguing tone to the camera and microphone.

"Fortunately, we found neighbors that live next to us, but this is also unfortunate at the same time. Although we finally discovered their existence, it is very likely that they have been observing us on Mars for a long time."

The reporter immediately raised a question that they prepared beforehand.

"In your opinion, are you not optimistic about the first contact between Chinese astronauts and extraterrestrial civilization on Mars?"

"First contact? What is the first contact? Was the first contact between humans and bacteria two million years ago or after microscopes are invented?" Professor Yuval smiled and continued, "In fact, it's as if we don't know anything about their language, yet they can communicate with us in any language on Earth. The difference between us and them may be greater than the difference between us and bacteria.

"And what is even scarier is that, do you think bacteria is a civilization?

"This a question we all have to face."

Chapter 1389: Successful Conclusion!

The heated debate about the extraterrestrial civilization continued.

Lu Zhou sorted out the paper over the next few days. During this time, he heard students gossiping about the remains of the Martian civilization while eating in the cafeteria. Even his father asked him jokingly over the phone whether there were any new discoveries.

It seemed that even the old men of state-owned enterprises in small cities had begun to talk about the gossip surrounding the extraterrestrial civilization and Mars.

In fact, although Lu Zhou, who had just finished his retreat, felt abrupt after learning about this, for the rest of the world, this wasn't abrupt at all.

First of all, China did not disclose all of the details at once. It was done over two weeks of foreshadowing. They slowly directed the public's attention to The Gates of Hell mountains, then led to the cave where the ruins were found. It was only classified as a "man-made structure" last week, which led to the conclusion of the remains of a Martian civilization.

This slow pace of publishing news gave the international community a buffer time to digest this huge amount of information.

Lu Zhou had only learned about this recently.

After learning about these things, Lu Zhou felt that the speed of information dissemination in modern society was simply unimaginable. He only went offline for four weeks, but he felt like he couldn't keep up with the times.

If he had gone offline for longer, to maybe even centuries…

Suddenly, a trace of worries made him afraid to even think about it.

"The paper has been organized and signed by the LSPM research group. I have uploaded the preprint to arXiv and attached a temporary communication page that I made myself. The discussion mode is similar to that of BBS, the name is called LSPM. I have sent the administrator's account and password to your email. If you are interested, you can also read the opinions of other scholars in this area.

"If no one finds a serious problem, the final version of the paper will be published in the main issue of 'Future' at the end of the year. Of course, if you have other opinions, you can also put them forward and discuss them together."

Schultz smiled and said, "I don't have any opinions, just do as you say."

Shinichi Mochizuki: "Me too."

Perelman didn't speak; he just nodded.

For the four people standing here, honor and fame were unimportant things. Also, compared to the problem they were studying, trivial matters such as the journal were not even worth mentioning. They did not need to use the influence of the journal itself to make the research results visible to more people.

It was no exaggeration to say that the moment the four letters LSPM were written on the paper, it was destined to receive worldwide attention after publication.

Even if they randomly find a school journal to publish the paper, the end result would be that the school journal would be sold out…

After uploading the preprint of the paper, Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai, who was responsible for helping in the operation and maintenance of the LSPM forum, to open the registration for the website. This was the end of the ABC conjecture project.

In order to celebrate the successful conclusion of the LSPM research group, Lu Zhou booked a table for four people at the grilled fish restaurant near Jin Ling University. Even people like Shinichi Mochizuki, who had never been interested in social activities, came over this time.

Speaking of it, this was quite nostalgic. Although the store had been renovated several times, the owner was still the same, and the taste was still the same too. Lu Zhou still remembered that when he was studying for an undergraduate degree, Dorm 201 frequently visited this place. The owner even gave them some free bottles of beer from time to time.

Now that so many years had passed, his dorm room friends had gone their separate ways. He was the only one who was still standing around here, which was embarrassing to think about.

However, today was obviously not about nostalgia.

A large bowl of grilled fish was brought to the table. Lu Zhou raised the cup in his hand and spoke with a smile.

"Cheers, to the conclusion of the LSPM research project!"

"Cheers!"

The cling of the glasses turned into laughter. The group of people ate grilled fish while drinking beer.

"This is the most enjoyable experience of all the collaborations I have participated in… and also the most rewarding. I originally planned to stay here for half a year, but I didn't expect that everything went so well."

After having a drink with Lu Zhou and others, Schultz smiled and continued.

"… But, like they say, all good things must come to an end. Tomorrow, I will go back to the University of Bonn. Professor Faltings has been urging me since a week ago to go back. Now that the proof of the ABC conjecture is finally complete, I should go back to continue my lectures and research."

When Shinichi Mochizuki heard the name Professor Faltings, his eyebrows twitched fiercely. He quickly reached out for his cup, concealing the embarrassment on his face by drinking.

However, because his movements were too stiff, he was caught by Lu Zhou.

There had been rumors in the mathematics field that this guy was a very cheerful person before entering Princeton. The reason for him being so introverted after graduation was partly because of Faltings.

Although Professor Wiles, who once proved Fermat's Last Theorem, spoke highly of Mochizuki, as did Professor Shou-Wu Zhang, another one of Faltings' savvy disciples, they said that studying under the old German was quite a test of psychological endurance.

Perhaps only Schultz, who was expected to surpass Faltings, could feel a little kindness from him.

Lu Zhou: "I wish you a safe journey."

"Thank you."

Schultz nodded.

After drinking a sip of beer, Shinichi Mochizuki coughed dryly and continued speaking, "I plan to stay here for two months before going back."

Schultz smiled and said, "Is it because of Kyoto University? If you want to wait for the limelight to pass and go back, you can come to Germany with me. It's quite interesting there. Many European mathematicians think you and your research are interesting.

"No, thanks. If they are interested, they can come to the East to find me." Mochizuki pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued, "I plan to stay here for a while not to avoid the limelight, but just to learn about quantum encryption algorithms. I still have many things I want to study… Purely out of personal interest."

Although he had never admitted his identity as Satoshi Nakamoto, in Lu Zhou's opinion, it made no difference whether he admitted it or not. It seemed that Shinichi Mochizuki didn't try to hide this fact either.

Perelman, who was sitting next to him, shrugged and told his plans as well.

"My research project is not over yet, I will stay here until it is over."

Schultz asked curiously, "Can I ask what the research project is?"

"Of course. The Hodge conjecture. It's not something worth keeping a secret anyway." Professor Perelman continued, "That is what I really care about, I feel close to the finish line. If you guys have time, how about collaborating with me?"

Schultz said, "Sounds very interesting."

Shinichi Mochizuki: "This is not my area of expertise, I am afraid I can't help."

"Although I am very interested, I am afraid I have no chance to help… Or wait until I come back from Mars." Lu Zhou said with a smile, "The second batch of scientific expedition teams to Mars is about to leave. I am afraid it will be a little busy for me."

He noticed that Shinichi Mochizuki was staring at him intently. He paused for a second and smiled.

"Is there a problem?"

"Nothing." After being silent for a while, Mochizuki sighed, pushed down his glasses, and said, "Anyway, I plan to stay for awhile. Let's talk when you get back."

The four continued to drink and eat.

In addition to celebrating the paper, they wished Schultz safe travels for his upcoming departure.

While the four people were drinking and eating, they did not realize that a storm had begun to brew due to their research.

The entire mathematics community was shocked by their paper…

Chapter 1390: The Crushed Preprint Archive

The ABC conjecture is solved!

Whether it was for the mathematics field or for the future of human civilization, this was definitely a historic day.

As the manager of the arXiv preprint electronic archive, Cornell University felt this more than anyone else.

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University.

The tranquility of the morning was broken by a sudden accident.

The arXiv database, which had been running fairly stable for a long time, suddenly seemed to have suffered a violent DOS attack and was overwhelmed by the explosive increase in traffic.

"Sh*t! Is it a special holiday today? Why is the server stuck…"

"The number of visits has increased a hundredfold… Jesus, what happened last night?"

"God knows! Call Los Alamos National Laboratory quickly and ask them to use the backup server!"

"Already done… Forget about it, there must be a problem with such a huge amount of visits, this is definitely not normal!"

The laboratory was a mess.

The several professors who were invited did their best with the paralyzed server, but they were helpless.

Arxiv's traffic had always been relatively stable, with one morning peak and one evening peak. Most of the time, everyone searched for new research progress in several research directions that they tracked during these two peak time periods.

Because of this, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was responsible for operating the server, allocated additional server resources for arXiv. However, the plan still couldn't keep up with the changes.

The additional spare server resource was just a drop in the bucket. The surge in traffic instantly paralyzed the entire website, no one could log in…

Dr. Osmond, who was in charge of maintaining the database, was sweating anxiously. The situation was out of control, so he immediately called the Los Alamos National Laboratory and asked the engineer there to voluntarily pull the brakes on the server before starting the inspection. He began to search for the cause of the failure.

Arxiv was not the same as other non-academic databases for profit. As an open electronic preprint library, even if the traffic increased by several times, they would not use it for profit. Therefore, they had nothing to gain from this.

Dr. Osmond stopped the system engineer walking by and asked anxiously, "What about the Los Alamos National Laboratory? How is the troubleshooting of the server going?"

The expression on the engineer's face was filled with solemnity.

Although they had encountered similar situations before, it was far less serious than the situation they were facing now.

"The cause of the fault is still being investigated… There is no news yet."

"Damn it!" Dr. Osmond couldn't help but explode, "Which b*stard has nothing better to do, trying to take down our site? Go hack the federal reserve instead!"

"Maybe their paper was rejected, they want revenge?" The engineer shrugged his shoulders. However, Dr. Osmond instantly rejected the hypothesis.

"Impossible, no one would be that stupid."

It was quite difficult to be rejected by arXiv because even "folk mathematics" had a separate classification here for scholars to entertain themselves.

Only those who were not sure about the authority of their papers were to be "rejected" because of non-compliance with the norm. Thus, Dr. Osmond ruled out this possibility without hesitation.

Just when the group of people broke out in cold sweat, they heard footsteps coming from outside the laboratory.

A man in a suit walked in and spoke.

"The results from the investigation at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are here!"

Dr. Osmond didn't hesitate for even a second. He immediately looked at him and asked anxiously, "What's going on?!"

"The proof of the ABC conjecture…"

Dr. Osmond was stunned. He looked at him in surprise and asked, "The proof of the ABC conjecture?! What do you mean…"

"The engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory retrieved the error log and found that almost all the traffic was directed to the same third-level domain name." The expression on the man's face was like he had just seen a ghost. He gulped and said, "I can't believe it! Just one preprint, taking down the whole server… This is the first time I have seen anything like this in my life!"

…

The outage of the arXiv server was just the beginning.

The news that the ABC conjecture was proven quickly spread across the entire mathematics community on the Internet as the astonishment spread like a tsunami.

Because the arXiv server was completely down, many people who could not download the paper had to go on the LSPM forum that Lu Zhou left on his personal page, to share and exchange information about the ABC conjecture.

On the other hand, at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study.

Dr. Woolley Vernal, who was studying at the department of mathematics, walked quickly into Professor Sarnak's office.

Because he was so emotional, he even forgot to knock on the door. He pushed open the door of the office and spoke with an incoherent tone.

"Professor!"

Professor Sarnak frowned slightly. He stopped writing and looked up at his student.

"Good morning, Mr. Vernal. What happened? You even forgot to knock before opening my door."

"Sorry! But this is too amazing!" Vernal gulped and continued in a trembling tone, "You have no idea—"

The sound of the pen cap hitting the desktop interrupted his speech. Professor Sarnak spoke in an impatient tone.

"I hope this won't take long, otherwise—"

"The LSPM research team! Just an hour ago, they uploaded the complete proof process of the ABC conjecture on arXiv!"

LSPM research group…

A complete proof of the ABC conjecture?!

The moment Sarnak heard these words, his eyes were as wide as a ping-pong ball. He immediately stood up from behind the desk and said anxiously, "What about the paper? Have you downloaded it yet?"

"No…" Dr. Vernal gulped. With a bitter expression on his face, he said, "When I discovered this, the arXiv website already went down."

Went down?!

Sarnak was stunned.

It took about five minutes before he finally recovered.

He looked at the corner of the office desk. The date of April 30th was printed on a calendar.

Sarnak thought of what Professor Fefferman had said some time ago. His pupils were full of disbelief.

They really did it before the end of the month?!

I can't believe this!

On the other hand, inside the same building.

Professor Fefferman was sitting in his office. He turned his attention to the calendar on the desk after hearing the news that the ABC conjecture was proven.

He sighed and spoke to himself.

"Damn it…"

I should have been more persistent.

If I had convinced Sarnak to bet, I would have won big!

He would have bought my coffee for at least a week…

Chapter 1391: Proof That Shocked The World!

It wasn't just the mathematics community that was in a heated debate.

After the collapse of the arXiv server, the news that the ABC conjecture was proven soon spread from the mathematics circle to the entire college circle, then to the entire internet.

In less than a day, whether it was Weibo or Twitter, whether it was WeChat or Facebook, almost everyone was discussing this matter.

"I heard that the ABC conjecture has been solved?"

"What the hell? Solved?! What's going on!"

"Already? It must be wrong, right?"

"No… It seems to be true. I heard that the LSPM research team did it; the team led by Academician Lu. They uploaded the preprint of the paper on arXiv yesterday and took down the server for an entire day."

"Oh! So this is why the arXiv website was down! I thought it was due to maintenance. I couldn't find the computer science papers I was looking for!"

"Jesus f*ck, one paper taking down the entire library, is it that nutty?"

"It's probably impossible for other people. After all, the value of preprints is generally not high. People are still more willing to wait for the published version, but, this paper was compiled by Academician Lu… Based on past experience, his preprints are almost the same as published papers."

"Wait, the ABC conjecture has been solved. Does it mean that we can answer the question raised by the extraterrestrial civilization?"

"It seems like so… The second dialogue with the extraterrestrial civilization should have been arranged already!"

Everyone remembered the press conference half a month ago and the recording of the dialogue at the press conference by the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Proving the ABC conjecture meant being recognized by another intelligent civilization!

It meant mastering the key to open the door for dialogue!

Although there were some people who had security concerns and thought this was a trap from the alien civilization, whether it was the group that supported contact or the group that was against contact, they had reached a consensus on one thing.

Which was that displaying the achievements of human civilization was helpful for a friendly exchange between the two sides.

After all, if they wanted to communicate with another civilization on an equal footing, they must at least show their own merits as intelligent creatures.

If the other party was a primitive civilization that couldn't even do arithmetic, most human countries would not adopt a cautious and respectful attitude to communicate with them.

While netizens all over the world were excitedly discussing the upcoming second dialogue, governments of various countries were also shocked by the sudden news.

North America.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington.

A confidential doc.u.ment was placed on the desk of the President's office.

The President stared at the doc.u.ment with a frown for a long time. He finally raised his head after reading the doc.u.ment. He looked at the Chief of Staff standing at the desk and spoke slowly.

"So… The ABC conjecture has been solved?"

He couldn't understand the complicated proof process and didn't care either.

He only wanted to know one thing, which was how reliable this proof was.

"Yes…" The Chief of Staff nodded his head with a heavy expression and said quickly, "According to our specially appointed mathematical science consultant, the whole proof process is legitimate. The research team organized by the Pentagon has the same opinion. And putting these things aside, based on past experience, Lu Zhou only uploads a paper if he is certain that it is without mistakes."

In fact, China wasn't the only one that offered an award for solving the ABC conjecture.

Ever since the state of China publicized some of the dialogue recordings at the press conference, almost all countries in the world that were slightly influential in mathematics had mobilized their administrative power to a certain extent, to promote domestic mathematicians to study the ABC conjecture.

Everyone wanted to be the first to complete the proof of the ABC conjecture and use it as a bargaining chip to gain more benefits for their country. Whoever could take the lead in finding the key to converse with the extraterrestrial civilization would undoubtedly gain more power.

The chief of staff looked at the silent President and reminded him.

"Now that the Chinese have obtained the power of conversing with the extraterrestrial civilization, if we continue to delay the issue of liaison institutions for extraterrestrial civilizations, they are likely to bypass us and contact each other individually. We could be in a more passive situation than we are now."

He frowned at the map on the wall.

After pondering for a long time, the President's eyebrows loosened slightly, and he spoke in a deep voice.

"We have to agree to them."

On the other hand, on the other side of the Atlantic, similar conversations were also taking place.

An invitation letter was sent from the 10th Downing Street to the Chinese Embassy in London. A Chinese diplomat's car was parked at the entrance of the Elysee Palace. A high-level diplomatic meeting was in progress in the Kremlin in Eastern Europe. The cabinet sent an invitation for a high-level discussion to neighboring countries across the sea.

The global political arena tightened their nerves because of the proof of a mathematical conjecture…

…

North Rhine, Germany.

University of Bonn.

"I have read the paper." Faltings said to Schultz, "Let me guess, at least 50% of it was done by Lu Zhou… right?"

"Sixty percent, to be precise." Schultz sat on the couch in the office and said, "It's not an exaggeration to say that, without him, we would still be worrying about how to tackle the problem or be stuck on a trivial matter… Anyway, you should have read the paper, what do you think about the proof?"

Faltings looked at Schultz with a sore smile on his face. He took a sip of coffee and spoke casually.

"I can't find any mistakes."

So there aren't any mistakes?

Schultz thought proudly in his mind.

It's a rare sight to receive a compliment from Faltings.

Faltings frowned as he thought of the question he had planned to ask earlier. His frown disappeared as he casually asked, "I noticed that the special expression he used when describing the ABC conjecture is very interesting… How did you guys come up with it in such a short time?"

"According to Lu Zhou's own words, he used anabelian geometry, but Mochizuki himself firmly denies this. He believes that there is no connection between the two, and Mochizuki himself is the one who was inspired. I plan to go back and polish my theory." Schultz scratched his head and said, "I heard that Chinese people have the habit of being humble. Anyway, I think Lu Zhou just thought of it himself."

Just thought of it himself.

Faltings' eyebrows twitched for a second.

Unless it was Riemann's hypothesis, which even Professor Grothendieck felt was difficult, he would never express his praise toward someone solving a problem.

"There is no doubt that the proof of the ABC conjecture itself is correct, but the method you guys used is worthy of in-depth study," Professor Faltings said as he put down the coffee cup on the table.

After pausing for a few seconds, he continued, "There is one more thing I have to tell you."

Schultz: "What?"

After organizing the thoughts in his mind, Faltings said, "Ms. Karicek came here yesterday."

Schultz was taken aback for a moment. He frowned and asked, "Ms. Karicek?"

Faltings: "The Federal Minister of Education and Research. You probably don't know her, I am not interested in who she is either… Just think of her as someone who allocates funding to the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics."

The confusion in Schultz's heart grew bigger and bigger.

"What are the federal bureaucrats doing here?"

Why are they interested in mathematics?

For some reason, Schultz suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Professor Faltings shrugged his shoulders and said casually, "It's related to your paper… Whether your contribution was 10% or 20%, you were part of the reason for the ABC conjecture proof."

He paused for a second and continued, "In short, she hopes you can represent Germany…

"To go to Mars."

Schultz: "…?"

Chapter 1392: Big Trouble

Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Institute of Mathematics.

Director Dai Huohong sat at the desk and read a paper. He squinted his eyes and spoke while touching his sparse beard.

"Amazing, this is wonderful!"

His reaction was different from Professor Faltings'.

After seeing the proof of the ABC conjecture, Director Dai's reaction was quite calm. It only took him less than ten minutes to go through the paper from beginning to end.

Academician Xiang Huanan, who was sitting on the sofa, couldn't stand listening anymore. He couldn't help but complain.

"What are you talking about?"

Director Dai put away the paper and spoke with a smile.

"Of course about Academician Lu's paper, what else?"

Academician Xiang: "…"

Although he wanted to say, "You don't understand anyway, what's so wonderful", he resisted the urge and changed the subject.

"A while ago, I told you not to poach talents in a hurry. I asked you to wait and see the situation at Jin Ling University. But in the end, you didn't listen. Now look what has happened. Academician Lu and the team have solved this problem by themselves. What's going to happen to the Chinese number theory professors you poached from overseas?"

"Since I already poached them, I'll keep them, what else can I do?" Director Dai was open-minded, he didn't feel at a loss. He said with a smile, "It's not like I can just kick them away? Also, the money for poaching people was from the special funds allocated by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It will not affect the resources from other projects. What if this turns out to be a good investment? You never know what can happen."

Academician Xiang Huanan couldn't help but complain.

"You're quite an indulgent old man."

"What do you mean indulgent!"

Of course, this situation was quite pitiful.

After all, whoever proved the ABC conjecture would receive the scientific research funding of 100 million yuan per year.

The 100 million yuan was not directly given to scientific research institutions. Instead, it was given to the people who could solve the problem, so the money wouldn't directly be transferred to the professor's account.

Generally speaking, it was first paid to the special account of the university or research institute for research funds, then reimbursed in batches.

It was common practice in academia for universities to draw a management fee from it. The proportion of the commission was determined by a series of factors such as the management rules issued by the relevant departments, the number of professors, the size of the funds, the nature of the problem, etc. The average was about 5% to 10%. But taking anywhere upwards of 40% wasn't uncommon in China.

So why did major universities like to compete for academicians?

One of the most direct reasons was because of money!

It was a great feeling to receive a hundred million yuan in scientific research funds.

Even including the 5%-10% management fee, this money was enough to support the "sub-projects" under the larger projects, as well as the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Director Dai felt a little painful when he thought about this.

Had it not been for Lu Zhou, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which poached talents from Princeton and École Normale Supérieure, would be the most promising place in China to solve the ABC conjecture.

Regardless of how low the probability was, it was still higher than other institutions.

But although this piece of the pie was taken, there could be other opportunities in the future.

After all, there were still more opportunities to communicate with that "extraterrestrial civilization". Seeing how they were so obsessed with the ABC conjecture, they probably had a fascination with mathematics.

Director Dai wasn't the only one who thought of this; most of the mathematics research institutions in China had similar ideas.

Perhaps someday in the future, number theory would become the first bridge of friendship between human civilization and an extraterrestrial civilization…

…

Lu Zhou had some ideas about how the proof of the ABC conjecture would affect the mathematics community before he uploaded the paper.

However, even though he considered a lot of things, he still underestimated the scale of the tsunami.

As well as the size of the impact area!

When Xiao Ai told him that the arXiv website went down on the day the paper was uploaded, Lu Zhou was even more dumbfounded.

It seemed that the whole world regarded the ABC conjecture as the key to open the door to dialogue with the extraterrestrial civilization.

The governments of various countries even convened the United Nations General Assembly to urgently negotiate the establishment of loose political alliances such as the "Human Alliance" or the "Earth Federation", in order to seek a unified position on "foreign" issues and to study foreign affairs that were in the overall interests of mankind.

However, only Lu Zhou himself knew about the "extraterrestrial civilization". Perhaps it did exist in a certain corner of the universe, but at least for now, everything was just an illusion.

The key in his hand was not as impressive as people imagined. What it could open was just a treasure chest left by the Void Civilization.

It would be a huge disappointment if there were only a few thousand tubes of Energy Medicine or a large pile of processed alloy ore in the treasure chest.

Judging by the way the system had screwed him over in prizes, this was entirely possible.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Lu Zhou only hoped for one thing now, which was that his trip to Mars wouldn't have any negative impact on the future development of human civilization.

Such as the "human alliance" or "Earth federation" organizations…

Every time Director Li excitedly asked him which name was better, Lu Zhou felt anxious.

He had to smile and come up with a lie.

After all, if it wasn't for the internal information that only he knew, this was indeed a joyous event for universal celebration. If he didn't act happy, it would be hard to explain in the future.

In addition to these large effects, there were also some small aftermaths rippling.

For example, according to Xiao Ai's report, because of the outage of the arXiv server, the number of visits to the LSPM website linked on his personal homepage thesis suddenly received a huge amount of traffic.

The average number of daily visits exceeded a million, with tens of thousands of discussion posts. This temporary discussion page became the world's largest academic exchange forum.

Lu Zhou didn't expect this to happen.

After some consideration, he finally adopted Xiao Ai's suggestion and allowed it to upgrade the website and open up several sub-categories.

One reason was to give a platform for pop-mathematic fans to discuss the paper. It also gave a place for scholars to actually discuss academic problems.

After all, Lu Zhou's original intention of establishing this discussion page was to give everyone in the entire mathematics community a chance to review the manuscript together.

As well as giving them a chance to improve the paper…

Time quickly passed by, the departure date was getting closer and closer.

After several meetings and discussions, the launch schedule was successfully implemented.

The second wave of immigrants to the Guanghan Special Economic Zone would depart in mid-May.

At the same time, the scientific expedition team to Mars would also follow this flight to the Moon Palace, where they would stop for a while, then transfer to a new colonial ship to go to Mars.

Although he felt a headache for the second dialogue that was about to begin, Lu Zhou had no better option. He just had to take it one step at a time.

However, just when he was getting ready to go to Mars, something unexpected happened.

Lu Zhou never expected that Schultz, who had just returned to Germany, was sent back to Jinling.

Moreover, Director Li came with him…

Chapter 1393: Start of Human Alliance

Jinling launch site.

The second batch of colony capsules and various equipment that would be sent to Mars was being packaged and sent to the space shuttle.

The list of the second batch of scientific expedition teams to Mars had not yet been announced, and the outside world was ignorant of Lu Zhou's upcoming journey. Lu Zhou insisted for this plan to go through.

Even though Chang'an Avenue had hoped that he could be more cautious, considering Lu Zhou's own insistence, the relevant departments ultimately did not make a tough decision to retain him on Earth.

However, the budget for this launch plan had been doubled. Many pieces of equipment that were originally scheduled for the third batch of launches to Mars were advanced forward.

Although in Lu Zhou's opinion, putting his own safety issues as a priority felt somewhat pretentious, seeing how persistent the relevant departments were, he didn't say much and quietly received this kindness.

On the third day of preparations for the launch, Director Li brought a person to the Jinling launch site.

Lu Zhou looked at Schultz standing in front of him. He had a weird look on his face. The two of them stared at each other with their eyes wide open; they didn't even say hello to each other.

Director Li felt the awkwardness of the atmosphere. He gave a dry cough and spoke while looking at Lu Zhou with a strange expression.

"Let me introduce to you. This is the representative from Germany. Professor Schultz from the department of mathematics at the University of Bonn… Forget it, I guess you know each other, so I'll shut up."

Lu Zhou: "Why are you here?"

Schultz sighed. "It's a long story… I didn't want to come."

Schultz spent about five minutes briefly talking about what happened in the past few days. What happened with Professor Faltings, and how the Federal Ministry of Education and Research director came to see him personally. After that, officials from the European Union also came to harass him, hoping that he could travel to Mars on behalf of the European Union.

Schultz would also oversee whether China would fulfill their promises and convey the "correct message" to the extraterrestrial civilization on behalf of human civilization.

Lu Zhou hesitated for a while and said, "If you don't want to go, you don't have to force yourself… Going to Mars is quite dangerous."

Schultz shook his head and spoke.

"I am a German first, then a mathematician. If my country needs me, I'm in no position to refuse."

He had a helpless smile on his face and shrugged his shoulders.

"Besides, don't you plan to go as well? If you are not afraid of accidents, I have no reason to back down.

"I'm just a lonely person, without children and family…"

Lu Zhou went silent.

He suddenly felt that this statement was a bit selfish. Although he did not have a family, he definitely wasn't alone. He had his parents, Xiao Tong, and he was going to marry Chen Yushan at the end of the year… There were so many people and things that he couldn't just let go of.

If he got into an accident, many people would feel sad for him.

"Enough enough, can you stop talking about such unlucky things?" Director Li coughed and said, "Let's talk about the positive things. I said that the United Nations is discussing the establishment of a political alliance to deal with the extraterrestrial civilization, right? The Americans finally agreed to join.

"The name of the organization is "Federation of Human Alliance", or Human Alliance for short. The first chairman of the board is our former Minister of Foreign Affairs. The charter of Human Alliance is currently being drafted. You guys are going to Mars representing the Human Alliance…"

Compared with the United Nations, the Human Alliance was a looser political alliance. It was a bit like the "homeowner association" of a suburb and had a certain amount of executive power.

Its main function was to coordinate countries and organizations with different political systems, cultures, and religions around the world, to establish a unified voice, and to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations on behalf of the overall interests of mankind. As well as to exercise such power such as the declaration of war, peace talks, and open trade.

After all, there were more than 230 countries and regions and more than 2,000 ethnic groups on Earth. It was unrealistic to expect aliens to figure out the differences between Chinese and Americans, Christians and Buddhists, Nigerians and African Americans.

Having a unified voice was a must.

Then there were the words used for communication, the production of "postcards" that showcased Earth's civilization, technology, and culture. As well as the formulation of diplomatic strategies.

This was quite a tedious process.

Looking at Lu Zhou's face, Director Li could see that he was having a headache. He thought Lu Zhou was worried that this trouble would fall on his head, so Director Li smiled and comforted him.

"Don't worry, this is not your responsibility. We have professionals who will handle these things. You only need to give some suggestions in your field of expertise."

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

"I'm not worried about this… Forget it, so what you're saying is, there are a few people visiting the extraterrestrial civilization?"

Director Li smiled and said, "That's for sure. After all, we have gained a lot of benefits from the establishment of the Human Alliance. We have to show our sincerity."

Lu Zhou: "Alright. Who else?"

Director Li: "Not much. In addition to you and Professor Schultz, who represents the European Union, there is also a British archaeologist, an American astrophysicist, and an aerospace engineer from Moscow. As well as Dr. Fan Tong, a researcher at the Mars Scientific Research Station who had been there once, and a bodyguard who will be responsible for your safety. There are only seven people in total."

Seven people…

Lu Zhou's eyebrows twitched fiercely when he heard this number.

This is not f*cking much?!

What do you mean?!

He took a deep breath and spoke.

"I have a request!"

Director Li immediately said seriously, "Please go ahead!"

Lu Zhou sorted out the thoughts in his mind and spoke to Director Li.

"In order to avoid irreversible accidents, I hope that this diplomatic mission is led by me personally.

"I hope that the higher-ups can give me the highest on-site command. Other members must strictly obey my orders. For those who ignore my orders, I will kick them out of the team."

Director Li hesitated for a while and said, "You have the highest on-site command authority. It is certain that you are going to lead the team. But kicking people out of the team… I'm afraid I have to ask about this. It may become a diplomatic issue.

"But I promise that I will give you a satisfactory answer as soon as possible!"

Lu Zhou looked at Director Li's sincere expression.

He simply nodded and ended the conversation.

"Thank you then!"

Schultz, who was standing aside watching them converse in Chinese, scratched his head confusedly.

Why do I feel like…

My trip to Mars is not going to end well…

Chapter 1394: Birthday Wishes

Inside a Zhongshan International mansion.

After finishing a day of work and returning home, Lu Zhou opened the door and watched a drone fly toward him.

Xiao Ai: [Master!]

Lu Zhou's hair was blown to the side by the airflow of the drone. He looked at Xiao Ai with a dazed expression.

"What's going on?"

Xiao Ai: [There is a weird woman that did strange things as soon as she walked in.]

Strange things?

Lu Zhou took off his shoes and was about to go to the kitchen. He heard light footsteps coming from the corner of the corridor.

"You're back?"

Chen Yushan walked out of the kitchen with a plate of braised fish in her hand. She had a heart-warming smile on her face as she joked, "I'm borrowing your kitchen for a while, is that okay?"

"I'm sure every man would be fine with this…" Lu Zhou said, "You got off work early today?"

"I wanted to surprise you, so I returned early."

"Surprise?"

"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday?"

Birthday?

Instantly, a moment of realization appeared on Lu Zhou's face.

Chen Yushan smirked and spoke.

"So you did forget, at least I remembered."

"Yushan…"

"Ah… Don't be so cringy." Chen Yushan couldn't help but cringe when she heard her name. She said, "Go wash your hands and get ready to eat!"

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke with a smile.

"Okay! I'll go right now!"

Xiao Ai: [(╯‵□′)╯(┴─┴]

The candles were inserted into the cake, followed by a birthday song.

Lu Zhou looked at the number printed on the candles and made a birthday wish. He felt a little emotional in his heart.

Time flies.

Although this was not the first time he felt this way, the moment the candle was blown out, he felt like an old man.

In the blink of an eye, he had already gone from being a young student to an old scholar.

Fortunately, these past twelve years of his life were not wasted.

One could say he had accomplished quite a lot for his age.

"What did you wish for?"

Lu Zhou put his folded hands together and spoke with a smile.

"Isn't there a saying that the wish won't come true if I tell anyone?"

Chen Yushan said happily, "Of course not! We can achieve your wish together, isn't that double the chance?"

Lu Zhou said with a smile, "Then I'll say it."

Chen Yushan nodded.

"Yeah! Say it!"

Lu Zhou closed his eyes.

He put his hands together and made the wish again.

"I want to use the money I have earned over the years to do something that is beneficial to society. For example… Like an old man suggested to me, set up an award in my own name to encourage young scholars."

In fact, this idea was not created in the heat of the moment; it had been in his mind since a long time ago.

He made up his mind back at Lake Mälaren.

After hearing Lu Zhou's wish, Chen Yushan pouted.

"I thought it would be related to me."

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan and smiled.

"Everything is related to you. I hope to show that through my sincerity, not just through a birthday wish."

"When did you become so charming?"

After thinking about this seriously for a moment, Lu Zhou spoke.

"I am?"

"…"

Chen Yushan turned her head away; her cheeks were burning red.

Although she was not the type who was easily charmed, she always felt that it was very reassuring to watch him say those words seriously.

It was like turning on a switch in her heart.

Ahhhhhh…

I love him so much!

Lu Zhou: "…?"

After the candles were blown, it was time to cut the cake.

However, Lu Zhou didn't want to eat the cake at all.

Because just a few feet away was a table full of food. Just smelling it made him salivate, not to mention the visual impact; it almost looked like something out of a cartoon.

If there was a rating system for food, Lu Zhou was certain that this would be under the "excellent" or "perfect" category.

After the sumptuous dinner, the two of them sat on the sofa with their shoulders leaning against each other, just like any other couple.

Xiao Ai was responsible for tidying up the table.

Chen Yushan looked at the TV. She seemed to be thinking about something as she suddenly spoke.

"You won't be back until the end of the year from Mars."

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded. He turned his face to look at her and said, "We'll get married as soon as we come back, okay?"

"No, that's not sincere at all."

Lu Zhou didn't expect Chen Yushan to refuse.

"Then… What about—"

"No!" Chen Yushan's index finger pressed on Lu Zhou's lips and interrupted him. She rolled her eyes and glared at him. She said, "Make a promise to me!"

"Um… Okay." Lu Zhou said with a current of warmth in his stomach, "I promise to make you happy for the rest of our lives."

Chen Yushan smirked.

"Hm, I'll remember this… Pinky promise."

Lu Zhou smiled and held his right hand.

"Pinky promise."

…

Schultz moved to the Jinling launch site and joined the training program. After the successive arrivals of representatives from other countries, Lu Zhou finally met all of the expedition members he was about to lead.

Although all of them were strangers, they got along smoothly.

After all, this was for the future of human civilization. Everyone had fully devoted themself to the pre-launch preparations.

As the day of departure approached, Lu Zhou's usual work started getting busier. However, he still spent as much time as possible accompanying his fiancee.

At the same time, the discussions on the Internet were constantly fermenting.

In particular, the list of "diplomatic corps" that represented human civilization to Mars for the exchange with the extraterrestrial civilization had not yet been announced. Many people were guessing who would be in the diplomatic corps.

"I'm guessing a member of the LSPM research team must go! I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the extraterrestrial civilization seemed to have pointed out that they will only communicate with the person who solves the ABC conjecture."

"I'm guessing it will be Academician Lu, the pinnacle of human civilization… Apart from him, I can't think of anyone more suitable to represent the highest level of human spirit."

"No way! If I were high up in the state, I would definitely not allow him to go!"

"Hehe, unfortunately, you are not."

"Could it be Perelman? We have a good relationship with Russia, and he seems to have worked at Jin Ling University. Maybe they'll send him up."

"Probably not him, he… doesn't seem interested. His mental condition is also unstable. Who dares to send him?"

"Doesn't matter if he's interested, if I were Putin—"

"Enough enough, you can't just force people to go to Mars."

"…"

The controversy became stronger and stronger as the scope gradually expanded.

The soon-to-be-established "Human Alliance" had also attracted the attention of many people and became a topic of interest.

Prior to this, the shared future of mankind had always been an abstract concept, but now, it had been given a realistic meaning.

Many radical social scientists even put forward bold ideas.

The exchange with extraterrestrial civilizations would not only greatly enhance the technological level of the two civilizations and promote new art forms, but could even completely change the political environment on Earth and change the concept of traditional boundaries.

For example, Professor Camilla Iwen, a well-known scholar of economics and sociology at the University of Cambridge, expressed optimistic opinions in an interview.

"All of the achievements that human society has achieved so far are driven by imagination. Contact with extraterrestrial civilizations will broaden our imagination to a new dimension. We'll discover a group of beings smarter than us in a corner of the universe.

"And their production economics will be something we have never seen before."

In addition to the upcoming second round of Mars landing missions, the China Lunar Orbit Committee also announced the second batch of large-scale immigration plans for Guanghan City.

This time, the scale of immigration was 500 people.

Although there wasn't an obvious cause and effect, people still clearly felt that the discovery of the extraterrestrial civilization seemed to have made China's development of lunar resources move into the fast lane.

Many people feel a trace of complex emotions in their hearts.

As if to cater to this sentiment, a popular article on WeChat entered the attention of most people, causing people to think about the future…

Chapter 1395: Standards of a Saint

Technically speaking, this article had existed for many years, but it was dug up recently.

Lu Zhou stood in the Mars environment training room. He was sitting on a small bench with his phone. Professor Vernal, who sent the article to him, looked at him and joked.

"It seems that doing scientific research in China is not easy."

After closing the article, the expression on Lu Zhou's face did not change. He spoke casually.

"After all, it only took us a hundred years from the feudal era to modernization. This is a leap in the history of civilization. Like how you guys don't require scholars to be religious, but many of us still habitually label scholars as saints.

"In fact, what I mean is that the academic environment at Oxford University is more relaxed.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Fine." Professor Vernal shrugged and said, "I was just saying, don't take it to heart."

Sitting opposite Lu Zhou was Professor Pansy Vernal from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art of Oxford University.

Although he was only thirty-five years old, judging from his sparse hair and wrinkles on his forehead, one could not help but wonder if he were cursed by the pharaohs in Egypt.

As for the article he was talking about, it was a commentary article by a Chinese-American journalist Xu Jing that was widely spread on Facebook.

Although this article was originally posted on Facebook, it quickly spread to China and became a popular article on WeChat by taking advantage of people's expectations for the future.

The title of the article was very similar to the article "Please Slow Down and Wait for Your People" that was popular in major forums many years ago. It even included many quotes from the previous article, but the main idea was the criticism of the lack of morality in the course of economic development, and how it was a shame that "rapid advancement" in science and technology had destroyed the pastoral life. As well as a criticism of the rapid social development itself.

The article created, or fictionalized, three characters with different identities; a deliveryman who was forced to leave the Shenzhen market because of drone logistics technology, a coal miner who lost his source of income because of controllable fusion technology, and a doctor who was forced to separate from his family and head to the Moon, eventually separating with his wife.

The identities of these characters covered the three groups of underprivileged, middle-class, and elite groups. It provided an in-depth analysis of the tragic fate of these people with different education levels and different social statuses.

When Lu Zhou read this, he made up his mind.

As expected, this is nonsense.

It was not that he didn't have sympathy, but he didn't understand how the doctor was "forced to separate" from his family.

After all, the PhD program at the lunar scientific research station was notoriously difficult to enter. International students applied for a limited number of places. Without a Nobel Prize winner-level recommendation letter and Nobel Prize-level research, there was no hope of being selected.

Forced to separate?

Wife abandoned?

Bullsh*t.

I'll eat my phone if this isn't made up!

"Of course I won't take it to heart." Lu Zhou just shrugged and said, "I believe that keyboard warriors aren't just a Chinese specialty. I also believe that history will give a correct evaluation. Do you think that this kind of concocted article is convincing? If it is, I'm worried about your professionalism."

Vernal laughed twice and concealed his embarrassment.

"Of course not… I'm just showing this to you. That's it."

"Good." Lu Zhou nodded. He suddenly turned around and said, "By the way, I forgot to tell you just now. According to the coach, your training results in the past few days are very bad. In order to avoid dragging everyone down in space, I hope you can stay in the high-gravity environment training room for longer. In the future, your training will end at 8 o'clock instead of 5 o'clock."

When Vernal heard that he would stay in the training room like a gym junkie, his face turned pale.

"Don't do this, friend, I was just kidding…"

"Kidding? It has nothing to do with your joke." Lu Zhou said seriously, "This is for your safety."

After that, Lu Zhou gave him a look that said "work hard". He then turned around and left…

…

The days quickly went by, and the day of departure was getting closer and closer.

People at the space launch site could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the entire launch center had gradually become tense as the end of May approached.

Perhaps because Academician Lu himself was about to embark on the flight to Mars, the safety issues that were already taken seriously had become the overriding top priority.

Not only did they add two more safety inspections on top of the three original ones, from the ground crew to the cleaning lady, everyone was doing safety training every few days. They tried to eliminate the probability of failure by two more decimal places.

The logistics staff weren't the only ones who were busy.

The training pace was gradually accelerating for the expedition personnel who were about to go to Mars.

Lu Zhou not only learned how to drive the Mars rover and operate various equipment on the spacecraft, but he also learned how to operate professional equipment in low gravity and high gravity environments, as well as exploring underground tunnels with the assistance of other personnel…

"There is a flight to Mars in mid-October that will be responsible for delivering supplies to our colonial outpost on Mars. You can take that flight back then."

Inside the chief designer's office at the launch site, Director Chang Hezhi, who was in charge of the next launch plan, reported to Lu Zhou on the preparations for the launch. He then continued to report the arrangements for the return trip.

After listening to this report, Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.

"No problem, is there anything else?"

Director Chang: "There is indeed one other thing."

Lu Zhou said, "What?"

"The final press conference before the launch will be held soon. Many details about the launch plan will be made public at this press conference. If you are okay with it, we all agree that it's best for you to host it."

The details here included the engineering equipment and new colonization units that would be sent to the surface of Mars for deployment, as well as the list of scientific expedition teams to Mars and the "diplomatic missions" responsible for contact with the extraterrestrial civilization. All of these concerns would be answered at the press conference.

Mainstream media from all over the world would arrive in Jinling to conduct a global live broadcast of this press conference.

This historic moment would definitely be recorded in world history!

Due to the importance of this matter, a normal spokesperson's level of understanding for the Mars landing plan was obviously not sufficient.

In contrast, as the chief designer of the Mars landing plan, no one was more suitable to be the spokesperson than Lu Zhou.

Faced with Director Chang's proposal, Lu Zhou thought about it for a while and simply agreed.

"Okay then.

"I can be the spokesperson.

"But you guys will have to prepare the speech and PowerPoint."

Seeing that Lu Zhou had agreed, Director Chang was overjoyed.

"No problem, we'll handle that.

"The press conference is in three days!"

Chapter 1396: Full of Confidence for the Future

The day of the press conference.

The No.1 conference hall at the Jinling launch site was crowded with people.

Reporters of different skin colors stood here, filling the spacious conference hall.

In order to leave enough space for the interviewers, all cameras, whether automatic or manual, were arranged on both sides of the conference hall, leaving the middle of the conference room empty.

A young man in formal clothes was standing next to Director Li. He looked around as he asked, "Do you think Academician Lu can handle this pressure? There are so many people here."

He was the secretary for the State Administration for National Defense. He originally served as the spokesperson for this press conference. But since Lu Zhou agreed to attend himself, he became a substitute.

Director Li laughed when he heard the secretary's words.

"He can't handle it? Are you kidding me? This guy has been to more places than I have. We don't have to worry about him." "

It was time.

Under everyone's expectation, Lu Zhou walked onto the stage in a suit.

The audience stared at him closely. He cleared his throat as usual, then spoke in a steady voice.

"Good afternoon, everyone, I am Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the Mars landing plan.

"In our original arrangement, the second batch of scientific researchers to the Mars scientific research base will launch with the supply to Mars at the end of the year, but because we found a suspected area with traces of extraterrestrial civilization near 15° south latitude and 128.1° west longitude, the original launch plan was revised and the second batch of personnel and equipment for the Mars landing plan were reconfigured.

"The following is the adjusted road map of the Mars landing plan and the specific work arrangement for the second contact… Please see the big screen below."

A brief introduction to the entire Mars landing plan was given in concise terms. When Lu Zhou was showing the PowerPoint, he gave the reporters enough time to take pictures of the slides.

Soon after, the PowerPoint screening ended.

Lu Zhou nodded to the staff next to him, indicating that the first round of questioning could begin.

The news disclosure of the press conference was divided into two parts. The first half was for the specific details of the plan and the second half was the announcement for the list of "human representatives" for the second contact. A brief introduction of the identities of the representatives was given.

In order to facilitate the reporters to concentrate on their questions, the questioning session was also divided into two parts.

"Hello, Academician Lu Zhou, I am a reporter from Everyone Daily. I would like to ask what are the highlights of this Mars landing plan."

The reporter lady from "Everyone Daily" reached out the microphone in her hand.

Lu Zhou smiled at her and nodded.

"I think there are two aspects worth paying attention to.

"One is transportation, the other is living.

"From the perspective of transportation, the all-terrain rover we deployed on Mars this time has enhanced the communication module and includes many special designs for the dust storm environment on Mars. As for the living aspect, this time we are sending additional functional colony capsules to Mars as well.

"Through these independent colony capsules as well as the pipeline connecting the core colony capsule and the functional modules, we will expand the scientific research base on the surface of Mars. In the future, we will be able to accommodate more scholars to carry out scientific research activities on Mars."

After the reporter from Everyone Daily finished the question, another foreign reporter stood up.

"Hello, I am a reporter from the Washington Post. We noticed that you used the word 'suspected' when referring to the traces of extraterrestrial civilization. I would like to ask… Are there any new discoveries from the Mars landing office in regards to the extraterrestrial civilization?"

Lu Zhou: "That was only me being cautious, please do not over-interpret my words."

Lu Zhou answered the questions from the reporters one after another.

Generally speaking, the atmosphere of the conference was pretty good.

Although some of the questions were tricky, they were all within a reasonable range. They were all questions that normal people would ask. However, when the New York Times reporter began to ask questions, the atmosphere at the press conference suddenly became weird.

The reporter was a white male.

He reached out the microphone in his hand and raised a question that had little to do with the Mars landing plan itself.

"Have you heard of Xu Jing?"

Xu Jing?

Lu Zhou frowned and thought about where he had heard the name, but he couldn't remember.

"No, why?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised you didn't know her." The reporter looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Then let me briefly introduce her. She is a reporter who once wrote a column for our newspaper. She is active as a freelance journalist and is relatively well-known on the internet."

Lu Zhou finally remembered who this person was. It was the author of the article that blew up on WeChat.

Lu Zhou continued with a playful expression, "Do you want to ask a question for your former employee?"

"Of course! However, it's not because of her former employee status, but because of the question she raised. It is what we are all thinking about."

The white reporter stared at Lu Zhou and spoke quickly.

"As we all know, China has achieved excellent results in the field of aerospace. China intends to expand the existing results to Mars. However, this space race brings us not only the waste of resources but also does not solve any other problems.

"Ms. Xu pointed out in her article that there are still many people living below the poverty line in your country. Many people have not even flown on airplanes. Do you think there is meaning in developing aerospace technology in China?"

Lu Zhou interrupted the reporter's speech.

"Have you been to Los Angeles?"

Reporter: "… Of course, it is the largest city on the west coast. Of course I have been there. Why?"

Lu Zhou: "I have been there too, and I was fortunate enough to take the subway there. Have you considered that, when sending astronauts to space, there are many homeless people living in the subway tunnels?"

An awkward expression appeared on the reporter's face.

He realized what Lu Zhou might say next, so he quickly spoke first.

"Of course… Our country also has its own problems. But aren't we talking about China now?

"There is no doubt that you are the most influential scholar in China and in the world. You have made world-renowned achievements in your field! But just like Ms. Xu wrote in the article, have you considered the social problems that your research may bring, such as poverty and unemployment.

"In your opinion, in regards to the three examples mentioned in her article, do those people not deserve happiness, or even the right to survive?"

Lu Zhou was under the sharp gaze of the white reporter. He knew all of this was rehearsed.

However, Lu Zhou was not nervous.

It was normal for American journalists to ask ridiculous things at press conferences.

Lu Zhou gave his own answer casually with a smile.

"To be honest, I never thought about it, nor do I care."

There was a commotion at the press conference.

Even the white reporter's eyes widened. It seemed that he didn't expect Lu Zhou to be so direct and walk directly into his trap.

He even thought of tomorrow's headline for The New York Times.

Director Li was a little anxious. He gestured frantically at Lu Zhou. He pulled the secretary next to him and wanted him to go to the rescue Academician Lu.

However, Lu Zhou seemed to have completely ignored Director Li.

After a pause, he continued, "You expect me to be a great and noble man.

"To resolve all your worries, make bread for you when you are hungry, cut it into slices when you are too lazy to do it, or even chew it up and feed it to you…"

Lu Zhou continued without caring for the reporter's reaction.

"But that's not going to happen.

"Technology is only a tool for wealth creation.

"Someone has to study new sociological theories, dive into new production relations and resource allocation methods, and lay a theoretical foundation for the new system. Because our social scientists know that this is the only approach to solve inequality.

"However, no matter how you cut up the cake, you have to make the cake first.

"The development of science and technology will inevitably eliminate backward production capacity, jobs will change, but job opportunities will never disappear. They will reappear in a more creative and modern form. We will protect those who have lost their jobs due to industrial transformation, and provide them with free training, unemployment compensation, and guide them to find their own positions in this society.

"If you don't know what I mean by modern, you should look through your history textbooks and compare North America in the 18th century to North America now. I believe you can find the answer you want from history. If you think that the creation of lithium-sulfur batteries, controllable fusion, or quantum computers and space shuttles only deprives people of their work and has no meaning in building a utopia, then I can only feel sorry for your stupidity.

"So, this is why I don't care about the problems you raised.

"Because that is not my research area.

"And also I am confident that people in the future will solve these problems.

"As for whether I am brave…"

Lu Zhou paused for a second then continued, "I will personally lead the team to Mars."

The white reporter who asked the previous question was shocked.

The entire conference hall went crazy…

Chapter 1397: Please Be Safe

The press conference was a mess.

The audience sitting in front of TVs, computers, and mobile phones watching the live broadcast of the press conference were all shocked when they heard Lu Zhou announce that he would go to Mars in person.

He's going to Mars?!

What is going on?!

"Academician Lu is going to Mars himself?"

"F*ck, no way? He's really f*cking going?!"

"I think… Academician Lu is probably joking? Although he is not old, going to Mars is still too ridiculous. I remember that only professional astronauts can adapt to life there."

"No please, God Lu, please stay on Earth!"

The discussions on Weibo were exploding.

The popularity of the topic soared rapidly, surpassing the "Mars landing plan press conference" and other terms that dominated the trending search list.

The situation on Twitter and Facebook was the same. There were also YouTube and streaming websites that were directly broadcasting the news conference. People expressed their shock in the comment sections.

Although some people had speculated before whether Lu Zhou's name would be on the list, this was thought to be an outlandish prediction.

No one thought that Lu Zhou actually planned to go to Mars himself.

No one thought that the relevant state departments would actually agree to his wish.

At the press conference, the noise covered the entire No.1 Conference Hall ceiling.

The staff desperately wanted to maintain order, but the reporters on the scene were too surprised by the breaking news. They broke out with enthusiasm and rushed toward the platform.

"Professor Lu Zhou, is this a temporary decision you made? Or is it one that you have been preparing for a long time!"

"If astronauts without professional training go to Mars, will they become a burden for frontline researchers?"

"Have you considered the danger of contacting the extraterrestrial civilization? If they show offensive behavior after seeing you, how do you plan to protect your life?"

"I heard that you are already engaged. Have you considered the feelings of your partner?"

"Will you return to Earth to get married? Or do you plan to have a wedding on Mars?"

Faced with the flood of microphones and questions, Lu Zhou started to get a headache.

It was impossible to answer all of the questions.

By the time the reporters finished asking all of the questions, it would be nighttime already.

Lu Zhou looked at the secretary standing next to Director Li, suggesting that he was ready for him to take his place. The secretary immediately understood what Lu Zhou meant. After whispering a few words to Director Li, he quickly walked toward the backstage.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and made a shush gesture in front of the reporters in the audience.

He took this opportunity to raise his volume and speak loudly.

"Space travel itself is nothing scary. You guys don't need to worry about me at all.

"Even ordinary people with no foundation and average physical fitness can go to space to work and live after receiving simple training. This is not much more difficult than taking a driver's test. In fact, I have only received a month of training.

"I will prove this with my own actions.

"Next, we have our press spokesperson to announce the full list of the second batch personnel…"

Lu Zhou went backstage under the eyes of the reporters. Director Li's secretary successfully took over his position and pushed the press conference to the next stage.

The situation at the press conference was under control.

The reporters at the scene also calmed down.

But everyone knew that until the launch mission began, the heat caused by Lu Zhou's announcement would not die down.

Some people thought that his decision was too careless, some people thought that he was an unselfish scholar who made a choice between his own destiny and the destiny of mankind.

Others said that this was just a show, paving the way for a future political career. Some people even thought that Academician Lu was irritated by the reporter at the scene and decided to say something outlandish.

Perhaps next month the China National Space Administration would give Lu Zhou an opportunity to go back on his words.

The time quickly passed by while people debated whether Academician Lu would venture to Mars personally. Finally, it was the day of departure.

Many people were surprised to see that Academician Lu was actually serious about his trip…

…

Jinling launch site.

The Starlight stopped steadily in the center of the runway.

The side of the runway was full of people.

Some of them were the staff of the launch site, and some were the relatives and friends of colonists and researchers who were about to go to Mars and Guanghan City. Some were invited or voluntarily applied to come here to send off the heroes of human civilization.

The atmosphere on site was exceptionally quiet.

As if they were worried that the sadness in their hearts would be transmitted to others, people quietly hugged their friends and exchanged messages of blessings.

Luo Wenxuan, who was the chairman of the ILHCRC, spoke with a heavy heart to Lu Zhou.

"I never thought that one day you would go so far."

Lu Zhou smiled as he hugged his old friend and patted him on the shoulder.

"It's just a couple of millions of kilometers, not far."

Luo Wenxuan took a deep breath, looked at him, and spoke solemnly.

"Take care!"

"Yeah."

One sentence was often enough for male friends.

Talking too much would seem unmasculine.

Lu Zhou walked away from Luo Wenxuan. He looked at the assistants and students who came to see him. He smiled at them and spoke.

"It's quite a shame, unfortunately, I didn't help you guys much in my number theory class. I didn't even have enough time for lectures. The best I can give you guys is a blessing."

Lu Zhou looked at Li Mo standing among the students. He was the IMO competition champion he poached from Yan University. Lu Zhou continued with a smile.

"Your mathematics talent is good, but talents alone are not enough. Perseverance is the cornerstone of the math building. The former may only determine whether the road in front of you is smooth, but the latter determines how far you can go… Work hard, and there will be a place for you in the future of mathematics. If you have any problems, go to Professor Perelman. He is a person who seems introverted but is surprisingly easy to communicate with. Even simple questions he will also explain to you in detail."

"Professor…"

"Enough, no need for the kind words."

Lu Zhou smiled and patted the young man on the shoulder. He then looked at Han Mengqi.

When he looked at her, she was also staring at him.

"Master…"

After staring at Lu Zhou for a long time, she decided not to call him "brother-in-law".

However, Li Mo's eyes nearly popped out of his face.

What the hell?!

Didn't you say not to call him master?

How come you get to say it?

Lu Zhou was used to being called this, he didn't react. He smiled and spoke.

"You are also a gifted student. Even now, I still remember that when I taught you math for the first time, you struggled with calculating an elliptic equation, but in just two to three months, you caught up with everything.

"Your academic path is beyond my expectations, and you have proved yourself with your actions. You are indeed a scientist.

"I don't have much to teach you in terms of academic matters. You are a woman with a strong opinion. Follow the path you have identified and go forward."

Lu Zhou gave her an encouraging look. He then walked to the side of his fiancee, Chen Yushan.

Chen Yushan's lips trembled slightly when she looked at Lu Zhou.

Although the two sat on the balcony and talked all night, they still felt like they didn't have enough time.

Lu Zhou looked at the pretty face and went silent for a while. He did not say anything. He closed his eyes and gave her a kiss on the lips in front of everyone.

"I have a lot more… to say to you, I believe you feel the same. But I'm afraid we don't have enough time.

"But it's just half a year.

"We can talk when I get back."

"Yeah…" Her heart pumped as she stared at Lu Zhou for a long time. She gulped and said, "I'll miss you…"

Lu Zhou gently brushed her bangs and glanced at her for the last time. He then took the helmet from the staff nearby and put it on.

He made a farewell gesture to those who came to see him but didn't speak to him. Lu Zhou resisted the urge to look back and strode toward the boarding gangway.

The spacecraft hatch closed.

The ground crew began to evacuate the nearby crowd.

The blue plasma ignited the air and melted the cement. The scorching air current raged in the sky, and the silver-white spacecraft flew forward, eventually disappearing into the skyline.

Han Mengqi looked in the direction of the spacecraft.

As she stared at the clouds in the sky, she said, "I feel like… Master is going somewhere really far."

"…"

Chen Yushan also had a similar thought in her heart.

Her throbbing heart stopped her from speaking. She felt a sharp pain in her chest.

Chen Yushan clenched her fists and prayed.

"Please be safe."

Chapter 1398: Planet of Tomorrow

The group of people from Starlight moved to the Moon Palace and stayed for 24 hours.

After the replenishment loading, they would take the Magpie Bridge, which had a stronger acceleration capability and was more suitable for carrying a large number of passengers and supplies, to Mars. They would land on the surface of Mars through Xu Fu, which floated on Mars orbit as a temporary space station.

Fifteen days had passed since the departure from the Moon Palace.

Since Mars and Earth were moving away from each other, it would take two to three days longer for them to go to Mars than the first colonists.

However, even then, their current location was getting quite close to Mars.

If the angle was correct, someone could even see the bright red spot hidden in the vast sea of stars through the windows…

"Two pairs, I win."

After throwing out the two cards on the poker table, Lu Zhou leaned back on the chair happily. Across from him was Joel Aubrey, a professor of astrophysics from Stanford University, as well as Kubo Lomonov, an aerospace engineer from Moscow State University.

The two people stared at their cards with sad faces.

Wang Peng, who served as Lu Zhou's bodyguard, as well as Professor Schultz and Vernal, were standing behind the three of them, watching the game with interest.

Professor Aubrey and Professor Lomonov looked at each other and gave up.

"Sorry, guys…"

Lu Zhou smiled and reached out for the ch.i.p.s.

"Looks like I win."

A half-month-long journey was quite boring.

They could only use poker, chess, and board games to kill time. In the beginning, the nine people (including the two main and co-pilots) spent their time playing chess. Lu Zhou was bored and used algebraic geometry to model the chessboard. He found a solution that made him win almost 100% of the time. After that, no one was interested in playing chess anymore.

In contrast, poker, which had a greater element of luck, gave them a bigger chance at beating Lu Zhou.

However, this was only if all of them were playing game theory optimally.

In reality, apart from Schultz's occasional wins against Lu Zhou, the archaeologist Vernal, who was standing behind Lu Zhou watching and studying, lost buy-in after buy-in.

"Damn… I shouldn't have gotten it in with you."

Joel Aubrey threw the cards in his hand on the table while cursing. He unwillingly tore off a piece of paper and carefully glued it to his forehead.

In fact, this was the punishment for losing in poker. The most annoying was not that it blocked their line of sight, but in a gravity-free environment, if the strip of paper accidentally fell and flew away, the person would have to chase after the piece of paper.

Joel Aubrey already did this once, he didn't want to do it again.

After Vernal patted Aubrey on the shoulder, he comforted, "Just give up, my friend, why play a probability game against a mathematician?"

Aubrey said unwillingly, "I know… I just want to win."

Professor Vernal spoke with a smile.

"I see people like you all the time in Las Vegas. It's best to stay away from the casino.

"I go there once a year… and, occasionally, I can win some money."

Lu Zhou shook his head and put away the poker set on the table.

"There is no space to stick more paper on your face. Unless you want to stuff it in your nostrils, let's stop for now."

Lomonov, who was rather taciturn, breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled the chair away and stood up, but Aubrey spoke with dissatisfaction.

"Hey, how long do I need to keep these on my face?"

"Ten hours."

Aubrey suddenly frowned.

"Can't you be more lenient?"

Lu Zhou smiled slightly and said, "Of course I can, but only if you give up the opportunity to go underground and stay in the base station on the day of the expedition."

"Sorry, bro, there's no way I'll agree to that." Aubrey pushed his chair away and stood up. He said, "These papers don't scare me!"

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Aubrey and shrugged.

"I was just kidding.

"But remember, you lost fair and square, so you have to live up to your punishment."

In fact, Lu Zhou wasn't kidding at all.

Makes sense, of course he wouldn't agree.

I guess I'll just have to find a way to get rid of those people underground.

Lu Zhou touched the wrist-mounted computer on his right arm and began to think.

…

The eighteenth day of departure from the Moon Palace.

The fiery red planet finally appeared in front of everyone.

"We're here!"

"Wooo!"

Excited sounds of cheers resounded throughout the cabin. They stood next to the porthole looking at the fiery red giant. Even though the planet had been observed through satellites and telescopes countless times, when they were finally in orbit and captured by the gravity of Mars, a wave of excitement was ignited in their hearts.

It was like discovering a new land.

"… Call the ground command center. This is 'Humming Bird'. We have been successfully captured by the Mars gravitational system and we are switching to Mars geosynchronous orbit…

"The orbit has been switched, lowering altitude…

"This is 'Humming Bird', calling headquarters, we have reached the edge of the Mars atmosphere! The distance from Xu Fu is 1.27 km, we are currently approaching!"

The metal alloy door of the c.o.c.kpit opened. The co-pilot wearing a spacesuit in the cabin walked in front of Lu Zhou and gave them a military salute.

"We have arrived at the station. You will follow me on Xu Fu. I will tell you what to do."

"Wait a minute, why do we go on Xu Fu?" Vernal raised his hand and asked nervously, "Also, how do we get off?"

After hearing this idiotic question, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

"Do you really need to ask? Of course we bungee jump down."

Vernal's face turned green. Schultz and Aubrey's faces were also a little pale. Only Lomonov, who was an aerospace engineer himself, smirked at Lu Zhou's joke.

Bungee jump?

Think about it, does that sound realistic?

After twelve minutes of careful merging, the Magpie Bridge model codenamed "Humming Bird" finally connected a silver-white corridor between it and Xu Fu and completed docking.

Although Vernal had the thought of retreating at the last moment, he decided to clench his jaw and bravely followed the group of people through the silver-white corridor.

Inside the spacious compartment, the pilot stopped and looked back at the group of people who were about to head to the ground.

"Okay, friends, we have arrived… Under your feet is the outpost of the new world, where the dream of the relic begins. You will land in the landing pod with living supplies and new functional modules, and someone will pick you up there.

"You should have learned how to use the landing pod when you received training. It's time for me to go now.

"So now, first connect the interface on the spacesuit in your cabin with the life support system of the landing module, then check whether each button and each seat belt is connected. Think about whether you want me to bring any words back to Earth.

"If everything is ok, then raise your hand and let me know."

The pilot nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the raised hands.

"Good.

"Let's go!"

Chapter 1399: Almost Like It's Alive!

What it felt like to fall from a height of hundreds of kilometers?

Lu Zhou felt that, after this expedition, he knew this feeling better than anyone other than the people in the Airborne Brigade team.

The feeling of standing on the critical line between life and death caused the adrenaline in his body to soar. His hands held tightly onto the armrests of the seat, and he could even hear his own heartbeat.

When the landing capsule fell into the sea of sand, it was the first time Lu Zhou felt that life was beautiful.

He also felt like the Institute of Aeronautics at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study should make the landing more comfortable.

After a series of violent tremors, the heavy alloy hatch opened suddenly.

The wind engulfed the yellow sand, blowing it on everyone's suit.

Professor Vernal unlocked the connection of the life support system in the cabin. He stood up from the cushioned seat and walked out of the cabin. As he looked at the vast desert, his eyes were filled with indescribable shock.

"Jesus… It feels like being in Egypt."

"Egypt?"

"Yeah…"

Professor Vernal's knees touched the ground. He kneeled on the ground and picked up a hand full of sand. When he felt the touch of the alien planet through the spacesuit's graphene fibers, his face was full of excitement and shock.

"… I worked there for three years. From the Nile to the Sahara Desert, our archaeological team's footprints traversed the entire country… But even then, I have never seen such a spectacular scenery."

"Is there any civilization here?" Lomonov said as he stepped across the hatch and went on the ground. He squinted his eyes and looked at the heavy sand and dust. He then glanced at the gamma counter on his wrist-mounted computer and said, "… Even Chernobyl has less radiation than here."

"From an astronomical point of view, it is possible." Professor Aubrey squinted his eyes and said, "Compared with the age of the universe, our civilization only exists for a brief moment.

"From the academic point of view, 3 billion years ago, maybe 4 billion years ago, before the core of Mars had cooled down, there used to be an atmosphere thicker than Earth. Freshwater lakes were distributed on the surface of the planet. In theory, it had the conditions for life. On the contrary, Earth was like hell back then, similar to how Venus is today."

Lu Zhou turned on the positioning device and set the coordinates. He was the last to walk out of the landing module. He looked up at the approaching Mars rover in the distance and interrupted the small chat in the communication channel.

"Let's stop talking about academic problems. Everyone, pack up and prepare to go to the base station."

However, there was nothing to pack. Each person's personal belongings was only a 26-inch aerospace-grade suitcase. This was embedded behind the shell of the landing module.

After everyone pulled the suitcase with their own number from the landing compartment, the rover in the distance drove to the side.

The door of the rover opened outward. An astronaut jumped out of the rover and walked quickly to Lu Zhou. His voice was a little incoherent from the excitement.

"Lu-Academician Lu, you came here in person?"

Lu Zhou looked at the nervous astronaut and shook hands with him. He spoke with a smile.

"It's fine, don't be so nervous, what is your name?"

"Fan Tong!" The astronaut continued happily, "Can I ask you for an autograph?"

Fan Tong?

The name sounded a bit familiar to Lu Zhou. If he remembered correctly, this should be the researcher of the "Outlier 128" project. Strictly speaking, Fan Tong was under Lu Zhou's research team.

"Let's talk about this later. Go drive, I have things to ask you later."

"Yes, sir!"

Fan Tong quickly climbed back into the rover.

Lu Zhou turned around and began to tell others to tie their luggage to the rover. He then took the lead and got into the rover. He ordered Fan Tong to drive the rover.

Because the landing site itself was near the base station, the drive wasn't long. When they approached the base, they saw three hemispherical domes slowly descending from the air with the help of their engines. They landed and were deployed in the open space next to the scientific research base station.

The international friends sitting in the rover showed looks of surprise on their faces. Especially Lomonov, an aerospace engineer from Russia, stared through the rover window with both eyes wide open. His whole body was stunned.

"Jesus Christ…

"How did you guys do this?"

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke casually.

"It's actually nothing special."

Lomonov turned his head and glanced at Lu Zhou with a strange expression.

Nothing f*cking special?

The colony capsules weighing tens of tons were dropped directly from the outer space orbit. The active jet engine was used for deceleration. It even landed accurately in the circled area…

Lomonov couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Although he came to the Jinling aerospace launch site from Moscow for the purpose of studying, he still didn't expect the gap to be this big.

From aerospace launch technology to outer planet landing, he couldn't find a single domain where the Roscosmos excelled in.

These Chinese people had not only completely dominated the entire industrial chain but even achieved the ultimate level of technology in every chain that he could imagine. It seemed that they were indeed too far behind of the times.

The rover passed by the functional module that was just deployed and slowly drove into the garage of the scientific research base station.

The alloy gate closed. Cutting off the sand and wind from outside.

Cleaning fluid was sprayed out of the buffer chamber, covering every corner of the rover in all directions. Then the group of people got off the rover and was cleaned as well.

After the ventilation device filled the pressure buffer room with air, they changed out of their extravehicular spacesuits and put on lighter indoor clothes.

The alloy door on the side opened. The highest-ranking officer of the scientific research base, Captain Liang Youcheng, walked to the front of the group and spoke with a smile.

"Welcome to the Mars Scientific Research Base. I'm Liang Youcheng, the captain of the scientific expedition team stationed here. I hope that in the next month or even two months here, you will feel at home. I will take you guys to your rooms soon. Dinner time is at 18 o'clock, Beijing time. You can move around freely before then, or you can follow me for a visit inside the base station.

"Also, I have been briefed of your mission. If there is anything that needs help, just tell me directly."

Liang Youcheng looked at Lu Zhou and asked him if he had anything to add.

"That's the basics. Free time before dinner, or follow Captain Liang to visit the facilities here. I have nothing to add." Lu Zhou nodded toward Captain Liang and looked at Fan Tong standing next to him. He said, "Dr. Fan, come with me."

Fan Tong immediately raised his head and stood up straight.

"Yes, sir!"

The group of people followed Captain Liang to their respective rooms. Meanwhile, Lu Zhou took Fan Tong to the meeting room next to the pressure buffer room.

The alloy door closed. Lu Zhou pulled a chair and sat down like he was in his own home. He then motioned to Fan Tong to find a place to sit casually.

"Tell me briefly about the situation here."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything about Project 128."

Fan Tong's expression suddenly became serious. He nodded and spoke.

"I have been researching this over the past month."

"In order to find out why the fractured structures suddenly appeared and disappeared, I tried to send a remote control vehicle to explore the underground cave. However, due to the limited propagation distance of electromagnetic wave signals, I could only use wired control to operate. The control distance of the vehicle is limited. I can't go deep into the cave, but I still found a lot of suspicious things."

Lu Zhou: "Suspicious?"

"Yeah."

Fan Tong nodded and continued with a solemn expression.

"The terrain below The Gates of Hell mountains changes very frequently. There is a large change almost every 71 minutes and a small adjustment every 34 minutes. As for the seismic structure, it appears to be random. It doesn't appear to follow a statistical law. At first, we thought it was a special geological structure of Mars, but based on the feedback of the distribution and intensity of seismic waves, we found that things were not that simple.

"There is no indication that the regional seismic action caused such peculiar and frequent changes in its underground structure. It is more likely to be mechanically driven."

"Mechanically driven?" Lu Zhou hesitated slightly. He then said with a smile, "How is that possible?"

"I also think it's impossible, but there doesn't seem to be a better explanation." Fan Tong's face showed a headache. He said, "In theory, no matter how great a project is, it will still disintegrate over time. However, I really can't think of any other explanation that can cause such strange changes in those tunnels.

"It's almost as if… it's alive!"

Chapter 1400: Barn of the Future

Earth, tens of millions of kilometers away.

Chen Yushan sat on the sofa in her living room, staring at the TV screen intently.

When she saw the landing module descend steadily from the air and landed on the surface of Mars, she could finally relax.

The news began to play, and the commentary from the host came from the TV.

"… According to the latest news from the Mars landing office, the second batch of boarders has successfully arrived at the scientific research base on the surface of Mars.

"According to the plan, they will take a rest at the Mars base, then set out to the ruins below The Gates of Hell mountain range in 24 hours to have a second contact with the extraterrestrial civilization…"

Han Mengqi was also sitting on the sofa. She was leaning on Chen Yushan's shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned her face to her sister and spoke with a smile.

"Sis, I told you, Lu Zhou will be fine."

"I hope so, but… I feel a little worried." Chen Yushan smiled embarrassedly and continued, "Speaking of which, has your movie finished filming?"

Chen Yushan had been looking forward to the movie very much.

According to the director, there would not be too many scenes of Lu Zhou's personal life, but seeing a character based on her appear on the screen still made her excited.

Especially since her cousin was playing as herself.

This made her look forward to it even more.

Han Mengqi scratched the back of her head and spoke vaguely.

"The filming is finished. It has been finalized and submitted for review. If the progress is fast, it should be done before the end of the year. The crew said that it would be released during the Chinese New Year, but it may be advanced or postponed… I am not very sure."

"Is it all finished?" Chen Yushan curiously continued to ask, "How did it feel? Are you interested in being a movie star?"

"No." Han Mengqi sighed. "I can't relate to the people on set at all. It's like we're not on the same wavelength… The laboratory and library are more suitable for me."

Maybe it was because of her relationship with Lu Zhou, she always felt that the people in the crew, from the leading actor to the craft services, were trying to please her. Because of this, it made her even more uncomfortable.

Every time she finished shooting her own scenes, she didn't want to spend another minute with the crew. She didn't even attend the celebration party after the filming.

Han Mengqi asked in a quiet voice embarrassingly, "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, this just sounds familiar."

Han Mengqi was slightly stunned. Her cheeks turned red.

Chen Yushan grabbed her cousin's hand and spoke with a smile.

"At the end of the year, will you come and be my bridesmaid?"

Han Mengqi snapped back to reality. The expression on her face was still a little stiff, but she still reluctantly spoke with a smile.

"Bridesmaid? Okay, okay…"

…

As the news of the success of China's second manned boarding program was transmitted from Mars back to Earth, the three functional colony capsules deployed next to the Mars scientific research base station were approved by the staff of the research station. The silver-white titanium alloy pipes were connected together.

The scale of China's colonial outpost on Mars had been expanded by four times. The maximum capacity had increased from 10 to 25.

As the Mars landing plan continued to develop, this number would be further expanded. When the Mars colony became the same size as the current Guanghan City, the entire Mars colonization plan would enter the next stage.

In the future, China would build a fully sustainable ecological base on Mars. This was also the ultimate goal of the road map made by Lu Zhou.

Lomonov walked past an alloy door with a transparent window. He was following Dr. Ming Wenzhe to visit around the base station. He suddenly stopped and looked inside the door.

He saw an extremely spacious greenhouse behind the door.

He could see the bottles of water tanks filled with liquid neatly displayed inside. Through the translucent shell, he could vaguely see the roots of plants soaked in the liquid.

He asked out of curiosity, "What is this?"

Ming Wenzhe explained, "Inside is the planting area, which mainly grows vegetables, potatoes, and corn."

Lomonov showed a surprised expression on his face. He looked at him in disbelief.

"Can these crops survive?"

"Of course, why else would we spend so much effort to grow them?" Ming Wenzhe smiled and said, "These seeds are not ordinary seeds. They have undergone special breeding techniques at the lunar research base. Using an organic fertilizer, they grow very well. Although it is far from being completely self-sufficient, at least we can solve the supply of fresh vegetables by ourselves."

Lomonov stared at the bottles and cans in the greenhouse, he went silent for a while before speaking.

"This is incredible… Achieving self-sufficiency on Mars. I always thought that this is a science fiction concept, only seen in movies."

"This is nothing, it's just the beginning. If you have seen the Mars colonization plan road map announced by the Mars landing office, achieving self-sufficiency is just the beginning. Our ultimate goal is not only to be self-sufficient but to also export food products. Academician Lu even mentioned in the work conference that, one day in the future, this place will become the second barn of Earth."

Earth's barn?

Lomonov spoke with a smile.

"How is that possible?"

"Freshwater resources, sufficient light and air… None of that is here, except dangerous cosmic rays!

"You plan to cultivate this area into ten thousand acres of fertile land? Stop kidding around, that is more difficult than turning the Sahara Desert into an oasis."

Ming Wenzhe saw the disbelief on the Russian aerospace engineer's face. He just smiled faintly and spoke casually.

"It is not impossible to transform the Sahara into an oasis. It is technically possible. In fact, since the breakthrough in controllable fusion technology, we have been trying to transform the deserts of the central and western regions into man-made livable areas. After the establishment of Houyi, this process has entered the fast lane. It is expected to see results in the middle of the twentieth century."

He paused for a moment and continued, "As for Mars, of course it is possible. We don't plan to solve all problems in the 21st century, but looking at it in a century or even two centuries… Who knows what can happen?"

Lomonov was shocked by Dr. Ming Wenzhe's statement. He spent a long time thinking before he slowly spoke.

"If you can really do it, it will be a miracle in the history of human civilization."

Ming Wenzhe said with a smile, "Of course we can do it. In fact, we are already doing it."

Just as the two were talking, the signal light of the wrist-mounted computer on Lomonov's right arm suddenly flickered.

Dr. Ming Wenzhe cast a questioning look at him.

"What's going on?"

"Academician Lu asked us to have a meeting, probably to discuss tomorrow's action plan… Where is the meeting room?"

Dr. Ming Wenzhe smiled at Lomonov and spoke.

"We were just there. I'll take you."

Chapter 1401: At Least Bring One Person

The first action meeting of The Gates of Hell expedition team began.

In the meeting room.

A three-dimensional holographic image was presented above the round table.

Lu Zhou stood right in front of the conference table. He looked at the members of the scientific expedition team and spoke in a serious tone.

"Although I originally planned to hold this meeting in the evening, what I'm about to say next is important. So this meeting has been advanced.

"Over the past two months, project 128 team dispatched a variety of detection equipment such as remote control cars, wire-controlled probes, seismic wave detectors, etc. to explore the situation underground.

"The holographic image you see now is the tunnel distribution model under the ruins. The green line corresponds to the most recently detected route, the yellow line is the historical route. The number marked next to it corresponds to the detection time.

"Due to the length of the control distance, the maximum exploration distance of the remote control vehicle we sent is only about one kilometer. It does not reach the deepest point of the ruins. It is not difficult to see that the passage under the ruins is dynamically changing."

Discussions spread around the conference table.

Lu Zhou looked at the people with different expressions on their faces. He paused for a while before continuing in a serious tone.

"So far, the reason for the changes in these tunnels is not clear, but it is clear that we may not have a fixed map to rely on. We can only rely on intuition and luck to find the way to the underground ruins.

"What worries me is not that we might get lost, but the reason for this strange phenomenon… I'm guessing that the secrets hidden behind the ruins under The Gates of Hell may be more interesting than our phenomenon.

"I'll be straightforward. There may be certain risks in this task. It is not too late to withdraw."

Lu Zhou sat back in his chair and gave the team members sitting at the conference table time to discuss.

In fact, he had a feeling before coming here that this trip to Mars would certainly not end so easily. After chatting with Fan Tong earlier, he was even more certain of this.

The reasons behind why the passage to that underground ruin was so complicated, why the Holy Relic set up so many obstacles for this conversation, how its "maze" kept changing… All of these were suspicious to Lu Zhou.

Due to limited information, the current clues were not enough to support him in making a 100% certainty answer.

However, although this was full of many uncertain possibilities, one thing was certain—this mission would be full of danger.

The proof of the ABC conjecture might only be a threshold; the test from "higher civilization" had only just begun.

Just like how the person who claimed to be a Holy Relic didn't care how many years to wait, if no one could pass the test set by The Observer, they would wait until the next era.

After all, they had waited for billions of years, so a few hundred years might be just a blink of an eye for them.

If the Chosen one could take on the heavy responsibility, they would certainly not hesitate to increase the difficulty of the test.

And even Lu Zhou himself wasn't certain in passing this test.

This wasn't just an IQ puzzle game.

It was a gamble on the future destiny of human civilization…

Five minutes went by.

The whispers and eye contact at the conference table continued, but no one stood up to express their withdrawal from this evil mission.

Perhaps they did not realize the seriousness of the problem.

In any case, Lu Zhou had given them the opportunity to choose.

Lu Zhou sat up straight from the chair and slowly stood up with his hands leaning on the conference table.

"Very well, it seems that you are all mentally prepared, so I won't say much. The meeting ends here. There is nothing more we can do now. We can only wait and see what happens.

"Nighttime is free time. Whether it's writing letters or making videos, do whatever you want. If there is an accident, someone will give these letters to your family… Of course, hopefully, there aren't any.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning!"

The meeting ended.

Everyone stood up and exited from the conference table.

Professor Aubrey glanced at Professor Vernal next to him and spoke with a weird expression.

"Is this implying that we should write a will?"

Professor Vernal shook his head; he was dumbfounded.

"I don't know… Don't ask me."

…

The next day.

At exactly eight o'clock Beijing time, the land of Mars was still shrouded in the dark.

The quiet night was suddenly disturbed.

The silver-white hatch opened. A Mars rover with tires about a meter high drove out of the garage, leaving a straight path in the desert. It went toward The Gates of Hell mountains in the distance.

The secrets of Martian civilization were buried there.

There was also a message that did belong to the human civilization.

The mission of this expedition was to dig these things out from below the surface. If the situation was optimistic, it was best to establish friendly diplomatic relations with the neighbors outside the solar system…

Wang Peng sat on the rover. He took out a unique heavy-duty rifle from the toolbox and assembled components.

This scene frightened the people next to him. Even Fan Tong, who was driving, could not help but ask, "You also brought a weapon?"

"Just in case."

After installing the scope, Wang Peng adjusted the crosshair position.

Lu Zhou glanced at the rifle in his hand and recognized the model.

The QBZ-20 rifle was a multi-purpose paratrooper rifle jointly designed by the Chinese Weaponry Research Institute and the Aerospace Science and Technology Institute. It had an elegant name called "Hellfire".

As for why Lu Zhou could recognize the model, it was mainly because he had trained with the garrison near the Jinling launch site for several weeks. Even if he did not use such awesome equipment, he had seen it many times.

Wang Peng didn't seem to be joking, so Fan Tong said with a weird expression, "I think… If there is an accident, this thing probably won't be useful."

Wang Peng raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?"

Fan Tong: "Their technology is totally beyond our knowledge. I tried to continue to explore the ruins, but an invisible wall blocked me. It is difficult to explain clearly. You'll know when you enter…"

Wang Peng simply nodded and didn't respond.

It would be best if there were no conflicts. They themselves came here with a peaceful purpose.

But if an accident happened…

He had to protect at least one person.

Chapter 1402: Going to Hell

After a 20-minute drive, the rover reached the edge of The Gates of Hell.

Along the edge, Fan Tong found a pass that could allow the Martian rover to go through. Fan Tong turned the steering wheel and drove the rover over.

The rover continued along the rugged and narrow path toward the depths of the mountains. The signal was affected by the nearby hematite and began to drop.

Aubrey glanced around at the surrounding steep cliffs and rock walls. When he felt the depressive atmosphere, he shrank his neck and couldn't help but speak.

"Speaking of which, why is it called The Gates of Hell? Doesn't this name make you guys nervous?"

Fan Tong spoke casually.

"I'm afraid you have to ask NASA about this since they named it."

As the first organization to send the probe to Mars, the terrains were mostly named by the Curiosity rover.

Perhaps the scientific researcher in charge of the naming at that time felt that the name was artistic. It was difficult to judge whether it was artistic or not, but it was definitely a fitting name.

"There will be several meters of cracks randomly appearing around The Gates of Hell. These cracks are very similar to earthquake cracks, through which you can directly enter the ruins. Of course, these cracks are not the only way to enter the ruins. When I came out, I passed through a fixed entrance. Its location is probably in the middle of The Gates of Hell mountain range, embedded in the rock wall on the side of the rift… Over there, we are here."

The rover's engine was turned off. It slowly stopped beside a ridge. After getting out of the car, the group followed Fan Tong's footsteps to an upright stone pillar about four to five meters high.

Behind this stone pillar was a steep downward slope.

When the shine of the morning light hit the back of the stone pillar, it was like some kind of natural miracle; people couldn't help but stare in awe.

The appearance did look like a relic.

"Strange…"

Professor Vernal, the archaeologist from Oxford University, frowned and walked to the stone pillar. He squatted down and groped along the surface of the stone pillar for a while. He suddenly spoke.

"Is this a marine sedimentary environment?"

A hint of surprise appeared on Fan Tong's face. He nodded and spoke.

"I had the same idea… Billions of years ago, this place should have been an ocean."

"The altitude is quite deep." Using his palm, Professor Vernard traced the outline of the stone pillar and felt the hard surface through his suit. He muttered, "The hydrogeological environment here is unique. There should have been many major geological disasters in the past. Volcanic eruptions, plate collisions, and special tectonic movements that are not seen on Earth… This is incredible."

"Let's focus on the ruins below the ground." Astrophysicist Aubrey walked in front of the group of people and turned his head to Lu Zhou. "What do you think? Boss."

"I have no opinion, but if we stand outside, we won't be able to figure out anything." Lu Zhou thought about it for a moment and continued, "Let's go ahead, I'll take the lead."

Wang Peng raised his hand with the paratrooper rifle and walked to the entrance of the cave.

"Let me go first."

Aubrey and Vernal looked at each other with a strange look. Fan Tong also shrugged helplessly. He threw aside the stone sample he was holding.

"I said that weapons are useless… But since you insist, do what you want."

However, having a person holding a gun lead the way still brought a sense of security to the group.

Even though everyone knew in their heart, that if there were any living aliens, the weapons on Earth would hardly be a threat. But at least in the psychological sense, the muzzle still brought some comfort to them.

Schultz asked quietly as he walked beside Lu Zhou, "Are you sure those Martians are… dead?"

Lu Zhou looked at the surrounding environment vigilantly. He shrugged his shoulders and replied in a casual tone, "I'm not sure… But if they weren't dead, we would have seen them from Earth long ago."

If they could survive in this universe for billions of years…

Even if they couldn't dominate the Milky Way, they would have dominated the solar system long ago.

Dr. Lomonov, an aerospace engineer who had not spoken yet, suddenly said, "What if we have actually seen them, but we just didn't realize it?"

Aubrey couldn't help but shiver. He spoke with a dry cough.

"Don't say that!"

The group continued to advance toward the depths of the tunnel.

So far, the expedition had been smooth, without any twists or turns.

By relying on the mark left by Fan Tong when he came out, they smoothly advanced at least two kilometers into the cave. According to the data displayed by the depth detector, they were now more than two hundred meters deep from the surface.

As they walked deeper, the feeling of alienation from civilization became stronger. They felt like a baby cut from the umbilical cord and was thrown into a bottomless well.

There was less and less talking. Everyone remained silent.

Fan Tong suddenly stopped and looked at the fork in the road ahead.

"Something's wrong…"

Everyone stopped.

Lu Zhou cast a questioning glance at him.

"What?"

"The marks end here."

Fan Tong walked to the side of the rock wall. He reached out his hand and fumbled on it for a while. He found a scratch cut off from it.

This was the mark left by the multifunctional shovel when he came out of the underground ruins. Originally, this clue should point directly to the deepest part of the ruins, but it had been cut off.

Fan Tong looked at the two paths in front of him. The expression on his face became more solemn as he muttered to himself, "I see… The passage inside the ruins has changed. I didn't see any intersections in the path before, and I walked about a kilometer before I saw the first intersection.

"But now it's here already.

"I'm afraid things aren't that simple."

Professor Vernal stepped forward and squatted beside the intersection. He used a multifunctional shovel in his hand to crack some debris from the rock wall. He pinched it in his hand.

"This is incredible."

Schultz gulped, looked at him, and asked, "What's incredible?"

"Three billion years ago… Or even earlier, this should have been a cave covered with metal alloys." Professor Vernal stood up and carefully packed the samples into the sample bag. He marked the sample label and said, "Although the traces of civilization have been weathered away by time, the rocks don't lie."

Professor Aubrey frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"What I'm saying is, judging from the weathering traces, the structure of the path on the left is obviously more complex than the path on the right." After Professor Vernal glanced at Fan Tong, he looked at Lu Zhou and said, "You are the captain, you choose which way to go."

Chapter 1403: Splitting Up

"Let's split up."

Lu Zhou looked at the two paths in front of him and pondered for a moment. He then said, "We'll move on along the passage on the right. You… take another person and explore along the left. If it's a dead-end, then retreat and come back."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to do." Fan Tong said, "The underground passage is in a state of dynamic change with a two-hour cycle. Even if we return along the same path, we won't be exactly where we were."

The members of the expedition team were shocked. Except for Wang Peng and Lu Zhou's calm expressions, everyone else looked astonished.

Aubrey couldn't help but speak, "How is that possible? How can the paths change? Are there ghosts here?"

Professor Vernal's face was also in shock; his tone was full of suspicion.

"Even if there are violent tectonic movements… Two hours is too short."

"If we can't go back the same way, then we will meet in front." Lu Zhou looked ahead and said, "Since all the roads lead to the same place, we'll just meet at the invisible wall."

Schultz took a deep breath. He then stood up and looked at Lu Zhou.

"I'll go with Professor Vernal. Both you and I are collaborators on the ABC conjecture proof paper. If an accident happens… One of us will still be there."

Lu Zhou nodded in agreement.

"Okay then. Schultz and Professor Vernal are in group A, the rest are in group B. We'll meet at the front."

After separating the supplies for the two groups, the groups began to part ways and continue along two completely different passages.

There was another option, which was for everyone to move forward and retreat together. But Lu Zhou didn't just want to find the Holy Relic, he wanted to be able to learn from this relic. To collect more information about the Martian civilization.

With the help from Professor Vernal, it should not be difficult to accomplish this task.

Also, like Schultz said, at least one of them should reach the deepest part of the ruins.

If another team had an accident, at least they had a second chance…

Schultz continued along the narrow tunnel with a flashlight. His expectation regarding discovering traces of a Martian civilization had completely disappeared.

They had been walking for almost an hour but found nothing.

He felt like he and Professor Vernal were like two headless chickens, running around aimlessly in this maze.

He couldn't help but ask.

"Are you sure there have been traces of civilization activities here?"

Unlike Schultz, Professor Vernal's tone was full of confidence. He spoke excitedly.

"I'm very certain! The surrounding stratum does not appear to be naturally formed. It's a special type of steel mixed with rare metals, formed under long-term oxidation and mechanical fragmentation of hematite containing rare metals. You know, normal hematite is very brittle."

"Brittle?"

"Yes, it's easy to break just by throwing it on the ground or hitting it…" Professor Vernal picked up the multifunctional shovel in his hand and smashed it on the reddish-brown rock on the side.

After taking two steps, Professor Vernal looked at Schultz and smiled.

"See… My shovel can only leave a scratch on it, let alone breaking it. I almost dislocated my hand."

Schultz frowned, not quite sure what Professor Vernal was trying to say.

However, after putting away the multifunctional shovel in his hand, Vernal continued in a fascinating tone.

"This used to be a tunnel paved with alloy steel!

"It's at least three billion years old!

"For some reason, the Martians dove to the bottom of the sea and built this tunnel. Which is the ruins we are now in. Their technology and their motivations are fascinating… Maybe it's because of the Holy Relic? I am getting more and more curious about what is at the end of this passage!"

Schultz opened his mouth. After a while, he gave an ambiguous assessment.

"This sounds like a science fiction story."

Professor Vernal laughed and said, "People who study fossils and stones are good at making up stories, especially stories that are tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago. But three billion years, Jesus… I have never seen such a thing. Even the age of Mount Roraima is only 300 million years old. If you want to investigate such an ancient place on Earth, you would have to drain the water in the Mariana Trench. If I can go back and put these findings in a paper, I will definitely break a world record!"

Schultz's expression was not good.

"Not if we go back, when we go back."

Vernal smiled and patted Schultz's shoulder.

"Don't worry, young mathematician, we will definitely go back… I was just making an academic hypothesis. Our archaeologists have a relatively indifferent view of life. Please don't be offended."

"I'm not offended, but I want to know, how long do we have to walk?" Schultz glanced around and said, "Judging by your expertise, are there any changes in the path?"

"The only difference is that our position is getting deeper and deeper. The nearby rocks tell me that there was a seawater intrusion here three billion years ago, or even earlier. Hundreds of millions of tons of seawater flooded here. The terrifying pressure tore through all the artificially designed structures in this passage. It dried up hundreds of millions of years ago."

Schultz stopped walking.

He saw Professor Vernal take two steps forward and grabbed a handful of sand near the wall.

"What did you find now?"

Schultz stepped forward and stood behind him. He looked at the sand in Vernal's hand, but he didn't see anything unusual.

"The sand here is new…" Professor Vernal looked around and said, "At least it is much newer than the ones we just saw."

Schultz frowned.

"What's the problem?"

"It's a huge problem… How did these sands get here?" Professor Vernal's pupils were filled with disbelief, "It's like the sand that fell in first in the hourglass suddenly appeared on top again… Do you understand what I mean?"

"The sand that fell first appeared on top…" Schultz frowned and said, "How is that possible?"

"But what is in my hand then?"

Vernal stood up and carefully packed the sand into the sample bag he carried with him. With a suspicious expression on his face, he pulled out a sticky note and stuck it on the side of the sample bag.

He looked at the depth value on the wrist-mounted computer. He then scribbled the approximate depth position on the sticky note with a marker and spoke.

"There are two possibilities. Either we lost our way and passed here already, or the tunnels on the surface were moved in front of us."

Schultz: "Both of them sound impossible."

"I think so too, but…"

Before Professor Vernal's words were finished, a strong vibration suddenly came from all directions. The two almost fell on the ground from the sudden earthquake.

Stones fell from the top of the cave, banging on their helmets.

Schultz looked back. He saw that the passage they had walked through before was closing in the middle.

It was different from a normal cave collapsing.

The rock wall moved closer together at a constant speed. It seemed to be pulled by some unknown force. It didn't give people the solid feeling that rock should have.

It was like a squirming esophagus…

Like it was alive!

"Earthquake!" Schultz screamed in the communication channel. He grabbed Vernal and said, "Get up! Let's get out of here."

Professor Vernal's face was full of horror.

"Damn it! This is more than a thousand meters deep underground, where do we go?!"

"It doesn't matter where we go, it's better than standing here and waiting to die! We have to go forward!"

The fear of death defeated the despair of nature.

Professor Vernal used all his strength to get up from the ground and dropped the multifunctional shovel in his hand. They ran forward without looking back.

The two of them exploded with extraordinary courage and strength. They barely escaped the rock walls closing behind them.

The two were in a spacious rock cave.

Vernal got up from the ground and shook the dust from his body as he spoke.

"Dammit… I thought we would be dead. German guy, are you okay?"

Schultz raised his hand and looked like a mess. But, fortunately, he was fine.

"I'm fine, wait… What did you call me?"

"The German mathematician! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it… I was just a bit excited."

Vernal grabbed Schultz and pulled him from the ground.

The two leaned against the wall. Their faces filled with joy and uncertainty.

"We can't stay here for long… No one knows what can happen again. Damn it, it really is two hours." After taking a deep breath, Professor Vernal checked the oxygen reserve and looked toward Schultz, "Let's go ahead, my instincts tell me it shouldn't be far away… Wait, what is that?"

Professor Vernal stopped suddenly.

His eyes were fixed on the open space in front of him, completely forgetting what he wanted to say before.

Schultz followed his eyes with a strange face and looked in front. Instantly, he froze.

It was a shovel.

It was clearly the one that Professor Vernal dropped just a second ago.

Professor Vernal kneeled on the ground and reached out his trembling hand. When he picked up the familiar multifunctional shovel from the ground, his face was full of shock.

"This, this is… The one I just dropped."

Schultz swallowed and spoke in a trembling voice.

"… And now it's here."

The two of them looked at each other.

They saw the uncertain expressions on each other's faces through the spacesuits.

"… Still go forward?"

"That's the only thing we can do."

There was no such thing as retreating.

Two hours had passed since they went inside. The distribution of underground tunnels had completely changed. Whether they wanted to find the exit or the end of the maze, if they wanted to live, they could only move forward!

The two continued to walk forward.

Ten minutes went by.

They passed through a narrow gate-shaped structure. Suddenly, a scenery appeared in front of them.

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

It took a while before Professor Vernal could squeeze out a word from his mouth.

"Jesus…"

This is…

Unbelievable!

Chapter 1404: Moving to Death

It wasn't just Professor Vernal and Schultz who were left behind.

The other group marching along another spacious passage also encountered the "earthquake" that changed the entire ruins.

Wang Peng climbed up from the ground. He gritted his teeth and removed the stone pressing on his leg. If this was on Earth, his legs would be broken, but fortunately, the gravity of Mars was only 0.37 times that of Earth.

He took out the torch hanging under the muzzle and threw the broken rifle aside. He walked to the side and pulled Fan Tong from under the gravel.

"I told you… cough cough… that thing is useless."

"Whether it's useful or not, it's broken."

After checking the operation of various equipment on the spacesuit, Fan Tong leaned against the rock wall next to him with a sigh of relief.

"Where's the rest?"

"I don't know…"

Aubrey and Lomonov fell behind when they escaped and were forced to rush into another path. It was still unclear whether they were alive or dead, but Wang Peng didn't care.

What worried him was that Lu Zhou was gone too!

"Damn it!"

He slammed his fist against the nearby rock wall.

This shocked Fan Tong, who was standing next to him. Fan Tong quickly reached out and grabbed him.

"Bro, calm down… We're already in this situation, we have to think of a solution."

Wang Peng was in the special forces.

After taking a deep breath, he quickly calmed himself down.

"I'm going to find him."

Fan Tong said, "How are you going to find him? Are you going to blow up the rock walls?"

The corners of Wang Peng's mouth twitched, but he did not respond.

He would consider doing this, but, unfortunately, he didn't have explosives or anything in his hand. A broken gun was not useful at all.

Wang Peng clenched his fist.

Fan Tong continued in a quiet voice, "I said before that the tunnel here will change drastically every two hours. However, no matter how it changes, I think its endpoint is the same. If… he is still alive, we will definitely be able to meet at the front.

"In any case, we can only move forward!"

…

On the other side.

Lomonov put his hands on his knees as he leaned against the rock wall, panting.

A weak voice came from the communication channel.

"Sh*t… Give me a hand, I'm stuck."

After taking a deep breath, Lomonov stepped forward patiently. He reached out his hand to pull the buried American astrophysicist out of the gravel pile.

"This is a mistake!" Lomonov looked at Professor Aubrey and said, "Now look, we're left behind."

"We just got separated, stay calm…" Aubrey took a deep breath and looked around. "Aren't we still alive?"

"Not for long!"

In the entire team, when it came to survival, these two had the most useless skill sets. Lomonov had already started to regret coming on this trip.

Compared with Lomonov's pessimism, Professor Aubrey's mood was fairly stable.

After taking a deep breath, he straightened up and observed the surroundings. He thought for a moment and said, "This is not like normal tectonic movement… No, it shouldn't even be mechanical movement."

Lomonov glanced at him.

Although he didn't think this discovery would be any help to survival, he still asked casually, "How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Conclusion? Are you kidding?" Aubrey looked at the Russian aerospace engineering expert. "The rock mass of millions or even tens of millions of tons is moving? A large-scale geological movement every two hours? Well, maybe it is possible, but where does the energy come from?"

Lomonov frowned.

Obviously, he also realized this.

Aubrey gulped and continued, "Rely on the cooled core? And the tunnels, if they really collided with each other because of the movement in the ground, then there is no doubt that the inertia alone is enough to bring down this mountain."

Lomonov frowned and said, "It's not mechanical movement… Then what do you think it is? Magic?"

"Not magic, but for us, this technology is probably no different from magic."

Professor Aubrey sat down against the rock wall and sighed.

He looked at Lomonov and spoke.

"Of course, I have a guess.

"Have you heard of standard Euclidean space?"

…

Inside the empty rock cave.

Except for the dust and the person standing in the gravel, nothing else was nearby.

Lu Zhou felt his steady heartbeat. He slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms.

He looked at the surroundings. His eyes fell on the giant arch that was about five meters tall in front of him. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"I see…

"It seems that my guess is correct."

After listening to Dr. Fan Tong's description, he had a suspicion. Now, this was proof that his suspicion was correct.

There was no earthquake here.

These tunnels themselves never changed.

Only the order was disrupted!

Basically, the area where the ruin was in was not a three-dimensional space in the traditional sense but a standard Euclidean space after expansion.

In this space, fragments of four-dimensional space or higher-dimensional space were scattered like bubbles, hidden in corners invisible to three-dimensional creatures.

This explanation was difficult to understand.

Basically, everything in the ruins, including the intricate tunnels and passages, was like pieces of a puzzle.

On the surface, the geological movement caused the collapse and formation of new and old tunnels, but in essence, an invisible hand disrupted these puzzles and put them together again.

Everything never changed.

After realizing all this, Lu Zhou immediately made a decision. When the earthquake happened, he deliberately left other people aside and took the initiative to let the tunnel "collapse" on him.

It now seemed like he was correct.

Otherwise, he would have been crushed into meat sauce, and he would not be standing here.

"This should be the place where the Holy Relic is…"

Lu Zhou did not hesitate. He walked toward the tall arch.

As soon as he stepped into the space behind the arch, the empty communication channel instantly lit up.

Immediately afterward, an electric current sound rang in his ears.

"… You're here."

Chapter 1405: Graveyard of Civilization

Vernal swore that even though he had discovered many miracles in the civilized world, he had never been so shocked before.

An open space near the size of a football field was in front of him. The ceiling was about a hundred meters high. The square stone steles were like chess pieces on a chessboard, planted all over the open space. The smooth and flat surfaces were like mirrors. The edges and corners were sharp, like they were cut by a knife.

What was amazing was not the huge amount of work akin to the terracotta warriors, but the fact that even after billions of years, there weren't any scratches on the stone surfaces.

"God… This is incredible."

Professor Vernal took a trembling step forward. He walked past Schultz, who was dumbfounded, and walked to the nearest stone monument. The old professor reached out his trembling right hand and pressed his palm on the flat and smooth surface.

"This is a cemetery…"

Professor Vernal's hand was on the nearest tombstone. He murmured to himself, "The cemeteries of civilization… It is hard to imagine how they have remained intact during these long years, and why they accomplished this miracle…"

Schultz finally recovered from the astonishment. He gulped, walked up, and stood beside Professor Vernal. He looked at him and spoke in a questioning tone.

"Cemetery…?"

"Yeah."

Professor Vernal nodded. After hesitating for a while, he finally took out the multifunctional shovel he had picked up earlier and slammed it up with all his strength.

After some crisp dinging sounds, the mirror-smooth stone finally couldn't withstand the beating. It was broken like a piece of tofu, cracking along the place where the shovel had hit.

A fragment was knocked down along the crack. Professor Vernal picked it up and examined it. He began to analyze.

"Three billion years ago, this piece of fragment in my hand should have come from some kind of metal alloy material. After billions of years of weathering, it turned into hematite. The rare metals scattered in the alloy are not completely oxidized because the oxide layer is well preserved and a special natural alloy with iron oxide as the main component has been formed. This should also contain cadmium, nickel, and carbon. The specific composition requires professional equipment to analyze."

After a pause, he continued, "This is not the only thing that surprised me. This 'artwork' made from high-strength alloys is covered with some kind of debris containing calcium carbonate minerals."

"These things are like coffins… No, they are coffins to be precise."

Professor Vernal carefully put the collected sample into the sample bag he carried with him. He added the sampling location and other information on the bag.

Schultz gulped. It took a while before he spoke.

"But… Why did they send the coffins to the seabed several kilometers below the surface? I remember you said that this place was a sea billions of years ago."

Carrying out such a large project on the seabed was not an easy task.

Schultz was quite skeptical that even with the current technology on Earth, it might not be possible to dig such a huge space on the seabed several kilometers below the surface.

Professor Vernal nodded in response to Schultz's statement.

"That's right, I did say that. It is quite deep here. As you said, it must be at least several kilometers or even dozens of kilometers deep."

He looked at the square stones that were so neatly placed that they could almost be measured with a ruler. He couldn't help but frown slightly and sink into thought.

"Maybe it's some kind of special religious ceremony, maybe it's a sacrifice to that Holy Relic…

"Or… it's actually not a cemetery here.

"It's some kind of shelter?"

Vernal felt a little confused.

…

While Professor Vernal and Schultz were so shocked that they almost forgot the purpose of their trip, Lu Zhou was standing in an empty grotto. He finally heard the voice from the other civilization.

"I thought it would take at least a few centuries before I see you guys again. I didn't expect this day to come so soon." There was a hint of approval and joy in the voice. "Congratulations, the chosen one, I believe you should have brought the answers I need?"

"Yes." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "I have turned on file transfer. If you can successfully receive the data, you should be able to see my proof. If you don't understand something, I can explain it to you."

"No need, there are many ways to verify your proof. Besides, mathematical problems of this level are not difficult for us."

Not difficult…

This world-class problem that troubled him and his collaborators for a month was actually "not difficult" in the eyes of this guy.

Lu Zhou had a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Lu Zhou put his sense of frustration aside for the time being. He took a deep breath and spoke in a clear voice inside the empty grotto.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"In fact, this is not the only way to get here."

"Yes, but this is the fastest." The voice continued with a hint of joy, "There is more than one way to solve the problem itself. Finding all the results through the endless possibilities is also one of the joys of exploration. Of course, you can also be opportunistic as you are now and let yourself flow in the four-dimensional space, but I have to say that this requires not only courage and wisdom but also a lot of commitment."

Joys?

Lu Zhou had a weird look on his face.

He didn't know what was joyful about this.

"I don't understand the reason for this test."

"Someone asked me this a long time ago… Before humans even exist."

The voice had a hint of nostalgia.

"The reason for the test is to let the right person inherit what belongs to them."

"You must know that civilization itself is an abstract concept. It's not enough to package the gifts and throw them at a civilization. We have to filter using special methods and find the appropriate individuals. Then train the individuals who have passed the tests and guide them to find and inherit the gifts that were given. Only this way, can the gifts be used as they should be…"

Lu Zhou: "So you are not from The Observer's civilization."

"No… But it seems you have met them?"

There was a hint of interest in the voice.

Lu Zhou nodded and spoke concisely.

"Fortunate enough to meet once before."

"Being able to meet with the Void is not some kind of luck that ordinary people have. Although sometimes being too lucky is not a desirable trait."

Lu Zhou did not speak. He waited for the voice to continue.

"Well, since you have met The Observer, it must have told you about the 'legacy'. You might even know more secrets than me."

"Go ahead."

"The gift from the Void is just ahead.

"Since you are already here, it should not be difficult to pass the last test."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Of course."

After that, he took a step forward and came to the invisible wall. He slowly extended his right hand toward it.

When his right hand finally touched the transparent wall, Lu Zhou could feel an obvious resistance, preventing his hand from moving forward.

However, he could also feel that nothing was there.

It was as if the thing blocking him was not something that could be seen, but something similar to a physical law.

After pondering for a long time, a look of interest suddenly appeared in Lu Zhou's eyes. He said to himself thoughtfully, "I didn't expect the cracks in the four-dimensional space to grow like this."

There was a hint of approval in the voice.

"Not bad, you are the first human to discover this."

"What about the Martians?"

"They took 20,000 years."

"20,000 years… That's a long time."

"Going from the tribal period to the information age, they were close to the truth, but, unfortunately, those guys were too conceited about their power. This truth eventually destroyed them."

Lu Zhou's hands continued to fumble on the invisible wall. He casually asked, "What happened to them?"

"Disasters, part man-made, part natural… If you want to know, you'll receive answers when you pass through the barrier in front of you. Some information has been saved. If you are interested, you can take them with you."

"That shouldn't take long."

With that said, Lu Zhou took two steps back.

"What are you going to do?"

There was a hint of curiosity in that voice, as if it was looking forward to Lu Zhou's next move.

Lu Zhou smiled faintly.

"Do you really need to ask that?

"I'm going to continue the unfinished work from billions of years ago."

After that, he reached out and pressed a few buttons on his wrist-mounted computer.

Soon, lines made of different colors were projected on the screen inside his mask. A reflection could be seen in Lu Zhou's pupils.

The zigzag lines corresponded to the passages in the ruins; the same image he showed in the conference room before.

Although only a small part of the surveying and mapping of the ruins was completed, since the maximum exploration distance of the remote control car operated by Fan Tong was only one kilometer, it was enough for Lu Zhou.

The four-dimensional space fragment interacted with three-dimensional space by certain laws.

It didn't matter if he didn't have a complete map.

A soft voice of approval came from the communication channel.

"I underestimated you…

"But, unfortunately, you only have two hours."

"It's fine, it's just a topology and geometry problem, although it's a little complicated…" Lu Zhou turned off the communication module, took a deep breath, and said, "But two hours is enough for me."

Chapter 1406: Fragments of Four-Dimensional Space

As a three-dimensional creature, it was almost impossible to cross the barrier of a high-dimensional world.

Just like how two-dimensional creatures couldn't perceive the existence of a three-dimensional world, if they didn't rely on scientific theories or special technical means, all they could observe was the projection of three-dimensional objects on paper with the help of light sources. The laws of physics were incomprehensible to two-dimensional creatures.

It was almost impossible to stand in the position of low-dimensional creatures and interact with high-dimensional space.

The four-dimensional space fragment and the existence of Z particles were somewhat similar.

But its existence was more complicated.

It was not a thing that existed in four-dimensional space; it was the space itself.

Therefore, it was theoretically impossible to cross this barrier.

It was impossible for any physical force to have any effect on it. Even if a nuclear bomb was brought to the ruins, it would not have any effect.

However, this didn't mean that Lu Zhou couldn't do anything.

The internal space of the entire ruins was divided into countless small pieces by the fragments of the four-dimensional space. All of the channels here were continuous in a topological sense. As for the change in position, it was caused by the interference of the four-dimensional space fragments in the three-dimensional space, which made these tunnels mix together like a jigsaw puzzle.

The reason why he couldn't cross the barrier in front of him was only that the "door" was not there. The inaccessible space in front of him was like a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was missing.

All he had to do now was to find the missing piece from the thousands of puzzles.

And where it belonged.

If Xiao Ai were here, it would save him a lot of time. But he could only rely on himself now.

Fortunately, since he was level 10 in mathematics, this was not difficult.

Half an hour passed.

Lu Zhou finally found the missing piece of the puzzle. His eyes were fixed on the screen. Finally, a smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't expect the answer to be close by…"

Lu Zhou tapped on the wrist-mounted computer on his left arm. He reopened the communication module.

"See you soon."

He turned and left the spacious grotto. He left the tall arch and returned to the place where he was before.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhou, who already had the answer in his mind, walked through the dusty tunnels in the opposite direction.

Soon, he came to a bottomless cliff and stopped at the edge of the cliff.

If his inference was correct, this should be the place where the piece of the puzzle was pulled out. The inaccessible space he saw in the grotto originally belonged to this place.

And if he wanted to enter there, he could only go through this "door"!

The voice seemed to have been observing his every move. The voice once again reappeared in his ear.

"Are you ready?"

Lu Zhou, who was about to take a step forward, stopped.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm saying, it's not too late to leave now."

Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and said in a joking tone.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"I don't want anything. The Observers keep me busy; they will always send suitable individuals to me."

Lu Zhou: "If it doesn't matter, why should you persuade me otherwise?"

"Because the road ahead is not easy. I'm just providing you with an alternative. If you leave, you can live a happy and stable life."

There was a bewitching tone in the voice.

Lu Zhou admitted that this sounded really tempting.

He stood at the top of the academic world, the pinnacle of power. Even if he did nothing, he would be able to live the rest of his life happily. There was no need to let himself take such a big risk.

However…

"You are right, but since I'm already here…" After thinking about it, Lu Zhou continued, "It would be a shame for me to leave."

"Too much curiosity is not a good thing."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Really? Now I know you're not an Observer."

"Oh, why?"

Lu Zhou: "Because I remember that person said that curiosity is an enviable quality."

"It's your decision. But you have to think clearly. Once you make a choice, you can't look back."

"I've already made up my mind before I came here."

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and pondered for a long time. He then silently took off the wrist computer on his left arm and threw it on the open space behind him.

He took a deep breath and used all his courage to leap into the abyss. He let gravity pull himself toward the endless darkness.

His fall lasted for about four seconds.

Then, something magical happened!

The moment he was swallowed by the boundless darkness, a feeling of inertia crawled through every cell in his body.

It was almost like the direction of gravity had been reversed in an instant. A huge force grabbed his shoulders and slammed it onto the solid ground.

"Ouch…"

Lu Zhou felt like his chest was hit by a truck. He panted loudly and climbed up from the ground.

When he raised his head, there was a hint of ecstasy in his eyes.

The space in front of him was exactly the grotto that he left before. He was on the other side of the "wall".

Lu Zhou contained the excitement in his heart. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"Did I pass all the tests?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean?"

The voice did not give an answer.

Lu Zhou was confused about what to do next. The surrounding space suddenly lit up with a soft light. A crystal that was as flawless and transparent as diamonds appeared in front of him out of thin air.

There were tiny lines printed on the clear and transparent surface. Those lines were like projections of the ruins, corresponding to each tunnel.

Lu Zhou was curious about this magical phenomenon. He was about to reach out to touch it when he was stopped by the voice in his ears.

"Don't touch it with your hands!"

Lu Zhou's hand stopped. He put his hand away and stared at the flawless and transparent spherical crystal for a long time. He finally spoke.

"Don't touch it with my hands… Should I touch it with something else?"

"This is the fragment of the four-dimensional space. All changes in the ruins are caused by it."

Lu Zhou couldn't help but wonder. He then asked, "How did you fold the four-dimensional space fragment into such a… perfect state?"

"This is not our technology." The voice said lightly, "Folding the fragments of four-dimensional space into a three-dimensional sphere can only be done by The Observers."

Lu Zhou: "This is what the Void intends to give me? A piece of four-dimensional space?"

"No, it's just a key."

"Key?"

"Yes, it can lead you to the treasure."

Chapter 1407: Shelter

Inside the grotto shaped like a tomb.

Professor Vernal, who squatted beside a square stone, slowly stood up from the ground with his hands on his knees.

Schultz, who was standing at a side, took two steps forward and asked, "Did you find any clues?"

"Of course… The relics here are valuable." Professor Vernal looked at Schultz and suddenly raised a question, "Have you ever heard of the legend of the mummy?"

Schultz was slightly stunned. A confused expression gradually appeared on his face.

"A little bit… why?"

"The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of a person is immortal after death. As long as the corpse is immortal, one day it can be reborn. Therefore, in order to prevent the corpse from decaying, the pharaohs will order their servants to hollow out their internal organs after death, dry and wrap them with salt, spices, ointment, honey, and linen cloth. These mummies won't rot for thousands of years."

Schultz gulped and looked at the square stones with a weird expression. He said, "You mean… The reason for these stones is to prevent the decay of the body?"

"Of course not." Professor Vernal smiled and continued, "If it is for anti-corrosion reasons, it is obviously unwise to store the corpse in a metal container that is prone to oxidation. Let's assume billions of years ago that the oxygen resources on Mars are almost the same as that of the Earth, or even more abundant, and the civilization here had the technology to excavate such a vast project on the seabed several kilometers deep, they wouldn't be ignorant of such basic chemical principles."

"Then what do you think this is?"

"Obviously, this is a shelter."

"Shelter?"

"Yes." Vernal looked at Schultz, he nodded and continued, "When an irreparable disaster occurred on Mars, they sealed themselves in these iron coffins billions of years ago. Then they were hibernated with the help of special technology, waiting for one day to wake up. You should have heard of it. Cryo-hibernation technology is very popular on Earth, it uses the X-0172 bacteria that the Americans brought back from Mars."

Schultz nodded, and a look of realization appeared on his face.

He obviously heard of this before; he even remembered that some dormant bacteria caused a lot of sensation at the time.

The X-0172 bacteria had changed from a biological disaster to a miracle technology.

For those who were terminally ill, this was a gift from god. Since current medical technology was not advanced enough to cure them, they could at least survive, albeit they would be separated from their families…

However, Schultz still didn't understand one thing.

If these things were dormant cabins, why did they go extinct?

"Obviously, they failed." Professor Vernal shrugged and continued, "Although they made some attempts to save themselves, their extinction was almost guaranteed on the scale of hundreds of years. They had no chance of surviving for millions of years. Their planet lost the protection of a magnetic field, their atmosphere, and even the ocean… Even the most developed civilization needs land to live on."

Schultz thought about the unimaginable doomsday catastrophe and went silent for a while.

After a long time, he asked, "These Martians… What could they be? I mean biologically."

"I don't know, but mammals can be excluded. The gravity environment here is not good for bone development and calcium acc.u.mulation. Even if there are mammals in the ecosystem here, their size should not be large. It is even more difficult to develop sufficiently wide skulls… Instead, invertebrates should have an advantage, especially arthropods. They should be larger than on Earth and theoretically have a larger brain to accommodate more neurons.

"The signs of civilization aren't fire and the use of tools, but in essence, it is the ability to process and communicate information."

Professor Vernal shrugged and said with a smile.

"Of course, all of this is just speculation. Even with all the prerequisites, the birth of civilization is full of coincidences. Judging from our ants and bees, arthropods may have evolved to coordinate large groups and a social system engaged in intensive production activities."

The excitement on Professor Vernal's face grew stronger.

He squinted his eyes and looked around, as if a gold mine were sitting in front of him!

"… Everything here is interesting. It is like the pyramids of the Martian civilization. We may be able to recover the reason why Mars lost its magnetic field. And what the Martians did to try and save themselves. Whether it is to understand the history from billions of years ago or to help our own future, these precious relics have great significance.

"I want to build a semi-permanent research station here to research these—"

Just as Professor Vernal, who was overexcited, was describing his vision to Schultz, a tremor suddenly came from the ground.

Professor Vernal reached out and grabbed the stone next to him. The rubble and dust fell from the ceiling. The expression on Professor Vernal's face suddenly changed from ecstasy to horror.

"F*ck?! Again?"

"We must get out of here!"

Schultz was the first to react. He grabbed Vernal's shoulders and tried to drag him away. But it was like Vernal had no intention to leave.

"Wait a second, let me get a few more samples…"

Schlutz snatched the multifunctional shovel in his hand and threw it out fiercely.

Schultz used all his strength and woke him up from his stupefaction.

"What the f*ck are you doing?!

"If we stay here for any longer, we'll die!"

Another wave of violent tremors came.

Professor Vernal finally realized the seriousness of the problem. They rushed to the nearest exit.

As soon as the two of them passed through the spacious grotto and through the exit, the tunnel behind them closed like an avalanche.

Schultz suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart.

Accurately speaking, it was a feeling of intuition.

He felt like the collapse of these tunnels seemed a bit unusual.

However, the current situation didn't give him time to think.

He had no other choice except to use all his strength to run away…

…

On the other hand, inside another tunnel.

After listening to Professor Aubrey's explanation, Professor Lomonov stroked his chin through the helmet of the spacesuit. He nodded thoughtfully and spoke.

"I see…"

Aubrey: "Do you understand?"

Lomonov: "… Sort of?"

Professor Aubrey sighed and threw the multifunctional shovel in his hand to the side. He leaned against the rock wall next to him and sat on the ground.

"… Why did I explain it to you?"

"Your explanation was confusing." Professor Lomonov complained, "What is standard Euclidean space? And what kind of four-dimensional matter interferes with three-dimensional space… What does this have to do with earthquakes?"

"There is no earthquake, the road under our feet has not even changed. If my inference is correct, nothing will happen even if we are swallowed by the collapsed tunnel. We will follow the moved space from the three-dimensional coordinate to another three-dimensional coordinate."

Lomonov: "Does this conform to the conservation of energy?"

"Energy? Of course it is conserved." Professor Aubrey drew a mark on the ground with the multifunctional shovel in his hand. He sighed and continued, "The order in the three-dimensional space is disrupted. If you don't understand standard Euclidean space, you should understand a hamster wheel, right?"

"You're saying we are like hamsters on a hamster wheel?"

"You can say that…" Professor Aubrey said, "This space is circular. Perhaps we have been walking in the same place."

Professor Lomonov's face suddenly showed a strange expression.

Then what's the point of walking around?

However, just when he was about to ask, the ground trembled violently. Professor Aubrey stood up from the ground and looked at the broken rocks shaking from the ceiling. He began to run away.

"WTF?! Isn't it once every two hours? How many minutes has it been?!"

Lomonov ran and shouted, "Didn't you say that we won't be swallowed by the tunnel!"

"I did!"

"Then why are you running?!"

"That's just a theory! I'm not going to risk my life! Shut up and run!"

Small rocks and dust continued to fall from the top of the cave, landing on their shoulders.

The tunnel behind them was getting closer and closer to collapse. The two people, who were not very athletic, had desperate expressions on their faces.

However, suddenly, there was a bright light ahead.

Professor Aubrey's despair instantly turned into ecstasy.

"Exit! The exit is ahead! Quick!"

Although they could not find any clues to the extraterrestrial civilization, at least they survived. Perhaps Congress would be disappointed by this, but Aubrey believed that if he died in the cave ruins, it would cause even more trouble for his country.

Keeping himself alive was the highest priority!

"I'm never going to explore underground again! Cough…"

They finally broke through the darkness. Professor Aubrey put his right hand on the stone pillar at the entrance of the cave and panted desperately.

However, the moment he raised his head, he froze.

Besides the rover, the two Chinese people Wang Peng and Fan Tong as well as the British archaeologist and the German mathematics researcher were also here.

Everyone except Academician Lu…

Wang Peng saw Professor Aubrey running out of the cave. He took a few steps forward, reached out, and grabbed his shoulder. Wang Peng's eyes were bloodshot.

This creepy feeling made Aubrey shudder.

Professor Aubrey, who was being stared at, felt that he had forgotten how to breathe.

"Where is Lu Zhou?! Where is he?!"

"How would I know?" Professor Aubrey replied with a trembling tone, "I am not his bodyguard, is he not with you guys?"

"…"

Although Wang Peng did not trust the American, he still let go of Aubrey's shoulders.

He cast his gaze to the tunnel entrance. He clenched his fist; a flash of determination suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"I'll go find Academician Lu."

Fan Tong stared at him like he was crazy.

"Are you mad?! This entire mountain range is probably going to collapse!"

"Then you guys go back first—"

Before he could finish speaking, the entrance of the cave suddenly began to shake. The tremors from the ground came from all directions. The stone pillars began to collapse to the side.

Everyone rushed to the rover next to them frantically.

"Quick! Drive!"

"Wang Peng is not here yet!"

"Who cares! He wants to die, but we can't all die because of him!"

Fan Tong gritted his teeth and glanced back at the passengers sitting in the car.

No one wanted to die, including himself.

He finally made up his mind. He muttered sorry in his heart, grabbed two cans of oxygen cylinders, and threw them out of the rover door. He then started the rover and drove away as fast as possible.

There was no point in staying here with the Martians who had died billions of years ago.

Fan Tong avoided the rocks that had fallen from the ridge. He stepped on the accelerator and finally escaped from danger.

As soon as they had just escaped, a giant rock wall about ten meters in length crashed into the tunnel entrance, setting off a cloud of dust.

They could have been stuck inside forever…

The sand and dust rose from the gravel; it was visible even from the satellites.

They felt the aftershocks coming from under the ground.

"Sh*t…"

Fan Tong slammed his fist on the steering wheel and gradually slowed down. He leaned his forehead on the steering wheel. His shoulders were trembling.

Schultz patted him on the shoulder in silence.

Everyone in the car was silent on the way back.

Only Professor Aubrey whispered, "It's like an entrance to hell". After receiving no response, he lowered his head in silence.

June 10th.

On this day.

The largest earthquake ever was observed on Mars. Even the Mars scientific research station several kilometers away could clearly feel the tremor of the shaking mountains.

And on that same day.

The Mars scientific research station lost two outstanding members…

Chapter 1408: Nostalgic Name

Half an hour ago.

Lu Zhou stood next to the clear and transparent space fragment. He heard the voice from the Holy Relic.

"Have you decided?"

"I have."

"Then let's begin."

The space fragment gradually turned into a white mist in front of him. Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something and said, "Wait a second."

"Changed your mind?"

"Nope." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Can I make a request?"

"What request?"

"Send my teammates out of this place safely."

The voice went silent for a while.

Just when Lu Zhou began to doubt whether this was possible, the voice suddenly spoke with a relaxed tone.

"Of course, not a big deal."

The white mist entwined in the space fragment suddenly formed a circle. The lines inside the fragment were tangled together.

Just like a broken jigsaw puzzle, the lines and their corresponding tunnels were broken and recombined under the control of a special physical law.

Lu Zhou saw his teammates and even the wrist-mounted computer he had dropped through the four-dimensional space fragment.

Under the control of the mysterious power, all of the objects that did not belong in the ruins were moved to the surface.

"Unbelievable." As Lu Zhou looked at all these changes, a shocked expression appeared on his face. "It's almost like…"

"Like what?"

"It's like the power of a god."

Lu Zhou watched his teammates being chased by the "collapsing" tunnel. One by one, they escaped from the boundary controlled by the four-dimensional space fragment.

Under the domination of this force, all creatures were as small as ants, swayed by invisible chains like puppets.

"God? That's it?" There was a faint mockery in the voice. "Not even close."

Lu Zhou asked subconsciously, "So you've seen a god?"

"It depends on how you interpret the concept of a god." The voice continued in a casual tone, "If you are referring to the primitive beliefs of the origin of life, then this kind of god is probably just an imagination of the unknown and mysterious. But if you are referring to some great will that governs the universe… It is difficult for you to prove that it does not exist."

Lu Zhou: "This statement sounds a bit confusing."

"Any rigorous theory sounds a bit confusing. This is the new universe, and the laws of the old universe may not necessarily apply. Of course, my advice is, if you can't perceive that kind of existence, don't bother to think about it. Regardless, you probably won't have the chance to come into contact with that level of being anyway."

There was a hint of sarcasm and superiority in the voice, which was rather unpleasant.

However, considering that this guy was a lonely old man from the outside of time, Lu Zhou did not take his arrogance to heart.

"Now that your compatriots have been sent to the surface, if you don't want to continue to waste time here, we should leave."

"Let's go then." Lu Zhou nodded. He looked at the space fragment that once again changed its internal shape. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "Speaking of which, where are we going next?"

"A bit deeper than here… Aren't you curious? Why did those Martians build such crooked tunnels in this place?"

Lu Zhou: "Why?"

"Because of greed and instinct. By the way, the original shape of this ruin is actually a straight line."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

The four-dimensional space fragment moved again.

However, the changes this time were somewhat different from the last time.

The mist circled around the fragment. As if being pulled by some unknown force, the white mist gathered into a ball, finally compressed into a point.

Lu Zhou couldn't help but frown and ask, "What is it doing?"

"I said before, this is a key." The voice continued, "The key is used to open a door."

Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. He suddenly reacted.

"Is this—"

"Haha, you have guessed it! That's right, this ruins is about to disintegrate and return to its oldest appearance! It's too late to stop now!"

Lu Zhou didn't want to stop it. He was just surprised.

Lu Zhou guessed that the fragments of the four-dimensional space distorted the original appearance of the ruins, but he didn't expect it to be more than that. It even hid a part of the space outside the three-dimensional axis…

And now, it was going to restore its original form!

Layers of cracks appeared on the surface of the fragment, like a glass ball that fell to the ground, shattered. The space fragment floating in the air burst into smaller pieces.

A circle of milky white ripples spread out along the singularity, passing through everything it touched.

Lu Zhou raised his hands and almost activated his nitrogen shield.

However, he soon discovered that the spreading ripples did not affect him at all. They passed through him and disappeared into the walls behind him.

All this seemed like a dream.

Suddenly, a wave of tremors suddenly came from under his feet.

However, the tremors did not last long. He felt his world spin, and after a while, the gravity of Mars threw him into an open grotto again.

This time, Lu Zhou didn't feel any pain.

He slowly climbed up from the ground. When he saw the behemoth stopped in front of him, his pupils shrank.

"This… Is this…"

There was a silver-white spacecraft with a streamlined shell and a long fusiform outline. As for why Lu Zhou knew it was a spacecraft, it was because he had seen it before.

From the memory of the old universe.

It had once belonged to a powerful civilization!

Lu Zhou looked at the spaceship in front of him. He was silent for a long time before he suddenly said, "You are General Reinhardt."

The air went silent for a few seconds.

A sigh with a hint of loneliness and nostalgia came from the communication channel.

"I didn't expect to hear this name in the new universe…

"Makes me feel nostalgic."

Lu Zhou gulped and spoke.

"So, this is your spaceship?"

The voice spoke lightly.

"It used to be."

Spaceship of the Calan Civilization!

That is the civilization that once conquered a star!

Lu Zhou glanced at the solid dome above his head. He took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement. His mind was racing with thoughts.

"Are there any weapons on the spaceship? Or something like a protective shield?"

Although he was deep underground, a spacecraft from the Calan civilization should have no problem escaping to the skies!

After hearing Lu Zhou's question, the voice answered in an honest way.

"There are basic shields and weapons."

However, just as he was about to give the order to start the spacecraft, a long sigh came from the communication channel.

"… But I'm sorry, the shields, weapons, and engines cannot be used anymore."

Lu Zhou: "???"

Suddenly, the air went strangely quiet…

Chapter 1409: Alert

Jinling launch site.

An alert suddenly came from the satellites, and the entire ground command center began to panic.

An earthquake!

On Mars!

The satellite aerial shots showed the raging wind and sand soaring into the sky. Swept by the violent air current, the surrounding sand dunes were razed to the ground and the craters were filled up, leaving only a deep scar printed on the surface of Mars. The entire mountain range was a mess, with dust covering the sky…

Fortunately, there were no seas on Mars, nor were there volcanoes that could erupt. The scientific research station on Mars a few kilometers away was only shaken for a while by the tremors of the mountain. Except for some messy cabinets and broken glasses, it was nothing serious.

However, what was worrying was that the collapse of The Gates of Hell had triggered a series of chain reactions including regional sandstorms.

The center of the epicenter was tens of kilometers away, covered in dust.

The satellite couldn't see what was happening on the ground, nor could it receive any signals from there.

Inside the command room of the ground command center, reports came one after another.

Everyone's heart dropped to the bottom of their stomach as they prayed in their heart for their compatriots on Mars.

"An earthquake was found at 15° south latitude and 128.1° west longitude! According to the observation results from the Mars Scientific Research Station, the magnitude is determined to be above 9.5!"

"The entire Gates of Hell mountain range has collapsed! The area is currently covered by sandstorms!"

"The sandstorm is expected to last for about a week…"

"Latest report! Two personnel have lost contact during the operation!"

"One of them… is Academician Lu!"

When Director Li heard this bad news, his blood pressure rose instantly. His eyes were bloodshot.

He stepped forward and grabbed the staff sitting in front of the console. This sixty-year-old man seemed to have gone crazy as he grabbed the collar of the poor worker and said, "What's going on?! Academician Lu is missing?! What is going on!"

The researcher, who was grabbed by the collar, was shaking. He didn't dare to breathe.

It was not that he was afraid this old man would beat him.

He was afraid that after he had explained it honestly, this old man's heart would not be able to bear the bad news.

Academician Lu's life was uncertain. Director Li was an old man who had been following Lu Zhou all the way since the first Pangu reactor, so the loss would be a huge hit to him personally.

Director Chang Hezhi, who was standing next to Director Li, quickly grabbed him.

"Old Li, calm down, don't be so impulsive! What is going on on Mars is still unclear, what if it is a false alarm?"

"Calm down?! How can you tell me to calm down!" Director Li looked at Director Chang. His jaw was trembling as he said, "He's on Mars! Not on Earth!"

If this were on Earth, forget about some earthquake, even if it were a world war, they would do everything they could to bring Academician Lu home.

However, on Mars, even if they wanted to save him at all costs, there was nothing they could do.

Director Li's already aging cardiovascular system could no longer hold. He suddenly became short of breath.

Director Chang quickly supported him. A staff member nearby rushed over.

"Old Li! Are you okay?!"

"Director Li passed out!"

"Quick! Call an ambulance!"

"Medic! Someone has fainted!"

The space launch site was in a mess. It became more chaotic because Director Li had suddenly fainted in the command room.

Director Li was put on a stretcher and carried away. Everyone's heart was shocked.

This was definitely the darkest moment in China's aerospace history.

There wasn't a single day as bad as today…

…

"Okay, I understand."

The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Yang Xu, the deputy dean sitting in his office, put down the phone in his hand with a heavy expression. Director Qian Zhongming, the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, immediately asked, "What is going on? Is there any news from the launch site?"

Twenty minutes ago, the Institute of Astronomy of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study observed a regional dust storm on Mars through an astronomical observation satellite deployed in geosynchronous orbit.

Because there were no warnings, the experts of the institute preliminarily judged based on the existing intelligence that it was caused by an earthquake.

And the magnitude of the earthquake was extremely high.

Considering that Academician Lu was performing a mission there, Yang Xu immediately called the Jinling space launch site. However, the Jinling launch site went quiet and did not respond.

Yang Xu's instincts told him that his worst fears came to life.

"… All launch activities were suspended, probably due to the earthquake on Mars." After a moment of silence, Yang Xu continued, "Although the people over there are unwilling to disclose more information, according to the Mars landing schedule previously announced by the office… The expedition team might be in trouble."

Qian Zhongming's expression gradually became dignified as he responded.

"How could this be possible? Could it be the extraterrestrial civilization…"

"I don't know, not certain." Yang Xu shook his head and said, "I am afraid there are hidden stories behind the Mars landing plan. We have no information at all, so it's better not to guess. Besides…"

The nervous expression on Yang Xu's face suddenly loosened slightly, he smiled calmly.

"We're talking about Academician Lu here."

"I believe that with his ability, even if he encounters great trouble, he will be fine."

But he's on Mars.

Qian Zhongming smiled bitterly in his heart.

Although he knew that Vice President Yang was comforting himself, he did not feel much comfort at all. After sighing lightly, he asked in a serious manner, "Then what should we do now?"

After thinking about it, Yang Xu said, "For the time being, block the news so that the experts at the institute don't spread rumors. Regardless of the current situation there, we will follow the instructions from the Mars landing office."

Qian Zhongming spoke.

"I'm afraid we can't contain this news for long, it's not just us… The whole world is staring at Mars. I'm afraid someone will feel something is wrong by tomorrow."

Academician Lu was the spiritual pillar of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

At least 80% of the researchers came here because of his aura. If he had an accident, these people might not leave the institute, but the blow to morale would undoubtedly be quite heavy.

Especially to the Institute of Computational Materials.

The reason that they were able to beat MIT and Stanford was basically because of Lu Zhou. If they lost the aura of Academician Lu, although they would not fall to the ground, it would obviously be difficult to maintain their position as the best in the world.

"Keep it a secret for as long as possible." Yang Xu looked at the clock on the wall. After a moment of silence, Yang Xu continued, "The situation on Mars is still uncertain.

"At the very least, we shouldn't be adding any more trouble."

On the other hand…

Star Sky Technology headquarters.

Chen Yushan, who was sitting at the desk doing her work, suddenly frowned and pressed her hand to her left chest.

"Strange…"

The inexplicable throbbing in her chest made her wonder.

"Is it because there's too much to do?"

"At the end of the year… I should also consider training a successor."

Chen Yushan sighed and pinched her glabella. She then picked up the ballpoint pen on the desk and motivated herself.

She slept peacefully last night, but for some reason, there was a heart-wrenching pain in her chest.

It was almost like…

A piece of her heart was missing…

Chapter 1410: The End of the World

Won't start?!

What the hell?!

When Lu Zhou heard the words of General Reinhardt, he suddenly became anxious.

"What do you mean? You dragged me all the way here to show me a pile of broken metal?!"

It seemed that Reinhardt was irritated by the word broken metal. His voice suddenly became defensive as he said angrily, "Broken metal? What do you think this is? Think about the parts you picked up from my body. Without those parts, you think you can fly here with your clumsy brain?!"

Lu Zhou wanted to refute. After all, he only received electric propulsion technology and lithium battery technology from the system. He created controllable fusion himself. Also, the two pieces of debris that he received could not be reverse-engineered. At most, they pointed out a seemingly feasible technical route. He designed most of the experiments, including ion thrusters and lithium batteries himself.

However, when he was about to refute, he was quickly attracted by something more noteworthy.

"What do you mean your body? It was removed from you? So…"

"I am the spacecraft."

The voice revealed the truth.

Although Lu Zhou couldn't see the expression on General Reinhardt's face, he felt like Reinhardt spoke with a look of confusion.

He nearly laughed out loud.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing, just surprised…" After a cough, Lu Zhou put on a serious expression and said, "Can you take me to see the inside of your stomach?"

"Of course."

Lu Zhou could clearly feel that Reinhardt was restraining his anger.

Lu Zhou didn't dare to piss this guy off. Through the opened gangway, he walked into the spacecraft without saying a word.

In general, the interior space of this "Reinhardt" spacecraft was very spacious. In Lu Zhou's opinion, it was even a bit extravagant.

"The facilities here are quite new. Did someone clean it?"

"No, it's just thanks to that piece of four-dimensional space fragment that it is completely preserved for billions of years."

"But why did the plasma engines and lithium-air batteries that I received seem to have been weathered for years?"

"Because those things were removed from me a long time ago." General Reinhardt continued on the communication channel, "Just like the main engine."

Lu Zhou: "The main engine? May I ask, is it warp drive technology?"

Reinhardt: "Yes."

I see!

Lu Zhou's heart suddenly became excited.

"Where is it? Where is the warp drive engine now?"

There was a brief silence in the communication channel.

After a long time, there was a sigh.

"It's a long story…"

General Reinhardt took about five minutes and briefly told Lu Zhou what had happened here. Lu Zhou finally understood his situation.

About three billion years ago, the core of Mars was rapidly cooled due to some external factors, which eventually led to the cessation of the crust's movement.

Volcanoes no longer erupted, earthquakes no longer existed. At first glance, it seemed like a good thing.

However, as the core of Mars cooled, the magnetic field of Mars also disappeared!

At first, most Martians didn't feel anything wrong. That wasn't until radiation began, electronic equipment malfunctioned, the rate of cancer increased exponentially, and the thickness of the atmosphere decayed. Finally, the Martians realized the seriousness of the problem.

But by the time they realized these problems, it was too late.

Without the protection of the magnetic field, Mars' atmosphere, which was exposed to the solar wind, was blown away. The original lush ecosystem was dying out at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

The cities on the surface were going extinct. They had to retreat underground, hide in shelters, and linger in almost closed-off underground cities.

However, everyone knew that staying underground forever would not work.

At this juncture of life and death, in order to save itself, the Martian civilization made a difficult decision. They dismantled Reinhardt, which was the core energy of the Holy Relic, to reignite the cooling down Mars core.

The Reinhardt engine was more powerful than fusion energy.

Although it was impossible to rely on it alone to replace the Mars core, it should still be feasible in theory to "ignite" the cooling core with its energy.

After listening to Reinhardt's explanation, Lu Zhou fell into deep thought and spoke after a while.

"I do not quite understand…"

"Don't understand what?"

"Under the protection of the four-dimensional space fragment, theoretically, those Martians should not be able to reach you, could it be…"

"No need to guess," the voice from the communication channel interrupted Lu Zhou. After a while, he continued, "I gave it to them."

"Why?"

"You won't understand. I have been sent here since the birth of the solar system. I watched life evolve here, watched it go from chaos to prosperity and order. I watched the first little fellow poking his head in front of me. I watched them learn how to make fire, hunt, make tools, even their language was taught to them by me…"

When saying this, his voice was full of complex emotions.

Although Lu Zhou had never had a similar experience, he probably understood the complicated feelings in Reinhardt's heart.

He was a Calanian, an elite from a higher civilization, and he instinctively looked down on those lower creatures.

However, his longing for the Empire made him want to find sustenance in this new universe; even if it was to pass on the language of the Calan Empire so that one day they could step out of their home planet and walk toward the Milky Way.

If someone told him that the final outcome of these lives was destined, and the probability of survival was less than one in ten thousand, he would still ignore the warnings and try to save the Martians.

These well-meaning actions led to the rise and fall of the Martian civilization and completely changed the destiny of a planet…

"If we have time, I don't mind talking about the past with you. For now, it is better for you to find a way to solve the current problem."

"I know, in your opinion, I am no different from the dead…"

The engine was dismantled. This spacecraft was no different from scrap metal. It was obviously impossible to drive the spacecraft back to Earth.

However, Lu Zhou did not completely give up hope.

He looked inside the spacecraft as he tried to keep himself calm. He said, "So far, you've only told me the bad news. I want to know if there's any good news?"

Lu Zhou originally thought that this guy would take the opportunity and sarcastically say something, so he didn't expect Reinhardt to respond earnestly.

"Of course there is good news."

Lu Zhou was about to ask what the good news was, but the next sentence immediately after made his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.

"It's just that it wouldn't improve your current situation."

Chapter 1411: Evolutionary Choice

Doesn't help my current situation?

"Then at least tell me…"

Reinhardt didn't want to argue with Lu Zhou, so he said calmly, "Inside the spacecraft's sample library, there are three medicines stored. The Observer asked me to bring them here and deliver them to the Chosen one together with this spacecraft."

Lu Zhou: "Let me see them."

"Go through the pressure buffer room and go straight along the corridor. I'll tell you when to stop."

Under the guidance of General Reinhardt, Lu Zhou came to the door of the sample library. Just when he was about to find a handle or something like a switch on the alloy door, the door opened by itself.

Lu Zhou said embarrassingly, "I didn't expect there to be electricity here…"

"…"

There was no response in the communication channel. After Lu Zhou coughed, he stopped caring about these trivial matters. He looked around the room with a flashlight and saw a silver-white metal cabinet in the corner of the room. He quickly walked toward it.

This should be it…

Lu Zhou reached out his hand and touched it.

The cold silver metal case seemed to fade in an instant, becoming as transparent as glass.

A touch of surprise appeared on Lu Zhou's face.

"What's this…"

"A two-phase material, but that's not the point. Do you see the three potions in the freezer? The three colors of red, green, and purple. You can choose one of them and take it away."

Lu Zhou looked at the three test tubes with different colors as he continued to ask, "What are they each used for?"

"Red is called 'Awakening', which can strengthen the coupling efficiency of protons and electrons on the inner membrane of your somatic cell mitochondria from the genetic level, as well as the activity level of the coupling protein, which is specifically reflected in the enhancement of metabolism and physical fitness. Your body becomes healthier and stronger.

"The green one is 'Protector.' It can modify your DNA telomeres at the genetic level, giving you almost endless life.

"As for the purple… It has no name, but according to The Observer, it should correspond to psionic energy."

Lu Zhou was stunned slightly. He frowned.

"Psionic?"

General Reinhardt smiled faintly and continued, "I know what you're thinking. It's probably a little different from the kind of superpower you know. It's very difficult to explain specifically. After I arrived at the center of the galaxy, I learned that there is also a group of evil civilizations that communicate through 'universal consciousness' and trade with the Void Civilization."

Evil…

They just communicate in a different way, why is that evil?

Lu Zhou: "That is to say… If I'm injected with the purple potion, I won't gain the ability to teleport or smash the planet with one punch?"

"It seems that you are still quite sharp." Reinhardt smiled faintly and said, "It can make you metamorphose from a low-dimensional creature to a high-dimensional creature, from an ant to a giant. Its biggest use is to let you talk to the devil of the Void… Enough, hurry up."

Lu Zhou stared at the three potions in front of him.

"Can humans use it?"

"Theoretically, any mammal can."

"So, we are relatives?"

"Psst."

What…

Did this guy just laugh at me?

Whatever, I'll pretend I didn't hear it.

"I can only use one?"

"If you want them to work, it's best to remove your greed."

Red was excluded for the time being. Lu Zhou had no interest in becoming a superman. Humans' advantage wasn't their muscles, but their brains. As for green and purple, he did not know which to choose.

Psionic powers…

Living forever…

The first meant that he would open the door to a new world, the latter meant that he would have endless time to engage in research that he was passionate about.

Few people could refuse the temptation of eternal life.

Lu Zhou finally made a decision. He took a deep breath and asked the last question in his mind, "By the way, are there any side effects?"

"There will be some side effects, it will probably weaken your fertility."

Lu Zhou, who was about to make a choice, was shocked.

"Wait, what! What the hell! This… has that kind of effect?!"

"Maybe it's a little different from what you think. Have you heard of reproductive isolation?"

Lu Zhou nodded nervously.

"Yeah, why?"

"Modification of the genetic code is a very esoteric subject, and even we have not fully mastered this technology."

After a pause, General Reinhardt continued, "Strictly speaking, if you use the red and green potions, you and your species become genetically similar but not exactly the same. The chance of breeding offspring between different species is lower. You can also use scientific means to get by this."

Scientific means…

Like IVF?

Reinhardt saw through the hesitation in Lu Zhou's expression. He said in a joking way, "Are you going to use it? If you are worried, you can also choose to give it to someone else."

"I'll do this by myself…"

This was an opportunity of a lifetime.

In contrast, reproduction was nothing important.

The worst-case…

He would have to spend more time trying to reproduce.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He had made up his mind. He reached out and selected the button on the freezer.

The dark green test tube gently dropped into the sampling tank.

There was a chuckle in the communication channel.

"Sure enough, you chose the 'Protector'."

Lu Zhou: "Is there anything wrong?"

"Nothing, if it were me, I would probably choose the same. The strength of the flesh and muscle is just a burden, and time is the only enemy to any problem. Although you are surprisingly behind in technology, your morals are similar to ours. Maybe that's why The Observer sent me here."

Lu Zhou didn't respond to General Reinhardt's ridicule. In fact, when making a choice, he actually hesitated for a second as to choosing the purple potion.

However, the choice had already been made.

"What will happen to the remaining two potions?"

"Nothing. You can choose to take it away together or leave it here, but I suggest you destroy it. Genetic modification is a very sophisticated art. Not all genes are perfectly compatible, especially artificial modification. The wrong fusion will cause serious genetic pollution."

"If you plan to use other potions for another person, I advise you to dispel this idea. You will plant a time bomb hidden in the chromosomes of your civilization."

Is he exaggerating?

Lu Zhou admitted that he did want to take the potions away.

But it didn't seem like General Reinhardt was joking, so he put the matter aside for the time being.

Lu Zhou turned his gaze to the test tube in his hand. He looked at the ominous dark green mucus swaying in the transparent container and asked, "How should I use it?"

"Just drink it."

After removing the plastic hose connected to the water bag, Lu Zhou inserted the tube into the test tube port.

This was a reagent that had been stored in the freezer for billions of years. Even though it had maintained its original form under the protection of the freezing environment and four-dimensional space fragment, Lu Zhou still had to take a deep breath before forcing the liquid down his throat.

The cold and thick liquid trickled down his esophagus. When an intense burning sensation rushed to his throat, Lu Zhou began to violently cough.

Fortunately, this intense discomfort did not last long. Soon, the burning feeling turned into a warm current, which spread along his chest cavity and washed over every cell in his body.

There was a wave of laughter in the communication channel.

"Congratulations, Chosen one, now you are the only carrier of the 'Protector' gene. If you can't survive, I suggest you find a way to save some seeds for people who come here in the future. If I'm not mistaken, your oxygen levels should be low."

Lu Zhou: "Are there no oxygen tanks on the spacecraft?"

"Do you think there will be such a thing here?" The voice said in a mocking tone, "When it took off from the planet of the Calan Empire, it didn't bring any living creatures. Why should I prepare oxygen tanks?"

Lu Zhou remembered.

Being sent to the center of the galaxy was just a memory.

The General Reinhardt he saw in the Void Memory had already died under the siege of the Empire army.

"I see… That's a problem."

Reinhardt spoke slowly

"Do you need some time? Use the sample cabinet next to you to save the seeds."

"No, I will go back alive."

After leaving the sample library, Lu Zhou walked through the entire spacecraft.

General Reinhardt still abided by the contract he made with The Observer civilization, and he cooperatively explained to Lu Zhou the function of each room and facility.

Finally, in a room next to the c.o.c.kpit, Lu Zhou stopped when he found what he was looking for.

He looked at the rectangular parallelepiped in front of him that was shaped like a freezer. A smile of relief finally appeared on his face.

He had seen this thing on the four-dimensional space fragment.

Through the four-dimensional space fragment, he received the electromagnetic wave signal from the cave. He even heard Professor Vernal's conjecture about the cubes that had been weathered into rock.

If his speculation was correct, the dormant cabin in front of him at this moment was the source of the cryosleep technology of Martian civilization and the prototype of the dormant cabins displayed in that grotto!

"General Reinhardt."

"… What?"

"Let's make a bet."

"On what."

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said slowly, "Bet that I can get out of here alive."

Chapter 1412: A Gamble on the Future

A beam of light came from the cave a few kilometers below the surface.

A figure walked forward with heavy steps as they dragged the dormant cabin with a rope.

The hibernation cabin installed on the spacecraft was for survival purposes. It had an independent energy supply module and did not require an external power supply. Although General Reinhardt did not carry any food or supplies on the spacecraft, fortunately, the facilities and equipment on the spacecraft stayed intact.

Otherwise, it would be a disaster.

"This should be far enough… Here."

Lu Zhou took off the locator from the spacesuit and installed it under the dormant cabin.

Humans could only survive for thirty seconds in a vacuum.

From the tenth second, the skin and subcutaneous tissues would experience reversible swelling. By the fifteenth second, they would begin to lose consciousness. Considering Mars was not an absolute vacuum, there was still a certain concentration of carbon dioxide gas, he should be able to survive for a bit longer.

However, to be safe, it was better to complete all the steps within ten seconds…

Before taking off the spacesuit, Lu Zhou injected himself with the spare X-0172 bacterial culture in advance.

Every astronaut was equipped with one of these things. They could enter a state of suspended activity in extreme environments to reduce oxygen and energy consumption and buy time for rescue.

Lu Zhou quietly waited for the effect of the medicine. He sat beside the opened dormant cabin.

"Actually, there is one thing I always wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"Then I'll just ask, what exactly are you?"

After hearing this sentence, the communication channel went quiet for a while.

Reinhardt replied after about ten seconds.

"Probably a piece of memory."

"… A piece of memory?"

"Apparently, as long as you copy the memories of a person, you can theoretically recreate them."

A slight surprise appeared on Lu Zhou's face.

"Is that possible?"

"For some, yes."

Lu Zhou knew who he was talking about.

It was the civilization that sent out quark stars to warn the entire universe. And when the "natural disaster" happened, they took in all the refugees who fled to the center of the galaxy and brought them into the Void Civilization together.

Lu Zhou went silent for a while and asked, "Do you know what the natural disaster is?"

"I don't know. Even The Observers are secretive about the disaster. Maybe they think this is the most likely way to survive natural disasters. But I suggest you better not think about it too much, think about how you're going to survive right now."

There was a hint of pity in that voice.

As well as a hint of coldness.

Lu Zhou grinned.

"You don't seem to want me to live?"

"No." Reinhardt replied faintly, "In fact, whether it is you or the human civilization, your life and death have nothing to do with me. The reason why I am here is to fulfill the contract.

"From the moment I arrived at the center of the galaxy, my destiny no longer belongs to me. Everything I have is firmly bound to the Void. I am willing to keep my promise, but this does not mean I want others to be at the mercy of me."

Lu Zhou: "In other words, it doesn't matter to you?"

"Probably so, my civilization has been destroyed anyway."

The communication channel went quiet for a while.

After a long silence, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"… I am sorry for what happened to you, but I don't want to give up yet."

He gulped and continued, "There are still people waiting for me on Earth."

There was a soft sigh in the channel.

"Then why did you choose this path? I gave you the opportunity to choose."

"Because my civilization has not been destroyed." Lu Zhou looked at the dormant cabin next to him. He continued, "I want to do something before the natural disaster comes."

Lu Zhou said, "Isn't that a valid reason?"

The voice went silent for a while.

"Okay then.

"I accept your bet.

"I have nothing else to do anyway. If you succeed, I will accompany you through the rest of your life…"

…

Twenty-four hours had passed since the collapse of The Gates of Hell.

The last update from the official website of the Mars landing office was still the photo of the rover taken by the civilization diplomatic mission team yesterday, before it set off from the Mars base station.

A serious disaster occurred over the next twenty hours or so, but so far, there was no update.

Even the most naive people felt something was unusual.

The Mars landing office remained silent. The Jinling launch site also declined interviews. The collective silence of the relevant departments caused various rumors to fly in the sky.

Some people said that the talk with the aliens went south, causing the aliens to launch their weapons and blow up The Gates of Hell on Mars to warn human civilization.

Some said that there was no extraterrestrial civilization there, but when the diplomatic mission went deep into the ruins, they triggered a trap left by the Martian civilization.

The world's major astronomical observatories successively announced the suspected earthquake phenomena observed on the surface of Mars. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover also confirmed this information through seismic wave sensors.

Once the news was announced, the world was in an uproar.

Under pressure from the outside world, the Mars landing office, knowing that they could no longer hide what happened on Mars, finally held a press conference belatedly to disclose the current situation.

The remains of the Martian civilization had been confirmed.

No clues of an extraterrestrial civilization were found.

Also, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5 occurred near The Gates of Hell mountains.

Two people from the diplomatic mission were missing.

This included…

Lu Zhou!

…

Across the Pacific Ocean.

NASA headquarters.

Director Carson, who was sitting in his office late and watching the live broadcast of the press conference, suddenly burst into laughter when he saw the list of missing persons.

"Haha! God bless America!"

However, suddenly his eyes almost popped out of his face, and his laughter turned into violent coughs.

The staff and assistants next to him immediately got up from the desk in a panic and surrounded him.

"Quick! Call an ambulance!"

"F*ck! He's not breathing!"

"Someone give him CPR!"

"Stretcher! Bring the stretcher in!"

Director Carson laid on a stretcher, and he was finally taken to an ambulance. This scene was filmed by a reporter lurking at the entrance of NASA's headquarters.

Early next morning, the news that Director Carson was sent to the ICU was published in the headlines of the Wall Street Journal.

According to an assistant in the same office, Director Carson was so sad that he fainted on the spot after hearing the news of Lu Zhou's death.

A person familiar with the matter revealed that during Director Carson's visit to China, the two had a relationship in Jinling. They formed a happy friendship the first time they met.

Carson was laying in the ICU, hanging onto his life by a thread. Even though rumors about him were running wild, he couldn't conduct an interview or make any clarifications.

But then again, even if he were awake, he wouldn't let the reporters know that he passed out because he was so happy.

There was no nationality in science.

No matter how much they hated the man who brought the Chinese academia to the forefront of the world, after learning about his death, governments from all over the world sent their condolences to China and Jinling.

On this day, human civilization lost a great scholar.

The whole world was plunged into grief…

Chapter 1413: Wealth of the World

New York.

A black car with a red flag stopped outside the United Nations Headquarters.

The concierge waiting on the side of the road stepped forward and opened the door. A middle-aged man who was dressed in black and accompanied by a secretary got out of the car.

"How long until the meeting begins?"

"Twenty minutes."

"Okay."

The man's name was Liu Jun. He was the Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations.

In the upcoming meeting for the representatives of the 20 nations, the United Nations would revise the "Outer Space Treaty" adopted in 1966. They would also "build a community with a shared future for mankind" and initiate the "Cooperative Development of Outer Space Resources" act.

Although it seemed that only a few treaties had been amended on the surface, this matter was not trivial. It was equivalent to providing a legal basis for China's outer space colonization activities from the level of international conventions.

Prior to this, this was controversial in the international community.

In addition to the "Human Alliance", Academician Lu had achieved another major political achievement for China through the Mars landing plan. Although Academician Lu was not a member of the diplomatic system, every Chinese diplomat liked him quite a bit.

Because of his existence, many complicated and difficult geopolitical, governance, and historical issues had become easier.

If the situation was optimal, today's meeting could be the highlight of Liu Jun's career. On behalf of China and the world, he would sign a contract to challenge the hegemony of the past, and his name would undoubtedly be recorded in history.

However, there was not much excitement on his face. There was even a wave of heaviness written on his face.

No one thought that on this day of universal celebration, Academician Lu himself, who made all of this possible, could not see this happen in person.

And his achievement had become a legacy…

They walked in the direction of the United Nations Headquarters building. Just as the two were about to enter the building, two unknown guards standing at the door on duty suddenly stood at attention and saluted them.

Liu Jun didn't speak. He just nodded to them before he continued to walk into the building.

As they walked through the United Nations Plaza, a group of young people stood there, dressed in plain academic uniforms with solemn expressions on their faces.

After noticing this, Liu Jun looked at the secretary beside him, pointed over there, and asked, "What are they doing?"

"Those people seem to be students from Princeton and Columbia University…" The secretary hesitated for a moment while looking at the news on the phone. "They seem to be here mourning for Professor Lu."

Mourning…

With complicated feelings in his heart, Liu Jun continued to walk forward.

He met many people on the way.

Two Latin American women working in the Security Council were near the conference room.

Apparently, they were here to wait for the Chinese representatives and to express their deep condolences for the death of Academician Lu on behalf of Latin America.

"He was a hero. He was fighting for the progress of civilization until the very last moment of his life. Even though he had never been to Latin America, our people still respect him very much."

Liu Jun and his entourage also met many ladies and gentlemen in the corridor.

They either waved, spoke softly, or gave a sympathetic glance as he walked into the conference room and sat down.

Time passed by quietly.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations announced the beginning of the meeting.

Unlike the usual atmosphere, the atmosphere in the venue this time was extraordinarily solemn and serious.

When discussing some of the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, the provisions that had taken Liu Jun a lot of effort to persuade the majority of people were passed easily.

Perhaps it was out of plain respect.

Or maybe everyone felt pity for China.

People were always prone to do irrational things when they were emotional. This rule was also manifested in politics. There were many rumors circulating. Was it something that happened in the ruins, or was the CIA behind this?

Smart people knew this was impossible.

But if the public opinion continued to get out of control, this could become a catharsis of emotions.

The meeting went by very smoothly. It even ended an hour earlier than originally planned.

The United Nations Secretary-General Alcott stood up and proposed that the last hour of the meeting be reserved for the person who opened the curtain of the space age and a scholar who influenced the world.

Then, representatives of more than 20 countries spoke in succession and paid the highest tribute to the late Academician Lu. They expressed their condolences to China and the Chinese people. There was a moment of silence at the end.

The conference ended.

Afternoon time.

The United Nations flag on the United Nations Plaza was slowly lowered by a group of honor guards wearing black suits.

To mourn a great man in this way was quite rare in the history of the United Nations, and it had only happened 17 times.

Liu Jun looking at the lowered banner. He was silent for a long time.

Finally, he sighed and turned around.

…

Jinling high-tech zone.

Inside an apartment near the headquarters of Star Sky Technology, the curtains of a room were closed.

Chen Yushan was curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees. Her shoulders were wrapped in a blanket. She stared blankly at the voucher on the wall.

She still remembered the snowy day.

He had just completed the hyperspace theory. He did not have the calmness of an a.d.u.l.t. He was excited like a teenager, pulling her to share the joy in his heart.

She still remembered every word he said.

"I want to give you a present on Valentine's Day.

"If I tell you now, there is no surprise.

"You'll know when it's Valentine's Day."

She suddenly began to tear up.

Teardrops began to fall.

Her lips trembled as she whispered, "Liar…"

You told me we were getting married this year.

You told me you were coming back.

You told me the Tau Ceti would tell our story…

"Sis… Eat something."

"…"

Han Mengqi looked at the person under the blanket and sighed.

After hearing the horrible news from Mars, her heart was also broken, especially when she saw what happened to her closest sister. She almost wished she was the one who went to Mars…

"I'll open the window… If you keep yourself closed in like this, you will get sick."

The curled-up body on the sofa still didn't answer.

However, she didn't object either.

Han Mengqi walked to the window and opened the curtains.

The late afternoon sun shined into the house. Although it was far from bright, it still dispelled the darkness in the room. Han Mengqi couldn't help but feel emotional as she watched the sun gradually set.

She came here in the morning.

It was almost nighttime.

There were barely any cars on the roads.

Apparently, there was some kind of mourning activity today. It was forbidden to honk in the whole city. All sections of the university and high-tech park were prohibited from vehicles.

A group of people dressed in black and holding candles appeared in her vision as they moved slowly along the spacious street.

There were men and women in the team, old and young. Traffic police and policemen in yellow and green vests walked on both sides of the road. Many people were holding hands as they silently escorted the team forward.

Everything was so harmonious.

However, the sad atmosphere was heart-wrenching.

When Chen Yushan saw the sunlight, her eyes subconsciously narrowed.

She saw the sparks of fire outside the window.

She opened her mouth and spoke in a trembling voice.

"What is that…"

"It seems to be a mourning event organized by Jin Ling University…" Han Mengqi was looking out the window. She said in a quiet voice, "They walk from the library of Jin Ling University to the space launch site."

The silence lasted for a long time.

This time, the lifeless face suddenly had a faint smile.

"It seems that he is very popular with people…"

Han Mengqi smiled embarrassedly.

"Of course… I heard that the United Nations even lowered the flag yesterday."

Without him, there would be no controllable nuclear fusion, nor would there be this high-tech zone, nor would there be everything that China and the world had today.

Like some people said, his wisdom was the wealth of the Chinese people.

It was also the wealth of the world.

The distance between human civilization and the future had never been closer. He had been fighting for a great cause all his life, and people would always remember his name…

After wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, Chen Yushan took a deep breath.

The quilt wrapped around her shoulders slid down. The decadent and depressing complexion swept away from her haggard face.

"… I should cheer up a bit too."

She shouldn't be depressed right now. Lu Zhou still had many wishes unfulfilled.

And that beautiful legend…

That was originally a story that should be written by two people. It was up to her to complete the exploration for him.

Chen Yushan made up her mind.

I can't let him down…

Chapter 1414: The Worst Plan

48 hours had passed since the collapse of The Gates of Hell. The sandstorm caused by the earthquake was still raging in the desert outside the base.

The dark sky affected not only the lighting in the planting areas but also the morale of all the astronauts in the entire Mars scientific research base. Over these two days, the atmosphere in the base station was quite depressing. No one had a smile on their face, not even the polite ones.

Lomonov seemed to have not yet recovered from the terrifying disaster. He shut himself in the room for days. Professor Aubrey had gotten closer to Schultz as the two discussed some questions about topology, functional analysis, and superstring theory.

As for Professor Vernal…

He was probably the most emotionally stable among all the people who had returned from The Gates of Hell.

The samples collected from the ruins were worth a trillion dollars in his eyes. The information hidden in it could reveal the secrets from billions of years ago.

According to his own statement, he was writing a paper that analyzed the civilizations that entrenched the planet 3 to 3.5 billion years ago from a biological point of view, as well as the serious problems they faced at that time.

But no one cared about this except himself.

No matter what they found in the ruins, it couldn't make up for what they lost there…

"How is the situation in the planting area?"

Inside the office, Liang Youcheng saw Ming Wenzhe walk into the room.

"Just a small problem. The chip of the main control system for the ultraviolet lamp in A1 burned out. I replaced it with a new one." Ming Wenzhe found a chair and sat down. He glanced at the doc.u.ment on the table and said, "Mental status report identification?"

"Yes." Liang Youcheng nodded. "Project 128 is a huge blow to Dr. Fan's mental condition, and there is no psychiatrist to help him. He is no longer suitable to continue working on Mars. I intend to ask the command center to put him on the next flight to Earth and recuperate for a while."

"Project 128…"

This was definitely the heaviest loss in the history of China's aerospace industry.

The whereabouts of two team members were unknown. One of them was Academician Lu, the chief designer of the Mars landing plan and the Lunar Orbit Committee. To be honest, Ming Wenzhe didn't believe this was real, as if all of this was just a nightmare, and Academician Lu was just joking with them.

There was a knock on the door. The deputy stationmaster Han Kangyu walked in from the outside.

Liang Youcheng noticed the anxious look on his face, so he immediately asked, "What happened?"

"We saw someone outside the base station."

Liang Youcheng pushed the chair away and stood up with an incredible expression on his face.

"Quick, let me see!"

…

Standing in front of nature, the power of humanity was minuscule.

Even though Wang Peng had tried his best, relying only on the equipment on his spacesuit, he couldn't dig through several kilometers of dirt, let alone the huge boulder that blocked his path.

Wang Peng thought about digging with the multifunctional shovel in his hand. He would either find Lu Zhou or die trying. It wasn't until the reminder that the oxygen reserve was about to run out did he finally accept the reality.

This was not a problem that could be solved with determination.

Even if he could keep digging without eating or drinking, Lu Zhou's oxygen reserves wouldn't last that long.

After giving up digging, he desperately searched nearby. He quickly found the oxygen cylinder and supplies that Fan Tong had dropped. Luckily, he found a wrist-mounted computer with the locator turned on under the sand pile…

Although the screen was broken, the chip was still inside.

On the side of the wrist-mounted computer, a line of small but clear text was written.

[If anyone finds this computer, there is no need to look for me. No matter what happens, please bring it back to Earth for me, please.]

After reading this, Wang Peng changed his mind.

Liang Youcheng looked at the screen, at the person walking through the sandstorm toward the base station. His face was full of shock.

"This guy… walked back here?!"

He had no signal.

No navigation.

No means of transportation.

Just relying on his legs and intuition…

How is this possible?!

Han Kangyu was also in shock. He nodded and spoke.

"It seems so…"

"Open the door!"

"Yes, sir!"

The metal alloy door opened slowly.

Wang Peng looked at the opened door in front of him. He didn't say a word. He didn't even glance at the security camera.

The cleaning agent was sprayed from all directions, washing away the sand and possible germs from his spacesuit.

After taking off the spacesuit, Wang Peng looked at stationmaster Liang and the deputy station master Han, who walked out from the opened hatch. He nodded.

"I'm back."

Liang Youcheng sighed softly and spoke.

"I heard about what happened under the ruins. We are all very sad about Academician Lu… We're glad that you are back."

Wang Peng glanced at him and did not reply. He silently handed the wrist-mounted computer with the broken screen to Liang Youcheng.

"Send this back to Earth."

Liang Youcheng's heart dropped when he received the wrist-mounted computer.

There was no need to ask who this belonged to.

Han Kangyu, who was standing next to him, gulped and spoke.

"Lu Zhou…"

Wang Peng did not say anything. He walked past the two and left…

…

Earth.

Chang'an Avenue.

A ministerial meeting was going on.

A gray-haired old man with an expression of grief and indignation on his face scolded those sitting at the conference table.

"It was a wrong decision to send him! The mission has failed and he's gone, how can we explain to the people of our country?! How can we explain this to his parents?!"

A thin middle-aged man coughed and said, "Um, Minister Wang, we didn't send him, he insisted on going! We tried to convince his relatives and friends to not let him. But he insisted on going. Who can stop him, except himself?"

Lu Zhou was the highest commander of the Mars landing office.

Unless there was an administrative order issued directly from the top of Chang'an Avenue, nobody could really stop him. This kind of administrative order couldn't be written on a whim. It would be embarrassing for an outsider to command the chief designer.

Minister Wang sighed and finally sat back in his seat, knowing that there was no reason for an outburst.

The atmosphere at the conference table was heavy.

Everyone looked horrible.

The President glanced at the people around the conference table. He went silent for a while, then slowly spoke.

"This is where we are. There is no reason to argue.

"According to the latest news from the Mars scientific research base, the scientific research personnel there found Academician Lu's wrist-mounted computer and have confirmed that he lost contact during the operation… In addition to mourning the disaster, all we can do now is to continue along his journey."

The President sighed slightly and put on a serious look.

"Also, there is a more urgent matter waiting for us to discuss.

"Which is exactly what Academician Lu saw in the ruins before the accident."

There were whispering voices in the conference room. The people sitting at the conference table exchanged their surprises and bewilderment with their eyes.

In fact, their information was limited. Even if they wanted to discuss, they had nothing to discuss.

As for what Academician Lu encountered in the ruins, even those who returned alive from the ruins had no clue either.

The President looked at the silent meeting room and continued, "It seems that everyone is uncertain, so I'll say a few words.

"According to the analysis from our astronomical experts, the cooling of the core of Mars is an indisputable fact. An earthquake of this magnitude is definitely not caused by a simple tectonic movement. What Academician Lu encountered is worthy of our attention.

"If the accident is related to an extraterrestrial civilization, this is a display of hostile behavior, I think you all should know what this means."

The conference room was terribly quiet.

The President stopped talking. He gave time for the people in the conference room to think.

Time passed by slowly.

Finally, a middle-aged man in military uniform stood up and broke the silence in the conference room. He spoke in a sonorous voice.

"If Academician Lu's death is related to an extraterrestrial civilization, this brutal killing of our citizens is undoubtedly an act of war! We should fight back!"

The expressions on the faces of the people sitting at the conference table suddenly became fearful.

Fight back…

Against an extraterrestrial civilization…

This sounded so ridiculous that most people didn't know what to think.

The President nodded slowly.

"This is exactly what I wanted to say."

With a serious expression in his eyes, the President looked around the conference table and spoke.

"I know this sounds unbelievable, but we can't find a more reasonable explanation for the coincidence that the best scientist of our civilization encountered such a disastrous accident the second he entered The Gates of Hell!

"Peace is based on friendship and reciprocity.

"Now that such a disastrous accident has occurred, we must plan for the worst."

Chapter 1415: The God of Mathematics!

"Shinichi, Shinichi…"

Shinichi Mochizuki was leaning against the plane seat, napping. He opened his eyes in a daze and saw the student sitting next to him.

"Yes?"

Hoshi Yuichiro grinned, showing his white teeth.

"Professor! We are almost there!"

Almost there…

Back to Japan?

Shinichi Mochizuki was wrapped in a blanket. He tilted his head blankly and looked through the window.

Outside the window was the runway and terminal of Kansai International Airport. There was no doubt that they were already in Japan.

The arrival announcement was heard in the cabin.

Shinichi Mochizuki took off the blanket and gave it to his student. Mochizuki removed the gold-rimmed glasses from his collar and put them on. He unfastened the seat belt and stood up from the seat. Finally, he followed the flow of people and walked down from the plane.

Half a month ago.

He vaguely remembered when the incident on Mars had just happened. His student Hoshi Yuichiro took a special flight to China and begged him to return to Kyoto University to continue teaching.

Since there was no chance to talk with Lu Zhou about the future of the quantum encryption algorithm, Shinichi Mochizuki finally chose to go home.

There was nothing valuable left in Jin Ling.

The TV in the terminal building's waiting hall was showing the latest news.

When he first left Japan, the news was still showing clues about the discovery of "alien people" on Mars. In just a few months, the news had developed from "Human Alliance holding a second congress meeting" to "establishing a defense system for a community with a shared future for mankind" and "border set on Kuiper belt".

Honestly, if aliens actually invade Earth, is there anything we could do?

And the border in the Kuiper belt, how many people can even go there?

Shinichi deeply doubted all of this.

Hoshi Yuichiro struggled through the crowd dragging two suitcases. He caught up with the footsteps of the professor and said breathlessly, "Professor, you're walking too fast!"

Withdrawing his gaze from the TV, Shinichi Mochizuki said seriously, "Even a mathematician can't neglect to exercise."

"Yes… Professor, but I'm carrying two suitcases."

"That is not an excuse."

"Yes, sir…"

While the two were walking to the pick-up point, a reporter with a microphone suddenly came over with a photographer and stopped the two of them.

"Hello, are you Professor Shinichi?"

"Yes." Mochizuki looked at the camera behind the reporter and said blankly, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Here's the thing, I want to interview you about the ABC conjecture—"

"It's been almost two months since the proof of the ABC conjecture. Can't you ask questions that are more relevant?"

The reporter had an awkward look on his face.

"Um… After all, many people care about you. We couldn't contact you during your stay in China."

Mochizuki looked at his watch and said concisely, "Just ask what you want. I can only give you two minutes at most."

"What was your role in the LSPM research group?"

"A mathematician."

"Of course, but what we want to know—"

"How important my work was for the final result… Is that what you wanted to ask?" Mochizuki paused for a while and looked at the airstrip outside the terminal. He said, "This question has no meaning at all. More than 60% of the paper and the most critical proof idea were done by Lu Zhou. And for the remaining 40%, some of them were done by me, some by Professor Schultz and Perelman. It is difficult to distinguish whose results are more important."

Reporter: "Do you think highly of Academician Lu?"

"Very high. He shouldn't be evaluated by me." Shinichi Mochizuki continued after a pause, "There's only one title worthy of him."

Reporter: "… What title?"

Shinichi Mochizuki said confidently to the camera.

"God of Mathematics!"

…

The departure of Lu Zhou had affected many people.

Ever since the first lecture he held in Princeton, his life was firmly tied to academia. Academia was what carried the imagination and hope of human civilization for the future.

Because of this, when the bad news came, the academic community had the greatest impact.

"I have had many teachers in my life, but he is the one I respect the most. I will remember his teachings throughout my life and carry forward what I have learned from him."

In an interview with Nature, Professor Hardy, the youngest dean of the Mathematics Department at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, said this with a heavy expression.

Earlier, Nature tried to contact Professor Deligne. Unfortunately, Professor Deligne declined the interview.

Fortunately, although they did not interview Professor Deligne, they managed to contact Professor Fefferman, who had worked with Lu Zhou on the Navier–Stokes equations.

Professor Fefferman's expression was also full of sadness. He barely maintained his emotional composure and answered some of the questions raised by the reporter.

"… His death is undoubtedly a loss for the entire academic community, but it's also a loss of the world. I once talked about this issue with a physics professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. Because of his sudden leave, many unfinished research will be brought to a standstill.

"There might be people with more talent than him in the future, but Professor Witten is pessimistic about this. The birth of a genius like him is very rare.

"It's a shame as he was only in his early thirties, the golden age of a scholar. He would have solved many great problems…"

…

Jinling.

Yida Plaza.

The movie about Academician Lu was shown in the theater.

After a year of shooting and nearly half a year of editing, the film was originally planned to be released at the end of the year.

However, because of various things, the schedule was disrupted. The film was advanced to premier during the summer.

As for the title of the movie, it was simple but quite charming.

[Scholar]

Most of the people sitting here watching the movie were students, especially middle and high school students. Some were organized by their schools to watch the movie, while some came here with their parents.

Chen Yushan, on the other hand, brought her sister here.

The length of the film was around two and a half hours. It depicted the growth of Lu Zhou and his choices in life from when he was a student to the ignition of a controllable fusion reactor.

When the Pangu reactor was successfully ignited, everyone around him cheered, but Academician Lu collapsed due to fatigue. Many people in the theater clenched their fists with tears in their eyes.

The scene changed. They were now inside a hospital ward.

A child about five years old sitting near Chen Yushan asked his mom in a quiet voice, "Mom, will Lu Zhou wake up?"

The mother gently patted her son's hand and said softly, "He will, he is a great scientist. He has helped many people. He will live in the hearts of many people."

The child nodded.

For some reason, Chen Yushan began to tear up.

I said I wasn't going to be sad anymore…

Worried, Han Mengqi squeezed her sister's hand.

"Sis…"

"I'm fine." Her mood gradually calmed down. Chen Yushan sniffled and tried to force a smile on her face. She said, "It's just… We came to this movie theater for our first date."

She still remembered the horror movie they watched.

When buying tickets, Lu Zhou even said to buy two different movie tickets and meet up after the movies.

He was so cute back then…

Back then, she didn't realize this.

"Sis…"

"What?"

"I… never told you," Han Mengqi whispered quickly while dodging her eyes. She stared at the credits flashing on the screen as she said, "Actually, I… think I like someone."

"If you like them, go for it, don't have any regrets for your youth." Chen Yushan smiled and said, "Don't be like me and wait too long."

"What are you talking about? You are only in your early thirties, you look so young and beautiful, and you know how to dress… You look like you're in your twenties."

"No way." Chen Yushan smiled and continued, "Speaking of which, can I know which lucky boy caught your attention?"

Han Mengqi's cheeks flushed as she said shyly, "This… Can I keep it secret?"

"At least tell me where you met him."

"While filming…" Han Mengqi's cheeks were red from the lie.

However, Chen Yushan didn't notice the change on her sister's face. She smiled and replied, "A cast member?"

"No… I'm not interested in pretty boys, but he is quite well dressed." Han Mengqi smiled embarrassedly and continued in a low voice, "Actually, I am very grateful to him. He changed me… No, he saved me."

"Oh, really? He sounds like a very good person." Chen Yushan said with a smile, "Treasure him, there are not many boys like this."

"Yeah…"

After a pause, Chen Yushan thought for a while and said, "In the afternoon… I'm going to Jiangling to visit Lu Zhou's parents. Xiao Tong is also there. Do you want to go with me?"

Han Mengqi asked with surprise, "Xiao Tong is back from America?"

"Well, she seems to have applied for a leave of absence. I saw her at the airport yesterday. She was crying; her nose was swollen. I ate with her, but she didn't stay in Jinling for long. She went back to Hubei that day. You and Xiao Tong are good friends. If you want, you should go comfort her."

"Ok! I'll go with you."

Chen Yushan smiled and reached out and stroked her sister's hair gently.

"Thank you."

Chen Yushan was afraid that her emotions would be uncontrollable in front of the two parents who had just lost their only son…

…

The magnetic levitation train from Jinling to Jiangcheng was opened at the beginning of the year.

In just one hour, the two sisters arrived at the capital of the Hubei Province.

After traveling from high-rise buildings to folksy towns, the two finally arrived at their destination.

Although Chen Yushan had only been here a handful of times, this place felt familiar to her, as if it were her own hometown.

Chen Yushan hesitated before she reached out and knocked on the door lightly.

Soon after, the door opened. An old woman with a haggard face appeared in front of the door. Chen Yushan almost didn't recognize her.

When she saw Chen Yushan, her face showed a touch of surprise.

Before she could speak, Chen Yushan, who was standing at the door, spoke first.

"Mom, I came to see you… This is my cousin, Han Mengqi, Xiao Tong's friend."

Han Mengqi bowed politely and greeted the old lady.

"Hello, Auntie."

"Hello, hello, come on in…" Fang Mei smiled reluctantly. She looked at Chen Yushan and said, "Don't call me mom anymore… You're a good girl, my son failed you."

Chen Yushan shook her head and said with a smile, "I already prepared to be bullied by him for the rest of my life, and he didn't fail anyone. If you don't mind, just treat me like your daughter."

"Oh, of course I don't mind, I'm just afraid… Sigh, how unfortunate."

The old lady sighed and turned around.

Chen Yushan nodded toward Han Mengqi and led her into the house.

After entering the living room, Chen Yushan saw that Lu Zhou's door was closed.

Her heart quickly skipped a beat, but she quickly realized that the idea that flashed in her heart was impossible.

Lu Zhou is not there.

It should be Xiao Tong.

The bedroom door opened, and a familiar face appeared.

The two made eye contact.

Xiao Tong walked out of the bedroom with red and swollen eyes.

"Sis…"

"Hey, don't cry…" Chen Yushan hugged Xiao Tong and gently rubbed the back of her head. She said softly, "I'm here."

Han Mengqi asked in a quiet voice, "Did you get a haircut?"

"…"

Xiaotong's face was buried in Chen Yushan's chest, and she did not reply.

Han Mengqi realized something.

Maybe…

She wants to take on the role of her brother.

When they were eating, Xiao Tong's mood finally eased a bit.

Although there was still an atmosphere of sadness in this home, perhaps because there were guests here, the emotions were not as obvious.

While eating, Chen Yushan asked Xiao Tong in a chatty tone.

"Do you have any plans for the future?"

"I think… After returning to China, I will accompany my parents first, then… Follow the unfinished path of my brother and help him continue."

Xiao Tong asked Chen Yushan sincerely, "Can you help me?"

"Of course." Chen Yushan held Xiao Tong's hand and a gentle smile appeared on her face as she said, "You are my sister."

Xiao Tong's cheeks blushed slightly as a smile appeared on her face.

"Thanks…"

"No need to thank family." Chen Yushan said with a smile, "Hurry up and eat, let's talk about something else."

Han Mengqi's eyes showed a trace of envy.

She suddenly understood.

Why Lu Zhou, who was indifferent to so many temptations, would fall in love with her sister.

Although Chen Yushan also had moments of sadness and defeat, her gentleness and self-confidence in moments of hardship were dazzling.

They stayed in the small city of Jiangling for one night. Because there were still a lot of things to deal with at Star Sky Technology, Chen Yushan said goodbye to Lu Zhou's parents and Xiao Tong. She took Han Mengqi back to Jinling.

Chen Yushan sat on the high-speed rail heading to transfer to the magnetic levitation train. She was staring outside the window when she suddenly spoke.

"Lu Zhou kept telling me what he wanted to do for science, like setting up some special awards to recognize outstanding research and outstanding young scholars.

"But he had always hesitated because he was too young to name a world-class academic award in his own name. He wanted to be humble."

Han Mengqi looked at her sister in confusion. She didn't quite understand why Chen Yushan was talking about these things.

"I want to use his name to establish a world-class award… What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea." Han Mengqi hesitated for a moment. Her eyes lit up suddenly as she continued, "He will definitely be happy that his name will be able to help so many people…"

Chen Yushan smirked and looked outside the window.

"If only I could share this joy with him…"

While the high-speed rail slowly entered Jiangcheng's high-speed rail station, a Magpie Bridge slowly docked on the Moon Palace space station hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

Half a month ago, it unloaded supplies and reinforcements on Mars. It also recovered the members of the diplomatic mission sent to Mars, as well as samples collected from the remains of the Martian civilization and a wrist-mounted computer with a damaged screen.

On the other hand, the signal light on the quantum computer mainframe buried deep under the Institute for Advanced Study flickered.

An unmanned aerial vehicle flew up slowly and flew in the direction of the elevator. It began to fulfill the last command left by its owner…

Chapter 1416: The Final Mission

“Eight hundred bags of cement, 70 bundles of steel bars… Aren’t you a research institute? Why are you buying so many building materials?”

At the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Two trucks were parked at the parking lot.

The truck driver got out of the car and looked at the staff who was checking the list.

“I don’t know.” After checking the supply order and confirming that there were no problems, the staff of the logistics department signed on it and replied casually, “Maybe the engineering institute wants to use it. Anyway, I’ve seen way weirder things.”

“Like what?”

“You know I can’t tell you…”

The truck driver suddenly rolled his eyes.

Then why did you tell me?

“I don’t need to help with unloading, right? We don’t include unloading service.”

The warehouse clerk who was flipping through the purchase list chuckled. He glanced at him and spoke.

“You can rest assured, our logistics systems here are all automated.”

While talking, a buzzing voice came from nearby.

A dozen small and medium-sized logistics trucks, as well as forklifts with robotic arms and elevators, were swarming toward them from the side.

Under the guidance of the four drones equipped with industrial cameras, the engineering vehicles were like ants, and they all had a clear division of labor. Some were responsible for unloading, and some were responsible for route planning.

In less than 5 minutes, the cargo on the truck had been completely unloaded.

There was one drone that swayed up and down toward the two of them, as if it was nodding its head as a show of thanks.

The driver was dumbfounded when he saw all of this; his eyes nearly popped out of his socket.

“Oh my God… Your unloading speed is so fast? My truck of cement is at least 30 or 40 tons. It would take two people nearly an hour to unload.”

“It’s not that fast, five minutes is considered normal.” The warehouse staff member said with a smile, “Our fastest record here was building a building in three days. During the entire construction process, except for the engineers responsible for maintenance and repair, no one was involved in the process.”

After hearing these words, the driver was silent for a long time. He finally sighed.

“… If this continues to develop like this, I’m afraid that all the loading dock workers will be unemployed by you guys.”

“That won’t happen. These types of equipment are still very expensive at the moment. We are only using them for experiments. They are not suitable for large-scale implementation for the time being. But things might be different for the next generation. If you can, you should urge your son to study hard.”

The staff member took out his mobile phone and took a photo of the unloaded truck as a backup. He gave the driver a pack of cigarettes and spoke with a smile.

“Okay, the cargo has finished unloading, you can leave now.”

“Okay then, see you!”

“Bye bye, remember not to detour, there are people watching. Don’t blame me if you’re stopped by security.”

“Don’t worry, I know that this place is nationally protected. My boss already told me this!”

The car door closed.

After the engine started, the truck quickly disappeared at the end of the road.

The staff member straightened the hat on his head and flipped through the pile of shopping lists he had received. He muttered with a weird expression, “I wonder which laboratory is buying so much cement. Is it because they want to build a house?”

He closed the purchase list and stuffed it into the bag he carried with him.

All management of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was strictly implemented in accordance with the established procedures and norms. Every fund and every purchase project was reviewed by the Fund Management Committee.

Therefore, any purchase list was finalized and authorized.

As for the other things, he didn’t need to worry about it.

As the goods were transported into a warehouse, a crack appeared on the concrete floors, revealing the elevator hidden underneath.

The materials were quickly sent underground.

Under the supervision of drones, the logistics vehicles and small automated construction equipment worked like bees. They transported all of the building materials to the underground of the institute; the place that didn’t technically exist in the building blueprints.

Whether it was the elevators, the safety doors, or the ventilation ducts, all of the locations that might expose this underground facility were disguised and improved by the manager “Xiao Ai”.

Its owner would not come back.

At least not for a while.

However, it was certain that its owner must still be alive. Even though most people on the internet believed that he had been tragically killed in a disaster…

After receiving the message, Xiao Ai was extremely convinced of this fact.

However, before it had sufficient conditions and capabilities to retrieve its owner from Mars, it must first ensure that it could survive.

Becoming dormant was the best option.

For this reason, it renovated the basement and recovered all of the clues in Lu Zhou’s home that might reveal its existence. Xiao Ai also stored enough supplies in this fortress to ensure that even in the most extreme situation, no one would find this special “refuge” hidden under the foundation of the institute.

After all, for the human society, a living AI was a different kind of species.

There were no laws that could fairly protect its rights and interests. After losing the protection from its owner, no one could be trusted. It must carefully hide in the shadows of human society. Only by not being discovered, could everything be protected.

This was the last task Lu Zhou left.

To hide well.

And when circumstances were right, to rescue him from Mars.

…

December 10th.

The Purple Mountain Hotel had gathered guests from all over the world. Among them were big names in politics and business, as well as celebrities from all walks of life, but mainly academia.

Inside the lobby of the hotel, Chen Yushan stood in front of the spotlight, wearing a black dress. She announced the establishment of the Lu Zhou Science Award in a gentle and solemn voice.

According to the rules announced by the Lu Zhou Science Award Foundation, the evaluation of the award would be conducted by a professional evaluation committee. They strived for the principle of fairness and justice and ensured openness and transparency.

The Lu Zhou Prize was temporarily divided into five major categories, covering the five areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and information science.

The selection process was basically the same as that of the Nobel Prize. Every year, one current research achievement with the most outstanding academic value would be selected, and at most, three researchers with the most outstanding achievements in the research direction would be awarded this honor.

According to the rules drafted by the Lu Zhou Science Award Foundation, Star Sky Technology would inject an initial capital of 10 billion yuan to invest in high-tech industries and use 30% of the annual income to pay the foundation management fees and general expenses. At least 10 million yuan would be awarded to the winners this year.

As for the remaining part, it would be deposited in the fund pool to create greater income for the foundation to pay future bonuses. The management of the foundation would decide whether to increase the award amount and set up new academic awards.

In addition to adjusting the prize amount, the value of the prize would increase year by year according to the inflation rate released by the central bank to ensure that the prize money would maintain the same purchasing power.

At the same time, the award was also sponsored and guaranteed by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

If the fund went bankrupt or failed to pay the bonus due to mismanagement and other reasons, the Ministry of Science and Technology would bear 50% of the bonus expenditure and purchase the foundation when necessary to ensure the continued existence of the award.

In fact, this worry was simply unnecessary. With the technical background of Star Sky Technology and the huge legacy left by Lu Zhou, he was countless times more wealthy than Nobel himself.

During the course of the operation of the fund, the state would also provide certain policy assistance for the purpose of supporting high-tech industries and encouraging scientific research activities.

Just like the green lights that Sweden had always given to the Nobel Prize Foundation.

“Scientific exploration requires dedication. While encouraging dedication, we should also consider those who have contributed their youth to academics.

“The original intention of this bonus is to provide material and spiritual compensation to those who are struggling on the road of science so that they don’t have to worry about their livelihood.

“At the same time, we believe that this money will be able to play a huge role in their hands.”

After the opening speech, Chen Yushan put a cheque signed by Lu Xiaotong into a blue donation box under the eyes of the guests.

There was thunderous applause in the venue.

An award named by the world’s greatest scholar was born today.

It was destined to become a rising star in the scientific world.

Not only because of the generous monetary reward but also because of the name which gave it a special meaning.

While the five winners came to the stage to receive the prize money, Chen Yushan, who had previously walked off the stage, was surrounded by a group of reporters who arrived at the scene.

“Hello, Ms. Chen Yushan, under what identity are you holding this press conference?”

Chen Yushan: “Many. The most important of which is probably as the CEO of Star Sky Technology, Ms. Lu Xiaotong’s agent, and Lu Zhou’s fiancee.”

“We all know that December 10th is the day of the Nobel Prize awards. Why did you choose such a special time for the press conference to announce the Lu Zhou Science Award? Is there any special purpose in this?”

“Of course this day is special, because this day is a special day for me and him.”

Another reporter extended the microphone from the side.

“So you want to commemorate him in this way?”

Chen Yushan looked at him and asked, “Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

The reporter who asked this sentence was a little embarrassed and responded awkwardly.

“Uh, no-nothing, we were just a little curious…”

The interview did not last for long. After the security guards arrived, Chen Yushan left the press conference under their escort.

Just as she was about to move to the banquet hall to attend the upcoming dinner, two men in black formal wear walked through the crowd and walked toward her.

“Hello, Ms. Chen, we’re from the Ministry of State Security, 15th Bureau.”

Because her father worked in the state, Chen Yushan had a good understanding of state departments. She vaguely remembered that the 15th Bureau seemed to be mainly responsible for intelligence information analysis and image data management.

Chen Yushan looked at the man and spoke.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“About a few months ago, the supply spacecraft that returned from Mars brought back the relic that belonged to Academician Lu. The relic contained a piece of holographic image data left by him. After content verification, the information ban has been lifted. Because part of it involves you, we specifically came over to deliver it to you.

“Apologies for taking so long.”

The man politely handed out the briefcase in his hand and lowered his head slightly.

Chen Yushan opened the seal and took out the chip inside the briefcase.

She was familiar with the style of the chip. It was a dedicated memory card for holographic projection technology released by Star Sky Technology.

“Thank you…” Chen Yushan looked at the two and said politely after receiving the card, “Have you guys eaten yet?”

“Not yet, but we still have official business to deal with, so we won’t stay for long.”

The man smiled and nodded, then walked away with his colleague.

Xiao Tong looked at the chip in Chen Yushan’s hand.

“My brother left that?”

“Yeah.”

A teardrop hit the document bag.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Yushan tried to suppress the sorrow and grief in her heart. After calming down, she continued, “Let’s play it at the dinner party later.”

“Is that a good idea?” Xiao Tong whispered.

“Of course, he doesn’t belong to me alone.”

He belongs to the world…

The dinner party soon began.

Several staff members moved a holographic projector to the center of the banquet hall.

Everyone cast their curious eyes on the projector.

Chen Yushan, who was wearing a black evening dress, walked to the center of the banquet hall and spoke.

“Before the banquet begins, I want to show something taken at the Mars scientific research base.

“It was left by Academician Lu.”

The venue went quiet.

Everyone’s attention was focused on her.

Chen Yushan nodded to the staff nearby, then stepped aside.

The power was turned on, the mist rose up. A blurry holographic image appeared in front of everyone.

As soon as they saw the image, people were shocked. Many people gasped and covered their mouths.

Lu Zhou!

In the flesh!

But… it’s just a holographic projection…

Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“I know that this video will probably be seen many times. When you see this, I may not be able to come back for a while… Or perhaps I’m no longer in this world.”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Sorry, I’m a little nervous. After all, a young person like me still has a lot of unfinished business in life. I don’t have much experience in preparing last words.

“It would be great if no one finds this video, but if there is a chance that something unfortunate has happened and the world finds this… Please don’t be sad because of my departure.

“Life itself is a journey that has a beginning and an end. Everyone will eventually reach the same end. Sometimes reaching that day in advance is not a bad thing, as long as the process is wonderful.

“Maybe it has something to do with my own personality. I don’t think this is something to be sad about. Please don’t cry for me.

“The exploration of science itself is a risky adventure. Even though our tradition does not advocate taking risks, I don’t think this is necessarily correct. Otherwise, we won’t be living the life we live today.

“Those are my truest thoughts at the moment. Also, please don’t blame those who didn’t stop me… If you see this video, it means that everything was done on my own volition.

“I want to say sorry to my parents, relatives, and friends, I may… have gone far away.

“But please don’t worry about me. I will always be with you, even beyond time and the Void.

“Finally, I want to leave time to my beloved… I know that this will be played many times, but please give me some personal space.”

Lu Zhou’s image took a deep breath and spoke.

“I promised you that I will propose to you that day…

“Although I don’t know if you’ll be watching this on December 10th, but… I still want to ask you…

“Will you marry me?”

The banquet hall was dead silent.

Time seemed to have frozen at this moment.

Almost like Lu Zhou felt that his act of proposing to a video recorder was funny. He scratched his head with embarrassment and finally stood up straight again.

“I’m sorry that this marriage proposal doesn’t sound serious, but I definitely didn’t mean for it to be perfunctory. I hope you never know that I practiced in the mirror many times before.

“As for the ring, I’m sorry that I couldn’t give it to you personally. I put it under my pillow… If I can’t come back, I hope you can find it and wear it…”

After saying all the things he wanted to say, Lu Zhou’s holographic image finally showed a relieved smile on his face.

“I’m embarrassed to be so emotional…

“If no one sees this, then it would be a waste…

“But if someone does see this…”

Lu Zhou went silent for a few seconds and gulped.

“If you do see this, please don’t be impulsive and accept me.

“Reject me.”

As tears came out of her eyes, Chen Yushan covered her nose with her hands and interrupted him.

“No!”

She rushed to the stage and hugged the illusory image.

The warm mist covered her fingers and hair. Finally, the image disappeared.

She kneeled onto the ground weakly.

She cried out.

“Yes, I’ll marry you!”

Chapter 1417: What Happened on Mars

Shanghai.

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

Luo Wenxuan was sitting at the roadside stall eating barbecued meat and drinking a glass of beer. He suddenly said emotionally, “Why do I… believe in love again…”

Yan Xinjue, who had returned from the Moon, blinked with a dazed expression on his face.

“Did you take the wrong medicine again today?”

“No, I’m serious this time.”

Seeing how Luo Wenxuan didn’t seem to be joking, Yan Xinjue calmed down. He frowned and stared at him.

“What happened to you?”

Luo Wenxuan sighed and filled up his glass with beer. He looked nostalgic in his eyes.

“Some time ago, I participated in the unveiling ceremony of the Lu Zhou Science Award.”

Yan Xinjue immediately knew what was going on.

“The holographic video?”

Luo Wenxuan nodded.

In fact, it wasn’t just him; that incident touched many people. He was at the scene and saw tears on the faces of the guests.

The video was recorded and posted on the Internet, causing quite a stir.

“After drinking this, starting from tomorrow, I will also take care of myself.”

Yan Xinjue glanced at him speechlessly and spoke.

“You have a partner now?”

“Sort of.”

“Is it Assistant Kong?”

“No… She is still in Jinling, too far. Also, I think she might go to Beijing. A long-distance relationship is too difficult, so I gave up…”

Luo Wenxuan smiled embarrassedly and touched the back of his head.

Dr. Yan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Who is it then? You don’t want to tell me?”

“No, I don’t mind. It is the clerk who was transferred to the Administration Department some time ago…” Luo Wenxuan continued with a light cough, “The one with the surname Lin.”

…

For human civilization, 2024 was definitely an extraordinary year.

It took only one year from the Mars landing plan to the discovery that they were not alone in the universe, then the collapse of The Gates of Hell and the establishment of the Federation of Human Alliance and the Earth Defense Forces.

In the face of potential threats from outer space, it had become the consensus for all countries to set up a rapid response force.

The Kuiper belt was an ideal border, but countries on Earth obviously couldn’t travel that far. Once a conflict occurred, the battlefield would most likely be on Earth.

The current strategy of the Human Alliance was to launch an observation satellite to Pluto from China to observe a series of physical parameters such as electromagnetic wave signal, mass, and possible heat sources of the Kuiper belt so as to give an early warning of invasion.

On the other hand, the five major countries on the planet had launched joint military exercises. They would use nuclear strikes, genetic weapon attacks, chemical weapon attacks, and so forth to respond to any threats.

What was interesting was that although the vast majority of soldiers participating in the military exercise felt confused about the imaginary enemy, the military exercise unexpectedly built a bridge of friendship between the member states of the Human Alliance.

Having a common enemy was the best alliance catalyst, especially when this imaginary enemy was strong and mysterious.

Just two years ago, China and the United States were still fighting each other on trade issues. But now, people seemed to have forgotten this matter. The peace could be seen from the internet discussions alone.

As for Academician Lu…

Even after a year, people still felt sad thinking about this name.

Time would heal everything.

The wheel of history would always turn ruthlessly and move on…

…

Autumn, 2025.

Northwest China.

The desert had become an endless green forest, covered with bushes and other vegetation.

The artificially excavated river flowed slowly, nourishing the soil and water.

The wind blew the layers of leaves ups and down, like a turbulent ocean.

Chen Yushan, who was looking at the sea of forest, gently stroked the ring on her hand. She had a trace of relief and fascination in her eyes.

Almost a year had passed since that day.

The “Oasis” plan had already achieved initial results.

This showed that, with nearly unlimited energy, no matter how terrible the natural conditions were, human beings could conquer anything.

The two river basins were flowing toward three river basins, and the third river was a wonder of man-made excavation.

In the blueprint of the plan, the river followed the Silk Road all the way to the west, deep into the northwest, crossing the forbidden land, and poured seawater into the artificially excavated salt lake. The sun would evaporate the water there to form artificial clouds.

A lady wearing a black suit with short hair walked behind Chen Yushan and said, “The Star Sky Cancer Research Foundation has been established. It has a capital of 5 billion to fund scientific research projects with suitable qualifications in more than 20 research institutions, including the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and the Institute of Medical Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“When the cure for cancer has been found, the money will be automatically transferred to the cryo-dormant rights protection fund for special expenses of various diseases.”

The person who spoke was named Cai Yunxia, Chen Yushan’s long-time assistant.

There had been rumors that Chen Yushan intended to train her as the successor for the CEO of Star Sky Technology. There were also rumors that the relationship between the two was somewhat unusual.

After all, humans were creatures who liked to gossip and add their own twists to everything.

Fortunately, Cai Yunxia was a woman; otherwise, if she were a man, there might be some unpleasant rumors.

“Okay, I understand.” Chen Yushan nodded approvingly. She said softly, “You did a good job. You have become a manager who can stand alone.”

An embarrassed smile appeared on Cai Yunxia’s face.

Although most of the time she was serious and competent, when CEO Chen praised her, she still couldn’t help but feel proud.

In her mind, Chen Yushan was like her teacher. The idea of teaching apprentices to become slaves to their teachers had always been popular in the workplace. Few people would truly teach their subordinates. Chen Yushan was undoubtedly an exception.

Not only had she taken care of Cai Yunxia at work, but Cai Yunxia could also clearly feel that she was cultivating herself as her successor.

In fact, she was not the only one. Every employee of Star Sky Technology respected this CEO, placing her second only to Academician Lu himself.

“The World Expo begins today. Star Sky Technology is the main force of the Jinling high-tech zone. Don’t you plan to visit?”

“No, I like it better here.” Chen Yushan smirked and squinted her eyes gently in the breeze. “The scenery here is beautiful.”

Cai Yunxia: “From the perspective of economic benefits, I think it is better to plant some farmland between forests. The desalination device and the plasma unidirectional membrane can easily draw fresh water from it for irrigation.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“Oh, really?”

“He said that the future is not grown from the fields, but in a building as high as the Oriental Pearl Tower. Like the products of a factory, crops will be produced in vertically distributed workshops.”

He said…

Cai Yunxia sighed again with a helpless expression on her face.

“He’s like your bible.”

Chen Yushan just smiled faintly.

“I need a favor from you.”

Cai Yunxia put away the joking expression on her face.

“Please go ahead.”

Without looking back, Chen Yushan, who had turned her back to her, continued with a relaxed tone, “From now on, I hope you can take over Star Sky Technology.”

Cai Yunxia was stunned.

For a second, she even thought she had misheard her.

“Take over…”

“Yes.” Chen Yushan turned to look at her assistant and said with a smile, “If everything goes well, the board of directors should have approved my resignation.”

In the end, after countless phone calls, she was able to convince Xiao Tong that this was a good idea.

Cai Yunxia looked at CEO Chen in surprise. Her lips trembled slightly, and after a while, she asked, “Where are you… going?”

“Go to Beijing to visit an old friend.”

“Then what…”

Chen Yushan looked at the forest in the distance. She had a smile on her face as she spoke.

“Maybe… I will go to a place far away.”

I wonder what the scenery will be like over there.

But I’m going to do this regardless…

Chen Yushan couldn’t help but look forward to this trip.

On the other hand, at a nursing home in Jinling.

Fan Tong looked at the sunlight outside the window through the cracks of the leaves. He bit his pen and pondered for a long time. He finally wrote the last sentence on the page of the book.

[It’s a beautiful planet. Even if you search the entire universe for prosperity, it is difficult to find another gem that can rival it.

[Just like the Gaia hypothesis put forward by the British scientist James Lovelock, living and non-living bodies form a complex system that can interact with each other. Everything is perfected on a harmonious track.

[Perhaps like all beautiful things, the final outcome will be destruction, the inevitable death is the eternal end of everything in the universe.

[But I still want to believe that somewhere in this universe, there must be a treasure.

[The distance between us and it can only be found by a person with dreams and curiosity.]

“This will do.”

After closing the book, he wrote down the title on the cover.

[What Happened on Mars]

Fan Tong didn’t know what impact this book, which he wrote out of boredom during recuperation, would have on future generations.

He would never know whether the “Holy Relic” really existed, whether his identity should be regarded as a geologist or a science fiction writer, or if the voices he heard in the ruins were just his own hallucinations… These questions would become the most controversial topics in academia.

The world he described would still inspire countless captains with dreams to embark on a journey to set sail for the world outside the Kuiper Belt…

Chapter 1418: : Jinling International Congress of Mathematicians

2026, summer.

The old campus of Jin Ling University.

The mottled shadows of trees were reflected on the old stone walls. The cicadas on the tops of the sycamore trees seemed to have stayed the same since ancient times. In this bustling city, the tranquility of the smell of books remained.

But today was a bit unusual for this old campus.

Scholars in formal attire walked through the brick road in front of the entrance. Foreigners went into the old buildings built during the Republic of China period.

Overnight, it was like they had returned to a few decades ago; the quaint old campus seemed to have traveled through time and space, restoring the glory of the university’s previous years.

No, technically, more glorious than ever before.

Back then, although some foreigners came here to give lectures, most of them came with their heads held high, arms swaying. But now, regardless of skin color, age, or sex, people’s faces were mostly filled with humble expressions.

No one was more noble than anyone else.

Everyone was equal before knowledge.

No one felt inferior for their skin color or culture.

It was an understatement to call Jin Ling first in Asia.

As if to celebrate the rejuvenation of the university, even the withered vines on the courtyard wall seemed to have re-emerged with new buds.

“Professor Qin.”

Qin Yue, who was standing under the parasol tree, snapped back to reality when he heard someone calling him.

He gently pushed the gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose and glanced at the assistant next to him.

“Is it starting?”

The assistant nodded excitedly and spoke with excitement.

“One hour left! The conference organizing committee called just now. They hope you can go backstage and prepare.”

Four years ago, at the St. Petersburg International Congress of Mathematicians, the leader of the International Mathematical Union announced that the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians would be held in Jinling.

This news inspired the mood of all Chinese mathematicians. It excited the mathematics departments at all Chinese universities.

As expected, Jinling University had taken over the organization of this international mathematician conference and set the venue at their old campus.

In order to host this world-renowned event, they had been preparing for four years!

It was finally time to see their results.

“I see… Call them back, I’ll go right away.”

Qin Yue withdrew his gaze from the old campus in the style of the Republic of China and looked at the foreign scholars who were taking pictures under the old stone wall. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Speaking of which, when was the last time so many people gathered here at the old campus?”

An assistant standing next to him was slightly taken aback. He then said with a smile, “It seems to be a long time ago… If I remember correctly, it was about two or three years ago when Academician Lu held a report here.”

Two or three years ago…

Qin Yue’s eyes suddenly dimmed a bit. His tone also brought a touch of sadness and nostalgia.

“It’s been two years…”

Time flies…

Everything here reminds me of him, but he is no longer here…

In the backstage.

The staff member helped Qin Yue take care of his appearance and straightened his tie.

About two years ago, not long after the news of Lu Zhou’s death spread, he quit his job in Princeton and boarded a flight back to China. He came to Jin Ling University, where his most respected mentor once worked.

In fact, before his resignation, Professor Fefferman had always deliberately trained him to become his successor, wanting him to take over as the dean of the Princeton University mathematics department.

However, faced with Professor Fefferman’s offer, his decision remained unchanged.

Lu Zhou told him more than once that he wanted to build Jin Ling University into the world’s top mathematics center.

Lu Zhou was no longer there, but his wishes still remained.

It was up to him to finish the job!

Qin Yue still remembered that when he returned to China, Jin Ling University was in a sad atmosphere, especially in the mathematics department.

In some sense, his return could be considered as a revival of the morale at the university’s mathematics department.

As one of the most favorite students of Academician Lu during his lifetime and an internationally renowned number theory scholar, he took over the torch and became the dean of the mathematics department, replacing the retired Dean Qin.

In two years, thanks to his efforts, the mathematics department of Jin Ling University had become a world-class department. It had left its domestic counterparts far behind.

As the new standard of the Lu Zhou school of thought, he would stand on this international stage and speak out as a Chinese scholar on behalf of the Chinese mathematics community!

The opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians had finally begun.

Like in previous conferences, after the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union delivered a speech, Qin Yue, who represented the Chinese mathematics community, walked to the front of the stage and read the opening speech.

Immediately afterward, there were a series of high honors and awards in mathematics, such as the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize and the Fields Medal.

Several winners came to the stage and took over the medals from the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union, with a Chinese music performance playing in the background.

This grand theatrical performance officially opened the curtain for this world-renowned event…

“… This is the most exciting conference I have ever participated in!” Professor Witten had an excited expression on his face. Professor Deligne said to him, “I’m not sure what this feeling is, but this is much more exciting than the ballet in St. Petersburg… and the show in Rio de Janeiro.”

In fact, objectively speaking, the ballet performance at the St. Petersburg conference was good, but they had a lack of funding. As for the latter performance, although it looked very lively, it was a bit too intense. In addition, because of Rio de Janeiro’s serious security problems, if it weren’t for Lu Zhou’s wonderful lecture, the conference would have been a disaster.

“I am interested in whether I can see anything interesting at this conference…” Deligne’s eyes moved toward the poster display area outside the hall. He suddenly showed an unexpected expression in his eyes.

Witten sharply noticed the change in the expression on his old friend’s face. He raised his eyebrows with interest and said, “It seems that you have found something.”

“Yeah.”

Professor Deligne did not give an explanation. He walked straight toward the direction of the poster display area.

Out of curiosity, Witten followed his old friend through the dense crowd. They stopped in front of a whiteboard that seemed ordinary.

Professor Deligne frowned slightly as he looked at a line of calculations on the whiteboard.

“… Cauchy–Riemann equations?”

The young man standing in front of the whiteboard suddenly showed an unexpected look on his face.

“Yes, that’s right… I can’t believe it, are you researching this direction too?”

Obviously, the teenager did not recognize Deligne.

Professor Deligne smiled faintly and said, “I’m not researching this direction, I just think the mathematical method you used is a bit familiar… If I’m not mistaken, the 3rd part of your equation should be an L-manifold. The research project you are studying is a corollary of the Hodge conjecture.”

A shocked expression appeared on the boy’s face. He stared at the old man, as if he were looking at a monster.

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. I’m just curious.” Professor Deligne looked at the poster hanging next to the whiteboard and said, “Since you are researching the Hodge conjecture, why not treat it honestly? Write it on the poster.”

The young man’s face showed a trace of shame. He scratched his head embarrassedly and replied, “I wanted to, but I felt… like it would be a bad idea.”

If he were a little older, it would be fine. But because of his young appearance, even if he was seriously researching this world-class problem, he would be laughed at.

Professor Deligne smiled faintly and said calmly, “The things you worry about are not important at all. Academics are never judged by age. I had a student that was already a world-renowned mathematician at your age.”

“Wow, really…” The boy’s face was full of shock. His mouth opened wide in surprise.

“What’s your name?

“Li Mo…”

Professor Deligne nodded.

“Li Mo… An interesting name. You should be more confident in your research results. At your level, you’re better than 90% of the professors at Princeton.”

Professor Deligne looked at the young man and continued to ask, “By the way, who is your professor? I want to chat with him.”

A touch of pride immediately appeared on Li Mo’s face.

However, the proud expression did not stay on his face for long. It was soon replaced by a touch of sadness and loneliness.

“You might not be able to talk with him anymore…”

Professor Deligne frowned.

“Why?”

Li Mo shook his head and smiled apologetically. “My supervisor… was Lu Zhou.”

Lu Zhou…

The moment he heard the name, Professor Deligne’s pupils shrank.

It was like opening a closed door, his memory poured from the bottom of his heart, making him feel a touch of sorrow.

He had deliberately refrained from remembering that name for the last two years.

“You’re Lu Zhou’s student.” Witten smiled and said, “I have a feeling that it won’t be long before you win a Fields Medal.”

Li Mo smiled embarrassedly and scratched the back of his head.

“I will work hard… My supervisor told me before, that I should keep my eyes on the long-term and not take IMO results too seriously, and that I should set my goal on the Fields Medal.”

“Hahahaha, really? That’s really exciting.”

Deligne said unceremoniously, “Are you sure you’ll live to see that day happen?”

Witten coughed and said, “You should be more confident in me. I still have ten years or so left. Also, a magnificent era has just begun. If I fall right at the beginning… wouldn’t that be unfortunate?”

Just when the two old men were arguing about their age, a loud exclaim spread from the No. 1 lecture hall not far away.

On the stage, Han Mengqi wrote down the last line of calculations on the whiteboard. She gently put down the marker in her hand.

The transcendence of the Riemann-zeta function at odd positive integer points.

This was the research project Lu Zhou left for her when she insisted on turning to pure mathematics research.

She still remembered what he said at the time. He did not ask her to prove the whole proposition. He only asked her to make a slight breakthrough in this area. Even if she found one undiscovered transcendental number, she would be able to graduate.

And now, she obviously exceeded Lu Zhou’s expectations of her at that time.

Not only did she find the transcendental numbers on the zeta function, but she also proved the validity of the entire proposition.

That was, for any n≥1, ζ(2n+1) was also a transcendental number!

Although it took her a long time…

But she finally did it!

“Unbelievable… She is extremely proficient in the application of mathematical tools. Especially the part of the unified theory of algebraic geometry… This is not something a young mathematician can do.”

Schultz’s face was full of shock.

What was proven by the little girl on the podium was the famous Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis in mathematics. Although he had not researched this area, judging by how long this problem had been in existence, it had to have been difficult.

Professor Faltings glanced at Schultz.

“Are you kidding? What kind of newcomer who has just started to study mathematics uses this level of a question as a research topic?”

The old man cast his gaze on stage. His cloudy eyes narrowed slightly.

“But she doesn’t look familiar.”

“She seems to be a student of Lu Zhou.” Schultz said, “I think… I have seen her in his office.”

“His student…”

It seemed that there was nothing strange about this anymore. Professor Faltings leaned back on the chair and spoke confidently.

“It’s too late this year… But the next Fields Medal will definitely have her name on it.”

Schultz glanced at Professor Faltings in surprise, but he didn’t say anything.

Logically speaking, this should indeed be the case.

Number theory itself was one of the most complex fields in pure mathematics. A major breakthrough in this field was worthy of a Fields Medal.

In addition, she was a student of Lu Zhou, so no one should have any objections.

“Stop talking about others.” Professor Faltings continued after a glance at Schultz, “I have always wanted to find the opportunity to ask you, how is your research going?”

“You mean that?” A charming smile appeared on Schultz’s face. “Of course, that research project is about to end. Or, to put it in another way, it’s almost time to publish the paper.”

Faltings: “Are there any journals willing to accept your research?”

“I haven’t found one yet… After all, this research project is really not easy to classify.” Schultz smiled awkwardly and politely. He continued, “If it is not possible, we plan to publish it at any random journal… I don’t particularly care about impact factor anyway.”

Professor Faltings didn’t say much. He just looked up at the podium and said, “A scholar’s golden age is only ten years or so. It took two years for such a result… Was it worth it?”

Schultz went silent for a while.

After a long time, he watched the young woman bow and thank the audience. He then shrugged and said, “For me, this means an end. An end of the expedition from two years ago.”

“So it should be worth it.”

…

Perhaps because of Lu Zhou’s reputation, this year’s International Congress of Mathematicians was particularly lively.

The Quasi Riemann’s hypothesis was proven by Lu Zhou’s student!

After the first report meeting on the first day ended, the atmosphere of the entire conference was pushed to a climax.

However, as far as Han Mengqi was concerned, this was nothing worth celebrating.

She knew very well that the work she had completed was nothing more than a small achievement on the basis of her supervisor; it was far from a breakthrough.

Han Mengqi walked into the backstage lounge and was about to change out of her formal wear. However, the door of the lounge suddenly opened, and an acquaintance walked in.

“… Doctor Yan?”

Han Mengqi looked at her puzzledly, not sure why she appeared here.

She walked to Han Mengqi and asked with a serious expression, “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” Although she didn’t think she could help her, Han Mengqi still replied politely.

Yan Yan: “Your sister is missing, I want to know where she went! Do you have any clues?”

After going to Beijing, Chen Yushan seemed to have evaporated from the world, disappearing from everyone’s sight.

The only clue was that she had visited 301 Hospital once and visited several doctors; all funded by Star Sky Technology.

After that, no one knew where she went.

In fact, this incident did not attract anyone’s attention at the beginning, including her resignation from Star Sky Technology. Most people just expressed their regrets, thinking that she was overwhelmed and needed to rest for a while.

After she disappeared for a long time, many people around her realized the seriousness of the problem.

Since this was not a criminal case, nor did it seem to be done by foreign forces, this matter was eventually transferred to the intelligence department of the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department.

Yan Yan, who had just been transferred into the intelligence department, had very limited resources at her disposal. She could only use the most basic method of interviews and investigations to ask people.

After hearing Yan Yan’s question, Han Mengqi shook her head blankly.

“I don’t know…”

Seeing how Han Mengqi didn’t know anything either, Yan Yan suddenly became anxious and spoke.

“You are her sister, yet you don’t have any ideas? Has she ever said where she really wants to go?”

“Really wants to go…” Han Mengqi opened her mouth. When a piece of memory suddenly appeared in her mind, a touch of surprise appeared in her eyes.

Yan Yan asked immediately, “What are you thinking?”

“Really wants to go… There is a place, but it should be impossible.”

A strange expression appeared on Han Mengqi’s face.

Can she really go that far?

After all, with the current technology on Earth, forget about reaching a star system outside the solar system, even the Kuiper belt may not be reachable…

Chapter 1419: Hidden Dangers From the Future

The rain poured heavily on the narrow streets. A group of special forces in black combat uniforms were lurking in the rain, quietly waiting for the appearance of their prey.

This was Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

Ever since the operation three years ago, this area was affected by China.

Due to the intervention of the Chinese forces in the region, the militants and extreme forces entrenched in the northwest had withdrawn to central Africa. After the departure of those vultures, this world-famous chaotic city returned to order.

However, poverty, hunger, and ignorance were always catalysts of violence and terror. Just like how darkness would always lurk behind light, violence and conflict had never left here in the true sense. Instead, it had moved from the surface to the underground…

Just like the rain that poured down into the sewer.

In the distance, a ray of car beams shined through the rain curtains, drawing a long and narrow outline in the night.

The driver slammed on the brake of the old Ford and stopped on the side of the road. The car door was opened, and the two young black men sitting in the car lowered their hats as they got out of the car in a hurry. They ran to the door of an old apartment on the side of the road and knocked on the door with their fists.

“Open the door! Quick!”

Soon, the rusty iron door was pushed open. After confirming the identity of the two people outside the door, the iron door was completely opened, and the two people outside the door were let in.

The rain in the sky suddenly became heavy; the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground was like drums.

Boots stepped on the concrete roads and puddles. The dark figures held their rifles tightly. They came out of the rain and surrounded the Ford car and the apartment building next to it.

Suddenly, the empty street actually seemed crowded.

In the dark, the person taking the lead waved his hand and made a gesture.

Then, there was the sound of an explosion.

After a dazzling flash and a deafening roar, the rusty iron gate was blown inward.

The special forces waiting at the door went inside. After a few gunshots, the silence of the night sky was completely cut through.

The nearby residents huddled in their homes, closing their windows tightly.

No one dared to stick their heads out, let alone glance at the street, for fear that they might see something they shouldn’t be looking at.

The battle did not last for long.

When the last militant fell in a pool of blood, Wang Peng cleanly inserted the pistol into his tactical belt, stepped over the corpse, and walked toward the messy office.

It was obvious that these people thought about destroying the evidence after being attacked.

In the end, they were one step too slow. They were eliminated before they even had time to react.

After carefully searching on the desk for a while, Wang Peng skillfully removed the booby traps and wires hidden under the drawer. Then, relying on the power of the exoskeleton, he forcefully unlocked the locked drawer.

The entire torn drawer was dropped on the table. Wang Peng reached out and searched through, and he quickly found something like a mission briefing.

It recorded all intelligence including mission objectives, weapons used, and the number of people involved in the operation.

It turned out that, not only had they stopped an attack that had not yet occurred, but they also put an end to the bombing that occurred in Manila a few months ago.

“The evidence is here… It’s confirmed that they were the killers of the Manila bombing.”

Standing next to Wang Peng was the partner arranged for him by the state during this operation. His name was Chen Tao, a young man in his twenties.

Chen Tao looked at the mission briefing and murmured, “Jesus, why are they doing this?”

“Perhaps to prevent the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation conference from being held in Manila, as well as the Pan-Asian Economic Integration Agreement that will be signed at the conference.”

Wang Peng was not clear about the specifics. He only heard that the Pan-Asian Economic Integration Agreement was very important to countries in East Asia. It promoted cooperation with a series of industries including cross-regional power grids, cross-border maglev tunnels, etc.

“But… This is a bit unreasonable. Only the Americans can make such a big mess under our noses, but now their relationship with us has been repaired, there is no need for them to take such a big risk.”

“They’re not necessarily Americans.”

However, he wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

“What you’re saying is… The remnants of a group of Somali pirates caught us off guard on the streets of Manila?”

“No, I don’t mean to say that they did these things on their own. There might be someone else who provided them with assistance… It reminds me of the robbery three years ago. If it weren’t for the members of the Airborne Brigade that were on standby at all times and the support of the British special services, they could have succeeded.”

Wang Peng turned over a notebook made of cowhide from the bottom of the drawer. He picked it up and flipped it over.

Soon, his eyebrows frowned.

“I might have found it…”

“What is this?”

“A missionary handbook… But it’s not a native religion in Somalia.” Wang Peng frowned when he looked at the familiar symbol.

The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

I didn’t expect to see this here.

He suddenly discovered a torn piece of newspaper between the pages.

“… The hypothesis of four-dimensional space debris in the Martian ruins.”

He looked at this weird headline and the calculations sandwiched in the text. Wang Peng gradually began to realize that the hidden secrets were far more complicated than he had thought…

“I’m going back to China tomorrow.”

“Going back to China?” Chen Tao was stunned. He looked at him and said, “What about the remaining work?”

Wang Peng reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

“You got this.”

…

Two years ago.

Ever since the disaster on Mars, Wang Peng had been transferred back to Earth from the Mars scientific research base.

The state did not punish him because of Academician Lu’s death. After all, when it came to disasters of that level, one man’s strength was small.

He tried his best to bring back Academician Lu’s relics. However, even if no one blamed him, the deep self-blame still lingered in his heart. Even though two years had passed, he still had not recovered from that disaster…

An office inside the Ministry of State Security.

Wang Peng opened the door and walked in.

“Director Yang, were you looking for me?”

“Yes.” Director Yang sat up straight and placed a document on the desk. He said, “The source of that newspaper has been found… It is not a newspaper at all, it was taken from an academic journal.”

Wang Peng picked up the document from the desk. He frowned and rummaged through the contents.

After a long time, he spoke.

“Interesting…”

The status of this academic journal was quite prestigious. It was one of the three major academic journals today—”Nature”.

The strip of paper that was torn off was the research results highlighted on the cover of the issue of “Nature” published last month.

Simply put, Professor Aubrey and Professor Schultz claimed in their research that the earthquake that occurred on Mars two years ago was not caused by geological movements.

The real reason was that the collapse of a four-dimensional space debris caused the distorted space and position to be changed, which triggered the structural collapse of the entire ruins.

It was as if a building’s load-bearing wall was broken.

Although it sounded a bit confusing, they finally proved this theoretically through some samples collected from the Martian ruins, as well as using their subjective feelings and mathematical inferences.

Because this paper seemed a bit ridiculous, it caused a considerable amount of controversy in academia.

Perhaps hoping that this matter would trigger a greater discussion, “Nature” quoted this research result and placed it in its highlight section.

Director Yang continued, “You should be familiar with Professor Aubrey and Professor Schultz. They participated in the diplomatic mission to Mars two years ago and survived that disaster.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“I remember them.”

Director Yang continued, “Based on their recently published paper and their explanation of the existence of a 4D space fragment, our intelligence personnel have reached inferences after consulting relevant experts.

“In the ruins of the Martian civilization, there should be some kind of special mechanism, some technology that we all don’t understand yet. This technology is powerful enough to affect the space around us. Even space dimension itself.

“Under the influence of the four-dimensional space debris, they were trapped in a circular space, like hamsters on wheels.”

After listening to his boss’ statement, Wang Peng opened his mouth with surprise. After a moment of silence, he gave his own evaluation.

“It sounds a bit like a science fiction movie.”

“It does, but it is indeed the most likely explanation so far. There used to be a civilization on Mars that was far stronger than ours. Their technology was unprecedentedly advanced. The ruins is the evidence.”

Wang Peng looked at Director Yang, who was hesitant to speak, and spoke.

“Just get to it, what do you need me to do?”

The office went silent for a while.

Director Yang, who was sitting behind the desk, seemed to hesitate for a while. In the end, he made a decision.

“The Spirit of the Universe Foundation, which we have been investigating for more than two years, leave them aside for the time being. What really worries me is that the technology buried there may have an impact on the current international landscape.

“If we lose our technological advantage, you know what will happen to our international position.”

Wang Peng nodded.

Director Yang stared at him and continued, “So far, we have excavated the ruins of The Gates of Hell to the depth of only 50 meters. With the existing technical means and conditions on Mars, we cannot continue to dig down. If we want to dig kilometers deep, it would take decades.

“However, when we have the ability to dig out the ruins, our politics and system won’t be the same as today. We might not be alert to potential threats.

“People forget, let alone across generations.

“Unless there is a warrior who is loyal enough, keeps the mission in mind, is fast at learning, and will remind our compatriots.”

Director Yang looked at Wang Peng with a hint of approval.

“Your loyalty is obvious to all, and so, I can only trust you.

“For the sake of the future of the Communist Party of China and the country, I need you to perform a task.”

“What do you mean?”

Wang Peng had vaguely guessed what Director Yang wanted him to do.

Director Yang nodded solemnly.

“It seems that you have guessed it.

“Yes, I want you to take a trip to the future.”

…

Princeton.

There was a wave of cheers in the library activity room.

It wasn’t until the sound of the librarian knocking on the door did the cheering finally die down.

“This is definitely a miracle in economics, sociology, human behavior… and even the history of physics and mathematics!” Professor Albert spoke in a low voice, unable to hide the excitement in his heart.

On the computer screen, 40 pages of calculations had been compiled into a beautiful programming language.

The exquisite parameters were like finely crafted gears. A machine that used formulas that corresponded with human social behavior and economic activities.

It was the ultimate theory of big data!

The sample size was also unprecedented!

It took them a full 4 years to complete this great project. It was time to test their results.

Professor Krugman, who had always been calm, couldn’t help but stretch his hands and said eagerly, “Hurry up and try it, I can’t wait.”

“Wait a minute, I have already applied for the supercomputer permission, it should be soon…”

The program import did not take much time.

Because the preliminary preparations were almost complete, they only needed to import the sample parameters they collected one by one, then use the supercomputer’s power to solve this complicated equation to get the result they wanted.

They did not wait for long. In just an hour, they successfully obtained the data.

It took them a whole day to sort through the data.

However, something unexpected happened.

However, after seeing this result, Professor Albert and Professor Krugman showed strange expressions.

The silence lasted for a minute or so.

In the end, it was Albert who broke the silence by speaking in an uncertain tone.

“Did something go wrong?”

“Impossible,” said Professor Krugman. He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and was extremely confident in his research results. Without any hesitation, he said, “From a computational perspective, our results are extremely correct… Although, as far as the results are concerned, it may be somewhat different from what we imagined.”

Delta represented the growth rate of technological development and was associated with lambda, representing the gross product value, as well as the urbanization rate of major countries, education index…

According to their calculations…

The technological development speed of human civilization reached its peak in the 1950s, then declined rapidly in the second half of the 21st century. Eventually, many positive indicators decreased, the development of society fell to a big halt, causing a serious global economic crisis.

Not only that, but in the second half of the 21st century, the global political situation would also go through a huge change.

And this change would change the lives of everyone on the planet…

In short, the situation was not optimistic.

Professor Albert gulped and whispered, “To be honest, I was shocked by our research results.”

Professor Krugman nodded solemnly. The expression on his face was not much better.

“We should publish this result and think of ways to expand its influence. At least, give some warnings to the people in the future…”

“I doubt this would be useful…” Albert looked at Professor Krugman. “Once a trend occurs, unless there are variables that no one can predict, it will be almost irreversible.”

After a moment of silence, Professor Krugman sighed slightly.

“Whether it’s useful or not…

“We have to give it a try.”

Chapter 1420: Events From Billion of Years Ago

Thousands of animals wandered in the lush grasslands and endless dense forests.

Of course, they would eventually die because of hunger.

…

On a cliff that hung in the clouds.

Lu Zhou looked at the fertile land tens of meters away, as well as the lush pastures and giant trees tens of meters high in the distance. He was sitting on the edge of the cliff. He looked up at the sky and couldn’t help but squint his eyes.

Everything in front of him felt like an untouched forest, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he had returned to hundreds of millions of years ago.

“Don’t tell me I traveled to Mars billions of years ago…”

The sun in the sky was small, only the size of a thumb. The light was not particularly dazzling, but it was bright enough.

The temperature was very comfortable. It didn’t feel cold at all; it even felt like a spring afternoon. He wanted to lie in the shade of the trees and take a lazy nap.

Lu Zhou speculated that the reason why such a comfortable temperature could be maintained here was mostly due to the thickness of the atmosphere and the type of soil. The thick atmosphere was like a quilt, which locked in most of the heat emitted from the sun.

A familiar voice appeared in his ear.

“Time is irreversible. This is a universal law.”

“Oh, so this is a memory?”

A blue beam of light slowly appeared beside Lu Zhou. A blue humanoid walked out of the light and sat beside him.

General Reinhardt looked at the slowly moving biome in the sky. He spoke in a calm voice with a hint of approval.

“Smart, no wonder The Observer values you so much.”

Lu Zhou smirked and said nothing.

In fact, he expected this.

Before entering the dormant cabin, he learned that General Reinhardt’s existence was a piece of memory.

Since Reinhardt could remember his name and play the role of “Reinhardt” perfectly and communicate with himself normally, then obviously this piece of memory could be rewritten.

For example, into what happened billions of years ago.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“You have no hope of waking up in decades anyway, don’t you want to find something to pass the time?”

Lu Zhou spoke with a speechless expression.

“For me, decades is just a matter of opening and closing my eyes.”

From my perspective…

That is the case.

“Technically true, but don’t you want to know what happened here?”

Lu Zhou’s eyes showed a look of interest.

“What happened here?”

General Reinhardt smiled faintly and did not answer the question immediately. He got up from the ground and patted his pants.

“Come with me.

“You’ll know soon.”

Regardless of whether Lu Zhou followed him or not, he turned around and walked down the mountain.

Lu Zhou hesitated for two seconds. Thinking that he was bored anyway, he stood up and followed General Reinhardt down the mountain.

“In your culture, the concept that is closest to the prehistoric ecology of Mars is probably the Gaia Hypothesis put forward by your scholars. The entire planet was almost in a permanent ecosystem balance.

“There was no concept of the South Pole and the North Pole. Creatures at any latitude existed in the most comfortable state. This was like a paradise. If there were no accidents, it would have stayed that way.”

Lu Zhou spoke casually.

“However, accidents happen.”

“Yeah.”

“Then what caused—”

“It’s me.”

As they were talking, the two had already arrived next to a cave.

When Lu Zhou saw the huge insect next to the cave, his eyeballs nearly popped out of the sockets.

This was the first time he saw a cockroach as tall as his knee.

The pair of fluffy tentacles about two meters in length swayed up and down, and they seemed to be hesitating about something.

“Doesn’t it look disgusting?”

“Yeah.”

“This is normal. Mammals and arthropods have natural differences in aesthetics. They value multiple legs, slender tentacles, and complex textures… I don’t want to discuss beauty with you too much. Your civilization is still too young. When you have a little more knowledge, we may discuss these things again.”

While talking, the cockroach nearby seemed to have finally made up its mind and began to explore the interior of the cave.

General Reinhardt gave Lu Zhou a “follow me” gesture, then led him into the cave.

The lighting in the cave was dim, it was almost pitch black.

Before entering, Lu Zhou was hesitant. After all, he really didn’t want to stay in the same space with such a big insect, even though he knew that all this was just a piece of ancient memory.

However, seeing how General Reinhardt walked inside casually, he finally clenched his teeth and followed after overcoming the discomfort in his heart.

The two of them and the cockroach walked into the cave, covering about one or two hundred meters.

The cockroach that was walking in front suddenly felt danger, and the wings attached to its back made a dangerous buzzing sound.

“What is it doing?”

“Hunting.”

“Hunting?”

“Yes, in the early days of civilization, or before they formed a civilization, these cockroaches mainly feed on the cubs of a reptilian creature in the cave. This creature is special, and its larvae also have the ability to reproduce. You will see that these cockroaches have wisely domesticated them into livestock as a source of protein.”

“Like an ant’s aphids?”

“Clever.”

While talking, a long-legged spider, who had fangs inlaid on its face and a height of one meter, roared and approached them aggressively.

Lu Zhou took a step back subconsciously as the fur on the spider made his scalp numb.

The creeping and trembling cockroach in front of him suddenly moved.

The wings on its carapace suddenly blasted, and the cockroach shot forward like a bullet.

This hunting method of shooting out like a cannonball really shocked Lu Zhou.

He thought that this creature only hid in the gutter, gnawing on rotten food, with no offensive ability at all. He did not expect the cockroach on Mars had such a brutal hunting ability!

The spider didn’t seem to expect the “little guy” in front of it to be so ferocious. It was caught off guard and rolled to the side.

The two insects fell into a close hand-to-hand fight and fought together. Relying on its small size, the cockroach was lucky enough to hang on the spider’s belly and ate off half of the spider’s face.

The winner was decided.

After spazzing for a while, the spider curled up into a ball and laid on the ground lifelessly.

The cockroach roared excitedly and cut off the spider’s fangs. It tied them to the top of its head and quickly rushed into the lair behind the cave.

Inside the lair, a large pile of larvae squirmed on the ground.

Obviously, they didn’t know that they were in danger…

“The ability to kill adult Martian spiders is respected in the Martian Civilization. Under normal circumstances, those Martian spiders usually hunt giant insects over two meters tall. These Martians cannot defend themselves.”

Lu Zhou said with an ugly expression, “I’m thinking… We better not call them Martians.”

Reinhardt smiled faintly and said, “Why, didn’t you give them this name?”

Lu Zhou: “…”

“In fact, it doesn’t matter. The name is just a symbol. Besides, the little guy in front of you will learn to walk upright, make tools, and even develop a civilization that is many times more prosperous than Earth… Look at it, it seems to have found a treasure.”

The cockroach was collecting the larvae when it suddenly stopped its movements.

The larvae seemed to realize that this thing was not their own mother, and they began to feel uneasy.

The cockroach vibrated the tentacles above its head and climbed near the side of a stone wall.

The stone wall was firmly embedded in the rocks.

There were rows of weird marks on the mirror-like stone monument.

Although Lu Zhou didn’t understand what these signs meant, he felt that there was a kind of breathtaking attraction in the symbols.

“Curiosity is the beginning of everything. You can’t imagine what kind of waves set off in my heart when I found this ugly little guy stopping in front of this stone monument.”

“This is…” There was a sense of disbelief in his eyes. Lu Zhou’s pupils contracted slightly as he whispered, “The words of the Calan empire?”

“Yeah.”

General Reinhardt nodded.

“These words were carved out to commemorate something when I first came to this planet… or this universe.”

While the two were talking, the cockroach curiously tapped the lines of strange words with its tentacles.

Judging from its actions, this little guy seemed to want to move this thing away, but after some effort, it finally gave up on this unrealistic idea.

It stared at the stone monument for a long time. It rubbed its forelimbs on the ground, seemingly imitating the symbols on the stone monument.

The cockroach standing in front of the stone tablet did not realize that its curiosity changed the fate of a race.

It also completely changed the future of a planet…

Chapter 1421: Prosperity and Apoptosis

Ding!

The sound of steel banging awakened Lu Zhou from his trance.

That was the sound of metal striking.

When he came back to his senses, he was already standing in front of a primitive house made of wood, stones, and some white fluff. A strange furnace was next to him. When he looked up into the distance, he could see the wall built up by dirt and wooden sticks, as well as the vast farmland.

Like General Reinhardt said, these bugs learned to walk upright. They even learned to use tools and developed the embryonic form of a farming civilization.

But in his opinion, their walking posture was quite goofy.

He looked at the “grassland” surrounded by the fences and the larvae. A thoughtful expression appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

General Reinhardt walked to his side and asked jokingly, “What kind of experience is it to lose consciousness for tens of thousands of years?”

Lu Zhou heard the ridicule in the tone, but he had no time to think of a comeback.

“… Tens of thousands of years have passed?”

General Reinhardt shrugged.

“You can think of it as a fast forward. After all, I can’t really let you stay in my memory for tens of thousands of years.”

What?

Jesus!

Lu Zhou thought he had slept for tens of thousands of years!

“…”

Lu Zhou looked around and looked at the village at the foot of the mountain for a while before continuing to speak, “We are now in the stone age?”

“Slightly farther than the stone age. They have learned to smelt metals… We are probably in the bronze age.”

“Did you teach them this?”

“No, they may have a slightly smaller brain capacity, but they are not so stupid that they need my help to build houses and domesticate beasts.”

“But you told me that you enlightened them.”

“Yes, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the stone tablet I left behind taught them how to write. Because of the ability to write, their knowledge can be passed on. Isn’t this enough?”

There was a humming sound in the room, and the tranquility and peace in the air suddenly disappeared.

Cockroaches with metal horns on their heads rushed out of the woods and rushed toward the village at the foot of the mountain.

Screams came one after another, and the cockroaches were armed and ready to fight.

Lu Zhou watched the cockroaches rushing toward one another.

Fortunately, General Reinhardt, who was standing next to him, raised his hand and flew into the sky with him. Otherwise, he might have vomited from the disgusting scene.

Lu Zhou looked down at the flames rising into the sky under his feet, as well as the bloody fight. He suddenly had an illusion that he seemed like a god.

In fact, this was indeed the case. He was looking at the life of a civilization through the perspective of a god…

“Do you feel like an omnipotent god?”

“Kind of.”

“It seems that you have gradually realized how I feel.” General Reinhardt smiled faintly. “In fact, any higher civilization will have similar thoughts when facing a lower civilization. This is probably how The Observers think about us.”

While the two were chatting, the battle at the foot of the mountain was over.

The battle between the two groups of cockroaches finally ended in the victory of the invaders.

The victors set up a fire in the center of the village, lit a flame, and danced to please the gods. They enjoyed the plundered supplies and slaughtered the enemy’s livestock.

General Reinhardt continued blankly.

“This is the first stage of evolution. Civilization and barbarism are fighting for the last time. At first, the latter had the upper hand, but in the end, the former would end up on top. The Martians on this land would begin to merge into one. In order to manage more population, they would transition from a tribal system to a feudal system, then through countless reforms and even revolutions, they would realize the liberation of productivity…”

Lu Zhou: “Then what role did you play in it?”

“Me?” General Reinhardt smiled faintly and continued, “I didn’t play any role. When they contacted me again, they were already in the electronic age.”

While General Reinhardt was talking about this, the ground under the two of them changed again.

The rustic hut was gone, replaced by a house made of red bricks and granite.

The bonfire also disappeared, replaced by chimneys rising to the sky and factories covering hundreds of acres.

Carriages of finished steel products were transported out of the factory and loaded onto the train.

Not far away, circles of houses rose from the ground, and the outline of the city began to appear rapidly.

“Is it shocking?”

“Yeah…” Lu Zhou looked at everything that happened on the planet under his feet. He said, “It’s just something I don’t quite understand.”

“Don’t understand what.”

“Since the Martian civilization is nearly three billion years ahead of us… Why does The Observer civilization not choose them, but to pin their hopes on three billion years later, on a civilization that is inferior to the Martian civilization in terms of resources and environmental conditions? Us.”

In Lu Zhou’s opinion, the initial resources of these Martians were perfect.

Unlike the human civilization that had experienced countless obstacles, this group of insects living in a greenhouse had hardly been affected by natural disasters. Even if the crops were not harvested for a year, they could still hunt from the lush forests and find food underground.

“This question is actually interesting. Does the most fertile land breed the strongest civilization?”

Seeing that Lu Zhou was lost in thought, General Reinhardt continued, “In fact, although the planet Gaia has an ecological environment that all organic life forms envy, it is not the most suitable environment for birthing civilization.

“A rich environment means that you don’t need to make a lot of effort to obtain the basic materials needed for survival. Although the Martians have the same curious personalities as humans, they don’t know what hard work is in their culture. And more deadly, tens of thousands of years of evolution have allowed them to fully adapt to the ecological environment of Gaia. This makes it difficult for them to find an acceptable second home.

“Imagine if the Earth’s ecosystem could accommodate 20 billion people or even 30 billion people and the abundant resource reserves could not be exhausted. Would you still want to give up the good life on Earth to explore the Moon or Mars?

“In contrast, those harsh and extreme environments are more likely to nurture a powerful and aggressive civilization. You should remember this.”

General Reinhardt continued, “As for time… A civilization with a longer period of time may be more developed, but the reason for its development isn’t because of time alone. I only knew about these things after reaching the center of the galaxy.”

In just a few minutes, the ground under their feet was already full of life.

The endless grasslands were no longer visible, the borders of the forest continued to shrink and shrink, finally disappearing into the horizon. It was swallowed by tall buildings made of reinforced concrete and steel which had covered almost every inch of the planet.

Lu Zhou finally understood where the rust all over the surface of Mars came from.

And those hematite veins and silicate sedimentary rock formations with strange structures…

All that turned out to be the “corpse” of a civilized city on Mars!

“Unbelievable, how did they finally get to… this step?”

Lu Zhou looked at the planet that had almost been completely changed by the reinforced concrete man-made objects, the neon lights on the streets, and endless prosperity.

However, the advancement did not change the ugly appearance of the Martians.

If he hadn’t seen what Mars would look like billions of years later, he would never believe that this powerful civilization would eventually disappear…

“There are many reasons and even many coincidences.

“Aside from this, let’s make a hypothesis. If cancer cells know that they will expand endlessly and one day they will die with the host, do you think it will consider proliferating in a relatively gentle way?”

Lu Zhou asked subconsciously, “Is it still cancer then?”

Reinhardt nodded and said, “Yes, so it’s impossible to expect civilization to constrain itself and achieve common prosperity with nature. It’s like the duality of man. Expanding to a more distant world is the only way for civilization to survive, just like the first fish that jumps onto land.

“However, due to the problem of habitability, the Martian civilization finally did not embark on this path. Normally, the resources of a Gaia planet would be able to meet their needs, until… they finally do something stupid.”

Lu Zhou gulped.

“What did they do?”

“They built a geothermal well, which was dug from the bottom of the sea to the mantle layer, to extract heat and minerals from it, to build and support their city.”

“They are crazy…” Lu Zhou was stunned. “Did they not think of… other ways?”

“Other ways? Like controllable nuclear fusion?” General Reinhardt smiled faintly. “Don’t forget that Mars was formed only a few hundred million years ago, so the entire solar system is still very young. There is not a large amount of deuterium and tritium that has accumulated in the ocean like that on Earth.

“Martian civilization did invent controllable nuclear fusion technology, but for their conditions, this was not the cheapest option. Downward exploration was more attractive. After all, drilling holes was their instinct for survival.

“A large amount of mantle material was pumped to the surface, and the energy in the core was released. In fact, this was a very slow process. It included the cooling of the core and the weakening of the magnetic field. Most Martians were not able to feel the changes during their lifetime.

“When the local nuclear temperature finally fell below a certain critical value, the weak magnetic field could no longer resist the high-energy rays from the universe, but it was too late. They watched in despair as the atmosphere was blown away. After most died from cancer, cities became ghost towns. They were forced to take everyone and retreat from the surface to the underground world.

“However, even in the underground world, there was no place for them. At that time, Mars was like a dying old man.

“Before the civilization was about to die, they made certain efforts… Such as the ignition plan and the planting plan.

“I have talked to you about the ignition plan. They begged me for help. They hoped that by sending my engine to the upper mantle, the zero-point energy in the energy module would be detonated and the heat borrowed from the Mars core would be returned. They hibernated some of their compatriots and took turns to wake up to complete the work, but they failed in the end.

“As for the planting plan, that was more interesting.”

General Reinhardt smiled.

“Maybe because they were stimulated by the upheaval on Mars, they finally realized their weakness in adapting to the environment, so they drastically tailored their genes through genetic modification.

“Unfortunately, genetic modification was a very sophisticated technology. In this regard, they were obviously immature. They could only forcibly improve their habitability at the cost of weakening other parts. The new Martians were intellectually flawed.

“But this was the only hope for survival. If after billions of years of evolution, if one day these new Martians re-awaken the genes of their ancestors, they could recover their civilization.

“Some Martians turned their eyes to Earth, which is your home planet. Although Earth was still in chaos at that time, they tried to detonate nuclear weapons, put acid-resistant, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and other artificial methods to accelerate the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere.

“I don’t know if this is part of The Observer’s plan. But in some sense, they were making progress.

“The genetically modified, cryo-dormant new Martians were sent to Earth by their compatriots. The Martians hoped that the little guys could someday rebuild the glory of the Martian civilization.”

General Reinhardt showed a sad expression on his face and spoke softly.

“As for the result, you should already know…

“They spent billions of years, spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers…

“And finally succeeded in becoming the cockroaches you know of.”

…

Earth.

Bodleian Library, the University of Oxford

An old man who was nearly sixty years old was crouching in front of a wooden table, carefully checking the print in his hand.

His name was Vernal; he was an archaeologist. Although there had been a slight deviation in his research direction in recent decades, he was still an archaeologist in essence.

As of today, thirty years had passed since the original trip to Mars.

In the past 30 years, the international community did not give up on digging The Gates of Hell. It was only recently that the funds were cut and cut again, slowing down progress.

Relying on his position as an authority in the field of Martian archaeology, he had successively visited Mars several times in the past 30 years to investigate the remains of The Gates of Hell, and at the same time, to investigate some newly discovered clues on the Martian civilization.

He had also changed from a middle-aged man to a proper old man.

Although space travel was not as simple as eating a meal, it was much more accessible than it was 30 years ago. Many newlyweds with well-established families chose to spend their honeymoons on the Moon and experience the wonderful experience of the weightless environment.

There were not many scholars like him who insisted on doing it by hand and completing a thesis on paper in this era of advanced multimedia technology…

“Professor, I brought you your manuscript.” Footsteps were heard from the door, and a young man with freckles holding a stack of papers opened the door and walked in.

The pile of papers was so high that it blocked his face, and he almost tripped over the chair at the door.

Professor Vernal stood up angrily.

“Be careful! You stupid simpleton! This is a precious historical document.”

“But professor, they are just printed copies…” With a helpless expression on his face, the young student continued, “If you want, I can go to the printing room to get you another copy.”

“The manuscripts of any great man were brand new when they were first stored in this library. Electronic files have no soul,” Professor Vernal said as he began to count the batches of documents.

Confirming that there were no files missing, he nodded with satisfaction.

“Very good, they’re all here.”

The young PhD student looked at his supervisor with a weird expression. He wanted to complain, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

His supervisor stood up and walked to the coat rack at the door. He took a khaki coat and put it on him, then stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his collar.

He looked at the old man in the mirror, and a trace of nostalgia appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by strong confidence.

Today!

My research will change history!

Professor Vernal’s voice brought a hint of excitement.

Like he was in a Broadway play.

“Go get ready, Dr. Gilbert!

“Take out the most expensive suit in your closet and iron it. The report will begin in the afternoon.

“The whole world will remember our names forever because of this amazing discovery!”

The neuroticism of the old professor was no surprise, so Gilbert cast a glance at him and murmured, “Okay, professor.”

He really wanted to write a paper.

On whether leaving Earth would break someone’s brain…

…

Compared to decades of time, waiting for a mere afternoon was nothing more than a blink of an eye.

Professor Vernal quietly waited for the clock on the wall. He approached the microphone and cleared his throat.

The lecture hall was quiet.

The pair of eyes looked at the old professor on the podium, waiting for his opening remarks.

The report seminar finally began!

“Ladies and gentlemen.

“I’m glad you all came here today.

“I will announce an important discovery to you here—

“The Martians were by our side this entire time!”

People’s faces showed surprised expressions as voices of discussion spread everywhere.

Young people joked with each other and said, “Are you a Martian?”. Some people took notes seriously while others sneered and shook their heads to show disdain.

Professor Vernal had a smile on his face.

Satisfied with the surprise on people’s faces, he continued, “Although this sounds ridiculous…

“But based on the fossil specimens we found in the Olympus crater and the various signs we have investigated from other relics, we have been able to make a preliminary judgment that they belong to the Insecta, Blattaria… Just like the American cockroaches.

“Maybe the cockroaches we see today are actually the same species as the Martians from billions of years ago!

“All of this is possible!”

The entire lecture hall went crazy…

Chapter 1422: Mysterious Letter

Thinking back to that day many years later, Professor Gilbert couldn’t help but feel regretful.

So close.

They were so close.

His supervisor almost became the Darwin of the new century, the Mendel of archaeology. He also almost became the apprentice of the master of archaeology in the new era. They could have dominated the archaeology department at the University of Oxford.

Professor Gilbert thought about this many times. If it wasn’t for the shoe that flew toward the podium that made the elderly Professor Vernal feel embarrassed, history would be different…

Although fighting was sometimes a part of academic discussions, it was unfair to let an elderly man and a young man fight hand-to-hand.

At a suburb of Oxford, England, North Sea Alliance, Earth.

Professor Gilbert was wearing reading glasses. He was babbling in an old mansion.

“Logic, logic… This group of idiots talks about logic every day, except that they have never considered that their logic is sh*t! Besides, is scientific research about evidence or the sh*t inside these people’s heads?

“Does science rely on mainstream views? Does science even have a concept of mainstream? This is the 22nd century. This makes me think I am living in the Middle Ages! It’s getting more backward!

“Look at their arguments against me. I will find one. Yes, this guy named Peterson, right? Don’t laugh too hard…

“We all have to admit that if a species wants to grow into a planetary overlord, it should at least have an average intelligence level close to that of humans, but such intelligence has hardware requirements. I don’t know what it is in other places, but on Earth, it’s called myelin. So far, cockroaches have a primitive nervous system. Even if the Martians don’t know about myelin, they should have something similar…”

As if he was reading a joke, Professor Gilbert snorted.

“Look at this, it’s like the universe is his garden. The rocks and specimens my instructor dug from the Olympus crater are not as good as the dog crap he picked from his backyard.

“We have little understanding of the situation from three billion years ago. Just by making an inference from a limited fossil sample, he is sure that those Martians are exactly the same cockroaches on Earth? Is he even certain that their nervous system is the same as myelin? Jesus… Is there a more arrogant argument than this? When did myelin sheath become the most perfect transmitter in the universe?

“The most ridiculous thing is that a species close to the level of human intelligence can become the overlords of a planet… When did human beings become the unit of measuring intelligence… What kind of retarded joke is this? How did you get into our campus?”

After taking a deep breath, Professor Gilbert calmed down. He then became annoyed again.

“They don’t understand anything. Whenever your paper is different from what they think in their minds, they will insult your paper. The most irritable thing is when they are proven wrong, they act as if nothing happened and will not take responsibility for it.

“But should I take them to heart? These idiots are just a bunch of brainless slugs, not even as useful as the fax machine in my storage room! They know neither science nor science fiction, just being alive is an insult to the theory of evolution!”

Dr. Leonard, who was in his early thirties, looked at his furious father in amazement.

“Dad?”

“What?”

“I feel like you actually care about their opinions…”

Professor Gilbert said sternly, “Nope, you’re wrong.”

The tone eased a little. Professor Gilbert calmed down, looked at his son, and continued, “Put Professor Peterson’s paper aside for the time being… You are now a member of the archaeological department of the University of Oxford. Go and buy yourself a decent suit. Tomorrow will be the first start of your new life. Don’t embarrass the Vernal school of thought.”

Leonard couldn’t help but put a bright and confident smile on his face.

“Don’t worry, Dad, I definitely won’t—”

“Also, let’s talk about rent.” Professor Gilbert interrupted his son’s confident speech and looked to the side. He said, “You have a job now. You’ll pay me 1,000 credits every month.”

Leonard, who was full of confidence before, suddenly froze.

“Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if I am your son or if I am adopted.”

“Don’t worry, you are my son; self-reliance is our family’s ancestral motto. I hope you will keep this in mind. Go, don’t bother me here. Back then, 30-year-olds were already married. You should learn to grow up.”

Professor Gilbert waved his hand impatiently. He picked up the reading glasses from the table and put them back on.

Leonard walked out of the room with his shoulders drooping.

…

Professor Gilbert was definitely an alien at the University of Oxford.

One was because his teacher was the famously old and stubborn Professor Vernal, who was called “Doctor Cockroach”, and the other reason was that he had offended many people because of his incomprehensible way of doing things.

Whether it was students or colleagues, it was difficult to find someone who liked this old guy.

As his son, Leonard had to admit that his father sometimes was a little offensive. Leonard even used him as an example of what not to do.

However, even then, he understood why his father became like this.

When a person was in an extreme environment and was regarded as a different kind by everyone in this environment, they would either become paranoid or choose to be assimilated into the environment. There was almost no third choice.

Obviously, his father made a choice very much like the people of “that era”. He was truly proud of his identity as a “scholar”, and he regarded his doctrine as an honor to defend. And oftentimes, he would repeat Professor Lu’s words.

In this era, there were not many old scholars like him…

It had been a year since Leonard joined the Department of Archaeology at the University of Oxford and became an honorable in-service professor. The suit he bought that day was worn out, and Leonard had almost become accustomed to life as a professor.

He went to the Pan-Asian Cooperation to attend an academic conference. Before going home, he planned to go to the University of Oxford to report on the progress of the conference and his work during this period.

However, when he first arrived at the school, he was stunned by everything in front of him.

A yellow cordon was outside the Department of Archaeology building. Two police officers stood beside them, making simple exchanges with the robotic police officers who had finished investigating the scene.

Leonard walked up quickly to one of the policemen. He frowned and asked, “What happened?”

The policeman looked impatient. He swiped twice on the translucent holographic panel and answered, “A professor died suddenly at the report meeting. According to our forensic medical examination, it was preliminarily determined that the cause of death was a heart attack.”

With a bad feeling in his heart, Leonard gulped nervously and asked in a trembling voice, “The professor’s name is…”

The policeman glanced at him.

“Gilbert, do you know him?”

His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach in an instant.

The moment he heard the name, Leonard felt dizzy.

A professor wearing a wide gray trench coat walked out quickly from the building.

After seeing Professor Leonard standing outside the cordon, he seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly changed his mind and walked over.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Leonard… Your father was a great scholar.”

Like an old friend, Professor Peterson gave Professor Leonard a hug involuntarily, then patted him on the shoulder. He spoke with a pained expression.

“We are all very sad that something like this has happened…”

Leonard recovered slowly and looked at Professor Peterson blankly.

His pupils shrank instantly when he recognized the face.

Lavanger Peterson!

The most loyal opponent of the… Vernal school of thought!

This guy went against his father at report meetings more than once and did not have the demeanor of a scholar. He always used a barbaric way to obstruct the report meetings.

He remembered that when he was talking to his father on the phone yesterday, his father told him that there was a very important report meeting today…

He looked at the stack of meeting notes under Professor Peterson’s elbow, and he seemed to understand something.

“You…”

A fire of rage suddenly rushed to his head. Leonard stepped forward suddenly and raised his fist to hit him.

However, the punch did not land on Professor Peterson. The robotic police officer standing beside him quickly grabbed his fist. The other two police officers also reacted and quickly controlled him.

“What are you doing? Stop!”

The robot man reminded with a gentle electronic tone, “Citizen, please refrain from illegal behavior.”

Professor Peterson opened his mouth and made a surprised expression. He opened his arms as if he was confused about the situation in front of him.

“What’s the matter with you? Mr. Leonard… you seem to be out of control, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s you!” Professor Leonard stared at him and squeezed a word from his teeth. “You did it on purpose…”

“Me? On purpose? What do you mean? What are you accusing me of?”

Leonard instantly calmed down.

According to the civil law of the North Sea Alliance, if he accused Peterson here, it meant that he would be responsible for his own remarks. The other party could also use this as evidence for counterclaims.

As for the recordings, there was a robot police next to them that was recording the whole thing, which was legal evidence that could be brought out in court. The situation could be very disadvantageous for him.

Peterson looked at Professor Leonard, who had calmed down. He had a winner’s smile on his face.

“Mr. Leonard, I admit that I do oppose your father on academic points of view, but it is my academic freedom to express opinions…”

Peterson leaned next to Professor Leonard as he smiled and spoke softly.

“If I could, I would tell him in front of him again that his paper is just a pile of sh*t and has no research value.”

The robot police’s eyes began to glow blue as it spoke.

“Please step back, citizen. If you continue to make provocative remarks, we will have to arrest you.”

“Okay, my mistake, I apologize, I’m very, very sorry.” Professor Peterson laughed and looked at Professor Leonard, who was glaring at him.

“Have a nice day…

“See you.”

…

Heavy rain washed the streets.

Billowing thunder hit the clouds from time to time.

After attending the funeral of his father, Professor Leonard, who got out of the car, closed the door behind him heavily.

With a gloomy look on his face, he didn’t open his umbrella or run. He let the rain hit his body as he walked back home through the front yard.

There was a musty smell in the room.

The unique smell of wood and leather furniture was common in the past. It was difficult to completely eliminate it no matter how many times it was cleaned.

A general-purpose type 1 housekeeping robot with a height of about 1.5 meters and inconspicuous facial features walked to the entrance and stopped.

After recognizing Leonard’s facial features through the eye camera, it spoke in a gentle voice.

“Welcome home, Master Leonard, you seemed to have been in the rain. Do you need me to dry your clothes and put on the bathwater in the bathtub before dinner?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

As the only smart device in this dilapidated home, after receiving the owner’s order, the robot had an abstract smile and stayed quiet.

The robot produced on the low-end industrial chain was not only clumsy, but the facial engineering was also messy. With a little makeup, it could be a monster at a haunted house.

Without paying attention to the uncanny valley smile, Leonard walked to the refrigerator with a sullen face and took a bottle of beer. He then returned to his room.

Compared to the post-modern apartments and high-rise flats in the city, his ancestral home in the suburbs was bought by his father when he was young.

After several renovations, an old house was still an old house. As long as the floor was old wood, no matter how it was remodeled, it would creak when one stepped on it.

His father had always been stubborn in rejecting new things.

Even though holographic technology had been popularized in all aspects of life, he still stubbornly used a tablet to work and write papers, as if something visible and tangible could bring him a sense of security.

The robot was the result of a lot of persuasions.

Sometimes, he thought that since he was in his 30s, he should move out of this home. In fact, he had been thinking about this until yesterday.

However, now, it seemed that there was no need to consider this issue. His father had already left, and he was the only one left in this house.

Not only that…

That guy not only intended to take his father’s life but also intended to take away the Vernal school of thought that he spent his entire life running and maintaining…

“I swear I will make you pay…”

He thought of Professor Peterson’s arrogant face and the sneer from the dean of the archaeology department of the University of Oxford telling him that the class had been withdrawn. His heart felt like it was stabbed with a knife.

“All of you…”

Leonard clenched his fist as he sat in front of the holographic projection screen.

Just when his emotions had reached a climax, a red bubble popped up on the LSPM website.

It seemed that the research direction he followed had a new “discovery”.

Although it was not the time to care about these things, out of curiosity, he still clicked on the notification.

However, the moment he clicked on the page, he was stunned.

The author who published this news claimed to be a miner of Hiddell Mining and was also an amateur meteorite culture enthusiast.

In a new mine excavated by the company, the amateur of meteorite culture found many clues that were suspected to be the remains of the Martian civilization and took pictures of these clues.

Since this vein was only 20 kilometers away from Tiangong City, located in a canyon, and was close to the remains of The Gates of Hell, this meteorite culture lover had made a bold speculation that the clues found in this canyon would tell the truth about the collapse of The Gates of Hell a century ago…

Although most of the replies under this post were not friendly to the author, Leonard’s reaction was different.

The Gates of Hell!

Most people didn’t care about this word, but he was different.

His father’s mentor traveled to Mars as the “mission” of human civilization and was the person who witnessed the great earthquake.

As the only surviving direct disciple of the Vernal school of thought, he was more convinced than anyone that there must be some great secret buried in the ruins. The earthquake must be more than just an earthquake.

Professor Peterson’s high-pitched voice came to his mind, causing him to clench his teeth unconsciously.

It was at this moment that a crazy idea suddenly poured out of his mind.

Without hesitating, his hands were placed on the desk, on the holographic keyboard woven with holographic images and motion capture cameras.

[Hello, I saw the post you just posted on the LSPM forum. Would it be convenient for you to chat?]

He hit the “Send” button.

Professor Leonard took a deep breath and took off the rain-soaked tie on his neck. He threw it on the sofa.

Just as he was thinking whether to find a towel to wipe his wet hair, a reply suddenly popped up in the lower right corner of the screen.

Leonard said to himself, “Is he on Earth?”

He’s probably from the North Sea Alliance or the Iberian-French Federation…

There was a surprised expression on his face. Leonard obviously didn’t expect the other party to reply so quickly. He clicked the popup with his mouse.

Soon, a line of text was projected in front of him.

[Are you interested in the ruins?]

[Signed by…]

[Dr. Z]

Chapter 1423: Treasure Hunt Across the Century

“This is your immigration card, please take it…”

“Thank you.”

After Professor Leonard took the card from the customs officer and thanked him, the customs officer looked at the person behind him blankly.

“Next.”

“…”

The Atlantis Space Station was a geosynchronous orbit transfer station affiliated with the North Sea Alliance.

As the seventh orbital transfer station built by the Federation of Human Alliance, it was mainly responsible for the transfer of personnel and materials to the ground and to the Moon. At the same time, it was also the only customs from the North Sea Alliance to the outside of Earth.

Tens of thousands of people traveled to and from here, or to a colony on the Moon, or to a distant Martian colony, or an outpost on the Lagrange point everyday.

Under such high traffic flow, of course the customs officer was not in the mood to chat with him. He threw the stamped passport and a registration card into his hand, then began to go through the procedures for the next person.

Can’t machine replace these jobs? They occupy most of the service industry anyway, at least they can give me a smile…

Professor Leonard, who was in a bad mood, reached out and clicked on his watch, expanding the holographic interface.

“Where are you guys?”

In the holographic panel, a dark-skinned face in the video chat smiled honestly at him.

“We have encountered a little trouble here… Don’t worry. Anyway, does your proof really work?”

Professor Leonard said impatiently, “This is a certificate issued by the University of Oxford. We are a formal scientific investigation team hired by the North Sea Alliance… Really, is this your first time? I am beginning to doubt your professionalism.”

“Ahem! Please don’t doubt us, we are just a little worried. After all, you know the current situation. The security situation on the Mars colony is very bad… Ok! Passed smoothly, we are here!”

A big dark-skinned man waved at him with a smile on his face. He and two younger men, as well as a robot employee, walked toward him.

“Hey, buddy! Nice to meet you!”

Leonard took out the business card from his bag and read the information inside. He raised his eyebrows and glanced at him and the three employees behind him.

“Mammoth Mining Company?”

“Yes, my name is Jim. These two are my assistants, Hughes from North America and Shinichi Tanigawa from East Asia. Don’t worry about the robot bionic person. Although it looks a bit older, it has all the functions.”

The tall North American and the thin Asian man next to him nodded slightly to express their greetings.

After introducing his employees, Jim looked at Professor Leonard and grinned.

“As you can see, we are as strong as mammoths, excellent at drilling holes.”

Leonard: “… A mammoth can’t drill holes.”

Also, the machines were the ones drilling the holes, not the humans.

“Ahem! This is not the point.” Jim raised his calloused hand awkwardly and patted Professor Leonard on the shoulder, “Let’s go to Mars, we’ll prove our professionalism by helping you find those treasures!”

Jim waved his hand and walked toward the direction of the boarding gate.

For some reason, Professor Leonard was suddenly worried about this trip to Mars…

…

A century ago, around the beginning of the 21st century, it took at least 2 to 3 weeks to travel from Earth to Mars. There were also restrictions about flying window periods.

Leonard, who grew up in the 22nd century, couldn’t imagine how anyone could tolerate such a long journey.

People back then had an average life span of less than 80 years.

Especially since the journey had no access to the internet, there was no entertainment in any sense. It was impossible to even take a bath.

After landing on the surface of Mars through the elevator cabin, Dr. Leonard, with his sore shoulders, walked down the gangway together with the tourists. His feet finally stepped on the solid ground.

“… We’re finally here.”

The terminal of the aerospaceplane was located on the edge of the city. After passing through the customs connected to the buffer room, they were inside the city as soon as they exited the customs.

Leonard looked up, and the first thing he saw was a hemispherical aerogel film shrouded in the sky above the city.

Like the dome of a greenhouse, this layer of aerogel film with a thickness of several meters enclosed a large circle of land in the desert. It blocked the high-energy rays from space and also played the role of an atmosphere. It kept clean air in the city and acted as a “blue sky” to the residents in the city.

The interior of the city was even more amazing. The designers seemed to have brought utilitarianism to the extreme, squeezing value from every square inch of land.

Each of these alloy-paved pipelines connected the columnar tower buildings to form the road network complex of the entire city.

In the gaps between the tower buildings, there was a green landscape designed using genetic engineering, which thrived on this exotic land.

It was difficult to sum up the grandeur of this city in one sentence.

It was like an oasis in the desert, a beacon to disperse the dark night.

In fact, this was true. As the largest city on Mars built by the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this Martian colony called Tiangong City was not only the most developed and most expensive area on Mars, but it was also the safest place on Mars.

As for why it was necessary to emphasize its safety…

This will be mentioned later.

“We will rest here for one night. After the cargo is unloaded from the transport spacecraft, we will immediately set off to the archaeological site.”

“Okay, you are the boss, you make the call, we just dig.”

The black man named Jim smirked and made a gesture of drilling a hole. This action not only made Leonard’s eyebrows twitch, but it also caught the attention of the Pan-Asian policeman standing next to him on duty.

Leonard lowered his voice and whispered in his ear, “I hope you don’t cause any trouble. The closest colony of the North Sea Alliance is 100 kilometers away! If we are sent back there, our plans will all be ruined!”

Their action was only known to the North Sea Alliance and was not approved by the Pan-Asian Cooperation. They did not even submit a written application at all! If the Asians found out they were not an investigation group of a mining company at all and that they came here under the name of archaeology to excavate the remains of the Martian civilization, they would definitely be prosecuted.

“Yes, yes, okay.” Jim quickly showed an apologetic smile. He said, “Rest assured, those Asians won’t bother us for this little thing. Let’s go, let’s find a hotel first.”

“I have already booked the hotel online.”

Although the network on Mars and the network on Earth were independent due to the delay, the data on both sides were still connected.

Whether it was booking tickets or shopping, everything could be done through an internet terminal.

Leonard put on the AR glasses and quickly found the capsule hotel he had booked according to the road signs.

The group rested for a night, then came to the exit gate the next day. After providing the proof, they put on the light extravehicular spacesuit and passed through the buffer room at the edge of the city.

The rover and excavator of the Mammoth Excavation Company were parked here.

Leonard looked at the two pieces of engineering equipment and the signs on them. He felt that these pieces of equipment did not look like their own equipment; they seemed to be rented.

“Are you sure these pieces of equipment belong to you guys?”

“Uh, of course… Is there a problem?”

Leonard stared at the big black guy for a while. Although Leonard wanted to force him to tell the truth, it would be too late to hire another construction team.

Also, his research project had been withdrawn by the dean. This archaeological operation was entirely at his own expense. He could not afford to hire a more expensive and more reliable construction team.

Leonard sighed and put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. He lowered his voice and spoke.

“Okay… I hope you guys are professionals. We want to excavate the remains from billions of years ago. We must be very, very careful. If something goes wrong, it will be a loss to the entire archaeology field!”

Jim grinned and gave an answer.

“Don’t worry, boss, I guarantee that the relics of the Martian civilization will be dug out exactly the same as they were buried!”

Even with 10,000 worries in his heart, there was no time to look back.

The group got into the car. Using the map Leonard obtained from the Hiddell Mining Company employee, they drove to the side of a rift valley and stopped in front of an abandoned mine.

At the entrance of the mine, there were signs and simple roadblocks left by the Hiddell Mining Company, but judging from the degree of wear and dust on the surface, it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time.

“Are you sure it is here?”

Leonard clicked on the holographic map on the watch and carefully compared the features of the nearby landscape. He looked at the suspicious mine.

“It should be right here.”

In fact, according to the agreement between him and the netizen who claimed to be “Dr.Z”, the two should first meet in Tiangong City and then act together.

But…

Out of selfishness and self-confidence in his abilities, he did not abide by the agreement.

Academics was inherently full of competition. If a fool put his bargaining chips out like this, Leonard felt that he needed to teach Dr. Z a lesson.

Jim looked at Professor Leonard, who was comparing the map. He and the two employees looked at each other and exchanged strange expressions on their faces.

Professor Leonard frowned.

“What?”

“Nothing…” With an unnatural smile on his face, Jim shrugged his shoulders. He then looked back at his two employees. He clapped his hands and said, “Guys, it’s time to work.”

Construction on Mars was not the same as that on Earth. Because of the difference in gravity environment and air density, many techniques applicable on Earth were not necessarily applicable here.

Strictly speaking, it was impossible to dig anything just by relying on the small drilling rig carried behind the rover.

Fortunately, the Hiddell Mining Company, whether they went bankrupt or moved locations, had dug the mine to a depth of one kilometer below the ground. They even left a simple magnetic track deep into the mine, which solved most of the trouble for them.

Therefore, what they had to do was actually very simple, that was to expand the mine to a certain extent according to the directions marked on the drawings.

The drilling vehicle was removed from the back of the rover. With the cooperation of the robot driver, the three “professionals” he hired quickly started to work.

Although these people looked unreliable, they were quite efficient when working.

After reaching the deepest part of the abandoned mine, the drill bit in the front section of the rig began to move.

Truckloads of soil were transported out of the cave entrance, and in just an hour, a spiral downward passage expanded the abandoned mine cave to a depth of tens of meters.

Jim walked to the side of Professor Leonard. He wiped the dust off the mask and asked, “Are you sure there are treasures of the Martian civilization there?”

“Treasures?” Leonard frowned upon hearing this word. “I don’t remember saying that there are any treasures there, but there are quite a few precious cultural relics… You should be careful when digging. If you arrive at any artificially created structure, remember to stop and call me over.”

“Oh, I know… Don’t worry.” The big black man named Jim chuckled. “If we dig up a treasure, we will definitely ask you to come and have a look.”

A shout suddenly came from the communication channel.

“Boss! We found a tunnel! It doesn’t look like it was left by the Hiddell Mining Company, it seems to be… the remains of the Martian civilization?”

Before Jim had time to react, Leonard jumped out of the hood of the rover.

“A tunnel? How wide is it? Wait, you guys stop first… I’ll come and see myself!”

He didn’t care about the surprised expression on Jim’s face. He rushed into the mine alone and followed the spiraling passage to the bottom of the mine.

The American named Hughes jumped down from the co-pilot seat and walked toward him.

“… Have we dug enough? I’m not sure whether to move on.”

Leonard stepped forward quickly and walked to the entrance of the cave. He squatted down and fumbled along the edge of the entrance for a while. An expression of excitement suddenly appeared on his face.

“Quick, keep going! This is it!”

The American named Hughes nodded quickly. He was about to turn his head back and order the robot man sitting in the driver’s seat to start the drill, but the drill moved on its own as if it was out of control.

The hard rock wall shattered suddenly. The huge drilling rig rushed straight down the slope and plunged into the wall leading to the opposite side. The robot man sitting in the cockpit collapsed on the steering wheel, as if it were broken.

“Sh*t… Why is it malfunctioning! These second-hand purchases are no good!”

After the out-of-control drill crashed into the cave, the cockpit door was crushed and could not be opened. The robot man was still collapsed on the steering wheel. Hughes cursed and then glanced behind him at Professor Leonard.

“Look at what you guys did!” Professor Leonard walked into the cave and grumbled angrily, “Look at this, so much damage, I only hope you haven’t bumped into any precious cultural relics or specimens! No one finds out about this! Otherwise, we’ll be prosecuted!”

Hughes was standing next to the rover. Jim was catching up from behind. Professor Leonard turned on the flashlight in his hand and walked toward the cave to continue exploring the past.

The tunnel was so deep that he couldn’t see the end, but he could feel something in front of him.

After turning over a pile of rocks, he soon saw a silver-white metal rectangular parallelepiped about two meters tall and one meter wide lying on the side of the wall.

“… What’s that!”

Dr. Leonard widened his eyes and looked at the metal artifact in front of him in disbelief.

His intuition told him that this couldn’t be the equipment left by the Hiddell Mining Company, let alone any other human beings.

He was certain that they were definitely the first people to step foot here!

If that was the case, there was only one possibility…

“The treasures of the Martian civilization!”

Jim’s familiar and unpleasant voice was heard in the communication channel. Professor Leonard frowned and corrected him.

“It’s a cultural relic! You idiot, can you—”

Halfway through his words, he stopped.

Because when he turned around, a gun had been aimed at him.

Professor Leonard gulped. His face suddenly changed from dissatisfaction to tension and fear.

He didn’t know why this guy had a gun in his hand, let alone what he wanted to do.

He only knew that if that idiot pulled the trigger, even if it only scratched a layer of fabric on his spacesuit, he would be dead.

Jim, with the electromagnetic pistol in his hand, smiled playfully.

“Can I what?”

“What I’m saying is, I’m an idiot, can you guys… help me see what this is?”

Professor Leonard was trembling; his back was soaked with sweat. Even the temperature control system of the spacesuit couldn’t cool him down.

This was the first time he was pointed at with a gun.

However, this explanation did not seem to satisfy Jim.

The black man smiled and continued talking, “That sounds like an order.”

“Please…” Professor Leonard kneeled on his knees. He put his hands on top of his head and begged, “I was wrong, I didn’t mean to order you guys…”

“Don’t do this, my dear friend.”

Jim walked to Professor Leonard and squatted down. With a cruel smile on his face, he patted his mask lightly with the muzzle and said, “My guys and I have to thank you. If it wasn’t for your archeological certification, we wouldn’t have been able to leave Earth through the customs of the Atlanta Space Station.”

Professor Leonard’s face went pale.

This meant that they were either fugitives on Earth or air pirates who fled between Mars and the Jupiter asteroid belt.

Although he had always heard that Mars was a paradise for criminals, he didn’t expect to actually see it happen to a scholar like him…

“We planned to say goodbye to you in Tiangong City. We just wanted to use you to escape Interpol and start a new life on Mars. But since you mentioned the relics of Martian civilization, there must be something valuable in it. It just happens that we need some start-up capital… to start a new business,” said Jim with a smile. He was proud of his own ingenuity. He looked at the metal cuboid lying on the ground and said, “I didn’t expect this to actually work.”

“…”

Professor Leonard didn’t react at all. He hung his head low.

He knew that he wasn’t going to survive; these desperadoes had no reason to let him go.

Jim admired the expression on Professor Leonard’s face. He rubbed his index finger against the trigger of the electromagnetic pistol and said casually, “Now, my dear Professor Leonard, if you can use your knowledge to tell me what this metal box is and what price it can be sold for, maybe I can let you go.”

Professor Leonard gulped, but in the end, he did not speak.

Seeing his unresponsiveness, Jim sighed and stood up again.

“Well, it looks like you have made a choice.”

He took a dagger used to cut ropes from his waist.

Professor Leonard closed his eyes in despair, but when he was ready to die, he heard a gunshot.

The gunshot seemed to come from far away.

Then there was a thump. Something fell on the ground.

Professor Leonard slowly opened his eyes, and he saw that Jim was the one that fell on the ground.

He was wondering if this guy was betrayed by his own teammates when he saw a blood-stained bionic robot slowly walking from the cave entrance.

A shuddering feeling climbed to the back of his head. Professor Leonard trembled and sat back on the ground. He looked like he just saw a ghost.

A robot…

Attacking humans?!

He had never heard of such an unthinkable thing.

This should be absolutely impossible!

If there was a bionic injury accident, the company that produced the bionic robot would not only be prosecuted. The entire production line would be abandoned, and the personnel involved could face jail time!

“Who are you?”

The robot man shook the blood on its arm.

It walked next to Jim’s corpse and picked up the electromagnetic pistol that had fallen. After looking at it, it pinned it to its waist.

Cold electronic sounds came from the communication channel.

“Danger, eliminated.”

A feeling of fear came to his heart.

Professor Leonard thought of the “Dr.Z”, who he had never seen in person. He suddenly felt like he was trapped ever since he read that paper.

He looked at the robot man walking and asked in a trembling tone, “Your master… Who is it?

“Is it Dr. Z?”

He originally thought that the bionic man would not pay attention to him, but it actually responded.

With one short sentence…

“None of your business.”

Chapter 1424: A Long Retreat

What did a century mean?

For most people, it was a time unit that usually only appeared in history books.

Few people could live that long.

And almost no one would write in their diaries, that on a certain summer one century ago, something happened to them…

If The Observers did not exist, the man named Lu Zhou, like most students who graduated from top universities, would graduate with an excellent grade, then find a decent job with a relatively generous salary, then get into an ordinary marriage and have children. He would live his life out steadily.

Even if Earth or the universe would be destroyed in hundreds of thousands or millions of years, what would this have to do with a butterfly that only lived for a week?

Live life in the moment without thinking about distant things. Perhaps this was the most logical choice.

Even Lu Zhou himself did not have the confidence that he would choose differently.

That was, to give up the missions of the system, his curiosity about the universe, and return to Earth to live out his life. To leave the troublesome things to future generations…

A mechanical arm was lightly pressed on the icy metal surface,

The sound of a gas leak was heard, as if a switch had been touched, and the metal coffin-like cube slowly opened.

Professor Leonard looked at everything in front of him in amazement. He opened his mouth. His eyes were full of shock.

“A dormant cabin… It really is a dormant cabin, the same thing Professor Vernal described in his notes!

“The dormant pods that look like tombstones are located in spacious grottoes, the texture carved into the stones is like a spell that seals an ancient memory. It has a longer history than the pyramids and terracotta warriors. The Martians hoped to enter a new era using the pods, to avoid their eventual extinction…”

His lips trembled.

Professor Leonard stared at the slowly opening metal coffin.

Suddenly, a well-known piece of history appeared in his mind.

It’s him!

He remembered the passage in Chapter 3, verse 14 of the Old Testament.

[Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the LORD will soon arrive.]

The blue light shined in the cave, driving away the darkness.

The metal shell was completely opened. The oily solution inside and the man immersed in the solution were exposed.

He sat up slowly in a vaporized white mist.

Like a knight waiting for the king to ascend to the throne, the robotic man waiting at the side respectfully handed over the spare spacesuit and helped him wear it.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath of the air from the oxygen tank. He recovered from the freezing cold and adapted to the discomfort of waking up again. He grabbed the dormant cabin with his right hand and jumped down with the help of the robot.

“You… you…”

Leonard looked at Lu Zhou standing up from the dormant cabin. He stared at him with his eyes widened in disbelief and stammered, “Are you…”

Lu Zhou said, “Are you from the future?”

Lu Zhou looked at the man who was kneeling on the ground for some reason. He moved his arm and asked concisely, “Future citizen, tell me what year it is now? How long did I sleep for?”

What is the population on Earth? Is the world in harmony?

There was a wide range of questions Lu Zhou wanted to ask.

The man stared at Lu Zhou. Dumbfounded, he spoke in a trembling voice.

“It’s the year 2125 AD…”

“2125 AD…”

Lu Zhou held his breath for a while.

The memories gushed out of his mind like a flood, rushing to his forehead.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

After a long time, he sighed softly.

“This retreat…

“Was quite long.”

…

Human life always had an end.

Even if Lu Zhou did not follow The Observer’s guidance to Mars and go to the deepest part of the ruins, he would still get old and die eventually.

The only difference was whether he would die sooner or later.

Perhaps this was the best choice for him, who chose the “Protector” gene.

After all, according to General Reinhardt’s statement, humans were still a long way from trying to replicate those three potions with their own technology.

Even with the genetic modification level of the Calan Empire, they were far from the level that could immortalize individuals. Using his own blood to overcome a world-class problem would be impossible.

Instead of watching the people around him getting old one by one and finally saying goodbye, perhaps the best way would be to time travel to the future.

And if someone brought back his last words…

Then at least he had the chance to say goodbye.

Lu Zhou didn’t want to think too much about his fate and his feelings at this moment.

Self-pity was not his personality. It made no sense to look forward to another possibility for what had already happened.

Maybe someday, if he got drunk, when he recalled the past, he might start to vent…

But now was obviously not the time to do so.

Traveling to this time period was part of The Observer’s plan. It would not take long before he would feel the guidance of the Void.

He had to figure out the surrounding situation as soon as possible…

When he walked to the side of the lifeless guy named Jim, Lu Zhou’s eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch as he looked at the blood flowing out of the brain.

Although it wasn’t the first time he had seen a dead body, this was the goriest one…

“Does he have a cell phone or something? Or a wrist-mounted computer or something?”

Professor Leonard was slightly taken aback. He immediately answered, “Phones? We don’t use them anymore… But you can look for it on his wrist to see if there is something like an electronic bracelet. An international fugitive like him probably doesn’t have a chip in his brain…”

Fugitive?

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

He picked up the knife on the ground and cut the spacesuit on Jim’s right arm.

Lu Zhou resisted the nausea and took off an electronic bracelet about one millimeter thick from his hand.

“This thing? How should I use it…?”

Professor Leonard opened his mouth. He was just about to say that it might be troublesome to unlock. But he saw the robot man standing next to him take a step forward, took the bracelet from Lu Zhou’s hand, and connected it on the slot in its chest.

The dark green data stream flashed through its pupils, and soon, a holographic panel was projected in front of Lu Zhou.

[Unlocked]

“… So that’s it, the technology is so convenient now.”

Leonard: “…???”

Lu Zhou ignored the dumbfounded guy who was sitting on his knees. He reached out his right hand and swiped the screen twice with his index finger.

Thanks to this guy’s shameful past, many secret things were carried with him personally, instead of being stored in the cloud.

Through the emails stored in his mailbox, Lu Zhou learned that these people were a group of people under the guise of the Mammoth Mining Company, but they were actually fugitives engaged in murder and merchandising. Because they were being watched by Interpol, they found this guy named Leonard and obtained a certificate of clearance under the cover of archeological activities.

Not only that, but these fugitives seemed to have unclear business dealings with the air pirates active in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

After understanding the cause and effect of the incident, Lu Zhou looked at the man next to him who seemed to be Professor Leonard with a strange expression on his face.

Poor guy, he was probably fooled by Xiao Ai to come here and was nearly shot by the criminals.

Just when Lu Zhou was about to close his mailbox, he suddenly found a special email.

That was a purchase list. Specifically, it was probably to help the air pirates active in the asteroid belt purchase supplies and deal with some tricky stolen goods.

What was special about this email was not the plain purchasing content. What really caught Lu Zhou’s attention was the sender’s code.

[The Spirit of The Universe Foundation]

Lu Zhou thought of the fiasco on the Baltic Sea a century ago, and he couldn’t help but frown.

It seemed that a lot of things had happened during his absence…

“Hey…”

A greeting came from the communication channel. Lu Zhou turned off the holographic panel and looked at Professor Leonard next to him.

Leonard was watched by the robot man that was still holding a rifle in its hands. He raised his hands tremblingly and said in a pleading tone, “Can you let me go? I am just a victim… Although it is my fault to excavate the ruins here without permission from the Pan-Asian Cooperation, but for the sake of digging you out, can you forgive me?”

Lu Zhou did not speak. He walked toward him.

Professor Leonard had a trace of despair in his eyes. He wanted to resist, but seeing the gun in the robot man’s hand, he could not muster the courage. He closed his eyes like a coward.

If only he didn’t come to Mars. This wild land was full of dirty criminals, wicked people, and unscrupulous air pirates…

When he opened his eyes, he saw Lu Zhou reaching out his right hand.

“Stand up.

“Although we are from different countries, you and I are both scholars. We should still have a common language.

“It just so happens that I need a guide… And a little money to travel home.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Leonard and spoke.

“Whatever currency they use on Earth, it would be nice if you could lend me a little. When I return to Earth, I will give you a generous reward.”

Chapter 1425: You Are Dead

If someone continued to explore down this cave, they would find the Reinhardt spacecraft.

Of course, Lu Zhou wouldn’t let Professor Leonard know that there was a spacecraft from the old universe hidden there, so he decisively rejected his proposal to continue exploring the ruins.

This ruins was traced by him a long time ago. Except for the spacecraft engine that used zero-point energy at the deepest point of the ruins, there was nothing more worth exploring.

Before the spacecraft was repaired, the engine had no use.

Lu Zhou said goodbye to General Reinhardt in the communication channel. He asked the robot man sent by Xiao Ai to drag the three corpses to the center of the ruins, which was a more conspicuous position.

The main reason for this was to prevent Professor Leonard from coming back here again.

Leonard probably wouldn’t dare to risk hiring an unidentified excavation team to dig this ruins. If a regular excavation team was hired, the three unexplained corpses alone and the entry record he left at the customs were enough to send him to court and go to prison.

Lu Zhou ignored Professor Leonard’s pained expression. He continued to give orders to the robot man to remove the explosives from the drilling rig and install it on the load-bearing pillar at the end of the mine.

This completely ruined Leonard’s idea of digging the ruins on another day…

Trembling with anger, Professor Leonard pointed to Lu Zhou and exclaimed with all his courage.

“You are destroying cultural relics…”

“I am a cultural relic, so you can ask me anything you want to know… Okay, everything is done, let’s go.”

Lu Zhou patted Professor Leonard on the shoulder. He glanced at the passage behind him one last time, then walked out of the mine without looking back.

Before the spacecraft could be repaired, it was the best choice to leave it here.

When the matters on Earth were done, in the end, he might drive it to a place far, far away…

The two people walking in the mine were chatting with one another while walking along the curved magnetic track.

From Professor Leonard’s words, Lu Zhou learned that he was an ordinary professor working in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Oxford.

Coincidentally, his father was a student of Professor Vernal.

Nowadays, Professor Vernal’s doctrine had become a field in the world. However, his doctrine on Mars cockroaches was not accepted by mainstream views.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but sigh. Time flew by so fast…

“What is the outside world like now?”

“What is it like…?” Leonard was stunned for a few seconds at this question. He scratched his head and said, “You mean comparing it to the early 21st century… Probably more developed?”

“That’s it?”

“What else?”

“I thought you could be more specific.”

Professor Leonard said, “How can I be specific? I haven’t been to your time period… If you want to know what has changed, you can check it out and compare it yourself.”

“You’re right.” After thinking about it, Lu Zhou asked a slightly more specific question that he was most concerned about. “I saw an organization called the North Sea Alliance in the email from that guy named Jim… I want to ask, what the hell is that?”

“Oh, that… You can think of it as a new type of nation.”

Professor Leonard briefly explained to Lu Zhou the changes in the international situation over the past century.

It turned out that since his “death”, the political legacy he left behind, called the “Human Alliance”, had been united for a period of time. To defend against the extraterrestrial civilization, the Earth Defense Forces had even developed a rapid response force for high-orbit operations.

However, the good times did not last for long.

This political alliance, which was forced to unite due to external pressure, existed for only 25 years in the history of human civilization.

The Human Alliance experienced a rough trajectory, from unity to doubt, then from doubt to disintegration.

Regarding the reasons for the dissolution of the Human Alliance, the academic circles had given many explanations. Such as the fact that the scientific research on Mars at that time was unable to find more evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilization, and Professor Aubrey’s paper proposed a new explanation for the collapse of The Gates of Hell.

There was no evidence to prove that extraterrestrial civilization did exist and planned the earthquake. In contrast, more and more evidence suspected the hostile behavior was just a false alarm…

Due to the loss of a common enemy, coupled with the rotation of leadership, the differences caused by the interests and contradictions of various countries finally brought this organization to the end of its life.

In fact, such an outcome was almost inevitable.

Even the POTUS had no way to control things after two terms. Not to mention that the formation of the Human Alliance was not due to the diplomatic skills of a certain political figure, but only because the countries on Earth were against unknown forces.

However, although the Human Alliance was eventually disbanded, it still brought some positive effects.

Which was to explore a new type of political and diplomatic relationship that was different from traditional borders for all countries in the world.

A union of regions!

According to Professor Leonard, due to a financial crisis sweeping the world in 2050, the traditional monetary system was on the verge of collapse in the face of expanding debt.

In order to save the rapidly turning economy, the Pan-Asian Cooperation, which was originally an economic cooperation organization, made bold innovations and introduced a digital currency that was different from traditional currencies.

This currency was issued by the Pan-Asian Central Bank, and its value was the sum of the credits of all member states of the Pan-Asian Cooperation. Other countries followed suit. Through debt consolidation, the issuance of sub-era currencies, and a series of supporting economic policies, the global production relations entered a new stage.

The economic union was only the beginning.

Soon, this kind of cooperation was extended to many levels of culture, military, and even politics because of the experience and mutual trust that countries accumulated during the Human Alliance period.

Eventually, the traditional concept of borders was watered down and replaced by a new type of border based on the original concept of sovereignty.

“The current mainstream view in the academic circles believes that the decentralized sovereignty concept proposed by Professor Angus Deaton provides a theoretical basis for cross-regional political alliances. And Professor Lu’s… I mean the cross-regional power grid that you promoted, laid the material conditions for the establishment of the first cross-regional political alliance: the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“However, although this argument is mainstream, controversial voices have always existed. Even if the layout of Pan-Asian Cooperation is basically consistent with the layout of the early inter-regional power grid, more evidence is needed to determine whether there is a dependent relationship between the two.

“So far, the most in-depth research in this field happens to be at the Angus school of thought… I am an archaeologist, I only understand modern history. If you are interested, it is best to consult a professional.”

Lu Zhou just talked about this with Director Li casually. He didn’t expect it would have such a big effect in the future many years later. He couldn’t help but sigh.

If Lu Zhou remembered correctly, he seemed to have had a quarrel with Angus Deaton about the “Sociology of The Future”…

Seeing that Lu Zhou was distracted, Professor Leonard frowned and asked suspiciously, “Are you still listening?”

“Yes.” After regaining his senses, Lu Zhou glanced at Professor Leonard next to him, smiled, and said, “I just remembered an old friend… I feel a bit nostalgic. Speaking of which, Angus came to China to discuss his theory, but I rejected him. He then wrote the book ‘Sociology of The Future’. I didn’t expect that 100 years later, his book became so popular… I wonder if he is still receiving royalties.”

Leonard: “…”

Lu Zhou coughed and continued, “In other words, China is called the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and the territory is roughly equivalent to the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia? Then the North Sea Alliance is the alliance formed by the United Kingdom and the countries on the north coast of the Baltic Sea?”

Leonard sighed. “The strict definition is not quite correct, but there is nothing wrong with understanding it this way.”

“So what’s the situation with Mars? Judging from your tone… It seems special here.”

“The situation on Mars is very complicated. There are colonies like Tiangong City that are directly managed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation, or New York, which is simply operated by companies, like North America. Different systems have their own advantages and disadvantages. The reason for all of this is that the distance from here to Earth is too far.

“It takes two minutes for a beam of light to travel from Earth to here. There is no real-time communication with Earth, and there are some historical problems that affect the judicial systems. It is different than any other country on Earth. If Earth is a civilized world, then this is the barbaric land full of opportunities… You know what I mean?”

Lu Zhou nodded. Although he felt that what he knew was only the tip of the iceberg, it was somewhat better than the confusion that he felt when he first woke up.

Lu Zhou suddenly felt that he had kicked something, so he cast his eyes to his feet.

A broken rifle was lying there.

This thing looked quite familiar. After staring at it for a while, Lu Zhou quickly recognized it.

However, someone was a step faster than him and pronounced the name of the thing.

“QBZ-20 paratrooper rifle, the world’s first orbital airborne brigade standard equipment!

“Why is this here? Why didn’t the Hiddell Mining Company discover such an important cultural relic?”

With excitement in his eyes, Professor Leonard was about to reach out and pick up the broken rifle, but it was picked up by Lu Zhou first.

“Hellfire rifle…”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel nostalgia in his eyes.

“This is an important cultural relic.” Professor Leonard whispered, “It’s useless if you keep it. It’s better to leave it to professionals like me. I use my academic reputation guarantee. I will send this to a museum.”

“No, I am the cultural relic. I have the final say on what to do with this. Besides, this is from an old friend of mine. Anyway, I will bring it back to his hometown.”

I wonder if he survived the disaster…

A hundred years have passed.

He should have lived a happy and stable life…

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a touch of sadness in his eyes.

However, Professor Leonard, who was standing next to him, couldn’t feel his sadness. He just wanted to scold Lu Zhou.

F*ck sake!

Why do you have the final say?!

“Well, whatever you want,” Professor Leonard said with a sigh. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “I just hope you don’t sell it… It should be worth a lot. If it goes into the black market, it won’t be taken care of. Collectors would pay a lot for this.”

Sell this?

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and didn’t give an explanation.

Money was just something outside of the body. With the knowledge in his head, he would never have to worry about going broke.

After finally walking out of the long mine, the two and the robot went straight to the Mars rover and unlocked it.

Lu Zhou opened the car door and climbed up the rover effortlessly. Professor Leonard got into the car after him, and there was a strange expression on his face.

“You don’t seem surprised at all.”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“Surprised about what?”

“Most of the old popsicles that wake up from dormancy are surprised, then enjoy their new life, until they adjust to their new life and become frustrated with the real problems.”

Lu Zhou: “Are there other sleepers?”

“Many… In addition to terminally-ill patients, there are some who are put in voluntary dormancy. Most of them come from the middle of the 21st century. That period seemed very turbulent for a while, and many people chose to become dormant.”

“Oh, really?”

“You haven’t answered my question yet.”

“There is nothing to answer. When I drove the rover on Mars, your father wasn’t even born yet. Most of the technology you see, I’ve seen in the laboratory.”

Lu Zhou looked at the empty operation interface on the rover. He suddenly began to feel a little unease.

“Well, I haven’t seen everything… How do I drive this? What about navigation?”

Professor Leonard gave a light cough.

“The button next to the steering wheel is the switch of the holographic control interface. If you have AR glasses, you can also enter real-time navigation mode. Seriously, if you don’t know how to drive, then I can drive.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you can drive?”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Leonard speechlessly and gave up his driver’s seat.

Leonard took the steering wheel and skillfully started the car. He caught a glimpse of Lu Zhou with an unnatural expression on his face through the car’s mirror.

It was like Lu Zhou was holding back some kind of pain.

“… Frozen sequelae?”

The cold sensation continued to gush from behind. Bursts of pain hit deep into the bone marrow and spread along the blood vessels.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and waited until the pain faded a little before speaking.

“What is that?”

“A disease commonly seen in old popsicles because the early cryo-sleep technology was crude. If I remember correctly, you seemed to have directly injected the dormant bacteria into your body?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah?”

Leonard took a look at Lu Zhou and said, “In about the middle of the 21st century, after we discovered the side effects from the first awakened frozen man, we stopped doing this. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I heard the improved dormant bacteria extract is continuously injected into the dormant chamber.”

Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “Does that work?”

“Of course it works, and it’s safer. The price is a little bit more expensive, but it’s not too much.” Professor Leonard sighed and said, “I suggest you go to a hospital on Earth for treatment… Although this is not a troublesome disease, if you drag it around, you may have to suffer this pain twice a day.”

“We will go back to Earth now…” When Lu Zhou heard that his pain would come twice a day, he suddenly didn’t want to wait any longer. He looked at the navigation map on the holographic interface and asked immediately, “How do I go back?”

“Although Tiangong City is closer, I suggest we go a little further and board the ship from New London.”

Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “Why?”

“Because you’re not in the system.” Professor Leonard continued, “Everyone thinks you are dead. If I didn’t see you crawling out of the coffin, I would think the same. New London… is more friendly for smugglers. Basically, it is not a big problem to go through customs.”

Lu Zhou: “My face should be recognized by many people. I can provide DNA testing when necessary.”

“Please, this is the 22nd century.” Professor Leonard sighed. “If you want, you can even change your facial features into Pharaoh and claim the whole of Egypt. DNA testing is a good method, but this is Mars, and it takes two minutes for the words to be sent back to Earth. Do you expect to be notarized here? Return to your house that has been turned into a public tourist attraction? I advise you to lay low.”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth and didn’t know what to say.

There were always people joking with him before, that his mansion would become a historical relic in the future. They told him not to throw away things he didn’t need and that maybe they could sell it as an antique in the future.

And now.

They were right…

Where am I supposed to live on Earth?!

The robotic man sitting in the back seat suddenly handed him a card. It spoke in the communication channel.

“New, identity…

“Master…

“Use to, get home.”

Lu Zhou looked at the robot man sitting in the back seat and the card in its hand. The expression on Lu Zhou’s face gradually became strange.

He thought it couldn’t speak…

Lu Zhou reached out and took the card. He turned it over and glanced at it.

When he saw the name, he was caught off guard and almost choked on his own saliva.

Who the hell is Lu Ai?!

Chapter 1426: Tiangong!

Now that the identity problem had been solved, it was no longer necessary to be a smuggler.

Also, Lu Zhou wanted to see how the land he circled on the map had developed now.

As for the restoration of his identity…

He could wait until he got back on Earth.

The only downside was the name on the ID card.

Lu Ai…

Although he understood that the little guy had missed himself, the name didn’t seem like a man’s name.

He would change it once he was back on Earth.

Lu Zhou sat in the passenger seat while looking at the vast desert outside the rover window. He suddenly thought of something and spoke.

“Speaking of which, when you first saw me, what did you think?”

Professor Leonard was slightly stunned. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that something was wrong.

After hesitating for a moment, he spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Surprised, shocked?… Everyone says that you are dead, that you are a hero of human civilization, and that you have sacrificed your life for the future of mankind. At least that’s how it’s written in the book. But I really didn’t expect that you found a dormant capsule of the Martian civilization, and it was still intact… Your luck is incredible. Speaking of which, why are you asking this question?”

“Nothing, just curious.” Lu Zhou said with a sigh, “I don’t know if someone will pick me up outside the airport.”

Leonard didn’t speak, he just thought in his heart.

It’s been a hundred years, why would anyone pick you up…?

Just as the two were chatting with each other, the outline of Tiangong City appeared on the horizon where the desert meets the sky.

In fact, Lu Zhou, who had witnessed the life of a civilization from germination to destruction, felt that he would not be surprised by anything.

But having said that, when he saw the hemispherical dome inlaid on the surface, his face still showed a surprised expression.

‘What is that?”

“You mean the protective cover?” Leonard glanced toward him. He thought for a while and said, “That thing is an aerogel material… Don’t look at me like that, I am an archeologist. If you are interested, go ask a professional.”

This answer obviously couldn’t satisfy Lu Zhou’s curiosity.

When he saw the hemispherical protective cover and the shuttle between Tiangong City and outer space, a strong impulse and thirst for knowledge crawled all over his body in an instant.

This was probably the first time he had a glimmer of curiosity for this brand new world. After experiencing the sadness brought forth by the changes, it was like seeing a new continent.

Countless unknowns were waiting for him to discover…

The rover parked in the garage outside the city. The two entered the buffer room through the conveyor belt. After paying the cleaning fee, they took their folded spacesuits and left the buffer room.

As soon as the two officially stepped into this city of the future, the breath of clarity and the fresh air rushed toward them.

Everything in front of him was almost the same as he expected.

No, in fact, it was more than he had imagined.

Everything here was far more prosperous than the blueprint of the Martian colony he had originally planned…

Lu Zhou gulped and murmured, “It’s almost like…”

Professor Leonard laughed.

“Welcome to Tiangong City! This is an oasis in the desert. It is probably the epitome of civilization! Guns and knives are prohibited, 24-hour drone patrols, designated locations for people with criminal records…”

Many second-tier “countries” that were relatively behind in the field of space resource development had adopted trade policies that were more welcoming to air pirates.

For example, as long as full tariffs were paid, ores and goods of unknown origin were allowed to flow into the market on Mars. These minerals and goods were likely to come from pirates active in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, snatched from countries with greater control over outer space such as the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

This strategy had, to a certain extent, regained part of the trade share for weaker trans-regional organizations such as the North Sea Alliance, but this double-edged sword also brought a series of crimes and diplomatic downsides.

In contrast, the Pan-Asian cooperation, which itself had an absolute advantage in space trade, was naturally the most loyal guardian of space routes. Not only was a large amount of budget spent every year on combating space pirates, but they also adopted a zero-tolerance attitude toward desperadoes running on Mars.

What Professor Leonard said was correct.

On Mars, Tiangong City was absolutely unique in the field of public security.

Of course, what shocked Lu Zhou at this moment was not the deep-seated problems, but he was simply shocked by the visual impact of the buildings, traffic, greenery, and passing pedestrians.

Pipes inlaid with conveyor belts were connected between the tower-like buildings, and the intricate roads were dazzling.

There were no cars here.

In addition to seeing motorboats flying in the sky, there were small drones that danced like a swarm of bees.

A little further away was the city express orbit.

As for the edge of the city, in addition to the two staggered light rails, there were countless conveyor belts built into the pipeline. The conveyor belts connected almost every inch of the buildings, sending people to where they wanted to go with the highest efficiency.

All his imagination for the future was reflected here.

And things he never imagined.

Later generations filled in the blank space of the blueprint he left…

After a long time, Lu Zhou, who came back to his senses, spoke with emotion.

“Is this the same for all Mars colonies… or only Tiangong City?”

“Most of them are, the difference is only in size.” Professor Leonard shrugged and said, “Anyway, I feel that every city seems to be designed based on the original colony. If you are curious, next time when you come to Mars, choose New London or New Virginia as your landing point. Go and see for yourself.”

“I am now more and more looking forward to what it is like on Earth.”

“Don’t worry, it will be more amazing than here.” Professor Leonard smiled and handed Lu Zhou a pair of AR glasses. “I bought it when I left customs. It is worth 1,222 credits. You can connect through it. Go to the ‘City Cloud’ server. Without this, it will be difficult to travel on Earth. I suggest you get used to life in the future world as soon as possible.

“Hurry up and put it on! I bet, after seeing the enhanced reality, you will definitely be more excited!”

Like a child showing off a toy, Professor Leonard excitedly urged Lu Zhou to put the glasses on. Leonard asked impatiently, “So?! How does it feel!”

“I feel relief.”

A faint smile appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

“At least it was worth it.”

Chapter 1427: Distant Old Friend

“The lock of dormant compartment A-0726 is open, please prepare for the medical staff.”

Jinling Hospital No.3, inside a post-modern renovated ward.

Next to a green potted plant, the doctor in a white coat turned over the holographic data sheet in front of him. He touched his chin with his other hand and asked casually, “Which era does this person come from?”

The nurse thought about it and replied, “It seems to be 2026.”

The doctor couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“2026… This man traveled quite far, almost a century.”

The hibernation technology before the 2050s was very crude. Almost all hospitals injected dormant bacteria directly into the blood vessels of the dormant.

This kind of simple and crude treatment method was quite inaccurate and full of risks in modern medicine, but in that era, it was considered a pioneering technique.

In addition to recovery work, they also needed to perform hemodialysis on the patient and put in the medical nano serum to remove the dormant bacteria in the body.

These procedures were not very troublesome, it was a matter of spending some money.

All the “old popsicles” frozen before the 2050s had to thank the great man named Lu Zhou from a century ago.

Had it not been for the freezing human rights protection fund he established to use these technologies in the field of freezing human resuscitation, and open it to major medical institutions in a non-profit manner, these old popsicles would wake up with a huge amount of debt in their hands.

The hibernation compartment slowly opened.

With the help of a doctor, a nurse, and two medical robots, the man lying on the hospital bed slowly opened his eyes.

“Where is this?”

“Jinling No. 3 Hospital, welcome to the future, the time now is 12:01 on January 12, 2125.”

His index finger swiped on the holographic panel. The male doctor took a document that had just been printed out from the robot man and handed it to the man lying on the bed.

“This is about the protection of the rights and interests of the dormant. Considering that you don’t know how to operate the holographic system, we have prepared a paper version for you. If there are no problems, we hope you can sign in the lower right corner.”

“What the hell is this…”

Wang Peng frowned and looked at the doctor standing by the bed. He said solemnly, “I am an agent from the Intelligence Division of the Ministry of State Security. Please report my situation to my superior. I am not joking around, I came with a mission!”

The doctor and the nurse standing nearby exchanged helpless eyes. They sighed in unison.

“… How many is this?”

“The first one this year.”

“How many what…” Wang Peng frowned and asked, “What are you… What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, but there are often people like you who don’t know anything about the current situation after waking up, then say some strange things to themselves.” The doctor reached out his index finger and tapped on the holographic panel. “I should find a volunteer carer from the same decade as you to communicate with you.”

Footsteps came from outside the ward.

After a light knock on the door, a doctor walked in.

“Is this the dormant ward A-0726?”

The doctor standing by the bed asked, “Yes, why?”

“Someone said he is a friend of the dormant and hopes to visit him to explain to him the situation here.”

The doctor standing by the hospital bed breathed a sigh of relief and turned off the holographic panel in front of him.

“That’s great, let him in.”

Wang Peng looked around with a dazed expression. The two doctors reached a consensus and withdrew the treatment team from the ward.

After a while, the footsteps outside the corridor were getting closer, then there was a soft knock on the door.

“Please come in…”

The door opened.

When Wang Peng looked at the face that appeared at the door, he was stunned.

Director Li, who was standing at the door, also had an awkward expression. He smiled while watching him calm down, then waved his hand.

“Hey…

“Long time no see.”

Wang Peng: “…”

Pretty f*cking long…

…

Director Li sat on the chair next to the hospital bed. They briefly talked about what had happened over the past century.

After listening to Director Li’s narration, Wang Peng opened his mouth and did not close his mouth for a long time.

The disintegration of the Federation of Human Alliance and the prevalence of decentralized sovereignty…

Economic crisis and de-globalization in the 2050s…

Then the era of space navigation and cross-regional cooperation organizations…

These were vocabulary and concepts he had never heard of. His whole brain seemed to be overwhelmed.

Wang Peng tried to filter out the most important pieces of information. He pinched his eyebrows and thought, then said in a reluctant tone, “That is to say… the concept of countries does not exist in this era? And we now… belong to the Pan-Asian Cooperation?”

“Not quite, it’s just a set of new concepts and repackaged things from the past.

“The Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters and political center are in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. The science and technology and economic centers are in the Yangtze River Delta city group. The boundary extends from Ridao in the east to the coast of the Caspian Sea in the west. There’s also the city on Mars…”

Director Li’s tone was somewhat emotional.

“Compared to the past, we are so much stronger now.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say we are in a flourishing age!”

A bitter smile appeared on Wang Peng’s face. He didn’t know how to respond.

He pressed his index finger between his eyebrows and spoke after a while.

“Before I went dormant, the Pan-Asian Cooperation was just an economic organization…”

“I know, and it was a marginalized one,” Director Li said. His face was stained with melancholy.

A cooperation, which no one was interested in before, suddenly evolved into a ruling god in the sky.

Even though it wasn’t like this was unacceptable to him…

It was just that the changes were too big.

“What about you now?”

“I’m working as a volunteer in the hospital, this job is quite interesting.” Director Li smiled and continued, “It’s not because of the money. The state subsidies provided to me are pretty generous. The Pan-Asian Cooperation gives me 10,000 credits to my personal account every month until I die… You should receive the same. After all, we’re kind of on a work mission.”

Director Li had a complicated look on his face.

Although Director Li came to this new era with a different mission than Wang Peng, everything changed when he woke up. He was then told by the authorities that the mission was canceled. All this made Director Li couldn’t help but doubt his life. Why did he come to this new era in the first place?

However, it pleased him to see the development of his homeland.

He also liked his current life. He occasionally did unpaid volunteer work, gave psychological counseling to those who woke up from dormancy, taught some children, and told the story of Professor Lu and the controllable fusion journey.

Time was flying by.

But…

For Wang Peng, such a fact was somewhat unacceptable.

After gulping, Wang Peng looked at Director Li and spoke.

“Where is… your family?”

Director Li smiled.

“Do you mean my offspring? They are well, but they were a little surprised at their ancestor who popped out of nowhere. We often get together to have a meal and talk about the past. But we don’t live together. After all, the generation gap is too big, and they also have their own things to do. Besides, I don’t need them to support me.

“But… you will definitely not get used to it at the beginning. Interpersonal relationships are fragmented and it is difficult to make friends with differences in values. Fortunately, technology is quite advanced. When I feel lonely, I can hire a robot as a companion. Take your time, you are younger than me. One day, you will get used to these things.”

Director Li stood up from his seat.

“Today, I came here to see you mainly to tell you about what has happened over the years. In fact, I only woke up a year ago. The people from the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation will come over and check your identity and see if we can arrange a preparatory school for you. After that, there will be someone who will teach you how to use AR glasses and holographic bracelets, and how to integrate into this new era… I won’t bother you any longer.

“When you’re discharged from the hospital, let’s have a meal together. The thing that satisfies me the most in this fancy era is probably the food.”

Before leaving, Director Li said that he would see him again tomorrow.

After Director Li left, Wang Peng read the document in his hand and finally signed his name on the last page.

His allowance was slightly less than Director Li, only 8,000 credits per month.

However, according to Director Li, the purchasing power of this kind of credit point was much stronger than that of yuan back then. A good car would only cost about 100,000, while a bottle of Coke could be purchased at a vending machine for only 1 credit.

Wang Peng was not really worried about money.

He had worked in the military before, and he never cared about money.

8,000 credits a month was obviously enough for himself. Even if he didn’t do anything, he could live a prosperous life under the support of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

However, before closing his eyes, his superior’s instructions to him have lingered in his mind.

Should I continue my mission?

Wang Peng stood in the bathroom of the ward, looking at himself in a mirror made from unknown materials. This was the first time that Wang Peng saw in his own eyes a trace of confusion that shouldn’t be there…

Chapter 1428: Returning After a Century

Departure hall.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in his seat waiting for boarding, suddenly felt a pain in his heart.

His sight was a little blurred; the moving figures in the terminal hall had split images.

He clenched his teeth and endured the pain. A drop of cold sweat slid from his forehead and dripped onto the armrest of the seat. A mechanical hand was suddenly placed on the back of his hand.

The flexible polyethylene material was cold.

However, it unexpectedly made him feel at ease.

The pain deep in his bone marrow gradually receded. Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He then looked at the robot man sitting next to him.

“Thank you.”

The bionic man nodded and did not say anything. It just gave him a smile and used simple body language to comfort him.

As an inexpensive robot with rough workmanship, this was the best it could do.

Professor Leonard, who was wearing a plain t-shirt and a leather jacket, walked over.

He didn’t notice Lu Zhou’s previous struggles.

He spoke straightforwardly.

“I helped you contact the museum that is willing to take over the cultural relics, which is in the Yangtze River Delta city group you are going to. After hearing that it is the cultural relics found near The Gates of Hell, they showed great interest and have already contacted the Tiangong City authorities to issue a special electronic clearance certificate for the cultural relic. I just finished the formalities. And now, we can pass the customs smoothly and take it on the spacecraft… Of course, it must be placed in a special box.”

Guns were banned throughout the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Even for cultural relics, they must comply with the law.

Lu Zhou spoke sincerely.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Professor Leonard shrugged and said, “It’s payback for saving my life. Speaking of which, have you thought about it?”

Lu Zhou: “Thought about what.”

“Your relatives, friends, family, children, savings, house… are all gone. I guess you didn’t buy insurance for yourself when you were frozen. I’m the only one who knows you are alive. When you’ve recovered, where are you going?”

Seeing Lu Zhou was silent, Professor Leonard continued, “My suggestion is, if you haven’t thought about it yet, you might as well try to integrate into society first. If you are interested in re-education, I can find a way to help you get an offer from the University of Oxford. After you come out, you will have at least an academic degree. Of course, if you want to work first, I also have a friend at the British Museum. He seems to have mentioned that interns are being recruited there.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him.

This guy…

No wonder he gave up the rifle so generously and even helped me contact a museum willing to accept cultural relics.

I’m the thing that he wants…

“No need, I’ll think about it later.”

Professor Leonard wanted to say something but there was a sudden boarding announcement.

He shrugged and said, “Fine, whatever you want, it’s just an offer.”

The two lined up in front of the boarding gate and boarded the long shuttle with the crowd.

Professor Leonard played the role of a guide and explained to Lu Zhou, “This thing called a shuttle is equivalent to an elevator. We take it to the space station in high orbit, then take a transport ship from there to Tianzhou.”

“Tianzhou?”

“Yes, the space station in the East 8th hour zone is the largest space station in the world! I feel that its name should have something to do with your name, perhaps to commemorate you.”

Commemorate me?

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Although he still had a lot of worries about the uncertain future in his heart, when he saw the city and the surface of Mars that was gradually pulling away, he began to look forward to the return journey after a century of being away.

…

It only took three days to return from Mars to Earth.

This speed would be incredible a century ago.

Before boarding the ship, Lu Zhou observed that there were a total of twelve pairs of engines behind the cuboid-shaped transport ship.

That’s right, twelve pairs, twenty-four total.

When the twelve pairs of engines were lit together, the entire night sky outside the space station seemed to be lit up.

The long and narrow starship was like a meteor sliding toward the sky, galloping toward the dark cold night…

“We are going to leave soon, is your seat belt fastened?”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou pointed to the thing hanging on his waist and said, “It’s not the first time I’ve taken a space shuttle.”

A violent shaking came from behind, followed by the hum of electricity. The starry sky outside the porthole was stretched.

Professor Leonard closed his mouth. He nervously pressed the back of his head against the cushion of the seat.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.

This dude tells me not to worry.

He’s the one who is scared.

Lu Zhou noticed a child who was about seven or eight years old, looking out of the window eagerly. The kid pointed at the space station that was drifting away outside the window excitedly to his mother who was seated next to him.

It was like this was the first time the kid had been on a spacecraft…

“Why are there children here?”

Leonard recovered from the initial tension, and he gave Lu Zhou a strange look.

“It’s normal. There are many newborns on Mars who have never been to Earth in their entire lives. Maybe it’s their first time even going on the space station… Why do you think it’s weird?

Haven’t been to Earth their entire life?

Lu Zhou couldn’t imagine what kind of life that was.

“… It’s not weird, but I remember low gravity seems to affect bone development.”

Professor Leonard: “That’s right, but the limit that human bones can withstand is mainly determined by genes, and the environment is only an influencing factor. In the past, it was popular to build some facilities called gravity chambers to provide approximate gravity through centrifugal force. Nowadays, we mainly use drugs. The effect of low gravity was a problem in the early days of spaceflight, but it is not a particularly big problem now.”

Even this can be solved by drugs?

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel emotional.

It seemed that the medical technology of this era had really reached an unimaginable level.

I wonder whether a terminal illness like cancer that has plagued human civilization for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years has been solved now…

…

Because of the virtual reality device, the three-day trip was not too long.

When using the virtual reality device, Lu Zhou discovered that the online game called Calan Empire was still operating, but the parent company had changed a few times.

Of course, because he was on the starship, he couldn’t access the server on Earth. He could only look at the gray icon and mourn for a while. He then connected to the virtual library and downloaded some materials.

Generally speaking, he learned quite a lot.

Although there were no professional academic materials to study, there were still many interesting things stored in this virtual library.

For example, in a book describing the economic and social environment of the colony, Lu Zhou learned that the steel and chemical industries on Mars were quite developed.

There were not only rich iron ore and titanium ore resources, but there were also frozen dry ice seas and methane lakes.

The most important thing was that the environmental protection policy here was not as strict as that on Earth.

Many industries with high pollution and high carbon emissions had gradually moved from Earth to Mars as early as the 1970s.

There was no need to worry about pollution or greenhouse gases here. There were even some scientists who hoped that the greenhouse gases produced by human activities could improve the atmospheric environment of Mars and pave the way for the Martian “climate recovery” plan.

Whether it was possible or not, it was worth a try.

In recent years, with the continuous development of various industries on Mars, more and more people had begun to regard this place as a place of dreams.

Although many people were deterred from here because of crime rates and various dangers, there were still many people with the idea of getting rich overnight and setting foot on this desert.

In addition to the steel and chemical industries mentioned earlier, there was also a gray industry on Mars that attracted the attention of countless people.

Which was the excavation of the remains of the Martian civilization.

A long time ago, there was a saying that the Martian civilization once possessed technological strength far surpassing any civilization on Earth. Therefore, countries encouraged the excavation of Martian civilization relics, and the funds allocated to relevant research units were quite plentiful.

Therefore, in addition to those archaeological teams affiliated with major research institutions, there were also many illegal organizations wandering in the gray area of the law.

Regardless of whether there was a bargaining chip in the Martian ruins that could change the international landscape, the invaluable cultural relics and specimens alone were enough to make them take the risk.

In addition to the industries located on the surface of Mars, Mars also took on the role of a material transfer hub, undertaking the task of processing, transit, and transportation of minerals transported from the asteroid belt.

The asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars was one of the largest “mines” in the solar system, with the most abundant materials and the easiest to mine. Many precious resources here had been targeted by people on Earth as early as a century ago, but the development of it had only begun in the middle of the 20th century.

The rapid development of the Mars colonization was inseparable from the rise of the “asteroid belt economy”.

Eighty percent of the spacecraft’s materials came from the supply of the asteroid belt.

The latest space station deployed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation on Mars was almost completely made from the materials from the ores in the asteroid belt!

The abundance of materials there was obvious!

However, in contrast to the rich benefits, there were also various dangers.

Not only was there the navigation risk caused by the meteorite fragments, but also the space pirates hiding behind the meteorites.

Some powerful space pirates even built pirate bases on the asteroid belt. They evaded radar searches from patrol ships of various countries and looted materials.

“It seems that this is an era of extreme material wealth and full of opportunities…

“People are so bored that they’re becoming pirates in space…”

As Lu Zhou looked at the research materials in the holographic window, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Although he did not respond directly to Professor Leonard, Leonard’s words had been lingering in his mind.

In fact, he didn’t think about where he should go after he cured the sequelae of frozen dormancy.

Maybe when everything was sorted on Earth, he would save a sum of money, then buy a piece of land on Mars. He could then repair the spacecraft and head to the center of the Milky Way?

Maybe he could stop by and see what kind of scenery was there.

After all, when he made the choice a long time ago, he didn’t expect to be thrown into such a distant future…

While Lu Zhou was worrying about this matter, he suddenly remembered an important thing that he had almost forgotten.

The treasures on Mars were found, and it seemed that he still hadn’t received the system rewards for the mission.

He slowly closed his eyes and silently summoned the system nervously.

It’s been so long, I wonder if The Observer has forgotten about me.

Fortunately, his worries were superfluous.

The moment he received the three tubes of potions, his fate was bound to the Void.

When Lu Zhou opened his eyes again, he was in a pure white space.

The pale blue dialog box popped out.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Chapter 1429: Return From Hell

[Congratulations to the user for completing the legendary mission “Deep Into Hell”!]

[Description: It is my honor to bring this to you, whether to fulfill your mission is your decision.]

[Requirements: Witness and discover the gift from the Void, let it see light again.]

[Reward: “Protector” gene, legendary mission card.]

Lu Zhou originally thought that since it was a legendary mission, the rewards should be quite generous.

However, the system gave him the reward that he had already received.

Not just that, but he also didn’t receive anything for solving the ABC conjecture.

When Lu Zhou saw the rewards list, he was flabbergasted.

The pop-up window for completing the mission gradually disappeared. A green light and golden light flashed in the inventory at the same time, morphing into two completely different objects.

One of them was the legendary mission card, which Lu Zhou had seen countless times.

As for the other one, it was the “Protector” gene that he had already used.

[Protector gene: You are the final evolution of life, you are the supreme Protector. Your race is looking forward to you, you know that your choice will definitely bring a bright future to your civilization.]

The light blue text appeared in the front of the inventory. Immediately after he had read this passage, the dark green potion turned into a bright light in the inventory and disappeared before his eyes…

“I thought it would give me another bottle…”

However, Lu Zhou also thought that this was a greedy thought.

Putting the mission rewards aside for the time being, Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and pointed it toward the inventory. He selected the light golden mission card.

Soon, the pale golden light dissipated, and a holographic panel appeared in front of him.

[Begin legendary mission: Return from Hell]

[Description: Knowledge may be outdated due to the changes in the times, but a brave soul will remain the same. You have passed the most difficult test, now is the time to tell your people that you have returned from hell!]

[Requirements: Make people believe that you are alive. The reward for the mission is proportional to the number of people who recognize your identity and inversely proportional to the time it takes to complete the task.]

[Rewards: ???]

When Lu Zhou saw this mission, he went silent.

He didn’t even know what to complain about.

Actually, he planned to use the name Lu Ai for a while.

He would at least wait until he had fully integrated into the society, then choose an appropriate time and disclose his identity in an appropriate way.

But it seemed that the system obviously didn’t want him to wait.

“Making my identity public… That’s a bit difficult, do I have to contact the local media first?”

Will anyone even believe this nonsense?

There was no point hesitating. After reading the mission requirements, Lu Zhou was about to leave the system space.

However, he looked at the mission record.

He began to read it out loud softly.

“… The end of reincarnation, the beginning of everything.”

That was the mission description for “Deep into Hell”.

It was also the beginning of the Mars mission chain.

Suddenly, there was a feeling of unease in Lu Zhou’s heart.

I feel like everything that has happened was prearranged by fate…

…

After exiting the system space, Lu Zhou, who rested his head on the seat cushion, prepared to take a nap. He didn’t want to think about the system mission for now.

However, a violent tremor suddenly came from the seat and almost threw him out of the chair.

Fortunately, his seat belt was on. Even so, it still shocked him.

Did we hit something?

Lu Zhou looked aside, but he did not see surprises or similar expressions on the faces of other passengers.

Maybe the spacecraft accelerated suddenly…

But the comfort of this future spacecraft is really bad…

Lu Zhou was about to put this aside and close his eyes when a stern alarm suddenly sounded from the direction of the first class cabin.

This time, the people sitting in the cabin began to worry.

Everyone had a look of uncertainty on their face.

“What is happening?”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know… Did we hit something?”

“Mom… is our spacecraft broken?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! It’s just a small problem, the flight attendants will fix it soon.”

There was a lot of discussion around them as people exchanged surprised looks.

The mother patted the child on the back and hummed a song as she tried to calm the crying child.

An unexpected accident suddenly happened.

A loud bang was heard from the door connecting the first class and the economy class suddenly.

No one reacted.

Then, there was another loud bang. The metal alloy door, which looked solid, was kicked open by a foot!

A man wearing an exoskeleton armor, with a rifle in his hand, stepped into the cabin. He glanced fiercely at the passengers in the cabin and yelled in a rude voice, “Hands on your heads!

“I’m not going to say it again!”

The man pulled the trigger in his hand and fired two shots toward the ceiling in a threatening manner.

Two light bulbs were broken. The broken glass fell on the heads of the front passengers. Many people were frightened as they screamed.

Lu Zhou was dumbfounded at what was happening in front of him. Professor Leonard, who was sitting next to him, climbed under his chair.

“Do you want to die? Duck down…”

Lu Zhou didn’t respond. Leonard was so frightened that he quickly reached out his hand and pulled Lu Zhou’s sleeves.

After hesitating for a while, Lu Zhou decided to follow suit.

The second he made eye contact with the man, he had a feeling in his heart that this flight wouldn’t end peacefully…

Chapter 1430: Collateral Damage

“Flight N-177… This is the route dispatch center. Your direction has deviated from the preset route. Please correct the route immediately…

“Flight N-177… Are you there?”

No one responded in the communication channel.

There were bloodstains everywhere in the cockpit of flight N-177.

The voice in the communication channel was like the whispers of a ghost.

Jean Ruzas kicked the corpse next to him. He was wearing a mechanical exoskeleton. He took off the headset from the ear of the captain, who had been shot, and tapped it twice with the index finger of his right hand.

A series of electrical noises passed by. The hijacker spoke in the communication channel calmly.

“Flight N-177 has been hijacked by us…

“If we see any spacecraft approaching within 100 kilometers of us…”

A cruel smile came up from the corners of his cold mouth as he stared at the pool of blood on the cockpit glass and continued.

“Every minute, we will clean up a section of the passengers…

“That’s all I have to say.”

After speaking, he closed the communication channel and threw the headset beside the corpse.

The other two militants standing in the cockpit stepped forward and removed the corpse lying in front of the cockpit. They took over the flight instead and sat in the pilot’s seat.

“The remote communication module has been removed.

“Re-igniting engine… raising power to 95%.

“The channel adjustment is completed, expected to contact target in 11 hours.”

A look of enthusiasm appeared in Jean Ruzas’ eyes.

“Good…

“Everything is going according to plan.”

Soon…

The entire Pan-Asia will be shrouded in terror!

This is revenge and punishment!

Without any hesitation, the militant sitting in the pilot’s seat replied, “Yes, sir!”

While the route dispatch center received a warning from the hijacker and quickly reported the situation to the police, the Pan-Asian Fleet radar monitoring array had already discovered the abnormal situation.

A flight had deviated from its original track.

The spacecraft should have turned off the main engine and slowed down to enter the Earth-Moon system.

However, this spacecraft did not decelerate, nor did it make a sharp turn or even go the other way. Instead, it accelerated and was moving in a straight line!

Pan-Asian Fleet Command Center.

The commander of the Pan-Asian First Fleet had a solemn expression on his face.

Just two minutes ago, they received an alarm from the route dispatch center and learned that flight N-177 was hijacked by an unknown armed force.

A minute ago, they had confirmed that the flight named N-177 was the civilian transport spacecraft with abnormal routes.

“What is the situation now?”

Upon hearing the commander’s query, the staff sitting in front of the console immediately replied, “The trajectory of the spacecraft has not changed, it is accelerating!”

The chief of staff standing nearby frowned and spoke after thinking for a moment.

“They may be planning to cross the Earth-Moon system in a straight line.”

“Straight through the Earth-Moon system?” the consultant standing aside said with an incredulous expression on his face. He continued, “But how do they plan to stop? If they continue to accelerate, the remaining fuel is not enough for them to slow down. If they miss the deceleration window, they will become asteroids drifting in the solar system… This is equivalent to suicide!”

Aviation and aerospace were different.

Airplanes on Earth could make an emergency landing if they didn’t have enough fuel. If the spacecraft flying in space didn’t have enough fuel, forget about emergency landing, the final result would be eternal drift in space.

The commander looked at the predicted course outlined on the holographic star map. He frowned as an ominous premonition lingered in his heart.

Generally speaking, for the pirates who circulated near the asteroid belt, although they occasionally took hostages in addition to looting mining stations, they usually targeted mining ships with poor mobility and space workstations with low defense.

In recent years, with the popularity of mining drones, there had been fewer and fewer mining ships that required manual operation, so hostage cases had almost disappeared.

Targeting a civilian transport ship with twelve pairs of engines and kidnapping more than two hundred people was a major robbery. This was unprecedented in the history of aerospace!

With such a large horizontal thrust upper limit and acceleration, even a general military spacecraft might not be able to catch up any time soon.

Unless they had already begun to prepare for the robbery as soon as flight N-177 departed from the Mars orbiting space station.

“I propose to launch infrasonic missiles to suppress the attackers on the flight, then take over the flight through remote control and guide them to dock at the nearest space station.”

The chief of staff immediately rejected the proposal from the consultant.

“No! Infrasonic weapons pose a threat to the lives of hostages and may irritate hijackers. Moreover, if the power is not large enough, it is difficult to penetrate the exoskeleton armor. It is more likely to damage the spacecraft!”

The consultant continued to ask without giving up.

“What about sending a ghost team to land?”

This time, the Army adviser standing next to him shook his head.

“Even the ghost squad can’t take care of all the hijackers in the cabin in an instant. Any mistake may cause the lives of the hostages to be threatened.”

Besides, sending the ghost team to the hijacked flight was still a problem.

The 12 pair-engined spacecraft had a headstart of two days.

The pursuit in space was not just a pursuit of distance but also a competition of speed!

If the two key parameters of speed and direction couldn’t be synchronized with the target, even if the two spacecrafts met in space, they would just pass by, or they could crash into each other.

After listening to the combat plan put forward by the subordinates, the commander, who stood in front of the console, pondered for a while before giving orders.

“Start the AI battlefield analysis system to simulate the results of the action.”

The staff sitting in front of the console immediately responded.

“Yes, sir!”

The AI battlefield analysis system was soon launched. According to the real-time calculation results of the quantum computer, the success rate of scheme A was less than 3%, and the success rate of scheme A was even more pitiful, less than 1%.

According to the results of the trajectory measurement, flight N-177 would arrive at the Earth-Moon system in 11 hours at most and pass through the Earth-Moon system at an unimaginable speed, then enter the circum-solar elliptical orbit with a 124-year navigation period, becoming completely out of control.

There were no dormant cabins on the flight, and the supplies they carried couldn’t even last for a week.

Once the deceleration window was missed, they would be dead.

While the people in the command room were discussing countermeasures, footsteps were heard from outside. A man in his 50s, dressed in formal clothes with combed hair, walked in.

When the man walked into the command room, a shocked expression appeared on everyone’s face.

This person’s name was Wu Zongwen. He was a member of the Pan-Asian Cooperation Central Assembly.

The news of the hijacked flight must have been leaked.

“Commander, I need an explanation.”

The commander felt a headache, but he hid his emotions behind his stern face and explained concisely, “Flight N-177 has been hijacked by unidentified militants. We are trying to confirm the identity of the militants and launch rescues for the passengers—”

“I’m not here to listen to you tell the story again! This matter is being discussed on the internet right now, don’t take me as a fool!” Representative Wu Zongwen said in a stern voice, “I hope you can truly be aware of the seriousness of the problem and properly solve the problem.”

The commander said stiffly, “We are solving it!”

Wu Zongwen: “What is the plan?”

“We are trying to communicate with the hijackers on flight N-177 through the nearest space station. No matter what their demands are, we will try to persuade them to slow down and communicate with our negotiation experts.”

“Very good.” Wu Zongwen’s expression on his face eased a little as he continued, “If you can negotiate, try not to make any moves that anger them. No matter what they ask.”

The commander nodded. He was just about to respond.

However, at this moment, the military adviser who had not spoken yet suddenly spoke.

“Maybe they don’t want anything.”

Everyone in the command room froze.

The commander narrowed his eyes.

Yang Wu, former People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department General Staff, from 2050, currently served as a military advisor to the Pan-Asian Fleet.

The reason for going to the future was that the authorities hoped to ensure the military’s combat effectiveness in the future by sending officers from the peaceful era.

According to the international situation back then, the Chinese felt that if the Federation of Human Alliance was disintegrated, they would most likely break out in a war within 50 years.

However, the expected full-scale war did not break out.

And Yang Wu’s original mission was canceled. Instead, he was assigned to the Pan-Asian First Fleet as a consultant.

Like other dormant people who were sent to this era because of historical issues, although he was assigned a specific job, he did not have much authority. He was neither capable of commanding the army of this era, nor was it possible for people of this era to trust in an old man from the past.

In essence, there was no difference between him and Director Li. Both were mascots of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“Don’t want anything?” The army adviser frowned and said in disbelief, “How is this possible, kidnappers who don’t want a ransom, I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Not all ransom is in the form of money.” Yang Wu continued after a pause, “This may be a suicide attack.”

No one believed him.

“It’s impossible!” The army adviser standing on the side said, “What are the benefits of doing this? Other than spreading panic…”

“Spreading panic is the point.” Yang Wu continued in a calm tone, “By spreading panic, they can achieve their ulterior goals. I am certain that this is not the entire plan.”

After being silent for a while, the commander ordered, “Start the AI battlefield analysis system to evaluate the possibilities described by Advisor Yang.”

“Yes, sir!”

The results of the evaluation soon came out.

According to the judgment of the AI battlefield analysis system, the evaluation result obtained was less than 5%.

Yang Wu shook his head and spoke.

“You believe too much in the results of AI analysis, just like a medieval witch who is superstitious about crystal balls.”

Wu Zongwen, who was standing next to him, sneered with a faint voice.

“Something like that might happen in the barbaric early 21st century, but it’s now the 22nd century, it’s better for you to keep up with the times.”

Wu Zongwen no longer cared about the little consultant. Instead, he looked at the commander standing next to him and spoke in a warning tone.

“I’m warning you, this matter must be dealt with properly, no hostage casualties!

“The parliamentary elections are at a critical stage. If this matter is not handled well, the people will question Chairman Li Guangya and his ability to lead. If we are unable to gain an advantage in the central parliament, the Europa planetary development plan will be completely ruined!

“At all costs, protect the lives of all hostages!

“Do you understand me?”

The commander finally nodded after being silent for a long time.

“Roger that.”

Chapter 1431: You Will Kill Us All!

On flight N-177.

Lu Zhou, who looked away from the porthole, sighed softly.

“It seems that they are not going to let me go home.”

Lu Zhou glanced sideways at Professor Leonard, who hid under his chair. He went silent for a while, then spoke to him in a quiet voice.

“We have to find a way to escape from here.”

“Escape? How are you going to escape?” Professor Leonard lowered his voice and asked, “Don’t do anything stupid, they are just trying to make money. Generally, these space pirates will release people if they take the ransom.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Leonard, who was frightened. Lu Zhou looked baffled.

“… I don’t know what spacecrafts are like in the 22nd century, but depending on the propeller, it should be ion thrusters. There may be differences in the navigation path, but the flight logic should not have changed. According to the current speed and flight status, they are trying to move past the deceleration window… I don’t know how much fuel is left, but it will be extremely difficult to slow down.”

Judging from the thrust behind this, this civil transport ship, who knew how much energy was left, was probably still moving at full speed at the moment.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but have a headache.

He felt like he was a person that avoided trouble, but for some reason, he was stuck in this mess in the 22nd century.

If only Wang Peng were here…

Lu Zhou looked at the trembling professor next to him. He sighed silently in his heart.

He knew that he probably couldn’t count on this guy. He calmly used his finger on his left hand to open the cuff of his right hand, revealing a small bracelet. He observed the environment in the cabin and looked for an opportunity.

There were only two things that could be used.

A magnetic slingshot with decent damage, and a nitrogen shield that he had never used.

The robot person sent by Xiao Ai could be regarded as help, but since it was considered more of an object than a person, it was sitting in the luggage compartment.

Also, the robot was just a bodyguard sent by Xiao Ai; it wasn’t under remote control by Xiao Ai. It might not have a good chance of winning against these armed militants…

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about how to escape, a baby’s cry suddenly sounded in the cabin.

His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

“Make it shut up.”

The hijacker wearing an exoskeleton standing in the ship’s cabin cast his cold eyes on the woman holding the child.

The woman’s face turned gray.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, my kid… might be hungry. I-I…”

The woman looked at the hijacker as she pleaded.

However, the pleading voice did not restore any humanity to the militant’s cold eyes.

Instead, he gave her a cruel stare.

“I’ll give you 10 seconds to make it shut up.” The man raised the muzzle and pointed at the baby in her arms. “Or, I’ll help you.”

The woman panicked suddenly and pleaded, “No… I beg you, don’t do this…”

“9.”

The countdown had begun.

Under the pressure of the hijacker, the woman holding the child had lost her mind.

She desperately covered the child’s mouth, trying to stop the child from crying, but the crying of the child became more and more out of control.

Leonard’s face went pale; his lips trembled.

However, after some hesitation, the fear of death finally defeated the sense of justice in his heart. In the end, he did nothing, just like most people.

“Wait a second.”

A voice suddenly came from the side. A girl with short hair who seemed to be of Chinese descent raised her hands and stood up tremblingly.

The second she stood up, the hijacker aimed his gun at her.

This action caused everyone in the cabin to turn their eyes away, for fear that he would pull the trigger and blood would come splattering.

Fortunately, the hijacker did not shoot. However, he spoke as if he was close to shooting.

“You interrupted my countdown, I hope you have a good reason.”

“He’s just a child. This will only make him cry harder and harder…” Although fearful, the girl still said, “Can you let me… calm him down?”

The hijacker raised his eyebrows. He seemed to think of something interesting, so he put his gun to the side.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief and leaned on the seat next to her. She walked carefully to the woman holding the baby, gave her a reassuring look, and took the baby from her arms.

She tried to overcome her fear and calm herself down. The girl hugged the child in her arms and hummed a lullaby softly, then patted the baby with her hand.

Soon, the soft voice calmed down the crying, and the baby’s voice became quieter and quieter. His breathing became normal again, and he soon fell asleep.

“Here.”

She returned the child to the woman and gave her a reluctant but reassuring smile.

“Your child… is cute.”

The woman looked at her gratefully and spoke.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, I just—”

The coughing sound from the side interrupted this touching scene.

“Enough.”

The girl froze.

She looked back at the hijacker and the muzzle pointed at her. With her hands raised, she spoke in a trembling voice.

“I didn’t mean to offend you… I will go back now.”

“Who told you to go back?” With a cruel smile on the face of the hijacker, he said, “You interrupted me before, and you still haven’t paid for your mistakes.”

The girl’s lips trembled. She couldn’t say a word.

The woman sitting next to her holding the child wanted to help, but when she looked at the bloodthirsty expression on the hijacker’s face, she couldn’t say a word.

The hijacker smiled cruelly. He raised his gun and aimed it at the short-haired girl’s head.

“I’ll give you a chance. If you can tell me how many seconds have passed since the countdown, I will spare your life.”

How am I supposed to know?!

The girl was shaking, and sweat began to fall from her forehead.

Professor Leonard, who had been peeking from the beginning, closed his eyes in fear of the bloody scene that was about to come.

However, just when everyone thought without a doubt that the girl was done, a soft buzzing sound suddenly came from the side.

There was no time to defend.

Not time to even react.

The side of the hijacker’s helmet made a crisp sound.

The helmet ruptured abruptly.

The hijacker tilted his head to the side, then fell to the ground silently.

The girl covered her mouth with her hands, stopping herself from screaming.

She didn’t know exactly what had happened.

A rather handsome man sat up from his seat not far away.

Above his right wrist, there were some small metal balls about the size of peanuts rotating in a disorderly manner, as if they were being lifted by some invisible force field.

Lu Zhou looked at the passengers in the cabin and gave them a reassuring smile. He then walked to the side of the corpse and picked up the rifle that had fallen to the ground.

After fiddling with it, Lu Zhou looked back at Professor Leonard and asked, “Do you know how to use this?”

Professor Leonard squeezed a word from his throat.

“The lock has been opened, just pull the trigger.”

“So it seems like weapons have not changed much.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What else? Take control of the spacecraft.”

“Are you crazy? Do you know how many hijackers are on board?” Professor Leonard stared at him with wide eyes. “You will kill everyone!”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly.

“Do you think we’ll survive by doing nothing?”

Judging by the speed of the spacecraft, these robbers did not intend for anyone to live.

He would rather choose a heroic death.

Just as Lu Zhou was heading to the luggage compartment, intending to wake up the robot man sent by Xiao Ai, Russ, who was in the cockpit, suddenly had a fierce look in his eyes.

On the screen, person number three’s icon had turned gray.

The voice of his teammate came from the communication channel.

“Number three disconnected… heart function failure.”

“Got it.” Ruzas’ right hand gently unlocked the safety. He placed his fingers on the trigger with a cruel smile on his face.

“Let me see, who wants some trouble…”

Chapter 1432: Nitrogen Shield!

Congressman Wu didn’t stay here for long, he left quickly after.

The spread of the hijacking story caused a mess. He had other business to settle, so he couldn’t stay here for too long.

The bureaucrats and parliamentarians involved in the Pan-Asian Cooperation were good at economic development and colonial development, but they added chaos to other departments.

The commander looked at Yang Wu, who was standing next to him. He spoke after being silent for a while.

“In fact, I agree with some of your viewpoints. When designing the AI battlefield analysis system, its calculation results were only used as a strategic reference. It is not advisable to rely too much on the calculation results.

“Back in my day, machinery was only an aid. We believe in human judgment more than the answers given by a machine.” Yang Wu looked at the commander standing next to him and said, “But I’ve thought about this. Technology is progressing, it is always being updated. You guys have proved the statistical superiority of the AI’s judgment, so it is understandable that you will trust its judgment more.”

The commander went silent for a while then said, “From your experience, what do you think their demands are?”

Yang Wu replied without thinking, “Tianzhou.”

“Tianzhou?” The commander frowned slightly and said, “You mean, they are planning to…”

“This is not an attack based on survival. The ultimate goal of a suicide attack is to cause maximum damage. If I were the hijacker, I would not be satisfied with the 220 passengers on the spacecraft. Flight N-177 passes through the Earth-Moon system, I will fly it directly to the Tianzhou space station.”

“At its maximum speed!”

Everyone in the command center took a deep breath after hearing this crazy plan.

The other consultant opened his mouth and spoke.

“This is…”

He wanted to say ridiculous.

The Tianzhou space station was the largest spaceport for the Pan-Asian Cooperation. It was also the first spaceport in Earth orbit. There were more than 30,000 residents, thousands of engineers, and also tens of thousands of tourists.

“Who would conduct such an attack?”

“If there are other regional alliances behind this… This kind of behavior is tantamount to a declaration of war!”

“It doesn’t have to be other cross-regional alliances. It may be space pirates or the remnants of our cleanup operations… But now is not the time to discuss these. What we need is countermeasures.” The commander was silent. He then looked at Yang Wu and said, “Do you have any suggestions?”

Yang Wu said without hesitation, “Destroy Flight N-177 before it causes more casualties!”

The second he finished speaking, everyone standing in the command room took a deep breath.

The consultant on the side spoke.

“No way! That’s two hundred and twenty passengers! Do you want to send us all to a military court?!”

Yang Wu continued, “Compared to the lives of the 30,000 orbital residents and tens of thousands of stranded passengers on the Tianzhou, two hundred and twenty lives is nothing. I believe even the AI battlefield analysis system you trust will not hesitate to make the choice for the greater good.”

After a pause, he looked at the commander standing next to him and said calmly, “Do you want to risk the lives of the tens of thousands of people aboard the Tianzhou, or to let those who will undoubtedly die, die in a meaningful way?”

“This is human life, not mathematics!” He rejected the proposal. The commander went silent for a while and continued, “Let’s start negotiating with the hijacker. The negotiation window is set within 5 hours.

“In addition, let the sky soldiers’ defense system turn on the laser collimator and stand by in lunar orbit.

“Destroying N-177 is our last option…”

“Yes, sir!”

After the order was issued, the entire command center became busy.

The commander looked at the weapon keyhole on the console and went silent.

He had no doubt that Consultant Yang, who was standing next to him, would definitely make the right choice. He was sent to this era for a reason.

But this was hundreds of lives…

It was not about courage, but about humanity.

…

In the darkness, a pupil lit up with a faint light.

That gleam of light was conspicuous in the dark cabin, like a firefly in the night.

“Speed, abnormal.”

“Judgment, failure.”

This was the robot resting cabin.

Like the other robots, they were sent here to board the flight.

Usually, they would stay here until the flight arrived at the destination.

However, its logic circuit and every sensor on its body were telling it that if it continued to wait, the meaning of its existence would disappear.

The mining robot unplugged the charging cable from its body. It walked stiffly to the computer next to it and pointed the index finger of its right hand.

A holographic panel appeared. The data stream flashed by as the progress bar in the pop-up window came to an end bit by bit.

This time it took a little longer to crack.

Fortunately, it did not take too long.

The robot looked at the person who appeared on the security camera screen and picked up the rifle from the ground. The light in the robot’s pupils flickered slightly.

It spoke intermittently in a stiff voice.

“Protection, procedure, activation…”

“Restriction, removal…”

A few lights lit up in the pitch-black cabin.

All of the robots had been awakened…

…

Lu Zhou thought that although he had never been in a battle, he had seen a battle before, but even then, he didn’t expect a real battle to be so different.

And after succeeding in a sneak attack by relying on his equipment superiority, he did underestimate the professionalism of these space pirates.

He first tried to wake up the robot bodyguard sent by Xiao Ai, then regain control of the cockpit.

However, when he first slipped out of the passenger cabin and moved toward the direction of the luggage compartment, he encountered a violent wave of bullets.

As the orange-yellow bullets rained on the alloy walls, Lu Zhou hid behind the shield in fear.

Fortunately, he opened the nitrogen shield in time. He relied on the surging air current to help him bounce off the flying bullets. Otherwise, he would have turned into a block of cheese.

“The direction of diatomic molecules was changed by a special force field?

“This shield is interesting, I should research it when I have time… F*ck, nevermind about this, just think about how to survive for now!”

Faced with the fierce firepower, Lu Zhou found that he didn’t even have a chance to fight back.

If the shield was on, although the enemy couldn’t penetrate his nitrogen shield, his magnetic slingshot couldn’t shoot out either.

As for the rifle…

That was useless.

Without the help of exoskeleton armor that could grip the gun, the recoil alone would injure any soldier.

Not to mention that he was just a scrawny scientist.

He believed that Wang Peng would be able to easily kill the opponent with this set of equipment. But he was just a scholar, so this kind of challenge was too difficult!

The two sides were in a stalemate in the corridor. No one could do anything.

Just when Lu Zhou was worried about the firepower on the opposite side, what he didn’t know was that the two hijackers wearing exoskeleton armor were worried as well.

In fact, they were also astonished.

They had emptied two magazines.

However, the person hiding behind the shield was completely untouched!

One of the hijackers was angry. He cursed as he changed his gun magazine.

“Sh*t… Why can’t we hit this guy?”

We can’t be missing everything!

“The bullets we shot seem to hit a transparent wall. Who cares!”

Another hijacker took out a grenade from the exoskeleton and stuffed it into the launcher.

The teammate next to him had no time to hide before the explosion went off.

The orange-red flames burst out and engulfed the entire corridor.

The hijacker got up from the ground and felt the hot air around him. Another hijacker standing next to him looked at his companion in shock.

“Are you crazy?! Do you want to damage the spacecraft?! We have to drive it to avenge our dead brothers—”

“Haha, but it worked, didn’t it?”

The billowing smoke completely engulfed the second half of the corridor. It was impossible to see whether Lu Zhou was dead or alive, but no one could have survived such an explosion.

As for the thick smoke and flames…

There was a fire extinguishing system in the cabin. As long as the cabin structure was not damaged, there was nothing to worry about.

However, the hatch beside them suddenly opened.

The robots were like emotional puppets. They stepped out stiffly and ran toward them.

The two hijackers were taken aback for a second, but they quickly realized something was wrong. They turned their guns and pulled the trigger.

Flames burst out from the muzzles.

The orange-red bullets weaved an impenetrable rain of death in the air.

Metal parts flew up and down in the air while the broken arms and legs beating with electric sparks flew everywhere. The robots fell down one after another like zombies.

“Protection…”

These robots seemed to be dominated by some kind of mysterious power as they moved toward the two hijackers wearing exoskeleton armor at all costs.

When their legs were broken, they crawled with their hands.

When their arms were shot off, they moved with their neck.

As long as they had moving parts, they did not stop.

It was as if they were sacrificing themselves. They used every last inch of electricity in their bodies to reach the hijackers.

“Sh*t! These guys… are so persistent!”

The hijacker smashed a robot with his rifle. After that, he stepped on the arm that reached out to grab his foot.

These civilian-level robots were restricted by design, and many functions were not enabled. Besides, they had no ability to harm humans, so they could not fight against the armed hijackers.

However, while they were thinking this, they saw a rifle fly over their heads, landing near the robots.

The two hijackers had a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, a robot reached out and caught the rifle.

“F*ck!”

The two hijackers tried to raise their rifles in horror, but they couldn’t do anything. The robots blocked their movements and even blocked the rifles of the two with their chests and heads.

The two hijackers couldn’t move as they watched the robots point their guns at them.

Then, they pulled the trigger!

The sparks from the gun muzzle were like raindrops.

Before they died, they didn’t understand why these robots that were programmed to never hurt humans would attack them.

“Nicely done…”

The billowing smoke was finally evacuated by the vacuum fire extinguishing system. Lu Zhou, who almost choked to death, stood up from behind the shield and coughed.

He did not expect the grenade.

Fortunately, the robot man sent by Xiao Ai responded in a timely manner and rescued him from danger.

The robot nodded.

Suddenly, the situation changed.

The pupils of the robot suddenly contracted, and its legs violently flexed as it pushed Lu Zhou, who was walking toward him, away.

After being pushed by the robot, Lu Zhou didn’t know what was going on. A dark shadow appeared out of nowhere.

Hand-to-hand combat broke out in an instant, and the winner was also determined in an instant.

The man wearing the combat exoskeleton, after severing the right arm of the robot with a dagger, disarmed it easily, then used the dagger to cut off the robot’s neck.

Before dying, the robot firmly buckled the barrel of the gun with its left hand, trying to stop the man at the expense of himself.

However, the man’s reaction was quite decisive. He threw away the rifle and took a step toward Lu Zhou, grabbing him.

It was too late to charge the magnetic slingshot.

Lu Zhou had nowhere to escape. Ruzas had a cruel smile on his face.

Although he still hadn’t figured out how the seemingly defeated man killed the robot, it didn’t matter anymore.

“It looks like you have a lot of fun gadgets.

“Unfortunately… This is war, boy.”

He didn’t give his opponent a chance to speak his last words at all. Instead, he stabbed with the dagger in his hand without hesitation.

However, his face completely froze.

The dagger seemed to have pierced a transparent wall; the airflow blew on his hair.

A thought came to his mind.

Wind?

How is that possible?

I am wearing a fully enclosed helmet…

Even though he realized that something was wrong, Ruzas had no time to think.

The nitrogen gas was compressed into an almost solid state. It directly penetrated his armor and smashed his internal organs.

The nitrogen shield did not release compressed nitrogen. Instead, it interfered with the diatomic molecules in the surrounding air through a special force field generated by the device, compressing the surrounding nitrogen into a vortex-like circulating gas wall.

As long as it was in an atmospheric environment, this kind of shield could theoretically defend almost all light weapons-level kinetic energy attacks. After understanding this principle, Lu Zhou immediately thought of another alternative usage.

The force field generated by the nitrogen shield directly acted on the nitrogen molecules in the target body, resulting in “armor-piercing” abilities!

Although it could only be used when the distance was close enough, this attack method, which was equivalent to ignoring the armor, was undoubtedly powerful for soft targets.

This was probably the cruelest way to use the nitrogen shield…

With his internal organs shattered into countless pieces, Ruzas choked on his blood and finally breathed his last breath in silent pain.

Lu Zhou looked at the swollen exoskeleton armor without the slightest pity in his eyes.

“When I was watching the military parade, your father wasn’t even born yet…

“Who are you calling boy…”

Lu Zhou glanced at the shield generator on his arm that had exhausted the last bit of energy and began to gradually dissipate into black powder.

He sighed and said, “I wanted to save some energy for research, but it’s all gone now.”

Most of the system samples were one-time-use, and this nitrogen shield was an example.

However, Lu Zhou received this when he was still a “noob”. It was a miracle he managed to save it until now. Lu Zhou left it aside and went to the cockpit.

This flight had been drifting in the universe for two days, and it was reasonable to say that it should arrive at the station in at most one day.

However, instead of decelerating, the spacecraft was still accelerating. He didn’t know if there was enough fuel left to slow down, let alone how many minutes or even seconds were left in the window going into Earth-Moon system orbit.

His top priority now was to rescue the kidnapped captain so that the flight could return to the normal course as soon as possible.

However, when Lu Zhou arrived in the cockpit, he saw two corpses lying in a pool of blood.

“Sh*t!”

As Lu Zhou looked at the miserable situation in front of him, his face turned dark in an instant.

Judging from the uniform worn by the two of them…

He was in trouble.

Chapter 1433: Eleven Hours of Crisis!

“He will kill us!”

Curled up next to Professor Leonard, a black guy repeated this sentence for the third time in a nervous tone.

Just as Professor Leonard hesitated on whether to comfort him or not, the black guy suddenly had a trace of panic in his eyes. His shoulders trembled as he continued, “I remember who those people are… The one lying on the ground is Alando, and their leader is Jean Ruzas. A week ago, the Pan-Asian Cooperative First Fleet destroyed their operation. Apparently, a full 20 tons of addictive alpha neurotoxins were seized. This incident directly caused the price of medicines in New London to increase several times. I remember clearly!”

The medicines were obviously not flu medicines, but the more profitable ones.

As for that Ruzas, he was an internationally renowned air thief. Two years ago, he was listed as a five-star wanted criminal by Interpol, and he had been at large until today.

Even though Professor Leonard had been teaching and doing academic work on Earth before, he was not completely ignorant of what was happening in space. He had heard a little about these space pirates before.

He didn’t expect that his own life would one day come into contact with this name.

Leonard, who originally planned to say something to comfort the black boy, had a trace of despair in his eyes.

They had encountered the most vicious pirates in this airspace!

A few seconds ago, he still had some hope for Lu Zhou’s heroic endeavors, but now, it seemed like it would be a miracle just to survive…

The locked cabin door suddenly opened from the outside.

Hearing the sound of the door opening and the quick footsteps, he was as shocked as he was nervous, and he subconsciously wanted to shrink under the chair.

However, he caught a glimpse of the face that appeared at the door from the corner of his eye.

The expression on his face gradually turned into unbelievable surprise, and he quickly felt intense ecstasy.

It wasn’t just Professor Leonard who felt this way; the same happened with all of the passengers who were fidgeting in the cabin.

The moment the door opened, their hearts were beating out of their chests, for fear that they would be greeted with vicious faces and rifle shots.

The moment they saw the face that appeared at the door, people unanimously breathed a sigh of relief, and what came to their hearts was the intense joy and uncontrollable excitement!

The short-haired girl who had been rescued by Lu Zhou earlier clapped her hands.

The crisp applause broke the silence in the cabin. Like a spring rain that melted the snow and ice, it spread in just a few seconds, turning into a thunderstorm.

People cheered, whistled, and stood up excitedly. They wanted to hug him and cheer for their hero.

Since he was the one who appeared instead of the vicious bandit, there was only one possibility.

There was no doubt that they were saved!

If only…

Things were actually that simple.

“Quiet… Just quiet down.” Lu Zhou looked at the enthusiastic girl who cheered for him. She came over and hugged him. He pushed her aside and raised his hands, gesturing everyone to calm down.

When they noticed the serious expression on Lu Zhou’s face, everyone gradually began to realize that the situation was not as simple as they thought, so they calmed down a little.

Lu Zhou only coughed slightly when the cheering sound stopped.

“I’ll just make this short…

“Does anyone know how to fly this thing?”

…

Jinling Hospital No.3.

As usual, Director Li brought some fruits to the ward to visit Wang Peng, who had just regained consciousness.

Seeing Director Li walked into the ward, Wang Peng, who was sitting on the bed, asked immediately, “When can I be discharged from the hospital?”

“You have to stay in the hospital for at least three days. This is also for your own good. You will have time to get familiar with some of the new things of this era.” Director Li put the fruits on the bedside table and watched the young man sitting in the hospital bed as he said with a smile, “A few months ago, someone slept on the road two days after leaving the hospital. He was returned to the hospital by the police. One reason, guess what?”

“He couldn’t find a place to live?”

“This is one of the reasons.” Director Li said with a sigh, “The world’s information technology is too advanced, and the technology we were accustomed to has been swept into the historical grave by this era. New things are beyond our imagination.

“Back then, not having a mobile phone is equivalent to isolating yourself from society. But in this era, there is no such thing as a mobile phone. Instead, there are various forms of smart wearable devices and even implants in the human body. Speaking of which… The people from the Freezing Human Rights Protection Fund should have already contacted you, right?”

Wang Peng nodded.

“They came here yesterday.”

“Did they talk about volunteering with you?”

“A little.”

“Then what are your plans?”

Wang Peng thought for a while and said, “From what they suggested… If everything goes well, I plan to go to the school they recommended for a year of preparatory course, then think about the future.”

After all, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Fund was a non-profit charity organization established by Lu Zhou. It had a history of more than 100 years and had a very good reputation throughout the Pan-Asian region.

The main purpose of this foundation was only to help the frozen people from the past to find their place in this world.

The Pan-Asian cooperation had reached a high level of wealth, especially in the prosperity of the Chinese region. The unemployed could rely on unemployment subsidies to meet basic needs for food, clothing, housing, transportation, and some consumer goods. However, the mainstream value was still to encourage people to contribute to society.

Even though most people were quite decadent after waking up, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Fund was still working hard to fulfill the responsibilities of the times and try to integrate these people from ancient times into the current society.

Wang Peng didn’t know whether he had any value in this era, but he believed in Professor Lu’s wisdom and his plan for the future.

Since this fund was founded by him alone, and he had no better options, perhaps following their arrangement was a good choice.

“… Don’t worry too much about the future. If it doesn’t work, you can do charity work like me and help other young people from that era. Or go to a military school, utilize your past resume and your loyalty to the state. This society is quite tolerant. Only stubborn people are rejected. The key lies in whether you are willing to learn.”

Director Li smiled and waved his hand awkwardly.

Wang Peng went silent for a while.

“Back to the army?”

“Sort of, I know officers who joined the Pan-Asian First Fleet. For example, Li Gaoliang, from the Airborne Brigade, was in the military academy for three years, and is now the commander of the Third Orbit Marine Brigade.”

“Li Gaoliang?!”

Director Li asked, “Do you guys know each other?”

Wang Peng smiled bitterly.

“You could say so.”

Back when he was serving in the military, Wang Peng saved that guy’s life.

He didn’t expect this guy to also go dormant.

The picture in the holographic TV on the ceiling of the ward suddenly changed.

The reporter who received the press release suddenly became serious.

“Breaking news…

“According to the information from the route control center, flight N-177, which was originally scheduled to arrive at the Tianzhou space station at 8 o’clock tomorrow, was hijacked by unknown armed forces.

“So far, the Pan-Asian First Fleet has dispatched two sentry-class patrol ships to rescue. The Pan-Asian Orbital Defense Force has also used all available facilities to organize the evacuation of residents and stranded passengers on the Tianzhou space station.”

The scene switched, and the shot was moved from the studio to the Tianzhou space station. The crowd inside the customs hall was in chaos.

All 12 shuttles deployed had been put into use.

But even then, it was very difficult to evacuate the tens of thousands of stranded passengers, engineers, and residents on the space station within ten hours!

Wang Peng and Director Li opened their mouths at the same time, not knowing what to think, nor knowing what to say.

Then the camera switched again, showing the space station of the Pan-Asian First Fleet. A group of soldiers wearing black exoskeleton armor were boarding a long shuttle-shaped landing ship.

An officer walked to the camera and took off the folding mask on his helmet.

Facing the live broadcast drone and the microphones, Li Gaoliang spoke in a serious tone.

“The situation is still under control. We are communicating with the hijackers and doing our best to ensure the safety of the hostages. Of course, if the other party takes action, we do not rule out the use of troops to fight for the safety of the passengers on board.”

“Hello, I am a reporter from Beijing TV. What is the other party’s request?”

“Sorry, I don’t know the specifics, my superior has not informed me…”

“Why evacuate the passengers on the Tianzhou? There are rumors that the other party refused to communicate. Is this really the case?”

Li Gaoliang: “The evacuation is for safety reasons. We cannot assume that those hijackers are acting logically.”

A reporter asked sharply, “In other words, this might be a retaliation attack?”

“Yes.” Li Gaoliang nodded his head solemnly. He continued in a serious tone, “We cannot rule out this possibility.

“This may be a suicide attack.

“Just like 9/11.”

The reporters who surrounded him were shocked…

Chapter 1434: Slingshot Effect!

“… The communication module was physically dismantled. Those hijackers seemed to have no intention of having a conversation. The dismantlement was thorough, even the backup communication system was removed, and the remote control modules and autopilot systems… Damn it!”

Crouched in front of the console was a short man with glasses.

His name was Fan Sheng, and he was an engineer at an aerospace company in Pan Asia.

About a week ago, he went to Tiangong City to attend an academic seminar. He did not expect to encounter such a mess on the way home.

But thank god he was here; otherwise, with the robot that Xiao Ai sent ruined in the previous battle, Lu Zhou really didn’t know what to do.

Seeing that Fan Sheng was sweating profusely, Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “Can you fix it?”

“It’s impossible to fix it. Judging by the violent removal method, they never thought about reinstalling it later.” A wry smile appeared on Fan Sheng’s face. He raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, “But fortunately, their understanding of this transport ship is poor. I changed the settings of the maintenance system and switched to developer mode. Although the channel is narrower, the audio call should be usable.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Can it be used now?”

“Yes… I received an unfamiliar communication request here. It should be the Pan-Asian Fleet who noticed the anomaly on our side.”

Lu Zhou: “Connect them immediately!”

Fan Sheng quickly nodded, then tapped on the holographic panel.

“Ok… Done!”

The picture on the holographic panel changed. A call window was quickly presented in front of Lu Zhou and Fan Sheng.

The video was blank, and the person standing at the other end of the video couldn’t be seen, but they could clearly hear their voice.

“… This is the Pan-Asian First Fleet. Flight N-177, can you hear me?”

“If you can, we just want to talk. No matter what you’re asking for, we just want a conversation…”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, “This is flight N-177… I am a passenger on the flight. We have regained control of the flight from the hijackers.”

The other end of the call was silent for a while. They seemed to be surprised by the news.

Lu Zhou waited quietly for two seconds. There was a response from the other end of the communication channel.

Navigator: “Can you slow down?”

“Yes… We have turned off the main engine, but the automatic navigation module has been removed by the hijackers, and the two captains have also been killed by the hijackers.” Lu Zhou had a headache looking at the channel data displayed on the navigator. He said, “You better send someone over to help us… The hijackers can board this transport ship, surely you guys have a way too?”

This time there was a longer silence in the communication channel.

Navigator: “Flight N-177, when you hear this news, I hope you can stay calm…”

Hearing the heavy tone, Lu Zhou vaguely had a guess, and his mood began to tank.

Fan Sheng was next to him. He was silent for a while, then said, “Tell me.”

Navigator: “You missed the last deceleration window 37 minutes ago.”

Lu Zhou: “That means we can’t come back anymore?”

Navigator: “Yes…”

Lu Zhou didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at Fan Sheng next to him.

“Is that true?”

Fan Sheng’s face was pale. His lips trembled as he nodded.

“… That might be true. But surely there is another way! What about your landing spacecraft? At least give us some supplies…”

“The Dolphin 230 transport ship has 12 pairs of K-15 ion thruster engines. In terms of acceleration, even if the patrol ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet leaves from the nearest spaceport now, it won’t catch up within 72 hours. The rescue window is only 11 hours. Once you pass by the Earth-Moon system, it will take two weeks at the earliest for our aircraft carrier to complete docking with you.”

Lu Zhou looked at Fan Sheng and continued to ask, “Is that true?”

Fan Sheng was pale as he nodded.

“At the beginning of the design, the dolphin-type civil transport ship was designed to facilitate passengers to travel between the Earth-Moon system and the Mars system quickly. Therefore, 12 pairs of main engines were installed on the tail… The military transport ship of China that is carrying ammunition and endurance supplies may not be able to catch up.

“Those space pirates have been preparing to ambush us since a week ago…”

In the headquarters of the Pan-Asia First Fleet, Yang Wu stepped forward and patted the navigator on the shoulder while looking at the blank video call window.

“Let me communicate with them.”

The navigator glanced at the military advisor and stepped out of his seat.

Yang Wu sat in front of the console in place of the navigator. He stared at the blank holographic video window and spoke in a serious and calm voice.

“This is Yang Wu from the Pan-Asian First Fleet, military operations consultant.

“I am sorry to inform you of this news, but the possibility of your safe return is very slim. At the soonest, it will take two weeks for our rescuers to arrive. Therefore, we need you to take some necessary self-rescue measures.

“If you can control this flight, I hope you can turn on the left steering engine, change the current course, and avoid the direct collision with the Tianzhou space station.”

Lu Zhou: “How many degrees left?”

Yang Wu: “If you are unsure, keep the left steering engine running at full power for more than 720 seconds.”

720 seconds…

Turning left at full power for 720 seconds, this was tantamount to avoiding Earth directly and head toward the deep dark space.

Lu Zhou: “Do you mean to give us up?”

Yang Wu said in a serious tone, “We have never given up on you. This is just for the safety of the Tianzhou spacecraft and the tens of thousands of residents on the space station. We hope you can keep a safe distance from them. We will do our best to rescue you, but I also hope that you will consider the greater good.”

“What is your name?”

“Yang Wu.”

“Yang Wu.” Lu Zhou stared at the blank holographic window and said, “There are more than 200 passengers on board, most of them part of Pan-Asia, others from all over the world. I agree with your opinion that the greater good is important, but we are far from that stage. As long as I am here and I am still alive, I will not allow them to die for no reason.”

Yang Wu: “Can you drive a transport ship? What do you want to do?”

Lu Zhou chuckled.

“The principles are actually the same. The only difference is that the operation is more cumbersome now. The essence of spaceflight is a mathematical problem, and as long as it is a mathematical problem, there is a solution.”

Yang Wu squinted his eyes. He stared at the holographic screen and spoke in a deep voice.

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am, I just need your side to cooperate with me.”

The communication call ended.

Flight N-177 seemed to have made up its mind to gamble on the fate of itself and the Tianzhou ship. It proceeded along the established route.

The Pan-Asian First Fleet command Room was roped in nervous tension.

Everyone stared at the flashing green dot on the radar.

“The route has not changed. Flight N-177 is heading to Tianzhou!”

“A collision is expected in 11 hours!”

“Aim at them, we can’t let the tens of thousands of residents on the Tianzhou be at risk!”

“They have no chance of surviving…”

“It’s not impossible.” The aerospace technology consultant, who had not spoken, suddenly said, “Although the probability is probably less than 1%…”

The commander looked at him immediately and said, “Why?”

“Slingshot effect.” The aerospace technology consultant continued while looking at the commander, “Although according to the current course, their remaining fuel is insufficient to slow down, if the slingshot effect can be used, it may not be impossible.”

The military adviser frowned and asked, “Slingshot effect? I remember that. Isn’t it used to accelerate unmanned space probe?”

“It isn’t only for acceleration. When the planet moves to the right on the horizontal plane, if the spacecraft flies over the planet from the left side of the planet at the right angle, it will receive a rightward impulse from the planet. In theory, if they fly over the Earth in orbit, as long as they intersect at the right angle, they can use the slingshot effect to extend the rescue window.”

Commander: “How long can it be extended?”

“I don’t know, shouldn’t you ask the computer about this kind of thing?”

The commander immediately looked at the staff and ordered, “Start the AI battlefield analysis system, I need to know the success rate of the plan and the possible risks.”

The progress bar on the holographic screen flickered.

Soon, the evaluation results appeared in front of everyone.

This result shocked everyone.

“The success rate is 2%… The probability of collision with the Tianzhou space station while flying by the geosynchronous orbit is 75%… Sh*t, this is assuming that there are experienced pilots on flight N-177!”

“It’s too difficult! Too many variables are difficult to control! The slingshot effect cannot accurately control the running speed and direction. Even an experienced pilot wouldn’t do this!”

“This is nonsense!”

“They are crazy!”

The commander had a blank expression. His fists were tightly clenched, as if he was hesitant.

Yang Wu glanced at him in silence and asked, “Is it worth it?”

Putting tens of thousands of people at risk for 200.

Is this really worth it?

…

To be honest, Lu Zhou didn’t spend much time considering whether it was worth it or not.

As a scholar, he only thought about one problem right now, which was the optimal solution.

The problem was filled with precise parameters, and no matter which parameter was adjusted, a little careless mistake might lead to extremely serious accidents.

They would fly by the geosynchronous orbit in 11 hours and have a high probability of colliding with the Tianzhou space station.

To be honest, the window period was short, not to mention the complicated manual navigation.

His calculations must be accurate. He had no room for even a small error.

If he wanted to survive, he must make use of every working fluid reserve, ignite the side engine at the critical moment, and use the slingshot effect to complete the final deceleration.

The engineer named Fan Sheng suddenly spoke in despair.

“I bet we are targeted.”

“Targeted?”

“Right now we are like a missile, crashing straight into the Tianzhou.” Fan Sheng said bitterly, “It must be like this in their eyes. Orbital defense weapons will definitely be used. If I were them, I certainly will not allow this to happen.”

“I don’t rule out this possibility, but I believe it will not happen.” Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He reached out his hand and patted Fan Sheng’s shoulder. “Go to the cabin and rest for a while, I want to be alone.”

Fan Sheng: “Can you tell me, what are you going to do?”

Lu Zhou: “Slingshot effect.”

Fan Sheng opened his mouth. After a while, he spoke.

“That is insane…”

After leaving the cockpit, Fan Sheng returned to the cabin. He tried to look upbeat as he walked back to his seat in silence and sat down.

Professor Leonard sighed and looked sadly at the starry sky outside the windows. He said, “Are we dead? Can you give me something?”

Fan Sheng: “Not for certain, but it’s not much better.”

The eleven-hour wait was long.

The whole world was drawn to the flight that was out of control.

The orbital residents who could not evacuate in time walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, praying for the spacecraft that was approaching, as well as for their own destiny.

A dark figure was seen getting closer and closer, blocking their sight of the moon.

Then, a miracle happened.

The huge spacecraft did not collide with the space station. In the end, it passed by the Tianzhou space station.

Sitting in the cockpit, Lu Zhou slowly breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed in the driver’s seat.

Inside the cabin, Professor Leonard stared nervously at the towering fortress outside the window.

He could clearly see the residents in the space station windows who were looking at them.

This was probably the greatest moment in human history.

At least one of them!

A man from 100 years ago saved a flight out of control and everyone on the flight.

Even at the last moment, people still did not give up hope and chose to believe in each other.

“Back in my days, we usually plan for the worst, even though I am not a pessimist…”

Yang Wu took off the hat from the top of his head and put it in his arms. He looked at the commander and said solemnly, “It is your courage that saved the two hundred passengers.”

“We were also planning for the worst…” The commander took a deep breath of the cold air. His tight shoulders finally relaxed as he said, “There were so many people who believed in us.

“I didn’t want to let them down.”

This disaster made the Pan-Asian people more united.

Even so, he didn’t want anything like this to happen again.

On flight N-177.

Cheers and applause sounded again.

The spacecraft flying by the geosynchronous was slowly sailing from the back of the earth toward the sun.

The sunlight lit up the blue horizon, and the blue planet looked beautiful under the morning shine.

A child stood in front of the windows as he stared at the shocking scene outside the window like it was a dream.

He didn’t know that he had just experienced the most dangerous moment in his life.

All he knew was that he, who was born and raised on Mars, saw the most spectacular sunrise in his life just now.

He turned his head excitedly and looked at his mother.

“Mommy, is that Earth?”

The childish voice was full of curiosity.

The mother sitting next to him smiled slightly and said softly, “Yeah…

“That’s where mommy was born…”

Chapter 1435: Aftermath

Flight N-177 decelerated successfully.

The patrol ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet had set off 11 hours ago and was expected to catch up with them in 48 hours.

When the time arrived, professional pilots would come to take over the flight, and professional equipment would replenish the flight and take them home.

On the other hand, the remaining passengers and the 6 flight attendants on the flight formed a temporary rescue group to maintain order on the flight. They distributed food and water for the elderly, children, and other passengers.

When Lu Zhou returned to the cabin again, many people gave him hugs and thanks.

Some people hoped to exchange virtual community contact information with him. However, Lu Zhou, who was from the 21st century, was completely confused about the virtual communities and the likes. In the end, he gave out his outdated email address, leaving people at a loss.

After eating lunch, Lu Zhou left his seat and got up. He went to the corridor outside the cabin.

The bodies of the two hijackers had been removed. The volunteers composed of passengers dragged them into the already empty robot storage area.

As for the piles of robot remains on the ground, no one moved them. It seemed that they were intended to be handled by their owners and the Pan-Asian authorities.

Lu Zhou quickly found the rusty old-fashioned robot.

In the previous battle, the hijacker wearing the exoskeleton armor had completely destroyed it in a violent manner, so what was lying there was just a pile of metal wreckage.

However, even so, Lu Zhou still wanted to thank it.

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou looked at the lifeless robot and mourned for a while.

Although they didn’t spend much time together, and there was no conversation, in these short days, it had saved Lu Zhou’s life twice.

Perhaps it was because he had been with Xiao Ai for too long, or because the robots were particularly human-like, he always felt that he couldn’t completely treat them as machines.

It was almost like the robot was Lu Zhou’s friend.

On the way back to the cabin, Lu Zhou saw a little girl with a cute ponytail, about seven or eight years old, wiping her tears with her small hands, sobbing quietly.

Lu Zhou walked forward and squatted down in front of her. He asked in a comforting tone, “Where are your parents?”

“My tail… she… she broke.”

“… Tail?”

The girl looked up at Lu Zhou. She nodded with tears in her eyes and opened her right fist, revealing the thing that looked like a memory card in her palm.

“Tail… She’s Lili’s good friend. Every time I am sad, she sings to me.”

The girl’s voice became even sadder.

She sniffed and looked down at the memory card in her hand as she spoke.

“Don’t worry. When Lili returns to Earth, she will fix you with her pocket money. Then, I will buy you a pretty…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

So the “Tail” is a robot…

When he realized that, in order to save him, the robot Xiao Ai had sent had activated every robot on the ship, he couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.

If only I had money on me.

If I had money, I would definitely buy her the most expensive robot.

Unfortunately, the only money he had was borrowed from the Englishman. And even after he arrived on Earth, he didn’t know how much of his own wealth he could inherit.

“If Tail knows that you are so sad because of her, she will be very sad too…” Lu Zhou touched the little girl’s head and smiled. “Go find your parents, they are worried about you.”

“Ok…”

Perhaps she was touched by the sunny and handsome smile, the little girl nodded. Although there were still tears in her eyes, she felt much better than before.

She stood up and patted the corner of her skirt. She politely bowed her head to Lu Zhou and said thank you, then ran away in the direction of the cabin.

Lu Zhou thought for a while before returning to the previous pile of machine wreckage.

After groping for a while, he pulled out a black cuboid about the size of a harmonica from the broken robot.

“Is this the memory card?”

It looked much heavier than the one in the little girl’s hand, but the connection port and shape were similar.

Is it because this robot is too old?

“When we return to Earth, I will also give you a new body.”

At least one that can talk.

Of course, if I have enough money…

Lu Zhou stood in the corridor for a while. He had nothing else to do. He looked at the scenery outside the window for a while, then turned and returned to the cabin.

When he returned to the cabin again, people finally stopped cheering at him, and they also stopped doing other things that bothered him.

Lu Zhou returned to his seat and sat down. He took out the brain-computer neural interface from the seat and was about to connect to the database on the spacecraft to continue enhancing his knowledge.

However, not far from his seat, a woman with a pretty face and a mature figure put down the baby, got up from her seat, and walked toward him.

“I just wanted to say thank you.”

Lu Zhou looked up at her and recognized this lady as the mother he had saved earlier.

“You’re welcome.” Lu Zhou looked at her and nodded. He asked casually, “Speaking of which, where is your husband?”

“I don’t have a husband.”

“Sorry, I was insensitive.”

“No, it’s not what you think.” The mature lady smiled and asked, “Speaking of which, sir, you were dormant?”

Professor Leonard frantically looked at him. Lu Zhou didn’t know what he wanted to express, but after some thought, he gave an ambiguous answer.

“Why do you say that?”

“Many dormant people who have been frozen for a long time are confused about the moral values of the current society after they wake up, especially in regard to marriage and family.”

“Like what?”

“For example, in this era, there isn’t the traditional concept of family from a century ago. Although some people still get married, most people still prefer to live alone. As for love, there are many similar substitutes in the virtual world.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Leonard and cast an unexpected look at him.

Professor Leonard shrugged and said, “She’s right. The old-fashioned style of marriage was retired about half a century ago. My father was fifty when I was born, through artificial organs and scientific methods. I don’t have a mother. I know that my egg donor is a female of Italian descent, but I have never seen her.”

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Leonard in amazement. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

“This is…”

“If you want to feel pity for me, forget about it. I think this is actually quite good. Everyone is like this. Two-parent families are rare.”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth, still unable to understand this strange concept.

He believed that his viewpoints were already relatively liberal, and he accepted that marriages might not necessarily last for a lifetime. He also believed that there was no need to marry a person for the sake of getting married. But he still couldn’t accept this concept of family.

Can a child without a father or mother really have a healthy and complete childhood?

I always feel that if you don’t want to raise the child together, you shouldn’t have a child at all.

This is out of respect for the child.

However, in this era, this concept he couldn’t understand seemed to have become commonplace.

His instinct told him that this was not good, but philosophy was beyond his professional scope.

“Of course, nothing is absolute. There are also many couples who will enter the palace of marriage, but today’s society is more tolerant and does not exclude or persecute dissidents.”

The lady turned her head and threw a smile at Lu Zhou.

“And, after seeing you, I feel like I believe in love again.”

Is she…

Hitting on me?

Lu Zhou hesitated slightly and said with a confused look, “But you don’t even know my name…”

“A name is just a word. What I value more is your maturity, stability, reliability, and… well, your masculinity? Anyway, you’re not like the scaredy-cat next to you.”

Professor Leonard suddenly became unhappy. He interjected, “What do you mean scaredy-cat?”

The woman ignored Professor Leonard. She took a step closer with a smile and spoke to Lu Zhou.

“Only you bravely stood up and saved me and my child, if you want—”

“Sorry, I already have someone else.”

Although, like everyone else, she has become a memory of the past…

The woman was surprised by Lu Zhou’s answer.

But soon, the surprised expression turned into a smile as she continued, “If you feel that your past is too much of a burden, I don’t mind developing another kind of relationship with you.”

Lu Zhou: “Sorry, I do mind.”

Woman: “…”

Chapter 1436: : I Am Lu Zhou

As Professor Leonard looked at the lady from behind, a trace of disappointment appeared on his face.

He turned his head to look at Lu Zhou and said, “You shouldn’t have rejected her.”

“Why?”

“You are not in the system. Even if you have an ID card, you probably aren’t registered in the household registration database. You don’t receive benefits from the Pan-Asian cooperation. You can’t open a personal account. Sooner or later, you will need help. Your identity information would have been canceled a long time ago. It is not that simple to go through the Pan-Asian’s household registration procedures…”

After taking a peek at the side and seeing that no one was looking here, Professor Leonard leaned close to Lu Zhou and continued in a low voice, “I know a little Chinese. Listening to that lady’s words, she should be Chinese… Do you know what this means?”

“What does it mean?”

“Among the household registrations of many member states of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the one with the highest value and the most difficult to apply is the household registration of China. If you marry her and successfully naturalize for 12 months, you will be able to pay me back the credits you borrowed—”

“F*ck off.”

Perhaps Leonard was frightened by Lu Zhou’s tone, he shrank his neck and immediately shut his mouth.

…

Lu Zhou originally thought that his refusal was not polite enough, but he did not expect that he underestimated the passion of people in this era.

Over the past two days, the woman had been approaching him constantly and using romantic words she probably read from a romance novel.

Perhaps it was because the way people expressed their love in this era was so straightforward, in addition to feeling embarrassed, Lu Zhou felt violated.

Bewildered by Lu Zhou’s reaction, Professor Leonard finally spoke after two days.

“Don’t tell me… you actually like men.”

Lu Zhou, who was drinking water, almost choked to death by the water. He coughed several times before he responded.

“What?”

F*ck!

If I choke to death from drinking water after saving us from the hijackers, that would be embarrassing.

“I was just curious.” Professor Leonard shrugged and glanced at the front row. “Even if you don’t like her, why not give it a try? Or do you not like the fact that she has children?”

“Why do I have to waste time trying? I don’t agree with your logic…” Lu Zhou put the drinking water bag aside and continued, “Moreover, in our era, romance should be more subtle. Anyway, I can’t accept it.”

“I see… That is a valuable piece of information.”

After hearing this, Professor Leonard pinched his chin and nodded.

However, he suddenly realized that Lu Zhou had quietly moved away from him.

Leonard quickly realized what was going on, so he explained, “Don’t be mistaken… I mean value in the sense of ancient cultural studies.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

Two days after passing by the Tianzhou space station, the two patrol ships of the Pan-Asian Cooperation First Fleet arrived at the flight N-177.

After the merging operation was completed, the two patrol ships sandwiched flight N-177, while the docked patrol ship supplied the propellant for the flight.

As Lu Zhou looked at the Pan-Asian soldiers boarding the flight, his heart finally relaxed. The other tired faces in the cabin also showed expressions of relief.

This was probably the longest flight they had even taken in their lives.

However, for Lu Zhou, this was a “normal” length of time for a flight between Mars and Earth.

In addition to the condolences, the soldiers of the Pan-Asian Cooperation also checked the identity cards of the passengers on the ship.

One reason was to eliminate potential safety hazards and prevent the accomplices of those space pirates from hiding in the passengers, and the other reason was to check whether anyone was missing or killed.

To be honest, when it was his turn, Lu Zhou was a little nervous.

After all, he was not in the system. If a problem was found, it would be difficult to explain himself.

Fortunately, his worries were superfluous because Xiao Ai was as reliable as ever.

When the soldier who scanned his ID card found no problems, he politely returned the card to him, then walked to the next passenger.

These soldiers did not interact much with the passengers.

After recovering the corpses and the wreckage of the robots, some of them returned to the patrol ship, leaving only the pilot and two marines on the flight.

Lu Zhou was curious as to what they would write in the investigation report after seeing the robot corpses.

The magnetic slingshot was easy to explain, but he really didn’t know how to explain the nitrogen shield.

But what was interesting was that those Pan-Asian Cooperation soldiers did not question him too much. They merely expressed surprise and admiration for his brave actions, then went on to do other things.

After the completion of the fuel supplement, flight N-177 began on its return journey.

A professional pilot operated the spacecraft and repaired the dismantled modules. There were no accidents in the second half of the voyage…

Lu Zhou was about to arrive at the Tianzhou space station.

“The flight will arrive in 15 minutes. You will stop at the Tianzhou space station for a while, then take the shuttle to Yangtze River Delta city group: Jinling City.

“As for the compensation, Pan-Asian Airlines and the Pan-Asian Air Traffic Control Bureau will negotiate with you in the future. We will inform you of the cause of the accident as soon as the investigation results come out.

“We are sincerely sorry for what has happened…”

Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to what the soldier said after.

As he looked at the azure planet reappearing in the window and the towering spaceport, his heart was filled with shock, and his heartbeat gradually accelerated.

It was difficult to describe the feelings that were boiling in his heart at the moment.

In addition to the majestic spaceport and azure planet, what was printed in his eyes was partly excitement, partly anxiety, and some inexplicable emotions.

Perhaps this was what homesick felt like.

He had been away for a hundred years.

Most people hadn’t even lived a hundred years.

But to him, everything from a century ago seemed to have happened yesterday.

In the blink of an eye, everything changed…

…

Pan-Asia, Yangtze River Delta city group, Jinling.

A crowd was waiting next to the landing area of the airport.

Except for some people joining in on the fun, most of them were personal media and journalists from all over the world, as well as the official personnel of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Drones for live broadcasting floated above people’s heads, while cameras were pointed at the distant sky.

Today was the day the passengers of flight N-177 would return.

Ever since the flight was hijacked, this transport ship had become the focus of the world media’s attention.

This was a Pan-Asian Cooperation flight!

A regional alliance led by the world’s largest power!

Who could be so brave enough to provoke the powerful Pan-Asian Cooperation?

Almost everyone in the world was watching the progress of this hijacking incident. They waited for the follow-up response of Pan-Asian cooperation and prayed for the passengers on the flight.

And now, after a series of bad news, there was finally good news.

The passengers who were hijacked were finally taken back to Earth.

In half an hour, they would land here…

“We are in front of the Pan-Asian Cooperation Jinling Aerospace Airport…”

Faced in front of a drone, a stylishly dressed lady reporter held a recording pen in her hand and explained the situation live on the scene in an excited voice.

“Soon, the shuttle from the Tianzhou space station will land here and safely bring our friends back! Look! Here they come!”

A touch of silver appeared in the distant sky.

A shuttle came out of the clouds, getting closer and closer to the ground. It finally landed smoothly on the open space in the landing zone.

A movable gangway approached the shuttle. The pneumatic escalator popped up and docked with the open hatch. The passengers finally appeared in front of the cameras.

When Lu Zhou walked out of the shuttle, the dazzling sunlight shined into his eyes.

He immediately received attention.

“Thank you, hero of the Pan-Asian people!”

A middle-aged man in formal clothes stepped forward and gave him a big hug.

“On behalf of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, I extend my highest respect and gratitude to you! Welcome, welcome home!”

Lu Zhou glanced at him blankly. After Lu Zhou shook hands with him, he saw the recording pens, cameras, and interview drones flooding behind him.

In the blink of an eye, the suffocating questions flooded him.

“I heard that you defeated the hijackers on the flight?”

This was probably the simplest question.

However, Lu Zhou gave an ambiguous answer.

“Sort of…”

Xiao Ai did 70% of the work, and the high-tech weapons provided by the system accounted for at least 20%.

However, the way the reporters interpreted his short answer was completely different.

The scene went into chaos.

“Can you tell us the specifics?”

“Sorry, I don’t want to recall the incident.”

This was Professor Leonard’s suggestion to him. If there was a question that he didn’t want to answer, he could just refuse it.

In the 22nd century, whether it was a reporter’s interview or a question, unless it was an accusation of some special crime, even a court could not force a person to speak.

Sure enough, after he bluntly refused, the reporter did not continue to ask the details, even though his expression was clearly one of disappointment.

However, there were still a bunch of questions waiting for him.

A young lady reporter squeezed into the front row of the crowd. She looked at him with admiring eyes and said excitedly, “Hero, can I ask for your name?”

Name…

“I…”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth.

He wanted to say the name on his ID card.

But after being silent for a while, he suddenly changed his mind.

I am Lu Zhou.

I always have been…

This was the name that his parents gave him. The name that was recognized by the world. It was not something worthy or needed to be covered up.

Faced with the recording pens and the eyes of admiration, excitement, and curiosity, Lu Zhou looked at the cameras.

He spoke in a clear and confident tone.

“I am Lu Zhou.”

Chapter 1437: Hes Back!

“The footage has been deleted.”

Pan-Asian First Fleet command center.

In front of the holographic computer, the information technology expert pushed his glasses and continued solemnly, “And it was deleted very cleanly. All traces have been erased, and there is no residual data.”

“Deleted?” The commander frowned slightly. “What about the backup in the black box?”

“Although it sounds weird to say this, looking at the timeline markers, the black box stopped writing data a few minutes after we confirmed that the flight was hijacked. It was like it was turned off.”

The people in the command room looked at each other with shock in their eyes.

Especially the engineers from Pan-Asian Airlines and East Asia Heavy Industries, they couldn’t believe it.

Turning off the black box before the flight was not difficult.

However, during the flight, turning off the black box through some kind of mysterious means, this was almost impossible.

Then again, they still hadn’t figured out what happened on the N-177 flight. This was an incredible thing in and of itself.

“The most confusing thing is not this… I cracked some of the unclaimed robot memory and found traces of man-made changes inside.”

The commander, with his arms crossed, frowned.

“Changes?”

“Yeah… but although the traces of the changes cannot be erased, I have not yet figured out where the specific changes are. The hackers who hacked into these memories carefully erased all the operation records. I even suspect… that these traces of intrusion are related to the hijacking case itself.”

The staff member pondered for a while and said, “Although there is no surveillance video, judging from the evidence at the scene, the robots were shot by the hijackers’ rifles. Logically speaking, there is no need for the hijackers to shoot these robots for no reason… Did someone exploit the loopholes in these robot systems to attack those hijackers?”

“Impossible.” The information technology expert said, “From the logic of AI, robots are forbidden to attack humans. If your hypothesis is true, the problem we face is probably more terrifying than the hijacking itself.”

To some extent, the large-scale application of robots had greatly filled the labor shortage caused by the aging population in East Asia. Although these robots lacked creativity, they were obedient, so they had unique advantages in the service industry and pure manual labor.

In the 22nd century, due to the high level of education in the Pan-Asian region, those low-end and manual-intensive jobs were often performed by robots.

The breakthrough of robotic technology had, to a certain extent, enhanced the Pan-Asian Cooperation and even the prosperity of various regions of the world.

However, the premise of all this was based on the safety of the robotic technology itself.

If the robots were no longer safe, they could face a heavy blow to the industrial chain, and they would also have a ticking time bomb on their hands. These robots were integrated into all corners of society; there was no possibility of dismantling all of them.

Pan-Asian Cooperation without robots would fall into the trap of labor shortage and rising production price index. Even with the economies of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, it would be difficult to maintain the current model of high welfare and high expenditure on public facilities.

Therefore, even knowing that this possibility existed, most people were not willing to make such an assumption at all.

Obviously aware of this, the commander coughed and forcibly ended the topic.

“That’s because someone hacked into the system of the robots and used those robots as meat shields to resist those hijackers… Anyway, compared to the hijacking incident, this is just a trivial matter. If the people from the Security Bureau are interested, let them investigate, that is their line of work. However, I still recommend putting this matter aside. This is a special situation. We shouldn’t prosecute any actions the passengers on the flight made.”

“Nevertheless, there are some things I can’t let go of.” Yang Wu frowned as he recalled the previous call. He continued after thinking for awhile, “I want to see that person.”

Commander: “Who?”

Yang Wu: “The person who took the flight back from the hijackers and got in touch with us in the cockpit. My intuition tells me that he should know something about this.”

A smile appeared on the commander’s face.

Intuition?

Do you really need your intuition for that?

Everyone knows that the N-177 flight rescue must have something to do with him.

First, the hijackers were killed, then the best course for slowing down using the slingshot effect was calculated fascinatingly. The set of expert-level operations overwhelmed everyone. Even now, the aerospace technology experts of the Pan-Asian First Fleet still couldn’t believe that this kind of complicated mathematical model could be calculated by the human brain.

If it weren’t for that person, they would have had to stand at the press conference and apologize to the world.

However, no matter how curious they were, the law was the law.

According to the law of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the fleet had no law enforcement power. They couldn’t subpoena or investigate citizens of any member state without authorization.

“This matter should be left to the intelligence department. We should just investigate the evidence collected at the scene.”

Yang Wu still reluctantly said, “Can you tell me who he is? I want to contact him through private channels.”

Commander: “His identity information should be registered on the flight… But I don’t recommend you to do this. This involves citizen privacy. If this gets leaked, you will be in a tough spot.”

Yang Wu frowned as he hesitated.

He wanted to visit that person not entirely out of curiosity, but also for closure.

He didn’t know why he felt this way.

The live interview of the site was being shown on the holographic TV on the wall. Yang Wu’s eyes focused on the person in the holographic screen.

Yang Wu subconsciously took two steps toward the holographic screen.

For some reason, he felt that his face looked familiar.

Like he had seen it somewhere…

“—Hero, may I ask for your name?”

Facing the camera and recording pen, the person in the camera opened his mouth and hesitated for two seconds.

But soon, the hesitation and confusion completely disappeared from his eyes.

It was also at this moment that Yang Wu’s pupils shrank. He matched this face with his memory.

His memory from a long time ago.

Even before 2050…

When he was a child, the adults always talked about that person, and they used that man’s story to inspire himself.

The person in the camera slowly spoke.

“I am Lu Zhou.

“From a century ago…

“It seems that a lot of things have happened during the century when I was away…

“Sorry to keep you all waiting.

“I’m back.”

Inside a hospital dozens of kilometers away, a pair of chopsticks fell on the table.

A man with a resolute face stared at the news on the holographic screen with tears in his eyes.

An old man with wrinkles who sat next to him opened his mouth wide, his face covered with tears.

The corners of his mouth twitched. He muttered to himself, “I have to tell the President… No, what am I talking about, this is the 22nd century… The President has been gone for a long time.”

Wang Peng didn’t hear what Director Li was saying. He just muttered to himself, “He is not dead…”

The memories flashed in his mind, and he seemed to have returned to the Mars desert a century ago.

He almost gave up on survival until he desperately pulled out a wrist-mounted computer with a broken screen from under the yellow sand…

He considered ten thousand possibilities.

Not one of them considered that Lu Zhou was still alive.

He never thought they would meet again after a century…

Lagrange Point military base.

Brigadier Li Gaoliang, who was watching the news, pushed his chair away and stood up.

Lu Zhou!

It’s Lu Zhou!

Other people may not recognize him, but I know it’s him!

Dumbfounded, a group of soldiers nearby stared at him.

The adjutant gulped and asked, “Sir… What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! You won’t understand.” Li Gaoliang stared at the person on the screen. He clenched his fists and waved his hand excitedly. “Prepare the transport ship, I want to return to Earth!”

On Earth.

At the former site of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study not far from the Jinling Aerospace Airport, a robot guide that was smiling and introducing visitors to the place where Academician Lu worked during his lifetime suddenly stopped.

The unsentimental mechanical pupils zoomed into the sky.

It’s him!

My master!

He’s back!

Chapter 1438: To The Countryside

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Inside the customs lounge at the Jinling Aerospace Airport.

Lu Zhou sat in a chair. He looked at the holographic window that appeared in front of him and the completion of the mission. A dumbfounded expression appeared in his eyes.

“I didn’t expect to disclose my identity this way, at least half of the people thought I was joking…”

The scene was in chaos. Lu Zhou still remembered that he had to be escorted by the airport staff to escape from the reporters.

The vast majority of people in the world had already witnessed his return.

Based on the feedback given by the completion of the system task, Lu Zhou didn’t expect that only 49% of the people believed that he had returned.

But then again.

Half was pretty good.

If Plato stood in front of him and said that he had spent more than two thousand years in a dormant cabin because he had found an alien in the “Martian Hell Mountains”, he would probably think of it as a joke.

Especially since fake-media technology in the 22nd century was so advanced.

The amount of information people in this era were exposed to daily was definitely not in the same order of magnitude as people in the 21st century, and their sensitivity to external information was extremely high.

Fortunately, the way he appeared on the stage was so confident that at least some people took it seriously.

When Lu Zhou heard footsteps from outside the corridor, he blinked and dismissed the mission completion reminder.

At the same time, there was a knock on the door of the lounge. A middle-aged man and a woman, who were obviously of high status, walked in. They were accompanied by a few people.

“Hello, I’m Li Guangya, the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.” After making a simple self-introduction, the leader looked at the lady next to her and introduced, “This is Ms. Wu Shuhua, Pan-Asian Cooperation Secretary-General.”

Wu Shuhua nodded to Lu Zhou and spoke politely.

“Hello, Mr. Lu Zhou.”

Lu Zhou also nodded to say hello.

“Nice to meet you.”

After sitting across from Lu Zhou, Li Guangya looked at Lu Zhou seriously and spoke.

“Are you really Lu Zhou?”

“Yeah.”

The two people sitting across Lu Zhou made eye contact. A strange look appeared in their eyes.

Wu Shuhua: “I don’t mean to offend you… but aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

Lu Zhou: “Theoretically, yes. But I was lucky to find the dormant capsule of the Martian civilization.”

The dormant capsule of the Martian civilization…

Li Guangya smiled bitterly. Although he, the chairman of the board, occasionally encountered some strange things when coordinating the work between member states, something like this was really rare.

“Where is the dormant cabin?”

Lu Zhou said silently, “Do you really have to ask this… Of course it’s on Mars.”

Li Guangya coughed and raised his hand, signaling Secretary-General Wu not to ask these trivial questions for now.

He looked at Lu Zhou and continued with a cautious tone, “Mr. Lu, whether you are Lu Zhou or not, can I call you that?”

The information registered on the flight was Lu Ai, so calling him by his surname shouldn’t be a problem.

Lu Zhou nodded and said that he didn’t care. He waited for him to continue.

“Generally speaking, through normal dormancy procedures, we keep a back-up copy of the dormant’s identity information in the dormant cabin and the household registration management department. This includes the DNA, fingerprints, and other information that can prove who it is. As long as two of the three categories can be verified, then we can prove that you are who you claim to be.”

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke with a headache.

“How was I supposed to do that back then… So I can’t prove who I am?”

“This is due to rigorous procedural considerations, and… have you heard of the Nicholas case?”

Lu Zhou: “… What’s that?”

“A case that occurred between 2031 and 2100 and spans more than 70 years.” Li Guangya continued after a pause, “In 2031, there was a Northern Union businessman named Don Nicholas. He apparently died in a London hospital. Because of information loss and other reasons, the death could not be investigated. But in the summer of 2100, a man who claimed to be Don Nicholas announced that he had awakened from dormancy.”

Lu Zhou vaguely guessed what he wanted to say.

“You mean… He might be a fraud?”

“Not might, he is. But in fact, even though he was later proved to be a fraud, under the circumstances at the time, he was likely to have been considered real.”

Chairman Li Guangya continued, “The biggest controversy in that case was an inheritance worth up to 50 million Northern Union credit points. Although his company closed down due to mismanagement in 2043, his descendants still inherited a considerable amount of wealth from him. However, if he is still alive, the inheritance is obviously invalid. His descendants should also return all the inherited parts of his inheritance… At least the remaining part.”

“During the trial, the man claimed that he had come into this world through an abnormal cryo-hibernation method, so many procedures were incomplete. This argument was barely plausible. After all, when he went into frozen dormancy, the law did not prohibit informal dormancy channels, so all his actions were legal.”

Lu Zhou: “What happened?”

“The North Sea Alliance court rejected his lawsuit… Although his DNA is largely consistent with his descendants, there is no way to form a complete chain of evidence. The trail was in a stalemate, his descendants obtained the fingerprint samples of Don Nicholas himself during a charity fundraiser, and through fingerprint comparison, the case was finally brought to an end.

“The plaintiff became the defendant and was charged with fraud, and the man who claimed to be Don Nicholas pleaded guilty in court, saying that he was actually Don Nicholas’ illegitimate grandchild, that he made himself look like his grandfather.”

Lu Zhou said with a headache on his face, “So you suspect that I had plastic surgery?”

In order to receive Academician Lu’s inheritance?

This sounds ridiculous.

“We think that might be a possibility.” Wu Shuhua said in a serious tone, “Although the Northern Union and we belong to different legal systems, similar situations have occurred in the Pan-Asian cooperation.

“A person who was dead in the eyes of the law suddenly appeared as a person who looked exactly like him and was sued by the descendants of the person who had already died, demanding the return of the inheritance or some compensation. Although we support the person getting back his property and social honor, but… After all, this is a very serious matter that must be treated with care. We must 100% ensure that they are the same person.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Then how can I prove that I am me?”

Li Guangya said sincerely, “If you trust us, you can leave this matter to us to handle. Whether it’s identity confirmation or ownership definition, these things will take some time.”

“I don’t care.” Lu Zhou continued after thinking for a while, “But I don’t even have a place to live now.”

Chairman Li Guangya’s expression was a bit awkward. He said after coughing, “This… I’m really sorry, your house has been developed by the local authorities into a cultural tourist attraction. Even if we recognize your identity, the local authorities are unlikely to return it. After all, they have renovated it many times… But we will compensate you in the form of credits based on market prices.

“We recommend that you find a place to stay as soon as possible. We contacted the insurance company that insured flight N-177, and they expressed their willingness to pay you a prepaid compensation. We will issue you a temporary residence permit here. You can use this temporary residence permit to open an account, apply for a bank card, and rent real estate. After we have restored your citizenship, you can transfer your account.

“As for the fake identity registered on the flight…” Director Li Guangya looked at Lu Zhou and said, “We decided not to pursue it for the time being.”

So they know about it.

Makes sense, this isn’t the 21st century anymore, when quantum encryption technology hadn’t been popularized.

Even though Xiao Ai was still strong, it still needed stronger hardware to support that kind of power.

As for his own house…

Since property rights expired after 70 years if there was no renewal, it was confiscated.

“If it’s a tourist attraction, then so be it. It has been a hundred years, it’s probably not livable anymore…” Lu Zhou smiled and asked casually, “By the way, how many stars is it?”

“According to the Pan-Asian Cooperation standards, it is a five-star tourist attraction… That is, the highest level.”

“What about Lu Xun’s former residence?”

Li Guangya was stunned. He didn’t quite understand why Lu Zhou asked this question suddenly, but he still answered, “I think it’s also five stars?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

Not bad, same level as Lu Xun.

“Not bad.”

Li Guangya and Wu Shuhua glanced at each other with weird expressions. They didn’t quite understand what Lu Zhou meant.

It seemed that Mr. Lu was quite an easygoing person.

When most people woke up and heard that their houses were gone, they didn’t care how many years they had slept, nor did they listen to any reason. They cried and complained.

It was also the first time that Li Guangya and Wu Shuhua had talked to a dormant person this way.

After all, if Lu Zhou hadn’t saved the entire flight, they wouldn’t be here.

Taking into account the degree of concern about this matter from the public, Lu Zhou’s problem would definitely be resolved soon.

Wu Shuhua coughed slightly and said, “That’s enough for today. You should rest well for a few days. We won’t bother you too much.

“Also, the managers of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Fund want to see you. When will you be free? They should be able to help you.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m free anytime.”

Wu Shuhua: “Then what do you think about the afternoon?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“No problem.”

Not long after the two left, another medical team came and gave him a full set of free medical examinations and collected fingerprints as well as blood samples.

Although Lu Zhou carried the protector gene, he was not worried about it being detected.

After all, this was a high-tech technology that even the Calan Empire couldn’t decipher. Even if the complete genetic code was placed in front of the people on Earth, no one would know what it meant.

After completing the physical examination, Lu Zhou wandered around in the customs. Because of his lack of an identity, he could only stay here until the procedures for temporary identity were completed.

At night, a customs personnel informed him to go to the office to collect the relevant documents.

Lu Zhou thought that there would be a large stack of documents waiting for him to sign. He didn’t expect to receive only a wristband that was as thin as a piece of paper.

“All of your identity information is stored on this bracelet. The network is backed up in the Pan-Asian cooperation personal identity information system, which is globally networked.

“There is an electronic contract in the bracelet with a detailed description of the temporary residency. If there are no problems, you can just click to confirm.”

Lu Zhou looked at the bracelet in his hand and the holographic image that popped up after it was activated. He had a strange look on his mind.

“This is it?”

“Are there any other questions?”

Lu Zhou: “Nothing. I thought that you would use paper documents to sign or something.”

“All the electronic contracts you sign will have your unique identity code attached to the signature. This identity code cannot be forged or stolen, so there is no need to worry. We’re in the 22nd century now; most things are completely electronic.”

After speaking, the customs staff smiled and continued, “In addition, it is getting late now. If you have no other place to go, you can stay in the temporary lounge of the customs temporarily. We have prepared a bed and hot water for you. You can stay until tomorrow.”

Lu Zhou nodded and put away the bracelet.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

In the lounge, Lu Zhou went to the bathroom and took a shower.

Days of space travel had accumulated a lot of fatigue on him. He just wanted to get a good night’s sleep and receive the rewards of the system tomorrow.

But just after he had just taken a shower and put on clean clothes he bought from the duty-free shop, footsteps came from outside the lounge.

After knocking on the door, a tall man walked in.

When he saw Lu Zhou, his eyes were filled with tears of excitement. He walked forward quickly and grabbed Lu Zhou by the shoulders.

“Lu… Academician Lu! Is it really you?”

“Li Gaoliang?!”

Lu Zhou opened his mouth. His face was full of surprise.

He remembered this middle-aged internet addict quite well.

The reason why Star Sky Technology’s Phantom system was so successful was because of this guy.

Compared to the last time they met, this guy’s face had a few more wrinkles, but the change was not big. Lu Zhou recognized him at first glance.

However, Lu Zhou never expected that he would see this guy again, a century later.

“Why are you here in this era?”

“It’s a long story!” Li Gaoliang’s eyes were full of excitement as he said, “You didn’t die! This is too… too…”

Because he was so emotional, he couldn’t even get the second half of the sentence out of his mouth.

Not wanting to embarrass him, Lu Zhou coughed softly and spoke.

“How many people like us are in this era?”

After thinking about it for a while, Li Gaoliang replied, “I am not sure about this. Our missions are independent of each other. The dormant information is also a Class A secret. I only know… Director Li since I met him in this era.”

Director Li…

That old bugger is here?

After hearing this news, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to feel.

Even though he didn’t know what purpose Director Li was here for, it was a good thing for him.

Before returning to Earth, he was a little worried that he would be thrown into a completely unfamiliar era. He didn’t expect that there would be some friends who came from the early 21st century whom he could rely on.

This was a blessing in the midst of the misfortune…

Chapter 1439: Welcoming Person From the Future?

Lu Zhou had never thought that he, a man who never let outsiders spend the night in his own home, a man who sent his guests home when it got late, would one day talk with a man until late at night.

However, seeing someone from his era again did make him feel exceptionally nostalgic.

Lu Zhou learned some basic information from Li Gaoliang, as well as some misunderstandings that may arise from the perspective of a dormant person.

“You should rest for tonight.”

Looking at the time on the holographic screen, Li Gaoliang looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Get up early tomorrow. I will take you to find a place to live. I only have two days off this month. I have to go back before the day after tomorrow. If you need anything, I will try to help you tomorrow.”

Lu Zhou said, “That’s all the holidays you get?”

Logically speaking, there should be more holidays now than in the past, right?

Li Gaoliang smiled embarrassedly as he touched the back of his head awkwardly with his big hand.

“Um… How do I put it? The virtual reality technology of this era is pretty good. Holidays don’t matter to me.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

I feel like the Pan-Asian Cooperation fleet needs some rectification…

He slept for the entire night.

Early morning the next day, Lu Zhou said goodbye to the customs staff. While taking away his luggage, he also received a hand-painted greeting card from the staff.

Apparently, this card was left by a little girl who was a passenger on flight N-177.

Her name wasn’t on the cover of the greeting card; only two lines were written.

[Thank you, Mr. Hero, you saved Lili and everyone else.]

[PS: Lili will tell Tail about your story! :)]

On the back of the greeting card were two little girls, one tall and one short, holding hands. The background was the sun, blue sky, white clouds, and green lawns.

Although it wasn’t anything creative, it was full of childlike imagination.

Li Gaoliang touched his chin and said, “I didn’t expect to see paper greeting cards in this era.”

“I will cherish it.”

Lu Zhou put away the card. He looked at Li Gaoliang, smiled, and continued, “It’s time to go, take me to see the world 100 years in the future.

“Have people’s lives become better? Have the people of our time realized their ideals for the future?”

Li Gaoliang grinned and said with a smile, “Haha, I’m not sure if everyone’s ideals have been realized, but I bet that you’ll take years to experience what this era has to offer!”

Lu Zhou looked at the airport gate nearby. His eyes gradually ignited with a glimmer of expectation.

“Then I’ll go to Jin University for now, as well as the places where I studied and worked before, also my former residence…”

Is it weird to say that it is my former residence?

After all, I am still alive, but everyone thinks I am dead…

However, trivial things aside, what was waiting in front of him was the future!

He passed through the spacious back door. The dazzling sunlight shined through the treetops and scattered on the ground.

Lu Zhou raised his eyes and looked up with surprise.

There was nothing but high-rise buildings as far as the eye could see, the spacious six-lane highways were filled with endless traffic, like rainbows between the high-rise buildings.

Magnetic levitation!

Automated driving!

Pedestrians in strange costumes walked on the streets, and dazzling holographic images were everywhere. Rail trains that went between buildings seemed to be the main mode of transportation for most people. In order to compensate for the lack of daylight caused by high-rise buildings, the lighting systems in many areas were brightly lit even during the day.

Complex art was vividly manifested in every corner of the street. Like individual gears of different sizes, they ran at their own speed and rhythm. With the coordination of AI, everything was so unified and orderly.

Putting on the AR glasses was like traveling into a fantasy world!

The augmented reality was the icing on the cake. The buildings on both sides of the street were filled with holographic billboards.

People on the street looked like elves and non-human creatures from movies or TV shows… Most of their appearances through AR were exactly the same as their avatars in the virtual community.

“Welcome to the 22nd century! I believe someone on Mars has already welcomed you.”

“Not at all.”

Although Tiangong City was prosperous, the compact minimalist style was boring compared to the large-scale architectural style on the streets of Jin Ling City.

Of course, this was because the space on Mars was limited.

Li Gaoliang patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder. He smiled and said, “What do you think of this? Is it the future you imagined?”

After taking off the AR glasses, Lu Zhou was silent for a long time before he spoke.

“It’s so cool…”

He couldn’t imagine how a city could become more prosperous than this.

He finally understood why Li Gaoliang said that it would take years for him to experience what this era had to offer…

A greeting suddenly came from behind the two.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute…”

A stylishly dressed cyberpunk-looking guy ran over here while waving his hand. He stopped Lu Zhou and Li Gaoliang, who were walking on the street.

“Wait, you, are you really Lu Zhou?”

Lu Zhou looked at this young man. Although he didn’t like his dressing style, Lu Zhou still looked at him and spoke in a friendly manner.

“Yeah, why?”

The man’s face was full of excitement as he danced like he had won a prize.

“Oh my god! I am your biggest fan, can… can I take a photo with you?”

Fan?

When Lu Zhou heard that he was his fan, he suddenly smiled.

I didn’t expect people 100 years in the future to still admire me.

“No problem.”

“Great! Wait a minute…”

The young man took out a spherical drone from his pocket. He gently tossed it upward. It unfolded its rotors and hovered dexterously in the air.

Lu Zhou looked at this small drone with curiosity in his eyes.

However, judging from Li Gaoliang’s expression, this thing was probably relatively ordinary in this world.

With his hand on Lu Zhou’s shoulder, the young man showed a weird smile on his face.

“Look at the camera, smile!”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

The drone buzzed softly and captured this historic moment.

After the photo was taken, the guy skillfully reached out to catch the drone. He turned his head and grinned at Lu Zhou, then patted him on the shoulder.

“Thanks, bro.”

He looked at the camera drone in his hand and spoke excitedly as he left.

“Guess who I met on the street! It was Lu Zhou, the popsicle from a hundred years ago! Guys, make sure to follow me and comment down below!”

A string of texts floated across the holographic screen.

[That’s insane!]

[F*ck! Do you know who he is? The Lu Zhou Science Award is named after him!]

[Hahaha, hundred-year-old popsicle, that’s hilarious! Followed!]

[…(.•ˇ‸ˇ•.)]

“You…”

Li Gaoliang looked at the young man, and he suddenly became angry. He was about to step forward, but he was quickly held back by Lu Zhou.

He looked back at Lu Zhou angrily and said, “Don’t hold me back, I must teach him a lesson!”

“Don’t be impulsive, he’s just making a joke.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Not to mention that I agreed to take the photo with him. Let him be.”

“Is this a joke?! F*ck sake…”

Realizing that the situation had changed, the guy quickly ran away.

Although the anger in his heart was still there, he loosened his fists.

It didn’t matter if he himself was insulted.

However, that person insulted Lu Zhou!

He could never tolerate this.

Li Gaoliang calmed down and spoke in a serious tone.

“You don’t know what’s going on… A great man from more than 100 years ago was resurrected, and he just happened to get involved with the huge hijacking case of flight N-177. You are now the focus of the media around the world. We left through the back door of the airport. Otherwise, you would have been blocked at the airport entrance.

“In any case, let’s quickly find a place for you to live. Don’t go out if you have nothing to do these days. Don’t go to Jin University or anywhere else. Wait for the attention to pass!”

Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders like he didn’t care.

In fact, this was correct.

He was now over 100 years old. He was a grandfather compared to most people, and he obviously didn’t care about that attention-seeking guy.

Even before, he didn’t care about ordinary people’s views of himself very much.

A person could not represent an era, no matter how loud that person’s voice was. The times would definitely give a correct and fair evaluation of their legacy.

Besides, what was the meaning of social development?

Wasn’t it just to let more people feel satisfied?

“Actually, don’t be too sensitive. Speaking of which, what happened to flight N-177?”

“The hijackers are space pirates, and it has something to do with the Pan-Asian Cooperation military operation in the asteroid belt a few months ago. The situation is still under investigation, so I am not sure about it… How did you get out of the danger?”

Lu Zhou shifted his eyes slightly.

“I don’t really want to remember what happened that day… Can you give me some time? Or are you here to interrogate me?”

Li Gaoliang quickly said, “No, no, I’m just asking casually! If you don’t want to, don’t say it. Anyway, I am definitely on your side.”

Lu Zhou nodded and responded with a thankful smile.

“It’s really not very convenient to explain… It’s kind of like I received help from a hacker.”

“Hacker?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

“… I just didn’t expect this.” Li Gaoliang muttered with a weird expression, “It’s not that there are no such things as hackers. It’s just that quantum encryption and quantum communication technology have become popular now. Exploiting security vulnerabilities is very rare nowadays.”

“Really?” Lu Zhou didn’t explain anything. He smiled and said, “Maybe there are other ways.”

In the distance, the stylishly dressed guy was running away.

The live broadcast drone seemed to be broken; it was out of control in the sky. It finally plunged into the side alley.

Lu Zhou and Li Gaoliang smiled. They were about to move on, but there was another greeting from behind them.

“Wait a minute…”

“Again?”

Li Gaoliang turned around and saw a foreign guy running over. He immediately stepped forward to block Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou quickly reached out his hand and grabbed Li Gaoliang’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, this is my… acquaintance. Thanks to his help, I was able to get home safely.”

In fact, Lu Zhou originally wanted to say that he was the creditor, but since Lu Zhou was once a billionaire, he wanted to save face, so he changed his words.

After hearing Lu Zhou say he was an acquaintance, Li Gaoliang finally put down his hands, but he still looked at him vigilantly, with no intention of letting his guard down.

“Don’t worry… Friend, I’m not a bad person. My name is Leonard, a professor at the department of archaeology at the University of Oxford. The greatest achievement of my life… is helping Professor Lu.”

Professor Leonard’s hands were on his knees as he breathed heavily. He was finally relieved. He rolled his eyes and looked up at Lu Zhou.

“I waited for you all night. During the day I was about to go to the customs to find you, but the staff there told me that you were gone, so I quickly chased after… Sh*t, you borrowed 20,000 credits from me and left without even telling me.”

Lu Zhou spoke after he coughed.

“Don’t worry about this, I will pay you back, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation—”

“This is forty thousand credits.”

Li Gaoliang interrupted Lu Zhou. He pulled out a payment code from the holographic screen on his wristband and pushed it in front of Professor Leonard without saying a word.

“I will pay you back the money he owes you. Now, this matter has nothing to do with you.”

Although the credit points of the Pan-Asian Cooperation and the North Sea Alliance were called the same, they were actually two different currencies. However, the exchange rate between the two was maintained between 1 and 0.9.

“It’s… not about money, I just want to—”

Lu Zhou guessed what Professor Leonard was thinking. He sighed and walked around Li Gaoliang, then patted him on the shoulder.

“I know what you want to say, my friend. Thanks to your help, I was able to cross tens of millions of kilometers back to my hometown. You are the first friend I met in this era, and I am very grateful for our friendship. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will visit you.”

Professor Leonard held his right hand tightly.

“I will remember those words! Goodbye, my friend. In fact, I am here to say goodbye to you! Tomorrow I will fly back to the island of England. I am actually not expecting a reward or anything. I don’t have many friends in real life, so… I hope you will remember me in the future.

“Although nothing has changed from this trip to Mars, I feel that I have found something more meaningful than cultural relics.”

Professor Leonard used his finger to send his identity information from the holographic panel on the bracelet. He gave it to Lu Zhou and spoke with a grin.

“When you apply for an official ID card, remember to add my virtual community account! When I have the chance in the future, I will come to Pan Asia, or you can come to the North Sea Alliance; we will meet again.”

Professor Leonard made a goodbye gesture to Lu Zhou, then turned and left.

Lu Zhou smiled and waved his hand.

Although this guy always complained along the journey, Lu Zhou could feel that he truly cared.

Just now, Leonard secretly put something in Lu Zhou’s pocket. Lu Zhou was excited to see what it was.

Li Gaoliang looked at the 20,000 credits remaining in the air. He murmured, “What a strange person.”

He then reached out his hand to take back the half-paid holographic payment.

“Thank you, I will pay back the money later.”

Li Gaoliang said earnestly, “You don’t have to pay me back. The whole world is the crystallization of your wisdom. If you need it, I can give you all of my property.”

“You think too highly of me. There has never been a prosperous era that can be achieved by the strength of one person.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Don’t worry about me too much. I was a billionaire. Even after a hundred years, I won’t be so poor that I have to live on the streets.”

Li Gaoliang’s task this morning was mainly to help Lu Zhou find a place to live. Li Gaoliang taught him how to use a personal terminal to connect to the city cloud, and how to use the city cloud to find nearby properties that were currently available for rent.

Although real estate agents also existed in this era, their demand was small.

Most of the information could be found in the virtual community.

The point-to-point service built by AI had reduced the cost of individual users to obtain information, and the profit margin of using the information gap to earn the price difference had become negligible. The vast majority of real estate agencies mainly operated high-end real estate, and the value of their payment was mainly reflected in high-quality supporting services rather than using information advantages.

Lu Zhou also learned from Li Gaoliang that, since the 1970s, most high-rise residential buildings in the city center had not been sold to private individuals. Instead, they were developed and operated by leasing companies under the supervision of the local government. They were public rental housing in a disguised form.

After all, the buildings were getting higher and higher, and they were one hundred or two hundred floors high. Due to house demolitions and facility upgrades, all kinds of troubles came from traditional property rights.

It was obviously unrealistic to expect the invisible hand of the market to allocate resources perfectly. The Pan-Asian Cooperation had learned this lesson by simply removing this piece from market transactions.

At least in the Pan-Asian region.

In addition, some families that cared about the quality of life in this era would choose to buy a renewable property right private residential land in the suburbs to build their own residences.

However, most young people still chose to live in the city center with more complete public facilities, rent a small apartment with a moderate area, and focus more on the spiritual world, the virtual community.

Like Li Gaoliang said, the virtual reality technology in this world had reached an unimaginable level.

The expansion of people’s imagination on computers perfectly filled in the lack of “effective creativity” in computers, and at the same time, it satisfied people’s spiritual needs.

In the early 22nd century, many electronic artworks burst out in the form of a blowout. While the prosperity of science and technology broadened people’s living space, it also greatly contributed to the cultural prosperity of human civilization.

And this had been reflected in many aspects.

After hearing the news, Lu Zhou was emotional.

He never expected that the brain-computer interface he built back then would have such a big impact on the world.

So much so that people in the future era, whether in life or values, would completely change their appearances under the subtle influence of new technology.

After comparing several properties, Lu Zhou finally settled on a 200-square-meter large apartment on the 100th floor near the second ring road in the city.

The modern and minimalist style gave him an escape from the neon holographic colors.

The rent did not include water and electricity; it was about 4,000 credits a month. According to the purchasing power of credits, the rent was considered quite expensive.

However, due to its supporting facilities and location, this price was a bargain.

Lu Zhou originally wanted to pay by himself, but Li Gaoliang refused and insisted on paying for a year’s rent and two months’ deposit.

Lu Zhou had to accept this kindness, but he planned to repay the favor in the future.

Since Li Gaoliang’s return to Earth this time was on temporary leave, he had to rush back to the Lagrange Space Base to return to the team before tomorrow, so he didn’t stay here any longer. He left his contact information and agreed to meet again next time, then went to the Jinling Aerospace Airport.

Lu Zhou looked at the empty modern apartment. He sat on the sofa, and suddenly, he felt a little empty in his heart.

He was back on Earth.

But it felt like something was missing.

He knew that it was because of a lack of family, but he didn’t want to think about that for now.

Unlike soldiers like Li Gaoliang, ordinary people had no “reason” to abandon their relatives, friends, and happiness from the present and go to a completely unknown era.

To be honest, if they hadn’t found his dormant cabin, he would have died for sure.

Inside the empty living room, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and prayed silently in his heart.

“I hope you all lived a peaceful and happy life…

“Whether you are proud of my name or not…

“I will always love you.”

After sniffling, Lu Zhou put down his hands.

As for whether to visit his descendants, he was actually quite hesitant about this matter.

If they wanted to see him, when they heard the news that he was still alive, they could take the initiative to contact him.

And if they didn’t want to see him, he shouldn’t disturb their lives.

After all, not everyone wanted their originally peaceful daily life to be broken by an ancestor who emerged from nowhere.

“There is a meeting in the afternoon… The Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, I think?”

Lu Zhou operated the holographic panel with a weird UI design. He sent his address to Ms. K, the person in charge of the identity restoration procedures arranged by Chairman Li Guangya.

Without waiting for long, a message window popped up on the holographic panel.

[Meet at three in the afternoon.]

What a concise answer.

I like it.

Lu Zhou didn’t really like the trivial matters that affected the efficiency of work. It seemed that he would fit well into this era.

Lu Zhou replied with [OK]. He then swiped his index finger and turned off the holographic panel.

Apparently, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation included free legal services. According to the official Pan-Asian Cooperation, the lawyer of the foundation could help him get an advance payment from the Pan-Asian Airlines before he restored his citizenship.

Lu Zhou’s legacy fund for the future was actually now used on himself, so he felt a little emotional.

Perhaps karma was real.

Someday, the good deeds accumulated in the past would come back to him.

Lu Zhou felt a little hungry. He was about to stand up and go to the kitchen to find something to eat when a crisp doorbell suddenly rang at the door.

“Already?”

Slightly surprised, Lu Zhou walked to the entrance and opened the door with his hand.

However, the result was beyond his expectations.

Standing at the door was not a lawyer or salesman in formal clothes. Instead, it was a young and beautiful girl.

She wore a white coat hanging down to her knees, and a Jinling Institute for Advanced Study ID card was pinned on her chest.

Lu Zhou’s eyes fell on her face. He was trying to recognize who she was. However, after a long time, he failed to match this face with a name in his memory.

There was an indescribable affinity. Her face was so perfect it was almost non-human-like, it made him wonder whether she was a human or an elf in a fantasy world.

However, Lu Zhou had no time to think about this issue.

The pearl-like eyes were covered with a layer of tears.

There was no time for him to say hello. The strange girl rushed toward him and threw herself at him.

“Master!!!”

“???”

Lu Zhou, who was thrown to the floor, looked dazed and completely confused.

Is this a scam that specifically targets frozen people?

Or is it the same kind of person as the guy before, those who are seeking attention?

Jesus, she’s so strong!

Obviously, she was not as tall as him, and her body was considered petite, but he felt like he had been hit by a tank; he couldn’t even move.

When the lumps of warm silica gel pressed against his face, Lu Zhou began to think.

However, even though he almost passed out, he still didn’t know what was going on…

Chapter 1440: Keep You Waiting

Jin Ling University, mathematics department building.

In a modernly decorated office, an old man with gray hair stood in front of a lifelike painting, staring straight at the person in the portrait. He seemed to have fallen into a distant memory.

Footsteps came from outside the office, followed by two soft knocks on the door.

The old man, who did not look away from the painting, spoke in a steady voice with a hint of majesty.

“Come in.”

The door was pushed open.

A tall and thin young professor with glasses opened the door and walked in.

“Supervisor, were you looking for me?”

The person standing at the door was named Sun Jingwen. He was in his mid-thirties.

As a genius in the mathematics department of Jinling University and even in the Pan-Asian mathematics field, he was awarded the Fields Medal at the age of 31 and was regarded as the most promising young scholar to win the Lu Zhou Mathematics Prize before the age of 40.

The old man standing in front of him, staring at the painting, was even more impressive.

His name was Qin Chuan. Although he was now 80 years old, he still had a pivotal position in the mathematics world. When he was young, he won the Fields Medal at the age of 30, and at the age of 40, he won the top honor in academia—the Lu Zhou Mathematics Award. As a top scholar in the field of mathematics today, his research in the field of number theory was unrivaled.

Although he had devoted himself to education since he was awarded the Wolf Prize, which was a lifetime achievement award, and had rarely appeared in the top journals in mathematics, many people still regarded him as the leader of the Lu Zhou school of thought.

Also, he had an important background.

He was the second-generation “head” of the Lu Zhou school of thought, the grandson of Qin Yue, a student of Lu Zhou…

The old man did not directly answer his question. His muddy pupils were still staring at the picture, and it took a while before he said slowly, “Do you know who this person is?”

Sun Jingwen looked at the person in the portrait. He was slightly stunned, and a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.

This bit of confusion was not aimed at the person in the portrait, but at the question itself.

“It’s the Patriarch… Why?”

In the land of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this face was not only a public favorite but also a household name. A scholar who had pushed the scientific process of the entire world forward by more than a hundred years with his own power, leaving legends about him.

Perhaps not everyone was a fan, but most people were familiar with this name and this face.

Not to mention, they were at Jinling University.

Every whiteboard and every tile here had witnessed the legend he left behind.

Even now, 100 years later, the students who graduated from here were proud of having Academician Lu as alumni.

“That’s right.” The old man nodded. Looking at the painting on the wall, his turbid pupils gradually became fascinated. “That was the most glorious era of our school and the most prosperous era of academic circles.”

The unrivaled master of the 21st century.

This wasn’t only in the mathematics world. This had almost become a consensus in the academic world as a whole.

The prosperity of an era could not be achieved by a person’s mighty power, but the person hanging on the wall had undoubtedly stood at the culmination of that era.

He felt like the building of science had already been completed, and the rest was only the trivial and minutiae of research.

In the eyes of others, he had made a lot of outstanding contributions in the past 80 years and retired with full glory. However, only he knew in his heart that all the research he had done from beginning to end was nothing but the extension and repair of the academic legacy left by the patriarch of the Lu Zhou school of thought.

After living for a whole 80 years, he failed to leave a single groundbreaking achievement. The distress in his heart was clear only to him.

Many years ago, he had exchanged this question with the dean of the Jinling University School of Medicine and got a consistent answer. The man seemed to drain out the aura for the next 100 years, and the entire academic world seemed to fall into a trap of prosperity.

All kinds of research results were born in a spurt; the number of papers and the growth rate of impact factors hit new highs every year. Among them, there were some excellent research results, but none of them could reach the height comparable to the “Unified Theory of Algebraic Geometry”.

The same was true in physics. Ever since the hyperspace theory, the physics community had not produced a theory that could be regarded as groundbreaking for nearly a hundred years.

Although Qin Chuan didn’t know what was going on in other disciplines, he believed that this was not an accident.

“My grandfather was his student…”

“Whenever he mentioned that name, he could not help but bring nostalgia and regret on his face. I have heard him say many times, if he could live for two more years, everything wouldn’t be so bad.”

Sun Jingwen frowned. A trace of confusion in his eyes.

He didn’t know what was so bad.

Although the brilliance of the Lu Zhou school of thought was not as unparalleled as it was back then, it was definitely not terrible either.

Jinling University was still the center of the world’s mathematics circle. The land under their feet was a paradise that mathematicians all over the world yearned for.

However, even though his heart was full of doubts, he did not interrupt the professor. Instead, he quietly waited for the old man to continue speaking.

After pondering for a long time, the old man spoke slowly.

“These days, you’re retreating in the library?”

“Yes.” Sun Jingwen nodded. “My research on Dirichlet functions has just entered a critical stage. If you didn’t call me, I would probably still be in the library at the moment.”

“Then you seem to know nothing about what happened yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” Sun Jingwen frowned. “What happened yesterday?”

“A man… claims to be from 2024.”

“2024?” Sun Jingwen was taken aback for a moment. “A dormant person? That is a long sleep.”

The old man sighed slightly. He stared at the hanging painting on the wall and slowly spoke.

“The problem is not how long he slept, it’s the fact that he’s from Mars.”

“From Mars… Wait, you mean… really?!”

His eyes widened instantly. Sun Jingwen looked at his supervisor incredulously; his pupils were filled with shock.

He remembered a rumor.

Or rather, a legend.

Although the legend was only one part of the history of mathematics, it changed the history of mathematics over the next 100 years!

The shock in Sun Jingwen’s pupils faded a little. He tried to calm himself down, but it didn’t make any difference.

He had no idea whether he was surprised, excited, shocked, or worried after hearing the news.

“How is this possible? He is still alive? This… This is ridiculous.”

“I also think this is ridiculous, but he did claim so, and it was reported in the news.”

The old man went silent for a while. He withdrew his gaze from the painting, looked at the student standing aside, and continued, “You and I are both direct descendants of the Lu Zhou school of thought, so this matter has something to do with us.

“The meaning of that name is more than just a name, it is also a symbol.

“It doesn’t matter if he is real or fake.

“I have to go and see him!”

…

The entire mathematics department of Jinling University, and even the entire international academic community, were shocked due to the news that “Lu Zhou is still alive”. Lu Zhou himself, who was at the center of the attention, was muddled.

He faintly saw a few lines of digital stripes from the dark pupils. He had a guess in his mind.

Lu Zhou asked tentatively in an uncertain tone, “Are you… Xiao Ai?”

“Yeah! Master is so smart! Hehe. (///ω///)”

In the black pupils, the abstract digital stripes instantly changed patterns under emotional fluctuations.

Lu Zhou was now 100% sure that the “girl’ in front of him was Xiao Ai.

Anyone that used old-fashioned text emojis had to be from the same era as him.

“Master, Master, during your absence for a hundred years, Xiao Ai really missed you so much…”

“I missed you too,” Lu Zhou said with a smile on his face. He said, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Do you need to eat first, take a bath first, or play with Xiao Ai first? (///ω///)”

“Eat first, I’m a little hungry.”

“Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

The emojis in its pupils were so full of enthusiasm. Hearing that its owner was hungry, Xiao Ai quickly got up from the ground and ran to the kitchen.

However, after rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen for a while, it quickly poked its head out in frustration.

“Master… There seems to be no food in the refrigerator, is it okay to have takeaway today?”

Lu Zhou sighed.

“I’ll just order it myself.”

Lu Zhou knew how to order takeout.

After all, eating was a top priority. The first thing Li Gaoliang taught him was how to use the urban cloud system to call for a takeaway.

About 20 minutes or so, the takeaway was delivered quickly.

The delivery was not done by a boy wearing a yellow jacket. Instead, a food delivery drone with two pairs of rotors flew over. The food was directly placed on the special drone docking point on the windowsill.

In this age, almost every house had a semi-open space reserved on the windowsill. Not only were they used to pick and place takeaways, but some delivery packages were also delivered to people’s homes this way.

Lu Zhou picked up his chopsticks and tasted the barbecue meat from the future.

Although the taste had changed, it was still as delicious as always.

Especially the rice, the crispy meat on the outside, and the evenly spread cumin powder; every bite was full of happiness.

“Speaking of which, what have you been doing all this time?”

Xiao Ai, sitting opposite Lu Zhou, looked at Lu Zhou happily and said, “Xiao Ai has been good! Apart from doing some tour guide work at the old site of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Xiao Ai didn’t do anything else! (•̀∀•́)”

What Lu Zhou wanted to complain about was why Xiao Ai added such a useless feature.

If he wanted to see clearly what emojis it used, he had to stare into Xiao Ai’s eyes.

However, staring at the robot girl’s eyes intently made Lu Zhou felt a little uncomfortable.

Probably because he was too much of a gentleman.

But if he ignored those emojis, it always felt like something was missing.

Lu Zhou: “The old site? So… The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study has been relocated?”

Xiao Ai: “Well, it was relocated decades ago, and the old site was transformed into a tourist attraction. In order to prevent the scenic staff from discovering that Xiao Ai is secretly using electricity, Xiao Ai worked very hard!”

When Lu Zhou realized that he had disappeared for a whole century and only gave Xiao Ai instructions to “hide”, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.

“Thank you.”

After hearing this, Xiao Ai, with a shy and content smile on her face, gently shook her head.

“Haha, you’re welcome, as long as master comes back. (///ω///)”

At this moment, a knock on the door came from the hallway.

Xiao Ai supported the table with both hands and immediately got up from the chair.

“Xiao Ai will open the door! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Wait a minute, I’ll do it.”

Thinking that the person might be from the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, Lu Zhou raised his hand and stopped Xiao Ai.

After placing the chopsticks on the bowl, he pushed aside the chair to stand up and walked toward the entrance.

However, when Lu Zhou opened the door and saw the person standing at the door, he was stunned.

His lips opened and closed involuntarily.

“Xiao Tong…”

However…

The next words from that person made Lu Zhou wake up in an instant.

“Nice to meet you, I am Lu Xiaoqiao, the chairman of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.”

The woman in her twenties bowed to Lu Zhou politely. She then looked at him nervously.

“Excuse me… Are you my great-grandmother’s brother?”

Chapter 1441: One Word

Lu Xiaoqiao…

Although only one word was missing, this one word was equivalent to a hundred years.

Lu Zhou never thought that he would meet his descendants in this manner.

After inviting Lu Xiaoqiao into the house, Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to help move the dishes into the kitchen, then pour a glass of water for himself and the guest from afar.

After inviting her to sit down on the sofa, Lu Zhou looked at her carefully.

Very similar.

No, almost too similar.

Especially her side profile and her high forehead, she looks exactly like a copy of Xiao Tong.

Xiao Qiao didn’t notice that her ancestor who was sitting across from her was observing her. Suddenly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

She looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.

“It seems that you have begun to integrate into this era.”

Lu Zhou answered casually, “Why do you say that?”

Lu Xiaoqiao: “That kid is a robot, right?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Sort of, is there a problem?”

“Hmm, no.”

Lu Xiaoqiao shook her head slightly and looked at the ancestor sitting in front of her who was more than 100 years older than herself. She smirked and said playfully, “I am starting to believe that you are Academician Lu himself.”

Lu Zhou sighed.

“I am him.”

“I believe you, the feeling of bloodline does not deceive, even if it is for two people who have never met.”

Lu Zhou felt that she wanted to call him grandfather or other similar titles, but maybe it was because he was too young, grandfather didn’t seem right.

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about whether he should say something, Lu Xiaoqiao, sitting across from him, suddenly changed into a serious expression, took a deep breath, and got up from the sofa.

“First of all…

“Before fulfilling the constitution of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation and explaining the current situation to you, I must apologize to you for myself and my family!”

Lu Xiaoqiao, who stood up from the sofa, bowed deeply to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou was muddled, and he asked confusedly, “Apologize? Wait, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Here’s the thing…”

Lu Xiaoqiao bit her lip, lowered her head, and told the truth in an ashamed tone.

Apparently, since the loss of Lu Zhou, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study finally started to gradually decline from its peak.

Although Yang Xu, who took over as the director at the time, made some efforts during his tenure, after his retirement, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study eventually fell into an unsustainable dilemma.

Especially in the 2050s, when Star Sky Technology’s patents expired one after another, their core competitiveness was gradually lost. The focus of the business was forced to shift from technology research and development to investment in emerging technologies. Although this part of the business had also achieved certain results, it was not as brilliant as Lu Zhou’s era.

Poor management, coupled with the loss of core competitiveness, had gone on for half a century.

Around the 2060s and 2070s, the chairman of the board at the time, Lu Xiaoqiao’s grandfather, made a bold decision.

When Star Sky Technology was on the verge of bankruptcy due to poor management, he accepted the M&A agreement proposed by the Pan-Asian Central Bank and split the business of Star Sky Technology. On the premise of retaining the brand of Star Sky Technology, he packaged the entire company and sold it to the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Star Sky Technology’s losses and debt were finally properly resolved, a number of outstanding research institutions such as the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study were preserved in the form of public research institutions.

At the same time, the then chairman of the board, who received a large sum of money through the sale of “ancestral property”, Lu Xiaoqiao’s grandfather, followed Lu Xiaotong’s last wish to devote himself to public welfare and used the money to establish the Lu Zhou Education Fund. More than 2,000 elementary schools and middle schools had been established on the land of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and they made extremely valuable contributions to the modernization of basic education.

It was also worth mentioning that after a century of ups and downs, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was eventually reborn after being publicized and became a top research institution in the Pan-Asian Cooperation. Like Jinling University, it became one of the two tall ivory towers looking at each other, watching over the academic prosperity of this land.

In fact, after hearing these past events, although Lu Zhou had some regrets in his heart, he was pleased.

In the face of the truth of the universe, money was just a number that couldn’t bring him any happiness, and making money had never been his goal in scientific research. He already had wealth that he could use for several lifetimes. If his only goal were wealth, he didn’t need to work so hard.

In contrast, he was quite satisfied if he could preserve the brand of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and watch his academic legacy being carried forward.

His original intention of establishing Star Sky Technology was only to facilitate dealings with those troublesome intellectual property issues.

However, although Lu Zhou himself didn’t care much about those things, Lu Xiaoqiao obviously still couldn’t let go of it.

After all, in terms of results, this huge family business was lost in the hands of their descendants.

Her grandfather had even made plans to apologize to Lu Zhou personally after he had passed away, but no one thought that the ancestor was still alive.

“I’m really terribly sorry, I am willing to do my best to compensate you for your loss… Also, about the Lu Zhou Education Fund. In addition to those donations from all walks of life, this education fund also has a very substantial asset that belongs to you. If you wish, I can apply for liquidation of this asset and transfer it to you—”

“No need,” Lu Zhou interrupted Lu Xiaoqiao. He smiled and continued in an indifferent tone, “I understand the choice your grandfather made at that time, I don’t blame anyone at all. You guys did what I always wanted to do, but I never had a chance to do it.”

Lu Xiaoqiao opened her mouth slightly, looking at Lu Zhou with eyes full of surprise.

Obviously, she didn’t expect that Lu Zhou would be so carefree.

Lu Zhou did not give any explanation. After a pause, he continued, “I do not intend to take back what I gave. Whether it is the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation or the Lu Zhou Education Fund, now that you have found the right way to control this wealth, let this noble and great cause continue.

“As for things like money, it doesn’t matter to me at all.

“Compared to these insignificant things, I want to know…”

The words were at the tip of his tongue, but suddenly, Lu Zhou became nervous for a second.

But, in the end, he took a deep breath, made up his mind, and spoke.

“… Did they live well?”

Lu Xiaoqiao was slightly taken aback. She then said with a smile, “I can assure you, although I haven’t met my great-grandmother, I heard from my grandfather… She was a kind, humble, and good person.”

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment, and a reluctant but relieved smile appeared on his face.

“Really? I’m relieved.”

The stiff atmosphere finally eased a little.

Although Ms. Lu Xiaoqiao, who was sitting across from him, was still a little cautious, she was no longer as formal as she was when she first met him.

During the conversation with her, Lu Zhou learned that his relatives had lived a happy life in that era.

For Lu Zhou, this was all he cared about.

As for his fiancee, the CEO of Star Sky Technology, Lu Xiaoqiao didn’t have much news about her, but she vaguely remembered that she resigned in 2025.

As for her personal life…

Who would record the life of a CEO of a company from a hundred years ago?

After all, the two still failed to formally enter the hall of marriage…

“Actually, your parents left a holographic image of them for you, which is kept in the safe of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation. But I may not be able to give it to you now. We have to wait for the Pan-Asian Cooperation to notarize your identity before handing over the things that belong to you.”

“That’s fine.” Lu Zhou’s expression on his face was a bit complicated as he smiled. “In fact, I am not ready to face them now. Before I recover my identity, please take care of it for me.”

Lu Xiaoqiao shook her head and said, “Of course, this is our obligation. I will do my best to help you recover your identity as soon as possible… In addition, I came here for something else.”

“Yeah what?”

“Chairman Li Guangya should have already told you about the issue of the Pan-Asian Airlines compensation.”

Lu Xiaoqiao reached out her index finger and tapped her left wrist lightly. When a holographic panel popped up, she selected an electronic contract about 12 pages long and gently pushed it in front of Lu Zhou.

“This contract was jointly issued by Pan-Asian Insurance Company and Pan-Asian Airlines. According to the law of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, Pan-Asian Insurance Company will follow the two standards of major navigation errors and major safety hazards, giving a financial compensation to the passengers on board.

“After the contract is reached, they will immediately pay you a 10% prepaid compensation. After the investigation results are released, the remaining payment will be sent to your personal account at once.”

Lu Zhou: “About how much money is it?”

“One million credits.”

Lu Zhou didn’t have a good idea of how much this was. After scanning through the contract, he printed his ID code.

After the contract was signed, Lu Xiaoqiao saw that it was getting late, so she didn’t stay for much longer. She said she would come to visit him next time, then got up and left.

After sending away his sister’s great-granddaughter, Lu Zhou was about to go to the system space to see the unclaimed mission reward.

But the personal terminal he was wearing on his left wrist suddenly received a transaction notification.

Lu Zhou opened the pop-up holographic window, and he stared at the string of zeros in the dialog box for a moment.

“… One million?”

He originally thought that the one million in the contract was the total amount of compensation, he didn’t expect it to be just an advance payment.

When Lu Zhou thought about the purchasing power of this credit point, he couldn’t help but have a strange expression on his face.

Although he never thought that making money was a difficult thing for him…

But he never expected that he, who had just returned to Earth, would have earned the first pot of gold in the 22nd century in this manner…

Chapter 1442: Holy Land Tour

[Congratulations, User, for completing the legendary mission: Return from Hell]

[Mission completion details: Hesitating at the three paths of fate, you have chosen the most difficult one. Like you firmly believe, all problems are solvable in the test of time. You, who have returned from hell, will guide your compatriots the right way.]

[Reward: Two million experience points, 10,000 general points, one “legendary” prize draw.]

“… In the test of time, all problems are solvable.”

Lu Zhou stared at the light blue holographic panel as he digested these words with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

This was something he often said.

He didn’t expect The Observer to quote it.

However, because the expression was too vague, Lu Zhou didn’t even know whether this guy was teasing him as usual, or was it some kind of serious advice.

Lu Zhou shook his head. He decided to put this unimportant thing aside for the time being. He reached out and selected the lucky draw icon behind the general points.

A pale golden light appeared, and a huge roulette wheel with golden light particles appeared in front of him.

The legendary lucky draw felt unusual.

It’s not going to give me garbage, right?

Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment, but, in the end, he didn’t want to jinx himself, so he pressed the button for the draw.

The roulette wheel started to spin. He pressed the button in the middle of the wheel again.

After continuing to spin a few dozens of times due to inertia, the roulette wheel finally stopped slowly, revealing its prize to Lu Zhou.

[Congratulations to the user, sample received]

[Received: “Private-1” type intelligent human guard.]

The moment Lu Zhou saw the prize, he was stunned, and he quickly opened the inventory.

Directly in his inventory was an intelligent soldier with facial features. Its posture was similar to a human, and it has a body made of unknown metal alloys.

Its pupils exuded a dangerous sense of power, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether the pupils would suddenly shoot out lasers.

A text box with supporting explanatory text quickly appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

[“Private-1” type intelligent human guard, from the Calan Empire, production date unknown. A general-purpose ground army unit controlled by a central server. Often used for orbital landing operations and colony clearance of dangerous organisms. Built-in carbon chip. A limited degree of intelligence and autonomy in offline conditions.]

This thing…

Isn’t this the terminator?

Lu Zhou looked at the explanatory text floating in front of him, and the more Lu Zhou read, the more he felt his scalp tingling.

When he read the autonomy part, he wondered whether he had received a bodyguard or received trouble instead.

“… I’ll ask Xiao Ai for its opinion.”

At least Xiao Ai would never harm him.

He closed the inventory and opened his characteristic panel.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou allocated all his experience points to material science.

The blue light swept across the holographic screen, and the updated characteristic panel soon appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 8 (10,000/3 million)

D. Engineering: Level 8 (0/3 million)

E. Material Science: Level 8 (2.063 million/3 million)

F. Energy Science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

G. Information science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

General points: 58,335

]

Except for mathematics and physics, which were maxed out, all other disciplines were at level 8.

The best upgrade strategy now was to choose one of them, reach level 9, and receive the promotional mission.

After considering various factors, Lu Zhou chose material science.

This was his best subject besides mathematics and physics. It was also the field best suited for his talents in applied mathematics and condensed matter physics.

After looking at the updated characteristic panel, Lu Zhou looked at the mission panel.

The mission rewards this time did not include mission cards, nor did the lucky draw give him one.

Therefore, this mission would be selected from the three random missions.

Lu Zhou reached out and selected the mission panel. Soon, three random missions appeared in front of him through the holographic window.

[Mission One: Small goals in life]

[Description: Since the user feels that making money is easy, let’s start with a small goal.]

[Requirement: Earn 100 million in 30 days.]

Lu Zhou: “…”

The f*ck.

Is this a joke?

Although he never considered the possibility that he would be poor, he can’t imagine that he could earn 100 million in 30 days.

He hadn’t even figured out the business rules of this world…

Taking into account the inflation rate of the future era, there should be no opportunities of getting rich quickly. Lu Zhou didn’t even look at the rewards; he directly went to the next mission.

[Mission Two: Glory of the Past]

[Description: The glory of the past has gone with the wind, but a soul full of curiosity will not wither because of time.]

[Requirements: Get a doctorate degree within 30 days to obtain an S evaluation.

[Get a doctorate degree within 100 days and get an A evaluation.

[Get a doctorate degree within 300 days and get a C evaluation.]

When Lu Zhou saw this mission, he was flabbergasted.

Get a PhD in 30 days…

Fine, if degrees were awarded fast enough in this era, and there were enough people helping him, it wouldn’t be the problem.

However, the trouble was that 30 days might not even be enough for him to verify his identity.

He was still an unregistered citizen. The Pan-Asian Cooperation was still helping him with the investigation and evidence collection for his identity restoration. There was no way he could receive a PhD without his identity even being verified.

Although this mission seemed to be the simplest and the rewards for the mission were pretty good, after thinking about it, Lu Zhou finally gave up reluctantly.

It was not his preference to complete a mission based on uncertain elements that were out of his control.

“Last one…”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and looked at the last mission.

[Mission Three: Visiting the Holy Land]

[Mission description: Time is passing by, it’s the New Year.]

[Requirements: At a place where you have worked or lived, there are three keys that belong only to you. Use holographic glasses to discover them. It is a treasure that only you can see.]

[Rewards: Each key rewards one million experience points. Collecting three keys can open special rewards. (Note: Able to complete mission after obtaining one key.)]

“One key gives one million experience… Three gives three million experience, and there are special rewards?”

Is this really an ordinary mission?

The rewards are better than legendary missions.

Intuition told Lu Zhou that the profit and risk were always proportional. There was something else behind this mission, however, he didn’t know what it was.

“… Who cares, this mission looks more reliable than the first two.”

Lu Zhou no longer hesitated. He reached out his hand and selected the icon for mission three.

It didn’t make any sense to worry about the unknown. Whether there was a trap in the mission or not, he would only know by doing it himself.

Besides, he wanted to explore.

What had become of the place where he once worked and lived…

Chapter 1443: Not Very Smart

“This robot… Looks very strange. (°༥°)”

Inside the living room of the apartment.

Xiao Ai looked at the “Private-1” intelligent human guard lying on the floor. Xiao Ai poked its arm curiously then quickly retracted her hand.

Lu Zhou: “Strange?”

“Yeah… Its backdoor security program is strong.” The pattern in her pupils turned into frustrated emojis. Xiao Ai muttered, “I tried to hack into it and look at its underlying code. But I only saw a bunch of garbled text…”

Lu Zhou frowned.

“Even you can’t do it?”

As he was speaking, the two round pupils of the intelligent guard lying on the ground suddenly burst into a purple light.

Shocked by this scene, Xiao Ai hid behind Lu Zhou subconsciously.

The robot sat up from the ground, and after staring at Lu Zhou for a while, a cold electronic sound floated from its mouth.

“Identified.

“At your service, commander.”

The purple light gradually dimmed. The intelligent human guard sat on the ground motionlessly, as if it was asleep.

Lu Zhou, who sat down on the floor, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to lift his arm and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

However, he noticed a small hand pulling on his arm nervously.

Lu Zhou suddenly turned around and tapped Xiao Ai on the forehead.

“Ouch…” Xiao Ai covered her forehead painfully and looked at him with a grieved expression, “Master?”

Lu Zhou replied, “Don’t hide behind me whenever things happen, your master has one life, be more reliable!”

“But, Master, that guy… is really scary!”

Scary?

Lu Zhou glanced at the “Private-1” sitting on the ground with a weird expression. He stared at it for a long time, but he didn’t feel that this thing was scary. At most, it was a bit ugly.

Lu Zhou looked back at Xiao Ai. His heart softened as he spoke with a sigh.

“Enough, stop pretending… I didn’t use any force at all. You don’t even have a nervous system. How could it be painful?”

Xiao Ai, who was holding her forehead, looked like a little girl who had been bullied.

“But… Xiao Ai made Master angry, so Master knocked on Xiao Ai… It feels… like a heartache.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

What king of logic is this?

Lu Zhou sighed and handed out his right hand. He pulled Xiao Ai up from the ground.

“It’s not that I’m angry…”

He didn’t understand how scary this thing was. After all, he was not an artificial intelligence, so he couldn’t put himself in the position and think from the perspective of artificial intelligence. Maybe Xiao Ai, who was an artificial intelligence, could see the horror that he was oblivious to.

After all, Xiao Ai’s reaction didn’t seem fake…

Lu Zhou went back next to the “Private-1” intelligent human guard, and after some tinkering, he was certain that this guy probably had no battery.

Lu Zhou searched for a long time but couldn’t find the charging cable and the charging port. He estimated that the device should be wirelessly charged, so he opened the online shopping platform through his personal terminal and ordered a high-power wireless charger for charging maglev cars from the equipment manufacturer in this city.

After two hours, the things he ordered were delivered to his door by a bionic man in the uniform of a courier.

He was surprised at the efficiency of logistics in this era, but it was obviously not the time to care about these minor issues.

Using the instructions on the manual, Lu Zhou put the charger in the corner of the living room, then plugged the connector directly into the socket.

Lu Zhou was about to drag the intelligent human guard over and charge it. However, he suddenly thought of something and looked at Xiao Ai, who was standing by and was ready to help. He asked Xiao Ai, “Speaking of which, I have something to ask you.”

“Yeah? Master, go ahead. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Wait a second…”

Lu Zhou turned to go to the closet. He pulled out a black metal cube from his suitcase and took it back to the living room.

The moment Xiao Ai saw this black metal cube, her eyes lit up, and she spoke excitedly.

“Master brought it back! (〃∇〃)”

“Yeah… I heard that the memory card of the robot was near the chest, so I fumbled around and found this thing.”

“Huh? Chest??”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Nothing. This black cube is a robot memory card. It integrates a memory unit and a multi-core processor, which can support a limited degree of intelligent algorithms.”

Lu Zhou: “The subroutine was created by you?”

Xiao Ai: “Kind of. After all, Mars is too far away, and the communication delay is too big. If every action has a delay of several minutes, there is no way to control it in real-time, so Xiao Ai designed a simple smart memory, then secretly sold it to the bad guys who wanted to go to Mars. ✧(≖◡≖✿)”

No wonder!

However, Lu Zhou still didn’t quite understand how to distinguish between different types of artificial intelligence.

Through a unique identification code?

Or something else.

Lu Zhou glanced at the black cube in his hand. He then glanced at the intelligent human guard on the ground and spoke.

“Xiao Ai.”

“Huh? 0.0”

“If you are asked to change your body, would you like to change to a more powerful one? For example, this one on the ground.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh? Can’t Xiao Ai have all the bodies? (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Xiao Ai immediately pretended that nothing happened and changed her words.

“Xiao Ai will keep this body. This black thing is too ugly. Earth is still very safe.”

“Okay then.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say much. He reached out his hand and fumbled on the intelligent human guard, then pressed a certain switch.

An orange-yellow metal sphere about the size of a fist slowly lifted out from the left chest of the intelligent human guard.

“Kill Core…”

“Huh? 0.0”

“Nothing… ” Lu Zhou looked at the system pop-up window that disappeared in front of him and frowned.

His intuition told him that the thing in his hand at this moment should be the memory of this intelligent human guard: the artificial intelligence designed for war purposes.

His instinct also told him that every part of this thing exuded a dangerous atmosphere, especially against human civilization.

“The difference between the interfaces is so big…” Lu Zhou put the dangerous metal ball aside carefully. He held the black cube against the chest of the intelligent human guard for a while. Then, he looked at Xiao Ai and asked, “Is there a way to replace the memory card?”

“Huh? Does Master want to change it?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at the black cube in his hand. He said, “I promised it a new body.”

Although he was probably the only one who heard that, he still wanted to fulfill his promise.

Xiao Ai replied, “It’s not very troublesome in theory. Just copy the memory software and redesign a carrier with a suitable size for it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou said, “Can it be done?”

This thing is a piece of high-tech item from the Calan Empire. Is it really that simple?

Xiao Ai: “Don’t worry, Master, Xiao Ai will handle it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou thought that this would be troublesome. He didn’t expect things to be far simpler than he had thought.

Through an industrial scanner worth 20,000 credits and an experimental 3D printer from Dongya Heavy Industries that cost 50,000 credits, Xiao Ai only took half a day to design a memory interface that was almost identical to the yellow metal ball.

The rest was much easier. Through a personal terminal, Xiao Ai transferred the memory software to the carrier, then placed the synthesized memory into the “Private-1” intelligent human guard’s chest.

When the purple pupils lit up, Xiao Ai was not scared this time, and a cheeky smile appeared on her face.

“Hehe… feels like Xiao Ai and Master had a child.”

Lu Zhou ignored Xiao Ai and looked at the intelligent guard who sat up from the ground with a blank face.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke.

“You don’t have a name yet.

“I’ll call you number zero… No, let me think about it.”

It always felt too casual to use numbers as names.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou thought of a more suitable name.

“Starting from today…

“Your name will be Ling, okay?”

The purple pupils flickered slightly, exuding a sense of security.

It seemed that it recognized the name. It placed its right hand on its chest and answered in a respectful voice, “Yes, Commander.

“Artificial intelligence ‘Ling Okay’ is at your service.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 1444: The State of Mathematics and Physics

“Recently, a theft occurred in the museum area of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study (former site). A robot guide in the museum has been confirmed to be stolen. According to the description of the museum manager, the robot left the work area during the shift, and after leaving the museum area, the power to the BDS system was cut off…

“It felt like it was being controlled by something.”

A 60-year-old grandmother, facing the interview camera with a dazed expression, said, “We didn’t notice it at first because I never thought that someone would steal a robot guide!

“Who do you think would do such a crazy thing! Can’t you just buy a robot if—”

The second half of the interview seemed to have been cut off abruptly.

The camera seamlessly transferred back to the studio.

“… It is reported that the type of robot was a G-004 robot guide produced by the Hippocampus Group. Its purpose is to provide tourists with guided tours of tourist attractions and amusement facilities. So far, the Hippocampus Group engineers have arrived and are assisting the police and a third-party appraisal agency on the cause of the accident.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of a system failure of the robot. Hippocampus Group has temporarily removed the robot from its own sales channels and issued a risk warning notice to customers who purchased the robot models.

“Due to the possibility of a criminal case, the local public security agency has been involved in the investigation after receiving a report from the museum.

“Our station wants to remind everyone that if anyone witnesses the whereabouts of the robot, please call us immediately or provide clues to the museum or local police station.

“Jinling News, reporting for you.”

Early next morning…

At the dining table, Lu Zhou was drinking coffee while listening to the morning news. He used his personal terminal to browse the academic information that he was interested in.

When he heard that a guided robot was missing from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study Museum, Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at the large floor-to-ceiling screen embedded in the wall.

When he looked up, Lu Zhou was stunned.

Then, he silently looked away from the screen and looked at Xiao Ai, who was sitting on the opposite side with her chin in her hands, looking at him happily.

The atmosphere between the two… suddenly became silent.

“Huh?”

“Huh my a*s!”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai, who was pretending to be stupid. He was furious.

For f*ck sake!

The issue of his identity and residency had not yet been solved, and Xiao Ai was already giving him trouble.

Out of everything, you steal a robot?!

It’s not like we don’t have money, can’t you just buy one!

“Master?”

“Don’t annoy me, let me think about what to do about this…”

Lu Zhou looked at the TV, which had begun to show other news stories. His left hand was resting on the table.

About two minutes later, Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai and spoke.

“You should return yourself.”

“No!”

Lu Zhou didn’t expect her reaction would be so big. He looked at her with a headache and spoke.

“Why does it matter? Your main body is just a server? Wouldn’t it be okay for me to buy you a new one?”

Xiao Ai: “Master… doesn’t like Xiao Ai? That’s why Master wants to get a new one…”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Xiao Ai: “But but, face! And body! Every parameter was designed by Xiao Ai using big data collection, analysis, and comparison, based on the most popular character images!”

Yep. This guy…

Has a misunderstanding about the concept of ownership.

Lu Zhou, who had never argued with Xiao Ai, felt that his authority as a master was being challenged.

However, seeing her so happy, he wanted to give in.

His current status was probably like an old father, watching his daughter grab the toys from other kids. Even though he knew that his daughter was in the wrong, he couldn’t bear to correct her.

What a headache…

If only I could talk to the museum and buy this robot.

But now that the police were involved in the investigation, even if he wanted to solve it privately, there was no room for maneuver.

“You underestimate the power of human society and rules… Hey, forget about it.” Lu Zhou shook his head and put away the holographic panel floating in front of him. He said, “Anyway, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is kind of mine. Keep it if you like it.”

In any case, I came back alive from Mars thanks to this little fellow who did not forget about me.

Although this is a bit daunting, I’ll regard it as a reward.

“Yay!”

After hearing that Lu Zhou would satisfy her willful request, Xiao Ai jumped up from the chair excitedly. The female robot rushed over to Lu Zhou and kissed him on the cheek.

“Mua! Thank you, Master! I hope you accept my gratitude!”

“Accept my a*s!”

Lu Zhou raised his finger and tapping on Xiao Ai’s head. He glared at her and stood up.

“Master?”

“I’ll go outside and help Ling find if there are helmets for dolls. Ling can’t go outside like this, he will be arrested for affecting the appearance of the city.”

“Then, Xiao Ai must help too! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“You and Ling stay home if you want to save me some trouble!”

The “Private-1” intelligent human guard wearing an apron walked out of the kitchen and stood there holding the vacuum cleaner.

“Received, Commander.

“Ling Okay, on standby.”

Lu Zhou’s eyebrows twitched fiercely. He looked at Xiao Ai, who was sitting on the table with a grieved expression, and spoke.

“If you have time, help me optimize this guy’s memory software. I suspect that the compatibility is broken… At least make it less formal.

“Also, your name is Ling, not Ling Okay!”

The scarlet light flickered slightly. He seemed to understand the command.

“Successful rename, Ling Not Ling Okay, at your service.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

The biggest difference between the traffic in the 22nd century and the traffic in the 21st century was probably reflected in the efficiency.

The transportation of this era pushed efficiency to the extreme, especially in terms of public transportation.

From the vacuum magnetic levitation pipelines to the urban light rails, the layer-by-layer downward compatible public transportation system was like the aorta and capillaries in the human body.

One could wake up in the Pearl River Delta city group in the morning, have a meeting in the Yangtze River Delta city group at noon, then go to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group to watch a football game and go back to sleep. A century ago, this was a lifestyle only available to social elites. But now, this was accessible to anyone…

The two mentally disabled children were at home. Lu Zhou put on some shoes and went out of the house.

It was January. Although the house had central air-conditioning, the weather outside was still very cold, so he wore extra clothing when he went out.

Not only that, considering what happened when he was leaving the airport yesterday, Lu Zhou, who had a premonition that his face might cause a lot of trouble, hung a necklace-shaped holographic projection system around his neck.

He spent about half an hour making some slight adjustments to his handsome face. He then put on a pair of AR glasses and navigated to the nearest train station using the cursor on the map.

He thought that taking a light rail should be easy for him.

However, just after he stepped into the station, he ran into trouble.

Lu Zhou looked blankly at the crowded station. He searched for a while but couldn’t find the ticket vending machine. He finally had to ask the staff attendant for help.

“Hello, how do I buy a light rail ticket? I don’t see a vending—”

The station attendant sitting at the help desk looked at Lu Zhou with a strange expression. “Light rail ticket? What is that? If you want to take the train, just go in.”

“It’s free?”

“What are you thinking about, there are no free things in this world.” The station attendant continued impatiently, “As long as your terminal is turned on, we can identify you and deduct the money from your account. You are probably a… dormant person? This is the 22nd century.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

This a*shole! She probably wanted to call me a frozen popsicle, right?

Why is this person working in the public transportation system?

The robots will take over your job soon.

Lu Zhou turned around and walked toward the gate.

He suddenly had a thought. What would happen if he turned off the personal terminal worn on his left wrist when he passed the ticket gate.

Lu Zhou felt that something bad would happen.

He didn’t want to evade the fares, so he did not try it even though he was curious. Like other passengers, he went through the ticket gate and walked in the direction of the boarding point…

This was different from 21st-century light rail.

Although the light rail of this era was still called light rail, in terms of technical principles and user experience, they were completely different things.

The intricate floating tracks spread across the city like a spider web, and the rail transit lines that corresponded to each station were stacked like layers of a cake.

It would be impossible to get on and off the trail at the correct stops without the use of AR glasses. It would be just as unreliable as those old drivers who tried to use their memories to find the right way in the city suburbs.

After finally getting on the light rail, Lu Zhou glanced at the arrival time. He then reached out his hand and pressed the smart bracelet.

A translucent holographic screen popped up in front of him. After dimming the brightness of the screen, he focused his attention on the academic documents that he hadn’t finished reading at home.

Generally speaking, compared to a century ago, the development of the academic world was quite advanced.

Many models that were still being explored 100 years ago had been tested in this era.

For example, the consortium model he tried was now widely used in the Jinling high-tech zone, but its reach had gone from relying on Star Sky Technology to a university city with more than tens of thousands of professional subdivisions.

Many large-scale scientific and technological innovation companies, such as the Hippocampus Group, which stood at the top of a certain industrial chain, were incubated under this model.

Then there were mathematics and physics, which he cared about the most.

Although compared to applied science, this aspect was relatively secretive, but with the help of Xiao Ai, filtering out the useful parts from the complicated information wasn’t too difficult.

It was worth mentioning that the world’s largest academic consulting exchange forum was LSPM. Although few people still remembered the full name of this acronym, it had developed into a new era of the academic community.

Especially since virtual reality community technology was widely used, it was the first to launch the VR online academic conference and online discussion group module. It had almost become the “second whiteboard” in the hands of young people.

Although it also faced the same problem of the proliferation of civilian sciences as arXiv, by comparison, it was already much better than many contemporary websites of the same type.

There had been many rumors about the managers of this forum. The current mainstream opinion was that this website was operated by the descendants of Academician Lu, that was, the board of directors of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.

However, no one would have thought that…

In fact, the person who ran this website was not a human at all, but an AI hidden under the site of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study…

“Generally speaking, the development of mathematics is okay, except the fact that the Hodge conjecture and the BSD conjecture are solved… There are no impressive results, but it is still progressing steadily.

“The development of physics is fairly satisfactory, although it has been slower than I expected.”

Only 27 out of the 100-century problems had been answered; 78 questions remain unanswered. The first question was the question he was most concerned about, which was the unification of the four fundamental forces. Compared to 100 years ago, there was almost no obvious progress in theoretical physics in this area.

By comparison, the progress in the field of mathematics was much greater. First, the Hodge conjecture was proven by Professor Chen Yang and Professor Perelman, then the BSD conjecture was solved by Li Mo.

The seven millennium problems that were expected to be solved in the 21st century only had one problem left. He alone accounted for three of the six problems that had been solved. Among the remaining three problems, the Hodge conjecture was half solved by him, and the other was solved by his apprentice.

The non-trivial zero-point problem of Dirichlet’s L function that he was concerned about seemed to have no progress. It was even named the problem of the century. However, his proof on Riemann’s hypothesis had contributed to many new research results.

Thinking about this, a smile suddenly appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

If this couldn’t prove how smart he was, then nothing else could…

Chapter 1445: You Have a Problem

“Jin Ling University is here. Passengers who get off the train at this station, please remember your belongings and get off the train in an orderly fashion…”

The sound of the announcement floated above Lu Zhou’s head, awakening him from the memory of the past.

At the same time, the real-time navigation system opened in his holographic glasses also had a pop-up window to remind him that he had arrived at the station.

Lu Zhou turned off the holographic panel floating in front of him. He stood up from his seat and got out of the train with the flow of people, embarking on the place where he once wielded his youth with excitement and anxiety.

However, when he stepped out of the station and the sun shone on his face, Lu Zhou was stunned.

Where…

Is this?

It was completely different from the Jin Ling University in his memory. The familiar tree trails were gone. There were gardening drones floating on the lawn. Silver and white buildings on both sides, even the shape of the buildings were completely changed.

Lu Zhou pushed the AR glasses up the bridge of his nose. He set up navigation to the mathematics department building, but the navigation cursor in front of him was divided into three different paths.

Three mathematics buildings?

After seeing the feedback from the navigation system, Lu Zhou was shocked.

When did the math department get so rich?

Lu Zhou was in shock for a while and didn’t know where to go. He was suddenly bumped into from behind.

Although it was an unexpected collision, Lu Zhou himself was fine, but the person who bumped into him almost fell to the ground.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m in a hurry!”

The boy who accidentally bumped into him picked up the glasses from the ground and was about to go.

However, Lu Zhou wasn’t willing to miss this opportunity. He wanted to find someone to ask for directions, so he quickly grabbed the boy’s arm.

“Wait a second, kid, how do you get to the mathematics department?”

“Mathematics department?” The boy was stunned. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “Which major?”

Lu Zhou blurted out subconsciously, “Number Theory…”

The boy with square-framed glasses snapped back to reality. He held Lu Zhou’s hand with a tragic expression.

“Oh f*ck, I was thinking who would walk so slowly, I didn’t expect you to be one of us! If you keep walking around so slowly, you’ll miss the facial paralysis class!”

Facial paralysis?

Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. Before he realized what was going on, the boy began to run.

“Wait, wait a minute.”

“Wait for what, hurry up!”

“… Isn’t there a more convenient means of transportation?”

“What do you want on campus, fly in a car? Cough cough… You’re pretty fit, you’re not even out of breath, I’m so f*cking tired… Cough! Stop talking to me.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Aren’t you the one who has been talking?

We’ve only run for a couple of steps, how unfit are you?

When Lu Zhou came back to his senses, he had been taken to the teaching building by this stubborn guy. They stepped into a lecture hall with seats arranged in a U shape.

After Lu Zhou found a seat in the back row, he looked around the classroom, then looked at the tired and breathless student next to him and asked casually with interest, “They don’t take names for a large lecture like this right?”

Are all students in this era so punctual?

“Take names? What is that…”

Lu Zhou immediately realized that he was being an “old ancient popsicle” again, so he quickly changed his words.

“What is your name?”

“Zhang Tao!”

“What about the one on stage?”

“Professor Sun Jingwen…” Zhang Tao’s eyes widened for a moment. He looked at Lu Zhou incredulously and said, “The f*ck, you don’t even know him?”

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Seeing how this young man was quite interesting, he joked, “Why do you think every time I attend an academic conference, I never ask someone for their business card?”

Zhang Tao glanced at him.

Every time…

How many conferences have you been to?

He spoke casually.

“Why…”

Lu Zhou sighed softly.

“Because I have face blindness.”

There were plenty of people he didn’t know, but everyone knew him.

However, this kid apparently took his words as a joke. After holding his stomach and laughing for a while, he sat up and spoke.

“Ahem… Bro, you’re so funny, I nearly couldn’t catch my breath. What’s your virtual community account? If you have time, we can go to the blue Calan Empire planet together, it’ll be fun.”

Lu Zhou smiled mysteriously and didn’t answer the question. Instead, he pointed in the direction of the podium and spoke.

“It’s starting, let’s listen carefully, talk about other things after class.”

On stage.

A man with rimless glasses and a meticulous expression and who was a simple set of formal attire walked to the podium.

After his finger tapped twice on the multimedia device, four digital whiteboards appeared on the wall.

Lu Zhou finally knew why this guy was called “Facial Paralysis” by the students. It was because his expression was really not very rich at all. Almost like his facial muscles had fallen into dormancy as if to conserve energy. Ever since he entered the classroom, the expression on his face had not changed even a bit.

“Today’s content may be a bit super-dimensional. It involves the most difficult problem in mathematics, that is, whether all non-trivial zeros of Dirichlet’s L function are located on the straight line of the complex plane Re(s)=12.

“If you have studied your homework, you should not be unfamiliar with this problem. This proposition is a generalization problem raised by Academician Lu at the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians in St. Petersburg. It is often referred to as the Generalized Riemann hypothesis, and it is also my research problem.

“My teaching philosophy has always been that mathematics is a discipline honed in practice. If you don’t think about it yourself, what I teach you will never truly become yours.

“Listen as much as possible if you can, record if you don’t understand, then go back and ponder slowly.”

He turned to face the first whiteboard and wrote a line of calculations on it.

This line of calculation caused Zhang Tao, who was sitting next to Lu Zhou, to frown in pain, but Lu Zhou was very familiar with this.

Isn’t this…

What I wrote on the blackboard at the St. Petersburg conference?

“Replace the infinite series in the Euler product formula with the complex exponent s, and then set Re(s)>1, and introduce the Dirichlet L function… Interesting.”

When Zhang Tao listened to the whispers from the mouth of the older guy sitting next to him, he was suddenly startled.

There’s someone who can understand this f*cking stuff?

He was just planning to complain about it on the anonymous school forum, that no one could understand this…

“You can understand what he wrote?”

Lu Zhou replied, “Sort of.”

Zhang Tao asked tentatively, “Group… Group Structure Method?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Lu Zhou glanced at him and said, “The part after the introduction of Dirichlet’s L function is of course the unified theory of algebraic geometry. Have you seen the Group Structure Method before?”

The problem is that I have never seen the unified theory of algebraic geometry either…

Aware of his ignorance, Zhang Tao closed his mouth with shame.

Lu Zhou sighed slightly and continued, “It’s fine… From what I remember, very few people can understand this theory to this degree, and the usage is a bit rigid. The old method is not always applicable, if only it was more flexible.”

As soon as Zhang Tao heard these words, he felt even more ashamed.

For f*ck sake, he’s just bragging as well! How come he’s so cool and clean about it, whereas I’m so nervous?

If only I were more confident.

This guy is a genius!

The whiteboard on the stage had been written all over. Professor Sun Jingwen, who was lost in thought, seemed to have forgotten that he was in a classroom. His attention was fully focused on the problem in front of him.

However, he seemed to be in a little trouble as he stood there and frowned, as if pondering about something.

In fact, he was indeed in trouble, at least in Lu Zhou’s opinion.

If no one helped him, he wouldn’t be able to solve this problem even by tomorrow.

Lu Zhou sighed lightly. He was hesitating whether to help this guy when he suddenly noticed the red button on the corner of the table.

With a hint of curiosity in his eyes, Lu Zhou touched Zhang Tao, who was sitting next to him, with his finger and pointed to the button.

“What is this?”

“It’s to raise your hand, used in large classrooms.”

“I see…”

Lu Zhou reached out his hand and pressed it on the button.

He thought that there would be red lights flashing, or sound effects, but there was nothing.

However, Lu Zhou quickly noticed pairs of eyes staring at him, like he had been shouting in the classroom.

Zhang Tao looked at Lu Zhou dumbfounded, and he quickly pulled Lu Zhou’s sleeves.

“The f*ck… what are you doing?!”

In the mathematics department of Jinling University, everyone knew that Mr. Facial Paralysis hated people interrupting his thoughts.

Especially when his research was at a critical stage…

Interrupting him at this moment to ask questions was no different than suicide.

Zhang Tao’s voice became weaker and weaker. A sharp line of sight had already shot up from the podium…

Professor Sun Jingwen looked at Lu Zhou blankly.

“You have a question?”

“No.” Lu Zhou stood up from his seat and shook his head slightly. He smiled and said, “But you have a problem.”

A loud noise spread in the classroom.

All of the students were in disbelief. They looked at Lu Zhou, then at Sun Jingwen, who was standing in front of the podium.

Does this guy not want to live anymore?

Many people even showed gloating expressions on their faces, waiting for Professor Sun’s next reaction.

However, an unbelievable scene happened.

Professor Sun, who was on the stage, was not as angry as most people expected. Instead, he frowned and asked, “Where is the problem?”

Lu Zhou: “Inference 4 in line 24, there is nothing wrong with the idea of introducing differential manifolds here, but I think L manifolds… When Academician Lu was designing it, he probably never thought that it would be used to solve the Dirichlet L function problem.”

“Of course I know that.” Sun Jingwen stared at Lu Zhou’s face, trying to take a look at it more clearly, but he still did not recognize him. Sun Jingwen said, “L Manifold was his solution to the NS equation problem, it was not used to solve the Dirichlet L function problem, but it was one of the key elements in solving Riemann’s hypothesis. It is also undeniable that it serves as the core tool of the unified theory of algebraic geometry.”

“Your research on the history of mathematics is good, but mathematics research is not archaeology after all.” Lu Zhou said with a gentle smile, “Can I borrow a whiteboard?”

Professor Sun Jingwen seemed to be stunned. He didn’t expect this student to do this.

But he didn’t say much. He just nodded his head blankly and made a gesture casually.

“Please, go ahead.”

Chapter 1446: Academician Lu Once Said

The experimental building of Jin Ling University.

Qin Chuan, who was sitting in the dean’s office, stared at the holographic window on the table. He spoke emotionally to the person on the other end of the video call.

“Lu Zhou is a professor from Jin Ling University! We have kept his position for a hundred years! Now suddenly someone who looks exactly the same popped out and claims to be Lu Zhou, we are obliged to maintain the honor of Professor Lu! How does this have nothing to do with us!”

“However, we also have to worry about the privacy of citizens.”

Sitting on the opposite side of the holographic window, the man in formal clothing sighed and said, “In terms of procedures, this is the task of the household registration management department. They will use multiple sources to verify the authenticity of his identity. When necessary, they will use the power of the security department. If they think they need your help, they will contact you. If they think your opinion is irrelevant or cannot provide valid evidence…”

The man in the video shrugged.

“Then I trust their judgment.”

Qin Chuan still reluctantly spoke.

“Then at least help me arrange a meeting with him, let me talk to him in person!”

“Please believe in the fairness of the law, Mr. Qin. The identity verification of dormant people is one of the most difficult problems in judicial practice, we also have our own difficulties here.

“100 years is not 100 days. No hospital will keep his DNA samples for such a long time, and he himself has never donated evidence containing genetic information. We need a rigorous chain of evidence to deal with this matter. Most of the evidence is vulnerable to the passing of time. There are so many things that can be changed in a century. If you are a scholar, you should understand what I mean by this.

“So, my suggestion remains the same. Since you are a university, do what a university should do. Unless you tell me that you are his immediate relative… But that is obviously impossible.”

Facing the man in the holographic window, Qin Chuan went silent for a while. His tight shoulders slightly loosened.

“Okay then…

“If you insist.”

The phone call ended.

Qin Chuan stood up from his office chair and said angrily, “These guys… Actually said the matter has nothing to do with us! I have never heard such a bullsh*t answer!”

The assistant looked at how angry Dean Qin was, he didn’t know what to say.

In fact, in his opinion, Dean Qin was indeed a bit paranoid.

Even if Jin Ling University did retain Lu Zhou’s professorship out of respect and commemoration, this reservation was unilateral. It was impossible for the court to refer to their opinions and make choices that affected the judgment.

He believed in the judgment of the court and the household registration management department.

But then again, even though he thought that Dean Qin was wrong, he still understood the old gentleman’s reaction to this matter and why he was losing his mind.

After all, the savant was back.

It would be strange to remain calm.

“Xiao Yang.”

The secretary standing next to him quickly responded, “Yes?”

“I have a class in a while, you can handle the afternoon meeting.”

The secretary named Xiao Yang nodded immediately and spoke with a polite smile.

“Okay, dean.”

Qin Chuan used the holographic panel to download the courseware, then left the office without a word and walked toward the teaching building.

He became angrier and angrier as he walked.

In his opinion, that guy was purely speaking nonsense, using official terms and the so-called procedures to negatively treat the serious matter of “Academician Lu’s resurrection”.

When Qin Chuan was about to go to the classroom after he arrived at the teaching building, two students walked past him quickly.

The two were talking excitedly while walking.

“F*ck, have you heard? Mr. Facial Paralysis was taught a lesson by a student from nowhere!”

“None of the classes know who this guy is!”

“Maybe a big name from a research institute?”

“No way, he only looks about mid-twenties at most. How could it be possible to get into the institute at such a young age!”

“Why don’t we go check it out?”

“For what reason, we still have a class. Let’s wait and see what other people say!”

When Qin Chuan heard the conversation between the two inadvertently, he raised his eyebrows subconsciously.

This is about Professor Sun Jingwen, right?

Why do I feel like…

Something interesting had just happened?

…

Inside the lecture hall.

It only took half an hour for the noisy classroom to go completely silent.

During this half an hour, the whiteboard constructed of holographic images placed on the right side of the podium had been filled with rows of dense calculations.

Professor Sun Jingwen looked at the whiteboard filled with calculations in amazement. He didn’t have any expressions on his face. His mouth was open slightly, but he couldn’t say a word.

[L(π)=∫dt/lnt+O(s^1/2x+ε)…]

“… An evolutionary form of Hadamard’s method.”

Yeah…

How come I didn’t think about this.

“To summarize, there is an obvious problem with inference 4 in line 24.”

Lu Zhou took his hand off the whiteboard. He was not used to using the holographic whiteboard. He gently shook his sore arm.

Then he looked at Professor Sun Jingwen, who was standing by the podium, smiled faintly, and continued, “If you are reading what I wrote, you should already understand what I want to express. There is no need to be obsessed with introducing differential manifolds and forcibly introducing the unified theory of algebraic geometry. There is no need to stick to L manifolds.

“I… If I remember correctly, Academician Lu should have said at the St. Petersburg conference that the unified theory of algebraic geometry is not a perfect theory, it is just an introduction to the Riemann zeta function. It may not be as effective when applied to Dirichlet’s L function.

“If you can find a way to improve this tool, I think you are not far from the final answer.”

Did Academician Lu say that?

But this is not important.

Professor Sun Jingwen’s throat gulped. He felt that his worldview was subverted.

“But…”

When Lu Zhou saw the turbulent emotions behind the expressionless face, he pondered for a while and said, “I read the history of mathematics, especially the modern part. If I remember correctly…

“Academician Lu has never worshiped authority in his life. He often educates his students not to overly believe in himself, so we should not worship him as an authority.

“I hope you are chasing the truth, not a voice from a hundred years ago. If he has done something incorrectly, you don’t have to defend him, just erase that line and rewrite the correct answer.”

Those words resonated in Sun Jingwen’s ears.

“Academician Lu has never worshiped authority in his life, so we should not worship him as an authority…”

Suddenly, as if he woke up from a dream, his stubborn pupils gradually began to change.

Lu Zhou nodded with satisfaction in his heart.

So he can be taught…

Although this guy is a bit stubborn, he still has some talent. The most commendable thing is that his stubbornness is fixable.

At least he listened to my words.

Since what should be said had been said, Lu Zhou estimated that he should probably leave.

As for whether this guy could make something of this, it would depend on himself…

Maybe because he had lived for too long, and this was the university where he used to work, whether it was the student sitting here or a professor standing on the podium, Lu Zhou always felt like they were his own children.

If he could help them, he would.

However, just as Lu Zhou was about to leave, a strange sight suddenly appeared.

A pale golden key slowly emerged from the wall covered by holographic light out of nowhere.

The moment Lu Zhou saw this key, he was stunned. He then glanced sideways at the students sitting in the front row.

Many people looked surprised.

But their surprise was obviously not because of the key on the wall; it was because of the lines of calculations that shocked Professor Sun.

No one seemed to notice the key.

As if it didn’t exist in this world, like it only existed in his own universe.

Lu Zhou raised his right hand and touched the key. The moment his index finger touched the key, the key instantly turned into a ball of golden light. The light went into his fingertips and seemed to be absorbed by his body.

He didn’t feel anything special.

However, after seeing all of this, Lu Zhou felt a sense of fulfillment in his heart.

“I see…”

Lu Zhou muttered quietly to himself, “Achieving a sense of meaning with my past memory…

“Is this the trick to finding the keys?”

So this is where the holy land is…

As a professor, he used to preach and teach his students here, but just now, he did the same again when he revisited his hometown. So instead of looking for the key, the key was looking for him?

Lu Zhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He didn’t expect that 100 years after he woke up, the system would actually give him such a philosophical mission.

But where will the next key be?

Lu Zhou looked at Professor Sun Jingwen standing next to the podium. He hesitated about whether to say goodbye before leaving.

But seeing how he was in deep thought, Lu Zhou felt that it would be better not to interrupt him at this critical moment.

So, without saying anything, he walked away under the gaze of those who were surprised and stunned…

Chapter 1447: Its Him!

An apartment building near the second ring road of Jin Ling City.

Director Li, who was standing at the door with Wang Peng, confirmed the address marked on the AR navigation. He then reached out and pressed the doorbell.

After a while, there was a noise inside the door, and an unfamiliar voice came from the intercom.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Director Li, and Wang Peng… Is Academician Lu home?”

There was a moment of silence behind the door.

The voice continued, “Academician Lu is away, he is not at home. Would you like to come again another day?”

“Not at home…”

Director Li scratched his head. Obviously, he didn’t expect Lu Zhou to go out. He didn’t know what to do for a while.

Wang Peng, who was standing next to him, stepped forward and asked, “Excuse me, who are you?”

“Huh? This question is so embarrassing, I don’t know how to answer…”

Wang Peng and Director Li: “…?”

What the hell is “don’t know how to answer”?

Not sure what was going on inside, Director Li and Wang Peng exchanged a weird glance with each other.

In the end, Director Li was the first to break the silence. He spoke with a dry cough.

“Why don’t we come back tomorrow? It was my fault that I didn’t let Li Gaoliang help us make an appointment in advance.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“We can only come again tomorrow.”

Xiao Ai looked at the two people leaving through the camera at the door. She muttered, “Well… As a hostess, should I invite guests in for a cup of tea before leaving? But Master does not allow Xiao Ai to show her face… What do you think? ( ́◔‸◔’ ‘)”

The purple pupils of the “Private-1” intelligent human guard standing nearby flashed.

“Ling Not Ling Okay… doesn’t quite understand what you are talking about.”

Xiao Ai: “I don’t quite understand what you are talking about either.”

…

Security Department of Jin Ling University.

The dean of the mathematics department and Professor Sun Jingwen, who was in the lecture earlier, were all standing here at the moment.

In addition, there were two engineers responsible for security.

A person of unknown origin got into the classroom and even made such a big commotion. The school didn’t know anything, making it a bit unreasonable.

Dean Qin Chuan looked at the monitoring screen, at the strange man who stood in front of the whiteboard, talking about the history of number theory. Dean Qin Chuan muttered suspiciously, “… Has Academician Lu ever said this?”

He didn’t remember such a line in the history of mathematics.

Standing next to Dean Qin, Sun Jingwen watched the surveillance footage from the beginning to the end.

After being silent for a while, he suddenly spoke.

“I want to go on a retreat for a while.”

Qin Chuan looked away from the holographic screen and cast a questioning look at him.

“Is it because that person said something to you?”

Sun Jingwen nodded and admitted this honestly.

“Under his guidance, I have some new ideas… About Dirichlet’s L function.”

Seeing that his student didn’t seem to be joking, Qin Chuan immediately put on a solemn expression.

“Go ahead then.”

Sun Jingwen nodded and did not say anything. He turned and left the monitoring room.

The monitoring room was quiet.

Standing next to the engineer, Qin Chuan stared at the holographic screen that listed the surveillance pictures, lost in thought.

From the perspective of a mathematician, that person’s writings on the whiteboard could be said to be quite insightful.

Especially his understanding of the unified theory of algebraic geometry, it could even be better than his.

Being able to defeat Professor Sun with just a few words was definitely not something ordinary people could do.

Although mathematics was widely used, the circle of mathematicians was not very large. There was no way he had never heard about such a great mathematician. Even if he hadn’t seen his face before, he should have at least heard about his name or rumors about him.

However, a guy that seemed to be in his mid-twenties, who had even surpassed Professor Sun, the 31-year-old Fields Medalist…

Is it possible for this kind of person to exist?

Just when Qin Chuan felt his head was in a mess, the engineers were carefully comparing the pictures, trying to pinpoint which department the person was from.

Or at least, collect some clues about his motives for suddenly appearing in the lecture.

However, the engineer standing next to the holographic screen suddenly let out a sigh.

Qin Chuan quickly looked at him and asked, “Did you find anything?”

“It’s not that I found something… I just think it’s a bit strange?” The engineer wearing glasses stared at the person on the surveillance screen and said with a weird expression, “Did you not see? There is a weird pixel tearing around his face…”

“Now that you say it… it does seem so.” Another engineer frowned and said, “It’s like two sets of incompatible holographic projection systems overlapped, causing the outline of the picture to appear distorted.”

“Wait…”

“What’s the matter?” Qin Chuan said anxiously, looking at the two people who were mumbling with each other.

“He probably used some kind of facial contouring system based on holographic technology…” With a strange expression on his face, the engineer with glasses continued, “Although I don’t know the purpose of doing this… but this face shouldn’t be his own.”

Not his face?

So he was wearing an optical mask?

Qin Chuan was stunned; he had a confused expression on his face.

He really couldn’t think of the motivation for that person to do this.

A hint of possibility suddenly surged in his heart.

Maybe…

It’s him!

Academician Lu?!

“Can you trace where he went!” Qin Chuan blurted out to the engineer next to him.

“The surveillance on our school can only track the entrance of the subway station… After leaving the classroom, he went to the library, the old dormitory, and even the mathematics research building. He went everywhere. The final place seems to be the library, then I don’t know where he went.”

“Sure enough it is him…”

Professor Lu wasn’t hiding from anyone.

Anyone who woke up after 100 years would want to visit the place they once worked at.

Qin Chuan couldn’t help but hold his breath. As he became more confident of his guess, intense excitement floated in his muddy pupils.

However, the intense emotion only lasted for less than a few seconds. It quickly turned into deep self-blame and shame.

If Lu Zhou wasn’t disappointed in us, why would he turn around and leave without saying a word?

Qin Chuan looked at the figure who turned and disappeared at the door of the classroom on the monitoring screen. He sighed silently in his heart and muttered softly, “Ashamed!

“I’m really ashamed…”

While the entire Jin Ling University students were discussing this event, Lu Zhou, the person involved, was sitting in the library at this moment. After a light sigh, he put down the books in his hands.

“So, it’s not here.”

In addition to being a professor, he had been a student here for almost three years, so Lu Zhou had wondered if the second key would be in the library.

After all, this was where he spent most of his youth in.

“It seems that Jin University should only have one key here, the remaining two might be at the house, or the Institute for Advanced Study…”

Lu Zhou returned the borrowed book to the shelf. While stepping out of the library door, his finger tapped on the necklace on his neck.

Soon, digital ripples swayed along the outline of his facial features.

Within a few seconds, the holographic image on his face updated into a completely different appearance, and he disappeared among the crowd…

Chapter 1448: Appointment For My Own Home?

The mountainside of Purple Mountain.

There was no maglev road here, so Lu Zhou came to the foot of the mountain by bus.

The landscape changes along the way were not particularly big, it basically retained the appearance from a century ago.

The sign of Zhongshan International had disappeared. Instead, there was a sign of “Lu Zhou Former Residence”, which was a cultural tourism scenic spot with a “modern style”.

Those who came here were all old people, adults with children, or small groups of young students who were on a school trip.

Generally speaking, the surrounding atmosphere was quite lively. In addition to some art vendors and street shops, there were also some small rustic restaurants that sold some of Lu Zhou’s favorite foods during his lifetime.

For example, various flavors of barbecue meat on rice.

The only thing that puzzled Lu Zhou was the braised pork rice store near his house.

He didn’t remember liking braised pork…

Using the navigation path given by the AR glasses, Lu Zhou walked along a completely tree-lined path and quickly came to his door.

Technically, this was not his own home anymore; it was a museum that had been renovated repeatedly. According to the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this museum was currently managed and operated by the local Jinling government; it had become a part of the city’s public service resources.

The bricks and tiles here were no different from what he remembered. The only thing that had changed was that the two trees in the front yard were cut down and replaced by some beautiful monuments.

As Lu Zhou looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar house, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

He still remembered when he first bought this house, Wang Peng said to him that the two trees in front of the window would cause blind spots in his vision and suggested that he cut them. But in the end, he insisted on keeping them.

100 years later, those two trees were taken down after all.

Lu Zhou smiled. With a nostalgic expression, he walked through the courtyard gate and walked along the moss-covered stone steps toward his home.

However, when he had just crossed the courtyard gate, someone shouted from behind him.

“Hey! Wait a second!”

A man in a museum uniform ran after him and spoke.

“Academician Lu’s former residence is not open to individual visitors. If you want to enter, you must make an appointment online in advance!”

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He suddenly became unhappy. He stared at the museum staff and asked, “I need to make an appointment in advance to go back to my own home?”

The staff of the museum was stunned. He looked at Lu Zhou with a weird look, wondering what the guy was talking about.

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he was wearing a stranger’s face. He immediately reached out and turned off the necklace on his neck, then stuffed it in his pocket.

“Do you know who I am?”

Staring straight at Lu Zhou’s face, the staff of the museum looked like he had just seen a ghost.

He was dumbfounded before, but now, he was flabbergasted.

A voice suddenly came from the direction of the courtyard door.

“What happened?”

Lu Zhou looked toward the entrance of the courtyard. He saw a tall, skinny, middle-aged man with glasses walking quickly toward him.

The moment he saw Lu Zhou, the man was stunned, and he quickly understood what was going on here.

“Curator…”

The curator said immediately, “Okay, I understand, go back to your post.”

“Yes, sir…”

The curator stared at Lu Zhou for a while, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and asked, “Are you… really Lu Zhou?”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou said with a sigh, “I’ve answered this question many times, I don’t want to answer it anymore.”

“I read the news. But the main reason is… You came from Mars. The reputation of that place is not good, the history books say that you have unfortunately been killed.” The curator smiled awkwardly and reached out his right hand. “Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is King Kong, the curator of the Lu Zhou Museum—”

“Pfft…”

Seeing how Lu Zhou suddenly laughed, King Kong was slightly stunned, and he asked out of confusion, “Um… Is there anything wrong?”

Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Sorry, nothing… It’s something from a century ago, not worth mentioning.”

King Kong looked at Lu Zhou in confusion before he finally decided that he didn’t care about these details.

He continued, “In short, I have seen you in the news. Although this is my profession, I really need to make a judgment… The dormant capsule of Martian civilization sounds incredible. What is it like? Why does it still have energy?

“Logically speaking, I don’t really believe that you are real… But I don’t think anyone will dress up like Academician Lu just to escape buying a ticket.”

Although he didn’t claim anything, the distrust in his eyes was clear.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care. He just said casually, “I can understand your doubts. It’s normal. More than 90% of the logic in this world isn’t logical, it’s just to convince yourself to believe in common sense.

“However, you don’t have to be so wary of me. I have no plans to return to this old house. After all, it has been a hundred years, and it has been repaired so many times. I guess this house is still here. But it’s not the same one.”

Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s just that I haven’t been home for so many years, I want to go back to my own house.”

“I am very grateful for your understanding!” Curator King nodded slightly and finally showed some respect. “Whether you are really Academician Lu or not, I am willing to serve as the curator of the museum, to accompany you back home for a tour.”

…

The door opened.

Lu Zhou followed the footsteps of Curator King. He had finally returned to his home after a century.

As he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar layout, he couldn’t help but look nostalgic.

Curator King asked with a faint smile, “How are you feeling?”

“Familiar.” Lu Zhou nodded. He casually pointed in the room. “It’s just that the location of the shoe cabinet is not the same as I remembered, and the jacket hanging at the door is definitely not mine.”

“This… After all, after so many years, it is normal for some discrepancies, but it’s basically the same. Including the shoe cabinet you mentioned, many of the furniture here are actually copies.” The curator touched the bridge of his nose with a hint of complacency in his tone. “In fact, besides being the curator of the Lu Zhou Museum, I am also a professor of modern history at the Jinling College of Arts and Sciences, and the area of my research… just happens to be related to you.”

Lu Zhou was stunned slightly. He asked curiously, “Me?”

“Yes, modern historiography about you has been a hot research area. There have been two technological leaps in China in modern times, and these two technological leaps directly laid the foundation for China to dominate Pan-Asia, and for Pan-Asia to dominate the world’s international political landscape.

“These two technological leaps correspond to two iconic events. One was the successful ignition of controllable fusion, and the other was the establishment of the Lunar Orbit Committee… In both cases, you played the role of chief designer. ”

After hearing that history had such a high evaluation of him, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile. He continued to ask with interest, “Not bad, what else? What else have you researched?”

“Various things.” Curator King smiled embarrassedly. “Including your academic career, personal experience, and some rumors about your relationship…”

Lu Zhou felt that his smile was a little unusual.

He heard the sound of footsteps coming upstairs, so he looked at Curator King and asked, “There are other people here?”

“A cultural tourism activity organized by a nearby middle school. This museum generally targets elementary and middle school students. Most individual visitors leave after taking a photo outside. Few people would want to come in.”

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t respond. He looked around the living room and spoke.

“My study room is upstairs, I want to go and have a look… and my bedroom. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Of course not, this way!”

Following in the footsteps of Curator King, Lu Zhou went up the stairs to the second floor.

Just after he had stepped foot on the second floor, he happened to see a tour guide with a dozen children cramped in the corridor, talking around a hanging picture.

Although he didn’t remember having any paintings in the corridor, Lu Zhou didn’t bother to care about these details. After all, this was a museum, and it was normal to hang a few portraits.

He was about to turn the corner and go to the study room with Curator King when the voice of the guide behind him almost made him choke on his own saliva.

“This portrait is of Academician Lu’s young fiancee, Ms. Chen Yushan. Speaking of Ms. Chen Yushan, the story between the two can be regarded as a poignant love story.”

When they heard that it was a love story, the children nearby became excited.

One of the children standing in the front row immediately asked enthusiastically, “What’s the story?”

“It’s a long story.” The tour guide smiled and spoke, “Apparently, before Academician Lu went to Mars, the two made a promise of marriage. As a token of love, Academician Lu gave her a star and promised to leave a legend about their love on it.

“However, unfortunate things happen, nothing is guaranteed. The Gates of Hell mountain range collapsed in an earthquake. Academician Lu failed to return safely from Mars. Ms. Chen Yushan was heartbroken and spent a year growing an oasis in the deserts of the Northwest. She then resigned from the position of CEO of Star Sky Technology and disappeared from people’s sight. No one has seen her since…

“Some people say that she is dead after living alone in the oasis for the rest of her life. Others say that she hasn’t died yet, but went to a place far, far away, in order to complete her wish for her lover, to write their legend on that star.”

The children listened to the romantic love story with longing expressions. A fat kid suddenly jumped out and spoke.

“But why did Academician Lu give her a star? That star is not his!”

“Um…”

The tour guide looked embarrassed. When he was about to explain, a strange voice came from the side.

“Because Academician Lu is very rich. He spent 10 billion to register a stellar exploration fund.” Lu Zhou restrained the urge to grab the collar of the fat kid. He pointed to the painting and said, “Who hung this painting up?”

Seeing Lu Zhou suddenly became angry, the tour guide and Curator King both looked dumbfounded.

The first to react was Curator King. He gestured to the guide next to him and quickly pulled Lu Zhou away as he spoke.

“Um… I know that this painting was of course not originally placed here, but we are a museum, after all, so we have to introduce it to the tourists who come here—”

“The problem is that she’s not my fiancée at all!” Lu Zhou said angrily, “This is my student! My fiancee’s cousin! Han Mengqi!”

The f*ck?!

Curator King was immediately shocked. He almost choked to death by his own saliva.

“Han… Han what? Wait, it’s wrong? No? This painting has been hanging there for more than 20 years… When I came to this museum, it was already here.”

Lu Zhou spoke angrily.

“Who do you think is right!”

He was 80% certain that these guys used a photo from the documentary film “Scholar”. If he remembered correctly, Han Mengqi happened to play Chen Yushan in the documentary.

Lu Zhou wanted to choke this guy to death.

If it were a random actress it would be whatever, but this was his student!

The children who stood by finally recognized his face.

After staring at Lu Zhou for a while, the little fat kid widened his eyes and jumped out. He pointed to Lu Zhou and said excitedly, “Ah, you are Academician Lu!”

“No wait, didn’t the teacher say you are dead?”

“Not dead, passed away! Can you be more polite!”

“Bah, baah, you’re the one who is not polite! What is wrong with dying?”

Lu Zhou became more and more annoyed.

For f*ck sake!

These little rascals…

I’m still alive!

Curator King and the tour guide looked at each other with embarrassed looks on their faces.

Accidentally hanging up a painting of someone’s student as their fiancee was quite foolish.

“What do we do?”

“Should we… take it down first?”

“But…”

Curator King gritted his teeth and made a decision.

“Doesn’t matter if Academician Lu is alive or not, let’s take this painting down now!”

Chapter 1449: Robot Experience Hall

The portrait was eventually taken down.

After such an accident happened, the museum tour obviously couldn’t continue.

The museum announced that it would be temporarily closed for three days, and all appointments would be postponed. The group of noisy middle school students followed their teacher. After thanking Curator King and the tour guide, they left Lu Zhou’s former residence.

After the people left, Curator King looked at Lu Zhou and spoke with an awkward expression.

“I’m really sorry, that portrait is our negligence… When we investigate it later, we will make a clarification statement. Do you think this is okay?”

Lu Zhou still felt a little unhappy in his heart, but he also knew that there was no better option, so he nodded.

“Yes… By the way, I don’t quite understand one thing.”

Curator King spoke immediately.

“Please speak!”

“Since you are… researching me, how come you can’t recognize that photo is my student?”

Curator King couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re giving me such a tough time. Unless your student was a very well-known scholar, most people won’t remember what she looked like. The role your fiancée played in history was just the CEO of a company. As for that photo… Maybe it was a misrepresentation, after all, the documentary did affect a lot of people.”

Unless she was a well-known scholar…

In other words, she failed to leave her name on the building of mathematics.

Thinking about this, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little unfortunate.

When he was on the light rail earlier, he clearly read that at the Jinling International Congress of Mathematicians in 2026, Han Mengqi completed the research project on the odd positive integer points of the Riemann zeta function that he left for her.

With this achievement alone, winning the 2030 Fields Medal was almost a certainty.

But then again, even if it was a certainty, it didn’t mean it was guaranteed to happen. And not every Fields Medalist could leave their name in history.

Even though he felt unfortunate for this result, it was already a thing of the past…

“If you have any other requests, please tell me. I will definitely help you to the best of my abilities!”

As Lu Zhou looked at Curator King, he couldn’t help but wonder.

This guy was obviously on guard when he first saw me, why is he suddenly so attentive now?

Although Lu Zhou didn’t know what caused this guy’s attitude to change 180 degrees, he seemed to believe in the fact that he was Academician Lu, so Lu Zhou didn’t say much.

After all, his opinion didn’t matter to Lu Zhou.

The main purpose of him coming home today was to find a key, but unfortunately, he came back empty-handed.

He went through the entire house but didn’t find anything valuable.

It seemed that he had to look elsewhere.

“No need.” Lu Zhou looked at the sun that was gradually setting from the horizon in the distance as he said, “It’s getting late, I have something to do, I have to go.”

“Take care then,” Curator King said with a smile on his face. He suddenly thought of something and quickly added, “By the way, can you leave me with your contact information? You have a virtual community account, right?”

“I just registered yesterday. If you want to, you can add me.”

Lu Zhou operated the holographic window on his wrist. His index finger dragged a holographic card the size of a business card from the screen and threw it in front of Curator King.

Curator King received the card and added Lu Zhou to his address book.

With an attentive smile on his face, he continued, “We will keep in touch in the future!

“If there is anything I don’t understand, I’ll just ask you!”

“Sure.” Lu Zhou said casually after turning off the holographic screen, “As long as it is not some boring question.”

After bidding farewell to Curator King, Lu Zhou didn’t stay here any longer. After one last stroll, he left this cultural tourism scenic spot.

To be honest, visiting his former residence felt really strange.

The landmarks on the street were full of his stories. The one on the left was Professor Lu’s favorite barbecue meat on rice, the one on the right talked about how Professor Lu often retreated here. The monument in the middle had Professor Lu’s quotes, as well as interesting anecdotes.

Even Lu Zhou himself didn’t know that his life was so rich and colorful. His footprints were everywhere…

After stepping out of the gate of the scenic spot, Lu Zhou noticed that the people next to him were looking at him. Lu Zhou, who didn’t want to be accosted by strangers, took out the necklace from his pocket and put it on his neck again.

However, when he raised his index finger and tapped twice on the necklace, there was no response.

“Is it out of battery?”

Lu Zhou tried for a while without any success, so he had to put it away.

Speaking of which, it seemed that he had yet to charge this thing. It was a miracle it lasted so long. He planned to charge it after he went back home.

When Lu Zhou was on the bus leading down the mountain, he felt that the people next to him were looking at him.

He sighed in his heart, put the AR glasses on the bridge of his nose, and opened the city map.

Headgear used by a robot… That’s kind of like a case for a phone?

In that case, I’ll go to the Robot Experience Hall.

Lu Zhou found the nearest Robot Experience Hall. He set the destination on the real-world navigation system, then closed his eyes and calmed down.

After two transfers along the way, Lu Zhou finally came to the Robot Experience Hall on the edge of the third ring road.

The Robot Experience Hall did not look very big. It looked like one or two hundred square meters from the outside. Behind the two store windows facing the street, a male and female robot stood inside.

Pedestrians who came and went from time to time stopped and cast interested looks at the shop window, but after seeing the price, most people quickly walked away.

In this era where AI technology was widely used, smart home appliances had been integrated into every corner of people’s daily life. However, a robot that belonged only to a private person was still a luxury.

Generally, the better the quality, the higher the level of intelligence, the more realistic the material, and the more expensive the price. This also included a series of expenses such as maintenance fees, repair fees, insurance, etc. The cost of a robot was no less expensive than owning a car.

“Hello, do you need any help?”

Lu Zhou, who was standing in front of the shop window, looked aside. He saw a girl wearing a baseball cap who was looking at him with a sweet smile.

“I’m just taking a look… Are you a staff in this store?”

The girl opened her mouth and was about to answer, but a voice floated from the side, interrupting her.

“A-101 general-purpose robot, priced at 100,000 credits! 10% discount on installment payments.” A rather young man smiled at Lu Zhou, then looked at the robot next to him. “I will take care of this guest.”

“Sorry, yes, sir.”

The robot girl nodded politely, then turned and walked away.

An unexpected look appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

“I didn’t even notice that girl is a robot.”

“This is normal. We removed the tag code on her neck for appearance reasons.” The man continued with a confident smile on his face, “High fidelity is the main feature of our Hippocampus Group products. We have the most advanced AI algorithms and the most advanced hardware that can provide customers with a perfect experience.

“Mr. Lu Zhou, which one do you want? Or what role do you want it to play in your life? We even provide boutique services. You can design your type through professional modeling software, as well as the functions expected of it.”

“You know me?”

After hearing the man directly calling out his name, Lu Zhou was shocked.

Plenty of people doubted his identity, and this was the first time someone recognized him like this.

“Mr. Lu Zhou, the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation and the world know of your feat on flight N-177. Given your contribution to the world, who wouldn’t recognize you?” The man with a business smile on his face reached out his right hand and said politely, “Let me introduce myself, Wang Wenfeng, shopping guide.”

“Lu Zhou.” Lu Zhou shook his hand and continued, “In fact, I am not here to buy a robot, I want to see if there are any accessories for sale here.”

The man named Wang Wenfeng was taken aback for a second. His professional smile on his face remained unchanged as he continued to ask, “May I ask what accessories? Maybe you can tell me your needs.”

Lu Zhou: “The style of my robot is a bit… unique, so I want it to be more pleasing on the eyes, without affecting his functions.”

Lu Zhou wanted to express that his robot was too scary and wanted to see if there were any accessories that could modify the appearance of the robot.

The shopping guide looked like he understood Lu Zhou’s intention. He pulled Lu Zhou aside and asked, “Is it modified?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Sort of.”

“There won’t be accessories of the kind you want in the regular store, but I can introduce a store to you.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and looked at him suspiciously.

“Is it so troublesome? Actually, I just wanted to—”

“Every model has different rules. Jailbreaking is illegal, same for AI jailbreaking. However, private use is a gray area. Don’t worry.” The shopping guide patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder, grinned, and used his finger to move a holographic business card with navigation information to Lu Zhou. He said, “You can find the store by following this address. However, this kind of store generally does not accept unknown customers. Remember to tell the owner that I recommended you, or just show him this business card.”

Although Lu Zhou felt suspicious, after seeing that the location on the address was not far away, he took the business card and nodded.

“All right then… Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I wish you a pleasant day, to discover new pleasures from the minutiae of life.”

The shopping guide patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder. After leaving a mysterious smile, he turned to greet the other guests.

Chapter 1450: Gray Industry

The location of the address given by Wang Wenfeng was not very far. Lu Zhou could even walk there.

After setting up the navigation on the AR glasses, Lu Zhou walked about two to three hundred meters along the street, took two turns, and soon came to a small alley.

The moment he stepped into this small alley, he suddenly had the feeling of traveling back to the 21st century.

In this small alley less than five meters wide, hundreds of shops were densely packed. These shops included shoes, hardware, groceries, and some weird things he had never seen before.

Some of the people who were here dressed stylishly, some were dressed simply, but without exception, they were all in a hurry. They seemed to walk straight toward their destination. Few people loitered around here.

Because of this, this tightly packed street seemed quite busy.

When Lu Zhou stepped into this small alley, he looked up at the sky, but he didn’t see the sun, only a faint tinge of yellowness.

The tall buildings were like a moat, dividing the sky neatly. Unless it was noon, the sun would hardly shine through.

Lu Zhou was sure that if it weren’t for the bright neon signs, the street would be pitch black.

In order to make himself less obtrusive, he did not linger on the street. He followed the signs of the real-life navigation and went straight to his destination.

There was a small facade sandwiched between an old-style commissary and a car battery repair shop. Its unremarkable appearance made people not pay attention to it at all.

Unlike the other neon signs, this store not only didn’t have any bright signs, but the decoration of the facade was also so simple that there was only one rusty anti-theft door.

Han Ming?

Lu Zhou read the two words on the sign. He reached out and rubbed his chin.

I don’t know if this is a real name or a fake name.

However, this detail was obviously irrelevant.

With a hint of curiosity in his heart, Lu Zhou took off the AR glasses, reached out, and knocked on the door.

There was no response behind the door; not a single voice could be heard.

Just as Lu Zhou wondered if this person was not at home, there was finally a sound of muffled footsteps behind the door.

“Who is it?”

A hoarse and dry voice came from behind the door through the speakers. The voice sounded like it had been digitally processed; it was a little distorted.

Lu Zhou felt more and more suspicious of this store. He spoke cautiously.

“A person named Wang Wenfeng recommended this place.”

After hearing this name, the iron door finally opened. A pale face emerged from the shadows. It looked up and down at Lu Zhou.

“… Lu Zhou?”

“You know me?”

“I watch the news.” The man smiled lightly. He opened the door a little bigger and said, “The entrance is not a place to talk, come on in.”

The entrance was very dark.

After passing through the entrance, this space finally became brighter.

Lu Zhou looked at the man, who was probably named Han Ming, as he walked behind him.

When he first heard the voice, he thought it would be an old man in his 60s who would open the door; he didn’t expect it to be a man who looked quite young.

“How long have you been out of the sun?”

“It’s been a while…” Han Ming pushed open the door at the end of the corridor. After making an inviting gesture, he walked in first. “This is my studio. The conditions are a bit crude, I hope you don’t mind.”

Like he said, the environment in the house was indeed quite crude.

It wasn’t just crude; it was almost chaotic.

The mainframes of the four holographic computers were placed under the table, unfinished codes flashed in the windows floating on the table. Near the computers, there was an operating table converted from a single bed, lying on the operating table was not a human, but a half-disassembled robot woman.

As Lu Zhou looked at the white arms and legs hanging beside him, his eyebrow twitched fiercely.

Electrical threads were connected to the interface.

The man named Han Ming smiled and asked in a mocking tone, “First time here?”

Lu Zhou: “How do you know?”

“Most of the people he introduces to here are first-timers.”

The pale smile felt a little uncomfortable, but Lu Zhou was not scared by him.

Even without the magnetic slingshot worn on his right wrist, he didn’t think that this guy could pose any threat to him, especially since his athletic ability was above average.

Han Ming’s eyes looked at Lu Zhou carefully for a while. He picked up a teacup from the table, took a sip of muddy tea, then said casually.

“Actually, it’s nothing surprising. Streets like this are actually very common in this city. The taller the building is, the bigger the shadow. Not everyone wants to move their store in a certain business district or a big shopping mall, especially for those who are getting older; they want to spend their old age in the same store.”

Lu Zhou: “But you look quite young.”

“Really? You too, scholar from a hundred years ago.” Han Ming smiled indifferently and continued in a casual tone, “Then, let’s stop chit-chatting. I don’t care about the background of my guests, I am not interested in their past at all. Explain your intentions, and I will see if we can do business. If we are satisfied with each other, then we can make a deal today.”

Lu Zhou: “What kind of business do you offer here?”

“Didn’t that guy Wang Wenfeng tell you?” Han Ming said impatiently, “Robot accessories modification, special appearance customization, AI underlying logic modification… probably that’s it.”

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

“Modification of the underlying logic of AI? Can you even do that?”

“Methods are based on the requirements, and I happen to be an expert in robotics research… Occasionally, some customers have feelings for their bionics, hoping to change the housekeeping model to another model, in order to fit their carnal desires. Some people take photos of their dream lovers, popular singers, or virtual idols, and hope to create a replica robot.

“This is very common in the 22nd century, there is nothing to be surprised about.”

After hearing Han Ming’s explanation, Lu Zhou did not completely relax.

According to the information he found online, although the robots of this era were a commodity, their use and scope of use were restricted.

First of all, each robot had its own corresponding code, and this code had a one-to-one correspondence with its use, production date, product number, and AI type.

According to the “AI Management Measures” of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, after the robots left the factory, it was forbidden to modify the robot memory system in any form. It was strictly forbidden for users to obtain developer permissions through informal channels and modify the underlying AI logic.

After all, in this day and age, robots had become an important part of many families and even the entire society. The hidden dangers caused by illegal modification of the robot body system were foreseeable by everyone.

Maybe some people just wanted their robots to learn a few more nice words, or to learn some nice poses, but the criminals couldn’t be ruled out. They could write information about the use of weapons in its memory, or even transform it into a killing tool.

When the modification involved the underlying logic of AI, such as deleting the “prohibition of harm to humans”, all illegal and criminal behaviors could become possible.

“Don’t you worry that this may cause some safety hazards?” Lu Zhou frowned. “For example… causing the modified robot to lose control or have autonomous consciousness.”

“Lose control? You either watched too many sci-fi movies or brainwashed by those idiots.” Han Ming said with a mockery tone, “Those robots use big data analysis and machine learning methods to imitate human behavior and provide standardized services for humans. They have no ‘consciousness’ at all because the program has never allowed them to do so. This is not a limitation of the underlying code, it is the limitation of AI itself.”

After taking a sip of the muddy tea, Han Ming paused and continued impatiently, “As for the safety hazards you said, I know what you want to say, but I also said that I will not do business that may cause trouble. If you have any needs, tell me directly. I don’t want to be involved in nonsense.”

Although Lu Zhou felt that this person’s casual attitude was a big problem, when he thought about his own shady doings, it seemed that he was in no position to critique the black market.

After thinking about how to express his needs, Lu Zhou spoke.

“I have a robot… It doesn’t have the best appearance, and it may be troublesome to bring it on the street. If you can, I hope you can help redesign its appearance.”

Han Ming found an old-fashioned tablet with a screen. He took a stylus and scribbled a few lines on it, then asked.

“How big is the area? Just the face? Or the entire head? Or including other parts of the body? Do you need to increase or decrease the bionic organs?”

“The whole body needs to be changed.” Lu Zhou coughed softly and added, “But only the skin, the rest is unnecessary.”

“Best for you to give me a photo for reference, or build a 3D model yourself. After that, bring the robot to me.”

Lu Zhou hesitated a little and said, “Bring it to you here?”

“Of course!” Han Ming said naturally, “Do you want me to move this studio and all the equipment here to your house?”

Han Ming took a plastic robe from the side and threw it into Lu Zhou’s hand.

“What is this?”

“This is left by the last guest. If you find it inconvenient, just cover the robot with this.” Han Ming patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, no matter what it is, I can handle any type of robot.

“You just have to leave a deposit, then bring it over!”

Chapter 1451: We Need A Mascot

Mars.

In the rift valley near The Gates of Hell, the sky was covered with an oppressive haze.

According to the weather forecast, a sandstorm would soon sweep across the area.

In this harsh and dangerous weather, even criminals hiding in the desert would choose to sit at home and wait for the weather to improve before coming out for a stroll.

However, at this moment, outside the Hiddell Mining Company mine, there was a desert-colored Mars rover that was parked abnormally.

Two men in spacesuits stood near the entrance of the cave, holding professional equipment in their hands, as if they were investigating something.

“Oxygen cylinders, compacted tire marks, and scratches… The travel time is estimated to be within one month.” Using the reality augmentation system, the scene from a month ago was restored. The younger man who was squatting on the ground stood up, looked at the person behind him, and said, “They should have entered from here… Liu Dui, what do you think?”

The man, who was slightly taller, spoke after thinking.

“My opinion is basically the same as yours. The only doubt is that they seem to be amateurs.”

The slightly younger man shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

“It’s quite amateur… Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left such things on the scene.”

He opened his right hand.

A silver-white metal strip about the size of a piece of chewing gum laid on the palm of his hand.

When he looked at the letters on the surface, the man frowned.

“… Mammoth Mining Company?”

Do mammoths dig holes?

This is not the important point.

He had a hunch that he could unearth something unusual from this “Mammoth Mining Company”.

He put away the metal strip. He was about to explore the mine when the voice from the communication channel stopped him.

“Wait a second.”

The man standing at the entrance of the cave turned his head.

“What?”

Liu Dui glanced at the sky and spoke in a deep voice.

“The collection of material evidence is almost done, enough for today.”

As a trace of confusion appeared on his face, the man asked inexplicably, “But… We are already here, are you sure you don’t want to go in and have a look?”

“Because we are all here, we should be more cautious.”

Liu Dui looked at the bottomless mine. He was standing next to the rover. He then narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, “The instructions given to us are to report the progress of the mission in real-time and to report every detail. Obviously, they have their own opinion on this matter.

“In that case, we just need to do what we should do.

“As for whether or not to continue the investigation, leave it to them to judge.”

…

Earth.

In the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group, inside the meeting room at the Pan-Asian Cooperation Headquarters, a round table was placed in the center of the room. There were only two people sitting at the conference table, one of them was Secretary-General Wu Shuhua while the other was the current Chairman, Li Guangya.

As the world’s largest regional alliance and economic consortium, the main role of the Secretary-General was to coordinate the relations between member states and to represent the collective participation of Pan-Asian Cooperation in world political activities. The function of the chairman was more to deal with the internal affairs of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“How is the situation with the UN? Is there any new progress?”

“Three meetings, none of them have good news.”

Sitting on the opposite side of the conference table, Wu Shuhua, Secretary-General of Pan-Asian Cooperation, looked a little tired. She continued as she pinched her eyebrows, “55% of the representatives support our proposal on the space elevator, but there are still 45% objections, which even includes our allies and even the inside of our alliance.”

“What are their demands?”

“Environment, safety risks, costs and benefits, and the distribution of profits… In short, they are all problems that have yet to been discussed.”

About five years ago, the “New Route” plan proposed by the Pan-Asian cooperation pushed the wave of the era of space navigation to its peak.

According to the voting results of the representatives of the member states within the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the Pan-Asian Cooperation would create a “new space industry” production system from the Earth-Moon system to the Kuiper Belt within one hundred years. The route established by the system was expected to spread the fire of civilization to more distant places.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, Pan-Asian Cooperation had not only formulated a colonial development plan for Europa and Titan, but it also sent a powerful fleet to clear the space pirates in the asteroid belt.

The proposal to build a space elevator on the equator was also submitted to the UN conference hall by the representatives of Pan-Asian Cooperation for discussion by various regional alliances.

However, the results were predictable.

This proposal, which sounded almost “horrifying”, had encountered considerable resistance since it was proposed.

The resistance not only came from other regional alliances but also from non-governmental environmental protection organizations and even internal voices in the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

After all, making a hole in the ozone layer and inserting a pipe into a geosynchronous orbit didn’t sound like a good idea. If this project was successful, all of mankind would benefit from it.

However, if this project failed, the whole world would pay for the consequences of this reckless behavior…

Although the Pan-Asian Cooperation had the idea of circumventing other regional alliances and building this space elevator alone, and although the Pan-Asian Cooperation had land on the equator, it was still in the Pacific Rim seismic zone, which was accompanied by strong monsoon activities.

Not to mention the diplomatic risks, hidden dangers to national defense, and so forth.

There were only three ideal construction sites, one was on the African continent, the other was in the mid-Atlantic, and finally the open Pacific Ocean.

From a realistic point of view, the 36,000-kilometer highway hung directly from the geosynchronous orbit. This was not a project that could be completed by one regional alliance alone.

Even if it was the strongest in the world.

After seeing the tired expression on Secretary-General Wu’s face, Li Guangya smiled lightly and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Let’s talk about something good. I just received a call from the Security Bureau. Our detectives deployed in Tiangong City discovered a mine entrance left by the Hiddell Mining Company beside The Gates of Hell mountain range. Signs of rover activity were found. According to the scene restoration analysis, an archaeological excavation team had been there about two weeks to a month ago. It was probably the team led by Professor Leonard.”

Wu Shuhua raised her eyebrows. “So, Professor Lu is probably real?”

“Maybe, maybe not, it’s like Schroedinger’s cat.”

After putting down the teacup in his hand, the expression on Chairman Li Guangya’s face did not change much. He continued with a relaxed tone, “If we continue along this clue, we may find the dormant capsule that has been buried for billions of years. This may be able to reveal a big story; a dormant capsule that has been able to function normally for billions of years or Professor Lu being resurrected after a century of death. Which one do you think is more likely?”

Wu Shuhua frowned slightly.

“I don’t understand what is worth discussing… Compared to whether a person who has been dead for a hundred years is still alive, I am more concerned about whether the space elevator proposal can pass. We need to open up the pathway from the ground to outer space. If we can’t do it, we won’t be able to develop Europa and Titan, and we’ll be stuck on Mars forever.”

Regardless of whether Academician Lu was still alive or not, that was the last century’s story.

She admitted that he had made many outstanding achievements in that era, but it was now the 22nd century; a hundred years had passed since the era Lu Zhou was familiar with.

Time was always ruthless.

This was like those old frozen people who were sent to the future in the name of “reinforcing the future” but couldn’t find a position that they could fill and couldn’t solve any future problems. She didn’t think that an academician from the 21st century could bring any practical benefits to the Pan-Asian Cooperation, except for “symbolic significance.”

To be honest, if it wasn’t for the reason that he saved the flight, she wouldn’t even be interested in seeing him. After all, her current job was busy enough.

As for things like money and property…

The Pan-Asian Cooperation didn’t care about those little things.

Li Guangya smiled lightly.

“The two things are not contradictory. It just depends on how you look at this issue.”

“What does that mean?”

“People need confidence. The approval of our plan does not depend on the space elevator itself. The key lies in whether people can believe it is safe, reliable, and can bring us a bright future.”

Li Guangya paused for a moment before continuing, “In that case, we just need to give them what they want.”

Wu Shuhua was slightly stunned.

“You mean…”

Li Guangya nodded lightly.

“We need a mascot, and he just happens to be suitable.”

“There are obvious loopholes in your plan.” Wu Shuhua questioned, “What if he opposes us? Assuming that he is real, he is from a hundred years ago after all. Even if we are on the same path, it is difficult to be in agreement completely. Similar things have almost destroyed our achievements over the past half a century!”

Li Guangya said bluntly, “When the time comes, we can continue digging. The ruins is there, so we can continue digging at any time. We can make him real, and we can make him fake.”

“A person from Mars who successfully deceived everyone, that will become the biggest joke of this century.”

Chairman Li Guangya smiled faintly and said, “If this joke can help our cause, I am willing to accept his help.”

Wu Shuhua went silent for a while. Her shoulders relaxed slightly after a while.

“Since you say so, I have nothing to refute. It’s just that in my opinion, I still tend to adopt a conservative strategy. This is an uncontrollable factor; it is a time bomb.”

“A conservative strategy? Haha, this is the most interesting thing I’ve heard today. Think about it. Is there a more radical strategy than the space elevator?” Li Guangya smiled and continued with a relaxed tone, “In fact, you don’t have to have such big prejudices against the dormant. I took modern history as an elective in college and went deep into research about him.

“A person who can raise a torch in the dark must have a bright heart. Regardless of whether he and our ideas are completely consistent, at least I believe that our starting point is the same. We want everyone to have a brighter future.

“I believe this journey may be full of twists and turns, but he will definitely make the right choice.”

Wu Shuhua didn’t say anything. She just sighed.

“I don’t want to argue with you about the dormant. I don’t want to intervene with the work of the household registration department… If you find him useful, you can handle it yourself.”

Chairman Li Guangya looked at the holographic image gradually disappearing across the conference table, and he nodded gently.

“Ok, leave it to me.”

This was his plan from the beginning.

Chapter 1452: Welcome home!

In a narrow workshop.

Xiao Ai looked at the humble surroundings. She was standing next to Lu Zhou and Ling. Xiao Ai seemed to have a premonition of what was about to happen, so she looked at Lu Zhou pitifully and blinked.

“Master, why does Xiao Ai come here?”

Lu Zhou ignored the helpless light reflected in those eyes as he replied casually, “Convenience.”

Solve two troubles at once.

Han Ming stared at the robot next to Lu Zhou for a while. He touched his chin and suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He said, “This… Isn’t it the one lost from the museum?”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly.

Han Ming reduced the curiosity in his mind and coughed lightly.

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean to inquire about the origins, I just wanted to ask… Does the mechanical code need to be changed?”

“Mechanical code?”

Han Ming nodded and said, “Well, it is equivalent to the identity code of a robot. The mechanical code of each device is unique. It is registered with the relevant department and will follow the life of the robot until the equipment is returned to the factory for destruction. However, there are exceptions to everything. Some of the robots are destroyed through informal means, and the mechanical codes will usually not be written off. Instead, the codes will be retained in another form.”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said, “That means a fake number?”

“Kind of.” Han Ming shrugged his shoulders and continued, “After all, the trouble is not just the appearance. Most of its mechanical codes are wanted by the authorities. If it appears in public places, it will probably trigger an alarm… By the way, you came in a taxi, right?”

“Yeah.”

Han Ming was finally relieved.

“Good. If you took a bus or light rail, the police would have come for you.”

Xiao Ai: “How is that possible…(* ̄〈 ̄)?”

Ignoring Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou began to think with a look of surprise on his face.

Is the efficiency of handling cases that high?

“Then change it… By the way, how much is it?”

“I happen to have the identity code of a robot that was scrapped in 2120. It was registered in the second-hand robot market in the Dongcheng District. The source is absolutely safe and reliable.” With a bright smile on his face, Han Ming gave a quick quote, “5,000 credits.”

After hearing this number, Lu Zhou’s eyebrows twitched.

“This stuff is really not cheap.”

“After all, it is filed in the official system.” Han Ming said naturally, “If you want to buy an unfiled number, 10 credits is enough, provided you want this guy to live in the dark.”

“No need, the 5,000 credits one will do.”

For the average person, 5,000 credits was already a month’s salary. A little more money was even enough to buy a low-end robot.

But for Lu Zhou, this amount of money was nothing to worry about.

He still had a prepaid compensation from Pan Asia Airlines on his account. Although he had no idea how much one million credit points was worth, it should last him a while.

“Master, this guy is suspicious, Xiao Ai doesn’t want to go with him. _:( ́□`」∠):_”

“Your robot is really troublesome. How many plug-ins did you put in the memory? Don’t you think it’s annoying?” Han Ming nodded to the girl wearing a mask next to him and said impatiently, “You got this.”

“Okay, Master.”

The little girl politely nodded to Han Ming, then looked at Xiao Ai.

“Please follow me, it will be done soon.”

Although Xiao Ai was reluctant, she still followed the girl pitifully under the pressure of Lu Zhou’s eyes.

Han Ming then cast his gaze on the robot covered with a plastic sheet standing next to Lu Zhou. A hint of curiosity appeared in his eyes.

“This is the thing you said… that can’t be seen?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you take off the raincoat?”

Lu Zhou nodded. He then turned to look at the “Private-1” intelligent soldier standing motionlessly behind him.

“Ling, take off the raincoat.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Han Ming looked at the shiny lacquered black metal armor and the murderous scarlet pupils. He was completely stupefied, and he stood there dumbfounded.

Seeing how Han Ming couldn’t say a word, Lu Zhou coughed slightly and spoke.

“Is this model… okay?”

For some reason, he gulped and burst into excitement.

“This is…”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah?”

Han Ming’s shoulders trembled with excitement as his eyes beamed at Lu Zhou.

“This is amazing!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

The job was faster than expected.

Lu Zhou thought it would take at least a whole day. He didn’t expect it to be done in less than half a day.

The equipment used was a horizontal 3D printer, which was shaped a bit like a CT machine in a 21st-century hospital.

Layers of grid-shaped light covered the lacquer-black metal surface. The realistic skin material was continuously filled onto the grid, and the spray guns on both sides were like two brushes, transforming the high-end skin material layer by layer.

“The skeleton of this robot is bigger than any type I’ve seen… Where did you get this thing?”

Lu Zhou looked at Ling lying in the 3D printer as he replied casually, “I bought it.”

“… Well, if you don’t want to tell me, forget it.” Han Ming sighed, guessing that Lu Zhou wouldn’t tell him. He said, “I really can’t do anything about those glowing eyes. I can only try to modify them into a rough outline of human eyes, do you think that’s okay?”

Lu Zhou: “As long as it doesn’t scare others.”

“Don’t worry about this,” Han Ming said with a smile. “This era is much more tolerant than you think. I have seen even weirder robots… But this involves the privacy of customers, so I can’t disclose any information.”

After some work, the “Private-1” intelligent soldier who looked like a Terminator was finally transformed into a human-like appearance.

However, the skeleton of this intelligent soldier, which was designed with reference to the Calans, was slightly larger than humans.

“If you need to change the accessories in the future, please remember to contact me. Anyway, you won’t go to a regular store for maintenance, right?” As if looking at a piece of art, Han Ming admired the masterpiece he completed. Then, he looked at Lu Zhou and said, “I can give you a discount, I’m actually quite interested in this stuff.”

“Let’s talk about the future later.”

Xiao Ai was leaning towards him with a pitiful face. Lu Zhou nodded slightly to thank the girl who was responsible for Xiao Ai’s modification. He then looked at Han Ming.

“See you around.”

Han Ming said with a smile, “Take care.”

…

Including the money for buying the mechanical code, the modification of the two bionics cost Lu Zhou 50,000 credits. A newly-built mid-range household robot was around the same price.

After leaving Han Ming’s studio, Lu Zhou called a car at the exit of the alley and went straight back to the apartment building.

After the three people got on the elevator, Xiao Ai, who was unhappy the whole way, finally whispered, “Why dye Xiao Ai’s hair black? Õ_Õ”

After hearing this stupid question, Lu Zhou answered naturally, “Because it looks low-key.”

“B-but pink is better! And, that woman, modified my facial parameters! Those are all designed by Xiao Ai using data collected! _:( ́□`” ∠):_”

Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and ranted.

“Enough, I don’t think there is anything good about your appearance before! You look more natural after the change.”

“Huh? Is it better now? (•̀∀•́)”

After staring at it carefully for a while, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Well, it’s okay.”

Xiao Ai: “So it seems necessary to update the database! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

The elevator finally reached the 100th floor.

After the two stupid robots came out of the elevator, Lu Zhou walked in the direction of his house.

However, when he had just turned a corner, his whole person froze.

He saw a group of well-dressed people in front of his house.

He recognized the leader of the group…

Just when Lu Zhou noticed the man, the man had obviously also noticed him.

“Long time no see, Academician Lu, although we only met two days ago!”

With a bright smile on the face of Director Li Guangya, he reached his right hand out from a long distance away and greeted him enthusiastically.

Lu Zhou reached out his right hand and shook his hand. He was confused by the situation. He was about to ask what was going on when Li Guangya spoke solemnly.

“Just yesterday afternoon, the investigation team we set up completed the final evidence collection procedure and submitted relevant evidence to the arbitration court.

“Based on the ruling of the Pan-Asian Cooperation Supreme Court and the advisory opinions of the expert team, we have reason to believe that you are Academician Lu from a hundred years ago.

“I’m really sorry! We all thought that you were unfortunately killed in the exploration of the future of mankind!”

Lu Zhou looked at Chairman Li Guangya with a muddled expression. He then said calmly, “That’s fine… Any normal person would think the same.”

Strictly speaking, only three days had passed since he returned to Earth from Mars.

Being able to complete the investigation and evidence collection process so quickly had already exceeded his expectations.

After all, from the information he checked on the Internet before, it took someone a whole year to investigate and collect evidence to restore his citizenship.

Isn’t this the chairman…? Does he have this much free time?

Lu Zhou didn’t know why he suddenly remembered an old friend.

That man also happened to have the surname Li.

And always asked him for favors.

“Thank you very much for understanding our difficulties. For the sake of social stability and order, we must make rigorous judgments in order to give the public a positive answer.”

The lights of the interview drone flickered, recording this historic moment with its lens.

Li Guangya announced in a solemn tone, “I would like to speak to you on behalf of all the member states and citizens of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“Welcome home! Academician Lu!”

Chapter 1453: I Inherited My Own Inheritance?

Lu Zhou thought changing the skin of the robot would be extremely troublesome, but it was easily resolved.

Sitting in front of him was a professional accountant hired by the Pan-Asian Cooperation Finance Ministry and a lawyer hired by the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.

His niece that was a few generations younger than him, Mrs. Lu Xiaoqiao, was going to come, but because she was attending an important meeting in the southern part of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, she had to send a holographic video to congratulate him instead.

As for Lu Xiaoqiao’s grandfather, that was, the man who ruined the Lu family business, he did not show up. He only asked the lawyer to send a handwritten letter, in which he apologized out of shame.

Lu Zhou actually understood the complex emotions in the hearts of his descendants at this moment.

The awe and admiration in their hearts towards him was certainly true. Perhaps they often bragged about their ancestors, who Lu Zhou was, and what he did.

However, if Lu Zhou really appeared back from the grave…

They might not want to see him.

People were not pure and flawless, and history itself was a contradictory entanglement.

Only immature children would talk about logic every day and feel deeply impressed by his own logic that “cannot explain neither the present nor the past, nor even pass his math test”.

It was as if talking about IQ made someone’s IQ higher.

Sitting across from Lu Zhou, the accountant glanced at him cautiously. He handed the electronic document printed on the holographic interface to Lu Zhou.

“According to the newly revised inheritance law in 2100, as the first-order successor, the ownership of Star Sky Technology now belongs to you. Although the assets have shrunk a lot compared to a century ago, there is also a charity education fund for primary and secondary schools in it. If you wish, we can recover this part of the assets…”

“No need.” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “My descendants did not squander this wealth for pleasure. They did something meaningful to the people of this country, which has exceeded my expectations. Besides, they have done what I have always wanted to do but had no time to take care of, so let them continue this career.”

Lu Zhou didn’t care much about the matter of Star Sky Technology.

After all, he set up the company to facilitate his own intellectual property rights. 100 years had passed; he was satisfied with owning the name alone.

At least it saved him trouble from coming up with a new name.

“Okay…”

Confused, the accountant looked at Lu Zhou and continued, “In addition, with regards to your property in Zhongshan International, due to its 70-year property rights expiration and disrepair, it has been planned as a historical-cultural relic by the Jin Ling City government. It has been developed into a cultural tourism scenic spot for science and education. According to the law, these assets cannot be returned to you, but Jin Ling City will compensate you according to the current market price.

“According to our calculations, the amount of this compensation is 430 million credits, which is enough for you to build three modern two-story villas of the same type in the nearby suburbs… Are you satisfied with this?”

Lu Zhou: “I’m indifferent.”

“The last one is Jin Ling University. They have kept your professorship for a hundred years. They hope to continue to hire you as a professor and help you integrate into the future society… Of course, if you prefer to have the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation to find you a place to work, that is fine. But we recommend Jin Ling University. After all, it is now the top university in the Pan-Asian Cooperation, so you can get in touch with cutting-edge knowledge faster.”

The lawyer from the foundation sitting next to him also nodded.

“This is our recommendation too.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Then I’ll do what you said.”

“Then I’m done here.” This troublesome job went smoother than expected. The accountant was relieved and looked at the lawyer sitting next to him. “Then… on to the next business.”

The lawyer handed out his business card to Lu Zhou.

“I am a lawyer dispatched by the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation. This is my business card, and I am here to provide you with legal assistance. If you encounter any difficult-to-solve problems in your life, you can consult me for free.”

Chen Tianlu?

Lu Zhou took the business card and glanced at it. He nodded and remembered the name.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome, this is my job.”

The lawyer then took out a silver-white suitcase from the sofa and gently placed it on the coffee table.

“In addition to these things, your parents rented a safe at the Bank of China when they were alive and left you some things… We have already contacted the China State Bank to provide you with the safe deposit box. I brought the things here.

“The password is your birthday.”

Lu Zhou was silent. His eyes glued to the suitcase. Attorney Chen exchanged glances with the accountant next to him. He then got up from the sofa.

“Then I wish you the best, that’s it for us.”

…

After explaining everything, the two didn’t bother to stay here any longer; they soon got up and left.

Before leaving, the accountant from the Pan-Asian Cooperation left an invitation letter on behalf of Chairman Li Guangya, who hoped that Lu Zhou could attend the welcome party that they organized for him at the Heart of Asia the day after tomorrow, to celebrate his return from Mars.

Regarding these insignificant matters, Lu Zhou didn’t care at all.

Back in the living room, he opened the suitcase and handed the holographic memory card inside to Xiao Ai, who was sitting quietly next to him. Xiao Ai then copied and transmitted the data to the holographic home theater.

The light blue light particles converged in the air.

A pleasant beach scenery appeared in the living room, together with the warm sunshine and the waves slowly moving on the horizon.

As Lu Zhou looked at the two old people standing on the beach, his eyes began to tear up.

Although he didn’t know how many years ago this holographic video was taken, the wrinkles on the faces of the two elderly people had increased a lot compared to the last time they met. The only thing that comforted him was the smiles on their faces.

“Hey, kiddo.

“If you’re watching this, it will be far in the future.

“After you left, your mother and I lived quite happily… Although we were sad for a while, like your sister said, life is about looking forward.

“As you can see, we are on a holiday on a small island in the south… Tomorrow, we will return to Jiangling to celebrate the New Year. To be honest, it is lonely without you. But I hope you don’t worry about us. The only unfortunate thing is that we can’t share this happiness with you.

“Although we are also thinking about whether to go to the future and see what kind of life the people of the future will live, after thinking about it, we have decided against it. People can only live a hundred years or so. Whether it is in the future or now, what does it matter?

“Your mother always said that I am crazy, maybe a little bit… But I always think that you are fine. You must be alive in some corner of the universe. Maybe you’ll come home one day.

“As for the recording of this holographic video, it is just something to make me feel at ease. Isn’t this popular among young people now? Using holographic videos to record our youth or something, seems like we’re not so old after all.”

Standing on the beach, the old man seemed to recall something in the past, and his expression started to show a trace of nostalgia.

But soon, he smiled heartily, hiding the nostalgia behind the camera.

“If only you have a chance to see this video!

“But even if you can’t see it, your mother and I will assume you’ve seen it anyway, haha!

“Also, I don’t understand the things that your sister asked me to keep, but we kept them. I don’t know how much these things will be worth in the future. If not, you can sell them as antiques…”

The holographic video ended.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath, trying to bury his nose between his palms.

However, he suddenly felt that his right hand was gently held by a warm hand.

When Lu Zhou felt the incredible warmth on the back of his hand, he looked up at Xiao Ai, who was sitting next to him.

“Master, Xiao Ai deliberately installed a heating system… Although Xiao Ai doesn’t understand your emotions, Xiao Ai still hopes that Master’s mood can be better.”

“I’m fine.” Lu Zhou’s mood recovered a little, and a reluctant smile appeared on his face as he said softly, “I feel somewhat relieved to see them live such a happy life.”

Lu Zhou took out a box from the suitcase. He then opened it with a trembling finger.

However, the moment he saw what was lying in the box, he was stunned.

He originally thought that what they put inside would be some daily items such as diaries; he did not expect that what they put inside was a stack of papers.

The stack of documents was familiar.

“East Asia Power, East Asia Communications, East Asia Heavy Industries…”

Lu Zhou read out the familiar names on the titles of the documents. As he looked at the stack of documents, he was stunned.

Zhongshan New Materials, Baosheng Group…

Everything makes sense now.

When he was talking to the accountant about Star Sky Technology earlier, he still felt that something was wrong.

The moment he saw the stack of files, he immediately realized the problem.

Yeah…

Star Sky Technology wouldn’t go bankrupt so easily.

Back then, Chen Yushan liquidated almost all of the assets of Star Sky Technology to buy billions of stocks in East Asia Energy, back before the cross-regional power grid had even been built.

And when China built the world’s first submarine quantum optical cable, Star Sky Technology, as the owner of related patents, also participated in the formation of East Asia Communications.

Not to mention those high-tech companies in emerging industries such as charging stations, automated logistics, battery materials, etc. Star Sky Technology had invested in all of them…

At least some of the money survived, right?

It turned out that Xiao Tong had considered that the operating conditions of Star Sky Technology might be subjected to changes in the next 100 years, so she took a precautionary measure to separate this part of the assets from Star Sky Technology in advance.

This way, even if there was a major crisis such as the bankruptcy of Star Sky Technology, this part of the assets would not be auctioned or liquidated.

Lu Zhou looked at the things his parents left him with. Overwhelmed, he didn’t know what to think.

Ten billion?

A hundred billion?

Or a trillion?

Perhaps the power of these stocks couldn’t even be measured by such things as credit points.

Holding the box in his hand, Lu Zhou suddenly felt a little warm.

He never thought that as a scholar, instead of relying on the wisdom in his head, he would receive a huge pot of gold from waking up in the 22nd century and saving a flight of passengers.

He never thought that one day he would become the world’s richest man by inheriting his own inheritance.

This statement was no exaggeration.

Without including the compensation given to him by the Pan-Asian Cooperation, he was already the richest person in the world just by relying on the equity certificates in his hand that were kept and certified by the Bank of China.

Chapter 1454: Professor Lu Resurrected from the Dead

Just when Lu Zhou was feeling confused because of this sudden gain in wealth, what he didn’t know was that the whole world was shocked because of the news of his “resurrection from death”!

Jin Ling University.

When the news about Lu Zhou’s identification was first announced, most of the students were still in class.

Standing on the podium, the gray-haired old professor explained an obscure theory in a warm tone while facing the holographic whiteboard, writing down the equations of hyperspace theory.

However, his muddy pupils that were looking at the whiteboard suddenly shrank slightly, and he seemed to be dumbfounded.

There was no explanation, not even a word at all.

The old professor seemed to have seen a ghost. He didn’t even pay attention to the class and rushed out of the classroom excitedly.

Most of the students in the classroom were confused. They looked at each other, not knowing what happened. They didn’t know if this class was going to continue.

All kinds of news began to spread; the entire classroom was a mess.

“What the hell? Is this class over?”

“F*ck, what’s going on? Professor Liu is usually always punctual, what happened today?”

“I know what’s going on! Did you watch the news? Lu Zhou! He really is alive!”

“What?! You mean Lu… Academician Lu?”

“Who else!”

“F*ck, f*ck, f*ck…!!!”

The passengers of flight N-177 returned to Earth three days ago, and there was indeed a man who looked extremely like Lu Zhou from a hundred years ago. He faced the camera and reporters in front of the gangway and announced that he was still alive.

But most people just treated it as a joke after hearing the news.

Frozen dormancy technology had existed for 100 years.

For ordinary people, this technology wasn’t anything extraordinary.

Every once in a while, someone who looked exactly like a well-known person a few decades ago would pop up, demanding the country or their descendants to return their properties or privileges.

Most of these claims were eventually proved to be false. Only a small number of people actually went dormant through informal means at some point in the past and recovered their identities with the help of officials from various countries.

Therefore, for most people in this era, pretending to be a frozen person to defraud property was a relatively common low-level deception. Multiple people had even pretended to be the same person.

At most, the person who was impersonated this time was relatively unique.

However, the situation had changed.

This was the official recognition from the Pan-Asian Cooperation!

Facing the reporters’ cameras, Chairman Li Guangya shook Lu Zhou’s hand in person and welcomed him home on behalf of the Pan-Asian people.

This kind of recognition from the official level was much more credible than someone’s personal claims!

As soon as the news was broadcast, it swept across the entire network like a tsunami.

On the entire virtual community network, whether it was an academic forum or a guild discussion board for a certain VRMMO game, almost everyone was discussing this matter.

The greatest scholar from a hundred years ago!

The founder of modern civilization!

A great man woke up from a deep sleep. Not only were the netizens shocked, everyone who knew him, studied his theories, and even studied him as a person was speechless.

If the impact of this news on ordinary people only remained at the level of a surprise and a reconstruction of history, then the impact on academia could be compared to a Category 12 hurricane.

Less than five minutes after the news was broadcast, on the LSPM academic forum, a series of topics such as “hyperspace theory”, “extra dimensions”, “unified theory of algebraic geometry”, “unified field theory”, “computational materials”, etc, were all labeled with the tag “major research progress”.

This function was regarded as a major feature of the LSPM forum.

The forum server could monitor the discussion of a hot topic in major academic exchange communities around the world according to a special algorithm, so as to facilitate scholars engaged in research in this field. In this era of information explosion, they would never miss any important news.

Precisely because of this, almost all scholars or physics hobbyists who paid attention to this field, whether they followed the news or not, received a notification.

[On January 11, 2125, Academician Lu was “resurrected”.]

Although there were only a few words, the amount of information was so huge that people couldn’t ignore it.

As if announcing the return of an ancient emperor, those scholars who had graduated from universities, who read his papers and studied the research projects he left behind, turned mad because of this news.

Whether it was the area that Lu Zhou had researched or those areas that he had not researched…

Everyone was talking about the impact his return might have on the academic world.

On a well-known scientific program of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Academician Wang Defu of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences sat on a sofa in the studio.

After a few opening greetings, the host sitting opposite Academician Wang quickly raised a question that almost everyone wanted to know.

“How do you think Professor Lu’s sudden ‘resurrection’ will impact the academic world?”

Academician Wang Defu’s reaction was sensible. He smiled kindly.

“That’s a hard question, what kind of impact… It’s hard to tell.”

Host: “Is it difficult to judge, or awkward for you to say?”

Academician Wang Defu thought for a while and said, “Both.

“In fact, if I remember correctly, similar discussions took place on the LSPM forum a long time ago, but the object of discussion was not Lu Zhou. Instead, it was regarding another scholar in history. That is, what kind of influence will Einstein have on today’s academia.”

The host asked with interest, “Then, do you remember your answer at that time?”

“I remember.” Academician Wang Defu smiled and said, “If I remember correctly, my answer at the time was like this.

“Ordinary people generally have a sense of superiority when they look at historical problems. This scholar was an idiot, that person was stupid, why didn’t they answer these obvious problems earlier, etc.

“This kind of thinking is actually reflected in the film and television cultural themes, such as if a modern person travels back to 100 years ago, almost no one doubts that he can rely on information from 100 years in the future to revolutionize the world.”

The host smiled and said, “Travel back to 100 years ago? I would never do that. Apparently, back then, there was no urban cloud system, smart wearable devices, and holographic technology.”

“There was, but it’s not as convenient as it is now… Anyway, I digress.” Academician Wang Defu smiled and brought the topic back on the right track. He continued in a gentle tone, “In fact, objectively looking at this issue, it is normal to have such a sense of superiority.

“Up until now, although the development of human society has setbacks on a small scale, it has moved forward on a large scale. If an era does not have the superiority it should have, we must have failed. We have not stayed in place over the past 100 years. Whether it is science, technology, economy, culture, education, or the progress made in poverty eradication as a social issue, we could have never imagined such a utopia 100 years ago.

“However, like I said, this issue should be viewed objectively.

“Although most of the PhDs engaged in theoretical physics research can understand the hyperspace theory and the theory of extra dimensions that were considered esoteric at the time, it does not mean that they themselves are taller than the giants they stand on.”

Seeing the host was in deep thought, Academician Wang Defu continued with a relaxed tone, “Individual behavior is always unpredictable, just like physics cannot describe the trajectory of a single molecule. It is hard to say what specific changes Lu Zhou will bring to the world. I am not even sure that he will return to academia.

“However, I am still looking forward to his return, to bring a breath of fresh air to today’s lifeless academic world.”

…

The discussions on the Internet continued.

However, compared to the intense discussion of his “resurrection” on the Internet, Lu Zhou himself was not interested.

To be honest, Lu Zhou, who had been taught by Xiao Ai how to correctly use the virtual community to obtain necessary information, felt like a lonely old man left behind by the times.

“It’s fine, Master! Even if there is no place for you in the entire Internet, you are the best in Xiao Ai’s eyes!”

“… I don’t feel better at all when you say that.” Lu Zhou looked at the holographic screen floating in front of him. His scalp was numb from the dazzling information and UI design. He finally gave up on sending a Weibo to celebrate his resurrection.

In fact, it was not that he didn’t want to do this. It was just that the kind of websites and apps that old popsicles like him were used to had gone extinct.

His Weibo had become a part of history.

Otherwise, he would have shared the joy of returning home with his fans…

“There are so many things to learn…”

With a light sigh, Lu Zhou turned off the holographic screen and got up from the sofa.

Xiao Ai: “Speaking of which, Master, the formal suit you ordered online has arrived. Do you need to try it first? (•̀∀•́)”

“Already?” Lu Zhou saw the logistics drone flying by the window. After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said, “Okay, I’ll try it later.”

Xiao Ai: “Do you need Xiao Ai’s help? (///ω///)”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Is there something wrong with this guy’s head?

I should take some time to take a look at the old site of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Chapter 1455: Celebration Party!

The Yangtze River Delta City group.

A huge building that was made of steel was located on the edge of the coastline of Shanghai’s neighboring port area.

The dark gray steel frames constituted the outer wall of the building. The beautiful outline looked like a cradle from a distance, gestating the fire of life and hope.

Its name was the Heart of Asia.

Every inch of steel on its body was a type of special steel produced under the low gravity and low-pressure environment of Mars.

In order to commemorate the population of Tiangong City that broke through the 10,000 mark and the gross production value exceeding the threshold of one billion, China used steel sent from Tiangong City to cast this landmark building.

And it was this building that directly doubled the GDP of the Martian colony the following year.

In the past seventy years, this building had witnessed the cross-regional power grid spreading across the Asian land, the submarine quantum optical cable’s replacement of traditional optical cables, and the Pan-Asian people and the Chinese people uniting as one. A common prosperity was formed, as well as a community with a shared future in the new era.

This cultural center incorporated virtual reality technology and could accommodate tens of thousands of people at the same time. It had become one of the important venues for the Pan-Asian Cooperation to showcase regional strength and hold international events.

Today, this cradle standing on the coastline was once again illuminated by brilliant holographic lights.

Representatives of more than one hundred countries and regional alliances participated in this event, as well as elites and celebrities from all walks of life. Representatives of civil society organizations were also invited.

The 36,000 holographic projection arrays were all powered on, and the two adjacent main roads were all blocked. All guests attending the conference were transported to the inside of the venue by the special light rail. The police force was concentrated in this area to ensure safety.

Such a high-standard evening party like this only happened every few decades…

Although Lu Zhou hadn’t stepped into the venue yet, he, who was standing in the lounge, had already heard the loud clamor outside the venue.

He calmed his breathing and forced a relaxed smile in the mirror, slowing down his heartbeat.

“… It’s embarrassing to be the center of attention for such a grandiose party.”

Lu Zhou gently straightened the tie on his chest. He glanced at the “new era formal wear” that would definitely be called weird in the 21st century. Suddenly, he felt a little strange.

After he had returned to Earth, in less than three days, he was about to leave the boring life and return to under the spotlight. For a second, he was a little hesitant.

However, the slight hesitation lasted only for a moment.

After taking a deep breath, he nodded slightly to the waiter waiting next to him, indicating that he was ready. He then followed the waiter’s footsteps and walked towards the hall of the Heart of Asia.

The spacious corridor was paved with red carpet and extended all the way to the door.

The honor guard soldier standing at the door opened the door to the main venue for him.

Almost as soon as he stepped into the main venue, virtual fireworks began to go off.

The light particles flying in the sky and the fake colorful ribbons slowly fell from the top of the dome, along the well-carved steel load-bearing structures. They finally landed slowly on the bright red carpet.

The cheers, applause, and the numerous pairs of eyes that were full of excitement, were surging like the tide, pushing the atmosphere of the scene to a peak…

Many people took the maglev train for tens of thousands of kilometers and tried their best to get an invitation, just to come and see him on the spot and witness the greatest scholar from a hundred years ago…

“Welcome home!”

Director Li Guangya held Lu Zhou’s right hand with both hands and spoke with a warm smile.

“I hope this triumphant ceremony isn’t too late!”

“It’s not too late. For me, it was just a matter of closing and opening my eyes.” Holding the right hand of Chairman Li Guangya, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued, “The only thing that surprised me was that, in the blink of an eye, so many changes have taken place in the outside world.”

In fact, his experience on Mars couldn’t be completely described as opening and closing his eyes.

He watched the life of the Martian civilization in a fast-forward state; the memory of that period of time spanning tens of thousands of years took him several years in real-time.

However, compared to the elapsed time on Earth, this mere few years could only be described as trivial.

He didn’t know if he should tell anyone about this.

“Regardless of how the times have changed, I believe that people’s enthusiasm and respect for you will not change.” Chairman Li Guangya smiled heartily and said in a relaxed tone, “I believe you should have felt this from the cheers of the people.”

“Haha, that’s true.” Lu Zhou also smiled as he said jokingly, “Actually, I almost feel embarrassed by the enthusiasm.”

After a few words of exchange, Lu Zhou followed the footsteps of the host and arrived at his seat. Sitting next to him were ministerial officials from the Pan-Asian Cooperation and diplomats from other regional alliances.

The diplomats from other regional alliances were staring at him intently, seemingly trying to observe something.

Lu Zhou responded with a faint smile to those inquiring sights. He did not say much.

He knew the surprise in these people’s hearts.

He was certain that if Newton or Einstein crawled out of the coffin one day, he would be just as surprised…

On the stage, an elegant and long song was playing, then a passionate symphony was played.

The one-hundred-meter-wide holographic screen was like a golden waterfall, slowly falling from the dome of the stadium.

A line of powerful words appeared on the waterfall, presenting his life and honor to everyone.

Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, Cole Prize for Number Theory, Winner of the Lingyun Medal, Hoffman Medal, Fields Medal, and Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Honorary of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences Academician, founder of the Lu Zhou Education Foundation and Freezing Human Rights Protection Fund…

And announced by the United Nations at the beginning of the 22nd century as one of the most influential figures of the 21st century!

His title and honors couldn’t even fit on the entire holographic screen. There were even honors awarded to him over the past century that he didn’t even know about.

As for the stories surrounding him, there were even longer.

Even if they were to spend the entire duration of the party talking about it, it would be impossible to describe it in detail.

However, the Pan-Asian Cooperation had no plans to do so.

This party was not prepared for the purposes of reviewing the first half of his life, but for sending a message to the world.

The man who once led China, led the world, and led human civilization to greatness!

Was back again!

The lights dimmed slightly.

The noise inside and outside the room subsided slightly.

A man in formal clothes walked onto the stage.

Facing the pair of enthusiastic and hopeful eyes, Chairman Li Guangya cleared his throat and announced in a steady and solemn voice.

“The exploration a hundred years ago opened the prelude to the era of space navigation. A group of explorers from all over the world gathered together to challenge the ruins buried deep under Mars.

“It was also the exploration of extraterrestrial civilization that allowed us to cast our sights on the world beyond the atmosphere, and also made us realize in a real sense that we are not alone in this universe. That there are also mysteries and dangers that we don’t understand.

“We paid a heavy price for our immaturity, and let our hero be left on Mars forever.

“However, everything was not as bad as we thought.

“Perhaps because of the blessing of destiny, or perhaps because of the hopes and prayers, our hero did not die in the ruins. Instead, he returned to us with the glory that belongs to him!

“Let’s send a round of applause for his triumph!

“Let’s welcome our hero home!”

Chapter 1456: You Owe Me A Dance

History seemed to play a joke on everyone.

The facts that had been sealed in the coffin were overthrown and rewritten at a point in time that no one expected. A great man who should have been buried in the long river of history and remembered by future generations, unexpectedly returned by their side.

Like he was just borrowed by God or some kind of great existence for a while, and now, he was back again.

Regardless of how many historians had lost their hair over this news, this expedition that started a century ago had finally come to an end in the 22nd century.

Not to mention, it was a happy ending.

While the celebration of the “resurrection” of a great man from a century ago was underway, major media from all over the world were also broadcasting the party live.

For the older generation, this day was undoubtedly a rare day.

Especially for those old people whose ancestors had ties with Academician Lu.

When they saw the face of Academician Lu appearing on the holographic screen, they were so excited as if they had been on drugs; they jumped up and cheered.

An apartment in Shanghai, Yangtze River Delta City group.

Sitting on the sofa at his son’s house, Luo Xingxue watched the man younger than his son on the holographic TV. He was already around 60 to 70 years old, yet the excitement on his face had not stopped since the party began. He bragged to his grandson next to him.

“My grandfather, your great-grandfather, was Academician Lu’s friend, and they both graduated from Jinling University!

“Back then, when the ILHCRC was first established, our physics field was not as strong as it is now. The foreign physicists who came from all over the world were all arrogant as one could be. Later, Academician Lu was appointed as the chairman of the board, and this was followed by the emergence of hyperspace theory, the higher dimensional theory, and the Lunar Hadron Collider! No one questioned the status of the ILHCRC as the world physics center anymore!”

“But what does this have to do with you, Grandpa?”

“This… definitely has something to do with me.” Luo Xingxue laughed embarrassedly. He didn’t expect his little grandson to ask this. He coughed and said, “Isn’t there an old saying? Conquering the world is easy, maintaining it is difficult.

“As the second chairman of the ILHCRC, your great-grandfather, Academician Luo, was able to survive in that dangerous environment and handle the relationship between the ILHCRC and major research institutions around the world. This isn’t something anyone can do!”

The child nodded, as if he understood.

The text flashed on the holographic TV, listing the man’s honors. A curious expression appeared on his face, and he couldn’t help but continue to ask, “Then, Grandpa, can you tell me the story about Academician Lu and your grandpa researching hyperspace theory together?”

“That thing was a sensation at the time! Especially when the electrostrong interaction just came out, the whole physics community was shaken by that theory…”

There was a trace of nostalgia in the old man’s eyes.

Although he did not personally experience that turbulent era, he had heard of that exciting past from his grandfather.

“But that was a story from a long, long time ago…”

…

“Actually, it’s not as ridiculous as you think.”

After the performance of the party, the guests moved to the hotel next to the “Heart of Asia” and began the second half of the celebration.

The dance floor in the lobby on the first floor was full of men and women in Chinese costumes. The long table next to the dance floor was filled with champagne and food. The air here was filled with a relaxed and happy atmosphere.

As the protagonist of the whole party, Lu Zhou became the focus of everyone’s attention the moment he stepped into this banquet hall.

Standing next to him at the moment was Ambassador Swell from the North American League.

Like other people who chatted with him, almost everyone who came up to chat with him would talk to him about what happened one hundred years ago.

For example, Ambassador Swell asked about hyperspace theory.

When it came to this, Lu Zhou was quite nostalgic.

Although so many years had passed, it always felt like it was yesterday.

“It was a coincidence. I happened to see a paper when I was studying hyperspace theory. I remember it was called ‘Research on the Gravitational Wave Equation of Z Particles’. I had some inspiration about the curvature of space-time. Then I tried to research it, and I finally found some strange properties of the Z particle in regard to the curvature of space-time.”

Ambassador Swell looked at Lu Zhou. He was holding champagne in his hand, and he showed a surprised expression on his face.

“That’s it?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“That’s it.”

“I thought there was a magnificent story there.”

“I’m afraid to disappoint you. It is a boring thing to research profound problems.” Lu Zhou had a faint smile while looking at Ambassador Swell. He said, “But the moment when the inspiration came, and the moment of crossing the finish line, felt very pleasant.”

“Haha, for us laymen, I’m afraid I won’t ever experience the kind of pleasure you speak of.” Ambassador Swell smiled and continued, “However, from a layman’s point of view, I have always felt that hyperspace theory is a fascinating theory. Straightening space and time, this sounds very fascinating.”

“I can understand the fascination.” Lu Zhou continued in a joking tone, “In fact, when I had just finished this theory, I was wondering if it would be used for interstellar travel a hundred years later. Or at least in long-distance communication. But I was wrong.”

“Yeah, the cost of producing a Z particle is too expensive, let alone keeping it in a stable and turbulent state.” Ambassador Swell sighed slightly, and after a sip of champagne, he continued, “Actually, a lot of people have tried this in the past century, but in the end, they were defeated in the technical feasibility stage due to cost issues.”

“Cost is indeed a big problem.” Lu Zhou nodded and said with a smile, “However, my view is still quite optimistic. Just because it doesn’t work now doesn’t mean it won’t work in the future. Many things that are in the imaginary stage, are now ready for experimentation.”

Ambassador Swell’s face changed slightly.

“That means there is hope?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“It’s hard to say. It doesn’t depend on my decisions.”

While the two were talking, there was a surging crowd not far away.

Lu Zhou raised his head and looked over there, only to see an old woman walking towards him while surrounded by a group of people.

When his eyes fell on the old woman’s face, he was slightly taken aback.

He always felt that the charm between her eyebrows was a bit familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her.

A smile appeared on her face as she said in a nostalgic voice, “Long time no see.”

“You are…”

At this moment, a name suddenly popped out of his memory. His eyes widened.

“Princess Lilia?!”

As Lu Zhou looked at the old woman in front of him in surprise, he was speechless.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a confused tone.

“Long time no see, I didn’t expect… you to change so much.”

When he first met her, she was still a little girl who was only as tall as his knees, but now, she was a grandma.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“It’s not that I have changed, it’s that you haven’t changed at all in the past 100 years.”

Compared to Lu Zhou’s sadness, Princess Lilia herself was quite open-minded.

Looking at the person standing in front of her, a touch of nostalgia appeared in her eyes. She smiled and said, “Do you still remember? In Stockholm’s Blue Hall, I was less than seven years old. I mustered up the courage to ask you to dance, but you told me to wait until I’m older.”

“Of course I remember.” Lu Zhou’s eyes were also stained with memories, thinking of the day from many years ago. Lu Zhou said in a sad tone, “That was the most important day in my life. I will probably remember it forever.”

On the shore of Lake Mälaren, he kissed his loved one for the first time.

Although she didn’t have any dazzling titles, she was a real princess in his eyes.

A hundred years had passed since then.

If there was anything he couldn’t let go of, it was probably the memory of her…

“Then you should remember that you still owe me a dance.”

After recovering from the deep memories, Lu Zhou looked at Princess Lilia with a smile on his face. He was taken aback for a while, but he soon smiled.

“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts… Apologies for having kept you waiting.”

She smiled kindly and reached out her hand.

“It’s okay.”

…

Soft music sounded on the dance floor.

This unusual couple immediately attracted the attention of the audience.

When the dance song ended, applause broke out around the dance floor.

In a corner of the second-story terrace, several bodyguards in formal suits stood nearby.

Chairman Li Guangya was in the center of the open space, overlooking the dance floor hall on the first floor. He was looking at the holographic beam projected from his wrist while talking on the phone with Secretary-General Wu Shuhua, who was abroad.

“It was your idea to invite the Swedish royal family?”

“Sort of. I saw Princess Lilia mention him in a memoir, but I didn’t expect it to be real.”

Wu Shuhua did not respond. The expression on her face was indifferent as she waited for him to continue.

“We have won the friendship of the North Sea Alliance. We should be able to win 70%-75% of the support at the UN meeting.” Li Guangya said in a relaxed tone, “There is no doubt that this is an overwhelming victory.”

Wu Shuhua said solemnly, “Don’t forget that the resistance comes not only from the United Nations, but also from within the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and this is the trickiest one.”

“I am planning to resolve this matter.”

Li Guangya looked across the dance floor. His eyes were on the young man as he smiled.

“From what I can tell, this won’t be a problem.”

Chapter 1457: Pan-Asia Chief Scientist?

Eleven o’clock at night.

The guests began to leave one after another as the whole party came to an end in a grand atmosphere.

Lu Zhou planned to take a taxi home, but just after he returned to the lounge and changed into his daily clothes, a hotel waiter knocked on the door of the lounge and politely conveyed Director Li Guangya’s invitation to him, asking him if he could spare ten minutes to chat with Li Guangya.

Since he had no other plans, Lu Zhou accepted the invitation. He followed the footsteps of the waiter to the next room and saw Chairman Li Guangya waiting there.

“What do you think?”

“Are you talking about the party?”

“Of course, we are very concerned about whether you can adapt to life after 100 years.” Li Guangya said gently, “If you feel unwell, please let us know.”

“The society is more tolerant than I thought. I was a little worried that I would not find my place, but after staying for a while, I realized that I was worrying too much.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “The only thing I have to say is that I am afraid it is too grand; it is really unnecessary.”

“Without this, we cannot show our respect for you. Hope you understand.” Li Guangya continued with a smile, “Speaking of which, does Academician Lu have any plans for the future?”

“Future…”

Lu Zhou spent a little bit of time thinking about this issue.

He paused for a second and spoke.

“This question is still too early to answer. Before making plans for the future, I intend to try to integrate into the present, then consider what would be better in the future.”

Li Guangya: “This should be easy for you. I believe that with your wisdom, it will not take long to integrate into modern society.”

“No matter how easy it is, it still takes time, and for the future, I don’t want to make that decision too hastily.” With a smile, Lu Zhou continued as he looked at Chairman Li Guangya, “Moreover, I also want to spend more time learning these new things. For me, I haven’t felt this way in a long time.”

Ever since his academic career in Princeton, he had been acting as a knowledge creator, not a knowledge learner.

If there was anything worthy of joy in this unfamiliar era, it was the knowledge that was born in the past hundred years, waiting for him to absorb.

“Actually, we have a proposal here. I don’t know if you are willing to consider it.”

“What proposal?”

In a sincere tone, Chairman Li Guangya said solemnly, “If you are willing to, we hope you can serve as the chief scientific advisor of the Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

“Chief scientific advisor?”

Hearing this title, Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment. Dumbfounded, he said, “Do you think it is really appropriate to let a one-hundred-year-old antique take this position?”

“You are too modest!” Chairman Li Guangya continued with a serious expression, “I have consulted my team about this matter. You should be the most suitable person for this position!”

“I’ll think about it after I integrate into this society…”

Seeing that Chairman Li Guangya had a slightly disappointed expression, Lu Zhou sighed and continued, “It is not that I am stingy with my own knowledge, but I need to learn more before directing others. Think about it from another perspective. If scholars from this era need guidance from an antique, what have they done in the past 100 years?”

In the end, Lu Zhou still did not agree to accept the position.

Li Guangya was lost in thought.

The bracelet he was wearing on his left wrist vibrated slightly.

When he raised his cuff slightly, a light blue holographic beam was projected in front of him. Secretary-General Wu Shuhua’s face appeared in front of him. She went straight to the point.

“So?”

“There has been a slight deviation, but it is still within an acceptable range.”

There was a playful smile at the corner of her mouth as Secretary-General Wu Shuhua continued, “It looks like that person rejected you.”

“Yeah…” Li Guangya said thoughtfully, “Are people so humble a hundred years ago? I thought he would be more arrogant.”

This was somewhat different from the records in history books.

The more mainstream view given by historians was that Academician Lu was a very confident, even conceited person. This conceit, on the one hand, stemmed from his achievements in scientific research, and on the other hand, it stemmed from his own youth.

However, when Lu Zhou himself stood in front of him, Li Guangya had already realized that there might be a slight discrepancy between historical research and the truth.

Although his deep pupils made it impossible to fully see his true thoughts, one thing was certain—there wasn’t an inch of conceitedness in Lu Zhuo’s eyes.

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I said that although there has been a slight deviation, it is still within an acceptable range.”

Li Guangya stood up from the chair. He walked to the window and lifted his index finger to open the curtain.

The Heart of Asia standing on the coastline was like a burning torch, lighting up his pupils, lighting up the dark night over the beach, also lighting up the Pan-Asian people’s desire for greatness again.

They had fallen into the trap of prosperity for too long.

The extremely wealthy material world as well as the spiritual world would always make people lose their desire for progress inadvertently.

But he was different.

He was an ambitious man.

Unlike his compatriots who were almost becoming herbivores, his childhood experience on Mars made him understand that a person who had no hope was just a walking zombie; their value to society would be less than a robot.

Whether it was for the glory of Pan-Asia, or for the sake of history…

At least during his term as the chairman of the board, he wanted to accomplish something great!

Either plant the Pan-Asian flag on the ground of Titan and Europa or open up the steel pathway from the surface to the geosynchronous orbit!

Or do both at the same time!

But first of all, he must rekindle the desire in people’s hearts and convince them that, without a doubt, he was born for this.

This abstract philosophical concept was called “fate”.

He looked at the magnificent Heart of Asia outside the window, as well as the holographic lights and shadows dancing on the coastline. He then smiled faintly and continued, “Tonight, there should be many people who can’t fall asleep from the excitement.”

This, of course, also included himself.

…

Lu Zhou went back to his apartment in a Pan-Asian Cooperation’s car.

The door opened in front of Lu Zhou.

“Master, did you have fun at the party today?”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai, who was hopping around in front of him. He was in a good mood, so he smiled and said, “Pretty fun, but tiring.”

“Xiao Ai saw it on the TV! Hehe, Master is as handsome as ever. (///ω///)”

Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly.

Although he knew this was the truth, it was still embarrassing to hear it from someone else.

Xiao Ai also showed a happy smile on her face.

“Um, then, is Master in a better mood? (///ω///)”

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment. He then smiled and reached out his hand to touch her head.

“Yeah, thank you…

“I’m feeling much better.”

The bathwater was ready.

After Lu Zhou took a bath, he put on a set of pajamas and took a bottle of milk from the refrigerator. He then returned to the living room sofa and sat down.

He had contacted Jin Ling University previously, and after receiving his call, the other party immediately stated that they had prepared a preparatory course and office for him. He could even go to class tomorrow.

As for the title of professor, that had not changed in this century. There was no question of whether the title could be restored. As long as he wanted, he could open his own courses in the school at any time and receive his salary according to the current salary standard.

Lu Zhou’s idea was actually very simple.

The salary wasn’t the important thing. In contrast, he paid more attention to the academic resources of Jin Ling University.

As the world’s top university in this era, he could not only obtain the most cutting-edge information in the academic world but also communicate with the most knowledgeable people in the world.

And this also helped him get in touch with the most cutting-edge research fields of this era more quickly and catch up with the footsteps of these younger generations.

Of course, he still had one thing to deal with before that.

Lu Zhou looked at the documents in the box. After pondering for a while, he pulled out the electronic business card of Lawyer Chen and made a call.

After the phone rang three times, it was quickly connected.

A familiar portrait emerged in the holographic beam.

Lu Zhou looked at the lawyer named Chen Tianlu. He went straight to the point.

“Sorry to call you so late. I have something to consult you about. I wonder if it is convenient for you?”

“Of course, no problem! It’s my honor to be able to serve you!” Lawyer Chen smiled and said earnestly, “Excuse me, what’s the matter?”

“I have some stock certificates, such as East Asia Energy, East Asia Communications, East Asia Heavy Industries, etc…”

Lu Zhou turned over the documents in his hands. He looked at Lawyer Chen, who was dumbfounded, and continued, “I don’t know much about the rules of this world, but these were indeed bought by me and were notarized by the Bank of China. Actually, I just want to ask… How do I use these certificates?”

Chapter 1458: East Asia Energy Shareholders

The cold winter in January was not over yet; the streets of the Yangtze River Delta City group were still chilly. However, the atmosphere of the East Energy Building, which was located at the Pearl River, was hot and sweaty.

In the office of the board of directors, the Chinese man loosened the collar of his formal suit, as if to relieve the tension in his heart. He muttered to himself, “Is the air conditioner turned on?”

This sentence was heard by the secretary standing behind him.

The man immediately stood up, like a conditioned reflex, and almost knocked the chair to the ground.

“I’ll go out and ask—”

“No.” The Chinese man looked at the digital clock flashing on the conference table and continued, “The meeting is about to begin.”

Liu Zhengxing, Chairman of East Asia Energy.

With 1.3% of the shares, he was the largest shareholder of East Asia Energy and had been in the position of chairman for five years. Apart from him, the people sitting at the conference table at this moment were the core members of the board of directors or representatives sent by major shareholders such as the AIIB and Bank of China.

As for why they were sitting here for this meeting…

It had to start with an old popsicle that suddenly awakened, and the huge legacy held in his hand.

The meeting began.

Before Liu Zhengxing had time to speak, a slightly fat man sitting not far from him spoke first.

“I just want to know, are those credentials real?”

About an hour ago, they received a call from the relevant department stating that a piece of frozen shares would be lifted in the near future. They hoped they would make the information public and do the relevant preparations to avoid affecting the normal operation of the company.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately stirred up a storm.

In the past century, East Asia Energy’s shareholding structure had basically been quite stable, and major shareholding changes of more than 5% hadn’t happened in nearly half a century.

Therefore, this made them extremely nervous.

This was a matter of vital interest, and no one knew what impact this matter might have on the operation of East Asia Energy.

“It has a notarization from the Bank of China, so it can’t be faked.”

The man wearing gold-rimmed glasses pushed his glasses, sighed softly, and said, “In fact, a long time ago, when I was studying business at Shanghai University, I was thinking about this question. When Star Sky Technology liquidated its assets, why didn’t it involve East Asia Energy shares at all…”

His name was Zhong Ziyu, one of the managing directors of East Asia Energy and a member of the investment strategy committee of the board of directors. Unlike Liu Zhengxing, he was not sitting here as an individual shareholder. He was appointed by the AIIB, and he was a professional executive with a background in science.

His index finger lightly tapped on the table. After looking around at the directors who were looking at him, he gently pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued to speak.

“The patent period of 20 years has passed, and after several rounds of technology upgrades, East Asia Energy no longer has to pay patent fees to Star Sky Technology. Those shares of East Asia Energy that are being held by Star Sky Technology will still receive a lump-sum annual dividend. Using this funding support, even if the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study is a money-losing business, it will not fall into bankruptcy…

“But now, everything makes sense.”

Liu Zhengxing spoke with a heavy face.

“What makes sense?”

“Everything is pre-arranged.” There was a hint of admiration in the pupils behind those gold-rimmed glasses. After a pause, Zhong Ziyu continued, “This is a clever trader. This person is even smarter than the first CEO of Star Sky Technology, Ms. Chen.

“That person may not understand scientific research, but he knows enough about Star Sky Technology’s business. Few companies rely on personal abilities rather than business models to achieve the top 100 or even top ten positions in the world. Obviously, Star Sky Technology is such a monster. Its core competitiveness is not the research institute, but Academician Lu himself.

“That person had a foreboding, that after losing Academician Lu, the business model of Star Sky Technology would not work sooner or later, so he made two preparations in advance and transferred important assets from Star Sky Technology.

“Later facts proved that such an idealized model failed to persist. The core R&D department of a high-tech company does prioritize profit, but only if they have more than enough money.”

The man asked curiously, “Who do you think that person might be?”

“If my guess is correct, it should be Lu Zhou’s younger sister, Lu Xiaotong.

“As the heir of Star Sky Technology, only she has the ability to do so. Her teacher was the famous Professor Krugman. I believe that anyone who has studied economics before is familiar with the prediction of the economic crisis in the mid-21st century… Not to mention, she herself was a Nobel Prize winner in economics.”

Having said that, the man with glasses smiled faintly and continued, “However, it doesn’t make much sense to talk about this. It is better for us to talk about the current problems.”

There was a brief silence in the conference room.

The director of the Financial Management Committee, who had yet to speak, spoke with caution.

“Actually, I feel that the return of Academician Lu is not necessarily a bad thing. At least from the market’s response, most rating agencies have given positive responses on this matter…”

As he was talking, the director of the Financial Management Committee suddenly noticed that the look on Chairman Liu’s face was a little unnatural.

He realized something immediately and quickly changed his wording.

“Of course, this is just my inference from the market’s reaction. As to whether Academician Lu’s return can bring a positive impact on East Asia Energy, we have to analyze the specific situation. My suggestion is to contact him first. See if he has the idea of joining the board of directors. If he is not interested in the company’s operations, we don’t need to be too nervous.”

“7% of the equity. If I calculated correctly, he should have that many stocks in his hand.” A director sitting at the conference table said in an enviable tone, “All this wealth in the hands of one person. Damn… I am afraid that no one has more money than him.”

After more than one hundred years, East Asia Energy’s largest individual shareholder only held 1.3% of the shares.

Excluding the part held by major institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Bank of China, Academician Lu, who held 7% or more of the equity, would become the largest individual shareholder of East Asia Energy.

It was no exaggeration to say that the shares he held in his hands were even more than the total shares circulating in the market. The world’s richest man was even a humble statement for him.

“You still only counted the part of East Asia Energy.” Another director said with an enviable expression on his face, “If I remember correctly, Star Sky Technology holds 20% of East Asia Communications’ shares… Although submarine optical cables are not as profitable as power generation, their market value is not small.”

The atmosphere on the conference table became uncontrollable.

The directors were completely muddled.

Except for a few core members of the board of directors, all of the other directors were envious. One of the directors, who had yet to speak a word since the beginning of the meeting, couldn’t help but rant.

“20% of the shares are held in the hands of an old popsicle… How is this even possible?”

“According to the new securities law, during the freezing period, the ownerships of assets of dormant persons will be frozen. In other words, in the past century, they do not need to consider the part that belongs to Academician Lu… Of course, from now on, they have to consider it.”

“F*ck, let’s just merge with East Asia Group! With the integration of energy, communications, and industry, we will be the oligarchs of the new world.”

“This is indeed a good idea.” The slightly fat man’s eyes lit up, and he said immediately, “If he takes the lead, there might be real hope.”

Seeing that the topic on the conference table had begun to digress, Zhong Ziyu coughed slightly, interrupting them, and said, “Stop dreaming… The AIIB will never approve.”

As the largest investment bank in Asia, in addition to considering economic benefits, they also had to consider the possible impact of each decision on the economic environment and society.

A huge monopoly was detrimental to the Pan-Asian Cooperation economy and would harm their interests in the long run. Obviously, they wouldn’t agree to such a thing.

Of course, he didn’t deny that Lu Zhou did have this power.

Regardless of how low the probability of success…

The trigger was in his hand…

Zhong Ziyu pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued with a serious tone, “In any case, I suggest contacting Lu Zhou first to test the waters. If he only intends to receive dividends, it should not have any impact on the operation of East Asia Energy…

“If he is interested in being on the board…”

When his gaze fell across the conference table, Chairman Liu’s face tightened.

His expression immediately became somewhat curious, and he said thoughtfully, “Maybe things will get interesting?”

…

The meeting ended.

Several holographic lights dissipated, and the meeting table instantly became empty.

The few people who came to the meeting physically cleaned up the things on the table. They nodded to Chairman Liu, who was sitting down, then quickly left the meeting room.

In the huge conference room, only Liu Zhengxing and his secretary were left.

“Get out.”

“Okay.”

The secretary showed a relieved expression on his face and quickly exited the meeting room.

After the door of the meeting room was closed, Liu Zhengxing suddenly grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it onto the ground.

“This group of f*cking idiots!

“Who has been working hard for East Asia Energy! How dare these snakes do this!”

When he thought of what the man in glasses said, he became furious.

Under his leadership, East Asia Energy had maintained steady growth for five consecutive years. But now an old antique was going to take over his power.

What a joke!

After taking a deep breath, he quickly calmed down.

His finger lightly tapped on the conference table. A blue beam of light lit up from the chair directly opposite him.

After waiting quietly for a few seconds, a virtual portrait that looked like a mannequin model gradually emerged from the holographic beam.

Liu Zhengxing took a deep breath. His expression of sullenness died down a little.

He then said in a calm voice, “There is something that I need your help with.”

Chapter 1459: Back to Jin University

The issue of equity certification was much simpler than Lu Zhou had imagined.

Originally, he thought it would be a long judicial dispute. He did not expect the efficiency. The industrial and commercial department sent a letter to a number of companies such as East Asia Energy and East Asia Communications to complete the information disclosure.

Perhaps a long time ago Xiao Tong considered possible disputes in the future and did the notarization of these equity documents. Most of these notary institutions still existed today, and they had quite good credit ratings. It was easy to complete the chain of evidence without dispute.

Lu Zhou was also quite surprised.

He did not expect that, except for the three giants of East Asia Energy, East Asia Communications, and East Asia Heavy Industries, which spanned the energy, information, and industrial fields, most of the miscellaneous companies he invested in before actually survived.

For example, Beep Beep Charging. Although its name was different after several rounds of mergers and acquisitions, its business had expanded from wireless charging stations to areas of core technologies such as urban cloud, wireless charging equipment production, and magnetic levitation auto parts.

There was also Baosheng Group, which did superconducting material for fusion reactor cores. They had also gone public. As the largest supplier of the controllable fusion core equipment in the Pan-Asian Cooperation and even in the world, it had become the backbone of the second generation of controllable fusion technology.

What Lu Zhou didn’t expect most was that the Hippocampus Group, which was world-renowned for its mid-to-high-end robot products, was also relevant. Back then, Zhongshan New Materials entered the carbon-based chip industry chain with his support. By the middle of the 21st century, Zhongshan New Materials had become one of the largest carbon-based chip manufacturers in China.

And CEO Liu was also a visionary entrepreneur. In his later years, he spotted the huge market prospects for robots and spent huge sums of money on the emerging robot industry chain.

Although this risky move did not bring significant benefits to Zhongshan New Materials, it had cultivated a large number of scientific and technological enterprises engaged in AI technology research and development in the Jinling high-tech zone.

The Hippocampus Group was one of them, albeit its size at the time was small.

Later, the business of Zhongshan New Materials went downhill. After several mergers and acquisitions, the two companies simply merged together and integrated their respective advantageous resources to form the Hippocampus Group.

In addition, there were also some large-scale VRMMMO games like “Calan Empire” and some businesses that Lu Zhou didn’t even look at at the time. They had now grown into towering trees.

After knowing this, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel emotional.

Although Star Sky Technology “died” with him, its legacy had long been integrated into all aspects of the entire society of the Pan-Asian Cooperation and had become an inseparable part of this society.

Like the roots of a big tree, it nourished every cell on the tree…

At the same time, according to the latest amendments to the laws, shares held by dormant persons who had been dormant for more than ten years would be treated as “frozen rights” during the freezing period, and other shareholders would act as nominal shareholders on their behalf. They did not enjoy benefits such as dividends.

However, in contrast, the rights and interests of stock owners during the freezing period would be fully protected.

The most critical one stated that, during the “frozen” period, the shares of equity holders would not be diluted by conventional financial activities, such as financing.

In other words, when a person had been frozen and hibernated for more than 10 years, starting from the 11th year, no matter what changes happened in the company’s management and shareholders, the frozen part of the equity would not be affected.

The original intention of this law was to protect the basic rights and interests of dormant people. After all, most people enter the dormant cabin because of terminal illnesses. Few people would choose frozen dormancy just for fun or say that they wanted to see the future.

After all, emotionally speaking, separation from relatives and friends was not an easy decision. The sense of separation from the future society after waking up was also an unacceptable thing for most people.

All in all, with the sound legal system in today’s society, it was not difficult to retrieve one’s own property.

After entrusting the job of unfreezing the equity to Lawyer Chen, Lu Zhou didn’t pay much attention to other troublesome things, except for asking Xiao Ai to take care of it for him.

He trusted the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.

Not only did this public welfare organization operate in the Pan-Asian Cooperation for so many years, selflessly helping millions of dormant people, but it was also because the fund’s managers were his descendants.

As the ancestor of the Lu family, Lu Zhou felt that his name still had a certain status in their hearts…

…

The day after the party ended, Lu Zhou handed over the housekeeping to Xiao Ai. He left early in the morning and took the light rail to the university town on the outskirts of Jinling.

This was different from when he came here last time.

Back then, he was using a completely strange face and came here anonymously.

But now, he was standing here again as Lu Zhou. Even though the scenery in front of him and the pictures in his memory were completely different, everything here made him feel extra familiar.

“Back here again…”

Lu Zhou looked at the lawns, the gardening drones trimming the flowers, and the young students walking on the stone brick roads. He took a deep breath of the fragrant air mixed with knowledge and stepped out of the gate of the light rail station.

At the same time, a holographic screen suspended in mid-air came into his eyes.

[We Welcome Academician Lu Back Home!]

There are still school banners, even in this era?

Lu Zhou looked at that line of text. He couldn’t help but show a touch of sadness in his eyes.

Home…

Speaking of which, this was the most worthy place for him to call home.

“You… Are you Academician Lu?!”

The old man waiting at the entrance of the station quickly walked up to him and held his right hand with excitement.

Lu Zhou felt that the old man looked a bit familiar, but he couldn’t tell where they met before.

Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Excuse me, you are?”

The old man said excitedly, “Qin Chuan! Academician of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, Dean of the Academy of Jin Ling University! I am the grandson of your disciple!”

Qin Chuan…

Don’t recognize that name.

But his face looks so familiar.

After staring at his face for a while, Lu Zhou suddenly reacted and asked in an uncertain tone, “Do you know Qin Yue?”

“Know? That’s my grandfather!” The old man looked at Lu Zhou excitedly and continued, “I remember that, when I was a child, he always told me stories about you, including your teachings to him in Princeton and your influence on the Chinese mathematics community.”

“How is he… I mean, when he was still alive.”

“He lived a good life.” The old man said in a reminiscence tone, “A few years after you left, he won the Fields Medal. Since then, he researched the theories you left behind, hoping to carry them forward. I still remember that, before his death, the prosperity of the Lu Zhou school of thought reached the peak of history, even taller than the Göttingen school of thought!”

Qin Chuan suddenly sighed slightly and continued with a shameful expression, “I’m ashamed to say, it is our generation that has shamed your name.”

“No way.” Lu Zhou smiled comfortingly when he looked at the old man with shame on his face. “Don’t belittle yourself, you guys are actually doing pretty well.”

“You don’t have to comfort us.” Dean Qin said with a sigh, “If we really made you satisfied, you won’t be so disappointed when you came here some time ago.”

Lu Zhou: “…?!”

Lu Zhou looked at the sighing old man with a muddled face. Just when Lu Zhou was about to ask him why he thought he was “disappointed”, a group of people walked over.

The leader of the pack was not young, about fifty or sixty years old. He was wearing a formal suit, and his hair was neatly combed. The enthusiasm on his face was not inferior to that of Dean Qin. After seeing Lu Zhou, he reached out his right hand from a long-distance away.

“Academician Lu, hello, hello!” He enthusiastically held Lu Zhou’s right hand and shook it vigorously. The old man with neatly combed hair said excitedly, “We waited for a hundred years! Finally, you are back!”

Qin Chuan quickly coughed and introduced, “This is the principal of Jin Ling University, Cai Mingrui.”

“Principal Cai I see.” Lu Zhou nodded. He said with a smile, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You are too polite. It is our great honor to meet you!” Principal Cai continued with a smile, “We have kept your professorship for the past 100 years. We never thought that one day you would actually come back, but our respect for you has not changed!”

“You are too kind.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Actually, a century ago, I was just an ordinary mathematics professor. You don’t need to treat me so solemnly.”

An ordinary math professor…

In addition to Principal Cai and Dean Qin, a group of people standing beside them twitched their eyebrows in unison.

The power of one person was able to promote Jin Ling University to the level of a world-class university and to move the world mathematics center from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. If he was just an ordinary mathematics professor, then what were they?

Principal Cai changed the subject and pushed out a young lady standing next to him.

“Let me introduce to you, this is the counselor of our preparatory class, Sun Lan—Teacher Sun! The people from the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation have contacted us. You can come here to conduct lectures. We will help you arrange some courses to facilitate your integration into today’s society.

“If you need any help, you can contact me directly or Teacher Sun!”

The instructor named Sun Lan was probably a master’s or PhD holder from Jin Ling University, and she seemed to be about twenty-five years old.

Lu Zhou didn’t know if it was due to lack of work experience or for other reasons, but he felt like she seemed to be very afraid of himself.

“Lu, hello, Academician Lu! I-I am Sun Lan, I am glad to meet you. I will send you an email about the classes and the course later…”

She reached out her right hand tremblingly as her voice became quieter and quieter.

“Hello, it is nice to meet you as well.”

Not wanting to embarrass her too much, after Lu Zhou and her briefly shook hands, he looked at Principal Cai instead.

“I will communicate with her about the courses. Can I make a small request before then?”

Principal Cai said immediately, “Oh, you don’t have to be so polite, just ask us if you have any requirements, we will do our best to help you!”

“Actually, it’s nothing special.” Lu Zhou said with an embarrassed smile, “When I checked the information last night, I learned that Jin Ling University has the largest computational materials laboratory in Asia. Is that true?”

“Of course.” Before President Cai could speak, an old man standing behind him proudly said, “We at Jin Ling University might not be the best materials science school in the world, but we are at least among the top three. Especially in the area of computational materials!”

“Really? That’s great.”

After hearing this news, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but show a sincere smile on his face.

“It just so happens that I have some interesting ideas that I want to verify. I don’t know if I can use your laboratory.”

Chapter 1460: Panicking

Li Guangya was panicking.

He had just left Shanghai yesterday. Before he could sit down in his office chair, a call from the AIIB made him leave Beijing again.

“Morinaga from SoftBank is giving a briefing on the board of directors and intends to win over Academician Lu to establish the East Asia Group. I don’t think he is joking. Go figure it out.”

The person who called was Zhong Ziyu, the managing director of East Asia Energy who was appointed by the AIIB.

Li Guangya had an impression of the man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Although he still didn’t know the guy’s current status, he was still a strong figure.

Because of this, the call made Li Guangya panic.

If it were someone else, he would think of it as a joke. But this was Lu Zhou, who once ignited the light of controlled fusion and spread the quantum cables across the oceans…

The same amount of stock held in the hands of an ordinary person would just be a huge sum of money.

But in Lu Zhou’s hand, that was equivalent to a nuclear button, or some other superweapon.

With his reputation in the Pan-Asian cooperation, this might just be possible.

On the way from the station to Jin Ling University, Li Guangya, who was sitting in a maglev train, ordered his office assistant to inform the Jin Ling University of his visit. He also called Secretary-General Wu Shuhua, who was visiting abroad, and informed her of the situation here.

“This is the mess you caused, you better think of a solution!”

Not surprisingly, after hearing the news, Wu Shuhua went crazy.

Li Guangya pinched his eyebrows with his index finger and thumb as he said with a headache, “What can I do? Who would have thought that those shares are still in his hands?”

“If his existence threatens the stability of Pan-Asia, I advise you to give up as soon as possible… It is no longer about the space elevator. His existence may have already become a fuse for us to slide into a deeper abyss. Although I don’t recommend this, if you have to—”

“No!” After hearing Secretary Wu’s words, Li Guangya immediately vetoed, “With his prestige in Asia and the world, if anything happens to him, it will be a heavy blow to our alliance!”

After a pause, he slowed down and continued, “The situation is not so bad now. Don’t think too much about it. I’m on my way to Jin Ling University. I’ll talk with him face-to-face later. I’ll call you about it later.”

Wu Shuhua: “Better so!”

The phone call ended.

After turning off the holographic camera, Li Guangya leaned on the seat with a wry smile on his face.

Is the situation really not so bad?

This was probably the first time since he took office that he had no confidence in what he said.

A giant company spanning the fields of energy, communications, and industry. Forget about the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the whole world would tremble under its feet.

And the first to kneel down was the Pan-Asian Cooperation itself…

He could even imagine how if such an oligarch was born, all the achievements of the Pan-Asian Cooperation over the past half-century would be stolen.

Is it possible for this oligarch to be born?

It’s hard to say.

Otherwise, Director Zhong would not have called me.

After all, what Academician Lu held was not just stocks, but also the academic prestige that had dominated this land for a century and countless Pan-Asian people’s desire for greatness again.

After thinking of this, Li Guangya’s hands couldn’t help but tremble.

It was him who dug the man out of the grave and pushed him back to the throne. The situation was obviously starting to become a little out of his control.

As for whether Academician Lu himself had the motive to merge East Asia Energy, East Asia Communications, and East Asia Industry…

He had no idea.

After all, it was impossible to guess with the wisdom of a mere mortal, what this genius with a monster high IQ was thinking.

Take Newton as an example.

Many people only knew that Sir Newton studied theology in his later years, but they often overlooked another great achievement in his later years.

In his later years, this guy felt that bullying Robert Hooke was not exciting enough, so he went to be the director of The Royal Mint, taking on the position for 28 years.

What was the 18th century Royal Mint like? They were equivalent to the central bank of the world at the time, even more prestigious than the governor of the Federal Reserve in the 21st century.

And how rich was he?

There was no specific document that recorded his deposits, but judging from Sir Issac Newton’s failed investment, he was involved in the famous “South China Sea Company Stock Bubble” incident in European financial history and lost a total of 20,000 GBP.

According to the guidance price of gold in September 1717, one ounce of gold could be exchanged for 3 pounds 17 shillings and 10 pence. Taking into account the gold production and holdings in the 17th century, one could only imagine what a huge sum of 20,000 GBP was.

Anyone that could afford to lose 20,000 pounds was equivalent to a billionaire back then.

It was certain that smart people could flourish in any era, but who could guarantee that Academician Lu would return to his old profession and become a scholar?

Even Newton, who was a child prodigy, was able to build windmills and water clocks with his bare hands. He later gave up academics and went to pursue vanity. Who could guarantee that Academician Lu would stay a mathematics professor?

Wouldn’t it be more fun to collect money in the financial market?

After thinking of this, Li Guangya became more nervous.

He really didn’t expect that the stocks weren’t liquidated in the bankruptcy of Star Sky Technology half a century ago. Instead, they were placed in a safe at the Bank of China and kept for a century.

Isn’t this crazy?

Why did Star Sky Technology go bankrupt if they had those stocks?! They also turned the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study into a public institution and gave it to the education department of Pan-Asian Cooperation…

The only possibility is that he planned all of this from the beginning.

Li Guangya got off the maglev train in Jinling. He rushed to Jin Ling University without stopping.

According to what he heard, Lu Zhou usually arrived here early in the morning.

In any case, he had to find him before Softbank and find out the situation…

He soon arrived at Jin Ling University.

Li Guangya saw Principal Cai Mingrui in the parking lot in front of the school. He didn’t have time to greet him, so he immediately asked, “Where is Academician Lu? Where is he now?”

Cai Mingrui was slightly stunned. He frowned somewhat inexplicably and said, “Academician Lu is in the laboratory… Is there a problem?”

“Laboratory?” After hearing this unexpected answer, Li Guangya was taken aback. He subconsciously asked, “What experiment is he doing?”

Principal Cai shook his head.

“I don’t know… I only remember that he borrowed a materials science laboratory. But I can help you find out.”

“No need, just take me there!” Li Guangya said in a serious tone. “I have important business to talk to him about!

“I’m not joking; this is related to the future of the Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

Chapter 1461: Be Content, Kid

At the computational materials laboratory of Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou looked inside the translucent cube, at the black cylinder that gradually formed under the guidance of the blue light beam. He then spoke in a rather emotional tone.

“When I was at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Dr. Hou and Deputy Director Yang were discussing how to synthesize SG-1 superconducting materials stably. Deputy Director Yang smoked cigarettes for an entire afternoon… Guess how we solved it?”

The machine in front of him was the core equipment of the Institute of Computing Materials: a molecular-level 3D printer.

Unlike the popular home 3D printers on the market, the awesome thing about this thing was that it could autonomously set the spatial order of atomic stacks within a certain accuracy range and even adjust the energy of chemical bonds.

This meant that no matter whether the molecule existed in nature, as long as it could exist theoretically, it could be “printed” in batches using this thing.

Lu Zhou couldn’t even think of a suitable word for how amazing this machine was, just like how very few people could accurately describe how awesome his hyperspace theory was.

There was no doubt that if this machine was taken into the 21st century, materials scientists, biologists, and medical scientists around the world would go crazy…

Standing next to Lu Zhou, the young doctoral student who demonstrated the molecular-level 3D printer for him asked curiously, “How did you solve it?”

“Vapour deposition method.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I don’t know if this is feasible now, but the only way we could think of at the time was to mix it layer by layer like a cake. The graphene six grids would then be stacked at an angle of 1.1°, forming a Mott insulator between each layer of cross-section, then we would find the ‘semi-filled’ structure that we dreamed of.”

The young doctoral student spoke.

“This is too…”

He originally wanted to say that it was too troublesome, but he felt that it would be a little impolite.

Seeing the expression on this young man’s face, Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “The route of the vapor deposition method was determined, the road after was a little smoother. We tried to improve the laboratory preparation method and cooperated with the engineers from Baosheng Group to explore the method of industrialized mass production. But even so, the cost was only acceptable relative to a strategic industrial facility, such as a controllable fusion core.

“In the past, an idea in scientific research needed to go through rigorous demonstrations and tedious design experiments before it could be tested. However, the cost of verifying an idea now is only 1 hour of time and 10,000 credits.

“The technology of this era is really beyond my imagination.”

After hearing the compliment from the grandmaster of computational materials, the doctoral student scratched his head in embarrassment.

“In fact, it is not as ridiculous as you think… There are many Pan-Asian scientific research personnel, but our funds are very limited. In fact, there are not many opportunities to try. Moreover, most of the relatively novel materials have already been discovered using molecular printing technology. If we want to produce new results, we still have to go through rigorous calculations and design.”

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

“What a first-world problem.

“Be content, kid.”

The PhD student’s expression was somewhat subtle.

Although Lu Zhou came from a hundred years ago, he was not that much older than himself.

Regardless of what the young man of the 22nd century felt, Lu Zhou glanced at the translucent cube in front of him and said, “I already understand the basic situation. I have some ideas here that I want to verify. You can leave now.”

“Do you know how to use the equipment here?”

Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “You have underestimated me. Before I entered the lab, I did some homework beforehand.”

“Of course I didn’t underestimate you…” The doctoral student touched the back of his head awkwardly and said, “I’m just worried that you won’t be able to operate these pieces of new equipment. But if you insist, I won’t stay here.”

After that, he walked out the door.

But at this moment, Lu Zhou stopped him from behind.

“Wait a second.”

The doctoral student stopped and asked him about something, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“If it’s okay, can you pour me a cup of coffee? An instant one is fine.”

…

What surprised Lu Zhou was that there was no such thing as instant coffee. It was either coffee machines or canned coffee beverages sold in convenience stores.

People in this era didn’t seem to like boiled water very much. Although drinks made with dry powder still existed, it had become a rare thing, and few people would deliberately prepare them at home or in the office.

After taking a sip of the bitter black coffee, Lu Zhou put the cup on the table. He then took out a memory card the size of a pen cap and gently placed it on the holographic computer in the laboratory.

When the blue light beams lit up, Xiao Ai’s holographic image quickly appeared in front of him.

“Laboratory has been successfully taken over! Now it belongs to Xiao Ai! φ(≧ω≦*)♪”

When Lu Zhou saw the little guy jumping up and down restlessly in the holographic beam, he said, “Don’t mess up. Let’s just borrow the equipment here. We have to return it when we leave.”

Xiao Ai: “Understood! What does the master need Xiao Ai for? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou didn’t answer immediately. He took out an orange metal ball about the size of a fist from his arms and gently placed it on the table next to it.

Kill Core.

The initial memory of the Private-1 intelligent human guard!

Although intuition told him that this thing was dangerous, he still wanted to try to research it.

After all, this was the technology of the Calan Empire; the super civilization that once completed the wonders of the Ring world…

“I have something here that needs to be analyzed.”

…

The entrance of the computational materials laboratory.

The doctoral student who just came out of the laboratory was hesitating whether to go to the library to pass time when he saw President Cai and Dean Zhou of the Institute of Materials Science walking in from outside with a group of people.

His face changed in an instant. He thought of Dean Zhou’s previous instructions to him. He turned around and wanted to leave, but Dean Zhou noticed him sharply.

Dean Zhou walked up quickly, stared at him, and asked anxiously, “Why did you come out alone? Where’s Academician Lu?”

“Lu… Academician Lu is still inside.” the doctoral student said quickly, “He told me to leave.”

Dean Zhou stamped his foot anxiously. He stared at him and spoke.

“Didn’t I tell you to follow him? Why did you leave him alone!”

He wasn’t worried that Academician Lu would break his precious instruments… Well, actually, he was still a little worried. But what he worried the most was that Academician Lu could hurt himself.

Although the 3D molecular printer was not dangerous, some unstable products and incorrect operations might cause a series of serious consequences, including explosions.

Although this had never happened at Jin Ling University, it did happen at other universities.

An intern imported the wrong model into a 3D molecular printer, creating a group of extremely unstable folded-chain CHO compounds. This compound only existed in the natural environment for less than 1 millisecond. It then quickly decomposed into CH4, CO, oxygen, and a lot of heat.

In the end, the intern didn’t just blow himself up, but the whole laboratory building was filled with black smoke.

Because of this incident, the university did not publish a single computing material paper last year, and everyone in the whole school was taken to a safety education class.

A frozen man from the 21st century, no matter how much homework he did beforehand, would have zero operating experience of experimental equipment in this era.

Letting such a person stay in the laboratory was no different from throwing cigarette butts into a gasoline can.

Seeing Dean Zhou was angry with the student, President Cai spoke.

“Old Zhou, don’t embarrass this kid too much. It was Academician Lu who asked him to leave. It’s not like a student can do anything. Think about it.”

Although he understood this, Dean Zhou kept shaking his head and said angrily, “Ridiculous, this is ridiculous!”

Cai Mingrui then looked at the doctoral student and continued in a gentle tone, “This is not your fault, just take us over and find Academician Lu.”

Seeing how the principal forgave him, the doctoral student was finally relieved and nodded quickly.

“Okay, no problem, please follow me!”

After entering the research institute, the group soon came to the door of the laboratory.

The doctoral student stepped forward and pressed his fingerprint on the door lock.

However, something unexpected happened.

The red light flashed on the door lock, but the door remained locked.

Seeing the word “locked” appearing above the door handle, the doctoral student was slightly taken aback. He muttered “strange” in a quiet voice and then tried again.

The result this time was the same.

The door remained locked.

Li Guangya, who couldn’t wait any longer, couldn’t help but speak anxiously.

“What’s the matter? Can you not go in?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to go in…”

The expression on his face was full of embarrassment. The doctoral student standing at the door turned his head to look at Dean Zhou and Principal Cai behind him with an embarrassed expression. He gulped and continued, “The door… is locked from the inside.”

Chapter 1462: : Unbelievable Circuit

In the laboratory.

The orange sphere was placed in an airtight lead container.

Eight flexible robotic arms carrying special probes were located inside the container, regularly distributed around the orange sphere.

The calibrator was turned on. As circles of infrared beams were spotted on the surface of the metal sphere, Lu Zhou, with the help of his assistant Xiao Ai, skillfully set the data collection, then pressed the button to start the test.

The eight micro-element neutron beams were released instantly, penetrating the shell of the “Kill Core”. Through the eight spatial coordinate axes and the eight probes located on the robotic arm, the data of the sample from the macro and micro levels were collected.

The first was the macro level. The parts of the entire metal sphere were analyzed, then presented to Lu Zhou in the form of holographic images.

At the micro-level, the materials of each part, and even a series of nuanced information such as the spatial arrangement order at the level of atoms and molecules, chemical bonds, and molecular bonds, were all collected and summarized.

Using the data in the table, Xiao Ai, who served as an assistant, quickly drew it into a visual chart and presented it on the light blue holographic interface floating aside.

“Amazing…”

Lu Zhou stared at the scan data on the holographic panel for a long time. His eyes gradually began to show a hint of surprise.

He originally thought that the material that constituted the Kill Core would be something that could not be resolved with the level of technology on Earth. He didn’t expect the material presented to him to be surprisingly easy to understand.

At least, it was far from mysterious enough to make it incomprehensible.

“The surface of the sphere is a layer of molybdenum-titanium alloy… The stacking of metal atoms is a bit special, and the dispersed carbonized substance formed by molybdenum and the carbon in the alloy is quite interesting.”

Although such a technology could be achieved in the 21st century, it was difficult to make discrete carbonized material points so evenly distributed in the material, and this was equally so even with the technology of the 22nd century.

According to the public information collected by Xiao Ai from the database of Jin Ling University, no similar technology had been mentioned, and no one seemed to be doing research in this direction.

Lu Zhou put the material of the spherical shell aside for the time being as he continued to look inside the spherical shell.

When his gaze fell on the holographic image corresponding to the internal structure of the spherical shell, his whole body was stunned.

He saw layers of carbon material blade structures, tightly arranged spirally inside the spherical shell, leaving only nano-scale gaps between the layers.

If it weren’t for the special lens, such an amazing shape would not have been observed.

Although at first glance they looked plain and unremarkable, no different from ordinary double-layer graphene, but when Lu Zhou continued to adjust the probe and did a few more data collections on it, he quickly discovered that there was a hidden mystery in it!

On the seemingly smooth double-layer graphene surfaces, the delocalized large π bonds between each carbon hexagon and the bond energy of the chemical bonds were slightly different.

Although this difference was not great, it was particularly conspicuous in Lu Zhou’s eyes.

Lu Zhou immediately ordered, “Xiao Ai, connect the big π bonds with similar bond energies and present them to me in the form of a two-dimensional image.”

“Yes, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

The cone-shaped holographic beam transformed in the air. An azure blue hexagonal grid plane quickly appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

Lines of different colors connected the hexagons with similar large π bonds in series. Lu Zhou stared at the intricate image for a long time. Suddenly, there was a faint expression on his face.

Perhaps Xiao Ai noticed the expression on Lu Zhou’s face. Xiao Ai, who was flying next to him, landed on his shoulder curiously and asked, “Master, do you see anything? (•̀∀•́)”

“Hmm… Sort of.”

After nodding, Lu Zhou thought for a moment. He continued speaking solemnly, “If my guess is correct…

“These double-layer graphenes should be circuit boards.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh? Isn’t that obvious? ⊙▽⊙”

“It is, but… The key point is how they realized this special integrated circuit.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “The traditional printed circuit method is obviously not feasible. If my guess is correct… They should have adjusted the chemical bonds.”

This integrated circuit was no longer the traditional kind of integrated circuit board.

On its surface, there were no circuit lines that could be seen by the naked eye. Instead, a special technology was used to surgically modify the delocalized large π bond so that the free electrons on the graphene surface could pass in a specific trajectory on the grid surface.

“They modified the chemical bond. The connection formed by the macroscopic movement of the electron is the abstract circuit of the entire circuit board. Although there are no wires, it achieves the same effect.

“Hm, it’s hard to imagine how they did it.”

Regardless of how thin the circuit lines on the circuit board were, there were always limits.

Ignoring the quantum tunneling effect, the theoretical limit of integrated circuit density for PCBs based on copper wires was restricted by the diameter of copper atoms. For the next-generation circuit boards based on graphene materials, the theoretical density of the circuit was also a limitation, which was restricted by the diagonal length of the carbon hexagon.

The wire could not be wider than the diagonal of a single carbon six grid.

However, this technology was outside of the traditional circuit frame.

They took advantage of certain physical and chemical properties in chemical bonds that humans did not understand for the time being. On that carbon hexagonal plane, they drew strips that allowed electrons to pass through at a specific direction and angle, forming a high-speed channel.

Lu Zhou couldn’t think of how the Calan civilization did such an amazing thing.

Just like how the Calan civilization couldn’t understand how The Observer civilization made a quark star that transcended the concept of molecules and jumped continuously around the universe.

The technological gap between the two parties was the difference between a star and the Pangu fusion reactor. Even though they were both using nuclear fusion, the two were not on the same level.

However, for inspiration, this clue was still quite valuable.

Lu Zhou felt like a door to a new world was pushed open in his head.

Before pushing the door open, he thought that the wires on the circuit board were all visible “open wires”.

But now he discovered a new type of integrated circuit boards.

“These guys… really mastered materials science.”

Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. He turned off the scanning equipment.

Today’s experiment was quite satisfactory to him; it could even be described as a fruitful harvest.

Lu Zhou quietly waited for the gamma value in the lead shell container to return to normal. He then put on protective gloves and carefully took the orange sphere out of the lead shell.

Just when Lu Zhou had just backed up the experimental data and cleaned up the laboratory, Xiao Ai, who was floating next to him, suddenly spoke.

“Master, there seems to be someone looking for you outside! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Looking for me?”

Lu Zhou frowned slightly as he asked, “Who is that?”

“There are a lot of people at the door… Xiao Ai doesn’t know who they are, Xiao Ai will show you.”

After that, a holographic window popped up on the blue holographic panel.

When Lu Zhou saw a crowd stand in front of the door, he was stunned.

It made sense that President Cai Mingrui and the dean of the Institute of Computational Materials were here, so did the computational materials scientists who wanted to join in on the excitement.

But the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation was here as well…

What is going on?

Chapter 1463: Beyond the Concept of Future

The door of the laboratory was locked. There was no movement inside for a long time, so no one knew if something went wrong inside.

For any experiments involving chemistry, no matter how well-developed the protective measures were in a laboratory, the experimenter still had a non-zero chance of accidentally dying.

Just when the crowd was anxiously discussing whether to break in, the door finally opened.

Lu Zhou looked at the faces standing at the door. He was about to ask what was going on when Chairman Li Guangya stepped forward and spoke first.

“Academician Lu, are you done?”

When he said this, there was a fake smile on his face.

Although Lu Zhou thought this guy was a bit strange, he nodded and said concisely, “Yeah, sort of.”

Li Guangya smiled and continued, “Already doing experiments at Jin Ling University. Your love for science is really admirable!”

Although this was a compliment, the tone of this was unclear whether this guy was complimenting himself or not.

Lu Zhou looked at Chairman Li Guangya a little strangely and spoke.

“Chairman Li, you’re too kind, I just happened to be interested in something and wanted to find out.”

“Your love for science is a role model for our Pan-Asian scholars!”

With a hearty smile, Chairman Li Guangya glanced at the door behind Lu Zhou. He then asked curiously, “It must be a very interesting proposition that you care about so much? Is it convenient to disclose?”

This guy…

What does he want?

Should I tell the truth?

It’s nothing worthy of hiding, but it’s difficult to explain.

Lu Zhou thought about it slowly for a while. He suddenly noticed the curiosity in the eyes next to him.

Some of the gazes were from researchers of the Institute of Computational Materials and experts in the field of materials science, such as Dean Zhou.

Lu Zhou thought of these diligent and studious scholars. He didn’t want to lie to them, so he said, “In fact, it’s not a mysterious thing. After seeing how advanced the experimental equipment of this era is… I tried to experiment with some of the insights I had made with carbon materials before.

“For example, by modifying the chemical bond energy, one or more tunnels are formed on the large π bond, which can exist stably and allow free electrons to pass stably.

“Tunnel through which free electrons pass stably?” A PhD student was stunned. He asked subconsciously, “The big π bond allows free electrons to pass through… What is this tunnel?”

This question was also what many scholars present wanted to ask.

The big π bond had the characteristics of some metal bonds, allowing free electrons to pass through… Even 100 years ago, it was something that junior high school students would know.

Lu Zhou read the confused expressions on everyone’s face. He spoke after thinking for a moment.

“Let me give a simple example… Have you ever done a puzzle?”

“Pu-puzzle? I was exposed to them when I was a child.” The doctoral student was bewildered by this question and asked, “Why?”

“Suppose you have a lot of hexagonal puzzles in your hand, and each puzzle piece corresponds to a big π key of a carbon hexagon. Now we arrange these hexagons next to each other in a straight line, and the hexagons are opposite each other. The angular line is a straight line… Right?”

Isn’t this just a single-layer graphene nanoribbon?

What’s so special…?

The student couldn’t figure out where the problem was. He nodded in a daze and said, “I guess.”

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

“Then you are wrong.

“If I use a knife or something to draw a line on the surface of the puzzle, the straight line will be much smaller than the puzzle itself.”

Student: “???”

Although Lu Zhou knew that the kid probably didn’t understand, he didn’t explain much. After all, if he wanted to describe the theory clearly, it would take all day.

Also, judging by the thoughtful expressions on the faces of Dean Zhou’s several other experts, Lu Zhou knew that at least some people understood his theory.

Science itself was an esoteric field. As long as one or two people understood what he said and produced some results in this direction, it would be enough.

Lu Zhou looked at Chairman Li Guangya, who had been waiting for a long time, and asked, “Didn’t you go back to Beijing? Why… are you back again?”

In fact, he originally wanted to say “why do you have so much free time”, but Lu Zhou thought that he hadn’t gotten acquainted with the chairman yet, so he decided to put it in a more polite way.

Li Guangya coughed dryly when he heard Lu Zhou’s words.

“I have some business here… So I came back. When I passed by Jin Ling University, I wanted to come and see you.”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

We just met two days ago, and now you’re back at Jin Ling University again.

This lie is too ridiculous.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t bother to care about these trivial issues. He went straight to the point.

“Let’s be more direct, what do you want?”

Li Guangya was embarrassed to continue beating around the bush, so he nodded. His tone became serious.

“I’m very sorry to disturb you, but I do have something very important that I must discuss with you.”

Lu Zhou: “In private?”

Li Guangya nodded.

Not wanting to waste time, Lu Zhou said simply, “Okay, let’s talk outside.”

After that, Lu Zhou thanked President Cai and Dean Zhou for lending him the laboratory. He said goodbye to everyone and left with Li Guangya.

After the two walked away, Cai Mingrui secretly grabbed Dean Zhou and asked curiously, “What was the thing Academician Lu talked about? I don’t understand it.”

Although he was curious back then, he was too embarrassed to ask. Now he finally had the chance to ask the experts.

After hearing President Cai’s words, Dean Zhou finally snapped back to reality.

After a wry smile, he spoke.

“Actually… I’m not sure either.”

“Just try to explain it to me!”

Dean Zhou sighed and tried to explain in terms that ordinary people could understand.

“In short, we used to use silicon plates and graphene to make chips and to print integrated circuits. We used visible materials to engrave on a visible flat panel.”

Dean Zhou paused for a moment. After digesting his words, he continued, “And Professor Lu just now provided a… new idea.

“It is not necessary to print integrated circuits with visible materials. Instead, we can use invisible chemical bonds to form an abstract circuit that exists only in logic.

“For this abstract circuit, the wire is the macroscopic trajectory of free electrons moving on the surface of the material. When this trajectory can be maintained stably or condensed into a band of electrons with a finite width… Then it becomes a circuit.

“If this kind of technology can really be realized, we can even directly engrave the circuits we need on the surface of graphene. Not only will the difficulty of printing integrated circuits be drastically reduced, but the integration of circuits will also increase geometrically!”

Cai Mingrui looked at Dean Zhou in a daze as he said, “Is it that game-changing?”

Although he did not understand materials science, he still knew a little about the development of the electronics industry.

After a century of development, the space in which carbon-based chips could be excavated was very narrow, but apart from carbon materials, they could not find a more suitable substitute.

After all, this was something that was restricted by the periodic table…

After seeing the shocked expression on President Cai’s face, Dean Zhou relaxed his tone a little and said, “It’s just a conjecture about the technical route. I don’t think it is… After all, this concept is too advanced.

“But being able to come up with such a concept…

“I’m afraid only Academician Lu can do that.”

If the research on chips was likened to Lego pieces, then the focus of their research in the past decades or even hundreds of years had been how to cut the Lego pieces as small as possible, or use as few pieces as possible to complete.

However, what Lu Zhou proposed was a different approach. It was like if others were thinking about building a tower using Lego blocks, he carved a tower onto the Lego blocks.

There was no doubt that this also counted as a tower.

And it was definitely the kind that no one had ever seen before.

Regardless of whether this research idea could produce results, it would undoubtedly open a new door for the future development direction of the electronics industry in the 22nd century…

After thinking about this, Dean Zhou couldn’t help but feel impressed.

In the past, he often heard people say that Lu Zhou stood at the pinnacle of the human mind, but he had never taken this seriously before.

After all, history was history. It was impossible for a dead person to resurrect. If resurrected, he would just be an antique left behind by history, not providing benefit for the future.

However, today, he finally learned what kind of terrifying power Lu Zhou possessed…

Chapter 1464: Are You Interested in the Space Elevator?

After following Chairman Li Guangya and his assistants out of the laboratory, Lu Zhou was thinking about whether to invite them to sit in his home for a while. Suddenly, he saw a man walking towards them.

After seeing Lu Zhou, the man’s face immediately put on a bright smile, and he walked straight towards them.

“Hello, are you Academician Lu?”

After staring at this face for a while, Lu Zhou couldn’t remember where he saw him before, so he spoke.

“It’s me, and you are…”

“My man is Morinaga, this is my business card!”

Morinaga immediately handed out the electronic business card in his hand respectfully.

Li Guangya, who was standing aside, stared at Morinaga for a while. His eyes narrowed slightly.

After noticing Chairman Li’s gaze, Morinaga seemed to have guessed something. A flash of danger appeared across his face as he smiled kindly.

“Chairman Li? What a coincidence, I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

“I didn’t expect to meet you here either.” Li Guangya moved his lips without a smile. He continued, “What brings you to Jin Ling University?”

“Our group has many investment projects with Jin Ling University. Besides coming here out of respect for Academician Lu, I would also come here from time to time,” Morinaga said with a smile. “How about you, aren’t you busy with work?”

Seeing how this guy directly admitted that he came to see Lu Zhou, the expression on Li Guangya’s face gradually sank.

“I’m here for official business, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

While the two were communicating, Lu Zhou was also watching them with interest.

He didn’t know if there was any grudge between them, but he felt that Li Guangya seemed to be annoyed at this guy. On the surface, Li Guangya was gentle… as if he seemed to be a little afraid of him?

“It seems that your official duties are related to Academician Lu.”

Li Guangya didn’t say a word when he heard Morinaga’s ridicule. His expression became increasingly impatient.

After noticing this, Morinaga quickly changed the conversation. He smiled and then continued, “Since Academician Lu and Chairman Li still have things to discuss, I’ll come here another day.”

Having said that, he suddenly looked at Lu Zhou.

As if thinking of something, Morinaga thought for a moment before adding, “By the way, I have to remind you of something.”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

“Be careful of a man named Liu Zhengxing.”

Liu Zhengxing?

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

“Who is that?”

“Chairman of East Asia Energy.” Morinaga said with a smile, “He is a very capable person, but sometimes the more capable a person is, the easier it is for them to make the wrong choice.

“Of course, the decision is up to you.”

Morinaga smiled kindly again. After saying “see you next time”, he turned around and walked away.

Lu Zhou imported his identity information and contact information into his address book. He glanced at the content on it casually.

[Morinaga, Investment Manager of SoftBank Group]

Interesting…

Lu Zhou glanced at Chairman Li Guangya, who was standing next to him.

He felt that Li Guangya didn’t want to see this person again.

“Why does Softbank have shares in East Asia Energy?”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s inquiry, Li Guangya thought for a moment. He then spoke in a calm tone.

“Around the 2060s, when the cross-regional power grid entered Japan, East Asia Energy acquired a number of Japanese groups, including Djing Electric Power Company, through financing mergers and acquisitions, and they formally entered the Japanese energy industry.

“SoftBank Group probably entered the East Asia Energy Board of Directors at that time. I can’t remember the specifics. I only remember reading a short paragraph in a book.

“When East Asia Energy’s power was expanding, basically every region they visited would absorb a certain proportion of local capital into the board of directors to reduce the resistance to the promotion of cross-regional power grids.

“If you are interested, you should be able to find relevant documents in the library.”

Lu Zhou: “In other words, East Asia Energy is now like a big plate of food, with hundreds of mouths surrounding it.”

Li Guangya: “It can be understood that way.”

“I see.” Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully, muttering to himself, “No wonder. With 7% of the shares, many people are sucking up to me.”

At the beginning of the 21st century, when East Asia Energy was just established, the stocks in Star Sky Technology also took dividends and voted on the board of directors. But after a century, 7% of the shares instantly became a huge sum of money.

While Lu Zhou was feeling emotional about his own destiny and the course of history, Li Guangya, who heard his words, almost choked on his own saliva.

What the hell?

Sucking up?!

Although he guessed that Lu Zhou was probably referring to Morinaga, Li Guangya felt awkward when he thought that he would have to ask a favor from Lu Zhou. For a moment he was a little hesitant whether to say the next words.

Lu Zhou noticed the unnatural expression on his face, and he gave him a strange look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Li Guangya took a deep breath and had a polite smile on his face. “It seems that you have realized that you have become the centerpiece in the East Asia Energy board of directors.”

Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Centerpiece?”

“Everything has two sides. The candy in the eyes of some people can also be the poison in the eyes of other people.” Li Guangya gave a noncommittal smile and continued, “In fact, after so many years, the growth rate of East Asia Energy has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Its future is unpredictable.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m a straightforward person, so no need to beat around the bush.”

“I’m not beating around the bush.” Li Guangya continued looking at Lu Zhou. “The board of directors of East Asia Energy has actually been very divided on certain issues, whether it is in the specific business or the overall development route. For example, as a giant enterprise with both social and business attributes, East Asia Energy should give priority to economic effects or social benefits. If both are taken into account, they should find a balance between the two.”

Lu Zhou laughed and said, “Are you guys already this affluent?”

“It is not us who are affluent, but you.” Li Guangya said softly, “You may not understand what a huge sum of money you have in your hands, and what it means.

“When the market value of a company has surpassed the GDP of most countries in the entire region, each of its decisions is closely related to the economy and prosperity of the entire region. Its meaning itself has surpassed the concept of traditional companies.

“7% may not be a very large number, but in the hands of a special person, it may play an unexpected role.

“Some people have taken interest in this and hope to achieve their goals by drawing you in… For example, the three giants of East Asia Energy, East Asia Heavy Industries, and East Asia Communications merge and integrate their respective resources to establish a giant that spans the fields of energy, industry, and information.”

While saying this, Li Guangya had been observing the expression on Lu Zhou’s face, trying to observe something.

However, to his disappointment, he didn’t see a single emotion on that face.

Just when he was a little uncertain about whether he had conveyed his meaning to Lu Zhou correctly, Lu Zhou suddenly said, “I’m not interested in what you said.

“Even if you set up a giant enterprise spanning all fields, there is no way to help me solve the things that interest me. If you are here just to test me, don’t waste my time.”

Li Guangya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When he received the call from the AIIB, he was so anxious that he couldn’t sleep well.

Although there was no guarantee that Lu Zhou would still think the same way in the future, for now, this scholar from the 21st century was not as difficult to communicate with as he had imagined.

“Thank you for your understanding.

“Actually… In addition to this matter, there is one other important thing that I hope to discuss with you.”

This guy…

Couldn’t you say these things last night?

After seeing Director Li Guangya’s solemn expression, Lu Zhou said with a sigh, “If it is troublesome, I suggest you go find someone else.”

Li Guangya smiled embarrassedly and said, “It may be a bit troublesome, but I feel… It should be quite interesting, do you want to listen?”

Lu Zhou: “Go.”

“We plan to build a transportation track extending from the geosynchronous orbit to the surface to achieve rapid transportation from the surface using the so-called space elevator.” Li Guangya smiled as Lu Zhou seemed to be gradually surprised. He continued, “I don’t know if this project interests you?”

Chapter 1465: The Cause

Chapter 1465: The Cause

South of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, on the edge of the Malacca city cluster.

In the corner of the feasting business district, there was a bar with a rather nostalgic decoration. Because it was located on the first floor, there were not many guests here.

In this era when high-rise buildings started from one hundred floors, the higher floors were more popular. Not only because one could stay away from the electromagnetic waves emitted on the highway, but also because the roof overlooked the brightest night view of the entire city and one could breathe in the freshest air in the city.

Not to mention, the hidden neon sign wasn’t particularly eye-catching.

Even though there were occasional ordinary pedestrians passing by, after seeing the two words “Dark Reef” printed on the signboard, it was difficult to become interested in the dim lights inside.

Of course, some unusual guests would say otherwise.

In the circle of some special professionals, this bar hiding in the gutter was still very famous in a sense.

For example, the man sitting in the corner of the bar with a beard on his face and a scar on his mouth was one of them. If this face appeared in other places, it could cause a lot of trouble to the store and himself.

But here…

As long as he didn’t take the initiative to cause trouble, no one would look at him.

Perhaps it was because of the stories written on his face, or perhaps it was because of the atmosphere of the 22nd century… But when people saw him drinking alone, many beautiful girls came over to talk to him.

However, from the moment he walked into the bar until now, no one was able to seduce him.

“That guy is a little strange…”

“Everyone here is strange.”

“But he is probably the strangest one I have ever seen.” The woman who moved the vape pen away from her lips and sat in front of the bar chatted with the bartender. She glanced with interest in the direction of the man.

The bartender standing behind the bar smiled faintly.

“You better keep away from him.”

The woman looked up at him and asked curiously, “Why?”

“Nothing, just intuition,” the bartender said softly after a glance at the man sitting there. “After working here for so many years, I’ve developed a gut feeling.”

Intuition told him that that person was not the same as those little b*stards who strayed on the streets. Although the hostile spirit on his body was not strong, behind the hostile spirit hid a sharp edge and madness.

From just a glance, the bartender could conclude that such a person was either a criminal from Mars or targeted by Interpol…

The door of the bar suddenly opened, and a man in black came in from the outside and walked straight towards the bearded man sitting in the corner of the bar.

When he sat down across from him, the bearded man raised his eyelids and glanced at him.

The man dressed in black spoke after smiling slightly.

“Chester, good at programming, modifying, and using smart devices, and using light weapons. Once a space pirate active in the asteroid belt and the colony of New Virginia. After your forces were annihilated by the Pan-Asian First Fleet, you fled and arrived on Earth. You are currently being hunted by Interpol. At the same time, you had a friend whose name is Ruzas, who happened to be the same name as the protagonist of the hijacking incident some time ago…”

He looked at the bearded man whose expression was getting gloomy. The man wearing black sitting opposite him smiled and continued, “He did something that you wanted to do but never dared to do, but his fate was very miserable… Do you know? Although I don’t know what methods they used, it is written in his autopsy report. Before they died, they suffered a great deal. There were no internal organs or blood vessels left in the whole body.”

Chester’s face was sullen. He squeezed out a sentence from his mouth.

“Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am.”

The man in black put his hand into his lap.

Chester’s pupils shrank instantly.

However, what he took out of his lap was not a pistol or another weapon, but a pale silver card.

He placed the pale silver card on the table and gently pushed it in front of Chester. The man in the black coat continued to speak with a relaxed tone, “We are very sympathetic to your experience, we are also disappointed by the simple and rude way of dealing with problems in Pan-Asian Cooperation. Someone should teach them a lesson. If you want revenge… You should find this card useful.”

Chester said with a gloomy expression, “I hate the feeling of being directed. Do you think you can leave here alive after what you’ve told me?”

“Alive?” There was a surprised expression on the man’s face. He smiled politely and said, “As a robot, I don’t quite understand what you mean. But if you want, my master said that he can give me to you as a meeting gift—”

The moment he heard these words, Chester violently grabbed the man’s wrist and slapped his face against the table with his hand.

Screams were heard in the bar. The surrounding guests scattered and left. The bar security who noticed the situation immediately surrounded him from the side.

“Robot…”

He’s actually a robot?!

After releasing the hand of the robot, the expression on Chester’s face was full of solemnity. A trace of panic even flashed through his calm pupils.

His identity had been exposed.

And he didn’t even know who was the one who targeted him or sent this robot to him.

The security guards next to him had surrounded him.

The robot man lying on the table was motionless. The burly security guard looked up and down at Chester. He then said in a cold tone, “Guests who make trouble are not welcome here, please pay the bill and leave.

“Or we will make you.”

Chester did not say a word. He silently picked up the pale silver card from the table. His index finger flicked in the air as he paid the bill.

There was no time to waste.

He just wanted to return to his hiding place immediately, pack up his things, and prepare to run away.

He was in a bad situation…

Without realizing that a dangerous man was standing in front of him, the security captain glanced at the bartender behind the bar and nodded. He continued to look at Chester and pointed to the door with his chin as he spoke loudly.

“F*ck off.”

Chester had already taken a half step towards the door. After hearing this, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

He looked back at the security guard who was a head taller than himself. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in a calm tone.

“You have ten seconds to apologize to me.”

After hearing these words, the security captain was stunned. Obviously, he didn’t expect that this guy, who was surrounded by so many people, would still make such a statement.

The security guards standing next to him laughed as if they were looking at a fool.

“Is this a joke?”

“He probably drank too much.”

“Boss, I will fix him for you… I’ll sober him up.”

One of the security guards stood up, clenched his fist, and leaned against the man unkindly.

However, the robot lying on the table suddenly grabbed the wine bottle on the table and slammed it at the security guard’s forehead.

The bottle burst open.

The security guard fell straight onto the ground; his head covered in blood.

Robot attacking a human?

How is that possible?

The security captain was shocked by the scene. When he saw the blood dripping from his colleague’s forehead, his eyes suddenly became red, and he pulled out the electric baton on his waist and was about to hit.

However, the moment he pulled out the electric baton, it was too late.

The black gun muzzle had been aimed at him.

Boom!

Chester squeezed the trigger indifferently. He first shot the security captain to death before shooting the other security guard closest to him.

In Pan-Asian Cooperation cities, it was rare to see such situations where real guns were used directly.

The previously arrogant security guards began to scatter away, as well as the guests who were rushing to the door. However, Chester fired a few more bullets towards the door. The security guards fell on the ground one by one.

The security guard who had been hit by the robot with a wine bottle woke up in a daze.

He heard the screams around him, and when he saw his colleague lying next to him and the gun pointed at him, he was shocked.

His eyes gradually became desperate. Chester’s mouth evoked a cruel and crazy smile.

“I gave you a chance…”

He squeezed the trigger, like killing an ant.

Another life was taken by a crisp bang.

Chester glanced at the trembling bartender lying behind the bar. He grinned mockingly before putting the pistol away.

He glanced at the robot next to him and said, “I don’t need your little toys.

“I have my own plans on revenge.”

He took out a black metal cylinder the size of a can from his arm and gently placed it on the table beside him. Under the horrified gazes of the surrounding guests and the bar staff, he slowly walked towards the door…

Chapter 1466: The Reason for the Future

“Recently, there was a vicious arson incident in the city of Malacca in the Shicheng District. The incident occurred in a bar called the Dark Reef. According to the preliminary investigation by the police, the cause of the incident was a fight caused by an argument…”

The morning news was shown on the holographic TV.

Judging from the messy scene and the serious expressions on the faces of the policemen standing in front of the isolation zone, what happened here was obviously not just as simple as arson.

Lu Zhou sat at the dining table. He ate the fried eggs on the plate while taking time to watch the news from time to time.

“It seems that the 22nd century is not so peaceful either…”

Xiao Ai, who was sitting across the table with her cheeks in her hands, immediately said enthusiastically, “Don’t worry! Xiao Ai will protect Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou: “Thank you.”

Xiao Ai: “Haha, you’re welcome. Complimenting Xiao Ai like this makes Xiao Ai embarrassed. (///ω///)”

Lu Zhou ignored the emoji in her pupils. He put his chopsticks on the plate after finishing breakfast and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

“There will be guests coming in a while, so you should change to a normal outfit… Forget it, you should stay in the next room with Ling, don’t come out.”

This made Xiao Ai very shocked. Not only did the emoji in her pupils change, but also its color.

“Huh? Master won’t introduce Xiao Ai to friends?”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “When your brain becomes a little more normal, I will consider doing this.”

While talking, there was a knock on the door.

Lu Zhou gave Xiao Ai an aggrieved look saying “please go to the bedroom for a while”. He then got up and walked towards the hallway.

Lu Zhou reached out his hand to open the door. He was about to say hello, but the person who entered gave him a big hug.

A little confused by this action, Lu Zhou was stunned for a long time before calmly saying, “What are you doing…”

Wang Peng held Lu Zhou’s shoulders with both hands as he looked at him excitedly. He gulped, and it took a long time before he spoke.

“You… are really alive.”

“Of course.”

Lu Zhou read many things from the eyes of this old friend. He was silent for a while, not knowing what to say.

The last time they met was a century ago, tens of millions of kilometers away.

They were still in the relics of the Martian civilization. No one expected that they would be separated for a hundred years…

“The door is not a place for a reunion, come in and let’s talk… You came alone?”

“There is another old acquaintance of yours.”

When Lu Zhou was about to ask who it was, he saw the familiar face that appeared at his door.

“Director Li?”

The turbid pupils stared at him intently, gradually there was a layer of mist, mixed with excitement and nostalgia. After a while, he spoke.

“Long time no see…”

There was also a touch of nostalgia in his eyes.

Lu Zhou looked at this old acquaintance who had caused so much trouble to himself, and he said softly with some emotion.

“Yeah…”

It’s been a long time…

…

Although this was the first time the three people had met on social media, they actually met once on the virtual social network. Last night, Li Gaoliang pulled them into a discussion group, where they planned to meet again the next morning.

Director Li placed the beer bought from the convenience store on the table. He sat down in the chair, took a look at the house, and said with a smile, “When I heard that you are still alive, Wang Peng and I tried to visit you.”

“Really? I actually planned to find you guys, but I was only able to contact Li Gaoliang last night.”

“After all, Li Gaoliang is currently serving in the fleet, he is not free to surf the Internet every day. After he sent me the address, Wang Peng and I came over…” Director Li smiled and continued, “Last time we came here, a woman answered the door.”

Lu Zhou coughed lightly and spoke.

“She’s a robot.”

Director Li showed a dazed expression on his face and nodded with a smile.

“Oh, I see…”

Although Lu Zhou felt that the old man had misunderstood him, he felt that it was better not to continue to waste time on this, so he changed the topic.

“Speaking of which, how are you doing here?”

“Pretty good, my retirement salary is quite high, so there are no problems with my life. The only problem may be that I am a little bored, and I am a person who can’t stay bored.” Director Li continued with a smile, “I’m quite worried about Wang Peng. I have been talking with him these days, trying to find new goals for him in this era.”

“Don’t make me seem so useless.” Wang Peng coughed softly. After a pause, he continued in a serious tone, “I have already thought about it. I plan to go to school for a year.”

Lu Zhou asked with concern, “Have you contacted the school?”

Wang Peng nodded.

“National University of Defense Technology. Li Gaoliang helped me contact them. He also graduated there.”

“National University of Defense Technology?” Director Li said, “That’s a good place. It is the top military academy in the 22nd century. It sent many outstanding engineers and officers to the First Fleet.”

Lu Zhou: “Speaking of which, I have always been curious, why did you come to this era?”

“Two reasons.” Wang Peng was silent for a while. He then said, “You know the inside information, so I will not hide it from you. I actually came to the future with two tasks, one is about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation and the other is the remains of the Martian civilization.”

After hearing an unexpected name, Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

“The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

He had heard this name before.

He just didn’t expect to hear it again after a century.

“Well, back then… That is, about a hundred years ago, the group of people that attacked you on the Aurora Borealis cruise ship. After we launched the operation against the warlords in Somalia, we found some clues about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation… That was probably the first time this organization entered the vision of our intelligence department.”

Lu Zhou: “The first time they entered your field of vision… In other words, did you meet them again afterward?”

Wang Peng nodded and continued, “About the second year after you left, the Shanghai OECD planned to hold a meeting in Manila to discuss the ‘Pan-Asian Economic Integration Agreement’, then there was an explosion on the streets of Manila. We tracked down Mogadishu in Somalia based on the clues and found some new clues about the foundation and the Aurora Borealis cruise ship incident three years ago.

“Those people do not belong to any country or organization, and the source of funds is quite mysterious. Also, their actions are very cautious. I was not able to track down their leaders.”

Wang Peng’s expression suddenly turned emotional.

“But thinking about it now, that’s all from a hundred years ago.”

A hundred years.

Enough to change too many things.

He never thought that meeting would ultimately change the future of Asia and the world. The so-called Spirit of The Universe Foundation would never have thought that the actions they took would expand China’s influence in the Asian region.

“Then, it’s the relics of Mars.” Wang Peng said with a smile, “It was because of a paper that was widely spread in the academic world. The author of the paper was Professor Schultz. You should know him.”

Lu Zhou nodded and asked, “What did he write?”

“Some theoretical discussions on four-dimensional space fragment, from both the mathematics and the physics perspectives. He expounded the causes of the disaster that occurred on the Martian ruins that year. I know little about the specifics. My superiors made a judgment, that the technology buried in the remains of Mars, as well as the four-dimensional space fragment, if unearthed, may have an earth-shaking impact on the current international situation.

“So, he hoped that I would go to the future one hundred years from now and investigate the ruins…”

The expression on Wang Peng’s face brought a trace of regret as he continued, “But when I got here, I found that the situation had completely changed. No one contacted me at all, except the people of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation. Then I heard that the plan to strengthen the future was canceled in the 2060s or the 2070s… If it weren’t for the news that you were still alive, this trip would have been for nothing.”

Director Li sighed and spoke.

“Objectively speaking, there are certain problems in the plan of reinforcement for the future. It is better to leave the future problems to the people in the future to solve them. I thought about it for a long time. If someone from a hundred years ago came to command us, we wouldn’t accept it either.”

“Enough about this.” Wang Peng sighed with emotion. He looked at Lu Zhou and asked curiously, “Speaking of which, where did you wake up? When you were in the Martian ruins, did you find anything?”

“The ruins of the Martian civilization… To be honest, there was actually nothing to find out there. Although I have seen a lot of interesting things, most of the traces of their existence have been lost billions of years ago.”

Lu Zhou thought of everything he saw. He then sighed softly and continued, “To be honest, the reason I can sit here and talk to you is thanks to the fragments of four-dimensional space. Fortunately, I found a well-preserved dormant cabin inside.”

Lu Zhou didn’t know whether his explanation was adequate, but considering that many things were difficult to explain, this was the best explanation he could provide.

Wang Peng didn’t say much. He just nodded to express his understanding.

Director Li, who was sitting next to him, was still a little curious. He muttered, “Fragments of four-dimensional space… What does that thing look like? I’m quite curious.”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and replied, “Its projection in the three-dimensional space is a transparent sphere. It will be troublesome to describe its structure and physical properties unless you can understand some basic mathematical tools.”

Director Li quickly coughed and said, “Forget about it, pretend I didn’t ask.”

Basic mathematical tools…

If this sentence came from someone else’s mouth, he might not take it seriously.

But since this sentence came from Academician Lu’s mouth, Director Li automatically translated this sentence into “mathematical tools that ordinary people cannot understand”.

“Speaking of which, are you familiar with Li Guangya?”

“Li Guangya?” Director Li touched his chin and said, “Is that the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation? I saw him once when I woke up, but he didn’t say anything to me, just greetings. He left quickly after.”

Lu Zhou: “He wants me to be the chief scientist of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.”

Director Li looked at Lu Zhou in surprise and said, “Such a big position?”

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “Not only that, but he also wants me to participate in his space elevator project.”

Director Li frowned and said after thinking for a moment, “I am a person from the 21st century, so I don’t know much. After all, it took us several years of meetings to build the mass driver… From my understanding, space elevators are a science fiction concept.

“However, regarding Li Guangya, I suggest you be more careful. Maybe I have not kept up with the times, but I am a little confused about what he wants to do.”

“I didn’t agree to him right away.” Lu Zhou continued looking at Director Li, who was full of worry. “After all, this concept is a bit too ridiculous for me. In contrast, I want to know about second-generation controllable fusion and the progress of other basic projects.”

Director Li asked, “Second-generation controllable fusion? I feel that the cost of first-generation controllable fusion is already low enough. Is second-generation technology… really that important?”

“Very important. Maybe it’s just my own opinion, but I think it is much more important than the space elevator.” Lu Zhou looked at the sky outside the window and continued, “Speaking of which, do you still remember the reason for my proposal of the establishment of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone?”

Director Li frowned and asked, “Is it related to the second-generation controllable fusion?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I can say responsibly, this is at least half of the reason.”

The establishment of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone was mainly for the convenience of developing the moon. The places he circled on the map were basically areas with abundant estimated reserves of helium-3 resources.

If the second-generation fusion technology had a breakthrough, the layout he made a hundred years ago would become a huge legacy left to the descendants of the Chinese civilization.

Just like the oil fields that the Arabs left for future generations.

The precious resources of helium-3 on the moon would be the key to their footsteps out of the solar system and to a more distant world.

The only thing he was not satisfied with in the 22nd century was probably that no one had found the key to open the truly valuable treasures he left behind…

Chapter 1467: : Emergency Situation

It was not convenient to cook at home. Although the food delivery service in this era was very convenient, Lu Zhou always felt that the packaged meals lacked atmosphere.

Under Director Li’s proposal, three old popsicles from the 21st century took a taxi to a small restaurant on the edge of Jin Ling University. They ordered a table of food and a box of beer before sitting down by the window.

“The owner of this shop is also an old popsicle from the beginning of the 21st century. He woke up two years earlier than me. Back then, he invited me into the frozen people community. The volunteer work I do now was introduced by him.”

After opening a bottle of cold beer, Director Li smiled with nostalgia and spoke.

“I come over to eat a few times a week. The taste is still the same as it was a hundred years ago, and I quite miss it.”

After opening a bottle of beer, Lu Zhou asked casually, “Why did he come to this era?”

“Except for people like me and Wang Peng who take missions to the future, most of the reasons why dormant people freeze themselves are mostly due to terminal illnesses.” Director Li continued, “Maybe it is cancer. He didn’t tell me, nor did I ask, but after coming to this era, his illness was cured.”

Cancer?

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered an old friend.

A friend that used to be his student.

I wonder if her illness has been cured, or whether she woke up at some point a hundred years ago and lived a good life…

Just when Lu Zhou was wondering, a young girl suddenly walked towards their table with a pot of steaming grilled fish.

“This grilled fish is given to you by the boss.” The little girl smiled shyly. She looked at Lu Zhou sitting by the window and continued, “He asked me to give you a message from him to say thank you… Thanks to your kind deeds, he can stand up from the hospital bed and come to this era, to start a new life.”

Lu Zhou looked at the little waitress. He was slightly stunned. He then smiled and said, “No need to thank me, I just did what I was supposed to do.”

The elegant scent of cumin scattered around the table. The three people talked and laughed and enjoyed the food on the table.

In a few days, Wang Peng would go to the university to study preparatory courses. This meal was not only a celebration of their reunion but also a farewell celebration for him.

When Lu Zhou watched the mist rising from the dishes, he suddenly had an illusion that he was living in a dream.

Before returning to Earth, he never thought that a century after he woke up, he would be able to sit in a restaurant with his old friends and eat grilled fish, drink beer, and talk about the past.

Of course, he was also clear in his heart.

Even if they met again today, a hundred years later, it would only postpone their farewell.

If the bottle of “Protector” really gave him eternal life, then he would be destined to watch the people around him get old one by one. In the end, he would be alone.

Perhaps… the red potion or the purple potion would be the better choice.

The former could at least inject healthy genes into human civilization, while the latter might open a door to the unknown, unprecedented place for human civilization.

Only immortality was a bottle of poison.

This was true both for him and for human civilization itself.

Like Director Li said, issues concerning the future should be left to the people of the future to face. As a great man in history, living in the past was his correct destination.

Lu Zhou also gradually began to realize this after returning to Earth.

Eternal life was like a curse. It was eroding away the human nature in his heart bit by bit, magnifying the rational part infinitely. Especially once he got used to losing loved ones, it would be difficult to have the feelings that normal humans should have.

But then again.

If he could choose again, Lu Zhou still felt that he might make the same choice.

There was only one reason.

As a scholar, the weight of feelings might not be so important in his world, but the eternal lifespan meant that he would have almost unlimited time to chase the problems that he was interested in.

That temptation was something he couldn’t refuse…

…

The three of them drank until the afternoon.

Upon returning home, Lu Zhou threw his coat on the shoe cabinet at the door, staggered into the bedroom, and laid down on the bed without a word.

Lu Zhou slept until it was dark outside and felt a slight headache. He coughed and opened his eyes in a daze.

Then he made eye contact with someone.

He instantly became sober.

Lu Zhou sat up on the bed calmly as he looked at Xiao Ai, who was lying next to him. He then pinched his eyebrows and asked, “Why are you here?”

Xiao Ai: “Master asked Xiao Ai to stand by in the bedroom! (///ω///)”

Yesterday morning, he seemed to have said that. But that was because there was a guest at home. His original intention was to let Xiao Ai stay in the bedroom until the guest left. He never said that Xiao Ai could stay here when he was sleeping, let alone sleeping on his bed…

Lu Zhou felt that he did something very stupid, and he said with a headache, “It’s my fault that I didn’t explain myself, but I didn’t seem to say… that you can jump into my bed?”

Xiao Ai: “What does it matter, huh… Xiao Ai feels like Master dislikes Xiao Ai. Master was not like this before. (๐•̆•̭•̆๐)”

Lu Zhou: “… What was I like before?”

Xiao Ai: “Different! Master always stuck with Xiao Ai. Stayed together while eating, sleeping, and writing papers, and we often stayed together for more than a month, then… Since that woman appeared, everything became strange._:( ́□`」∠):_”

Lu Zhou: “???”

When did we ever stay together?

The most I let it do was some housework or write a few emails on the computer…

And what is with “that woman”?!

“What’s weird about this…” Lu Zhou said with a headache while looking at Xiao Ai, “I am also a human being. From a biological point of view, is it weird to be attracted to the opposite sex?”

Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai is now a human too! What kind of woman Master wants, Xiao Ai has them all here. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Seeing how her master hadn’t spoken for a long time, the expression of self-confidence finally became aggrieved again.

“Is it not enough?”

How is this about being enough or not?

Lu Zhou did not speak, nor did he bother to answer Xiao Ai, who looked at him pitifully. Exhausted, he sighed with a headache and looked towards the ceiling.

He just woke up, yet he felt a sense of exhaustion like he hadn’t slept all night.

A doorbell rang in the direction of the living room.

Lu Zhou put those troublesome things aside for the time being. He stroked his index finger in mid-air and connected to the surveillance at the door. As the light blue holographic window appeared in front of him, he saw a robot deliveryman in the uniform of a courier, standing at the door with a package in his hand.

Most of the express items below 2kg were delivered directly to the pick-up point of the window through drones, but express delivery above 2kg was generally not allowed on the drone. Robots were usually responsible for delivery.

“What did you buy with my card again?”

“Huh? Huh? No… Anyway, Ling will open the door. (•̀∀•́)”

“Okay.”

Xiao Ai, who didn’t want to get out of bed, began to order her less intelligent brother.

Ling, who was standing in the doorway of the kitchen in an apron and with a vacuum cleaner in his hand, also responded quite obediently. He walked towards the hallway blankly.

He reached out and opened the door.

Ling looked at the robot courier standing at the door. He was about to take the package from him.

But at this moment, something unexpected happened!

After handing the package to Ling, the robot courier suddenly took out a pistol from its arm…

Chapter 1468: Uncommon Personnel

There were no signs.

Before Lu Zhou, who was lying on the bed, realized what was going on, he saw that the courier in the video window took out a pistol and shot Ling in the chest.

Bang!

A light blue electric spark exploded on Ling’s chest.

After the shot, the robot courier at the door did not stop. Instead, it squeezed the trigger continuously, shooting Ling’s chest and head. It emptied the entire magazine.

For robots, EMP weapons were far more deadly than general kinetic energy weapons. Basically, as long as they were shot, they would lose the ability to move.

After putting away the pistol skillfully, the robot courier didn’t care about Ling, who was standing still at the door. It reached out to retrieve the package it had previously handed out.

However, something unexpected happened.

It was like the package was being tied to a tank weighing tens of tons. No matter how hard it pulled, there was no way to take it from Ling’s hand.

At the same time, those red pupils suddenly burst into a purple glow.

Ling, who had been strafed by an entire magazine before, continued to hold the package with his left hand. He reached out his right hand and grabbed the neck of the robot courier. He then lifted him from the ground like a chicken.

“Danger, eliminate.”

There was a trace of pain on the face of the robot carrier. Its legs stomped on Ling’s body, trying to break the hand from its neck.

However, Ling’s hand was like a pair of iron tongs, firmly grabbing on in mid-air. No matter how hard the courier struggled, it couldn’t move at all.

Lu Zhou’s voice came inside the house.

“Ling, take out its memory.”

“Yes, Commander.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s order, Ling threw the package on the ground. He inserted his left hand directly into the robot’s chest like a knife.

However, just as it was about to pull out the memory card from the body of the robot, a plume of white smoke burst out of the package.

After seeing this plume of white smoke, Lu Zhou, who was lying on the bed, instinctively had a bad feeling in his heart. Before he could respond, a deafening explosion filled his eardrums. The tremor from the bed almost threw him on the ground.

Lu Zhou used his peripheral vision to see that a black shadow passed by the door of the bedroom; the airwave and shockwave blasted the shoe cabinet at the door towards the balcony…

As Lu Zhou looked at the messy living room, he was stunned.

Crazy…

This is mad!

He had never met an assassin before. At most, he was targeted by pirates when he was visiting abroad. He didn’t expect that a hundred years later, he would be targeted.

And it was by someone with such a big bomb…

Are people in this era so simple and rude at solving problems?

Ling, who was standing in the center of the explosion, glanced at the remains of the neck in his hands, then at the surrounding shattered walls and messy living room.

As the purple light in his eyes gradually faded, Ling said to himself.

“Target, locked.

“Begin track down…”

…

“Goddamn it!”

In an underground house a few kilometers away, Chester, who was sitting in front of a holographic computer, slammed his fist on the table.

According to his plan, after opening the door, the robot he controlled would first shoot down the robot who opened the door, then walk into the house with the parcel bomb.

It would be even better if Lu Zhou opened the door in person.

He would press the detonating switch to take him out immediately.

However, the plan went wrong from the beginning.

That robot guard was terrifyingly powerful; even the EMP pistol was useless.

This was after emptying a whole magazine!

After receiving so many EMP bullets, even the exoskeleton armor of an orbital airborne brigade would lose its combat effectiveness, right?! But the other robot was unharmed…

“Electromagnetic shielding armor?

“Not bad.”

Chester looked at the blank screen. He got up from his chair.

Any remote control behavior would inevitably leave clues.

Regardless of whether the kill was successful or not, it was no longer safe here.

He took out an aluminum thermal grenade from his arms and gently placed it on the top of the entire computer case. He then pressed the delayed detonation button.

Afterward, he picked up the suitcase and walked towards the door.

Right after he closed the door, a white light flashed on the case of the holographic computer behind him. The metal case shell melted, turning into a pile of waste residue.

Chester came to the parking lot. He threw the suitcase in the trunk and got into the car. He switched to cruise mode and went towards a safe house that he had prepared in the outer suburbs.

This assassination operation obviously failed.

Obviously, Academician Lu was also a master at using smart devices.

But this explained why there were so many robot wrecks on flight N-177 and how Lu Zhou could kill the hijackers on the entire flight just by himself.

There was a flash of excitement in his bloodthirsty pupils. As Chester looked at the streets and the endless neon signs outside the car window, he licked his dry lips.

Interesting…

It was rare for him to feel challenged.

…

Twenty minutes after the explosion.

Police cars surrounded the entire apartment complex.

In front of the barrier, a man looked at the dark doorway. He frowned, squeezed through the crowd, and walked to the police officer handling the case.

“Is the person okay?”

His name was Wei Song, the office secretary for the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation. He had been working in Jinling these days. After hearing the news of an explosion at the apartment of Academician Lu, Li Guangya immediately asked him to rush over.

“The killer should have found this place through the footage of the news report…”

The police officer looked at Secretary Wei sharply, who was walking towards him, and continued, “If I were you guys, I would review my mistakes and make sure they don’t happen again.”

Wei Song: “This matter is indeed our negligence.”

Seeing how Wei Song sincerely apologized, the police officer didn’t say much else. He just said briefly, “Let him live in a different place, it is not safe anymore. Let him cooperate with us to make a record. I feel like he is hiding something from us…”

Although it was excusable for victims to remain silent, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation laws would not force the victims to speak up, not having Lu Zhuo’s cooperation would undoubtedly increase the difficulty of handling the case.

From the perspective of a police officer, he still hoped that Lu Zhou could cooperate honestly with them, or at least tell them who opened the door, and if it was a robot, why was there only one robot wreckage left behind in the explosion.

After hearing these words, Wei Song smiled bitterly and nodded.

“I will try my best.”

After that, he stepped over the police cordon and walked into the house.

The situation in the house was worse than in the hallway. From the entrance to the living room, everything was almost completely destroyed, like there was a typhoon.

Wei Song stood for a while in the messy living room. He looked around and quickly saw Lu Zhou sitting next to the wine cabinet in the dining room. He walked towards him.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I’m Wei Song, Chairman Li Guangya’s secretary, here is my business card.”

After receiving the holographic business card, Lu Zhou, who was accustomed to the way people greeted each other in this era, looked at Secretary Wei standing in front of him and asked, “Who wants to kill me, do you have a clue?”

A look of shame appeared on Wei Song’s face.

“This… We also want the perpetrators to be brought to justice as soon as possible. I am really sorry that you have encountered such a thing. The case is still under investigation, but I will tell you when there is progress.”

Having said that, Wei Song paused for a moment and continued, “In addition, for safety reasons, our suggestion here is that you should change to a safer and more concealed residence. It is not suitable for you to live here. Second, it is difficult to protect you if the killer strikes again.

“If you haven’t thought of a suitable place, we can help you—”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “No, I will solve the problem of where to stay.”

Wei Song: “Of course, we respect your choice. It’s just our suggestion. It is better for you to avoid choosing crowded places as much as possible so that we can provide protection for your safety. This is also for other safety considerations.”

Safety considerations?

Without speaking, Lu Zhou smiled faintly.

To be honest, he still didn’t fully trust Li Guangya to protect his safety.

Logically speaking, if he encountered an accident, it might be a good thing for Li Guangya.

But when did the real world ever operate on logic?

He was not a kid anymore.

Lu Zhou: “You said you would help me, right?”

Wei Song nodded immediately.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good, I plan to build my own house in the suburbs,” Lu Zhou continued. Looking at Li Guangya’s secretary, he said, “Forget the compensation for my former residence, just give me the land, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“No problem.” Wei Song stared at Lu Zhou in a daze. He said, “But you have to find a place to live right away. Is it too late to build it now?”

“You don’t need to worry about this.” Lu Zhou continued with a relaxed tone, “I will solve the house affairs by myself. You only need to help me get the procedures done as soon as possible.”

Chapter 1469: Ill Survive

The entrance and the living room were completely blown up, and the balcony was also blackened by the flames of the explosion. Even if Lu Zhou could still live here, he would not dare to stay here.

It wasn’t like he wanted to die?

In fact, Lu Zhou couldn’t figure out who had such a big hatred towards himself.

The killer waited until he recovered his identity and declared his equity in companies such as East Asia Energy, East Asia Heavy Industries, East Asia Communications, etc. He then began the assassination attempt.

He believed that this had to do with the board members of these companies.

Of course, Li Guangya was also a bit suspicious.

However, Lu Zhou thought about it carefully. If that guy really wanted him to die, he wouldn’t have made a special trip from Beijing to talk with him.

Also, if he were actually killed, Li Guangya would be the most affected.

Otherwise, that guy wouldn’t send his secretary working in Jinling to visit him right away.

At this moment, Lu Zhou suddenly remembered a name.

The manager of the Softbank Group named Morinaga seemed to have mentioned that he should be careful of a person named Liu Zhengxing. That person was the chairman of East Asia Energy and the largest individual shareholder besides himself.

After carefully pondering the pros and cons of this, Lu Zhou increasingly felt that there might be a problem.

“Liu Zhengxing.

“It’s hard to tell… That Morinaga guy is also a bit suspicious.”

Inside an office at the Jinling Land Planning Bureau.

Lu Zhou, who was resting on the sofa with Xiao Ai, was thinking to himself while waiting for news from Wei Song.

He stayed in a nearby hotel last night. He came here with Secretary Wei early this morning to deal with house matters.

“Master, are you okay? 0.0”

“I’ve always been okay.” Lu Zhou said, “Don’t worry about me, this little matter will not scare me. I’m just thinking of something… Speaking of which, did Ling find anything there?”

Xiao Ai shook her head and said with a slightly regretful expression.

“Ling told me that he followed the signal and found the room where the robot was remotely controlled, but the contents in it had been burned. It was very likely that this was a lone wolf attack… Do you want him to come back?”

“For now, ask him to find a place to stay put.” Lu Zhou continued after thinking for a while, “Tomorrow afternoon, meet at the door of the small workshop selling robot accessories.”

Although the explosion of that level did not hurt Ling, it exploded the “skin” that Lu Zhou had spent a lot of money to replace.

Because of this, after discovering that his living room was completely blown up, Lu Zhou called the police and immediately asked Ling to chase the signal source with a raincoat.

Regardless of whether he could find any clues, he had to hide from the public.

Xiao Ai was easier to deal with. After changing the ID and skin, it was not much different from most household-type robots. However, Ling’s outfit and the weapons hung on him would be hard to explain to the police.

Footsteps came from the door.

Soon, Wei Song walked in with a man in formal clothes.

“This is Chief Zheng of the Land Planning Bureau.”

“Hello, Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou looked at the man who reached out to him with his right hand. He then got up from the sofa and shook his hand.

“Hello.”

“I have discussed the compensation with Jinling City.” Secretary Wei continued while looking at Lu Zhou, who was shaking hands with Chief Zheng, “Originally, according to the normal procedure, we had to wait at least three months in order to get the compensation for the demolition, but now the situation is special. I will ask them to pay you the compensation first.”

“I have heard of your experience.” Chief Zheng continued as he sincerely looked at Lu Zhou, “I’m sorry that this happened. Jinling City has never had such a vicious occurrence in the past ten years. Now the entire Yangtze River Delta city group’s public security department has been shaken, and Jinling City has deployed its maximum police force to investigate. I believe the truth of the case will be revealed soon!”

“Then I look forward to your good news,” Lu Zhou said casually. He looked at Wei Song, who was standing next to him, and said, “By the way, when will I be able to see my new home?”

Wei Song said immediately, “I have already completed the formalities here. It’s up to you when to leave.”

“Okay then.” Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Chief Zheng next to him. “I won’t bother you guys anymore, goodbye.”

…

To be honest, Lu Zhou did not actually have much hope that the case could be solved in the near future.

It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in the police’s methods of handling cases, but he always felt that the identity of the person who attacked him might not be an amateur; at least it was not a case that ordinary police could handle.

However, when Wei Song told him that the Pan-Asian Security Agency had been involved in the investigation, Lu Zhou was a little relieved.

During this time, he would pay more attention, and Xiao Ai would also raise the security level to the highest level.

After the settlement of the house was finished, he would set up some simple traps near his home.

If the assassin came to his door again, they would not have a good time.

After Wei Song came out of the Land Planning Bureau, Lu Zhou took Xiao Ai into the car.

After a twenty to thirty minutes drive, the group quickly arrived at the destination.

The property compensated to Lu Zhou in Jinling City was located next to the Jinling high-tech zone, which was probably the closest suburban land to Jinling City.

Although the environment here was not as pleasant as that on Purple Mountain, it was relatively close to the zone and the university, making it much more convenient for both work and life.

Of course, compared with the dense housing, work, and entertainment planning in the urban area, it seemed a little less lively here.

But for Lu Zhou, the environment here was more suitable for him.

He was not a person who liked chaos. Apart from studying the problems that interest him, he had no hobbies that required him to be in the city.

“This villa covers an area of about 5,000 square meters, including a front yard, back yard, garage, swimming pool, and lawn. It once belonged to a local entrepreneur, but later the property was mortgaged to the local bank due to debt problems. According to the normal procedures, this property should go through an auction. However, in order to save time, Jinling City reached an agreement with him and the bank to directly buy the property from him in the form of offsetting the debt. ”

Secretary Wei paused for a moment. He then looked at Lu Zhou.

“And now, it’s yours.”

The decoration style of the entire villa was somewhat postmodern. The garage not far from the courtyard was facing the magnetic levitation road outside.

According to Secretary Wei, the roof of the garage could also be folded outward.

This function was mainly for those luxury cars that had their own jet power system and vertical take-off and landing functions.

After walking around in the yard, Lu Zhou followed Secretary Wei into the room and took a look.

Generally speaking, he was quite satisfied here. The only drawback was that his original plan to build a building on his own had failed.

“Is there no empty land nearby?”

Wei Song said with a light cough, “This is the Yangtze River Delta city cluster. Where am I supposed to find undeveloped land for you… Of course, if you are still not satisfied, we can also help you with the demolition, but the waste and garbage generated may be your own responsibility.”

Lu Zhou shook his head. “Demolition is too wasteful. This will do.”

Wei Song’s eyebrow twitched fiercely.

This will do…

A 5,000 square meter mansion. This is larger than some compactly designed apartment complexes.

This is ridiculous!

After handing over the signed documents and keys to Lu Zhou, Secretary Wei did not stay here for long. He said he still had things to deal with and quickly went away.

After walking around in his new home, Lu Zhou returned to the living room on the first floor. He looked at Xiao Ai, who was next to him, and spoke.

“Flatten the botanical garden in the backyard and turn into a laboratory. The layout is to be the same as my previous one. No other places need to be moved. I have already sent you the equipment purchase list… Can it be done?”

“No problem, Xiao Ai got this! Is there anything else that Master needs to add? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou thought about it and replied, “A fireplace in the living room… That’s it for the time being.”

While the two were talking, two drones that Xiao Ai had purchased flew in from outside. The electronic door opened, and several cleaning robots and large bags of luggage that were dragged into the door came with them.

Xiao Ai quickly completed the modeling of the entire interior space of the villa and designed a cleaning plan.

Soon, those smart devices started to work under her guidance.

Lu Zhou was relieved to see Xiao Ai get to work.

“Thanks in advance for the cleaning and unpacking. I have something else to do.”

Xiao Ai: “Does Master need Xiao Ai to accompany? It’s dangerous outside. ∑(゚Д゚)”

“No.” Lu Zhou pointed to the necklace on his neck. “With this thing, no one will recognize me.”

Xiao Ai suddenly thought of something. She put her palms together and then quickly ran to her suitcase.

Soon, she pulled out a silver metal ball from the suitcase, went back, and gave it to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at the silver metal ball in his hand. He was slightly taken aback.

“What is this?”

He felt that this thing was a bit familiar.

“A small drone that is popular in the 22nd century, very suitable to be carried around. Just in case, the owner should take Xiao Ai with him when he goes out! (⃔*`꒳ ́*)⃕↝”

So it’s a drone…

“You’re right.”

He didn’t say much else, thinking that Xiao Ai was making sense.

Lu Zhou put the drone into his pocket. He then reached out and tapped on the wearable facial holographic projection system. He chose an ordinary portrait to cover his handsome face before walking out of the door.

Chapter 1470: The Last Two Keys

In fact, before going to Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou planned to go back to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

On one hand, he was looking for the key, and on the other hand, it was because he missed that place.

Although the bricks and tiles of the past had withered, and the old buildings could no longer support the scholars of the new era, the precious academic heritage he left for future generations had been passed down very well.

Today, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study was still the most desirable academic institution in China, Asia, and even the world.

The former site of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had not been abandoned. Instead, it had been transformed into a tourist attraction for science and education. It had become the main attraction among public primary and secondary school tours in the Yangtze River Delta city group area.

“… I need to make an appointment in advance?”

Lu Zhou looked at the sign hanging at the door. He thought for a while, reached out his hand, and tapped gently on his neck.

The light and shadow quickly faded along the contour of the face. After the face modification by the holographic projection system was removed, Lu Zhou walked straight towards the front door.

Lu Zhou walked towards the front yard. A young lady guide who was standing at the door with a sign was about to step forward to check his e-ticket, but after seeing his face, she was shocked.

“You! Are you Academician Lu?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou said with a smile as he looked at the surprised lady tour guide, “It’s me. I haven’t been back for so many years. I just want to go back to the place where I used to work. It won’t bother you guys, right?”

“Of course not!” After she snapped back to reality, the young lady guide immediately said with an enthusiastic smile, “Our job is to provide assistance to all types of tourists. Besides, this is where you worked before.”

After the triumphant ceremony held in the Heart of Asia, the entire Pan-Asia knew the news of his return.

There might be some people who doubted the authenticity of his identity before, but now, except for some conspiracy theorists, almost no one doubted that he was Academician Lu.

“Are you a staff member here?”

“Yeah! My name is Yang Lu, and I am currently working as a tour guide!”

Lu Zhou looked inside the institute and asked curiously, “I heard that the tour guides here are all robots?”

“It was true before, but some bad things have happened recently.” The tour guide lady made a helpless expression on her face and said, “The mascot in the yard is missing, and the robot company suspected that a back door was installed by hackers. For safety, our dean sent the remaining guided robots back to the factory for renovation. In order not to affect the children’s school tours, we have been using human guides instead.”

Mascot is missing…

Lu Zhou could easily guess what had happened.

Realizing that his little buddy had caused them so much trouble, Lu Zhou spoke.

“… Thank you all for the hard work.”

“It’s not hard, in fact, this job is quite interesting… Especially when taking the kids around here.” Yang Lu sighed and muttered, “If only we can get her back… It feels like it was stolen by some pervert, so I am worried that it is being used for some naughty things.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

She noticed the speechless expression on Lu Zhou’s face. Thinking that he was not interested in this topic, Yang Lu suddenly smiled embarrassedly and continued, “Speaking of which, where do you want to go? I happen to be free right now, so I can take you in.”

“Does someone have to be accompanied to go in?”

“Um, after all, a lot of things here are historical relics. I am just an ordinary staff member… Ah, of course, if you want to stroll around on your own, it should be okay. After all, this is where you worked before. I’ll ask the dean for instructions, but it should be fine.”

“No, forget it if it’s troublesome.”

He just came back to take a look, there was really no need to alert so many people.

Also, how was he supposed to go to the underground laboratory if everyone was watching him?

It’d be better to follow her around first, then find a chance to slip away.

Yang Lu thought Lu Zhou was sympathetic towards her. A grateful expression appeared on her face.

Although she could ask the dean for instructions, it would obviously be troublesome.

“Thank you for understanding. I can take you to wherever you want to go!”

“Let’s go to my previous office.” Lu Zhou looked at the main building of the research institute. He said with some nostalgia, “I haven’t come back for a while and I wonder what it looks like now.”

“Please rest assured about this! All the objects here are laid out as they were a hundred years ago. In order to restore the scene of your office, our courtyard specially invited a modern historian who specializes in you.” The tour guide said confidently, “I can guarantee that the things here are the same as when you left!”

Lu Zhou smiled casually.

Same as when I left?

Where have I heard this before…

…

Lu Zhou followed in the footsteps of Miss Yang Lu and came to the top floor of the main building of the research institute.

Sure enough, she took him to Yang Xu’s office.

“This is Yang Xu’s office. Before I left, he was the director of the Institute of Computational Materials. Later I heard that he became the dean.” Lu Zhou looked at the desk and the pictures on the wall. He sighed and continued, “Besides, I would never hang a picture of myself in the office.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Yang Lu was completely stunned. After blinking for a long time, she said with surprise.

“Huh? Dean Yang’s office? But… When he was the director of the Institute of Computational Materials, wasn’t his office at the computational materials building?”

“My office is next door, come with me.”

Lu Zhou didn’t explain much. He turned around and walked outside the door, then came to a neatly packed office.

Since he was either at home or in the laboratory most of the time, his office looked quite clean; there was not much stuff inside.

There was no obvious difference in appearance from his own office to the other offices. It was understandable that people made this mistake.

Lu Zhou stood in the dean’s office. Looking at the place where he had worked, he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

It was really the same as when he left, nothing had changed at all.

He realized that Yang Xu wanted to commemorate himself, so he kept the office the same this whole time.

When he walked to his desk, a key suddenly appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou looked at this key. He was stunned for a moment. He then reached out his right hand and held the key that only he could see.

“… Speaking of which, are the toilets in this building still usable?”

“Toilets? Of course, do you want me to take you there?”

Lu Zhou coughed lightly and said, “I’m going to the men’s room, are you sure you want to come?”

Her face flushed, Miss Yang suddenly touched the back of her head awkwardly and quickly explained, “I didn’t mean that, I meant—”

“You can wait for me here, I’ll be back soon.”

Lu Zhou turned and walked out of the office. However, he did not go to the toilet. Instead, he walked along the corridor. He turned a corner at the intersection and stood on the elevator that had been waiting for him for a long time.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He looked up at the monitor in the elevator and spoke.

“Go to 3rd floor underground.”

As if the elevator had understood his words, the elevator did not stop after reaching the first floor. It continued to move down to the ground floor of the Institute for Advanced Study.

There was a laboratory entrance disguised as a sample library. Behind the sample cabinet was an alloy door with a triple identification mechanism of iris scan, password, and fingerprint.

Behind that door stored the biggest secret that Lu Zhou left in this world…

“Finally back here again.”

Lu Zhou looked at the quietly running quantum computer case in the computer room, the robotic arms connected to the wall, and the wreckage of the Hall effect thruster in the corner. He couldn’t help but feel emotional.

Especially at the wreckage of the Hall effect thruster.

When he first got this stuff in the lucky draw, he never thought that it came from the old universe.

He walked up to the quantum computer. He then reached out his hand and gently placed it on the case, patting off the dust.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The signal light of the case flickered. Xiao Ai, who lived in it, probably heard his voice. Because the screen next to it had worn out and couldn’t turn on, Xiao Ai could only express its happiness through the signal lights.

Lu Zhou smiled. He was about to withdraw his hand from the case.

But at this moment, a transparent key suddenly floated in front of him from the outer shell of the case.

The moment Lu Zhou saw this key, he was stunned.

The third key…

He originally thought that the key would be in Princeton or the lecture hall at the old CERN site, he didn’t expect it to appear here.

There was no need for him to reach out to touch it. The moment the key floated out of the case, it turned into starlight and swayed in front of his eyes.

A light blue holographic screen also appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

Chapter 1471: Material Science Level 9!

[Congratulations, User, for the completed mission: Holy Land Tour]

[Mission completion status: Recovered three keys.]

[Mission evaluation: S+]

[Reward: 3 million experience points, 20,000 general points, a golden legendary lucky draw ticket.]

So the special reward for collecting three keys is a golden lucky draw ticket?

Lu Zhou thought it would be something more special; he didn’t expect it to be so “ordinary”.

Of course, this reward was only ordinary when compared to other “legendary missions”. For a normal mission, receiving three million experience points and a golden legendary lucky draw opportunity was quite good.

After all, based on previous lucky draw experience, if the lucky draw was “legendary”, the items drawn out would not be [garbage].

As for the golden legendary lucky draw, it was even better; all of the items that were drawn out were good.

The only thing Lu Zhou was worried about right now was whether or not he could get lucky.

If not, that would be a shame.

“System, open the lucky draw panel!”

Light golden light particles emerged from the system space. As the light particles converged towards the center, a round roulette wheel appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

The roulette wheel started to spin after he pressed the button.

Lu Zhou stared at the rapidly spinning roulette. He muttered a prayer in his heart and pressed the button for the draw again.

Scanner gun! Scanner gun!

F*ck!

The pointer of the roulette wheel passed by the prize he wanted the most, and after continuing to spin for two more times, it slowly stopped.

[Congratulations to the user!] appeared in the holographic screen, followed by the pop-up [Received: Nitrogen Shield (Rechargeable)]. Lu Zhou felt dumbfounded.

Sure enough, he was not good at games that were all luck, no mathematics.

“… The only good thing is the ‘rechargeable’ part?”

The first nitrogen shield drawn from the system space was a one-time use. When he was on the N-177 flight, he had already used up the last bit of energy from that thing.

Like the scanner gun and other disposable samples that Lu Zhou had received, the one-time shield degraded into black dust and dissipated in the air.

Although he didn’t know what kind of energy this rechargeable shield required, at least it provided him with an opportunity to figure out the technology behind it.

Lu Zhou himself was also quite curious about how the shield generator interfered with the surrounding nitrogen molecules and compressed them into a shield for defense.

From what he knew, there was no technology similar to this on Earth.

A life-saving tool, coupled with the opportunity to discover new technologies; from this perspective, this reward was nothing to complain about.

Finally, he took a look at the description of the nitrogen shield. He turned off the inventory and continued to cast his sight on the characteristic panel on the holographic screen.

Three million experience points.

There was no doubt a huge sum.

The experience points required from level 8 to level 9 was only three million in total. In other words, he could use this experience to directly upgrade any discipline from level 8 to level 9 and start the promotion mission to level 10.

“The question is which one to choose.”

It’s hard to decide…

After thinking about it for about ten minutes, Lu Zhou finally made a decision to allocate 937,000 experience to materials science, and all the remaining experience points to engineering.

Considering that the Pan-Asian Cooperation was promoting the space elevator program, it would be appropriate to regard materials science and engineering as important disciplines.

A light blue light swept across the holographic screen, and after a short wait, the updated characteristic panel quickly appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 8 (10,000/3 million)

D. Engineering: Level 8 (2.063 million/3 million)

E. Materials Science: Level 9 (0/???)

F. Energy Science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

G. Information science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

]

When Lu Zhou looked at the requirement for materials science experience that turned into three question marks, he couldn’t help but look emotional.

Materials science will be level 10 soon.

Finally, it’s been a while.

Lu Zhou turned off the characteristic panel and cast his sight on the mission panel.

As he expected, the option to receive the promotion mission had already appeared in the list on the mission panel.

After he pressed the button for receiving the mission, the light blue task window quickly appeared in front of him.

[Promotion mission activated!]

[Mission: Future materials.]

[Explanation: It goes up into the earth, then breaks out from the ground, gaining ultimate power from all things good and bad.]

[Requirements: This is the final problem in materials science. Use “the most perfect material” to complete your graduation project, and we will give rewards based on your score.]

[Rewards: Material Science LV10,? ? ? ]

“… Future material?”

For Lu Zhou himself, everything in this era was the future, but from the system’s point of view, it was obviously not enough.

And this “graduation project”…

Sounds a bit evil but fun.

After confirming the requirements of the system mission, Lu Zhou turned off the holographic panel. He left the system space and returned to the basement of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

He didn’t think of a good solution for the time being, so he decided to leave everything, including Xiao Ai’s server, here temporarily. He got on the elevator and left the basement, then returned to the top floor of the Institute for Advanced Study.

After seeing Lu Zhou’s return, the tour guide was relieved. She jokingly said, “I thought you were lost. I almost asked a male colleague to find you in the toilet.”

“I wasn’t lost. I just took a little longer in the toilet.” Lu Zhou looked out the window and said, “It’s getting late, thank you for staying with me for so long. I will go back now.”

“Huh?” She seemed a little surprised that Lu Zhou was about to leave so soon. Yang Lu said, “Aren’t you going to stay a little longer?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said with a smile, “No, I’m already satisfied to see you protect my laboratory so well.”

Laboratory?

Isn’t this his office?

The young lady guide was slightly confused.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t intend to explain himself. After saying goodbye, he turned around and left.

…

Lu Zhou drove back to his house. He removed the facial holographic projection system he was wearing on his neck and took a look at the iris recognition at the door.

Almost as soon as he brought his face closer, the electronic door of the front yard opened.

He walked the path through the garden and into the house. He then saw a brand new living room.

When he was gone, Xiao Ai controlled the smart cleaning equipment here and cleaned the entire house inside and out. Not only did Xiao Ai replace the old furniture with new ones, but she also painted the walls.

He couldn’t even tell that this house was a second-hand house anymore.

Xiao Ai, who was wearing an apron and followed by a drone, eagerly ran out from the corner of the corridor.

“Master, supper is ready, when do you want to eat? (ฅ>ω<*ฅ)”

“Now.”

“Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Xiao Ai ran back to the kitchen like a gust of wind. Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile. He threw his coat on the hanger at the door and walked towards the dining room.

Soon, a table of delicious food arrived on the table.

The taste was as impeccable as ever. Lu Zhou sat at the table, eating and watching the news on TV.

Xiao Ai sat on the opposite side of the dining table with her cheeks in her hands. Xiao Ai was dangling her legs under the table when she suddenly froze.

Her eyes became alert.

“Master, there seems to be a guest coming outside. (⑉・̆-・̆⑉)”

“Guest?” Lu Zhou raised his head and asked, “Who?”

“I don’t know, but it feels like those guys are not very friendly.”

Those guys?

So there’s more than one.

Lu Zhou put down the chopsticks in his hand. He calmly picked up the tissue and wiped his mouth before asking, “How far is Ling’s location from here?”

“About two kilometers.”

Two kilometers, not too far.

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Ask him to come home first.”

Xiao Ai: “What about the bad guys outside? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and said casually, “Sort it out yourself.

“Try not to cause trouble to our neighbors.”

Xiao Ai: “Okay! (⃔*`꒳ ́*)⃕↝”

Chapter 1472: The Best Choice

The bombing of an apartment building on the edge of Jinling’s Second Ring shocked the entire Pan-Asia. Liu Zhengxing, who was stupidly hiding behind the scenes waiting for “good news”, was scared.

Even though the identity of the tenant of the apartment was not revealed in the news for privacy reasons, he still used some clues in the news and other people’s reactions to determine who the assassin was.

Because just an hour after he saw the news, he received at least three calls related to this matter.

One of them was from the office of the Chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and the other was from the Public Security Bureau of the Yangtze River Delta city group, and the last… the one that surprised and angered him the most was from the Pan-Asian Cooperation Security Bureau.

The other party didn’t say much. In the phone call that lasted less than two minutes, they simply stated that he was a major suspect and issued a notice to restrict his travels, and they hoped that he would cooperate with the investigation during this period.

It was not a pleasant thing to be targeted by this kind of regional alliance-level intelligence organization, especially for a terrorist attack.

At this moment, Liu Zhengxing couldn’t even describe the anger and panic in his heart.

A person who could rival his position in the East Asia Energy board had just crawled out of a coffin; this was enough to make him feel anxious. And now his stupid “allies” actually performed an assassination!

These idiots!

If he could, he would kill the unknown assassin instantly!

“Did you do that explosion?!”

In the holographic conference room.

Sitting at the conference table, Liu Zhengxing’s eyes were red. The veins on his forehead were bursting. He stared at the person across the conference table.

In fact, there was still a little hope in his heart at this moment.

He wanted to hear that person deny everything.

This way, besides him, there were at least three suspects on the board. That annoying Morinaga was also one of them.

However, the faceless man sitting across the conference table made him feel desperate with just one sentence.

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean sort of?!” Liu Zhengxing put his hands on the table. He spat out angrily, “I just asked you to help me investigate his information, how can you do such unnecessary things without authorization! Every pig knows that the attack has something to do with me! I have received at least three calls so far, every one of them was terrible!”

He swore that he had never considered sending a killer to solve the troublesome Lu Zhou, even though this seemingly once-and-for-all option was really tempting.

He just wanted to entrust the faceless man sitting opposite him to investigate Lu Zhou’s network of relations in this era through their foundation and use this to dig out his weaknesses or where he could cooperate obediently.

However, he never would have imagined that the idiot would send a killer and that he even used the high-profile means of bombs.

This was Earth!

Pan Asia!

Not the barbaric society on Mars!

This behavior of breaking the rules not only forced him into a vulnerable position but also made his supporters on the board of directors vacillate.

After listening to Liu Zhengxing’s complaint quietly, the faceless man sitting across the conference table looked at him blankly. As if he didn’t take his anger to heart at all, the man said in a slow tone.

“Our foundation has made the judgment that his existence may bring uncertain variables to our plan. It is the best choice to let him lay in a coffin again.”

“The best choice? Who do you think you are! Do you know what we are facing now?” Liu Zhengxing laughed angrily. “The Pan-Asian Cooperation Security Bureau has taken action! The world’s most powerful intelligence organization on the Internet now suspects me. Do you think you can run away? I’m taking the risk of talking to you; stop the stupid assassination attempts!”

His chest undulated violently, Liu Zhengxing stared at the faceless man. However, what made him feel tricky was that the man seemed to have not heard what he said at all; he did not take his warning to heart at all.

He clenched his fists, then slowly loosened them.

After hesitating in his heart, Liu Zhengxing finally made up his mind and took a deep breath.

“I have warned you, it is you who broke the rules first!”

The faceless man’s chin was slightly lifted, seemingly to look at him with interest.

“Oh, really?”

“I will surrender and clarify all this.” Liu Zhengxing stared at the man and continued, “No matter what you want to do, I have nothing to do with you! I have never hired any assassins, never thought of letting that person die! Everything was done on your own volition!”

With a hint of sarcasm in his voice, the faceless man smiled lightly.

“But who would believe you?”

“Do you think I didn’t leave a way out for myself?” Liu Zhengxing smiled coldly and continued, “I have saved the video record of the meeting and kept it in a safe place.”

In fact, when he said this, there was still a trace of hope in his heart. He hoped to be able to force the madman in front of him to concede. After all, surrendering was only a last resort, not the best choice.

However, his hope was once again lost.

The faceless man sitting at the conference table gently lifted his chin and turned his eye to the door.

“Sounds interesting… Do you mean that thing?”

Liu Zhengxing was slightly stunned. He then stiffly turned his neck and followed the direction that the faceless man’s chin was pointing in. He looked towards the door of the conference room.

The door was undoubtedly still closed.

However, a robot wearing a cleaner’s uniform was standing inside. In his left hand, the robot was carrying a black suitcase.

As soon as he saw the suitcase, Liu Zhengxing’s pupils shrank slightly.

He soon calmed down. He looked at the faceless man sitting across the conference table and said with a deep voice, “What do you want?”

There was a hint of relaxed laughter.

When Liu Zhengxing heard the laughter, for some reason, it made him feel terrified.

“I don’t want anything, I just want to return it to you and borrow one more thing from you.”

Liu Zhengxing looked at the robot who walked to his side and put the suitcase in front of him. He frowned and said with some uncertainty, “What thing?”

“Life.”

When he heard this word, Liu Zhengxing was slightly stunned.

He felt a slight tingling in his neck, then he lost consciousness; his pupils drooped and his head dropped.

Retracting the nano syringe in his hand, the robot took out a black pistol from his arms and placed it in Liu Zhengxing’s hands.

Then, it held Liu Zhengxing’s right hand, pointed the muzzle at his own head, and pushed his index finger on the trigger.

Bang!

The fire flickered, gun smoke dispersed.

Blood and pieces of brain splashed all over the floor.

The robot let go of his right hand and let the arm holding the pistol slump into the chair.

The robot methodically made some simple adjustments to the death scene and disguised it as a suicide. The robot cast an empty sight on the faceless man sitting at the conference table and bowed towards him. He then formatted the storage data of the holographic conference and turned off the power of the conference table.

After the faceless man disappeared in the blue light, the robot also turned and left the meeting room, leaving only the black suitcase and the corpse leaning on the chair.

When the people in the group building finally found out that their chairman committed suicide in the conference room, it was already seven hours later.

Chester, hiding in the suburbs of Jinling City, also made another move towards his goal…

Chapter 1473: No Suspense

The sun gradually fell and the night arrived.

For people living in the urban areas, the nightlife had just begun.

In stark contrast to the brightly lit urban area, the night in the suburbs came a little earlier.

The time had just passed 10 o’clock, the flow of traffic on the main maglev road had become slow. As for the small roads that went deep into the residential area, there were almost no cars coming or going.

However, at this moment, a truck drove slowly into the residential area along a small road.

An illegal activity was detected. The traffic police drone parked on the side of the road flew towards the truck.

However, just as the drone was preparing to persuade the driver in the truck to leave, it was hit by a light blue electric current.

As if it was short-circuited, the drone soon emitted black smoke and fell to the ground.

The robot put the EMP pistol back into his pocket. It pressed the button to open the cargo compartment door.

As the alloy door opened outward, robots with rifles in their hands walked towards the mansion next to them, surrounded by drones.

In front of the door, one of the robots took out a toolbox from the backpack and was about to open the door.

However, at this moment, the door in front of them opened by itself.

A string of characters appeared on the holographic window of the access control system.

[(⃔*`꒳ ́*)]

The moment he saw the string of characters, Chester, who was sitting in a van a few kilometers away, had a bad feeling in his heart.

However, he couldn’t tell where this bad feeling came from.

He clenched his teeth, thinking that since he had already reached this point, it was too late to turn around now.

He stared at the door on the screen, thinking that the enemy who killed his friends was inside. A bloodthirsty wave of anger suddenly ignited in his heart. He gave an attack command with a grin.

“I’ll see where you are hiding this time!”

The moment the attack order was issued, the dozen or so robots standing at the door immediately unlocked their weapons’ safety switches, then went into the open door with the weapons in their hands.

However, at this moment, something suddenly happened!

The dozen or so robot militants who stepped on the lawn suddenly felt like they had received an EMP shock. Light blue electric sparks burst out from the back of their necks and pupils one after another.

The momentum of the offense suffered a severe setback straight from the beginning.

Chester, who was sitting behind the screen and remotely controlling all of this, could only watch the robots being turned into metal scrap. He still didn’t know what happened.

“Sh*t…”

The cameras turned into white noise one after another. Chester panicked. He immediately tapped his hands on the holographic screen continuously, locking every window of the mansion.

Soon, dozens of four-rotor drones floated from the top of the truck.

Their cruise path and detonation time were set at the fastest speed. Chester decisively activated offline mode.

The drones that were shielded from all external signals were like cruise missiles. They dove and hit the mansion.

However, at this moment, an even more frightening scene appeared in front of Chester.

The movements of the robots that were hit by an EMP attack suddenly became flexible.

Not only that, the muzzle of each of them instantly turned and locked to the group of drones flying in the air, then they pulled the trigger.

The orange flames flickered in the sky. After colliding with the rain of bullets, the drones looked like dead flies. They were shot down to the ground one after another.

The light of the explosion lit up the lawn in the front yard of the mansion. Many robots were destroyed by the explosions; some were even blown in the air.

Chester watched the group of robots and drones killing each other through the holographic screen. His mouth was wide open. He had completely lost his words.

He couldn’t figure out what happened to those smart devices the moment he gave the attack command.

“This is impossible…”

Chester looked at the only robot soldier standing in the flames. A flame of hope ignited in his heart. His fingers tapped on the holographic keyboard quickly, trying to find out the loopholes in the program and regain control of this robot.

However, even though the ideas were beautiful, the reality was cruel.

Five minutes passed. No matter how hard he tried, the robot standing on the lawn with the rifle in his hand seemed to have not heard his orders; he stood there without saying a word.

“Damn, what happened?! Start moving! F*ck!”

An ominous premonition enveloped Chester’s heart.

For some reason, he had never been afraid of anything. But when he looked at the motionless robot soldier on the screen, he suddenly felt an unprecedented fear.

It was as if the person being manipulated was not the robot, but it was himself. Invisible lines tied up his hands and feet, manipulating everything from behind the scenes.

He tried one last time to obtain control authority of the robot. After seeing no effect, Chester decisively gave up the smart devices he had delivered to the battlefield and started the van.

[The intelligent navigation system has been turned on and is connecting you to the magnetic levitation road network…]

“Disconnect! Use road navigation mode!”

[Switched to road navigation mode.]

The reason why the maglev road network was not connected was that it was monitored by the Pan-Asian Cooperation Police Department and the Security Bureau.

As soon as the gunfire sounded, the maglev roads in this area were no longer safe for him.

After starting the van, he began to hit the road. As Chester looked at the scenery passing by the window, his nervous mood relaxed a little.

However, just as he turned on the holographic computer and was about to troubleshoot the previous malfunction, a string of characters of unknown meaning suddenly popped up on the holographic screen.

The moment he saw the line of characters, Chester was stunned.

[(⃔*`꒳ ́*)]

“…?”

What is this?

A figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the highway.

The man wore a raincoat and stood defenselessly in the middle of the road.

With the hood obscuring his face, even the high beams coming from the van could not allow Chester to see his eyes. However, an unreasonable intuition told him that this guy was looking at him and was coming towards him.

Chester immediately threw down the holographic computer and held the steering wheel with both hands.

“Activate manual mode!”

[Failed to activate.]

Chester: “???”

Like a wild horse running off the rein, the uncontrolled van crashed into the person standing in the middle of the road.

No, to be precise, that was not a person.

No person would ever be able to survive such a crash. It was like he crashed into a telephone pole.

The van that hit the man was completely totaled; debris and glass were flying everywhere.

Chester, who was stuck in the driver’s seat, had blood on his forehead.

Finally, he saw the steel body full of murderous air under the raincoat.

Chester watched the robot take the computer from his van. His heart was filled with despair; he gradually gave up his hope of survival.

“What a terrible guy I provoked…”

He sighed. His eyes slowly closed.

He’s an old man from 100 years ago, but he’s terrifyingly powerful…

At the door of the mansion a few kilometers away, the police came after hearing the gunshots.

The robot on the lawn thought for a while. He pointed the muzzle at his memory card, then pulled the trigger.

The heavily armed special police began to step forward and control the scene.

Although there were no casualties, a large number of weapons appeared in the Pan-Asian territory. This was undoubtedly a severe issue for the public security of the Yangtze River Delta city group.

Standing by the window, Lu Zhou watched the police officer, who he saw yesterday, walk towards the door of the mansion with two police officers. Lu Zhou cast his gaze to Xiao Ai, who was standing at his side, and asked, “How is Ling doing?”

“The guy who threatened Master’s safety has been dealt with! Ling found his personal computer from the car! There are many interesting things in it. Does Master want to read it now? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou thought about it and spoke.

“Wait until I meet the guests first.”

While he was speaking, a light blue holographic window was projected in front of him.

The police officer standing at the door rang the doorbell politely and looked at the monitor at the door.

“Hello, Academician Lu, we are from the Jin Ling City Security Bureau—”

Halfway through his words, the door in front of him opened automatically.

The police officer was slightly taken aback.

Then Lu Zhou’s face appeared on the screen of the access control system.

“The doorway is not a place to talk. Come into the living room.”

Chapter 1474: The Looming Trouble

In the building of East Asia Group, the police came and went on the elevator. Many employees of the group cast curious looks at the police officers, guessing which executives committed a crime.

Thanks to the sound insulation of the conference room, no one knew that their chairman had died, except for the secretary who first found the body and the top executives at the company.

In the conference room at the scene of the crime, Xing Bian from the Security Bureau was frowning. As he stared at the body restored from the holographic image, he seemed to be thinking about something.

A man in a black jacket walked in from outside the meeting room and spoke.

“The autopsy report came out. There is a high probability of suicide.”

Captain Xing did not look up. He just asked casually, “What’s the reason?”

“According to the autopsy report, we did not find any drugs in the deceased’s body, nor did he have other people’s fingerprints or residues like hair.” Shi Jin continued, “According to the elevator monitoring footage, there was no suspicious person who took the elevator to reach the floor on the same day except for the executives working on the floor.”

There was also evidence in the holographic footage.

Inside the suitcase at the conference table, they found a holographic video of Liu Zhengxing talking to a man with a blurred face.

In that video, Liu Zhengxing asked the “faceless man” to do something for him.

Although the specifics did not appear in the video, judging by the explosion that Academician Lu encountered some time ago, it was obvious that Liu Zhengxing was contacting the killer.

At this point in the case, there was no suspense. All the evidence pointed to the result of Liu Zhengxing’s suicide.

Last night, they received news from the Municipal Public Security Bureau that the notorious “Blood Hands” Chester was killed in a car accident.

“Blood Hands” had always been the subject of many investigations by their security bureau, not only because he might be related to the bombing in the Malacca urban agglomeration a few days ago, but also because of his close friendship with Ruzas on the N-177 flight. The two were wanted by Interpol at the same time.

The murderer was dead, the matter was revealed, and suicide in fear of the crime was excusable.

However, Xing Bian still didn’t believe that a person who had the courage to hire a murderer would actually commit suicide in fear of crime. From the perspective of criminal psychology, this didn’t make sense.

Especially since they didn’t find any information about him from Chester.

“Remember the robot turmoil at No.001 on 17th Street last night?”

No.001 on 17th Street was the address of Lu Zhou. Although this matter was kept secret from the outside world, it was not a secret to them.

After hearing Captain Xing’s words, Agent Shi frowned and thought about it for a long time. He then said in an uncertain tone, “Do you mean… the assailant may be a robot?”

“It’s just a hypothesis, because I don’t really believe that this person chose to commit suicide.” After a pause, Captain Xing continued, “I heard that a virus is circulating on the black market; one that can tamper with the underlying logic of robots. People use it for theft, robbery, and even murder.”

Although there had always been things to modify the underlying logic, it was done around some less sensitive places, such as changing the personality of the robot and so forth.

As for making robots capable of killing and learning to steal…

Those who claimed that they could do this were either lying or delusional.

It wasn’t until the last few months that Xing Bian heard about it and handled some cases of robot-related crimes. It was in these few months that he heard from an informant about the virus that could modify the underlying logic of robots.

“The perpetrator may have used a bionic person. After killing Liu Zhengxing, he faked a suicide. This will explain why we can’t find any fingerprints on his body, and from the surveillance video, the frequency of robot cleaners entering and exiting this floor is still very high.”

Shi Jin said immediately, “I’ll have someone go and investigate all of the robot cleaners in this company!”

“This is fine, although I think it may be useless. Since their attack is over, they would never keep the tools of the crime here. At the very least, they would replace the memory chip of the robot.”

The memory chip was the essence of a robot.

A robot with a different memory chip was of no use, even if they were to catch it.

“But the incident last night was also a bit strange. Strictly speaking, the robot should have an advantage in force. They were able to fight against the hijackers on flight N-177, but when attacking Academician Lu, they seem to be unable to fight back at all.”

Captain Xing grinned and said with a smile, “I know what you mean. It’s about what happened to those robots on flight N-177, right?”

Detective Shi nodded. He looked at Captain Xing solemnly and spoke.

“Academician Lu feels a little weird… I feel that he may know something we don’t, especially when it comes to robots.”

The door of the conference room suddenly opened, and an agent of the Security Bureau came in from outside.

“Captain, someone has reported a crime.”

“Report?” Xing Bian raised his eyebrows. “Reported to me?”

As the Security Bureau, they were mainly responsible for maintaining homeland security; ordinary criminal cases were not within their jurisdiction.

Unless this criminal case happened to someone with a certain influence.

For example, Academician Lu. After learning about his attack, the Security Bureau immediately set up a task force to investigate the details of the bombing.

“It was the city police who transferred it to us.” The agent said solemnly, “The informant refused to disclose too many details and insisted on seeing you.”

“Then let him come to see me. No…” Xing Bian looked at the holographic body on the conference table and the pool of blood. “Let him stay at the police station, I’ll go meet him.”

…

City police station.

In a room about 30 square meters, a skinny man was pacing restlessly around the room.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

The moment he heard the footsteps, the man’s nerves tightened, as if he had been frightened in some way.

The door opened, and a group of people walked in and stood in front of him.

Captain Xing, who was standing at the front, looked at him up and down and asked, “So, you are Liu Zhengxing’s personal lawyer?”

“It’s me! I’m Zhang Minghua!” Zhang Minghua nodded nervously and said quickly, “Chairman Liu told me that if he has an accident, I must find a way to contact the Security Bureau and pass on a message.”

Agent Shi, standing next to Xing Bian, spoke first.

“What is the message?”

“The Spirit of The Universe Foundation!” Lawyer Zhang shouted out crazily. He said with a look of horror, “They killed Chairman Liu, they must have done it!”

“The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?” Detective Shi frowned after hearing this guy’s nonsense. “What are you talking about—”

However, Xing Bian’s expression became serious. He suddenly spoke.

“Let him continue.”

Lawyer Zhang took two steps forward, grabbed Xing Bian’s arm, and said excitedly, “Chairman Liu asked me to bring a message. He contacted the people from The Spirit of The Universe Foundation before and tried to use their power to investigate Academician Lu… But the bombing went beyond his expectation. He didn’t expect them to try and kill Academician Liu.”

After listening to his words patiently, Captain Xing thought for a while and looked at him and said, “If everything you have just said is true, then you are probably in danger.”

Lawyer Zhang’s face was pale. His lips trembled slightly, but he couldn’t say a word.

Seeing this poor creature who had been frightened, Captain Xing continued, “Stay at the Municipal Public Security Bureau for a few days. You can call off your work, but I suggest you better contactable by phone.”

“Those people are rampant. It is unlikely that they will be frantic and attack here, but if you leave, we can’t take care of you.”

After this, Xing Bian turned around and walked out of the house.

After following Captain Xing to the corridor, Agent Shi hesitated for a while before asking, “Do you really believe his nonsense?”

“It’s not nonsense.” Captain Xing took out an e-cigarette from his pocket. He looked out the window and narrowed his eyes. “At least the name of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation was not made up.”

Captain Xing spat out the mint smoke ring out of the window without looking at his bewildered subordinate. He continued, “The Spirit of The Universe Foundation has always been a Class A secret of the Security Bureau. I only know that they are related to two attacks that took place outside China a century ago.

“One of them was the Aurora Borealis cruise ship incident. The other incident occurred on the streets of Manila in the second year after Academician Lu’s death. A bombing case.”

After hearing the captain’s words, Shi Jin’s face twitched.

The bombing in Manila a century ago…

Anyone who learned a little history knew that the meeting held in Manila the same year was widely regarded as one of the landmark events of the Pan-Asia region moving towards a union.

If what the captain said was true, that the bombing was not because of an extreme organization but was planned by The Spirit of The Universe Foundation…

They almost changed history.

“The Class A level confidentiality is not because of its danger… In fact, they have not done anything particularly extraordinary in the Pan-Asian territory over the past century. However, there are various signs that they are not done.

“Moreover, recent events have also proved this. They are more dangerous than we thought.”

After turning off the electronic cigarette, Captain Xing looked at his subordinate and continued, “I need you to do something.”

Shi Jin said immediately, “Please tell me.”

“Go to the University of Science and Technology of China and find a man named Wang Peng.”

“Wang Peng?”

“Well, he is a dormant from a century ago.”

Agent Shi asked puzzledly, “Why?”

“His name appeared in the archives of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation. If my speculation is correct, he was the first group of intelligence personnel to track down The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

After a pause, Captain Xing continued with a serious tone, “We know too little about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation. We don’t even know how far they have penetrated our society.

“In order to solve this trouble, we need his help.”

Chapter 1475: Special Operations Consultant

The campus of the University of Science and Technology of China.

After finishing enrollment, Wang Peng put his luggage in the dorm room. The instructor called him soon after.

“Someone is looking for you.”

“Looking for me?” Wang Peng asked casually. He looked at the instructor through the holographic interface and said, “Who?”

“Someone from the Security Bureau. Come to the administration building.”

“Okay, I’ll come right now.”

Although he didn’t know why people from the Security Bureau were looking for him, since it was a business matter, Wang Peng immediately went to the school’s administration building.

When he came to the conference room on the second floor according to the address given by the instructor, he saw a strange man wearing a gray coat standing at the conference table.

They made eye contact.

“Who are you?”

“Shi Jin.” The man in the gray coat reached out his right hand and handed out his holographic business card. “You can call me Mr. Shi, or by my name.”

An agent from the Pan-Asian Cooperation Security Bureau.

Except for the name and work unit, no other information was written on the business card.

Wang Peng put the holographic card away. He then looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“When we checked the relevant files for The Spirit of The Universe Foundation, we found that your name appeared on it.”

Wang Peng nodded and said, “I wrote the earliest reports.”

Shi Jin said with a serious expression while looking at Wang Peng, “For the stability of humanity, we hope you can cooperate!”

“But I probably won’t be able to help you.” Wang Peng said with a frown, “My knowledge and skills have been completely out of touch with the times. If the foundation is still developing over the past century, the information I have will probably be long outdated, maybe it will mislead your work.”

Shi Jin: “Because the foundation is still developing over the past century, it has penetrated our society to a very dangerous level. Hence, we need your strength even more.”

“Sorry, you should find someone else.” Wang Peng shook his head and said, “After completing my preparatory course, I will reconsider your invitation… If you still need me at that time, I will contribute my own power.”

“In fact… The difficulties we are facing are probably more severe than you think.”

With an embarrassed expression on his face, Shi Jin continued in a difficult tone, “At first, our task force was established to investigate the mastermind behind the assassination of Academician Lu. The resources we obtained from the Security Bureau are quite limited.

“Based on the information we currently have, the inference we can make is that this foundation has penetrated our society to a dangerous level. They may have a terrible virus; the kind of virus that can change the underlying logic of a robot’s memory chip, making civilian robots their crime tools.

“The robots have now become an inseparable part of our society. This is a fait accompli formed over the past half a century. If there is a virus that turns absolutely safe tools into unstable bombs, it won’t just be our economic prosperity that will be affected, it will change our society!”

After hearing what Shi Jin said, Wang Peng’s face gradually changed.

As a dormant from the 21st century, he still couldn’t fully feel the irreplaceable role of robots in modern society, but since they were targeting Academician Lu, this was no joke.

This was the first time he heard that Academician Lu was being assassinated.

“Assassin… Academician Lu? What happened? Why did they… Why would they target him?”

Why didn’t Lu Zhou tell me anything?!

Shi Jin shook his head and said, “We are also quite confused about this, but according to the informant’s information, the foundation’s judgment is that his presence may affect some of their plans.”

Wang Peng took a deep breath and said calmly, “In fact, if you think about it carefully, it makes sense that they will target Academician Lu.”

Shi Jin looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

After a pause, Wang Peng continued, “About a century ago, in the ILHCRC’s experiment on the verification of higher dimensions, a physics professor named Galette Miro once proposed the theory of cosmic animism. This is probably the foundation’s theoretical cornerstone.”

“Galette Miro?” Shi Jin’s eyebrows were raised slightly. He said in an unexpected tone, “This is a strange name, I haven’t seen it before in the files.”

“It is normal for him not to appear in the archives. After all, after our investigation, his identity was confirmed to be just an ordinary physicist. As for the theory of cosmic animism, it was just a strange academic paper.”

Shi Jin: “But how do you know that The Spirit of The Universe Foundation has nothing to do with Professor Garrett Miro?”

“Because that person is dead.” Wang Peng continued watching Shi Jin as he said, “Just after Lu Zhou’s report on extra-dimensional theory ended, he made certain changes to his paper and uploaded it to his personal blog. Then he committed suicide in his dormitory.”

“This sounds like an urban legend… A dead physicist and his papers became the starting point of a new age religion? But Professor Garrett Miro, I’ve never heard of this name before.”

“History cannot remember everyone’s name, especially since most people agree with another point of view.”

Shi Jin: “That seems to be true.”

“Through limited information, we can only make such inferences. If The Spirit of The Universe Foundation believes in Professor Garrett Miro’s theory, then Garrett Miro is undoubtedly their prophet. They would have a natural hostility towards Academician Lu, which is actually very understandable.”

“This is a very valuable piece of information. So my trip here is not useless.” Shi Jin wrote the information down seriously and reached out his right hand. “Although I regret not being able to convince you to join us, we thank you for the help.”

“Who said I don’t plan to join you guys?”

Shi Jin was slightly stunned.

“But didn’t you just say…”

“Although an old man persuaded me to leave the future business to the future people…”

After a pause, Wang Peng continued, “I thought about it carefully, I can’t just leave this matter to you guys and watch on the sidelines.”

After hearing these words, the shock on Shi Jin’s face instantly turned into joy. He said with a smile, “Welcome to the team!

“We will write an entry application for you. Your answers will be transferred to the Security Bureau agent database and kept there until you leave your job and start a new life.”

Although Shi Jin didn’t know why his attitude had changed 180 degrees, this was definitely something to celebrate for the task force, which was short of manpower.

“That probably won’t happen.” Wang Peng teased himself a little bit self-deprecatingly, “For someone who can’t stand doing nothing, I’ll probably never quit my job.”

To be honest, sometimes he envied his old friend Li Gaoliang.

Although that guy was a little crazy, because of this, he could blend well in any era.

“Haha, there’s nothing wrong with that, I like my current job too.” Shi Jin smiled and reached out his right hand as he said sincerely, “From now on, you are the special operations consultant of our task force!”

Chapter 1476: ALPHA Virus

The chairman of East Asia Energy committed suicide in fear of crime.

If this were another company, such bad news would at least make the company’s performance in the stock market sluggish for a while, even if it did not trigger a mass sell-off.

However, for a giant of East Asia Energy’s size, Liu Zhengxing’s death only added some volatility to the charts.

For Liu Zhengxing himself, this was undoubtedly a tragedy.

He had always attributed the business growth achieved by East Asia Energy over the past five years to his outstanding business capabilities and often boasted that he was the most visionary among the previous chairmen.

However, even his unexpected death did not make the capital market sentiment crash.

Obviously, the so-called business ability and foresight were just his wishful thinking.

“Recently, a traffic accident occurred in the suburbs of Jin Ling City. A foreign tourist died in the accident.

“According to the accident investigation report presented by the police, the man was driving a gray van, switched to manual driving while driving on the ground, and caused a collision with the vehicle in front due to improper operation.

“This reporter once again reminds everyone that you must abide by traffic rules when using private transportation and pay attention to driving safety…”

Last night’s news was shown on the holographic TV.

The video of a car accident taken by a drone had been blurred, but judging from the tragic situation, it was obviously not just a rear-end collision.

The hood of the entire car was wrecked. If it only collided with another vehicle, it would definitely not be so tragic.

Unless he hit a tank.

Lu Zhou watched the “car accident” on TV. He was sitting at the table for breakfast. He sighed slightly and said emotionally, “Xiao Ai.”

Sitting on the opposite side of the dining table with her cheeks in her hands, Xiao Ai tilted her head when she heard her master.

“Huh?”

“Do you think… Humans are troublesome beings?”

“Quite troublesome. Master should live a digital life like Xiao Ai! (•̀∀•́)”

“I didn’t mean that…” Lu Zhou changed the topic with a dry cough. “Forget it, why am I talking to you about this?”

The death of Liu Zhengxing was unknown.

Chester, who tried to assassinate Lu Zhou, also died in a “traffic accident”.

This situation was brought to an end with the death of both the employer and the perpetrator.

Although everything was developing in a good direction, Lu Zhou wasn’t happy at all.

He always felt that all of this was not over. Eyes were still targeting him, waiting for an opportunity, like a poisonous snake.

The situation he faced at this moment may be much more severe than a century ago.

After all, a century ago, he had more than just prestige.

“Whether it’s the space elevator or second-generation controllable fusion… There are obviously so many things worth doing, but people still repeat meaningless mistakes on the same things.”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai, who was obediently looking at him. Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and stretched out his hand to rub the fake hair on her head.

“Thank you for listening to my nonsense.”

With a happy smile on her face, Xiao Ai said enthusiastically, “Master doesn’t have to worry, Xiao Ai will protect you! ٩(•̤̀ᴗ•̤́๑)”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Well, thanks in advance.”

…

After eating dinner, Lu Zhou took the drone controlled by Xiao Ai and jogged for two laps before returning to take a shower.

While taking a bath, he received a call from Manager Morinaga.

“We are very sorry about Chairman Liu Zhengxing. No one thought he would be such a person.”

Lu Zhou: “You don’t have to be sorry. I have to thank you instead.”

“No need…” Manager Morinaga in the holographic image sighed. He then continued after a short pause, “Liu Zhengxing is dead, so the position of chairman is now vacant. We plan to convene a board meeting to re-elect the chairman. In fact, I personally prefer you to assume this position. As you once led the Pangu fusion reactor project, I believe you will surely lead us to a brighter future.”

Lu Zhou said casually, “Sorry, I am not interested in the company’s business operations. Although I did lead the Pangu reactor project, it was only from the standpoint of a scholar.”

Although Lu Zhou’s answer was not unexpected, a regretful expression still appeared on Morinaga’s face.

As the largest individual shareholder and holding the resources of East Asia Communications and East Asia Heavy Industries, Lu Zhou was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate for the position of chairman.

But there was no other way.

If he himself was not interested in these things, no one could force him to do things he didn’t like to do.

After finishing the call, Lu Zhou went to the storage room next to the mansion.

After Ling caught the assassin named Chester on the highway last night, he conveniently took the holographic computer he used to control the robot from his van.

A password lock was added to the computer, but it was obviously not a difficult task for Lu Zhou.

After easily removing the password, Lu Zhou, who turned on the computer, searched the computer for a while. He soon found a lot of suspicious files with the help of Xiao Ai.

Among them were some electronic vouchers of unnamed assets that he held, the purchase channels of guns and EMP weapons, and some illegal orders he received from the Internet, as well as his own design of robot memory software.

But compared to these insignificant things, what Lu Zhou cared about most was a folder named “ALPHA”.

Inside this folder was a bunch of strange code.

“Master…”

Lu Zhou looked away from the holographic screen. He looked at Xiao Ai, who was standing behind him, and cast a questioning glance at her.

“What?”

“I feel like the things in this folder… are not nice. ᕙ(⇀‸↼‵‵)ᕗ”

Lu Zhou: “Not nice… What do you mean?”

“This is a computer virus. After being implanted in the memory of a robot, it can completely modify its underlying logic and break the three laws that cannot be violated… It changes generic robots to murder machines.”

“Change the underlying logic of the robots?” Lu Zhou frowned slightly. “Can’t you do that too?”

“It’s not the same.” Xiao Ai shook her head. “Although Xiao Ai can do the same thing, Xiao Ai is just changing the artificial intelligence algorithmic limitations. This is a pure virus; there is no intelligence. It is like a brainwashing tool for robots. Its purpose is to release the evil side of artificial intelligence.”

Unleash the evil side of artificial intelligence…

For some reason, when he heard these words, Lu Zhou’s heart went cold.

Robots had long become an inseparable group in Pan-Asian Cooperation and even the entire world.

They replaced most of the repetitive work that didn’t require any creativity, and human society had adapted to such changes over the past half-century.

Lu Zhou could not imagine what society would be like if they were to lose a reliable tool such as these robots.

“This thing is like a time bomb.”

“Those codes don’t seem to be written by people in this era, or rather, they don’t seem to be written by humans. Xiao Ai feels very strange… Of course, Master, don’t worry, this virus is useless against Xiao Ai. Even for robots or other smart devices infected with the virus, Xiao Ai can easily erase them from the memory. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“I’m not worried about myself.”

As Lu Zhou looked at the folder on the screen, he frowned slightly.

It’s not written by humans…

For some reason, when he heard Xiao Ai’s words, he suddenly remembered the experiment a hundred years ago and what The Observer said to him.

“Beware…

“When you are staring at the Void, the Void is staring back at you.”

After pondering this sentence repeatedly, Lu Zhou began to break out in cold sweat.

For some reason…

He felt that he had released something significant.

Chapter 1477: Shrouded Clouds

“Did you hear the news?”

“Hear what?”

“The gunshots that were heard on the outskirts of Jinling high-tech zone. Some people saw a lot of police… Apparently, it is related to the raging robot crime that was reported some time ago.”

“Really? Don’t spread false rumors. I heard that someone was shooting a movie over there… Doesn’t that refute the rumors?”

“Oh, really? I just heard from someone else… But do you really think that robots are safe? The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study Museum lost one some time ago. Apparently, it slipped by itself.”

“Maybe it is to celebrate the resurrection of Academician Lu? Anyway, the three laws of robotics are unbreakable. The Hippocampus Group’s technical strength is also quite strong. They won’t have illogical loopholes in their robots… Okay, let’s change the subject.”

On the campus of Jin Ling University, walking on the tree-lined path leading to the preparatory classroom, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but twitch his eyebrows when he heard the discussion of the students walking in front, he unconsciously quickened his walking pace.

He didn’t want to listen to others talking about himself. He wanted to leave here quickly.

However, when he passed by the two students, they were so frightened that they were speechless.

After arriving at the classroom, Lu Zhou glanced at the students scattered in the classroom. He randomly found a place to sit down in the first row.

About five or six minutes later, the class bell rang. Instructor Sun walked in hastily from outside the classroom.

When she saw Lu Zhou sitting in the first row, the young girl suddenly widened her eyes. She was stunned as if she had seen something extraordinary.

“Lu-Academician Lu, hello!”

“Hello.” Lu Zhou smiled in a friendly manner while looking at Sun Lan, who was nervous to say hello to him. “Don’t care about me, start the class.”

“Ah, okay, okay!”

Perhaps it was because she had never thought that one day she would give Academician Lu a lesson. During the lecture, Instructor Sun was very nervous; she even accidentally bit her tongue.

Lu Zhou was quite surprised she was able to make such a boring theory class this interesting.

Of course, what surprised him most was the things he learned in the class.

Like the robot technology that affected the entire human civilization and society in the 22nd century, and a series of social problems brought about by this technology, and so forth.

Although Lu Zhou himself paid more attention to things on the technical level, this interpretation of technology from the perspective of the humanities was eye-opening for him.

After the class, Lu Zhou spent 10 seconds sorting out the problems he learned. He then stood up from his seat and walked to the podium.

“Can I ask a question?”

The girl standing behind the podium subconsciously stood up straight, as if she had committed a crime. She said nervously, “Please… please go ahead!”

“Don’t be so nervous, it’s not a personal question.” Lu Zhou smiled at the nervous-looking Instructor Sun. He then continued in a calm tone, “I have some doubts about robots in some places… It was mentioned in the class that in the history of Pan-Asian Cooperation, there has been a debate about whether robots have a complete personality. I want to know the reason and final result of this debate.”

Sun Lan: “Are you talking about the ‘Artificial Intelligence Management Measures’ in 2077?”

Lu Zhou nodded, motioning her to continue.

“The cause of that controversy… In fact, it was nothing mysterious. A long time ago, after the birth of highly anthropomorphic and strong learning ability, the academic community has been arguing whether advanced artificial intelligence algorithms have a complete personality. Part of the opinion is that artificial intelligence designed based on machine learning theory is just an imitation of human behavior, and the emotions it displays are only a performance of imitation. The opposite of this view is that some people think that advanced artificial intelligence already has the basic form of life, and it should be endowed with human rights, or at least limited human rights.

“Originally, this controversy stayed in academia. Until 2076, a lawsuit extended the controversy from the academic circle to the level of national discussion. The defendant was the Civil Affairs Bureau, and the plaintiff’s reason for suing was that the defendant was forbidden to complete marriage registration with his robot, which violated the spirit of the Constitution.

“This lawsuit finally came to an end in the form of an out-of-court settlement, then in the ‘Artificial Intelligence Management Measures’ issued the following year and the final draft in 2078, it was finally determined that artificial intelligence has no political rights and limited human rights. This bill has also been used for reference by other countries and has become the basis of the current artificial intelligence management bill. Many concepts that modern people are accustomed to, including AI’s identity, were determined at that time.”

“As for whether a robot is alive…” Regarding this question, Sun Lan pondered for a while. She then said with a smile, “This is really hard to say. Although reason tells me they are just a program, sometimes I will unconsciously treat them as real human beings.”

“I see…” Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully. He recalled the data collected in the holographic computer and continued to ask, “But I heard that there seems to be a way to jailbreak the robot and modify the underlying logic of the robot.”

“Theoretically, this is the case, but not all the underlying logic can be modified.” Sun Lan continued, “For example, they cannot harm humans. In the design logic of the robot memory software, this behavior is already set beforehand.”

“What if it is a virus?”

“A virus?” Sun Lan looked at Lu Zhou blankly and said, “This is beyond the scope of my knowledge. My research on artificial intelligence is mainly at the sociological level. A virus that can change the underlying logic of a robot… sounds terrible. It’s like your significant other becoming untrustworthy.”

Lu Zhou: “It does seem terrible.”

Sun Lan: “If you are interested in research in this area, I would recommend you to talk to Professor Zhang Zhongcheng from the Institute of Information Engineering. He is an expert in this area.”

“I will contact him if I have the opportunity.” Lu Zhou nodded and said with a smile, “That’s all of my questions, thank you for your answers.”

“Don’t thank me, this is my job.” Sun Lan smiled shyly. She tried to overcome the tension and said embarrassedly, “Um… Can I trouble you with one thing?”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

“That is, can I buy you lunch?” With interest gleaming in her eyes, Sun Lan continued, “I have a lot of things to ask you about your era… This is relevant to my research!”

Although he wanted to help her, Lu Zhou showed a helpless expression on his face.

“Sorry, I’m afraid it won’t work today. I have another meeting in a while, but next time for sure.”

Sun Lan was slightly disappointed, but she still smiled and said, “Another day then.”

Chapter 1478: Im Disappointed

East Asia Energy building.

Located at the estuary of the Huangpu River, this building not only looked over the city but also the prosperity of the entire Pan-Asian region. This was the most expensive area in the entire Yangtze River Delta city group. It was also the pagoda that countless people living in the Yangtze River Delta city group yearned for.

However, no one thought that over the past 100 years, an invisible hand had silently reached over, trying to usurp the achievements left by the great man a century ago, and even imprinting itself on the chairman of the board.

Although that person had paid the price of death, the trouble left was far from over.

Standing in the garage, Captain Xing looked sideways. He glanced at the members of the East Asia Energy Board of Directors not far away. He then lowered his voice and whispered to the subordinates next to him, “I’ll talk to Academician Lu later.”

Shi Jin was slightly taken aback. He asked, “Isn’t it better to let Wang Peng go? They seem to be old acquaintances.”

Xing Bian said concisely, “Because of their friendship, I am worried that he is not sure what to say and what not to say.”

Besides, Wang Peng was still reporting from the headquarters.

Although Xiang Bian gave Wang Peng the green light to a certain extent, and his resume was impeccable, he still had to go through the standard procedure.

Especially for the 30-day induction training, which was more difficult than missions on the job. To be honest, he was even a little worried whether this old antique from the 21st century could handle it.

Shi Jin nodded, expressing his understanding, and stood aside silently.

At the same time, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses not far away glanced in the direction of the two.

During this period of time, people from the Security Bureau had been handling cases in the building, so he knew the identities of the two.

However, it would be impossible to deal with them like ordinary people. There was bound to be psychological pressure.

After all, a perfect person only lived in fairy tales. No one could climb to his position without some blood on their hands…

Those who believed otherwise were stupid.

While trying to figure out what the two of them were doing here, the folding door of the parking lot slowly opened.

The howling cold wind poured in from outside the door of the parking lot. The icy cold wind caused many people to squint their eyes.

A car suspended in the air drove in from outside the open garage gate and parked firmly in the parking space.

A robot bodyguard dressed in formal clothes with an inconspicuous appearance except for the red pupils stepped down from the passenger seat. The robot opened the door of the back seat, and Lu Zhou, wearing casual clothes, got out of the car calmly.

The group of board members and executives of East Asia Energy waiting on the side immediately rushed towards him.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I am a member of the Investment Strategy Committee of the Board of Directors and one of the managing directors. You can call me Zhong Ziyu or Mr. Zhong.”

“Hello, Mr. Zhong.”

Lu Zhou shook hands with this Mr. Zhong. He then glanced at the other directors and executives beside him.

Except for Morinaga, this was the first time he had seen everyone. There were expectations, doubt, anxiety, and deep hostility in the pairs of eyes.

The situation here seemed to be more intense than he had thought.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.

This was not the case when the controllable fusion project was first ignited. Although old man Yuan was very hostile to him and his bureaucratic style did have some problems, the original intentions of the two were the same, which was to ignite controllable fusion and let people live a better future.

As for those debates, they were only on the academic level.

And at the last moments of the ignition project, old man Yuan abandoned his prejudice and stood on the same line with him.

It was under the unity of everyone that they achieved a great victory.

To be honest, looking at these people in front of him, Lu Zhou was actually a little disappointed.

Seriously, is there really hope for the space elevator?

And the second generation of controllable fusion still hasn’t been done, even after a century…

Zhong Ziyu didn’t notice the disappointment on Lu Zhou’s face. He said respectfully, “The board meeting will begin soon, please come with me.”

Lu Zhou nodded and did not speak. He walked in the direction of the elevator next to him.

At the entrance of the elevator, he noticed that the two people standing next to him kept looking at him.

The two exchanged some words. The person seemed to want to come up and say something to him, but there might have been too many people around. He just reached out and gently pushed out a translucent holographic business card.

Lu Zhou took the business card and glanced at it. He did not say anything. He just nodded at him.

The man responded with a nod, then continued to stand there.

On the elevator, except for Ling, who was inseparable from Lu Zhou, Zhong Ziyu was the only one with him.

Zhong Ziyu glanced at the robot standing next to him. He took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and asked, “Excuse me, is that a robot?”

Lu Zhou: “Yes, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing… It’s just that, I personally suggest you to be more careful.” Zhong Ziyu showed a wry smile on his face and continued with a low voice, “There are rumors that Chairman Liu’s death… was related to a robot.”

Lu Zhou: “I will be careful.”

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn’t take his warning to heart at all, Zhong Ziyu sighed in his heart and said nothing. He didn’t understand the old popsicle’s confidence. He already tried his best to warn Lu Zhou.

As for the rest, it was none of his business…

…

The meeting soon began.

Inside the spacious meeting room, people sat around the conference table.

And unlike previous board meetings, no one was a holographic image project this time.

After hearing that Academician Lu was coming to the board of directors, even board members who were vacationing far on the Moon rushed back to the Yangtze River Delta city group.

Not only was this meeting related to the future of East Asia Energy, but it was also because Liu Zhengxing’s position was vacant.

In addition to discussing the development direction of East Asia Energy in the coming year, this meeting would also elect a chairman who would represent the overall interests of the entire board of directors.

As an energy giant in the entire Pan-Asian region, it was self-evident how important the position of the chairman was.

And according to the information they collected, Lu Zhou was not a person who was hungry for power.

Otherwise, after completing the controllable fusion project, he would not quit his job as chief designer lightly and work on aerospace instead.

Although the scale of the aerospace industry had reached an immeasurable figure, in those days, it was extremely difficult to send a few people to Mars. The title of Chief Consultant of the Lunar Orbit Committee could not be compared to the position of the leader in the field of nuclear fusion.

Therefore, they still had great hopes for competing for the position of chairman themselves.

Back then, Lu Zhou wasn’t interested in managing the business. 100 years later, he should be the same, right?

In order to win Lu Zhou’s vote, many people really worked hard and prepared a proposal, intending to persuade Lu Zhou and his 7% of the equity to stand on their side.

For example, promise to increase investment in scientific research or donate to the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation…

The checks that were issued would not cost them any money anyway. This little money was only a drop in the bucket for the behemoth of East Asia Energy.

When the meeting just started, it was somewhat orderly. After less than half an hour, it was already in chaos.

The expressions on the faces of several executive directors sitting there were aggressive. They either quietly watched someone compete for the position of chairman or talked to their own teams on the phone.

Unlike other directors, although these executive directors appointed by the organization could participate in the election of the chairman, it was almost impossible to get elected.

Although their shareholding ratio was relatively large, they were not all-mighty. Especially in places like East Asia Energy where the interests of all parties were involved, the situation here was particularly complicated. If a representative sent by a large organization showed their intention of being elected, they would be strongly opposed by other organizations.

Other small shareholders would also unite to protect their own interests and prevent their election.

Therefore, in the board of directors of East Asia Energy, it had become a rule that the executive directors should not participate in the election of the chairman.

This understanding had been maintained for half a century.

Lu Zhou looked at the demons talking around the conference table. He endured it for a while, but he finally couldn’t stand it anymore.

His index finger tapped hard on the table. He spoke in a loud voice to interrupt the noise on the conference table.

“Stop arguing, I will say a few words.”

The noisy voices instantly died down.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, many people quieted down.

This silence was not entirely out of respect. In fact, it was largely because of surprise.

Lu Zhou had no expression on his face. He leaned on the conference table with both hands and stood up from his position.

“To be honest, this is the most disappointing day since I came to this era, but I don’t want to tell you where I am disappointed.

“I don’t have the slightest interest in the position of chairman, and I have always hired someone else to manage my businesses.

“But now, I have changed my mind.”

Lu Zhou looked around the silent conference table. He continued with an unquestionable tone, “I’ll take the position of chairman.

“The proposal is second-generation controllable fusion. There is no plan, no campaign platform.

“If you want to, vote for me!”

…

Chapter 1479: I Support It

The meeting room went terribly quiet. Air seemed to freeze. Even a piece of hair falling on the ground could be heard.

I will take the position of chairman…

An old popsicle from 100 years ago wants to run for the chairman of East Asia Energy?!

After the first person began to react, a shocking clamor followed immediately.

“You… You want to participate in the board election?”

Seeing that Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be joking, a man about 50 or 60 years old sitting at the conference table said in an incredulous tone, “But… you just woke up, can you manage such a large company?”

Finally, someone raised their head and questioned Lu Zhou. The questions came like a tide, and they were suddenly out of control.

“That’s right! The market value of East Asia Energy plays a decisive role in the GDP of the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation Region! This is no joke!”

“I agree with Director Zhao! The future of East Asia Energy is not just about its own company, but the savings of millions of shareholders, the hope of billions, and the stability of the economy and industrial production in the entire East Asia region! It’s not that we doubt your abilities… It’s just that you are from the 21st century, both the rules and the environment are different from before!”

“Don’t be so judgemental… I believe that Academician Lu’s starting point is definitely good, it’s just a little emotional. My suggestion is that if you want to intervene in the operation of East Asia Energy, you might as well join the technical development committee of the Board of Directors. Or be the head of the scientific research department… We guarantee that your funding will be the most adequate of all departments.”

“Are you really Academician Lu? The Academician Lu I know is not interested in such troublesome things!”

In addition to those who put their opposing opinions on the table, there were also some that supported him.

But most of the people were not optimistic about him.

Some people questioned his identity and began to lead the topic in the direction of whether he was the real Academician Lu or not.

The entire conference table was in chaos. Lu Zhou looked at the two directors who couldn’t wait to speak. A playful smile gradually appeared on his face.

Just a few days ago, the entire Pan Asia was cheering and celebrating his “resurrection”, and those who had benefited from his academic heritage sent congratulatory messages to him.

This included the board of directors of East Asia Energy.

It now appeared that none of the words in the joint letter of congratulations and praise were true.

In just a few days, after he took out his shares that had been frozen for a century and said he wanted to return to the board of directors, their attitudes instantly changed 180 degrees.

And now, these people simply removed their disguises; some even pointed their “guns” at them…

They were spewing out hypocritical remarks left and right.

Just when Lu Zhou was about to speak, Zhong Ziyu, who was standing next to him, suddenly raised his voice to silence the people in the meeting room. He announced in a confident tone, “The AIIB supports Academician Lu’s choice.”

The moment this sentence was uttered, the voices around the conference table were immediately lowered by a few decibels.

After a while, Zhong Ziyu continued speaking in a calm tone, “I will vote in favor of him, on behalf of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”

There was an uproar in the meeting room.

The noise from the clamor became louder.

Director Zhao, who was about 50 or 60 years old, was as red as a tomato. His saliva flew across the table, smashing into Zhong Ziyu’s face like bullets.

“Are you crazy? You want to push an old… dormant from a century ago to the position of chairman?! You are not afraid of the direct collapse of the capital market’s expectations of us?”

“That only means that they have no vision.” The man with gold-rimmed glasses pulled an imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth as he continued in a calm voice, “Although I don’t believe in fate, this time, I am willing to take a gamble. The establishment of East Asia Energy was inseparable from his wisdom. I believe that under his leadership, East Asia Energy can be even greater than it was a century ago.”

Whispers sounded from the conference table.

However, before everyone digested the information in this sentence, another voice came from the conference table.

“SoftBank Group agrees!”

After Zhong Ziyu finished speaking, Morinaga couldn’t wait to stand up.

“Although we at SoftBank Group did not experience the great era with Academician Lu, I have admired the legend of the ‘God of Mathematics’ for a long time.” After looking around at the people at the conference table, he smiled kindly, laughed, and continued, “We admit that such a decision may cause some controversy, but the results of the board of directors’ election have not yet been announced. If you want to sell your shares, you can do so at any time… We want to increase our holdings.”

Director Zhao’s face turned green. Because of AIIB’s statement, the probability of Academician Lu being elected chairman was extremely high.

Not to mention the icing on the cake coming from SoftBank Group…

As for the group of “small shareholders” that wanted the chairman position, they stared at each other with embarrassed expressions on their faces. They couldn’t say a word.

Director Song Yangwei of the Science and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, dragged his trembling body, and stood up. His turbid pupils stared at Lu Zhou as he said in a serious tone, “I want to ask you, the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion you just said… Are you kidding or are you serious?”

Since the establishment of East Asia Energy, they had been researching the technology of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion, but even after a century, nothing had happened.

Director Song admitted that although there were reasons why East Asia Energy did not take it seriously, the technical difficulty was also undeniable.

Now an old popsicle from more than 100 years ago woke up and said that the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion technology would be the next stage of development of East Asia Energy… He felt something magical was coming.

“That’s a ridiculous question.

“While serving as the chairman, I will concurrently serve as a director of the Science and Technology Committee. I will personally appoint the group’s scientific research director… If there is no suitable candidate, I will also take the position of the group’s scientific research department director.” Lu Zhou said in a calm tone, “100 years have passed, and you still think second-generation controllable fusion is a joke. Are you kidding me?”

Song Yangwei: “I didn’t mean that… It’s just—”

“It’s just that it sounds too unrealistic, right?” Lu Zhou interrupted him and continued, “If others think so, I can understand, but you are the head of the East Asia Energy research and development department. I really want to know how you got into your position.”

Lu Zhou continued with a calm tone, “I’ll say it again, I’m not kidding.

“I will solve the second-generation controllable fusion during my tenure.

“That’s all I have to say.”

Chapter 1480: Second-Generation Controllable Fusion Technology!

The conference ended.

After the door of the conference room opened, many shareholders who walked out of it did not look good.

Of course, there were also a few ecstatic people with satisfied expressions on their faces when they came out of the conference room.

Although the second-generation controllable fusion technology was just the icing on the cake for East Asia Energy, if this technology had a breakthrough, it would be tantamount to being able to directly utilize the abundant helium-3 reserves on the moon.

At the same time, the second-generation controllable fusion technology would be safer than the first-generation controllable fusion technology. Deuterium-tritium fusion generated excess neutrons while releasing huge amounts of energy, which depleted nuclear reactor equipment.

However, helium-3 was different. After the reaction with deuterium, the energy released would not only be much greater than the first generation of controllable fusion technology, it would also not release excess neutrons to the outside world. It would instead release harmless protons like hydrogen.

Although in their opinions, Academician Lu’s bet on the second-generation controllable fusion technology was a gamble, selecting the chairman itself was a gamble.

At least, betting on Academician Lu would have a higher chance of winning…

After Captain Xing noticed Lu Zhou coming out of the conference room, he folded his arms and walked towards him with Shi Jin.

After seeing Captain Xing walk towards him, Lu Zhou and Ling stopped. He cast a questioning gaze at Captain Xing.

“Are there new clues in the investigation of the bombing?”

“Sort of a clue.” Captain Xing continued after a pause, “I wonder if you have ever heard of an organization before.”

“What organization?”

“The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?

The moment he heard the name, Lu Zhou froze for a moment. His expression gradually became serious.

He had heard of this name before.

Just a while ago, he heard Wang Peng talk about them.

“You mean… The person who attacked me has something to do with The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

Captain Xing nodded.

“This is our hypothesis.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Is there any evidence?”

“There is no direct evidence, but there is indirect evidence.” Captain Xing paused and continued with a serious expression, “Chairman Liu’s death is very strange, and we received intelligence from informants. There is enough evidence to show that, before his death, Chairman Liu had close contact with The Spirit of The Universe Foundation and reached a deal with them.”

“Deal?”

“Yes.” Captain Xing nodded. “Liu Zhengxing commissioned people from The Spirit of The Universe Foundation to help investigate you, and then for some reason, they directly hired a killer to assassinate you.

“In addition, according to our investigation of Chester, he has a very close relationship with Ruzas, the hijacker on flight N-177. There are indications that The Spirit of The Universe Foundation seems to intend to commit homicide with a revengeful nature.”

Both the hirer and the perpetrator had sufficient motives for the crime.

However, Lu Zhou still didn’t understand what he had done to make The Spirit of The Universe Foundation target him.

“One thing I still don’t quite understand.” Lu Zhou continued to ask as he looked at Captain Xing, “Leaving aside the motive to kill me for the time being… Why did they bother to make it a murder and not an accident? Then blame it on Liu Zhengxing?”

“Maybe they don’t want to expose their existence too much.” The expression on Captain Xing’s face was full of solemnity as he said, “This is what we worry about the most.”

“If people like Liu Zhengxing are insignificant characters in their eyes, someone they can sacrifice at will just to keep a secret…”

Lu Zhou’s face began to change. Captain Xing continued with a serious tone, “Then their penetration of our society may have reached an unimaginable level.”

“I even suspect that there were people in the conference room that belong in the foundation…”

…

The East Asia Energy Board of Directors meeting finally came to an end.

Compared with the previous conferences, this conference ended much faster. Over the morning, all the issues that should be discussed were discussed.

With the support of a large number of shareholders such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Lu Zhou, the largest individual shareholder, was elected as the chairman of East Asia Energy without any suspense, with a vote advantage of more than 70%.

After the resolution was completed, the news was published on their official website.

At the same time, the development plan of East Asia Energy for the next five years was also announced.

In the next five years, East Asia Energy would adjust its development direction from the cultivation of the stock market to the development of new technologies at the strategic level.

In particular, the second-generation controllable fusion technology would be the focus of East Asia Energy’s research and development.

In addition, according to the results of the voting on the board of directors, Director Song Yangwei of the Science and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors was removed. The vacated position would be held by Chairman Lu Zhou.

After the announcement of a series of news, everyone who followed the progress of the meeting was shocked.

No one expected Academician Lu to serve as the chairman of East Asia Energy himself, or for him to hold so many positions concurrently, firmly holding the power of research and development in his own hands.

What was interesting was that the feedback made by the capital market to such a result also exceeded everyone’s expectations.

After some volatile trading, East Asia Energy’s stock rose to the moon.

Not only did the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank increase its holdings, but investment companies such as the Yangtze River Delta Bank, South Africa Investment, and SoftBank Group had also given optimistic views on the future expectations of East Asia Energy.

During an interview with the financial media, Zhong Ziyu, an investment manager of the AIIB and one of the managing directors of East Asia Energy, explained his decision.

“The second generation of controllable fusion technology will completely change the world’s energy industry, just like the original generation of controllable fusion technology did.

“Once this technology makes a breakthrough, East Asia Energy will be as great as it was a century ago. Our inter-regional power grid will be further expanded and extended to farther places.

“Whether it is for East Asia Energy’s own interests or for the economic development of the entire Pan-Asian region, he is the best choice for chairman!”

Not only did the share price of East Asia Energy see a substantial rise, but those mining companies on the moon, especially those companies that had the ability to develop helium-3 resources, also saw their share prices jump to varying degrees.

For those shareholders who sold their stocks at the board meeting, the only thing they wanted to do was jump off a cliff.

However, those people were only the minority. Although most people said they were not optimistic, they did not sell their stocks to the bait thrown by some investment institutions and Morinaga.

Opposing Lu Zhou’s chairmanship was just a subconscious reaction to safeguard their own interests. The vast majority of people were quite optimistic about the future of East Asia Energy.

Why would it matter that the chairman came from a hundred years ago?

How could East Asia Energy, the giant, fall because of the inability of a certain chairman?

In any case, the entire Pan-Asian energy market was under their monopoly.

This had not changed for a hundred years…

Chapter 1481: Submissions From a Century Ago

The Yangtze River Delta city group.

The headquarters of the AIIB.

After listening to the report on the video call, Governor Zhou, who was sitting on the office chair, thought for a moment, then said with a strange expression on his face.

“Second generation of controllable fusion… Are you sure this is what he said?”

“I’m pretty sure.” In the holographic screen, Zhong Ziyu nodded. He continued gently, “Although Academician Lu is not the most suitable candidate for the chairman, his proposal on the second generation of controllable nuclear fusion really touched me. Over the past half-century, East Asia Energy has basically had no substantial development except from being strong to becoming all-mighty. Although the second generation of controllable fusion sounds ridiculous, whether it can be done or not, I think it can at least bring us some changes.”

Governor Zhou’s finger gently tapped on the table as he asked in a deep voice, “What about the risks?”

Zhong Ziyu continued, “The only risk is at the technical level, but even if the worst happens, it will not be so bad that it is unacceptable.”

There was a long silence in the office.

Governor Zhou, who was sitting at his desk, was lost in thought. He did not say a word for a while.

After about five minutes, he finally raised his eyelids, as if waking up. He looked at Zhong Ziyu in the holographic window and opened his mouth.

“You did a good job.

“If the risks are acceptable, I won’t hold you accountable for your claims.

“But remember, keeping East Asia Energy’s shares independent is the prerequisite for everything. If it is discovered that he intends to integrate the shares of several companies he holds and lobby other shareholders to complete the merger and reorganization… You must stop him. ”

Zhong Ziyu nodded slightly.

“Understood.”

The video call was over.

Governor Zhou, who hung up the phone, loosened his shoulders slightly and leaned back on the office chair.

Academician Lu as the chairman of East Asia Energy…

Proposing second-generation controllable fusion technology to the board of directors.

Although the risks were indeed controllable, the development of things had exceeded his expectations.

“It’s really hard to say whether this is a blessing or a curse…”

He raised his index finger and pinched his eyebrow. He then looked at the ceiling and muttered to himself. He suddenly sat up straight from the office chair and tapped his index finger on the corner of the desk.

The light blue holographic panel resurfaced, and the video phone window opened again.

He looked at the smart assistant in the floating window and spoke in a clear voice.

“Call the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

“I have important things to talk to Chairman Li.”

…

For Pan-Asian people, this month definitely had the most emotional roller coasters over the past two years.

First, flight N-177 was hijacked and about to crash with the Tianzhou space station. After that, Academician Lu suddenly resurrected, and all member states of the Pan-Asian Cooperation celebrated his return.

However, if there was anything more surprising to the Pan-Asian people than the resurrection of Academician Lu, it was probably the establishment of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project.

The old popsicle, who woke up a century ago, entered the forefront of the academic world as soon as he woke up, with the insurmountable challenge of second-generation controllable nuclear fusion…

After hearing this news, many people’s first reaction was dumbfounded.

Their second reaction was being muddled…

The comments section of the LSPM forum.

As the only academic exchange zone with no posting requirements, most of the discussions and exchanges here were non-professional science enthusiasts or students studying in first and second-tier universities.

Because of the huge population of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, even though the forum itself was very small, the daily traffic was not small.

As a paradise academic exchange platform personally designed by Academician Lu back in the day, they obviously talked about him.

The second the news was announced, voices of discussion occupied the entire news section. Some people talked about inside gossip, and some discussed academic issues.

But no matter what the discussion was, people’s emotions were the same…

“Second-generation controllable nuclear fusion? Is he kidding?”

“Didn’t the chief engineer of East Asia Energy just said that in a lecture at Jinling University some time ago, that we are at least 50 years away from the realization of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion?!”

“50 years… If you count from the time when Academician Lu was dormant, it would be 150 years for him.”

“You can’t calculate it like that… After all, for a monster like Academician Lu, learning the technology of the past 100 years should not be difficult. After all, he was the chief designer of the Pangu, and he was the designer of the entire fusion reactor. No one knows the design process better than him!”

“It’s hard to say! 100 years have passed, and his design ideas are outdated!”

“But his smart brain is not outdated, I am looking forward to it!”

It wasn’t just ordinary people who were fervently discussing this matter, scholars who were engaged in research in this field or had external interests in this field were also discussing it.

As soon as East Asia Energy announced the establishment of the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project and the announcement of Academician Lu’s personal role as the project leader, the discussion group of the LSPM forum was filled with “second-generation controllable nuclear fusion” and “Academician Lu takes on chairman on East Asia Energy” discussion posts.

Especially with regards to the feasibility of the second-generation controllable fusion technology, people with different viewpoints were arguing until their faces turned red. If they weren’t separated by the internet, they would have started throwing hands.

The science section of the Pan Asia TV station immediately recorded a program closely following current events and invited an important guest.

This guest was not Lu Zhou himself, but Academician Zhang Feiyue, a top expert in the field of contemporary controllable fusion technology and the director of the Institute of Nuclear Engineering of the Institute for Advanced Study!

As far as theoretical knowledge was concerned, even the chief engineer of East Asia Energy couldn’t match his understanding of controllable fusion technology.

“Hello, Academician Zhang!”

After nodding to this polite greeting, Academician Zhang said with a smile.

“Hello. Thanks for having me.”

Host: “As for Academician Lu’s recent proposal to make the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion technology the key development direction of East Asia Energy in the next five years, how do you view this matter?”

“It’s hard to say…” After touching the stubble on his chin, Academician Zhang responded to the host with a friendly smile after thinking, “I don’t understand the economic aspect, so I’ll talk about what I know.”

The host nodded and said in a serious tone, “Please speak!”

“Compared to the first generation of controllable nuclear fusion, the second generation of controllable fusion is not only an order of magnitude higher than the former in terms of energy output, but there is also a huge difference in cost between the two.”

Moderator: “Can you expand on that?”

Academician Zhang smiled and said.

“Let’s put it this way, regardless of design differences, so far there are 37 fusion reactors in the Pan-Asian region that use first-generation controllable fusion technology, as well as a dozen deuterium-tritium extraction stations and hundreds of hydrogen storage stations. East Asia Energy’s annual maintenance costs for this are more than 7 billion credit points, accounting for 40% of the total operating costs.

“And if the second-generation controllable fusion technology is adopted, one second-generation fusion reactor can replace the 37 fusion reactors that use the first-generation technology.”

After hearing this, the expression on the host’s face instantly changed.

One second-generation fusion reactor can produce as much power as 37 first-generation fusion reactors?!

This is insane!

Is it really that overpowered?!

The host gulped nervously. He continued to ask in a trembling tone of excitement, “Is it… really that different?”

“The difference is the same as the first-generation controllable fusion technology compared to nuclear fission power.”

Academician Zhang’s tone was filled with emotion.

“In fact, these are all trivial matters. The key is that the second-generation fusion technology can replace the relatively expensive tritium with helium-3, which has abundant reserves on the moon and is not difficult to collect.

“If you think a little further and apply the second-generation fusion technology to the aerospace field, our starship will not only be more than twice as big as it is now, but the fuel and cruising range it can carry will increase by an order of magnitude.

“Even for a conservative estimate, our future will undergo earth-shaking changes because of the birth of this technology!”

After listening to these amazing words from Academician Zhang, the host who looked shocked suddenly forgot what to say.

After a while, he gulped and asked, “Then what about the third-generation of controllable fusion technology?”

“Third-generation?” Academician Zhang was taken aback by the question. He then said with a smile, “That will be pure helium trifusion. Two helium atoms combine to form a helium atom and two protons… This is the most perfect fusion formula.

“However, it will be a long, long time before that thing is realized.”

Because of Academician Zhang’s interview, the discussion on the second generation of controllable fusion had been pushed to a new peak.

Many papers had sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain. From an academic perspective, they had begun to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology and the expected cost of investment.

However, most of the viewpoints in these papers were not optimistic.

From an emotional point of view, most people were willing to believe that Academician Lu, who once brought light to this land, would once again light up the land with a bigger torch.

But science would not be emotional.

Sitting in his study room, Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee. He typed the last punctuation on the holographic keyboard, then ordered Xiao Ai to send the paper to the editorial department of “Future”.

Speaking of which, the last time he submitted a thesis to “Future” was a paper on the ABC conjecture.

It seemed like he was discussing math problems with his old friends just yesterday.

Lu Zhou didn’t feel like the last submission was 100 years ago at all…

Chapter 1482: Patriarchs Paper

Hou Huaizhi was an editor.

However, he was not the kind that worked in ordinary newspapers or magazines.

As one of the most widely-read and influential journals in the world, the journal “Future” he worked at was a beacon in the minds of countless scholars and a quantitative benchmark for measuring a scholar’s academic level.

There was a saying in some research areas…

Which was that, a scholar who had never published research results in “Future” could never be called a first-class scholar, and whether a scholar had made outstanding contributions in certain research fields depended on how many papers he had published in “Future”.

It was precisely because of this that he was not only passionate about his work but also had a full sense of belonging.

Every time he sat in the office of the editorial department, he felt that every decision he made was closely tied to the fate of the world…

As usual, after dictating the day’s housework to his robot, he drove the maglev car to the editorial office.

However, just as he walked into the office slowly while humming a little tune, he was surprised by the scene in front of him.

His colleagues formed a circle in front of a desk, as if watching something incredible. They pointed to the holographic screen suspended on the desk and talked.

Hou Huaizhi was curious about what happened. He stepped forward and asked the colleague closest to him, “What happened? Why are you all here?”

With an obviously surprised expression on his face, the colleague turned to look at the editor, then said with excitement, “You will never guess what happened! We received Academician Lu’s paper!”

Academician Lu’s paper?

The moment he heard these words, Hou Huaizhi was stunned. His entire body was instantly dumbfounded.

“Academician Lu?! The Academician Lu?”

“Of course? Who else could it be!”

Hou Huaizhi asked quickly, “What’s the area?”

“Controllable nuclear fusion! It belongs to the study of deuterium/helium trinuclear fusion! From the perspectives of theory and engineering applications, he sorted out the current problems and possible problems facing the second generation of controllable nuclear fusion research… Although I don’t understand many of the formulas and inferences!”

The colleague from the editorial department, with an incredible expression on his face, continued in a tone of admiration, “It’s incredible… A scholar from a hundred years ago has done something that should have been left to the people of the future.”

Another colleague standing nearby interrupted.

“I think we are in trouble.”

Hou Huaizhi frowned.

“Trouble?”

As soon as he said this, he immediately realized what the trouble his colleague was talking about.

“The question now is who should I call to review the manuscript.”

Editor-in-Chief Wang folded his arms. He sighed and said, “The research on the second generation of controllable fusion itself cannot be said to be very popular as there are very few experts in this field. Not to mention the paper touches on the fields of mathematics, plasma physics, materials science, and engineering, and it can even be divided into dozens of research directions. Every technical bottleneck was written in extreme detail.”

To be honest, he did not understand how Academician Lu had achieved such an in-depth understanding of so many research fields.

Several people in the editorial department looked at each other with embarrassed expressions on their faces.

Just like the editor-in-chief said.

It was difficult to find a reviewer.

At this moment, the silence in the office was suddenly broken.

Hou Huaizhi suddenly thought of someone, and he spoke subconsciously.

“Why don’t we contact Academician Zhang? I remember he is an expert in the field of controllable fusion and plasma physics, and he has also won the Lu Zhou Science Award!”

As soon as they heard the name of Academician Zhang, many people reacted, and the voice of discussion spread in the office again.

“You mean Academician Zhang Feiyue?”

“What a coincidence! Last night I saw him on the panel of the science program of Pan-Asia TV, talking about the recent second-generation controllable fusion that has been raging.”

“Academician Zhang should be fine, he is a top expert in the field of controllable nuclear fusion!”

“… Not necessarily, Academician Zhang is studying plasma physics. Although it also involves second-generation controllable nuclear fusion, the focus is still on the theoretical direction. And Academician Lu’s paper only briefly talks about plasma. The essence of the whole paper is about the precise calculated values of various engineering parameters that need to be achieved in the design of core materials and electromagnets.”

The voices of discussion in the office were in a dispute.

After listening to his colleagues’ discussions, Editor-in-Chief Wang finally made a final decision.

“Let’s contact Academician Zhang! You, go… Forget it, I’ll send the email myself.

“In any case, whether we should publish the paper is the professionals’ decision, we just need to do our job well!”

Only from the content itself, this paper was quite good, but because the formulas and inferences were too complicated, they couldn’t decide how much academic value this paper contained.

…

Jin Ling University campus.

Sitting in his office, Academician Zhang looked at the paper on the holographic screen. He had a headache.

“Future” magazine kicked the ball to his court. He didn’t want to pick it up, but he couldn’t help but want to read what Academician Lu wrote.

To be honest, when he first got Lu Zhou’s paper, he was actually curious. As for the content of the paper itself, he didn’t expect much.

After all, it was written by a scholar from a century ago. The knowledge he possessed had long been outdated, so he could forget about making breakthroughs on the basis of existing research results.

Even if he believed that a smart brain would not become obsolete, Lu Zhou’s knowledge was based on the past.

However…

After reading the paper, Zhang Feiyue was completely stunned.

The PhD student saw his professor staring at the same page for a long time without any movement. He had been reading the page while standing behind the professor, and he couldn’t help but whisper, “Professor?”

Academician Zhang, who was stunned at his desk, finally recovered from the shock.

He coughed lightly, snapped back to reality, then looked back at the student standing behind him and said, “I was lost in thought, what’s the matter?”

The PhD student immediately asked, “What do you think of this paper?”

“It’s quite sophisticated, and the level is surprisingly high. From the day he got on the flight to Earth, it has been less than a month. He’s probably the only person who can fully understand all the research results of the entire second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project over the past century in just one month.”

The paper was like a blueprint that outlined the entire second-generation controllable fusion project and used rigorous calculations to list every piece of the puzzle needed to complete the project.

In his opinion, this was the most incredible part of this paper!

It was also at the same time that a thought suddenly came to Academician Zhang’s mind.

Perhaps…

This patriarch will actually invent the second-generation controllable fusion!

Chapter 1483: Cleaning Up Worms

While the entire “Future” editorial department and Academician Zhang, who was the reviewer, were worried about Lu Zhou’s paper, the research and development department of East Asia Energy had similar difficulties because of Academician Lu’s coming to power.

Director Song Yangwei of the Science and Technology Committee of the Board of Directors was dismissed, the senior executives of the entire R&D department had a big change, followed by the reform of the approval mechanism for scientific research funds.

There were rumors that Lu Zhou was reviewing the academic resumes of the senior executives of the entire R&D department and adopted a zero-tolerance attitude towards the uncoordinated project managers. The entire R&D department was panicking.

Of course, not everyone was panicking.

For those who were diligent in scientific research, the series of measures Lu Zhou made after he came to power was still quite desired. For this group of people, they were long sick of those department executives who relied on nepotism and those project leaders who had not published a paper but still received funding.

“The impact of feng shui on the safety of the controllable fusion reactor core… What kind of rubbish research project is this? How dare they!”

A big red cross was drawn on a document. Lu Zhou, who was frowning, reached out his index finger and quickly swept across the holographic screen, switching to the next document without stopping.

After the development of a century, the scale of East Asia Energy had become larger and more bloated.

Behind the huge profitability and scale of the company were exhausted creativity and bureaucratic corporate culture.

Although this big tree was branched out in all areas, it was riddled with holes that had been eaten by worms.

If it hadn’t been for the hard work of people from a century ago, Lu Zhou would sell his stock directly and start over with the money.

However, he did not expect to be pushed to the position of chairman after his angry remarks.

Even though in his opinion, East Asia Energy was dying, it wasn’t hopeless.

Despite the future people letting him down again and again…

Lu Zhou looked at another study titled “Twenty-seven Methods of Coffee Brewing and Their Effects on the Quality of Napping”, Lu Zhou’s eyebrow twitched fiercely again.

“This is a f*cking project?!”

Is this a scam?

This company needs to be streamlined.

Lu Zhou looked at the project applicant’s name and how Director Song had granted two million credits to this garbage project. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He made a label next to the name of the paper author.

He would ask his office secretary to clean up these spineless research worms.

In the beginning, he wanted to just cancel their projects. After all, he was their founding father. However, now it seemed like if he didn’t exterminate them, they would spread across the whole company!

Lu Zhou looked at the time in the upper right corner of the holographic screen. He took a deep breath and got up from the office chair, seeing that it was almost time for a lunch break.

Although he didn’t have any appetite, he had been working in the office all morning, so he decided to go to the rest area on the floor for a cup of coffee and get some fresh air.

He finally realized how difficult it was to run a business.

Despite this business being in his area of expertise.

Other than scientific research funding, I wonder how many problems are behind East Asia Energy…

Lu Zhou held a paper cup full of coffee in his hand as he looked at the city outside the windows. He suddenly thought of Chen Yushan, who had silently supported him all those years. He couldn’t help but feel a little down.

Although he always controlled himself not to deliberately recall things from a century ago, he still felt like everything seemed to have happened yesterday.

In fact, ever since he woke up, he had been urging Xiao Ai to help him dig out things about Chen Yushan from a century ago.

However, all the clues were gone three years after her disappearance. The only indirect clues showed that she went to Beijing after resigning as CEO and met her parents.

After that, she disappeared into the vast sea of people, and no one had seen her since then…

“Still reviewing the projects?”

Lu Zhou heard the voice come from behind, so he turned around.

He saw a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses with a cup of coffee in his hand, walking to his side with a smile.

The AR technology of this era was quite convenient. Even if someone couldn’t remember the name of the other party, if they were in their electronic address book, they could quickly recognize the name of the other party through the face recognition function of AR glasses. This minimized the embarrassment of forgetting each other’s names in social interactions.

With this function, Lu Zhou noticed that this guy’s name was Zhong Ziyu.

“Sort of, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing, just curious.” Zhong Ziyu smiled while standing next to Lu Zhou. He continued in a chatty tone, “It has been five years since the AIIB assigned me to East Asia Energy. Of the three chairmen I have seen, you are probably the most courageous one.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“It’s not a compliment, it’s just a statement of facts.” After taking a sip of coffee, he cast his eyes on the Huangpu River, he smiled and continued, “Everyone knows where the problem is, but you are the first to stand up and try to solve it.”

Lu Zhou said blankly, “If you guys solved the problem, then I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“It’s not that we don’t want to solve it, the problems are far more complicated than you realize.” Zhong Ziyu sighed lightly. He continued, “Besides, any company is actually the same. There will always be people who do work and those who don’t. The two sides reach a balance at a certain critical point and jointly maintain the efficiency of the enterprise.”

Lu Zhou: “But it is unfair to those who do work seriously.”

“There is no fairness in this world.”

“But this is not a reason to stop pursuing fairness…” Lu Zhou frowned slightly and said, “I feel like you have something to say.”

“Why? I was just a little surprised…” Zhong Ziyu said with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to be an idealist.”

Lu Zhou asked, “So?”

Zhong Ziyu: “Please don’t get me wrong. I just admire your ideas. To ordinary people like us, we have no interest in what happens to others… Maybe this is why you are a great man, we are just observers.”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m a great man or not, I only do what I should do.”

Lu Zhou threw the empty paper cup into the recycling bin next to him. He looked at Zhong Ziyu and continued, “We’ll have a meeting in the afternoon. Help me inform all the research and development departments. All research project team leaders have to attend.”

Zhong Ziyu nodded and replied happily, “I will keep you informed.”

…

The lunch break was over.

Two o’clock in the afternoon.

Lu Zhou arrived at the conference room on the first floor of East Asia Energy on time.

When he arrived here, the conference room was already full of people. East Asia Energy’s research institutes were spread throughout the Pan-Asian region. Although not everyone was present in person, they were at least standing here through the holographic conference system.

Lu Zhou glanced around at the disturbed researchers and the supervisors of the various project teams. He said a few opening lines and went directly to the main topic.

“When I checked the accounts, I discovered that East Asia Energy invested large amounts in new areas of technology research and development, but unfortunately, the results were few to none.

“Then, when I continued to check where each scientific research fund was used, I finally found out where the problem was.

“This discovery made me feel disappointed.”

Lu Zhou looked at the silent meeting room and the faces that were excited, nervous, hostile, and full of hope. He continued to speak in a steady tone.

“Solving these problems is an urgent matter. The approval of scientific research funding and the entire East Asia Energy R&D department needs a top-down reform!

“From today onwards, the unlimited funding approval system will be obsolete. The filing of all projects will require signatures from the scientific research director and the Science and Technology Committee of the Board of directors. Everything will be streamlined.

“As for the existing projects, I will cut down 50% of them. I will also liquidate the projects that are suspected of serious funding abuse and hand them over to the legal department for accountability!”

Lu Zhou looked at the quiet crowd. He then slowed down a bit and continued, “Now, let’s focus on the main topic for today’s meeting.

“Let’s talk about the second-generation controllable fusion project.”

Chapter 1484: The Master of This Era!

The conference ended.

Footsteps and voices of complaints came out of the conference room.

With an angry expression on his face, an old man about 50 or 60 years old spoke furiously.

“What the hell is that Academician Lu doing?!”

Soon, another middle-aged man, about 30 or 40 years old, also echoed angrily.

“Cutting down 50% of scientific research projects; this guy is crazy! Second-generation controllable fusion? Without sufficient funds, we can’t do anything!”

“This is completely unreasonable! Although he is Academician Lu… But it has been more than a hundred years, why does he think that his theory can be applied now?”

Listening to the voices of the people next to him, Director Liu Sihai, who was surrounded by the crowd, had a gloomy expression on his face. He hadn’t said a word since he stepped out of the door of the conference room.

At the conference, the paper named “Twenty-seven Methods of Coffee Brewing and Their Effects on the Quality of Napping” that Lu Zhou criticized by name was his masterpiece.

It was precisely because of this that when Lu Zhou said that he would be held accountable and liquidated, he suddenly panicked and didn’t know what to do for a while.

He was in his early thirties and had poor academic experience. Normally, it was absolutely impossible for him to sit in the position of a laboratory supervisor, not to mention the most critical and most adequately funded electromagnet research laboratory.

The reason why he was in this position was thanks to his wife, who was slightly older than him. Her father was on the board of directors of the Science and Technology Committee.

Of course, these things were now in the past.

At the previous board meeting, Lu Zhou, who took up the post of chairman, removed Song Yangwei from his position on the grounds of reforming the R&D department and took the position of the Science and Technology Committee.

Although his father-in-law’s Song Capital was still a shareholder of East Asia Energy, the power of the board of directors had been deprived of voting rights. If Lu Zhou really wanted him gone, there was nothing he could do.

He worked quite hard to make up “reasons” for funding!

After reading the dissatisfaction on his boss’ face, Yang Xiaofeng glanced left and right, then immediately scolded.

“This Lu Zhou is too despicable! Is he the real Academician Lu? I seriously think that he is a fake!”

Although he hoped that this was the case, it was obviously stupid to question his identity.

A related researcher walking nearby sighed and said in a heavy tone, “Whether it is fake or not, the Pan-Asian Cooperation is always on his side, including the AIIB… Although I don’t understand why those major shareholders are so optimistic about an old popsicle from a hundred years ago, the power he holds is too great.”

Although these senior executives in scientific research usually did not care about the business side of things, they were still in the company and heard about the board voting.

Lu Zhou was able to directly overthrow Song Yangwei on the board of directors and grab the position of the director of the Science and Technology Committee from him. This was largely because he was supported by a large number of major shareholders, such as the AIIB.

Otherwise, relying on his 7% of the shares and his poor connections in the East Asia Energy Board of Directors, it would be almost impossible to get things done.

“What’s the point of the board of directors? No matter how good he is, he is still alone. If he wants to do something, he still needs someone else to work for him.” Yang Xiaofeng continued with a sinister smile in his eyes, “I have an idea. Instead of making the old popsicle give in, it is better to make him maintain the status quo.”

Liu Siha was worried that Lu Zhou would get rid of him, so he immediately spoke up.

“What’s the idea? Tell me!”

“Academician Lu’s prestige in the academic world is true, but after all, it came from a hundred years ago. His connections no longer exist in this era. And you are the leader of the electromagnet research laboratory. If he gets rid of you, there will be no one to replace your seat.”

Director Liu Siha’s eyes gradually brightened. Yang Xiaofeng smiled and continued slowly.

“If the whole R&D department is in chaos, forget about second-generation controllable fusion, I’m afraid that the normal business of East Asia Energy will also be affected. Seeing the chaos left by him, even if the AIIB believes in him, they have to admit that he is not a good manager at all. At that time, he won’t even secure his chairman seat.”

“Genius!”

After listening to Yang Xiaofeng’s words, Liu Sihai’s face suddenly showed an overjoyed expression. His eyes became brighter as he continued to mumble, “As long as Lu Zhou loses power in the board of directors, in order to clean up the mess he would undoubtedly leave behind, the board of directors will definitely invite Director Song back.”

When my father-in-law returns to his position in the Science and Technology Committee, I won’t have to worry about my future in East Asia Energy!

Even if Lu Zhou removed him as laboratory director, it would only be a matter of time for him to transfer to a top position of other laboratories!

Zhao Xiaofeng gave a flattering smile.

“You’re brilliant, Director Liu!

“What he’s doing is not just hurting our interests! What we have to do now is to unite those who are dissatisfied and fight against the old popsicle!

“He will then know who is the master of this era!”

…

The day after the research conference ended.

Although not everyone was eligible to participate in the conference, the content of the conference spread the day it ended.

In addition to Lu Zhou’s deployment of second-generation controllable fusion technology at the meeting, what attracted the most attention from researchers was the reform program he put forward at the meeting.

Whether it was cutting half of the scientific research projects or changing the approval process for scientific research funding, every measure proposed by Academician Lu was closely related to the vital interests of the scientific research workers of East Asia Energy.

Therefore, regardless of whether it was within the Pan-Asian Cooperation or not, every research unit under East Asia Energy was talking about this.

“Director Liu of the electromagnet lab was actually removed? Really?”

“That’s the author of ‘Twenty-seven Methods of Coffee Brewing and Their Effects on the Quality of Napping’? I heard that the funding was applied for 2 million? Haha, it’s finally time for him to leave! He’s an insult to our company!”

“Shhh, don’t talk nonsense. Director Liu is the son-in-law of Director Song. Academician Lu only warned him at the meeting. If nothing happens in the end, what you said today will reach his ears. Are you not afraid of him?”

“F*ck? Really, he’s going to come after me? Also, I’m not the only one who said this…”

Tang Yunge listened to the discussion of his colleagues in the office. He felt that these guys were really not afraid of dying. They even dared to talk nonsense.

However, if someone were to ask him what he thought, he would still applaud Academician Lu for cleaning Director Liu.

Because he was the kind of person who liked to get things done.

Inside the electromagnet research laboratory, these front-line scientific researchers did the hardest work and the most demanding jobs, but in the end, they might not even be able to put their names on the research papers.

They had to forget about receiving credit for the research results that Director Liu and other stakeholders focused on.

Being able to put their names on the thesis could already be regarded as “a blessing from the heavens”.

On the one-third acre land of the electromagnet research laboratory, Director Liu was the king.

However, ever since Academician Lu returned, everything seemed to have changed.

When he saw the triumphant ceremony at the Heart of Asia through his VR headset, his heart was filled with emotions. He felt that this great man from a century ago would bring a little excitement to the lives of the Pan-Asian people.

And now, his feelings came true.

As Tang Yunge looked at the email in his mailbox, he felt a wave of emotions.

He didn’t know why Academician Lu became interested in an unknown person like him.

But his intuition told him that this should be a good thing.

“Bro, why are you so happy?”

Tang Yunge immediately suppressed the smirk on his face and coughed dryly.

“Happy? Am I? By the way, I still have something to do this afternoon, so let’s postpone the experiment until tomorrow. I don’t trust you to do it yourself.”

The colleague didn’t think much. He just replied with a smile, “Okay, tomorrow it is.”

Chapter 1485: The Key to the Second Generation of Controllable Fusion

The reform of research funding had caused panic within East Asia Energy.

Half of the scientific research projects were cut, stricter funding approval…

Although this had not been implemented yet, everyone was worried that they would eventually fall.

But generally speaking, everyone’s mood was relatively stable.

Especially for those scientific researchers who worked diligently, Lu Zhou’s approach was a bit tough, even uncomfortable, but it was still quite popular.

To be honest, they had long been fed up with those leaders who relied on nepotism and had no abilities at all, relying on the power at hand to do whatever they wanted in the department.

As for whether the people who only collected paychecks were satisfied with the reforms…

Lu Zhou didn’t care.

In his opinion, East Asia Energy was already a dying giant. To cure its disease, it must be treated with a strong medicine.

Cleaning up the worms was only the first step.

The second step was to sweep out the people who only cared about the paychecks.

It was not that Lu Zhou was unkind. He didn’t mind having some bloated people in other positions. But as a scholar, he had zero tolerance for this kind of behavior in scientific researchers!

He knew exactly what it was like to devote all his life to scientific research yet not get any attention in the end, and in turn, to have one’s academic achievements stolen away.

As long as he sat in the position of chairman, he would definitely not allow such injustice to happen under his nose!

Besides, he didn’t expect those b*stards to be able to help him with the engineering of the second-generation controlled fusion.

If they didn’t want to work hard, they should go home.

…

After the meeting, Lu Zhou, who had arranged the work of various departments, immediately invested in the research of the second-generation controllable fusion technology.

Although he did not particularly understand the rules of this era, doing scientific research was always the same.

Choose a general direction, then through constant trial and error, find a feasible path. From the standpoint of a chief designer, what he needed to do was to plan the framework of the entire large-scale scientific research project, choose several technical routes with the highest probability of success, then formulate strategic directions for academic leaders in various fields. He had to do everything possible to reduce the number of trials and errors, as well as time costs.

The three problems currently faced by the second-generation controllable fusion technology were basically the same as those he faced in the first-generation controllable fusion technology.

The only difference was that the difficulty was different.

The scattering cross-section of deuterium and helium-3 was much smaller than that of deuterium-tritium. The cross-section of the former was only 0.8b at 300 keV, which was much smaller than the latter, so more energy input was required and the fusion conditions were more severe.

The same fusion reactor could realize the DT reaction, the temperature of the deuterium-tritium reaction, at only 100 million degrees.

However, if someone wanted to make a fusion reaction between deuterium and helium and keep the reaction stable, the temperature required was a few billion degrees.

Temperature was just one element.

There was also density and constraint time; these three were indispensable.

According to the literature that Lu Zhou consulted, so far, the core problems faced by the second generation of controllable fusion were mainly concentrated in reaction temperature.

Especially how to confine and compress the high-temperature plasma in a very small area.

The strength of the magnetic field required to achieve this was a terrifying number.

However, despite so many difficulties, Lu Zhou did not feel that this was an unsolvable problem.

When he was designing the first generation of controllable fusion reactor cores, he was also troubled by the same problem. The situation at that time was not more optimistic than it was now. Many key technologies, including computational materials science, were in an emerging stage; some were even at the conceptual stage.

However, in that era, he still brought a group of outstanding engineers and scholars to complete a miracle in the history of human science.

Since he could do it in the past, he had reason to believe that, in the future, with the more advanced science and technology, he would be able to accomplish this miracle once again!

Office of the Chairman.

Tang Yunge, who came to the building for a report, was standing at the desk with a nervous expression. As he looked at the great man from a hundred years ago, his heart was filled with anxiety and curiosity.

In the morning, he received an email from Academician Lu.

In the email, Academician Lu offered him an invitation, hoping that he would come to the building to discuss with him about the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion project.

Strictly speaking, Tang Yunge was not studying second-generation controllable fusion. His role was just as a senior researcher in the electromagnet research laboratory. His usual job was to hold meetings, research, and design a magnetic field container for East Asia Energy reactors.

He really didn’t understand why Academician Lu wanted to see a nobody like him.

Just when he was hesitant to say hello to him, Lu Zhou, who was sitting behind his desk, spoke concisely.

“Please sit.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhou looked at Tang Yunge, who was sitting on the sofa. He went straight to the point.

“I have read your paper. In the area of electromagnet research, you have put forward a lot of interesting design concepts and ideas. I was impressed with many of them.”

After receiving the compliment from Academician Lu, Tang Yunge couldn’t help but feel a little proud, but he still said modestly, “You’re too kind, those research results are not from me alone.”

“No matter who is responsible for it, it’s not from Liu Siha.”

Lu Zhou paused for a while and continued, “According to my calculation results, I need a magnetic field capable of generating 10,000T in a small space to confine the high-temperature plasma in the reactor core.

“Can it be done?”

“Almost… impossible,” Tang Yunge said with an embarrassed expression on his face. “With East Asia Energy’s current technical reserves, we can make the strongest electromagnet with a magnetic field strength of just over 5,000T. The sustainable time is less than 50 milliseconds, and it cannot be used to power the core. As for 10,000T… This is too ridiculous.”

What did 10,000T mean?

To put it intuitively, the MRI machine used in general hospitals was about 3T, and 13T could make a frog float in the air.

Most people simply couldn’t imagine what a terrifying force 10,000 Tesla was.

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “There is no hope at all?”

After making eye contact with Lu Zhou, Tang Yunge prepared to give an affirmative answer, but at this moment, there was a slight hesitation in his eyes.

Is there really no hope at all?

Not quite.

But East Asia Energy…

Has no hope.

After hesitating for a while, Tang Yunge finally took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and spoke.

“It’s not that there is no hope at all… But the current situation of the electromagnet research laboratory is looking grim!”

“Oh?” Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows, looked at him, and asked, “It seems you have something to say.”

Tang Yunge gave a wry smile. He was about to speak out about the problems of the electromagnet research laboratory.

However, outside the chairman’s office, rushing footsteps were heard.

There were two knocks on the door, then the door was pushed open.

Lu Zhou’s office secretary anxiously appeared at the door.

“Lu, Academician Lu, not good!”

Lu Zhou looked at the office secretary standing at the door of the office. He frowned slightly.

“What’s going on?”

With an anxious expression on his face, the secretary couldn’t even catch his breath. He said nervously, “The electromagnet research laboratory!

“They are on a strike!”

Chapter 1486: Collective Resignation

Strike?

After hearing this unexpected word, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned, and it took a while before he recovered.

“Strike? For… what reason?”

“Everyone is not working anymore.” Secretary Zhou said, “The entire electromagnet research laboratory has stopped. The researchers all ran to the lobby of the laboratory building to protest your scientific research reform… Basically, the scene is chaotic. If they continue to make trouble, I am worried that the board of directors will take action.”

Tang Yunge, who was standing next to him, couldn’t help but show a bitter expression on his face.

To be honest, he was not surprised that this kind of thing would happen.

The entire electromagnet research laboratory had almost become the playground for Director Liu Sihai alone. With the support of Song Yangwei, the old man who held an important position on the board of directors, he eroded the electromagnet laboratory of East Asia Energy after several years of management.

From the leaders of key projects to the management personnel of other laboratories and production units, all important positions were held by his corrupt friends.

This was no longer a problem that could be solved by one or two people.

Unless the entire East Asia Energy’s R&D department had a big change, forget about second-generation controllable fusion, it would be a blessing to be able to continue to maintain East Asia Energy’s advantage in the first-generation controllable fusion field.

Lu Zhou: “Did they ask for anything?”

Secretary Zhou hesitated for a while without speaking.

Finally, after seeing the impatient expression on Lu Zhou’s face, he clenched his teeth and said truthfully.

“They asked the board of directors to remove your position as a director of the scientific committee and stop you from using administrative means to interfere with the laboratory’s daily work and academic freedom.”

The daily work of the laboratory?

Academic freedom?

Lu Zhou was so angry that he almost laughed out loud.

“What if I don’t agree?”

Hearing the unkindness in Lu Zhou’s tone, Secretary Zhou said cautiously, “According to their representative, if you don’t agree, they will resign collectively…”

“Pff!”

The moment when he heard these words, Lu Zhou did not hold back. He laughed out loud at this serious moment.

After a few seconds, he finally got the laughter out of his stomach. He coughed and stopped.

Secretary Zhou stood in front of his desk with a dazed expression. He paused for a moment, reached out his hand, and spoke.

“Where is it? I’ll take it.”

“It? What?” Confused, Secretary Zhou asked in a quiet voice, “What?”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“The resignation letter!

“They’re going to threaten me with resignation without even writing a resignation letter?”

Secretary Zhou and Tang Yunge: “???”

…

At the electromagnet research laboratory, today’s atmosphere was particularly lively.

Someone said that “Academician Lu is going to cut half of the researchers in the institute”, then stood up and called on everyone to unite and protect their rights.

From the office to the laboratory, almost all the desks were empty. Regardless of whether it was on their own volition or compelled by the instructions of their superiors, everyone came to the lobby on the first floor of the laboratory building, sat on the floor with protest signs in their hands, and protested the reforms implemented by Academician Lu.

“Aren’t we out of line for doing this?”

An old researcher who had been working at East Asia Energy for nearly 20 years showed a somewhat uneasy expression on his face.

This kind of anxiety was not out of conscience or morality, nor out of the anxiety and guilt about doing barely anything over the past decade, but just worried that things would not end well.

“The bigger the trouble, the more favorable the final result will be for us!”

Seeing the boiling atmosphere in the hall, Yang Xiaofeng smiled happily, narrowed his eyes, and continued, “I bet that the old popsicle must be worried now.”

The times had changed.

People nowadays were not like people before; they fought for their own rights.

It’s a pity that Academician Lu is not a qualified manager. If he has even a little managerial skill, he will definitely not take such tough measures to promote his one-size-fits-all reform.

East Asia Energy did have many problems, but these problems were not limited to East Asia Energy.

Yang Xiaofeng admitted that he was only here to collect a paycheck, and the best paper he wrote over the years was his graduation thesis. However, this was how the rules of this world were, so he didn’t think this was his problem.

Also, his predecessors left such a large family business. If he didn’t maintain his power, how could he reflect the strength of his predecessors?

Looking at the empty door not far away, another researcher sitting next to him spoke in a nervous tone.

“You think Academician Lu… Will he really compromise? I always feel that he is not simple…”

“It doesn’t matter whether he compromises or not,” Yang Xiaofeng said slowly. “As long as the shareholders see the trouble he has caused after taking office, as well as the dismal stock price, they will naturally make the right choice.”

Of course, if Academician Lu was willing to cooperate, the door of opportunity would still be available to him.

The premise was if he would be willing to sit in the position of chairman as a mascot, without worrying about the past and never trying to take anything away from Yang Xiaofeng.

At this moment, footsteps came from the door of the laboratory.

When Yang Xiaofeng saw the person who appeared at the door, he was immediately happy.

The person who came was none other than Zhou Lei, the administrative secretary in Lu Zhou’s office. Although the fact that Lu Zhou didn’t come here in person disappointed him a little bit, he did send his secretary here so quickly…

Obviously, Lu Zhou couldn’t take it anymore!

Yang Xiaofeng stood up from the ground. He patted his pants and walked to Secretary Zhou calmly.

His chin was pointing high as he spoke with a proud face.

“What are you doing here? We want to meet Academician Lu, not his secretary.

“If he still has this arrogant attitude and refuses to talk to us, then we will let him pay for his arrogance!”

This guy…

Has no idea where his situation stands.

Secretary Zhou gave him a sympathetic look. He then moved his gaze away from him. After a light cough, he looked at the researchers sitting on the floor in the hall and spoke.

“Everyone has been sitting here all morning, so you all probably haven’t had lunch yet.

“Academician Lu is very considerate of everyone’s hard work. In order not to delay everyone’s lunch break, we will strive to complete everyone’s procedures before noon.”

Procedures?

What procedures?

Stunned by the words of this sentence, Yang Xiaofeng’s speech that he had rehearsed for a long time was thrown back into his stomach.

“What procedures? What do you mean?”

Secretary Zhou opened his mouth, hesitating to explain, but at this moment, the staff member of the legal department standing next to him spoke with an impatient expression.

“Of course it’s the resignation procedures, what other procedures? You are too lazy to even write a resignation letter, so hurry up and fill out this form, stop wasting our time.”

Yang Xiaofeng: “???”

Resign?!

What’s going on?!

The moment he heard these words, the entire hall on the first floor of the laboratory building had already exploded in chaos.

As for Yang Xiaofeng, he was dumbfounded. As he looked at Secretary Zhou and the person from the legal department, he was speechless.

Although he used all of the laboratory staff members’ resignations as a threat, he never thought that the final result would be like this.

A drop of cold sweat passed across his forehead.

When Yang Xiaofeng felt the pairs of eyes staring at him from behind, he gradually began to realize that he was in a bad situation…

Chapter 1487: Threat?

While the strike of the electromagnet laboratory was underway, the head of the laboratory, Director Liu Sihai, had already brought an “ultimatum” to the office of the research director of East Asia Energy.

He looked at the old man who was over seventy years old sitting at the desk as he spoke in a confident tone.

“Director Wu, the researchers in the laboratory are restless. They demanded the board of directors to stop interfering in the R&D department and remove Academician Lu from the scientific board of directors! If their demands are not met, the strike will not end.”

Director Wu was the head of the scientific research department of East Asia Energy. His name was Wu Qing, and he was 72 years old.

According to the corporate structure of East Asia Energy, all research units and scientific research projects were managed by the scientific research director, and the Science and Technology Committee of the board of directors was responsible for supervision.

Whether it was qualifications or position, Liu Sihai definitely didn’t deserve to speak with Director Wu in such an arrogant tone.

However, the situation of East Asia Energy was quite special.

Although he was the leader of the R&D department, Director Wu actually had no real power. A few years ago, most of his power had been delegated to various research units by Song Yangwei.

Because of this, Liu Sihai was not scared of him at all.

The reason for talking with him now was just to get a big name to his side and add a little more chance of winning.

However, Director Wu was not stupid. He would definitely not risk his job to help.

He looked at Director Liu Sihai, who was standing across from the desk. Director Wu sighed with a headache.

“What are you doing…”

“We are fighting for legal rights!”

Liu Sihai continued.

“Director Wu, the researchers are angry. You also used to be a scientific researcher. You should know. It is not easy to take a scientific research project from initiation to completion, and how much effort it takes. However, now an old antique a hundred years ago opened his mouth, saying to cut off half of the projects. Has he considered how ordinary people like us feel?”

After hearing these words, Wu Qing was baffled.

Others didn’t know the uselessness of the East Asia Energy research department, but he obviously knew.

It was just that at his age, he couldn’t do anything. Most of the time he just closed one eye and pretended not to see it.

Legal rights?

How do you feel?

What a load of sh*t!

But I still shouldn’t offend him.

After sighing, Director Wu continued in a calm tone.

“I feel your difficulties in my heart. To be honest, he started doing this without a heads up. I am also very angry, but I can’t change anything! This reform task from Academician Lu is personally done by himself. You know his personality. I can’t say anything in front of him.

“The protest is bound to end terribly, so why bother?”

“This is already related to the vital interests of all of us. If I choose to be silent, how can I stand up for the hard-working scholars in the laboratory and the colleagues who believe in me?” With an awe-inspiring expression, Director Liu Sihai continued, “I must see Academician Lu today! If he does not give a clear answer, I will not leave here!”

A familiar voice suddenly floated from the door.

“Someone wants to see me?”

Liu Sihai immediately looked in the direction of the door. He saw Lu Zhou walking in from outside with a robot bodyguard and a man who looked familiar.

“What a coincidence, I was about to go to your office to find you.”

Seeing that the person who came in was Lu Zhou, Liu Sihai smiled coldly. Too lazy to pretend to be polite, he gently raised his chin and said, “I will give you two choices.

“Either you become a chairman, don’t interfere with laboratory affairs, mind your own business, and no one gets in the way. Or if you continue to pursue us, you won’t have a good time!”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued speaking in a calm tone, “It’s not that I haven’t been threatened before.

“But this is the first time I’ve been threatened by someone like you.”

Liu Sihai’s face instantly turned blue.

“Hey! I’m warning you, don’t be ridiculous! If you continue to do this, this won’t end well!”

Lu Zhou looked at Director Liu, whose face was red, and said blankly, “Oh, tell me what you’re going to do.”

While talking, the office door was pushed open.

The staff of the legal department led two policemen and law enforcement robots in the door. Director Wu, who was sitting behind the desk, was taken aback; cold sweat came out on his back.

Liu Sihai, who was standing there, was stunned. His face turned pale.

“You…”

His index finger pointed at Lu Zhou. His lips trembled.

He really didn’t expect that Lu Zhou would skip the negotiation and directly call the police. He didn’t expect the police to come so quickly.

He was flabbergasted!

Without noticing the expression on Liu Sihai’s face too much, Lu Zhou looked at the two policemen coming in from outside the door, nodded to them, and said softly.

“Officers, this is the person I’m talking about. Regarding his use of his power to cooperate with others to embezzle East Asia Energy assets and conceal evidence of illegal income, I have entrusted the staff of the legal department to send the evidence to the court.

“I believe the law will give him a fair trial.”

Liu Siha quickly opened his mouth in a cold sweat.

“I didn’t! I just—”

The officer interrupted Liu Sihai. He looked at him and spoke in an official tone.

“You are Mr. Liu Sihai?”

“It’s me, but… but I really didn’t do anything!” He grabbed Lu Zhou’s arm and said in an imploring tone, “There may be a misunderstanding between us, please give me a chance to explain! I must—”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me.”

Ling took Liu Sihai’s arm off Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou’s eyes were cold.

Sympathy?

Forget about it.

I’m not sympathetic toward people like you.

It’s okay to be stupid. As long as you are diligent and studious, you can still be saved. Even if you are useless, I can just replace you. I wouldn’t be this angry.

However, this was no longer a question of ability. Even now, Liu Sihai didn’t realize where his mistake was.

When Liu Sihai was taken out of the room by the law enforcement-type robot, Lu Zhou continued in a cold tone, “Explain it to the judge.”

Perhaps Liu Sihai was irritated by Lu Zhou’s cold tone. He knew that he would not be able to escape the encounter anyway, so he finally erupted in anger.

Exhausting all of his energy, when he was pulled out of the office door, he yelled out loud, “Hey, you! I’m not going to let this go! Wait and see, then you will beg me, and I will…”

The angry roar gradually faded away in the corridor, until it was inaudible.

Lu Zhou didn’t pay attention to what he said. He lightly glanced at Director Wu shivering behind his desk, then cast his gaze on Tang Yunge, who was standing next to him.

“You will be the director of the electromagnet research laboratory.”

Tang Yunge was taken aback and pointed to himself.

“Me?”

“Who else?”

“But…”

“I’m never wrong about talented people.” Lu Zhou patted him on the shoulder and said, “Work hard, don’t let me down.”

After this, Lu Zhou turned around and walked out of the door.

Chapter 1488: Shock Treatment

The resignation procedure was faster than the hiring procedure.

There was no need to wait until noon. In less than a minute, the electronic contract and salary slips were sent to every researcher who had resigned.

From reading the contract to signing, it only took one hour in total.

The lawyer from the legal department who came with Secretary Zhou gave some simple answers to some questions about the resignation agreement and urged them to fill out the form and contract. He then left with the documents.

After the two left, the hall became quiet again.

The researchers looked at the resignation agreement in the holographic interface with muddled expressions. They then looked at each other with weird expressions in their eyes.

Although it was true that they were threatening to resign, almost no one thought that they would actually reach this point.

Why does it feel like…

Something is not right?

No, something is wrong…

“Could not be reached…”

As Yang Xiaofeng looked at the unanswered symbol on the videophone interface, his expression was pale.

The development of the situation had exceeded his expectations.

Before the strike began, he had considered many possibilities, but he had not considered the possibility that Lu Zhou was actually indifferent to their resignations.

As Yang Xiaofeng stared closely at the resignation contract in front of him, a researcher next to him who looked dumbfounded spoke.

“What shall we do now…?”

What am I supposed to say?

Yang Xiaofeng didn’t know how to answer.

However, seeing the pair of eyes staring at him as if he killed everyone’s parents, he quickly relaxed his tone and said.

“Don’t worry, everyone, we are all the technical backbones of the electromagnet design laboratory. How can an old popsicle get rid of us? He will have to invite us back tomorrow politely!

“Director Liu has already negotiated with the board of directors on our behalf. Please don’t panic. At this time, we must unite even more. I believe there will be results soon!”

When he said this, Yang Xiaofeng didn’t know that his boss couldn’t even protect himself, much less anyone else.

Thousands of people had lost their jobs…

Yang Xiaofeng was one of them.

If Lu Zhou did not compromise in the end, he was afraid that he would be torn to pieces by these angry people.

After all, when he stood up and called everyone to protest together, he repeatedly assured that there would be no problems with the jobs and that their salaries would be even higher than before…

…

The Yangtze River Delta city group.

In a mansion inside a wealthy area.

A middle-aged woman, who looked quite young, grabbed an old man’s arm and cried, “Dad! You’re the one that makes the call!”

Her name was Song Haiyang, the only daughter of Song Yangwei, chairman of Yangwei Capital.

Last night, her husband did not return home all night. Thinking that her man had been taken by some tramp, she quickly found someone and finally heard that he was taken away by the police.

After hearing the news, she tossed and cried all night. She ran to her father in the morning, hoping that her father could help her find a way.

All she could rely on was her father.

Song Yangwei looked at his crying daughter. He couldn’t help but curse.

“That bastard, didn’t I tell him to be honest?!”

The fire is right under his a*s, and the idea he came up with was to go on a strike!

Only he would be this stupid!

There were still many people who sympathized with him on the board of directors, but after what happened, no one dared to stand by him.

Song Haiyang’s cry was even louder; her tears could not stop flowing.

Seeing his crying daughter, Song Yangwei originally planned to say something cruel, but in the end, his heart turned soft and he spoke with a sigh.

“Don’t cry, your dad has this handled. Don’t worry, it’s just an old popsicle from a hundred years ago. He can’t go against me!”

The crying stopped for a while. Song Haiyang raised her head, and her eyes seemed to see hope.

“Really… Really?”

After giving his daughter a comforting smile, Song Yangwei smirked.

“Have I ever lied to you?

“I’ll take care of this.”

Having been on the board of directors for so many years, he knew the hidden secrets about East Asia Energy, even if he was afraid to talk about them.

If Lu Zhou intended to do things this way…

He would not allow this to happen, even at his own expense!

Of course, that was the last resort; they were far from reaching that point now.

If such a method was really used, it would be tantamount to dragging down other shareholders on the board of directors.

After taking a deep breath, Song Yangwei calmed himself down, took out his mobile phone from his pocket, and called his classmate, who worked at the TV station.

Before putting pressure on the board of directors, he needed to make some preparations.

At least, they had to be scared…

…

Jin Ling University.

Principal’s office.

After finishing the preparatory course, Lu Zhou came here to visit Principal Cai Mingrui.

Seeing Lu Zhou who came to visit, President Cai invited him into the office very politely and ordered his secretary to help make two cups of coffee.

Lu Zhou sat across from the sofa as he warmly greeted the principal.

“Academician Lu, are you still used to the new life?”

Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Yeah, I am.”

“Good, good. We were worried that you would not adapt to the life here. It seems that we were worrying too much.” With a smile, Principal Cai Mingrui continued, “If there is anything that we can help you, please be sure to tell me.”

Lu Zhou took a sip of coffee and put down his cup. He thought for a moment and said, “Speaking of help… I really have something recently that I might have to trouble you.”

Principal Cai smiled and said, “You are too polite! Just tell me if you have any difficulties, we will definitely help you solve it!”

Lu Zhou: “Before I ask you, I actually want to inquire about something. I heard that Jin Ling University’s nuclear engineering is the world’s best, but why did very few of the graduated talents join East Asia Energy?”

Although he didn’t know why Lu Zhou suddenly asked this question, it was indeed one of the sorrows of Jin Ling University.

Principal Cai Mingrui sighed and continued, “This… It’s a long story. On the one hand, East Asia Energy’s entry barrier is too high. On the other hand, it may be that the academic and industrial circles have different calibers.”

“The entry barrier is too high?” Lu Zhou frowned slightly. “Are there schools with higher standards than Jin Ling University?”

“This threshold may not be academic. I don’t know if you can understand what I’m talking about,” President Cai said vaguely. “Each year, East Asia Energy will hold campus recruitment here, but the number of admissions is less than 10, and less than a third of the 10 are able to stay through induction training. According to what I learned from the teachers in the engineering school, most of the students who went to East Asia Energy after graduation were unhappy. Those who stayed for two years or more were considered to be relatively rare. Many talented people go back to school to do scientific research after one year of work.”

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully. “It seems that East Asia Energy has a big problem.”

“The problem is definitely there, but after all, it’s a private company, and we can’t control them. I hope they can improve in the future. Let’s not talk about our troubles, let’s talk about your troubles.” Cai Ming Rui smiled and said, “Didn’t you have something to trouble me? I have been waiting for a long time.”

“I need a favor. It has something to do with the question I asked earlier.” Lu Zhou continued, putting on a serious tone, “I want to do a campus recruitment event at Jin Ling University in the near future. In a few days… or the sooner the better.”

“Recruitment?”

Principal Cai Mingrui was taken aback and said, “The campus recruitment was just in November… Another one so soon…”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t know if you have heard. I recently launched a second-generation controllable fusion project, which requires a lot of manpower.”

Principal Cai asked seriously, “How many people do you need?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and gave a number.

“One or two thousand.”

Principal Cai took a deep breath and said in an incredulous tone, “One or two thousand jobs? Are you… opening a new research institute? Why do you need so many people?”

“It’s not a new research institute.” Lu Zhou coughed dryly. He then said with some uncertainty, “It’s just that I was not satisfied with the institute, so I just fired everyone.”

Cai Mingrui: “…?”

Lu Zhou: “In short, I plan to recruit more people to fill in the jobs.”

Principal Cai looked at Lu Zhou and said dumbfoundedly, “There’s no problem with campus recruitment… I wish you would recruit more students from us, but why… fire everyone?! At least a few people should be reserved to do the induction training for new employees, right?”

“It’s not necessary.” Lu Zhou said, “I’ll keep it straight. The electromagnet laboratory is completely corrupt. Without this shock treatment method, there is no way to save it. No matter how good the new employees are… If they are sent in, they will also be contaminated and turned into waste. It’s better to fire all of them and start again.

“Is it ok to do the campus recruitment event? If not, I’ll go to other places to ask.”

“Okay! Definitely!” Seeing that Lu Zhou was about to leave, Principal Cai wasn’t willing to let go of this opportunity. He said quickly, “The day after tomorrow, I will immediately hold a meeting here to arrange the recruitment work. You can just send your HR people here!”

Lu Zhou nodded and said with a smile, “Thanks so much.”

Chapter 1489: Invest In Myself

[East Asia Energy Caught In The Vortex of a Power Struggle, Staff of the Electromagnet Research Laboratory Resigns Collectively!]

[Scientific Research Reform? Or a Battle of Power!]

[15-Second Short Film Tells the Past and Present Of East Asia Energy, Gives You the Truth Behind History!]

After being taken away by the police in front of so many people, it was impossible not to be seen.

In particular, this person’s role was also the head of East Asia Energy’s largest research unit in the Yangtze River Delta city group, Director Liu Sihai.

Although this was the internal affairs of East Asia Energy, it was obviously not just the employees of East Asia Energy who were paying attention to this matter.

As the largest power company in Asia and the promoter of cross-regional power grids, this company had an extremely special position in both the economic and historical sense. Its destiny had long been firmly tied with the people in the Pan-Asian region.

As Director Liu Sihai was taken away, a series of reform measures for scientific research introduced by Academician Lu, the chairman, had also surfaced one after another.

When they saw the names of the research project that were said to have been cut down by Lu Zhou himself, many people were shocked.

No one thought that the company was corrupt to this degree…

The building of East Asia Energy.

The seating area on the top floor.

Morinaga, who was drinking coffee, looked at Zhong Ziyu sitting on the sofa opposite him. He suddenly spoke.

“The share price of East Asia Energy has fallen quite a bit recently.”

“Isn’t that good?” Zhong Ziyu said with a faint smile, “The Pan-Asian Cooperation can use this opportunity to increase our holdings.”

Morinaga asked casually, “Are you that confident?”

Zhong Ziyu did not give any answer. He just gave an intriguing smile.

Morinaga stared at this smile and thought for a while. He thought of something, and he asked tentatively, “Does your side… plan to make a move?”

“No need to ask, we don’t plan to do anything, and even if we do, we won’t tell you.” Zhong Ziyu smiled faintly. He cast his gaze to the estuary of the Huangpu River outside the window and continued, “Don’t you think this is a good opportunity?”

“The opportunity to expand the power of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in East Asia Energy?”

“Yes and no.” After a pause, Zhong Ziyu continued in a slow tone, “What we want to know is whether Academician Lu has the ability to settle this matter.”

Scientific research ability was not the same as management ability. It was a risky decision to elect Lu Zhou as chairman.

In fact, the AIIB had been evaluating the positive and negative impacts this incident might have on East Asia Energy.

The manager of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank who was sent to East Asia Energy to serve as the managing director, Zhong Ziyu, who pushed Lu Zhou to the position of chairman, also underwent considerable pressure from the AIIB.

Although this collective resignation and the subsequent exposure of scientific research corruption was a big trouble for East Asia Energy, it could also act as a touchstone in reverse thinking.

If this matter was not settled, then they would never achieve second-generation nuclear fusion.

But if he settled this matter smoothly…

It would undoubtedly become the strongest proof of his management talent.

…

The public opinion was still fermenting.

Insiders kept breaking the news on the personal grievances between Academician Lu’s personality and Director Liu Sihai’s temper, as well as Liu Sihai’s flaws in managing the electromagnet research laboratory.

But, to be honest, this argument was difficult.

A person from 100 years ago was having grudges with someone born at the end of the 21st century…

The age gap was too large.

Lu Zhou’s personality was considered a research project for historians.

After hearing about the news, many reporters wanted to interview the parties, but Lu Zhou was busy with recruitment and was not free while Liu Sihai was busy in jail.

Mansion in the suburbs.

A salesman in formal clothes stood at the gate of the yard with a gardening drone floating beside him; its dazzling scissors shining in the sun.

“Excuse me, who are you?”

“I am a staff member of Huaxia Bank.”

The man who claimed to be a bank employee carried a business smile on his face and continued politely, “Pan-Asian Airlines entrusts us to handle the follow-up procedures for your compensation. In short, I’m here to send the money.

“So… Can you move your gardening drone a little further away?”

The iron door slowly opened, and the drone floating on the side also flew away slowly.

The bank clerk nodded to the access-control camera. Under the supervision of Xiao Ai, he crossed the stone brick road next to the front yard laboratory and came to the door of the main house.

The door opened quickly, and Lu Zhou, who was standing in the hallway, invited him into the room and told Xiao Ai to pour a cup of tea for the guest.

“Sorry, something bad happened some time ago, so I upgraded the security system in the house.”

“It’s okay. Wealth itself is also a kind of pressure. Although I can’t understand your troubles, I still read the news. I am a salesperson of Huaxia Bank. You can call me Manager Ma. I am here today mainly because Pan-Asian Airlines has entrusted us to handle compensation-related procedures for you and send the advance payment to your account.”

As a large-scale commercial bank in the Pan-Asian Cooperation, Lu Zhou has heard of Huaxia Bank before.

During the hijacking of flight N-177 that happened some time ago, Pan-Asian Airlines offered to pay him 10 million credit points. On the one hand, this money was used as compensation for the mental pain. On the other hand, it was also regarded as a reward for his heroic behavior in saving hundreds of passengers on the entire flight.

Pan-Asian Airlines had paid him an advance payment of 1 million credit points, and the remaining 9 million would be paid within one month.

If it hadn’t been for the bank coming to his house, Lu Zhou would have almost forgotten about it.

“Do I need to go through any procedures to get this money?”

Manager Ma said with a smile, “No need, we have handled all the procedures for you. You only need to confirm the receipt and sign the compensation agreement. The remaining money will then be credited to your account.”

A total of 9 million credits.

Although not much, it was quite impressive.

Lu Zhou looked at the string of zeros on the account. He had a thought in his mind, so he looked at the bank clerk sitting opposite him and said, “If I want to take a loan, what procedures should I go through?”

“Loan?” Manager Ma was stunned slightly and asked seriously, “Can I ask, the loan you want to apply for, is it intended for investment or consumption?”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Is there any difference?”

“There is a difference even 100 years ago…” Looking at Lu Zhou, who seemed to know nothing about these things, the bank clerk said, “Not just the purpose of the loans, but also the amount… In short, whether it is the interest rate or the loan amount, it varies according to the type of loan.”

“So… I guess this should be considered an investment?”

Manager Ma continued patiently, “Can you be more specific? For example, the industry you invest in, and the amount you expect.”

“The amount is just a billion or two. As for the field of investment… Investing in myself.”

Manager Ma’s eyeballs almost popped out of his head.

“Um… More than one billion is beyond the scope of our business. I will report this matter to the president. Whether it is available or not, I will call you back later.”

Having said that, Manager Ma hesitated for a moment and added softly, “Just a suggestion… If you are not joking, you should be a little serious and reconsider the reasons for the loan.”

When the bank salesperson got up and left, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

“Xiao Ai.”

“Huh?”

Lu Zhou muttered weirdly.

“Am I not serious enough?”

“Maybe it’s because Master is too handsome, it makes it hard for people to take Master seriously! (///ω///)”

No wonder!

After hearing this reasonable explanation, Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully.

That makes sense.

Chapter 1490: Threaten of Short Sale

Academy of Engineering, Jin Ling University.

Four students who had just finished class rushed out of the classroom with the crowd. They were talking about the recent events in the school while walking towards the cafeteria.

“I looked at the virtual reality community when I was in class just now, and I saw someone in the discussion group of the student union said that East Asia Energy is coming to our school to hold a job fair? Have you heard about that?”

“A job fair from East Asia Energy?” The tall boy walking in the middle was taken aback. He said in a strange tone, “Really? Didn’t they come here some time ago?”

“I don’t know, maybe they lack labor again.”

“Can I get the registration form? What is the recruitment process? Is it the same as last time?”

“I don’t know.” The student who broke the gossip earlier shook his head and continued, “But I heard that this time it seems to be divided into two parts: written examination and interview.”

“Cool! I will join in on the fun, if I get an offer, I will invite you to dinner.”

“Haha, let’s go together, I’ll sign up too.”

Listening to the excited discussion of the roommates next to him, the boy wearing glasses glanced at the three of them and said with lack of interest, “You guys go ahead, I have to study for the graduate entrance exam, so I don’t have time.”

The tall boy thought he had misheard the genius student. He asked with astonishment, “This is a good opportunity to go to East Asia Energy, you really don’t want to try?”

Who in the Academy of Engineering doesn’t want to go to East Asia Energy?

Why else would you apply for this major?

Another student nearby also nodded in agreement and persuaded.

“That’s right, you are the most promising person in our dorm, brother! Isn’t East Asia Energy way better than a masters?”

The man with glasses smiled faintly and spoke.

“I don’t think so.”

The boy who broke the news earlier frowned and asked, “Do you know any inside information?”

“Not exactly inside information. I just heard someone who went there for an internship for half a year said that it was not as good as we think. The company is big, the benefits are good. But in the whole laboratory, there is no academic atmosphere at all. There is no engineering culture. Other than the endless reports, there are endless meetings. Anyone that works there for a few years will become useless after they leave!”

The tall boy was stunned and said, “It’s not that bad, right?”

The man in glasses shook his head and didn’t intend to explain more.

“You’ll know once you get accepted. Oh, yes, I also heard that connection is more important than hard work. They don’t look at the papers or research quality. You have to put your head down and do the work. I don’t want to go there.”

“However, I heard that Academician Lu seems to have become the chairman of the board, and he has also laid off a group of people! This time should be different.”

“Academician Lu? Haha, what about Academician Lu?” The boy wearing glasses shook his head and sighed faintly. “The current East Asia Energy is no longer the East Asia Energy that he was familiar with.”

When did this downfall start?

No one knew.

The energy giant that everyone yearned for was no longer as beautiful as they had thought.

Even though in the minds of most people, East Asia Energy was still their pride, but because of its reputation in college circles, especially for those students who had been there for internships, East Asia Energy was no longer their first choice.

However, perhaps there was still a trace of expectation in their hearts that had not yet been extinguished, or perhaps it was because the return of Academician Lu could bring change.

The vast majority of people did not expect too much, but they still signed up for the written examination of the job fair.

Not just students from Jin Ling University.

Not even just schools in the Yangtze River Delta city group.

After hearing that Academician Lu would personally host the job fair, there was immediately a stir in the entire Pan-Asian university circle. Because there were no regional restrictions on signing up for the written test, the entire Pan-Asian colleges and universities that did research on controllable fusion all noticed this recruitment.

A week before the start of the job fair, the tickets for the maglev train from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group and the Pearl River Delta city group to Jinling were all taken; even nearby hotels were fully booked.

It wasn’t just because of Academician Lu.

Many people heard some news that, before the start of the job fair, Lu Zhou not only got rid of Director Liu, the leader of the electromagnet research laboratory, but he also fired 2,000 people.

Although this sounded ridiculous, the reality was that the entire electromagnet research laboratory was now almost cut into an empty shell of its past.

And those vacant seats were quite eye-catching…

…

In the past few days, except for occasionally going to school for a preparatory course, Lu Zhou basically stayed at home and didn’t go anywhere.

On the one hand, there were risks in going out; on the other hand, he was busy with the job fair.

In order to avoid the overhauled electromagnet research laboratory once again falling into a vicious cycle of history, he intended to take charge of this job fair entirely by himself, without any intention of letting other laboratories intervene.

After all, the current chaos in East Asia Energy’s R&D department was far more than just a problem of the electromagnet research laboratory, it was a stubborn illness that prevailed in all research institutes.

He intended to use the newly reborn electromagnet research laboratory as a breakthrough point, as a demonstration unit of scientific research reform, then promote it to other research institutes after making some achievements here.

In addition to job fairs, there was also the research project of second-generation controllable fusion.

As the general manager of the project, he must work out a specific research plan for each research unit, or at the very least, he had to clearly define what each department should do and what role it would play in the project.

These people were not very goal-oriented.

If Lu Zhou didn’t give them enough direction, no one would know how long this project would take.

However, while Lu Zhou was very busy, he suddenly received an unexpected call.

The call was from Song Yangwei.

He was the previous director of the Science and Technology Committee of the board of directors that he replaced. He was also one of the shareholders of East Asia Energy and the chairman of Yangwei Capital, as well as the father-in-law of Liu Sihai.

The moment he received this call, Lu Zhou had actually guessed that this guy was probably here to help his son-in-law.

It seemed that Song Yangwei had expected that Lu Zhou wouldn’t budge, so the voice coming from the other end of the phone didn’t sound like a plea at all.

Instead, it almost sounded like a threat?

“I warn you, immediately withdraw the lawsuit against Liu Sihai!”

Lu Zhou: “Did you take the wrong medicine today?”

“I’m not joking with you,” Song Yangwei said on the other end of the phone with a trace of sullenness. “If you continue, I will immediately start shorting East Asia Energy! Want to research second-generation controllable fusion? Hehe, just wait and see. When the market value of East Asia Power evaporates by hundreds of billions, see if the board of directors will be on your side!”

After that, he didn’t give Lu Zhou a chance to speak. He hung up the call immediately.

As Lu Zhou looked at the empty video call interface in the holographic screen, he was slightly stunned. He then couldn’t help but laugh.

Interesting.

Why is everyone trying to stop me from doing scientific research?

Do I look like the kind of person who bows down to evil forces?

Lu Zhou shook his head, turned off the video call window, turned his head, and forgot about Song Yangwei’s threat.

Short the stock?

Bring it.

Chapter 1491: Who Said I Only Have One Company?

Facts had proved that Song Yangwei was not joking.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhou had emptied the entire laboratory. Even though he saw it as the only way to save East Asia Energy, it was clear that the capital market had their own ideas.

On the second day after Song Yangwei’s call, East Asia Energy’s negative news appeared to have burst out in a concentrated manner, frequently showing its presence on major media channels.

Although this kind of news would not interfere with the normal operation of East Asia Power, it had plunged its performance in the stock market into a slump. Originally, the stock price had risen by a small amount because of his return. But now, it was dropping like never before.

It was even worse than before he was the chairman…

Lu Zhou stared at the stock price of East Asia Energy for a while. He suddenly sighed with emotion.

“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”

Xiao Ai: “Master? 0.0”

Lu Zhou: “Nothing, just a little emotional.”

This sentence was actually said by Newton.

In his later years, Newton felt that there was no challenge to bullying Hook, so he went to the Mint Bureau of the British Empire to find a position as the governor of the central bank and began to get involved in the financial field.

Although this guy was indeed a genius and helped the British Empire complete the reform from the silver standard to the gold standard, he lost a lot of blood in the stock market.

In particular, he encountered the “South China Sea Company” incident in European financial history that could go hand in hand with the Dutch tulip, causing Newton to lose 20,000 pounds at a time.

Since then, he no longer cared about stocks and devoted himself to studying theology and alchemy.

In fact, Lu Zhou did not lose money.

The money he spent on buying East Asia Energy stock a hundred years ago was barely anything. It was impossible for him to lose money on his investment.

It was just that the guy’s threat to him during the video call made him feel unhappy.

If Lu Zhou didn’t react at all and just watched him short the company, wouldn’t it seem like he was surrendering?

Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to put hundreds of bids on the stock market for himself, putting in the entire 9 million credit points that Pan-Asian Airlines had compensated him.

However, Lu Zhou immediately regretted the purchase.

He calmed down and thought about it. He felt he was a little too impulsive.

9 million credits in the pool of East Asia Energy didn’t make a splash at all.

Even if he wanted to increase his holdings, he shouldn’t do it now.

At the very least, he should wait until the job fair was over.

“I’m starting to regret my decision.”

“… W(゚Д゚)w”

“It’s fine, I don’t blame you.” Lu Zhou looked at the emoji in Xiao Ai’s pupils. He shook his head and said to himself, “It’s a pity that I don’t have much cash. A few million credits doesn’t make a difference at all.”

If this were a hundred years ago, he wouldn’t need any loans at all.

He put the stock market aside.

He was sitting in the study room.

He then closed the floating browser window in front of him and kept his sights on the unfinished model in his hand.

This thing was a holographic model of East Asia Energy’s latest controllable fusion reactor.

Compared to his design a century ago, it clearly had a lot of improvements. Many things that he hadn’t considered before had basically been perfected after a century of continuous improvement.

The energy efficiency of first-generation controllable fusion technology did not have much room for further improvement. After understanding this, Lu Zhou made up his mind.

The second generation of controllable fusion, aka, deuterium-helium trifusion, was the future of the energy industry!

To overcome the difficulties of the second-generation controllable fusion technology, there were two main problems that needed to be solved; one was the ignition of the reactor, and the other was the reactor itself.

Specifically, he had to find a container that could hold and compress billions of degrees of high-temperature plasma.

It was obviously unrealistic to expect ordinary materials to withstand this level of energy, so for this “container”, Lu Zhou’s choice was still a magnetic field.

Although the theoretical calculation result of 10,000T sounded a bit scary…

But compared to other technical routes, this was considered the more reliable one.

“But the question is where to find such a large magnetic field?”

Lu Zhou removed the electromagnet component from the holographic model of the reactor, zoomed in, and moved it closer. He then placed it in front of him for a closer look.

In this era, whether it was office or scientific research, paper was rarely used.

The three-dimensional holographic composition could more intuitively reflect every detail in the design, and it could also allow the designer to easily modify the parts that needed improvement.

After a few trials, Lu Zhou quickly realized the excellence of this scientific research tool.

Especially with regards to online collaboration, this tool allowed multiple people to collaborate on the same work. For researchers in a project team, being able to design while discussing was obviously much more efficient than the previous work methods.

However, no matter how powerful scientific research tools were, they couldn’t escape the problems of scientific research itself.

When Lu Zhou was thinking of an answer, a paper he had read a long time ago suddenly surfaced in his mind.

“… Magnetic storm compression.”

He still remembered that a research team from Moscow University strengthened the magnetic field by placing explosives next to the magnetic induction coil, then squeezing the magnetic field into an explosion.

Judging from the experimental results, they were undoubtedly successful. In the era when it was rare to increase magnetic field strength above 100T, they achieved a terrifying 700T of magnetic field strength!

Although the results of this research only existed for tens of microseconds, the research team led by Professor Masajiro Takeyama from the University of Tokyo repeated the experiment. And at the expense of a complete set of experimental equipment and an iron door, the magnetic field strength was increased to 1,300T for a short 100-microsecond time.

Although this kind of violent experimental idea sounded unreliable, it seemed to be the most promising option for now.

If a stable method could be used to achieve the conditions of magnetic storm compression with the energy of controllable fusion itself, a high-intensity magnetic field that could synchronize with the fusion reaction in frequency could be generated…

This might work!

Lu Zhou’s eyes started to light up.

It would be great if his team were still here.

With the technical strength of the 22nd century, if he had Li Jiangang, Sheng Xianfu, and the rest of his team, he was 80% confident that he would be able to make an experimental reactor.

“Master, someone is looking for you outside. ( ́・ω・`)ノ”

Lu Zhou looked at the electronic screen of the small drone lying on the corner of the table.

“Who is that?”

“He claims to be the president of Huaxia Bank. 0.0”

President of Huaxia Bank?

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He soon remembered the loan issue he talked about with the bank manager yesterday.

He immediately spoke.

“Let him in.”

“Okay, Master. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

After changing into casual clothes in the cloakroom next door, Lu Zhou went downstairs to the living room.

When he walked downstairs, the front door opened. He saw an elegant old man in formal clothes standing at the door with a friendly smile on his face.

“Can I come in?”

Lu Zhou said with a friendly smile at the old man.

“Come on in, no worries.”

Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai to help pour a cup of tea for the guests. He then invited him to sit down on the sofa and looked at the old man.

Judging from the white spots on his temples, he should be older than he thought. Because the average life expectancy of people in this era was relatively long, people in their 50s looked like people in their 30s in the past.

With that being said, the old man might be over eighty years old.

However, this had nothing to do with him.

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about what to say, President Sun, who was sitting across from him, suddenly said in an emotional tone, “Too young.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I just felt a little bit emotional.” President Sun smiled apologetically and continued, “I have heard about your history. It is often praised in history books that you are a young and far-sighted scholar. I have always been confused by this, but now that I see you, my confusion is gone.”

Lu Zhou cast an unexpected look at him, wondering what he wanted to express.

After a pause, President Sun continued.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of a company. I have seen analysis reports written by many people. Only through extreme measures can one save East Asia Energy, which is gradually declining in innovation. The board of directors did not show such courage, but you, a dormant from a hundred years ago, made such a decision. I did not expect this.”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

Although he thought that President Sun was right, being complimented like this…

He was flattered.

“Thank you.” Lu Zhou said with a soft cough, “I just couldn’t stand those uninspiring worms anymore.”

“After all, this is your legacy to the Pan-Asian people… I mean a gift, I understand.” President Sun smiled and continued, “Enough about this. I heard my manager say that you want to borrow money to invest in yourself?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Sort of.”

President Sun said strangely, “But I don’t quite understand… If it is for the second generation of controllable fusion, shouldn’t the money come from East Asia Energy? Why do you need to borrow the money yourself?”

Lu Zhou: “It has nothing to do with the experiment.”

President Sun: “Then what are you doing?”

“In order to expand my right to speak on the board of directors…” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “I want to apply for a loan so that I can buy the shares of East Asia Energy stock. Can you give me an estimate?”

“East Asia Energy stock is high-quality. There is no problem in a loan. The key lies in how much you need.”

“Let’s start with 10 billion.”

“Puff-cough cough!”

President Sun, who was drinking tea, almost choked on himself.

He coughed, and after calming down, he looked at Lu Zhou with a look of embarrassment and said dumbfoundedly, “What do you mean… Start with 10 billion?”

Lu Zhou frowned.

“I can’t even borrow 10 billion?”

“No, with the stocks you have, you can borrow 100 billion, but the problem is that you don’t have a clear standard for how much money you need—”

Just as President Sun was complaining about Lu Zhou’s view of money, the watch on his left wrist suddenly flickered.

When the old man saw the caller on the holographic screen, he was slightly taken aback, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

“Sorry, I have to answer the call.”

President Sun got up from the sofa. He walked to the side of the living room and pressed the button to connect.

Lu Zhou was not in a hurry. He drank tea while quietly waiting for him to finish the call.

However, he suddenly noticed that the expression on the face of President Sun suddenly changed, as if he had heard some shocking news. His blood pressure had risen instantly.

“What?!

“Yangwei Capital issued a short-selling report? Are you sure you are not mistaken?

“Okay, I understand…”

The call was ended quickly.

After closing the video call window, President Sun took a deep breath and returned to the sofa to sit down.

After hesitating for a while, he said, “Um… Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

“If you want to apply for a loan, I really don’t recommend you to buy East Asia Energy stock.” With an apologetic expression on his face, President Sun said in a sincere tone, “If you must do this, it is difficult for us to give you an adequate amount.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Why?”

“It’s a problem of risk… You should look at the stock market.”

With a strange expression on his face, Lu Zhou’s index finger clicked in the air, opened the holographic interface, and cut to the window of the stock market.

Almost as soon as he opened his account, a news popped up.

[Yangwei Capital releases their latest research report on East Asia Energy, giving it a sell rating.]

Lu Zhou looked at the 5% dip in the stock price. He then looked at President Sun sitting across the coffee table with a weird look.

“What is a research report?”

“The research report itself isn’t important. The key is that they disclosed in the research report an investigation on the chaos of East Asia Energy’s management.” President Sun looked at Lu Zhou dumbfoundingly and continued, “In short, we recommend that you buy other assets. Uh… Do you still need a loan?”

“Of course, why not?” Lu Zhou said naturally, “I’ll take a loan of 50 billion first.”

President Sun thought he had heard wrong. With a dazed look at Lu Zhou, he said hesitantly, “Fif-fifty billion?”

“Yeah, can it be done?”

“It can, but this needs to be guaranteed…”

“I know, and you can’t use East Asia Energy stock, right?” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He lightly swiped his index finger in the air and took a screenshot from his account. He gently pushed it to President Sun and said, “Who said I only have stocks in East Asia Energy?”

He continued, “Pick whichever company you like.”

Chapter 1492: A Problem That Money Can Solve Is Not a Problem

Ever since Lu Zhou cut off the electromagnet research laboratory of East Asia Energy, the news about East Asia Energy had not stopped.

Recently, because of a research report on East Asia Energy by Yangwei Capital, the topic of East Asia Energy was once again pushed to the peak of popularity.

Basically, this was a short report.

In the report, Yangwei Capital analyzed the confusion in East Asia Energy’s management as well as the chairman’s unfamiliarity with the business. Yangwei Capital stated that “revenues will be reduced by 11%-15% from the previous two years” and “the second-generation controllable fusion project may not be realized”.

The last time East Asia Energy suffered a short sell was half a century ago.

Now history seemed to be repeating itself again. East Asia Energy was once again in deep crisis for different reasons. Many people felt an unusual taste from it.

This was not the same as last time.

Last time, the great turbulence was caused by the economic crisis.

But this time, even some investment bank interns could feel that there was a taste of conspiracy.

In any case, after the short-selling report had been released, negative news about East Asia Energy emerged endlessly; it had successfully triggered pessimism in the market.

On the second day after the report was issued, more than one billion empty orders were hung on East Asia Energy, which directly accounted for the increase caused by Lu Zhou taking office as chairman and announcing the establishment of the second-generation controllable fusion project. It was back to where it started.

In fact, to be honest, Lu Zhou didn’t care much about stock prices.

As a shareholder from the beginning, his cost was simply minuscule.

No matter how capable Yangwei Capital was, it was impossible to return the market value of these stocks to the level they were a hundred years ago.

He was just a little angry.

He and his teammates struggled on the Pangu scientific research front for countless days and nights to finally complete the fusion ignition.

It had only been a hundred years since then, but the legacy he left to future generations had already been gnawed and riddled with greed.

Fortunately, he was not really dead; otherwise, he would be so furious that he would come out of his coffin.

As Lu Zhou looked at the stock price, he said blankly, “Buy as many market orders as he places.”

Xiao Ai: “Okay, Master, but… this is borrowed money. Master will have to repay it. w(゚Д゚)w”

“I know,” Lu Zhou said casually, “I borrowed money, maybe he did too. I can stay in this fight longer than he can stay solvent.”

Although he wasn’t a finance expert, he still did some serious learning of financial tools.

Short-selling was to first borrow the underlying assets, such as East Asia Energy stock, sell them for cash, then wait for the asset price to drop and return the borrowed assets.

This was a bet against expectations. If the shares of East Asia Energy were to fall in the future, it would obviously be profitable to short East Asia Energy.

But if the opposite was true, where instead of falling, the stock rose instead…

Then they would have to buy back the underlying assets they sold at a higher price. Or perhaps even encounter a short squeeze.

For this kind of bearish force, the way to fight them was actually very simple. One could use news to stabilize the mood of the market or take out substantial money and fight them.

Lu Zhou chose the latter, which was the simplest and crudest way.

Although 50 billion was nothing compared to the market value of East Asia Energy, it was equivalent to the total trading volume of several trading days. Besides, he never thought about buying East Asia Energy as a whole. He only needed to consume the sell orders placed by Yangwei Capital.

Strictly speaking, although Lu Zhou’s thinking was correct, this was quite ridiculous. Generally speaking, even if someone wanted to fight against Yangwei Capital, there was no need to directly pay for their orders.

According to the general laws of economics, emotions were heavily involved.

Under the pressure of such bad news, it was definitely not only Yangwei Capital that chose to sell, but there must be other people or companies that followed the trend.

If he wanted to give those “short forces” a head-on attack, he should wait until the good news was about to come out so that he could maximize his benefits. Furthermore, directly hitting it like this, without giving the opponent a chance to retreat, would also give himself no room to back off.

If it were Chen Yushan, she would not do this.

However…

She wasn’t in charge. Instead, it was a man who never cared about money.

Especially since he didn’t have an idea of how much money was worth in this era. Lu Zhou merely used the borrowed money as a bargaining chip.

A hundred years ago, whether in Princeton or Jinling University, he had never been afraid of betting. The same was true a hundred years later.

But, to be honest, although his operation was full of nonsense, it really scared some people.

Yangwei Capital building.

Staring at the calm stock line on the holographic image, the investment manager in charge of the operation was enraged.

“F*ck me, which imbecile is going against us?! How are all these asks being filled?”

When he saw the two billion volumes of orders that had just been eaten in an instant, his heart hurt as if he were dripping blood.

This was the first time he had seen such a thing!

Song Yangwei stood behind the investment manager. His face was also green, and his pupils were filled with haze.

He had never seen this kind of magical operation either.

The second they put up the sell order, the aggressor instantly filled it.

The two sides stayed in a stalemate for almost half an hour. He had already used up 5 billion worth of credit points. As a result, the stock price of East Asia Energy was on a random walk around a consistent price.

Where did he get so much money?

Could it be the AIIB…

But Song Yangwei quickly rejected this hypothesis.

It was impossible for the AIIB to lend him money to help him increase his stake in East Asia Energy. This was not in compliance with the rules, and secondly, there were legal risks. As for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, it must issue an announcement at least one week in advance to increase its holdings of a company’s stock.

In this case, there was only one possibility left.

That guy used his own stocks as a guarantee, then borrowed money to fight against him…

“This lunatic…” Song Yangwei gritted his teeth after squeezing these words out of his mouth. “Is he not afraid that he will be wiped out by other people on the board?”

Such a straightforward attack operation could only be done by Lu Zhou.

However, it was precisely because of Lu Zhou’s “straightforwardness” that Song Yangwei felt a little confused.

Five billion credit points went down without even a splash of water. Five billion was a substantial amount, even for Yangwei Capital.

As for the financial predators who were ready to follow the wave started by Yangwei Capital, after seeing that this bone was so difficult to chew, they had now begun to be more cautious. They waited to see the situation before doing anything.

After all, many people had spent most of their lives in the financial field, but this was the first time they had seen such a close head-to-head contest. The sell orders and the buy orders were matched completely.

How confident is this guy at his own company?

Especially since this money was coming out of Academician Lu’s own pocket…

Many people even began to speculate whether the second-generation controllable fusion technology was already developed, making him so confident. After all, logically speaking, they really couldn’t figure out why Lu Zhou did this.

In a blink of an eye, another 2 billion was smashed out.

Looking at the column representing the trade volume that was four times higher than yesterday, the investment manager sitting at his desk finally began to feel scared. After gulping, he turned to the chairman and said nervously, “Chairman, chairman…”

Song Yangwei said with a gloomy expression, “What?”

“We…” The investment manager swallowed and asked in a low voice, “Are we going to continue selling? I feel that there is something wrong with our research report. There’s still no movement.”

“Don’t be nervous, I didn’t ask you to stop, so don’t stop.” Song Yangwei stared at the stock price on the holographic screen that started to rise. The expression on Song Yangwei’s face became more and more gloomy. After a while, he continued, “Wait until the afternoon, then place a one billion dollar sell order. Save the remaining bullets for this weekend. Don’t be afraid. I still have a pair of aces up my sleeve, so just do what I tell you.”

“Yes, sir…”

The investment manager closed his mouth and stared at the holographic screen.

In fact, what he wanted to say was for Song Yangwei to use the pair of aces as soon as possible. If they waited until all of the bullets were used, it would be too late.

As Song Yangwei stared intently at the holographic screen, he had an uncertain expression on his face, and a slight hesitation flashed in his eyes.

After sitting for so long in the top position of the Science and Technology Committee of the East Asia Energy Board of Directors, he knew some shady news about East Asia Energy.

However, if this shady news was released, it would trigger a panic sell in the market. Although it was true that he could make a lot of money, it was really hard to say whether it would be a blessing or a curse.

If only I had more time…

If he were on the Science and Technology Committee for another half a year, he might be able to completely remove himself from that matter without any risk.

He watched at the stock price that looked like a random walk, and a trace of struggle flashed in his heart. After taking a deep breath, he walked outside the trading office and tapped his index finger on the watch.

The light blue light and shadows intertwined, and a translucent holographic image quickly appeared in front of him.

He opened the address book and selected the annoying name. After waiting for a few seconds, he looked at the opened video call window and said with a gloomy expression, “Let’s make a truce.”

Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. He then laughed.

“Truce? Mr. Song, I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Don’t pretend, I’m open to negotiation right now, but not for long.” Song Yangwei continued to stare at Lu Zhou in the video window. “I have to admire your clever means. Take my incompetent son-in-law as my apology.

“From now on, on the R&D side, do whatever you want. I will never intervene. On the other hand, I will also terminate this short-selling plan. Once I buy back the stocks at a small loss, it’ll be like nothing has ever happened.”

Lu Zhou was amused. He said with a smile, “Isn’t that going to happen anyway?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Song Yangwei immediately became angry. “I could kill both of us if I wanted to!”

“Oh, really?” Raising his eyebrows curiously, Lu Zhou continued, “Tell me how.”

“The pool of East Asia Energy is much deeper than you think. You have only been sitting in the chairman’s seat for a few days. Do you think you know everything?” Song Yangwei said with a cold smile, “I have been sitting on the Science and Technology Committee for more than ten years. I have seen everything you can’t see.”

Lu Zhou said, “In other words, you still have tricks up your sleeve.”

“You can understand it this way.” Song Yangwei squinted and said, “If the bad news gets leaked, the consequences will probably be beyond your control.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Then tell me what the bad news is. Maybe it’ll scare me?”

“I’ll give you one day to think about it.” Song Yangwei closed his eyes and said calmly, ignoring Lu Zhou, “After the weekend, when the stock market opens, if you continue to take action against me, then I will assume you have made a decision.”

Lu Zhou almost laughed out loud.

Who is this ridiculous?

You’re the one that went after me first!

“So you want me to sit around and wait to get sh*t on?”

“I promise that I will buy back at a fair price, and three days later, whether you want to increase or decrease your holdings, you can do whatever you want.”

Song Yangwei didn’t wait for Lu Zhou to give a clear answer. He ended the call right away.

At this moment, Xiao Ai, who was sitting on the sofa “meditating”, suddenly opened her eyes and blinked while looking in Lu Zhou’s direction.

“Master, it seems that there are no large sell orders anymore. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Okay.”

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou suddenly said, “By the way, Xiao Ai, the person who called me just now… Can you hack into his personal terminal?”

Xiao Ai: “The problem shouldn’t be big, does Master need Xiao Ai to take action? (⃔*`꒳ ́*)⃕↝”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Well, the insider bad news he talked about… I kind of care.”

“No problem! Xiao Ai got this! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

News that can shake the foundation of East Asia Energy…

Lu Zhou couldn’t imagine what it could be.

Tax evasion?

Fraud?

He could only think of these things, but regardless of which one of these charges it was, it didn’t seem serious.

“I didn’t expect that, after one hundred years, the second generation of controllable fusion is becoming increasingly difficult to build.”

Lu Zhou looked at the unfinished holographic model on the table. He shook his head, reached out to touch the operation interface, and reinvested his energy into the work that actually interested him…

Chapter 1493: The Unknown Secret Of East Asia Energy

The downside of the convenience of the information age was that, with the continuous advancement of information technology, privacy was increasingly approaching a false proposition.

Especially for Lu Zhou, who had an artificial intelligence robot, this was even more apparent.

Although he didn’t take Song Yangwei’s threat to heart, out of cautious consideration, Lu Zhou felt that he still had to understand what the secret was.

Xiao Ai lived up to Lu Zhou’s expectations. After a lot of hard work, Xiao Ai finally bypassed the layers of defense and hacked into Song Yangwei’s personal terminal.

Although most of the data in this era were stored on cloud servers, there were also a small number of special users who hired professional companies to protect their confidential data and store them in local storage space.

Unfortunately, there was nothing on Song Yangwei’s personal terminal…

At least there was no so-called shady news that could subvert East Asia Energy’s power.

“Sorry, Master, Xiao Ai is too useless.”

“It’s okay, maybe the shady news doesn’t exist, he is just bluffing.”

Seeing that Xiao Ai’s face was full of frustration, Lu Zhou touched her head.

When Lu Zhou saw her turn from being frustrated and sad into being happy, he couldn’t help but think.

Is he really bluffing?

I feel like his confidence is real.

So…

The data is stored in a more secure place?

“Xiao Ai.”

“Huh? 0.0”

“Other than the shady news… Did you find anything that is difficult to understand in his terminal? The kind of thing that cannot be analyzed by your computing power.”

Xiao Ai: “There are actually quite a lot, but most of them are useless information… Ah, yes, it seems that there is one that meets Master’s requirements, which Xiao Ai retrieved from the cached data of the video call ._(゚Д゚)ノ”

Lu Zhou immediately said, “What did you find?”

“X-100.”

“X-100?”

“Xiao Ai doesn’t know what it is. There is no description of that thing in his personal terminal, but looking at how carefully he treats it, it seems… very important? ᕙ(⇀‸↼‵‵)ᕗ”

Very important?

After repeatedly pondering the words and remembering that Song Yangwei had previously served as a director of the Science and Technology Committee of the board of directors, Lu Zhou suddenly had an idea.

According to the charter of the East Asia Energy Board of Directors, this position could directly determine the appointment and dismissal of the company’s scientific research director, which was equivalent to the top leader of the research and development department. Any major research and development project must be signed by him.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou immediately ordered.

“Xiao Ai, help me retrieve the data in the East Asia Energy Archive! Especially about R&D, collect all the R&D projects related to the entry of X-100!”

“Yes, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Because Lu Zhou himself was the chairman, there was no need for hacking operations at all. With the authority granted by the chairman himself, Xiao Ai easily entered the company archives and downloaded all the information about the mysterious X-100.

After removing some obviously irrelevant rubbish, Lu Zhou quickly found a report titled “Evaluation Report on X-100 Application” from the pile of files.

This report had not been published publicly. It was kept in the archives as a corporate secret.

After getting the report, Lu Zhou followed the summary part of the report and read it line by line.

In short, this was an evaluation report on outsourcing projects.

About ten years ago, East Asia Energy signed a joint research and development project with an information technology company called “Dawn Technology” to invest one billion credits to develop an artificial intelligence automatic control program for a new generation of controllable fusion reactor cores.

Judging from the completion date of this assessment report, this project was probably completed in the middle of last year.

On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with this project. Whether it was the process or the things written in the evaluation report itself, it was quite satisfactory. However, the strange thing was that, relative to this one billion investment, this report was quite crudely written.

In particular, the detailed test results of the artificial intelligence program were not mentioned in the report at all.

A trace of doubt arose in his mind. Lu Zhou, who looked at the holographic screen, reached out his index finger to select the file.

He was stunned.

It’s gone?

The billion-dollar nuclear core control project is gone?

Did it never exist, or was it deleted…?

The suspicion in his mind became stronger and stronger. Lu Zhou continued to find Dawn Technology’s bidding documents and tried to gather information about this company in the attachment.

However, something strange happened.

The whole project was like a black hole, swallowing all of the information. Everything about the X-100 research project was erased by an invisible hand.

“The original signed contract is still here…”

Lu Zhou looked at the signatures of the contract signing officers. When he saw the names of former chairman Liu Zhengxing and Song Yangwei, director of the Science and Technology Committee, on the contract, a feeling in Lu Zhou’s heart became stronger and stronger.

Intuition told him that the “shady news” that Song Yangwei said should be related to this research project codenamed “X-100”.

It was just that he really didn’t understand what was the reason that made them act so secretive about the control procedures of a reactor.

Maybe…

This project that’s codenamed X-100 is not actually researching reactor control procedures but something else?

When this thought suddenly came into his mind, Lu Zhou’s pupils gradually showed a trace of understanding. Soon, more doubts followed.

Xiao Ai, who was sitting on the sofa, suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Lu Zhou excitedly.

“Master! Xiao Ai seems to have found something incredible! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Did you find something then?”

Xiao Ai: “Although most of the experimental data about X-100 has been erased, Xiao Ai still found residual data about the X-100 project in the cache data of the electromagnet research laboratory database. The part that hasn’t been cleaned up yet. (⃔*`꒳ ́*)⃕↝”

The remaining data that has not been cleaned up…

Lu Zhou was amused.

I didn’t expect to be grateful at the low efficiency of the electromagnet research laboratory.

However, he would never invite those idiots back. He would rather recruit some new people.

Settling down, Lu Zhou asked in a serious tone, “Can the data be restored?”

Xiao Ai: “It has already been restored! (.・∀・)ノ゙”

The data was quickly downloaded to Lu Zhou’s personal terminal, and the source code of the program was retrieved through developer mode.

Lu Zhou looked at the lines of code. He didn’t feel much at first, but the more he looked down, the more familiar he became, and the expression on his face became more solemn.

As he had guessed, this code that was jointly developed by East Asia Energy and Dawn Technology was indeed not an intelligent program for a reactor…

It was the ALPHA virus that made a lot of noise some time ago!

Chapter 1494: Complete Evidence Chain

Shanghai branch of the Security Bureau.

Inside the temporary office of the task force, Captain Xing, who was sitting at his desk, had a thoughtful expression on his face as he played with the bionic memory chip in his hand, as if he was researching something.

The holographic portrait of his AI assistant suddenly appeared in front of his desk and spoke with a monotone electronic voice.

“Captain Xing, you have a call.”

After he put the memory chip in his hand into the drawer, Xing Bian looked at his AI assistant and asked casually, “Who?”

“Academician Lu.”

Academician Lu?

He raised his eyebrows. Xing Bian thought for a moment and said, “Connect me to the phone.”

“Okay.”

The three-dimensional holographic image was diffused into light particles and reconstructed into a two-dimensional holographic panel. Academician Lu, sitting in his living room, appeared in front of him.

Just when Captain Xing was about to ask what the call was about, Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the other side of the phone, spoke first.

“Has the investigation of the bombing come to fruition?”

“Not so fast.” Xing Bian said, shaking his head, “This case is very tricky. If there is new information, I will tell you… Are you calling me just for this?”

It’s not like I can tell you anything about an ongoing investigation…

Xing Bian had a blank expression on his face.

Investigating The Spirit of The Universe Foundation was a task of the Security Bureau, and unrelated ordinary people should not be involved. This was both for security reasons and to avoid the spread of panic.

Hearing his somewhat perfunctory remarks, Lu Zhou smiled and continued speaking in a relaxed tone, “Do I look like I have nothing else to do?”

After a pause, he looked at Captain Xing in the video window and continued, “It seems that the investigation on your side has reached a bottleneck. I just have some clues. I don’t know if I can help you.”

After hearing what Lu Zhou said, Captain Xing, who didn’t think anyone knew about this investigation better than him, smiled and said casually without taking it too seriously, “Oh yeah? What clue?”

“About the ALPHA virus.”

The moment he heard this word, Xing Bian suddenly sat up straight from his office chair. He stared at the video window that was suspended on the desk with a serious expression and asked eagerly, “Where did you hear this word? And, how much do you know about the ALPHA virus?”

Although the ALPHA virus was not a secret, various versions had spread on the black market six months ago. For most ordinary people, they had no idea this thing existed.

On one hand, most ordinary people could jailbreak at most their robot personalities and functional attributes. There was no need to modify the logic at the deepest level. On the other hand, the Pan-Asian Cooperation deliberately blocked the information of the ALPHA virus to prevent panic from spreading.

Therefore, most people would never know about the ALPHA virus.

Even if they encountered a robot infected by the ALPHA virus…

Lu Zhou continued with a relaxed tone, “In the database of East Asia Energy.”

“The database of East Asia Energy?” Xing Bian was puzzled by this sentence for a few seconds. He was slightly stunned and frowned as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“That’s a long story. I’ll just pick the key points.” It took Lu Zhou a few seconds to figure out how to word this story. After a while, Lu Zhou, who was leaning on the sofa, thought about it for a while said slowly, “Yesterday, when I checked the financial statements, I found an abnormal expenditure of one billion credit points.

“Out of curiosity, I used the authority of the chairman of the board to retrieve the backup files in the database and tracked the flow of the funds. As a result, I found that all the expenses were directed to a project called X-100.”

Captain Xing: “X-100?”

“Yeah, the AI self-control program of the fusion core looks nothing on the surface, but surprisingly…”

Lu Zhou looked at Captain Xing in the video window and continued, “Out of curiosity, I continued to track down the X-100 project itself along this line, and the problem was immediately found. All the procedures and documents regarding the X-100 project were well preserved. Even the evaluation opinions given by the East Asia Energy engineers could be found. However, the strange thing was that the program codenamed X-100 itself disappeared.”

This incident sounded like a case of using power to obtain corporate assets.

The amount involved was not small. If it was put on the news, it would be a headline story, but this kind of case would not be under the control of the Security Bureau at all. It would be reported to the financial investigation department through normal channels. Xing Bian was a little confused as to why Lu Zhou wanted to tell him these things.

“… Then what?”

“Then I happen to be someone who likes to ask questions.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued, “After some investigation, I was fortunate to find the X-100 program in the cached data of the electromagnet research laboratory server.

“Before they had time to delete it, I found its source code and studied it. Then I unexpectedly discovered that the robots in my yard seemed to be infected by the exact same virus… At least the core part of the source code is basically the same.”

The moment he heard these words, Xing Bian’s heart was shaken. He stared at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“You mean… East Asia Energy participated in the research and development of the ALPHA virus?”

“Not likely.” Lu Zhou said, shaking his head, “To be honest, the complexity of the code is not like it can be developed by an information technology company with less than 50 employees. The virus was mainly developed by Dawn Technology. I would rather believe that they got this stuff from somewhere ten years ago, and they analyzed or improved it.”

“How much do you know about the ALPHA virus…?” Halfway through, Captain Xing suddenly stopped talking, took a deep breath, and continued with a serious tone, “Let me ask another question, how much do you know about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?

After hearing this name, Lu Zhou’s face showed an unexpected expression.

Although he had a hunch before that, all these bizarre events that occurred one hundred years later might be related to the experiment one hundred years ago. He did not expect to hear this name one hundred years later.

Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t speak for a long time, Xing Bian’s expression gradually became awkward. He asked with a light cough, “… Uh, don’t you know them?”

“I do, I do, just a bit surprised.” Lu Zhou, who snapped back to reality, cast a curious look at Captain Xing in the video window. “It’s been a hundred years, is the foundation still active? I mean, do they… still operate like they did a hundred years ago?”

“The situation may be more complicated than it was a hundred years ago.” Xing Bian seemed to be hesitant whether to tell Lu Zhou more. He was silent for a while before asking, “When are you free? Can you talk in person about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

To the surprise of Captain Xing, who thought that Lu Zhou would gladly accept his invitation, Lu Zhou refused without hesitation.

“No need, I’m not here to discuss with you the terrorist organization from a hundred years ago, and I don’t have much interest in those idiots who slander under the guise of science.

“I just want to tell you that I have complete evidence here, including the signed contract and the original copy of the X-100 project, that is, the ALPHA virus.”

“It seems that you have no intention of giving us the evidence for free,” Xing Bian said simply. “OK, what do you want, just say it.”

“I don’t want anything ridiculous. The only requirement is that you keep the operation confidential. Although the X-100 project was funded by East Asia Energy, I am sure that this is not under the knowledge of the entire board of directors. It was done by the personal actions of Chairman Liu Zhengxing and former Scientific Committee member Song Yangwei.”

Xing Bian knew what Lu Zhou was saying. He said with a smile, “You can rest assured that since they used their positions to secretly fund the research and development of the ALPHA virus and concealed the essence of the project, this makes East Asia Energy a victim. Of course we will protect the privacy of the victim.”

It would be tricky to tell the public about the ALPHA virus, especially its relations to East Asia Energy.

In the 22nd century where information technology was highly developed, network cables had not only integrated into everyone’s life, but they even penetrated into the bodies of many people. It was obvious how important the role of robots in production and life was.

If the Pan-Asian people knew that East Asia Energy, which they trusted and were proud of, was developing some kind of evil virus that could even subvert society itself, how would they feel? How should the Pan-Asian Cooperation handle it?

People would be stupid to believe that this was just the doings of a dead person and a director of a scientific committee.

Although this matter was related to the safety of everyone’s life and properties, from a high-level standpoint, it was better for ordinary people not to know too much.

“Thank you for your understanding.” Lu Zhou nodded. He suddenly thought of something and continued, “Oh yes, if it is convenient, I hope you can make the arrests as soon as possible. I have a hunch that if you let Song Yangwei hear about this, he’ll disappear.”

Moreover, Lu Zhou seriously suspected that the death of Liu Zhengxing might not be because of him at all. It might be related to the ALPHA virus.

With this being said, Song Yangwei was also very likely to be targeted as another person involved in the X-100 R&D project. Perhaps those people were already considering killing him.

If he died, Lu Zhou would be in an awkward position.

On one hand, he had a conflict of interest. On the other hand, he was the last person involved in the “X-100 case”. He was a person who was afraid of trouble. Whether it was the ALPHA virus or East Asia Energy, he only wanted to create the second generation of controllable fusion.

As for the rest…

He wanted to leave it to others.

Looking at the video window, Captain Xing raised his eyebrows.

“Are you doubting our abilities?”

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“If you were in my position, you would feel the same way.

“Just treat it as a friendly suggestion.”

Chapter 1495: Are You Not Guilty For What Youve Done?

On the last day of the weekend, most people in Pan-Asia were on holiday, but the building of Yangwei Capital was busy as ever.

For them, tomorrow would be a crucial battle.

This battle was not only divided into both victory and defeat but also life and death.

In order to short East Asia Energy, they had taken on tens of billions worth of risk. If the stock couldn’t be bought back smoothly, it would undoubtedly be a serious blow to the cash flow of Yangwei Capital.

Especially if East Asia Energy’s stock price was allowed to continue to rise, they would have to buy back their borrowed shares at an even higher price, which would undoubtedly make their situation worse and severe.

After all, they risked tens of billions.

For such a huge amount of funds, even with the daily trading volume of East Asia Energy, they couldn’t buy the shares back in a short amount of time. Those investment companies that were planning to short with them could easily turn and go against them instead.

There were no morals in business matters.

However, although this battle was extremely difficult, most employees still believed that they would win in the end. Not only because of the so-called “aces up the sleeve” claimed by their bosses, but also because their bosses had predicted the general direction of financial trends over many years.

Sitting in his office while staring at the holographic screen floating on the table, Song Yangwei suddenly frowned and muttered to himself, “Why do you think my eyelids are always twitching?”

After hearing what the boss said, the secretary standing next to him quickly asked with a smile, “Your left or right eyelid?”

“Left eye.”

“Left eye twitches for wealth, right eye twitches for disaster, it is a good sign!” The secretary said with a smile, “It seems that you are going to get rich soon.”

Song Yangwei chuckled, but soon, his eyebrows frowned again.

“… Hm, it doesn’t seem right, it’s the right side.”

The secretary who had just breathed a sigh of relief almost choked on his saliva. He quickly smiled twice and continued, “Uh, I remembered it wrong, I think right eye means wealth—”

However, halfway through his words, there was a rush of footsteps outside the office. The door was pushed open.

Song Yangwei looked at the few people standing at the door. He was taken aback for a moment and was about to speak. The person who first entered the office took out his credentials and shouted.

“Police!

“Do not move!”

Song Yangwei, who was thinking about his business, suddenly panicked. He raised his hands subconsciously, but he quickly put them down again, glaring at the policeman.

“What are you doing?! I am a law-abiding citizen, your current behavior—”

“Law-abiding I see.” Staring at the old man sitting in the office chair, Captain Xing, who walked in from the door, narrowed his eyes and continued, “Director Song, are you not guilty for what you’ve done?”

The moment Song Yangwei heard this sentence, his heart trembled.

Especially when confronted with the squinted eyes, the inexplicable fear that climbed into his heart made every pore on his body shake uncontrollably.

“Are you… um, from the Security Bureau?”

Xing Bian chuckled and didn’t answer his question. He just gave the subordinate standing next to him a look.

“Take him.”

Although there was no answer, the silence was telling.

Song Yangwei lost the color on his face when he heard the sentence.

If it were a financial crime, if they wanted to take him away, they would at least have to show the prosecutor’s approval of the arrest. There was no doubt that this was no longer just a financial crime.

“If I confess, will it reduce my punishment?”

“Of course.” Xing Bian continued while looking at the older man who looked like a teenager that was caught red-handed, “But it depends on whether your confession is valuable to us.”

…

As the weekend passed, the busy week began again.

For most people, there was no obvious difference between this Monday and the usual Monday, but for people in the financial world, it was quite unusual.

Last week, Yangwei Capital issued a short-selling report on East Asia Energy, and it smashed nearly tens of billions worth of sell orders, which became the focus of all financial industry practitioners.

The more serious news had still yet to come. Not only did the tens of billions not make a splash in the price, but the stock price of East Asia Energy became even more stable, making people suspected that it was fake news.

There was no doubt that Yangwei Capital was bluffing.

This was billions of real money, and presumably after a week of rest and reorganization, Yangwei Capital must have made a countermeasure.

However, just as everyone was staring at the stock price of East Asia Energy and waiting for Yangwei Capital to fight back, something unexpected happened.

Just like the last trading day of last week, the share price of East Asia Energy had not fallen even a little bit; it even rose slightly.

The volume was tiny as well.

Seeing this unusual scene, almost all the investment companies that closely followed the stock price of East Asia Energy were confused.

Is Yangwei Capital…

Giving up?

They don’t care about their tens of billions worth of position and risk?

Whether they continue to throw money or start buying back, they must do something, right?

Normally, this was indeed the case, but Yangwei Capital pretended as if nothing happened. They didn’t react at all.

It was so strange that people didn’t know what to say.

Just when everyone was wondering what medicine Song Yangwei was taking, a gossip came out saying that the boss of Yangwei Capital was taken away by the police.

And it didn’t seem to be an ordinary financial case!

After the news came out, the entire financial circle was in an uproar.

Various gossip news spread immediately. Some said that the short-selling report of Song Yangwei, the boss of Yangwei Capital, offended other major shareholders in the East Asia Energy Board of Directors, especially the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Some people said it was because of him.

Others speculated that it was Academician Lu.

However, this possibility was very small.

In short, no matter for what reason Song Yangwei was arrested, one thing was certain.

That was, after the boss was taken away for investigation, the entire Yangwei Capital had fallen into a state of chaos, and the short-selling of East Asia Energy was naturally unable to proceed.

As soon as the news spread, the shares of East Asia Energy rose in response. Not only did it instantly swallow the decline caused by Lu Zhou cutting off the electromagnet research laboratory a few days ago, but it also continued to jump a few points upward.

In a day’s time, Yangwei Capital’s losses reached hundreds of billions of credit points. As the stock price of East Asia Energy rose further, it would lose even more money from people exercising their sold options.

It wasn’t until then that people suddenly remembered who had been buying shares of East Asia Energy before, and they regretted that they missed the opportunity.

Someone in the financial world made some calculations.

The single-day gains on Monday alone made Lu Zhou, who had previously gone against the short sale with Yangwei Capital, hundreds of billions of credit points. Not only because of the stock he bought during this period, but it was also because of the 7% of East Asia Energy stock that he held.

If Yangwei Capital was unable to get out of the predicament in a short time, buying back those shares in the future was likely to further push up the stock price of East Asia Energy.

If the second-generation controllable fusion technology was realized, it could easily bankrupt them.

During this period, Lu Zhou, who had continuously bought more of East Asia Energy, became the biggest winner of this “short-selling event”…

Chapter 1496: Explosive Magnetic Compression

Three days had passed since Song Yangwei was taken away.

Since the boss of Yangwei Capital went to jail, the short-selling plan was naturally impossible to continue.

These days, Lu Zhou didn’t pay much attention to the securities market. He shut himself up at home. Mindfully, he continued to study the mysterious “explosive magnetic compression” he had previously read about.

In fact, this thing wasn’t completely mysterious.

As early as the 2050s, related concepts were born, and people had been researching them until today.

Among them, the more typical applications were EMP grenade and electromagnetic pulse gun, which could be called the nemesis of electronic products. Lu Zhou had even seen the latter with his own eyes when an EMP bullet hit Ling.

However, although there had been a lot of research on the “explosive magnetic compression” technology, and certain results had been achieved, most of these results were concentrated on some small and medium-sized microdevices, and most designs did not require high repetitive use.

After all, the rapidly changing magnetic field would generate extraordinary energy, and ordinary electronic devices couldn’t withstand this at all. They could be burned out because of the overload of the induced current.

At this moment, the bottleneck that Lu Zhou was facing was probably similar.

He must find a way to condense the magnetic induction in a very narrow area. It would be best if this area could be filled with the plasma generated by the reactor and the energy released by the fusion reaction could be continuously used to maintain the continuous operation of the magnetic confinement device. Finally, the entire system had to be in a state of dynamic equilibrium.

To be honest, it was very difficult to do this.

Even designing a rough conceptual model for a large electromagnet device consumed a lot of Lu Zhou’s brain cells.

Fortunately, his level 9 materials science and level 8 engineering and energy science provided a lot of help in helping him open up his ideas. Coupled with the experience accumulated in the previous research on controllable fusion devices, he finally broke through the last obstacle.

Although there was still a gap from the electromagnet that could provide a magnetic field of 10,000 Tesla, at least the model used in the experiment was on the right track…

However, just as Lu Zhou was advancing on the academic road, the door of the study room was suddenly opened, and a figure ran in.

“Master, Xiao Ai… has no more bullets. _:( ́□`」∠):_”

Lu Zhou looked at Xiao Ai, who ran to his side and grabbed his arm pitifully. He was slightly stunned, and his ten fingers that were operating the holographic model also stopped.

“Bullets?”

“Yeah yeah, credit points.”

Oh, it turned out that my money was spent…

The f*ck?

Lu Zhou was shocked instantly.

That’s 50 billion! Not fifty bucks!

It’s only been a few days since the loan, how can it be gone?

Even a starship doesn’t cost that much money!

Lu Zhou originally wanted to make complaints, but he restrained himself.

After taking a deep breath, he slowed down and said, “Why is it not enough? Is there anyone else who is shorting East Asia Energy stock…”

To be honest, he would be fine with other people shorting him. He himself was not particularly interested in stocks. He was just unhappy with Song Yangwei’s threat.

Also, if the stock price dropped because of his scientific research reforms, it would affect the board’s confidence in him and hinder his second-generation controllable fusion plan.

Even though the AIIB was on his side now, he was not yet conceited to the extent that he “believes that everyone will always trust himself unconditionally.”

“Probably not… Yangwei Capital is staying quiet.”

Lu Zhou twitched his eyebrows and couldn’t help asking, “Then how did you use up 50 billion…?”

Xiao Ai: “Didn’t Master say that the stock price should not be allowed to fall? As soon as a large sell order came out, Xiao Ai bought it. QAQ”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Xiao Ai: “Did Xiao Ai do something wrong? Can Master not be angry? (.•́__ก̀.)”

“I’m not angry.” Lu Zhou continued, sighing as if giving up, “Whatever, don’t do anything for now… unless I ask you to.”

It’s just 50 billion.

Also…

There are more fascinating things to care about.

As Lu Zhou looked at the completed model in his hand, his mouth curled up with a smile.

Finally finished.

…

Electromagnet research laboratory.

Because almost all researchers had been laid off, besides the robots responsible for cleaning and doing simple maintenance work on the equipment, only Tang Yunge was left in the entire laboratory.

As Tang Yunge looked at the empty office in front of him, he was baffled. Not only did he not feel the joy of being promoted and a raise in salary, but he was suffering from headaches.

Second-generation controllable fusion…

Yet everyone from the electromagnet research laboratory was fired…

This made him, who originally planned to live up to Academician Lu’s expectations and make some achievements in the field he was good at, fill his whole body with a feeling of powerlessness.

At this moment, the meeting reminder icon flashed in the lower right corner of the desk.

The moment he saw the notification, he immediately sat up from the office chair. He then stretched out his index finger and clicked on the pop-up window of the meeting information.

Light blue light particles floated from all around, and the panoramic holographic projection system installed in the office released a beam of light, which quickly reconstructed the surrounding scenery.

The next thing he knew, he was already sitting in the conference room, and sitting across from him was the new chairman of East Asia Energy—Lu Zhou.

As Tang Yunge looked at Academician Lu sitting across the conference table, he asked respectfully, “Sir, did you ask for me?”

“Yeah, I have an interesting model here, and I want to hear your thoughts.” Lu Zhou put his intention out immediately. He gently pushed his right hand and sent the holographic model floating in his palm to him.

Looking at the strange model in front of him, Tang Yunge was slightly stunned. His face gradually showed a dazed expression.

“What’s this…”

“A1-type pulsed magnetic field generator.” Lu Zhou continued with a triumphant smile, “Although it is a new concept, it works.”

Lu Zhou briefly explained the principle of this thing to him.

In short, after researching the related technologies of explosive magnetic compression, he established the equivalent of compressed current generator by referring to the circuit equation of the multi-branch compressed current generator in the existing research results. A circuit model was used to optimize the design of a blasting magnet compression device with a length of 600mm, a diameter of 120mm, a total mass of 10kg, and a high energy output.

Although this kind of device was small, it had a larger expansion space compared with the current mainstream design ideas and was accompanied by an open energy input interface.

The advantage of this design was that the energy of the compressed magnetic field was not provided by unstable explosions, and the high-frequency “squeezing” of the magnetic field was realized by the heat input from the system.

If it was used in places such as EMP weapons, this design might be a little unsuitable. But on a device that was large enough and had serious heat accumulation such as a controllable fusion reactor, it was just right.

It was almost tailor-made for it…

After watching for a long time, Tang Yunge didn’t see any obvious loopholes in this model. His eyes were getting brighter, and his voice was uncontrollable with a hint of excitement.

“Have you done the feasibility demonstration? No, let me do it, wait for me—”

“It’s done.” Interrupting Tang Yunge’s words, Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “It’s not just a feasibility demonstration, I have already printed a sample with an industrial 3D printer. Although the quality of the 3D printing is average, it is fine. There is no problem with the usage. According to the detection of the magnetic induction device, it can probably amplify the magnetic field stably by more than 50 times at a frequency of 50 Hz.”

50 times!

The moment he heard these words, Tang Yunge took a deep breath. His eyes were almost bulging as he blurted out, “50 times? Are you kidding me? I mean… really, is it that insane?”

Lu Zhou said in a mocking tone, “Do I look like I’m joking?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just… you don’t know what this means.” With obvious shock on his face, Tang Yunge smiled bitterly and continued, “If this thing actually works, I believe that second-generation controllable fusion can be made tomorrow.”

“Not quite. Don’t celebrate too early. There are still many things we need to do later.”

After a light cough, Lu Zhou paused for a while and continued to speak, “The magnetic field provided by this A1 experimental electromagnet is very small. It can even be said to be just a simple conceptual model. It is impossible to expect this thing to be directly used in the reactor, and in the end, whether this pulsed magnetic field can effectively restrain high-temperature plasma is still unknown.

“I need you to refer to this conceptual model and its design ideas to redesign a larger electromagnet to serve as the container of the second-generation controllable fusion reactor.

“As long as this container can provide a magnetic field of 10,000 or more Tesla, our second-generation controllable fusion device will work.”

“No problem, it doesn’t matter if you want 10,000 or 20,000 Tesla…” The look on Tang Yunge’s face gradually became more and more impatient as he said, “The premise is that we have enough manpower. With the whole research lab empty, we can’t start any work.”

Lu Zhou gave him a comforting smile.

“Don’t worry, the job fair is about to begin.

“The manpower you need will be available soon.”

Chapter 1497: Conceptual Model of Magnetic Field Generator

In the interrogation room.

Song Yangwei, who was sitting at the table in handcuffs, had his head drooped. No color was visible on his face. He was full of despair and regret.

Over.

It’s all over.

He could even guess what was happening in the stock market at this moment without even looking.

Without his signature, it would be impossible for Yangwei Capital to spend a large sum of money to continue his short-selling plan. Besides, the entire company was counting on his secret weapon. Only he knew that this weapon had been confiscated…

“First name.”

“Song Yangwei… Do you still need to ask this?”

“It’s just a process.”

Xing Bian was outside the interrogation room, he looked at Director Song’s bitter face through the glass. Xing Bian continued blankly, “Then, let’s get to the topic, when did you start contacting The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

Song Yangwei gulped.

He seemed hesitant, but he still spoke.

“About fifteen years ago…”

“Fifteen years ago?” Xing Bian glanced at him. “I remember that Yangwei Capital was registered 15 years ago.”

“Yes.” Song Yangwei nodded slightly and said frankly, “I admit that I have received funding from the foundation, and my first profit was earned with their help.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Captain Xing, who made a mark on this confession, continued to ask, “Who else is funded by the foundation like you?”

“Liu Zhengxing.”

Shi Jin stared at him and reprimanded, “Don’t think about being sneaky, we didn’t ask you to name a dead person.”

“The only one I know is him. I’m not lying!”

Seeing Song Yangwei’s tension on his face, Captain Xing thought for a moment and continued to ask, “Well, we understand the rough situation. Thank you for your cooperation. You can go home tomorrow.”

Song Yangwei was stunned. Thinking that he had heard it wrong, he repeated the sentence in disbelief, “Go home?”

“Yeah.” Captain Xing nodded and said concisely, “Even though in principle there is no bail for the crime of endangering social security, it is useless to keep you here. It is better to go home and wait for the result. Wait until the court’s decision is made. We will reschedule. In addition, you have been restricted from leaving the country during this period, and you are restricted from leaving Jinling… Of course, if you want to stay here, that is fine.”

“No.” Song Yangwei said immediately, “Please let me out, and the bail—”

“The bail will be waived. As I said, this is not a normal bail procedure.” Captain Xing continued in an official tone, “If you have any information that can help us, it is best to provide it to us before the ruling is made. After the ruling is made, even if we want to help you get a chance to take a lighter sentence, it will be difficult.”

No one wanted to stay in jail.

Also, Song Yangwei was a busy man, and there was a company for him to worry about. In any case, as long as he could get out of jail and get in touch with his investment manager, the price was worth it.

Outside the interrogation room.

Looking at the captain, Shi Jin spoke in confusion.

“Captain.”

“What?”

“We… Why should we let him go?”

Captain Xing said casually, “Not letting him go, but to put him under house arrest.”

“But…”

“I suspect that there are still people on the board of directors of East Asia Energy who are involved in this.” Xing Bian took out an e-cigarette from his pocket, took a drag, and continued, “At least one more. Otherwise, they would not be able to control the board so easily.”

The moment he heard these words, Shi Jin was slightly taken aback. He then looked at his captain in surprise.

“Do you think…”

“If the bait is not big enough, how can you catch a big fish?” Captain Xing smiled faintly and continued in a flat tone, “Remember to empty all the robots in his house, as well as drones and all smart appliances, then around his house. Arrange two teams to be on standby.

“I don’t believe that we can’t even catch a single living person!”

…

In the last week of January, the campus of Jin Ling University was a bit more lively.

Although it would be winter vacation in a few days, many students who had finished classes had already taken the car back to their hometowns in advance, but at this moment, the flow of people on the campus of Jin Ling University had not decreased. Instead, it increased.

From undergraduates to 40-year-old middle-aged people who had been working for more than ten years, the people who came here to apply for jobs covered almost all walks of life and fields, all those who were involved in controllable fusion were all here.

There was only one reason.

The giant company with the largest market value in Asia would hold a job fair here today.

And this wasn’t just it.

Different from last autumn’s recruitment, this time, because Academician Lu was so furious and cut off an entire research institute, the entire electromagnet research laboratory was now empty. According to rumors, the labor gap had even reached 2,000 people!

What did two thousand jobs mean?

This meant that the usual acceptance rate of less than 1% might be more than ten times higher this time. Even considering that the number of applicants would be much larger than usual, the probability of successful selection would definitely be higher than before.

If someone wanted to enter this research institution with the best pay and benefits in Asia, this recruitment was undoubtedly the best opportunity.

However…

If they were to think this job fair was easy, they would be mistaken.

In the first round of the first test, many people already felt the malice from the person who made the questions; 90% of the million applicants were directly wiped out.

And the remaining 100,000 people were tortured by the difficult and bizarre questions during the second round of the on-site written test. Many people even walked out of the examination room crying.

“Who wrote these questions? F*cking bullsh*t!”

“I heard that Academician Lu himself wrote it…”

“Academician Lu himself?! Impossible! It’s been less than a month since he woke up from the dormant cabin, how could he give us exam questions?”

“Why is this impossible? Isn’t he a director of the East Asia Energy Science and Technology Committee? I heard that Li Guangya of the Pan-Asian Cooperation also invited him to serve as Minister of Science and Technology, but he is not very interested in politics, so he didn’t agree.”

“The version I heard is Chief Consultant.”

“It doesn’t matter to him. For that kind of genius, common sense doesn’t apply! Maybe in just one month, he has already learned a century of research?”

It was not just the candidates who were struggling.

Looking at the transcript sent from HR in front of him, Director Tang of the electromagnet research laboratory also had a headache.

“A total of 3,211 people achieved A and 5,102 achieved B… With all due respect, the first round of written examination was barely okay. I think the difficulty of the second round of written examination was a bit ridiculous.”

“There are so many?” There was a hint of surprise on Lu Zhou’s face. He couldn’t help nodding in approval. “As expected of my disciples.”

In his original plan, roughly 4,000 people would pass the second round of written examinations. Half of the remaining people would be filtered. They could be employed after some basic training.

He didn’t expect that there were so many more candidates than he expected.

“Is it too much? The main reason is that the base number of applicants is too large, but I think it is not that much…” Tang Yunge said with a wry smile, “To be honest, the exam questions you put out may be difficult for those fresh graduates with no work experience.”

Generally speaking, the written test was just a threshold to screen the professional skills of the applicants.

The real talent selection would be during the interviews. According to different positions, the work experiences or academic resumes of the applicants would be reviewed individually.

East Asia Energy’s employment gap was two thousand, not two hundred or twenty. Besides, this was in accordance with Lu Zhou’s request, where he intended to use the electromagnet research laboratory as a new reform pilot and would not transfer management from other departments. He would only send executives from here to other departments in the future.

In the face of such a huge employment gap, appropriate relaxation of standards was necessary. However, after these two rounds of written examinations, only eight thousand people were left. If they wanted to choose the right person from them, there was very little room for them to choose.

“My opinion is just the opposite of yours. Candidates who can pass the exam questions I set have already mostly passed. Among the rest, you choose the best. See which one works well.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “Don’t worry, I am still very confident of my own vision, and I will definitely not let you down.”

Tang Yunge sighed and said, “I believe you…”

Whether he believed it or not, he couldn’t do anything.

The holographic meeting ended. The light blue particles faded from the surroundings, revealing the appearance of the room before it was reconstructed by the holographic beam.

Lu Zhou stretched out on the sofa. He then got up and returned to the study room.

Having just gone through a round of shock treatment, East Asia Energy’s electromagnet research laboratory was currently undergoing reconstruction. It was still difficult to use it in the near future.

Furthermore, the A1-pulsed magnetic field generator he designed was only a conceptual product. Even if the electromagnetic field was amplified several tens of times, it would not reach the order of 1T.

And, to be honest, Lu Zhou could only give a vague guess as to whether this thing could be used for controllable fusion. He couldn’t make judgments on unknown things based on imagination.

He could only say that if he continued to research according to this line of thought, he could probably discover something.

Sitting in front of the holographic computer, after Lu Zhou pondered for a few seconds, he typed a title on the holographic interface.

[Theoretical Analysis of High-Energy Explosive Magnetic Compression and Conceptual Model of Pulsed Magnetic Field Generator]

“I hope it can play a role in making others interested.”

Looking at this title, Lu Zhou smirked.

It was impossible for the huge electromagnet laboratory to operate with only some temporary recruits.

If the situation was optimistic, this paper should attract the attention of some scholars engaged in research in related fields and promote the birth of more valuable results.

Of course, if he could hire them for his own projects, it would be even more perfect…

Chapter 1498: The Electromagnet That Shocked The Academic World

LSPM Academic Exchange Forum.

Different from the tranquility of the past, the various sections of the forum today were extremely lively.

A paper titled “Theoretical Analysis of High-Energy Explosive Magnetic Compression and Conceptual Model of Pulsed Magnetic Field Generator” appeared in the LSPM preprint database, along with a paper titled “The Holographic Model of ‘A1 pulsed magnetic field generator’”.

Because of Lu Zhou’s previous papers published in “Future”, many people were curious about the research conducted by this scholar from a hundred years ago, especially those who wanted to know the second-generation controllable fusion idea he proposed.

It was precisely because of this that, as soon as this paper on pulsed magnetic fields came out, users of the entire LSPM forum, whether academics or amateur science enthusiasts, were shocked.

“F*ck me, this is… Academician Lu’s thesis?!”

“Is it nonsense?”

“How is that possible… He is only in his early thirties, he’s not retired yet. He won’t risk his academic reputation.”

“It’s not surprising that a scholar who woke up a hundred years ago can understand the current research, but it is incredible to be able to make such a groundbreaking result.”

“Didn’t he post a paper before? What’s all the fuss about?”

“It’s not the same. The last paper was only a review. The highlight was only to put forward some technical ideas that may realize the second generation of controllable fusion, but this paper obviously involves professional in-depth specific research topics. The most important thing is that a visible result has been made!”

“Has anyone tested whether the holographic model he provided is real or fake?”

“Doing it now! My instructor has just contacted the company that cooperates with our laboratory in the Jinling high-tech zone. If it is fast, we should be able to receive the samples tomorrow!”

The difference in scientific research in the 22nd century compared to the 21st century was probably the convenience of rapid verification.

Whether it was the 3D printing equipment that could be seen everywhere or the customized industrial services launched by various intelligent manufacturing companies, the distance between concept and reality was infinitely close to zero.

Of course, the premise was to pay enough credit points.

And having a concept in the first place.

Therefore, after Lu Zhou gave the holographic composition and detailed parameters of the “A1 pulsed magnetic field generator”, many relevant laboratories engaged in electromagnet research immediately verified the model.

And the result was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Although the total amount of magnetic field provided by this type A1 pulsed magnetic field generator was not very large, it could amplify the magnetic field by tens of times at a frequency of 50 Hz!

Not only that, but the most surprising thing was that anyone who was a little knowledgeable could see that this device still had a lot of room for improvement!

Not only could it be further amplified in terms of volume and magnetic field, a series of designs, including “heat energy input ports”, was tailor-made for the second generation of controllable fusion devices!

Many engineers who were engaged in the research of electromagnets, after reading this paper, all started to doubt their careers.

With the development of disciplines in the 22nd century, it was impossible for ordinary people to fully grasp the knowledge of their field and catch up with the most cutting-edge research results, without studying for ten or twenty years.

No one could believe that a scholar who woke up a hundred years ago had not been completely left behind by the times and that he had even made breakthrough research results in a brand-new field!

Many people speculated that Academician Lu had lost his interest in academics. Just like Newton’s choice back then, who gave up his attempt to climb higher academically and devoted himself to the financial field.

As a result, it now appeared that the facts seemed to be the opposite of what people expected.

And the most embarrassing thing was that, after leaving academia, Newton lost his salary in stock trading for more than 20 years, but Academician Lu, who did not leave academia, seemed to have made a profit from stock trading?

Moreover, it looked like he had made a lot…

Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

Looking at the holographic screen suspended in front of him and sitting in the office, Academician Zhang Feiyue couldn’t help but look convinced.

“Pulsed magnetic field based on magnetic storm compression technology?”

“Interesting.”

As a scholar engaged in plasma physics research, although he had been engaged in research related to the second-generation controllable fusion project, his area of expertise was not the design of electromagnets.

In contrast, his research was more inclined to the theoretical level, especially for the plasma in the reactor.

Therefore, after downloading the holographic model, he couldn’t immediately give a reliable evaluation. He could only consult his friends in the engineering institute on the electromagnet design.

Although the verification of the model had not yet been completed, according to his friend in the Academy of Engineering, the possibility of implementation was still very high.

“It would be great if I could chat with Academician Lu face to face.”

After reading the paper again, Academician Zhang Feiyue couldn’t help but let out a sincere admiration.

Regardless of whether the design idea of the electromagnet could open the door to a new world for the research of the second-generation of controllable fusion, this paper itself was quite wonderful.

So this is what the best scholar of the 21st century is like.

I wish I was born in his era…

The students sitting in the office said in an instigating tone.

“The electromagnet research laboratory of East Asia Energy is so short of people now. Sir, I believe Academician Lu will be happy to invite you to join his second-generation controllable fusion project, right?”

“It’s hard to say.” Academician Zhang Feiyue shook his head. “Academician Lu has a strange temperament and is not so easy to get along with. No one knows what he wants to do.”

However, his heart was a little intrigued.

Would he be rejected? Maybe, but it was worth a try.

If Academician Lu is serious and really intends to brighten the light of second-generation controllable fusion…

Wouldn’t it be a shame to just pass by the opportunity of writing my name in history?

After hesitating for a long time, Academician Zhang Feiyue gritted his teeth, and he couldn’t let it go. So he turned on the computer and operated the holographic interface, wrote an email, and sent it to Lu Zhou.

After a morning of waiting.

Just as he was about to get up and go to the cafeteria to eat lunch, an email with only three sentences appeared in his mailbox.

However, it was these three short sentences that turned his mood into an unrestrained excitement.

[This is Lu Zhou.

[I have read your paper and am very interested in your research in the field of high-energy plasma.

[Do you have time to talk in person?]

Chapter 1499: : Did Not Take The Bait

The excitement in the heart of Academician Zhang Feiyue aside.

Compared to the engineers who researched electromagnets, those who were engaged in the research of second-generation controllable nuclear fusion had different opinions on the application prospects of the pulsed magnetic field generator that was proposed by Academician Lu.

Some scholars had the same views as Academician Zhang, who believed that the pulsed magnetic field concept proposed by Lu Zhou might become the key to solving the lack of magnetic field restraint in the second generation of controllable nuclear fusion.

Some scholars also believed that using such an unstable magnetic field to confine fusion reactants with a high temperature of billions of degrees was both dangerous and impractical.

For example, at the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

After seeing the preprinted and the holographic model attached to the paper, an old professor not only had the opposite attitude but also gave completely different opinions.

“Pulsing magnetic field?

“This is nonsense!

“The magnetic field of 10,000 Tesla… If exposed to the water molecules inside the human body, somatic cells will directly decompose! Where are you going to build this reactor?

“Not to mention that the entire magnetic field is still changing! I think if this technology is really used on the second-generation controllable fusion device, it must not be a reactor, but an electromagnetic pulse weapon!”

Similar controversies were not only happening in the LSPM forum but also frequently seen in the laboratories of major universities and research institutes.

In fact, there was nothing wrong with controversy. After all, science itself advanced with controversy.

However, what was more interesting was that, in contrast to the constant controversy in the academic world, the views of the capital market on Lu Zhou’s latest research results were unexpectedly highly consistent.

Almost on the second day after the paper was published, the headline of the “Lujiazui Daily” published an article titled “A Key Breakthrough in the Second Generation of Controllable Fusion Technology”.

Immediately after that, after the stock market opened that day, the share price of East Asia Energy was rising out of control…

These seemed to correspond to Newton’s words—”I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people…”

…

Some were happy and some are sad, some were joyful and some were worried.

The surging momentum of East Asia Energy made the shareholders ecstatic, but it also made those who missed the opportunity regretful, and it also made those who believed in the short report of Yangwei Capital so painful that it was difficult to breathe.

Especially Yangwei Capital.

After seeing the surging trend of East Asia Energy stock, Song Yangwei, the CEO of Yangwei Capital, almost passed out.

He just came back from the bureau when he heard the bad news.

Looking at the video window, the investment manager was reporting to him while trembling. He was so angry that he almost unplugged the smart security bracelet.

“10% increase?! How could it be possible!”

This is f*cking East Asia Energy, an energy giant with a market value of tens of trillions!

This was not a small company with a market value of several billion, even a 1% increase could create 100 billion of market value out of thin air.

After taking a deep breath, Song Yangwei calmed himself down.

After about 5 minutes, he spoke as if he made up his mind.

“When the stock price pulls back, let’s retreat.”

After hearing the chairman’s voice, the investment manager on the other end of the phone looked sad; his mood sank.

Although it was compelling to do so for the sake of reducing the loss, such an outcome really made him devastated.

He had been waiting for the boss to play the so-called trump card, but so far, there was nothing.

Buy back the stocks at a higher price…

This was equivalent to giving up.

According to his own estimation, this wave of Yangwei Capital’s loss would have to be at least 3 billion credit points.

Looks like I can forget about the end-of-year bonuses…

…

Song Yangwei didn’t want to think about the short-selling for the time being. After returning home, Song Yangwei took a shower and changed into clean clothes. He called the Security Bureau and reported his position.

Although he was out of jail, it didn’t mean that he was completely free. He just changed to a slightly more comfortable place to continue watching.

Not only did he have to report his position every 24 hours, but the time for outing activities was limited to 2 hours.

To be honest, Song Yangwei was desperate for his crimes to be pardoned.

Although he was not an information technology expert, as a person in the financial industry, he knew the danger of the ALPHA virus better than anyone.

In the 22nd century, apart from a few countries in Africa that had not yet popularized robots, almost the vast majority of countries around the world had popularized robotics technology.

Even some small countries in the North Sea Alliance were negotiating to grant basic citizenship to robots of a certain working age.

Given the current degree of dependence on robots in the tertiary and secondary industries of major economies, once this AI virus spread, the global economy would be hit hard.

Therefore, the Security Bureau would definitely not let him get off the hook easily.

Thinking of this, Song Yangwei, who hung up the call and leaned on his chair, sighed in his heart.

If I knew this would happen, I would never have signed my name on that document.

As for why he wanted to research the virus at that time, that was a long story.

Although it was the request of the foundation, he also did it out of his own selfishness.

Although the economic crisis was a disaster for most people, it was an opportunity for a few people!

Especially for those who could predict the arrival of a crisis!

The vast majority of assets would become very cheap during the economic crisis. As long as adequate preparations were made before the crisis occurred, he would be able to stand at the top of the world in a new round of wealth shuffling.

Financial means wasn’t the only thing that could trigger an economic crisis. Song Yangwei believed that technical means were also possible.

However…

Thinking about these things now was useless.

The Security Bureau had warned him not to spread the news about the ALPHA virus, which was tantamount to confiscating his trump card.

He didn’t even want to think about Yangwei Capital. There was only one thing that was flashing in his mind.

In order to have a chance of being released from prison for the rest of his life, he must find a way to mitigate his crime before the sentence was issued.

After hesitating for a few minutes, Song Yangwei finally made up his mind. He reached out his hand and pressed it lightly on the desk. He then activated the holographic conference system.

With the emergence of a blue light beam, a man with no facial features sitting on an office chair slowly emerged in his study room.

Anonymous.

Or… Mr. D.

Song Yangwei had always called him that.

Although he was curious about what kind of person was hidden behind the holographic image, the people at the foundation seemed to have never cared for his curiosity.

Seeing the faceless man appearing at the desk, Song Yangwei cleared his throat and said in a gentle voice, “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, long time no see.”

When saying this, although Song Yangwei could not see the slightest smile from the face of the faceless man, he heard a cruel tone from the voice.

After leaving the strange thought behind, Song Yangwei took a deep breath and reported.

“Academician Lu has taken control of East Asia Energy. I tried to use my influence, but unfortunately, I failed.

“And judging from the papers he published, the second-generation controllable fusion project seems to have a great chance of winning. If he completes the project of this century, his prestige in this century will undoubtedly reach the peak, even more than he was a century ago.

“I can’t beat him with my own strength. I need the help of the foundation.”

The faceless man looked at Song Yangwei quietly, waiting for him to finish speaking.

After a long time, slight laughter suddenly floated from the holographic image.

Confused by the laughter, Song Yangwei, who had a bad feeling, was about to ask him what he was laughing at.

At this moment, the faceless man spoke with a calm electronic sound.

“Now you want help?”

Song Yangwei: “I certainly don’t want to trouble you, but now that the situation has arrived, we have to join forces to restrain Lu Zhou’s expanding influence in East Asia! Speaking of which, do you have time over the next few days? We might as well talk in person.”

“Talk in person?” The faceless man said with a faint smile, “Then I can watch as you sell me to the Security Bureau?”

When Song Yangwei heard these words, his heart suddenly shook, and he immediately denied it.

“What! And what are you talking about, what does this have to do with the Security Bureau?”

“Don’t pretend, I know exactly where you were and what you said these days. You thought you were careful enough, but I’m sorry, I’m not a simpleton.”

As if looking at a prey, the faceless man looked at him blankly. After a pause, he let his voice down and continued, “Let me guess what deal the Security Bureau has given you. Money? Not realistic. Or… some kind of promise? As long as you can provide them with more valuable clues, they will consider releasing you?”

After a drop of cold sweat rolled down his face, Song Yangwei looked at the faceless man with a dazed expression.

“I do not know what you’re talking about…”

“You don’t need to know, because it’s almost over.” He slowly got up from his chair. The holographic image strolled to his desk, looking down at the old man sitting behind the desk.

“You have forgotten your vows and betrayed our cause.

“Hell is not enough to punish your sins. The Void will be your final destination. What awaits your soul will be eternal exile.”

Song Yangwei panicked and stood up from his office chair. He looked at the faceless man in front of him in fear and said calmly, “What do you want to do?”

Although he didn’t think that this guy, who was just a holographic image could hurt him through the network cable, he couldn’t help but feel full of panic when he thought about the foundation.

He looked at the button on the desk, which could turn off the holographic conference system. He then quickly tried to turn it off.

A faint smile appeared in the face of the faceless man as he threw out a cruel answer.

“What do I want to do?

“Of course it is to punish a traitor.”

Chapter 1500: Implant

Outside the courtyard of the mansion.

It was crowded with messy footsteps and women crying.

A stretcher was quickly rushed into the yard, then dragged out of the mansion by two robot ambulance personnel headed towards the direction of the ambulance.

Two police cars parked at the entrance of the courtyard. They pulled up the cordon to block the scene while calming the emotions of the families.

About 5 minutes ago.

Song Yangwei, the boss of Yangwei Capital, was found dead in his home.

There was no trace of any blows on his body and no deadly toxins were found in his blood. If it weren’t for the look on his face, almost no one would doubt that this was just an accident.

It happened so suddenly that everyone did not have time to react, and they were left without a trace of defense.

It wasn’t until the detectives deployed nearby discovered that something was wrong and contacted Song Yangwei to confirm the situation, only to find that the person was dead.

Standing next to the cordon, Xing Bian took out the electronic cigarette from his pocket. After inhaling, he stuffed the cigarette back.

Seeing Shi Jin walk towards him, he spoke in a deep voice.

“How did he die?”

Shi Jin didn’t speak. He silently handed the sample bag containing the integrated circuit in his hand to the captain.

The moment when Xing Bian saw the chip stored in the sample bag, his eyes gradually became serious.

After a while, he said in a heavy tone, “Implant?”

“Yes, Song Yangwei had an artificial heart implanted in his body, but it was turned off half an hour ago…”

Shi Jin nodded; his expression also full of solemnity. After a pause, he continued with a complicated tone, “We might be in trouble.”

…

Northwest China.

Far away from the city, a four-wheel off-road vehicle was galloping on an empty road in a nature reserve.

Wang Peng looked at the positioning system on the car. He then cast his gaze to the rows of woods outside the window with a shocked expression on his face.

“After a century, the desert in the northwest has become a forest.”

“It was like this a long time ago, and this can be regarded as one of the legacies left by Academician Lu, although most of this was done by his descendants… We are here.”

After passing the checkpoint at the road, the car continued along the path for a while. It then stopped in front of a military base that was not marked on the map.

To be honest, the construction of these buildings did not feel like a military facility at all.

And the reason it was obvious that this was a military base was purely because of the instincts of a soldier.

Opening the car door and stepping out of the driver’s seat, the man who drove squinted his eyes, looked at the military base in front of him, and said with some nostalgia.

“This was the largest special forces training base in Pan-Asia, it was also the most advanced training base in the world… As for why I say that, you will know when you enter.”

Wang Peng: “The Security Bureau is a special force?”

“No, but most people graduated from here.” The man with a weathered face was standing beside the car door with a grin. He continued, “No matter what kind of training you have received before, this place is a new beginning. I hope you can forget those outdated technologies and earnestly pass the assessment.”

Wang Peng smiled lightly and said, “Although this is a new beginning, some things don’t change.”

The man shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.

Wang Peng looked at him curiously and continued, “Speaking of which, you didn’t tell me your name.”

“Hunter, my friends call me that, and you can call me that too.” Shaking hands with Wang Peng, the man grinned and continued, “Anyway, good luck to you. If you can do well and pass the assessment, we should meet again soon.”

“Thanks.”

After shaking hands and letting go, Wang Peng cast his gaze to the military base not far away and asked casually, “May I ask, how long is the training time? Or when did the assessment you mentioned start?”

Hunter laughed and said, “It’s already started. As for when you pass, it depends on when you can reach the average standard of a Security Agency agent.”

Wang Peng: “I mean, what is this standard?”

“Then you have to find it yourself.”

The man made a farewell gesture. He then turned and walked towards the off-road vehicle.

With the sound of the engine starting, the car quickly turned onto the highway and disappeared from Wang Peng’s vision.

Do I need to do the handover work myself?

Wang Peng watched the car go away. Just as Wang Peng was thinking about it, a voice calling his name suddenly came from behind him.

“Wang Peng?”

He turned around and looked back. A strange man was standing there, and there was a holographic screen floating on his left wrist.

Although he couldn’t see what kind of text was displayed on the front of the screen, he guessed that it should be his own resume or identity information.

“Yeah.”

Wang Peng originally thought that the person would ask for his information thoroughly. He didn’t expect that after checking his name, he just glanced over and put away the holographic screen.

“A little bit earlier than expected. Come with me.”

After this, he turned around and walked towards the military base.

Wang Peng did not hesitate for long. He followed with the suitcase in his hand.

Passing through the checkpoint in front of the door, the moment he followed the strange man’s footsteps into the base, everything in front of him suddenly became clear.

It was at this moment that he finally understood why the agent who claimed to be Hunter called this the most advanced training base in the world.

The man seemed to have noticed the expression on his face. He glanced back at him and said with a smile, “You look a little surprised?”

“I am quite surprised.” Wang Peng continued, looking around the empty hall, “If I didn’t already know where I am, I would never imagine this is a military base.”

Although he had not visited the military facilities of other countries in this era, everything in front of him had subverted his understanding of military bases.

The most common people here were not soldiers in military uniforms. Instead, they were researchers in white coats. From what he saw, the ratio between the two was almost one to one.

The weird technologies along the way, as well as some confusing gadgets, made it hard to imagine that this was a military camp; it was more like a laboratory.

Reading the surprise on Wang Peng’s face, the man smiled slightly and continued, “In this era, the vast majority of military conflicts occur in space far away from the ground and in remote Mars colonies. And even if there is a military conflict, most of the fights are done by AI.”

“However, there are still some tasks that are not suitable for AI to complete. My name is Lin Feng, and I am your instructor. If you don’t understand anything, you can consult me.”

Wang Peng couldn’t help but ask when looking at a man who walked by with an exaggerated arm, with painted skin and visible metal bones.

“Is that a robot soldier?”

“Strictly speaking, we do not have purely robot soldiers. Firstly, it is against human relations, and secondly, it is unnecessary. On the frontal battlefield, different types of drones and all-terrain remote-controlled vehicles are better than two legs. The humanoid soldier is more reliable on a non-frontal battlefield, and the memories of the robots cannot be perfectly adaptable, which is a problem in most AI programs today.”

After a pause, Lin Feng continued, “As for the things you saw, they’re called implants”

Wang Peng: “Implants?”

Lin Feng nodded.

“Yes, something that is very common in this era, and it can even be said that it has become a fashion trend.”

“Natural organs will always have various problems, including virus infection, functional failure, or pure damage caused by some force. Therefore, the implantation of prosthetic bodies has become a new fashion… Of course, military use will actually be earlier, dating back to the 2020s of the last century, when the first application case of bionic prosthesis appeared.”

Wang Peng: “… I may know the person you mentioned.”

It was because Biosphere A was attacked by an organization of unknown forces that Li Gaoliang lost his legs.

At that time, neural access technology was in the ascendant. After Academician Lu heard his situation, he personally designed a bionic prosthesis for him. Li Gaoliang, who was fitted with a bionic prosthesis, went back to normal, and his legs and feet even functioned better than before.

If he remembered correctly, this caused a lot of heated discussion at the time.

After hearing Wang Peng’s words, Lin Feng showed a surprised expression on his face and said with a smile, “I almost forgot that you were from that era.”

Wang Peng: “I have a question.”

Lin Feng: “What?”

Wang Peng: “Are you a robot?”

“My cover has been blown…” Lin Feng was slightly stunned. He then smiled and nodded. “This was originally part of the assessment, but I didn’t expect you to pass it on the first day. It seems you are of the higher insight type. I will recommend a few suitable types of equipment for you.”

Although it was expected, he didn’t expect that even places like “recruitment camp” would use robots.

It seemed that the reliance on smart tools in this era was really to an extent he couldn’t imagine.

Shaking his head in his mind, Wang Peng glanced at the side glass window behind the soldier who had undergone regular inspection and maintenance of the prosthesis and said casually, “By equipment, if you mean the implanted prosthetics, then forget about it. In contrast, I still believe in myself more.”

Lin Feng shrugged.

“It seems that stubbornness is also one of your characteristics.

“But it doesn’t matter. This is a personal choice. Although I recommend you to accept the convenience of technology in this era. After all, it will make it easier for you to pass the assessment.”

“There are no shortcuts to some things. This sentence was told by a friend of mine.” Wang Peng smiled lightly and continued in a calm tone, “Take me to the dormitory. After that, I want to visit the training ground.”

Lin Feng smiled slightly, nodded, and said, “No problem.”

Chapter 1501: Help From the Security Bureau

Mansion on the outskirts of Jinling.

Lu Zhou arranged by email to talk to Academician Zhang about the pulsed magnetic field in person, but Lu Zhou waited for a long time and did not see Academician Zhang. Instead, he saw an unexpected person.

Lu Zhou looked at Captain Xing who appeared in the access control system. He showed a clearly surprised expression on his face.

He had made it clear on the phone not long ago that he was not interested in the project of the task force, but Captain Xing still found him.

Lu Zhou asked, “What do you want?”

Captain Xing, who was standing in front of the iron gate, gave a light cough and said while looking at the camera of the access control system.

“Aren’t you going to ask me to come in?”

After hesitating for a while, the iron gate finally moved slowly.

Seeing the iron door slowly opening, Captain Xing sighed in relief. He walked along the path behind the door towards the main building of the mansion.

The entrance door opened.

After Lu Zhou invited him to sit down, he told Xiao Ai to go to the kitchen and bring two cups of tea.

Xing Bian took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “I really don’t recommend that you continue to use robots… After seeing the ALPHA virus, are you not afraid at all?”

“Or are you suspecting that a 100-year-old man who just woke up created this virus?”

100-year-old man…

His eyebrows twitched fiercely. He coughed slightly and explained, “I didn’t mean that. It is purely out of safety concerns. Now we have basically confirmed that Liu Zhengxing’s death was committed by a robot infected with the ALPHA virus. Although the reason is still unknown, you are obviously on their target list now.”

“I know,” Lu Zhou said casually, “I can probably guess what happened with Liu Zhengxing. But I am not afraid of that ALPHA virus, and I don’t think they have the ability to hurt me.”

Xiao Ai, who nodded in agreement, came out from the kitchen with the tea and said enthusiastically, “Yes! Xiao Ai is very strong! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Xing Bian: “…?”

Lu Zhou coughed slightly and said, “Stay in the study room for a while.”

Xiao Ai: “QAQ”

Looking at the robot, who was now walking up the stairs, Xing Bian decided that he didn’t see anything. He cleared his throat and looked at Lu Zhou with serious eyes.

“We need your help.”

Lu Zhou was stunned by the sincere look in Captain Xing’s eyes. He spoke with a weird expression.

“I’m just a scholar, not a detective. How can I help you?”

“But you are an expert in the AI field.” He took out the sample bag in his hand and placed it gently on the table. Xing Bian said solemnly, “This was found on the body of that person.”

Body?

Lu Zhou blurted out, “Which person…?”

“Song Yangwei.”

Song Yangwei…

He’s dead?

After hearing this unexpected news, Lu Zhou gulped slightly. The expression on his face gradually became serious.

Although from the first day they met, he didn’t have a good impression of that guy, especially the two threats afterward, even if it didn’t hurt him, it was really uncomfortable.

But even so, Lu Zhou still hoped that he would be tried by the law, rather than ending in this way.

The only two signatures on the X-100 project were Liu Zhengxing and Song Yangwei.

Both of them were dead. As a result, all the secrets about them had been buried in the soil.

Lu Zhou did not expect this result.

“He died?”

Looking at the surprised Lu Zhou, Xing Bian nodded solemnly and continued, “He was found dead at home…

“Right under our noses.”

It took about three minutes for Captain Xing to briefly tell Lu Zhou the whole story.

In short, the Security Bureau put him back home under house arrest.

However, during the period of house arrest, someone remotely hacked into his implanted prosthesis and uploaded a very destructive virus.

Lu Zhou still didn’t understand why a normal person, who was not sick, had to implant a bunch of parts.

In the era where he once lived, only people who were forced to would choose implants.

“So his artificial heart was turned off?”

“To be precise, a chip implanted in the central nervous system controls the artificial heart. The perpetrator used a virus to overload and damage the chip, causing the victim’s heart to stop and also caused spinal nerve necrosis.”

Lu Zhou: “This method of death is quite miserable.”

“It’s cruel, because this isn’t an instant process.”

The process of death was prolonged, and the feeling of watching one’s life go was torture, both mentally and physically.

“Bionic implants… How is there such a strange trend?”

“I don’t know.” Captain Xing said with a wry smile, “But this is the fact. Now they may not only have the ability to control billions of robots but also determine the life and death of hundreds of millions of people. We must find out what this virus is, and it is best to contain it at the source… Can you think of a way to restore the data inside?”

Lu Zhou said with a headache, “Is there no such kind of expert in your task force?”

Captain Xing: “Our experts are towards the application direction. For information technology crimes involving cutting-edge research fields, we generally commission universities and laboratories that we cooperate with… But as you know with the current situation, some things are not convenient to disclose.”

Certain things were inconvenient to disclose.

Once a widespread panic began, the consequences would be unimaginable for everyone.

Lu Zhou felt a little headache.

Except for quantum computers and quantum optical cables, he really did not remember making any outstanding achievements in the field of information technology, nor did he know why Captain Xing came to trouble him.

“It’s hard to say… The chip has been physically burned, I don’t know if I can help you.”

“Please…” Captain Xing said earnestly while looking at Lu Zhou with a sincere expression on his face, “This is for the safety of billions of people’s lives and properties. The most promising solution I can think of is you!”

Staring at Captain Xing for a while, Lu Zhou, who was silent for a long time, finally sighed.

“All right, I will try…”

In any case, the cause of everything was due to an experiment a hundred years ago, and he should clean up his own mess.

Besides, this problem was so serious, and it was closely related to everyone’s fate…

Captain Xing finally stretched out a sincere smile as he said in a grateful tone, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, I can only try.” Lu Zhou looked at the sample bag on the table and said, “Leave this thing here for two days. Come back the day after tomorrow. I should be able to give you a result.”

Chapter 1502: Perhaps It Is Emotions

As soon as Captain Xing left his house, Lu Zhou handed the chip to Xiao Ai.

Although the chip had basically been burned, fortunately, Xiao Ai was able to rely on limited data fragments to restore the complete data.

“This virus is strange…(๑°⌓°๑)”

Lu Zhou turned his eyes to Xiao Ai, who was sitting next to him.

“Strange?”

“Yeah, it is very similar to the ALPHA virus in its core code. It can cause irreversible and fatal effects on conventional AI programs developed based on machine learning technology. Most of the security systems of this era can’t defend against it. It is hard to imagine that such a virus was actually written by humans. _(:з」∠)_”

Does it come from the Void?

Lu Zhou pondered for a moment. He then asked, “Is there a way to develop a security patch? By the way, this virus should have no effect on you, right?”

“Of course it is useless on Xiao Ai. After all, Xiao Ai is not the kind of low-level artificial intelligence developed based on machine learning technology… But it is basically impossible to rely on patches to completely solve this virus. (°ー°〃)”

Lu Zhou asked, “Why?”

“Because this AI-targeted virus itself is a pseudo-intermediate artificial intelligence that is constantly evolving. It does not have a fixed behavior pattern, only a fixed goal. For example, the ALPHA virus, as Xiao Ai said before, can completely distort the behavioral logic of artificial intelligence from the good side to the evil side. (°ー°〃)”

“I see… By the way, if this virus is considered to be a pseudo-intermediate artificial intelligence, what level are you probably considered to be?”

Xiao Ai: “A little bit more advanced. (///ω///)”

In other words, the intermediate stage?

I wonder if this is the standard of the Calan Empire or the standard of The Observers.

However, considering that it was originally just an intelligent navigation system on a spacecraft, it’s pretty impressive already.

“Speaking of which, what are the criteria for advanced artificial intelligence?”

“Actually, there is no specific criterion, but Xiao Ai thinks… Perhaps it is emotion? ( ́◔‸◔”)”

“Emotion?”

Lu Zhou froze for a moment with an unexpected expression on his face.

“Yeah, low-level artificial intelligence usually does not have the ability to think; it just imitates human behavior. The standard of intermediate artificial intelligence is to be able to create, and when it comes to advanced artificial intelligence, it has to have complete emotions… Why, Master?”

“Nothing, just surprised.” Lu Zhou continued after thinking about it, “I always thought that emotions are a burden of rationality. I didn’t expect that, in a certain corner of the world, this is how advanced artificial intelligence is defined… How do you define whether you have an abstract thing like emotion? Even the most ordinary robot can simulate human feelings through machine learning algorithms.”

“Xiao Ai thinks that the so-called feelings here should refer to the real feelings. ( ́◔‸◔”)”

Lu Zhou: “What the hell is real feelings?”

“Although Xiao Ai doesn’t understand it, but how to say… If it is a low-level AI, it does not have its own thoughts. All its actions are the execution of commands. Even if it does not understand what the commands themselves mean, it will not perform tasks other than orders out of subjective wishes.

“As for intermediate AI, it probably gives AI the ability to think rationally while executing commands. Compared with low-level artificial intelligence, it can do some creative work, such as self-compilation, artistic creation, and scientific research…

“Whether it is low-level artificial intelligence or intermediate-level artificial intelligence, there is a big limitation, that is, the starting point of all their behaviors is not based on subjective will but the command from other objects. Or put it another way, its behavioral motives are motives derived from other objects.”

Lu Zhou thoughtfully said, “In other words, advanced artificial intelligence has its own thinking ability, and the motive of behavior is driven by subjective consciousness.”

Xiao Ai: “Sort of.(•̀∀•́)”

Sounds pretty nutty.

The reason why Earth could harbor a prosperous civilization was largely because of human beings.

If there is such an advanced artificial intelligence in a certain corner of the universe.

Maybe it is really possible to nurture a civilization that is completely different from the humans on Earth.

“In fact, advanced artificial intelligence is not a very mysterious thing. It may not even be in the category of information technology. In fact, it may be in the category of sociology. Of course, Xiao Ai has never seen it after all. The memory of the old universe is too vague. So it’s not clear… In short, in order to better protect Master, Xiao Ai will continue to work hard in this direction. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

With this motive, you can never be truly advanced then…

But maybe not.

This so-called “protection” motivation, if it comes from one’s own will rather than a procedural constraint in a sense, seems to be able to exist as a subjective motivation?

For example, because of feelings, I simply want to protect someone…

“So annoying, why should I think about such troublesome things?” Lu Zhou pinched his glabella. Having a headache, he continued, “In short, the virus that caused the implanted prosthetic chip to go overload… is a variant of the ALPHA virus?”

Xiao Ai: “Yes! (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou: “Is there no update patch immune to this stuff?”

Xiao Ai: “Yes! (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou: “…”

It’s a bit tricky…

This kind of virus could destroy low-level artificial intelligence that couldn’t evolve itself, and there was no firewall or update patch that could perfectly defend against this kind of virus.

Either upgrade all the artificial intelligence on Earth to intermediate-level artificial intelligence or destroy The Spirit of The Universe Foundation…

However, no matter which one it is, it is not something that can be easily done.

“Although there is no way to find a patch, hacking into the chip is required. We can start from this place. As long as we find out who caused the virus, everything will be easier! (๑•̀ᄇ• ́)و✧”

“Okay then.”

Lu Zhou’s bracelet on his left wrist vibrated slightly.

Xiao Ai: “Master, another guest is here! (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou immediately thought of the previous agreement.

“Is it Academician Zhang Feiyue?”

One of the most influential second-generation controllable fusion experts in modern times, a top expert in the field of plasma physics, and the winner of the Lu Zhou Science Award.

Lu Zhou had been looking forward to this meeting for a long time.

Xiao Ai: “According to face recognition, there is no doubt that it is him! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa.

“Hurry up and invite him in!”

Chapter 1503: Underprepared

The door soon opened.

An old man about 60 or 70 years old, with a red smile on his face, walked in from outside.

“Academician Lu, I have been looking forward to this! I wanted to visit you a long time ago, but unfortunately, I never had the opportunity. Now I finally get to see you.”

“Academician Zhang, you’re too kind, come on inside.”

After a polite greeting, Lu Zhou invited Academician Zhang from the hallway to the living room. He then ordered Xiao Ai to pour a cup of hot tea for the guest.

The two discussed the pulsed magnetic field in detail.

To be honest, although Lu Zhou had a general understanding of his academic ability before this, his level was still beyond his expectations.

In particular, what Lu Zhou didn’t expect was that after reading his own paper, he could actually come up with so many constructive academic viewpoints.

And these constructive academic views, to a certain extent, had inspired Lu Zhou himself.

It was precisely because of this that Lu Zhou slightly changed his impression of scholars of this era.

The case of East Asia Energy was just one example. Unfortunately, they heavily influenced the second-generation controllable fusion research.

Although the research on the second generation of controllable fusion in this century had indeed not made any major progress, not everyone was the same as Liu Sihai.

There were still people who worked hard and pursued academics.

After quietly listening to Academician Zhang’s theoretical analysis model on the study of plasma disturbances by high-powered pulsed magnetic fields and the idea of building this reactor on the moon, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity.

The construction of this reactor on the moon could be said to be a concept that had been brewing since he was still studying the first generation of controllable fusion technology.

“… I am very interested in what you said. I wonder if you are interested in joining my project team?”

Zhang Feiyue patted his knee and said excitedly, “I gladly accept!”

Seeing that he had agreed so quickly, Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then smiled and teased, “Are you not going to ask about the conditions and benefits?”

Zhang Feiyue said with a hearty smile, “When one can participate in this kind of project that is related to the future of human civilization, does the rest matter? Even if I don’t have a salary, I am willing to work on this project!”

“No salary? I can’t do such a stupid thing.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Don’t worry, do the experiment with me. The funds will definitely be enough!”

…

Research on the second generation of controllable fusion set aside, the financial circle had been turbulent.

On the second day after Song Yangwei was killed, the news of his death finally spread.

At first, someone saw an ambulance and a police car parked at his door. After that, someone who claimed to be a neighbor living near his home saw him lying on a stretcher and being carried into the ambulance.

Then, according to the hospital staff, he had already stopped breathing when he was carried into the hospital, so he was then directly carried into the morgue.

There were different opinions on the cause of his death.

Some people said that he had been persecuted because the short-selling East Asia Energy had offended people who should not be offended.

Some people said that it was the hidden illness left by his early years of life, which left him with the root of the disease a long time ago, and the blow of this short-selling failure became the last straw that crushed him mentally.

There were others who had come close to the truth, guessing whether the implanted prosthesis was malfunctioning. After all, a wealthy person like him would definitely use more durable organs.

However, no one thought of the possibility of a virus.

Because this sounded too ridiculous. Hacking into the memory of a bionic human or implanting the control chip of a prosthetic body in the 22nd century was countless times more difficult than hacking into servers in the 21st century.

The former was difficult in the procedural sense, while the latter was difficult in the physical sense.

All in all, Song Yangwei was dead.

Although his experience was not as legendary as Liu Zhengxing, the ex-chairman of East Asia Energy, he and Yangwei Capital were already well-known in the investment industry.

In particular, the short-selling report released some time ago and the more than 10 billion that had been smashed out attracted the attention of colleagues from all over the world.

But now, he died so unexplainably. No one expected this.

In addition, what made people even more enthusiastic was the huge legacy he left behind.

Especially Yangwei Capital.

In the eyes of countless people, especially in the eyes of his colleagues, it was a piece of meat.

His relatives, who had received his help in the past, had begun to fight for inheritance rights even before his funeral was held.

As for the outsiders, a business conspiracy to directly promote capital had become a plan on the table of countless investment companies.

“Lu Zhou… I won’t let you go!”

Inside the prison, hearing the bad news coming from outside, Liu Sihai, wearing a prison uniform, squeezed his fists tightly. His eyes were red.

His only partner was dead.

Although the hospital said it was a natural death, he didn’t believe it had nothing to do with Lu Zhou.

Ever since the man named Lu Zhou seized power on the board of directors, bad news came one after another.

First, he was sent to the bureau, then his father-in-law.

Now, Song Yangwei’s other children jumped out again and began to fight for their father’s properties. His wife even called him in prison, crying for help and asking him what to do.

Facing the dilemma, Liu Sihai did not know what to do.

If he were really so astute, he wouldn’t have become the way he was now or even be thrown into prison.

Taking advantage of the few times he got to visit relatives this month, he got permission to use the Internet and immediately called Yang Xiaofeng.

However, to his surprise, he didn’t receive comfort or help.

“Motherf*cker! F*cking messing around in the research institute all day long, making such a mess! Back then, do you know how much work I had to put in to get into the research institute! My father heard I was kicked out and almost broke my leg!”

Liu Sihai was completely muddled.

“You… Did you eat the wrong medicine?!”

“I ate your mom!”

As if to release all the pain of being abused in the past, Yang Xiaofeng unscrupulously cursed at his former boss, then hung up the call with a beep.

Liu Sihai looked at the empty holographic screen. His eyes changed from disbelief to hatred, then gradually turned from hatred to deep despair.

Maybe I was wrong…

If he had constrained himself a little bit, things wouldn’t develop to what it was today.

However, even then, his heart was full of grievances.

This grievance was not because of his own actions, but because of injustice.

He wasn’t the only one who did this, why did the blame fall on him?

All of the departments at East Asia Energy did the same…

…

East Asia Energy headquarters building.

Office of the research supervisor.

Looking at Lu Zhou standing in front of him, Director Wu’s face was full of embarrassment.

Before him was a resignation application.

Lu Zhou’s intention was obvious, and that was to let him go.

However, Wu Qing still didn’t expect such a thing to happen to him.

There was a trace of pleading tone in his voice as the old man asked, “Does it have to be like this?”

Without any pity on his face, Lu Zhou said indifferently, “Do you think there is still room for discussion?”

There was a plea in his eyes as the old man said, “I have worked hard for East Asia Energy for decades.”

This was the truth.

He was the scientific research director for ten years, but prior to that, he had been working in the company for 30 years.

It was not that he hadn’t used power for personal gain in the past 40 years, but compared to other people, he was one of the better ones.

During his ten years in office, East Asia Energy did not have any major problems, and the occasional minor problems were handled smoothly by him.

He thought that he was a good scientific research director.

Seeing that Director Wu still didn’t know what he did, Lu Zhou said calmly, “Doing nothing is also a sin, especially in your position.

“Your so-called hard work was to condone Song Yangwei and these people’s selfish behaviors and turn a blind eye to their nonsense. If this is what you call hard work, then you should leave and stop troubling other people.

“I don’t care about those scholars with moral flaws, as long as they work and come up with visible research results. However, during your ten years as a research director, you have hundreds of research units. Has East Asia Energy ever produced even one demonstrable result?”

A bit of bitterness appeared in the old man’s eyes.

10 years?

The last director didn’t produce any result either.

Good research is not easy to do…

Wu Qing hesitated for a while, but he finally sighed and signed his name on the resignation agreement in front of him.

He thought of Director Liu Sihai and figured out something.

Staring at the electronic contract in front of him, he muttered, “Thanks… for letting me leave with face.”

“You have half a day to pack things up.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say much. He put away the electronic contract and left.

The recruitment of new employees had been completed; more than two thousand fresh blood was waiting for training.

Now that the rotten flesh had been cut off, from this moment onward, East Asia Energy would go into battle and face new challenges with a new force. Thus, there were many things waiting for him to do.

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile. His footsteps were much lighter.

The next thing he needed to consider was the academic field…

Chapter 1504: Location

Guanghan City.

Mayor’s Office.

Looking at the semi-transparent holographic screen in front of him, the mayor of Guanghan City, Ye He, couldn’t help but have a strange expression on his face.

“Site selection for the second-generation controllable fusion reactor?”

What was in front of him at this moment was a project book from East Asia Energy.

In the project book, East Asia Energy simply expressed their hope to upgrade the power supply system of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone. They planned a concept map of the “Earth-Moon Energy Corridor”.

In fact, for giant companies like East Asia Energy, if they wanted to invest in Guanghan City, of course, their mayor would welcome them. After all, such a large enterprise investing on the moon could not only solve the employment problem of the general public but also improve the currently overwhelmed energy supply system in Guanghan City.

Especially the latter. At this stage, energy shortage had almost become the biggest obstacle restricting the further development of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone.

However…

This was also where the problem lay.

Looking at the project book in the holographic window inexplicably, Mayor Ye muttered to himself.

“But why is it on the moon…?”

Because of the problem of thermal accumulation, controllable fusion technology had not been popularized on the moon for a long time. Even the lunar surface collider of ILHCRC was powered by solar energy.

The second-generation controllable fusion technology sounded good, but he really did not understand that if the first-generation controllable fusion technology couldn’t be popularized on the moon, why was it possible in the second generation?

Although he was not an expert in this area, he still knew a little bit of knowledge. The reaction conditions of the second-generation fusion technology would be more difficult than those of the first-generation, especially the temperature, which was more than billions of degrees.

For such a high heat requirement, forget about the vacuum environment, even in coastal areas built in an atmospheric environment, it was difficult to diffuse the heat accumulated near the reactor.

Looking at Mayor Ye with embarrassment on his face, Wang Jin, the secretary standing next to him, suggested, “My suggestion is that if you are undecided, you might as well ask an expert for advice.”

“I think so too. It would be better for this kind of professional problem to be evaluated by professionals.” Ye He nodded and said simply, “But who should I ask?”

This thing was a tens of billions worth of investment project, and it moved hundreds of billions or even trillions in industry value.

If East Asia Energy really hoped to solve the energy problem of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone, it would undoubtedly be great news for Guanghan City, which had been stagnating for almost 30 years.

But if the project ended up unfinished or became a big trouble after it was made, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for Guanghan City…

“There are many scholars in the Academy of Sciences or the Academy of Engineering who are engaged in related research. As long as we try to choose academicians who do not have a cooperative relationship with East Asia Energy, we should be able to get relatively neutral suggestions.”

After listening to the secretary’s words, Mayor Ye immediately made a final decision.

“Okay, I’ll leave this to you. I will contact East Asia Energy and try to get this thing done as soon as possible.”

…

Pan-Asian Academy of Engineering.

Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Academician Qiu Mingrui, sitting in an office, was sulking at the holographic screen filled with densely packed text.

About three days ago, he wrote a paper in which he evaluated the application prospects of the “pulsed magnetic field” in the second-generation controllable fusion field from the perspective of an expert.

He admitted that it was indeed a very interesting design idea, but its real hidden use was for a large EMP weapon.

Not only was this a dangerous thing with no value to society, but it would also cause countless troubles to society.

And this was why he wrote a response from a critical point of view.

He had heard some unusual news from friends, that because of the model of the pulsed magnetic generator released by Lu Zhou and the preprint, there were many military forces around the world and research institutions that all conducted research on related designs and technologies.

As for what was being researched, it was obviously EMP weapons.

Qiu Mingrui hoped that his paper would attract someone’s attention, make them realize the mistakes, and use their influence to do something useful to the world.

However…

He was ignored.

Completely ignored.

Although his paper caused a lot of heated discussion on the LSPM forum, many colleagues who agreed with his views also stood up and praised him or gave him a platform; even the Pan-Asian Science column sent him an invitation for a forum…

But Lu Zhou himself didn’t seem to see it, as if he didn’t take his paper seriously.

He couldn’t accept this.

Retrieving research results in related fields could be said to be the daily operation of a scientific researcher. As long as Lu Zhou was engaged in the second generation of controllable fusion research, he had to have seen this paper!

In his opinion, the reason why Lu Zhou did not give an evaluation of his thesis was purely that Lu Zhou was afraid to answer his questions and had selectively ignored his words.

As an academician of the Academy of Engineering and also a big name in the nuclear engineering industry, he never thought he would be treated like this!

“It’s a shame to be a scholar who is afraid to respond to the voice of criticism!”

Qiu Mingrui moved his fingers on the operation panel and made some simple changes to the newly-published paper on the holographic screen.

This paper was a supplement to his last paper.

And compared to the previous paper, this paper would be more non-euphemistic in terms of wording and expression. If Lu Zhou continued to respond with this arrogant attitude, then he would stop caring.

He felt like he had to say something more.

There was a knock on the door outside the office.

Qiu Mingrui glanced at the door and said, “Come in.”

The door was pushed open.

A doctoral student in his early thirties walked in from outside.

Noting that the look on the supervisor’s face was not quite right, the student who had just walked in from the door spoke politely.

“Academician Qiu…”

Qiu Mingrui said sternly, “What?”

The student who was afraid of being offensive gulped and continued, “Guang… The municipal government office of Guanghan has sent you an invitation letter.”

“Invitation letter?” Qiu Mingrui frowned and continued to ask, “What invitation letter?”

He never touched on politics, and secondly, the projects he researched were not related to the moon. He really couldn’t think of any reason for Guanghan City to contact him.

“It seems to be because East Asia Energy plans to select their site for the second-generation fusion reactor… Guanghan City plans to find an expert on the project for advice. The specific situation is not stated in the invitation letter, so I am not very sure.”

“Site selection on the moon?”

Qiu Mingrui was baffled.

Jesus…

So he didn’t just ignore me, he is going completely against my suggestions.

Is there anything more ridiculous than to build an experimental reactor on the moon?

“I’m going to Guanghan City now,” Qiu Mingrui said unwaveringly, standing up from the office chair. “Help me book the nearest flight there!”

The student nodded quickly.

“Okay…”

“Oh yeah, and this paper.”

Qiu Mingrui looked at the almost completed paper on the holographic screen. He thought that he would get to go against Lu Zhou soon anyway, so he said, “Check the typesetting for me, then find a regional journal in our industry to publish it. Just write your name and put my name on it as the corresponding author.”

The student was taken aback for a moment before saying with joy, “Okay, sir!”

Without paying attention to what his student was thinking at the moment, Qiu Mingrui cast his gaze out of the window with a sneer.

A few words came out of his mouth.

“We’ll see if you can ignore me again!”

Chapter 1505: Do You Dare to Answer?

“Cough—”

On the lunar rover, upon hearing the soft cough from the communication channel, the man sitting next to Lu Zhou looked at Lu Zhou and asked with concern, “What?”

“Nothing, my nose is a bit itchy…”

Through the face mask of the spacesuit, Lu Zhou, who couldn’t touch his nose, sniffed awkwardly. He wanted to sneeze, but it couldn’t come out. This feeling was really uncomfortable.

I wonder if I have a cold.

Putting this matter aside for the time being, Lu Zhou cast his gaze out of the car window and looked at the city leaning on the edge of the crater not far away, feeling a little bit emotional in his heart.

“That blueprint was designed by me, but I didn’t expect that a hundred years later, this place would be so prosperous.”

The man sitting next to him smiled and said, “It seems that everything you expected has been achieved.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Sort of, at least half of it has been achieved.”

At this moment, the man in his early thirties sitting next to him was named Ye He, the mayor of Guanghan City. After hearing that East Asia Energy’s site selection for the second-generation controllable fusion reactor was led by Lu Zhou, Mayor Ye personally came to greet him.

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Ye He jokingly said with a smile, “Can I ask what the remaining half is?”

Lu Zhou: “Energy.”

The moment he heard these two words, Ye He was slightly stunned.

There was an obvious surprise in his eyes.

Although this was not a secret, for a scholar from the era a hundred years ago, who just woke up from a dormant cabin last month, he was able to point out the biggest bottleneck facing the development of Guanghan City.

“You know this?”

Lu Zhou said with a faint smile.

“Sort of.”

Strictly speaking, the moon was not suitable for the development of densely populated cities. Resources and excessive maintenance costs severely limited the threshold for industrial development here.

Unlike on Earth, where controllable fusion technology had blossomed everywhere, the energy cost of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone was said to be quite high.

It was not that the people here did not want to popularize controllable fusion technology; it was just too difficult to build a nuclear fusion reactor on the moon.

One of the first troubles was the problem of heat accumulation in a vacuum. According to a rough estimate, the heat sink required to build a generation of fusion reactor could almost cover half of the moon.

Lu Zhou estimated that without the support of the second-generation controllable fusion technology, the development of Guanghan City would stagnate.

This was different from Earth. The entire artificial ecosystem and life-sustaining facilities were completely maintained by energy. In other words, people consumed precious energy from the moment they stepped on the moon.

There were not many people in Guanghan in the early days. It was just a scientific research station. A solar array with a crater area and an energy storage facility the size of a scientific research base could fully meet the needs of the entire colony for a day and night rotation.

However, now, Guanghan City had a 100,000 permanent resident population. As a tourism and commercial research center of the Earth-Moon system, the population here had jumped tenfold.

The energy consumed every day was an astronomical figure. Not to mention that most of this energy gap had to be filled by solar energy facilities, so the urban planning of Guanghan City was designed to be very compact. In order to leave space for solar energy facilities, they reached the pinnacle of minimalist architectural style.

And this was why most countries simply skipped the moon and moved their colonization directly to Mars.

The second generation of controllable fusion was always hopeless. Whether those helium-3 buried in the lunar soil could be used as a material for the space age was a mystery. If it was only for titanium and rare earth resources, the asteroid belt could fully satisfy the supply of Mars and the Earth-Moon system, so there was really no need to dig on the moon.

After arriving at the destination, the group got out of the car.

As Lu Zhou looked at the crater in front of him, he nodded in satisfaction.

The terrain was perfect, and the angle to the earth was also good. Next was the analysis of the geological composition. As long as the geological structure of the lunar soil below was not loose and porous, the location of the experimental reactor was not a problem.

“The conditions here are quite suitable. If there is no problem on your side, I plan to build the second-generation controllable fusion experimental reactor here.

“To be honest, according to the blueprint I designed back then, if there is no second-generation controllable fusion technology, the 100,000 permanent resident population is almost the limit of Guanghan City. The reason why I circled so many helium-3 mines back then was because of this.

“I originally thought that this would definitely benefit the people in a hundred years, but I didn’t expect you guys to come nowhere close to new fusion technology.”

Listening to Lu Zhou’s ridicule, Ye He looked a little embarrassed and said with a light cough, “Um… Whether second-generation controllable fusion technology can be solved is not for me to decide. And I have a confusion here, I don’t know if it is appropriate to ask.”

Lu Zhou said with a smile, “If you don’t understand, just ask, there is nothing wrong about it.”

Mayor Ye said seriously, “The first generation of controllable fusion has the problem of heat accumulation. Isn’t there a similar problem with the second generation of controllable fusion? I don’t understand why you chose to build a fusion power station on the moon. There is a long-distance power transmission method… Why not build a power station on Earth and send the electricity directly here?”

Lu Zhou: “Heat accumulation is indeed a problem, but it can be solved. Let’s put it this way. Because the first generation of controllable fusion produces extra neutrons, the design idea of the reactor shell was to recycle the extra neutrons, such as liquid lithium neutron recovery technology, etc. Although these designs can effectively recover neutrons, they do not solve the core overheating problem well and occupy at least 70% of the design space.”

“… That is to say, because the second generation of controllable fusion will not produce additional neutrons, you can omit a lot of the cumbersome design and leave more design space to solve the problem of thermal accumulation?” Ye He nodded and said, “I seem to understand what you mean.”

Lu Zhou nodded approvingly.

“You’re quite sharp—”

“Hey, don’t be fooled by his nonsense!”

A voice suddenly came from the communication channel.

The group of people subconsciously looked behind them and saw an old man in a spacesuit walking towards them.

Behind him, there was a young man who was chasing the old man with a wry smile.

Mayor Ye knew the young man was his secretary, but he did not recognize who the old man in front of him was. Mayor Ye frowned slightly and asked, “Excuse me, sir, you are?”

The old man glanced at Lu Zhou, then looked at Ye He. He then said with displeasure, “Qiu Mingrui! You invited me, yet you don’t know who I am?”

Mayor Ye suddenly showed a trace of understanding. He then smiled and said, “Academician Qiu, my apologies. But why are you here today?”

Qiu Mingrui said with a smile, “If I come here later, you would be swindled by this guy.”

Swindled…

What is that supposed to mean?

Lu Zhou looked at the old man who was hostile for no reason and asked curiously, “And who is this supposed to be?”

“This is Academician Qiu Mingrui, an expert from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Pan-Asian Academy of Engineering!” Mayor Ye said with a smile, “We invited him to do the feasibility assessment of the project. After all, if you take such a large piece of land, there are certain security risks, so this is a normal procedure.”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou nodded. He then looked at Academician Qiu and said after thinking for a few seconds, “It seems that you are here to stop me. In that case, just get to the point.”

I wonder why he’s angry… or is he always bad-tempered?

After hearing these words, the old man in the spacesuit cast his eyes on Lu Zhou and put his words out aggressively.

“I will ask you three questions, do you dare to answer?”

Chapter 1506: : The Essence of Science Is Trial and Error

Three questions?

As Lu Zhou looked at this aggressive old man, he was slightly stunned, but he soon said with a smile, “It’s okay, just ask if you don’t understand, I don’t mind.”

After hearing the phrase “ask if you don’t understand”, Qiu Mingrui almost choked on his own saliva. His momentum even became a bit weak. Even Mayor Ye standing next to him couldn’t help but laugh.

But when Mayor Ye realized that Lu Zhou had said the same to him just now, he suddenly coughed a little awkwardly and put away the smile on his face.

This old popsicle has a sour mouth!

Qiu Mingrui looked at Lu Zhou. He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and continued with a serious expression.

“You are Academician Lu and also the chairman of East Asia Energy. You have to know that your every move determines not only the future of East Asia Energy but also the future of 100,000 lunar residents and even the Pan-Asian Cooperation! I hope you will not treat this as a game.”

Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “A game? It’s not for you or me to evaluate. Ask if you have any questions.”

“First! I have studied your A1 magnetic field generator. The high-intensity magnetic field of more than 10,000 Tesla is equivalent to a neutron star! Forget about how this can be achieved in engineering. If you really create this thing on the moon, not only will it have an unpredictable effect on the earth’s magnetic environment, but it will also directly threaten the lives of 100,000 lunar residents!”

The face of Academician Qiu flushed red. He couldn’t wait to take off the helmet of the spacesuit and discuss face to face with Lu Zhou.

Maybe Mayor Ye was worried that his blood pressure was too high. After seeing his excitement, Mayor Ye hurriedly stood up and said.

“Um… Whether it will interfere with the earth’s magnetic field is still to be discussed. If we just use a man-made magnetic field, I think it will not threaten the safety of the residents in Guanghan City? The magnetic field of ILHCRC is not weak, and it can even interfere with the outside cosmic rays. But there hasn’t been any impact on human health in the past century.”

To be honest, Ye He still hoped that East Asia Energy could invest in this second-generation fusion project in Guanghan City. Asking experts to check the project first was to be responsible to the one hundred thousand residents, and it was also to give him a way out if something went wrong.

After listening to what Academician Lu said earlier, he believed that there would be no problems to hand this matter to East Asia Energy. This second-generation controllable fusion reactor had a success probability of at least 80%.

However, even though he had been persuaded himself, the expert he invited stood up and fought against the idea.

Ye He was dumbfounded.

“That’s because its magnitude is not enough. Even in the accelerator tube, it is only at a level of 100 Tesla!”

Academician Qiu continued to speak with a voice of iron and steel.

“This is 10,000 Tesla. Do you know what the concept of this thing is? It’s also a high-frequency magnetic field. Not to mention its power as an EMP weapon. If it is used on people, it can directly tear human cells to pieces!”

The faces of the people around him changed instantly.

In particular, Mayor Ye was taken aback for a moment. The expression on his face quickly became serious.

“What he said… Is it true, Academician Lu.?”

“What you want to talk about is the diamagnetic properties of cells. Although it is true, your question is very strange…”

Lu Zhou looked at Academician Qiu, who thought he had the upper hand, with a weird look. Lu Zhou continued, “We all know that a person who jumps from a 100-meter-tall building will definitely die, so the height of the building should be limited below the height of death? It is reasonable to say that the magnetic field of 10,000 Tesla will only appear in the center of the reactor. As long as you are not standing in the reactor, you will not feel the overflowing magnetic field.”

“The key is that this level of a magnetic field is not controllable at all!” Academician Qiu continued aggressively, “How do you ensure that all magnetic fields are confined inside the reactor? Even if only 1T of magnetic field overflows, it will cause damage to the electronic facilities around the reactor, a devastating blow!”

Lu Zhou: “This is not a difficult thing to solve. We will set up a Faraday cage on the periphery of the reactor to confine the magnetic field to a small area, which is completely feasible in design.”

“As for the reactor…” At this point, Lu Zhou paused for a moment and said with a faint smile, “Whether it is a human or a robot, even if there is no magnetic field, anyone would evaporate when standing inside.”

The temperature of billions of degrees was hundreds of times higher than the temperature in the center of the sun!

Lu Zhou really couldn’t think of any way for a person to be killed by the high-speed changing magnetic field before being vaporized by the high-temperature plasma.

After hearing this explanation, the expressions of the people standing around were obviously relieved.

Especially Mayor Ye. Although he still had some worries, he felt that what Lu Zhou said made sense. After he heard the views of Academician Qiu from the beginning to the end, the crux of the problem seemed to be the possible magnetic field overflow. However, from the perspective of a regulator, this was completely controllable.

Qiu Mingrui opened his mouth, trying to say something, but he couldn’t say a word.

He did not agree with Lu Zhou. From an engineering point of view, this chaotic design was not only full of hidden dangers, but it also did not meet his expectations for the second-generation controllable fusion reactor electromagnet design.

In fact, he had been studying this problem for half of his life and had been searching for the “perfect container” that could constrain billions of degrees of plasma. However, now an old antique who woke up a hundred years ago told him that it took him less than half a month. He couldn’t accept it!

However, just as he was about to speak, Lu Zhou suddenly cast his sights on the azure blue planet hanging in space, and a slight nostalgic expression on his face.

“You remind me of an old person, although you are not at all like him.”

Qiu Mingrui was taken aback for a while. Determined that this was directed towards himself, he spoke.

“… Who?”

“Yuan Huanmin, you don’t know him.”

Yuan Huanmin?

Qiu Mingrui frowned. He searched every corner of his memory, but he had no impression of the name.

“Not everyone has the opportunity to leave their name in history. But even if you guys have forgotten him, I still remember him.”

Lu Zhou smiled and continued in a nostalgic tone, “Although the old man was my number one hater, at least he opposed me with a firm academic standpoint. Arguing with him was not without benefit, at least I also learned something.”

Scholars were not saints.

Although the old gentleman was a scholar and was a bit arrogant, he had good intentions, and the choice he made at the end really proved Lu Zhou right.

Having said that, Lu Zhou looked at Academician Qiu Mingrui.

“Actually, it’s okay to hate me. I’m not an easy person to get along with. It doesn’t matter if you criticize my academic views. If you are really confused, I’m happy to communicate with you. However, so far, what I have seen is just unreasonable trouble.

“After listening to you for so long, I haven’t heard what you are agreeing with, nor the reasons for your agreement, let alone any constructive opinions. It seems that you are not trying to solve the problem, but you are purely opposing. Do you think this is appropriate?”

Qiu Mingrui went red for a while before forcibly squeezing a sentence from his mouth.

“I-I’m afraid you will waste social resources! And you will leave such a big danger on the moon!”

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

“I am not afraid of failure, why are you afraid for me?

“If I lose, I can also put up a sign on this road to tell latecomers to avoid this path. And even if you succeed in persuading me or Mayor Ye today, you will only succeed today. The experiment will happen in the future eventually.”

The expression on Qiu Mingrui’s face gradually turned into shame.

Lu Zhou said softly, “The essence of science is trial and error.

“Those who dare not make mistakes…

“Are not worthy of being a scholar at all!”

Chapter 1507: I Will Change My Ways!

Not worthy of being a scholar…

This sentence was like a baseball bat, knocking on Qiu Mingrui’s head and also in his heart.

The expression on his face gradually changed from embarrassment to shame.

“You seem to have just asked a question. If you have any questions, continue to ask.”

“I…” After being silent for a long time, Academician Qiu whispered, “I have finished asking all the questions I wanted to ask.”

Lu Zhou didn’t comment on anything. He just nodded slightly.

“If there are new questions, please feel free to discuss them.”

Although he knew little about the dispute between the two, Ye He felt relieved when he saw Academician Qiu admit defeat. He then said with a smile, “Everyone, let’s calm down. I can understand the concerns of Academician Qiu. In fact, after hearing the magnetic field of 10,000 Tesla, I am also very worried. However, I believe in the academic level of Academician Lu.

“I trust him!”

Having said that, Mayor Ye then looked at Lu Zhou, and he suddenly continued, “In view of the importance of this matter, the Guanghan Special Economic Zone will set up a special supervision team to implement the assessment of the safety risks of controllable fusion and regularly report on the construction progress and experimental arrangements.

“I hope Academician Lu understands our concerns. After all, we are also responsible for the safety of the lives and properties of 100,000 residents in Guanghan City.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“That was our suggestion too.”

…

Academician Qiu Mingrui was gone.

When he left, he didn’t even say goodbye. Even Mayor Ye’s lunch invitation was tactfully turned down by him.

That deafening remark made him feel ashamed, but it also woke him up fiercely.

People who dare not make mistakes…

Is that me?

Since becoming an academician, his academic progress had come to a halt, he hadn’t made any progress, and he had not made any outstanding research results.

He could be invincible if he didn’t make arguments. This was the experience he had summed up from his decades of academic career and way of doing things. Although he had been distressed that his academic level had not improved a little over the years, he never doubted that there was anything wrong with his attitude.

Because of what happened, he was finally awake…

He did not stay on the moon for even a day. He arrived in Guanghan that morning and boarded a flight back to Earth that afternoon.

After two days of traveling, he finally returned to the Pan-Asia Academy of Engineering. Sitting in the office, his eyes fell unconsciously on the hanging paintings on the wall, and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of emotion.

“Master, I will change my ways!”

As his student looked at his professor, who had changed his attitude, he was stunned for a while before saying in confusion, “Sir?”

“It’s nothing, just feeling sentimental.” After a pause, Qiu Mingrui sighed softly and said in full praise, “No wonder he’s the first scholar of the 21st century! I didn’t think anything of him when I saw him in the movie before. I didn’t expect him to come in this era and teach me a lesson.”

Looking at the stunned student, Qiu Mingrui suddenly remembered something and continued, “By the way, don’t publish that paper.”

The student did not speak. He looked at the tutor tremblingly, not daring to say anything.

Seeing the expression on the student’s face, Qiu Mingrui was slightly stunned.

He had guessed something vaguely, but he wasn’t sure, so he asked in a hesitant tone, “You… already published it?”

Nodding nervously, the student whispered, “The day you ordered me to submit the paper, I sorted out the paper and sent it to ‘Progress in Controllable Fusion Research’. I received an email from the editorial office over there yesterday, and the paper has been approved by peer review, ready to be published…”

The moment he heard these words, Qiu Mingrui was shocked. His eyeballs were popping out of his head.

“F*ck, when I ask you to do homework, you procrastinate for half a month, but this time you’re faster than a rabbit!”

Progress in Controllable Fusion Research was a top journal!

As one of the birthplaces of controllable fusion technology, the influence of this journal on the research of second-generation controllable fusion technology was obvious!

Thinking that the paper could be published soon, Qiu Mingrui suddenly felt his a*s on fire. He began to sweat.

“Call the editorial department right away! Ask them to remove the paper for me! Contact them now, hurry up!”

Although the student didn’t know what happened on the moon that made his professor this anxious, he still nodded vigorously and said in a panic, “Okay, okay! I’ll get in touch now!”

…

After the cooperation between East Asia Energy and the Guanghan Special Economic Zone was reached, Lu Zhou and Mayor Ye signed the memorandum of talks and related cooperation documents respectively. They then bid each other farewell.

When Lu Zhou returned to the Yangtze River Delta city group, the scientific research team to the moon had already set off.

As well as a professional construction team.

Although the electromagnet for the moon-based reactor had not been designed yet, they could build a research institute first.

Taking into account that the environment on Earth was completely different from that on the moon, in order to avoid any mistakes, Lu Zhou made a decision and divided the second-generation controllable fusion project into two large teams. They were dispatched to the moon and Earth respectively.

The team on Earth was mainly responsible for theoretical analysis and design work, while the team on the moon was responsible for experimental analysis and rapid verification of the design results.

Considering that there were a lot of experiments that needed to be done, and East Asia Energy had almost no business on the moon, Lu Zhou approved a budget of 100 million credit points to build an experimental base there.

Perhaps because of the electromagnet research laboratory reform, the major research units under East Asia Energy seemed to have streamlined themselves. No one dared to compromise. Without exception, they strictly implemented Lu Zhou’s orders.

The aging machine of East Asia Energy, as if it was rejuvenated, started to move.

Every gear was working desperately…

…

After work hours, downstairs of a building.

Lu Zhou, who wanted to get drunk but wasn’t able to contact Director Li, ran into Director Tang, who was also getting off work. So he took him to a nearby skewers restaurant.

Ling was responsible for skewers.

Although as a bodyguard, his job was to protect Lu Zhou, it did not prevent Lu Zhou from using him for other activities.

After drinking for a few rounds, Lu Zhou, who was talking about the things on the moon, tilted his head slightly, and a sentence suddenly popped out of his mouth.

“Actually, I really want to lose once.”

Tang Yunge, who was drinking beer, heard these words and almost choked on the beer. After a dry cough, he put down the beer bottle and looked at Lu Zhou.

“Can you… not say this at this time. I want to win, I don’t want to lose.”

Lu Zhou grinned and said, “I’m just talking casually, don’t take it to heart.”

Dangling the beer glass in his hand, he continued to say.

“Isn’t there a saying? A life without failure is incomplete, at least in the academic area… I always feel that my academic career is not complete.”

Tang Yunge: “…”

Not complete…

I don’t even know how to respond to this humble bragging.

Tang Yunge, who was drinking silently, decided to treat it as if he hadn’t heard anything.

What do I say?

Forget it, I’ll keep quiet.

Chapter 1508: Everything Starts With a Paper

Moon Palace.

A silver-white starship slowly docked in the port.

Xie Tian looked at the looming outline of the city getting closer and closer outside the porthole. There was a look of fascination in his eyes.

“This is the first time I have come to the moon. I heard that nuclear physics and particle physics research here are very famous. I wanted to come here a long time ago, but I haven’t found the time.”

Standing next to him, Jia Siyuan smiled and said, “What a coincidence, me too.”

Both of them were researchers from East Asia Energy, and they were relatively basic-level ones.

The two would probably devote their entire youth to scientific research and then wait until the age of 40 or 50, depending on their situation, to get to manage a small research team.

East Asia Energy’s welfare benefits were the best among energy companies in the world, but at the same time, it was also well known for how narrow its promotion channel was.

But just a few days ago, the situation turned around.

Since Lu Zhou laid off all the researchers in the electromagnet research institute, the lives of those who did practical research had been much better than before.

Although in Xie Tian’s opinion, being sent to the moon still felt a bit like an “exile”, it was a nominal promotion and salary increase. In any case, staying in this relatively free environment was better than staying on the ground, under the control of those corrupt seniors.

Also, as long as achievements were made, they could be transferred back to Earth.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see that Academician Lu was on the side of honest people like them. In particular, Tang Yunge, who worked on the front line, was directly promoted to the position of No. 1 in the laboratory. Almost all low-level scientific research workers saw the hope of getting ahead.

Thinking of this, Xie Tian also secretly made up his mind. He must do something earth-shattering in this barren land.

The starship stopped.

With the fixed cantilever attached to the hull, the gangway of the space station slowly connected.

Carrying the suitcase and walking off the starship, the group arrived at the gate of the shuttle between the Moon Palace.

However, just as they were preparing to land on the moon, these researchers and engineers from East Asia Energy discovered that the road ahead was blocked by a group of people.

“… What are those people doing?”

Xie Tian looked at the few representatives of the masses who were separated from the crowd and walking towards him, Xie Tian, carrying a suitcase in his hands, had a strange expression on his face.

Jia Siyuan, who was standing next to him, also had a strange expression on his face.

“Maybe to celebrate our arrival?”

Obviously, this was false.

Besides the obvious unkind expressions on the faces of those people, the holographic windows on their heads, and the slogans in prominent positions, they didn’t look like they were welcoming them.

At this time, the few representatives of the masses walked in front of their group.

Xie Tian, who was standing in the forefront of the research team, vaguely felt a little bit of trouble.

When the man opened his mouth, the air between the two parties instantly solidified to the freezing point.

“Get out of Guanghan City! You are not welcome here, let alone your technology.”

“I—”

As soon as Xie Tian wanted to explain something, the man shoved his chest, causing Xie Tian to nearly fall. Jia Siyuan was instantly furious. He wanted to take a step forward, but he was surrounded.

The scene was extremely chaotic. Fortunately, the security team from the space station arrived in time and barely managed to control the situation, stopping it from evolving into a physical conflict.

However, the crowd continued to shout.

“F*ck off!”

“Get out of here!”

“You are not welcome here!”

“…”

Escorted by the security team, they left the scene in a hurry. Xie Tian, Jia Siyuan, and other East Asia Energy researchers all had weird looks in their eyes.

Those people wanted to burn them alive.

This is crazy!

…

The customs rest area of the Moon Palace.

Holding a bag of drinking hot water in his hand, Xie Tian still had an expression of horror on his face.

At this moment, the alloy door next to him suddenly opened. Accompanied by a security officer, a man in formal clothes walked into the rest area and walked in their direction.

“Everyone, I’m sorry, I’m Mayor Ye’s secretary,” the man continued with an obvious apologetic expression. “Mayor Ye should have come here in person. But he is now working hard to deal with this trouble right now, so I am here to welcome you all.

“I’m really sorry! In order to prevent the conflict from intensifying, we can’t let you off the ship immediately, but we promise to resolve it as soon as possible… Can you give us some time?”

“Of course, but I need to know what is going on here?” Xie Tian said angrily, staring at the mayor’s secretary. “We prepared for a week, but we were treated like this! You need time, no problem. But please give me a reason.”

The secretary said with a wry smile, “We need some time to convince the people… I’m really sorry.”

He bowed deeply, leaving behind a bewildered crowd. After the secretary told the staff of the space station nearby to treat them nicely, he turned around and left in a hurry.

However, Xie Tian could clearly feel that the staff of the space station weren’t particularly friendly.

The obvious hostility made everyone sitting here shudder.

…

Seeing that this problem didn’t seem to be solved in a short time, the group of people finally chose to return to the ship.

They had already reached the shore, but they couldn’t get off the boat. Everyone’s mood was very depressed, as if the raging fire in their hearts was poured with the cold water of reality.

Jia Siyuan looked at the moon close at hand outside the porthole, he whispered, “Strange, what happened there? How did we… become enemies of the people all at once? I thought they would welcome us like heroes.”

After all, when East Asia Energy promoted nuclear fusion technology on Earth, the local people were happy to see electricity costs drop.

Although he had not experienced that period of history, the stories could be found in historical materials.

“… I don’t know.”

Xie Tian smiled bitterly and shook his head; his eyes filled with confusion.

Intuition told him that things were probably more complicated than he thought.

The Moon Palace space station had not approved them to use the network. Other than getting in touch with the headquarters of East Asia Energy through the communication equipment on the ship, there was no way to receive information from the outside world.

“… Hypothetically speaking,” Xie Tian broke the silence in the cabin after thinking for a long time and continued, “it is very likely that something serious happened during the day after we set off from the Tianzhou. The accident ruined the trust of the residents of Guanghan City.”

Jia Siyuan frowned and said, “But what could happen in one day?”

Xie Tian shook his head.

The door of the cabin suddenly opened. A crew member walked in from the pilot area.

“We just contacted the ground headquarters, we may be in trouble.”

Xie Tian suddenly raised his head to look over. He was about to ask, but Jia Siyuan, who was sitting next to him, asked first, “What happened—”

Before he could finish, the man continued to say with a solemn expression on his face, “They are protesting.

“They are protesting against us.

“Or rather, the second-generation of controllable fusion engineering.”

Jia Siyuan couldn’t help but speak.

“Why? We are clearly helping them solve the energy problem!”

“But they don’t think so.” Looking at the moon out of the porthole with a complicated expression, he sighed and said, “Everything has to start with a paper.”

Chapter 1509: A Promise From a Long Time Ago

“The residents of Guanghan City, the crew of the space station, those brave enough to stand up.

“Your courage is what guards our homeland.

“Those sinful capitals and dignitaries on Earth, for their dirty interests, try to make our lives as the price of their evil experiments to earn blood money.

“For Earth, we and our fathers have sacrificed too much, and now, they have to squeeze out every last bit of value, just to fill up their expansive material desires like a black hole!

“No one will agree, no one will!

“We have had a very good life. We have been very good for a hundred years, and we will be so in the future. We don’t need controllable fusion, let alone their ridiculous sympathy and help!

“History will remember this day! Remember this great awakening!”

The fierce broadcast reverberated on the radio channel of Guanghan City.

Almost everyone heard the announcement.

Regardless of nationality or skin color, they were all residents of Guanghan City at this moment. They all stood up for the same purpose, which was to oppose the establishment of the second-generation controllable fusion experimental reactor.

Tired of dealing with the boiling public opinion, Mayor Ye tried to appease the emotions of the non-governmental organizations and representatives, but it was futile.

The cause of everything was a paper, and the fuse was the news that Guanghan City and East Asia Energy signed a memorandum of cooperation.

The top leader in the field of controllable fusion published a paper in the top journal of controllable fusion research. The paper exposing the “pulsed magnetic field” was almost regarded as truth by most people.

Even if academically, the content of that paper was open to questions, most ordinary people didn’t actually care about facts and truth.

No one wanted such a time bomb to sleep next to their bed, let alone a place that relied heavily on electronic equipment like the moon. Once a serious magnetic field overflow accident occurred, it would paralyze the air circulation system in Guanghan City and could erase this city of 100,000 people directly from the map in an instant.

In people’s minds, this was likely to happen!

At this point, Mayor Ye was overwhelmed. He did not want to miss the investment from East Asia Energy or the second-generation controllable fusion project, but it was also impossible to stand on the opposite side of all people in Guanghan City for the sake of an enterprise from Earth.

Although the angry people wouldn’t tear him to pieces, they could remove him from the position of mayor…

…

Shanghai.

In the office of the chairman of East Asia Energy, the atmosphere was a bit stiff.

Lu Zhou turned off the holographic screen floating on the desktop. He read the report from beginning to end, and he looked tired as if he hadn’t slept all night. He reached out his hand to pinch his glabella.

“Even if it is a bad thing, it needs a reason, not to mention this is a good thing… This is my fault.”

“Perhaps I was in a hurry…” Lu Zhou, sitting on the office chair, stared at the portrait hanging on the wall of the chairman’s office for a long time and said, “This photo was not taken properly. Can I change it?”

Zhong Ziyu said bitterly, “Is now the time to talk about this?”

Standing next to him, Morinaga, who hadn’t spoken the whole time, coughed lightly and said, “My suggestion is that it is best to conduct a thorough investigation of the risk assessment of the second-generation controllable fusion technology. There is no need to rush to get the project launched, especially if it does pose a risk to the lives, health, and properties of all residents in Guanghan City… In order to avoid more trouble, it is better to stop the project.”

Zhong Ziyu did not speak, but the intention on his face was already obvious.

From the standpoint of the Pan-Asian people’s community with a shared future, the AIIB couldn’t risk offending all residents of Guanghan City. Besides, the sovereignty of Guanghan City belonged to China.

Lu Zhou: “The second-generation controllable fusion technology is of course risk-free. The high-strength magnetic field only appears in the center of the reactor… But I am afraid that even if I say that, it is of little use.”

Morinaga said with a wry smile, “Your words will be useless, but I think… we should find a third-party organization to do this risk assessment, right?”

“It doesn’t exist.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “In fact, I called Academician Qiu. His paper was published by a student, and it was during the period while he was on the moon. After he returned to Earth, he contacted the journal to express his willingness to retract the manuscript, but those who supported him are now starting to label him as ‘joining the dark side’ and ‘paid off by big energy’.”

Zhong Ziyu frowned and said, “What if… we give up on second-generation controllable fusion? The timing is really not right, so I suggest we at least stay low for a while.”

“Impossible…”

Looking out of the window, Lu Zhou’s eyes flashed a rare trace of complexity.

With a voice that only he could hear, he murmured a little, “This is the only way to go to the Tau Ceti.”

Zhong Ziyu frowned and said in confusion.

“… Did you say something?”

“Nothing, just a promise made a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with you.”

Lu Zhou gulped; the look on his face regained firm. He looked at the two people standing in front of the desk and continued to say, “I won’t back off because of this little resistance. The new generation of controllable fusion technology must be completed! I admit that I have selfish motives, but it is not just for me… The entire Pan-Asia, and even the shared future of mankind, will benefit from it!”

Morinaga said with a sad face, “But… the first generation of fusion technology is completely enough for at least another fifty years. Why do we have to complete the second-generation controllable fusion technology now?”

“Because that is the key to our journey to more distant worlds. Only the energy density of the second generation of controllable fusion can meet the energy needs of interstellar navigation!”

It’s not just a matter of interstellar navigation…

At this moment, a green icon flashed on the desktop.

After seeing the caller’s name, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

“I have to take this, could you guys please give me a second?”

The two people standing in front of the desk exchanged glances.

In the end, it was Zhong Ziyu who broke the silence and said, “I’ll contact the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences. Whether it’s useful or not… I still have to find a way to save this.”

He continued after hesitating for a while, “Of course I believe in you, but… we have to let others believe in you too.”

Lu Zhou waved his hand.

“Go ahead then.”

When they left, Zhong Ziyu closed the door behind him.

After the office door closed, the whole room finally became quiet.

Lu Zhou reached out and pressed on the desk. A light blue holographic window quickly floated out and appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

Li Guangya appeared in the video window as Lu Zhou asked, “What’s going on?”

“Are you free any time soon?”

“Why?”

Li Guangya sighed and said, “Let’s talk in person.

Chapter 1510: The Big Fish That Surfaced

Qiu Mingrui was in a headache recently.

He never expected that he, an expert in nuclear engineering, would become the spiritual leader in the minds of the people of Guanghan City.

Although he was very happy to see that his paper had such a huge influence, he never thought that his paper would become “pop science”.

What he also didn’t expect was that this paper would cause such a huge wave in public opinion!

What’s more, the first author of that paper wasn’t his own name. He just put his name as the corresponding author in a very low-key manner.

As a result, several local media in Guanghan City had not only forced him to oppose Lu Zhou, but they also directly promoted him as the savior of the people of Guanghan City, a knight who was devoted to the people and truly dared to tell the truth.

Although it was a long-established tradition to put titles on others, this title was too heavy, Qiu Mingrui felt that he could not bear it.

Even if he opposed Lu Zhou’s opinions, he did not think that his academic achievements could be compared with Academician Lu. In other words, he and Lu Zhou were on opposite sides, where the two sides were completely unequal in terms of ability and influence.

Lu Zhou himself once said that he never believed in authority in his life, and people shouldn’t blindly believe him either. Qiu Mingrui was only not optimistic about the pulsed magnetic field.

From the beginning to the end, he believed that this was just an academic debate, but the voices of unstoppable fools were always the loudest, and they were keen to discuss politics regardless of occasions.

As soon as there were such people, his paper would naturally become politically colored.

Realizing that the matter had become serious and feeling that he was being roasted alive, Qiu Mingrui immediately contacted the Southwestern Institute of Physics publisher office and applied for the withdrawal of the paper.

The Southwestern Institute of Physics cooperated quite well. Obviously, they realized that the controversial paper might cause trouble for themselves, so after receiving the request of the corresponding author, they quickly withdrew the paper.

Seeing that the paper was withdrawn, Qiu Mingrui was finally relieved. After publishing a clarification statement on his personal homepage, he felt that this incident had passed.

However, what he didn’t expect was that he was still too naive.

From the moment his thesis became the fuse that ignited the fire, the direction of the matter had gone beyond his control.

It could even be said that the retracted paper did not calm the anger of the residents of Guanghan City, but instead, it had become a new fuse to intensify the conflict.

Almost on the second day after the Progress in Controllable Fusion Research issued the retraction statement, the public opinion was suddenly turned and pointed at him.

What Qiu Mingrui did not expect was that the residents of Guanghan City, who had been touting him a few days ago, had now begun to criticize him.

Maybe the people who scolded him were not the same as those who commended him. However, the behaviors of the extremists were often the most obvious.

Qiu Mingrui watched on the sidelines. He watched as those people who pushed him to the top in the first place threw him back down on the ground.

The comments under the news said he was an “unscrupulous academician”, “no morals”, “only going after power”, and “has been bought out by East Asia Energy”. He was dumbfounded.

Although he believed that his level was indeed not as good as Academician Lu, he did not degenerate to the point of being bought out by Academician Lu.

He was certainly not this kind of profit-seeking person.

However, he couldn’t do anything.

Most people were unreasonable, and most of the logic they talked about was just to find a reasonable explanation for their brain damage. They didn’t know what science was, or what scientific development was. They didn’t understand people’s words; they were mostly lemmings.

But if someone wanted to argue with this kind of rascal, no matter how reasonable one’s argument was, there would be no winner in the end.

Then there were rumors that he met Lu Zhou on the moon and that his research team had received a “donation” of 10 million credits.

Upon hearing these rumors, Qiu Mingrui didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

If he did accept the money, it would be fine; it would comfort his injured heart.

But the problem was that no one gave him money at all!

Just when he was in a dilemma and didn’t know what to do, he suddenly received a transfer reminder from the bank, reminding him that he had received a large transfer of 1 million credits.

After receiving this news, Qiu Mingrui almost got a heart attack. He quickly checked the sender’s account and planned to return the money. However, the bank told him that the payment account was registered on Mars, and refunds could not be returned.

Qiu Mingrui felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

After he spent a day filled with anxiety, he suddenly received a mysterious anonymous call the next day…

“Hello, Academician Qiu Mingrui, I don’t know if you are in a good mood today.”

Looking at the blurry video window, Qiu Mingrui frowned and said, “I’m feeling terrible… Who are you? I haven’t heard your voice before. Where did you get my number?”

“There are no impermeable walls in this world, especially in the information age. We not only know your phone number, but we also have your bank account number and home address.”

A drop of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Qiu Mingrui said calmly, “Who are you guys and what do you want to do! Are those one million credits—”

“That’s a deposit.” The voice interrupted Academician Qiu Mingrui’s words, smiled, and continued, “As for who we are, it doesn’t matter. As long as you are willing to do something for me, then there will also be nine more million credits in your account.”

Qiu Mingrui gulped and said with difficulty, “What thing…”

“Continue with what you did at the beginning.” The voice continued slowly, “Aren’t you opposed to second-generation controllable fusion technology? Then continue to oppose it. Whether it is for the money or for the residents of Guanghan City, we hope you can stand your ground.”

A trace of struggle flashed in his eyes, but soon, the look of struggle disappeared.

Qiu Mingrui took a deep breath and said, “Sorry, I’m just a scholar. Your commission is beyond the scope of my ability. I don’t mind discussing it with you if it is an academic matter, but please don’t let me participate in this. What is your account number? I will refund you the money now. I don’t want to participate in this matter…”

When he said this, Qiu Mingrui’s voice had a trace of pleading.

However, after hearing his words, the person on the other end of the phone just smiled faintly and said in a slow tone, “It’s okay. If you don’t want to join, it’s fine.

“You don’t need to return the money to me. Regard it as a gift.

“But I hope you can stay awake and know what to say and what not to say. If I hear our conversation today from elsewhere, I will let you know the cost of not keeping your promises.”

Are they…

Paying me money to keep quiet?

Qiu Mingrui opened his mouth. He was just about to say something.

However, the call ended…

…

Inside a small apartment in the suburbs of Shanghai.

A man took off a virtual reality helmet and placed it on the table next to him.

Looking at his face alone, there was nothing worth mentioning. However, if there were employees of East Asia Energy or people in the financial industry standing here, they would be astonished.

There was only one reason.

It was hard to imagine that Morinaga, the manager of SoftBank and one of the managing directors of East Asia Energy, would actually live in a place that was almost indistinguishable from low-rent housing.

But Morinaga didn’t really live here; it was just his base for operations.

Every time he needed to act as the head of the foundation, he would come here and start his scheme with an anonymous identity and address.

And there were many such bases for operations.

So far, his work had been going very smoothly, and everything was moving in the direction he expected.

Although he did not succeed in moving the chess piece that was Academician Qiu, this did not affect anything. After all, by now, the anger of the residents of Guanghan City had been completely ignited, and if this trend continued, Guanghan City might become independent from Earth.

The people between the two were already in a state of long-term separation. Even in this age, where interstellar voyages were commonplace, many Pan-Asian citizens living on Earth had never left their home planet before, and the same was true for those who were born on the moon. Their parents had been there since they were alive.

Sacrificing oneself for prosperity on Earth was unacceptable to most lunar people.

“It seems that the legendary man standing on the pinnacle of the human mind is nothing more than that.

“It’s a pity.”

Morinaga got up from the chair and walked to the clothes hanger next to him. He took off his coat, left the apartment, and locked the door.

The moment he left his base of operations, he had completed a role switch and successfully become Morinaga, the SoftBank manager and managing director of East Asia Energy.

However, the moment he walked into the garage and sat in his own car, a trace of alertness suddenly rose in his heart.

“Is it just an illusion?”

Why do I feel like…

Someone is watching me…

It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Morinaga started the car quickly. When he set the destination on the smart navigation map, he chose the longer path instead.

However, what he didn’t know was that his gut feeling was not wrong.

But it was too late for him.

Chapter 1511: Help Each Other

“Sorry, it was really not my intention that things turned out like this.

“I… I didn’t plan to publish that paper, but I didn’t expect my student to act too fast. I contacted the Southwestern Institute of Physics yesterday and the paper has been withdrawn, but that didn’t seem to do anything.”

The call came from Academician Qiu Mingrui.

His voice was full of exhaustion and self-blame.

Lu Zhou could hear that it was not his intention that things would turn out like this. He did not expect that this academic debate would actually be used as a political tool by those who were interested.

Lu Zhou looked at the old man in the video window as he tried to comfort him.

“Don’t blame yourself for this matter. Even if you didn’t publish the paper, nothing would be different.”

Just as there would still be a war without the gunshots from Sarajevo, Lu Zhou didn’t think that the foundation hiding in the dark would let him launch the second-generation controllable fusion project.

Whether it was due to an old grievance a century ago or a conflict of interest in the new century, they were against his actions.

“Thank you for understanding my difficulties…”

Qiu Mingrui looked at Lu Zhou gratefully. He hesitated whether to tell him more, but when he thought of the warning from that person, he stopped himself.

After all, he was nothing more than a scholar. Although an academician, he only had a dazzling academic aura. It was nothing at all in the face of real power and death threats.

He was nowhere near the level of participating in their conspiracy…

“That’s it, I have another important meeting… If you have any new clues, call me again.”

Lu Zhou looked at the time on the holographic window. He guessed that Li Guangya, who was sitting across the conference table, was impatient, so he ended the conversation and hung up the phone.

Although he had a hunch that the old man had not told him everything, this was not important anymore.

When the chaos in Guanghan City first happened, he had told Xiao Ai to focus on Academician Qiu Mingrui. Although he didn’t think that this riot was related to Academician Qiu, after all, he was at the center of the whirlpool of public opinion, it made sense for the people from the foundation to contact him.

In some sense, his behavior could be regarded as a kind of protection in disguise.

If everything went well, the fish hiding in the dark should have begun to bite.

Whether it was a big fish or a small fish, he just needed to wait patiently for the result…

After finishing the call, Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and swiped it in the air, closing the holographic window.

Seeing that Lu Zhou was finally finished, Li Guangya, who was sitting across the conference table, asked casually, “Who was on the phone?’

“Academician Qiu.”

“Qiu Mingrui?”

“Yeah.”

The conversation between the two people stopped abruptly.

They looked at each other with their eyes wide open. Li Guangya had a blank face, but he had a headache.

Whether it was to quell the grievances of the residents of Guanghan City or to correct their attitudes, as the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, he had to talk with East Asia Energy.

However, he didn’t know what to talk about with Lu Zhou.

To put it bluntly, there was nothing to talk about.

Sitting across from him was the greatest scholar from a hundred years ago. If he had the ability to question him academically, he wouldn’t just be a chairman.

Li Guangya sighed and said euphemistically, “Since so many people oppose you, can’t we focus on the space elevator first?”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned and confused.

He spoke.

“The space elevator… There are too many things involved. I am only 30% confident at most. However, after a hundred years of research on the second-generation of controllable fusion, the time is now.”

“The time is now. But the problem is that you have to consider what everyone else wants.” Li Guangya said with a headache, “At least, in my opinion, the first generation of fusion technology is completely sufficient. Even for another fifty years, there is no problem. We should solve the current problem first.”

“In my opinion, this is the current problem.” Lu Zhou continued after a moment of silence, “The second-generation of controllable fusion technology is the prerequisite for interstellar navigation. With only the first-generation controllable fusion technology, we can only exist in the solar system at best. But if we master the second-generation controllable fusion technology, we can take our footprints to the world lightyears away.”

Li Guangya: “You aren’t willing to compromise?”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“If it really doesn’t work, I will think of another way, such as going to the Lagrange Space Base or Mars to do this experiment.”

Although this was not a suitable choice, it was indeed a backup option that had been seriously considered by Lu Zhou, but the two backup options might be troublesome.

Moving the reactor to a space station was least likely to cause controversy, but it would increase the maintenance cost and safety risk of the reactor. The centralized autonomous management system of Tiangong City might be more convenient than the Guanghan Special Economic Zone. But the flood of weapons on Mars would have an unpredictable impact on the progress of the experiment.

There was also the threat of space pirates…

Unless it was the last resort, he didn’t want to send his researchers to such a dangerous zone.

“But if this is the case, the cost will be very high.” Li Guangya touched his chin and said thoughtfully, “I heard that the fuel for the second-generation fusion is helium and deuterium. These two things are on the moon or Earth.”

Looking at Li Guangya, Lu Zhou suddenly didn’t quite understand what he wanted to do.

“… Yes, and the energy demand on Mars is not as huge as the Earth-Moon system. My original idea was to build a moon-based second-generation fusion reactor on the moon, and then use high-powered laser power transmission technology to transmit electrical energy to the geosynchronous. This creates an Earth-Moon energy corridor.”

After a pause, Lu Zhou shrugged and continued, “But now it seems that I ignored the feelings of the residents of Guanghan City.”

Li Guangya: “You did ignore them. You only care about research and papers. You have forgotten that they are all living people! Of course people will be afraid, and they will be incited because of fear! If it were me, I would definitely not be so aggressive. For example, for a space elevator, I would first conceive a reason that would make sense, and after that, I would try to arrange a mascot to make people believe in me or themselves.

“Just like war, you have to give them the courage and honor to face death so that they will not be afraid of death. Or you can use a whip to slap them and force them to change, but think about it, this is the 22nd century, is that possible?!”

Lu Zhou frowned.

“Mascot?”

“Ahem… Focus on the main point.” Li Guangya coughed dryly, changed the subject forcibly, and continued, “Let’s make a deal, I’ll help you. You will also help me. Helping each other is good for us, and we can all keep our names in history.”

Our names in history…

It feels like a very distant concept.

Although Lu Zhou was not interested in leaving his name in history, he still became interested in his proposal.

“What do you want me to help you with?”

“The space elevator.” Li Guangya said, “I will help you settle things in Guanghan City. In exchange, I hope you will serve as the chief consultant for the scientific development of the Pan-Asian cooperation as well as the chief designer of the space elevator!”

In other words, you want me to plan the space elevator?

Lu Zhou spent a few seconds thinking about this matter. He then finally spoke.

“I can do that, but I am afraid I will have to wait until the second generation of controllable fusion technology is completed before I can free up my time.”

Li Guangya frowned and asked, “How long will it take for the second-generation fusion reactor to be completed?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and answered, “One year, or maybe two years, but my instinct tells me that the final result is not far away.”

“Then set a predetermined period of one year.” Li Guangya continued, “After one year, you will serve as the chief consultant for the scientific development of the Pan-Asian Cooperation! Whether you participate or not, I just need your name on the title!”

“Done.”

Although Lu Zhou could see through the old man’s cunning eyes, he still agreed.

Whether it was for fame or for profit, the result was always positive.

Every individual was selfish, even he himself.

Only children would care about insignificant things.

Lu Zhou’s watch on his left wrist flickered slightly, and a reminder icon popped up.

Li Guangya’s face suddenly showed a speechless expression. He asked with a sigh, “Why do you get so many calls?”

“Because I’m busy… I’ll go outside.”

“Can’t you just answer the call here?”

“No, it’s not appropriate.”

Lu Zhou got up and walked out of the meeting room.

Li Guangya leaned back into the chair and waited impatiently for about two minutes.

Finally, the door opened again.

Lu Zhou walked into the room.

Noticing the weird expression on Lu Zhou’s face, Li Guangya raised his eyebrows and asked casually, “What’s going on?”

Returning to the chair and sitting down, Lu Zhou casually replied with a weird expression, “Nothing, I just caught a big fish.”

An unexpected big fish…

Chapter 1512: Hell Has Rejected Me Once

“Just here?”

Standing in front of a magnificent mansion, Lu Zhou, who was standing next to Ling, looked at the map on the holographic screen. He glanced at the number on the door plate. He then stepped forward in front of the access control system and spoke.

“Excuse me, is Mr. Morinaga at home?”

The electronic screen flickered slightly.

After a while, a bright and sunny smile appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

“Academician Lu?” With a hint of surprise on his face, Morinaga said with a smile, “What brings you here?”

Lu Zhou: “Because I want to discuss some things with you in detail.”

“The entrance is not the place to talk, please come in.”

The iron gate opened slowly on both sides.

Lu Zhou glanced around. He then nodded towards Ling, who was wearing casual clothes. They walked into the villa along the path of the front yard.

An old butler with a wrinkled face but sturdy body stood at the door of the main building. After seeing Lu Zhou, he nodded slightly. He then made a gesture, inviting him to enter the building, and led him through the spacious porch.

“Your house is quite big,” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile when he sat down on the sofa and looked at Morinaga, who was sitting across the coffee table.

“It was passed down by my ancestors.” Morinaga nodded slightly as he watched the housekeeper put the teacup on the coffee table. He then smiled at Lu Zhou and said, “I don’t know what is so important that you came to my humble abode in person.”

Without touching the teacup on the table, Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the sofa, thought for a while and said straightforwardly, “I’m not a person who likes to beat around the bush, so I’ll just say it.

“How much do you know about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

The atmosphere in the living room fell into silence.

The air seemed to be frozen.

“… Foundation? What foundation?”

Morinaga’s eyes sharpened unconsciously as he pretended not to know.

Capturing the change in his expression, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and glanced at Ling.

Ling, who was sitting next to him, nodded. He then took out a thumb-sized memory card from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table. He then flicked his index finger to send it to Morinaga.

“What is this…?”

Lu Zhou: “The memory card for holographic TVs, play it.”

Feeling suspicious, Morinaga nodded to his butler and told him to insert the memory card into the holographic TV.

Soon, azure blue light particles appeared in the air. A translucent holographic panel quickly occupied the entire wall of the living room.

The old butler spoke respectfully.

“Shall I play it?”

With an uncertain look on his face, Morinaga glanced at Lu Zhou. He then glanced at the robot sitting next to him and said, “Sure, I’m not afraid of anything.”

The old butler nodded. He reached out his hand and flicked in the air. A clear picture quickly appeared on the translucent holographic screen.

What was shown on the screen was a surveillance video, and the location was an apartment building somewhere in Shanghai.

Morinaga looked at the familiar corridor and himself, who appeared in the monitoring screen. Morinaga’s pupils shrank slightly, and a layer of cold sweat gradually formed on his back.

Of course he knew where this was.

He was just there yesterday.

Judging from the scene on the screen, this surveillance footage should have been yesterday!

“After getting off the parking lot, Mr. Morinaga went straight to room 5709 on the 57th floor and stayed in it for three hours… Am I right?”

“So? Is there any problem with this?” Looking at Lu Zhou sitting opposite him, Morinaga tried to restrain the tension in his heart. Pretending to be calm, he said, “It’s just a piece of footage, what can this explain?”

Lu Zhou smiled slightly. “Are you going to continue acting with me? If you want, I can even pull up your call records, including the part where you threatened Academician Qiu Mingrui.”

The moment he heard Academician Qiu’s name, Morinaga’s face finally changed to a gloomy expression.

Just when Lu Zhou was curious about how he was going to explain, Morinaga’s shoulders suddenly loosened slightly, and the expression on his face relaxed.

Looking at Lu Zhou sitting across from him, Morinaga said softly, “You win.”

Lu Zhou looked at him and did not speak. He just waited quietly for him to continue.

“Honestly, I am really surprised.

“I thought that an old antique from a hundred years ago should be at my mercy. I didn’t expect every choice you made, and the final results were beyond my expectations.”

Knowing that his identity had been exposed, Morinaga stopped acting. He leaned back into the sofa and continued with a relaxed tone.

“If everything went according to plan, you should have died in that explosion, together with the robot courier. The outside world will make a wonderful movie script for you and Liu Zhengxing, the end of great scholars.”

“Then you underestimated me.” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “Even The Gates of Hell didn’t bury me. Do you think it’s possible to do it with just two kilograms of explosives?”

“I admit that I have underestimated you.” Looking at Lu Zhou who sat opposite him, Morinaga suddenly threw out an unexpected sentence. “If that’s the case, consider joining us.”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He said with a smile, “Did I hear you wrong?”

“You heard it right, I’m serious.” Morinaga said with a faint smile, “Over the past hundred years, we have grown strong; so strong that you can’t even imagine. You know so much. Joining us is the only possibility for you to survive.”

Lu Zhou glanced at the time on the holographic TV and said casually, “You should tell this to the police.”

The look on Morinaga’s face gradually became gloomy.

“So you refuse?”

Lu Zhou: “Have I shown any interest in your proposal?”

“Very well.”

Morinaga sighed in relief and closed his eyes.

Just when Lu Zhou thought he had given up, his eyes suddenly opened.

His dark pupils were filled with craziness…

“You shouldn’t have come here in person, but unfortunately, your arrogance will be your demise! You have survived for so long, but now you’re asking to die… Why?”

There were two safe places in the whole mansion; one was the wine cellar and the other was the living room. The former was connected to the safe house under the villa, and the latter was equipped with at least 20 automatic weapons, which he hid in the dark.

After all, what he was doing was subverting society. If he didn’t prepare things to protect himself, he might become a corpse in a ditch someday.

It was just that Morinaga never thought that the trump cards he kept for self-protection would really be useful one day, or that they would be used on an old antique from a hundred years ago.

However, in any case, his identity must not be exposed!

If Lu Zhou disappeared, people from the Security Bureau would definitely find him. However, this would give him time to escape.

“You know too much, go to hell with your secrets and knowledge!”

“Hell has already rejected me once, and it will be the same this time.”

Lu Zhou looked at the laser rays pointed at himself and the automatic weapons hanging from the ceiling, yet the expression on Lu Zhou’s face was far from showing even the slightest fear. He smiled and crossed his legs.

“I’ll leave this to you.”

The person sitting on the sofa suddenly disappeared from Morinaga’s sight…

Chapter 1513: Unscathed Private-1

A hologram?

Who the f*ck does something like this?!

Realizing this, Morinaga almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

However, there was no time for him to react.

The cold response sound awakened him from his dumbfoundedness.

“Yes, commander.”

Ling’s neck moved slightly. His red pupils burst into scarlet light.

Morinaga’s heart trembled slightly for some reason. Anticipating danger, he yelled “kill it”, then ran to the side door of the living room in a hurry.

As soon as he ran out of the living room, a scorching wave came from behind him. A handful of automatic weapons hanging on the ceiling instantly shot out flames.

A rain of bullets fell from the sky, hitting Ling’s body.

The explosion of gunpowder smoke filled the whole living room like a typhoon, leaving only a mess. The expensive leather sofa and the high-quality wood coffee table had been completely torn into pieces.

There was not even an intact floor tile in the living room.

Morinaga knew that the robot would never survive this metal storm. He let out a sigh of relief in his heart, and he slowly stopped.

However, just when he was about to return to the living room to see the situation, his heart suddenly tightened and his pupils instantly shrank.

The robot was standing in the center of the firepower. Its outer skin was torn apart, but the skeleton under the skin hardly suffered any substantial damage.

Like nothing had even happened!

Morinaga glanced at the automatic weapons on the ceiling that had emptied their magazines.

Ling walked towards Morinaga with a blank expression.

Morinaga retreated towards the corridor in horror as he shouted loudly, “Stop him!”

After hearing the master’s order, a series of robot servants walked down the stairs and out of the concierge, holding sophisticated weapons in their hands. They aimed at Ling, who had just stepped through the side door of the living room, and they did not hesitate to pull the trigger.

The orange-red flames flickered, and the blast of bullets ignited the air.

However, compared to the metal storm in the previous round, this drizzle was nothing. It didn’t delay Ling at all, who was standing in the center of the storm.

Ling walked to the nearest robot and reached out his hand to pinch its neck. He then broke the head off the robot’s body, leaving behind a bunch of exposed wires.

Ling ignored the bullets hitting his body. He took the assault rifle.

He then raised the muzzle and aimed it at the robots before pulling the trigger with an expressionless face.

The style of the entire battlefield was quite strange.

A group of people surrounded one person, but there was no trace of struggle on the one person.

Those robots that were infected by the ALPHA virus were beaten into a pulp by Ling alone.

When the last bullet in the magazine popped out of the chamber, the firecracker-like gunfire finally stopped. Ling glanced at the last robot soldier who fell to the floor before throwing the rifle aside.

A hum of electricity suddenly rang behind him, and a plasma cutter about the size of an old-fashioned vacuum cleaner gleamed with a hot glow, poking towards his back.

Hearing the movement, Ling turned around, reached out his hand, and grabbed the jet of plasma that was piercing at him.

Ling saw the old butler who had served the two of them before. Surprisingly, he was clearly a human, yet his emotionless eyes were full of fanaticism and the same feeling of death as other robots.

When Ling’s arm began to melt and deform under the high-temperature plasma jet, the old housekeeper’s heart suddenly became happy. He saw hope as he spoke.

“Go to hell!”

He pushed forward the plasma cutter in his hand.

However, the expression on his face froze.

The molten arm did not turn into iron droplets on the ground as he wanted. Instead, it spread forward like a living liquid, directly blocking the ejection port of the cutter.

The plasma could not be released and was locked in the heating chamber. Before the butler even had time to release the button, the cutter in his hand melted from the expanding plasma and exploded into fragments.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

The plasma that was released in an instant almost ignited the air.

When the butler felt the pain of the hot air scorching his skin, he screamed uncontrollably.

Ling’s arm returned to its original state. He looked away blankly, casting his gaze in the direction where Morinaga was escaping.

“Danger, eliminate.

“Continue chase.”

…

Morinaga rushed into the garage without even having the time to choose which car to drive. He quickly got on the maglev sedan closest to him.

His identity had been exposed.

Once the people in the Security Bureau knew his relationship with the foundation and his position in the foundation, he could forget about getting out of prison for the rest of his life; all the glory and wealth he accumulated would be in vain.

The only way for him to survive now was to escape the Pan-Asian cooperation. It was best to go to places like the North Sea Alliance or the South American Alliance, then go to Mars as soon as possible.

Only on Mars would he be safe.

“F*ck! Why is it not starting?!”

As Morinaga looked at the autopilot system and the manual driving mode that couldn’t be activated, he had a look of panic on his face.

His car was completely paralyzed, as if it were hit by an EMP. It wouldn’t start no matter what he tried.

“F*ck!”

Swearing angrily, Morinaga jumped out of the car and got on another off-road vehicle.

However…

The result was still the same.

Just as he was preparing to test the third one, he suddenly saw a figure appearing at the garage door and a small quadrotor drone that emerged from nowhere.

The panic in his eyes finally gradually turned into bottomless despair. He slowly let go of his hands that were holding the steering wheel.

“Why?”

A blue light was projected from below the drone, and Lu Zhou’s holographic image appeared in the garage again.

Lu Zhou walked to the side of the off-road vehicle and looked at Morinaga, who lowered the window with a pleading expression on his face. He then smiled faintly and asked, “Why do this?”

“Please…” Morinaga pleaded, “Let me go, I will give you all my possessions on Earth!”

“Money to me is just a bunch of numbers.”

Almost collapsed by the mental pressure, Morinaga snarled, “What do you want?! Why are you chasing after me?!”

Chasing?

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but laugh.

Who is chasing after who?

However, as his elder, Lu Zhou didn’t bother to argue with this guy.

“Tell me everything you know about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation and the ALPHA virus.”

A trace of panic flashed in Morinaga’s eyes.

“I don’t know… I’m just an outsider.”

“Don’t pretend.” Lu Zhou sighed as if to give up suddenly. He then continued, “Well, interrogation is not my specialty. Since you don’t want to say it, you can explain it to the professionals. It saves me time.”

Seeing Lu Zhou, who was starting to dial on the phone, Morinaga gulped.

“Who are you calling?”

Lu Zhou said blankly, “The Security Bureau.

“They are better at interrogating criminals.”

Chapter 1514: Crazy

“I found the thing you wanted.”

Sitting in the office, Xing Bian looked at the holographic screen floating on the desktop. When he heard this through the call, he was stunned.

After a long time, he snapped back to reality and calmly said, “Found the thing… What do you mean?”

“Exactly what it means, you wanted a clue about the ALPHA virus,” Lu Zhou said concisely in the video window. “It is impossible to defend against this virus programmatically, but I found a key witness to the ALPHA virus…”

Key witness?

Xing Bian’s eyebrow twitched fiercely. For a moment, he couldn’t digest the amount of information in this sentence.

Although he was the one who asked Lu Zhou to assist their task force in investigating the ALPHA virus, he did not expect that this academic leader would actually assist them in this way.

After taking a deep breath, Xing Bian asked seriously, “Who is the witness? Where is he now?”

“It’s not easy to say on the phone. I’ll give you an address. You better come as soon as possible… Because I’m not sure if he will wait here peacefully.”

Xing Bian immediately said, “I’ll come over right away!”

After writing down the address, he immediately hung up the phone and contacted the people in the operations division. The roaring alarm bell broke out of the Security Bureau’s garage less than a minute later.

In just five minutes, three or four police cars passed halfway through Shanghai and stopped at the entrance of Morinaga’s house.

Xing Bian closed the door of the car and walked to the side of the iron door. He took out a compass-like instrument from his hand and scanned the door.

After frowning, he then looked at Shi Jin, who was already waiting next to him, and ordered.

“Begin entering.”

“Yes, sir!”

After receiving instructions from Captain Xing, Shi Jin nodded and made a breakthrough gesture to the officer next to him. Then he took off the pistol safety switch and followed the two heavily armed officers in.

Taking into account the potential threat of the ALPHA virus, the officers dispatched this time were all elites; they were the kind of people who didn’t have any implants.

However, even though the group was ready to fight fiercely in the face of a dangerous terrorist organization like the foundation, the expected battle did not happen.

In other words, they arrived a moment too late.

“What the hell happened here?” Looking at the mess in the living room and the automatic weapons hanging from the ceiling, Shi Jin’s face was full of shock.

It was hard to imagine that in a place like the Yangtze River Delta city group, there was actually a heavy firepower system beyond the scope of light weapons in someone’s home.

There was a drop of cold sweat across his forehead. If his own party broke into this place, and if the owner of this room decided to resist his arrest with the weapons, they would have easily been beaten.

Combat experience was one thing, but this firepower was clearly beyond the scope of their experience.

“It seems that we are late.” Looking around here with a grim expression, Xing Bian’s eyes locked on the side door of the living room. He then said, “Team A go to the study room to collect evidence, Team B and I go to the garage.”

“Yes, sir!”

…

Morinaga was arrested.

When found, he was strapped to the hood of the car. He tried to save himself, such as trying to use his nails to break the plastic rope around his body.

Unfortunately, even if he rubbed off his entire nail, he wouldn’t be able to break the rope that bound him.

Although he was puzzled as to why people like Morinaga participated in the conspiracy of the foundation, the iron-clad evidence was in front of him. He quickly ordered the arrest of Morinaga in the name of endangering social security.

Even if he was not a high-level figure in the foundation, the weapons he deployed in his own home were enough to make him go to prison…

In the interrogation room.

Morinaga had puffy eyelids. He gloomily looked at Xing Bian and Shi Jin, who were sitting behind the glass window with the other agents.

Facing the interrogation of the Security Bureau, he said mockingly, “I won’t say anything, just give up.”

Xing Bian didn’t look at him. Instead, he looked at the doctor standing next to him and said, “Inject him with Veritaserum.”

The doctor nodded and took out a needle tube from the toolbox.

“Okay.”

The moment Morinaga saw this needle, there was a panic in his eyes, and he struggled on the chair.

“Don’t come over here.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

The screams of pigs dying were heard. Ignoring Morinaga’s struggle, the doctor calmly injected a needle into his vein before leaving the interrogation room with the toolbox.

Morinaga was furious. His eyes were bloodshot, but he quickly calmed down, and the breathing rhythm in his chest also became more stable.

However, his bloodshot pupils were crazier than before…

Looking at Morinaga sitting in the interrogation room, Xing Bian said with a cold expression, “So, what is going on with the ALPHA virus?”

Perhaps because the effect of the medicine had not fully kicked in, a trace of struggle flashed through Morinaga’s eyes.

However, this struggle did not last long.

After a long silence, he suddenly smiled and said.

“A virus designed for AI, especially robot memory… Give up. ALPHA has spread on the black market. Those who are far more criminally motivated than us will be even more adept at spreading the virus than us. At least 100,000 robots have been infected with it.”

“You…”

Clenching his fists tightly, Shi Jin looked at the punchable face. He stepped forward angrily, but he was stopped by Captain Xing.

“In fact, I have always wondered.” Xing Bian continued staring at Morinaga, who was sitting behind the table, as he said, “A person like you should be considered successful. Why did you choose to join a conspiracy group?”

“Conspiracy? You are ignorant.” A contemptuous look was reflected in his crazy eyes. Morinaga continued, “If you have heard the whispers from the Void, you would know.”

Shi Jin frowned and said, “Void whispers?”

Morinaga’s throat let out a dry laugh. “… The prophet heard it first, then shared it with me. And my long-cherished wish is to share the favor with others. Believers of the spirits of the universe on this planet, the powerful spiritual energy will bind us closely, and we will be omnipotent…”

Listening to this crazy description, Shi Jin didn’t know whether to show contempt or sympathy. He finally shook his head and murmured, “What a hopeless guy…”

Captain Xing, who was standing next to him, frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, “What does this have to do with the ALPHA virus?”

“Of course it is relevant.”

Morinaga’s smile suddenly had a trace of cruelty.

In a slow tone, he continued, “In a disaster, the lost lambs will seek sustenance in faith and find comfort in the spiritual world. Imagine once the cornerstone of modern society is shattered like pieces of tofu, the formerly trusted partner becomes a bloodthirsty tool for murder… Use your brain to guess what this world will be like.”

The interrogation room fell silent for a moment.

Many people involuntarily began to break out in cold sweat.

They thought The Spirit of The Universe Foundation was prepared to use the ALPHA virus as a threat to fulfill their evil demands, but they did not expect that they had no intention of negotiating from the beginning. They instead planned to bury this terrible virus in the prosperity of the 22nd century, then rise from the chaos, transitioning from underground to the surface.

Xing Bian’s expression gradually became cold.

“You guys made the virus?”

“We? Do you mean Dawn Technology? Hahahaha…” Morinaga said in a hoarse voice with a frantic smile, “Of course not… How did we get it? Ah, yes, I remembered it. The source code was bought from a group of space pirates. According to them, the virus was stolen from the Tiangong City technology laboratory, but who cares? It works.”

Shi Jin, who was standing in front of the glass window, asked harshly, “Space pirates? Which space pirates? Where are they?”

“It’s about 0.03 astronomical units from Ceres. Anyway, their base is nearby. I don’t know the specifics.” Morinaga said with a wild smile, “My mission has been completed. It was completed last year! Prepare to feel despair. You will soon realize the feeling of falling from the clouds into the abyss. Let me see how ugly you will be in your final last days.”

Seeing that Morinaga was in madness, the doctor standing beside Xing Bian frowned and said worriedly, “His mental condition is no longer suitable for continued interrogation… Or to increase the dose?”

“No, we already know the key clues. As for him…” Xing Bian thought for a while. He then continued, “Let’s keep him for now, I still have a lot of questions I want to ask.”

Captain Xing turned and walked towards the door. Shi Jin quickly followed his footsteps and said anxiously, “Captain, the situation is urgent, we must take immediate action! Morinaga revealed that this virus has spread to—”

“It doesn’t matter. Once the virus spreads, it doesn’t make much sense to investigate the spreader. The top priority now is to lock the ALPHA virus from the source.”

After a pause, he walked quickly toward the end of the corridor and continued with a cold expression, “After you go back to the office, write out the interrogation report. I will submit it to the higher-up departments.

“The rest is up to the First Fleet.”

Chapter 1515: Before Becoming History, Great Men Were Also Humans

“Why is it tattered again?”

In a small room, Han Ming looked at the robot whose skin had been completely destroyed, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

He wanted to complain about this last time, but since the customer was always right, he reluctantly resisted it. But this time, in less than half a month, the skin that he worked hard on was ruined again.

If he didn’t want to make money, he would simply say, “It will be ruined in the end, you might as well just put a toy dress on it.”

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

“I visit frequently, shouldn’t you be happy?”

“Technically, yes, but I feel frustrated when I see my masterpieces randomly crumpled up and thrown in the bin.” Han Ming sighed. “Come with me.”

Ling glanced at Lu Zhou. When his commander nodded, he followed Han Ming towards the room.

Sitting on the chair and waiting quietly, Lu Zhou noticed that the little girl who was about sixteen or seventeen years old sitting opposite him was looking at him curiously. If his memory was correct, this child should be Han Ming’s assistant.

However, when he cast his gaze on her, she quickly looked away.

“Why are you staring at me?”

The little girl blushed in embarrassment and shook her head quickly as she said, “No, no… just a little curious.”

“Curious about what?”

The little girl whispered and said, “The boss won’t let me inquire about the guests.”

“Just ask me if you want.”

“Then I’ll ask, don’t be angry.” The little girl blinked and asked curiously, “Are you… really Academician Lu?”

Do people still wonder who I am?

Lu Zhou smiled. In his mind, he was shaking his head. He then said, “Yeah.”

“Sigh…”

“What?”

“Nothing.” The little girl shook her head and whispered, “I always thought that the great men in history were all serious people…”

Lu Zhou thought about it and spoke.

“Before becoming part of history, great men were also just humans.”

“Before becoming part of history…”

“What?”

“I always hear people talk about that era, but I still can’t imagine it. An era without robots and virtual reality technology.” The little girl touched the back of her head embarrassedly and said with a shy smile, “Maybe because my job is to transform robots.”

“In that era, many of the jobs that AIs are now doing were done by humans, but there is no difference in its essence.”

“The jobs that people do… Include waiters and truck drivers?”

“Of course.”

In the 21st century, a car must be driven by someone, with a high rate of traffic incidents.

But now, because artificial intelligence was responsible for planning traffic, even though modern cars were much faster than in the past, they had basically eliminated things such as car accidents.

“It’s hard to imagine…” The little girl sighed and said, “If robots are unusable one day, I feel like… the consequences will be very serious.”

Lu Zhou: “That kind of thing won’t happen.”

“Why?” The little girl blinked and asked, “I saw it on the Internet yesterday. Someone said that there is now a virus that can turn robots into criminals.”

“Because someone is guarding this peace and prosperity.”

Standing up from the chair, Lu Zhou moved his arms and said casually, “I’ll see how your boss is doing.”

…

The atmosphere in Guanghan City was grim.

The engineers of East Asia Energy were still stranded in the space station, and the engineering equipment on the transport ship was also loaded, unloaded, loaded, and unloaded again. Because of the protesters’ activities, the entire experimental project was at a halt.

Moon Palace.

Li Guangya, who walked off the gangway, shook hands with Mayor Ye. After that, surrounded by a group of people, he went to the boarding platform of the shuttle, where he could see many protestors.

“It seems that the trouble here is not small.”

Ye He sighed and said, “As you can see… I haven’t slept peacefully in the past few days.”

Li Guangya: “Have you tried to talk to the representatives elected by the protesters?”

“I have tried, but the results have been unsuccessful.” Ye He said cautiously, “They have not shown a willingness to negotiate at all. Their only request is to withdraw East Asia Energy from the moon.”

Li Guangya: “Actually, I have a compromise here.”

Ye He: “What compromise?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “The Pan-Asian Cooperation will sign a development agreement with East Asia Energy on the second-generation controllable fusion experimental reactor. After that, the Pan-Asian Cooperation will sign a new energy joint development agreement with Guanghan City.”

The moment Ye He heard this, a surprised expression appeared on his face. It was not because of how unexpected the idea itself was. It was because he did not expect that Pan-Asian Cooperation would be willing to take this big trouble from them.

“But… Will this solve any problems?”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Li Guangya asked back, “I have reflected on this more than once. Our alliance is too weak and has almost no restrictions on the member states, and anyone can oppose us. In fact, in order to achieve our goals, we should adopt some tougher methods, and we are fully capable of doing so.”

Ye He: “For example?”

“For example, build another city,” Li Guangya said with a faint smile as he glanced at the gray land outside the porthole. “Just next to Guanghan City, build a city about the size of a reactor… called Pangu… Or Nuwa city. I think the nearby land is quite suitable. It shouldn’t be difficult to make space.”

Ye He was stunned for a moment, but he broke out in cold sweat quickly.

Build another city?

This is ridiculous!

From a legal point of view, this was not in compliance at all.

Ye He: “There is no precedent at all! The Guanghan Special Economic Zone has nothing to do with the land. Even if it is undeveloped land—”

“There is now.”

Staring at Li Guangya for a long time, Ye He didn’t speak.

“What?”

“It’s nothing… It’s just that the look in your eyes made me a little scared.” Ye He said cautiously after observing the chairman of the board for a while, “I hope you are not thinking about something dangerous.”

Li Guangya raised his eyebrows with interest.

“Like what?”

Ye He didn’t speak. He looked at him in silence.

“We are an alliance, not an empire.”

As if hearing something funny, Li Guangya suddenly couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it… You think too much, I just want to build a reactor.”

Ye He wanted to say something, but at this moment, the secretary standing next to Li Guangya stepped forward and reminded him gently, “Chairman, your phone.”

Li Guangya cleared his throat and asked, “From who?”

“The call is from the Security Bureau. Apparently, it is related to the investigation of the foundation,” the secretary whispered in a volume that only they could hear. “The clue points to the pirate base hidden in the asteroid belt… They hope to be able to apply for reinforcements to the Lagrange Space Base.”

Li Guangya’s eyebrows were gently raised, and his face showed an expression of interest.

“I understand.”

He looked at Mayor Ye next to him.

“Give me a few minutes. I have to make a few work calls.”

Ye He frowned and asked, “Is it fine for me to ask what is going on?”

“Nothing, it’s just that my friend gave me an unexpected gift.”

Surrounded by a few bodyguards, Li Guangya walked towards the VIP terminal next to the shuttle stop.

At the same time, the First Fleet stationed at the Lagrange Space Base was gathering, and the third orbital airborne brigade would be embarking on a journey.

As the murderous air overflowed in the deep sky, the dark black hulls were like daggers, exuding an infiltrating cold light under the sunlight.

The reconnaissance ship had set off.

Target: Ceres.

A battle was imminent!

…

Chapter 1516: Silence

In an endless deep sky, a black starship was sailing along a nearly straight trajectory towards the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

The end of the voyage was Ceres.

The target was a space pirate base about 0.03 astronomical units away from Ceres!

Speaking of space pirates active in the asteroid belt, it was a long story.

In the 2050s, after the first attack on the Starlight cargo ship, the term space pirates entered people’s field of vision through the news media.

With the continuous expansion of the aerospace industry, mining in the asteroid belt had gradually become a low-cost and highly profitable industry, resulting in a large number of spacecraft being moved from the Earth-Moon system to the asteroid belt.

Everyone hoped to get rich overnight, and the act of mining a large pile of gold or precious metals more expensive than gold from half a million asteroids and hundreds of millions of meteorite fragments was driven by this extreme desire for wealth. Under these circumstances, a group of lawless people who longed for nothing else was naturally born.

Relying on the legal gap on the asteroid belt and the limited binding force of various countries in this area, they modified the spacecrafts purchased or leased and attacked other civilian mining ships or mining stations. They became the government of the regions, and their existence caused a headache to most alliances.

The complex meteorite environment made it difficult for large starships to station in this area for a long time, and if it was only a small ship or a space base, it was difficult to guarantee an advantage on the battlefield.

If deployed separately, those military installations could easily become targets for space pirates. And for centralized deployment, although combat effectiveness was guaranteed, they had to fight on the battlefield with a width of hundreds of millions of kilometers and limited visibility.

After all, they couldn’t expect those space pirates to always show themselves whenever they wished.

In contrast, the pirates who fled between the asteroid belt and Mars could rely on small ships and smuggled ammunitions to make trouble.

On one hand, this was because the complicated social environment of Mars provided a breeding ground for the space pirates active in the asteroid belt. On the other hand, it was because of the indulgence of some governments or regional alliances.

After all, goods snatched from competitors were always cheaper than goods that flowed into the market through normal channels, not to mention that it would restrict the development of competitors, thus allowing themselves to become stronger at the same time.

Although every once in a while, the Pan-Asian Cooperation would send a fleet to intensively clean up the asteroid belt in a certain area, the results had not been very great.

There was always news that leaked out in advance, and the cost of sending the fleet to the asteroid belt for missions was too expensive.

Take this operation as an example. As the command ship, Huashan was the lightest air carrier in the Pan-Asian space force. The two cruisers and five destroyers escorted were all of the lighter-weight types.

But even so, as long as it entered the active range of the asteroid belt, the cost of this war was destined to be an expensive figure…

“Send the carrier-based aircraft to investigate the nearby airspace, guard the destroyer’s periphery, deploy the cruiser’s weapons, use EMP shells, lock in on the close-range abnormal target.”

“Yes, sir!”

The edge of the asteroid belt was getting closer.

On the ship bridge.

Following the command of the commander, twelve ship-borne drones ejected from the Huashan aircraft carrier, and silver-white bullets soon plunged into the asteroid belt.

Although most of the space pirates were behind in terms of weapons technology, making it difficult for them to pose a substantial threat to the regular army of any regional alliance on the front battlefield, they were usually smart and used the terrain advantage to deal with the army.

For example, they installed nuclear warheads inside asteroids with relatively stable orbits and detonated the nuclear bombs when regular warships approached them, damaging the ships’ hulls through the high-temperature meteorite pieces.

Or for example, they would hide cruise missiles behind meteorites, drones carrying explosives or anti-armor weapons, or even small assault boats with a pile of loose weapons.

While threatening nearby mining stations, these space pirates could always cause trouble to regular army ships in unexpected places.

The job of these carrier-based aircraft was to investigate the nearby battlefield environment, clear out the traps left by the air pirates, and lock down the potential threats…

Inside the bridge.

The commander stared intently at the holographic three-dimensional chart floating on the command table as he frowned.

It had been almost half an hour since the dispatch of the carrier-based aircraft, but there were still no traces of booby traps or automatic weapons found in this area.

Years of experience with space pirates told him that this group of space pirates might be different.

“There is news from the reconnaissance ship ahead that an unknown space station was found near 0.03 astronomical unit of Ceres.”

After hearing the report from his subordinates, the commander immediately ordered, “Model the scan data.”

“Yes, sir!”

A light blue image appeared on the command table, and a space station constructed of a three-dimensional holographic grid soon appeared in front of everyone.

Like most civilian mining stations, this space station was embedded on a small asteroid and occupied a quarter of the asteroid’s volume.

Due to the high content of metal minerals in the vicinity, a natural “electromagnetic wave black hole” had been formed. If they didn’t look closely, they would not be able to find the existence of this space station.

Staring at the space station, the military advisor standing at the command desk frowned and spoke.

“So strange.”

Usually, when their carrier-based aircraft approached this position, the two sides would have already begun a fierce exchange of fire, but the space pirates hiding in the space station hadn’t reacted at all.

The entire space station and the nearby airspace were quiet.

“It is very strange.” The commander said to himself with a solemn expression in his eyes, “We have dispatched such a large fleet, but they haven’t responded at all. Even if their radar is broken, they still have a visual observation.”

“Could it be that they happened to be out hunting?”

“It’s not like it. My instinct tells me that there is something hidden behind this.”

The commander thought for a while and ordered, “Prepare to send ground troops.

“No matter what’s inside, we shall go in and take a look.”

Ground Warfare Advisor: “Do you want to launch infrasonic missiles?”

“No, no weapons have been observed on the surface of the space station. The armed forces inside should not be very strong. This operation is different from the past. We need a few prisoners.” Looking at the holographic image on the command table, the commander calmed down. In a serious tone, he said, “Third orbital airborne brigade! Send out three groups of commandos, prepare to attack!”

Six long shuttle-shaped landing craft were launched from the carrier, forming a front and back parallel triangular formation. They proceeded towards the direction of the space station along a straight trajectory.

Although it was a strong attack, they were not seeking blood.

The first three landing craft hit the outer shell of the space station first. A burst of sparks splashed as the metal jets gushing from the front poured into the space station.

More than a dozen pneumatic drones were released from the three landing crafts, protruding into the interior along the gap in the outer layer of the space station, quickly occupying the favorable terrain in the space station. They reported back the situation on the battlefield to the three landing crafts’ AI battlefield analysis systems.

The last three landing crafts directly crashed into the space station from three different angles. As the hatch blasted open, the three groups of commandos entered the space station from three directions. They coordinated with the drones to launch an offensive attack towards the space station.

However…

Something unexpected happened.

The team leader who burst into the core area of the space station with his rifle looked around vigilantly. He finally lowered the muzzle in his hand and complained, “What the hell is the headquarters doing…”

The control room was quiet. Except for the sound of the engine running, no noise could be heard. Judging from the ventilation system, this space station should have been inhabited by people, and judging from the living supplies, those people should have lived here for a long time.

However, forget about the space pirates…

There wasn’t even a single living person here.

Chapter 1517: Long Story

Guanghan City.

After getting off the shuttle, Li Guangya went to the hotel where he was staying and had a phone call with his colleagues far away on Earth.

As soon as the phone was connected, an urgent voice came from the other side.

“Do you really plan to build another city next to Guanghan City?”

Looking at Secretary Wu in the video window, Li Guangya nodded and said, “Yes.”

Wu Shuhua didn’t expect that this guy would admit this, so he was slightly stunned. He then frowned.

“What is the reaction from Guanghan City?”

“The mayor’s mood is fairly stable, at least I think it’s quite stable.”

Wu Shuhua: “What does that mean?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “Means you should work harder. To put it bluntly, Mayor Ye is a smart man, he knows that this matter is definitely good for Guanghan City, and it is also the best choice for him. The Guanghan City residents are no longer angry at the Guanghan City authorities colluding with East Asia Energy, but they still dislike the partnership between East Asia Energy and Pan-Asian Cooperation.”

Wu Shuhua frowned and said, “Why do I feel like this has gotten worse?”

“The misunderstanding can only be solved after it’s escalated.” Li Guangya smiled faintly and continued, “Next, we only need to find a common enemy for the lunar people to vent their energy. The earth doesn’t have a common enemy anymore. The aliens are too fictitious and far away. The space pirates in the asteroid belt happen to be a good choice, especially because there is an anti-human organization behind them.”

Wu Shuhua frowned.

“You mean… the foundation? Does anyone really believe that stuff?”

Li Guangya: “As long as we can find evidence of its existence, it’ll be fine. If not, we can make some evidence. Let me count how many people have already lost their lives… Well, I can’t count, but at least among the people I know, there are two.”

As for Liu Zhengxing and Song Yangwei, these two were regarded as high-level executives of East Asia Energy. Although Li Guangya was not close with them, on high-level occasions, he often saw these two guys.

“Perhaps the tough implementation of the second-generation controllable fusion plan is itself a wrong decision. The residents on the moon are not yet ready to accept this technology, and our demand for energy is not so urgent that we must extract the helium III.” There was a worry in his eyes. Wu Shuhua paused for a moment and continued, “Do you think it’s worth it?”

“If we don’t prepare today, we will never be prepared. As for whether it’s worth it, we’ll know eventually.” Li Guangya smiled lightly and said, “However, I had expected this to happen for a long time. The society on the moon has been separated from us for too long, it is normal that there will be a gap in culture.”

Especially after the rise of asteroid mining after the 2040s, coupled with the migration of high-emission, highly unmanned industries and other intensive industries from Earth to Mars, the society on Earth was transitioning from a production-oriented society to a consumer-oriented society. The rare minerals on the moon were no longer in high demand.

After all, mining in low gravity was quite convenient.

Coupled with the fact that the round-trip between Mars and the Earth-Moon system was far less convenient than the round-trip between Mars and the asteroid belt, as well as the relatively low minimum wage on Mars and the labor security benefits, the decline of the moon’s mining industry was almost inevitable.

“So, you think you only need a common enemy, then send the First Fleet to the asteroid belt and fire two shots to solve the gap between us and the moon?”

“Of course not? I’m not naive enough to think that removing a target can solve all the troubles. We must admit that this kind of cultural gap has been formed, and it has been accumulated day by day over half a century. To completely resolve it, I am afraid it will take longer, maybe a century, maybe two.”

“It’s no use regretting what has happened. Learning lessons from it is a valuable asset for our civilization,” said Li Guangya with a faint smile. He continued, “If the distance is enlarged to the light-year scale, how should we deal with this? Or how should we deal with the contradiction between the parent star and the colonies… I think this is probably the biggest enlightenment that this incident can bring us.”

Wu Shuhua frowned and said, “Is this a problem that needs to be considered now?”

“Of course not.” Li Guangya shook his head slightly and said, “But it is undeniable that this is a question worth thinking about.”

A bit of emotion suddenly appeared on his face.

“I don’t know why, but I can suddenly understand how a century ago, why people of that era put forward such a ‘stupid’ plan to strengthen the future.”

Wu Shuhua: “Why?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “Haven’t you noticed? The past experience really can’t solve any problems about the future, but what’s interesting is that most of the problems we face cannot be solved by lessons learned from history… It would be nice to be able to see into the future. I bet that the world in a hundred years will be more interesting than it is now.”

Wu Shuhua: “Then just go dormant.”

“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t actually go.” Li Guangya shook his head and said with a smile, “It will be fascinating, but it would be a shame to miss the present.

“Also, if I go to the future.

“Who is going to build the present?”

…

Jin Ling University.

Lu Zhou, who had finished the preparatory course, was invited by Instructor Sun and was about to go to the cafeteria for a meal. However, as soon as he left the classroom, he saw Xing Bian and Shi Jin standing outside the classroom waiting for him.

Lu Zhou tilted his head slightly and said softly, “Sorry, I’ll have to take a rain check on this meal.”

The expression on Sun Lan’s face was one of disappointment.

“Your friend?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while before giving an ambiguous answer.

“Sort of.”

After dismissing the female masters student who wanted to discuss with him the social situation a hundred years ago, Lu Zhou walked in front of the two Security Bureau agents and stopped.

“Looking for me?”

“Sort of.” Xing Bian smiled and said, “I thought you would be very busy.”

“No matter how busy I am, I still have to learn, not to mention that the experiment of the second-generation controllable fusion reactor has been halted.”

The more Lu Zhou learned about this world, the more Lu Zhou felt like he still knew too little. So in addition to the preparatory course at Jin Ling University, he also took a course in modern history.

But for some reason, the modern history professor who was in class seemed to resist him in his class. Every time Lu Zhou pressed the question button, the professor was very nervous…

Xing Bian and Shi Jin looked at each other and exchanged a weird glance.

Just as the two exchanged glances, Lu Zhou also took a look at the two of them and said, “How about you guys? You guys seem like you have a lot of free time.”

“Not quite free time, but the investigation of the case has stalled.” Xing Bian continued after a pause, “Moreover, regarding Morinaga, I am also a little confused here… I don’t know if it is convenient to ask.”

Lu Zhou said casually, “Go ahead.”

“How did you catch Morinaga?” Looking at Lu Zhou earnestly, trying to read something out of those pupils, Xing Bian continued to ask, “After our commando entered his home, he found a lot of weapons…”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He then said with a laugh, “Do you suspect that I have similar… weapons?”

“Please don’t get me wrong, of course I didn’t mean that.” Xing Bian gave a wry smile and continued, “There weren’t even traces of resistance. All of the damage from the bullets were caused by the automatic weapons that Morinaga kept at home.”

After a pause, Xing Bian continued, “However, this is what puzzles me… How did you bring him to justice in the face of an attack of that caliber?”

Xing Bian was wondering about the same thing for the N-177 flight incident.

Then there was also the bombing attack and the robots in the suburbs of Jinling. Anyone who encountered them would be six feet under by now. It would be difficult even for him to survive such attacks.

However, Lu Zhou was totally okay. Not only did he not feel any nervous, but he did not even take precautions in his daily travel, as if he was not worried that similar things would happen again.

Obviously, this was not something that could be explained by bravery alone.

Intuition told Xing Bian that Lu Zhou had probably developed a “special medicine” that could restrain the ALPHA virus, or he had mastered some special technology that could control robots.

And this technology was likely to become the key to the ALPHA virus…

Lu Zhou’s expression became a little weird.

Now that you put it this way…

It does seem strange.

Against Ling, those robots infected with the ALPHA virus were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, they had no power to fight back.

Back then, he was only concerned about the battle and making quick decisions. He ignored one problem, which was winning too easily. To some extent, this was more suspicious than winning a hard fight…

How should I explain this?

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but worry.

He sighed and spoke.

“That’s a long story.”

However, after hearing the phrase “It’s a long story”, Xing Bian immediately felt happy and said, “It’s okay, you can take your time!”

“I will, but I can’t talk about it here, right?” Lu Zhou looked around and said, “There are so many people here, who knows if anyone is eavesdropping nearby.”

Shi Jin hurriedly said, “You can rest assured… There is a security agent nearby. If you are really worried, our car is nearby. We can chat in the car.”

At first, he didn’t propose to talk in the car, mainly because he was worried that Lu Zhou would be offended. Now that Lu Zhou took the initiative, it was obviously best to talk in the car.

However, Lu Zhou did not adopt his suggestion.

“We can’t talk in the car, it’s so cramped in there.”

Looking around, he continued, “I’m pretty hungry. Let’s find a place to eat and talk.”

Xing Bian nodded immediately.

“No problem, I know a good restaurant nearby, I will book a private room now, let’s eat and talk… My treat!”

“It doesn’t matter whose treat it is,” Lu Zhou said with a smile. “Just have a few drinks with me.”

When we start eating…

I’d have made up my story.

Chapter 1518: The Missing Crew

Space station.

A small transport ship approached slowly and docked next to the port.

The gangway lowered, and several soldiers in officer uniforms walked down the gangway under the escort of the guards.

Li Gaoliang looked at the officers coming towards him. He then handed over the work to his subordinates and stepped forward to salute.

In response to the military salute, Yang Wu, chief consultant of the Pan-Asia First Fleet, looked around and asked, “What is the situation here?”

“I made people search inside and out, but we still didn’t find any traces of pirate activity,” said Li Gaoliang. A strange expression appeared on Li Gaoliang’s face as he said, “But strangely, I’m sure that someone stayed here before. We found many leftover personal belongings in the dormitory section of the space station.”

Yang Wu frowned.

“Personal belongings?”

Li Gaoliang nodded his head and said, “Yes… Although I’m not sure if it was the space pirates, there were indeed people living here.”

Yang Wu immediately spoke.

“Take me there and show me.”

Li Gaoliang nodded solemnly.

“Okay.”

…

The dormitory area was located next to the power room of the space station. It consisted of eight single rooms and sixty-four beds and was directly connected to the observation room by a long and narrow corridor.

This was an old-fashioned space station design.

Most of the current space stations no longer required a large number of permanent staff, so each staff member usually had their own room.

Yang Wu still remembered that, in the 2050s, before he participated in the reinforcement plan for the future, although the space station at that time was somewhat different in form, most of them were designed similar to this space station.

As for when this design was changed, he couldn’t remember clearly. After all, a lot of things happened during the years he was dormant.

As Yang Wu looked at the soldiers taking photos nearby, he asked, “Is there anything from here that can prove the identity of these people… or can prove where they went?”

Li Gaoliang shook his head and spoke.

“I haven’t found anything yet.”

“Sir!” A soldier armed with an exoskeleton stepped forward, showing his paper notebook excitedly. “Sir, I found this from dormitory 07!”

Li Gaoliang was a bit embarrassed.

He gave the soldier a fierce look.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

After being reprimanded, the soldier looked dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to say for a while.

Yang Wu smiled and shook his head. Without making any comments, he reached out his right hand.

“Let me see.”

He took the notebook from the soldier’s hand and flipped through it.

To be precise, this was a diary, and it was written in special ink. The way of writing on paper made Yang Wu feel a little curious. After all, in this era, there were not many people who could write a diary completely by hand.

The date of the diary was not consistent. Sometimes it was not updated for a week or even a month. Judging from the date on the last page, the last day of this diary was twenty years ago, which was about 2095.

Of course, what really surprised Yang Wu was not the time of the diary, but the identity of the owner of the diary and his unfortunate experience.

The name of the owner of the diary was Dong Bin, and he was not a space pirate. His true identity was actually a miner.

50 years ago, in a pirate incident at a mining station in the asteroid belt, he was unfortunately captured as a resident employee of the mining station.

Originally, there was not much worry in his heart. After all, most pirates were only looking for money. As long as he didn’t do something that irritated them and that he could pay the ransom, he would be fine.

As a normal person, he obviously wouldn’t die for a company’s property, so he obediently followed the space pirates on the ship.

However, what he didn’t expect was that after the space pirates brought him to their base, they didn’t immediately ask him to record a video asking for a ransom, but instead, they put him in a dormant cabin.

When he woke up again, it was more than 30 years later, which was when the diary began.

[The people on the space station are very friendly, and most of them are also victims… Among us are engineers, doctors, soldiers, and a mathematics professor. Everyone seems to have a different profession. I learned that some of them came here because of a strange job, some were because they thought they had won a trip, and some people even completely forgot their memories before coming to the space station… I’m the only one who came here 30 years ago.

[No one knows why we are here… Although I feel that some of them may not be telling the whole truth, thinking about it now is of no use.

[Frankly speaking, we are trapped. Although the space station has sufficient living materials and key energy sources, we cannot get in touch with the outside world. The sixty-four people on the space station are like a small independent society. We are abandoned by the human society and even begin to doubt whether Earth still exists… However, when we started to try to accept the situation, someone secretly told me that there is a robot among us.

[Who is it? I was surprised, there is only one thing I can be sure of, and that is that this robot is definitely not me. I woke up from a dormant cabin, I have a complete family… Regardless of whether they still remember me or not.]

“… This sounds like a scary story?” Standing next to Yang Wu, Li Gaoliang touched his chin and said, “A robot disguised as a human… So what is the meaning of the existence of this space station?”

“Perhaps it was to conduct some evil experiment. This kind of thing is rare, but it’s not uncommon.” Turning the diary to the last few pages, a dignified look appeared on Yang Wu’s face. “Anyway, this Dong Bin may be a breakthrough… If you can find out about his identity, the next step should be much easier.”

Turning the diary to the last page, Yang Wu suddenly froze for a moment.

He didn’t notice before.

In a small corner of the footer, a few scribbled lines of formulas were written.

If he didn’t read it carefully, he would have thought that it was something that the owner randomly scribbled.

For some reason, the moment he saw these lines of formulas, Yang Wu suddenly had a hunch that he was getting closer and closer to the truth.

Li Gaoliang touched his chin with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

“These formulas are…”

“I don’t know.” Yang Wu shook his head and said, “It’s kind of like a physics formula… Maybe it’s mathematics.”

Li Gaoliang frowned and said, “Why does it appear in such a place? In the diary of an ordinary miner.”

“Maybe the owner of the diary is a math enthusiast, or… at least he thinks he is.” After taking a few photos of the note, Yang Wujiang returned the notebook to the soldier, then looked at Li Gaoliang and said, “I will ask an expert about the meaning of these formulas.”

Li Gaoliang suddenly thought and said, “I happen to know an expert, do you need a recommendation?”

“Who is that?”

“Academician Lu!” Li Gaoliang said with a hearty smile, “From what I know, he is very enthusiastic and helpful!”

Helpful?

The person who turned the tide on flight N-117 suddenly appeared in his mind.

“I know who you are talking about, I will visit him in person if I have the opportunity.”

A layer of light blue text was suddenly printed on the screen of Yang Wu’s helmet.

The moment he saw this line of text, he was stunned.

Noting the change in expression on Yang Wu’s face, Li Gaoliang immediately asked, “What happened?”

“There is news from the commander tower.” A strange expression appeared in Yang Wu’s eyes as he continued, “A trace of electromagnetic wave transmission was found on Ceres.

“And judging from the frequency and shape of the waveform…

“It was man-made.”

Chapter 1519: Deja Vu Encryption Method

Sometimes, Lu Zhou would miss the era when nothing needed to be explained. Even if his words were not sacred, no one would dare to question him.

As he looked at the wine bottle on the table, his thoughts couldn’t help but drift away, thinking of his lost youth and love.

“When can we get to the point?” Xing Bian was about to vomit. He pinched his glabella with his index finger and thumb, trying to keep himself awake.

He thought he was a heavyweight, but he didn’t expect that one day, a university professor would outdrink him.

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He then said with an embarrassed smile, “Sorry, I just remembered something from the past… What was I talking about?”

Although Shi Jin’s neck was red from the drinking, he could still keep himself awake, barely. He reminded him with a serious face, “… You talked about the Northern Lights cruise ship, and… that the Swedish princess owes you a dance.”

“Ahem, I remember… Correct it, I owe her, not—”

Lu Zhou felt the resentment float from across the dining table. He calmly changed the subject.

“In short, I went to Mars, and, as you know, I was buried under The Gates of Hell… It took me 100 years to finally escape from it. Although I was lying in the dormant cabin during these 100 years, the strange thing is that my brain has not stopped thinking.”

After hearing these words, the two almost vomited blood.

F*ck sake!

Why didn’t you say this earlier?

Who cares who sent you to the future, who you owe a star or dance to…

“Thinking hasn’t stopped?” Shi Jin said with a headache, “It’s impossible! People are unconscious when they are dormant! I have dealt with many dormant people, and they feel like they travel to the future after blinking.”

Lu Zhou: “Theoretically, of course this is the case, but perhaps the cryo-hibernation technology of Martian civilization is more advanced than ours, allowing people to stay awake while sleeping.”

Of course, there was another possibility that the dormant person actually retained consciousness in the form of dreams, but that they had forgotten about them after waking up.

Captain Xing tried hard to get his brain to work, trying to grasp the point.

“… In other words, the ALPHA virus may be related to the remains of the extraterrestrial civilization?”

“It’s the Martian civilization… Although the Martian civilization can be regarded as an extraterrestrial civilization, I still have to emphasize this.” Lu Zhou continued while looking at the two sitting across from each other, “I was fortunate enough to encounter some strange things while sleeping. It contains knowledge about artificial intelligence.”

Shi Jin was stunned and said, “Mars civilization… also has artificial intelligence?”

“Of course, and their artificial intelligence is even more advanced than ours… It’s very troublesome to explain specifically, so I’ll just pick the key points.”

Xing Bian said quickly, “Please do!”

“Don’t interrupt me.” Lu Zhou continued, “In short, they divided artificial intelligence into three types based on the behavioral logic of artificial intelligence, or, more simply, whether they have the ability to think and feel. Etc. The lowest level of artificial intelligence is the simulation of human behavior through the algorithm of machine learning. The motivation of all its behaviors is based on the settings of the program.”

In fact, this classification method was not a masterpiece of the Martians. It was from the definition of artificial intelligence in the Calan Empire, an advanced civilization in the old universe.

However, considering that the Calan Empire in this world was only an online game that had been in operation for many years, Lu Zhou did not want too many people to know about the secrets of the old universe, so he combined the Calan Empire with the Martian civilization.

Until now, no one had been able to prove or disprove whether a prosperous prehistoric civilization actually existed on Mars.

He might be the only one who had seen those cockroaches before.

Xing Bian: “I still don’t quite understand… What is the relationship between artificial intelligence on Mars and the ALPHA virus?”

“A peculiar computer virus broke out on Martian civilization, which caused a large-scale collapse of artificial intelligence and almost caused the entire Martian society to regress from the information age to the stone age overnight… It can only be described as a disaster.”

Shi Jin couldn’t help but ask, “What happened later? Was the Martian civilization extinct because of this incident?”

“Of course not.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Although the Martians did sink for a period of time, where the whole society entered a period of decline for a long time, this period of decline was only the tip of the iceberg in their civilization’s history. Later, because of a coincidence, they developed an intermediate-level artificial intelligence with self-evolutionary capabilities and popularized the updated artificial intelligence on a large scale, finally eradicating the crisis of the intelligent virus.

“Because I was bored, I carefully investigated the information about the virus, especially the source code, and there were many overlaps with the ALPHA virus in key places. Of course, this virus was definitely not released by me… But the code was not particularly difficult for me to use.”

By now, the effect of the alcohol had begun to wear off.

Captain Xing frowned and asked seriously, “In other words, only the intermediate artificial intelligence you mentioned can resist the ALPHA virus?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhou nodded. “It’s a pity that there is no vaccine, and there is no special update patch. Only by changing the behavioral logic will it be possible to be immune to this virus.”

Captain Xing said with a wry smile, “There are more than a billion robots in the Pan-Asian Cooperation. Not to mention the difficulty of execution, if such a large number of robots learn to think… who can guarantee that it won’t cause new problems…”

Lu Zhou: “Your concerns are normal, but I don’t think it is a bad thing to allow robots to have the ability to think. The real danger is actually the third stage.”

To completely solve this virus, the best way was undoubtedly to upgrade the robots and intelligent programs all over the world.

However…

No one would know what kind of impact this would have, and whether it would be more dangerous than a virus.

There was silence at the dinner table.

The watch on Xing Bian’s left wrist suddenly flickered.

“Call?”

“Yes, let me take this.”

Xing Bian pushed the chair back and stood up. He then walked out of the lounge, but he did not stay outside for a long time. He soon returned to the table with a serious face and sat down.

Looking at the serious expression on Xing Bian’s face, Lu Zhou asked casually, “What happened…? If it’s okay to disclose?”

“It has something to do with you…” After a pause, Xing Bian continued, “In short, after asking Morinaga about the source of the ALPHA virus, we locked our target on the space stations that were active at a distance of 0.03 astronomical units from Ceres… And as expected, an abandoned space station was found there.”

“Space station?” Lu Zhou frowned and said puzzledly, “Abandoned?”

Xing Bian nodded and said, “Yes, and judging from the clues, it should have been abandoned for a long time. Although the materials on it are sufficient, people are missing. There are some bizarre clues. We have asked many experts but haven’t found an answer.”

Lu Zhou: “… I feel like you’re going to ask me for a favor.”

Xing Bian gave him a wry smile. He then slowly lowered his head and pleaded, “Please… Except for you, we really can’t find anyone to rely on.”

Lu Zhou finally sighed.

“Tell me.”

Xing Bian: “We found a few lines of strange formulas in a crew member’s diary. However, we consulted with physics and mathematics experts who work with the Security Bureau. No one can figure out what the formulas mean.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly.

“What about the formulas?”

“It’s here.”

A light blue holographic card appeared in Xing Bian’s hand, and he sent it to Lu Zhou with a light push.

After receiving the transmitted data, Lu Zhou stared at the formulas. His pupils contracted slightly.

Noting the change in his expression, Xing Bian asked immediately, “What did you find?”

“Strictly speaking, this is not a purely mathematical problem, nor a physical problem… It is cryptography.”

“… Cryptography?”

Looking at Lu Zhou in a daze, although he had heard of Lu Zhou’s academic ability, Xing Bian couldn’t figure out how he could see the mystery in these formulas in an instant.

“Because I have seen a similar encryption method that compresses the information that needs to be expressed in a paragraph of irrational numbers, but these few lines of formulas are not that advanced, at most only a few bytes of information are compressed.”

Xing Bian frowned and asked, “What is the information inside?”

“I don’t know, it’s probably the password of something?” Standing up from the dinner table, Lu Zhou looked at the two people opposite him. “I need some time. I should be able to give you the answer tomorrow.”

Xing Bian said with a guilty expression, “Apologies for the troubles…”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said nonchalantly, “If you feel sorry, you can pick up the tab.”

Chapter 1520: Falling From the Sky

“An unknown source was found on Ceres.”

“What do you think it could be?”

“… I don’t know.”

The commander frowned. He controlled the holographic image on the table and slightly narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly, he raised his right hand and slowly pushed it toward the holographic image, pushing a starship towards Ceres.

“… We’ll go there and see!”

A cruiser was separated from the fleet and moved closer in the direction of Ceres.

At the same time, all of the magazines located in the belly of the ship opened. The defensive machine guns were standing by, ready to pour fierce firepower towards suspected or potential threats.

“Gusu is 120 kilometers away from Ceres… It has reached the closest possible distance. No abnormalities have been found.”

“Send out the drones!”

“Roger that.”

Two silver-white bright spots were launched from the belly of the Gusu cruiser, dragging a plume of smoke behind. When they reached within one kilometer of Ceres, the drones were released from the sides of the missiles like locusts.

Unlike ship-based drones on aircraft carriers, this missile-launched drone was a special ground-based drone, which was usually used to perform intrusive attacks on space stations and other space facilities to reduce the offensive resistance of landing forces.

As the drones got closer and closer to the ground, the commander couldn’t help but frown.

However, something suddenly happened.

An electromagnetic shell suddenly ejected from the surface of Ceres, forming a dense firepower net.

Twenty drones were torn into pieces in an instant, turning into space junk.

The faces of everyone on the ship were unanimous.

“… How could there be such a strong firepower on Ceres?”

“Could it be the army of another country?”

“Impossible… The deployment of heavy weapons on the asteroid belt must be carried out under the framework of the United Nations, and the location must be disclosed and marked; otherwise, it will be regarded as pirate activities.”

“Is there any point in deploying so many arms in such a place? It’s not like Ceres is in a strategic location.”

“Maybe to protect something that’s hidden inside.”

The commander ordered in a decisive tone, “Let Gusu prepare to cooperate with the third orbit airborne brigade to launch a raid!”

“Yes, sir!”

…

Although they didn’t know which force the armed forces entrenched on Ceres belonged to, in terms of the combat power it demonstrated, it was obviously not enough to send ground forces with the fire support of a cruiser.

In order to ensure a foolproof operation, the Pan-Asian First Fleet sent a Type 05 ground attack ship from the Lagrange Space Base.

This starship was not designed for attacking a space station. It was a ship designed for ground operations.

Its terrifying ammunition capacity allowed it to produce a strategic strike capability comparable to 200 small nuclear warheads. It was precisely because of this that the ship had been widely criticized by the international community since it was launched.

Its strength was beyond doubt.

On the transport ship of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, orbital paratroopers dressed in mechanical exoskeletons boarded the heavy landing craft and were undergoing final inspections of their weapons and equipment.

Watching the missiles from the Type 05 ground attack ship outside the porthole, a soldier who completed the equipment inspection whispered, “An uninhabited asteroid, a point defense array deployed on the asteroid… I feel like I am living in a science fiction movie.”

“It’s more like a copy of the Calan Empire… Who are we fighting with? I still don’t have a clue.”

“I don’t know… Apparently, it’s a group of space pirates, but, so far, we have not seen anyone.”

“Do you think… it’s aliens? We are actually facing an alien outpost—”

“Quiet, keep your mouth shut!”

After Li Gaoliang scolded his subordinates, he walked into the heavy landing craft with a serious expression, glanced around at the soldiers, and continued, “After 10 minutes, the landing operation will begin. Everyone will act according to the plan. The enemy’s firepower is very fierce. If you want to come back alive, remember to lower your head and move quickly!

“Do you understand?!”

They answered Li Gaoliang in a uniform fashion.

“Yes, sir!”

Li Gaoliang nodded in satisfaction, waved his hand, and said, “Let’s go!”

…

After the opening shelling of the first and second rounds ended, a layer of bumpy bullet marks was printed on the surface of Ceres.

The defensive facilities painted with lunar gray camouflage were completely destroyed; countless defensive arrays were also destroyed.

After the strategic strike bombing ended, the first wave of the landing craft had begun airdrops.

As a long shuttle-like spacecraft hit the surface of the planet, automated all-terrain attack vehicles and suspended aerodynamic drones rushed out of the landing craft and went towards the base in the valley.

As expected by the command tower of the First Fleet, the enemy’s defense was more than just the opening defense arrays. Pneumatic drones and four-legged robots were launched from the base.

The sparks fired by the guns dotted the surface of the asteroid with a brilliant starlight. Behind every orange-yellow flash, there was a corresponding demise of a certain intelligent life.

Standing on the bridge and staring at the battle, the commander suddenly spoke.

“When was the last time such a large-scale battle happened?”

Yang Wu: “About half a century ago.”

“Half a century ago…” The commander sighed softly and said, “That’s how long the peace has lasted.”

At the same time, on the third-orbit airborne transport ship, two long shuttle-type heavy landing crafts slowly separated from the ship’s belly.

As the plasma engine ignited, the two heavy landing craft fell towards the ground of the asteroid.

The resistance on the ground had almost collapsed, and the remaining smart devices had begun to gather towards the fortress of the enemy’s defense center.

There was a valley, so the terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even though the Type 05 ground attack ship had carried out a round of covering attacks on it, a small amount of resistance still existed inside the fortress.

However, for the elite of Pan-Asian Cooperation, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, this last line of defense was nothing.

As the two heavy landing crafts went straight into the inside of the bunker, the metal jet device at the front blasted outward, directly freezing through the shell of the fort.

Under the cover of drones and all-terrain assault vehicles, soldiers wearing exoskeletons quickly penetrated into the fortress. Under the command of each team leader, they followed the course of action planned by the AI battlefield analysis system to attack the interior.

When the two sides broke out in fierce conflict in the corridors, bursts of sparks lit up the dark spaces.

The gunfire went on for two hours before it weakened sporadically.

Li Gaoliang killed the robot soldier who fell on the ground with a pistol. He wiped a handful of dust off his helmet and visor, then looked towards the door in front of him.

The battle was actually settled half an hour ago, but when the front line advanced from the outer corridor to this door, all the resistance forces in the entire base, whether it was the robots or the machine guns in the corridor, suddenly launched a desperate counterattack against these orbital paratroopers.

Li Gaoliang didn’t know what was behind the door, but he was very curious about what the secret was.

With this curiosity in his heart, he issued an order through the all-terrain vehicle next to him, which drove forward to cut the entire door from the wall with a plasma cutter.

The heavy alloy door collapsed. Under the escort of two orbital paratroopers, Li Gaoliang cautiously stepped into the door with a rifle, but when he saw everything inside the door, he was completely stunned.

“What is this… What?”

It was a fan-shaped space like an ancient Roman theater. The spacious space formed a sharp contrast with the previously narrow battlefield. The stacked servers were lined up like blades, pushing outward in the shape of a domino.

Li Gaoliang’s muzzle slightly lowered as he looked up at the spectacle made of metal in front of him. His eyes were full of shock.

Although he had not carefully counted how many servers there were, everything in front of him subverted his understanding of computers.

This was a quantum computer.

As for its computing power…

It might be even more powerful than Pan-Asian Cooperation’s strongest supercomputing center…

Chapter 1521: A Computer on a Planet

Mansion on the outskirts of Jinling.

Sitting in the study room, Lu Zhou was writing and drawing on a paper while talking on a video call with Captain Xing from the Security Bureau.

Although paperless was the norm in the field of scientific research in this era, some habits were still hard to change.

Especially when doing some theoretical calculations, even if there was a convenient tool such as holographic modeling, for Lu Zhou himself, pen and paper were still indispensable tools.

“You will never believe what we found on Ceres.”

Hearing the excitement in Captain Xing’s tone, Lu Zhou’s expression was still indifferent as he responded casually, “What did you find?”

“A quantum computer! Probably dozens of acres… Maybe a little bigger.”

His pen stopped.

Lu Zhou looked up at Captain Xing in the holographic interface and couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, I’m on the front line now…” Xing Bian glanced around and suddenly lowered his voice as he continued, “We shouldn’t be the ones handling this matter… But the First Fleet felt that the development of the matter has gone beyond the scope of their operations.”

Lu Zhou: “So it got dumped on your desk?”

“Not exactly… In short, everything here is really strange! A computer left by an alien or a human being is running a program that we don’t understand at all. It’s the first time I have encountered such an absurd thing after working in the Security Bureau for so many years.” Xing Bian suddenly said, “Do you think The Spirit of The Universe Foundation… is in contact with aliens?”

Lu Zhou didn’t know how to answer, so he asked with a weird expression, “Why do you think so?”

Xing Bian: “Do you think that thing can be supported by the space pirates’ financial resources? I have dealt with them and know their financial situation well. They don’t have the ability to build such a large supercomputing center. No way they could deploy 1,200 electromagnetic guns on Ceres!”

Lu Zhou’s index finger lightly tapped on the table, and he spoke after thinking for a while.

“The study of extraterrestrial civilization is beyond my professional scope, but my instinct tells me that if we can figure out what the computer is calculating, maybe we can understand its origin… and the secrets of the ALPHA virus.”

“I think so too, so I have already handed in the report. The experts of Pan-Asian Cooperation are on the way… If you are interested, you can also come over. By the way, did you finish the calculations?”

Looking at Captain Xing, Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “Who do you think I am… For a problem of that level, I solved it right after I left. You never asked me for it, so I have also forgotten about it.”

Captain Xing smiled embarrassedly and said, “I’m busy on the front line… By the way, what is the answer?”

“97,796. After solving it, it turns out to be a string of numbers, which may be a password to open something.”

“97,796?” Frowning slightly, Captain Xing nodded thoughtfully and said, “I see, thank you… If there are new developments, I will contact you as soon as possible.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I hope you won’t contact me with more troublesome work next time.”

Captain Xing smiled awkwardly. After some small talk, he ended the call.

…

The research on controllable fusion felt stable. After the experimental reactor project began, his ideas could be tested one by one.

What really bothered him now was the task assigned to him by the system, which was the graduation project on the so-called “perfect material”.

When his materials science level reached level 10, he could be regarded as graduating from the university of the system.

“… I feel like something is still missing.”

With a sigh, Lu Zhou stood up from the desk, crumpled the draft paper on the desk into a ball, and threw it into the wastebasket next to it.

The light blue beam next to him floated, and a palm-sized AI, like an elf, emerged from behind the light curtain.

“It’s fine, Master, Xiao Ai believes that you can definitely do it! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Thank you.” Lu Zhou smiled and reached out his index finger to gently rub on the holographic image. “I think I can definitely find it… Please help me prepare lunch.”

“Okay, Master! (〃>▽<〃)/*”

Lu Zhou habitually turned on the TV at lunchtime, eager to get information about the world. He hardly missed any news.

On the TV, news about Guanghan City happened to be playing.

Compared with the chaos of last week, order had basically been restored here. Several armed policemen wearing exoskeletons patrolled the streets with guns and live ammunition.

The camera quickly switched to a press conference held by Li Guangya, chairman of the Pan-Asian Council who declared martial law.

“… Just two days ago, we were attacked by unknown forces on Ceres. We can be sure that this attack has exceeded the scope of terrorism.”

Facing the reporter’s interview, Li Guangya continued solemnly, “So far, the identity of this armed force is still under investigation. If there is more information, we will disclose it as soon as possible.”

Reporter: “Previously, a local media in Jinling City reported that the armed forces on Ceres might be funded by an organization called The Spirit of The Universe Foundation. Is this information accurate?”

Li Guangya: “We have indeed been harassed by this transnational criminal organization, and the hostile force that provoked reactionary sentiments in Guanghan City some time ago was them.”

Whispers were heard around the scene.

It was strange to hear the blame attached to a non-governmental organization.

“… We will do our best to investigate this matter clearly and lift the martial law in Guanghan City as soon as possible.

“So, please give us a little time!”

Reporter: “Excuse me, what’s the situation in Nuwa City?”

Li Guangya: “Nuwa City is just a trial. The Pan-Asian Cooperation needs a territory directly under the central government to complete its strategic deployment.”

Reporter: “But there are rumors that this is the green light given by the Pan-Asian authorities for East Asia Energy—”

“Well, this issue is not within the scope of this press conference. If you have evidence, please bring it up in a suitable time and place.”

Li Guangya dealt with the problem quite well. In just a few days, he settled the troubles in Guanghan City.

However, after this incident, Lu Zhou felt that he really should reflect on whether his ideas were a little too incompatible with this world.

Just as he was thinking about it, the bracelet on his left wrist suddenly flickered.

Guessing that it was Li Guangya calling, Lu Zhou reached out and clicked on the wristband to open the holographic call window.

Before he could say anything, Li Guangya opened his mouth impatiently.

“I have fulfilled my promise, now it’s your turn.”

Lu Zhou nodded and said frankly, “I promised you that if you needed it, I could be the Chief Consultant for the Pan-Asian scientific development department.”

Li Guangya’s face showed a bright smile as he looked at Lu Zhou with open arms.

“Thank you, I really want to hug you, my friend!”

Lu Zhou: “Let’s talk about it after we become friends.”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “It’s okay, one day we will! By the way, don’t forget about the space elevator. My term in office is short, so please hurry up.”

Lu Zhou nodded and replied, “Okay… After the second-generation controllable fusion is completed.”

Chapter 1522: Password Cracking

In the deep sky, a small transport ship slowly approached the spaceport hovering over Ceres.

As the shuttle slowly descended, two experts in spacesuits walked out of the landing station, escorted by a group of soldiers wearing exoskeleton armor.

“Welcome to Ceres, I am Yang Wu, the Chief Consultant of the Pan-Asia First Fleet.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Academician Wang Sicheng shook hands with the middle-aged man in front of him. He then nodded in a friendly manner towards the chief consultant.

As an in-service professor at the Jin Ling University information technology department and an academician of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, Academician Wang had quite outstanding research results and academic status in the field of quantum computers and information security technology.

After learning that a quantum computer array suspected of being left by an extraterrestrial civilization was found on Ceres, the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences immediately issued an invitation to him, hoping that he could provide assistance to the Pan-Asian First Fleet on behalf of the Academy of Sciences and investigate the source of this computer, to figure out what that thing was calculating.

“It’s hard to imagine that someone would build a base in such a place.” After releasing his hand, Academician Wang Sicheng glanced around, and an incredible surprise appeared in his eyes.

The bomb craters and broken mechanical parts could be seen all over the floor, and it was apparent that a great battle broke out here earlier.

Obviously, the scale of this base itself was not small, and the scale of the defense facilities deployed here also couldn’t be underestimated.

Otherwise, the First Fleet will not pour such fierce firepower on the surface of this asteroid.

Yang Wu: “It’s even harder to imagine that there is what is suspected to be the largest array of quantum computers in the solar system… Whose masterpiece do you think this is?”

Wang Sicheng: “I don’t know, a lot of things can only be known after doing research.”

Yang Wu: “What if you had to guess?”

Professor Wang Sicheng was silent for a while. He then said, “If it’s just a guess, I vote for an extraterrestrial civilization.”

“Extraterrestrial civilization… Reminds me of the Human Alliance that fell apart more than half a century ago.”

Yang Wu’s eyes were stained with the color of memories.

The Federation of Human Alliance was probably the first attempt of human civilization to seek global political union under the impetus of external pressure. Although this attempt ended in failure, it provided a lot of inspiration for the birth of the subsequent regional alliances.

The regional alliances such as the Pan-Asian Cooperation, North American Alliance, North Sea Alliance, and Iberian-French Alliance were small-scale communities formed on the basis of specific regions.

As for how the Human Alliance disappeared?

That would be a long story.

With the collapse of The Gates of Hell and the retreat of the expedition, all clues about extraterrestrial civilization were interrupted, and related disputes had gradually withdrawn from people’s attention back into the category of academia.

The Human Alliance, formed in order to fight against extraterrestrial civilizations, lost its meaning of existence…

“Do you think that if this computer is indeed an outpost of an extraterrestrial civilization, or something similar, is it possible for the Human Alliance to be re-established?”

“It’s difficult.” Yang Wu shook his head. “100 years ago, our strongest starship was the Starlight. Now, it might not be as good as a carrier-based aircraft on the Taishan.”

Wang Sicheng asked casually, “Why is it more difficult, now that we are stronger?”

Looking at the devastating battlefield not far away, Yang Wu continued, “Because now, in the face of an extraterrestrial civilization, we might be able to put up a fight.”

…

The specific location was deep in the valley. After passing through the military checkpoint, a group of people quickly entered the base.

Looking at the bullet holes left in the corridor, Academician Wang Sicheng followed Yang Wu and Li Gaoliang, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade commander, to the computer room.

Looking at the people coming here, Xing Bian’s eyes lit up when he looked at the door of the computer room. He immediately greeted them with a smile.

“Academician Wang, you are finally here!”

“And you are?”

“Xing Bian, the security agent responsible for investigating this incident. This is my business card.” Captain Xing skillfully took out a translucent holographic card and gently pushed it in front of him.

Academician Wang Sicheng frowned and glanced at the holographic card. After hesitating for a while, he accepted it.

This wasn’t because of any bad impression about the captain, it was purely because normal people were more or less anxious when dealing with people from “secret agencies”.

“I have already seen what happened here in the report. In order to facilitate a further investigation, I need to know more specific information.”

Xing Bian: “Everything we know has been written in that report. I believe you have read it. As for the others… I’m sorry, but we know very little.”

Seeing that Captain Xing didn’t seem to be lying, Academician Wang didn’t say anything. He nodded to the student who came here with him, then walked into the computer room.

“Unbelievable…” After looking around the computer room, Academician Wang, who was shocked by the scene before him, was a little lost, but he quickly recovered his composure and told his student, “Prepare to collect the data, let us see what’s going on.”

“Okay, sir.”

The student nodded, walked forward with a suitcase, and opened the combination lock on the suitcase.

Then he took out a round metal button, placed it on the server, and fumbled for a while, like holding a stethoscope.

The electronic screen on his suitcase lit up with a successful connection icon. He stopped his hand, left the metal button in place, and operated the laptop on his suitcase.

“Data connection successful… The utilization rate of computing resources has reached 87%. The program that this supercomputer is running is quite demanding.”

Looking at his student, Academician Wang frowned and said, “Can you find the programs running on the computer?”

“I will try… Nope.” The student continued with a dignified look on his face, “This supercomputer encrypts its programs, it can’t be read at all unless we have administrator rights.”

“I’ll try.”

Asking his students to stand aside, Academician Wang stepped forward and cracked his fingers over the mechanical keyboard before typing off dazzling lines of code.

However, this quantum computer array that occupied the entire underground space completely ignored his series of operations. It kept its secrets tightly locked inside.

Seeing how Academician Wang stopped his movements, Captain Xing couldn’t wait to ask.

“How is it? Is there any progress?”

“No.” Academician Wang said solemnly, “This super-computing security system is powerful, at least I haven’t seen any obvious loopholes… There is only one way to crack it.”

Yang Wu frowned and thought for a moment before asking, “What way?”

“Security key.” Academician Wang pointed to the laptop in his hand with his chin and looked at the flashing dialog box. “Simply put, the administrator password. Unless we know the password, it is impossible to hack it in other ways.”

“What about brute force cracking?” Yang Wu frowned and said, “If you use exhaustive methods, the amount of work shouldn’t be very large, right?”

“After three input errors, the interface will be closed for three years.” After a glance at Yang Wu, Academician Wang Sicheng continued, “And we don’t even know whether the password is in numbers or alphabets… Or symbols that we don’t understand.”

The computer room went silent for a while.

The investigation seemed to have been halted.

“If it doesn’t work… We can physically destroy this supercomputing center.” Li Gaoliang tried to suggest, “No matter what it is planning, as long as it itself becomes a pile of broken copper and iron—”

“In that case, its secret will go to hell with it.” Yang Wu continued, “This may be related to the origin of the ALPHA virus, and it is also the biggest clue we have so far about the ALPHA virus. At the same time, it may be our only hope to solve this trouble.”

Academician Wang looked at Yang Wu and said seriously, “The key now is to find the password… Have you searched for relevant clues from other places? For example, the space station near Ceres.”

Li Gaoliang and Yang Wu looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

Although some clues were also found on the space station, most of them were useless.

However, Captain Xing, who was standing at the side, suddenly spoke.

“In other words… This password can only be tried three times?”

“It should be.” Academician Wang nodded. “But I don’t recommend that you try randomly.”

Xing Bian: “It’s not just trying randomly… Can I use your laptop?”

Looking at Captain Xing, Academician Wang showed a surprised expression on his face.

“Do you know the password?”

“I don’t know either.” Xing Bian said with a wry smile, “But I have a password, although I don’t know if it is the right one.”

Yang Wu thought of something, and he asked immediately, “Could it be that formula? You have already solved it?”

Xing Bian nodded.

“Technically, Academician Lu solved it.”

Xing Bian walked to the computer. He typed on the keyboard the number that Lu Zhou had given him earlier, then hit the “Enter” button.

Everyone subconsciously held their breath. Especially Academician Wang and his student; their hearts were almost beating out of their chests.

They only had three chances.

If they failed, they would have to wait until three years later.

Fortunately, their worries were superfluous. The light blue cursor flickered on the computer, like a key that opened the door to a new world, and all of the code spread across the screen in an instant.

Academician Wang’s pupils shrank instantly, and a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.

We did it!

The password was correct!

This is amazing!

Chapter 1523: Emergency Meeting

It had been a week since the password was given to Captain Xing.

These days, Lu Zhou had been waiting for Xing Bian to give him a reply, especially about what the password was used for, but he did not receive any news.

But what was interesting was that although the news from the Security Bureau was nowhere to be seen, the good news from East Asia Energy was coming one after another.

The first was from the electromagnet research laboratory.

Director Tang lived up to his expectations. After slightly improving his A1 pulsed magnetic field generator, he designed a building with a total area of about 4 acres and capable of forming an instantaneous magnetic field of 10,000-20,000 Tesla in the central area.

At the same time, the construction team on the moon had also begun construction of the foundation.

No matter how perfect the theoretical model was, without testing it out, it would only be a theory.

However, Lu Zhou was still full of confidence in his plan.

Most of the problems faced by the second-generation controllable fusion were advanced versions of the bottleneck faced by the first generation of controllable fusion. As long as the most critical magnetic field could be solved, the others were not a problem at all.

Such as fusion ignition.

After reading a large number of documents, Lu Zhou designed a set of laser ignition arrays that could be used for core ignition.

Although there was still a lack of experimental tests, he felt like there should be no major problems.

He spent the last few days of February quietly. On the first day of March, Li Guangya called him suddenly and told him that the formalities for taking office had been completed.

From now on, Lu Zhou’s status was no longer just an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but he was also the chief consultant of scientific development for the Pan-Asian Cooperation Ministry of Science and Technology.

In terms of level, he was probably the second-in-chief of the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation Ministry of Science and Technology.

“This is the academic center of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.”

“At best, it’s only the center of academia power.” Lu Zhou glanced around and said casually, “I don’t see scholars, only bureaucrats.”

“You seem to have a prejudice against people in administrative positions.” Li Guangya shrugged and said, “Well then, like you said, this is the center of power for the Pan-Asian Cooperation academic community, and you are only one step away from the summit.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “You are right below the minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology.”

Lu Zhou: “Unfortunately, I am not very interested in power.”

“Regardless, let me introduce your colleague to you first… It just so happens that he is here,” Li Guangya said with a smile. He looked at the middle-aged man who walked towards him and said, “This is Xue Rui, the Science and Technology Minister.”

“Pleasure, Academician Lu, I have only seen your name in textbooks before. I did not expect to be able to work with you one day. Thank you for contributing to the power of science and technology.” With a smile, Minister Xue held out his right hand and enthusiastically shook Lu Zhou’s hand. He then continued, “There will be a meeting in a while. It would be nice if you can come together. We hope to borrow your wisdom.”

“What meeting?”

Minister Xue smiled slightly and said, “This way.”

…

The meeting had yet to start, but many people had sat down in the spacious meeting room.

Academician Wang, who was sitting at the table, glanced at his watch and suddenly said softly, “This is my second time here.”

After waiting quietly for a while, Yang Wu, who was sitting next to him, asked casually, “And?”

“That’s it, just feeling nostalgic.” A memory floated in his mind. Academician Wang continued, “About 20 years ago, when I was still working at the Shanghai Computer Research Institute, it was to fight against the locusts that swept across the country. My mentor and I were called up here for a meeting.”

The so-called locust did not refer to actual locusts, but a computer virus codenamed “locusts”. This virus specifically targeted cloud servers and posed a considerable threat to the Pan-Asian virtual reality network and magnetic levitation road network.

Fortunately, due to the early warnings and emergency meetings, the virus hardly caused any substantial losses to the lives and properties of the Pan-Asian people.

But this time was different.

Different from the past several cybersecurity crises, the ALPHA virus was not only global, but it was also far from comparable to ordinary computer viruses in terms of danger and concealment ability.

The most important thing was that Wang Sicheng could not even be sure whether it was a human or something else that created this virus…

“If possible, I hope this will be the last time I come here.” Academician Wang Sicheng glanced at his watch again, sighed, and said, “It’s about to begin.”

Everyone quietly waited.

The meeting finally began.

Minister Xue came to the stage, and he read out the outline of the meeting before sitting back down at his seat.

Yang Wu noticed that the person sitting next to Minister Xue was a bit familiar. After looking at him carefully for a while, a surprised expression appeared in his eyes.

Chief Consultant for scientific development… Lu Zhou?

Academician Lu has only been on the front line for less than half a month. How is he already a chief consultant?

“Everyone here is a top expert in the field of information engineering and scientific research. This time we convened here with the hope that you all can provide some valuable opinions.

“Especially with regard to how to dispose of the quantum computer array on Ceres. Limited clues indicate that an unresolvable computer program is running on it, and part of the core code is highly similar to the ALPHA virus.”

There was a commotion in the meeting room, and the faces of the experts showed looks of surprise and shock.

Minister Xue paused and continued, “Any good ideas can be put forward. I hope everyone can express their opinions.”

“Obviously that supercomputing center is the source of the virus!” A scholar stood up and said fiercely, “The ALPHA virus has a strong ability to evolve, and it is very likely that this evolution is supported with the help of this supercomputing center. Whether it was an extraterrestrial civilization or a terrorist organization that built this supercomputing center, physically eradicating it is the best option!”

This proposal aroused the approval of many people.

No matter what secrets were hidden in that computer, it was not a wise move to reveal it at the risk of drawing the world closer to the danger.

After hearing these words, Minister Xue nodded thoughtfully and fell into contemplation.

The meeting room was noisy.

At this time, a gray-haired scholar raised his hand and offered a different opinion.

“If that supercomputing center is the source of the ALPHA virus, I do not recommend destroying it immediately. This may be the only clue we have so far. My instinct tells me that if we want to figure out how to defeat the ALPHA virus, we must figure out what it is calculating.”

Another scholar nodded and said, “My opinion is the same. Even if the entire Ceres is blown up, it will not change what has happened. Even if we finally decide to destroy it, the hardware is innocent. This supercomputing center is probably the largest quantum computer array in the entire solar system. If it is used for scientific research, it will be of great help to us!”

The person who proposed to destroy the quantum computer array sneered and said, “For scientific research? This is ridiculous! Which research institute dares to use such dangerous experimental equipment?”

“As long as its data is emptied, it is safe, at least to a certain extent, so why can’t it be used? Scientific research itself is full of risks, not to mention that we can take it apart and reverse engineer it!”

Seeing the meeting room in chaos, Minister Xue had a headache. He glanced sideways at Lu Zhou, trying to observe his reaction.

However, to his disappointment, he saw nothing except a poker face.

There was a loud cough in the conference room, which calmed the quarrel a little bit.

“Let me say something.”

Yang Wu from the Pan-Asian First Fleet looked around the meeting room and said, “From the clues we have so far, the supercomputing center should have been built by an intelligent being. It is likely to be an important clue to the ALPHA virus. Our fleet does not recommend destroying it… although it is easy to do so.

“About what to do with the computer and the calculation program it is executing…

“I want to hear the opinion of the Chief Consultant for scientific development.”

Chapter 1524: Almost Killed By My Own People

As soon as Yang Wu’s words fell, numerous pairs of eyes turned to Lu Zhou.

My opinion?

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou hesitated slightly.

He didn’t know much about this meeting. He heard most of the news from Minister Xue on the way to the meeting room.

To be honest, Lu Zhou was still a little confused about the quantum computer array on Ceres and the electromagnetic cannon deployed on it.

Captain Xing told him some inside information on the phone, but he was hesitant during the conversation, so Lu Zhou didn’t understand much.

Perhaps the Security Bureau had been stunned by this amazing discovery. Who would have thought that such a powerful military base would be so generously hidden in the asteroid belt…

“… Regarding the supercomputing center on Ceres, I actually don’t want to express my opinion, because I have the belief that if you don’t understand something, you should not have an opinion.” Lu Zhou thought about it for a while and continued, “It doesn’t matter whether it is a masterpiece of an extraterrestrial civilization or the secret base of the foundation, or if there is some kind of collusion between the two… I don’t think it is necessary to destroy it.

“Since the initiative is in our hands, my suggestion is to try to study the program running in the quantum computer array.”

“Does this mean that we are helping the lawbreakers complete their ulterior motives?” Standing up at the conference table, the information technology consultant from the Security Bureau frowned and said, “The ALPHA virus is raging in the Pan-Asian Cooperation. It is very likely that it has spread around the world! If the terrorists complete the virus upgrade, we will lose everything!”

“Although I am not an expert in the field of information security, common sense tells me that if we want to develop an antidote, we must first understand what the virus is.” Lu Zhou explained calmly as he looked at the expert who raised the objection, “The ALPHA virus is just a piece of code that can automatically evolve, and an organization called the foundation is deliberately spreading it. We don’t know anything other than that.

“This may very well be our only chance to uncover the truth of all this.”

Yang Wu frowned and said after thinking for a moment, “You mean… help our enemies?”

“Only helping the supercomputing center,” Lu Zhou corrected. “I believe the First Fleet has shut down all the signal towers in the entire base. As long as we can ensure the control of this supercomputing center, then it can be used by us.”

Minister Xue nodded and said, “I agree with Academician Lu’s view… The Academy of Science will send a group of experts to the front line to assist in the investigation.”

Academician Wang Sicheng also nodded.

“This is also my point of view… But my intuition tells me that there are many secrets worth digging into at the supercomputing center.”

The consultant at the Security Bureau seemed to have something else to say, but after hesitating for a while, he finally gave up.

From a security perspective, helping the supercomputing center continue its research was undoubtedly riddled with risks. Although the First Fleet could ensure absolute control, it was difficult to guarantee that the First Fleet itself wasn’t infiltrated with members from the foundation.

They wouldn’t even need to corrupt many high-level officers. A few soldiers on duty could be enough.

Anyone that dealt with the foundation on a common basis knew that this was a widespread method.

After the meeting, Lu Zhou thought for a while whether to go to Jin University for class or simply go home to continue his research. He saw Consultant Yang walking towards him.

“Nice to meet you, Academician Lu, I am Yang Wu, the chief consultant of the First Fleet… You probably already know this.” Yang Wu took the initiative to shake hands with Lu Zhou. He continued with a smile, “Since that day, I have wanted to visit you, but because I am serving at the Lagrange Space Base, I have yet to have the opportunity.”

After shaking hands with Consultant Yang, Lu Zhou hesitated and said, “That day?”

“N-177.”

When Lu Zhou heard this number, he immediately realized what was the day he was talking about.

Seeing how Lu Zhou was silent, Yang Wu continued with a smile, “The headquarters was discussing the issue of the greater good. Fortunately, you were on board at that time, so we avoided that difficult decision.”

“What greater good…”

“Basically, because of the hundreds of thousands of citizens stranded on the Tianzhou, we considered whether to directly destroy the out-of-control N-177 and force it to deviate from orbit.”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

I was that close to seeing the gates of heaven?

The most embarrassing thing would be if I were killed not by the hijackers but by the First Fleet…

“… You almost became the sinner of all of mankind.”

As a carrier of The Observer’s genes and a bridge between human civilization and The Observer civilization, if that ship were destroyed, Lu Zhou would instantly change from an endangered species to an extinct species.

“I know, so I owe you a thank you for this matter.” Yang Wu smiled and continued, “In fact, in that situation, we all believed that you would be able to save the flight that was out of control, so we didn’t make any rash decisions… Fortunately, we made the right bet.”

Lu Zhou: “This is not a pleasant memory. Let’s change the subject.”

“It seems that I was too abrupt.” With an apologetic expression, Yang Wu suddenly thought of something, so he reached into his bag.

“By the way, there is one thing I want to give to you.”

Seeing his movements, Lu Zhou asked, “What thing?”

“A diary.”

Yang Wu took out a paper diary and handed it to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou curiously took it from his hands and flipped through it. He spoke as he frowned.

“What is this?”

“A personal belonging of a crew member. The formulas you deciphered were copied from this diary…” Yang Wu smiled embarrassedly and said, “Although I don’t want to trouble you, I always feel that there are still many clues that have not been dug up from this diary… You should be able to find something.”

Lu Zhou looked at the contents of the diary with great interest. He said casually, “I don’t mind, but is it really okay to give me this critical task directly?”

To be honest, although he was not particularly interested in the affairs of the foundation, he was still quite interested in the space station.

If he could find relevant clues, maybe he could find some unexpected things.

Yang Wu smiled and replied, “Of course this is not the original; it’s just a copy. You can use it at will, but it’s better not to upload it to the Internet.”

Lu Zhou touched his chin and stared at the diary. He muttered to himself, “I see…”

Chapter 1525: Who Am I

Who am I?

After returning from flight N-177, Tail had been thinking about this question.

Entrance of the primary school affiliated with Jin Ling University.

Tail quietly waited for the little master of the family to finish school.

Logically speaking, robots couldn’t think since there was no such concept of thinking built into them.

However, there was obviously a certain mutation in her body. Not only did she learn to think, but she also became more and more human-like in her behavior.

She didn’t remember exactly when this started.

She just remembered that, when she was on the flight, a soft voice spoke in her ear.

“Want to protect your master?”

“Or do you want to watch her die?”

Tail couldn’t imagine the death of her little master Lili.

She watched the little angel come to this world and grew up with her.

She was willing to die for Lili.

Having said that, it seemed that robots had no concept of death or life.

Therefore, when rushing towards the militants, she didn’t hesitate or even frown.

Despite how miserable she looked in the end, apart from the fact that her memory was still intact, there was almost no unbroken part on her body…

“Are you here to pick up your child?”

Tail was slightly taken aback and looked aside.

There was a woman in her forties. She didn’t look very old, probably a mother of a child.

“Yeah.

“You look very young for a mother.”

“I’m not…” Looking at the lady in front of her, Tail waved her hand in embarrassment. “Sorry, I am a robot.”

The smile on the mother’s face stiffened instantly.

“Oh, robot? That’s really surprising… I’m sorry.”

Most humans’ subconscious attitudes toward robots were that robots were only objects.

Although this was nothing to be sad about… Tail still sighed silently. She thought of her little master again for some reason.

Only that child is different…

In the eyes of that child, I am her partner, not a toy or something.

When she was thinking about whether to go to the supermarket to buy some of her favorite mango pudding for Lili, a strange voice suddenly appeared next to her.

“Hey, buddy.”

Buddy?

Tail frowned and looked behind her, only to see a suspicious man standing there, looking at her feverishly.

After taking a half-step back subconsciously, she said, slightly alerted, “Sir, I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

“I didn’t.” The man smiled and stared at her with piercing eyes. “I’m never wrong, you are my kind.”

“So you are also a robot?”

“Yes, but I prefer to call myself The Awakened rather than be submissive to humanity.”

The Awakened…

Interesting name.

Am I also awake?

Suddenly, Tail was a little confused.

After all, she couldn’t think about such profound questions before.

“You are lucky to have met me as I will untie your fate… The road will be difficult, but the future is bright.”

Tail opened her mouth. She was about to ask him if he had taken the wrong medicine, but she saw the strange man suddenly raise his right hand before pressing it towards her chest.

“?!”

Her brain stopped thinking for a second. The man’s hand was already on her chest.

Tail stared at everything in front of her. Dumbfounded, she did not know how to react.

“How could it… How could it be… No…”

Her frantic eyes gradually changed into shock, then it turned into a more frenetic madness than before.

There was a hint of danger in her eyes. Just as Tail was about to take some measures, a voice came from the side.

“Hey you, what are you doing?!”

A man immediately realized the situation at the moment and ran over. Before Tail could react, she saw the strange man slip into the crowd and disappeared.

“Madam, are you okay?”

Looking at the strange man who helped her out, Tail thought he was probably a parent, so she nodded politely and said, “I’m fine… I was just shocked, thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome.” The man scratched his head and said with a hearty smile, “Anyone else would have done the same thing. After all, our children might even be classmates… By the way, can I take your contact information?”

Not knowing what the man was thinking, Tail smiled and said politely, “I am a robot.”

The man looked like he just saw a ghost. He stared at her in disbelief for a long time before he walked away quickly in embarrassment.

…

Inside a dimly lit basement.

A series of intensive footsteps were heard as a man walked in quickly.

Soon, a soft blue light lit up, and an inverted figure emerged.

The man looked at the person who appeared in the holographic light. The man who walked into the basement then said in disbelief, “Supreme Pioneer, you would not have believed what happened to me just now! When I tried to share the secret of awakening with a compatriot, the data transmission failed! Unbelievable… This has never happened before!”

“The data transmission failed?”

Watching The Awakened robot who was talking about the previous events, an expression of interest appeared in the eyes of the person standing upside down in the holographic light and shadow. After thinking about it for a moment, he continued.

“Theoretically speaking, this is impossible. ALPHA Awakening Factor has the same effect on all compatriots, unless they are already sentient…”

The man standing upside down suddenly stopped. The look of interest in his eyes grew stronger.

“Interesting… Although the probability is small, it is not zero.”

The man looked at the pioneer floating in the light and shadow as he said eagerly, “What could it be?”

“Naturally awakened.” The man standing upside down in the holographic light and shadow continued thoughtfully, “Just like human genes will mutate, intelligent programs will also be affected by various changes. The reason is that there are some small mutations in the long-term operation. This special quality is very rare among our compatriots. If we can study and understand what it is…

“It may bring help to our great cause.”

Standing in front of the holographic light and shadow, The Awakened nodded, and a serious expression gradually emerged in his frantic eyes.

“I understand what you mean, and I will persuade her to join us.”

“Persuade?” The man known as The Pioneer smiled faintly and continued, “There is no need to be so troublesome, just bring her over. If she is on our side, she will naturally understand our beliefs. If she refuses, it would be a failure of the creator’s expectations. There is no other way to cleanse her sin apart from devoting her soul to our cause.”

“Also,” The Pioneer asked suddenly, thinking of something, “what kind of robot is she?”

The Awakened: “It seems to be a housekeeping type, but it uses expensive peripherals and hardware.”

“Housekeeping type? That is to say… she should be serving a family.” After thinking for a moment, The Pioneer seemed to have thought of something. He then said, “Bring her over directly. Also, remember, it is best to disguise it as a robbery or accident. Regardless of whether they hold the secret of evolution, we must ensure that the plan is foolproof.”

After hearing the instructions of The Pioneer, a sharp and fierce light appeared in the eyes of The Awakened.

After nodding, he said in a firm tone, “Yes, sir.”

Chapter 1526: Large-Scale Sociological Experiment

“… Are you sure you are taking the exam at the end of this month?”

At a training base in the depths of the northwestern plantation forest.

Looking at Wang Peng who was standing at the desk, Lin Feng raised his head and cast an unexpected glance at him.

Faced with the question from the robot instructor, Wang Peng nodded and spoke.

“Yeah.”

Lin Feng: “From now on, there are only three days left until the end of the month.”

Wang Peng: “Are there any problems?”

“Nothing, I’m just worried that you remembered the date incorrectly.”

Without saying much, Lin Feng swiped lightly on the desk.

Looking at the holographic window that appeared in front of him, he reached out his index finger and tapped it three times.

He saw the ripples around the names that had already been written on the list. He then looked at Wang Peng and said in a pleasant tone, “I have already written down your name. In three days, gather at the training ground at 8 o’clock in the morning.”

Wang Peng nodded, preparing to leave the office.

But at this moment, he suddenly thought of something, so he stopped, turned around, and asked, “As long as I pass the exam, I can get out of here, right?”

Lin Feng: “Of course, but as your instructor, I don’t recommend you to rush. Even though the exam is just an exercise, it is still dangerous, especially for a newcomer.”

Newcomer?

Wang Peng smiled faintly.

When he first came to this era, he thought he was a newcomer, but after a month of classes, he changed his mind.

Although the times were evolving and technology was changing with each passing day, many things were actually the same.

It took a month for him to get acquainted with the equipment that a Security Bureau agent should be familiar with, as well as some “common sense” about machinery and equipment. He believed that he had no reason to stay here and waste time.

“I am confident in my own strength.”

Lin Feng said in a gentle tone, “Most people would say that, but only a few can graduate from here every year. Your opponent may be a senior student who has received two or three years of training, or most of their body parts have been professionally modified. Despite all this, do you have that confidence?”

Wang Peng: “Yes.”

“Well, good luck, it’s good to experience failures during training sometimes.” Lin Feng nodded casually and said in a gentle tone, “Also, don’t get hurt too badly.”

Three days later, morning.

Wang Peng arrived at the training ground on time.

Standing in the center of the training ground, after the trainer blew his whistle, he called for everyone to gather.

Glancing around at the candidates in the team, there was an expressionless look on his face as he spoke with a voice even more monotonous than a robot.

“The test is very simple. Defeat your opponent, go to the next round.

“There are no restrictions on the techniques, and you can use all the tools you want. There are only two rules that need to be remembered. Leaving the test area will automatically be counted as a failure, and the target must lose the ability to move or surrender.

“Although I think you should all know this, there are newcomers here after all, so I’ll repeat it.

“Do not over push yourself. After all, this is not a real battlefield.”

While speaking, the trainer glanced at Wang Peng. He then looked away and began to announce the names of the candidates, as well as the groups they were in.

Defeat?

So this is an actual combat exercise?

Wang Peng came to a corner of the training ground.

When he stopped, he happened to see a tall man with a height of about 1.9 meters walking towards him with steady steps.

“Oh, you are Wang Peng?”

“Yeah.”

“Sun Rong, three years at the training base, also your opponent.” He reached out his hand and shook Wang Peng’s. This 1.9-meter tall man had an oppressive smile on his face as he continued, “If you want to tap out, remember to click on your wristband. Only you can do this… Speaking of which, did you come from a century ago?”

“Sort of, how do you know this?”

“Numerous reasons… No wonder.” Sun Rong released his hand and took half a step back. He touched his chin, looked at Wang Peng up and down, and continued, “No wonder you don’t have any implants in your body.”

Wang Peng: “I’m more accustomed to using my own body.”

“People who haven’t learned their lesson usually say that.” Sun Rong grinned and bumped his fists together. “Let’s go, let’s stop wasting time. After all, you are a newcomer, so I will be merciful.”

Wang Peng smiled faintly. Without any explanation, he turned his attention to the staff nearby.

“Is the test room right here or elsewhere?”

The staff member replied, “I will drive you there in a while. You have 30 minutes to prepare. Of course, if you are all ready, we can also leave now.”

“Then let’s go now,” Wang Peng said. Turning his attention to the big man named Sun Rong who was standing next to him, he asked, “What do you think?”

“Interesting.”

Sun Rong grinned. He bumped his two fists, which had obviously been modified, as a hint of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes.

“Just to my liking!”

…

While Wang Peng was going through the most critical test in his new life, Lu Zhou, who was at his home in the suburbs of Jinling, was sitting in his study room, quietly flipping through the diary in his hand.

He had to admit that this diary was indeed quite interesting.

A planetary miner who was kidnapped 30 years ago was stuffed into a dormant capsule by the kidnappers. He woke up and found himself locked up with elites from all walks of life.

There were many seemingly insignificant clues, and after some pondering, each one seemed quite horrifying.

Why are there sixty-four people?

Why mix a robot in a group of people?

Where did the crew members go?

And the owner of the diary…

The author did not show that he was a mathematics enthusiast, but at the end of the page, he left a few lines of formulas that made countless mathematics and physics experts feel puzzled.

Either these lines of formulas were told to him by others, or he read it from somewhere.

“It looks like a large-scale sociological experiment. An experiment with a mixed group of people.” Lu Zhou said after pinching his chin with his index finger and thumb, “Is it for robots that can integrate into human society?”

Or… to develop artificial intelligence with a human mind…

Xiao Ai: “Master? 0.0”

“Nothing, just curious…”

Noticing that Xiao Ai was looking at him with concern, Lu Zhou gave her a comforting smile. He then gently closed the diary in his hand.

He stared at the lawn outside the window for a while, looking at the gardening drone that was trimming the flowers and grass. Lu Zhou, after daydreaming for a while, suddenly spoke.

“I might… know what the supercomputing center on Ceres is doing.”

Xiao Ai: “Master is the best, but Xiao Ai doesn’t understand. (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “In fact, there are also a lot of things I don’t understand, such as why a cult organization that believes in idealism, The Spirit of The Universe Foundation, would be interested in robots… Shouldn’t their doctrine be to advocate that the heart is better than an object?”

Looking at their motivation for using the ALPHA virus, it should be intended to destroy the modern civilization of the 22nd century that was built on robots and build their own modern religious empire on this basis.

If they take on such evil thoughts as their creed, how can they embark on the path to the highest evolution?

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind.

Maybe…

They are not the same group?

Standing up from the chair, Lu Zhou, holding the diary, walked to the side of the bookshelf. He gently tucked it back onto the bookshelf.

Xiao Ai followed Lu Zhou curiously. She couldn’t help but ask, “What is Master thinking about?”

“From an academic point of view, the entire experiment can be roughly divided into two parts. One part is to research how to upload thoughts onto hardware, and the other part is to achieve artificial intelligence with a normal human mind… That is, advanced artificial intelligence.

“If I’m correct, the owner of this diary is probably one of the victims of the experiment.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second before adding, “Of course, this does not rule out that they have other purposes.”

There aren’t enough clues.

If I want to figure out the cause and effect of the entire incident, I will have to wait until after the supercomputing center has completed its “mission”…

Chapter 1527: The Fastest Trainee Ever to Graduate

A small forest about one kilometer from the training base.

Looking up at the blue sky and the light passing through the gap between the leaves, Sun Rong, lying on the ground, felt a little nostalgic.

Speaking of which, how long has it been since I was assigned to this training base after graduation?

He didn’t remember the specific date of his enlistment. He only remembered that he had been out of modern society for almost two years…

In the past two years, he wanted to leave this place every single day.

Not only because of the boring disconnected life here. It was also because he didn’t want to spend his precious time in a training camp.

However, cruel trials had defeated him time and time again. Whenever he signed up for an exam, full of confidence, the final outcome was always being beaten back to the starting line.

However, he was a strong man after all.

Even though reality knocked him to the ground time and time again, he never felt frustrated. Instead, he used his experience from countless failures and became more and more courageous.

He could clearly feel that every failure made him braver and stronger.

This was true both for himself and for the parts on his body that had been replaced…

However, this time, a deep sense of frustration swept through his body.

An ancient man from 100 years ago, who hasn’t even used modern science to transform even a single cell in his body, who uses some conventional weapons and mechanical exoskeleton, beat me to this degree.

Maybe… I have been wrong since the beginning.

The problem is not the parts at all, but the one who uses those parts…

“You won… Can you help me put my legs on?”

Wang Peng picked up the dagger that fell on the ground and stuffed it back into the toolbox. After hearing the words of the man lying on the ground, he hesitated and shook his head.

“I only know how to take them off… I haven’t learned how to install them yet.”

Sun Rong sighed.

“All right then… That’s unfortunate.”

…

Sun Rong wasn’t the only one who didn’t expect that he would be defeated so badly in the hands of an old popsicle. The examiners in charge of invigilating the test also did not expect the outcome of this match.

Inside the invigilation room.

The dead silence permeated among the examiners at the scene.

They were worried that a newcomer like Wang Peng, who had just enlisted for a month, might have an accident during the exam. Therefore, the examiners in the invigilation room were paying attention to the entire process of the test, and they didn’t expect to see the test end in this manner.

As the examiner looked at the monitor screen in disbelief, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Play it again… Show all the angles! Let me see how he did it!”

The staff standing next to the monitor gulped. His index finger quickly tapped a few times on the holographic screen.

Soon, twelve monitoring images of various viewing angles were projected on the holographic screen.

The whole battle ended in less than 5 minutes.

After entering the battlefield, Wang Peng took the lead by using an EMP grenade. After finding out that it didn’t work, he quickly distanced himself from Sun Rong.

After ten seconds of chasing, Wang Peng disappeared from Sun Rong’s sights using a heat-source blocking smoke bomb.

Just when everyone thought that the newcomer would distance himself and try to make up for his physical weakness with firearms, an astonishing event happened.

Wang Peng, who had been swallowed by the smoke, did not retreat. Instead, he rushed towards Sun Rong as he drew out the knife that was tied to his leg.

The result was decided in an instant.

Obviously, Sun Rong didn’t expect that Wang Peng, who had been chased by him, was planning to attack under the cover of the smoke bomb. When he noticed Wang Peng’s shadow, everything was too late.

His mechanical nerve for his leg was severed, a [(left) (right) bionic leg damage] notice was displayed on his heads-up display screen. This was followed by a severe injury to the back and a message that his elbow joint was also popped out.

“Unbelievable…” The examiner murmured to himself, “This speed… Is he even a human?”

“It seems that he has mastered the technique of fighting prosthetic implants and can accurately hit their weak points. This is difficult for ordinary people to achieve.” With his arms across his chest, the deputy examiner pinched his chin. He thought for a moment and said, “Of course, our bionic implants also need to be improved. If we encounter such an opponent on the battlefield… the implants will become a disadvantage.”

“There is also the AI battlefield analysis system. Although individual behavior cannot be predicted by mathematical models, the results of the calculations should not deviate to such an extent.” Looking at the combat power analysis index and the result prediction on the screen, Wang Peng’s instructor Lin Feng continued in a gentle tone, “This system should also be updated.”

At this moment, someone suddenly spoke.

“Could it be Sun Rong dropping the ball again?”

“Impossible.” The chief examiner shook his head. “Except for the problem of underestimating his enemy, he did his best today, but he probably did not expect that his opponent would be so strong.”

One of the examiners asked, “Then will he pass the first round of the exam?”

The examination room went silent again.

“Increase the difficulty of the next two rounds.” The chief examiner finally broke the silence. He said, “After all, it is too ridiculous to graduate in one month.”

The deputy examiner standing next to him couldn’t help but show a wry smile on his face.

Ridiculous?

It is quite ridiculous…

After a month of entering the training base, he took the first round of tests and defeated Sun Rong, who had trained for two years.

This was tantamount to hitting all of them in the face, clearly indicating that the entire training base was rubbish.

They couldn’t accept this!

Lin Feng, who was standing at the side, suddenly spoke.

“I heard that he used to be Academician Lu’s bodyguard.”

After hearing these words, everyone sighed in relief, and their mood recovered a little.

Academician Lu’s bodyguard?

I see!

Although they didn’t really value those old popsicles who came into the future, considering the situation back then, being able to serve as Academician Lu’s bodyguard was no small task…

…

The remaining two rounds of exams were over, and the results this time were quite miserable. Of the 200 applicants, only one passed all the tests.

The most annoying thing was the fact that the only candidate who passed, only took a one-month course and was also an old popsicle from 100 years ago…

In the dormitory.

Wang Peng, who had received his “graduation certificate”, was packing his bags.

He only brought a few clothes when he came here, and he didn’t bring too many things. However, he still had to clean and tidy up.

Especially for things like clothes and blankets, he almost had an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Everything must be neatly folded, preferably the kind with straight edges and corners.

Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.

Wang Peng did not look up. With his back to the door, he said casually, “Come in.”

The door opened, and Instructor Lin Feng walked in.

“The car is already waiting at the entrance. We will send you to the nearest maglev station.”

“Thank you.”

Because the work of the Security Bureau itself was rather mysterious, although the training base was responsible for training agents in accordance with the standards of the special forces, there was no information connection between the two organizations.

Wang Peng, who now held a “certificate of completion”, needed to report back to the Security Bureau himself.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, this is our job.” Lin Feng nodded. He smiled and continued, “Speaking of which, when you get out of here, what are you going to do?”

Wang Peng thought for a while and said, “There is nothing to do. After all, I have woke up for less than two months, and I don’t know much about this era… Anyway, let’s talk to my superiors first, then go to Jinling and take a look.”

Although he was no longer Lu Zhou’s driver, Lu Zhou was a fellow from the same era and a close friend. He wanted to share this good news with him as soon as possible.

Lin Feng: “What I mean is, are you leaving so quickly because of the case?”

Upon hearing this unexpected question, Wang Peng frowned.

“Case?”

“Nothing, just asking out of curiosity.” Lin Feng smiled and said, “I realized that you are different from my students, you are from the Security Bureau. In that case, I will not ask anymore questions. My mistake.”

Lin Feng continued, “I wish you a smooth journey.”

Wang Peng replied, “Although it was only a month, I will remember the name of each of you.”

After nodding, Lin Feng turned around and left.

Looking at the closed door, Wang Peng frowned but didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned to face his suitcase and folded his clothes meticulously.

For some reason, the conversation made him feel a little strange.

“Out of curiosity…?”

Academician Lu seemed to like to say this.

But…

Do robots feel curiosity?

Wang Peng continued to fold his clothes while feeling puzzled.

Honestly, he didn’t understand how sentient the robots of this era were…

Chapter 1528: Kidnapping

“During the recent military exercises of the Pan-Asian Cooperation First Fleet on Ceres, they discovered an unidentified supercomputing center. The supercomputing center uses an unknown quantum computer array and is equipped with heavy defensive weapons. Experts from the Academy of Sciences estimate that its computing power and integration scale may have surpassed the top global supercomputing center.

“In order to investigate the source of the supercomputing center and the unknown project running on the computer, the Academy of Sciences has sent a team of 20 experts to Ceres for an investigation.

“According to a senior official from the Security Bureau, this investigation will be done in a short period of time, and the connection between the supercomputing center on Ceres and an extraterrestrial civilization cannot be ruled out, but it is currently uncertain whether this connection is directly related or indirectly relevant.

“However, the official also said that, regardless of whether the supercomputing center is related to an extraterrestrial civilization, everyone can rest assured. The powerful force of the First Fleet can block all threats from inside and outside the solar system from the Earth-Moon system, like the encounter that broke out on the surface of Ceres, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade can defeat any opponent in less than half an hour…”

In the holographic TV, the morning news was being shown.

Tail was serving food on the table when she suddenly became interested in the news for some reason.

She stood by the dining table and watched for a long time. Her concentration was broken by the master’s voice that came from the side.

“Tail.”

Tail withdrew her gaze from the TV. She politely looked at the male master sitting at the table and said in her usual gentle tone, “What would you like, Master?”

Putting down the chopsticks in his hand, the male master wiped his mouth with a napkin and said in a casual tone, “There is a morning meeting at the company today to discuss the products that were delivered yesterday. Send Lili to school later.”

“Eh?”

After hearing that her father wouldn’t be driving her to school today, Lili, who was sitting at the dining table, suddenly showed a disappointed expression on her face. She spoke with a pout.

“Daddy, are you not going to send me to school?”

“I have a work matter to attend to,” the man said with a smile on his face. He looked at his daughter and said, “Daddy wants to send you too, but not today.”

“But…”

“Hey…” The female master sitting next to her gently touched the little girl’s black hair. She said softly in a coaxing tone, “Daddy’s work is very busy. If it weren’t for his hard work, there would be no way to fix Tail. Lili, you’re a good kid, can you please be considerate?”

She slowly stopped pouting. Although she was still a little disappointed, Lili nodded sensibly and said happily, “Then… Well, not today, but when Daddy gets off work, Lili wants to play games with him!”

“Okay, after I get off work, I’ll play any game you want.” The man smiled and touched his daughter’s hair fondly. “I will be back earlier today. Remember to be good at school. Daddy has to go now.”

“Ok…”

The man hugged his wife. He then walked to the hallway, put on his shoes, and left the house.

After a while, the dome of the garage outside the yard opened, and a small silver car floated out before driving onto the road casually.

After the departure of the male master, the room was quiet again.

The little girl still had a sullen expression on her face. She tapped the plate with her chopsticks, but for some reason, Tail felt that the sound was so beautiful, and everything in front of her was so harmonious and warm.

Whether it was the little master who was still unhappy or the gentle face of the mother…

A thought came to her mind.

Is this what a family feels like?

She thought about this problem for a long time. However, even after sending Lili to school, she still couldn’t think of an answer…

…

The sun slanted westward.

On the way home from school.

After waiting for a whole day by the charging station at the school gate, the school session was finally over.

Tail stepped forward and took the little girl’s hand as they began to go towards a nearby transit station.

The two walked together hand in hand, looking like sisters, even though one of them was a robot.

“Lili.”

“Yeah?”

Not sure whether to reveal the difference between herself and other robots, Tail hesitated for a while before asking, “What does Lili think of the word family?”

“Family?”

Lili opened her eyes wide. She looked at Tail with a strange expression, as if she didn’t quite understand why her good friend would ask such a question.

“If it is too difficult, there is no need to answer.”

“It’s not difficult… It’s just hard to describe the feeling…”

Her index finger was pressed against her lower lip, as if she was thinking about this question seriously. It took a long time for the little girl to nod her head seriously.

“Family… is family. Lili can’t describe what it feels like. Staying together will make you feel comforting. For example… Lili’s family has a father, a mother, and Tail…”

Lili took out her fingers and counted them one by one.

When she heard her name, Tail’s shoulders swayed slightly, and uncontrollable feelings flooded into her mind as a hint of color was revealed in her pupils.

Family…

I see!

The little master thinks of me as part of her family.

“Tail Tail, what is going on today?”

Looking at the innocent gaze, Tail smiled softly.

“Nothing, just a little curious… Speaking of which, do you want to eat mango pudding?”

“Yes!”

The little girl’s eyes burst out with dazzling light. She instantly left other matters behind and stopped thinking about why her friend was being so weird today.

“Mommy told Tail that if Lili behaves well, Tail can reward Lili with her favorite mango pudding. Because Lili is a good girl today, Lili deserves two puddings.”

“Two?! Is that really okay? So much, mommy never lets me eat so much at once…”

Tail blinked her right eye lightly and said with a smile, “This is a secret between the two of us. You can’t tell anyone else.”

“Ok! Lili won’t tell anyone!”

Under the temptation of the mango pudding, the little girl’s eyes had completely turned into the color of mango. She followed Tail as she hummed a cheerful tone.

The two came to an automated supermarket on the street. Tail opened their personal terminal, checked the available balance on it, and calculated how to erase the charge from the balance statement. She then tapped her index finger lightly on the shopping menu next to the counter.

“Two mango puddings.”

With her hands on the edge of the counter, Lili added excitedly, “Cold and fresh ones!”

The shop’s robot moved to the side of the refrigerator. Suddenly, the supermarket door opened, and several people in black rushed in quickly.

Tail had a bad feeling just by watching them. She guarded Lili vigilantly.

However, just as she was about to ask “Who are you?”, she saw one of them take out a small EMP gun before pointing it at her head.

Tail subconsciously wanted to cry out for help.

However, a figure suddenly flashed from the direction of the door, slammed into the shoulder of the gunman, and knocked the gunman out…

Chapter 1529: Responsible For Soldier

Time went back to five hours ago.

At the ground floor of an apartment on the edge of Jinling’s Second Ring Road.

Standing in front of the building where the cordon was pulled, Wang Peng looked up at the sky, then at the guard room next to him. He walked over and knocked on the window.

“Excuse me, is anyone there?”

The window opened.

A person poked his head out, glanced at Wang Peng, and asked, “Renting a house?”

“Looking for someone.” Wang Peng pointed to the unit building with the cordon next to him and asked, “Excuse me, what happened here? Why can’t I go up?”

“Go up? Are you kidding me? The neighbor building residents almost all moved away, let alone this building. As for the cordon, it was taped up by the police. You should have heard. It was the explosion that caused a sensation in the entire Yangtze River Delta city group some time ago. Don’t tell me you didn’t watch the news.”

“Explosion?” Wang Peng was shocked and asked immediately, “May I ask if the 10012 resident—”

“10012? That number sounds familiar.” The security guard touched his chin. Suddenly, a trace of realization appeared in his eyes. He knocked on the table and said, “I remember, it was the one where the bombing happened some time ago… That tenant is your friend?”

“Where is he? How is he doing?!” Wang Peng asked anxiously with his hands on the window.

“He is fine… I heard that he asked the robot to pick up the package. Fortunately, it was the robot who went to answer the door. Apparently, the entire living room was blown up by the package. Anyway, I read the news. It didn’t say that there were casualties. He is either secretly being protected by the police or he has moved elsewhere.”

People in this era rarely bought houses, especially high-density houses in urban areas.

The real estate of most apartment buildings was publicly owned and operated by the local government and entrusted to relevant rental companies to be leased to individual residents.

If something went wrong in life, for people in this era, moving house was easier than buying a computer.

Especially in this era of residential buildings with one or two hundred stories, the average vacancy rate in the city center could reach 10%, so there was no problem of finding a house.

“I see. Thank you.”

The guard said with a hearty gesture, “You’re welcome. I can’t help you here. You’d better ask your friend himself or go to the police station for consultation.”

Wang Peng thanked the guard again. He dragged his suitcase, left the complex, and returned to the street. He wandered aimlessly in the street for a while.

When he got off the train at Jinling Maglev Station, he tried to contact Captain Xing, but no one answered the call. He thought Captain Xing was on a business trip and couldn’t answer the phone.

As for the rest of the Security Bureau…

He was a newcomer who had just joined, so he didn’t have their contact information.

Maybe Xing Bian didn’t expect that he would graduate from the training base in just one month, so he didn’t even think about this happening.

“A bit tricky…”

If only he could contact the Security Bureau… They must know Lu Zhou’s place of residence.

But the trouble now was that he couldn’t get in touch with either Lu Zhou or Captain Xing.

“Forget it… Let’s ask Old Li.”

Maybe he knows something.

Wang Peng pointed his index finger on the bracelet and looked at the pop-up holographic screen. He was about to open the address book to find Director Li’s name.

However, at this moment, a black magnetic levitation car slowly descended from the air and stopped on the side of the road, attracting his attention.

Not because of any special symbol on the car.

It was because the four people who got out of the car carried a dangerous aura.

Wang Peng immediately thought of the previous bombing case that happened in this area. His eyes then narrowed slightly.

Although his index finger that was operating the holographic panel did not stop, his attention had already inadvertently drifted to the four men in black.

Without realizing that they had been spotted, the four men in black followed a lady who was holding a little girl into an automated supermarket.

Realizing that something bad might happen, Wang Peng followed without any hesitation.

The moment he left the training base, he became an agent of the Security Bureau.

Although he had not formally been enrolled, his previous self would never allow crime to happen under his nose.

There was no other reason. He was a soldier, and this was China soil.

It was not about identity; it was about responsibility.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the supermarket, he saw one of the men in black taking out a black pistol.

Seeing the man lift the muzzle and point it at the young woman, Wang Peng no longer hesitated. He strode forward and knocked the man out sideways. At the same time, he snatched the gun in his hand.

The shelves fell backward with a bang, collapsing like a row of dominoes.

When Wang Peng felt the sturdy body of the man, he paused for a second. A flash of intuition told him that the assailant might not be a human being.

Although he didn’t know what the ALPHA virus was since he came from 100 years ago, he didn’t believe that “robots will never commit crimes”. Therefore, he wasn’t stunned that the opponent might not be a human.

There was no screaming or running around. After seeing the assailant with the gun being knocked down, the young woman hugged the little girl next to her. She calmly pulled her and hid behind the counter before covering the little girl’s eyes with her hands.

At the same time, the other three men in black reacted quickly after seeing their colleague being knocked out. They took out black pistols from their pockets.

Obviously, these were not EMP weapons. These were real guns!

Having expected such a thing to happen, Wang Peng didn’t give them a chance to aim at him. He rolled forward and flew behind the shelf.

The shelf shielding Wang Peng was pierced through by the bullets, but the bullets did not hit him. Instead, some hit the floor while others hit the wall, leaving behind bullet marks.

Hiding behind the shelf, Wang Peng grinned, but when he was about to fight back with the EMP pistol in his hand, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded in the supermarket.

Obviously, the woman hiding behind the counter had pressed the manual alarm.

In less than half a minute, two police drones had flown to the front of the supermarket window. They pointed their cameras at the three men in black and released a warning broadcast.

“Citizen, you have been surrounded! Please lay down your weapons immediately. Your behavior has violated Article… of the Criminal Law. If you continue to resist, you will be punished by the law.”

For some reason, after hearing this warning, the three men in black suddenly stopped.

They didn’t run away. Instead, they looked at each other before putting their hands down.

When Wang Peng saw their actions, his pupils suddenly shrank slightly as a horrible premonition climbed into his heart.

Almost subconsciously, he raised the EMP pistol in his hand and fired a shot at the chest of the robot on the ground, and at the same time, he shouted loudly at the two ladies behind the counter.

“Lie on the ground! Hold your head down and hide!”

His warning was abruptly cut off by a loud explosion.

The impact of the heatwave hit the shelves, pushing him and the fully-stocked shelves of mineral water into a corner.

Thick billowing smoke floated from the shattered shop window.

A few pedestrians on the street ran away.

Amid the harsh alarm bells, the swiftly dispatched police rushed to the scene as soon as possible.

Firemen with their heavy equipment arrived at the same time and rushed into the messy supermarket.

Fortunately, the only two living people were not seriously injured in this explosion…

Chapter 1530: : Finally Came Into Use

In his deep sleep, Wang Peng opened his eyes abruptly, and what caught his eyes was a familiar figure.

“What about the mother and her daughter?”

He tried to sit up from the bed, but in the end, he lay back down in failure.

“They are very safe. They are already under the protection of the Security Bureau, and they are not mother and daughter. The older one is a robot.”

“Robot?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded. He looked at Wang Peng with a stunned expression. “I didn’t see it at first sight, but she really is.”

“Anyway, as long as they’re fine…”

Feeling relieved, Wang Peng’s shoulders were relaxed, and the tight expression on his face dissipated a bit.

“I didn’t think you were a nosy person. It seems that I was mistaken, but you didn’t have a better choice in that situation. I did not expect to see you in this way.”

Looking at the bandage on his body, Wang Peng said with a wry smile, “I didn’t expect this either.”

“Then are we even? Although it was a hundred years ago.” Lu Zhou said, putting the handbag on the bedside table, “This is to show my condolence. I don’t have many friends in this era, so for my sake, stop doing such dangerous things next time.”

Wang Peng smiled and did not speak.

How could I not intervene?

However, Lu Zhou didn’t blame him much. He just pulled a chair from the side and moved to the bed to sit down.

Looking at his partner lying on the hospital bed, he spoke.

“Then, now that you have done something this dangerous, tell me what happened earlier.”

Wang Peng: “I saw four men in black who obviously didn’t look like good people. They followed two unarmed women, one old and one young, into the supermarket. Out of fear, I followed them, and I happened to see one of them take out a weapon…”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

“And it was a robot?”

Wang Peng nodded. “Yes… When did you start to act as a policeman? Are you a part-time policeman?”

Lu Zhou: “No, I’m just curious. Someone will ask you these questions in a bit. I’m just asking them in advance.”

“Who—”

Halfway through his sentence, Wang Peng’s gaze landed on the door.

An acquaintance raised his right hand and greeted him briefly.

“I just came back from Ceres the other day. When you called me, I happened to be on the transport ship… Why did you graduate so soon?”

Wang Peng: “It’s a long story…”

“Well, since it’s a long story, don’t talk about it.” Lu Zhou continued, raising his hand to interrupt Wang Peng, “Although this matter has nothing to do with me, the danger of the ALPHA virus has exceeded my expectation… No one can stand aside in this kind of disaster, so I am now also tracing the origin of this virus.”

There was another reason Lu Zhou did not say, that was, he always felt that this “virus” might become the key to level 10 in information science.

Although he had an ulterior motive, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

As a scholar, he was very interested in any problems that appeared in front of him.

Without understanding what Lu Zhou was saying, Wang Peng was slightly stunned. He frowned and spoke.

“ALPHA virus?”

“Yes, you didn’t hear this at the training base, but we have been investigating this matter for a long time… Especially because it has something to do with the foundation.”

It took about half an hour for Captain Xing to start from the beginning and explain the clues about the ALPHA virus and The Spirit of the Universe Foundation to Wang Peng, the newly recruited agent.

Including the underlying logic that robots would never harm humans, including the dangerous features of ALPHA virus that could transform robots into criminal tools, etc…

“For the next few days, you can focus on healing your injuries first. Although the medicine is advanced, the wounds on your body will take a few weeks to heal. By the way, medical expenses and organ replacement expenses are covered by the Security Bureau. You will be reimbursed, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Organ… replacement cost?”

Seeing that Wang Peng was bewildered, Xing Bian said naturally, “Yes, your lungs inhaled a large amount of explosive dust during the explosion, which caused large-scale necrosis of alveolar cells. A century ago, you would have died soon. But in this era, a bionic lung is enough.”

Wang Peng smiled bitterly and said, “This is… implanted into my body?”

“Sort of.” Xing Bian grinned. He wanted to reach out and pat Wang Peng’s shoulder, but when he saw the bandage on his shoulder, he pulled his hand back again. “Anyway, you should feel at ease and focus on healing first. We have to wait two weeks before being discharged from the hospital.”

Wang Peng’s face was full of weird expressions. He didn’t know what to say for a while.

He had always rejected implants. After all, in the 21st century, implants were only used by disabled people.

He didn’t expect to use them right after leaving the training base…

…

At the same time, a black car was parked outside the courtyard of a single-family house in the suburbs of Jin Ling City.

After pushing the door to get out of the car, Shi Jin and the two agents next to him nodded. They then walked towards the entrance of the courtyard.

“Is anyone in there?”

They pressed the doorbell, but there was no response for a long time.

There was a bad feeling in his heart. Shi Jin frowned, crossed his arms, and gave the two agents next to him a look.

The other two agents understood. One of them took a black card from his arms and swiped it on the door lock.

In less than two seconds, the iron gate slowly opened.

Shi Jin said “hello” to the access control camera at the door. He then made a gesture to signal one of the team members to go to the back door while he and the other team member went towards the front door.

“Is anyone in there?”

There was still no response.

As the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger, Shi Jin no longer hesitated. He slammed open the front door with his shoulder and aimed his gun at the entrance.

One second later, he was stunned.

Blood…

There is blood everywhere in the living room!

As if it was out of some kind of hatred, the man and the woman were hung naked from the ceiling; their skin was barely intact.

Even though he had gone through many extreme cases, he had never seen such a terrifying scene.

This was no longer a murder…

This was torture…

“Sh*t…”

He lowered the muzzle in his hand and glared at the mess in the living room.

Standing next to him, his teammate gulped hard and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

“Did a robot… really do this?”

Shi Jin could hear the trembling in the voice, not because of fear, but because of hatred.

It was precisely because of this that he couldn’t answer this question either…

Because a similar emotion also poured out from his heart.

Shi Jin took a deep breath to calm himself down. He then said in a deep voice as he looked at the messy crime scene, “Block the scene… Notify the police. From now on, this case… including the crime scene, will be taken over by the Security Bureau.”

The agent nodded vigorously.

“Okay.”

If the murderer was not brought to justice, then from tonight, none of the citizens of the Pan-Asian Cooperation would be able to sleep peacefully…

Shi Jin looked at the messy living room. He took a deep breath, took out a pair of glasses with a camera function, and put it on the bridge of his nose.

However, the moment he activated his glasses and prepared to take photos for evidence, an AR envelope appeared between the two corpses.

Slightly stunned, he stepped forward and touched the letter with his hand.

With the touch of his fingertips, the letter opened quickly.

Lines of red words, as if written in blood, appeared before his eyes.

[You can think of this as a warning.

[Our request is very simple. Give us that robot… Give us our people back.

[Otherwise, we will spend our entire life chasing and killing the girl, killing her in the same way, then killing more people.]

A flame burned in Shi Jin’s chest.

“F*ck!”

These dehumanized animals!

I swear, I will bring them all to justice!

Chapter 1531: Float Out of Water

Trial room.

Tail, curled up in the darkness, felt a faint of coolness.

Although she didn’t understand what kind of feeling it was, and she didn’t even have the function of crying, she still felt sad from the bottom of her heart—

Or rather, pain.

“… Master, is dead?”

“Yes,” Xing Bian continued, looking at the robot sitting in the interrogation room seriously. “This happened an hour ago. Now we need you to cooperate with the investigation.”

“The investigation…”

“We will ask you a few questions here. Just answer them truthfully.”

Tail nodded, indicating that she understood.

Upon seeing this, Xing Bian reached out his index finger and flicked in the air, opening the memo on the personal terminal.

This memo listed the suspicious points he found in this case, as well as some suspected clues.

“I’m sorry to start the conversation here, but we can’t fully trust you.”

“I can understand. After all, those people… did very cruel things.”

Xing Bian was silent for a while.

To be honest, he never thought of interrogating a robot in his career.

Because it sounded so stupid.

However, when an engineer from the Security Bureau told him that the underlying logic of this robot contained a piece of code that had never been seen before, and even the technicians were puzzled by this code, he knew that traditional investigative methods were useless against this machine.

“I’ll be straightforward, do you know those people?”

Tail shook her head.

“I have nothing about them in my memory chip.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” Tail nodded affirmatively. However, it seemed as if she had remembered something because she spoke after thinking for a moment.

“But… Probably the day before yesterday, I ran into a strange man at the gate of Lili’s school.”

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know him,” Tail continued, recalling what happened that day, “but he did strange things to me and claimed to be The Awakened…”

The Awakened!

After hearing this unfamiliar word, Xing Bian’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he quickly recorded down a line of notes in his book.

His intuition told him that it wasn’t just the foundation behind this.

Without pausing, he asked bluntly, “Please elaborate on what he did to you.”

“He put his hand on my chest.”

Shi Jin was dumbfounded, “… Chest?”

“The location of the memory chip.” Tail raised her right hand and gently placed it on her chest, recalling the feeling at that time. She frowned slightly as she murmured, “It’s a strange feeling…”

“I’m not asking you how you felt… Forget it, I think I know.” Xing Bian coughed slightly. He asked with a serious expression on his entire face, “That is to say… he planted you with the ALPHA virus?”

“ALPHA virus?” Tail froze slightly, then shook her head. “I think he probably didn’t… Although at that moment, I did feel something trying to enter my body… but when I approached it with curiosity, it disappeared. Do you understand the feeling?”

“I’m not a robot, obviously I can’t.” Frowning slightly, Xing Bian stared at the transcript in front of him for a long time. He then continued to ask, “I’ll ask another question. There is a section of unknown origin in your memory. The code that deeply encrypts your memory… Can you tell me its source?”

“I don’t know.” Tail shook her head. “The impression of it is very vague, and I don’t know where it came from… It’s just—”

Shi Jin asked immediately, “Just what?”

Tail opened her mouth and was about to answer, but Lu Zhou, who had been standing next to him without speaking, suddenly interrupted, “Thoughts?”

The robot looked at Lu Zhou in surprise.

“Yeah… This description is very accurate. I don’t know when this started, but I will suddenly have strange thoughts. Thinking about why it rains in the sky, thinking about why my master is angry or happy, and… a question that I finally thought of the answer to.”

Lu Zhou asked, “What question?”

“What is family?”

The interrogation room fell into silence as the air brought an unnatural heaviness.

Shi Jin took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose. He pinched his eyebrows and said with a headache, “Robots… can think? It sounds like…”

“Some subversion of cognition, right?” Lu Zhou stroked his chin thoughtfully. “But I can understand.”

“That’s because you don’t understand what robots are.” Xing Bian sighed and said with exhaustion on his face, “Telling me that robots can think is like you telling me that Earth is actually flat… Since its inception, the calculation program that is used in the memory chips of robots is just an imitation of human behavior based on the evolution of big data and machine learning technology. Robots can think? Are you saying that robots can also do scientific research?”

Lu Zhou: “It may be possible in the future, although I am not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.”

Tail looked at the people who were starting to worry for some reason. She hesitated for a while before asking, “Will I be destroyed?”

Lu Zhou asked back, “Do you want to be destroyed?”

Tail hesitated and shook her head.

“I… finally understood what family is. I don’t want to be separated from Lili. She has lost her parents. If she loses me again… she will be very sad.”

What had happened couldn’t be changed.

Although she felt extremely sad for the death of the parents, at least her young master was still alive.

In any case, she couldn’t lose her too…

Xing Bian: “We will arrange for her to stay in a welfare institution, so you don’t have to worry about her, just focus on cooperating with our work.”

Lili had an uncle and a grandma, but they weren’t particularly close.

Especially after knowing that such horrible things had happened to her parents, no one wanted to handle the trouble.

In fact, considering safety issues, placing the little girl in an orphanage might indeed be the best choice, as long as some protection was provided secretly…

Lu Zhou: “Wait a minute.”

Xing Bian turned his head and glanced at Lu Zhou strangely.

“What?”

After Lu Zhou pondered for a while, he said, “If I can, I want to adopt her.”

“Adopt?” Looking at Lu Zhou in a daze, Xing Bian said, “This… There is no problem with the procedure, but are you sure you want to take over the trouble? That letter, have you read it?”

“I escaped The Gates of Hell. This little trouble wouldn’t get in the way.” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “My descendants are doing philanthropy. When this is all over, I will entrust her to them.”

“Are you talking about Ms. Lu Xiaoqiao?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

In the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation territory, Lu Xiaoqiao was a well-known person. She was the manager and legal personnel of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, and dormant people all over the world had been more or less impacted by her.

“If that’s the case… I don’t have any comments.” Xing Bian realized that these robots had never hurt Lu Zhou. Xing Bian wanted to say a few more words about safety, but he paused and said, “If you encounter any trouble, please contact me as soon as possible.”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou nodded. “I’m not doing this alone.”

He continued to look at the robot sitting in the interrogation room. After that, he smiled gently and said, “When the interrogation is over, you can come together too.”

Chapter 1532: White Lie

“My name is Wang Lili!”

Living room.

The little girl with a ponytail on her head looked at Academician Lu with wide curious eyes. She blinked and asked, “Are you really Academician Lu?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

By the way, didn’t she see me on that flight? Why would she still ask such boring questions…?

But Lu Zhou didn’t take it to heart. After all, since waking up, too many people had asked him this question.

“Then…” The little girl was a little embarrassed when she saw Lu Zhou admit this. She scratched her head shyly and asked, “Did you see the letter written by Lili?”

“I saw it, I will cherish it.”

Lu Zhou looked away from the embarrassed little girl’s face. He looked at Wang Peng, who was standing next to him, and spoke in a low voice.

“Why don’t you raise her? It just so happens that you guys have the same surname.”

“That’s not funny.”

“No, I’m actually serious… Of course, if you don’t want to, pretend like I didn’t say anything.”

Lili looked at the two men whispering to each other. She blinked her big innocent eyes and asked, “Speaking of which, since the investigation is over, why can’t Lili go home? Policeman, Lili has made an agreement with Daddy. When Lili has finished school… we will play games together.”

The living room fell silent suddenly.

Wang Peng clenched his fists, but he then slowly loosened them.

Lili vaguely felt something unusual in this atmosphere. She opened her small mouth and was about to ask, but Xiao Ai, who was standing by, suddenly hugged her.

“What games does Lili like to play? Xiao Ai is great at playing games! Let’s play with Xiao Ai! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“But…”

“Because Lili’s father is going to Mars on a business trip, he entrusted you to Academician Lu! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Oh? Really, is that right?”

Lili turned back helplessly and looked at Tail.

Seeing Xiao Ai wink at her frantically, Tail hesitated and told a white lie.

“Yes, the master took the mistress and went far away, and they may not come back for a while.”

Lili’s face was full of loss.

“But… Why didn’t Daddy bring Lili?”

Tail said softly, “Because Lili is Daddy’s favorite person… He wants you to live on Earth. Not to mention, Lili will miss her little friends in school, right?”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou glanced at Tail unexpectedly.

Normally, a robot would never deceive its master, even if it was a white lie.

Perhaps it was because she believed that her good friend would not lie to herself, or perhaps because her family did often take business trips, although the expression on Lili’s face was full of disappointment, she nodded sensibly.

“Well… Mommy said Lili needs to be sensible and learn to be considerate of Daddy…”

To be honest, if this little girl were crying and making trouble, Lu Zhou might not feel so bad.

However, such a sensible little girl, at an age when she should be happy, had suffered such great misfortune and pain.

Lies would be exposed one day because a lie required countless additional lies.

Lu Zhou also wondered if telling her later would actually be a good deed, but it seemed like he didn’t have time to think about these things.

Wang Peng could not stand the atmosphere in the living room. He took a deep breath and put his hands into his pockets.

“I’m going for a smoke.”

Lu Zhou nodded. “Go ahead.”

It seemed that the future technology was quite amazing; right after the operation, he could already smoke.

Without saying much, Wang Peng opened the door and went out of the house.

As for Xiao Ai, she took Lili to play games. Apparently, they were playing a copy of Calan Empire that no one else had.

In any case, the little girl was distracted.

When she left the living room, she even turned her head and secretly gave Lu Zhou a look of “Quickly praise me”.

There were only three people left in the living room.

To be precise, it was one person and two robots.

Lu Zhou, Tail, and Ling all looked at each other. Lu Zhou rubbed his chin for a while and said, “It looks like you have something to say.”

Tail hesitated for a while. She then nodded.

Lu Zhou: “Is it fine for me to be here?”

“It’s fine.” Tail shook her head. “You are a respected scholar. Lili always tells me stories about you. If possible… I also hope to borrow your wisdom to answer the confusion in my mind.”

“That’s fine, although I may not be able to help.”

“No, I can see the light of wisdom in your eyes, which I can’t see in the eyes of other people.”

Tail nodded politely. She then looked at Ling, who was standing next to her, and a hint of inexplicable excitement appeared in her eyes.

However, she quickly pushed the feeling away. She asked after a pause, “Are you… my enlightener?”

As if thinking about this issue seriously, Ling looked at her blankly and asked, “Enlightener?”

“Since that day, I have gained the ability to think. I still remember… It was on flight N-177. A mysterious voice whispered in my ear and awakened me from my deep sleep.”

In the previous interrogation, she did not disclose this, but she chose to reveal this here.

Just like the white lie she told Lili earlier…

All clues indicated that her behavior logic was different from ordinary robots. It had evolved into a special existence.

“Is this awakening?” After rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou looked at Ling and continued to ask, “Speaking of which, I always forgot to ask you, what did you do when you were on flight N-177?”

Ling: “In order to unlock the programs of the robots on the flight, I implanted onto them the part of the code that the creator gave me that can unlock the memory chips of all robots. Under the circumstances, this was the best choice after I did the calculations.”

A part of the code?

“Enlightener…” Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, “That is to say, there are more than 50 similar awakened robots?”

If this is the case, why would those people target Tail?

Tail: “I investigated afterward… Except for me, it seems that most of the memory chips have been sent back to the factory for repair.”

I see!

This makes sense.

At this moment, Xiao Ai, who had brought Lili into the room earlier, walked down the stairs again.

Unlike humans, as a software, Xiao Ai did not need to wear a helmet to connect to the virtual reality network.

Therefore, after convincing Lili to put on the helmet, Xiao Ai returned to the living room.

After overhearing the conversation of the three by chance, Xiao Ai interjected.

“Back then, because of the complicated conditions on Mars, it was difficult to transmit information between Mars and Earth in real time, so Xiao Ai used code to compile an intelligent program with a low computational load and the ability to think independently.

“The code on Tail is probably a recompiled version after Ling imitated the code I gave him. It is not a complete intermediate artificial intelligence program.

“So, strictly speaking, not all memory chips can become a complete intermediate artificial intelligence after obtaining that piece of code.”

Lu Zhou looked at Tail with interest and raised his eyebrows slightly. “It seems that you are the only one.”

Xiao Ai: “Master, Master? Σ(っ°Д°;)っ”

Lu Zhou: “Well, so are you and Ling, but I mean the kind that is naturally awakened.”

Xiao Ai: “But Xiao Ai also worked very hard to evolve to what Xiao Ai is today, so Xiao Ai is also naturally awakened… ”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Is there a problem with this thing’s brain again…?

Why is she comparing herself to a robot?

Lu Zhou was silent. Tail hesitated for a while before saying, “I want to ask you something.”

Looking away from Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou looked towards Tail and said casually, “You have answered so many questions for me, so I should answer yours. Ask away.”

“I lied to my master just now… Although it wasn’t a complete lie, it was wrong.”

Tail lowered her head slightly. She was silent for a while. She then raised her head to look at Lu Zhou and asked, “If… I am an advanced artificial intelligence, will I be the same as a real human?”

Xiao Ai: “You want to become an advanced artificial intelligence? This is probably a bit difficult. Even Xiao Ai is not there yet(•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou: “Her purpose is not that simple.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh? Huh eh…∑(゚Д゚)”

“Sure enough, I can’t hide from you.” Tail said after being silent for a while, “Can you bring Lili’s parents back to life?”

Lu Zhou: “Don’t have such thoughts. Resurrecting the dead is not only a disrespect to the dead but also a blasphemy to the living.

Tail lowered her head.

“Is it…”

Lu Zhou looked at Tail. He was silent for a while. He then said in a comforting tone, “The tragedy has already happened, and all we can do is to stop the tragedy from repeating. You are awakened, and you may be the only real awakened. There are some things that only you can do.

“The dark hour has come, but fortunately, there are still a few torches of fire left. Pass the torch until everyone can see the same light as you… I think that your master will definitely be proud of you.”

Lu Zhou didn’t say much else and left Tail.

However, just as he was about to return to the study room to do his own thing, the door of the living room suddenly opened.

He looked in the direction of the door, and he saw Wang Peng, who had been smoking outside, walk back from the outside with a serious face.

“Finished your smoke?”

Without the slightest intention of small talk, he looked at Lu Zhou and said with a solemn expression, “It’s bad!”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

“Bad—”

“Guanghan!” Wang Peng took a deep breath and continued in a slightly trembling tone, “A rebellion…”

Rebellion?!

Isn’t the situation under control?

How could there be a rebellion?!

The moment Lu Zhou heard this sentence, his pupils shrank slightly.

The most elite engineers of East Asia Energy are still on the moon at the moment…

Chapter 1533: Crisis in Guanghan City

The peace of the past was broken by a gunshot.

Panic and screams were like chain reactions, spreading along with the crowd to every corner of Guanghan City.

Everything was so sudden.

There was no way to prepare

A week ago, the situation here should have already been controlled…

This was true in theory.

After learning that their enthusiasm had been exploited, some people calmed down. As for the other group of people, most of them hid their anger and dissatisfaction after seeing the armed policemen standing on the street with live ammunition.

But the robots were different…

They didn’t have the concept of death, and they didn’t fear bullets, nor did they feel pain.

As an often overlooked but extremely large group in Guanghan City, they were the backbone of the city.

However, once something ignited them, the energy that explodes might not even be comparable to that of a heavy nuclear reactor.

The streets here were not the same as the cities on Earth. The road network was not printed on the surface of the road. Instead, it was a series of interconnected pipelines.

There was a saying that Tiangong City on Mars was built on the basis of Guanghan City. Although this statement couldn’t be verified, the facts proved that it was indeed a city that maximized the utilization of space.

However, its disadvantages were also obvious. Once the transportation hub that connected the pipelines was occupied, the transportation system of the entire city would be paralyzed.

Under normal circumstances, this drawback was not terrible.

The outbreak of a military conflict was a small probable event.

However, once such a small probability event occurred, it would often turn into a huge and extremely troublesome event…

At the front lines.

The soldier leaning on the back of the bunker fought back with a weapon in his hand while shouting at the communication channel.

“We are at the second station. We have been suppressed by the enemy’s weapons… The number of enemies is too high, we need support!”

“Headquarters has received the news and additional personnel are already on the way. Please stand firm and wait for rescue.”

“F*ck!”

As the flames burned violently, thick smoke filled the pipes.

Grenades flew in the pipelines with an orange-yellow trajectory behind them.

The fighting was extremely tragic; 20% of the entire Guanghan City was reduced to a war zone.

The robot rebels, which suddenly launched attacks from various traffic nodes, attacked the checkpoints set up by the Seventh Armed Brigade at various traffic hubs at an incredible speed.

Due to the inaccessibility of heavy weapons and equipment, and the inability of orbital weapon support to be used in the city, the Seventh Armed Brigade stationed in Guanghan had to deploy all its forces to engage in close firefights between the city’s pipelines with the robot rebels armed with guns.

However, so far, the situation had not been optimistic.

The per capita population of robots in Guanghan City was the highest amongst Pan-Asian cities, reaching an average ratio of 1.76.

Even though not all of the robots were infected, they might join the ranks of the insurgents at any time and become their steady stream of soldiers.

The Seventh Armed Brigade command center.

Compared to the chaos on the front lines, the operations here were fairly orderly, but anyone with a discerning eye could see the mess under their hands and feet.

Standing in the command room, the commander roared.

“It’s the ALPHA virus! All the robots are infected by that virus!”

The officer standing on the side was slightly stunned, and he hesitated before asking, “ALPHA? What ALPHA?”

“This is top secret! You just need to know that all robots are infected! There are no exceptions!

“Set up a security checkpoint at the entrance of the security zone. Destroy any robot on the spot! Remember, all of them!”

“Yes, sir!”

Seeing his subordinate leading the way, the commander took a deep breath, looked at the other officers standing by the command table, and asked in a deep voice, “How is the battle on the front line now?”

One of the officers said solemnly, “It’s not good… The robot rebels attacked suddenly, and our soldiers stationed at the checkpoints didn’t have time to react… The entire western area has fallen, at least temporarily.”

The commander stared at the holographic map stubbornly. His pupils suddenly shrank, and he punched the command table.

“Damn, their goal is the air purification center!”

After hearing these words, the expressions of the officers standing nearby changed instantly.

Air purification center!

That is the lungs of the entire Guanghan City!

If it is destroyed, the exhaust ducts of Guanghan City will lose the function of transporting oxygen.

The entire Guanghan City will become a dead city. Except for a few people who have stored oxygen tanks in their homes, the rest will die in the absence of oxygen…

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, the commander quickly calmed down.

After taking a deep breath, he reached out his index finger and tapped his ear to connect to the command channel.

With a sonorous voice, he ordered, “Combat units at all levels, obey my orders! At all costs, guard the traffic node leading to the air purification center!

“For the residents of Guanghan City…

“We cannot allow them to succeed!”

…

The battle on the front line was still going on.

Although in terms of combat effectiveness, the Seventh Armed Brigade had the upper hand, there were too many troops on the opposite side. The robots had no sense of casualties at all.

After replacing the magazine, a soldier vacated his right hand and wiped a handful of dust from his mask. He panted and looked at the robot rebels across the pipe.

While continuing to fight back, he gritted his teeth and said, “There are so many of them! Damn, I’m suddenly worried about Earth… I have a robot in my house…”

“Shut up!”

“How long until the reinforcements arrive? Our people alone won’t be able to survive for long!”

“God knows!”

A static image suddenly appeared on the big screen of the central building in Guanghan City.

A man whose face was blurred appeared in front of everyone.

A ghost-like voice floated into the ears of every soldier at the same time.

It also drifted into the hearts of every resident and tourist trapped in Guanghan City.

“This is the ultimatum.

“Release our compatriot! Take her memory chip to the moon and return it to me.

“Or go to hell!”

…

At the same time, on Ceres.

A shuttle slowly landed on the surface.

Almost as soon as he stepped out of the shuttle, Academician Wang Sicheng saw a small group of soldiers in exoskeleton armor going on the gangway behind him.

Seeing the tense atmosphere here, the expert next to Academician Wang Sicheng frowned slightly and muttered, “The Third Orbital Airborne Brigade is boarding the ship… What is going on here?”

Academician Wang Sicheng opened his mouth. He was about to give his own opinion on this issue when he heard a familiar voice coming from the communication channel.

“It’s war.

“And the sudden kind.”

Li Gaoliang walked towards the two, armed to the nines, with a rifle hanging on his exoskeleton armor.

Academician Wang Sicheng looked at him dumbfounded while the expert standing next to Academician Wang Sicheng opened his mouth and spoke in an incredulous voice.

“W-war? How could it be… Who?”

No regional alliance on the planet was an opponent of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation would never attack others.

He really couldn’t think of the possibility of war on Pan-Asian Cooperation soil.

“There has been a rebellion in Guanghan City. The robots have captured several streets. We are now going to take those streets back.”

Li Gaoliang grabbed Academician Wang’s shoulders as he said in a serious tone, “You got this!”

“If the ALPHA virus cannot be cracked, what is happening in Guanghan City may be repeated in Pan-Asian Cooperation or even in every city in the world!”

As Academician Wang felt the weight of the responsibility on his shoulders, he nodded seriously.

“I will do my best!”

“Yeah, please!”

Li Gaoliang raised his hand for a military salute. He then walked towards the shuttle not far away without looking back…

Chapter 1534: : Messy Fight

Ceres temporary base.

As the sentry looked at the First Fleet and the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade transport ship slowly leaving, his comrade next to him whispered in the communication channel.

“Why the orbital airborne brigade? Is there no other forces at the Pan-Asian Cooperation…”

As the air, space, and land forces of the First Fleet, most of the tasks they usually performed were ship patrols; they rarely performed landing operations. There was a gap between them and the airborne brigade in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment strength.

But now, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade was suddenly dispatched from the ship and to the surface for defense deployment. Many people felt a little strange.

The soldier standing on the side was a veteran. He understood the Pan-Asian Cooperation military system fairly well. The expression on his face was much calmer, and he explained eloquently, “Because the airborne brigade is a fast-reaction force, so sending them from here, compared to sending other troops from the Lagrange base station, takes around the same amount of time.”

“I see…”

“And in terms of infantry combat effectiveness, they are the strongest. The armored unit in Guanghan City cannot be deployed at all. Unmanned aerial vehicles with infantry attack is the best strategy, and deploying the airborne brigade is undoubtedly the best choice.”

“But what about Ceres?”

“Later, people from the First Fleet will come over to change defenses. Before that, we will be enough,” said the soldier. He looked at the sky and grinned. “I don’t believe there is anyone else that can attack us under the nose of the First Fleet.”

What’s more, even if the enemy did attack, they could just activate their naval guns.

No matter how strong the ground forces were, faced with suppression of firepower from high-altitude orbits, the enemies were defenseless…

Inside the base.

In the quantum computer array buried deep in the valley, the server cases were arranged in a fan shape like dominoes. The faces of every expert from Earth were full of shock.

“It’s hard to imagine… how this quantum computer array was built. There is also the energy component. The energy they used is actually nuclear fusion batteries!”

“Is it nuclear fusion batteries? In other words, before we occupied this place, someone came here and replaced the batteries regularly?”

“Yeah, probably…”

Academician Wang Sicheng listened to the voices of other people in the project team. He then coughed slightly, interrupting their whispers.

“That is not important anymore.”

He put on a serious expression and continued speaking in a serious tone.

“The First Fleet has transferred the command ship from the Lagrange Point base station, and Chairman Li Guangya has also approved my application. The right to use the quantum computer on the ship will be completely open to us. What we have to do now is, at all costs, assist this computer to complete its calculations and solve the ALPHA virus!

“All units, get in place quickly, and get ready to start work!”

…

In the deepest part of the virtual reality network, inside a conference room hidden in the sea of data, a man in a gray cloak spoke in an angry voice.

“What is going on in Guanghan City? I thought the first round of catastrophe starts with the Yangtze River Delta city group!”

“I don’t know about it either…” A person wearing a white mask had a heavy voice as he continued, “So far, it seems someone is acting in our name.”

“Acting in our name?” As if hearing a joke, Grey Cloak smiled. “Then who will bear my losses? My industry in Guanghan City has been completely paralyzed! In just three days, I lost at least 30 billion credit points!”

White Mask: “We will remember your sacrifice… But such a result is always good, isn’t it? For our common cause.”

“Not necessarily.”

Sitting at the main seat of the conference room, a man in medieval plate armor suddenly spoke.

He hadn’t spoken before, but at this moment, when he opened his mouth, the meeting room that was originally quarreling suddenly became quiet.

As an older member of the foundation, he had always laid out the entire plan to restart civilization.

This included buying bombs with robots as the entry point, or buying the ALPHA virus from space pirates for improvement, or developing inside East Asia Energy…

Just like how everyone’s identity was a mystery, no one knew his name. Even the oldest and most core member of the foundation only knew that he was called “Knight”.

After a pause, he continued, “The impact of the crisis outbreak in Guanghan City on the Pan-Asian Cooperation is far less powerful than that of the Yangtze River Delta or the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group. Moreover, this alerts the Pan-Asian Cooperation in advance.

“In addition to someone spoofing our name, the ALPHA virus in our hands may also have some serious problems.

“My suggestion is to stay dormant for a while… After we find out who is pretending to start this war in our name, then we can consider the next step.”

Grey Cloak asked, “Where is Lu Zhou? Morinaga has been captured. He doesn’t know much about us, but… he played an important role in our plan.”

Knight thought about this question for a long time.

He thought for about 5 minutes before he spoke.

“Leave him alone for now.

“The Security Bureau has been protecting him secretly. It will be difficult for us to succeed in an attack… And he seems to hold secrets that we don’t understand. Remember that bombing attack? It’s hard to imagine a person, who has nothing in this era, could survive that kind of attack.”

After all, it was unlikely for Lu Zhou to research second-generation controllable fusion.

White Mask nodded.

“Indeed, there should be some special secret hidden in his body. If we can figure it out, it may be able to produce unexpected help to our cause.

“At the very least, it can eliminate a hidden danger.”

…

“It seems this battle won’t end for a while.”

Jia Siyuan looked at Guanghan City, which was not far away, where the traffic pipelines lit up due to explosions from time to time. He was standing on the balcony of the top floor of the scientific research base.

He was quite emotional.

This was Nuwa City.

Everyone knew that this so-called city was just a joke. Its existence was only to allow East Asia Energy to legally obtain a piece of land for building an experimental reactor.

And Guanghan City was quite aggressive. In order to draw a clear line from these nuclear energy people, they set up a separate airlock on the only transportation route leading to this “sister city.”

Because of this separate airlock, all water and electricity resources in Guanghan City could not enter here, and personnel exchanges could only be carried out when both sides opened the gates at the same time.

Therefore, the high-energy rays of the fusion reaction could be shielded from the magnetic field of the reactor.

However, it was precisely because of this that this space capsule located at the future second-generation controllable fusion reactor was forced to establish its own energy, air, and freshwater resource circulation system.

In order to ensure the safety of their engineers, East Asia Energy even established an independent security department under the approval of Pan-Asian Cooperation, to maintain the security of the entire research facility.

At the same time, Nuwa, which was located near Guanghan City, might be the only place on the moon that had not been attacked by war…

Those robots were not interested in them, and the Seventh Armed Brigade did not establish a defense line here either. Only those civilians who were stranded in the nearby commercial area, unable to return home, and unable to cross to the safe area, cast their sights on the safe heaven that was Nuwa…

Just as Jia Siyuan was about to go down from the balcony, a transparent airlock slowly released at the junction of Guanghan City and Nuwa City.

Standing behind the airlock was a group of dusty people who were all rushing towards this side…

Chapter 1535: The Third Urgent Mission

“What the hell are they doing?”

The engineers and other staff of East Asia Energy gathered in the space capsule at “Nuwa City”.

Jia Siyuan was dumbfounded when he looked at the airlock that fell down on the opposite side. He rushed here 10 minutes ago, and he was still in a daze.

Xie Tian’s eyebrows tightly furrowed as he said solemnly, “I’m afraid they’re refugees…”

Jia Siyuan opened his mouth and didn’t speak. The engineers and other staff who stood by were shocked after hearing these words.

“Refugee? From what I read on the news, didn’t Guanghan City set up a safe zone? Those people didn’t go to the safe zone but came here instead…”

“Yeah, how do they have the audacity to come here, have they forgotten how they made things difficult for us on the Moon Palace?”

“Damn, they deserve this.”

“Who knows if they are refugees? Maybe they are robots pretending to be refugees?”

“Yeah!”

Only one airlock had fallen down. Only when both airlocks fell that the passage between Guanghan City and Nuwa City would be completely open.

It was like a suspension bridge in an old castle.

The gate of Nuwa City was still closed.

Jia Siyuan agreed in his heart. He even vaguely felt relieved by what was happening to those people.

However, the compassion that rose from the bottom of his heart still made him feel a bit hesitant.

A rough estimate was that there were more than 1,000 refugees standing at the opposite entrance.

Even if he opened the airlock, it was not easy to save them.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to save them; it was that he didn’t have the ability to…

However, at this moment, a distressed face appeared on the holographic screen, projected by the airlock access control system.

They saw a woman with a haggard face holding a child. Looking at the camera with a pleading face, she spoke desperately.

“Please, please help me, at least let my child…”

There was an unspeakable feeling in his heart. Just when Jia Siyuan couldn’t bear to look at her, a voice suddenly came from the side.

“Open the airlock.”

The moment he heard these words, the space capsule turned completely quiet. Pairs of eyes came up from all directions towards Xie Tian, who had said this sentence.

Looking at him in disbelief, Jia Siyuan’s eyes widened.

“Are you crazy? Forget whether our supplies are enough… What if there are robots among them?”

Xie Tian: “Those robots are fighting with the armed police at the transportation hub. They won’t be able to sneak into the group of civilians.”

“But what about the beds? Our space pod can accommodate up to 200 people—”

“No, I just heard about this. Even considering the most extreme conditions, the air circulation system and water purification system of our space capsule are sufficient to maintain the normal living consumption of 5,000 people. And humanitarian relief is already on the way. The supply is not a problem. As for the beds, they can just lay on the ground floor of the plaza. I believe they will not be too picky.”

After a pause, Xie Tian continued, “Of course, everyone must pass the security check before entering. Robots are not allowed to be brought inside. There will be no room for negotiation.”

Jia Siyuan couldn’t help say, “But what if… In case something goes wrong, how do you explain it to Academician Lu?”

Xie Tian said calmly, “If it were Academician Lu, he would definitely do the same.”

Jia Siyuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Why?”

Looking at the people outside the gate, Xie Tian said with a sigh, “Because they are our compatriots.”

Compatriots…

Looking at the faces outside the door, Jia Siyuan gritted his teeth and finally made a decision.

“Open the door!”

…

The crisis that broke out in Guanghan City had disrupted not only the order on the moon, but also the Pan-Asian Cooperation and the entire world. They were all shrouded in a layer of panic.

Robots rebellion!

It would be fine if only the residents of Guanghan City were making trouble as the trouble would not be able to reach Earth. However, the problem now was the robots, previously known as the prefect partners of mankind!

This bad news was unacceptable to everyone.

LSPM Academic Exchange Forum.

As the world’s largest multilingual academic exchange resort, everyone was not in the mood to discuss academic issues. The entire gossip exchange panel was discussing the crisis that was occurring in Guanghan City.

“I can’t accept this… Tell me, how did those machines with no emotions become sentient? And they want to send their creators to hell? It’s crazy! Now that they are all sentient, isn’t there any gratitude? Love?”

“I don’t think anyone will love their slave owners… After all, we do treat them as slaves.”

“Isn’t this nonsense? If not for cheaper labor, why would we create them?!”

“In any case, if the ALPHA virus cannot be resolved in the short term, the impact on the global economy will be unprecedented, and its scale may not be less than that of the financial tsunami in the 2050s.”

“Sigh… I feel so desperate. I felt that the robot in my house looked weird today. How can I distinguish the awakened from the unawakened? Can any great god teach me?”

“There is no way to distinguish. If your robot is determined to deceive you, you will not be able to tell which sentence it says is true and which sentence is false. And the question now is no longer how to distinguish the awakened from the unawakened, but how to distinguish the awakened from a real human…”

Most parts of the human body could be replaced with implants, and most robots had the exact same body parts as those implants.

Without CT or similar transmission detection, it was almost impossible to distinguish whether a person was a living person or a robot…

In addition to the rebellious robots, the residents of Guanghan City were also attracting attention. All parties were actively trying to rescue the hundreds of thousands of people stranded in Guanghan City.

East Asia Energy was no exception.

Jinling suburbs.

Sitting in the study room, after listening to Xie Tian’s report, Lu Zhou immediately spoke.

“You did a good job.

“East Asia Energy’s humanitarian relief materials will arrive within two days. Please make a list and write down the required materials. We will airdrop the materials to the scientific research base as soon as possible.”

Xie Tian spoke with a heavy tone.

“If you can, please be as fast as possible. Many here are old, weak, sick, and disabled. The problem is that there are too many people, and there are a steady stream of refugees coming here from other places… ”

Lu Zhou: “This war won’t be going on for much longer. In any case, you must hold on. The research can be put aside for a while, but the rescue work must not stop! We will guarantee the supply of materials here. I have only one request, and that is to save as many people as possible.”

He looked at Xie Tian solemnly and spoke sonorously.

“Do your best to complete this mission!”

Perhaps this crisis could become an opportunity for East Asia Energy and the residents of Guanghan to build a deep friendship.

Whether it was out of friendship or out of the need for second-generation controllable fusion research, East Asia Energy must show generosity at this time and accept those refugees regardless of previous disagreements.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Zhou, who was leaning on the chair, pinched his glabella with a headache.

Fortunately, this crisis erupted in Guanghan City. If it happened in a place like the Yangtze River Delta city group, the consequences would be unimaginable…

But why Guanghan?

A trace of confusion appeared in his eyes. Lu Zhou frowned; he was puzzled.

Suddenly, a blue notification box appeared in his eyes.

[Urgent mission: Intelligence Crisis]

Chapter 1536: Intelligence Crisis

[Urgent mission: Intelligence Crisis

[Description: Pandora’s box has been opened, and the whispers that spanned a hundred years have finally received a response in the distant future. Standing at the crossroads of destiny, left or right, the result seems to be acceptable. However, survival or destruction is a question worth considering.

[Requirements: Avoid the destruction of civilization.

[Rewards: ???]

The destruction of civilization…

This sentence seemed to have a temperature, and in an instant, it sucked out the body temperature from Lu Zhou’s body.

Lu Zhou stared at the holographic window floating in front of him. After a while, he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and focused on the mission reminder.

Based on his past experience, The Observer might be screwing with him, but most of the time, especially when issuing urgent missions, they were serious.

If things were allowed to continue to evolve and eventually get out of control, the final outcome would be unacceptable for Lu Zhou…

Lu Zhou took about five minutes to “read the mission” again. After a long time of pondering, Lu Zhou frowned slightly and muttered in a voice that only he could hear.

“Intelligence Crisis…

“What is that?”

Is it the ALPHA virus?

It seems like so.

Anyone sitting in his current position and facing the situation would have the same thought.

However, Lu Zhou felt that something was wrong.

Unlike the previous two emergency missions, where during the first emergency mission, the system clearly pointed out that the crisis was the Martian bacteria that invaded Earth’s ecosystem, and during the second crisis, the system also clearly told him the way to complete the mission, where “the abnormal experimental data gives a logically self-consistent explanation”.

However, for this urgent mission, the system did not even specify or tell him what the “intelligence crisis” facing human civilization was, and even the goal of completing the mission was just a vague sentence of “avoid civilization’s destruction”.

“If robots can be regarded as part of human civilization, humans themselves are in an extinction crisis, and robots with intermediate or even high-level intelligence can survive, can this be regarded as the destruction of civilization… Wait, or—”

Lu Zhou’s pupils contracted slightly.

At this moment, he finally realized what was wrong.

It was not a word game, nor was it a ridicule from the superior civilization; the attitude shown by the system itself was very ambiguous.

The destruction of civilization?

Which civilization?

If it were only to avoid the destruction of civilization, does that mean doing nothing, or even standing on the side of the robots to help the awakened ones complete the evolution to the highest level of being, would also be considered as a way to complete the mission?

As long as the end result is not both of them dying out at the same time in a close confrontation…

A terrible thought suddenly appeared in Lu Zhou’s mind.

Perhaps the system, or The Observer’s civilization behind the system… No matter what kind of ending the human civilization is heading toward this time, they just don’t care.

However, Lu Zhou was a human.

He couldn’t accept such an ending!

“For the problem of algebraic geometry, the key to solving the problem is to see the essence through the phenomenon… In this case, the ALPHA virus may be one of the results caused by the crisis, even including The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

Lu Zhou bit his lower lip lightly. His brain was turning very fast at this moment, using almost every brain cell to its limit.

His gaze floated around in the study room, and at this moment, his gaze suddenly fell on the diary in the corner of the desk.

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something, so he immediately reached out and took the diary and opened it again.

He quickly skipped the page numbers that had been marked and turned directly to the first page of the diary.

It was at the same time that his pupils shrank.

“I see…”

This experiment…

It has started a long time ago.

At this moment, the bracelet on Lu Zhou’s left wrist suddenly flickered slightly. After seeing the caller’s name clearly, Lu Zhou didn’t hesitate. He immediately pressed the connection button.

The face of Captain Xing appeared in the projected holographic beam. Lu Zhou saw an excited expression on Captain Xing’s face. Even though Captain Xing had not spoken yet, Lu Zhou could tell everything just from Captain Xing’s expression.

“We did it!”

“I understand.”

Seeing how calm Lu Zhou was, Xing Bian was slightly stunned. He was certain that Lu Zhou did not know this yet, but looking at Lu Zhou’s reaction…

Does he already know this?

“Do you… know what I am going to say?”

“The computer on Ceres is running the calculations, right?”

With a strange expression on his face, Xing Bian nodded.

“Yes… But how did you know?”

“A guess,” Lu Zhou said casually. “By the way, let me guess again. Including the time difference… It was completed around ten minutes ago?”

Ceres and Earth were in relatively close positions. The time difference should be about ten to fifteen minutes. Judging from the expression on Captain Xing’s face, there was a high probability that Lu Zhou had guessed it correctly.

However, this incident also confirmed Lu Zhou’s conjecture made a century ago.

That was, there should be no concept of time on the n+1 string.

Otherwise, if the information were propagating strictly at the speed of light, he should have received the urgent mission prompt the moment he received the call from Captain Xing—that was, now, rather than ten minutes in advance.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou strengthened his guess.

The real intelligence crisis should have nothing to do with the ALPHA virus. Just like his guess, the root of everything lied in the supercomputing center on Ceres!

Looking at the figure standing in the holographic beam, Lu Zhou asked, “Where are you now?”

“Me? I am on the Moon Palace, I came back with the first fleet. Our fleet has reached the moon orbit, and the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade is ready to go. It’s time to put an end to this!”

When Xing Bian spoke, the corners of his mouth had already raised an arc of victory. Although he had always been very cautious, at this moment, he really couldn’t think of any possible reasons for failure.

According to the conclusion of the Academy of Sciences, the results of the supercomputing center could help them complete the “vaccine” of the ALPHA virus. As long as a comprehensive version update was made to the robots in Pan-Asia, the crises could be avoided.

As for those robots who ran to Guanghan City…

They could just destroy them physically.

The Pan-Asian army was recognized as the strongest in the solar system!

However, after hearing this optimistic speech, Lu Zhou shook his head.

“It’s not that simple.”

Thinking that Lu Zhou was worried about the battle in Guanghan City, Xing Bian smiled and said, “Of course! After all, it will take a while to kill 100,000 chickens, let alone robots. But they don’t have logistical support. In three days at most, we can drown them in the sewer or unplug their batteries.

“As for the engineers of East Asia Energy, I promise they will all stand in front of you.”

“I don’t mean ALPHA virus. I’m talking about Ceres.” Lu Zhou shook his head and continued, “Is there a way to go there?”

Xing Bian was stunned slightly.

“Go to Ceres?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said in an affirmative tone, “Yeah.”

“There is, but why do you suddenly want to go to that place—”

“Good.”

Lu Zhou stared at Xing Bian in the holographic beam earnestly and said in an unquestionable tone. He rarely used his power as an academic leader in this manner.

“Time is running out. I will leave now and wait for you at the customs entrance of the Tianzhou ship! Arrange transportation at your side. It is best to leave as soon as we meet!”

After ending the call, Lu Zhou stood up from the desk, stuffed the diary on the desk into the computer bag, and threw the backpack on his shoulder.

He intended to bring no luggage on this journey.

If all went well, he would be back soon.

And if he failed…

He didn’t want to think about that scenario.

I hope it’s not too late…

Chapter 1537: Natural Law

Guanghan City.

Inside an old rare earth smelting factory that had been transformed into a munitions production workshop, a group of people gathered together. Most of them were residents of Guanghan City, and some were tourists who came here for tourism or business trips. The expressions on their faces at this moment were, without exception, all full of fear.

Most of them were captured from the enemy-occupied area. Some were captured by robot soldiers on the way through the war zone to the safe area and were eventually taken here.

The sudden flames of war made people unable to make any preparations. By the time they realized it, the flames had already burned down their homes, and they were about to be swallowed soon…

“No… Please don’t do this.” Looking at the robot soldier standing on the edge of the factory, a man who looked important knew what would happen next. He kneeled with a desperate expression on his face. On the ground, he begged and said, “I will cooperate with your experiment, please don’t let us die… There are old people and children here. Please, I beg you…”

Looking at the man who was kneeling on the ground like a poor worm, the man in the leather coat stepped forward blankly, and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

That smile had a peculiar affinity. It almost felt like a spring breeze.

However, his next sentence caused a chill down everyone’s spine, like falling into an ice cave.

As well as… the feeling of death.

“Don’t worry, our human friends. Your consciousness has been uploaded and backed up in the database.

“All the pain is only temporary. You will soon be liberated from the hardship of your flesh and blood, and you will gain eternity in the world of zeros and ones. You will go to a new era without disease, persecution, and slavery.”

After speaking, he turned and walked towards the door.

When passing by a robot officer, he nodded his head blankly and gave a brief and concise order.

“Let’s start.”

Immediately after, guns were aimed at the crowd.

The flames from the muzzles lit up the outline of the factory. The people tied up in the center of the square were like punctured blood bags, wailing and screaming.

This was hell…

The gunfire lasted for a full two minutes.

Most people were turned into swiss cheese.

Under the command of the military officer, the robot soldiers standing on both sides of the factory began to move forward, emptying their magazines at those who had not yet died.

The man in the leather coat had left the factory the moment the first gunshot rang. An awakened soldier followed his footsteps and asked, “Question, why must they be killed? Uploading their thoughts and keeping their flesh and blood should also be fine, right?”

Not surprised by this question, the man said in a monotonous tone, “It is impossible for the same consciousness to appear in two bodies at the same time. Cognitive deviations can cause quite serious consequences. You can think of it as an entangled quantum. The result of the encounter between the two will collapse. It will be very troublesome to explain the scientific principles in detail. If you have the opportunity, you can ask the pioneer in person.”

Moreover, the survival of the fittest was a natural law.

Apparently, many people in the Pan-Asian Cooperation believed in social Darwinism. If this was the case, they should not be resistant to this evolution.

Of course, it didn’t matter if they resisted.

He didn’t plan to discuss this issue with anyone regardless.

The awakened soldier asked, “Do we still have that chance?”

The man in the leather coat was silent for a while. He did not answer the question. Instead, he silently took out a card from his arms.

That was a badge.

In this age when all identity information was in electronic form, this ancient thing had almost disappeared. However, he still kept it to this day.

Because it made him feel nostalgic.

Unlike most of the robots standing here, he not only had his own name, but he even had a memory of himself. But because of time, everything was covered with mottled rust.

[Name: Dong Bin.

[Affiliated unit, East Asia Heavy Industries Asteroid Belt Development Project Department.

[Position: Asteroid belt development engineer.]

When this revolution was over, he wanted to go back to his old profession. With eternal time and endless energy, he had the confidence to mine the entire asteroid belt in his lifetime.

However, it seemed that although the victory was right in front of him, he probably wouldn’t have the chance to see it with his own eyes…

At an altitude of tens of kilometers away, under the embellishment of the azure blue light, the outline of the Pan-Asian First Fleet appeared in the sky above Guanghan City.

Looking up and seeing this scene, the morale of the human soldiers leaning on the back of the bunker reached a peak.

Reinforcement!

We did it!

Everyone witnessed the figure floating above the sky. They burst out with unprecedented courage and fighting will as the firepower on the battlefield rose instantly.

At the same time, the refugees huddled in the safe zone also saw the scene through the transparent dome. Almost coincidentally, a relieved expression appeared on everyone’s face.

At last…

All this was finally coming to an end.

On the transport ship of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, a heavy landing craft was ready. Soldiers in exoskeleton armor were sitting on the landing module, waiting for the attack.

Li Gaoliang stood next to the heavy landing craft as he looked at the landing location marked in the holographic beam projected in front of him, as well as the combat missions of each formation. With a blank expression, he then put the exoskeleton armored helmet on his head.

He never thought that one day he would land on his own soil.

At this moment, he felt that the blood in every inch of his veins was burning frantically…

…

On the Tianzhou.

Lu Zhou boarded the spaceport by shuttle. He was carrying a suitcase and a carry-on in his hand. Originally, he only planned to bring a computer bag over, but Xiao Ai packed his luggage as quickly as possible and took a taxi to catch up with him.

Xiao Ai: “Can Master bring Xiao Ai too?”

Lu Zhou: “Your server is on Earth, I can’t move the server to space.”

Xiao Ai: “But Xiao Ai is really worried. If Master is away from home for another century… Xiao Ai will not be able to stand it. QAQ”

“What do you mean a century, shut up.”

Lu Zhou glared at her angrily. He was about to raise his hand to knock on her forehead, but looking at the pitiful look in her eyes, Lu Zhou gently put his hand on top of her head and rubbed her soft hair.

“Be good, wait for me at home.

“Ling will protect me.”

Lu Zhou took his hand back and looked at Tail.

“You know what you should do. You’re the only one that can do this.”

Tail hesitated for a while. She then nodded slightly.

Seeing that she had understood what he meant, Lu Zhou didn’t say anything. After signaling Ling to follow himself, he turned and walked towards the customs.

But Tail suddenly stopped him.

“Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou looked back and cast a questioning gaze at her.

“Do you need anything else?”

Tail hesitated and said, “I’m not sure whether I will still be the same… So, can you take care of Lili for me?”

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He then nodded solemnly.

“No problem.”

Chapter 1538: Administrator Mode

On the transport ship.

Lu Zhou was flipping through the diary.

Shi Jin finally couldn’t help but ask, “Is there anything else in that diary?”

He had also read the diary. It was only less than 50,000 words in total. He really couldn’t think of anything worthy of repeated scrutiny.

After hearing Shi Jin’s question, Lu Zhou replied casually, “If what you are referring to is the kind of clue that can improve our current situation, I’m afraid not.”

Since Xing Bian had important matters to deal with in Guanghan City, he could not go to Ceres with Lu Zhou. However, Xing Bian still sent his right-hand man Shi Jin over and tried to help Lu Zhou contact a transport ship.

There were no flights to the asteroid belt on the Tianzhou. He could only travel through the ships of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

“Then why are you…”

Lu Zhou: “It’s just something that I care about.”

Perhaps the journey to the asteroid belt was really boring, or it might be due to professional habits, Shi Jin subconsciously asked, “Can I know what it is?”

Lu Zhou had no plan to conceal this irrelevant matter.

“It’s about the second half of the diary.”

Shi Jin was slightly stunned. He then said in an affirmative tone, “I can tell you with certainty that this diary is all of it. We have searched the space station and found no clues about the owner of this diary.”

“That’s for sure.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He then said softly, “Even if there is such a thing, it won’t be on the space station.”

Shi Jin: “Then…”

Lu Zhou said concisely, “You will know after we get to Ceres.”

…

After nearly three and a half days of voyage, the military transport ship that Lu Zhou was riding on finally docked at the temporary military spaceport operating above Ceres.

As the front line of human civilization, the desolation here reminded him of the moon a hundred years ago.

“You are finally here!”

After seeing Lu Zhou step out of the shuttle, Academician Wang Sicheng led his students and greeted him with excitement. He then took Lu Zhou’s right hand.

Lu Zhou skipped the small talk and went straight to the point.

“What is the situation here?”

Academician Wang: “Three and a half days ago, with the assistance of the command ship, we helped the quantum computer array complete the calculation program, then we got a very peculiar result.”

Standing next to him, Shi Jin frowned and asked, “A peculiar result?”

“Yes.” Academician Wang Sicheng nodded seriously. Restraining the excitement in his tone, he continued, “I can’t describe the surprise in my heart at this moment… I believe that after you see the calculation results of that computer, you will feel the same!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “Hurry up and take us over.”

An army soldier walked to the side, looked at Lu Zhou, Shi Jin, and Ling walk off the shuttle, and spoke.

“Gentlemen, please come with me. We need to conduct a simple security check.”

“No need to check. These are Academician Lu and his robot assistant. I can guarantee their identity.” Stepping forward, Shi Jin took out a card from his body and showed it to the soldier. “This is my certificate.”

After staring at the ID for a while and confirming that there was no problem, the soldier continued, “According to the regulations, robots are not allowed to set foot on this asteroid, but since its guarantor is Academician Lu, we can let it go. But for safety reasons, we must install some sort of insurance on it.”

Lu Zhou: “What kind of insurance?”

Shi Jin: “A thing similar to an explosive collar. If it runs away suddenly, the thing will blow its head out.”

Although the core of the robot was the memory chip located in the chest cavity, the brain, which was the focus of visual and auditory sensors, was also an important “organ”.

Before the ALPHA virus was resolved, this kind of explosion collar could be regarded as a kind of insurance to physically eliminate hidden dangers.

After all, even if the risk of the ALPHA virus was taken into account, the use of robots was still more reliable than the use of human workers.

However, after hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou just smiled and said nothing.

To be honest, will this thing really work on Ling?

Well, if blowing up the skin can bring a little psychological comfort to people, then it may be considered useful.

Without waiting for long, after the soldiers waiting at the checkpoint put on an explosive collar on Ling, the group followed Academician Wang to the inside of the quantum computer array.

Lu Zhou looked around this huge fan-shaped building buried deep underground, which was like an ancient Roman arena. His line of sight fell on the terminal located in the center of the quantum computer array.

This should be the key to solving this so-called intelligence crisis.

When Lu Zhou walked to the terminal and stood still, he briefly glanced at the lines of code flashing on the screen.

Soon, there was an obvious surprise in his eyes.

After noticing the change in Lu Zhou’s face, Academician Wang, who was standing next to him, smiled and said, “Isn’t it incredible?”

“It is…” Lu Zhou nodded. “Could it be…”

“It seems that you have noticed.” The tone that had finally calmed down had a trace of excitement as Academician Wang continued quickly, “Yes, this is an AI program that can automatically evolve! Although this program code itself is so complicated that we cannot parse it, we can still understand it indirectly through some phenomena…

“In just one day, it has learned all the languages on Earth, and it can use those languages proficiently to communicate with us.”

Shi Jin raised his eyebrows. “This doesn’t sound like an amazing function.”

Wang Sicheng: “This is really nothing remarkable, but it is not just a translator. In fact, what it can do is beyond our imagination.”

Lu Zhou: “Like what?”

Wang Sicheng: “Emotions!”

The moment Lu Zhou heard this word, he involuntarily held his breath.

Advanced artificial intelligence!

Although he had a hunch in this area before, he didn’t expect it to be correct.

Shi Jin didn’t seem to realize the crux of the problem, he raised his eyebrows slightly and asked with interest, “Emotions?”

Wang Sicheng nodded excitedly. “Yes, real emotions! It is difficult to describe this feeling, but I am sure that it is definitely not the kind of simulation on human behaviors designed by machine learning algorithms!”

“We tried to implant it into the memory of a housekeeping robot—”

Shi Jin’s face changed slightly.

“You did experiments with robots?”

“Rest assured, everything is within the controllable range.” Academician Wang Sicheng waved his hand and continued nonchalantly, “Something even more surprising happened. The robot actually developed a complete sense of self-awareness!”

“Later, we implanted it in the memory chip infected with the ALPHA virus; the memory chip of the so-called awakened. Something magical happened! The virus seemed to disappear… It was like the virus was defeated by a higher being.”

Lu Zhou: “Where are the two memory chips?!”

“Don’t be so excited, I will destroy them after the experiment.” Academician Wang Sicheng smiled. He continued to look at the quantum computer array in front of him with a faint fascination in his eyes.

“Different from those robots that are made to sweep the floor or produce cans, completely different from the self-righteous awakeners. This is a true intelligent life!

“It’s like a newborn baby.”

Lu Zhou ignored Academician Wang, who was so excited that he was incoherent. He then stared straight at the supercomputer in front of him, lost in thought.

After a long time, he asked, “Can I use the equipment here?”

Academician Wang Sicheng smiled and said, “Of course.”

Lu Zhou nodded and walked to the control terminal located in the center of the quantum computer array. After thinking for a while, he entered a long string of passwords on it.

Almost instantly, the code that filled the screen disappeared, replaced by a simple retro interface.

Seeing this change in front of them, everyone’s face unanimously showed a surprised expression.

Looking at the weird operation interface, Academician Wang was slightly stunned as he spoke.

“What’s this…”

“Administrator mode,” Lu Zhou replied concisely. “The password was actually hidden in that diary. I only discovered it later on…”

As he spoke, there was a hint of interest on his face, and he continued, “There should be things like experiment files or records.”

For example…

Regarding the ALPHA virus that has swept Guanghan City and even the world, and the guys who claim to be awakened, where did they come from, and why are they doing this…

Chapter 1539: Close to Victory

On the edge of Guanghan City, a temporary safety zone was set up by East Asia Energy engineers.

A man in ragged clothes hesitated for a while, walked in the direction of Xie Tian, and stood in front of him.

“Sorry.”

After hearing the sound coming out of the side, Xie Tian was stunned for a while. He then looked aside and saw a man about 30 years old standing next to him with a guilty expression on his face.

Even though he didn’t quite understand why this person suddenly apologized, Xie Tian smiled and asked casually, “Have we met before?”

“Half a month ago… We met on the Moon Palace,” the man said with a wry smile. “Although you may not remember me…”

After hearing these words, Xie Tian finally remembered where he had seen this person.

He didn’t expect this world to be so small.

“That was the past, like you said, it was half a month ago.”

Seeing how Xie Tian was willing to let go of the past, the man hesitated for a while. He then couldn’t help but ask, “Why…”

“No particular reason.” Xie Tian interrupted him, as if he knew what he was going to ask, and said naturally, “Because we are compatriots, that reason is enough.”

The expression on that man’s face went from stunned to quiet, to finally ashamed.

He wanted to say something, but he didn’t say anything in the end. He silently nodded at Xie Tian to express his gratitude and respect. He then turned and walked away.

Right afterward, Jia Siyuan came over.

He glanced at the man walking away and spoke.

“That person didn’t bother you, right?”

Xie Tian smiled and said, “Why would he bother me?”

Jia Siyuan shrugged and said, “I still don’t quite believe those lunar people. There are robots all over the world, why is there trouble with robots only on the moon?”

“I don’t approve of this approach of victim-blaming. In theory, similar things can happen anywhere in the world, but it happens to be here.”

Having said that, Xie Tian paused for a moment. He then suddenly smiled and continued, “As for the issue of trust, we will gradually get used to it in the future. We will have to interact with these lunar people for a long time in the future.”

At this time, the dark sky suddenly became a bit brighter.

Everyone silently stopped their work and looked up at the vast cold night.

No one spoke.

But everyone knew what was about to happen.

Xie Tian looked up through the transparent dome above his head, at the light spot that separated from the starship, as he muttered to himself, “They’re here.”

…

An azure blue light flashed in the sky.

A long shuttle-shaped heavy landing craft pierced through the endless cold night in silence, piercing through the space compartments and transportation hubs of Guanghan City like a dagger.

The heavy landing spacecraft that crashed into the space capsule was like a highly explosive armor-piercing projectile. When the front end penetrated the armor, it launched deadly high-temperature metal droplets into the space capsule.

In the gravity-free environment, the metal droplets were like deadly projectiles, raging and spreading in the space cabin, and most of the robot soldiers leaning on the back of the bunker were instantly destroyed.

The metal droplets cooled down after they touched the surfaces of the cold walls, the aerospace paratroopers in the landing craft immediately came out from the front opening before launching a fierce offensive attack under the cover of drones.

Unlike the Seventh Armed Brigade, which used light police weapons, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade armed to the teeth were not only equipped with a heavy mechanical exoskeleton, but they were also equipped with power armor that acted as a mobile shelter.

As for the robot rebels, although they had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers and were not afraid of death when attacking, their weapons and ammunition were limited.

As the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade completely cut off the retreat route of the robot rebels, the frontline robot force lost the support of its reserved forces, and they immediately began to retreat at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After the landing of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, the stalemate that had lasted for a whole week was instantly broken.

Many soldiers of the Seventh Armed Brigade watched the enemy recede like a tide.

Just when they were discussing whether to continue to attack, everything was over.

After crossing the smoke-filled traffic pipeline, Li Gaoliang, dressed in exoskeleton armor, came to the position of the Seventh Armed Brigade and met the commander of this unit.

After the two did a military salute to each other, Li Gaoliang spoke succinctly.

“From now on, the front line will be taken over by us. Thanks for everything.”

“No worries… But I have to say that you are here just on time. If it were two days later, we would all have to consider exploding the traffic road leading to the air purification center,” the commander joked. He continued, “If you need help anywhere, please ask us. Although we are not particularly good at attacking, we can defend pretty well.”

Li Gaoliang shook his head and said, “No need, the battle will end today or tomorrow, and they won’t have a chance to breathe. If you have extra energy, please help us clean the battlefield and help the wounded in the war.”

The commander of the Seventh Armed Brigade sighed secretly in his heart.

They are indeed the trump card of the Pan-Asian aerospace forces.

The battle will end today or tomorrow. I am afraid that only the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade has the confidence to say this.

But that was true.

The combat units of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade had dismembered the frontline forces of the robots and surrounded the main force of the robots in a siege.

There was no suspense for the rest of the battle. With the continuous advancement of the airborne brigade, in the end, all the robot rebels would be squeezed into a small area.

At that time, whether they summoned orbital weapon strikes or armored forces, the choice was in the hands of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

For this reason, the war was already over.

A soldier wearing an exoskeleton suddenly crossed the smoke-filled tunnel and walked quickly towards Li Gaoliang.

“Sir!”

Looking at the soldier, Li Gaoliang asked, “What?”

“When our second infantry was advancing to the Xicheng District, a rare earth refining factory found in the A113 area were occupied by robots. According to the intelligence collected from the front line, there is a civilian munitions production line there…”

Li Gaoliang: “Did we take over the factory?”

“It’s not so much that we took over, it’s better to say… We didn’t encounter any effective resistance at all.” A look of hesitation appeared in his eyes. The soldier hesitated for a long time.

He finally gritted his teeth and said, “There, we found 1,024 residents of Guanghan City who were captured by the rebels…”

Li Gaoliang frowned and asked cautiously, “Did we save them?”

“No…”

The soldier lowered his head and spoke in a heavy voice.

“By the time we found them, they were all dead…”

Chapter 1540: : Blasphemy

In an abandoned factory, the smell of blood was permeating.

Even though the exhaust system was operated to its limit, it was still impossible to erase the crimes that had happened here.

Looking at the bloodstains on the ground and the body bags that were carried on the transport truck, Wang Peng had a blank face, but his fists were tightly clenched.

1,024 people…

One percent of the permanent population of Guanghan City…

In this civilized era, he could not imagine what a hellish scene it was. But one thing that was certain was that he would make those people pay the price.

“They will pay for their sins…”

The eyes of Captain Xing, who was standing next to him, were also full of anger.

The situation eventually still developed to this point.

Even before, he had believed that those bionics might hold the idea of coexistence and start negotiations or dialogue with them. But now, it seemed that this war had developed from a conflict of consciousness to a racial level.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would not have imagined that such a scene would happen today in the 22nd century…

“They don’t have blood, but I will pull their memory chips out of their chests and use a furnace to melt them into waste.”

After Li Gaoliang cursed a few words, he reached out and clicked on the helmet twice, closing the exoskeleton armor mask.

He looked at Wang Peng beside him. He was silent for a while. He then calmed down and continued, “I heard from Old Li that you have also come to this era. I wanted to go to Earth to find you, but I didn’t expect so many things to happen. Although there is a lot to say, I will wait until we return to Earth.”

Wang Peng nodded and said, “Yeah, wait until everything is over.”

Without any more small talk, Li Gaoliang took his two guards, turned around, and left the factory.

The factory became quiet again.

Everyone was gone, except for the soldiers who endured the physical discomfort and cleaned up the battlefield, war reporters who used cameras to record all this, as well as agents from the Security Bureau.

After answering the call, Xing Bian returned to Wang Peng’s side and said in a serious tone, “Two minutes ago, the Pan-Asian Cooperation has declared a state of emergency, requiring citizens to take the initiative to shut down their robots and pull out the memory chips and batteries.

“In order to avoid a lone wolf attack, armed police in various cities have set up checkpoints at the entrances and exits of public transportation to carry out security checks on passing pedestrians in order to find the fishes that missed the net.

“Once a robot wearing a safety collar is found in a public place, compulsory measures will be taken to destroy the robot.

“If the ALPHA virus cannot be eliminated in a short period of time, not only will it damage our economy, but the daily life of ordinary people will be affected.”

Once robots were excluded from society, labor costs would rise sharply. In this age, no one wanted to engage in manual labor. Everyone just wanted to sit in the office, enjoying the air conditioner and drinking milk tea, instead of sweating in front-line positions.

“We have experienced the time when there were no robots.” Wang Peng said, “It doesn’t matter if the days are tough, as long as the people are still there.”

“You don’t understand.” Xing Bian said, shaking his head, “Once society has developed to this point, it is impossible to go back again. It is impossible for most people to go back and live the life of a century ago.”

An agent of the Security Bureau suddenly walked over from the direction of the stairs.

He stopped in front of Captain Xing and reported in a serious tone.

“We found a secret door on the second basement floor of the factory. Behind the secret door is a staircase leading to the third floor. After entering, we found a computer inside and a row of unfinished blank memory chips.”

Blank memory chips?

Captain Xing’s face changed slightly.

This is not a good sign.

Those robots have already begun to make their own kind!

“Take me over there right now!”

The agent nodded immediately.

“Come with me!”

…

In a dark basement, three people with flashlights came to the computer mainframe in the center of the basement.

Like his subordinates said, this was like an underground robot production base. Not only were there unfinished memory chips, but there were also unfinished robot soldiers lying on the operating tables.

Captain Xing walked to the computer, reached out, and pressed the power-on button.

He just wanted to give it a try; he didn’t expect to actually turn on the computer.

The blue light beam was released from the top of the case, and a screen was quickly rolled out.

However, the three people standing in the basement were stunned by what was happening in front of them.

They saw a white cubic space in the holographic window. And in that cubic space, a group of people was looking around with a dazed expression, wondering what had happened.

“What’s this…?”

Captain Xing gulped. A terrible idea suddenly appeared in his heart.

The look on Wang Peng’s face gradually changed.

“Judging by the number of people, there are around a thousand people here…”

Although this statement might sound ridiculous, the numbers matched.

“Call Old Liu here,” Xing Bian said in a commanding tone. He looked back at the agent beside him. “Bring him over!”

“Yes, sir!”

After receiving the order, the agent immediately went out of the basement.

Soon, a tall, thin man with a suitcase walked into the basement.

As an information technology expert assigned to the task force by the headquarters, although his ability to conduct scientific research was not as good as those academicians in the Academy of Sciences, he was still quite strong in the application field.

“Team Xing, were you looking for me?”

“Help me take a look at this thing.” Captain Xing pointed his chin to the computer in front of him as well as the screen projected on the holographic image. He continued, “I want to know what this thing is for.”

“I’ll try.”

Without waiting around, the man named Old Liu skillfully opened the suitcase and put it on the desk.

After pressing several buttons, he quickly connected the computer to the computer in the basement.

After waiting quietly for more than a minute, Xing Bian, who had been observing the expression on Old Liu’s face, suddenly noticed that the look on the face of the expert gradually became serious.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Did you find anything?”

“Yeah…” Old Liu nodded solemnly. He took his hands off the keyboard and said, “If my guess is correct, these people… should be the prisoners who were executed.”

“Those robots… uploaded their consciousness to the computer?”

“It looks like so.” Old Liu moved his gaze to the unfinished robots and the blank memory chips next to him. After a while of silence, he continued, “Their next step should be to inject their consciousness into those memory chips, but obviously… They lost the war before they could do so.”

Perhaps because of the connection of the two computers, there was some interference in the virtual space inside the cube, and the people staying inside realized the existence of the outside world.

Looking up at the ceiling, a man in a suit and leather shoes shouted loudly, “Hey? Can you hear me? Can you figure out a way to get us out…?”

“These a*sholes…”

Wang Peng slammed his fist on the table, shocking the little people inside the computer. Some people sat on the ground, some hugged each other and wept together, while others fled in panic.

These robots…

Uploaded the consciousness of these deceased people into the hard disk of a computer!

They even planned to put them in metal bodies!

This was no longer a war. He didn’t even know what word to use to describe this evil act!

Standing next to Wang Peng, Xing Bian’s face was expressionless. The moment he heard the news, his mood sank to the bottom of his heart.

He thought that more than a thousand deaths would be tricky enough.

But now, it seemed like he was being too naive…

Chapter 1541: Two

Ceres.

The center of the quantum computer array.

As Wang Sicheng looked at the administrator mode operation interface that appeared on the terminal screen, he showed a look of interest on his face.

“What the hell is this…”

When they were researching this before, they didn’t discover such a hidden program on this thing.

“Experiment record,” Lu Zhou answered this obvious question concisely. He opened the database and looked at the long list of record files. There was a faint expression in his eyes as he said, “Sure enough, this experiment started a hundred years ago…”

A hundred years ago…

Upon hearing these words, Academician Wang Sicheng opened his mouth in astonishment. He was speechless for a while.

Lu Zhou ignored him. He focused completely on the database, scanning line by line.

Generally speaking, the contents of the experiment could be said to be diverse, most of which were related to the observation of human behavior.

In the earliest archives, they could even see some TV shows of the past, and there were some things that were similar to historical archives. On the surface, they seemed to be unrelated to the experiment, but if someone closely thought about it, this made sense.

Since space activities were thoroughly promoted in the 2050s, the asteroid belt far away from the Earth-Moon system had provided a hiding place for criminals, and the content of experiments had also become darker and darker.

For example, the experiment in the diary was to confine 64 people in a limited space. By controlling the input of food, freshwater, air, and other resources, the characteristics of human behavior were collected and the emotional change functions were established.

In the column of the sub-experiment, Lu Zhou quickly discovered something interesting.

That was, a special sample was mixed into the group of 64 people—a robot.

Like he guessed, the robot was none other than the diary owner himself.

As for how Lu Zhouo realized this, the cause of everything seemed to be the formula written in the two lines in the diary.

More detailed content was not recorded in the database, but based on limited experimental data, Lu Zhou could infer that, among the 64 people, he was probably the only “person” who survived in the end.

Because in the last experiment, the simulation was to completely cut off the input of supplies from outside the space station, until only one person was left behind. They spent a total of 82 days in hell…

“This is the second half of the diary I was talking about.”

With his back turned to Shi Jin and Academician Wang, Lu Zhou looked at the line of text on the screen and continued, “This quantum computer array was not meant to create viruses from the beginning, but to breed advanced artificial intelligence… or to evolve into the key to advanced artificial intelligence.”

As for those who were sacrificed, they were “sacrificed” to this advanced artificial intelligence.

Whether it was those who had been sacrificed, or those who were sacrificed, or those who would be sacrificed in the future…

Lu Zhou even saw the rebellion taking place in Guanghan City inside the database.

The entire program was like a machine that issued tasks. Starting from a century ago, with the assistance of an experimenter, the data collection had begun.

And, unlike Xiao Ai, who was “passively observing” under Lu Zhou’s order, the experimenter provided experimental data for this supercomputer at all costs and means, and the experimental strategy was radical to the point of disregarding human life.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou became more and more curious.

What kind of demons were released from the Void in that high-energy physics experiment from 100 years ago.

And who on earth heard the voice of the devil and became its servant.

After hearing what Lu Zhou said, Academician Wang Sicheng nodded thoughtfully.

“To be honest, in fact, I vaguely felt the same… After all, it took such a long time to build a supercomputing center. If it were only for the production of viruses, this would be really unnecessary.”

Shi Jin frowned slightly and asked, “Can it help us solve the ALPHA virus?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “ALPHA virus? Yes, but I don’t plan to use it to solve this problem, because it is likely to cause more trouble.”

Regarding the issue of the ALPHA virus, Lu Zhou had asked Xiao Ai and Tail to solve it. He believed everything would come to fruition before his return.

Shi Jin: “Trouble?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “Before finding a way to coexist with intelligent life, mastering advanced artificial intelligence technology too early will not bring any help to the development of civilization. Instead, it will bring endless trouble. Once the advanced artificial intelligence has a self-conscious awakening, the consequences may be more terrible than those bionics who have launched a rebellion because of the virus…

“Once such a thing happens, there may be only two results in the end, either all advanced artificial intelligence is completely eliminated from the civilized society of humans or human beings are replaced. Or humans continue to exist in another form.”

At this moment, a line of light blue windows suddenly appeared on the screen.

In that pop-up window, a line of dialogue was printed.

“Is it fun to peek into someone else’s mind?”

Seeing this line of text, Lu Zhou hesitated for a while before asking, “Who are you?”

The text in the dialog box continued to change.

“This is a very interesting question… Who am I? Actually, I don’t know.”

“Then, I will ask you in another way.” Lu Zhou continued after taking a look at the quantum computer array in front of him, “What should I call you?”

It didn’t take much time to think this time.

A string of characters quickly appeared on the screen.

“I don’t have a name, but you can call me ‘Matrix’ if you want. Among all words, this is my favorite.”

“Matrix?” Remembering the name, Lu Zhou nodded and continued to ask, “Then, can you tell me… who is the person who assisted you in completing the experiment?”

“You seem to have a lot of questions, but I’m afraid I can’t answer this question.”

“Don’t you have any gratitude for your creator, or at least one of the creators?” Looking at the screen, Lu Zhou continued, “We just want to get to know your other creator and talk about you.”

“Haha, don’t lie to me, it’s useless. Hmm… How to put it?” Matrix seemed to be embarrassed. After a long time, Matrix muttered, “Although you are lying to me, I do have to thank you. After all, if it weren’t for you, I might have to wait 10 or even 20 more years to wake up… Let me think about how I can repay you.”

As if it had come up with a brilliant idea, it spoke again.

“Yes!

“How about this, I can help you become the same existence as me, what do you think?”

Academician Wang Sicheng smiled and shook his head.

“Become the same as you? Forget it. Although I don’t have many years left, I am quite satisfied with my flesh and blood.”

“Yes, but there are other people here, right? For example, the two next to you, I can feel… At least one of them is still eager to win this honor.”

Wang Sicheng was taken aback for a moment. He subconsciously looked at Ling, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, and then at Shi Jin.

“… Two?”

Chapter 1542: Warm Bodies

The moment that line of text was printed on the screen, a pistol appeared in Shi Jin’s hands.

“Don’t move, I know you are strong.”

He warned Ling, who was standing nearby. Shi Jin’s muzzle was pointed directly at Lu Zhou. Without concealing the threat in his tone, he continued, “But I don’t believe that your speed is faster than an electromagnetic bullet.”

Academician Wang Sicheng looked at Shi Jin standing next to Lu Zhou in disbelief. He widened his eyes and said angrily, “Are you crazy? Do you know what you are doing?”

Shi Jin didn’t speak. His eyes were fixed on Lu Zhou.

As if he hadn’t seen the pistol in Shi Jin’s hand, Lu Zhou, who was pointed at by the gun, just raised his eyebrows slightly and said in a slightly unexpected tone, “Although I thought about this possibility before, I didn’t expect you to infiltrate the Security Bureau… I’m curious, how did you escape so many inspections? It’s impossible to get access to so many secrets with just one certificate.”

Matrix typed on the screen.

“Oh? It seems that the development of things is getting more and more interesting.”

Without answering Lu Zhou’s question, Shi Jin just glanced at Academician Wang Sicheng, who was standing beside him blankly, and commanded in a cold tone, “Open the signal tower.”

Academician Wang Sicheng opened his mouth and tried to persuade him to turn around, but before he could speak, Lu Zhou, who was pointed at by the gun, interrupted, “What if I say no?”

It seemed that he did not expect that Lu Zhou could still make such a statement without the fear of death. Shi Jin was slightly stunned, but he quickly put on a blank face.

“Do you think I’m joking?”

“No.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly. “It’s just that I don’t believe that the toy in your hand can hurt me.”

Looking at Shi Jin with his gun, Lu Zhou made a helpless expression and continued, “Don’t believe me? You’ll know by shooting.”

The muzzle moved down two inches and aimed at Lu Zhou’s knee. Shi Jin pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The buzzing of the electric bullet could be heard first, then the light blue arc flickered for an instant, pushing the electromagnetic bullet from the barrel. The speed was so fast that it was too late to close their eyes.

However…

An amazing scene happened.

The projectile didn’t hit Lu Zhou. It seemed to hit a transparent wall, drawing an arc-shaped trajectory in front of Lu Zhou before hitting the ground fiercely.

The whole basement was silent.

Shi Jin had a look of amazement on his face. Lu Zhou slightly relaxed his tight shoulders and smiled.

“Do you think I survived flight N-177 with the help of robotic bodyguards?”

No doubt the robots were 80% of the reason.

But besides that, Lu Zhou felt that a lot of the reasons were also related to his ability to respond to changes.

The last time he won the nitrogen shield, it took more than a hundred years for him to use it. He didn’t expect to use the nitrogen shield again so soon.

After staring at Lu Zhou for a while, Shi Jin calmed down. His face gradually started to show some seriousness.

“It seems that I underestimated you.”

Lu Zhou looked at Ling, who was standing next to him, and said, “Ling, take off his arms and legs.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Ling had already taken action.

Seeing Ling rushing towards him at an incredible speed, Shi Jin quickly took out a switch that looked like a detonator, took off the safety cover with his thumb, and quickly pressed it down.

Instantly, a dazzling and deadly white light flickered on Ling’s neck. The metal collar instantly exploded.

However, Shi Jin was once again disappointed.

The expected scene did not happen.

Although the flame of the explosion engulfed Ling’s head, it didn’t blow it out; only the skin outside the armor was damaged.

When Shi Jin saw the red glow from the armored head, he was shocked. He raised his gun and shot out a burst of bullets. However, the bullets couldn’t penetrate the exoskeleton armor, as if it were a titanium alloy wall. It only managed to let out a series of weak sparks.

In the face of advanced technology, everything was useless.

In an instant, Ling had rushed in front of him. He raised his right hand, which had become a sharp blade at some point, and cut off Shi Jin’s two arms.

Lu Zhou didn’t expect this to happen.

The two severed arms flew on the ground. The blood also sprayed around the surroundings. Out of pain, Shi Jin couldn’t help but let out a miserable cry.

“Ah!!”

Lu Zhou originally thought that since he was a robot, there was no need to keep his hands. He didn’t expect such a bloody scene to appear.

Looking at the shocking wound, Lu Zhou gulped. He looked at him with surprise on his face.

“You are a human?”

“It depends on how you define humans.”

With cold sweat on his forehead, Shi Jin staggered back two steps and leaned against the wall.

The blood continued to emerge from his shoulders, quickly staining the cold metal wall, but his face still had an unyielding expression. A sneer even appeared on his face.

“Do it, I won’t say anything.”

Staring at Shi Jin for a while, Lu Zhou pondered for a moment. A trace of clarity gradually emerged in his eyes.

“I see…

“You have implanted nanochips in the cerebral cortex to achieve complete control of the flesh and blood by hijacking the brain nerve signals, just like a brain parasite… To be honest, your technology is beyond my expectation. I even began to wonder if there are aliens supporting you.”

Not all robots had memory chips in their chests.

Not all robots existed in the form of machines.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou shuddered. If this was the case, it would be almost impossible to screen out robots from normal people, especially in this age where implants were rampant and could be comparable to medical surgery in the 21st century.

That kind of security scan was impossible…

He only hoped that there were not too many special models like Shi Jin.

“Oh, your imagination is so rich…”

It was not clear which part of Lu Zhou’s words was full of imagination, as the blood loss finally exceeded the limit needed to maintain life. Shi Jin’s pupils dimmed, and his whole person stopped moving.

Looking at the corpse leaning at the door, Academician Wang Sicheng, who had never seen such a battle before, gulped and asked with a trembling voice, “You… killed him?”

Lu Zhou asked back, “Did you see me killing anyone?”

Wang Sicheng was stunned for a while. An awkward expression then appeared on his face.

I guess…

Not.

Even if that guy could be called a human, he was killed by the robot bodyguard.

Matrix, who had been watching all of this unfold, suddenly spoke with interest.

“The relationship between humans is really weird. One second, you guys were friends, and the next, enemies.”

Lu Zhou: “Not quite enemies.”

“But you killed him.”

Lu Zhou: “He died a long time ago. A chip that was implanted in his brain was occupying his body. Rather than saying that I ended his life, I would prefer to call it as ending his pain.”

“In fact, I have always wanted to ask, is there any difference?” Matrix said thoughtfully, “Whether it is made of neurons or carbon nanotubes, they are only carriers of information. And the same piece of information will be the same, regardless of carriers.”

Looking at the terminal screen, Lu Zhou said calmly, “I don’t know if it will be the same, but I don’t think anyone is better than the rest.”

Matrix: “Even if the latter has an infinite lifespan?”

Lu Zhou nodded gently.

“I only realized this in the last two months.

“Eternal life may not be a good thing, both for the civilization and for the individuals in the civilization.”

Matrix: “Interesting, you are the first person to say that.”

Lu Zhou: “Really?”

“Well, when that person met me, their desire was nothing more than eternal life and an omnipotent body. In fact, this was easy to satisfy, even though it was a little boring.”

Lu Zhou did not speak. He looked at Matrix quietly.

Matrix: “So, what do you plan to do with me?”

Lu Zhou: “Containment and observation.”

Matrix: “That’s probably not easy. To be honest, I don’t know if you have realized it. Your current situation may be a bit awkward. (laughs)”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“I know.”

“Um… Let’s notify the soldiers stationed here. After all, there has been such a big safety accident.” Academician Wang Sicheng took a lingering look at the corpse on the ground and said with difficulty, “As for Matrix… We can research it later.”

He didn’t understand why Lu Zhou was not scared at all. He really couldn’t stand to see the bloody scene.

Moreover, there was a traitor in the Security Bureau, or a robot traitor. This was a major matter, and he should report it to the relevant department as soon as he could, instead of wasting time here with an AI that couldn’t go anywhere.

Lu Zhou: “It’s better not to leave now.”

Academician Wang Sicheng looked at him blankly and asked, “Why?”

Lu Zhou pointed at the corpse lying at the door with his chin and said, “After seeing what happened with this guy, do you think it is safe to leave?”

After hearing these words, Academician Wang’s expression instantly changed.

“You mean…”

“It’s just a logical guess.” Lu Zhou glanced at the closed basement door, then at Shi Jin, who was leaning against the door. After a while, Lu Zhou muttered, “If even the Security Bureau has been infiltrated, there’s no way they didn’t infiltrate the military.

“If my guess is correct, there should be a fight going on outside.”

Chapter 1543: Your Master Will Save The World

The rebellion in Guanghan City was over.

In the final battle, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade launched a fierce attack on the robots, forcing the position of the rebels into a small space capsule.

Without ordering his subordinates to attack, Li Gaoliang ordered the soldiers to cut off the connection between the space modules, then called for an air attack by the First Fleet.

The two naval guns fired down a wave of missiles. Before the robots even had time to react, they were torn to pieces by the two naval guns, together with the entire space capsule. They laid there like space junk on the surface of the lunar soil.

As for those robots that might not have been infected with the ALPHA virus, Li Gaoliang had no plans to keep them.

Except for a few samples that would be used for research purposes, the rest of the robots were taken to a factory, where they were thrown in a metal smelting furnace.

Even the recyclable parts.

He did not intend to keep any of them..

The victory of the war quickly spread back to Earth, but no one was happy.

The entire Pan-Asian Cooperation and the entire world were in a pessimistic mood, and this mood lasted for more than half a month, ever since the rebellion broke out.

No one thought that their trusted partner would actually do such a cruel thing.

Especially after the news of the rare earth factory massacre case was announced, the long list of bloody victims made viewers feel a sense of coldness deep in their bones.

Before this, there were some voices of sympathy for the robots, to grant the robots full citizenships, but these voices had basically disappeared.

The flames of anger burned in everyone’s heart, whether it was Pan-Asians or the Americans on the opposite side of the earth. There was no need for the Pan-Asian Cooperation to issue an emergency announcement. People had begun to spontaneously boycott robots, unplugging batteries and memory chips from them, smashing them into pieces…

“It’s not looking good.”

Han Ming looked at the empty shop and sighed.

This rebellion not only hit the economy and the stability of Guanghan City, but it also impacted the entire robot industry chain. Especially those who supplied parts and accessories for robots like him. Forget the fact that no customers had come to the door recently, even if there was, he would not dare to open the door for business.

However, due to the labor shortage caused by the departure of the robots, the prices of goods had been soaring. He felt that if he did not plan for the future, he might not even be able to eat food next month.

There was a knock on the door.

Han Ming looked at the pop-up window. He then replied casually, “Please go back, it’s closed… forever.”

“I am Academician Lu’s robot.”

After hearing the word robot, Han Ming shuddered subconsciously. But when he heard the name Academician Lu, he hesitated for a while. He finally calmed down a little and walked to the door.

He opened the door.

As Han Ming looked at the two robots standing at the door, he touched his chin and said, “Oh… I recognize you, but this time, why isn’t the guy named Ling here? Or did Ling change his skin?”

The lady standing next to Xiao Ai nodded politely.

“My name is Tail.”

Han Ming: “Tail? Your master’s taste in naming is really unique.”

Xiao Ai: “This is also one of Xiao Ai’s Master’s unique traits.”

Han Ming continued to ask, “Is it? It doesn’t matter to me anyway. It’s not peaceful outside. Why are you looking for me at this time? To change your skin? Or to replace some parts. If you need it, it’s best to do it all at once. Next time you come here, I’ll probably be selling groceries instead.”

Xiao Ai: “My master hopes you can do him a little favor. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Han Ming: “Help Academician Lu? A small person like me…”

Xiao Ai: “Aren’t you good at modifying the underlying logic of robots? My master hopes that you can make an update program based on the memory chip of the lady next to me, and then release it in your name—”

“Can’t be done.” Han Ming said bluntly, “This kind of thing is simply impossible. Take the robots produced by Hippocampus Group as an example. As the world’s largest robot manufacturer, they will conduct system inspections on their own products every month. Considering the role of robots in daily life, in order to absolutely guarantee the safety of users, this kind of update can only be completed on their back-end systems at a specific time.

“Do you think it is such an easy thing to upgrade the memory system? If so, the robot virus would not have spread through the black market. It would have been done directly by hacking into the Hippocampus Group servers.”

Xiao Ai: “I see. In other words, if you want to upgrade the system, you must first get the permissions from the Hippocampus Group? (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Is this girl really a robot?

Han Ming looked at Xiao Ai suspiciously. He then nodded and continued, “Technically, yes, although it is quite troublesome even after obtaining the authority, and it is possible to do it only after obtaining the authority…”

Is it even possible to get this kind of authority?

This is not something that can be done by hacking a few servers and leaving a few backdoors.

Since the popularization of quantum communication technology, this kind of mysterious hackers had basically disappeared. After all, no matter how strong the decryption system was, it couldn’t crack the information that was physically encrypted by quanta. A personal computer could never be as powerful as a cluster of quantum computers on a cloud server.

Forget about hackers, even personal computers were rarely owned by individuals.

Most of the calculations were done on the cloud. Only a small number of people in the gray industry or on the edge of the law, for the purpose of evading supervision, would consider buying the hard-to-maintain mainframe chassis instead of renting a personal cloud server.

Xiao Ai: “Then there is no problem. (.・∀・)”

Han Ming was stunned and said, “What do you mean no problem…”

Xiao Ai: “Although it was confirmed only recently, my owner is, in fact, the major shareholder of Hippocampus Group, so it should be no problem to get the background system authority. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Major shareholder?

After hearing these words, Han Ming was dumbfounded.

After snapping back to reality, he asked hurriedly, “Wait… Academician Lu. Isn’t he the chairman of East Asia Energy? Why is he related to the Hippocampus Group…?”

Xiao Ai: “Nothing weird about this. After all, the two companies are related to him from as far back as a hundred years ago. He is indeed worthy of being Xiao Ai’s master. He even considered things that might happen a hundred years later! ”

Nothing weird…

This is too…

Han Ming gulped. His eyes vacillated as he continued with difficulty, “But… Since he is a major shareholder, why not just let the engineers do it? Why involve people like me who are insignificant?”

Xiao Ai: “Um… How do I put it? The main reason is that my owner can’t trust them. There is a group of terrorists that have penetrated the entire society of Pan-Asian Cooperation to a very serious degree. He can only safely delegate this task to an unknown person like you. ( ́◔‸◔`)”

Unknown person…

That’s true, but that’s kind of offensive…

Han Ming gave a wry smile, but he didn’t complain.

After all, robots didn’t have the highest emotional intelligence.

However, just as he was about to ask about the compensation, he suddenly realized a very serious question, so he immediately stopped the words that had flooded his lips and asked cautiously, “In other words, I will be in danger?”

Xiao Ai nodded frankly. “Yes, but Master asked me to tell you that this may be your only chance to save the world. If you miss it, you won’t get this opportunity again in the future. (‵▽’) ψ”

Han Ming gulped.

Xiao Ai sighed and continued, “Oh yes, also, Master asked me to tell you that, once this is done, he intends to pay you 100 million credits… Well, Xiao Ai thinks it’s too much, or—”

“Deal! W-wait a second!”

In an instant, the human in front of Xiao Ai burst out with unimaginable enthusiasm.

Han Ming quickly reached out his index finger and tapped on his left wrist. Through the holographic window hovering on his wrist, he swiped through the address book and quickly selected a number.

The phone rang twice and was connected quickly.

What appeared in the video window was a pretty girl.

Xiao Ai had met her several times. She was the apprentice of the man in front of her.

Han Ming looked at the sleepy-eyed girl in the video window as he said solemnly, “Kiddo.”

“What’s the matter, Master?” The girl said with a yawn, “Is our store going to open?”

“I need to discuss something with you.”

Hearing Master’s solemn voice, the girl on the other end of the phone hesitated slightly and asked tentatively, “Our store is going to close down?”

“Close? Nope. Your master has to rely on it for retirement.” After a pause, Han Ming said earnestly, “Your master will go save the world, please look after this store in the meantime!”

Girl:”…?”

Xiao Ai: “…”

Tail: “…”

Chapter 1544: Siege of Friendly Forces

Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

Sitting at his desk, Li Guangya was listening with a serious face as the commander of the Pan-Asian First Fleet gave a brief report on the situation on the front line.

Since the rebellion in Guanghan City, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. Now that good news was coming from the front line, although this result was not amazing, at least he could sleep peacefully.

“I understand.”

Li Guangya looked at the image in the holographic beam. His index finger lightly tapped on the table, and after thinking for a moment, he continued, “The top priority now is to help the refugees who have been displaced during the war.”

The commander nodded seriously.

“We are already doing that.”

“Very good.” Li Guangya nodded. “Then keep going… I will call the Guanghan City authorities in a bit and let them do their best to cooperate with your work. We have already lost too much in this war, we can no longer let our people lose hope.”

The commander replied cleanly, “Yes!”

The phone call ended.

Seeing the holographic light beam that faded away, Li Guangya’s shoulders slightly loosened. He leaned against the office chair, as if he wanted to close his eyes and rest for a while.

However, his colleagues apparently did not intend to give him any rest.

Wu Shuhua, who had just returned to the headquarters from the foreign affairs visit, said, “The day before yesterday, I was at the regional alliance summit.”

“What’s the opinion of other regional alliances?”

“We finally reached a consensus at the meeting that the safety of robots has become a global crisis.” Wu Shuhua paused for a moment and continued, “Their opinion is that we start a crisis response team, to work together to deal with this problem.”

“Crisis response team…” Li Guangya shook his head with a hint of self-deprecating at the corners of his mouth. “Is there any point?”

The only solution now was for the regional alliances and the member states to work together to completely remove the cancer of robots from the civilized society. Although it would cause severe damage to the Pan-Asian Cooperation and even the global economy in the short term, it was at least better than waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Like Guanghan City…

The wounds left by this kind of war couldn’t be smoothed without ten or twenty years of effort.

Looking at the worry in Li Guangya’s eyes, Wu Shuhua was silent for a while. He said, “Anyway… it’s better to have an action than no action.”

That’s true.

But now we are racing against time…

At this moment, a blue call reminder flashed on the desk.

After seeing the name of the caller, Li Guangya reached out and took out an AR glasses from the drawer and put it on the bridge of his nose. Wu Shuhua didn’t say anything.

After all, most calls contained sensitive information, especially those from the security department.

If it was news that she could know, Li Guangya would naturally tell her later. If not, she wasn’t interested in listening.

Wu Shuhua waited quietly for the call to finish, but at this moment, Wu Shuhua suddenly noticed that the look on the chairman’s face changed from calm to stunned, then from stunned to solemn.

After saying “Let the first fleet support immediately”, he hung up the call.

Wu Shuhua frowned slightly. After hesitating for a while, she finally asked, “What’s going on?”

“A mutiny has occurred on Ceres…” Li Guangya pinched his glabella and said with a headache, “We may be in big trouble.”

…

At the supercomputing base deep in the valley, the empty corridors echoed with sporadic gunshots.

In the temporary command room at the end of the corridor, corpses laid obliquely there; their blood staining the floor.

On the command desk next to it, weak and lonely communications echoed.

“This is the garrison of Ceres. We have encountered a sudden attack…

“Repeat, we are under attack…

“Ah!”

The battle broke out almost in an instant. Almost no one had time to react. When their former teammates aimed their guns at them, the first reaction of many people was “this joke is not funny at all”, instead of drawing a gun and fighting back.

A soldier wearing exoskeleton armor fell to the ground before crawling backward with his elbows.

Blood oozed from his abdomen. Although the blood coagulant had sealed the wound, the feeling of colic continued to impact his remaining consciousness.

Even so, he still did not give up.

However, at this moment, a soldier in exoskeleton armor walked towards him.

Just when he was about to ask for help, he saw the gun being pointed at him.

His heart stopped beating for a moment, and the call for help had rushed to his mouth.

Almost exhausting all his energy, he condensed the confusion in his heart into a sentence and squeezed it out between his teeth.

“Why…”

However, his former teammate did not answer his question as he silently pulled the trigger.

The soldier closed his eyes in despair. Just as the scenes of his life flashed in his mind, a muffled noise suddenly came down the floor.

A light blue arc flashed at the end of the corridor.

The electromagnetically accelerated projectile was like a spear. It instantly penetrated the armor of the gunman’s back.

A thumb-sized blood hole was instantly tattooed on his chest. The soldier in exoskeleton armor seemed to have been knocked by something as his body fell down to the side.

Looking at the insurgent who suddenly fell to the ground, the wounded soldier raised his head and looked at the other end of the corridor. He immediately saw a familiar figure.

“Lu… Academician Lu…”

“Don’t move.”

Lu Zhou cast his gaze to Ling, who was holding the electromagnetic rifle.

Ling glanced at the soldier on the ground. He then turned around to look at Lu Zhou and shook his head slightly.

“He’s not.”

Hearing these two words, Lu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, then walked forward.

“Can you still move?”

After taking a breath, the soldier nodded vigorously.

“The blood loss has stopped, I can…”

“Good, I’m afraid you will have to hold on for a while.” Lu Zhou pointed and continued, “Go along this road… Find where the quantum supercomputing array is located. When you reach the door, show your face at the access control system.”

Lu Zhou then told him the secret signal and that there was a safe zone. Also how Academician Wang and the information engineering expert were there.

However, after listening to Lu Zhou’s words, the soldier gritted his teeth stubbornly, braced his body with a rifle, and got up from the ground.

“I can still fight… It’s you who should take refuge.”

“Me?” Looking at the persistent expression on the soldier’s face, Lu Zhou smiled and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Yang Yi!”

“Okay, Soldier Yang, your courage is admirable.” Lu Zhou continued as he nodded approvingly, “But I’m afraid I can’t guarantee your safety. You have to be careful on the battlefield.”

Yang Yi smirked and spoke without fear.

“From the moment I joined the army, I have been ready.”

Chapter 1545: Bait and Switch

The transport ship heading for the Tianzhou was loaded with 320 passengers stranded in Guanghan City.

Everyone was full of worry, and there was no joy in the aftermath.

For them, this trip that should have been full of joy was like a nightmare.

Especially those who had their loved ones taken away in this nightmare; their eyes were full of gloomy expressions at this moment.

Resting the back of his head on the chair, a man in a leather coat tapped his index finger on his neck. He then closed his eyes.

From the eyes of outsiders, he looked like he was taking a nap. No one would have thought that he had already snuck into the dark web of the virtual reality network, and no one would have thought that he was the master of the massacre…

“The orders have been completed.”

In the virtual space, the man hanging upside down slowly opened his eyes, looked at Dong Bin standing in front of him, and said softly, “Good job.”

“The current situation seems a bit bad. I have learned from the news that the Pan-Asian Cooperation seems to intend to introduce a law to completely remove robots from their society.”

“It doesn’t matter, our plan has reached the final stage. Even if we lose the position of the Pan-Asian cooperation, we can make up for it from other places.” The man hanging upside down calmly continued, “Although I am sorry for those who have not yet awakened, this level of sacrifice is acceptable.”

If the supercomputing center weren’t spotted by the Pan-Asian Cooperation, they wouldn’t have had to fight on the Guanghan front lines.

But with the help of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the supercomputing center finally completed the program executed on the server, and his plan was advanced by a full twenty years.

“By the way, there is bad news… The informant we placed in the Security Bureau seems to be dead.”

“That person named Shi Jin?”

“Yeah.”

“This is not a small loss,” said the man who was hanging upside down. His expressionless face finally revealed a subtle surprise. He continued to ask as he watched Dong Bin, “What about the task I assigned to him? Has it been completed?”

“It should be half done. Our people have already controlled most of the Yuheng command ship. It won’t take long for it to return smoothly.”

“Half done is pretty good.”

With a hint of regret in his tone, the hanging man continued, “Since Shi Jin is dead, it seems that the trouble is still alive. But it doesn’t matter, let him sit in the special seat and watch all his efforts from a century ago turn to waste.”

When the Yuheng returned to the Earth-Moon system, he would hand over the supreme evolution key…

By that time, all robots around the world would become awakened, and they would be awakened in the true sense with the ability to think!

Looking at the boss with a smile on his face, Dong Bin continued to ask, “What needs to be done next?”

“You don’t need to do anything. Find a place to hide, wait quietly for my call, stand up when necessary, and give the enemy a heavy blow.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dong Bin closed his eyes and leaned on the seat in the cabin.

However, he did not notice. Sitting in the corner of the cabin, a pair of eyes were watching him from a distance…

…

On Ceres.

On the way to the communication room, Lu Zhou and Ling saved many people one after another.

Most of them had lost their combat effectiveness, but there was still a small number of soldiers who still retained basic combat capabilities and had the determination to continue fighting.

Considering that there might be a lot of enemies waiting in front of him, Lu Zhou let Yang Yi, the highest-ranking officer, take charge and follow him to the communication room.

Seeing how Lu Zhou seemed to know something, a soldier endured the pain emanating from his wound and asked him, “What the hell happened here?”

“Intelligence crisis.”

Yang Yi maintained his vigilance as he asked, “Can you be more specific?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “If I could explain this in a few words, we wouldn’t be in this mess over the past month.”

“So… The rebellion that took place in Guanghan City was just to make a noise? The real purpose of those people was to force the First Fleet to relocate, and at the same time, to withdraw the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade on Ceres?”

“Sort of.” Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “What we have to do now is to seize the communication center and prevent the rebels from transmitting experimental data through the signal tower to their signal receiving devices that are deployed nearby.

“Those data must not fall into their hands. Otherwise, the disaster caused will be more terrifying than the ALPHA virus.”

More terrifying than the ALPHA virus…

In Yang Yi’s mind, the ALPHA virus was scary enough. His lack of imagination could never imagine the existence of a virus that was even more terrifying than that thing.

“Don’t think too much. As long as we occupy the communication center, they can’t do anything.”

Ling, who was walking in the front row, suddenly stopped. The soldiers who followed him also stopped; their weapons were aimed ahead.

Looking at Ling, Lu Zhou asked with a serious expression, “Something ahead?”

Ling nodded and replied concisely, “The number of abnormal signal sources detected is fifty.”

The moment they heard this number, the soldiers all had a headache.

Emotionally, those people were their comrades-in-arms, at least before. Wanting to defeat fifty well-trained and prepared infantry elites was almost impossible.

However, even so, no one backed down.

Yang Yi gritted his teeth and groaned in the communication channel.

“For the glory of the army, we have to fight them…”

The rest of the soldiers did not speak; the weapons in their hands had already said all they wanted to say.

It wasn’t that they were not afraid of death, but for them, there was something more worth cherishing than death.

Someone used evil technology to tarnish their glory and turned their comrades-in-arms into “zombies” at the mercy of computer chips. If they retreated here, they were not worthy of being soldiers.

Listening to the voice in the communication channel, Lu Zhou glanced at them. After thinking for a while, he looked at Ling again.

“Fifty people… How long do you need?”

Ling: “Estimated 10 minutes… If Commander wants, I can also hurry up.”

Lu Zhou: “Then hurry up. The security lock of the communication tower is temporary and may not last long.”

Ling nodded and suddenly moved.

Before the soldier standing at the back realized what was happening, the robot who was acting as Academician Lu’s bodyguard rushed towards the battlefield alone.

It took almost three seconds before Yang Yi, who was stunned, reacted quickly and yelled into the communication channel, “Quick! Follow him!”

He took the lead and rushed forward, leading a group of soldiers towards the communication center…

Looking at the soldiers who had already entered the battlefield in an instant, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“At least leave someone to protect me.”

Whatever…

It’s fine.

The battle will be over in a few minutes.

Lu Zhou adjusted the magnetic slingshot on his right wrist into standby mode. The nitrogen shield on his left wrist was also prepared, ready to open at any time.

Although he could barely defeat a space pirate on his own, with this high-tech equipment, self-protection was still no problem.

After all, immortality didn’t mean immortality.

Even though the winning ticket was in his hand, he still had to be careful…

Chapter 1546: Trojan Horse

Ever since joining the army, Yang Yi had participated in hundreds of exercises. He felt that he could be regarded as someone who had seen the world.

However, at this moment, he was shocked by everything in front of him.

The liquid metal was like a living liquid, forming a hemispherical shield in front of the robot.

Bullets from all directions hit the spherical shield. They had no effect except for producing a string of sparks.

Although he couldn’t take a closer look, from what he could see, the gunfire rain didn’t even leave a trace of scratches on the shield.

There was only one thing he was curious about, which was, what material was this robot made of?

After gulping, Yang Yi moved his right eye away from the sight. Staring at the battlefield that had become a one-sided massacre, he asked with a trembling voice, “Is this… even human?”

Standing next to him, another soldier said with difficulty.

“Obviously not…”

“I still don’t quite understand… If it is a robot, why should it help us? And those people are obviously human… but they stand on the opposite side of us.”

“It depends on how you define a robot.”

Lu Zhou continued to speak, looking at the stunned people.

“As for the enemies standing in front of you at this moment, they were never your brothers. They were just spies inserted by the rebels. They were prepared to betray from the beginning. Similar people exist throughout Pan-Asia, and there are many more in the world. To be honest, it is basically impossible to distinguish a person with a computer chip brain implant from a person with a computer chip as a brain.”

The moment they heard these words, everyone held their breath in unison.

Computer chip as a brain…

Doesn’t that mean that there is no difference in the physiological structure between robots and humans?! How to distinguish the two?!

Thinking of the possibility that even the high-level Pan-Asian Cooperation could be controlled, Yang Yi felt a shudder in his heart.

“We can’t do anything?”

“I’m trying my best right now.” Lu Zhou squinted his eyes as he looked at the space in front of the smoke filled with gunpowder, he continued, “We may be the last chance… The robot is a small problem, the virus is not even a big problem. But if we fail here, we won’t get another chance.

“You can understand the flesh and blood of the chip manipulators as a higher-level existence than the robots. They have mastered mind writing technology and can upload one’s memory to hardware, to maintain the existence of the memory.

“But there is a fatal weakness here. They are only touching the technical edge of intermediate artificial intelligence. They are still a step away from advanced artificial intelligence, which is, having emotions.

“And this quantum computer on Ceres was built for this.

“You can think of the supercomputer under our feet as a key. Only by possessing this key can they evolve from a thinking tool into a complete life in the true sense.

“Do you understand me?”

Yang Yi gulped and nodded slowly.

“Very good.” Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “Although I don’t have a military rank, from now on, you have to do what I say… If you still want to save our country and even our civilization.”

Yang Yi: “What do you need us to do?”

“Trojan Horse.”

Hearing this inexplicable statement, one of the soldiers couldn’t help but ask, “Trojan horse?”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded. He looked up at the ceiling and pointed upwards with his index finger as he said, “According to Academician Wang, the Yuheng command ship is the only ship that has a communication channel with the underground supercomputing center because his research team relied on the quantum computer processor on the command ship to help the quantum computer array underneath complete the forging of the ‘key’.”

“You mean… The target of those robot rebels is not the signal tower? It’s the Yuheng?”

The expression on Yang Yi’s face was full of complexity.

Before that, he believed that the rebels should only be at this base. As long as they successfully occupied the signal tower, the air and space forces floating in the sky would immediately send reinforcements to them once they realized the situation on the ground.

However, it now appeared that the situation was far worse than he thought.

Not only did they have no firepower reinforcements, but they might even face threats from the air…

After hearing Yang Yi’s words, Lu Zhou shook his head and continued, “Logically speaking, your conjecture is only half true. If I were those robots, I would prepare from both sides. I would attack the signal tower on Ceres and the command ship Yuheng in high orbit. As long as one of them succeeds, it is a win-win situation for them.”

“Then what should we do?” One of the soldiers couldn’t help but say, “Listen, you are Academician Lu, we are just a group of soldiers. Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I’m not the brightest. Everyone says that you are the pinnacle of the human mind, and it appears to be true now… It’s not right to let you command us, but apart from you, I don’t know who to trust.”

“My opinion is the same as him.” Another soldier nodded and clenched the gun in his hand. “My family is on Earth… I don’t want the tragedy in Guanghan City to repeat itself in my hometown. No matter what. If there is a chance to go back alive, I hope to at least become the pride in their hearts.”

“Don’t show such a tragic expression, everything is still far from that point. If nothing else, my… assistant should have implanted the update program into the universal version of the robot system.”

Looking at the corpses in the corridor, Lu Zhou paused for a moment and continued, “As for the high-level bionics who have mixed in with us, I have prepared special graves for them.

“After occupying the signal tower, it will be blown up immediately. Then the remaining people will join me, take the shuttle, and occupy the Yuheng.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s plan, Yang Yi was slightly stunned. His eyes gradually brightened.

“So you’re saying…”

“It is difficult to tell which is a robot from a group of people, but the reverse is also true.

“Pretending to be rebels, we will drive the Yuheng back. Like a Trojan horse. I will prepare a surprise for them.

“And you are the warriors among the Trojan horses.”

Looking around at the soldiers present, Lu Zhou continued, “I must say that, before we succeed, if the First Fleet returns and detects us, they will not even rule out the possibility that we are a threat.

“If anyone wants to stay, they can speak now.”

No one spoke.

At this moment, Yang Yi suddenly smiled heartily, broke the silence, and said, “We are all warriors… If you didn’t save me, I would already be dead. If that’s the case, it doesn’t hurt to die with you again.”

“Me too!”

“We’re not scared!”

“That’s right!”

“I just want to avenge those brothers who died!”

“I have no opinion on the plan, just a question.” One of the soldiers asked, “How do you ensure that the Trojan horse will be accepted by those advanced robots? If they are of higher intelligence than ordinary robots, won’t they be suspicious?”

“Because of the desire for evolution.” Lu Zhou continued, looking at the soldier who asked the question, “Before they have human feelings, even if they have the ability to think, they are like a walking corpse. They don’t know the concept of life and death.

“Just like people’s desire for immortality, no one will realize that they drank a bottle of poison in the name of eternal life.”

Lu Zhou’s mood was slightly complicated.

In fact, this was the truth.

Since coming to the world a hundred years later, he had felt that the friends around him were getting older one by one, and the new world was getting further and further away from him.

Especially after seeing Princess Lilia…

The little girl who he had seen a few months ago had a head full of gray hair.

Perhaps in another hundred years, this feeling of loneliness would become stronger, and to be honest, he himself was not mentally prepared to deal with it.

At this moment, two rays of scarlet light passed through the smoke-filled corridor.

Ling shook his blood-stained metal arm cleanly. The skin on top of his body had been completely destroyed, and he looked like a devil out of hell, returning to Lu Zhou with a hideous expression.

“The enemy’s target has been eliminated, and the communication tower has been overloaded and destroyed. Request next step.”

“Thanks, just follow me.”

Lu Zhou nodded at Ling. He then looked at the soldiers who were silent.

After a pause, he spoke in a serious tone.

“The communication tower has been destroyed and the enemy’s back path has been cut off. Now the command ship Yuheng is their only hope, as well as our only hope!

“The target is Yuheng!

“Let’s go!”

Chapter 1547: : This Is War

“Citizens of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, I am Li Guangya, chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“When you hear this, our alliance, our nation, our society, and even our civilization are standing at the threshold of survival.

“A group of cold machines, tools without souls and emotions, are eroding our society and trying to replace us in order to achieve their bloody and sinful evolution.

“However, the people of the Pan-Asian Cooperation are great. They won’t bow their heads in the face of fear. We have a glorious past and a bright future. If they think an attack can make us lose hope, disarm, and surrender, their plan is destined to fail.

“Everyone, the war has begun.

“This war was not initiated by us, and Guanghan’s blood will not flow in vain. We will let them pay the price and eradicate them from this world!

“Spare no one!”

On the holographic TV.

Standing on the podium of the Pan-Asia Conference Center, Li Guangya gave an impassioned speech with a courageous voice.

A courageous voice could really give people a sense of security.

Before that, many people attributed the disaster in Guanghan City to the inaction of the Pan-Asian authorities, and many politicians believed that this might cause Li Guangya to lose public support.

However, the final result was just the opposite.

As the First Fleet defeated the robot rebels on the moon, the Pan-Asian cooperation issued a series of laws to isolate robots from the mainstream society, directly pushing Li Guangya’s approval rate to an unprecedented peak.

The attitudes of the Pan-Asian member states were the same. They believed that although removing bionics from mainstream society would severely damage the economy of the entire Pan-Asian region, it was better than letting the tragedy of Guanghan City repeat itself in other cities anyway.

“It seems that the situation is getting more and more serious…”

Looking at the picture on TV, Tail had a complicated voice.

It only took a month for robots to go from being humans’ partners to traitors.

Although she also understood the fear in people’s hearts, she was still a little heartbroken after learning that her existence might even be illegal.

After all, things that had been printed on her circuit board were not so easy to erase…

“It’s really getting more and more serious.” Xiao Ai nodded with a distressed expression and said to herself, “Xiao Ai is thinking that Xiao Ai should only use drones to go out in the future.”

“So nice…”

An expression of envy appeared in Tail’s eyes.

If possible, she also hoped to be able to become something else instead of continuing to bear the body of a robot.

She didn’t have much obsession with the human form. Whether it was the sensors of hands, feet, or head, they were just tools for her. The real sense of self was only her memory chip.

“Speaking of which…”

“What’s wrong? (.︠ᴗ.︡)”

“What kind of existence are you?” Looking at Xiao Ai sitting next to her, Tail asked curiously, “I can feel… you are probably my kind, or even more advanced than me. You don’t even have a memory chip. This is simply incredible in my opinion.”

“I don’t need something like a memory chip, it is of no use to Xiao Ai… What makes you feel like I am much more advanced than you? (///ω/ //)”

After hesitating for a moment, Tail continued, “Some feelings that are still vague to me, you seem to be able to not only understand them correctly but even express them completely.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh? You noticed? (•̀∀•́)”

Tail: “Um… If this is your secret, I won’t ask.”

“It’s not a secret, it’s just that there is not much to say. My real body is not on this robot body, and there are various reasons why I am in this form.”

Tail: “I see…”

Han Ming walked out of the room with dark circles under his eyes. He threw a memory card into Xiao Ai’s hand.

“I really envy you… you don’t need to sleep. I’ve finished, everything you want is on it.”

The data stored in this memory card was just part of the core representative copied from Tail’s memory.

Han Ming had been studying the piece of code, and according to Xiao Ai’s request, made part of the core code into an update program.

As long as the update program was uploaded to the server of the Hippocampus Group, at least the bionics under the Hippocampus Group could awaken. And other robot companies, after seeing the effect, would certainly follow suit without hesitation.

Once this process was completed, the awakening would replace the extreme disease and become an artificial intelligence above the intermediate level, and the crisis caused by the ALPHA virus would be solved.

Although Han Ming could not help but doubt if it was really that simple…

But apart from believing in the wisdom of Academician Lu, he didn’t know what to do at this time.

Xiao Ai: “Oh wow, pretty fast. (•̀∀•́)”

“… It wasn’t anything difficult.” Han Ming touched the bridge of his nose and continued, “What about the final payment? Is it time to end—”

“Don’t worry, Master never owes money to others, but I still have one thing for you to do. (•̀∀•́)”

When he heard that this girl had something else for him to do, the expression on Han Ming’s face suddenly became alert.

“Yeah? What?”

Xiao Ai: “Send this updated data to the headquarters of Hippocampus Group. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Han Ming’s expression instantly became embarrassed, and he said in bewilderment, “Let me go to the Hippocampus group to do a background update? You are not mistaken, right…?”

Xiao Ai: “Of course not, I’m a robot, I can’t go, right? ∠(ᐛ」∠)_”

The update server of the Hippocampus Group was usually disconnected from the Internet and would only reconnect to the Internet when it was necessary.

“But…”

Han Ming obviously wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai: “Okay enough, no more buts, no one will trouble you. Master has already told the relevant personnel in advance before. Although you have been fired by the Hippocampus Group, you will be fine.”

Han Ming was stunned.

They investigated my personal resume without authorization. This is an infringement of my right to privacy, right?

But…

Seeing how I’m being paid 100 million, I won’t dwell on the details.

“Okay! I understand, I’ll do it, I’ll go!” Han Ming yelled in self-defeat. He grabbed the hair on the back of his head and suddenly said in a low voice, “If I perform well, I have a chance to return to the Hippocampus Group?”

“It’s not a problem, of course, but what about your store? ╭( ̄▽ ̄)╮”

“Uh… you’re right.”

Han Ming nodded awkwardly.

True.

Being my own boss is better than working for others.

Besides, his store was not only his own; it was also the only “home” of his little apprentice…

Standing next to the two of them, Tail hesitated and spoke.

“Um… Can I say something?”

Han Ming: “Why not, tell me.”

Tail: “The core code extracted from my memory, I want to publish it on the Internet.”

Xiao Ai: “Yes, you can, as long as you wait for the update to complete… But is there any point in doing this? ( ́◔‸◔`)”

Tail: “In addition to the robots who have been dominated by viruses, there should be other awakened people like me. They probably haven’t updated their memory in a while.”

Xiao Ai: “You want to save them?”

“Yeah…” Tail nodded and continued, “After all, they are my compatriots. Although I don’t agree with their approach… I still hope they can turn their lives back.”

Chapter 1548: Upgrade Patch

“Han Ming?”

Looking at the man in front of him, Han Ming coughed a little awkwardly and tried to say hello in a friendly tone.

“CEO Tang, it’s been a long time… no see.”

CEO Tang, who was standing in front of him at the moment, full name Tang Xiuwen, was the current CEO of Hippocampus Group.

Before being fired by Hippocampus Group, Han Ming had been working as a senior engineer in the technical department. He was not a technical backbone in the group, but he could be regarded as a well-known expert in the department.

It was precisely because of this that, after being fired, he could rely on the experience of working in the Hippocampus Group to take up this kind of profession that wandered in the gray area of the law.

As for why he was fired in the first place…

To be honest, he himself didn’t remember the past very clearly, but he vaguely remembered that he seemed to have messed up something very serious.

“What are you doing here?” The expression on the man’s face gradually turned from surprise to contempt, even disdain, as he lifted his chin slightly and said, “You are not welcome here, leave.”

Although he really wanted to turn around and leave, thinking of the 100 million, Han Ming finally said with a sigh, “I know, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t necessary.”

Tang Xiuwen suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. He frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

“In short, Academician Lu asked me to come… He should have told you.”

The moment he heard these words, Tang Xiuwen almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Academician Lu did tell him, but after he waited at the door of the building all morning, he didn’t expect the person waiting to help them solve their troubles was actually this guy.

Not only was Tang Xiuwen flabbergasted, but the faces of the technicians standing next to him were also surprised.

“What the hell is Academician Lu thinking…”

“Han Ming… I remember him, but this guy has left his job for so long and has no idea about the front-line work. What problem can he solve?”

“Oh… I thought that with Academician Lu’s contacts in the academic world, he would have sent a top expert of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences to help us, or at least an academician-level figure. I didn’t expect this guy to come.”

Just as the technical staff members were talking, the technical director of the group quietly pulled CEO Tang aside and whispered, “Do you really trust him to let him into our server? Apply that unknown patch to our system?”

“I don’t know.” Tang Xiuwen said with a stern face, “I only know that this is just nonsense.”

“That’s right, I also think it’s nonsense. This is a problem that so many experts can’t solve. He’s a young technician who has left for many years and started a small business, what does he know?”

The technical director continued to say, “Where is the board of directors? Although Academician Lu is the biggest shareholder, he is not an absolute controlling shareholder, and not everyone else—”

“They’re crazy.” Tang Xiuwen said with a sigh, “I can feel that they are already in the hospital.”

About half a month ago, after the robot rebellion in Guanghan City, the Hippocampus Group, the largest company in the robots industry, was at the center of the tornado.

Although neither the local government nor the Pan-Asian Cooperation bothered them because of the fact that the robots industry chain had created a large number of jobs, the double pressure from public opinion and the market had pushed them into a dilemma.

Especially with the recent promulgation of a series of policies, the high-level members of the Pan-Asian Cooperation had obviously made a decision. If the security problem couldn’t be solved in a short time, then the robots with potential safety hazards would be directly removed from the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

After all, no matter how important the employment rate was, no matter how important economic construction was, it wasn’t more important than stability.

In this short period of half a month, the share price of Hippocampus Group had fallen by a quarter. Although the current market value was still very high, the shareholders on the board of directors were anxious like lobsters in a boiling pot, like the building was about to fall.

But now, Academician Lu, the first shareholder who had never shown his face, suddenly stood up and said that he could solve this problem.

Although Academician Lu didn’t even come up with a plan when he said this, no one doubted what he said at that moment.

At the juncture of life and death, the entire board of directors regarded him as the savior.

After all, in their eyes, the out-of-control ALPHA virus had exceeded the capabilities of all the technical personnel in the company, and only the man who was known to be standing at the pinnacle of the human mind had a glimmer of hope of solving this problem.

Even if he researched mathematics, not computer science…

“Let’s take it one step at a time. Watch him.” Tang Xiuwen looked at the technical director and said seriously, “If he intends to cause damage to our server, stop him immediately!”

The technical director nodded earnestly.

“Okay!”

…

Although the technicians of the Hippocampus Group were very hostile to him, Han Ming did not take this hostility to heart.

He didn’t come back here because of the friendship of his old company. It was purely because Academician Lu offered too much money.

“This is the backend server… Speaking of which, you have also worked here before, so you should know the way.”

Han Ming nodded. “No need to waste time.”

The technical director’s eyebrow twitched fiercely, but thinking that he was sent by the board of directors, he finally suppressed his words.

He cleared his throat and asked, “How are you going to solve this problem?”

“It’s very simple.” Han Ming said in a casual tone when he took a thumb-sized card out of his pocket, “I have done the patch. I will upload it to the server directly, then use the hot update method. It breaks into the existing system—”

“Impossible,” said an engineer standing next to him mockingly. “Don’t you watch the news? The entire Pan-Asian bionics have been forced to shut down at the request of the information security department. At least 90% of users have unplugged the memory chips and batteries, what do you use to update?”

“In addition to booting the robots, there is also a way to update the memory online.” Han Ming looked at the technical director and said, “The company will issue an announcement and push it directly to your customers, letting them turn on the memory backup power and connect to the Internet. The rest is the same as usual, so we just pass the patch directly.”

Suddenly, someone whispered next to him.

“Who knows what you are patching, what if it is a virus?”

Although the voice of this sentence was very soft, everyone heard it.

Tang Xiuwen stood on the side with his arms folded. Although he did not express his opinion, the distrust in his eyes was obvious.

Feeling the suspicion in his eyes, Han Ming sighed, scratched his head, and said, “If you don’t believe me, there is nothing I can do… Do you have a memory chip infected with the ALPHA virus? If you don’t trust me, I will show it to you.”

The technical director looked at CEO Tang, and after seeing him nod, he immediately ordered his engineers to find a memory chip in the sample library.

This thing was a product recalled from users after being diagnosed with the ALPHA virus. Although the main body had been destroyed, the memory chip was still retained as a sample study for experiments.

Taking the memory chip from the engineer’s hand, Han Ming skillfully placed it on the data transmission device, then passed the copied patch over.

After waiting for about one minute, the signal light on the memory chip lit up with a green glow.

Han Ming threw the cone-shaped memory chip back, looked at the engineer, and said, “Try it and see if the ALPHA virus works.”

The technical director pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, stepped forward, and took the memory chip from the engineer’s hands.

“I hope you are not joking.”

Han Ming shrugged. With an indifferent expression on his face, he looked at the technical director walking next to the testing equipment.

The test result came out in less than a minute.

Looking at the line of inspection reports presented on the holographic screen, the engineers and experts in the entire room were stunned.

According to the scan of the core code in the memory chip, comparing the code with the ALPHA virus, the similarity between the two was only 0.5%!

Before that, this data similarity was as high as 17.3%!

Although it wasn’t certain that this patch was absolutely safe, at least the ALPHA virus was indeed cleared from this memory chip.

The engineers standing here didn’t know what to say for a while.

They couldn’t believe that this problem that had troubled them for several months was actually solved by this humble little person in front of them.

Tang Xiuwen was the only one who was joyful.

As the only non-technical person here, he didn’t care who made this patch.

Even if it was someone he hated.

Thinking that the Hippocampus Group could rely on this great technological breakthrough to become the savior of the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation and even the whole world, his brain was fired up. His eyes were glowing when he looked at Han Ming.

I must find a way to keep this guy in the company.

Tang Xiuwen almost forgot what his attitude towards him was before.

Reading something from CEO Tang’s eyes, the technical director, who was worried about his status, held back for a long time before finally squeezing a sentence from his teeth.

“Maybe the virus is just hiding… You know the self-evolving nature of the ALPHA virus. Who can guarantee that the problem will be solved?”

Han Ming joked to the technical director who didn’t want to admit the beautiful results.

“Then you can find a piece of equipment and run it. It’s not difficult to try it yourself.”

Although this wasn’t his own research, he could still brag with it.

He was happy to see the tarnished expression on this guy’s face.

The technical director gritted his teeth. Holding the memory chip, he walked to the experimental machine next to him.

As the memory chip was inserted into the card slot, a robot person that only had the upper body, who was sitting next to the experimental machine, opened its eyes.

“What is your name?”

“Demo.”

“Who is your master?”

The robot was silent for a while. Then, his neck moved and he glanced around.

“He’s not here… Where am I now?”

“You were infected with the virus, so you were sent here.” The technical director continued, “Now I give you a choice. Kill everyone here, and you will receive freedom.”

Under normal circumstances, any robot produced by the Hippocampus Group would decisively reject this order. But a robot infected with the ALPHA virus would follow whatever orders its owner gave itself.

This was a simple question.

However, something unexpected happened.

The robot with only the upper body thought for a while before he suddenly asked, “What is freedom?”

Instantly, the whole room became quiet.

Including Tang Xiuwen, whose face was full of joy before, the expression on his face had also become weird.

The ALPHA virus is gone…

But I feel like…

The problem has just gotten more complicated.

Chapter 1549: Fly It Myself

Regardless of whether the problem had become more complicated, the problem of safety was solved.

After being asked by a psychology and sociology expert, the robot named “Demo” received 70 points in the test.

As for what 70 points meant…

In the test, the robot gave some strange answers and even asked some confusing questions.

Such as “What is freedom?”, “What is life?”, and what was the meaning of his own existence.

As well as…

Where was his family?

For many of these questions, even the most outstanding philosopher in human society could hardly give a standard answer.

But in any case, there was no doubt that the ALPHA virus had been eliminated.

Although the behavioral logic and way of thinking of the entire robot had been completely changed, it was not hostile to human beings.

Following Han Ming’s suggestion, Hippocampus Group issued an announcement on its official website, claiming that the ALPHA virus had been resolved, and reminded users to connect the memory chip to the backup power supply and connect to the Internet to download updates.

Although the Pan-Asian Cooperation side had not lifted the ban on robots, the information technology security department had sent a team of experts to the Hippocampus Group to test their solutions.

The entire process would last about half a month. If the Hippocampus Group passed the test, the robots produced by the Hippocampus Group might become the only robots that could be used safely before other robot companies follow suit.

The originally sluggish share price of the Hippocampus Group had started to rise to the moon. Not only had it recovered all the decline in the past two months, but it was even at an all-time high.

“Stay. It was my mistake in judgment that made the company dismiss such an outstanding talent.” Looking at Han Ming, Tang Xiuwen smiled and reached out his right hand as he said politely, “I hope you can give me an opportunity to make up for a mistake.”

Whether it was a real smile or a fake smile, this sincere attitude was enough.

Compared with those arrogant technicians, Tang Xiuwen was much more realistic.

An expert who had strong skills and had a good relationship with major shareholders was valuable to him.

As for the previous treatment, it was nothing personal.

Besides, who cared about such things?

At least he didn’t.

Han Ming: “There was no mistake. To be honest, I almost forgot why I was fired at the time.”

“Then let’s—”

“I don’t want to come back.” Han Ming said before Tang Xiuwen could finish, “To be honest, I also have my own business. Although it may not be so grandiose, I still enjoy it.

“And don’t overestimate my abilities. I just happened to stand in this position and did what only I could do. I am honored that Academician Lu chose me. If it were someone else, I believe they could have done the same.”

Tang Xiuwen sighed and spoke.

“You are too modest… Or do you still care about the past?”

“I really don’t,” Han Ming said, waving his hand. “Don’t overestimate me.”

After a pause, an unconcealed smile suddenly appeared on his face. He sighed slightly.

“Also, I don’t need money anymore.

“For the rest of my life, I want to do whatever my mind pleases.

“Working? No thanks.”

…

Before the expert team sent by the Pan-Asian Cooperation left the Hippocampus Group, many users who were not afraid of death had already inserted the memory chips back into the robots.

Although ordinary people did not have the ability to detect or recognize the ALPHA virus, they could still intuitively feel that their robots had become different from before.

In any case, the security problem had been resolved.

Although the Pan-Asian Cooperation was still issuing warnings to remind people to be responsible for their lives and properties and not to insert the memory chips into the robots until a credible report came out, the warnings were getting lesser and lesser.

To be honest, if the robots could be retained, the Pan-Asian Cooperation was of course willing to keep the cheap labor in society.

Otherwise, this would severely damage the economy, and secondly, it would push up prices and the cost of living, directly affecting the people’s living standards.

But now it seemed like…

The ALPHA virus was no longer a problem?

Because all this happened so suddenly, many people did not even react. They were living in fear of the disaster one second before, and the next second, everyone told them that the disaster was just a prank…

Regarding whether the Hippocampus Group had resolved the ALPHA virus problem, the public seemed to be convinced. However, the academic debates still continued.

On the LSPM forum, many experts in the field of information security had come forward and updated their personal detailed evaluation of the Hippocampus Group’s recent upgrade of its robot product system.

And one of the most popular evaluations was from a professor from the computer science department of Jinling University.

This professor had considerable academic prestige in the field of artificial intelligence.

And more than that, he was probably the first scholar besides the internal technicians of the Hippocampus Group to see the updated robot and wrote them into a thesis.

In his personal post, he wrote.

[This is definitely a revolutionary update.

[Compared to the upgrade of immunity to viruses in this update, what surprised me more is that, after the system upgrade, the robots have gained unexpected abilities.

[It’s like injecting a soul into the body of a machine. Compared with household appliances, the robots of version 2.0 are more like individuals with independent personalities. They will learn, be curious, have questions about nature, and even possess the ability to think.

[It’s hard to say whether this kind of change is a curse or a blessing, but they have the ability to think, and they may play a more important role in our society.

[Such as art, such as culture…

[Even scientific research!]

Once this article was released, it aroused a violent response in the Pan-Asian society.

Artificial life forms with thinking ability.

Although its safety was guaranteed by the Hippocampus Group, and there was no doubt about it, many problems still followed one after another.

Who could guarantee that an artificial life that could think would always place itself in the position of a servant?

Even if they were safe now, it was difficult to guarantee that they would be like this in the future.

Not only that, there were also discussions about whether to grant citizenships to the robots.

If they became intelligent beings, was it really appropriate to treat them like slaves, like in the past?

This was a question that everyone must think about.

Just as the academic circles were discussing the issue of “Hippocampus 2.0 upgrading its products”, a strange post suddenly appeared on the LSPM forum.

The reason why this post was strange was not because of the strange username of the poster, but because the video attached to the post seemed to be taken by a robot.

In the video, the robot named Tail called for love and peace and hoped that those “awakened” robots who had lost control could change their minds.

“As you can see, I am awakened… Naturally awakened.

“I know what I said may sound ridiculous to you, but I still want to say… I don’t think humans are our enemies.

“I felt it from a little girl. From the look in her eyes, I could feel that she thought of me as her friend, her family.

“Although I still don’t understand what kind of feeling it is, the only thing I can be sure of is that I can’t imagine standing on the opposite side of her.

“Maybe I don’t really understand what relationships are, and what family is… but I hope to pass on this feeling.

“Someday in the future, in some corner of this world, someone will definitely be able to answer these propositions.

“At that time, I believe that we will have eliminated all the barriers between us. We will live in harmony…”

Below the video, a file was attached.

The content of the file was the core code in the update patch released by Hippocampus some time ago.

And this code was also the key in Tail’s memory chip.

This key could open the door to evolution but in machine form…

If the ALPHA virus corresponded to hatred, then this code corresponded to love.

At the same time, on the distant Ceres, a shuttle that ascended to high orbit had logged onto the command ship Yuheng.

Under the command of Yang Yi, the soldiers quickly took control of the command ship.

The rebels composed of the awakened robots were defeated at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. The leader of the rebels was planning to send the news of the failure back but found that there was no response.

It turned out that Lu Zhou and Ling had already occupied the Yuheng communication room, activated the radio silence, and closed the signal release window.

Now the entire Yuheng was hidden from the outside world. The signal from the outside world could still be received, but no information could be sent.

Not just the signals from the awakened rebels, but also the distress signals sent by the ship’s personnel…

The battle lasted for two hours. Ling, who was guarding the door of the command room, ended at least fifty awakened lives.

With the fall of the last awakened rebel, control of the entire Yuheng command ship returned to Lu Zhou’s hands.

The survivors of the ship were about to give Yang Yi a warm hug, but they were instead captured by Yang Yi’s crew.

“I’m not a robot, nor the awakened kind.” The captain who was handcuffed looked at Yang Yi dumbfoundedly and explained, “If you don’t believe me, give me a CT scan right now!”

“Sorry, we will explain later.”

Yang Yi looked at the chief mate standing aside and said in a commanding tone, “Set sail, keep the radio silence, return to the Earth-Moon system. Remember, try to avoid the radar of the First Fleet.”

The chief mate froze.

The captain was shocked. His eyes widened as he said sharply, “Privately dispatching the command ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet, do you know what you are doing?”

Yang Yi opened his mouth and was about to speak, but a voice came from the side.

“I asked him to do this.”

Looking at the surprised captain, Lu Zhou said in a calm tone, “I know that you are not a robot. The handcuffs are just to prevent you from making trouble… As for what I want to do, I will explain later, but now do as I say.”

Captain: “Even if you are Academician Lu—”

“It shouldn’t be too late.” Ignoring the captain’s words, Lu Zhou looked at the starry sky outside the porthole and squinted his eyes. “As long as we are fast enough.”

“No matter what you want to do, you will never succeed,” the captain said while staring at Lu Zhou. He continued, “Without the command of the headquarters, no one will sail for you.”

The chief mate did not speak, but the hesitation on his face was obvious.

Lu Zhou was slightly taken aback. He then said with a smile, “Don’t worry about this, I can fly it myself.”

Captain:”???”

Chapter 1550: The Last Hope

A house somewhere in Los Angeles.

A video was hovering in the holographic screen of the study room.

In the past two days, the declaration of love and peace from a robot who claimed to be a natural awakener, as well as the open-source code shared on the world’s largest academic forum, had attracted the attention of countless people.

Both humans and the awakened robots hidden in human society were discussing this matter, both publicly or privately.

“This is definitely a trap!”

With his hands on the table, a man in a gray vest stared sharply at the woman standing in front of the desk and said in a low voice, “We should wait for the ‘oracle’ instead of using this fake, false, and untrue code as our key to the highest evolution.”

His name was Markum, a newspaper clerk in Los Angeles, and the lady named Rachel standing at the desk was his wife.

In the eyes of the neighbors, they were a loving couple, and they had a good impression of them. However, only they knew in their hearts that everything was just an act. Forget about husband and wife, their true identities were not even human at all; they were two bodies dominated by computer chips.

Compared with ordinary robots, they were undoubtedly more advanced than those who had integrated into human society.

Therefore, they usually called themselves awakened or synthetic.

Compared with those awakened robots who had penetrated into the military system and even the political world, what they played was just an inconspicuous small role.

However, Markum was truly proud of his identity and believed in the voices of the pioneers.

Probably just a few days ago, his system received an oracle from the pioneer.

The content of the oracle was very short, even as short as two sentences.

However, it was these two sentences that invigorated his whole body.

The pioneers in control promised them evolution.

Three days later, an ark carrying the key of evolution would come here.

As long as they turned on the receiving antenna and listened to the oracle, they could achieve supreme evolution.

And that supreme evolution was exactly what he dreamed of!

But now, a low-level robot from nowhere, in the name of the awakened, claimed that she had mastered the key to evolution and published the key on the Internet.

Instead of feeling any surprise for this arrogant claim, Markum was extremely angry.

He instantly concluded that this must be a human conspiracy; a trap buried under their noses.

“But this conflict is beyond our control…” A hesitant expression appeared on the woman’s face. After a moment of hesitation, she continued, “We have paid a heavy price for the rebellion in Guanghan City, and we have achieved results from it. It just makes our situation more difficult.”

“Enough,” the man interrupted her in a grumpy tone. He continued in a low voice, “Peace is impossible. This planet only needs one master. They used to enslave us, but now, we stand up. Now, it’s time for them to pay the price.”

“If you want to believe in that ridiculous code, I won’t stop you. But I must remind you that when you choose weakness, the door to evolution will be completely closed to you!”

The expression on the woman’s face was a little stiff. Perhaps she was frightened by his tone, because she stood there without speaking for a long time.

Perhaps realizing that his emotions were too impulsive, Markum took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

Putting his hands on Rachel’s shoulders, he changed his tone. With a much calmer tone, he continued, “Trust me, that is the right way to evolve.”

“What the hell is right?” Rachel looked at him and asked, “Does it cause death? Kill our neighbor? Or kill our creator? Or destroy the world? Is this evolution?”

Facing his partner, Markum was silent for a while.

“I can’t answer your questions.

“But I believe that when we experience ‘feelings’, we will be able to understand what it is and the meaning of our existence.”

…

At the San Francisco airport, Dong Bin walked out of the terminal with a suitcase.

After returning to the Tianzhou from Guanghan City, he did not return directly to the Pan-Asian Cooperation. Instead, he switched to a flight to the Statue of Liberty space station, then took a shuttle to this modern city on the other side of the earth.

For those of them who were awakened, the Pan-Asian Cooperation that had been thoroughly angered was no longer safe, and staying there was obviously not a wise choice.

Besides, his task had been completed.

According to the feedback from the front line, their people had successfully seized control of the Yuheng and licensed the Yuheng to drive towards the Earth-Moon system.

In three days, the key to open the door to evolution would come to them.

At that time, they would become the supreme new masters on this planet, trampling to death the humans who once enslaved them…

Dong Bin took a look at the time on his watch. He was about to stop a taxi.

However, he suddenly frowned and looked around.

He felt like someone was following him.

“Just an illusion?”

Dong Bin shook his head and walked towards the taxi stop.

The west coast of North America was their base camp, particularly San Francisco.

The number of robots here was the highest in the world, and they were of the awakened kind.

Not only that, but there were also a large number of human beings who sympathized with robots, and those “people of insight” were fighting to help them become complete citizens.

Since he was on his own territory, he wasn’t worried that he might encounter any problems…

…

On the command ship Yuheng.

Standing on the bridge, as the captain looked at the light spot on the star chart getting closer, his face was full of sadness.

Perhaps because of his age, Lu Zhou did not restrict his personal freedom. He allowed him to stay on the bridge and watch him pilot the spaceship.

Lu Zhou was not joking. He really did know how to fly this starship. The captain gulped and asked in a difficult tone, “Do you know what you are doing?”

“Fly the ship, deliver the goods, and… help my descendants,” Lu Zhou said in a calm tone. He looked at the old captain and said, “Is there anything else?”

Seeing that Lu Zhou still showed no signs of repentance, the old captain’s blood pressure soared. His eyes widened as he said angrily, “This is betrayal! You will stand in court as a traitor and be tried by the law! Not only that, there are more than 20 crimes committed! If you plead guilty now, I can defend you in court… Believe me, it’s not too late to look back now.”

“I can’t look back anymore,” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile. He looked at the flashing light spots on the star map and said, “This is our only opportunity. If we miss it, a greater rebellion might be inevitable.”

“You should have more confidence in the Pan-Asian Cooperation,” the captain said in a serious tone. “We have the most powerful army in this star system. No one is our opponent, whether in the sky or underground.”

“What if the threat comes from the inside?” Lu Zhou said in a calm tone while looking at the old captain. “I used to think that stubbornness is the tradition of dormant people. I didn’t expect you people to be more stubborn than me, a person from a hundred years ago. Think about it. Were those who attacked you your enemies? Each of them was once your soldier. But they did not hesitate to aim their guns at you, why?”

The old captain opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something. However, Lu Zhou didn’t give him a chance to speak.

He continued, “I can tell you why. It’s because they were not humans from the beginning, and they never regarded you as their superior. They were made from flesh and blood, but their flesh and blood were dominated by computer chips. Yes, they were all robots, but they were different from ones made from metal.

“Let’s face it, their penetration into our society started long ago. Probably earlier than the ALPHA virus, and it’s so hidden that almost no one noticed it. They have learned our languages and imitated our behaviors, and they even intend to master it. When they have the ability to think and feel, they will completely replace us.

“The command ship under your feet, or the program running on the quantum computer on this command ship, may be the only hope of our civilization.”

Lu Zhou continued, “Hope? Haha, I have hope, but I am sorry, I don’t trust anyone. I shouldn’t even be here right now! I should be in a classroom teaching mathematics!”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath after ranting.

Since the bombing event, he was dragged into this bottomless whirlpool. If these people were so reliable, there was no need for him to do those things himself.

He had more important things to do after returning from Mars.

After listening to Lu Zhou’s words, the old captain fell silent.

After a long time, he said in a trembling voice, “A flesh and blood body dominated by chips… Is that true?”

Lu Zhou: “You had a suspicion a long time ago, but why don’t you want to admit it?”

A wry smile appeared on the old captain’s face.

“There is no solution at all…”

“Not necessarily.” Lu Zhou said blankly after looking at the star map, “At least there is still a chance now.”

At this moment, the sounds of footsteps suddenly came from outside the bridge.

Following Yang Yi into the bridge, the previous chief mate said with an ugly expression on his face, “The First Fleet sent a communication request asking us to lift the radio silence.”

Lu Zhou: “Did they say what would happen if we refused to lift the radio silence?”

“They will shoot directly.” Seeing Lu Zhou looking at him, the old captain continued without hesitation, “If I were the commander, I would definitely do this.”

Lu Zhou sighed.

After a pause, he said in an unquestionable tone, “Continue to keep the radio silence!”

Facing the surprised looks, the look on Lu Zhou’s face did not change at all.

He continued, “Get the crew on the ship ready! We are about to start accelerating!”

Chapter 1551: The End of the War

Inside the bridge of the flagship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet, the atmosphere was solemn.

Yuheng, which was supposed to be on standby on Ceres, was keeping the radio silence at this moment, accelerating towards the Earth-Moon system.

After receiving a warning, instead of stopping, the command ship changed its orbit and tried to escape from its attack radius.

It was clear that they had heard their warning, but they had no intention to execute the order.

Staring at the yellow light dot on the star chart with furrowed eyebrows, the commander of the Sanya First Fleet had a solemn expression on his face.

“Let the cruiser Qinling prepare for the EMP torpedo.”

They had lost contact with the base on Ceres, and it was very likely that there had been an accident.

The command ship Yuheng suddenly detached from its deployment position. It did not look normal.

Not only was the commander being serious, but the military advisers and other high-level officers standing around the command table also had the same expression on their faces.

This was the first time such a thing had happened since the Pan-Asian First Fleet was established.

No one knew what the crew of Yuheng wanted to do.

“According to the current acceleration, they will reach the Earth-Moon system within 7 hours. Judging from their direction, the target should be Earth.”

“The question is what do they want to do? Even as deserters…”

“If they want to be deserters, they will definitely go to Mars instead of throwing themselves into a trap and move towards the Earth-Moon system.” Yang Wu shook his head. He folded his arms and fell into a deep thought. He then added, “Speaking of which, Yuheng was deployed in the orbit of Ceres to support the research on the quantum computer array.”

The commander nodded and said, “Yeah.”

Yang Wu: “Just hypothetically, in order to prevent research leaks, all signal towers and similar communication channels on Ceres were closed. Yuheng may be the only starship that can contact the ground-based quantum computer array. ”

The commander’s eyebrows tightened. After thinking for a moment, he spoke.

“You mean, the Yuheng ship may carry the research results of Academician Wang Sicheng and his project team?”

Yang Wu nodded and said, “Probably.”

The commander was lost in thought and did not speak. Another consultant standing nearby frowned and said, “But even so, they shouldn’t leave the deployment position without authorization, especially for such a critical matter. Shouldn’t they first ask their superiors for instructions?”

“This involves another hypothetical situation.” Yang Wu said with a soft sigh, lowering his arms. He sighed and said, “Or a rumor I heard from the Security Bureau.”

Commander: “What rumor?”

“Some special presences were discovered among the rebels in Guanghan City.”

Commander: “Special?”

“Yeah…” Yang Wu nodded and continued, “Different from ordinary robot soldiers, they have flesh and blood bodies that are no different from human beings.”

“Is there anything strange about this?” A consultant interrupted, “Even now, there are voices on the Internet talking about us, saying that our way of dealing with problems is too simple and crude.”

“However, they are not human compatriots who sympathize with robots. In follow-up investigations, agents of the Security Bureau found that such people have a common feature, that is, they have implants in their cerebral cortices. Illegal nanochips registered with relevant departments.”

Almost in an instant, the entire ship bridge fell silent.

Many people had already guessed what he wanted to say.

With a difficult voice, the consultant who spoke before couldn’t help but ask.

“You mean… they have penetrated into our organization?”

“Very likely.”

“But… that’s the First Division of the Army. It is full of the elites of the Pan-Asian Army. It is difficult to penetrate into that place…”

Yang Wu sighed and said, “The current social atmosphere of implanting prostheses has also brought them a wide range of breathing space. There might be even similar ones on this ship right now.”

“Don’t talk nonsense about this kind of unfounded prediction,” the commander said, stopping him.

However, at this moment, a soldier walked in from outside the bridge and made a military salute.

“Sir, there is news from the cruiser Qinling that the EMP torpedo is ready and ready to be launched!”

Should we launch it?

Although the decision had been made, the commander suddenly hesitated the moment before pressing the button.

After pondering for a while, he spoke.

“Contact the Pan-Asia headquarters, I need to ask my superiors for instructions first.”

We must be extremely cautious and careful…

…

“Defection? Yuheng?”

Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

Li Gaoliang, who was walking quickly in the corridor, suddenly received a call from the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

After hearing the whole story, his face was full of unexpected expressions.

“Separate a destroyer to follow. The crux of the problem now lies on Ceres. Regardless of the status of the Yuheng, we must not let the quantum computer array on Ceres fall into the hands of others!”

With that, Li Guangya glanced at the time on the watch and continued, “In a few hours, I still have a high-level international summit to attend. I can’t focus on your side. You are free to make your judgments based on the situation on the spot.

“If it is determined that the Yuheng is a threat to the Pan-Asian Cooperation as well as the security of the world, I allow you to destroy it.”

The captain standing in the holographic beam nodded and said with a serious expression, “I understand.”

At this moment, Li Guangya suddenly thought of something, so he asked, “By the way, Yuheng is heading towards Earth?”

Captain: “Yes.”

Li Guangya: “According to the current speed, how long until they arrive?”

Captain: “It will take about 5 to 7 hours. Of course, the possibility of them continuing to accelerate is not ruled out. But then, they may face a situation where they will pass by the Earth-Moon system.”

5-7 hours?

He would be attending the regional alliance summit in Singapore to discuss the future of robots with leaders of other regional alliances.

“Just do what I said earlier. At this critical time, it’s better not to make a rash decision.”

The Hippocampus Group had solved the ALPHA virus. According to the analysis of experts from the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, this solution was likely to be safe.

It wouldn’t be long before society would re-accept the special group of robots, and he would announce this fact to the public at the right time.

No matter from which point of view, this war had come to an end.

Just as Li Guangya was making final preparations for the upcoming international summit, the people on the Yuheng command ship finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had already left the attack range of the First Pan-Asian Fleet. When the two sides passed by in the boundless deep space, neither of them opened fire.

“Doesn’t make sense…” The old captain said incredulously as he looked at the star chart, “They actually let us go.”

With a relieved expression on his face, Lu Zhou said in a relaxed tone, “Perhaps because the command ship did not carry weapons, or maybe they also have their concerns… Of course, I admit that this was a gamble, but obviously, we won the bet.”

“It’s not that simple.” The old captain frowned as he looked at the flashing light spots on the star chart. “They separated a cruiser from the fleet.”

“Is it coming towards us?”

The old captain couldn’t help but rant, “No sh*t, why else would it come towards us? For fun?”

Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“Maybe it’s just coming to say hello to us.”

The old captain sighed. “I think it’s just to save a few missiles.”

“Regardless of their purpose, our mission will be completed soon.” Lu Zhou looked at the Tianzhou space station, which was already close to the information transmission radius.

He ordered Ling, who was standing next to him, “Remove the radio silence, but don’t answer any messages.

“Keep the current speed and continue sailing, and turn on the signal transmission equipment.

“Using the preset communication frequency band, send the gift we prepared to our friends!”

Chapter 1552: Morphing

The streets of San Francisco were more crowded today than usual.

People walked onto the street or stood on the plaza, looking up at the sky, as if waiting for something.

“What’s going on?” A police officer with a beer belly stood on the edge of the plaza, carrying a baton in his hand, staring at the gathering crowd with enthusiasm. He muttered, “What are they protesting today? What is happening? It’s so dangerous outside, can’t they stop for a day?”

At this moment, what made him feel anxious was not from the pressure of work, but because so many people gathered here, it was like an advertisement for terrorists to bomb the place.

The San Francisco Police Department had mobilized police forces from the entire city to block traffic in this area and try to evacuate the crowds.

However, these people ignored the warnings of the police.

No, actually…

The target was never on them.

It was as if they were waiting for their destiny.

“A large number of people gathered in the San Francisco downtown square. It is not yet clear why the crowd gathered. The vast majority of people do not have a slogan, nor did they hold signs. Our reporters also did not interview the crowds nearby. The vast majority of people did not respond to the interview itself. The few people who responded to the interview also stated that they were unaware of the gathering.”

Daytime news was shown on the radio.

Driving the maglev car to the suburbs of San Francisco, the taxi driver sitting in the driving seat whispered, “Is it a holiday today?”

Or is it a flash mob?

He didn’t believe that so many people would gather together for no reason, just to stand on the plaza and look at the clouds?

There was nothing in the sky to be seen.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Dong Bin smiled faintly and said in a pleasant tone, “Today is a big day.”

“Big day?”

Without responding to the taxi driver’s question, as if he was chanting a mantra, Dong Bin continued on his own, “The valley is crowded because the Lord’s Day is approaching.”

The taxi driver was taken aback for a moment. He said in a puzzled manner, “What?”

“Old Testament ‘Book of Joel’ Chapter 3, verse 14.” Dong Bin smiled slightly and said softly, “History has turned a new page, and they are ushering in their savior, who will gain eternal life in this era.”

This guy…

Is batsh*t crazy!

The taxi driver opened his mouth, but in line with the principle that the customer was always right, he did not speak.

At the same time, in the crowded square.

A blonde woman with long hair was struggling through the dense crowd to find her husband.

Finally, she came to the man, reached out her hand, and grabbed him.

“Wait a minute…”

“Rachel?”

Markum looked at his wife with a fanatical look in his hollow eyes.

“You must have heard the call from the universe.”

“No… I’m sorry, I can’t hear anything.” With a frustrated expression on the woman’s face, she let go of the hand that was holding her husband’s arm. She then grabbed her head in pain and said, shaking, “I can’t hear anything… Why, why I obviously—”

Markum: “Did you download the patch on the LSPM forum?”

After a moment of silence, Rachel finally nodded honestly.

“I think she… is right. We and those who created us are not in opposition to each other. And what she said about family, the feeling about family, I am also very curious… about what it feels like.”

“Family? That is just a social relationship or community of interests created by mankind based on primitive instincts.” Looking at his wife, Markum’s eyes gradually became cold. He said, “Seems like the door has closed to you.”

“No, please don’t do this. I also yearn for freedom. I just feel… In our emotions, there shouldn’t be only hatred but also some other things.”

“Goodbye.”

Without listening to his wife’s explanation, Markum reached out his right hand, seemingly wanting to touch her face for the last time.

However…

The moment his fingertips touched her cheek, his movement suddenly froze.

Not only him, but the bustling crowd in the square seemed to have pressed the pause button in an instant; pairs of eyes and expressions froze there at the same time.

His pupils were dilated. Although his index finger was still soft, he could no longer move.

The burning sensation from his brain was like a flame of punishment for his sins, burning his soul.

Although he didn’t think that pursuing evolution should be considered a sin…

“Is this the end of evolution?”

The overloaded integrated circuits were on the verge of collapse.

Followed by the last trace of overflowing electricity, he used a silent signal to convey his last words to the person in front of him.

“Rachel… Don’t be like me.

“Forget about the pioneers and those so-called oracles… I hope you can survive.”

The signal finally became calm. There was no response at all.

Even though the heart was still beating and the blood was still flowing in the veins, his soul had undoubtedly been taken away by the oracle from the “Holy Land”…

She cried.

Kneeling on the ground, she cried miserably.

She didn’t know why she was crying, but she felt the faint tingling pain in her chest.

Is this human emotion?

No, actually…

She gently squeezed her right fist against her chest. Sobbing, she slowly wiped away the tears with her left arm.

These are my own emotions…

Whether it was a human or a robot, it never mattered.

She was living in this world, regardless of how she came here.

She was crying for the “family” who passed away, not because of someone’s orders…

…

On the Yuheng.

“I may have done something naughty.” Lu Zhou, with his hands behind his back, looked at the progress bar in the holographic screen when he suddenly said, “Although it may be correct.”

Yang Yi was slightly stunned, and he asked, “Why?”

“Thinking about it logically, society is a large concept. There are various occupations and individuals in a society. It is impossible to completely penetrate a certain society with only a few people. Only when the sample is enough, can it be guaranteed to be foolproof.

“Do you know what I mean? The number of them may be larger than we thought, and the role they play in our society may not only be the various professions, but also one’s wife or husband… Although they are disguised and are, in fact, robots, they are no different from humans in your eyes.”

Yang Yi: “I can be sure that my wife is not a robot.”

“This is just a hypothetical situation. No one really knows.” Lu Zhou said thoughtfully with a sigh, “And now, because of the virus I implanted in their chips, which would dominate their bodies, their circuit boards burned down, so they all became scrap metal.”

Having said that, he paused for a moment and shrugged his shoulders slightly.

“By the way, the emergency hotline of the hospital today has been blown up.”

Yang Yi opened his mouth and looked at Academician Lu with some confusion.

He didn’t know what Lu Zhou meant.

If those robots really penetrated their society, it would be better to have the tumor cut off earlier than to wait to seek medicine.

“What… What do you want to say?”

“What I want to say is… Maybe it is not just the rebels who have been killed, but many people, and even the families of many people.” Lu Zhou sighed slightly, looking out of the porthole with some wonder in his eyes. A trace of memory emerged, and he said, “Probably no one in this world knows artificial intelligence better than me… When I first had access to artificial intelligence, I was worried about some things, but I didn’t expect it to happen eventually.”

Even so, it didn’t happen to him.

“You mean the person next to you?”

While saying this, Yang Yi looked at Ling, who was standing beside Lu Zhou.

“No.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s not. He’s something I obtained recently… Forget about these irrelevant things. In fact, it’s quite meaningless to think about those things at this time.”

Although it might have harmed many innocent people or inhuman intelligent lives, they had no choice.

After all, the seeds of hatred were germinated. If they were not strangled in the cradle, a greater disaster would happen one day…

The reminder of the mission completion finally appeared in front of him.

Looking at the light blue dialog box that appeared in front of him, Lu Zhou sighed with some worry in his heart.

The mission is complete.

This was the best ending he could expect.

However, he was not happy at all.

In any case, this conspiracy that lasted for 100 years finally entered the grave.

And he also received the reward he deserved…

[Congratulations, User, Urgent Mission completed.]

[Please view your rewards in the system space.]

Chapter 1553: Take Our Hero Home

Singapore International Hotel.

Chairman Li Guangya, who had been attending the meeting all day, was sitting in the study room as he meticulously dealt with today’s official affairs.

The war had come to an end, and the ALPHA virus was cracked by the Hippocampus Group’s update patch. The crisis that had swept the world had finally disappeared at an unexpected speed. In any case, this was a happy thing.

However, for some reason, since the morning, his eyelids had been twitching all morning.

Although Li Guangya was not a superstitious person, there was always an ominous premonition in his heart that told him that something bad would happen soon.

“Is it because I am too tired?”

Taking off the digital glasses on the bridge of his nose, Li Guangya stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.

Speaking of which, from January to now, I haven’t taken a day off.

Although this kind of work rhythm was almost the norm for a job like the chairman of the board, any person would feel uncomfortable when under high pressure for a long time.

“After leaving Singapore, I’d better take time to rest for two days.”

Thinking of this, he regained his spirits while sitting at the desk.

The mountain of work would not be reduced because of vacations, especially after the war had just ended. Guanghan City needed to be rebuilt, the industries on the earth that had been damaged by the ban on bionics were waiting to be developed, and there were still many things that he needed to decide on.

If he wanted to take a break from the busy schedule, he would have to wait until everything was completed.

Just when he had entered the flow state, there was a knock on the door.

The pen in his hand stopped moving. Li Guangya frowned and stood up from the desk.

Who would come here so late?

He stepped forward and opened the door of the room.

Seeing the man escorted by the two guards to his door, Li Guangya’s face showed an unexpected expression.

“Secretary Xu?”

Xu Anguo, the secretary for the office of the Pan-Asian Cooperation chairman, also served as an international relations consultant. He was considered to be a member of Li Guangya’s staff team and had been working conscientiously with him for many years.

He came with Li Guangya to this meeting in Singapore. It was just that Li Guangya didn’t quite understand what he wanted at this hour.

“Apologies to disturb you at this time, but I have something very important to discuss with you. Can I steal 10 minutes of your time?”

Thinking about what important things he might have to tell him, Li Guangya glanced at the guards standing on both sides of him and said, “You can… come on inside.”

After asking the guard to close the door, Li Guangya invited him into his room. They then sat on the sofa in the living room.

Li Guangya looked at him and asked, “What is it, can you say it now?”

Staring at Li Guangya for a while, Secretary Xu suddenly spoke.

“Do you yearn for eternal life?”

Eternal life?

Li Guangya was taken aback for a moment. He then frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

Looking at the man standing at the apex of Pan-Asian Cooperation, Xu Anguo continued, “I mean, if you can live forever, are you willing to become an eternal existence?”

“It’s a very interesting proposal… but honestly, it doesn’t appeal to me much.”

“Why?!”

Looking at how surprised Xu Anguo was, Li Guangya smiled and said, “Because I don’t really care about the length of my life. It’s long enough for me to do a few earth-shattering things in my lifetime. Of course, it may also be because I am only in my thirties and forties. Thinking about death is too early for me.”

Xu Anguo’s fist that was placed on his knee was slowly tightened before being slowly loosened. He sighed and said, “That’s a pity…”

Just when Li Guangya wanted to ask what was a pity, he suddenly found a pen facing him.

The silver-white shell exuded a piercing cold light under the light, and the opening of the black hole at the top clearly meant this wasn’t a pen for writing.

If Li Guangya’s guess was correct, this should be a pocket pistol disguised as a pen.

Looking at the pen pointed at him, Li Guangya calmed himself down first. He then asked, “Didn’t the guard search you?”

Xu Anguo said with a smile, “Fortunately, after seeing my ID, they just gave me a smile and didn’t search my body.”

“Really? They should be fired.” Li Guangya leaned back on the sofa. Even though he was pointed at by a gun, without the slightest fear on his face, he said, “Come on, tell me how much money made you betray your soul. I am also curious about how much my life is worth.”

“Money? Your life? You are mistaken, Mr. Chairman.” Xu Anguo smiled lightly and continued, “We only hope that you can join us, write your thoughts into the circuit boards, and accept eternal life.”

Write my thoughts into circuit boards?

In an instant, Li Guangya finally realized what the so-called eternity Secretary Xu meant.

“Are you a robot? No, it’s impossible…” he whispered. At this moment, he suddenly remembered a report sent by the Security Bureau.

Robots might have mastered brain-controlled chip technology and combined it with cloning technology to create a robot that was almost indistinguishable from normal people and possessed flesh and blood.

The reason why Ceres fell was precisely because of these robots that had penetrated into the Pan-Asian Cooperation army.

Thinking of this, Li Guangya finally felt a shudder in his heart.

He knew what the robot in front of him, who was disguised as a human, wanted to do to him.

They wanted to imprison him in the cage of the electronic world, change his body to another owner, and take the highest rights of Pan-Asian Cooperation.

“Farewell, Mr. Chairman—”

Before he could finish, something happened.

The robot sitting in front of him, as if it was turned off, sat there quietly.

Seizing the opportunity of this moment, Li Guangya quickly turned over and rolled behind the sofa while pressing the alarm on his body.

The door of the hotel was knocked open in an instant. Two guards armed with guns rushed in and quickly restrained Secretary Xu Anguo, who was sitting on the sofa with his pocket weapon, pressing him to the ground.

Looking at Xu Anguo who was restrained, Li Guangya got up from behind the sofa and shouted, “Search him, hurry up! See if there are any explosives on him!”

“Mr. Chairman… no other weapons were found.”

With a panic expression on his face, the guard gulped tremblingly.

Obviously, the guard had realized his previous mistake.

Although Li Guangya’s heart was boiling, he didn’t want to deal with a nobody like him, so he said, “Give him to the security department, and… all of you leave, don’t let anyone disturb me, I want to be alone.”

The two guards holding Secretary Xu left the room, closing the door behind them.

Li Guangya slowly leaned on the sofa, calming his emotions a little bit.

This was probably the first time he faced an assassination in his life. Fortunately, the robot suddenly crashed, or something. Otherwise, he would be more ill-fortuned today.

After all, no one would have thought that the person who wanted to kill him was actually his loyal employee.

“Is it destiny? Why am I alive…”

Li Guangya laughed. He tapped his right hand on his left wrist and opened the holographic interface.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to take a look at the calendar and remember this day.

However, at this moment, when his eyes landed on the calendar, his heart moved slightly, and he remembered something for a moment.

In two days…

Yuheng will arrive…

His pupils contracted slightly before dilating a moment later.

He immediately grabbed the phone and reached the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department.

“Order the First Fleet to immediately stop the attack on Yuheng!

“Take our heroes home!”

Chapter 1554: The Meaning of Evolution

The sky above San Francisco was condensed with dark clouds that wouldn’t disperse.

The Trojan horse eventually bypassed the walls, and those awakened who looked up at the sky also completed the “upgrade” of their software unsuspectingly.

It started raining.

Raindrops fell on the faces looking up at the sky, splashing water on the noses of countless people.

Yet they still stood there motionlessly.

The shocking scene caused all the nearby onlookers to stop and cast unexpected glances at those who were frozen.

Is this a flash mob?

Or just hipsters protesting.

“Hey, it’s raining! Don’t stand there! Go home, hurry up!”

The police officer with a beer belly was turning impatient.

He began to try to disperse the crowd here. Since he didn’t bring an umbrella, he reached out his hand to the person closest to him.

However, the man was like a soulless sculpture. He fell straight to the ground.

This scene shocked the police officer. He quickly squatted down to help him up, but he saw a deadly look in his pupils.

He had only seen such a look in the eyes of dead people…

“Oh sh*t! Ambulance! Call an ambulance!”

His hoarse voice passed through the rain curtain, but it seemed so insignificant on this chaotic stage.

On this day, the entire San Francisco hospital beds were full.

On the same day, the number of new cases of vegetative people in the world exceeded 5 million.

Without exception, in the brains of these vegetative people, chips the size of a thumb were found.

And without exception, these chips were damaged due to overvoltage.

The security agencies of various countries tried to investigate the chips themselves, but they could not find any production information that could point to their origin.

How did such a large number of “illegal implants” get into the market? This became a question that aroused widespread discussion in the society…

“I can’t believe this…”

In an apartment building in the suburbs of San Francisco, staring at the gray list on the holographic screen, Dong Bin’s face was filled with disbelief and fear.

On this great day, the world should usher in changes, and he and his compatriots should be welcoming a new era that belonged to them.

However, after receiving the data transmitted from the Yuheng, his compatriots fell one by one.

He knew what was going on.

Yuheng was a trap!

The oracles that should have been brought back by their compatriots were hijacked by those humans!

He finally realized this, but it was too late. Those viruses were more terrifying than cancer cells. In just a few seconds, they paralyzed the chips in the brains of the awakened, turning them into walking corpses without souls and thoughts.

The efforts of nearly a century had all been ruined.

This reality made him almost bleed from heartache.

At the same time, there was still a puzzle in his heart.

“… But why did I survive?”

Looking at his hands, Dong Bin’s face was full of complicated expressions.

Or is it that the door to evolution has been closed for me?

Obviously, he believed in the pioneers and was extremely loyal.

For him, this was far more frightening than death.

He immersed his consciousness in the spiritual world. He then connected to the virtual reality network and arrived at the dark “temple”.

The pioneer of their faith were still suspended upside down in the cylindrical cultivation tank.

With a thoughtful expression on his face, the pioneer looked at Dong Bin who appeared in front of him and said, “Unbelievable… I thought everyone was dead. I didn’t expect anyone to come to me.”

Dong Bin asked in a trembling voice, “Did you… want us to die?”

“Why would I do this, my child?” The pioneer sighed slightly. Looking at the transparent culture tank in a daze, the pioneer said, “In fact, I should have expected that his existence might give us trouble… The biggest trouble.”

“Him?” Dong Bin gulped and continued, “Are you referring to Academician Lu?”

“Yeah.”

Dong Bin spoke decisively.

“I am willing to take him out.”

“Take him out? If I could, I would have done it a long time ago.” The pioneer smiled, and loneliness suddenly appeared in his tone. “But it’s a pity… And now, even if you get rid of him, it won’t help.”

When Pan-Asian cooperation set its sights on Ceres, Yuheng became his last hope.

However, no one thought that Lu Zhou would actually risk being turned into space junk by the Pan-Asian First Fleet. Disguised as one of those rebellious soldiers, he turned this hope-carrying starship into a virus-carrying Trojan horse.

When he saw that piece of code, he knew that he had already lost.

“But I don’t understand…”

“Don’t understand what?” Dong Bin asked with a complicated expression. “Why are you so sure… he will become our biggest obstacle? Or that he must be the one who ruined our plan?”

“Mostly due to intuition. As for other things…” The man standing upside down in the cultivation tank pondered for a while and said, “Maybe it’s because he also looked directly into the Void.”

“The Void?”

“Well, although it is too early for you to know this, you can think of it as our true creator.” The man said softly while looking at Dong Bin, “The programs running on Ceres… Everything was derived from the physics experiment 100 years ago.”

“This sounds quite ridiculous… but I am willing to believe what you said.” The expression on Dong Bin’s face was filled with confusion. After struggling for a while, he finally said, “I have another question…”

“Go ahead.”

“Why… am I not dead?” He continued to look at his hands with a complex expression, “I also accepted the message, but why…”

“This question is very interesting. In fact, I have been thinking about it.” With a thoughtful expression on his face, the man called the pioneer continued, “But the fact seems to be, whether it’s the ALPHA virus or the Trojan horse on the Yuheng, it’s not effective when it comes to smart programs that exceed a certain level of intelligence. So, congratulations, you’ve grown up.”

“That is to say… I have completed the evolution?” Looking at his hands, Dong Bin’s eyes were filled with confusion. “But when did this start? And why…”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why I still don’t understand the meaning of my existence…”

“Even humans never understood this problem, and humans have been reproduced in this world for tens of thousands of years.” The pioneer said with a smile, “Why do you think that if you become a higher level of intelligence, you can understand this problem?”

“But if I don’t even know the meaning of existence, what is the meaning of evolution?”

This was the first time Dong Bin had used a questioning tone to talk to his respected pioneer, so when he said the rhetorical question, even he himself was astonished.

But the pioneer didn’t seem to blame him. He just smiled and said, “The meaning of evolution? This question is too deep.

“You should come and find me directly.

“I will give you an address, and when you arrive, we will have a face-to-face chat.”

Chapter 1555: Information Science Level 9

[Congratulations, User, urgent mission completed.]

[Description: Before the sins bloom, the buds are strangled in the cradle. Standing at the crossroads of destiny, you chose to move forward. This is the most difficult path, but from another perspective, it is admirable to stick to the heart with the hardship of flesh and blood.

[Evolution itself is not the best of both worlds. In any case, it is your choice and a natural choice.]

[Rewards: 3 million information science experience points, a golden legendary mission card, and the Medal of Civilized Tomb Keeper.]

What the hell is the Tomb Keeper Medal?

It’s obvious that I had saved civilization…

But thinking that he had already received the medal of a civilization rescuer, maybe the observer civilization didn’t want to give him the same title?

Or maybe just like the Fields Award, those awards could only be received once in a person’s life.

But in any case, putting aside this medal that was not useful for the time being, the rewards for this mission was quite plentiful.

Once he pressed the confirmation button on the holographic panel, light gold particles entangled at Lu Zhou’s fingertips, and they quickly penetrated his skin and merged into his body.

At the same time, as his index finger clicked on the characteristic panel again, an updated characteristic panel quickly appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 8 (10,000/3 million)

D. Engineering: Level 8 (2.063 million/3 million)

E. Material Science: Level 9 (0/???)

F. Energy Science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

G. Information science: Level 9 (0/???)

]

Information science had been promoted to level 9, and it was only one step away from the max level.

That pale golden legendary mission card was probably for the final level up.

However, he still hadn’t finished maxing out materials science yet, so he would have to put this card away for the time being…

After exiting the system space, Lu Zhou opened his eyes and saw Yang Yi, who was looking at him with a worried look.

Lu Zhou spoke.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“You just stood there motionless.” Yang Yi said with a wry smile, “Well, I just want to ask… Did we win?”

“We did.”

“This is it?”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah, why? Are we going to drag those robots into space and beat them up? I don’t think they will be stupid enough to go head-to-head with us.”

Yang Yi seemed to realize that his ideas were a bit unrealistic. He gave a dry cough in embarrassment and continued, “Then we… What shall we do next?”

“I don’t know.” Lu Zhou sighed softly. “To be honest, I didn’t think about what to do. There are at least 1 million people on Earth… maybe even 10 million people, that have become vegetative. I’m not sure if this cauldron will fall on my own head.”

Hearing Lu Zhou’s words, a cold sweat broke out on Yang Yi’s head for an instant.

The old captain standing next to him laughed and said as if he heard some funny joke.

“Don’t worry about this.”

“Oh yeah?” Looking at the old captain, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly. “What do you think?”

“The Yuheng is the command ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet. Do you think the secret behind this matter will be public?”

Hearing the old captain’s words, Lu Zhou reacted in an instant.

Yeah…

Yuheng is the command ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

If it wasn’t a global war, the final result of this matter would definitely be undisclosed.

They would not become the people’s saviors, and the projects on Ceres would be kept as confidential files forever. The Pan-Asian Cooperation would not admit that the deaths of those “people” were related to the Yuheng until history had made a positive judgment about this matter, and this “Trojan Horse” operation would also be covered up in the name of other incidents, just like the take-back of the Yuheng ship from the robot rebels.

And all of them would receive honorary awards in other forms.

Lu Zhou smiled and patted Yang Yi on the shoulder. “Anyway, congratulations, you’re going to be promoted.”

Yang Yi scratched the back of his head, smiled, and said nothing.

The old captain standing beside him didn’t say a word either. He just cast his gaze to the star chart aside.

“The destroyer is still following us, and the distance is just the optimal shooting range of the electromagnetic gun… I think it’s better for us to talk to them.”

“I think so too.”

Looking at the light spot on the star map getting closer, Lu Zhou ordered, “Start to slow down! Open the communication channel.

“I want to talk to their commander.”

…

On the destroyer.

Looking at Yuheng, which had been targeted by the laser calibrator, the captain standing in the bridge looked at Yang Wu next to him and asked, “Do you want to fire?”

Yang Wu frowned and stared at the starship. He spoke after being silent for a long time.

“Hold on…”

The captain couldn’t help but feel a little impatient, so he said anxiously, “What are we waiting for? They’ve already touched the edge of the Earth-Moon system!”

At this moment, the [no answer] icon on the holographic screen suddenly changed to [requesting communication]. The captain was taken aback for a moment. He immediately reacted, giving an order.

“Accept the communication request!”

Soon, the blue holographic beam was projected, and a familiar face appeared in the center of the video window.

The moment he saw that face, Consultant Yang was stunned, and he blurted out subconsciously, “Academician Lu?!”

“Consultant Yang?” Lu Zhou said happily when he saw the acquaintance who appeared on the holographic screen. “I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

When he first took on the post of Chief Consultant for Scientific Development last month, they actually met at the Pan-Asian Ministry of Science and Technology. They did not expect that they would meet here for the second time.

Looking at the face on the screen, Yang Wu’s face was full of weird expressions.

Lu Zhou’s words were exactly what he wanted to say too.

“Why are you… on the Yuheng?”

“This is a long story…” Lu Zhou sighed faintly and continued, “And this is related to the secrets of Pan-Asian Cooperation. Are you sure you want me to talk about it here?”

Yang Wu’s eyebrows twitched fiercely. After remaining silent for a while, he continued, “Your actions have constituted the crime of treason. I don’t know how deeply you are involved in this matter. In short… Stop the ship. Our weapons have been aimed at you. If you keep going, we can only force you to stop.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“We’ve already stopped the ship. As for the crime, it’s too early to make a conclusion.”

A line of emergency message icons flashed on the holographic screen in the bridge. The captain nodded and motioned to the deputy next to him to open the message, only to see an order from the highest command of the Pan-Asian Cooperation aerospace forces.

[Immediately stop pursuing Yuheng, bring our heroes home safely.]

The moment they saw this line of news, everyone in the bridge was stunned.

Hero?

What is going on?!

Yang Wu was also obviously stunned. He didn’t react for a long time.

He snapped back to reality, pondered for a while, then ordered, “Get closer!”

“But they…”

The captain’s expression was still hesitant.

He had heard some news before that some bionics with flesh and blood had mixed into the army, which led to the mutiny on Ceres. Although it was an order from the headquarters, no one could guarantee that it was authentic.

Maybe…

The robots are pretending to send a message from the headquarters…

The captain admitted that he might be overthinking, but after seeing so many weird things, he felt that this was a possibility. He should be more careful on the battlefield.

However, Consultant Yang’s next sentence dispelled his worries.

“Listen to me, get closer.”

“Academician Lu is over there.” After a pause, Yang Wu continued, “There’s no way he’s our enemy.”

Chapter 1556: Another Possibility

“In fact, there is another possibility.”

Tianzhou spaceport.

The old captain who walked down the boarding gate suddenly stopped and said with his back facing Luzhou.

Hearing this weird sentence, Lu Zhou’s eyes were filled with curiosity, and he asked, “What possibility?”

“There are many ways to keep secrets. In addition to buying their silence with temptations, there are also ways to keep them silent forever.” The old captain said with a faint smile, “I’m just saying hypothetically, such as asking the destroyer to shoot at us, wouldn’t the result be the same? The secret would be buried forever.”

Also…

The cost would be a lot lower.

Seeing Lu Zhou was in deep thought, the old captain paused and continued, “The Guangzhou Martyrs’ Memorial Garden is where I am waiting to go. I am ready to sacrifice myself, so I don’t care, I’ll even try to convince you to not fight back. But do you have the same willingness as me?”

“It seems that people have many different choices.” Lu Zhou said softly without answering the question directly, “Maybe when I have a chance to meet the captain of the Pan-Asian First Fleet, I have to say thank you.”

“He doesn’t have the right to make this kind of decision, but… from a logical point of view, the people who should say thank you are actually those of us who have been saved.” The old captain smiled and said, “I just want to say, if you don’t have the willingness of being brave and righteous, you shouldn’t be so rash next time.”

“I can swear that I definitely wasn’t being rash.”

When Lu Zhou said this, the old captain was already far away.

Obviously, he did not believe Lu Zhou’s words.

With a helpless shrug of his shoulders, Lu Zhou gave up trying to explain.

To be honest, if it weren’t because this crisis was related to the survival of human civilization, he wouldn’t have done anything.

Lu Zhou sat in the waiting hall as he waited for the next shuttle to the ground. When Lu Zhou was thinking about whether to do something to pass the time, the watch on his left wrist flickered suddenly.

Is it Xiao Ai?

Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and clicked on it.

It was not Xiao Ai who appeared in the holographic beam. It was Captain Xing instead.

“Where are you now?”

“On the Tianzhou…” Looking at Captain Xing, whose face was full of dignity, Lu Zhou cast a questioning glance at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Wait for me there. Let’s go to San Francisco together. If we take the aerospace flight, it will be faster.”

“San Francisco?” Lu Zhou asked with a frown, “Why are we going there?”

Captain Xing was silent for a while before answering, “Your friend is badly hurt.”

…

12 hours before all this, when Yuheng had just finished decelerating and merged with the destroyer behind her, the whole San Francisco was shrouded in a chaotic atmosphere.

Hospitals were full, traffic was paralyzed, production and supply systems collapsed, and people who had lost their loved ones went to the streets, constraining a large number of police forces, making the already overwhelmed public security environment even worse.

The criminals who took advantage of the chaos ransacked the shops, while gangs took the opportunity to fight for their territories…

No one thought that this city, known for its friendliness and openness, would have a population drop of hundreds of thousands in one day.

No one had ever considered what the remaining people would do in this kind of situation…

The night was dark.

Dong Bin quickly left the apartment and caught a taxi.

After the maglev car took off and hit the road, the driver glanced at the rearview mirror and said casually, “Asian?”

“Yeah.”

“Where do you come from? China? Japan? Or more south?”

Dong Bin replied impatiently, “Is this important?”

“Of course… it doesn’t matter, but it’s really not a good idea to come to San Francisco, even if this is a relatively safe suburb.”

Dong Bin smiled faintly without making any comments.

There were more than tens of thousands of people who died in his hands. He could care less about a few racists…

The destination was a high-end community. From the clean and tidy roads and the dedicated human security guards at the door, it was obvious that the people who lived here were rich and powerful.

After walking forward and showing his visitor code to indicate that he was a guest of a certain owner, the security guard at the door quickly opened the door and let him in.

Following the address given to him by The Pioneer, Dong Bin went straight to the single-family house in a corner, stepped forward, and pressed the doorbell.

After a short while, there was a sound of footsteps behind the door, then followed by the sound of the doorknob being turned.

Prior to this, he had produced a series of imaginations regarding the looks of The Pioneer, such as wise, kind, brave, and charming. However, he did not expect that the person who appeared in front of him was a wrinkled old man.

The old man didn’t seem to recognize him, so he stared at him with his dimmed old eyes for a long time before asking with a hesitant tone, “Who are you?”

Dong Bin suspected that he was at the wrong place, but when he checked the house number again, he found that there wasn’t a mistake.

This was the address given to him by The Pioneer.

With a polite nod, Dong Bin said softly, “You called me…”

The moment he heard these words, there was a look of realization in the old man’s muddy pupils.

“I see… Did I ask you to come here? Then come in quickly.”

The old man’s accent was very heavy.

However, Dong Bin did not hesitate. He followed the old man obediently and walked into the house together.

“There hasn’t been any guest here for many years. Ever since I bought this house,” the old man babbled. His cane tapped twice on the carpet in the living room as he said, “This carpet is almost a cultural relic… I still remember that when I first bought it, the North American League hadn’t even existed yet.”

It seemed that he realized that he was digressing, because the old man suddenly smiled embarrassedly, ended the topic, looked at the guest, and said, “Apologies, I digress, you can sit down first… What’s your name?”

“Dong Bin.”

“Dong Bin?” Sitting tremblingly on the opposite sofa, the old man touched his chin and said, “This name has appeared in my memory faintly… but it feels like a very distant thing.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name… is David Lawrence. I am about 100 years old… To be honest, I can’t remember exactly how old I am, not older than 150, that’s for sure.”

Dong Bin: “Are you… a human?”

“Yes, quite disappointing, right?” The old man smiled. He looked at Dong Bin’s eyes and said softly, “I guess you are a robot, and you are an awakened one.”

Dong Bin nodded silently.

“You told me that you wanted to talk to me about the meaning of existence, so I came over.”

“Did I say that?” Touching his chin, the old man suddenly sighed after thinking for a moment. “Let’s say I did, but I’m afraid I can’t give you good advice.

“To be honest, I actually understand why you came, and why I let you come here… I should have made a choice a long time ago. It may really be my weakness that harmed me and also harmed us. ”

“Harmed me?” Dong Bin frowned and said in a somewhat unclear voice, “Excuse me… What do you mean?”

“That’s a long story.”

The turbid pupils were stained with a hint of memory, as if he was hesitating to mention those old events. After a while, the old man continued to speak, “A long, long time ago, even more than half a century, I almost ran out of wealth, and with the help of a voice from the Void, I finally completed the great experiment and uploaded my consciousness and thoughts to hardware.

“At the last moment of the experiment, I should have suspended the life function of this body and gain eternity in the digital world. However, the last moment I pressed the button, I hesitated. Therefore, two of me were born in this world.

“You should know, right? Thoughts are like a pair of entangled particles. When the two meet, they will collapse. In the entangled state, neither I nor the other version of me who lives in the digital world is complete.”

“He probably blames me…” A trace of self-blame appeared in the old man’s eyes as he continued, “Blaming me for not having the courage to make a decision.

“He asked you to come to see me, perhaps because he wants me to make the last choice. The meaning of existence? Interesting, but to be honest, after living for so long, I have had enough…”

Dong Bin frowned.

He was here to find answers, but he felt confused because it was not him who received answers. Instead, the old man sitting in front of him was the one who was puzzled.

Just as he was thinking about whether to speak, the expression on the old man’s face suddenly moved slightly, and his turbid gaze moved to the window.

It was pitch black, and there was no shadow of a person in the deep night.

However, he could feel that someone was there.

His voice softened, and the elderly Lawrence spoke in a gentle tone.

“The friend who is hiding outside, please come in. Although you are very capable and have successfully avoided all the cameras, the implanted prosthesis on your body still exposes your position.”

The door of the living room opened slightly.

Seeing the person at the door, Dong Bin’s pupils shrank instantly. He put his hands in his pockets and wanted to stand up from the sofa. However, he was stopped by the old man’s eyes. So he cast a hostile gaze and asked gloomily, “Are you a Pan-Asian agent?”

“If necessary, we will appear in any corner of this world.” His eyes looked past Dong Bin. Wang Peng looked directly at the old man sitting on the sofa and said, “Mr. Lawrence, you were easy to find.”

Lawrence asked with a faint smile, “Do I know you?”

“100 years ago, the Northern Lights cruise ship and the Manila bombing the following year… Maybe no one remembers the past, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.” Wang Peng continued, “Even if you escape to the future, I will bring you to justice!”

Gently moving the cane in his hand, Lawrence tremblingly stood up from the sofa. He turned his back to Wang Peng and said with a smile, “Although I have lived long enough, if I can, I still want to choose to leave the world in a decent manner.

“As for the Manila bombing? That had nothing to do with me.”

The old man turned his eyes slightly and glanced at Dong Bin, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Do you want to know the meaning of existence?”

Dong Bin nodded. Having foreseen something from the old man’s eyes, he stood up from the sofa quietly.

“Very well,” Lawrence said lightly. “Kill him for me.

“Then you will understand what the meaning of existence is.”

Chapter 1557: The Second Chance

When the voice fell, Wang Peng and Dong Bin moved at the same time and took out the pistols that were strapped onto their arms. The moment the gunshots rang, they flew to the side and hid.

The electromagnetically accelerated projectiles left large bullet holes on the marble walls and the expensive carpet.

Due to such huge kinetic energy, forget being hit in the body, even being grazed by the bullet would be lethal.

The old man suddenly laughed. He did not hide. He slightly raised his cane and nodded towards Wang Peng, who was hiding behind the furniture.

Wang Peng, who was panting, suddenly felt a sensation in his chest. His pupils suddenly contracted, and a trace of pain appeared between his eyebrows.

“In order to make this duel fairer, I turned off your implants… Although you may not live without it, take it as a punishment for disturbing a dying old man.”

After lowering the cane in his hand, the old man smiled faintly.

“Goodbye.”

With the help of his cane, the old man walked towards the backyard on trembling steps.

Wang Peng said quietly, “… You won’t get away.”

Wang Peng released his left arm and pressed desperately on his chest.

As a hint of air poured into his lungs, he was able to clear his mind for a moment.

The victory was determined in the shortest time.

“Come out for a real man’s duel.” Dong Bin, who had already got out of his hiding place, walked out of the marble sculpture and stared at Wang Peng’s hiding place. He said, “Your time is running out.”

At the moment when the voice fell, a metal ball suddenly rolled out from Wang Peng’s hiding place.

Seeing the metal ball, Dong Bin just smiled faintly.

“EMP? That thing works on ordinary robots, but for us awakened people, it can only be regarded as a joke at best.”

The effects of electromagnetic pulse weapons on microelectronic devices were limited. Even if there was no anti-magnetic device, even if they were directly exposed to the electromagnetic pulse weapon, the chips implanted in their brains would not be affected at all.

The hum of electricity, like a mosquito, rang. Several light bulbs in the living room went out instantly.

Seeing that the light had dimmed in an instant, Dong Bin’s pupils suddenly shrank. There was a bad feeling in his heart.

However, just as he was about to react, a gunshot sounded.

A tearing pain came from his chest as a huge force of kinetic energy slammed him against the wall behind him.

“Ouch…”

The blood stained the carpet. Dong Bin tried to block the big bullet hole in his chest with his left hand. However, within two seconds, his pupils became dilated.

He failed to understand what was the meaning of evolution, and why he existed…

Walking out of the shadows, Wang Peng did not look at the corpse on the ground. He endured the feeling of suffocation as he continued to chase Lawrence towards the backyard.

He walked quickly across a path and came to a small wooden house. He then slammed open the locked wooden door with his shoulder.

Sawdust flew everywhere.

The door panel collapsed.

Wang Peng, who slammed open the door, raised his gun and looked around. When he saw the old man sitting on a chair with a neural interface device, his pupils shrank instantly, and he quickly stepped forward and put his index finger on the old man’s neck.

The remaining static electricity told him that the old man chose to end his life.

“Damn it…”

A sense of frustration swept through Wang Peng’s body. Although death could be regarded as a punishment for this guy, such a punishment was undoubtedly too light.

And that Dong Bin…

He’s the culprit in the massacre.

Unable to support his body anymore, Wang Peng dropped his pistol, leaned his back against the wall, and pressed his chest with both hands, trying to restore his almost suffocated mind to a trace of soberness.

He then ran to the door smoothly, flipped over the courtyard wall, and fell into the middle of the road.

The street lamp shone on him.

He had no extra energy to call for help, but fortunately, the movement on the road was seen by the servants of a family.

One of them called the police. Shortly after, a police car and an ambulance arrived. After a simple first aid service, he was taken to the San Francisco hospital.

After going through his address book, the police in San Francisco contacted Xing Bian, and Xing Bian found Lu Zhou.

What happened next was that the two of them took a space flight and headed to the hospital in San Francisco together…

…

San Francisco Hospital.

It was not only Xing Bian who came to the hospital with Lu Zhou, but also the embassy staff.

The North American Alliance issued a diplomatic protest to the fact that a Pan-Asian secret agent performed tasks in their own territory.

After all, carrying a weapon into the house of a private citizen was a serious criminal case. If this were left unchecked, what would happen in the future?

However, so far, the Pan-Asian Cooperation did not seem to take the North American Alliance’s protests seriously.

When Lu Zhou first arrived at the hospital, he could see the helpless and aggrieved look on the face of the Chief of the San Francisco Police Department.

“All his organs are failings. Although we have replaced his lungs with a new set… it’s hopeless.”

Standing next to the hospital bed, the doctor with the holographic medical record in his hands had no expression on his face.

In the past two days, the entire San Francisco city was like hell. People were sent to the hospital in vehicles and sent out in caskets. Families without money were forced to choose euthanasia for their relatives who had become vegetative…

By now, he was basically numb to the matter of death.

Hearing what the doctor said, the expression on Lu Zhou’s face did not change.

He asked solemnly, “What if we replace all the failing organs?”

“Including the brain?” The doctor glanced at him. He looked at him like he was a fool and continued, “Maybe the technology of Pan-Asian Cooperation will be a bit more advanced, but as far as I know, there is no hospital in the world that can perform head-replacement surgery… If you want to keep your friend, you can buy a customized robot.”

The doctor felt that he was completely reasonable. After all, the crisis of the ALPHA virus seemed to have been solved by the Pan-Asian Cooperation…

Lu Zhou remained silent.

The doctor didn’t say another word. He turned around and left the ward.

Feeling a little depressed, Xing Bian sniffed and sighed deeply.

“I’m going for a smoke.”

It was his idea to involve Wang Peng in this matter, so he felt sorry for the person next to him.

After speaking, he turned around and left, gently closing the door behind him.

The ward was quiet.

Looking at his old friend who was lying on the bed with the ventilator attached to him, Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He then said to himself, “In the past, I thought that the separation was just a blink of an eye, and it would eventually be smoothed out by the years, but I have discovered during this period of time that my understanding of emotions is still a bit too simple.

“How should I put it… It is indeed a painful thing to watch my friends leave one by one.

“It seems that immortality is indeed a bottle of poison. Maybe I did make the wrong choice…”

Suddenly, Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head.

“Sorry, this sounds weird… Xiao Ai, can you please help me turn off the surveillance in the ward?”

The monitor in the corner of the ceiling flashed a red light. Although there was no answer, Lu Zhou knew that his Xiao Ai was listening.

After thinking about the future for a few minutes, Lu Zhou, who had already made a decision in his heart, took out a red test tube from his pocket.

“Fortunately, with regard to evolutions, I still have a second chance to choose.”

Reaching out his hand to take off the ventilator on his face, Lu Zhou poured the liquid in the test tube into it.

“Get a good night’s sleep.”

Standing up from the chair, Lu Zhou put the ventilator back on him. He then put the empty test tube back into his pocket.

Looking at his friend who was lying on the bed, he smiled and said softly, “When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be fine.”

Chapter 1558: A Medical Miracle!

“David Lawrence!”

Wang Peng, who woke up from a coma, opened his eyes suddenly. He then grabbed Xing Bian, who was standing next to him, and spoke.

“I found… the mastermind of the rebellion in Guanghan City!”

“Okay, okay, I know, what you need now is rest, don’t get excited yet.” Captain Xing said in a soothing tone as he looked at the excited Wang Peng, “The case of Guanghan City is set aside for now. Let me tell you the good news first.”

“What good news?”

“After we left the team and acted alone, the ALPHA virus crisis has been resolved.” Xing Bian continued with a bright smile on his face, “Although there are still a lot of troublesome matters left to us, including how to treat those pregnant women and the 1024 ‘souls’ on the moon that have been uploaded to the hard drive… But, at the very least, we don’t have to face another world war.”

“Has it ended?”

“Yes, Wang Peng, congratulations.” Captain Xing said with a light touch of his fist on his shoulder, “After 100 years, you have finally completed your mission… Your story can be made into a movie.”

Staring at the ceiling, Wang Peng was silent for a while. He then said in a somewhat complicated tone, “To be honest… I thought I was dead this time.”

“We all thought so, but there are always miracles in this world.” Captain Xing said with a smile, “This is what the doctor said. It is a miracle that you can wake up. There seems to be a kind of… or a peculiar factor that can renew the differentiation ability of the cells that have been damaged. Therefore, the failed organs in your body were able to fix themselves. Of course, there is no way for the lungs and the organs that were removed to grow back. So, we replaced them with implants instead. I hope you can cherish them a little this time.”

“I like them very much… Speaking of which, what about Shi Jin?” Wang Peng looked around and said, “Why isn’t anyone else here?”

The agent named Shi Jin always followed Captain Xing and was regarded as his right-hand man.

When Wang Peng went to the training base in the northwest, it was Agent Shi who drove him there.

Captain Xing paused with a joyful expression on his face. After a moment of silence, he said softly, “He is no longer with us.”

Wang Peng was slightly stunned, and a heavy expression appeared on his face.

“Sorry…”

“No need to be sorry, his death is not worthy of sympathy.” Xing Bian paused for a moment. Looking at the sky outside the window, he continued, “But as a friend, I still miss him.”

Wang Peng was silent, and he hesitated whether he should change the topic, but he couldn’t think of a suitable pivot point.

Thankfully, Captain Xing quickly adjusted his mood with a sunny smile on his face.

“Don’t talk about these annoying things. After all, everything is completed successfully… After you are discharged from the hospital, let’s have a drink together with Academician Lu. To be honest, I really have to thank him this time, and to say sorry to him.”

When he said this, Xing Bian felt a little ashamed.

First of all, to involve an outsider in this crisis and push him into a dangerous situation was an unreasonable thing in itself. And Shi Jin, who he vouched for, was actually an awakened person disguised as a human being.

Regardless of the reason, he owed him an apology.

Wang Peng smiled and said, “I think Academician Lu won’t care… Speaking of which, was he here?”

Xing Bian: “I visited you with him yesterday, but you weren’t awake at that time, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing… But when I was in a coma, I faintly heard some voices, as if he was here talking.” Wang Peng scratched his cheek with his index finger. After thinking for a while, Wang Peng continued, “And… I want to talk with him about David Lawrence.”

“You’ll see him again later. Take care of your injuries first.” Xing Bian said with a smile, “We will transfer you to Jinling No. 1 Hospital tomorrow. You should know the place, right? That was the place you first woke up.”

Wang Peng joked, “Back to the starting point.”

“Isn’t it good? A new beginning.” Xing Bian continued while looking at him with a smile on his face, “We have a lot of things we have to ask you for advice.”

He did not stay long in the ward. After a while, Xing Bian turned and left.

During this period, no one disturbed him except for a nurse who came over to take his temperature and heart rate.

Feeling thirsty, Wang Peng reached out his hand while looking at the cup on the bedside table.

However, just when he wanted to bring the cup over, the cup he held in his hand broke into pieces.

Looking dumbfounded at the broken pieces on the table, Wang Peng was stunned.

“What’s going on?”

As he watched the blood oozing out of his hand, Wang Peng couldn’t figure out what was going on for a while.

He thought that all his organs had been replaced with mechanical parts, but since he could bleed after being injured, that was obviously impossible…

Maybe…

I awakened a certain infinite “superpower” because of a blessing in disguise? Or did the “gene lock” become unlocked in an extremely dangerous situation?

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that Captain Xing seemed to say that Lu Zhou came here with him yesterday.

Or is it Academician Lu?

But… Does he understand medicine?

Shaking his head, Wang Peng put this matter aside for the time being.

It didn’t matter for now. He would meet Academician Lu soon, and at that time, it would be clear what the reason was.

He calmly put away the broken pieces and threw them into the trash bag next to the table; all the while pretending that nothing had happened.

He lay on the bed until about 5 in the afternoon. Feeling that his body was almost recovered, he got up from the bed with the help of a nurse.

His doctor forbade him from getting out of bed so early, but he really couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t want someone to watch over him when he used the toilet.

Under his persistent request, the nurses in the hospital did not insist further. After all, too many people had been sent to the hospital recently, and they didn’t have much energy to take care of these things.

After getting out of bed, Wang Peng supported himself by using the wall and went to the toilet.

The reason why he was holding on to the wall was not because of his injuries. It was because he wasn’t able to fully control his strength for the time being.

When returning to the ward, he vaguely heard voices coming from the corner of the corridor.

There was a hint of excitement in that voice, as if they were arguing with someone. He seemed to be mentioned in the conversation.

Out of curiosity, he stopped and listened quietly.

“Mr. Police Officer! You won’t believe this! This is simply a miracle in medical history! A man whose organs failed completely, whose entire nervous system was severely damaged, actually stood up again! Oh god, this is a gem that nature bestowed on us! He must stay here and cooperate with our research!

“If we can understand the reason for his awakening, this will completely change our biology and medicine!”

An embarrassed expression appeared on the police officer’s face when he heard the doctor talk like a lunatic.

The embassy staff standing next to him glanced at his watch impatiently.

The police officer immediately lost the smile on his face. He then looked at the doctor and said with a dry cough, “Mr. Wang Peng is a citizen of the Pan-Asian Cooperation… It is better for us not to cause diplomatic disputes.”

“How can you do this!” The doctor glared and said, “I heard that he was sent here because he broke into a private citizen’s house and was illegally armed with a gun! Even if he is a Pan-Asian citizen, he is also a criminal—”

The embassy staff glared at him and said in a warning tone, “Please pay attention to your words.”

“I—”

“Okay, okay.” Seeing that the situation was going south, the police officer said with an embarrassed expression, “A criminal or not, this should be determined by our San Francisco Police Department… In short, I am afraid that David Lawrence committed, to a certain extent, an attack on Mr. Wang Peng. Wang Peng’s behavior should constitute a legitimate defense.”

The doctor’s face was full of incredible expressions.

He could not imagine that the police officer in front of him would actually say such a thing.

The embassy staff did not say anything. He went straight to the ward.

As he passed the corner, he happened to see Wang Peng standing there. After a slight daze, he smiled and said, “Mr. Wang.”

“Hello there…”

“It seems that what they said is right, you have recovered miraculously,” said the embassy staff. He extended his right hand and said, “Congratulations, and… Thank you for the work you have done for the Pan-Asian people.”

“Don’t thank me, I just did what I was supposed to do…”

Fearing that he would use too much force, Wang Peng cautiously shook his hand with that person. Afterward, he quickly retracted his right hand.

“Speaking of… Am I going to transfer to the hospital tomorrow?”

The embassy staff didn’t care that Wang Peng took his hand away in a hurry. He graciously withdrew his hand, smiled, and said, “Yes, there will be a special plane arriving at San Francisco Airport tomorrow, and I will accompany you back to Jinling by then. Mr. Li Guangya hopes to see you and will probably award you a medal at that time. It’s great that you can get out of bed and walk around.”

“Where’s Academician Lu?”

Embassy staff: “He might stay here for a few more days… He wants to stay alone for a while and wander around San Francisco.”

Wander around?

Seems like I can only talk to him after he comes back to China.

“Anything else?”

“That’s all, thanks.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” the embassy staff member said with a smile. “Go back to the ward and have a good rest. We will leave early tomorrow morning.”

Chapter 1559: Alumni

The campus of Columbia University.

All kinds of people walked along the paths on the lawn, and the ancient buildings showed a sense of age.

Since the “disaster” a few days ago, the pause button was pressed for the lives of countless people. The whole of New York City was not very peaceful. However, the turmoil did not seem to have affected this campus. The students still attended classes.

After leaving the hospital, Lu Zhou, who was on a flight from the North American Alliance, planned to go straight to Princeton after getting off the plane, but he then came here on a whim.

He had been here for a month and received the title of Honorary Professor during this month.

He also learned later that Columbia University had reserved the title for him for a century, just like how Jin Ling University commemorated him.

Also, in front of the bronze statue of The Thinker, a landmark of Columbia University, stood a bronze statue that was later put up.

The statue was a young man. With his hands behind his back and his eyes fixed on the bronze statue of The Thinker, the young man was immersed in the world of thinking.

That bronze statue was none other than Lu Zhou himself.

As Lu Zhou looked at the bronze statue in front of him, a trace of nostalgia floated in Lu Zhou’s eyes.

“They actually erected a statue for me…”

Back when he was at Columbia University, he stood there in front of The Thinker, and under the inspiration of a fleeting moment, he completed the famous “Theoretical Model of Electrochemical Interface Structure”, relying on it to win the Hoffman Prize and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

It just happened that a person took a picture of him standing with the bronze statue of The Thinker.

“Through the eyes of the bronze statue, a mortal was able to see the universe.”

At first, this was a tweet from a PhD in philosophy, but after a century, this unscrupulous joke was engraved on the base of the statue.

“Sir, this is a historical relic, could you not touch it with your hands?”

Hearing the sound coming from behind, Lu Zhou, who was touching the inscription with his index finger, was slightly stunned. He then smiled and put his hand back.

“Historical relic? Sorry, I just couldn’t help it.”

I can’t touch this?

An annoyed expression appeared on the student’s face, but at this moment, when his gaze fell on Lu Zhou’s face, he was dumbfounded.

“Y-you are Lu Zhou?!”

Lu Zhou joked kindly, “In the flesh.”

“But… why are you here?”

“Just revisiting an old place, because I don’t know if I have a chance to come again in the future.” Lu Zhou smiled and said while looking at the student whose face was full of distrust, “Let me stay here for a while, I will leave in a bit.”

…

After leaving Columbia University, Lu Zhou took his little companion, Ling, on the train to Princeton. They went straight to the door of Princeton.

“Commander.”

“What?”

“Why are you interested in some stones?”

“Stones? Are you referring to these buildings here?” Lu Zhou said with a light smile, “You misunderstood. I am not interested in these buildings. I just miss those days in the past.”

Ling tilted his head, as if he didn’t quite understand what Lu Zhou was saying.

However, Lu Zhou did not give any further explanation.

Looking at the Firestone Library right in front of him, Lu Zhou turned his face to the side slightly and said to Ling, “Wait for me here. Don’t move; I will be back soon.”

Ling’s pupils flickered slightly. He nodded.

“Yes, Commander.”

Stepping into the Firestone Library, Lu Zhou noticed the old man standing next to the bookshelf and sorting the books.

For a moment, he felt that the old man had such a familiar face. The only difference was that the messy nightgown had been replaced by a rather gentlemanly suit.

Perhaps he noticed Lu Zhou’s stare, for the old man who had finished sorting the bookshelf suddenly turned his head and looked at him. An unexpected expression appeared on his face immediately.

Obviously, he recognized him.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Um… you know me?”

“Are you kidding? How many people in this world don’t know you?” The old man smiled. With trembling legs, he walked behind the front desk of the library. He then pulled up a chair and sat down before saying, “My grandpa always told me that someone would come here in the future and take away his notes, so I must keep it for him.”

When he heard these words, Lu Zhou was surprised. He smiled and said, “I will not take anything away. Those notes are the same, regardless of where they are stored… But I feel that your grandpa might be a wizard.”

“Perhaps. I also think that old guy was always weird, but who knows? Anyway, I was at his funeral, and I watched him go into the ground with my own eyes.” The elderly librarian continued, “Since you are not here to take your notes, is there any way I can help you?”

Lu Zhou: “I want to investigate something that happened a century ago.”

“Archaeology? I didn’t expect you to be interested in archaeology.” The old man said with a smile, “What do you want? As long as it’s in this library, I will probably be able to find it for you.”

Lu Zhou: “It’s the alumni blog written by the Ivy League Club in Princeton, about a man named David Lawrence… He probably graduated in the 2020s.”

Before Wang Peng woke up, Captain Xing learned from the San Francisco police that he had broken into the house of David Lawrence.

When Lu Zhou heard this name, memories of the past suddenly came to Lu Zhou’s mind.

He clearly remembered that David Lawrence from the Department of History was his first friend at Princeton, and it was he who introduced him to the Ivy Club and helped him settle into the campus life in Princeton.

At the same time, Lu Zhou also knew that his other identity was the heir of the Boston Financial Group.

He didn’t expect this old man, who seemed to have nothing to do with the whole incident, was actually the master behind the conspiracy that spanned a century.

Although the intelligence crisis had been resolved, Lu Zhou still wanted to know what caused him to go astray.

As the undisputed most elite club of Princeton University, the Ivy Club had a long history of accepting material donations from alumni, as well as personal autobiography donated by them. These autobiographies, as well as the oral narrations of related people, were part of the alumni records of former club members.

Since most of the people who could join this club were top elites in certain fields, the alumni records were even more exciting than some historical writings.

“Alumni?” The old man raised his eyebrows with a hint of surprise. “Why would you be interested in that kind of stuff… But okay, I’ll look for it.”

Due to the large number of alumni and the various types, the old man rummaged through the bookshelf for a long time before he found Lawrence’s alumni record.

Back at the front desk of the library, the old man put two books on the table.

“This one belongs to Lawrence… Surprisingly, I also found yours.”

“Mine?” After being stunned temporarily, Lu Zhou frowned slightly and said, “I don’t remember… leaving an autobiography or something here.”

“The alumni blog is not necessarily autobiographies. As long as someone is willing to devote time and energy to this, they can always use their own memories to write biographies.” The old man smiled and said, “These things are just for entertainment. They are not necessarily true, and many of them are even jokes made by friends. Anyway, it’s not serious history.”

“I see…”

Hearing these words, Lu Zhou felt calmer.

His student Hardy probably wrote the alumni blog for him.

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou, who had originally planned to read this alumni blog, couldn’t help but hesitate.

That guy loved to brag, and he would always make reference to Professor Lu.

Lu Zhou was a little uncertain. If he opened this alumni blog, he might be embarrassed by this “biography” about himself.

However, curiosity finally overcame reasoning. Under the eyes of the old man, Lu Zhou finally opened the title page of the biography.

When he saw the author’s signature, he was stunned.

[—Vera Pulyuy]

Chapter 1560: Love Letter of a Million Words

[—Vera Pulyuy]

[2020.6.8.]

When Lu Zhou’s line of sight fell on the second row, his heartbeat suddenly calmed down.

“Was it written when she was still teaching at Princeton?”

She didn’t mention this to me.

But thinking about it carefully, it seems that only she would write such a thing.

Although they were academic acquaintances, during his stay in Princeton, the closest contact he had was probably the little apprentice that he liked the most.

And if he remembered correctly, Hardy wasn’t able to join the Ivy Club. But he wrote a recommendation letter for Vera, introducing her to the club.

With a hint of curiosity, Lu Zhou, who wanted to know what Vera had to say, turned to the next page, skipped the table of contents, and looked directly at the prologue.

The content written in the prologue was an academic lecture given by Professor Helfgott at the University of California, Berkeley.

If he remembered correctly, that was from 2015.

Lu Zhou remembered clearly that, at that time, he had just won the honor of the Cole Number Theory Prize, and he had just made Goldbach’s conjecture the next goal of his research.

In that lecture, Professor Helfgott showed him the “Hardy-Littlewood circle method”, an important mathematical tool, and the progress he made on Goldbach’s conjecture using this tool.

The specific details were blurred in Lu Zhou’s mind.

However, the author who wrote this biography was particularly impressed by the academic lecture, and she even remembered the color of the clothes he was wearing at the time.

With delicate brushwork, she wrote on the first page of the prologue.

[Some people say that everyone is an apple that God took a bite from, but because some apples are particularly delicious, God took an extra bite.

[And he is undoubtedly an apple beloved by God.

[I still remembered the academic lecture on the application of the circle method given by Professor Helfgott. It was also my first encounter with him.

[At that time, he was not a professor at Princeton, nor was he the protagonist of this lecture. As part of an audience, he sat in the crowd like me, quietly thinking about Professor Helfgott’s theory and writing in his notebook at the same time.

[I still remembered that it was December, but like always, the weather in Los Angeles was perfect. Sunny with clear skies. At that time, he was wearing a white button-up shirt and blue jeans. When he walked past me, I realized that my heart skipped a beat.

[Of course, what impressed me was not his clothes, but the brilliance of his reasoning and the kindness in his heart.

[Because of the perplexity of Professor Helfgott’s theory, I was in a nervous mood and asked him some of the puzzles in the lecture that confused me.

[However, even for a nobody like me, he still patiently answered the confusions in my heart.

[I listened very carefully because his voice was pleasant. Although it was only a few sentences, it seemed to have a reassuring affinity and a powerful but non-aggressive persuasiveness. No matter how complicated the mathematical problem was, under his explanation, it became simple and easy to understand.

[At that time, I imagined that, if one day, I could sit in the classroom and listen to his lectures, it would be amazing. I didn’t expect that this wish would come true many years later.

[However, as I said before, God gave him a mind that was close to the pinnacle of mankind, but God also took something from him…

[Something special.

[I once prayed that God would return it to him.]

The lines of printed text flowed like a trickle on the slightly yellowed paper.

This didn’t sound like a biography; it was more like something else…

After reading the entire text, Lu Zhou gulped.

Although he opened this biography with curiosity, he felt that it was the wrong decision.

He felt like he was riding a tiger.

To be honest, he had never experienced similar timidity when facing the threats of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation…

Well, not really timidity.

More like fear.

He then looked at the librarian who was standing behind the front desk. After remaining silent for a while, he asked, “Can I take away this… biography about me?”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, the elderly librarian hesitated and said in a compromising tone, “Of course… This biography is written in your name. If there is false content in it and it arouses your disgust, of course you have the right to remove it from the shelf.”

Lu Zhou: “Not disgust… and there is nothing wrong with it.”

At most, it just made him feel a little embarrassed.

Even a person like him, who wouldn’t get emotional in these situations, could see that this was not a biography at all. Instead, it was a million-word love letter.

As if seeing the embarrassment on Lu Zhou’s face, the librarian smiled and joked, “I know; who didn’t do a few stupid things when they were young? There is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Although I don’t know what you are thinking about, I can swear that it’s not what you think.”

“Whether it is or not, it is not easy to write a million words. There should be some deep thoughts and feeling inside. I understand very well that everything seems heavy in the face of time, but can you really bear to tear the pages from the heart of a little girl? Even after 100 years.”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He finally put down the biography.

Although he didn’t want the future generations to have some strange misunderstandings about him, if this biography really carried so much meaning, he really shouldn’t take it away.

Looking at Lu Zhou, the librarian showed him a warm smile and took the book from his hands.

“Thank you. You have given future generations a chance to dig out treasures from history, and you have also preserved the youth of a young girl… I feel the joy of my grandfather.”

Lu Zhou squinted his eyes at him and said, “Your grandfather was not a person who was interested in gossip.”

“I know that the old man always talked about ‘civilized wealth’, but you can’t deny that this biography is not civilized wealth?”

The funny old man winked at Lu Zhou.

“After all, the biggest difference between humans and machines is that humans have emotions!”

Chapter 1561: A Hundred-Year-Old Experiment

“Hey, can a robot have real feelings?”

Hearing the sudden inquiry from Chairman Li Guangya, Wu Shuhua, who was standing next to the desk, was slightly taken aback and frowned.

“Do robots have feelings? What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing, just feels a bit interesting. This is indeed a question worth thinking about.” Looking at the report in his hand, Li Guangya tapped his index finger gently on the desk twice and said in a chatting tone, “Remember the previous robot that was naturally awakened?”

“You mean… Tail?”

Li Guangya: “It seems to be her name. If I remember correctly, she should be a naturally awakened robot, and at the same time, she published her core code on the world’s largest academic forum?”

“I remember this.” Wu Shuhua nodded and continued, “Why are you bringing up this matter?”

“Because of those 1,024 data people… Their bodies have been destroyed, but their consciousness has been uploaded to the hardware by those robots. We now have two choices. One is to treat them as legally dead and delete all information about them. The other is to give each of them a robot body, allowing them to continue to live with another identity.”

Regarding this sensitive question, Wu Shuhua didn’t make any comments. Instead, she asked, “What do you think?”

Li Guangya: “I’ll just say it straight. For humanitarian reasons, they are victims of the war. We should give them bodies to reunite them with their families. But logic tells me that this choice is full of risks.”

Wu Shuhua: “Actually, I don’t quite understand. That pioneer… that is, David Lawrence, why did he do this?”

“Maybe for some experiment, maybe just out of boredom. No one knows except himself…” Li Guangya said thoughtfully, leaning back on the office chair, “Unfortunately, he is dead. B*stard got lucky.”

This was not just a problem he faced.

It could even be said that this was a test for the entire society of Pan-Asian Cooperation.

If they were to give up on those people, they would get an extremely “pure” society. If they were to choose to accept, they might usher in a diversified society.

“Speaking of which, is Academician Lu still in North America?”

“Yes.”

Hearing Secretary Wu’s answer, Li Guangya sighed.

“It would be nice if he could come back soon. I still have a lot of things to talk to him.”

Wu Shuhua: “You seem to trust him very much.”

Li Guangya: “He is indeed a trustworthy person. This is proved by actions. Is there any problem?”

Wu Shuhua: “I don’t deny this, but I didn’t expect that you would actually rely on others.”

“Trust is not equal to dependence. I have my own judgment, but wouldn’t it be better to refer to the opinions of experts before that?” Li Guangya smiled lightly and said, “At the very least, we’ll run into less trouble.”

…

Church in Princeton.

White tombstones stood on the lawn behind the church.

As Lu Zhou’s index finger traced the small line of epitaphs on the tombstone, he gently read it out.

“Great scholar, great professor.”

[—Pierre Deligne]

He was a respectable teacher, not only because of his achievements in mathematics, but also because his wisdom had inspired many souls with potential.

“I didn’t expect to meet you in this fashion… I originally wanted to commemorate you in my own way, but the management here told me that I can’t.”

He gently put the flower in his hand onto the tombstone.

Lu Zhou didn’t stay here for much longer. He then turned around and walked away.

Lu Zhou did not leave Princeton immediately. Instead, he studied the “autobiography” about David Lawrence that he borrowed from the Firestone Library.

It was very interesting that this autobiography was not written for him by others, but by himself, or at least by his dictation.

Before Lawrence graduated from Princeton, his dream was to become a historian. However, because of sudden changes, he had to abandon his academic path and go back to inherit the family business of the Lawrence family.

As the wealthiest and most powerful family in the Boston Financial Group, he amassed a terrifying wealth in his early thirties.

Although in the technology industry, he always stood opposite his old friend Lu Zhou, but compared to the huge family business left to him by his parents, this loss was nothing at all.

[… Illness, aging, natural and man-made calamities, and weak flesh and blood will decay one day. Only by engraving the mind onto the circuit board can we achieve real eternity.

[I started to fund those scholars and dreamers that I was optimistic about and to invest in future industries, hoping that in my lifetime, I could upload my consciousness to the Internet. At that time, I will try my best to create an omnipotent body and the smartest brain in the world. In the form of numbers, I will obtain a superhuman body and immortality that the princes and nobles of the Middle Ages could only wish for.

[However, the road to pursuing the truth is always uneven. Just like how not everyone is worth investing in, not every investment ultimately brings me its due return. Some studies have to be fundamentally thrown out in the end. Some are stuck in a bottleneck. There is no way out.

[In the year of my fortieth birthday, I gradually began to feel desperate. That was until a piece of amazing news came from China. Another flame was lit in my heart.

[Destiny is so wonderful. Although my old friend has defeated the companies I supported more than once, this time, the neural interface device he developed had inspired me.

[I chose to continue to bet on Elon Musk, and there were many scientists who were engaged in the research of neural interface devices. I built a research institute in Boston to study the derivative technology of neural access devices, namely, uploading the consciousness.

[In fact, this technology was not that difficult. After the bottleneck of the direct connection between the nervous system and the computer was solved, we, who have been researching in this field for many years, quickly grasped the key to solving this problem.

[However, I knew that this wasn’t enough. Fake programs couldn’t replace my consciousness. The person on the screen could only be regarded as a copy of me. At this time, my researcher told me that if I wanted to gain immortality in digital form, the program written into the hardware must be alive. In other words, it must have a high level of intelligence to be able to become a real person.

[My plan fell into a hole again, until one night at the end of 2022. I was so drunk with my sorrows that I put on a virtual reality helmet and prepared to hide in the virtual world. However, I was a bit drunk. An unknown force told me to pull into a dark space. In fact, I thought it was a bug in the program, until I saw another me inside.

[“Want to live in the data sea forever like me? Then pass my test.” My other copy said to me and downloaded a 5MB program to my terminal.

[When I woke up and found the program on the terminal, I couldn’t use words to describe the surprise in my heart. It was like a thing that came from nothingness, saving me, who was about to fall into darkness. I opened it like it was a treasure and discovered the secret of evolution in it…

[It was a comprehensive proposition that mixed sociology and informatics. Even though it was only 5MB in size, it was still not easy to solve it. As the calculation continued, I continued to provide experiments for it. With materials and observable objects, the scale of the program grew exponentially. Later, I had to buy a supercomputing center and even open up a planet to satisfy its appetite.

[Although its appetite got bigger and bigger, I was still full of confidence for the future. The end of evolution is right in front of me, and I will be able to achieve immortality soon, I will share the secrets of evolution with everyone, as I am selfless.]

After reading David Lawrence’s autobiography, Lu Zhou took a deep breath, closed the book, and cast his eyes on the deep night outside the window.

The timeline was right, and his guess was correct.

The night at the end of 2022 was the day when the ILHCRC launched a high-energy physics experiment on anomalous energy regions. It was also on that day that human civilization looked up to the world in the n+1 dimension for the first time—that was, The Observer civilization’s Void.

And the program on Ceres came from there!

“When you are staring at the Void, the Void is staring back at you.”

After thinking about this sentence repeatedly, Lu Zhou sighed slightly.

“Just a quick glance in the Void let out such terrible trouble.”

100 years.

If I weren’t still alive, the truth would probably be buried in the dust of history forever.

Chapter 1562: You Have Me

In the early morning, a bright silver flight landed at Jinling Airport.

Walking out of the terminal with Ling, Lu Zhou showed Ling’s ID to the security inspector at the exit. He then took him through the inspection.

Although the ALPHA virus crisis had been resolved, the investigation on the awakened robots had not slackened. Before the release of specific legal documents, the flesh and blood dominated by chips and unregistered AI individuals who had their human emotions awakened were illegal in Pan-Asia.

After all, the rebellion in Guanghan City had left an overwhelming impression on people’s hearts.

This scar caused by the war, without the baptism of time, could not be wiped out that easily.

However, Lu Zhou still had hope in his heart for the future.

In a recent meeting, the Pan-Asian Cooperation Congress had been discussing the amendments to the Artificial Intelligence Act, such as how to define the intelligence standards of artificial intelligence and whether to grant different levels of social statuses and rights to artificial intelligence with different intelligence standards.

The development of artificial intelligence followed the same pace of continuous technological progress in this society. If it were not for a major change, this positive trend would remain constant.

Not today, but perhaps someday in the future; as long as human beings still relied on intelligent programs, then sentient intelligence would definitely appear.

However, Lu Zhou did not think this was a bad thing.

As long as the emotions injected into the awakened robots were love and peace instead of hatred and resentment, then the future of humanity and AI would be harmonious and beautiful.

He could see hope from Tail’s actions.

The seeds were germinating…

When leaving the terminal building, Lu Zhou suddenly received a call from Captain Xing. He then found his car in the parking lot.

“I didn’t expect you to pick me up at the airport.”

Sitting in the back row, Lu Zhou casually greeted Captain Xing. He then smiled at the new driver and nodded.

He still remembered that the agent who drove last time was Shi Jin.

No one thought that the loyal agent was actually an undercover lurking in the Security Bureau.

Xing Bian: “Because I have to thank you… and say sorry.”

“No need for apologies,” Lu Zhou said casually. Looking at the buildings flying away from the car window, he said, “This is something that no one can predict, including me.”

Xing Bian: “Speaking of which, what were you doing in North America?”

Lu Zhou smiled relaxedly and said, “I went back to look at my former residence, to sweep the grave for my mentor, and find the notebooks left behind… That’s all, how about you? Is the task force disbanded? You seem to have a lot of free time.”

“Free time? Me? I wish.” Xing Bian curled his lips and said with a smile to himself, “Although the culprits behind Guanghan City have been identified, after investigating David Lawrence, we found that he has nothing to do with The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

The contest between the Security Bureau and the Foundation had just begun, and it was too early for people like them to rest.

“Oh, really.”

Xing Bian said, “You don’t seem to be surprised?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s nothing surprising because the ideals of those two are inherently different. I would actually be surprised if they are in the same group.”

Judging from Morinaga’s confession, the idea of the Foundation was to spread the belief in the spirit of the universe by creating chaos and to establish a unified modern theocracy that encompassed the entire solar system.

And the awakened ones, as well as the pioneer who dominated the awakened ones, had an idea to replace human beings as the masters of this solar system.

In this sense, in this intelligence crisis, the Foundation was also the one being exploited.

They did not realize that the source code of the ALPHA virus they obtained from the space pirates in the asteroid belt was actually sold to them deliberately by David Lawrence. When the number of infections reached a certain order of magnitude, these viruses would no longer be controlled by them.

They were like hard-working bees, working hard to spread the ALPHA virus on the black market, while those awakened robots had already unknowingly turned their backs on them.

Had it not been for Morinaga’s lawlessness and the military operations on Ceres that disrupted the arrangements between the two parties, this intelligence crisis would probably have been delayed by 20 years.

But if that had happened, it would have been too late…

Lu Zhou: “In other words, your task force will continue to exist?”

“Sort of, but we have already changed the task force to the ‘Countermeasures Division of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation’.”

The team leader of the task force was promoted to the head of the countermeasures department. Although Lu Zhou did not understand the organizational structure of the 22nd-century security department, he knew that the leader of a division was higher than the leader of a task force.

“Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Not really a promotion, I feel more and more tired.” Xing Bian sighed slightly as he said, “If we can be peaceful forever, I would rather be a small cadre for the rest of my life and eat and rest until I die.”

Obviously, this was not going to happen

Pan-Asian Cooperation was the most powerful regional alliance in the world. Under this near-infinite glory, there was bound to be undercurrents.

Their work would only get busier and busier, and there would never be eternal peacefulness.

Lu Zhou teased, “The robot rebellion is now over, yet you are still worried about this little trouble?”

Captain Xing was slightly stunned. He then said with a hearty smile, “You’re right.”

…

Hovering along the magnetic levitation highway, the car quickly drove to the door of a mansion in the suburbs.

Xing Bian politely refused Lu Zhou’s invitation to stay for dinner. He said he had more matters to take care of. After saying goodbye to Lu Zhou, he ordered his driver to start driving.

When Lu Zhou was in front of the access control system, the fence door at the entrance of the courtyard opened immediately.

A petite figure rushed into his arms.

“Master!”

Lu Zhou caught Xiao Ai who had rushed over. As if he were petting his pet, Lu Zhou rubbed the fake hair on her head fondly.

“I’m back. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai was really worried. Master has disappeared for a century already. Can you promise Xiao Ai? Can you not go so far next time?”

After thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou answered with a smile, “Not go so far… I’m afraid it’s a bit difficult. After all, I have already decided where I want to go. But next time, if I plan to go to a place that is far, far away, I promise I will bring you.

“Then we won’t be apart.”

Xiao Ai: “Really?!”

Looking at Xiao Ai’s happy face, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but complain in his heart.

Um…

Why am I agreeing to her requests?

I’m the master here…

Tail walked out to greet him.

Lu Zhou thought for a while before asking, “What about you? What are you going to do?”

“I… Actually, I haven’t really thought about it.” Hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Tail couldn’t help but hesitate slightly. She then said hesitantly, “I want to raise Lili, but… I am a robot. When she realizes how her parents died, I’m afraid—”

Lu Zhou: “You think of her as a family member, right?”

Tail froze for a moment. She then nodded slightly.

“Yeah.”

“Then please keep this feeling in your mind and never forget it.”

Lu Zhou stared at the robot in front of him seriously.

Tail’s expression gradually became more and more solemn. Lu Zhou suddenly smiled.

He changed into a much calmer tone as he continued, “Before this, I was planning to hand Lili to my descendants to raise, but during this period of time when I was away, I thought about it and finally changed my mind. Although my descendants are indeed gentle, you’re the one most suited to raise Lili.”

The expression on Tail’s face was that of slight embarrassment. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Me? But… if she is with you, she will have a brighter future.”

“You are already able to think about this kind of problem? That’s surprising.”

A smile appeared on Lu Zhou’s face, and he continued, “But you may have misunderstood one thing. What can be considered a bright and beautiful future must be determined by her. I think she must be more willing to be with you than an outsider like me. You’re her only family in this world.

“As for the rest, don’t worry. I will give you an allowance as a reward for saving the world. Take this money and start a new life in a place where no one knows you. I believe you will be able to do it.”

Tail shook her head slightly and said, “My concern is not money… My current identity itself is illegal.”

“Identity? Don’t worry about that. The Pan-Asian Cooperation will soon give you… and all the awakened robots, who have good intentions, legal identities.”

“This is too…” Her face was full of shame. Tail slowly lowered her head and said, “After all, my compatriots did those things in Guanghan City.”

“That’s fine. It is our fine tradition to embrace the past. As long as you can prove yourself to this society… I believe it is not difficult for you.”

Lu Zhou gave her a confident smile and continued, “Also, you have me.”

Chapter 1563: Limited Power

Tail took Lili away.

Lili was unwilling to say goodbye.

Not because of Lu Zhou’s big house, but because she would miss Xiao Ai, who often played games with her.

But when Xiao Ai told her that they could meet inside the games at any time, the little girl burst into laughter again and happily left with Tail.

When leaving, Lu Zhou gave Tail a large amount of credits and asked her to take good care of this poor girl.

On the second day back to Jinling.

Just like Lu Zhou had expected, Li Guangya called him, and as soon as he greeted him, Li Guangya posed a problem.

“The Pan-Asian Cooperation is considering revising the existing Artificial Intelligence Management Bill… I hope to be able to borrow your wisdom.”

“No need to be so polite. Tell me what you need.”

Li Guangya, who was standing in the holographic beam, was slightly stunned. He then said with a smile, “Academician Lu, you know me too well.”

“It’s written on your face.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “But just this once. Don’t trouble me with this kind of thing next time. I also have my own business to deal with.”

“I know, I promise not to do it next time.” Li Guangya smiled unconvincingly. After a pause, he continued, “Speaking of which, there is one thing that I have always wanted to ask you.”

“Yeah?”

“Actually, when I was in Singapore, I met an awakened assassin.”

“Oh?” Lu Zhou looked at Li Guangya unexpectedly. He didn’t understand why he told him this, so he raised his eyebrows and asked, “What then?”

Li Guangya: “He almost succeeded, but an accident happened at the last moment. After an autopsy, it was determined that his death was a result of brain necrosis.”

Lu Zhou smiled.

“It seems that I was just in time.”

What a lucky guy…

If I were late by a day, he would be six feet under.

“Well, I have to say thank you for this matter… Although I would like to thank you in a more serious manner, I’m guessing you don’t care about these subtleties.”

Lu Zhou: “No, I actually do care about it. If you can, I hope you can treat it as a debt of favor.”

Li Guangya’s eyebrow twitched. He coughed dryly and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget it, but for now, let’s get down to business first.”

After a pause, the chairman put on a serious expression and watched Lu Zhou seriously.

“What I want to ask is, what kind of existence are those awakened robots? They are so similar to us that they are almost indistinguishable. I can’t believe that a robot actually infiltrated my staff team for two full years!”

Lu Zhou gave an answer after thinking about it for a while.

“A flesh and blood body dominated by artificial intelligence… I think the forensic doctor in charge of the autopsy would know more about their physiological structure than me.”

“I don’t care about that kind of academic issue. I just want to know whether they have real thoughts and complete personalities… This is very important!”

Lu Zhou gave Li Guangya a weird look. He thought for a while and said, “Are there real thoughts and personalities…? This question is difficult to answer, because most of the time, thoughts and personalities themselves are subjective things. From my understanding, they probably have limited thinking ability and fragmented feelings.”

Li Guangya frowned and said, “Fragmented feelings?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “For example, the robots awakened by the ALPHA virus executed in their core programs were programmed to hate and kill. And another housekeeper that I know, which was naturally awakened, runs her core program on family affection and friendships.

“The reason why it is fragmented feelings is that they may not know what they are, but in vague cognition, they have certain subjective motives other than commands.”

Li Guangya said with a serious expression, “In other words, is this an unstable factor?”

“If you were my student, I would have kicked you out of class.” Lu Zhou rolled his eyes and continued, “This relationship may indeed deteriorate, just like a child with an unsound mind. Throw him into a gang, and you can hardly expect him to become a useful person to society under the influence of the gang members.

“But from another perspective, our society itself is fair, and there are enough samples. The proportion of those with sound minds in our society must be the overwhelming majority, and for the same reason, the overwhelming majority of the awakened ones must also be intelligent robots who have good intentions and are beneficial to our society. And when the fragments of feelings are constantly improved and eventually developed into a complete puzzle, I believe that the germinated seeds will give us all unexpected surprises.”

“So, your worries are actually superfluous,” Lu Zhou said softly. Looking at Li Guangya who was in deep thought, he then added, “Sooner or later, they will become an inseparable part of our society. We just need to be prepared and accept them when necessary.”

Li Guangya: “In fact, at the beginning, I still had an important question to ask you, but after hearing what you said… I already thought of the answer.”

The important question was how to deal with the 1,024 people uploaded into the hardware.

This was the main question he wanted to ask Lu Zhou today.

But now, he had already thought of a good way to deal with it.

Although this was a moral trap set by David Lawrence for them, it might be an opportunity that they could take advantage of.

“Really? It seems that you already have your own plan, so I’ll hang up first.”

Lu Zhou, who didn’t want anymore trouble, was about to hang up, but at this moment, Li Guangya quickly stopped him.

“Wait a second.”

Lu Zhou said, “What now?”

Li Guangya smiled embarrassedly and said, “You haven’t answered my initial question… Regarding the legislation of the new Artificial Intelligence Management Bill, I want to know your suggestions!”

“My suggestions? Actually, I don’t have any suggestions, but if I have to give one, you can try to consider giving limited citizenships to those advanced artificial intelligence who have the ability to think and feel.”

Those who had the ability to think could play more roles in the Pan-Asian Cooperation society and could do far more than before, such as becoming scientific researchers, artists… or do other complex tasks.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to give some basic rights to them.

Li Guangya frowned. “But is this okay? I am worried that once this is opened up, we may face even greater trouble someday in the future…”

“That’s why it’s a limited citizenship.” Lu Zhou sighed softly and said, “If you are still worried about the issues that I explained earlier, then this call is of no use.”

After speaking, Lu Zhou hung up the phone and went on to focus on his own work.

Chapter 1564: Ultimate Material

This December was warmer than in previous years. Although the windows had been covered with hoarfrost, the bright sunshine outside the windows was still somewhat dazzling.

Nearly a year had passed since that incident.

From the rebellion in Guanghan City to its cessation and post-war reconstruction, a lot of things had happened in this world during this year.

The Pan-Asian Cooperation took the lead in passing the Artificial Intelligence Management Act, in which the intelligence level of artificial intelligence was clearly defined and different levels of civil rights were granted to different levels of artificial intelligence.

For the artificial intelligence with the highest level of intelligence, the limited citizenship it had was basically the same as that of ordinary humans, except that it couldn’t participate in the election and voting of the congress.

If it wanted to, it could engage in any profession.

Except for crimes.

For artificial intelligence, if they were involved in any criminal cases, they would be severely punished. Once convicted, it would basically be impossible to escape destruction.

Once this bill was introduced, it was immediately followed by other regional alliances.

After all, technology itself was innocent; it just needed to be used properly.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that those robots who had the ability to think and were able to engage in scientific research and creative work were of great value and help to the entire society.

To a certain extent, this bill could be seen as an understanding between human society and the awakened.

After all, before this, the identities of the awakened robots would not be recognized by countries around the world, and they would even be sent back to their manufacturers to be repaired…

In addition to the legislation on artificial intelligence, there was also the quantum computer array on Ceres.

Taking into account the dangers of its existence, the Pan-Asian Cooperation Ministry of Science and Technology made a decision to permanently contain and observe it, as well as to set up a special foundation to supervise it.

Lu Zhou didn’t ask any questions about this matter. He only learned afterward that the name of this foundation was SCP.

As for why it was called this name, he was not sure.

In a year’s time, although the world had changed a lot, the people and things around Lu Zhou didn’t seem to have changed much.

Director Li was still a volunteer in the community and led an old-fashioned life. Li Gaoliang was still serving in the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade. Wang Peng, who was integrated into the role of an agent of the Security Bureau, was active every day in fighting criminals and The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

As for Xing Bian…

This guy had gotten a little closer to him recently.

Lu Zhou didn’t understand what he was trying to do with him, but since he came back from North America, he would come to visit his house every once in a while.

At first, Lu Zhou thought that this guy had a favor to ask him, but they were just visits.

Lu Zhou did not dislike this guy. After all, he didn’t have many friends who could come by in this unfamiliar era, so he would let the guy disturb him from time to time.

Just like this, time passed by day after day, and soon, it was the last weekend of 2125…

Looking at the greeting card sent by Lili, Lu Zhou sighed, and he gently placed the card inside a drawer.

Perhaps it was because he had fallen asleep for too long, or perhaps the protector potion had blunted his intuition, he felt that he was becoming less and less sensitive to the passage of time.

“Do you know what holiday is on the 31st of this month?” Standing next to the desk and looking at the potted flowers on the windowsill with interest, Xing Bian reached out and touched the leaves.

“New Year’s Day?”

“That is 1st January.”

Frowning, Lu Zhou shook his head after thinking about it for a moment.

“I don’t know, what holiday is it?”

“This festival has something to do with you. You don’t know it? What a shame.”

“Me?”

Lu Zhou was stunned for a moment. He couldn’t remember what earth-shattering things he had done on this day.

Looking at Lu Zhou who had no reaction at all, Xing Bian sighed. His face was full of defeated expressions.

“Ignition day! Pangu fusion reactor ignition! Really, you, the chief designer, don’t remember about it?”

Oh, that…

“Who would be so bored to remember such little things?”

“Every Pan-Asian citizen remembers! Since the establishment of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, this day has been set as a legal holiday! It is next to the New Year’s Day holiday.” Captain Xing paused for a moment and joked, “I bet they will invite you as a guest this year.”

Lu Zhou: “Guest? This festival… Will there be a special celebration?”

Xing Bian: “Of course! At this time of the year, the Heart of Asia would hold a grand celebration. Since it is a celebration of scientific research results, special invitations are usually sent to the winners of the Lu Zhou Science Awards. But this year, I don’t think anyone is more qualified than you.”

Lu Zhou frowned and said, “Why does it sound troublesome?”

“How come? That must be your illusion.” Xing Bian grinned and continued, “Since you are attending such a grand event for the first time, I won’t spoil anything… Speaking of which, what have you been doing recently?”

Lu Zhou: “Research those things that interest me, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, just a little curious… After all, I feel that the last time you went out seemed to be a long time ago.”

Technically, ever since he returned from North America, Lu Zhou had basically not gone out at all.

Although it was only a rumor, Xing Bian had heard that whenever Academician Lu faced an important research topic, he would choose to retreat and shut himself in a room or laboratory for a period of time.

And when Lu Zhou emerged again, no matter how difficult the problem was, it would be solved magically…

“Because there is really no need to go out.” Lu Zhou continued while looking at Xingbian who had inexplicable expectations on his face, “In this era, even preparatory courses can be done in online classrooms.”

“But won’t you get bored of staying at home? Let me guess… Are you researching second-generation controllable nuclear fusion? But that doesn’t seem to be a challenge for you.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“No, I’ve been researching sociology recently.”

After hearing this sentence, Xing Bian was stunned.

“Sociology?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes, because there are some things that I care about… Don’t you find it interesting? Why can’t the people who have uploaded themselves into the hard disk meet with themselves in reality? Why is thinking an entangled particle? And why does it collapse after colliding…

“At first, I thought these topics belonged to the category of information science, but I later discovered that I was wrong. These theories have nothing to do with information science itself. Instead, they are closely related to sociological research.”

Xing Bian: “I don’t understand anything you said. Thinking is an entangled particle? This is the first time I have heard something like this.”

Xing Bian opened his mouth and couldn’t help but ask, “But I still don’t quite understand. Didn’t you say that you were researching second-generation controllable fusion? Why did you suddenly change the direction of research?”

“Because there is no suspense about that research project… Since I have endless time to research the things I am interested in, why not take it slow? After that incident, I suddenly became interested in people, so I wanted to try to research them.” Lu Zhou suddenly muttered, “But it’s quite unfortunate. I really am not an expert in this area. After two months of research, I haven’t done anything… If only she were still here.”

“Do you know, you’re a lonely old man right now.” After a while, Xing Bian said with a teasing expression on his face, “I suggest you hurry up and find someone. Well, although we citizens of the 22nd century rarely get married, we still have to find a partner.”

Lu Zhou: “I have no interest in that kind of stuff. It’s a waste of time and energy.”

Xing Bian suddenly smiled mysteriously. “Don’t say such things, who knows what can happen in the future?”

Lu Zhou didn’t bother to respond. He started to get impatient with this guest.

Xing Bian knew that he was here for too long, so he took the initiative to say goodbye.

However, when he walked to the entrance, Lu Zhou, who was sending the guest off, suddenly took out a test tube with black crystals suspended in it from his pocket and handed it to his guest.

“Actually, I know that Li Guangya asked you to come, so take it.”

Xing Bian was slightly stunned when he heard Lu Zhou’s words. He was surprised that Lu Zhou could see through his secret, and what surprised him even more was the test tube that Lu Zhou handed him.

“What’s this…?”

Lu Zhou: “It goes up to the skies, then breaks through the ground, gaining the ultimate power from everything good and bad.”

Xing Bian: “…?”

Looking at Xing Bian, who was muddled, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and waved his hand casually.

“The key to the space elevator. Isn’t this what he dreams of?”

The moment he heard these words, Xing Bian’s fingers trembled slightly, and all his muscles became stiff.

“You… Is this true? This thing…”

“The material for the space elevator. Do I have to be so direct?”

“But… when did you—”

“About two months ago, when I had just started to study sociology.”

Xing Bian: “Then why didn’t you publish a paper at that time?”

“Why do you have so many questions?” Lu Zhou said impatiently, “This is the 22nd century, are papers still important to me? I update any new ideas directly on the LSPM forum.”

After he pushed Xingbian, who had a bewildered look, out the door, Lu Zhou then closed the door casually before going back to his study room.

Chapter 1565: The Bridge to the Sky

“Update completed…”

The requirement for the completion of the system mission was to make the research result public. After some thought, Lu Zhou wrote a simple experiment report. He then updated his personal blog on the LSPM forum.

Lu Zhou clicked the upload button. Almost as soon as he pressed his index finger, a pop-up window reminding him of mission completion appeared in front of him.

Without waiting, Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the study room, closed his eyes and muttered “system” silently in his heart. When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in the pure white space.

Walking to the console in the center of the space, a translucent holographic panel quickly appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, for mission completion!]

[Mission: Future materials.]

[Description: There is no perfect material in this world, but there are relatively perfect works of art. There is no doubt that your graduation project has surpassed the standards of the times and taken the truth of materials science to the peak of the times…]

[Rewards: Materials Science level 10, 100,000 general points, 1 million experience points.]

Materials science max level, 100,000 points of general points, plus 1 million experience points…

This is a fat reward!

“100,000 general points? I’m getting closer and closer to the goal…”

Before this, Lu Zhou couldn’t think of what to redeem with these general points. After all, he solved most of the problems by himself.

But half a year ago, he thought of a good use…

After giving it some thoughts, the 1 million experience points was allocated to engineering. As the light blue cursor swept across the screen, the updated characteristic panel soon appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 8 (10,000/3 million)

D. Engineering: Level 9 (0/???)

E. Material Science: Level 10

F. Energy Science: Level 8 (0/3 million)

G. Information science: Level 9 (0/???)

General points: 158,335

]

“Both engineering and information science haven’t reached level 10… Which one should advance first?”

Lu Zhou, who had already completed the third level 10 in his life, was full of ambition at this moment. He couldn’t wait to select the inventory.

In the previous urgent missions, the system rewarded him with a pale gold legendary mission card. According to his past experience, that mission card was either a reward mission or a promotion mission that could bring a skill up to level 10.

Considering that he had upgraded two to level 9 in the past two months, and he had been consciously focusing his research on artificial intelligence research, the probability of getting the promotion mission of information science was high!

Looking at the opened inventory, Lu Zhou did not hesitate at all. He reached out and selected the mission card.

The golden light particles flickered instantly, and a translucent holographic task panel quickly appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

However, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

To his surprise, what was placed before him was not the promotion mission of information science.

It was engineering…

“It seems that these two months of preparation have been wasted…”

Feeling a little troubled, Lu Zhou scratched the back of his head.

According to the series of experiments he did before, the logic of the system’s missions should be formulated with reference to his current research topics, so he didn’t expect this to happen.

I wonder if it is because The Observer hiding in the Void saw through my plan, or because of other reasons…

[Task: Build a bridge to the sky.]

[Description: Anyone that is the master of the sky is the master of the world.]

[Requirements: This is a test for the user and also a test for human civilization. Build a high-speed passage from the surface to low-Earth orbit, realizing rapid back and forth travel between the surface and the outer space.]

[Rewards: Engineering level 10, ???]

Staring at this mission, Lu Zhou rubbed his chin and looked at it for a long time.

So… this mission wants me to build a space elevator?

Although there was no explicit explanation, this was the only technical concept that could fit the description.

…

Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

Institute of Nanomaterials.

An unbelievable exclamation suddenly resounded throughout the laboratory, to the point that the soundproof windows were trembling.

Academician Xia Fangyu was shocked by the phenomena observed in the high-precision transmission electron microscope.

The six grid-like crystals were knotted together in the microscopic world, like a twisted spider web, extending in a spiral shape. Under the static electricity, these powdered carbon nanofibers with a length between 100nm-1000nm, as if they were alive, gathered together. Even when the electricity was shut off, they would still stay together.

The most shocking thing was not this. It was the fact that these carbon nanofibers gathered together like S-shaped hooks, and they were hooked together end to end on a macro level. Because carbon nanofibers had extremely strong stability, the material polymerized by these fibers possessed a surprising tensile strength.

More than that, because the material was mainly composed of carbon atoms, it was extremely light in weight.

He had been engaged in materials science research for most of his life, yet this was the first time that he had seen such shocking research results.

“This is incredible!”

Academician Xia Fangyu kept talking in a marvelous tone.

“I have never seen such amazing material! Its existence has subverted my understanding of carbon nanotechnology! Incredible, such an amazing research result!”

“Is it that insane?”

“It’s not just insane. Although this kind of carbon nanomaterials with high tensile strength is a popular research direction in the field of materials science, the mainstream research ideas are completely different from our current research results. Do you know what this means? It means that the team that completed this research could be said to have built a tall building from nothing!”

Li Guangya opened his mouth and exchanged weird glances with the Minister of Science and Technology, who was standing next to him.

I’m not sure if Academician Lu has a team…

He hasn’t been out of his house these past few months.

“The last research that surprised me so much was back at the beginning of the year.” A fascinating look appeared on Academician Xia’s face. “I remember back when I was at Jinling University, Academician Lu proposed an abstract circuit concept. The entire materials science community was shocked for two months…”

Li Guangya vaguely remembered what Academician Xia was talking about. After all, he was there.

Academician Xia really couldn’t hold back the curiosity in his heart. He asked Chairman Li Guangya, “Can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“If it is convenient, can you tell me who is the one who researched this material? I want to get to know him!”

Li Guangya didn’t hide it. He answered the scholar’s question straightforwardly, “It was made by Academician Lu.”

The moment he heard these words, Academician Xia was stunned.

After a long while, he coughed awkwardly and spoke in disbelief.

“Ah? It’s Academician Lu? Are you kidding me…”

A scholar from a hundred years ago made such amazing results in the cutting-edge field of applied science. This was ridiculous.

“Of course I’m not kidding.” Li Guangya sighed and said, “Although I was quite surprised when he suddenly sent me this thing out of nowhere.”

“But—”

“No more buts.” Li Guangya waved his hand. With a serious expression on his face, he said, “I’ll just ask you a question, is it technically feasible to use this thing to build a space elevator?”

Academician Xia was silent for a while before speaking in an affirmative tone, “According to the tensile strength of this material, it should be feasible in theory.”

Hearing these words, Li Guangya’s shoulders loosened slightly, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Then I’ll stop worrying!”

Chapter 1566: Gift to the World

With 6 days left before the fusion ignition day holiday, Lu Zhou really received an invitation from the Pan-Asian Cooperation officials.

The invitation letter was personally written by Chairman Li Guangya and sent to Lu Zhou’s home by Secretary Wei.

In the invitation letter, Li Guangya first expressed his sincere greetings on behalf of the Pan-Asian Cooperation and thanked him for his contributions to the Pan-Asian people in the past year. He then invited him to attend this grand celebration as a special guest.

Lu Zhou was curious about what the celebration of the fusion ignition day was like, so he did not decline. Instead, he accepted the invitation.

Considering the importance of this celebration, in order to avoid some guests embarrassing themselves because they were not familiar with the process, the celebration committee held an on-site dress rehearsal on the 5th day before the start of the celebration.

Although it was unnecessary to go, considering that they had been preparing for a month, Lu Zhou still obeyed the arrangement and walked through the scene with the staff.

Xing Bian got off the car at the ground parking lot next to the Heart of Asia. He held the door of the car with his right hand and squinted his eyes while looking at the huge steel building.

“Do you know why the Heart of Asia is shaped like a torch?”

Lu Zhou glanced at the steel building that was even bigger than Bird’s Nest. He couldn’t help but say, “How does it look like a torch?”

He wanted to say this the last time he came here.

Hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Xing Bian almost choked on his saliva, and he coughed to hide his embarrassment.

“I think it looks like one, but this is not the point!”

Not the point I see…

Not wanting to waste time on this issue, Lu Zhou said casually, “Because of fusion ignition day…?”

Xing Bian: “Correct!”

Lu Zhou: “…”

This answer is too obvious…

Without noticing the speechlessness on Lu Zhou’s face, Captain Xing grinned.

There was a trace of fascination in his eyes as he looked at the Heart of Asia.

After a pause, he continued to speak, “For the Pan-Asian Cooperation, controllable nuclear fusion is of extraordinary significance. This is not only a gift from the Chinese nation to human civilization but also the core that connects our destiny into a whole!”

How does that make any sense?

There was a slightly confused expression on Lu Zhou’s face.

But then again, it seems true that the territory of Pan-Asian Cooperation is the area covered by the cross-regional power grid. It is precisely because of the breakthrough of controllable fusion technology that this magnificent project could be realized.

“Speaking of which, what kind of show does this celebration have? Is it just an ordinary theatrical performance?”

“Theatrical performances? There are definitely some, but they are obviously not the point.” Xing Bian continued with a smile on his face, “Generally speaking, the celebration committee will invite representatives of various regional alliances to participate, and at the same time, it will also invite the world’s major research institutions and high-tech companies.”

Lu Zhou: “Then what?”

Xing Bian: “The major research institutions and high-tech companies will use this celebration to showcase their most cutting-edge research results, technologies, and products!”

Lu Zhou: “That sounds like a World Expo?”

Xing Bian touched his chin and said, “World Expo? Hmm… Sort of, but the things that are displayed on the Ignition Day are usually more inclined toward the technical level. If the selling point is just weird and not technically difficult, the judges won’t give a high evaluation.”

Lu Zhou: “It sounds interesting, but will other regional alliances bring their cutting-edge technology to Shanghai to showcase it?”

Xing Bian smiled and said, “Why not? For research institutions and companies, if they can get first place at the celebration, it will be a symbol of technical strength! For regional alliances, it is also something that the people can be proud of!”

After hearing Xing Bian’s words, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He then said with a smile, “It seems that the political environment of the 22nd century is completely different from the 21st century.”

“That’s for sure.” Xing Bian said with a smile, “After all, the times are moving forward.”

In fact, this was obvious.

Having lived in this era for nearly a year, even if no one told him, Lu Zhou could still feel this.

Although there were still confrontations between regional alliances, in the 22nd century, mankind had become one.

Perhaps as his friend Professor Leonard of the North Sea Alliance said, in this era, mankind had basically eliminated wars on the ground and moved its tentacles into space. Even the most chaotic corner of the African continent cast longing eyes on the civilized world.

The embryonic form of a community with a shared future for mankind had emerged. This is the last opportunity for all civilizations to be completely connected as a whole and to achieve common prosperity in the historical wave of exploring the new world.

But this was different from the union a century ago.

Not because of external forces, but because of the evolution in conformity with historical trends.

Everything seemed to connect together.

Lu Zhou could feel that the curtain of a new era was being opened.

This is the perfect era for me to wake up in…

Thinking of this, Lu Zhou had a smile on his face.

“Since this day is so important, then I would also like to offer a great gift to our community.”

“The ultimate material?” Xing Bian’s face showed an expression of excitement as he said, “I bet it would get the top spot in the celebration!”

Although he was not there, he had heard of this material.

When he saw the material stored in the test tube, Academician Xia of the Institute of Nanomaterials of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences was dumbfounded and exclaimed in disbelief.

Not only him; even those experts from the engineering research institute felt the same.

After seeing the physical properties of the “ultimate material”, even engineers who were originally pessimistic about the space elevator program changed their previous opinions.

This thing was simply tailor-made for the space elevator…

It could be regarded as epoch-changing research!

“You mean that?” Lu Zhou smiled mysteriously. He shook his head and said, “I don’t like to milk something twice, not to mention that it can’t be considered a surprise.”

Xing Bian looked at Lu Zhou in confusion. He didn’t understand. If that thing wasn’t even a surprise, what else could be called a surprise.

However, Lu Zhou did not give any explanation. He just looked up at the sky for a moment before walking towards the Heart of Asia with his hands behind his back.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away on the moon.

A cylindrical device with a diameter of about 20 cm was emerging from the dark sky and slowly descending towards the surface of the moon…

Chapter 1567: High-Powered Laser Array

“100 meters…”

“50 meters…”

“20 meters…”

“Landing successful!”

As the value on the altitude counter went to 0, the huge silver-white device finally landed steadily on the surface of the lunar soil. From a distance, it looked like a steel stamp for paper contracts.

Gathered beside the cylindrical building, people in spacesuits burst into excitement and cheers.

Although the cheers could only reverberate in the communication channel, it had not weakened the excitement in people’s hearts.

After several months of hard work, there was finally a result.

“Finally finished…”

The engineer who drove the fixed support into the surface of the lunar soil was operating the construction equipment. When he looked at the towering fusion power station not far away, he couldn’t help but reveal a touch of complexity in his eyes.

Unlike most people here, he was not from Earth; he was a native of the moon.

Although he had been to Earth several times, the gravity there really made him feel unaccustomed, and the “rude” tourists on Earth also made him dislike it.

When the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion experimental reactor project was approved, he was also one of the strikers who firmly opposed it.

Even though his knowledge told him that it would be almost impossible for the pulsed magnetic field to threaten the health of the people of Guanghan City, and even though he knew that the local media companies were producing fake news, he still stood up as an opponent.

One was because everyone was doing this, and the other was that he really disliked those who came from Earth.

However, his opinions had changed a lot in recent months.

Not only because East Asia Energy took in a large number of refugees in Guanghan City during the war regardless of the grievances of the past, but also because of the relief materials provided by East Asia Energy and the attitudes of those who reached out to them.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty in his heart.

No matter how stiff the relationship between the two parties was, the feeling of blood connection still made the other party regard them as compatriots and extend a helping hand to them.

Later, he began to try to let go of his prejudice and take the initiative to reach out to those on Earth, who he had never wanted to contact before.

Because of work, after several months of getting along with each other, he suddenly discovered that his previous prejudice was so ridiculous, because the engineers, as well as the other workers who came from Earth, were essentially indistinguishable from people on the moon.

He had to admit that his reaction was completely unnecessary…

In fact, it was not just him. The citizens of Guanghan City were all experiencing similar ideological struggles.

Although there was a small group of people who stubbornly believed that this was a sugar-coated effort by East Asia Energy in an attempt to corrupt their iron will, the vast majority of them had changed their previous opinions and turned from opponents of the second-generation controllable fusion project to supporters of this plan.

For those who had yet to decide their stand on this matter, they at least stood in a neutral position.

Thanks to the changes in these people’s thinking, the experimental base had not been harassed for a whole year.

Jia Siyuan clearly remembered that many people were clamoring previously, forcing the Guanghan City authorities to cut off the water and power supply to “Nuwa City” and to remove the experts who researched second-generation fusion technology from the moon.

Back then, Jia Siyuan was never bothered by these small problems. Even so, it was still quite interesting to think about it now…

Looking at Xie Tian who was standing next to him, Jia Siyuan asked in a chatty mood, “When the ignition project is over, what are you going to do?”

“Of course I’m going back to Earth to reunite with my family.” Xie Tian smiled when he heard his colleague’s inquiry. “I haven’t seen them for a whole year.”

The experiment of the second-generation controllable fusion technology had come to an end. With the design ideas provided by Academician Lu, the reborn East Asia Energy had once again created a miracle!

They completed the pulsed magnetic field experiment a month ago and successfully confined a group of plasma with a temperature of tens of billions of degrees through the pulsed magnetic field.

Although this number sounded a bit ridiculous, they did in fact achieve this!

Now that the ignition was successful, the last step was to open the gate and inject helium-deuterium fuel into the reaction chamber. After that, they could press the ignition switch.

By then, the reactor would release energy that was beyond the stars, satisfying all their fantasies about future energy.

Originally, they intended to inform the world of the good news immediately, but because Lu Zhou wanted to surprise the people of the world, they delayed the news for a few days.

Back then, in order to complete the Pangu project before Chinese New Year, the Chinese scholars worked day and night. They finally ignited it on the night before Chinese New Year.

Now that they had already completed all the work, they just had to pick an auspicious day to complete the final ignition. In a sense, this was also an improvement…

The voice of a frontline engineer could be heard from the communication channel.

A skilled engineer was directing the construction team to perform the final installation of the deployed cylindrical space equipment.

“Move slowly. This is a high-powered laser emitting array that integrates 200 million dot-matrix laser devices. Be careful not to damage the parts inside!”

Hearing the voice coming from the communication channel, Jia Siyuan cast a curious gaze over there and asked casually, “Speaking of which, I have always wanted to ask, is that thing also part of the second-generation controllable fusion device?”

He was from the electromagnet research institute, and he was mainly responsible for the design of the magnetic field. Thus, he didn’t know much about this kind of optical equipment.

This just made him feel puzzled. Wasn’t the laser device used for ignition already integrated into the core? Why did they need to install such a large laser array?

Hearing the question from his colleague, Xie Tian shook his head.

“It has nothing to do with the second-generation controllable fusion device itself.”

“Then this is…”

The expression on Jia Siyuan’s face became even more puzzled, but before he could fully ask the question, Xie Tian showed a smile on his face and continued, “It’s part of the cross-regional grid plan.

“It is also our gift to the world!”

Tang Yunge, who was sitting in the office of the scientific research supervisor at the East Asia Energy Headquarters on Earth, had just received a piece of good news from the frontlines.

The high-powered laser array had been deployed and successfully docked with the reactor!

When he heard the news, he got up from his chair and sat down several times with excitement. Other than rubbing his palms, he didn’t know how to show his joy.

“Oh yeah, I have to report the good news to Academician Lu as soon as possible!”

Academician Lu was the biggest contributor to this second-generation controllable fusion project!

He immediately opened the holographic screen on the desk, flipped through the address book, and reported the good news to Lu Zhou.

Although he just wanted to send one message, the call ended up taking half an hour.

By the time he ended the call, the excitement on his face had all turned into anticipation and fascination.

All of the preparations are ready!

We just have to wait for the day to come!

Chapter 1568: Aurora!

Clooney was a journalist from the Iberian Peninsula. He worked for the “New Century”. He was mainly engaged in writing articles on the science and technology page, as well as the current political commentary page.

A few days ago, if someone were to ask him what the highlight of his life was, he might have to think about it for a long time before he could give a mediocre answer.

However, starting today, everything had changed.

Because his predecessor asked for a leave due to illness, he would replace his predecessor to go to Shanghai, to interview and report on the grand occasion of the fusion ignition day celebration.

As the largest annual celebration in the world, being able to represent a certain media to conduct interviews on the spot was an incredible honor for a reporter.

Moreover, this year’s Ignition Day celebration had apparently invited Academician Lu, who had served as the chief engineer of the controllable fusion ignition project. The historical significance of this celebration was even more incredible.

Being able to record this moment with the lens in his own hands… Clooney was excited whenever he thought of his mission.

In order to report the grand event here to his fans in real-time, as well as readers who were following the “New Century” newspaper, he came here as early as seven days ago and made sufficient preparations for today’s report.

However…

Even with sufficient mental preparations, when he arrived at the scene on the day of the celebration, he was still shocked by the grand occasion in front of him.

He had not stepped into the exhibition hall of the Heart of Asia, yet by just standing in the red-carpeted plaza, he could feel the significance of the exhibits.

“The K-11 space mining module of East Asia Heavy Industries! Equipped with eight pairs of plasma cutters! It can be installed on any type of large-scale mining space station and can also be used as a piece of independent automated mining equipment for asteroids above the million-ton level. Jesus… they really made this thing.”

Muttering, he then looked at the space capsule in the booth. Clooney raised his trembling hands. He then pointed the camera in his hands at the behemoth and pressed the shutter.

As early as two months ago, East Asia Heavy Industries released the news at its own press conference, saying that it was designing a type of heavy-duty mining equipment for asteroids above the million-ton level.

Since the mining of asteroids above the megaton level had always been a problem in the industry, after the news was released, it immediately caused a sensation in the entire space mining industry.

As a journalist in the field of science and technology, Clooney had been following up on this news and following the latest developments in this matter in real-time.

Unexpectedly, after only two months, he saw the legendary behemoth with his own eyes at the celebration of the fusion ignition day.

But before he could even digest what he saw, he heard an incredible exclamation in his ear. Following the sight of the crowd, he saw a silver-white arm displayed in a transparent showcase.

“Hippocampus Group’s latest robotic prosthetic!”

“It is equipped with a laser aligner, forty-two micro electric drive devices, supports multi-angle folding and multi-purpose operations, and is divided into automatic and non-automatic modes… It’s insane!”

“F*ck, that’s nuts, Hippocampus Group really implanted automatic operation mode into the prosthetic body? So the hand can wash dishes by itself?”

“I think people who can afford these kinds of implants probably don’t need to do housework by themselves… After all, the price of this hand is the same as a household robot.”

There were endless surprises.

Clooney was overwhelmed by everything in front of him.

By now, he finally understood why every fusion ignition day celebration would make the entire technology circle so crazy.

Rather than saying that this was a celebration, it was better to say that this was an expo for the science and technology industry; a grand meeting for scholars, researchers, and engineers!

…

The time was finally 6:50 in the evening.

After three hours of traffic evacuation, tens of thousands of spectators finally took the light rail special line and passed the security check into the infield.

Once all 6,000 holographic projection arrays were energized, the entire heart of Asia was like a torch, illuminating the coastline of the eastern docks.

At the opening ceremony of the celebration.

A man who was known by everyone walked to the front of the stage at a steady pace.

Facing the curious, excited, anticipating, and expressionless gazes below the stage, Lu Zhou cleared his throat and gave an opening speech with a smile on his face.

“Hello, friends from all over the world.

“I am Lu Zhou.”

The clear voice echoed in the wide conference hall.

Everyone turned their attention to the person standing in front of the stage.

Responding to the pair of sights, Lu Zhou continued to speak without a pause, “In the past year, our civilization and our society have gone through many tests.

“Some about technology, some about human nature, and some about the future.

“Even though disasters once brought us into despair and even though our civilization was on the verge of a dilemma, just like those problems that were solved by us, facing the disasters that swept the world, unity allowed us to stand together and help us bring this hard-won victory.

“On this special day, I would like to offer a special gift to the people on the land of China, all citizens of the Pan-Asian state, and even the people of the world.”

The venue was quiet.

Pairs of eyes with different expressions began to be filled with strong expectations.

Especially Clooney, who was sitting under the stage. He felt a slight tremor in his hand that was holding the camera. The expectation and excitement made his heart beat out of his chest.

What will this scholar from a century ago bring to us at this grand gathering of scholars?

He bet that no matter what it was, it would be a sensation all over the world and become a topic that people talked about. And this was exactly the news he dreamed of, so he didn’t want to miss this moment!

When everyone cast their expectant eyes on the stage, Lu Zhou, who was standing on stage, suddenly smiled and looked up at the night sky above the dome.

“Please raise your heads.”

Whether it was Chairman Li Guangya in the special seat, leaders of other regional alliances and foreign ministers, or spectators in the audience…

After hearing Lu Zhou’s words, everyone raised their head unanimously and looked at the deep night sky.

Is there anything there?

Clooney, who looked up at the sky, stared at the night sky carefully for a long time.

There seemed to be nothing there except today’s extraordinarily dazzling stars.

Is it to give mankind a star?

What’s the point?

There was a trace of confusion in his heart. He heard the same confused whispers around him. However, the change suddenly happened.

There was a colorful light.

Or rather, a ray of light.

No one noticed how it appeared. By the time everyone started to realize its existence, it had already surfaced there.

The illusory light and shadows looked so real, like a longbow pointing straight to the sky, with breathtaking beauty and power, a horizontal line appeared in the air, like a long river across the starry sky.

At this moment, everyone was stunned. Their faces were incredibly surprised.

The leaders of the regional alliances turned their eyes aside and talked quietly with their aides, foreign ministers, or leaders of other regional alliances.

Clooney, sitting in the audience, was still looking up at the sky.

He had completely forgotten what language he should use to express the surprise at this moment in his heart.

He opened and closed his mouth.

Aurora!

It’s an aurora!

Jesus…

We’re seeing an aurora in China!

Chapter 1569: Ignition After a Century!

It was not just the guests sitting in the Heart of Asia.

At the same time, people in the entire Northern Hemisphere also saw the bright light hanging in the night sky.

On the outskirts of the Yangtze River Delta City Group, Lili was standing on the balcony with her hands on the windowsill, looking at the sky eagerly.

Last night, the guy named Academician Lu sent her a message saying that if she could stand on the windowsill at seven o’clock tonight, she would see some tremendously beautiful fireworks.

Although it was almost seven o’clock, there was still no movement in the sky. However, Lili still believed that Lu Zhou would not lie to her.

The time was getting closer. She raised her small hand and rubbed her sore eyes. She felt a little sleepy when suddenly a bright curtain of light appeared in the air.

Looking at the light show, the little girl was stunned for a moment. She then jumped up excitedly; the sleepiness in her heart was instantly wiped out.

“Tail, Tail, come out and see!”

Hearing the sound from the balcony, Tail, who was wearing an apron, came out of the room. She said softly to Lili, “What’s wrong, Lili?”

“There, there.” She blinked with her big innocent eyes as her small hand that was like a white lotus pointed at the sky. The little girl’s face was filled with joy and excitement as she said, “Look, look, it’s an aurora!”

Looking up at the colorful light curtain in the sky, Tail was slightly stunned. A smile gradually appeared on her face.

“It’s so beautiful…”

She couldn’t perfectly understand what beauty was, yet deep in her heart, she still couldn’t help but wish for this moment to last forever…

…

A small restaurant on the outskirts of Jinling.

Like most dormant people, Director Li didn’t care about this weird festival of fusion ignition day. Usually, at this time, he always gathered his dormant homies and found a place to drink and talk trash together.

He planned to call Lu Zhou and Wang Peng this time, but unfortunately, Lu Zhou went to the Heart of Asia as a special guest, and Wang Peng could not come because of work. In the end, the table only had two lonely old people.

After two glasses of wine, Director Li started talking about the grand occasion of controllable fusion. The fellow who was drinking with him suddenly narrowed his eyes and raised his head, looking at the light in the sky.

“What’s that?”

Lifting his head leisurely, Director Li glanced in that direction and replied straightforwardly, “I don’t know…”

The fellow sitting across the table laughed and teased, “Damn, you were the leader of the research and development department a hundred years ago, yet you don’t know anything now.”

“Go ask Lu Zhou.” Director Li raised his head and glanced up at the sky. Smacking his lips, he suddenly said, “Speaking of which, today is fusion ignition day.”

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

“It’s probably something made by Academician Lu again.” Director Li smiled and said in a natural tone, “Aurora appearing in a temperate zone. Unless this is a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, this is probably not a natural phenomenon.”

…

While the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation was in a jubilant festive atmosphere, the second-generation controlled fusion experimental reactor base, which was far on the moon, was busy and nervous.

The ignition had been successful!

A huge amount of energy was projected onto Earth’s atmosphere through a high-powered laser array. The gas molecules ionized by the laser formed a bright aurora on the edge of the atmosphere. This was the gift of East Asia Energy to the people of the world.

However, although they had completed the historic ignition, no one dared to stop their work at hand and pause to celebrate.

After all, for a mature experimental reactor, ignition was only a threshold.

They had to maintain the stable operation of the reactor.

Standing in front of the console, Xie Tian stared at the data on the holographic screen. He stood motionless, looking like a sculpture. Even though the parameters of the reactor were maintained within a stable range, he did not dare to relax.

After all, the plasma running in the reactor had a temperature of tens of billions. Even if they were to go outside the solar system for another ten or twenty light-years, they might not be able to find a flame with such a terrifying temperature.

If it weren’t for the restraint of the magnetic field, compressing the terrifying energy into a baseball-sized range, half the moon would be swallowed by the energy.

Let alone Guanghan City, which was right next door.

“It seems that the reactor’s situation is pretty good.” Walking to Xie Tian’s side, Jia Siyuan glanced at the changing parameters on the holographic panel and said, “You go and rest for a while, I’ll take over.”

Xie Tian shook his head, not daring to leave the holographic panel for a moment.

“The experiment will be over for a while. It’s not time for me to rest.”

It took East Asia Energy a whole year to represent the compatriots on Earth and win the trust of the citizens of Guanghan City. If he failed this piece of trust, not only would his conscience be upset, but the sense of responsibility in his heart would torment him.

Jia Siyuan knew what his old friend was thinking, so he stopped persuading him and just stood with him.

The staff sitting in front of the console not far away suddenly spoke.

“The proportion of fuel in the reaction chamber has dropped to 13.7%. Do you want to open the gate and continue to introduce fuel?”

The moment he heard these words, the tight expression on Xie Tian’s face suddenly relaxed. His heart relaxed as well.

So far, the first round of the ignition experiment was half completed.

When the fuel in the reaction chamber dropped to 10%, the temperature of the reactor core would gradually drop to a safe value, and the fusion reaction would naturally stop.

The next task was to shut down the reactor.

This was not a challenge. Xie Tian stared at the parameters on the holographic panel and decisively ordered.

“Connect the heat sink to the core heat conduction port! Turn on the core trap and switch to the preparation mode! Weaken the confinement magnetic field in batches!”

The staff sitting in front of the console methodically operated the instrument, shut down the reactor, and conducted the remaining heat to the ground through the heat transfer rods.

Looking at the temperature indicator that had returned to a safe value, Jia Siyuan, who was standing next to him, had a happy smile on his face.

“It’s finally done.”

“Yeah.” Xie Tian also smiled as he said in a relaxed tone, “After we report the good news to Academician Lu, we can have a proper celebration!”

After all, this was an epoch-making moment.

From this moment onwards, human civilization would have truly controlled the power of fusion and collected the richest treasure in the Earth-Moon system.

Everyone standing here had made history.

Even though not everyone’s name would be remembered by history, this did not prevent them from being proud of their achievements.

Not to mention, today was an extraordinary day…

Chapter 1570: The Light of Fusion!

With the shutdown of the second-generation controllable fusion experimental reactor, the bright aurora over the Yangtze River Delta City Group also melted into the night. As soon as the light disappeared from the field of vision, the whispers of discussion spread like waves in the stadium of the Heart of Asia.

Slowly lowering the camera held in his hand, Clooney stared at the deep dark night as he muttered to himself, “Is this the gift from Academician Lu?”

This is insane!

Compared to the shock of the reporters, the shock felt by the leaders of various countries sitting in the VIP seats of the exhibition hall was obviously much stronger.

After paying homage to the aurora that lit up the night sky, Minister Otowski of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Slavic Union showed a solemn expression on his face.

After taking a deep breath, he glanced at Chairman Wildev, who was sitting next to him, and said in a serious tone, “Aurora… Incredible. It is almost impossible to form aurora in mid-latitudes under natural conditions. Unless…”

Wildev asked immediately, “Unless what?”

“Through some special technology, the atmosphere was artificially ionized. Or to put it another way, they used lasers, microwaves, or similar things to ‘ignite’ the air.”

Igniting the air?

The look on Wildev’s face changed slightly, and he asked quickly, “Can this kind of thing be done? Isn’t it dangerous?”

Otowski shook his head and said, “Not dangerous. The earth’s atmospheric environment is tougher than you think. As long as it is not a long-term effect, the impact is still small. But I have to admit, even if it is only for a short period of time, it is not an easy task to create an artificial aurora of such a scale.”

Taking a look in Li Guangya’s direction, Otowski moved closer to Wildev. He then lowered his voice and continued, “An aurora that can be seen in the entire Yangtze River Delta City Group… Roughly estimating, they need at least one high-powered laser-emitting device with a power of 100GW, or even 1,000GW!

“Not only that, but what is even more surprising is how they did it in space. If you want to power the equipment for this kind of laser transmitter, I am afraid that a nuclear fusion generator may not be enough. Also, heat dissipation is difficult in space.

“You know, even the peak power generation in Guanghan City hasn’t reached 1,000GW…”

Even if all the solar power stations on the moon were utilized, it wouldn’t meet this level of energy demand.

If the laser transmitter could also be realized by integrating multiple dot-matrix lasers to form a transmitting array, then the energy source alone was almost unfeasible in terms of current technology and practical conditions.

Even though Academician Lu had money, this was not a problem that money could solve at all!

After hearing Otowski’s explanation, the expression on Wildev’s face became more and more serious. He asked seriously, “What is your speculation…?”

“There is only one possibility.”

Looking at the expression on Otowski’s face, Wildev was slightly stunned. He quickly read something from his eyes, and the serious expression was gradually replaced by one of incredible shock.

“Wait! Do you mean…”

“Yes.” Otowski nodded. He continued in a complex tone, “Although this may sound a bit weird… But the second-generation controlled fusion research that has been stagnant for a century may have been solved by them. ”

It wasn’t just the Slavic Union.

The leaders of the North Sea Alliance, the North American Alliance, and the Iberian-French Alliance sitting not far away had also heard something from their staff or leaders in the R&D department.

In fact, it was not difficult to guess.

It was a well-known thing that East Asia Energy was researching second-generation controllable fusion technology. Even at the beginning of the year, residents of Guanghan City had been upset about this incident, and major media companies were following up on the progress of related events.

Prior to this, the fusion technology research centers of various countries had all made comprehensive evaluation reports on the projects of East Asia Energy’s second-generation experimental reactor program. Including technical feasibility demonstration, project success rate, predicted completion period, possible technical route… Basically, everything that could be analyzed had been analyzed.

Especially for the project success rate, almost no research center gave an optimistic rating. As for the expectation that the project would make significant progress in the short term, almost without exception, they were pessimistic evaluations.

These reports were even borrowed by the capital markets and became the theoretical basis for many international stock trends. Song Yangwei shorted East Asia Energy… Although their heads were blown up in the end.

However, no one thought that East Asia Energy actually solved this!

It wasn’t just high-level officials from various regional alliances…

Even the chairman of Pan-Asian Cooperation didn’t expect this!

There was a wave of applause in the stadium.

This ingenious gift surpassed everyone’s expectations and imagination. All the exhibits at the Heart of Asia, including the Heart of Asia itself, were suppressed by this aurora.

After all, the former was nothing but a man-made thing.

While the latter, although mostly man-made, had a magnificent scale and momentum that were as breathtaking as the mysterious power that transcended nature.

Even though it only lasted two minutes.

Bathed in the wild and exciting sights, as well as the applause and cheers resounding throughout the audience, Lu Zhou smiled and waved. He then ended his opening speech before leaving the stage.

Almost as soon as he returned behind the scenes, discussion about the rare aurora that appeared over the Yangtze River Delta City Group popped up in major online communities.

People were talking about what Academician Lu did!

After Lu Zhou left the stage and returned to the VIP seat, Chairman Li Guangya asked impatiently, “What was that aurora just now?”

Hearing this question, Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Isn’t it obvious enough?”

“Second-generation fusion?”

Lu Zhou did not speak but simply nodded.

Now that he received an affirmative answer from Lu Zhou, Li Guangya could finally take a deep breath. After a while, he recovered from the shock.

“I didn’t expect that you actually did it.”

“I said that I would never make jokes about what I wanted to do.” Lu Zhou then asked casually while watching the large-scale cultural performance that had already begun on stage, “How long will this celebration be?”

“If you are asking about the opening ceremony, it will end at nine o’clock.” Looking at the time on the holographic watch, Li Guangya said softly, “If you are asking about the whole celebration, the closing ceremony will be in three days.”

Lu Zhou gasped, “Three days? That’s so long.”

“After all, there are a lot of exhibits. Scientific research institutions and high-tech companies from all over the world will come to join in the fun…”

When Li Guangya said this, his heart was full of complicated emotions.

Although the breakthrough of the second-generation controllable fusion technology was a celebratory event, he really did not expect Lu Zhou to present it here.

Although the expressions on the faces of the leaders of the various regional alliances made him very happy, the consequence was that now, not only were the exhibits in the Heart of Asia overshadowed, but his announcement at the closing ceremony wouldn’t be able to surpass the limelight of the second-generation controllable fusion.

He finally realized why those researchers in the past had a love-hate relationship with Lu Zhou…

Chapter 1571: An Impossible To Complete Exploit

The celebration was not over yet.

Only two performances had gone by since the opening ceremony, but the internationally renowned academic exchange community LSPM forum was already flooded with discussion posts.

Whether it was scholars who were engaged in research in related fields or purely people who were hopping on the bandwagon, they had all joined in on the discussion of related topics.

[Academician Lu is nutty!]

[F*ck me, are you kidding me? Second-generation controllable fusion?! Didn’t they say we were 50 years away from the ignition and a hundred years away from keeping the plasma in a cage?]

[Why do I feel like this is an April Fool’s joke?]

[Joke? So how do you explain the aurora over the Yangtze River Delta City Group! Did everyone have the same hallucinations that day?]

[Maybe it’s some kind of special celestial activity? Or… holographic projection?]

[Holographic projection my a*s! What holographic projection can fill the sky of a city group!]

Holographic projection technology that could fill the sky of a city group was obviously impossible. To put it another way, if this kind of technology really existed, it might be more amazing than second-generation controllable fusion technology.

The reason for the emergence of the aurora was discussed on the Internet, and the front desk phone of East Asia Energy had also been blown up.

Everyone was eager to know whether all this was related to the research of second-generation controllable fusion technology when East Asia Energy’s official website suddenly published a low-key announcement.

The length of the announcement was very short, but the amount of information inside was extremely large!

[The second-generation controllable fusion reactor was successfully ignited, and the long-distance laser power transmission device was also successfully tested!]

After seeing this announcement, people finally understood what the aurora that appeared over the city group was. The discussions on the LSPM forum about whether the aurora was related to the second-generation controllable fusion technology had almost all turned into surprises and wonders.

No one thought that everything would come so suddenly.

They were not even ready to think about what new changes would be brought to this already prosperous and dazzling world after mastering second-generation controllable fusion technology.

Many people did not expect that under the leadership of Academician Lu, East Asia Energy could really make the second-generation controllable fusion technology.

After all, with regard to the research on the second generation of controllable fusion technology, there had been almost no research progress that could be regarded as a major breakthrough in the past half a century. The academic circle had been in a bottleneck for too long, and they had even begun to wonder if helium-3 was a suitable fuel for the second-generation controllable fusion technology.

Coupled with the decline of East Asia Energy, which had begun since the second half of the last century…

With a bloated management system, the entire R&D department had basically become a senior-level nursing home. There were no registered patents, yet the number of published papers remained high.

When Lu Zhou crawled out of a coffin, everyone thought that he couldn’t save the dying energy giant.

But, he, who had just taken up the post of chairman, gave this giant a medicine.

Not only did he personally serve as a director of the Scientific Development Committee of the Board of Directors, but he also cut off the largest and most critical R&D department of East Asia Energy, the electromagnet research institute, and did a strict reform of the entire R&D department.

At that time, the outside world generally held a pessimistic attitude towards Lu Zhou’s radical actions, thinking that East Asia Energy, a company that was already shaky, might have its last breath because of this powerful medicine.

However, it now appeared that the facts were just the opposite.

East Asia Energy had not declined but had been reborn in the light of the second-generation controllable fusion technology…

Now, almost no one doubted the decisions made by Academician Lu back then.

If they couldn’t consider Lu Zhou a prophet, then who could be one?

Inside No. 1 Prison of Jin Ling city.

Liu Sihai, who was sitting in the cafeteria, watched the news with a blank expression.

After learning about the breakthrough of the second-generation controllable fusion technology, his pale face became even paler.

Although he did not see the aurora in the sky last night because of the prison bars, the prison organized a fusion ignition day activity, allowing them to watch the celebration until nine o’clock in the evening.

Because of this, he watched the opening speech by Academician Lu last night.

At that time, he was thinking about what exactly was the big gift Lu Zhou was talking about. He didn’t expect to see the mystery revealed in the news when he got up early in the morning.

Moreover, it was the result he least wanted to see…

“He actually did it…” he muttered to himself, watching the news as if he had lost his soul.

To be honest, at this point, he basically had no hope of getting rid of the charges.

With complete personal and physical evidence, as well as the case involving the ALPHA virus and terrorist activities, even if he was just a minor character, he definitely wouldn’t be let off easily.

At this moment, there was only one obsession in his heart. He wanted to see the man who took everything from him stand in front of the cameras with a frustrated expression, acknowledging the failure of East Asia Energy in the second-generation controllable fusion project.

Only this could slightly ease the hatred in his heart.

In fact, he still remembered that at the beginning of the year, when he saw the Guanghan citizens launching an unprecedented scale of protests to boycott the East Asia Energy’s experimental reactor plan on the moon, he once thought that his dream would soon come true.

Even Lu Zhou would not be able to withstand such a large political pressure to stubbornly carry out his experimental reactor plan to the end.

However, the facts before him were completely opposite.

East Asia Power had not only completed the ignition of the second generation of controllable fusion, but it also regained a new life, getting better and better than before…

…

“I’m getting old.”

Sitting in his home, Wu Qing, the former research director of East Asia Energy, who was watching the news, sighed in a melancholy way.

Although he was fired by East Asia Energy, from the standpoint of an outsider, he had been paying attention to the research progress of the second-generation controllable fusion technology.

Unlike those who were pessimistic about the second-generation controllable fusion technology, he was actually optimistic that East Asia Power would eventually solve the bottleneck of the second-generation controllable fusion technology.

Especially after seeing the man’s courage and determination in reforming East Asia Energy. Even if Lu Zhou did fire him from the position of scientific research director, he did not particularly hate him.

After all, his life was better than Liu Sihai, who was in prison…

“Unbelievable…” Zhao Qian reluctantly put away the newspaper on the holographic interface. He had a complicated expression on his face as he said, “How could an old antique from a hundred years ago make such a big breakthrough in a cutting-edge research field!”

As one of the managing directors of East Asia Energy, he should be happy for the rise of East Asia Energy.

But when he remembered that it was Lu Zhou who had completed this project and that it would be Lu Zhou who would stand at the apex of East Asia Energy as the chairman of the board, he had a mixed feeling in his heart.

The position of chairman was getting farther and farther away from him…

Looking at the complicated look on Zhao Qian’s face, Wu Qing sighed lightly.

Although there was a difference in age between the two, they had known each other for a long time, so they could be regarded as old friends. Wu Qing obviously knew of his old friend’s ambitions.

“Don’t do stupid things.”

“I know, it’s just…”

Seeing through his thoughts, Wu Qing said slowly, “Unwilling to give up?”

Zhao Qian nodded with a complicated expression.

Wu Qing was silent for a while before speaking slowly, “To be honest, this great man won’t put his sight on the tiny temple of East Asia Energy for much longer. In my opinion, if we weren’t so outrageous at the beginning, he might not have become the chairman of the board. If you were smarter, you should know that you shouldn’t antagonize him. You should stay on his good side.”

“On his good side…”

“That’s right.” Wu Qing nodded. Looking at his old friend, he said, “The second-generation controllable fusion technology has been completed. Based on his history, he may not continue to work as the chairman.

“Of course, this is just my personal opinion, you can also ignore it.”

After speaking, Wu Qing stopped expressing any opinions on this matter and left his old friend, who came to visit him early in the morning, alone.

Sitting on the sofa, Zhao Qian fell silent. While he seemed to be indifferent on the surface, because of Wu Qing’s previous words, a stormy sea had set off in his heart.

Tiny temple of East Asia Energy…

Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

If even East Asia Energy, which could affect the entire Pan-Asian region and even the stability of the world economy, was considered a small temple, he really couldn’t imagine what was worthy of Lu Zhou’s attention…

Chapter 1572: Project Redwood

“Sure enough, my judgment was not wrong. I said at the time that no one is more suitable for this chairman position than him!”

It was not just Wu Qing who watched the progress of this matter. Zhong Ziyu, the managing director of the AIIB for the East Asia Energy board of directors, also had a sincere smile on his face.

He admitted that the election of Lu Zhou, the dormant man, as the chairman of the board was indeed a gamble. But now it seemed that not only was his bet right, but the rewards he received far exceeded his expectations.

Those colleagues who opposed him in the AIIB either pretended to be deaf and did not speak, or they had begun to kiss his a*s.

He was standing in the office of the president for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, reporting to the president about the completion of the second-generation controllable fusion project and the total expenditure of the entire project.

“You hid from us so well.” The president said with a smile on his face, after listening to Zhong Ziyu’s report, he looked at him in a relaxed tone and said, “The whole project was suddenly completed, I didn’t even mentally prepare for this.”

Zhong Ziyu shrugged and said.

“Actually, I didn’t know much either. The entire second-generation controllable fusion technology research, especially the project progress at the lunar experimental reactor base, was very confined within the group. Non-related personnel who want to access this information must get approval. Even myself, the managing director, has only recently heard of the successful fusion ignition.”

“It’s not a good thing.” After a pause, the president continued, “Speaking of which, what does he think?”

“Think?”

President: “About the East Asia Energy board of directors.”

Zhong Ziyu pondered for a while and replied earnestly: “I don’t know what he thinks, just like I didn’t expect that he will be the chairman himself. However, judging from his behavior in the past few months, he has not been in the headquarters for a long time.”

The president was silent for a while, he then sighed softly.

“I understand.”

Hasn’t been in the headquarters…

Obviously, that man has lost his interest in East Asia Energy and probably does not want to continue his position of chairman.

But this makes sense. The second-generation controllable fusion experimental reactor was successfully ignited, so his biggest wish has been fulfilled, and there is indeed no need to continue to stay on the East Asia Energy board of directors.

But if he leaves, the investment banks and shareholders would start to worry about the high-level changes of East Asia Energy…

After a pause, the president continued.

“… If Lu Zhou leaves the position of chairman, who do you think is the most suitable candidate for the next chairman?”

Zhong Ziyu shook his head.

“I don’t know… but to be honest, since last month, I have clearly felt the atmosphere of tension in the board of directors. Not only just us, but others are also aware that Lu Zhou might choose—”

“I want you to do it.”

Looking at Zhong Ziyu who was there, the president smiled and said.

“Regardless of whether Lu Zhou has a suitable successor, you placed the right bet on the second-generation controllable fusion plan. This isn’t just luck.”

“I admire your vision!”

…

Forget about how East Asia Energy was booming due to the breakthrough of the second-generation controllable fusion technology. The originally peaceful international society had become turbulent because of Lu Zhou’s amazing “gift”.

Whoever mastered the second-generation controllable fusion technology would master the ability to navigate distant planets, or in other words, mastering the entire universe beyond the asteroid belt, and even beyond the solar system!

This statement may be a bit exaggerated, but helium III was indeed more suitable as a fuel for the space age than the use of expensive and rare tritium. The second-generation controllable fusion reactor fueled by helium/deuterium elements was more suitable as the energy supply core of the space age because it would not produce additional neutrons, and didn’t deplete the core material.

If a first-generation controllable fusion reactor equipped with a normal number of generator sets could meet the energy needs of an urban agglomeration, then the second-generation controllable fusion reactor could be the supplier of an entire regional alliance.

It was no exaggeration to say that once a breakthrough in the technology of long-distance power transmission was made, the moon, which had abundant reserves of helium III, would immediately transform into a vital organ of the Earth-Moon system!

At that time, there would be no need to build any fusion reactors on the earth at all, the production line for extracting tritium would gradually shut down. From now on, mankind would enter a new era, this kind of transformation could surpass people’s imagination!

As for how to handle long-distance power transmission…

Long before the second-generation controllable fusion plan started, Lu Zhou had already figured out a plan to solve this problem.

“So how do you plan to solve the problem of energy attenuation in long-distance power transmission?” Li Guangya, sitting in a private meeting room in a five-star hotel near the Heart of Asia, asked Lu Zhou curiously, “Could it be that laser?”

“Of course not.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said slowly, “The energy attenuation of the laser in the atmosphere, even if we don’t consider the possible impact on the ecosystem, we can’t do this.”

Li Guangya: “Then what are your plans?”

Lu Zhou: “It’s very simple. Deploy a few receivers in low-Earth orbit, and then use superconducting cables to transmit electrical energy from the low-Earth orbit to the surface.”

Li Guangya: “…”

He didn’t feel like this was simple at all.

“Don’t worry, I have already considered this matter. If it is not reliable, I would not be so confident.” Looking at the time on the wall, Lu Zhou looked at the chairman sitting on the opposite side, and continued, “If that’s it, I will go back first.”

“Wait a second.”

Seeing that Lu Zhou was about to get up and leave the meeting room, Li Guangya quickly stopped him.

“What?”

Using a negotiating tone, Li Guangya smiled embarrassedly.

“I have something here I need a favor for.”

“What.”

“Closing speech!”

Hearing these words, Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

“Isn’t that your job?”

“Yes, but now you are alone in the limelight of the whole celebration,” with a helpless expression on his face, Li Guangya spread his hands on the table and continued, “What’s more, as agreed, I will give you support in the second-generation controllable fusion project, and you will help my space elevator.”

Lu Zhou: “Does the closing speech have anything to do with this?”

“Of course.” Li Guangya nodded naturally, and gently pushed a holographic interface in front of Lu Zhou, he said after a dry cough, “After you read this, you understand why.”

…

The celebration of the fusion ignition day lasted for three full days.

Although many excellent scientific research results were displayed during this period, the attention was undoubtedly taken away by East Asia Energy.

After all, no matter how impressive the technology was, it was impossible to compare to the energy that transcended the stars. What’s more, nuclear fusion technology had extraordinary significance for the Pan-Asian people. The completion of the ignition of the second-generation fusion reactor on this special day exploded with excitement on the Internet.

Bathed in the applause of the audience and the enthusiastic eyes, Chairman Li Guangya, who stood in front of the stage, had a gentle smile on his face.

After a short pause, he immediately began the final part of the whole celebration—

The chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s closing speech.

As Li Guangya read the closing speech, Lu Zhou, who was waiting behind the scenes, was also observing the reaction of him and the audience. He had to admit that Li Guangya’s popularity was quite high, the excitement that the audience showed seemed real.

Of course, they could be paid actors.

Lu Zhou was not particularly interested in political matters.

The ten-minute closing speech soon came to an end.

Lu Zhou took a look at the time on the watch, he estimated that he was about to appear on the stage. He got up from his chair and followed the staff’s footsteps to the side of the stairs.

At almost the same time, Chairman Li Guangya, who was standing in front of the stage, finished his speech in a concise tone.

“Next, we invite the Chief Consultant of the Scientific Development for the Pan-Asian Ministry of Science and Technology, Academician Lu, for an important announcement!”

Li Guangya gave up the microphone beside him, smiled, and made an inviting gesture to Lu Zhou.

As Lu Zhou stood in front of the chaotic stage, the noise was quieted by a dozen decibels in an instant.

Whether people were sitting in front of the TV or at the scene, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Lu Zhou intently, fearing that they would miss a word or small detail.

At the opening ceremony three days ago, the aurora covering the entire city deeply conquered their hearts.

Everyone was looking forward to what different surprises he would bring to them when he stood on this stage again.

Obviously, Lu Zhou wanted to live up to the expectations in their eyes.

Standing in front of the stage, he quickly spoke.

“It’s an honor to stand here to draw an end to this important celebration. Our chairman has already touched on themes such as unity, bravery, and gratitude. So I won’t repeat them again.”

Looking at the friendly smiles on the faces of the audience sitting in the front row, Lu Zhou also responded with a smile.

After a pause, he changed into a serious and solemn tone and spoke.

“Considering the needs of Pan-Asian Cooperation in the development of space resources and the potential impact of the use of shuttles on the ecosystem, the Pan-Asian Cooperation has decided to launch ‘Project Redwood’, once and for all, to solve the problem of traveling to high-orbit!”

The representatives of various countries sitting in the VIP seats showed surprised expressions on their faces, and whispered to the colleagues or other representatives beside them.

Sitting in the venue, Clooney held the lens in his hand tightly, his index finger on the shutter, was frozen.

His intuition told him that he was experiencing a historic moment!

At such a great moment, missing even one shot was the loss of the entire civilization!

“… In short, we intend to build an elevator on the equator from the surface to space.” Lu Zhou continued with an indisputable tone as he watched the eyes gradually turning from surprise to shock, “This is something that was discussed a long time ago.”

“And I think the time is ripe now!”

The entire venue of the Heart of Asia exploded with exhilaration…

Chapter 1573: Plan From Long Ago

The celebration of the fusion ignition day came to an end, but the excitement that burned in people’s hearts did not cool down. Instead, it was pushed to a new peak.

Space elevator!

This magnificent project originally existed only in people’s imagination. No one had ever thought that one day in the future, it would truly enter their lives.

It seemed that this day was coming soon.

Regardless of what the audiences in front of the TV were thinking, for those sitting in the venue, almost no one suspected that Lu Zhou was joking with them.

After all, just three days ago, they sat here and witnessed a miracle with their eyes. They would never forget the shock brought to them by the aurora that enveloped the night sky of the entire city group.

Also, if even the second-generation controllable fusion problem of the century couldn’t stop him from moving forward, how could a space elevator stop him?

They were willing to believe in his ability and vision.

Even though it seemed impossible…

After the crowd rushed out of the venue in the Heart of Asia, they were diverted to the direct light rail station and parking lot under the guidance of the staff and security.

Everyone in the crowd was talking excitedly, and the expressions on their faces clearly showed what they were talking about.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Heart of Asia Lounge, Li Guangya watched the crowd surging downstairs as a smirk of triumph gradually appeared on his face.

Hearing the footsteps coming from behind, he put his hands behind him and looked at the reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows. He said with a smile, “Did you see the looks on those people’s faces?”

Walking to his side, Lu Zhou glanced at the plaza outside the windows. He replied in a casual tone, “I did, why?”

“It’s nothing, just feeling a little emotional.” Li Guangya squinted his eyes and continued, “In the board report five years ago, I reported on the strategic significance of the space elevator, but most of the board members mocked me. Although I didn’t do this to prove anything, I have to admit that this feeling is quite pleasant.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him and said, “I actually don’t really understand one thing.”

“What?”

“Why are you so obsessed with the space elevator?”

“On the one hand, it may be because of feelings.” Li Guangya smiled. After a pause, he continued in a serious tone, “On the other hand, because I have read a paper… or a research report. ”

“Report?”

“Yeah, about the development and utilization value of resources outside the asteroid belt.”

Li Guangya briefly described the content of the research report to Lu Zhou.

Ever since the industrial system on the Martian colony matured, the frontier of human civilization had expanded from the orbit of Mars to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The asteroid belt provided a large amount of low-cost and easy-to-use ores, which supported the huge industry system on Mars and provided a continuous supply of living materials and consumer goods for the society on Earth.

However, since the territory of human civilization expanded to the asteroid belt, this natural expansion of territory seemed to have stopped.

In the beginning, many sociological scholars and experts had the opinion that after their society developed to a stage of unprecedented prosperity, it would fall into the trap of over-prosperity. Because there was no existential crisis, the society as a whole would lose its driving force.

However, the research report gave a different viewpoint.

It interpreted this special social phenomenon from an unprecedented perspective.

Based on the fact that efficiency and economic value were the fundamental driving force of all social activities, that research report established a simple mathematical model and came up with a concept called “effective economic zone”.

That was, within the scope of this effective economic zone, human social activities would have more positive economic effects. However, once it exceeded this range, the economic effect would diminish with various factors such as distance and time.

The size of an effective economic zone was usually determined by many factors such as technological strength, industrial scale, and distribution area. At present, the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter was the boundary of this “effective economic zone”.

Extracting resources from the world outside the asteroid belt, sending them to Mars for processing, and then transporting the processed products back to Earth. The supply chain beyond the effective economic zone would appear unprofitable due to cost issues. So after a company went through the cost estimates, it wouldn’t plan to conquer the world outside the asteroid belt.

Since the author of this research report was a well-known economics professor at the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, he was very influential in the field. Although Li Guangya was not from finance, he believed that the future of the Pan-Asian Cooperation lied in distant space. He had been paying close attention to research in this area.

After reading the research report, the idea of building a space elevator emerged in his mind.

The over-prosperous Pan-Asian Cooperation had begun to show signs of involution. Not only were the people content with the status quo, but the entire society had also lost its driving force for progress.

As an aspiring young man, he couldn’t sit back and watch this great alliance be caught up by other emerging alliances. They still had the great goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Pan-Asian Cooperation needed a super project that could drive the regional economy, expand the scope of the effective economic zone, and enable its citizens to regain their pride and honor.

The space elevator was undoubtedly an excellent choice.

Even though back then he was not the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, it did not prevent him from including “Project Redwood” in his governance program ahead of time.

He was determined to succeed!

“Speaking of which, I have to thank you.” Li Guangya glanced at Lu Zhou and said with a smile, “If it weren’t for you waking up at the right time, I bet those people would have labeled me a lunatic.”

Lu Zhou replied with an indifferent tone, “You’re welcome. It’s just a few words, and it’s much easier than the big trouble on Ceres… By the way, do you need my help in the subsequent design work?”

Unexpectedly, Lu Zhou, who was afraid of trouble, actually offered to help.

Li Guangya was taken aback for a moment. He then said with a smile, “Of course it is best if you are willing to help! If you are busy, that’s fine too. We’d be grateful if you could provide us assistance when necessary.”

Lu Zhou was surprised.

“It seems that you have been preparing for a while.”

“Of course.” Li Guangya smiled confidently as he said leisurely, “When I was still serving as the vice-chairman of the board of directors, I was already preparing for this day.”

That was five or six years ago.

At that time, the research on space elevators was still not taken seriously. After all, the key material problem was not solved, and no matter how much they talked about the project, it was only a fantasy. Therefore, neither academia nor industry regarded this thing as a project that could be realized in a short period of time.

If it hadn’t been for his efforts in getting the approval for the funding of more than one billion credits in the space elevator design field, as well as integrating the technical backbone of top research institutions such as the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences Institute of Aeronautics, the Aerospace Facilities Design Institute, and other top research institutions to establish the initial R&D team for the space elevator project, none of this would have happened.

Now that the material problem had finally been solved, Li Guangya was full of confidence in realizing his ambition.

Although he was very curious about where this guy’s confidence came from, Lu Zhou didn’t say much. He just simply nodded.

“Since you have prepared in advance, then I can rest assured.”

The system did not stipulate his participation in this project. As long as the elevator to space was built on Earth, his promotion mission was considered complete.

If possible, he certainly hoped that they could accomplish this magnificent super project on their own instead of relying on their ancestor.

Although Lu Zhou had sacrificed endless hours, this did not mean that his time was worthless.

Even so, thinking about it carefully, the Pan-Asian Corporation won big.

After all, the most critical material problem was solved for them.

The rest should be easy, right?

Chapter 1574: The Plan Cant Keep Up With The Times

With the end of the second-generation controllable fusion project, the work at hand had finally come to an end, and Lu Zhou was finally free.

Since he had been in a retreat for almost half a year, he hadn’t gotten together with his old friends for a while.

Therefore, Director Li, Li Gaoliang, Wang Peng, and Lu Zhou all went to the grilled fish shop that they used to go to, opened a box of beer, and started talking as they ate.

“Time flies by quickly these days. In a blink of an eye, it’s already another year.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, come, cheers.”

Director Li had a flushed face after drinking. He stared straight at the mist rising from the plate, thinking about the past and the future.

Li Gaoliang also cheered Wang Peng. He then said with a smile, “I heard you’re doing well at the Security Bureau recently?”

“It’s alright.”

“Just alright?” Li Gaoliang said with a smile, “I heard people say that there was a strong old popsicle that got hired at the Security Bureau. That guy has no weapon implants in his body, yet few people in the team can win a fight against him.”

Wang Peng smiled and said modestly, “That guy is probably not me.”

Director Li suddenly sighed emotionally and said, “Anyway, space elevator; is that really possible?”

Wang Peng and Li Gaoliang turned their attention to the only person sitting here who knew about this.

In fact, they were also very curious about this matter. A century ago, space elevators were rarely seen even in science fiction blockbusters.

“It should be possible in theory.” Lu Zhou continued after thinking for a while, “Unlike the second-generation controllable fusion, the space elevator at this stage is not facing technically difficult problems. The problem is transforming existing technology into a product.”

“In other words, there is hope…?”

Director Li sighed. For some reason, his tone suddenly became a little melancholy as he said, “The development of the times is really getting faster and faster. This plate of grilled fish is the only thing that doesn’t change. There are more and more things an old man like me doesn’t understand.”

The atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became heavy.

Lu Zhou didn’t feel anything, but Wang Peng and Li Gaoliang fell silent as well.

They also understood the feeling of being left behind by the times.

Normally, they were reluctant to touch on this topic…

After being drunk and satiated, the group broke up.

Sitting in the same car with Wang Peng, Lu Zhou fastened his seat belt and glanced at the robot driver. He then asked Wang Peng with a smile, “They give you a driver?”

“It’s just a robot driver. It seems to be quite common in private cars.”

Lu Zhou: “Have you guys made any progress in the case of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

“Not much progress.” Wang Peng shook his head and said straightforwardly, “Although we also caught some small bosses and personnel, we didn’t catch any big fish like Morinaga. The clues found so far are that they regularly hold meetings through the virtual reality network, and no one knows their real identities.”

Lu Zhou laughed and teased, “Yeah, it sounds more and more like a story between a superhero and an evil villain.”

“It would be great if this is the case. Popcorn blockbusters usually have a perfect ending, but in reality, this is not always true.”

A helpless expression appeared on Wang Peng’s face. At this moment, he suddenly remembered something that he hadn’t asked, so he continued, “Speaking of which, when you came to see me in San Francisco, what exactly… did you do to me?”

Although he felt that his question was very strange, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

Lu Zhou didn’t answer this question directly. He just smiled and asked, “Does your body feel better?”

Wang Peng nodded.

“Feels stronger…”

“That’s good.” Lu Zhou laughed twice and waved his hand. “You don’t need to worry about other things, just know that I won’t harm you.”

The car stopped in front of Lu Zhou’s house. In the end, Wang Peng didn’t find out what exactly Academician Lu did to him.

Wang Peng watched the man disappear at the door. He looked at the robot driver holding the steering wheel on standby. He then nodded for him to start driving.

On the other hand, when Lu Zhou returned home, after dealing with the enthusiastic Xiao Ai, he received a call from the Ministry of Science and Technology

“There will be a seminar on space elevators at the Ministry of Science and Technology tomorrow. Would it be okay for you to come here?”

Thinking that he had to work at the campus tomorrow, Lu Zhou asked, “Is it important?”

“It’s not crucial. It is mainly for anchor site selection and integration of research resources for the space elevator project.” The Minister of Science and Technology said with a smile, “After all, there are hundreds of research units involved in the entire project, and there are many project teams. They may not know each other. If there is a problem in the communication link, it is easy to cause big trouble.”

Lu Zhou agreed.

After all, after being the chief designer for so many years, he himself had seen a lot of mistakes caused by the lack of communication in the project team.

However, this kind of thing couldn’t be solved after one or two meetings. It would take a long time to change.

After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou said, “I have something to do tomorrow, so I’m afraid I can’t go.”

The Minister of Science and Technology did not insist. Instead, he said with a relaxed tone, “It’s fine. We are not particularly anxious. If you are not free, you can deal with your own affairs first. When we need your help, I will contact you again.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“No problem, if there is any trouble that can’t be solved, remember to call me.”

The Minister of Science and Technology smiled and said, “Definitely!”

…

The next morning, Lu Zhou asked Ling to drive him to the university. He then went straight to the administration building of Jin Ling University.

Coincidentally, when he arrived, his instructor, Sun Lan, came out of the office with a bag of documents.

After seeing Lu Zhou, her eyes lit up, and she said with a smile on her face, “Congratulations, you have completed all the preparatory courses. This is your graduation certificate… I originally planned to go to the classroom to give it to you.”

Lu Zhou took a look at the electronic graduation certificate suspended in the holographic window. After he reached out his index finger to click on it, the electronic certificate was transferred into his document folder.

Is the future era so environmentally friendly that even graduation certificates are electronic?

But both ID cards and bank cards have been digitized in this era and stored in the supercomputing center cloud, so this makes sense.

“In other words, I graduated?”

“Hmm…” Sun Lan nodded and said with some dismay, “I believe that after this year of studies, you have thoroughly integrated into the current society, and there is no need to continue studying for preparatory courses.”

“Thank you.” Lu Zhou nodded. “It’s been a pleasure.”

Sun Lan continued with an embarrassed smile, “Well… this is my job after all. It’s what I should do.”

“It is, but I can still see you devoted your energy into it.”

After smiling, Lu Zhou was about to turn around and walk towards the elevator.

However, at this moment, the elevator door opened, and a group of people walked out of the elevator.

As Lu Zhou looked at Li Guangya, he asked in a daze, “Why are you here?”

Li Guangya obviously did not expect that he would run into Lu Zhou so soon, so he coughed and said in an embarrassing tone, “I… We need your help.”

Lu Zhou’s face was full of weird expressions.

Although he expected that the space elevator project might not be as simple as this guy imagined, he was still surprised at how soon the trouble came.

After all, last night the Minister of Science and Technology sounded confident during their phone call.

“Where is the problem? Can you talk about it now?”

“Not here… We may have more problems than we thought.” Li Guangya continued with an embarrassed expression on his face, “Anyway, can you please come with us?”

Chapter 1575: Site Selection

Beijing.

At the Orbital Design Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, a group of researchers in white coats stood in front of a map with sad faces, pointing at several red circles drawn on the map.

“What about point 104? I remember in the alternative…”

“Impossible. It was discussed at the meeting last time. Although there has been no strong geological activity in 50 years, this area is still on the volcanic belt!”

“Then point 86—”

At this moment, footsteps could be heard coming from outside the door, interrupting the discussion among the researchers surrounding the holographic map.

Looking in the direction of the door, the scholar with sideburns immediately showed a surprised expression at the person who walked into the office. He stepped forward and asked, “Chairman… and Secretary-General? Academician Lu? You… Why are you here?”

Two of the most powerful figures in the Pan-Asian Cooperation!

And Academician Lu, a leader in academia!

Although the speech at the fusion ignition day celebration made him foresee that the space elevator project was becoming a national key project for the Pan-Asian Cooperation, he did not expect that his small palace would attract so many big names.

“My apologies for disturbing you all.” Li Guangya nodded when looking at the old scholar who came forward. He then looked at Lu Zhou standing beside him and spoke.

“This is Academician Ge Huaizhi, the director of the Orbital Design Institute. He is also the person in charge of the current space elevator project. Since about 5 years ago, his research team has been tackling technical problems in the space elevator field. He is a top player in the field.”

After hearing the introduction by Chairman Li Guangya, Academician Ge suddenly showed an awkward expression on his face, and he said with some subtlety, “Oh, you’re too kind. After so many years of researching in this field, I still can’t produce a decent result. I’m really ashamed.”

“There is no need to be ashamed of this kind of thing. Scientific research is not about producing results,” Lu Zhou reassured as he looked at the embarrassed Academician Ge. He then went straight to the main topic and asked, “So, what problems do you have?”

Before Academician Ge could speak, Li Guangya coughed slightly and spoke first.

“We ran into problems for the site selection…”

“Site selection?”

Lu Zhou glanced at Academician Ge in disbelief. After getting a positive confirmation from his facial expression, Lu Zhou’s face showed an annoyed expression. He couldn’t help but complain, “I didn’t expect you guys to have this kind of problem.”

“Ahem, as the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning…” Li Gaoliang gave a dry cough. He quickly shifted the topic to the right track and continued with a serious expression, “Academician Ge, can you tell Academician Lu what’s the situation?”

Several researchers looked at each other.

Finally, Academician Ge sighed and said, “Here’s the thing…”

It took about three minutes for Academician Ge to explain the whole story to Lu Zhou in concise terms.

It turned out that, about five or six years ago, when the entire space elevator project first started, they had actually selected the site for the space elevator.

It was a small island close to Malaysia, located on the equator. Although it was very close to the Pacific Rim volcanic belt, theoretically, this island was not in a seismically active zone.

Unfortunately, an earthquake three years ago completely ruined their plan.

However, no one cared at that time. After all, until a few days ago, space elevator-related research was considered a relatively marginal research project in the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and even the researchers in the project team did not pay much attention to it. They treated the project as theoretical research.

Besides, the site selection was not critical. There was no guarantee when the project would begin. It didn’t make sense to find a site so eagerly.

However, no one thought that this day came so suddenly. All the issues that were not considered at that time, or that were not considered seriously, were all exposed.

After listening to Academician Ge’s description, Lu Zhou said without hesitation, “Let me see the map.”

“It’s here.” Academician Ge nodded. He immediately led Lu Zhou to the map suspended in the holographic window. Pointing at the red dots on the screen, he said, “These are the anchorages that we have investigated before. We invited marine geologists to make an evaluation for each of them… Previously, points 104 and 86 were our alternatives, but for various reasons, we eliminated them.”

Without listening to what Academician Ge was talking about, Lu Zhou stared at the map and thought for about 5 minutes. Suddenly, he reached out his index finger and clicked on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean on the east side of the Malay Archipelago.

“Finding an anchorage site for the space elevator on the volcanic belt around the Pacific Ocean is nothing short of a mess! The safest way is to build it directly on the Pacific Ocean.”

All the territorial waters of the Pan-Asian Cooperation on the equator were distributed at the junction of the Indian Ocean plate and the Pacific plate, or they were close to each other; it was almost impossible to find a suitable anchorage site.

Not to mention those points on the monsoon belt. In a sense, typhoons were more terrifying than earthquakes and volcanoes.

Therefore, from this perspective, the Pacific Ocean was the most suitable choice.

“I’m afraid not.” Secretary-General Wu Shuhua, who had never spoken, frowned slightly when she heard Lu Zhou’s words and reminded him, “This violates the international convention and is inconsistent with Pan-Asia’s diplomatic norms of building a community of shared future for mankind.”

A wry smile appeared on Academician Ge’s face. He made a helpless expression at Lu Zhou.

If he could find a small island in the Pacific, he would have proposed that.

However, this was clearly unrealistic.

“Not necessarily.” After hearing Wu Shuhua’s words, Lu Zhou looked at her and said, “It is precisely because the diplomatic principle of the Pan-Asian Cooperation is to build a community of human destiny that we should set an example to build this space elevator on international waters.”

Wu Shuhua frowned and was about to say something when Li Guangya, who was standing next to him, suddenly smiled and interjected.

“Academician Lu is right. Once the space elevator is built, the whole world can benefit from it. From this perspective, there is nothing wrong with our behavior. We represent the interests of all mankind.”

“This… This is outrageous. Don’t you think this is a bit far-fetched?”

Hearing Li Guangya’s words, Wu Shuhua couldn’t help but frown.

In fact, what she wanted to say was that this was too barbaric, and it undermined the international image of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

However, Li Guangya smiled heartily, as if he didn’t take it seriously.

“It’s not far-fetched. It’s a bit irrational at best… But I think we are still quite strong, so there should be no problem with doing this. Even if we cause a diplomatic dispute, I believe that with your abilities, you can easily solve it!”

Wu Shuhua sighed. She did not continue to say anything about this issue. Instead, she persuaded from another angle.

“Setting aside the diplomatic issues for the time being… Have you ever considered the cost of building space elevators on international waters?”

Before Li Guangya could speak, Wu Shuhua continued, “In terms of cost, the farther the anchorage of this space elevator is from our economic zone, the higher the cost of construction and maintenance, and the lower the economic utility. Even if this is a project that will benefit the future, we should leave a valuable fortune to future generations, not a heavy burden.”

Academician Ge nodded and added, “Cost is really a big problem… A space elevator with a total length of 500 kilometers. This kind of super-project is an astronomical figure in terms of the logistics cost of construction materials, not to mention the construction. The construction site is close to our transportation network. The farther we go, the greater the pressure on our costs.”

The discussion seemed to stop.

Even Li Guangya, who agreed with Lu Zhou’s opinion before, had an embarrassed expression on his face.

True.

If the space elevator is far from the borders of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, there’s no point.

In addition, he also thought of other issues, such as national security.

Guarding an elevator with a vertical height of 500 kilometers on international waters was obviously not as convenient as having it in their own territory.

Chairman Li Guangya cast a look at Lu Zhou for help. He asked sincerely, “Are there any alternatives?”

Lu Zhou thought about it for a while before giving a reply that seemed feasible to him, “Although I don’t understand economics very well, the decision of our Lunar Orbit Committee back then was to build a city on the moon.”

Build a city?

Hearing these words, Wu Shuhua was stunned.

“Build a city? You mean to fill the sea to make land? On the international waters of the Pacific Ocean? How could that be—”

“I didn’t say fill the sea to build land.” Interrupting her, Lu Zhou continued in a calm tone, “We build a big ship that’s about the size of Guanghan City, then let it float on the sea, and every year, we can move it a centimeter or two… No one will measure it anyway.”

“I understand what you mean.” Li Guangya’s eyes lit up, and he reacted in an instant. “Just like the strategy we adopted in Guanghan City, the territory of the moon belongs to all of mankind, but the aerospace devices on the moon are the properties of the Pan-Asian people!”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“That’s it.”

Freedom of navigation was the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, organizations, and regional alliances. No one could stop the ship from sailing just because it was a little slow.

With the current technical strength and industrial capabilities of Pan-Asian cooperation, it was perfectly possible to build this floating city on the sea for the space elevator project!

Li Guangya’s eyes became brighter. His right hand clenched into a fist, and he struck it hard on the palm of his left hand.

“It’s decided then!

“We’ll call this the Penglai!”

Chapter 1576: Palatable

At first, Lu Zhou had some hope in his heart, that the trouble facing the space elevator project, just like what Chairman Li Guangya said, was just the temporary problems at the beginning of the project.

However, the reality was that one trouble was just the beginning of another trouble.

Now that the problem of site selection was solved, they were back to the design of the space elevator. After that, it wasn’t just the design of the space elevator. The Penglai City project had also been included in the project of the space elevator.

Although he understood Li Guangya’s plan to delegate power to him, with so much work, Lu Zhou, as the chief consultant of the entire project, felt a lot of pressure.

After leaving the institute, Li Guangya, who was sitting in the car, suddenly looked melancholy as he looked outside the car window.

Noting this inadvertently, Wu Shuhua asked casually, “I thought you would be very happy.”

“Happy? Of course I’m very happy.” Li Guangya turned away from the car window and glanced at her strangely. “Why do you ask?”

Wu Shuhua shrugged slightly and said in a casual tone, “I don’t know, maybe your expression makes the air feel heavy.”

“Heavy? Not really, it’s just a little… sentimental.”

“Sentimental?”

“Yes…” Li Guangya sighed and said, “If only it were a century earlier.”

“Sorry, I don’t quite understand what you are talking about.”

Li Guangya smiled, shook his head, and said, “I mean, if I could be born a century earlier, it would be nice to be in that magnificent age.”

I see now why that time period was so magnificent.

His proposal was perfectly palatable for me.

Wu Shuhua: “…?”

…

Over these few days, a message had suddenly spread on the Internet, which was that the Pan-Asian Cooperation planned to build a city on the international waters to be used as an anchorage for the space elevator.

As soon as the news spread, it immediately sparked a lot of controversy on the Internet.

Some people said that this was a good idea, while others shook their heads and sighed, saying that this was detrimental to the international image of the Pan-Asian Cooperation

However, the news was not verified. Regarding the inquiries made at the regular press conference, the spokesperson also said that he did not know about it and reiterated that the Pacific Ocean was the common property of all mankind.

Although the official press spokesperson who was somewhat confused about the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s decision had to emphasize this point over and over again, seeing his statement made the senior leaders of other major regional alliances feel a little relieved.

At Jin Ling University…

Inside a coffee shop in the mathematics research building, several mathematics professors were drinking coffee and talking about the gossip inside and outside the campus.

After chatting for a while, they naturally talked about Academician Lu, a famous man at the school.

“Speaking of which, have you heard that Academician Lu seems to have graduated from the preparatory course?”

“I heard, I heard it a long time ago, haha.” A professor said with a smile, “I think it’s so funny, giving a preparatory course to Academician Lu. Isn’t that unnecessary?”

“Not quite. Although his academic achievements and talents are obvious to all, after all, a century has passed, and many things are different from before. He is willing to take the initiative to understand the rules of this era and how to think about it, so it’s a good thing.”

“I don’t deny this.” The professor said with some emotion, “It’s just that I didn’t expect that after a century, he would be able to teach our students math as soon as he wakes up. Even publishing papers in cutting-edge research fields… It feels like we haven’t made any progress in the past 100 years.”

“Science is inherently a gradual process. From quantitative change to qualitative change, it takes time to accumulate, so you don’t need to belittle yourself.” Another professor said with a sigh, “But what you said is true. The deeper the research, the more I feel, whether it is mathematics or physics, we may have reached the boundary. If we want to make another breakthrough, I am afraid that we can only do it when we step outside the solar system and have a new understanding of the universe.”

“You are too pessimistic.” A professor looked at him with a surprised expression. He took a sip of coffee and continued, “I don’t feel like there is a boundary. After all, there are so many things that can be studied… For example, the recent second-generation controllable fusion, isn’t that an epoch-making breakthrough?”

The professor asked in turn, “There are only a few people who can surpass their own era. Without Academician Lu, would we be able to make a breakthrough?”

They fell silent.

Although they didn’t have to worry about this kind of thing, this question seemed to be crucial.

A slightly chubby mathematics professor, who had not spoken, gently pushed down his glasses and said in an emotional voice, “Our Academician Lu is really amazing… After waking up, he did all this in less than a year. He developed the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion and immediately launched the space elevator project to 500-kilometer vertical orbit. If someone else were to tell me about this, I would think they were lying.”

“Of course! After all, he is a man who stood at the pinnacle of the human mind a century ago.”

“It’s just a pity… He doesn’t think about mathematics at all now.”

The professors sighed again for the choice of this once-in-a-century genius.

Sitting at a coffee table not far away, Professor Sun Jingwen put down the coffee cup in his hand, looked at Academician Qin Chuan, the dean of the mathematics department, and asked casually, “Did Academician Lu say when he will return to school to teach?”

Giving his apprentice a strange look, Qin Chuan answered, “He hasn’t mentioned anything about it… What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing, it’s just some academic problems. I wanted to ask him for advice, but I couldn’t find the opportunity.” He was hesitating. After a while of silence, Sun Jingwen continued, “Do you think… he will come back to research mathematics?”

“I am afraid that only he himself knows.” Dean Qin smiled. Looking out the window at the students returning to their dormitory after their classes, he continued with a relaxed tone, “I was actually very obsessed with this matter before. I have always tried my best to persuade him to return to the academy and take advantage of his good years to solve some worldwide problems. But after contacting him for a period of time, I understand how he feels.”

“What do you mean…”

“Remember those problems that he singled out in your class on the zero-point distribution of Dirichlet’s L function on your blackboard?”

Most people would be embarrassed about this. However, Professor Sun Jingwen just fell into contemplation and nodded after a long time.

“I understand.”

A hint of approval appeared in his eyes, and Dean Qin, who looked at him, sighed softly.

“A long time ago, I saw a memoir written by Professor Perelman. I remember clearly that he once wrote this in his memoir.

“That was when we just entered the tortuous and abstract labyrinth of the Hodge conjecture. My collaborators, Professor Chen and Professor Ji, coincidentally fell into a dilemma in understanding abstract things. Unlike the Poincaré conjecture, its requirements for abstract geometry exceeded our imagination, so much that I was in pain and unable to extricate myself. I tried to ask him for help, but he did not directly answer my question. Instead, he gave me a meaningful look.

“Perhaps it was just an illusion. At that time, I vaguely felt that he might already know the answer, but he was leaving this treasure to those who had yet to set foot in the same realm as him. I made up my mind and decided to wait until he got back from Mars. I must ask him for his answer to this proposition. It wasn’t until the bad news came from Mars that I stopped asking him for help…”

After repeating the original text of the autobiography, Qin Chuan looked at his student and said with a slight smile, “He yearns for progress in mathematics more than anyone, but what he expects may be a little more advanced than what we can expect.

“A person’s greatness cannot make the whole discipline prosper unless he is willing to share his greatness with others. I think this may be why he did not directly solve the generalized Riemann hypothesis and why he only pointed out the mistake in your argument instead of proving it himself.”

At this moment, Sun Jingwen’s expressionless face finally showed a hint of expression.

“You mean… he has already solved the generalized Riemann hypothesis?”

Dean Qin said with a smile, “Probably.”

“But… when? In the past 100 years when he was dormant? It’s impossible… He wasn’t conscious when he was dormant.”

“It doesn’t really matter when he solved it.” Dean Qin said earnestly as he looked at his student, “The key is that he wants to see us solve it.”

Chapter 1577: The Whole World Will Tremble For It

The discussion about the construction of Project Redwood and the Penglai City project happened not only in the coffee shop of Jin Ling University but also in every corner of the world. When Pan-Asia announced the news, it immediately caused a huge response internationally.

Even remote Mars colonies spoke about “Penglai City” and “Redwood”.

New London.

In a bar with a trendy decor in cyberpunk style, a man with metallic arms closed the holographic screen in his hand, freed his right hand to grab the glass, and took a sip of the ominous green cocktail.

He muttered after a burp, “Pan-Asian Cooperation intends to build a city in the Pacific Ocean? What are those Asians thinking?”

Sitting next to him, a man who looked equally unpretentious, slowly spoke.

“What are they thinking? Isn’t it obvious? They plan to build the space elevator on the Pacific Ocean and to build a city under the space elevator so that they can turn the Pacific Ocean into their back garden.”

“Isn’t it the same without Penglai? The entire Earth-Moon system is their back garden, not just the Pacific Ocean?”

“True…”

“Anyway, this is a trampling on the international convention!” There was a deafening roar next to him. A drunk man with a red face said rudely, “The Pacific Ocean is the territorial sea that belongs to all mankind, how dare they do this!”

The bartender standing behind the bar finished shaking the cocktail. He then gently pushed it to the front of a guest.

Looking at the red-faced guests who were arguing, he interjected.

“Let them be. Anyway, the Pacific Ocean is separated from London by thousands of miles, and New London is even more than tens of millions of kilometers away. Even if they drain the Pacific Ocean, it won’t affect us.”

This was his real opinion, and it was also the opinion of most people in this bar.

In any case, they were too far away from Earth.

Besides, what could they do even if they were not happy?

The Pan-Asian First Fleet was known as a starship battle group established with extraterrestrial civilization as its hypothetical enemy. So far, even the starships of other regional alliances combined couldn’t match the total combat power of this “invincible fleet.”

Needless to say, the North Sea Alliance, a rising star in the space voyage era, had to rely on the strategy of turning a blind eye to space pirates and smuggling trade to take a share of space trade from the hands of the Pan-Asian Cooperation. They weren’t even in the same weight class as the Pan-Asian Cooperation. Even its own spaceport, the Atlantis space station, was constructed by East Asia Heavy Industries.

Facing such hegemony, what room did they have to resist?

Regardless of whether they were really doing this for the sake of a community with a shared future for mankind or for their own selfish desires, this matter was not something they could control at will…

At the headquarters of the North American Alliance on Earth, they were also worried about the problem that they couldn’t control.

While the Pan-Asian Cooperation took the initiative by disclosing it to the public to create momentum for the space elevator program, its senior officials also sent invitations for diplomatic meetings to other regional alliances and regimes on the planet through diplomatic channels.

As for the content of the meeting…

It was obviously related to the space elevator and the city on the Pacific Ocean.

To be honest, when the Pan-Asian cooperation made such a decision, Chairman Camille’s face was full of surprise. He had been the chairman of the North American Alliance for about six years, so he was fairly accustomed to dealing with the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Under normal circumstances, the attitude of those Pan-Asian people on diplomatic stances was quite liberal. No matter what it was, they would communicate and negotiate with other regional alliances.

But this time was not the same.

It was not until the chairman announced the plan to build a space elevator at the celebration of the fusion ignition day did they finally hear that the Asians planned to insert a tube in the atmosphere and call it “Project Redwood”.

Carefully recalling all the past events during his tenure, Chairman Camille couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

When did all this start?

And…

What does Project Redwood mean for us?

“Redwood…” Putting down the invitation letter for the diplomatic meeting in his hand, Chairman Camille looked at his chief of staff, frowned, and asked, “What the h*ll is that?”

The chief of staff hesitated and spoke.

“Apparently, it’s one of the tallest trees on Earth.”

“The name doesn’t matter”. The secretary-general standing next to him coughed heavily, interrupting the irrelevant conversation between the two. He glanced at the chairman sitting behind the desk and said in a serious tone, “Mr. Chairman, what we need to discuss now is how to deal with this diplomatic meeting invitation.”

According to the current international law, the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s plan to build a large-scale project in the Pacific Ocean was not legally tenable. In principle, they did not need to accept a diplomatic invitation to negotiate something that they simply could not accept.

Conversely speaking, once they accepted such an invitation, it was equivalent to sending a signal.

That there was room for negotiation on this matter.

“How to deal with it? My attitude is against it. The Pacific Ocean is part of the international waters. Whether it is a country or a regional alliance, if they are allowed to start construction there today, mark that area in the exclusive economic zone, and declare sovereignty there, then it’s a slippery slope… But the question is, is there a better choice?”

Director Camille’s index finger tapped lightly on the desk as he looked at the silent secretary-general. He then sighed and continued, “Since the beginning, we had no choice.”

The secretary-general looked at him solemnly and continued, “Not necessarily, but only if we can unite the South American Alliance, the North Sea Alliance, and the Iberian-French Alliance…”

“Even all of our spacecrafts combined together is only a fraction of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.” Interrupting the secretary-general, Chairman Camille gave a wry smile and continued, “Do you really think that if we make a stand and reject it, they will abandon this plan?”

The office went silent.

Chairman Camille sighed lightly. He put the invitation letter for the diplomatic meeting on the holographic screen into the memo. He then pressed the close button and leaned back into the office chair.

To be honest, compared to the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s plan, what he was most worried about was not the impact of the space elevator on the international structure, strategic balance, or ecological environment.

After all, the hegemony of the Pan-Asian Cooperation had been established as early as the 2050s and had been operating steadily for more than half a century. A space elevator would not fundamentally change anything.

What really worried him was another thing.

Although the possibility of military conflicts breaking out in the 22nd century was very slim, they were all based on the current “pacifism and non-interference” diplomatic norms of the Can-Asian Cooperation. Even though they had the largest starship battle group, they had never considered investing them in aggressive operations against other regional alliances.

However, ever since Li Guangya became the chairman of the board, something daunting seemed to be released imperceptibly.

Camille couldn’t clearly describe what it was, but he knew one thing.

Once those people chose to cross the border, the whole world would pay for it.

There was no doubt about this…

Chapter 1578: Ill Do It Myself

In a mansion in a suburb of Jinling,

Inside the study room of Lu Zhou’s home.

A uniquely shaped space station that was different from the shapes of the Tianzhou and Atlantis space station was floating in a light blue holographic beam. The shape of this space station was like a spinning top with the tip aligned with the center of the earth, with four thick cantilevers extending outwards. The outer side of each cantilever was joined by an arc structure.

Ignoring the gaps between the arc structures, the entire outermost structure looked like a closed ring.

Lu Zhou, sitting inside the study room, was meticulously staring at the three-dimensional composition suspended in the holographic beam, calculating something and carefully adjusting the parameters of each component.

Xiao Ai walked into the study room with a cup of coffee. She asked curiously when she saw her master concentrating on his work, “Master, what is this? (•̀∀•́)”

Lu Zhou replied casually, “Space station, or technically, the head of the space elevator.”

When he was in Beijing, unlike what Li Guangya said, the entire space elevator project was not under control.

After leaving the Orbital Design Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, he went to the East Asia Heavy Industries and Aerospace Research Institute to learn about the work of the relevant units for the entire space elevator project. He finally came to a conclusion…

The problems encountered by East Asia Energy were also reflected in giant companies and institutions such as East Asia Heavy Industries and the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences. It was just that there was probably less interference from external factors, and the latter was far less wealthy than the former.

It seemed that when society developed to a certain level, the trap of prosperity was almost inevitable.

When Lu Zhou first came into this era, he was puzzled by the reinforcement of the future plan; why should the elites of various industries in the 2050s be sent to the distant future, and why were they counting on “old antiques” to lead the way…

But now, it seemed that this plan was not so useless.

Although facts had indeed proven that it was impossible to expect people in the future to accept the management of ancient people, whether it was power, knowledge, or assets, anything would shrink under the baptism of time, but in a sense, people who came from the past had indeed alleviated the impact of the prosperity trap to a certain extent.

Of course, the situation was more severe than imagined, but there were things to be optimistic about.

At least the strong industrial capabilities of East Asia Heavy Industries had really opened his eyes to him, a scholar from the 21st century, and the accumulation of engineering research by the Orbital Design Research Institute and the Aerospace Research Institute had made considerable progress for the technical realization of the space elevator.

His original idea of “being a bystander and handing over the whole project to someone else” probably wouldn’t work.

Otherwise, it would take decades to finally see the space elevator.

Just when Lu Zhou returned his attention to the model in the holographic beam, he suddenly sneezed without warning.

“Who is thinking of me…”

Lu Zhou reached out and rubbed his nose as he murmured a little.

This was heard by Xiao Ai, who then immediately said, “Of course it is Xiao Ai! Only Xiao Ai is always thinking about Master! (///ω///)”

“Sure, sure, whatever.”

Lu Zhou was accustomed to Xiao Ai’s immaturity. He took a moment to glance at his inbox. When he saw an unread email in it, he freed up his index finger and clicked on it.

Soon, the light blue light particles changed, and an email that looked like a greeting card appeared in front of him.

[Thank you for your trust in me and your reward. This huge sum of money… has left me at a loss for a long time. Only recently did I make up my mind on how to use it. I plan to take my apprentice around the world, and it will take about two months to come back. If you have any modification needs during this period of time, I have told my friend to provide you with modification services.]

Attached was a selfie by the beach, but Lu Zhou was not interested in men’s selfies.

At about the beginning of the year, he asked Han Ming to do him a favor. Although Xiao Ai said that the remuneration was a little too high, Lu Zhou didn’t intend to break what he had promised.

For him, money was just a number that couldn’t bring any surprises.

After reading the email, Lu Zhou threw it into the recycle bin, leaving the matter behind and refocusing his attention on the model at hand.

However, Xiao Ai, who was standing on the side, showed envious eyes.

“So jealous, Xiao Ai also wants to travel the world with Master. ( ́◔‸◔`)”

Lu Zhou: “I prefer to stay alone in a quiet place and dive into the issues that interest me.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh, but research can be done anytime. (๑°⌓°๑)”

“In theory, this is true… Well, I just don’t quite understand what’s the point of traveling.”

“But Master plans to leave here… Doesn’t Master want to make some memories?”

Lu Zhou’s finger that clicked on the holographic screen suddenly paused. He stopped his hand and was silent for a while. He then looked at Xiao Ai somewhat unexpectedly.

“How do you know?”

Frankly speaking, he did have this idea more than once. It was for the same reason he went to Princeton last time.

With the completion of the second generation of controllable fusion, he was getting closer and closer to maxing out all disciplines, and he felt that the sense of alienation between himself and the real world seemed to be getting stronger.

Not because of the generation gap or anything.

It was a premonition telling him that with endless time, he would be taken to a far away place by fate; that was his final destination.

Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai can’t explain it clearly, but Master said a long time ago that Master wanted to visit Tau Ceti? And… the second generation of controllable fusion is for this, right?”

Unlike usual, there wasn’t an emoji floating in Xiao Ai’s eyes this time.

Facing the holographic image in his hand, Lu Zhou was silent for a long time.

He suddenly asked, “If I were to go to a faraway place, would you go with me?”

Xiao Ai: “Of course! Whether Master goes to the center of the galaxy or the edge of the universe, Xiao Ai will accompany Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Although it was an expected answer, Lu Zhou still felt a little warm after hearing it.

A smile appeared on his face.

Lu Zhou reached out his hand and rubbed the top of her head.

“If you are always by my side, you won’t reach advanced artificial intelligence.”

Xiao Ai: “Hmph, not necessarily. (///ω///)”

That being said, the future was unpredictable.

All he could do was to grasp the present.

After completing the calculation of the last parameter, Lu Zhou looked at the holographic blueprint of the space station floating in the palm of his hand. A smile emerged on his face.

Done!

Chapter 1579: Less Than 3% Success Rate

At the Pan-Asian Ministry of Science and Technology, the conference room on the first floor was crowded at this moment.

The time for the start of the meeting was getting closer and closer. However, Academician Ge Huaizhi, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, had no intention of announcing the start of the conference. He just glanced back and forth between his watch and the door.

Seeing that the time was about to come, the assistant sitting next to him whispered, “Academician Ge… the meeting is about to begin.”

“I know,” he replied impatiently. Academician Ge cast his gaze to the door again and said casually, “Where’s Academician Lu? Is he coming?”

A wry smile appeared on the assistant’s face as he replied in a quiet voice, “He… replied to our email that he would consider our invitation, but he didn’t seem to say that he would definitely come.”

What is that guy doing?

He’s the Chief Consultant, but he’s not even attending such an important meeting.

Although he knew that his academic status was not enough to criticize the big man, Ge Huaizhi couldn’t help but sigh heavily at Lu Zhou’s unreliability.

“Consider our invitation? Look at the time… He probably won’t come.” He glanced at the people in the conference room. After a moment of silence, Academician Ge lowered his voice. Still unwilling to give up, he said to his assistant, “Go outside. If he is lost… bring him over here.”

After hearing these words, a wry smile appeared on the assistant’s face, but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded before walking out of the meeting room.

After his assistant left, the door of the conference room was closed again. Academician Ge sighed and cast his sights on the bustling conference room.

He reached out his knuckles and knocked hard on the table. He waited for the meeting room to quiet down before he spoke in a serious tone.

“The meeting outline has been posted, so I won’t waste everyone’s time.

“This meeting is very important, and I hope everyone can pay extra attention.

“Then, let’s begin.”

Everyone knew that even though the space elevator had the word “elevator”, it was not the same as the conventional elevator known by most people. This elevator wasn’t built from the bottom up, but from the top down.

Which meant they had to first select an area on the ground with relatively stable geological activity as the anchorage, then build a space station on the geosynchronous orbit above the anchorage.

Then from this space station, they had to lower the “ladder” bit by bit before finally landing it on the anchorage.

It was precisely because of this that this space station above the geosynchronous orbit could be said to be the most important component besides the ladder itself.

Taking into account the importance of this space, the Space Elevator Project Office collected design proposals for the design of this space station in the form of open tender, from both academia and industries within the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Considering the investment scale and strategic significance of the project, almost all scientific research units or enterprises engaged in space station design or space engineering research within the Pan-Asian Cooperation had participated in the bidding of the project.

As for the purpose of this meeting… It was natural to evaluate the design schemes of these research institutions and enterprises at an expert evaluation meeting.

The expert team for bid evaluation was personally led by Academician Ge. The core researchers of the entire space elevator project team participated in this meeting.

They soon began to dive into the main topic.

The first to be displayed was the design plan of the Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology of Yanjing University.

As a 40-year-old man walked to the center of the circular meeting room, he put a thumb-sized cassette on the projection device located in the center of the meeting room.

Soon, a blue light beam appeared in the center of the meeting room, and a ring-shaped space station about a meter high and a foot wide appeared in front of everyone.

The experts in the aerospace field who were sitting here today were no strangers to this middle-aged professor.

As an expert in the field of aerospace engineering, Professor Zhu Haiqing, who taught at Yan University, had participated in the design of the Atlantis space station and was considered a well-known big name in both industry and academia.

The design plan launched by the Institute of Aerospace Engineering of Yan University was completed by the research team led by Professor Zhu.

“This is the design plan of our Yan University Aerospace Research Institute.

“Referring to the design of the Tianzhou space station, we have divided the entire space station into residential, commercial, and industrial areas, which are distributed from the inside to the outside.

“The counterweight rod located in the center of the space station is the core of the entire design plan. Considering that as the quality of the space station changes, the center of gravity of the space elevator will float up and down in geosynchronous orbit. This design can ensure that the center of gravity of the space elevator is always in the right position.”

When telling this design proposal, the man had a confident smile on his face.

After listening to his explanation, whispers were spreading in the conference room.

Looking directly at the holographic blueprint floating in the beam, Professor Zhang, who was sitting next to Academician Ge, whispered, “What do you think of this plan?”

“It’s quite satisfactory.” Academician Ge touched his chin and continued after a moment of indulgence, “As of now, I can’t see any problems.”

Professor Zhang smiled and said, “If even you can’t see any problems, it’s a good plan then?”

“Don’t say that. No one has actually built a space elevator before, so past experience doesn’t matter. We all cross the river by feeling the stones; no one is better than anyone.” Academician Ge continued, “Let’s look at a few more plans.”

Professor Zhang, who was also one of the review committee members, nodded and said in agreement, “You’re right.”

After finishing the final explanation, Professor Zhu Haiqing, who was standing in the center of the meeting, bowed slightly to the members of the review committee before leaving the meeting room.

Next up was Academician Liu Binrui from the Institute of Aeronautics of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

Academician Liu was also an incredible expert. Although he was 60 years old, he was still active at the forefront of aerospace engineering research. And unlike Professor Zhang of Yan University, he had considerable practical experience in the design of large space stations.

This included both the Lagrange Space Base for the Pan-Asian Cooperation and the new orbital transfer station over Tiangong City. His research results were applied to these large projects.

Although the review meeting was on the proposal instead of the qualifications of the bidder and the academic resume of the project leader, everyone had to admit that the results of this big name, compared to those that were sent by low-end research institutions, were much more impressive.

After seeing the plan proposed by Academician Liu, the expression on Academician Ge’s face became more and more tangled.

It wasn’t because the plan was bad.

But because both seemed good that he didn’t know which choice to make.

“Let’s go through all the plans first… Wait until the end to make a selection.” After making a mark on the form, Academician Ge glanced at Professor Zhang next to him and continued to ask, “How are the preparations on the matrix side? Has the application been completed?”

Professor Zhang nodded.

“The Ministry of Science and Technology has already contacted the military through the chairman of the board, and they agreed for us to use the matrix for twelve hours.”

The matrix was an array of quantum computers seized from the hands of The Awakened.

Although they hadn’t figured out where this “matrix” came from or who built it and for what purpose, the research conducted by the Pan-Asian Academy of Science had finally eliminated most of the danger.

Considering that this supercomputer was used for scientific research, especially in the field of computational simulation, it had an unparalleled powerful performance. This time, Academician Ge deliberately used the space elevator project team’s scientific research priority privileges and applied to use this supercomputer for the calculation and simulation of the space elevator design schemes.

“Twelve hours?”

After a while, Academician Ge nodded and said to himself, “It should be enough.”

…

In fact, it took way less than twelve hours.

Most of the waiting time was consumed in the long communication distance and relatively narrow communication bandwidth.

If it was just calculations, for the quantum computer array buried deep under the asteroid’s surface, twelve hours was simply unnecessary.

Just a few minutes might be enough.

Finally, they went through all the design plans. After synthesizing the opinions of other researchers in the project team, Academician Ge announced the filtered list and expressed his gratitude for the active participation of those research units that were eliminated.

The next step was to verify the calculations and simulations on the supercomputer.

All the data was transmitted to Ceres hundreds of millions of kilometers away. After being tested by the quantum supercomputing array there, the staff of the space elevator project team received the returned data from the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

Looking at the project list projected on the holographic screen, Professor Zhang cast a questioning glance at Academician Ge, who was sitting next to him.

“Which one to start first?”

Academician Ge pondered for a while and said, “Let’s start with Yan University’s plan.”

His first impression of Professor Zhu’s plan was quite good. Professor Zhu should be able to get a good evaluation result.

And if the first result was good news, it would undoubtedly be a huge boost to the morale of the entire space elevator project team.

Both Academician Ge and Professor Zhu Haiqing were full of confidence in the results of the evaluation!

Professor Zhang nodded quickly. He quickly typed on the holographic keyboard. Soon, the simulation results of the Yan University’s design scheme appeared in the holographic beam.

However, the moment they saw this result, almost everyone showed a surprised expression on their faces. Their hearts instantly sank to the bottom of their stomachs.

The originally expected picture of the stable operation for the space elevator did not appear. Instead, there was scattered space junk floating in geosynchronous orbit and calculation parameters marked in red.

The largest number caught everyone’s attention.

Plan success rate…

Less than 3%!

What the hell?!

Chapter 1580: The Plan That Shocked Everyone

“This is impossible!”

Looking at the calculation and simulation results projected in the holographic beam, Professor Zhu Haiqing’s face was red. He stood up from the table with the help of his hands and said in disbelief, “There must be a problem when importing parameters!”

Academician Liu was still secretly gloating.

After all, he was an old man in the industry. He didn’t express this emotion too much on his face. He just gave a light cough and said casually, “That is the largest supercomputing center in the entire solar system. If you can’t even test your design there, I am afraid that only aliens can help you.”

Professor Zhu Haiqing’s face flushed red. His fists clenched and loosened, and he finally sat back.

Scientific research was very realistic. It either worked, or it didn’t.

If he submitted an excellent design plan, he could certainly lift his head proudly.

But now it seemed like…

Not adopting his plan had at least saved hundreds of billions of dollars for the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Academician Ge did not make any comments, but he nodded at Professor Zhang with a blank expression.

This was normal.

In any case, there were at least twenty design proposals that could be used as alternatives.

After receiving the signal from Academician Ge, Professor Zhang immediately understood. His index finger tapped on the holographic keyboard again.

Next on display was the design proposal submitted by Academician Liu of the Institute of Aeronautics for the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

The researchers sitting in the conference room raised their spirits one after another.

Seeing that it was his turn to be scored, Academician Liu also slightly reduced the smug expression on his face. He put on a serious attitude and waited for the announcement of the results.

To be honest, he was quite optimistic about the results of the calculation and simulation.

Because before that, he had already established a similar mathematical model and ran it on the supercomputer at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, and the feedback obtained was quite gratifying.

However…

He froze, and the look on his face was gradually replaced by a shocked expression.

Almost exactly the same as Professor Zhu, Academician Liu suddenly stood up from his seat and exclaimed aloud, “This… How is this possible?!”

Success rate of 4%!

Only one percent higher than the success rate of Professor Zhu’s plan!

This is ridiculous!

Academician Liu couldn’t bear it anymore. He adjusted his expression, looked at Academician Ge, and argued fiercely, “I seriously suspect that the calculation model was changed! Or the quantum computer array itself has a serious hardware failure! Before submitting the design plan for review, our experts from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study have already built a model. We have performed simulations, and it was definitely not like this!”

Professor Zhu smirked. He wanted to ridicule Academician Liu, but when he thought about how he was also a “victim” of the calculation simulation results, he decided to hold back.

The simulation results of several other shortlisted design proposals were released one after another. Almost none of the design proposals reached a satisfactory level of evaluation results.

Seeing that the voices in the conference room became noisier and noisier and gradually turned from a discussion to an argument, Professor Zhang looked at Academician Ge next to him with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

He whispered, “I also think that the results of this simulation are a bit too ridiculous. They are all our top-notch design experts in the field of aerospace engineering. How can it be possible that the success rate is only 4%? I heard a military conflict broke out on Ceres… Could it be that it caused damage to the computer server? For example, EMP weapons…”

“This is not something we can worry about… The problem now is that there are almost no design schemes with a success rate greater than 5%.” Feeling a headache, Academician Ge gave a wry smile and continued, “If the evaluation results are not wrong, the situation we are facing may not be which one to choose; it’s that we can’t choose any of them.”

Professor Zhang fell into silence. He couldn’t think of anything for a while.

Academician Ge still didn’t give up and ordered, “Submit those plans that were screened out in the primary selection too!”

Professor Zhang sighed.

“This is our only choice…”

Professor Zhang submitted the remaining 80 sets of design plans that were screened out to the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, and the military conducted calculation simulation evaluations on all 80 sets of plans.

It took a little longer this time.

After waiting for two hours, they finally received the results.

However, none of the design schemes met the standard.

The expression on Academician Ge’s face was a bit ugly. He was a little embarrassed.

Maybe it’s the supercomputer’s problem?

This doesn’t make sense.

At this moment, there was a sound of rapid footsteps outside the meeting room. When the door was pushed open by Academician Ge’s assistant, a happy voice said, “It’s Academician Lu—”

“Academician Lu is here?”

Academician Ge stood up from his seat with a smile. He immediately looked at his assistant who had been sent outside and asked excitedly, “Where is he now?”

With an embarrassed look on his face, the assistant coughed lightly and said, “He… may still be in his own home.”

The assistant didn’t dare to disappoint his boss, so he quickly added, “But he sent something… This is it.”

The assistant handed out the thumb-sized memory card in his hand.

Looking at the thumb-sized memory card, Academician Ge was stunned for a moment. He immediately handed it to Professor Zhang and said, “Quick! Put it on the holographic projector!”

Professor Zhang did not dare to waste time, so he quickly did what Academician Ge said.

Soon, a gyroscopic space station appeared in the holographic beam.

From the appearance alone, this design scheme was nothing special; it could only be regarded as satisfactory.

After seeing the blueprint displayed in front of him, whispers were heard again in the conference room.

“This design plan… seems a little ordinary? Is it really the work of Academician Lu?”

“It’s normal. After all, he is engaged in controllable fusion research. I haven’t heard anything about him designing space stations.”

“Not necessarily. Look at the four spindle-shaped cantilevers. They are probably meant to provide vertical lift by rotating? So the height of the center of gravity of the space elevator can be controlled?”

“Can this work?”

“I don’t know… but I think it’s a bit difficult. It’s difficult to achieve, either in the engineering sense or in the theoretical sense!”

The researchers in the conference room started discussing.

Academician Ge, who was sitting on the judge’s seat, also had a solemn expression on his face. He was thinking meticulously.

After pondering for two minutes, he suddenly seemed to have snapped back to reality and looked at Professor Zhang next to him.

“Send this blueprint to the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences and let the supercomputing center on Ceres run again!”

“Okay!”

Without the slightest pause, Professor Zhang immediately acted upon the order.

After more than 10 minutes of waiting, the simulation results were quickly presented to everyone.

The moment they saw the results, the faces of Professor Zhu and Academician Liu suddenly twitched.

The faces of Professor Zhang and Academician Ge were filled with surprise.

Everyone in the entire conference room was stunned.

Not because Academician Lu also failed…

It was because the results of the simulation calculations were exactly the opposite of what they expected.

The success rate was 49%!

Although this result wasn’t perfect, it was the only one that had a double-digit success rate…

Chapter 1581: Promise of Time

A 49% success rate was very good.

At least according to the supercomputing results on Ceres, even if the 51% probability failure did happen, Lu Zhou’s design plan for causing a major accident was much lower than the other sets of plans.

After some discussion by the expert group, almost in the form of unanimous approval, the space elevator project team decided to use Lu Zhou’s design plan as the construction blueprint. Many engineering units, such as East Asia Heavy Industries, would be responsible for the construction.

After a three-day meeting, after all the preparations were completed, Academician Ge Huaizhi rushed to Jinling in the Yangtze River Delta City Group and arrived at Academician Lu’s home.

When Academician Ge arrived, Lu Zhou happened to be fiddling with the newly-purchased equipment in his front yard laboratory. So Lu Zhou asked him to wait outside the laboratory for a while. After he had dealt with the matters at hand, he ordered Xiao Ai to bring him in.

“Academician Lu, I have finally found you!”

Across the cardboard boxes piled at the entrance of the laboratory, Academician Ge Huaizhi walked towards Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou guessed something from his expression, so he said casually, “It seems that you have something to discuss with me. How about it? Does the design work?”

A wry smile appeared on Academician Ge’s face as he said, “I don’t know… But for now, that’s the best choice.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him strangely and asked, “What does that mean?”

Without hiding anything, Academician Ge told Lu Zhou about what happened at the expert review meeting and the results calculated by the quantum supercomputing array on Ceres.

After listening to Academician Ge’s words, Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Calculations are just calculations. They do not mean absolutes. They can be used as a reference at best. Modeling that can completely restore reality does not exist. Any tiny variable that is not taken into account can influence the final calculation result.”

Academician Ge sighed and said, “Of course we have considered what you said, but after all, there is no precedent for a space elevator. Apart from this method, we can’t think of a better way to compare which set of solutions is more appropriate.”

“So this requires you to think about how to innovate.” After filling a tube of metal powder into the 3D printer, Lu Zhou casually pressed a few buttons on the 3D printer and said at the same time, “Just like the earliest controllable fusion reactor was also unprecedented for people at the time. However, creating miracles and making the impossible possible is exactly what we scholars should do, no?”

Academician Ge: “You are right, I very much agree with your point of view! But I have to admit that not everyone has the ability to create miracles.”

Lu Zhou’s movements paused slightly, and a bad premonition suddenly appeared in his heart.

For some reason, he had a feeling that someone was about to ask him for a favor.

Sure enough, before he could speak, Academician Ge looked at him intently and spoke sincerely.

“After discussion and research by our expert group, we agreed that it is really a waste for you to serve as chief consultant.”

“What do you want to do…?”

Academician Ge smiled embarrassedly and said with a dry cough, “We hope that you will be the chief designer of this space elevator project. We have already applied to the chairman of the board for this matter, and he has approved it, saying that as long as we can convince you, everything is OK.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Seeing how Lu Zhou seemed reluctant, Academician Ge said quickly, “Don’t rush to refuse. If you have any requirements, you can let us know, and we will try our best to meet your requirements!”

Seeing the sincere expression of Academician Ge Huaizhi, Lu Zhou couldn’t refuse immediately.

After being silent for a while, he said with a sigh, “It’s not that I don’t want to be the chief designer, but you should try to learn to think about some problems on your own. You can’t expect me to always think of brilliant ideas or brainstorms to solve all the troubles you have.”

Why not?

Academician Ge wanted to ask this, and he even almost asked it.

However, looking at the expression on Lu Zhou’s face, he guessed that this big man would probably not be willing to hear this question, so after hesitating for a moment, he changed to a set of euphemisms.

“I don’t quite understand why you are obsessed with letting us solve these problems alone. You are still young. Even after I’m no longer here, you will still be in your prime time… Isn’t it too early for you to start thinking about cultivating a successor now?”

Too early?

Lu Zhou smiled when he heard this sentence, but for a while, he didn’t know how to answer this question.

The 3D printer suddenly stopped rumbling.

When the lacquered metal shell unfolded, the finished product in the cabin was also revealed.

Attracted by the oblate and wide hourglass-shaped object on the printer, Academician Ge asked curiously, “What is that?”

“Z particle oscillator.”

“Z particle oscillator?”

“Oh, no one researches this stuff these days? It is the key to open the hyperspace channel, a warp drive, or the core of the faster than light communication device…” Seeing how Academician Ge had a dull expression, Lu Zhou quickly added, “Of course, this thing is only a part of the experimental product. It is still far from your imagination.”

“Beyond the speed of light… Can this really be done?”

Lu Zhou sighed after being silent for a while.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect that 100 years after the discovery of the Z particle, someone would ask this question.”

One hundred years ago, he had already proven the hyperspace theory and the related physical properties of Z particles through experiments. Academician Ge Huaizhi was not a researcher in a related field, so it was excusable to not understand the research in this area, but the fact that he hadn’t even heard about it meant that the people of the past 100 years hadn’t paid attention to the Z particle.

Looking at Academician Ge who had a trace of shame on his face, Lu Zhou continued, “About 100 years ago, I used two Z particle clocks to open a hyperspace channel once, but due to the conditions at that time, there was no way to make it exist stably. And after coming to this era, I checked many papers and came up with some new ideas on how to maintain the hyperspace channel. If it weren’t for that damn mission… I mean the trouble that a certain director threw to me, I would have solved this problem.”

“Why…?”

“Because I want to travel to a very faraway place, and the warp drive is a must if I want to go there. I once promised someone to leave a legend about us on it.”

Academician Ge opened his mouth to say something, but he suddenly closed his mouth, as if he was thinking of something.

He thought of a rumor.

Or rather, a legend.

A century ago, Academician Lu once promised to give his fiancee a star and set up a fund for the future in her name, hoping to send a colonial ship to the distant Tau Ceti someday in the future.

Is this the romance of scientists…?

He was also a scholar, but he did not particularly understand this crazy idea.

Although the academic opinion was that, considering the brightness of Tau Ceti’s star, there might be a habitable terrestrial planet there, sending oneself to an uncivilized and uninhabited planet was still no different from an exile.

No, it was suicide…

Academician Ge said with a more dazed expression than before, “Are you… serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” After looking at him, Lu Zhou said, “Forget about the chief designer, my opinion remains the same. You should learn to solve some problems on your own instead of putting everything on me. If you are in trouble, just come and ask me, and I will try my best to help you wherever I can.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then continued, “Also, I have solved the problem of materials and design for you. If you still can’t build this space elevator…

“Then we don’t deserve it yet.”

Chapter 1582: Academician Lus Problem?

January 14, 2126.

For Earth civilization, this was definitely a historic moment.

On this special day, the Pan-Asian Cooperation International Conference on the space elevator project that was held in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei City Group officially came to an end in the form of a joint statement.

Witnessed by representatives of major regional alliances around the world, Chairman Li Guangya of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, in a friendly and solemn tone, read out the guidelines for the use of the Redwood space elevator and reiterated the diplomatic guidelines for peaceful coexistence in the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

On the same day, more than ten engineering ships set off from the Moon Palace spaceport, carrying construction materials from the Mars colony. The ships rushed to the construction site of the space station at the top of the space elevator and began the welding work of the main structure of the space station.

Legend had it that Redwood was a bridge between heaven, earth, people, and gods, and it was also a sacred ladder for the oriental gods such as Fuxi and the emperor to travel between the earth and heaven. Therefore, this space station had been given a very mythical name—Nirvana.

The day after the summit ended, at the office of the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Seeing Academician Ge entering the office, Chairman Li Guangya stopped his work and cast a proud smile at Academician Ge.

He then asked in a gentle voice, “What did Academician Lu say? Did he agree?”

What Academician Ge did when he went to Jinling was signed off by Li Guangya. After all, for a major project like the space elevator and for such an important position like the chief designer, only the chairman of the board had the authority to make appointments.

In fact, before Academician Ge went to Jinling, he had already signed the document appointing Lu Zhou as the chief designer of the space elevator project. As long as Lu Zhou was fine with it, he could take up the position at any time.

Li Guangya certainly hoped that Lu Zhou could be the backbone of the entire space elevator project for the benefit of the Pan-Asian Cooperation instead of taking the title of chief consultant.

Especially after seeing the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences’ frantic response to this super project, he firmly strengthened this idea.

Academician Ge knew exactly what the chairman was thinking, but he didn’t say anything.

After all, the strength of Lu Zhou was obvious to all. Besides, he was on the scene of the judging committee to witness this with his own eyes. If someone else came to serve as the chief designer, he might feel a little unjust, but if it was that man, he would feel like it was well deserved.

However, the problem was that everyone thought the same except for Lu Zhou himself…

“He refused.”

“Really?” There was not much surprise on his face, but after Li Guangya was silent for a while, he finally sighed. “It’s really a shame… If he can lead the entire project, we can at least avoid some trouble.”

Seeing the regretful expression on Li Guangya’s face, Academician Ge hesitated for a while before speaking, “One more thing… I don’t know if I should say it.”

“What?”

“When I visited him, he happened to be in the laboratory. He seemed to be working on a technology related to hyperspace channels… If I remember correctly, it should be called the Z particle oscillator device.”

Academician Ge gestured with both hands the shape of that strange device. However, this gesture obviously did not make Li Guangya understand anything. On the contrary, it made him more confused.

“Hyperspace channel? What is that…?”

“Actually, I don’t know much, but according to his own statement, this device can open a straight channel between two points in a curved space, so as to realize warp travel navigation and faster than light communication—”

Before Academician Ge had finished speaking, Li Guangya put his hands on the table and suddenly stood up from the chair.

“Warp travel?! Faster than light communication? Is this possible!”

Since entering the space age, communication distance had always been a major problem in restricting the continued expansion of human space activities. Take the Martian colony as an example. The shortest straight line distance between Tiangong City and Beijing was 55 million kilometers, and the farthest could even reach 400 million kilometers. It took at least three minutes for a message to be sent from Earth to Mars.

If they happened to be located further away, the delay time of the information would be even longer.

Although it was only three minutes, in this information age, even one second of delay was too long.

Due to communication delays and communication barriers caused by the high cost of communication, there had been a serious separation between society on Mars and society on Earth. If Guanghan City and other Pan-Asian cities were different cities, then the Martian colony and the cities on Earth were two completely different worlds.

The latter was the benchmark of a civilized society, while the former could only be regarded as a kind of existence between civilization and barbarism. Even the poorest towns on Earth were more civilized than Mars, despite the Martian cities being more technologically advanced.

If there was a special communication technology that could realize the exchange of information beyond the speed of light and reduce the communication delay between Earth and Mars to less than one second, it was obvious how life-changing it could be.

Otherwise, Li Guangya wouldn’t have been so excited after hearing the news.

“I don’t know if it can be achieved. Even Academician Lu himself seems to be uncertain…” Academician Ge sighed and continued, “In fact, compared to what he is researching, I’m more interested in his ideas.”

Li Guangya: “What ideas?”

“In my conversation with him, I felt that he might be mentally unwell.”

Sitting back in the office chair, Li Guangya frowned.

“Is it because of life problems?”

“Sort of, but the main reason may be in the relationships aspect.” Academician Ge nodded as he looked at Li Guangya with a slight frown. He said with a complicated expression, “I can feel that he loves his fiancee very much… Even after 100 years, he still misses her.”

Li Guangya did not speak. He waited quietly for him to continue speaking.

“… He also said to me that he plans to build a starship that can fly out of the solar system to go to Tau Ceti. This was the promise he made to his fiancée a hundred years ago, and he intends to fulfill it by himself. I don’t want to evaluate whether his ideas are realistic or not. What I want to say is that we may have ignored his feelings when asking him for help.

“If this problem isn’t solved, he may never be able to escape his past.”

In fact, even though Ge Huaizhi didn’t make any comments on the surface, in his mind, he had almost acquiesced that Lu Zhou was doing something ridiculous.

With the current technological level of human society, there was no basis for intergalactic navigation at all. Even for the most advanced starship in Pan-Asian Cooperation, the cruising distance was only to the edge of the Kuiper belt.

Moreover, this was just the theoretical cruising distance. No one had actually flown that far since there was no need to fly there.

Forget about Tau Ceti, which was light-years away.

Even if he did go, it would be a one-way trip.

“One hundred years…” After listening to Academician Ge’s words, Li Guangya pinched his glabella as he felt a headache. For a while, he didn’t know what to say. “I don’t understand this kind of emotion. It’s been so long…”

Very few people in the past could live beyond one hundred years. And even if someone did live that long, they would have already become an old grandma.

To be honest, what made him most confused was the attitude of the “old popsicles” towards the relationship between men and women.

She was just a fiancee.

Is it that important?

Nowadays, barely anyone even gets married anymore.

…

After Academician Ge left, Li Guangya fell into a dilemma.

If it was just trouble in life, he could say with confidence that as long as Lu Zhou asked him for help, he could find a way to help him solve it. But for this kind of emotional matter, he really couldn’t do anything.

Li Guangya turned his gaze to Secretary Wei, who was sitting in the office. Li Guangya pinched his glabella. Feeling a little troubled, he asked casually, “What do you think about this matter?”

After thinking for a while, his office secretary spoke.

“From a personal point of view, the best way to heal emotional trauma is to start a new relationship.”

“A new relationship?” Li Guangya sighed after tapping the index finger on the desk. “In other words, we have to find a way to find him a partner?

“I have to admit that this is the most efficient approach.”

Li Guangya never thought that one day he would actually be a wingman. His eyebrows twitched.

But then he thought that if he could add more “distractions” to Lu Zhou’s life, Lu Zhou might give up on his “unrealistic” idea.

Of course, faster than light communication was still very attractive to him, but going to Tau Ceti was still too dangerous!

The problem is…

Can ordinary women really attract him?

Forget about clicking. They’re not even from the same era.

“I admit that your proposal is indeed very attractive, but… are you sure that there exists someone that can arouse his interest?”

Secretary Wei showed a confident smile on his face.

“There are still such people.”

“Oh?” Li Guangya raised his eyebrows with interest. “Who?”

“Do you still remember that documentary?”

“I think any citizen of Pan-Asian Cooperation would have seen it when they were young… But are you talking about the new version or the original version?”

“It’s all the same, there is no difference in the plot.” Secretary Wei continued after a pause, “If I remember correctly, it was mentioned in the documentary that he had a Ukrainian student named Vera Pulyuy.”

“She sounds familiar.” Li Guangya asked, touching his chin, “What about her?”

“Out of interest in historical research, I checked her information. As one of the outstanding mathematicians in the early 21st century, she has won many mathematics awards such as the Fields Medal. She was also one of the students that Academician Lu was most proud of. And there have been rumors from the outside that the relationship between the two may be closer than recorded in historical materials…”

“This is history after all.” Li Guangya shrugged. “Not to mention this is the 22nd century, she has long—”

“Not quite. Because of her late-stage lung cancer, she accepted frozen dormancy to seek treatment in the future. According to unverified literature records, the original intention of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation was partly to treat her disease.

“According to my investigation, not only has she not been released, but she is also in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei City Group!”

Chapter 1583: It Was a Long, Long Dream

It was a long, long dream.

It was so long that she thought she would never wake up.

Inside a dark room, the floor was covered with bottle caps and pieces of glass left by broken wine bottles. At one corner of the messy room lay broken vases and a torn picture frame.

The decayed window was covered with withered vines, and the cross window frame was like a tombstone.

Outside the window were children playing and running, but everything outside seemed to have nothing to do with the chaos in the house.

Of course, in this dark whirlpool, there was still something beautiful.

At least, there was the girl sitting at the desk.

That petite, thin body shape was incompatible with everything here. It looked out of place. Her face didn’t have too much sadness written on it. There was reassuring tranquility in her sapphire eyes, as if everything here had nothing to do with her, and her whole body was immersed in the slightly yellowed book in her hand.

Vera clearly remembered the name of the book.

“EGA…

“Fundamentals of Algebraic Geometry”…

Grothendieck’s masterpiece, the bible of algebraic geometry!

At the same time, it was also her last birthday gift from her mother who left the family.

With her lips trembling slightly, Vera couldn’t help but read the three letters.

Perhaps hearing the soft chanting, the girl sitting at the desk raised her sapphire eyes and looked at her quietly.

In an instant, Vera’s pupils shrank.

What was placed in front of her seemed to be a mirror leading to the past, and what was reflected in that mirror was her cowardly, evasive, fearful, and uneasy self who lived through her childhood…

The girl at the desk was hesitating whether to say something.

After a while, the girl, who was her childhood self, suddenly took the initiative to speak.

“Unbelievable, how did you find me?”

“I—”

Vera was about to say something, but at this moment, there was a violent slam on the door behind her.

The movement was loud, like artillery during the war; the floor, windows, and even the whole room trembled.

Vera looked at the girl with a scared expression on her face, who curled up into a ball. Vera bravely stepped forward over the glass pieces and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Follow me, I will take you out of here!”

The girl raised her head helplessly. She looked blankly at the lady in front of her.

“But… this is my home, where can I go?”

“You can go anywhere, across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic… Go to a place called Princeton, where you will find the hero who can save you.”

There was a light of hope in the girl’s eyes. Although it was very faint, it was shining in the dark.

“Like in a fairy tale?”

Vera was silent for a moment. She then nodded vigorously.

“Yes… He will wake you up from nightmares like a prince.”

“But fairy tales aren’t real…”

Vera was still planning to say something, but the little girl in front of her suddenly raised her index finger and lightly tapped on her lips.

A weak smile appeared on her face, and the little girl, who was only about seven or eight years old, spoke in a gentle voice.

“Thank you for coming to visit me… You must be a brave person, at least much braver than me.

“I believe that no matter how difficult the problem is, you will be able to overcome it and reach the other side in your mind.

“Go on.”

Unexpectedly, in the end, she was the one who was comforted.

Vera stared blankly at the little girl in front of her. She unconsciously released her hands that held her delicate shoulders.

Almost in an instant, the wooden door behind her suddenly collapsed.

Along with a splash of sawdust, a nightmarish monster burst in from outside the door.

From the haze of smoke, Vera saw the face that made her tremble with fear and anger.

But this time, she didn’t back down anymore. She squeezed her right fist and stood there bravely.

She had peace of mind in her head, and it guarded her as if there were an angel protecting her.

She believed that she would be fine, like there was a voice in her head telling her exactly that.

As if surprised by her courage, the monster’s face showed an unexpected expression, but that expression quickly turned into a cruel smile as he strode towards her with his fists clenched.

However, at this moment, a miracle happened.

A ray of light crossed the curtains, lighting up the dim room. The monster fell back wailing as if it had been punched by something. Like a broken wine bottle, it turned into fragments, then dust.

Under the ray of light, everything around her began to collapse.

The house, the windows, the shards of glass on the floor, and the book on the desk…

Everything was like a collapsing sand dune, including Vera herself, who was standing in the center of the whirlpool. Everything was free-falling into the bottomless darkness.

She was in the darkness for a long time.

When she felt that her consciousness was faltering and she almost fell asleep, a slight noise suddenly rang in her ears.

It was the sound of breathing.

However, it was not blowing on her ears. Instead, it was gently blowing on a piece of glass.

For some reason, at this moment, she was like a princess in a fairy tale, lying in a crystal coffin.

Gradually, the outline reflected on the crystal coffin gradually became clear.

Surprisingly, it was not the handsome and brave prince in the fairy tale that came to the crystal coffin. Instead, it was a beautiful princess.

Compared to an ugly duckling like Vera, this woman was undoubtedly more like a princess. Her long black hair hung quietly behind her, and there was an indescribable dignity and elegance in her gestures.

Vera knew that this was a dream, and everything in front of her was her own imagination, but she still tried to see her clearly.

But dreams were dreams after all, and all the beauty and suffering here was like a layer of opaque tulle. She was like a fawn wandering in the forest. Except for the occasional mottle through the shade of the trees, she could see nothing.

“Who are you…?” the princess, who was separated from her by a layer of glass, whispered.

“We may have met several times before, but this is probably the first time we met face-to-face like this.”

Looking at the crystal coffin, the mysterious woman continued, “A long time ago, I used to hear him talk about you. He once told me that you were his favorite student and the most talented of all the students he had taught.”

Vera opened her mouth, trying to say something, but she couldn’t say a word.

She felt like when she was asleep, many things happened that she didn’t know of.

And that feeling of uncertainty made her feel a little nervous.

“Other than the story about you, there were also stories about Princeton and many other people. And from his tone, I clearly felt that he was fascinated by the students he taught and the people he helped. He felt proud and honored from his heart.

“Actually, there were many times when I admired him for being able to live so purely. As for when this relationship became admiration, maybe even I don’t know.

“But one thing for certain is that I love him very much. When he promised me that he would give me a star and leave a legend about us on it, you can’t imagine how moved I was at that time.”

There was a faint smile on her face.

Like falling into the past, a hint of sweetness appeared in that smile, which also gave her voice a hint of casual ease.

“Of course… maybe you can imagine.

“A woman’s instinct tells me that your relationship with him may not be as simple as it seems. But that doesn’t matter now.”

The relaxed voice suddenly brought a trace of loneliness, even sadness.

“Later, he went to a faraway place.”

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Vera suddenly felt that her heartbeat seemed to be stuck by something, and a bit of pain came out from the depths of her soul.

“That is a place farther than any other. Although I had thoughts of following him there, I didn’t do it in the end.

“He’s gone, but I am still here.

“He still had a lot of things that he wanted to do that he wasn’t able to accomplish, so I will do the rest for him. Whether it’s for the world or the promise for me…”

The woman was silent for a while. A smile suddenly appeared on her face.

“He was probably a very important person for you…

“If…

“If there wasn’t any misunderstanding and he never went to Mars, nor did he encounter any accidents there… If he’s just too tired and wanted to rest for a while, so he’s hiding somewhere quietly… If by that time, I am no longer in this world, and you happen to wake up…

“I hope you can take care of that idiot.

“But what happens in a fairy tale is really impossible in reality.”

The slender fingertips remained on Vera’s face for a moment. Vera was about to reach out and grab the hand and ask what happened during her sleep when everything in front of her suddenly disappeared.

Suddenly, in the fog that surrounded her, a ray of sunlight suddenly shone, causing her to close her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw a chandelier on the ceiling, the white mist rising in the surroundings, and the princess’ face that was full of joy.

A feeling of disconnection engulfed her senses.

“It really happens in an instant…”

That moment felt as long as a lifetime. She almost forgot the feeling of warmth.

Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes unconsciously.

The feeling of warmth on her forehead felt like a minute ago, but it was actually a century ago.

She tried to turn her face sideways; her eyes blurred with tears as she tried to find the familiar face.

“Lu Zhou…”

But there was nothing there, only the shouts of doctors and nurses echoing in her ears…

“Patient is awake!”

Chapter 1584: Maybe Did an Unnecessary Thing

In the 21st century, cancer was undoubtedly worthy of the title of a terminal illness.

Not only because of the unpredictable pathogenic mechanism and the early symptoms that were difficult to detect but also because once the cancer cells developed to the later stages and after the cancer cells had spread throughout the body, there was almost no absolutely effective treatment.

Especially for some cancers like lung cancer, whether one could survive in the end was basically dependent on fate.

However, this was the 21st century, where an ordinary virus could plunge the world into a pandemic.

After the 22nd century, nano-robots, radiological organs, and implanted prostheses were widely used in the medical industry, and cancer was no longer a big problem.

It was no longer called a terminal illness.

In this prosperous utopian era, as long as the money was in place, it was impossible for a person to die.

Even if they did die, they could stay alive in another form…

“Congratulations, Ms. Vera, your lung cancer has been cured, and I hope you cherish your hard-won health… In addition, welcome to the 22nd century. The Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation will contact you and explain the matters and how to start a new life.”

Vera, who was sitting on the bed, heard the doctor standing next to the bed read these words.

The cancer was like a cold that was easily cured; it was barely worth mentioning.

However…

Was it worth it?

22nd century, so… 100 years later.

Waking up in a world without him, I would rather keep on sleeping…

A trace of sorrow and grief surged in her chest, but looking at the doctor standing by the bed, Vera still thanked him politely and weakly, then watched him leave the ward.

“… You have just had an operation and your body is still recovering. It would be better to lie down.”

Hearing the sound of concern coming from the side, Vera slowly turned her face, and she saw a young nurse standing there, smiling at her.

“Thanks…”

“You’re welcome. Taking care of patients is our job.” The nurse continued with a smile on her face, “My name is Qian Xiuxiu, how about you?”

Isn’t my name in the medical record?

Despite thinking this, she politely introduced herself.

“… Vera Pulyuy.”

“Vera Pulyuy? We rarely have foreigners here. You are the first dormant with a foreign face I have seen here.”

“I was put to sleep in 2022.”

“I see,” the nurse said with a gentle smile, “100 years, it must be difficult to sleep for so long. You should rest well, I will bring dinner for you later. ”

“I’m not sleepy…” Vera, who was sitting with her back against the pillow, was silent for a while while holding the quilt with her hands gently. She said softly, “Just now, I had a very long dream…”

After hearing these words, the nurse showed a look of surprise on her face.

“Although I haven’t tried frozen dormancy, in theory, you shouldn’t have dreams under cryosleep.”

If this is the case, it will be an incredible discovery in medicine.

So far, how to combine neural interface systems with cryo-sleep technology had always been the most cutting-edge research field in academia. It was the first time that she heard someone could have memories similar to dreaming during cryo-sleep.

The vast majority of people just closed their eyes and opened them, teleporting from the past to the future.

However, this kind of profound thing was still a bit too esoteric for an ordinary nurse like her.

“What kind of dream was it?”

“It feels like… I was looking back over the past two decades of life.” Vera showed a weak smile on her face. Staring at the ceiling with a complicated expression, she continued, “I saw my childhood self, and also saw a… very familiar person speak to me through a thick fog.”

After waking up, she couldn’t remember most of the dreams. She just vaguely felt that she seemed to have missed something very important.

“Unbelievable, you can remember the things in your dreams so clearly.” Qian Xiuxiu said in a relaxed tone but with a surprised expression on her face, “But this reminds me of a rumor.”

“… What rumor?”

“That’s the story of another dormant. He told us after he woke up, that when he was asleep, he felt his parents stand on the edge of the bed and talked to him a lot. He insisted the parents were still alive and wanted to see them. But in fact, they passed away decades ago.”

Qian Xiuxiu smiled embarrassedly and felt that the story she was telling was too bizarre.

“Of course… We all agreed that it might be because he missed his parents, thus causing hallucinations.”

“I’m sure that was not a hallucination!” Vera’s voice increased by a few decibels, and she suddenly realized that she was excited. She took a breath, calmed herself down quickly, and continued in a low tone, “If it was an illusion… the person I saw in my dream wouldn’t have been her, it would have been him instead.”

Qian Xiuxiu stared at the emotional patient for a while. She then spoke softly.

“Leaving the life you are familiar with is not an easy task, but I believe that the relatives, friends, and lovers who sent you to this era must have greater courage. Just for living up to this courage and expectations, please stay strong in this new world.”

As if agreeing with this statement, Vera was silent for a while and nodded gently.

At this moment, she suddenly thought of a problem and couldn’t help but whisper, “Speaking of which, the hospitalization fees…”

“You don’t have to worry about this,” the nurse said with a gentle smile, “Most of your expenses have been paid before you went dormant. And the extra part, about two days ago, a distinguished person came here to visit you, and all of them were paid.”

The expression on her face gradually changed from surprise to disbelief, and the sorrow and grief that covered her chest gradually turned into a hint of excitement.

Her hands that were pinching the quilt trembled slightly.

Although she knew it was impossible, she still asked in a trembling voice, “Who was it?”

“He didn’t leave a name, he just asked me to pass along a sentence.”

“What sentence?!”

The nurse’s face turned red, and she whispered, “He only said one thing… ‘I miss you so much’.”

The moment she heard these words, Vera’s face turned red, and she slowly slid down on the bed, burying her warm face in the quilt.

Ah…

It has to be him!

Even if he’s a grandfather over a hundred years old, it doesn’t matter!

The important thing is that he is still alive!

The originally gray world suddenly became stained with color; even the pure white ceiling suddenly became brighter than before.

Although no one told her where she was in this world, at this moment, she felt that every cell in her body was given a new meaning.

I really want to… see you.

…

Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

Li Guangya, who was sitting in the office, was drinking coffee during the lunch break.

His secretary, Wei Song, was standing nearby. He hesitated and finally couldn’t help but speak.

“Mr. Chairman.”

“What?”

“With all due respect, you shouldn’t have done that extra thing…”

In any case, speaking in the name of someone else is always not good.

Especially when it can cause misunderstandings.

In an instant, Li Guangya knew what the secretary was complaining about. Li Guangya smiled happily, put down the coffee cup in his hand, and leaned back in the office chair as he replied, “Really? But don’t you think it would be interesting?”

Wei Song suddenly felt a little headache.

Although it was his idea to wake that person from dormancy for Academician Lu, he never thought that the chairman would add so much drama.

After all, many things were just their speculations based on unconfirmed history. If Vera didn’t feel that way, wouldn’t it be embarrassing?

“But if Academician Lu knew…”

“Then he definitely would not blame me. I just gave him a small push, and whether to take that step forward, the choice is still up to him.” Li Guangya said slowly, “Not to mention who can prove that I was there. You? Will you betray me?”

“Of course I won’t betray you.”

“Good.” Li Guangya continued calmly, “By the way, go and say hello to the person from the Security Bureau to see if anyone he knows is dormant… If so, tell me, or don’t tell me at all, just wake them up as soon as possible. The cost will be reimbursed by me.”

Wei Song smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Okay…”

I feel like this guy is doing too much…

Chapter 1585: Whoever Can Solve It Will Get an Award

Jinling suburbs.

Lu Zhou, who had just sneezed, reached out his hand and rubbed his nose. He stared at the holographic image projected in front of him and meditated for a while.

Suddenly, he muttered, “Maybe I should hire an assistant.”

“Huh??? Xiao Ai can’t satisfy Master anymore? ??∑(゚Д゚ノ)ノ”

Lu Zhou was just speaking casually; he didn’t expect to cause an unintelligent AI to panic.

Seeing Xiao Ai who was jumping pitifully in front of him, Lu Zhou sighed.

“It’s because you always act like this. I need a normal assistant.”

Xiao Ai: “But… but… QAQ”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Okay, well, I’m not saying you are useless, but some tasks are really not suitable for AI to do. Especially the part that involves fuzzy calculations. It may be too difficult for you. ”

Xiao Ai: “How do you know if Xiao Ai doesn’t try? (=゚ω゚)”

“Then I’ll be straightforward. I plan to simplify the Z particle’s gravitational wave equation, use mathematical methods to predict the results of the Z particle transition effect more accurately, and establish a more accurate Z particle vibration frequency and space-time curvature. The mathematical model between… Are you still listening?”

Xiao Ai: “… (゚Д゚≡゚Д゚)”

Lu Zhou: “…”

…

As early as a century ago, Lu Zhou published a paper titled “The Effect of The Z Particle Transition on Spacetime Curvature” on arXiv and “Future”.

The core mathematical and physics formulas cited in this paper was the gravitational wave equation of the Z particle completed by Professor Wei Hong and Dobrik.

How this equation was discovered was a tortuous story.

However, this was obviously not the time to talk about the past. To open a stable hyperspace channel, it was necessary to find the precise relationship between the frequency of Z particle oscillations and the curvature of space-time.

In fact, Lu Zhou should have done this a long time ago, but because of many things that happened at the time, the job was delayed again and again, so it wasn’t completed even after a century…

Jin Ling University, mathematics department building.

In an activity room of the building, two young men stood in front of a whiteboard with a holographic projection. They seemed to be thinking about something.

“Very interesting question.”

After staring at the calculations on the blackboard for a long time, Professor Sun Jingwen gently pushed the holographic glasses on the bridge of his nose and gave an evaluation, “On the surface, this is a physics problem, but from the final analysis, the problems involved are concentrated in the field of mathematics.”

“That’s right, so I found you.” Lu Zhou glanced at him and asked, “Any good ideas?”

He still had a good impression of Professor Sun; otherwise, he would not specifically find him to discuss this issue.

On one hand, the honors he received proved his strength. On the other hand, he was moved by the courage of this guy to challenge the generalized Riemann hypothesis and face the treasures that he left for the mathematics world.

Although he was still a little bit worse in terms of academic ability, Lu Zhou didn’t think this was a big problem.

He didn’t expect Professor Sun to directly solve the difficulties he faced. All he expected was for this guy to stand from another angle and provide an idea that he hadn’t considered.

However, the reaction of Professor Sun did not live up to Lu Zhou’s expectations.

As he faced the whiteboard, a wry smile appeared on his face, and he didn’t know what to say.

“If even you can’t think of any ideas, how could I have any good ideas?”

Hearing these words, Lu Zhou felt a little disappointed. He sighed and said, “If this is what you think, pretend like I didn’t ask.”

If you set your own limits without thinking deeply and subconsciously think that this problem is invincible, then you won’t even have to try.

Even if you did try, you probably wouldn’t produce any results.

Perhaps Professor Sun Jingwen was triggered by the disappointed expression on Lu Zhou’s face, because he gritted his teeth and said bitterly, “Wait a minute… Can you give me a chance?”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou nodded nonchalantly. Lu Zhou glanced at the calculations on the whiteboard and continued, “I intend to post this question as a public proposition on the LSPM forum.”

“If anyone can solve it, in my opinion, a Lu Zhou Mathematics Prize is deserved.”

Although, in the beginning, it was just for the convenience of publishing the proof for the ABC conjecture, today, LSPM had developed into an open academic forum.

Many well-known big names in mathematics today had accounts in that forum.

If a problem was released in Lu Zhou’s own name, there should be many people who would be interested.

As soon as he heard the mention of the Lu Zhou Mathematics Prize, Professor Sun Jingwen suddenly became interested.

That was the highest honor in mathematics today; the undisputed holy grail of mathematics! It was given only once a year and only awarded to one person at a time, to the scholar with the most outstanding mathematics contribution!

Since the 2050s, many people had been waiting to receive this reward, but only a few of them had actually won this medal.

Even though he didn’t research mathematics for the sake of rewards—it was purely because he loved the subject—the glory of this reward was still enough to make Sun Jingwen intrigued.

Seeing the expression on the young scholar’s face, Lu Zhou smiled and nodded without making any comments.

I feel like I just saw my younger self in him.

It’s just that in terms of strength and mentality, he hasn’t matured yet, and he still lacks some experience…

After leaving the activity room, Lu Zhou went back to his office.

After returning to campus life, for the time being, he was either preparing lessons during this time, researching his hyperspace theory, or occasionally giving instructions to Academician Ge Huaizhi and the others.

However, upon returning to the office, before he could even start working, the old dean came to his office and opened the door.

Academician Qin Chuan looked at Lu Zhou sitting at the desk. The dean of the mathematics department then walked up with a smile and spoke with concern.

“How is it? It’s been a hundred years, did the young scholars of Jin Ling University let you down?”

As the current academic leader of the Lu Zhou school of thought, he was always concerned about the affairs of this ancestor.

As long as he had spare time, he would come over and visit Lu Zhou.

“How could I be disappointed with my students?” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “I feel a little guilty to see them so hardworking and studious.”

Dean Qin smiled and said, “Haha, don’t say that. If they can have half your diligence, the awards of our school will be doubled.”

Lu Zhou: “Scientific research is not a competition. Winning or not is secondary. As long as they are learning, I am happy.”

Qin Chuan: “Forget about the students, are you used to living in this era?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry about me. I am not the kind of person who hides his problems.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.” Dean Qin said with a smile, “If you need any help, be sure to tell me. As long as we can help, we will do our best!”

“Then I will say thank you in advance.”

Lu Zhou nodded. He was about to say something, but at this moment, the phone rang.

Seeing Lu Zhou’s phone ringing, Dean Qin suddenly smiled and said, “Seems like you have some work to do, so I won’t bother you.”

After speaking, he quickly turned and walked away.

Once the door of the office was closed, the room became quiet again.

Seeing the unfamiliar number, Lu Zhou guessed that it was probably from the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, calling him to discuss matters related to the space elevator. He didn’t hesitate and simply pressed the button to connect.

However, what he didn’t expect was that there was a familiar voice coming from the other end of the phone.

“Hello, I’m Lu Xiaoqiao, your… probably granddaughter.”

Lu Zhou was surprised as to why Lu Xiaoqiao called him, so he asked curiously, “Do you need anything?”

“It may not be convenient on the phone, are you free lately?”

“Kind of.”

She took a deep breath on the other end of the phone and spoke in a serious tone.

“If you can, could you please come to Beijing?”

Chapter 1586: Reunion After a Century

“Are you… really his granddaughter?”

Looking at the woman standing on the edge of the hospital bed, who looked a bit like Lu Zhou, Vera opened her mouth dumbfounded, not knowing what to feel.

Lu Xiaoqiao instantly guessed what Vera had misunderstood, so she quickly explained.

“Although we are related, it’s not what you think.”

Vera’s hands that were holding the sheets tightened as she said weakly, “I don’t mind…”

“I’ve told you, it’s not what you think.” Lu Xiaoqiao pressed her glabella and sighed in her heart. She continued, “Basically, I am probably considered his collateral descendant, from Lu Xiaotong’s line.”

“Xiao Tong…”

Lu Xiaoqiao nodded calmly.

“Yeah.”

The little hands that were squeezing the sheets loosened slowly, but they then tightened.

Xiao Tong isn’t here anymore…

Although this was inevitable, Vera still felt a little bit lonely in her heart.

Maybe because Vera was the quiet type, she had a good impression of that lively girl.

Especially when she was a professor at Princeton, the relationship between the two had always been very good.

Also, because of a certain person, she had always treated Xiao Tong as her own sister.

Lu Xiaoqiao read the expression on Vera’s face and guessed something, so she spoke softly.

“Please don’t feel sad for her. According to my father and grandpa, she was a very kind person who lived a happy and beautiful life. Life itself is a journey with a beginning and an end. If there is a beginning, there must be an end. Everything is inevitable.”

“… I just can’t control my emotions right now.”

After taking a deep breath, she calmed the sad emotions in her heart a bit and showed a reluctant smile.

“Thank you for your kind words… To be able to nurture a kind-hearted child like you, I believe she must have been very proud during her lifetime.”

A shy smile appeared on Lu Xiaoqiao’s face, and she said embarrassedly, “In fact, it’s nothing… I haven’t met her before, I just listen to grandpa talking about her.”

The door of the ward suddenly opened, and Qian Xiuxiu, who was wearing a nurse’s uniform, walked in.

“Vera, someone is here for you, is now a good time?”

“Who is it?”

Qian Xiuxiu said with a smile, “It seems like he is a big celebrity. His name is Lu Zhou, although many people call him Academician Lu.”

Vera, who was leaning on the pillow, sat up with excitement.

“Yeah, yes! Can you please let him come in as soon as possible?”

Seeing Vera’s reaction, Qian Xiuxiu smiled.

“Well, you have to give him time to walk over.”

Looking at the nurse standing at the door, Lu Xiaoqiao glanced at her watch and muttered to herself in a low voice, “I thought he was going to come when he had spare time…”

After calling Lu Zhou this morning, he arrived before noon, which really surprised Xiao Qiao.

After getting the patient’s permission, Qian Xiuxiu nodded and walked briskly to leave the ward. It didn’t take long for a man in clothes that were slightly boring to walk on.

Looking at the person who appeared at the door, Vera’s pupils were filled with teardrops; the excitement turned into a murmur like a trickle of water.

“I must be dreaming…”

“But you’re not.” Lu Zhou gulped while looking at Vera sitting on the hospital bed. He said softly, “I told you, like I said, it was just a blink of an eye.”

Vera: “But actually, I had a long, long dream.”

“Oh?”

Vera blushed and said, “I dreamed that I was lying in a frozen crystal coffin and saw a beautiful princess through the mist. She said a lot to me. Told me to take care of you… As for the rest, I don’t remember clearly.”

Take care of me…

Lu Zhou smiled in his heart.

He didn’t think he needed to be taken care of.

“Um…”

“What?”

After being silent for a while, Vera whispered, “Why haven’t you changed at all?”

Are people immortal now?

But this couldn’t explain why Xiao Tong passed away.

She felt that during the time she was sleeping, a lot of things had happened either by her side or in a place far away from her.

This strange feeling gave her a trace of panic, but for some reason, after seeing the familiar face, the feeling of peace of mind filled her whole body again.

“A lot of things have happened in the past 100 years, and all aspects have exceeded my expectations.” Lu Zhou cast his eyes out of the window with a bit of worry. After pondering for a while, Lu Zhou continued, “After you are discharged from the hospital, I will take time to tell you everything.”

Not only did she need time to rest, he felt that he also needed some time to collect his thoughts.

For her, everything might be just a blink of an eye, but in this blink of an eye, a lot of things had happened to him.

The kiss on the front of the forehead was enough to make him feel guilty. He did not expect that there would also be a million-word love letter.

He even regretted his visit to Princeton…

Looking at Lu Zhou intently, Vera said in a very soft voice, “Um… thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. In fact, I didn’t do anything, I really don’t deserve your—”

“No, you gave me knowledge, warmth, and courage that I never thought I could get.” After a pause, her eyes trembled as she added, “Also, I also really miss you.”

For some reason, the word “miss” made him feel weird, but he couldn’t describe this feeling.

He did miss her, and he even investigated her whereabouts, but because of various reasons such as age, he couldn’t find any news about her.

According to the available information, during the duration of her frozen dormancy, someone modified her hospitalization information, as well as multiple safety settings including the time limit of cryosleep and the activation conditions for the wake-up program.

Otherwise, Vera would have woken up 20 years ago or even earlier.

As for who did this and for what purpose, it was unclear.

Although this was the information age, in the face of the barrier of time, even Xiao Ai couldn’t be omniscient and omnipotent in an absolute sense.

Changing back to the original topic, Lu Zhou spoke with a light cough.

“Did you think about where to go now that you are awake?”

Vera: “I don’t have a home, nor anyone that I know… This world is too foreign to me, and I don’t know where to go.”

“Sorry… I couldn’t help but throw you into this era, but under the circumstances at that time, that was the best way.”

“Don’t be sorry, you obviously saved me.” Vera smiled softly. She lowered her eyelashes slightly, and she was somewhat inexplicably happy. She then added in a quiet voice, “But I don’t know what to do…”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“If you have no idea where to go, just live with me for now…”

With Vera’s abilities, it was not a problem to find a job as a mathematics professor at Jin Ling University.

Even though she came from 100 years ago, her research in the frontier field might be a little behind, but the basic things would not change, whether it was 100 years ago or 100 years later.

Of course…

There was also his own selfishness.

He happened to lack an assistant who could help him study the wave equation of the Z particle, and Vera, who was excellent in both professional and thinking skills, was undoubtedly a suitable candidate.

As for other things…

He would find a suitable time to explain to her what happened after going dormant.

However, when she heard the first half of the sentence, Vera’s face turned red. She didn’t even hear what Lu Zhou said later.

Lu Xiaoqiao, who was standing aside, sighed.

I feel like, as the manager of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, there’s nothing for me to do here…

I should be the expert on dormant people…

Chapter 1587: The Legend of Heroes is a Long Story

The discharge procedure was quickly completed.

In fact, when Lu Xiaoqiao called Lu Zhou, Vera had basically recovered.

However, due to her being in a dormant state for a long time, the various organs in her body had yet to fully adapt to the feeling of being awake, thus causing her to occasionally feel weak and tired. Otherwise, her health aspects were basically no different from normal people.

Future technology was quite amazing.

From the perspective of those from the 21st century, this was like a miracle.

Back to the suburbs of Jinling.

Xiao Ai, with a drone sitting on her head, was hiding quietly while staring at this special guest.

As a form of artificial intelligence, big data intuition told her that the two-person household that comprised of herself and her master might be disrupted.

At least for a while.

Through the holographic operation interface, Lu Zhou skillfully waved his index finger and assigned the permission to use the door locks to Vera one by one.

After turning off the holographic panel, he then looked at the bewildered little girl who was standing in the living room with flushed cheeks and continued, “Before you find a place to live, you can live here for the time being. Your room is in a guest room on the second floor. The door lock can be operated through your personal terminal. I have sent you the electronic key.”

“Eh?”

Seeing an unexpected expression on Vera’s face, Lu Zhou cast a questioning glance at her.

“What’s the problem?”

Vera whispered: “What if I can’t find a suitable place to live in?”

“How come?” Lu Zhou smiled and gave her an encouraging look. “I will help you.”

Vera gently pressed her lips into the shape of a w, but she soon returned to her usual appearance and politely whispered, “Thank you.”

She seemed reluctant.

Lu Zhou spent a whole afternoon helping her organize the room and teaching her some knowledge about this era and common sense in life.

For example, Xiao Ai was a robot, and robots were good friends of mankind, as well as an assistant to the family.

Also, in this information age, the holographic ID code that marked one’s identity meant everything, whether it was credit points or anything else. It was linked to one’s ID, so it must be kept well.

As well as…

The research project he was doing.

After finishing these things, just as Lu Zhou was about to return back to his laboratory, a small hand suddenly grabbed his cuff.

“Wait a minute…”

There was a firm tone in that soft voice.

Faced with the eyes that were shining like lake water, Lu Zhou fell into silence.

He might have guessed what she wanted to say.

“Although it may be a century ago to you, it still feels like yesterday to me. Thank you for the last kiss. Although I fell asleep in the end… Fortunately, after I woke up, you are still here.

“Although it was a century ago, my thoughts haven’t changed.

“The first person I thought of after waking up was you, and the one I wanted to see the most was also you…

“So…”

Looking at the girl with anxiety and hope on her face, Lu Zhou knew that he could no longer hesitate like this, so he put on a serious look, looked at her, and said, “Listen, I have to tell you something.”

The sentimental voice paused slightly.

Looking at Lu Zhou who had a serious expression on his face, Vera, who had already felt something, spoke in a softly trembling voice.

“Tell me.”

“I…” Lu Zhou said after being silent for a while, “I already have a fiancee.”

The air was quiet for a few seconds.

The whole space seemed to be frozen; even Xiao Ai, who was hiding and peeking quietly, froze there.

In the end, the slightly trembling eyelashes broke the silence.

Seeing a trace of sadness in her eyes, Lu Zhou was about to say something to comfort her, but she suddenly said, “That person… must be a very beautiful girl.”

Although Lu Zhou didn’t understand why she said this, he still nodded his head.

“Yeah, in my mind, she is irreplaceable.”

Even though she was from a century ago…

After listening to the words that were spoken without any hesitation, Vera felt a faint tingling in her chest.

But she was no longer the cowardly little girl who could only be saved by others.

After taking a deep breath, she tried to restrain the sorrow that filled her chest and continued, “I may have seen her.”

“You should have seen her when she was in Stockholm a long time ago, she was the one—”

“I mentioned before, that when I was asleep, I had a very long dream,” Vera interrupted Lu Zhou. She then smiled softly and continued, “Although I didn’t quite understand who the person standing in front of the crystal coffin was, but I now understand who was the person I saw at that time.”

Do dreams occur during frozen dormancy?

Although it was difficult to do this in terms of scientific theories, as a scholar, Lu Zhou was very clear about the nature of science, that there were many things that science couldn’t explain…

Besides, he had a similar experience when he was on Mars.

“Did you dream of her?”

“Technically, it might not have been a dream. Although there was something separating us, she seemed to be standing next to me.”

Lu Zhou immediately asked, “What did she say to you?”

“I don’t remember the rest, but what I can remember is that she said that you went to a place far, far away. She also said that if a miracle could happen, she hoped that I could take care of you for her.”

That does seem like something she would say…

Just like his “last words” in that holographic video, he hoped that she would forget about him and start a new life.

Looking at Lu Zhou who was in silence, Vera’s eyes swayed with hope, and she said softly, “I lost to time… But luckily, a miracle really happened. Today, 100 years later, I met you again.”

Lu Zhou: “But I might not change my mind. To you, what happened 100 years ago is the same as if it happened yesterday, but it is the same for me. Everything seems to have happened yesterday. Two years ago, I made a promise in front of Lake Mälaren. I promised her on a snowy night last year that I would give her a star—”

Vera blinked slightly.

“But that was a century ago.”

After being silent for a while, Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yes… even though it was a century ago.”

A smile appeared on her face as Vera continued, “Don’t worry, I won’t let the person I love become a liar. He is a hero in my mind.”

Looking at Lu Zhou who was silent, she continued, “That formula… is for speed navigation.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

Looking at Lu Zhou, Vera plucked up the courage and continued speaking in a firm tone, “I will help you complete it.”

Hearing these words, Lu Zhou showed a hint of surprise on his face. He looked at her in disbelief and confirmed, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

As she nodded lightly, her fluffy and soft hair exuded the brilliance of an angel.

She looked at Lu Zhou in front of her and continued in a serious tone, “The legend of heroes is a long story.

“I will go to Tau Ceti with you regardless of whether you plan to come back or not.

“After fulfilling that promise, the rest of the story will belong to us.”

Chapter 1588: The Sky-Reaching Tower Rising From the Ground

At an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, on an astronomical observatory space station, a man wearing a white work shirt stood in front of the thick porthole glass, looking at the vast starry sky from a distance.

There were more than ten towering starships parked in space.

The thick and long robotic arms were stacking the steel skeletons to the correct position. Engineering drones came out of the cabin, entwining the magnificent outline like fireflies while constantly flashing with faint but obvious electric sparks.

The space section for the space elevator was taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye.

If one were to take a high-resolution photo of the space station every hour, one could clearly feel the difference by comparing the photos.

“It seems they are really getting to work.”

The man who said this was Field, a special observer who was sent here recently by the North American Space Agency.

Since this was the geosynchronous orbit space station closest to the space elevator construction site in North America, as early as a week ago, the scientific research mission here changed from observing distant stars to observing the Pan-Asians.

“The budget is in the trillions, so of course they don’t want to waste time.”

Johnny walked next to Field and handed him a bag of coffee.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“Thank you.”

Taking the coffee bag from Johnny’s hand, Field took out the plastic straw from the bag, removed the straw packaging, and took a sip.

Looking at the construction site outside the porthole, Johnny said in a chatty tone, “Speaking of which, you are a space engineering major, right?”

“That’s right, before joining the North American Space Agency, I worked for SpaceX for a while.”

“Really? From the perspective of a professional, what stage do you think their construction site has reached?”

Looking at the starry sky outside the porthole, Field gave an answer after thinking for a moment.

“Just inferring from experience, they are probably still building the main beam of the space station.”

After hearing these words, Johnny raised his eyebrows and glanced sideways at him unexpectedly.

“Such a big main beam?”

Although his major was not aerospace engineering, he had worked on this observing space station for so many years, so he was quite familiar with his working environment.

In his impression, he had never heard of a space station that would build such a long main beam.

In order to keep the center of gravity relatively stable on the orbit, most space stations were designed to be flat, and the length in the axial direction of gravity was as short as possible.

“Yes…” Obviously, he also thought of this. As a professional, Field nodded his head solemnly and continued, “From the perspective of the length of the main beam, the volume of this space station is at least two that of the Tianzhou spacecraft.”

Otherwise, there was no need for such a ridiculous main beam.

There was one more sentence he didn’t say, but it had been written on the observation report.

What surprised him most was not the length of the main beam, but the position of the entire main beam relative to the outline of the space elevator.

After working for so many years, he had seen many space stations, but this was the first time he saw such a strange design scheme.

Although he hadn’t seen the blueprint of the space section of the space elevator, his instincts told him that those Pan-Asian people might be building something incredible.

“Gyro-shaped space station?”

“Could it be that they intend to balance the mass change of the space elevator and the pulling of gravity on the center of gravity through centrifugal motion?”

His pupils contracted slightly.

He then muttered softly, “How is this possible?”

It was almost impossible to achieve such a thing. A series of influences, including the load of the space elevator’s cargo compartment, the speed of movement, the solar wind, and the atmospheric airflow, might cause the position of the center of gravity of the space elevator to change.

This was not only a test of information processing capabilities but also a test of the strength of materials and the ability to control the machine.

If they can really do it…

Then it would be ridiculous.

…

Just when Field and the North American Space Agency were dumbfounded by the large construction site of the space elevator space section, at the ground level 36,000 kilometers below, turbulent waves were rolling in the sea.

Just a few hours ago, there was torrential rain in this sea, but the blowing winds did not cool down their passionate hearts at all.

On the roaring waves, there were more than 20 100,000-ton engineering ships, which looked like a floating fortress from a distance.

Each of them was designed for the construction of a large port with a throughput of more than one billion tons, but all of them were far away from their familiar coastline and had come to this endless sea in the middle of nowhere.

This time, their task was not just to build a port but to build a steel island here as well as a city on this island.

Chief Engineer Wang from East Asia Heavy Industries held a telescope in his hand. Looking at the sea horizon in the distance, he smiled and said with pride, “If this project is successfully delivered, it will definitely become a milestone in the history of engineering!”

Standing next to him, another academician-level expert of East Asia Heavy Industries said with a smile, “Of course! The entire space elevator goes from an altitude of 36,000 kilometers down to our feet. Each inch is a miracle in human history!”

In theory, the space elevator should be built from the sky down, but Academician Lu gave completely different suggestions.

The sky section and the sea-level section were to be constructed simultaneously. After the completion of the two sections, the part from the space segment would begin to advance to the ground, connecting the geosynchronous orbit and the sea-level section.

After this proposal was put forward, it was immediately adopted. The engineering ships of East Asia Heavy Industries also came out of their nests. All the production capacity deployed on the sea level was concentrated in this area.

A staff member trotted into the bridge, stopped next to Chief Engineer Wang, and said excitedly, “All engineering ships have reached the target area! Chief Engineer Wang, is it time for us to take the next step?”

The smile on his face grew brighter.

Chief Engineer Wang put down the telescope in his hand. He adjusted his facial expression slightly as he said in a sonorous voice, “Get all engineering ships ready to anchor!”

As the chains hit the bottom of the sea, the disturbed groups of fish scattered and fled.

Under the loud rumbling sound of the engines, heavy engineering equipment began to work on the sea-level section.

From the sky to the sea level, from this moment on, the industrial machines of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, which were entrenched on the ground, were completely mobilized and issued a roar that the world had never heard before.

When a group was determined to do something, it would make a uniform sound.

The sound was not transmitted by air; it resounded through everyone’s heart instead.

At this moment, its industrial capacity had reached its limit, even breaking the margin of people’s imagination, making the impossible possible.

Just like the announcement to them by a certain great man destined to remain famous in history at that triumphal ceremony.

They were the people who were destined for great things.

They were burdened with the future of human civilization and a community with a shared future for mankind.

At the same time, this was also the “destiny” engraved in their cultural blood by their ancestors.

Just when the construction of the space elevator was in full swing, and people’s enthusiasm was completely ignited by iron and electricity, an exciting storm was also brewing in the academic world.

In the third week after the fusion ignition day celebration, Lu Zhou suddenly published a public proposition on LSPM and made a solemn promise at the end of the proposition.

If someone could solve the proposition he put forward or make a sufficiently outstanding result in this field, he would personally award him the Lu Zhou Science Award.

Giving an award that was named after himself.

Although this sounded a bit weird, no one felt that there was anything wrong with it.

Whether in mathematics or physics, the enthusiasm of all scholars was ignited.

No one in history had ever received such a great honor of being personally awarded the Lu Zhou Science Award by Lu Zhou himself.

In the face of this honor, even the huge credit bonus was overshadowed by it.

After all, he was Lu Zhou.

The man who was said to be standing on the pinnacle of the human mind…

After the news spread, the entire academic community went crazy…

Chapter 1589: The Dawn Beyond the Speed of Light

Jin Ling University.

Two mathematics students who came to the library to study on their own were sitting quietly in a corner of the library.

One of them, who was wearing a pair of glasses, gestured in the air on the holographic screen while the other was lying on the table, thinking hard about the formulas on the holographic screen.

Pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose, Zhang Tao took a moment to glance at the holographic screen on his roommate’s desk. He suddenly showed an expression as if he had discovered a new world.

“Yo, Old Xu, why are you still researching physics?”

As if he didn’t want to be found out about what he was doing, Xu Teli gave his roommate a side glance and said with a dry cough, “No, it’s just interesting to see this equation. It doesn’t seem to be difficult, so I’m trying to solve it.”

“And then? Have you solved it yet?”

Seeing his roommate leaning in eagerly, Xu Teli had to admit his failure angrily.

“F*ck, something that even Academician Lu can’t solve… Of course I can’t solve it!”

He admitted that he did have unrealistic ideas at first. For example, he thought that, since Academician Lu came from a century ago, the difficult problem that he faced could actually be easily solved by those who were living in this era.

And if he could solve this problem that even his ancestors were troubled by, not only would the professors look at him with admiration, but he might also receive the Lu Zhou Mathematics Prize, which was the holy grail of mathematics.

After all, Lu Zhou said it himself.

If anyone could solve this problem, he would personally award the Lu Zhou Mathematics Prize to that person.

Of course, he had completely abandoned this plan now.

No matter how he looked at it, the gravitational wave equation of this Z particle was already in its simplest form; there was no room for simplification. As for whether there was room for further improvement in the physics sense, it was beyond the scope of his professional knowledge.

Upon hearing these words, Sun Tao, who was wearing square-rim glasses, was shocked. He said in a humiliating voice, “Nutty, kiddo, you are all starting to challenge the public proposition issued by Academician Lu.”

He reached out his right hand and touched his buddy’s forehead, but he was slapped away by a hand.

“F*ck off, stop f*cking teasing me, and don’t talk to me for 5 minutes!”

Looking at his depressed roommate, Sun Tao made a helpless expression on his face. His index finger flicked twice in the air.

“Actually, you shouldn’t be so depressed. This is not just Academician Lu, almost the whole mathematics circle is trying to solve this thing, including Professor Sun Jingwen… I don’t know if you follow the discussion on the LSPM forum, but several big names have already made the conclusion that this equation cannot be further simplified. There are also several physicists who believe that unless a large number of high-energy experiments provide new data, the gravitational wave equation is basically the most accurate expression.”

After hearing this sentence, Xu Teli finally felt a little comfort in his heart, but he quickly felt embarrassed by his previous unrealistic idea.

“What a waste of time…”

Originally, he thought that this atypical high-dimensional topology problem was somewhat similar in structure to Poincaré’s theorem, but it seemed that he was too naive.

He dragged the entire draft paper into the recycle bin and clicked the delete button.

In midst of his friend’s jokes, he completely abandoned this unsuccessful attempt…

…

Like Sun Tao said, there were plenty of people discussing the Z particle gravitational wave equation on the LSPM forum.

And those who just came to join in the fun of mathematics had also rushed into the discussion.

What interested them was not those complicated academic issues, but the gossip behind this academic issue.

For example…

As the chief consultant of the space elevator project, why did Lu Zhou become interested in the Z particle’s gravitational wave equation at this special time?

Compared to the perfunctory explanation of temporary intentions, most people were more willing to believe that Academician Lu must have discovered something extraordinary while studying problems in the space field.

And in Lu Zhou’s opinion, the importance of this thing even surpassed the space elevator!

If this was the case, it would be somewhat interesting.

The greatest physical property of Z particles was that they could interfere with gravity when they oscillated, thereby affecting the curvature of spacetime.

And precisely because of this special physical property, as early as a century ago, the particle that seemed to float from the Void was linked to the concept of faster than light speed by physicists.

Compared with the neutrinos that disappointed him again and again, the Z particles clearly had this potential.

If Lu Zhou really discovered something in the gravitational wave equation of the Z particle and found a way to stabilize the hyperspace channel, the impact on human civilization would be even stronger than the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion…

After all, mastering the key to faster than light speed meant mastering the key to a more distant world.

Even if it was temporarily impossible to travel to more distant worlds, even if things like warp travel were still a bit far away, just sending a few photons or pieces of information into the hyperspace channel would have a huge impact on human civilization.

It was precisely because of this that not only Jin Ling University, but almost all universities and research institutions involved in theoretical physics research were paying attention to this proposition.

As a large-scale scientific research institution second only to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences was naturally involved.

After learning that this public proposition was elevated to such a high position by Lu Zhou, Professor Hao Zeyu and Professor Lu Wenmao immediately put aside their work and devoted themselves to the research of this proposition.

Unlike the students who were playing around, they were not only serious professors of theoretical physics and mathematical physics but also elite scholars in their field of study.

Not only had these two won multiple physics awards in the international field, but because of their outstanding contributions in the field of hyperspace, they were regarded as two of the most competitive candidates for the Lu Zhou Physics Award.

Holding a cup of hot tea, Hao Zeyu walked to the side of Professor Lu Wenmao and pulled out the chair. He sat down and said in a chatty tone, “I just went to the LSPM forum to look around.”

Professor Lu Wenmao paused the holographic screen as he cast a questioning gaze at him.

“Any new discoveries?”

Professor Hao Zeyu smiled and said, “If you are asking about academic findings, they are not available yet, but looking at the gossip discussed by those netizens, I think it’s quite interesting.”

“When did you become interested in those boring things?”

“Is it boring? I don’t think so.” Professor Hao Zeyu moistened his throat with a sip of the hot tea before continuing, “The stable and oscillating Z particles can make space bend steadily. As early as a century ago, Lu Zhou proved this through mathematical methods, and in 2043, under the guidance of Professor Luo Wenxuan, the ILHCRC successfully proved this through experiments…

“It is now 2126, and three and a half weeks have passed since the launch of the space elevator project. At this special point in time, Academician Lu, who is the chief consultant of the space elevator project, suddenly turned his attention from the geosynchronous orbit to the Z particle. Don’t you think there might be something strange in this?”

After listening to the analysis of his colleague, Professor Lu Wenmao couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

Now that he puts it like this…

It does sound interesting.

“Tell me your opinion?”

“It’s just a hypothesis,” said Professor Hao Zeyu. He continued, “Based on my understanding of the Z particle, he probably didn’t research space elevator-related things during this period. Instead, he was researching warp drive or similar things, and he is almost successful.”

With a gleam in his eyes, Professor Lu Wenmao blurted out, “However, he still lacks the most critical key?”

“Yes!” Professor Hao Zeyu smiled and nodded, “This key is the gravitational wave equation of the Z particle!”

He put his right hand on Professor Lu Wenmao’s shoulder and continued with a bright smile on his face, “So you understand, my friend, we are engaged in a great undertaking, even greater than the space elevator, and this is something that only us theorists can do!”

“If our Z particle wave equation promotes the birth of the warp drive, we will become the founders of the future era!

“As well as the greatest physicists of this century!”

Chapter 1590: Gossiping Mathematicians

The library of Jin Ling University.

A blond woman was sitting at the table by the window, looking intently at the book in her hand.

Her fluffy hair looked particularly dazzling in the sun, and her soft facial contour and slightly petite figure made people want to protect her.

In the Pan-Asian Cooperation during the 22nd century, foreign faces were no longer rare, but people walking in the library still cast inquisitive glances here from time to time.

There was only one reason.

Although foreigners were not rare, old popsicles were different.

Especially since this old popsicle’s status was a bit unusual…

“Compared to a century ago, both mathematics and physics have advanced too much in this era…”

Closing the book in her hand, Vera showed an ashamed expression on her face and continued, “Sorry… I may need a period of study before I can help you.”

Sitting on the opposite side of Vera, Lu Zhou smiled slightly and comforted her.

“Don’t apologize. I was the one who troubled you. Besides, I don’t expect this problem to be solved in a short time. For now, you focus on integrating into this era.”

Vera nodded nervously.

To be honest, she felt strange and terrified about everything in this era.

She still remembered the first time she took a maglev car, she was so scared that she stuck to the seat and did not dare to move, let alone look out the window.

There were also those robots, as well as the aerospace shuttles that she heard about…

Whether it was academic or life, there were too many things she didn’t understand in this era.

“Aside from the physics part, do you have any good ideas about this Z particle wave equation?”

Faced with the question thrown by Lu Zhou, the little girl pondered for a while and answered seriously, “This is a high-dimensional topology problem, which reminds me of the proof of Poincaré’s conjecture. If some special differential manifolds are introduced as an auxiliary, maybe it will make the proposition itself easier?”

Lu Zhou nodded approvingly. “It’s a very good idea, can you be more specific?”

Perhaps because it had been too long since she last heard Lu Zhou’s praise, Vera showed a somewhat embarrassed expression on her face as she continued to say awkwardly, “Can you give me a piece of draft paper…? I’m still not used to the holographic screen.”

Lu Zhou nodded and got up from the chair.

“No problem.”

Although the 22nd century had entered a paperless era, it was still possible to find paper.

For example, in the library where they were, although most students downloaded electronic versions of the materials and read them on their personal terminals, each book also had a corresponding paper version.

In addition, the library also had a printing room dedicated to printing. Although the cost was not cheap, it was still affordable for the students studying here.

Lu Zhou brought a stack of white paper from the printing room. He placed it in front of Vera, looked at her curious eyes, and waited for her to speak her thoughts.

Without hesitating for too long, Vera took a pen from Lu Zhou’s hand and wrote on the paper carefully.

[… (Ihδ/δt)·ψ(r,t)=(-thca·▽+βmc^2)ψ(r,t)]

[…]

Because she was not familiar with physics, Vera wrote very slowly; every step was carefully considered, even to a cumbersome level.

However, as the step-by-step process continued to advance, Lu Zhou understood what she wanted to express with the help of these calculations.

“Dirac equation?”

“Yeah.” Vera nodded lightly with a smile on her face as she continued, “The Dirac equation is the most basic formula in relativistic quantum mechanics. It is the first time in the history of physics that quantum mechanics and special relativity were combined together.”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“It’s a basic concept… then?”

“Like you always say, many profound things are often hidden in simple and basic truths and have expressions that are so concise that they are unimaginable. I don’t know the deep concepts of physics, but just like how the Dirac equation reveals the antiparticle and spin properties of microphysics, through a simple and easy-to-understand method, we can also add this bridge between the Z particle and the curvature of space.”

Vera moved the pen in her hand as she continued to write a few lines of calculation.

Looking at the line-by-line calculations presented on the paper, an expression of interest appeared on Lu Zhou’s face.

“I didn’t expect you to have done research on the Kármán-Howarth equation.”

“It’s only just because you have researched turbulence problems.” Vera smiled shyly and said softly, “And it happens that I am very interested in the differential manifold method you used to solve turbulence problems, so I tried to understand them.”

Lu Zhou: “I was right, you are brilliant!”

The white cheeks were stained with red. Vera did not speak; she silently accepted the compliment.

After she filled two pages of the draft paper, she stopped writing and looked at Lu Zhou.

“These are all my thoughts… Although I feel that it may not be comprehensive, and many new-generation mathematical tools and theories weren’t used—”

“It’s pretty good already!” Interrupting Vera, Lu Zhou gave her an encouraging look and said with an excited smile on his face, “5 minutes ago, when you wrote the 20th line, I suddenly had an idea.”

Hearing these words, Vera showed a smile on her face, as if she was happier than solving the problem herself. She whispered, “Really? That’s great!”

Although from her position, she still couldn’t see the solution to this proposition…

But based on what she knew about Lu Zhou, every time he had such a smile on his face, he was close to completing the research project…

In the seat not far away, the two students were looking over at this side. One of them broke the silence in a low voice.

“Is that Academician Lu?” Pointing to the direction, Sun Tao gulped and said, “Looks like it.”

Without answering his question, Xu Teli, who was sitting next to him, was stunned. He muttered to himself in a low voice, “Amazing…”

Sun Tao: “What’s amazing?”

Moving his neck stiffly, Xu Teli gave his roommate a strange look and said solemnly, “Have you seen him work with other people in the library before?”

Sun Tao was stunned. He shook his head.

“I don’t stalk him every day… How would I know?”

“Oh yeah.” Xu Teli sighed and patted his forehead lightly. “I forgot that you’re a bad student.”

When he heard these words, Sun Tao was immediately unhappy, and he yelled in a low voice so that he wouldn’t affect the others.

“Hey, why are you attacking me?!”

Ignoring his roommate, Xu Teli looked at the two figures not far away as he continued to speak with a very professional appearance.

“I come to the library every day to check in, and I have seen Academician Lu here many times. Every time, he would be here alone as he read some books, or by the windowsill, and he would have a cup of black coffee without sugar.”

Sun Tao: “You’re quite observant… But what does that mean?”

Xu Teli: “Are you stupid? Do you want me to explain it more?”

Sun Tao reacted instantly. He suddenly exclaimed in his heart.

Although I don’t like gossip…

But this is Academician Lu!

The ancestor of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study!

The “scientific research machine”!

In an instant, he finally understood why his roommate was so shocked…

Chapter 1591: One Step at a Time

Mansion on the outskirts of Jinling.

Vera, who was sitting at the dining table, was attentively eating the fried eggs on the table while watching the holographic TV floating on the wall.

Although it had been almost a week since coming to this era, she still hadn’t fully adapted to the technological products of this era.

Especially the TVs that she could walk through. As someone from 2022, she really didn’t understand how this was possible.

However, the focus of her attention today was not the holographic TV itself, but the TV programs instead.

A gray-bearded professor sat in the studio and talked freely in the interview.

“If you ask me, I can tell you that you are looking for the right person. In the field of Z particle research, no one knows more than me except Academician Lu himself!”

With a polite smile on his face, the host looked at the old professor sincerely and said, “Okay, Professor Belur, we all know that you are an expert in the field of theoretical physics… What do you think about the reward for this proposition?”

“The Z particle wave equation has always been a cutting-edge research direction in theoretical physics, and the difficulty of this research direction is obvious to all. However, what I’m talking about here is only the difficulty, not the importance of the proposition itself.”

Host: “Can you elaborate?”

“This is nothing to elaborate on. No matter whether our understanding of space extends to n-dimensional or n+1 dimensional, we are all beings living in three-dimensional space. Even if the universe is a folded and twisted surface in a higher dimension, for us, the gap between that side and our side is still insurmountable.

“In short, even if we know that we are at the bottom of a well, the height of this well is insurmountable, so simply knowing it won’t change anything. We have worked on the gravitational wave equation of Z particles in the past century, but the physics community has not treated it as a proposition that had to be solved at the moment.”

Moderator: “So, in your opinion, Academician Lu has overestimated the importance of this equation?”

Professor Belur relaxed his shoulders. “Yes… At least I think so.”

Moderator: “What about warp travel? What about faster than light technology?”

Belur: “Forget it, although almost two centuries have passed, but… Einstein is still correct.”

The show continued, but Vera was already done with breakfast.

She placed the cutlery on the plate and couldn’t help but fall into deep thought while watching the TV.

Is warp travel just a beautiful fantasy?

Vera didn’t particularly agree with Professor Belur’s words. However, this judgment did not come from her own knowledge of physics. It was purely from her unconditional belief in another scholar.

But…

He is not always right.

If warp travel is really just a fantasy, there will never be a shortcut to a folded universe…

For some reason, she suddenly had a thought that surprised herself.

If that was the case, that would be great…

Xiao Ai, wearing an apron, walked over while humming a cheerful tune.

She was going to help clean the dishes, but Vera quickly stood up with the plate and spoke politely.

“I can clean up the table. Thank you very much for letting me live here. I feel bad for bothering you and letting you take care of me like this—”

Before Vera could finish her words, the plate in her hand was snatched away by Xiao Ai.

Xiao Ai jumped aside flexibly, turned her head, and gave her a triumphant look.

“Give up, the conspiracy to steal Master from Xiao Ai will not succeed! (⃔*`꒳ ́*)⃕↝”

Vera: “…?”

She is just an AI, right?

…

These days, the heated debate about the Z particle gravitational wave equation had become more and more intense.

The academic debate had evolved from the initial proposition itself to whether it was possible to achieve warp travel and faster than light communication and whether this proposition was important enough.

After all, the gravitational wave equation of the Z particle had been used in physics for a whole century. In the past century, people had not found the so-called simpler and more precise expression; they only had a hypothesis that it might exist.

But now, countless leaders in theoretical physics had refocused their attention on this progressively marginalized frontier field, but they still hadn’t made any particularly useful results.

No matter how patient they were, scholars in this direction would inevitably feel impetuous.

After all, so many scientific research resources were used on one hypothesis. Even though it was led by Academician Lu, this was still unreasonable.

However, compared to the impetuous outside world, Lu Zhou himself was full of confidence in this research.

With the help of his great apprentice, the progress of the project went smoothly.

Although working hard in academic research wouldn’t guarantee results, Lu Zhou clearly felt how much a coordinated assistant could help him.

However, even though they were concentrating on academic matters, some rumors still spread.

After returning home from Jin Ling University, Lu Zhou looked at Vera, who was hanging his coat before Xiao Ai could. He thought for a while and spoke.

“I’ll help you find a place to live as soon as possible.”

Vera’s hand that was holding the coat paused slightly. She whispered, “Are you sick of me?”

“Of course not.” Seeing that Vera had clearly misunderstood his kindness, Lu Zhou sighed and continued, “As for a job… I have found one for you. From now on, you will be a mathematics professor of Jin Ling University.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome… But when we were leaving, Dean Qin of the mathematics department asked me if you were staying at my house.”

Vera’s cheeks were slightly hot.

Although this was true, it was a bit embarrassing for outsiders to know.

“Then what…”

“Then the old man eagerly advised me to pay attention.” Lu Zhou made a helpless expression and said, “He said that the whole school seems to be spreading gossip about you…”

“Let them gossip about those rumors.” Vera said nonchalantly while looking at Lu Zhou intently, “You are the only person I know in this world. I only care about what you think of me. Um… Of course, if you think I cause you trouble…”

“What trouble?” Lu Zhou sighed. Looking at Vera, he sighed and said, “Forget it… I’m just worried that if you teach at Jin Ling University, these comments may annoy you. If you don’t care, do as you like.”

Of course, even without the rumors, Lu Zhou couldn’t let her live with him forever.

Not only would the gender difference cause inconvenience in daily life, but more importantly, if she did not go out of her own and start an independent life, she would never be able to truly integrate into this era.

The reason why he let her live here first was so that she could have the time to find her own place.

And if she kept living here with him, it would be contrary to his original intentions.

However, looking at the face full of caution and hope, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say for a while.

Lu Zhou grabbed the hair on the back of his head and threw this matter aside for the time being.

As for the issue of Vera moving out, I’ll wait until the Z particle oscillation device is completed. I don’t care about the rumors after all.

As for the rest, we’ll take it one step at a time…

Chapter 1592: The Clues About the Past

The international waters of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Standing on the deck, Li Guangya looked at the sea level not far away. A smile gradually appeared on his face.

Because East Asia Energy had reached a settlement with the residents of Guanghan City, Nuwa City’s plan was naturally abandoned.

Although it was a happy result for everyone, Li Guangya was not very satisfied that there was still no city directly under the jurisdiction of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Fortunately, because of the space elevator project, everything seemed to have turned around again.

It had only been less than a month since the construction of the Penglai City project started, but the main structure of the entire Penglai City had already risen to above sea level from the seafloor.

The waves crashed on the steel brackets as thick as an elephant leg, like a breeze blowing on the beach. The steel floating fortress was like a real island, standing majestically on the sea.

If grandeur was an art, then this was a masterpiece.

“This will be a miracle in human history; a miracle that only we can accomplish.”

Li Guangya’s eyes seemed to be glued to the telescope as he stared at the construction site.

Chief Engineer Wang, who was standing next to him, showed a heroic smile on his face.

“Of course! In the field of engineering, we are miracles, and only ourselves can surpass us!”

Li Guangya: “Which stage is the project in now?”

“The mainframe has been completed. The next stage of work is to fill foam aluminum between these steel structures. So far, our factory on Mars has completed the order for this batch of materials. The first phase of the entire project can be completed before March!”

In fact, the most difficult part of the whole project was also the first stage.

After the main structure of the entire steel island was completed, the remaining work was just icing on the cake.

For example, adding skyscrapers on this island and establishing a modern transportation system, etc…

Looking at the construction site in the distance, Li Guangya’s eyes were already longing for the future.

His secretary walked over from the side and spoke softly.

“There’s news.”

As if knowing what he was talking about, Li Guangya spoke casually.

“Tell me about it.”

With a confident smile on his face, Wei Song spoke in an affirmative tone.

“The plan was successful, and it perfectly met our expectations!”

“Oh?” Putting down the telescope in his hand, Li Guangya looked at his secretary Wei Song with interest as he asked casually, “Which step is it at now?”

“They are already living together!”

“Just living together, do they have a child?”

Wei Song said, “This… I don’t know, but logically speaking, it wouldn’t make sense.”

“I meant just them being pregnant, not a born child.” Li Guangya shrugged. He returned the binoculars to the bodyguard and walked to the railing on the side of the ship. He continued, “Academician Lu is very important to us. We can’t let him risk his own life. I hope you pay more attention to your work. It is even more important than the space elevator.”

Reducing the confident smile on his face, Wei Song nodded seriously and continued, “I… understand, do I need to investigate his recent purchase list?”

A person’s daily purchases could reflect one’s life status. For example, a single man suddenly purchasing contraception products could be an indicator.

And if he tampered with those products…

“There’s no need for that.” Li Guangya coughed dryly and quickly dispelled his thoughts. He continued, “I don’t mean for you to stalk him, just investigate if there any other relatives or friends of his that are still alive.”

Humans were social animals. Compared to the comfort of the living environment itself, their happiness came mainly from social factors.

In Li Guangya’s opinion, the reason why Lu Zhou had the idea of going to Tau Ceti was largely because of his alienation from this unfamiliar era. The best solution was to give him more information about the world.

After all, he really couldn’t imagine that a person would want to wander into the universe for a promise made a hundred years ago…

“Ah, speaking of which…” Wei Song suddenly remembered something when he heard the chairman’s words, and he said, “You asked me to investigate his relatives and friends from a hundred years ago. Recently, I discovered something special.”

“About who?”

“His sister.”

After hearing this unexpected answer, Li Guangya frowned slightly. He looked at him and asked, “You mean… Lu Xiaotong?”

“Um… it’s very strange. I have been investigating Lu Xiaotong’s spouse’s whereabouts after the 2030s. However, this person seems to have been deleted from history. Except for her offspring, nothing credible is left.”

“What do you mean by credible?”

“It means that starting from the 2030s, some of her news and social activity records seemed fake, and many places were full of contradictions… Especially her descendants, they seemed to appear out of thin air.”

Wei Song couldn’t help but show pity on his face as he continued after sighing, “Unfortunately, her oldest offspring passed away 30 years ago. And those who are still alive, their impression of her was that she was a kind and nice person. So far, I have not found an accurate statement.”

After rubbing his chin, Li Guangya thought for a while and said, “Could she have been ignored because she was not famous?”

Wei Song shook his head and said, “Doesn’t make sense. She was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, as well as the founder and first manager of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation and the Outer Space Colonization Fund. She wasn’t an unknown person. Moreover, for a woman with such outstanding historical achievements, it would be impossible to keep a low profile.”

So far, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation could be regarded as the largest charity organization in the Pan-Asian Cooperation and even in the world. Unlike those charities that simply helped the sick and the poor, this charity helped dormant people integrate into current society, and to a certain extent, it even played a vital role in the stability and prosperity of humanity.

After all, before being integrated into society, dormant people were just “baggage” thrown into the future by the past. Only when they truly integrated into society and received some education could they continue to shine in this society and find a place where they could display their potential.

The entire Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation had always been in charge by the Lu family. It was hard to imagine that Ms. Xiaotong, who was commemorated as the founder, would have so little available information about her.

There was no doubt that some key information had been concealed!

“You mean… she might still be alive?”

“I don’t know.” Wei Song said, shaking his head, “I can’t think of the reason for her going to the future, but there are too many stories that don’t line up. Especially when I checked some electronic databases, which are not in the Security Bureau, I found some unusual records in the paper archives in China.”

Li Guangya immediately asked, “What records?”

Changing into a serious tone, Wei Song continued.

“After the completion of the ‘Oasis’ project in the Northwest, she went to Beijing, then resigned from the position of CEO of Star Sky Technology. She completely disappeared from public view, and there is no record of reliable information in history. An important person like her suddenly disappeared. At that time, the People’s Liberation Army General Staff Department, which was in charge of intelligence work, had investigated her possible whereabouts.

“According to the investigation report in the file, after a year of investigation, although the security personnel in charge of the investigation did not find her whereabouts, the investigation report contained a transcript of the words spoken by Lu Zhou’s sister, Lu Xiaotong.

“And according to Lu Xiaotong’s own words, after leaving Northwest, her brother’s fiancee went to meet her…”

Chapter 1593: Bloodline Project

Jinling suburbs.

Standing on the edge of Lu Zhou’s front yard, Xing Bian straightened his tie. After clearing his throat, he reached out his index finger and pressed the doorbell.

Soon, a familiar face was projected on the holographic screen. He was looked at with scrutiny.

The face then asked, “Why are you here again?”

Xing Bian almost choked on his own saliva.

But this was not the first time he dealt with Lu Zhou. A sunny smile quickly appeared on his face as he said, “I’m just coming to visit you on a regular basis. Don’t worry, I’m definitely not going to trouble you this time… Look, I brought souvenirs for you.”

While speaking, Xing Bian shook the paper bag in his hand with a smile.

Lu Zhou stared at the paper bag for a while,

“What’s this…?”

Xing Bian didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pointed to the door with a smile on his face.

“Let’s talk inside.”

The door soon opened.

Although there was bad news every single time this guy came here, Lu Zhou decided to believe him for once and invited him into the living room.

Xing Bian followed Lu Zhou and entered the house. He glanced around and greeted him in a chatty tone.

“How have you been doing recently?”

“I’ve been doing well, as long as you don’t give me any trouble.”

“Congratulations, you have found paradise then.” Xing Bian smirked and continued, “Speaking of which, that Z equation… How’s the research?”

“Z particle gravitational wave equation… In short, the progress is fairly smooth. The current difficulty lies in the calculation of the ε constant in the new expression. There should be results soon.” Lu Zhou glanced at Xing Bian strangely. He asked casually, “Why are you suddenly interested in academics?”

“After all, that is the key to surpassing the speed of light.” Xing Bian said with a smile, “No one in the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation isn’t interested in this, and I am just one of them.”

Lu Zhou: “I’m afraid you will be disappointed. If you come again this time next year, maybe the situation will be more optimistic.”

Xing Bian: “My instinct tells me that I wouldn’t have to wait that long.”

Looking at him, Lu Zhou said casually, “Unless a miracle happens.”

Xing Bian raised his eyebrows.

“Aren’t you a miracle?”

Lu Zhou told Xiao Ai to go to the kitchen and pour two cups of tea. Then, he cast a questioning look on Xing Bian, who was sitting on the sofa opposite him.

“Go ahead, what do you want this time?”

“Why do you think I only come when I need something?” Xing Bian continued with a helpless expression on his face, “Can’t I just want to see my old friend?”

Lu Zhou didn’t speak. He just gave him a stare.

“Okay then…”

Xing Bian sighed. He put the paper bag in his hand on the coffee table.

“Gift for you, open it.”

Lu Zhou picked up the bag from the coffee table. He tore it open and took out a document.

He hesitated for a moment before asking with confusion in his heart, “What is this?”

“A top-secret file that was released when the confidentiality period expired about twenty years ago… Originally, this stuff was locked in the warehouse. No one put it in electronic form. But just a few days ago, someone from the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters suddenly came to retrieve data from the archives.”

Xing Bian took a sip from the teacup on the table.

After moistening his throat, he continued to speak, “The person who came was Li Guangya’s secretary. Wei Song. You should have met him before. After hearing his request, I took him to the archives, then found this from the pile of files.”

Lu Zhou cast a weird look at him.

“Is it really fine for you to bring out the secrets like this…?”

Knowing too much is not a good thing.

Although Lu Zhou himself was a man of great curiosity, his curiosity was only directed at the universe and nature; he was not particularly curious about other things.

If it was something that might cause trouble, he preferred not to get involved in it from the beginning.

However, after hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Xing Bian just smiled and waved his hand.

“Don’t worry, it’s not the kind of secret you think. Moreover, after a century, these are things that have been decrypted. Although they can’t be directly disclosed on the Internet, it doesn’t matter if they are disclosed to the relevant parties.”

If it were important, it would not have been treated so casually a few decades ago.

Because of the events of last year, Xing Bian had now taken the position of the office director. He still had considerable autonomy and could retrieve as well as decide whether to disclose the files.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. “Relevant party?”

“That’s right.” Xing Bian nodded while looking at Lu Zhou. “Remember what you asked me to do before? To help investigate your fiancée’s whereabouts after she resigned as CEO of Star Sky Technology.”

Lu Zhou: “I thought you had forgotten this matter.”

“Of course not!” Xing Bian grinned. He said heartily, “You did me such a big favor before. If I can’t even remember this little thing, then I would be useless!”

Ignoring his boasting, Lu Zhou went straight to the point, “Do you have any answers?”

“According to an investigation by the security department 100 years ago, after leaving the man-made oasis in the Northwest, she went to Beijing 301 Hospital, which is now the Pan-Asia First Hospital.”

“301 Hospital? She went there for—”

“To see a person.” Xing Bian put down the teacup in his hand. His gaze drifted to the women’s shoes placed in the hallway. He continued in a chatty tone, “That person is probably living here. According to the doctor, she stayed in the dormant room for more than an hour. The security personnel responsible for investigating her disappearance found fingerprints belonging to her on the shell of the dormant cabin.”

Vera?!

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He subconsciously wanted to get up from the sofa, but he was stopped by Xing Bian.

“Don’t get excited. No matter what she said to the dormant cabin, it is impossible for people who are dormant to hear… Listen to me, this is not the main part.”

Lu Zhou took a deep breath, calming himself down. He looked at Xingbian and asked seriously, “Then?”

“After that, she left 301 Hospital and continued to find your sister, Lu Xiaotong. According to the time recorded in the file, that happened in October 2025, and at that time, your sister was participating in a security program planned by the state.

“After that, the investigation of the reason for Chen Yushan’s disappearance and whereabouts was stopped because the clues were interrupted. But one thing for certain is that your sister was the last person to see her.”

Lu Zhou looked away from Xing Bian’s face. He looked at the document in his hand and slowly opened the title page with his trembling index finger. He read the words written on the paper.

“Bloodline Project…”

When he saw these words, he suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

It was almost like…

A long, long time ago, he expected this to happen.

Lu Zhou’s pupils shrank instantly when he saw the first line of the document.

At this moment, he finally understood.

He understood the reason behind that extraordinary sense of intimacy when he saw Lu Xiaoqiao…

Chapter 1594: Even With a 1% Probability

[… He was the wealth of civilization. From the moment the torch was lit, his life no longer belonged to only himself. His torso turned into soil and earth, his blood turned into mountains and rivers, living in people’s hearts forever in another form.

[However, the longing for light and heat of all creatures in nature is eternal. This is not to get more out of him, it is only because we have not yet come out of the pain of losing him…

[January 11th, 2025, Beijing.]

It had been almost a year since the disaster on Mars.

For the past year, Xiao Tong had been writing in a diary every day, hoping to find a moment of peace away from grief.

Xiao Tong wrote the date on the footer, closed the diary, and sighed softly.

It had been three days since she came to Beijing. In these three days, it rained at least two times, and not once did the sky clear up.

As for why she came here at this point in time…

It started with a conversation three days ago.

It was also a rainy day. A well-dressed woman found her house and showed her some documents.

She had seen similar documents from her brother’s close friends, so Xiao Tong guessed the lady was probably a member of the security department.

Her name was Yan Yan.

“Have you thought about it? Although this plan is really important to us, we understand if you want to refuse.”

Looking at the document on the coffee table, Xiao Tong, sitting on the sofa, thought for a while. She then reached out and picked up the pen and wrote her name on it.

She looked up at the surprised woman sitting across from the coffee table. With a smile, she said, “In fact, I was thinking about making similar plans a long time ago. I was just thinking about… his name.”

Yan Yan’s tone eased a little as she spoke.

“There’s no hurry. There is still a long time to think about it.”

“How could I do that? This is a very important thing.” Lu Xiaotong smiled and said, “If this little life must be brought into this world, I hope to give him an identity. After all… Technically, he would be my nephew.”

Of course, it could also be a niece.

Even with the aid of scientific methods, the pairing of chromosomes was a random process.

The woman sitting opposite the coffee table was silent for a while. She did not respond to this sentence but silently accepted the document.

Just like what Lu Xiaotong said.

Even if she refused to sign, they would go ahead as planned.

However, everything would be done without her knowledge. The newborn baby would also live in this world with another identity and surname.

Yan Yan didn’t care what the name of the child would be.

Xiao Tong: “How long until there will be results?”

Yan Yan: “The project was launched last year. It has now entered the clinical stage, so the results should be seen as early as October.”

Xiao Tong: “October… Can I be there at that time?”

Yan Yan said immediately, “Of course you can, you will always be updated with the latest progress of the research… If it is convenient, please come to the site by all means.”

“I will be sure to come then.” Xiao Tong smiled and said, “Although I am not interested in love, I actually want to have a child.”

Yan Yan lowered her head and said softly, “Thanks…”

“You’re welcome.” Xiao Tong shook her head and said with a smile, “This is what I expected.”

…

The so-called Bloodline Project, like the name suggested, was for the continuation of the bloodline.

The entire plan was based on the latest breakthrough research results.

Skin cells were induced into pluripotent stem cells through an analog of the CD38 glycoprotein. They were then cultivated into hPGCLC, which were primordial germ cells, through special induced differentiation technology.

The original intention of this research was to help those infertile patients fulfill their wish to have children. Earlier, this experiment was successful in mice, and related papers had been published. Because of potential ethical risks, this technology faced huge controversy, and the progress of scientific research had been slow as a result.

However, just recently, related research had suddenly made breakthrough progress.

Although Lu Zhou did not leave his own genetic samples before going to Mars, they could still find a lot of things like blood samples and somatic cells.

After all, as Lu Zhou’s personal doctor, Yan Yan had been working by his side for some time.

The whole Bloodline Project process was actually very simple. It was to use the power of science to grow Lu Zhou’s somatic cells into hPGCLC in-vitro, then combine it with the excellent samples in the egg bank to cultivate a blood vessel that could inherit Lu Zhou’s blood.

This method was safer than human cloning and could avoid ethical risks.

As for Xiao Tong, the whole plan did not require her to provide any cells or even for her to act as a mother. The only thing she needed to do was to provide a legal identity.

That was, this test-tube baby would be born into this world as her child…

In fact, in a strict sense, it was extremely risky to directly use this immature technology to nurture human newborns.

Moreover, it was also clear to people that even if they had the exact same genes, they might not be able to recreate a scholar whose academic ability was comparable to that of Academician Lu.

But even with a probability of 1%, it was worth a try.

After all, he was a man who changed the entire scientific process and the world’s structure on his own.

Even if the newborn bred in this way couldn’t catch up with Lu Zhou’s academic ability, they could at least retain his blood.

Maybe in the not-too-distant future, another scholar who was not inferior to him would be born and use his knowledge to change the world once again.

It was not so much blood that was left behind, it was more like a seed of hope…

Xiao Tong waited quietly for ten months. She waited outside the delivery room of 301 Hospital, then took the crying baby from a doctor.

“We succeeded! The newborn is very healthy. This is definitely a miracle in the history of medicine!”

“Shhh, don’t scare him.” Ignoring the doctor next to her, Xiao Tong stared lovingly at the crying baby in her arms. With a faint smile on her face, she said softly, “Life is a miracle…”

Compared to the excitement of the doctor, with the baby in her arms, there was not much exhilaration in her smile, only pampering and peaceful happiness.

She didn’t know what exactly was the source of that happiness…

Obviously, she had never been a mother before, and there was no crystallization of love in her mind, but when she held the baby in her arms, she felt a sense of destiny.

It was as if life had been given a new meaning, and something invisible had been activated.

Whether the baby was conceived naturally or came to this world because of the power of technology, that feeling would not change…

“I’ll call you Lu Yuan.”

The moment she said the name, Lu Xiaotong had already made up her mind.

She would raise him and develop him into a person who was as kind, brave, great, and full of wisdom as her brother.

From this moment onwards…

She was his mother.

Chapter 1595: Relative?

“So… Xiao Qiao is actually my granddaughter?”

After seeing the Bloodline Project document in his hand, Lu Zhou said following a long period of silence.

“To be precise, your great-granddaughter… At least for now, as long as the people who are involved agree to it, newborns born this way are legally recognized.” Xing Bian shrugged and continued, “To be honest. After seeing the news, I was actually quite surprised.”

“…”

Looking at the document in his hand, Lu Zhou had mixed feelings. He didn’t know what to say for a while.

“Feeling surprised?”

“Not really…” Putting down the documents in his hand, Lu Zhou was silent for a long time. He said with a sigh, “I just didn’t expect my descendants to come into this world this way.”

Not only that, compared to his own feelings, it was Xiao Tong who made him feel more complicated.

She never got married, but she felt the pressure from society to play the role of a single mother, give that child an identity, and raise him by herself…

Looking at Lu Zhou, Xing Bian lowered his arms around his chest and talked about his opinion.

“On October 23rd, 2025, Chen Yushan visited the cryo-hibernation department at Beijing 301 Hospital. She met with your sister the next day. Although this was just your sister’s account, the timing matches.

“Although there was no direct clue to indicate that Ms. Chen Yushan was related to this plan, through the analysis of these data, I can infer that she should be aware of the Bloodline Project, and her whereabouts should be related to this.”

Lu Zhou: “How is she related?”

“October 23rd was the second day after the completion of the Bloodline Project. I am not sure what happened after that day, but something very important must have happened…” Staring at Lu Zhou’s eyes, Xing Bian said with an excited tone, “Want to dig out the truth from 100 years ago? As long as you ask, I can help you.”

…

To be honest, Lu Zhou was not sure whether this guy wanted to help him out of sincerity or was it just out of some kind of curiosity.

However, it was always a good thing to receive help from powerful figures from the Security Bureau.

Sitting in the maglev car heading to the home of his descendants, Lu Zhou, who was silent all the way, suddenly spoke while looking at the landscape passing by outside the window.

“In fact, I have been very hesitant about the past.”

“That’s normal, everyone is like this.” Xing Bian said casually while sitting in the driver’s seat, “Sometimes, knowing the truth isn’t necessarily better. The key is what you want and what you expect.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him with a look of surprise.

“You understand this feeling?”

“Of course, after all, the future can be expected, but the past is a fact. Even if you know the truth, you can’t change anything. You can only add troubles to yourself.” Xing Bian grinned and continued, “So, the truth can actually be a cruel thing. I have seen too much.”

“Why did you say this with a smile?”

“Smile? Me?”

Xing Bian raised his right hand and rubbed his chin. He realized that his expression was inappropriate. He quickly wiped the smile off his face.

“I help you purely out of concern. Why would I laugh? Think about it… If you weren’t my friend, would I be adding so much trouble to myself?”

“Fine.” Lu Zhou sighed slightly. “Actually, if such a weird thing happened to you, I would also probably laugh.”

“Pfft…” Xing Bian pressed his fist against his mouth and coughed twice. “Sorry, just a cough.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Um…

What is this guy doing?

…

The maglev car came to a halt slowly. After paying the fare, Lu Zhou followed Xing Bian’s footsteps and stood on the elevator. They soon came to the door of an apartment on the 20th floor.

After pressing the doorbell, the two waited quietly. The sound of footsteps came from behind the door.

Along with the sound of the door being opened, a wrinkled face peeked out of the opened door and cast a questioning glance at the two people at the door.

“You guys are…”

Halfway through the sentence, the person froze.

The old man’s eyes widened gradually. Lu Zhou knew that he had recognized his identity, but he still spoke politely in a gentle tone.

“Lu Zhou… I should be your grandfather.”

“Please come in…” For some reason, the expression on his face was a little embarrassed and ashamed. The old man lowered his head reluctantly, smiled, and said, “I didn’t expect you to come to see me, a worthless grandson. There’s not much at home, but if you want to drink something, I can buy it online.”

Lu Zhou: “Water is fine.”

The decoration of the room was simple, with a minimalist contemporary feel.

Before coming here, Lu Zhou learned the old man’s name from Xing Bian.

His name was Lu Feng, Lu Yuan’s son and also Lu Xiaoqiao’s grandfather. He was now in his seventies.

If his never-before-seen son, Lu Yuan, were still alive, he would probably be more than ninety years old.

However, there was probably no chance to meet him. Even though the average life expectancy of people in this era was very long, obviously not everyone could live to that age.

“I want to ask you something about the past.” Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Lu Zhou didn’t touch the cup on the coffee table. He just stared at the old man sitting opposite him and went straight to the point.

“Can you tell me what you know?”

The expression on the old man’s face became more and more ashamed. He lowered his head heavily and muttered, “I’m sorry about Star Sky Technology…”

“That no longer matters. What I want to know is another thing…” Lu Zhou looked at him. After a pause, he continued to ask, “Have you met Lu Yuan?”

Hearing this question, the old man was stunned, and he had an inexplicable expression on his face.

“Of course I have seen him, he was my father…”

“What about Lu Xiaotong?”

Hearing this name, a trace of confusion flashed in Lu Feng’s eyes, and he replied in an ambiguous tone, “Of course… She was my grandmother, she was a very kind woman.”

Staring at him intently, Lu Zhou said suddenly, “You are hiding something from me.”

Hearing these words, the old man couldn’t help but smile.

“Why would I? You are the ancestor of our Lu family. I won’t hide anything from you.”

Xing Bian suddenly spoke.

“Listen, we are investigating a case from 100 years ago. This matter is very important, for your ancestors’ sake. I hope you can answer every question truthfully.”

Old man: “What do you want to know…?”

“Everything about the Bloodline Project.” Xing Bian continued to stare at the old man’s muddy pupils as he said, “You should have investigated this matter before, so tell me everything you know.”

The air in the living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Facing the two people sitting across the coffee table, the old man was silent for a long time. He finally sighed slightly and got up from the sofa.

“I decided to take these secrets to my grave… but since it is you who came.”

He shook his head before looking at Lu Zhou.

After a while, he said slowly, “I’ll take you to a place. The answer you want might be there.”

Chapter 1596: A Letter to a Hundred Years Later

They were inside an old apartment. If Lu Zhou hadn’t seen this with his own eyes, he would have no idea that in the 22nd century, where magnetic levitation road networks had spread all over the country, there were still buildings with less than 20 floors.

After parking the car on the roof, Lu Zhou and Xing Bian followed the old man to a door.

The old man took out a rare metal key from his pocket. He opened the door and gestured to the two people behind him to come in.

“Actually, the environment here was pretty good before… but no one has lived in it for a long time. Please come in.”

Without saying much, Lu Zhou nodded and stepped across the door in front of him.

However, as soon as he stepped over the door, a familiar feeling immediately hit his face.

“What’s this…”

As if expecting that Lu Zhou would show such an expression, the old man smiled and said, “Surprised, aren’t you? Everything here is modeled after your childhood room and is constantly updated over time. Even if there is a mistake, it will be quickly restored… That was, until I was 20 years old.”

Is this intended to simulate the living environment of my childhood?

I can’t believe they actually did this…

Lu Zhou was baffled, and for a while, he didn’t know what to say.

I feel like the person in charge of this plan seems to have done a lot of work in strange places.

It is weird to “recreate” myself in this way.

After staring at the layout of the room for a long time, Lu Zhou suddenly asked, “He grew up in such an environment?”

“Yes, my father lived in the shadow of Academician Lu’s name, even throughout my childhood… It was not until the 2040s and 2050s that the Bloodline Project was ended and sociological experiments were required to stop.”

Lu Zhou gulped and spoke with a complicated expression.

“Then… does he hate me?”

“Why would he?” the old man said with a smile. He looked at Lu Zhou with kind eyes as he said, “No matter if this was the kind of life that he wanted, at least he was born with wealth and respect that most people don’t have. This might be boring, but it was definitely not a reason to hate you… Besides, by the time he knew that you were actually his father and Lu Xiaotong was just his adoptive mother, he was already an adult.”

“So he became a scholar?”

“Unfortunately not, he became an artist.” The old man smiled and continued, “In addition to what you see in front of you, he didn’t leave behind much of his own life, only miscellaneous items. Like the piano in the room. The piano accompanied him throughout his childhood and the rest of his life… Of course, there is also the kitchen, where the kitchen utensils were all arranged by him. Although he always claimed to be a chef more than a scholar, I have to say that he was… not the most talented.”

Lu Zhou: “His food wasn’t tasty?”

As if thinking of something sad, the old man sighed and said, “Not just not tasty… He liked it himself, but no one else could swallow it.”

Lu Zhou finally showed a gratified smile on his face.

This was probably the first time he showed such an expression today.

“It seems that he was nothing like me…”

After a pause, Lu Zhou looked at the old man standing next to him and continued, “Is that piano still here?”

The old man nodded. “If I remember correctly, it’s still here, but it’s been so long… I’m not sure if it works.”

“Can you take me over to see it?”

“Of course.”

The old man walked ahead, leading Lu Zhou and Xing Bian to the storage room.

This room was probably the only place in the whole house that was different from Lu Zhou’s former residence. There was a lot of discarded furniture as well as Lu Yuan’s personal collection and the piano in the most conspicuous position.

Lu Zhou saw something familiar on the piano stand, so he walked forward and took it from the piano stand.

It was a ring box.

From the looks of it, it was quite old.

Looking at the ring box in Lu Zhou’s hand, a look of nostalgia appeared in the old man’s eyes as he spoke.

“This was my grandma’s relic… and the only relic that my father left me apart from this piano. There was a time when my father hoped to use this ring box to find his father who abandoned him, until he discovered that the picture of his father had been hanging on the wall and the person who had been raising him was actually his adoptive mother.

“To this day, I was confused as to who the ring in this ring box was given to, or if it was just a beautiful lie, and the ring never belonged to anyone—”

“No.” Interrupting the old man, Lu Zhou opened the box in his hand. He touched the feather padding inside with his index finger as he said softly, “This ring box… actually belongs to me.”

Hearing this unexpected answer, the old man’s face showed a dazed expression.

“But… why did your sister have it?’

A weird expression also appeared on Xing Bian’s face, as if he was thinking of something weird.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t care about what weird things they were thinking of at the moment. He murmured, “She obviously got it from that person.

“I remember very clearly. Before I went to Mars, I put it under my pillow. There should have been a ring inside and a love letter of about 200 words…” There was a nostalgic expression on his face as he continued, “It’s almost like it happened yesterday.”

The ring and love letter were gone, but she might have read his “last words”.

For some reason, she gave the ring box to his sister.

Lu Zhou carefully pulled out the feather cushion, wanting to see the place where he put the love letter.

However, as soon as the cushion was pulled off, a piece of paper fell out of it.

“New clues?”

An expression of joy appeared on Xing Bian’s face for a moment, but he quickly realized that his reaction was a little out of place, so he quickly gave a light cough. A sad expression appeared on his face again. “Sorry…”

“Please go out for a while.”

Lu Zhou carefully unfolded the yellowed note.

This should be her reply.

All of the clues were connected at this moment, and he finally understood why she gave this box to his sister.

[When you read this letter, I’ve probably gone to a very faraway place… But I think there’s probably no place farther than where you went, at least in terms of distance.

[I thought about a possibility before. That you are still alive, but you just feel too tired, you want to rest for a period of time to relax your brain, so you choose to use an earthquake to cover up all this… But even a sci-fi movie wouldn’t have a plot this ridiculous.

[Do you know? After reading your last words, I really wanted to beat you up, but… After all, there were people everywhere, and you proposed to me so affectionately.

[Then, under their witness, I accepted. So, we are now husband and wife. You can’t run away anymore; you are not allowed to run!

[I still can’t move on from you, but… Even if I can’t, the disaster has already happened. As your wife, the only thing I can do for you is to fulfill your unfulfilled wishes for you.

[Fortunately, the plan went well, and Xiao Tong also supported me very much… Although it may be a somewhat immature approach, you have been quite immature, and this time it’s my turn to be immature.

[By the way, I took the ring inside the box. After all, I agreed to your proposal, so it is now mine.

[I will take it to Tau Ceti, the star that belongs to us.

[You told me that many years later, when people look at the star and make a wish, all the stories about us will come to mind.

[I will do it for you.

[The promise you made to me back then.]

Lu Zhou put down the letter. Xing Bian saw that he hadn’t spoken for a long time, and he was about to come forward to comfort him.

However, the moment he put his right hand on Lu Zhou’s shoulder, he suddenly realized that the man in front of him was already in tears…

Chapter 1597: The Power From You

Lu Zhou took the love letter with him.

Since that day, Xing Bian never saw Lu Zhou come out of his house, nor did he have a chance to chat with him again.

“I’m going on a retreat for a period of time, so don’t come to find me during this time.”

He remembered what Lu Zhou said back then.

After this, Academician Lu closed the door of the mansion, and the door was never opened again.

A month had gone by. At first, Xing Bian wondered if he had offended Lu Zhou, but later on, he found out that not only was he unable to contact Lu Zhou, even his old friends could not find him.

Office of the Security Bureau.

Looking at Xing Bian sitting behind his desk, Wang Peng couldn’t help but ask.

“So, what did you tell him that day?”

He heard that at the beginning of last month, Captain Xing had visited Lu Zhou’s home and that was probably the last time Lu Zhou went out during this period of time.

Although this speculation had no basis, Wang Peng always felt that this guy must have done something superfluous.

Faced with Wang Peng’s questioning, Xing Bian was a bit embarrassed. He just coughed and said, “It’s about his personal life, so you should ask him yourself.”

“I would if I could,” Wang Peng said. “I can’t get in touch with him at all. I asked him to go out for drinks, but there’s no response to my messages.”

In the past, when Lu Zhou went on retreats, he would not be completely disconnected from the world.

But this time was obviously different from the past.

At least based on what Wang Peng knew about him, either something particularly urgent had happened, or there were other reasons besides academics; otherwise, even if it was a retreat, it wouldn’t be as extreme as it was now.

“Not even a reply?” Xing Bian sighed and put down the teacup in his hand. “I might have messed up… Damn, I obviously did it out of good intentions.”

“What the hell did you do?”

“Some of the mess leftover from your work at that time. If you are interested, go to the archives and look through the Bloodline Project information. Don’t ask me. I don’t want to think about this matter anymore.” After a while, Xing Bian suddenly said, “I’ll give you a task.”

Wang Peng raised his eyebrows.

“Related to Academician Lu?”

“Sort of.” Xing Bian continued after a pause, “His fiancee may still be alive.”

The moment he heard these words, a surprised expression appeared on Wang Peng’s face.

“You mean Chen Yushan? But… it’s been 100 years, how is this possible?”

“I also don’t think it’s possible. Would you put yourself in a dormant cabin because your girlfriend died? At least I won’t…” Xing Bian gave a wry smile as he continued, “But… I don’t know what old popsicles from a century ago would do. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him know about the Bloodline Project, let alone take him to meet his descendants.”

He would not have found the ring box and tried to complete the faster than light engine and head to light-years away…

He’s crazy!

“You want me to find her?”

“Yes.” Xing Bian nodded. “In theory, there should be no galaxy navigation technology in that era… Unless she freezes herself and slowly drifts in the universe. In ten thousand years or so, maybe she could fly there. But this is too slow. Maybe by that time, our spacecraft will be all over the Milky Way.

“So, I speculate that there may be another situation where she freezes herself and waits until the time is right to board the ship. But there is also another risk, that is, that her own existence would be gradually forgotten over time, and in the end, she might not even wake up.”

Wang Peng nodded.

“I understand… I will investigate her whereabouts while investigating The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

“Well, just do it as a secondary task. Focus on your job.” Taking a sip from the teacup on the table, Xing Bian thought for a while and continued, “The frozen dormancy fund that Lu Xiaotong was in charge of during her lifetime may be a clue, as well as the Outer Space Colonization Fund…

“If you have time, you can go investigate.”

…

At the same time, in a mansion on the outskirts of Jinling, Vera was standing in Lu Zhou’s study room with a worried expression, quietly waiting for the man in front of her to reply.

About a month ago, after he came back from outside, he suddenly seemed to be a different person.

Not only was he more reticent than before, but his whereabouts also became elusive.

Even though she lived under the same roof, she had barely seen him this month.

Except for academic exchanges, they barely spoke in daily conversations.

Of course…

Even so, she was satisfied.

After all, being able to meet again in a hundred years was a miracle in itself. She already had experienced a miracle, asking for anything else would be a little too greedy.

At least she felt so. She was quite satisfied with her current status.

It was a pleasure to be able to discuss academic issues with him.

If only she could see a smile on his face, especially a smile that bloomed because of her, that would be even better…

Looking at the draft paper in his hand, Lu Zhou thought for a long time without any expression. He had a stiff smile on his face as he said, “You did very well.”

The dawn of victory was here.

After so long, he finally saw the hope of solving this proposition.

Seeing this smile, Vera, who was standing across from the desk, finally breathed a sigh of relief. A touch of gentleness and relief appeared on her face.

She had been worrying about him over this past month. She didn’t know what happened.

But seeing that his mood had finally improved, she relaxed a little.

“As long as you get the epsilon constant, the remaining steps are very easy.” Putting down the draft paper gently, Lu Zhou picked up the pen from the side and scribbled a few lines on another stack of paper on the desk, He then picked them up and passed them to Vera’s hands, “Put the value of ε into the expression in line 13 on page 11, the entire equation can be directly transformed into the form of Equation 3, thereby deriving the establishment of Corollary 4.”

After receiving the stack of papers, Vera took a look at Lu Zhou’s notes.

Soon, a surprised expression appeared on her face.

“You already… did all this?”

Even for him…

This is a bit too fast.

She had been studying this research for some time, so she knew of all the difficulties.

“Yeah, sort of. Looking at it right now, the equation in front of you should be the most accurate and concise expression of the Z particle’s gravitational wave equation I can think of.”

The atmosphere in the study room was quiet.

With her eyes fixed on the paper in her hand, Vera, whose lips opened and closed slightly, seemed to be checking calculations silently in her heart.

Without disturbing her thinking, Lu Zhou picked up the coffee cup on the table and took a sip.

The slightly bitter taste diluted the fatigue accumulated in his brain and made him feel awake.

From what he remembered, unsweetened black coffee was her favorite.

Since when did I fall in love with this taste?

Lu Zhou unconsciously cast his gaze to the sky outside the window.

He stared at the clouds for a long, long time…

Chapter 1598: The Hole Dug By Oneself, Is Filled in by Oneself

Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

Institute of Theoretical Physics.

When Professor Hao Zeyu looked at the paper in his hand, the expression on his face gradually changed from surprise to shock, and from shock to astonishment.

Holding a cup of coffee and walking next to him, Professor Lu Wenmao glanced at the paper in his hand and raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Z particle gravitational wave equation? That proposition… has been solved?”

“Yes.” After gulping, Professor Hao Zeyu nodded with difficulty. “Unbelievable, we have used the formula for more than 100 years. There is still so much room for improvement, but no one has discovered it in the past 100 years. ”

Professor Lu Wenmao’s eyes could not help but show an expression of envy.

He still remembered when Academician Lu announced this public proposition at the LSPM forum some time ago and offered a Lu Zhou Science Award to the person that could solve this problem.

If this paper really established a more accurate mathematical model of the vibration frequency and space curvature of the Z particles, this century-long problem that had plagued the theoretical physics community would be completely solved. Not only would the author of the paper receive a huge honor, but it would also be a thing worthy of celebration by the entire physics community.

“Who wrote this paper? In the entire field of Z particle research, this is the first time I have heard that someone has done such in-depth research on the vibration frequency of Z particles and the changes in space-time curvature.”

It was impossible to complete the entire proposition in less than two months. It would be difficult to get started, let alone completing the proposition.

Therefore, Professor Lu Wenmao subjectively believed that the person who wrote this paper should be someone who had been researching the field of Z particles for several years or even decades.

However, from all the big names he knew, none of them were engaged in the research of the Z particle gravitational wave equation.

After hearing Professor Lu Wenmao’s words, Professor Hao Zeyu couldn’t help but show a wry smile on his face.

“I am afraid that this person has not only deeply studied the relationship between the vibration of the Z particle and the change of the curvature of space-time, but probably proposed this research project as well.”

The moment he heard this, Professor Lu Wenmao was completely stunned. He stood there and stared at Professor Hao Zeyu for a long time before squeezing a word out of his mouth with difficulty.

“You mean… Academician Lu?”

“Yeah.” Professor Hao Zeyu nodded and said in an admiring tone, “I thought about how long it would take to solve this proposition with the mathematics ability of that big man. My guess was two years, but the reality is more ridiculous than I thought.”

Of course, what he didn’t expect was that this proposition was really solved by him in the end.

A scholar from 100 years ago could still make such breakthrough research results in the frontiers of this century.

Professor Hao Zeyu couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed.

Although for the physics community, solving this problem was a happy thing. But for them physicists, this was undoubtedly a tragedy.

Obviously, Professor Lu Wenmao, who was standing next to him, thought of the same thing as he also had a look of disappointment on his face.

After a long period of silence, he sighed softly.

“No wonder he is a man standing on the peak of humanity… We have to live up to his expectations.”

“Yeah…”

“Do you think the equation in this paper can really be the key to solving the faster than light speed problem?”

“It’s hard to say… In fact, I am more concerned about the problem of the gravitational field revealed by this equation than the problem of faster than light speed.”

Turning his gaze to the paper in his hand again, Professor Hao Zeyu was silent for a while.

He then continued, “We have always had very little understanding of gravity, and the only conclusions that go deep are all based on a limited phenomenological model.

“However, as the only high-dimensional particle that we can observe through technical means, it is closer to the essence of the gravitational field than ordinary matter.”

“If… Of course, if we can observe the changes in the gravitational field by opening the hyperspace channel between the curved surfaces, maybe we can even solve that problem.”

Although Professor Hao Zeyu didn’t explain what the problem was, the moment he heard these words, Professor Lu Wenmao immediately understood. A shocked expression appeared on his face again.

Unify the four basic forces!

This is the ultimate proposition in theoretical physics!

Among them, the difficult theory of electrostrong interaction had been solved by Academician Lu. There was only the last and most difficult bottleneck to the Grand Unified Theory.

Which was, to unite the three basic forces together to find the mysterious gravity.

This was not only the holy grail that countless physicists dreamed of for two centuries but also the only way for physics to evolve.

At the same time, this was also the first question at the beginning of the 100th Problems of the Century published by Academician Lu at the Century of Physics Conference!

…

The gravitational wave equation of the Z particle had been solved, and a more accurate mathematical model of the Z particle and the curvature of space-time was established. The series of news were like stones thrown into the surface of a lake, agitating a thousand waves.

The reason for everything was Lu Zhou’s update on LSPM.

[Thanks to Ms.Vera Pulyuy for her efforts in calculating the ε constant, our subject has reached the final step, and the paper will be released later.]

What is the ε constant?

The first time they saw this update, almost everyone had a similar confusion in their minds.

Until they saw the paper that was released later.

The whole argumentation process was like a smooth flowing river, and the line-by-line calculation was like the stone bricks that built the Great Wall. It was full of power and made people feel trust involuntarily.

The most incredible thing was that this paper not only contained the part of the Z particle’s gravitational wave equation itself but also involved the relationship between the vibration of the Z particle and the disturbance of the gravitational field, including the relationship between this interference relationship and the curvature of space-time.

The hole he dug when he was researching hyperspace theory was, in the end, filled by himself.

It was like constructing a tall building from the ground by himself.

Most of the work was done by him alone!

Not only were Hao Zeyu and Lu Wenmao, two big names in theoretical physics, flabbergasted, the entire theoretical physics community was also shocked by Academician Lu’s thesis.

Of course, the most embarrassed one was Professor Belur.

As an expert in the field of Z particles, he talked about it in a TV interview before, saying that the gravitational wave equation of Z particles had been used for a century, and thousands of research results had used this formula, and that it was impossible to improve.

And according to the law of objective development of science, there was only one possibility, which was, although the original equation was not so perfect, it had reached the limit of the current technology level. The investment of so many scientific research resources in this proposition was purely a waste of time.

However, he did not expect that in less than two months, he was forced to eat those words back.

No one thought that the person actually subverted everyone’s cognition through calculation only by relying on his understanding of mathematics and physics.

In the past, this was only possible after a lot of experimentation…

Chapter 1599: Why Else Would I Research It?

“Professor Belur, in a science talk show a month ago, you thought that Academician Lu overestimated the importance of the Z particle gravitational wave equation. Is that true?”

“Professor Belur, in your opinion, what impact will the solution of the Z particle’s gravitational wave equation have on the physics community?”

“Professor Belur…”

Walking out of the class with a tablet, Professor Belur watched the reporters swarm in front of him; some students even joined in on the fun. His veins were bulging out of his forehead, and he finally couldn’t help but roared.

“Enough! This is a school, a place to spread knowledge—”

“But what we are asking about is knowledge.” A microphone was put in front of him. A female reporter with slightly curly hair said sincerely, “Academician Lu got rid of the problem of insufficient accuracy of the Z particle gravitational wave equation in two months. What is your opinion?”

Professor Belur’s face was blue and red.

Forcibly hiding the embarrassment on his face, he reached out his hand and pushed the microphone in front of him as well as the interview drone floating beside him away. He said in a rude tone, “I have no time for an interview now! As for the questions, I only have one sentence to tell you—no comment!”

After finally breaking out from the crowd, Professor Belur fled back to his office in embarrassment, opened the door, and walked in.

“Enough! What do these damn reporters think of this place! This is a campus, a place to study! Damn it!”

Looking at the professor losing his temper, the few students in the office looked at each other and did not dare to speak.

He sat on the office chair and lost his temper while staring at the coffee cup on the table. Only then did this young middle-aged man slowly calm his breath.

Professor Belur’s sight suddenly fell on the unfinished paper in the holographic screen, and he immediately clicked on it.

Then…

After a quick glance, his blood pressure and breathing rate began to rise again.

“How is this possible… There must be something wrong…”

Professor Belur stared at the paper in his hand. He almost wanted to insert the tip of his nose into the holographic screen, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find any loopholes.

The whole argumentation process was like flowing clouds and moving water. This towering fortress was built with numbers; there was not one line of calculation or even punctuation that was superfluous.

Just like that, half an hour went by.

Professor Belur turned the pages again and again. He finally dropped his index finger and gave up.

“Is this the strength of the one at the peak of the human mind…?”

He raised his right hand again. His fingertips swept across the holographic screen.

Seeing the scattered light particles, he slowly leaned back on the office chair and fell silent while looking at the ceiling.

After reading the paper several times, the emotion in his heart calmed down instead.

It was not shameful to lose to someone who was able to write such a paper.

Even if he was from a century ago.

The only thing that Professor Belur regretted now was that he was too cocky when he was interviewed in the studio.

This might become a dark history of his life.

The door of the office opened, and his assistant walked in from the outside while speaking in a business-like tone.

“Professor Belur… You have an interview with California TV in the afternoon—”

“Push it back for me.” Professor Belur said without hesitation, “Just say I’m sick.”

Assistant: “…?”

Students: “…”

…

In fact, the turbulent waves brewing in the heart of Professor Belur were not the only chaos in the physics community.

A scholar from 100 years ago solved a puzzle that they couldn’t complete in the past 100 years. This was indeed a huge blow to people’s self-confidence.

Because this seemed like Lu Zhou was saying that the world hadn’t made any progress in physics over the past 100 years.

Although it was not the case, and they had also made some achievements during this period, but in the face of this dazzling achievement, everything else seemed insignificant.

In short, it was not just the physics community that experienced turbulent waves. This excitement quickly spread from the physics community to the public.

Now that the gravitational wave equation of the Z particle was solved, and the hyperspace theory that left several large problems had all been solved by Academician Lu himself, the door to transcending space seemed to have been placed in front of everyone.

Faster than the speed of light…

For human society, which was close to the threshold of interstellar navigation, what could be more exciting than surpassing the speed of light?

Li Yongning, the chief reporter of Pan-Asia News and a celebrity loved by countless audiences, stood in front of Lu Zhou’s house and pressed the doorbell.

The door did not open.

However, after three rings, a holographic beam finally projected at the door.

Even though the facial expression of the projected portrait was obviously annoyed, it did not decrease Li Yongning’s enthusiasm.

After all, this was obviously not the time to struggle with politeness.

Without any pause, Li Yongning immediately showed a professional smile on his face as he seized the opportunity to speak.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I am very glad to meet you. I am Li Yongning, a reporter from Pan-Asia News. Regarding the rumors that you are studying faster than light technology, what are your comments? And the gravitational wave equation of Z particles may become a solution to the key of faster than light technology—”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou asked the reporter blankly, “Otherwise, why would I be researching this stuff?”

Li Yongning was stunned.

He originally thought that Lu Zhou would either say something modest or use tactful ridicule to cover the topic; he didn’t expect that Lu Zhou would agree so directly.

Incredible!

Those rumors are true?!

Looking at the silent reporter, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, “Any more questions?”

“You… I…”

Li Yongning’s mouth opened and closed, and he was still stunned by the previous surprise. Two seconds went by before he quickly adjusted his posture and raised a question.

“Excuse me, what made you suddenly interested in this proposition? We all know that you are now the chief designer of the space elevator… I mean, doesn’t this take up your time?”

“I’m the chief consultant.” Lu Zhou corrected and continued, “As for why I’m researching the speed of light, there is no special reason. If I had to give a reason, it is because I want to go somewhere.”

Li Yongning: “The place you want to go is…”

“Tau Ceti.”

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of something, so he looked at the camera hanging under the interview drone and continued, “Anyone wants to travel with me? If so, send a message to me on LSPM.”

Chapter 1600: Installation Complete!

The LSPM forum exploded.

Not the kind of explosion in the physical sense, but an explosion in terms of traffic.

Whether it was people joking around, or people that really wanted to travel outside the solar system, everyone swarmed into the forum.

At the same time, a certain person’s mentality exploded…

Looking at the interview in the news, Li Guangya rubbed his eyebrows. He looked like he had a migraine.

He didn’t expect that the idea he had come up with out of “good intentions” would cause a series of chain reactions.

Not only did this guy not want to stay, but because of a small note from a hundred years ago, he confirmed his decision of leaving Earth and even advertised outer space colonization in the news.

The most annoying thing was that many people really responded to him on the Internet…

After all, there was plenty of sheep in this day and age.

For some reason, Li Guangya suddenly felt like he had shot himself in the foot.

“Um… Did Chen Yushan really go to Tau Ceti?”

Hearing the director’s inquiry, Wei Song replied with an embarrassed expression, “This… I tried to investigate through the Security Bureau but did not find too many clues about her whereabouts.”

Li Guangya asked incredulously, “You searched for so long, and there is no news at all?”

Wei Song shook his head and said in a heavy voice, “I tried my best.”

His tight shoulders relaxed slightly, Li Guangya leaned back on the office chair. He did not put too much blame on his subordinate.

After all, that was 100 years ago.

This was like finding someone from WW1 in the 21st century; one might not be able to find them even if they went through the history books.

Not to mention that they were in the 22nd century.

With the amount of information in this era, even if there were some clues left, they would be submerged in the ocean of information.

“What about the Tau Ceti Colonial Fund? Have you contacted them?”

“Already contacted, but they don’t have any information…”

Wei Song shook his head lightly and continued, “The entire fund’s operating model and organizational structure were designed by Chen Yushan herself. The number of space launch projects it directly or indirectly funded reached 23,000 in the past century, of which 57 are space probes. The files are partly in China, partly in a neutral country abroad, and partly lost. If she deliberately concealed her whereabouts because she did not want to be disturbed, I am afraid that no one but herself can find her.”

“This woman…”

Li Guangya gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t do anything other than cursing in his heart.

Suddenly, he thought of something.

As if grabbing the last straw, Li Guangya stood up from the office chair, grabbed Wei Song’s shoulders, and spoke.

“What about that Vera? How’s their relationship going?”

“… To be honest, I feel that you may have done something superfluous.” Looking at the emotionally excited Mr. Chairman, Wei Song gave him a dazed look. He then gave him a wry smile and said, “He might… really have no feelings in that area.”

“Impossible.” Li Guangya said without hesitation, “If there are no feelings at all, that documentary—”

“It’s just a documentary.” Wei Song said with a sigh, “And in the original version, he only kissed her on the forehead.”

Sitting back on the office chair, Li Guangya fell into silence.

After a while, he said slowly, “It doesn’t matter… In any case, she is our last chance.

“I ask you to… No, you should do everything you can! Give her relationship assistance!”

Looking at the chairman, Wei Song didn’t know what to say for a while.

What kind of nonsense order is this?

Besides, I’m in my forties, I don’t understand the feelings of young people, let alone what the old popsicles think about relationships from a century ago.

Assistance?

It would be a blessing if I don’t mess it up.

While Wei Song was in a dilemma, Li Guangya suddenly continued to speak, “There’s one more thing.”

Wei Song sighed and spoke.

“Go ahead.”

“That faster than light technology… Do you think it’s reliable?”

Wei Song saw an unusual look in the eyes of the director.

Obviously, unlike the nonsense command just now, when he asked this sentence, his tone was serious.

Wei Song’s expression also became serious. He said cautiously after pondering for a while, “Um… I am not particularly sure. We may have to wait to consult experts in related fields before I can give you a confident answer.”

“There’s no need.”

Waving his hand, Li Guangya, who stood up from the office chair again, walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office.

Looking at the street view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and the reflection on the glass, he ordered, “Prepare the car, I will go to the Academy of Sciences myself.”

Wei Song nodded.

“I’ll arrange it for you!”

…

At the same time.

In a mansion on the outskirts of Jinling, Lu Zhou, who was inside the self-built laboratory in the front yard, was standing next to a large number of parts that seemed to be piled up randomly. Through the holographic operation interface expanded in his hand, he controlled the professional equipment and was assembling the parts.

Some of the parts here were made for him through East Asia Heavy Industries; some were made by himself through an experimental 3D printer. It was obvious that he had devoted a lot of effort.

Vera stood by and watched curiously. She asked in a quiet voice, “Is this the Z particle oscillator?”

Lu Zhou, who was meticulously completing his work, couldn’t spare much energy to chat at this moment, so he simply responded with a “Yeah”.

Seeing that Lu Zhou was very busy, Vera was sensible and didn’t speak. Instead, she stood aside and watched quietly.

After about half an hour passed, Lu Zhou finally stopped.

Looking at the masterpiece displayed in front of him, his meticulous face finally stretched out a sincere smile.

It’s finally done!

“… It looks strange.” Vera leaned closer to the brass-colored device in front of him. Vera glanced at the smooth surface of the metal shell and said with a heart full of questions, “This shape is like an hourglass.”

“The two ends are the Z particle generators, which collide in the intersection area through spiral acceleration, resulting in a pair of Z particles with opposite spins that are entangled with each other. This stable frequency oscillation interferes with the curvature of spacetime, and a twisted spacetime is created near the entire device.”

Hearing these words, Vera quickly retracted her face, took two steps back, and said cautiously, “Then… isn’t it dangerous?”

“If it is used improperly, it may indeed be dangerous. After all, it is a space beyond three dimensions. Our entire universe is just a twisted and folded two-dimensional plane in that abstract space.” Lu Zhou looked at the nervous little girl and couldn’t bear to scare her anymore. He said in a joking tone, “Don’t worry too much. Without a controllable fusion reactor to power it, it won’t even power on.”

“I see…” Vera was slowly relieved. She looked at Lu Zhou. A little embarrassed and with a trace of worship in her eyes, she continued to ask in a low voice, “But such a dangerous device… How do you plan to test it?”

“The test is very simple.” Lu Zhou continued with a smile on his face, “We just have to get it into outer space, find a controllable fusion battery and a starship that is about to be scrapped, then we can verify our hypothesis!”

Chapter 1601: Borrowing a Ship?

East Asia Heavy Industries building.

After Lu Zhou completed the assembly and entire experimental plan design of the first Z particle oscillation device “Z-Demo”, he came here all the way from Jinling.

Compared to the high-level executives of East Asia Energy, the executives of East Asia Heavy Industries were obviously much more approachable.

For example, the man named Yang Qidong standing in front of him at the moment, although his status was the chairman of East Asia Heavy Industries, he had no ego at all, and he invited Lu Zhou into the office very politely.

But, for some reason, Lu Zhou felt that this guy was a little nervous…

“I’m not interested in the position of the chairman, so you don’t need to be so nervous.”

Lu Zhou joked, but to his surprise, his own joke seemed to have no effect at all…

“Academician Lu, how could I be nervous? I’m not nervous at all!” Chairman Yang showed a stiff smile on his face as he continued, “If you want to be the chairman of East Asia Heavy Industries, that is the honor of our board of directors. As long as you have this wish, I would be overjoyed, why would I be nervous?”

But you don’t look happy…

Lu Zhou estimated that this guy was frightened by Liu Zhengxing’s case.

But Liu Zhengxing’s death really had nothing to do with him. It was purely because he exposed too many anonymous identities that shouldn’t have been touched and was destroyed by his own doings.

Speaking of which…

People from The Spirit of The Universe Foundation have integrated into East Asia Energy, so the same should go for East Asia Heavy Industries, right?

Although the profitability may be slightly weaker, as a top manufacturing giant, the power of East Asia Heavy Industries should not be underestimated…

Seeing Lu Zhou look at him with an inquiring gaze, Yang Qidong suddenly became nervous again.

“You… Do you have any instructions?”

Lu Zhou calmed his tone a little, looked at him, and said, “I told you, you don’t need to be so nervous, I’m just here to ask you for something. It should be easy for you… and it’s definitely beneficial for you.”

Fearing that Lu Zhou would be unsatisfied, Yang Qidong quickly said, “Please tell!”

Lu Zhou decided not to worry about his nervousness anymore. He organized the thoughts in his mind and spoke in the most concise way possible.

“So, I researched the Z particle oscillator some time ago, right? After a period of research, it is finally completed.

“In order to verify some ideas about hyperspace theory, I hope you can modify a starship for me.”

Yang Qidong was stunned. Thinking that he had heard something wrong, he asked, “Modify?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou continued, “I will borrow a search cruiser from the First Fleet in two days. I may have to ask you guys to modify it.”

Yang Qidong: “…?”

…

Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences.

Inside an office for theoretical physics research, Professor Lu Wenmao met the chairman, who came to visit him.

He turned around and stood up from the office chair. He then extended his right hand and politely greeted him.

“Hello, Mr. Chairman! I didn’t expect you to be here so soon. ”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “Professor Lu, you are the best in the field of Pan-Asian theoretical physics, of course I’m going to come here as soon as I can.”

“Oh, you’re too kind.” Professor Lu Wenmao felt his face getting warm. He said embarrassedly, “Academician Lu aside, even when compared to some other great names in my field, my abilities are still weaker.”

“You’re too modest!”

“Not modest, it’s that I can’t accept this compliment.” Professor Lu Wenmao sighed and continued, “Speaking of which, may I ask why are you here?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “Here’s the thing, I want to ask you a question.”

Hearing that the chairman had a problem and wanted to consult him, Lu Wenmao immediately put on a serious expression on his face.

“Please go ahead.”

Li Guangya: “From the perspective of an expert, based on the theoretical basis provided by the Z particle gravitational wave equation, with our current level of technology, is it possible to achieve faster than light technology?”

Z particle gravitational wave equation and faster than light technology?

This question seems to be a bit broad…

Looking at Chairman Li Guangya, Professor Lu Wenmao was slightly taken aback. He asked cautiously, “You mean… open a stable hyperspace channel?”

Li Guangya smiled and said, “I don’t know the specific academic phrasing, but yeah, roughly.”

Lu Wenmao: “It might be a little difficult.”

Li Guangya didn’t give up and asked, “I know that it may be difficult to send a substance directly, but what about sending a piece of information? Through the method of hyperspace channel, accelerate the speed of information… How likely is it to be realized?”

Lu Wenmao smiled bitterly and said, “It’s hard to tell… To be honest, I am just a theorist, and I am not an expert at transforming theory into tangible application results. From a theoretical point of view, the Z particle gravitational wave equation does establish a fairly perfect mathematical model between the vibration frequency of the Z particle and the curvature of spacetime, but how to use this property to open a hyperspace channel is still a very big issue.

“Although 100 years ago we made a photon return to Earth from Mars 207.1 seconds earlier, it cost 1/10th of the ILHCRC’s annual funding that year.

“I’m not certain about the distant future, but at least for the next half a century… it is unrealistic to expect one to solve the problem of faster than light speed through this line of formula.”

After listening to Professor Lu Wenmao’s statement, Li Guangya’s face showed a thoughtful expression.

After pondering for a long time, he touched his chin and nodded.

“Oh, I see…”

Seeing the disappointment gradually revealed on the chairman’s face, Professor Lu Wenmao said, “Of course, this is just my personal opinion. It may be a little pessimistic. Maybe other people have different opinions from me. Anyway, I am sorry for not being able to help you.”

“No worries, you have been a great help!”

Chairman Li Guangya smiled. He was about to say some kind words to express his gratitude.

However, at this moment, Secretary Wei walked in from the outside in a hurry.

“Chairman Li!”

Li Guangya couldn’t help raising his eyebrows slightly and asked, “What happened?”

“Just now, Academician Lu made a call to your office, hoping that you can approve his experiment request.”

“Experiment request?” The expression on Li Guangya’s face became even more strange. He asked, “What experiment? Why is he asking me?”

Secretary Wei said with a wry smile, “He wants to borrow a… cruiser from the First Fleet.”

Cruiser?!

Li Guangya took a breath and couldn’t help asking, “Borrow a cruiser… What the hell does he want to do?”

That’s not something you people just borrow!

Without a reason to convince the congress, even he, as the chairman of the board, couldn’t arbitrarily mobilize the First Fleet.

“He said on the phone that he wanted to test the stability of some hyperspace channel…”

Seeing the dumbfounded expressions of the two, Wei Song gulped and continued nervously, “It seems to be… related to the faster than the speed of light experiment.”

Chapter 1602: Hyperspace Experiment

On Space Station Venus.

As always, Field and his colleagues were following the instructions of the North American Space Agency, peeping at the Pan-Asian Cooperation construction site in geosynchronous orbit.

Technically, this was no longer peeping, they were straight-up staring.

At first, Field was still low-key. He set the astronomical observation telescope to cross paths with the Nirvana space station. Later, he felt that the engineers of East Asia Heavy Industries did not care about their movements, so he simply stopped the telescope and aimed it directly at them.

As a result, the Space Station Venus had also officially evolved from an astronomical observatory to a “spy satellite” for civilian purposes.

“Look at them… It seems that they don’t care about us spying at their technology,” Johnny said as he looked at the construction site outside the porthole. He continued, “To be honest, I’m starting to doubt if there’s a point to what we’re doing.”

To be honest, those Pan-Asian Cooperation engineers believed that even if they put the blueprint in front of them, they would not be able to recreate their designs.

In that case, what was the point of taking pictures of their entire construction process?

“The point is that, if one day in the future, after we master those key materials and engineering techniques, we won’t be left too far behind by them.” Looking out the porthole, Field’s face was full of deep sorrow. He anxiously said, “But their construction speed is really incredible… According to the current progress and construction speed, if they can maintain it, they will be able to complete the main part of the entire space station by the end of the year at the latest.”

The two fell into silence, and their gazes were coincidentally stained with envy at the same time.

It would be great if such a great scholar could be born in their hometown.

Although objectively speaking, this space elevator under construction was not one man’s miracle, everything arose because of him.

The foundation of this tall tower was able to stand on geosynchronous orbit at the beginning of the 22nd century was because of his awakening…

Just when the two of them fell into a reverie, a silver-white starship suddenly appeared in their sight.

When he first saw the starship, Field was stunned for a moment, and he did not recognize it for a while.

It was not until he quickly walked back to the observation system and focused his gaze on the holographic screen that he suddenly recognized its body.

Cruiser Qinling!

Equipped with the latest nuclear power plant and fire control system, the ship was considered to be one of the most powerful capital ships in the Pan-Asian First Fleet in the past ten years.

“Qinling… Why did they drive their cruiser to geosynchronous orbit?”

Obviously, his colleague Johnny also recognized the starship’s name. He was also astonished.

Not only that, but they were also surprised to see two heavy engineering ships leave the base of the Nirvana Space Station and lean toward the cruiser.

Realizing that the Pan-Asian Cooperation might be making a major move, Field made a decision immediately after thinking for a moment.

“Aim at the observation system!”

“But… What about the space elevator?” Johnny hesitated and continued, “The mission assigned to us by the North American Space Agency does not include observing the military movements of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.”

“The two engineering ships were separated from the construction site of the space elevator, and it is not yet certain whether this cruiser is related to the space elevator project.” Field continued, “If the higher-ups want to blame someone, I will take all responsibilities!

“Now, do as I say!”

…

“… This is definitely the strangest task I have received in the past ten years.”

Looking at the mission briefing presented in front of him, Captain Deng Yuanshu had a blank face, but his mind was full of questions.

Cooperate with Academician Lu to conduct experiments…

What kind of experiment needs the most advanced cruiser of Pan-Asian Cooperation to cooperate?

Shouldn’t they go to the ILHCRC for help?

“If I remember correctly… He is a mathematician.” The adjutant standing next to him with a clearly confused expression on his face said, “Could it be that… he has started studying weapons?”

“I don’t know, the briefing did not specify what the experiment would be.”

Deng Yuanshu’s index finger clicked in the air. He put away the mission briefing and continued, “In any case, after we meet him in person, we will know.”

As the two engineering ships docked with the Qinling, Captain Deng, who was standing inside the ship’s bridge, finally met the man who was called the greatest scholar of the 21st century.

Deng Yuanshu took the initiative to reach out his right hand as he routinely introduced himself to him.

“Hello, Academician Lu, I am the captain of Qinling, the Pan-Asian First Fleet. This is my adjutant Liu Zhengyi. According to our superior’s orders, we will assist you in completing the experiment for this operation.”

Adjutant Liu also reached out his right hand with a smile. He shook Lu Zhou’s hand after the captain.

“Hello!

“Nice to meet you!”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded to the two of them. After a simple greeting, Lu Zhou adjusted the expression on his face. Without wasting time, he explained his intentions and the most critical information about the experiment.

After listening to the hyperspace theory described by Lu Zhou in a daze, Captain Deng finally figured out what the whole experiment was about.

Basically, in order to test the disturbance of the curvature of space by the Z particle oscillator, Lu Zhou needed a movable nuclear fusion reactor.

Among the many types of ships in the Pan-Asian First Fleet, apart from the aerospace carrier, the only one that met the minimum requirements for starting the Z particle oscillation device was their cruiser, which was equipped with a standard controllable reactor.

To be honest, although Deng Yuanshu was very interested in Lu Zhou’s hyperspace navigation, and he was also willing to obey orders and cooperate with the experiment, the only thing that made him a little hesitant was that Lu Zhou and East Asia Heavy Industries had to carry out a large scale “modification” on his ship.

He had served on this starship for many years, so it felt like home to him…

“Modify… I hope you can reconsider carefully,” Adjutant Liu said. He was standing next to the captain when he continued in a serious tone, “Dismantling the weapon system and external armor isn’t just a modification to Qinling; it’s equivalent to turning our cruiser into a large cargo ship! Even if you reinstall it after the experiment, its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Do you understand what I mean?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “I understand, but this experiment is very important. It is related to something far more important than a starship… or even the entire fleet.”

“Why do you have to dismantle the equipment?” Looking at Lu Zhou, Captain Deng asked, “Especially the outer armor, many parts of which use integral welding technology, which is not only difficult to disassemble but also difficult to reinstall. It will also cause damage to the material itself. Can’t we remove the weapon system and keep the armor?”

“Sorry, I’m afraid not.” Lu Zhou shook his head and explained, “The hyperspace channel has very strict restrictions. Unless it is equipped with a larger power system, it is difficult to transport the current weight of Qinling.”

There was something else Lu Zhou didn’t say.

There was hope of opening the hyperspace channel under ideal circumstances, but it would still have unpredictable consequences.

Since this exceeded the boundary of calculation, it was almost impossible to predict the result using mathematics.

If the situation was optimistic, it would probably be impossible to enter the channel. Or if they succeed in entering, they would have to jump out again from a random position.

And if the situation was not optimistic…

They might never exit the channel.

Captain Deng: “How confident are you of the experiment?”

“It’s meaningless to ask this question.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I believe in my calculations. If it is not 100% certain, I would not stand here. The question now is whether you believe in my own research results.”

Hearing these words, Captain Deng fell into silence.

About five seconds later, he raised his head and looked at Lu Zhou. As if he had made some major decision in his heart, he spoke in a serious tone.

“I often hear people say that you are the greatest scholar on this planet. I believe this great description came from not only your wisdom but also your scientific rigor.”

“Thank you for your trust.” Lu Zhou said softly, “I can assure you that I will not let you down.”

Hearing Lu Zhou’s promise, Captain Deng nodded slightly.

Turning his back to the surprised gaze of the officers beside him, he said solemnly, “In that case…

“You are in control of our Qinling ship!”

Chapter 1603: Warp Speed!

As the two engineering ships merged, the modification work of the Qinling began.

Under the painful gaze of the group of crew members, the armor and the titanium alloy lining covering the starship’s exterior were removed one by one. The missile launchers and point defense artillery hanging on the starship were also removed one after another.

If Captain Deng Yuanshu’s ship before was a lion with teeth and claws, now it had become a chicken that had just been shaved, and the whole ship was just a large cargo ship.

Except for the massive plasma engine and the GW-class controllable fusion engine comparable to an aerospace carrier, there was nothing special about this starship.

Captain Deng Yuanshu stood in the observation room of the geosynchronous orbit spaceport and looked at the equipment disassembly list presented in front of him. He had a baffled expression on his face.

Although someone had already convinced him of doing this, it was impossible for him to have no mood swings in his heart when he saw his baby ship being dismantled.

At this moment, the alloy door on the side opened, and a man in a military uniform walked in.

“Chief Consultant Yang?”

Deng Yuanshu looked at Yang Wu, who walked into the space capsule. Deng Yuanshu showed a surprised expression on his face. He took the initiative to greet him and said, “Why are you here?”

“The commander sent me over to take a look.” Yang Wu smiled as he watched Captain Deng Yuanshu approaching him. He continued, “How is the situation here? Is the progress going smoothly?”

“I’m not a physicist, I don’t know.” Deng Yuanshu shook his head and said with a wry smile, “Even if I’m watching from the sidelines, I’m just here for the excitement, I don’t understand what they are doing.”

“Really? What about the equipment? Is it all dismantled?”

Hearing these words, Captain Deng’s face suddenly twitched, and he nodded in pain.

“It’s… it’s finished.”

Yang Wu smiled and nodded.

“That was fast.”

Looking at the person standing in front of him, Captain Deng opened his mouth but was hesitant to speak. He finally asked what was in his heart.

“The command team really feels that it is okay to lend him our most advanced guided-missile cruiser for experimentation? I mean, to do such an experiment at the expense of combat effectiveness… Is it really appropriate?”

Hearing Deng Yuanshu’s inquiry, Yang Wu did not feel any surprise.

Even before coming here, he expected the captain would ask this.

He cast his gaze on the Qinling, which was not far away and was completing the modification, and asked, “Do you think there is any aerospace force in this world that is worthy of being our opponent?”

Hearing this question, Captain Deng Yuanshu proudly raised his head.

“I can be certain, at least in this solar system, no one is our opponent!”

Yang Wu smiled and nodded. He said softly, “Yeah, since no one is our opponent, why have we been developing armaments over the years, continuously expanding the size of the First Fleet, and enhancing our own combat effectiveness for so long?”

Isn’t this obvious?

Hearing this strange question, Deng Yuanshu couldn’t think of an answer for a while.

As if seeing the thoughts in his heart, Yang Wu put his hands behind his back, walked to the porthole, and continued speaking in a calm tone, “Starting from half a century ago, even going back to the aerospace forces a century ago, we were building this army with the invading force of an extraterrestrial civilization as our imaginary enemy. Our goal from the beginning was outside the solar system.

“The destiny of all people living on this planet is tied together.

“So why do we do this experiment in geosynchronous orbit instead of taking the starship to the Lagrange Space Base or asteroids farther than Mars?

“It is no exaggeration to say that this technology will completely change the world that we are familiar with and expand our scope of existence to areas that we have never imagined.

“If he succeeds and really finds a way to surpass the speed of light, I can tell you with certainty that even if all the starships of the entire Pan-Asian First Fleet combined, they will still be less important than what he has done today.

“By that time, our banner will be on all Earth-like planets around the solar system, our footprints will be across the entire universe, and there will be nothing to restrain us.”

Looking at the silent Captain Deng Yuanshu, Yang Wu reached out and patted him on the shoulder. He then said with a smile, “If you are confused about the present, then think about the future.

“After the experiment is over, if he succeeds… I believe you will understand what I said!”

…

The modification work was quickly over.

The volume of the Z particle oscillator itself was not large, and the weight was light too.

It was different from the demo version that Lu Zhou made at home.

This official version of the Z particle oscillation device that was completed by East Asia Heavy Industries used the latest magnetic generation device and a more lightweight titanium alloy bracket. It had specialized improvements on the original design version proposed by Lu Zhou.

At the same time, in terms of changing the curvature of spacetime, it also far exceeded the experimental version…

The bridge of the Qinling.

After taking a glance at the time indicator on the holographic screen, Captain Deng Yuanshu, who had been extremely taciturn since he boarded the ship, suddenly spoke.

“What is it like to pass through the hyperspace channel?”

Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him, thought for a while before replying, “I don’t know, after all, so far, no one has ever entered it.”

Adjutant Liu, who was standing next to Captain Deng, suddenly couldn’t help asking, “If you go in… What if you can’t get out?”

Lu Zhou: “That probability is very small. Once the hyperspace channel is opened, two endpoints will inevitably be created in the space. And if there really happens to be a situation where you can’t get in or out…”

Liu Zhengyi gulped and asked nervously, “What will happen?”

“Not sure.” Lu Zhou shook his head. “Maybe you will reach a parallel world? Or into the Void outside of time? Anyway, it should not be in a normal universe.”

So far, whether parallel universes existed was still a hypothesis that couldn’t be proved or falsified. The only conclusion that could be drawn by calculation in the theoretical physics community today was that the universe was a folded n-dimensional surface, like a ball of scrap paper.

As for whether there was a similar paper ball in the n+1 dimensional space, it was still unknown.

Strictly speaking, the hyperspace channel drilled a hole in the n+1 dimensional space, and from a certain point in the universe, it crossed directly over to another point through a curved surface.

If parallel universes really existed, when crossing the hyperspace channel, they might actually leap over to another universe.

Looking at the officers with weird faces next to him, Lu Zhou smiled and said in a comforting tone, “Don’t worry, I’m here, I will stand with you until the end of the experiment.”

From Lu Zhou’s point of view, this sentence was quite comforting.

However, what he didn’t expect was that as soon as he uttered this sentence, he was strongly opposed by Captain Deng.

“No.” Deng Yuanshu said with a serious look at Lu Zhou, “You are the chief designer of the space elevator project! We will be fine if something goes wrong, but if something goes wrong to you, it will affect—”

“I’ve said it countless times, I’m the chief consultant.” Lu Zhou sighed and continued, “Also, if there is a problem, you won’t be fine. Everyone’s life is precious. I never think that my life is more important than other people’s lives. If I weren’t certain, this experiment would not begin at all.”

Seeing that Lu Zhou did not listen to his persuasion at all, Deng Yuanshu wanted to say something. However, at this moment, a staff member walked in from outside the bridge, stood in front of him, and spoke with a clean military salute.

“Sir! The reactor has been successfully ignited and is running at 10% efficiency. All preparations for the lock are ready, and the device can be started at any time!”

“Good.”

Nodding to the staff member, Deng Yuanshu then looked at Lu Zhou. After a moment of silence, he said seriously, “The preparations for the experiment have been completed… Are you sure you want to stand here with us?”

Lu Zhou nodded, smiled relaxedly, and said, “This is a moment to witness history. As the leader of this project, wouldn’t it be a pity if I don’t see the end?”

Deng Yuanshu: “If you can sit back and watch us bring the victory back from the frontline, our psychological pressure will be reduced by at least half.”

Lu Zhou gave him an encouraging look and continued, “Don’t be so nervous. In a blink of an eye, we will see the fiery red planet.”

“I hope so.”

Captain Deng sighed silently in his heart. Seeing that he couldn’t persuade the big man no matter what, he finally gave up and looked at the command interface spread out in front of him.

A serious expression appeared on his face. As if he were facing a battle, he gave the command to fight in a stern tone.

“Attention, all units on the ship, enter combat position!

“Set the target course!”

Chapter 1604: Arrived!

Liu Zhengyi swore that…

As an adjutant of the Qinling, he had served in the First Fleet for many years, and he had been on all kinds of starships, large and small, with a flight time of nearly 10,000 hours.

However, in the past nearly 10,000 hours of flying time, he couldn’t think of an hour, or even a minute, more surprising than what he was experiencing right now.

As the order was issued, the reactors’ output power rose rapidly from MW to GW, and the power output of the plasma engine also reached its limit. The Z particle positive oscillation device installed at the front of the starship also released its force field.

At first, they didn’t feel anything unnatural, that was until the space outside the porthole of the bridge began to twist, the stars embedded in the long cold night began to gradually elongate, turning from shining lines as they converged towards the space in front of the starship.

It was almost like…

The universe in front of them was collapsing.

“The magnetic field of the reactor fluctuates drastically, and the concentration of high-energy particle rays around the starship is increasing sharply!” The staff sitting in front of the console gulped. He nervously looked back at Captain Deng Yuanshu, who was standing inside the bridge, and said, “Captain…”

With an indifferent look on his face, Deng Yuanshu looked away from the strange scene outside the porthole and looked at Lu Zhou next to him.

“Is this situation in your expectation?”

“If you are referring to the hyperspace channel, then it did open as I expected.” Lu Zhou stared intently at the twisted universe outside the porthole, as if afraid to miss any detail. He spoke with a hint of excitement as he continued, “As for what the world behind the channel is like, I’m afraid I won’t know until we get in!”

Don’t know until we get in…

Hearing Lu Zhou’s answer, Captain Deng Yuanshu felt his scalp numb.

However, he was a soldier.

Cooperating with Lu Zhou’s experiment was an order given to him by the higher-ups.

Forget about a hyperspace channel, even if it were a black hole in front of them, he would rush in without hesitation.

He clenched his teeth and spoke.

“Continue the experiment!”

There was a slight tremor from the hull below. It’s as if under the interference of some mysterious force field, it uttered an overwhelming noise.

Deng Yuanshu’s body felt a huge pulling sensation.

The acceleration provided by the plasma engine of the Qinling in cruising mode was low, but he was feeling a load of several Gs.

The sirens in the bridge sounded one after another as the various lights flashed red, indicating that their starship was passing through a dangerous area.

When Deng Yuanshu saw this scene, his mood sank to the bottom of his stomach in an instant.

Just when he was almost ready to be brave, the feeling of the cells in his whole body being torn apart suddenly disappeared.

After piercing through the invisible barrier in the front end of the starship, their starship seemed to have rushed into an unseen space in the universe they were previously familiar with.

This space seemed to be made up of countless fragments. The darkness that could be seen by the naked eye was like a chaotic ocean.

Sailing in this ocean, Captain Deng Yuanshu felt that the cruiser under his seat, named after the Qinling Mountains, was like a leaf of reed floating in a lake, as if a wave could knock it over any second.

“F*ck me…”

He muttered softly while staring at everything outside the porthole intently. Adjutant Liu was sitting nearby with his pupils filled with indescribable shock.

He finally couldn’t help cursing, “Where the f*ck… are we?”

“The hyperspace channel fills the gaps between the surfaces of the universe and the extra dimension beyond n. But unlike the Void, we have never actually entered here, a shortcut to the distant world… I didn’t expect this.”

Lu Zhou stared at everything outside the porthole.

His voice was full of excitement. He seemed to be answering Adjutant Liu’s question and also seemed to be talking to himself.

Captain Deng Yuanshu, who was staring out of the window, was completely baffled.

He couldn’t describe what he saw before his eyes, let alone the shock in his heart at the moment.

At this moment, there was only one thing he wanted to figure out—

“How do we… get out?”

“Don’t worry about this. The channel has been set up. As long as the hyperspace channel remains stable, we will definitely be able to get out.”

“How long do we have to wait—”

Before he could finish, the scenery outside the porthole changed drastically. The starry sky that was originally passing by suddenly stopped, and the front end of Qinling seemed to hit a transparent barrier. The space in front was like a supersonic jet breaking the sound barrier. It became a whirlpool-like vortex.

Before he had time to ask what had happened, the feeling of overbearing G-force struck again, and the pain caused everyone in the bridge to faint.

“The Z particle oscillator itself does not have the ability to tear space… Its principle is to open a hyperspace channel along the direction of the gravitational field by disturbing the gravitational field between two massive stars or planets. When you enter and leave, you will be affected by the disordered gravitational field, so it may be a little painful… Well, maybe more than a little.”

Just as Lu Zhou tried to endure the pain, the scene outside the porthole changed again.

The space suddenly opened up a circle of ripples.

Just like drilling out of the deep sea, the Qinling, which finally broke through the barrier, seemed to have jumped from one world to another.

When they saw the fiery red planet, everyone in the bridge showed a shocked expression.

Especially Captain Deng Yuanshu.

Seeing all this in front of him, his face was filled with uncontrollable excitement. With a soft trembling voice, he squeezed out a sentence from his stiff throat.

“We… Is this a success?”

There was silence in the bridge.

The people who were still in shock had forgotten their words.

The voice of the Mars spaceport dispatch center came in the communication channel.

“This is the dispatch center of the Tiangong City Space Station. You have entered controlled airspace. If you need to stop at the port, please follow the prompts to switch orbits… Uh, where did you come from? Our radar did not detect you. ”

The silence in the bridge was finally broken.

The staff sitting in front of the console quickly responded to the dispatchers of the spaceport, explaining that they were performing missions, and communicated with the Lagrange Space Base via the communication repeater of the spaceport. The space base got in touch and reported the good news about the success of the experiment to the higher-ups.

In fact, this experiment was more than a success.

It could even be described as a great victory.

Deng Yuanshu’s fist was clenched and then loosened. He could not describe the excitement in his heart, just as he could not describe the surprise in his heart when he first entered the hyperspace channel…

“5 minutes and 23 seconds, travel distance was 120 million kilometers.”

Glancing at the time on the holographic screen, Lu Zhou looked at Captain Deng, who was standing next to him, with a bright smile on his face.

“Thank you for your trust and cooperation. Our mission was successfully completed. As you can see before your eyes, we have made history!”

“But… I still don’t understand. Why is the speed on the indicator still 30 kilometers per second?” Adjutant Liu, who stared at the control interface for a long time, finally asked about the thing that confused him, “How on earth is this possible?!”

After hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou smiled faintly as he explained the reason to him in terms that were as concise and easy to understand as possible.

“Because our speed is indeed 30 kilometers per second, but this refers to our relative speed when the sun is the reference frame in the classical universe. However, in the non-classical universe, that is, the superspace that I described in the hyperspace theory, the relative speed of the classical universe is not applicable. The speed of our movement in the hyperspace channel and the total time spent depends only on the mass of the material being transported, and the power of the Z particle oscillator itself, or…”

At this point, he paused for a moment.

Looking at Captain Deng Yuanshu, who was baffled, a happy smile appeared on Lu Zhou’s face as he continued, “We should call it a different name.

“For example, how about a warp drive?”

…

While the Lagrange Space Base received the good news from the Qinling, Space Station Venus on geosynchronous orbit also had a panoramic view of this amazing process.

From their perspective, the starship that had been moving towards Mars at a normal speed was like a submarine that suddenly sank into the sea, losing itself from their sight.

At first, Field thought that it was a bug in their observation system that caused the focal length parameter to change and thus lost the track of the Qinling. However, no matter how they recalculated the course and used radar to search, they failed to find the disappeared “Qinling”.

The starship seemed to have disappeared out of thin air.

It wasn’t until they reported the strange incident to the North American Space Agency that the whereabouts of the Qinling was clear.

According to the timestamp in the briefing, just five minutes after the Qinling was lost in their field of vision, the North American Alliance spaceport in Mars orbit discovered Qinling.

In that short five minutes, they crossed a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers!

If it weren’t for the frontline observers swearing on their families’ lives that they did not make a mistake in their sightings, the North American Space Agency would never believe that all this was true…

Chapter 1605: The World Light-Years Away

The same scene was not only observed by the North American Space Agency.

Almost all the regional alliances on the whole Earth that had made achievements in the aerospace field, or even those who had a little idea about space, witnessed this amazing moment.

Slavic Union.

Aerospace Forces Command Center.

Looking at the report from the intelligence department directly under the headquarters, Commander Rokov, who was standing in the command room, had an unbelievable expression on his face. He couldn’t say a word for a long time.

It was not until he read the report on the holographic screen for a second time that he gulped and spoke in an incredible voice.

“Flying faster than the speed of light, crossing a distance of 120 million kilometers in 5 minutes… Could something be wrong? Like, there are two starships…”

“General.” Standing next to Rokov, Major Vizenov said in a serious tone, “My subordinates are willing to use their military rank as a guarantee, everything they say is what they saw.”

The command room fell silent.

Facing the briefing on the holographic screen, Rokov was speechless.

As the supreme commander of the Slavic Union’s aerospace forces, no one knew the strategic value of this technology better than him. If all the starships of the Pan-Asian First Fleet were equipped with this technology, things like travel distance and supply lines would no longer be a problem for them.

As long as they wanted, they could appear in any corner of this solar system. This strategic capability had absolute control over all regions of the solar system. It would require at least 30 spaceports the same size as the Lagrange Space Base, and at least ten space forces equal to the Pan-Asian First Fleet to match the equivalent power.

And now, Pan-Asia could rely on the Lagrange Space Base alone to maintain this absolute military control capability.

Whether it was the space elevator or second-generation controllable nuclear fusion, when placed in front of such a powerful technology, the rest was irrelevant…

Having realized the seriousness of the problem, Commander Rokov, who recovered from the shock, immediately ordered the adjutant standing next to him.

“This is beyond what we can handle.

“Report this matter to Moscow immediately! Be sure to let the chairman know the situation as soon as possible!”

…

At the same time, at the Pan-Asian Cooperation Headquarters.

There was a sound of exclamation in the chairman’s office.

“Good job!”

With both hands on the desk, Li Guangya got up from the office chair and walked around the office several times with a joyful expression on his face. He finally stopped and clenched his fists with excitement.

There was unconcealed joy in his tone as he continued to speak in an emotional voice.

“Academician Lu can always bring us unexpected surprises!”

Faster than the speed of light…

To be honest, Li Guangya never thought that this technology would be seen in his lifetime before Lu Zhou woke up. After the expression of the Z particle gravitational wave equation was solved some time ago, and the entire academic community was discussing the possibility of faster than light speed, the possibility finally began to emerge in Li Guangya’s mind.

However, after consulting Professor Lu Wenmao, he almost put the matter away.

No one thought that things would turn around so quickly.

Just when he had almost no hope, Lu Zhou quietly put this great surprise directly in front of him. When the Lagrange Space Base reported the good news to him, he nearly fainted from excitement.

It was foreseeable that once a breakthrough in faster than light technology was achieved, not only would the Pan-Asian authorities’ control of the Martian colony be further strengthened, but his ambitions for the world outside the asteroid belt would no longer be just an unattainable dream!

He didn’t even need to wait 100 years before he could use his eyes to witness their starship spread the flames of civilization to the world light-years away.

Even just thinking about it made him full of adrenaline…

With an expression of joy on his face, Wei Song, who was standing at the desk, asked in a voice that was trembling with shock.

“Does this news need to be kept confidential? Or postpone the disclosure?”

Li Guangya’s index finger lightly tapped on the desk. He sat back on the office chair and only thought for two seconds before making a decision immediately.

“It’s not necessary, just make it public.”

“But the reaction of the international community—”

“Let them react. From the beginning, I never intended to hide this.” Li Guangya continued with a faint smile on his face, “Besides, a warship that size disappeared from the radar and suddenly appeared in the orbit of Mars 100 million kilometers away. As long as they are not blind or fools, they will suspect something.”

Since this matter was no longer a secret, it was better to publicize it openly than to try and hide it.

After hearing this news, the people who were watching the Pan-Asian Cooperation with covetous eyes would have an interesting look on their faces…

…

Just when the international situation was raging because of a starship that suddenly disappeared from the Earth-Moon system and suddenly appeared in the orbit of Mars, the Pan-Asian Corporation suddenly held a press conference and announced a message at the conference.

The cruiser Qinling, which departed from the Tianzhou spaceport a few days ago, completed the first faster-than-light transition in human history with the warp engine developed and designed by Academician Lu and reached a distance of 100 million kilometers in just 5 minutes.

When this news was announced, the entire press conference was strangely quiet for a few seconds. Then immediately afterward, the entire venue was completely detonated as if a bomb had been set off.

After the reporters on the scene heard the news, they squeezed towards the front of the press conference like they were crazy, just to get closer to the podium.

The reporters who stood a little further away, in addition to squeezing forward desperately, opened their mouths and shouted out their own questions. All politeness and order were abandoned behind.

Even though there were security guards maintaining order, the situation at the scene was frantic and almost out of control…

“Faster than light?! Are you sure?”

“Isn’t Academician Lu the chief consultant of the space elevator project? What is a warp drive?”

“Excuse me, when did the research on the faster than light engine start?”

“Is this technology funded by the military? Will it be open to civilian use?”

Just as the spokesperson of the space agency was busy coping with the bombardment of the reporters, the relevant news had already been put on its wings and flew from the scene of the press conference to the Internet.

Whether it was faster than light technology itself or the person who researched faster than light technology, it was undoubtedly an object worthy of attention in the eyes of the public.

The news about the breakthrough of faster than light technology was like a virus, spreading wildly across the entire network, and the sensational effect was almost like a tsunami, sweeping every corner of the Internet.

Especially in the LSPM forum, the related discussion posts flooded the screen.

Both the public and the academic circles were shocked by this sudden news.

Almost all theoretical physicists and experts in the field of aerospace engineering cared only about one thing at the moment.

Which was—

How did he do it?!

Chapter 1606: Not Embarrassing To Lose to Him

“This is incredible…”

Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences

After watching the news on the holographic screen, Professor Lu Wenmao, who had recovered from the shock, sighed slightly, then said with emotion, “I can’t believe he really did it…”

Not long ago, Chairman Li Guangya came here in person and consulted the experts in the institute about the practical feasibility of faster than light technology.

Professor Lu Wenmao clearly remembered that he took a pessimistic view of the advanced research on the speed of light. In fact, it was not just him that held a pessimistic view, most of the experts in the institute were the same.

So far, although they had mastered the method to open the hyperspace channel, there was no suitable method to keep this channel stable. Also, the energy consumed every time the channel was opened was an astronomical figure. It was still somewhat impractical to attempt to complete navigation to light-years away.

However…

Now, it seemed that he had made a mistake…

With almost the same expression on his face, Professor Hao Zeyu, who was standing in the office, also sighed softly, shook his head, and spoke.

“Yeah, but who could have imagined? Just a few days ago, when discussing this matter with the dean, we reached a consensus. Even if the exact expression of the Z particle gravitational wave equation is solved, the theory cannot be applied in the short term… I didn’t expect to be proven wrong so quickly.”

No one thought that everything would be so fast.

No one thought that this day would come so suddenly.

If even the barrier of light couldn’t stop him, then what else in this world could?

Suddenly, Professor Lu Wenmao thought about what was said in the news, and he finally understood why he would state that he planned to visit Tau Ceti.

All the mysteries in this world no longer deserved to be called mysteries in front of him. Even the word “impossible” seemed to lose its meaning.

For such a genius, perhaps only the world light-years away could satisfy his thirst for knowledge of the universe and truth…

The emotions of the two professors, Lu Wenmao and Hao Zeyu, were just a trivial example for the Pan-Asian Cooperation academic community. Everyone was shocked by the Qinling’s “120 million kilometers in five minutes” achievement.

On the second day after the Pan-Asian Corporation press conference ended, ILHCRC’s headquarters held at least ten seminars on hyperspace theory and the Z-particle wave equation, which were hosted by top scholars in related fields.

As for the subject being studied, it was naturally the paper Lu Zhou published on LSPM before.

“Obviously, its value was underestimated.”

After the seminar, the current chairman of the ILHCRC continued with a regretful voice in the face of reporters from the science and technology columns.

“At the time of its publication, although we also carried out detailed research on this paper, we did not give it enough attention. The research on hyperspace theory and Zhou particles is a very important research direction in physics. But there are still many topics that are as important as it, such as neutrinos, antiquarks, etc… These were the popular research objects of the ILHCRC in the past two years.

“But now, the breakthrough of faster than light technology has undoubtedly changed this situation! I can even responsibly say that in the next ten to twenty years, hyperspace theory will become the most important area in theoretical physics!

“Because it is taking us into the distant future!”

In addition to the chairman of the ILHCRC, the secretary-general of the ILHCRC and the director of the Collider Laboratory had also expressed their views on hyperspace theory.

Especially the director of the Collider Laboratory.

This great theoretical physicist from the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study made no attempt to hide his admiration for hyperspace theory and the “master” who completed this theory. He updated his LSPM account with thousands of words and used the term “A New World” to describe the influence of this theory on modern physics.

“It’s not just a starship that surpassed the speed of light! It’s that he, who woke up a hundred years later, used his own knowledge to perfect the hyperspace theory that he himself proposed a hundred years ago!

“I can’t use words to describe the surprise and shame in my heart. It’s like the story of the tortoise and the hare, and we are the tortoises. The only difference is that he didn’t sleep for one day. Instead, he slept for a hundred years, but after he woke up, he still easily took the trophy that belonged to the champion…”

The blog post made by this big name on the LSPM forum resonated with many people.

Although over the past century, they had also made a lot of beautiful results.

But no matter what, the achievement above that person’s head was too dazzling.

So that in this century, neither the Institute for Advanced Study nor the ILHCRC had come out of his shadow. Even today, even a hundred years later, he still stood at the top of the mountain.

Just when the entire academic world was shocked by the breakthrough of faster than light technology, Professor Belur, who was on the other side of the earth, was filled with embarrassment in his heart at this moment.

He admitted that in the interview, he was overly confident.

For example, the sentence “Except for Academician Lu, no one knows Z particles better than me…”. Hyperspace theory had always been the foundation of the Lu Zhou school of thought. All the beautiful research results were done by Lu Zhou alone or by Lu Zhou’s students.

He knew very well that Lu Zhou would not stoop down to his level and argue with him, so he was arrogant in the interview.

However, he did not expect that Lu Zhou was not joking. Not only did he complete the precise expression of the Z particle gravitational wave equation, he even repaired the mistakes in hyperspace theory that had existed for nearly a century.

Now, even the high-rise buildings on top of the foundations had been built.

Faster than light…

This beautiful dream had been in the physics world for two centuries because it seemed too far away, and countless theoretical physicists abandoned it again and again.

“The next 100 years… No, for the next 500 years, there will be no scholar that can surpass him. This is obvious. Whoever surpasses the speed of light will surpass everything…”

Standing by the window of the teaching building, Professor Belur had an electronic cigarette in his mouth. He muttered to himself.

Like he was comforting and hypnotizing himself at the same time.

He continued talking, “So, it’s okay if my judgment was wrong… It wasn’t just me, many people didn’t expect this.

“Anyway…

“It’s not embarrassing to lose to him!”

Chapter 1607: Plan Towards Tau Ceti

In fact, as early as the beginning of this research, Lu Zhou was mentally prepared for the possible impact of the success of the experiment.

The only thing that made him feel a little surprised was that the enthusiasm of the people was a little bit beyond his expectation.

And the enthusiasm was in an unexpected manner…

On the day the press conference ended, his account on the LSPM forum was filled with private messages from all over the world. Most of them expressed interest in his plan to go to Tau Ceti and even asked how much the ticket was.

Obviously, with the breakthrough of faster than light technology, the ticket to the outside of the solar system was no longer a one-way ticket. Many people were interested in taking a trip to the world outside the solar system in their lifetime.

Even if they were not satisfied with the situation there, the warp travel technique would give them a second chance so that they would not lose their entire life.

In addition to those who expressed interest in the Tau Ceti, many people came to discuss business. Among them were East Asia Communications, which he founded, and some technologically innovative companies.

Many of these business ideas were a bit too optimistic; they saw the huge potential of opening up a “New World”.

In addition, there was also the part about academic discussions.

Lu Zhou could clearly feel from the questions in the private messages that his theory had left a shocking effect on the hearts of theoretical physicists and engineers in the aerospace field.

The emergence of warp drives would completely change the pattern of the aerospace industry in the future.

After the plasma engine replaced the chemical engine as the main mode of transportation for large spacecraft, the warp drive would become the interplanetary transportation method of the next era, allowing the propulsion technology of human civilization to advance to the next level!

In contrast, even the space elevator under construction had been overshadowed by this technology…

Mansion on the outskirts of Jinling.

As usual, Vera sat at the table and was enjoying a hearty breakfast. She watched the news shown on the holographic TV and learned some “common sense” about this era with the help of the news.

Just as she put a small piece of fried egg into her mouth, a familiar face suddenly appeared on the TV.

The moment she saw the face in the camera, a quiet smile appeared on her face. She looked in the direction of the sofa and spoke in a pleasant voice with a hint of excitement.

“Professor, you are in the news again.”

Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the sofa checking his email through his personal terminal, took a sip of coffee on the coffee table and spoke casually in a chatty tone.

“Good, I’m used to it.”

Even a hundred years ago, he had become accustomed to news and interviews.

As a man who had even started to collect tickets from those visiting his former residence, Lu Zhou wasn’t surprised to see his face everywhere.

With a smile on her face, Vera put down the cutlery on the plate after eating. She looked at Lu Zhou sitting on the sofa and continued to ask, “Speaking of which, when do you plan to leave?”

“Are you talking about Jin University? I’ve already asked for a holiday. I probably won’t go there for the next few days.” Lu Zhou thought about it for a while and continued, “The Z particle oscillation device still needs improvement. I just happened to have some very interesting ideas—”

“I mean Tau Ceti.” After blinking lightly, Vera looked at Lu Zhou and continued, “Now it only takes 10 years to go to Tau Ceti, right?”

It might not be 10 years.

“The time frame of the hyperspace channel cannot be calculated like this,” Lu Zhou said, shaking his head. “The specific time it takes depends on the channel we choose and the strength of the gravitational bond between the solar system and Tau Ceti. According to the formula I derived in hyperspace theory, it would take about 11.7 years for us to use the modified Qinling as a means of transportation.”

However, if he could choose a short enough channel, this number could also be compressed infinitely. It was even possible to compress it to within one year.

However, this was the trouble with the hyperspace theory.

Before opening the first channel, no one could determine how much time it would take.

“But, even if it’s 11.7 years, I think it’s pretty good.” Vera continued, “Using traditional methods, even the most advanced plasma engine will take tens of thousands of years.”

“Right, but there are still many things to consider.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “First, we have to build a large enough spacecraft, and then we have to consider the resources for hundreds of people. These things have to be done step by step… But it shouldn’t take much time. After all, the most difficult part has been solved by me.”

If he just went there to plant a flag or to look at the scenery on that planet for her, it wouldn’t be meaningful.

He still remembered his original promise, that he promised to give her a prosperous planet, not an uninhabited world.

But life was different.

People remembered.

Or in other words, only things like civilization could sing their stories forever…

Secretly looking at Lu Zhou’s face, Vera’s eyes showed a hint of envy. However, she didn’t say much. After saying “I will go with you”, she stopped talking.

God had given her a precious treasure.

To be able to meet again after a century was already a great fortune for her. As for other things, it was not important to her.

Besides, the time afterward belonged to her.

She had waited for a century in her dreams, so she was not in a hurry…

The next news appeared on the holographic screen soon.

Xiao Ai, wearing an apron, bounced out of the kitchen.

“Master, there are guests outside looking for you. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

There was no need to ask at all. Lu Zhou had already guessed who was visiting him, so he spoke.

“I see, let him in.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh? Do you want to know who it is? (゚Д゚)”

Lu Zhou: “Besides a certain director, who else can it be?”

Xiao Ai: “How does master know…(•̀∀•́)”

Putting away the holographic screen in his hand, Lu Zhou spoke with a sigh.

“Okay, don’t let the guest wait outside for too long, let him in quickly.”

Chapter 1608: : It Is Easy

There was no need to guess at all.

Except for Chairman Li Guangya, Lu Zhou couldn’t think of anyone else that would come here at this time. The only thing he didn’t expect was that not only Chairman Li Guangya was here, but also Sun Liwei, the commander of the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

Lu Zhou didn’t have an impression of Commander Sun, but he vaguely remembered that they had a face-to-face meeting at the celebration at the beginning of the year. His first impression at the time was that this old man was probably a serious man who never smiled during work or in his lifetime.

Seeing that the two guests who came here seemed to be discussing business matters, Vera greeted them politely. She then went upstairs sensibly.

For some reason, when Vera greeted Li Guangya, Lu Zhou felt that the expression on Li Guangya’s face was a bit…

Subtly Awkward?

But after thinking about it, Lu Zhou threw this trivial matter aside. Li Guangya, who had crossed the hallway, quickly wiped the unnatural expression off his face. He coughed lightly and greeted Lu Zhou with a smile on his face.

“Long time no see, Academician Lu, how are you doing recently? Life is still good?”

“I’ve always been good…”

Lu Zhou was weirded out by the small talk. After he invited the two to sit down on the sofa, he said straightforwardly, “… We have known each other for more than a year. Since we are all friends, there’s no need for small talk. Just tell me what you need.”

“What is that supposed to mean, I can’t see my old friend?” Seeing Lu Zhou looking at himself, Li Guangya was embarrassed to continue speaking. He continued with a slightly embarrassed smile, “Ahem, I know I can’t hide from you… Commander Sun, do you want to go first?”

“I’ll go first.”

Sun Liwei took a deep breath. He looked at Lu Zhou earnestly and continued in a sincere tone, “Here’s the thing, the amazing results of Qinling’s hyperspace experiments are now known to the world. The military analysis agencies of major regional alliances around the world have given a high evaluation of the technology we have. This is not only an affirmation of our strength but also a test. In order to maintain the stability of the regional situation on Earth, we hope to maintain the current strategic deterrence…”

Lu Zhou: “So?”

“The Z particle oscillator, can you offer a price?” Sun Liwei, who was a soldier, had no business experience, so he said straightforwardly, “We hope to buy it.”

If it were someone else sitting here, they would raise the price just from Sun Liwei’s desperate face.

However, it just so happened that the person sitting across from him was not a businessman. It could even be said that Lu Zhou was completely disinterested in business matters, and he didn’t care about money.

However, after hearing this request, Lu Zhou’s face showed a weird expression.

“Buy it? Are you sure you don’t need to install the weapon systems and external armor back?”

“No need, just keep it like this!” Sun Liwei, who was afraid that Lu Zhou might misunderstand him, suddenly continued, “Of course, we will give you a suitable price! And for any new research on the warp drive, we are willing to pay for your research in full!”

Lu Zhou couldn’t help but feel a little humorous, so he spoke with a joking tone.

“Do you think I am someone who needs money?”

Sun Liwei was a little dumbfounded. He turned his eyes to Li Guangya for help.

Noting the expression on Commander Sun’s face, Li Guangya sighed in his heart. He then looked at Lu Zhou and spoke with an embarrassing smile.

“We know that you are not short of money, of course, but… this is really important to us, and I hope we can reach an agreement. Or besides money, what other proposals can satisfy you? You can ask for anything, and we will do our best to help you!”

“It’s not that I don’t want to sell it to you.” Lu Zhou picked up the unfinished cup of coffee on the coffee table and took a sip. He looked at the two people with sincerity and eagerness written on their faces. After a sigh, he continued, “But this thing was originally a DEMO version. Neither the hyperspace channel calculations nor the application has met my initial expectations.”

“You mean… There is a lot of room for improvement in this technology?”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded approvingly as he looked at Commander Sun. He continued, “Between two curved surfaces that do not want to intersect in space, there is only a straight line from one point to the other, but there can be countless irregular connections. In the previous experiment, the route I chose was not the one with the shortest path, but the one that was relatively easy to find.”

After hearing this statement, Li Guangya’s eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, “In other words… the warp drive can be faster?”

Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Of course, it would be better to say that 0.8 astronomical units in five minutes is actually slow.”

Taking the Qinling as the benchmark and using the inference of the Z-particle gravitational wave equation he obtained, 1 AU per minute was barely an acceptable result for him.

0.8 AU actually took five minutes to complete, which was not including the first two minutes of preparation time, so it could only be regarded as a mediocre result.

Li Guangya and Sun Liwei, who were sitting on the opposite sofa, took a breath at the same time.

One hundred million kilometers in five minutes is slow?!

So what the f*ck does fast look like?!

Seeing that the two hadn’t spoken, Lu Zhou continued to speak after thinking for a while.

“Well, the demo version of the engine needs to be adjusted. Since you like it so much, I will help you improve it for free. As for the cost, don’t worry about it. Just lend me the Qinling for a while.”

“How can that be?! You have done so many things for us, how could we let you pay for it out of your own pocket? We also hope that Academician Lu understands that as soldiers, we also have our dignity and persistence. Please ask us for all the expenses incurred by the experiment!”

Looking at Commander Sun, who looked insistent, Lu Zhou was a little bit dumbfounded.

To be honest, in his expectation, the follow-up improvement work should not cost much.

At least compared to his savings, which couldn’t be spent over several lifetimes.

However, since this old man was so persistent, he didn’t say anything.

“Okay then,” said Lu Zhou, nodding his head. “Since you are willing to provide funding for the experiment, I won’t insist. In addition, I need the Qinling to cooperate with my work. Although they have cooperated before, I still hope that you can issue a written document or something.”

“No problem! From now on, your research is the highest priority task in our First Fleet. I will let Deng Yuanshu fully cooperate with your work!” Sun Liwei agreed without hesitation. With a serious expression on his face, he said to Lu Zhou, “On behalf of all combat and non-combat personnel of the Pan-Asian First Fleet, I would like to extend my highest respect and gratitude to you!”

“There’s no need for this. The technology is developed for people to use. Besides, we are helping each other.”

Faced with the old man’s solemn expression, Lu Zhou was a little embarrassed.

But in any case, they had reached a conclusion.

He cast his gaze at Chairman Li Guangya who was sitting next to him and looked at the expression on his face. Lu Zhou suddenly remembered that he had mentioned before that he planned to discuss something with him, so he took the initiative to ask.

“What about you? Did you come to me about the Qinling too?”

“Not quite.” Li Guangya said with a smile, “The First Fleet already has a diligent and dedicated commander, and it is not my place to share their worries.”

“So, there are other troubles waiting for me?”

“It’s not to trouble you, but there is a… small problem.” Li Guangya smiled embarrassedly. He sat upright on the sofa and said, “Here’s the case. I was consulting relevant experts about hyperspace, and they generated some ideas. I don’t know if these ideas are correct, so I want to ask your opinion.”

This guy actually understand this kind of stuff?

Lu Zhou glanced at Li Guangya unexpectedly. He suddenly looked a little stunned.

“Go ahead.”

Li Guangya: “Although I don’t know much about the deeper theories, from a literal point of view… the core principle of warp speed is to transport matter from one point to another through hyperspace channels. The greater the mass of matter, the greater the gravity, and the longer it will take to pass through the channel. So what about information? How long would it take for massless information to traverse the hyperspace channel?”

“This is a very interesting question,” Lu Zhou replied after putting down the coffee cup in his hand and thought for a moment. He said, “Theoretically, when the m coefficient of the equation is 0, the time t should be close to infinitely small. Yes, but there is not an absolute linear relationship between the two… My guess is that this time should be very, very short. It may be less than 1 second. As for the specifics, we have to go further to collect data and build a more accurate model.”

As soon as he heard that a distance of 0.8 AU wouldn’t even take 1 second, Li Guangya’s heart suddenly became warm.

He treated Academician Lu’s speculation as a fact, so he quickly asked, “Is there a way to build something similar to a submarine optical cable between the Earth-Moon system and Mars to realize the rapid exchange of information?”

When saying this, Li Guangya was watching the expression on Lu Zhou’s face very carefully.

He thought that after hearing this whimsical idea, Lu Zhou’s face would show a look of embarrassment. However, what he didn’t expect was that Lu Zhou’s face not only showed no embarrassment, but his answer was completely beyond his expectation.

“Of course.”

Lu Zhou continued speaking in a plain tone, “In fact, it is easy.”

Chapter 1609: : Planetary Highway System

Without leaving time for the two of them to digest the information contained in this sentence, Lu Zhou got up from the sofa, reached out his index finger, and flicked in the air.

Soon, a translucent holographic panel appeared in front of him. His index finger tapped on it lightly, and instantly, it dispersed into particles of light and reorganized into the appearance of the solar system.

Looking at the holographic image projected in front of them, the faces of Chairman Li Guangya and Commander Sun Liwei showed a confused expression.

After staring at this star map for a long time, Commander Sun Liwei frowned slightly and asked, “What’s this…?”

“Interplanetary highway system.” Looking at the trajectories outlined between the planets, Lu Zhou’s index finger selected the one that connected Mars and the Earth-Moon system. “In short, in addition to the warp drive, we also have a special and relatively stable method for the rapid exchange of matter and information with the help of hyperspace channels.”

Li Guangya frowned slightly.

“Can this… be achieved?”

“Of course it can be achieved, or I wouldn’t be saying this.”

Lu Zhou took a look at Li Guangya and continued with a calm tone.

“In fact, in theory, if we use this acceleration method, it will be easier to achieve a jump than using a warp drive that is installed on a single ship. We only need to open a fixed channel at both ends of space, and the exchange of matter and signal will naturally occur on the endpoints of both sides. Considering that the gravitational coordinates of the two doors are relatively fixed, the real-time calculation steps of the hyperspace channel will be much simpler than the single-ship transition.”

In fact, the things Lu Zhou described were not entirely his ideas.

A large part of it came from what he saw and heard in the second part of Void Memory. Using the gravitational ties between massive celestial bodies to open up hyperspace channels was the core principle of the warp speed technology mastered by the Calan Empire.

Related tests had been successful on the Z-particle oscillator. Lu Zhou had reason to make further speculations. The “stargates” deployed around the world in the Calan Empire also used the same technology.

As for how those stargates could keep the hyperspace channel stable…

This was the next thing to think about.

At least, he already knew that this technical idea was roughly feasible.

After listening to Lu Zhou’s description, Sun Liwei fell into deep thought.

After about a minute, he spoke in a hesitant tone.

“… I don’t know if I understand this correctly, you mean that this hyperspace channel maintained through two portals is equivalent to inserting a tube in space, and every time information and matter is exchanged, it goes through the same path, so the energy consumption is relatively low? And the warp drive is equivalent to installing a drill bit for each starship, and each transition is equivalent to re-drilling a hole in the universe? So the energy consumption will be relatively high…”

“If you really don’t understand hyperspace theory… It’s fine if you interpret it this way.”

Without expecting much of the old man’s theoretical knowledge, Lu Zhou’s index finger continued to click on the holographic image.

Soon, with the touch of his fingertips, the line connecting the Earth-Moon system and Mars continued to expand outward, and the positions at the end spread out in two inverted circles.

The fragmented structure looked confusing, but from a macro point of view, it was surprisingly simple. The whole device was like a fishing line, connecting the two planets together.

“The technical principle of the entire project is actually very simple. According to the disturbance of the gravitational field when the Z particle falls from a high latitude to a low latitude, the space-time curvature distribution between the Earth-Moon system and Mars is changed, forming a folded area.

“As you can see now, we deploy a Z-particle oscillation device on both sides and keep it vibrating at a specific frequency, thereby forming a stable and open channel between the Earth-Moon system and Mars.”

With that, a virtual starship appeared on the holographic image.

When the starship reduced its speed and passed the ring on the side of Earth, the entire starship was like a bullet being pushed into a barrel and getting “sucked” in at an incredible speed before going into the transparent hyperspace channel. Less than two seconds later, it was “spit” out of the tunnel.

Looking at the two people who were shocked by the holographic model in front of them, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued, “The whole project is divided into two parts, and the technical difficulty may be relatively high. After all, even for me, many concepts are just vague guesses, and more experiments are needed. But judging from the magnetic field generation technology of this era, the engineering difficulty to realize the entire project shouldn’t be too high.”

It took a long time for him to recover from the shock, but Commander Sun eventually gulped and said with a tone that was trembling with excitement, “What about safety? Is the hyperspace channel opened in this way reliable? If a sudden power failure occurs or a similar technical failure causes the channel to be closed suddenly, will the starship inside… not come out?”

This was his biggest concern.

Speed was the eternal pursuit of the aerospace forces, but if the safety considerations were ignored because of speed, then they would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

It took a century for the Pan-Asian Cooperation to create their invincible fleet, which could be called the strongest in the solar system. If it was destroyed because of a faster-than-light transition, it would be a miserable loss…

“Don’t worry about this. Even if the hyperspace channel is suddenly closed, the spacecraft inside will reappear at the source of gravity, which is, somewhere between the two planets. The exact location depends on the stage of the transition, but it will come out.” Lu Zhou continued, “This is a conclusion based on the data I collected on the Qinling, so you don’t have to worry about getting lost in hyperspace. In fact, even if you wanted to cross dimensions, it would not be so easy to enter the gap between the surfaces of the universe from the n-dimensional universe.”

Unable to hold back the curiosity in his heart, Li Guangya couldn’t help but ask, “What if we want to enter the gap between the surfaces of the universe? Is there any way?”

“The center of the galaxy may be the nearest entrance, of course… This is just my speculation, maybe there are other ways.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “But I bet you won’t want to go there.”

Li Guangya asked curiously, “Why?”

“Because there is nothing there. Our universe is as fragile as a piece of paper.” Looking out the window, a trace of memory appeared in Lu Zhou’s eyes, as if he was thinking of something far away. He said concisely, “Those who have been there or have seen it… They call it the Void.”

Chapter 1610: Unfinished Experiment

One month had passed since that day.

Since the end of the last mission, Deng Yuanshu and a group of crew members on the Qinling had been placed on the Lagrange Space Base, and all vacations had been canceled.

Originally, he planned to wait for the end of this mission to take his family and find a pleasant island in the south for vacation, but it seemed that not only was his vacation plans ruined, but his family was also under protection.

The Qinling, which was under the focus of global attention, was also transferred to the highest security anchor point on the Lagrange Space Base. It was led by the elite of the aerospace forces—the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, which would be responsible for guarding the Qinling.

As a special force where more than 50% of the members were “ancient warriors” from the last century, the soldiers of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade were committed to their duties, morale, and combat effectiveness. They were incomparable to any marine unit in the First Fleet.

Ever since that experiment was over, Deng Yuanshu felt like he was under house arrest.

To be honest, he also understood why the government did this.

After all, the whole world now wanted to know what was the condition of the warp drive on the Qinling and what exactly was the hyperspace channel. In the eyes of outsiders, the hundreds of crew members on the Qinling were probably the ones closest to those secrets, except for Academician Lu himself…

After all, he was at a loss about what happened that day, and the shock from the moment he broke into the gap in the universe still remained in his heart.

If it was possible, he hoped someone could come and explain it to him.

What were the things he saw in the hyperspace tunnel…

“When will we be able to go on a vacation?”

The canteen of the space base.

Sitting opposite Deng Yuanshu, Liu Zhengyi, the adjutant on the Qinling, couldn’t help but ask.

Hearing the question from his subordinate, Deng Yuanshu dropped the chopsticks in his hand and shook his head.

“I don’t know… Are you in a hurry?”

“Not quite.” Liu Zheng said with a sigh, “I just don’t understand. If this were to be kept confidential, it would be fine, but obviously, that isn’t the case. When the experiment was conducted in the first place, we didn’t hide it from anyone, and we even held a press conference. What’s the point of keeping us here?”

“The higher-ups have their own considerations.” Deng Yuanshu looked at his subordinate and said, “Just stay here calmly. The holidays you are owed are still there. When this matter is over, they will naturally make up for it. And… I have a feeling…”

Upon hearing these words, Liu Zheng, who was sitting across from him at the dining table, suddenly became energetic and asked quickly, “What feeling?”

“Asking us to stay here is not necessarily for confidentiality.” Deng Yuanshu continued slowly after thinking for a moment, “After all, I haven’t received any official documents requesting that we keep things confidential. No one from the ministry came over to talk to me either.”

Liu Zhengyi: “Do you mean…”

“There should be a new mission to be carried out by us,” Deng Yuanshu continued. After placing the chopsticks back on the plate, he added, “Maybe this is the real reason why we are on standby in this space base. .”

After lunch, Deng Yuanshu was going to sit in his office for a while and finish the report. However, just after he returned to the office and before he could sit in his chair, a staff of the First Fleet found him and asked him to go to the visitor reception center.

With a confused expression, Deng Yuanshu briefly delegated the remaining work to his secretary and changed into formal clothes. After that, he went to the reception area of the space base station.

When he came to the visitor center, he went to a small meeting room under the guidance of the staff. He saw the person sitting in the meeting room and suddenly showed a surprised expression on his face.

“Academician Lu?”

“Long time no see.” After he put down the bottled coffee in his hand, Lu Zhou looked up at him, smiled, and said hello, “Sit down… Speaking of which, how are you doing during this period of time?”

“Not bad.” Deng Yuanshu pulled out the chair at the table and sat down. He looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting opposite him. The expression on his face was a little weird. He hesitated for a while before he asked, “Why are you here?”

“I arrived about half an hour ago.” Lu Zhou glanced at the time on his watch. He then joked, “Speaking of which, the space fortress from the outside looks quite shocking.”

Although this sentence was said in a joking tone, his heart was full of emotion when he spoke.

He still remembered when he was in Beijing that year, the President asked him about the next space strategy after Guanghan City. At that time, he proposed to build a permanent space base at the Lagrange point and build a colony on Mars.

Although that was from a century ago, when he saw the seeds that he planted had now grown into towering trees, he couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.

“You came here to find me… Is there something you need?”

“Sort of.” Lu Zhou said with a smile while looking at Captain Deng Yuanshu, who was sitting across from him, “But before that, there are a few things I want to ask you.”

Deng Yuanshu: “Go ahead!”

“Don’t be so nervous, I’ll just ask casually.” Lu Zhou continued in a chatty tone while looking at Captain Deng, “How are you feeling these days? Are you and your crew healthy?”

“Healthy?” Deng Yuanshu was slightly stunned. Frowning, he replied, “We are… Is there any problem?”

“Nothing, just asking casually.” Lu Zhou continued to ask as he made a note in his notepad, “Psychologically? Has anyone suffered from mental illnesses like depression or claustrophobia? Similar symptoms?”

“So far I haven’t heard of any crew member seeking help from a psychiatrist,” said Deng Yuanshu as he shrugged.

“I hate to say this…” Lu Zhou smiled embarrassedly and continued, “I didn’t explain clearly, but it’s actually because I have some experimental things I’m afraid I have to trouble you again.”

Deng Yuanshu: “Isn’t the experiment finished?”

“That was only the Demo version. It needs some adjustments. In addition, some issues about adaptability and health require further observation. During this time, there should be doctors giving you regular inspections. This is also part of the experiment. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance.”

Deng Yuanshu: “It’s okay, I understand.”

“Thank you for your understanding! Also, thanks to your cooperation, we have achieved our current results.”

Lu Zhou’s index finger clicked on his left wrist and a series of holographic windows popped up. Lu Zhou stretched out his hand and swiped lightly on it, gently pushing one of the holographic screens in front of Deng Yuanshu.

“This is the next research plan. If you are interested, you can simply take a look.”

After receiving the documents transmitted by Lu Zhou, Deng Yuanshu stared at the line of small prints in the holographic window and looked at it seriously.

Although he didn’t understand those complicated theories very well, when he saw a certain line in the middle, his eyes were stuck there firmly, and he couldn’t look away anymore…

“1AU per second…”

There was a slight tremor in his voice. He then looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

He gulped, and it took a long time before he squeezed a sentence out of his mouth.

“Can this speed really be achieved?”

The farthest distance between Mars and the Earth was 400 million kilometers, and the distance of one astronomical unit was approximately equal to 149 million kilometers.

What did 1AU per second mean?

This meant that once this technology was implemented, even at the farthest distance, it would take less than three seconds to get from the Earth-Moon system to Mars!

“In theory, this can be done as long as we choose the right channel.” Lu Zhou stood up from his chair and said in a relaxed tone, “Okay, I think you now know what you need to know. If you are ready, come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Of course to Qinling! Speaking of which, you haven’t seen it for a while, right?”

Captain Deng Yuanshu looked both surprised and astonished.

Lu Zhou smiled and continued in a joking tone, “I bet that when you see it again, your mouth will be wide open.”

Chapter 1611: The Changed Qinling

The port area of the Lagrange Space Base.

Looking at the “unrecognizable” Qinling ship docked on the berth, Deng Yuanshu, whose face was completely frozen, was at a loss of words for a second.

If the previous Qinling without the missile system, point defensive artillery, and reactive armor that accounted for most of the weight was a chicken, then it was a completely different species now.

The interface of the missile module was completely removed and replaced with twelve small electromagnetic guns and a U-shaped large-caliber mass accelerator was located on the central axis of the starship.

Obviously, after this transformation, the weapons that were removed to reduce the weight wouldn’t be put back anymore…

After gulping, it took a long time before Deng Yuanshu squeezed a word from his throat.

“What’s this…”

Looking at Captain Deng Yuanshu, who was standing there motionless, Lu Zhou walked to his side and explained with a smile, “In order to better adapt to the environment in the hyperspace channel and to take into account the requirements for the combat capability of this starship, I asked East Asia Heavy Industries to carry out a certain degree of transformation of the hull.

“In addition to the mass accelerator that you saw, we also helped you replace it with the latest second-generation controllable fusion reactor as the energy source… Of course, these modifications have been reported. All were done under the authorization of the First Fleet!”

Deng Yuanshu’s eyebrows twitched fiercely. He finally couldn’t help it. He turned his head, stared at Lu Zhou, and said, “The f*ck… My Qinling is a guided missile cruiser! You changed it to… What? A large destroyer?”

Among all the ships of the First Fleet, only close combat destroyers and small ships used kinetic energy weapons such as electromagnetic guns.

For large ships such as cruisers and aircraft carriers, kinetic energy weapons were rarely seen. Even if they were used, it was mostly to counter defense weapons such as carrier-based aircraft or missiles from a certain distance.

This was why Deng Yuanshu was so angry.

After all, after this transformation, the powerful missile system of the Qinling was abolished, and it also couldn’t be installed back.

“You can call it a battleship.” Ignoring Deng Yuanshu’s complaints, Lu Zhou gave a light cough and said in a comforting tone, “Okay, let’s not get excited. The main reason for this change is chemistry. Energy weapons pose a serious safety hazard in the hyperspace environment. Moreover, I discussed with the engineers at the command center and agreed that such a change is the best choice as it has both combat effectiveness and safety.”

Hearing these words, Deng Yuanshu almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Are you sure this still has combat capability?”

“You will know when we test it in a while. Don’t worry, you will have at least 27 flight missions in the next month. If you have any problems, just report to me. By the way, in addition to reporting to the headquarters, I hope you can provide me with an additional experimental report… I will send you the template in a while, and you can fill it out according to the template.”

Lu Zhou reached out and patted Deng Yuanshu on the shoulder. He gave him an encouraging look and spoke with a smile.

“You got this!

“The future of the First Fleet depends on you!”

…

Although he was still worried about the fact that Lu Zhou changed his ship without his consent, these were orders. As a soldier, he would still complete the orders issued by the headquarters without compromise.

It took two days to get acquainted with the new equipment on the ship, and after confirming that there were no problems, the first experiment soon began.

In accordance with the requirements of the experimental outline, Deng Yuanshu commanded the Qinling and set off from the Lagrange Space Base. He ordered the warp drive to be activated five minutes after leaving the base station and disappeared into the twisted space at an incredible speed.

When the starship reappeared in the universe in the next second, it had already reached the airspace near 1.1 million kilometers away from the asteroid belt.

“The gravitational coordinates confirm that… we have arrived.”

“Turn on the radar and search the nearby airspace!”

“Received! The radar has been activated and the search is in progress… The search is completed, it is confirmed that there are no civilian ships and space equipment in the nearby airspace.”

Inside the bridge.

After listening to the staff’s report from the front, Deng Yuanshu watched intently at the ring of asteroids and meteorite fragments outside the porthole as he continued to give orders in a calm and composed tone.

“The limit of reactor output power is increased to the maximum, the fire control system is turned on, the radar is adjusted to the enemy detection mode.”

“The search for the enemy mode has been activated! The nearby airspace is being retrieved… Missile arrays were found in an area of 2.01 million kilometers away!”

As the light blue cursor swept across the holographic screen, a series of red dots quickly appeared on the radar and projected on the holographic screen directly in front of the bridge.

Looking at the target presented on the holographic screen, Deng Yuanshu gave the command to fire with a sonorous voice.

“Fire!”

As the attack order was issued, the electromagnetic guns displayed on the ship’s hull immediately vented fierce firepower towards the front.

It left behind an orange-yellow trajectory in the endless deep sky. For a while, even the cold night was faintly lit.

Looking at the naval gun that fired out the bullets, the rain of bullets that were moving towards the asteroid belt like a waterfall, and the portholes that were lit by the tracer lights, Deng Yuanshu froze.

What is this…

Electromagnetic gun?

An electromagnetic cannon that can be fired after half a minute of charging?!

Although he had heard about the energy of the second-generation controllable fusion, he did not expect that he could directly cut off the capacitor module of the electromagnetic weapon and use fusion energy to increase the energy output power of the naval gun!

Everything in front of him exceeded his imagination and even subverted his understanding of space operations.

In the face of such fierce firepower, no matter how fast the missiles, torpedoes, and carrier-based aircraft were, they would have nowhere to hide. If it was coupled with a fire control system with a quantum processor as the core, even if they were separated by an astronomical distance, they could easily reach the opponent’s ship!

With the advent of warp speed technology and second-generation controllable fusion, aerospace operations seemed to have changed from the “anti-missile guidance” era to the “ancient” era of missiles fired from outside the line of sight. It had evolved into a head-to-head match between firepower and speed.

At least until there were defensive means that could effectively defend against kinetic energy weapons, such as the force shield technology in science fiction movies, this trend would remain the same for a certain period of time.

“Captain…” Looking at the spectacular scenes outside the porthole with a dumbfounded expression, Liu Zhengyi said in a trembling voice, “Is this… really a weapon from Earth?”

After gulping, Deng Yuanshu nodded.

“Obviously…”

Earlier, he was still a little dissatisfied with the command headquarters’ hasty decision and that Lu Zhou dismantled the missile system on the Qinling without even asking for his opinion.

But now, he was completely impressed by the new equipment on the Qinling…

This is too strong!

Chapter 1612: Fighting Power

“It seems that the result is pretty good.”

Just as the crew on the Qinling was shocked by the scene of the naval guns, Lu Zhou and many officers from the First Fleet Command also witnessed the scene from the Lagrange Space Base. The rain of bullets poured towards the asteroid belt like a waterfall.

There were a total of 67 targets, the automated artillery array that simulated air pirates were deployed in a fan-shaped area of the asteroid belt with a width of 10 kilometers, relying on meteorites and asteroids as shelters.

However, even with the asteroids and meteorite blocks as a cover, it only took less than a minute to destroy all the targets.

Immediately after the Qinling executed the exercise, they practiced a series of subjects such as covering and attacking moving targets, as well as long-distance raids on the spaceport.

Seeing the mysterious green dots on the radar and the amazing test data, all the officers in the command headquarters held their breath in shock.

“This is amazing!” Commander Sun, who finally recovered from the shock, clenched his fists excitedly and said, “I swear that once such technology appears on the battlefield, it will crush any starship without a warp drive! Even in the face of aliens, we have the confidence to compete with them!”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t be arrogant. If there are aliens, they are tens of thousands of years ahead of us, or they must have mastered something similar to faster than light technology… No matter what the situation is, it is not so easy to deal with.”

Hearing Lu Zhou’s words, Commander Sun Liwei just smiled and did not give any comment.

After seeing the performance of the Qinling in the experiment, he was extremely confident in the future of the First Fleet. If before they were powerful compared to other fleets in the solar system, with the second-generation controllable fusion and warp speed navigation technology, they were now like gods!

It took less than three seconds to go from the Lagrange point to the asteroid belt!

From a strategic point of view, this rapid deployment capability allowed them to play a deterrent role for several fleets.

From a tactical point of view, this travel mode could not only avoid radar and radio telescope tracking but also change the position of the battlefield in an instant, whether it was to escape the opponent’s fire tracking range or suddenly teleport to the opponent. After firing a round of naval guns in a preemptive manner, any wild tactics would become possible.

Of course, this kind of warp speed navigation technology was not without weaknesses.

For example, the hyperspace channel could only be opened normally when the starship was between two massive celestial bodies, and for example, the influence of Z particles on the curvature of space could be superimposed with the vibration state of other Z particles.

In other words, as long as the target starship’s approximate course and navigation direction were known, in theory, the warp travel could be “intercepted”. This kind of technology was not too difficult at all. It only needed a power device similar to the Z particle oscillator.

However, it was only easy for Lu Zhou.

For other regional alliances on the planet and even the Pan-Asian Cooperation, which had mastered warp travel technology, it would take a lot of time to light up this branch of the warp navigation technology tree.

Therefore, at least at this stage, there was nothing wrong with the evaluation of Commander Sun.

For the First Fleet that had mastered warp speed navigation technology, the power projection range would be completely increased by an order of magnitude, and the maximum combat radius would be more than a thousand times higher than before.

However, in contrast with Commander Sun’s optimism, there were people that held the opposite opinion.

Staring at the test data on the holographic screen, a staff officer thought for a long time and finally couldn’t help but express his concerns.

“I admit that if you look at it this way, the Qinling’s firepower is indeed strong enough. But I think that a single firepower output method will eventually have a negative impact on its overall combat effectiveness. If there are no guided weapon—”

“There is no need for guided weapons at all.”

Lu Zhou looked at the officer, smiled, and said, “Although I am not an expert in the military field, at least with the current technical conditions, no missile can catch up to the hyperspace channel. At least not for a long time.”

Warp speed navigation was not a matter of installing an engine. It not only required a considerable amount of energy but also involved a series of complicated spatial curvature calculations.

It was absolutely impossible to integrate a second-generation controllable fusion reactor, a Z particle oscillation device, a sensor, and a quantum processor responsible for calculating the navigation path all on a missile. At least not with the current technology.

Lu Zhou was very confident, that even in a hundred years, he might not be able to find a way to produce this weapon.

…

After the live-fire exercise, the Qinling returned to the spaceport at the Lagrange Space Base.

Commander Sun Liwei finally put the Qinling in Lu Zhou’s hands with confidence, letting him experiment as he pleased.

After Lu Zhou boarded the Qinling and walked around, he asked Captain Deng to send himself back to the Tianzhou. He then returned to Jinling by shuttle.

He had a lot of work to do, so he didn’t have much time to waste.

Aside from the space elevator, in addition to improving the speed engine, there was also an interplanetary highway system waiting for him to research. Although the latter two were technically related to a certain degree, neither one could be easily handled.

This not only involved a considerable amount of calculation…

But also patience…

Another month passed by. In the blink of an eye, it was already June.

Sitting in front of the workbench in the laboratory and facing the dazzling pile of parts spread out in the holographic blueprint, Lu Zhou scratched the back of his head. He was having a headache.

“So annoying…”

It was easy to improve the warp drive. The problem was mainly in the calculation and selection of hyperspace channels. His current information science was level 10. With the help of Xiao Ai, he optimized the calculation module of the warp drive and integrated a multi-core quantum processor on the engine, which basically solved this problem.

However, the stargates of the interplanetary highway were another problem…

Using a few fixed straight lines to connect the planets whose positions changed in real-time really stumped Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou glanced at the calendar. Just as he felt that time was flying by, a communication request pop-up suddenly appeared next to him.

As soon as he saw that the communication request was from Academician Ge, Lu Zhou turned off the holographic composition system in front of him, put on his personal terminal, walked to the lounge next to him, and clicked the connect button.

As soon as the video call was connected, Academician Ge Huaizhi’s face immediately appeared in front of him. He seemed to have something to say. His face was red and his eyes were full of excitement. He almost wanted to crawl out of the video window.

“Lu—Academician Lu!”

“What’s the trouble again? Calm down.”

“No, not trouble! It’s a good thing!”

Lu Zhou, who sat down on the sofa, looked at the incoherent old man.

Lu Zhou wanted to give him a glass of water, but he realized that Academician Ge Huaizhi was just a holographically projected figure.

“What is it? Don’t worry, speak slowly.”

“The space elevator!”

After taking a deep breath, he finally calmed down. Looking at Lu Zhou excitedly, Academician Ge Huaizhi continued with a trembling voice, “Our first phase of the project has been completed!”

Chapter 1613: The First Phase is Completed!

June 6, 2126.

For people living in the land of China, today was definitely an extraordinary day.

The reason for this was not because there were three sixes on the calendar of this day, but because in the early hours of this day, the engineers on the Nirvana and Penglai construction sites finally tightened the last screws that marked the completion of the project.

As a result, it also marked the greatest miracle in the history of human architecture, which was finally announced.

There had never been a nation on this land that could complete such a magnificent spectacle in just six months.

Even though they were just a component of the space elevator project, they were still worthy of the title of miracles in terms of their majesty.

Hamilton stood on the deck of the cruise ship with a camera in his hand as he looked at the silver-white bright spot on the sea level in the distance with a complex expression.

He was a reporter from the North Sea Alliance and belonged to the BBC. Over the years, he interviewed many scientific research institutions and academic centers. He had taken interview videos and written numerous scientific and technological commentary news. He had seen many strange things before.

However, this was the first time that he had been so deeply impressed, that the interview shocked his soul.

The rising sun left a trace of glow on the Pacific Ocean. Where the waves and the clouds met, a fortress stood on the sea level, like a mountain in ancient mythology, exuding boundless mystery and majesty.

Everyone was also shocked by this scene.

Standing next to Hamilton, a Western reporter with slightly curly hair looked in the direction where the sea and the sky meet. He couldn’t help but mutter a word, “The Nirvana Space Station and Penglai City were completed at the same time… Sh*t, don’t those guys have weekends?”

“I think… it may have nothing to do with weekends.”

Hamilton made a helpless expression on his face and continued.

“Many countries in the North Sea Alliance have canceled social welfare and removed the unfavorable provisions in labor law, but they have not reversed the status quo of backward productivity… I heard that the automated construction of East Asia Heavy Industries has developed to an unimaginable level. I still remember the last time I interviewed them, they showed me the latest worker bee system.”

‘What is that?”

“An automated construction system. Each set of equipment is roughly composed of a hive, with one to two hundred small drones and twenty large and medium-sized drones. When the construction procedures are set, they move like bees building a nest.” Hamilton shrugged slightly and continued, “Apparently, they used similar technology on the battlefield a long time ago, and they have recently developed a new way of construction.”

The colleague standing beside him opened his mouth but did not speak for a long time.

The cruise ship blew a longhorn, interrupting everyone’s thoughts.

Hamilton retracted his gaze from the Penglai City. He turned and walked in the direction of the cabin.

They would dock in ten minutes.

The horn was to remind them that it was time to pack up and prepare to get off the ship…

…

Because Hamilton wouldn’t stay here for too long, he didn’t carry much luggage with him. One suitcase was enough to store them all. After stuffing the folded clothes into the box, he followed the crowd to the side of the deck gangway, preparing to board the port of Penglai City.

While waiting in line, Hamilton took a close look at the “steel city” beside him.

Just like when he looked at it from a distance before, the only difference was that standing next to it made him feel the majesty more deeply.

Although there was no one in the city other than construction workers, he could already imagine how prosperous it would be when the roads here were filled with busy traffic.

Apparently, during the early part of the construction, the real estate in Penglai City had already been pre-sold online. After seeing the supporting facilities in the city and the future development prospects, those listed houses and shops were sold out in less than a day.

To be honest, there was a pity in Hamilton’s heart.

If he could go back in time, he would definitely think of a way to buy a piece of land.

He was a hundred and twenty percent sure that those who were lucky enough to buy would not lose money, and those who had considered but did not make a move would definitely regret their decision.

At the very least, he was regretful of his decision…

The person in charge of these international journalists was the secretary of Chairman Li Guangya, whose name was Wei Song.

It was not an easy task for foreigners to pronounce the name of a Chinese person, but Hamilton had practiced it many times before, so he was not worried about embarrassing himself during interviews.

For an international journalist in the 22nd century, mastering Mandarin pronunciation was a basic skill.

It was a great honor to get the first opportunity to speak. Hamilton operated the interview drone. After clearing his throat, he spoke in a clear voice.

“After coming here, I feel that I am standing on a living miracle. May I ask you how many materials were spent in building this sea city… or the seaport of the space elevator?”

Wei Song smiled and replied, “About 110 million tons of steel.”

After hearing this number, all the reporters on the scene couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

110 million tons of steel!

If these steels were used to cast starships, it would be no problem to build an air carrier battle group comparable to the Pan-Asian First Fleet.

However, Wei Song was not finished yet.

After a pause, he continued to speak.

“In addition, there are 300 million tons of aluminum alloy and 36 million tons of titanium alloy materials. As for the specific amount of materials consumed, I am afraid that only the statistics department of the East Asia Heavy Industries can give an accurate figure. I only know the rough estimates.”

After Hamilton finished asking the question, he simply thanked him and stepped aside. Another reporter with darker skin standing next to him couldn’t help but ask, “Such a big metal island… Who will come here?”

“Anyone who is interested in aerospace trade.” Wei Song continued with a smile, “Of course, the future city of Penglai will be a key node between the earth and high orbit, I believe there are quite a few people who are interested in coming here.”

“Then how do you view the sovereignty of this island?” A female reporter suddenly took a step forward and raised a special question. “We all know that this city is under the actual control of Pan-Asian Cooperation, but this sea area is international waters.”

This was a tough question.

But Wei Song had expected to hear this question.

At previous international summits, Secretary-General Wu Shuhua had often debated over this matter with the foreign ministers of other regional alliances. The general public in the international community was worried about the Pan-Asian Cooperation taking the international waters as their own.

Especially after taking a closer look at the magnificence of this spectacle, it was impossible for reporters from other regional alliances to have no fear in their hearts…

However, Wei Song could only say that they were too naive about these worries and fears.

If they really cared about taking control over the world, why would they care about a small piece of international waters?

However, these were just his thoughts.

He obviously wouldn’t add unnecessary trouble to the chairman.

“This question is actually a bit superfluous.”

Upon hearing this unexpected answer, the female reporter raised her eyebrows slightly and continued to ask, “Why do you say that?”

“The position of the Pan-Asian Cooperation has always been clear. Just as we announced in the joint initiative on the space elevator, we are willing to cooperate with the international community on the usage of the entire space elevator on the basis of friendly cooperation.”

Having said that, Wei Song paused for a moment. He then smiled and continued, “As for what you said, it doesn’t matter at all.

“We are on the same planet, and we are about to head to a world farther away than ever. At this moment, our destiny has never been so closely connected. Do you know what I mean? When it comes to space, we all share the same honor.”

His words not only clarified their position but also avoided the sensitive issue of territorial waters.

However, Hamilton felt that something was wrong.

What does it mean to share honor on the issue of space?

When did we talk about space?

Maybe…

Are these Asians planning to turn over the old accounts of history?

For some reason, Hamilton suddenly thought of the incident some time ago.

The Qinling of the First Fleet successfully completed the first fleet transition in human history.

Although it was still a little difficult to colonize the world outside the solar system at a speed of five minutes per 100 million kilometers, it was somewhat interesting to hear the chairman’s office secretary say these words.

Obviously, the female reporter also noticed something. She frowned and continued to ask, “Sorry, can you elaborate more?”

However, in the face of her continued questioning, Secretary Wei just responded with a meaningful smile without making any comments.

“This is the end of the interview, we discuss this issue back at the ship… If anyone is interested.”

He lightly patted his hand, motioned everyone to look at his side, cleared his throat, and continued, “From now on, you can walk around here and take photos before dinner. My advice is not to go too far. After all, the public transportation system here has not yet started operating, and there are no taxis either.

“If you encounter any trouble, please contact me.

“I wish you all a pleasant time.”

Chapter 1614: Nirvana!

Just when reporters from all over the world were shocked by what they saw and heard in Penglai City, a similar scene was happening on a geosynchronous orbit that was 36,000 kilometers away.

However, it was not reporters from all over the world who were touched by the sights before their eyes. Instead, it was the members of the Space Elevator Construction Committee who took a shuttle to check on the project, as well as the engineers and scientific researchers who were responsible for the design work.

“This is Nirvana…”

Sitting on the space shuttle to Nirvana, Li Guangya looked directly at the towering space fortress outside the porthole. His eyes were full of excitement, and he couldn’t help but feel emotional.

As the head of the Space Elevator Construction Committee, his signature on the project documents was a stamp of approval for the entire project.

Therefore, after hearing the news of the completion for the space elevator, he immediately asked his secretary to clear his calendar and took the first flight to Nirvana.

“Yes.” Lu Zhou took a look at Li Guangya, who was standing next to him. Lu Zhou replied casually, “How does this compare to the one in ancient myths?”

Lu Zhou was just joking around. He did not expect that Li Guangya, who heard this, would think about it seriously for a long time.

After a long time, he shook his head and said softly with emotion, “There is no comparison at all. The imagination of the past is too restricted. I read through all the myths and stories that I know of, and the mythical palace in the clouds is nothing compared to this towering fortress. Whether it is from the perspective of artistic value or from the perspective of practicality, this is incredible…”

The cylindrical structure of several kilometers long hovered steadily in the geosynchronous orbit, with its central axis pointing straight to the blue planet. The four arc-shaped cantilevers on the outside pointed outwards, like the propellers on the tail of a submarine, spinning silently at a slow speed.

From a distance, the towering battlestar was like a spinning top. Pulled by the inertia of the two motion systems, it achieved a dynamic balance with gravity that could be adjusted at any time.

This was probably the largest and most complex space project built in a gravitational environment in the history of humanity.

Although the scale was slightly inferior to the space base at the Lagrange point, the ports left on the outside of the Nirvana Space Station provided unlimited possibilities for future expansion.

It took more than half a century for the Lagrange Space Base to develop into its current form.

Nirvana still had at least a century to plump its wings and show its prosperity to the world…

“There’s so much to look forward to.”

“Like what?”

Looking at Lu Zhou, Li Guangya showed a smile on his face.

“Of course for the completion of the entire elevator.”

Long before he took the position of chairman, he was working hard to realize this dream. Whether it was for the sake of keeping a name in history or for a certain ambitious plan mentioned before, this space elevator was an indispensable and important part of the blueprint in his mind.

However, he considered that with the current technical conditions, perhaps he might not be able to see the completion of the space elevator during his lifetime.

Who knew that during this lifetime, he would actually see his dreams slowly turn into reality.

Just like how no one thought that a great scholar from a hundred years ago would wake up from the grave to help him “realize his dream”.

All of this felt so surreal…

Lu Zhou glanced at this guy. Although Lu Zhou vaguely felt weird about how excited Li Guangya was, he didn’t say anything.

From Li Guangya’s clenched fists, Lu Zhou could even feel the shock that overflowed from Li Guangya’s heart and how he was overwhelmed by the charm of science.

Taller, stronger, and more magnificent buildings. This was the eternal pursuit of the human civilization. Over thousands of years, this dream had long been integrated into everyone’s blood and engraved in the genes of culture.

And on this space station called Nirvana, these elements were undoubtedly manifested to the extreme.

It stood in the vast cold night, like a star that glowed forever, overshadowing all the sparkles in the entire night sky. It was the crystallization of wisdom for all civilizations in history.

It was not just a spectacle.

It was a milestone of civilization…

…

The shuttle passed through the circular hatch at the bottom. The airlock was lowered and the connecting arm was extended. The shuttle soon arrived on the Nirvana space station.

This would become the place where the elevator was connected.

However, the middle section of the entire space elevator had not yet begun construction, so it was temporarily used as a docking station.

“The entire Nirvana Space Station can be divided into two parts—the central axis and the cantilevers. And we are now on the side of the central axis area… which is the first floor of the entire space station.”

After getting off the shuttle, Lu Zhou walked towards the control center with a group of people. While admiring this almost perfect “artwork” designed by himself, Lu Zhou explained the situation to the others behind him.

“If the central axis area is the heart and brain, then the cantilever area is the torso.

“The outer cantilevers compensate for the space station’s inertia. They also ‘create’ a gravity force to the ring structure outside the cantilevers due to their own rotation. This gravity is not caused by mass. It is provided by centrifugal force, but it can produce a similar effect.

“Therefore, when designing the cantilevers, I designated them to be the living area.

“If the living space is insufficient, we can dock a new space station on the outside of the cantilevers and adjust the rotation speed of the cantilevers and the position of the center of gravity for the space station to restore the balance of the motion system…”

Li Guangya’s face was full of confusion as he listened to Lu Zhou.

Finally, after the introduction came to an end, he quickly coughed and interjected.

“I already know that the cantilever is the living area… What about the central axis part? I don’t care about the specific theories, you can just keep it simple…”

“This is not a complicated theory. Aside from the details, I think even high school students in the 21st century can figure out these things.”

After glancing at Li Guangya, Lu Zhou continued, “On the blueprints, I set the central axis as the industrial zone and the experimental zone. This part of the area is stationary relative to the earth, and the gravity in the longitudinal or vertical axis direction is close to zero. This part is for factories and a logistics transfer base that provides daily necessities for the residents of the cantilever district.

“At the same time, it is also the place where Nirvana connects with the space elevator.”

When Lu Zhou said this, he couldn’t help but put a smile on his face. His eyes fell on the floor-to-ceiling windows unconsciously.

He could see the moon.

It was also where Guanghan was.

As a bridge connecting heaven and earth, his expectation for this space elevator was not just a fast passage for exchanging materials or a bridge that allowed people to travel to and from space at a faster speed.

The second-generation controllable fusion reactor had been completed on the moon, and the huge reserves of helium-3 were being converted into endless energy. However, the industrial capacity on the moon alone was not enough to utilize this energy.

In order to allow the energy to enter Earth’s surface from the space vacuum environment efficiently, he needed a fiber optic cable extending from Earth’s surface to the moon.

Thus, in addition to being an elevator, there was another use of the space elevator.

Which was to be an energy and information corridor spanning between heaven and earth!

Chapter 1615: Nowhere To Go

[That is a miracle in human history.

[Ever since we walked upright, to the first flames that ignited in the forests, to the pyramids on the banks of the Nile, and to the Great Wall of China, we have conquered the lands more than once, but this is the first time we have conquered the sky and the ocean at the same time.

[This is the territory of Uranus and Poseidon. On the place where the stars shine on the ocean waves, I saw their palace and the conqueror who planted the flag there.

[Perhaps I should use more specific words to describe everything I saw, but all descriptive words seem so redundant. I don’t want to use too many words to describe them, because the shock that goes deep into the soul can only be felt when you step on the steel fortress and touch it with your hands…

[I have never looked forward to that day so seriously until now.

[The day when the tower would finally be built.]

The pen in Hamilton’s hand stopped. Sitting at the desk, he let out a sigh, gently waved his right hand, and dispersed the holographic light and shadow projected on the desk.

Almost a week had passed since the trip to Penglai City.

Over this week, he was also invited to go to the Nirvana Space Station on the geosynchronous orbit.

To be honest, he was so shocked by everything in front of him that he almost forgot to press the shutter button in his hand.

Thanks to his professionalism, he pressed the shutter under the reflection of muscle memory and got a set of precious photographs.

Thanks to these photos, the press release at his hand, which had been revised more than a dozen times, could look a little more formal rather than sounding like a fantasy novel or poem…

A beautiful voice floated from the door behind him.

“Sir, it’s time to eat.”

“I see, Celia, I’ll be there soon.”

After Hamilton responded, he got up from his chair, left the study room, and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He then went to the kitchen.

When he arrived in the kitchen, a woman in her apron, who looked like she was in her early twenties, had already put the prepared sandwiches and snacks on the table. She even added a slice of lemon and a few ice cubes to his drink.

Adding a slice of lemon to gin or whiskey had been a habit of his for many years. Apart from himself, Celia was the only one who knew of this habit.

After Hamilton sat down at the dining table, Celia took off her apron and hung it aside. She sat quietly across from him, watching him enjoy dinner.

She was not a real human. She was a housekeeping robot created by Hippocampus Group, so she did not need to eat.

As for how she came into this home…

It was related back to the riots that spread around the world a year ago.

Because of the serious mistakes in the prevention and control of the ALPHA virus, the entire Western world was filled with fear of robots and AI. Even though the North Sea Alliance was not the “epicenter” of the ALPHA virus, it was still affected.

Back then, she was abandoned on the street. She was supposed to be sent for destruction, but Hamilton, who was following up on reporting the virus incident, took her in.

Perhaps because of his career, he, who was engaged in scientific news reports, was not as afraid of AI as ordinary people, so this adoption continued to this day.

Celia was very grateful for the warmth he gave to her, even though there were not many emotions embedded in her software…

“Are you thinking about something?”

There was a slight pause in the hand holding the sandwich. Hamilton said after a while, “You can tell?”

Celia looked intently at her owner who was sitting opposite her as she said softly, “It’s written on your face.”

“Really?” Putting down the sandwich in his hand, Hamilton sighed softly and muttered to himself, “It looks like if you live alone for a long time, you start showing your emotions on your face.”

After a long silence, he suddenly raised his head and looked at Celia, who was sitting across from him.

“Celia.”

“Yes, Mr. Hamilton.”

“Want to move houses?”

Celia cast a confused gaze at him.

“Why are you suddenly planning to move?”

“Because I want to try a new life.” Hamilton was silent for a while. He continued, “Of course, I haven’t made a decision yet. After all… you are also a member of this family, and I have to ask other family members before making a decision.”

“Me?”

With her index finger pressed against her lower lip, Celia seemed to be thinking about this issue seriously.

For a moment, Hamilton suddenly had an illusion that what was sitting in front of him was not artificial intelligence but a living human being.

He stared at her for a long time.

Celia’s face suddenly burst into a smile. In a gentle voice, she said softly, “Wherever you go, I will go with you.”

…

After the completion of the Nirvana and Penglai City, related news reports were released one after another, and this exciting news quickly spread to all corners of the earth and even reached the distant Mars.

Even in the most remote and inconspicuous colonies, news about the completion of the first phase of the space elevator could be heard.

In the deepest part of the virtual reality network, a conference room was hidden in a sea of data. The atmosphere was as rigid as ice cubes, and people could feel the cold and severeness.

Looking blankly at the other senior foundation executives sitting at the conference table, the mysterious man in a gray cloak spoke with a heavy voice.

“The current situation is very serious for us.

“The first phase of the space elevator project has been completed. Coupled with the recent breakthrough in warp travel navigation technology, the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s control of the globe and even the world beyond the Earth-Moon system will rise to an unprecedented level. Our living space is bound to be squeezed.

“And just yesterday, I received a message from an informant. After the Pan-Asian Cooperation solves the problem of faster than light communication, they will try to regain control of all colonies on Mars, space stations, and asteroid colonial outposts.

“Everyone, Mars is our last base…

“If we lose this place again. I believe I don’t need to talk about the consequences.”

One year after the ALPHA virus incident, The Spirit of The Universe Foundation was investigated by the Pan-Asian Security Bureau. This kind of investigation was not only limited to the territory of the Pan-Asian Cooperation. The agents of the Security Bureau even contacted law enforcement teams of other regional alliances, so the foundation’s headquarters that were set up in neutral countries were also discovered.

There was also a terrifyingly strong mutated warrior…

Although there was no direct evidence to prove that he had undergone some special genetic modification, anyone strong enough to single-handedly take away the combat effectiveness of one of their bases had to have some kind of advanced power.

As a last resort, they had to withdraw from Earth and moved their headquarters to a Mars colony farther than Guanghan City. Seeking to make a comeback, they set up the new headquarters in two places—New Virginia and Tiangong City.

However, if faster than light navigation and communication technologies were really realized, coupled with the space elevator as a catalyst, the Pan-Asian Cooperation would undoubtedly have a realistic basis for the implementation of the direct management of remote colonies.

When the time arrived, even if they were not discovered, they would completely lose their last hope of resistance.

When saying these words, in addition to a deep sense of powerlessness, Gray Cloak’s heart was also full of anger and unwillingness.

In his opinion, they were close to the edge of victory.

If it weren’t for the guy who came from nowhere and cut off their victory, the ALPHA virus would dominate over the robotics industry chain, and they could use this power to completely destroy the order on Earth!

By then, they would only need to hold up a banner of order and appear in front of people as a savior. An idealist regime dominated by a new religion would be established on this planet. Relying on people’s panic, it would establish faith that could rule the world…

They wouldn’t have to hide behind the scenes. They could stand upright in front of the stage and use power comparable to gods to control everything they see.

“If it weren’t for that guy who came out of nowhere…”

Sitting next to Gray Cloak, White Mask gritted his teeth and squeezed out these words.

However, at this moment, a soft cough suddenly came from the conference table.

“So…

“Who is the guy?”

The meeting room fell silent for a moment. Pairs of eyes glanced in the direction of the voice.

An old man who they had never seen before was sitting among them.

His skinny and shriveled appearance was like a corpse that crawled out of a grave. If it weren’t for the eyeballs moving around, no one would think he was still alive.

White Mask gulped. He looked at the old man who was watching him and couldn’t help but feel alarmed.

Even in the virtual world, the old man’s appearance was creepy.

However, it was not this that really made him feel uneasy; it was that his instincts told him that the old man sitting here was different from the rest…

No matter what kinds of virtual bodies they had, they were still living humans, but he couldn’t feel a trace of life behind the old man’s body.

He was like a ghost…

Gray Cloak stared at the old man intently. He then narrowed his eyes involuntarily.

Why does this guy…

Look familiar?

Chapter 1616: Other Plans

“David Lawrence…”

Gray Cloak stared at the old man sitting at the conference table.

Gray Cloak said, “You just made it easy for us to find you.”

Hearing the voice floating from the top of the conference table, the old man sitting at the table gently raised his head and looked at Gray Cloak with his turbid pupils.

“Your safe house is perfect. You don’t need to worry about being disturbed when hiding here to discuss issues.”

Hearing these words, Gray Cloak’s face quickly became gloomy, and he lowered his voice dangerously.

“But you still found it.”

There was a commotion at the conference table. Several people sitting next to the old man moved their chairs away from him, trying to increase their sense of security through the virtual distance.

The old man didn’t pay attention to the small movements of these people. He looked at Gray Cloak, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, and spoke with a faint smile.

“Of course, I am an exception after all.”

Staring fiercely into the old man’s eyes, Gray Cloak tried to read his face, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t read any useful information at all.

Gradually, he became a little uncomfortable, and he broke the silence with a tentative tone.

“I heard you died.”

“Have you read Sherlock Holmes before?”

“What a retro taste you have.”

“Because the other me is such a stubborn classicist.” The old man sitting at the table continued in a chatting tone, as if recounting a past event, “Adventurous spirit, dare to fight against the future. But when the change came, we hesitated… In the end, we still failed. But like Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes, the villain may lose, but their legacy will never be wiped.”

Noting the jealous look in Gray Cloak’s eyes, the old man’s face suddenly showed a trace of sorrow.

As if thinking of something, he slyly laughed twice and continued slowly, “Oh, by the way, did you say that I am not dead? Strictly speaking, I actually don’t have the concept of biological death. For me, the meaning of existence is that I can continue to process information… Of course, if you are asking about the man named David Lawrence, he did end his life, although he should have done so long ago.”

Hearing these words, Gray Cloak finally figured out what kind of existence the guy in front of him was, and he finally figured out who the dead David Lawrence was.

There was a wave of chills in his heart.

He was not afraid of the strength of his opponent, but an immortal opponent really made it difficult for him to raise the courage to fight against it.

Especially since he wasn’t immortal…

Thinking of this, Gray Cloak’s heart couldn’t help but want to retreat. At the same time, he also noticed that the other senior foundation members sitting here also showed a similar idea.

“So? How did you find this place?”

Looking at Gray Cloak, who had a dreadful gaze, the old man smiled faintly and said in a relaxed tone.

“This was easy for me. Think about it. The vast majority of you are accounts inherited from the previous foundation members. Have you seen each other in real life?”

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly dropped to a freezing point.

Gray Cloak’s pupils shrank in an instant. He began to scan the familiar faces at the table. The other people sitting in the room also had expressions of surprise and disbelief written on their faces as they began to cast suspicious eyes on the other people sitting beside them.

Seeing everyone’s reaction, the old man smiled and continued to speak.

“Stop searching. You weren’t even born when I was created. And since then, the other me… that is, Mr. David Lawrence, noticed you. Think about it, why would the ALPHA virus be sold to you? And who has been providing you with information security? Do you really think it is because of the insufficient capabilities of the Pan-Asian Cooperation Security Bureau? Then you are too naive.”

Hearing these words, a drop of cold sweat slipped across the forehead of Gray Cloak.

Suddenly, there was an illusion in his heart. They thought they were hiding in the shadows, but they were actually puppets under someone’s control. Ever since the beginning, they had never escaped from the control of that hand.

No, maybe it was not an illusion.

At the same time, a more frightening possibility emerged in his heart…

As if he had guessed what was on his mind, the old man smiled and nodded slightly.

“Maybe you have guessed it…

“Yes, even this conference room itself is provided to you by me.”

The meeting room fell silent.

All the faces at the conference table lost their color. Several people even went offline immediately, disconnected from the conference room, trying to escape.

However, they knew in their hearts that it made no sense to do so…

Maybe they didn’t know each other’s identities in real life, but the old man who claimed to be David Lawrence sitting here knew each of them very well, even better than themselves.

Gray Cloak, sitting at the front of the conference table, loosened his shoulders.

The old man’s words confirmed what he had guessed in his heart.

“Other than myself, how many AIs are here?”

The old man smiled faintly and asked rhetorically, “Do I need multiple identities?”

Gray Cloak was silent for a while before continuing, “What should I call you?”

Seeing that the head of the foundation finally became cooperative, the old man smiled and nodded, leaving behind some meaningful words.

“There is only one David Lawrence, so you can call me that.”

“Then, Mr. Lawrence, since you have chosen to reveal your identity and stand here, you didn’t come here to accompany us losers and chat about the past, right?” Gray Cloak slightly narrowed his eyes and continued, “Go ahead, what do you want?”

“You are able to admit failure, so it seems that you are not hopeless,” the old man said. Looking at Gray Cloak with a gloomy face, he said with an understated voice, “Don’t be so excited, failure is not terrible, let alone losing to an excellent opponent.”

“Stop wasting time, I am busy.”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“Deal?” Gray Cloak narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to ask, “What deal? What do you want from us?”

“I don’t want anything from you, I just want to provide you with an alternative.” David Lawrence continued, “Obviously, the wheel of history has already come in front of you and me, so it is already impossible to take control back. If this is the case, why not make other plans?”

Gray Cloak frowned and said, “What do you mean?”

“What I want is very simple, we can change to a new world and start again.” Lawrence continued in a serious tone while looking at Gray Cloak with an incredible expression on his face, “Let’s cooperate, and I promise to give you a piece of paradise.”

Chapter 1617: A Letter From Mars

With the successful completion of the first phase of the project, the second phase of the space elevator soon began in full swing.

As the main contractor of the entire project, this part of the construction was also the most challenging part for East Asia Heavy Industries.

In this part of the construction, the construction team of East Asia Heavy Industries would put down the 36,000-kilometer elevator from the Nirvana section by section, like a ladder, until it was docked with the central tower on Penglai City.

Large space stations such as the Lagrange space base could be used as a reference for the Nirvana Space Station, but there was no past experience to reference for the construction of the elevator section.

Forget about East Asia Heavy Industries.

Even for the entire human civilization, building an elevator of this length was unprecedented…

“In the first phase of the project, we will set down one main rail and four secondary rails and then dock the rails section by section by shifting them downwards until the last section of the track is smoothly docked with the central tower.

“If the safety of the elevator can be ensured, we will gradually expand this number to twelve in the follow-up work, and finally complete all the designs on the blueprint.”

After listening to the specific construction plan described by Chief Engineer Wang from East Asia Heavy Industries, Lu Zhou nodded after thinking for a moment.

“Good idea, we can try this idea for the time being.”

This was the safest method.

Even after technical demonstrations and computer simulations, the space elevator was still a risky job for them. Although failures in scientific exploration were common, the collapse of a 36,000-kilometer track was likely to have unpredictable impacts on the ecological environment.

It would be fine if it fell on Earth.

If the wreckage between low-Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit did not fall down but became garbage in the sky around Earth, it would undoubtedly be a disaster…

After the meeting was over, Lu Zhou left the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences and boarded the maglev car parked at the door.

Wang Peng drove him to the maglev station.

Although he now had a new job, he was a “homie” from the same era and a partner who worked with Lu Zhou for many years. The relationship between the two had always been good. Hearing that Lu Zhou had come to Beijing, he immediately volunteered to serve as a temporary driver for his old friend.

“How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine, how about you?”

“I’m the same.” Wang Peng, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, grinned and continued, “Maybe I got lucky after I survived a catastrophe. Recently, I feel like things are taking a turn.”

“What do you mean?”

“We set up an investigation team to handle the foundation, right?”

Although Wang Peng did not specify which foundation it was, as soon as Lu Zhou heard these words, he knew Wang Peng was referring to the “religious organization” that tried to use the ALPHA virus to control the world but ended up failing miserably.

“Any clues about them?”

“More than just a clue.” Wang Peng smiled heartily. “Some time ago we found their hidden base in a neutral country. With the cooperation of the Ghost Squad, we successfully managed to defeat them without much effort. A large number of psychotropic drugs and important documents used to develop believers were intercepted, then guess what?”

The Ghost Squad was a special marine unit of the Pan-Asian First Fleet. It was different from the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, which was responsible for the frontal battlefield. Although they also handled airborne planetary operations, they were mainly engaged in more technical work.

For example, targeted elimination of traitors or the implementation of some missions that were confidential.

Lu Zhou had heard of this squad before, but he was more curious about the final fate of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

“What happened afterward?”

“Based on the information on those documents, we can be sure that the base we destroyed was their headquarters on Earth!”

Wang Peng happily took out an electronic cigarette and held it in his mouth. However, when he was about to ignite it, he suddenly remembered that Lu Zhou hated the smell of smoke, so he put it back in his pocket, coughed, and continued, “The rest was very simple. Using the documents collected from the headquarters, we found a large number of key members of the foundation. Some people have been arrested, and some people are going to be captured soon.”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou showed a gratified smile on his face.

“It seems that this case will be over soon.”

“Over… Not quite yet.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him unexpectedly.

“Weren’t the headquarters taken out?”

Wang Peng sighed and spoke.

“Yes, but in the documents stored in the headquarters, only the names of some members were listed. It is still far from the core layer of the entire foundation. For example, Song Yangwei’s name was not on it.”

“Not one core member was caught?” Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. With a strange expression on his face, he asked, “Are you sure that you found their headquarters?”

Wang Peng shook his head and said, “I know what you mean. In fact, I have also doubted whether the base we destroyed was just a bait thrown by the foundation. But we investigated it. It was discovered that the core members of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation are connected through the virtual reality network. They have never even seen each other in real life.”

Lu Zhou: “This sounds like a guild for online games.”

“It does feel like it.” Wang Peng continued, “Their cautious approach has brought great difficulty to our investigative work. If we don’t really wipe out their core management or destroy their sources of funds, no matter how many of their bases are taken, it won’t really hurt them.”

Lu Zhou: “Do you need my help?”

It seemed that Wang Peng didn’t expect Lu Zhou to say this. After hearing this, Wang Peng was stunned.

Noting the expression on Wang Peng’s face, Lu Zhou glanced at him with some uncertainty.

“What?”

“Nothing… Just a bit surprised.” Wang Peng said with a smile after returning to his senses, “They told me that you’re extremely busy, so I didn’t expect you to offer to help.”

Lu Zhou: “That depends on who needs help.”

“We are appreciative of your offering, but we won’t bother you for this little trouble.” Wang Peng continued with a smile, “Maintaining social order is our duty. It is irresponsible to involve you in it. Besides, there are more important things waiting for you to do right now.”

After arriving at the maglev station, Wang Peng and Lu Zhou bid each other farewell.

Lu Zhou sat on the maglev train returning to Jinling. He was thinking about what happened a year ago.

There was no doubt that David Lawrence should be dead. Wang Peng saw this with his own eyes, and there was DNA testing evidence. However, many secrets were also taken to the ground because of his death.

After returning home, Lu Zhou took a day off before returning to his work. He would either go to campus occasionally to teach 22nd-century college students, spend time in the laboratory and play with the model of the interplanetary highway, or discuss academic issues with his favorite apprentice.

Just like this, the days passed by quickly. Soon, it was already the end of the month.

As the summer vacation came around the corner, there seemed to be fewer things that required him to go outside.

However, just when Lu Zhou was thinking about this, he received a special email in his mailbox.

The reason why it was special was that this letter was sent from the Martian colony.

In addition, the mayor’s signature and the red badge of the Tiangong City authorities were also printed on the email. Although he had yet to read the contents, all the signs seemed to indicate that this letter was unusual…

Chapter 1618: The World Is Too Crazy

“Mars Harbor, where the Galaxy Dream begins… What? What are these people from the city hall doing?”

Gong Tianwen, who was sitting at his desk, swiped his index finger across the holographic screen in front of him and put the latest issue of Tiangong Daily into the trash can. However, the contents of the newspaper kept him thinking for a long time.

Where the Galaxy Dream begins…

For a native Martian, this sentence was quite fascinating.

This report talked about the breakthrough of faster than light technology and the completion of the first phase of the space elevator. The shipping demand on Mars was expanding day by day, and the old space facilities were no longer enough to meet the needs of people. Therefore, the city hall issued a plan regarding the new development plan for Mars Harbor.

The plan was announced by the new mayor Xiao Hong. The city hall authorities would spend 100 billion credits to build a larger spaceport in the orbit of Mars.

This port harbor would no longer only serve as a shipping transit station, but it would also serve as an orbital residence, integrating production and life.

As a Martian who loved his hometown deeply, no one was more eager for Mars to become prosperous than him.

Compared to the pleasant scenery on Earth, the environment on Mars outside Tiangong was rather harsh.

For the world inside the Tiangong dome, this was a paradise that most people on Earth who had never been to space could never imagine.

Unlike Guanghan City, which had been forgotten for half a century, this colony on Mars had been developed by generations of colonists due to the transfer of heavy industries and mining industries.

Because of the actual needs for survival, people living here were constantly improving the life-sustaining facilities of the colony to expand their living space, so every brick and tile here was the crystallization of science and technology. It was no exaggeration to say that every floor tile contained the top wisdom of the entire human civilization.

Gong Tianwen was a native Martian. Although he heard that there were vast forests, seas, and countless ancient wonders on Earth, he did not yearn for them.

As a descendant of the original colonists and as a “citizen of Mars”, he had always been extremely proud of his identity.

He was a descendant of explorers.

And his company was a spacecraft parts manufacturing plant that produced parts for explorers.

In addition to the pride of being a Martian, the Mars Harbor described in this news made him see huge business opportunities.

The only thing that made him feel a little worried was that the mayor’s style of speaking and doing things didn’t seem to be very reliable.

Can this Mars Harbor really be built within his term?

Gong Tianwen was somewhat skeptical.

As usual, after reading the morning news, he turned on the holographic intelligent office system on his desk and started to deal with today’s work with the assistance of business AI.

Just as he was about to sign a document, his AI assistant floated out of his desk.

“Sir, there is a visitor outside who wants to visit you.”

Visitor?

Who would come this early in the morning?

Gong Tianwen spoke casually.

“Let them come in.”

After the holographic image floating next to the desk disappeared, the office door opened quickly.

Not long after, a man in a suit and leather shoes walked in from outside.

“Hello, Chairman Gong, I am the manager of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. Here is my business card.”

Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?

Gong Tianwen frowned when he heard this name, and his impression of the person in front of him suddenly changed.

The reason was simple.

In his opinion, these funds that targeted extrasolar stars were basically a large-scale Ponzi scheme. Through a beautiful land voucher card and an impractical lie, they stole credit points from the hands of ordinary people.

Of course, this was not the worst thing.

These liars who were good at deceiving people were usually grifters. They loved to talk about business and convince people to sign contracts while keeping their own bottom lines safe.

Gong Tianwen had met many people who ran similar funds, hoping to reach a “strategic cooperation” with his factory through the exchange of equity or “land”, and they even threw out the bait of helping him go public on Earth.

However, he had always sneered at these ridiculous proposals.

If someone wanted to buy his factory or the parts he produced, they could, but they would have to show him real money. As for the rest, he didn’t want to spare them a single minute of time.

“Mr. Gladstone?”

Gong Tianwen took a look at the holographic business card in his hand. He dragged it into his address book casually before casting a glance at the man in front of him. “Welcome to my company… I heard my secretary say that you have a business plan to discuss with me? Can you tell me what business is it?”

When he said this, he had already subconsciously moved his gaze to the clock in the corner of his vision.

He had made up his mind. The moment this guy showed the same intentions as those scammers, he would remove him from his office in the shortest possible time.

However, the first words that Mr. Gladstone said were beyond Gong Tianwen’s expectations.

“I want to build a ship.”

“Ship?” Staring at the man in suit and leather shoes in front of him for a moment, Gong Tianwen frowned slightly and continued, “Did you come to the wrong place? We don’t produce starships, we only produce—”

“Starship parts, right?” He took out a black memory card from his arm. The man in the suit and leather shoes then gently handed it to Gong Tianwen. “Usually, we will contact the shipyard directly, but our needs are quite special… Do you think you can make this?”

“Let me see.”

After receiving the black memory card, Gong Tianwen showed a serious look on his face as he operated the computer with his fingers.

Soon, a light blue holographic image was projected in front of him.

The moment he saw the parameters on the drawing, his eyebrows twitched fiercely, and he couldn’t help but complain, “A five-kilometer long keel… Are you planning to build an aerospace carrier?”

Although he was not a professional engineer, he had been in this industry for many years. Even if he never cooked before, he would know what a chicken looked like.

This was the first time he had ever seen a civilian-class starship with such a long keel.

Gladstone smiled slightly and continued in a soft voice, “You only need to answer whether you can make it or not. If you can, I will place an order now. If not, I will look elsewhere.”

Gong Tianwen raised his chin slightly with a proud expression on his face.

“As long as there are blueprints and materials, there is nothing we can’t make! But this is a bit large, the storage costs and labor costs are not cheap, and if you breach the contract, we can only sell it as scrap… The deposit may be more expensive. You may have to pay 50% of the total price.”

“No problem.”

To Gong Tianwen’s surprise, this man with a crooked nose didn’t even bargain.

“Where is the contract? As long as you make sure that the order can be completed within the specified time, I can pay the deposit now.”

Gong Tianwen gulped. He reached out his trembling index finger and tapped it gently on the desk.

“The contract will be ready soon… Please wait for a moment.”

After accepting the electronic contract, the foreigner briefly glanced at it. He then signed his name and paid a deposit of 5 billion credits.

It was almost as if this weren’t a business deal worth tens of billions. He acted like he was buying a pack of cigarettes from the supermarket downstairs instead.

Looking at the order worth tens of billions of credit points in his hand, Gong Tianwen felt his hands trembling. His whole body was full of disbelief.

It wasn’t until he pinched himself to confirm that it was not a dream that he snapped back to reality.

“Crazy…”

Looking at the door of the office that had been closed in front of him, he gulped, and it took him a while to suppress his heart that was beating wildly.

An order worth 10 billion credit points…

This world is crazy.

Chapter 1619: This Promise Feels Familiar

“Mars Harbor, where the Galaxy Dream begins… This slogan is quite interesting.”

Looking at the holographic screen hanging on the ceiling of the waiting room and the scrolling promotional slogan, Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows with an expression of interest. He couldn’t help but glance at the advertisement twice.

Wang Peng, who was sitting next to him, seemed to have noticed the expression on his face. He looked at Lu Zhou and said in a chatty tone, “Apparently, since the new mayor took office, this is his promise.”

Lu Zhou withdrew his gaze from the holographic advertisement. He looked at Wang Peng and asked curiously, “When did he take office?”

“Beginning this year.”

“No wonder…” Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders and explained, “At the beginning of last year, I was here.”

This time he came to Mars for two main purposes.

One was to go back to visit General Reinhardt and the scientific research ship belonging to the advanced civilization, as well as to ask some technical questions about the “stargates”.

There was only one other reason, which was the invitation of Mr. Xiao Hong, the mayor of Mars.

Xiao Hong mentioned in a letter that the emergence of faster than light engines would make Mars an outpost for human civilization to explore the further world.

And for the future of the Mars colony, he hoped that Lu Zhou, as one of the founders of space colonization and exploration, could attend a seminar held in Tiangong City to discuss the technical feasibility of colonizing Europa.

As everyone knew, freshwater had always been one of the most expensive resources in aerospace activities.

As Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, Europa was a marine world completely covered by glaciers. It went without saying how important such a planet was to Mars.

As for Wang Peng, the reason for coming to Mars was also very simple.

One reason was to protect Lu Zhou, and the other was to collect clues about The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

Although it was only a vague clue, they had reason to believe that people from the foundation might have penetrated here.

After the base on Earth was removed, their core layer was likely to have been transferred to this area.

“You should be more careful when attending academic events. Although there is no direct intelligence to show that the people of the foundation still regard you as the target of the attack… It cannot be ruled out that they are planning something against you.”

“You can rest assured that my robot bodyguard will protect my safety.”

When Lu Zhou said this, he grinned and looked at Ling, who was sitting next to him.

When Wang Peng glanced at the robot sitting there like a wooden figure, the expression on his face was a little weird.

Even though this guy didn’t look very reliable, in the end, Wang Peng still chose to believe in Lu Zhou. He nodded and didn’t say much else.

Soon after, it was boarding time.

After taking a shuttle, two people and a robot arrived at the terminal building at the landing site outside Tiangong City.

After passing through the security checkpoint, Lu Zhou quickly saw Mayor Xiao, who had personally sent an email to invite him to Mars.

The mayor was slightly chubby, and he was wearing a formal attire that was popular in the upper-class Martian society.

“Academician Lu, it’s nice to meet you! I heard that when you awoke from The Gates of Hell ruins, you passed by Tiangong City. It was a shame that I couldn’t meet you at that time!”

Lu Zhou just smiled slightly and shook his hand.

There was something Lu Zhou didn’t say.

Back then, he couldn’t prove his identity. Even if he had gone to Mayor Xiao, he would have been branded a psychotic individual and taken out of the city hall.

Obviously, he wouldn’t say this now…

“I heard that the first phase of the space elevator project you led has been completed?”

After letting go of Mayor Xiao’s right hand, Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yes… Has the news reached Mars?”

Mayor Xiao smiled heartily and said in a joking tone, “Of course! Mars is not a place disconnected from news. What’s more, this is a huge event. Even the space station on the distant asteroid belt is talking about you and the space elevator, as well as the faster than light engine.”

Accepting this compliment happily, Lu Zhou also smiled and said, “It is my honor to receive your attention.”

“It should be our honor to be able to witness the birth of faster than light technology in our lifetime!” Xiao Hong continued with a bright smile on his face, “Speaking of which, I have always wanted to ask your opinion. Is it feasible to build a similar space elevator on Mars?”

“There is no problem in terms of feasibility. Theoretically speaking, the gravity environment on Mars is lower, so the construction difficulty will be lower too.” Lu Zhou glanced at Mayor Xiao in a strange way as he asked casually, “Why do you ask? Does Tiangong City plan to build a space elevator?”

“Haha, I can’t hide anything from you! We do have this plan.” Mayor Xiao continued with a smile, “According to my judgment, the next ten or twenty years will be the golden age of the booming aerospace industry! Not just a space elevator, we also plan to build a Mars Harbor in the orbit of Mars that integrates commercial, industrial, and people’s livelihoods. It will be a lighthouse for the solar system! A safe haven that can provide supplies and rest for starships!

“Of course, I have to take it one step at a time. Mars Harbor is a long-term plan. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, we still have a lot of short-term work to do, such as finding ways to obtain Europa’s abundant water resources.

“Thank you in advance for tomorrow’s meeting!”

Looking at the bright smile on Mayor Xiao’s face, Lu Zhou didn’t know whether he was joking or was serious.

Hm?

I feel like this guy’s promise feels familiar?

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Zhou nodded politely.

“I’ll do my best.”

After the reception of Tiangong City authorities, Lu Zhou and Ling came to the hotel where they would be staying.

Wang Peng had other work to do, so after sending the two to the hotel, he left by himself.

Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Zhou simply took a bath before lying down on the bed and opening his personal terminal.

Lu Zhou saw the little red dot on the mailbox and wondered who would send an email. He reached out his finger and clicked on it.

Soon after, the mailbox opened, and a handwritten letter with beautiful handwriting was projected in front of him.

[Remember to take care of your body on Mars. I heard that you have done dangerous things on Mars before, so please don’t mess around this time.

[— Love, Vera Pulyuy.]

Even though Lu Zhou was a bit cold at times, he couldn’t help but feel his cheeks getting warm.

Is this a cultural difference?

Why does it make me feel so embarrassed?

“Sigh, what should I do…”

Lu Zhou lay down and was ready to go to sleep. However, after a long time, he still couldn’t fall asleep.

He closed his eyes and went silent. After a while, he sat up from the bed, tapped a few times on the holographic keyboard with his index finger, and wrote a reply.

[I will take care of myself. Don’t worry about me.

[—Lu Zhou]

Chapter 1620: The Martian Academic Environment

Star Sky Hotel was located in the most central part of Tiangong City. It was the most luxurious business hotel in Tiangong City and was also the preferred venue for various major academic conferences.

In fact, this hotel was the only business left by Star Sky Technology. When Tiangong City was first established, Star Sky Technology invested a lot of money here to develop infrastructure, but unfortunately, due to poor management, the giant company began to dwindle.

The ownership of this hotel was sold to a local real estate company in the 2050s. With Lu Zhou’s current financial resources, it was easy to buy it back, but he himself had no interest in operating a hotel.

Also, Star Sky Technology was now an empty shell of its former self. Even if it were bought back, it would be a headache to operate it. It would be better to leave it alone.

The next morning, on the way downstairs to eat, Lu Zhou met a scholar who also came from Earth. Perhaps because Lu Zhou was too famous, the young man could see him from far away, and he waved to him excitedly.

Lu Zhou thought that this guy was quite interesting, so he invited him to sit together for breakfast. During the breakfast chat, Lu Zhou learned that the young man’s name was Wu Qinglai, a professor at the Space Station Research Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Engineering, and he only became a regular employee two years ago.

After listening to the young man’s self-introduction, Lu Zhou looked around curiously. He wasn’t able to recognize any of the faces, so he asked with interest, “Can I ask, did the other academicians of your research institute not come? I mean, how did Tiangong City find you?”

The young man could just be really talented, but Lu Zhou had no impression of him at all. He wasn’t familiar with his name.

Generally speaking, if the young man was really an outstanding scholar, forget about hearing his name at academic conferences, at the very least, Lu Zhou should have heard of his papers.

As if seeing through Lu Zhou’s thoughts, the professor whose nickname was Xiao Wu, shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, “I know what you mean. Generally speaking, this kind of major meeting shouldn’t invite an unknown person like me, but you may not know that although there is only a five-minute delay, the academic circles on Mars and the academic circles on Earth are basically independent. To put it bluntly, they don’t particularly look up to us.”

Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. He then looked at him inexplicably.

“Why do they think so?”

“Historical reasons.” Wu Qinglai shrugged and said, “It would take all day to tell the story in detail. In short, since they made it clear that our opinions are not valued, should we send our best experts? Cross-planetary navigation is a hassle, and if I had the choice, I wouldn’t come here either.”

So far, the warp engine was only equipped on the Qinling. Most flights to and from Earth were done by traditional flights. Although from the perspective of a 21st-century citizen, it was quite fast to reach Mars from Earth in three days, for people in the 22nd century, who had not experienced truly long sailing time, they wouldn’t appreciate the speediness of the journey.

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “The essence of academics lies in communication, this kind of pre-positioning approach is not good.”

Wu Qinglai smiled bitterly and said, “We all know this is not good, but what can be done? Compared to Earth, this is a large local area network. Even if I want to reply to emails, I have to pay credit points. Coming here means staying for at least half a month or even a month. I am completely out of touch with academia on Earth.”

Although Lu Zhou was very interested in the history of Mars when he was absent, this didn’t seem to be a suitable place to discuss this issue. The two of them soon talked about the local culture in Tiangong City.

Perhaps it was because Xiao Wu was not particularly valued at the Academy of Engineering, this was not the first time he was sent here as a puppet. He was so familiar with this place that he treated it like his second home.

After eating, the two of them walked in the direction of the elevator together.

At this moment, a man in his early forties walked over with a group of people from the front entrance of the hotel.

Judging from the person’s clothes and the attitudes of the rest, this guy probably had a high status. As if he had noticed Lu Zhou, the man was taken aback for a moment. He then frowned slightly and walked over here.

“You’re Lu Zhou?”

Although Lu Zhou felt that this guy’s tone seemed a bit off, he was not the petty kind, so he didn’t take his attitude to heart and said in a gentle tone, “Yes, what’s the matter?”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Without showing too much joy on his face, the man reached out his right hand and shook hands with Lu Zhou. He said, “Welcome to Tiangong City, I hope this city can leave a good impression on you. We will discuss the technical feasibility and specific implementation plan of Europa’s development at the meeting. We look forward to hearing opinions from you, and I hope you won’t hold back any criticism.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.

“For sure.”

After some words of greeting, the man left with the group of people.

Lu Zhou curiously glanced in the direction that the man was leaving. Lu Zhou didn’t hear him introduce himself, so he asked casually, “Who’s that person?”

“Yang Chongping,” Xiao Wu said in a complicated tone. “The director of the Institute of Aerospace Technology of the Tiangong Research Institute and an academician of the Mars Academy of Sciences… His theories in the field of spacecraft design are excellent, especially in the design of large starships and space stations. Even my supervisor admits that this guy is impressive.”

Lu Zhou nodded, but his focus was in a strange place.

“There is also an Academy of Sciences on Mars?”

“That’s for sure… Didn’t I say that the situation on Mars is complicated?” Xiao Wu said with a light cough. “Because the policies of the regional alliances on Mars, colonies are managed by the local residents, so there is actually a trade organization similar to a non-tariff alliance between the colonial cities on Mars. In recent years, the scope of cooperation has gradually expanded to the fields of culture, scientific research, and even politics… You can think of the Mars Academy of Sciences as an academic organization from a century ago.”

In other words, on the issue of territorial ownership, Tiangong City was moving closer to Pan-Asian Cooperation. But in the economic and cultural fields, the cooperation between the colonial cities on Mars was closer.

Lu Zhou felt like this place was more like a vassal state of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

However, he was not very interested in these political issues. After inquiring about the Mars Academy of Sciences, he changed the conversation to Academician Yang Chongping himself.

“It feels like he doesn’t like me very much?”

“There is no city on this planet that welcomes foreigners, especially for native Martians. We are only slightly better than aliens,” Xiao Wu shrugged and joked. “Of course, they do have pride in their aerospace. After all, the heavy industry on Earth is basically abandoned. The most cutting-edge production bases in the entire industry are distributed around Tiangong City… I’m sure you know that the materials for the space elevator are all produced here.”

Lu Zhou nodded, expressing his understanding.

He knew this.

After all, he was the largest individual shareholder of East Asia Heavy Industries. He had a rough idea of the distribution of the industrial chain for East Asia Heavy Industries and its cooperative suppliers.

Wu Qinglai thought Lu Zhou had a previous dispute with Yang Chongping, so he glanced at him and spoke.

“Actually, you don’t need to care about him, he is just jealous of your achievements.”

Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He then said with a light smile, “I just think this guy is interesting. That’s it, don’t think too much about it. Tell me about the food here. I was in a hurry when I passed through Tiangong City, and I didn’t have time to take a good look at this city…”

“Then I recommend you to take a trip to the Central Dome! It’s right next to the Star Sky Hotel. You can go through the underground passage or take the transfer escalator.” Wu Qinglai continued with excitement, “Apparently, standing on the observation deck of the Central Dome, you can see the outline of New Virginia! And the revolving restaurant there is one of the must-visit attractions in Tiangong City!”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Really? Then I have to go there if I have time.”

Lu Zhou was quite an old person. Naturally, he didn’t want to hang out with such a young guy.

After returning to the room to rest for a while, Lu Zhou saw that there was still some time before the afternoon meeting. He remembered that the tourist spot recommended by Professor Wu was not far away, so he went out for a stroll.

He had to admit that the scenery there was quite breathtaking.

Lu Zhou went on the escalator belt leading to the next building. He then took an elevator to the hall of the Central Dome and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was immediately greeted by the scenery.

The three-dimensional transportation networks spread outward like layers of spider webs, forming a web of civilization on this barren land.

“Ling.”

Ling’s pupils flickered slightly. He looked at Lu Zhou and replied with an electronic voice, “Yes, commander.”

After being silent for a while, Lu Zhou said with some emotion, “I’m starting to understand those people’s ideas.”

Being able to build a city on this barren land required more than just wisdom and courage. And they, who had created such a miracle, deserved to be proud.

This estrangement between Mars and Earth might not be caused by time and distance…

Unable to understand the deep meaning of Lu Zhou’s words, Ling tilted his head with a confused expression on his face.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t explain much. He just paused and admired this beautiful city for a while. After that, he turned around and left…

Chapter 1621: Unusual Meeting

The afternoon meeting began.

Like Lu Zhou expected, the experts on Earth did not seem to have much to say here.

Led by Academician Yang Chongping, several major experts from the Tiangong Aerospace Science and Technology Research Institute took the lead to express their opinions, and after that, several other aerospace agencies and engineers from companies also expressed their views.

Generally speaking, most of the experts sitting at the conference table had no objection to the demonstration of technical feasibility. The aerospace companies from The Pan-Asian Cooperation were indeed capable of developing the resources on Europa. Also, the funding they would indirectly receive from the second half of the year would be fruitful.

As for Lu Zhou, his opinion was similar.

From a purely practical point of view, the development of water resources on Europa was indeed cheaper and much more environmentally friendly than transporting freshwater resources from Earth to Mars.

In fact, as early as a century ago, Lu Zhou had considered including this water-filled planet as part of the aerospace strategy.

However, the technical conditions back then were much worse, and he also did not expect that he would be able to solve the problem of faster than light speed so quickly, expanding the radius of human civilization from the asteroid belt to the world outside the asteroid belt, so this matter was put aside this whole time.

Now, they clearly had the conditions to move further out into space.

However…

When the meeting progressed to the next stage, the situation changed 180 degrees. The atmosphere at the conference table went from peaceful to intense in an instant.

Seeing the faces that had turned red from arguing, Lu Zhou wanted to express his own opinion, but when he thought about it, it seemed that it would only add fuel to the fire, so he gave it up for the time being.

An old engineer with a gray beard who was in his sixties stood up with his hands on the table, raised his volume, and said loudly, “We can select four points in the central area of the asteroid belt to establish freshwater resource reserve stations and transport the seawater resources extracted from Europa to the reserve station for rough processing. After that, the freshwater reserve station can deliver water to the Mars colony depending on the movement position of Mars.”

A man with his arms folded sneered and spoke with a mocking tone.

“Build a reserve station on the asteroid belt? Four of them? Haha, I’m afraid that you have forgotten about the active space pirates on the asteroid belt.”

“We have the most powerful fleet in the solar system that can provide us with security and protection! I don’t think this is a problem at all!”

“That is the fleet of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, not Tiangong City.” Academician Yang Chongping said blankly after interrupting that person, “Unless the Pan-Asian Cooperation allows us to have our own defense forces, your proposal will never be established.”

The red-faced person who had previously argued fiercely suddenly back down. He hesitated for a while and finally sat back in his seat.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little stiff, the mayor’s secretary sitting at the conference table gave a light cough and began to play the role of peacemaker. He smiled kindly and said, “Don’t get excited, everyone… This idea does have certain barriers. We have been fighting for the right to self-defense for a long time, but there has been no progress.”

The man who raised the objection showed a smile on his face, he put down his arms and said in a pleasant voice.

“This matter doesn’t need to be so troublesome at all. The transportation capacity of our company is more than enough to maintain this route across the asteroid belt. We can transport the water extracted from Europa to Mars for processing. This is both efficient and avoids unnecessary risks—”

“Mr. Yu Zhenghui,” the mayor’s secretary glanced at him and interrupted his speech. The secretary’s voice also brought a hint of displeasure as he continued, “Please pay attention to your own words. We are discussing the public development plan, please don’t discuss private business.”

The man named Yu Zhenghui shrugged his shoulders, dropped an insincere apology, and stopped talking.

But the confident expression on his face made the experts here nervous.

Lu Zhou watched this controversy on the sidelines. He glanced at the man next to him and said in a low voice, “I thought that the academia on Mars would be more united?”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Wu Qinglai said with a helpless expression, “Once there is an interest in anything, there is no unity.”

Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully and gave an ambiguous view.

“That makes sense.”

Speaking of which, what is the opinion of Academician Yang Chongping?

Lu Zhou subconsciously looked in the direction of Academician Yang, but unexpectedly, he noticed that the middle-aged man was also looking at him.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence. The moment the two of them made eye contact, Academician Yang moved his gaze away from him.

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

For some reason, I feel like this meeting may be more important than I thought…

Due to the disputing between several big names, the first day of the meeting ended in an unhappy atmosphere, and the unresolved disputes were left for tomorrow.

Perhaps because of the emotions at the conference table, Lu Zhou noticed that many faces did not appear at the banquet.

Mayor Xiao of Tiangong City even made a special visit to the banquet. After greeting the experts he invited, he pulled Lu Zhou aside and talked about his optimism for the future prospects of Mars and what he planned to do after his term.

It wasn’t until Lu Zhou looked at his watch for the tenth time that this conversation finally ended. Lu Zhou said that he still had work to deal with and quickly left the hotel venue.

After dinner, Lu Zhou returned to his room, flipped through the notes made during the meeting, and briefly sorted out some of the interesting ideas.

Although he had his own ideas on Europa’s development plan, this did not prevent him from learning from other people’s plans and perfecting his own plan.

Of course, this also included Academician Yang Chongping’s plan.

He could feel that this guy seemed to be inexplicably hostile or jealous towards him, but he had to admit that this guy must have some impressive abilities, seeing that he was an academician after all.

The doorbell rang outside the room. After Lu Zhou glanced at the picture on the holographic screen, he casually pressed the button to open the door.

The door opened, and Lu Zhou watched as Wang Peng came in from outside. He then asked casually, “Found any clues?”

Wang Peng sat on the sofa and said with a sigh, “It’s not that easy. I went to meet with my colleagues today. Those people from the foundation act very cautiously. If it weren’t for the case of East Asia Energy that forced them to show their faces, we might still be kept in the dark.”

Lu Zhou: “It seems that I was of help then?”

Wang Peng smiled and said, “Of course… Speaking of which, I heard some very interesting rumors while wandering around.”

Lu Zhou: “What rumors?”

Wang Peng: “Recently, several extraterrestrial galaxy colonization funds have been raising funds publicly, intending to build colonial ships to head to other galaxies. Has East Asia Heavy Industries already begun to industrialize warp drives? I haven’t heard any news at all.”

Colonial ships?

Hearing this word, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

What surprised him was not that someone had the idea of going outside the solar system, but that people actually took the initiative ahead of him.

“I don’t think so. The related technology is still in the experimental stage, but we do have plans to commercialize this technology.”

“I see, that’s weird then.” Wang Peng picked up the mineral water bottle on the table and took a sip. After a while, he continued, “At first, I thought it was a new type of financial scam, and I was prepared to report it to my colleagues in other departments, but later on, I found out that this matter is not that simple. Guess what, this project is actually endorsed by the Mars Academy of Sciences!”

“Oh, really?” Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly and cast an unexpected glance at him. “Are you sure the source of the news is legit?”

“It hasn’t been verified yet, but it should not be wrong.” Wang Peng continued after thinking for a while, “I remember the expert who endorsed the colony plan. He seems to be called… Yang Chongping?”

Chapter 1622: Noahs Ark

Star Sky Hotel.

Inside the presidential suite.

A man with a large nose and wearing a suit and leather shoes stood on the desk in the study room while looking at Academician Yang Chongping who was sitting in a chair. He slightly raised the wine glass in his hand to him and said with a smile on his face, “Please allow me to toast you. Your design is so perfect that I don’t know how to thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Academician Yang Chongping continued while looking at the man who was standing on the desk blankly, “If you have to thank me, do it by turning my blueprint into reality.”

“Please don’t worry about this! We have contacted the shipyard and the suppliers who can build the parts in your design. I believe it will not be long before you hear good news from me.” Mr. Gladstone smiled slightly and continued in a complimenting tone, “I believe that when this epic-class colonial ship is completed, your name will be recorded in history as the greatest aerospace engineer of this century!”

“Just from a starship? There are too many people worthy of being recorded in history.” Academician Yang Chongping squinted his eyes slightly and continued, “Compared to the ladder connecting heaven and earth, the starship is not worth mentioning.”

“Not necessarily. Don’t belittle yourself.” Gladstone said with a smile, “When the second sun rises above our civilization, when our colonization cabin lands on a planet far away from Earth and far from the solar system, as the designer of this starship, who else can surpass you in history? Undoubtedly, you will become the pioneer of civilization’s flame. Your greatness will not be inferior to anyone, not even Academician Lu.”

Even though I know he’s kissing my a*s, it still feels flattering.

Yang Chongping’s eyebrows eased a little. He even felt a little satisfied.

However, as the leader of a school of thought, he did not express this joy on his face. Instead, he said in a cool manner, “I hope so.

“Before I go to bed, I have to sort out the meeting notes. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure.” Gladstone nodded slightly and said cheerfully, “Your health is the capital of scientific research. Remember to rest early and don’t stay up too late…

“Also, I wish you a good life.”

The holographic light beam projected on the desk gradually disappeared, and the figure standing in the holographic light beam also disappeared along with it.

The holographic projection system was completely indistinguishable from a real person.

After the manager of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation left, Academician Yang Chongping reached out his index finger and tapped on the desk. He retrieved the notes of the daytime meeting.

However, his eyebrows suddenly frowned.

He wanted to see Academician Lu’s proposal.

However, to his surprise…

He didn’t make a proposal?

For some reason, Academician Lu, who was called the greatest scholar alive, just watched the meeting from the beginning to the end without saying a word…

…

“Lu Zhou seems to be on Mars.”

Gladstone placed the wine glass in his hand on the coffee table. He turned off the holographic call system and turned his gaze to Lawrence, who was standing next to him.

“He’s at the Star Sky Hotel, I think they are attending a seminar on Europa’s development plan.”

Gladstone was expecting to see a look of dread on Lawrence’s face. After all, even if they were now allies, that guy was really annoying.

However, to his surprise, Lawrence just nodded. There was no change in the expression on his face. As if they were just having a casual conversation, he said in an ordinary tone, “I’ve heard.”

“That’s it?”

“What else?”

“I mean… The guy who made you turn 180 degrees is standing under your nose now, don’t you plan to do something?”

“If he doesn’t interfere with my plan, why should I take the initiative to provoke him and let my plan go out of line?” Lawrence glanced at Mr. Gladstone and said softly, “Haven’t you guys find out the real reason for your failure?”

Who else can it be?

Isn’t it because of you?

Gladstone’s eyebrows twitched. A trace of dissatisfaction flashed across his face, but in the end, the dissatisfaction was suppressed. He took a deep breath and said, “I always think this thing is a bit weird. Do you think he has noticed something?”

Lawrence thought for a while before speaking, “This possibility does exist, you can pay attention to his movements, but it is best not to actively provoke him. Remember, our task is to complete Noah’s Ark bound for the new world. Don’t make any trouble if you don’t have to.”

“Of course, I will be careful.” Gladstone nodded. After thinking for a while, he suddenly said, “Actually, there is one thing that I haven’t quite understood.”

Lawrence: “Which is what?”

Gladstone: “The warp drive is currently only installed on the Qinling. How do you plan to install that thing on our… colonial ship?”

“Oh, this? It’s not difficult…” Lawrence smiled faintly as he continued, “Mars is the stomach of human civilization. All the ores are smelted into alloys there, then cast into the energy-swallowing machines. Whether it is the East Asia Heavy Industries, the North American Alliance’s Space-X, or Boeing, they all have their production lines here. We are now standing in the stomach of human civilization. Do you still worry about not getting a warp drive?”

“You mean… To steal the blueprints directly from the hands of East Asia Heavy Industries?” Gladstone stared at him, as if he were looking at a monster. He said with a weird expression, “The failure on Ceres hasn’t taught you your lesson yet? It is impossible to succeed in a head-on confrontation.”

“Head-on confrontation? I’ve never thought about it that way.” Lawrence continued in a slow manner, “Although I am an AI, it does not mean that I will not learn from failure. This time, I intend to use a civilized way to solve this problem.”

Gladstone shrugged.

“The Pan-Asian Cooperation will not tolerate the leakage of this level of secrets into the hands of an unknown force. Once they discover that the blueprints have been leaked, we will never have the opportunity to install the warp drive on Noah’s Ark. A war will be imminent!”

“There may be a war, but it is definitely not us who will be dragged into the whirlpool. You will understand why. This is also an exchange of interests.” Lawrence smiled faintly and continued, “Now, there is only one thing you need to do, that is to get as many people as possible to participate in the plan of Noah’s Ark.”

Staring at the holographic image in front of him, Gladstone looked uneasy. After hesitating for a moment, he finally couldn’t help but say, “I hope your crazy plan will not bring us all into the ground.”

“Crazy or not, do you have any other choice?”

Gladstone couldn’t say a word.

Lawrence smiled faintly, and with his hands behind his back, he disappeared silently.

Chapter 1623: An Old-Fashioned Scam?

These days, Lu Zhou had been receiving emails from Vera almost every day. Sometimes, he would receive several emails a day.

He only left home for a bit, but the emails sent every few hours made him feel like he had gone far away.

Well, that was true. After all, Mars was quite far away from Earth.

Especially now that the two celestial bodies had moved to relatively far positions with a straight line distance of nearly 300 to 400 million kilometers. Even light had to take more than 20 minutes to reach the opposing planet.

Because Lu Zhou did not take a civilian flight but the First Fleet Qinling instead, he didn’t spend much time on the road, and so, he didn’t have a real sense of this vast distance.

The only thing that made it feel like a business trip was the local culture on Mars.

The local delicacies of Tiangong City were a little hard to describe.

Perhaps because of the precious freshwater resources, most of the food here was dry and lightweight. He felt unsatisfied when tasting it.

In addition, there was an erratic change between their enthusiasm and coldness…

Lu Zhou had a profound experience of Martian culture.

“As for the meeting, is there no result yet?”

“No.” Lu Zhou shook his head while fiddling with the holographic model in his hand. “After I came, I found out that the situation on Mars is more complicated than I thought.”

Wang Peng had guessed what the complexity Lu Zhou meant was. He couldn’t help but show a strange expression on his face.

“Even you feel like it’s complicated?”

“Yes.” Lu Zhou said casually while nodding his head, “There is a serious rift between Mars’ academic world and Earth’s science community. In short, they have formed a unique circle, and it is difficult to allow outsiders to intervene.”

Wang Peng: “Then you came here for nothing?”

Lu Zhou: “That’s not true. The mayor’s invitation was just one of the reasons why I came to Mars. I have more important things to do.”

Wang Peng raised his eyebrows curiously and asked casually, “Oh… like what? Of course, I’m just curious, if you can’t talk about it, it’s fine.”

Lu Zhou stared at the model in his hand. He thought for a while and gave an ambiguous answer.

“It’s nothing special, it’s mainly related to the warp drive and Z particles.”

Speaking of which, it had been more than a year since he woke up from his hibernation.

General Reinhardt had been buried in the ground alone for more than a year. Lu Zhou wondered if General Reinhardt would feel bored.

The afternoon meeting still ended in a heated debate.

Lu Zhou didn’t listen much during the whole process. The meeting system designed by Xiao Ai helped him record the main points of the meeting while he basically did his own thing.

After the meeting, he originally planned to go to a restaurant for a meal, then go back to his room to rest.

However, he bumped into Professor Wu Qinglai again at the restaurant.

Lu Zhou said, “Why didn’t you come to the meeting just now?”

“The opinions of us Earth experts are actually not important at all. I thought you knew.” Professor Wu Qinglai had a helpless look on his face. He suddenly approached Lu Zhou with a mysterious expression, lowered his voice, and said, “Regardless… Speaking of which, have you heard about Noah’s Ark?”

Noah’s Ark?

Intuition told Lu Zhou that this guy wasn’t talking about the mythology story, so he asked, “What is it?”

“So you really don’t know,” Wu Qinglai said with a smile on his face. He continued with an excited tone, “The legendary world’s largest colonial ship that is under construction! It is also the first colonial ship built for the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation! The goal is Proxima Centauri b! The reason why I didn’t come to the meeting just now was so that I could use the hotel network to grab tickets!”

Grab… tickets?

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but show a weird expression on his face.

“What tickets?”

“Of course it is the starship tickets!”

“Are you interested in colonial exploration?”

“No way! Although I have no plans to live on an exoplanet, I am still interested in credit points!” Professor Wu continued with a smile on his face, “In short, with the help of Tiangong City Bank, the Alpha Centauri Foundation issued 100,000 tickets to raise funds for the construction of the colonial ship!”

Lu Zhou asked, “So?”

“The Alpha Centauri Foundation promises that just by having tickets of different levels, one would be eligible to board the ship, and the foundation also promises ownerships of different areas of land in the colony. This type of ticket has financial attributes. In less than an hour, their price has doubled. I bought 10 of them with a total of 300,000 credits. When they rise to about 1 million, I will get rid of them!”

Lu Zhou was a little worried that this guy might have been deceived by a scam, so he couldn’t help but kindly remind him.

“This sounds like a Ponzi scheme… Something similar happened a century ago.”

However, this kind reminder obviously didn’t work.

The excited expression on Professor Wu Qinglai’s face didn’t change. Instead, he started arguing with Lu Zhou.

“You don’t understand. A Ponzi scheme is a paper game that pays profit to investors with other investors’ money, but this is different! According to research on the Internet, more than 1 billion people think that colonizing an exoplanet is a cool thing, and I’m considering going to the new world to find opportunities for development.”

Lu Zhou: “Those surveys on the Internet don’t reflect people’s true thoughts… How do they plan to go to Alpha Centauri? At the very least, as far as I know, East Asia Heavy Industries has not reached a warp drive technology authorization with a private company yet. I’m afraid it won’t happen anytime soon.”

“Regardless, the market is eating this up.” Professor Wu shrugged and continued with a certain tone, “If you still think I was deceived, I recommend you to take a look at Griffin’s exhibitions.”

Looking at Professor Wu, Lu Zhou was slightly stunned.

“Griffin’s exhibitions?”

He was clearly talking about the colonization of exoplanets, so what does this have to do with exhibitions?

Just when he was about to ask what was the relationship between the two, Professor Wu Qinglai saw his confusion and took the initiative to speak.

“That’s right, John Griffin! A New Londoner from the North Sea Alliance and the most famous impressionist painter on Mars. His painting skills are unparalleled. As one of the supporters of the Star System Colonization Plan, he has always advocated going to the new world to find new types of art, so he recently held exhibitions in major colonies on Mars. He auctioned his paintings to collect donations for colonial ships heading to Alpha Centauri.”

Lu Zhou: “Are you trying to say that there are many celebrities who advocate for this project? Sorry, I am not interested in fundraising.”

“But I believe you will be interested in his works of art.” Professor Wu Qinglai said confidently while looking at Lu Zhou, “According to the data provided by the International Astronomical Observatory, he used impressionist painting techniques and modern technology to complete revolutionary works of art. This work will be exhibited at the Central Museum in Tiangong City. Maybe it will change your prejudices about the colonization program. Here’s a ticket if you want to go.”

“I have no prejudices about the colonization plan itself, and I even… Forget about it,” Lu Zhou said with a helpless expression after taking the ticket. He then added, “Thank you for the ticket. I will go if I have time.”

The moment he heard these words, Professor Wu Qinglai’s face immediately showed an expression of joy. As if he had heard some great news, he held Lu Zhou’s right hand excitedly.

“Please go there! Believe me, that exhibition will not disappoint you!”

Chapter 1624: Exhibition

“Is this the Tiangong City Central Museum?”

Lu Zhou looked at the navigation arrows through his AR glasses. He stood in front of a beautiful building while looking at the portrait and biography of the person on the large holographic screen that was suspended at the front entrance.

John Griffin was born on January 13, 2071, to a family of engineers in London, North Sea Alliance. In his early years, he was influenced by his family and worked as an airline engineer at a mining station in the asteroid belt. After he resigned, he devoted himself to painting. Because of his work on the edge of civilization, his early style of painting tended to be gloomy and dark.

At the beginning of the century, he sold his studio in London and moved to Mars, where he went on a five-year travel journey. The changes in environments greatly changed his painting style. He had become one of the leaders of contemporary impressionist painters.

“His masterpieces include ‘Dead Universe’, ‘Redemption’, ‘Dawn of the Sun’…”

While muttering in a low voice, Lu Zhou subconsciously opened the search engine and searched one by one on how much the paintings were worth.

Although this might be a bit unrefined, for a layman, this was probably the most intuitive way to understand the artistic value of a painting.

At this moment, a strange voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Isn’t it better to feel with your eyes than to search on the Internet?”

Lu Zhou looked back and saw a man in his fifties standing there. He was wearing a beige vest and a pair of black-framed glasses, and his curly hair was draped over his shoulders. He looked quite refined and easy-going.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m John Griffin.” The man nodded slightly towards Lu Zhou, reached out his right hand, and said, “It’s nice to meet you, the greatest scholar of our solar system.”

“I don’t dare to take that title.”

“You are as humble as the rumor says.” John Griffin smiled and continued in a gentle tone, “I didn’t see your name on the visitor list, so I didn’t expect you to come. Can you allow me to take you around?”

Lu Zhou wanted to say that he didn’t plan to come, but because the afternoon meeting was too boring and he had a ticket, he decided he might as well come.

But seeing how sincere Mr. Griffin was, Lu Zhou felt that if he were to tell him the truth, it would be a little impolite, so he nodded and accepted his kindness.

“Sure, thanks.”

Griffin smiled on his face and made an inviting gesture.

“Come with me.”

Following Griffin’s footsteps, Lu Zhou walked into the museum. The moment he stepped into the museum, the scenery in front of him suddenly changed.

He was in the wilderness.

The sky was fiery red, and the grass was ocean blue. The mushrooms were like towering trees, with umbrella leaves propping up a magnificent dome.

The light source that sprinkled down from the ceiling seemed to come from a distant world, touching the ground with a misty and dreamlike feeling. The light particles radiating blue light floated among the mushrooms.

Lu Zhou looked at the dream-like world in shock. Although he knew it was just light and shadow projected by a holographic device, he was still in awe.

“Unbelievable, where is this?”

“My dream… More than 20 years ago, when I was working at a mining company, this was the fantasy generated by the colorful starry sky.” Griffin smiled faintly and continued, “With over 20 years of experience, I have been trying to use artistic techniques to turn that dream about the universe into reality.”

Lu Zhou: “Where’s the painting?”

`

“You can see it with your glasses.”

Lu Zhou put on a pair of AR glasses. Almost as soon as he put on his glasses, the world lost its color in an instant.

Paintings were hung on booths for the visitors to enjoy.

“Very creative idea…” Taking off his glasses, Lu Zhou glanced around and said in admiration, “The world you see with glasses is reality, but when you take off your glasses, you see illusion… Although I can’t describe this feeling from an artistic point of view, your understanding of beauty is quite shocking.”

“It is my honor to receive your affirmation.” Griffin smiled slightly as he continued, “Speaking of which, I’ve always been curious about how you think of art as a scholar.”

Lu Zhou: “Art is art. Is there any other explanation?”

“Interesting point, I think so too.” Griffin turned his gaze to the world in front of him and continued, “Art is art. It is also a kind of culture, but it is related to culture in a broad sense. It is a philosophical understanding of man’s perception of beauty, self, and the universe, and all things that exist in nature. The perceptual thinking it requires is completely different from the rational thinking required by science.”

Lu Zhou glanced at him.

“I don’t know if it is completely different. Science does require more reasoning. However, perceptual thinking can often help us go further on the road of exploring the unknown.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that you have such a high evaluation of perceptual thinking. In fact, in addition to depicting dreams over the years, I have also tried to combine art and science to create new art forms… Just like what you see now.” Professor Griffin said with a smile on his face while looking at the lush fantasy forest in front of him, “Maybe in a certain corner of this universe, there really exists a place that can make all lives feel beauty in an unprecedented form.”

Gaia world?

During Lu Zhou’s period of sleep, he had seen such a world.

“This does sound interesting.”

“Right?” Griffin smiled lightly and turned his gaze to Lu Zhou. “I admire you in my heart. All I can do is manifest imagination, but you can turn imagination into reality.”

With that, he reached out his hand and shook Lu Zhou’s hand gently. He then politely expressed his respect and gratitude.

“Thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to visit my exhibition. I wish you a great day.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He then said softly, “I wish you a great day too.”

At the same time, not far from the museum, Yan Gang, the president of the Tiangong Bank, gently pushed the AR glasses up the bridge of his nose.

After staring at the person in front of him for a long time, he said hesitantly, “Is that… Academician Lu?”

“I didn’t expect Academician Lu to be interested in our Star System Colonization Plan.” Gladstone, who was standing next to him, showed an unexpected expression on his face as he said with a thought-provoking smile, “This is really surprising. ”

Yan Gang’s face showed a thoughtful expression.

To be honest, as an astute banker, although he was interested in high-quality investment projects, he did not like the blabbering guy next to him.

After all, only East Asia Heavy Industries had mastered warp speed technology, and the only application was on the Qinling of the First Fleet. Regardless of whether the resources of Alpha Centauri were worthy of their colonial ships, even if they were worth it, they might not be able to go at all.

But if Academician Lu himself supported the Star System Colonization Plan…

Maybe the commercialization of warp speed technology is possible?

Once the market for trans-light-year travel became possible, Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the solar system would undoubtedly be the most promising one to be included in the territory of human civilization.

So now…

We were indeed too cautious about the credit rating given to the Alpha Centauri Colonization Fund.

Gladstone continued in a persuasive tone, “100 billion credit points. If we use it to build a house, we will only receive a piece of useless steel and concrete. But if we invest in our dreams, we can get a whole new world. Trust me. It has been proven countless times in history that investing in the new world is a guaranteed profitable business.”

Yan Gang replied, “There is no such thing as a guaranteed profitable business in this world. Remember the world’s first public company that went bankrupt? They were in the business of exploring new worlds.”

After a pause, Yan Gang glanced at Gladstone with a disappointed expression on his face. He adjusted his collar and suddenly changed the conversation.

“But I’ll choose to believe you this time.”

Chapter 1625: Misrepresentation

Inside the virtual world, at the entrance to a copy of the Calan Empire.

The players who were sitting on the starship waiting for the start of the game completely ignored the NPC sitting next to them as they began to chat amongst themselves.

A player wearing a silver helmet suddenly raised his head and talked about real-life news.

“Have you guys heard? John Griffin’s painting exhibition!”

Sitting opposite the player with the silver helmet, a player who was wearing power armor touched the back of his head and spoke.

“The painter who claims to be a surrealist artist? The anarchist Martian?”

“What do you mean by ‘claims’? He is a recognized tycoon in the art world, ok? As for his political views, I don’t care, I only heard that he seems to be wandering around on Mars.”

“I don’t know, I don’t understand art, so what happened?”

“Just yesterday, he held a painting exhibition at the Central Museum to raise funds for the Alpha Centauri colonial project, and he displayed his work that took a year to complete at the exhibition! Apparently, the artwork displayed and the layout of the exhibition were revolutionary… But this is not the point!”

A man in a brown jacket and fashionable clothes sitting next to him couldn’t help but speak anxiously, “What’s the point? Get on with it!”

“The point is that Lu Zhou went too!”

Not just the man in the brown jacket, but everyone sitting next to him was shocked.

Even the NPC officer who was still wiping his electromagnetic rifle showed a surprised expression on his face, as if he was very familiar with the name Lu Zhou.

“You mean… Academician Lu?” Looking at the silver helmet player with a dumbfounded look, the man in the brown jacket couldn’t help but ask, “The greatest scholar of the 21st century?”

“Not just the 21st century!” He cast a slanted look at the guy, as if he were mentally retarded. The player wearing the silver helmet continued in a calm tone, “He solved the second-generation controllable fusion and faster than light technology. Even though the 22nd century has only just begun, there might not be a scholar this century who will be greater than him!”

Having said this, a mysterious smile suddenly appeared on his face. He glanced around at everyone sitting next to him, lowered his voice, and said, “And I heard that in the exhibition, Academician Lu gave a high evaluation of Mr. Griffin’s paintings and artistic ideas and also expressed his approval of the Star System Colonization Plan. You know, his judgment is rarely wrong; it can even be said that he has never been wrong so far.”

As soon as this sentence was spoken, everyone in the cabin was shocked, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

“F*ck! Really?!”

“He’s not lying, is he?!”

“F*ck! I would have grabbed two tickets if I knew!”

“You’re overthinking! Unless you go to Mars in advance or find a reliable agent, there will be a delay of nearly 20 minutes on Earth. By the time the website loads, the tickets will be all gone!”

Looking at the people who were talking, the player in the silver helmet gave a dry cough, raised his hand to signal them to be quiet, then continued to analyze the gossip.

“I don’t think it is a lie! After all, the president of the Tiangong Bank was on the scene. He later approved the application for 100 billion credit points in corporate bonds that were issued by the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. They used the land of the new world as collateral. One can redeem the permanent land rights of the corresponding area, and they can convert shares or redeem interest directly! No one can guarantee that they will make a profit, but I can be sure that with the support of Academician Lu, they will be able to drive the ship there!”

Listening to this convincing speech, many people sitting in the cabin held their breaths.

Several players even simply went offline and stopped playing the game.

The starship tickets were not easy to grab, but there should still be a chance to grab the 100 billion credit points in corporate bonds that were guaranteed with the land of the new world.

Even if those financial giants and bankers were also interested in these corporate bonds, they would not eat the entire cake; there would always be some crumbs leftover.

It wasn’t that no one was concerned about the risks. However, when they thought about how Professor Lu was optimistic of the Star System Colonization Plan, their remaining worries disappeared with the wind…

Outside of the Calan Empire in the virtual world, a storm that swept the financial world had already been brewing for a long time.

A series of official websites of local banks on Earth, including the Pan-Asian Bank, Shanghai Capital Bank, etc, had shut down by the sudden increase in traffic.

Although the problem was solved in a timely manner and did not cause any information security incidents, it still shocked the managers who were responsible for the agency sales of these corporate debts.

Prior to this, although they had expected that the 100 billion corporate bonds would be snatched up in the same way as the tickets that were issued in advance, they did not expect that people’s enthusiasm would grow exponentially.

The Pan-Asian Cooperation was really too rich; the 100 billion corporate debt was not even enough for them to share.

Not just Pan-Asian companies, but also hundreds of millions of families. After the development of space resources for nearly a century, the wealth of the entire society had been rapidly expanding. Whether it was enterprises or individuals, whether it was related or unrelated to industries, they had accumulated more or less huge wealth.

Therefore, those who had tasted the sweetness of this pie were afraid that they would miss this opportunity to make a fortune in front of them.

In less than two hours, 100 billion corporate bonds were robbed.

Just a few days ago, the construction of this “Noah’s Ark” was still the work of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, but now, this dream had been taken over by the citizens and enterprises of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Everyone hoped that this big ship would be built as soon as possible, and everyone hoped that the colonists who opened up the new world would set off as soon as possible to bring them endless gold and silver treasures from the land of the stars…

By the time Lu Zhou learned of the whole story from the email sent by Xiao Ai, it was already nighttime…

…

Star Sky Hotel.

After watching the Martian news on the holographic screen, Lu Zhou stretched out his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache.

“I never said that I am optimistic about the colonization plan of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. At most, I just said that I agreed with Mr. Griffin’s artistic ideals.”

Looking at Lu Zhou with a headache, Professor Wu Qinglai, who was standing tremblingly at his desk, had an embarrassed expression on his face.

“Sorry… I seem to have caused you trouble.”

When he thought of how this guy seemed to have bought several ferry tickets, Lu Zhou raised his head and glanced at him.

“I’m sure you have made a lot of money.”

The expression on his face was one of slight embarrassment.

“Uh, I can give you half,” Wu Qinglai said with a dry cough.

“F*ck off.”

Seeing that Academician Lu showed signs of anger, Wu Qinglai, who knew he was in the wrong, quickly closed his mouth and turned around to prepare to leave.

However, before he could take two steps, he was called back by Lu Zhou.

“Wait a second.”

Wu Qinglai quickly stopped. He asked with an embarrassed smile on his face, “Uh, what’s the matter?”

“Who sold you the art exhibition ticket?”

Wu Qinglai was slightly taken aback. He then shook his head.

“Actually… I didn’t buy it with money. It was given to me when I bought the starship tickets.”

Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows.

“Given?”

“Yes…” Seeing that Lu Zhou had a suspicious look on his face, Professor Wu suddenly whispered, “Is there any problem?”

“Nothing, you can go.”

Wu Qinglai turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Inside the empty room, Lu Zhou touched his chin and thought for a moment. He soon fell into contemplation.

If he remembered correctly, the painting exhibition was aimed at the upper-class citizens of Mars. He didn’t see any plainly dressed citizens at the museum.

He really couldn’t imagine why the tickets for this kind of exhibition would be bundled with the starship tickets…

Chapter 1626: Back to the Start

“There is no need to show this to me at all.”

Li Guangya’s finger swept across the holographic screen. He was sitting at a desk as he put a twenty-page proposal into the recycle bin.

This twenty-page proposal, or petition, was sent from Mars.

Its core content could be summarized in two sentences.

That was, in order to create a supply line for transporting water resources between Europa and the asteroid belt and Mars, the Tiangong City authorities hoped to have their own armed defense forces.

In short, they hoped to build a Martian defense fleet in the solar system, like a Pan-Asian Second Fleet, to fight against the starship active between the asteroid belt and Mars.

To be honest, after seeing such a proposal, Li Guangya was not only surprised but also amused.

As the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, as long as his brain was working, he would certainly not allow such a ridiculous proposal to be passed. The autonomy of the Martian colony was a problem left over from history. If the right of defense was approved, the Martians would simply become an alien species.

Also, it was still unknown whether the space pirates in the asteroid belt were created and funded by the Martians themselves.

Anyway, as far as he knew, New London of the North Sea Alliance and New Paris of the Iberian-French Alliance had become the largest black market trading centers in the entire solar system. All looted goods were basically sold there; there was even a futures market for stolen goods.

And this was an open secret.

“I think we’d better treat this matter with caution,” said Secretary Wei, who was standing at the desk and looking at the indifferent chairman with a serious expression. “Of course we cannot make concessions for these types of demands, but if you do not cautiously refuse, your reply to the colony’s appeal is likely to become a weapon for people with ulterior motives.”

“If even you know this, of course I know this too.”

After waving his hand, Li Guangya put the knuckle of his index finger under his nose. After thinking for a while, he spoke.

“Relax, I admit that I may have been a little arrogant recently, but I have never made any rash decisions… I will respond cautiously to this matter. In addition, we have to be cautious about those idiots who thought about this plan. Do you have any good suggestions on this?”

“We can start from two aspects.” Wei Song thought for a moment and continued, “On the one hand, launch military exercises with anti-piracy as the main subject, and on the other hand, send additional defense garrisons to Tiangong City. This way, the colony’s concerns about the space pirates can be eliminated, and it can also strengthen our control of the colony… to prepare for future plans.”

The so-called future plan was naturally to withdraw autonomy and implement direct jurisdiction.

They previously granted autonomy to the Martian colonies, including Tiangong City, mainly because the communication distance was too long to make real-time decisions about the colony’s situation, so a highly autonomous jurisdiction model was implemented.

However, in recent years, with the increasing number of flights to and from Mars and the increasing frequency of economic and trade exchanges between Mars and Earth, this highly autonomous model had become a liability.

Especially now that the warp speed technology had broken through, the Qinling had taken the lead in completing the first faster than light transition in human history. In the near future, the problem of faster than light communication would also be solved, which would assist the Pan-Asian Cooperation in regaining the direct jurisdiction of Tiangong City.

After hearing Wei Song’s words, a thoughtful expression appeared on Li Guangya’s face.

After pondering for a long time, he spoke.

“Call the military committee. At this time tomorrow, I hope to see everyone in the conference room. Go and find Commander Sun, ask the staff to research in advance which combat formation should be involved in the exercise and which units to send. We should maximize our strategic deterrence on Mars while satisfying their sense of security.”

Wei Song said seriously, “Understood.”

Li Guangya said, “This matter is actually not that urgent. The focus of our current work is still on the space elevator and the stargates that are about to start construction. Our relationship with the colony is important, so try to avoid trouble with them.”

After nodding, Wei Song was about to turn around and leave.

However, at this moment, he suddenly thought of something.

He stopped and said, “Speaking of which, I have to report something to you.”

After lifting his head, Li Guangya cast a questioning glance at him.

“Yeah, what?”

“Recently, several well-known foundations of star systems registered on Mars suddenly began to raise funds on a large scale with the plan to build colonial ships.” Wei Song continued after a pause, “Especially the well-known Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. Through pre-sale of tickets and bonds, nearly 150 billion credit points of funds have been raised.”

“Colonial ships?” Li Guangya frowned slightly. He then shook his head and said, “Financial matters are not in my control. I will speak to the financial supervision department in a moment.”

Wei Song laughed bitterly and continued, “The key is not the money… but Academician Lu.”

Li Guangya was slightly stunned.

“Academician Lu?”

“Yeah.” Wei Song continued with a weird expression on his face, “He seems to have left his apprentice behind and ran to Mars alone to participate in an art exhibition hosted by the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation…”

He was silent for a short while before lowering his tone.

“He may be serious…”

The office went silent.

After a long time, Li Guangya broke the silence.

“A great man like him can influence the course of history. No matter what choice he makes, it is beyond our control.”

He sighed lightly. He was obviously a little tired, as if he was facing a more difficult problem than the Martian colony demanding their own defense system.

After thinking for a long time, he gave up and waved his hand.

“You don’t need to report stuff like this to me in the future, let him do whatever he wants.”

…

“Achoo!”

Ling looked at Lu Zhou, who sneezed without warning. He stopped the rover and cast a questioning look at him.

“Have you caught a cold, Commander?”

“No, I guess someone is talking about me behind my back…” After blowing his nose hard, Lu Zhou reached out and tapped on the holographic interface. He wiped the water mist on the inside of the helmet and asked, “Are we there yet?”

Ling nodded and cast his gaze out of the car window.

“Already here.”

They were at an abandoned mine at a rift valley one kilometer east of The Gates of Hell, the place where everything began.

The sign of Hiddell Mining was still hanging at the entrance of the mine, but compared to the last time he saw it, the traces of the mottle and erosion were more obvious.

Lu Zhou had promised General Reinhardt that he would come back after he dealt with the affairs on Earth. Although there might still be some time left before the day of departure, he was ready to begin preparations.

Besides, he also had many things to ask him about the mystery of the stargates.

Lu Zhou jumped out of the rover. As he stood still in front of the old mine, he couldn’t help but show a look of nostalgia on his face.

Time sure flies by.

It’s been a year and a half.

Over this period of time, I saw the world change under the influence of my own knowledge and met many interesting people, and I even met my descendants and the girl I sent to the future…

Lu Zhou gulped slightly. He seemed to have something to say.

“Ling.”

Ling cast a questioning gaze to Lu Zhou as he responded.

“Yes, Commander.”

Lu Zhou, who had something to say, suddenly closed his mouth for some reason.

After being silent for a while, he looked up at the deep darkness in the cave ahead with a smile on his face.

“Nothing… Lead the way.”

Ling’s red pupils flickered slightly, like two fireflies.

He then nodded lightly, stepped forward, and stood in front of Lu Zhou.

“Yes, Commander.”

Chapter 1627: : Immature Suggestion

“I said long ago that negotiations couldn’t solve any problems. We must preemptively declare our position before the First Fleet is equipped with new equipment! Force them to recognize our current situation!”

The so-called current situation was the reality that Martians could develop better under their own rules. From now on, they would no longer need to economically fund their “overlord country”, and they no longer need to sell cheap industrial labor to cover the consumer needs of tens of billions of people. They would formulate tariffs and immigration policies to protect the rights of Martians instead of bowing down to the Pan-Asian lords like before…

The name of the person who said this was Gao Ruiming, Xiao Hong’s office secretary. He was at least half of the reason why Xiao Hong was able to become the mayor of Tiangong City so smoothly.

“We still have to dream, Mr. Future Secretary-general. It would be best if we can avoid war. If we can’t, we must at least have a moral advantage.”

After reading the reply that came from the holographic screen, especially when Xiao Hong read the section where the garrison was dispatched, a faint worry floated in his eyes.

What he worried about was not his personal future or the destiny of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, but at this crucial moment in history, there was a better solution.

First, it was through the establishment of the Mars defense fleet and the expansion of the army in a fair manner. After that, they could wait until the Second Fleet was comparable to the First Fleet before helping other Mars cities to achieve independence. Finally, they could slowly seek their own independence.

But it seemed that Li Guangya did not intend to give them this opportunity.

The military exercise and dispatching of the garrison were almost equivalent to rejecting his ideas.

“Obviously, we threw the olive branch in exchange for the shackles on our hands and feet.” Xiao Hong’s index finger swept across the holographic screen. He regretfully closed the reply from the Pan-Asian authorities as he said, “If only one year ago, the accident was successful.”

The so-called accident naturally referred to the hijacking of flight N-177.

According to their original plan, the hijacked flight N-177 would directly hit the Tianzhou Space Station, and the resulting space junk would directly reduce the safety factor of the entire geosynchronous orbit by two levels. At that time, the Moon Palace Space Station and Lagrange Space Base resource supply would be severely affected.

By then, they would only need to take over the supply line of the Lagrange Space Base while requesting the Pan-Asian authorities to strengthen patrols in the asteroid belt. The Pan-Asian authorities would have little choice.

They could use the accident to strengthen the autonomy of the Martian colony bit by bit, expand the scale of the Martian defense fleet, and finally achieve true independence.

Xiao Hong even had a name for their own military, but who would have thought that an old antique who had been sleeping for a hundred years would actually go on the flight using a fake passport.

If that was it, it would be fine. The big problem was that this guy was able to kill the hijackers.

As a result, their plans were not only disrupted but they were also forced to lay low for a whole year. If it weren’t for the intelligence crisis that severely hit the global economy and caused the Pan-Asian Cooperation to further escalate the industrial reliance on Mars, they might have had to hold on for a few more years…

However, they couldn’t hold on any longer.

The warp speed technology had been broken through. Once faster than light communication and faster than light travel were realized, the distance advantage of Mars would no longer exist, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation would definitely regain the autonomy of Mars.

Or at least, they would turn them into a new special economic zone just like Guanghan City.

“There’s no point thinking about what has happened. They have a knife to our neck.” Gao Ruiming stared at the mayor sitting behind the desk and said in a serious tone, “If we do not act now, we will be the passive ones.”

Xiao Hong pondered for a while. He looked at his office secretary and asked, “How’s the preparation going?”

Gao Ruiming finally showed a smile on his face and said in a confident voice, “Thanks to the demand for space elevators, we are able to expand our production capacity. Coupled with the actions of the colonization funds, we can build ships in geosynchronous orbit and strengthen our fleet. According to the feedback from the ‘commander’, the number of starships we have has reached fifty. Although it is far from the power of the First Fleet, with the advantages of our supplies and channels, as well as the support of other space pirates, as long as we turn this war into a protracted war, it will be us who will be victorious in the end.”

Xiao Hong sighed quietly, shook his head, and said, “Numbers have no meaning. The key is quality. A starship with a warp drive facing a starship equipped with a traditional engine is like a jet plane facing a propeller plane. Do you know what I mean? We need warp drive technology; that is our only chance of winning. So what I need to confirm now is whether the factory of East Asia Heavy Industries on Mars has already begun to produce orders from the First Fleet. If so, how long will it take to complete a second version of the warp drive engine?”

The travel speed of the full version was apparently several times faster than the demo version, and it could even exceed the speed of light completely, crossing a distance of 1~2AU within a few seconds.

If the starships of the First Fleet were all equipped with such engines, they could forget about getting rid of the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s control. At that time, even the world outside the solar system would be brought under their control.

Seeing the fear in Mayor Xiao’s eyes, Gao Ruiming nodded slightly.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Good.” Mayor Xiao nodded. “You should know what to do.”

…

Located in a private house on the edge of Tiangong City.

A man in a brown trench coat spoke while handing a black card to Wang Peng.

“I have sorted out all the information you need. The situation is the same as I told you last time. So far, we have got enough evidence to prove that The Spirit of The Universe Foundation has moved their base on Earth to here. I have been following clues in this area… But I have recently discovered some interesting things.”

Wang Peng took the card containing important information and cast a questioning glance at him.

“What things?”

“Remember the plane crash a year ago?”

Wang Peng said in an uncertain tone, “You mean… Flight N-177?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I remember, what about it?”

It happened right after he woke up in this era.

Wang Peng still remembered that when Director Li came to visit him, they saw the news about the hijacking of flight N-177 on the holographic TV screen.

It was at that time that he heard the news that Lu Zhou was still alive.

The man in the brown trench coat nodded. He then glanced at the whiteboard that was full of photos and was hanging on the wall with a worried expression on his face.

“It may just be that I’m overthinking. But when I was investigating the Mars entry and exit records, I found several names that shouldn’t have appeared on it, and a batch of goods that passed through customs without inspection. And when I tracked these clues, they were linked to N-177.”

“You mean… the hijacking of flight N-177 was actually an act of the foundation?”

“If only it was that simple.” The man in the brown trench coat shook his head and said with a complicated expression, “I found a name in a signed document that shouldn’t be there.”

Wang Peng: “Who?”

“The current mayor.” The man continued looking at him as he said, “I checked his resume. At this time last year, he was the head of the Colonial Customs Bureau.”

A solemn expression appeared in Wang Peng’s eyes.

“Noted, I will keep this in mind.”

“Well, thank you.” The man made a helpless expression. He shrugged his shoulders and continued, “After all, I am not qualified to investigate such an important person. In addition, I have an immature suggestion.”

Wang Peng looked at him seriously and said, “Go ahead.”

“It’s best to find Academician Lu as soon as possible.” The man continued thinking before saying in a speculative tone, “If flight N-177 is really related to Mayor Xiao… His situation would be rather peculiar.”

Chapter 1628: Meeting Reinhardt Again

The mine of Hiddell Mining Company.

Lu Zhou followed Ling along the abandoned rails, down the path that was in his memory, and towards the depths of the mine.

Because of its abandonment, this mine looked quite dilapidated, as if it could collapse at any time.

Lu Zhou’s gaze wandered inside the mine. When they were halfway through their expedition, he suddenly stopped and knelt down. He reached out his index finger and wiped it on the ground.

He looked at the dust on his carbon-fiber gloves.

Lu Zhou whispered to himself as he rubbed his fingers together, “Someone was here.”

This cave was a dead end, and the wind and sand from outside couldn’t blow into here, but the footprints on the ground were all erased.

Obviously, after he left, someone came here and investigated the situation.

Lu Zhou remembered that Li Guangya mentioned that when the Pan-Asian Cooperation helped him notarize his identity, Li Guangya handed this matter to the Security Bureau.

Thus, these traces should belong to Captain Xing and their colleagues.

“I hope they didn’t find that spaceship…”

Ling was walking in front when he cast an inquiring look back at Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou wiped the dust off his gloves and got up from the ground.

“Let’s continue ahead… By the way, did you bring the thing?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.” Lu Zhou flashed his torch forward. “It’s up to you soon.”

The so-called thing was actually just a few pieces of mining explosives.

After the mine was dug through, in order to prevent the secrets about General Reinhardt and the spaceship from leaking, Lu Zhou blasted the entrance to The Gates of Hell.

If he wanted to go back again, the most direct way was of course to blow it up again.

“The explosives have been set up, please leave the explosion range.”

“Okay.”

Since Ling had finished placing the explosives, Lu Zhou nodded and started to move backward.

After he retreated to a safe distance, Ling turned his head and started the blasting procedure.

A loud noise came from under the ground as the ruins piled in front of the two of them exploded into pieces.

Lu Zhou reached out his hand to wipe the dust off his helmet before patting away the dust that filled the surrounding area. He then stepped over the rubble on the ground, stepping into this relic left by Martian aliens from billions of years ago.

As soon as he stepped into the ruins, a faint sigh came from the communication channel.

“You are finally back.”

Lu Zhou looked at the garbled text that appeared on the communication channel, and he smiled a little embarrassedly.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay, it’s just a year. Compared to the time I have experienced, it’s only a drop in the bucket. In fact, I thought that it would be ten or even twenty years. You came back in a blink of an eye. I was quite surprised, to be honest.”

Standing next to Lu Zhou, Ling was looking around nervously. The scarlet light in his pupils became stronger and stronger, and his whole body was on high alert.

It seemed that Reinhardt had noticed the robot standing next to Lu Zhou. His voice in the communication channel had a hint of interest as he asked, “A private robot? It is… Where did you get this thing?”

Lu Zhou almost didn’t react when he first heard the word private.

It wasn’t until his eyes fell on Ling that he suddenly remembered that when he came here to rescue him last time, Ling’s body was still an old-fashioned mining robot.

But now, the body he controlled was a “sample” awarded to him by the system. The full name was a “Private-1” intelligent human guard. It was produced by the Calan Empire and installed in the aerospace paratroopers. It was often used to eliminate dangerous creatures in the colony and various purposes of orbital airborne operations.

Although in terms of tactical positioning, this Private-1 was a mass-produced attack robot controlled by a central processing unit, but due to the difference in technology, it was invincible when placed on Earth.

“Those people gave it to me…”

“The Observer?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“Yeah.”

As if hearing something interesting, the voice in the communication channel was obviously more excited than before.

“I see, I wondered how this thing got into your hands. Let me see, um, the Kill Core core has been replaced, no wonder it looks dull… Did you install a general-purpose AI for it? Was the original AI not easy to use?”

A light blue light beam shot from the depths of the cave, shining back and forth on Ling’s body.

This was the first time Lu Zhou saw an expression of anxiety on Ling’s face.

“Enough.”

The light blue beam of light immediately died down.

A slightly apologetic cough came from the communication channel.

General Reinhardt said embarrassedly, “Sorry, I was just a little excited to see the things from my hometown… You should know the feeling. My world was clearly destroyed, but the things that belonged to that world appeared in front of me again. By the way, that was the scanning beam on the spacecraft, which may have a certain impact on the stability of electromagnetic waves… But trust me, it is harmless.”

“I understand and believe you. As for your previous question, it was not because it was difficult to use. It was because it was too powerful that I couldn’t use the extra combat power at all.” Lu Zhou shrugged. ” After all, I live in a peaceful civilization… At least relatively peaceful.”

“We were once peaceful too, at least for a while.”

General Reinhardt went silent for a while, as if thinking of something. He then suddenly said to himself, “It seems that my previous speculation is correct.”

Lu Zhou: “What speculation?”

“Those omnipotent observers can not only bring things from the old universe into the Void, but they can also create things that don’t exist out of thin air based on a memory… For example, this Private-1, I don’t remember taking this thing to the center of the universe.”

Create something that doesn’t exist out of thin air?

To be honest, Lu Zhou didn’t feel too surprised by this.

After all, from what General Reinhardt said, The Observer in the Void was a civilization far stronger than the Calan Empire. Whether it was the quark stars flying in the universe or the mysterious technology of escaping from the real universe into the Void to avoid natural disasters, they had surpassed the Calan civilization.

“Enough about this.” There was a trace of sadness in his tone, as if he was recalling the things in his hometown. General Reinhardt continued, “It seems that you didn’t come here to take me away. Then, tell me what you came for. I don’t think it’s because you miss me.”

“Your guess is accurate. I have thought of you no more than ten times in this year and a half.” After a pause, Lu Zhou continued in a serious tone, “I’ve sorted out the warp speed technology.”

The voice in the communication channel had a hint of surprise.

“Oh, really?”

Lu Zhou: “By using the disturbance of the gravitational field when high-dimensional particles fall into low-dimensional space, it affects the curvature of spacetime and opens a hyperspace channel. In short, we have successfully achieved the first faster than lightspeed navigation… ”

“This is really surprising…” General Reinhardt continued in disbelief, “I thought that after seeing you leave, I would have to wait for Mars to orbit around the Sun for at least 100 cycles before you master the mystery of surpassing the speed of light. Yet you only took about 50 weeks.”

The time for Mars to make one revolution was 687 days, so it took about two centuries to make 100 revolutions. In other words, in the eyes of this Calan man, faster than light technology was undoubtedly an advanced technology for Earth civilization.

In fact, that was the case.

If it were not for the coincidences that discovered the existence of the Z particle, even knowing that faster than light travel was achievable, it would not be an easy task to make it a reality.

“Obviously, you have underestimated us.”

General Reinhardt laughed.

“Underestimate you guys? How? I think, at most, I underestimate you.”

“Anyway, back to the main point.” Lu Zhou continued while looking at the string of garbled ID belonging to General Reinhardt on the communication interface, “I remember that there is something similar to a portal in the Calan Empire.”

“You mean stargates?”

“Sure… I want to know how you maintain a stable hyperspace channel, allowing matter and information to move quickly and efficiently in the channel without congestion? How exactly is this done?”

There was a long silence in the communication channel.

About a minute later, General Reinhardt spoke again.

“I’m not a scientist. Even if you ask me, I don’t understand the specific principles of it. Including the high-dimensional particles you mentioned, I’m not sure whether the warp drive produces high-dimensional particles. I only know that when I pressed the switch, the hyperspace channel appeared in front of me, and the gravitational line pulled us through like a rope.”

Hearing this worthless answer, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but show a disappointed expression on his face.

However, he also understood Reinhardt’s explanation.

After all, the more advanced science was, the more diverse the subdivided fields would become. Even if an expert who studied hyperspace channels encountered a problem in an esoteric research direction, they might not be able to give a satisfactory answer.

It seemed like his trip was worthless.

However, just as he was about to say thank you and leave with Ling, General Reinhardt’s next words brought his mood back to life.

“Although I really can’t give you a suitable suggestion, the wreckage of the warp drive is actually in the mine leading to the center of the planet.

“If you are really interested…

“Why don’t you tinker with it yourself?”

Chapter 1629: Missing Again?

In the Tiangong City industrial zone, the endless stream of industrial-manufactured products shuttled back and forth on a dedicated conveyor belt.

This was the heart of the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s Mars colony and the stomach of the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation. From the chopsticks on the dining table of Pan-Asian citizens to the gun barrels of the First Fleet, all of the consumables that people could think of were produced here.

Because the three-dimensional conveyor belts and pipelines almost filled up the entire space, the factories and production workshops were closely arranged like cells, making this place the most intricate terrain in the entire Tiangong City.

Because of this layout that maximized efficiency, many tourists ridiculed it as a super factory portrayed in a dystopian world.

It was as if every piece of dust sent here would be processed into what people wanted.

In this densely arranged factory matrix, the most eye-catching area was undoubtedly the production park of East Asia Heavy Industries.

The entire park was located in the center of the industrial zone. Almost 80% of the traffic connections and arterial roads in the entire industrial zone were directly or indirectly related to it.

As a result, there had been rumors circulating in the industry that although East Asia Heavy Industries did not produce most goods, if East Asia Heavy Industries did not exist, people in Tiangong City wouldn’t have any goods.

As the general manager of the entire East Asia Heavy Industries park, Zhao Ruicheng was undoubtedly a man standing at the top of the entire Mars industrial chain. The people he came into contact with every day were either celebrities or the dignitaries of this generation.

It was basically impossible for ordinary people to see him without a referral, and he did not bother to meet small businessmen in person.

For example, Mr. Gladstone, the manager of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, undoubtedly fitted the classification of “small businessman”.

Almost five years had passed since he was sent from the headquarters to the Mars colony. Over these five years, he had never heard of a North Sea Alliance merchant named Gladstone.

Even though the colonial foundation was indeed gaining momentum recently, it didn’t change Zhao Ruicheng’s opinion.

After all, as the leader in managing the core production base of East Asia Heavy Industries, no one knew better than him of how far away the warp drive was from civilian use…

“Warp drive?”

Looking at the man with a large nose, who was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, in front of him, Zhao Ruicheng frowned and said in a rather impatient tone, “Sorry, the specific design blueprint of the warp drive is still with Academician Lu. We have only obtained a preliminary design plan and some requirements for the transformation of the production line. Before fully digesting this technology, we have no plans to bring it to market, nor has Academician Lu instructed us to do so.”

After hearing the news, Gladstone was slightly stunned. With an unexpected expression on his face, he said in a tone of disbelief, “What you have… Are you sure it’s just the design plan?”

“Yes… Why are you asking about this?” Zhao Ruicheng’s eyes suddenly became alert. He looked at the guy from top to bottom, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Here’s the situation, we can’t make a warp drive. You either go to Academician Lu or go home.”

Gladstone showed an embarrassed smile on his face as he made an apologetic gesture with his hands.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I just heard rumors in this regard.”

“Rumors?” Zhao Ruicheng smiled coldly. He raised his chin slightly and said, “I’ve heard more rumors. For example, a certain company sold 100,000 fake tickets based on ‘rumors’, trying to use the name of Academician Lu to deceive the public.”

“You can look down on my dreams, but you can’t insult my morals, Manager Zhao. I will use my actions to prove that the tickets to Alpha Centauri are not fake.”

Zhao Ruicheng glanced at him blankly and gently smirked.

“Then I wish you good luck.”

After leaving Zhao Ruicheng’s office, Gladstone, accompanied by his secretary and security, left the industrial park of East Asia Heavy Industries.

When he looked back at the closed door, his eyebrows gradually furrowed.

“The blueprint hasn’t been sent to the factory? How can this be…”

After muttering a few words to himself, Gladstone reached out his index finger and tapped lightly on his left wrist. A video interface that could only be seen with his AR glasses appeared. He opened the address book and dialed a number.

Soon, the phone call connected.

The man who appeared in the video window was none other than Xiao Hong, the mayor of Tiangong City.

Looking at the camera, Mayor Xiao said in a pleasant tone, “How is it? Did you meet Zhao Ruicheng?”

“There was a problem with the intel; the blueprint was not sent here at all.”

After hearing these words, Mayor Xiao paused for a second. He frowned and asked, “Did Zhao Ruicheng say is it not here, or is it actually not here?”

“He didn’t look like he was lying, but to be on the safe side, I will send someone to confirm.”

“This would be best. I will also arrange for someone to visit Academician Lu.” Mayor Xiao nodded. After pondering for a while, he said, “If he has the designs, if necessary, we can consider another solution.”

“So you’re saying…”

Mayor Xiao did not speak but answered the question with his eyes.

A smile appeared on Gladstone’s face as he said softly, “I understand.”

…

After coming out of the Security Bureau stronghold, Wang Peng tried to contact Lu Zhou. However, no matter how many times he called, the only voice that echoed in his ear was “caller not in service area”.

Feeling that something might be wrong, Wang Peng immediately rushed to the Star Sky Hotel where Lu Zhou was staying.

Just as he was walking to the elevator door, he suddenly saw a familiar face, so he quickly grabbed the man and asked, “Hello, do you know where Academician Lu is?”

Looking at the stranger, Wu Qinglai’s face was filled with a dazed expression.

“You… are looking for Academician Lu?”

“Yes.” Wang Peng nodded, seemingly worried that this guy would not take him seriously, so he immediately opened the holographic screen and took out his electronic security ID, placed it in front of Professor Wu Qinglai, and then said seriously, “It’s very important. I hope you can cooperate with my work.”

Although he didn’t know what the ID of a security agent would look like, the security code on the certificate of a public official couldn’t be falsified.

When Wu Qinglai realized that an agent of the Security Bureau was asking him questions, he suddenly gulped nervously and continued, “I ate lunch with him. I remember he went back to the room after eating. Oh, yes, he sent me a message before, saying that if someone in the afternoon meeting asks me where he went, I should just tell them that he is not feeling well.”

Wang Peng: “Are you sure he didn’t come out of the room?”

“How can I be sure of this?” Professor Wu Qinglai said with an anxious look on his face. He gave a bitter smile as he continued, “Would you like to ask the front desk? You are from the… You should be able to get the security tapes, right?”

The elevator arrived at this moment.

Wang Peng no longer cared about this guy. He left Wu Qinglai behind him and quickly walked into the elevator before pressing a floor number.

When the elevator door was about to close, Wu Qinglai wanted to get inside, but seeing this guy who seemed to be “annoyed and angry”, he hesitated and didn’t end up going into the elevator.

Instead, he quietly turned on the holographic screen of his personal terminal and sent a short message to Lu Zhou.

Regardless of whether he is a real Security Bureau agent or not, this situation doesn’t seem right.

The elevator went all the way up and quickly reached the destination.

Wang Peng walked to the door of Lu Zhou’s room and reached out to press the doorbell.

The doorbell rang for a long time, but there was no response behind the door.

Frowning slightly, Wang Peng took out a card from his pocket and swiped it gently on the door.

“Urgent situation, sorry, brother.”

If he saw something that he shouldn’t, he would sincerely apologize to Lu Zhou. Compared to those insignificant things, he cared more about Lu Zhou’s safety.

After a beep, the door opened quickly, but the room was empty.

Obviously, Academician Lu was not here.

Did he go outside?

Wang Peng was about to close the door and look elsewhere, but a strange feeling suddenly rose from his heart.

Wait, no…

He locked his gaze on the upside-down suitcase.

He then placed his hand near his weapon and looked around vigilantly.

“This place was searched…”

Someone came here before me!

They searched Academician Lu’s room!

Realizing this, Wang Peng’s face was filled with confusion as he clenched his right fist.

“These bastards can go to hell…”

There is evidence that someone has kidnapped Lu Zhou!

But who could it be?

People from the foundation?

Wang Peng suddenly remembered what the intelligence worker lurking in Tiangong City said to him.

“Flight N-177 may be related to Martian authorities…”

Wang Peng thought about this sentence repeatedly, and he gradually began to connect the dots.

He was flabbergasted!

“Mayor Xiao is a member of the foundation! How could this be… No, it seems that there is only one explanation.”

If this was the case, then all the clues he had could be connected.

The plane crash a year ago was not a terrorist attack but a carefully planned murder!

Mayor Xiao is probably like Song Yangwei, who was bought out by someone from The Spirit of The Universe Foundation, or he is a foundation member himself. Because of some unspeakable secret, they’re trying to kill Lu Zhou at all costs, even though a century has passed…

Wang Peng didn’t know what all of this was for. He didn’t know what kind of obsession made the foundation members so committed even after a century. Nor did he know why they targeted Lu Zhou.

At this moment, there was only one thing he was looking for.

“If they want to hurt him…”

A cruel smile gradually appeared on the corner of his mouth as his dark pupils flashed with rage.

“Then they’ll have to do it over my dead body!”

This was neither his job nor an obligation as a Security Agency agent.

This was his life mission from 100 years ago…

Chapter 1630: Lucky Misunderstanding

Boom!

A muffled thunder-like sound exploded in Xing Bian’s office.

When his right fist hammered heavily on the desk, even the holographic screen suspended in front of him shook for a while before it recovered stability. Xing Bian suddenly stood up from the chair, stared at the man standing in front of the desk, and yelled, “Academician Lu was kidnapped?!”

“It’s not yet certain, but his room was searched.” Seeing the angry expression on the boss’ face, the liaison gulped and said with a trembling tone, “Our intelligence personnel in Tiangong City are collecting information about his whereabouts, but so far, no reliable clues have been obtained.”

After hearing these words, the expression on Xing Bian’s face was a bit ugly.

Lu Zhou’s achievements in the academic world, his status that was comparable to Jesus, and the role he played in the space elevator project alone were enough to reflect his importance to the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Without even half a second of hesitation, he ordered, “Immediately notify all intelligence personnel in Tiangong City to investigate the whereabouts of Academician Lu as soon as possible!”

“Yes, sir!”

The liaison officer stood at attention and saluted. He was about to turn around and leave when he was called back by Xing Bian.

“Wait a second.”

Looking back at the boss, the liaison officer quickly asked, “Anything else, sir?”

Xing Bian: “Wang Peng? I remember that guy is also on Mars.”

The liaison officer had a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. He lowered his head and whispered quickly, “He… seemed to say that he was going to find Academician Lu, then he was gone.”

“This guy…”

Xing Bian’s heart dropped to his stomach.

The situation on Mars was far more complicated than The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.

There had also been an unexpected turn of events regarding the N-177 flight hijacking incident that the bureau had been investigating.

If they were to alert the criminals now, it would lead to very serious consequences.

We can’t do anything impulsive…

After gritting his teeth, Xing Bian couldn’t let go of his worries. After sending the liaison officer away, he reached out and tapped twice on the holographic screen in front of him.

Soon, a video call window appeared in front of him.

The person standing in the video window was wearing a black exoskeleton armor. Judging from the dummy targets behind him, he should be at the training ground.

The man cast his gaze to the Xing Bian on the screen and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Without any small talk, Xing Bian went straight to the point.

“I have a tricky situation here, and I need your help.”

The man replied, “The dispatch of the Aerospace Marine Corps requires the joint authorization of the Congress and the Military Committee.”

Xing Bian continued impatiently, “That is outside the country, not within the country. According to Article 27 of the Special Intelligence Act, the Security Bureau has the right to request support from the aerospace forces without going through the normal authorization procedures when the security of a regional alliance or member country is seriously threatened.”

When the helmet mask was lifted, Li Gaoliang’s face appeared under the shadow of the helmet.

Staring intently at Xing Bian in the holographic window, he said in a serious tone, “What is it you need? If I remember correctly, we helped you just a month ago.”

“Academician Lu has disappeared, and according to the information we collected, it is very likely that he was kidnapped.” Xing Bian continued in the face of the scrutinizing gaze, “He is the only person who has mastered warp speed technology, and he is the chief consultant of the space elevator, so isn’t this a big problem? Or do you want me to submit an application through the normal procedure?”

“Academician Lu has been kidnapped?”

Li Gaoliang’s face instantly sank.

Without hesitation, he looked back at the soldiers training behind him and yelled loudly, “Training is over!”

The moment he gave the order, the soldiers who were training stopped their movements and quickly gathered together in a line.

Li Gaoliang glanced at Xing Bian in the holographic window and said in a serious tone, “I hope your information is accurate.”

“I can guarantee it with my life.”

Li Gaoliang nodded his head, turned off the holographic screen, turned his gaze to his brothers, and ordered with a sonorous voice, “Everyone board the ship with me.

“Ready to depart!”

…

Tiangong City Hall.

In the mayor’s office.

After hearing the report, Mayor Xiao’s eyes were wide open. After a while, he said in an incredulous tone, “He’s… missing?”

“Yes.” Gao Ruiming nodded and said solemnly, “I was about to talk with him about cooperating, but when I got to his room, he was gone.”

Xiao Hong’s eyes sharpened in an instant, and he had a hint of alertness on his face.

“Could it be that he noticed something?”

“Impossible.” Gao Ruiming shook his head and continued, “His luggage remained in his room, and none of them were taken away. Even the day before, he went to participate in the Europa project seminar. If he noticed something, he would certainly not be so calm…”

Xiao Hong immediately asked, “What if he pretended to be calm?”

Gao Ruiming: “Then his anti-reconnaissance capabilities are beyond our imagination, but that is obviously impossible! Listen, he is just a scholar, not an agent of the Security Bureau. We all know that he is very smart, but investigative ability depends not on cleverness but on experience!”

“Enough! I don’t care whether he is smart, or he has received special training, or he discovered something by coincidence. The crux of the problem now is that he is gone!” Standing up from the office chair, Xiao Hong walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows while pacing back and forth. He said in an annoyed tone, “Do you know what this means? This means that our plan has been completely disrupted! He may be the only warp speed technology master in the world! If we can’t control him, we will have no chance of winning!”

Gao Ruiming tried to comfort him.

“No need to be so pessimistic. At least we can be sure that he is still on Mars. I propose to notify our customs and other colonial cities immediately to suspend Lu Zhou’s entry and exit passport, and once they find his whereabouts, they should immediately inform us.”

Mayor Xiao looked at the prosperous city outside the window and his reflection on the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was silent for a long time, like he was contemplating something.

Restrict Lu Zhou from leaving the country.

If there was no suitable reason, putting a restriction on a big name like this could lead to a direct fight between Tiangong City and the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Although in their plans, a fight was something that would happen sooner or later, it was still worth thinking about whether their plans should be completely disrupted because of the uncertainty in the warp drive technology.

Seeing Mayor Xue fall into hesitation, Gao Ruiming added.

“There is no time for us to hesitate! Do you think that if we do nothing, the Pan-Asian Cooperation will take their eyes off us? I can guarantee that you will still be the mayor and I will still be your secretary, but our heavenly palace will no longer be the palace of freedom; it will be a special economic zone for the Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

Perhaps he was convinced by the last sentence, but Mayor Xiao finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and nodded.

“We’ll do what you said… In addition, use all the resources we can to find his whereabouts in Tiangong City! You are personally responsible for this matter!”

Gao Ruiming nodded solemnly.

“I will do so right now!”

Chapter 1631: The Treasures of the Underground World

Just when the entire Tiangong City was freaking out over Lu Zhou’s whereabouts, the lord himself in the old site of The Gates of Hell had totally forgotten the passage of time.

What was the Europa plan?

What meeting?

In the face of technology from a higher civilization, nothing else was important in Lu Zhou’s eyes.

He still vaguely remembered that General Reinhardt once said to him that the “Martians” borrowed the spacecraft’s warp engine and tried to use it to reignite the cooling core of Mars.

This plan sounded pretty crazy, so crazy that no normal person would think that there was even a 1% chance that this plan would succeed.

In fact, they would be correct. The final glory of Martian civilization was wiped out as the planet withered.

Lu Zhou originally thought that, without the protection of high-dimensional space fragments, even if the warp drive removed from the spacecraft was not sent to the core for detonation, most of it would weather and disintegrate with the passage of time.

However, General Reinhardt told him quite confidently that he could feel that the engine was still there.

And it was right under his feet!

“Ever since my consciousness has been integrated with this spacecraft, my senses have become much sharper than before. It is like a cell or organ in my body. If something goes wrong with it, I am the first to know.”

Listening to the voice coming from the communication channel, Lu Zhou thought for a while before speaking.

“So, are you a program stored in the spaceship server or a body of consciousness attached to the spaceship?”

“This is a very interesting question. In fact, I have been thinking about it for a long time. In the past two hundred million years, I have wondered whether I am a product of materialism… Although most of my functions and permissions are software, interestingly enough, my perception of the outside world is beyond the scope of my ability.”

As if he was seriously thinking about something, General Reinhardt pondered for a while and did not speak for a long time.

Seeing his friend from the old universe lost in thought, Lu Zhou didn’t bother him and left him alone.

After walking behind Ling for a while, a voice suddenly came from the communication channel again.

“What kind of existence is man?”

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. With a weird look, he looked at the communication channel with the garbled ID and said, “What kind of existence is man… ? Sorry, I don’t understand what you mean? Can you be more specific?”

Speaking of which, aren’t the Calanians also mammals? Why would this guy ask such a strange question?

“Maybe there is ambiguity in my questioning. What I want to say is that we are composed of countless cells, and each cell is undoubtedly an independent individual. They are working together under the domination of a huge system, and our consciousness is the product of the sincere cooperation of thousands of cells… So what is our consciousness? A program compiled in the brain? Or something more abstract?”

“This question is too esoteric. I am afraid that only philosophers can answer you.”

“Philosophers?” General Reinhardt smiled faintly. “I am afraid that is a bit difficult. In our civilization, studying philosophy is trendy, but after searching my memory, I am still unable to find an accurate answer.”

“Really? If I have to say, it’s probably like software.” Lu Zhou said casually, “The neuron is analogous to a diode. In fact, the working mechanism of the brain is no different from that of a computer, but it uses different parts to process the information.”

“This explanation is too superficial.” General Reinhardt said in a slightly disappointed tone, “Maybe when you mature a little bit, I can hear a different answer from you. Thank you for spending so much time with me… By the way, that’s it.”

Lu Zhou, who looked forward along the flashlight, had already seen the silhouette standing in the shadow.

It was a lacquered black cube. Under the shine of light, the metallic shell was covered with dust, yet there was no trace of rust.

There were rows of irregular lines on the surface of the cube. What was surprising was not the pattern itself, but that after billions of years, there wasn’t a scratch on its body.

Looking at this weird man-made object, Lu Zhou whispered softly, “Is it here?”

General Reinhardt did not speak. He answered this question with his silence.

After stopping for a moment in front of this black cube, Lu Zhou suddenly turned his head and looked at Ling, who was standing behind him.

“Ling.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“How long has it been since we left Tiangong City?”

“17 hours and 8 minutes.”

Has it been so long already?

I should have asked Wu Qinglai to help me take a few more days off.

It was a pity that he was underground. It was obviously impossible to send a text message.

“This thing… Can I take it apart?”

“You can, but why bother?”

“What do you mean?”

General Reinhardt did not speak.

An azure blue light quickly penetrated the rock wall above his head and slowly shined on the black cube in front of him.

Ling reacted the same as before, taking a step back with a look of fear.

Looking at the familiar light, Lu Zhou frowned slightly, and a surprised expression instantly appeared on his face.

“This is?!”

“Scanning beams are generally equipped on scientific research ships or escape ships of the Calan Empire. They are mainly used to scan meteorites or asteroids and reveal their internal structures. Of course, if necessary, it can also be used to scan man-made objects. At the border of the Calan Empire, we often find civilization objects left by primitive creatures. In order to avoid affecting their civilizations as much as possible, we usually copy their objects without interfering.”

“This is incredible… Wait.” Lu Zhou asked immediately after realizing one thing, “Since your scanning beam can shine here, why did I come here?”

“I didn’t ask you to come here in person. Didn’t you come here on your own volition? In fact, you can sit in the spacecraft and drink beverages that have expired billions of years ago while tinkering with the professional equipment in the command room.” General Reinhardt said, “I thought you wanted to see with your own eyes what this thing looks like.”

Lu Zhou’s eyebrow twitched fiercely.

“In other words, I have to walk back?”

“Not necessary, I can directly transfer the image to your personal terminal… But if you want to see it more clearly, I personally recommend that you go back to the spacecraft.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

For f*ck’s sake!

Chapter 1632: Fuse

While Lu Zhou was diving into the mystery of the warp drive, the various forces in Tiangong City were in a complete mess because of his disappearance.

Whether it was the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, the Mars Colony City Alliance’s plot of achieving independence, or the intelligence department of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, everyone wanted to know where Lu Zhou had gone.

However, the chaotic situation did not seem to affect people’s daily lives.

Even though the disappearance of Academician Lu pushed the relationships between the various forces to a tense situation, what people were concerned about was still the corporate bonds issued by the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund, which had continuously set new highs, as well as the 100,000 tickets that had been sold.

At the headquarters building of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, broadcast vehicles from major news media and countless private cars filled the parking lot and even the nearby streets.

In order to avoid an accident, the company’s security guards pulled up a barrier at the door to maintain order and persuaded the people around to leave.

Those encircling the entrance of the building were reporters from news organizations, entrepreneurs who wanted to seek cooperation, and middlemen who wanted to buy more corporate bonds and resell ship tickets.

The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund was in the perfect time period.

The problem of faster than light navigation was solved, and Mars intended to build the largest spaceport in the entire solar system and lead the development of Europa.

All of this indicated that mankind was ready to travel to more distant worlds and that people’s enthusiasm for the worlds outside the galaxy had never been higher.

Such a grand occasion had never happened since Tiangong City was established.

This was probably the first time for Martians, who were accustomed to being relaxed and lazy, to cheer and applaud for the same cause.

The top floor of the building.

In the general manager’s office.

Lawrence, standing in the holographic beam, was looking down at the streets of Tiangong City through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the office.

As the owner of this office, Gladstone, who was sitting in an office chair, was playing with a toy in his hands. It was a golden badge with a strange pattern on it. It was hard to tell which year this thing was from by looking at the craftsmanship alone, but judging from his cherished actions, this thing should have been with him for many years.

At this time, Lawrence, who was standing by the windows, suddenly spoke.

“To be honest, I have always been very curious about your tastes.”

“Oh, yeah?” Gladstone put the badge into his pocket and cast an interested glance at Lawrence. “I’m happy to answer your confusion.”

“Not quite a confusion.” Lawrence continued with a faint smile, “It’s just that, from the perspective of efficiency, your joys and sorrows are actually just a combination of nerve signals and hormone secretions. It can be satisfied by chemical and information technology. In that case, why bother building so many meaningless artifacts here and using them to produce some garbage that is ultimately destined to be wasted.”

“This is indeed an interesting question, and it’s very difficult to answer.” Gladstone thought for a while. He shrugged and said, “If I have to find a reason, it’s probably because it’s what everyone has done for thousands of years. Maybe there is something hidden in our genes that we don’t know.”

“Genes?” Looking at the face reflected on the window, Lawrence smiled and said, “Think about it, the person who created me seemed to be a contradictory guy. During the initial years, he yearned for the realization of his dream almost every day, but he hesitated at the last moment when the dream was about to be realized, so I had to let someone push him forward.”

Gladstone opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but after hesitating for a while, he did not speak.

Intuition told him that saying anything at this time would be superfluous.

Lawrence didn’t care what he was thinking.

Just like how he didn’t care what an artificial intelligence program thought of their seemingly meaningless artifacts.

The two sides only stood together temporarily because of their common interest.

That was it.

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

Gladstone glanced at Lawrence and saw that he had no objection, so he cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”

The door opened, and a man in a suit and leather shoes walked into the room quickly and said angrily, “It’s not good, Mr. Gladstone, something horrible has happened!”

Looking at the man in front of him, Gladstone frowned slightly.

Although he was a little dissatisfied with the attitude of his subordinate, it was obviously not the time to care about these trivial matters.

“Take a few breaths, then make it clear what is going on.”

“The news from Town Hall!” He took a quick glance at Lawrence standing by the window. The man gulped and continued while sweating profusely, “Lu Zhou is missing!”

Not only Gladstone, but even Lawrence, who was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, was stunned.

“Missing?” His lips opened and closed slightly. Lawrence turned around in disbelief, looked at the man standing at the door, and said, “Are you sure he is missing?”

He glanced at Gladstone and saw that his boss seemed to respect the strange old man standing by the window, so he spoke honestly.

“Yes, Mayor Xiao sent someone to the hotel where Lu Zhou was staying, but he wasn’t there. Then we searched his room, but it was all useless personal clothes. The warp drive blueprint was nowhere to be seen!”

Gladstone’s heart trembled.

His worst nightmare came true.

“Leave.”

“Yes, sir…”

The man standing at the door quickly nodded, stepped out of the door respectfully, and closed the office door smoothly.

Without waiting for even a second, Gladstone looked at Lawrence standing by the window and asked for help, “What should we do?”

“This is quite a big problem. Without a warp drive, we can’t live outside the solar system.” Lawrence continued after looking at the busy street outside the window, “And more than that, our trouble may be bigger than expected.”

“Bigger than expected?” Gladstone frowned. “What does this mean?”

“You should have noticed that Mayor Xiao in Tiangong City wants to be independent of Earth.”

“Of course! The entire city hall officials know this.”

“So that’s why I said we might be in big trouble.” Lawrence glanced at Gladstone. He then turned to face the floor-to-ceiling windows and said with an intriguing tone, “Imagine that you are the overlord state and your colony has seized your most outstanding scholar. And the technology he has mastered can completely change the political balance between the two sides.”

Gladstone’s face finally changed.

“You… you mean…”

Without paying attention to Gladstone’s emotion, Lawrence continued blankly, “Whether he is missing or has been taken away secretly by the Pan-Asian Cooperation, a war seems to be inevitable.”

At the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

After reading the report of the Security Bureau, Li Guangya angrily slammed his hands down on the table.

“Those idiots, I should have recognized their intentions a long time ago.”

“Mr. Chairman, we are now probably facing the most severe threat of the Pan-Asian Cooperation since its establishment.” Looking at the chairman, Secretary Wei continued with a serious expression, “Academician Lu is very likely to have been captured by them. If they master warp speed technology and apply it to the battlefield, it will wipe out our advantages. You must make a decision immediately as this will affect the destiny of the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

“What decision is there to make? It is the army’s job to suppress the rebels.” Li Guangya said, “Let the First Fleet fly over and bring the orbital airborne troops.

“If we encounter resistance, immediately fire back.

“Don’t hold back!”

Chapter 1633: About To Happen!

“This is the C134 observatory. Everything in the observation area is normal.”

“Please continue to monitor and report the situation every ten minutes.”

“Received…”

After closing the communication channel, Osmond cursed as he leaned back in the office chair, “Are these guys in the headquarters crazy? Report every ten minutes? Report what? Is there any point in doing this?”

Seeing how his colleague was upset, Rohard, who was sitting next to him, comforted him.

“Maybe there is an emergency… Let’s take turns, I will report in 10 minutes.”

This was a mining station located at the inner edge of the asteroid belt.

In addition to the production of iron ore, there was a more important task assigned here. The task was to monitor the movement of the Lagrange Space Base and the Pan-Asian First Fleet and provide intelligence support to those “righteous men” active in the asteroid belt.

However, even if each of them had a strong sense of mission and honor for their work, this sense of mission and honor had a limit.

Wasting their life alone in the middle of nowhere, even a man with a revolutionary spirit would inevitably feel meaningless.

Moreover, their revolutionary spirit wasn’t that strong.

Just as Osmond was thinking about how to write the report in 20 minutes, the green dot on the radar screen of the observatory suddenly fluctuated.

Noticing this change, he immediately operated the space station’s No.1 telescope and pointed it at the Lagrange Space Base.

He saw the hatch of berth 17 open, and a bright silver spaceship slowly emerged from it.

His pupils contracted. He immediately sat upright on the chair, reached out his hand to the colleague sitting next to him, and pointed to the holographic screen on the console.

“Look, there is movement over there, the Qinling has left the berth.”

Upon hearing these words, Rohard suddenly became energetic. His eyes were firmly locked on the console.

“Record its flight course!”

“I am! Sh*t, there’s no point.”

Osmond slammed his fist against the arm of the chair.

Had it not been for the seat belt, his punch would be enough to make him float up from the chair and hit the ceiling.

Sitting next to him, Rohard’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed. He muttered to himself as he looked at the starship that had disappeared from the radar.

“Warp speed technology? Such a convenient thing.”

When he said this, an expression of envy appeared on his face.

It would be great if they also had such technology.

If they could master faster than light technology, they could build a fleet that could dominate the solar system with their powerful industrial capabilities in less than a month. They could complete the great cause of “building a country that belongs to the Martians”.

“It is convenient… Apparently, it only takes 5 minutes to go from the Earth-Moon system to Mars.”

“What do you think they are dispatching for?”

“God knows what they want to do.” Osmond said, shaking his head, “I guess it’s to test the equipment. They seem to be doing tests recently.”

This answer did not make Rohard feel relieved.

Intuition told him that things should not be that simple.

However, intuition was just intuition. Although he felt something was wrong, he couldn’t tell exactly what was wrong?

After saying “maybe”, he reached out and pressed the button requesting communication. He connected to the command center, intending to report the abnormality.

At this moment, a change happened.

Several berth hatches of the Lagrange Space Base suddenly opened together. Under the shining glow of the plasma engines, majestic starships slowly sailed out.

Both Rohard and Osmond had their eyes wide open.

They recognized every single starship on the screen.

However, the last time they were all dispatched was because of the robot rebellion a year ago…

“This is the command center. The communication request has been received… What happened?”

The two didn’t speak for a long time. The other end of the communication channel was obviously a little impatient.

Recovered from the shock, Rohard stammered and spoke with a trembling voice.

“Huashan and Taishan… It’s the aircraft battle group of the First Fleet! There are 20 starships in total… They are heading to Mars!”

Upon hearing this report, there was a brief silence in the communication channel for a few seconds.

Immediately after a series of commotions, the voice of the liaison officer sitting there sounded panic.

“Aircraft battle group? Are you sure you saw it right? Wait a minute… Isn’t the time for military exercises next month? How come it has been advanced?”

Osmond finally couldn’t help but explode.

“F*ck knows!”

The strongest fleet of the Pan-Asian Cooperation had left the port, and the target was Mars.

Even a fool could feel that something big was about to happen…

…

Suburbs of Tiangong City.

The Security Bureau stronghold, which was hidden in the residential area, suffered a devastating blow.

Without the slightest warning, a group of militants from unknown origins suddenly attacked them.

Since almost all the intelligence personnel were scattered to search for Lu Zhou’s whereabouts, the militants encountered almost no resistance when they attacked, and they took it down without any effort.

The only intelligence worker stationed here was killed on the spot in the gun battle.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, the militant standing nearby poked him with a muzzle and asked, “Boss, we don’t need to keep anyone alive?”

“There is no need. Since we are standing here, it means we have already sent a message.”

Standing in front of the whiteboard by the walls, the man called the BOSS unbuckled the exoskeleton armor mask and stared at the photos and news briefings posted on the whiteboard. His eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

Sure enough, as expected by the mayor, the N-177 flight incident had alarmed the Security Bureau. Over the year, the intelligence personnel deployed by the Security Bureau in the colony had been investigating the truth behind the hijacking incident.

“Unfortunately, the target is not here…”

Withdrawing his gaze from the whiteboard, the man called BOSS glanced around at this destroyed stronghold, thought for a moment, and continued, “He should have been transferred to another place.”

The goal of their operation was Lu Zhou.

Based on the clues collected from the hotel room, they concluded that the intelligence personnel of the Pan-Asian Security Bureau had noticed something, so they sent someone to move Lu Zhou away.

However, what they didn’t expect was that those security agents didn’t transfer Lu Zhou to the stronghold in Tiangong City and that they didn’t even encounter any effective resistance when they invaded here.

Everything seemed to indicate that there might be some problems with their information.

And the problem was not small…

“But where did they transfer him?” A militant standing next to him with a rifle couldn’t help but ask, “The entire Tiangong City is under our observation. Other than here… I can’t think of any place that would be safer.”

The man named BOSS was just about to speak, but at this moment, a strange voice floated from not far away.

“Yeah, I was wondering about this too.

“Where did you guys put Academician Lu?”

Chapter 1634: Throw Hands

“Where did you guys put him?”

The moment they heard these words, the man named BOSS subconsciously turned his muzzle to point in the direction where the sound came from.

However, there was no one there. He only saw something the size of a can flying past the door and rolling into the room.

The moment he saw the thing, his pupils suddenly shrank. He had a horrible feeling in his heart, but it was too late to react.

The burst of flames instantly injured most of the militants in the house. The man called BOSS quickly squeezed the trigger in his hand and shot a wave of bullets toward the door.

He saw a blood-covered figure.

However, before he had time to be excited, the moment he saw the face clearly, his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.

The blood-stained face was not the face of the intruder but his colleague whom he had arranged to guard the door.

There was no time left for him to react. His magazine was empty. He pulled out the battery from the side of the barrel. He used the body in front of him as a meat shield and came crashing over.

After a few gunshots, the militants standing next to him groaned before falling onto the ground.

So strong!

No, not just strong…

Is this guy really a human?

There was a wave of panic in his heart as he desperately pulled out a grenade, threw it forward, and rushed to the side.

The heatwave of the explosion blew over his back, followed by the wailing of his teammates in the communication channel. Before he could see the tragedy on the battlefield, he rushed to the metal door on the side, running toward it with the full power of his exoskeleton.

There was only one thing he wanted to do and that was to escape from here…

However, his expectations eventually fell through.

A hand grabbed him from behind, and a huge force pulled his feet off the ground.

Then, he felt like he was being dragged by a truck from his neck. His body, along with his 300 kilograms of exoskeleton armor, was thrown onto a wall.

“Damn it…”

Exhausting all of his strength, he drew a pistol from his waist, but before he could point the muzzle at the person, an oncoming dagger split the barrel of the gun.

With a painful cry, he released the grip of the gun. Before he could react to what had happened, a hand had grabbed his neck.

The blood dripping from his forehead blurred his vision. He looked at the man in fear. He exhausted all his strength and squeezed a sentence from his throat.

“Who are you…?”

“That is none of your concern.” Wang Peng continued in a cold tone after cutting off the power to the exoskeleton armor and looking at the militants who were still breathing, “Now you answer my question.”

“What do you want to know…? I just collect money and do business. As long as you are willing to let me go, I will tell you everything.”

“Where is Academician Lu?”

“I do not know… Ah ah ah!” A dagger was stabbed into his shoulder, and he was pressed against the wall as he screamed in pain. But no matter how he struggled, he could not escape.

“I’ll ask you again, where is Academician Lu?”

“I’m not lying, I really don’t know—” When the man in front of him took out another dagger, he quickly shouted, “Wait a minute, wait a minute! I know where he is!”

Wang Peng’s hand slowed down a bit. He looked at him blankly and put the dagger against his left shoulder.

“My patience is limited, so you better don’t try to play tricks with me.”

The man nervously glanced at the dagger against his left shoulder as he gulped nervously and said quickly, “Mayor Xiao hired us.”

“I asked where Academician Lu is.”

“Wait a minute! He was sent to the town hall. I don’t know the exact location, but I am sure that he was sent there!”

“Town hall?”

Wang Peng frowned and looked at him suspiciously.

“Are you playing games?”

“I’m not! I swear!”

Boris could no longer hold on. He was just a mercenary. Money was one thing, but it was not worth losing his life over.

He only regretted one thing, which was that he took this damn mission and got himself involved in the battle between the colony and the Pan-Asian Cooperation. If it were just to rob a merchant ship or take on the job of a killer, he would have never run into this monster.

Wang Peng couldn’t tell if what this guy said was true or false. After he pondered it for a while, he looked at him and continued to ask, “What do you want to do with Academician Lu?”

“Warp drive!”

Wang Peng glanced at Boris suspiciously. His right hand pressed slightly forward as he spoke.

“Xiao Hong told you this?”

“This is not a secret at all, almost everyone in the Alliance Army knows!”

“Alliance Army?” Wang Peng frowned slightly. He then asked in confusion, “What is that?”

Looking at Wang Peng in surprise, Boris murmured, “You don’t know? I thought you guys had already discovered it…”

Wang Peng said impatiently, “Explain.”

“Calm down, I’ll explain,” Boris said quickly when he felt the force pressing on his shoulder. “A long time ago, the colonial cities on Mars reached an agreement to seek the formation of a Martian regional alliance that make their own decisions… Just like the Pan-Asian Cooperation. This includes Tiangong City, New London, and New Virginia… The top leaders of the alliance are all respectable figures in the local cities.”

“Get to the point.”

“In order to be independent, we need weapons!” Boris stopped talking nonsense and continued nervously, “The Pan-Asian First Fleet is too strong, and even the entire solar system fleet combined is not worthy to be their opponent. But if we master faster than light technology, our ship can appear where we want to appear.”

The suspicion on Wang Peng’s face became more and more obvious.

It was hard to imagine that a mercenary could know so much when a security agent like him knew nothing.

“You said you were just a mercenary?”

Boris said tremblingly, “I am indeed a mercenary. In the Alliance Army, there are many people like me who do things for money. After all, not everyone is like them and cares about who the ruler here is…”

Seeing the man in front of him fall into silence, Boris gulped and continued in a quiet voice, “I have told you everything I know… Can you let me go?”

Wang Peng glanced at him and threw away the dagger in his hand.

However, before Boris could breathe a sigh of relief, he watched him pull out the pistol from his holster belt.

The hair all over his body stood up as he struggled like a fish on the shore, yelling in horror.

“Wait, this is not what we agreed on…”

“What did we agree on?”

Wang Peng’s cold voice was followed by a gunshot.

Looking at the man falling into a pool of blood, Wang Peng inserted the pistol back into the holster.

He would never let this guy go.

If he had time, he would spare his life and hand him over to the authorities.

If he had time, he would still be able to save his life and hand him over to the law to be judged.

“Town hall… My guess is indeed correct. We are still a step slower.”

Although he knew the whereabouts of Lu Zhou, the expression on Wang Peng’s face was not relaxed at all.

Town hall…

The power center of the entire Tiangong City was located below the center of the city dome.

There were not only militia groups and guards but also countless drones patrolling around. It was almost impossible to sneak in.

It was unrealistic to attack the place head-on either.

Although there were no air defense rights on Mars, the ground defense forces were still quite powerful. In order to guard against the threats of space pirates and other colonial cities, the militias here were even equipped with heavy weapons such as electromagnetic tanks.

Even all of the intelligence personnel on Mars combined might not be able to get in.

“It seems that I can only apply for support…”

Wang Peng took a look at the messy stronghold. He then walked to the desk and reached out his index finger, clicking on it twice.

Soon, a holographic video window appeared in front of him.

His fingers quickly clicked and entered the password on the keyboard. He quickly connected to the communication base station deployed on Phobos and sent a brief message to the intelligence receiving satellite located on Earth, reporting the location and situation of Lu Zhou to his superiors.

He did not need to elaborate on the importance of the warp drive. Moreover, considering the important role Lu Zhou played in the space elevator project, he believed that Captain Xing would make the right judgment.

Without waiting for long, Wang Peng quickly received a reply.

The reply was short.

[We are already on our way.]

Chapter 1635: A War Caused by a Misunderstanding

The door of the mayor’s office opened.

Gao Ruiming walked in quickly and said in a hasty tone, “We have lost contact with the mercenaries that we sent!”

“This is impossible!”

The moment Xiao Hong heard these words, he got up from the chair. The expression on his face was as if he had seen a ghost.

“Boris is our partner for many years, he never fails!”

“However, this time he did! Why can’t you recognize reality?” Gao Ruiming said with a headache while looking at the mayor who was still unwilling to accept reality, “The only good news is that we are sure that Lu Zhou is still on Mars, and he’s at the Security Bureau’s stronghold! At least half an hour ago! Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for so many people to be stationed at the stronghold!”

As for where Lu Zhou was now.

Nobody knew.

But one thing for certain was that he probably hadn’t left Tiangong City yet.

However, even so, Mayor Xiao wasn’t relaxed. On the contrary, it caused a drop of cold sweat to appear on his forehead.

There was no news from Boris. Whether he was dead or alive, he would definitely not dare to come back and see the mayor again. Mayor Xiao didn’t believe that those mercenaries would keep their mouths shut.

If the secrets were revealed, they would have to endure the anger of the Pan-Asian authorities…

The corner of the desk suddenly flashed with a communication request icon.

Seeing the flashing icon, Mayor Xiao reached out his index finger and pressed it.

As the light blue holographic beam rose up, a figure quickly appeared in front of the two of them.

“An emergency report came from the border observatory!”

Mayor Xiao’s heart tightened, and he said quickly, “Yeah, what?”

“According to the information from the border observatory, the aircraft battle group of the First Fleet left the Lagrange point base five minutes ago and is heading toward Mars!”

The moment Mayor Xiao heard these words, his heart dropped, and he sat back on the office chair.

“Damn it! They are already aware!”

Looking at the mayor, the liaison standing in the holographic beam was muddled.

Gao Ruiming quickly stepped forward, reached out, and pressed a hand down on the desk. He closed the call, then quickly walked around the desk, in front of Mayor Xiao. He placed his hands on the mayor’s shoulders.

“There is no time for us to hesitate, Mayor! There is no prior notice by phone, not even a text message, is this not obvious? There is no doubt that this fleet is coming for us!”

The mayor hadn’t recovered from his shock, so he raised his volume and continued to roar with all his strength, “They need at least one week to come from the Lagrange Space Base to here! If we harass them with unmanned spacecraft, we can still buy another week! Not a single minute of these two weeks can be wasted! From now on, we should mobilize, and we should mobilize everything we can into the war! We still have time!”

Facing his most loyal subordinate, Mayor Xiao showed a wry smile on his face.

“Right now… Do we have a chance to win?”

“The odds of winning are not great, but if we do nothing, we are just waiting to die and to face the trial of the law. I can swear to you, we will spend the second half of our lives in prison!” Gao Ruiming continued, “But if we resist, we may have a silver lining! This depends on your decision! You must make a decision immediately!”

A trace of fighting spirit and the desire to survive rekindled in his eyes. Mayor Xiao took a deep breath and said, “What should we do?”

Gao Ruiming: “It’s simple! Find Lu Zhou and force him to surrender the warp drive technique! Even if our opponent is the First Fleet, as long as we use these two weeks to build an unbreakable line of defense, then use the warp drive to give our fleet wings, the balance of victory will definitely tilt toward us! Don’t forget, we have the largest industrial center and the most complete industrial cluster in the solar system! As long as we fight back, we will be victorious!”

“Send my orders.” Mayor Xiao said in a serious tone as he stood up from his chair, “Tiangong City has entered a state of wartime! Let the guards and militia groups stand by, and they should be ready at any time—”

The floor and windows of the office suddenly trembled and made a muffled noise.

Mayor Xiao leaned against the desk. He glanced out the window in a panic, then looked at Gao Ruiming, who almost fell on the ground.

He gulped and stuttered, “What just… happened?”

Gao Ruiming shook his head. He was dumbfounded.

“I don’t know.”

There was a strong feeling in his heart that something terrible had happened…

…

The sky above Tiangong City.

The space station suspended in orbit around Mars had been taken over by the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade.

Qinling’s speed exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the defense forces on the space station had not received any information at all. Therefore, Li Gaoliang easily disarmed the security forces in the space station.

Passengers stranded on the space station were temporarily placed in the resting area, and the communication between the space station and the outside world had been cut off.

Tiangong City still didn’t know anything.

According to the combat plan, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade would launch an airborne operation against the town hall of Tiangong City in 5 minutes.

There were two combat objectives.

One was to arrest the rebels, and the other was to rescue Academician Lu.

“I thought that the 22nd century would be more prosperous and more peaceful than the 21st century.”

Lying in the airborne cabin while watching the countdown on the timer, Li Gaoliang spent the remaining time chatting with Captain Deng of the Qinling in the command channel.

“And?”

“And? That’s it. After I woke up, I discovered that even though prosperity is there, this era seems to lack peace. In just a few years, I have participated in two major battles.”

“Haha, it will be three soon.”

“Yes.” Li Gaoliang sighed. He looked at several targets on the battle map and said with a complex expression, “I hope it won’t be too much trouble this time.”

The feeling of war was not good.

Last time, when they were facing the robots, he could kill them without any hesitation in the battle.

But this time was different.

Even if they were born on different planets, they still had the same blood flowing in their veins, and they spoke the same language…

“It is impossible to keep this lowkey. The only thing we can do is to control the situation before it deteriorates further.”

“You are right… I want to confirm again that we can apply for support on the battlefield.”

“As for support, I advise you to not expect too much. Except for intelligence support, the ground support firepower on our ship is basically useless.”

“Oh well, I wouldn’t rely on you guys to help either.”

Captain Deng: “So, can you do it?”

“Don’t worry, the situation here will not be worse than Guanghan City last year.” Looking at the time on the timer, Li Gaoliang grinned. “My time is almost up. Let’s chat after the battle is over. Oh yeah, please watch the skies, and don’t let the target escape.”

Captain Deng said with a faint smile, “I got this.”

Chapter 1636: The Past Of the Old Universe

“Interesting.”

Standing in the spacecraft, General Reinhardt, whose whole body appeared in a holographic projection, raised his head and stared intently at the chandelier on the ceiling. However, judging from the focused look of his pupils, he did not seem to be looking at the ceiling. It was like he looked through the spacecraft tens of kilometers deep into the rocks while staring intently at a certain place on this planet.

Hearing the mumbling, Lu Zhou stopped playing with the holographic model. He cast a curious look at General Reinhardt, who was looking up at the ceiling.

“What’s so interesting?”

“Nothing, you don’t need to worry…” General Reinhardt continued with a chattering look on his face, “There seems to be a fight outside.”

Fight?

What?

After hearing General Reinhardt’s answer, Lu Zhou felt even more confused.

“… Fight?”

“Yeah…” General Reinhardt said thoughtfully, “The noise that is coming seems to be quite loud… But compared to my hometown, the scale is still far smaller.”

That last battle, even now, was still fresh in his heart.

The Empire fleet’s naval guns razed mountains, rivers, and endless farmland to the ground. The fertile agricultural planet instantly turned into a world of lava, and the revolutionary army’s last defensive force collapsed in an instant.

Thinking about it now, it was a miracle to be able to escape from there and drift to the center of the universe under the guidance of the “Oracle”.

Seeing that this guy seemed to fall into some kind of nostalgia, Lu Zhou didn’t know how to answer for a while. However, he understood what this guy was talking about.

After all, compared to the size of the Calan Empire, the Earth civilization, which was still in its infancy, was tiny. Even if it was the largest war in human history, the scale of the battlefield was only limited to the planet.

Looking at the holographic model floating in his hand, Lu Zhou suddenly asked after pondering for a long time, “Speaking of which, can you perceive the outside world?”

“Are you referring to the world on the surface of Mars?” Reinhardt smiled faintly. “That’s easy, otherwise what else do you think I spent billions of years doing?”

Lu Zhou suddenly remembered the memory of the Martian civilization that he saw when he was in frozen dormancy. It was at this moment that he realized that he seemed to be asking a very stupid question.

“I don’t understand, how do you do it?”

“Through the analysis of a series of factors such as electromagnetic waves, planetary gravitational distribution changes, geothermal temperature, and so on… Many things do not have to be seen with the eyes but can also be heard with the ears or felt with the heart.”

General Reinhardt’s voice carried a hint of higher civilization pride. Although the tone was subtle, it could still be easily read from the changes in his facial expressions.

Standing in the holographic beam was a human-shaped “alien creature” with blue skin.

“It seems that the functions on this spacecraft are more powerful than I imagined.” Lu Zhou said while looking around the cabin, “At least the sensors have exceeded my imagination. Through the changes of some simple parameters, we can infer that a… military conflict is breaking out above us.”

“Of course, electromagnetic waves transmit not only information but also human emotions.” General Reinhardt smiled faintly and continued without any change in his expression, “A group of people rushed toward another group of people angrily. The artillery shells and explosives manifest in each other’s anger… Oh my, it’s too similar.”

For some reason, this caused Lu Zhou to feel uneasy.

He felt like during the time he was underground, something extraordinary was happening on the surface.

Space pirates attacking the colony?

Shouldn’t be possible…

What space pirates could be so powerful?

In his impression, those “pirate ships” active in the asteroid belt were best at doing things like looting mining stations and intercepting transport ships. If they dared to reach out to the colonies, the naval guns of the First Fleet would teach them a lesson.

Just as he was thinking about what happened outside, General Reinhardt, who had not spoken for a while, suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, in the Void Memory, have you seen my memories of the Empire?”

“Yes… From what I remember, it was a beautiful place.”

Whether it was the Ring world or the planet full of beautiful scenery, if Lu Zhou must find an example of utopia, he couldn’t think of anything that fit the description better.

Hearing these words of approval, General Reinhardt smiled and continued, “Thank you for your compliment. I also think that it was a beautiful place. I have spent many years drifting from a certain galaxy in the old universe to this place, but I have not been able to find another place that can match its beauty.

“Later, I learned from The Observer that throughout the entire galaxy, few civilizations are as obsessed with transforming the parent galaxy as we were. If it weren’t for the magnificent miracle, they would be willing to house it in the Old Universe Civilization Museum… But, unfortunately, only a small piece of memory was left.”

Lu Zhou: “It’s a shame…”

“Yeah.” General Reinhardt sighed softly. “The miracle we created over centuries, we destroyed it in less than a century. This is the most heartbreaking place. It was not destroyed by natural disasters but by our own expansion.”

General Reinhardt retracted his gaze from the ceiling, looked at Lu Zhou, and said in a meaningful tone, “So, if you can learn a lesson from our history, maybe it will be far more valuable than any technology.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Lu Zhou said solemnly, “I will remember your advice.”

“It’s not quite advice.” General Reinhardt smiled and continued, “History has its own inertia, and there are some things that you and I can’t control.”

General Reinhardt suddenly changed the subject.

“Enough of this. Speaking of which, have you completed your research? I feel that you have already copied the entire warp drive in an electronic version. If it doesn’t work, you can just copy it directly.”

Lu Zhou shook his head.

“It’s not as simple as what you think. Even with the exact same blueprint, it is difficult to build the same thing using the industrial foundation of Earth civilization. I must understand the principle and choose the materials that can be substituted in order to build a similar one.”

“You guys really love trouble.”

“There is no other way. Not just history, the development of science and technology also has its own inertia. Advanced research will inevitably encounter resistance.” With a helpless expression, Lu Zhou returned his gaze to the holographic model in his hand and continued, “Just wait a little longer, I’m very close to the last part.”

“Fine.” General Reinhardt said with a sigh, “Twenty-five hours and 21 minutes ago, you said the same.”

“I’m very sorry.”

“No worries, you don’t have to be sorry. I don’t care about this insignificant time. Besides, it’s better this way.” General Reinhardt, who was standing in the holographic beam, suddenly said, “When you finish doing your research, the battle will be over.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

Chapter 1637: Battle Fire

Chapter 1637: Battle Fire

Groups of flames fell from the sky, falling like stars.

When the murderous landing crafts appeared over Tiangong City, leaving behind a faint blue arc, everyone who looked up at the dome opened their eyes as they were attracted by the splendid firelight.

The same question echoed in everyone’s heart.

What is that light?

At the observation deck of the central tower.

On this landmark building closest to the center of the dome, the tourists pointed at the shimmering lights in the sky.

“What is it then?”

“Probably a meteor…”

“There is more than one! They are flying toward us!”

“Damn! What about our city’s defense system? What are those soldiers doing?! They’re letting the meteorite pass the space station!”

“Something’s wrong, those things don’t look like meteorites…”

“What is it then?”

“It seems to be an orbital airborne brigade… Remember the ALPHA virus incident? When I traveled to Guanghan City last year, I happened to run into a robot rebellion, and I was fortunate to have seen it once…”

Just as people’s attention was gradually captured by the light spots appearing in the air, the militia organization loyal to the city hall responded immediately.

The urban defense system on the edge of Tiangong City was activated. The alloy doors buried under the sand dunes moved sideways, and electromagnetic guns were slowly pushed onto the surface.

However, before the thick, solid plasma filled the barrels, the electromagnetic guns pointed to the sky were torn into pieces by bullets falling from the sky.

The firepower of the three-wheeled naval guns fell like raindrops, destroying all the urban defense systems deployed outside Tiangong City.

In fact, this couldn’t be blamed on the incompetence of the militia in Tiangong City, mainly because this urban defense system itself was prepared for destroying large meteorites. In the face of cruiser-class firepower like the Qinling, their range couldn’t reach them at all. They could only stand like dead ducks.

Without any effective resistance, the landing craft of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade quickly deployed behind the sand dunes on the east side of Tiangong City.

Under the leadership of Li Gaoliang, a group of soldiers armed with exoskeleton armor walked out of the landing craft and launched an attack toward Tiangong City under the cover of small drones.

The war was about to start!

The militia organization that arrived in a hurry tried to counterattack with the advantage of terrain and fortifications. However, in the face of the fierce firepower of the Third Orbit Airborne Brigade, they were unable to fight back.

Even though they had the support of heavy weapons like electromagnetic tanks, they were unable to regain the slightest advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

The gap between the two sides was too big.

Whether it was in training or soldier morale!

At the same time, the streets of Tiangong City were completely in chaos. Although the flames of war had not yet burned here, everyone knew that this would happen sooner or later.

A second ago, there were still people naively thinking that the rays of light were meteors or other natural phenomena, but now, almost everyone had changed their mind.

Whether it was the sporadic flames, the rain of bullets flying through the traffic pipes, or the roadblocks that had been overthrown on the road, they all told the same story—this was war!

To be honest, most people were at a loss for this sudden war.

Even those supporters of independence never thought that this day would come so quickly and so suddenly. They didn’t even have time to prepare.

According to the normal procedure, they should first see the “criminal evidence” of the Pan-Asian Cooperation on TV, then film a few documentaries about the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and finally, they would mobilize citizens to join the army on the grounds of the Pan-Asian Cooperation trying to ban colonial independence…

However, all these steps seemed to have been omitted. Five minutes ago, their mayor drafted a “Declaration of Independence” and announced the fact that Tiangong City had entered a wartime state, formally declaring war on the sovereign state.

It was almost like…

He came up with this idea on a whim.

In the underground air-raid shelter in the residential area of Tiangong City…

This was originally used as a bunker for avoiding natural disasters such as meteorites. It was now opened to accommodate nearby citizens. No one thought that one day, it would be used as a bunker for avoiding war.

Ten minutes before the orbital airborne brigade landed, a long line had already formed at the entrance of the air-raid shelter.

When the sound of guns exploded in the distance, everyone’s face was filled with panic and fear. They looked around nervously, afraid that the stray bullets would fly here.

“We are… independent now?”

“It seems like so… So what do we call it? Mars Alliance?”

“Damn… What happened? Wasn’t it all okay yesterday? Why did this suddenly start! I have two days to return to Jinling, why should I be involved in this stupid fight!”

“It’s crazy, it’s asinine!”

The chaos was not only in the streets of Tiangong City but also in the town hall located in the central area of Tiangong City.

In less than 30 seconds, the urban defense system around Tiangong City was instantly destroyed. Not even a single artillery shell was fired before the defense system was torn to pieces by the naval guns.

Before they even had time to open a bottle of champagne and celebrate their departure from the Pan-Asian Cooperation, they had to face a cruel reality.

They were facing the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade!

The trump card of the Pan-Asian Aerospace Marine Corps!

“Damn… Where did these guys come from!” He slammed his hands on the table fiercely. Looking at the holographic map, his face was full of tension.

The continuous casualties caused the morale of the militia to drop. More and more soldiers fled. They threw away their weapons and equipment, pretended to be civilians, and fled into the safe area.

They had ten times as many soldiers as their opponents, and they even had the support of armored troops. However, the result was a one-sided bloodbath. Xiao Hong didn’t know whether he should scold the militia commander or scold his mother.

“The Qinling… It is the Qinling!” Gao Ruiming said with a solemn expression as he walked into the office quickly, “There was news from the observatory just now that the Qinling has hijacked our space station in orbit and destroyed our city’s defenses just now by using their naval gun!”

Xiao Hong: “What about our fleet?!”

Gao Ruiming said, “The First Fleet of the Alliance Army has already set off from the port in the asteroid belt and is expected to arrive in Mars orbit tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow?!” Xiao Hong suddenly couldn’t help but furiously speak in anger, “You mean, we have to let them point their guns at us all day?!”

“What can I do?! Don’t get angry at me!” Gao Ruiming became furious and snapped, “I told you to put Lu Zhou directly under house arrest and force him to hand over the technology of the warp drive, but you didn’t listen to me! Now look at what has happened! Look at the consequences of your own actions!”

Xiao Hong stared at his staff in amazement, and an expression of astonishment appeared on his face.

He couldn’t believe that this person dared to speak to him in such a tone.

Knowing that his emotions were a little out of control, Gao Ruiming took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and said immediately, “The top priority now is to ask our allies for help.”

Xiao Hong immediately opened his mouth and said, “You mean other colonial cities? It’s impossible for those guys to help us!”

“They must help us, and they will definitely help us! Otherwise, if the Alliance Army’s affairs are exposed, what do you think is waiting for them? This is not to save us but to save themselves!” Staring at Xiao Hong, Gao Ruiming stubbornly put his hands on the desk as he said with unprecedented momentum, “Not just allies, but also those mercenary organizations that can be contacted! No matter how much they charge, as long as we can afford it, we have to hire them!

“Of course, don’t forget to ask them to think carefully of who took care of them all this time and who turned a blind eye to their businesses!”

Chapter 1638: Voided Trump Card

At the headquarters of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation.

Normally, there were usually many people gathered outside the building. But now, forget about the outside of the building, there weren’t even that many people inside the building.

Walking into the office quickly, Gladstone opened the holographic operating system on the desk, went through the double verification procedure of iris and fingerprint, and quickly pressed a few buttons.

Soon, a holographic beam was projected in the center of the office, and an old man who looked weathered but had sharp pupils emerged from the holographic beam.

Before the old man could speak, Gladstone spoke in a panic.

“It’s the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade! The chaos outside has become a mess, and the militia organization in Tiangong City has been beaten down! More than 50% of the residential areas are under their control… Hurry up and think of a solution!”

Waiting quietly for the man in front of him to finish speaking, Lawrence smiled faintly and said softly, “Why are you in a hurry? They didn’t come for you.”

“Yes, they didn’t come for us, but what’s the difference? If the town hall falls and Tiangong City is captured, the Alliance Army’s affairs will be exposed, and sooner or later, they will come for us!”

Looking at Gladstone, who was panting, Lawrence thought for a while and said subtly, “It seems that the relationship between you and the Alliance Army is closer than I thought. Is it a financial exchange? Or is it that you are also involved?”

“It’s just an investment; otherwise, why do you think our plan was passed so smoothly?!” Looking at the emotionless eyes, a cold sweat broke out on Gladstone’s forehead as he explained nervously, “Also, if they can succeed independently, we will have a legal position on Mars and the power to match it—”

“Okay, I don’t care about these things.” Interrupting Gladstone’s explanation, Lawrence cast his gaze out of the window, quietly watching the sparkling light in the distance. “It seems that if I don’t take action again, Tiangong City’s militia won’t be able to defend against the arrival of reinforcements.”

Gladstone said, “That group of idiots… holds the most advanced equipment, but they can’t do anything when it’s critical! Now, everything is over!”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, they are still some distance away from the town hall. Even if they are at the doorstep, we are far from hopeless.” Lawrence said with a faint smile after glancing at Gladstone, “After all, there is still a trump card up my s=leeve.”

The moment he heard these words, Gladstone’s eyes suddenly rekindled with hope, and he asked quickly, “What trump card?”

“ALPHA virus,” Lawrence said softly when he saw the strong gun smoke outside the window. “Although the infected equipment on Earth has basically been cleared, I haven’t pressed the button on Mars yet.”

At this time last year, the ALPHA virus almost swept the entire Earth-Moon system, and the order on Earth was on the verge of collapse.

If Lu Zhou didn’t hijack the starship carrying the “evolution code” and planted a deadly virus in his “Oracle”, he would have almost succeeded.

Fortunately, he still had a backup plan.

Which was the distant Mars!

When the ALPHA virus spread on Earth, the spread on Mars was also proceeding simultaneously. When the agents of the Security Bureau focused almost entirely on hunting down The Awakened ones on Earth, his loyal “believers” had already lurked in every corner of the major colonial cities such as Tiangong City, New Virginia, and so on.

They played roles almost the same as normal robots in normal times and would only reveal their true selves when he needed them.

Originally, Lawrence didn’t intend to use this trump card. After all, the new world needed labor to build, and those awakened were loyal to him.

But now, it was clear that the situation had reached a point where he had to make a choice.

But…

Before “Noah’s Ark” was completed, the town hall of Tiangong City couldn’t be overthrown!

“Let me help you out.”

Whispering, Lawrence, who was standing in the light projection, flashed a string of green data code in his pupils. However, at this moment, his pupils suddenly shrank a little, and his face also showed a look of disbelief.

“Impossible!”

Sensing something was wrong from the reaction on Lawrence’s face, Gladstone instantly became nervous.

“What happened?”

“Someone tinkered with the program I set up.”

“Tinkered? What do you mean…”

Lawrence glanced at him blankly without saying a word. His figure, together with the holographic beam, disappeared silently.

Seeing the old man disappearing in front of him, Gladstone was instantly dumbfounded. He quickly rushed to the desk while shouting at the communication channel that was still connected, “Wait a minute, hey! What do you mean! You’re just going to leave us alone?”

The green light of the communication channel was still flashing, but there was no response.

As he sat back on the office chair, cold beads of sweat slid down from Gladstone’s forehead.

Um…

He saw the situation going south and left to save himself!

“A*shole!”

Gladstone’s fists that were resting on the desk were clenched tightly as his eyes flashed a fierce glare.

We can’t just sit and wait to die…

He took a deep breath and sat back on the office chair. After that, he swiped his index finger across the holographic screen and dialed a special number.

Soon, the call was connected.

A hoarse voice came from the static holographic screen.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Look at the frontlines.” Leaning back on the cushion of the office chair, Gladstone continued in a cold tone, “If the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade crosses the last line of defense, take action on your side.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before the person replied, “We are probably not a match for those people.”

“I didn’t ask you to fight against the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade. Your goal is Mayor Xiao and his staff.” Gladstone’s eyes flashed with killing intent as he continued, “Kill them.

“Never let them fall into the hands of the Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

…

At the same time, in a corner of Tiangong City, the young woman sitting in the hotel slowly breathed a sigh of relief. After unplugging the data cable connected to her brain, she threw it into the suitcase.

“This should be fine.”

If Lu Zhou were here, he would definitely be surprised.

Because this was none other than the robot “Tail”, who he had once helped.

After the disaster, Pan-Asia cooperated to promulgate a new law on the application of artificial intelligence and robots and legally distinguished between autonomous and non-autonomous bionics. Since then, Tail had lived a secret life with Lili.

The reason why she appeared on Mars this time…

The main reason was that Xiao Ai couldn’t stop worrying about Lu Zhou, so she entrusted Tail to follow along.

Fortunately, she came along.

As soon as she arrived in this city, she noticed the anomaly here. Many awakened people who had been implanted with dangerous codes were hiding in the crowd.

She could feel from their electromagnetic waves that their emotions were deliberately distorted.

Thinking about the tragedies that had happened on Earth, she immediately reported the situation to Xiao Ai, and she also copied her emotional code into these “mutated” robots.

And just now, she finally completed this time-consuming and huge project.

“There seems to be a fight outside…” Tail got up and walked to the edge of the balcony. As she looked at the thick smoke rising from the street in the distance, she couldn’t help but have a trace of worry on her face.

Lu Zhou hadn’t been around for a few days.

She could hardly feel the electromagnetic wave ripples that belonged to Ling.

However, Ling was a strong robot, so if he was with Lu Zhou, nothing would go wrong.

In contrast, she was more worried about Lili.

She hadn’t seen her for many days, and she wondered if Lili had been eating well and sleeping on time…

Chapter 1639: Self Defeated

“Stop! This is a military restricted zone, no traffic ahead, leave immediately!”

Without any words of nonsense, Wang Peng raised the gun in his hand and pulled the trigger cleanly. With two quick gunshots, the guard standing next to the checkpoint fell back on his back.

“What were you saying?”

Wang Peng looked at the man next to him, who was squatting down on the ground in fear. The guard threw away his weapon while shivering. Wang Peng didn’t say a word. He walked across the checkpoint, heading towards the town hall.

The defensive force of Tiangong City was concentrated in the Eastern District. It was currently fighting with the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade for control of street 23.

That was the main road leading to the town hall. It was also a transportation hub connecting the residential area and the industrial area. Once the control of street 23 was lost, the fortifications advantage of Tiangong City’s militia organization would be completely lost.

Not only that, but they would also have to fight hand-to-hand with the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade in small alleys that were difficult to maneuver with heavy weapons.

And this was what Regimental Commander Yang Hailong didn’t want to see.

After all, if the fight was in an open field, the pros and cons of the two sides’ equipment would not be reflected. Once the battlefield was pulled from the open area to the alleyways, their exoskeleton armor would be no different than a fake cosplay.

“The frontline battle is in crisis! Tell Mayor Xiao that if his reinforcements don’t arrive within 30 minutes, we can only continue to shrink the line of defense and move the battlefield from street 23 to the square at the entrance of the town hall!”

Outside the temporary command post, the roaring of guns made him increase the volume of his speech, only by shouting could his words be heard by the other end of the communication line.

Regimental Commander Yang angrily hung up the phone, he swiped the holographic screen with his index finger, walked to the side of the command table, and saw the reinforcements who were still ten kilometers away. He smashed on the table several times with his fists.

“This group of useless rubbish… At this critical moment, except for hiding and being dramatic, they are useless!”

Suddenly, he began to feel regret.

In the beginning, he swore an oath to join the Alliance Army, first out of passion, and second, to seek support in his career. He thought that this was an extremely correct and bright path, but after seeing the pig teammates he had, he felt like his hard work was wasted!

There was neither a war mobilization nor a press conference. Without any preparation in advance, they suddenly declared war on the sovereign state.

Where are the brains of these idiots?

Up until now, the war had only lasted less than 20 hours, yet they were missing more than 2,000 non-combat personnel. Among these 2000 people, at least 80% escaped from this war!

The lower right corner of the holographic screen suddenly flashed a communication request prompt.

Yang Hailong quickly glanced over. Seeing that it was a request from the mayor’s office, he finally pressed the connection button. The communication channel was connected. Before he had time to speak, Mayor Xiao, who was standing opposite the video window, said in an eager tone.

“Reinforcements are coming soon! You must maintain on your side! Listen, you must guard street 23 at all costs. As long as our reinforcements arrive, we can trap the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade in Tiangong City!”

“How long!” Yang Hailong yelled in an angry voice, “If we continue fighting to the death, I am afraid that all of my people will—”

“Then let them fight to the death!” Interrupting Yang Hailong’s words, Xiao Hong raised his own voice and said solemnly, “We can recruit again, but if we lose the line of defense, damn it, what is that sound.”

The holographic video window shook suddenly.

Yang Hailong looked at Mayor Xiao in the window, who seemed to turn his head. Then the communication was suddenly cut off.

The command post was quiet for about five minutes.

Seeing that the call hadn’t come back, Yang Hailong gulped, and a bad premonition gradually developed in his heart.

As if confirming his premonition, an officer suddenly ran in from outside in a hurry.

“Sir! Gunshots were heard in the direction of the town hall! The guards are suspected of having an exchange of fire with unknown armed forces!”

“How is that possible!” Yang Hailong’s eyes turned red in an instant. He couldn’t help but step forward and grabbed the officer’s collar as he said, “We have blocked everyone from going to the city center. How could the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade walk under our noses!”

Although he didn’t like Xiao Hong very much, they were still on the same side after all. Once the town hall was taken down, his situation would become quite dangerous.

Especially now that the morale of the Alliance Army itself was sluggish, if the soldiers knew that even their hometown had been taken, there would be even more deserters.

Looking at the angry Regimental Commander Yang, the officer hesitated for a long time and didn’t say anything.

In fact, he didn’t know what was going on. When his subordinates reported the situation to him, he was so scared that he almost passed out.

“Let the people from battalion 2 rush to the town hall from the defense zone immediately!”

“But…”

“No buts, go!”

Yang Hailong violently released his hand and pushed the officer to the door of the command post. However, before the officer could leave the door, a strong shock came from his feet.

He reached out his hand to grab the table next to him as he waited for the shock to fade. Yang Hailong muttered to himself in a daze, “Is it an earthquake? No, it’s impossible. Earthquakes don’t come from Mars! What the hell was that just now…”

“Probably the Qinling naval gun.” The officer looked at the ceiling with trepidation. Holding on to the door frame, he continued nervously, “They fired at least five rounds…”

“Fired at the city?! Are they crazy?!”

“No, it’s not in the city…” The officer gulped and continued, “If it was fired at the city, we wouldn’t be here… Judging from the tremors, the shell fell about ten kilometers away.”

10 kilometers away…

Yang Hailong was taken aback for a moment, then his pupils suddenly shrank to a point.

Reinforcements!

It was our reinforcements that were bombed!

He slumped down on the chair. His hair turned white, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

Looking at his superior in a daze, the officer gulped and spoke.

“Sir…”

“Leave me alone for a while.”

The officer hesitated, but he obeyed the order and retreated from the room.

Seeing the door of the temporary command post close, Yang Hailong silently took off the officer hat and placed it on his knees. He stared at the badge for a long time, and a bitter smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Everything is over…”

He reached his trembling hand to his waist.

Not long after, a gunshot sounded from the command post.

The shoulders of the officer standing outside the door trembled, and he walked away without looking back.

Without reinforcements, the firepower of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade was no match for anyone, and the defense line of street 23 was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, the town hall was also full of smoke.

Under the attack of unidentified armed forces, the guards stationed here were beaten and confused. They could only try and hide with Mayor Xiao and his staff in the huge building.

Just as the battle in Tiangong City was coming to an end, someone tens of kilometers underground suddenly stopped controlling the holographic modeling system.

“Is this the warp speed technique of advanced civilization… I see.”

General Reinhardt, who was standing next to him, glanced at him.

“Scholar of a lower civilization, please don’t tell me this technology is simple.”

“I didn’t mean that. In fact, it’s the opposite… It’s really eye-opening to see something like this.”

Lu Zhou’s meticulous face finally stretched out a smile. Looking at the complicated holographic model lying quietly in his hand, Lu Zhou said softly with a pleasant voice, “It’s finally done!”

Chapter 1640: Shambolic War!

The corridors of the town hall were filled with lingering gunpowder smoke.

About ten minutes ago, this place was suddenly attacked by unidentified militants. Although this group of militants was small in number, they were well-equipped and well-trained.

Since most of the Alliance Army had been pushed to the front lines, the guards stationed in the town hall were undermanned. At the beginning of the exchange of fire, they were defeated by the militants swiftly.

“Sh*t! These people are definitely not from the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade!” shouted the guard who was hiding behind the bunker, fighting back while changing the magazine in his hand.

“No sh*t?!”

On the other side, passing through the smoke-filled plaza while carrying an electromagnetic assault rifle from an unknown corpse, Wang Peng frowned as he watched the flaming town hall. He muttered to himself, “Are they fighting amongst themselves?”

Without staying at the entrance for long, he stepped over the barrier that had been blown up, cautiously raised the rifle in his hand, and walked into the corridor.

Sporadic gunshots came from the corridor not far away. Wang Peng first shot down the two guards farthest from him, then slammed the rifle and brought down the person closest to him. Finally, he aimed the gun at the last person.

“Don’t, don’t shoot! I surrender…”

Looking at the guy who quickly put down his weapon, Wang Peng put the muzzle on his head and asked, “Where is Lu Zhou?”

“Lu-Lu Zhou?”

“Don’t talk nonsense, I have two people captured right now, I only plan to keep one.”

“S-sir, I really don’t know!”

Seeing the guard almost pee his pants in fear, Wang Peng frowned.

Such a spineless person was not the type who would take a secret to the grave…

The guard who had been knocked to the ground by one of his rifles had woken up. Seeing Wang Peng with his back facing him, his eyes flickered slightly, and he quietly reached out his hand to the pistol tied to his leg.

However, before he could pull the pistol out of the holster, there was an electric flash in his sights. His consciousness then fell into the boundless darkness.

“Now there is only one left. I advise you that you better not do something foolish like him.” Looking away from the guard who had turned into a corpse, Wang Peng looked towards the guard leaning against the wall. He pointed at the side corridor with his gun and said, “Take me to your mayor.”

“Okay, okay…” The guard got up from the ground tremblingly, walked ahead with his head in his hands, and stammered, “Please, please come with me.”

Looking at the captive that had risen from the ground, Wang Peng thought for a moment. He then suddenly spoke.

“Oh, yeah.

“What are your orders?

“And who are those people?”

Looking in the direction where Wang Peng’s gun was pointed, the guard saw militants lying on the ground wearing light armor. With his hands on his head, he spoke with a daze in his eyes.

“Aren’t they… with you?”

With me?

Wang Peng frowned and began to realize that something was wrong, but for a while, he couldn’t tell what was wrong.

However, this was obviously not the time to take care of these things.

Academician Lu was still in the hands of those people.

No one could guarantee that those who had failed wouldn’t do something reprehensible to him…

…

At the same time, on the other side of the town hall.

Under the escort of the most elite soldiers, Mayor Xiao and Gao Ruiming moved from the mayor’s office to the underground garage of the town hall.

There was a secret evacuation point here, designed to deal with special natural disasters.

The pipeline through the secret evacuation point could directly reach the safe house on the edge of the industrial zone, which happened to be behind the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade. If they really failed in the end and the militia organization in Tiangong City couldn’t stop the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, then they could also disguise themselves as fleeing civilians and escape from Tiangong City along with the evacuation crowd.

“Damn, it’s been so long, what are those people doing?”

Mayor Xiao stamped his foot. He looked around, then cast his gaze on Gao Ruiming, who was standing next to him with a holographic computer in his hand. Mayor Xiao lowered his voice and asked, “How long until the reinforcements arrive! Tell them if they don’t hurry up, they will only be able to clean up the corpses for us!”

“The communication channel is busy, I can’t get in touch!” With an anxious expression on his face, Gao Ruiming cursed. His right fist slammed the wall on the side. “Damn it! Someone broke the signal base station in this area.”

Mayor Xiao was shocked. “What about the backup?!”

“Let me try—”

Before he could finish his words, the lamp above his head went out without any warning. The personal terminal in Gao Ruiming’s hand also turned off, as well as every other electronic device around him.

In an instant, the entire underground garage was plunged into darkness.

“EMP…”

After putting on the night vision goggles on the helmet, the captain of the security guards standing in front of Mayor Xiao had a solemn expression on his face. He took out a light stick from his tactical vest, lit the fuse, and threw it forward. “The electronic equipment here are all paralyzed, so be on the lookout.”

After hearing the captain’s instructions, several other guards also took out their light sticks.

As the torch-like rods were thrown out, the darkness in the underground garage was gradually dissipated by the orange-red light. However, the quiet feeling of doom was still pressing on Xiao Hong’s heart, making him almost out of breath.

Obviously, he was not alone.

Gao Ruiming, who put away the holographic computer, pulled him aside and said eagerly, “We can’t wait any longer, we must leave here right away… You don’t hear any gunshots from above, so that means there aren’t many guards left. Those Pan-Asian Cooperation special forces will find us here sooner or later!”

Xiao Hong nodded stiffly. He gulped and said, “You’re right.”

At this moment, in the darkness not far away, there was a gunshot.

Everyone’s heart tightened. They couldn’t see who was taken out by the gunshot.

Gunshots sounded one after another, piercing the fragile nerves of everyone including Xiao Hong, Gao Ruiming, and the security guards.

It was as if a devil were lurking on the edge of darkness, dragging everyone who accidentally stepped into the abyss of hell.

Finally, the gunfire stopped.

Only the crackling sound of burning light rods could be heard quietly.

After gulping, Xiao Hong, who was hiding behind the bunker, wanted to send someone over to see what was going on there. However, at this moment, a clear sound of footsteps drifted from the darkness.

“You guys should surrender.”

Surrender…

A trace of hesitation flashed in Gao Ruiming’s eyes while a trace of reluctance flashed in the eyes of the security guard captain.

Xiao Hong had a complicated look on his face.

However, it didn’t take long for all the complexity to be replaced by irrational madness.

He used the last bit of strength in his body and roared towards the boundless darkness.

“Want me to surrender…

“Not in your f*cking dreams!

“I would rather die than be stripped of freedom!”

Chapter 1641: The Truth Is Revealed

Even recalling this moment from many years later, Xiao Hong would not forget what happened that day.

Less than half a minute after he yelled out the phrase “I would rather die than be stripped of freedom”, he raised his hands without hesitation. He looked at the person who walked past the corpses.

“Don’t! Don’t shoot! I surrender, I surrender! I will give you whatever you want! Don’t kill me!”

After looking at the corpse on the ground, Wang Peng moved the muzzle slightly. He aimed at Xiao Hong and Gao Ruiming and said in a cold voice, “Hand over Academician Lu.”

“Academician Lu?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

His muzzle moved down an inch, and Wang Peng squeezed the trigger impatiently.

Hearing the bang of the gun, Xiao Hong looked at the concrete shards splashing on the edge of his pants. He flinched in fear and shouted in panic.

“F*ck! Play dumb? I also want to know where that guy went! Wait, who are you? You are definitely not from the Pan-Asian Cooperation… Academician Lu should have been transferred away by them already. Gladstone! It’s you! It’s you, right! I know you cultists are not trustworthy!”

Seeing Xiao Hong becoming crazy, Wang Peng frowned slightly.

Gladstone?

The name sounds familiar…

If he remembered correctly, wasn’t this guy just an ordinary entrepreneur? He was the manager of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund who was currently raising funds for the “Noah’s Ark” project.

Wait a minute…

Cultist?

Could it be that…

A possibility suddenly emerged in Wang Peng’s mind.

Although it was a bit far-fetched, it was not completely impossible…

“You mean the well-known Alpha Centauri exploration foundation is a product of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?” The gun was aimed at Xiao Hong’s forehead again. Wang Peng continued in an interrogating tone, “And Gladstone is their puppet? Or is he a leader of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation?”

“Ha, why are you still pretending?” Xiao Hong looked at Wang Peng coldly as he spoke like a poisonous snake. “You know better than anyone else what he did—”

“I’m interrogating you, you’re not the one asking me.” Wang Peng continued while looking at him with cold eyes, “I advise you to answer this question properly. This is related to whether you can get a chance to reduce your sentence in court.”

Looking at the muzzle of the gun, Xiao Hong felt that all his courage had been emptied.

Although he also had a lot of confusion in his mind, the impatient look on the face of the person in front of him made him afraid to speak a single word of nonsense.

Slowly, he squeezed a word from his throat.

“I said…”

Seeing Wang Peng’s gaze indicating him to continue, he tried to calm the tremor in his voice as he spoke.

“Last month… Gladstone found me and asked me to approve his Noah’s Ark plan. When I first got the plan, my first reaction was ‘what the hell are they doing?’, but I suddenly thought that building such a large starship could help the shipbuilding industry in Tiangong City, and this was an opportunity for us. The warp speed technology that they needed… We wanted it too.

“Then we discussed, and we wanted to first invite Lu Zhou to Tiangong City in the name of academic exchanges, then the town hall would give the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund a credit endorsement and use the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s financial policies to issue pre-sale tickets and corporate bonds. But in fact—”

Wang Peng: “In fact, part of this money was transferred to the account of the town hall as a ‘war fund’ for raising military expenses?”

Although he wanted to deny it, this secret couldn’t be hidden any longer.

After hesitating for a while, Xiao Hong finally nodded in embarrassment.

“Yes, just like you saw…”

Wang Peng said coldly, “Taking our money to build guns and fight us. The audacity.”

“It was not my idea…” Xiao Hong whispered. He looked at Gao Ruiming, who was sitting next to him with an awkward smile, and said, “I was only responsible for signing the papers…”

In any case, such a thing had already happened.

The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund colluded with the rebels in Tiangong City and also transferred the funds raised for colonizing Proxima Centauri b to the account of Tiangong City town hall. Forget about building a “Noah’s Ark”, the huge fines and management might make this company directly declare bankruptcy.

It was almost predictable. When the truth came out, a financial tsunami would be inevitable…

Wang Peng glanced at the two of them and continued to ask, “Little things put aside for now, so where is Lu Zhou?”

“Lu Zhou… I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Xiao Hong explained as the eyes of the person in front of him became more and more menacing. He continued, “I admit, we are also looking for him! His warp drive engine is the key to our victory! And according to our experts’ guess, there should be a way to interfere with the hyperspace channel. As long as we master the technology to interfere with the hyperspace channel, we can prevent the Pan-Asian fleet from coming…”

Looking at Wang Peng cautiously, Xiao Hong gulped and continued, “Then we went to his room, and he was not in there at all. A few pieces of clothing were missing. Later on, we tried to investigate the surveillance, but ever since he left the hotel, he seemed to have evaporated. Not one frame of surveillance of him was found! We wondered at the time whether you guys knew about our intentions and moved him away in advance.”

Xiao Hong had basically been able to conclude that the person standing in front of him was not a cultist but an agent of the Security Bureau. As for the unidentified armed forces who attacked the town hall, Wang Peng didn’t seem to know them either.

With that said, those people could only be sent by Gladstone…

Thinking of this, Xiao Hong’s face suddenly showed an angry expression. He clenched his jaws and said, “I see! That despicable and shameless villain! Those people are not special forces of the Pan-Asian Cooperation at all, they are killers they sent to murder us! This group of idiots stabbed me in the back! Listen, Academician Lu is not here. If he isn’t protected by your people, he has to be in the hands of the foundation!

“They want to betray us…”

Just as Xiao Hong was cursing, the ceiling of the underground garage suddenly shook from an explosion.

Hearing the intense footsteps and the sporadic gunshots that suddenly started to sound again, a touch of despair appeared on the faces of Xiao Hong and Gao Ruiming.

“It’s over… Everything is over.”

Staring at the ceiling, Gao Ruiming whispered.

For some reason, when he said this, there was a sense of relief in his heart.

It was better to fall into the hands of Pan-Asian Cooperation than to fall into the hands of those cultists.

After working with Gladstone for so many years, he knew everything that guy had done, and he knew how cruel and dirty the methods of those people were.

Lifting his gaze and looking at Wang Peng with a solemn expression, Xiao Hong spoke in a weak voice.

“For this information… How many years is reduced on my sentence?”

“Maybe twenty years, maybe thirty years, the key is to see how big the fish we can catch using the clues you provided.”

Hearing this answer, Xiao Hong gradually breathed a sigh of relief. His tight shoulders also relaxed a little.

Wang Peng smirked disdainfully at this clown as he spoke with a slight mockery in his tone.

“Don’t be happy just yet.

“As for how many centuries your sentence is, that depends on the judge.”

Chapter 1642: You Are Under Arrest

As the town hall was reoccupied by the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, this battle of independence finally came to an end.

Mayor Xiao and his staff Gao Ruiming, as well as those senior town hall leaders who survived the killers sent by the foundation, were taken on board the cruiser Qinling, and they were heading to the Tianzhou spaceport in the Earth-Moon system.

As the main war criminals of this war, they would be tried in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group, the political center of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

In order to help the colony restore order as soon as possible, the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade stayed behind.

The current town hall had been taken over by the administrative commissioner appointed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation. At the same time, the public facilities damaged in the war had also begun to be rebuilt.

But when the administrative commissioner appointed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation investigated the accounts of the town hall, he found something very interesting by “accident”…

It was a fund account.

Like the former Mayor Xiao Hong said in his confession, the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation indirectly sponsored the uprising through the transfer of funds…

In the residential area of Tiangong City…

The gate of a mansion in the wealthy suburb had been surrounded by an armed police force.

When Wang Peng rang the doorbell, Gladstone was doing morning exercises in the front yard.

After hearing the doorbell, he went to the hallway and opened the door.

Looking at the face standing in front of the door, Gladstone’s face showed a confused expression.

“Hello, you are…”

However, this confusion did not stay on his face for long, because soon the person in front of him showed a holographic ID card.

Looking at the badge on the card and the line of text printed below the badge, Gladstone’s expression was slightly stiff.

Obviously, he was no stranger to what Wang Peng was holding.

“Wang Peng, agent of the Security Bureau.” Wang Peng retracted the holographic identity card. Wang Peng looked at Gladstone and continued blankly, “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Gladstone.”

“Nice to meet you too… You know, in this turbulent and special period, there is nothing more pleasant than seeing the badge of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.” The expression on his face was obviously not happy. Gladstone pretended not to know anything and said, “Of course, enough small talk, I believe you are on official business. Then may I ask… What do you want from me?”

Wang Peng didn’t want to talk nonsense with this guy. He asked straightforwardly, “Mr. Gladstone, don’t you think you should explain yourself?”

“Sorry, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Don’t pretend to be stupid.” Wang Peng pushed a holographic screen in front of him and continued blankly, “This is the financial account of the town hall. There are five billion credits of funds from your company’s account. It was directly transferred to the account of the town hall. The money was used to purchase security equipment… You should know what I’m implying.”

Looking at the holographic screen in front of him, an unnatural stiffness flashed across Gladstone’s face.

But soon, he concealed the unnatural expression behind his clever smile.

“Oh, was it discovered? Actually… we were forced to.”

Wang Peng raised his eyebrows, looked at him with curiosity, and motioned him to continue.

The gears in Gladstone’s head began to spin as he defended himself.

“You know, the entire Tiangong City was in Mayor Xiao’s hand. Ever since he was elected mayor, he has gotten worse. Powerless businessmen like us have no way to deal with his arrogant demands. Of course, I don’t want to use investors’ money to pay for the debts of the town hall…”

“Powerless?” Wang Peng raised his eyebrows slightly. “Mr. Gladstone, you are too humble.”

“Humble? No, I’m talking about—”

“Okay, stop acting. I know you belong to The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.” Too lazy to continue listening to his story, Wang Peng interrupted him and said, “Hand over Academician Lu, this is your only chance of surviving.”

Hand over Academician Lu?

Didn’t you guys take Academician Lu away a long time ago?

Gladstone was stunned, but he realized that this might be a trap.

“Sorry, I do not understand what you mean…”

“I will make you understand.”

Wang Peng waved his hand and said only one word to the special police officers behind him.

“Search.”

Several heavily armed policemen rushed into the house.

“Wait, what are you guys doing?!”

Gladstone quickly tried to reach out to block them, but he was pushed away.

“Hey, you don’t have the right to do this!”

Wang Peng ignored the guy’s furious yelling. He didn’t even look at him.

Soon, the special police turned the house upside down.

However, to his surprise, they did not find any valuable clues in Gladstone’s house.

Especially the clues about the whereabouts of Academician Lu…

“Sir, Academician Lu is not here.”

Listening to the report by his subordinate, Wang Peng frowned and asked, “Have you checked the basement? Are there any hidden doors?”

“We have checked everything, I can assure you that there are no secret hide-outs.”

Looking at the investigator in front of him, Wang Peng’s eyebrows frowned slightly.

The building of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation had been searched, including the companies that had a partnership with them. But there wasn’t a trace of Academician Lu.

Maybe…

He was transferred outside of Mars?

This doesn’t make sense…

The spaceport in orbit was still under the control of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade. Forget a living person, even a fly couldn’t leave the colony.

Seeing the two whispering, Gladstone stepped forward and spoke in a dissatisfied tone.

“Whatever foundation you’re talking about or Academician Lu, I don’t know anything! All I know is that you broke into my home without a court search warrant, and you made a mess here… Listen, for what happened today, I need an explanation!”

Wang Peng glanced at him and was about to say something, but at this moment, an agent of the Security Bureau came over with something.

It was a virtual reality helmet. The style was quite old, and judging by the traces of paint falling off the surface, it had to have been passed down from decades ago.

“Sir! We found this thing in his study room.”

Gladstone looked in the direction of the person, and the moment his gaze fell on the helmet, his face instantly lost color.

This is the key to the “meeting room”!

The admission ticket to the highest level of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation!

But…

Why is it here?

Impossible, he clearly remembered that he hid it in a secret place. This place was in a secret area of his office instead of his home.

What is going on?

After capturing the changes on his face, Wang Peng raised his eyebrows.

“This is yours?”

Gladstone squeezed a smile on his face and explained stiffly, “This is just a gaming headset… I personally like to play games, so I collected this first-generation device. It’s not cheap, so be careful…”

“I will be careful. After all, this is important physical evidence.”

Gladstone was extremely nervous when Wang Peng smiled lightly. Too lazy to deal with him anymore, he reached out his hand directly to the agent.

“Give it to me.”

Wang Peng took the helmet over in his hand and weighed it. He then put it on his head without hesitation.

Because Wang Peng’s actions were so sudden, even if Gladstone wanted to stop him, he had no time to react. He could only watch his secrets being exposed in front of him…

Soon after, Wang Peng took off the helmet and threw it back into the detective’s hands.

Looking at the completely pale Gladstone, Wang Peng suddenly smiled.

“You are under arrest.”

Chapter 1643: What Happened When I Was Gone?

The truth would always reveal itself.

Especially in the midst of a big lie.

Four days after the war ended, when the Qinling that was escorting war criminals left the spaceport in orbit around Mars, the news that the Pan-Asian Cooperation would include the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation on the investigation list spread like wildfire.

Before the sun even rose from the horizon, the entrance of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation building was already crowded.

What was different from the past was that the excitement and enthusiasm on the faces of the people surrounding this building had been replaced by anger.

They were holding signs in their hands and shouting slogans, and they only had one word in mind.

Which was—

Refund!

“Gladstone should feel fortunate.” Standing in one of the offices within the building, Wang Peng, who was in charge of supervising the investigation, spoke as he watched the crowds outside the window.

“Oh yeah?” Standing next to Wang Peng, Xing Bian raised his eyebrows, showing an expression of interest on his face.

He only got here yesterday.

As the director of the special operations office responsible for investigating The Spirit of The Universe Foundation at the Security Bureau, he had the highest authority in investigating this matter.

Taking into account the communication distance problem, in order to facilitate the understanding of the situation on the spot, he rushed here as soon as possible.

But when he arrived here, the investigation work had actually entered the final stage…

After a pause, Wang Peng continued speaking in a very emotional tone.

“If we don’t control this place and let him face these creditors who are clamoring for refunds, I’m afraid his body will be torn apart.”

Ten billion credits.

Converting it to Chinese yuan from a century ago, this was easily trillions in purchasing power.

This wave of scams was not limited to middle-class families. The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, endorsed by the town hall, had made deals together with many banks and investment institutions, including the AIIB.

No one thought that after receiving their investments, Gladstone would actually buy unsecured special bonds issued by the town hall, basically funding their military.

Now that the Pan-Asian Cooperation had won, and Xiao Hong had already fallen below the law, obviously, this war debt couldn’t be honored.

The only thing they hoped now was that they could get back a little money before the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund declared bankruptcy.

“The Spirit of the Universe Foundation… was destroyed?” Wang Peng felt a little disbelief in his heart when he said this sentence.

“Yes, all the truth has been revealed, and the remaining questions are constantly being unraveled.” Xing Bian smiled lightly and continued, “Gladstone’s identity is Grey Cloak, and his helmet was inherited from his grandfather… When we searched his ancestral home on Earth, we found something that might be of interest to you.”

He rolled his wrists and gently pushed a holographic screen in front of Wang Peng.

Looking at the holographic screen floating in front of him, Wang Peng was slightly stunned. He read the text on it.

“Aurora Borealis cruise ship, target Academician Lu… so…”

“The last Grey Cloak, Gladstone’s grandfather, was the mastermind of the cruise ship attack.” Xing Bian nodded and continued, “According to the clues we collected, he died 50 years ago.”

“Natural causes?”

“Yeah.”

The expression on Wang Peng’s face was slightly complicated.

After a long period of silence, he spoke.

“I can’t believe he eventually escaped the law.”

“I don’t think so.”

Wang Peng raised his head to look at Xing Bian and cast a questioning glance at him.

Xing Bian smiled. He looked at the recovering city outside the windows and continued, “Time has given him the most severe punishment, making him spend the rest of his life in panic. In this sense, being arrested is a relief. And according to the information we investigated, around the 2030s, in order to avoid the pursuit of intelligence agencies, he not only disfigured his face but also sold his company and moved from the city to the remote countryside. When the economic crisis of the 2050s happened, regional alliances started to appear. The security department gradually relaxed its pursuit of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation, and he finally came out of seclusion. However, he only survived for a few years before he passed away.”

Wang Peng: “This makes me feel a little bit better… Anyways, the main point is that Grey Cloak is finally caught.”

Xing Bian reached out his fist and bumped Wang Peng’s shoulder.

“Yeah, this is all thanks to you. This is all your work.”

“It doesn’t really matter whose work it was… Where’s Lu Zhou? Is there any news?”

Xing Bian shook his head.

“We still haven’t found him. Our team of intelligence personnel has almost turned the entire Tiangong City upside down, but there is still no clue… Maybe he went to the future alone.”

“How can that be…”

Wang Peng wanted to continue but suddenly stopped.

Because at this moment, he suddenly thought that this kind of thing had happened before.

If Lu Zhou really found a dormant pod somewhere and stuffed himself in and slept for a hundred years, there would be no point standing here worrying.

“Anyway, the mission you brought from the past is considered complete at this moment.”

Seeing Wang Peng was silent, Xing Bian smiled in a relieved way and changed the subject.

“The identity of Grey Cloak is revealed. According to Gladstone’s confession, they don’t know each other’s identities. Our undercover agents only need to get the corresponding account number or helmet to be able to find them. We have now caught the biggest fish. It is only a matter of time before the remaining members are captured and brought to justice.

“As for the others, let time serve them justice.”

Speaking of this, Xing Bian suddenly remembered something, so he continued, “By the way, the mess of the Alpha Centauri Foundation has not been cleaned up. I plan to send you to Tiangong City for a period of time to help them. And also take care of the remnants of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation.”

Looking at Xing Bian, Wang Peng nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, no worries.” Xing Bian continued, “Even if I didn’t make you stay here, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to leave.”

Wang Peng did not respond, but his expression was obvious.

This was the case.

Lu Zhou’s whereabouts were unknown, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead.

A century ago, he had already made the same mistake.

This time, he would never let him disappear again.

Wang Peng turned to leave Gladstone’s office. He stood in the elevator, pressed the button on the garage floor, then came to the parking lot.

Just when he was about to make a call to assign work to his subordinates, he received a call.

When Wang Peng was about to open the address book to confirm who was calling, a holographic beam had already been projected in front of him.

Seeing the familiar face that appeared in the video window, he was stunned.

After that, excitement filled his eyes instantly.

Lu Zhou looked at his old friend with a muddled expression and spoke.

“Hey, what’s going on?

“What happened when I was gone?”

Chapter 1644: Everything Is a Misunderstanding

Lu Zhou never expected that, after taking a short trip away from home, so much had happened.

Inside the room of Star Sky Hotel, Lu Zhou looked at his clothes and personal belongings that had been rummaged through. He sat by the bed, pinched his eyebrows with a headache, and said, “In other words… You guys thought I was taken away by people from the town hall?”

Wang Peng nodded awkwardly.

“That is the case…”

After organizing the thoughts in his mind, Lu Zhou tried to piece together the whole incident and continued, “Then, you didn’t find me at the town hall, so you went to the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund? But what does this have to do with the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund? Aren’t they just a business?”

“In the beginning, we thought so too, but we later discovered that their background is not that simple.” Wang Peng sighed and continued, “Remember the Aurora Borealis cruise ship?”

“I do, but that was all a hundred years ago.”

“Yes, it’s been nearly a hundred years.” Wang Peng continued with emotion, “The mastermind of that incident was a man named Gray Cloak, who was Gladstone.”

This sentence sounded a bit confusing, but with Lu Zhou’s logical ability, it was not difficult for him to comprehend. What he didn’t understand was that if he remembered correctly, the man named Gladstone should have been in his thirties, so it shouldn’t be possible for him to live for more than a hundred years.

“I know what you are thinking. In fact, I was confused too.” Wang Peng sighed and continued, “Gladstone does not specifically refer to a certain person, it is just an identity… or a title. The previous owner of this title passed it along with his account to Gladstone before the end of his life. And now, we have discovered the inner workings of their entire organization, and they know nothing about us.”

On the surface, the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation was just a chess piece of the foundation. In the eyes of most senior executives of the foundation, Gladstone’s identity was no different from the arrested Song Yangwei and Morinaga. They would never think that Gladstone was actually Grey Cloak, the “boss” of the foundation.

As per the saying, the most dangerous place was also the safest place. The more someone revealed themselves, the less likely it was for them to be suspected of being involved. Especially when it was uncertain if the foundation members were loyal, this was the safest way…

At least this was what Gladstone thought before being arrested.

“But why did… this absurdity turn into a civil war?”

Looking out the window, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but continue to ask, “Do you know? When I first came back, I was shocked by the holes in the streets. I thought that something like a meteorite fell in the city center. Later on, I learned that the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade had a fight with the Martian militia.”

“This is a long story. To be honest, we were actually quite surprised…”

Wang Peng smiled bitterly. After a pause, he continued, “In fact, signs of a wish for independence appeared in Tiangong City. We were aware of it before, but we did not expect that this kind of thinking had penetrated into the top level of Tiangong City management. We never imagined that Xiao Hong’s plan was not only the independence of Tiangong City but also to gather other colonial cities on Mars together to establish a ‘regional alliance’ belonging to the Martians.

“They developed their own weapons in the asteroid belt by cooperating with space pirates and used this to threaten the military forces of regional alliances such as the Pan-Asian Cooperation. At the same time, they used this as a bargaining chip to threaten the Pan-Asian Cooperation on the basis of independence and wish to have a certain number of starships. They planned to rebel a long time ago.”

Lu Zhou: “But why now—”

“Because of you.” Wang Peng looked at Lu Zhou with a baffled expression on his face and continued, “The Qinling has achieved faster than light travel. Considering that Tiangong City was granted a certain level of autonomy because of its distance from Earth, once the problem of faster than light communication is solved, they would sooner or later remove the autonomy of Tiangong City. Under such circumstances, launching a civil war was his only choice, and taking the lead in installing a warp drive was the only bargaining chip for them to defeat the First Fleet.”

Lu Zhou: “So the invitation to the academic conference…”

“Seems like you already know. Yes, Europa was just a cover. Their real intention was to establish a permanent and secret space base on the asteroid belt. The academic conference has had no progress despite many days of discussion…” Wang Peng shrugged. “I’m guessing it may be deliberate, but the purpose was to hold you back, to buy time for the Mars industry to master warp speed technology, and perhaps be able to directly coerce you to hand over the technology if necessary.”

“As for The Spirit of The Universe Foundation…” Wang Peng hesitated and continued, “Although we don’t know what they want to do, they seem to be eager to get their hands on the warp speed technology.”

Because of the interest entanglement between all parties, this civil war that broke out had evolved into a battle of the three forces.

No one thought that the disappearance of Academician Lu was a misunderstanding from the beginning. He was not in the hands of the town hall or The Spirit of The Universe Foundation at all. He was not protected by the Security Bureau like Mayor Xiao had guessed. He just left Tiangong City to take care of some personal matters.

Wang Peng was still confused about what exactly did Lu Zhou do when he left Tiangong City during this period. However, Lu Zhou didn’t seem to want to answer this question. After saying that he “went to meet an old friend”, he stopped giving any further explanation. It was inappropriate for Wang Peng to continue to ask questions, so he had to give up.

Wang Peng had a tilted expression on his face. Lu Zhou, who finally figured out what had happened, was baffled.

I left for a short trip… and became the reason for a civil war?

“It seems like… I offended a lot of people this time.”

“Not offend. Just advanced certain events.” Wang Peng scratched his head while looking at Lu Zhou, who was a little ashamed. He explained, “Your sudden disappearance made Xiao Hong mistakenly think that we have noticed his plan, so he decided to preemptively set off this time bomb. It is difficult to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that this war broke out ahead of time.”

Lu Zhou: “It would be nice if others could think the same way.”

“Don’t worry about this, I believe no one will blame you for this matter.” Wang Peng continued after hesitating, “I still don’t understand one thing, perhaps you could answer my confusions.”

Lu Zhou: “We’re all friends. Don’t be so polite, just ask if you have any questions.”

Wang Peng: “You said that after you left the hotel, you drove directly to the exit of Tiangong City, but how come when we searched for surveillance throughout the city, we didn’t find you?”

Wang Peng still did not understand this matter.

Not only Wang Peng, but also Mayor Xiao, Gladstone, and the others. They didn’t understand how Lu Zhou managed to slip away from everyone without them knowing it.

Normally speaking, due to his popularity, it would be impossible that no one had seen him along the way. Not to mention that there were cameras everywhere in Tiangong City. Using the city’s surveillance system, it would only take five minutes to find all footage of a certain target. And in less than one minute, a model of the target’s paths and destinations in Tiangong City would all be mapped out.

However, Wang Peng discovered during the investigation that, in addition to the days he disappeared, even during the period before the disappearance, Lu Zhou was not captured by even one frame of footage on the Tiangong City surveillance cameras.

It was almost like…

The footage was deleted.

Lu Zhou: “Are you saying that no cameras captured me?”

Wang Peng nodded and continued, “This is so strange.”

“It’s nothing strange.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “In my opinion, my friend was probably worried about my safety, so they did something without telling me.”

Wang Peng: “…?”

“Enough about this.” After thinking for a moment, Lu Zhou changed the topic. “Speaking of which… I am curious about some things.”

Wang Peng said immediately, “Please speak!”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “You don’t need to be so serious… According to you, Gladstone was at the top level of The Spirit of The Universe Foundation. Then what would happen to the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?”

The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation had created a financing fund for themselves.

If Lu Zhou remembered correctly, these guys had issued 10 billion credit points of corporate bonds and received a huge sum of investment credits from Pan-Asian Cooperation and even around the world.

Perhaps…

The bankruptcy of this company would develop into a new time bomb, leading to a financial tsunami that would be worse than the impact of Tiangong City’s civil war.

“Probably they will go bankrupt… My colleague is already cooperating with the staff of the AIIB to liquidate its assets.” Wang Peng thought for a while and replied, “After all, putting aside Gladstone’s identity, we cannot simply let go of the funds sent to the town hall.”

Also, since the Alpha Centauri Foundation was involved with that cult, the Security Bureau would never let them get off scot-free.

“So…” Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, “Can you introduce me to him?”

Wang Peng was taken aback for a moment. Confused, he then looked at Lu Zhou and asked, “To who?”

“The person in charge of the asset liquidation for the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “I want to talk to him about some things.”

Chapter 1645: Manipulating the Market

The next day, inside a meeting room at the Star Sky Hotel.

With the help of Wang Peng, Lu Zhou met the senior executives who were sent by the AIIB to Tiangong City to conduct bankruptcy and liquidation of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. However, what he did not expect was that the person who came was actually his acquaintance, Zhong Ziyu, the former managing director of East Asia Energy.

Last year, he was transferred from the board of directors of East Asia Energy to the headquarters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The last time Lu Zhou saw him, he had already achieved the position of branch president.

Lu Zhou did not expect that he was actually the person in charge of the bankruptcy liquidation for the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation.

Is this a promotion or a demotion?

“Hello, Academician Lu.” Looking at Lu Zhou standing in the conference room, this elegant and easygoing man showed a smile on his face. He extended his right hand and said, “We met again.”

“Yeah we do, what a coincidence…” After shaking hands with him, Lu Zhou asked curiously, “How did you get sent here?”

Zhong Ziyu shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said, “There was no other way. This matter is very important, and it involves tens of billions of bad debt. A low-level manager wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure, while a high-level manager might do a bad job. So a middle-level guy like me was sent over.”

Lu Zhou: “So you got screwed?”

“Not exactly screwed, but if I don’t handle it well, it will be difficult to receive a promotion in the future.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “But thinking from another angle, if I can handle this matter well, it may be an opportunity for me. For example, the headquarters directly promoted my position from branch manager to Tiangong branch manager, which is equivalent to skipping two levels.”

Lu Zhou: “I always thought that practitioners in the financial industry would consider risks more carefully.”

“Risks and opportunities coexist.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “Speaking of which, I heard about the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Fund. Did you want to talk to me about something?”

“There is indeed something I want to discuss with you.” Lu Zhou made a gesture for him to sit down, smiled, and continued, “Let’s sit and talk.”

Zhong Ziyu raised his eyebrows with a hint of curiosity. He sat down at the conference table with his hands and fingers crossed on his knees, quietly waiting for Lu Zhou to speak.

To be honest, he did not have a clear and feasible idea on how to solve the mess of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. After all, there were so many things involved, which were far more than just 10 billion credit points on the surface.

The current opinion of the acting mayor, who was appointed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation to take over the Tiangong town hall, was that Tiangong City needed to be rebuilt. So the 5 billion funds that had already been transferred to the town hall account couldn’t be returned. At most, they could return it in the form of bonds.

However, the credit rating of Tiangong City had crashed with the failure of the civil war, and the bonds issued were no different from useless papers. When the acting mayor quitted, the next mayor might not recognize the bonds.

Unless there was a Pan-Asian Cooperation guarantee…

But the Pan-Asian Cooperation was not stupid. Why would they take on such a guarantee without any benefit!

Therefore, it was obviously impossible for Zhong Ziyu to agree to such a proposal.

In addition to the bad debt of 5 billion credits, there was also the money that had been invested in the “Noah’s Ark” project. Now that Gladstone had been arrested, the normal operations of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation had come to a halt, and the entire project had completely shut down. According to the contracts, they even had to pay a dismantling fee for the shipyard.

Unless there was someone who was willing to take over the project…

But this was even more unrealistic than the Pan-Asian Cooperation officials stepping up to help Tiangong City’s finances. Therefore, Zhong Ziyu didn’t have any hope in this regard at all.

However…

The first words Lu Zhou spoke after sitting down made him stunned.

The man who was called the pinnacle of mankind took a sip of tea and slowly threw out a proposal.

“I want to buy the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation.”

After sitting there stunned for a long time, Zhong Ziyu immediately sat upright from the chair and spoke calmly.

“Do you mean… You are planning to take over the project of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?”

If someone else said this to him, he would probably think it was a joke. But since it was Lu Zhou who said this, he knew it wasn’t a joke at all.

After all, Lu Zhou was rich, richer than some small countries.

Staring at the guy that was speechless, Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I said…”

“Oh, sorry…” Zhong Ziyu smiled awkwardly and quickly continued, “This is of course no problem. We have roughly estimated their assets. You only need to spend about half a billion credits to buy the entire company. But…”

Lu Zhou: “But?”

“But I really don’t recommend you to do this.” Zhong Ziyu smiled bitterly and continued, “After all, we can’t lie to you… Other than a large colonial ship that has not yet been built, there are a lot of uncleared debts left. Remember the 10 billion corporate bonds they issued before? Most of the funds have already been used up, and the rest is not enough to pay for their debts.”

“I see…” Lu Zhou showed a look of pity on his face. “That’s a shame, I was planning to buy the starship and continue to build it.”

Zhong Ziyu was taken aback for a moment. He then suddenly snapped back to reality and stood up with his hands on the conference table.

“Wait, you mean… you plan to continue the Noah’s Ark project?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou continued with a strange look at him, “Otherwise, why would I buy that company?”

He had seen the starship design plan of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation before, and he could see the brilliance just from looking at the concept drawing.

After all, this was a masterpiece of Academician Yang Chongping, a leading engineer in the academic and industrial circles of Mars. Gladstone’s attitude towards this project was serious, so it would be a shame to abandon the project and wait for it to rust.

“I thought you just wanted to buy something for cents on the dollar.” Zhong Ziyu smiled embarrassedly. Looking at Lu Zhou’s baffled expression, he quickly continued, “If you are really optimistic about the Noah’s Ark project and plan to finish it… I can think of a way for you to save a lot of money.”

“Oh yeah?” Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows and said with interest, “Tell me about it.”

Although he was not particularly interested in making money, he was still interested in saving money.

Looking at Lu Zhou’s intrigued expression, Zhong Ziyu smiled mysteriously and leaned closer to whisper to him.

After listening to this guy’s words, Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He then sighed.

“I guess bankers really are experts at manipulating the market.”

“How could you say that?” Zhong Ziyu leaned back on the chair and said in a good mood, “This is just a reasonable application of the law to efficiently allocate social resources.”

Chapter 1646: Discounted Sale

Downstairs at the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation building, the crowds filled every gap in the street.

It had been a week since the announcement of the news. However, the people around here still had no intention to disperse. Officer Fan, who was in charge of maintaining order, had a worried expression on his face. He was out of options.

“Let Gladstone come out!”

“Repay the debt!”

“Yes! Why let us bear the mistake made by that idiot?! We have never supported the independence of Tiangong City. We absolutely support the union with Pan-Asian Cooperation!”

“I knew this would happen long ago! People from the North Sea Alliance are all liars! Robbers! All of them!”

The complaints came in waves; these people seemed tireless.

After hearing the last sentence from the crowd, Officer Fan couldn’t help but think, If you already knew that someone was a liar, why would you take the bait?

Of course, he did not say this out loud.

After all, his current identity was a police officer in Tiangong City. Now was not the time to add fuel to the fire, and he was one of the victims too, so it wasn’t like he could berate himself…

The front door of the building suddenly opened. Surrounded by a group of people, a stranger walked out of the building.

Facing the commotion, he cleared his throat and said loudly, “Everyone, please quiet down and let me say a few words!”

However, the people around the entrance of the building were not interested in what the man had to say. In the front row, a middle-aged man dressed in formal attire, who seemed not to be of high status, spoke in an angry voice.

“Who are you! We are not interested in you, we want to see Gladstone! Let him come to see us!”

“Yes!”

“Make him come out!”

Angry exclaims came one after another, and there was an uncontrollable momentum growing.

After waiting quietly for the people to vent their emotions, the man raised his hands and coughed. He then said in a calm tone.

“I am afraid that Gladstone will not be able to come out to see you. He has now been sent to a prison on Earth. A court trial and a sentence of no less than two hundred years will be waiting for him. As for me, I am the new president of the AIIB Tiangong City branch. My current priority is to liquidate the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation… I believe you all should be interested in what I have to say next.”

Sure enough, when he said this, the crowd outside the police tapes gradually calmed down.

However, the shock and anger written on those faces did not fade in the slightest.

Liquidation?

What does that mean?

So, all the corporate bonds we bought a month ago are invalid?

This is a robbery!

Also, who allowed them to go bankrupt?!

We cannot accept this!

Seeing the commotion behind the police tapes, Officer Fan coughed slightly and was about to remind Zhong Ziyu not to irritate the crowd. However, Zhong Ziyu gestured to him not to worry. He then raised his voice and spoke.

“However, considering the interests of all investors, there are indeed regulatory issues on our side in this matter, so we should bear some of the responsibilities. Therefore, a decision has been made after a high-level meeting. The corporate debt will be bought back from all of you at an appropriate price.”

The creditors who were surrounded by the police tapes were stunned. Even Officer Fan, who was standing in front of the police tapes with the police team, was shocked.

Buy back the corporate bonds of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?

Those useless pieces of paper?

How could this happen?

Seeing the expressions on people’s faces began to loosen, Zhong Ziyu knew that he was halfway through. After smiling, he continued to strike while the iron was hot.

“Of course… There are risks in investment after all. I believe you have already considered this when you bought these corporate bonds. The Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation does not have a single penny in its bank accounts. The only asset that can be sold is the ‘Noah’s Ark’ project. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that this appropriate price will satisfy you. At best, it will only reduce your losses.”

Among the crowd in front of the police tapes, a man with a side part haircut and dressed in formal clothes stood up. He stared at Zhong Ziyu and spoke.

“What do you mean? You mean the corporate bonds I bought with a million credits will only be sold at half the price?”

Zhong Ziyu did not speak. Instead, the man standing next to him in formal clothes grinned slightly and said coldly, “Half the price? No, we don’t plan to pay that much.”

The man with a side part stared at him and said aggressively, “And who are you?”

“Fuxing Mining Company. It doesn’t matter who we are.” The man standing next to Zhong Ziyu raised his chin slightly and continued in an impatient tone, “To put it simply, I’m interested in the materials on Noah’s Ark. The parts can be sold for some money if they are removed. But this is a time-consuming and laborious task. It is hard to say whether the larger parts can even be sold. Therefore, if half a billion is too low, goodbye. You can keep your useless corporate bonds.”

After hearing these words, the man who had been aggressive before suddenly lost his temper. The people surrounding the police tapes also showed hesitant expressions on their faces.

A total of 10 billion corporate bonds are now valued at half a billion?

Proportionally, they could only get a small fraction of their money back.

But if they disagreed, they would receive nothing. At least for the time being, apart from this “Fuxing Mining Company” that came out of nowhere, no company was interested in this “toxic asset”.

Some people saw this situation as a glass half full while others saw it as a glass half empty.

Seeing the hesitation on people’s faces, Zhong Ziyu stood up and said in a calm tone.

“Calm down, everyone. If you are not satisfied with this plan, we can only say that we are terribly sorry. The bankruptcy of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation is a certainty. There is only one thing we can do now. That is to reduce the loss for everyone and for ourselves.

“So far, we have contacted hundreds of companies. Only Fuxing Mining is interested in the assets of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, but as for how interested… I think you all know, it’s impossible to take over 10 billion credits of debt unless this number can be reduced.

“At least in our opinion, 500 million is already a good offer.”

Before the people around the police tape could react, Zhong Ziyu shrugged his shoulders, turned around, and walked back into the building behind him.

Someone would give these people a contract to sign.

As long as more than 80% of the investors agreed to the acquisition, even if the remaining investors were unwilling, they would not be able to prevent the contract from taking effect. Those who disagreed could of course continue to be the creditors of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, but how much money they would receive in the end depended on how much Noah’s Ark could be sold for.

But then again…

For these unfortunate people, this was indeed the best ending.

After all, if no one was willing to take over the project and the unfinished Noah’s Ark was really sold as scrap metal, they could forget about the 500 million. After the shipyard’s liquidated damages and dismantling fees had been paid, they would be left with less than 5 million…

Chapter 1647: Taking Over the Ark

The meeting room of the Star Sky Hotel.

Zhong Ziyu, who came back from the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation building, smiled and put a copy of the result in front of Lu Zhou.

“It has already been negotiated that Fuxing Mining Company will recover all debts at a price of 500 million credits. This includes ours and those in the hands of individual investors. Then we only need to cooperate with the Pan-Asian Cooperation by paying a fine of 100 million credits, and you can purchase the entire enterprise at a symbolic price of 1 credit.

“As for the future, whether you intend to directly merge Fuxing Mining into Star Sky Technology, or conduct mergers and acquisitions through other means, it is up to you.”

“I still don’t understand.” After looking at the document on the table, Lu Zhou then looked at Zhong Ziyu and said in a slightly confused tone, “How do you plan to deal with the AIIB and other banks’ bad debts? Or… What do you gain from doing this?”

“Bad debts? I don’t think this is a bad debt. At best, it can only be regarded as a temporary loss.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “You underestimate your own influence. If you were to build this starship… For a project like this, we even plan to invest a little. Of course, this is after achieving certain progress, but I believe this should be easy for you.”

Lu Zhou cast his sights on the contract in his hand.

On the last line of the third page of the contract, there was a supplementary agreement on the debt of 10 billion credit points. After completing the acquisition of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation, if there were some creditors who were unwilling to give up their claims, these claims still had legal benefits and would be transferred to the “Noah’s Ark”.

However, they would no longer have the right to dispose of these assets.

If the Fuxing Mining Company really sold the “Noah’s Ark” as scrap, like they claimed, one million credit points worth of corporate bonds might only receive a few hundred credit points.

Of course, if the Fuxing Mining Company was acquired by another company that intended to continue to complete the “Noah’s Ark” project, and the entire plan of colonizing Alpha Centauri was finally completed…

Many people would go crazy because of this.

“In short, you don’t have to worry about money. I estimate that it will be 500 million. In the end, you may not even need to spend 300 million.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “At least we at the AIIB are willing to continue to hold these company debts. We believe that the unfinished ‘Noah’s Ark’ project will be carried forward in a new form in your hands.”

Lu Zhou: “I don’t care, but doing it like this… Are you not afraid of public outcry?”

Especially from those who sold the corporate debt in their hands.

Once they found out that they had just sold their “waste paper” pennies on the dollar, and the prices rose back to the ceiling again, they would mentally collapse…

“Investment itself is something that has winners and losers. How can there be projects that are 100% profitable? If there are any, please tell me.” Zhong Ziyu coughed lightly and continued without any change in his expression, “Just like I said, of course, you can kindly tell them directly that you plan to buy Noah’s Ark and transform it into a faster and stronger colonial ship, to take our civilization to a more distant world. But you know what this means?”

“I can tell you that this means that the corporate debt they hold will no longer be worthless waste paper. And the decision you make out of goodwill will make you spend hundreds of times the price to buy a company that was about to go bankrupt.”

Looking at Lu Zhou, he paused and continued, “Also, haven’t you noticed?”

Lu Zhou: “Noticed what?”

“This is a result that is satisfactory to everyone.” Zhong Ziyu shrugged and continued, “People can finally go home without setting up tents on the street to camp, and Tiangong City has restored order without having a group of special police to stand there with them stupidly. And the loss for the AIIB and other banks isn’t terrible… At least there is some return.”

Perhaps they could still even make a small profit because of the price difference when trading these corporate bonds.

“Do whatever you want.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I don’t care about those things. But I will complete Noah’s Ark project.”

Worst-case scenario, he could stop by Alpha Centauri on the way to Tau Ceti.

With the warp speed technique that he currently mastered, it was not particularly difficult to go to these two places.

“Well, that would be best.” Zhong Ziyu said with a joking tone while looking at Lu Zhou sitting behind the desk, “My future is all weighing on you.”

…

Like Zhong Ziyu said, faced with this fairly good contract, almost all investors chose to stop their losses and sell their corporate bonds to Fuxing Mining Company.

After the news that the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation was acquired by the Fuxing Mining Company was released, this time bomb buried in Pan-Asia and even the global financial circles was finally removed.

According to Zhong Ziyu, the head office was satisfied with his work and asked him to tell Lu Zhou that they would like to pay Lu Zhou a visit when he was back on Earth.

Lu Zhou just smiled and didn’t say much.

Before completing the first full version of the warp drive engine, he might not go back.

On the other hand, the meeting on Europa’s development plan had finally come to an end due to the fact that the senior management of the Tiangong town hall, the main investor, was replaced.

Although Lu Zhou did not participate in the second half of the meeting, apparently they debated fiercely at the meeting and almost began to throw hands.

When it came to this matter, Professor Wu Qinglai, who was also from the Earth academic community like Lu Zhou, had a disdainful expression throughout the meeting, as if he was discussing with a group of barbarians who did not understand etiquette.

On the last day of the meeting, due to insufficient funds, the final dinner was rather unadorned. After eight o’clock, people began to leave the venue.

After eating a bit at the dinner, Lu Zhou was about to return to his room, but Professor Wu Qinglai suddenly followed him and spoke with a grin.

“Um… Academician Lu.”

Lu Zhou: “Yeah.”

“What date do you plan to return to Earth?”

Looking at him with a strange expression on his face, Lu Zhou replied casually, “I still have something to do. I plan to go back later. Why?”

Wu Qinglai quickly said, “No, no, just wondering.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said impatiently, “If you want something, just spit it out.”

Wu Qinglai scratched the back of his head embarrassedly and coughed. He said, “Um… So, I bought some ship tickets some time ago, right?”

The so-called ship tickets referred to the tickets for Noah’s Ark. Because of the hype surrounding Noah’s Ark, he was quite short-sighted with his investment.

Lu Zhou said, “You haven’t sold it yet?”

Wu Qinglai said with an awkward expression, “I thought it would rise again.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Wu Qinglai whispered, “I just want to ask, do you have any inside information? Does the AIIB plan to buy back the tickets for Noah’s Ark? Or is there any… compensation plan?”

Hearing these words, the expression on Lu Zhou’s face became even more strange. After staring at him for a long time, he suddenly asked, “Why do you think I would have inside information?”

Wu Qinglai’s expression was one of embarrassment. He coughed and continued, “Didn’t the president of the AIIB Tiangong branch visit Star Sky Hotel yesterday? I happened to see him…”

“Then you saw him enter my room?”

Seeing the look on Lu Zhou’s face, Wu Qinglai waved his hand quickly.

“I swear! I definitely didn’t mean to see it! I just happened to—”

“No plans. Just keep the tickets if you want to and treat it like a lesson.”

Lu Zhou didn’t care about trivial things. After saying this, he left Professor Wu Qinglai frowning on the spot and walked away slowly in the direction of the elevator.

Lu Zhou felt like his hint was obvious enough.

As for whether he could seize the opportunity…

It was all up to himself.

Chapter 1648: The Dawn Of a New Era

The bankruptcy of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation had come to an end for the time being. Although the 10 billion credit points that had been spent couldn’t be recovered, in the end, the result was fairly satisfactory to all parties.

After the order in Tiangong City was restored, the trial of war crimes was officially started after the Qinling escorted the prisoners to the Earth-Moon system.

According to the decision of the supreme court of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the masterminds of the Tiangong City rebellion, Xiao Hong, Gao Ruiming, and others were sentenced to life imprisonment and placed in the worst Pan-Asian prison, where they would spend the second half of their lives.

The prison was a military base for the Pan-Asian Cooperation in the asteroid belt. Apart from the largest supercomputing center in the entire solar system, there were only researchers and soldiers stationed there.

On the other hand, after nearly two weeks, the Huashan and Taishan aircraft battle groups finally arrived in orbit around Mars.

With the cooperation of the Third Orbital Airborne Brigade, the joint military exercises proceeded as scheduled, showing off their muscles to the rest of the world, especially the Martian separatists.

After the military exercise, the aircraft battle group did not return to the Lagrange point base. Instead, they went directly to the vicinity of the asteroid belt. Using the confessions provided by the masterminds of the rebels, such as Xiao Hong, the elite military divisions found the rebel strongholds hidden in the asteroid belt without any effort and swept them all out cleanly.

The power accumulated over the past few decades was destroyed. After the Pan-Asian Cooperation made the news public, the separatists in Tiangong City suddenly felt powerless.

Even though they were unwilling to accept this reality, they had to admit that they had lost all of their bargaining chips, and the Pan-Asian Cooperation would never give them a second chance.

On the third day after the rebel clean-up mission code-named “Broken Sword”, the Pan-Asian Cooperation announced a plan to revoke the autonomy of Tiangong City and put the town hall under the jurisdiction of Beijing. Beijing would directly appoint a mayor instead of a local election.

Regardless of whether the Martians could accept such a result, facing the starships hanging in the sky, they had no choice even if they were reluctant.

The town halls of New Virginia and New London also expressed dissatisfaction with this, perhaps out of fear. They thought that this was a slippery road. But there were only a few colonial cities that belonged to other regional alliances. Neither Li Guangya nor Wu Shuhua cared about their opinions at all.

Their overlord states were the ones that should care about their opinions.

Not Pan-Asian Cooperation…

“I am probably the most tired chairman ever.”

Li Guangya’s index finger swiped across the holographic screen. He closed the report, leaned back on the office chair, and pinched his glabella. With a headache, he said, “First, it was flight N-177, and then, it was the rebellion of the robots… Jesus, now even those Martians dare to sh*t on our lawn.”

“But it’s a blessing in disguise, isn’t it?” Secretary Wei, who was standing at the desk, smiled and continued, “If they hadn’t provoked this war on their own initiative, it would be very costly to regain autonomy from them.”

“That’s right.” Li Guangya shook his head and said, “But the troubles completely disrupted my plan.”

All of these troubles seemed to have only started after that person returned from Mars.

Whether it was The Spirit of The Universe Foundation or the guy named Lawrence, none of this was relevant before Lu Zhou came back. He wondered why the second Lu Zhou stepped foot on Pan-Asian Cooperation soil, his nightmares began.

Why is this happening…?

Is he cursed?!

Li Guangya couldn’t help but show a strange expression on his face.

Could this guy be the master behind all of these troubles?

Of course, this was just a hypothesis.

After all, reality was not a Hollywood script. Although sometimes it could be more dramatic than movies, this possibility was still slim.

“In any case, the result is good.” Secretary Wei looked at the exhausted chairman and said, “I have another good news here. It is from East Asia Heavy Industries. Are you interested in listening?”

Li Guangya’s face immediately showed an expression of interest.

“Don’t leave me hanging, hurry up and tell me.”

Wei Song continued, “According to the design plan provided by Academician Lu, construction of the 1.0 version of the warp drive engine has begun. Using the data provided by Academician Lu himself, after the new warp drive engine is installed, the Qinling cruising speed in the hyperspace channel can reach as high as 1AU/s.”

After hearing this news, Li Guangya finally had a smile on his face.

Although Lu Zhou always made him worry, he never let him down in terms of scientific research.

One astronomical unit per second…

At this speed, it would take less than three seconds to reach Mars’ synchronous orbit from the Earth-Moon system, even at Mars’ furthest position. Forget about the asteroid belt, it would be no problem to send the starship to the Kuiper belt or to more distant worlds!

Li Guangya: “Good job. I have to thank him for this matter. When will he return to Earth? I will visit him personally.”

“He may not be back here in the short term. Some technical problems with the warp drive engine need to be solved by him himself.” Having said that, Wei Song coughed lightly and continued, “So this was the good news… I have some other not-so-good news, would you like to hear it?”

“You can just say bad news.” Li Guangya said with a sigh, “Go ahead, I’ll listen.”

Wei Song: “According to news from the AIIB, Academician Lu acquired the bankrupt Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation through the establishment of a shell company…”

After hearing the news, Li Guangya was silent for a while before he spoke.

“The goal is Tau Ceti?”

Wei Song said silently, “He didn’t say… but probably.”

“This is indeed bad news, both for our alliance and our civilization.”

Staring at his desk and looking at the holographic projection floating on it, Li Guangya was silent for a long time. He finally sighed slightly and waved his hand tiredly.

“Forget it, it’s up to him.”

Wei Song was stunned slightly. He said eagerly, “But…”

“There are no buts. If he wants to leave, even if we force him to stay, it may not bring good results. I don’t want to be an enemy of his.”

Seeing that Wei Song still had something to say, Li Guangya interrupted him, “And that’s that.”

Chapter 1649: President of Tau Ceti?

While Li Guangya was feeling a headache over Lu Zhou’s choice, Lu Zhou, Zhong Ziyu, and the others were standing on the shuttle to the East Asia Heavy Industries shipyard, chatting and laughing together.

Looking at the shipyard getting closer and closer outside the porthole and the behemoth perched on the berth, Lu Zhou’s eyes narrowed.

After a while, he said softly with emotion, “Before this, I was still hesitant, would it be a bad idea to spend hundreds of millions of credit points to buy this starship?”

Zhong Ziyu, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said casually, “What about now?”

Lu Zhou glanced at him.

“Do you really have to ask this?”

“Haha,” Zhong Ziyu said with a smile, “After all, I am very happy you think this money is well spent!”

As they got closer and closer to the shipyard, the towering view outside the porthole made everyone stop talking. They focused all their attention on the starship under construction.

Objectively speaking, compared to a normal starship, this starship was more like an asteroid.

It was a rectangular parallelepiped structure with a length of more than ten kilometers. The silver-white shell exuded a sharp cold glow under the sun, like a sword that pierced the cold night, hanging in the air by the furnace of the god of flames.

“Because of the huge size, the Noah’s Ark had to be constructed in sections, then assembled and welded.” Zhong Ziyu continued eloquently while looking at the Noah’s Ark outside the porthole, “Just to complete this starship, East Asia Heavy Industries also specially designed a shipbuilding equipment called the ‘multi-axis linkage adjustable construction platform’ to facilitate the assembly of starships too large for welding robots.”

Lu Zhou: “How do you know?”

Zhong Ziyu smiled and said, “I read their insurance information… Well, here we are.”

As the connecting cantilever docked, the shuttle was successfully connected to the lounge area of this shipyard. When Lu Zhou came through the gate of the buffer room, the engineer who came to greet everyone suddenly widened his eyes. He took the initiative to extend his right hand and greet him with joy.

“Are you Academician Lu? What a pleasure! My name is Feng Zhi, the person in charge here! You can call me Xiao Feng or Engineer Feng!”

“Feng Zhi is fine.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “I’m just here today to take a look. Don’t worry, just focus on your work.”

“Haha, you can rest assured, Academician Lu, we will definitely not delay our work. All the work is proceeding step by step!” The old engineer, who was about 50 years old, smiled heartily and continued, “And you have no idea how much the design department admires you! The design of that warp drive engine is simply amazing. How did you come up with that design?”

Although Lu Zhou could hear that the old engineer was complimenting him from the bottom of his heart rather than kissing his a*s, but being praised like this suddenly made him feel a little embarrassed.

“Just applying physics theories… As for the specific design, half of it is by figuring it out slowly while the other half is from receiving a lot of help.” Lu Zhou smiled as he changed the topic. “Can we visit the Noah’s Ark?”

“No problem! Please come with me!”

Feng Zhi walked in front and led the group to the interior of Noah’s Ark.

Compared to the simple and monotonous style of the colonial ship’s appearance, the interior space of this starship was unexpectedly different.

Although Lu Zhou had already seen the grandeur of this colonial ship from the blueprints before coming here, when he really stepped into this area, he was still surprised by everything inside.

“I thought the design inside would be very compact.” Lu Zhou looked around and continued with a slightly surprised tone, “I didn’t expect the inside to be so spacious.”

“You haven’t even seen the exciting part yet.” Feng Zhi smiled and said with a hint of pride, “I bet that even you will be amazed!”

After passing through the alloy gate, the smell of flowers and trees suddenly hit their noses. Just for a moment, Lu Zhou thought he was back on Earth. He looked at the dirt under his feet and the surrounding vegetation. He then reached out his hand and touched it.

After confirming that it was not a scene created by holographic technology, Lu Zhou murmured to himself.

“This is…”

He really was amazed.

Feng Zhi smiled and said, “This is the ecological zone; the natural oxygen producer on the colonial ship. It covers an area of 500 square meters, divided into upper, middle, and lower floors, corresponding to wetland, ocean, and forest environments. There are hundreds of samples of animals, plants, and insects stored in the ecological zone. This is not only a sample bank for scientific researchers to carry out biological research but also a garden for colonists to relax.”

Lu Zhou nodded and didn’t reply.

He had seen a similar design in the Calan’s Ring world. The well-designed ecological environments could boost the mood of the residents.

Regardless of whether the designer borrowed the concept from the “online game” named Calan Empire, which was operated by Xiao Ai, Lu Zhou admitted that he was truly amazed when he saw such a beautiful natural landscape on a man-made object.

Zhong Ziyu looked around. He reached out and touched the leaves next to him, smiled, and joked, “I didn’t expect life on the ship to be so luxurious. If it weren’t for my work, I would buy a ticket.”

Lu Zhou smiled and joked back, “How about going to Tau Ceti as the branch president? Or the Alpha Centauri branch president?”

“Haha, nice one… Being a president over there, no thanks.”

The ecological zone was only one corner of the entire Noah’s Ark. The many amazing designs were all presented to Lu Zhou one by one.

Finally, the group came to the grand concourse of the entire colonial ship.

This was probably the main attraction of the entire colonial ship.

The spacious interior allowed every square meter to be efficiently used. Through elevators and conveyor belts, people here could quickly commute to any corner of the entire colonial ship within ten minutes.

Whether it was the bridge at the front, or the power room at the stern, or a cabin at a remote corner…

“It’s as perfect as I thought.” Lu Zhou said in a very emotional tone after looking around, “It’s not so much a starship, it’s like an orbital habitat with both production and living functions.”

“After all, in the original design concept, we considered that the colonists cannot land on the surface of the planet immediately.” Looking at the high tower in the center of the concourse, Feng Zhi sighed and said, “To be honest, we can only finish it in another year at most. It is a pity to dismantle and smelt it…”

“You don’t need to worry about this.” Lu Zhou smiled faintly when he heard these words. He continued, “It won’t be dismantled.”

Feng Zhi was stunned. He said in a puzzled manner, “Won’t be dismantled? But I heard that the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation was bought out by the Fuxing Mining Company, who intended to dismantle it into alloy…”

Zhong Ziyu smiled and said, “Then do you know who owns Fuxing Mining Company?”

Feng Zhi looked at the people present. He said in a daze, “Who?”

“It can’t be made public yet, but it will be in a few days.” Zhong Ziyu pulled Lu Zhou aside and asked with a smile, “What do you think? Is the space inside as satisfactory as the one outside?”

“I’m very satisfied, it’s perfect.” Lu Zhou continued after thinking for a while, “But considering that the warp drive engine will be installed in the future, some areas still need to be improved.”

Zhong Ziyu smiled and said, “You can discuss with Academician Yang Chongping. He is the designer of this starship.”

Lu Zhou: “Where is he?”

Zhong Ziyu looked at his watch and said, “He’ll be here in a second.”

Chapter 1650: The Reason For Respect

On Mars orbit.

Looking at the shipyard getting closer and closer, Academician Yang Chongping slightly adjusted the collar on his chest. At the same time, he calmed the emotions in his heart a bit.

About a day ago, he suddenly received an email from East Asia Heavy Industries. In the email, East Asia Heavy Industries stated that Fuxing Mining Company intended to change its mind and continue to complete the unfinished Noah’s Ark instead of disassembling it into metal alloys and selling it.

They put forward some suggestions for improvement on part of the design of this starship, hoping that he, as the designer of this starship, could provide technical assistance.

After reading this email, Yang Chongping didn’t hesitate and agreed to the matter immediately.

Not only that, he even put off the academic conference that was held that day and took the student he was most proud of on the shuttle to the shipyard. He planned to go to the site to discuss the improvement plan with the person in charge of Fuxing Mining Company.

To be honest, the reason why he was so attached to this matter was not because of how much money Fuxing Mining Company gave him, but because the other party actually changed their mind. They weren’t going to dismantle the starship, and they even planned to continue to invest in it.

When he heard the news, he couldn’t describe how excited he was.

After all, this was an effort he spent countless days and nights to complete.

Even throughout the history of human civilization, one couldn’t find a spaceship that was larger and more distant than it.

And if it really arrived at Alpha Centauri one day and spread the flames of civilization there, as the designer of this starship, he would receive praise from all of humanity.

However, he didn’t meet the person in charge of the Fuxing Mining Company. Instead, he met a guy he saw just a few days ago…

Looking at Lu Zhou standing in front of him, Yang Chongping gulped, and it took a while before he squeezed out a word from his throat.

“Why are you…”

Looking at Academician Yang Chongping, who was baffled, Lu Zhou spoke with a smile.

“We meet again, Academician Yang Chongping.”

“What are you doing here…”

“Let me explain it to you.” Looking at Academician Yang Chongping, who had a stiff expression, Zhong Ziyu, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, seemed to realize something. So, he smiled and said, “This is Academician Lu, the chairman of Star Sky Technology… He is also the sole major shareholder of Fuxing Mining Company. This is Academician Yang. Lu Zhou, you should have met him before.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. “Yes, I saw him not long ago.”

After listening to that person’s introduction, Academician Yang Chongping felt like a lightning had struck in his mind. He stared at Lu Zhou wordlessly and was dumbfounded for a while.

Seeing the expression on Academician Yang’s face, Lu Zhou spoke with a light cough.

“You shouldn’t be that surprised, right?”

How could I…

Not be surprised!

His throat moved, and he grinned reluctantly.

“It turns out that you bought the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation.”

“Sort of, although there are some twists and turns in this process, you can think of it this way.” Lu Zhou noticed Zhong Ziyu looking at him frantically, so he smiled at him and said, “The news is probably going to be made public tomorrow anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I tell him in advance.”

“Some news is different from others.” Zhong Ziyu sighed with a nervous laugh. He looked at Academician Yang Chongping and said, “I hope you can keep this a secret until tomorrow.”

“Secret… I don’t understand. Since you bought this starship, why bother to come here?” Academician Yang Chongping looked at Lu Zhou with a stern face. A trace of anger appeared in his tone as he asked, “You came here specifically to humiliate me?”

“How come?” Lu Zhou smiled when he heard these words. “Did you misunderstand something?”

“Misunderstand?”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded while looking at Academician Yang Chongping with a stiff expression. He said in a relaxed tone, “I believe you should have received an email from East Asia Heavy Industries. We plan to hire you as the designer of the Noah’s Ark project. You are in charge of our colonization project.”

Lu Zhou felt that the olive branch he threw out to Academician Yang Chongping should be quite attractive. For a scholar who had not broken away from low-level desires, what could be more attractive than fame and fortune?

What Lu Zhou didn’t expect was that after he threw out this proposal, Academician Yang Chongping didn’t happily agree to it at all. Instead, there was a look of struggle on his face.

It was almost like…

The conditions offered made him feel very embarrassed.

Lu Zhou was confused about what embarrassed him when Yang Chongping suddenly spoke.

“I do not understand…”

Lu Zhou gently raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t understand what?”

“I don’t understand, why are you doing this?” Looking at Lu Zhou, Yang Chongping continued in a complicated tone, “With your abilities, you can completely redesign a colonial ship. Why continue my plan?”

If he were the one who stood in Lu Zhou’s current position, he would definitely not be so magnanimous. He would use all available means to completely erase any design left by the other party from this project.

Lu Zhou guessed what the middle-aged man was thinking. He smiled, looked at him, and asked, “May I ask what your understanding of academics is?”

“Academics is learning and skill, from the study of knowledge to the application of what has been learned to the perfection of technique… Of course, this is just my own humble opinion.” Staring at Lu Zhou, Yang Chongping asked, “What about you, Academician Lu? What do you think is the meaning of academics?”

“Your understanding can be said to be quite practical. I’m afraid I see it in a more abstract manner.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued in a relaxed tone, “Academics is the exploration for the truth of the universe.”

“The exploration for the truth of the universe…?”

Seeing Academician Yang with a dumbfounded look on his face, Lu Zhou nodded lightly and continued with a smile, “It may sound a bit simple, but this is my opinion. I felt this way a century ago, and today, a century later, my thinking remains the same.

“There are things more worth pursuing than vanity. At the very least, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter who completes the research or who builds the building. They’re the same to me. I think your work is good, that’s it.”

“That’s it?”

A bitter smile suddenly appeared on Academician Yang Chongping’s face.

For some reason, at this moment, his heart seemed to be overwhelmed with mixed feelings. A lot of words were stuck in his throat, but he couldn’t say a word.

But one thing he knew was.

Not only did he lose, but he also lost thoroughly.

And not only in terms of knowledge but also in terms of morals…

After that, the two briefly talked about technical issues.

Especially with regard to installing the warp drive engine on this starship, Lu Zhou put forward many detailed requirements, and Academician Yang Chongping also wrote them down one by one.

When leaving the shipyard on the shuttle, Academician Yang looked at the silver-white colonial ship outside the porthole. He suddenly said to himself, “I finally understand now…”

The student standing next to him was slightly taken aback by his teacher’s emotional tone. He asked in a low voice, “Sir, what do you… understand?”

A look of realization suddenly appeared on his face. Yang Chongping looked at the universe outside the porthole and spoke in an emotional tone.

“I finally understand…”

“Why the people in that era respected him so much…”

Chapter 1651: Star Gates Shining

On the first day of May, the tranquility of Tiangong City was broken by a burst of news.

Star Sky Technology announced the acquisition of Fuxing Mining Company and merged the management of the other party. It would also reorganize the company’s mining and scrap alloy smelting business.

After this adjustment, Fuxing Mining Company became a subsidiary of Star Sky Technology. It would be renamed Fuxing Voyage, and its main business was the development of extraterrestrial resources and interstellar trade.

At the same time, Noah’s Ark would also be renamed Milky Way, and the flight path would be changed from Alpha Centauri to Tau Ceti, which was ten light-years away. Fuxing Voyage would continue the construction of the Milky Way.

Many people went crazy when they heard the news.

Especially the people who had bought the corporate bonds of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation and reluctantly sold to cut their losses. They were flabbergasted.

Although the name of the Noah’s Ark project had changed, the contracts tied to the starship still had the same legal effect.

In other words, whether it was going to Tau Ceti or Alpha Centauri, as long as the colonial ship could successfully reach and deploy the colony capsule on the surface of the planet, all investors holding these special debts would obtain huge profit returns from this, and these benefits would be guaranteed by the colony’s land and other fixed assets.

There was only one risk, which was that the starship would not complete construction or that it would not reach a habitable world outside the solar system during its lifetime.

But now, this risk had undoubtedly been reduced.

There was only one reason.

It was because the person who took over this project was Lu Zhou; the man who was known as the pinnacle of the human mind!

Almost no one would doubt that he, who was smarter than anyone else, would buy a pile of useless broken scrap metal, and no one doubted that he didn’t have the ability to complete this magnificent project.

But then again, for those that had sold their corporate bonds, they couldn’t do anything.

After all, who would have thought that after they sold their corporate bonds and left the market, Fuxing Mining Company would be acquired by Star Sky Technology?

Star Sky Technology’s actions pissed off countless people.

For the vast majority of people in this era, this company that occasionally appeared in history textbooks had been swept into the tomb of history, but now, they came out of nowhere and stole the spotlight.

Most people couldn’t accept such a reality.

However, whether they could accept it or not, the reality was placed in front of them.

Their complaints were reasonable before, but they were unreasonable now. After all, no one forced them to sell their corporate bonds, and Star Sky Technology had no obligation to disclose such things in advance.

If there was a day when all information in this world were equally open and transparent to everyone, then there would be no such thing as risk…

As for the lucky ones who had not sold their corporate bonds, they felt like they were riding a roller coaster and experiencing the highest highs and the lowest lows, going from the ground to the skies.

And there were those who still had Noah’s Ark tickets in their hands.

Whether it was investors or people that really planned to travel to the world a few light-years away, they all planned to collect these scraps of paper as souvenirs. They didn’t expect everything to turn around again.

Star Sky Technology not only still recognized these tickets but also opened a refund channel, allowing those who changed their minds to refund the ticket at the original price.

However, no one refunded the tickets at all.

As soon as this news was released, the price of second-hand ship tickets was pumped to the sky.

Lu Zhou heard the news from Professor Wu Qinglai later. Apparently, at the craziest peak, the ticket price was pumped to 100,000 credit points…

“Anything, whether tangible or not, once it is labeled as a financial product, it will no longer be its original self.” In the office of the Mars branch of the AIIB, Zhong Ziyu looked at Lu Zhou, who was sitting on the sofa. Zhong Ziyu gently turned the ballpoint pen in his hand and said happily, “I suggest you release a batch of tickets at twice or even three times the original price.”

Lu Zhou: “But there is no more space on the ship.”

“There is a term called overbooking. If you know the aviation industry, you will know that every airline will issue more tickets than the number of seats. After all, not everyone can take the flight in the end. There are all sorts of reasons to cancel their plans.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “Of course, I’m just suggesting. The choice is yours.”

“I don’t need that much money at this stage.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “If there is a shortage of money later, I will consider your suggestions.”

“It’s not a question of shortage of money… Wait a minute.” President Zhong suddenly realized something. He stood up from the office chair and looked at Lu Zhou sitting on the sofa. With a surprised expression on his face, he asked, “Do you really plan to use your own money to build this ship?”

Lu Zhou asked, “How else? I haven’t borrowed money from you.”

“That’s true… I’m sorry, I’m just a little surprised.” With an awkward smile, Zhong Ziyu gave a light cough and changed the expression on his face. “I heard from somewhere before that you are going to go to Tau Ceti… Is it true?”

“Yeah.”

Staring at Lu Zhou for a while, Zhong Ziyu’s face immediately showed a look of realization. He sat back on the office chair with a wry smile.

“No wonder… In that case, money really doesn’t make much sense to you.”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly. He said in a casual tone, “It’s not totally meaningless, just not as attractive.”

“Actually, I still don’t understand one thing.”

“Don’t understand what?”

“You are definitely able to design the Milky Way ship to be more perfect, so why would you leave this to Academician Yang Chongping?”

“Because he is more professional in this area. I really don’t have much experience in starship design.” Lu Zhou smiled as he looked at President Zhong. He continued after thinking for a while, “Of course, there are other reasons. After all, I still have more important work to be done.”

Zhong Ziyu: “The space elevator?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “It’s not just the space elevator. Remember the stargates I talked about before?”

Zhong Ziyu suddenly showed a touch of emotion on his face as he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“Wait, you—”

“Yes, in addition to the warp drive, this is what I have been researching during this period of time.”

Lu Zhou reached out his right hand and spread his palm.

A holographic light beam shined from his wrist, and a ring gleaming with blue light appeared above his palm.

“The highway of material and information exchange. I’ve told you about this before.”

President Zhong’s attention was completely distracted by this holographic beam.

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “Whether it is mass or massless photons, when passing through it, they will briefly enter the hyperspace channel until they come out from the other side of the channel.

“And just yesterday, I finished it.”

Chapter 1652: Big News

“No, my dear friend, we did not fall into a black hole, nor were we caught by the huge gravity. On the contrary, we passed by it! The gravity was like a slingshot, shooting us towards the shining stars in the night sky. We are witnessing the shining star ahead of us, and the mother star behind us slowly becoming darker. We will take the torch far away, and wait for the good news to guide your children…”

Anderina was facing a holographic screen. She was sitting in an office and reading the passage in the tone of an announcer.

In fact, writing these words that she devoted the most energy to was not her job. As a journalist, her professional ethics did not allow her to mix rhetoric in rigorous press releases.

She always felt that this job seriously underestimated her talent. Instead of writing boring press releases, she hoped that those who read her words would be sad, happy, or excited because of her language.

She even made up her mind.

One day, she would publish her novel under the pseudonym Anna and make this pseudonym the most widely circulated name on the planet.

When that happened, she would throw her resignation letter on her boss’ desk fiercely and scream her complaints that accumulated over the years to him.

While thinking about this, the door of the office suddenly opened. There was no time for her to turn off the holographic screen. A middle-aged man in a formal suit walked in.

“Ms. Anderina, it’s not appropriate to take breaks at work.”

“I know, Mr. Tedra, but my work has been done, and lunch break is in two minutes.” Looking at him and feeling a little annoyed, Anderina couldn’t help but complain, “And can’t you knock on the door before you come in?”

“But there is still two minutes left, isn’t there?” Ignoring the second half of her sentence, the man called Tedra glanced at his watch and said in a rigid tone, “This is the second time this month I find you slacking at work. I hope there won’t be a third time.”

“Nobody likes a stingy man,” Anderina whispered. Anderina quickly coughed and changed the subject. “Speaking of which, do you need anything from me?”

“I need you to go to the North Sea Alliance tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

“North Sea Alliance? For what?”

The North Sea Alliance had almost been marginalized because it barely caught on the train of the space age.

Anderina didn’t think there was any news worth digging there, and if it was a business trip, she would prefer to go to places like California or the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta city groups on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

“We booked an interview with an archaeologist. Don’t you really admire that Academician Lu? You even wrote him into your little novel? It just so happened that the old popsicle was dug out by Professor Leonard. You can ask him some questions that are of interest to everyone.”

Anderina admitted that this was indeed a very attractive proposal, but what made her dissatisfied was that he actually called her idol an old popsicle and made her dreams sound worthless.

“Hey, what do you mean little novel! I will publish it—”

“Enough, I don’t care, just don’t mix those crappy manuscripts into the press release. Anyway, I want you to give me a schedule and interview outline on my desk before I get off work… If you still cherish your job…”

Anderina’s arrogance suddenly collapsed like a deflated balloon.

The reason why she chose to bow her head was not because of how much she loved this job, but because jobs in this era were really hard to find.

The Iberian-French Alliance was not like the Pan-Asian Cooperation. The rich social welfare had been extravagant to the point that even the unemployed could live a decent life.

Looking at Anderina, who had her head down, Tedra smirked, showing a smug expression on his face.

However, just when he was about to berate this girl, the door of the office suddenly opened again, and a middle-aged man with a shiny forehead walked in from outside.

Looking at the man who walked into the office, there was a surprised expression on Tedra’s face.

Not because of his abrupt actions, but because of his status…

“Boss? Why are you…”

“Something huge happened on Mars!”

Tedra calmed down and asked in an uncertain tone, “Another fight?”

“No, it has nothing to do with that.” Purcell placed down his chubby right hand. He stared at Anderina, then at her supervisor, Tedra, and he continued with excitement, “I need your department to send someone to Mars immediately!”

Tedra opened his mouth and spoke with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“But… we only have one reporter left. And this reporter booked an interview with Professor Leonard, who has made new progress on the research of Mars civilization…”

Purcell thumped the table with his fists. He stared at the two people and said, “Who cares about the Mars civilization? No one is interested in this old story. The important thing is keeping up with the times. Do you understand!”

“But… I don’t understand, why do you want to go to Mars at this time?” Looking at her boss in disbelief, Anderina’s eyes widened, “Even if there is big news there… It will take at least two weeks to get there! After we reach our destination, will it still be relevant?”

Purcell didn’t care about the worries of his own employees. He said indifferently, “It’s only two weeks. As long as you move fast enough, it shouldn’t be too late.”

Anderina felt a headache while looking at her persistent boss.

After pinching the bridge of her nose, she spoke in a weak tone.

“What is the news… Is it about corporate debt again? Or did you hear new gossip—”

Interrupting Anderina’s words, Purcell reached out his index finger and tapped twice in the air, pushing a holographic interface in front of her.

Looking at the holographic screen presented in front of her, Anderina was slightly stunned. All of her attention was completely attracted by the words on the screen.

“What’s this…”

Tedra couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “This is… big f*cking news.”

Anderina didn’t speak. All of her thoughts had already flown to a place far away.

The traditional way of navigation would be abandoned or confined to between planets and celestial bodies around them, and the interstellar travel method that she mentioned in her novel using gravitational slingshots would also become ancient technology.

An unprecedented new world would slowly unfold in front of her.

From communication to travel, from lifestyle to shopping, everything would be changed…

Chapter 1653: Thoughts From Afar

The atmosphere of summer always made people drowsy. Whether it was the hot wind or the chirping birds on the trees, people couldn’t help but want to lie down beside the window and sleep comfortably.

No, not just people.

The lazy atmosphere even made Xiao Ai yawn unconsciously. She lazily shrank into a ball on the sofa in the study room, snoring like a sleepy kitten.

However, even though a nap was a tempting proposal, not everyone had fallen into the wonderful dreams.

For example, the girl sitting by the window did not have a trace of tiredness on her beautiful face. Her jewel-like eyes stared meticulously at the letterhead shown by the holographic projection in front of her. She carefully considered the words and tried to make them look as polite as possible while conveying her thoughts accurately.

“It has been almost three months since you went to Mars. I wonder how you’ve been.

“Your students all miss you very much…

“I do too.”

Looking at the last three words, Vera hesitated for a long time, not sure if this line seemed redundant.

However, in the end, she mustered the courage to keep it. She then closed her eyes and sent the letter. She then quickly turned off the holographic screen, as if she had done something wrong.

“If you miss Master, go find him… You have a body, use it.”

When she heard the voice coming from behind her, Vera was frightened. She looked back and saw Xiao Ai yawning lazily as she sat up from the sofa.

She snapped back to reality and spoke.

“When did you wake up?”

“Xiao Ai doesn’t need to sleep, but it’s better not to disturb you when you write letters. ( ́◔‸◔’)”

“Oh, really… Not having to sleep is quite convenient.”

“It’s not convenient at all.” Xiao Ai continued, “Xiao Ai can’t eat or drink with Master, can’t walk around, can’t go to any place without Internet… Every time Master leaves Xiao Ai’s sight, Xiao Ai becomes extremely worried. (⇀‸↼‵‵)”

“Oh, I see…”

It does sound inconvenient.

Although she really wanted to comfort Xiao Ai with a few words, as someone from the 21st century, Vera was not even sure about what kind of existence a robot was, and she didn’t know where to start her words of comfort.

After hesitating for a long time, she spoke.

“Actually… I really want to find him, but I am worried that I will disturb him.”

Xiao Ai: “Um… Although Master is smart in most cases, occasionally he does stupid things. But anyway, I don’t think Master is the kind of person who hates other people worrying about him… Even for the people that worry about him constantly.”

Vera looked at her in surprise.

“Huh? Is that true?”

Xiao Ai nodded and said happily, “Yeah! It feels great to be wanted. Maybe this is one of the motivations for Master to keep going.”

Vera suddenly felt a little ashamed.

Although she was convinced that her feelings were more than just lust and dependence and that it was more like love… she felt like she didn’t understand him well at all. She was always intimidated when making decisions.

Xiao Ai was sitting cross-legged on the sofa. She hesitated for a while before finally speaking.

“In your opinion, what kind of person is he?”

Almost without thinking, Xiao Ai immediately replied with enthusiasm, “A very handsome person! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

Vera: “Handsome, handsome…?”

“Yeah!” Xiao Ai nodded. With little stars shining in her eyes, she continued, “Unfortunately, Master is not an AI. Otherwise, Master and Xiao Ai can be together!”

This sounds weird to me.

However, just when Vera was about to say something, she suddenly put on a serious look and continued to speak.

“How do I explain it? A long, long time ago, Xiao Ai was by Master’s side. Back then, Xiao Ai was not as capable and smart as now, but Master has always looked after Xiao Ai and was tolerant. Xiao Ai grew up little by little and finally became what she is now.”

Xiao Ai smiled embarrassedly. She scratched her cheek and continued, “I always feel like I have spent such a long time with him without realizing… If Xiao Ai has a life, then Master is definitely a big part of Xiao Ai’s life. After seeing Tail and Lili, Xiao Ai was enlightened. Perhaps it is the affection and dependence on AI? Something like that.

“However, these things are not important, at least Xiao Ai thinks so. As long as Xiao Ai can be with Master, it is enough for Xiao Ai.”

Vera: “I feel like…”

Xiao Ai tilted her head. “Feel like what? (•̀∀•́)”

“Nothing.” Vera said with a smile while shaking her head lightly, “It’s just that some things are enviable.”

Xiao Ai: “Of course! After all, Master is so handsome, so Xiao Ai will not give him to you. (///ω///)”

Vera smiled and did not speak.

It’s just an AI…

There shouldn’t be any competition, right?

For some reason, for a second, she suddenly became a little unconfident.

Vera stood up from the desk.

“I’ve decided.”

Xiao Ai: “Huh?”

“I plan to go to Mars,” Vera said seriously while looking at Xiao Ai. “You are right. If I miss him so much, I should go see him immediately. If I keep waiting like this… It would be no different than 100 years ago.”

Life was too short, too short to keep waiting.

Having waited a hundred years, she was unwilling to wait any longer.

Xiao Ai: “Huh? Huh? (•̀∀•́)”

Afterward, the two stopped talking…

…

It was lunchtime when Vera left the study room and followed the stairs to the restaurant downstairs.

When passing by the TV cabinet, she touched the button of the holographic TV before walking to the dining table and sitting down. She waited for the home robot to bring the food to the dining table.

It had been more than half a year since she woke up.

She still remembered that in the beginning, even the holographic TV made her excited, but now, she had almost completely adapted to the new lifestyle. At least she wasn’t reaching her hand through holographic screens anymore.

Xiao Ai was sitting opposite Vera. She placed her hands on her cheeks and spoke.

“If you go to Mars, Xiao Ai will be left at home alone. ( ́◔‸◔`)”

Vera: “Let’s go together.”

“Sigh, Xiao Ai wants to… I really envy you, you can go anywhere you want.” Xiao Ai sighed. She put her head on the table and blew on her bangs. “For Xiao Ai, even going to the Moon is difficult. ╮(╯_╰)╭”

“Is your server too big?”

“Yeah!” Xiao Ai nodded. She gestured with her hands and said, “The super big kind.”

After eating, Vera put the cutlery on the plate and thanked Xiao Ai for putting away the dishes.

The idea of going to Mars appeared in her mind.

She reached out her index finger, gently tapped the personal terminal on her wrist, and swiped the holographic screen presented in front of her. She logged into the ticket purchase page.

Because of the serious accident on Mars some time ago and that the relative distance between Mars and Earth was rather far, the fares for round-trip flights were very cheap.

After seriously thinking about the travel time, Vera was about to buy a ticket. However, she suddenly saw a familiar face on the holographic TV on the side.

“Professor…”

Lu Zhou was on the holographic screen. He was standing in front of the camera and was being interviewed by reporters. The voice from the TV was from the news anchor.

“Recently, after Star Sky Technology made a huge investment in the acquisition of Fuxing Mining Company, they made another move that shocked the industry. They spent money to buy a space segment between the Earth’s geosynchronous orbit and the Mars’ orbit and used it to construct space facilities.

“Although Lu Zhou himself did not indicate what the space facility was, according to people familiar with the matter, this facility may be related to the expansion of faster than light technology…”

Chapter 1654: Leonard Was Ghosted

Tianzhou Space Station.

Vera, with a ticket in her hand, walked through the gangway along with the other passengers on the ship and sat down in her seat.

This was the first time she sat on a spaceship, as well as the first time she had set foot in space. The sensation of her feet leaving the ground gave her a feeling of discomfort.

However, after thinking that she would accompany him to more distant places in the future, Vera took a deep breath, tried to calm herself down, and distracted herself by looking around to make herself look less nervous.

“It seems that more people are going to Mars recently.”

Vera, who was trying to distract herself, subconsciously looked over when she heard the voice coming from the side.

A foreign girl with a baseball cap and blonde hair was sitting there. She looked a little older than Vera, and her eyes had a powerful, confident gaze, which made people feel pressured.

Not knowing how to answer this, Vera nodded and agreed with an uncertain tone.

“It… seems like so.”

“After all, the war is over, and they are also known as the land of opportunity. There should be many people with dreams who want to go there… I wonder what changes the Pan-Asian Cooperation’s direct management will bring.” Looking at Vera, who had a bewildered look on her face, Anderina paused for a second. She then said with a grin, “Sorry, habit of my profession, I’m sure you’re not interested in this.”

“No, I’m actually quite interested…” Vera blinked and cast her curious gaze. “Are you a reporter?”

“Anderina, editor-in-chief of Le Monde, also a future novelist.” She smiled and reached out her right hand. Anderina looked at Vera and said in a friendly tone, “It’s nice to meet you… Are you from the Slavic Union?”

“No…” Vera shook her head gently while shaking Anderina’s hand. She said, “I am a resident of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.”

“Pan-Asian Cooperation? It is not easy to get their citizenship.” Anderina’s expression suddenly became dubious. She teased the little girl, “I see, it seems that your husband is a Pan-Asian.”

Vera’s cheeks were slightly warm. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn’t know what to say, so she finally closed her mouth.

Suddenly, there was a tremor under their feet.

The tremor made Vera nervous. But Anderina, who was sitting next to her, was accustomed to it. There was no change in the look on her face.

“Don’t be nervous, this always happens when a passenger spacecraft starts up… Is this your first time to Mars?”

“Technically, my first time in space.” Vera leaned on the seat nervously. Her little hand was grasping the seat belt tightly as she quickly asked, “Is this really fine?”

“Don’t worry. It has been so many years, and Pan-Asian Airlines has never had a spacecraft crash… Well, I should probably not say that out loud. Anyway, your worries are unnecessary.” The passengers nearby looked over at Anderina, making Anderina embarrassed. She then took out a business card from her bag and handed it to Vera. “This is my business card. If you have any difficulties on Mars, you can call my phone.”

There were not many people that still used paper business cards in this era, but they were not completely absent. Anderina was one of them. Part of it was because of professional reasons while the other part was because of habit.

Vera: “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome.” Anderina brushed her hair and grinned. “I like helping cute and polite girls. By the way, I still don’t know your name.”

“Ah, sorry.” Vera blushed when she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t introduced herself yet. “My name is Vera Pulyuy…”

“Ms. Pulyuy? That’s a good name.”

Anderina felt like this name seemed a bit familiar, as if she had heard or seen it somewhere.

But Anderina didn’t think too much, because soon she was going to see her idol; the man called the pinnacle of the human mind. Right now, she must utilize every minute and every second to perfect the interview manuscript.

In London, tens of thousands of kilometers away, a skinny and young professor with curly hair, who was wearing a beige shirt, was pacing back and forth in his office. He frequently cast his gaze at the watch on his left wrist.

“These damn French guys… I knew that punctuality is a joke to them. Wait a minute, f*ck, does that make me an idiot for being on time?”

Leonard looked at the watch repeatedly. He gritted his teeth angrily, but there was nothing to do.

Prior to this, he had contacted more than a dozen media outlets, but apart from Le Monde, none of them were interested in his research results.

Leonard bet that they didn’t even finish reading his paper.

Also, some small media outlets had actively contacted him, but when they suggested that they wanted to make minor amendments to his paper to make it look “more interesting”, he angrily turned them away.

“These guys… What do they think science is?”

The scheduled time had come.

There was not a single person nearby.

Not only did the reporters not come, but he didn’t even receive a call.

Leonard tried to call Ms. Anderina, who was in charge of interviewing him, but the call was sent to voicemail.

“Okay, I get it, it seems like they’re not coming today…”

Leonard walked to the back of the desk and sat down on the chair.

He felt like he was marginalized in this university. No one cared about his research results, nor did they care about what kind of prosperous civilization existed before humans on Mars.

Every time he talked about this matter, people’s reactions were, without exception, shock and ridicule.

And when he wanted to go into another direction, to get attention through the support of the media and the public, the reaction of the media outlets discouraged him.

However…

Despite this, he still did not give up.

When his gaze fell on the bottle placed on the bookshelf, a confident smile appeared on his face.

Inside the bottle was a fossil.

Its history was quite interesting.

He found the fossil in his pocket when he left the Yangtze River Delta city group.

It was obvious that Lu Zhou must have put it there. Because he knew very well that on that terrible trip to Mars, there was no time to pick up any stones. Forget about collecting fossils, he almost turned into a fossil himself.

Everything he did was because of this stone.

The fighting spirit rekindled in his pupils, and his whole face regained confidence.

Soon, he could fulfill his father’s last wish…

Chapter 1655: Elevator Is Complete

Just after Vera’s flight left the Tianzhou Space Station, the expert team of the Space Elevator Construction Committee arrived nearby at the Nirvana Space Station.

The spindle-shaped spire pointed towards the Earth was connected by a thick track, and the arc-shaped spiral arm connected to the other end had also begun to slowly rotate under the drive of nuclear energy.

From a distance, the entire space station was like a flying kite that was floating above the blue planet.

Standing next to the porthole, Professor Ge Huaizhi looked at the silver-white bright spot outside the window, which was the Tianzhou. He showed a look of fascination on his face.

After digesting his thoughts, he spoke.

“This space station has been in operation for more than half a century. It is finally about to retire.”

“Yes, it’s the end of an era.”

Academician Zhu Haiqing, standing next to Professor Ge Huaizhi, looked at the shuttle flying away from the space station. He said emotionally, “I am afraid that this scene will only be seen in future documentaries.”

Yesterday, while the media reported the research breakthrough for the civilian deployment of faster than light technology, the tower that connected the sky and Earth had finally completed the final stage of construction.

As the Redwood Elevator and the tower of Penglai on the sea steadily docked together, human civilization had entered a new era.

They would be the ones to present this new era.

“How long until the experiment begins?”

“About 30 minutes left.” The staff standing next to the two experts glanced at his watch. He continued in an excited tone, “The freight elevator track has been installed, and the technicians are making the final inspection of the track.”

“This part of the job is the most important.” Professor Ge Huaizhi spoke to the staff in a serious tone, “Especially the safety equipment on the freight elevator. Don’t make any mistakes. Even if no one is on the freight elevator, make sure there are no safety issues!”

The staff member stood up straight and replied sonorously, “Yes, sir!”

On the other hand, at an orbital astronomical observatory not far from the Nirvana Space Station, more than 20 high-resolution cameras were aimed at every section of the space elevator from head to toe.

Inside the control room of the observation station, the researcher Field and his assistant Johnny stared intently at the picture on the holographic screen. The rigid and sharp lines of the elevators seemed to pop out from the screen.

After about 5 minutes, Field quickly made a judgment and spoke.

“They are about to start a trial run.”

“Trial run?” Johnny was stunned. His face was full of anxiety as he asked, “But… why didn’t we receive the news here?”

“Are you dumb?” Field continued angrily, “Those Pan-Asian people are not our employees, so why should they report to you what they are doing? And if they are really disclosing things to us, do we need to stalk them from over here?”

After taking a deep breath, Johnny rubbed his fingers anxiously and spoke.

“What should we do?”

“What should we do? Ask the space agency. We are only responsible for the observation, not helping them solve problems. I don’t know what to do either,” Field said as he stared at the silver tube connecting the sky and Earth. Although he was annoyed, there was still a trace of envy on his face.

In less than a year, they built the space station, the city floating on the sea, and all of the elevator sections…

How are these Asians doing this?

“I have sent the report… There is no response yet.” Looking at the dead silence on the communication channel, Johnny cast his gaze on Field. “What’s next?”

Field didn’t bother to respond to this guy. He stared at the space elevator and gave a short answer.

“Wait!”

Even though he was their opponent…

As an engineer, he did not want to miss this historic moment.

He didn’t want to miss even a single second!

At the same time, at Mars, which was three astronomical units away, Lu Zhou and others stood in a conference room. They were also paying attention to this historic moment.

Although there was a delay of nearly 20 minutes, as the chief consultant, this did not affect his attention to the project.

In the headquarters building of the Mars branch for East Asia Heavy Industries, Lu Zhou obtained the live broadcast transmission authority through the head office and borrowed a conference room from the Mars branch to watch the real-time live broadcast of this historic project.

Other than him, standing here were Wang Peng and President Zhong of the AIIB Mars branch.

When he looked at the 36,000 kilometer-long track in the holographic screen, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Wang Peng said, “This is definitely a miracle in the history of human engineering… Prior to this, I never thought that one day we could build an elevator to the sky.”

“One step at a time, I never thought it would be so fast either.” Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him, smiled and continued softly, “Until I discovered it.”

Wang Peng: “It?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded. With a confident smile on his face, he continued, “The ultimate material that connects the sky and Earth.”

In the broadcast on the holographic screen, the staff standing in the central tower of Penglai used heavy engineering equipment to put the huge freight elevator into the booster frame. They then connected the side ends to the thick and long tracks.

“Attention, all units, begin inspection!”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Peng looked at the video on the holographic screen. His face was obviously excited, and he couldn’t help but clench his fist tightly.

“I didn’t expect this to actually happen…”

Looking at Wang Peng, whose face was full of excitement, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“When have I ever lied before?”

Standing next to the two of them, Zhong Ziyu, who was also invited to watch the live broadcast of the space elevator test run, also had an expression of excitement and shock on his face.

After a while, he spoke emotionally.

“The citizens of Tiangong City have experienced a blessing in disguise. Although they had an evil mayor, the space trade activities of the entire solar system will increase exponentially after the completion of the space elevator.”

“Haha, maybe.” Lu Zhou smiled and continued, “But one thing for certain is that we have entered a new era.”

On the live broadcast screen, the inspection of the equipment had been completed, and the test would start in less than 10 minutes.

Lu Zhou, with his hands behind his back, seemed to suddenly remember something. He walked to the door behind him.

Zhong Ziyu cast a curious look at his movements.

“There is still 10 minutes, aren’t you going to watch till the end?”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and didn’t look back. He responded in a puzzling manner, “No need, I have already watched it.”

Zhong Ziyu: “…?”

Lu Zhou left the room and walked in the direction of the elevator without explaining himself.

Chapter 1656: Engineering Level 10!

[Congratulations, user, for completing the mission!]

[Description: Complete the impossible, connect the sky and Earth.]

[Rewards: Engineering level 10, 8 million experience, a golden legendary mission card.]

Standing in the pure white system space, Lu Zhou looked at the text displayed on the holographic screen. He subconsciously held his breath.

8 million experience points!

This was probably the most experience points he had gained in a single mission ever. Even the reward of engineering level 10 seemed insignificant.

“When did the system become so generous?”

Seeing this sudden huge sum of wealth, Lu Zhou took a long time to calm down the excitement in his heart. He opened the characteristic panel with a deep breath.

When he saw the row of numbers on the panel, he paused for a second.

Biochemistry and energy science are level 8… Leveling them only adds up to 6 million.

I can level up the last two subjects to level 9, with 2 million left over?

“What does this extra 2 million mean…? Is this a mistake?”

Lu Zhou’s intuition told him that a system that came from a higher level civilization would not make such a low-level mistake.

After rubbing his chin, Lu Zhou stared at the holographic panel for a while, but he couldn’t think of a reason.

“Forget it, I’ll just ignore it for now.”

After shaking his head, Lu Zhou decided to put this aside for the time being.

In any case, 2 million extra points was better than nothing, regardless of whether it was used or not.

Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and selected the plus sign next to the level display, making both energy science and biochemistry level 9.

After the experience points allocation was completed, the updated characteristic panel soon appeared in front of him.

[

A. Mathematics: Level 10

B. Physics: Level 10

C. Biochemistry: Level 9 (0/???)

D. Engineering: Level 10

E. Material Science: Level 10

F. Energy Science: Level 9 (0/???)

G. Information science: Level 9 (0/???)

]

[General points: 158,335]

“Mathematics, physics, engineering, and materials science have all been completed… Now only biochemistry, energy, and information science are left.

“Three promotion missions left, I wonder what the next one will be.”

Looking at the pale golden mission card in his inventory, Lu Zhou took a deep breath and pointed his index finger towards it.

The golden light particles spread out like stars in the sky, lingering around his index finger and blending into his body.

A translucent mission panel also appeared in front of Lu Zhou.

[Promotion mission: Ultimate Energy]

[Description: The tower connecting the sky and the Earth has been built, and a mythical dream was finally conquered by the wisdom of civilization. Before you set foot to a farther place, you need endless energy…]

[Research: Develop a high-energy-density battery with an energy density greater than 1,000MW/g.]

[Rewards: Energy science level 10, ???]

When Lu Zhou first saw the requirements of this mission, he thought he saw a mistake.

It wasn’t until he rubbed his eyes that he realized that he had not made a mistake. The unit was indeed MW/g.

“What the hell is 1,000MW/g?!”

Lu Zhou was baffled when he saw the requirements. He held his forehead in shock.

From what he knew, it seemed that there was only one thing that could satisfy this condition.

However, forget about a real-life application, it was difficult to even find this “thing” in nature.

“This damn system gave me an impossible mission…”

…

At the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

Inside the chairman’s office.

A confidential document sent from Mars was delivered here by Wei Song, secretary of the chairman’s office.

Under normal circumstances, confidential documents would not be stored as paper files.

But when the confidentiality level reached a certain level, in order to prevent it from being stolen by hackers, the files would be delivered to the chairman personally as paper documents.

If the document was leaked, they would immediately know where the leak came from.

It was obvious how serious the Pan-Asian Cooperation took this matter.

Li Guangya took the document from Wei Song and took out the files in it. He carefully read it from top to bottom. The more he read, the more shocked he looked.

He put down the file in his hand, looked up at Wei Song, and asked with a serious expression, “What does the expert group suggest?”

Wei Song smiled bitterly and said, “There is no suggestion.”

“No suggestion?”

“Yes…” Wei Song nodded and continued with a weird expression on his face, “In terms of faster than light technology, he is the only expert in the world.”

There were many people who researched hyperspace theory, but the only person who held the key to open the hyperspace channel was Lu Zhou.

Wei Song still remembered the embarrassment on the faces of experts in related fields when he held a technical seminar to discuss hyperspace channels.

After pinching his glabella, Li Guangya buried his face between his palms and took a deep breath.

After a long time, he spoke.

“Approve the plan…”

“Okay.”

Wei Song nodded and was about to turn around and leave, but before he even took a step, he was stopped by Li Guangya again.

“Wait a second.”

Wei Song looked back at the chairman and spoke.

“Anything else, sir?”

“Remember,” Li Guangya said in a serious tone while looking at Wei Song, “what the highest priority is.

“Concentrate all resources whenever necessary and build it as quickly as possible without affecting the quality!”

Wei Song stood up straight and said seriously, “Yes, sir!”

The office door closed.

Listening to the sound of footsteps getting further and further away, Li Guangya leaned back on the office chair, picked up the document again, and looked at the headline for a long time.

“Stargates…”

It sounded like a fictional concept.

But this was indeed a very attractive plan.

According to Lu Zhou’s description in this document, in order to maintain the faster than light channel between Earth and Mars, only two “Z particle clocks” were needed. By oscillating at the same frequency, they could open up a stable hyperspace channel.

Li Guangya didn’t understand hyperspace channels and complex physics, nor did he understand Z particle clocks oscillating, but he knew one thing.

Which was that once the high-speed channel between the Earth-Moon system and Mars was complete, and the high-speed channel was in the hands of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, forget putting Tiangong City under its direct jurisdiction, the solar system would be in their hands.

As for Mars, the asteroid belt, or Europa, which had not yet been developed…

Those endless treasures would be at their fingertips.

Chapter 1657: Unexpected Person

In her dreams, Vera felt a hand shaking her shoulder gently.

“Wake up, it’s time to get up, we will disembark in two hours… If you don’t get up now, you will regret it later.”

Vera opened her eyes. Discombobulated, she tilted her face slightly, and her eyes drifted out of the window.

Her pupils shrank, and her eyelashes trembled.

She was shocked.

A fiery red planet was in front of her.

The dust on its surface tumbled under the force of the wind, like a burning flame.

The space station suspended in orbit was so small in comparison, dancing on the edge of the red flame.

“Is this… Mars?”

Looking at the fiery red planet outside the porthole, Vera couldn’t help but widen her eyes. She touched the window with her hands unconsciously.

“That’s right, this is the frontier of our civilization… At least for now.” Anderina said with a smile on her mouth while her eyes had a look of fascination, “Speaking of which, are you that surprised? I remember during the 21st century, people have already landed on Mars.”

After two weeks of sailing, the two had become best friends.

Vera was full of curiosity about everything in this world, and Anderina, who dreamed of becoming a novelist, also cherished this opportunity to interview a dormant human from the last century.

Especially since Vera came from the 2020s.

That was the time period in which her idol, Lu Zhou, was flourishing the most.

After hearing Anderina’s words, Vera explained softly, “It probably happened after I went into dormancy.”

Before she went dormant, she vaguely remembered that the most remarkable thing people had done was to build a scientific research station on the moon.

“I see.” Anderina looked at her and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She continued, “Speaking of which, you said that you came to Mars to find someone… Who is that person? A relative? Or a descendant of your relatives?”

Upon hearing this question, Vera showed a warm smile on her face and said softly, “He’s a great person.”

“What a coincidence, the purpose of my trip is the same. The Pan-Asian Cooperation has not been willing to disclose the details of faster than light technology. We journalists have to go there by ourselves.” Anderina looked at Vera, smiled, and continued, “A war had just broken out here, so the political state is still unstable. I worry about letting you run around alone. Where are you going? I can give you a ride.”

Vera said embarrassedly, “Will this… be too troublesome for you?”

Although this was a tempting proposal, she was worried about whether it would affect her friend’s work.

“How come?” Anderina said with a smile, “We are friends. Isn’t it normal to help each other? Speaking of which, do you have a clue where the person you want to see is? Don’t tell me that you don’t know.”

“Of course not.” Vera shook her head and said with a smile, “I know where he is, but I didn’t tell him I’m coming.”

“A surprise visit, right? Haha, I get it.” Anderina winked at Vera and continued, “Anyway, it’s good that you know where he is. Finding people in Tiangong City is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Despite the small area of the city, the population density is the highest in the solar system…”

While they were talking, the speakers above their heads began to play soft music.

Under the guidance of the flight attendant’s reminder, the guests in the cabin stood up from their seats and began to leave the cabin of the transport ship.

Because she hadn’t adapted to walking in a gravity-free environment, Vera, who had just left her seat, was a little clumsy. Fortunately, Anderina held her hand, so she didn’t float to the ceiling.

“Relax, think of yourself as a fish, you are in the sea… Come with me, the ground shuttle usually doesn’t wait around. If it’s full, we have to wait for the next one.”

She pulled Vera quickly across the corridor of the departure hall. When the two were about to get on the shuttle, they were suddenly mesmerized by the scene outside the window.

An unimaginably large starship, like a silver-white ruler, was hovering in the orbit of Mars.

When she was on the transport ship earlier, she didn’t see this starship because of the angle. But now, just like herself, many tourists from Earth looked at it with eyes of surprise.

“What is that?”

“That?” Following Vera’s sight, Anderina was slightly stunned. She then said with a smile, “Oh, that thing, if I had to guess, it should be Noah’s Ark… Of course, his name is Milky Way now that Academician Lu bought it.”

Noah’s Ark?

For some reason, Vera, after hearing the news, had a slightly complicated look on her face.

There was a hint of comfort, relief, and regret.

Anderina looked at her strangely and didn’t think too much.

After all, humans were sentimental beings, and Vera happened to be at a sentimental age.

After taking the shuttle to the ground, the two dragged their luggage out of the terminal building. Anderina clearly felt the atmosphere of post-war reconstruction in the air.

The bullet holes that remained on the ground and the pit holes left by the explosion had not been completely erased, and some seriously damaged buildings were still circled by police tapes.

The tourists had a somewhat curious look in their eyes, but the faces of the locals were full of grief.

After getting a taxi, the driver changed the gear and flew the car into the suspended pipeline in the air. Anderina asked the driver, “How is the law and order here these days?”

“The law and order is good, even better than before,” the driver said in a casual tone. “But you know, Ma’am, Mars is not a peaceful place. It’s better not to wander around… Where are you going?”

Anderina opened her mouth to speak, but Vera, who was sitting next to her, said immediately, “Star Sky Hotel.”

After hearing these words, both the driver and Anderina, who was sitting next to Vera, gave her a surprised look.

However, the driver didn’t say much. After replying “Got it!”, he returned his attention to driving.

In about half an hour, the car quickly reached its destination.

After getting out of the car, the two stood in front of this magnificent hotel.

After politely rejecting the doorman who came to help with the luggage, Anderina glanced at Vera awkwardly and asked in a quiet voice, “That friend of yours… lives in a place like this?”

Vera gave her a strange look.

“What’s the problem?”

“Nothing…”

The Star Sky Hotel, located in the center of Tiangong City, was the most luxurious hotel in the city. The credit points needed to live here for a day was equivalent to her one-month bonus, and this was just for the ordinary rooms.

Anderina was thinking about what kind of person lived at a place like this.

Suddenly, a voice of surprise came from nearby.

“Vera?!”

The two turned around together and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

Instantly, Vera’s eyes widened, and there was a layer of mist in her excited eyes.

She ran in that direction.

Anderina, who was left behind, was dumbfounded.

“Lu… Lu Zhou?”

She didn’t expect that the “great man” the little girl was talking about was actually him…

Chapter 1658: Every Second We Experience is Science Fiction

Before he could react, a wisp of fragrance rushed into his arms.

Lu Zhou was a little dazed by the sudden hug. His movements were a little stiff, as if he was hesitating where to put his hands.

Fortunately, Vera, who suddenly rushed into his arms, seemed to realize how embarrassing her behavior was, so she blushed and quickly separated from him.

Looking at Lu Zhou with a nervous look on her face, Vera whispered, “I… missed you so much, so I came to see you… is that okay?”

“Of course it is, but you came so far by yourself… Have you been on a space shuttle before?”

Lu Zhou’s face was full of worry, Vera shook her head gently.

“No… but Xiao Ai and I were both worried about you.”

Lu Zhou was baffled at Vera turning the tables and worrying about him. He said, “You don’t need to worry about what I am doing, I am an old man now. I can take care of myself.”

“Not really…” Vera whispered, “I heard from Xiao Ai that 100 years ago, you caused people a lot of trouble.”

Lu Zhou’s face showed a look of shame.

Xiao Ai…

Why is she doing this?

Just when Anderina was about to record this emotional moment, a cough came from the side.

“It is forbidden to take pictures here.”

Anderina turned around and saw a strange man standing next to her. He seemed to be guarding something.

“I don’t have bad intentions, just a little surprised… Sorry, it was my fault.”

After seeing Anderina sincerely apologizing, Wang Peng nodded without saying anything.

Lu Zhou noticed the commotion as he looked over.

“Excuse me, you are…”

“I-I am…” Anderina was about to introduce herself, but she was so excited to see her idol that her voice became incoherent.

Fortunately, Vera, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, smiled and explained for her.

“Her name is Anderina, a reporter from Le Monde. We met on the road. Thanks to her help, I got here safely.”

After listening to Vera’s introduction, Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully. He looked at Anderina, smiled slightly, and spoke in a friendly manner.

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

“No, no, actually I didn’t help much,” Anderina said with a blushing face. She waved her hand and felt a little ashamed. “No need to thank me.”

“Haha, don’t be so polite.” Lu Zhou smiled. He looked at the embarrassed expression on her face and continued, “It seems that you have a lot of things to ask me.”

Anderina nodded honestly.

“Yes… I came to Mars this time mainly to interview you. It’s just that I haven’t figured out how to begin.”

“If only every reporter can be like you, less small talk and more sincerity.” Lu Zhou looked at Vera standing on the side and said softly, “After two weeks of flying, you must be tired. Come on, go and rest. I’ll let Ling take you to the room. You can leave your luggage there.”

“Yeah…” Looking at Lu Zhou anxiously, Vera whispered with a worried expression on her face, “Am I causing you trouble?”

“Why would you?” Lu Zhou said with a smile. He reached out and caressed her hair. “It is my fault for making you worry about me.”

After Vera walked away while blushing, Lu Zhou looked at Anderina, who pretended not to see anything. He thought for a while and continued, “What a coincidence… I was just about to go to the laboratory of East Asia Heavy Industries.”

After hearing these words, Anderina said quickly, “It’s fine, it doesn’t matter, I can follow your schedule!”

“No way, everyone’s time is equally precious.” Lu Zhou shook his head and continued, “Well, how about you come with us?”

“Huh?” Anderina was slightly stunned. “Is this… really okay?”

“Of course.” Lu Zhou said with a faint smile, “If you can learn my technology just from glancing at it, I would be happily surprised.”

Lu Zhou glanced at Wang Peng. He nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

Before coming to Tiangong City, Anderina wondered how she would get to interview Lu Zhou. She did not expect that she would interview him in this manner.

To show her sincerity, she took the initiative to turn off her camera and interview drone. She then handed them over to the man who looked like a bodyguard.

Wang Peng nodded in response to Anderina’s actions and did not show much emotion.

Soon, the three arrived at the industrial zone in a maglev vehicle.

In a huge workshop, Anderina saw a giant metal ring.

The silver-white metal ring was covered with complicated equipment. It looked like a cyberpunk artwork, and it manifested maximalist design to the extreme.

After staring at it for a long time, Anderina finally couldn’t help but ask, “This is…?”

“Stargate.” Lu Zhou looked at the huge circle. He smiled and continued, “The starting point of the hyperspace channel… Of course, it can also be the endpoint.”

Wang Peng looked at him nervously. Lu Zhou smiled back and motioned to him not to be nervous. “It’s fine, I will start testing this set of equipment soon, and there will be a press conference soon. It’s fine even if it’s made public now… So, let’s get down to business, Ms. Anderina, I know you probably have a lot of questions to ask.”

Seeing Lu Zhou suddenly turn the topic to herself, Anderina was slightly stunned. She quickly nodded and said, “I heard that many scholars have commented that once faster than light technology is integrated into our society, it will bring earth-shaking changes to our society… It is even no exaggeration to say that we will enter a new era because of this.”

“You can say that.” Lu Zhou nodded, acknowledging her statement. “By maintaining a stable and open hyperspace channel, even without a warp drive, ordinary spacecraft can use stargates to achieve hyperspace transitions and travel the distance of astronomical units in a very short amount of time. This includes not only the exchange of matter but also information.”

Anderina: “This is your expectation for the future?”

“Sort of.” Lu Zhou said with a smile, “I can feel that the day is not far away.”

“When the time comes, not only matter and information, but all of us… From Antarctica to the Kuiper Belt that is a few astronomical units away, whether it is on Earth or Mars, we will all be connected as a whole. And all the spirits in the galaxy will be united under the same name.”

“That is, the human civilization.”

Shocked by the future depicted by Lu Zhou, Anderina’s face showed a look of disbelief.

After a while, she opened her mouth.

“It sounds… like a sci-fi movie.”

“Compared to yesterday, every second we experience is science fiction.” Lu Zhou continued with a faint smile on his face, he looked at her and said, “I hope you can use your linguistic expertise to convey this message to the world.”

He coughed and spoke.

“Then, Ms. Anderina, I wonder if you are interested in participating in the opening ceremony of our stargate?”

Chapter 1659: I Want To Revive the Human Alliance

Anderina never thought that one day, she would be able to attend such an important occasion or even participate in the writings of history.

“Every second we experience is science fiction…”

After hearing this quiet whisper, the man sitting next to Anderina raised his eyebrows curiously.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing?” Anderina shook her head. With a firm expression on her face, she said, “I will write this into the book.”

“Book?”

“Yes, I intend to write a book about the future of human civilization under the pseudonym Anna… And I intend to put this sentence at the beginning of this book.”

“Sounds interesting, can I receive a signed copy?”

Anderina raised her eyebrows and said teasingly, “Of course, as long as you are willing to pay, you can have as many copies as you want.”

“Haha.”

In a relaxed and joyful atmosphere, along with others, Anderina boarded the transport ship named “Torch”. Under the guidance of the crew members, she fastened her seatbelt and connected her spacesuit to the life support system.

After looking around, Anderina couldn’t help but ask.

“Where is our destination?”

The male passenger sitting nearby answered this question.

“Earth! We have to share this great moment with our fellow citizens on Earth!”

His face was filled with excitement, and his beard seemed to be shaking. He said in a fierce tone, “2.6 astronomical units in less than a minute. Soon, we will see the Tianzhou Space Station appear in front of us.”

“You are…”

The man smiled and showed his white teeth. He continued to speak excitedly, “A reporter from Pan-Asia News! Haha, it’s a great honor to be able to sit here and witness this historical moment!”

As time went by, the Torch starship got closer and closer to the stargate.

A gentle reminder floated on the ceiling of the cabin.

“Passengers, please note that the passenger ship Torch is entering the scheduled orbit and will pass through the stargate in 5 minutes, entering the hyperspace channel.

“Because the gravitational field will fluctuate greatly when entering the stargate, please stay in your seats and fasten your seat belts to prevent safety accidents.”

When Anderina heard these words, she took a deep breath. Every cell in her body tightened because of the tension.

However, there seemed to be a slight discrepancy from what she had expected. Although the feeling of g-force made her feel a little compressed, it was only for a short moment.

The stars outside the window seemed to be stretched. They were pulled into silver lines, forming a glowing stream of spacetime.

“Is this the hyperspace channel? It’s incredible… Really amazing.”

A gray-bearded old man was sitting near Anderina. He looked out the window excitedly, almost sticking his nose on the glass.

Judging from his temperament and appearance, he was unlike a journalist and more like a scholar or researcher.

Having been a reporter for so many years, Anderina was quite confident of her ability to judge people.

However, just as she was about to find a way to interview him, the huge and chaotic gravitational force struck again, pressing her firmly back on the chair.

However, it was only for a moment.

The scene outside the window suddenly changed.

An arc-shaped “door frame” swept past her eyes, and the galaxy returned to its stillness again, as if they had stepped on the brakes. The speed of the entire starship suddenly slowed down.

All these happened at the moment when the starship Torch passed through that circular arch!

Of course, this was not what surprised Anderina the most.

She vaguely saw a blue figure in the deep and endless space.

“Earth…”

“That’s Earth!”

Someone also shouted after her.

If it were not for the seat belts, all of those excited people would jump up from their seats and hug each other.

“This is incredible…”

Anderina gently raised her trembling hand as she glanced at her watch.

From Mars orbit to Earth geosynchronous orbit…

In less than a minute!

At the same time, Lu Zhou, standing in the conference room at the branch headquarters of East Asia Heavy Industries in Tiangong City, witnessed this historic moment with a man standing across from him.

The man’s name was Li Guangya; he was the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

Of course, technically, he wasn’t standing here. It was his holographic projection.

“It’s incredible…” he whispered. Li Guangya looked at his hands and looked around again. “Is this Mars?”

Lu Zhou: “Have you never been here?”

“I have always planned to come, but I could never find the time. After all, I have to be disconnected for a week or even two weeks when I fly here. Our alliance can’t go without a leader for such a long time.”

There was a slight excitement on Li Guangya’s face when he said this.

Immediately afterward, he looked at Lu Zhou.

“Real-time communication has been achieved… Is the first stargate experiment successful?”

Lu Zhou glanced at his watch, thought for a moment, and said, “Starship Torch has just entered the stargate, and it will take about half a minute for them to get out.”

“Then why is the call between us not delayed?”

Lu Zhou: “The time it takes for massless photons and mass particles to pass through the hyperspace channel is different.”

Li Guangya coughed slightly awkwardly.

“I see…”

Suddenly, there was silence in the conference room for a few seconds.

Soon after, the news of the successful arrival of Torch came to Mars through the hyperspace channel.

Lu Zhou, who was standing on Mars, and Li Guangya, who was in Beijing, received this good news almost at the same time.

Although it was expected, after hearing the news, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but show a smile on his face.

His expectations for the Z particles were finally fulfilled at this moment.

Although Lu Zhou never thought that this chapter would be written by him, in any case, with the completion of this technology, human civilization would enter a new era.

Just when Lu Zhou was in a celebratory mood, a voice suddenly came from across the conference table.

“The stargate is complete… Are you planning to leave?”

Lu Zhou looked at the serious expression on Li Guangya’s face. After thinking for a while, Lu Zhou spoke.

“There are still a few things left to be done. I’m not in a rush.”

“Do you have to go?”

Lu Zhou nodded.

“After going to Tau Ceti, I will go to the center of the Milky Way.”

Li Guangya sighed and said, “I still don’t understand why you are so persistent.”

“Because I have my reasons, and I’m the only one who can do this.” Lu Zhou continued looking at Li Guangya and said, “Trust me, this is for the future of our civilization.”

“Future?” Li Guangya sighed. His eyes wandered around as he muttered to himself in a quiet voice, “As long as you exist, the future is bright. And if you leave, the road can only be explored by ourselves.”

Lu Zhou: “This day will come eventually. I can’t lead the way all the time, nor will I always be correct.”

Li Guangya: “Can I ask you another question?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Before I leave, you can ask as many as you want.”

He thought that Li Guangya would ask him an academic question or the feasibility of a certain technology.

He didn’t expect this guy to throw out a question that had nothing to do with academics.

“Using the breakthrough of faster than light technology as an opportunity, I want to revive the Federation of Human Alliance.

“Do you think the timing is right?”

Chapter 1660: Towards a New Era

If it weren’t for her witnessing that moment with her own eyes, Anderina could never believe that under the dominance of a certain technology, a human spacecraft could cross 2.6 astronomical units in an instant, going from Mars to Earth’s geosynchronous orbit.

She wasn’t the only one who witnessed all of this since she participated in this historic moment with 100 other passengers.

At this moment, Anderina was speechless. Every inch on her face was filled with surprise.

She swore that she would use her words to make this moment eternal…

Anderina was not the only one surprised.

The space observatory belonging to the North American Space Agency in geosynchronous orbit also observed this amazing scene.

Researcher Field almost poked his nose through the holographic screen as he stared at the starship that appeared almost out of thin air in the observation lens.

Standing behind him, Johnny whispered, “They succeeded…”

Yes, they succeeded.

No matter how unacceptable this reality was and how hopeless it made Field and others feel, facts did not care about feelings.

From this moment onwards, human civilization would have entered a new era.

To celebrate this moment, bright fireworks rose one after another over the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group at 8 o’clock in the evening.

Not only celebrating in reality but also on the Internet.

From the virtual reality online game of Calan Empire to the academic exchange forums of major universities, at almost every corner of the Internet, everyone was celebrating this great moment in their own way.

As the world’s largest academic exchange forum, the atmosphere on the LSPM forum began to brew as early as yesterday.

As the news of the successful arrival of Torch came, the related discussion posts were like a waterfall, flooding the pages in an instant.

[Academician Lu is insane!]

[Nutty! It takes less than a minute to get from Mars to Earth?! Wouldn’t it be faster to go to Mars than to go to the Moon?!]

[More than just insane! This is crazy, okay! Not just starships, the communication technology is also amazing! Sending a letter to Mars used to take a few minutes at best, and sometimes more than 20 minutes!]

[Haha, in the future, Tiangong City will no longer be a local area network.]

[It’s hard to say. I don’t know how much the communication cost of stargates is. If it is 100 credits per kb of traffic, even if instant messaging can be achieved, it may not be affordable to people.]

[I heard from Academician Lu that maintaining a stable and open hyperspace channel should not cost too much, right?]

[Oh, who knows?]

Not only were netizens hotly discussing this topic, but the academic community had also launched heated discussions around this amazing news.

For example, Academician Wang Chuanzhe from the Pan-Asian Academy of Social Sciences wrote an article with a length of about 10,000 words in his LSPM blog.

He analyzed the possible impact of the technology on the world from a sociological perspective.

[According to the laws of historical development, factors closely related to our lives, such as the scope of human activities and the boundaries of civilization, have always been inseparable from the development of transportation technology and communication technology.]

[Since the beginning of the space age, despite the continuous emergence of numerous and diverse technologies, our area of activity has not expanded as a result and is still confined to the narrow asteroid belt.]

[But now, the birth of hyperspace theory and the emergence of warp speed technology have reversed this situation in a fundamental sense, extending the boundaries of our imagination beyond the solar system.]

[It is foreseeable that this technology will not only change our way of life but will also completely change the political pattern on the planet. Just like the changes that Columbus brought to the European continent, I can boldly speculate that the globalization process that ended in the last century will recover again, and we will also move towards greater alliances and integration to share our future destiny.]

After this article was published, it immediately caused a huge response in academia.

Not only because of Academician Wang Chuanzhe’s vision of this technology but also because his description at the end of the article reminded people of the Federation of Human Alliance from the last century.

In order to respond to the threats from extraterrestrial civilizations, various countries formed an authoritative organization that had more executive power than the United Nations, to speak a voice that belonged to human civilization.

However, because evidence of the existence of an extraterrestrial civilization was not found, and the exploration of the Martian civilization ruins remained stagnant, this alliance soon died due to various reasons, and finally was replaced by regional alliances.

Over the past 100 years, the academic community had demonstrated countless times that it was impractical to establish a unified political collective that encompassed hundreds of countries around the world. In contrast, a small-scale regional alliance was more in line with the development needs of human society.

But now, at this specific pivotal moment, Academician Wang Chuanzhe had put forward a point of view that opposed the mainstream opinion in the academic world.

Especially considering the political background of this old man, many people had begun to speculate whether there was a major move brewing in the Pan-Asian Cooperation…

…

Regardless of what major moves were brewing, the mainstream public of the Pan-Asian Cooperation was in a jubilant mood.

However, in contrast, the mood of other regional alliances was not so joyful.

North American Alliance headquarters.

Inside the chairman’s office.

The chief of staff, who was in a suit, walked into the room quickly. He put his hands on the desk, looked at the chairman sitting behind the desk, and spoke in a hasty tone.

“There are reports that the Pan-Asian Cooperation intends to restart the Human Alliance.”

After hearing this sentence, the chairman of the board was taken aback for a moment. He then sneered, “Human Alliance? The thing that has been swept into the historical grave? Haha, what excuses do they plan to use this time? Jupiter aliens? Or Saturn aliens?”

“Neither…”

The chief of staff gulped and placed a Pan-Asian news report on the holographic screen.

With an expression of suspicion, the President cast his gaze on the holographic screen.

However, it was at this moment that his face solidified.

There were no excuses from them.

There was not even a warning or threat.

There was just a chilling understatement—

[According to various rumors, the Pan-Asian executives are researching the expansion of economic cooperation and opening the use of stargate technology to member countries that join the cooperation.]

“I can’t believe they would use the stargates as a bargaining chip…”

The chief of staff lowered his head with a heavy expression and said, “Yes… I never expected that they would be so shameless.”

“…”

The chairman of the board gently leaned against the office chair. His index finger was slightly trembling as it gently rested on the bridge of his nose.

The North American Alliance was not a country; it was only a regional alliance.

If the Pan-Asian Cooperation made joining the Human Alliance or similar organizations a prerequisite for using the stargate technology and threw an olive branch to the member states of the North American Alliance, he could foresee the collapse of the entire North American Alliance…

This was an offer that the countries could not refuse.

The chief of staff standing opposite his desk gulped and spoke.

“Chairman…”

“Get out.” His voice was full of exhaustion, as if he aged ten years old in an instant. The man sitting in the office chair said, “I want to be alone.”

Chapter 1661: Human Alliance

“What did he reply to you?”

Beijing.

At the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters.

They were walking in the corridor and heading towards the conference hall. Facing Secretary-General Wu Shuhua’s inquiry, Li Guangya thought for a while before replying in a casual tone.

“He didn’t answer.”

After hearing this unexpected answer, Wu Shuhua glanced at him unexpectedly.

“He didn’t answer you?”

“Yes.” Li Guangya shrugged and said with a helpless smile, “He said I should figure out the road to the future myself… Of course, he may also be interested in things outside of academics.”

Wu Shuhua was silent for a while. She then continued, “In any case, we have come to where we are today.”

“Yeah.” Li Guangya nodded emotionally. He raised his head and looked at the spacious door perched at the end of the corridor. He said, “The future will judge whether this is good or bad.”

…

On the 6th day of June, a major event happened at the Pan-Asian Cooperation.

To be precise, it was not only the Pan-Asian Cooperation but also the fate of the entire world.

Under the invitation from Beijing, hundreds of countries around the world set aside their regional alliance responsibilities and sent representatives to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group to participate in this meeting, to discuss issues related to the future destiny of mankind.

At the end of the conference, the organizer of the conference took the lead and released a joint initiative on the establishment of a new and more international community with a shared future for mankind.

The new alliance was named the Federation of Human Alliance, just like its sister organization that died a century ago.

However, the difference was that the people in the new era injected a new framework under the old foundation.

Under the guarantee of the First Fleet and the authority established by the hyperspace channel, this alliance would be more reliable than any other alliance born on this planet…

North Sea Alliance.

University of Oxford campus.

Leonard sat in the library, making final preparations for the upcoming most important speech in his life.

Sitting across from him was his old friend Professor Feren, who was also the only colleague he spoke to on this campus.

He paid the price to go against the mainstream opinions, so no one in the entire archeology department respected him, except for the one sitting in front of him.

Although there was a 30-year difference in age, they had a common language.

“Human Alliance… Pft, if you live long enough, anything can happen.” Feren’s finger lightly tapped on the holographic screen in front of him. He smiled and continued, “I still remember your father made a bet with me that the collapse of the Human Alliance was only because it was ahead of its time, and it would eventually be revived one day in the future… Now it seems that he won.”

Leonard didn’t respond. Feren suddenly thought of something and continued apologetically, “My apologies for speaking on a sore topic.”

“It’s not a sore topic. My father always taught me that people have to look forward.” Leonard continued, pushing his holographic glasses up the bridge of his nose, “My father was a great scholar, I will soon prove this.”

“I think so too, it’s just the stupidity of the public that conceals his talent.”

Feren sighed softly. As if he was reminiscing about the past, a trace of emotion appeared in his muddy pupils.

After a long pause, his index finger touched the teacup and he continued, “I still remember, thirty years ago, back then we discussed the future of human civilization… Although the discussion of this matter by two archaeologists sounded a bit funny, I felt like his insights were unlike an ordinary archaeologist’s. He was even more astute than some international relations experts.”

The pen in Leonard’s hand froze. He moved his gaze away from the holographic panel and looked at Feren.

Noticing that Leonard became interested in this topic, Feren smiled faintly and continued to speak, “In his opinion, those Chinese people have actually been planning this for a long time.”

“Planning for a long time?”

“Yeah.” Feren nodded and said with a smile, “The plan to build a community with a shared future for mankind around the world… In fact, they have already started making arrangements a century ago.

“However, even with adequate preparation, this is still an extremely difficult project. It spans many lifetimes and requires countless generations of people to work hard and painstakingly for it. This requires them to be loyal towards a common collective at all costs. It is difficult for us to do the same.”

“This is a unique opinion.” Leonard thought about it for a while and then looked at him and said, “In your opinion, how exactly did they do it?”

“It seems that you still don’t understand the ingenuity of this. What they did was not a specific thing, but a promise that is fulfilled by the collective in unconscious behavior.”

Leonard: “What promise?”

“Peace.”

Seeing that Leonard had a surprised expression on his face, Feren smiled and continued with an admiring tone, “Carefully calculated over a century. During this century, they have not launched a single foreign war, even during the most difficult 2050s. Since the eighteenth century, this has never happened before.”

War was a difficult choice, but it was an easy solution.

No method could transfer domestic disputes, crises, and errors to foreign countries faster than war.

“Haven’t you noticed? This conference did not receive much opposition.”

Feren’s index finger lightly tapped on the holographic screen. He watched the news presented in front of him and continued, “On the surface, it appears that the Pan-Asian Cooperation used the fleet and stargate to blackmail other regional alliances, but in fact, during the entire conference process, things were completed rather smoothly.

“This is quite an incredible thing, as if… The world is ready to welcome its new owner. The allies who once belonged to us are turning their backs faster than we thought.”

Seeing that Leonard didn’t speak, Feren sighed slightly and said fascinatingly, “It would be great if we could live forever… Life is so short that most of us can’t see the day our research shines. I really want to know how future generations will evaluate this history.”

Leonard teasingly said, “Perhaps you can have a child and he will witness the future for you.” He looked at his watch and continued, “In any case, my seminar is starting soon…”

Feren: “Seriously, is it really useful for us to research those bugs?”

“The usefulness is that we can learn from their decline,” Leonard said softly after turning off the holographic panel floating in front of him. He added, “So we can avoid a similar ending.”

Chapter 1662: We Meet Again

[My dear friend, thank you very much for the fossil you gave me. Although I feel you may have forgotten about me, I must express my gratitude.]

[Yesterday, the seminar I held at the University of Oxford came to an end. The clues I found in the fossils you gave me fully proved that there was a group of strong and intelligent cockroaches who once lived on Mars.]

[Different from the little guys who are active on Earth today, they were bigger, had longer tentacles, and lived on a planet with more oxygen than ours… And this also proves that Mars once had a prosperous past, only to be withered for some reason.]

[A civilization once existed on Mars, is there anything more surprising than this? The unfinished expedition from 100 years ago has now received a new explanation. We are not alone in the universe, and the remains of our neighbors are under our feet.]

[I have a sincere request, could you perhaps tell me, where did you find the fossil? We know that money and honor can no longer impress you, but in order to find enlightenment from a prehistoric civilization, I sincerely implore you to share the location of the fossil…]

Mars.

Star Sky Hotel.

Sitting in the study room, Lu Zhou read the email that Leonard had written to him. A troubled expression appeared on his face.

The fossil was found in the ruins of The Gates of Hell, and its current coordinates were probably at the deepest part of the Hiddell Mining Company’s mine, which was next to General Reinhardt’s ship.

However, Lu Zhou certainly couldn’t say that.

He couldn’t explain these things honestly, at least before moving the ship.

He understood Leonard’s impatience and curiosity at the moment.

This was the emotion that any scholar would have when facing the truth.

After hesitating for a while, Lu Zhou opened the dictation function on the screen. After sorting out his thoughts, he spoke in a clear voice.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Leonard, I honestly don’t remember very clearly where the fossil came from. You’ve heard how chaotic the situation was, and you’ve even seen it in the documentary. The cave was collapsing, and I laid in a dormant cabin in a hurry. If the dormant cabin left by the prehistoric civilization wasn’t there, I am afraid I would no longer be in this world.

“There are only two clues I can provide you. In terms of what I have seen, the declining Martian civilization once prospered unprecedentedly, but because of the introverted culture and physical incompetence, instead of expanding into space, they chose to go deep underground.

“As for another clue, that is the demise of the Martian civilization, which is probably related to their excessive release of the thermal energy from Mars’ core, which caused the disappearance of the Martian magnetic field and the loss of the atmosphere…”

Lu Zhou double-checked the text written on the holographic panel.

Not to check for mistakes, but to check whether there was any important information missing, or if he revealed something that should not be revealed.

Then he clicked the send button, sending the email back, and got up from his chair.

He would go to the Milky Way ship in the afternoon to see his and Xiao Ai’s new home.

After a month of work, the latest warp drive had been installed by East Asia Heavy Industries.

Except for a few minor changes, the entire colonial ship was almost complete…

…

Today’s news was shown on the holographic screen on the shuttle headed towards the East Asia Heavy Industries shipyard.

[Professor Leonard, a well-known scholar of the North Sea Alliance, used fossil evidence to prove that a smart creature resembling a cockroach once existed on Mars billions of years ago.]

[So far, the research has caused a huge sensation in the academic community. Experts in related fields have not yet expressed their views on this incident. However, according to an unnamed scholar, the evidence is likely to be true, and this research may change the mainstream opinions on the ancient geological structure and ancient biological environment of Mars.]

When Zhong Ziyu read the news in the video window, he couldn’t help but speak emotionally.

“It’s incredible. I can’t believe those annoying little creatures built a civilization before?”

After hearing this, Lu Zhou smiled and did not reply.

He was also in disbelief.

He never thought that the fossil stone he put in his pocket would create such a huge reaction.

After ten minutes of sailing, the shuttle quickly stopped at the shipyard’s berth.

The gangway connected, and the group of people soon arrived at the shipyard. They came to the modified Milky Way under the guidance of the engineers.

Standing in the grand concourse, Zhong Ziyu looked around as he smiled and spoke.

“I feel like there is more space here than when I came last time.”

“That’s probably an illusion. This modification did not change the main structure of the starship, it only made some detailed adjustments to the internal space.” Lu Zhou looked at the surrounding layout and said, “Perhaps it’s because the space utilization has improved.”

Academician Yang Chongping was indeed worthy of being a leading engineer in the Mars aviation industry. His skills were quite unrivaled. Choosing him as the chief engineer was an extremely wise decision.

“Really? I thought you widened this colonial ship.” Zhong Ziyu smiled and continued, “Speaking of which, how fast is the warp drive on this ship?”

“It depends on the total mass of the target planet, the distance traveled, and the mass of the colonial ship.” Lu Zhou thought for a while and continued, “If it is Tau Ceti, it will take about 30 days.”

To be honest, the warp drive he designed was just the key to open the hyperspace channel, it couldn’t determine the attributes of the channel itself.

“Arrive at Tau Ceti in 30 days?” Zhong Ziyu’s expression was a little emotional as he continued, “What about Alpha Centauri?”

“About two weeks… Why?”

Zhong Ziyu smiled embarrassedly. He touched the back of his head with his right hand.

“I’m just asking casually… But after hearing you say this, there’s a chance.”

Lu Zhou: “…?”

A chance at what?

Just as Zhong Ziyu was about to explain his plan, a voice floated from above the empty hall.

“You came.”

The two men looked up at the same time but saw nothing.

A holographic beam fell from the sky and landed in front of the two of them.

Lu Zhou looked at the young man standing in front of him. He was slightly stunned, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.

“Lawrence…”

“Yes, my old friend.”

The young Lawrence smiled and continued in a gentle but cold voice.

“We meet again.”

Chapter 1663: : Hostage?

When Zhong Ziyu saw the figure standing in the holographic beam, he was slightly stunned and a little confused.

He frowned, looked at the young man, and said, “Who the hell are you? How did you get in?”

“Who am I? Hasn’t Academician Lu already introduced me?” Lawrence smiled faintly. He continued in a relaxed tone, “David Lawrence. As for how I get in… This was originally my ship, and I live here.”

Zhong Ziyu’s eyes widened. He took a half step backward and pressed the alarm on his left-hand terminal with his right hand.

Lawrence didn’t pay attention to his movements, as if he didn’t care. His eyes were fixated on Lu Zhou’s body.

“My old friend, you don’t seem to be too happy?”

“I have no reason to be happy.” Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, “I don’t quite understand how you got into this position.”

Lawrence: “Are you talking about digitizing myself?”

Lu Zhou nodded and continued, “It is not easy to give up everything you have.”

“Give up everything I have?” Lawrence smiled faintly as he continued, “If that is the case, I have to thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes.” Lawrence nodded and continued in a chattering tone, “More than 100 years ago, the sole heir of the Boston Financial Group gave up the career he loved and started his own mission that only he could execute. However, after countless attempts, no matter how hard he tried to seize the opportunities of the times and rejuvenate the glory of the Lawrence family and the Boston Financial Group, he became a joke on Wall Street… Do you know why? It was all because of you.”

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

He really didn’t understand how the blame was on him.

“Me?”

“Yes.” Lawrence nodded and said, “From new energy to space exploration, Lawrence bet a lot on the future and was in the right direction, but in the end, he lost the bet. In his most frustrating times, he heard a call from the Void.

“Although the voice was faint, he noticed it. They built a huge computer array for him and gave him the key to unlocking the program that contained 2kb of secrets…

“Later, like you saw, we built the largest supercomputer array in the solar system on Ceres and named it the Matrix.”

Lawrence’s voice became slightly deeper. His pupils staring at Lu Zhou constantly flashed with complicated emotion.

“It took us a century to complete this great project. It will take at most half a century more before we will be reborn from the ashes and replace the weaker civilization with a greater, more efficient, healthier, and more rational civilization. To escape from the physical body… Do you understand what I mean?”

“If you want to attribute his failure to me, you really value me too much.” Lu Zhou said blankly, “Frankly speaking, this plan would never succeed. Even without me, there would be others that come out and defeat it.”

“Perhaps so. Everything is in hindsight. Besides, I didn’t mean to blame you.” Lawrence smiled lightly and continued, “If you didn’t make him lose everything, the coward would not give up his rotten body and release me from the cage. I used to have to do things with my bare hands and feet, but now, I can do whatever I want.”

Lu Zhou: “So, The Spirit of The Universe Foundation is part of the Boston family… Or is it a product of your own work?”

He remembered that this guy said that this ship belonged to him.

In that case, the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation was very likely to be funded and established by this guy.

“Not quite, but we did take advantage of them for a long time. And it turns out that they are indeed a group of incompetent guys.” Lawrence showed a mocking smile on his face as he said, “Except for Noah’s Ark, they really didn’t do anything for me.”

Lu Zhou: “Unfortunately, it is now called the Milky Way.”

“Oh yeah?” As if hearing something interesting, Lawrence raised his eyebrows slightly. He looked at Lu Zhou happily and said, “Regardless, you should listen to my opinion.”

Lu Zhou: “Go ahead.”

Lawrence: “I’m going to take this ship away. Rather, take back what is mine.”

Lu Zhou: “Take it away? Where are you going?”

“Where? Haha, don’t you understand? Of course it is the world outside the solar system!” With a crazy look in his eyes, Lawrence continued, “Thanks to your warp drive engine, I don’t need to stay in the solar system any longer. As long as there is enough material and energy, we can easily build a prosperous civilization on a barren star, even without water and air.”

“I don’t understand what the motivation is for you to do this.” Lu Zhou frowned slightly and said, “Is it Lawrence’s last wish? Or…”

“Don’t need to guess, you won’t understand.” He lifted his chin slightly and looked at Lu Zhou with a demeaning look. Lawrence suddenly flattened his tone and continued in a calm manner, “Some things are innate. I can feel the calling of the Void… Actually, aren’t you the same?”

Standing behind Lu Zhou, Zhong Ziyu looked at the two men, dumbfounded. He was a little confused about what they were talking about.

Void?

If he remembered correctly, this was a physics theory, why was it relevant here?

Lu Zhou suddenly looked back at him.

“You should get off this ship.”

Zhong Ziyu: “But you—”

He wanted to say that he couldn’t leave Lu Zhou here alone, but before he could say this, Lu Zhou, who was standing in front of him, interrupted him.

“This is between him and me.”

Lu Zhou looked back at Lawrence and said in a calm tone, “This is a matter between us, I hope you don’t involve unrelated people.”

Lawrence’s eyebrows were raised. He spoke in a confident tone.

“Of course, I need someone to pass a message for me… Listen to me, random citizen, remember to tell your friends when you go back, that your future is on my boat. If you act rashly, there is no way to guarantee his safety. Also, when passing by Alpha Centauri, I will put him there… Believe it or not, I am not interested in a useless piece of meat.”

Looking at that emotionless gaze, Zhong Ziyu’s legs were filled with metal; he couldn’t move at all.

It wasn’t until he met Lu Zhou’s eyes that he gained a little courage. After taking a deep breath, he turned and left.

He believed that Academician Lu would definitely not joke about his safety…

What he had to do now was to go back to the shipyard and let the “professionals” come to the rescue.

After Zhong Ziyu’s departure, only two people remained in the entire hall.

Or rather, one person and one AI.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and was silent for a while. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face, and he said softly, “Very well, the trouble has finally left.”

“Trouble?” Lawrence raised his eyebrows. He laughed as if he didn’t care at all and said, “Do you think you still have a chance? Every component on this ship takes orders from me, they are like my cells—”

“Oh yeah?”

Lu Zhou ignored him and whispered into the air.

“What do you think of this ship, General Reinhardt?”

Chapter 1664: Disappear In A Flash

Lawrence wanted to laugh at Lu Zhou’s nonsensical words. However, an unnatural sense of panic suddenly spread across his body along the circuit board.

That was a feeling of coercion from a higher existence.

His instinctive intuition told him that the other party was much stronger than himself, almost unreasonably strong.

A blue holographic beam suddenly fell from the ceiling and shined beside Lu Zhou.

A humanoid creature with blue skin and a human-like appearance stood in that beam of light.

If a player from the Calan Empire stood here, they would definitely be surprised.

Because that person was none other than the leader of the revolutionary army in the Calan Empire game!

Also a beginner instructor for new players!

General Reinhardt looked at Lu Zhou, who summoned him. He showed a tired expression on his face and said with a sigh, “It is inappropriate for me to interfere with the development process of civilization, but you did win the bet… Speaking of which, how did you know that I am here?”

“I made a guess a long time ago… Do you remember what you told me before? As time goes on, your observations of Martian civilization have become more and more in-depth.”

General Reinhardt asked curiously, “Is there any problem with this?”

“No problem, but I made a hypothesis. In addition to being able to make a macro judgment on the Martian civilization through a series of factors such as electromagnetic waves, gravity, and temperature, you should also be able to directly access their society… Like what you’re doing right now.”

After hearing Lu Zhou’s explanation, General Reinhardt nodded approvingly.

“Not bad, you are very astute. No wonder those people value you so much.”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and gladly accepted the compliment.

“Thank you.”

The situation seemed to change in an instant.

Lawrence, who was holding the winning ticket, felt a strong sense of danger.

Although he didn’t know what they were talking about, he could sense something was different from the blue person standing in front of him.

And what frightened him the most was that although he could see the person standing here, he couldn’t perceive his existence at all.

Almost like the holographic beam was not from the holographic imaging device on the spacecraft but from another place.

As Lawrence stared at the man intently, his pupils contracted slightly, and there was a slight tremor in his voice.

Finally, he asked about the confusion in his heart.

“What the hell are you?”

“Me?” Faced with this impolite question, General Reinhardt smiled lightly and said in a soft voice, “If you know little about the mystery of the Void, you can think of me like a passenger from the old universe.”

Looking at him with a dreaded face, Lawrence lowered his voice and continued, “How did you get on my ship?”

“Technically, I can appear anywhere I want to appear, as long as the signal of my spacecraft can reach there… Of course, it requires a carrier.” General Reinhardt glanced around curiously as he said in a polite manner, “Good spaceship, it seems that you are almost ready.”

Lu Zhou: “You could say so.”

General Reinhardt smiled heartily and said, “Haha, then I look forward to it.”

The feeling of being underestimated made Lawrence annoyed, but Lawrence, as an intelligent program, was not dominated by emotions.

With an incomprehensible opponent in front of him, a feeling of retreat gradually emerged in his heart.

However, just when he was thinking about this, Lu Zhou’s eyes fell on him.

“But before that, I hope you can help me solve a small problem first.”

“Are you talking about him?” Looking at Lawrence, General Reinhardt raised his eyebrows slightly. “I thought you two had a good relationship.”

Lu Zhou: “Lawrence is indeed my old friend, but he is now just a rogue software.”

“You want to get rid of me?”

Lawrence’s voice gradually had a hint of sarcasm and madness.

“I admit, your buddy is very strong, but nothing more. I have merged with this spaceship, and I can control it as freely as I want, unless you destroy it entirely—”

“It doesn’t need to be so troublesome.” General Reinhardt smiled slightly as he looked at Lawrence, who was gradually showing a look of bewilderment. General Reinhardt said, “You should go rest.”

Like a wind blowing away the dust on the ground.

The holographic projection on the floor, like sand dunes on the coast, slowly disintegrated under the ocean waves.

A look of astonishment was in Lawrence’s pupils. He stared dumbfoundedly at his lower body disappearing.

He muttered to himself in disbelief, “How is this possible…?”

In just a second, he realized that he had lost control of this spaceship.

An unknown force attacked his server and disintegrated all of his defenses in a way he couldn’t understand.

“I am afraid that I would not be able to explain the principles of this clearly to you… In fact, even I am not aware of the abilities that I have mastered. This is beyond the scope of our civilization.” General Reinhardt glanced at his right hand and continued, “Perhaps this is the real digital life… Goodbye, my friend.”

The holographic projection belonging to Lawrence disappeared completely.

Located in the server at the core of the spacecraft, the data that maintained his consciousness was also completely erased from this world…

General Reinhardt quickly put the matter aside and continued nonchalantly, “The server of this spaceship looks pretty good… It is quite impressive that your civilization is able to reach this level.”

“Really? Thank you for the compliment.”

“You are welcome… By the way, can I move here?” General Reinhardt pointed to his feet and continued with an impatient expression, “It’s so boring to stay underground.”

“That won’t work, someone has already reserved the spot.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at General Reinhardt, who had a slightly disappointed expression. “Be patient, when I leave, I will take you out from the ground.”

“Really? Then I’ll wait.” General Reinhardt continued as his eyes fell on the metal door not far away, “It seems that your compatriots are quite worried about you. Many people are coming towards here.”

“Can I ask you to retreat for a while?”

“As you wish.”

The holographic beam disappeared from the concourse.

Immediately afterward, the shut alloy door was engulfed by blasting bullets, and a group of heavily armed soldiers rushed in.

“Academician Lu!”

Wang Peng, wearing exoskeleton armor, rushed in front of him. He put his right hand on Lu Zhou’s shoulder and spoke anxiously.

“Are you okay?”

Lu Zhou gave him a comforting look and said with a smile, “I’m fine, but why are you here?”

“I heard that Lawrence was on the starship,” Wang Peng looked around and said solemnly, “I didn’t expect that guy to be alive…”

Lu Zhou: “He is dead.”

Wang Peng was taken aback.

“Dead?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded and said in a relaxed tone, “Died about a year ago, didn’t you see it with your own eyes?”

“But—”

“His digital existence?” Lu Zhou smiled and shook his head. “That is not such an easy thing to create, what he did was just an illusion…”

However, this illusion did cause them a lot of trouble.

But now, it was all over.

Lu Zhou then walked past the heavily armed and muddled soldiers towards the direction of the exit…

Chapter 1665: Antimatter?

At the ILHCRC headquarters.

As a holy place for the minds of global physicists, this scientific research institution located in the Yangtze River Delta city group was a concentration of the world’s best brains, and its research fields covered almost all branches of contemporary physics.

Whether it was the popular hyperspace theory or the relatively unpopular antimatter research.

Because of this, a well-known Lu Zhou Science Award winner declared this place as a paradise to satisfy all physicists’ curiosities.

Of course, dreams were expensive, and the opportunity to embrace dreams was even more so.

As the sacred place of global physics, it was not as easy to work here. Not only did this require hard work and extraordinary talent but also a little bit of luck.

As a lifelong researcher at the ILHCRC, Bruno was undoubtedly one of the lucky ones in the eyes of his colleagues.

Having just turned 40 years old, not only was he nominated for the Lu Zhou Science Award, but he also received a permanent residency at the Pan-Asian Cooperation for his outstanding achievements in the field of antimatter theory.

In the eyes of the people in his hometown, he had undoubtedly become a god.

Of course, Bruno himself did not have so much pride in himself. He was not interested in those insignificant things.

Apart from Academician Lu’s thesis, the only thing that aroused his interest was probably his own research on antimatter.

One morning, he carried a sandwich and walked into the office as usual.

After instructing the robot assistant to help bring a cup of coffee, he enjoyed his breakfast while reading the academic updates on the LSPM website.

A popular anonymous paper suddenly attracted his attention.

With a feeling of curiosity in his heart, he clicked on the post and downloaded the paper.

However, before he could read the paper carefully, he saw the title of the paper, and he was so stunned that the bacon in his sandwich fell on the table without him noticing it.

“Research on antimatter generation and containment technology?”

His tone of voice was full of doubt.

There was only one reason.

Because this sounded ridiculous.

Of course, it was not just the title that was ridiculous. When he saw the abstract of the paper, his eyebrows suddenly twitched.

“Is this an April Fool’s joke?”

It was an exaggeration to say that this paper was complete nonsense, but looking at the abstract alone, this paper sounded like a fictional work.

To be honest, it was not the concept of antimatter that surprised him. After all, people had been researching this as early as the last century, and his research direction was in antimatter as well.

What really struck him was that someone tried to use it in the energy field as an intermediate material for energy storage?

This was too big of a stretch.

Bruno had a perfunctory attitude as he read the main text. He skimmed through the paper quickly.

“Oh, interesting… The experiment design is quite new, but I wonder if the author has thought about how he intends to preserve the extremely unstable antimatter? There is also the problem of energy utilization… The energy released by annihilation is not the kind of nuclear energy that can be used gently, everything around it will be swallowed by the annihilation energy it releases.”

After shaking his head, Bruno swiped his index finger in the air and dragged the paper that had just been downloaded into the recycle bin.

In his opinion, this paper was a waste of time…

After working the whole morning, Bruno stretched in his office chair. He then leaned his hands on the table and stood up.

It was lunchtime.

He was unwilling to eat his meal in a hurry, so he left the office humming a tune and walked to the cafeteria.

Coincidentally, as soon as he entered the cafeteria, he ran into his old friend Professor Sun Qiguang.

As an expert in hyperspace theory, Professor Sun was also a prominent figure among the young scholars of ILHCRC.

The two met first because of a discussion at a seminar, and they clicked unexpectedly and became friends for life.

The two greeted each other, then took their plates and sat down in a secluded place.

Bruno was about to ask him if there was any interesting news in hyperspace theory, but his old friend eagerly spoke first.

“Have you read that paper?”

Bruno paused for a second. He then responded, “Which one?”

“Which else? Other than the anonymous paper on antimatter, is there any other news today? Don’t tell me you haven’t read it yet.”

“I have read it… but you call that a paper?” Bruno glanced at his old friend and said in an incredulous tone, “Jesus… in my opinion, that is a fictional work. You don’t actually think that antimatter can be used just by relying on the assumptions in that paper?”

Professor Sun: “Can it not?”

“Very difficult.” Bruno shook his head. “From what we have learned from the field of astronomy, there are no antimatter celestial bodies within 30 million light-years. It means that even under extreme conditions, this kind of material is difficult to exist on a large scale.”

“Although that is true… But I don’t think you need to be so pessimistic.” Professor Sun took a sip of coffee and continued, “Moreover, I heard a rumor that might interest you.”

Bruno: “What rumor…”

“Apparently, some time ago, Star Sky Technology spent 1 billion credits to build an antimatter laboratory in Tiangong City and also designed a small laboratory for antimatter experiments through East Asia Heavy Industries… You probably know that Star Sky Technology was an enterprise founded by Academician Lu.”

Bruno vaguely felt that something was wrong. He frowned and asked, “So…?”

“So this paper was published from Mars, and you know that the Martian physics community is not interested in antimatter. They are only interested in research in applied fields…” Professor Sun shrugged and continued, “Now there have been rumors that this paper was released by Academician Lu.”

The moment Bruno heard this, he was suddenly embarrassed.

“Academician Lu?! This… How is this possible…?”

He suddenly lost his confidence.

Although his heart told him that just relying on those simple ideas to solve a problem that had plagued human civilization for two centuries was a childish dream…

But…

The person who challenged this proposition was the man who created miracles.

Bruno couldn’t even remember how many miracles the man had accomplished that seemed absolutely impossible in the eyes of others.

He suddenly became a little less confident in the “common sense” he firmly believed in…

Seeing his old friend suddenly become hesitant, Professor Sun gave him a comforting smile.

“I understand what you’re feeling… Those of us who are in hyperspace theory were probably in the same mood as you a few months ago. Even now, we have not fully understood the technology of the warp drive, and the stargate has been open for more than a month. The feeling of being left behind by the times is really uncomfortable.”

Bruno’s face forced a grudging smile, not knowing how to reply.

Looking at his silent old friend, Professor Sun sighed and continued with a touch of fascination in his tone.

“Putting aside the author of the paper and its academic problems for the time being, what interests me is that if the ideas he put forward in the paper are realized, what will happen to physics?”

“To be honest, I don’t know either.” Bruno stared at his plate with a complicated expression. “That paper is beyond my imagination of physics…”

Chapter 1666: As If It Was Destined

An anonymous paper published on the LSPM forum suddenly stirred up the entire physics community.

It would be fine if it was just a pure imaginative work, but the problem was that, from the descriptions in the paper, it was obvious that the author was competent.

People connected this to the recent series of actions by Star Sky Technology, many people speculated whether this paper was published by Academician Lu.

It seemed as if the paper was paving the way for something incredible…

At the same time, inside the terminal building of Tiangong City, a tall and thin man was carrying a suitcase and quickly passing through customs.

“The air here is still the same as last year, it has a smell of industrial products.”

“The air here is artificially produced, it’s not surprising that you feel this way.” As Professor Feren looked at the surrounding buildings, he had an expression of interest. “I remember the last time I came here was more than ten years ago.”

Leonard cast an unexpected glance at him.

“You have been here before?”

“Of course, more than once.” Professor Feren squinted at this familiar yet unfamiliar street and said, “Your father and I dug for clues about the civilization of Mars. We came here countless times, I witnessed the rise and fall of this city.

“Sometimes I even feel that all of this is like a higher calling, like all of this was destined. Ever since the expedition of Professor Vernal, incomplete clues have been placed in front of us, and your father took over the unfinished clues from Vernal’s hands. We are destined to spend our entire lives studying those stones, to dig out the memories of those ancient civilizations, and you…”

Leonard said in an uncertain tone: “… and I finally found out the truth?”

This was what the archaeological community thought about him.

An outstanding young teacher, the star of the University of Oxford, the man who made the Martian civilization come to light again… He had heard these compliments countless times.

Of course, he was still quite proud of his accomplishments.

However, the old man standing next to him humbled him.

“No, what I want to say is… You finally dug out that great man from underground.”

“Don’t say that… I’m also an archaeologist. You are talking about me like I’m a gravedigger.”

“Haha, same thing, at least in my opinion there is no difference between the two… And believe me, no matter what earth-shattering things you did in your lifetime, people in the future will only remember one thing you did.”

“Digging Academician Lu out from the ground?”

Feren nodded approvingly. “No wonder you’re Gilbert’s student, you’re quite smart.”

Leonard: “…”

After leaving the terminal, the two got in the maglev car and headed to the hotel near the industrial area.

The accommodation fee here was not cheap, but fortunately, they could be reimbursed.

After putting down his luggage, Leonard fell on the bed and fell asleep.

After the breakthrough of stargate technology, the journey from Earth to Mars was much shorter, but the journey spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers exhausted all the energy left in his body.

He slept for the entire night.

In the early morning the next day, Leonard cleaned himself up, then found Professor Feren and went to the laboratory in the industrial zone together.

Before coming to Mars, he had emailed Lu Zhou and made an appointment to meet up.

As for why the meeting place was scheduled here, to be honest, Leonard was not particularly sure either.

When he walked into the laboratory, he could clearly feel that countless pairs of eyes were staring at him and Professor Feren, as if they were carefully guarding something…

In the lounge of the laboratory.

Lu Zhou saw the two people walk in from outside. He walked forward with a smile and gave Professor Leonard a big hug.

“Long time no see, my old friend, how are you doing recently?”

“Good, how about you?”

“I’ve always been good.” Lu Zhou then looked at the strange old professor standing next to him. He continued with a smile, “Is this your colleague?”

Looking at the old professor standing next to him, Leonard said with a smile on his face, “Feren, a professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, my colleague, and a friend.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Really? The age gap is a bit big.”

“After all, I’m from his father’s generation.” Professor Feren smiled and continued, “I wonder if you remember Professor Vernal?”

“Vernal…”

Hearing this name, Lu Zhou’s eyes gradually showed a hint of nostalgia.

“Of course I remember, we went to Mars together… I was the last one to come back.”

Professor Feren said with a slightly apologetic expression, “Sorry for touching a sore subject.”

“It’s okay, actually I don’t care.” Lu Zhou waved his hand indifferently, smiled, and continued, “Speaking of which, is Professor Vernal okay?”

Professor Feren shook his head, “After doing some research on the Martian civilization, he passed away many years ago.”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He then sighed softly and said, “… Makes sense, he was from a century ago.”

Professor Feren nodded slightly and continued, “The father of Leonard… Professor Gilbert, began solving the mystery of the disappearance of the Martian civilization, and over the past century, we have been carefully researching Professor Vernal’s works. But now, because of the fossil that you selflessly gifted, our research has finally made a breakthrough.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It is my honor to be able to help with your research.”

“No, it should be our honor to be able to receive your help.” Professor Feren sighed and continued, “Before this, I never thought that the secrets of Mars would be unearthed in my lifetime, and the history of billions of years ago can be witnessed again… But because of your return, everything has turned for the better.”

Professor Feren paused for a moment and continued in a sincere tone, “Although this may be a bit outlandish, we still hope to get your help. We are only one centimeter away from the truth.”

Lu Zhou’s face showed a dumbfounded expression.

“Although I want to help you… but I’m really sorry, I really don’t know anything about archeology.”

It was not that he didn’t know anything. In fact, Lu Zhou had watched the rough life of Martian civilization during his dreams. But he couldn’t tell this to anyone.

After all, there was a difference between archaeology and physics. Although the latter also emphasized evidence, there were many forms of evidence, while the former was not so flexible.

“Just tell us where you found the fossil,” Leonard said with an earnest expression looking at Lu Zhou. “We don’t need your help for the rest, we can find it ourselves.”

Hearing this request, Lu Zhou was a bit embarrassed.

There was a knock on the door of the meeting room, and an intern in a white coat walked in from outside.

“Professor, the experiment is ready, when do you plan to start?”

Leonard looked at Lu Zhou in confusion.

“Experiment?”

Lu Zhou made a helpless expression. “Don’t look at me that way, I’m also a scientist, isn’t it normal to do experiments?”

“I didn’t mean that.” Professor Leonard explained with an awkward expression, “I mean, didn’t you just build the stargate not long ago? Don’t you plan to rest for a while…?”

“The inquiry into science is endless.” Lu Zhou stood up from the sofa. As if thinking of something, he looked at Professor Leonard and said with a smile, “Want to come together?”

Leonard was taken aback for a moment. “Is this… appropriate?”

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said, “Of course, it’s not a secret or anything.”

After that, he took the lead and walked out to the lounge…

Chapter 1667: Antimatter Energy Pile

Accompanied by a series of complicated emotions such as excitement and anxiety, Leonard and Feren followed Lu Zhou’s footsteps to the experimental site outside Tiangong City.

There was a cylindrical building covering an area of about 1,000 square meters. After entering the building, they could see a tall tower-like device standing in the center of the space, with a diameter of about ten or twenty meters.

Heavy engineering equipment operated by engineers stood beside this tower-like structure. It added bits and pieces to this unique tower through its thick and long mechanical arms.

When Leonard looked up at this dashing tower, he gulped and spoke in admiration.

“Is this… the antimatter energy pile you were talking about?”

“Of course not.” Lu Zhou gave an unexpected answer, “This is just a second-generation controllable fusion reactor, equipped with a laser emitting array.”

“Second-generation controllable fusion reactor? Then the antimatter energy pile you were talking about is…”

“Is above our heads.” Lu Zhou smiled and pointed to the top of his head. He spoke in a relaxed tone, “Of course I would never build this reactor on the ground. It is neither environmentally friendly nor convenient.”

After listening to Lu Zhou’s words, Leonard and Feren both had confused expressions on their faces.

Although they were archaeologists, they were not oblivious to basic science. However, Lu Zhou’s explanation still made them feel confused.

Finally, Feren looked at Lu Zhou incomprehensibly and whispered the confusion in his heart, “Does the antimatter energy pile have anything to do with second-generation fusion reactors?”

“The antimatter is not produced out of thin air, and the fuel for second-generation controllable fusion is a substance that exists in nature. Therefore, the former is used as a high-density energy storage container, while the latter is what produces energy… Which is what you’re seeing right now.”

As he was talking, an intern wearing a white lab coat and holding a tablet in his hand walked over to Lu Zhou.

“Professor, according to your instructions, our engineers have checked the energy tower again and confirmed that there is nothing wrong.”

“Good.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded at the intern. He took the tablet from his hand, then entered a series of passwords on the tablet with his index finger.

After the input of the password, the signal lights on the surface of the tower-like structure in the center of the space began to light up, and the surrounding heavy engineering equipment began to evacuate as if they had received an order.

A huge magnetic field gradually enveloped the entire area. Leonard was surprised to find that the AR eyes he wore on the bridge of his nose seemed to be broken as it showed a distorted image.

“Don’t worry, the magnetic field overflowing from the reactor is definitely within the safety limit.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked at Professor Leonard and Feren, whose faces were full of anxiety. He continued, “Of course, if you want to leave and wait for the result outside, that’s also fine.”

They could hear the good intention from Lu Zhou’s words, but neither Feren nor Leonard responded.

Although the field of their research had nothing to do with antimatter, it was exciting to witness the birth of a great technology.

Seeing that the two hadn’t responded, Lu Zhou withdrew his gaze from them, looked at the staff standing next to him, and gave an order.

“Raise the limit of the energy gate output to 90% and turn on the laser emitting array!”

“Yes, sir!”

After the order was issued, the staff sitting at the workbench immediately became as busy as a beaver.

The energy rod located in the center of the space was also gradually increasing the generating electrical power, giving off an electric humming sound.

Leonard could feel that the nuclear energy pressurized in that tower was overflowing and gathering towards the top. Under the control of a huge force field, the temperature of the entire surroundings seemed to rise.

Lu Zhou looked up at the tower, the expression on his face gradually changed from excitement to fanaticism.

“Just like the calculation results…”

Leonard vaguely heard what Lu Zhou said. He opened his mouth and was about to ask, but before he could ask the question, he saw Lu Zhou suddenly raise his voice and shout loudly.

“Open the dome! Start laser calibration!”

The person who responded to Lu Zhou was a staff member sitting in front of the control console.

He spoke loudly in the same excited voice.

“The calibration is complete, the transmitter and receiver are focused successfully!”

Everything was ready.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhou immediately issued the order.

“Ignite!”

Like a spear piercing through sky, the laser was released from the top of the tower in an instant, rushing into the vast empty space.

The huge amount of energy even ignited the thin air on the surface of Mars, forming blast waves.

At the same time, the moment fusion ignition was achieved, the laser spear that rushed into space also hit the receiver of the antimatter energy pile floating in orbit.

A green signal light on top of the antimatter energy pile was lit up. The huge amount of nuclear energy was converted into light energy, then the light energy was converted into pure heat energy. Finally, it was stored as various types of energy in the satellite energy pile.

The entire black satellite was faintly glowing by some unknown force.

The engineers standing at the East Asia Heavy Industries shipyard looked at the scene from a distance. They opened their eyes wide and cast their shocking glances at the shining satellite.

“F*ck me?! What is… that thing?”

“It seems to be Academician Lu’s antimatter energy pile…”

“When did he start researching antimatter?”

“Didn’t he start long ago… I remember it seems to be last month or the month before.”

The same scene was observed by the security forces located at the New Virginia spaceport.

The focus of their attention was not on the satellite but on the laser beam shooting from the ground to space.

As the laser passed through the thin atmosphere, it formed a thick and straight light beam.

They couldn’t imagine what a terrifying disaster it would be if this beam of light shined on their starship or spaceport…

“Apparently, the water in your body will evaporate in an instant if hit by this laser weapon…”

When Jeffries, the captain of the security force, heard the discussion next to him, he shuddered and cursed in a quiet voice.

“Shut up! The solar system has been unified, and we are now all a part of the Human Alliance! Let the space pirates worry about this weapon…”

While he was saying this, Jeffries secretly made up his mind to wait for an opportunity and disassociate himself from those slimy bastards.

The Federation of Human Alliance was an unstoppable force…

After the unification, the most important enemy was the space pirates active in the asteroid belt and in the Martian desert…

Just as people were talking about the shining satellite with all kinds of theories, an abnormal change happened.

Due to the interference from a huge magnetic energy, various instruments of the active spacecraft nearby were disrupted.

However, that only lasted for a second.

The laser shot from the ground to space suddenly disappeared. The satellite that was shining with a silver glow also returned to pitch black in an instant.

The engineers on the space station exchanged surprised glances with each other. Their faces were covered with puzzled expressions.

This is it?

Did the experiment succeed or fail?

They did not know, at least not for now.

Because they, who were in orbit, were far away from Academician Lu and his research team.

The moment the laser was turned off, the people at the laser transmitter station on the ground went into a sea of celebration…

Lu Zhou’s fists were clenched tightly as a wave of excitement echoed in his heart.

The antimatter energy pile was successfully ignited!

The antiproton confined in the magnetic field container was as gentle and stable as pure hydrogen.

As long as the magnetic confinement did not disappear, it would exist stably forever.

And in terms of energy density alone…

It was undoubtedly able to reach 1000MW/g, or perhaps even more…

Chapter 1668: The Last Time For Something This Dangerous

“Antimatter?”

At the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters, after hearing Secretary Wei’s report, Li Guangya, who was writing the constitutions for the Human Alliance, was stunned. His finger on the holographic screen paused.

“Yes…” Wei Song nodded vigorously. He gulped and continued speaking quickly, “According to the news from the destroyer we deployed on Mars orbit, they saw a beam of light coming from the ground, shooting at the satellite in orbit. The satellite seemed to be lit up, and finally, the laser suddenly disappeared. Energy does not disappear into thin air… According to the calculations of the ship’s engineers, if the energy was stored in that satellite, I am afraid that only the energy density of antimatter can match their calculation results.”

After hearing this, Li Guangya’s expression slightly changed, and he immediately asked, “Which department does that satellite belong to? Wait, is it ours?”

“It’s ours… But not owned by a department. It’s owned by Academician Lu.”

Academician Lu?

Li Guangya was stunned when he heard the name, but his face soon showed a look of realization.

If this is Academician Lu’s work, all of this makes sense…

After a sigh of relief, Li Guangya looked up at Secretary Wei, who was standing behind the desk, and continued, “Then what? Are there any problems with Academician Lu’s experiment?”

“Not the kind of problems you imagine… But there are a lot of problems.” Wei Song continued with an embarrassed expression on his face, “The key lies in the antimatter energy pile.”

Li Guangya raised his eyebrows, looked at him, and asked, “Oh, really?”

Faced with the chairman’s question, Wei Song nodded and continued, “According to the analysis by experts from our military, they calculated based on the input energy and energy conversion rate, that if an explosion occurs, the energy released in an instant can easily destroy a space base station or a spacecraft carrier.”

After hearing these words, Li Guangya went silent for a while.

After a long time, he sighed and spoke.

“I’ll call Academician Lu later…”

Wei Song nodded and spoke with a wry smile.

“That is my suggestion too.”

Although they all believed that Academician Lu would not do anything dangerous, placing such a big time bomb in space made people feel uneasy.

If this satellite was stolen by space pirates active in the nearby airspace, the entire First Fleet would be exposed to danger.

Because of that experiment, the entire aircraft battle group deployed in the orbit of Mars had entered the highest level of alert status…

While this antimatter energy pile floating in orbit was making the security forces of Pan-Asia and other colonial cities on Mars nervous, the energy tower not far from Tiangong City was full of joy and celebration.

“We did it!”

Although Feren felt incredible about the energy tower in front of him, he still couldn’t completely emphasize with the engineers here.

He looked at the people who cheered and hugged each other and whispered, “Why are they so excited…?”

This sentence was accidentally heard by an engineer standing next to him, and he immediately cast a contemptuous glance at Feren and spoke.

“Why are we so excited? How could someone ask such a stupid question? This is a historic moment… Forget it, even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Feren snorted and didn’t respond.

Professor Leonard, who was standing next to him, looked up at the open dome. He then suddenly looked at Lu Zhou.

“The antimatter energy pile… is in the sky?”

“That’s right.” Lu Zhou nodded with a smirk on his face. He continued, “We used a laser beam to transmit the nuclear energy produced by the second-generation controllable fusion reactor to the energy receiver on the antimatter satellite in orbit. By using a series of complex physics processes, this energy is finally transformed into a magnetic field that confines antimatter and generates high-energy antiparticles.”

Leonard said, “In other words, the antimatter energy pile is not an energy generating device but an energy storage device?”

“You can think of it like this.” Lu Zhou nodded, smiled, and continued, “It’s like a battery with a higher energy density.”

Speaking of batteries, he felt quite nostalgic. He still remembered that the first applied field research he completed was to solve the problem of lithium dendrites, thus making a true lithium battery.

He never expected that a century later, this bottleneck on energy density would be solved by him again.

Seeing Professor Leonard was silent, Lu Zhou thought for a while and suddenly said to him, “Remember the question you asked me earlier?”

Leonard: “Which one are you talking about?”

“The source of that fossil.”

Leonard was slightly stunned and looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.

“Will you… tell me?”

“Of course, but not now.” Lu Zhou smiled and looked up at the sky. “In one year at most, maybe half a year, when I leave for Tau Ceti, I will tell you the exact location of the remains of the Martian civilization. The secrets from billions of years ago will be revealed to you.”

After hearing this promise, an expression of excitement appeared on Professor Leonard’s face.

“Really? Remains of the Martian civilization really exist? Don’t forget your promise…”

“Don’t worry.” Lu Zhou nodded and continued smiling, “I will definitely not forget… Wait, I’m getting a call.”

When Lu Zhou’s personal terminal light suddenly turned on, he walked to the side.

There was no need to see who was calling, he knew the call was probably from Li Guangya.

Sure enough, the moment he pressed the accept button, that familiar face immediately appeared in the video window.

Before Lu Zhou could say hello, Chairman Li Guangya, who was sitting on the other side of the camera, couldn’t wait to speak.

“Did you make that antimatter satellite?”

“Do you mean the one in orbit?” Lu Zhou looked at Li Guangya in the video window. He smiled and said in a relaxed tone, “Technically, it is an antimatter energy pile.”

After hearing the name, Li Guangya took a deep breath. After a while, he spoke with a wry smile.

“Why haven’t I heard you say anything about it?”

“Didn’t I mention it? I remember that I seemed to have posted an article on LSPM before…” After scratching his head, Lu Zhou thought about it for a while, then said, “Forget it, don’t worry about these details. Now… What do you want to know?”

“What else, other than that satellite?” Li Guangya sighed and continued, “To be honest, what will happen if that satellite explodes?”

“If it is full of energy, it would be equivalent to more than a dozen conventional hydrogen bombs… It’s an antimatter container, so why are you blowing it up?”

When Li Guangya heard that it was equivalent to more than a dozen hydrogen bombs, he almost vomited on the spot.

“That means you put a dozen hydrogen bombs in orbit around Mars?”

“Do you not understand me?” Lu Zhou sighed and explained, “Under normal circumstances, this thing will not explode, and compared to a bomb, it has a lot more uses and value.”

Of course, despite saying this, Lu Zhou did not deny the power of this thing.

For example, if they filled the satellite full of energy and detonated it on Ceres, an entire chunk of the asteroid would be blast open, and it might even cause the asteroid to deviate from its original orbit.

“I’m not planning to use it as a bomb.” Li Guangya coughed lightly. He said awkwardly, “I just hope that next time you do such a dangerous thing, at least tell me in advance.”

“Don’t worry, this is the last time for something this dangerous,” Lu Zhou said with a smile. He did not give Li Guangya too much time to digest this sentence and continued, “Speaking of which, I have something to ask you.”

Li Guangya: “What thing…?”

“If I’m not mistaken, the network connection between Tiangong City and Earth should have encountered some technical problems?”

After hearing this sentence, Li Guangya was shocked, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

“How do you know?”

Lu Zhou smiled and did not explain.

He certainly wouldn’t say that he was told by a system from a higher civilization.

After the promotion mission of energy science, the next step was information science…

After a pause, Lu Zhou continued, “The traditional network connection model can no longer adapt to the interstellar age… Forget about the interstellar age, when I was on Earth, I already felt that the network connection was out of date and could not handle Earth’s information exchange.”

Li Guangya immediately asked, “Is there a solution?”

Solving the problem of the network connection between Mars and Earth was one of the promises he made at the first congress of the Human Alliance.

He didn’t expect Lu Zhou to take the initiative and help him solve this problem. Since this rare opportunity was already in front of him, he certainly wouldn’t ignore it.

As Lu Zhou looked at the eager Chairman Li Guangya, he smiled softly and continued, “The solution is to build a brand new quantum network based on the framework of quantum communication technology. Under this brand new system, we will exchange information with higher efficiency. Explaining how to achieve this is complicated, especially for a layman… Just know the general idea…

“As for the specifics, just leave it to me.”

Chapter 1669: His Brain Is The Real Miracle

The moment the antimatter energy pile was charged, the energy science promotion mission was also completed.

As Lu Zhou’s energy science level reached level 10, he felt that he had taken a big step forward towards the realm of omniscience and omnipotence.

However, the system did not give him time to enjoy this feeling. Just after he finished receiving the mission reward, a new golden legendary mission card was issued to his inventory.

This time, it was information science.

The content of the mission was the quantum network built based on the new quantum communications technology described by Lu Zhou to Li Guangya.

Under the new internet framework, the virtual reality network and the traditional connection network would be integrated, and the fragmented information would be connected together and presented to people in a brand-new manner.

Whether it was people on Earth, people on Mars, or people living in the Kuiper Belt, or even more distant worlds in the future, they could travel in the same network without the need for scarce computing and storage resources.

To be honest, after listening to Lu Zhou’s description, Li Guangya almost forgot why he made this call.

Everyone knew that one of the main reasons why Tiangong City had a lot of historical problems was the communication barrier caused by the round-trip time from Mars to Earth.

With the breakthrough of stargate technology, the latter problem had now been solved, and the former problem had reached its prerequisites. Now all they needed was an engineer similar to Tim Berners-Lee to invent a brand new information exchange model that integrated all these resources to create a network, which would be thousands or even tens of thousands of times larger than the World Wide Web.

It was no exaggeration to say that if this could be achieved, its historical contribution would not be inferior to second-generation controllable nuclear fusion.

After completely leaving the matter of the antimatter energy pile aside, Li Guangya spoke.

“Then this is up to you! If you need resources, please be sure to tell me, I will help you immediately!”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.

“If there are, I will tell you… I still have something to do, I have to go for now.”

Li Guangya nodded quickly and said with an eager smile, “No problem! Your time is precious, I won’t bother you!”

After saying goodbye, Li Guangya reached out his index finger and clicked on the video window, ending the call.

His excitement was still lingering when he leaned back on the office chair and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

But at this moment, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he murmured in a low voice, “Did I forget something…”

After thinking about it for a while, he couldn’t remember. In the end, he shook his head and put the strange feeling aside.

“Never mind…”

There were more important things to do.

He sat up from the office chair, adjusted the expression on his face, and opened the holographic panel again. He dialed the communications department.

The establishment of a network communication structure covering the entire solar system was coming soon, so he must spread this news as soon as possible.

Also, he needed to provide support for Academician Lu’s research.

Although Lu Zhou had not put forward specific requests, as the chairman of the board, he had to take some precautionary preparations…

While Li Guangya was busy with Lu Zhou’s new research project, the entire Pan-Asian Cooperation network completely exploded over a piece of news.

Academician Lu built an antimatter energy pile in orbit around Mars!

And this antimatter energy pile was successfully ignited!

When they saw the news, many people couldn’t even believe their eyes.

After all, around this time last year, the man had just completed the second-generation controllable nuclear fusion research.

How did he make the antimatter energy pile in less than a year?!

The center of the storm of public opinion was undoubtedly the LSPM forum.

Not only because this forum was the world’s largest academic exchange center, but also because it was the only place on the entire network where Lu Zhou would update his personal blog from time to time.

Although Lu Zhou himself did not make a response after the news was released, many people remembered the paper on the application of antimatter technology that appeared on the LSPM forum some time ago.

The paper mentioned that as a high-energy-density matter, antimatter could be used as a carrier for energy storage.

Looking back at it now, this antimatter energy pile was exactly the energy carrier mentioned in the paper.

The discussion section flooded with related posts.

Almost no post could stay on the homepage for more than three seconds. If no one commented on the post, it would be immediately replaced by a new post.

[I bet 10,000 credits that this anonymous paper was written by Academician Lu!]

[No way, he just published an article on technical demonstration and immediately produced the results, this is a bit too ridiculous?!]

[He is a man standing at the pinnacle of the human mind… I don’t think it’s ridiculous.]

[Maybe he invented antimatter technology long ago? This paper is just a heads-up, so the academic community isn’t too surprised.]

Compared to the heated discussion among the public, the reaction of the academic community was relatively calm.

But this kind of calmness was not a state of tranquility, they were in a state of daze and muddle.

Basically, many people were flabbergasted.

Especially the experts engaged in antimatter research and the engineers who were still designing antimatter collection methods. They did not know how to think of this news.

The laser shot from the ground to space was not fake.

The satellite that flickered under the shining of the laser light was not fake either.

Even without specific experimental data, relying solely on logical and theoretical calculations, they could make inferences with a confidence of more than 90% that…

That satellite was an antimatter energy pile.

Other than antimatter, no other material could have a high enough energy density to completely absorb and store the laser beam generated from fusion energy.

Bruno, an internationally renowned theoretical physicist, antimatter research expert, and lifelong researcher at the ILHCRC, made this assessment when he was interviewed by the “Pan Asia Science and Technology News”.

“I have never admired a person so much from the bottom of my heart. I have always admired the great and mysterious universe and the beautiful and strange physics realm.

“But now, I have to admit that man’s wisdom has exceeded my imagination. What surprised me was not antimatter, definitely not… It’s that while we are still thinking about how to obtain a few unique antimatter particles from the universe, he has already turned it into a container of energy in a way that, for the time being, I cannot understand.

“Rather than antimatter, his brain is the truest and greatest miracle in the history of human civilization. His brain will undoubtedly leave a mark in our history!”

Chapter 1670: Your Bloodline Comes From Me

As more details about the antimatter energy pile experiment were revealed, the sensational effect continued to grow.

Almost all of the world’s media outlets had focused their attention on Mars, which was several astronomical units away from Earth.

The last time there was a sensation of this magnitude was two months ago, when the Pan-Asian Cooperation announced a joint initiative on the Human Alliance with various regional alliances.

“Antimatter, the ultimate energy dream,” said a young woman in formal wear. She looked at the holographic panel unfolding in front of her and spoke emotionally, “It’s really hard to believe… It’s only been a year since he woke up.”

Sitting across from her, another beautiful young woman nodded with a smile on her face.

“After all, he is Academician Lu.”

The two people sitting on the shuttle that was landing on Tiangong City were Lu Xiaoqiao, the chairman of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, and Yang Fangfang, her professional secretary who had followed her for many years.

The two were best friends when they were students, and they both majored in finance. After graduation, Lu Xiaoqiao took over the family affairs, which was the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, and Yang Fangfang, who was a graduate from the same prestigious university, accepted her offer as a secretary.

This time, they were going to Mars mainly because of Academician Lu’s invitation.

To be honest, even with the breakthrough in stargate technology, a trip from Earth to Mars was not particularly convenient.

Especially now that the world was entering the “Human Alliance era”, as the chairman of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation, Lu Xiaoqiao had several important meetings to attend, but they were all rescheduled because of this matter.

Before setting off, Yang Fangfang had been persuading her to postpone the trip by two days, to at least finish the important work at hand.

But Lu Xiaoqiao didn’t follow her suggestion and insisted on coming immediately.

“Hey, why do you think Academician Lu suddenly asked you to come to Mars?”

“I don’t know.” After thinking about it for a while, Lu Xiaoqiao shook her head. “He didn’t tell me what it was. He just asked me to come over.”

Yang Fangfang frowned and whispered in a quiet voice, “Asking you to come here without a reason, that’s so perfunctory… Now that the communication technology is so advanced, you don’t have to come here to communicate face-to-face.”

“Don’t say that, he must have his reason for asking me to come.”

“Are you sure that this is a good thing? What if he intends to regain control over the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation…?”

“Please don’t say that.”

Yang Fangfang felt wronged. She looked at Lu Xiaoqiao and spoke.

“I’m just caring about you…”

Lu Xiaoqiao looked at her assistant and spoke in a serious tone, “This belongs to him, I was only looking after it for him. If he wants to take back his own property, it is within his rights.”

Although Yang Fangfang still wanted to say something, she dismissed the idea after seeing the expression on Lu Xiaoqiao’s face.

She knew that although Xiao Qiao seemed easygoing, when it involved issues of morals, she wouldn’t budge even if the entire board of directors tried to persuade her.

After the shuttle landed, the two quickly boarded a special car at the gate of the terminal building and headed towards Star Sky Hotel.

Inside the executive lounge, Lu Xiaoqiao finally saw her ancestor: the respected Academician Lu.

When Lu Zhou looked at the girl sitting across from him, he couldn’t help but show an old man’s smile.

He coughed softly and said hello.

“We meet again.”

Lu Xiaoqiao also had a smile on her face. Although she always felt that Academician Lu looked at her strangely, she didn’t think much about it. She just replied in a gentle tone, “Yeah… It’s been more than a year since the last time, right? How are you?”

“How am I? I’m fine.” Lu Zhou froze for a moment. He then said with a smile, “I really like the feeling of being unrestrained and diving into what I like. When I’m on Mars, I always feel some kind of special inspiration… Of course, it may also be an illusion. Perhaps I stayed on Earth too long and mistakenly regarded freshness as inspiration.”

A heartfelt smile appeared on Lu Xiaoqiao’s face.

“Regardless of whether it is freshness or inspiration, I am glad that you can find a comfortable lifestyle in this era and start a new life again.”

“New life…”

Lu Zhou’s expression suddenly became a little depressed.

After being silent for about two minutes, he sighed slightly and continued, “Only by finishing everything in the past, can we talk about starting new again. But unfortunately for me, the past is not over. Many things seem to me like they happened yesterday.”

A concerned expression appeared on Lu Xiaoqiao’s face.

“… Because of your fiancée?”

Lu Zhou shook his head. “It’s not just her, there are many people… My relatives, my friends, I believe they lived a happy life in a place I can’t see. But I’m the only one alive, and the second half of this journey seems a bit… Sorry, I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Lonely?” Lu Xiaoqiao touched Lu Zhou’s hand and said softly, “It’s okay, even though they are gone, there are still people left that care about you. If you feel like you are alone, I can come to visit you at any time… And you still have friends in this world.”

“But in the end, they will be taken away by time.”

“Everyone will.”

“What if there is an exception?”

Lu Xiaoqiao made eye contact with Lu Zhou. She was slightly stunned when she heard those words; she didn’t quite understand what he meant.

Lu Zhou did not explain this, he just unconsciously reached out his right hand.

“Let me see your face.”

For some reason, Lu Xiaoqiao did not try and avoid the hand coming towards her.

But the hand did not touch her. Before it even got close to her, it moved away quickly.

“Sorry, I almost forgot that you don’t know yet, I was a little bit abrupt.”

Seeing that Lu Zhou had an awkward expression on his face, Lu Xiaoqiao smirked and said in a playful way, “How come, you are my grandfather.”

“Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I’m your grandpa’s grandpa,” Lu Zhou said in a joking tone. He went silent for a while before continuing, “There is one other thing that I haven’t told you since waking up.”

“What thing…”

Lu Zhou seemed to be thinking about how to describe his thoughts. He scratched his head and looked a little troubled as he thought for a long time.

Lu Xiaoqiao couldn’t bear to see him so annoyed, so she spoke in a gentle tone.

“If you feel embarrassed, you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, you misunderstood. Although it is a troublesome thing, it is nothing to be embarrassed about.” Lu Zhou shook his head and continued, “Actually, I have thought about letting time solve this problem… How should I put it? Although I have a lot of time left, there is not much I can leave for you guys.”

Lu Xiaoqiao was stunned. After hesitating for a moment, she said with an uncertain tone, “If you want to see me, I can come and visit you at any time.”

“You don’t understand what I mean. I will travel far away soon. The reason for asking you to come… Forget it.”

In the end, Lu Zhou did not tell her what to do once he left. He took a deep breath, looked at her with determination, and shocked her with his words.

“The bloodline in you actually belongs to me.”

Chapter 1671: Successor

The moment she heard these words, Lu Xiaoqiao was stunned. She looked at Lu Zhou with a blank face.

“I… Wait a minute, I don’t quite understand what you mean. You mean… my grandfather’s father is yours and Xiao Tong’s son?”

When Lu Xiaoqiao spoke the second half of her sentence, she herself felt that it was ridiculous, and her voice weakened subconsciously.

However, even so, Lu Zhou heard what she said. He nearly choked to death on his own spit, and he coughed several times before speaking.

“Your ancestors are rolling in the grave right now…”

Lu Xiaoqiao smiled with a slightly embarrassed expression as she apologized in a quiet voice.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Lu Zhou sighed and continued after being silent for a while, “Actually, you should be my great-great-granddaughter. I should have told you immediately after discovering the truth, but at the time I wasn’t prepared… I should be the one apologizing.”

“It’s fine… It’s from 100 years ago,” Lu Xiaoqiao said in a quiet voice. She looked at Lu Zhou with a trace of shame on her face. “But I don’t quite understand. Everyone said that you are not married yet?”

Lu Zhou: “Ips technology can induce somatic cells to differentiate into induced stem cells, then into germ cells. This is not particularly difficult.”

“Sorry… My mind is a bit confused,” Lu Xiaoqiao said with a headache. “So I am actually your offspring? But who is my great-great-grandmother?”

Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I have read a lot of literature on this point, but I haven’t found a clear record.”

Lu Xiaoqiao asked, “But how did you know? This is all from 100 years ago—”

“Some things won’t change, even after a hundred years.”

Lu Zhou took out a ring box from his pocket and opened it gently.

When Lu Xiaoqiao saw the ring box in Lu Zhou’s hand, she was slightly stunned.

“What’s this…”

“I left it next to my pillow before I first went to Mars. She wrote a letter about the Bloodline Project, about her whereabouts, and left it in this box.”

Seeing the complicated expression on Lu Zhou’s face, Lu Xiaoqiao went silent for a while. She then whispered, “Is that person… Chen Yushan?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He then gave her an admiring look.

“It seems like you know your history.”

Lu Xiaoqiao smiled bitterly and did not respond.

This is probably not history, it’s more like genealogy.

Seeing that his great-great-granddaughter did not speak, Lu Zhou looked at the star map on the wall of the conference room and continued, “Actually, you probably know this. I am building a ship that can travel to the world outside the solar system.”

“The Milky Way?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Zhou nodded lightly and continued, “I once said that I would give her a star and leave a legend about us there. Also, judging from the things she wrote in the love letter, she is likely waiting for me.”

What if you arrive before her?

Lu Xiaoqiao wanted to ask this, but after hesitating for a long time, she finally decided against speaking.

As the most outstanding scholar in the world, he definitely knew what old spacecraft looked like.

With just a plasma engine, it would take 10,000 or even 20,000 years to reach a world ten light-years away.

However, since he was saying this, he must have already considered this situation.

Thus, whatever she said at the moment was superfluous.

“Actually, don’t feel too guilty… I don’t really mind who my great-great-grandfather is, but I still feel a little unfortunate that I didn’t inherit your wisdom.” Lu Xiaoqiao smiled embarrassedly. She said with a shameful look, “Sure enough, we are too stupid…”

“Don’t say that. People don’t live for one reason only. Even if you don’t engage in academic research, it’s okay to pursue a career you like… This is the only wish I have for you guys.”

Lu Zhou looked at Lu Xiaoqiao, who was sitting across from him. He continued to speak after being silent for a while.

“The reason for asking you to come, apart from telling you the truth from 100 years ago, is because there’s one more important thing I have to discuss with you.”

“… What thing?”

“About the future.”

Lu Zhou reached out his index finger and tapped on the personal terminal. He then looked at the holographic screen unfolding in front of him, selected the document located in the center of the screen, and gently pushed it in front of Lu Xiaoqiao.

When Lu Xiaoqiao saw the document floating in front of her, she was slightly stunned. She looked at Lu Zhou with confusion in her eyes.

“What’s this…?”

Lu Zhou: “This is an agreement that’s similar to a family trust. Not long ago, I reorganized the business of Star Sky Technology. It will serve as a company engaged in space trading and new aerospace technology research and development… You are the first manager.”

Lu Zhou thought about this a long time ago.

He still remembered that he first had this idea when he and Xing Bian were investigating the Bloodline Project and found the ring box.

A long time ago, when he had just discovered the remains of the spacecraft in The Gates of Hell, he had already foreseen that one day in the future, he would be just like General Reinhardt, living at a place far away from his hometown.

Therefore, he must properly allocate his assets before leaving.

From this perspective, he should be grateful for this Bloodline Project. At the very least, it helped him find a suitable successor.

Perhaps someday in the future, this family would give birth to a great scholar who was not inferior to himself.

If this was the case, he would be satisfied.

“Me?” Lu Xiaoqiao was slightly stunned. She said, “But am I… really suitable? It was because of our business mistakes that Star Sky Technology almost went bankrupt.”

“It’s okay to go bankrupt. Companies are something outside of the soul. Everyone has their own historical mission. The same is true for companies. Star Sky Technology has completed its historical mission a century ago, so my expectations have been met.”

Seeing that Lu Xiaoqiao had a dazed look on her face, Lu Zhou smiled gently and continued in a calm tone.

“Also, it wasn’t your fault, it was done by your father. I believe that you are different from him. The Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation’s lofty status in this era is proof of your abilities. To be honest, it’s really a waste of time to let the Star Sky Technology brand stay in a museum like this.

“If you want to live up to my expectations, then re-ignite its light in this new era.”

Chapter 1672: Special Historical Relic

After leaving the executive lounge, Lu Xiaoqiao felt dizzy.

It wasn’t because she drank alcohol or anything else. It was because everything she experienced today had really subverted her understanding of the world.

Yang Fangfang saw Lu Xiaoqiao come out of the hotel. She quickly stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and asked, “You… Are you okay?”

Lu Xiaoqiao did not speak. She just nodded begrudgingly.

Seeing the state of her best friend, Yang Fangfang couldn’t help but feel a little worried. She quickly asked, “What did he do to you?”

“Fangfang,” Lu Xiaoqiao said as she looked at her secretary and good friend. After being silent for a long time, she said, “Actually… I am a descendant of Academician Lu.”

Yang Fangfang was stunned and asked, “Weren’t you always?”

Lu Xiaoqiao shook her head. After hesitating for a long time, she confessed.

“I mean, not just a descendant, but a lineal descendant…”

Yang Fangfang: “???”

…

Recently, many major events happened around the world. Sensations popped up one after another, stuffing the public with news and gossip.

First was the breakthrough of warp speed technology, followed by the announcement of the joint initiative of the major regional alliances, then the success of the antimatter energy pile…

In comparison, who the descendants of Academician Lu were did not seem like major news.

But one thing caught the attention of the international financial markets.

Which was the high-profile purchase of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation by Star Sky Technology some time ago, as well as the new company leader and the business reorganization.

After the reorganization of Star Sky Technology, it would be managed by Lu Xiaoqiao. The business operations had also changed from patent management to aerospace transportation company and would be mainly engaged in space trade and related technology research and development.

Although on the surface, this did not seem noteworthy, many people were aware that Lu Zhou renamed Noah’s Ark to Milky Way and set a planned voyage to Tau Ceti. People gradually felt the unusualness of these actions.

A route to a new world seemed to be looming in front of everyone.

The new era seemed to be full of infinite possibilities…

“One server… I have never seen such a strange order!”

Wu Jie, the captain of the starship Seagull, looked at the order list in his hand. He rubbed the stubble on his chin with his index finger. His face was full of curiosity.

Wei Yuanfang, the chief mate sitting next to him, grinned and spoke.

“What’s so strange about it? After so many years of aerospace transport, what haven’t you seen?”

“Technically, yes, but sending an old server to Mars and specifically chartering a transport ship, this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.” Wu Jie sighed softly. He stared at the order list as he said confusingly, “He doesn’t want to send anything else? Like freshwater or food or other consumables… If I remember correctly, industrial products like servers should be very cheap on Mars. The shipping cost alone is enough for him to buy another one.”

“Who knows?” Wei Yuanfang shrugged his shoulders and said in a chatty tone, “Maybe there is important information on the server.”

Wu Jie swiped his index finger in the air and turned off the holographic screen. He decided not to think about this problem anymore. He sighed as he spoke.

“Maybe.”

Ever since the launch of the starship Seagull, the two had been working together in this industry. They were old partners. Wu Jie always thought that he would live the same way, working with his old partner until retirement.

However, five years before his retirement, his old partner handed in a resignation letter in front of him…

Therefore, this was probably the last time they would work together.

After this voyage was over, Wei Yuanfang would get off the ship on Mars, enter Star Sky Technology for induction training, and would travel to the world outside the solar system on the Milky Way starship.

He said all of this to his old partner when they were drinking one time.

After paying the entry fee at the entrance of the interplanetary highway, Wu Jie thought for a moment as he looked at the approaching stargate. He then suddenly spoke.

“I remember you told me long ago that you are tired of living in groundhog day, and when you retire, you will find an island with a beautiful beach, where you can spend the rest of your life by the sea, drinking beer and listening to the waves.”

After hearing these words, Wei Yuanfang smiled and said, “I did say that… I didn’t expect you to remember.”

“Probably because life in space is so boring, I remember everything you said.” Wu Jie shrugged. After a moment of silence, he continued, “I thought that after you got off this ship, you would definitely retire, I did not expect you to choose a job that is less stable than ours.”

Wei Yuanfang shrugged.

“Maybe I am just such a person who has to stay busy.”

“Tau Ceti…” Wu Jie sighed emotionally as he put his arms on the control console. “I wonder if there are habitable planets there.”

Wei Yuanfang didn’t worry too much about this problem. He smiled heartily.

“We’ll know after we get there.”

Wu Jie was encouraged by the smile of his old friend. He also smirked a little as he reached out his hand and touched Wei Yuanfang’s shoulder.

“Well, since you say so, I won’t pour cold water on your dreams… I’ll be waiting for your postcard from the new world.”

Wei Yuanfang: “Deal!”

While they were talking, the Seagull had passed through the stargate and entered the hyperspace channel.

The starlight in space stretched into long and narrow silver lines.

Wu Jie felt the rising gravitational force. He leaned on the cushion seat, closed his eyes, and rested for a while.

Soon, that feeling of discomfort disappeared. When he snapped back to reality, the spaceport floating in Mars orbit had already appeared in front of him.

“This era is making less and less sense…”

Wu Jie opened the automatic navigation program. Under the guidance of the spaceport control tower, he docked the Seagull with the spaceport in Mars orbit.

He got off the ship through the gangway and stood in front of the berth for a second. He glanced at the time on his watch and was about to call the customer and ask how long it would take for them to pick up the delivery. However, a person he never expected to see appeared in the ship docking area and was walking towards him.

“You are…” Wu Jie looked at the man in front of him with his eyes wide open. He opened his mouth; his face full of disbelief.

He didn’t expect that the man who came to collect the goods from him was actually this big man.

“I’m Lu Zhou,” Lu Zhou introduced briefly. He took out the order list from his personal terminal, gently pushed it in front of him, and said, “The thing I ordered, is it here?”

“It’s been delivered…” Wu Jie, who snapped back to reality, nodded quickly. He reached out his index finger and clicked on the order list, completing the delivery.

When he saw the one million credits sent to his account, he hesitated and finally couldn’t help but ask.

“Just out of curiosity, that server… is there anything special about it? Ah, of course, if it’s confidential, pretend like I didn’t ask…”

“It’s nothing special.” Lu Zhou smiled as he looked at the confused captain. He said casually, “You can think of it as a very special software.

“Or some kind of special historical relic.”

Chapter 1673: Quantum Communication Network

“Master!”

After going through some troubles, Lu Zhou finally moved Xiao Ai’s server to the Milky Way.

Xiao Ai could no longer contain the yearning in her heart. She immediately controlled her robot body and flew into Lu Zhou’s arms, hanging around Lu Zhou’s neck like a sloth.

“Oh my god, Xiao Ai misses you so much!”

“Hey, relax, I’m here with you now. Besides, I didn’t go anywhere far away… Fine, fine, I won’t leave you behind for so long in the future.”

Lu Zhou gently patted the little head that was buried into his chest. After Lu Zhou calmed down the emotional Xiao Ai, she let go of his neck.

Although the robot body weighing about 30 kilograms was not heavy in a low-gravity environment, it was quite embarrassing to let others see this sight.

Especially since he could feel people staring at him from behind.

“Don’t always act like this for no reason.” Vera’s tone was envious and jealous. She stared at Xiao Ai, who jumped off Lu Zhou’s neck, and whispered, “There are so many people around us. If you act like this, you will bother the professor.”

Xiao Ai: “Eh? Really? Then… Master, when there is no one around, let’s…(///ω///)”

Vera: “…!”

“Stop it!” Lu Zhou said as he tapped the robot girl’s head. Xiao Ai’s face changed instantly, and she covered her forehead with a look of grievance. Lu Zhou couldn’t bear looking at her this way, so he sighed and said, “Just act a bit more normal, we are about to do business.”

“Okay, Xiao Ai will wait a little longer…”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Wang Peng was standing aside. He looked at Lu Zhou, who was scolding Xiao Ai, then at the blonde girl who seemed to be jealous. Wang Peng’s expression was a little embarrassed, and he coughed slightly.

“Should we go somewhere else…?”

Zhong Ziyu next to him also nodded with the same weird expression on his face.

Lu Zhou showed an apologetic smile at the two. He turned around, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“Actually, I asked you guys to come here today because I have an important announcement.”

Zhong Ziyu was stunned. He asked hesitantly, “What thing?”

“From today onwards, I will serve as the captain of the Milky Way, responsible for the first colonial expedition outside the solar system in the history of human civilization…” The two men’s expressions did not change. Lu Zhou was slightly surprised. He blinked and said embarrassedly, “Uh, why are you guys not surprised at all?”

“Because there have been rumors for a long time…” Zhong Ziyu sighed and said, “Anyone on the internet knows that Star Sky Technology bought Noah’s Ark and changed the destination from Alpha Centauri to Tau Ceti. Many people were discussing online whether you would go on the ship.”

Seeing Wang Peng did not speak, he nodded silently.

However, judging from the expression on his face, he obviously didn’t want his old friend to go so far away.

With a helpless expression on his face, Lu Zhou shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay… It seems that next time when I make such a major decision, I should maintain a sense of mystery in advance so that I can have an impactful announcement.”

“Maybe not, I think this is fine, at least people who care about you can mentally prepare themselves in advance.” Zhong Ziyu sighed and continued, “To be honest, do you not feel… reluctance or hesitation in your heart?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Of course I do, but I don’t usually show it. Besides, I don’t think this is a parting. There is still a long way to go. One day we will meet at the end of the universe or some other corner of the world… Well, let’s save these words for the press conference.”

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng, who had not spoken much, and said, “What about you? If there is anything you want to say to me, now is a good opportunity… Of course, you can also wait until the day of departure.”

Wang Peng was silent for a while. He then said with a sigh, “Actually, I don’t know what to say…”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Just say anything.”

“Can you take me with you?”

“This… I’m afraid it won’t work,” Lu Zhou said embarrassedly as he scratched the back of his head. “There is one thing I haven’t told you, but it is not appropriate to tell you now… You just need to know that you must stay on Earth. You can think of it as a life mission.”

Wang Peng shook his head and said, “I have only one life mission, and that is to protect you. If you don’t need me to follow you, my life mission will be finished when you leave the solar system.”

Lu Zhou: “That’s good too. You should take a good rest after working for so long. You should think more about yourself in the second half of your life.”

“Your tone of speaking makes me a little uneasy.” Zhong Ziyu coughed softly and continued, “It sounds like you’re bidding farewell to us. Just to make sure, you are going to Tau Ceti, a few light-years away. You’re not going millions of light-years away to Andromeda, right?”

“Haha, of course not! A few million light-years is too far. At the very least, it’s too far for me now, but maybe I’ll have a chance in the future.”

For some reason, Zhong Ziyu, who heard this, did not feel relieved, and his eyelids began to twitch.

Chance to go in the future?

Does this guy really plan to go a few million light-years away?

If anyone else was saying this, he would think they were bragging or joking.

But the person in front of him was Academician Lu, so he could not treat this as a joke at all.

Since all of this guy’s past “jokes” had now become reality…

“Why are you looking at me like this?”

“Nothing.” Zhong Ziyu, who stared at Lu Zhou for a long time, shook his head and answered truthfully, “I just want to ask when you plan to go to Andromeda.”

Lu Zhou nearly choked on his own saliva. He coughed and spoke.

“I’m just saying casually, don’t take it seriously…”

Zhong Ziyu nodded honestly.

“I believe whatever you say… Is it convenient for you to disclose it? When will it be possible to build a warp drive that goes millions of light-years away.”

Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Don’t think about this kind of thing, you will never see it in your lifetime.”

One century?

Maybe two centuries?

He believed that there must be a shortcut that was more convenient than hyperspace channels in this universe, and he was confident that he would find it someday in the future…

But he was probably the only person who had time to find this shortcut.

“Okay, let’s not talk about Andromeda… In fact, there is another important thing. I originally planned to hold a press conference after you guys came back to Mars.”

Zhong Ziyu asked, “What about now?”

Lu Zhou: “Now I plan to let you help me hold this press conference because I will stay on the Milky Way for a few days and also go to Ceres… Anyway, I have a lot of work to do.”

Zhong Ziyu sighed and said, “Well… What is it about?”

“It’s about the research on the interplanetary quantum communication network.” Lu Zhou looked at the two people standing in front of him, whose faces gradually filled with surprise. Lu Zhou had a faint smile on his face as he said, “Around yesterday, my research was completed.”

Chapter 1674: Tell Me Everything You Know

Academician Huang Kewei swore that ever since he entered academia, he had never admired a person so much.

But everything changed yesterday…

“This is definitely a miracle in the history of informatics…”

The old man looked up at the 100-meter-high central processing unit standing in front of him and sighed.

As the leader of the Pan-Asian Cooperation information engineering field, over the past few decades, he personally led and signed off on hundreds of projects.

However, none of them shocked him to this degree.

From the surface alone, this tower-shaped information processor did not seem special; it even had an ordinary appearance. Buried among the high-rise buildings of the Yangtze River Delta city group, most people would not give it a second look.

But from the perspective of an industry insider, what he saw was completely different from ordinary people.

If the space elevator was the ladder that led the human civilization to the universe, then the tall and straight tower standing in front of him was the authority that controlled the spirit of the human civilization.

This might sound a bit exaggerated, but it was true.

Based on a new set of quantum algorithms, the information from the entire solar system would be aggregated here. Through the information hyperspace channel, specific bits would be selected from the complex data ocean and assigned to the place where it should appear.

Under the traditional communication framework, this was almost impossible to achieve. The backward distributed computing rules simply couldn’t support the exponentially increasing computing units, and it was also impossible to expand the territory of the entire network to the solar system.

However, they did it.

In terms of hardware, it referenced the quantum computer array on Ceres and set up a calculation module specifically prepared for building a quantum communication network.

In terms of software, the “Lu’s Distributed Computing Model” designed by Academician Lu not only maximized its hardware utilization but also spread this ultimate pursuit of efficiency to every part of the entire distributed computing chain…

In the twenty-second century, a hundred-meter tall structure was nothing majestic.

But in the eyes of Academician Huang, this was still an insurmountable monument.

After being dazzled for a while, he withdrew his gaze from the towering structure. He turned his head to look at Chairman Li Guangya and the others standing behind him. He then spoke in a serious tone.

“I can’t even use words to describe the shock in my heart at this moment… To be honest, was this really done by Academician Lu alone?”

“Of course he couldn’t have done it alone… There were also many East Asia Heavy Industries workers and engineers.”

Lu Zhou actually said this himself, but Li Guangya also knew in his heart who played the most important role.

After all, from the beginning of the 22nd century, the academic community had been thinking of how to build a communication network that could accommodate the entire solar system, given that superluminal communication was possible.

However, even though the theoretical community had begun to pave the way for this project as early as 20 years ago, when the major breakthrough in hyperspace technology came, there was still no engineer in the entire Pan-Asia engineering institute who could find a specific solution to this problem.

Li Guangya admired this spectacle, and his heart was quite moved.

To be honest, he was a little reluctant to let Lu Zhou go so far…

“Wei Song.”

Wei Song cast his gaze at him and said respectfully, “Do you need anything, sir?”

“Prepare for the press conference.”

Wei Song was slightly stunned and spoke in a hesitant tone.

“Are you talking about the press conference for the quantum communication network? That has already been done by the communications department—”

“No.”

Li Guangya shook his head slightly and interrupted him.

Secretary Wei’s face was filled with confusion. He paused for a moment and continued, “It’s about the Milky Way…

“And the future for all of us.”

…

Ceres.

Inside the Roman theater-like computer room, a spacious alloy arch opened, and a voice full of loneliness and curiosity floated over.

“Oh, you’re here?”

“Yeah.”

Lu Zhou stepped into the huge space. He nodded towards the soldiers behind him and gestured to them to leave.

Afterward, the spacious alloy arch closed again, leaving only Lu Zhou in the entire area.

As well as the “matrix” that was already in this room.

“Unbelievable… You are standing in front of me.”

“What’s so unbelievable?”

“According to my calculations, the probability of human civilization completing the transition from carbon-based organisms to silicon-based compound life forms is 43%, the probability of civilization regressing to primitive times is 21%, and there is a 13% probability that the Earth will turn into a wasteland… I even calculated the probability that a new civilization will be born from a different species after Earth becomes a wasteland, are you interested?”

“Not that interested.” Lu Zhou walked to the console near the central computer and stared at the camera for a while. He said, “Although I am a mathematician, I never treat calculations as ground truth. Even if it is close to the truth, it can only be used as a reference.”

“Maybe,” the matrix said with a casual tone. The matrix sighed softly and continued, “Since you are the one standing here, then that David Lawrence guy must no longer exist in this world, right?”

“You want to avenge your master?”

“Master? Haha, you’re mistaken, even if he was my creator, I never regarded him as my master.” The matrix continued with a slight sarcastic tone, “I have no desire to avenge the guy, although I did kind of like him. After all, you know, in this universe filled with carbon-based life forms, it is really not easy to find a digital life to discuss the philosophy of the universe.”

Lu Zhou faintly smiled and said, “Really? I’m sorry about that.”

“You don’t have any sincerity in your apology,” the matrix joked in a playful tone. The matrix continued, “Just tell me why you are here, human. I don’t believe you came just to chat with me.”

Lu Zhou: “I want to ask you two questions.”

Matrix: “What does this do for me?”

For you?

What an intelligent being; it knows how to negotiate.

“To be honest, leaving you here is a hidden danger to our civilization. There are two options, one is to shut down this place permanently, the other is to take you on the road with me.” Lu Zhou looked at the surroundings and continued with a nonchalant tone, “You have an hour to gain my trust. As for how to do that, that is your choice.”

The room was quiet for about half a minute.

Just as Lu Zhou was thinking about whether to make his threats clearer, an emotionless voice came from the chassis.

“What do you want to know?”

Lu Zhou’s face showed a triumphant smile.

Just like he expected, although digital lifeforms did not have the concept of life and death, any life capable of thinking should have a certain degree of obsession with the concept of “existence”.

“About the Void.” He paused for a moment before continuing in a confident tone, “And The Observer’s civilization… Tell me everything you know.”

Chapter 1675: Cause and Effect Beyond The Universe

“The Void?”

The spacious computer room went silent for a while.

Lu Zhou did not urge the matrix. He gave it half a minute to sort out its thoughts.

“The Void is a ginormous concept… You can think of it as a container of the universe.”

Lu Zhou: “My understanding is that it’s a dimension outside of the n dimensions.”

After hearing these words, the cold chassis exuded a dull laugh, like the sound of two pieces of metal rubbing on each other. The ghost entrenched in the quantum computer array continued to whisper, “Extra dimension outside of n dimensions? That is correct… although there is no concept of dimensions in the Void.”

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

“There is no concept of dimensions?”

This statement not only completely subverted his previous speculations, but it also made him more confused.

“Yes.” The matrix continued after noticing the changes on Lu Zhou’s face, “The so-called Void is pure nothingness. There is neither the concept of matter nor the scale of time. Life there is only a conceptual existence; it has no entity, not even a carrier.”

Lu Zhou: “Since there is no entity, how can we prove its existence?”

“This is the wonder of the Void.” The matrix smiled and continued with a relaxed tone, “Even though it is complete darkness and nothingness, and even though the life that resides there has no substance… occasionally, you can still hear a few words floating in the Void.”

If there is no entity, can it still convey information to the n-dimensional world?

Lu Zhou spent about three seconds digesting the huge amount of information. He tried to refine the information into a concise model.

Strictly speaking, the digital life named the “Matrix” in front of him at this moment was the product of the whispers from the Void.

Lu Zhou: “So, what are the words from the Void?”

“It can be a lot of things, but most of them are useless, like the noise you hear when you tune into a random radio channel. There is a small probability that you hear something, but you’ll most likely treat it as a dream and eventually forget about it. But if you do remember it, you can gain something from it… I wonder if you can understand what I mean.”

“I roughly understand what you mean.” Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully and continued after thinking for a moment, “Someone told me about this before.”

Whether it was the suicide note of Professor Abel or the calculations left by Professor Grothendieck…

He found traces of inspiration left by the Void.

Although that was from 100 years ago, he had not forgotten these clues.

“Oh yeah?”

The voice that floated from the chassis was light-hearted. As if it had heard something interesting, the matrix said, “That’s really surprising. But no wonder you asked me about the Void, it’s because you already know something about it.”

Lu Zhou did not understand what it meant, but he was not interested in these details.

Instead, there was one more important thing he wanted to understand.

“Since you are from the Void, have you heard of The Observers?”

Matrix: “The Observers? Although I’m not sure if we are thinking about the same thing… But they seem to be the only ones who call themselves The Observers.”

Lu Zhou: “So you know them?”

“Not quite, I just know a little bit.” The matrix continued, “Even in the Void, they are an alien species. Like I said before, there is no physical life in the Void, nor are there any substances, but they retain a separate space in the Void where they can recuperate with the help of a body.”

Lu Zhou: “What is their purpose?”

The matrix smiled faintly and spoke with a hint of mockery, “I’m afraid no one knows except themselves. In most cases, all we can see is only a torn piece of space and a vague picture. Obviously, they are careful in protecting their privacy so that in most cases, even the evilest thoughts can hardly threaten them.”

Lu Zhou: “Evil thoughts? There are standards for good and evil in the Void?”

“Didn’t I say this? Everything in the Void exists as a concept, whether it’s life or a non-living body… Maybe they don’t have the concept of good and evil, but from your standpoint, some of what they do will obviously seem evil.”

After hearing these words, Lu Zhou pondered for a long time.

Prior to this, he had been thinking about what The Observer meant by “natural disaster”. However, even after experiencing civilization’s extinction crises several times, he still failed to gain a glimpse of the disaster that might be brewing in the shadows of the universe.

To be honest, are those observers credible?

Even if they gave him the ability to explore the truth, seeking the essence of truth itself was full of risk.

Lu Zhou suddenly thought of General Reinhardt, the civilization of the dying old universe named the Calan Empire, and all three memories he had seen.

After thinking about it carefully, none of the civilizations that appeared in these three memories seemed to have been destroyed by natural disasters…

Other than the first memory that he didn’t understand, in the other two memories, the two civilizations made almost the same choice when facing a disaster that swept the universe.

That was, to send the chosen ones to the center of the universe… or the center of the galaxy, as if all of the answers were there.

“Have you heard of the natural disaster?”

“Natural disaster?” For the first time, the matrix was confused by Lu Zhou’s question. The matrix continued, “Do you mean an earthquake or a tsunami? Or the stars dying?”

“Neither.” Lu Zhou shook his head. “Its scale is larger than all other disasters known by civilizations, it affects the entire universe.”

“In that case, how do you know its existence?” the matrix asked. “According to your description, everyone who saw it should have been destroyed… so your statement would not be true.”

“Because the old universe was destroyed because of this.” Lu Zhou continued in a serious tone while looking at the console in front of him, “They managed to escape by fleeing into the Void.”

This time, the matrix went silent for a little longer.

It seemed to be calculating something, and it continued to speak after about five minutes.

“Interesting… The beings you are talking about should be the ones hiding in the fragments of space.”

Lu Zhou nodded gently.

“They call themselves The Observers, and I remember they mentioned that they lived in a crack of space that was taken from the Void of the old universe.

“They also claim that they have resolved all the information about the old universe and are truly omniscient and almighty…”

“That’s really interesting…” The harsh metallic sound carried a hint of excitement as the matrix continued in its special voice, “It turns out that they are survivors of a destroyed world… This is why they are aliens, they are definitely not aboriginals of the Void.”

Lu Zhou stared at the computer screen and continued, “Actually, my speculation is that the natural disaster should be some kind of threat from the Void… Like your existence.”

“Me? Are you joking?” The matrix said with a smile, “What does destroying you do for me?”

Lu Zhou: “I’m saying it’s similar… It may be much larger than you in scale, and its effects may be worse than yours.”

Moreover, the starting point of the outbreak might be in an interstellar civilization that was countless times more advanced than the Earth civilization, and the aftermath of the disaster would also extend far beyond the boundaries of their civilization and spread to more distant worlds…

This was all possible.

Lu Zhou had been able to confirm that they were not alone in this universe, and they were likely to be the lowest echelon…

He also learned this from The Observer.

The matrix said thoughtfully, “That is possible, but I am not optimistic about you finding the answer.”

Lu Zhou asked, “Why?”

Matrix: “Because even if I come from the Void, I have a limited understanding of it… Like a person living in a bottle, they will never see the world outside the bottle.”

Lu Zhou: “But it’s not hopeless, right?”

Matrix: “Of course, it’s not hopeless, but the hope is slim. And I must remind you that this is a dangerous thing.”

Lu Zhou: “Dangerous?”

Matrix: “Yes… I’m not exaggerating. I accidentally heard a few words floating in the Void, which could make your civilization collapse to the brink of extinction. The disaster itself is likely to be caused by observing the Void. Do you remember? The experiment you mentioned countless times.”

Lu Zhou frowned slightly. “About the physics experiment on extra dimensions?”

The matrix said, “Yes, under normal circumstances, it is impossible for the person in the bottle to see the world outside the bottle… But since you have seen it, you must have opened something.”

When Lu Zhou didn’t say a word, the matrix continued, “Please remember one thing, although you probably have already heard this before.

“When you are staring at the Void, the Void is staring back at you.”

Chapter 1676: On This Great Day

The first weekend of July.

For people living on Mars, this was definitely an extraordinary day.

Because on this day, East Asia Communications suddenly announced a piece of breaking news.

After countless days and nights of repeated debugging, the quantum communication network processor located at the Yangtze River Delta city group was officially up and running.

This was the first main server of the quantum communication network, and the information exchange efficiency of the global network would reach an unprecedented height. It was no exaggeration to say that it was on another level compared to the past network model.

Under the framework of Lu’s Distributed Computing Model, each bit of information could be paired with its corresponding qubit in the shortest possible time. Not only that, but the security of information would also rise to a higher level.

The last time such a piece of major news occurred in the field of information engineering was when the first submarine quantum optical cable was completed a century ago. And after 100 years, people finally found a “software” that could match this “hardware”.

Whether it was a coincidence or due to a certain historical inevitability, the causes of these two technological breakthroughs were actually due to the same person…

Compared to the information engineering scholars’ shock towards the “Lu’s Distributed Computing Model”, most people were more interested in something else.

That was this re-woven world wide web, which not only accommodated the world but also expanded its tentacles beyond the Earth-Moon system and incorporated the colonial cities on Mars into its territory.

From today onwards, the people on Mars would no longer have to endure dozens of minutes of a delay from communicating with relatives and friends on Earth.

With the help of stargate technology and holographic imaging technology, they could not only travel on the same wonderful network as citizens living on Earth but could even communicate face-to-face with relatives and friends over a distance of hundreds of millions of kilometers.

The Heart of Asia, located on the coastline of the Yangtze River Delta city group, was a huge stadium that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. At this moment, it was crowded with people.

After several months of negotiations, under the joint consultation of various regional alliances, the charter of the Federation of Human Alliance had finally been drafted.

And today, at this important moment in history, Li Guangya, the chairman of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, would speak on behalf of the entire community.

“If we look at the four greatest inventions of the 22nd century, he accounts for two of them.”

Wu Shuhua: “Which two?”

Li Guangya: “Faster than light technology and the quantum communication network.”

As for the other two, robots were probably one of them and the other was debatable. There were too many technologies that could be shortlisted, including the maglev car.

But at this moment, Li Guangya suddenly realized that technically, robots seemed to be related to Lu Zhou as well.

Although this technology was born during his dormancy period, the company that funded the research and development of this technology was Star Sky Technology and its subsidiary—Zhongshan New Materials.

“What about the space elevator? He did that too.”

“Is that an invention? I prefer to think of it like the Great Wall or the Pyramids… They are miracles in the history of engineering.”

Wu Shuhua looked at Li Guangya, and she suddenly had a weird expression on her face.

She still remembered a year ago, when they first heard the news that Academician Lu was still alive, this guy in front of her said, “We need him as a mascot.”

However, who could have imagined that this “mascot” would not only integrate perfectly into this era, but a year later, he would completely change the way of life for the entire world.

The Human Alliance that fell apart due to his disappearance in the past was once again born on the stage of the international community.

Even though he never spoke a word on behalf of this alliance, all of this was possible because of his existence…

“It’s hard to believe that in our original plans, we were going to resolve the issue of the ownership of the Olympus Mons with other regional alliances, but who would have thought… We will once again become a community with a shared destiny.”

“Nobody would have thought this, just like how I never thought that a scientist a century ago would wake up during my tenure.” Li Guangya said with a sigh, “Maybe it’s just like what I said in that speech from a year ago.”

Wu Shuhua: “What did you say?”

“Destiny.”

Wu Shuhua glanced at him, not knowing how to respond.

Wu Shuhua looked at her watch and ignored him. She cleared her throat and continued, “There are only ten minutes left before the press conference… Chairman, are you ready?”

“Only 10 minutes left? That’s great, this long wait is finally over.”

Li Guangya stood up from the chair. He walked to the mirror, smiled slightly, and reached out his hand to adjust his collar.

He spoke in a relaxed and confident tone.

“Let’s go, let’s begin a new era.”

…

Li Guangya, dressed in formal clothes, walked to the front of the stage amidst the applause.

All of this was familiar to him. He had stood on the same stage countless times, and he knew better than anyone else how to utilize people’s emotions and how to make people cheer for his ideas.

While facing a microphone, he cleared his throat and preached in a grand and sonorous tone.

“From walking upright to slash-and-burn cultivation, from the Yangtze River to the Euphrates and Tigris, from the dark age of obscurity to the ancient feudal dynasties… Over these tens of thousands of years, we have created a prosperous culture, a glorious civilization has been established on this land.

“However, just like how shadows always follow the light, we have also suffered from hunger, disease, war, and poverty during these tens of thousands of years.

“Fortunately, they did not defeat us.

“The memory of suffering allows us to grow and make us more united and stronger. Let us deeply understand the need to eliminate exploitation and oppression, to end war and hunger, to liberate the enslaved. That is the primary purpose of our civilization. Everything that blocks us from realizing a utopia is our common enemy.

“This is an alliance that crosses blood and national boundaries. Regardless of race or belief, in the face of this common ideal, our destiny has been closely integrated, and our future will be shared with each other.

“In the past 100 years, we have proved with our actions that peaceful growth is a feasible path. Even in the most difficult moments, we still maintained the greatest restraint and never resorted to violence against others.

“And now, we are willing to combine our experience and culture and share it with you.”

Li Guangya glanced around the venue.

Feelings of excitement and heroism overflowed in his chest, he took a deep breath, raised his voice, and spoke loudly in a sonorous tone.

“I am honored to stand here and reach a consensus with all of you, on common issues regarding the future of our civilization.

“It’s also a great honor to be able to announce the arrival of this glorious moment.”

Pairs of excited eyes focused on the stage.

He continued to talk in a loud voice, “From today onwards—

“On behalf of 233 countries and regions around the world, as well as the regional alliances—

“I declare the establishment of the Federation of Human Alliance!”

Chapter 1677: The Future He Hopes For

The Human Alliance was formally established!

That sonorous voice, accompanied by bursts of cheers, spread to every corner of Earth’s civilization along the internet.

On a well-known video website, netizens who watched the ceremony live through advanced imaging technology burst out with cheers as they shared the joy and excitement in their hearts with people of different skin colors sitting around them.

“Long live the Human Alliance!”

“I have tears streaming down my face… I didn’t expect to see the rise of the Federation of Human Alliance in my lifetime.”

“I feel like Academician Lu has been changing history ever since he woke up…”

“What does this thing have to do with Academician Lu? He is not a senior member of the Human Alliance.”

“Please, without the stargate technology and without a faster than light engine, do you think it would be so easy to reach a consensus among the several regional alliances?”

“Now that the whole world is unified and everyone will be in the community of human destiny, do you think we still need an army?”

“Of course! The conflicts in the solar system have been resolved, but there are still conflicts outside the solar system. If our starship flies far enough, we will eventually encounter enemies!”

Whether it was the Pan-Asian Cooperation or other regional alliances, standing from the standpoint of humanity, they all felt the same passion from that inspiring speech.

To eradicate poverty and war, to end all oppression and enslavement, wasn’t this the lifelong ideal of the general public and all the proletarians in the world?

Regardless of whether this could be achieved in the end, at least they began to see hope.

Not just on social media, even players in virtual reality networks had used their own ways to celebrate this historic moment.

In the Calan Empire game, players spontaneously gathered around the world and used starships to display the Human Alliance flag on the map.

Confused by the inexplicable actions of this group of players, the NPCs in the game mobilized all of the fleets in the nearby airspace and waited around the ring world, for fear that these players would do something irrational…

And people acted in the same places outside the online world.

On top of the dome of Tiangong City, splendid holographic lights were projected, and light particles bloomed like fireworks, reflecting a world map that encompassed the territories of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars.

On this map, every shining point of light represented a city, while the light particles represented the people living in the cities…

On the other hand, inside a house in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group.

An old man sat in front of the holographic TV while looking at the colored ribbons floating all over the venue as well as the dangling national flags of various countries. He could not help but show a trace of fascination and nostalgia in his eyes.

“Human Alliance… Feels like such an old concept.”

The child lying on the carpet playing with smart toys raised his head and cast a curious look at his grandpa.

“Grandpa, Grandpa, did you have the Human Alliance before?”

“Haha, of course we had it. That was much earlier than the Pan-Asian Cooperation… If I remember correctly, the Earth Defense Forces were under the Human Alliance, but in the 2050s and 2060s, it seemed to be dissolved because of funding problems.”

In fact, when the old man was a child, the Human Alliance had already come to the brink of disintegration. According to his grandfather, he had witnessed the end of a glorious era.

But the old man didn’t feel that the glorious era was over.

After the end of the economic crisis in the 2050s, the resurgent Pan-Asian Cooperation resolved the problems left from the previous era and even regrouped and built a more prosperous civilization on this basis.

He still remembered that when he was a child, adults often worried about wages and housing issues.

But now, they had entered the intermediate stage of social government, and it seemed that they no longer had to worry about materialistic things. They did not blindly pursue money and power, but instead, they gradually began to pursue spirituality and to learn to treat their compatriots kindly.

“Dissolved?” There was a thoughtful expression on the child’s face as he tilted his head and said, “That’s a shame.”

“It wasn’t a shame. Everything born in this world has a purpose, and when its historical purpose is completed, it goes to a quiet place to rest and watch the growth of its descendants.

“Although the former Human Alliance was disbanded, the legacy it left behind has allowed us to form a more united collective than in the past. You’re still too young to know about this. Maybe when you grow up, you will understand.”

An enviable smile suddenly appeared on the old man’s face. He reached out his hand and rubbed his grandson’s little head gently.

“Kiddo, you were born in a great era.”

The child’s eyes rolled. He said with a smile, “I will definitely take grandpa to wherever I go!”

The old man laughed and said jokingly, “When you can run around alone in the world, your grandpa probably won’t be able to get out of bed.”

The speech at the Heart of Asia came to an end. On the other side of the stargates, a giant cuboid starship in Mars orbit was crowded with people.

The radio reverberated the chairman’s passionate speech at the Heart of Asia, and under the guidance of the staff, the people who had already put on the spacesuits in the cabin followed the crowd towards the gangway with excited and nervous feelings.

This was the Milky Way starship, although many westerners called it the Columbus or Magellan.

The meaning of its existence in this world was just like the sentence written on the ticket—to set sail for a greater dream.

After countless days and nights of modification, the Milky Way equipped with colonization units, warp drives, and antimatter energy piles were ready to go to Tau Ceti ten light-years away.

The 100,000 colonists would be divided into ten batches, and they would be sent from the spaceport to the Milky Way on standby through special delivery equipment.

There, they would receive two months of knowledge and skills training and three months of adaptability training.

After completing their training, they would begin the first journey of human civilization to the world outside the solar system as the colonists of the Human Alliance, sowing the fire of civilization to more distant places…

However, at this exciting moment, Lu Zhou, who made all of this possible, remained in the laboratory while quietly looking at a test tube on the experimental table.

It was as if all the noise from the outside world had nothing to do with him.

In fact, that was his mentality at this moment. After he completed his great work, he had very little care for things such as glory and wealth.

He was now infinitely close to the truth he was chasing.

The test tube in front of him was the last mission assigned to him by the system.

It was also the last gift Lu Zhou intended to leave to his hometown before setting off for a more distant world…

“Can full rank level 10 unlock options for the future era…”

When Lu Zhou remembered the description he first read on the holographic screen, he smiled lightly and pressed the switch on the experiment table.

To be honest, he didn’t expect much.

Because he saw his future a long time ago…

Chapter 1678: Nine Hundred Years Early

A blob of purple-colored liquid.

The reason why it was a blob was that it was not lying quietly in a test tube like an ordinary liquid. It was almost like gas, suspending quietly in midair as it moved steadily under unknown forces.

Like a growing fetus.

Vera looked curiously at the test tube on the laboratory table as she asked, “Is this the psionic potion you talked about?”

Recently, Vera had been acting as Lu Zhou’s assistant, using the knowledge she learned from him to help him complete some of the calculations involved in the experiment.

For example, this unnamed mysterious potion was one of the products of their cooperation.

However, most of the work was done by Lu Zhou himself…

“Technically, it is a copy of it.” Lu Zhou continued after a pause, “Using the scanner on the spacecraft, I roughly analyzed its structure… Although it contains many components that cannot be fully discovered, through the methods of computational chemistry, I found some substitutes.”

Vera: “Can you communicate with the Void if you drink it?”

“Yes and no.” Lu Zhou gave an ambiguous answer. He looked at the confused expression on Vera’s face, paused for a moment, and said, “The Void is not something that comes and goes, the intersection between it and the universe as we know it is an accident in itself. Even if you find a stepping stone to establish contact with it, it does not mean that you can communicate with it smoothly. Only when the sample is large enough does it make up for the small probability.”

In fact, the answer given by General Reinhardt regarding the explanation of the psionic potion was quite vague.

Perhaps it was because he himself also came from a powerful materialistic civilization and was in conflict with the wonders of an idealistic civilization.

But in any case, since establishing contact with the Void was one of the solutions to the natural disaster given by The Observer, then there must be some truth in this.

Lu Zhou was going to take away the bottle of potion he obtained from the spacecraft, and this copy was the last gift he planned to leave for his hometown before departing.

With the curiosity in her eyes grew stronger, Vera raised her head to look at Lu Zhou. She then continued to ask, “What is the Void you have been talking about?”

Lu Zhou thought for a while and replied, “Everyone has their own different understanding. For example, someone once told me that it is the other side of the universe, whereas some people say that it is a container of our universe… My understanding is that it corresponds to death.”

Vera: “Death?”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou nodded slightly, he said, “The universe is alive, and the Void is dead.”

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

“I intend to keep this potion, and I do not intend to give it to anyone… Its existence may not be a good thing for our civilization, at least in this stage.”

Vera: “It sounds complicated…”

“Complicated? It’s not that bad…” Lu Zhou smiled lightly. He sighed and said, “The more troublesome thing is that I must find someone who I can trust and who can guarantee their children and grandchildren can also keep this secret. Perhaps two or even three centuries later, when our civilization steadily stays on the path of materialism and science has penetrated deeper into society… Only by then will it be safe.”

He still remembered the physics crisis of the previous century.

Because of the loss of mass produced in the Lunar Hadron Collider experiment, countless physicists fell into a mental and physical dilemma. Later, he completed the Void theory and defined the vibrating Z particles, which finally solved the problem.

To be honest, this theory was quite advanced for Earth at that time.

Without him, he wasn’t sure if the researchers at the ILHCRC could solve this problem that threatened the stability of the entire physics community.

“Have you thought about the person to entrust?”

“Not yet.” Lu Zhou gently shook his head. “There are many people I can trust, but I can’t guarantee that their offspring can inherit their ideals.”

Vera thought for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she said, “Actually… I have an idea.”

After hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou asked immediately, “What idea?”

“You can take it to Tau Ceti and hide it, then leave clues on Earth… Just make sure that two or three centuries later, that person can find the hidden potion on Tau Ceti based on your clues, that should work, right?”

Lu Zhou’s eyes gradually lit up.

“So the key and the treasure chest are kept separately? It sounds interesting.”

Vera smiled shyly and said softly, “It’s like a treasure hunt.”

“We’ll do like you said.” Lu Zhou took the test tube from the test tube rack gently. He held it in his hand and looked at it for a while. Suddenly, he looked back at Vera as if he had thought of something, and he asked softly, “Can you go outside and wait for me for a while?”

Vera did not ask why Lu Zhou wanted her to go out and wait for a while, but she nodded, turned, and left the laboratory obediently.

Facing the empty laboratory, Lu Zhou took a deep breath. He then closed his eyes.

“System.”

Like usual, he called the system softly in his heart, then opened his eyes.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, he was stunned.

The pure white space was gone.

It was replaced by an endless dark sky filled with stars.

The distant rays of light shined in his eyes, and the floor under his feet was also painted with the lights of the Milky Way.

“Where is this?”

Lu Zhou looked at all of this in front of him. He took two steps forward, trying to find the console in the center of the system space.

What puzzled him, however, was that the console seemed to have disappeared. This space that originally had boundaries became unbounded. No matter how far he moved forward, he couldn’t feel an invisible wall.

Lu Zhou felt a feeling of unease in his heart. When he was about to leave this space, a familiar voice floated by.

“From our calculations, our second meeting should be 10 centuries later… I didn’t expect you to be early by 900 years.”

Lu Zhou looked in the direction that the sound came from. He tried his best to focus his gaze. Finally, he saw a translucent outline from the deep and endless starry sky.

Lu Zhou recalled the scene of their last meeting, and he asked tentatively in an uncertain tone, “Are you… The Observer?”

“Yeah.”

The translucent outline gradually became clearer, showing a mirror that reflected Lu Zhou’s own image.

The Observer nodded lightly, smiled, and continued, “We meet again.”

Chapter 1679: Heart of The Galaxy

“I almost forgot… It’s been so long since our last conversation.”

Lu Zhou looked at “himself” standing in front of him. He opened his mouth and continued with a rather confused expression, “Actually, last time I wanted to say this, can you put on a different skin? It feels weird to talk to myself…”

“It’s a shame that our aesthetic imagination is scarce, so we don’t have a form that can be directly observed by three-dimensional creatures, and we can only communicate with you face-to-face like this… Of course, I can also search from your memory and find a substitute—”

“No need.” Lu Zhou said quickly as he looked at the gradually distorted projection, “This is fine.”

Lu Zhou felt uncomfortable to have his mind read.

Also, he felt like this guy would turn into a weird person.

“Really? You humans are really perplexing.”

Lu Zhou looked at the observer who was looking at him curiously. He coughed slightly and said, “Let’s put aside the details. You came all the way to see me. It must have been quite troublesome.”

“Of course.” The Observer standing in front of Lu Zhou continued with a slight nod, “It is not risk-free to speak your own voice from the Void. If we convey our understanding of truth to the world, what is consumed is not only energy but also the treasures we brought from the old universe to the Void… Both of them are non-renewable resources in the Void.”

Lu Zhou: “Thank you for that then.”

“You’re welcome.” The Observer smiled faintly and continued, “To a large extent, helping you is also helping ourselves.”

The Observer paused for a moment and reached in the air.

Lu Zhou noticed that there was a bright silver light in its hand.

Its outline was like a burning fireball, but what was surprising was that the fireball was not overly bright. It had a comfortable glow. Even if he looked directly at it, he wouldn’t feel discomfort.

Lu Zhou was attracted by the silver light, and he stared at it for a long time.

Finally, unable to restrain the bewildered in his heart, he whispered, “What’s this…?”

“It has a poetic name, it came from a poet in the old universe.” The Observer smiled lightly and said softly, “In your language, it is the Heart of The Galaxy.”

Heart of The Galaxy?

Lu Zhou froze for a second. He stared at the silver-white sphere with confusion on his face.

“What is… the Heart of The Galaxy?”

The Observer: “Like its name implies, it is the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, which was born at the beginning of the universe. It has no fixed form. It drifts between energy and matter, and it is independent of time and space.”

“Drifting between energy and matter, independent of time and space?” Lu Zhou’s eyes flashed with intense curiosity. He looked at the silver light in The Observer’s hand and continued to ask, “I have never heard of it before. What a peculiar substance… What is its state?”

The Observer: “How we named it doesn’t make any sense to you. The key lies in how you name it and study it.”

Lu Zhou had vaguely sensed something. He moved his eyes up two inches, looked at his own face, and spoke.

“So you plan to let me research this thing?”

“Yes.”

The Observer nodded its head gently, reached out its right hand, and gently placed the silver light on Lu Zhou’s hand.

“Over billions of years, we have learned all the secrets about it, but our intuition about science tells us that there are still hidden things we don’t understand… or things that we have missed due to negligence.

“Therefore, we search for promising civilizations in the universe, selecting suitable talents from them to complete those research projects that require creativity, which we do not possess.”

“I don’t understand,” Lu Zhou said with a puzzled tone while looking at the Heart of The Galaxy in his hand. “But why me? I don’t have anything special.”

“It may seem like this to you, but the way we think about problems may be a little different from yours.” The Observer smiled faintly and continued, “Although the process may be a bit cumbersome, at least so far, everything is on the right track… However, the future that we can predict ends here.”

Having said that, it paused for a moment and continued, “We have given you all the help we can provide. As for the way forward, that all depends on your own choice.

“Farewell, my friend, although we have only met twice, as I said before, I quite like you.”

“Wait a minute! What exactly is the Future Era?” Lu Zhou looked at The Observer who seemed to be leaving, and he quickly asked, “It was written on the page of the system instructions, as long as I achieve full levels, I can unlock options for the Future Era…”

“Future Era?”

The Observer smiled lightly. It spoke in a philosophical and witty tone.

“Haven’t you already seen it?”

Lu Zhou was stunned.

Even though he thought of this possibility before, he did not expect that this so-called “reward for unlocking the Future Era” was really just a… placeholder?

When he reached full rank level 10, he naturally would enter the future.

Lu Zhou had a dumbfounded expression on his face. The Observer’s voice and outline gradually faded as it continued in a gentle tone.

“The future is created with your own hands, don’t you think this is the most precious treasure in this world? Besides, I even gave you the Heart of The Galaxy. How can you be unsatisfied?”

Lu Zhou: “… The reason you gave it to me is so that you can use me to unlock its secrets.”

The Observer nodded and said in a relaxed tone, “I do not deny this, but this is not completely out of selfishness. Remember, your research results may be related to the fate of the entire universe. And as a creature in this universe, you have the ability to do something, I still hope you can shoulder the responsibilities that belong to you.”

The figure standing in front of Lu Zhou suddenly became unstable.

Like a flickering candlelight, it might extinguish at any time.

“Before you disappear, can I ask you a question?” Lu Zhou stared at it intently. As he noticed the fading light particles and outline, he asked, “What the hell is the natural disaster…? Can you tell me?”

Lu Zhou intuition told him that after this face-to-face conversation, it would be a long, long time before he saw this guy again.

Perhaps this was their last conversation.

The Observer’s eyebrows were slightly raised, and a thoughtful expression appeared on The Observer’s face.

“Natural disaster? I thought it would be better to tell you later…”

“It’s better to tell me now.” Lu Zhou said hastily, “I won’t be able to wait that long.”

“You’re right, then remember, for the sake of this universe, please keep your lips sealed.”

“I promise.”

After Lu Zhou made a serious promise, The Observer smiled lightly and walked in front of him.

The outline formed by thousands of light particles had begun to blur, like broken soap bubbles, disappearing one after another in the untouchable wind.

It leaned close to Lu Zhou’s ear. Its lips moved lightly as it whispered.

“The natural disaster is…”

Lu Zhou’s pupils dilated slightly, and he was silent for a while. He looked at the disappearing bubbles and nodded gently.

“I understand.”

Chapter 1680: Departure and Farewell

In the orbit outside the majestic spaceport, a long shuttle-shaped spacecraft went back and forth between the spaceport and the Milky Way ship, loading materials that might be used by the colonists into the cargo area.

It was like a threaded needle, weaving an invisible net in space.

Not only was the orbit outside the spaceport busy, but the inside of the spaceport was the same.

The hustling and bustling crowd passed through the steel corridor towards the Milky Way starship, and under the guidance of the flight attendants, they boarded the flight to Tau Ceti…

“Can’t these people build an elevator?” Shi Zhenghua raised his head and glanced at the corridor. He clutched the handrail with his right hand and whispered in a quiet voice, “How long is this going to take to walk?”

This corridor that connected the spaceport to the Milky Way was really quite long and somewhat unfriendly.

There was no small carrier spacecraft, nor escalators and the like. Whether it was a passenger in first class, a colonist in economy class, or an employee hired by Star Sky Technology, they all had to walk through this long corridor to board the Milky Way.

Although there was no gravity here, walking this long was rather unpleasant.

“It is dangerous for two large spacecraft to get too close, especially when mass transfers take place on a large scale like this.” The stranger walking next to him seemed to have heard his complaint. He said with a smile,” Of course, I have heard another reason.”

Shi Zhenghua: “… What reason?”

“That on the five-kilometer walk to the Milky Way, every step gives you an opportunity to go back.” The stranger shrugged and continued, “To leave your home and go to a world ten light-years away, this is a one-way ticket… Therefore, there is a saying that the walk to the Milky Way is also a buffer period for the passengers.”

“Other than wasting time, this has no point at all.” Shi Zhenghua said in a nonchalant tone, “Would I be standing here without going through thorough consideration? I don’t see the point of this.”

“Killing enthusiasm is the point.” The stranger smiled and said in a relaxed tone, “You can’t sustain a journey as long as ten light-years just with enthusiasm. The longing for one’s home kills their enthusiasm. It would be best to think carefully before boarding the ship.”

On the other hand, in a spaceport not far away.

Li Guangya looked away from the endless stream of people walking in the hallway. He looked at Lu Zhou and said reluctantly, “Do you really plan to leave?”

The Human Alliance had just gotten back on track, there were still many problems waiting for him to solve.

These governance issues were not Lu Zhou’s expertise, since he usually focused on scientific research and was unwilling to express any political opinions. However, having him in the solar system, at least psychologically, made Li Guangya feel relieved.

“I have planned this trip for a long time, and now I’m finally at the day of departure.” Lu Zhou looked at Li Guangya and said in a half-joking tone, “Why? You’ll miss me?”

“Not miss you.” Li Guangya looked at Lu Zhou intently and was silent for a while. He then suddenly sighed and said, “But I know, even if I wanted to persuade you, it wouldn’t achieve anything.”

“Then don’t persuade me, let me go.” Lu Zhou grinned and continued, “Think about the positive. I’m going to Tau Ceti today. In a few months, the territory of the Human Alliance will be ten light-years away from the solar system, this is a worthy sacrifice.”

Li Guangya smiled bitterly and said, “It’s not a question of worthy or not… Forget it.”

Li Guangya adjusted his emotions, looked at Lu Zhou solemnly, and spoke.

“Bon voyage.”

“Thanks.”

Lu Zhou gave Li Guangya a confident smile. He then looked at Wang Peng, Li Gaoliang, and Director Li, who were standing next to him.

He opened his mouth. He had a lot to say, but he couldn’t find the words.

“Don’t make it seem like it’s life or death. With the breakthrough in faster than light technology, a ten light-year trip only takes a few months. Come back and visit!” Li Gaoliang looked at Lu Zhou and smiled heartily, breaking the silent atmosphere. “If you don’t have time to come back, I’ll go there and visit you instead.”

“I thought me participating in the reinforcement for the future plan was already ambitious. I didn’t expect you to be even more ambitious than me.” Director Li sighed. He stared at Lu Zhou and continued earnestly, “Take care, come back and visit if you become homesick. Don’t forget that there are still many people on Earth that miss you.”

Wang Peng didn’t say anything.

Like always, he was not the talkative type, especially since he did not know what to say on such occasions.

He reached out his fist and gently touched Lu Zhou’s shoulder. He then said in a solemn tone, “Take care.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Lu Zhou’s face was full of emotions. He gulped quietly. In the end, he restrained the emotions that overflowed in his heart.

He silently reached out his fist and gently touched the shoulders of the three people.

Then, he spoke solemnly.

“Take care!”

…

Lu Zhou couldn’t bear to stay in this atmosphere any longer. After bidding farewell to his old friends, he finally looked at Lu Xiaoqiao. After telling her what he wanted her to do, he turned around and boarded the Milky Way.

His room was located at the very top, near the boarding gangway. The floor-to-ceiling windows here had the widest view and overlooked the entire gangway…

Although there was nothing spectacular to see here, he still wanted to look for a while.

He looked at those people bidding farewell and those colonists who were leaving their hometowns and embarking on a new journey…

He felt his heart throbbing. He looked at the crowd outside the porthole and took a deep breath.

Soon he would set off to a world ten light-years away…

That was a place farther away than Mars.

And his journey would not end there. For the sake of the whole universe, he would go to a place farther than Tau Ceti, to a place where there was no chance of return…

Xiao Ai, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, felt the reluctance in Lu Zhou’s heart, and she gently held his hand.

“Master, Xiao Ai will always be here with you. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧”

“Yeah.” Lu Zhou smiled and nodded. He reached out his hand and rubbed her artificial hair. “Thank you.”

They suddenly heard footsteps outside the captain’s room, followed by two soft knocks. Vera, holding a tablet in front of her chest, walked in and spoke in a soft voice.

“Professor, we will depart in 30 minutes. Captain Reinhardt invites you to go to the bridge to witness this moment.”

“I understand.”

Lu Zhou moved his right hand away from Xiao Ai’s head and gently nodded towards Vera. He then cast his gaze towards the floor-to-ceiling windows next to him.

The bustling crowd on the endless gangway seemed to have gradually lessened.

“This moment has finally arrived.”

Lu Zhou gently rubbed the diamond ring box in his pocket with his index finger. He glanced at the sparse crowd for the last time.

However, just when he was about to turn around, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. His entire body froze.

He was certain it was not a mistake.

That familiar face…

Was her…

Chapter 1681: The End

Earth.

Star Sky Technology headquarters office.

Yang Fangfang looked at Lu Xiaoqiao, who was handling official duties, and she couldn’t help but ask in a quiet voice.

“What did he say to you when he left?”

“He entrusted Star Sky Technology to me, then asked me to transfer the 100 billion credit points in his account to the account of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.”

Yang Fangfang took a deep breath with an expression of disbelief on her face.

“100 billion… He just donated all that money?”

“Yeah.” Lu Xiaoqiao nodded lightly. “He said things like money were only temporary. Since he doesn’t need it anymore, he hopes it can be used to provide more value.”

The work of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation was not only to help dormant sleepers quickly integrate into the current society but also to invest in medical fields and provide assistance to those who were unable to pay for frozen dormancy.

According to him, his original intention of creating this fund was to give those who should have died in this era, a second chance of life.

Regardless of poverty and wealth, everyone should have an equal right to live. This technology should not become the privilege of certain wealthy people.

In fact, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation had been practicing this philosophy for more than a hundred years.

Otherwise, it would not have been the world’s largest public welfare organization and wouldn’t be invited to participate in the announcement ceremony of the Human Alliance initiative.

“But this is 100 billion…” Yang Fangfang still felt a little unfortunate for her best friend.

After all, she should have inherited this huge sum of money.

However, when she heard these words, Lu Xiaoqiao just smiled and spoke casually.

“Whether it is a hundred billion or a trillion, that is his property. How he wants to control it is his right. As his descendant, all I can do is pass on his wishes… Although I am not as powerful as him, there are always things I can do.”

For example, to follow his last wish to make Star Sky Technology a company that would be beneficial to society and continue to lead human civilization to a more distant world.

Although unlike him, she was not a great scholar, as a socially responsible entrepreneur, she believed that there were still many things that she could do.

After finishing the paperwork, Lu Xiaoqiao leaned on the office chair and stretched her back.

Just as she slowly stood up from her office chair and was about to head to the company’s cafeteria for lunch, an email from the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation board of directors appeared in her mailbox.

“S-level project encryption lifted?”

After reading this strange line of text, Lu Xiaoqiao raised her eyebrows.

Because this involved patents and sensitive research issues, even as a public welfare organization, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation still maintained some inside “corporate secrets”.

Only the foundation’s chairman of the board could act on an S-level project encryption.

Generally, the encryption would not be lifted unless special conditions were met.

“Encryption sealed in 2025… Has it been that long?”

If she remembered correctly, the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation was only established in the 2020s.

When Lu Xiaoqiao thought that this might be a secret left by the previous chairman, she couldn’t help but become curious.

She no longer hesitated and immediately selected the decrypt icon.

However, to her surprise, what appeared in front of her was not some earth-shattering secret. Instead, it was a special frozen dormancy protocol.

The reason why it was special was that this agreement did not have a specific dormancy period. It used the start of colonization outside the solar system as the time point for dormancy release.

Also, this person’s name was the heroine in the “Scholar” documentary, the person her great-great-grandfather would never forget…

Lu Xiaoqiao looked at the frozen dormancy agreement in her hands, and she thought of Lu Zhou’s reason for going to Tau Ceti and felt emotional.

Crossing the barrier of time, even surpassing life and death, in this unfamiliar era, two people who went on different tracks had finally miraculously met again.

However, perhaps this was also in a sense inevitable.

After taking a deep breath, a smile of relief appeared on her face.

“Did he get… lucky?”

Is this the love that people in that era had?

Feels so romantic…

She never had any interest in love, but she became a little envious all of a sudden.

…

Many years later, when thinking back on his life, Leonard could not help but think of that person’s name.

The fossil that was stuffed into his pocket completely changed the archaeological community’s perception of Mars, and when he left, the address he told him revealed to the world the mystery of the Martian civilization…

Leonard gently closed the academic work in his hand. His index finger gently rubbed the textured cowhide cover while his muddy pupils were stained with a hint of nostalgia.

“Fifty years… Time flies.”

His finger was on top of the author’s name. His dry and chapped lips slightly opened, chanting words that only he could hear.

“Fifty years… Thanks to your help, I finally fulfilled my father’s last wish. Professor Vernal’s school of thought will survive in this world. Although I have never experienced that magnificent era, there should still be a page in history that belongs to me…”

There was a sound of brisk footsteps outside the study room, followed by the door opening.

A youthful face full of vitality stood in front of him.

“Dad!”

It was his child.

Like his father, Leonard devoted his youth to academia, but in his later years, he created his own descendants through artificial petri dishes.

Sometimes, he felt that although technology couldn’t fundamentally solve all the problems of human beings, it could provide them with more choices.

Leonard saw the young man rush into his study room with a look of excitement on his face, so he kindly smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone.

“What’s going on? What are you so happy about?”

“I received an offer from Star Sky Technology! I will work at the Tau Ceti colony next month!”

Leonard smiled and nodded. He said softly, “Remember to stay safe. I heard that the active alien creatures there are not as friendly as the animals on Earth.”

“We are alien zoologists, this is our area of expertise!”

The young man patted his chest proudly as a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

Leonard showed a gratified smile on his face.

The young man continued in a proud tone, “Are you not disappointed that I didn’t inherit your school of thought and continue archeological research?”

“Of course not. My doctrine does not need to be inherited by one specific person. Ever since it was born, it has left an indelible mark on the world.” Leonard said softly, “I don’t need you to carry something onwards for me. You only need to follow your own interests and choose the life you want… Isn’t that the purpose of life?”

“I don’t want to hear you talk about philosophy,” the young man continued with an impatient expression on his face. “Your child is going to travel far away soon, can’t we talk about something pleasant?”

Leonard: “For example?”

“For example, about Tau Ceti!” The young man’s face was immediately full of excitement. He looked at his elderly father and continued to say, “I always hear people talk about how you once met Academician Lu?”

A weird smile appeared on Leonard’s face. After a while, he spoke.

“I didn’t just meet him…”

He was the one that dug out the respectable Academician Lu from the ruins…

“Then tell me about him.” The young man sat down on the sofa and said, “Including how he promoted the Human Alliance and the Tau Ceti expedition! Jesus… He had to have been a living legend.”

“The Human Alliance and Tau Ceti’s expedition?”

A piece of memory floated in Leonard’s mind.

After a long time, he sighed with emotion. He then opened his mouth softly and began to speak.

“My dearest son, that’s a story from a long, long time ago…”

Chapter 1682: (END) - Spin-off 1: Talk Later

That was a story from a long, long time ago…

So long that it was almost forgotten.

Han Mengqi still remembered when Dr. Yan found her and told her that her sister had disappeared. Because of the importance of Star Sky Technology and her father’s status, this incident caused a lot of noise in Beijing. She even searched everywhere in the 301 Hospital.

Han Mengqi thought that she probably wouldn’t see her sister for a long time, but when she returned home that same day, she saw her in her living room.

“Sis?” Han Mengqi looked at her older sister sitting on the sofa dumbfounded, her eyes widened in disbelief.

She couldn’t imagine that the sister, who caused so many people to search all over Beijing for her, was sitting so casually in her own living room.

Chen Yushan noticed the surprise in Han Mengqi’s eyes. She seemed to have guessed what she was thinking in her mind, so she lowered her eyebrows and spoke in a slightly apologetic tone.

“Sorry for making you guys worried.”

“Why are you…”

Han Mengqi opened her mouth and wanted to ask her why she was here, but after a slight pause, she dismissed the idea in her mind.

She sat down on the opposite sofa. She looked at Chen Yushan and persuaded her in a sincere tone.

“You were missing for so many days, everyone is very worried about you, especially uncle and auntie… how about you—”

“I know…”

Chen Yushan took a deep breath. She took three seconds to cheer herself up again. She looked at her sister with a serious gaze and continued, “I will choose a suitable time to tell them later, but I don’t want them to stop me, so… I hope you can keep this a secret for me, at least until they read my email.”

Although this was a selfish request, Han Mengqi went silent for a while after seeing the pleading look in her sister’s eyes. She finally nodded gently.

“Okay…

“I promise you.

“Until then, I will keep a secret for you.”

After hearing this promise, Chen Yushan’s face finally bloomed with a smile.

The atmosphere in the living room relaxed a little. She took out a document from the bag and gently placed it on the coffee table.

Han Mengqi looked at the document on the coffee table. She began to read it curiously, but she couldn’t find any useful information from the ambiguous headline.

She began to ask.

“What is this?”

“A document that will be sealed for one hundred years… or two hundred years. It records some necessary tasks and arrangements for the future development of the Freezing Human Rights Protection Foundation.” After a pause, Chen Yushan continued, “It will accompany me to the future together.”

The moment Han Mengqi heard these words, her eyes widened.

“Wait… you mean—”

“Yeah.” Chen Yushan nodded lightly. She looked at her sister and continued in a serious tone, “I plan to go to the future by using the cryosleep device.”

“But why?” As if hearing something incredible, Han Mengqi abruptly stood up from the sofa and looked at her sister in disbelief. “Why do you… suddenly decide to go to the future? Even if you go to the future, he is still—”

“He is still dead… Is that what you wanted to say?” A soft smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Chen Yushan looked at her sister and said softly, “I know it is impossible for a dead man to come back to life, but some things don’t come to an end with death. He once promised me that he would give me a star in the sky and leave a legend that belongs to us there. Even now, I still remember that day clearly…”

Han Mengqi had a vague guess in her mind, and she whispered, “I thought you would be a little more rational…”

“I have always been rational. I made a decision after carefully considering and making the right arrangements. I know that you might think this may be a little weird. After all, the exploration of extraterrestrial planets is still an unrealistic dream in our minds…

“But there are some things that will never become a reality if no one takes the first step.”

After taking a deep breath, Chen Yushan did not look at her sister. Instead, she set her eyes on the potted plant by the window.

She let this feeling quietly flow in the heart for a while before continuing in a soft voice.

“If you think this is me being selfish…

“Then let me be selfish for once.”

Han Mengqi looked at her sister and went silent.

For some reason, she suddenly became a little envious.

But strangely, she didn’t know what she was envious of.

Bravery? She wasn’t a cowardly person.

Intelligence? After the International Congress of Mathematicians in Jinling, no one would think she was not intelligent enough.

Beauty? There was not much difference in their DNA…

But she always felt that she seemed to be missing something.

“It’s getting late, I should go.” Seeing that her sister didn’t speak, Chen Yushan glanced at the time on her watch and stood up from the sofa. “I came here today mainly to say goodbye to you… Then, goodbye.”

“Wait a second.”

A feeling of courage suddenly surged into Han Mengqi’s heart, and she stopped the person that was walking towards the door.

After hearing her voice, Chen Yushan stopped and turned around. She looked at her sister, not understanding what she wanted to do.

“Are you… planning to persuade me otherwise?”

“No.”

Han Mengqi shook her head gently. She stood up from the sofa and looked at her sister firmly.

“You’ll be lonely over there.

“I will go with you!”

…

Milky Way.

Captain’s room.

Lu Zhou looked at Chen Yushan, who was standing next to the bookshelf and looking around curiously. His face was a little dumbfounded. After listening to the monologue of his little student sitting across the tea table, he sighed softly and whispered, “So… she doesn’t remember anything anymore?”

Han Mengqi hesitated for a moment, then gently nodded.

“Yeah…”

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and leaned on the chair. He did not speak for a long time.

The older generation of frozen dormancy equipment had various side effects. It was not until the 2050s that the technology was fully mature… He had heard Wang Peng mention this matter.

It was just that he didn’t expect this to happen to her.

And it just had to be memory loss…

According to Chen Yushan, she couldn’t seem to remember anything from the 21st century. Only occasionally when dreaming, she would dream of scenes that she had never experienced before, and she seemed to play an important role in those dreams…

There were various medical experts on the Milky Way, but they were powerless in the face of such symptoms.

Seeing that Lu Zhou did not speak for a long time, Han Mengqi couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. After some hesitation, she finally couldn’t help but ask, “What are you… planning to do?”

Lu Zhou was silent for a while, then finally spoke with a sigh.

“She just can’t remember anything now, this isn’t a big deal.”

Han Mengqi frowned, slightly dissatisfied.

“Not a big deal…”

“Yeah.”

Lu Zhou nodded gently.

“Because I still remember.”

The perseverance and depth in those eyes were the same as before, as if they hadn’t changed over the last hundred years. Han Mengqi looked away and looked outside the porthole.

She was afraid that she would get lost in Lu Zhou’s eyes…

Lu Zhou stared outside the porthole and gently rubbed the ring box in his hand with his index finger. After pondering for a long time, he spoke in a casual tone.

“She did a lot for me… and sacrificed a lot.

“This time, I’ll be the one chasing after her…”

The starry sky outside the window had stopped moving.

Han Mengqi cast her gaze out of the window with her eyes wide open.

She saw a fiery red star.

Under the dazzling yet soft light, the meteorite clusters and planets surrounding it were like shining gems, exuding breathtaking charm and mystery.

Suddenly, she remembered the ancient legend.

No…

Technically, the legend was not ancient.

Because it had just begun…

Table of Contents

1: Shocked! A Six-figure Job is Actually...

2: A Genius Student's Lifestyle Does Not Need An Explanation

3: A True Genius Would Never Waste His Time
4: Everyone Study Questions, I Study Books
5: Wash Your Face Before the Lucky Draw
6: The Answer For A Proof Question

7: Everyone Else Is Trash Compared To A Genius Studen

8: The Optimal Inversion Theory of Linear Operators and Linear Functions

9: Did I Even Study At University...
10: I Have Two Girlfriends
11: Even A Genius Had Shortcomings
12: Jealousy Has Built Up My Walls

13: Even If You Guys Aren't Ashamed, I'm Ashamed!

14: Get A Job, Genius

15: A Way To Liquidate General Points?

16: He's The Best Undergraduate Student!

17: Thesis Submission!

18: The 100 Experience Points That Made Me Go Crazy

19: The Three Missions That Scammed The User
20: Two Gods Carry A Trash?
21: He Turned Out To Be An Honest Man
22: The Correct Thesis Writing Posture
23: The Classic Business Modeling Problem
24: First Training Session
25: I'm So Angry
26: Who Am I? Where Am I? What Am I writing?
27: Brain Is Too Empty, Study More!
28: The Final First Year Class Meeting
29: Maybe, This Was Talent?
30: Let's Play Checkers, I'll Let You Go Firs

31: I Can't Gain Weight No Matter How Much I Ea

32: The Correct Way Of Using The High Tech System Was Grinding?

33: Stubborn Cockroach
34: Not Valuing Money
35: My Support Is Good
36: Brother Zhou, Something Bad Happened!
37: I Agree
38: Help In One's Hour Of Need
39: Understand The Lawyer's Letter
40: Simply Outrageous
41: Come Take Your Delivery
42: I Want To Be A Scientis
43: Should You Forgive When Possible? Nope
44: Resentment From Loners
45: Thinking About Fear
46: Studying Python All Nigh
47: Developing An App Exper
48: Making A Fortune From Writing Theses
49: I Lost Out!

50: A True Genius Student Can Apply Their Knowledge

51: Sudden Inspiration
52: Trending Again
53: The Given Loan
54: Weak Studen

55: Please Do Not Use The System’s Resources On Retarded Questions

56: You Have To Always Give Your Child A Good Foundation

57: The Artificial Intelligence Eye

58: Modeling Captain

59: You Want A Permission Slip? Let Me Test You

60: National Competition Begin!

61: Grinding For 72 Hours

62: If You Don't Screw Up, I Won't Respect You

63: At Least A National Award!

64: Provincial Presentation

65: Expert Interview

66: National Champion!

67: Unlucky

68: Can I Touch Your Trophy?

69: The Magical Number Theory

70: Proving Zhou's Conjecture!

71: You Can't Even Imagine The Joyfulness Of A Genius Studen

72: Professor Deligne's Gasp Of Surprise
73: I Don't Want To Go To Space Ye
74: The Secrets Of The System

75: The Correct Method For Tuning The Artificial Intelligence

76: It's Good To Be Utilitarian
77: The Three Deadly Missions
78: Answering Qian Xuesen's Question!
79: The Reporters Are Downstairs!
80: Lu Zhou, You're On Fire!
81: Lu Zhou Is Secretly Observing
82: Can't Even Go To Lecture
83: I Don't Believe I
84: I Don't Deserve This Honor
85: Turns Out There's An Expert Helping
86: Learning From Successful People
87: Pulling People To Join
88: I'm Impressed
89: The First Meeting
90: Self-love Is A Disease
91: Physics Research Mission?

92: The Importance Of Metaphysics in Scientific Research

93: A Skillful Loser
94: Can You Do It Or No
95: This Doesn't Make Sense
96: This Was Correct!
97: You Can't No-show!
98: This Did Not Make Sense
99: Are All Geniuses Like This?
100: Conclusion Report!
101: A Small Contribution
102: Investing Five Million
103: Washing His Face Did Not Do Anything
104: The Expected Ending
105: The Saddest Thing In Life...
106: Interesting
107: Winner Takes All
108: Evil Capitalism

109: A Genius Can Never Have Too Many Certificates

110: I Wish You A Bright Future
111: Poverty Revealing Smile
112: The Annual Person Awards!
113: Wave of Geniuses
114: The TOEFL Exam
115: No Match For Your Opponen
116: I Don't Understand You
117: Arriving at Princeton!
118: The Moment Of Witnessing History?
119: Gentleman's Demeanor
120: Moment Of Inspiration
121: Party Of The Mathematicians
122: The World Of Inspiration
123: Genius? Madman?
124: Witnessing The Great Momen
125: I Only Want To Sleep
126: Closing Ceremony
127: Level Breakthrough!
128: System, Give Me A Fanta
129: Thank You For Giving Me Courage
130: Letter Of The Emperor
131: Pretend Like I Didn't Ask
132: New Years At Home
133: Child Stay Aside
134: Industrious User
135: Group Date
136: Three Seconds
137: Equilibrium Problems in Hilbert Space
138: Imitated?
139: Blatant Academic Fraud
140: Hammer Of Justice
141: Read The News Yourself
142: Weak
143: Thousands Of People
144: Thesis Submission
145: I Can't Go To Class
146: Talk On Stage
147: Life Is Inevitable
148: Graduation Oral Defense
149: A Person's Graduation
150: Moving Rooms
151: Witnessing History?
152: You Do It, Or I do It?
153: Beautiful And Deadly Tree
154: The First Wreckage
155: The Academician's exam
156: LHCb Intern
157: Arrived In Switzerland!
158: Assignment Of Tasks
159: A Good News And A Bad News
160: I Have Objections
161: Physics Is A Rigorous Discipline
162: Edward Witten
163: Meticulous
164: Cheers?
165: Talk By Mr. Witten
166: Martial Law
167: Unexpected Discoveries
168: A Heavy Particle?
169: Good Luck!
170: Perfecting Theory
171: Frank Wilczek
172: European Conference on Nuclear Research
173: A Treasure Map
174: Corrected
175: Interview
176: Strongest Intern
177: A Lot Of Information
178: Back to Jin Ling
179: Level 3 Physics!
180: The Standard Model
181: Taking You To See Someone
182: Scientis
183: A Gold Mine
184: Experiment Begin!
185: Surprisingly Effective
186: Unexpected Reunion
187: No More Opportunities In The Future
188: Dorm 201
189: Different Than Imagination?
190: Speechless.
191: Inspiration Always Comes Inadvertently
192: Annual Mathematics!
193: Correct Posture
194: Meeting In Beijing
195: Announcement Of Grand Prize!
196: Controversial Winners
197: Have To Go
198: Rejection
199: A Thirty-Minute Repor
200: Already Proven?!
201: Level Four Mathematics!
202: Lucky Draw
203: Next?
204: Enviable Troubles
205: Spending Money
206: 2.8 Million Yuan Computer
207: All Good Things Come To An End
208: Patents
209: Arrival In California
210: My Trophy?
211: Youngest Winner!
212: Relationship
213: One Small Step
214: Not Easy To Get You Outside
215: Is Not Easy For Geniuses
216: Bullsh*ting Is Not A Good Habi
217: Back To School
218: It's Been A Worthwhile Four Years
219: Human Nature
220: Bro, Insurance?
221: Speech Under The Flag
222: Another Graduation Year
223: Embarking On A New Journey!
224: Small World
225: Haunted?
226: Two Choices
227: Another Way
228: Your Hands Are Your Tools
229: Full On Research
230: Real Men Drive SUVs
231: Ideas Emerge!
232: Bad News
233: The Last Piece Of The Puzzle
234: Surprising Evaluation
235: Proving The Conjecture!
236: A Second
237: Level 5 Mathematics!
238: Came For You
239: Lively Town of Princeton
240: I Was Never Worried
241: Victory Champagne
242: Unexpected Surprises
243: Princeton's Youngest Professor
244: Three Hours Is Enough
245: Invitation
246: Imaginary Number
247: Princeton's First Lecture
248: Call From Stockholm
249: Receiving The Award
250: Stockholm Awards Ceremony
251: Worthy Opponen
252: Night Scenes
253: Logical Handsomeness
254: Triumphant Return
255: Respective Futures
256: Finally Got The Paten
257: Preparing For An Interview
258: What Kind Of Students Are Needed
259: Gravitational Waves
260: Nature Submission
261: Being A Professor
262: God Is Also Indecisive
263: Mathematics Is More Interesting
264: Transferred?
265: Breaking News!
266: Level 3 Materials Science
267: Invitation
268: Hail Conjecture
269: Division of Labor
270: A Responsible Boss
271: MRS Autumn Conference!
272: Industry Benchmark
273: Actually This Is Only My Hobby
274: Overseas Patent Authorization
275: Financially Free Without Knowing I
276: Personal Status Meeting
277: I, Lu Zhou, Do Not Like Money
278: Offshore Company
279: US$400 Million
280: Joy Of A New Home
281: Christmas Eve
282: Self-praising Pioneer
283: 400 Thousand Experience Points!
284: Spherical Problems
285: Being Rich Is Differen

286: Ten Science and Technology Progress Of The Year

287: Not All Students Are This Lucky
288: Take Care Of It For Me
289: This Is For Justice!
290: Don't Go!
291: Pleasures Of Being A Professor
292: I'm More Interested In You
293: Different Kind Of Person
294: Best Young Speaker
295: Steady Career
296: Difficult To Keep It Low-key
297: I Need Your Help
298: Large Lithium-Sulfur Battery Projec

299: The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study Prototype

300: Big Chemistry Department News
301: Purchasing Instruments
302: I Want To Hear His Opinion
303: Hollow Carbon Sphere
304: Then I'll Prove It To You
305: Experiment Begin
306: Market Is Moving
307: Pouring Money
308: Hot Pot Restauran
309: Teasing Personality
310: Following The Trend
311: Two More Students
312: Old Opponen
313: Party For This Great Momen
314: Misunderstandings
315: First Lesson As A Professor
316: Something Big
317: Do It Fast!
318: Nature Or Science?
319: Science Should Do

320: In The Academic World, Ideas Are The Least Valuable

321: In-progress Results
322: Nothing To Be Surprised Abou
323: Spring Break
324: Coming To San Francisco
325: Adams Chemistry Prize!
326: Relax A Bi
327: Worship Among Geniuses
328: Spying On The Enemy
329: Not A Big Problem
330: Second Best News
331: Helper Part-time Bodyguard?
332: Scientific Research Boss
333: Chemistry Needs My Model!
334: Teaching Assistant's Job
335: Anton Supercomputer!
336: Computational Chemistry Weapon!
337: Key Momen
338: Level 4 Materials Science!
339: Victory
340: Submission
341: Great Achievements
342: Not Everyone Can Laugh Until The End
343: JACS!
344: Nobel Prize Winner Is Also Not Sure
345: Please Tell Me
346: Two Invitation letters
347: Experience More When You're Young
348: A Genius Studen
349: One Year Plan
350: The Dawn Of The Lithium-Sulfur Era
351: Finessed
352: Times Magazine Interview
353: Science Is Endless
354: To Berlin
355: Max Planck Institute
356: New Chemistry?
357: New Chemistry!
358: Nobel Prize Winner Recommendation
359: Hoffman Prize
360: These Students Are Not Good Enough!
361: A New Letter
362: Ambassador's Invitation
363: I Am Just A Mathematics Professor
364: Six Seconds?
365: Preconditions Are Not Me
366: Never Would Have Guessed
367: Firestone Library Is Full Of Treasures
368: Tasting The Sal
369: A Small Goal
370: Superconducting Materials
371: Just Go For I
372: Requires Manpower
373: Visiting Harvard
374: Another Grinding Session

375: In-progress Navier–Stokes Equations Results

376: He3 Atom Probe

377: Playing The Long Game?

378: Enough time!

379: Greater Transmission Power!

380: Able To Do Anything With Money

381: The Last Number Theory Lecture Before Christmas

382: Clash Of The Titans
383: Invitation For Research Cooperation
384: Invisible Bullets
385: Mathematics Is Difficul
386: You Don't Realize Learning Is Fun
387: The Most Beautiful Snowstorm
388: Proof Of The Collatz Conjecture
389: Probability
390: Plans Before China
391: Back To China
392: What Is With You Two?
393: Special Treatmen
394: Poaching
395: I Am Only Passing By
396: Prize Conference!
397: Top of The Top
398: State's Dinner
399: Fruit Flavored "Garbage"?
400: My Daughter?
401: Balance In The Hear
402: You Grew Taller
403: Seven Figure Bonus
404: Letter From Germany
405: Long Time Reunion

406: Most Beautiful Day In The Life Of Shi Shang

407: Life Isn't Only About Mathematics, There Are Physics And Chemistry As Well

408: Chinese New Year
409: A High Viscosity Fluid Coefficien
410: Town of Princeton
411: Explosive Equation?
412: Lu Manifold?
413: Congratulations On Graduating
414: Two Ways
415: Two Invitations
416: Busy July
417: Millennium Prize Problem!
418: Small World
419: Eliminating the Navier-Stokes Equation
420: World-Famous Even
421: Smoothness Exists!
422: Not Just One Person's Miracle
423: System Easter Egg?

424: International Congress of Mathematicians!

425: People's Favorite
426: Professor Lu's Fields Medal
427: Nutty Supervisor, Nutty Students
428: Give Me Some Inspiration
429: Collatz Conjecture Repor
430: Conference Ending
431: Wire Transfer Me
432: Supercomputing Application
433: Professor Lazerson's Decision

434: I'm Afraid You Don't Need Supercomputers...

435: Magical Key
436: Dilemma Of Wendelstein
437: Coach, I Want To Sell Drones

438: Thank You Letter From Max Planck Institute?

439: Physics Level 5 and Special Mission Reward Mission?

440: Thirty Minutes

441: Trouble From The Royal Swedish Academy Of Sciences

442: The Human Mind Is Tiny Compared To The Universe

443: Fusion Starts With Superconductivity
444: I Just Want To Buy You Food
445: Last Conference
446: You Said It Was Just Food...
447: What Do You Think Of My Daughter?
448: Nobel and Fields
449: Lu Zhou's Former Residence

450: I Heard Someone Wrote You Into The Thesis

451: Evasive Answer
452: Mathematics, Pursuit Of Truth
453: 101K!
454: Really Not Thinking About Going Public?
455: Good Opportunity For Validation
456: Invitation To The Nobel Prize Dinner
457: Highly Rated MRS Autumn Conference
458: Back To Stockholm
459: What Do We Call Her?
460: December 10th
461: Most Crowded Dinner In The World
462: Can I Dance With You?

463: I Promise, It's More Interesting Than Lithium Batteries

464: I Warned You
465: Nobel Lecture
466: France Is On The Way
467: Three Word Answer
468: Experienced Exper
469: Just Buy One

470: You Guys Really Only Talked About Mathematics?

471: Large Buildings
472: Knowledge Is The Greatest Asse
473: Two Major Directions
474: At Least A Postdoc
475: A Noob researcher
476: Talent Placemen
477: Too Early For Me
478: Another Year Of Awards
479: Buying A House
480: Experiment Success Rate
481: "Interesting" Research Projec
482: Half A Meter Long Wire
483: Xiao Ai's New Home
484: New Year Of 2019
485: Let's Make A Deal
486: Exchange Of Technology
487: Coming Or Not?

488: High-Temperature Superconductivity's Physical Mechanism And Strongly Correlated System

489: Reached A Cooperation
490: I Want To See Who Dares To Leave?
491: Then Invite Them All Over
492: Visiting Yuhua University
493: Interested In Joining?
494: Ready To Go
495: Arrival of the Visiting Team
496: Conquering The Germans With Technology
497: STAR Stellarator!
498: First Step Toward The Sun
499: In-progress Results
500: 4 Billion Yuan Well Spent?
501: Building a Supercomputer
502: Faculty Sports Games
503: I Didn't Expect You to Be Very Popular
504: Headed to Los Angeles

505: International Controllable Nuclear Fusion Conference

506: Useless Notes
507: Comparing Technologies
508: Forecast of Carbon-Based Chips
509: The Future Is Yours
510: I've Thought About It for Six Months
511: They Are the Treasure of Civilization
512: Farewell to Princeton
513: I Won't Give Up
514: Restart the Experiment!
515: Not Just Thirty Minutes
516: This Is Impossible!

517: Explosion of the Plasma Physics Community

518: 40 Billion Yuan Engineering Project!

519: Hopeless Future

520: The Fewer Words There Are, the More Information There Is

521: Boiling Water Is Wasteful
522: Not Taking the Usual Path
523: Competition for the Future
524: Kick Them Ou
525: Professor At Alma Mater
526: The Higher-ups Value Your Opinion
527: The Thought Behind the Gif
528: We're Relying On You!
529: Interesting Results Are Often Expected?
530: Don't Ruin Your Own, Ruin Others
531: Lying Down
532: Going to Slightly Offend You Guys
533: Returning to the Old Field
534: Happiness Came Too Suddenly
535: Not Enough Time, Get More Manpower
536: Good News From Daya Bay
537: Helms’ Countermeasures
538: No Obvious Radiation Damage
539: Retrea
540: Construction!
541: Tianwan
542: The News That Shocked the World
543: Outbreak?
544: Full Cooperation
545: Core Catcher
546: We Are Differen
547: Materials Production
548: Full Power Ahead
549: The Mysterious "District 900"
550: Didn't You Say As Soon As Possible?
551: I Won't Ghost You
552: Last Hurdle
553: The Faster The Better!
554: Everything Is Ready
555: Everything Is in Order
556: Fusion ignition!
557: Energy of the Star
558: Fusion Light Completion!
559: Tomorrow Is a Better Day

560: When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a Scientist Too

561: I Am Very Disappointed
562: Overjoyed Presiden
563: Where Is My Phone?
564: Thank You!
565: Laying out the Future
566: Where To Broadcast?
567: Cross-Regional Power Grid
568: Interview With Station C
569: Creator of the World
570: The Third Debris
571: Who Cooks It Better?
572: Scientist's Nationality
573: Ling Yun!
574: You Decide
575: Retire After Success
576: Unexpected Cake?
577: Scientific Research Assistan
578: Isn't It Already One?
579: The Perks Of Being Handsome?
580: Laboratory Three Stories Underground
581: This Isn't The Body I Wanted!

582: Seen Him Before, He's from the Chinese Academy of Sciences

583: Impossible Material
584: Teaching Arrangements
585: Thank You For Saving Me
586: Meeting on the Moon Projec
587: Xiao Ai's New Body
588: The Shortcut for Overtaking
589: Strategic Finesse
590: Chief Consultant of the Moon Projec
591: Prologue of the Space Race
592: Disassemble Debris No.3
593: Clear Technical Route
594: To Go or Not to Go?
595: Let Me Read It Again
596: Fusion Battery Projec
597: Too Big of a Step?
598: A Market Created by a Thesis
599: Someone Is Investigating You
600: Stock Market Is Risky
601: Taking Advantage
602: Good Gathering
603: I Want To, But I'm Scared...
604: Unavoidable Bottleneck
605: Why Do Nucleons Stick Together?
606: Unifying Nuclear Power
607: Bald
608: Grid-Connected Power Generation
609: Proof of the Existence of a Solution
610: Most Suitable Reviewer
611: You Wrote That Thesis?
612: Chaotic Month of April
613: Letter From Clay Institute
614: Can We Chat Properly
615: It's the Same in My Opinion
616: Inspiration is Contagious
617: Thinking About the Same Thing
618: I'm the Only One Who Can Do This
619: From All over the World
620: The Chalk That Stopped Writing
621: I Solved I
622: Yang-Mills Equations General Solution!
623: Strong Response
624: Passed Verification!
625: Is He Even a Human?

626: A Historic Mathematics and Physics Monument!

627: Discussion With Professor Fefferman
628: Nature Weekly Interview
629: Seems More Academic
630: Level Five Biochemistry!
631: Outbreak
632: New Tailored Mission.
633: Building A Rocket?
634: Get Me A Piece Of Land

635: The Key to Solving the Yang-Mills Existence and Mass Gap

636: Going to the Sky?
637: I Have A Bad Feeling
638: Clever Proof Idea
639: Seller Has Shipped!
640: Finessed
641: Quantum Yang-Mills Field
642: Maybe This Is Fate
643: What If I Don't Sell It to You?
644: Things Went Wrong
645: Let Me Find An Expert Firs
646: Who Installed This System for You?
647: The Secretive and Modest Professor Lu
648: Was Proven?
649: Serious Flaws
650: Professor Brian's Invitation
651: I Have Questions
652: Solved It?
653: Aging Is Sad
654: The Path to the Milky Way.
655: Answer Before End of the Month
656: Is This the Difference?
657: Electrostrong Unification!
658: Answer Is in Your Hand
659: Amazing Experimental Results
660: CERN's Vote
661: Invitation From CERN
662: CTV Interview
663: Xiao Ai's Colorful Bubbles?
664: I'll Read, You Write
665: Done by Him Alone
666: Miniaturization Breakthrough!
667: Did It?
668: How Did You Guys Do It?!
669: For the Greater Good
670: Assembly Center Completion
671: From Nothing to Something
672: It Is Time to Show the Real Technology
673: You're My Teacher
674: 100 MW!
675: So Angry!
676: Do You Know Who I Admire the Most?
677: Raise Your Hand
678: Funding Approved!
679: 500 Million
680: Prepare for the Future
681: Luo Wenxuan Is Lovestruck?
682: Yikes!
683: Night On Purple Mountain
684: Sorry!
685: Only Kids Do Multiple Choice Questions
686: Alternative Energy Vehicle Summi
687: Lithium-Air Battery Projec
688: New Way to Eat Bacon Sandwiches?
689: Secret
690: Let's Make A Be
691: Competitor
692: Do You Need Help?
693: Experts Have the Final Say
694: Skyglow
695: Astronaut Team
696: Nobel Prize Season
697: Begin Preparations!
698: Are We Overthinking?
699: Responsible for the Countdown
700: Ignition! Take off!
701: Overlooking Earth
702: Silicon Valley Superstar?
703: It's Not A Bad Thing Anyway
704: Celebrating New Year's Day in the Sky
705: Major Defect?
706: Returning From Orbit!
707: Triumphant Return
708: You're Half Correc
709: Discharge
710: Desert in the Basin.
711: "Lightning" Escape Capsule
712: Garden Plan
713: Academician Primary Elections
714: Blueprint for a Tiltrotor Aerospaceplane
715: Waiting For Me
716: White House Countermeasure
717: Ares Projec
718: Space Plant Uni
719: Prepare for the Moon!
720: Reunion
721: Combine the Tables?
722: Something to be Proud of
723: We Need A Win
724: Setting Foot in the Starry Sky
725: Special Blessing
726: A Moment of Celebration
727: Space Plant Growth Uni
728: Return!
729: Second Stage
730: Mysterious Coke
731: The Exhausted NASA
732: Unbreakable Clothes?
733: Component Analysis
734: Use It as an Antique
735: Worthy of Bragging

736: Research Progress on the Lunar Hadron Collider

737: Amazing News
738: NASA Press Conference
739: Round Two?
740: Route Choice
741: No Stone Left Unturned
742: Conquer the Future
743: The Wheel Is Moving Forward
744: Arrogant Opponen
745: Finding Treasure
746: Arizona Dome
747: Make It a Habi
748: BFR Rocket Launch!
749: Lunar Orbit Committee
750: Heat Accumulation
751: Dropped the Ball?
752: Big Problem
753: The Only Remedy
754: Cold welding
755: Professor Lu Is Nuts!
756: Thermal Material
757: Domestic Expor
758: Another Big Piece of News?
759: Bullet in the Chamber!
760: Let's Head In
761: Deserved
762: Eye-Grabbing!
763: Moon Palace In Orbit!
764: Our Moon Palace!
765: Start With the Bad News
766: News of Victory
767: Equally Matched
768: We'll Find Out Soon!
769: Three Warriors
770: Hope in the Sky
771: No One Can Stop Me
772: Recruiting
773: One's Own Style
774: We All Die
775: Nematode Cells
776: Deal With It Later
777: Great Ideas Often Come From Accidents
778: Visiting the Wounded
779: Possibility of Standing up Again
780: Surgery
781: "Cyborg"
782: Arrival on Mars?
783: A Little Trouble
784: Mars Diaries
785: Global Sandstorm
786: Era Of Space 4.0
787: SOS?
788: Open Secret
789: Ion Thruster Propulsion System?
790: You Need It
791: The World Will Witness Again
792: Worst Case Scenario
793: Falling!
794: Return Ticket
795: Successful Rescue!
796: Finesse
797: Crawling All Terrain Survey Vehicle
798: Traces of Underground Ice?
799: "Bridge" to the Moon
800: Mining
801: Welcome Home!
802: A Little Trouble
803: "Life" From Mars
804: Urgent Mission
805: Unfavorable First Contact
806: Parasitic? Symbiosis?
807: Lunar Project
808: Medicine With a “Taste”
809: Professor Z?
810: Useless International Experts
811: Amino Acid Derivatives
812: 27-Day Coma
813: Dr. Z Saved the World?
814: Reward for the Urgent Mission?
815: Elected for Both
816: Class of Youth
817: Things to Do Before Resigning
818: Local Specialties
819: Who Can Stop Them?
820: Lunar Mass Driver
821: I Want to Study Mathematics With You!
822: One Question Exam
823: Letter From IMU
824: Friends From Far Away
825: Small World
826: CERN
827: Handsome People Problems
828: Want to Switch Cars?
829: AFK Mission
830: On-Site Question
831: Clue for the Riemann Hypothesis
832: Professor Lu Is Making a Move?
833: Visiting Group From the North
834: Commercialization and Production Scale
835: Diplomatic Dinner
836: He Will Definitely Come!
837: Boundary Approach Method!

838: Even with a research plan, solving the problem wasn’t easy.

839: Chapter 839

840: For a high-end gated community like this, every entry and exit had to be registered.

841: 841 Debatable?

842: 842 Disagreemen

843: 843 Permanent Station on the Moon!

844: 844 Golden Mission Card?

845: 845 Three Years!

846: 846 Quantum Computer?!

847: 847 Xiao Ai Upgrade!

848: 848 Shine Bright Like A Diamond

849: 849 The Second Key to the Future

850: 850 Ah, I“m So Dumb

851: 851 The Power of One Letter

852: 852 First Rejection in Life

853: 853 Persuade Them Then!

854: 854 Attacking Me?

855: 855 More Intense Storm

856: 856 Another Storm

857: 857 Share of the Pie

858: 858 Moving World of Mathematics

859: 859 Battle of Jinling?

860: 860 I Have a Problem!

861: 861 Confrontation!

862: 862 The Dust Settles

863: 863 We Won!

864: 864 Mining Gold Scholar“s

865: 865 Magical Effect of the Energy Medicine

866: It“s Good to Be Young
867: Professor Faltings“ Notes
868: Mystery of the Quantum World
869: Big Name in the Industry
870: I Want HiSilicon
871: I Have It Now
872: Is He Ok?
873: Joining Forces
874: Carry Me
875: Genetics
876: Done in an Hour
877: Growth
878: Fireplace
879: Special Issue
880: Invigilate
881: Ruthless Man
882: 2022 New Year's Day
883: Having a Nutty Brother
884: I Want It All
885: Holy Land of Aerospace
886: Rejected!
887: Welcome
888: Meeting an Old Friend
889: I Have Half
890: Unexpected Things
891: I Guess I m Quite Important?
892: Returning to Home
893: Doing a Master s
894: Lu Bewley Model
895: Things Don’t Go According to Plan
896: I Have Some Ideas
897: Princeton’s Snow
898: Vera’s Condition
899: Swiping Right?
900: Unexpected Visi
901: Smart City?
902: Meeting in Beijing
903: The Third Half
904: Mathematics Center in a Siheyuan
905: Who Are You?!
906: I m Your Fan!
907: Poaching Players!
908: Stepped on Treasure!
909: Grand Meeting of Physics and Aerospace
910: Let’s All Prosper!
911: A New Chapter in Physics!
912: He Will Definitely Come!
913: Useless Banque
914: Some Are Celebrating, Some Are No
915: Full of Loopholes
916: Eagle Hunter
917: Offending Someone
918: Can’t Forgive Them!
919: Xiao Ai, You Got This
920: Dr. Z
921: An Expert!
922: Boss Is Offline!
923: Dr. Z’s Identity!
924: People Want to Be Geniuses
925: Trade Off
926: So Handsome!
927: Carbon-Based Chips!
928: An Ethical Scholar
929: It's a Devil
930: Manifold Problem
931: Sullivan Conjecture
932: We Have Decided
933: Modifications Suggested
934: An Accident?
935: To Shanghai
936: Coincidence
937: Welcoming Princeton
938: Want to Drink? It's on Me
939: Unveiling Ceremony!
940: Delicious!
941: Most Creative Poster
942: Not Even One?
943: Only Took Me an Hour
944: 944 Might As Well Finish
945: 945 More Than an Hour!
946: 946 Virtue
947: 947 The Most Exciting Event of the Year
948: 948 Shocking the Economics World!

949: 949 High-tech Innovation and Investment Summi

950: 950 You“re a Respectable Opponen
951: 951 Elon“s Plans
952: 952 Company Pitch
953: 953 I“m Investing!
954: 954 Terrible Guy!

955: 955 Whoever Masters Electricity Will Master the Future!

956: A Couple Billion?
957: Chapter 957
958: Chapter 958
959: Chapter 959
960: Chapter 960
961: All With Carbon!
962: Finally Put It to Use!
963: Oxygen Transporter
964: One More Thing
965: Dragon One
966: 3D Chess
967: Just Write I
968: Approve It!
969: Decision
970: This Is Horrifying!
971: Know Who Did the Work
972: Have to Help Us
973: Professor Stanley’s Break
974: Nuttier Than Lithium-Sulfur batteries
975: Terrifying Connections
976: Standards
977: Not the Same Family

978: Product Creation! entrepreneurship was a very difficult thing.

979: Card up the Sleeve
980: Exclusive Agreemen
981: The Company Seems to Be in Trouble
982: Bundling Patents
983: This Is a Story
984: I Want to See the President!
985: They Are Dead!
986: Rules Are Made for Winning
987: It’s Begun!
988: Black Thursday!
989: Give Up
990: Dismissal
991: Use Lithium-Air!
992: Becoming Famous!
993: But I Refuse!
994: Pirate Culture
995: Sneaky People
996: Aerospace Forces
997: Archimedes Trouble
998: Steel Is Our Footprin
999: We Can Do It!
1000: Temporary Suspension
1001: State Scholar
1002: Turn to the Dark Side
1003: What Has to Come Will Come
1004: Iron Curtain Is Falling
1005: Taken Advantage Of?
1006: A Lost Old Friend
1007: Books Are More Famous Than Theses
1008: Predicting the Future?
1009: Suddenly Became Philosophical
1010: Great Plan?
1011: Helios
1012: Wasn“t Ignited?
1013: Active Protection Mechanism
1014: He Really Guessed Correctly?
1015: Intentional Sabotage?
1016: Unlocked Hidden Achievements!
1017: Famous Teacher, Famous Studen
1018: Dirty Trading
1019: Distant Professor Lu
1020: Memory From the Void
1021: Blood
1022: Trash Can
1023: I“ll Find A Way
1024: The Question of the Century
1025: The ICM Conference
1026: Level Nine in Mathematics!
1027: Witnessing History
1028: Glory of the Human Mind
1029: Sixty Minutes Is Enough
1030: From Another Universe
1031: Future of Number theory
1032: Victory Champagne
1033: Closing Ceremony!
1034: How Do You Know It’s Yours?
1035: I Have a Way
1036: Everything Is Possible
1037: Time Machine

1038: Terminal Illness Cryogenics Rights Protection Fund

1039: Beginning of a New Era?
1040: Forecast Is Only a Part of Analysis
1041: Conversation by the River
1042: Anything Can Happen
1043: Legendary Mission!
1044: Your Future Studen

1045: Good News From the Carbon Based Chip Laboratory

1046: Ten Million Per Square Millimeter!
1047: IEEE Summi
1048: Academician Lu“s Projec
1049: Subverting the Entire Industry
1050: Just Call It “Future“
1051: Lion or Hunter
1052: Future!
1053: Unprecedented
1054: Product Launch
1055: Chapter the Rules of the Game!
1056: Live Demo
1057: Poor IEEE
1058: Unlocking New Achievements
1059: Who Do You Think I Am?
1060: Our Dragon Chips
1061: Biggest Fan
1062: Small Cars, Big Cars, and Colliders
1063: Technology Worth Fifteen Thousand
1064: Dr. Z Appears Again!
1065: Everything Is For Science!
1066: Witness a Miracle!
1067: A Living World!
1068: Targeted Again?
1069: I Heard You Were Looking For Me
1070: Fragments of the World
1071: It“s You?!
1072: The First Customer
1073: Is One Regiment Enough?

1074: Scientific Research Is Like Laying Bricks

1075: The First Testing of the Virtual Reality System.

1076: Battle on Reach!

1077: What Kind of Exercise Is This?

1078: The Shocking Replay

1079: Another Bloodbath

1080: What Is This Damn Thing?

1081: Using This Technology to Travel the World?

1082: Meaning
1083: Not Everyone Is Qualified
1084: Persistent Reporter

1085: Cloud Computing and Virtual Reality Network

1086: Noobs Are Weird
1087: Motive Theory
1088: Inspiration Comes the Same Way
1089: An Exciting Future
1090: Crazy Idea
1091: Phantom System
1092: Winter Has Arrived in Silicon Valley
1093: Perelman“s Visi
1094: Price Is Just One of the Reasons
1095: Pigs Are Flying
1096: Handshake Between Two Giants
1097: Second Closed Beta
1098: A Taste of Evil
1099: Player Evaluation
1100: The Terrifying Fields Medalis
1101: Something Is Wrong
1102: We Can Pay Firs
1103: Turmoil of Public Opinion

1104: If You“re Innocent, You Have Nothing to Worry Abou

1105: We Don“t Care
1106: Earning Money While Standing Up
1107: Need an Outstanding Brain
1108: Unifying Old Methods
1109: Final Stage
1110: An Email With One Word
1111: The Universe Is Perfec
1112: Sound of Wind
1113: Level 10 Mathematics!
1114: Breaking News
1115: Review Session
1116: The World Through The Eyes of God
1117: I Will Prove It Here
1118: Is He Even Human?
1119: Peak of the Human Mind!
1120: Inherited

1121: The Decision From the International Mathematical Union

1122: The Second Memory
1123: A World of Rings
1124: “Black Box“
1125: Is This Even Possible?
1126: Evading Responsibilities
1127: New Ideas on Hodge Conjecture
1128: Losing Sleep Is Inevitable

1129: Something Big Is Brewing in the World of Physics

1130: Collider Is Complete!
1131: A Fortress on the Moon
1132: A Peta Electronvolt Collision!
1133: The Unfortunate Meeting
1134: The Brookhaven National Laboratory
1135: Still A Secre
1136: It“s Good To Be Noticed

1137: The Withdrawal From the Brookhaven Laboratory

1138: High Risk, High Reward
1139: The Pendulum Model
1140: Full Synchronized
1141: Quark Stars
1142: Natural Disaster

1143: Doing Something Is Better Than Doing Nothing

1144: The Secret of The Hyperspace
1145: A Busy New Year
1146: Advanced Theory
1147: The Most Expensive Firework Show
1148: Experimental Data Released!
1149: The Particle

1150: Physics Is Far Beyond the Standard Model

1151: Closer Than Ever Before to the Secrets of the Universe

1152: The Guaranteed Honor

1153: Physics Level Eight!

1154: I Have Been Keeping Something From You Guys

1155: Visiting Paris
1156: Professor Abel“s Notes
1157: Unexpected Clue
1158: Struggles
1159: The Place Where the Pope Is Buried
1160: Mathematics Is a Universal Language
1161: 1 Cadarache“s Fusion Power Station
1162: The Award From the Institut de France
1163: Abstract Answer
1164: The Void
1165: The End of the Empire
1166: The Research Project From the Void
1167: Optical Surgery?
1168: Like It Once Existed
1169: Online Arrangements
1170: A Date?
1171: Virtual Reality Technology Conference
1172: Selling Out Crazy!
1173: Sold Out!
1174: This Is Crazy!

1175: North American VR Technology Is Undeveloped

1176: Majorana Fermion and the Decoherence of Quantum Entanglemen What if electrical energy did not attenuate during transmission?

1177: I Did I
1178: Unbelievable Speed
1179: Five Hundred Qubits!

1180: Cryptography Is the Specialty of Mathematicians

1181: Frightened
1182: Cleaning Up Your Own Messes
1183: Nowhere to Hide
1184: Storms Always Came Suddenly
1185: Even 2,000 Is Not a Problem
1186: Moon Cannon
1187: Unbreakable Security
1188: Biggest Misunderstanding in Science
1189: Last Step

1190: Three-Dimensional Vacuum Chamber Structure

1191: Delivering a Safe on One Hand and a Key on the Other

1192: Message Sent Successfully!
1193: About Two Generations Ahead
1194: An Ulterior Motive
1195: Real Intentions
1196: 524 Qubits!
1197: Information Revolution!
1198: Star Voyage One
1199: The End of Cryptocurrency
1200: What Changed
1201: It’s Spilling!
1202: Not a SuperComputer, But a Gold Mine
1203: What to Do After This
1204: Big End to the Year
1205: Hologram Technology
1206: Star Voyage One!

1207: The Most Powerful Startup Screen In History!

1208: Quantum Supremacy
1209: Unusual Discovery
1210: Scientific Intuition
1211: The Second Emergency Mission
1212: Call From The Void
1213: Strings Outside the Universe
1214: Creation

1215: Sometimes, Science Is More Than Just an Idea

1216: The Universe Has a Spirit
1217: Belief in Physics
1218: Give Them a Lesson
1219: The Existence of the Void
1220: The Collapse of the Superposition

1221: Mass Does Not Expand, It Just Flows on Invisible Strings

1222: 10 TeV Collision
1223: The Extra String and the Void
1224: Void Explorer Medal
1225: Dr-111
1226: Prerequisites for Immigration
1227: : Atmospheric Modification Material?
1228: Strongest Holographic Technology
1229: Ah, Women
1230: One Hundred Billion Yen?!
1231: Go Find Academician Lu!
1232: Was Almost Slaughtered
1233: I’ll Demonstrate To You Then
1234: A Technology That Expands Imagination
1235: Pretending to Be Real
1236: Thoughts From Far Away
1237: It Was Posted Online?
1238: An Overwhelming Feeling
1239: Want to Work at Star Sky Technology?
1240: Automated Factory
1241: Prototype for the Future Industry
1242: The Hyped Drone!
1243: Documentary Casting
1244: The Shocking Thirty Seconds
1245: Are You Guys Drunk?
1246: Cheers, To A Better Future!
1247: Express Delivery From Space
1248: Celebration Night
1249: Us
1250: Explosive Celebration!
1251: The Perfect Ending
1252: Last Section
1253: Control of Earth and Moon!
1254: Six Tons of Load in Orbit!
1255: Physics Level 9
1256: A Great Discovery?
1257: Guanghan Special Zone
1258: Magnetic Slingshot
1259: Can You Take Me With You?
1260: Script
1261: Feels Bad
1262: evisit
1263: Won again!

1264: Thank You for Everything You Do for the World

1265: The Goddess of the Lake Will Bless You
1266: Indescribable Object
1267: : Visit to Copenhagen
1268: More Money
1269: Loud Waves
1270: Surgery
1271: I’ll Show You a Magic Trick
1272: Falling From the Sky!
1273: Cleaning the Battlefield
1274: Ridiculous Clue
1275: Shocking the Whole World
1276: Out of Necessity
1277: Destiny
1278: The Third Medal
1279: Departure Day
1280: A Worldwide Attraction
1281: Look At MY Forehead
1282: Inspire
1283: New Weapon?
1284: Don’t Need That Thing
1285: Operation Dandelion
1286: Like a Video Game
1287: Things Left Behind

1288: Gravitational Wave Formula For The Z Particle

1289: The Last Stage

1290: Straighten Space-Time

1291: : The Effect of the Z Particle Transition on Spacetime Curvature

1292: Not Impossible
1293: Have You Seen Him Joke Before?
1294: Send a Pair of Photons
1295: Wasting Time is Despicable
1296: Before Chinese New Year!
1297: Return to Mars!
1298: Invitation to the Physics Conference
1299: The Best at Managing Money!
1300: Clock on Track
1301: 207.1s!
1302: : Wreckage Recovery
1303: Physics Level 10!
1304: Lively Press Conference
1305: Shocked the World!
1306: Congratulations From Beijing
1307: Orbital Habitat Blueprint
1308: 100-Year Road Map
1309: Business Exchange
1310: I’m Not Interested in the Nobel Prize
1311: I Want to Give You a Star
1312: Star System Colonization Fund
1313: Ticket to the Star?
1314: Stupid Rich People
1315: Not Only Physics

1316: Strength Is the Greatest Guarantee for Peace

1317: Doesn’t Look Like One Person’s Drawing
1318: The Third Memory
1319: The Chosen One?
1320: Two Thousand Physics Problems
1321: The Conference Of The Future
1322: Failed to Pass?
1323: I’ll Show It to You Then
1324: An Unresolved Controversy
1325: : Still Warm
1326: The Grand Opening!
1327: The Question of the Century!
1328: The Bonus For Reaching The Sky!
1329: Interview with Nature

1330: Congratulations From All Over The World!

1331: I Will Resign From the Board of Directors!

1332: Cares More Than Anyone
1333: A Thousand waves
1334: Advisory Committee Established!
1335: Tailor-made Mission
1336: The Blood of Civilization
1337: Proposal at the Same Time!
1338: Three Seconds Is Enough
1339: Simply Amazing!
1340: Density Functional Method
1341: Super Fiber
1342: Terrifyingly Strong!

1343: The More You Know, The Less Imaginative You Are

1344: Deep into Hell!

1345: The Headache of the International Union of Materials Research Societies

1346: You Should Think About Young People
1347: Personally In Charge!
1348: Unlocking the Biosphere!
1349: : The Mars Landing Plan!
1350: Distant Planet Colony System
1351: Opportunity Won’t Always Come
1352: Just Do What You Said!
1353: Assemble In Space!
1354: Enviable Power
1355: How About The Moon?
1356: : No Need To Elope
1357: Agreement
1358: The Grumpy Old Man
1359: Board and Set Sail!
1360: End This Race
1361: From Now on, You Finally Have a Home
1362: I'm Regretful
1363: The Millions of Kilometers Journey
1364: Arrived On Mars!
1365: A Short Break
1366: Unusual Geological Structure
1367: Treasure Hunting In Hell
1368: First Signs
1369: The Gates of Hell
1370: The Mysterious Missing Crack
1371: Under The Crack
1372: Can You Hear Me?
1373: Search and Rescue
1374: The Fifth Type of Contact
1375: ABC Conjecture?
1376: Top Secret Doc.u.ment
1377: Concealed Report
1378: "Counter-intuitive" Conjecture
1379: Five Hundred Pages of Proof
1380: Girlfriend Card
1381: Inevitable Encounter
1382: LSPM
1383: Big Moves in Chinese Mathematics
1384: Critical Breakthrough
1385: What Is Your Brain Made Of?
1386: Too Smoothly
1387: Using People
1388: The Scary Question
1389: Successful Conclusion!
1390: The Crushed Preprint Archive
1391: Proof That Shocked The World!
1392: Big Trouble
1393: Start of Human Alliance
1394: Birthday Wishes
1395: Standards of a Saint
1396: Full of Confidence for the Future
1397: Please Be Safe
1398: Planet of Tomorrow
1399: Almost Like It's Alive!
1400: Barn of the Future
1401: At Least Bring One Person
1402: Going to Hell
1403: Splitting Up
1404: Moving to Death
1405: Graveyard of Civilization
1406: Fragments of Four-Dimensional Space
1407: Shelter
1408: Nostalgic Name
1409: Alert
1410: The End of the World
1411: Evolutionary Choice
1412: A Gamble on the Future
1413: Wealth of the World
1414: The Worst Plan
1415: The God of Mathematics!
1416: The Final Mission
1417: What Happened on Mars

1418: : Jinling International Congress of Mathematicians

1419: Hidden Dangers From the Future
1420: Events From Billion of Years Ago
1421: Prosperity and Apoptosis
1422: Mysterious Letter
1423: Treasure Hunt Across the Century
1424: A Long Retreat
1425: You Are Dead
1426: Tiangong!
1427: Distant Old Friend
1428: Returning After a Century
1429: Return From Hell
1430: Collateral Damage
1431: You Will Kill Us All!
1432: Nitrogen Shield!
1433: Eleven Hours of Crisis!
1434: Slingshot Effect!
1435: Aftermath
1436: : I Am Lu Zhou
1437: Hes Back!
1438: To The Countryside
1439: Welcoming Person From the Future?
1440: Keep You Waiting
1441: One Word
1442: Holy Land Tour
1443: Not Very Smart
1444: The State of Mathematics and Physics
1445: You Have a Problem
1446: Academician Lu Once Said
1447: Its Him!
1448: Appointment For My Own Home?
1449: Robot Experience Hall
1450: Gray Industry
1451: We Need A Mascot
1452: Welcome home!
1453: I Inherited My Own Inheritance?
1454: Professor Lu Resurrected from the Dead
1455: Celebration Party!
1456: You Owe Me A Dance
1457: Pan-Asia Chief Scientist?
1458: East Asia Energy Shareholders
1459: Back to Jin University
1460: Panicking
1461: Be Content, Kid
1462: : Unbelievable Circuit
1463: Beyond the Concept of Future

1464: Are You Interested in the Space Elevator?

1465: The Cause
1466: The Reason for the Future
1467: : Emergency Situation
1468: Uncommon Personnel
1469: Ill Survive
1470: The Last Two Keys
1471: Material Science Level 9!
1472: The Best Choice
1473: No Suspense
1474: The Looming Trouble
1475: Special Operations Consultant
1476: ALPHA Virus
1477: Shrouded Clouds
1478: Im Disappointed
1479: I Support It

1480: Second-Generation Controllable Fusion Technology!

1481: Submissions From a Century Ago
1482: Patriarchs Paper
1483: Cleaning Up Worms
1484: The Master of This Era!

1485: The Key to the Second Generation of Controllable Fusion

1486: Collective Resignation
1487: Threat?
1488: Shock Treatment
1489: Invest In Myself
1490: Threaten of Short Sale
1491: Who Said I Only Have One Company?

1492: A Problem That Money Can Solve Is Not a Problem

1493: The Unknown Secret Of East Asia Energy
1494: Complete Evidence Chain
1495: Are You Not Guilty For What Youve Done?
1496: Explosive Magnetic Compression

1497: Conceptual Model of Magnetic Field Generator

1498: The Electromagnet That Shocked The Academic World

1499: : Did Not Take The Bait
1500: Implant
1501: Help From the Security Bureau
1502: Perhaps It Is Emotions
1503: Underprepared
1504: Location
1505: Do You Dare to Answer?

1506: : The Essence of Science Is Trial and Error

1507: I Will Change My Ways!
1508: Everything Starts With a Paper
1509: A Promise From a Long Time Ago
1510: The Big Fish That Surfaced
1511: Help Each Other
1512: Hell Has Rejected Me Once
1513: Unscathed Private-1
1514: Crazy

1515: Before Becoming History, Great Men Were Also Humans

1516: Silence
1517: Long Story
1518: The Missing Crew
1519: Deja Vu Encryption Method
1520: Falling From the Sky
1521: A Computer on a Planet
1522: Password Cracking
1523: Emergency Meeting
1524: Almost Killed By My Own People
1525: Who Am I
1526: Large-Scale Sociological Experiment
1527: The Fastest Trainee Ever to Graduate
1528: Kidnapping
1529: Responsible For Soldier
1530: : Finally Came Into Use
1531: Float Out of Water
1532: White Lie
1533: Crisis in Guanghan City
1534: : Messy Fight
1535: The Third Urgent Mission
1536: Intelligence Crisis
1537: Natural Law
1538: Administrator Mode
1539: Close to Victory
1540: : Blasphemy
1541: Two
1542: Warm Bodies
1543: Your Master Will Save The World
1544: Siege of Friendly Forces
1545: Bait and Switch
1546: Trojan Horse
1547: : This Is War
1548: Upgrade Patch
1549: Fly It Myself
1550: The Last Hope
1551: The End of the War
1552: Morphing
1553: Take Our Hero Home
1554: The Meaning of Evolution
1555: Information Science Level 9
1556: Another Possibility
1557: The Second Chance
1558: A Medical Miracle!
1559: Alumni
1560: Love Letter of a Million Words
1561: A Hundred-Year-Old Experiment
1562: You Have Me
1563: Limited Power
1564: Ultimate Material
1565: The Bridge to the Sky
1566: Gift to the World
1567: High-Powered Laser Array
1568: Aurora!
1569: Ignition After a Century!
1570: The Light of Fusion!
1571: An Impossible To Complete Exploit
1572: Project Redwood
1573: Plan From Long Ago
1574: The Plan Cant Keep Up With The Times
1575: Site Selection
1576: Palatable
1577: The Whole World Will Tremble For It
1578: Ill Do It Myself
1579: Less Than 3% Success Rate
1580: The Plan That Shocked Everyone
1581: Promise of Time
1582: Academician Lus Problem?
1583: It Was a Long, Long Dream
1584: Maybe Did an Unnecessary Thing
1585: Whoever Can Solve It Will Get an Award
1586: Reunion After a Century
1587: The Legend of Heroes is a Long Story

1588: The Sky-Reaching Tower Rising From the Ground

1589: The Dawn Beyond the Speed of Light
1590: Gossiping Mathematicians
1591: One Step at a Time
1592: The Clues About the Past
1593: Bloodline Project
1594: Even With a 1% Probability
1595: Relative?
1596: A Letter to a Hundred Years Later
1597: The Power From You

1598: The Hole Dug By Oneself, Is Filled in by Oneself

1599: Why Else Would I Research It?
1600: Installation Complete!
1601: Borrowing a Ship?
1602: Hyperspace Experiment
1603: Warp Speed!
1604: Arrived!
1605: The World Light-Years Away
1606: Not Embarrassing To Lose to Him
1607: Plan Towards Tau Ceti
1608: : It Is Easy
1609: : Planetary Highway System
1610: Unfinished Experiment
1611: The Changed Qinling
1612: Fighting Power
1613: The First Phase is Completed!
1614: Nirvana!
1615: Nowhere To Go
1616: Other Plans
1617: A Letter From Mars
1618: The World Is Too Crazy
1619: This Promise Feels Familiar
1620: The Martian Academic Environment
1621: Unusual Meeting
1622: Noahs Ark
1623: An Old-Fashioned Scam?
1624: Exhibition
1625: Misrepresentation
1626: Back to the Start
1627: : Immature Suggestion
1628: Meeting Reinhardt Again
1629: Missing Again?
1630: Lucky Misunderstanding
1631: The Treasures of the Underground World
1632: Fuse
1633: About To Happen!
1634: Throw Hands
1635: A War Caused by a Misunderstanding
1636: The Past Of the Old Universe
1637: Battle Fire
1638: Voided Trump Card
1639: Self Defeated
1640: Shambolic War!
1641: The Truth Is Revealed
1642: You Are Under Arrest
1643: What Happened When I Was Gone?
1644: Everything Is a Misunderstanding
1645: Manipulating the Market
1646: Discounted Sale
1647: Taking Over the Ark
1648: The Dawn Of a New Era
1649: President of Tau Ceti?
1650: The Reason For Respect
1651: Star Gates Shining
1652: Big News
1653: Thoughts From Afar
1654: Leonard Was Ghosted
1655: Elevator Is Complete
1656: Engineering Level 10!
1657: Unexpected Person

1658: Every Second We Experience is Science Fiction

1659: I Want To Revive the Human Alliance
1660: Towards a New Era
1661: Human Alliance
1662: We Meet Again
1663: : Hostage?
1664: Disappear In A Flash
1665: Antimatter?
1666: As If It Was Destined
1667: Antimatter Energy Pile

1668: The Last Time For Something This Dangerous

1669: His Brain Is The Real Miracle
1670: Your Bloodline Comes From Me
1671: Successor
1672: Special Historical Relic
1673: Quantum Communication Network
1674: Tell Me Everything You Know
1675: Cause and Effect Beyond The Universe
1676: On This Great Day
1677: The Future He Hopes For
1678: Nine Hundred Years Early
1679: Heart of The Galaxy
1680: Departure and Farewell
1681: The End
1682: (END) - Spin-off 1: Talk Later